Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Thanos.”

The fighting seized abruptly. The disembodied voice spoke to Thanos in an even tone. It wasn’t as soft as a whisper, nor was it as loud as a normal speaking voice. It was both clear and garbled at the same time, and there was no one that could pinpoint the gender of the speaker.

“You think to trick me.”

Thor, who had been in the middle of gloating about Stormbreaker’s power, was the first to notice the figure moving towards them. He would know that person anywhere. Why were they here? How had they gotten here? Along with he realization of who they were, the Avengers realized they couldn’t move — no one could.

Not even Thanos.

“I know your soul.”

As the figure drew closer, Thor fought harder to move.

Bright blue eyes, long dark hair, pale skin, and dark rimmed glasses. In a large orange sweater and boy shorts, it was clear that her appearance was unplanned. She looked every bit as confused as everyone felt.

They all watched as she processed the situation. Vision was dead. The Avengers were in various states of injury and fight. Thor had a bad cosplay of Grimace literally axed.

“I have seen your secrets.”

Thanos looked at the mortal that had joined them. Who was she that she was unaffected by the soul stone? She looked no different than the others, though perhaps ill-clothed. She was no warrior.

Everyone watched as she and Thanos stared at each other. Thor wanted to warn her away, but couldn’t.

“You are unworthy.”

His fingers, already mid-snap, were forced into a fist as the gauntlet’s temperature rose abruptly.

“A sacrifice is asked.”

“A sacrifice was given,” the titan groaned.

The Soul Stone was no longer in Thanos’ possession.

“A sacrifice is asked.”

Thanos regarded the newcomer once more. The Soul Stone hovered in front of her, before speeding towards her and lodging itself in her chest. She stumbled, but quickly regained her balance.

“What was that?” Her hands came up to inspect her chest, but there was no wound where the stone entered her.

“Who are you?” With a flex of Thanos’ hand, Stormbreaker was out of his chest and he was standing in front of the woman. Another move and he had her by her throat.

She struggled at the harsh and abrupt grip, but found that she didn’t need to take in air to stabilize herself. Instead she felt as if she were floating, and the monster’s handling of her was but a mild inconvenience.

When their eyes met, Thanos saw his defeat.

In the blink of an eye, Thanos was gone and Darcy Lewis was holding the Infinity Gauntlet.

Chapter Text

There were soft murmurs around her, as if she were surrounded by a crowd trying not to disturb her. They sounded as if they spoke in different languages, but she couldn’t zero in on any particular sound or conversation. It seemed as if the voices moved away when she tried to listen in to their conversations. But they also seemed both very near her ear and very far away. It was an overall confusing experience.

Her eyes opened slowly.

A gentle breeze was blowing as she looked around. The soft colors of the sunset reflected in the shallow waters she stood in, though no sun could be seen setting. In the distance, she could see a small house with a rust-colored roof.

She walked towards the house with small, careful steps, worried that the water went deeper than she was comfortable. That wasn’t the problem she encountered though, as she found that the distance between the house and herself wasn’t getting any shorter no matter how many steps she took towards it. She was still in her sweatshirt and boy shorts, though her eyeglasses were no where to be found.

Fingers pressed against a tender spot on her chest, she looked around once more for any other sign of land.

“Where am I?”

“You are safe, Lady Darcy.”

Darcy sat up abruptly, giving herself a head rush. There was no gasping for air or frantic hand motions. Instead, she squinted, her eyes attempting to adjust to the brighter room than where she had just been. Much to her relief, there were six people in the room with her, but she knew only two of them.

Normally, she would ask Jane for answers, but she figured what had happened was way over even Jane’s level of expertise and comfort zone that she went for the next most likely to have answers for her.

“Hey, Big Guy, what’s happened?” She frowned when Thor didn’t immediately reply, slowly turning to Jane for an explanation. “Jane?”

“You’ve been unconscious for a week, Darcy.” The small brunette explained, placing Darcy’s glasses in her hand so that she could put it on herself. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“There was a purple dude — like Grimace, but not as soft, I think? No, actually, I think he looked like an angry stubbed toe, but hey maybe that’s jus—”

“Darcy, focus.”

She looked at Jane, who was looking decidedly more high definition now that she had her glasses on. The astrophysicist placed a hand in hers in a gesture of comfort.

“He…he was on the ground. Thor was…laughing…? At him, I think? I…I don’t know how I got there. It was my day off, so I prepped myself for a Harry Potter Marathon in my apartment and I must have fallen asleep or something, but the next thing I knew I was standing in some forest…I thought it was a dream.” Her brows furrowed. “Jane, where am I?”

“We’re in Wakanda, Darce’.”

Wakanda? The same Wakanda that was apparently far more technologically advanced than the rest of the world? The Wakanda she had spent hours learning about because her need to be in-the-know had her wanting to know every little thing she could because how the fuck did they keep that a secret for so long and why? A quick and better look around confirmed all that she had read about the place. It was definitely on a different caliber all together, maybe even more advanced than the tech at the Avengers Facility.

The room she was in was as big as (maybe even a bit bigger than) her apartment, though far more advanced in terms of technology. Everything was sleek, modern, and metal — no, probably not metal, she found herself correcting as she remembered the big reveal that Wakanda did a few months back. While the materials that were around her probably weren’t a hundred percent vibranium, she wouldn’t be surprised if it were somehow diluted into it.

Wearing her glasses, she was finally able to put a name to the once-vaguely-familiar faces in the room aside from Jane and Thor.

Tony Stark stood beside the King of Wakanda, T’Challa. The latter offered a small polite smile which she returned with her own. Tony, on the other hand, studied her with unrestrained curiosity. They were by the door, as if they had just been about to leave when she had woken up.

Thor stood by the foot of her bed, looking far different from the god of thunder that she had last seen in London. She found herself studying him for a moment before she brought her gaze over to the pair to her left.

Standing by a lot of holo-screens and monitors were Bruce Banner and Princess Shuri. Like her brother, Princess Shuri and Doctor Banner offered her a small smile, though they quickly returned to pouring over the information they were getting from the screens before them.

When she looked back at Jane, it was to the realization that her friend looked far more tired than any research or experiment bender had made her.

“You remember anything else, Short Stack,” was Tony’s casual quip.

Darcy rolled her eyes, and replied without missing a beat, “Not that short, Daddy Warbucks.” She pursed her lips. “I remember something floating. And then…” The memory of Thanos strangling her made her stop, her free hand coming to caress her throat. “What happened?”

And so they told her everything. They told her what the Infinity Stones were, and a vague explanation of what each stone could do. They told her how Thor’s people had been wiped away by the mad titan so that he could get the Space Stone. They told her how a man called Doctor Strange, who had the Time Stone, had been captured by one of Thanos’ children and how Ironman and Spider-Man had tried to keep the fight away from Earth. They told her how Thor had a met a group that called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy, whom had ended up helping out both Tony and Thor. They told her how Thanos’ other children had tried to capture Vision, but the other half of the Avengers (because really, who didn’t know that they had broken up — especially since she and Jane were authorized to work in the Avengers Facility) had saved him and taken him to Wakanda. They told her of what preparation and battle each group had faced in the time leading up to their battle.

They told her Thanos had intended to wipe out half the population of the entire universe. Doctor Strange told her that in a reality wherein she hadn’t interfered, he would have succeeded. They told her about Vision’s and Wanda’s sacrifice, and how Thanos had made fools out of all of them by reversing time and taking the Mind Stone. Peter Quill told her about Gamora, how she had tried to keep Thanos away from the Soul Stone. Nebula told her how Gamora had been manipulated to reveal its location. No one truly knew what had happened, but Mantis told her the crushing remorse Thanos had felt when his favorite daughter’s name had been brought up.

They told her about her sudden arrival, of how they had all frozen in place. Thor and Wanda told her of the warmth they had felt at her arrival, as if she were a bright spring day come to life. Thor told her that it was the Soul Stone that had entered her body. Shuri told her that there were no physical traces of it in her system, according to the various x-rays and scans they had performed on her during her comatose state. Jane told her how she had been flown to Wakanda three days ago, when Tony had been informed via FRIDAY that ‘Doctor Foster is currently frantically searching for Miss Lewis, Boss. Shall I inform Doctor Foster that Miss Lewis is currently in Wakanda?’

They told her she’d killed Thanos. Some corrected that she had made him disappear, which didn’t necessarily always equate to dead. Captain America told her that by the time Thanos had completely disappeared, she had been in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. Thor told her that she had lost consciousness, but hadn’t fallen to the floor after fainting. They told her how she had been wrapped in a protective current of something (magic? electricity? With the people around her being who they were, it was probably both). Thor told her how when he had attempted to take the gauntlet from her, believing that it was what was causing the barrier, a massive energy burst, causing a brief universal blackout — the likes of which even the Guardians who had been with some of the Avengers on a different planet at the time had felt when their ship detected it.

They told her the Infinity Gauntlet was gone.

Just like Thanos, which didn't necessarily mean dead.

By the time they had finished, everyone else had packed into the room. Word of her regaining consciousness had been quick to spread, and the once spacious room suddenly felt much smaller. Their faces and names blurred together along with their stories. Information overload, she thought to herself.

If it weren’t for the feel of Jane’s hand in hers, grounding her, Darcy would have thought she were still dreaming. Or that they had truly drugged her up with the good stuff, because she definitely wouldn’t have been able to come up with their story on her own.

“Hey guys, I think we’re overwhelming Miss Lewis here.” Bruce, bless his heart, had taken note of the increasing tension building in Darcy’s shoulders and her increased heart rate (thanks to the monitors).

Darcy smiled sheepishly, “I think everyone here can call me Darcy.” She turned to Thor. In a room full of superheroes, he was the only one she really trusted (while Jane, whom was badass in her own right, she was most definitely not a superhero and was held to a different much higher standard, thank you very much). “I’m sure we all have questions, but I’m also sure we have time to figure it out.” Briefly, her gaze flickered to Doctor Strange before returning to Thor. The thunder god was definitely half of the reason she felt calm about everything. She squeezed Jane’s hand once more. If Thor didn’t seem too worried, then why should she?

Shuri was quick to order everyone around, “Alright everyone out. The next guards scheduled can stay, but everyone else should go. Brother, bring Darcy, Dr. Foster, and Thor some food, will you?”

There were some laughs at watching the smaller and younger woman ordering one of the tallest men in the room.

“I am King and yet I am ordered around by my sister.” T’Challa complained, though his grin and Shuri’s eye roll told everyone that it was normal for the pair.

“There’s a badass woman working behind the scenes for every great man.” Darcy couldn’t help but joke, earning a little more laughter. Nobody refuted her statement as they realized how right she was.

The group slowly trickled out soon after.

The room had no windows, or any indicator of what the outside world looked like. The only way Darcy could tell that it was already night time was due to the clock displayed in one of the monitors. It was ten in the evening, and the group had dispersed about three hours ago, leaving her in the care of Princess Shuri, Doctor Banner, and Thor (she had convinced Jane to get some sleep, and the woman had agreed only if Thor stayed to watch over Darcy), and under the watchful eyes of James Buchanan Barnes and Okoye.

Darcy wasn’t even aware she was tired nor that she had fallen asleep until she was in the midst of waking up.

A quick glance at one of the screens told her it was two in the morning. There was no one else in the room with her, though she was sure that there were guards posted outside her door. Actually, if she closed her eyes and tried to listen, she could hear their breathing and even tell who they were. Wait what? She sat up and looked at her hands. They had told her that she wasn’t sick per se, but that no one knew what the side effect of having an Infinity Stone inside of her would be. Vision hadn’t absorbed the stone, the fact that Thanos had been able to pluck it from his head was evidence of that. They were making sure she was safe. They were making sure everyone else was safe from her. She understood the precautions, but she hated being in such a helpless position.

The door opened to reveal Thor.

“Lady Darcy,” he said, walking towards her in even strides.

She scooted to one side of the bed so that Thor could sit beside her.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m just glad I’m not Supergirl and the rock wasn’t Kryptonite.” She shrugged in feigned nonchalance, but her smile softened when Thor held one of her hands in both of his. The sight of his large hands cradling her small-by-comparison hands would have been comical if he didn’t look so unlike the spirited thunder god she had known since New Mexico. “You know something, don’t you?”

“I know of a possibility,” countered the Asgardian. “But it is a selfish wish, my lady; one I can not ask of you.”

“Not exactly a genie here, so I don’t even know if I can grant wishes, Big Guy.”

Thor said nothing, only offering her a sad smile. She looked from their joined hands to his face, and was surprised to find herself looking into a pair of green eyes that were far from Thor’s blue hues. She blinked, as if to clear her vision, and instead found herself elsewhere.

The bodies of the people of a great nation that once called themselves the protector and rulers of the Nine Realms were littered around the spacious field. Gods and goddesses. She didn’t know how she knew that they were Asgardian, but she was sure with every fiber of her being in her assessment. Her theory was solidified when she saw a man clad in familiar green and black armor of sorts. That definitely looked similar to the guy that tried to destroy New York. She’d seen the clips. Near him laid a dark-skinned man in gold. For a moment, she expected him to move.

Her lips, pale and chapped, curled into a frown. They all looked at peace, as if asleep, but Thor’s recount of what had occurred told her better. These people were dead.

And so why was she dreaming of dead people?

Dead people that she’s never met before, she would remind herself.

“Darcy Lewis…”

She woke up with a start.

Chapter Text

Darcy stood by the large window, looking outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, and she could just make out the forms of Captain America, Black Widow, and Wanda. They seemed to be having a heated discussion about something, and in the distance, Darcy could see Tony and Thor walking up to them followed closely by Peter (“I really go by Star-lord, but I guess Peter’s fine since I’m on Earth again.”) Quill and Nebula. Honestly, Darcy thought it was cute how everyone was coming together. Of course there were people that butted heads (she was sure Peter Quill and Tony Stark could record all their interactions and sell it off as a Netflix series), but there were also those that got along remarkably well (Darcy will always marvel at how Black Widow and Bucky Barnes got along with Drax).

“Are you still a prisoner, Darcy?”

She turned to Drax and smiled, “I’m not a prisoner. They just don’t want me to hurt anyone.”

“You have not hurt anyone.” He pointed out, coming to stand beside her. “Even Thanos,” he said, eyes focused on her. “You just banished him. He did not suffer.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” countered Darcy. “And that’s what they want to be — they want to be sure I don’t accidentally hurt anyone.”

“They see you as a threat and cage you like a monster.” Drax continued, unaware (or perhaps uncaring?) of the way Darcy’s mood began to shift. She knew both from Peter Quill and her own limited interaction with the man that Drax was the type to speak his mind. He was like someone with Asperger’s, she had thought.

Darcy did her best not to let his words get to her, offering a laugh, “Yeah, cause little old me can’t be taken down by all the Heroes in this joint.”

“We weren’t able to kill Thanos, what chance do we have against you?” Drax said. “You are a powerful being, Darcy Lewis.”

She saw his mouth open to say something else, but the door opened and caught both of their attention. Bucky and Shuri entered the room, with Bucky heading straight for Drax and engaging him in conversation.

Shuri looked to Darcy, concerned.

“You’re flying, Darcy.” She corrected herself, “Flying and glowing.”

“What?” Jane’s former intern looked down to find that she was indeed hovering a foot or so above the ground, and that she was encased in a dark red glow. “What’s going on? Am I like Wanda now or something? I so don’t want to be a Hero with a capital H. Shuri I thought I was fine, I didn’t do anything — I wasn’t going to do anything!”

“Darcy!” Jane called out as she entered the room.

“They don’t have to hide," Darcy said, looking at Jane. “I know that Captain America, Thor, and Rocket are on one side of that doorway, while Okoye, Peter Quill, and Nebula are on the other. Ironman, Wanda, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man are on the roof, outside, just in case, right?” She frowned. “Wait, how do I know that?”

“Darcy,” Shuri, who was standing closest to Darcy, tentatively reached out a hand to her. “We’ll figure this out, okay? We’re all here to help you and keep you safe.”

“Safe from who? Thanos? I got rid of him, remember?” Briefly, the setting changed, and it was just Darcy and Thor in a barren rocky desert, but they were back in reality just as quickly as it transpired. “You want to keep everyone safe. You have to at least admit that. You don’t know what can happen, and it wasn’t until now that something did.” No one could refute her words. She was telling the truth.

Even Bruce, who was watching everything from the safety of his room thanks to the camera feed the Avengers were privy to, knew that while reasonable, Darcy had been effectively locked in for no reason other than caution.

“You want to keep me in a box,” Darcy spat, eyes a startling violet. “Your thirst for knowledge would demand you keep chained and sealed, to be prodded and let out only at your convenience.”

There was no mistaking the guilt that settled in people’s stomachs. Bucky and Natasha especially, who had both been subject to physical torture, were unhappy with Darcy’s change in perspective.

“Lady Darcy,” Thor stepped out of cover. He placed Stormbreaker down and walked towards her with even steps. He stopped when she moved away from him, nearly touching the glass wall that separated them from the outside.

“I won’t,” said Shuri, regaining Darcy’s attention. “I won’t experiment on you. I won’t let anyone else touch you. You’ll have full control of what can and will be done to you, but harm anyone — including yourself — and there will be consequences, Darcy.”

Bucky stood beside Shuri and nodded, “We’re on your side here, doll.”

Jane, who had been walking slowly towards her friend, saw Darcy’s eyes flicker back to the baby blues that she knew. Without a thought, she lunged at Darcy, much to everyone’s surprise and stress.

Darcy caught her with ease, having already been in the midst of landing. They stumbled a bit but were able to quickly steady themselves. She blinked rapidly, her head pounding.

“Hey guys, what happened? Did I sleepwalk or something? I remember falling asleep on the couch,” she massaged her temple with one hand and made an offhanded gesture with the other.

For the first time in a long time, the entire country of Wakanda experienced a storm with thick dark clouds and roaring thunder. No one had to wonder what was going on as Thor’s eyes bled to a pure white and the sizzle of electricity sounded as sparks generated from his skin. He took Darcy’s arm and without a word, the pair disappeared.

“What the fuck?”

“Thor, not that I don’t usually love a road trip, but where are we?” Darcy looked around at the vast grassland. In the distance, she could see the sky meet the water, as well as the dark clouds beginning to gather.

“It seems that I’ve come to find this place…”

“Comforting,” offered Darcy, “Cathartic? I can feel your…emotions, I think.”

“We can be frank with each other here, Lady Darcy.” Thor, who had lost the electricity crackling all over his body and looked much like he normally would, came to stand right in front of her.  A cold wind blew, though save for her body hair standing on edge, Darcy barely felt it. Behind Thor, she could see lightning strike in the distance, and given their height difference, Darcy had to look up to properly meet his gaze.

“Thor…?”

“You know more than you say.”

“What?” Darcy’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other.” He raised a hand, tracing the side of Darcy’s face with the tips of his fingers, though not quite letting their skin touch fully.

“Well, yeah, I used to be a pretty fat kid, so I guess I’m still a little insecure about that,” quipped Darcy, taking a step back to put some distance between them. She’d never felt afraid of Thor before, but then again, there was definitely always a first time for everything.

“You say that nothing of the ordinary has occurred since your absorption of the Soul Stone, and yet earlier you showed me the very place where I had once seen my brother die.”

A portal opened behind Thor, and Doctor Strange stepped out.

“I thought we had agreed to approach her carefully.” The doctor said, moving to stand beside Thor.

“We agreed that I would talk to her.” Thor said, still looking at her.

“That was when we believed she was harmless.”

“Hey, she is right here.” Darcy said with a wave of her hand. “Now, do any of you want to tell me what you’re talking about?”

Strange looked at her as if to study her. “Miss Lewis, what do you remember before Thor brought you here?”

“I fell asleep on the couch in the lounge area thing,” Darcy pressed her lips together. She suddenly felt anxious as she looked between her two companions, “Didn’t I?”

“From what Princess Shuri told us, you reacted negatively when it was implied you would be kept against your will.” There was no judgement in Strange’s tone, but Darcy had the feeling that there was more to it than that.

“And what’re you supposed to talk to me about, Big Guy?” Her voice was soft, as if she were the one who had bad news to break.

Thor offered his left hand out to her, palm up. Confused, but taking in the fact that Thor didn’t have Stormbreaker and that he had lifted his non-dominant hand, Darcy raised her own left hand and placed it on his. Before she could properly lay her hand over his though, when her fingertips were just brushing his palm, he began to generate electricity once more.

Just as she withdrew her hand, a glove began to appear, covering her hand.

No, not a glove, Darcy lifted her hand to her face.

A gauntlet.

“It wasn’t just the Soul Stone you absorbed, Miss Lewis.”

A flash of blinding light and she was standing in shallow waters once more. This time, however, she wasn’t alone.

“Why are you here?” The little girl, with her green-skin and dark hair, looked up at her with big doe eyes. They stood about three feet apart, facing each other, with the child’s head reaching up to about Darcy’s hips.

“Where is here? Where am I? Where are we?”

The girl stepped towards her and took one of her hands in her smaller ones, “Are you lost?”

“I don’t know…” Darcy bent down when the little girl tugged at her hand. They were at about eye-level as she asked, “Who are you?”

The little girl placed a hand on Darcy’s face, cupping her cheek.

Darcy stood in front of Thor, eyes wide.

“What’s going on, Big Guy?”

“I do not know how to aid you, my Lightning Sister, but—”

“But perhaps I might,” Strange said. “Miss Lewis, it seems that you’ve not only absorbed the Infinity Gauntlet and all the stones embedded in it, but that, like the gauntlet, you’ve become a conduit of sorts for them and their abilities.”

That was easy enough to understand, Darcy supposed; but not really.

“Why me?” She closed her left hand into a fist, and found that the gauntlet had disappeared just as she was closing it.

Thor placed a hand on her head, which made her feel every bit the little sister he treated her as.  He slid his hand from her head to her shoulders, pulling her into his arms. She didn’t even have to think about it as she returned his hug. Really, Thor’s hugs could fix nearly everything.

“No matter the reason,” Thor said, “You will never face your troubles alone.”

They stayed in the area for another hour, Strange taking the time to talk Darcy through what would be her new regimen so that they could better work through and understand her newly acquired jewelry.

Chapter Text

Darcy tackled Jane into a hug as she stepped out of the portal. The smaller woman squealed, throwing her arms around her friend. They had all been briefly assured by Doctor Strange that he knew where Thor had taken Darcy and that they would bring her back shortly. So they had gone their separate ways and waited for the trio’s return.

“Darcy!”

“Jane-y! I’m hungry. Let’s go to the kitchen, I feel like having a BLT,” Darcy pulled Jane to the direction of the common area without waiting for the scientist’s reply. Darcy had been given access to a common area of sorts that was connected to her room via elevator that was programmed to go only to that floor. They had been thorough in limiting Darcy’s interaction with those outside of their circle, that much she was sure of. And after what had happened earlier that day, she was actually grateful for it.

Strange and Thor followed the pair, though the former lagged a bit behind while the latter enjoyed being in the company of the two most important women to him.

“Hello, Snow White, we are setting you free!” Tony Stark’s smile was not as comforting as he perhaps wanted it to be. Mostly, he had just succeeded in confusing Darcy, who looked from him, then to the other occupants in the room.

The two Peters stood with Mantis to Stark’s left, sharing an entire caramel cake of sorts between themselves. To Stark’s right, Captain America, Barnes, and Wanda were huddled together, seemingly in conversation that stopped upon their arrival. Strange had given them an update of how she didn’t remember her brief power stunt, and they had all made a quick decision about it.

“Setting me free how, exactly?” Darcy’s eyes narrowed, though her attention was divided as she felt her stomach rumble. “We talking about making my room bigger and letting me out to different floors free or letting me walk out of Wakanda free?”

“Little bit of both,” shrugged Stark. “We’re giving you a choice. You can stay in Wakanda and we’ll give you more freedom. Scheduled tours outside, an area you can be free to test your abilities in; the works, basically.”

“Or you can come back to the Avengers Compound,” said Jane from her side. “You’ll be moved to an apartment there, and since it’s all monitored by FRIDAY, you’d essentially have the freedom to go wherever within the land.”

“So basically I get to choose my cage.” Darcy pointed out.

“The offer has no expiration date,” Shuri said as she entered the space. “You can stay here for now, and then return to New York if you want — just give us time to prepare.”

“Or you can head back to New York,” Darcy was surprised as Stark continued, “Have a chance at normal.”

It had been about two weeks since she’d woken up, so she’d been in Wakanda for three weeks total. She had been feeling homesick ever since her first day, but had said nothing to anyone because she knew there wasn’t really anything that could be done about it, especially with the tenuous relationship between everyone. Yes, some of them got along pretty well, but Darcy wasn’t blind to note that there was an underlying tension between not just the Avengers and the Guardians, but within the Avengers themselves.

The matter of the Sokovia Accords hadn’t been mentioned in her presence, but she was sure that it was looming over everyone’s heads. There was a tenuous friendship and civility among the Avengers factions, with mainly Rhodes playing nice with those from the Captain’s side.

Truth be told, Darcy had been happy to keep out of all the politically-damning moves that the Avengers had partaken in. She hadn’t been looking to change anything in her life. She was satisfied to be a lab administrator for the laboratory at the Avengers Facility, and was more than grateful that Pepper Potts herself had offered her a spot on Stark Industries’ PR team, and then later on, their legal team. The position was more than she could have hoped for, even after having juggled law school and Jane, and gave her the freedom to go back and forth between Stark Tower and the Avengers Facility. However, now that she was, in essence, not entirely human, she knew that leaving the safety of Wakanda would put her under scrutiny from the UN Panel — if they found out.

She already knew she wanted to go back to New York, if only so she could better keep focus on the projects she had going on, but she would only agree if she weren’t a risk to the people around her.

“Can I think about it?” Darcy’s hunger made itself known as her stomach growled. She laughed sheepishly, but went on to drag Jane to the kitchen, “Now who wants some food?”

“We can just have food made you know,” Shuri pointed out as she took a seat on one of the counter stools.

“Yeah but I actually like cooking and I think I’m pretty good at it—”

“She is!” (Jane)

“The Lady Darcy is a great cook, and we shall all be blessed to have her meals if she wished.”

“Thor you really know how to sweet talk a girl. Just for that I’ll make you your favorite lava cake when I can.”

Stark perked up at that. “Wait, were you the one that made Pep that cake she got for her birthday? The one that was wrapped in an Ironman themed box?”

“Didn’t know you’d know about that.”

“That was delicious!”

“Well yeah, Pep said she liked black forrest cakes so I made her one for her birthday.” She shrugged, turning her attention to gathering ingredients.

“That was delicious! I ate most of it to be honest. Pepper got mad as hell.”

“Wait, was that why Pepper twitched when I asked her if she liked it?” Darcy turned to Stark, took one of the towels in the kitchen and used it to whip him. “I thought she was lying when she said she loved it because of that eye twitch, you ass.”

“Hey now you’re going to have to cook for all of us.”

“I never agreed to that!”

“Tony, I’m sure Miss Lewis wouldn’t want to be treated like a cook.” Captain (“I just go by Steve Rogers now, Ma’am”) America walked up to the counter, an exhausted smile on his face.

“Well I wouldn’t mind being your cook, Cap’n.” Darcy winked, relishing when she saw how startled he seemed to be by her comment. She turned to the people that had quickly become her audience, a mix of those that had been her doctors and her guardians. “If you guys want we can have dinner in like,” she turned to Shuri for confirmation, “Two or three days and I’ll cook for everyone.”

Stark was quick to agree, “Shuri, Princess, Your Highness, make that happen.”

“Tony!” (Captain America)

“Stark!” (Jane)

“Already done.” (Shuri)

Darcy stood by one of the windows in her new room, watching the sunset. Shuri had been quick to offer her a new room, provided she still had a guard, and now one of those beaded bracelets that the Wakandans had that was tailored specifically for her to be able to consistently monitor her.

“Knock knock,” Peter Quill entered the room and waved when he saw her turn to him. “We’re switching with Bucky and Widow.”

“Her name’s Natasha,” Darcy grinned, walking towards Peter and his companion, Sam (“I’m also known as The Falcon, but you can call me Sam”) Wilson.

“Yeah, but she hasn’t told me to call her that yet, and I really think staying on the good side of a beautiful and dangerous woman is a great idea.” Peter replied, earning a laugh from Darcy and a nod from Sam.

“Fair point. So what do you want to learn now, Q?” Darcy grabbed the tablet she’d been provided to keep herself entertained. She had Quill playing catch up with earth pop culture. She was sure she could leave the whole technological advancement catchup to Stark or Shuri, but really when it came to pop culture, who better to learn from than her or Sam?

Sam grinned, “I think it’s time we taught Peter here the art of memes, Darce’.”

And so they did.

Jane, who had been talking to Shuri and other Wakandan researchers about her studies on Einstein-Rosen Bridges and setting up a lab or at least equipment for them in Wakanda, found the trio surrounded by projected monitors that depicted — were those spongebob memes?

“Hey, Darce, have you eaten dinner?” The scientist asked, trying hard not to cringe at the images. She never really saw the humor in memes, or rather, she understood it, but wasn’t that into them.

“Nope, was waiting for you,” Darcy looked at Jane, who had two people carrying trays of food with her. They laid the food on the table, and Darcy nudged Sam and Peter, “You should eat with us too.”

“We ate before our shift,” reasoned Sam like a good soldier.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t eat now,” countered Quill, already taking a seat by the food. “So, Doc Foster, how are the stars?”

That was another friendship that was both surprising and not. Jane had always been a little bit in love with the stars (and the capabilities of inter-galactic travel, but really, saying in love with the stars was far more romantic than science), and so to be able to speak to someone who was both human and yet had experiences far outside that of the norm, well it was definitely a goldmine she wanted to take advantage of.

Darcy thought it was kind of cute how Jane gravitated towards Quill with all her questions, while Stark, Shuri, and Bruce hovered in the background, listening and learning. Of course, once Quill had realized that he really didn’t have all the tech-related answers they wanted, he was quick to pass them off to Rocket, who was only ever willing to explain to Shuri and Jane. The raccoon definitely had a soft spot for smart women, Darcy had laughed upon the realization.

“So I heard you weren’t sure about heading back to New York,” Sam began conversationally. He spoke in a tone softer than his normal voice, so that he wouldn’t be easily heard by the other occupants in the room, and Darcy was reminded that Sam was like everyone’s shrink-on-call.

“I’ll go if you go,” Darcy joked, and Sam immediately understood that she didn’t want to talk about it (yet).

“You know you only have to say the word and I’d follow you anywhere, sweetheart.” Sam’s reply had Darcy laughing.

Later, when Quill and Sam had taken their post outside and Jane had left to return to her own room with Thor, Darcy sat alone on the bed. They had been leaving her alone more and more, though she didn’t object to the guards they currently had on rotation for her — Quill, Sam, Barnes, Okoye, Natasha (“Natasha. I hear you got Bruce to wear more casual clothes.”), Thor, Nebula, Groot, and Rocket. Among them, she found herself quickly befriending Quill, Sam, and Rocket, forming a tentative fangirl-friendship-colleague relationship with Natasha and Nebula, and then trying very hard to understand Groot.

Usually, when she found herself unable to sleep, she’d make herself some hot chocolate and set herself up for a night of studying, working, or watching whatever interesting thing she found online. If that didn’t work, she would change and go out to the 24 hour diner near her apartment. This time, however, she didn’t have the attention span for the former nor the luxury for the latter. She threw on a robe over her pajamas, as she headed out.

As she opened the door, Darcy was greeted by the sight of a cliff that was definitely not the outside of her room.

She could hear talking in the distance, and when she turned around to where her door was supposed to be, she found nothing. Darcy closed her eyes, remembering Strange’s words earlier that day (“If you find yourself in a place you don’t know, close your eyes and make sure your senses are working. Thor theorizes that you feel the effects of the stone, and if that’s true, then we want to make sure you are controlling it and not the other way around.”).

“You’re back.”

Her eyes opened. It was the same little girl from before. Green skin and dark hair.

The girl turned around and walked away, leaving Darcy to follow.

“How long was I gone?” She asked.

“They said you’d be back.”

“Who?”

“I don’t think they like that you leave so often.”

“Leave? Where even am I? Hey, little girl!” Darcy lunged and reached for the girl’s arm, but found herself falling face first into the water that surrounded them.

She fell.

And kept on falling.

And fell some more.

And then she looked to her side and someone was falling with her.

Her head was pounding. Darcy looked up into Natasha’s eyes.

“Is everything okay?” The spy asked.

“I think…yeah. I just wanted to go for a walk,” Darcy turned to the other guard on duty, Nebula. “Sorry to worry you.”

“Do you want to go outside?” Nebula asked.

“Is that possible?” Darcy frowned. “I thought I was restricted to staying within the building.”

“I think we can handle going out for a little moonlight stroll.” Natasha’s smirk was a confidence boost Darcy didn’t know she needed.

When they were outside, Darcy couldn’t help but run out on to the grass. She took off her shoes and let her feet feel the blades of grass against her skin. Darcy grinned and plopped her ass down.

“You remind me of her.” Nebula said as she came to squat beside Darcy.

“Who?” The brunette asked with a tilt of her head.

“Gamora,” said the blue woman. “My sister.” The woman that had been sacrificed in exchange for the Soul Stone.

Darcy smiled, and placed a hand on Nebula’s arm, “Tell me about her.”

And so Darcy spend the night with Natasha and Nebula, two intelligent and powerful women who could probably kill her with their pinky finger, learning about the woman Nebula had grown up with (and Quill had been in love with).

Chapter Text

Darcy had fallen asleep listening to Natasha tell the story of the Avengers attempting to lift Mjølnir. She, Nebula, and Natasha had all lied down, watching the clear night sky as they traded stories — though really, Darcy listened more than she shared. Between the two Warrior Maidens (as Thor would call them), there was no shortage of somewhat outrageous but most likely true stories.

She learned about how Thanos didn’t really have any biological children, only ever taking in children that caught his attention from the countries that he conquered. She learned how he had doted on Gamora the most. She learned that he was a strict father, only ever showing any real affection towards Gamora. She learned how Nebula had loved her sister.

They learned that Darcy had an older brother that had passed away on tour in Afghanistan and a little sister that was a doctor in California. They learned that her mother had passed away two years ago to breast cancer, and that her father had followed shortly after. They learned she got her love and affinity for cooking from her dad and grandmother. They learned she had always wanted a simple life.

She learned about how Natasha’s favorite Avenger was actually a retired Avenger (“Wait, Clint Barton as in that cute guy with the arrow and very flexible? I - uh - met him in New Mexico.”). Darcy was both impressed and confused. Of course, she’d known who Clint Barton was, but not that Natasha would so openly claim Clint as an important person to her. Wasn’t Natasha supposed to be this impenetrable force swathed in stoicism and an unwillingness to do anything that won’t benefit her?

When Darcy woke up, it was to find that she was back on her bed, and that Bruce was on a chair by her bedside, watching something on his tablet.

“G’morning, Bruce,” murmured Darcy as she closed her eyes again.

“Good morning, Darcy. How’re you feeling?” Bruce smiled as Darcy hummed and stretched without leaving the comfort of her duvet.

“Hungry, sleepy,” said Darcy as she slowly sat up. “What time is it?”

“Eight in the morning. When I got here for your 7:00AM vital check, Nat said you’ve only been asleep for about an hour.” Bruce reached for a mug on the bedside table and brought it to his lips. “You can get some more sleep if you want.”

“How’d I get back here?” She rubbed her eyes. If she were honest, she wouldn’t be surprised if Natasha or Nebula had carried her up, so asking Bruce was more of to make conversation to help her wake herself up and to know who she had to thank.

“Wanda actually came by just as Nat and Nebula were going to bring you back, so she helped them out.”

Wanda Maximoff, the only Avenger she hadn’t properly met. She’d seen the girl in passing before the Avengers had split, when Jane was working in the compound’s lab, but had never been formally introduced. From what she had been told, Wanda had left for the outskirts of Wakanda right after Darcy had been situated in her previous room. She didn’t take any offense to it, understanding that the woman was grieving her lover.

Darcy closed her eyes again and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She frowned at the discomfort of having slept wearing a bra. It was a sports bra, sure, but she wasn’t a fan of the under boob sweat that came with it, and preferred no bras when sleeping. Her sleepwear while she was in Wakanda, which consisted of loose pajama bottoms and a billowy top, was one of the most comfortable things she had ever worn, but she definitely missed the oversized shirts that she had in her apartment.

“Bruce,” because from the moment they had met, Bruce had only ever been Bruce. After Loki’s attack on New York, Darcy and Jane had flown from Tromsø in both indignation and rage only to be greeted by Pepper Potts and her fairy godmother-esque ways. She had told them that they had space for Jane’s work and housing should she wish it and that the offer is there for as long as Jane should need it. Bruce who was already staying in the tower, had met Jane, and with her, her then intern, Darcy.

The two geniuses barely interacted though. Jane rarely utilized the lab in Stark (Avengers, at that time) Tower, only ever being there when Thor was there, and even then, never at the cost of her research and the advancement of science. And where Jane went, so did Darcy. She made sure the astrophysicist was rested, fed, and watered, and her scope simply expanded whenever there was someone else in the vicinity.

‘Someone Else’ just happened to be Bruce Banner, who had looked through some of Jane’s files and was both respectful and open to the ideas Darcy’s boss had presented that Darcy couldn’t help but like him for it. The two women were more accustomed to scientists looking down at Jane’s work. No one had believed her before Thor’s arrival, and for some reason, they were quick to say that Thor was both a fluke and the result of luck. They hadn’t believed in Jane’s abilities then, and so they had stayed in New York City for a bit so that Jane could gather data surrounding all that had happened during the Chitauri Invasion. Bruce and Tony lent their own heads into the research, though with Darcy juggling both school and work, she only ever got to spend time with Bruce.

Bruce smiled at her, and even without her glasses, Darcy could tell that it looked far more tired than she would ever wish for him.

“It’s nice to see you again.” After all that had transpired in Sokovia, Jane and Darcy hadn’t seen  nor heard from Bruce. Finally having an answer for what had happened, they were more than relieved for their friend’s survival and return. They knew that there were probably aspects of his experiences that he withheld, perhaps as much for his own safety and sanity, but Darcy made sure Bruce knew that he would always be considered their friend.

“It’s nice to be back,” he took another sip of what Darcy was sure to be tea, and they savored the peace that they had in that moment. He put his tablet on his lap and reached over so that he could grab her eyeglasses and hand it to her. She accepted it gratefully and put it on.

It felt surreal to be in her position. Who would have thought she would be having tea with the man who turned into a green rage monster while his friends were out there either keeping watch on her door or trying to figure out what to do with her?

For all the beauty that Wakanda possessed, housing such huge personalities with an innate curiosity and penchant for trouble was not the best for any area. Ramonda and T’Challa had made sure that their guests were entertained; arranging tours and activities to occupy their time when they didn’t have to check on Darcy, and while grateful for the new experiences, Bruce had missed being able to sit back and enjoy someone else’s company without talking about Darcy’s condition, his next move, or his experiences off planet. That wasn’t what Darcy meant for him, he couldn’t help but think. As curious as he felt with her condition, Bruce didn’t see Darcy as an experiment or case study. She was a friend. She had taken him in as one of her pseudo children and fed and watered him alongside Jane when they’d met. She had treated him as Bruce when everyone else had seen him as Doctor Banner or as Hulk’s alter ego. Darcy deserved better than to be treated as if she were just some anomaly because of what happened.

They stayed that way, with Darcy having gotten her own tablet to look through some updates she had. They did their own thing in each other’s presence, content with the silence that blanketed them, occasionally breaking it to show each other some interesting content they found on their own pads.

By ten o’clock, Darcy and Bruce had wandered into the communal living area — though Darcy hesitated to call it that because communal for whom, really? She knew that each person were housed somewhere. Jane, Thor, Bruce, and the Guardians were housed in the same place she was, and then the others were scattered in different places, especially since half of the Avengers had already been staying in Wakanda for a while anyway.

She made them breakfast, having insisted around the time that they let her to the communal floor that she didn’t need to have all her meals served unless they needed her on some restricted diet. She liked to cook and it gave her something to do since she wasn’t really supposed to go outside yet.

It was one of the ways she had begun to warm up to the people around her, she supposed. Little things around food and their interactions.

Over the course of the weeks she’d been in Wakanda, Darcy got to know people. She found out that Spider-Man was actually a teenager named Peter Parker who was often being nagged by Stark to go back to New York and try to live what life he had pre-Thanos. She found out Parker liked to argue with Stark. It was adorable.

She found out that Groot acted a lot like a teenager, prompting Quill to act like a parent and lecture him. Really, the parallels between Parker and Stark and Quill and Groot was  both interesting and entertaining.

She found out that there was no age range to being a hero (or vigilante, depending on who you ask, really). Parker and Shuri (and Groot) were literally teenagers, which actually irked Parker because Stark treated Shuri so differently than he did Parker. Bruce and Stark were in their late forties, and a good bulk of them were in their early thirties. She, herself, was twenty-nine, and it shook her how long this has been a sort of part of her life. Had it really been seven years since she tased a sketchy man in New Mexico?

She found out that Bruce and Shuri had become good friends. The royal liked the older man’s cool demeanor, and Bruce found Shuri’s personality a more accommodating presence compared to Stark’s. The other half of the Science!Bros duo tried not to be offended (“You just like her because has different tech!” “Better, you mean.” “Guys, please.”)

She found out that Mantis, as an empath, wasn’t too big on physical contact, which was actually a big reason that Natasha and Nebula didn’t mind her presence. Natasha also liked Darcy, or so the latter liked to think, because the spy would often be around when Darcy had food to be given out. Then again, maybe Natasha liked her food.

She found out that Nebula might have a bit of a crush on Thor, if the way she often threw her eyes his way was anything to go by. That was an observation she still hadn’t broken to Jane. Darcy didn’t want to stir an empty pot. There was enough on people’s plates.

She found out that Barnes was sweet on Shuri, and that her brother didn’t fully approve or disapprove. Either way, whenever Darcy looked at them, there was a warmth within her that told her they were going to be fine.

She found out that Drax may or may not have a soft spot for Mantis. Further research needed, because maybe she just liked the thought of them together and she was shipping and therefore projecting.

She found out that Strange actually went back and forth between Wakanda and some other part of the globe. His power was definitely something she would love to have. She’d never have to be stuck in traffic!

She found out that Jane and Stark should never be left alone, in case the latter tried to tinker with her equipment without permission again. Again? Darcy had gotten a very passionate recount of it care of Jane Foster, complete with angry chewing and Stark not looking remorseful at all.

She found out that Peter Quill, Thor Odinson, and Tony Stark had very soft spots and high egos in the shape of the women they were in love with. Her heart ached for Quill whenever he spoke of Gamora.

She found out that Steve Rogers aka Captain America, commanded a room’s attention without even trying. She rarely saw him spend time on the communal floor, but when he did, he always turned heads. Darcy acknowledged that he was definitely attractive, but he also made her uncomfortable. It was a conundrum. Because of her brother, she had always felt a bit more comfortable in the presence of a soldier — just look at her easy friendship with Thor, Sam, and even Barnes. However, whenever she was faced with Steve Rogers (which had only happened about two or three times, really), Darcy found herself a little unsure, so she usually just went to her default flirt for faux confidence.

She found out that the Avengers were still very much split. Captain America and Stark still hadn’t spoken words outside of what they were supposed to do about her, and that it was something that really affected the dynamic of the group. Often, she’d notice Sam taking a step back from his conversation with Bruce when he saw that Barnes was in the room. Or Peter would constantly look at Barnes or Captain America, seemingly wanting to strike up conversation, but unsure of how to proceed.

She found out that James Rhodes had returned back to New York a few days after she had woken up. They barely shared more than a handful of sentences while in Wakanda, in spite of knowing each other pretty well.

She found out that she missed her apartment. The state-of-the-art everything was great, but there was something to be said about the familiarity of home. She missed the ugly blue couch she and Jane had found three years ago. She missed the smell of pollution and the noise of traffic. She missed her anonymity in the concrete jungle.

Here, she was Darcy Lewis: Banisher of Thanos, Wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet, Home of the Stones, Anomaly of the Century. She missed being Darcy: Jane’s Intern and Good Cook.

As she laid out omelets for her and Bruce, Darcy found their attention steered to the other occupants of the room. Parker and Stark were arguing, and no one knew if they ought to step in. Groot, Rocket, and Thor, who were her scheduled guards, stood by the side.

Darcy could see that Thor was tense and wanted to interfere, and so did Groot. Rocket was content to watch the chaos.

“YOU’RE NOT MY DAD!”

Darcy’s eyes widened, and she could just visualize how Tony steeled himself and built his walls back up.

“Yes, because the only family you have left is a lovely woman in a two bedroom apartment who has no idea why her superhero of a nephew hasn’t gone back even though the threat has been effectively neutralized. I know I’m not your father, kid, but if this is what I get for caring, then I’d rather not.” The man turned to leave, but Darcy was suddenly right in front of him.

Her eyes were a bright yellow and she was glowing blue when she reached out a hand to cup his face.

“Darcy, what the fuck?”

“Shit,” Darcy stepped away from Stark. They were in a desert-like place.

“Where are we, Lewis?” For someone who was just transported to fuck knows where, Tony Stark looked like it was just a mild inconvenience to him.

“I don’t know!”

“Then how’d you bring us here?”

“Jesus fuck, Stark,” Darcy growled. “I already told you, I don’t know!”

“Is this the first time this has happened?”

“Well the glowy thing, obviously not, but the whole teleporting thing, definitely!”

The desert wasn’t made of the fine golden sand. Instead, it was a coarser and a darker reddish shade. The atmosphere felt humid, but Darcy didn’t feel or see it affect her or her companion. She moved back to stand closer to Stark, wanting the comfort his presence offered. Neither of them may have known what exactly was going on, but at least they weren’t alone.

They looked at each other, and Tony had to remind himself that the woman before him, in spite of all her bravado, sass, and flirting, was not only nearly twenty years younger than him, but also a civilian. Aside from her encounter with Thor and the help she’s been lending to Foster’s research, Darcy wasn’t trained for any of these types of situations. They had all seen SHIELD’s file on her. Aside from New Mexico and London, she had been living a mundane life.

“We should get moving, look for shelter if we’re going to be spending any extended amount of time here.” He said, taking a look around them.

She nodded and they chose a direction and began to walk.

“So this is really the first time that this happened?”

“Yeah, I think I’d remember if I left earth, Stark.”

“Tony.”

“What?”

“You keep calling me Stark. I call you Darcy. You should call me Tony.”

“But aren’t you technically my boss?”

“No, I’m your boss’ very rich fiancé.”

“I still cannot believe she let me work remotely.”

“It’s PR.” Tony shrugged. “And you’re part of a team, so really, there are people that would cover your work if you agreed to take my suggestion and cash in on vacation leaves.”

“You have no idea what I do, do you?”

“PR, right? Don’t you post pictures and update the website?”

“I’m a lawyer.” Darcy laughed at his shocked look, though she knew better than to believe him. “I’m also the liaise for various government agencies and large companies. If Pepper thinks that a company is important and there are lots of NDAs involved, she usually tosses it to me, since my work with Jane makes most of my work one big NDA anyways. You’ve probably seen my file; I mean SHIELD had a pretty extensive one from when I worked with Jane as her intern, I’m sure SI has a more updated one especially since SHIELD crashed.”

“Fair point. I did, but I figured you might want to gloat.”

“What exactly do I have to gloat about to the person that owns the buildings I actually work in?”

“Yeah, how exactly is it that you work in two of the buildings I own in New York, both of which I spend time in regularly, and yet I meet you in Wakanda?”

Darcy grinned, “I barely go to the labs in Stark Tower. I only pop by when Jane’s there, and she is only ever there to see if there were any changes with how the stars look or something once a year. If I go there to do PR or legal work, I’m at the offices, which you are never in because you’re busy being you.”

“And at the facility? Foster says she’s been there for the better part of a year now.”

“And by that, she means she’s been there the most out of the other locations that have been offered to her. We had a brief stint in different countries in Asia after the Dark Elves in London, and when she decided she wanted to take a year off and just attend conferences and be more accessible to Selvig, we settled for New York.”

“You don’t live in the Facility?”

“We didn’t want to be separated. Jane knew Thor had made arrangements for accommodations, but we didn’t know if that included me.” Darcy grinned, reminiscing. “I would’ve been fine, really. By then I was already earning steady income care of Stark Industries, and could have gotten my own place, but Jane…Thor’s inconsistent presence wasn’t the best for her.”

Tony noted the softness in Darcy’s tone. He remembered Thor telling them that Darcy may have been his Lightning Sister, but she was Jane’s Sister of the Heart.

“Wait, Tony, do you see that?” She pointed at a figure in the distance. “HEY!”

He placed a hand on her mouth, “Christ, princess, be careful. We can’t be too sure that thing’s a friendly. WHAT THE FUCK did you just lick me?” He pulled his hand away, disgusted.

She grinned at him, and Tony could only roll his eyes. You leave one child and join another.

They looked back at the horizon, but found it empty once again.

Darcy lost her glow, and was left awkwardly holding a side of Tony’s face. He blinked rapidly, as if to clear his vision, and gave her a cocky smile.

“Thanks for bringing us back, Darce’.”

She frowned, “What are you talking about, Stark?”

Chapter Text

It had been concluded that there were probably things happening that Darcy didn’t remember.  Strange had been called back immediately, and an impromptu meeting had been called to discuss the matter. They piled into a large conference room, and Darcy couldn’t help but notice that they situated themselves in little groups of sorts.

A circular table with twelve chairs was in the spacious room.

Darcy sat at the six o’clock seat, Jane sat to Darcy’s right, holding her hand, and Thor sat to Darcy’s left, his palm open and Darcy’s fingertips idly playing with his. Strange stood behind her, and she couldn’t help but lean back in her chair to be a fraction closer to him. His presence felt soothing in the anxiety-inducing atmosphere.

In the twelve o’clock seat, Tony Stark situated himself. Far behind him, Bruce stood with his arms crossed. He hadn’t said a word since they’d called for the meeting. To Tony’s right sat Natasha, whose calm and cool facade was a thing of beauty that Darcy wanted to emulate. Here they were, worried that something was going on that they weren’t aware of because Darcy herself couldn’t remember them, and Natasha looked more bored than excited to be there. To Tony’s left, looking more like a kid than she had ever seen him, sat Peter Parker. She hadn’t heard him say anything else to Tony since their argument.

At the three o’clock seat was T’Challa. Beside him sat Steve Rogers and Shuri. Behind them were Wanda, Barnes, and Sam. They all looked tense and ready for a fight, which did nothing to comfort Darcy. She didn’t want a fight to break out. Darcy had no taste for violence.

Opposite them, in the nine o’clock seat, were the Guardians of the Galaxy. Quill sat between Mantis and Groot, while Rocket sat on the table and Drax and Nebula stood behind those seated. They looked more curious than bothered, though Darcy supposed that this must have been nothing compared to what they’ve see or experienced.

Tony recounted his version of what had happened, with Darcy being surprised and confused by his tale. As it turned out, their bodies hadn’t left the room when they had travelled, and that no time at all had passed. In the eyes of those who had been with them at the time, Darcy had simply glowed and placed a hand against Tony’s cheek, enveloping him in the same otherworldly glow.

There was silence.

And then…

“We need to get her out of here.”

“We’ll take her to Terma!”

“She needs to be secured.”

“She needs to gain control.”

“We need to find out what’s going on.”

Everyone spoke at once, over each other and without a thought to listen for what the other was saying.

Shuri leaned forward slightly, “We need to test this out. We need to see what this means. What else can she do? What else has already happened?”

“We can go off-planet; bring her somewhere that she could let lose without hurting anyone,” Quill was quick to suggest.

“You can’t just take Darcy off planet!” Parker jumped up, adrenaline pumping from the excitement of making a huge decision and anxiety from his fight with Tony.

Shuri looked between both Peters, “But you agree that we need to test this out.”

“Yeah, well if she wanted to come with us to do that, why not?” Rocket was fiddling with a gadget of some sort as he spoke.

“She will learn to be a great fighter,” Drax nodded. “Not like Peter, but like Thor.”

Quill scoffed, “Hey!”

The Captain America Disappointed Face is real, Darcy decided, as the man frowned and said, “This isn’t up for negotiation. She stays here.”

“I am Groot!”

Thor’s voice was calm, yet it garnered everyone’s attention as he spoke. “The Lady Darcy’s home is Midgard. Earth. There’s no reason to leave. We can and will best aid her here.”

“Help her? What help can we give? We don’t know what she’s capable of.” Wanda scoffed, and Darcy could just feel Jane twitch in irritation.

It was Natasha that put the girl in her place, saying, “At one point we had no idea what you were capable of, and yet we gave you a chance. We even trained you.”

“But I knew what I was capable of.” Wanda waved a hand in Darcy’s direction, “She doesn’t even know what’s going on in her mind?”

Jane surprised everyone as she cut in, “Good thing you can read minds then, right? All the better for you to help.”

Wanda, duly chastised, blushed and grit her teeth sinking back behind her Captain.

Tony addressed Thor, “What do you think, Point Break? You warned us she might have powers because of the stone. And then you and Harry Potter,” he gestured to Strange, “Over there confirm that she has the glove of doom and all the matching jewelry and what happens next?

“This is the first time I have heard of such a thing. Perhaps I might return to Nidavellir and inquire about the capabilities of the Gauntlet, but I do not wish to leave the Lady Darcy’s side.” Not for the first time, Darcy was reminded that Thor was every bit a prince as he was a warrior and her friend. He was so inherently good as a person and at being a leader that Darcy’s heart ached for her friend and the kingdom he had so quickly gained and lost.

Rocket slammed his fists on the table. “We could have gone there last week and been back by now!”

“Would going to Nida—that place really give us answers?” Rogers asked.

Thor nodded, “That place is home to Eitri, the last remaining blacksmith of the dwarves that created both Mjølnir and Stormbreaker. If there is anyone that could give us answers, it shall be him.”

Quill raised a hand to regain their attention, “We can do that. We’ll go to Nidevill—”

“Nidavellir.” Nebula was quick to correct him.

“Yeah. There. We’ll go there, ask about the gauntlet, and then we can go back. We didn’t do this before because we were worried something might happen without whoever goes, right? Well now, something has happened, and we might as well do something about it.” Quill looked satisfied with his suggestion, and there were nods of agreement.

Tony was quick to steer everyone back on track, “Okay, so we stay here, test her powers while the Guardians go look for answers, and then what? What exactly are we looking at? Are we going to train her? Turn her into another one of us — a, for all intents and purposes, weapon?”

Darcy could feel the way the atmosphere changed. It was as if a coil had been tightened within everyone. Natasha’s eyes narrowed. Barnes twitched. Wanda glared at Tony.

“No one said anything about turning her into a weapon, Tony.” Roger sighed, standing up.

“But that’s the ending, isn’t it, Cap? We’d give her an option for a normal life and then what?  The next Big Bad comes along and we need all hands on deck so we pull her in? Clint gave Wanda a choice, but look at where that led to.” Tony stood as well, wound up and defensive.

The Guardians, Darcy, Jane, Strange, and Bruce could feel that things weren’t necessarily just about Darcy anymore. There was personal beef there, and It wasn’t something they could easily address. It wasn’t even something they should address. Stark and Rogers had to get through their fight themselves.

No one noticed how Darcy began to move as Wanda argued, “That — This — We are not the same.”

It was Tony’s turn to scoff, “Yes, you’re not. She’s a civilian. She’s not a soldier. She’s not a science experiment. She never wanted any of this. And she also happens to be standing right there.” These children, Tony couldn’t help but think. He just wanted what was best for everyone. He just wanted to keep them safe. And he was usually right. Why couldn’t they see that?

Darcy, who had slowly stood up as they argued, found herself the center of everyone’s attention. How ironic that they were talking about her but not to her. The PoliSci Major and activist in her couldn’t help but feel that this is like most of the world’s governments; a bunch of people — mostly men — deciding what to do with something they barely understand (read: women). Or in this case, a woman. With powers.

She looked at Jane, whose hand was still holding hers and whom she knew would support her whatever her decision may be. Her eyes moved to Thor, who looked at her with blind trust. And she knew they’d have her back. She knew that even Strange, who hadn’t said anything at all the entire meeting, but had placed a hand on her shoulder as if to remind her that he was there for her.

These people whom she had gotten to know a little bit were good people, sure. They wouldn’t go saving the world/universe/galaxy if they weren’t good people, after all. However, they weren’t her people. Not all of them. Not really.

She closed her eyes, getting a feel of the room. Everyone was tense and worried. Mostly, they were worried she might hurt other people. A handful were worried she might hurt herself.

“I want to go home.” Darcy said softly, meeting Tony’s intense gaze as she opened her eyes. “I definitely understand that you want to see what this means,” she reached out to Thor, who seemed to understand what she wanted as he let electricity run on his fingertips and grazed her left arm to reveal the Infinity Gauntlet. “So I wouldn’t object to tests.”

“I’m not letting them touch you if you’re even a little bit unsure about this,” Jane said, standing up suddenly. She glared at the others, before turning to Darcy, “You don’t have to do this.”

Darcy was more surprised when Nebula and Natasha seconded the motion. They didn’t stand or move towards her, but their nods were seen by everyone. These women, really. Darcy might just love them.

“I want to know what’s going on too,” she assured Jane. “I’ll agree to experiments and tests, and whatever else you come up with as long as Bruce and Jane agree to it too.”

Bruce’s smile, despite their physical distance, served to warm Darcy. He had to know. In a room filled with some of the greatest minds, he had one of the biggest and kindest hearts. She’d trust him with her life almost as much as she would trust Thor. Hulk or not, Bruce would make sure she wasn’t screwed over.

“I…” She paused, briefly looking at the group she had begun to call Wakandan Avengers.  She looked from Rogers to T’Challa, and decided to address the King. “Stark—Tony’s right. I’m a civilian. I’m not a scientist or a soldier. I can’t even say I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, because as far as I was concerned, I was at my apartment when this whole battle between good and evil was going on.” There was more that she wanted to say, but she knew the king understood. She was no genius, but she wasn’t stupid, and there were far too much hinging on what happened next.

“I believe,” T’Challa began, gaining everyone attention. “Now that we are aware of Miss Lewis’ preferences, we can move accordingly. Stark, I can lend you a jet to return to America, or grant your own jet access. I believe we all agree that a continued guard rotation needs to be kept, and we can discuss who will be there and the general logistics of this arrangement, subject to Miss Lewis’ approval.”

She waved her hand, “Whatever Tony decides will be fine.”

And that was it. The tension bled out of the people, and therefore the room, as they continued to discuss the details of their next move. She turned to Strange as the Infinity Gauntlet faded out of view, who had let go of her but had kept his attention attuned mostly to her. He seemed to understand her wish to leave, and he turned and left without a word, leaving her to let go of Jane after a brief squeeze of her friend’s hand and follow him.

No one bothered to stop them.

“Seems we have to start your lessons immediately, Miss Lewis.”

“Not even sure what I’m in school for,” was Darcy’s dry quip, and she wasn’t blind to the twitch in Strange’s lips as he repressed a smile. She did, however, begin to feel discomfort behind her eyes.

They were back in her room when Strange asked, “Were you telling the truth?”

“About what?” She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, feeling a mild stinging sensation behind them.

“Learning to control it.” He took her wrists into his hands, stopping her from causing unnecessary damage to her eyes. He transferred both of her wrists to one hand, and used his freed hand to tilt her chin up so that he could look at what was irritating her.

She squinted up at him, “Didn’t say that. I said I’d agree to tests they want. If that means learning control, then okay. If that means just satisfying their curiosity and also knowing what’s going on with me, then that’s fine too.”

“There is power in control.” Strange murmured, using the hand holding her chin to cup her face get her to stop squinting. He used his thumb to pull down the lower part of her eye, and noted the change in her iris as it bled from red to her normal blue.

“Knowledge is power,” replied Darcy with a smile, unbothered.

“Miss Lewis, I’d like to apologize…” Steve Rogers looked up from the tablet he was looking at, feeling like an idiot. He had come wanting to apologize about what had happened earlier. Tony bringing up how Darcy hadn’t been included in a conversation that had everything to do with her own agency and safety had made him feel like a complete hypocrite. Wasn’t that the same thing SHIELD and HYDRA had done to him? To Bucky…?

The others were discussing minute logistical details when he had left, having already discussed the bigger aspects of the move. Now that he thought about it, he should have probably considered that Strange and Darcy had left together. He hadn’t really spent much time around either individual to know if there was something there to even consider, but he also knew that it was none of his business. The Avengers may have come together to protect Vision — and subsequently, the world — but he wasn’t the leader the world had painted him to be. Not anymore.

“Captain,” Strange said, stepping away from Darcy and letting her wrists and face go.

“Hey, Cap,” Darcy smiled at him, and Rogers felt guilt curl in his stomach. He hadn’t meant to disturb them. He hadn’t even know there was a them to disturb! Christ, this was like the times he’d unintentionally walk-in on Bucky, only worse. At least he and Bucky were friends.

“I wanted to apologize.” He could feel his ears burning, and he was sure that he was blushing. “I feel that there were ways that we could have discussed and handled everything better, especially with consulting you, and I regret that Tony had to point that out before you felt that you could speak about something that concerns you.”

Oh there was that sweet charm the media had liked to boost, Darcy couldn’t help but think as she watched the large bearded man before her, looking so pink and guilty. She definitely understood his appeal. He looked like there was more he wanted to say, so Darcy bit her tongue.

“And if there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.” He smiled, tight-lipped, and Darcy could barely make out the shallow dimple beneath his facial hair. “I might not understand what’s going on completely, but I do know what it’s like to feel as if you’re in over your head.”

“You’re very sweet, Cap, and thank you for the apology.” Darcy said sincerely. “I’d hug you, but I’m not sure if I might bring you to another dimension or something — even if I don’t remember doing that to Tony.”

His lips curled further as he smiled properly, “I’ll see you around, Miss Lewis.” He nodded at Strange, who had watched the whole exchange with mild interest. “Doctor Strange.”

As he turned to leave, Darcy called out, “Thought I told you to call me Darcy!”

He paused just as the doors opened then, and turned to look at her, “Then you’ll have to call me Steve, Darcy.”

“Sounds good,” was her reply. “Steve.”

Strange watched the Captain leave, his eyes narrowing slightly as he saw Steve look from him to Darcy.

With Steve gone, Darcy turned back to Strange, “So are you going to teach me how to cast a patronus, Harry?”

The following evening was the night Darcy promised to make dinner for everyone. She wasn’t really sure how she was going to accomplish it, but as it turned out, a lot of people were willing to lend a hand — as long as she didn’t touch them while she glowed, which was to say, she just didn’t touch anyone to be on the safer side of things. And so she bossed people around.

Sam and Natasha, who were her scheduled guards, were put to work as well. Natasha was in charge of drinks. Sam was told to chop vegetables, and when Thor came around with Jane, they were ordered to mix the batter.

It wasn’t long before there was a spread on the large table that had been brought in for them. Three platters of lasagne, a lot of steaks, two roasted turkeys, and a variety of steamed, roasted, and fresh vegetables. For dessert, they had a cheesecake, a chocolate cake, and a coffee cake. Their beverages looked fruity and there were a variety of color. When asked about what it was, all Natasha did was smile. No one dared to question her further or refuse when offered a drink.

For the first time, everyone actually sat around the large circular table. There was an echo of the groups that had been in place yesterday, though with everyone seated, there was less distinction. A lazy Susan made all the food accessible to everyone, and there was laughter and food for everyone.

In that moment, from her seat between Tony and Jane, Darcy couldn’t help but feel that everything was going to be just fine. In two days, she would be going back to New York and the Guardians were going to go to Nidavellir. Answers were going to be demanded. She may not have been sure about what was going to happen, but she knew she was surrounded by the best people in the universe to help her.

Strange, who had gone back to wherever it was he disappeared to when he wasn’t with them, had assured her that he would be a more regular presence once she was back in New York, that he just needed to make arrangements that ought to help her in the end.

When their feast ended and everyone was lazing about, all a little inebriated save for Bruce, the super soldiers (of which included Nebula, Darcy thought), the King, and the Asgardian, Darcy took Jane’s phone and snapped a picture. She pocketed the device and headed for the direction of the elevator, feeling a little lighter than normal.

If Thor weren’t acting as chair for his drunk lady love, Darcy was sure he would have called out to her and told her not to go anywhere alone, just in case something happened. As it were, Darcy entered the elevator so she could pee in the ensuite in her room. Really, why wasn’t there a restroom in the communal area?

“Hope you don’t plan on disappearing on us, Miss Lewis.”

Darcy turned sharply to the direction of the voice, finding the king of Wakanda entering the elevator with her. “I hadn’t planned on it, Your Hotness—Highness.” Oh no. Loose Lips Lewis, indeed.

The elevator doors closed, and T’Challa’s smile did not help clear Darcy’s mind at all. Why were these people so ridiculously attractive, anyways?

“But really,” said Darcy regaining a bit of composure but still being more drunk than sober, “Why isn’t there a restroom in the common area?”

The man looked confused. “If you went down the hall, you would have found one.”

They entered her room, and Darcy made a face, “Well I wasn’t really sure if I could go anywhere else so…” she raised her hand in a small wave as she headed straight for her bathroom.

After doing her business, Darcy went to the sink and washed her hands. She was tipsy, but she wasn’t too uncoordinated to wash after she peed, after all.

She was rinsing off the soap suds from her hands when she found herself elsewhere.

“Have you come alone this time?”

Darcy turned around, finding herself looking into moss green eyes.

“Darcy Lewis,” he said her name slowly, in an accent that would have had her swooning if she weren’t so confused.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Not exactly alive right now either, I suppose.”

“Where are we?”

“I don’t think it matters what I say if you’ll only forget.”

She frowned. Before her stood Loki, God of Mischief and Lies. He looked as he did when she had first seen him in this other plane. In the same garb that he had died in, fashioned much the same as the robes he had always worn, Loki would have been intimidating if not for the lack of hostility in his tone and the kindness in his eyes.

He took a step towards her, and she instinctively stepped back. Their feet were submerged in the shallow water, and as Darcy looked around, she could see nothing else in the distance.

“Why don’t I remember what happens here when I return to Earth?”

“You lack balance, Darcy Lewis. There is a part of you that is not at peace with the other.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. Thor had said the same thing the other day, hadn’t he? There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other.

She pulled her hands away from the running water and dried her hands on her hips. She looked at her reflection in the vanity, frowning when she saw that her blue eyes were an odd shade fading from a dark red back to their normal hue.

What was that about?

With a frown, she rejoined T’Challa. She’ll tell Thor and Strange about it tomorrow.

She never did.

She forgot.

Really, what helped you remember small details like your eye color when you were in the same room as the perfection that was T’Challa? Jesus, she needed to not embarrass herself even further in front of the perfection that was the King of Wakanda.

Chapter Text

Quill and Darcy stood in the hangar, watching as everyone walked back and forth around them. Drax, Groot, Rocket, and Mantis would be heading to Nidavellir, leaving Nebula and Quill to stay. Nebula had gotten interested in Earth’s tech and wanted to look into helping advance it further with Tony and Bruce (and Shuri). The other Guardians had then reasoned that this was Quill’s home planet, and he ought to savor his time there, which brought Quill and Darcy to their conversation.

“So you gonna look for your family when we get back to the States?” Darcy resisted the urge to lean her head on Quill’s shoulder. This whole semi-self-inflicted no physical contact mandate had her thrown for a bit of a loop, but the meditation that Strange had told her to do was helping make sure she didn't lose her mind.

The supposed leader of the Guardians shrugged, “I don’t even know what I’d find, y’know? My mom died the night I left, and my grandparents and uncle were all already older than I am now by then. I figured I’d come with you to New York and then see what happens.”

“I’m sure Tony can help you if you wanted.”

“Yeah, well right now, all Tony wants to help is you.”

“Have you tried asking him? Just let him know and I’m sure he’ll try.”

“We’ll see. He isn’t as shitty as he tries to make himself look, is he?”

“He’s a sweet guy. I can see why Pepper loves him.”

“Everybody loves me, Betty Boop.” Tony nodded, coming to a stand on Darcy’s free side.

“Aaaaand now I see why Pepper’s the only one that loves him.” Darcy continued, making Quill laugh. “I’m not even wearing makeup or have short hair, that’s just not accurate and I’m disappointed in you for that reference. But hey, shouldn’t you be off somewhere talking tech with Nebula or getting on Jane’s nerves about dismantling the machines she built with her own hands and what used to be plenty of duck tape?”

Tony’s grin was infectious. “Thought I’d drop by and tell you and Obi not Kenobi here that wheels up in ten, which means get your asses in the jet so we can head back home.”

Barnes and Wanda would be staying in Wakanda and would come to join them in New York once the Guardians returned.

When Darcy entered the jet they were going to be taking back to New York, she was beyond surprised that it wasn’t the Quinjet or some other fighter jet. Truth be told, she hadn’t bothered learning about the details of their trip heading back, opting instead to divert her attention to savoring what little she saw and experienced of Wakanda and keeping herself calm and centered so she didn’t make any unwarranted side trips to different realms. Considering she hadn’t had any since she and Tony got back, then she figured she was fine.

She sat across Jane (who was comfortably seated on Thor’s lap) in one of the lavish leather seats, eyes wide.

“Please tell me you’re just as surprised as I am?” Darcy asked the astrophysicist.

Jane shrugged, “There wasn’t any threat, and if there were, we’re with the best people to handle it. But also, this is way more than just a private jet. Shuri outfitted this to look every bit like a normal private jet so that it wouldn’t be too eye-catching to airports, but it’s definitely tricked out. I’m pretty sure the outer layer is vibranium, and with what little upgrades Tony could fit, FRIDAY’s probably hooked into this now.”

“Holy shit?”

Jane nodded, humming in agreement and turning back to her tablet.

Darcy then turned her attention to Thor, who looked more than satisfied to simply have Jane in his arms.

“How do you fare this morning, Lady Darcy?”

“I’m good, Big Guy. Started the day off with meditation and it has definitely left me feeling zen.”

Thor, who was playing with the ends of Jane’s hair, was surprised to find himself suddenly lacking one tiny scientist when Jane scrambled off after Nebula to talk tech. He looked confused at first, and then an emotion crossed his face and disappeared just as quickly that Darcy was pretty sure was regret. She recalled the first night since she had woken up, Thor keeping her company and making sure that she was fine and cared for. Such a soft side to the hardened warrior.

She couldn’t help but suddenly feel like such an inconsiderate ass. Here was her friend, who had been fresh out of his people’s apocalypse when he had had to come to another planet and help prevent the entire universe’s. They had succeeded. The universe was safe, but Thor had still lost his people. Twice.

Without a word, she moved to sit beside him, wanting to offer comfort but knowing that a small enclosed space was not the best location for it. She placed a hand over his.

Standing.

Always standing.

Darcy and Thor stood side by side, holding hands.

“Lady Darcy…”

“Shit, sorry, I’m still not used to the whole no touching thing—”

“There is no need for apologies, Lady Darcy. You always seem to find your way back.” Thor took her hand and placed it on the crook of his arm as they began to walk.

“I wish I didn’t have to.” She squinted up at him, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. “You don’t seem surprised to be here.”

“If I and the wizard Strange are to be correct, then we are currently within the realm of one of the stones, as we have already said in days past.”

Darcy nodded, and for a while, they continued walking, though there didn’t seem to be any place to go. There was nothing beyond the horizon save for the sand dunes of the land.

Thor seemed content with the silence, but Darcy broke it.

“Thor?”

“Yes, Darcy?”

“I’m sorry about Asgard.”

“Asgard will live on through me.”

“But really, aren’t there others out there? Wouldn’t there have been diplomats on different planets or galaxies? Or maybe Asgardians on vacation that weren’t planet-side when the whole shebang with your sister went down?”

Thor paused, causing her to stop abruptly too.

“Sorry, I know it’s a sore topic, but—”

“No, it’s…you have given me a wonderful idea, Darcy!” He maneuvered them to pull her into his arms and spin her around, causing a laugh to bubble out of her. When he put her down, they were back to reality.

The purple that had briefly been the color of Darcy’s iris had receded by the time she looked at Thor.

“You are truly brilliant, my lovely Lightning Sister!”

For a brief moment, Darcy worried that Thor would pull her in and kiss her, with him having cupped her face with both hands. She was both relieved and confused when he gave her an enthusiastic hug, because it ended with her half on the armrest between them and half on his lap.

Jane returned to them, and didn’t look one bit concerned that her friend and her lover were in what could be misconstrued as a compromising position. She took a seat across Darcy, who had scrambled back into the seat beside Thor.

“So why am I brilliant again?” Darcy asked as she turned to Thor.

The frown on Thor’s face would have been alarming if she didn’t think he looked like a golden retriever, Darcy pondered. He recounted their conversation, earning the attention of those with them just as the speakers sounded, telling everyone to buckle up and get ready for the ride.

“Are you sure about this?” Tony asked, completely disregarding protocol that people were supposed to be seated for takeoff.

“Yes, I do not think that there could be anywhere else Lady Darcy goes. If it is not the Soul Stone, then it could be the Reality Stone, because it looked similar to the land in which the Aether had been hidden once before.” Thor squeezed Darcy’s hand. “But no matter, it is one of the Infinity Stones that pull her consciousness in.”

Jane set her sights on Darcy, worried, “But why doesn’t she remember what happens there?”

At this, Thor paused. He had already told them the same thing he had told Darcy. There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other. But even he didn’t know completely what that meant. There was just something that he could feel about Darcy that felt off-kilter ever since their encounter with Thanos. Not for the first time, Thor missed Loki deeply. He was always the more verbose between them, and for all the brotherhood that the Avengers (and Guardians) offered, and for all the love and care that Jane and Darcy gave, it would never compare to the bond he had with Loki.

The jet settled at cruising altitude, and Quill moved to sit beside Jane as Tony settled on the free armrest beside Darcy.

“Have we tested Darcy for alien blood?” Quill asked, crossing his arms. “I mean, I look human and thought I was human pretty much all my life, but apparently had a Celestial asshole for a dad.”

“There were no anomalies in her scans and tests,” countered Jane. “We all monitored her heavily. Even Strange said that other than knowing the stones are in her system, there isn’t anything wrong with her — we even looked at molecular level.”

“Celestial asshole?” Tony echoed as Jane spoke. “Interesting choice of words.”

“Accurate choice of words. He was this powerful guy that wanted to use me as a sacrifice to  continue to power the planet he created.” Quill scoffed.

“Wait what?” Darcy’s eyebrows knit together. “Celestial as in not an adjective?”

“Celestials are thought to be extremely rare,” Thor thought aloud, “Extinct, even.”

And so Quill launched into the story of the whole ordeal with his father. By the time he finished, they were three hours from the Facility. Darcy had moved to a different seat so that Jane could return to Thor’s side. Quill’s story, while enlightening, couldn’t have possibly applied to her because she was never unaware of her parentage.

Darcy reclined her seat and prepared for a nap. She was seated across Parker, who was constantly looking around, but really mostly looking at Tony. If she had to guess, the two still hadn’t worked things out, which worried her quite a bit because it seemed as if Tony was becoming far too isolated.

Her eyes glowed a faint yellow before she fell asleep.

“Darcy Lewis.”

She knelt before the little girl and then reached out to touch her. The girl surprised her by taking a step forward and placing her cheek against Darcy’s palm.

“They said you would keep coming back.”

“Who are they?”

“They want to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” She wanted to argue; to tell this little green girl that there was nothing to protect her from. Thanos was gone, and she had the stones — was currently in one, even!

For a moment, the little girl seemed to consider actually answering her. However, the lightning strike in the distance and the accompanying thunder startled both of them.

The shallow water that had always looked something between pink and orange, like the sunset, bled red, and Darcy Lewis woke up with a gasp.

Her companions looked to her, in various stages of worry and alarm, but it was Bruce, who  was seated beside her, that spoke first.

“Darcy, are you okay?”

“I’m…” She brought a hand to her temple. “Just got a little startled by the thunder, I guess.

The people grew divided. Some turned to look outside, while the rest looked to Thor. The skies were clear and the clouds a fluffy-looking white. There were no storms or the accompanying thunder or lightning. No one said anything, trying to digest that they were definitely in over their heads with their current situation.

“So Darcy — Miss Lewis, Miss Darcy? — Doc Foster says you’ve been with her since the very beginning. And that you tased Thor! What was that like? How could you tase him? Can you do it again?” Let it be known that Peter Parker always knew how to fill the void.

Darcy grinned, and began to recount one of her favorite stories to tell.

When they landed, it was to the sight of one of Darcy’s favorite women. Pepper Potts stood in an all white pant suit and killer yellow heels looking every bit as badass as Darcy ever hoped to be. She headed straight for her boss alongside Jane, having formed a friendship with the woman outside of working hours.

“Gotta say, I’m both glad and disappointed I missed the fight — especially since they said some sort of guardian angel came and saved the day.”

Darcy laughed as Rhodes walked up to them. The former Iron Patriot greeted everyone with a smile, though she could see how it was forced as he saw Rogers. Darcy and Rhodes had an easy friendship filled with light jokes and questions about the other’s day, born of the long hours they’d spent together on Darcy and Pepper’s secret project.

“I thought you wouldn’t be here to greet me, Colonel,” Darcy grinned up at him, and he waved a hand in a gesture that said to follow him.

“You know I had to see if you were still in one piece.” Rhodes replied with ease. “Also, had to make sure Tony didn’t do something stupid like forget that he and Pep are s’posed to get married sometime soon.”

Chapter Text

When arrangements were being made for Darcy Lewis’ transfer, it had been made clear that she would be under the care of Tony, Bruce, Thor, and most of all, Jane. No matter what  other decision Darcy would have made, the quartet was going to be with her every step of the way. It was understandable, of course. The woman was practically family to the God of Thunder and his significant other, seemed to be on good terms with Bruce on a level that none of the Avengers could seem to reach, and had found a place in Tony’s mismatched assortment of family without even trying.

They (read: Steve, Wanda, Bucky, and Sam) were given the choice to return with them or stay in Wakanda. Options to send reports were given so that they didn’t have to leave the safety of Wakanda’s borders if they preferred. After all, if the United Nations Panel got a whiff of what they were doing, they were all going to get in trouble. No matter that they had once again saved the world — No.

She had saved the world.

Darcy Lewis had saved them all.

It wasn’t the other way around, the way everyone had perhaps predicted it would have been. Darcy Lewis had come in the middle of a war so much bigger than her, looking every bit the civilian that she was, and singlehandedly defeated the mad titan known as Thanos.

And now she had abilities that could be greater than even Wanda’s or Vision’s.

Steve had joined them because he felt that it was the right thing to do. After all, wasn’t that what he stood for? He snorted at the thought. Captain America had been painted to be a paragon of virtue and everything that was supposed to be good, right, and brave in the world. But when Steve met Thor and saw what it was like to truly love and care for your people and give everything to and for them, the former national icon knew he was never as great as others believed.

Where Thor would have burned himself for his people, Steve would have burned the world for the one person he had promised to always stand by. ’Til the end of the line, indeed.

After Darcy’s declaration, things had been quickly decided.

Tony’s half of the Avengers would return to the Facility with Thor, Darcy, and Jane. The Guardians, save for Quill and Nebula, who seemed to have their own agendas for staying behind, would head to the star-planet-thing that Thor had mentioned to secure what answers they can. Steve didn’t have to join them, but the guilt coiled in his stomach that had him drawn so tense and tight wouldn’t have allowed him to stay.

He had left the planning taking place to talk to Darcy. He had wanted to apologize for not having heard her silence over everyone’s voices. He had always said that he wanted to stand up to bullies, but bullies aren’t always fighting or larger than life, were they? Sometimes bullies made it so that you couldn’t speak, talking over you and ensuring that they were heard more than you were. He had gone to her room with no thought of knocking, because he knew she could enact privacy protocols if she didn’t want to be disturbed.

To have walked in on Darcy and Strange in an intimate position made his stomach churn even more. There they were, making decisions left and right to make sure that Darcy was smuggled back into the United States and that any possibility was accounted for. It was both about keeping her safe and keeping the world safe from her, but then what about things other than her physical safety?

Steve hadn’t spoken more than a couple of sentences to her before, and outside of, his apology, but when he had seen them…

The way Strange had held her, her cheek in one of his hands, and her chin in the other, reminded Steve that she wasn’t like them at all. In one way or the other, every person in that  conference room had lost everything and been reduced to virtually nothing at one point in their lives. They had each become a product of circumstance as they worked, fought, and learned to survive until they got to where they were. Even Jane Foster, who had been thought mad for pursuing her research on the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory, had had to go through several difficult hoops before Thor’s arrival, and even then, there were misadventures that wouldn’t have been believable if he didn’t know any better.

But Darcy?

He had seen her file. Her family was small and tight-knit, with her older brother having served in the army. Her little sister lived in California, and they often got together for Christmas, even bringing Jane along. She was a Political Science student needing six credits when she interned for Doctor Foster. After Thor’s arrival and departure, she graduated and SHIELD made sure she kept quiet about all that had happened. Instead of pursuing a career worthy of her degree, she followed Jane. She took up a couple of online courses and side jobs that didn’t interfere with her work right around the time they headed for London. After London, Darcy was hired by Stark Industries after Pepper Potts met Jane Foster through their crime-fighting partners. This was around the time she had applied for law school. So she pursued her law degree, worked at Stark Industries, worked with Jane, and eventually graduated.

She was so painfully normal.

It made Steve jealous.

Oh, what he would give to have even a slice of the life that she had. He loved Bucky, truly, but now that his Sergeant was more a Jerk than the Winter Soldier, Steve had lost direction.

What did a propaganda-turned-hero-turned-fugitive do when given a choice between peace and chaos?

They choose chaos, apparently.

Regardless of the fact that he wasn’t fully out of commission when it came to his crime-fighting (though the UN would call it vigilante) ways, Steve’s life had been a lot calmer than it had been since he had been thawed several years ago. He could have stayed in Wakanda and continued going on missions for the SHIELD-but-not-SHIELD organization Fury had, but he knew he had to trust his instincts. He needed to see this whole Infinity Stone fiasco through.

