Chapter Seventeen

Loki was like a blister. He just wouldn't go away. At least, when she wanted him to. It hurt like a bitch when she wanted to "doctor" him. He annoyed the crap out of her, but he deserved a little lovin' too.

He wasn't even here.

Darcy was getting sick and tired of him just whisking her away when he felt like it. The most current whisking away was away from him. Her thoughts hadn't changed. What did she do? They weren't exactly on bad ground. In fact, things were pretty good with the He-man and She-rah shit.

Other than Loki's mom, Darcy was pretty sure she was number two on his list of people that he actually liked. For the most part. The list was pretty short.

Jane's hair was still purple. The thought came out of nowhere and it was cool as hell.

But without Loki around to guide her, Darcy felt unsure. What if she hurt Jane? What if she did something stupid like give herself away to Nick Fury? God, the things he'd do to her in the name of science and the protection of mankind...being turned into a God was one of those things that Nick Fury was interested in.

Hell, what if she blew up half of New York?

She was still one hot, big ass and huge titted Goddess. And no one but Odin and Loki knew. Darcy grimaced. She was an unknown God in the midst of a people who dealt with them on a daily basis. Their reaction to her would be totally different.

Darcy propped her elbows on the gleaming metal table. Locked in the small room with a light glaring at her, she stared at her own reflection in the double sided window. Fury had seen it prudent to lock her up, in case she wasn't "herself". Her "you still owe me an upgraded Ipod" had changed that opinion.

Looking around, she wondered if she could crack the surrounding mirrored windows. She probably could. They were probably watching her like an insect on the other side.

"I see you." Darcy said and pointed at the reflective window. "And you and you and you..." She pointed in the other direction, her tone bored as she cupped her chin in the palm of her hand. It was almost like x-ray vision, except she couldn't see them. She just...knew. "And you, you psychotic control freak."

"How about you telling me why Loki is so interested in you, Miss Lewis? You're the least likely person any of us should be worry about."

That hurt her feelings. It actually hurt her feelings. Was she really so low on their radar?

They had Jane Foster. Why would Loki want her when he could have the scientist?

As much as she loved Jane, it was nice to be noticed. The noticing may have been done by Loki, but she'd been noticed. Loki didn't go around just teaching anyone his tricks.

"I don't know." Darcy said, hiding her snicker. "Maybe he gets a high from pissing you off. I sure do." She'd been interrogated before and it was still just as boring. She hadn't done anything wrong. She could just leave...

She could. These double sided windows wouldn't stand up to her. For once, she wasn't doing anything stupid.

That was a first for her, probably. Keep low tabs.

She twirled a random curl around her finger and popped her gum. "Can I go?" She asked, knowing the Director could hear her through the intercom on the ceiling.

"No."

He never had trusted her. She got a silent kick out of the fact that he trusted her even less now.

"Why?"

"Because Loki doesn't just take people in close contact with us."

Us. US as in people affiliated with Thor and Jane, with Nick Fury.

Darcy sighed and dropped her head onto the table. Nick Fury was a pain in the ass. He probably needed a good lay. She wouldn't have minded one of those herself. The last good one she'd had was in college. After college, she'd met Jane. After Jane, she'd met Thor. Thor had led to S.H.I.E.L.D and S.H.I.E.L.D was a good repellent against the opposite sex. When S.H.I.E.L.D did a background check, they checked everything...

Shit, no wonder she couldn't keep a boyfriend. What if Loki was her last chance, she whined mentally.

Short relationships were cool and all. They were easy to brush off. Sex was sex. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The relationship she had with Loki was radical. There was absolutely nothing sexual between them but...

But what?

Darcy winced. She was starting to like Loki. Like like Loki.

She finally lifted her head, staring at her own reflection. "Have I done anything wrong, Mr. Director?"

"Not yet, but you're on your way there." Nick Fury's voice came over the intercom.

