Author's note: Apologies for the late update! Thanks for all the reviews and favourites, etc. They mean a lot! 3

Twilisage: I'm happy you feel that way! 3 Larita1976: I am not entirely sure what that means I'm afraid. Something about you waiting? I don't update quickly because of real life, muse and mental health stuff, so everything takes a while. Please bear with me.

Little bit of mostly implied mature content, not all that much really and certainly not as much as a few of the previous chapters. xD

Enjoy!

Chapter twenty

Transcending time

"So, are you going to kiss me or not?"

Darcy blushed and looked away from him, realising she hadn't said anything in a little while. Was she overthinking this? After all, she'd done things with Loki and a clone, so it couldn't be that much different, right? Loki had said he would be fine with it, even though future Loki technically hadn't. Why did she have to let her brain take over? She should have just gone with it and kicked herself later.

"For real? It's not weird?" Darcy asked.

"What is, ah, weird, as you say, is you not kissing me," Loki said with a smirk.

Oh, what the hell, it wasn't like it was truly cheating. He was the same person, just…without the darkness. And Darcy loved him with or without it. It was a little strange, sure, to be around much more of a carefree Loki, one without so many problems. Though she didn't know him completely, didn't know how he had grown up, when his feelings of inadequacy had begun. He at least seemed less burdened.

She reached down and kissed him again, sliding so she was completely on top of him, her body flush against his as she had one hand on his shoulder and the other went straight into his hair, feeling the silky softness that was only semi there in the future…and she needed to stop comparing. Brain, off!

Unfortunately, a knock on the door made them spring apart and she felt like a naughty child caught red-handed. When Loki called out for the person to enter, he sounded a bit out of breath and she looked at him. He was a little red-faced, but he looked so happy. The doors opened a few moments later to reveal his mother. Now she had met his family as they are at dinners after Loki had assured her that they would all remember a different person once she was gone. It reassured her to know that.

Frigga smiled at them both before looking at Loki. "Your father wishes to speak to you; I think he has a mission for you and your brother. I will keep Lady Darcy company," Frigga said.

Loki walked around and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before bowing to them both. "We will continue our…lesson…later, Darcy," Loki said before leaving the room.

Darcy really had to reign in her urge to laugh. Lesson huh? She supposed he was versed in bedroom antics more so than she was, but even so. But he was the God of Mischief, so this sort of thing was to be expected. Pretty harmless too. Another thing she loved about him; his brilliant sense of humour.

She was brought back to reality by remembering that she had Loki's mother in the room with her. Darcy smiled sheepishly and gave an awkward curtsy of sorts, the best she could whilst sat on Loki's bed. Frigga just smiled and shook her head.

"You are quite alright, Lady Darcy, no need for formalities here," Frigga said.

"Alright, then you can just call me Darcy if you like," Darcy said.

"And I, Frigga," she smiled warmly.

Darcy felt a little more relaxed; she had met a few royals now and both Frigga and Freyja were so nice. She didn't really know Odin too personally though her image of him wasn't all that positive.

"It is really nice of you to let me stay here, your son's taught me well so far," Darcy said. She was trying to sound a bit more like a Vanir than a 21st century Earthling.

"You are more than welcome, Darcy Lewis of Midgard," Frigga said.

"I—wait, what?" Darcy could almost hear a yelp in her voice.

"Loki can hide a great manner of things, however, it is very hard for him to hide from me. Perhaps he thought he had succeeded, but it is not the case," Frigga said.

Darcy couldn't believe it; Frigga knew and yet, she wasn't sure how much she knew exactly.

"How much do you know?" Darcy asked.

"Enough to know that you are out of your time," Frigga murmured.

Darcy couldn't help but stare at her for a few long moments, quite shocked that yet another person knew about who she really was, or at least enough. She hoped this wouldn't cause any problems. She needed to learn magic and make sure Thor survived and Loki would stop losing his mind. She needed this to work, otherwise they were all screwed. She still couldn't believe the fact that she was able to do magic. Her, Darcy Lewis, intern to a great scientist.

"How do you know?" Darcy asked.

"I know not what my son has told you of me, but I am a Seer. I See snippets of the future and I have been Seeing you for some time now. I am glad to finally meet you," Frigga said.

"How much do you know? Oh, sorry, I'm being so rude," Darcy said with a sigh. "Loki has told me only little about you, though I kind of know you from, uh, well it's all very complicated. Since he came into my life, life's just gone topsy turvy." She laughed.

Frigga just smiled at her kindly. "It is quite alright. I know you have come from a dangerous point in time, Ragnarok, where the fate of the universe rests on the side of good's shoulders," she said. Her face turned sad and serious. "The gift of Sight is both a blessing and a curse, to see the future and to be able to change it, to prepare for it. However, there are some tragedies you see and you never know whether you can prevent it."

"That is rough. I can't even imagine it. I'm still surprised that I can apparently do magic, it just seems like something out of a fairytale," Darcy said.

"You have the potential to go far, should you choose to continue harnessing it," Frigga said.

"Hell yeah! Pretty sure most people on Earth would love to do magic," Darcy said.

"It is not often revered here on Asgard; most value strength over what they feel are tricks, it is why my son is often so troubled," Frigga said.

"He has a good heart…I mean, the Loki I knew first is a lot more troubled, but I suppose with age you gain more," Darcy said.

"You care very deeply for him," Frigga stated.

"I do. I mean, meeting the younger him…the feelings, I'm so confused," Darcy said.

"I imagine it must be. He will, however, always be Loki. I trust you will look after him," Frigga said with a smile.

"You can trust me, Frigga, we look out for each other," Darcy said.