The private jet could pretty much fly itself, especially with FRIDAY (Friday?) hooked to it, so he, Natasha, and Nebula left the cockpit to join the others just in time for Quill’s story about his father. When, after that, Darcy had moved to sit by Bruce, he hadn’t paid attention to her, keeping to himself as he looked through the layout of the Facility on his tablet.

It was when she had woken up, gasping, talking about thunder and having the kid — Peter Parker — distract her that had Steve actually paying her attention. He had heard Tony’s and Thor’s recount of their experience with her pulling them into the stone realm. He didn’t know what to think of it, other than he knew it was true. Why would they lie, after all?

Parker was a good kid, Steve could attest to this without a doubt. He remembered Tony’s words to Quill when he had commented on Spider-Man’s age. He likes looking out for the little guys. Really, it was like looking at an alternate reality version of himself. Though, if Steve were honest, it was more like looking at what Tony Stark’s son would have been like. How interesting that Peter Parker was every bit as impulsive and willing to fight as Steve, but as intelligent and adaptable as Tony.

The thought made him melancholic. He and Tony had yet to talk about anything outside of Darcy Lewis. Steve wasn’t even sure how he would go about doing so.

If Steve had his way, he and Tony would figure things out. Soon. Be better adults. Better people.

And then hours after that, he was back in the pilot’s seat and they were landing.

When the doors opened and everyone got off, it was to be greeted by the one and only Pepper Potts, who looked as immaculate as ever.

Steve was surprised when the first to greet her were Jane and Darcy. The pair walked up to the CEO of Stark Industries and pulled her in for a hug and kiss on the cheek. Rather, Jane did, while Darcy raised a hand to stop them lest she accidentally bring them with her to a different realm. The three spoke, all smiles and genuine care, before they eventually turned to face everyone else.

Colonel Rhodes even came to join them, cracking a joke and then surveying the crowd.

Introductions were made, and Steve once again felt the guilt brewing in his gut when Pepper’s and Rhodes’ eyes turned on him. Verbal apologies would never be enough to cover the damage that had been done there. Steve tried very hard not to let his own gaze fall to the prosthetics that were the only reason Colonel Rhodes could still walk. Even Sam, who was closer to the group, stood straighter.

Pepper, for the most part, looked every bit the kind and elegant woman he had met years ago, but there was a hardness in her eyes as she regarded him that he knew was born out of the protectiveness she felt for her future husband.

Speaking of the future husband, Tony stood off to the side, still not having gone to his bride-to-be. Despite all the conversations and all around good energy, Steve saw the way Tony stopped a  few yards from them, and simply waited for Pepper to come to him.

He’d seen this countless times after missions before, and he supposed it was a dance for the couple that would never change.

Before the battle, when they were looking for a way to help Vision, Bruce had told them that he had dropped in on Tony while he was with Pepper. His tone then had been full of regret, and Steve assumed that once again, Tony had gone and left Pepper to save the world. While noble, it came at a cost to their relationship. How many times would Pepper be able to handle being left when there was a threat?

No, that wasn’t it at all, was it? It wasn’t that Pepper hated being left behind. It was that she didn’t want Tony to have to continuously sacrifice himself. From the missile in the Chitauri invasion to the fight in Sokovia, and then to leaving the planet and attempting to face off against an alien almost entirely alone without a concrete plan other than to keep the fight away from earth. Tony Stark may have been a rude and reckless man, but his heart has always been in the right place. He had placed everyone else’s safety above his own over and over again, and when Steve had been given the chance to even return a fraction of the favor—

Natasha expertly led everyone away, following Colonel Rhodes's lead, and Steve followed behind. He took one last look as Pepper came within reaching distance of Tony and was gently pulled into the genius’ arms. They pressed their foreheads together, and Steve left, feeling as if he had intruded on an intimate moment once again.

Later that evening, when they were settled and waiting for dinner, Steve found himself unintentionally listening to a conversation that was definitely not for his ears. Sam landed beside him, his Wakanda upgraded wings folding neatly into his pack. He stood with Sam on the roof of the new housing structure built for them, looking out on the place he had once stayed in. They weren’t supposed to be seen by the other employees there because they were still technically fugitives, but he and Sam had wanted to have a quick look through the expanse of the grounds. They’d made sure not to be seen.

“I wanted to look out for the little guys.” That was definitely Peter Parker. “I wanted to be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But I know I can be more. Mister Stark trusted me when he brought me to Germany. I took on Captain America!” Steve winced, and Sam suppressed a laugh beside him. “Then when the world was going to end because of aliens, I helped there too! I came up with the plan to save Doctor Strange. I was helpful; I was smart. I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean he worries or cares any less.” Steve’s brows rose; that was Darcy. “I know he can be overbearing and sometimes downright annoying. I’m surprised we actually haven’t gotten into a fight yet, considering how similar Tony and I can be, but he does it with good intentions.” Steve couldn’t help but agree. “I know you probably know as much as I do, or even more, considering you were a part of the whole fight thing that had them separating, but The Winter Soldier killed Tony’s parents when he was twenty-one years old.” Steve grit his teeth, immediately defensive. “He had to do a lot of growing up because of that, and he did it in front of the public, for the media to exploit and poke at. You could say that Tony has lived in a fishbowl all his life, and it probably wasn’t until he was Ironman that he actually realized that as much as he’s adapted to it, it wasn’t something he would wish on anyone.” And just like that, he found himself a little less tense and even more guilty.

She had a point. He had never really given it much thought. Even while in Wakanda, Steve had simply written off Tony’s feeling off betrayal as him being a selfish man unused to not getting his way and not wanting to have been kept in the dark. He hadn’t considered that perhaps it was because Tony trusted so few in his life as it were.

“I’m not saying he thinks you’ll experience what he did in every sense of the word, but the thing is, until Pepper, he’s never really understood what it was like to have someone constantly worrying about him. You have your Aunt May, who has no idea where you are or what you’re doing half the time, and only trusts in the fact that you check in and that Tony backs your words. To an extent he’s as much responsible for you as your aunt is, and sometimes even more than her because he created a suit just for you, didn’t he?”

That sounded just about right, and almost exactly like something Tony would think. Tony Stark didn’t do sweet words and kindness. Maybe for Pepper, but even then, Steve was sure it wasn’t given as freely nor as often as what would have been considered normal. He had sarcasm and snark by the hundreds and used it. He gave upgrades to your weapons to make life easier — to make sure you lived longer and he didn’t lose another person in his life.

Steve, not wanting to intrude any more than he already had, turned a different direction so that he and Sam could get down and join the rest for dinner.

Chapter Text

An entirely new segment of the compound had actually been built to house them, much to everyone’s surprise. Rhodes gave them a tour, quickly befriending Quill, and keeping an easy rapport with Darcy and Bruce as Pepper and Tony stepped away from the group to have time to themselves. As it turned out, one of the reasons Rhodes had quickly returned to America was to ensure that the housing facility would be finished as soon as possible. How Tony had foreseen that it would be needed immediately, Darcy would never understand.

As it were, the newly built housing unit had twenty rooms spread across four floors, all underground. Each floor had a common area though none had a kitchen. That was reserved to the only floor that was above ground, which also had a full bar and plenty of seats and an assortment of recreational things.

Darcy was definitely going to rope someone into playing pool with her during her stay here. Wait, was that a pinball machine?

Just like the rest of the compound, FRIDAY was an ever present and ever helpful component that made it so that Darcy didn’t need to be physically guarded at night. They reasoned that since she was expected to only be sleeping at night, Friday can look after her, but that if she were going to be out and about or doing anything in general, then someone who would be able to respond to any possible situation would be a better guardian. She knew she didn’t have a choice, but she argued with Tony about it anyways.

Everyone got together for dinner after being shown their rooms.

Upon arriving in the common floor however, Darcy was surprised to find Strange there, in a  grey button down, navy slacks, smart shoes, and still with his cape. He was speaking to Bruce, Pepper, and Tony, and they all looked somber as they nodded every now and then at something he said.

Parker, who would be returning home care of Happy after dinner, came to stand beside her.

“I should apologize, right?” He said softly, and it was the first time Darcy hear his voice be anything less than the hyper and passionate tone he always seemed to have. “I know I should, and I want to, but I…I’ve never been good at being what Mister Stark wants me to be.”

Darcy looked from the group that was probably talking about her condition, to the others that were playing around with the foosball table, and then to the door that led outside from the kitchen. She gestured to the door and the pair slipped out quietly.

“I thought you should always have a guard?”

“Well, you’re Spider-Man, aren’t you?”

His responding smile told Darcy she had done much to lighten the mood.

“Do you understand where he was coming from?” At his silence, Darcy continued, “This is probably better heard from Pepper because she knows him a lot better, but I kind of see where Tony’s coming from too. I won’t say you’re a kid. With the things you’ve experienced, there are probably parts that definitely made you grow up a lot faster than you should have. You hadn’t gone looking to be who you are because of selfish interest, right?”

“I wanted to look out for the little guys,” said Peter in an echo of a previous conversation he had had with Tony. “I wanted to be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.” He steeled himself and took a deep breath in. “But I know I can be more. Mister Stark trusted me when he brought me to Germany. I took on Captain America! Then when the world was going to end because of aliens, I helped there too! I came up with the plan to save Doctor Strange. I was helpful; I was smart. I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean he worries or cares any less,” replied Darcy softly. “I know he can be overbearing and sometimes downright annoying. I’m surprised we actually haven’t gotten into a fight yet, considering how similar Tony and I can be, but he does it with good intentions.” Darcy considered her next words carefully. “I know you probably know as much as I do, or even more, considering you were a part of the whole fight thing that had them separating, but The Winter Soldier killed Tony’s parents when he was twenty-one years old. He had to do a lot of growing up because of that, and he did it in front of the public, for the media to exploit and poke at. You could say that Tony has lived in a fishbowl all his life, and it probably wasn’t until he was Ironman that he actually realized that as much as he’s adapted to it, it wasn’t something he would wish on anyone.”

Peter played with the string of his jacket, soaking in Darcy’s words. She could feel an echo of the anxiety he was swimming in, and she racked her brain for better words to help him understand.

“I’m not saying he thinks you’ll experience what he did in every sense of the word, but the thing is, until Pepper, he’s never really understood what it was like to have someone constantly worrying about him.” While she hadn’t properly confirmed that, Darcy knew it was the truth. Just by the way Pepper spoke of Tony whenever they got together, Darcy could feel the genuine love and care the woman had for him. “You have your Aunt May, who has no idea where you are or what you’re doing half the time, and only trusts in the fact that you check in and that Tony backs your words. To an extent he’s as much responsible for you as your aunt is, and sometimes even more than her because he created a suit just for you, didn’t he?”

“I don’t even know how to talk to him.”

Tony spoke before Darcy could, “Well, usually, you open your mouth and get your brain and vocal cords to do the rest.”

Darcy and Peter looked to the door that led back inside, finding Tony and Pepper there.

“You playing Dr. Phil for the kid now, Shortstack?” His raised brow and stoic face was balanced by the soft smile on Pepper’s face.

The redhead placed a kiss to her fiancé’s cheek before motioning for Darcy to join her with a, “I heard Tony told you he ate my birthday cake.”

“Oh that’s not the only thing I ate—”

“Tony!”

The lawyer cackled, and the two women headed inside as Pepper told Darcy she wanted to get to know the definitely not human but hot blue probably woman in the building.

Later, as everyone was beginning to retire to their rooms, Darcy was told that Strange and Thor would be in charge of her training, and that Tony, Bruce, and Jane would be there both as moral support and documentation purposes. Everyone else was free to help her when they wanted, though of course she’d still have a guard when she was out.

That was actually what made her pause. With Barnes in Wakanda and Rocket and Groot off-planet, they’ve included Steve Rogers in the rotation of her security detail. And so her rotation of guards were: Nebula, Natasha, Rogers, Thor, and Sam. She only ever needed to be with one of them, and while Darcy had nothing against everyone else, she would just prefer Thor and Nebula. She did not want to unpack why she would rather be with non-humans when it came to her protection. That was an entire trunk of problems she would much rather not affress, thank you very much.

Darcy watched as everyone slowly began to retire to their rooms. On the lowest residential floor, Bruce, Thor, Jane, and Darcy had picked their rooms. Above that, Quill and Nebula had settled in, while Natasha and Rogers selected a room on the top most residential floor, leaving a floor completely empty. Strange, who had been given the option to select a room of his own, had  (temporarily) refused the offer, saying there were more things he had to settle before he could even begin to consider taking residence in the compound.

Natasha, Darcy, and Strange were the last ones to leave in the common floor. It was clear that the Russian was apprehensive of leaving her charge, but Darcy had assured the woman that she would be safe with Strange.

“Not about safety,” Natasha had replied, before turning to the elevators and leaving.

Strange watched Darcy look at where Natasha had stood, confused.

“What’s she talking about?” She frowned, and Strange gave her such a dry look that she held her hands up in surrender. “So what time d’you plan on going back to your tower, Cinderella?”

“Cinderella didn’t live in a tower.”

“Do you know Cinderella?”

His raised brow had her grinning.

“But really, I would have thought you’d be gone by now.”

He looked down at his watch, cracked glass and the second hand sometimes ticking back before it ticked forward, and then to the clock on the wall. 11:48PM.

“I won’t be able to sleep,” explained Darcy before he even asked. “Ever since this whole thing started, I’ve been feeling constantly tired. Even when I had a full eight hours of sleep, I feel like I’d been up all night.” She shrugged, sitting on one of the bar stools. “Maybe it’s because of that realm hop thing I do, but it sucks cause I don’t remember any of it. I mean, you’re a doctor, to see is to believe and all that, right? Like, how can you diagnose a disease without seeing the symptoms…”

“You haven’t spoken to anyone about this?”

“Which part exactly? Me being unable to sleep or how I feel like I always have a hangover?”

Strange looked at her. Instead of replying to her, he said, “The Widow does not trust me.”

“She’s a spy,” Darcy pointed out, “Probably in her system to be suspicious.”

“But she seems to trust you,” he countered.

“I’m harmless on paper,” replied Darcy. “At most, I could hack some mid-level security systems.”

“But off-paper you have your projects with Pepper and Jane.”

Darcy’s smile was secretive. “How perceptive, Doctor.”

“Attorney Lewis, you’re surrounded by geniuses, one of which happens to be me.”

“Perceptive, but definitely not humble.”

Strange smiled, though it was tightlipped and could have been mistaken to be forced. “Does Jane know you can’t sleep?”

“Jane knows there are times I become a bit of an insomniac. It’s how I’m able to keep up with her benders even when I was a college student. And usually, work or school could just occupy my time, but when I really can’t sit still, I need to actually move around. Except for that one night in Wakanda, whenever I couldn’t sleep I just poured myself into this side project Pepper and I are working on right now. When I was staying in my apartment, I’d go out to the diner nearby.”

“Would you like to go?”

“What?”

“Try to get some sleep.” Strange said instead, changing his mind. “But if you can’t, well my number is in your new StarkPhone, so you might as well make use of it.”

Darcy’s lips curled into a soft smile, and she couldn’t help but tease, “Aw, you care about me, don’t you, Doctor Strange?”

Strange said nothing, but his eye roll was answer enough. He gestured to the direction of the elevator and she hopped off her seat.

When they were waiting for the elevator doors to open, Strange spoke up.

“Stephen,” he said.

“What?” Darcy turned around just as the doors opened.

He didn’t say anything more, though Darcy’s cheeky grin and chuckle told him she understood. He watched her step backwards into the elevator, unaware that she wasn’t its only occupant.

“See you later, Stephen!” She winked at him; he smirked.

“Good evening, Captain Rogers.”

The doors closed, and Darcy’s eyes widened as she turned to the muscular man in the elevator with her. Steve Rogers, for the most part, just looked embarrassed to have seemingly interrupted them again.

“Sorry Cap, were you supposed to get off? Didn’t mean to block you,” her brows furrowed. “But I mean you could’ve said something to make me get out the way.”

“Didn’t want to interrupt,” said he.

“None sense,” Darcy  waved her hand. “I was in the way.” She stepped closer to the doors as they neared her stop. “Why are you still up, though, Cap? Can’t sleep?”

“Somethin’ like that.” He nodded. Truth was, Natasha had told him that Strange and Darcy still hadn’t gone down, and since Darcy technically wasn’t supposed to leave the compound yet, he would have been the best way to convince (read: order) them to head to their rooms — well, her to her apartment and him to his home.

The doors opened and Darcy stepped off, turning to face him, “Good night, Steve.”

“Good night, Darcy.”

Darcy ended up staying awake until three in the morning, talking to Strange as she looked through some cases on her StarkPad and taking copious amounts of notes. Strange knowing about the existence and nature of her projects but not about the specifics of it made her feel even more at ease with him, which made it a lot easier to talk and work at the same time. It felt nice to have another person she felt she could trust.

Chapter Text

Darcy was never much of a morning person. She used to love sleeping in until noon as a kid, although she had cultivated a morning routine that had her up, about, and functional, within an hour of waking up since college. Incorporating Strange’s meditation regimen was an easy enough thing to do, especially since she had a great view in Wakanda, and now at the compound, she had a pretty soothing atmosphere to bask in. She considered going outside, but having FRIDAY cue up some soft piano melodies worked just as well. She finished her meditation hour and took a shower.

She’d been back in New York for three days, and had spent her days learning hand-to-hand combat with Thor, Nebula, and Natasha (they had all decided that only Thor and Strange were the best people for her to actually touch, because they’d be able to handle anything the stones might bring them to), undergoing endurance and strength training (aka lots and lots of cardio and weights) with Sam and Natasha, and getting poked and scanned by Tony, Jane, Bruce, and Strange.

Often, Rogers and Quill would join in to watch whatever she was up to, and Darcy could tell that the pair were getting to know each other pretty well. They had a lot in common, after all. They’d found family in a group of strays; one had the Howling Commandos (and the Avengers?) and the other had the Guardians. They’ve proven that they would lay their life for the world. They were both of this planet, but not exactly of this time. Darcy couldn’t help but think they were different sides of the same coin.

After getting dressed in a pair of yoga pants, a long shirt, and sneakers, Darcy tied her hair up, put on her glasses, and headed upstairs.

While each apartment unit had its own kitchen, Darcy preferred the one on the communal floor because she could see outside. And outside, it was raining cats and dogs.

She made herself some toast and coffee before settling on one of the stools and opening her tablet. She answered some of the correspondents she’d been putting off, and looked through more details she knew Pepper would like her to know, and finished her work around the same time that Sam, Nebula, and Rogers arrived.

“Good morning , anything for us?” Was Sam’s greeting as he walked up to her.

They were all sweaty and had clearly just finished their morning workout, though Nebula didn’t look like she was tired at all. Alien skin was definitely something else.

“Gotta cook for yourself, Wilson, I only made some for Nebula,” replied Darcy. “Promised Tony I’d cook for everyone if he can bring Peter and Pepper though, so there’s that.”

“Oh I’m definitely going to help make that happen.” Sam grinned. “I want some more of that omelet thing you made the other day.”

“It’s called a quiche, birdbrain,” Darcy rolled her eyes, smiling. She’d been making breakfast for whoever was stuck with babysitting her for the day, and so far it’s been getting around that Darcy definitely knew her way around a kitchen.

“Darcy, since I’ll be your guard for today, may I know your schedule?” Nebula sat beside her, taking some of the food she had set out.

“Just hand-to-hand and magic today.” Darcy tapped on her pad a few more times. “Tony says he wants to try something out, so that might be a thing, too.”

Rogers and Sam went about preparing their food, and when 8:30AM came around and thunder continued to rumble, Darcy was beginning to feel uncomfortable. There hadn’t been any rainfall warnings in the weather forecast, and Jane and Thor’s absence was definitely not a good sign. Jane had always been by the coffee maker by 6:30, ever the workaholic, especially when she was preparing for a huge experiment or conference — which was actually another side project that Darcy had been working on with her.

Dark clouds arrived in upstate New York and rain poured as the heavens opened. Darcy gripped her mug, getting off her seat.

“Has any of you seen Jane?” It was an unnecessary question to ask, because of course they hadn’t.

“They could just be having sex,” offered Sam as he looked out, dark brown eyes scanning the big fat raindrops that were pelting against every surface they reached.

Darcy frowned. “That’s not what a sex storm looks like.”

Steve coughed, a bit embarrassed, though he also knew that to be true after having known Thor for as long as he had. Sam laughed in spite of his own uncertainty at the information.

She continued, “He has better control than that. I should go check on them.” She didn’t wait for a reply as she headed for the elevators, her heart thumping heavily against her chest. Had something happened?

“More rain than thunder or lightning,” she could hear Nebula say. “He is upset but not angr—”

The elevator doors opened to reveal Thor, shoulders hunched and tears falling from his eyes. Darcy reached out to him, and he wasted no time in stepping out and half-taking her into his arms and half-falling into hers. She could hear him babbling against her shoulder, trying to explain, felt him fall to his knees and take her with him.

“What happened?”

“I love her, Darcy. I do. I have loved no other the way I love her.” His hold on her tightened, and she returned the gesture immediately. “I do not wish to depart, but I must.” He continued speaking, along the same train of thought, possibly half out of his mind with anguish.

“Thor, Thor, hey Big Guy,” she took his face in her hands. “What actually happened? You have to talk to me.”

“Jane means to severe our ties.” His hand rose to hold her wrists. “She believes it the best course of action for our situation.”

“What?” Darcy closed her eyes, remembering when she and Thor had been in this realm before. Understanding dawned on her. It wasn’t that it was that big of a surprise. Jane hadn’t brought it up recently, but Darcy knew that Jane and Thor had changed much from who they had once been. “You’re really going to go after the other living Asgardians.”

“I love her—”

“Yes, but you also love your people,” finished Darcy. “That isn’t a bad thing. Your devotion to them would always be one of the reasons you would have been a great king. It’s why your brother and the rest of your people followed you when you saved Asgard. Does it really have to be one or the other though?”

“She believes— She doesn’t—”

Darcy pulled her hands away from his face, intertwining their hands. She looked up at her friend, who probably looked and felt every bit as broken as the woman she would come to find when they returned to their own plane of existence. It sucked that she was sort of stuck in the middle, though she knew they would never ask her to choose. They were siblings of her heart and soul. She would do anything to ease their pain; try to make their lives and the consequences of their decisions a burden they don’t carry alone.

Thor squeezed her hands. “Lady Darcy, I am in pain, but I understand her choice.”

The man before her was far from the man she had met nearly a decade ago. This Thor has experienced nightmares the old Thor could hardly begin to fathom. This Thor has experienced — and is experiencing — one heartbreak after the other. To lose Jane was one thing, but she had a feeling that Thor was slowly letting go of Earth as well. If he were to focus all his efforts and attention on rebuilding after all, there would be neither time nor reason to look to Midgard.

“Should Peter Quill allow, I shall take my leave with one of his ships and bring together what little of my people I can find.” Thor sniffled, tears still falling. “I would have brought Jane had she wished it. Stark and the Princess Shuri has been able to recreate much of the technology Quill had brought. A suit and helmet for Jane and I could have brought her to the stars. She would have been my queen; my partner until we reached the meadows of Valhalla.”

“But that isn’t Jane.”

“No,” he shook his head a melancholic smile on his face. “It is not.”

Yellow lightning flashed behind Thor, but there was no thunder to accompany it.

“I love her.”

She nodded, “I know, Big Guy, and she loves you too. I know it. You know it. Everyone who has ever met the two of you knows it. She loves you so much that she was willing to hurt both of you now to have a better shot at a happier life in the future. She loves you enough to let you go, Thor, knowing that your focus needs to be on your people and rebuilding your home.”

“But how do I rebuild when the arms I once considered home are no longer mine to return to?”

They parted slowly, and she could feel the eyes on them. With both of them on their knees, Thor’s larger frame easily barricaded her in his arms. She looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

Rogers, who had been the only one of the three other occupants of the floor to approach them, was a quiet pillar of strength behind Darcy. He had nothing to say nor any room to do so. While he had known Thor as a friend and comrade-at-arms, he hadn’t known enough about either Jane or their relationship save for that it had lasted through Thor’s absences. The fact that they had gotten together with ease upon Jane’s arrival in Wakanda had made Steve utterly believe in love much the same way when he looked at Tony and Pepper.

“You’re going to be just fine, Big Guy.” Steve watched as Darcy placed a lingering kiss on Thor’s cheek, then whispered, “I need to go to Jane now, okay? I’m sure the Captain here can make you something to eat, and I’ve made sure there’s enough coffee for you and me. Just set Stormbreaker on Sam if he bitches about you getting it.”

There was a rumble of laughter from the God of Thunder, and Steve could hear the weather outside clear up a bit. Darcy and Thor stood up, pulling each other into another embrace. They knew their conversation wasn’t over, but that Jane didn’t have anyone else to speak to, while Thor could trust the other Avengers to be there for him as they’ve always been. She used her thumbs to wipe away his tears, and watched as he walked past her to head to the kitchen.

Her eyes, a startling vermillion, met Rogers’, and she offered him a small smile as she said, “You’ll take care of him for me, won’t you, Captain?”

Steve Rogers nodded, offering no smile, but a look that Darcy could ever only feel as if he were a man on a mission. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Darcy didn’t know what to expect when she entered Jane’s shared apartment with Thor. Maybe Jane would be sobbing on the couch or on the floor? Maybe she would be locked in the bathroom, crying in the shower? Maybe she’d have opened a bottle of whichever alcohol she could get her hands on and be drinking herself into a stupor? Maybe she’d be staring blankly? It definitely wasn’t the sight of Jane drinking coffee, working on her laptop, and writing notes on a pad. She looked perfectly fine.

“Jane?”

But she wasn’t.

Not really.

Bloodshot eyes looked at Darcy, and without second thought, she crossed the room and took Jane into her arms. The woman melted into her arms, sobbing. Darcy maneuvered Jane to the plush couch in the middle of the room, arranging them so that Jane was practically on her lap, and her head was on Darcy’s shoulder.

“Oh, Janey.”

“I had to do it, Darce’. He needs to focus on Asgard, and I can’t leave. I can’t…” Jane inhaled with a struggle. “I didn’t want to prolong the inevitable. He was going to leave and look for the remaining Asgardians. I would never stop him from doing that, but I wasn’t going to fool either of us into thinking that we had a future—he—”

Darcy let Jane burrow further into her embrace, letting the astrophysicist unload what must have been brewing for a while.

“I have so much to do. We’re so close to creating our own Bridge, and I can’t just leave now.  Even if I could put aside the research, I’m not leaving you. I love him, but I love you too, and you’ve been there for me for so much that I would never let myself not do the same.”

Despite wanting to argue, Darcy bit her tongue. She wouldn’t want Jane to put her plans on hold for her, but she also knew that this wasn’t some impulsive decision for Jane. Knowing the astrophysicist as well as she did, she must have had this on her mind for weeks. Ever since she had gotten to Wakanda and been reunited with Thor, most likely.

“I’ve told you about this before,” began Jane in an echo of their previous conversation. “We didn’t really have a future together; especially not after Ragnarök. I didn’t know how to tell him that. He has at least a thousand more years to live, and those thousands can be spent with someone who can help him lead Asgard. I love him, Darcy. I love him enough to let him go.” Jane gripped Darcy’s clothes tightly.

“But it doesn’t mean it hurts any less,” murmured Darcy, tightening her hold on Jane.

“You seem distressed.” He began walking, and she had no choice but to follow.

“You seem concerned.”

“Simply interested,” he countered.

“Loki.”

“Darcy Lewis.”

“Thor’s more hurt than I am. He and Jane just broke up…er, parted ties.”

“I do know what a break up means, but why does this concern you?”

Darcy glared at him, and he only grinned, entertained by her anger.

“You care deeply for both Thor and Foster.”

“Of course, they’re my friends.”

“And how do you know they are worthy of your friendship?”

“Now? Well, we all have been through a lot.” Darcy looked thoughtful.

“But in the beginning?”

“I just had to trust them — take a leap of faith.”

“How quaint.”

“You should try it sometime,” Darcy joked.

Later that day, Thor had moved to an apartment on the same level as Natasha and Rogers, while Darcy had agreed that she would take up temporary residence on Jane’s couch. She would have slept with Jane in the same bed, but no one knew if she might bring someone else to another realm if their hypotheses rang true that she did realm-travel when she was asleep.

She texted Tony about what happened, and received a quick reply saying that except for her lessons with Strange and a quick meeting, she wouldn’t need to do anything else.

One thing Darcy had discovered as the days went by since her arrival at the Facility was that Tony had connected the new housing unit to an underground training compound that was accessible only to them via that building. Rogers and Sam made good use of it, since they were still technically hiding from the law, and once Strange said that he and Darcy needed a place wherein they could practice without prying eyes (not that there were many eyes in the compound anyways), Tony had smugly led them to a spacious room that was empty save for a lot of mats.

Nebula entered the room with Darcy, who looked a little worse for wear in spite of not having had her usual physical exertion for the day.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Darcy by means of greeting as she walked up to Strange.

“We won’t take long today. I’ve been told that Tony wishes to test a theory of his and Banner’s, and since Thor might soon be otherwise indisposed, he wants to try it out as soon as possible.”

“Yeah? What do they want to do?”

“I’ll leave him to explain that himself,” said Strange. “Now, I’d like you to try using this.”

And with that, Darcy began to learn how to use the Sling Ring.

When they finished, Darcy was able to create ripples of magic in the air. Though unlike the portals that Strange himself created, hers were never just one color. At times it would be a pulsing blood red, and at others, it would be a bright purple. Her magic went through every color on the rainbow, and when he finally told her to stop, she was just about ready to call it a day.

They headed straight for Tony’s private lab, which was located in the lowest floor of the entire facility. There, they found everyone looking on edge. All eyes turned to her group’s arrival, and Darcy resisted the urge to take a step back. The hairs on her body stood in attention. There was something really wrong if they were able to get Jane and Thor to be in the same room immediately after their breakup.

“What exactly is going on here?” Darcy crossed her arms.

“The gauntlet only ever seems to show up on your arm when Thor touches you while a current is running on the surface of his skin.” Tony’s gaze never left hers. “I had to wonder if that meant he had control over it — or you — but when Point Break here said that he didn’t, and that, quote, ‘there’s a part of you that isn’t at peace with the other,’ end quote; then well, I had to look into other things.”

“We believe that the gauntlet’s appearance is out of panic.” Bruce said. “Sort of like how we flinch or laugh when we’re tickled, the gauntlet revealing itself is a reaction to its perception of you getting hurt.”

“So you’re saying you want to hurt me?” Darcy clarified.

“Not entirely.” Tony swiped at the table in front of him, and holoscreens flashed up in the room, shrouding everything in a bluish green light. Videos of her training sessions with them came up. “See, if it were as simple as a matter of it preventing you from getting hurt, then the gauntlet should have shown up the moment you and Thor started sparring.”

“But it didn’t.”

“But it didn’t,” nodded Tony. “We—I believe that the fact that Thor is Asgardian is a big reason as to why he can get the gauntlet to appear. We’ve brought up how you might not be human, but we’ve seen your file, we’ve run every imaginable test, and we know you. You’re about as generic human as we were going to get in this group. It still begs the question of how are you able to survive having all six Infinity Stones in your system without exploding or imploding? We’ve heard about Quill’s story. He would have died if he weren’t half whatever the fuck his dad was.”

“And that when I grabbed the stone, my friends grabbed on to me, so we kind of shared the power,” chimed Quill.

“So what are you getting at?”

“We want to see if the stones are protecting you.”

Darcy frowned.

“Or just protecting themselves.”

“Again, dumb it down for the non-genius human? You want to attack me? Kill me?”

“You aren’t that far off,” replied the billionaire, though Steve quickly admonished him with a, “Tony!”

Her eyes flashed violet, a shade Quill knew well, and was definitely a sign of trouble. The former half-Celestial tensed. It wasn’t lost on the others as well. It was only Jane, Thor, Tony and Strange unworried.

“Darcy…” Jane said slowly. “We won’t do this if you don’t want to.”

“I’m going to need more details here, Boss Lady.” Darcy’s fists clenched and unclenched. Why won’t they just spell it out for her already? “I’m sure this doesn’t mean just attacking me or something, right?”

“Not yet,” Tony acquiesced. “We’ll get Thor to shock you a bit while you’re hooked up to monitors that can help us scan what you’re feeling and how the appearance of the gauntlet or Thor’s electricity affects you, then we’ll try to replicate it.”

“And after that?”

“If that’s successful, then we have a controlled way of getting the gauntlet to show up. Following that, we can see what you can do with it.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

“Since we saw you and Thor do that neat little trick,” admitted Tony.

“And you think this is a good idea?” Darcy turned to Jane and Bruce, both of whom looked a little guilty.

Bruce nodded, “Learning what triggers the gauntlet can help us facilitate ways in which we could attempt to remove the gauntlet.”

“And then working back from that,” Jane continued, “Maybe we can work out a way to take the individual stones off.”

“NO!”

Darcy turned to the source of the scream, surprised to find herself face to face with someone she’s only ever seen from video tapes and from afar when she worked briefly in the Avengers Compound. Red outer layer, with synthetic vibranium for a body, but without the cape, the being before could only ever be Vision.

“Darcy Lewis, you must not let go of the stones.”

“Vision?”

“I am not your Vision, just as your Vision is not I,” replied the Not Vision. “I took on this form because this is one you would know and trust, and I need you to fight to keep the stones in your possession.”

“Then who, or what, are you?” She frowned. “And how can I do that when I can’t even remember what happens here? When I go back, I lose everything.”

“I will give you the ability to remember this specific conversation, but Darcy Lewis,” Not Vision stepped closer to her. “You must not fight.”

“But you just told me that I had to fight to keep the stones!” She was flabbergasted. “What do you really want me to do?!”

Darcy was breathing heavily when she said, “I—I can’t let you d—do that.”

“What has happened, Lady Darcy?” Thor looked ready to approach her, but she raised a hand to get him to stay, and everyone was surprised when everyone facing Darcy’s open palm was visibly pushed back, some of them slamming against counters or walls.

“Lewis,” Strange said from behind her, his tone one of warning. While it wasn’t surprising to find that Darcy could actually call on the abilities of the stones, it was concerning how she didn’t have any control of it.

She put her hand down, visibly shaking. “I—I was in that other realm again. I…someone told me that I shouldn’t let you take the gauntlet. I don’t remember who it was, but I remember feeling that I can trust them. I can’t let you have the stones, Tony.”

“Darcy,” Strange’s voice was calmer. “Breathe. In in four counts and out in four counts.”

She let Strange’s voice guide her, and everyone watched as the blue glow that had surrounded her disappeared, and her violet eyes returned to blue.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I could do that.”

“’s alright,” said Tony, easily bouncing into his nonchalant persona. “Enough excitement for the day, I think. Class dismissed. Let’s all head up and get tacos. Peter says there’s a place that makes great ones like thirty minutes from here. I’ll have someone bring us some. Come on, come on, I’m sure Darcy’s just a little on edge ‘cause she’s hungry. We’ll go up and see what we’re going to do. Harry Potter, if you’ve got any tips, you better let us know.”

Chapter Text

Of the six Infinity Stones, two had the capabilities of creating their own dimension, namely: Reality and Soul; two could manipulate the very fabric of where they were: Time and Space; and two fortified a being’s existing capabilities: Mind and Power. They were all capable sentient beings, able to decide how or when to fulfill their wielder’s desires, with no agenda other than to be given an avenue in which to express their power.

That being said, their abilities were as omnipotent as it were omnipresent, and so in their creation, had been crafted into compact stones that granted whomever had it the stone’s corresponding abilities. The Infinity Gauntlet was the first of its kind, and afforded its wearer incomparable power as it harnessed the stones’ capabilities to see it’s wearer’s wishes come to fruition.

In Thanos’ pursuit of all the stones, they were brought together for the first time in millennia. They responded to Thanos’ whims as they made sure all that he could dream up was made reality.

When Gamora had been thrown over the cliff at Vormir as Thanos’ sacrifice to get the Soul Stone, her soul was absorbed into the Soul Stone’s realm, to live with all the other souls of beings previously sacrificed to the Stone or some similar entity. However, upon completion of the Infinity Stones, the Mind gave the Soul the knowledge that there was a being that Thanos ought to have sacrificed in Gamora’s place.

There were soft murmurs around her, as if she were surrounded by a crowd trying not to disturb her. They sounded as if they spoke in different languages, but she couldn’t zero in on any particular sound or conversation. It seemed as if the voices moved away when she tried to listen in to their conversations. But they also seemed both very near her ear and very far away. It was an overall confusing experience.

Her eyes opened slowly.

A gentle breeze was blowing as she looked around. The soft colors of the sunset reflected in the shallow waters she stood in, though no sun could be seen setting. In the distance, she could see a small house with a rust-colored roof.

She walked towards the house with small, careful steps, worried that the water went deeper than she was comfortable. That wasn’t the problem she encountered though, as she found that the distance between the house and herself wasn’t getting any shorter no matter how many steps she took towards it. She was still in her sweatshirt and boy shorts, though her eyeglasses were no where to be found.

Fingers pressed against a tender spot on her chest, she looked around once more for any other sign of land.

“Where am I?” Darcy stopped and frowned as she looked around.

There was no reply.

She pulled her sleeves down so that it covered her palms, a nervous habit she had acquired as a child. Logically, she knew she should have been anxious about her predicament. After all, she was in a foreign place with no one immediately in the vicinity, but there was something that prevented her from full on hyperventilating. It was like that time Jane was getting hyped up on the data she found for their version of the Rainbow Bridge, and Darcy had to ban coffee for a week and woman-handle Jane into sleeping by cuddling with her until she calmed down enough to sleep.

Or maybe not.

It was an odd feeling that she couldn’t quite comprehend. How is it that she wasn’t going a little bit crazy about being alone in some random (planet? realm? void? blackhole?) Where was Jane? She’d know where they were if she were there. Jane knew everything.

Okay, that was a lie. No one knew everything, but it would probably be easier if she had someone with her.

Wait, where had she even been before this?

Thor!

She gasped at the realization as she began to remember where she had been before her arrival in her current location.

There was a battle. Thor had been there; as well as the other Avengers. She had no idea who the big bad purple guy was, but he definitely had that Evil Villain look to him.

Darcy pressed her lips together and began to march towards the little house once more. Maybe she’d find some answers there.

She began to feel relieved as she began to get closer to the house that wasn’t a house at all. As it turned out, it was a gazebo, and as Darcy walked up the steps to get to the middle, she was suddenly in the middle of a lush green field.

The bodies of the people of a great nation that once called themselves the protector and rulers of the Nine Realms were littered around the spacious field. Gods and goddesses. She didn’t know how she knew that they were Asgardian, but she was sure with every fiber of her being in her assessment. Her theory was solidified when she saw a man clad in familiar green and black armor of sorts. That definitely looked similar to the guy that tried to destroy New York. She’d seen the clips. Near him laid a dark-skinned man in gold. For a moment, she expected him to move.

Her lips, pale and chapped, curled into a frown. They all looked at peace, as if asleep, but Thor’s recount of what had occurred told her better. These people were dead.

And so why was she dreaming of dead people?

Dead people that she’s never met before, she would remind herself.

She blinked rapidly, feeling a dull throb between her eyebrows as memories begun to flash through her mind.

“Darcy Lewis…”

She woke up with a start.

She was alive! Well, of course she was. She was right here. Wait, no.

Darcy Lewis was both out there and in here.

What was going on? How could she be in two places at once? Or…

A mix of blue and yellow light engulfed the bodies before they all vanished, save for one.

Loki Odinson inhaled deeply, but did not move. Darcy’s eyes widened as she looked down at his body. Was it him that had spoken? She didn’t really know what Loki sounded like, and as she squatted in front of him and watched him — seemingly — sleep, Darcy hoped that it was.

She didn’t quite understand how time or space or science in general worked in wherever she was, but she just understood that she’d been there for a while, especially if the memories she had just been bombarded with were something to be believed. As it were, there didn’t seem to be reason for it not to be?

With a sigh, Darcy sat beside Loki’s unconscious form.

She was Darcy Lewis, just as much as the woman in her memories was.

Only, she knew everything that the other didn’t.

She was the subconscious of Darcy Lewis, and she worried that the fact that she knew that as well as that she wasn’t alone in wherever she was would come to be something incredibly important. When she looked up at the sky, there was a flash of green lightning and rain began to fall. It wasn’t a heavy pour. In fact, Darcy liked the way the vermillion drops felt against her skin.

When she lifted her left hand to push away her hair, she was startled to find metal against her forehead.

A metal glove.

No, not a glove.

Her head throbbed, and suddenly she was flying. The stones lodged in the gauntlet shone brightly as she regarded them. Memories of what must have just transpired flittered in her mind, and she slowly landed.

“It wasn’t just the Soul Stone you absorbed, Miss Lewis.”

A flash of blinding light and she was standing in shallow waters once more. This time, however, she wasn’t alone.

“Why are you here?” The little girl, with her green-skin and dark hair, looked up at her with big doe eyes. They stood about three feet apart, facing each other, with the child’s head reaching up to about Darcy’s hips.

“Where is here? Where am I? Where are we?”

The girl stepped towards her and took one of her hands in her smaller ones, “Are you lost?”

“I don’t know…” Darcy bent down when the little girl tugged at her hand. They were at about eye-level as she asked, “Who are you?”

The little girl placed a hand on Darcy’s face, cupping her cheek.

“Are you in my mind or are we in some other realm?”

“This is a world not your own, Darcy Lewis.”

“Then why am I here?” She moved to hold the little girl’s wrist, but found that she was alone in a dessert.

Darcy crossed her arms over her chest, feeling frustrated. A lot of time had passed since her awakening of sorts, judging from her new memories. Why was she aware that she and the Darcy in her mind (or was she the Darcy in the mind of the Darcy in her mind?) Were one in the same? Why wasn’t she more freaked about this?!

“Hey there, Darcy-Lee.”

Her eyes widened, “Miah?”

Without a second thought, Darcy flung herself into her older brother’s arms. He caught her with  an ease born of practice, and she hadn’t even realized she had been crying until Miah was pulling away and soothingly telling her to stop. But how could she, when her long dead brother was holding her in his arms once again?

He pinched her cheeks, just like he always used to when he wanted to annoy her. She swatted his hands away with a watery laugh.

“You’re going to have to listen to me, okay, Sissy?” He waited for her to nod before he continued, “Time’s going to slow down here. You’ll be able to move and work here while your conscious counterpart does too. It’s going to be a pain in the ass, I won’t lie, but I know you’ll be able to work it out.”

“W-what?”

“For what it’s worth,” Miah said, pulling her into another embrace, “I’m sorry for everything. I never meant to leave you, Darcy-Lee.”

She felt him slowly disintegrate into nothing, and it felt like experiencing the pain of his death once again. Tears fell from her eyes, but she tried not to let it get any worse. There was no use in crying. Jeremiah had said that she needed to work. She just needed to figure out on what.

And then she heard it.

Darcy closed her eyes, and she could see what the conscious!Darcy was experiencing. In fact, not only could she see it, but she could smell, hear, feel, and taste it too. It was her literally being able to experience being in two places at once. She opened her eyes and looked around when conscious!Darcy had taken a couple of steps forward, but found that she was still where she had been.

Oh boy.

This was going to be difficult, because now she had an accurate measurement of time.

And what a long dreary time it was. Thankfully, she was also beginning to learn how to meditate. So she meditated while conscious!Darcy was awake, but when conscious!Darcy went to sleep, she wandered the world she was in.

Virtually, she hadn’t slept since Jeremiah — who was probably not actually Jeremiah — had come to warn her about what was going to happen. It felt taxing to think about, but she didn’t feel any physical (she used the term loosely, since she wasn’t actually a physical being, was she?) Exhaustion from lack of sleep. She did find that she grew tired when she walked or did anything for an extended amount of time.

One thing that Darcy was sure of was that she wasn’t alone in this ever-changing realm. Not only had the Asgardians’, the little girl’s, and Jeremiah’s appearances cemented this, but Darcy also felt like she was constantly being watched. No matter where she went, what she did, or how hard she tried to ignore the possibility, the prickly feeling of having someone observing you never left her.

Darcy found some use for her time, trying to figure out what having the Infinity Gauntlet actually meant. By the time conscious!Darcy returned to her realm, she could get the gauntlet to appear and disappear on command. She opened her eyes, finding herself in an empty room facing a door. With conscious!Darcy still awake, she was in the midst of conserving her energy so that she didn’t get a headache while moving around at the same time that conscious!Darcy was.

As she opened the door, Darcy was greeted by the sight of a cliff that was definitely not the outside of her room.

She could hear talking in the distance, and when she turned around to where her door was supposed to be, she found nothing. Darcy closed her eyes, remembering Strange’s words earlier that day (“If you find yourself in a place you don’t know, close your eyes and make sure your senses are working. Thor theorizes that you feel the effects of the stone, and if that’s true, then we want to make sure you are controlling it and not the other way around.”).

“You’re back.”

Her eyes opened. It was the same little girl from before. Green skin and dark hair.

The girl turned around and walked away, leaving Darcy to follow.

“How long was I gone?” She asked.

“They said you’d be back.”

“Who?”

“I don’t think they like that you leave so often.”

“Leave? Where even am I? Hey, little girl!” Darcy lunged and reached for the girl’s arm, but found herself falling face first into the water that surrounded them.

She fell.

And kept on falling.

And fell some more.

And then she looked to her side and someone was falling with her.

The person beside her had bright green eyes, pale skin, and dark hair. Before she could even begin to say his name, he had wrapped an arm around her, and just like that, they were flying instead of falling.

Darcy breathed deeply, feeling his arm securely around her waist as he maneuvered them to soar across the blood orange sky. She turned her head to look at him, and found that he was looking straight ahead.

“Loki,” she sighed.

“You ought to be more careful,” he said as they landed in shallow waters once more.

Darcy stepped away from him, frowning at his decidedly all black Midgardian attire. She studied him with a frown.

He, on the other hand, gave her a once over, and then turned around to leave. Her hand on his arm was what had him coming to a stop.

“Who are you?”

Loki faced her with a raised brow, tugging his arm away from her hold. “You say my name and yet question my identity.”

“You can’t be you,” Darcy’s nose scrunched. “Because if you’re you then that means Miah was actually Miah, and I’m really not prepared for my brother to have just appeared to warn me that I’m in some sort of weird not-really-parallel universe—”

“Silly girl,” Loki smirked. “I am but as real as you wish me to be, and so is he.”

She was about to say more, but he faded before her in a blue haze.

Darcy spent the time leading up to conscious!Darcy’s return trying to figure out what she could do with the gauntlet. If there was anything that working two jobs and studying taught her, it was definitely to manage her time properly.

And so when conscious!Darcy slept, she learned how to interpret which stone caused what event in her world. It wasn’t long before she was able to differentiate the differences in energies between the stones.

While they all carried a certain powerful aura, she found herself able to discern their particularities whenever a change occurred while she was in a meditative state. Armed with that knowledge, she debated learning to control them, because the energy they gave was both similar and far from the energy she felt whenever she honed in on any other living being.

Could it be that the Infinity Stones were alive?

“So what if they are?” The little girl asked, appearing before her just as the thought crossed her mind.

“Then what does that mean for me?” Darcy exposed the gauntlet to look at the stones, all of which were shining.

Before she could hear a reply, the little girl had gone.

From then on, Darcy began to speak to the stones. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe the Infinity Stones were just a little lonely — like stray cats and dogs looking for a forever home.

“This is a pretty cool place you know,” Darcy would tell no one in particular. “I like how it isn’t too hot or too cold. And the fact that shit changes every time keeps me on my toes. It’s like paradise, but unpredictable and sort of all alone.”

Sometimes she would go on a tangent about the people she had seen so far, which was basically Jeremiah, Loki, and the little girl.

It was a little later when Loki returned.

“You seem to be doing fine despite your exile.” Loki’s voice broke through Darcy’s musing.

She opened her eyes, and was surprised to find him floating upright just a few feet in front of her. Darcy had begun to levitate during her meditation periods, especially whenever she attempted to connect to any of the stones. As she sat there, in the lotus position, a blue hue coloring her, she met Loki’s gaze with a blank stare.

“You are displeased with me.”

Darcy didn’t respond. She could still hear and experience all that conscious!Darcy was going through. It looked like a beautiful afternoon in Wakanda.

“Will you truly ignore me?” Loki mimicked her pose and moved so that he was so close to her that their legs were almost touching.

She rolled her eyes. “Do you plan on disappearing again?”

“It is not something I have full control over yet,” he pursed his lips, “Much like your trips here.”

“I’m the subconscious!Darcy, dumbass.”

“Ah,” Loki’s smile was teasing. “Then you shall not forget me so easily.”

“As if I could. There’s only like three other people here.” Darcy wasn’t even surprised when Loki disappeared. She landed on grass, looking at the stones on her knuckles, “So was Loki real or are any of you pretending to be him? Because fuck, I know he’s Thor’s brother but they’re so different that I don’t know if what I’m meeting is actually him or like your interpretation of him. I don’t even know if it actually matters. I mean, he’s dead.”

Darcy sighed before tuning back into conscious!Darcy’s day.

Tony Stark’s arrival in her world had her reeling. All this time, conscious!Darcy has been unaware of any thing that has happened in this realm, because of the golden film surrounding the woman. She had tried reaching out to her conscious counterpart, entering a deep meditative state so much so that she was able to appear in a void-like space with conscious!Darcy. Whenever she tried to approach her though, a golden dome would appear, shielding Darcy Lewis from finding out just what was going on in her own head.

She hoped that perhaps Tony wouldn’t be affected by such a predicament.

She was right.

About a lot of things.

First of all, Tony remembered.

Second, there had been someone else in the realm while Tony was there, so she was definitely not alone.

Third, it hadn’t been Loki, or the little girl, or even her brother, and she had no idea how she felt about that.

Conscious!Darcy’s return had her facing Loki.

“Have you come alone this time?”

Darcy turned around, finding herself looking into moss green eyes.

“Darcy Lewis,” he said her name slowly, in an accent that would have had her swooning if she weren’t so confused.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Not exactly alive right now either, I suppose.”

“Where are we?”

“I don’t think it matters what I say if you’ll only forget.”

“Why don’t I remember what happens here when I return to Earth?”

“You lack balance, Darcy Lewis. There is a part of you that is not at peace with the other.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. Thor had said the same thing the other day, hadn’t he? There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other.

“What does that mean?”

“Are you still the conscious one?” Loki asked.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s in our best interests to be straightforward.”

“What can a dead person’s interests even be?”

“I see you are the one of this realm, then.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, “So will you explain what you’re talking about?”

His smile made her want to throttle him. “Now where would the fun in that be, Darcy Lewis?”

She was surprised when he didn’t leave until hours later, when the little girl had arrived just as conscious!Darcy was about to sleep.

“They don’t like you being here,” said the little girl, and if Darcy hadn’t been looking, she might have thought that it was addressed to her.

Loki’s smile was condescending, “And yet here I am.”

The Space Stone had Loki gone in an instant.

“Where’d he go?” Darcy’s eyes narrowed at the little girl.

“You have nothing to worry about,” said she, but Darcy was already worried. The Space Stone made the little girl disappear just as it had Loki, and it was then that Darcy realized she has never felt the Power Stone influence anything around her.

The next time conscious!Darcy returned, it was with Thor.

“Thor?”

“Yes, Darcy?”

“I’m sorry about Asgard.”

“Asgard will live on through me.”

“But really, aren’t there others out there? Wouldn’t there have been diplomats on different planets or galaxies? Or maybe Asgardians on vacation that weren’t planet-side when the whole shebang with your sister went down?”

Thor paused, causing her to stop abruptly too.

“Sorry, I know it’s a sore topic, but—”

“No, it’s…you have given me a wonderful idea, Darcy!” He maneuvered them to pull her into his arms and spin her around, causing a laugh to bubble out of her. When he put her down, they were back to reality.

Darcy sighed, closing her eyes. It wasn’t long before her conscious half returned.

“Darcy Lewis.”

She knelt before the little girl and then reached out to touch her. The girl surprised her by taking a step forward and placing her cheek against Darcy’s palm.

“They said you would keep coming back.”

“Who are they?”

“They want to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” She wanted to argue; to tell this little green girl that there was nothing to protect her from. Thanos was gone, and she had the stones — was currently in one, even!

For a moment, the little girl seemed to consider actually answering her. However, the lightning strike in the distance and the accompanying thunder startled both of them.

The shallow water that had always looked something between pink and orange, like the sunset, bled red, and Darcy Lewis woke up with a gasp.

Reality, Mind, and Space pushed conscious!Darcy right out of the realm.

It was the first time that Darcy had felt three stones work together to achieve a goal, and she was momentarily paralyzed by the feeling. It took several hours before Darcy was able to pull herself back up, and even longer for her to be able to properly function once again.

On Earth, conscious!Darcy was being trained to be some sort of warrior while also claiming that she was a simple civilian. It left the Darcy of the Soul Realm continuously feeling the stones working to keep conscious!Darcy up and running, because she was beginning to feel the effects of her subconscious utilizing her time asleep to further understand the silent companions she had in what Thor had hypothesized as the Soul Realm.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be here,” Darcy asked without opening her eyes, having sensed Loki’s arrival.

“I’ve never really done well with authority,” was Loki’s dry response.

“But you followed your brother’s lead.”

“After much internal conflict and stupidity,” amended the God of Mischief.

Her lips quirked up in a smile, and she felt him join her in meditation. She felt the world shift around them, all the stones (save for Power) working to manipulate their environment. With conscious!Darcy asleep, she was able silently communicate with the stones. She wasn’t always successful, but she knew they were listening because sometimes she was granted what she was asked.

I want some company, she would think, and then she would hear someone speak; either Loki or the little girl.

I miss home, would find her in her childhood home, though without the people she considered family.

I want to know what’s going on, and she was met with silence.

And then warmth, like a long embrace.

Darcy may have seen Thor’s breakup coming, but it didn’t make it any less painful to witness. Loki’s arrival after she had comforted Jane and tucked her in was both a relief and a stressor. He was back in Midgardian clothes, but no more comforting than he had ever been.

“You seem distressed.” He began walking, and she had no choice but to follow. They were in a forest of Reality’s own creation, and both looked so out of place in their casual attire as the environment began to change into a meadow of daffodils.

Darcy joked, “You seem concerned.”

“Simply interested,” he countered with ease, coming to a stop and turning to face her.

“Loki.” She frowned, meeting his gaze.

“Darcy Lewis.”

“Thor’s more hurt than I am. He and Jane just broke up…er, parted ties.”

“I do know what a break up means, but why does this concern you?” His eye roll had her wincing. She didn’t think he was stupid, but she didn’t really know what terms Asgard used, and with all the strain conscious!Darcy’s been putting her through, she was beginning to feel the effects of it.

Darcy glared at him, and he only grinned, entertained by her supposed anger.

“You care deeply for both Thor and Foster,” was his astute observation. He regarded her with an unreadable expression. She was beginning to feel like some sort of project for him to scrutinize.

“Of course, they’re my friends.”

“And how do you know they are worthy of your friendship?” He took a step towards her, highlighting their height difference because it forced her to tilt her chin so that she could properly meet his piercing emerald eyes.

“Now? Well, we all have been through a lot.” Darcy looked thoughtful as she looked away from him.

“But in the beginning?”

“I just had to trust them,” She shrugged, looking at him once more. “Take a leap of faith.”

“How quaint.”

“You should try it sometime,” Darcy smiled.

“Perhaps,” acquiesced Loki. He turned back around and continued walking, and they drifted into more neutral topics, like their menial likes and dislikes.

He liked power and magic, though that was a no-brainer, Darcy supposed. She found out that his want for power was more about wanting control than actual physical power. He had a deep respect for magic born out of being guided by his and Thor’s mother, and that his Frost Giant form was sealed away by Frigga’s magic from a young age. His magic had adapted and made it so that he never had to think about staying in his Aesir body.

He was repentant of all that had unfolded that led to Ragnarök. He had admitted quietly, while they had been both meditating, that if he could go back in time and prevent all the destruction he had caused his brother’s people, he would do so in a heartbeat.

“NO!”

Darcy turned to the source of the scream, surprised to find herself face to face with someone she’s only ever seen from video tapes and from afar when she worked briefly in the Avengers Compound. Red outer layer, with synthetic vibranium for a body, but without the cape, the being before could only ever be Vision.

“Darcy Lewis, you must not let go of the stones.”

“Vision?”

“I am not your Vision, just as your Vision is not I,” replied the Not Vision. “I took on this form because this is one you would know and trust, and I need you to fight to keep the stones in your possession.”

“Then who, or what, are you?” She frowned. “And how can I do that when I can’t even remember what happens here? When I go back, I lose everything.”

“I will give you the ability to remember this specific conversation, but Darcy Lewis,” Not Vision stepped closer to her. “You must not fight.”

“But you just told me that I had to fight to keep the stones!” She was flabbergasted. “What do you really want me to do?!”

Darcy was breathing heavily when conscious!Darcy returned to Earth. She fell on her knees,  feeling Mind slowly pull back, and looked up when black boots came into view. The Time Stone shone brightly as she met eyes that looked so much like her own.

“Miah,” she sighed.

“Sorry about that.” Her brother-who-probably-wasn’t-really-her-brother said, offering her a hand to help her stand.

“Was that you too?” She pulled herself up and took a step back to keep some space between them. “Who or what even are you?”

“Yes and no,” replied Not Miah his eyes crinkling and his dimples appearing. “I think you already know what we are, but no one can really say who we are.”

“So you are the Infinity Stone?”

“In a manner of speaking,” replied Not Miah with a wave of his hand. “I am but a facet of the power contained within the stone.”

“Time Stone,” said Darcy, lifting up the gauntlet to show how bright the green stone was.

Not Miah’s proud smile was so painfully accurate that Darcy took another step back.

She crossed her arms, “Can you not look like my brother?”

“Would you rather I look like this?” Not Strange looked and sounded every bit like Doctor Strange that Darcy wanted to pinch him just to see how realistic the copy was.

“Better, I guess. So if you’re Time, then was Vision — Not Vision — what? The…Mind Stone? That’s what he was made with, if I remember.”

Not Strange nodded, “You’ve come far in learning to understand how we behave, Darcy Lewis, and yet you still—”

“I swear, if you say I lack balance, I’m going to throttle you; all powerful stone or not.”

“It is but the truth.”

She blinked, and suddenly time had passed and Time (aka Not Strange) was gone. Thunder rumbled overhead, and she was glad Reality had thought to keep her in a beautiful glasshouse garden. Heavy rain poured, and Darcy watched as the glass frosted like ice when the raindrops hit it.

The scream that tore out of her was the loudest she’d ever let out as she felt Reality and Soul flare up. She looked down at the gauntlet, and was surprised when the Power Stone was alive as well. Darcy didn’t know she could faint in her own subconscious until she was being lifted and moved elsewhere.

When Darcy woke up, she was wrapped in a familiar cape. The green and black could only ever belong to the man who constantly kept her company. She draped it on her shoulders and closed her eyes to meditate. With conscious!Darcy wide awake and training, she needed to conserve her energy.

Chapter Text

Tony watched his fiancée speak with Darcy as if they’ve known each other forever. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Pepper had said Darcy’s been working for her longer than her Stark Industries contracts would actually say. It was only natural that they would have gravitated from being boss and subordinate to work colleagues to friends, right? He squinted at them when Pepper laughed so much she had to set her glass down. Intending to join them, he took a step forward only to be taken under Thor’s arm and into the conversation he was having with Nebula.

“You must tell Nebula of how came to be the Man of Iron, Tony!”

Hours later, just as dinnertime was coming around, Rhodes stood beside him, watching the same thing he was, which was basically Pepper putting an apron over her designer suit, and helping Darcy make dinner with Parker and Quill.

“Ever think you’d have this?”

Tony smirked, “A warehouse in upstate New York seems like a natural next step when the tower was built.”

Rhodes shoved Tony, “I meant having this. Them. Pepper, Peter, even Darcy and Quill — kind of like having your own family isn’t it?”

The billionaire said nothing, though Rhodes knew he was soaking it in.

They watched as Darcy made sure everyone was doing the correct thing in the kitchen, eventually sending Pepper off to mix drinks, with Natasha coming to join her. They watched as Jane failed at stealing some of the pop-tarts in the cupboard, resulting in various hits with a wooden spoon care of Darcy. They watched as Steve and Sam laughed at what was unfolding, before returning to the game of chess they were both playing against Nebula and Thor. They watched as Bruce read on one of the armchairs in the room, content to be in his own world with his cup of tea.

“You too.” Tony said.

“Hm?”

“Not just them.” Tony looked at his watch, and then looked back around. “Before all of them, you were there. You, Happy, and Pepper.”

Rhodes grinned, “Pepper and the Three Y-s Men.”

“She hates that.”

“As if you care?”

“I hate that.”

“As if I care?”

Rhodes’ smile didn’t falter as Tony shook his head and left him to join the spectacle in the kitchen. He knew Tony Stark had a heart. It didn’t take seeing the plaque Pepper had given the engineer to know it. It also didn’t need to be said. Tony had shown it in so many different ways to the people around him that he’d gotten screwed over so many times because of it.

Without meaning to, Rhodes found his eyes gravitating towards Steve. What kind of person housed someone (a fugitive, even) who had betrayed him to the extent that Steve had Tony? And what kind of person would let it go on for as long as it had without a word?

Tony returned to him with a glass of scotch for each of them.

“Trying to buy my silence with a drink?” Rhodes joked.

“More like trying to get this party started.” Tony raised his glass to Thor, who held a glass in his hand as he and Jane set about pouring the drinks Natasha and Pepper had made. He downed the glass with ease and dragged Rhodes over to Bruce.

“Bruce, tell Rhodes why viagra won’t cure the fact that he has no sense of humor!”

“What—Tony, no!”

“Tony, yes!” He cackled.

“Bruce, don’t listen to him!”

Thor watched Darcy train with Strange. He was clad in sweats and a shirt, looking every bit a normal (if not extremely fit) Midgardian. Beside him was one of his Midgardian Shield Brothers, a man once called Captain America. They were observing to ensure that no harm came upon either of the brunettes in the room, though if Thor were honest with himself, he were watching both to make sure he stayed out of Jane’s way and that he could get to Darcy first if something happened.

Steve, on the other hand, didn’t really have anywhere else to go until that evening, when he was due to go on a mission before his shift as Darcy’s guard the day after. He would normally be training or going through the details with Sam or Bucky or whomever was going to be his partner, but seeing as it would be a solo reconnaissance mission, there wasn’t much to prepare.

“What time do you depart?” Thor’s conversational tone did not help answer Steve’s confusion. At the sight of his comrade’s surprise, Thor asked, “Was I not supposed to be aware?”

“I’m not doing anything that will hurt anyone,” said Steve.

“I never accused you of such, nor was it what I asked.” Thor frowned. “If you do not wish for it to be known, then perhaps you ought to take care where and when you speak of your plans. I had overheard your conversation with your shield brother Wilson numerous times while I sparred with both Peters.”

Steve said nothing, feeling like a rookie once again.

“My brother was always the better spy than I, so I suppose I might not have room to speak, but I only ask to ensure that you would return in time to look after my sister.” Thor’s gaze returned to Darcy, who had been effectively put on her back with a simple maneuver from Strange.

“Of course,” said Steve with a firm nod. “I’m working with Fury; making sure that those that are supposed to be under, stay under.”

“And what of you?”

“What of me?”

“Are you to stay under as well, Captain?” Thor resisted the urge to call out directions and tips for Darcy to win her match. She wouldn’t even hear him due to the one way glass between them. He placed his hands behind his back, “I understand the Avengers as I knew it no longer exist. From what my Jane and Darcy have told, the laws put in place after my departure had made it so that those with abilities have become something akin to unwilling warriors — with each and every move monitored and managed.”

“Sounds about right,” agreed Steve. “They don’t even care that we were helping, all they wanted was control of us. They wanted to make the call of when we moved and what we do—”

“And is that not the same as what you do now with your missions?” There was no accusatory or demeaning tone in Thor’s voice. He only sounded curious, but it didn’t prevent Steve from becoming tense.

“At least I know that I’m doing what I can to make the world a better place.” Steve’s brows furrowed.

“And yet in their eyes, they had done the same thing.” Thor had to close his eyes when he saw Darcy hit the mat once again. “I spoke to King T’Challa, wishing to understand why the man you sought help from for your Heart Brother agreed to put in place what would essentially sentence you as a criminal in your own home.”

Steve clenched his fists.

“Your Barnes killed friend Tony’s parents—”

“That wasn’t him.” He quickly countered.

“The Soldier, then,” amended Thor with a nod. “The Winter Soldier, under orders and the control of our sworn enemy, murdered the Lord and Lady Stark and when you found out, you chose to keep it from our friend. Within that same time, changes were being presented to your leaders to ensure that the public never had to fear the very people that could perhaps save them with one hand and destroy them with the other.” For the first time in their conversation, Thor gave Steve most of his attention. “In a time where the people needed to trust in the Avengers, you showed them — you showed our friends that it mattered not what happened to everyone else. So long as you rescued your brother, you were willing to do and withhold anything.”

Steve wanted to look away. In that moment, Thor’s eyes looked more silver than blue, and Steve Rogers finally understood what Bruce had meant when he had said, “Thor’s not just a god, he’s a king. I think we keep forgetting that,” back in Wakanda. Again, he recalled his own realization about the god of thunder throughout their friendship; Thor would have burned himself for his people.

“In a time where the world looked to Captain America and Ironman to lead them through this change, they saw Tony Stark left to die with a tarnished shield by his side.”

Did Tony put you up to this? Steve wanted to ask, but he knew better. Tony would never ask anyone to do this. He wouldn’t want anyone fighting his battles for him. If anything, Tony would ask Thor not to speak to Steve about it unless the Asgardian had a better understanding of what was going on. However, as it stood, perhaps Thor knew just enough.

Thor sighed, “I would never pass judgement on the lengths you would go for your brother, Captain. Who better to understand the limitless amount of chances to give one’s beloved brother than I? I only hope you remember that the world is larger than just his life and survival. In keeping the secret, you had prevented Tony’s chance at peace and broken his trust; and in leaving, you had told your people that so long as you and your chosen were safe, then none else mattered.”

“I never asked to lead anyone,” Steve said, looking away.

“You are a captain, are you not?”

“I’m not Captain America anymore.” Steve swallowed, feeling that churning in his stomach once again, explaining his guilt. “Lost that right when I left the shield.”

“Captain Rogers or Captain America, perhaps the shield gave you the name, but it was the man behind it that wanted to serve his people. It was the man inside the uniform that wished to ensure his people were safe.” Thor turned back to watch Strange and Darcy. “Lady Darcy believes that you now perhaps consider yourself a man of no land. She had a better word for it.”

A nomad.

“I do not wish to pass any judgement where your actions are concerned. This is not my land to rule, and you may be my brother in battle, but you are not one of my people. However, your actions now affect that of my sister, and it will not be long before she is exposed to the very same people that wish to control those that are different. We have had luck on our side in keeping her hidden, but I know her well enough to know that she will miss the various conveniences she had grown with and been accustomed to. She is a woman of the world, after all.” Thor sighed. “Soon, I will be leaving to find those of my people that remain, and I could only hope to leave her under the protection of people who would not run when there are still battles to be fought and wars to be won.”

“There is no war here, and we will all be here to keep her safe,” Steve said.

“Not all wars are fought with steel and fire. Ink and parchment can draw just as much blood with fewer hands.” Thor stepped back when he saw that Strange and Darcy was almost done, seeing as they had sat down for their meditation. “You have continued to serve your planet on your own terms. This has meant reuniting with what was left of SHIELD and following Fury, a man we have all agreed once upon a time kept far too many secrets than any of us were comfortable with. You could have stayed as you were in Wakanda, with your brothers and out of sight. No one demanded your presence here, yet you volunteered to pilot the ship upon our return.”

In the other room, Darcy and Strange were floating in mid-air, with Strange’s cape detaching from him and draping itself over Darcy’s shoulders. The sight had Thor smiling in amusement. It seemed that the cape had become fond of Darcy.

“I do not think I ask for much when I say you ought to understand all that surrounds you.” Thor turned around so that he could head out and catch up with Darcy. “After all, who is this Steve Rogers that willingly returned to a land that was no longer home to look after a woman he has barely spoken to?”

Steve listened to Thor leave, watching Darcy and Strange land on the floor and Strange’s cape leave her shoulders to return to the sorcerer’s.

He spent the rest of the day thinking about Thor’s words.

How was it that an alien prince who had been gone for two years could lay it all out as he had? It wasn’t even that he had accused Steve; if anything, Thor had sounded sympathetic to his cause. He remembered the tales Thor had told of he and Loki in their youth, standing side by side as brothers long before the Chitauri Invasion or even Thor’s arrival in New Mexico. It was much of the same, he supposed.

That evening, Steve took out the phone he used to contact Fury. He rechecked the address, which was an old abandoned building in the city, from what he had seen on the maps. It wasn’t urgent and Fury had only assigned it to him because he had asked for a mission, which really did beg the question of why had he joined them in the first place if he were still going to leave? He could have just as well stayed in Wakanda and headed to Fury’s base in some god-forsaken place and operated from there. Tony and Shuri had already agreed upon terms of possible report and status tracking so that neither were left behind on updates about Darcy Lewis.

With a few taps, Steve hit send and left the room to join the others for dinner.

From: Unknown
To: Unknown
I spilled the coffee I got. Will go buy more.

It was code for Fury. Coffee meant that there was no trouble, spilling it meant taking time off, and buying more meant that it would be for an extended amount of time. Fury didn’t know where he was, simply assuming that he was still in Wakanda, and since there were no pressing missions, perhaps it was time to actually reacquaint himself with the country he had once gone on ice for.

But first of all, it was game night, and Quill was willing to play air hockey with him since Sam had given up on the account of, “You’re a super soldier what chance do I even have against you?”

Jane pressed her lips together as she stepped out. Friday had told her that of the residents in the building, only Sam Wilson and Peter Quill were outside. Everyone else was either in their apartments (Darcy, Bruce, Steve, and Nebula) or off-site (Natasha and Thor). She had swung by Darcy’s apartment earlier, only to find that she was reading some cases with Bruce. Jane knew that if she had asked, Darcy would have kept her company, but Jane also knew that she had to get used to not leaning on Darcy all the time.

She was neither blind nor oblivious. If anything, Jane Foster prided herself in being rather perceptive — even if they thought otherwise. So maybe she didn’t always know when she ought to be eating, or how much coffee was too much coffee, but she definitely saw how a lot of people easily dismissed Darcy as simply being her assistant and tag-along.

Perhaps it had been true throughout New Mexico, but a lot had changed since then. Not only had Darcy completed her degree, she had survived a kidnapping, joined and organized various protests and programs that spoke to the causes which she was passionate about, ensured she and Jane were not only hidden but also virtually untraceable, gotten her law degree, and now represented one of the biggest corporations in the world. There wasn’t anything that Jane wouldn’t do for Darcy, just as the opposite was true. More than colleagues and friends, she and Darcy were definitely firmly in sister territory.

For a moment, Jane reconsidered dragging Darcy out, if only to keep her company, but vanished the thought from her mind. She undid her hair, which she had put up in a bun earlier that day. After running a hand through her hair, she slipped the hair tie on her wrist. She shook out a stick of cigarette from the carton and placed it between her lips.

“Never pegged you for a smoker,” Sam said just as she lit her stick and pocketed the pack.

“It isn’t a consistent habit.” She said as she blew out the smoke. “Last time I actually habitually smoked was about three or four years ago, and even then it was just for about two months. After that it’s usually just when Darcy and I are sad and drinking at the same time.”

Quill stood by her side, “Mind if I try?”

She sent him a queer look, and glanced briefly at Sam, before offering him her own stick. He took it and Jane turned to Sam, “What brings you guys out here?”

“Quill here wanted to see the facilities in the other building. I’m the least threatening person left to show him around.”

Jane blinked, “I’m pretty sure I’m the one that counts as least threatening here.”

“Yeah,” Quill exhaled, offering back the cig. “But you’re also always looking over some work or whatever on your tablet.”

Sam agreed, nodding. “We wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

“It’s…” She debated what to say, thinking to herself, what would Darcy say? “Things were set in motion years ago, with a lot of moving parts.” She shrugged, flicking off ash from her cigarette, “I just want to make sure I’m not the cog that derails everything.” Okay, that sounded nothing like what Darcy would say, but she tried. It was at least vague enough to work.

“Sounds ominous.” Quill pointed out.

She smiled, soft and utterly innocent, “It’s not anything we aren’t already used to.”

“But hey if you ever need anything,” Quill offered a smile of his own, bright and open, “I’m here to help — and I’m sure Nebula too.”

“We’re here too, Doc,” Sam nodded with a friendly grin, “Everyone here’s willin’ to pitch in to help you, whatever you need.”

She hummed her agreement. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

The two men silently resolved to keep Jane company, unwilling to leave a lady out alone at night. They were all leaning against the wall, though Jane would push herself off and pace from time to time.

“Thor asks about you, you know.” Quill said, effectively breaking the silence between them. “Makes sure you’re okay and that you’re taking care of yourself.”

Jane pursed her lips before pressing them together. She sighed, “I guess it seems kind of weird to everyone, huh?”

Sam watched as Quill walked up to Jane, who stood a few feet from them, looking up at the stars. He was suddenly struck by how this could look to Thor — or even someone else. Quill was talking to Jane in a softer voice, so much so that Sam could only barely hear them.

“It’s not weird.” He heard Quill say. “It was a difficult position to be in, and you were man—woman— enough to make a tough decision, even if it hurt both of you.”

He watched as Jane smiled, more genuine than earlier, and Sam couldn’t help but wonder if Jane Foster could ever love anyone as much as she loves the God of Thunder.

“She’s good,” said Clint, voice somewhat muffled. He must have had his phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder again, Natasha assumed.

“That doesn’t tell me much.” She pointed out, “You said you met her when Thor first popped up. How, exactly?” She looked at all three screens she had in front of her, all of which had variations of Darcy’s name running searches throughout all databases she had access to.

“Little spitfire intern with a body like sin and sass by the dozen, how could I resist?”

Nat quirked her lip, “Hello, Laura.”

She heard Laura’s laugh in the background, and then, “He thinks she hit on him the first time they met,” quickly followed by Clint’s “Who opens a conversation with, ‘Your boots are shit, but at least you have a great ass,’ and then just leaves?”

Laura called out, “She’s not wrong!”

“What would have gotten her to say that, though?” Nat asked with a shake of her head. Only one Darcy Lillian Lewis with the same birthdate popped up everywhere, and all the information she found matched all that was on the file they’d gotten from both Stark Industries and SHIELD. 29. Lawyer. Jane’s former assistant. Thor’s best girl.

“She knew I was an agent and wanted to get my attention.” Clint grumbled, but Laura’s laughter told Nat there was more to the story.

Not even bothering to prompt him, Nat tapped a couple of keys and pulled up all of Darcy’s social media accounts. Her Twitter was a mix of jokes, rants about the current political climate, and calls for change. Her Instagram was a lot of pictures of scenery and people, with a couple of edited graphic images depicting her views and support for particular organizations.

“She wanted her iPod back.” Clint continued. “Got my hopes up and my ego kind of boosted only to be used for my connections.”

She knew there was more. There was no way that Darcy had left a mark on Clint (and even Laura) on the one-liner alone. Nat made a note of planning a trip to meet up with the Bartons at a later time. Some things were better looked into personally.

“Hi daddy, we’re hoooooome!” The sound of the kids had Nat smiling, and it wasn’t long before the pair had wrestled the phone into their hands and Nat was talking to two excitable kids while she looked through some articles Darcy had published on both her blog and in some journals.

The Age of Heroes and Why the Sokovia Accords Actually Mean Something

…In a world that has Tony Stark’s signature on a piece of paper that showed the world just how divided the Avengers really were…

Nat spent the rest of her afternoon listening to Clint’s kids babble and let her know about their day and what they’ve been seeing. She still wondered about the soundness of their decision to move to Europe, but she figured Clint wouldn’t have done anything without taking precautions.

With a smile, she bade her pseudo-niece and nephews good night.

“You know,” Darcy began as Jane left her apartment. “Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to meet you all as someone who doesn’t have the Infinity Stones. I mean, it isn’t far from happening, right? I’m friends with Thor, and even you and Pepper to an extent. Jane’s also sort of friends with you and Tony and Pepper—”

“And you’re working on getting those pesky Sokovia Accords repealed.”

Darcy shot Bruce a look, “Not repealed, exactly, but amended — at least.”

“Point taken.”

“Do you agree?” She asked. “That there needs to be checks and balances for organizations like the Avengers.”

“Yes, but to an extent—”

“Right? I understand wanting to hold you guys accountable for the damage you did on New York, Seoul, and Sokovia, but to go so far as to wanting to have full control over you kind of beats the idea of the Avengers being a private institution meant to look out for the world.”

Bruce smiled, listening as Darcy went off on a tangent about how unfair the current laws were, and how they protected the interest of politicians more than they did the public. He was pretty sure she knew more than she was letting on, but understood that clarity would come with time, either because she would tell him herself or something would happen to bring it into light.

He thought about her earlier statement. Perhaps, in another version of the universe, Darcy Lewis would have met the Avengers as a lawyer gearing up to battle those in power who put in place the very laws that threatened the freedom of the people living under their roof. He imagined her being introduced by Pepper after being briefed about who she was. He imagined that perhaps the Avengers weren’t halved then. He imagined that, if only for a moment, the team that he had left hadn’t become fractioned to the parts that they now had.

Then again, Bruce supposed there hadn’t been much of a time that the Avengers had been a team outside of battle. He had heard about Wanda, Sam Wilson, and Vision being trained after the events of Sokovia, but even then it had been overseen mostly by Steve and Natasha, while Clint continued to be an active field agent and Tony worked on keeping everyone’s weapons updated. He could picture what it must have been like for Sam and Steve to have been looking for Barnes while pulling their weight with the tasks and missions lined up as part of the Avengers. He could imagine that Tony would have gone on to focus on mentoring Peter Parker as well as continuing to grow his empire with Pepper and then subsequently planning a wedding.

How is it that it wasn’t until a woman came in, saved the world, and then surrendered herself to being cooped and locked up to ensure everyone else’s safety that the Avengers learned to enjoy the whole group’s company outside of functions? How is it that Darcy Lewis managed to befriend a blue android-alien who could go toe-to-toe with Natasha Romanoff as well as the normally aloof and irritable Doctor Stephen Strange?

She didn’t even really try, he couldn’t help but think. He knew what Darcy looked like when she was trying too hard. She turned red, cracked too many disappointing jokes, and usually ended up holing herself up with Jane afterwards. He’d seen it happen with other scientists in Stark Tower back in the day, and had even been on the receiving end at one point. Darcy was smart, but was also incredibly insecure at times, especially when faced with a branch of knowledge she knew nothing about.

“And you know what? Fucking Pepper Potts loves me! I’m pretty sure I’d go bi for Pepper if she leaves Tony, you know?”

Bruce blinked rapidly. How did they even get into this conversation?

Chapter Text

Darcy could remember falling asleep before she found herself here. Red dessert, no other formation, and only one other companion.

“I see you more than I see the little girl, now.” Darcy said by means of a greeting.

“Would you like me to take my leave?”

“Up to you,” shrugged Darcy. “I’m just going to meditate if you leave.”

“And if I stayed?”

“Well we might as well talk.” Darcy smiled at his suspicious look. “Come on, God of Mischief, I’m sure we can talk without you wanting to takeover my planet or something.”

He frowned, “That was a misguided decision.” He looked away from her, “Born out of spite and confusion.”

“Thor said you saved his life.”

“My brother has always had a very skewed perspective when it came to those he loves.”

“Jane let him go, you know.”

“I am aware.”

“He’s leaving to look for your people.”

“I am not—”

“Aesir, yes, but that doesn’t mean you are any less Thor’s brother.” Darcy countered.

“Did he tell you that?” His brow rose as he stopped to look at her, and Darcy was reminded of portraits of snooty holier than though people from the past.

“Does it matter? Just because you don’t have the same blood running through your veins doesn’t mean that all you went through and all that you shared are any less important or meaningful.” They had been standing side by side, but when he stopped, they faced each other. The height difference meant she had to look up a bit to be able to meet his eyes. “What Thor did tell me was that Frigga and Odin loved you both dearly. One may have been better at meeting your expectations of expressing it than the other, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less true.”

The corners of Loki’s lips lifted up into a smile, much to his chagrin. “You seem to have plenty to say about this.”

“Experience,” she flipped her hair, grinning.

“My time with you comes to an end once again, Darcy Lewis.” He bowed lowly.

“I thought you didn’t bow to anyone anymore?”

For the first time since her unplanned trip to Wakanda, Darcy put on a full face of makeup. She had a conference call scheduled that morning, and so had showered and changed into more formal clothes as soon as she finished her morning meditation. She threw on a pastel yellow blouse and navy slacks. She curled her hair and did her makeup, finishing the look with red lips and black pumps.

She set up the camera and stood in the appropriate spot, checking the time. 7:56AM.

“Hey Friday, could you tell Steve and Jane that I won’t be up for about another hour or two. I just have a meeting I need to attend to.”

“On it, Miss Lewis.”

“Do I have to keep telling you to call me Darcy?”

“No, Darcy.” Was that sarcasm? Did an AI just sass her?

She’d already told Steve, who was her guard for the day, and Jane, who was her constant companion, that she needed to handle some stuff that she’d been shirking because of being in Wakanda. Since Jane knew of the project, she didn’t bat an eye, and even offered to be in the room to be Darcy’s assistant if she needed, but Darcy had declined because she knew Jane was preparing for an international science conference herself.

At exactly 8:00AM, a call came through.

“Go ahead, Friday, set up privacy protocols code: Pepper’s The Boss, and answer the call; I’m ready.”

Six other people appeared, as holograms, in her room. All life-sized and barely translucent, Darcy really had to admire modern technology.

Hope van Dyne, Pepper Potts, Ramonda, Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, and Nick Fury.

And so the meeting went underway.

An hour and a half in and Darcy’s head was beginning to pound. It really wasn’t helpful that Darcy hadn’t made herself breakfast yet.

