A/N- In the words of Loki himself "Ta dah!" Uber-long chapter, just for Christmas!

Chapter 19

"Loki?" She whispered after a minute, realising that the whole thing may have just been her wild imagination.

She held her breath and clasped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from shouting when he reappeared on the end of her bed, sitting there as if nothing had happened. Not just her imagination, then. She didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

But she did know she had subconsciously reached for the Taser on her bedside table, and had shot it at Loki, resulting in raised eyebrows as he pulled the electrodes from his chest.

She must've looked as if she was about to pass out because Loki reached out and took her hand hesitantly with a frown, watching the slow realisation dawn on her face.

"I hate ghosts." She said, staring blankly at him, dropping her Taser.

"You electrocute ghosts?" His voice was amused, but still as velvety and eloquent as she'd remembered that she almost forgot to be pissed at him. Almost.

"You're supposed to be dead!" She whispered furiously at him and batted away the hand covering hers. "Why are you not?!"

"It's like you actually want me to be dead…" Loki raised his eyebrows with a smirk. Darcy looked at him sharply, wiping the smile off his face in an instant.

"Uh. Sorry? That's what I expect when people burn alive! What even…?!"

"I can explain it all, Darcy. If you would just calm d-"

"Calm down?" She jumped to her feet and started pacing the small room. Damn, she wanted to scream at him, but then remembered the thin wall between her room and her parent's. Instead, she settled for furious whispering. "I'm supposed to calm down after you- a dead guy- happens to turn up in my room on Christmas Eve, months after you burnt alive in front of me? It might be common in Asgard, but not here!"

Loki leant back against her wall and sighed heavily.

"I faked my death."

Darcy stopped pacing and gestured for him to continue. "No shit…"

"I began to think about deceiving Forseti when I woke, after we talked of journeying to Jotunheim that night." He started, unsure of how he was going to break this lightly. "It was not without planning, or premeditation. My original plan was to dispose of Forseti when he was at his weakest. Victory would likely be his most vulnerable time, so I let him think that he had eradicated me, as so to find his henchmen and, eventually, him. Though, as it turns out, in the end I only had to search for his men, as you did the rest. There were few. The 'army' he boasted was small and made up of thieves and disgraced warriors."

Darcy was disappointed; Loki could see it in her expression. He leant forward again- she saw him bat his long lashes at her.

"I did not mean to deceive you."

"Ha!" She couldn't believe how much shit he was spewing. He was the God of Lies; of course he had meant to deceive her.

"Yeah, you did. I'm not angry you did that, honestly." Her tone suggested otherwise. "It was a great plan and all but y'know… when I came into the mix, you might've wanted to spare me the luxury of watching you barbeque yourself and facing me with a psycho God!"

"You… did well. My task was made easier, I admit."

Darcy scoffed. That was as much an insult as a compliment, and she reached her hand out to him, sending it cracking across his face. He reeled back in surprise.

"I spent weeks flinching away from anything resembling a goddamn flame, Loki. I had nightmares of you burning, of me killing Forseti! I still do! I did anything but well."

Loki's surprise quickly turned to anger as he stood up and towered over her. She'd forgotten how tall he was stood next to her, or how his expression could turn from apologetic to furious within seconds.

"I did it for you!" He whispered furiously through his teeth, his voice straining.

She gulped visibly, seeing a glimpse of 'New-York-Loki' before he deflated and sat down on her bed.

Darcy shifted away from him, her mind processing the words he had just said. He did it for me? Silently, she knew damn well that the first person he could've thought about in this situation was himself, but part of her felt uneasy, wanting to forgive him completely, to file his actions under what she wanted to call love. But he wasn't exactly vocal about the situation- after all, what had he said to her since she'd met him? Sure, the actions said that he cared, but they were too busy fighting death or trying to cop a feel to actually have 'the talk'.

"I am…sorry." He apologised, looking down at his hands. Darcy was surprised to see him look so dejected. "I didn't factor your… intrusion into the equation. Or the lasting effects."

"Well, yeah. That intrusion was me trying to save your life, jerk. I thought you were doing the noble thing- giving yourself up. Being stupid."

Loki's eyebrows rose, seemingly amused by her outburst, a smile playing on his lips. The jerk was actually happy she had risked her life trying to save his, and even thankful (though Darcy knew he'd never say it).

"You think me noble?"

Darcy ignored him. "Does Asgard know you're alive?"

"No." Loki's answer was short.

"Must've been a hell of a fake death to make even Odin believe." Darcy considered.

"I had help from my daughter, Hel."

