Author's Note: So, we passed 10,000 views :D I'm so glad and I'm also so very happy about the reviews, follows and favourites, thank you ALL.

Replies to reviews:

TheIronBat: I have a love-hate relationship with the chapters that make heartstrings tug; I feel slightly bad for the readers when that happens haha. I LOVE HAPPY THOR. Happy Thor rocks:D I'm you like all of that intense stuff, I was scared it wouldn't go down well but it did! Thanks so much for the review, and for reviewing every chapter! It truly made my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

KAYKAY22PRINCESS: Hey, you! Thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter too!

Queen Martha Pond: Thank you so much! I'm so relieved to hear that you liked the angsty parts. (between you and me I can't promise it wont happen again; if I get in the mood for it, I might just cry buckets of angst into this story. Thanks so much for taking the time to review, you're one of my faithful reviewers and I'm so glad about it :) I hope you like this chapter!

TriggerHarpy: Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad to hear I didn't go wrong by making it so serious all of a sudden. I really hope you enjoy this chapter too!

LilliannaStone: Oooh, I'm glad to hear this! I know my story is part crack, but I wanted it that way because I wanted this to be a lighthearted fic. At the same time, I want to be at least a little realistic and I think I achieved that somewhat in the last chapter. Thanks so much for your review, I hope you enjoy this next chapter too!

aqua-empress: Hey there! I'm glad you like the fic. Yes, I know exactly what you mean, this fic has about much depth as a saucer of water but it is kind of what I chose to do anyway. I know it's heavy stuff, Loki and his tragedy, but I was so determined to give him some happiness I chose to skim over all the dramatic, heavy, cruel stuff. I am super aware the fic gets really childish at times lol. Thanks so much for your review, I love it when I get honest opinions and constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Crystal12: Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! I hope you enjoy this next chapter too!

Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Natasha POV

Natasha fidgeted in her sick bay bed as Bruce reattached her sling. She had been out and about for the better part of the week but then a run in with a villain had left her with a pulled muscle, a broken sling and a very cross Captain America who grounded her and put her in the sick bay with Loki.

She didn't know what was making her more uncomfortable - the sling itself, the fact that she had been all but strapped to her bed for three days or the fact that Loki was in the bed opposite her. He was certainly not the best roommate in the world. Sure, he was quiet but he was hardly ever more than icily cordial to any of the Avengers except maybe Thor and Louie.

He snapped at Tony (who loved it), stayed well away from Clint, hovered around Bruce warily and all but ignored her. Only Steve managed to stay on his good side, although that wasn't surprising; everyone was nice to Steve.

He was still ignoring her and although it was relieving at first, Natasha began to get bored. She was observant by nature and now that she had time to sit and see, she could observe many things.

Loki had nightmares. She was a light sleeper and had had her own fair share of bad dreams but Loki's seemed to surpass her on extreme levels.

She could hear him sometimes, jerking awake on the middle of the night. When she woke up in the morning he was always awake. An early riser he may claim to be but Natasha guessed he just never went back to sleep.

"You're staring," he snapped and she twitched, caught when she realised he was talking to Louie.

"You're in such a shitty mood today," Louie tutted loudly. "Keep it up and your face will freeze that way."

"But I'm bored," he whined, "I've seen enough of the interior of this room to last me ten lifetimes."

"Well, that's too bad because you and I both know you're not leaving until you're feeling better."

Loki set his lips in a thin line and Natasha and Bruce watched as a tendril of green magic curled through the air at Louie. She eyed it warily as it hit her hair. Within a second it had turned her long mane a bright, electric blue.

Louie gave her new do a critical look before shrugging and flipping it over her shoulder.

"I've always wanted to go blue," she said. "All you did was save me three boxes' worth hair dye and a trip to the salon." Loki scowled and Louie picked up her novels and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Loki grumbled. Louie gave him a look that had Natasha herself wincing.