“If we act too fast, we risk endangering innocent lives.” Clint argued.

“And yet if we wait too long, we still hurt innocent people.” Nakia, who had joined Ramonda, pointed out.

Fury crossed his arms, and Phil leaned against his desk. Pepper, who had left her position behind her own desk so that she could sit on it, sighed.

“We’ve done well with the ground work. There are groups all over the world calling for the Accords to be repealed. My family and I are still in hiding, essentially, but I’ve got people on call that can help fuel our cause.” Hope said, placing her hands on her waist.

“Even here,” Clint said. “Laura’s made friends with the people you said she would,” he told Pepper. “The kids don’t know exactly what’s going on, but even they understand how important it is that people should be free to be who they are.”

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about your wife, Clint.” Pepper smiled. “And what about the others you were supposed to talk to, Nick?”

The minute change in Fury’s stance wasn’t lost on anyone. “China and Russia agreed to the amendments drafted, with minor revisions, as long as North Korea and the United States agree. Singapore and Malaysia are in for as long as India, Indonesia, and Thailand are with them, though Singapore and India have suggested their own revisions as well.”

“Almost all of the African countries have agreed to follow Wakanda’s lead. There have been plenty of hate crimes for inhumans since the Accords passing, barely any of it is legal.” Ramonda easily slipped into the conversation.

“And you, Darcy? You can’t personally lead protests anymore, no matter what wig or contacts you wear.” Hope looked off camera for a moment, before looking back. “Stark Industries can only protect you so much now that you aren’t exactly just a human.”

“Oh Hope,” Darcy grinned, “This is the generation of keyboard warriors and people willing to go out and hunt for non-existent creatures with their phones. I was a PR and Marketing person for a reason. I have an idea that I can work on by myself, but Agent Agent,” Coulson’s eye twitched, “You, Hope, and Clint are going to help me with a couple of other things.”

By the time they were finishing up, it was almost noon, and FRIDAY had alerted her that Steve Rogers was at her door, politely but persistently asking to be let in.

“Looks like my bodyguard has arrived.” Darcy said with a wave. “I’ll talk to you next time, kids.” She looked straight into the camera, “Good luck, and we’ll speak again in two weeks.” Everyone echoed the sentiment before their projections fizzled out until only Pepper remained. “I’ll let Steve in now, I guess?”

Pepper nodded, “You know Tony’s going to find out about this sooner or later, right? Especially now that you’re living there.”

“The fact that I’m about to let Captain America in while we’re still having this conversation is probably a testament to how much it doesn’t matter anymore if or when Tony finds out. We’re far enough that we’ll need his help soon if we want to make sure everything runs smoothly, anyways.” Darcy held up a finger so that Pepper knew she would be stepping out for a moment. “Hey Friday, deactivate privacy protocols, code: Pepper’s A Badass. And let the Captain in.”

Her door opened to reveal Steve Rogers in a pair of sweats and a plain white shirt. He stood there just looking at her, confusing Darcy briefly before she realized that it was probably the first time he had seen her in anything other than yoga pants, pajamas, and shirts.

“Morning, Cap.”

Steve took her in. Hair curled and cheeks pink, her lips were a dark red that he’d seen her wearing on the picture in her file. He had always been aware that she was a looker, but to see her all done up was definitely an alarming reminder that he hadn’t really looked at a woman and let him be attracted in that way since Sharon Carter.

“Cat got your tongue, Steve?” Darcy joked, waving for him to come in.

“It’s actually already noon, Darcy.” Steve said slowly, entering her apartment. He noted the hologram of Pepper in the living area. “Still not done?” He followed Darcy into the area within the camera’s view so that he was visible to Pepper too.

“Hello, Captain Rogers,” Pepper smiled politely. “Sorry to keep Darcy to myself all morning, we just needed to look through some important contracts for the company.”

Not entirely untrue, Darcy mused with a small smile.

“Just wanted to make sure she was alright, Miss Potts.”

Darcy laughed, joking said to Pepper, “Isn’t he wonderful, Pep? The Captain is such a sweetheart, looking after me. He’s so sweet he makes me want to take a bite.”

There was definitely pink creeping up Steve’s neck, and his wide eyes were definitely shocked. It was cute, and great ammunition for teasing him.

Pepper, amused, winked and replied, “He’s a keeper, Darcy.”

The women laughed some more, before Darcy told Steve that he could make himself comfortable. She hadn’t cooked anything for the day yet, and so only had some fruits to offer. She was surprised when he went to the kitchen and pulled out some food, preparing to cook.

“So Pep,” said Darcy, returning to the redhead. “Has Rhodey gotten back to you?”

“He and Tony have been locked in the labs more often than not. If Rhodey didn’t personally deliver Tony to bed every night, I would have been jealous.” Pepper replied. “With Bruce back and the new info he has from Wakanda’s tech, he’s looking into upgrading Rhodey’s prosthetics.”

Steve froze in his place. Of course, he hadn’t meant to listen, but they were speaking freely knowing that he was in the same room. He liked to think that they weren’t talking about Colonel Rhodes to hurt him, but his guilt made it difficult to not feel a little bit attacked. He looked up from what he was doing and watched as Darcy sat on the couch and sighed heavily.

“You should get something to eat and focus on the rest of your training today, Darcy.” Pepper stepped down from her desk. “We’re going to make this work. We have to.”

“All right,” Darcy nodded. “I’ll try to talk to Rhodey if I see him around too. Thank you, Miss Potts.”

Pepper smiled, “I’ll talk to you soon, Attorney Lewis.”

And with that, the image of the redhead fizzled out.

Briefly, Darcy let her eyes wander to Steve, who seemed to be boiling water and bringing out some cheese from the fridge. She should probably make conversation, because he was definitely aware that her meeting had just concluded.

“Friday, deactivate all existing privacy protocols. Codes Pepper’s A Badass and Pepper’s The Boss; please and thank you.” She listened to FRIDAY accept the codes and announce the deactivation.

Darcy toed off her heels, feeling just about as exhausted as she does when she’s just finished a workout with Natasha — which was to say every training session she had, with the exception of that with Strange. Her migraine from earlier had yet to disappear, but she knew food and plenty of water would help her deal with is and get her back to normal.

She also needed to change, have lunch, and meet Strange for their session.

She just wanted a nap first.

“You seem exhausted.”

“Just finished talking to people about something I’ve been working on for years.”

“Do you truly believe it’s worth all that work?”

“You don’t even know the details of what I want to happen.”

“I understand enough to know that you are working on it as well as Foster’s project even as you are learning to control your abilities and providing emotional support to both my brother and Foster.”

“You make it sound like I’m a better person than I actually am. Besides, I have you to talk to, so I guess that helps.”

“You would trust me without reason?”

“Darcy,” Steve called out softly. He reached out hesitantly, wanting to wake her but acknowledging that she’s been keeping everyone literally at arms length recently so that she didn’t accidentally teleport them. She must have been tired if taking a seat on the couch had her already sleeping. “Darcy,” he tried again. She hadn’t eaten all morning, and that wasn’t healthy for anyone, least of all someone who’s been running through the training she’s been subjected to.

She blinked up at him sluggishly, feeling slightly uncomfortable at having her contacts in when she had taken that cat nap.

“I’m sorry for waking you up, but you said you haven’t eaten yet and it’s almost one o’clock.” Steve said. “I made you some mac and cheese, since that’s the quickest thing I saw that you had here.” He gestured to the bowl he had set on the table in front of her. “You should also eat some fruit.”

“Thanks, Steve. I’m gonna go get changed first though. Have to head to Strange after eating, anyways.” Darcy left him in the living room as she headed to her bedroom.

He stood up from his position kneeling on the floor, and walked to the kitchen, but ended up stepping on Darcy’s high heels by accident. He looked down at the black pair of shoes that she had been wearing earlier, and figured that he ought to return it to her. He hadn’t seen a shoe rack by the door, so he assumed that she kept her footwear in her room. Steve hooked his fingers to pick up the pair, and headed for her room.

With the door ajar, he very nearly just went in. However, remembering that Darcy was inside changing, he knocked on the door.

The sound of a door closing caught his attention, and he figured she must have stepped into her ensuite when he didn’t get a respond from the knock. He assumed there would be no harm in going in and leaving her shoes inside, just by the door. He slowly opened the door and placed her shoes on the side.

Really, only his upper body had been in the room. He was just about to leave when he heard the bathroom door open.

“Trying to peek, Captain?” Darcy laughed, holding a shirt in front of her to preserve what little modesty she even had. She was already in a pair of yoga pants and a black sports bra. She  had just needed to get a shirt from her closet, but found Steve trying to return her shoes instead.

“N-no, I just wanted to bring these ba—”

“I’m kidding, don’t worry. I’m mostly decent anyways.” She put on the cropped shirt and picked out a pair of socks. Seeing his blush, she decided to add, “But I wouldn’t have minded even if I weren’t.”

Darcy sat on one of the stools surrounding her kitchen counter and set up her laptop and tablet. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and got herself some Dr. Pepper from the fridge. She had four hours before she needed to meet Stephen for training, and she resolved to getting stuff done beforehand.

“Friday, can you make sure only Jane can access my room for the next two hours?”

“Of course, Miss Lewis.”

“I already told you to call me Darcy!”

“My apologies, Miss Darcy.”

Ugh. Close enough. She’ll work on it.

Barely having to pay attention as she logged into various accounts, Darcy could feel herself begin to get worked up. On her tablet, she looked through her gallery to find the pictures she would be uploading to her accounts. She had already uploaded some of them the past few days, setting the stage for the online campaign she hoped to begin. She made last minute edits on her laptop, proofread her captions thrice, before uploading them.

She replied to relevant comments and tweets as they came, making sure not to favor just big names. The accounts were as much of the people as they were for the people, and soon, she hoped to find away to return to taking to the streets and peacefully and legally lobbying for the change she wished to see.

In using different accounts — only one of which had her face on it (which she hadn’t set up as the instigator) — and spacing out her uploads so that it didn’t look as if nearly twenty different profiles were run by the same person (even if they were), she gave space for each niche to soak up the thoughts that she had let out. Each caption had been tailored to fit the different perspective the supposed account offered, which she had cultivated with Pepper, Jane, and another agent.

By the time she was supposed to go train with Stephen, each of her posts on Instagram had gotten six hundred thousand likes and nearly a million comments, and her tweets had garnered a hundred thousand retweets and even more quote tweets and replies.

Her blog sat open on a browser as she set up four scheduled posts to go out within the following weeks, so that she didn’t have to worry about it.

She logged off when she was done and changed into her training attire to continue on with the rest of her day.

An hour later, three hashtags were trending on both Instagram and Twitter.

#HumansForInhumans

#InhumanNotInhumane

#WeAreHeroes

“They say you’re working on controlling them.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while.” Darcy told the little girl.

“They don’t want you to fight, Darcy Lewis.”

“That’s the first time you’ve said my name. I still don’t know yours.”

“Gamora.”

“Thor’s fucking balls.” Darcy grit her teeth as she tried to keep up with Natasha. To prevent getting cabin fever, Sam had agreed that regularly going outside for her training would be fine. Of course, the days of training Darcy had was nothing compared to the years that Natasha did, and since there were still employees working in the main building of the Compound that weren’t privy to the identities of those living in the housing facility, Sam couldn’t join them.

“We both know you can go faster, Darcy.”

“No we don’t,” said Darcy as she dry heaved.

“The stones are supposed to give you enhanced abilities, right?” Natasha asked with a quirked brow. Yes, Thor and the Genius Five had hypothesized that she ought to have more abilities to discover, especially when she had already flown and manipulated people’s bodies.

“You’ve seen me try to access those supposed abilities,” Darcy rolled her eyes. “Nothing happens. Even when I’m getting the shit beaten out of me, Nat, nothing happens.” They had tried to replicate her abilities. Short of having her jump off a building, she hadn’t managed to fly again. And even when Nebula and Thor had been instructed not to hold too much back, Darcy had only ended up with a bruise, sprain, or just general body pain. That was another thing though, they may actually physically hurt her, but she healed easily.

“That’s why I’ve come up with something else.” Natasha pulled out a flash drive from her sports bra. Did Black Widow really just keep a flash drive in her cleavage the entire two hours they have been training? Darcy found that kind of hot. She wasn’t new to the art of using one’s boobs to keep things. Even then, she had a chain around her neck that dipped right into the valley between her breasts, a ring as its pendant.

“I do not even want to begin to unpack how hot I just found that.”

Natasha smirked, “In here is a copy of all of Jane’s files for her conference in two weeks. I know you have an experiment in the works, so you two prepared everything in advance for her talk. It was pretty easy to copy the files and delete the original from then.”

“You could be bluffing,” pointed out Darcy.

“Do you really want to risk it, малышка (malyshka)?”

“Is it really accurate to call me a little girl, considering I’m pretty much already thirty?”

“You speak Russian?” Natasha’s brows rose in the only means of expressing her surprise.

“I don’t,” Darcy admitted with a frown.

“и все же вы поняли, что я сказал (i vse zhe vy ponyali, chto ya skazal).” And yet you understood what I said.

“I guess I did…” Darcy crossed her arms.

“Another ability from the stones?”

“Maybe? We should probably tell others.” Darcy placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t need physical triggers, I guess. They’ll want to see what this actually means.”

Tony and Bruce had actually been able to replicate how Thor got the gauntlet to show up. However, other than that, they hadn’t been able to do much. Different powers had surfaced throughout her training though, and while cool, Darcy usually ended up with a shitty migraine after using them. So far, she’d been able to replicate the portals, like Strange had taught her, but unlike the yellow orange hue that his magic took on, hers was a pale blue.

“We’ll tell them when we get back.” Natasha agreed. “Now, you catch me or I get rid of—”

“DARCY!”

The pair turned to Jane, who was running up to them.

“Darcy, someone hacked into my laptop and got all the stuff I need for the conference!” Jane said, panicked. “The actual data is gone too! We’re going to have to encode everything again and then push back the—”

“Relax, Boss Lady,” Darcy grinned. “The stuff you’re looking for is right he—” Darcy, who had turned to motion to Natasha, was surprised to find that the assassin was making a run for it. “NATASHA, GET YOUR FUCKING ASS BACK HERE.”

Jane watched her friend run after the Black Widow, slightly worried when they went into the surrounding forrest area, but knowing that there were probably surveillance measures in the area.

Darcy wasn’t able to catch Natasha in the end. The redhead had cheated and climbed a tree, and while Darcy was getting stronger thanks to training, she was still nowhere near limber enough to go after Natasha Romanoff who looked like a very satisfied cat sitting on one of the tree’s branches.

“Now how am I supposed to get it?”

“You tell me, малышка (malyshka). вы адвокат, не так ли? (vy advokat, ne tak li?)” You are a lawyer, are you not?

“Yes, lawyer, not acrobat.” Darcy grumbled. “Or Monkey.”

Natasha just looked down at her from her perch, a silent challenge in her smirk. Darcy would have been more worried or annoyed if she didn’t feel so utterly free being out in the open once again. It had been so long since she was outside in either Wakanda or New York, that even though she was tired as heck, all she wanted was to savor it.

If only she could get up there without having to climb the tree.

Oh. She could definitely do that. She unclasped the chain around her neck to take out the ring she’d placed on it. Putting on the Sling Ring, Darcy bit her lip. This would be the first time she’d try creating a portal without Strange to supervise.

Taking the necessary pose, she moved her hand in a circle and—

Aha!

Darcy went through the light blue portal and very nearly fell off the branch she had been wanting to step on to. She looked up at the branch that was both above and across her where Natasha was seated, fiddling with the drive in her fingers and still looking below, watching her—

Wait what?

Looking down, Darcy found herself on the ground looking at Natasha, seemingly having a conversation. She was in two places at once. That had never happened in her sessions with Strange before! She debated calling out to Natasha, but didn’t want to waste her opportunity.

She reached out her palm cautiously, ready to create another portal, but was surprised when the flash drive disappeared from Natasha’s hand and appeared in her own, glowing in a faint red hue. She placed it in her sports bra, the same way Natasha had earlier, and positioned herself to create another portal so that she could return to her position on the ground. It seemed that whatever glitch that happened, had ended, and Natasha quickly realized that she no longer had the flash drive and that Darcy was a lot closer than she was just a second prior.

With a cheeky grin, Darcy created another portal, and was about to step through when the portal disappeared and she found herself falling.

Everything happened quickly. Her shock at falling was overwhelmed by her fear, and as she braced herself for her impact with the forrest floor, she closed her eyes.

When, after a moment, nothing happened, Darcy opened her eyes. She was surprised to find that she was falling slowly, tinged in a faint blue-green glow, and she reached out a hand upwards, to the Black Widow, who had dived right after her. The Widow sped up, though Darcy remained at a leisurely pace, and when their hands touched, there was a blinding blue light and then—

They fell in the middle of the training room, where they taught her hand-to-hand, with Natasha on top of Darcy.

“Okay, okay, since when has this been a thing, because I think I kind of need this to be a thing.”

Natasha rolled off of Darcy as the other woman stayed lying down, trying to process what had just occurred. The spy shot Sam a glare and offered her hand so that she could help Darcy stand, though the brunette barely processed it as she took the help.

“Nat? Darcy? What happened?” Steve asked as he approached them. Steve, Thor, and Sam had been in the middle of a break in their workout. Rather, Sam was taking a break and Steve had just succeeded in pinning Thor. The women’s arrival definitely called for a pause though.

“Lady Darcy?” Thor headed straight for Darcy, stepping right into her personal space, something only he, Jane, and Strange did. He reached out a hand to touch her, but she quickly stepped back and raised a hand to stop him, and that was when they all noticed that the Infinity Gauntlet was prevalent on her arm, stones shining brightly.

They all studied her, somewhat surprised when it was her own blue eyes looking at them in confusion.

“Sorry, I…” She took breathed deeply. “I’m really fine.” The gauntlet disappeared from view once again, and Thor took a step closer once more. When she didn’t stop him, he placed his hands on her elbows, effectively getting her to place her own hands on his arms.

That was another thing they had discovered. Not only was there a risk of Darcy bringing whomever she was in physical contact with to another dimension, she also risked being able to feel their emotions and sometimes even read their minds. She had no control of it though, and so continued with her resolve of minimal physical contact.

Thor was pretty much the only one who didn’t give a shit and fed and responded to her tactile nature by putting an arm around her or hugging her.

“Nat, what happened?” Steve asked once again.

She looked at Darcy for a moment, before saying, “I’ll explain later. We should call in Tony and Strange. I think I have an idea.”

Natasha’s idea, as it turned out, was willfully provoking Darcy into using her newfound abilities in every way but physical. She had figured that getting Darcy to think of a creative way to solve the whole flash drive hunt earlier was what got her to draw on the stones’ powers.

When Darcy had explained that she had tried to do what Strange does, Thor and Strange had hypothesized that the stones reacted to her having her own magic and simply boosted it in her time of need. She thought the stones just liked being picky about when they were helpful.

Hours later, after they’d had dinner, found Darcy sitting on the roof with Thor, feet dangling on the edge.

“Hey, Big Guy, where do you plan on going once you’ve gotten…wait, is there even some kind of quota you’re even aiming for? Or do you just go to each planet and realm, asking if there are any stray Asgardians?”

“I hope to find at least a hundred of my people. There are vacant planets I believe we can occupy, but should we be unable to utilize the three I have set my sights on, I hope we could find a way to make a home for ourselves here.”

“Here?” Darcy looked up at him, mind already working with his suggestion.

“It is all still but a plan, of course, and I shall focus more on what is important.” Thor smiled, soft and somber, as they both looked up at the night sky. The skies were clear and the stars were visible. The moon shone bright above them, and Thor leaned back, placing his hands to the ground for support.

“Back in Wakanda,” Darcy began as she tapped her fingers on her thigh, “You said something about a selfish wish. What was it?”

Thor’s gaze darkened, though Darcy couldn’t see.

When he didn’t respond, Darcy turned to look at him, “Thor?”

“You need not worry, Sister.”

“I’m concerned, not worried,” countered Darcy. “I might not be able to help, but I want to at least try.”

Thor pushed himself forward, turning to meet her eyes properly. “Please know that I would never wish for you to do anything you do not wish to, but I had thought…”

“Yeah?”

“If Thanos could kill with a snap of his gloved hand, then wouldn’t the alternative be possible?”

Darcy’s eyes widened, “You really think I can do that?” It wasn’t even that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d considered it briefly; wondered just what the extent of her abilities were, especially considering what Thanos had planned.

“The stones have the power to fulfill whatever its wielder desired.”

Chapter Text

By the end of Darcy’s seventh week back in upstate New York, she was just about ready to give up.

Her appointed trainers have been working her to the bone. She left every session with Stephen an odd mix of refreshed and drained. She finished each match with Thor or Nebula near-begging Natasha to call the match off, but the spy known as the Black Widow would only smirk and tell her that cutting the match short would only result in longer conditioning drills, and fuck it all, Darcy just wanted to curl up in bed and get some more sleep.

Darcy sighed loudly as she plopped down on one of the sofas in the common floor. It was Friday, and she was getting the weekend off from conditioning, but was asked to continue with her Mystic Arts and hand-to-hand training. She had questioned the logic behind her needing to be trained at hand-to-hand when she had the stones, but Jane simply pointed out how Thor was also pretty much souped up on power but still fought with his hands when he could. And well, if a man can do it, then so can she — or so Nebula and Natasha had drilled into her mind.

With Stephen’s help, Darcy found it much easier to take control when she (read: the stones) lashed out and accidentally gave her a boost while she and Thor sparred. Sufficed to say, Darcy never thought she could out-maneuver Thor until she found herself flying and teleporting of half her own will. It had been a scary yet thrilling experience on her part, and a complete delight on Thor’s, who had gone on to regale her with tales of those from Asgard who had the same ability, or at least something similar.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, considering going back to her apartment to switch out her contacts for her glasses, but quickly dismissed the thought with a yawn. Darcy reached around blindly for the StarkPad she had dropped earlier, but was surprised to find that someone was offering it to her.

“Steve,” she grinned, sitting up and accepting the tablet.

“I would have thought with the amount of training they’ve been putting you through, you wouldn’t have time for whatever it is you do on that thing.”

“Work doesn’t wait for anyone,” Darcy smiled, keying in the necessary elements to unlock the pad’s content. “Besides, I’m changing the world here, Cap, so you bet your ass I’m working mine off to make it happen.”

“What’s it ‘bout?” Steve paused, seating himself on one of the other armchairs. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Her smile was demure, and so unlike her normal full-blown ones that it caught him off guard with how it made her lips look even fuller. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can, but right now, only those involved have access to that info, sorry.” She winked. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to get high enough clearance for it.”

Clearance? “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he smiled, though he was processing her words. “You always seem to be on it that I had to wonder if it was work or actually some game you were addicted to.”

“Hate to break it to you, but the only things I play on this thing are scrabble, chess, and virtual air hockey; basically, games that can be for two players so I can use them to distract Jane.” She laughed. “But anyways, I’m surprised to find you here. You’re usually who-knows-where doing god-knows-what.” It was barely a secret that he was still doing missions in spite of being a wanted criminal, after all. Fury may not be telling her where he sends Steve, but he also asked her if she could find something for Steve to do because “He’s getting on my nerves, Lewis. He needs to go out from time to time, but I don’t like risking being seen in the country.”

He sat beside her, close enough that she felt the cushions shift, but far enough that she didn’t feel his body heat nor crowded.

She tapped at a couple of files, logging into a couple of accounts to post and upload more statements. Propaganda, some would claim, and she wouldn’t disagree. Only thing was, every propaganda needed a face — an ambassador of sorts. Darcy let her eyes wander to Steve, and she logged out of her accounts and switched to the case files she needed to read.

“I figured since I’ll be your guard now until tomorrow, I’d find out your schedule today so that we can plan accordingly.”

“I don’t really have much planned. I’ll be helping Jane pack tonight. She’s leaving for a major conference in two days. She would’ve left today, but she wanted to at least be here for my birthday, so there’s that.”

Steve’s eyes widened, “Your birthday’s coming up?”

“Yup,” she said, pausing in reading a file, “Turning thirty tomorrow.” Her eyes met his, crinkled in amusement. “Any centenarian life advice you want to give a gal like me? Preferably something to do with having new powers I never asked for.”

“Really, doll, callin’ me old and asking for advice?” He raised a brow at her. They’d definitely gotten into an easier sort of friendship that made jokes a lot easier to dish and take for both of them. Of course, Steve didn’t even know that Darcy had been uneasy with him in the first place, and that her easy-going and flirty demeanor with him was definitely a defense mechanism.

She looked thoughtful as she pursed her lips, “You and Barnes use that a lot.”

“Hm?”

“Doll.”

“Oh,” Steve felt warmth creep on to his cheeks. “Sorry, old habits—”

“Never said I didn’t like it, Steve.” She assured him. “In fact, the exact opposite. It’s cute; sweet and intimate without really trying. Makes me feel like I’m real pretty lady.”

“You are.” He said immediately, startling her.

Darcy recovered fast. “I’m beginning to think all the history books had it wrong when they said Barnes was the only playboy and heartbreaker. No way you didn’t break your own share of hearts, Steve Rogers.”

They looked at each other for a moment, not saying anything. Her expression was every bit as challenging as it was teasing. He considered correcting her, but changed his mind as he saw her look back down at her tablet. He didn’t want her thinking he was a massive flirt, but didn’t want to bother her too. She looked every bit consumed by whatever it was on her StarkPad, and he thought that was the end of it, but she spoke up once more.

“I’m still waiting for that advice, Cap. Help me write a book, here: ‘What to Expect When You Become a Superhuman,’ a book by Steve Rogers and Darcy Lewis.”

“Gotta say I can’t say much on your situation,” Steve shrugged. “I volunteered for an experiment that gave me the…enhancements I have now.”

“True, true,” Darcy mused. “Doesn’t mean you didn’t have to adjust to your newfound capabilities though.”

“Darcy Lillian Lewis!”

The pair looked to the portal that had just opened, surprised to find Strange and a brown-haired woman step through. The woman stood beside Strange with a smile. She had pale skin, brown hair, and green eyes. She wore dark blue jeans and a white blouse, with a brown jacket on her arm and a satchel on her shoulder. Steve watched Darcy’s eyes widen, then she tossed the pad on the couch, before teleporting right to her sister.

Steve still wasn’t used to that. Considering it’s only been a couple of days since she realized that it was something she could finally do (mostly) on command, he figured he needed more time to get accustomed to it too. He watched the interaction with interest, standing up and waiting to be acknowledged. Listening to them speak was like watching a rapid-fire tennis match, as his head turned to and fro.

“What the heck? Did you just teleport?!”

“Yes — No — That’s classified! Actually, I’m not sure anymore. You know Doctor Strange!”

“Wait, what? Is this still part of the thing we can’t talk about in public yet? Wait, how do you know Stephen?”

“Yes, sort of.” Darcy squealed. “Christine! I can’t believe you’re here — what are you doing here? Is everything okay? Are you okay? How do you know Strange?” Then her eyes widened and she gasped. “Wait, Stephen? As in the Stephen? Oh my fucking Thor, this is rich! He—that’s the Stephen??”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. I came here to surprise you, see?” Christine spread her arms and shook them, in an odd jazz hands sort of gesture, “Surprise! And yes, he’s that Stephen, but I also think he’s a different Stephen now, so that’s a yes and no on that. I mean you tell me. Wait you still haven’t told me how you know him!”

“I’ll tell you later, but what the hell, this is your Stephen!” Darcy turned abruptly to Strange; Steve was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. His jaw dropped as Darcy pulled her hand back and punched Doctor Strange in the stomach, without even pausing for a breather.

“Darcy!” Jane’s scandalized voice floated into the room as she entered through the backdoor with Natasha and Tony. “Christine? Christine!” The astrophysicist ran to Christine, who met her halfway. The two embraced briefly. “You’re here!”

“I am!”

“She is!”

Strange, who was recovering from the blow, rubbed his stomach but said nothing, much to Steve’s pity and amusement. The sorcerer scowled at the super soldier, but quickly returned his attention to the trio, a soft smile gracing his lips.

“Steve!” Darcy called out, waving him over. “Steve Rogers, meet Doctor Christine Palmer, my sister. Chris, meet Captain Steve Rogers.”

He smiled, walking over and offering a hand, “Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

Steve did not see the way Strange clenched his jaw. All that really went through his mind was that Darcy had introduced him first, though Tony and Natasha were in the same room. He counted it as some sort of blessing that in a room where he was probably the person she trusted least, she thought to bring him into the conversation first. Maybe it was just him, but Steve felt his smile broaden. Strange, misreading Steve’s pleasant air, cut into the conversation.

“Darcy,” said the former surgeon, causing everyone to turn to him. “Hope you like my gift.” He smirked. “Happy birthday. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He lifted his hands to open a portal, but stopped when he found himself with an armful of Darcy Lewis.

“You don’t like Steve.”

“He’s a skeptic,” replied Strange.

“I’m sure you were one too, before.”

“He isn’t exactly fond of me either.”

“Point taken, but at least you can be more subtle about it.”

“As if he is?”

“Fine, fine!” Darcy laughed, pulling Strange into another hug. “Thank you for bringing Christine to me. I really didn’t know you were the Stephen that broke her heart.”

“I was an idiot then.”

“You better take good care of her now.”

“With my life and more, Darcy Lewis.”

“Sorry for punching you.”

“I deserved it, I’m sure. She probably loved it. I can just hear her gloating about it once we’re alone.”

That night, Darcy, Christine, and Jane had dinner in Darcy’s apartment, with all three doing their part to prep and cook. Well, Jane chopped, Darcy cooked, and Christine made drinks. When the doorbell rang, Christine was treated to the sight of Steve in his usual shirt and sweatpants combination.

“Hello, Captain.”

“Please, Ma’am, it’s just Steve.”

“Then it’s Christine — well, since you’re Darcy’s friend, I’ll accept Chris.” She eyed the basket in his hand. “What do you have there?”

“Natasha says Tony left it on the counter in the communal floor. It’s addressed to Darcy,” Steve brought up the basket to hand it to her, laden with three different bottles of wine, an assortment of cheese, and grapes.

“Oooh,” Christine motioned for him to come in, and headed straight for the kitchen as he did. “Darcy, there’s a package here for you!”

“What?” Darcy looked up from the potatoes she was mashing. “Oh hey Steve!”

Christine smoothly took over what she was doing, sharing a quick look with Jane, while Darcy walked on over to Steve, who placed the basket on the dining table. She looked through the selection, finding her favorite bottles of red and white wine. The cheese selection she was mostly impartial about, though she knew she liked them with the wine. The grapes were definitely something she liked to snack on, and were those strawberries too?

Darcy picked up the card, meeting Steve’s eyes briefly.

Rosie Riveter,

Happy 30th. Pepper says I should be nice and send you a card.

So here it is.

Be warned, we will celebrate properly tomorrow.

Tony

PS. I know that you know that Pepper wants me to know so now I’m telling you that I know.

The postcard’s image was that of a beautiful paradise, with a waterfall, greenery, and clear blue skies.

“Tony says he’s throwing a party tomorrow,” Steve said.

“Do I even have a choice?” Darcy joked.

“Probably not, but it’s sure to be special.”

“Well, thanks for bringing this down, Steve.” Darcy smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“What time will you be heading up?”

“I can just meet you there, you know,” Darcy tucked the postcard back into the basket. “Nat says I can skip hand-to-hand, but that I need to run for as long as Thor does, so I’ll probably be in the gym by eight.”

“I’ll be here by 7:45, then.” He walked to the door, with Darcy following. “Have a good evening, Darcy.”

“Good night, Steve.”

As the door closed behind Steve, Darcy turned to find Christine and Jane looking up at her with identical grins.

“So, you and Steve, hmmm?” Christine’s laugh scared Darcy with how identical it was to her own evil cackle.

“Yes, me and Steve,” repeated Darcy with a roll of her eyes, “Friends; you know, like me and  Jane or me and Thor — friends.”

“Ooooh, touchy,” teased the surgeon.

“They’ve been getting closer ever since,” commented Jane. “It’s pretty cute, really.”

“What are you even talking about right now?” Darcy asked incredulously as she unpacked the care package.

“Oh nothing, Attorney Lewis.” Christine held up the two options for red wine, which would pair well with their dinner. Jane and Darcy picked the one in her left hand and she went about opening it.

They spent their night catching up. Save for the how and where Darcy’s powers came from, Christine was made aware of why her normally physically affectionate sister kept everyone at (literally) arms length. She was told about Thor and Jane’s breakup, which resulted in tears from the astrophysicist and the finishing of the bottle of white.

By the time everyone was falling asleep, they had piled up in Darcy’s bed, with Darcy laying out blankets and pillows on the floor so that she could sleep there without risking unintentional realm travel.

Half-asleep, Darcy rose just before sunrise on her thirtieth birthday, and went up to the common floor. She was just about to head out when someone called her name.

“Darcy?”

She turned to him, bleary-eyed and hair haphazardly thrown up in a bun. In a pair of boxers and a large shirt, there was no doubt that she had just woken up. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and blinked rapidly for Steve’s image to clear up.

“Friday told me you were leaving the premises.”

Darcy smiled, and motioned for him to follow her.

Steve tried not to let his eyes roam down her figure, but he was just a man, and she was beautiful. Creamy legs and hips that complemented her bust, Steve couldn’t help but remember Bucky’s words when they’d first discussed Darcy Lewis. “She’s like a pin-up come to life.” There were silver scars on her legs, and he wondered where they came from.

They stood by the edge of the roof, though Steve had made sure to climb first so that he could help pull her up — and he wasn’t butt-to-face with her when she climbed.

The world was quiet; the sun was only beginning to break the horizon, and everyone was just about to wake. If it had been any other day, Darcy would have still been asleep, and Steve would have been going for his daily run.

She sat down, preparing herself for her morning meditation. Steve decided to join her, though he had only ever attempted to meditate a handful of times. To give her some semblance of privacy, he sat behind her. He was close enough to feel her warmth, and could hear the deep breaths she took.

After half an hour, the sun had fully broken through the dark haze of the night. He heard Darcy’s breathing change, and felt her move so that their backs were fully against each other. She leaned on him just enough for him to understand that she wasn’t placing her full weight against him. It was a way of gently getting his attention.

“I’ve only ever celebrated my birthday with family,” came Darcy’s soft voice. “I grew up walking  into the kitchen to dad’s bacon and waffles, and mom’s gooey chocolate cake on my birthdays. Even while in school or working with Jane, I made sure I went home. Then when mom was diagnosed, I’d visit her with dad and we’d hangout and catchup with Miah and Chris.” She paused, taking a deep shuddering breath in. “Five years ago, which would be about two years before mom was diagnosed, I opened my door to find out that Miah had gotten cleared to come home for my twenty-fifth birthday, but had died on tour just a few days before he was scheduled to come back.”

Steve felt her move away, and he turned his head to find her leaning forward, with her elbows on her thighs. He changed his position so that he was right behind her, caging her in with his legs on either side of her. Carefully, he placed a hand on her arm.

“Miah would have been about Stephen’s age.” Darcy leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

They stayed like that as the sun rose. He looked down at her, taking in just how soft and warm (and so very right) she felt in his arms. He moved his hand so that his fingertips grazed her skin as he moved them up and down her arms. She shivered and cuddled closer to him.

Darcy closed her eyes and turned her head. The tip of her nose pressed against the skin of his neck, and she smiled to herself when his hands briefly faltered. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one between the two of them that was affected by whatever it was between them. She understood what Jane and Christine had been hinting at the night before, but Darcy was also aware of how unlikely anything worthwhile would occur between them.

“Didn’t have much to celebrate with growing up, but Ma always made sure I’d have a little treat on my birthday. S’mtimes it was a cupcake or some paper and pencils, but there was a year where all I got w’s a card and a piece o’candy.” He angled his head so that his cheek was pressed against the top of her head. His beard prickled her forehead, making her giggle. The amount of trust she was showing and giving him in telling her about her past and letting him hold her had him wanting to return the favor. It was a feeling he had never really gotten before. The way she found comfort in his presence; closing her eyes and leaning right into him, he wanted to let his hands fall so that he could wrap his arms around her waist and pull her flush against him.

“Your Ma sounds like a very thoughtful woman.” She said, voice soft and lips nearly pressed against his skin. “What about Bucky? Did he do anything for you?”

“He’d bring me something his Ma made, or some pens,” his chuckle vibrated between them. “I’ve always been more for simple celebrations and gifts, I guess.” There was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t the nauseating guilt he had gotten accustomed to carrying in his life. It wasn’t the crippling anxiety that came with having the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was unfamiliar and weighed both as heavy as responsibility, and as light as the radiance brought by sunlight. He liked the feel of her confiding in him. He liked the feel of being needed as someone other than Captain America.

He liked being wanted as Steve Rogers.

“Thanks for staying and sharing, Steve.” Darcy said, leaning forward. “But I’m also sorry for unloading on you so early in the morning. That was definitely more of an I’m drunk and want to talk about things I bottle up when sober sort of thing on my part, but I’d definitely love to hear more stories from you.”

“Doesn’t matter the time, I’m here t’listen and tell you whatever you want, sweetheart.” He bit his tongue. He hadn’t meant to call her that; it seemed a bit presumptuous of the intimacy of their relationship’s nature. Steve also resisted the urge to pull her back as she laughed and scooted further from him. He tried not to stare when she pushed herself up and he was pretty much a few inches by her bottom.

When they were both standing, Darcy stepped into his personal space and wrapped her arms around his waist. For a brief moment, she worried about being too forward. It had been too long since she’d had a genuine hug from anyone other than Thor, and earlier, with her damn near kissing him, she couldn’t help but think she was going a little touch-deprived. Steve wasted no time in reciprocating, pulling her softer form securely against his muscular one.

After a few more moments, they parted and headed down to her apartment. Darcy figured she would get changed into her workout gear before making breakfast for Christine, Jane, and Steve.

As one of her guards, Steve was supposed to keep his eye on her while she went about her day-to-day activities outside of her apartment. More than that, he liked to use the time to get to know her as more than just Thor’s friend or that girl with the infinity stones. And so far, she just kept on proving how undeniably irreplaceable she was to Jane and Thor, as well as how easily she gained the trust of those she met.

She was loud, and not just in the most literal of ways too. There wasn’t a time that she was in a room and you didn’t know where she was. It wasn’t just that she spoke up; it was that she knew when she should. There were times she would sit by one of her friends, content to be in their presence and not participate in the conversation around her. There were other moments where she’d speak and command an entire room’s attention. Those were the moments Steve liked best. He would normally be one of the people among the audience she were addressing, and whenever he looked at her in those moments, he couldn’t help but remember a dame he had loved once upon a time.

Sometimes, she would be arguing about something as mundane as the movie they should watch for the night so that he, Nebula, and Quill could catch up to some terminology or the other. Other times, she and Bruce would be joining and mediating Jane and Tony’s argument about how else to test her powers.

Speaking of Jane, Steve had quickly come to realize that she was all Jane had. The astrophysicist was an only child and her parents had passed away a little before they had gone to London. Since then, it had been Jane and Darcy against the world — their words. Darcy had often joked they made a great pair (“Boobs and brains; I got the girls, and Jane’s got the smarts. She pretty much does the thinking for both of us!”), and while it had been said in jest, Steve knew it was far from the truth. He may not have known the details of her jobs, but he had seen the way she would immerse herself in the various casebooks strewn about in her apartment. She was continuing to fight for justice and equality behind the scenes, and understood that even outside of that, it took quite a bit to keep up with both Jane and Pepper.

She was every bit as quick-witted as Tony and as sarcastic as Quill, but Steve found that perhaps one of his favorite aspects of her was the way she spoke to everyone the same way. It didn’t matter that Nebula was an alien or that Natasha was a trained assassin who had a list of names under her belt that could rival that of the Winter Soldier’s; she talked to them about food and fashion, and at one point, Steve was pretty sure they were talking about who had the biggest package among the men they mutually knew. It didn’t matter that Tony and Steve weren’t on the best terms, she made sure to talk to them and get to know them outside of the second- or third-hand information she had gotten before meeting them. It didn’t matter that Jane and Thor had broken up — her friendship with both of them as individuals would prevail, because Darcy Lewis was very much both stubborn and soft-hearted.

Natasha had once told him that Darcy may have the power to get all of them to back off if she wanted, but she was also entirely too soft for it. A bleeding heart liberal, Tony had once written in her file while in Wakanda, Steve recalled. Knowing her as he did now, Steve knew that while Natasha was right in that Darcy would perhaps never be able to handle their more discrete line of work, she would never back down if she needed to be called in for a fight. Her willingness to take risks and help others in both New Mexico and London had proven that, and once he had convinced Fury to release them, he saw that her track record for keeping herself and Jane out of sight (and therefore out of trouble) was a feat that wasn’t the easiest to achieve.

There had been a kidnapping once before that involved Jane, Darcy, and a small HYDRA group. By the time SHIELD backup had arrived to take care of the said group, Darcy and Jane had already fled the scene and were tucked away safely in a location off-grid — all on their own. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to know what had happened there, but he also knew that asking would mean that he was delving into her file, perhaps a tad deeper than he ought.

Steve had seen the way in which she grew protective when her involvement with Jane or Pepper were concerned. She’d deflect with a humorous laugh or a sarcastic laugh, but he couldn’t help but feel that she always did so with a hint of irritation. After all, she had done more than enough to prove her worth when it came to standing by and working with the acclaimed women, which must have always felt unappreciated whenever someone made a joke about her being out of her depth. Regardless, she carried on with her own thing, and Steve was always left to watch and learn more about her.

Darcy was very much a nurturer. She divided her time between making sure Jane was ‘fed and watered’ when working on research and preparing for their huge experiment, as well as being a solid rock for her to lean on when Jane began to feel overwhelmed by both her work and her recent breakup with Thor. Steve may not have seen Jane breaking down, but he’d noticed Darcy leading Jane out of or away from a room a handful of times. There was something to be said in the discretion she exhibited, as well as the ease with which she did it. She was also still there for Thor, perhaps not always physically, but she made sure that there was someone around that Thor could perhaps keep company — which was often Steve, Quill, Sam or Bruce. She also maintained their close ties in spite of what had happened between the god and her friend. She took care of her relationships as well as the people that were part of them. She’d taken to cooking for the residents nearly everyday, skipping only when she was caught up in a meeting or she was too exhausted to do so. She’d begun to host nightly events that ranged from movie nights, game nights, or just dinners where everyone was there to eat and bask in each other’s company.

She was a breath of fresh air in the secrecy and clinical way they had once operated.

In fact, if it weren’t for his own observations during her training, Steve would have continued to find Darcy Lewis impossibly civilian. However, seeing her create portals and manipulate objects with her mind, proved that she was definitely far from it now. More than that, the fact that she was able to hold her own against Thor, effectively utilizing the pointers that Nebula and Natasha would give her (“Use your size and speed. Thor’s bigger, but you’re faster and lighter on your feet”).

The Avengers, as portrayed by the media, had been a close-knit group of super humans that had simply wanted to save the world as they knew it. They all had their own stories, and came together when the world had needed them in the face of Loki and his Chitauri army. After that, they had begun to work together, but had never gotten into the groove of seamlessly intertwining their lives. Some, like Natasha, had been able to do so; trying to set Steve up on dates, taking jabs at Tony’s obsessive compulsive need to keep improving their weapons, and even being the anchor that the Hulk had needed once upon a time. The rest, however, was very much only ever present in each other’s life in times of either great celebration or on a mission. They didn’t have something as incredibly mundane as movie nights. In fact, Steve was pretty sure that outside of parties or some sort of function, they had never had a meal wherein they ate and traded stories without anyone else in the room.

At least, not until Darcy Lewis.

In the month and a half that Darcy had been a part of their lives, she’d managed not only to pull the two halves of the Avengers together, but even to get the Guardians to work with them. In Darcy’s effectively becoming the Infinity Stones’ keeper, she’d become something akin to the glue that kept the three groups together.

Steve watched as Darcy conversed with Jane, Christine, Pepper, Tony, and Rhodes. As it turned out, Tony had gotten everyone that worked in the facility to take a mandatory day off, and Pepper had arranged for an outdoor party to celebrate Darcy’s 30th. Everyone was dressed in casual clothes fit for a picnic. And Darcy, whom Steve was seeing wear a dress for the first time since having met her, looked positively radiant. She had on a blue dress with small white polka-dots. It cinched at the waist with a white belt and fell mid-thigh. It had gotten Steve’s attention and utterly distracted from his own attempts at making and keeping conversation with those around him.

He tried to keep his eyes to himself, but after having spent the morning with her, he couldn’t help but keep tabs on her. Was she okay? Was she enjoying her birthday? Did she miss her family? Of course, it probably helped that Christine was there. It was a small world indeed, to think that Darcy’s sister was Strange’s friend — where was Strange?

“I swear, if you look at her one more time, I’m locking you in her apartment with her.” Natasha smirked at him.

“The sight of you pining after her is just painful, Steve,” Sam joked as he drank.

Darcy met Steve’s eyes and raised her glass to him in greeting with a smile, before returning to her conversation, completely unaware that she was the topic of the Captain and his people’s conversation. A plot of the compound’s grounds had been set up with picnic tables and an assortment of food had been laid out. Looking at it, Darcy could tell that there was more than enough for all of them, twice or even thrice over. It was when she saw a portal open that she realized what else they had had in store.

Strange was the first to step through, followed by Shuri, Barnes, Wanda, T’Challa, Okoye, Nakia, Drax, Mantis, Groot, and Rocket. There was a few squeals of surprise, because it hadn’t just been Darcy that was kept in the dark about their return, and so Nebula and Quill were reunited with the Guardians once more.

Strange came to stand between Christine and Darcy, a smug smirk on his face.

Before Darcy could even begin to say anything, Pepper raised a hand to stop her, and before she knew it, two people in suits appeared from thin air — No, not thin air. They enlarged from however small they had been, much to everyone’s surprise. She’d been clued in to know enough about what Hank Pym had been up to and how Scott Lang had gotten his Ant-Man schtick. Of course, she’d met Hope before, especially since they were taking on such a monumental task in their pursuit of fixing the Accords.

Hope van Dyne and Scott Lang stood before her, and in Darcy’s shock she didn’t realize that Strange had created another portal, giving access to Clint and Laura Barton.

For the first time in years, all the members of the Avengers stood in the same area, just like Darcy had jokingly told Thor she would have loved to see when she explained her project to him. Her eyes met that of the thunder god’s, whose own bright blue eyes were crinkled and lips were spread in a radiant smile. She looked at Tony, who seemed tense but unsurprised, and then dragged her eyes to Steve, who matched the billionaire’s expression, save for his own crossed arms.

Thor’s smile widened into a full blown grin, and Darcy felt Christine and Jane wrap their arms around her in an embrace as he said, “Happy Birthday, my sweet lightning sister.”

“Thor, you sweet sweet ball of fucking sunshine.” Darcy laughed, running to him to tackle him into a hug.

Darcy barely registered various people’s admonishment of, “Language!”

Chapter Text

Darcy watched everyone mingle as she stood with Jane and Hope. It felt beyond surreal to have all these people together. These were the players and pawns in the game she (and most of the world’s influential people) were playing. Her work to change the Accords have been to protect the safety and freedom these people have continuously fought for. And if there was anything she could really ask for her birthday, it would be for them to all get along. She’d seen the tentative friendship among everyone in Wakanda. There was still a bit of definition between the halves of the Avengers, but with the Guardians there to break the ice and willing to talk to anyone, not to mention that Thor, Jane, Strange, Christine, Hope, and Laura really didn’t care about their issues so long as they all played nice.

“You made this happen, you know.” Pepper said, coming up to her. Jane and Hope moved on to drag Bruce into their conversation of particle whatever or the other — Darcy had long learned how to drown out Science! when it didn’t have anything to do with her (and really, sometimes even when it did have everything to do with her).

“Pretty sure you did all the planning, Miss Potts.” Darcy laughed.

“Just the party, Attorney Lewis.”

The younger of the pair returned the other’s soft smile, “This is all great, really. A little more than I’m used to, but not any less meaningful.”

Pepper sighed. “Thor mentioned that you thought it would be entertaining to have the entire gang back together. He brought it up with Doctor Strange, who brought it up with me.” Pepper crossed her arms, though how she looked elegant doing even that, Darcy would never understand.

Darcy sipped her wine, “And Tony agreed?”

“Precautions were taken,” Pepper motioned to the sky. “Princess Shuri made sure to help Tony set up a similar force field built around Wakanda. By this time next week, every personnel here will be moved to a new facility.”

Her eyes widened at that, but she drank more wine to cover her shock from everyone else.

“Tony knows it was only a matter of time before the Avengers were thrown back together. The Accords’ appearance wasn’t a surprise to the people who kept an ear in the government, but the speed that it was ratified along with the personal agenda in the group made everything sticky. Rhodey’s been great at subtly campaigning for the amendments we wish to push for…”

“But nothing’s going to change if Tony and Steve don’t make up,” Darcy pointed out, gesturing to the men.

Tony stood with Thor, Groot, Drax, Parker, and Rocket, while Steve was in deep conversation with Barnes, Sam, Scott, Quill, and Wanda. Everyone else was in smaller groups, and though it was better than they had been in recent years, Darcy worried that it was too much too soon. Her and Pepper’s plans had been laid out to come to fruition after at least one more year, but her becoming exposed to the stones and effectively becoming more and more one of them had them pushing the plans quite a bit forward. There were so many things she needed to look into and keep track of.

“I know we aren’t supposed to talk about work on a weekend but—”

“You’re right, Attorney Lewis,” cut Pepper off with ease, and they both noticed Pepper’s fiancé walking towards them. “So why don’t you enjoy today? Or at least this afternoon. There’s plenty of food and drinks, and from what I saw, there’s a super soldier keen to spend a bit of time with you.”

Tony, already halfway out of sober town, sauntered up to them and placed a hand on the small of Pepper’s back.

“Lewis, shouldn’t you be out there, drinking, making merriment, being every bit as wild as Jane said you could be? ‘M’sure that old man that’s been eyeing you is dying for your attention.” He waved a hand, effectively dismissing Darcy much to Pepper’s offense and amusement.

Darcy left the couple with a goodnatured roll of her eyes and debated where to go. She kept her eyes away from Steve, knowing she’d only end up flustered because of Pepper and Tony’s teasing. Jane, Shuri, Bruce, Hope, and Strange seemed to be having a good time around one of the picnic tables, a healthy debate flowing. Nebula and Mantis stood with Christine and Laura, effectively learning what it was like to be a normal human woman from actual normal humans.

Steve watched as she left Pepper’s side from the corner of his eye. And if it weren’t for Bucky throwing an arm around him as he laughed, he probably would have approached her. As it were, he refocused on his conversation and did his best to enjoy what was perhaps a monumental time in the Avengers’ history.

“Hey, Darcy!” Quill waved her over with a grin. She approached, keeping most of her attention on Quill so that she didn’t end up doing or saying anything stupid.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” said Darcy with a smile and sent Wanda a cheeky smile, “And lady.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Darcy,” Scott reached out to shake her hand, but Sam elbowed him as a reminder of Darcy’s no touching policy. “Oops, sorry, right, no touching.”

“No problem, Ant-Man.” She grinned. “Would have given you a hug if we didn’t have the risk of being stuck in some backwards planet.”

“Is that what happens? Do you get stuck? Like,” Scott walked right up to her, “Have you ever been left there for too long? Because I definitely know what that’s like—”

Darcy could feel her lips twitching as she tried not to smile too much. Scott’s excitable energy was so similar to the younger Peter’s that it was just too cute. She placed a hand on his shoulder, intending to pat him and tell him to calm down, but he beat her to the punch.

“Hey, see! You’re touching me and we’re just fine,” said Scott with a grin. Behind him, Sam took one quick look at Steve and saw how the former Captain America’s eyes honed in on the arm Scott had placed behind Darcy.

“Just because you’re okay now,” said Sam as he pulled Scott closer to him and placed an arm around his shoulders, “Doesn’t mean you’ll always be fine.”

“I’ve never been stuck, thank fuck, but I also don’t want to risk it,” Darcy answered.

With a smile, Quill cut in, “Well, they said that the Avengers haven’t gotten together since the whole shit that had these guys running to Wakanda. Gotta say, Darce’, sweet of you to share your birthday with a reunion.”

Darcy shrugged and joked, “Lots of eye candy to go around, see?” Her smile softened. “But really, I told Thor it would be cool to see everyone together, and I guess that also fed into him  and Bruce wanting to have all their friends in one place, you know?”

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat, and looked around at the people in the area. This is what they could have had all these years. In a perfect world, this would have been their norm; everyone coming together peacefully. He subconsciously shifted closer to Bucky.

“I heard you’ve been learning to control your powers, Darcy.” Wanda smiled.

“Yeah,” Darcy nodded. “Stephen’s helped out a lot too. The meditation thing helps me not randomly bring people to a whole new world every time I touch them.”

“Stephen?”

“Uh, Strange,” offered Darcy. “Doctor Strange.” She looked at Wanda, confused. Bruce had told her about Wanda. He’d said that she was a product of experiments with Loki’s scepter, also known as the Mind Stone. Part of her skillset had been the ability to manipulate matter with her thoughts and read people’s minds.

“Yeah, and didn’t he used to have the Time Stone?” Wanda asked.

“Yes, he did.”

“So has he taught you to manipulate time as well?”

Quill frowned, disliking how Wanda was essentially interrogating Darcy. He stepped up to stand by her side, meeting Steve’s hardened gaze briefly.

“Wanda,” came Steve’s warning.

“Why don’t you just ask what you actually want to know, Wanda?” There was no way Darcy was backing down from someone who clearly felt like she was entitled to something. It was no secret that one of the reasons Strange was in charge of her training was because he had experience in manipulating an infinity stone. His work with the Time Stone, most especially having died at the hands of Dormammu multiple times, afforded him the ability to effectively and properly educate Darcy in knowing when she was utilizing her newfound abilities and offer ways to stop or at least get it to obey her.

“Thanos was able to undo Vis’ sacrifice by using the Time Stone on him alone,” Wanda ground out, ignoring explicit and implied warnings around her. “In theory, you would be able to do the same.”

Wanda’s eyes were filled with an intensity Darcy couldn’t hold. She had an idea of where Wanda was coming from. She and Vision had been close; to the point that Vision had hidden from Tony so as to meet with her. To have had him die by her hand only to be revived and then killed by a power-mad psychopath must have caused irreparable damage on the young woman.

They watched as a pale blue glow emerged from Darcy’s skin, effectively covering her.

“Lady Darcy,” Thor’s voice cut into the tense conversation, but did not gain Darcy’s attention.

Darcy closed her eyes, feeling herself lose control. She enforced every breathing and grounding technique that Stephen had taught her so as not to unintentionally lash out. She visibly shook with the effort, and didn’t see Quill reach out to touch her.

They disappeared from everyone’s view in the blink of an eye.

“Darcy,” Quill had just begun to say as he realized that they were no longer on the grounds of the Avengers Facility. He looked around, finding that they were in someone’s living room. He slowly retracted his hand so that he could turn around properly and survey their surroundings, but instead found himself with an armful of Gamora?

Tears filled his eyes as he froze, trying to comprehend what was going on.

“G-Gamora?”

“Peter,” she sighed, and Peter knew without a doubt that this was his Gamora. But how? She looked up at him and pressed her lips to his in a kiss. It was soft and intimate; a kiss that tried to express all the love they felt for each other minus all the passion. It was a kiss that spoke of a promise.

“How is this happening right now?” He didn’t know when it happened, but they were both definitely crying.

“I don’t have much time. I had to take over Darcy’s body because if I didn’t, someone else might.” She rushed to explain, eyes never leaving his. “Peter, you have to listen, okay? Darcy’s not alone. She can’t fight — not against the stones. She needs to accept them, and you need to take care of her. She’s the only way we can defeat Thanos.”

“No, Gamora, Thanos is gone—”

“Peter, he’s alive. He’s alive and he’s in there with us, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get out.” Gamora’s lips trembled as she cupped his face. “There’s a reason the Soul Stone chose Darcy, Peter. She’s our best shot at keeping the Universe alive. We’re doing all that we can to keep him in until Darcy’s more in tune with the stones. The power she has right now — with the gauntlet — she can’t keep forcing it in. She needs to stop fighting.”

“But what about you?” Peter placed a trembling hand against her cheek. “What happens when you disappear again? Why can’t you stay?”

Gamora couldn’t find the words to assure him that they would see each other again. She’d already put him through so much after having asked him to kill her. She pressed another kiss to his lips.

“Why does this feel like you’re saying goodbye again?”

“I love you, Peter Quill.”

He watched as Gamora’s taller and slender frame slowly shifted back into the woman known as Darcy Lewis. He kept his arm securely around her midsection and then the other rose to her back as she slumped against him with a gasp.

“What the fuck happened?” Darcy mumbled against his chest, before slowly pushing herself away. Her eyes widened as she took in his tear-stricken face and red eyes. “Quill?”

Another tear fell from his eyes, and she pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Wait, what are we doing in my apartment?”

“Wanda!” Steve reprimanded as Darcy and Quill vanished.

“Who has her location?” Jane quickly called out in a panic, having only seen Darcy disappear and unaware of the conversation that had occurred.

“I do,” said Shuri, Tony, and Strange.

They all turned to Strange, knowing that he would have been the fastest in retrieving her.

“She’s…” Shuri flashed the address, and Jane’s eyes widened.

“That’s our apartment in the city!” Jane said, just as Strange let out a curse.

“There’s something blocking our connection. I can’t reach her.”

“Guess it’s time for an extraction,” Tony said.

“I can go,” offered Steve, only to be cut off by Hope.

“Yeah? One step out of these grounds and you’ll have the feds shooting you down — Captain America or not.” She argued. “Send Doctor Foster and maybe even Doctor Palmer to get her.”

“You can use my car. I’m sure there’s at least one car lying around here. One of the two of you does have a license, right?” Tony tried not to look too pleased that someone else had proven that Captain America was not always the man with the plan. He re-checked the address on his phone.

“Yes,” replied Jane and Christine in unison and with a glare.

“You had a license when you ran over Thor in New Mexico?” Tony asked with raised brows, earning an elbow to his stomach care of Pepper.

“I can come as back up too, just in case.” Scott replied. “My record’s clean now, anyways, so I’m sure no one would mind—”

“Hey; look, Scott,” Christine said, cutting him off. “I’m sure you’re a good guy and we’d love to have you in a fight, but I don’t think a high energy stranger is what Darcy needs right now.”

“I can also come,” said Thor tentatively, knowing that his joining the trip would mean spending an extended amount of time with Jane.

“I’m sure Darcy would love that,” was Jane’s soft reply.

“Alright so I’ll take the god and the astrophysicist.” Christine then walked on over to Strange and exchanged a few hushed words with him. She kissed his cheek and then took Jane’s hand and left, with Thor following.

Steve watched them leave, tension wrought in every muscle on his body.

“You,” Everyone watched as Natasha speared Wanda with a glare. “Who do you think you are to demand answers from her like that?”

Wanda returned the look without a second thought, “You all may be fine with Vis being dead, but I—”

“No, you listen here, girl.” Strange said, slowly advancing on Wanda. With a few gestures of his hand, everyone was brought to a different plane.

They all looked around to find themselves in Wakanda — or more accurately, what Wakanda had been like when those on Earth had been battling Thanos.

They watched as Thor failed to kill Thanos, and no Darcy arrived. They watched as Thanos snapped his fingers, and the world before them changed. Each of their disappearance played before them like a huge virtual reality scene.

Steve watched as his best friend disintegrated before his eyes, lost to him once more. Even though he could feel Bucky’s hand stiffen on his arm, he could no longer let go of the image of once again losing his best friend.

Shuri watched alongside Okoye, Nakia, and T’challa himself as the King of Wakanda was reduced to nothing. And her tears fell as she realized that she would have lost both brother and lover had Darcy not arrived.

Wanda herself disintegrated before their eyes, much to her own surprise.

Suddenly they were on a rooftop, and Hope watched as she and her parents disappeared just after having sent Scott into their riskiest operation yet. She met his gaze, eyes shining with tears, feeling the dread of having almost lost him, and of nearly having had such a short amount of time with her mother.

The scene changed and they were on the rubble of what had once been Thanos’ home.

Tony and Nebula watched as everyone around them disappeared, and Tony found himself tightening his hold on Pepper as he watched Peter Parker dissolve into nothingness.

Another change in scenery had Darcy at home, wearing the clothes she had been wearing when they had all first laid eyes on her. She was curled up on the couch, in the middle of dialing Jane’s number, as a movie played on the television in front of her.

And then they were back in the compound, Strange’s anger just as palpable as it had been earlier.

“Darcy Lewis’ arrival is the only way we could have all survived this,” he said, voice even. “Your insinuation that she should find a way to solve your selfish desire to revive your lover speaks more about you than it does about my teaching or her capabilities. You may be able to play at magic, but you would be nothing without the Mind Stone — the very same stone Thanos plucked from Vision’s head. Now you tell me, Miss Wanda Maximoff, if the very same stone that gave you power sits on the hand that you just bit, what’s to stop if, say, that hand wished to retract what abilities the stone granted you?”

“Hey now,” Steve began, but Bucky placed a hand on his chest to stop him from saying anything more.

“Stand down, Dumbledore,” Tony’s hand was swatted away by Strange’s cape, which he wore in spite of wearing more casual clothing. “She’s just a kid.”

“So is Parker,” argued Strange with ease. “Love is blind, not stupid,” he said, eyes meeting that of Steve’s briefly, before turning and creating a portal for himself that led to Darcy’s apartment.

Natasha turned to Steve, “Talk her down, before she pisses off anyone else that might actually  want to destroy the universe.” She slid into the seat beside Nakia, engaging the table into a conversation to distract from all that had just happened.

“This is your apartment?” Quill asked, stepping back and taking everything in.

“Yep,” replied Darcy, popping the p. “Jane’s the only one that’s been here the past two months though. We’re still figuring out how and when we’ll move all our stuff into the facility.” She headed for the record player and waved Quill over.

“You’re full on moving in?” He asked.

“Well, it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting rid of these powers anytime soon, right?” Darcy shrugged, offering him a variety of records. “Might as well make it safe for everyone and stay where I’m least likely to accidentally hurt people.”

He frowned as he sifted through the covers, “But won’t you be lonely needing to be in one place all the time?”

“I already feel half-crazy with cabin fever,” Darcy snorted. “I just don’t want it to become any bigger issue than it already is. Besides, I’ve got work to keep me occupied, and — why are you looking at me like that?”

Quill blinked, scrambling to school his features into a calmer and more carefree expression, “Like what?”

“Why were you crying, Peter?”

He turned to her fully, and shoved his hands in his front pockets. Quill studied her, wondering how he could even begin to explain that she wasn’t alone in her head, that there were beings in there — that Thanos was in there — that the love of his life was in there. The thought alone had him shaking.

She reached a hand out to him, but stopped herself short. She really didn’t want to risk any more unintended traveling.

“Gamora’s alive, Darcy.” He told her, just as the sound of a portal opening came from Jane’s bedroom. “She’s alive, and so is Thanos.”

The door to Jane’s bedroom opened and out came Thor, Christine, Jane, and Stephen, but neither Darcy nor Quill paid them any attention. Instead, the pair stood by the turntable, looking at each other with unreadable expressions.

“Darcy?” Jane moved to walk over to them, but was stopped by Thor’s hand on her arm.

“Lady Darcy, sister,” Thor called out. He let go of Jane and opened his palm out to Darcy, letting a current flow down his arm and to his fingers. The sparks did their job to catch her attention, but no one was prepared for the tears that escaped her eyes.

“No,” Darcy whispered. “No…This better be some sick joke, Peter Quill.” Her hand trembled as she placed it over her mouth. The cold metal of the gauntlet against her lips was reminder enough that anything was possible. Her conversation with Thor flittered through her mind. If she really wanted, she could do anything. Wanda’s words echoed distantly as she struggled not to have a full on meltdown.

“What have you done?” Strange asked.

“I didn’t do anything!” Quill glared at Strange, but quickly refocused on Darcy. “We should go back now, Darce’. I’m sure they’ll have better ideas—”

“We’ll be back soon.” Darcy said, before she, Jane, and Christine were swathed in blue light and then were gone.

“You better have answers, Peter Quill.” Strange spat, opening a portal right behind the man and using his magic to shove Quill in.

An hour after Strange, Quill, and Thor returned to the party, Darcy, Jane, and Christine came up and joined them. No one said anything, but there was no mistaking that the three women had definitely come to an agreement — about what, nobody but the three knew.

“So, Tony’s been bothering me to make a speech,” Darcy began, regaining everyone’s attention. She stood in the middle of the area, where the crowd was thickest. “But really, we all know he just wants me to tell you that everything’s all good and that everyone should drink up!”

Steve stayed on the outskirts, beside Natasha, observing.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” He crossed his arms, watching as Darcy spoke and laughed with the general group before dismissing them and getting into a conversation with Hope, T’Challa, and Jane.

“There are always things happening, Steve,” was Natasha’s reply.

“Something bad.”

Natasha leveled him with a dry look, “The bad things didn’t stop when you went on ice; it definitely didn’t stop the second time you went under.”

Chapter Text

The last thing he remembered had been trying to kill Thanos.

When he woke up, it was to the sight of his mother looking after and leaning over him. She looked every bit as radiant as she had when he had last seen her — before her death — during his imprisonment. He opened his mouth to speak, but found his voice had left him. There was no ache in his throat or any sort of pain in his body, and as Frigga ran her fingertips over his chest, throat, then lips.

His eyes took in the space where he was in, and he felt dread fill him as he found himself in his old room on Asgard. The familiar space had him abruptly. There was no way he was on Asgard. It had been destroyed with Ragnarök. He and Thor had been on their way to Earth, along with the rest of the Sakaaran and Asgardian refugees.

“Frigga.” Mother. Her true name felt wrong on his lips, but he felt the distinction necessary. She  might have been a queen, but Frigga was not his mother.

“I am not your queen.” Frigga stood, and Loki pushed himself to sit up. “Nor am I your mother.”

Loki focused his magic to get a feel for his surroundings. The energy felt familiar, if a bit hazy, as if the other magic user (magic source?) was unaware if his presence were an acceptable thing. Magic was very much in the air, far thicker than it had felt in Asgard or any other realm he had visited. It was as if the very world was breathing.

The room shimmered and then he was standing a few feet from a brunette Midgardian talking to a young Zehoberei. He turned to the woman masquerading as his mother, and then to the two others who didn’t seem to be aware he was there. He moved towards them, but was quickly met with a barrier similar to those that had once surrounded Asgard.

“You wonder where you are.” The doppelgänger of Frigga observed.

“You were…” He met her eyes as he came to terms with who this being was. It was as if something clicked within him. “The Mind Stone.”

Frigga smiled, “Well met. You’ve always been perceptive, especially compared to those that have had the chance to bask in or attempt to control my power.”

“There is no controlling a stone without a proper channel.” Loki looked away, “And even then, the stone shall always prevail.”

“You believe yourself equipped with a full understanding of us?”

“Not full,” he shook his head. “I would never presume that, but I understand well enough that there ought to be a reason I am here just as she is.” He made a vague gesture to the Midgardian, having kept part of his attention on their conversation.

“Your magic is as beholden to you as you are to it. As it stands, there is a part of you that I have claimed just as it had claimed I. Make no mistake,” said Mind, “You are not a facet of Loki Son of Laufey or Son of Odin, Frigga — you are as you have always been. You are Loki. You live among us because of our ties.”

“I am your prisoner?” How is it that he always found himself caged one way or the other?

“You are as much a prisoner as you wish to be, Loki.” Mind’s form shifted so that he looked like Loki’s golden brother. “There are no chains on you, brother.”

And just like that, Mind disappeared and the Midgardian from earlier was falling. As he fell with her, he found himself bombarded with facts about her. Was this the Mind Stone’s doing? Was he being given information that would help him leave this plane? He wasted no time in pulling Darcy to him and making sure they landed safely.

“Loki,” she sighed.

"You ought to be more careful,” he said as they landed in shallow waters once more.

Darcy stepped away from him, frowning at his decidedly all black Midgardian attire. She studied him with a frown.

He, on the other hand, gave her a once over, and then turned around to leave. Her hand on his arm was what had him coming to a stop.

“Who are you?”

Loki faced her with a raised brow, tugging his arm away from her hold. “You say my name and yet question my identity.”

“You can’t be you,” Darcy’s nose scrunched. “Because if you’re you then that means Miah was actually Miah, and I’m really not prepared for my brother to have just appeared to warn me that I’m in some sort of weird not-really-parallel universe—”

“Silly girl,” Loki tutted with narrowed eyes. “I am but as real as you wish me to be, and so is he.”

She was about to say more, but he faded before her in a blue haze.

He looked around, though of course, she was right there and he was once again surrounded in that damned barrier. Loki reached out to touch her, but found himself simply passing through her.

Darcy seemed to look around to look for him, and he found himself calling out to her.

“Darcy Lewis—” Her name felt odd on his tongue. As if it were wrong. There was a niggling feeling that ran over him whenever he regarded her. He watched her for a bit more, trying to discern just who she was. He didn’t know how much time passed, but he found himself unable to leave her.

When he would turn and walk opposite of where she was, he’d find himself turned around and walking back to her. He observed her, joining her in her meditation and listening to her speak. As someone who had had his lips sewn together once upon a time, he knew what it felt to literally keep his mouth shut, but even then he had company. She must have been going slowly insane with the lack of human interaction —

And yet she wasn’t.

Where a normal Midgardian would have already lost comprehension of reality, Darcy Lewis had remained free-spirited, strong-minded, and able-bodied. It was when her conscious version arrived that Loki had realized why there was something peculiar about her.

It seemed that the subconscious!Darcy disappeared whenever the conscious!Darcy arrived. He didn’t know where she went, though he supposed she must have been in the same predicament he was.

Amidst Thor and Foster’s breakup, when he was back in his form of solitary confinement, he was brought face-to-face with the vision of his Aesir mother once more.

“Care to finally tell me what my purpose here is?” He asked, noting that the figure before him was the Mind Stone once more.

Heimdall appeared in a flash of blue, looking every bit as he had when he and Loki had died by Thanos’ feet. “And what makes you think you still have purpose, Loki, Son of Odin?”

“I am no son of his,” spat Loki.

“Yet you consider Thor your brother, and Frigga your mother.” Frigga smiled, seemingly amused.

“There is no purpose in this realm.” Heimdall said, and as Loki tried to feel for his aura, he realized that the Asgardian was actually an image of the Space Stone.

“Is she not here because she’s supposed to be Thanos’ sacrifice?” Loki gestured to Darcy, who was oblivious to what was happening. “I’ve been with her since I awoke. You’ve been unwilling to let me leave her side. I see what she sees. I see one of you coming to interact with her from time to time, though I am unable to tell which. I have seen the stranger that had watched her when the Man of Iron had joined her here briefly. Thanos lives in this realm, and I can only assume that that is part of the reason I still live.”

“You are alive by my hand as much as yours,” said Frigga, shifting to the likeness of Thor. “Your magic bound itself to me, and with it, your soul found salvation in this realm. Darcy Lewis has no magic as innate as yours, as most Midgardians do not. You are right in all of your assessments, but we do not dictate your purpose, Loki.”

“We have no use for you.” Space said, shifting into an image of Odin, and waved his hand. “You may leave now if you wish.”

A portal opened, and Loki could see his brother. Thor stood on the roof of a building, looking out and yet unseeing.

How had it come to this?

His green eyes moved from the Infinity Stones he was most familiar with, looking every bit like the parents he had grown up knowing. They were wearing finery fit for the most extravagant of their feasts in Asgard, dripping gold and shining further with their unnatural glow as was his vision whenever he sought to focus on the auras of beings around him. These Odin and Frigga -lookalikes offering him the ability to be with his only remaining family once more was too good to be true.

“What must I give in return?”

“There is no price to be paid.” Space said, voice so achingly familiar to the tone that Odin had used when he had claimed Loki as his son in his final moments. “Your presence was unprecedented. We have all agreed that you may be freed should you wish.”

Mind said nothing, looking every bit as Frigga did whenever she was watching her husband pass judgement.

“Nothing is ever free,” Loki looked back at the portal, where Thor had closed his eyes and seemed to be in prayer. “Especially not freedom.”

Space and Mind did not have to turn to each other to communicate. No words needed to be uttered. The Infinity Stones were above that. They knew each other as they knew each being they came across.

A handful of steps and Loki felt Frigga place a hand on his cheek. Soft and reverent. He suppressed the sadness that came with the remembrance that he hadn’t had the chance to bid her farewell. She had died while he had been imprisoned. She had forgiven him before he had even atoned. A tear escaped his eye and he took a step back to get out of her grip.

“What games do you think to play on me?”

They shook their heads, though it was only Mind that spoke. “There are no games to be played, God of Mischief and Lies. You are here by virtue of your essence fusing with me in the time that you wielded the Scepter. It had not been done voluntarily, or out of a desire to control me, and so I gave you the ability to be an entity separate from my own in this realm.”

“We know you, Loki, Son of Laufey.” A Jotun joined them, seemingly materializing from thin air. Loki turned to face him and was struck with the thought that, without a doubt, the Jotun before him was what he must look like as a Frost Giant. “We’ve seen your past and held your soul. We know where you may go, and understand what you might choose. We give you this choice because we are not rulers. We do not impose our own wishes on those around us.”

“Though perhaps that is more because we have none of our own.” Thor appeared from behind Frigga, though not as he looked in the portal, or even as he had looked before Ragnarök. The young prince that stood before him barely reached Frigga’s shoulders, blond hair bright and blue eyes clear as the sky. It was as he had been well over a millennia ago.

It was as he had been when there was no doubt in Loki’s mind they had been brothers.

“Why do you torture me like this?” Loki ground out. “You appear before me, bearing faces that I knew—”

“Faces that hold significance to you.” His Jotun counterpart said. “We have told you. We know your soul.”

Loki took another glance at the portal. He could see the real Thor still praying; could barely hear the murmured words that echoed from teachings that seemed so long ago. He could feel his stomach coiling, heart accelerating at the thought of returning to life once again, but this time without trickery or hardship on his part.

He took one step towards the portal, but then spun to take strides in the opposite direction.

“What of the girl?” He watched as Darcy spoke to someone with dark hair and fairly similar features to her.

“What of her?” A new voice joined them. Loki did not need to turn to know whom it was. Memories of a different life filled his mind. Once upon a time, that voice had been his salvation — his guiding light. He refused to see how the stones could have fashioned them.

“When does she get to leave?”

“She remains.” The young Thor replied slowly. “A sacrifice was asked, and a sacrifice must be given. Thanos should have offered her instead of the Zehoberei.”

“And where is the cyborg?”

“In a realm like this and yet not,” was Mind’s reply.

“She bears the same choice that you do.” Space said.

“The chance to return is there. Her soul was set free the moment we identified she was not a suitable sacrifice.” The new voice said, and Loki tried not to cringe. The stones had gotten the voice perfectly. It both soothed and terrified him. He kept his gaze on Darcy.

“What was her choice? What did she choose?”

There was a loud crack, as if something large and heavy had broken, and suddenly the barrier disappeared.

“You may find out yourself.”

He didn’t know who had spoken, but he knew he had to get to Darcy as she fell screaming. Her agony was palpable as he bent to pick her up. By the time he was carrying her in his arms, she was half unconscious — a worrying thought, considering she was the subconscious of an existing and functioning human being — and delirious.

A look at the gauntlet on her hand and he could see the Reality, Soul, and Power Stones shining brightly as he and Darcy were cocooned in blue light.

Before his eyes, another barrier fell apart to reveal Gamora in a heated battle with Thanos.

Without thought, he pulled Darcy even tighter to him and they were transported to another part of the realm. He unhooked his cape and placed it around her, making sure she would at least be somewhat comfortable when she awoke. He was unsure if he would be separated from her once more, but he knew what he needed to do.

Gamora was out there making sure Thanos never got to Darcy, because that could mean regaining control of the Infinity Stones once more.

Loki would make sure Darcy would be prepared to face Thanos.

He left her, intent on speaking to the stones once more.

In the end, they had accepted his decision.

“I will stay until she is free of Thanos.”

When he returned to her, Darcy could remember falling asleep before she found herself there. Red dessert, no other formation, and only one other companion.

“I see you more than I see the little girl, now.” Darcy said by means of a greeting.

He cocked his head to the side, “Would you like me to take my leave?”

“Up to you,” shrugged Darcy. “I’m just going to meditate if you leave.”

“And if I stayed?”

“Well we might as well talk.” Darcy smiled at his suspicious look. “Come on, God o’ Mischief, I’m sure we can talk without you wanting to takeover my planet or something.”

He frowned, “That was a misguided decision.” He looked away from her, “Born out of spite and confusion.” With a few steps, he stood an arms length away. He reached over and fixed the clasp of his cape which she still wore.

“You regret it, then?”

“I regret the pain it caused — we’ve been over this.”

Darcy looked up at him, to meet his eyes, but quickly looked down. Her fingers brushed against the fabric of his cloak, still draped on her shoulders but now flowing down her back.

“What troubles you?”

“I’m still trying to reconcile the power-hungry god that sent a destroyer to kill his brother,” said Darcy, “To the man standing before me.”

“Is it not Midgardian to be capable of change?” He knew that her trusting facade had been all that; a facade, but he was unprepared for the hurt that hit him when he realized how she must  have truly perceived him. Darcy was not dim, after all. Conversations with her and the knowledge provided by Mind could only ever paint her as being of at least above average intelligence. And yet when she had spoken to him, she hadn’t assumed the worst. At least not outright.

She frowned, lips pouting.

He turned to leave, unwilling to subject himself to the humiliation of being unworthy of a simple human’s trust. Why did it matter, anyways? Just because he had resolved to help her, did not mean she was beholden to him in any capacity.

“Thor said you saved his life.” She said, seemingly grasping at straws to reconcile what she had known of him through various media, and the man she was with.

“My brother has always had a very skewed perspective when it came to those he loves,” were his whispered words.

“Jane let him go, you know.”

“I am aware.” They’ve gone over this.

“He’s leaving to look for your people.”

“I am not—”

“Aesir, yes, but that doesn’t mean you are any less Thor’s brother.” Darcy countered, following as he walked. Why did she keep pushing?

“Did he tell you that?” His brow rose as he stopped to look at her, and Darcy was reminded of portraits of snooty holier than though people from the past.

“Does it matter? Just because you don’t have the same blood running through his veins doesn’t mean that all you went through and all that you shared are any less valuable.” They had been standing side by side, but when he stopped, they faced each other. The height difference meant she had to look up a bit to be able to meet his eyes. “What Thor did tell me was that Frigga and Odin loved you both dearly. One may have been better at meeting your expectations of expressing it than the other, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less true.”

The corners of Loki’s lips lifted up into a smile, much to his chagrin. “You seem to have plenty to say about this.”

“Experience,” she flipped her hair, grinning.

He felt Space’s magic trickle all over him. “My time with you comes to an end once again, Darcy Lewis.” He bowed lowly.

“I thought you didn’t bow to anyone anymore?”

He sent her another smirk before he let Space take him away. The barrier between them gave him the ability to study her without her knowledge once more.

However, this time, he wasn’t alone.

“They said you’ve been here a while, and that you were staying.” Gamora said, coming up to stand by his side.

“As were you.”

“This has always been my battle.” The resignation and determination in her voice was a blend Loki knew too well. “She should never have been brought into this. I don’t even understand why it had to be her.”

“She isn’t all that she appears,” Loki said simply. “I have no reason to trust you save for your willingness to do whatever it takes to get rid of the monster that calls himself your father, and so I will not, but I will say this, you mustn’t underestimate her. There is something about her that they know but we have yet to understand.”

Gamora rolled her eyes, “You didn’t have to tell me that. Even Thanos has been quiet about who she is.”

“How have you been keeping him away?”

“He taught me how to fight.” She shrugged, watching as Darcy summoned large tomes to read. “And here, we were equals. We didn’t tire and we didn’t have other weapons. Our bodies were our only arsenal.”

Loki bit his tongue. There was something wrong. She was implying that there was no magic in the realm save for the Stones, but he knew himself that he still had his own.

“We ended up walking away from each other,” she said. “You can only fight and stalemate for so long before it got boring. I never even knew there was anyone else here until I saw you earlier.”

“How long do you believe you’ve been here?”

“It feels like I’ve only been here for a couple of hours, but I’m not stupid enough to believe that I’m right.” She crossed her arms. “You get to speak to her? I saw you earlier.”

He shrugged, “When the stones see fit, it seems.”

“Do you think I can do that?”

Loki regarded her from his peripheral, feeling his protectiveness for Darcy rise. He would let no harm come to her. Thor would not have it. He would not have it.

She arched her brow.

“When the stones see fit,” repeated Loki in response.

They spoke more of what could be done to eliminate Thanos, but neither came up with anything solid before Gamora was being taken away by the stones and Loki was left standing alone once more.

Darcy stumbled as the subconscious Darcy faded from the realm.

“You seem exhausted.” Loki said, hand darting out to catch her if needed.

“Just finished talking to people about something I’ve been working on for years.”

“Do you truly believe it’s worth all that work?” He’d been made aware of what she was up to. He didn’t fully grasp what it meant, but he knew it was important — important enough that she worked herself to the bone to be able to change and fix what others had broken.

“You don’t even know the details of what I want to happen.” She squinted, and it was only then that he realized just how made up she was. Her face was painted, a sight he was unused to, and all he could concentrate on was the red of her full lips.

He forced his eyes to meet her own. “I understand enough to know that you are working on it as well as Foster’s project even as you are learning to control your abilities and providing emotional support to both my brother and Foster.”

“You make it sound like I’m a better person than I actually am. Besides, I have you to talk to, so I guess that helps.” Neither bothered to point out that she never even remembered her time here.

“You would trust me without reason?”

Her smile was the last thing he saw as she disappeared and her caped counterpart reappeared.

“I do,” replied Darcy, face clean of makeup and wrapped up in green and black from her shoulders to her feet. “I trust you.” She slipped her arms around him. “Not without reason.” She laid her head on his chest. “I trust you because you’re you.”

