Loki strode briskly away from the makeshift hospital room, away from the faintly lingering smell of blood, away from that crisp white bed where she lay, because of him. Because of him, she never again wanted to look at him with those piercingly innocent chocolate eyes, rimmed by those long lashes that he ached to feel against the tips of his fingers. She never again wanted to come close enough to him to let him breathe in that heady scent of strawberries and that something else, that something deeper, that she always carried with her.

Loki grit his teeth. No. This was folly. He could not possibly harbor any feelings beyond pity and disgust for this woman, this- this, mortal. It was pathetic. It was beyond pathetic. It was on par with Thor. Loki scoffed. How low could he possibly sink?

Darcy tossed in the uncomfortable bed that felt far too sterile to be comfortable. Her eyes were screwed shut as she tried in vain to fall asleep. That scene kept replaying itself in her head, of Loki grabbing Jason's neck and slamming him against her wall, picture frames shattering down, glass shooting out, a sharp pain on her wrist, and then down, down, down, down, sinking...

She remembered all too well the little details. The flash of lightning in the vibrant green of Loki's eyes. The way his fingers flexed into Jason's neck, as if he could snap it with just a little twitch of his hand, which Darcy no longer doubted he could. And the instant right before she was hit, with the world seeming to just pause, as shards of glass levitated in the air. Darcy turned around again on the small bed. She had told Jane that she never wanted to see Loki again.

And that was the right thing to do. He was insane. He had no control over himself. She had thought, just for an instant, that he had changed, but it seemed that streak of violence and that streak of insanity would never quite leave him. And yet, Darcy felt a pang inside at the thought of never again meeting him, talking to him, have his eyes lock with hers in that particular way that drove her nuts. She didn't know what she felt other than that she was conflicted.

An internal battle raging inside her, Darcy finally drifted off into sleep, but an all-too-familiar figure haunted her dreams. She couldn't see him or touch him but he was there. She could feel him.

Loki sat in the office that was to be his new home 24/7 from now on. He glanced around. Plain, little adornment, straight to the point. Just as S.H.I.E.L.D. was. He would have to make do with sleeping on a table or the floor. Involuntarily, his brain flashed back to another time he was sleeping on the floor in what seemed like a world ago, and she had rolled straight onto him, thudding into his chest. Her wondrous scent had hit him full blast and he had almost groaned aloud in the name of Asgard. He couldn't quite place it, but something had changed then. Something shifted, well into dangerous territory. Danger was his game, but this... This, he did not know of. In that one moment, she had still been sleeping, her warm weight resting atop him, completely relaxed. If he had thought to, he could have reached out and touched those silken, dark tresses of hers, the color of firewood. No, more like burnt umber.

Loki shot to his feet, slamming his fist down on the wooden table. He. Couldn't. Get. Her. Out. Of. His. Head. This was unhealthy. He had never had anything happen to him like this before. He felt like he was missing something. What, he did not know. Suddenly, he heard the door to his little office open and shut, and started around.

"Hello, Loki."

"What, no jests today? No Reindeer Flames or whatever it is you call me?"

"Reindeer Games," Tony corrected automatically. "No, not today. Because you hurt somebody that I care about very much."

Loki scoffed and turned around, facing away from Tony. It seemed as if everyone cared deeply about this one utterly and completely crazy mortal. The one with the soft eyes and the long, unruly hair that just begged to have hands raked through it. He groaned in frustration, hitting his palms on the table.

"Some unresolved issues there, then," Tony commented. "Look what you did- I'm not even going to talk about what you did. I don't care if it was an accident. She got hurt, end of story. I don't want you near her ever again."

"Neither does she," Loki growled underneath his breath, more to himself than to Tony.

"Well, then good. I'm leaving you this time, Loki. But if anything like this ever happens again, I'll..."

Loki whirled around. "You'll what? Lock me up in chains? Been there, done that, Stark," he snarled.