"You just pointed all of your anger at innocent old me. Friends don't do that to each other. Neither do they hide things that are worrying them." This had been going on for about all the time Loki had been in the sick bay, according to Bruce. Whenever Loki tried to act like an angst-ridden teenager, Louie either ignored him or left in peace. Natasha suspected that it was because Louie was onto him and his act. Unless he genuinely was upset about something, Louie never rose to his bait.

"I'm not worried," said Loki flippantly. Louie snorted.

"Oh, please, Loki, I just spent a week attached to your brain. You're worried." She hefted her books onto one arm, balancing them on her hip.

"I'm going to go finish some reports. When you're in a better mood I'll be back. Later Brucie, Nat!" she called as she left the bay. Bruce let out a little snort of amusement.

"I think she just gave Loki a time out." Natasha shook her head, smiling.

"Well, he does behave like a six year old throwing a tantrum in a supermarket."

"He is right here and he can hear every word you're saying," said Loki, folding his arms and huddling in his bed in a full blown sulk.

"Why don't you just tell her about the nightmares?" Natasha asked casually. Bruce groaned quietly under his breath. Loki stiffened.

"I'm... uh, I'm going to go get this – thing – now, okay –," said Bruce beating a hasty retreat.

"That is what's on your mind, right?"

"And what's it to you agent Romanoff?" asked Loki sitting up and eyeing her coolly. She folded her arms, not backing down.

"All she's trying to do is help you. You just keep pushing her away, even after she practically slapped that fact that she's your friend into your thick Norse skull. I think you're laying on the hostility a little too thick, don't you?" Insults were never the way to go with Loki; he tensed even more.

"My ledger is also red, Agent. Tell me, do you tell Barton about the nightmares that plague you?" Natasha bit her lip, her own nightly horrors flashing before her eyes.

"Exactly," Loki smiled cruelly. "I'm just sparing Louie the pain." Natasha grinned.

"Actually, I never said I wasn't telling him anything. You should really stop assuming things about me."

Loki blinked. "What?"

"I tell Clint everything," Natasha chuckled. "And you just admitted something. You just said that you keep things from Louie to spare her the pain." Loki's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

"That is – I mean –," he broke off looking flustered and Natasha outright laughed.

"Cat got your silver tongue?" she asked, amused. Loki twirled his finger in a circle, eyeing her hair menacingly.

"Don't you dare," she warned, "I still have a gun on me." That threw Loki off.

"Where?" he asked, looking perturbed. Natasha merely threw him a smirk that usually scared people out of their wits. Loki too looked slightly wary.

"You shouldn't keep things from her," Natasha said, "that's not how a partnership works."

"I do what I want," muttered Loki half heartedly. He worried his lip with his teeth and they spent a few minutes in quiet silence.

"Did you wipe it out?" he asked finally.

"Wipe what out?" asked Natasha. She met his gaze head on, surprised to find emerald eyes blazing.

"All that red?" Natasha would have been annoyed, angry even at the taunt but Loki's eyes held a frantic sort of quality that made her pause and think. It wasn't even a proper attempt at a taunt - as far as Loki went, it was pretty pathetic. Underneath the half-assed jab, real curiousity lay, lurking out of sight.

He really wanted to know, Natasha realized with a jolt and he wanted to know because he wanted to learn how.

Natasha smiled, a genuine, shadow-less one, and sat up.

"I made a different call," she said.

"But how? How could you do it so easily?" Loki was staring at her like she was the most important thing in the world. She had seen some of the new SHIELD recruits look at her this way sometimes when she told them (part) of her story of redemption, the ones who had been through hard times, the ones who wanted to know how to make right really badly and desperately needed a guide to show them how.

"It wasn't easy. You and I both know my past is as bloody as yours. If we make a ratio of lifespan to number of kills, I might even beat you. But I was given a second chance and I took it." Natasha shook her head sighing.

"Before the Avengers," she said, a sad smile now gracing her lips, "the only person who trusted me was Clint. Nobody else in SHIELD did, unless you counted the higher-ups like Fury. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to win their trust. It wasn't. Nobody even liked me. But I clung to my second chance with all I had and now look where I am." Loki stared at her, emotions racing past in his dark eyes.