His hand shook as it rose to lay on her head, and the other snuck around to hold her waist. How long had it been since he’d held someone to or for comfort? His eyes fell close as he breathed deeply. The protective feeling from his conversation with Gamora clawed deep within him once more.

Since then, Loki was more observant of what she was subjected to. He couldn’t see what the conscious Darcy experienced, but he was around to make sure that whenever the one in this realm with him was cared for.

He watched as the young version of Gamora appeared before conscious!Darcy.

“They say you’re working on controlling them.” Gamora’s voice was soft and lacked the accusing tone that would have accompanied her words if she’d meant it with any animosity.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.” Darcy told the little girl. He watched as she sat, and the little girl sat by her side.

Loki felt Mind arrive in his space, still looking like the late Queen.

“She is strong,” said Mind. “Your Darcy.”

He kept his eyes on Darcy and the little girl.

“We’ve kept her alive on earth. Her body there is unused to housing us, and her mind is unaware of all that she truly is.”

“They don’t want you to fight, Darcy Lewis.” The girl told Darcy.

“What is she?” He asked, not entirely sure if he truly wanted to know. He had always been aware there was something off about her, but couldn’t find out what it was.

Mind’s smile looked more challenging than comforting, “She is human. Ask the right questions, God of Mischief.” Before he could respond, Mind disappeared, and he refocused on Darcy and her companion.

Darcy hummed, “That’s the first time you’ve said my name. I still don’t know yours.”

“Gamora.” Loki said as the barrier between he and the pair dissolved. They turned to him, surprised.

The little girl took a step away from Darcy as she acknowledged him, “Loki.”

“Gamora?” Darcy repeated with a frown. “As in…”

“I’ll be back, Darcy Lewis.” She said, before disappearing.

“HOLY SHIT! That was Gamora? Gamora…? Gamora! That was Peter’s Gamora — Nebula’s sister — She’s here! She’s here. I need to remember this. I need t—”

Loki stood close to her, holding her by the elbows to get her to stop rambling. She looked so small compared to his stature, and he wondered if she felt it too. There was something about her that had called to and soothed him from the very beginning. There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other, he had told her. It was why her subconscious was locked away whenever she arrived. It was why she couldn’t remember whatever happened in the Soul Realm whenever she returned to Earth. It was why the stones were biding their time with her.

Darcy blinked up at him, confusion evident in her blue eyes.

She was wearing a large shirt that reached mid-thigh. Only.

The realization that she was barely wearing anything had him letting go of her.

As the Darcy before him disappeared, Loki sighed. The barrier returned and once again, the subconscious!Darcy was his unknowing companion.

He pressed his hand against the barrier as Darcy looked around, a frown on her face.

“You’ve been lending her your power.” Loki pointed out to his companions.

Mind!Frigga, Space!Odin, and Time!Thor stood with him, in an area that looked like the throne room in Asgard. They were all dressed in finery, the likes of which he only ever saw when people were celebrating a big occasion.

“We do as required,” said Space.

“So the conscious part of her is succeeding?”

“There is a part of her not at peace with the other,” Time said, “Is that not what you and your brother had said to her?”

“Yes, well I can feel her—her—” Loki turned to Darcy, frozen with the realization. “You’ve all come to visit her. All but one.” He placed a hand against the barrier, feeling it pulse as it resisted. “Where is the Power Stone?”

“There is no use asking questions you already know the answer to, Mischief.” Mind replied.

The barrier disintegrated as he pushed, and Darcy looked up as he appeared. Behind him, the stones were gone.

He looked at his hand, and then at the gauntlet in hers. The Power Stone shined the same glow that had encased his hand. His eyes looked into hers, just as confused but no longer frightened. She looked at him with such blind trust that he wondered briefly how much he could get away with.

Her eyes widened, as if she were witnessing something horrific, and then she was falling on her knees. His cape, which he had never bothered taking back, pooled around her. He knelt before her, intending to take her into his arms once more, but the moment his hand came into contact with her skin, he heard his brother’s voice.

“Please know that I would never wish for you to do anything you do not wish to, but I had thought…”

“Yeah?”

“If Thanos could kill with a snap of his gloved hand, then wouldn’t the alternative be possible?”

“You really think I can do that?”

“The stones have the power to fulfill whatever its wielder desired.”

Darcy stopped shivering as he pulled her close. She pressed her head in the crook of his neck as he settled them against a tree trunk with her on his lap. She felt feverish, and if it had been the first time it happened, he would have been more concerned.

“I can bring them back,” whispered Darcy, though to Loki it seemed more for herself than him. She sighed, looking up to meet his hard gaze. “For Thor.”

For you.

Loki pressed his forehead against her, silent.

Chapter Text

He held his breath as Darcy manipulated her surroundings to create a replica of her childhood home. Loki hadn’t left her side since Thor had spoken to her, and in that time, had also come to regard her as a trustworthy human. He may not still be entirely aware of why she was so special, but he knew the truth will come out eventually. In the meantime, he had taken it upon himself to help her learn how to fight in this realm. After all, it was one thing for her conscious counterpart to learn how to defend herself in Midgard, but to be able to understand and utilize elements the way the Aesir brought him up was completely different.

Before he had done anything, Darcy was more subject to the stones’ whims, and only ever got what she wanted by outright asking them — and even that didn’t always guarantee success. Under his tutelage, she was able to comprehend how to visualize and make reality her wishes, though he found that none of them was ever harmful or even physically beneficial to her. All she seemed to want was to change the environment, often to be able bring comfort to one or both of them. It seemed that, at her very core, Darcy Lewis didn’t want much for herself other than comfort and simplicity. How ironic that it was far from her life.

As they sat before the fire pit in their backyard, they were surprised by a sudden downpour. Seeing as she looked as surprised as he, Loki knew that she hadn’t caused it.

The Mind Stone shone brightly, catching their attention, before all the stones began to glow and she with them.

Gamora appeared between them, though she seemed unable to see Darcy as she looked in her direction but ultimately focused on Loki.

“You have to save her. Something’s wrong. The stones are getting agitated. You have to protect her, Loki.”

In a flash, the world changed and they were once again in shallow waters. The sky was a dark red, resembling the blood of those on Earth, and the water looked like as black as a starless sky. Darcy was trembling, though she didn’t seem to be in pain, and when she turned to face him, he found her eyes void of any color, only the white of sclera visible.

“Loki?” She asked, reaching out to him, though another voice echoed from behind him.

He turned and found himself looking at another version of Darcy. The conscious Darcy.

She wore a dress and looked very made up, as if there were an occasion to celebrate, and looked around in confusion at the daunting atmosphere. Their eyes met, and he saw her gaze slide behind him, to where her subconscious counterpart was reaching out. He froze at the realization that this was the first time she had seen her subconscious, as they were often kept separate, with subconscious!Darcy left to watch conscious!Darcy from behind a shield whenever she was there.

“What’s happening?” conscious!Darcy asked, just as subconscious!Darcy said, “Loki, I can’t see or hear anything, what’s going on?”

Loki could hear Gamora’s words in the back of his head. You have to protect her, Loki. But whom did she mean? There was a loud crack reminiscent of thunder, and his eyes widened at what he saw in the distance.

Gamora was trading blows with Thanos once more, though this time, it didn’t seem to be simply one on one hand-to-hand combat. Instead, the Zehoberei seemed to be goading the titan, trying to sustain his attention as they were teleported in and out of the realm and all over the place. Without much thought, Loki took hold of both Darcys and used his magic to conceal them so that only he could identify where they were.

Just as he finished, Thanos and Gamora reappeared on either of his sides, and Thanos ended up landing a solid hit to his cheek. Loki slammed right into Gamora, who screamed, “NO,” as Thanos turned and stalked away from them. She pushed him off and ran right after him, launching herself onto his back.

Pulling himself up slowly, Loki watched as Thanos body slammed his adopted daughter, causing her to cry out. He held out a hand, calling on both his own magic and the Power Stone stored within him to somehow turn the tides in both his and Gamora’s favor. He succeeded in pushing Thanos off, but it also had the titan slamming into a barrier that was decidedly not there beforehand. Unlike the others that he had seen, which sparked blue, yellow, or some other bright color when hit or provoked, the one Thanos had been thrown against sparked black and let out some smoke.

Gamora ran straight for him, and Loki watched as she led Thanos away from where the barrier had been. He spared the Darcys that were hidden from view, both of whom couldn’t see what was happening. Conscious!Darcy was trying to communicate with subconscious!Darcy, though the latter could neither hear nor see her, and Loki figured they would be safe as he ventured closer to the newly discovered secret in this realm.

He raised his hand to press against the area where the barrier had been, but found nothing there. Once again, he focused so that he was utilizing both stone and Aesir magic before attempting once more, and found himself treated to a sight he never thought he’d see.

Long blonde hair, tan skin, and dressed in robes only ever designed and fit for royalty. Asgardian Royalty. Once upon a time, Loki Son of Odin had been in love and had married the woman he had seen himself with for the rest of time. They had sworn their lives to each other before the Allfather and she had been given the title of Goddess of Fidelity.

“Sigyn,” He breathed as he pressed further into the barrier, only to be brought back to his reality when he heard both Darcys cry out.

“NO!”

He watched as Thanos attempted to take hold of conscious!Darcy, only to be pushed back by the subconscious!Darcy’s powers with the help of the stones. She still couldn’t see, but she could sense that the wards Loki had erected were being breeched. She teleported herself away from the perceived threat, though was unable to bring conscious!Darcy with her, who was looking scared out of her mind at the large figure standing up and looking straight at her.

Gamora appeared right in front of Thanos, poised to fight, and Loki used his free hand to flick Thanos away once again. When the titan fell to the ground, Loki made it so that the ground swallowed up most of his body, keeping him there. He briefly met Gamora’s gaze, who nodded at him minutely before turning her attention to conscious!Darcy, who was looking equal parts confused and terrified.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Gamora said, before plunging her hand through Darcy’s chest.

The combined screams of both Darcy’s and Sigyn’s would ring in Loki’s mind forever, he couldn’t help but think.

“STEP AWAY FROM HER.” He stalked towards them, but found that Gamora had already pulled away and that conscious!Darcy was gone by the time he got to them.

“Now do you see?” Gamora asked conversationally, as if she hadn’t just attempted to murder a woman he had come to consider a friend. They turned back around, to find Thanos gone and Sigyn and subconscious!Darcy cocooned in their own cells of sorts.

There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other.

“Who is she?”

The night of Darcy’s thirtieth birthday found her in a conference room with Jane, Stephen, the original Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy (save for Groot, who had taken a liking to Shuri and Scott and was keeping them company in the residential building). Everyone else had been brought home or were in the apartment building, because even though Darcy was pretty sure that she could trust any one of the people present at the party, it would be much easier to discuss and plan with fewer heads.

Quill had relayed to them what had happened and what had been said, much to the devastation of the Guardians; especially Gamora’s sister. Nebula had tensed and left without a word, and Darcy trampled down the urge to follow. She would speak to Nebula later. It was important that she hashed out what Gamora’s warning could mean with the only people that  she was sure she could help.

“They,” said Tony. “So there’s more than just Thanos and Quill’s girlfriend in there with you. We already kind of guessed that there was someone else — especially since we saw someone when you brought me there, but we also thought that it could have been an illusion. Now that we have confirmation, what does that mean, exactly?”

“It means Thanos ain’t dead, dipshit,” came Rocket’s acerbic reply.

Bruce quickly stepped in, not wanting another argument. “You said that Darcy needs to be more in tune with the stones,” he said, addressing Quil. “How do we go about doing that?”

“Was it not what your wizard was already doing?” Drax inquired.

“I was teaching her to be in tune with herself,” was Stephen’s explanation. “Her potential to learn the Mystic Arts was already there. It was all about teaching her to hone it. I’m guessing the stones helped her adapt to it much quicker than she would have otherwise.”

“You know, Eitri said that there’s no reason for the gauntlet to act so differently with her.” Rocket walked across the table to stand right in front of Darcy, much to a handful of people’s aniety. No one had wanted anything to happen to Darcy when they didn’t know what could happen as a result, and now that there was the very real threat of Thanos returning, every hair on Darcy’s head was definitely going to be accounted for.

“You have also said that Eitri believes the stones might see her as something similar to that of the gauntlet.” Thor casually leaned an arm on top of the backrest of Darcy’s chair, a subtle gesture that said Darcy was under his protection.

“Yeah,” nodded Rocket, sitting down. “The glove was meant to be a container — uh, vessel — for the stones, so that their powers can be combined or focused to do what the wearer wants.”

“Like the Eye of Agamotto.”

“Like the Tesseract.”

“Like Loki’s Scepter.”

“Like the Orb.”

“Okay, so Darcy’s basically acting as a conduit for all the power in the stones,” said Tony, “And we aren’t supposed to do anything about it?”

“No, we’re supposed to help her become more in tune with them.” Quill sighed. “What does that even mean?”

Bruce, who sat to Darcy’s left, swiveled in his chair to turn to her. “Wouldn’t meditating help achieve that?”

“Isn’t that what I’ve already been doing?” She asked.

“You’ve been training to keep your powers in check,” Natasha said slowly, “Because that’s what we know how to do. It’s how we trained Vision and Wanda.”

“You suggesting an alternative, Kim Possible?” Tony raised a brow at the spy as Natasha looked to Thor.

“On Asgard, any ability that they may have been blessed would have manifested in their childhood and would have grown with them from then on. We never had to worry about control; instead we worked on respect.” Thor said.

“Respecting…your powers…?” Steve’s face, already contorted into a stony expression, grew confused.

“Aye,” nodded Thor. “I am as much subject to my element as it is subject to my wishes. I had been given Mjølnir as a means to focus the power I already had. It was a worthy companion for myself, but after having been destroyed by my sister, I fought to be found wholly worthy of the power I thought I had already entirely deserved.” He sent Bruce a meaningful look.

“So what are we supposed to do, then?” Darcy could feel Tony’s exasperation. He continued, “We can’t just let Darcy go, and wait to see what happens.”

Darcy laughed dryly, “I wouldn’t leave anyway! If big bad and nasty was actually up in my head, then the moment I even fuck up a tiny bit, he’s going to take advantage. I don’t know how Gamora did it, but I’m pretty sure we can’t risk that again.”

Bruce’s face looked bright with an idea. “We’ve worked on your triggers, right? We’re able to get the gauntlet to appear, and when Nat challenged you enough for that flash drive, you were able to use your powers. After that, you’ve been able to use it.”

“Inconsistently,” amended Darcy. “And rarely with actual intent outside of saving my own ass.”

“Has any of the stones ever been stored in a living vessel?” Bruce asked Thor. “We know that the Scepter, the Tesseract, and the Eye of Agamotto were basically containers for their respective stones—”

Quill added, “And the Power Stone was in the Orb.”

“—but what about someone or something that was alive?”

“Vision,” Clint said, a dull throb beginning in his temples. He thought he had retired from being in the thick of these sorts of things.

“Yes, but hadn’t he controlled the Mind Stone with ease?” Steve cut in.

“Vis…” Tony paused, looking around. “Vis didn’t control the stone any more than it controlled him. He wanted to understand it, like we’ve been trying to wrap our heads around all of this.” He gestured to Darcy.

“The Aether!” Darcy looked up to Thor. “Wasn’t it sort of alive? I mean it tried to take over Jane and all that Dark Elf business.”

“’Twas alive,” agreed Thor, “But it was no vessel. The Aether and the Reality Stone are one in the same.”

“Are you telling us that the stones themselves are sentient?” Rocket crossed his arms, glaring at Thor. “It’s one thing to think that the Soul Stone was sort of aware of things because it’s, you know, the Soul Stone.”

“But if all six stones were their own, so to speak, person, then Darcy essentially has at least six beings vying for control in her mind.” Bruce finished.

They all froze at that, tense with the possibility that all that they had done to help would have been for nothing.

“And ‘Gamora’,” Tony used air quotes on her name as he looked at Quill, “Warned you to tell Darcy not to fight the stones. Who’s to say if we let her have at it that Darcy won’t be used for whatever shitty thing the whichever stone wants?”

“It wasn’t some illusion,” argued Quill. “That was Gamora. I know her.”

“You have been tricked before, Peter Quill.” Drax was quick to remind.

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Quill shook, though perhaps Mantis was the only one who knew if it were out of anger or desperation. He met Tony’s eyes, “You would know if it were Pepper, wouldn’t you? You can take one look into her eyes and know that it was her, even after time apart — even after all the shitty things — you would know because there’s no one else; not for you.”

Tony said nothing, but those who knew him understood that he had accepted the explanation. If there was anything that everyone in that room could be sure of, it was that Tony Stark had a heart, and that Pepper Potts would only ever be its true owner.

“So we still haven’t come up with a plan,” Darcy turned to look at Stephen and Jane. “Any ideas, Doc?”

“What if we could speak to them?” Jane offered, speaking for the first time since they had begun.

Stephen seemed to agree with her, catching her train of thought with ease, “Wanda’s abilities came from the Mind Stone, didn’t it? And she’s able to go into people’s minds and pull out their deepest secrets. It wasn’t until she spoke to you—”

“Antagonized her,” Jane scoffed, “More like it. But yeah, it wasn’t until she antagonized you that you lost control. And back in Wakanda, Drax was able to provoke you into using your powers too.”

“If we can replicate those moments, but with Wanda monitoring you, then perhaps we can see what the stones have been doing to you.” Stephen said, though the way his gaze held Darcy’s told her that he wasn’t as big of a fan of the idea as she would have been comfortable to know.

Jane added, “We’ve also established that you don’t remember ever being in the Soul Realm, and we’ve hypothesized that you travel there in your sleep, but you’ve never pulled anyone under while unconscious — but then again, you also take precautions so that you don’t exactly touch anyone.”

“You’ve told me that you haven’t had any proper rest since Thanos, but you’ve been able to keep up with your training regimen with both them and I,” Stephen shot Jane a look, “And every other project you’ve taken on, without much problem.”

It seemed that Bruce and Tony had gotten on to Stephen and Jane’s train of thought by then.

“The stones could have been keeping you up and running to make sure that you were well enough in both mind and body for whatever’s been happening that we weren’t even aware of. If you really were traveling in your sleep, but without any memory of it, there could be a way of getting you to remember or for us to at least see it.” Bruce said.

“And if we stopped your training,” Tony crossed his arms. “The stones wouldn’t have to continuously use their mojo to keep you going. Instead, they’d have the freedom to do whatever it was that they would actually want to do as well as replicate the conditions brought about back in Wakanda and earlier today, where you weren’t exhausted or being exhausted with working out.”

“That easy?” Darcy asked incredulously.

“I have a feeling there’s a catch,” Quill piped up.

“Well, we’re going to need to take precautionary measures.” Tony explained, looking to Bruce.

“The Hulk Room?” Clint stood abruptly, hands flat on the table. “You want to stick her in that room? She’s just a civvie!”

“She isn’t any more civilian than you are right now, Barton.” Tony was quick to argue. “And you can’t tell me that she isn’t as big a risk as Thanos was. You saw the same thing that I did. Anyone who has that much power is dangerous — good intentions or not. Besides, we’d have Wanda monitoring her, along with other things.”

“Okay, before you two decide to go crazy and start swinging,” Darcy placed a hand on the table calmly, “What exactly is the Hulk Room?”

“Thick walls, twenty-four hour, no-privacy surveillance, one access.” Steve said through gritted teeth. Even he wasn’t a fan of the notion, but agreed with Tony that it was better safe than sorry.

“O-kay,” Darcy whistled. “That’s a little extreme, even if I do get the need for it.”

“I can take her in. My sanctum could contain her, I’m sure,” volunteered Stephen. “If anything, I know where I can place her that she wouldn’t harm anyone or anything.”

“I thought you kept important magical items there?” Natasha’s eyes narrowed.

“I meant my private sanctum.” Stephen’s cloak left him and draped itself over Darcy, an echo of his concern and wish to protect her. “Each Master of the Mystic Arts has the ability to create and customize their own private sanctum where they can keep more personal magical items. Mine is located in a pocket dimension physically accessible through the New York Sanctum. But I, or even Darcy, can access it whenever I want.”

“We can’t just leave her to you,” Quill muttered. “I promised Gamora I’d keep her safe.”

“It was a suggestion,” said Stephen, calling his cloak back to him.

“What if,” Darcy stood slowly, beginning to feel the effects of the day. “I stayed right here? Tony, Pep says you’re moving everyone that hasn’t been vetted by you, Friday, and Nat, personally right?” At Tony’s nod, she continued, “Why not have Wanda and Mantis help? They’ll be able to tell if someone was trustworthy enough to stay, and I’m sure everyone here would like the freedom to at least be able to get to this building. With them on board, things should be a lot faster, so I can stay here, I’ll leave it to you guys if it’s the Hulk room; where there can be at least one other person aside from Wanda that can shoot me down if I do something stupid — or at least alert everyone else. I’ll stop training too, which is like a total win for me because I was not made to be a superhero, let’s face it. This gives us all that ‘replicating conditions’ you guys were talking about, and I will also consent to Wanda taking regular scheduled checks in my psyche, but only if there’s someone else supervising it.”

“I want a personal guard on you at all times,” was Tony’s counter offer. “Including when you’re asleep.”

Darcy was prepared to argue, but one look at Tony’s expression had her nodding in defeat. He was concerned for her own safety as well that of everyone around her. She let her gaze wander across the various faces in the room, pausing briefly at Steve’s unreadable expression. Was it really just this morning that she had watched the sunrise with him? It suddenly felt like a lifetime away.

She turned to Strange, whom she knew had various questions pertaining to what had been said between she, Jane, and Christine that afternoon. Her eyes dropped, unwilling to let him know. If push came to shove, Darcy knew she could rely on him, but the words spoken between them that afternoon weren’t meant for anyone else’s ears. There were a lot of moving pieces in the game Darcy was playing, and they had been set and moved long before she had been pulled into the mess that was now her life. She remembered her assessment back in Wakanda.

They were good people. However, they weren’t her people. Not all of them. Not really.

They all dispersed shortly after, with Natasha, Tony, Steve, and Bruce calling Wanda in to let her know what had been discussed. The Guardians headed for their assigned rooms, though Quill told Darcy he was going to go talk to Nebula before he even considered going to sleep, which had her thinking that she would speak to the woman the following morning instead of later as she had previously resolved to do.

Though Darcy felt exhausted, she followed Thor and Stephen to the rooftop. Two levels higher than that of the apartment building, it granted Darcy a different perspective of the grounds, but with the moon high in the sky, and minimal lighting, there wasn’t much to be seen. They stood in silence, with Darcy beside the tall blond and Stephen a little farther behind them.

“I shall postpone my leave until you are properly situated,” said Thor as he turned to fully face Darcy.

“Thor, no!”

“I would not be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you without my being there to help, Sister.” Thor let Darcy take one of his hands and hold it in both of her own. In all of her resolve to not touch people, only Thor had been the exception. He’d proven time and again that he didn’t find her reasons to keep away from him acceptable, always offering her an embrace or an arm.

“You need to find your people, Thor.” She added, “You need to be with your family.”

“You are also my family, Darcy Lewis,” he held her face with his free hand. “Those of my blood and heart have gone, and I hope it will be long before I join them in Valhalla, but know that as much as I consider those of Asgard to be my family, I consider you mine as well. No other here can offer me the same love and comfort I feel when I am with you.” He pulled her into an embrace. “No one has, and no one will.”

“But I can’t let you stay just because you’re worried about me.” Darcy pulled away, taking a few steps back so that she was a bit closer to Stephen. “I’m going to be with the best people to watch out for me, and you — you’re going to be with the people who will understand every bit of what you’ve gone and are going through. The Asgardians aren’t the only ones that need you now, Thor.”

Thor’s brows furrowed.

“The Guardians will need someone to lead them. Peter won’t be leaving my side any time soon, if he had any say in it. With Gamora the one to ask him for help, he’s going to do everything to fulfill his promise to her.” She sighed. “They’ll be able to help you in your mission, as well as give you the chance to expand your reach and network throughout all the realms. Who better to lead a ragtag group of misfits than a prince who has been a part of one himself?” She grinned.

He was both resigned and determined as he said, “I shall return as soon as possible.”

Darcy joked, “We might even be the one to find you, Big Guy.”

“I look forward to that.” He smiled, finally genuine and somewhat lighthearted.

Thor and Darcy bade each other good night, and the God of Thunder left Darcy with Stephen, nearly running into Steve who had come up to check on Darcy.

“Good evening, Steve.” Darcy said with a tired smile.

“Darcy; Doctor;” Steve nodded. “Just wanted t’see if you were alright — been an exhausting day, ain’t it?”

“I’m fine,” assured Darcy, though Steve still looked concerned. “Stephen’s just waiting to give me Christine’s birthday gift.”

“She doesn’t even need me to do this.” Strange said with narrowed eyes. He addressed Darcy, “You can easily do this for yourself.”

“Yes, but I don’t have control of my mojo, remember?” Darcy said as she smiled up at him sweetly, before turning to a confused Steve. “How’s’bout it, Steve? Want to join me and Doc here for a little trip?”

Steve’s brows rose as Strange created a portal. “Where’re we goin’, doll?”

“Don’t you trust me?” She asked, before stepping through the portal. Before Steve could say anything stupid like I’d follow you anywhere, he entered as well.

They stood in front of three tombstones.

Alexander James Lewis

Lily Helen Lewis

Jeremiah Jameson Lewis

“Darcy,” Strange offered her a ring, and Steve’s eyes widened. “Consider this your last bit of training for the foreseeable future.”

“What?” Darcy’s brows furrowed, though she held out her hand so that Strange could drop it in her palm. Instead of doing so though, he took her hand, much to Steve’s chagrin, and turned it over so that he could slip the ring onto her finger.

“Bring yourself and the good Captain back on your own.” He sent Steve a sharp look, “Keep her safe.” Without waiting for either of their responses, Strange created a portal and left the pair at the cemetery, much like had been done to him on Everest but without the life-threatening cold.

“Oh that motherff—” Darcy huffed turning back to the tombstones. The sight of them quickly sobered the brunette, forgetting her odd mix of amusement and frustration. Her sigh was slow and deep, as if she could exhale all the events of the past two months that had turned her life upside down.

Steve wanted to ask about the ring, but knew that there would be a better time for that. He looked at the spot where Strange had stood, before coming to stand beside Darcy. He hesitated placing an arm around her, stuck between wanting to offer comfort and the propriety of his actions. Strange had just given her a ring, and she’d accepted it without a word — as if it had already been hers in the first place — and he didn’t know if Strange doing that was some sort of sign to get Steve to back off. Then again, he’d left Darcy alone with him, hadn’t he? He was just about to place a hand on her back when she spoke up.

“My parents adopted Christine when we were twelve. She’s biologically my cousin; our moms were sisters.” She shivered, feeling the cool night air against her bare skin.

Since neither of them had been wearing a jacket, he didn’t have anything to offer her. He let his hovering hand fall flat on her back and snake around her waist to pull her closer.

Darcy let out a small chuckle, “Thanks.”

“So she got you the chance to be with your family as a birthday gift,” said Steve, continuing her earlier train of thought.

“We know each other best,” murmured Darcy, shuffling closer to Steve’s warmth and resting her head against him. “Through aliens, law school, med school, NDAs, shitty boyfriends that I end up sucker punching—” She laughed at the memory, though her sniffle betrayed the tears that fell.

He turned so that he could properly encase her in his arms.

“Hey, no, no,” Darcy wiped at her tears with laugh. “I’m…this is just—I—” She chuckled and placed her hands on his chest. “This has been an exhausting day. Well, exhausting couple of weeks, really.” She admitted, looking at the graves of her family. “I’m just glad I got to spend a bit of time with them today.”

His hold on her tightened, though he barely noticed, too focused at how she had turned her head to face him. Her eyes looked more silver than blue in the moonlight and her lips were quirked in a small smile that could get any man to do her bidding. Her ample bust was pressed against his chest, and only a few inches kept the rest of their body away from each other.

She looked absolutely breathtaking.

Another shiver and he brought his hands to her arms and rubbed them to offer her more warmth.

“Guess we should head back now, huh?” She whispered, afraid to ruin what moment they were sharing.

“Wouldn’t do for you t’freeze on your birthday,” agreed Steve just as softly, smiling down at her.

They pulled away then, and Darcy placed her hands in the now familiar stance Stephen had taught her. She adjusted the ring with her thumb, drawing comfort in having it to help better focus her power. With a few deep breaths, she moved her arm to create the portal, delighting when it opened on her first try.

Steve watched as she turned to him with a wide smile, feeling her own pride in what she had accomplished. She looked beautiful to him, and he wanted to tell her but didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. He knew she was sweet to everyone. She gave compliments and little gifts without care for anything in return. She cooked for them all, and offered an ear or a shoulder when someone needed to vent. Darcy had taken the hand she’d been dealt and continued to play. She rolled with all the punches from the very beginning of the entire ordeal, and she had done so with nothing less than a smile or a smirk.

He wasn’t blind though. Steve knew she wasn’t infallible. He saw how she gravitated towards Jane and Thor when she was feeling less than one hundred percent. He saw the way she would curl up somewhere with a book or her tablet and a complete lack of care for anyone else around her when she wasn’t feeling too extroverted. He had kept her company on some such occasions, where they would stay in her apartment and be in their own worlds; him with his sketchpad and pencil, and her with whatever she had at the time. Darcy Lewis wasn’t perfect, but she definitely liked finding ways to make people’s days better. She was perhaps a less aggressive (read: violent) Peggy Carter.

Darcy Lewis was all that he had wanted once upon a time.

Brave and beautiful.

More accurately, Darcy Lewis was whom he wanted right now.

She liked him.

The realization shouldn’t have startled her as much as it did. Steve was a sweet guy after all. Sometimes a little old-fashioned, sure, but his beliefs and actions had always been with good intentions. She had seen how determined he could be when he firmly believed in something. In fact, she was working out the kinks of the situation he had found himself in because of his beliefs.

He was undeniably protective of his people. It wasn’t just Bucky that he wanted to shield from the world; at least, not anymore. She had seen how wound up and somewhat awkward he got when Wanda, Scott, Clint, and Sam were brought into conversations between Steve and Natasha, Thor, or even herself. He always fought with everything he had, and it had left him broken more often than not, and not just in the physical sense either. She knew under the careful façade of a moral high ground he liked to keep, there was some deep issues where his relationship with the other Avengers were concerned — with Tony, especially.

There had been times in the past few weeks that they kept only each other company, when he was assigned as her guard and she stayed in her apartment outside of her training times. He still wasn’t privy to the entirety of her projects, but he was definitely aware that she was working on some things bigger than herself. He had seen her with her large notepad, taking notes and sifting through casebooks, and she had seen him engrossed in his own type of paper, dragging pencil or charcoal to and fro, recreating a scene she wasn’t all privy to. In those times, she had seen Steve Rogers.

Where Captain America was the star-spangled man with the plan, and Captain Rogers was the best soldier anyone could want, Steve Rogers was the boy from Brooklyn who had come to find that he was more than content to have paper and charcoal in his hands. She had watched as he let charcoal glide over pages, highlighting and shading, bringing to life his perception of beauty and reality. He had shown her some of his works, mostly done in black and white, with various subjects. There had been a lot of Bucky, both from the forties and from this time, and there were a scattered amount of the various other Avengers. She had even seen one of Tony and Pepper, looking every bit as in love on paper as they were in real life.

She felt her lips softening into a smaller smile.

Steve, for all of his hard edges and penchant for trouble, was so incredibly lovable that it was difficult not to be, at the very least, drawn to him. She’d had her crushes, both the superficial type and the more meaningful ones. This was one of the latter, born out of a deep respect and understanding of what he had gone through and some of the thinking that he had had to come to the decisions that he had made.

She had always been a little bit attracted to him (really, who wouldn’t?). He had graced her history books as a blond-haired and blue-eyed soldier that defended freedom. Even then, he had already been painted as a hero. When she saw more recent photos of him, saw his peach blond hair turn into a chestnut/chocolate blond and his clean-shaven face be concealed by the facial hair he had come to sport and own. She had been a bit intimidated by him back in Wakanda, but in getting to know him, she had lost that intimidation and gained both insight and affection for the man behind the shield and under the cowl.

Darcy liked him, but that did not mean she would tell him, or that it mattered all that much.

Steve Rogers was a good person, because history got that part right, he was a guy from Brooklyn that had wanted to save his country. He was a good person, but he wasn’t one of hers, and would most likely never be. It wasn’t even just a matter of romantic interest, it simply was that her priority was not her love life. Instead her focus was solely on getting herself to a point where she could return to her own semblance of normal so that she could continue the roles she had taken on to provide a better future for the world. She wanted to make sure Jane succeeded in her creation of the Bridge, and that Coulson and Fury could win the fight to ensuring Inhumans were treated as more than soldiers. She had taken on these projects to be able to do something worthwhile in her life, to be able to bring about change whose effects weren’t just immediate. It was difficult, and definitely involved a lot of sacrifices, but Darcy didn’t have much else to lose, but if she let herself be distracted by her budding feelings for Steve, well, that was opening herself up to a pain she’d already succumbed to, once upon a time.

She would continue to like Steve, maybe even come to love him in time, but she wouldn’t put him in a position that would endanger the friendship they had come to build, and the walls she’d painstakingly encased her heart in.

“Let’s go?” She offered him a hand, to lessen the probability of them being separated in case she messed up with the portal.

He took her hand and followed her through, feeling as if there was nowhere else he would have rather been.

They arrived in her apartment, though perhaps not in the best of ways. Instead of a portal perpendicular to the floor, Darcy had created one parallel to it.

On the ceiling.

Darcy’s eyes closed reflexively, and Steve pulled her flush against him and tried to manipulate them so that he was beneath her. Thankfully, the Time Stone’s abilities kicked in and slowed their descent, and with Steve beneath her, she had virtually no risk of getting hurt.

They landed without a sound, and Darcy was quick to roll off of Steve to avoid any awkward straddling situation and just lied beside him. It felt comfortable to be with him, as she had come to find throughout their growing friendship.

“Started on the roof, and now we’re on the floor, what even is this day, Steve?”

“Fallin’ with a dame like you definitely wasn’t part of my plan, but I can’t say I’m mad ‘bout it.”

She moved to lie on her side, using her hand to prop her head up as she looked at him with a raised brow, “Oh so you had a plan now?”

“I’m the man with the plan, right?” Steve answered with a grin. They shared a laugh at that, and when they had fallen back into silence, Steve added, “Thanks for bringin’ me along, Darcy; this morning and tonight. I’m honored you trust me enough for that.”

Darcy pulled herself up so that she could sit, and smiled as she met his gaze.

“I actually have a gift for you, but it isn’t ready yet.”

“Oh, thanks for getting my hopes up!” Darcy said dramatically.

Steve grinned as he stood, “Trust me, you’ll thank me for making you wait, sweetheart.”

“Well don’t have me waiting forever, now, soldier.”

Chapter Text

“Who is she?”

“I was hoping you would have the answers.” Gamora said. “The stones favor you. The fact that you’re able to do magic here says a lot about that.”

Loki held his tongue, unwilling to disclose how he had kept his life and powers. He watched as Sigyn twitched and Darcy pressed her palm against the opaque barricade around her. Both barriers surrounding the two women crackled with magic that felt older than any he’s ever seen or experienced, and again he wondered how his late wife was in the Soul Realm.

He remembered when the stones had come to him, taking on the shape of various people he had found important in his life. Then, he had heard Sigyn’s voice but known that it was simply one of the stones masquerading as her. This time though, he knew without the shadow of a doubt that the woman was his late wife. She looked as she had the last time they had been together, when he had left her to go to war with his brother and she had stayed to secure the safety of the babe she had been carrying.

It had resulted in her death as she had stood to protect Asgard by his parents’ sides. It was with her ashes that the magical dome protecting Asgard had been fortified, the magic accepting her and their son’s death as a sacrifice to supplement and strengthen their defenses. Her death had broken him, and he had vowed not to let anyone close enough to have that power over him.

The only thing was that he hadn’t counted on being stuck in a realm with only one Midgardian woman for company, because whether he wanted to admit it or not, Darcy Lewis had crawled under his skin and had firmly set herself as someone he wished to keep in his life.

“I know her. That’s my wife.”

Gamora looked at him in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

“The woman in the other cell.” Loki said. “In cerulean.”

“Loki, what are you talking about? All I see are two copies of Darcy Lewis.”

And then Gamora was gone, taking Sigyn with her.

Once again, it was just Loki and Darcy, though she was only slowly beginning to regain her sight and other senses.

“Loki?” Darcy asked, reaching out to look for him without her sight. He watched as bright blue eyes returned, and she blinked rapidly to return her vision.

Loki made no move towards her, trying to reconcile who the woman before him was, and why Gamora saw another Darcy Lewis where he had seen Sigyn.

Jane was leaving.

Just as planned, Jane was leaving the day after Darcy’s birthday.

“Agent Sharon Carter,” Darcy grinned as Jane sat on her luggage so that Darcy could help zip it. “Fury says she’s perfect for the job. She’ll keep you safe, make sure you’re fed and watered — just until I can travel safely.” When the large bag was finally secure, the pair lied on the bed, knees bent so their legs dangled off the edge.

“I still don’t get why I can’t just stay here.” Jane grumbled. “It’s not like the experiment’s any less delayed than it already was. We still don’t have a proper power source, and with you under house arrest and very limited people with clearance high enough to help…”

Darcy hummed, “We both knew it was going to be tough, especially since I took on the project with Pepper and SHIELD. I talked to the others, and Hope’s willing to lend her experience and  even talk to her parents to push your research. Coulson and Fury have people posted at every location you’ll be. All you have to do is use the phone they gave us.”

“But what about you? How will you contact them?”

“They’ll know how to find me.” Darcy said with a shrug. “If anything, they’ll know how to find Pepper, so…”

There was a moment where silence enveloped them, heavy with words and feelings neither wished to speak. Their goodbyes were beginning to feel a little too permanent for either of their tastes, and though they don’t plan for it to be, they were aware that their plans would make it so that personally seeing each other wouldn’t be feasible unless Darcy was able to fully control her powers.

Jane rolled over so she were facing her friend, and Darcy did the same thing so that they were face-to-face, heads cradled by their hands.

“Are you sure I can even do what you’re asking?” Jane’s lips were downturned in a frown as her eyes shown with worry.

“You won’t be alone, Jane-y.” Darcy assured her, knowing that the astrophysicist probably already had the list of her known assistants and guards memorized.

“But they won’t be you.”

Darcy blinked rapidly, not wanting to let her tears fall, “No they won’t.”

She walked with Loki in silence.

Ever since the debacle that had unfolded hours ago, she felt unsure about every move she made. Loki had filled her in on all that had occurred, and the memories that had flown through to her from conscious!Darcy seemed to match his explanation.

There is a part of you that does not feel at peace with the other.

That’s what both Thor and Loki had said right? Their innate Aesir magic had sensed something off in her ever since this whole Infinity Stone shit show that had possibly been proven earlier. There was someone else in there with them. Someone that wasn’t Thanos.

Or Gamora.

Or either of the Infinity Stones.

There was someone else under someone’s protection. She didn’t know if it were the stones, or Thanos, and all Loki had told her about the other being was that it was protected by magic — which could practically mean anything in this realm. She felt as if there was more to it than he let on, but knew better than to push. Antagonizing or accusing him might just make him leave, and after weeks of mostly being alone, she really didn’t want a repeat.

They reached their destination, a replica of the two-storey house she and Jane had lived in during their stay in London, just as the sun was beginning to rise. Darcy paused by the door, looking at the dark wood. She felt Loki’s presence looming behind her, and the fact that she could feel his body heat told her just how close he was.

“I will not let any harm come to you, Darcy.” He said, voice soft and low. “This I swear.”

Darcy turned around, throwing her arms around him.

Momentarily startled, Loki returned her embrace cautiously. To be holding someone in his arms so soon after having seen Sigyn felt wrong, but the idea that Darcy and Sigyn were somehow connected couldn’t leave him. It didn’t make things alright, but it had him reevaluating how he ought to be looking at their situation and how he could better protect the woman in his arms.

“I trust you,” Darcy said as they slowly pulled away.

They were both unsure whom she was trying to convince or assure; him or herself?

A week after Jane had left, the Guardians (sans Quill) were scheduled to leave Earth with Thor to look for the remaining Asgardians scattered throughout the galaxies. Nebula had asked Darcy if she should stay, and Darcy had replied with a short and sweet message that basically told Nebula she wasn’t beholden to anything or anyone. If she wished to go with Thor to give herself time to grieve and move on from Gamora’s death then she should go ahead, because Darcy didn’t want to encourage what hope Quill might have unintentionally sown in saying that Gamora was somewhere in her head.

If it were up to Darcy, which was to say, if she could somehow properly utilize the abilities granted to her by the Infinity Stones, she’d bring back Thor’s people and wipe away Thanos’. Her and Thor’s conversation about the power the stones granted its keeper was never far from her mind, and she could never let go of the idea that she could maybe bring back Asgard if she only had control and actually tried.

It was the night before their departure that found Darcy in a heated argument with Thor, much to their friends’ surprise.

“I will return as soon as I can,” Thor had promised as they stood in the kitchen while Darcy was preparing dinner.

Darcy tutted. “A promise made is a debt unpaid.”

“It is a debt I am more than willing to pay.” Thor said with a frown.

“Look, Big Guy,” she put a lid on the pot and leaned on the counter as she looked up at him. “All I’m saying is you shouldn’t prioritize coming back—not for me.”

“And why not?”

“You have an entire kingdom to think about, Thor.” She made a casual gesture with one hand as the other came up to smooth down her hair, a nervous habit of hers she had acquired in college. “They’ll be out there wondering where their home has gone, and they’ll be looking to you to take care of them.”

Thor countered, “Can I not care for them and you as well?”

“Not if it’ll mean having to choose between one or the other.”

“Why do you insist that there is a need to choose?” Thor took a step towards her, and had it been any other man, Darcy might have been taken aback or felt attacked.

“Because there is!” Darcy spat. “You’re going to leave and find a place to call your own with your people. You’re going to fulfill all that you’ve ever trained for. You’re a king, and a god—Jesus, fuck, Thor, you’re pretty much the only god any and everyone can believe in right now. I’m human. I’m so fucking human, and you’ll be out there living and thriving, and I’m…Jane and I will age normally, Thor. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’m far from the college senior you met in New Mexico. So you’re gonna be out there, doing your thing, and by the time you come back, I’ll probably be dead, or at least too senile to even remember you.”

At her words, Thor felt his resolve begin to crumble. Jane had argued the same thing, had she not? These women whom he had come to love and cherish as dearly as he ever had, wanted the very best for him even if it were at the cost of their own ties to him. It was a bittersweet thought that left a sour taste in his mouth.

She continued on, “I’m telling you not to make promises because I don’t want to add to the burden that’s already on your shoulders. It’s not worth the stress nor the hassle.”

“No!” Thor argued, feeling rage bubble within him. “You had once told me that home was never a matter of where you grew or where you were most powerful. You had explained that home was where one felt safe and most at peace. I had found that in my love’s arms. I had found that in the easy camaraderie and love you had offered. I had found that among the Avengers.”

Darcy, whose eyes were already watering, sniffled.

“I had found home in my people. Asgard is her people. And you, Darcy Lewis,” Thor’s voice softened, eyes easily meeting hers. “You are one of my people, just as I know I am one of yours.”

Tears fell from her eyes as she side-stepped to introduce some distance between them.

“And so you may try to push me away, but I shall never cease to be your brother. I had already failed Loki, I will not fail you.” He turned and left through the backdoor, which slammed close just as a loud clap of thunder rang overhead.

Their audience, who had already been in the common floor when Darcy had begun preparing to cook, were tense with the conversation that had taken place. Steve, Sam, and both Peters had been playing pool and paused when they had begun arguing. When Thor had left, no one made a move.

They hadn’t seen it coming. The pair had always been smiles and sweetness to each other, and to hear them arguing (if you could even call it that) was an entirely new perspective in their relationship.

“Oh, fuck.” Darcy hissed, waving her hand and then running her hand under cold water. She had burnt her hand trying to take out the croutons she had been toasting, with her vision blurred, mind foggy, and hand unprotected.

Steve was quick to instruct Sam to take over cooking as he approached the brunette.

“Hey, Darce, why don’t you leave this to Sam? Let’s go treat that burn, and Sam will have Friday call us up when he’s done.” He placed a hand on her forearm, realizing that she was shaking. He guided her to the elevator, taking her willingness to be led around as a sign that she was at least mostly aware of what was happening.

When they were in the elevator, Darcy turned and buried her face in his chest. Her arms came up to wrap around his waist, and his own went around her back securely. She wasn’t crying, but she was definitely still trembling. They arrived at her floor and he was able to maneuver them into her apartment.

He led her to the couch, and when she was sitting down, he turned to leave and get her first aid kit. There was sure to be some burn ointment there. She latched onto his wrist before he could even fully stand, and Steve found himself kneeling before her as she pulled him down.

“Don’t leave,” she said. “Not you too.”

And Steve got it.

Sort of.

Darcy had put on a brave and nonchalant face in front of everyone. She barely bat an eye at all the inconveniences and anomalies that the past couple of weeks had brought, and everyone had accepted it as simply being one of the woman’s quirks. Her carefree spirit tempered with her level-headed decisions had everyone believing that there was nothing wrong with their resident lawyer. She had attended her trainings and had mediocre results, excluding her borrowed abilities from the stones. She had befriended nearly everyone living in the residential unit, only ever showing any unease or caution where Steve was concerned, but even that had been worked through and done with especially after her birthday. When she wasn’t training or hanging out with them, Darcy would hole up in her apartment with privacy protocols enabled to the extent that only an emergency (or Jane) would grant her security team access. Those were the moments everyone believed she was working on more sensitive information or tasks involved in her projects.

But what if they had been wrong?

Steve had seen how much Pepper and Tony valued Darcy. Every interaction hinted at a connection between the two women that even Tony hadn’t been made aware of until recently. Their arrival from Wakanda had hinted at it, and the various calls shared by the pair more than solidified it.

It was no secret that Tony liked to tinker with objects that he knew would make things easier for people. It was practically an open secret that one of the bracelets Pepper always wears doubles as both a tracking device and a weapon of some sort. No one but perhaps Tony and Rhodes knew the details, but Natasha had pointed out how it never left Pepper’s body. Even when it wasn’t on her wrist as most bracelets were, it was always somewhere on her person.

What if Tony had done something similar for Darcy?

Instead of a weapon, however, Tony could give her control. Where Darcy had lost most of her agency due to the unpredictability of the stones, she could have been given power over whom she let in and out of her rooms. It was something Steve had realized when he had first attempted to enter her room when she had asked FRIDAY to keep them out. If he or any of the others in the facility erected privacy protocols, the team could still enter their room provided the resident showed signs of abnormal or worrying behavior.

It was a setting in place from even their time at Avengers Tower, wherein JARVIS could alert the nearest possible Avenger (or authorized person).

Bruce’s screams had pulled Natasha into his room, offering him her company.

Post-break up, Thor’s nightmares had Darcy, Bruce, and even Jane offering to make tea, listen, and reminisce.

His own sleepless nights hadn’t manifested in ways that had FRIDAY alerting anyone, but he found that he was rarely alone when he found himself at an ungodly hour in the gym. Sam, Thor, and at one point, even Quill had been in the area, ready to spar or even just be there.

And if Tony would ensure that for them? Who was to say that perhaps Tony wouldn’t ensure that Darcy had every possible ounce of control over FRIDAY — to the point that the AI wouldn’t be able to alert them if something were wrong with her? That perhaps FRIDAY would contact only—

Jane Foster.

The astrophysicist had been gone for nearly seven days. In that time, there had been changes implemented that had been decided the night of Darcy’s birthday. She no longer trained with them, and often left her apartment at around ten in the morning, as opposed to what had been her usual 7:00AM breakfast and coffee time in the common room. Tony and Darcy had agreed that her night guards would be people she was most comfortable with, and so had gone with Bruce and Thor. With them still being in the residential building, however, Darcy was able to keep her privacy, and the two men had only been required to move to the apartments closest to Darcy should anything happen.

It meant that she was still granted the near-full privacy she was entitled to whenever she activated her privacy protocols. And when they were active, no one knew what happened behind her closed doors.

How long had Darcy been teetering over the edge, waiting to pull herself firmly together or crash and burn — which ever came first. How long had she and Jane leaned on each other (and only each other) for support? And following Thor and Jane’s breakup, how long had Darcy kept her own hardships buried beneath a smile and a joke? And now that Thor was leaving, who would Darcy have?

Steve recalled the god’s words. It felt like the conversation had been so long ago. Has it really been only a couple of weeks?

“This is not my land to rule, and you may be my brother, but you are not one of my people. However, your actions now affect that of my sister…I could only hope to leave her under the protection of people who would not run when there are still battles to be fought and wars to be won.”

“There is no war here, and we will all be here to keep her safe,” Steve had said at the time.

He knew better now though. Thor hadn’t been talking about wars fought on the battlefield. Darcy was gearing up for changes in the system, backed by (or perhaps headed by, Steve wasn’t really sure) Pepper Potts. And more than her physical safety, Thor had been concerned that no one was going to look after Darcy’s overall well-being. Thor had probably known by then that Jane was going to be leaving right after Darcy’s birthday. Had he scheduled his leave so that Darcy wasn’t suddenly without he and Jane? Had Thor hoped to somewhat ween Darcy off of his and Jane’s presence? No matter, Steve wanted to assure Darcy that she didn’t have to rely on just Thor and Jane.

“Darcy,” Steve said softly, cupping her cheek so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “You won’t be alone. Not through this. Not while I can help it.”

Her eyes, watery as they were, looked into his own without hesitation. He wondered what she was thinking and what he must look like to her, on his knees and holding her rather forwardly.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He said firmly, to which Darcy shot him a watery smile.

“I can’t be your new project, Steve. I’m not going to be another Bucky.” She held the wrist of his hand that was cupping her face, and then placed a kiss on his palm before untangling herself from him and taking a couple of steps away from him. “I think I’m gonna go take a nap and then be back up in time for dinner.”

In the Soul Realm, Loki and Darcy sat on the swing in the back porch of the house Darcy had recreated. Even as conscious!Darcy lived her life, subconscious!Darcy was able to continue to move and work as well. Without the extra effort that her training had been extracting from her and the stones, the ability to essentially live a double-life had resumed.

“You look less pale,” said Loki when she had asked if she seemed different, because she definitely felt different.

“I do?”

Loki nodded, “Your face is less gaunt and the veins in your hands are no longer as visible.” He stopped the porch from swaying, and took her hands in his as if to show her what he was talking about. “You’re less annoying as well.”

“Hey!”

He grinned as she shoved him, and they settled back in to watch what her conscious half was up to. With the help of the stones and under Loki’s tutelage, she had come up with a way to be able to flash what she was seeing and experiencing in her head as conscious!Darcy lived and breathed. And so she only need to think it and direct where she wanted it, then a holo-screen would appear and her life would play out literally before her very eyes.

She winced at Thor and her argument, knowing it came from a place of fear and pride. She was not going to let Thor lose the chance to find his remaining fellow Asgardians, but she feared being left alone with practically only Bruce as her consistent source of comfort. After all, with Jane gone, he was the only one left that she truly considered her people. Well, there was Peter Parker, but he wasn’t always around, so…

“He didn’t fail me,” Loki said as he tightened his hold on her.

“You should tell him that when you see him.” She said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Loki smiled, though she couldn’t see. “Why don’t you tell him for me?”

“Dude, if only I could actually control what I do there,” she motioned to the screen, where they watched as she burned her finger. “Oh fuck.” She looked down at the same hand conscious!Darcy had hurt, seeing the burn bubble. “This is gross. I’m just glad it disappears quickly. If there’s anything I’d love to keep once all this is over, it’s definitely the healing thing.”

“I see the Captain’s soft spot for you continues,” Loki said as they watched Steve take Darcy into his arms.

She hummed in agreement, “I think he likes me.”

“As you like him?”

“Maybe. I hope, but probably not.” Her eyes flickered to him briefly before returning to the screen. “Wouldn’t it be nice, though? If he could see me as I am, and not a project he needs to fix or someone he needs to babysit.”

For a moment, Loki didn’t know what to say. He felt conflicted. On one hand, she deserved all the happiness she could find. Darcy has been nothing but kind outside of her irritation and frustration. However, he hadn’t considered the possibility of her happiness meaning preferring someone else (over him?). He disliked where the train of thought came from as well as where it was heading. When had he even begun to associate he and Darcy as a unit?

He recalled Sigyn once again, and he felt guilt curl deep within. She had yet to reappear, but if being stuck in this realm had taught him anything, it was that nothing was peaceful for long.

Loki spared her another look, intending to just briefly glance at her and return his attention to the screen, but found himself doing a double take when he saw something that caught his eye. In the dark brown hair of Darcy Lewis’ head, a handful of blonde hairs shined.

“I’m glad I’m standing up for myself.” She said, just as the Darcy they were watching left Steve. She turned to Loki, who was looking at her with an intensity she knew meant that he was thinking far too deeply than she was comfortable with.

He let go of her hands and used one of his to hold her chin.

For a moment, she thought he would kiss her, and the thought didn’t inspire the fear, dread, or even excitement that she would have expected it would. Instead there was a warmth in her chest and at her chin where his skin met hers. There was a deep sense of being at the right place in that moment, and her eyes drifted lower to look at his lips. She wondered if he felt the same way, but found herself afraid to ask.

“At the risk of sounding like our favorite Captain,” Loki began with a roll of his eyes that had her grinning. “You really are not alone, sweet girl. Not there and certainly not here. I have promised to stay by your side to protect you, and out there, you have plenty of your friends to rely on.”

Her lips closed into a smaller, more intimate, smile.

Loki wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her about the different colored hairs. He wanted to tell her about how holding her felt such an odd contradiction of right and wrong. He wanted to let her know the theories he had come up with when it came to just who she was, because as much as he trusted that she has been nothing but upfront with him, Loki suspected that Gamora was probably thinking the same thing when he had said a different name.

Darcy Lewis was not Darcy Lewis.

Or rather:

Darcy Lewis was not just Darcy Lewis.

Her own words repeated in her head as she threw herself onto the bed and closed her eyes.

“I can’t be your new project, Steve. I’m not going to be another Bucky.”

Truth be told, she had regretted saying them the moment the words had left her mouth. Of course, just because she regretted saying them, did not mean they were any less true. In the weeks she had spent with her housemates (Tony referring to the facility as a version of the Big Brother house has pretty much not left her mind), she had seen the difference in which Steve regarded her.

There was an aloofness with which he spoke to her, punctuated by the one-on-one sweet moments they would share, usually when he was her guard. He treated her like a wounded animal; soft and understanding when directly addressing her, but colder and more to-the-point when he spoke about her to others. His no-nonsense attitude, something she had come to appreciate in him in the first few weeks of their acquaintance had long since dissipated, and it had her wondering what had changed.

She had thought that they were friends, regardless of the feelings she had for him.

When had she screwed up and left the friend zone and launched herself firmly into the charity case basket?

Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat. Was she really going to cry right now? She sniffled, trying not to think of how much she missed Jane, only to end up flooding her own mind with thoughts of the astrophysicist.

Her door opened without so much as a knock from the intruder, and she waved her hand in a universal gesture of go away.

“I’ll be up in a few,” Darcy said, words muffled since she hadn’t bothered to lift her head from where it was pressed against her sheets.

She thought that the intruder (who was probably just Steve, really) had left when she heard no response, but was beyond surprised when she found herself being scooped up, twisted, and maneuvered so that she was pressed firmly against Steve’s chest, with his arms hooked around her shoulders and under her knees.

“Steve, what the fuck!”

He didn’t even look at her, and she held on to the fabric of his shirt as he walked them out of her apartment and into the elevator.

“I don’t know if this is what they did in the forties, but you don’t just go around stealing women, Steve. What are you, a wildling?” She half-joked, hoping to get a rise out of him. “You know, if you wanted to hold me, you could have just asked. Nat says I’m decent at hand-to-hand, after all.” When he still said nothing, she continued, “Okay, you know what, fine. I guess it’s kind of hot that you can literally throw me around and use my body.”

His left eye twitched, and Darcy counted that as a win.

She hadn’t realized she had zoned out while staring at him until she was being dropped on a bed. Neither the color of the walls nor the sheets caught her eye. She couldn’t tell you how she had been deposited on the mattress anymore than she could explain how she felt in that moment, because one twist of her head had charcoal, pastel, pencil, and paint filling her vision.

Where one wall of all of their rooms were lined with screens that could replicate whatever view the occupant desired, Steve had covered it with thirty different pages from his sketchpad. The medium varied through out all of them, though she could see that there were more charcoal than paint, and more pastel than pencil. There was variety in the poses and elements in the pages, but there was one thing consistent in all of them—

Her.

Darcy hadn’t even realized she had stood and stepped closer to all of them, but as she lifted a hand to touch a seemingly unfinished sketch of her laughing while lounging in the large armchair in the common floor, she knew she had read Steve wrong all along.

“You’re right,” said Steve, and his voice sounded so small and faraway, that she wondered if he had moved further or if she just wasn’t entirely back to reality yet. “You’re not Bucky.”

“Steve…”

“If you were Bucky, I wouldn’t have been as quiet about what they’ve been doing to you. I may not be as smart or as magical, but I would have asked more questions and demanded more information about everything that was being done to you because there was no one else to do that for him.”

Darcy resisted every urge she had to turn around. An image of her lounging on the couch with Bruce, Jane, and Tony caught her eye. She had remembered that day. Jane and Tony were debating just how likely Tony’s proposed enhancements to Jane’s machines were going to work, and Bruce and Darcy had let the pair hash it out as they wrote and made notes in their own works.

“If you were Bucky, you would have called me a punk and beat me up the moment you realized just how much I was blaming myself for everything that’s happened to you. Finding him as The Winter Soldier and then looking for ways to work through that without actually knowing how…I blamed myself for not somehow knowing about what was happening to him.”

“What? No—”

“If you were Bucky,” Steve continued over her, stressing the phrase. “You would have either attacked Wanda or left the party altogether. Even after getting rid of the Soldier’s triggers, Bucky’s buttons have always been easy to push if you knew the right ones.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but didn’t really know what to say. Her eyes honed in on another picture, this time of her with Nebula, Natasha, and Sam paying pool. It was remarkable to her how Steve had managed to capture the easy camaraderie between the group in the image. Sam had been mid-laugh as Nebula lined up her shot with Nat coaching her. Darcy had been leaning against the table wiping at a tear that had escaped her because she’d been laughing so hard.

“If you were Bucky, you would have told me about your secret project — the ones with Pepper and Jane — because you would know that working in a team means problems are easier solved when they’re shared, especially with me. He trusts me in spite of everything that’s happened to him, and I will always be grateful for that.”

“Because of all that happened,” Darcy found herself saying. She looked at a charcoal sketch from her birthday. It was of Bucky, Quill, Scott, Sam, and her, as they had stood just before Wanda had opened her mouth. “He trusts you because after all the shit that’s gone down, you were — are — still there for him. You never left him behind.”

“’Til the end of the line,” Steve whispered, and only then did Darcy realize that he was standing beside her.

Another creation grabbed her attention, this one in oil pastels and of her face profile on one edge of the paper. The rest of the image’s colors flowed and blended beautifully and made it wonderful in her eyes. Steve had been able to illustrate the changing colors of the sky, from the dark blue of the night to the pink of dawn, and the bright sapphire of a clear afternoon.

When she let her eyes move to another piece, she found herself momentarily stunned. It was a charcoal and pencil sketch of her. She vaguely remembered this actually happening. It must have been a week ago, when she had offered for him to join her on the roof. He had captured the mess that was her hair and the large shirt and short shorts she was wearing. The only pop of color were the blue of her eyes and the red of her lips, and it made Darcy wonder if that was what Steve had seen that morning.

“And you know I’d tell you what I can about my projects,” assured Darcy, though somewhat distant. “There’re just too many moving pieces right now.”

Steve recognized the words as the same ones Jane had used when she had spoken to Sam about it. What were the moving pieces exactly? He filed the information for later as he turned his head slightly to watch the way her eyes moved from one page to the next, seemingly taking in every little detail in. Briefly, he thought of her relationship with Strange. Were they an item? Was he overstepping in bringing Darcy here?

Feeling his gaze on her, she looked at him.

“If you were Bucky, you would have known I couldn’t just leave once I got to know the dame that got herself caught up in all of this. History will probably tell you that I’m a sucker for dark hair and red lips. Bucky will tell you that I’m a punk that likes women that always know better than me.”

She let out a small laugh at that, hearing the way his tone had begun to lighten, but feeling the weight behind his words as well. If all these works of art were any indication, then her feelings for Steve were far from one-sided. They faced each other, barely any space between them, and he slid his hands into hers, intertwining their fingers.

He wanted to kiss her. One small tug and she’d be against him, and a tilt of his head and a crouch would have his lips against hers and goodness, he wanted to kiss her. Strange and the consequences be damned. He’d indulge himself and let her pull him into whichever realm she pulls everyone else as long as he had her in his arms.

“And you?” Darcy whispered. “What would you tell me?”

“I’d tell you that I think you’re pretty damn great, sweetheart, and I’d like to kiss you right now if you’d let me.”

“Well, c’mere, Captain.” Darcy untangled their hands and threw herself onto him, with one arm around his neck and her other hand holding the side of his face.

Shock barely registered her actions in his mind, but it was a good thing his reflexes caught her and ensured she was flush against him and that their lips were pressed together. Their kiss was heated and spoke of pent up feelings still unspoken. He nibbled on her bottom lip and groaned when she pulled herself flush against him and hooked her ankles just above his ass.

His hand, previously cupping her face, slid down her body, grazing the side of her breast, and settled firmly and comfortably on her ass. He gave it an experimental squeeze that had her gasping into his mouth, and he swiped his tongue in. She responded so beautifully, tongue meeting his and hand fisting in his hair.

If he weren’t careful, he knew he could hurt her with how hard he was holding her, but god did he love the feel of her in his hands. She felt like heaven and tasted like bliss, and Steve barely registered sitting on the bed as she tugged at the hair just above his nape and placed open mouthed kisses down his jaw and throat. His beard pricked and tickled her at the same time, but she couldn’t be bothered as she continued.

“Darcy,” he groaned as she squirmed, the fact that she was straddling him made his hardening erection more likely to be noticed.

“You know,” Darcy began slowly pulling away. “If this is how you and Bucky make up after a fight, I’m gonna have to come up with a different angle to the brotherhood POW story I had in mind to defend your case.”

“Defend my case?”

Darcy’s eyes, pupils blown just as wide as his, and blues darkened considerably, lost some of their haze as she retracted her hands from around him and let them rest on his shoulders. She brought her right index finger to trace his features; up his neck, his ear, his temple and into his hair once again.

“Darcy?” He watched her eyes fall and felt her clench her thighs, as if to press them together. However, with their position being what it was, he found himself gripping her hips as if in warning.

“I’m gonna bring you home, Steve-y.” She said, voice hoarse. She pressed their lips together; swift, soft, sweet, and simple. “The world is changing, and we’re gonna bring everyone home.”

Chapter Text

“Fucking hell.” Darcy groaned, waving her hand to get rid of the vision of herself and the former Captain America making out.

“I would have thought you would be happy they’ve finally come to their senses.” Loki asked with an arched brow.

She stood abruptly, rocking the swing rather violently, and then began pacing. Without even touching herself or looking at her reflection, she knew she was beginning to reflect the changes to conscious!Darcy’s body. Her body was beginning to warm up, and she was probably already flushed.

“Ah,” said Loki.

“Can’t enjoy it unless they follow through, and I highly doubt that’s going to happen because I am probably going to crack a joke about his relationship with Bucky — because the opportunity’s right there! — and then she’ll be fine and maybe work things out with him and talk to Thor again and I’ll—”

“You,” said Loki, cutting her off and latching on to her elbow, effectively stopping her from her back and forth. “Are going to be fine. If you wish, we can practice some more to get your mind off of it.”

“Loki, you don’t understand.” Darcy made an unintelligible noise and pulled her arm away. “I’m her subconscious. I know everything about her. I feel everything. Before the whole self-imposed no touching thing because of the stones, the most affection I’ve gotten was from Jane. And it was platonic. The most recent action I’ve gotten that didn’t involve just my hand or the removable shower head was about a year and a half ago, y’know—just before I found out my ex was cheating on me and I got myself into a shitty as fuck car accident that nearly got me killed.” She groaned in frustration, and the world around them darkened with her mood.

In the distance, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, and Loki wondered if in spending so much time with Thor, Darcy had picked up on the thunder god’s innate ability to have nature respond so easily to him.

“I’m fucking touch-starved.” She sighed. “Out there, I only let Thor get away with prolonged physical contact. The most I’ve touched Steve were the hugs we’ve shared, and those were nothing compared to the long ass hugs I used to drag Jane or Jeremy into.”

He noted that Jeremy must have been her ex, because she has certainly never mentioned him before. In fact, this was the first time he was hearing of her former lover and her car accident. How informative the Captain’s kiss was turning out to be for him.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, and here I can’t even do shit because you’re here. Before all of this, when I wasn’t aware about my own existence, this wasn’t even a problem.” She continued as she put a hand on her head, and the other on her hip. “And now all I can think about is how horny I am and that I can’t do anything about it!”

“Why not?”

The simple question had her rounding on him with a frown and her arms crossed.

“If you wish to relieve yourself, you’re free to do so. The realm bends to your will and command.” He shrugged. “I’m sure you only need to think it and any being or thing of your choosing will appear, ready to please you.”

Darcy looked up at him from beneath her lashes. He thought she would lash out once again. Women tend to be rather unpredictable when it came to these sorts of things, and the last thing Loki wanted was to be caught between a needy beautiful woman and her release. He lamented that if she had revealed this problem earlier into their acquaintance he might have actually offered to help her out, but in getting to know her, he thought it would have been in poor taste. Not only had she just admitted to being rather taken with the Captain, but he had come to see her firmly as a companion.

Of course, there was also the matter of Sigyn. His lovely wife was somewhere in this realm, seemingly in pain or in a trance (he’d rather be leave she was in some form of Sleep than pain for everyone’s own safety and sanity), and no matter how lovely he found Darcy Lewis, she would never compare to his Goddess of Fidelity.

Did he know? She couldn’t help but wonder. They’ve been together for so long that she wondered if he realized just how fond she had become of him. She vaguely considered it being a side-effect of their predicament; maybe some variation of Stockholm Syndrome. Regardless, Darcy knew she wasn't going to say anything about it. Loki was here to make sure Thanos didn't get out. No matter what he said about being there for her, she knew better. Loki was atoning for even briefly helping Thanos, and every bit of wrong-doing he had ever done (to Thor, most likely).

This was Loki’s redemption arc, really, and Darcy Lewis just happened to be a supporting character in it. How fitting that she was playing much the same role on Earth, but with Steve.

“Captain Rogers, Mister Wilson has asked that you and Darcy return to the common floor because dinner’s ready.” FRIDAY’s voice cut in, effectively ending the heated moment between them.

Darcy pressed another quick kiss to his lips, mentally assuring herself that this was not sexual harassment as her lawyer-self would argue. She had always been big on consent, and it had only increased with her becoming a lawyer.

“I’ll tell you everything soon, I promise.” She said, pushing herself off of him to stand on the floor. Her feet, covered only by socks because the man before her had carried her from her apartment to his, were a little shaky — well, actually her legs were shaky because holy fuck she just made out with Captain America. There must be a law against that or something. Does it count as indecent exposure? Wait, did Captain America count as a National Monument or something? Because he was definitely seen as a National Icon by some, but did the President actually ever name him that?

Thor’s fucking balls, she needed to stop thinking for a moment. She felt like she was drunk. The thought made her snort. Figures you could get drunk off of Captain America’s kisses.

Her hair was a mess, but thankfully she had a hair tie on her wrist, so she pulled it up into a messy bun. She met Steve’s eyes as she did so, surprised to see that there was still some heat in his gaze. Then again, if the bulge she had felt (and can still see) were any indication, it wasn’t going to be easy to forget about what happened.

“So,” Darcy began, wanting for her blush to recede before they returned to their friends. “This the gift you said wasn’t ready last week?”

Steve stood then, humming his agreement, “I knew I wanted to get you something, but since I completely forgot that it was your birthday until just before Chris arrived, I figured I could give it later on.” He turned to her, offering his hand, and then pulled her into his arms when she placed her hand in his. “Thirty sketches for thirty years. I finished most of them a couple of days ago, really, but then it just became kind of awkward. I didn’t know if it was too late to give it to you, or if it was too much, and since you never really brought it up again, I figured it didn’t matter.”

He placed his chin on the top of her head, effectively wrapping her in the warmth of his arms and body heat. She said nothing, letting her eyes take in every image he had created for her.

“But hearing you compare yourself to Bucky…” He paused, and Darcy placed a hand on his arm. “I guess I kind of snapped. I know a lot of people disagree with what I did and how I handled everything, but you have to understand, he’s always been there for me. From before the war, and before the serum, we’ve had each other’s backs and—”

“No, don’t explain.” Darcy cut off, twisting and wriggling in his hold so that they were facing each other. “I’m sorry for saying what I did. I never meant to make you feel as if the choices you made were wrong or that I was ungrateful for what you’ve done; not just to keep an eye on me but to make sure I didn’t go completely insane while I’m holed up here.” She looked away, uncomfortable with her next words but knowing that it had to be said. “For the longest time, I was resentful of what you did. You were this image of what my ideal person was; brave, loyal, and trustworthy. You were the epitome of freedom, and when shit went down and that damned Accords was pulled out, I thought you would be one of the first people to work within the system against it —with Tony.”

His silence spurred her on, and Darcy found herself unloading all that she had thought of him from the moment she had heard about him from Thor.

“Then I find out that not only did you not sign the Accords, but you left Tony—and, okay, granted, I’ve never met the man until about two months ago, I never would have imagined that the same Captain America I heard Thor rave about willingly risk his neck for innocent lives, the same man that Coulson idolized, and that Fury trusted to basically bring down SHIELD, would leave behind someone thought to be one of his most trusted friends. I mean, he was the son of the man that almost literally made you what you are. The serum, the shield, the memories…those didn’t just make you Captain America, it made you one of Howard Stark’s sons, and believe me, I’ve seen his file. I know what I’m talking about.” Darcy swallowed past the lump in her throat, feeling all her thoughts bubbling out of her mouth without filter. “You saved Bucky, and showed everyone that you didn’t agree with what the UN was doing by turning your back on the world…did you ever realize at what cost it was?”

Steve looked off to the side, feeling very much like a chastised child. The guilt returned full force, especially as he took in just how much emotion and passion Darcy was displaying. He had done this. He had inflicted unnecessary pain by choosing to be selfish.

“They’re hunting down every individual that doesn’t fit into their definition of a normal human.” Darcy said, voice much softer than it had been. “Tony signed the Accords not only because he knew that there needed to be some form of check and balance when it comes to something as big as saving the world and the destruction and devastation that it usually leaves behind, but also because he knew it would be easier to make changes in the system if you were working from the inside. If word got out about just how involved Pepper had gotten with Extremis, she would have been required to sign the Accords as well. In fact, with what had happened in New York, Erik’s signature is on those damned papers too. It was a relief that no one on Earth except me, Ian, and Erik know about the Aether, because then they’d have Jane sign it too — well, to be fair, they wanted her to sign it on Thor’s behalf, but I argued she didn’t have the right to because not only were they not married, but Thor was an alien, and we had no provisions about that. Was every alien going to be required to give their signature? Would they not be allowed to use whatever power they had? Anyone who had been enhanced at any point in their life were required to basically surrender before meatheads like fucking Ross because they were different.”

“I’m sorry to cut into the conversation, Darcy, but Mister Wilson has sent Thor to fetch you. He is currently in the elevator.” FRIDAY’s voice sounded oddly repentant in Darcy’s mind. Huh.

Darcy sighed, leaning forward so that her forehead was on the center of his chest.

She closed her eyes, “You’re a good man, Steve Rogers, but it’s time to be a better one.”

“Thor has arrived at the door and is politely asking that you and the Lady Darcy rejoin the others, Captain Rogers.” The AI said.

Darcy stepped away from Steve and steeled herself to face her Asgardian brother. She knew that she and Thor were fine. They had been stressed and frustrated about their positions, and it wasn’t the first time they’d gotten into a fight about it. She had always encouraged him to do what was right, regardless of how it affected their relationship, and he had always countered her by showing that it didn’t need to be one or the other. With any luck, Thor had had enough time to stew and would be less inclined to argue with her before he and the Guardians were scheduled to leave.

Just as she was about to step out of the room, Steve called her name.

She turned to him, afraid she’d see anger or disappointment, but only saw the tall man looking lost. How could a grown man, with beard so prickly she could still feel her face tingle as she remembered the contact, look so much like an innocent child in that moment?

“I want to be,” he said, and the ‘a better man’ was left unsaid. “I don’t know how — I don’t think I can.”

Darcy shot him a look, “I’m pretty sure you can.” She smiled, “But if you need help, then we’re all right here.”

He returned her smile, watching as she left the room. How had he gone from practically confessing his feelings for her, to kissing her, to listening to her basically educate him?

He had always known she was smart, not just because she was a lawyer, but also because of how she treated everyone. She knew when to sass Tony and when to let him call the shots. She knew when to encourage Parker’s antics and when to ask him to tone it down. She knew how to level with Bruce, be it on a particular book or with how to proceed with a certain idea. She knew when to pull Natasha along and how to get Nebula to join them. She knew how to get Jane to stop letting Quill win at ping pong and how to get Sam to steal the snacks Pepper liked to keep away from Tony. And, apparently, she knew how to talk to an old man whose good intentions paved the way for bad repercussions.

Steve caught up to Darcy just as she and Thor shared a laugh over something, and he knew he’d stand by his words.

He would strive to be a better man, if only so that he could have even a fraction of the bond she shared with Thor.

He would be a better man, not for her, but because of her. She didn’t even know it, but from the moment he had heard her talking to Peter Parker about Tony, Darcy had managed to get under his skin. And without even trying, she had managed to show Steve that there was a version of himself that wasn’t so wrapped up in what he’s done and who he’s hurt. That, if he wanted to, he could put it all behind him and start making amends. He could take the hand he’d been dealt and work with it, instead of worrying himself to death over it. He had tried his own way of delivering justice, just as Darcy had let them all make plans without consulting her, but perhaps now it was time to get over himself and look at things from a different perspective.

He was going to be a better man, and as Steve exited the elevator with Thor and Darcy, his eyes met that of familiar brown eyes.

He will be a better man, and he’ll start with an apology.

Darcy watched as Steve walked towards Tony’s general direction, only to be intercepted by an excited Peter Parker. She laughed, shaking her head. Steve might have been ready to patch things up, but one look at Tony told her that he had known he was Steve’s intended destination, and had gotten all wound up because of it.

Dinner passed by smoothly. Everyone was in a good mood, and though Quill was sad to be parting with the individuals he considered family, he believed in his decision to stay on Earth. They were due to return to Wakanda by midnight via what Tony had dubbed the Strange Express, which was basically the portals that Stephen used to get to and from places. They knew Darcy had the same ability, but figured it was better safe than sorry.

“I once told you that you reminded me of Gamora.” Nebula said as she stepped up beside Darcy. “I’d like to think it had nothing to do with the fact that she’s somewhere within your subconscious or the Soul Realm.”

“I’d like to think we’re friends, in general,” Darcy offered with a smile.

“So do I.” Nebula agreed.

“Hey,” Darcy turned to the other woman, recalling a conversation earlier that week. “I’m sorry if I made you feel as if you aren’t appreciated or welcome to stay. I know Peter must have talked to you, and I understand that maybe there is a chance that Gamora can come back — believe me, I know there’s virtually nothing impossible anymore — but—”

“I understand why you think it’s best I leave, Darcy.” Nebula smiled, and they both looked back to the crowd that was their friends. “Hope can be as lethal as fear in terms of power.”

They both turned to Quill, who looked like he was both joking and arguing with Rocket. Darcy’s expression softened, just as Nebula’s turned serious, and unbeknownst to them, they had caught Thor’s attention.

“I trust Peter when he says that Gamora’s in there, fighting Thanos so that the universe doesn’t have to, and that she asked him to keep you safe, but…” At this, Nebula’s eyes met that of Thor’s, who looked to be studying them with an intensity she was unprepared for. “I hope he’s wrong. I don’t want Gamora to keep on existing just to keep him away. She deserves better than that. You deserve better than that.”

Darcy pulled her into a hug, much to her surprise and Darcy’s supposed no touching rule. “If I could pull you in and get her to see you, I would.”

When they pulled away, Thor had come up to them and offered Darcy his arm. She took it after bidding Nebula farewell, briefly meeting Steve’s and Stephen’s eyes as she did so. They moved away from the crowd and out into the facility’s grounds, where Thor then directed her so that they could be on the roof of the residential building.

“I do not wish to argue,” Thor began as he sat on the edge, “So I shall make you no promises.”

She sat beside him, letting their arms touch. “I don’t want you to make promises because I don’t want to hope, Thor. I trust and love you so much that even if you made no promises I would still have faith in you and wait for your return. I’ve dealt with plenty of heartbreak when it came to trust and waiting, and I didn’t want to be disappointed when it came to you.”

The admission hung between them. Thor knew where she was coming from, how she and her former beau had been together for years only for her to find out that he had been having an affair whenever she was out of town on a case or on an excursion with Jane. It hadn’t been a clean breakup, with Darcy having given him multiple chances and him having thrown it into her face every time. Thor may not have intimately known the idiot that had hurt his sister, but he had been there to help Jane pick up the pieces of Darcy’s broken heart — it had been just a little after their return to New York from London, after all.

Her inhale matched his sigh, and Darcy savored the time she had left with her royal brother.

“I make no promises,” said Thor once again. “I do swear, however, on Midgard and on my people, that I shall return.” He offered her his hand, and she could see how it was thrumming with electricity. “Midgard is as much home to I as Jane’s arms had been, and your smile still is. It is here that I had intended to bring my people then, and if Earth may have me, it is here I still wish to return.”

For the first time in a while, Darcy didn’t know what to say. There was no argument to be made nor point to be proven, and at the end of the day, she had no say in what Thor did or how and where he chose to rule his people. The only concern she had with his plan was whether or not Earth would even accept the Asgardians, when they could barely accept the humans that weren’t a certain brand of normal.

“I love you, my Lightning Sister, and among my people, you shall always have a home.”

She smiled and placed her hand in his. The gauntlet appeared just as it was wrought to do, and she found that all the stones were glowing. It wasn’t as bright as she had once seen it, and Thor didn’t look too concerned as well, so she paid it no mind.

Thor placed an arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, in much the same way that Jeremiah used to do.

“I love you too, Big Guy.” She smiled, leaning against his shoulder. “And you’re one of my people too. Forever.”

They rejoined the others after a while, and when Stephen had helped them return to Wakanda, Darcy stayed by the sorcerer’s side. She refused a final hug from everyone but Groot, and looked at Stephen instead of the portal as they left. She shied away from Tony’s offer of drinks, prompting Stephen to say that they would follow the billionaire to the other building, where Tony was boasting that he had finished setting up where they were all going to be staying in. Well, more accurately, where she and whomever her assigned guard would be staying in.

Stephen pointedly ignored the concerned look Steve shot their way, keeping his attention on Darcy as everyone else followed Tony and Pepper.

“I hear you and Thor had a disagreement before dinner.” Stephen said, just as the door shut behind Steve. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Christine’s thinking of quitting her job and moving back to New York and applying for one of the hospitals where Stark Industries just happen to be a generous donor.”

That got Darcy exhaling slowly. It felt as if she had stopped breathing since her time with Thor, and she said nothing even as Stephen continued to speak.

“Tell me what’s going through your mind, Darcy. Don’t make me call Wanda.”

She snorted, “As if you would. You hate her — which is stupid. She’s hurting, so she said some shitty things.”

“I don’t hate her.” At her droll look, he deadpanned, “I dislike her feeling of entitlement. She feels as if the world owes her because it took away the people she cared about—”

“Sounds familiar. I seem to remember that there was a man — no, a surgeon who felt that the world owed him something because it took away his hands.”

“Not the same.” Stephen argued.

“You don’t like her because you were just like her, and you don’t know how to deal with that.” She huffed. “And I don’t like you right now because you think you know exactly how to deal with me because you know Chris.”

Deciding to forego her first statement, Stephen replied, “I don’t know how to deal with you because you and Christine are somehow the same person and should therefore be handled the same way. I’m not even sure I know how to deal with you, period. What I do know is that there’s something on your mind, and you’re here with me instead of there with them.” He crossed his arms. “So maybe there’s a part of you that wants to tell me or you think I wouldn’t push you into telling me.”

“I did the right thing, right?”

Well, he didn’t actually think that would work.

“I’m pushing everyone into positions that they may or may not realize because that’s what I’ve been gearing up to do since before all this shit even happened.” Darcy fidgeted with the sleeves of the large hoodie she had on, care of the clothes Thor had left behind. “Everything was easier when it was all hypothetical. The law would be reviewed, some people would be for it, some people would be against it. We’d try to find some sort of middle ground. When it was passed with barely any proper revision, we had to adapt and try to get the world on our side to make sure the right changes were made. But with the Avengers split, the world was confused. The very heroes that were supposed to protect their lives didn’t agree with the leaders that were supposed to be protecting their rights. So we went back to the drawing board. Made changes.”

Stephen said nothing, watching as Darcy spoke without once taking her eyes off of her shoes.

“It wasn’t just about the laws anymore. It stopped being just about a piece of paper that said people needed to do a certain thing. It became about changing an entire planet’s perception of what was and wasn’t acceptable. But fuck…we’ve barely begun to fully accept different sexual orientations, and even then, two years ago there were still countries where it was illegal to marry someone of the same gender. It took decades — fucking centuries even — to win that fight, and they want to win this one within the year.”