"Don't test me." Tony slammed the door shut behind him.

Loki collapsed in a chair. Oh, he was in deep this time.

"You want to what?"

"I want to see Loki," Darcy answered, pleased to note that the little uncertain quaver in her voice was not very noticeable.

"Do you hear yourself? Even you think this is a bad idea, I can hear it in your tone," Tony spurted incredulously. Oh damn, maybe that quaver was a little more noticeable than she had imagined.

"I want to see him, Tony," she stated, trying to muster a little strength into her voice. She glared straight into his eyes, daring him to challenge her.

"Oh hell, I see the old Darcy's back. Ok how about we start with this. ARE YOU NUTS?" Tony was standing now, yelling. All of a sudden, Steve burst into the room at top speed.

"I heard yelling," he offered, out of breath, after flashing a quick little smile at Darcy.

"She wants to see Loki," Tony said exasperatedly, as if that explained it all. Steve looked down at Darcy, the easy smile replaced by worry. Darcy looked away from him. She couldn't help it, he looked like a puppy. She'd never get anything she wanted done if he pulled that golden boy face. No. She wasn't going to fall for this.

She had spent the last two hours in internal agony. Finally, she had decided that she wanted to meet Loki, even if it was to be the last time. She just wanted to talk to him once, and then she would get some sort of a closure, and she would go on with her normal life. She wouldn't have to worry about insane gods, magic, or any of that crap. She'd just get to plain old Darcy, political science major, employee at Stark Industries, friend.

"NO." She was interrupted from her musings by the sound of Thor's voice. "No. She is going to be kept safely away from my brother for as long as he is here. In fact, he is going to be kept away from everyone not sufficiently prepared to defend themselves against him for as long as he is here." Tony and Steve both nodded enthusiastically in acquiesce.

Darcy decided not to say anything, a plan already forming in her mind. She nodded solemnly, like she was accepting what was being given her. She knew that if she pushed it more, they would really ensure she didn't get within a hundred yards of Loki. They seemed satisfied enough, like they had bought it.

"I can go home today, right?" She finally asked.

Steve grinned, "Free as a bird."

Darcy smiled to herself.

Five hours later, Darcy crouched in a hallway underneath a desk that was pushed off to the side. It was 1 AM. Lights were mostly out throughout the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, except for a few security ones. Darcy had gotten Jane on her side, and Jane had agreed on closure as long as Darcy kept her taser on her, "just in case."

So Darcy had hidden underneath the bed that had served as her hospital bed while various Avengers came in to find it empty and were told by Jane that she had already gone home and was sound asleep in her apartment. Nobody had bothered to check, of course. Nobody could even dream that Jane Foster could tell a lie. Jane had then been graceful enough to drive to Darcy's apartment and grab a change of clothes for her.

Tonight, in the dark, Darcy appreciated her taste. Soft, sleek black top. Black leather pants. Fitting the situation. She melded into the darkness like she was a part of it. The wrapping on her left wrist had stayed though. She was under strict orders to wait a few more days before attempting to remove it. She glanced around. Nobody had been walking in this area for a while. Darting up, she half-crouched, half-ran to the adjacent hallway, where she knew his room was. She was barefoot as to not make too much noise.

Slowly, she eased the door open and stepped inside, carefully shutting it behind her. It was pitch black inside, and she couldn't see more than a foot ahead of her. She took a few tentative steps forward.

"Loki?" She whispered into the air.

"What are you doing here?" His silken tone responded immediately, right behind her. Darcy whirled around abruptly, startled by the proximity of his voice. Her hands thudded right onto his chest, her palms coming to a rest there. He was so much closer than she, or either of them, she thought, had anticipated. In the dark, his green eyes looked almost black, his face only an inch away from hers. She locked eyes with him for what seemed like an eternity. She closed her eyes for a moment, just breathing in the scent he carried with him.

And then, she didn't know how, but suddenly, they were entwined, his lips moving insistently against hers in the dark.