"I have done unforgivable things," he whispered.

Natasha cocked her head. "Yeah, but so have I. It began to chance when I began to regret. Do you regret your actions?" She watched with bated breath as the god thought about it.

"Some," he whispered finally. "Yes." Unconsciously his hand strayed to his chest, rubbing it gently and Natasha didn't need to know what regrets he was talking about.

There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Hey there," said Clint, strolling in and hopping onto the foot of Natasha's bed. Loki sat back in his own bed, eyeing him warily.

"Bruce says he's letting the both of you go," said Clint, talking to Natasha but loud enough for the Loki to hear.

"Excellent," she said swinging her legs off the bed. "I feel the need for a nice, long bath." She nodded to Loki who was edging out of bed carefully, wincing as he did so and hooked her good arm around Clint's.

"And you're going to help me," she said to the archer.

"I like the sound of that."

Over her shoulder she shot Loki one last glance, feeling much warmer towards the demigod that she ever had. She was beginning to understand what light Tony had seen in the darkness that was the god of Lies. She saw her own demons within him and that made her stop and think twice about him. Maybe this was the reason Tony and Bruce had so willingly accepted Loki into their folds.

The god felt remorse, this much Natasha knew. He had acted bravely, a feat worth of Thor and his stupidly bold courage. It was an act Natasha felt made him personally worthy to start a different path.

And Natasha felt that irrespective of what he had done, what he had done to Clint, she could maybe help him on that path.

She sighed quietly in contentment as her warring thoughts finally reached an acceptable conclusion. She was on team Loki, then. Damn. She chuckled to herself and then winced at the thought of explaining this to Clint.

Louie POV

I cocked my gun, exhaling like I'd seen the soldier do and released a bullet.

Slightly off the mark but at least I managed to hit the target this time.

Putting the gun away on the wall where it belonged, I flexed my fingers. I didn't want to call my magic to me, not today. After days of having Loki attached like a leech to my arm, I wasn't sure I was ready for that.

"Is there a reason there are books at the doorway?" an amused voice asked. Steve sauntered in, hands in his pockets.

He was eyeing his punching bag as he did and I could tell he wanted to have a go at it.

I shrugged. "I got distracted."

"By a gun, huh?" Steve hummed critically. "Is something wrong Louie?" He was watching me closely.

Just like your daddy.

I rolled my eyes.

"You and Tony are both the same, you know that?" I reprimanded him. "I'm fine. A little tired, but fine."

"Any reason your hair is blue?" he asked. I snorted.

"You like?" I asked, flipping it and batting my eyelashes. Steve wisely chose not to answer. Steve twiddled his thumbs.

"I came to tell you Loki and Nat were released today."

"Oh, that's excellent," I beamed, before frowning shrewdly. "And Jarvis couldn't have told me this?" Steve looked away guiltily.

"I may have needed someone to talk to." I snapped to attention. Steve wasn't the type of person to open up about his problems easily. As the leader of the Avengers he seemed to be under the impression he had to hold it together for everyone else's sake so as nice as he was, he rarely ever opened up to people.

"I'm listening," I said carefully. Steve sighed.

"D'you want to spar, maybe?"

Steve POV

Steve was in this new world, first and foremost not what people would assume. He was not first Captain America. He was first a stranger out of time.

As a soldier, he was always adamant on having a routine of some sort. Routine meant organization, organization meant sanity. But the new world was so big and at the same time smaller, making it difficult for him to fit it into his routine. It was confusing and distressing, to say the least.

There were days on which it was unbearable and days on which he forgot that he was out of place here. Stark Tower had helped on those days because Stark Tower was the best of both worlds. It had not always been so. There had been a time when all Stark Tower did was remind him of how much the world had advanced in his absence and how much he had not learnt and how much he had to learn.

Then Loki had come to them and suddenly, the tower that had once been just a resting spot for most of the Avengers became the common ground they trod on. United and wary against a common enemy, the Tower that was once just him, Tony Bruce and Pepper had expanded to hold Clint and Natasha, Loki and Louie, Thor, Jane and Darcy.