Steve hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he’d been worried about her throughout the entire night, and when she had stood by Stephen as he assured Tony that they’d be right behind them, he figured he’d wait just by the door. He hadn’t expected to hear her pour her heart out. This was pressure he hadn’t even realized she had been carrying. This was even more than what their conversation earlier had entailed.

“I had to convince Jane to stay in Europe after her conference this week and work on the Bridge there as a contingency plan because, you know, just in case. I had to get Christine to move to California two years ago because I didn’t want her being associated with me, just in case. I managed to get Laura and her kids moved to an entirely different continent so that they could begin to connect with networks that were already there. I had to get Thor and the Guardians to leave because they aren’t even of this planet. They didn’t have to be roped into our shit, especially when the proverbial shit hit the fan.”

He heard Darcy’s loud inhale and some shuffling. He peeked in and saw that Strange’s cape had once again left his person and draped itself over Darcy’s shoulders.

“And fuck, Stephen. I’m just one woman. I might be a lawyer, but I’m not a genius like you, Tony, Bruce, and Jane are. I’m not filthy rich. I wasn’t even physically fit until I had to start training with you guys. The most physical activity I used to do is walk, maybe brisk walk when I had to go to a meeting. I never wanted to change the world.”

He wanted to go inside. It was taking every ounce of will power not to burst in and take her into his arms. He wanted to hold her and keep her safe, make it so that she never had to carry the burden of the world on her shoulders — at least not alone. However, there was another, more vocal, part of his mind that told him he was one of the reasons she was in such a position in the first place. Those Accords had begun a(n in)formal Civil War of sorts that wasn’t just between a country’s government and its people, it was the people on Earth against all their leaders, and Darcy had been dragged into the thick of things both by association and experience, from what he was hearing.

“Not because I didn’t see anything wrong with it,” amended Darcy. “But because I couldn’t see how I could. I’d march and protest with everyone. I wrote articles and blogposts and even created some shitty info-graphs about it. But at the end of the day, what can one woman do? And then I realized…I wasn’t just one woman. I was a woman who knew Jane Foster and the God of Thunder. I even tased him that one time. I was working with an entire team. I had numbers of people that shouldn’t exist on speed dial. I’m sort of friends with Pepper mother fucking Potts. And now? Now, I have these stones to deal with and a permanently attached fashion accessory that may or may not end up killing me, destroying the universe, or both, and I’m still—”

Steve wondered if she was crying. There was no sniffling or stuttering, but he could feel his own eyes watering. They had all dismissed her as a civilian; someone whose life was as far away from their own as possible. They’d all ended up with a vague idea of her working with Pepper and Jane on separate projects, but had any of them realized just to what extent she’d been working with the women?

“—just one fucking woman. I want to change the world, make it right, but right now? In this moment? All I want is to be normal again. I miss my apartment and the nice old couple that lives in the floor below. I miss walking out of the house we had in England and seeing dark clouds. I even miss Erik and his post-elves hate for pants! I don’t think I’m cut out for this, Doc. You guys might be used to giving up everything for the greater good, but all I can think about right now is how much I don’t want to be a part of this anymore.”

He chanced another peek at the pair, and saw that neither had moved from their spot.

“I’m not some hero,” she wiped furiously at what must have been tears flowing down her cheeks. “I never wanted to be one.”

“You think we asked to be this?” Steve could see how tense Strange had become, and he realized the forced calm the doctor exuded as the same one that overtook his voice whenever he was deep in a mission. “No one asks to be a hero, Lewis. Stark didn’t ask to be abducted and trapped in a cave in Afghanistan so he can become Ironman. Thor never gave us much thought until he was dropped here without his powers and fell in love with us as people because of you and Jane. Widow didn’t train to become an assassin only to switch sides when she met Hawkeye. Even Scott was, arguably still is, a thief before he became Ant Man.”

Strange made no move to lessen the distance between he and Darcy, much to Steve’s surprise. His kiss with Darcy had gotten him to briefly forget that he had been worried there was something going on between Strange and her. He hadn’t wanted to step on any toes, but also felt that he was entitled to a bit of happiness. He had promised to be a better man, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be selfish from time to time.

“Of every supposed hero you know, Steve Rogers is the only one that really signed up to fight. And even that was under different circumstances. Next to him, Spider-Man’s the closest you can get to what your perception of a hero is. He wanted to figure out how to help the good guys, so he found a way to. But even those came at a cost. Rogers lost his best friend on the train and then lost his people when he went on ice. Peter’s…Well, he’s had to grow up fast, and he’s still growing — we all are. There is no one person with an answer for everything. There is no cure-all.”

Steve watched as the ends of Strange’s cape lifted, and the sorcerer held either end in his hands, effectively cocooning Darcy. His breath caught in his throat then, feeling once again as if he were witnessing an intimate moment between lovers. But they weren’t. Strange was sweet on Darcy’s cousin-turned-sister and she saw him as her brother. He just needed to remember that.

“I’m as much just a man, as you had been just a woman before and after the stones, Attorney Lewis, because it isn’t a matter of having powers or money or a certain level of IQ or bravery or even stupidity.”

With a tug, Strange pulled Darcy close and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s a matter of doing what you can with what you have and what you’re given.”

“We don’t deserve her at all.”

Startled, Steve turned to face Tony, who had two glasses in one hand and a bottle of unlabeled alcohol in the other.

“Come on, I’m sure you don’t want them knowing you were spying on them.” Tony led him to an entry point Steve had no idea existed behind the main building, which led to one of the labs in the facility.

Without a word, Tony poured each of them a serving, and he took it in spite of wanting to remind the man that he couldn’t really get drunk anymore.

“It’s spiked.” Tony said, taking a seat on one of the large counters in the space. “There was some mead from Asgard from before, and I figured I’d try to replicate it so there.”

He took a cautious sip, and found that it did remind him of the only alcohol that had gotten him tipsy post-serum. Steve swirled the liquid inside the glass, silent. Where all that he had wanted earlier that evening was to speak to Tony, Darcy’s confession to Strange had gotten him all worked up over her instead.

“She’s crazy,” said the billionaire. “When Pep told me about all the shit that they’ve been up to right under my nose, I had half a mind to throttle Darcy and another half to kiss her. I mean, here we were, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, worried that she was too separate from our world to understand the sacrifices we’ve made and the shit we have to go through, and there she was; studying us, finding ways to make us seem more like everyone else. She’s been working on changing those pesky laws for nearly five years now, and it’s only been in effect for two. She’s been nothing but understanding about all the shit we’ve put her through — keeping her here, making sure she’s watched, all the tests and lack of assurance about anything. Jesus Christ, if I were in her shoes I’d have tried to escape at least three times by now.”

“Tony, I—”

“If you’re going to apologize, then don’t.” Tony finished his drink and quickly poured himself another as he continued, “Unless you even know why you’re apologizing, because really, we’re both shit with emotions. I’m only ever actually slightly more tolerable when Pepper’s around, and you’re only ever manageable when you have someone to save. So I get that maybe now it’s Darcy that has your attention, but I just need you to understand that she isn’t some project for you to base your redemption, or something.”

Steve frowned, his eyes meeting that of Tony’s.

“I hate that I was so affected by what you did because it made me face the fact that I’ve somehow come to see you as one of my own.” Tony looked away, focusing on the wall behind Steve. “For the longest time, my father was obsessed with you. He never gave up the search for your body even when Aunt Peggy told him to move on. Jesus, do you know how hard that was to my ego? I had to spend my entire life taking a backseat to the phantom of his first and best son. He believed that the serum would have helped preserve your body somehow, especially given the right circumstances and, well,” Tony waved a hand at him. “He was right. So when I found out that your friend killed my parents, that was shitty. In hindsight, I understand that he’s considered a POW and whatever, but it doesn’t change the fact that you knew and you didn’t tell me. I trusted you and you threw that in my face because you knew that no matter how deep under he had been, it was still his hands and his gun, and maybe you’re the one that couldn’t accept it.”

“That wasn’t Bucky,” said Steve, as if reflexively.

“And who are you trying to remind or convince right now? Yourself or me?” Tony maintained eye contact. “I don’t blame him.” There was a moment wherein Tony just watched Steve’s eyes widen in surprise. “Not anymore. Three different shrinks, Rhodey, Pepper, Shuri, and even Vis made sure of that. He was as much a victim as everyone else that the Soldier had killed, and he’d already come up and apologized to me.” Tony rolled his eyes then. “He even offered that I could hit him however much I wanted. Lucky for him, the pretty lady in the other building with our resident magician was pretty much the only thing on my mind at the time.”

Steve recalled Thor’s words a few weeks back; “It was the man inside the uniform that wished to ensure his people were safe.” Was it? Was Steve still that same man?

And Darcy’s from earlier echoed in his mind as he remembered her crying into Strange’s chest as well. “You’re a good man, Steve Rogers, but it’s time to be a better one.” Yes, that’s what he wanted. He was as much the Steve Thor had painted as he was the Steve Darcy knew he could be. He wanted to be a better Steve Rogers. He wanted to be the Steve Rogers that took his guilt and used it to fuel his change instead of crippling him.

“I’m sorry.” Steve said, and there was an air of finally in the air between them. He continued before Tony could butt in, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your parents. I’m sorry I left when it mattered the most, both to the Avengers and in Siberia. I’m sorry I failed to be the man Howard had probably hoped I’d be, but Tony, most of all, I’m sorry I hurt you.”

No one broke eye contact. Brown looked for sincerity while blue searched for forgiveness, but both found only desperation.

“You’ve done nothing but help me since we’ve met. I may not have always seen that, but now I do. You made sure I was looked after and that I never had to worry about anything when it came to food, money, shelter…You might say that it’s because of Howard, but at the end of the day all of those were born out of your choice. You made sure the team had a place they can call their own when even SHIELD couldn’t offer that. You’ve never made us feel as if we owed you anything, and when all you needed was truth and reliability, I didn’t give you that.” Steve finished his drink, and was not surprised when Tony threw him the bottle so that he could refill his glass. “I’m sorry, Tony.”

“Honestly,” said Tony as he hopped off the table and took out his phone. “I don’t know if I owe you an apology. Maybe I do. Maybe I should have given you a chance. Maybe I should have given Barnes a chance. Maybe I should have forgiven you for indirectly causing Rhodey to become paralyzed from the waist down. There are a lot of maybes in the world, Cap, but I guess nothing’s gonna happen if we dwell on them…too much or too often.” He pressed a button and Steve heard a door open.

He turned around, the tears he’d been holding back finally falling as he caught sight of what the panel behind him had revealed.

“Think of this as an early birthday gift or something.”

He remembered what Tony had said then, “That shield doesn’t belong to you.” It felt like a lifetime ago when the billionaire had been prone on the ground, the only source of light being from the flickering arc reactor on his chest. “You don’t deserve it.”

“Or something,” murmured Steve.

Something had definitely shifted in their relationship then. Perhaps, it had shifted long ago and Steve was only beginning to realize it. No matter, he knew he wasn’t going to screw this up. He didn’t want to. A better man, he couldn’t help but think.

“There’s a different war brewing, Cap.” Tony’s words barely registered in Steve’s mind. “You think you can help Darcy fight this one? Because she’s gonna need all hands on deck here. We all are.”

He knew that Tony probably hadn’t touched it other than to bring it back, and for Tony to present it to him the way it was when he had left it spoke volumes. It told him that Tony didn’t want to start over. No, Tony wanted to move on. He wanted to acknowledge all that had happened between them, and that in spite of (or perhaps because of) it, their bond remained, both as friends and (tentatively? hopefully?) family.

Steve looked back at Tony, who only nodded, before reaching out to it with both hands, because in the middle of the compartment Tony had just uncovered was a familiar shield of red white and blue, scratched, tarnished, and with a layer of dust on it, but every bit as meaningful and resilient as it had been then.

Distantly, Steve recalled what Thor had said, “Not all wars are fought with steel and fire. Ink and parchment can draw just as much blood with fewer hands.”

Chapter Text

Loki traced Darcy’s arm, from her elbow to her fingertips, with his finger. She liked the feel of his skin on hers, and stopped herself short of actually telling him. They stood in front of each other, Darcy having thrown up the screen of what was going on with her counterpart once again. They had just witnessed Nebula and Darcy’s conversation, and on the screen, they could see Thor cause the gauntlet to appear once more.

“I wonder if he does it on purpose.” Loki murmured.

“What?”

“The gauntlet appears on your skin when Thor touches it with his own magic as a warning of sorts.” Loki’s fingertip grazed the knuckle with the Power Stone, finding it glowing brighter already, as if recognizing its own magic within him. “More than that,” Loki waited for her to tear her gaze away from their hands and look up at him before he continued, “Magic, be it Aesir or your Mystic Arts, or any other, is as much living as all the elements. It bends and shifts like water and offers warmth and comfort like fire. There are many other analogies to use, but the only thing that matters you know is that magic always leaves a mark.”

She remained looking at him, expression unchanged. It looked as if she were hanging on to his every word, and Loki couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to have met her under different circumstances. Would they have been allies? Friends? Perhaps more? In a reality where Sigyn had not returned, would Loki have let himself be pulled in by her bright eyes and quick wit?

“Your Doctor Strange’s cape recognizes his master’s magic on you just as Strange was able to pick up on your particular brand of magic in the ring he gifted you. It was how he was able to follow you in spite of the barrier your conscious self erected unintentionally when Gamora took over your body.” He twisted their hands so their palms faced each other, with hers over his. Mind glowed with Power, but neither of them looked down. “Like recognizes like, and with every moment you and Thor sparred with your abilities, you gave him doses of your magic that would make it so that there would always be a part of him that recognizes it; and in using his magic to call to the gauntlet, he gives you some of his own magic, that you may take it in and recognize him as much a part of you as you are of him.”

Darcy stepped away from him then, and in the screen, the conscious Darcy had just been left alone with Stephen.

Loki watched the frown curve her lips and line her forehead, and his mind scrambled to make sense of what could have possibly upset her.

“Did you ever plan on telling me?”

“Telling you what?”

“You’re not really Loki, are you?”

It was his turn to narrow his eyes, “I beg your pardon?”

“Until you came along, the Power Stone never acted up. It was always Soul as the child Gamora or Time as Jeremiah —or Stephen. Then you come along, with all your explanations and answers but with the same riddle that Thor told me. A part of me that’s not at peace with the other, well damn right I’m not at peace! I’m in here, all alone, thinking I found some kind of friend in you, but you wouldn’t even admit to me that you’re one of the stones too!”

“I assure you, I am not a vision created by one of the stones. I have told you before; I am as real as you are.”

“Then why are you so powerful here. You said that Gamora said this realm evens everyone out.” Darcy said, taking a step back from him, “That even Thanos doesn’t have powers here, so why do you? I get it now. You just said that magic leaves a mark right? Well, I’ve been getting familiar with the stones before you decided to keep me company. I know when one of them is acting up even if I don’t look at this thing.” She waved her gloved hand. “And you are dripping in Power Stone energy, Loki — so tell me again — actually no, prove to me that you’re who you say you are.”

“And how do you propose I do that?”

“I don’t know! You’re the one with all the answers aren’t you?” Then Darcy paused, contemplative. “Oh wait. The Mind Stone. Or any of them. You said that they have no agenda of their own. So the wouldn’t have any reason to lie, right?”

“Then call for one of them now that they might convince you of my innocence.”

“She isn’t entirely wrong,” Mind said, sounding far too amused for Loki’s liking. She had taken on the form of Jane Foster in Darcy’s perspective, but remained looking like Frigga to Loki. “But you have to ask the right questions to be given appropriate answers, Darcy Lewis.”

“Is Loki like you? Is he one of the stones taking on Loki’s appearance?” Darcy asked without missing a beat.

“He is not. Loki is not one of the stones, but he is one of our people.” Mind’s words gave the pair both relief and confusion.

“What does that mean?” Darcy asked.

“He is ours as much as Jane and Thor are yours.” Mind never once took off her gaze from Darcy.

“Why are you willing to answer my questions now?” Darcy looked around, watching as the world before them disintegrated and was rebuilt into the woods around the Avengers Facility.

“Because you’re now of sound mind and body,” said Mind, as two other stones arrived to join them.

Time, which to Darcy took on the appearance of Stephen, and to Loki looked like a younger version of Thor, continued Mind’s train of thought, “We have always been watching, Darcy Lewis.”

“We’ve been waiting for you to be well enough,” said Reality, taking on the appearance of his Frost Giant self and Darcy’s late mother.

“Well enough for what?” Darcy found Loki suddenly beside her, and a feeling of gratitude flooded her. She may have gone a bit crazy accusing him the way she had, but it didn’t mean her trust of him had diminished. In this realm of magic and where everything was possible, he was still pretty much the only person he was sure of.

“For facts regarding your life.” Mind said. “We are here to answer your questions, because you have finally reached a certain balance wherein our interference wouldn’t be met with your death or insanity.”

Loki placed a hand on her back, and the simple gesture of physical affection further solidified how much she felt safer and more comfortable with him at her side.

The time for answers had arrived, but Darcy felt like there was only one question that really mattered.

“Why me?”

No one said anything, and she was reminded of Mind’s earlier words. You have to ask the right questions to get appropriate answers. Okay, so sort of like a litigation case, no?

He watched as she squared her shoulders and their environment flickered before shifting into the communal floor of the Avengers Facility. No one seemed surprise, simply choosing a spot and sitting down where they preferred. Darcy remained standing, so Loki did the same, though he remained a step behind her; a silent shadow to her brightness.

His cape appeared on her shoulders and flowed down her back, and he took the vision of her in his colors in, finding himself thoroughly pleased to see it. His brows furrowed for a second, but he quickly smoothed it out to a cool mask as he looked at each of the stone. Loki had the eery feeling that they were all looking at him and at her at the same time, and he had to physically stop himself both from stepping up to stand by her side or from pulling her towards him so that she may stand by his.

“Why am I supposed to be Thanos’ sacrifice?”

Reality tilted their head, seemingly studying Darcy, and Loki grit his teeth when they lazily met his gaze and smirked, as if to taunt him.

“Yours is the soul Thanos values most,” said Mind. “A worthy sacrifice was asked to gain the power of the Soul.”

“What makes my soul that valuable? I’ve never even met big bad and ugly.”

“Darcy Lewis has not,” agreed Time, “But you have.” They folded their hands together, an odd sight on the young Thor, though a common one on Stephen. “Long before you were Darcy Lewis, you lived various lives.”

Just as Darcy quirked a brow and asked, “Reincarnation?” Loki’s eyes widened, heart thrumming loud against his chest and in his ears.

No one said anything, but Loki’s head was swimming with only the thought of Sigyn. She was here. She was alive. She was Darcy. Darcy was Sigyn. Over a millennia of believing Sigyn to be in Valhalla, and yet the truth was she had yet to find peace after all. How many lives had she lived between dying as his wife and becoming Darcy Lewis? Have they met at any other time? Had she been within his reach before now?

“Who was I?” Darcy questioned, unaware of Loki’s inner turmoil. She was determined to get the answers she had been promised. Realizing how vague her question was, she said, “Who was I that I was a better sacrifice than Thanos’ favorite daughter?”

“You were a gift,” said Reality, voice soft, a stark contrast to his Jotun exterior in Loki’s eyes, though in Darcy’s, she looked and sounded every but like her mother had. “From the one that Thanos has spent his entire existence worshipping and loving.”

“Stop with the riddles,” Soul said, entering through the front door, and Loki knew he was never going to survive this experience without being forever altered. “Darcy deserves the truth without needing to twist and beg for it.”

He knew, logically, that it was the Soul Stone, but it did not stop the way his heart ached at the sight of his long departed wife. Unlike the likeness he had seen trapped earlier that week, the woman before him looked more like she had when they had first met. Her blonde hair fell to her knees, free and unbound. A simple sapphire gown preserved her modesty, accentuating her eyes, and for a moment Loki forgot how to breathe.

Darcy, on the other hand, saw herself. Rather, she saw herself as a child, maybe around six or seven, with dark hair up in pigtails and pale skin that would have looked sickly if it weren’t for her naturally pink lips. She wore what Darcy remembered as one of her favorite dresses, a bright red number that hurt her eyes and did her no favors as it made her skin look paler and her dark hair even darker.

“You look different.” She pointed out.

“We reflect you,” Soul said by means of explanation. “From the beginning of our relationship, you had been convinced that Gamora should have been in your place — specifically, Thanos’ perception of Gamora, which was her as a child; his favored daughter. Any change in us is a change in yourself or,” they gestured to Time, “A change you requested.”

“So Loki sees you differently?”

Mind nodded, “Everything is a matter of perception.”

She chanced a look at her friend, and Darcy was surprised to find Loki trembling, eyes simply honed in on Soul. Who was he seeing to unnerve him so much? She reached out to him slowly, placing her hand on his forearm and effectively garnering his attention.

“Are you okay?” She asked kindly, eyes full of worry, and yet all that registered in Loki’s mind was that she wore his cape in spite of his wife being just a few steps away. His eyes took in Darcy’s, looking every bit as concerned for him as Sigyn had looked at him once upon a time.

How cruel could the world be, that all that he loved and cared for had to suffer in one way or the other? His mother had died, and his last words to her had been fueled by hate and selfishness. His wife had passed away fighting, thought to be in Valhalla and finally in peace, only to have been reborn, unaware of her true power. His brother lost all that he considered his family and had set out to roam the galaxy with no true assurance of whether or not he would find anyone.

“Loki,” she called out once more, and he brought himself to address the Stones.

“I believe you promised proper answers for the lady.” He said diplomatically, calling upon all of his wits to keep himself calm and in control. He waved a hand so that Darcy knew to turn to their companions, and though she was hesitant, she did.

“As I was saying,” said Reality. “You were never born in the common definition of the word. You had no mother and you have never had Thanos’ blood, because he had never wanted offspring to begin with. Thanos has only ever served one being, and that is Death.”

Loki thought of Hela, Odin’s first born and Thor’s older sister. The Goddess of Death, she had proclaimed herself to be. Thanos and Hela?

Mind shook her head, “We do not speak of beings raised as gods, goddesses or other deities. We speak of Death as an element and as a being. Death is nothing and everything, just as Life is. Thanos is not a deity to worship and praise. He never set himself up for reverence, and instead lived his days in service.”

Darcy shifted closer to Loki, though from what he could see, she didn’t seem to even be aware of the move. He placed a hand on the middle of her back, the cape and her clothes doing nothing to shelter either of them from the heat of their skin.

“He was Death’s most precious and favored follower,” Mind continued. “And in return, Death cared for him. His people died and yet he survived. Many perished at his hands, and though many have attempted to be rid of him, he always prevailed. So Death used him as a means to deliver a most precious gift. Life and Death have always worked together; every beginning must have an end, and in every end a new beginning unfolds.”

“You, Darcy Lewis, at your very core, are made by Death as a reward to Thanos. You had the makings of becoming as loyal to Death as he, delivered as a babe by the Grim.” Soul said, and Reality made a gesture with their hand that had a portal of sorts appearing in the middle of the room.

Inside, Darcy could see their story come to life.

A figure cloaked in black placed a babe whose skin was as dark as a starless sky and whose hair was as light as the moon’s glow in Thanos’ arms. It was swathed in fabric that was light and looked soft as can be, and peered up at the titan with white eyes.

“What is this?”

“A gift,” said the Grim, “From Death.”

“A babe?”

“Care for it as you would the fruit of your loins and it shall bring you fortune.”

Before Thanos could ask further, the Grim disappeared and Thanos was left with the child called Eris. The child grew to be an able warrior and beautiful man. Men were drawn by the femininity Eris exuded, and women were drawn by the power they had. Together, Eris and Thanos brought about their own form of justice, taking over planets and eliminating half their populations. They fought and killed and won. No one came close to even harming a strand of Eris’ long hair.

In nearly every planet, Thanos chose a child to foster, having become fond of being able to mold someone with the same mindset and capabilities as he and Eris. Of course, no one came close to what he had achieved with Eris, but they would always be an exception because they were from Death.

Nearly a millennia after being given Eris, Thanos heard of the Infinity Stones. Six stones of unbelievable power in their own right. If he could have them all, he would rule the entire universe.

So the search began.

His children scattered far and wide in search of the stones. Some of them met their deaths in the hunt, while others were able to gain the power they sought. All of those loyal to Thanos returned with every uncovered stone and presented it to him, those who weren’t were dealt with accordingly.

Power was found with relative ease, in its own vessel and kept under very tight security so that any thief would not be able to take it in one attempt. Reality followed soon after, and when Eris found the location of the Soul Stone, Thanos thought that it meant he was halfway closer to ultimate power.

The arrival of every stone meant the death of one of his children, and when he and Eris arrived at what had once been Titan, they trekked to a lake filled with amber liquid. In the middle of it, an orange stone glowed brightly, calling towards it any that dared wish to claim its power.

“There it is,” Eris said in their native tongue. They took a step towards the edge of the shoreline, and Thanos watched as the liquid touched Eris’ flesh and effectively burned them.

“Eris.”

Their voice was even as they said, “It is poison.” They turned to him then, looking so different from the little babe he had once carried in his hand. “I might die should I attempt to get it, but then at least you will know where it is and might understand how to acquire it.”

“No.”

“Then how shall you rule?”

“I will not let you die.” Thanos said with certainty.

“But what if in my death you gain its power?” Eris had taken a step back so that their skin was no longer in contact with the liquid, and Thanos could see where their skin had been burnt off, the muscles beneath it bright and throbbing.

“No amount of power can justify your death.”

“What Thanos did not understand was that the only way Death’s gift could truly and properly  fulfill their destiny was for them to die, willing and in service of Death. You had always been meant to die, be it as his sacrifice to me, or by any other means.” Soul explained. “It was why they were willing to give themselves to me in the first place. It is in everyone’s very soul to want peace and comfort, and in death, everyone finds it. However, since you had come from Death, Life had to step in to offer balance. Wherein most are only ever given one life, you were given the ability to continue on living until you reached a point where you achieved what you had been always made to accomplish. Your physical body would deteriorate and return to dust, but your soul shall live on and breathe life into a new being.”

Mind went on, “And so while everyone found peace—or pain—at the end of their lives, your soul remained in the land of the living, looking for purpose and unaware of its own capabilities.”

“So it’s been like this for centuries?” Darcy asked.

“Not quite.” Reality replied.

“You are but a fraction of a whole, Darcy.” Soul added. “Your brief death in this life created a fracture in your soul that would have been mended upon your final breath as Darcy Lewis.”

Darcy sighed, leaning further into Loki, “I can sense a but…”

“But your arrival took that fracture and split them into two,” Loki guessed.

“Yes.”

The image within the portal began to change rapidly, showcasing the various lives Eris had lived.

Eris had been a guard on Xandar.

They had been a Kree woman.

They had been a civilian on Alfheim.

They had been a warrior on Nornheim.

A farmer on Earth.

A Sagittarian dress-maker.

A Mavethian scientist.

An A’askavariian.

An orphaned Asgardian.

Loki looked away, unable to take it. He took a step away from Darcy and left before she could even fully comprehend what had happened. He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t sit there and listen to them speak about his Sigyn being one and the same as Eris, the famed Goddess of Discord and Strife, and Thanos’ daughter, and Darcy Lewis, and all those other lives.

He had loved his Sigyn. She had seen him and known all the parts of him that many reviled, and accepted it. He believed that if she had survived long enough to find out that he was a Jotun, she would accept him still, because that was who she was. She loved with all her heart and defended those she cared about with a fierce passion and loyalty. How could she be anything like Eris?

How could Darcy be anything like either of them?

As the door closed behind him, the world melted away.

Darcy called out his name, but found him unwilling to hear her and already out the door. She turned to the four Infinity Stones, all looking at her with small smiles.

“Finally, your Loki has left.” Soul said. “This conversation was never for his ears. We’ve done you a grave injustice, Darcy—”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” She asked, feeling her irritation rise at the loss of the only person she really trusted in this realm. “What do you hope to accomplish here? What’s your endgame?”

There was silence, and Darcy wouldn’t put it past them to be communicating without speaking or looking at each other. She crossed her arms, pulling Loki’s cape tighter around her, only then noticing that she had it on in the first place. It gave her little comfort, because she would have preferred the man than the cape.

“You were summoned as Thanos’ proper sacrifice.” Soul said as she sat on the floor. “Your soul was, and is, Thanos’ most treasured. Had your soul been whole and untarnished by the life-threatening experience you had been involved in, you would have been mine as I would have been yours, and Thanos would have been one stone short of his set.”

Darcy sat on the floor as well, uncomfortable with the visage of her younger self looking up at her. She took in everything they were saying, wishing that Jane, Thor, Stephen, or even Steve were at her side.

“As it were, we ended up harming you — a known entity that Death themselves created, and Life looked after.” Time said. “That is a problem we never want on our shoulders, because while we do not have our own agenda, we do happen to like our existence, and if Life and Death saw it fit, we may as well be gone.”

“So that’s what you want?” Darcy asked, exasperated. “Redemption, or something?”

“Or something,” snorted Reality. “In order to not bring the wrath of Life and Death upon us, we offer you a choice.”

Darcy frowned.

“The moment we found your soul harmed, we made sure that you were protected and that no outside harm came to you. We worked on healing you, bringing you to this point wherein you can decide for yourself what you wish to do next, because the moment Thanos was pulled into this realm, his claim over the stones were forfeit.” Mind waved a hand to gesture around them, “We have no master here.”

“What choice are you offering me, exactly?”

“We can make reality,” Reality grinned at their own pun, “Anything you desired. So really, what would you have us do, Darcy Lewis?”

“What’s the catch?” She was far from convinced. “Why don’t you just stitch my soul back up and call it a day? Wouldn’t that be enough of an apology to Death? I mean I’m sure she knows you didn’t mean to do it, right?”

“We can not do anything that isn’t someone’s desire.” Mind replied. “Think of us as the electricity within a battery. We have the power, but we need to be directed to do what is asked. However, we can’t just stitch you back up, so to speak. That is something only you can do, because one thing you must understand, anything about you and your existence relies heavily on consent.”

“What?”

“If you want to put the pieces of your soul back together, then it’s entirely up to you. All you need to do is talk to your other fragment.” Soul supplied. “We could make that happen — make you two meet, if you wanted.”

“Why do I feel like you still haven’t told me everything?” Darcy was beginning to get a migraine. Supposedly, they weren’t speaking in riddles, but every answer they gave only ever seemed to give way to more questions. Some of which she didn’t even know if she wanted to know the answer to. “What happens next? Is this like the Make A Wish Foundation? I get one wish and you do it? What are the consequences? What happens to you after? You talked as if I only had one shot, but you also said that Thanos’ claim on all of you were forfeit the moment you all appeared in this realm. So why do I still have the gauntlet? Why have you kept Gamora and Loki here too?”

“Oh I do love you,” said Mind, and looking like Jane as they were, it made Darcy miss the astrophysicist all the more. “Gamora and Loki are here of their own choice. We asked if they wished to return, and they both chose to remain; one to ensure Thanos’ defeat, while the other to protect you.”

Darcy tried not to read into it, but couldn’t deny the delight she felt at the thought that Loki had chosen to stay to keep her safe. Or had he made that choice after finding out about her previous life? She wasn’t entirely sure which scenario she would have preferred. They had met before, she was sure. His reaction to one of her previous lives proved it. Who had she been to him in her past life? She must have been important, for him to have reacted so strongly.

“We tell you that you can have anything you want, and the first thing you ask about are consequences.” Reality looked put out by it, a familiar look on her mother’s face. “In the simplest of terms, we complete whatever you may ask of us and our debt to Death is paid. What happens next is your choice entirely. You may keep us, use our powers for your own, if that’s what you want.”

“The stones have the power to fulfill whatever its wielder desired.” Thor’s words boomed in her head, loud and painful, and Darcy knew everything that she wanted to do. She knew that what was right wasn’t what would make her happy, knew that in even indulging the thoughts that were flittering in her mind, she probably had to pay a steep price.

“We have no masters here,” Soul repeated, “However, we are drawn to those who appeal most to us and what we are. I like you because your soul is valuable. You’ve lived various lives and made various choices, all of which cannot be summed into good or bad, but simply life.”

“I adore your mind.” Mind said, and for a moment, Darcy thought she saw Jane flicker into Tony, then Bruce, then Pepper, then back to Jane. “You are resilient and adaptable. You open yourself to various possibilities. I am drawn to Loki as well, both for the time we had had together and the complexity of his mind having been one way but finding himself another.”

Neither Time nor Reality offered their own input, but one look and Darcy knew they agreed with Soul and Mind and probably had their preferences too.

“And if I asked for you to stop existing?”

“Then we do,” Time replied. “We disappear…die, so to speak, and so do the souls that inhabit this plane.”

Mind knew exactly the plan that was forming in her mind, because of course they did.

“You would have us prevent your soul fracture from occurring and then return Gamora and Loki to Earth. You would then have us undo the destruction Thanos has caused in his most recent vie for our power. You would have us attempt to make your world better, have them accept change and difference, but we feel that we must warn you.” Mind paused and Soul continued,

“To undo the damage to your soul could mean to bring you back to when it was fractured. Your brief death in that car accident had far-reaching consequences, Darcy Lewis. To go back to that time could mean letting go of abilities and knowledge you now have. To return Gamora and Loki would be a paradox in itself because in returning you to your car accident, then they wouldn’t have been captured yet in the first place — which leads into Thanos having yet to destroy Xandar and Thor’s people still being alive.”

“That is to say,” said Time, “We can do all of those, yes, but it also means they won’t all necessarily be within the same realm of existence.”

“But really,” said Mind, “You would withhold all that we could offer the world? If it weren’t for I or Space, plenty of the advancements in technology on Earth would not have been possible for another millennium, at the least. Our death would be an insult to Life and Death, themselves, because we have always been faithful to them, keeping the balance, no matter how difficult it maybe for mortals to understant. Everything we did was only ever in service to them as much as it were for those that hold us.”

“I thought you had no motives.”

Reality snorted indelicately, “We have no agenda, but that does not mean we do not wish to live, Darcy Lewis.”

Chapter Text

Thanos took each and every one of Gamora’s attacks without even attempting to dodge, which only served to frustrate his adopted daughter even further. He fell on his back as she landed an uppercut, and he could feel no pain despite how his jaw must have been dislocated. With barely any effort, he reset it and laid still.

“Finally tired?” She spat, towering over him. “Why aren’t you fighting back anymore? Fight back, you coward!”

Their environment, a barren land of red sand and violet skies, shifted and shook before stabilizing into one of a frozen wasteland. Both were instantly alert, with Thanos pulling himself up and Gamora looking around.

In the distance, a glowing blue dome caught their eyes, and while they both walked towards it, Thanos already had a feeling of what it would contain. The Soul Realm had pulled him in because he hadn’t sacrificed Eris’ soul, just as he hadn’t all those years ago. It didn’t matter that he had not been involved in any of their lives following their death as Eris. All that mattered to Soul was that Eris was and is the only being he had ever wished to spare from death, and so he ought to have given her up.

Eris had been the reason he found himself taking in children of planets he’s saved. His Black Order, his children, would not have existed and become as powerful as they had if it weren’t for the knowledge and experience he had gained in caring for Eris. They had given him renewed purpose.

How is it that a gift from Death had given him such value for life?

Or at least, one in particular.

Gamora stepped between he and the dome, attempting to shield the person inside, which made Thanos believe that she was perhaps seeing something else entirely, because there was no way she could have hidden the tall being behind her.

Eris stood, tall and proud, as they had the day they had ridden out to battle. Their hair was down in one braid, and the armor he had had made especially for them blended wonderfully with their dark skin. Thanos and Eris stood at near-identical heights, ensuring that no matter how much Gamora tried, she would not be able to stop him from seeing them. The sight brought a strong sense of disappointment and sadness within him, recalling that they had died at Hela’s hand, under Odin’s command. How ironic it had been that a gift of Death had been killed by a Goddess of Death.

He took a step forward, and Gamora was quick to push him back.

“You know not what you see, child.” Thanos said.

“I know enough.” She argued. “She’s the one that put a stop to your mad plan.”

Oh, there was so much his daughter didn’t know. He moved swiftly, ducking to kick at her ankles and cause her to fall. When she did, he lunged for Eris, only to be forced back by the dome that surrounded her.

Undeterred, he leapt to his feet and ran for Eris once more.

Gamora, seeing this, ran up to meet him, screaming, “No!”

He swatted her away, though she held on to his arm in retaliation. Thanos spun and then slammed Gamora into the barrier, which caused it to ripple but not break. Inside, Eris didn’t move. They stood still, eyes closed.

“Get away from her!” Gamora snarled, before disappearing. Thanos barely gave a thought to where she went, intent on reaching his Eris. He aimed another hit to the only thing separating him from Death’s Gift, and found himself being propelled back once more.

The world shifted and suddenly they were in a different place. He barely registered the God of Mischief and two other women, his only goal being to reach Eris once more. Gamora kept up with him, the realm keeping them on par with each other. He stumbled when Gamora landed a kick to his chest, and he barely got himself back on his feet when he was teleported and his fist landed on the God of Mischief’s face. Without so much as a flinch, he turned around and honed in on Eris.

He stalked towards her, grunting when Gamora threw herself onto his back. Thanos shifted their weight so that she would fall, hard, on her back. He then felt himself be lifted and thrown away, and he fell right against the barrier that was stopping him from reaching out to Eris.

“How does it feel to be powerless?” Gamora taunted with a smirk. “You have no one here to save you. The stones aren’t with you and you can’t even get to her.”

Thanos roared, grabbing Gamora’s arm and twisting it behind her. She stepped on his foot and slid beneath him, forcing him to let go of her.

The sight of the two women from Earth caught his eye, and since his daughter was hellbent on keeping him away from Eris, he figured he would go for the woman that shared Eris’ soul. He was a few steps away from the girl when he was shoved away. With a growl, he stalked towards the woman once again, only to be interrupted by Gamora appearing in front of him. Before either of them could even move, he felt the Power and Space Stone work to send him on his back, and Reality helped keep him to the ground by swallowing his limbs.

He looked from the Son of Laufey to Gamora, and watched as she forced her hand into the woman’s chest. It was the last thing he saw before he was swathed in bright light.

When he came to, it was to the sight of Eris squatting beside him, hand pressed against the barrier between them. Thanos pulled himself up so that he was sitting upright, and he faced them then, watching as they mirrored his position, placing their hand back in their lap.

“You’re alive.”

How unnecessary. What did he have to say to them, really? There were no words that he could string together that could have fully embodied what he felt for them. They weren’t just his child. They were someone given by the One he swore to spend his entire life serving. They were his first foray into caring for anyone other than his own hide since his planet’s own demise. They were supposed to stay by his side and rule as his sword and shield.

Being asked to give her up had never even crossed his mind, and yet…

Was that what they had been made to be?

Had Death known that his continued service would lead to the hunt for the Infinity Stones?

And that in doing so he would need to face letting go of that which he cared for most?

“I am as alive as I have always been,” they replied. “You have changed.”

“Have I?”

“We would not be here if you have not.”

“I killed my daughter.”

Eris said nothing, but Thanos knew them well enough to see how their facial muscles twitched. In spite of being his first (and arguably favorite) child, they had always been more aloof and indifferent when it came to his other children. They had regarded everyone coolly, as if they were no more than a passing thought to them, and perhaps to Eris, his other children were. They had certainly outlived every one of the others.

He kept his eyes locked on them as he said, “I should have killed you.”

“Yes, that would have been the right thing to do, wouldn’t it?”

“But I couldn’t.” The ‘I still can’t’ hung in the air between them, unsaid but not unheard.

“I had offered to kill myself,” they said gently. “My blood would not have been on your hands then.”

“I couldn’t bare to watch you die,” was his admission, spoken barely above a whisper.

They smiled, “You could have closed your eyes or looked away.”

“Would you still do it now?” Thanos asked, searching their expression. He didn’t know exactly what it was he was looking for; maybe he was just trying to commit them to memory.

“My life has always been Death’s to claim,” said Eris. “But as much as I am Eris, I am also all the lives I have lived before, and some of them do love life — outside of strife, outside of war, outside of the life you had given me. I am Eris as much as I am Darcy Lewis, and my soul has been harmed but it shall be healed.”

“Would you hate me?” He placed a hand on the barrier that crackled between them. “If I kill her to get the stone, would you hate me when we see each other in the Beyond?”

They placed their hand against his, the barrier serving to separate them. Their eyes remained locked with his, and Thanos worried he would see anger or betrayal in them. Could he? Could he really kill them?

“I need you to tell me.” Only a willing death will bring her true peace, the Grim had told him upon Eris’ death. “Are you willing to die that I might fulfill what we had once set out to do?”

He registered their lips moving and them saying something, but he could not hear what it was. A burning red glow encased the barrier and it pulsed heavily between their hands. They looked unharmed, but Thanos could feel the heat against his palm. When he pulled back, Eris disappeared and he was left alone.

Or so he thought.

Looking around found him taking in the sight of Gamora, who was looking up at him with the same confusion and betrayal that had been in her eyes on Vormir.

“You love her,” she said, and it struck him how big of a blow it must have been to her. Was it not just a couple of hours ago that they had been in Vormir and she had realized that he had loved her enough to be considered a sacrifice to obtain the Soul Stone? And then to find out that it shouldn’t have been her all along…

“More than I thought I had, it seems.” Thanos replied before shaking his head. “It does not matter.”

“Doesn’t it?” Gamora asked, taking a step towards him. “You couldn’t kill her then, but you’re willing to try again now?”

He wondered where he had gone wrong with Gamora. She had been such a promising warrior, and would have been a great general among his Order. If only she weren’t so close minded to the grand scheme of things. There is no other master than Death, and his way of serving was the best. Eris was proof of that were they not?

There was nothing in the world as consistent as Death. It was an entity in a league of its own, far above the daily whims of beings, and unconcerned about what direction anyone took. After all, everyone and everything comes to an end one day. Even those that seem immortal will find themselves at Death’s doors one way or the other, and it was Thanos’ dream to be welcomed as an equal when Death came for him.

“I’m willing to finish what I started.” He finally said.

“I won’t let you succeed.”

“I killed you once, didn’t I?” Thanos said, though it pained him to recall it. “I would do it again if it meant I succeeded.”

“And if you had to kill her?” Gamora continued, “She had no part in this. She might have been yours once upon a time, but she’s an entirely different person now. She’s innocent in all of this.”

He was reminded once again of how Gamora must have been seeing someone different where he saw Eris. Perhaps she saw the human, Darcy Lewis? She was smart enough to understand that there was perhaps a difference in what they saw, but had misunderstood what Eris meant to him.

Eris was as much his child as they were his partner. There was no romantic or sexual interest, but there was a deep sense of respect and trust cultivated by years of being by each other’s side. They knew him best because they knew him how Death knew him. They knew all that he had done and understood all that he was willing to do, which always made him wonder if perhaps being rid of Eris was a test of his faith in Death.

Thanos and Gamora stood in silence for a moment, he broke it by saying, “They are what I had wished you to be, my daughter.”

She blinked up at him, surprised and confused.

“I have done plenty in the name of Death.” Thanos said, “To kill half the universe would have been a great service to her.”

“Why half? Why not all? I thought you were after balance?”

“In keeping half alive, I give their population room to grow—”

“And then you cull them?”

He smiled down at her, “You were always one of the smartest of my children.”

Now if only you had been more loyal to me.

The next thing he knew, Gamora was gone and he was facing the woman called Darcy Lewis.

Her lips, a color that reminded him of the blood of the Aesir, curved into a small smirk, and when she opened them, he knew what he wanted to do.

“Thanos, I’ve come to bargain.”

Chapter Text

They rejoined the team with no one the wiser. Darcy’s eyes were puffy, but everyone would chalk it up to Thor leaving. She had put her hair up in a ponytail and kept Strange’s cloak. It wasn’t out of the norm for her to have it across her shoulders. Really, she shouldn’t return it to him anymore since it was so fond of her.

“Glad to see you could join us,” Natasha said, offering her a glass filled with a blue liquid. “Let me know if you want to see your new digs. Tony’s letting me be the one to show you, just in case.”

Darcy took the drink, wanting to ask what it was, but ended up with her brows furrowed as she took in Natasha’s words. Just in case? Just in case of what?

She hadn’t even realized she’d said it out loud until Natasha was answering her, “Just in case you’re sick of all the testosterone around you.”

There was a second where Darcy was just looking at Nat, taking in how the spy had a small smirk and her own drink in hand. She wondered if Nat meant anything else by her words. There were plenty that she could have meant, Darcy supposed, but her conversation with Stephen was forcing plenty of her fears to the forefront of her mind, and while he had done plenty to calm her down, there was nothing that had helped soothed her like Jane or Chris could have.

A loud laugh had them turning to the source of it, finding Barnes, Wanda, and Shuri stepping through a portal of Stephen’s creation. With their arrival came news of Thor and the Guardians’ departure.

“So, my new room?” Darcy asked Nat with a grin.

Nat nodded her head towards a hallway, and they walked down the path, Steve’s eyes following them as they left. He had rejoined everyone ahead of Tony, who had told him that he needed to set some things up for Darcy’s move into the main building. He wondered if perhaps he should follow them, but banished the thought quickly as Bucky clapped him on the back and took him in a quick embrace.

“You alright there, Punk?” Bucky asked looking in the direction Darcy and Nat had gone.

Steve nodded and offered no other explanation, steering the conversation to, “How’s Wakanda?”

Bucky’s jaw clenched, though no one would have noticed. He pulled Steve so that they could stand to the side, farther from the crowd but still close enough to not arouse suspicion. The relaxed stance Steve had seen Bucky slowly adapt had all but disappeared, and he dreaded what could possibly leave Bucky’s lips that would have him so wound up.

He watched Bucky drink the scotch Sam had poured him, knowing that he wouldn’t be as affected by it as he would have liked.

Before he could properly pull the glass away from his lips though, Bucky whispered, “We believe there’s something wrong with Wanda. She hasn’t moved on, Steve. She doesn’t want to.”

“You have to understand, Buck, she and Vis—”

“She visits him everyday.” Bucky rushed on to say, shifting his footing so that they were both facing the people. “She doesn’t say anything. She just goes to his room and stays there for hours on end. The only person she speaks to is Okoye, and only to respond when she’s asked to eat, sleep, or spar.”

“Who else knows about this?” Steve’s eyes zeroed in on Wanda, who seemed to be conversing with Sam and Quill, a polite smile on her face.

“Of the people here? Shuri, Nat, and Stark — figured it wouldn’t do to keep secrets from him, after everything.”

Steve nodded in agreement, wondering if Bucky knew of what Tony had done just minutes prior.

“There’s more.” Bucky held his glass by his chest as the other dug around in his front pocket. He pulled out a slip of paper, crumpled and dusty. “One of the servants found this in her pocket. Anything found in our clothes are surrendered to Nakia for inspection, just in case, and well…see for yourself.”

He took it carefully, using his free hand to unfurl the small piece of paper.

Желание
Ржавый
Семнадцать
Рассвет
Печь
Девять
Добросердечный
Возвращение на родину
Один
Товарный вагон
Солдат?

Steve’s eyes widened. A mix of anxiety, disappointment, and betrayal formed within, and when he looked up to observe Wanda again, he realized the same thing Bucky did at that moment.

“She’s gone.” Bucky hissed. He blinked rapidly then, looking around at everyone in the room and finding them all with eyes bright red — the color of Wanda’s magic. It was only Strange that was unaffected, though he seemed to catch on the same time the pair did.

“Shit.”

Strange glared at Steve, “Darcy.”

He disappeared before their eyes, and Steve knew he must have been teleporting to Darcy. In that confusing way of his. He wasted no time in going down the hallway Nat and Darcy had, Bucky hot on his heels.

“No way,” Darcy gawked as she looked around. “How did you even make this happen?”

“Foster and Pep wanted to make sure our girl was taken care of.” Tony stepped away from the counter he was leaning on. “It’s another reason we didn’t move you in immediately, even though we had the room for it.”

They stood in the room that was a replica of her and Jane’s New York apartment. It had the same dark wood floor and pastel yellow walls. The large cerulean L-couch with the neon throw pillows was above the same plush red rug. Various other small details caught her eyes. The jar she used to keep cookies, gifted from Chris. The coat rack by the door that she’d taken from her childhood home, where a jacket she’d stolen from Jeremiah hung. The pictures that hung on the wall were a mix of familiar and new, the one standing out most to her was the one taken on her birthday last week, with everyone huddled together and looking decidedly friendly.

“Your girl?” Darcy echoed as she walked up to him, amusement curling her lips and glittering in her eyes.

The only thing missing was the oak scent that Jane liked having around, and the shoes Jane often left by the door (and Darcy ended up stumbling over or putting away, depending on her sobriety).

“Crazy lady that finds herself saving the world and with near-unlimited power and still keeps rolling with it? Sounds about right.” Tony shrugged. “You’re one of ours, Lewis.”

“Not to mention all your little projects, malyshka.”

Darcy scrunched her nose, as she looked over her shoulder to turn to Nat, “I still feel like little girl is so inaccurate. I mean, have you seen my girls?”

“Boss, I’d like to let you know that Miss Maximoff is currently leavi—”

Tony and Nat shared a look before he pulled Darcy to him and then shoved her behind the island. The lawyer gave a little squeak, but stayed where she was placed. He activated his suit as Nat reached in her concealed holsters, pulled out, and then activated her Widow Bites. Both were on edge, looking around, trying to anticipate where Wanda would appear. They were painfully aware how utterly useless they would actually be against the Scarlet Witch, but also wouldn’t give up without a fight.

The door opened then, revealing an empty hallway.

Nat and Tony shared a look, and she gave him a small nod before walking out. She kept herself plastered to the wall until she was right beside the doorframe. She then swung herself out and found nothing there. Nat frowned. Down the corridor, she saw Steve and Bucky’s silhouettes appear, running towards her. Her eyes widened and she peered back inside to find Tony out of his suit and on the floor, Wanda glowing a vibrant red, struggling against binds that looked and felt like Strange’s doing, Strange standing by Wanda, and Darcy Lewis’ shaking form being covered by a man she never thought she’d see again.

I’ve got red in my ledger, and I’d like to wipe it out.

Can you? Can you wipe out that much red?

Loki, body arched and poised for another attack, had one hand behind him and the other in front, with a dagger held at the ready for any potential threat.

“Let me go!” Wanda squirmed. “Nat, you can’t let him do this to me.”

She frowned at the familiarity Wanda addressed her with. They may have worked in the same team before, but that had been when Clint had been around to vouch for her. In that moment, looking at Tony slowly pulling himself up and breathing heavily, Nat knew she was far from having the compassion that Clint had.

“You got her?” Nat asked Strange, though the man only had eyes for Loki and Darcy then.

“Put her in the containment unit.” Tony said, bracing himself against the couch. He looked at Loki then, noting how Thor’s adopted brother had yet to relax. He dragged his eyes back to Strange, Natasha, whom, by then, was being flanked by Rogers and Barnes, and then met Darcy’s gaze quickly.

Darcy grunted as Tony manhandled her to stand behind him. She watched as Natasha walked out the door and Wanda calmly walked in, a deadly glow about her.

“Wanda?” She could feel her heart pounding. Tony didn’t seem to see or hear her, unmoving. Darcy took a step towards him, hand outstretched, only to be intercepted by Wanda grabbing her wrist and twisting it behind her back and making her cry out.

“You should know your place, Darcy Lewis.” With another twist, Darcy screamed.

She felt the warmth rising in her arm as it was bent at an odd and painful angle. “What the fuck do you want, Wanda?”

“Why do you get to live?”

“Is this still about Vision?” Darcy repeated hysterically, stealing herself and then thrusting backwards so that Wanda was pushed away. She spun around, causing Wanda to let go of her. Thank fuck for the training Nat and Thor had put her through.

The red energy associated with Wanda’s abilities reached out to her like tentacles. She stumbled back flicking her hand, hoping against all odds that the Stones would lend her a hand. She was relieved when the woman was pushed away, and Darcy could see the Infinity Gauntlet appear on her hand once more.

“Wanda, we can talk about this.” She took a few steps so that the island was between them, though Wanda stalked her every move, mirroring them. “I know you want him back. Trust me, I would if I could, but I don’t even know how control this shit.”

“Seems like you have good enough control right now.” Wanda flexed her hand, palm up and Darcy raised her arm to shield herself.

When nothing happened, she brought her hand down and realized that time had stopped. Wanda stood frozen, an irate expression on her face. Darcy took a step away, going to stand beside Tony. She placed a hand on him, only to be strangled by Iron Man’s hand. She inhaled, grasping at his wrist and struggling. How did he move?

Hurt her.

She’s the reason Vision is gone.

Make her feel pain.

Darcy’s eyes darted around as she heard the distinctly feminine voice. It didn’t sound anything like Wanda’s or anyone she knew.

“T-tony…” She wheezed, feeling how hard her throat was being squeezed.

Stephen arrived then, took hold of her waist, and then pulled her roughly out of Iron Man’s hold. She heaved, placing her fingers against her throat and knowing that she would have bruises where he’d held her. One of her hands was against Stephen’s chest, steadying herself as he moved them to a safer part of the room, but Wanda’s magic reached out and hauled Stephen away from Darcy.

She nearly fell on her knees, but reached out her left hand, intent on saving Stephen somehow, only for her wrist to be pulled by one of the red ropes of energy. The cloak left her and returned to its master, which somewhat assured Darcy that he had another measure of protection. She could see the stones in the gauntlet glow, and she tried to twist her wrist so that she could hold onto the rope and pull Wanda to her instead. When her hand was gripping the cord tying her to the Scarlet Witch, she saw purple light crawl up the strand and hit Wanda, which made her let go and for Darcy to fall into Tony, whose suit had retracted but was still very much frozen.

“Stephen!” Darcy called out, just as Stephen pulled her and Wanda into the Mirror Dimension with himself.

The fractals that signaled they were in another plane helped Darcy feel a little safer, if only because it meant no one else would be dragged into this shitty fight. She had only been in the Mirror Dimension three times beforehand, and all of which had been calm and controlled situations. She tried to repeat the feeling she had whenever she and Thor sparred and she was able to fly or teleport.

Wanda, seemingly unfazed, flew at Stephen, hands glowing and crackling with energy Darcy knew would hurt.

“Wanda!” She jumped, praying that she flew and briefly delighting when she did. With a grunt, she flipped so that she could kick Wanda away, knowing that she packed a better kick than punch thanks to Black Widow. She landed a quick kick to Wanda’s side, but couldn’t get away fast enough as Wanda attempted to gain control over Darcy using her abilities, only to be repelled by the orange glow that had encased her.

With Wanda flung back, Darcy turned to Stephen, and watched as the man attempted to lasso Wanda only to have the rope be stopped by her force field. Seeing that it had protected her, Wanda wrapped herself in an energy field that Stephen couldn’t seem to penetrate — at least, without causing too much harm — and headed straight for Darcy.

She visualized a force field of her own, bright and glowing, surprised when something (someone) appeared between her and the angry witch.

Dark hair and leather-like armor materialized before her, and just as Wanda was about to bring her fist forward, the man waved his hand and threw her off and away like a rag doll. She landed near Stephen, barrier breaking, and the Master of the Mystic Arts was quick to tie her up and bring them back to reality, where Wanda’s mind manipulation on everyone  was beginning to wear off.

She had no idea what to do.

The first thing that came to mind was Thor, and how he had been on planet just a few hours ago, and had missed the return of his brother.

Because really, who else could it be but Loki?

“Hey, Rosie, you okay?”

Darcy barely registered Tony speaking to her, but as she traced the marks his armored hand had left on her neck, she knew they all would have an idea of what had happened. Her eyes moved to meet Nat’s who was looking between everyone, as tightly wound as the man in front of her. The pair of super soldiers on either side of the spy looked both confused and concerned, and when Darcy looked into Steve’s eyes, she could see the suspicion that shrouded it as he regarded Loki.

“Nobody touch them,” Stephen said, before disappearing with Wanda.

A part of her wanted to tell them everything that had just happened. She had the beginnings of a migraine, and it wasn’t until she was leaning into Loki that she had realized she was swaying and had lost balance.

“Darcy!”

“I’m fine, mmfine,” she assured Steve. She felt Loki move and shift, and she placed a hand against his chest as he turned to hold her.

“Your suit is rather uncomfortable against human skin, Man of Iron.” Loki taunted before stepping away from her. “Darcy Lewis, I’m sure the good Captain or the Widow would be a better source of comfort than I.”

“Stand down, kærr.” She pulled her hand away and moved passed him, her shoulder brushing against his arm.

Loki’s eyes widened. Beloved? He followed her form as Steve and Nat walked up to her.

“I’m really fine,” she told them. “Wanda’s…there’s something going on there that we don’t know.”

Magic leaves a mark, Loki thought. He looked down at his hand, his conjured dagger had disappeared when he had turned around. Just as he was attempting to recreate it, Stephen rejoined the group, appearing right in front of him.

“You’ve returned.” Stephen’s distaste for him was palpable, but then again, everyone in the room probably felt the same. He didn’t need any stone to tell him that.

“As we can all see.” Loki replied, a mocking grin on his face.

“Yeah, well, Morticia Adams, mind telling us how that happened?” Tony crossed his arms then. “Do you bring any news from the Beyond?”

“Yes, I would mind,” said Loki with an arched brow. “Considering you had been strangling Darcy earlier, I think you ought to keep your comments to yourself, no?”

Everyone but Stephen and Loki turned to Darcy then, as if to confirm what had been said. She placed a hand on her neck, fingertips brushing against the red and purple marks on her skin.

“Darcy, ’s this true?” Steve asked, raising a hand to place on her back.

Darcy’s eyes narrowed at Loki, “Œrna mælir sá er eva þegir staðlausu stafi hraðmælt tunga nema haldendr eigi opt sér ógótt um gelr. (Too many unstable words are spoken by him who ne'er holds his peace; the hasty tongue sings its own mishap if it be not bridled in.)” She crossed her arms over her chest, ignorant of the shock of everyone around her. She continued on, “It’s fine. I think we can all agree that nothing happened that couldn’t be taken care of — there’s something wrong with Wanda and let’s focus on that, yes?” She looked at Tony, whose face was carefully blank, then at Nat whom she smiled at.

“You’re sure, malyshka?” Nat asked, finally putting away her Widow Bites.

“It’s really fine.” She assured everyone with a sigh, turning to Stephen for help.

“If she says it’s fine, then we should just believe her.” Stephen barely spared her a glance, opting instead to address Loki, “We need to talk. I can have your brother return—”

“There is nothing my brother can or needs to do,” said Loki, eyes briefly leaving Darcy to look at Stephen. “For any of you or myself.”

“Then we still need to talk, because you know more about the stones than the rest of us right now, no matter how painful I find to admit it. It can’t be a coincidence that you appear, protecting Darcy, when Wanda was after her.” Stephen waved his hand, opening a portal beneath Loki, but the Asgardian used his magic to teleport away, appearing to stand by Darcy.

Steve and Nat immediately went into a tense defensive pose, watching his every move. Hand still on the small of Darcy’s back, Steve pulled her closer to himself.

“I will come willingly, witch, I just need to…” He threw Steve a dry look, placing his hands on Darcy’s shoulders and watching as a cape appeared and cascaded down. When it was fully formed, Darcy fell unconscious into Steve’s arms, cloaked in the black and green of Loki’s cape.

“What did you do to her?” Steve demanded angrily, immediately defensive. He wrapped an arm around the woman securely, stooping and hooking his other arm under her knees to better hold her to him.

Loki looked at him, remembering how Steve had kissed Darcy; practically confessed his feelings for her, and how Darcy felt the same way. His eyes skimmed over Darcy’s unconscious form, disappointed to see dark hair where blonde should (could? would?) have been and rounder facial features. Sigyn had been beautiful with her angular face and golden skin.

Darcy was, too…for a human. He supposed.

“She was in shock.” Loki finally replied, straightening up. “You heard her speak in a language long dead, did you not? That was not normal for anyone, regardless of how shocked they are. My cape acted as a sedative of sorts to temper the imbalance within her.”

“And you know it would work, how…?”

He barely spared Stark a glance, choosing instead to meet Strange’s narrowed eyes. Magic leaves a mark. Her special brand of magic recognized his as her own, be it from their time in the Soul Realm together or something else entirely, Loki still found himself unsure. Either way, he knew that their lives were as intertwined as can be. Sigyn or Darcy, Loki would do right by her.

“Will you tell us all that you know about what’s happening to her?” The Widow asked, to which Loki rolled his eyes.

“I am more than willing to regale you with tales of what has happened in the Soul Realm, though I would suggest we do so when she wakes so that everything be laid out in one go. Meanwhile, you should let her sleep and check to make sure that everyone is alright, yes?” He didn’t bother waiting for anyone to reply, leaving the apartment and heading to where the party had been.

“Take care of her, we better keep an eye on the puny god,” Tony told Steve, following Loki. Nat followed as Strange simply disappeared from the room. She knew that there was definitely a problem if Loki was even remotely appearing to be forthcoming about the events. Before she could properly exit, Nat looked back over to Steve, and while she addressed him, her gaze fell and remained on Darcy’s unmoving form.

“You should probably stay with her, we’ll let you know what happens.” Nat suggested, though Steve knew it should be treated more like an order or a favor.

“FRIDAY’s still down,” said Bucky, speaking for the first time since their arrival, and understanding Nat’s order of having them watch over Darcy. When Nat nodded, he continued, “Steve and I will stay here; keep watch over her.”

“I won’t let anything happen to her.” Steve met Nat’s gaze when she turned back to him, waiting for a response.

Nat left without another word, and Steve was left with Bucky, Darcy still in his arms. She was breathing evenly, and if he hadn’t seen and felt her faint into his arms, he would have thought she had just fallen asleep.

He brought her into what he assumed to be her room, where two double mattresses were arranged close together. This was where she and her guard was going to be moving into, after all, and since Tony had wanted round-the-clock eyes and access to Darcy, this was what they had come up with. A thin wall could be erected between the beds for some semblance of privacy, but that really didn’t offer much.

Steve placed her carefully on the bed, under the covers that Bucky had pulled up. He debated undoing the cape Loki had placed, but worried that it might do more harm than good. He tucked her in and let himself indulge a bit as he sat on the bed and traced the side of her face with his fingertips.

“She know you’re sweet on her, Punk?”

Bucky’s smirk brought a level of nostalgia that had Steve shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He kept his mouth shut, feeling for the first time that there was a part of his life he didn’t wish to share with his brother. What he and Darcy had was still so new, and he didn’t want to risk anything, especially with her apparently in danger from someone he considered one of their own.

He stood and walked towards Bucky, who was leaning by the window.

“That wasn’t Wanda,” Steve said.

“Who are you trying to convince, exactly? Me or yourself?” Bucky’s raised brow and crossed arms had Steve feeling like the skinny little boy he used to be. “Look, the Wanda I know is someone willing to risk everything just to spend a little time with her lover. From what I learned about her, she’s the type of person to become desperate. She and her brother agreed to become experiments to be able to get back at Stark. She was a big help in getting rid of that robot thing after her brother died. She helped you when she felt backed into a corner because you offered her brand of freedom.”

Where he would have felt as if he were being told off if it had come from anyone else, hearing everything from Bucky felt much different. Not only was the man before him someone he trusted implicitly, he was also someone with an outsider’s perspective of the events. He had been brought up to date of all that occurred, from the people around him, but especially from Steve himself. Where Shuri had helped ensure Bucky’s triggers were well and truly disposed of, Bucky had come to trust the woman enough to let her in to know not just the soldier that had been corrupted into becoming The Asset, but also the boy from Brooklyn that was Steve Roger’s best friend. Steve didn’t really have that. There was Sam, yes, but there was also a level of guilt where Sam was concerned because he had been unwittingly dragged into Steve’s world. He hadn’t signed up to be a fugitive when they were taking down HYDRA!SHIELD, but he had ended up becoming one anyways.

“I’m not saying that she should be blamed or locked up or whatever you people decide to do,” said Bucky carefully, eyes moving to watch Darcy. “But maybe you shouldn’t fight blindly this time ‘round.”

Steve’s eyes widened.

“I’ve told you how grateful I am of what you’ve done for me, but even you have to admit you lost a lot more than you bargained for.” Bucky’s stance relaxed minutely as he pocketed his hands. “Not all battles need to be fought with fists.”

It seemed that even though Thor was gone, his wisdom remained. “Not all wars are fought with steel and fire.”

“Just…” Bucky clapped him on the shoulder. “Look at this from a little further out, yeah? Wanda’s a problem right now, and while you may have known a side to her that justifies your wish to save her—maybe you shouldn’t try to shoulder everything alone, ‘specially if you want a future with Darcy. She’s not some helpless dame who doesn’t know who she is, and she’s surrounded by the best people to help her out. Your team was split in the face of the Accords, now it’s united against one member. If there’s anything we all ought to have learned by now, it’s that a team won’t function well if everyone’s cards aren’t laid out.”

The thing was, to Darcy, she was alone. She’s been feeling alone for a while. Her earlier breakdown with Strange was still fresh in Steve’s mind, and perhaps more prominently, he recalled her voice when she had latched onto him.

“Don’t leave,” she had said. “Not you too.”

A glance at the clock by the nightstand told him it was two in the morning, and Steve knew everyone would be on edge due to Loki’s arrival and Wanda’s betrayal. He looked at Darcy, telling her that he would be back as soon as possible, but that he needed to be a part of the team in that moment as well. He was going to be there for Darcy as her friend (maybe even something more, if she consented), as well as someone who would keep his own friend accountable. He had sworn that afternoon that he would do better, and he had begun by patching things up with Tony.

Now, he needed to salvage what ties were left within the team.

“I’ll be back.” He told Bucky. “Keep an eye on her.”

Steve watched Bucky stand in attention and nod, recognizing the change in tone as that of a superior commanding a soldier. He sent Darcy one more look, as if to remind himself of the woman who had unwittingly taught him that there was always a choice, and that every choice had its consequences.

Mind, Reality, Time, and Soul all turned to Darcy abruptly as the scene in the portal changed to reflect what was happening to the Darcy Lewis on Earth. Time and Reality were quick to help, while Mind and Soul came to stand in front of her.

“What’s going on?” Darcy asked. “Why is Wanda going crazy right now? Can’t you just bring Vision back and make everything better?”

“This is bigger than simply a sorrowful lover,” Mind replied. “Magic leaves a mark, and Wanda’s a great beacon and conductor for the magic around her.”

“Is there a way to help? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” She placed a hand on her temple, feeling a migraine beginning to form.

“It’s already settled.”

Darcy’s eyes widened as she saw Loki appear in front of Earth!Darcy. She looked from Mind to Soul, waiting for an explanation but getting none. Behind them, Time and Reality watched their interaction. No words were being shared among the stones, but Darcy assumed they were able to communicate without their mouths.

“If I can guarantee your life and survival,” said Darcy, meeting Mind’s gaze, remembering that they had been destroyed once upon a time. “Would you help me?”

Chapter Text

Loki’s mind was reeling.

The Darcy Lewis he had just left in the arms of The Good Captain was not the Darcy Lewis he had gotten to know. He knew that. In the short span of time that he had assessed where he was, he had quickly figured out he had been pushed out of the Soul Realm. However, hearing her speak in a tongue that was definitely not her own had thrown him for a loop. She had looked like Darcy and had spoken with Darcy’s voice, but the words had definitely been Sigyn. There was no mistaking the language or the affection behind them, and while he knew that perhaps the Darcy part of her soul had come to harbor some sentiment for him, he doubted it was to the point that warranted her channeling his late wife.

How could she have known those words? Something had changed, not just within the Soul Realm, but perhaps out here as well; the fact that he was now back on Midgard was proof of that.

He had vowed to remain in the Soul Realm to protect Darcy, and the stones had ejected him so he could come to her rescue in this realm. A protector. The God of Mischief. Who would have known?

“How is she?” Strange asked as he fell into step with the god.

“You just saw her, did you not?”

“The one in the other realm.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed. 

“I wasn’t sure at first, but your reaction speaks for itself.”

“It would do you well to remember who I am.” Loki said as they came to a stop in the room where everyone had been left.

“God of Mischief and Lies,” said Stark as he came to stand between the pair, but inevitably left to figure out what had happened to his AI.

“You are someone who cares about her,” replied Strange as if Stark hadn’t spoken. “Or had at least been exposed to her long enough that you are dripping with magic — magic that I associate with her.”

Loki looked around, watching everyone’s reactions as they saw him. Among them all, it was Banner that caught and kept his eye.

“You’re here,” he said as he approached them. “How are you here? You’re dead—Thanos killed you.”

“And you are human,” replied Loki. “I distinctly remember you being far bigger and more green when we parted.”

Banner’s eyes moved from him to the three others that had come from Darcy’s apartment,  his lips curling into a frown, “Something happened.”

Everyone gathered round, and Loki locked everyone’s faces into his mind. Apart from those he had met in the Battle of New York, he knew these people as Darcy did.

The Princess Shuri was an intelligent woman who took no shit from anyone and thrived where she was free to tinker and create, much like Stark, but younger and less jaded. She had been considerate where Darcy was concerned. She had done everything to ensure Darcy’s comfort, and she may have no longer been physically around Darcy the past few weeks, it was no secret that she was kept up to date with all that concerned their newly-enhanced companion. She stood between Colonel Rhodes and the Lady Pepper, and all three of them were looking at him with varying degrees of confusion.

The Colonel was a good man. He and Darcy had been friends before the whole Thanos ordeal, thanks to the work she was putting in for the Accords, and he was always more than willing and ready to lend a hand when she needed it. He was gearing up for a more public part in the elaborate scheme, though Loki knew only a few knew.

Lady Pepper Potts, for all her reputation as a no-nonsense woman who supposedly stole Stark industries from underneath her now fiancé’s nose, was one of the best people and friends Darcy had come to know. She was perhaps the one who knew the most in that room, second only to himself.

The Man of Iron had come to be a valuable friend to Darcy. Stark had been one of the first after Jane and Thor to constantly make sure that Darcy was alright with everything that she was being asked to do. He worked well with Banner and Strange, learning and adapting as they went where Darcy and her powers were concerned. Loki may not always see eye to eye with the people before him, but he understood they all had at least one goal in mind; to keep the stones from falling into the wrong hands.

Strange, who was a great sorcerer in his own right (though Loki would perhaps forever loathe to admit it), was perhaps the only other person there who had an understanding of what it meant to be in control of an Infinity Stone. And yet he lacked the insight that Loki had gained by existing within the Soul Realm.

He had seen what the Stones were capable of. He had seen how Darcy had actually managed to survive. He had seen what it truly meant to be with the Stones. It wasn’t just about controlling them. Vision had gotten that right. It was a lot more about understanding them, and of everyone that currently existed in the universe, Darcy Lewis was the one closest to properly accomplishing that.

Loki was tense as he resisted every urge to return to Darcy’s side. Having spent months not only observing her, but getting to know her had him feeling some type of way. He had cared for her wellbeing before finding out that she had been Sigyn. It stood to reason that he still cared for her now, perhaps even more so because of it. However, even though he would have wished to be the one to keep her company, he knew that the Darcy of this realm would much prefer the Captain.

He met Banner’s gaze.

Bruce Banner; what a sight for sore eyes. Loki was more acquainted with the man’s greener half, but Darcy had been good friends with the Doctor Banner. The Doctor knew, better than the rest, what it meant to have someone lurking in your mind that you didn’t have much control over. If Loki had to choose one person to entrust Darcy’s life to, it would be Banner. Not only was the Hulk virtually indestructible, but Banner himself cared for Darcy long before she was a glorified vessel for the most powerful forces in the universe. He would at least think twice before simply sacrificing her life for everyone else’s survival.

Then again, Loki supposed as his attention turned to the woman who had come to stand just beside him, Natasha Romanoff may prove a contender as well. The woman saw a bit of herself in Darcy. Someone thrown into a situation where they ended becoming a weapon of sorts in one way or the other. Where everyone else was weary of training Darcy though, the Black Widow knew the importance of utilizing every resource that they had while they had it, because while Darcy didn’t have full control yet, she would still be valuable on the field.

Much like Peter Parker, or Spider-Man, who was still, for all intents and purposes (especially compared to the company he was keeping as his superhero alter-ego), a child, Darcy decidedly didn’t have a place among the Avengers. She had been a civilian whose only connection to them had been through Jane, and if she hadn’t been brought into their life as an Infinity Stone holder, she would have been simply one of the lawyers working on the Accords. Then again, life wasn’t always fair, and Loki was well aware of that.

“Wanda did something, didn’t she?” Banner asked then, just as Quill moved to leave the room.

Loki reached out a hand to prevent Quill from leaving.

“What happened to Darcy?” Quill asked, turning to The Widow.

“There was a situation with Wanda.”

“What situation?” Quill pushed. “Can someone please give us some answers here?”

“Your Scarlet Witch has been tainted by someone else’s magic.” Loki said simply. He placed his hands behind his back, stranding tall as he straightened his posture. “It fueled the grief and anger she had over losing her lover, and couple this with her own magic, well, she had the means to get to Darcy and try to hurt her without anyone standing in her way. You all trusted her — so much so that you didn’t realize she had you all believing an illusion of where she was so that she had a solid alibi.”

There were various echoes of “What?”

“She’s contained right now,” Stark assured everyone, returning to the room just as the lights flickered.

“Systems are back online and live, Boss,” came FRIDAY’s voice.

“Good. As of right now, Friday answers only to me, Pep, Peter, and Darcy.” Loki watched as Stark leveled everyone with a suspicious look. “We’re all going to work on figuring this out.”

It was then that Rogers entered the room, “As a team.”

“I thought you’re going to look after Darcy?” Stark argued.

“Bucky’s a better guard than I am,” said the soldier, before sobering up and continuing, “But more than that, we need to work through this together. This is personal for me. I trust Wanda, but I don’t know if the woman I saw earlier is the same one we trained, and I won’t stand for what she did and what she planned to do.”

Loki wondered what Darcy would think of her beloved Captain then, standing up for his oldest friend as well as alongside the rest of the team. This was something she and Thor had wanted from the very beginning — to have Ironman and Captain America working together once again and Tony Stark coming to an understanding with Steve Rogers. He had no doubt his brother would have been roaring his pleasure at the change.

“What plans?” Princess Shuri asked, looking between the new arrivals.

Rogers clenched his fist. “Someone found a piece of paper containing the words that would have brought back the Winter Soldier if Bucky hadn’t been rehabilitated. Thankfully, it was brought to Bucky’s attention and I only found out about it when you guys got here.”

“You have a plan, Captain?”

The Captain’s responding smile caught Loki’s attention. “I thought you’d have a better idea.” Something had definitely changed between the two.

There was no mistaking the odd mix of tension and relief in the room. With the two perceived leaders of the Avengers factions on proper speaking terms, it paved the way for a possible reintegration. And along with it came the hope for freedom for those that had sided with Steve in the whole ordeal.

Stark seemed to be momentarily taken aback, but quickly recovered, “We need someone to talk to Wanda. Someone she trusts.”

“Clint,” said Widow, sure in her reply. Stark nodded at her then turned to Strange, who agreed to the unvoiced request.

“It’s also time to put into effect the round the clock surveillance on Darcy. We haven’t come up with timetables yet because we thought we had some room to fuck around. We thought that since FRIDAY covered every inch of this place, there wasn’t a thing that could happen without us knowing, but we’ve been proven wrong.”

“We can go for a temporary shifting watch. Eight or ten hour shifts each, and Bucky and I can take the first two watches. Then Nat, Sam, and Quill can take the next three. That’ll give us at least two days to come up with a working schedule.” Rogers added, though both he and Loki saw the looks exchanged by Pepper, Rhodes, Widow, and Stark. There was something going on that only the four were aware of, and both were uncomfortable with it.

Thankfully, it seemed that Widow saw that keeping little to no secrets were in her best interests.

“Take me and Sam out of rotation.” She said. “We have a mission in seventy-two hours.”

“And when was I supposed to know?”

“Tomorrow,” said Stark, before checking his watch and amending, “Well, today, I guess, but yes, you were going to be formally informed tomorrow, when the hype of moving here and saying adieu to the Guardians has kind of already fainted. And before you go cross-eyed giving me the patented You Have Failed America Look, this isn’t a mission I called for or sanctioned.”

“Steve,” said Pepper, walking over to Tony and placing a hand on his arm, as if to physically stop him from continuing to speak. “I’m the one who asked Nat and Sam to look into some important things for me.”

Pepper’s involvement told Loki and Steve what they needed; that Darcy and their project was somehow connected to the mission. It did, however, irk Steve more. It was high time there were no secrets between the members of their team — their family.

“I think,” Shuri cut in then, sensing the tension beginning to line Steve’s shoulders. “Maybe it’s better if we moved to a more comfortable room, yeah?” She addressed Pepper, knowing that if she needed to get something done immediately, the redhead was her best bet.

“I’m sure there’s a conference room somewhere we can use with access to a coffee machine and some hot water for tea,” was Pepper’s quick reply.

“Conference Room A has the necessary amenities, Mrs. Stark. Shall I start the coffee and boil the water?” FRIDAY asked.

“Yes, that would be great, Friday.” Pepper walked past everyone, the epitome of poise and grace. She turned to them with a small smile, “Shall we?”

When they were all properly situated, it was with Clint and T’Challa joining them.

The Archer’s first instinct upon catching sight of Loki had been to be suspicious and almost attack, but a quick scan of the room told him that Loki’s seeming return from the dead was far from his most pressing concern.

The King of Wakanda simply gave him a cursory glance before directing his attention to his sister, asking if she were alright and for her recount of what had occurred.

Loki gave them the, as Darcy would say, Cliff Notes version of what had happened at her apartment. Wanda put everyone under a spell, she attacked Darcy, only Strange had been able to even attempt to save her until Loki arrived. When questions around him begun to come into focus, he told them the same thing that he had said earlier, “I would suggest we do so when Darcy wakes so that everything be laid out in one go.”

“I want to know everything.” Steve said, placing his hands on the table and looking at everyone in the room. “There are so many things going on with the people in this room, that I’m not even sure we’re all on the same page right now.” His frustration was clear to everyone in the room, and there was no doubt in Loki’s mind then that everyone was being treated to the rare sight of The Man With The Plan not being a part of The Plan.

“Hey, if this is about the mission,” Sam said, “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about? I didn’t even know you were leaving until Nat said so!”

“It would have been for a day at most, Steve. Like Tony said, we were going to tell you today, or eventually.”

“Eventually?”

“Okay, enough!” Quill, with his arms crossed and pinched expression, looked every bit the disappointed dad that he sounded. “You know what, you’re going to hash this out right now. I’m not going to pretend I understand what the hell you’re all going through, but what I do know is that there’s a woman out there who can be easily classified as the most powerful being in the Universe that doesn’t entirely know what she’s getting herself into, but trusts us to make sure that not only does she not hurt anyone, but that she doesn’t get hurt too — and from where I’m standing, we’ve failed on our half of the bargain. So you guys need to sort your shit, figure out what the hell to do about your friend, then figure out your next step.”

The silence that followed was punctuated by the opening and closing of the door as Quill exited the room.

Two seconds later, the door opened once again and Quill walked in. “I forgot my coffee.”  He grabbed his mug, “I’m going to Darcy. With any luck, Wanda hasn’t used your argument as some sort of distraction and gotten to her.” And then he left once again.

Loki took in the sight of them all. They were in a room with an oval table. He sat on one end, with Strange to his right and Rogers to his left. In order, of closest to farthest, on Strange’s other side, were Quill’s now-vacant seat, Falcon, Widow, and Barton. On the other end of the table, across from Loki, were Ironman and his Lady. From them to the Captain were the Colonel, Banner, the King, and the Princess.

A silent conversation between the Starks seem to have been concluded as Stark sipped his cup and his wife took the reins.

“As some of you may know,” began the woman as she looked at every person in the room. “Darcy and I have known each other before all of this. Not only because she had been Jane’s assistant, or her other occupations under Stark Industries, but mostly because she and Fury approached me about a plan about five or six years ago. It was a longterm sort of thing, with no guarantee that any of the work she put in would have any return in the process. Long story short, we were supposed to keep an eye out for anything that might end up being harmful, so when the law you now know as the Sokovia Accords was in its beginning stages, she was already looking into how to make it more helpful and fair than simply a means of control for the government.”

“Long story short,” Tony repeated her words as he continued, “Ultron happened and gave everyone’s fears about not entirely human beings some validity, and after that, there was the matter of the UN bombing, and suddenly little shits like Thaddeus Ross had all the proof they needed that anyone that didn’t fit their definition of what a normal human being was ought to be collared and controlled. It wasn’t until this whole Thanos business that I even found out about Pep’s involvement with two men that are supposed to be dead, as well as our resident powerhouse. From what Friday’s told me, Darcy’s started more than thirty-five twitter trends in the last six months, as well as published various articles and posts that support both making amendments in the Accords and seeing Inhumans as equals. All this with various pseudo names and under most of our noses.”

T’Challa joined in. “Not only has she been looking at the laws from a lawyer’s or a civilian’s perspective, she's also looked at it from what I believe to be the most important point of view; a human. She managed to reach out to my father through Nick Fury’s connections with various ambassadors and officials. And so when I signed those Accords, it was with the knowledge that I could hope to change it so as to be something that truly helped serve and protect the people, and not simply put down those that wish to help keep their people safe.”

Everyone took it in. Of them all, it seemed that they were most surprised of T’Challa’s awareness of Darcy’s work.

“She kept an eye on Laura when I went under,” said Barton, glancing briefly at Steve. “I took a plea deal for my family. I wanted to be able to see my kids grow up, be the father I’ve always sworn I was going to be, but by the time I came back home, Laura and the kids were gone. The house had been destroyed and blood was everywhere. The body of a woman was found, and when they asked me if that was my wife, I said yes. So they slapped a tracker on me and I was suddenly under house arrest, living with someone who claimed to be my sister. Sharon Carter.”

The most affected and surprised with the information were Steve and Sam. They hadn’t seen much of the woman since the debacle with HYDRA in SHIELD.

“She comes in, tells the big guys that I’m her half brother, or some shit, and then takes me  to her home. There, I find out Laura and the kids were in a safe house in France, and would stay there for six months while our new home in South Africa was being prepared. I had to live with only contacting them through video calls and messages for a year, and had to wait three more months before getting to hold my children again.” His voice was thick with emotion, but the archer soldiered on, relieving himself of all that he had experienced for the first time. “Turns out, some people were actually looking out for me.”