Darcy's eyes widened. Of course he had a daughter. He'd been alive for a bazillion years, naturally he'd have got laid looking the way he does. She decided not to press it, and filed the 'daughter' questions under 'ask-another-time'.

"Uh. Okay. But what about Heimdude-"

"He cannot see me, for the moment. I have used my magic to conceal my whereabouts. I will go back when my mother awakens."

"Oh, shit. Yeah, she's in that sleep thing, right?"

"Yes, I visited her before I came here. It may take her months to wake."

Darcy narrowed her eyes. "Listen, I'm sympathetic about everything that's happened, but I don't need the ghost of goddamn Christmas past here. Christmas is family time and the last thing we need is a non-dead-super-villain attending Christmas dinner."

Loki looked hurt for a second before he covered it up with a smirk. "I hadn't realised you hold such Christian values."

"Ha ha." She said sarcastically. "Christmas is usually Christmas whether or not you're… religiously inclined. Well, in my household, anyway. Pretty sure my mom's family used to be Jewish or something…"

He picked her iPod up from her bed and examined it carefully. "I hear religion is the reason Odin has a subtle, but deep hatred for your race. It was a transitional phase. Midgardians used to worship him, and as generations passed, individuals found other deities, other Gods. Odin and his father were, for the most part, ignored."

"Yeah, well Odin is known to be a dick. He threw me out of Asgard." She shrugged. "Just like I'm about to be a dick and throw you out of my house in a sec…"

Darcy's threat fell short, as Loki gave her look that read 'I'd like to see you try', as he dropped her iPod on the bed.

"What am I to do, then?"

Darcy sighed heavily. "I'm not your babysitter, Loki."

"Fine. Then should I travel to New York and continue my unfinished reign of terror?"

Darcy looked panicked for a moment, until she saw Loki smile, his eyes crinkling as he looked fondly at her. She exhaled in relief. "Not funny."

"Am I forgiven?"

"For what? New York? Turning me Aesir? Faking your death? That 'joke'?"

"It seems I have a lot to atone for."

"Yup."

"And how would I go about being redeemed?"

Darcy pinched the top of her nose and closed her eyes. She was starting to get a headache from this conversation already. When she opened her eyes, Loki was looking at her intently, mischief in his eyes and a perfect smile playing on his lips.

"Are you flirting with me right now?" She laughed.

Loki trailed his fingers up her bare arm and smirked, silent.

"May I speak bluntly?"

"Go ahead. I always do."

"I need to have you. Just once. I cannot stop this… coming back to you, thinking of you when I should be planning better things. You've succeeded in bringing me down to the level of sentimentality. I think if I-"

"Bang it out?" Darcy tried to stifle her giggles with her duvet cover, but Loki pulled them down with a scowl. Oh god, the 'talk' was here… Darcy hid her disappointment of a one-time thing with humour and childishness. Did she even want to go further with this man/God/whiny-pouty man-baby?

"I am being honest here, Darcy."

"And I'm being brash, I know." Darcy tried (and failed) to hide her surprise at being Loki's sentimental weakness. She brushed it back with the feeling that Loki was likely to bang it out and leave forever anyway. She figured the citizens of Asgard would probably give her a reward, or erect a statue in her honour. Play it cool, Lewis.

"So you want to… you know, 'do the do' with me and you'll leave me alone?"

"Is that what you desire? To be left alone?"

"I dunno." Darcy shrugged. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Loki, of all people. "Depends how good the sex is, I suppose." She laughed, hating the words coming out of her mouth. Her imagination ran out of control at this point, her mind picturing his long fingers trailing up the insides of her thighs, his soft lips kissing her neck, her hands balled in his black hair —Holy shit, she needed to stop this before she jumped him right then, her parents just next door. Loki's annoyed voice woke her from her daydream.

"You're not taking this seriously."

"Have you even met me, Loki?" Darcy rolled her eyes at him. "I never take anything seriously. Well, aside from death, which apparently I take pretty badly."

"You mourned me?"

Darcy pressed her lips together tightly. Shit.

"Um. Yeah. Apparently, there's something about watching a guy burn alive in front of you that messes you up."

Her tone was light, joking, but her body felt heavy. She knew it was an act, but her mind replayed the moment when she'd stabbed Forseti over and over in her grief, and she shuddered.

Loki looked at her tenderly before leaning over and pressing his lips to hers lightly.

"I have apologised numerous times for that."

"I know. I'm… glad you're alive." She returned the kiss with a little more pressure, her arms twining around his neck, resting on his shoulders. The moment seemed too tender to be spent with Loki, she thought idly, but her mind brought back memories of him in Asgard, and how he'd touched her with such caution and tameness.