And that meant he wasn't the only one unfamiliar with the modern world. Thor had the same qualms he did and it often fell to Darcy to explain everything to them, bit by bit. Even Loki had his troubles once in a while but he was surprisingly efficient at navigating his way around most electronic things.

During the first few weeks, before Loki's trial, Stark Tower had been hell to live in. Squabbles broke out everywhere and Steve took to leaving the Tower, going out on runs more often, going to museums, doing anything he possibly could to just get away.

But as the days dragged on, things began to change. Loki became less and less of an outright hostile towards them, even on occasion volunteering to spar with them or teach them a handy trick. Not graciously, mind you, he still looked down on the rest of them like they were something nasty he'd found on the underside of his boot, but even that began to change.

Steve was cautious around the Asgardian and he still wouldn't trust him to go out on a mission or didn't put it past him to conjure up some villainous plan and make their heads explode before running.

But Loki became less tense, less angry at the world and Steve began suspecting that the aloof act was all really an act.

On occasion, Steve helped him navigate his way through seven hundred channels on the television (Steve really missed the days when it was just one channel) and then Loki would deign to watch something they both enjoyed. (Such as the Disney channel. Say what you want, but Olaf was a real cute little fella).

Then, after what happened with Pepper and Darcy, Steve was beginning to think there was more to Loki than they had all assumed. Trust was difficult to give, but Natasha, Natasha, of all people had spoken up for him at the exclusive Avengers meeting they had yesterday. Her arm was in a cast but it made her no less impressive after her statement.

"Loki, he's changing. He's not at a place where I can say he's trustworthy just yet but he's on the way. How can I be sure you may ask? I see myself in him." She looked straight at Clint as she said that last bit. Steve didn't know much about Natasha but he could safely say that if a woman like her trusted Loki then he would at least try to do the same.

She kind of reminded him of Peggy at that moment, all business and no nonsense.

Nevertheless it was safe to say that what once had been all-out animosity between them and Loki was not now as it was before. Sure, Clint still liked to twirl an arrow when they were in the same room together but beyond being slightly wary, they had gotten accustomed to Loki's presence in the building. Even some of the office staff on the uppermost floors had gotten used to him; enough to not have a panic attack whenever his person slid down the elevator.

However, it wasn't like they were well on the road to healing and redemption. Loki, unlike Thor wasn't friendly and jovial. He was quiet, the introvert and Steve rather suspected this to have come from years of being by Thor's side. He had a sudden mental image of himself being at Bucky's side, silent and shy as his friend worked his charm on the ladies.

Loki certainly had a quiet persona around him that screamed of years being the silent right hand man and it simply didn't occur to the god to be friendlier because Steve could tell that that was Thor's job. Loki was damage control, the additional cherry on top, the final nail in the coffin to seal the deal. He was, Steve could tell, not doing this silent thing on purpose. It was simply his nature to let Thor take the lead and so he did. Steve could see the routine between the brothers. Loki almost always stepped back in relief letting Thor do the talking for him, if he so required. Which was funny, considering how Thor wasn't the one they called Silvertongue.

So, Steve supposed, if Loki was more cordial maybe he'd garner more friendly faces. But that wasn't happening anytime soon, if the current state of I-Am-Above-You-All did not end.

Steve put thoughts of Loki aside and smiled at Darcy who was making her way to him on the sofa.

"How are you?" he asked. Both Pepper and Darcy had been treated separately from Loki and Natasha, by an actual doctor, not Bruce, because explaining their problem would have been easier than explaining Loki and Natasha's existence on Earth.

Darcy waved her heavily bandaged arm in front of his face.

"Except for this thing? Perfectly fine. But I can't wash my hair properly without getting it wet, so that sucks. I have something for you."

"Oh?" Steve asked. Darcy tucked a curl behind her ears shyly.

