Disclaimer: I own nothing. This saddens me greatly.

Pairing: Loki/Darcy, Thor/Jane, others mentioned

Summary: She stares. He stares. It starts as a game. Neither was prepared for what would come of it. Sometimes, redemption comes in the form of words, softly spoken but always there.

Author's note: Second Thor fic! Let me know what you think! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Redemption

i.

He's one of those guys you feel bad for but really shouldn't. She's been around a lot of those guys. The guys with daddy and/or mommy issues who decide to take it out on the people around them (or you know, in his case, the world). Yeah. Those guys who think that they don't have to obey any rules (mother fucker, I make the rules). Still, she doesn't look at him and think "OMG. This is the guy who tried to make us all his bitches." (Which is technically true, but whatever). She doesn't look at him and hate him on spot (Hey Avengers, so, he tried to kill you all and almost succeeded but aren't you supposed to be the good guys?) She doesn't look at him with curiosity that borderlines disgust (Jane, we need to work on being subtle).

No. When Darcy looks at him she feels bad for him. She doesn't sympathize; she doesn't feel like he'd appreciate sympathy (probably wouldn't even let her get the chance of sympathizing before he'd kill her, isn't that what all super villains do?).

Instead, during her spare time, she goes down to the basement, down the hall painted white and walks into the fifth room on the left. It's a small room with a one-way mirror, the same mirror that she always sees on all the cop shows she watches (which amounts to a lot) and she stands, sometimes against the wall, sometimes leaning forward until her head touches the cool glass and sometimes with her arms crossed underneath her breast.

She stands and she stares and she waits. She doesn't know what she's waiting for. Maybe for some sign of remorse (he shows none). Maybe for a soliloquy of another world domination (he says nothing). Instead, she just stares at him. Stares at his black hair. At his green eyes (she's always been a sucker for green eyed men). At his face (it's so defined, almost like it's sculpted out of marble). She stares until she starts going cross-eyed. She stares until its time for her to stop.

But she'll always find herself turning back to stare at him one last time, as if terrified that he's just a figment of her imagination.

"It just…it kills me. He's his brother and he's trying to do everything in his power to help him but Loki…he just doesn't want anyone's help." Jane tells her the next day. She's talking about Thor (she always talks about Thor) and his complicated relationship with Loki. Jane, of course, sides with Thor. She has to side with Thor. Darcy would be worried if she didn't, but still…part of Darcy wants to scream.

Of course he doesn't want Thor's help. As far as Darcy knows (and Darcy is on a need-to-know, which basically means she knows nothing except for second-hand gossip from Jane, basis) Thor is the reason that Loki flipped his shit and decided to take over the world and make them all his minions. Well…Thor and their father, who oddly reminds her of her Uncle Will. Darcy hates her Uncle Will. So, is Darcy surprised that he doesn't want anyone's help? No. Is she surprised that he won't talk to anyone? No.

(Does anyone listen to Darcy and her opinions? No).

Fuck, if Darcy was brought into some strange ass facility and chained to a fucking table for all hours of the day, Darcy would refuse to talk to anyone too.

This is of course why Darcy and Jane are surprised when Coulson enters their office. Jane stands up straight, her back rigid and Darcy just turns in her chair and looks at him, dark hair falling in her face and body slouching (she has such bad posture. She blames her boobs).

"Miss Lewis." Coulson says, his eyes peering at her, "come with me."

"Where?" Darcy and Jane ask immediately.

Coulson shakes his head and gestures to the door. "Miss Lewis, that was not a request and Miss Foster, I expect your findings on my desk before you leave."

Darcy shrugs and gets out of her chair, "Sheesh, Phil, if this is just a ploy to feel me up, you are going to be in big trouble buddy."

He hates it when she calls him Phil and she knows it but she does it anyway.

They get into the elevator and she watches as he presses the B button and she feels her heart lodge in her throat. She doesn't say anything, finds she can't. She hasn't done anything wrong, has she? She probably has but she has a S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel card which basically allows her everywhere in the fucking building. "Is this where you take all your lower level employees when you want to get rid of them?" She asks jokingly with a smile. That's right, play dumb. Everyone feels sorry for dumb girls.

He says nothing and she bites her tongue. She knows a few self-defense moves if anyone were to suddenly grab her. She doesn't have her taser with her (damn it!) but she once had a boyfriend who trains UFC fighters and his turn on was to get physical (the sex came after the fighting). She picked up some good moves (a few bruises but he kissed them better). Sadly, they split up but she still keeps in contact with him.