"But it's going on Facebook that you're all romantic and tender and shit."

"What?" He drew away from her embrace and scowled.

"I'm kidding. Kidding." She laughed. "Listen. Just go to Puerto Antigua-" She saw the blank look that registered no recognition of the place. "Dude. The place you destroyed with a giant robot transformer."

Ah. Recognition dawned in his eyes and Darcy could've sworn she saw guilt in his expression.

"And do what?"

"Go to Jane's lab. 1001. Can't miss it. Wait for me to come back. I'll only be a couple of days."

Loki looked saddened by this, and Darcy squinted at him, confused.

"Don't give me those puppy dog eyes. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me is that, despite my rationality, I expected to find you here, welcoming me with open arms. Instead you're sending me away."

She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "You're anything but rational, Lokes."

"Lokes?"

"Yeah. Sounds nicer, don't ya think?"

"No."

A moment of silence passed between them before Darcy continued in a small whisper.

"Anyway. Are you… okay?"

"I am... adequate. I believe it should be me asking if you are okay. You look tired."

"I am also… adequate." She mocked his tone, smiling.

Loki reached out between them to kiss Darcy's cheek softly. She gladly leaned in, inhaling the familiar scent of him. She rested her head on his chest for a moment, hearing his heartbeat through the layers of metal and leather.

"I do regret that even on my best behaviour, I manage to attract some sort of trouble."

Darcy laughed. "Trouble is an understatement." She checked her mobile and sighed. "Look, it's late. We'll talk when I get back. Help yourself to the Cheerios in the cupboard if you get peckish, but the Lucky Charms are mine, kay?"

"And when you return…"

Loki had a strange look in his expression that Darcy couldn't quite place, until she realised what he was hinting. Before she managed to reply, he vanished without a word, leaving Darcy to sink down into her pillows, trying to process everything that had just happened.

Christmas Day

"That was amazing." Darcy leant back in her chair and belched after devouring every scrap of food on her plate, to her parent's amazement. She got up and helped her mom with the washing up, finding a reason to leave the table. Her grandma kept leaning over the table and asking her awkward questions, like, 'when are you getting married/having kids?' Naturally, even entertaining that idea was not idyllic for Darcy right now, seeing as the closest thing she had to a boyfriend was a reformed super-villain God (and even that wasn't close…)

She settled for drying the dishes beside her mom instead, who usually avoided those kinds of topics.

"You've been eating okay, haven't you?" Her mom said as she placed a pan in the drying rack.

Darcy pulled a face. She'd been living off of cereals and take-out food for the past few months, and so real food had been a novelty.

"Well, you know Jane. She loves to cook." She lied, looking down at the plate she was drying with the ultimate interest.

"Where is that Jane Foster? We wouldn't mind meeting the scientist employing you, you know."

Darcy shrugged. "I'm not gonna be working for her now…" She decided to tell her mom of the new development in her life, which for once, was the truth. "I've bagged a job with Stark. Not high up, like, sorting and filing stuff. But it makes a change. Jane got married and she's… well, she's thinking about other things right now."

Her mom gave her an understanding look. "That happens, I guess." Her face broke out in a smile. "But Stark Industries? That's amazing, Darce!"

Darcy smiled. "I know, right?"

Well, she hadn't exactly scored the job by her hard work, though there was a lot of that happening (mostly in the past). Jane's idea of a good send-off was a job transfer, which she'd only found out when SHIELD emailed her with a job offer citing Jane as the reason. She failed to mention that in Asgard. She supposed with everything that had happened, it wasn't exactly on the top of her list.

She wasn't sure it was a good idea, but those SHIELD guys apparently paid her rent at the lab (another happy surprise), so she felt as though she had to give something back to the community, before she was booted out completely. She wasn't exactly delighted to be working for an uber-secret service (which was so secret she had to lie and tell her parents she had a job at Stark Industries as per their instructions), but it kept her mind off other things.

"So when do you start?"

"Umm-"

Her reply was cut short by the doorbell. Darcy set the dry plate on the worktop, and grinned. "Probably carollers. I'll get it."

It definitely wasn't carollers.

A/N- Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Loki's back! And determined. Hope that explanation was enough for you, but the important thing is that our favourite trickster God is back! Thank you so much for giving me such amazing and enthusiastic reviews- keeps me writing despite not really having the time to ;) Thanks to those who follow and favourite as well- so glad you read and enjoyed this fic!

Have a great holiday, guys, wherever you are, and see you in the New Year!