"I know you're taste in music isn't like mine, so I've been doing some research." She perched on the sofa next to him and handed him a pair of earphones. She connected them and her own to her iPod with a little gadget, taking care to explaining to Steve that it was a double headed jack for two earphones to be plugged into.

"So, I did some research," she said, "and I looked into songs from seventy years ago until now and their all in chronological order. I tried to go for songs that I thought would be to your taste but if there's something that stands out in American pop culture like a sore thumb, I put that in too."

Steve felt a sudden rush of affection for the young woman. Darcy wasn't superhuman or magical or a genius like Tony but she was brave and she was caring and Steve found himself drawing a parallel between her and Peggy too.

It was pure wit and brains and an openhearted friendliness that played in Darcy's favour. She couldn't get him the latest technology around or know how to conduct an experiment on whether he was immune to a certain virus or not or fight with him so he could let off some steam but she was special. She was kind and she did the little things instead. Darcy told him how to operate the toaster, how to get to the best coffee shop in the city and back around New York. She would stay up at night, reading manuals and information on the internet to explain to him exactly how this or that worked.

And now she was telling him about music, and to make it all the more easy for him she'd gone to lengths to make sure it was music he'd like. It was simple and sweet and totally Darcy-like.

So he did something utterly unexpected, utterly out of routine. Steve sidled closer to Darcy and hesitantly put his arm around her, watching her expectantly.

Unfortunately Darcy didn't do anything much about it. She simple fiddled with the iPod and beamed, and music played softly in his ears.

"So this is – Steve? What's wrong?"

He shook his head, feeling slightly out of sorts. He was being stupid, again. This was the twenty first century, and he - he wasn't doing anything here that made Darcy believe he had any intention of going anywhere with this. Was he even going anywhere with this? What did this mean? That he was ready to get into the dating scene again? How could he, when in this time and century, people's idea of a relationship consisted of a speed he wasn't ready for and as with all things, was something he was too outdated at?

"Steve?" Darcy looked slightly worried; her glasses perched on her nose and only one ear bud in.

Steve kissed her.

Louie stumbled back, slipped and landed on her behind.

"You what?" she asked, looking utterly shocked. Steve sighed and sat down, crossing his legs.

"It was stupid, I know," he said burying his face in his hands, "I think I completely misread the situation, God, I was mortified."

"Steve, no, wait," a smile was spreading across her face, "no, this is good, Steve, wow, I mean – wait, was that your first kiss? Since you've been unfrozen?"

"Why does everyone assume this?" he complained. "No, no it wasn't. I had to kiss Natasha on a mission too, once."

"Oh, yeah," said Louie nodding, "I remember her telling us that."

"Us?" Steve asked, momentarily distracted. "Who are 'us'?"

Louie shrugged, "all the girls."

"Including Darcy?" Steve asked wincing. Louie scrunched up her nose.

"Yep." Steve groaned, burying his face in his hands again.

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Steve," Louie was grinning again, he could hear the smile in her voice, "Steve, why is this a bad thing? You took an initiative. You should be, I dunno, going and telling Tony and bro-fisting or something."

Steve sighed.

"Let me finish."

"N-no, it's okay," Darcy was going red, eyes wide. Steve ran a hand through his hair. Images were flashing through his head, Peggy, Bucky, Peggy, the crash, over and over and unconsciously he shuddered.

"This is not right, this," he gestured weakly, "I shouldn't have done it. You – you might be having a boyfriend for all I know, and wow, I don't, this was a mistake, I'm sorry."

She didn't have a boyfriend, he knew this for sure. Darcy had shared a lot of titbits about her family and life with him during the time they'd spent together. She was open to telling him ordinary details, something he greatly enjoyed because he felt like he was living a few normal moments in a normal person's life. He was sure a boyfriend would have come up if there was one.

"That was terrible," he shook his head, "I assumed – and Peggy – I'm sorry, God, I'm still terrible at this."

Louie stared. And stared. And stared.

"And you just left?" she asked incredulously. Steve shrugged miserably.

"She got real snappy after that and I thought it would be best."