There was a sniffle, and everyone had an idea of what Clint meant when he turned from Shuri to Pepper, both of whose eyes were red-rimmed as they kept their tears at bay, and back. Steve felt the familiar churn of guilt in his body, knowing that he had pulled Clint into this. The man had been retired, but Steve had called him in to fight along his side for his own version of justice. His decision had hurt families, both of blood and of the bond variety.

“I know I’m here because you need me to talk to Wanda, but I need you all to understand that Darcy isn’t just some girl that was pulled into the mess that’s become our normal.” Steve felt his own breath catch as Clint said, “I’m not willing to leave my family again, and Darcy’s a part of that. I’m not an idiot. I know a lot of people were involved in this, but Sharon told me that the moment Darcy found out that Laura and the kids existed, her priority became making sure they were effectively taken out of the equation and always safe. That was something someone had never done for me without my having to give anything in return, and I won’t take that lightly.”

The silence that followed was tense at the implied accusation. Loki would have reveled in the feeling of betrayal that Barton was experiencing once upon a time. The people he had fought alongside had done nothing to secure his family — his most precious people — but the former spy also knew that everyone’s hands had been tied. Everyone had been under tight surveillance, with every move planned and questioned.

Steve felt like he couldn’t breathe. He remembered Darcy’s words to Stephen, all of which had just essentially been corroborated by the people that had spoken. This woman, whom they’ve all pitied and worried wouldn’t be able to handle all that having the stones had entailed in the beginning, had seemingly done more of the work behind the curtains than they could have ever thought. Neither he nor Stephen brought up how Jane fit into the situation, both because they didn’t have all the information about it and because they didn’t have to.

“Jane’s work on creating Earth’s very own Einstein-Rosen Bridge is both to advance her work and to offer an alternative.” Tony said somberly. “You might have noticed that our girl’s good at keeping secrets and being very meticulous. She could have lobbied for changes through proposed repeals alone, but she took on the bigger responsibility of changing people’s perception of what it meant to be human. But more than that, she wanted to have another option for the people the Accords were hurting, and since we didn’t know Asgard was gone, that’s where she and Jane looked.”

“The Bridge, if perfected and made reality, could be a means not just to help relocate those that seek asylum but to help prove to everyone on Earth that there is a bigger world out there, and that we are better united than divided.” Bruce’s gaze slid from his cup of tea to Loki. “There’s more to the world than just us. The Guardians are more than proof of that.”

“Tony bought a private island years ago.” Pepper said, lightly tracing the rim of her cup with her fingertip.

“Excuse you, I already owned two private islands,” Tony corrected. “I figured I’d give Pepper one of them as a wedding gift.”

Pepper continued as if Tony hadn’t spoken. “I asked Nat and Sam to make arrangements so that if anything went wrong, we would all have a place to go. More than us, I want them to see if the island would be able to host an undetermined number of people. Inhumans, humans, and,” she met Loki’s eyes, “Everyone.”

Loki maintained eye contact, letting his magic encase everyone in the room. None of those that had spoken had been lying. He would have known about it, not just as the God of Lies, but as someone who had spent an extended amount of time with the woman that had (perhaps unknowingly) spun a web that had bound all of them together. Magic left a mark, and they were all so saturated in Darcy’s magical signature that it was hard to separate one from the other. Even as he sat there, feeling Strange resist his magic’s prodding, and knowing that the sorcerer could have been observing him in his Astral Form, he knew that he wouldn’t have been there if not for Darcy.

“It’s about time Darcy had some help,” said Rhodes, finally speaking since their impromptu assembly had begun. “The woman’s crazy, but you can’t deny her intelligence. She never set herself up as the poster child for the appeals. She worked better behind the senes, she said, but she had a brilliant idea of who to put up and out there.”

“Who better to introduce changes in the law than the very signatories that helped ratify them?” Shuri looked among everyone on the table.

“And who better to offer an olive branch than someone who lost the most among all of us?”

There was no mistaking Tony’s words. His father had raised a soldier on a pedestal for the country to look to in times of trouble, and there he was doing essentially the same thing. Howard Stark helped turn Steve Rogers into the war propaganda that was Captain America, and now, Tony Stark was helping Colonel Rhodes change what it meant to be the Iron Patriot.

Steve and Loki could just hear Darcy’s words.

She pressed their lips together; swift, soft, sweet, and simple. “The world is changing, and we’re gonna bring everyone home.”  

Loki felt his own lips tingle, as if reeling from the memory of the kiss. He knew it wasn’t something he had experienced himself, knew that it was Darcy that had kissed Steve, and that he shouldn’t have felt so sensitized to the event. It startled him how much the experience reminded him of when he would see Sigyn after a particularly long period away from her. Their kisses were often seen by the public, and so were often a lot less aggressive but just as intimate as when they were in the comfort of their rooms.

Where had that memory come from?

They concluded their meeting with an agreement to continue over brunch, seeing as it was already four in the morning.

Steve and Clint retired to Darcy’s apartment, a fact that did not go unnoticed by everyone, though it was only Loki that seemed uncomfortable with it. He was escorted by Natasha to a room within the same building, and though they didn’t speak, he could feel that the Widow was only biding her time to confront him. He was proven right when she turned to him just as he was retiring into his given quarters.

“Thank you for saving her,” said Widow, and both felt that ‘When we couldn’t,’ was the best end for that sentence (and that it would be left unsaid).

“She’s mine to protect.” He said, leaving her to ponder his words as he entered his room.

 Clint followed Steve to Darcy’s room, intent on making sure that she was actually alive and alright. Where Wanda was like his little sister (or even daughter, really) and he cared for her, Darcy had done something for him that no one else had thought to do, and had done so without asking for anything in return.

She’d managed to effectively hide his family from the people that were watching him. She’d arranged for his kids to have as near to normal a life as possible. She’d made happen his current reality, and more than that, she continued his unsaid goal for his children’s future. He had wanted them to grow up away from the life he led. He wanted their normal to be different than his. Darcy had made sure that was possible. They may not have known each other as well as perhaps the other Avengers knew her, but he knew a side of her that the others hadn’t.

They knew Darcy the Infinity Stone holder. He knew the same Darcy that Pepper did. He knew Darcy the activist. Darcy the fighter.

Barnes was stationed by her bedroom door when they arrived. 

“You took a while.” He said by means of greeting.

Steve nodded, and his oldest friend relaxed his stance. Clint watched the interaction with a familiarity born out of experience and observation. He knew what it was like to be in a similar position, where he was both friends with and subordinate to someone.The thought of Coulson and his non-death made his eyes drop slightly. He and Natasha had always been equals, even when he had been charged with training and inducting her into SHIELD, and they had no qualms about switching the role of leader and follower whenever on a mission. That’s what made them a great team. They knew when to step up and when to back down — often without even talking about it.

Quill exited the room Barnes had been guarding, and Clint was surprised to find him more tense than he had been. The archer would have thought that the man would be more relaxed after having spent a bit of time with Darcy. He barely spared everyone a glance as he left.

Clint entered the room, leaving the two centenarians to talk.

Darcy looked peaceful in her sleep. She was tucked under the covers and lying flat on her back. Her hair was up in a ponytail and there was barely any makeup on her face. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, and her face was a little flushed. If he hadn’t known any better, he would have figured that she was just sleeping.

He watched her chest rise and fall, assuring himself that she was still alive and breathing. It was such a sticky situation he was in. Where he saw Wanda as one of his own — like a sister or daughter of his — he also saw Darcy as someone valuable to him. She’d given him a chance to be with his family again, on practically his own terms. He would forever be grateful that the mouthy PoliSci student he’d met in New Mexico turned out to be a valuable friend to both him and his wife.

Wanda, on the other hand, could be in the same boat as he had been once upon a time. Strange had said something about Wanda having been not entirely herself, an observation that had been backed by both Darcy and Loki earlier in their encounter. Loki had once used the Mind Stone to control Clint and other SHIELD agents to further what had been his objective then. Who was to say that the same, or something similar, couldn’t have happened to Wanda? After all that they’ve seen and experienced, he wasn’t ruling anything out. He was willing to give Wanda the benefit of the doubt, at least until he himself was able to talk to her.

When he left her room, it was to the sight of Steve standing alone.

The man looked a little worse for wear, beard unkempt and bags visible under his eyes. If Clint hadn’t known the man as well as he had, he would never have reconciled the man before him as Captain America. Then again, he was more of a nomad now, wasn’t he? He had no home base to speak of, because no matter how grateful he had been to King T’Challa for sheltering them in Wakanda, Steve had always been itching to get out.

“I figured I can talk to Wanda now, maybe the adrenaline or her own survival instincts would lead her to talk. D’you know where she is?” Clint scratched at his neck absentmindedly.

“Clint,” Steve squared his shoulders, feeling as if he were facing a battle instead of an old friend. He recalled how he had felt hours earlier, when he had begun to properly patch things up with Tony. The night had brought on more problems, with Wanda’s betrayal and Loki’s appearance, but where he would have once cursed the world and shouldered everything, he forced himself to react differently this time around. Bucky had been right in that he needed to think before he moved in aspects of his life outside the battlefield.

Clint watched as Steve slowly closed the distance between them. He was giving Clint ample time to move away. They stood within a few feet of each other when Steve spoke once again.

“I wanted to apologize,” and Steve couldn’t help himself as he continued on, “You were retired. I pulled you back into this mess and screwed up all the plans you had in your life—”

“I’m divorced now.” He didn’t know what made him say it, but Clint figured it was a mix of stress and time. Early hours of the day were always best for intimate conversations.

“W-what?”

“Laura left the country with the kids as legally as she could. All records everywhere have her as Laura Jones, an alias she and Darcy agreed upon when they were drawing up our divorce papers. It’s why we’re able to live as close to normal as we can, because to everyone around us, we’ve just started dating or some shit.” Clint crossed his arms. “It was all said and done within a couple of days of the Accords being passed, so by the time I was released, Laura Barton wasn’t actually someone that existed anymore. But since they weren’t on any record in the first place, no one could double check. It made everything easier and more difficult all at once.”

Steve could see how Clint’s gaze remained locked on his, and recognized the detached voice with which he spoke for what it was — a defense mechanism.

“My family was alive and safe, but I lost all legal rights to them.” Clint pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fucking hell, I’m so lucky Laura’s been nothing but wonderful about all this shit. What kind of woman puts up with the baggage we bring into our lives, right?” He let out a sigh then. “I accept the apology, Cap, but really, it’s not like you forced me into it. I went into the fight because I agreed with your principles. I didn’t trust anyone to be able to properly command us, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. If no one can control us, then people may as well fear us. After all, who’s to say our brand of right is right at all?”

“I’ll always be grateful that you chose to help me out when I needed you, even when you had every right to refuse.” Steve replied. “I think we all understand that this is more than just people trying to control the Avengers now. Not only are other people’s lives at stake, but there’s a threat bigger than any of us could have ever imagined.”

“And poor Darcy’s stuck in the middle of it all.” Clint snorted.

Loki ignored the pair, heading straight to Darcy’s room. He thanked his ability to separate himself from his physical body and into an astral form so that he didn’t have to deal with the people that had set themselves up as Darcy’s protectors.

When he was finally inside her room, he wasn’t too surprised to find himself in the company of the Doctor. He sat by Darcy, close enough to denote how much he cared for her, but far enough that Loki knew he understood to keep his distance in case anything he did would disrupt the delicate balance that the stones had Darcy hanging on.

“Something’s wrong with her.” Strange said, not looking up. He raised a hand over Darcy’s sleeping form, a symbol appearing between he and the woman. “It’s not just her magic that I can sense anymore. There’s an undercurrent of something else…something stronger…uncontrollable.”

He walked towards the pair, noting that his cloak was no longer visible, but that he could still feel his own magic as he neared her. It seemed that the cloak, a physical manifestation of his magic, had dissolved and was properly absorbed into her. It was almost as if she was recognizing his magic as her own. The thought had him reeling. She and Sigyn were one and the same. Was that why his magic felt the need to protect her?

Strange stood, “It isn’t just yours, either. I’m familiar with your own mix of power, and while there is a hint of it from your earlier display, a different one lingers.”

“The Stones contain magic, do they not?”

“Why are they only visible now?”

“You seem to overestimate my knowledge of the Stones.”

“You’re the only choice we have right now.” The tension in Strange’s shoulders was visible as he regarded Loki, “How are you here right now? What made it possible for you to be alive right now? Why are you so special that—”

“That the Stones didn’t kill me? That I’m still alive in spite of everything? That I’m every bit as troublesome as everyone else, but a little better than the rest because I’ve studied you all and know better.”

“Years later and you still think you’re better than us.”

Loki said nothing, finding himself repeating his own words in his mind. There was no doubt in his mind that he felt the validity of his statement, but there was also a part of him that couldn’t help but realize how the points were as much valid to him as it was to Darcy.

“How is she?”

Recalling Strange’s earlier prodding, Loki replied, “A balance has been found and subsequently put to the test. One way or another, Darcy will forever be more than just Darcy Lewis.”

“And us?”

Disappointment pooled in Loki’s stomach. Then again, what had he expected? Of course Strange would be concerned about the fate of everyone else. There was an entire universe outside of Darcy Lewis, and these were people used to giving their lives for the innocent, so it stood to reason that even the person Darcy trusted most among the people currently around her would care more about the universe as well.

He didn’t bother replying to Strange, casting Darcy another glance before disappearing from the Astral Dimension and returning to his physical body. He knew he wouldn’t be getting much sleep. Not only had he gotten far too accustomed to having Darcy nearby as a companion and source of comfort, but he felt no exhaustion or wish to sleep.

As he laid in bed, he gave his surroundings a cursory glance. He wouldn’t put it past Stark to have his room outfitted with a camera of sorts. With what he knew of Midgardian tech and culture, he knew it was unlikely for the bathroom to be outfitted with security cameras. He entered the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the vanity.

It looked like barely any time had passed between his death at Thanos’ hands and his appearance before Darcy Lewis, which surprised him, because he had thought he looked more like he had during the Chitauri invasion in New York while he had been in the Soul Realm. He splashed water on his face and then cupped his hands under the running water.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his magic and letting it form before him.

When he opened his eyes, it was to the sight of a glowing blue stone floating in the water contained by his hands. His eyes darted to his reflection, where his late father was looking back at him.

"I love you my sons,” Odin had said in his final moments. “Remember this place. Home."

Could he have known just how much Midgard would have come to mean to his sons? Home, Loki repeated in his head as he reabsorbed the Space Stone. Home had been Asgard, and Asgard had been her people. Home had been Frigga’s smile and the garden she was fond of. It had been Sigyn’s arms and the life they had begun to create. It had been Thor’s side and security in their relationship as brothers.

Home had been comfort and love.

So why was he questioning whether or not he still knew what or where home was?

Chapter Text

“From the moment there was even a whisper of those laws, Fury let me know about them, because he knew I would never have stood for it — not just because I was friends with Thor and Clint, but because I’ve always believed in giving everyone a fair shot. I’m a liberal through and through, guess you can say.” Darcy laughed as she plopped herself on the ottoman before him.

Steve ran a hand through his hair, and let his arms rest on either side of the armchair as he watched his girl continue on.

“I’ve always been open and loud about how shitty those fucking laws were to the Inhumans; how they were essentially branding anyone with capabilities not easily replicable not just other, but as a weapon, one that they have full control over with or without the person’s consent. As long as they had your name and signature, you were theirs to command.” She huffed and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, though it seemed to be more out of habit than an actual need.

It hurt. It hurt to be told just how wrong she perceived his choices to be. It hurt to know how much he had harmed everyone else by thinking the only ones that would be affected were the Avengers. Fury hadn’t told him any of this; not when he was going on missions for him in the post-Sokovia Accords world that they were living in. In that vein, neither T’Challa nor Shuri had, too, and he knew they would have known.

The conversation in the conference room had showed him just how much everyone around him had been working.

A part of him wanted to take it back, wanted to tell her that if he could, he would have changed everything. But he couldn’t. Not only could he physically not turn back time, but he also couldn’t fathom not letting his heart lead his actions. At the end of the day, Steve Rogers stood (if a bit stubbornly) for what he believed was right.

Many moving pieces, Jane and Darcy had said, and they were right; not just when it came to their projects, but to everything when it came to decisions.

“I’m…” Darcy walked over to him and he felt his breath catch as she placed herself on his lap. His right arm automatically came to wrap around her, settling on her hip while his left hand rested on her leg. She put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating against her palm. “I’m not saying this to make you feel bad. Now, more than ever, I understand what brought you to that point. I would never let anyone touch Jane or —god forbid— Chris, but I’m also lucky enough to be equipped with the knowledge to prevent that. I understand why you felt like there was no one better to police your actions than yourselves, but I hope now you can help figure out an alternative for it.”

“After the Chitauri invaded,” Steve clenched his fists, unintentionally squeezing her. “It never crossed m’mind that the destruction needed t’be cleaned up. I never even thought about where the alien tech went or who dealt with it. I figured, I — we stopped the bad guys so our job’s done.” He sighed and leaned his head back and closing his eyes, visibly deflating before Darcy’s very eyes. “A few weeks ago Peter told me about the man who used alien tech to make weapons, and all I could think about was how I could have prevented that if I had just made sure nothing got into the wrong hands.”

“You aren’t perfect, Steve.” Darcy raised her other hand to cup his face, and he marveled at how right she felt there, in his arms. “I didn’t begin to like you because I thought you’d agree with me, or that you’ve repented enough or some shit. I began to like you because in spite of everyone else trying to persuade you otherwise, you were true to yourself and brave enough to stand by your principles.”

He let her words wash over him, fingers curling when she placed a soft kiss on his throat.

“You’re just as human as I am.” It was an echo of Strange’s words to her, Steve thought. “We’re both learning…deciding…adapting…” She punctuated the words with a kiss to his throat, and he resisted every urge to sit up right and pull her head to his. “You made a choice that protected the man you call your brother, and your perception of freedom. Your friends following you was their choice too. It had shitty consequences, sure, but that doesn’t negate that if you all had signed the Accords, we’d probably have a different set of problems. Right now, it’s a matter of what we all do about it.”

“How are you so…above all this?” His eyes fluttered open as he raised his head to meet her gaze.

The frown on her face wasn’t what he had expected to see. “I’m not,” she assured him.

Steve dropped his head on her shoulder, so that his chin could rest upon it. His right hand rose and fell, stroking her from her hip to her waist, as he said, “But you seem to have everything figured out.”

“I don’t.” Her lips curved into a small melancholic smile. “I guess one of the reasons I’ve been so hard on you is because I’ve been projecting a little bit — okay, a lot — which is totally unfair to you.” He let her continue, content to listen to her speak and hold her close. “I’m not some saint…or god,” she let out a small laugh then, before continuing in a softer tone, “So don’t raise me on a pedestal and think I’m right about everything. It isn’t my way or the highway. I’ll always be willing to listen, and if I’m not, then just bribe me with food and I’ll probably be more willing to hear you out.” Darcy joked, before sighing heavily. “I might be leading us all into an even worse situation, Steve, and that fucking scares me.”

“You seemed so strong.”

“Says the man who jumps out of planes and runs towards trouble,” she pinched his cheek, earning a laugh from himself. “But seriously,” she pulled away from him a little bit, so that they were facing each other, though only inches apart, “What I’m working on…these weren’t my ideas alone. It was Jane that’s always wanted to build Earth’s own bifrost. It was Pepper that Coulson had initially approached about the Accords. There are teams of people that helped me come up with and execute everything. Only thing is, they aren’t as deeply entrenched in the Avengers’ world, so none of you guys see them. I’m not some one-woman team, and I’d never hope to be.”

“You won’t be,” he said with finality. The implication was clear; that he would be by her side, that he would support her, that he wouldn’t let her go.

“I meant what I said. You’re a good man, Steve.” She smiled, all lips and soft eyes.

“It’s just time to be a better one.”

That wasn’t either of their voices.

Steve’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself looking around to orient himself with his current location. He was still in Darcy’s room, and still sat in the armchair he had placed by her bed side. He must have fallen asleep, because the last thing he remembered had been holding her hand and promising that she never had to be alone again.

What an odd dream.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he recalled the feel of having Darcy on top of him. The thought alone had a certain part of his anatomy reacting. It had felt wonderful, not just to have been able to hold her physically, but for them to have been able to talk as they did. He felt more relaxed than he had when the meeting had finished. He placed his hand over hers once again, smiling to himself when she seemed to reflexively squeeze. It was as if she were offering him comfort as well.

Was that actually a dream or had Darcy unwittingly pulled him into the Soul Realm?

Loki woke up with a start.

What was that?

He raised a shaky hand to his chest and cheek, where Darcy had placed her hands. Loki felt warm in spite of the room’s cool temperature, and he walked straight to the bathroom for a cold shower.

It seemed that leaving the Soul Realm was not quite as cut-and-dry as the Stones had made it seem, or was it because of his coming into possession of the Space Stone? No matter. He would adapt and keep on, as he always did.

Clint had gotten barely any sleep. He’d left Steve last night (or he should say ‘a couple of hours ago’) only to find himself in a tense conversation with Nat about how he and Laura have been and how he planned on approaching Wanda. He settled in at Nat’s place as he recounted all that had happened with Laura and the kids, and it was as Natasha settled her head on his chest and his hand came up to trace a random pattern on her arm that Clint felt his resolve crumble.

Natasha had held him as he folded upon himself and curled around her. No words were exchanged as Clint buried his face in the crook of her neck, and Nat couldn’t help but try to convey the apology that wouldn’t leave her lips. She wanted to apologize for not having been able to do anything to keep Laura safe. Yes, she had been under scrutiny, but when was she not? The only redeeming thing she found about her actions was that she was one of the few that had vetted Sharon Carter and deemed her trustworthy enough to look after Clint in his year under observation.

“I’ve missed you.” Clint murmured against her neck. “Laura misses you. She says I’m a shithead that needs to be beaten up from time to time, and that you’re the only one that can do it.”

She smirked, “Well, she’s not wrong.” Her expression softened as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I’ve missed you all, too. Especially the kids.”

“Cooper’s almost my height now, and Lila’s as pretty as her mother, which has me sharpening knives more often than not. Definitely won’t let some lowlife get his paws on her.”

“Yeah, like you did with Laura?”

“Fuck you.” Clint laughed, pulling away from her. “Nate’s starting primary school soon, but Laura and I are considering homeschooling him for a bit…just to be safe.”

“I’ll try to visit as soon as I can.” She moved so that they were laying on their sides and facing each other. Barely any space separated them, and had Clint been any other man, Natasha might have actually cared about how they would look to anyone else.

“You going to bring Sam or Bruce?” He grinned at her patented blank look. “Targets aren’t the only thing I don’t miss.”

Natasha kicked him, though without any weight behind it. “Shut up.”

“It was no secret you cared about Bruce. Him leaving hit you and Tony worse than it did all of us.” Clint fixed her hair so that it didn’t cover her face. “You both made decisions that made sense at the time. He saw what it meant when he lost control and didn’t want to endanger anyone. You can’t get mad at him for that.”

“You didn’t leave.”

“I had a family. Laura, the kids…you.” Clint laid out his arm so that Nat could rest her head on his chest. “I needed to stay because there were lives depending on mine. I’d imagine Bruce didn’t have the same things on his mind.”

“I’m not going to let what he did affect how we work together.”

“But you’re letting it affect how you let people in.”

She pinched his side, earning a tug on her hair.

“The fact that you don’t want to talk about it but are still here when you can easily walk away tells me I’m on the right track.” Clint let himself feel proud when Natasha properly settled against him. “Sam’s not Bruce, or Barnes, or me. You’ll always have a place with me, Nat, but we both know you aren’t going to satisfied with just me or Laura. Wilson’s a good guy. He won’t just up and leave.”

“You don’t.”

“And even if I leave, you’ll always know how and where to find me — or Laura.” Clint sighed, “But really, you shouldn’t compare everyone to me. What we have is something that can’t just be replicated, we both know that. So why don’t you tell me why you really don’t want to give yourself a chance at happiness.”

“Would it really matter? If at the end of the day, we’re all going to die by some megalomaniac’s hands, if not by Thanos, then something else. I mean, if it weren’t for our signatures on those damned papers, then we’d be in hiding too — well, more than we already are.”

Clint tugged at her hair, and the way she rolled her eyes with a mix of irritation and arousal had him chuckling. “Hate to break it to you, but we’ve always been sort of in hiding, and there’s always some power-hungry asshole we need to get rid of. You stopping yourself from going after whatever it is you want from Sam wouldn’t change that. You can go fuck him and be done with it. You can go air things out with Bruce and be done with that. We both know you’re smart enough to know what you have to do and brave enough to do it.”

Silence followed, and Clint figured Natasha had to soak in what he’d said. There was no way he was believing that that was all that was preventing Natasha from entertaining either Bruce or Sam. His breathing was beginning to even out when she spoke once again.

“What if I end up having to choose?”

“Hm?” Clint continued on without letting her get a word in, “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but you’ll always have a place with me. You’re part of my family, Nat. Even Laura thinks so. If you want to explore other options, it wouldn’t change how we feel about you or that you will always have a place with us as our third and as the kids’ favorite aunt.”

Natasha sighed as Clint’s fingers began a steady beat of digging his fingers into her scalp. Truth be told, she preferred Laura’s fingers, but there was something to be said about the pressure with which he dug into her skin. Either way, it felt soothing to her in a way that only Clint and Laura was able to accomplish.

Two hours later, Clint woke up to Nat in the shower and a need to walk around. He found himself standing in front of the door he knew to be Loki’s.

He pressed the doorbell, and not even a minute later, the door slid open and Clint’s fingers itched to activate the compact bow he had in his hand. He entered the room and turned in the direction of the bedroom door that opened to reveal Loki with his hair wet and wearing a black button down and pants. The god had a towel around his neck as he dried his hair, and a smile slowly curved his lips as he regarded the archer.

“Good morning, Agent Barton.”

Clint said nothing as he observed Loki. There was no part of him that wanted anything to do with the man, but also felt that he needed to assure himself that Loki no longer had power over him.

“How is your lovely wife nowadays?” Loki taunted.

Nothing that Thor’s brother said could hurt him, Clint had to remind himself. There was no scepter or Mind Stone in Loki’s possession that could take away his sentience. In fact, if Thor and even Bruce could be believed, Loki was as much a hero as the Hulk, which was to say he made shitty mistakes but ultimately helped out.

Loki didn’t have to do much to feel just how saturated Clint Barton still was in the Mind Stone’s magic. Some people simply reacted differently to magic, and it seemed that Clint Barton soaked it all up. If Loki had to guess, Clint was probably near impossible to fool or control now, which didn’t bother Loki much, because he had no intention of doing so anyways.

“Thor and Bruce seem to think you’ve changed.”

Briefly, Loki recalled Darcy mentioning the same thing.

“I don’t believe them.”

Well, that was certainly far from what Darcy had felt.

“Wolf in sheep’s clothing and all that shit.”

“Is that what you all are?” Loki couldn’t help but sneer. “Do you finally see that you’re all just…sheep, waiting to be ruled?” He could just hear Darcy admonishing him for goading her friend.

“You tell me,” said Clint. “You heard about what was happening. Some people are already trying to rule us, and they’re doing it legally.” He glared at Loki, “But the people aren’t just accepting everything with their heads down and their tails between their legs.”

“And yet no revolution is without sacrifice, Hawkeye. The Avengers might have survived Thanos, but how long do you think can you all survive against your own leaders?” Loki watched Clint’s expression remain. This wasn’t news to the archer, it seemed.

“I’m more than willing to die to make sure my children have a better life.”

Loki said nothing in response, but he couldn’t help but wonder what the Avengers would do if perhaps the roles were switched and it wasn’t about one of them dying, but one of them sanctioning a person or people to their deaths. How big of a sacrifice was too much or just enough? He had faced such a dilemma whenever he went off to battle with Thor back in the day, and had gotten more glimpses of it when he had been impersonating Odin.

Neither men were strangers to the idea of death or dying for a cause, but both were used to seeing things through and living on.

“Why did you save her?” Clint didn’t have to explain who he meant.

“Because she’s mine to protect,” Loki had told Widow when she had alluded to the incident. Why was he hesitating to tell the archer the same thing?

Clint wasn’t a fan of Loki’s silence, and he held the god’s gaze in search of an answer. There had to be a reason someone who had sentenced their entire race to subjugation saved one of them. Had Loki known Darcy beforehand? And just as the thought cross his mind, Loki’s gaze faltered. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Clint had always trusted his instincts, and something told him that Darcy meant more to Loki than anyone knew.

Maybe even more than Loki knew.

“Darcy’s one of ours,” Clint said, feeling as if he were warding someone away from his sister.

“She was mine first,” Loki wanted to say. “You know nothing of Darcy Lewis. You know nothing that she hadn’t willingly shown. Of everyone, other than Jane and Thor, only the Captain and the Witch Doctor came close.”

Darcy’s words from earlier echoed in Loki’s mind. “Œrna mælir sá er eva þegir staðlausu stafi hraðmælt tunga nema haldendr eigi opt sér ógótt um gelr. (Too many unstable words are spoken by him who ne'er holds his peace; the hasty tongue sings its own mishap if it be not bridled in.)” That’s what he was doing now. She’d be proud. He wouldn’t rise to Clint’s poorly placed bait.

The continued silence made Clint feel as if there was perhaps some truth in his worry. Loki had some barely-hidden interest in Darcy, Clint just wasn’t sure what it meant for anyone. It was then that he remembered how Steve had protectively hovered around Darcy’s unconscious form after their meeting. Just what had Darcy gotten herself into with these men?

“There are eyes everywhere, God of Mischief—”

“And Lies,” supplied Loki, easily falling back into character. These heroes knew him as a villain. Only Banner would perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt, and even then, it would be with much hesitation. A villain they saw him, so a villain he shall be. He’ll promise answers he doesn’t have and leave before anyone could be the wiser.

Clint glared at him, “You’ll never win.”

“I wasn’t aware we were playing a game.”

“I know men like you.” Clint turned around, intent on leaving. “You’re always playing a game.”

Loki watched the other man leave, and when the door slid shut, he returned to his room.

And I always seem to lose.

He’d lost the throne to Thor.

He’d lost Sigyn to Asgard.

He’d lost Frigga to the Dark Elves.

To whom or to what could he possibly lose Darcy?

Clint stood in front of the one way mirror, watching Wanda. She was floating in the lotus position in the middle of the room, meditating. Clint remembered the kid he’d met in the middle of the whole Ultron ordeal. He remembered looking at Wanda and Pietro and seeing his children. They had been little more than teenagers then.

The woman in the cell was far from the girl that had misguidedly used her powers. She had mastered and honed her abilities. Of everyone on the roster, only Vision could have matched her, which was probably how Tony had been able to design her cell in the first place.

“I know you’re there, Clint.” Wanda said, neither landing nor opening her eyes. “You have to believe me; I never wanted to hurt her.”

Not really, both tacked on in their minds.

With a sigh, Clint squared his shoulders and pressed some buttons on the panel to convert the one-way mirror into transparent glass.

“Don’t lie to me, kid.” He crossed his arms as Wanda opened her eyes, “We both know better than that.”

And just like his children, Wanda looked down and away before talking to him.

“Why does she get everything?” She frowned, and he was reminded of his only daughter in that moment. “I lost my brother because I was too weak and too slow to protect him. I had to kill Vis by my own hands only to have him be resurrected and then killed by Thanos. I’ve lost everything, and she comes in, gets the gauntlet, and suddenly she’s some perfect woman and everyone’s lives revolves around her.”

Clint knew what a woman on a roll sounded like, and Wanda definitely had a lot to unload.

“She’s a nobody. We’ve never even heard of her until she appeared in Wakanda, and we just have to believe that she’s Thor’s sister and some hot shot lawyer? Where was she when we were taking down HYDRA? Where was she when the world decided that we were the enemy? Everyone condemned us for fighting for our principles, and she gets applauded for it? I may not be able to read or see into her mind, but I know people like her. They’re loud when it suits them then blend into the background when they’re threatened. She’s a coward. All talk and no action."

He resisted the urge to counter Wanda’s words. He watched as tears slowly descended her cheeks, and it was then that Clint wondered if Wanda had ever properly grieved her losses. She had lashed out against Ultron when her brother had died, and had leaned on Vision for support following it. Even when the Avengers had broken up, Wanda and Vision’s relationship remained strong, and now she was left with nothing.

“She has all the Stones.” Wanda landed then, standing on shaky legs and furiously wiping away her tears. “She has all the power anyone could ever want, but she’s done nothing to help anyone out. A snap from Thanos could kill half the universe,” she sniffled. “A snap from her and everything could just…go back to the way things were.”

Briefly, Clint debated entering the room. His instinct as a spy told him to stand his ground and further break his target to extract more information, however, his instinct as a father told him to comfort his daughter.

“I never wanted to hurt her.” Wanda sobbed. “It felt like there was something else…someone else…with me. I wanted to scare her a bit, but never actually hurt her.” She sunk to her knees, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears and snot that wouldn’t stop falling.

“Feel better?” Clint asked after a moment. “That looked heavy,” he relaxed his stance as he met her gaze, “That chip you had on your shoulder.”

Wanda said nothing, but Clint could see her gaze drop and hear her sobbing slowly die down.

“No one’s perfect,” offered the man with a sigh. “If you think any of us see her as anything but, is…well…maybe you think she is. I guess that’s what you’ve seen, right? Thor would have moved heaven and any realm for her just as he would have for Jane. She’s been his sister longer than he’s known us, after all.”

He shrugged and saw her look to the side, as if she didn’t want to face him.

“They told me to talk to you.” Clint wished he’d gotten himself a cup of one of Bruce’s herbal teas instead of the coffee he’d quickly downed like a shot before entering the control room. As it were, the caffeine was mixing with his own agitation and he knew he’d be looking to spar after this conversation. “They wanted to find out why you would do what you did — wanting to reactivate The Soldier, hurt Darcy…”

“I just…” Wanda full on dropped her weight to the ground, thighs and butt on the floor and knees bend. “We’ve all been told that anyone who had all the stones could do anything they wanted. Everyone believes that she wants to change the world, but if she really did, then why hasn’t she made progress at controlling her powers?”

Clint didn’t really have much to say to that. He hadn’t been a part of Darcy’s training. He had gotten bare minimum updates because he was satisfied to keep himself at arms length from the thick of things. His family came first now, a sentiment that perhaps only Scott and Hope truly understood.

Wanda scoffed, “I don’t know if they’ve told you, but they asked me to look into her mind. I’d done so before they had asked of course. I needed to make sure she could be trusted.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “The thing is, every time I looked into her mind, it was as if I was looking into an abyss. There was nothing there. It wasn’t like being in an empty room and prevented from accessing her thoughts and memories, it was as if she had no consciousness of her own. How can we trust that?”

“Trusted?” Clint echoed her own word with a snort, causing her to look back at him. “You want to talk about trust, Wanda? How about we talk about how we trusted you? We gave you a chance when all you had going for you was that you were a powered up misguided child with me to vouch for you and your brother. We—I made sure you were given the chance to live a normal life. I told everyone on the team that I knew when someone just needed a chance, and they trusted my call on that. I came to get you when the shit with the Accords went down because I trusted you to have our backs and fight for what’s right.”

Not once did Clint raise his voice or look away. They held each other’s gaze, and Clint continued on.

“Don’t talk to me about trust, Wanda,” he said. “Not when you threw away the trust we’ve placed in you.” He was about to reactivate the one-way mirror when Wanda spoke up.

“What are they going to do to me?”

“I don’t know, kid,” he replied honestly.

Loki returned to his physical body, sure in his assessment of Wanda having an undercurrent of magic not entirely her own. It was so small that he probably wouldn’t have noticed it had he not been so aware of how magic moved and behaved. He’d spent years learning under Frigga, and more than that, it seemed that his time with Darcy had granted him some sensitivity to the Midgardian variant of magic.

He looked at the digital clock by the bedside table, ten in the morning and everyone save for Darcy, Steve, Wanda, and Clint were in the cafeteria. Loki debated joining them. What did he have to gain in doing so? None of them were endeared to him, and it wasn’t as if he wanted to endear himself to them. All he cared about was keeping Darcy safe, though he also wondered what it meant that the Space Stone had joined him in leaving the Soul Realm.

It had to mean something, didn’t it?

Bruce arrived at his front door, though FRIDAY made no mention of it and the man himself made no move to contact Loki, which made the god question how he knew that Bruce was there in the first place. He resisted the reflex to look at the Space Stone once more as he headed for the scientist.

“Are you psychic now?” Bruce asked as the door slid open. “I’m pretty sure I asked FRIDAY not to tell you I was here.”

“Now wouldn’t that be a welcome surprise?” Loki smiled, looking every bit the predator that he was made out to be.

“I thought I’d bring you breakfast, but then figured you should join us for breakfast instead.” Bruce said by means of an explanation.

Loki didn’t think too hard on his response, nodding and stepping out to join the curly-haired scientist. There wasn’t much reason to refuse, knowing that he would have either gone into his astral body and spied on them or gone crazy trying to decipher what having the Space Stone meant. He ignored Bruce’s surprise as he motioned with his arm for the man to lead the way.

They didn’t speak on their journey to the cafeteria, with Bruce unsure of what to say and Loki wondering what to do. Darcy had yet to awaken, a fact he knew for sure because the magic within the cloak he had draped on her would have alerted him if she had. His stomach churned, uncomfortable at the thought that something might be going on in the other realm, unseen and unreachable by himself — he had tried. Oh how hard he had tried, focusing his magic into the stone he possessed, willing himself to return to her side.

He had sworn to protect her, and he had succeeded; not just against Thanos, but even against what essence of Thanos’ children remained in the Scarlet Witch.

“You’re Loki!”

Startled and somewhat confused, Loki raised a brow at the energetic boy before him. Spiderman. Peter Parker. Youngest of the Avengers.

“I heard you appeared out of thin air to save Darcy,” continued Parker without pausing for breath, “Mr. Stark said you’re far from being as fluffy as Thor, but I think he forgets that no one can be as fluffy as Thor. Besides, Darcy didn’t seem to mind you if she let you anywhere near her, and I think that should mean something since she’s like Thor’s sister, right? And you’re his brother — well, adopted, but still—”

“Do you never pause to breathe?” Loki asked, already beginning to tire from Peter’s energy.

“Peter, why don’t you bring this to Steve?” Pepper interjected smoothly, motioning to the tray the staff had set up. It was laden with plenty of breakfast food, enough to feed a family of three…or one super soldier.

The Spider didn’t seem to mind the errand, nodding with a brilliant smile, “Will do, Mrs. Stark.”

It was when he had left the room that his words seemed to sink in to the others.

“Did the kid just call you Mrs. Stark?” Falcon was the first to ask, brows furrowed and looking from Stark to the redhead and then —

Everyone’s gaze seemed to hone in on the matching bands the pair had. Made of platinum, with a row of blue diamonds, it reminded the Midgardians of the Man of Iron’s Arc Reactor, which would have made plenty of sense for the pair to use.

Rhodes’ knowing smirk, Pepper’s bashful smile, and Stark’s smug grin told everyone that it was something they hadn’t planned on disclosing in that moment. It amused Loki that of them all, only Natasha seemed unsurprised, perhaps having already noted the rings when they had first appeared on the couple’s fingers. The god had been aware of their relationship ever since he had appeared last night, having heard FRIDAY call the Lady Pepper ‘Mrs. Stark’, and simply feeling a sense of knowing when it came to facts about the people around him.

He knew that they had married before a judge with Happy, Rhodes, and Peter as their witness.

He knew how Stark had felt most confident in his future when he had placed the ring on his lady’s finger.

He knew the pair had no regrets about keeping their ceremony to themselves.

He knew for certain that the Widow and Hawk were in a triad of sorts with the Hawk’s wife, though perhaps it would change soon with how the Widow was interested in the Falcon and Banner.

He knew that the King of Wakanda was still unsure of how to feel when it came to his sister’s involvement with the Soldier.

He knew Banner wished to have the Witch Doctor contact his brother.

He knew the Witch Doctor felt responsible for what had happened to Darcy, thinking he could have prevented it somehow — perhaps bound the Scarlet Witch to be unable to reach Darcy.

Strange watched him as he ate, seemingly uncaring of the newlyweds. He was trying to figure Loki out, the god mused. Oh, what a puzzle he must be for the man. Strange had thought he had Loki all figured out, but Loki couldn’t help how differently he felt from who he had been when he and Thor had faced the Witch Doctor, looking for their father.

He knew the people around him didn’t know what to make of him.

He knew Quill had recently been in contact with Gamora.

Loki nearly choked on the eggs he had been in the middle of chewing. So lost had he been in tallying what he knew of these people without having been told, that he was caught off-guard by the information. Quill had been able to communicate with Gamora, and was in the middle of watching the interrogation of Stark Wedding details as he sipped his own mug of coffee.

Their eyes met, and Loki wondered if Quill knew that he knew. In fact, did Quill even realize that he had been in contact with Gamora? Or had he chalked it up to being a dream?

That was Steve’s dilemma, was it not? Loki had been shifted into Steve’s perspective as he had been in contact with Darcy, just as he had recalled Darcy’s memory of the kiss she had shared with the Captain.

However, where Steve had felt confusion and comfort in dreaming of Darcy, Quill had seemed to drown in despair.

The Guardian had been glum when he had left Darcy’s apartment.

What could have Gamora possibly said or done to garner such a haunted look?

And then, just as Loki had known all that he did about the people around him, he knew why he had the Space Stone. Darcy was far from safe. Not from Thanos, nor from the people around her. For as much as these people vowed to aide and protect her, they would come to Earth’s rescue first and foremost.

Loki needed to get to Jane Foster.

Chapter Text

The day seemed as if it had been dragging on for far longer the 24 hours allotted to it. Each of the facility’s residents were preoccupied with their own tasks. Sam had waved Steve over so that they could talk. Neither of them wanted any bad blood staining their relationship, and after a bit of time that has cooled their (mostly Steve’s) heads, it felt like a better time to speak.

“Pepper told us about the mission yesterday, a little after Thor and Darcy’s fight in the kitchen.” Sam frowned, “Well, she told me about it then. I’m pretty sure Nat knew before I did, and I think we both know she’ll only ever explain things when it’s useful.”

Steve sighed, running his hand over his face and then rubbing his jaw, though it looked more like he was scratching his beard. They stopped as they reached one of the training rooms.

“I want you to know that I never meant to hide it from you,” Sam looked away, observing as Clint and Loki squared off against each other on the mats below. There was a positively feral grin on the archer’s face, though Loki seemed more excited than concerned. “I know what secrets cost, especially in our situation.”

“I might have overreacted,” said Steve with a sigh. “I’m just…sick of all the secrets.” He raised his hand from his chin to pinch and massage the bridge of his nose. Steve breathed in deeply and slowly, exhaling just as Clint landed his first hit on Loki. From their vantage point overlooking the area, they could see how Loki had fallen on his back but quickly recovered.

“Trust me,” assured his friend as he placed a hand on his back. “So am I.”

They stood in silence or a bit, watching the pair below spar — because it was definitely not as extreme as Steve knew the pair could fight.

“There’s not much of a brief,” Sam pulled his hand back and crossed his arms. “The island’s somewhere in Asia. Nat and I were supposed to meet up with Pepper’s liaise from there, because it’s easier to have them fly out than for us to go there. We’re meeting them in Jersey.”

“Do you think it’s necessary?” Steve kept his attention on Sam. “Jane’s bridge, Pepper’s island…isn’t it a little much?”

The dark-skinned man looked away from Loki and Clint, gaze falling to his feet, before meeting Steve’s blue eyes with an intensity that surprised both of them. “If we can keep even one person from being forced to sign those Accords by offering alternatives, then wouldn’t we have done something right? Fury hasn’t sent us on the same mission in a while. He sends you to bases — HYDRA or some other terrorist.”

That was true.

“He sends me to prisons…rehabilitation camps, they called it. It’s not just about controlling Inhumans. It’s about recreating them and sometimes even experimenting on or…executing…them. It’s one thing to know on paper that Natasha was trained as a child to be an assassin.” Sam said. “It’s a whole other thing to see it done before your eyes.”

“Even when I think I can finally trust Fury,” muttered Steve, “I find out about this.”

“Maybe he thought he was protecting you.”

Steve could feel his head pulse. There wasn’t even any sense of betrayal or disappointment anymore, just a deep sense of resignation that this was the life he lived; full of secrets that could help or harm the world. This had been partly why he hadn’t wanted to sign those damned Accords. No one should have complete control over any other person. It just begged the question: what compromise could be reached?

A grunt and a thud had Steve and Sam turning to the lower floor, where Clint was on the ground, glaring up at the disheveled god.

“Again,” said the archer as he sprung back to his feet. Loki looked both both annoyed and bored, though he said nothing and simply adjusted his form so as to better block the kick Clint had been quick to execute.

“So Loki,” said Sam to Steve. “Guy that used to want to rule us now wants to work with us?”

The first thing that flittered through Steve’s mind had been the vision of Loki standing among kneeling humans. After that came the image of Loki post-Hulk smashing. And then it was of him standing by Thor’s side, hands bound by an alien pair of handcuffs. Steve recalled how lowly he had thought of Loki then, but to hear what the brunette had done for Thor (because there was no way Steve believed that Thor’s adopted brother was actually an altruistic sort and would do things for Asgard or for the simple notion of it being the right thing). No, Steve had no doubt that while Loki could acknowledge that helping Thor defeat Hela was the right thing to do, he hadn’t done it because of that. He did it because of Thor — because his brother had needed him.

“Guess the enemy of our enemy really is our friend, huh?” Sam winced when Clint lost his balance because Loki teleported away from the man’s uppercut.

As Steve watched the pair, he couldn’t help but remember the scene he and Bucky had happened upon just hours earlier. Loki had stood in front of Darcy, looking defensive and feral. The god had protected a woman that he had supposedly never interacted with —

But then, Steve couldn’t help but wonder —

Would Loki really have protected someone if he had no ties to them?

Peter couldn’t help but feel as if there was something wrong. He had felt agitated since the night before, and when he’d been informed of Wanda’s attack, he felt like the sinking feeling he had had been completely justified. Once again, he wondered if perhaps Wanda should have gone with the Guardians and Thor on their mission, if only so that she had something else to focus on. As it were, everyone was wound up around uncovering the secrets of the Stones, and Darcy, and what her having it entailed, and…

Everyone might have lost Vision, but Wanda had lost her person.

He placed his hand on the panel, “Hey Fri, it’s just me.”

“Access granted to Spider-boy.”

Okay, he really needed to fix that. Mister Stark hadn’t taken too kindly to Peter modifying Friday’s code to let Darcy have as much access to her as he did, and had retaliated by making sure that Friday only ever addressed Peter in annoying terms. While irritating, Peter was more proud of the fact that Mister Stark hadn’t undone Darcy’s access after the teenager had argued that it was more about giving her a bit of control than actually letting her get away with everything and anything.

The door slid open for him and then shut just as quickly.

Peter knew where Wanda was without having to ask. Between his time visiting (and then later on, training) here, he had been given enough time on his own to explore…and maybe mess around with Friday and her code — hence the Darcy Code. He’d even go on to say that he knew the facility as well as Mister Stark did, or at least was the closest to it.

He paused in front of the metal doors that sealed away the compartment that housed the observation deck of Wanda’s cell. If he remembered correctly (and he probably did), Wanda’s cell was two stories high, with the top floor being in the second level of the basement and the observation deck spanning both floors, connected by a spiral staircase. The wall separating the observation desk and the cell was a mirror programmed to be able to change from being a one-way mirror to transparent glass.

Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, Peter drummed his fingers on his thigh absentmindedly. He headed down into the lower floor towards the control panel; and he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself as he approached the control panel. He’d been told that Clint had spoken to her, had even seen the footage of the conversation with everyone else.

Without letting himself second guess his actions, he looked down at the panel, which was mostly a huge touch screen panel with a few buttons on the top row. Without much thought, he disabled the one-way glass feature so that he could see Wanda and that she could see him.

She looked up at him, and Peter remembered what they’d said about Wanda. She had been little over his age when they’d found her, and even now, she was still closest to his age among all the others. Clint had been the one to take her under his wing, up until he supposedly retired, in which case she fell into the other’s care (and probably Vision’s arms).

Wanda met his gaze, legs crossed beneath her and eyes swollen and red-rimmed. Unlike when she had been talking to Clint, she wasn’t floating.

“Hi,” said Peter, raising his hand in a small wave.

“Are you here to talk to me about betrayal too?” She snipped.

“I don’t really know you, Miss Maximoff—Wanda—uh—”

With a raised brow and a smirk, she said, “Wanda’s fine, kid.”

He cleared his throat, “Um, right. Wanda.”

“So if you’re not here to tell me off, what brings you here, Spider-Man?”

“I—I don’t know, really.” Peter admitted with a nervous tick in the form of biting his lower lip.

Neither of them said anything, with Wanda content to wait him out (or simply uninterested, Peter supposed). He took the time to watch her as she closed her eyes to seemingly meditate. She wore a deep maroon dress that complemented her red hair. She’s always been fair-skinned, but in the bright light of the room, she looked sickly. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, though it looked more like it had been haphazardly done just so that her hair stopped sticking to her face, which he could see was still damp and splotchy.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and licked his lips, letting his hand rest on his nape as he tugged anxiously at his own hair.

He cleared his throat again, shoving his hands into his sweatshirt pockets.

“You said you didn’t want to hurt Darcy,” he said finally, “That you wanted to scare her, but that there was something in your mind pushing you to do worse.”

Wanda’s eyes opened once again, meeting his curious eyes.

“I just wanted to know why you didn’t tell anyone,” he said. “Mister Stark would have—”

“Mis-ter Stark,” drawled Wanda. “You’re a walking Tony Stark fanatic, aren’t you? Newsflash, kid, he’s not as perfect as you think he is.”

“I know that,” Peter rebuked with a frown. Indignation bloomed in his chest, wanting to say more, but holding his tongue. He knew how to choose his battles (now), and despite knowing Wanda wasn’t the only one who thought of him that way, it grated at him to hear it said aloud. “But Captain Rogers, then, or Princess Shuri or General Okoye? There are so many people around you that would have been more than willing to help.”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Wanda stood then, and walked over to and sat on the mattress laid out for her. She leaned against the wall, and Peter guessed her back had been beginning to ache because she’d been sitting in the middle of the room for so long.

“I think everyone in our position know the importance and value of knowing when and how to rely on others sometimes.” Peter thought of Mister Anthony Stark, alias Ironman, coming to him, a teenager from Queens, to help out against Captain America’s half of the Avengers.

“Our position?” Wanda repeated with a raised brow, accent more prominent than he’d ever heard.

“People that help other people,” replied Peter with a shrug. Heroes. Inhumans.

“I’m not some hero,” said Wanda, and Peter could just hear the, “not anymore.”

“I never said you are — or that I am.” Peter looked down at his shoes, a pair Miss Potts (Mrs. Stark, he corrected in his own head) had gotten him for Christmas, for dealing with her irritating and unbearably overbearing engineer (her words). “But we’re not exactly civilians, are we? We risk our lives for the public, and sometimes they don’t even know it.”

He thought of all that he had seen and been through since becoming Spider-Man as he dug his toes on the floor.

“But the things we do…” He looked back up at her, noting that she’d propped an elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm as she observed him. “We don’t trust easily,” he rocked back and forth once again, “Sometimes not even when it’s people that are worth trusting.” He thought of his best friend, Ned. They’ve known each other for years and Peter hadn’t told him about being Spider-Man until much recently.

“I can read minds,” said Wanda, accent thick as her anger simmered once more. “Every person I meet,” she began, pulling herself back to her feet, “If I felt like it, I can look into their mind and see every little bit of information about them; their hopes, their fears, their treasures…Vision was the only person to look at me and not see a weapon.”

She began to stalk towards him, speaking.

“Clint saw his daughter; saw what Cooper and Lila could have been in me and Pietro, and thought that maybe by giving us the chance to atone for our mistake in believing Ultron, he would save his children from being dragged into the mess that was his life.”

“Natasha saw the potential I had as a spy and a killer, but could never trust me to be anything more than her burden to train because she’d accepted being in a team that wasn’t just Hawkeye.”

“Steve sees a kid he’d dragged into his mess.”

“Tony sees a kid wanting to be something more than they actually are.” By the time she finished, she was just a few feet from the glass separating them.

There was no mistaking the jab at him. Peter wasn’t entirely sure if she’d meant it as a slight against him or if it was the truth. Instead of rising to her bait however, Peter simply looked at her, curious as ever. What else did she have to say?

“You see a mess — someone you don’t want to be.”

“Well, yeah,” agreed Peter easily. “I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through, and I never want to experience that for myself.” For a moment, Peter hesitated. Wasn’t he already sort of overstepping by being here? Who was he to talk to her as if he was some fountain of wisdom? “Isn’t it possible that maybe you’re projecting a little bit?”

He continued before he could help himself.

“Maybe Mister Hawkeye — Clint — does see a bit of his child in you. Is that such a bad thing? It means he wants to protect you in as much as he respects the power you have and your own decision to help.”

“Widow’s…you’re not that special. I got a tiny bit of training from her because I pushed myself headfirst into this world, in spite of Mister Stark’s advice.”

“I don’t know much about the Captain as a person, but he does seem like the type to worry about everyone.” A hero complex if I’ve ever seen one, Peter finished in his head.

“And Mister Stark,” Peter let out a small laugh at that, “I’ve already gotten lectures and life lessons that would have probably rivaled any I would have gotten from my own family and what Aunt May would have given. Thing is, your powers were from the Mind Stone right? And Vision had it in his head. I’ve seen the records; that you trusted Vision because when you looked in his head all you saw was someone good with all the right intentions, but,” At that, Peter sighed, “I think we all forget that Ultron was a product of the Mind Stone too, with good intentions. It was a shit plan, sure, but what if the biggest reason you first trusted Vis was because he was the best option for the world at the time?”

The silence said a lot. It felt as if he had gotten through to her, even if only a little bit, and that was more than he could ever hope her.

“I honestly don’t know about the morality or ethics of mind reading. Personally, I think it’s an invasion of privacy, but then it also sounds like you aren’t completely objective in it; that you see what you want to.” Peter shrugged, “Of course, I don’t doubt that you could objectively get what info you wanted from your victims, but I also believe that when you’re dealing with people you have a personal connection to, your view of them greatly influences what you think is their opinion of you.”

He wondered what she was thinking. Was he making sense to her? Has anything he said mattered at all?

“Wanda,” he placed a hand on the glass, “Why don’t you try to see what I actually think of you?”

She looked at him, glare seemingly set in place, and then reached out to him. She tried to use her powers, swirling red energy rising from her palms, and—

failed.

“I—I—I can’t…?”

Peter hummed and nodded, “You can’t. The walls were effective; they were made with Vis' help, after all. So let me tell you what I think of you.” He didn’t wait for her response, “I think you’re a very powerful and strong woman. You stood your ground against Thanos while protecting and also killing the man you love. You held off on your pain and anger while everyone appeared to move on and bounce back. Sure, you snapped, but I’m not the only one that’ll say the likelihood of magic having somehow messed with your mind and whispering bad ideas into your head isn’t too far from the realm of possibility.”

She placed her hand against the glass, right where his was.

“We just want to make sure everyone’s safe,” he offered, “Not just Darcy, or just you; your lives aren’t mutually exclusive here, Wanda. They both matter, and we would all prefer if you were both on our side when shit hits the fan.” His voice softened then, though there was also still a hard edge to it as he continued, “Because I don’t know if you can feel it, but there’s something about to happen, and we need everyone on the same page for this.”

They kept their eyes locked, and maybe Peter imagined it, but he could see the realization and determination creep into Wanda’s gaze. She nodded and leaned forward, resting her forehead against the glass.

Natasha looked from the screen where they’d been watching Peter and Wanda’s interaction to look at her companions. Tony and Bruce stood with their arms crossed, both with calculating looks. Steve and Sam wore somber faces, remaining seated.

“He’s a good kid,” said Nat.

“I can’t believe you sent him to do your dirty work.” Clint sat himself in one of the office chairs in the room, holding a pack of ice to his cheek, where a bruise was already beginning to form.

“You make it sound like I sent him on an actual mission,” Nat rolled her eyes, squinting at the way he shrugged his shoulders, as if looking for a more comfortable way to situate his back and shoulders.

“He wanted to talk to her,” Bruce offered, leaning against the table. “Nat just…encouraged the idea.”

“How’d you even think to send him? I thought you said Clint was our best bet?” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

“Clint was a good way of getting her to realize what she’d done,” Steve sighed, “Parker’s a good way of getting her to see what she’d become.”

“And what has she become?” Quill asked, speaking for the first time since they’d packed into the room.

All those that had been part of the debacle with Ultron shared a look amongst themselves as Nat said, “Someone we can’t trust.”

Pepper sat on the large chair, feeling as if a weight had left her shoulders since the meeting with the team. Finally, most, if not all, of the plans had been laid out. She had a dinner appointment in a few days with more people she and Darcy had been working with to be able to implement the changes that they wanted. She had been hoping to be able to bring Darcy along, like they used to, but wasn’t sure if it would be feasible considering her current state.

Her personal phone rang, and without much thought, she answered it. Only trusted people had the number anyways.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Pepper Potts?” The voice sounded familiar. Feminine.

“Yes, speaking.” She glanced at the caller ID, Christine Palmer. “How are you, Doctor Palmer?”

“I’m good, thanks; I’m actually calling to say that I wanted to send you something.” There was a pause, and then, “It’s kind of for Darcy…where should I send it?”

She fiddled with the pen in front of her, considering the question thoughtfully before replying, “Is it something that can spoil?”

Christine replied, “No. It’s actually a bunch of research notes for her and Jane. She told me to call you to arrange things during her birthday.”

“Alright, you can leave it at the Stark Industries California Office, or just have it delivered there and address it to Happy, instead of me directly. They tend to be really uptight with anything that’s for me or Tony.” Pepper gave out more detailed instructions, and by the time their phone call ended, she called Happy up to her office.

“You called?” Happy stood before her, looking the best he had since Extremis.

Pepper fiddled with her rings, looking up at the man, “I have a package arriving in our California office. I asked them to send it to you instead of me, and I need you to pick it up personally and bring it to me.”

“I can’t just leave you alone,” Happy quickly countered. “There’s no one else Tony or I would trust to protect you.”

“Happy,” said Pepper calmly, used to his paranoia. “You’ll be in and out quick. Use the jet. I can’t leave New York because there are somethings I need to look after.” She thought of Nat and Sam heading to Jersey tomorrow.

“Why not have someone fly out to bring the package here?” He suggested. “That way we both stick around.”

“Alright,” Pepper acquiesced, “I’d like to have it as soon as possible though. Thanks, Happy!”

“It’s been twelve hours.”

Loki stood with Stark, Banner, Strange, and Rogers in Darcy’s living room. After having thoroughly bested Hawkeye, he’d been granted a bit of reprieve from their suffocating presence only to be called into her rooms a few hours later. He knew they would have him answer for her current state, and so he felt that he had to tread carefully so that he would be granted enough freedom that he may reach his brother’s former paramour without any of them stopping him.

“Why hasn’t Darcy woken up?” Banner asked Loki, and the god applauded their decision to have Banner lead their little interrogation. From what he had gathered, the Widow and Falcon had left to fulfill the Lady Potts’—Stark, he corrected in his mind— command sooner rather than later. Princess Shuri and King T’Challa had returned to Wakanda, Shuri intent on trying to find a way to somehow bring Vision back or heal Wanda’s mind (Loki was beginning to think the girl would do wonderfully as a healer, having worked wonders on Barnes).

“That is not something I can control,” replied Loki, meeting each of their eyes.

“But it does mean we can’t wait for her to wake up. You need to tell us everything you know.” Bruce countered.

“It’s not just your life on the line, Reindeer Games.” Stark, control freak that he was, seemed more agitated than he had immediately following Wanda’s attack. Loki wondered if they could feel it. There was something brewing in the distance; something that loomed over all of their heads.

“Thanos lives,” he said. “He is alive, as is Darcy’s other half, and the Zehoberei your Peter Quill is fond of.” He debated the intelligence of him telling them and not all of the team, but this was not his people, and he had resolved to try not to rule them — if only because he did not know for how long he would be able to exist on this plane. “They are alive and they live in a plane known as—” he felt his stomach drop, “The Soul Realm.”

No.

He was wrong.

Had been all along.

They had never been in the Soul Realm.

He had thought all this time that they had, but he was wrong.

He didn’t know the name of where they had been, but he knew he was wrong.

He told them nearly everything. Rather, he had told them nearly everything he had thought to be true.

He told them that the Stones were alive.

That Darcy’s subconscious was a separate entity from the conscious Darcy that they knew, but that she was every bit that Darcy as well.

That Darcy and he had existed in a realm where the Stones were free to create and manipulate as they pleased.

That Mind had saved him.

That he had sworn to protect Darcy.

That Darcy had never slept in that realm.

That he had sensed her imbalance but been unable to point it just as Thor had.

That Darcy had become something akin to the Stones’ friend.

That he had kept her company as they saw her counterpart live.

That Darcy wasn’t just Darcy.

That he had known of her.

That Darcy had been Eris.

That he had known her.

That Darcy has always been Thor’s heart-sister.

That he had no intention of harming her.

That Darcy’s soul had been split years ago, when her heart had stopped beating.

That he had disappeared while Darcy was in conversation with the Stones.

That Darcy’s soul was still split.

That he could never bring himself to hurt her.

Loki’s tongue felt like led by the end of the conversation. They had poked and prodded, assuming that when he had said that Thor and Darcy have always had a sibling bond he had meant their bond born of New Mexico. His heart burned at the thought that he had almost killed the reincarnation of his Sigyn when he had sent the Destroyer.

His mind was filled with the various facts he was uncovering. He had always been aware of whether or not someone was being truthful, as the God of Lies. It was his blessing from the Fates, after all, but he had never felt the odd mix of how it affected him. He felt cold sweat leave his body as he explained things he perceived to be true, but were apparently misinformation.

What was this new ability?

“Is she okay?” The Captain asked, barely beating the others to the question. “Darcy—the one in the Soul Realm—when you left, was she alright?”

“She was…” What had she been? He had been in the midst of detaching himself from the conversation then, unwilling to reconcile that Sigyn, Eris, and Darcy were one and the same. “Distressed,” he said. “She had just found out that she had lived various lives before this, but more than that, she had also found out that the Stones seem to hold her to a higher esteem than any other.”

“Because she’s Death-given and Life-blessed,” Strange was stoic, though Loki could feel the erratic pulse of Strange’s magic as he grew more agitated.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Stark rubbed his face.

“In Asgard,” began Loki, sorting through his muddled thoughts. “We believe that every being had only one chance to live their life. For as long as you live a noble life, you were welcomed into Valhalla—”

“That’s different from the Norse Mythology we have here,” pointed Rogers out. At everyone’s surprise, he rolled his eyes, “I did my research when I met Thor. Never got around to asking him about it, but I did.”

Research, indeed. Loki tried not to let his gaze linger on the Captain, knowing that for some reason, he was shifting in and out of Darcy’s memories and thoughts. It was messing with his perception of not only Steve, but of the other Avengers as well. Truly, Steve did look rather fetching in such plain clothing.

Loki continued, beginning to feel parched. “Our only perception of reincarnation was in the line of ancestry. Should a child be named for a departed ancestor, then their soul may be invited to live once again.” He looked at Strange, “But if you had gained favor with Death or Life, or were one of those that represented them, then you may be granted privileges.”

“But a gift from Death herself?” Strange’s cloak fluttered, as if shivering.

“May contain power we don’t understand,” Banner offered, to which Loki agreed.

“Or,” began Loki, despite himself. “Serve the purpose for which they were made and given.”

“She’s not some thing—”

“At ease, Soldier,” Loki swiftly cut Steve off. “Darcy may not be Eris, but she had been Eris. None among us know the entirety of what that means save for the Stones and Eris themselves.”

“And you can’t contact the Stones?” Stark asked, brown eyes losing their exhaustion as they glinted with an idea. “You’ve met them, haven’t you? You — or maybe Dumbledore here can help too —can’t you go back in? Use some of your magic to tap into the gauntlet or stones? Talk to them? Save Darcy and maybe Quill’s girlfriend, get rid of Thanos…”

“I am flattered you think me capable,” said Loki slowly, feeling a heavy weight settle upon his chest. He had the Space Stone. “But I do believe you all overestimate my knowledge of the Infinity Stones.”

“We have no choice,” Banner said by means of an explanation, and Steve felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

Hadn’t he just earlier admitted to himself that Darcy had taught him there was always a choice? Steve could feel himself become more antsy the longer he was gone from Darcy’s side. He knew Bucky would keep a close eye on her, and more than that, she was just in the other room, but there was comfort in having a constant visual on his girl.

The thought of Bucky had him remembering his friend’s advice. Look at things from further out. Darcy herself, whom he had thought to be some great mastermind, had voiced the importance of hearing different opinions. Hadn’t they all been through enough to understand that there was too much to be lost in lack of communication?

“If it would help to touch the stones,” continued Tony. “We can make the gauntlet appear like Thor does. We’re never able to touch it, but maybe you can, Puny God.”

Magic leaves a mark. The Stones knew him. They welcomed his magic as surely as they did their own; as surely as they did Darcy’s. Steve startled at the thought. How did he know that? He looked at Loki, as if willing the god to answer his unvoiced question. This was information that he knew to be true, but did not understand how he had come to know. It was like a memory from your childhood; you knew it to be true because you’ve been taught so all your life, but he recalled no time of being told such.

“Is there something else?” Steve found himself asking, eyes remaining on Loki. “We need to look at all the possibilities here,” he continued, remembering Bucky’s words. If there’s anything we all ought to have learned by now, it’s that a team won’t function well if everyone’s cards aren’t laid out. “You said you swore to protect Darcy.”

Loki nodded, and something felt different between them in that moment. There was an olive branch being extended, and Loki was not as proud as he had once been so as to discard it. He distantly recalled a conversation he had once had.

“And how do you know they are worthy of your friendship?” He had asked Darcy on one of their talks.

“Now? Well, we all have been through a lot.”

“But in the beginning?” He prodded.

“I just had to trust them,” she had shrugged, looking at him. She had looked so simple then. “Take a leap of faith.”

He had made some remark, though he couldn’t recall it now.

“You were ejected from the Soul Realm when Darcy needed to be protected.” Steve went on, brows furrowing as something akin to recognition flickered in his eyes. The ‘from Wanda’ remained unsaid. “Is there anything else we can do that can continue that?”

There was a second where Loki seemed to hesitate, but he nodded in the end, securing everyone’s attention once more.

“You should try it sometime,” Darcy had offered.

“Perhaps,” he had acquiesced.

“I might be able to aide your Jane Foster,” Loki said slowly. “I believe I can help you build your Bifrost.”

Steve watched as Tony and Bruce jumped on the opportunity, pulling Loki into conversation about numbers and machines and technical gibberish that didn’t hold Steve’s attention nearly as much as the blue eyes that had briefly replaced the god’s green hues. Darcy. He knew the conversation probably wasn’t completely done, just as the conversation about everyone’s agenda on the team wasn’t. Their meeting earlier had been just the beginning in rebuilding stronger ties between all of the Avengers.

He left them to talk, heading into Darcy’s room and situating himself on the floor by her bedside. Bucky had tensed and then relaxed upon realizing who it was, and Steve slid his hand in Darcy’s. The action grounded him in a way he hadn’t felt since—

Bucky placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“I can’t just lose her.” Steve said, voice deep and low. “I barely even had her.”

“You won’t.” Bucky said, but Steve let out a sound that was something between a laugh and a scoff.

“I’ve already lost everything.”

His chance at a normal life.

His time with Peggy.

His life while he was on ice.

His bond with the Avengers.

His chance with Bucky.

The list could go on if he let himself dwell, but thankfully, Bucky was always quick to counter and distract him.

“May have lost me for a little bit, you little Punk, but you got me back, didn’t ya?” Bucky had squat to be level with him, sitting on the floor as he were.

Steve appreciated the irony of Bucky comparing his situation with Darcy’s. To Bucky, it probably would have been on the premise of he and Darcy being valuable to Steve, but for Steve, it was like comparing the people he had wanted to keep in his life. He had fancied himself in love with Bucky once upon a time. He had seen the healthy boy protecting the sickly little kid and found himself smitten with a bit of hero worship. Gratitude turned to fondness, then into familiarity that came with friendship, and Steve knew there wasn’t a part of him that didn’t love the Jerk that was James Buchanan Barnes.

As it were, he now loved Bucky, but knew he was not in love with him. There was no jealousy in the soft smiles or heated glances he shared with Princess Shuri. He was happy for his friend, knowing that Bucky deserved every bit of love he was given.

“I only had to fight humans to get you back, Jerk,” laughed Steve humorlessly. “What chance do I have against magic?”

“Are we still just talking about the girl here?” Bucky shot him a look, and Steve met his gaze and offered a smile. Astute, his friend was.

“I’ve spent my life fighting for what was right.” Steve lifted his hand slightly from Darcy, letting his fingertips graze her skin. “Truth, justice, freedom…”

Bucky pulled his hand away then, still squatting, but this time studying Steve’s features closely.

“Even when I dragged you all to Wakanda,” Steve said, “I believed in every fiber of my being that I was right; that I was standing for freedom and justice. I wasn’t some puppet anymore. There was no one controlling me, but me.”

“And yet you followed Fury and took missions as soon as you were able.”

“Because it felt like I’d lost my purpose.” Steve admitted, eyes glued to Darcy’s hand. “I’ve always been a symbol of something or the other, and suddenly I wasn’t. Well, I was the symbol of being a criminal, but—”

“Who is this Steve Rogers that willingly returned to a land that was no longer home to look after a woman he has barely spoken to?” Thor had asked him.

“I’ve found someone — some thing — that I want for myself.” He swallowed, unwilling to meet Bucky’s eyes. He could take judgement from everyone, but would not be able to stomach should Bucky be disappointed with him. “She’s not…There was finally something—someone—that I want to keep. Regardless of the consequences, I wanted to be a part of her life, and for her to be a part of mine. I don’t know if it’s love, but I felt like I deserved to find out…didn’t I?”

“More than anyone I know,” agreed Bucky, pulling Steve in for a hug.

Stephen, in his astral form, quickly left the scene. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop or overstep what little boundaries he had already set between himself and those of the team. There just seemed to be something off with Steve that he felt compelled to investigate.

After all, since when had Steve been heavily soaked in Darcy’s magic?

He returned to his body, having hidden in the restroom in his little escapade. Upon rejoining Loki, Bruce, and Tony, he found them with blueprints laid out, both Peters hovering around them, and Jane on the phone. Stephen eyed Loki, who seemed engrossed in the conversation, though he doubted If it was true.

Loki had already been covered in a mix of magic that was his and Darcy’s when he’d appeared before them. Magic left a mark; and when you spent enough time around someone, sometimes their own unique signature rubbed off on you. However, it always disappeared with time. Perhaps a little would remain, depending upon the compatibility of the wielders, but it never went the other way.

Magic left a mark, and like a scar, it faded overtime; sometimes not completely, but it faded nonetheless.

It didn’t intensify.

It never intensified.

So why was Loki dripping with Darcy’s brand of it as if she were standing right there with him?

Chapter Text

His knuckles rapped against the door in an offbeat pattern. Wooden Midgardian doors were such primitive technology. How he wished he’d succeeded in taking over Midgard if only so he could have at least shown them what it meant to wield power in the form of magic. Then again, he supposed, that was far from his mind at the time.

The door opened to reveal the tiny woman he had last seen dripping in the Aether’s magic.

“Jane Foster,” Loki did his best to look the charming prince he had once been known to be. The Dark Aesir Prince with a Silver Tongue, they had once called him. It was in his those years — his best years — that he had met, courted, and married Sigyn.

The astrophysicist promptly shut the door in his face.

Well, he couldn’t say he was surprised.

He knocked once more, “Foster, please.”

When the door remained shut, he squashed down the impulse to simply teleport into her home. He could feel her remain on the other side of the entrance.

“I bring news,” his voice dropped as he placed his palm flat on the wooden surface. “I bring news on Darcy.”

And just like that, the Lady Foster had pulled open the entrance to her apartment, took one step towards him, and slapped him right across his cheek. Well, a slap was definitely an improvement than the strike she’d landed on him when they had first met. While he celebrated that she hadn’t thought to punch him once again, she pulled back and landed a proper punch on his cheek.

He knew it wouldn’t matter. There would be no bruise to mark her hit, and what redness that would appear would also fade within the hour.

“The first one was for still being alive. The second one was for thinking you have any right to talk about Darcy.” Foster turned around then, entering her apartment and leaving Loki to follow.

He noted the blonde woman standing in the kitchen, her name flashing in his mind in a whisper of a memory not his own. Sharon Carter.

“You want me to stay, Jane?” The Agent asked, frowning.

Foster made a small humming sound in the negative, “It’s fine. Go for your run. If there’s anyone you can leave me with that isn’t actually an Avenger, it’s probably him.” She smiled at Carter briefly before returning her gaze to Loki. “Besides, I was expecting him.”

Loki was relieved the agent left it at that and didn’t bother with threatening him or warning him against harming her charge. It wasn’t as if they could hold him. Of them all, the only one that truly stood a chance were Strange and Banner, but even then, he had an Infinity Stone.

It was the reason he was standing before his brother’s former lover, after all.

With Agent Carter gone, Loki and Jane stood in the kitchen of the house she and Sharon were staying at. She looked far worse than the last time they had seen each other, with dark bags under her eyes and sunken cheeks. She didn’t look sickly, per se, but it seemed that she hadn’t been getting much sleep, and it showed.

“I don’t believe for a second what bullshit act you fed them that had them believing you.” Jane pulled out the pop tarts she’d heated and bit into them while glaring at him.

“If it should ease your ire,” said Loki slowly. “Your Witch Doctor hadn’t been gentle in depositing me here. He opened a hole beneath my feet and I fell flat on my arse in front of your door. If this is housing you’ve acquired from Stark,” and Loki knew that it was, “Then I’m sure there is footage of it that you may peruse.

Jane chewed thoughtfully, “Fine. Now, the lab’s actually in a secure location, but I need Sharon around to access it. Two-person voice, iris, and hand verification to keep everything as secure as possible.”

His lips curled into a wide smile as he shape-shifted into Sharon Carter, “Have you forgotten who I am, Jane Foster?”

When they were in her lab, and Loki had returned to his own features, Foster seemed to relax a fair bit. It seemed that the woman felt more at ease among the machinery that were a mix of Stark Tech and her own duck-taped mish-mash than she did with being in the world. He couldn’t really see what Thor saw in her. She was pretty enough, he supposed, for a Midgardian.

“What have you actually accomplished so far, Foster?” Loki asked as he leaned in closer to the large contraption in the far end of the room, encased in thick glass walls.

“I have a life-sized prototype that should work. I’ve done all the equations, and Erik’s confirmed them. He’s actually meeting some contacts right now who could have a viable source of power, because that’s where we always seem to be lacking.” Jane pulled up information on the various screens that came to life. “We tried Tony’s arc reactor and every other alternative source of energy there is. Water would be best if we could harness large amounts of it, but we can’t exactly build a dam in or around the ocean. Solar can only get so much, and we’d need panels covering an entire continent to even attempt a proper test.”

“And what tests have you actually done,” Loki looked around at all the information supplied by the screens. He barely understood Midgardian science, if only because it was such a crude form oof Aesir technology. These people keep looking up and out. Especially the Lady Foster, who looked to the stars and found his brother.

“We did a smaller test with the arc reactor earlier this week, and it caused the device to activate, but couldn’t sustain it for us to even try to see if it connected to another realm.” She swiped in the air and various files came into view. “These are the notes I took from it.”

“And you say Selvig has another possible power source?” He knew the man’s mind had been opened thanks to the Scepter.

Foster’s face looked pinched before she sighed deeply, “He’s with a couple of agents in Namibia, meeting someone who claims to have an unlimited renewable energy source.”

Loki looked at her, considering how to better phrase his words. Midgardians looked to the stars when all they really needed to do was look inside. The Witch Doctor had it right — in spite of all of Loki’s jabs — to focus inwards and into one’s self and learn how to wield power they’ve had all along.

“I considered Thor,” admitted Foster, placing her hand against the glass separating them from her prototype.

They entered the room where a large circular platform stood. Four poles were in the corners of the room, so that the platform was in the middle. Everything was a sleek silver, and Loki squinted as he saw how they were all connected.

“Maybe he could call to lightning or electricity — basically — and help us out. We did some tests, but all Thor was able to accomplish was fry the equipment.”

“Have you tried asking your Witch Doctor?”

“Strange?” Foster furrowed her brows, confused, before blinking up at him. “Oh, I did! I asked if there was a way he could somehow help with the realm travel because he was already doing a variation of it.”

“And what did he say?”

“He couldn’t find a way to transfer the ability to an object.” She swiped through somethings in  her tablet, “It would have been easier to train another person.”

“I suppose he has the right of it,” agreed Loki. “Another being, even a Midgardian, could learn to hone power that they may already have, or even focus the energy around them.”

“They may already have?” Jane frowned, “Are you saying that everyone has magic?”

Loki contemplated how best to respond. He placed a hand out towards Jane, and focused on getting his magic to cloak him and become visible to her. There was a moment in which neither of them said anything, but Loki knew the woman might be piecing things together or at the very least rationalizing what she was seeing.

“You’re so…colorful.” Jane offered, confused.

“Magic manifests itself differently among people.” He said, watching how Jane took him in with rapt attention. “You currently see how Thor and I might choose to see or be seen.”

“It’s like I’m seeing your entire muscular system,” said Jane as she squinted at him. “In blue.”

“That would be my own magic. A mixture of my Jotun heritage and Aesir upbringing. Aesir magic tends to be a pulsing gold.”

“You have that too.” Jane raised a hand and seemed to motion around him. “It’s all over you, like a spider web whose center’s in your chest.”

He nodded, “Magic leaves a mark, and the people I grew up around as family has definitely left theirs on me. You yourself pulse with my brother’s magic, more than perhaps every person in that facility combined does.”

“And the other colors? They’re wrapped around you, but not really a part of the light blue of your system. There’s a lighter blue that’s just a few shades brighter than yours. It’s in the center of your chest.”

The Space Stone.

“You’re…your colors remind me of the Stones.” Jane said stepping back and looking at him from her new distance. “But just like the gold strands that are wrapped around you, they’re covered in black. It’s like I’m seeing veins over an outer layer of fat.”

Loki held out a hand, “Would you like to see how you look?”

Jane barely thought of the consequences as she placed her hand in his.

Midgardian magic, to the Aesir, was an amber color that was usually muted to the point of being negligible. And while there were those like the Hawk who absorbed magic and whose body adapted to use it without him having to do anything, there were those like Jane that shielded her from outside forces. What mark the Aether would have left on her had since dissipated, but the gold of Thor’s magic pulsed around Jane like an armor, covering her in garb similar to that which Sigyn had once worn.

An armor fit for royalty.

His brother had loved Jane, without a shadow of doubt. Even his magic had accepted her as an equal and future queen.

Just as she had described the dark strands crawling all over him, she bore the same marks.

“Whose magic is this?” Jane asked as she raised her free hand to examine the dark tendrils that wrapped around her like the very veins that carried blood around her body.

“Your Darcy made sure to protect her sisters, even if she wasn’t completely aware of it.”

“You were really with her,” Jane pulled away from him, and their vision returned to normal. “Did she send you here? Is she okay? I’ve been told what happened, but—”

I don’t know. He looked around the room, having already taken note that the place was most likely under heavy surveillance. He debated the intelligence of letting her know he had an Infinity Stone. Thor and Darcy trusted her. The Avengers trusted her. Did that mean that he could as well?

He could feel Darcy’s memories and feelings brimming in his mind. She had trusted Jane with everything, even her deepest secret. His eyes narrowed at that, he couldn’t uncover what it was, but he knew there was something between Jane and Darcy that no one else knew. The desire to know was bubbling within him, but he set it aside for the moment.

This was where he was meant to be. He didn’t need to go digging around Darcy’s life, even if he did want to.

“I know they said you’re here to help with the Bridge,” said Jane. “But…I just need to know she’s okay too.”

“She is as well as she can be.” Loki said slowly. It wouldn’t do to offer false promises anymore, not when there was more than just his life on the line. “In the meantime, why don’t we work on your Bifrost, yes?”

The Space Stone was meant to be used to help, yes? But perhaps not revealed.

Not yet.

She stood in a large loose shirt and yoga pants. Her hair was down and she wore the dark framed glasses he sometimes felt shielded her bright blue eyes from view.

“Is this a dream?”

The smile she sent him made him care less about whether or not it was a dream. She stepped into his waiting arms, wrapping her arms around his midsection. He inhaled deeply as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and smiled when she chuckled.

Darcy stepped back, though his hands settled on her hips and kept her close.

“Do you think it is?” She asked him, brow raised and a smirk on her lips.

“I wish it weren’t,” was his reply.

“What makes you think this is a dream?”

“It feels like this isn’t real.” He lifted one hand from her hip so that he could hold her face. “Like this is all just happening in my head,” said Steve, savoring the way she leaned into his touch.

“So maybe it is happening inside your head,” laughed Darcy, “But why should that mean it isn’t real?”

Her cheeky grin told him that he was probably missing a reference to something there, but couldn’t be bothered to figure it out. Instead, he asked, “Why are you still unconscious?”

“I’m not…whole, yet.” She stepped back, slipping from his hold. “My parents used to joke that I was an old soul, because in spite of my love for technology, there were things I just preferred doing the old fashioned way. I prefer a book to an e-book or a tablet. I always liked gram’s records. I liked working with my hands when I could — guess none of us thought just how much of an old soul I actually was.” Her following laugh was humorless as she pat his cheek, much like an amused aunt did.

“Loki said you’re a reincarnation of someone…”

“Of so many people, really.” Darcy sat on the couch behind her, and Steve took the time to look around. He’s never been in this house before.