As soon as they hit the basement, Darcy follows Coulson as he walks down the familiar hallway and through a very familiar door. Thor is in the room, his shoulders tense. He takes up half the room, God, the man is huge. How does he not suffocate poor little Jane when they screw like rabbits?

Fury is also there, arms crossed and looking well…furious. His head snaps towards her and Coulson when they walk in and he growls. Nicholas Fury actually growls at her. What. The. Fuck? Thor's expression melts just a little bit and he gives her a half grin, eyes shining with hope.

She grins shakily and waves, "so, if I knew we were going to have a powwow, I would have brought my pompoms."

"You are more trouble than you're worth." Fury says to her.

She blinks. "Oh. I know that. My dad says it all the time, but he says it in a joking I love you and would never trade you for anything kind of way. I'm guessing you don't mean it like that?"

Fury ignores her and points to the man chained to the table in the other room. "Do you know how long we've been working at him? Do you know how many agents tried getting him to talk? We've yelled, we've shouted, we've threatened. We've sent in Thor and he still wouldn't say a goddamn thing."

Darcy won't lie. She's kind of frightened because she's pretty sure Fury has steam coming out of his ears. She'd laugh if she were pretty sure he wouldn't shoot her.

"And then he speaks. He opens his mouth and words come out!" Wait, hold up, Loki…spoke? Like with vowels and syllables and everything? And she missed it? Damn. "…for you!"

She blinks. "Wait, what?"

Thor moves to stand in front of her. "My brother would like to speak to you."

"Why?" She asks desperately. There's something clawing at her insides. She doesn't know what it is; all that she knows is that it's an emotion that's threatening to consume her if she doesn't get hold of it soon.

"I do not know." Thor answers truthfully, "I was in the room with him when he looked me straight in the eyes and said I wish to speak to the brunette who always stares at me. We were not aware of who he was referring to until he mentioned…well…you're…generous." Thor flails for words and lowers his eyes to her chest.

She can't help it. She busts out laughing. "Oh man. Dude, seriously? He described me as the girl with the big tits?" Well, she has been called worse.

"This is not a laughing matter, Miss Lewis." Fury tells her.

She stops laughing and bites her lip. She turns to Coulson and shrugs. "Right, okay."

"He is not like everyone else, Miss Lewis." Coulson tells her as he opens the door to let her out of the room. "Be careful and we'll be watching."

Well, now that's part of the problem isn't it? Everyone's always watching. Just waiting for the wrong move they all know we'll make. It's kind of sad when she thinks about it.

How everyone is just waiting for failure.

She walks into the room and she's taken aback by how cold it is. She shivers, pulls her cardigan tightly around her and sits down on the empty chair across from him. His hands are chained but Darcy knows they're practically toys to him. He's Loki-God of Mischief and Lies- he can get out of everything, which makes her wonder why he hasn't disappeared yet. Why hasn't he escaped?

She takes a deep breath and lifts her head (to this point she hasn't once made eye contact with him, she's looked everywhere but at the man in front of her), she jolts when she sees his green eyes staring at her. He looks at her curiously, his head tilting to each side. Studying her. Staring at her. As if trying to memorize her.

It's a little unnerving.

"So…you rang?" She jokes. She always jokes when she's nervous. Or she busts into tears. She thinks jokes may be better in this case. He doesn't answer, just keeps staring. So, she keeps talking. She talks about the shows she's watching, she talks about Central Park and how she likes walking there. She talks about her shitty apartment and that rude woman who ran into her and had the audacity to yell at her.

He still says nothing.

And Darcy snaps. "Okay, dude, you know what? You called me. You wanted me to be here and now I am, so you wanna play the staring game? Fine. I'm down. I'll kick your sulking self all the way back to Ass-grab or wherever the fuck you're from."

"Asgard." Loki says. His voice is smooth, like velvet. "And I assure you, I would not be welcomed back."

He says it with certainty, his voice so sure, even bordering confident.

And Darcy can't help it, she really can't, she feels bad for him.

Oh my. Another Loki/Darcy fic. What am I doing with myself? To be honest, I have no idea where this is going to go. I have no idea what I'm doing with this story. I have a vague idea of how I want it to end up, but I want to know your guys' reaction. There will definitely be more conversation with Loki and Darcy and it'll probably be a little darker than my previous story.

So…please review, let me know what you think! I appreciate every review I get!

Thanks!

Bex

P.S. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone and I apologize if I offend anyone.