I promised a new chapter and the wonderful comments on the last one certainly helped to spur me on. Thank you, your thoughts are always appreciated. Please enjoy.

James patted me gently on the shoulder. "Darcy, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Darcy Lewis." The girl reached out and shook my hand awkwardly. "Nice to meet you." I nodded "nice to meet you too."

"You will be helping Ms. Lewis in the archives." James paused and put a hand to his earpiece. "I will leave you two for bit. Ms. Lewis will show you what to do." He turned to the girl again. "Darcy, you know how to reach someone." She nodded at him dismissively.

Before James had even left the room, she had turned and gone through the archive door. I hurried after her. As soon as the door closed behind me, Darcy had strolled between a couple of rows of filing cabinets and disappeared. I followed her behind the stacks and found her rummaging through a drawer.

I was surprised when she pulled out a half empty bag of potato chips and a package of gummy worms. She tossed me the worms and turned to another bookshelf. From the back of the top shelf, she pulled a bean bag and a blanket. Dropping both to the floor, she finally turned to me.

"What?" She raised her eyebrows playfully. "It gets really boring in here." She flopped down on the bean bag and reached into the chips. Not sure how to react to this, I sat carefully against a filing cabinet and waited for the girl to finish her mouthful of chips. She sat looking me over for a while longer then tossed the bag at me. "You have got to eat something." She mumbled through another mouthful. "You're making me feel fat."

I felt a genuine smile stretch my face. Reaching into the bag, I took a handful of the greasy treats. Darcy waggled her hand at me as she swallowed. "Hand me the worms will ya." I tossed the bag at her open fingers.

/

Loki paced his new cell. This one had a cot and a toilet. They had also unshackled his wrists, but kept the muzzle firmly affixed. It was only three of his long paces to the door from his cot and and four from side to side. Enough room for three extra mortals if the occasion arose.

/

Darcy shook the last of the chips into her mouth and scrunched the bag into a tight ball. "So, let me make sure I understand this. Loki kidnapped you, basically kept you as a pet, used you against the fancy pants league, and you forgive him?" I shook my head and swallowed the last of my gummy worm. "No, I don't forgive him. I just feel like maybe it wasn't all his fault, or maybe it was and he just didn't really know what he was doing. Like a little kid." I shrugged. "Sometimes he reminds me of my little brother. Then he flips and it seems the weight of the world is crushing him."

Darcy grabbed the bag of candy and shoved several worms in her mouth. Trying to talk around the sugary bits, she only managed to be completely unintelligible. When a slightly soggy blue bit snuck between her lips, I finally lost it. My giggling was only worsened by the faces Darcy was making in an effort to keep both her laughter, and the candy, contained.

When we finally gathered our wits, Darcy looked at her watch and stretched. "Well, I suppose that we should check the incoming box." I gave her a confused look. She shoved the candy back in the drawer. "My job is to sort and file old papers and reports. Some of them are really interesting. Especially the ones that I'm not really supposed to read." She smiled mischievously. "Did you know that, in the early years of S.H.I.E.L.D., they performed genetic experiments to see if you could mix the DNA of different species. There's a lot of conspiracy theory stuff too. Like the whole 'radio waves to influence thoughts' conspiracy. Yeah, they tried it."

/

Steve picked up the phone receiver and punched in the number scribbled on a scrap of paper. After a couple of rings, he heard a click and a woman's voice said "Hello?". Steve replied somewhat stiffly. "Good afternoon Ma'am. This is Steve Rogers. Is Elizabeth available to speak with?" The other end of the line was silent. "Ma'am?" Steve heard a deep inhale and sharp swallow. The woman's voice shook when she spoke again. "No," she said. "Elizabeth is not here." Steve closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "May I ask where she is and when she will be back? I would very much like to speak with her." A choked sob preceded the woman's answer. "I don't know." Steve replied with an absent "Thank you Ma'am" before slamming the receiver back into it's cradle.

Steve turned to see Stark leaning against the doorway, a drink in his hand. Despite Tony's nonchalant attitude and almost bemused look on his face, Steve could see the strain carefully concealed by his manner. "So," Stark swirled the ice in his drink gently, "it sounds to me like somebody is keeping secrets from us." Steve pursed his brow. "I don't think Elizabeth ever made it home." Tony nodded. "As of late, I'm beginning to think Nick is not a very trustworthy person."

Steve brushed past Tony, almost knocking Stark off his feet. Stark had to rush to keep up with the soldier's brisk pace. "Where are you going?" Rogers spun sharply and Tony almost lost his glass trying to stop. "I am going to speak with Director Fury and find out what has happened since we returned from Asgard." Stark grinned broadly. "I was hoping you would say that." Stark stepped around Steve and strode happily to the elevator. Turning back to Steve, he raised his eyebrow playfully. "Aren't you going to come see what I have for you?" Steve hesitantly followed the billionaire into the elevator.