His voice annoyed her. She wondered if she could do that silencing trick that Loki had used on her. Then again, she didn't want to permanently mute the man. It was so cool to be at the top of Fury's radar. It was starting to piss her off, though. "Don't think you have that right." She had rights, dammit. Legal rights.

S.H.I.E.L.D was good at messing up peoples rights.

"I have every right to keep your butt here until I see that you're not a threat."

"Me, a threat?" Darcy couldn't help herself. The only threat anyone perceived her as was...was...a no threat. "I know my rights, buddy." Little good they would do. But she had some new tricks up her sleeve. Still, it was worth a shot.

"I don't give a damn about law school." Nick Fury said and Darcy could hear that annoying rise in his tone.

She rolled her eyes.

"You're lying and I want to know why."

"What am I lying about?" Darcy prodded. He'd never cared about before. Aw, Nick Fury cared. That was kind of cute. Was it because he had a hard on for Loki the size of New York?

It boosted her ego. She was making Nick Fury's "fuck you" list.

Loki watched her berate and chide Nick Fury for his foolish questions. The chit was something to behold, directing the questions away from her with ones of her own. He wasn't here to make sure she kept her little new found secrets to herself. He was here because...

He was angry at himself.

He chided himself for his own foolish actions. There were many.

Like all the other times where Darcy was concerned, he found himself idly watching her. She could do a lot of considerable damage now if she wanted and while the thought pleased him, he'd rather she didn't. She had yet to grasp just how powerful she was, how powerful she could be, otherwise she would have recognized him on the other side of the glass.

It was a feat he did often, disguising himself among the mortals. He folded his arms. Not even Nick Fury recognized him in the guise of one of his own agents. They were all so easily fooled.

The truth was a simple one. He was here because he wanted to see how she held herself against Nick Fury. He'd known her for a short time. She'd been an annoyance upon first glance. But she was...underestimated.

He kept his facial expression solemn, the dense glasses hiding his green eyes. She sat there with all the lazy, refined glory of a God. Lazy, because that was a never ending part of who she was. She would have said differently.

She never once faltered under Fury's dictations and threats.

He rolled his eyes. As if Darcy was capable of terrorism.

She never faltered...she never showed just how much power she held over Fury.

No, he wasn't just here to watch her interrogation. He was angry with himself. He was angry with her.

"...ever played a trick on daddy?"

That was a sore subject for him. He had. Multiple times. His relationship with Odin was strained at best.

He admired Darcy for her bravery and cunning. She was different.

The fact that he felt guilt towards Darcy was enough to leave him uneasy. Guilt wasn't something he felt. He acted without remorse. He was a Trickster God. He did because he could.

Only when Nick Fury released Darcy did Loki let down his guard. He turned and followed Nick Fury down the hall before dropping the pathetic appearance and making a swift turn down the hall. Alone, he turned the knob to Darcy's room and slipped inside. With a single sweep of his hand he dismantled any listening devices or hidden cameras.

Fools, the lot of them.

He looked around at the still neat room. Books and scarves. He picked up the book he'd discarded before. Norse God Mythology. She'd shown him this once before and looking at it again, it was no more believable now than it was then.

Sigyn is the Goddess and wife of the trickster God, Loki. When Loki was young, he came to desire a wife and admired Sigyn from afar...

He read the words silently, his eyes moving over the crudely drawn images. Darcy had quoted the literature to him before. He'd always been a lover of books, but unease moved through him at the words. Sigyn.

Of all things...

He read further on and the unease deepened. Sigyn, described as Loki's wife, holds a basin under the dripping venom.

He closed the book and looked around the room once more. He didn't believe in coincidence. He believed in making his own fate. But what coincidence was this? He had no wife nor did he care for one.

He grimaced.

He placed the book back on the side table and his hand hovered over a discarded green scarf. He picked up the scarf and his thumb moved over the soft material. Her scent drafted up. It was true—he did admire Darcy. She'd shown him kindness in her own twisted way. They were alike in many ways.

He admired her.

Horror crossed his face and he dropped the scarf.