"Oh my –," Louie smacked her forehead, very, very hard. "Steve. She likes you. That was just Darcy's way of covering up the fact that she was hurt."

"I – what?"

"And you mentioned Peggy?" Louie shook her head sympathetically. "Steve, Steve, Steve of course she would be snappy at you, you mentioned your old love interest, after kissing her."

"How was I supposed to know that wasn't right?" cried Steve. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Peggy was chastising him.

You still don't know a bloody thing about women.

"Aren't you supposed to be the gentlemanly one?" Louie shot back. "Oh no, and you said that was terrible? Well done Captain, you just said she was a bad kisser, what happened had no chance of going anywhere and you mentioned and old girlfriend in a way that definitely left her thinking you're still hung up on her. Nice. Very nice."

Steve had the grace to look ashamed.

"I didn't mean it," he said in a small voice, "I just, I panicked." Louie glared at him before sighing softly, her eyes warm.

"Okay, stop, you look like someone just shot your puppy." Steve didn't feel very much better. Louie sighed once more.

"Steve, what's this all about?" Steve scratched his head tiredly.

"I do have, feelings for Darcy," he admitted, "but we're so different. She doesn't exactly match up with me on life experience, you know. Nobody does" Louie snorted, amused.

"And you think Jane matches Thor's life experience? Steve, I think you're just looking for an excuse to hold yourself back." Steve winced.

It was true, he supposed, but would he really be doing the right thing to start something he might not be able to finish? His future was riddled with danger and uncertainty. Would it really be fair to do something like this, to emotionally compromise another person and to burden them with, well, him? He told Louie so.

Louie tapped her chin.

"You soldier types are always real masochists, aren't you?"

"It comes with the job, I guess," said Steve wryly. Louie shook her head.

"I don't understand why you're being so harsh on yourself, I don't expect you to tell me why but there is a reason, don't deny it," she added as he opened his mouth to protest, "but you can't keep it bottled up and you can't deny yourself any happiness. You've been though hell and back and well, I think you can stop and catch your breath now.

"Or what were you planning to do, spend the rest of your life alone? Don't be stupid, Steve; this is the twenty-first century. Sooner or later you'll be hounded by crazy fan girls." Steve had to laugh at that and he felt himself go red.

Louie's eyes widened.

"Oh its already happening isn't it? My God, they move fast." Steve flicked her gently on the nose, feeling a little better. There was a lot of tough truth in what Louie said but for the first time he wasn't feeling so blue about his… situation.

"There is nothing wrong with what you want Steve," said Louie gently, "it's natural and Darcy is a great girl. She can understand and take in stride more than most girls could about you. She wouldn't be sticking around if she couldn't handle it."

"So, what do I do?" Steve asked desperately. "It was a huge misunderstanding and Darcy, well; she has her taser on her." Louie shrugged.

"You grovel, you idiot, that's what you do. You take her some flowers and you explain exactly why you did what you did and then take her out somewhere, to the movies maybe. And hey, Valentine's Day is around the corner, so plan something special. You do want to date her, right?" Steve nodded.

"Of course," he said a little indignantly, "I don't string women along."

"I believe you. Well anyway, it's about damn time you came around. Make sure you express very clearly that you are quite over Peggy, you hear me? Steve, you don't have to write this dow – oh fine, you know what, yeah, take notes. Maybe you can go share them with the class sometime."

As he wrote, he felt Louie's eyes on him.

"So, who was Peggy anyway?" she asked curiously. Steve fidgeted and smiled, that old, sad ache coming into his heart.

"She was my girl, back then. She was funny, and strong and brave and determined. A real feminist."

"What happened to her?" The ache grew.

"She lived her life, Louie. She got married, she had a family. She had her happiness. She's still alive," he added, answering her unspoken question. "I went to see her once. She – she has dementia." Louie's eyes filled with sadness.

"Oh, Steve," she said quietly, "I'm sorry."

She really was, Steve realized. She was sorry, sorry for his misfortune, sorry for his pain. Steve shook his head.

"Peggy would've wanted this. She wants me to live my life."