Loki returned later with a smile on his face and settled himself back down next to Darcy after shimmering out of his armour and into something softer. He was quiet for a moment as he reached out to stroke the side of her face, sliding his fingers into her hair. Darcy hoped that they could relax after all of this was over, after they stopped Ragnarok. She was quite comfortable here, of course, but she was out of her time here. She had to focus on learning magic and saving Thor, but the man in front of her was just too tempting.

"To think that I manage to be blessed with someone as beautiful and spirited as you, Darcy, is something that is quite amazing to me. I think I am glad I will forget this for a while, for the wait would kill me," Loki murmured, his eyes just staring at her as if she was the most wonderful thing he had seen.

Darcy blushed. For once she was completely speechless, unable to figure out what to reply to that. And those were not tears forming in her eyes. It was just condensation, that's all. Oh, what the hell, who was she kidding? She would hardly fool Loki so why fool herself? She could feel them rolling now and she closed her eyes. Why was she getting so emotional over this?

She felt her glasses being taken off and his hands cupping her face. Lips touched her forehead before his forehead pressed against hers.

"Darcy, I understand all this must be overwhelming for you. Confusing. You fell in love with the me of the future and know not how meeting an earlier me fits in," Loki murmured. "That and you have been through so much, no?"

"I guess. You've also just said such nice words to me and I don't know, I'm just not used to such attention," Darcy said.

"You should get used to it; there are now many men who will rue the day when they realise what they missed out on," Loki said, pulling her gently on top of him, arms wrapped around her.

Darcy rested her head under his chin and closed her eyes. "You're really sweet. Can I keep you?" Darcy mumbled.

"Yes, but you will have to wait a millenia…oh, wait, that will be me," Loki said.

Darcy chuckled, then opened her eyes to look at him again. "Do you really like me that way? You've only known me a month…" She asked.

"Falling in love does not have a handbook, my dear. I do not need one. I also do not need to you show me your affection if you feel strange about it, there will be time enough in the future," Loki said.

Darcy reached over and kissed him full on the lips, relishing the softness, before lying back down again.

Magic learning was difficult, yet Darcy found herself enjoying it. Loki was a patient teacher, always willing to help her and didn't get annoyed either. In fact, he seemed to enjoy teaching and she remembered what Frigga said. People of Asgard didn't hold magic in much esteem as they did strength. She was perhaps one of few people showing interest in what he did and that was truly sad. Magic was truly amazing and she was having so much fun learning.

And Loki took her out too, making sure she wasn't cooped up inside all the time. Asgard was beautiful now that she got to properly explore it. It had been about a week and they had kissed, but nothing else. They both wanted it, that much was clear, but it was nice to take their time. Ironic since she hadn't even started dating him before they'd had sex in the lake back in her time, but then maybe that Loki was more of a deviant or this Loki was being considerate since it was a little weird.

She'd had a few little things over the years, mainly just kissing and a few dates. Darcy had always either broken up with or been broken up with boys before they got close to the bedroom. Sometimes just because that's all they had wanted. She'd dated a girl once too, but it hadn't worked out. She hadn't been too serious in finding someone since she was still young, but there had been moments where she had wondered whether she'd find a nice person to date.

Her choice had been quite far from her expectations.

Despite everything, he was a good guy…even if he'd made some terrible choices. Darcy wasn't really going to try and deny that definitely made her choices iffy, but what could she do? She had fallen for the guy and it was hopeless trying to fight it. Even without the brainwashing, there were some bad choices he had made, but she knew he was trying to atone. That had to mean something, right?

Her lack of concentration, however, ended in her blasting one of the poles of the four-poster bed, bouncing around until it hit the floor, not before taking out a leg of the bed, making them wobble a bit. She was sat there wide-eyed from it while he smirked at her. The bed knit itself together as he pushed her down into a lying position and kissed her.

She felt his breath on her ear. "That was quite a demonstration…what were you thinking about?" Loki asked, though it sounded like a purr.

"Um," Darcy responded, swallowing.

His smirk widened as he kissed her again, and she wrapped her arms around him, trying to ignore the fact that he was between her legs and making her feel like ripping his clothes off. Her hands slid down the strange tunic to his leather-bound behind, pulling him closer. He bucked his hips further and she gasped, enjoying the friction, feeling how much he wanted her. He made a noise and tried to move away, apologising, but Darcy pulled him back in for a kiss.

"I want you," Darcy said simply. "If you want me."

She heard him chuckle before he kissed her. "Is the Bifrost made of stardust?" He asked, in a way that sounded like it should be a yes.

"…I want to say yes?" Darcy said hopefully.

He just smiled at her and kissed her, leaning in closer so that she could feel the hard planes of his body. Then he pulled away and stood up, leaving her breathless. He walked over to the side of the room and picked up a book, flicking through it before murmuring some words she didn't quite hear. There was a flare of magic before he put the book down and returned to the bed, gracefully ending up back on top of her.

"Now, where was I?" Loki smirked, kissing her.

"Sexing me up, I hope," Darcy grinned, making Loki laugh a little. She put her hand on his chest for a moment, though. "I don't wanna get pregnant. Not yet, anyway."

"Already taken care of," Loki said, kissing her again.

He took his time, slowly undressing her and appreciating her with his mouth. By the time she was naked, she was most definitely wanting. She pulled at his clothes, but honestly she still couldn't work them out. However, they faded away from him and she was quick to pull him closer to her, kissing him.

"I need you," Darcy whispered.

Loki's hand travelled lower, making her gasp, touching her as if he needed physical proof that she was ready before he finally reached up to kiss her as he made them one. There was no rush, only a gentleness, as if it was their first time all over again. In a way, it was a bit, with him being a past him. He was clearly more confident in the future, but she had expected that. Time was a great place of learning, but Loki was no less good at tending to her needs and making sure she was taken care of.