“Where are we?” He looked at the various photos that lined the mantle.

“This is where I grew up.” She replied, coming to join him to point at each picture as she described them. “That’s my mom and dad on their wedding day, with baby Jeremiah as the adorable ring bearer. This is a family picture we took when Miah finally told everyone he was planning on enlisting. This one’s of Chris with her parents. This is in my and Christine’s high school graduation.”

“Is this the Soul Realm?” Steve asked, startling her.

She shook her head and suddenly looked very worried. Darcy held his face in both of her hands, forcing him to look right at her.

His brows furrowed, and she squeezed his face so that his lips puckered like a fish of some sort. Her lips quirked into a smile at the sight, but it was quickly wiped away.

“The Soul Realm isn’t a place you can leave without needing to pay a steep price,” Darcy said solemnly. “I’ve never been there—”

“So Loki—”

“Didn’t know,” she finished. “I understand why you don’t trust him, but I do. He didn’t know any different. We both thought we were in the Soul Realm.”

“How do you know any different now?”

The pair turned to the sound of the voice. Loki stood by the hallway that led to the kitchen, wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he and Clint were sparring. He didn’t look uncomfortable among the Midgardian furniture, much to Steve’s surprise, though Steve also noted that his attention wasn’t on his surroundings at all. Loki was looking at them with an unreadable expression, as if torn on what he ought to say or do.

“Loki!” With a laugh, Darcy stepped out of Steve’s arms and launched herself into Loki’s reach. He caught the giggling woman with a fond smile, and Steve watched the darkness in Loki’s eyes lighten as he looked down at Darcy. If this were real, then Darcy and Loki were definitely on at least friendly terms.

Loki met Steve’s eyes over Darcy’s head.

“Good to see your new protector is taking care of you,” said Loki, and though Steve knew he meant it for Darcy, he felt like it was directed at him.

There was so much he wanted to ask, but the only thing that left his lips were, “How are you here?”

“This is of your doing, is it not?”

Steve frowned, “But why would you be here?”

“You tell me, Captain.” Loki smirked.

Neither seemed to notice that Darcy had disappeared until they’d woken up.

An entire ocean apart, Steve and Loki breathed heavily as they tried to make sense of their surroundings. Steve, whom had been standing guard outside Darcy’s door, shivered. Had he fallen asleep while on duty? He entered Darcy’s room, gun drawn and ready to strike if needed, only to find that she was still very much alone and unconscious.

“You’ve truly taken the job of guarding her to heart,” said Strange as he approached Steve once the solider had gotten out of Darcy’s room.

Steve said nothing, choosing to remain standing between Strange and the door that led to Darcy Lewis.

The eccentric, if not a bit arrogant, doctor raised a brow at the tension that seemed to line every fiber of the Captain’s body. Something had happened. Whether Rogers knew it or not, he had been pulled into the thick of whatever it was that had Loki and Darcy bound tightly to each other.

“Do you think she’ll wake up soon?” Steve asked, forcing himself to relax his stance and step aside.

Strange stepped up to the door and shot Steve a look from the side, “Maybe you could tell me, Captain?”

Immediately feeling defensive, Steve grit his teeth and held his tongue. He had nothing of value to say. There was no way Strange knew of his odd dreams. And even then, they were just dreams. It wasn’t as if anything would change because of them. At least in his dreams he truly had Darcy. There was nothing looming over their heads. He might even learn to deal with having Loki pop in from time to time.

For his part, as he sat across Jane in a corner of her lab and tried to explain how the previous Bifrost worked, Loki felt a shiver run down his spine. Memories of what had seemingly just occurred seeped into his mind, and he once again applauded the foresight of having cloaked Darcy to keep them connected in spite of already being out of the other realm.

“The Bifrost worked primarily because we were able to harness and sustain the magic of Asgard, with Odin being a primary channel by which it could gain power, and Heimdall helping to keep it secure by monitoring who used it.” Loki said as Jane took down notes.

A few feet from them, Agent Carter stood like Jane’s shadow, watching them and perhaps waiting for Loki to step out of line. Jane looked from her notes to Loki, who was acting nothing like the Loki she had met while battling the Dark Elves, but also every bit as calm and confident as he had always seemed to be when Thor spoke of him.

She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but there was something about him that had changed. Certainly, he wasn’t as arrogant as he had once been, and if his earlier display was anything to go by, then he was almost just as cared for by Darcy as she was. And after everything she and Darcy had been through, there wasn’t much Jane wouldn’t do for the woman she considered her sister.

Jane recalled the events of Darcy’s birthday, wondering if Darcy had known then that something like this would happen. She’d definitely covered her bases, so to speak.

“I didn’t do anything!” Quill had glared at Strange, but quickly refocused on Darcy. “We should go back now, Darce’. I’m sure they’ll have better ideas—”

“We’ll be back soon.” Darcy said, before she, Jane, and Christine were swathed in blue light and then were gone.

Darcy, Christine, and Jane stood in Darcy’s room. She hadn’t needed to use her powers, but she’d been anxious to get away from the others. Without saying a word, much to her sister’s and best friend’s worry, Darcy frantically tore off the pillows and sheets on her bed. When it was all but bare, she moved to lift the mattress.

“Darcy, what’s going on?” Christine asked cautiously, though both she and Jane went to help Darcy upturn her mattress.

When her mattress was haphazardly off of the bed frame, she peeled off the top and pulled out a thick stack of leather journals. Her hands shook as she pulled out each journal. It came in only two colors, a dark red and black. There were more of the black than crimson, and while Christine and Jane wanted to reach out and look through them, they feared that Darcy might react negatively to it.

“I wiped my and Jane’s files on SHIELD.” She said as she unearthed the last journal and then pulled out small container that had Christine gasping.

“That’s…”

“Mom’s jewelry box is a wonderful place to keep memories,” Darcy said softly.

“Darcy…what are these?” Jane asked as she took a black journal and opened it.

“I wiped our files from SHIELD and replaced them with very similar ones, but with inconsistent dates and coded it so that if I send a particular message from this flash drive, every file that had even a mention of either me or Jane would be wiped.” She opened the jewelry box and pulled out a small rubber chicken flash drive. It was such a cute little thing.

Jane let out a shaky breath. “These are…”

“But I knew I had to document everything.” Darcy watched her sister pick up a red journal. “The black one details what Jane and I have been up to; not including her computations and studies, because that’s not something that’s super hidden, let’s be honest. There are physical notes of her research at every stage, printed, bound, filed, and stored. I made sure of that. The red one details everything I’ve been working on when it comes to the Accords.” Darcy let out a small chuckle, “My life’s work.”

Christine’s foot tapped on the floor in a way that spoke of how hard she was thinking about something.

“This is comprehensive, Darcy.” Jane said. “When did you start this?”

“A little after London.” Darcy replied, “A little after Jeremy. I needed to do something productive so I didn’t dwell on the shit show that was my love life…and a little after my accident. Guess you can say flatlining made me that crazy lady that wanted to document everything. I was crazy and wanted to change the world, and I wanted to document my part in it on my own terms.”

“Why are you showing us this?” Christine asked. “What happened with Quill?”

“Gamora’s alive. She took over my body for a little bit and Quill was able to talk to her.” She let herself fall on her ass so that she could lean against her bed frame. “She’s…in there, I guess. Somewhere.”

She didn’t have to say more. Jane understood what it implied that Gamora was alive, because if the woman who had been sacrificed so Thanos could control the Soul Stone was alive, then it could only mean that Thanos was as well.

“You want to bring this to the facility?” Christine guessed, “Continue documenting your work?”

Melancholy settled upon Darcy like a blanket. “For all the promise of death and destruction that Thanos promised and caused, there’s one good thing he was able to do,” she rolled her eyes. “At least the Avengers are back together, right? I mean, they could be better, but maybe they’ll get there with a bit of time.” Darcy could feel tears prick her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I don’t know what’ll happen, but I know I needed to tell someone about this, because for all the good intent that we have to fuel our actions, I can’t have this falling into the wrong hands.”

“Darcy…” Jane warned.

“Stop that!” Christine admonished. “You sound like you’re on your deathbed.”

“We’ve got to be prepared for every possibility,” said Darcy, doing her best to dissociate from the situation so that she didn’t have a full breakdown. “If I had died in Wakanda, Jane would have found these one way or another because they would have cleared my room someday, but now that I’m in the facility with very little real privacy, I’m going to have to adjust.”

The room was thick and heavy with tension as Jane and Christine exchanged anxious glances.

“I know this is asking a lot, but I need you two to help me encode these. We can’t let all the work people have put in fall to nothing just because I can’t be as visible as I used to be.” Darcy separated the stacks by color. “You handle the red ones, Chris, and Jane and I can work through the black ones, since it’s basically our life anyways.”

Christine worried that she’d regret asking, but felt she’d regret even more if she didn’t. “And then what? We type this up and compile it, and then?”

“And then we give it to the people that matter.” Darcy smiled, looking up at them.

“Fuck you, Darcy.” Jane spat angrily. “This is your Last Will and you’re making us your Executors. Well, you know what? I’m not having this. I’m not letting you give up just like that—”

“Yeah, well, fuck you too, Jane,” laughed Darcy. “I’m not giving up. I’ve always documented what happens to us. Why should this be any different? Only thing is, now my body isn’t just my body — like I said, Gamora’s just taken over — so I need to have the safety net that if anything were to happen to me, there would be people ready to continue things I’m either already working on or what I’ve been wanting to look into.”

“And who are the people that matter?”

Darcy grinned, “Pepper Potts is the only one that I really want to have it sent to, but I guess the Avengers, as a collective, count too…but maybe only if they aren’t separated anymore.” She winked at Jane, “And bury a copy with me.”

This time it was Christine that chided her, “Darcy!”

She pressed her lips together as the particular memory dissolved in her mind. She missed Darcy and Jane.

Christine pulled her door closed, having just finished a long shift at the hospital. She had a bit of a migraine when she’d left the hospital, but as she was on her way back to her apartment, she’d seen a dark haired little girl berating who must have been her brother and it had just had Christine reminiscing about the childhood she had shared with Darcy and Jeremiah; which then led to her thinking of the last time she’d been with Darcy.

With a yawn, she entered her bathroom and turned the shower knob. She needed a quick shower and then she’d go run her errands for the day. Sleep would have to wait. At least it was her day off tomorrow.

She dressed in skinny jeans, sandals, and a plain black button down shirt.

Her purse sat on the coffee table, beside the package she had to send to Pepper Potts. She felt more agitated than she expected she would, and she pulled out her wallet and double checked the three driver’s licenses tucked inside.

Darlene Palmer

Christine Lewis

Christina Lewis

Darcy had made her choose her names and aliases. If worse came to worst, she knew she had to go under, unless she could somehow get protection from Darcy’s or Pepper’s friends. Maybe it was stupid of her, but she’d wanted to keep as close to her real name and as connected to Darcy as she could. Hiding in plain sight, she hoped to be. Her sister hadn’t commented, but the silence and soft smile Darcy had sent her told Christine that Darcy understood.

They were all the family they had left.

She stuffed her wallet back into her purse and grabbed the parcel before she lost her nerve, like she had the past couple of days.

Two hours later, she’d just ended her call with Pepper Potts and was in an Uber on the way to Stark Industries. After this, she was going to start packing. She had some vacation days saved up, and she figured she could use it to visit Jeremy.

“Do you think,” began Steve as they settled into the booth of the diner they were in. “We could do this when you wake up?”

“What? Eat?” Darcy laughed, “I’m pretty sure we have to, Steve.”

“Dating,” said Steve, feeling his cheeks and ears warm as she regarded him thoughtfully.

“Is that what we’re doing, Cap? Are we dating?” She squinted at him, eyes crinkling and lips puckering. “Pretty sure you have to ask first for that to be a thing you’re actually doing.”

“Well, then, that’ll be the first thing I ask when you wake up.” He promised, squeezing her hand.

“Or you can ask me now and be done with it,” she said. “Then again, I can also just ask you.” She winked at him.

“Do you think,” he began again, letting their fingers interlace. “We would have gotten to where we were — without Thanos or the Infinity Stones?”

She scrunched up her nose, and something between a snort and a laugh escaped her mouth. “Probably not.” She turned over his hand so that it was palm up, and let her finger tips graze his skin lightly. “We would have met briefly, through Pepper or Fury, but even then, there probably would have been other representatives to talk to you guys. I was gearing up to step back and become a coordinator of sorts for when Pepper needed to step away from the Accords Project.”

“I’d like to think we still would have.” Steve countered easily. He caught one of her fingers and squeezed, “Maybe it’d be a little different. I’d call you Attorney, you’d call me—”

“Captain Rogers?”

“I was going to say, your client.”

“More like my colleague,” corrected Darcy. “We’d have probably been working more closely to fix all the mistakes.”

“Is that what you’re up to?” Loki asked as he slid into the space beside Steve.

Darcy’s brow twitched, though Steve probably wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t looking so closely. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She shot back, pulling her finger back from Steve’s weak grip and resuming to run her fingers on his palm.

“I’m sure Steve here would as well,” Loki said, and only then did Steve realize that Loki had placed an arm around his shoulders.

“Since when have you called him Steve?” Darcy was far from convinced.

“Don’t you know?” Loki taunted, “We’re thick as thieves now.”

Steve wanted to shrug Loki’s arm off of him, a pure reflex of disliking when people invited themselves into his personal space, but then a deep sense of calm filled him — in much the same way as it did whenever he took Darcy’s hand in the real world or spent time with her here.

“Is that right?” Darcy turned to Steve then, letting her hand fall into his.

“I’m still here, am I not?” Loki opened his palm out to Darcy, and Steve felt his breath hitch as an Infinity Stone revealed itself. Vibrant and pulsing, Steve hadn’t realized he’d been reaching for the stone until Darcy had intercepted his hand.

“You’ve come a long way, Loki.” Darcy said, removing her hand from Loki’s, leaving Steve and Loki’s hands to lay close to each other. “Definitely far from the annoying guy Jane told me about.”

“For the better, I hope?” There was no joke in the trickster’s voice, a fact that surprised Steve even more.

Darcy took one of their hands in each of hers, “The two of you have always been better than you give yourselves credit for.”

Loki sat up in cold sweat. He feared what he’d see if he tried to look at the Space Stone once more. Was it possible? Could he truly be in possession of more than one Infinity Stone?

He meditated, intent on using his Astral Form to check on Darcy’s physical body. It would certainly be more difficult than usual due to the distance, but perhaps having the Space Stone would help make things easier.

For a moment, as Loki watched Darcy continue to sleep peacefully, he wondered what would happen if he tried to look into her mind. Would he be able to initiate a connection just as Steve could? It explained why he was being dragged into their meetings; his magic sunk right into hers, and whenever Steve and Darcy’s connection was triggered, Loki was brought in. Before he could even try to trigger their connection though, the aforementioned soldier walked in and stopped right by the door with his gun aimed at Loki.

“How are you here?”

“I think a better question is,” began Loki as he turned around, “How are you able to see me?”

Steve’s gun remained trained on him, “You’re supposed to be with Doctor Foster.”

“And we get nowhere by not answering each other’s questions.” Loki pointed out, taking a seat on the bed, right by Darcy’s hand; an action that seemed to put Steve more on edge than he already was. Twelve hour shifts between him and his Winter Soldier had him even more tense than usual, Loki supposed.

“You first.” Steve ordered, holstering his weapon and seating himself on the armchair by Darcy’s side.

“I am capable of all that your Witch Doctor is, and then some,” said Loki. “This is my Astral Form, and so while my physical body is in the shack I share with my brother’s lover, I was able to send my consciousness here. I am, supposedly, invisible to those not in the Astral dimension. If I were to be seen by anyone, I would have thought it would have been strange.”

“Then how can I see you?”

“Perhaps you’re more than just a soldier,” Loki studied Steve, scanning the man for hints of—

“What are you—”

“You are absolutely covered in the Stones’ power.” Without warning, Loki grabbed Steve’s head to make sure that he could look properly into his eyes and skim through his mind. What abilities the Mind Stone had gifted him with were quickly fading the longer he spent out of the other realm and away from Darcy, including his ability to know when something was the absolute truth.

Despite himself, Steve knew he was blushing. How could he not? Loki was near straddling him with how he loomed over and held Steve. His mind flashed back to Darcy, and how he’d welcomed her weight pressed against him. He couldn’t help but compare the situation.

It was quite odd, really. Loki didn’t really weigh anything. It felt more as if Steve’s mind was trying to reconcile how heavy Loki was supposed to be while also processing that he wasn’t really there; however, his grip on Steve’s throat was quite prominent, as well as the rough way he had held a side of Steve’s face.

How intimate they must have looked to anyone that could see.

“What have you been doing, Rogers? Why is it that the Soul Stone’s taken such an interest in you?”

Does it mean Darcy values you more?

Steve wondered if either of them had said it out loud, because they certainly thought it. Were the Stones latching on to Steve to keep Loki safe? Were they arming Steve? Did Darcy have anything to do with it at all?

Loki didn’t know if he could take it. He knew Darcy was far from his. She wasn’t Sigyn, and she certainly hadn’t shown any preference for him that couldn’t be attributed to they were the only company the other person had. He had seen her relationship with Steve progress, had been supportive of it when he had a Darcy of his own while Steve enjoyed with her conscious part.

“How often have you been in contact with her?” He placed a bit of pressure around Steve’s throat, and let himself manifest more fully so that he could use his thighs and legs to hold Steve’s hands down by his sides and against the armchair.

“I don’t know.” Inaccurate. Steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt both powerless and in control. Thor’s brother wasn’t doing any actual harm, though the hand on his throat and his hands begged to differ. He knew he could physically overpower Loki easily enough. Clint had managed to land a few blows yesterday, after all.

Loki grit his teeth and let one of his hands settle on the back of Steve’s head. He massaged the soldier’s scalp then pulled at his hair, receiving a grunt and a glare, but no retaliation. Though intrigued, Loki filed away that thought for some other time. The Captain had just gotten a bit more interesting to the God of Mischief.

“It feels like I see her whenever I close my eyes,” admitted Steve with a sigh. He was rewarded by Loki massaging his scalp once again, and he barely understood how they’d gotten to this and why he was letting it happen.

“Who else knows?” Loki leaned in as he shifted his weight and manipulated his magic so that his lower half was no longer visible. He smiled to himself when Steve seemed to stiffen and his hands rose and looked for Loki’s body to hold.

“No one else.” Inaccurate. There was someone else, but perhaps Steve himself didn’t know. Loki assumed it would be Strange. Who else could it be, when the Scarlet Witch was locked in her cell and Loki has only just come to know? Steve felt Loki’s breath fan against his throat and up to his ear, and he shivered as his eyes closed involuntarily.

“Who is Darcy to you?” Loki pulled back, watching as Steve opened his eyes to reveal how his pupils were blown wide. It made him wonder who Steve was seeing in that moment. Was it possibly he was seeing Darcy instead of Loki?

“She’s a friend,” said Steve, looking right into Loki’s darkened eyes. Inaccurate. “Someone I care about.” Truth.

She’s mine, Loki wanted to counter as he tried to look into Steve’s mind using what little of the Mind Stone’s magic remained in him. She was mine first. Even outside of Sigyn, Loki had been looking out for Darcy before Steve and she had become friends. I’d been her protector first. Loki swallowed, feeling like something had lodged itself in his throat. I’d been hers long before you were even a part of her world.

“And who’s she to you, Loki?” Steve questioned, and Loki knew, as he saw himself from Steve’s eyes, that Steve wasn’t simply blinded by his attraction to Darcy. The Soldier knew whom it was leaning against him, holding him, interrogating him. Loki retreated both mentally and physically, intending to leave and return to his physical body as soon as possible.

The Man With The Plan was bisexual. Who would have known?

Steve watched Loki disappear into thin air, and only then noticed how cold he felt without the weight of the man near or on him. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes, not wanting to look down and acknowledge how affected he had become by such an intimate attack. More than that, he refused to look into why he hadn’t even attempted to defend himself.

He looked at Darcy. Won’t you let us know what’s going on, Doll?

Loki felt like shit.

Absolute shit.

If he’d been anywhere near as close to an alcoholic as his brother, he would have partaken in the alcohol he knew from Darcy’s memories that Jane probably had in her room.

The Captain had found him attractive. In that moment, when he’d delved into Steve’s mind just to see whether he saw Darcy Lewis, Loki had been bombarded with the fact that Steve knew  just exactly who it was on top of him, as well as Steve remembering how Darcy had felt in the same position.

It seemed that Steve didn’t have much by way of mental defenses, because one peek had Loki looking right into his subconscious, which included how he had marveled at the possibility of Darcy being awake to see what was happening. Steve, deep down, acknowledged that he cared for Darcy but that he had also been attracted to his Bucky once upon a time. With the Winter Soldier in a monogamous relationship with the Princess of Wakanda however, Steve was left to wonder what a proper relationship with another man would be like.

He felt as if he’d dipped his head in a shallow bowl but ended up being pulled into the deepest of oceans. Loki’s stomach churned as he tried to sort through both Steve’s thoughts and Darcy’s memories. It was such a mess. He was feeling an overwhelming amount of attraction for both Darcy and Steve that in turn also had him experiencing so much guilt.

Once upon a time, he had sworn to all the gods and all the realms that his heart would forever belong to Sigyn. They had been two halves of a whole. No, they were two halves of a whole.

Sigyn was his wife; she would always be.

Darcy had been Sigyn.

If there was anyone he could let himself care for anywhere near as much as he once had Sigyn, it would only be Darcy; but having a bit of insight into who she had been and what she had felt was certainly complicating things more than it should. Where he had always been able to acknowledge to himself that the Midgardians Thor had surrounded himself with were decent-looking (and decent people, if pushed), they barely registered in his mind as more than pawns in the larger scheme of things. Jane had made him reconsider, if only because he had briefly considered her as his future queen for his kingly brother.

Darcy had helped him understand that though their lives were a blink of an eye compared to those of the other realms, they were far from the simpletons they had been perceived to be. She’d opened his eyes to one of the things Thor had discovered when he’d fallen from Asgard’s grace; that there were causes to fight for outside of Asgard’s interests, that the way Midgardian’s saw the world (though behind the times) was a refreshing reminder of Asgard’s long history, that one person (if they’re the right person) could be worth following (even if you’d been born to lead, yourself).

Thor had done all he could to save his Jane from death at the Aether’s mercy, and Loki knew that even if Thor had known then that he and Jane would not have lasted much longer in their romance, his brother would have done everything all over again. The two loved each other, no matter how stubbornly they stood by their recent decisions and current positions.

Then again, what was he doing comparing Thor and Jane to himself and Darcy?

He had long lost the chance to be anything more than friends with Darcy Lewis.

Thor would call her sister, and perhaps he would learn to do the same — after a time.

She cared for the Captain. He knew that from his time with her and her memories in his mind. More than that, she cared for her family; Jane, Chris, and even Jeremy.

Loki closed his eyes and let himself fall flat on his back in bed.

Given the chance, Loki knew that Steve and Darcy could come to love one another as deeply as he and Sigyn had — as Thor and Jane did.

He pulled himself back up, intent on meditating to better suppress and compartmentalize all that was brewing in his mind. All he needed to focus on was helping create Earth’s Bifrost without revealing that he had the Space Stone.

Chapter Text

Pepper stood in her and Tony’s penthouse suite atop Stark Industries in New York. She smiled as Rhodey entered the room, followed by her husband. Tony was in a plain navy shirt and ripped jeans, while his best friend was wearing a three-piece suit. Pepper had to admit that Tony had done a great job with Rhodey’s prosthetics, and the continued therapy had made his walk hardly different from what it used to be.

“You look good, Rhodey.” Pepper said, as she and the veteran exchange kisses on the cheeks, and then she held him at arms length. She took another step back and circled him, looking for any possible flaw in his outfit — highly unlikely, considering it was designed by the very same man that did Tony’s suits.

“Good enough to be the face of the Accords?” He joked, which made Tony roll his eyes.

“Don’t try to steal my wife,” her husband admonished, attempting to pull her into his arms when she was within reach. She dodged him with a laugh, and Rhodey grinned at the pair.

She took the shoulders of Rhodey’s coat and helped him out of it.

“The entire thing is great for formal dinners and addresses, but there’s always something about someone who can pull off both a black tie and casual clothes that speaks to the people.” She folded his coat over her arm and unbuttoned his sleeves so that she could roll it up. “We’re trying to paint a different image here. There are so many photos of you, Tony, Secretary Ross, and President Ellis out there. You’re both the poster boys of those Accords—”

“And now we’re going to change it.” Rhodey nodded, shifting so that his rolled sleeves sat more comfortably on his elbows.

Tony placed a hand on Rhodey’s arm, and before either his wife or his best friend could react, he had twisted Rhodey’s arm so that it was pinned against his back.

“Hey, what the hell, Tony?” Rhodey shrugged out of his grip with ease, seeing as Tony hadn’t put much of his weight behind the maneuver. He rubbed his arm, then his wrist, where a thin blue band now rested. “What…?”

Pepper watched as Tony took Rhodey’s other arm without a word and slapped a matching bracelet on it. She stepped back, letting the pair talk and have their moment. Tony had told her about this; more accurately, she’d seen the plans for it and had asked him. It was something they actually agreed on when it came to him and his suits.

“What are…” Rhodey looked at Tony, a mix of confusion and suspicion on his face. He turned to Pepper, who only smiled and tucked some of her loose hair behind her ear. His eyes honed in on her ring, then to the bracelet on her wrist, and its counterpart on her other.

“I take care of my own,” said Tony, coming to stand by her. His arm settled around her waist comfortably, and she melted into his side without much thought. “And despite what you’ve said and however indirectly it might actually have been, I did get you into this shit.” Before anyone could refute his statement, Tony squeezed Pepper’s waist and continued, “Friday, let’s see what Rhodey looks like in his new suit.”

Tony watched as his best friend became covered in the familiar armor he had designed for himself. The very same power source that was helping Rhodey walk, mini arc reactors, have been modified to function the same way his own electromagnet did. Nanobots encased Rhodey until he stood as the latest version of War Machine.

The suit looked more like Iron Man than Iron Patriot, much to Pepper’s (and she was sure Rhodey would agree with her) liking, with its block colors and sleek design. Reminiscent of his own latest suit, the biggest difference was the charcoal gray and silver that differed from his red and gold. It was sleek in a way that the former War Machine and Iron Patriot hadn’t been, and reinforced so that Rhodey was far more protected than even Tony himself when he wore his own suit, a millimeter thicker all around and Rhodey’s vitals monitored so that he could override the suit in extreme situations.

He felt himself stiffen as he recalled seeing his best friend fall from the sky, and he relished the feel of Pepper against him that reminded him that it was a different time. With a twist of his free arm, a holographic tablet appeared from his watch, and it detailed the information he got from Rhodey’s suit. His vitals were stable and the suit fit like a glove.

“We’ll do a proper test run back in the facility, but I’m pretty sure the suit’s perfect as is.”

“What are the bands for?” There wasn’t much difference to Rhodey when it came to how he felt inside the suit, other than it definitely fit more snug than his previous suits.

“Backup, really.” Tony said with a shrug, swiping at the holotab. “Should the nanobots fail, FRIDAY deploys parts of a suit stored in the sky.”

The implication of Tony’s reply wasn’t lost on his two companions. Tony had thought ahead, knowing that if someone could somehow overpower Rhodey and deactivate or dismantle his prosthetics — despite the various enhancements to it — the veteran would be easily overpowered. Unlike Pepper, who would always have at least Happy around to watch her back, Rhodey didn’t have that safety net. Besides, his wife had a different sort of protection from her own bracelets and even the ring she now wore.

Tony (and Pepper too, really) simply hoped that she never had need for it.

“You come up with a new name?” Rhodey asked, retracting the faceplate.

Tony shrugged, “I figured Iron Man had a nice ring to it.”

“We can’t legally use Iron Patriot because you’re now working outside of the US Army, but everyone already associates you with it.” Pepper placed a hand over Tony’s heart, liking the way she could feel it beating beneath her palm. “War Machine sounds far too aggressive for a peaceful propaganda—”

“And I won’t always be around.” Tony didn’t let either of his companions speak as he went on, “I became Iron Man out of necessity when I needed to save my own ass from someone I should have been able to trust, but I think we can all agree that it’s been a long time since Iron Man was just about me. I’ve always known I had to step back sooner or later. I figured I’d at least do it on my terms now, instead of at somebody’s hands later.”

“So what’s this? You aren’t going to be Iron Man anymore?”

“I will always be Iron Man,” said Tony, relaxed and with a confident smile on his lips. “But in the eyes of the public, so will you.”

Pepper stepped out of Tony’s arms to better appraise Rhodey’s new suit. “We have the rights to the name Iron Man, and didn’t want to risk either filing for another name or having others copy whatever we could have come up with when you debuted.” She smiled as she finished circling Rhodey and came to a stop right in front of him. “Besides, it sends another message too.”

“Anyone can be a hero.”

Pepper unwrapped the package in front of her carefully. Happy had brought it up about two hours ago, but she had been in the middle of a phone call with Coulson as they tried to figure out their next move with Darcy unable to pull strings online or even within the Avengers. Her team could wield their magic as well, but Darcy had had a clear plan as to what to do next, but never shared them until the time called for it. The redhead bit her lip, wondering if she should let Tony know about this before she opened it, but remembered that Doctor Palmer — Christine — had said that it was just Darcy and Jane’s notes.

What was the harm in old notebooks?

When she’d unraveled the nondescript box, she found herself looking at four ring-bound books.

She laid them all out, looking at the titles.

Each one had The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster in a medium serif font, and each book had different subheadings: Space;  Rock;  Paper;  and Scissors .

“Friday, where’s Tony?”

“Mr. Stark is currently in Undisclosed Location B.”

The Facility. Tony was in the Avengers Facility and wouldn’t be back until much later — if at all. From what she’d heard, Darcy was still unconscious, which made everyone antsy. Wanda was still in solitary confinement, though FRIDAY told her that Clint and Peter had gone to visit the young woman separately.

With a deep inhale, she scooped up the books to take to the bedroom. Well, time for bed; and this was as good a bed time story as she would get.

By the time her alarm was going off so that she could prepare for her day, she had finished Space and was halfway through Scissors. She had gotten only about an hour of sleep, and would have gotten less if she hadn’t forced herself to get at least some sleep before she relied on coffee to take her through the day. Pepper pursed her lips and placed the book in the bottom drawer of her bedside table, wondering what it meant that Christine had sent these to her.

It was a great insight into what Darcy and Jane have been through, but what purpose did they serve? She debated calling Christine within the day or finishing the books first. Perhaps the answer lay in the books?

Two days after Steve’s encounter with Loki, it was the fourth of July, which was, ironically for the man that had once been Captain America, his birthday. Darcy still hadn’t woken up and he was beginning to feel even more horrible than he had. He remembered the day before Darcy’s birthday, when she had asked him if he had any advice for her. In hindsight, all Steve could think to tell her would have been don’t leave me. And then he recalled the morning of the twenty-second of June, when she’d invited him to join her as they basked under the morning sun.

He’d already had a bit of a crush on her then. When she’d seemingly returned his interest, he had let himself have a bit of hope that perhaps there would be a future for them where they got to properly and more intimately know each other. He let himself hope that there would come a time where neither the Stones nor the Accords were something to consider. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d hoped for it until it felt like she’d slipped from his grasp. But then the days seemed to blur together and before he knew it, she’d had a breakdown, they’d kissed, then she’d been attacked by one of the people he’d helped train for combat, and now she was in bed like a fairytale princess with no prince in sight to help wake her up.

But then, Steve’s hand hovered above hers, hadn’t Loki come in the nick of time to save her from Wanda? Just thinking about Thor’s brother had Steve reliving when he had let Loki attack him. Since that night, Steve hadn’t dreamt of Loki whenever he was with Darcy. Instead, it had remained only him and his girl, which he wasn’t too upset about, though he did wonder why it was so. They would talk and laugh and it felt as if they were properly dating. Now if only it were real. Every time he woke up, he was left feeling lonelier than he had, as he lamented the lack of Darcy in reality.

Those weren’t his only dreams though.

When he found himself taking a quick nap while he wasn’t on Darcy Watch, he found himself dreaming of things he hadn’t let himself succumb to in so long. He was just a man. He’d had his fair share of taking himself in hand chasing his own release, as well as sharing that passion with quite a number of men and women, both before and after having been on ice. No matter how much Nat liked to poke fun at his dating life, it was far from difficult for him to find someone who’d willingly get in bed with him.

That wasn’t all that he wanted though.

Not anymore.

One night stands could only satisfy a person for so long. He felt like he was surrounded by happy couples. Tony and Pepper had just gotten married, and even before that, were well on their way to a long and happy life together. Clint and Laura, in spite of all that had happened, were still going strong. Even Nat, whom he vaguely understood sometimes joined Clint and Laura as their third, seemed to be mending her relationships with both Bruce and Sam. In Wakanda, there had been the romance between Bucky and Shuri, which he had somewhat seen unfold for himself between missions, as well as that of Nakia and T’Challa. And when he’d still been alive, Vis had Wanda.

Steve held Darcy’s hand between both of his. He looked forward to the day she’d wake up and squeeze his hand back. Then they could properly date each other; outside of his mind, as more than just his imagination. But, he stopped himself, it wasn’t just that either. He’d never been in a proper relationship with anyone before. He and Sharon had barely lasted a couple of months following his going into hiding, the strain of being unable to see each other regularly as they took on their own battles and went down their own paths being more than either were willing to deal with. Where his priority had become Bucky’s recovery, Sharon had wanted to continue her great aunt’s legacy. He didn’t hold it against her. More than anyone, he knew what it was like to want to fulfill your dreams and vision.

Hopefully, Strange or Loki could figure out what was going on soon so that they could actually do something other than simply care for Darcy as if she were a comatose patient. Nat had come to take care of wiping Darcy down and making sure she was given a sponge bath and switched positions often enough so that Darcy didn’t get sores on her back. They would have stuck an IV in her if their tests hadn’t shown that Darcy’s body was seemingly in stasis — as if she were in cryo, but without freezing and not lacking any nutrient. They still had FRIDAY monitor her though, just to be sure.

He lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckle.

If he could control anything in his dreams, it would be that he could pull Darcy back to reality. And in the dreams that she didn’t make an appearance, it would be that he could see who it was that always had him waking up with a hard on and a desperate need for a fuck and a cold shower. He already had a hunch, of course, but validation would be nice. As it were, it seemed that his mind wouldn’t let him dream of anyone else but dark hair, pale skin, and bright eyes.

Loki did not dream. Granted, he didn’t really sleep much either. He and Jane had spent the past forty-eight hours slaving over how best to go about the creation of a Bifrost on Earth. They’d agreed that they needed to start anew in some sense of the word, with Loki sharing what he knew of how the bridge in Asgard had worked, and Jane taking notes and trying to apply existing Earth technology or even possible alternatives. They both wished to have Selvig with them to further their progress, but the man wouldn’t return until the sixth, and none would risk transporting the man via Strange’s portals, which left Jane and Loki to simply gather all the information they had.

Neither Darcy nor Steve appeared to mess with his thoughts, though Darcy’s memories remained along with what little of Steve’s subconscious Loki had glimpsed. He said little, but it felt like he knew Steve perhaps better than he did Thor, and it was an unsettling feeling to know two people’s minds as intimately as he did, without even taking into account how he himself felt for these people.

It made for an annoying predicament, and he thanked the universe he could at least divert all his attention to the Bifrost as he remained an ocean away from both occupants of his thoughts. His gratitude was short-lived, however, as he found out that Jane was required to attend the Captain’s birth celebration. This, of course, meant that he would have to attend as well. Even if he hadn’t already been planning on it, he would probably have been dragged by force — or Darcy’s memories would guilt him into at least checking in on the Captain.

“Must we really attend?” Loki tugged at the waistband of his denim trousers. Some Midgardian attire was definitely more comfortable than the tunics and garb he used to wear, but these sorts of trousers weren’t his favorite.

“Not really,” shrugged Jane. “I could probably opt out of it, but it’s an excuse to see Darcy too, and I know she’d slap me and tie me to a bed if she actually saw me and the way I’ve been working right now, but more than that, I just really need to see her.”

Well, he certainly couldn’t fault her that, but also, couldn’t help himself from feeling far too agitated about the prospect of seeing the Captain once again. Two days was not enough to get rid of the feel of his throat against Loki’s palm, and how he had looked beneath the God of Mischief. He wished not to look too deeply into the moment, but couldn’t simply forget it. Loki steeled himself as he waited for Jane and Sharon.

“How did Darcy even get you to do anything?” Jane’s assigned guard asked, tying her blonde hair into a neat ponytail.

Jane paused in folding her sleeves as she replied to Sharon with a furrowed brow, “She usually threatens me with a mix of food, violence, and bribery.”

Sharon squinted at her, as if to evaluate the slight figure that Jane cut “What kind of violence?”

“What kind are you thinking about?”

Loki had no idea where their conversation was going, and if he were honest, he didn’t really care to know. He knew a bit of what Jane was talking about thanks to Darcy’s memories, but no one needed nor cared to know that. The sooner they arrived at the party, the sooner he could get out of it. He created a portal as Agent Carter made sure that the place was secure, and stepped through.

“Happy birthday!” Darcy threw herself into his arms, and he caught her with ease.

“Thanks, Sweetheart,” said Steve just before Darcy placed a kiss to the corner of his lips. “I just wish you were really there to celebrate with me.”

“But I’m right here,” she said, stepping out of his reach and pulling his hand to lead him out of the building.

They stood on the facility grounds, the sun just beginning to shine.

“Remember my birthday?” She asked, and the firm pressure of her hand in his had him at a loss for words in that moment. “We went on the rooftop and watched the sunrise. I really liked that moment.”

“We can have more moments like that when you wake up.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and frowned at him. Without letting go of his hand, she used her free hand to pinch his side.

“Hey!” He winced, using his own free hand to rub at the spot she’d hurt. “What was that for?”

“Isn’t that a thing people do? To prove they aren’t dreaming?” Darcy grinned, letting go of him and reaching over to pinch his cheek and quickly running away. Or at least, attempting to. His reflexes had him catching her around the waist without much effort.

“Some dreams can feel very real,” Steve said, voice barely above a whisper and mouth just by Darcy’s ear. This was becoming a familiar dynamic for them. Where the Darcy he had begun to know on Earth had been wary of touch because of unintentional realm travel, the Darcy in this world seemed to give physical affection freely, just as he used to see Thor and Darcy exchange. There was no worry of causing some unnatural side effect.

He loosened up enough so that she could turn around and face him. She let her head rest on his chest, her cheek landing somewhere between his heart and his shoulder.

“If this is real,” he began, one hand moving to cup her cheek while the other remained on her hip. “Then prove it. Give me something real, Darcy.”

She let out a, “Hm,” that had Steve knowing she was smiling without looking at her. “If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.” Darcy said softly, placing the palm of her hand against his chest. “Well, pay attention then, soldier, because you can’t get any more real than meeting Jeremy.”

Steve’s brows furrowed, both at Darcy’s statement and at the appearance of a familiar figure in the distance.

Loki looked just as surprised and confused as Steve felt.

He stood tall and stiff, as if he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Why do you keep bringing me back?” Loki asked, and Steve was surprised to hear how frustrated the god sounded.

Darcy slowly detached herself from Steve, though he was reluctant to let her go. She crossed her arms, and Steve could just picture her glare. He’d seen it directed at her tablet enough times.

“Why do you keep running away?”

“Running?” Steve could see Loki’s confusion melt into anger. “I’ve been giving the pair of you space and peace. Besides, you sent me away.” He accused, and though his voice remained even, Steve knew what anger sounded and felt like. “I swore to protect you and I’ve continued to do so. You gave me the Soul Stone and now I’m an ocean away, helping your Jane create her Bifrost. How dare you say that I’m running, when I barely had any choice in the things that matter!”

“Do you hear yourself?” Darcy scoffed. “You walked out! When I found out about my past lives, you left me.” She sniffled, and Steve moved to pull her to him, but she shrugged him off. “And because what?”

Steve watched Loki’s anger give way to surprise and then sadness.

“Because you knew me in a different life?” She continued, “Because I had been your wife?”

Loki could feel tears begin to pool in his eyes, and his gaze briefly flickered to the shocked soldier behind Darcy, who looked more Aesir than Midgardian as his cape appeared around her shoulders and flowed to her feet. The cloth covered her from the clavicle to her ankles, and he felt his stance falter as her hair shifted to blonde.

He had never intended to let anyone know, that much was obvious and understandable to Steve. When Clint had told them that he agreed with the assessment that Loki cared about Darcy, he had also pointed out that there was probably more to it other than simply saving the world. And in that moment, where Loki saw Sigyn and Steve saw Darcy, Darcy knew that she’d made the right decision.

“Well, news flash, you swore to protect me,” she walked up to him, leaving Steve behind her. “Not Sigyn, or Eris, or whoever the fuck. Me; Darcy Lewis. I may not have known that then, but it doesn’t mean I was any less grateful or that I didn’t need your company. I had no idea what to do when you left.” She stopped at a point between Steve and Loki. “So I took matters into my own hands, kærr, and in doing so, I needed to make sure all my bases were covered.”

“Then why give me some of your memories?” Loki refused to leave his spot as he fired question after question, “Why not simply give me a directive? Why not lay out all that I had to do? Why overcomplicate it? And why wear her face now? If you truly believe you are Darcy Lewis — and not simply another variation of all your other lives, why wear her face? You could have told me everything. I could have helped you!”

“Because there was once a time when you swore before the gods and all the realms that we were halves of a whole.”

Steve felt like he was intruding in his own dream. What was happening? Was this real? He didn’t doubt that there was a possibility Loki had known Darcy in one of her previous lives, but to have been his wife? Was this her way of telling him he didn’t stand a chance? Was this why she had been adamant that had Thanos and the Infinity Stones not played a part in their lives, they wouldn’t have gotten to where they were now?

“You are not my wife.” Loki grit his teeth.

“Sometimes,” said Darcy slowly, “The heart remembers what the mind’s forgotten, but more than that, the soul never forgets, Loki.”

“That answers nothing,” spat Loki.

“I knew you wouldn’t give anyone a chance if I didn’t somehow influence you. Outside of myself, Thor, and maybe Bruce, you would have been unwilling to give anyone the time of day.” Sigyn closed the distance between herself and Loki. “I gave you some of my memories so that you’d find reason to trust at least one person around you. Sorg etr hjarta ef þú segja ne náir einhverjum allan hug. (Sorrow eats the heart if you cannot tell someone your whole mind.)” She placed a hand on his cheek, and he couldn’t help how his eyes closed and he leaned into her touch reflexively.

Loki refused to let the tears fall, though they did so regardless. Steve watched the scene before him, reminded of how he had felt when he had stumbled upon Strange and Darcy in a similar position back in Wakanda. Was this it? Was this Darcy’s proof of reality? Was he more exhausted than he thought he was, and this was his brain’s way of making up for it?

“Steve,” Darcy’s voice startled him, and though he heard her voice, he was perplexed when he found that the woman before Loki looked nothing like Darcy. “Eight, zero, eight, five, five, five, zero, one, nine, one; that’s your proof that this is all real.”

A number?

“Ask Jane for Jeremy’s phone.”

“Your former lover?” Loki asked, opening his eyes.

“Look at you,” she grinned, “Paying attention to my rambling.”

“You mentioned him but I have no memory of him. All you gave me were information on the Avengers.”

“And Jane,” added Darcy with a pinch to his cheek.

“And Jane.”

Steve moved to step closer to them, but found the world disappearing as he was brought back to reality.

“Time to head out, Steve,” Nat said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Have dinner with us to celebrate your birthday, you centenarian.”

He groggily sat up, squeezing Darcy’s hand between his, as if to remind himself that he was back in real life, where Darcy couldn’t return his affection.

Chapter Text

“Happy birthday, Steve.”

Though it was Sharon that greeted him, Steve couldn’t tear his eyes from the pair that followed her. Jane and Loki seemed to be deep in conversation — tense conversation, more like. The astrophysicist looked around briefly, as if looking for someone specifically, before turning back to her companion and replying.

“Hey,” Sharon placed a hand on his arm, causing his attention to snap back to her.

“Sorry,” he replied sheepishly, offering a smile. “Thank you, Sharon. How have you been?”

“My first overt mission in a long time, so I’m both grateful and a little out of my element.” She placed her hands on her hips and shrugged, “Things are tenser here, I bet.”

“Everyone has their battles,” he said, in lieu of affirming her assumption. Steve let his eyes wander. He took in Sharon’s neat ponytail and friendly smile, looking every bit the charming girl-next-door he had known once upon a time.

“And this is yours? I thought you weren’t Captain America anymore.” It felt like an entire lifetime away that he had known her as Kate, only to find out she was a SHIELD Agent and the great grandniece of his Peggy. She looked every bit as beautiful he had once thought her to be, though it was tempered with the knowledge that they had tried to build a life together in a world that was working against both of them.

Steve was about to offer a rebuttal, but was prevented from doing so by his girl’s best friend.

“Hey, happy 100th!” Jane greeted as she reached the pair. It was clear that she looked a little worse than she had when she left the day after Darcy’s birthday, with the bags under her eyes more prominent than ever and her cheeks more sunken in than would be considered healthy. The plaid button down she was wearing looked a size or two bigger than would fit her, but Steve had a feeling he knew who the shirt’s previous owner had been.

“Thank you,” he grinned. “How are you?”

Jane waved a hand nonchalantly, “Dealing with Loki is a small price to pay if it means the creation of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge.” She paused and just looked at him for a moment, then at Sharon, “So you two know each other?”

“She helped me when everyone was hunting down the Winter Soldier.” Steve said, only then noticing that Sharon still a hand on him, and taking a step back so as to introduce more space between all three of them.

“Makes sense, I guess.” Jane said cryptically, which had both Sharon and Steve wondering if there was more unsaid than either of them were aware of.

“Dr. Foster! Dr. Foster!”

They all turned as Jane was called over by the younger Peter, who had been in conversation with Bruce, near the buffet table. Steve nodded and smiled as Jane offered he and Sharon a sheepish smile before she headed to the pair. Her departure gave Steve the chance to look around once more, his eyes landing on Loki and Strange arguing in hushed tones.

At least, that’s what it looked like.

Both men stood tall and looked as if they were above the people they were surrounded by, and while there was no screaming, anyone who looked at them could tell that they were having either a disagreement or simply a serious discussion. He’d barely registered that he was walking towards them, only realizing he’d left Sharon alone when Bucky had intercepted him.

“If looks could kill,” Bucky joked, clapping him in the back. “Our two magicians would be six feet under.” It wasn’t lost on Steve that he was being steered towards the birthday cake that had been brought out.

“I just wanted to talk to Loki.”

“Since when have you wanted to associate with Mr. God of Mischief?” Natasha raised a brow at him, a calculating look on her face.

“What are he and Strange talking about?” Steve’s resisted the urge to crane his neck to look back at the pair.

“Best man to lipread is currently standing guard over Darcy,” she said under her breath. Neither of them wanted the others to hear. After all the talk of being more open and letting everyone in on plans, everyone was still weary about the fine details of what that meant. After all, in a team of spies, geniuses, and soldiers, all of whom had egos to match their abilities, how and when do you know who knew best?

Steve looked back at Loki, who was still speaking to Strange. He was nothing like the broken man in Steve’s dream, but was also far from the arrogant god that had stood among Steve’s people. Loki looked as if he would rather be anywhere else as he looked only at the beverage in his hands, which Steve was surprised to see was in a mug as opposed to the champagne flutes, wineglasses and beer mugs everyone else had. More than that though, all Steve could really think about was how Loki had looked in his dream, desperate and in tears. It was a sight the complete opposite to their first meeting.

He knew this Loki was far from the god who had thought he was above an entire realm. Perhaps he was still arrogant and stand-offish, but his offer to help Jane had shown a willingness to at least acquiesce to their plans. Thor and Bruce had said something similar, and in addition to that, Darcy had told him she trusted him. Granted, it was a dream so—

It was a dream.

More than that, it was his dream.

Loki made no mention of it, or even hinted at knowing anything about what’s been happening to him. And yet, dream!Darcy had been trying to convince him that the events in his mind were as much reality as where he stood, hadn’t she? Then after he saw Loki show that he had an Infinity Stone, he’d arrived in Darcy’s room and ambushed Steve—

He recalled how Loki’s hands had felt in his hair and on his throat.

And accused Steve of being drenched in the Stones’ power—

Wouldn’t Strange have said something, though? If there was anything different in Steve’s aura or whatever they called it, wouldn’t Strange have said something? Unless the magic master himself couldn’t detect it?

And then disappeared from his dreams with Darcy—

He had been in the most recent one though. Darcy had given him a phone number to call and said that he should ask Jane for the right device to call it with. Granted, he had his own burner phone and had half a mind to simply call the number through that.

“A hundred,” scoffed Loki. “Your Captain is barely more than a child—”

“By that logic, then we’re all infants compared to you.” Sharon was quick to point out, walking ahead of them.

Loki grinned, turning to Jane, “And so you were in a relationship with my brother, whom was so much older than you can probably trace your own genealogy.”

“Teasing or insulting won’t get the reaction you want,” Jane deadpanned. “If you’re so against being here, then why did you come?”

“As if I actually had a choice.” They lingered by the door as Sharon headed for the birthday boy, and Loki continued, “I’d be accused of plotting against all of you had I not shown my face here.”

“And this has nothing to do with you wanting to check on Darcy too, of course.”

“They overestimate my knowledge of the Stones while you seem to overestimate your friend’s value to me.” He supposed this must have been part of the Jane his brother had loved; the one that saw more than what could have been easily inferred; the one that sought out answers in the stars and sky that gave her an Asgardian Prince.

Jane squinted at him, then looked around before addressing him once again. “No one here’s stupid. You know more than you let on, and will probably act the same way that some people here would — where everything becomes available on a need-to-know basis. As grateful as I am with the information you have on the Bifrost, I’m more grateful that you have somehow known Darcy enough that you protected her from Wanda and have her magic all over you.”

“You trust my word?” Loki’s face betrayed his awe and confusion.

“After all that you’ve done, how can I not give you at least a chance?” Jane said it in such a matter-of-fact tone that Loki found himself unable to offer a response as she turned and left him, intending to greet Steve.

Such familiar words.

A ripple of magic in his hand made Loki look down to find that he was holding an empty wineglass.

“Think of the drink you want and it will fill and refill itself.” The Witch Doctor said from a few feet away.

Loki thought of Asgard’s Mead, more specifically, the special brew that was often served only in moments of post-battle celebration. When he looked down and found the glass empty, Strange only rolled his eyes at Loki’s arched brow.

“Midgardian beverages only.”

The glass shifted and in his hand was a mug of hot coco. Back in the war, they — no, Steve and his fellow soldiers — were given packets of cocoa or a small chocolate bar as part of their rations. It was a good boost of both energy and morale when on the field, and when he — Steve — had been acclimating to the 21st century, it was one of the few things that brought him some modicum of peace. Loki refused to look back at Strange, eyes burning into the traitorous beverage.

“Interesting choice.”

“How goes the search for answers to Darcy’s predicament?” Loki let the warmth of the mug heat his palms as he weighed what had happened. Steve’s psyche seemed to be more stubborn than he had foreseen, unwilling to be simply hidden away in the recesses of Loki’s mind.

“She has been unresponsive to any test I’ve designed, but I have reason to believe you and the Captain would have better luck.”

Eyes meeting Strange’s, Loki debated playing dumb.

“Her magic resists mine,” continued Strange. “It is as if a veil surrounds her that prevents her from being even simply examined by myself.” The accusation need not be said out loud. A handful of them had seen Loki drape his cloak across her shoulders and her fall unconscious. No one had to say it, because Loki already knew that in spite of letting him assist Jane Foster, the people around him believed he was to blame for Darcy’s being in stasis.

“I will not pretend to know how you learned to wield your power.” At this, Loki took a slow sip of his drink. “All I know is that I have always been taught to respect the magic I am able to use. Where I can speak for how my power might respond to the intrusion of another, I cannot wholly speak of how someone else’s would. Everyone has a unique relationship with power. My brother had needed Mjølnir to foster a connection between himself and his lightning…thunder…” Loki rolled his eyes, in a way that reminded Strange briefly of Darcy, and remained looking away from the Master of the Mystic Arts.

It was an echo of Thor’s words some time ago. He had spoken of respecting one’s power, an idea that Strange understood on the most basic level, but was unsure if he himself was able to practice.

“My cloak had acted simply as a homing beacon of sorts, that I might always have a connection to her no matter the distance we might find ourselves in.”

“You expected to be separated?”

“I had expected to be thrown into another cell or pocket dimension. Am I not anything more than a nuisance to be handled?” Loki did not need to access Steve’s memories to know what these Midgardians had thought of him.

The Loki before him was a far cry from the Loki he had kept falling before the Aesir’s Ragnarök. He was still arrogant and seemed to have a bigger chip on his shoulder, but Strange could see the god’s willingness to play nice with the very people he had once sought to rule. Was this Darcy’s doing? Had she changed Loki so much that the god was willing to let go of previous biases and mingle with them?

A loud beeping caught everyone’s attention, and suddenly, Tony Stark had sprinted from his spot, his armor beginning to envelope him and everyone was rushing to Darcy’s apartment. Strange and Loki were quick to transport themselves into her room, where they saw Clint performing CPR on Darcy. Medically trained, Strange as quick to slip back into the role of medical provider as Loki subconsciously slipped into his Astral form.

His hands shook as he approached them, leaving his natural body by the wall and letting his magic scan hers. Her magic thrummed calmly, coating her body, but none of the Stones were responding. A quick flick of his wrist showed that only the Soul Stone remained with Darcy, and  he found himself frozen in place, unaware of what to do or how to act.

The team split, with Steve leading Bucky, Natasha, Bruce, Shuri, Sharon, and Jane to Darcy’s apartment, while Tony headed for Wanda’s cell with Sam and the younger Peter.

Tony’s voice traveled over the intercom, straight into Darcy’s room as Steve’s contingent reached their destination. Strange had just reappeared with a defibrillator, and had been about to administer the first shock when the announcement came through.

“Wanda has the Mind Stone.” Tony’s voice was clear, and left no room for questions. “I repeat, Wanda has the Mind Stone. She’s willing to cooperate but wants the Stone to be returned to Vision before anything else. How’s Darcy?”

Strange, who had opened his mouth to explain what he was about to do, as a doctor was wont to do, nearly lost his grip on the paddles when Darcy Lewis disintegrated before everyone’s eyes.

“DARCY!”

Jane’s shriek cut through the stunned silence.

“Foster? What’s going on?” Tony asked once again.

Steve looked around, trying to find a cause for what had happened. His eyes honed in on the two figures of Loki, one closer and more translucent than the other. Without thinking, he tackled Loki’s Astral form, jarring everyone in the room and forcing Loki’s two forms to merge once more.

In a role reversal of sorts, Steve had Loki pinned with his forearm against Loki’s throat, blue eyes aflame with anger.

No one made a move to stop him.

“What did you do to her?” Steve snarled. When Loki didn’t respond, Steve pressed his arm further against the god, blocking his airway. “You were the last person to touch her alive!” His hands skimmed to hold the lapels of Loki’s shirt. Steve pulled him closer and then slammed him against the wall once more. “Answer me.”

“Steve!” Bucky placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder, which prompted the latter to let go of Loki and round on Bucky.

“Stay away from me.” Steve spat, hooking his arm around Bucky’s and using the leverage to drop Bucky to the floor.

“You don’t know that he did anything, Steve,” said Shuri slowly, from her position consoling a sobbing Jane.

“But he’s not denying it either,” argued Steve, balling a fist and moving to hit Loki, only to be intercepted by Bucky.

“He didn’t do anything, Punk,” Bucky’s metal arm whirred as it resisted Steve’s force. With a shove, Bucky succeeded in pushing Steve off of Loki, who remained unresponsive and leaning against the wall, his neck bruised with the imprint of Steve’s arm.

“If he hadn’t—” Steve visibly shook, and everyone saw one of the men set as their leaders begin to truly crumble. “If he hadn’t touched her, she would still be with us.”

“He saved Darcy from Wanda,” was Bucky’s quick rebuttal.

“And then he put his hands on her and knocked her out.”

Strange argued in Loki’s defense, much to everyone’s continued shock, “There was no ill intent when he cloaked her.”

Steve refused to back down, pulling himself to stand once again. “Sometimes, good intentions have the worst consequences.” He scoffed, watching Loki’s half-lidded eyes never leave the bed where Darcy had once lain.

“Like an advanced security system that could have protected our planet?” Bruce offered, thinking of Ultron.

“Or a formula that could create the perfect soldier,” said Bucky, positioning himself to be a wall between Loki and Steve.

“Or signing a law that could have helped the world.” Natasha pressed a few buttons on the tablet by Darcy’s bedside, and a news broadcast filled the room.

“I have long since given my life in service to my country,” came Rhodey’s words. It was a televised broadcast from earlier that day. “I grew up hearing the tales of Captain America and the Howling Commandos, and all I could think about was how I wanted to be able to do the same thing. I wanted to serve and protect, which led to plenty of experiences that could only be classified as life-changing. I have been fortunate enough to stand before you today, retired from the military, but still very much wanting to make our country a better place — for everyone.”

A portal of Strange’s creation opened beneath Loki’s feet, effectively transporting the god to the apartment he had been lent when he had first arrived.

“More than that,” Rhodey continued, “I want to make the world a better place. I signed the Sokovia Accords with the belief that I was making the right decision; that the people around me were working towards the same goal — a world where no one was above the law, and everyone was held accountable for their actions. After all, in a world of seven or eight billion people, no one should be above the consequences of their actions.”

The ceiling lights flickered and dimmed, and the only blank wall in the room came to life with the view of Rhodey standing in Central Park, surrounded by people from varying walks of life.

“In continuing to work with people behind the scenes, however, it came to my attention that Secretary Ross had ulterior motives to that which the Accords implied. Sources speak and confirm the persecution of those which were deemed different from the perceived norm. It saddens and angers me that our great nation has become the instigator of such atrocious crimes against life and liberty.”

There were murmurs in the crowd, though Rhodey didn’t seem bothered. Behind him, two familiar suits of armor stood, Mark VI and Mark XLVI. Steve recognized the latter as the armor Tony had been wearing in Siberia. It even looked the same, scratched and dented, as if Tony hadn’t bothered to fix it to remind himself of what had happened and what had been lost — like with the shield.

“I stand before you having declined to attend the annual fourth of July picnic at the White House to celebrate both the independence of our nation and the birth of one of the men I have the utmost respect for and have had the wonderful opportunity to have once gotten to know as a friend.” Rhodey saluted the camera, “Captain Rogers, wherever you may be, I hope you know that the fight for all that you have stood for has not been lost. Happy birthday.”

The feed cut as Rhodey took a step back and was encased in armor of his own.

“FRIDAY’s been disabled,” said Peter upon his arrival. He stood in his Spider-Man suit, with the mask off. “Mister Stark and I found—Mister Quill was—he tried to—”

“Peter, breathe.” Shuri said. “What’s going on?”

“Mister Quill hacked FRIDAY to open Wanda’s cell and send out a signal to space.” Peter said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I’ve tied him up and Mister Stark transported him to a cell right after disabling FRIDAY. I’ll take you to him, but he says that Doctor Strange and Princess Shuri should take Wanda and the Stone to Vision—to finish what you’d started before—”

“Alright, let’s go.” Natasha nodded. “Carter, keep Foster—”

Jane cut in before anyone could dictate her position, “Take me to Loki.”

“I don’t think—”

Jane snapped at Steve then, “I don’t give a shit what you think, Captain. Loki is the last link I have to Darcy. I don’t care who or what any of you think he is, but to me, he’s the last person that knows what happened to her.”

It was a proverbial slap to his face. She was right. What say did he have over anything that pertained to Darcy Lewis? What relationship they had in his head had been simply that — in his head. Steve stood there as Clint offered to take Jane to Loki, Strange and Shuri left, and Natasha took charge of the situation.

“Carter, stay with Jane. Parker, walk us to Tony, and Barnes,” Natasha’s eyes were cold as she addressed one of the men that had helped train her into the Black Widow, “Watch your friend.”

When only Bucky and Steve remained in the room Darcy’s body had once occupied, the latter rounded on his longest friend without a second thought. His right fist connected with Bucky’s jaw, sending the man stumbling.

Bucky squatted to attempt a kick to Steve’s side, but Steve was quick to block and roll away. The limited space meant that Steve was on the bed for Darcy’s guard, while Bucky was off to the side. Using his leveraged position, Steve lunged for Bucky, intending for his feet to hit the center of Bucky’s chest, only for Bucky’s metal arm to deflect the hit.

With Steve down, Bucky grabbed him by the neck with his metal arm and threw him against the closet, effectively breaking the wooden doors. When Steve didn’t immediately stand to retaliate, Bucky let his stance slacken.

“She’s gone.”

“And we need to figure out why and how.” Bucky helped Steve to his feet just as Sam arrived to check on them. There will be a time for mourning, but in that moment, where Rhodey was out there showing the world that he was willing to bury the hatchet with someone whom had supposedly betrayed the ideals of their people, and they were cooped up in a place having freshly experienced deception of the worst variety, Steve knew he had to power through.

Tears will fall where and when they wish, but nothing will change if no one moved. He took Bucky’s offered hand and offered Sam a quick nod. He would see what Quill had to say and go from there.

“What did you do, Quill?” Tony’s voice remained aloof, though his expression was positively lethal.

“I already told you,” said Peter, seemingly tired of having to explain what he had done. “I only wanted to contact the Guardians.”

“You didn’t need to hack FRIDAY for that,” said Tony, retracting the headpiece of his armor. “You could have even just told me and I would have patched you on through. So let me ask you again; what did you do?”

They stood in the middle of cell with Quill bound and hanging upside down and Tony standing three feet from him. A wall lined with bulletproof glass, three plain walls, a heavy metal door, a bed, a toilet, a shower; the cell was not made for comfort. There were four others like it in the facility, in addition to the cells specific to each Avenger and Avenger-adjacent.

Tony looked at his wrist plate, which doubled as a communicator, and was relieved to receive a reply from Pepper. It detailed how she was on the way to the facility with Rhodey, and had already instructed that FRIDAY remain active only on their persons and in Stark Tower. His wedding band suddenly felt heavy against his skin, especially encased as it was by his armor.

“You had someone, didn’t you?” Tony asked, retracting his armor fully. “Nebula’s sister, right? Kimora? Dumora?”

“Gamora.”

“Right. Gamora. Is that it? You miss her and you want to see if she’s out there somewhere?” The billionaire fiddled with his wedding ring, “But everyone also says she’s dead.”

Quill’s face was beginning to turn red. Whether or not it was because of his being upside down, Tony was unsure.

“Besides, why now? The timing just seems too…” Tony squinted at Quill as the door opened and in came Peter, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce.

Clint and Natasha said nothing, simply coming to stand a few feet behind Tony, while Peter bounded right up to stand by his mentor, and Bruce lagged behind all of them, a tablet in his hand.

“Should I maybe cut him down?” Peter asked, already gearing up to do so, but Tony’s raised hand made him pause. He watched as the man with his name refused to look at anyone in the room.

“You could have talked to them about looking for Gamora before they left.” Tony crossed his arms. “Maybe you did.” He gestured for Parker to let Quill down, but pulled the boy away when he positioned himself to catch the bound man.

Quill, still bound by Spider-Man’s web, fell on his side with a loud thud and groan.

“I can’t just ignore the timing of everything.” Tony went on, beginning to walk around Quill. “You were able to loop Darcy’s surveillance footage to prevent anyone from realizing anything had happened to her. Clint, what did happen?”

“Quill visited her at six on the dot, like he always did. There was nothing different then. He stayed for about ten minutes, playing music to her — I was there the entire time. At six forty-five, I went in to check on her, like we all do every half an hour when we’re on guard.” Clint explained. “I saw she’d stopped breathing, and when I checked for a pulse and didn’t find one, I went right into CPR. I asked FRIDAY to alert you, but she wouldn’t respond. I couldn’t stop the procedure so I just waited for her to go back online. By the time the others got to me, I’ve been trying to resuscitate her for about forty-five minutes.”

Though he’d just found out, Tony didn’t so much as flinch.

“D-darcy’s dead?” Quill’s eyes were wide, and his face had lost what color it had gained by being hung by his ankles.

“Not just dead,” Clint was quick to correct. “She’s gone, disintegrated like Strange showed us we would have been if she hadn’t arrived and stopped Thanos.”

With a flick of Bruce’s wrist, he turned one of the walls in the room to project what he had on his tab. The vision of Quill in what was supposed to be one of the Facility’s most heavily-guarded room flashed on the screen. An alien device was hooked onto FRIDAY’s server, and Quill could be seen making quick little gestures. The time stamp on the feed read 18:42 of that day, and by 18:44, Quill had left the room in a rush.

Bruce followed his path with the various cameras in the building, and everyone grew more tense as the Quill on screen arrived at Wanda’s cell. The scanners and security measures in place allowed him access, and it didn’t take much for him to reach the control panel of Wanda’s containment unit and open her door.

“What are you doing here?” Wanda asked as Quill stepped into her cell.

“It’s Steve’s birthday.” Quill shrugged. “I figured they wouldn’t mind if you joined us.”

Wanda made no move to leave the room, remaining seated and floating as she regarded the Guardian. “Why would they send you to fetch me?” She asked.

“Maybe I’m neutral ground?” Quill turned to the door then back at Wanda. “I don’t really know, to be honest. All I want is to go upstairs and have some of that caramel cake thing I saw them wheel out earlier.”

There was about a minute of silence on Wanda’s part, where Quill had fully faced the door and moved to leave. When he stood by the exit, Wanda followed him, still flying. It was as she hovered by the door that she seemingly froze.

“Flerken got your tongue?” Quill grinned, though there was something off in the easygoing smile that he usually wore.

“You’re…” Wanda had taken a step back, as if to return to the safety of her cell, but was sent flying forward when her back came into contact with an invisible barrier of sorts that had encased her former room.

“Hey! Hey,” Quill rushed to her, offering a hand to help her out, but Wanda had flown back and activated her own cell’s alarm to alert the others of an attempted escape. She could feel her eyes water as she looked back at Quills hand, where a seemingly unimportant gem glowed vibrantly against his skin.

“How did you get that?” Before he could answer however, she swiped it from his hand with magic, and re-entered her cell then, cradling the stone like a babe.

“You can bring him back,” said Quill, just before Tony entered the room.

“You gave her the Stone.” Tony’s voice was low and cold. It lacked the dry humor that usually accompanied any quip he made. “I thought it was odd that you were willing to stay behind when your friends left. You said it was to stand by the promise you made to Gamora, who had supposedly taken over Darcy’s body temporarily, even used my own wife against me to get me to believe you.”

“Darcy trusted you.” The younger Peter said then, sounding very much unlike his jovial nature.

Quill said nothing, looking ahead blankly, as if nothing they did to him mattered any longer. He’d done what he had to. No one could take that away from him. It had been for the best, after all.

Clint and Natasha loomed behind the youngest in the room, looking like sentient guards ready to strike at the slightest threat. Bruce slipped out and away, wanting to speak to Loki in light of recent events. What did it mean that the Mind Stone was with Wanda now?

“Thanos is alive,” Quill’s eyes flickered to the watch on Tony’s wrist. The time read eight something in the evening. “He’s alive and the fight for the Stones will start again.” It was eerie how Quill spoke but barely moved. “Darcy asked me to keep you away.”

“And we should just believe you?” Steve had arrived with Sam and Bucky just as the footage of Wanda reentering her cell had played. He shouldered past Sam and Bucky’s grip on him behind the glass to enter the cell. He headed right for Quill, stopping only when he was right by Parker. “You’ve practically admitted to killing her, and we’re supposed to just accept that you did this under her orders?”

“Why else would she disappear the way she did?” Quill argued. “She gave me the Stone — told me to give it to Wanda so that Vision can come back. She told me Gamora would be back on Vormir, too.”

“And when did she tell you this?”

It didn’t even matter to Steve who had asked, because Quill’s answer made Steve’s stomach churn.

“It feels like a dream.” Quill replied. “The night she went into her coma, I visited her, remember? You were all in the meeting; well, all except Bucky. I visited her and…she was awake. She’d stopped time and talked to me. She told me about this. She told me she was going to disappear and that I needed to distract you. She gave me directions and I followed.”

“That’s it?” Tony said in an echo of Steve’s earlier statement. “We’re just supposed to believe that?”

Steve looked up from the defeated Guardian to meet Tony’s gaze as he asked, “What else did she say?”

Tony’s surprise was betrayed only by the rise of his brows. He said nothing to contradict Steve’s possible belief in Quill’s unlikely story. After all, in a world of powerful stones and inter-dimmensional travel, what were prophetic dreams?

“She told me we should prepare for battle with no Infinity Stone.”

“Against Thanos?” Natasha asked then, speaking for the first time since their arrival in the unit.

Quill nodded. “His entire army.”

The entire base went into lockdown. What few employees that had been kept on had gone home with a notice that they were being granted a two week paid vacation and would be contacted by Stark Industries’ Human Resources. Tony had then quickly retreated to FRIDAY’s mainframe with Parker and Bruce. Steve, Bucky, and Natasha headed to the training room and storage areas to note the equipment that they might need immediately. Sam and Clint had been sent out to keep guard, with everyone shaken from Quill’s revelation.

Pepper and Rhodey arrived at around ten, expecting to find drunken merriment, only to find a dim building with somber occupants. Clint and Sam filled them in, and finished just as Tony’s voice came through the speakers scattered throughout the building.

“Everyone in Conference Room C.”

When they’d packed into the only conference room that had direct access to the hangar, there was no mistaking how high the tension ran in the room. He was surprised to find Quill in the room as well, though wearing advanced handcuffs and flanked by Clint and Natasha.

“I’ve spoken to T’Challa and Shuri,” said Tony, swiping at the tablet. “They’ve been kind enough to lend us their resources so that we can properly plan out our next move. I’ve already sent word to Stuart Little and his girlfriend.” He turned to Jane, whom Steve had just realized had been gripping Loki’s arm throughout the time they’d been in the room. “Offer’s open to you. You can join us up there and you’ll even have more helping with the tech.”

“What about Selvig?”

For a second, Steve thought Tony would refuse Jane’s implied request, but Pepper replied smoothly in her husband’s stead, “Dr. Selvig’s already en route to Wakanda.”

Jane met Peppers gaze, and it wasn’t lost on anyone how hard Jane clenched her jaw and fists as she attempted to stop her tears from falling. She nodded, as if to signal her consent, and Pepper addressed the group.

“Rhodey and I will be staying here. It would be too suspicious if, after his speech earlier, Rhodey just disappeared.” Pepper looked at each person in the room, but couldn’t help how her eyes kept on seeking out Jane’s. “We’ll hold the fort here and communication between us and those of you in Wakanda will be through the phones in this box.” She gestured to the shoebox in Rhodey’s hand, filled with old school flip phones similar to the one Steve had sent Tony.

“Should this…thing…last longer than a couple of weeks or days, we continue.” Tony met Steve’s eyes.

“The work on amending the Accords go on,” said Pepper. “Darcy’s notes and plans will go a long way to helping the team.”

Tony left the room, heading for the jet they’d used to fly back to the United States months ago.

Without batting an eye at her husband’s sudden retreat, Pepper continued, “Rest assured that the next time you step onto American soil, it will be as free men.”

A portal opened behind her and Strange stepped out, followed by Wanda and Vision, who lacked a Mind Stone in his forehead.

“I believe we have a war to prepare for.” Vision said, as if everyone in the room hadn’t just witnessed a dead friend return to them.

Loki spoke then, heard by the entire room for the first time since his arrival. “Where’s the Stone?” His voice was low and he enunciated everything slowly.

“It’s been left in Wakanda, ready to be destroyed.” Wanda said, making sure to make eye contact with everyone, but settling on Clint, whose gaze remained trained on Loki. “I wanted to make sure you all saw me destroy it. I…I’m sorry about what I did, and I know nothing would change it now, but I want to prove to you all that I am better — that I know better now.”

“Easy to say with your lover returned to you,” Loki thought bitterly.

Steve started at the sound of Loki’s voice, but a cursory glance told him Loki hadn’t spoken out loud at all.

They travelled to Wakanda by jet, though not entirely by air. Strange opened a portal big enough for the jet to fly through after they had loaded equipment and materials they had seen fit to include. Quill remained cuffed and guarded by Natasha while Jane and Loki were inseparable.

By the time they’d landed and were assigned their rooms — which actually meant sharing a house that had access to an underground training base that the Wakandans used to train their special forces — they had all been tired and had agreed to discuss the details of their plan of action the following morning.

The place had eight bedrooms. Each one had its own bathroom and four single beds. It was definitely much comfier accommodations compared to those the former warriors, soldiers, and spies had seen in barracks or on missions.

Most of them retreated to their own rooms after a brief catch up session with the T’Challa.  Shuri, Jane, and Selvig were keen to visit the lab though, and no one was about to step in front of the two people that had known Darcy the longest from doing something to distract from their grief.

There was a variation of pairs and trios bunking together, though most arrangements were far from surprising, like Bucky and Shuri, Vision and Wanda, Tony and Bruce, and even Steve and Sam. Quill’s cuffs had been undone, though he would be remaining in the custody of Clint and Natasha. What had been surprising, however, was Jane refusing to let Loki go, which meant that the god would be in a room with Jane, Selvig, and Sharon.

Discomfort settled in Steve’s stomach at the sight of the strong-willed woman grip Loki rightly, and he knew he owed the pair an apology. He told Sam he’d follow soon, as he called out to the woman that was his girl’s sister.

“Jane—Doctor Foster,” Steve felt like a schoolboy, ready to be reprimanded for his misgivings.

She barely looked at him as she said, “Not now, Captain. I need to get to the lab.”

“No, please,” he walked towards her, and he noted how Sharon bristled and gave her own warning by calling out his name.

“Steve, please…” Jane glanced over at Loki, who was staring straight ahead a few feet from them, waiting for Jane and Sharon to fall into step with him. “I heard you’ve been keeping — kept — a close eye on Darcy, and I thank you for that, but I need to finish what we’d started.”

“I’m…I…”

“Jane,” Selvig said as he and Shuri reappeared from a corridor. “We should go.”

“Please, I just want to apologize.”

“You don’t owe me an apology,” Jane said, offering him a small smile.

Steve continued on, “I never meant to overstep, and—”

“Look, if you really want to apologize, talk to Loki. He’s the one you attacked.”

“You’re not listening to me!” Steve said, exasperated.

“No,” argued Jane, crying once again. “You’re the one who isn’t listening here! I know you may have had a crush on Darcy, because I’m pretty sure she had a thing for you too, but that doesn’t change the fact that you had been just her friend when everything had happened — and that you’d only known her for a couple of months! And for some of those weeks, you’d barely even spoken to her.”

“I know you’re grieving,” tried Steve again, trying to ignore his own tears.

“Then you know anything you want to say could have waited.” Jane sniffled. “I know you must have cared about her. Even before I left, I could see how things between you were beginning to change. I’m sorry you didn’t get a better chance, that you didn’t—”

“But I did,” admitted Steve, traitorous tears escaping him. “I did get my chance. I got it and I wasted it thinking everything was a dream and—”

His sudden pause had Jane looking up at him in confusion.

“Eight, zero, eight, five, five, five, zero, one, nine, one.” Steve said slowly, watching as each syllable had Jane’s eyebrows furrowing and her breathing evening out a fair bit.

“What’s that?” She asked, and maybe Steve would have believed her confusion at a different time, but there was something about someone who had just experienced such strong emotions that couldn’t simply conceal the truth.

“Jeremy’s number,” Loki supplied. “Jeremy’s phone. Darcy had been rather adamant we be told this.”

An hour later found Steve, Jane, Sharon, Loki, and Selvig in the latter four’s room, after a quick pit stop to Jane’s remote lab in Europe. An old mobile phone sat in Steve’s hand on loud speaker, ringing.

“Hello?” A groggy male voice answered, much to Steve and Loki’s discomfort.

“Hey, Gerry, it’s Jane.” Jane replied. “I know it’s really early, but can I talk to Jer?”

“First Chris and now you,” Gerry laughed. “Should I expect a call from Darcy anytime soon?”

Everyone held their breath at that, but Jane swallowed the lump in her throat and let out an airy laugh, “Probably.”

“Hey Jer, Aunt Jane’s on the phone for you.” There was some shuffling, and then a higher pitched laugh, before the voice of a little boy filled the room.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, little man, how are you?”

“I’m okay, Aunty Jane. I got the pictures you and Aunt Darcy sent me! They’re all so pretty.”

“Anyone mind cluing us in on why you’re all talking to a kid?”

Natasha stood by the door, arms crossed and hip cocked.

Chapter Text

Darcy’s eyes widened as she saw Loki appear in front of Earth!Darcy. She looked from Mind to Soul, waiting for an explanation but getting none. Behind them, Time and Reality watched their interaction. No words were being shared among the stones, but Darcy assumed they were able to communicate without their mouths.

“If I can guarantee your life and survival,” said Darcy, meeting Mind’s gaze, remembering that they had been destroyed once upon a time. “Would you help me?”

The room shifted and they were in her childhood home, sat around the dining table that held plenty of memories for Darcy.

“We can do anything you wish,” said Mind.

“But you must be aware that they will not necessarily be within the same reality.” Time amended.

“This is the reality I want to save.” Darcy said, not entirely sure what it even meant. This was way out of her comfort zone. It had been easy to play blasé about all that was happening around her when there was something else to occupy her mind and time, but as it were, her very situation was what she needed to work on, and there was no longer any Loki to keep her grounded.

“Then tell us what you would have us do,” Reality drawled, “Master.”

Darcy replied without missing a beat, “Free Gamora and bring back Vision, then get rid of Thanos, destroy the gauntlet, and conceal yourselves.”

“The first and last two will be easy enough,” Mind said thoughtfully. “It is the one pertaining to Thanos that you would have a problem with.”

Soul hummed thoughtfully, looking at Darcy, “I can give you Gamora or Thanos, but not both.”

“You can keep Thanos,” but just as she said it, Darcy already had a feeling that there must have been more to it. “What does that mean?”

“A price is paid to wield my power. In offering Gamora, Thanos gained me, but in finding you, he lost that right. To restore Gamora would be of no consequence, for she had been collateral damage and had stayed to ensure Thanos’ demise.” Soul, whom had retained the visage of her younger self, looked at her with her own cold blue eyes, “To bring Vision back to life is as easy as re-inserting Mind into his body and letting Princess Shuri push through with the thwarted separation.”

“And Thanos?”

“To keep him here is to give him the chance to wrestle control from whoever next gains my or our power.”

The dread that pooled in her stomach did not stop her from glaring at her companions.

“We know you, Darcy Lewis,” said Time. “We understand that when you say you wish to get rid of Thanos, you mean you wish to kill him.”

“And isn’t that possible?”

“Anything’s possible,” scoffed Reality. “For a price.”

“And what happened to me being your Master?”

“You forget,” said Reality with a smile. “We have no masters here. This isn’t the Realm of Soul, where the sacrificed find peace and Soul and their master take charge.”

“My realm is not one that can be accessed and left with ease.” Soul agreed. “To pull out a sacrificed soul requires an exchange of equal or higher value, but as an apology of sorts, I shall return Gamora to Vormir without pay.”

“What’s the price to kill Thanos?” When no one spoke, Darcy stood abruptly. “How do I get rid of Thanos?”

“You wish to be fully rid of him, which entails taking him out of the Soul Realm and killing his physical body.” Mind said, voice slow and even. “With Gamora’s life returned free of charge, standard rates apply for Thanos.”

“What?”

“An exchange of equal or higher value will grant you the opportunity you wish for.”

“And how do you determine value?”

Soul tilted their head, “How do you perceive Thanos?”

Destruction.

Death.

Apocalypse.

That’s how they had all painted him to be. She’d never met the titan, and in spite of knowing that her first incarnation had been created as a companion of sorts for him, she had no real relationship with Thanos. To her, he was this notion of a Big Bad that needed to be taken down because the Avengers said so — because he had killed Thor’s people (Loki included!) and nearly wiped out the Universe.

“Will his death keep everyone safe?” She looked at Time who, still wearing the visage of Stephen, regarded her thoughtfully.

“There will always be evil in the world,” said Time carefully. “Thanos’ death will get rid of one or some, but it can never entirely be erased. That is simply the way of the world.”

Darcy couldn’t find it in her to argue. “You said,” she began, not quite addressing anyone specific. “You said that in my death, my soul will be healed. You said that I have to give myself in service to death, consciously.”

None spoke, all remembering what had been said.

“What Thanos did not understand was that the only way Death’s gift could truly and properly  fulfill their destiny was for them to die, willing and in service of Death. You had always been meant to die, be it as his sacrifice to me, or by any other means.” Soul had explained earlier.

“Let me do that.” Darcy’s voice brokered no room for argument, though she felt her resolve waver. “Let me die on my terms.” She shouldered on, the words leaving her mouth without letting her properly filter them, lest she lose her nerve. “Kill my body to piece my soul back together, and give me the chance to destroy Thanos.”

“I do believe you don’t know the entirety of what you ask of us.” Mind cautioned, placing a hand over Darcy’s, looking like Jane and mimicking the concern that would line the astrophysicist’s brow whenever Darcy did something somewhat questionable.

“This feels like some Harry Potter horcrux and prophecy shit right here,” said Darcy. “Neither can live while the other survives and all that — the car accident that stopped my heart cracked my soul, right?” At this, she rounded on her younger self, “When you embedded yourself into me, you essentially tore my soul in two and made it so that the rip can only be fixed when I died…Am I right so far?”

Soul nodded.

“Then stop my heart.” Her lips formed the words and her throat helped them leave, but Darcy felt like her heart was working faster than her brain in that moment. “Stop my heart and cause my death, so that I could be whole and stay in your realm.”

“And Thanos?” Mind asked, though Darcy had a feeling that everyone in the room already knew her train of thought.

“Give him life. Let him live so that the Avengers could take care of him.”