"And you should." A warm hand clasped his. "You deserve a chance at happiness. You do." Steve nodded, finally able to sit straight and relax.

"I do, don't I?" Louie nodded firmly.

"Now go get her, champ."

Darcy POV

Darcy needed ice cream. A lot of ice cream. Dragging herself to the freezer she pulled out the nearest thing and flung herself in front of the TV

She finished the tub halfway through in one go, miserable and more than slightly let down because damn she thought she'd had a chance with Steve Rogers. In Darcy's head, Steve was a normal guy who was a little lost. Captain America was a star spangled patriot who drank the essence of America for breakfast and represented all that was good in the world. Darcy liked Captain America but she liked Steve.

But clearly, Steve was taken. She should have known the man was still emotionally unavailable.

Darcy nursed her melting Chocolate Swirl, letting out a big sigh.

"Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid."

Someone cleared their throat. Darcy looked up, wide eyed, to see a sheepish Steve holding what seemed to be half a flower shop and a balloon that said 'I'm sorry'.

"I think it speaks for itself," said Steve, noticing her looking. She dumbly took it and the flowers as Steve shuffled his feet slightly in front of her.

"I think you deserve an explanation," he said, hanging his head and looking very much like a little boy caught doing something wrong. "You have to understand, no, you do understand, that I feel so out of place in this world. When I was making a complete idiot out of myself before it was because I was unsure how to – to proceed here. Dating back then was pretty different from what it is now, and I was worried I was doing something wrong. It doesn't really help that my experience with women is nil.

"I was at war with myself about this, because I do want this, with you but I'm not really sure how or what I'm supposed to do. It was a moment in which I panicked but that doesn't mean I regret what I did and I'm willing to try if you are." Darcy felt a little tug in her heart. Steve spoke so earnestly that she believed him.

"Oh, and for the record," he added, "I'm way over Peggy. She lived her life, she moved on and so have I and you're a very good kisser and would you go to the movies with me, Darcy?"

Darcy couldn't help but smile.

"I'd love to, Steve," she replied.

Loki POV

Loki walked quietly towards the library, his steps small and calculated so that he wouldn't get tired too soon. Once he made it to the kitchen however, he halted and spun around, backing away swiftly and silently.

A hand pressed into the small of his back and he jumped.

"Are they in there?" whispered Louie, eyes shining.

"If you're talking about Captain Rogers and Miss Lewis, yes, they are but I do not think you should go in there."

"Why?" asked Louie, moving forward to take a look. "Oh, right." She grabbed his wrist.

"Come on; let's go up to the rooftop. Give them a little privacy."

"But the library is through there," Loki complained.

"Yes, but I'm trying to play matchmaker and it's working." Loki pretended to sulk.

"But the rooftop bores me." Louie rolled her eyes.

"Well, what would you rather do?" she asked. Her smallest finger hooked on his and she swung their hands amiably. Loki shrugged, falling into an easy pace next to her.

"We could program Tony's suits to dance in synchrony." Louie halted.

"You can do that?" she asked. Loki looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you telling me you've forgotten I am the Trickster? Your hair is still blue." Louie's eyes began to dance with a new, wicked sort of smile that Loki found himself liking at once.

"I know the password to the labs."

A/N: I realise the Darcy Steve scene at the end is pretty short but you have to understand, I am not writing Starcy stuff here. The focal point of the story is Loki-Louie and the ultimate goal of this chapter was to show those two bonding with other characters in the story.

If there are any Darcy-Steve fans out there, I frankly apologize for this being so brief, but I hope it satisfied your little shipper hearts to some extent :)

I also realize Steve sounds like a twelve year old, but tell me you didn't feel like he'd totally act this way and say these things, after watching The First Avenger. He can be so flustered and lost around women lol. Adorkable, simply adorkable. Also how the heck is this thing more than 5k words, it feels like a terribly short chapter D:

Btw, does anyone know where I can get a cover picture for this story?

That's it for now, lovelies.

Until next time,

Much love,

xo