The Stones were privy to the intricacies of Darcy’s wishes, and when none of them said anything to deter her, she took it as their acceptance. One by one, the Stones left until only Soul remained by Darcy’s side.

“To stay with me is to lose Darcy Lewis.”

“To stay with you is to kill Thanos.”

“Perhaps, you would do better with the counsel of your own consciousness.” Soul bowed deeply, and suddenly, Darcy was in one of the Facility’s conference room, facing various individuals she’d only seen in the odd portal that had displayed all the lives she’d lived. She sat at the head of the table, and everyone occupied a seat of their own, with Eris seated directly opposite her.

“Hello, Darcy Lewis,” everyone greeted in unison. She knew, logically, that everyone spoke a different tongue, but in that moment, they were able to understand each other perfectly—after all, they were one and the same.

“I feel like I’m on the losing side here,” said Darcy with a self-deprecating laugh. “You know me but I have no idea who you guys are.”

“We are you,” said a tall and slender woman with blonde hair and bright eyes.

“As you are us,” finished a man with auburn hair and dark skin.

“Plenty of us agree that Thanos must be stopped,” said a softer voice, coming from a being that looked like the Dark Elves that had featured in Darcy’s nightmares in what felt like a different life altogether, but decidedly less armored and more homely.

A being with tentacles spoke next, their needles for teeth shining, “But not all of us agree with the method by which you plan on going about it.”

“Then what should I do? What else can I do?”

“You see the problem as if we’re backed in a corner,” said the brown-skinned teenager a few seats down.

Darcy arched a brow as if to ask, aren’t we?

“You have all the Stones, a feat Thanos was barely able to maintain — and only with the help of the Gauntlet.” A purple-skinned being said as they placed one of their six hands on the table.

“Not only do you have them all, but they listen to you.”

“Granted, it’s because they were afraid to full on kill us before we’ve served our purpose—”

“Our purpose?” Darcy couldn’t help the way her eyes gravitated towards Eris, who had said nothing and remained looking off to the side so that Darcy could only really see her profile.

“We stand as one,” said the blonde as she squeezed Darcy’s hand, “And we serve as one.”

Just like that, Eris and Darcy were alone, in an area vaguely familiar to her; shallow water ran from one horizon to the next, reflecting the red-orange sky. They stood in the middle of a gazebo, with Eris perched lazily on a ledge and Darcy right in the middle of it.

“You want to kill him too.” Darcy said, both surprised and yet understanding. “But…you’re Eris.”

“And you’re Darcy Lillian Lewis,” said Eris, still looking away. “You were born to two loving parents with an older brother and adopted cousin-sister. You had dreams of being the US President, but evidently found your plans changing when your brother-in-law and Mew-mew arrived. You worked with Jane and became a lawyer, even an agent of sorts for jack-booted thugs. You have grand plans of saving the world.”

Her entire life in four sentences. Of course, who else could have summarized it so?

“I will tell you what you already know; our life has always and will always be Death’s to claim.”

“Isn’t all life Death’s to claim?”

Eris turned to her then, looking at her with white eyes that reminded Darcy of that ninja manga her brother had been fond of. “All that live will one day arrive at Death’s door, but rare are those that arrive because Life, Death, and Soul agreed.”

“Willing and in service of Death,” said Darcy, repeating the Soul Stone’s words.

“We were always meant to master the Stone.” Eris looked back to the horizon, as if waiting for something. “Had Thanos let me pursue the Stone then, my death would have been a sacrifice, but not from or for Thanos. It would have been my own, and a self-sacrifice would have invalidated the Stone’s power…”

“Because no one should aim to be on par with Life and Death.”

A small smile quirked Eris’ lip as she looked at Darcy and then at something behind her, “Welcome back, Darcy Lewis.”

She blinked and Eris was gone. When she turned around, she thought she might have seen a woman in the distance that looked an awful lot like her. Without thinking, she’d taken a step off of the gazebo and found herself in a familiar-feeling forest. Curling her toes told her she was barefoot, as she felt the dirt and dried leaves crunch beneath her feet.

“I had always felt at peace among the trees,” said the blonde from earlier. Her hair was down in a braid behind her, and she wore a flowing silver gown that reminded Darcy of the goddesses from the movie Hercules.

“Your husband did too, I’d imagine.” Darcy couldn’t bring her voice to be louder than a whisper.

“His magic, despite being the God of Mischief and Lies, are deeply rooted in nature, due to his Jotun heritage, most likely — though we hadn’t known that then. We’d simply chalked it up to him being Frigga’s favored son, always willing to learn the ways of Aesir magic as opposed to the great weapons Thor was rather fond of.”

“Loki loves you.”

“In knowing that, you must then also know that he cares for you, yes?” Sigyn waved a hand and roots left their soil to craft a bench of sorts for the pair to sit.

“Only because I had been you.”

“Even as you say it, you do not believe it.” Sigyn replied with an eye roll as Darcy sat by her. The Asgardian slipped her hand into Darcy’s, threading their fingers together.

“But Steve…”

“Could do no better than having been cared for by two wonderful souls —  though I suppose I might be a little biased in that judgement.” Sigyn’s cheeky smile helped settle some of Darcy’s fears, though it did raise some new information as well.

“You knew about Steve.”

“We know about Steve, Darcy,” was Sigyn’s laughing correction.

“Before everything,” murmured Darcy. “Before our marriage, even.”

Sigyn nodded, parting the trees’ branches so that the sun could shine upon them. “I’d gotten a vision of a man with eyes so blue it reminded me of the clear pools in the palace’s garden. He had been looking at Loki with such love that I had thought my husband and I would have eventually welcomed a third into our life.”

“I’m sorry—”

“I might be proven right, yet.” Sigyn laughed, and Darcy knew then that were was no ill will between them. She wasn’t hated for having come to care for Loki or (and?) Steve, just as she bore no anger at Sigyn for the life she had shared with Loki. “What you have with either of them is yours to feel and act upon. We might be of one soul…”

“But we are of different lives.”

The Aesir hummed her agreement, “Never forget that.” A small laugh left Sigyn’s lips before a sheepish smile covered her features. “I should probably apologize for acting out when Drax implied that we were a prisoner.”

Darcy frowned, barely recalling what she had been talking about.

“I’ve never been a fan of taking prisoners, even when the Queen and Allfather saw such as justified.” She pinched the back of Darcy’s hand absentmindedly, as if to prevent the ready explanation the latter had to such an argument. “I know you have a different view of it, but I do stand by wishing to protect us when the Power Stone sought to provoke you into harming your friends.

“Thor was able to talk me down.” Darcy remembered then.

“I had thought he would figure it out then.” Sigyn mused fondly. “Then again, my good brother was never the most sensitive when it came to magic — though I do applaud that he was able to point out that you were off-kilter.”

“It helped that he had known me from before.”

They remained silent for a while, and it was Darcy that spoke to break it.

“Would Loki love Steve?”

“Our Loki carries plenty of guilt from all that he’s done and been through,” said Sigyn with a sigh. “He’s much like your Captain, I believe. However, we cannot guarantee the path that they may take.”

“But we can help a little bit, right? He needs to learn to live again, without isolating himself from everyone.”

Sigyn grinned, saying, “Sorg etr hjarta ef þú segja ne náir einhverjum allan hug.”

“Sorrow eats the heart if you cannot tell someone your whole mind.” Darcy translated the words without much thought, much to Sigyn’s delight. “They can be friends, at the very least.”

“You speak as if you will not be around to enjoy the fruits of your sacrifice.”

Darcy snorted, “Between you and me, we don’t exactly have the best track record.”

“And you would still push through? In spite of the uncertainty of your plans,” Sigyn pulled away then, untangling their fingers. “If we remain split, or if Thanos manages to win, or if we do not become the Soul’s master…you would still do it?”

“I figured,” Darcy shrugged, watching as Sigyn stood before her, “I’ve done it a couple of times before, right? Sometimes as a warrior, sometimes as a civilian.”

They both recalled the other lives they’ve lived. Eris had died in battle against a Goddess of Death in spite of having been unable to fulfill their purpose. Their time as a warrior on Nornheim had seem them die in battle, a battlecry on their lips. They’d been executed on Alfheim for being associated to someone they knew nothing about. In a previous Midgardian life, they’d been slaughtered as they worked in the fields, caught in a war not of their doing.

“Of all our lives, you’d know best where I’m at, I think.” She admitted quietly.

“I’d like to think I would have gone to the same lengths for our son, had I been given the chance.”

The reminder of what had been lost — both to Loki and to them — had Darcy tearing up. “We would have. We would have gone through all this and more, because unlike me, you were great at both politics and in battle. You would have changed the world and also been a great mother.”

“Make no mistake, we’ve done well by Jeremy.” Sigyn offered her hands to help Darcy stand. “We’ve done our best, and placed our trust in those who would only seek the best for him.”

“Do you think it’s enough?”

“Live your life as you see fit, Darcy.” Sigyn admonished lightly. “Don’t second guess yourself simply because you would have thought differently in a previous life.”

She blushed, embarrassed, “Right. One soul, different lives.”

Thunder rumbled overhead as lightning struck in the distance, though the pair remained calm. With another wave of Sigyn’s hand, a portal opened beside them, and Darcy knew it was time to move.

Take me to Thanos, alone. She remembered Strange’s lesson when it came to portals. Intention and visualization were as much a factor as knowledge and power. Darcy appeared on a plain, with only her target as company. She realized then that after having spoken to the pieces of her soul, she finally felt secure in what she wanted.

She walked towards him, refusing to waver before the man who had sought to think himself above all. He, who had been thought to gain Death’s favor and therefore been given Eris, couldn’t even begin to see all that Death had truly intended. Eris hadn’t been made to keep him company, or for him to gain control of the Soul Stones.

Her lips, a color that reminded him of the blood of the Aesir, curved into a small smirk, and when she opened them, he knew what he wanted to do.

“Thanos,” Darcy called out, stopping in her tracks when they were about ten feet from each other. “I’ve come to bargain.”

“And why should I listen to you, Darcy Lewis?” He enunciated each syllable slowly, somehow managing to convey both his interest and doubt.

“Because if you agree to my offer, and you win, you get to live again.” She watched him scrutinize her even more. When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “I want a fair battle between you and the Avengers, away from civilization, and with no Infinity Stone in either party’s possession.”

“You want me to face an entire army alone?” Thanos sounded like a patronizing old man as he continued, “That hardly seems fair.”

“Your Black Order then, against the Avengers.” Seeing him look pacified by the offer, she inwardly rejoiced. Remembering parts that Eris had shared, however, she added, “Your Black Order as they stood when you attacked Thor’s ship.”

“That is but a fraction of how many children I have had.” He argued mildly, but didn’t push for more. “I take it I am also allowed the army that those children come with.”

“I’m surprised you even asked.”

Thanos’ reply had her stomach flipping, “I do believe I owe it to Eris to win this on just terms.” He rubbed at his wrist, eyes dropping to the glove that she barely even noticed anymore. “But what assurance do I have that you wouldn’t cheat me, Darcy Lewis?”

Darcy didn’t bat an eye as she replied, “I might not be Eris to you, but she and I are one, and why would we seek to harm you when we were created to stand by you?”

He studied her, and she met his unwavering gaze .

“I look forward to winning this battle.”

The sunshine grew brighter and stronger, blinding Darcy until she found herself in what had been her first room in the Avengers Facility.

It was there that she found her conscious counterpart, wearing the outfit they’d chosen for the eve of Thor and the Guardians’ departure. On Earth, time stood still, and they had just been laid to rest in bed.

“Hi.” Such a stupid greeting, but what exactly do you say to yourself?

“So you’re the me that knows everything?”

“Well,” said Darcy as she made a face. “That’s not entirely accurate.”

“But?” Conscious!Darcy looked far too calm, Darcy couldn’t help but think. “You know everything about me, and I only have a gut feel about things when it comes to you. Are you why Thor says I’m…unbalanced?”

“No. That’s something else entirely. We’re…” Darcy came to stand across her, whom was sitting on one of the kitchen counter’s stools. “Everyone has their version of us. Me, the subconscious, and you, the conscious. And at every person’s death, the two become one.”

“So this is it?” Conscious!Darcy’s sadness was easily felt and shared between them. “We’re dead? I though Loki protected us from Wanda?”

“He did.” Darcy smiled, melancholic. “He also managed to trigger the Old Magic within us.”

“Maginą,” she said softly. “Power, that’s what we called it in — before.”

“In Asgard,” nodded Darcy.

“We were Asgardian?”

“The Goddess of Fidelity,” said Darcy with a laugh. “Our name was Sigyn.”

Darcy watched as conscious!Darcy’s brows furrowed and then smoothed out as she grinned, “In Norse Mythology on Earth, Sigyn was the name of Loki’s wife, right?”

“Mythology is usually based on something real.”

They both felt conscious!Darcy figure it out. Surprise, confusion, and worry rooted itself within them, and Darcy knew that her counterpart now understood how she felt about Loki; only without the memories associated with it.

Conscious!Darcy, placed her hands on the counter and wrung them in a move reminiscent of a habit they had as a child.

“I kissed Steve,” came conscious!Darcy’s confession, thought they had both been a part of the event. There was no mistaking the guilt they shared.

“I know.”

“I like him.”

“I know.”

“But I like Loki too?”

Darcy didn’t say anything, knowing that she was more a sounding board than an actual participant in the conversation.

“I like Loki too.” She repeated, looking into her own blue eyes, “Because you like him.”

“And I like Steve too,” replied Darcy. “But I saw and felt what you did every step of the way.”

“I’d like to see yours too.”

“You will.” Darcy assured her. “It’s inevitable.”

“I thought it was now? I thought we’re dead?”

“Not yet. I’ve talked to the others — to the lives we’ve lived,” her smile remained tight-lipped, “To Thanos, even.”

Her surprise was tempered with the knowledge of where the conversation was probably leading towards. She’d always known the possibility of her death, after all. Hadn’t that been why she’d enlisted the help of Christine and Jane on the journals?

“But one word from you and we’ll look for another way,” she placed her palms flat on the counter. “One where we wake right back up and continue living.”

“What about the Stones?”

“I’d sent the Space Stone to Loki.”

Conscious!Darcy nodded, “For the Bridge.”

“The rest, well, we have control of them; or so they say.”

“And there’s no other way?” She began fidgeting once again. “To get rid of Thanos?”

“And bring back Gamora and Vision, and hopefully, even the Asgardians.”

“Stephen said he used the Time Stone to look at possible futures. Did you do that too?”

Darcy barely blinked as Time appeared in the room with them, looking once again like Stephen.

“Would you like to?” Time asked, as the setting changed. They were treated to various realities that eventually quelled the indecision that had been niggling at them.

“Do it.” She told Darcy. “It’s best to kill him entirely instead of just keeping him at bay.”

Months ago, Stephen had seen over fourteen million possibilities and found only one that resulted in Thanos’ demise. And though he had seen the titan’s death, he hadn’t seen every detail that led up to it. Time left the pair, though neither noticed.

“We’d already be dead by the time he battles them.” Darcy offered her hand, and they looked at each other with tear-filled eyes.

When they held each other’s hands, conscious!Darcy became privy to all that Darcy knew. From the previous lives, right down to the conversations within the other realm. It was like having an eidetic memory, but so much more intense in that it was two perspectives of each instance.

“Loki and Steve.”

They shared a smile, and around them, the visage of the lives they’ve lived appeared.

Sigyn welcomed conscious!Darcy with a bright smile as Darcy was drawn into a conversation with the others. Eris remained nearby, though not quite participating in conversation.

Serenity washed over all of them as they spoke, both of things passed and things yet to come. The months that Darcy’s soul had been split had taken its toll on it. Despite having been put into a stasis of sorts by the Soul Stone, it didn’t change the fact a soul should never have been put in that position in the first place. They all talked, seemingly one over the other, but understood each other with ease.

So engrossed were they in their conversations that they barely noticed when another Darcy appeared amongst them, unconscious, unseeing, but not unhearing.

On Earth, Darcy froze time to talk to Peter Quill about her plan.

Chapter Text

Pepper shifted her weight from one foot to the other, watching the tension that’s pulled Tony’s back taut and stiff remain as he made some adjustments to FRIDAY on his pad. She wondered if it would ever end; the need to remain forever on guard. Tony had come far from his self-absorbed little bubble. She remembered the arc reactor she’d helped take out of his chest. It felt like it had been a lifetime since then.

No, it wasn’t just Tony.

Everyone’s come a long way.

Even when they had been attacking HYDRA bases, a time they had been the most cohesive unit they had ever been, they didn’t have the near uniform haunted look in their eyes. They had all been through their share of heartaches; battles and betrayals came hand in hand in their line of work, after all. The only thing that perhaps hit the group the worse now was the betrayal faced from people they’d considered one of their own — and the timing was so close to each other too. They had barely recovered from Wanda’s attack when Quill had struck.

She smiled as she felt Tony’s hands graze her sides. He pressed a kiss to her nape, and she melted into his arms. Tony’s arms enclosed her, as his hands sought hers.

“I love you,” he said, and the fact that he’d felt the need to say it bluntly told her just how much everything was actually affecting him.

He wouldn’t loosen his hold on her, so she couldn’t face him. She turned her head instead, receiving the kiss he had meant to press against her neck with her cheek. His hands moved to hold her wrists, where the bracelets he’d gifted her were securely fastened.

Oh how she loved and hated these moments. Tony’s affection and sincerity was clear in the way he rested his forehead on her shoulder. Rarely did he let others see this side of him. Everyone knew he was obnoxious and overbearing in his love for her, but only a few truly understood that Tony was like that because he’d never had anyone else to unload his feelings on — at least one that hadn’t looked at him and seen what they could take.

“Come back to me,” Pepper’s eyes closed, and he moved so that their foreheads could rest against each other.

Tony said nothing, and she knew it was his way of not lying to her. They’d vowed to make no promises they might not be able to keep. Of course he’d remember that.

“We still haven’t gone on our honeymoon.” She said, in a futile attempt to lighten the mood.

“And where do you plan on taking me, wife?”

“With any luck, it would be somewhere we can live in peace.” Pepper opened her eyes then, meeting his gaze with a soft smile.

“Soon,” he said, nuzzling her.

“I love you.” She pressed her lips to his, and they shared a chaste kiss, both thinking of and wanting a better future.

In the cockpit, Clint, Bucky, and Steve stood, feeling distinctly as if they were seeing far too much. Of the trio, Steve was the only one who couldn’t really lipread, though Bucky had disclosed that he wasn’t as good as Clint, who had had to learn because he had once been partially deaf.

Steve remembered their return to the base two months ago, when Pepper and Tony had been reunited after the latter’s time in space. He had been the last to leave them in the hangar then, and had seen a display reminiscent to what they were currently witnessing. The thing was, this time it was different.

Back then, Tony had always waited for Pepper to come to him. In the years that they’d worked together, that had always been their thing. The first time the couple saw each other after a mission, Tony would stop and wait for his partner make a move. It was sort of like Tony was afraid he’d be refused if he went to her instead.

The scene before them now though…

Tony had gone with Bruce and Jane to make sure they had what tech they could possibly need or get their hands on. The latter two had returned sooner than Tony had, with a message from the engineer that the jet be prepped and ready soon. Bucky and Clint would be flying the plane, and since Steve and Nat had flown it last, Steve had figured he’d join them for the flight.

They hadn’t meant to watch. If anything, the three of them was more than willing to give the pair their privacy (in fact, Steve noted that he had been the only one left watching the couple, because Bucky and Clint had taken to going through takeoff preparations). What must it feel like to have a love like that? Steve thought of Darcy, a ‘what could have been’ that he could feel more tangibly compared to Peggy or Bucky.

The thought alone made him sick to his stomach. He remembered being jealous of Darcy, of her innocence to all that he and the others had faced. They had all thought she was nothing more than a civilian; caught up in everything because of her best friend’s brilliance and her interaction with Thor. He had wanted to be her. And even when it had become evident that she wasn’t so unaware of all that they faced, he had still been stuck somewhere between wanting to be her and wanting to be hers. She’d shown herself capable and intelligent, seemingly with all the answers and compromises. Whenever she made a suggestion, she said it with such certainty that reminded Steve of Peggy’s self confidence.

The jet’s communications came to life, and Rhodey’s voice patched through. “Okay, everyone let’s get you all set and ready to leave.”

When all had been said and done, Pepper and Rhodey had flown back to Stark Tower, with Pepper taking one of Tony’s suits to continue the illusion of Tony Stark being in New York City. They bid each other good night after sharing a small meal and retired to their respective rooms. Pepper knew Rhodey’s speech was going to have repercussions, but after everything else that they had had to encounter today, they needed to adjust their initial plans of a propaganda that also included Tony. No matter, she would deal with it tomorrow.

As she sat in a bed that felt too big without her husband, she wondered if they would ever come to a point where Tony could truly find some peace. She pulled out a book, knowing she wouldn’t find sleep anytime soon.

She’d taken down notes after skimming through the others, and had noted that each title represented a different aspect of Jane and Darcy’s lives.

The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster

Space - Thor, Asgard, Bifrost, and Convergence

Rock - Darcy and Jane’s personal life

Paper - notes on the Accords and plans

Scissors - experiences at Stark Industries, SHIELD, and HYDRA

Once, when I was fifteen, and Jeremiah was twenty-one, he told me that people who said, “Blood is thicker than water,” were idiots. I had rolled my eyes at him then, which prompted him to explain that the original saying went, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Miah would go on to explain that a person never needs to be reminded of the value of family, because blood didn’t determine family. Blood determined relation.

Of course, a bit of research had me pointing out that the ‘blood of the covenant’ meant bonds; relationships based on some sort of connection or shared experiences. He hadn’t been surprised when I’d brought it up again, as he was quick to point out that as opposed to weakening what it [the saying] now meant, it actually strengthened it. After all, the experiences you share with your family creates bonds that either raises or lessens its value.

It became a running theme between us.

When Christine, after having come to live with us, would feel as if she were Other, we would remind her that it didn’t matter that we had different parents. In the end, what mattered was that we were all loved and cared for by Mom and Dad.

It would continue to pop up throughout my life — the idea that family was more than the blood running through your veins. I was reminded of it at every moment I saw Miah interact with his fellow soldiers. Those he served with in the military became part of his family — brothers and sisters I would never know as well as I did his childhood friends, but that meant a lot to him nonetheless.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“Are you sure about this?” Her brother threw an arm around her as they watched Jane try to keep up with their father’s many questions about her line of work.

Darcy crossed her arms and looked at her brother sideways, “About what, exactly?”

“About her.”

They watched as their mom arrived, scolding their dad for annoying their guest, and offering Jane a plate of food. The scientist accepted it with an awkward smile and dug in with gusto. Darcy thought of Puente Antiguo. She’d been awarded her degree in Political Science a month ago, and had promptly informed her parents that she would be continuing her work under Jane as a paid intern. Of course, she told them nothing of SHIELD and all the NDAs she had needed to sign to secure the post, nor the fact that it would barely pay enough for her expenses and that she would be relying heavily on SHIELD and her own savings for a bit.

Jane turned to them then, raising a brow at the Lewis siblings standing under the cute little gazebo they had in their backyard and just looking at her dealing with their parents. Darcy only grinned, an expression her brother mirrored, and Jane couldn’t help but smile back. Perhaps, if falling alien princes didn’t exist, Jane might have looked twice at Jeremiah Lewis. As it were, she returned to her conversation with the older pair of Lewises.

“You know how some people always felt…just right?” Darcy asked her brother, though she didn’t bother waiting for a reply as she continued, “It’s kind of like you and Karen, but less sarcasm and no hidden romantic feelings.”

He pinched her cheek, hard. “Oh, so more like you and Gerry, then? Hidden romantic feelings my ass.”

“He’s my boyfriend, dumbass. That’s different. I’m not fucking Jane.”

“Don’t talk about fucking my best friend! What the fuck, Darcy?”

“Again, my boyfriend; so sucks for you.”

There wasn’t much that Miah and I argued about by the time we were adults. If anything, most of our fights became playful banter that hinged on who our parents’ favorite children were. We often tried to drag our sister into it, which she’d try to defuse and refute by saying she was our step-sibling and biological cousin. As if that mattered. Chris, Miah, and I were siblings.

The one thing we all agreed on was that Miah had to be the first to have kids, if only so Chris and I can practice on his child instead of screwing over our own.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jeremiah threw a throw pillow at Darcy, which she blocked and quickly shot back.

Christine rolled her eyes at the pair, setting their drinks down on the coffee table.

“You’re stupid,” Darcy stuck her tongue out, just in time for their parents to witness.

“Darcy Lillian, I will snip your tongue if you do that again.” Alexander scolded, though his words held no heat.

“Miah doesn’t believe that you once bailed me out of school because I didn’t feel like going.” She took one of the mugs Chris had brought in. “He thinks that because you didn’t do it for him, then you wouldn’t do it for me. He forgets that I’m your favorite.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that.” Chris said thoughtfully, sipping her own beverage.

“WHAT?” Jeremiah, grown man that he was, looked like a jilted schoolgirl. “I got no freebie days when I was in high school!”

Lily shook her head at her son, “You had no need for it, Miah. You skipped school and classes when you wanted, and besides, the day wasn’t as great as Darcy-Lee’s trying to make it out to be. She had really bad cramps so I took her to our doctor to get a prescription.”

“Yeah but that took like, an hour,” snorted Darcy. “After that, we had ice cream and went shopping.”

Miah made a sound somewhere between a whine and a scoff. “I’ve been betrayed by my own family!”

“Hey, from what I remember, you usually went out of town when you skipped an entire day,” Chris pointed out helpfully, sharing a look with Darcy.

“That was one time!” Their brother countered, only to realize his mistake. “I mean—no, I didn’t!”

“Really,” Alexander sighed, “You’re a grown man — a soldier, for fuck’s sake — it’s not like we can do anything about something you did when you were a teenager.”

“Well, Miah never really did stop being a teenager.” Darcy sniggered.

“If he’s a teenager, then you’re a child,” their father pointed out helpfully.

I never really saw myself settling down soon after everything in Puente Antiguo. Oddly enough, after seeing an alien prince fall to earth and be almost killed by destroyer sent by his step brother who was also a prince kind of makes your perspectives shift, no?

That being said, it’s not that I never wanted kids — ever — I just didn’t want them in my immediate future. I mean, how can I bring someone into the world, knowing what I did but not how to protect them? Of course, I didn’t hold everyone else to the same standard. I was half-expecting to be an aunt before I graduated university.

Miah remained childless though, and when we’d been told of his death, the thought of nieces and nephews and children in general were so far from my mind other than a passing conversation with Gerry (who knew and understood my own caution on the topic).

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

A week after Darcy had been informed of Jeremiah’s death was her twenty-fifth birthday. It had been a small celebration, with immediate family, Jeremiah’s best friends, and Jane. On the eve of which, when all but Christine, Karen, Gerard, and Jane had left or in the case of her parents, gone to bed, they’d been greeted with news no one knew how to handle.

Karen, her late brother’s fiancé, was pregnant. She was three months along, having finished her final tour two months ago. They had met and served alongside each other, and had been working on building their own family. She had wanted to surprise him upon his return. After all, wouldn’t it have been a great surprise? Darcy’s twenty-fifth birthday accompanied by the announcement of his upcoming firstborn.

The night had continued and ended with tears and promises of forever being family, and Darcy’s resolve to try and make the world a better place strengthened even more. Coulson’s handwritten letter sat heavily in her bag upstairs, and as she met Jane’s gaze, she knew her friend was thinking the same thing.

Their collaboration with SHIELD was far from over. In a few weeks, Darcy was due to meet with Pepper Potts. It would be a meeting that would change her life and affect plenty of the choices she’d make from there on out.

When I was informed Miah’s son would be named after him, I had a breakdown with Jane and her mother as witnesses. We had been in London then, studying anomalies that we later came to know as the Convergence. It had been a worrying time for me, but I couldn’t imagine what Karen must have been going through. My only comfort was that she had her family and mine to help her.

Jeremy was a light in everyone’s lives. Losing Miah and gaining Jeremy within the space of a year was bittersweet for my parents. They doted over him, and regarded Karen as their daughter. When they passed a little bit after Jeremy’s second birthday, I clung tighter to my relationship with my nephew.

I love my family, blood and water, but at a time where I’d survived a kidnapping, lost my parents, and wasn’t entirely sure who I could trust anymore, I knew I had to be stronger. I couldn’t properly fall apart with Christine, because while we’d both felt the loss of our parents, I was the only one that grieved the time I’d lost with them because I had had to go into hiding after a run-in with HYDRA.

Jane and Gerry were great sources of comfort, though I also withheld plenty of details from the latter. If there had been any doubt of how deeply Jane and I have come to mean to each other, it was easily swiped away. After everything, Jane was practically my sister.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“Aunt Darcy!” The three year old boy threw himself into Darcy’s open arms. “I thought you were gon’be busy.”

It had been two weeks since Lily and Alexander’s funeral, and Darcy had stuck around to get her head on straight. Christine had needed to return to work three days earlier. Jane and Darcy stayed in Darcy’s old home, continuing to sort through the items her parents had left behind as well as spent time with Karen, Jeremy, and Gerard.

“I’ll always make time for you, little man.” She placed a noisy kiss on his cheek, which had him giggling and squirming.

Gerry pulled them both into his arms. Darcy and Jeremy laughed as they were both spun around.

“Please be careful,” Jane called out as she and Karen set out drinks and snacks. “Jeremy just ate.”

Karen grinned, “Jane sounds more like a mom than I do.” She sent her a sly look, “Any news to share, Jane-y?”

Jane blushed, but quickly dissuaded the thought of her being pregnant by chugging down the cocktail they’d brought out. “If there’s anyone following you into motherhood, it should be the two people who’ve been together for years.”

Darcy placed Jeremy down, and only shared a soft smile with her partner.

“Not yet,” he said out loud, knowing they already knew what each other was thinking and that nearly anything shared aloud was more for their friends than it was for them. They’d spoken of it before, and didn’t need to keep rehashing things. With everything that’s happened, neither were in a rush to grow their family.

Gerry’s been in my life for as long as I can remember. He and Miah had met in second grade and it just went on from there. It had always been Gerry and Miah, two peas in a pod. They had an entire group of friends of course, but there was always something deeper between them, so when Miah enlisted, Gerry had been right there with him. He probably would have been there ’til the end if he hadn’t gotten pneumonia, because that + Diabetes wasn’t exactly the best combination. That being said, just because they’d stopped serving together, didn’t mean they were any less valuable to each other. If anything, mom and dad had been happy to have their pseudo son nearby while their biological one was out there.

I guess it wasn’t that surprising when my childhood crush on him faded with age, only to return as a deeper love that came with getting to know him as more than just Miah’s best friend. It was cliché as fuck but also everything that I had needed and wanted at the time—

A time before Thor.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“Gerard Lopez, get back here!” Darcy ran after her boyfriend, much to their families’ amusement. “How did you even get that?”

The man in question only grinned as he flipped through the album containing all her baby pictures. It was stupid, really, considering he had been a part of her childhood, and so had personally seen her at nearly every cute and awkward stage.

Darcy tackled him, which only resulted in him stumbling. He might not have been in the military anymore, but he was still more fit than she would ever be. Gerry eventually got better footing and in a move that Darcy has long come to have a love-hate relationship with, threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“But you’re so cute, Darce! Just imagine the kids we’ll have someday.” He laughed, though Jeremiah was quick to counter it.

“Hey! No talking about kids until she graduates,” Jeremiah admonished, though their mom was quick to chip in her two cents.

“I had you in my last year of college, so you hush, Jeremiah Jameson.” Lily chided her son, much to everyone’s amusement.

Christine rolled her eyes and laughed as Jeremiah attempted to pull her over to his side, “Chris! Tell your sister she should know better. Back me up here!”

“She’s not even pregnant yet, you dingus.” She shook her head, before adding, “Besides, she graduates next term, right? Just needs those six science credits and she’s well on her way to becoming the next little politician.”

“Imagine!” Gerry said with a grin, still with a squirming Darcy on his shoulder. “I get to be the First Gentleman someday! I would look great smiling and waving and taking care of our six children.”

“SIX,” came Darcy’s and Jeremiah’s near identical shrieks, shortly followed by everyone’s laughter.

Gerry was a great partner. He supported my work with Jane, even if it meant a long distance relationship. We both had our own paths to follow, and we had decided we wouldn’t let it stop us from being together. Video calls, regular calls, texts, and even postcards became our thing. His job took him from place to place too, though he was primarily based in New York. It worked well for us, especially when I’d begun law school and working at SI.

We met up as often as we can. Sometimes, when resources permit, he would even fly out to wherever Jane and I were.

It was how he’d met Thor.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“I saw the news,” was Gerry’s first sentence to Darcy when they met at the airport.

They shared a kiss; soft and sweet and a reminder of their love for each other.

“Are you alright?” He asked as he held her at arms length and looked at her from head to toe. Darcy smiled up at him and nodded, slipping out of his hold so that she could wrap her arms around him and bask in his warmth.

“It’s great to see you, Ger.”

“Of course.” She felt his lips press against her hairline. “I have someone I want you to meet.” Darcy tugged at his arm, prompting him to trail after her.

When they’d gotten to Jane’s mom’s — Felicity’s — house, they’d caught up and were back to the mix of ribbing and affectionate that defined their relationship. Darcy savored the comfort she found in their interactions. She had missed him so much, and not for the first time, she wished she could have amore normal relationship.

“I’m warning you now that he might try to go all big brother warning against little sister on you,” said Darcy as they stepped up to the front door.

“That is cool, scary, and adorable all at the same time, I think.” He replied with a frown. She laughed and gave him another quick kiss before opening the door.

Selvig and Ian were having a conversation about the Convergence as Thor, Jane, and Felicity prepared lunch.

“Sister,” Thor greeted with a grin. “You’ve returned! I see you have brought your beloved.”

“That I did,” nodded Darcy, wrapping her arms around Gerard’s arm. “Thor, this is my man, Gerard Lopez. You can call him Gerry.” She looked up at her beau, “Ger, this is Thor. You already know Jane, and that’s her wonderful mom, Felicity. The two brainiacs on the table are Dr. Selvig and our resident intern, Ian.”

Hours later, Darcy retired to the Airbnb Gerry had booked for his stay. They cuddled in bed post lovemaking.

She listened to his heartbeat and smiled at the feel of him tracing random patterns on her lower back. It was a feelings she would probably never tire of.

“Thor seems pretty cool.” He chuckled. “He reminds me a little of that guy from that shitty horror movie.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the cabin in the woods.”

“The Cabin in the Woods?”

“Yeah, I forgot the title though.” He yawned, and shifted so that they were both more comfortable.

“That’s the title, idiot.” She rolled her eyes, though her smile never left.

“The title’s Cabin in the Woods?”

Darcy hummer her confirmation.

“No wonder it was shit.”

She laughed and pinched his side. “You’re an idiot,” she said, kissing his chest.

There was never any doubt we had loved each other. We wouldn’t have lasted eight years if we didn’t. It was great. By the time Jane and I were New York-based, we saw each other more often and was slowly beginning to build a life together.

He had been there when I first held my nephew.

He had been there through the sleepless nights of my being a law student.

He had been there after every time Jane and I had gone off grid.

He had been there when my mother had been diagnosed.

He had been there to keep me sane through my parents’ deaths.

He had even been there after my car accident, despite us already being broken up.

I don’t think I could ever properly express how grateful I am for all that we have been through, because even though we hadn’t worked out the way we once thought we would, I’m happy to know that a man as great as Gerard was going to stand as Jeremy’s father.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“How long?” Darcy asked, impossibly calm.

“Darcy—”

They stood in his apartment in the city, with her having just returned from having lunch with Christine at the latter’s apartment. It had been an enlightening time, to say the least, with Christine talking about her friend Stephen and of something she had seen when she’d visited Jeremy. The thought of their nephew brought another ache in Darcy.

She and Gerry stood across each other, both dressed casually, having had plans for a Netflix and chill sort of date. Who would have seen things going decidedly south? She hadn’t bothered removing her coat upon her entry, and even dodged his advance for their usual greeting kiss. That in itself had told him there was something wrong, but they’ve always been good at communication after nearly a decade in a relationship and so long before that being friends.

“Chris told me you were there when she visited Jeremy.” Darcy shoved both her hands in her coat pockets. After everything she’d been through, it was a fair bit easier to keep her voice even.

“Yeah, I was in the area and wanted to say hi to our little man.” His words were meant to assure her, but his stance and pinched expression said otherwise. They’ve never been the those couples that could so easily deceive one another. After having known the other for practically all their lives, they didn’t plan on starting now.

“Ger, please,” she summoned all her self-control, refusing to fall apart before the same man who’d seen her at her most vulnerable. That morning, she wouldn’t have cared how she looked in front of him. So much has changed. She looked at him, trying to find the answer in his eyes. “How long have you been in love with Karen?”

“I never did anything with her,” he said instead. “Darcy, you know me. I would never cheat. I love you.”

“But there is something.” She took a shaky breath in. “You don’t need to do anything with her for it to have hurt me, Ger. The fact that my nephew—our Jeremy—calls you ‘Papa’ is enough.”

Gerry’s eyes widened as his brows rose. “I didn’t mean any harm…Miah will always be Jeremy’s father.”

“I know that. I even believe you saying it right now.” Darcy said slowly. There was no mistaking her honesty as she continued on, “We all knew Karen was going to move on eventually. Chris and I have even encouraged it and told her that all we ask was that we get to remain a part of Jeremy’s life.”

“Yeah, she told me.” He admitted, taking a step backwards so as to give Darcy a wide berth. “I was in town for Pop’s birthday last year and figured I’d drop by and say hi to Jeremy and Karen while I was there. I’ve always been a big part of his life and when he started to call me Dad, I told him that it was wrong, that I wasn’t it and he had another dad—and he just cried, and all I could think about was Miah and how he should be here and—and—we just decided to let it stick, only change it to Papa instead.”

“And you never told me?”

“It didn’t seem relevant. After everything you’ve been through, when could I even say it? I didn’t—”

“Please don’t say you didn’t want to hurt me.” Darcy cursed the traitorous tears that descended her cheeks. “So how did Jer calling you his dad morph into…?”

“Nothing happened. Jeremy calls me Dad and we just…let him.” Gerry pinched the bridge of his nose. “We…Karen and I—we’d usually talk about Miah or you or possible futures and she just…she told me I was as great a dad as Miah probably would have been.”

Darcy wiped at her cheeks, wanting to leave to save herself from the pain but feeling rooted to the spot because of her own curiosity.

“I’m not in love with her,” he said then, taking the few steps that separated them and taking her hands in his. His grip, though firm, was loose enough that she could have tugged her hands away. “Neither am I having an affair. My feelings for you haven’t truly changed.”

But? She didn’t bother prompting him, nor did she pull away.

“It just also made me wonder if we would ever get there,” came his hushed admission. “We’ve been together for eight years. I’ve never loved anyone else the way I’ve loved you — and I probably never will. I just…” He closed his eyes and squeezed her hands once. “I just wondered what it would be like to settle down. I imagined a life where we could have found a place somewhere and had a normal life and…before I knew it, I was imagining us having children and then that child was Jeremy and then instead of you it was Karen and then—”

No, she couldn’t bear to hear more of it. Darcy pulled away from him. “I believe you. I believe that nothing physical happened.” She hated herself for the words that left her lips, “And I can’t say I don’t understand where you’re coming from. Our plans are so far from where we are right now. We’ve had our share of crushes and fantasies though. We’ve looked at others before.”

“But never someone we both knew personally,” Gerry let his hands fall uselessly to his side. “And I…I began to resent you. I knew I shouldn’t; that you couldn’t exactly control the entirety of your situation…We’ve always chosen to be with each other. We’ve always chosen to love one another despite all that we have to go through. We’ve always been each other’s choice — and I find myself hating it. I wanted the simplicity of the life I’d seen Karen live; that I’d seen everyone else live, really, and yet…”

They looked at each other then, expressions able to relay emotions neither could properly put into words.

“I love you.”

She couldn’t avert her gaze at all.

“But I didn’t know how to be in love with you without thinking about everything I wanted that went against everything you were working towards, and I didn’t tell you because I do love you, and I just need to figure this out.”

Darcy sniffled, “Thank you for telling me now.” She turned and left his apartment.

If she’d been stronger, maybe she would have fought for him — for them.

But she was not.

And so she did not.

It would be months before they saw each other again, when Darcy had briefly died and no one else had been around.

Chris’ parents died when she was ten. Drunk drivers were assholes. Custody fell to my mom, and we’ve been sisters ever since. She is one of the best people I know. At every time I’d fallen apart, she had been one of my go-to’s. Never did I feel as if I couldn’t trust her with anything, and if there were any secrets between us, then it was simply work-related or unrelated to our merged personal lives.

She’d been the one to deliver our nephew, with Karen having gone into labor on Christmas Day.

She’d been the one to encourage my wish to pursue a career in law.

She’d been the one to remind me of how much I’d once wanted to change the world as a child.

She’d been the one to let me know Jeremy was calling Gerard ‘Dad,’ and that neither he nor Karen were correcting it.

(excerpts from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

Darcy tried not to visualize Karen and Gerard together, though her stomach was already churning with just the thought of it.

“We don’t know that it means anything,” assured Chris halfheartedly. What a pair they made. Christine, whose friend had misunderstood her concern as pity and though heartbroken, couldn’t find it in her to truly despise him. Darcy, whose eight-year relationship was something plenty had thought perfect, wondering if there was something going on between her beau and her late brother’s fiancée.

“The fact that you felt the need to hide your knowledge of it from Gerry says a lot.” Darcy ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll talk to him ASAP, but that’s for me and him to settle. How have you been?”

Chris made a sound somewhere between a groan and scoff. “Why can’t I love a less arrogant man?”

“Because it’s not his arrogance you fell in love with,” said Darcy, placing a hand over her sister’s. “From what you’ve told me, your Stephen had his moments; moments he showed you all that he could be.”

There was a moment shared between them that both could only describe as being born of their bond. It was then Chris knew that whatever Darcy was about to say was said with the best intention, even if it would probably be painful to hear.

“But maybe,” Darcy cautioned, “Moments and possibilities were what you fell in love with…? I don’t pretend to know Stephen, but I do know what it’s like to see everything that a person could be and wish to be the person to bring them there. I’m lucky that Gerry and I were able to be that for each other, but that was also born of knowing each other since I’ve been learning to walk. He knew practically every detail of my life like I did his, and from all the friends that I’ve had, I know that it isn’t easy when you don’t have that sort of chance.”

“I don’t want to just leave him.” The doctor said with a frown. “I mean, I said I’d leave him alone but I don’t want him to think that I’ve abandoned him.”

“You’re going to hate me for what I’m about to say,” said Darcy slowly, “But take it from what I’ve seen Jane go through. If a person is meant to stay in your life, they’ll find their way to you even when you’ve let them go.”

Christine smiled, grateful for the insight and finding comfort in family.

I might have lost my parents to disease, but I couldn’t slack off in protecting what family I had left. Jane and I didn’t live through what we had only to lose the people we loved. When it became increasingly clear to me that the project I’d been working on and my role in it could endanger them — especially with HYDRA on my and Jane’s back — I knew I had to convince Chris to leave.

Of course, what really happened was I’d called in what connections I had (have to give it to Coulson, there) so that a hospital in California would make Doctor Christine Palmer an offer she couldn’t refuse. Before I knew it, she was trying to break the news to me, and I had to swallow down the bittersweet taste of goodbye once again.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

HYDRA, as an organization, was resilient — I would give them that. After all, in spite of the rather epic way Captain America had dealt with them at the Triskelion, smaller factions still persisted. One of which had managed to capture Jane and I, though you would probably find only the briefest mention of it in SHIELD’s or even SI’s files.

While I had been there, I don’t remember every little things as clearly as Jane did. The therapist I had briefly been required to talk to said that it was my brain’s way of taking care of me. It blocked out certain things that it knew would only cause me pain, and so Jane helped me by giving me what information I wasn’t too sure of.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Scissors)

Darcy had to admit; HYDRA, as an organization, was resilient. After all, in spite of the rather epic way Captain America had dealt with them at the Triskelion, smaller factions still persisted. One of which had managed to capture her and Jane, wanting to get information on Jane’s research. Darcy had been thorough in getting rid of certain points in Jane’s SHIELD file, after all. And while her research could be accessed in various journals, none detailed the devices she was attempting to build.

That being said, for all of their resilience as a whole, the individuals weren’t exactly the brightest of the bunch. After a week at their hands, the two women realized that each day passed by much the same. They’d be given food, and after two hours, Jane would be questioned while threatened with Darcy’s life, and when neither refused to budge, they would be returned to their cells, right across each other.

The bruises that marred her skin was nothing compared to the shallow cuts they had peppered her legs. Movement and moisture stung, and when they were being kept in a humid cell and she couldn’t sit or stand still long enough for the irritation to abate.

“Darcy,” Jane’s voice was soft and filled with concern. They had been much kinder to Jane, refusing to lay a hand on the astrophysicist other than to force her to watch what they did to Darcy. “Maybe I should tell them.”

“Jane…”

“Darcy your wounds aren’t being treated properly. They’re cleaning it but not putting any type of medication, it can still be infected if unattended f—”

“You think they’ll let us go just like that if you tell them?” Darcy tried to consider their options. There wasn’t a guarantee of SHIELD coming to their rescue any time soon. What work Darcy was involved in wasn’t necessarily under SHIELD, and Jane’s has been a private endeavor almost immediately after Tromsø. More than that, without Thor as SHIELD/Earth/the Avenger’s priced alien member, there was no one to push to save his fair Lady Jane.

She wasn’t entirely surprised when Jane had a quick reply in the form of, “If not us, then at least you.”

“I’m not leaving without you.” She countered, wincing when she accidentally put too much weight on the ankle they’d accidentally broken (and reset). “Besides, they could just as well kill me for being useless if you give them what they want.”

They locked eyes, and Darcy knew Jane would stay silent for at least another day.

“Don’t you wish you still had your magic mojo thing, Boss Lady?” Darcy joked, in a futile attempt to lighten the mood.

Three days later came a disruption in their captor’s routine. From what the two women had been able to gather, the Avengers were still going through the smaller HYDRA bases scattered all across the world, and had just shut down the one closest to their location.

Without much fanfare, they were thrown into a nondescript sedan, with Darcy as the driver, an agent in the passenger seat, and Jane with two others in the back. It had been smart. Darcy hadn’t redacted the bit about Jane running over Thor in her SHIELD file. They were banking on Darcy being the more responsible one, especially considering that she was injured and have been the more cooperative one between the two of them; not screaming and acting out.

What they hadn’t counted on, however, was Darcy’s natural talent at chatting people up.

They reached a police checkpoint, where Darcy caught the attention of one of the guards. To anyone looking in, they looked like a group of women on a road trip. The agents had taken care to dress Darcy in a hoodie that hid the bruises on her upper body and jeans that chafed her wounded legs. They had even been kind enough to shove Darcy’s glasses on her face.

A dark-haired woman greeted them, speaking in a language neither Darcy nor Jane knew. It didn’t sound European, though Darcy was quick to think that she didn’t exactly know languages well enough to point out which was from where.

“Mind if I see some IDs?” The woman asked in heavily accented English.

The agents made a show of looking through their bags, while Darcy’s was conveniently tucked in the pocket of the visor. When she passed it off to the officer, Darcy let her finger graze the officer’s unnecessarily. At worst, the officer would think nothing of it and assume Darcy was simply attempting to be flirty; at best, she would be irritated and berate Darcy for touching her inappropriately—maybe even ask her to step out.

When nothing of the sort happened, Darcy knew she had to think fast. She couldn’t meet Jane’s gaze without also looking at the agents, but she needed to try something. Maybe she could ask to pee? Or—

“I think I need to use the ladies room,” Jane said, causing everyone to turn to her. “I forgot to pee before we left, and we haven’t had a pit stop…”

“You can pee when we get to our destination,” the agent to her left hissed, playing the role of annoyed friend well.

“Or she can do it here,” offered Darcy. “Maybe we could park somewhere and then Jane could just—”

A blonde approached the officer inspecting them, then, and Darcy felt her heart race.

“Everything alright?” She asked her fellow officer, looking through the IDs as well.

Darcy looked at the new officer, willing her to understand the situation somehow, but Darcy also knew it was now or never.

“HELP! Help us, please, these three aren’t our friends. They kidnapped us and we’ve been locked away for days now and—”

The agent in the passenger seat scoffed, “This isn’t funny, Darcy. I’m sure the officers wouldn’t like your little joke.”

“Ma’am, calm down, those are bold accusations to make.” The blonde cautioned, though the frown on her face gave Darcy some hope.

“I’m telling you the truth,” Darcy’s voice shook with her effort to calm herself down.

Jane wasn’t trying to calm down at all. “Our names are Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. We work with SHIELD and Stark Industries. Call any executive and they’ll tell you who we are!”

There was a loud bang and a scream. Darcy hadn’t even realized she’d been the one screaming until she was out of the car and huddled over Jane, who was nursing a stab wound  to the side.

It had been care of the agent that had been seated beside her, who in turn had been shot point blank by the blonde officer. The dark-haired one had quickkly trained a gun to the agent in the passenger seat, while calling for back up. The one on Jane’s other side had gotten out amidst the commotion, and dragged Jane out with her, effectively using Jane as a shield and aiming the gun at her head.

In a move that both awed and frightened Darcy, the blonde took her shot, killing the agent with a bullet in the middle of her forehead. Jane fell to the ground and Darcy scrambled to get to her.

The incident was easily and immediately covered up. SHIELD had been looking for them since their phones had gone off grid. There had already been intel about the possibilities of where they were at, and so various SHIELD agents had been deployed and positioned at nearby points of entry.

When, days later, they were situated and recovering in a shared room in a SHIELD facility, Darcy caught sight of Coulson talking to the blonde officer that had helped them out.

“Hey,” she called out, wanting to be careful not to wake Jane up.

Coulson and the woman turned to her at the same time.

“Thank you, Agent.”

“Carter.” The woman replied with a smile. “My name’s Sharon Carter. It’s nice to meet you, Darcy Lewis. Coulson says I shouldn’t let you see my boots.”

“Only if you steal iPods too.”

Late November of 2016, I got into a pretty bad car accident. At least, that’s what it says everywhere. What actually happened was Jane and I were on the run from a rogue group that had wanted to keep us hostage as some sort of bargaining chip against Thor. Of course, they had no idea that Thor hadn’t been around for about two years by then.

(excerpt from The True File of Darcy Lillian Lewis and Jane Foster: Rock)

“DARCY!”

The car that had been pursuing them slammed right into the passenger seat, causing them to skid off the road. Everything was a blur as Jane tried to get their car to start back up. The phone Darcy was holding rang uselessly, though Jane knew it was serving more as a homing beacon as opposed to a communication device.

When Jane had managed to get away once again, it was with the sound of gunshots speeding after them.

A helicopter flew overhead, and when they shot at Jane and Darcy’s attackers, Jane knew backup had arrived. She chanced a glance at Darcy, who remained unconscious. Without giving it much thought, she stopped the car and leaned over her to check for a pulse.

Upon finding none, Jane grabbed Darcy’s phone and was about to call 911 when an agent arrived at their car. Her uniform told them she was SHIELD, but all Jane cared about was that the woman already had a medical team on the way and had pulled Darcy out of the vehicle and began to perform CPR on her.

She stumbled out of the car, following her friend.

“Doctor Foster, my name is Maria Hill and I’m—”

“I don’t care where you’re from,” snapped Jane, whose eyes remained trained on Darcy, “Just save her.”

Hours later, Darcy would wake up in a hospital room she shared with Jane. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes, taking note of her friend in the other hospital bed, and of Gerry in an uncomfortable looking chair between them. As if sensing her return to consciousness, he looked up from the newspaper to meet her gaze.

“Oh thank god,” Gerry sighed, leaning over her to call a nurse over.

Darcy barely recalled much of what happened, but when she was finally more coherent, Jane and Gerry were there to fill in the blanks.

“I’m still listed as your emergency contact,” said Gerry in a somber tone. “A woman called me and told me to come here. Jane was pretty out of it because of her concussion even by the time I saw you two.”

“That was Hill.” Jane said helpfully. “She’s the one that helped us. You had no pulse and she pulled you out and gave you CPR and called for help. That’s about all I remember.”

Gerry hummed, thoughtful. She had suffered a heart attack amidst the crash and pursuit, which hadn’t been too surprising seeing as her father had died from it. Hill, or some other agent, had managed to get her heart beating by the time an ambulance had arrived for them. Upon her arrival at the hospital, however, an agent that was working with their pursuers had managed to inject a poison into her after mistaking her for Jane.

One of Hill’s agents were able to take down the assailant, but not before they had done their job, which meant the nurses having to run tests on Darcy to identify the toxin. By the time they’d found out about it, she’d gone into shock and flatlined for a full minute before they were able to administer the antidote as well as restart her heart.

“I died?” Darcy echoed, unsure what to feel. She looked at Gerry’s hand, which he had placed on hers.

“I thought we’d lost you, Darce’.” Gerry admitted with a squeeze of her hand.

She looked at Jane then, whose eyes haven’t left her figure.

“I love you.” Jane said, and all Darcy could do was smile.

“I love you.”

As you reach the end of this book, I hope you’ve come to your own conclusion about the type of person you are as I ask that you honor my few wishes.

These are as follows:

• Share only with family my history; and

Blood and water; only those of my line and those I’ve come to consider mine may know it as you do.

• Use my knowledge.

Make your own the work I’ve done. All notes and plans have been documented the best I could, both on paper and in the cloud. In the case of indecision or uncertainty, I leave the right to decide to Miss Potts or a two-third majority vote of the people listed below.

The list went on to enumerate both halves of the Avengers, including the newer recruits, as well as the team involved in researching the amendments of the Accords. As Pepper went through the list, she rewrote it on her own pad and also noted the current location of each individual.

I sign this as a testament to the truth behind all the information and experiences I’ve written here, unless otherwise stated.

Darcy Lillian Lewis

I attest to the truth of information that involves me research and my life.

Jane Emily Foster

On the bottom right corner of the page, words in blue ink caught Pepper’s attention.

These are the only copies that exist. Darcy had everything wiped as soon as it was printed.

Chapter Text

“Anyone mind cluing us in on why you’re all talking to a kid?”

Natasha stood by the door, arms crossed and hip cocked.

Jane carried on the conversation with Jeremy, “I’ll call you again in a few hours, okay, Jer? Now can you give the phone back to your dad?”

“Okay,” said the boy obediently. There was barely any shuffling as Gerry’s voice broke through once more.

“Everything alright, Jane?” There was a brief pause, and then, “Is Darcy alright?”

She could feel her eyes water, but she replied in a tone that brokered no argument, “Yeah, she’s deep under right now though. I just missed Jeremy and wanted to check up on him. You said Chris called too?”

Apparently, it wasn’t just Natasha listening in anymore. Everyone else had arrived, loitering in the hall.

“Yeah, she’s staying over for a few days. Should I expect you or Darce’ anytime soon?”

“No,” Jane assured him quickly. “We’re pretty swamped with everything right now, but I’ll call again soon when I hear from Darcy.” She closed her eyes, trying simply to get through the conversation without having a full breakdown. She could feel Sharon rubbing her back soothingly.

“Alright,” she could just envision Gerry nodding but not quite believing her. “Well, you know where to find us. And tell Darcy…”

Briefly, Jane thought about Steve. What could this sound like to him? And how had he even known about this?

“Tell Darcy we’re right here, and we love her.”

“Of course,” Jane replied before ending the call.

Then came the explanations. The entire group moved to the living area of the house, wanting answers. Jane told them about Gerry and Jeremy, and who they were to Darcy. She told them the general vicinity of where they were and why Darcy had sent them into hiding, leading into the story of Darcy and her kidnapping as well as the car accident that almost killed Darcy.

It definitely shed light on questions Steve has had, and prompted Natasha to attempt to poke holes at Jane’s story by stating supposed facts that were in SHIELD’s and Stark Industries’ files on both women. Jane then went on to explain Darcy’s hijacking of their files and the journals they’ve worked on, all of which could be verified by both Coulson and Fury. Tony asked about the said journals, worrying that such important information could fall into the wrong hands. The astrophysicist told them that Christine had the final draft and output, and that it was at her discretion who would receive it.

Loki felt his stomach curl as the lie left Foster’s lips. She knew where the journals were, or at least where Darcy’s sister would have sent it. He looked around the room, noting that none seemed suspicious of Foster. He stood behind the couch where Jane sat with Sharon and Selvig on either side of her. Only Steve and Shuri were seated in the other sofa across from them. Everyone else stood by and around them.

If he didn’t know better, Loki would think his brother’s former intended was being accused for something. She wasn’t though. No one in the room thought ill of Jane Foster. If anything, she had unintentionally salted the wound that had been left by Darcy’s disappearance. There were no tears shed, though it didn’t mean that no more would fall. If there was anything Loki knew nearly as well as his own inferiority complex, it was grief.

Where everyone had already known what Darcy meant to the changes they’d been trying to make to the world, they were now given insight into some of what had helped shape her into the woman everyone had come to know. In some sense, she was much like the woman Loki had once known. The thought had his attention turning to the one person in the room who knew of Sigyn.

Steve told the group of his own dreams, though not in so many details. He told them that he dreamt of Darcy whenever he held her hand or was simply in her room, that she’d been the one to tell him of Jeremy’s number in a bid to prove that she was the real Darcy. He said nothing of  Loki nor the Infinity Stone he had seen in one of those dreams. What he had witnessed in the final dream had felt too personal to share, even if Loki hadn’t been anyone’s favorite.

“And you?” Sharon asked then turning to look at the otherwise silent god. “How did you know about the phone?”

“She told me,” replied Loki simply. “When she and I had been in the other realm, she spoke of heartbreak at the hands of Jeremy.”

Jane hummed her agreement, “Sounds about right. Jeremy, to everyone else outside this room, is an ex boyfriend of Darcy’s. It was an easy enough coverup, seeing as we usually called Gerry, her ex, ‘Ger’, and it sounds exactly like ‘Jer’. Even when she was drunk as fuck, she’d stand by the alibi.”

Pepper stood in the living room, waiting for the conference call to come through.

“Pepper,” greeted Phil Coulson with a polite nod as his holograph appeared.

“Miss Potts.” Fury looked at her suspiciously. Somethings never changed.

“Pep!” Laura Barton beamed and waved.

“It’s Stark now,” replied Pepper with a small smile, which turned into a full grin when Fury rolled his eye.

“Are you sure you really want to be stuck with that overgrown child?”

“Sir, considering how long they’ve been together and all that Stark has done, we ought to just respect Pepper’s choice,” chided Phil. “Even if we don’t really understand it.” He joked.

“Now, I didn’t just call you to tell you about my new civil status.” Pepper tucked her hair behind her ear, “I’m here to tell you that Darcy’s dead.”

“Excuse me?” Fury looked absolutely livid. “Are you telling me the woman that effectively neutralized the biggest threat to humanity and one of our people on the ground—is dead?”

“What happened?” Phil unbuttoned his blazer and tucked his hands into his pants pockets. “How?”

“Apparently, Thanos isn’t really dead, and she managed to keep him at bay long enough to figure out how — long story short, the Avengers are back together and are working on it.”

“With my children,” Ramonda agreed as her figure appeared.

“So that’s it, then?” Fury grumbled. “You called us to let us know Lewis is dead and that we’re still apparently at war with someone out there who can destroy our planet with just a thought.”

“No,” Pepper countered smoothly. “I’m telling you that Darcy’s dead, but everything and everyone moves on as planned. I have her notes. I know what she wanted to do. I know everything else that she had a hand in.”

Laura, who had seemingly frozen in shock at the news, felt a few tears fall. “How is everyone?”

“They’re working through it.” Pepper decided against telling them more intimate details, like Quill’s and Wanda’s most recent actions.

“Alright then, let’s have it. What else did Lewis have in mind that we didn’t all already know about?”

The days felt like a blur as well as a drag to Steve. Nearly a week had passed since his shitty birthday, and everyone had taken to training until they were too exhausted to function. Sometimes, it felt as if the Avengers had been paused in a time where they felt only a mix of grief and anger. The threat of Thanos with an army was something they could direct their attention and lives to, if only to distract from the reality in which their lives had been effectively saved by Darcy Lewis.

Steve recalled his days in DC before HYDRA’s plant in SHIELD had fallen. He would run to begin his day, so that he could train or work the rest of the day. However, since his arrival in Wakanda, he’d found himself running around sunset, enjoying the change in temperature as well as the peace that the night afforded.

Bucky had thought that he would run or spar himself to death after Darcy’s disappearance, and had offered himself up as both companion and sparring partner. Steve surprised him by declining, wanting the silence of his mind if only because he felt much closer to Darcy whenever he was alone. Every night following their return to Wakanda had seen Steve ducking out for a walk after dinner. He never went too far, simply letting his feet take him where they may, but three of the five nights had found him by a lake.

He found himself in the same spot once again that night, though he was not alone.

Loki didn’t seem to notice him though, and Steve watched as the god used magic so that his clothes would disappear. Steve’s eyes widened, caught between knowing he ought to leave and wanting to stay. He averted his eyes, because he should, but looked back at Loki again with the reasoning of, it’s not something I haven’t seen before.

Pale skin the same shade of his face covered his lean physique, dusted with sparse dark hair that thickened from his V to the base of his soft cock. Loki’s hair was no longer slicked back, falling to his shoulders and hiding his face from where Steve stood, to Loki’s eight o’clock. He reminded Steve of the old days — of Bucky. Only briefly though.

The god continued on, unflinching as he entered the water. Steve hadn’t even realized he’d attempted to go after Loki until he nearly tripped over some wayward roots.

For his part, Loki remained unaware of Steve, eyes open but unseeing. It had been so long since he had last let his magic enjoy the environment. There had been a time when Frigga had helped him hone his abilities, having alway been a powerful seiðr-wielder in her own right. It was after all how she had managed to keep his Aesir skin for such an indefinite amount of time without so much as his knowledge — and to the point that his own magic saw it as his reality.

The last time he had done so had been nearly a century ago, when he’d found himself finally accepting Sigyn’s death. Now able to look back, he couldn’t help but think that it had been far too long. If he looked deeper into himself, he would be able to draw a correlation to his brash actions and unmanaged emotions to the lack of center he had had with his magic. Again, the thought of the Destroyer he’d sent to New Mexico killing Darcy flittered through his mind.

He had come to accept that plenty of the things that he had done would be irredeemable and unforgivable. It was one of the reasons he had come to accept his brother’s rightful place as king. Thor had since proven himself not only humble and powerful, but willing to do whatever it took for his people. Loki marveled at Thor’s strength in character more than his physical power. After all, power can be taken and honed, but character was innate and built by a person themselves. He truly looked up to Thor, who would have loved to see this change in Loki. His brother had always seen the best in him, even when Loki himself was unable to.

Apart from perhaps Sigyn, Thor had been the one to see and confront Loki for his transgressions without totally closing his mind to the possibility that Loki was more than his bad decisions.

Back to the task at hand, Loki remained calmly surrounded by Midgard’s waters. He might not have done it in a long time, but oh how he remembered the taste of freedom when his own magic became one with the land. Movement around him told him that the lake was filled with life, but nothing could break his peaceful bubble.

Other than when trying to commune with nature, Loki recalled the one of the times he had felt true peace and contentment.

It was a beautiful day; perfect for a stroll. He left his brother and their friends to their own amusement, opting to seek out someone else to keep him company. Thor and his band of warriors were great in combat, but absolutely barbaric in civil life. Often, Loki found himself gravitating towards the people of the land — neither of court nor council, simply Aesir. For as intellectual as the people at court were, Loki could only tolerate them for so long.

There was no mistaking that they all saw him as a prince before they saw him as person, and as much as he liked the position of power, he disliked the insincerity that it cultivated in the people around him. He thanked the gods for giving him magic, and his mother for helping him wield it.

With a small smile, he changed his visage into a shorter man with chestnut hair and darker eyes. He walked through the city, greeting people as he went, known to them as a stable boy in the palace. Plenty spoke to him about their day-to-day problems as well as asked about how he was doing. This was one of the reasons he wanted to be the next king. Who better to lead the people than someone who’s managed to be on par with them?

Where Thor was off winning battles and acting the larger-than-life figure that he was perceived to be, Loki had been getting to know their subjects on a more personal level. He figured that though the likelihood of him ascending the throne was near impossible with Thor alive and well, he might as well be useful as an advisor to his brother. He bid his friends farewell after a while, knowing there was someone waiting for him.

A quick duck into a path that led to the forest and he was walking to a familiar clearing. As expected, she was already there.

“My prince,” Sigyn bowed deeply, much to Loki’s endless amusement. The one woman he preferred to worship as opposed to be worshipped by, was the very same one who treated him as the prince he was.

“Lady Sigyn, I do believe such formalities ought to be done away with now that our courtship is coming to an end.” He offered her his arm, and she took it without thought as they began their sunset routine of walking the lands of Asgard.

“I’m no princess yet, kærr.” They took a different route to that he’d taken, so much so that it would take them quite a while to return to the castle.

“No,” Loki agreed, “But the gods of Old have blessed you as a goddess in your own right.” He raised her hand and pressed his lips against her knuckles. “My future wife, the Goddess of Fidelity.” He shifted back to his normal features before the city came into view.

“Let no one question my faith to you, God of Mischief,” she smiled. “I vow to serve our land and our people; that Asgard might continue to flourish and bless us for millennia.”

The city was still a bit away, and Loki paused to hold his fiancée’s face in both his hands.

“I have nothing to give that Asgard does not already have.” Sigyn told him; as if he needed reminding.

“All I’d ever wish from you is your love, hjarta (heart).” He pressed his lips against her forehead, and they both savored the moment.

Sigyn couldn’t help the smile that quirked her lips as she looked up at her husband-to-be. How lucky was she that a friend she’d made as a child and grown to love in their adolescence and adulthood, would come to be her husband? She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his neck, enjoying the intimacy of the moment.

Bright blue eyes gazed at her husband, face covered in chestnut-colored facial hair. They stood in a forest unfamiliar to Sigyn, under the light of a moon that was not Asgard’s. Despite standing quite a ways apart, Sigyn could feel the thrum of affection between them. There was an intimacy that echoed the same moment she was sharing with Loki, but a depth and somberness her own current interaction lacked. It was as if they knew of love and how they felt for each other, but couldn’t quite reconcile them as being one and the same.

With a giggle, she stepped away from Loki, looking forward to their life together. She didn’t have as strong a gift for the threads of Fate as Frigga, but there was no mistaking when the gods of Old blessed those of the living with Sight.

“I love you, Loki.”

“As I love you, hjarta. Before all the realms, forever shall our souls be tied.”

Steve watched as the top of Loki’s head disappeared underwater. He began a count in his head, taking note of how long the god had gone under.

Eighty-three, eighty-four, eighty-five—

The lake remained still, and Steve crouched on the shore, leg shaking in an anxious habit he’s come to have since shedding the Captain America name. Bucky had pointed it out when they’d had dinner during his recovery. Their time as wanted criminals had turned Steve restless, and though he still went on missions with SHIELD, he had begun to question whether or not he really did know what was best.

He looked back out on the lake.

There was no reason to worry though, was there? Loki wasn’t some villain to look out for; not anymore. He was probably out for some peace, having spent his days helping Jane and training with them. It was understandable that he would seek solace.

One-two-one, one-two-two, one-two-three—

Were gods given better lung capacity? Was it normal to be able to go for so long underwater? In all honesty, Steve wasn’t entirely sure what constituted as normal for regular humans, but surely, at least bubbles should have popped up.

One-nine-eight, one-nine-nine, two-oh-oh—

Loki had looked decidedly calm (and naked) when he went in. It was like he was in a trance, with how silent and smooth he had moved.

Come to think of it, Loki hadn’t seemed as if anything that had happened recently was truly affecting him. And while it could be argued that of everyone, it was only Jane that had seemed visibly affected, there was no mistaking the difference in which everyone operated. There was no one bawling (even Jane had stopped since the first day), but no one attempted to hide the bags that have taken permanent residence under everyone’s eyes. Only Loki had remained looking the same since he had arrived. Then again, Steve had seen Loki lose his cool in that other realm, hadn’t he?

Just because Loki didn’t let anyone see it, didn’t mean he hadn’t felt the pain of Darcy’s disappearance.

Two-seven-six, two-seven-seven, two-seven-eight—

Steve took off his shoes, socks, and shirt, just in case. Thinking about it though, he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. He squatted low then stood up again. The need to do something was great; he just didn’t know what exactly.

Three-three-four, three-three-five, three-three-six—

It’s been well over five minutes…

Had Sigyn known then the turn their lives would have taken? Loki knew that even if she had, she wouldn’t have said anything. Just like Frigga, his wife had a knack for wanting what was best for him, and seeing as he was still alive…

That would have constituted as ‘best’, wouldn’t it?

Loki watched as the raft carrying their deceased warriors began to burn. They had only been able to do this for those that had died on Asgard. Those that had died in one of the other realms were burned at a pyre, to be reunited with their brethren in Valhalla.

He clutched the soft cloth that would have been their son’s blanket. To his right stood the queen, whose hand remained on his arm in a gesture of comfort. There were those that openly wept at the loss of their people, but Loki was one of those whose gaze never left the rafts.

“She will welcome you in Valhalla, brother,” said Thor in an odd moment of sober contemplation. “Until then, we have a war to win and our lives left to live.”

This was the brother he would support as king. Outside of battle, and when his family needed him most, Thor was not so much larger-than-life than he was usually perceived to be. Loki would be the first to call his brother irritating and far too sure of himself, but he wasn’t always. It was those moments of compassion that endeared him to Loki deeply.

Thor had been one of the biggest supporters of his and Sigyn’s courtship. Where their father had wanted another realm’s noble to secure political connections, their mother had advocated for Loki’s right to choose; and when push came to shove, Thor had reasoned that as his advisor, Loki would do better to be with someone of Aesir origin, that the people would know it was their best interests that the Crown would protect.

“She was with child,” murmured Loki, surprising his brother. He had a feeling their parents had already known, and to think that they had and still let Sigyn fight…

His big brother said nothing, clapping his back and keeping an arm around Loki.

“May their deaths be not in vain.” Loki held out the cloth. “May their ashes rise to protect Asgard, just as they themselves had.”

The blanket glowed, a blue-gold combination that was Loki’s magic. It floated to the sailing pyres, and exploded upon contact. Instead of showering the people though, the ashes flew to the skies, creating another layer to the barrier around Asgard, and providing another means of protection to the land.

Three-nine-nine, four-oh-oh, four-oh-one.

Steve took off his sweatpants, leaving him in his underwear. Without letting himself second-guess his actions, he ran into the water and dove when he was deep enough. Only the moonlight offered any means of seeing, and even with his enhanced eyesight, it was still a difficult feat. He had mentally marked where Loki had stopped though, and when he dove deeper, he saw the faint glow of a humanoid form.

He propelled himself closer, and when he was close enough, he was able to observe the being that must have been Loki. The god was glowing a bright blue, though various other colors wrapped around his body. The most prominent lines were the gold and black that fit securely around him.

What was this?

Loki didn’t seem bothered at all, eyes still open. He was floating in the same position Strange usually did while meditating, from what Steve recalled.

The Man With The Plan hooked his arm across the god’s chest before hauling both of their weights to the surface. He didn’t know what he expected. Maybe some struggling or even cursing at him for disturbing Loki’s meditation?

When they broke through, Steve heaved a breath and swam to shore. Loki remained unmoving, but Steve noted that Loki’s weight didn’t seem to be quite right. Steve felt that Loki seems far too light for his physique.

By the time they reached land, Steve left Loki lying on his back. The god took shallow breaths, back in his normal human-looking skin. It seemed that Loki wasn’t done though, as his body shifted from pale to blue and darker. Lines and ridges covered his form, and his hair grew a few inches longer.

Vaguely, Steve recalled that Loki wasn’t the same as Thor; that he had been taken in by Thor’s father as a hostage of sorts to keep Loki’s people in line.

Was this the truth of what Loki was?

He reached out to the unconscious man — Jotun, he remembered Thor (or maybe Jane) saying — to see if there was some way he could help. His fingertips grazed Loki’s skin, following a line that went up his arm. Steve stopped when he reached Loki’s shoulder, suddenly finding the gesture too intimate.

“Higher and you would have been able to strangle me again.”

Startled, Steve pulled his hand back.

“What brings you here, Captain?” The timbre of the voice was deeper than Loki’s, and garbled as if it went through a voice modulator of some sort.

He was going to respond, really. I always come here. It was on the tip of his tongue, ready to be delivered followed by more explanations that would't actually be needed. He just needed to get his brain to start working again.

“He’s still there,” Steve heard in his mind. “What does he want from me?”

“Nothing,” he found himself replying. “I don’t want anything from you.”

Loki opened his eyes, a shade of scarlet that reminded Steve of both rubies and blood. Despite looking ahead (and refusing to meet Steve’s gaze), Loki was highly aware of his companion’s every movement.

“Can I really hear what you’re thinking?”

“What do you think, Captain?”

Steve shivered, though unsure if it were from the cool breeze and his mostly wet and naked body or at the intimacy of hearing Loki speak directly into his mind. “You don’t seem bothered by it.”

“It is hardly of any consequence to me.” Loki closed his eyes and exhaled, slowly returning to his Asgarian form. “It would cease soon enough, unless…” He pulled himself to a sitting position, and was amused when Steve instinctively leaned away to keep some distance between them. Then again, Loki closed his eyes, looking down at where the Captain’s hand rested by his thigh.

“Unless?” Steve prompted, shifting his weight so that he could sit down. Though he made no mention of it, he was well aware of how naked he and Loki were. Both their skin glistened, and he felt once again as if he were on the outside looking in, with how calmly Loki moved and acted.

“A tale for another time,” Loki replied out loud, opening his eyes once more and meeting Steve’s curious gaze. With a wave of his hand, Steve’s discarded clothes disappeared from where he’d left them and appeared in Loki’s hand. “Perhaps you ought to clothe yourself lest you find yourself cold.”

Another shiver ran down Steve’s spine, though this time he knew it had nothing to do with the environment. He took his garments, unintentionally grazing Loki’s skin with his fingertips.

Without another word, Loki left Steve, disappearing in a flash of blue light.

If he hadn’t still been wet, Steve would have chalked the entire interaction as a figment of his imagination. As it were, he knew it was real. It was no dream. He just wished he knew what Loki had been talking about. Would he really have to deal with constantly hearing Loki’s thoughts?

The following day, everyone was gathered in the room they kept the Mind Stone, because once again, there was a divide amongst the people. There were those that wanted it destroyed, and there were those that wanted to keep it. Unsurprisingly, Tony and Steve were on opposing sides once again; though the rest of their companions were shuffled around.

Loki stood by Jane, a position he’s come to constantly find himself in. She was siding with Tony in wanting to keep the Stone for further study and use. From what Loki could tell, all the scientists were for keeping the Stone, along with Parker, Barnes, and the Witch. On the other side of the argument were Steve, Romanoff, Wilson, Barton, Quill, and Carter.

On neither side stood Strange, Vision, King T’Challa and Princess Shuri, though Loki had to admit that even he weren’t too inclined to lean to the other side. Then again, he probably knew the Stones best among these mortals. He knew the Stones better than the people here, but Darcy would know them best. In the time since he had left her in that other realm, she could have done more. She would have meant more.

“There is so much we can do with the Stone,” Selvig said, in a rehash of a discussion they’ve been having for two hours now.

“I saw what the Stone had to offer, same as you,” Clint countered. “No one should have that kind of power.”

“There will always be power to be held and wielded,” Vision cut in. “It will always be up to the wielder to dictate whether it ought to be used for right or wrong.”

“You agreed that it ought to be destroyed,” Steve prompted.

“When there was no other choice.” Vision agreed. “Now, we have the opportunity to do better.”

“And what is better?” Stark squinted at the JARVIS-come-to-life humanoid. “You’re standing firmly in the middle, but we need concrete suggestions here. We’re gearing up for war. There’s no time to even pretend to be a pacifist.”

Vision was unfazed by Stark’s supposed jab. “We throw it out — keep it away from the fight.”

“And risk it falling into the wrong hands?” Wanda, much to everyone’s surprise, was the first to speak up. “We might as well keep it and use it to our advantage.”

“I can’t help but agree with emo Sabrina on this one,” said Stark, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If there’s anyone we can hope to use this for the right reasons, then it’s us.”

“Unless we get rid of it,” Natasha raised her chin, unwilling to back down. “We all know what it means to be a weapon as well as to hold one that can change everything — who are we to decide we know what’s best for an entire planet?”

“I dare say no one ought to have as much power as you seem to think we’d wield with the Stone.” Strange, who had been been silently keeping track of the conversation, piped up from his place by Stark.

“You’re implying that the Stone isn’t as powerful as we think?” Shuri clarified, crossing her arms.

“I’m saying,” said Strange slowly. “There are other Infinity Stones out there. It isn’t one over the other. They’re all meant to work together, and should we possess one, another would be able to keep it in check.”

“And where do we get another Infinity Stone?” Clint scoffed. “We have this because Darcy somehow gave it to us. Who knows where the others could be?”

Steve might have imagined it, but he saw Strange’s eyes dart to Loki’s direction. He stopped himself short of doing the same, not wanting to hint at the fact that there was actually someone in the room in possession of an Infinity Stone. For a second, Steve thought he would hear Loki’s voice in his mind once again, but there was only silence.

“Either way,” Jane spoke up then, tense and tired. “We can’t just bank on one specific method of keeping an Infinity Stone in line, so to speak. I want to keep it for all the possibilities that it could help us achieve, but even I’m not going to say we are the best people to keep it — or that we are the extreme authority over it.”

Loki met Strange’s gaze, “While I am loathe to admit that I agree with some of your magic-wielder’s sentiments, he does pose a fair point that the possession of one gem does not equate to supreme power. I would think you all realize that even the possession of two do not a supreme being make.” He recalled his attempt at taking over Earth, feeling as if it had been an entirely different life ago. “I would like to point out, however, that good practice for keeping the gem would dictate that it be kept in a container that could effectively harness its energy — like my scepter had been, or the tesseract had done for the Space Stone.”

Quill nodded in agreement, “Regular humans — a lot of species, actually — can’t hold an Infinity Stone with their bare hands. Even when I was half celestial, I needed my friends to hold on so that the Power could be distributed.”

“Yes, I realized that as well, which is why I’ve kept it encased in my magic or Vision holds it.” Wanda assured everyone.

“Is there anything specific we need to know about the container?” Tony asked. “I assume the dimensions are for as long as the Stones fit, and it should be able to focus the power the Stone has, so at least we still have the notes from when we had the Scepter—”

“Yes, I’ve taken that and incorporated some of my own design suggestions,” Shuri flicked her hand, and a holographic 3D model of her suggestion appeared in the middle of the room.

“If we keep it,” Steve stood, regaining everyone’s attention. “We need to make sure Thanos never gets it.” He looked at Tony, “We can’t wait for him to arrive. This time, we take the fight to him.”

“As soon as we know where he is,” agreed Tony. “Until then, we need to train and look for backup.”

Steve nodded, letting his eyes wander from Tony, to Sharon, then Natasha, and Clint. It was time to get Fury involved.

Later that night, Loki stood with everyone in Shuri’s control room. Everyone had been alerted to the Guardians’ calling them. There was an undeniable tension in the air, and a part of Loki reveled in the chaos that could unravel before him.

The Guardians’ holographic forms came into view, and everyone stood in attention.

“We have landed in Vormir and bring wonderful news,” said Thor, beaming. “Peter Quill, I present to you—”

Green skin, red hair and dark eyes manifested by his side, and though a part of Peter rejoiced, the weight of Gamora’s and Vision’s lives weighed heavily against what it had meant for Darcy. Everyone must have thought the same, as proof of Quill’s words stood by their fellow Avenger.

In proving the truth of Quill’s alibi also came the reality of Darcy’s death. It was something those that had known her would have done without. Jane’s eyes had already began to water.

“She remembers not all that had happened, but rest assured, we will tell her of all that has—”

“Thor,” Jane cut him off, voice sure yet soft.

The change in Thor was immediate. For all the time that they had spent apart, and despite having broken up, there was no mistaking that the pair cared deeply for each other still. Soulmates if Loki had ever seen one. After all, there had been no one else that inspired Thor the same way Jane had when they had first met. However, Jane might have been Thor’s lady love, but Darcy had been his sister. If there was anyone best suited to tell Thor about Darcy, it would have been Jane.

It didn’t even need to be said.

“Where is my sister?”

“Thor,” Jane repeated, eyes closing as she felt her resolve crumble. Not another tear had fallen since the night of Darcy’s disappearance (she refused to call it her death), as she had thrown herself into building the Bridge. However, looking at Thor, someone who knew best what Darcy had been and meant to Jane; who called her Sister (and that thought led to the reminder that Christine had yet to be informed) just as Jane did, caused her tears to escape their ducts.

Jumping immediately to the right conclusion, Thor grit his teeth and asked once again, though addressing everyone else this time. “What has happened to Darcy?”

“She’s gone,” admitted his love. “Come home, Thor.” She said, wiping at the tears that fell. “Darcy’s gone and you need to come back.”

They heard thunder rumble, though Wakanda’s skies remained clear. Mantis and Drax started, letting those on Earth know that wherever the Guardians were, Thor’s abilities was beginning to affect their surroundings.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Gamora asked. “The last time I saw her,” she met Loki’s stoic gaze, “You were protecting her. What happened? You swore you wouldn’t let anything happen to her!”

Nebula stepped in to hold her sister and pull her away (and out of view), Everyone heard how Gamora became hysteric faintly. Some turned to Loki, mostly curious and some accusing, but Jane and Thor remained looking only at each other.

“We shall return as soon as we are able.” Thor took a step forward, as if to walk to Jane, but stopped short, realizing it would be futile. “Gamora had been unconscious when we had found her on Vormir. We had only just revived her an hour before contacting you. We had hoped to catch her up before flying to three more destinations and then returning to Midgard.”

There was a pause, and when Thor spoke next, it was a surprise to everyone how clear his voice sounded despite the rumble of thunder in the background.