Work Text:
New York – Present Day
Darcy Lewis woke up suddenly in the darkness and she sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A quick glance at the digital clock on her nightstand showed that it was three a.m. A faint whimper from down the hall alerted her to what had interrupted her sleep. Loki. A second whimper, louder this time, followed the first.
Shoving back the covers Darcy reached for the pair of black yoga pants she kept next to her bed. Sliding them on, she padded on bare feet out of her room and across the hall to the door that led to Loki’s bedroom. She could hear his voice, low and hoarse crying out ‘No!’ and wished she had the temerity to walk in and soothe him, but she didn’t think he’d appreciate anyone seeing him in such a vulnerable state.
The sounds continued and Darcy’s heart ached for him as she sat cross-legged in front of the doorway. She would wait as she had for the past year for his nightmare to pass before returning to her room. It was an odd situation she found herself in. She certainly would not have thought it possible to feel such concern for Loki given that a year ago he had come with ruthless vengeance and an alien army in an attempt to rule the world. Then again, living with two space princes was something she hadn’t ever thought would happen either.
Darcy leaned her head back against the door. His whimpering had quieted down some but hadn’t gone away completely. She wondered exactly what his punishment from Odin had been. Or perhaps he dreamt of Thanos. Thor had been quite candid with both Darcy and Jane when he had returned to New York City. After the invasion with the Chitauri, Thor and Loki had returned to Asgard. Loki had been sentenced and punished. When Jane had asked what Loki’s punishment was, Thor had looked at her with pain in his eyes but refused to answer. Darcy and Jane could only speculate about what passed for punishment in Asgard.
Thor had requested asylum through S.H.I.E.L.D for himself and Loki in exchange for their knowledge and future help. S.H.I.E.L.D. had readily agreed, even letting Thor and Loki reside with Jane and Darcy so long as Thor took responsibility for all of Loki’s actions. The other Avengers put up a fuss, especially Clint, and Thor ran himself ragged trying to explain that Loki was not truly evil. Darcy had just shrugged, not fond of the situation but willing to go along for the sake of Jane and Thor, her friends.
From the beginning, Loki was sullen and withdrawn. He was polite when the situation called for it, but he rarely instigated any kind of conversation. In fact, it took three months before he used Darcy’s first name when speaking with her. Having him call her Miss Lewis unsettled her, especially in that low, accented voice of his. It did funny things to her, and Loki and funny things were not exactly something she wanted to examine too closely. Instead, she focused on trying to be his friend.
Lately, Loki had taken to speaking with her on all manner of things, though her eclectic taste in music was a favorite topic for both of them. On rare occasion he spoke of his mother. Always briefly, and always in such a way that Darcy knew not to press for the answer. She felt bad for Thor, who patiently waited for the day Loki would call him brother again, but at the same time she was pleased that Loki felt comfortable enough to talk with her at all.
As her mind filled with thoughts of Loki, Darcy felt herself slumping over even further. She stretched and let out a giant yawn. All thoughts of returning to her bed drifted away as she curled up on the floor and slid off into slumber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Loki woke up in a cold sweat, heart pounding and hands already drawing out defensive magic before he realized he was no longer held captive by Thanos. Using a technique the quiet Dr. Banner taught him a few months ago, Loki centered himself by focusing on the objects he was surrounded by. First the bed, then the side table and lamp. He concentrated on those before expanding his attention to the rest of the room. As he did so he breathed deeply, inhaling air to a count of eight and exhaling to a count of eight. In a matter of minutes, Loki felt calm.
He reached over and snapped on the light, bathing the room in a soft glow. A glance at the clock on the small table revealed that it was about 3:15 in the morning. Sleep would not come again this night, so Loki grabbed a pair of black shorts resting at the foot of the bed. He padded softly across the carpet to the small bathroom attached to his room and splashed some water on his face.
A sound near his door caused him to frown. Thor and Jane and Darcy should be abed at this time. Quickly he wiped his face and walked through the room and opened the door. His frown gave way to confusion when he noticed Darcy asleep at his feet.
What in the Hel is this? He wondered, partly relieved that it wasn’t Thor standing there, looking for a brotherly chat.
Loki squatted down and placed a hand on her shoulder. Shaking gently, he tried to rouse her.
“Darcy, wake up.” She sighed but gave no indication she heard him. “Darcy, you must go back to your bed.” He shook a little harder this time.
“Mm, gotta check on Loki,” she mumbled before rolling to her other side.
Loki was confused. Check on him? Why would she need to do that? And why was she so difficult to wake up?
He assessed the situation and the options he had. There weren’t many. He couldn’t leave her on the floor. So he was either going to bring her back to her room or bring her into his. He had just decided to carry her back to her room when he heard movement from Thor and Jane’s room. Not wanting to be caught in this position he quickly scooped up Darcy, gently kicked the door closed behind him, and placed her in his bed.
She never even stirred.
Loki stood at the side of the bed staring down at the way her hair was fanned across his pillow and the peaceful expression on her face. Her beauty in this moment awed him in ways he hadn’t let himself feel in ages. But it went so much deeper than that.
Unlike the others here on Thor’s precious Midgard, Darcy had looked past her own anger at him and saw the damaged soul that he was. And it had not frightened her away. Instead she had nudged and prodded and tapped at him until he gave in and started responding to her inane conversations. The ease with which she spoke baffled him. Anyone else might have gone screaming in the other direction.
Not Darcy. She just rolled on and he had come to look forward to the moments when they could speak without Thor or Jane around. He found himself mentioning his mother from time to time before he even realized what he was doing. And then he began to question her. About everything. Her likes and dislikes, Midgard’s history, and most often the music she kept on the little device she called an iPod.
Her intelligence gained his respect. Her form gained his speculative glances whenever she wasn’t looking. And her smiles were like the sun after years of being locked away in the darkness.
Apparently she knew of his nightmares for a while now. Why else would she be outside his door at three in the morning? The very idea that she would get out of her cozy bed just to check on him, made the heart he swore he didn’t have ache.
He could rage against all the unfairness that was heaped upon him, but a tiny sliver of himself knew that without it, he would never have known she existed. And he couldn’t imagine not knowing her at all now, despite the act he kept up for the sake of Thor and the Avengers.
A small sigh escaped his mouth as he bent over to cover her with the blankets. He adjusted them around her and glanced at her face again. He was startled to find her watching him with sleepy eyes.
“Hey, Mischief,” she said in a voice husky with tiredness. Darcy tried not to ogle the shirtless Loki in front of her, but it was hard. He was all lean, corded muscle and she wanted nothing more than to pull him closer. “How’d I get in here?” Loki took the opportunity to sit at her hip. He planted one hand next to her opposite hip to lean on while spoke with her.
“You fell asleep outside my door, sweet girl,” he replied softly, eyes running over her face. She smiled at his endearment and Loki felt his chest constrict. Damn, but he was already in way over his head.
“You had the nightmare again.” Her words were a statement and needed no response from him, so he just nodded.
Giving in to the need to touch, Darcy let her hand come up to touch his cheek. “You need more sleep.”
Loki leaned into her hand, letting the warmth of her caress seep into him. “I’ve had enough sleep.”
“Your eyes, pretty as they are, Mischief, tell a different story.” Loki used his free hand to grasp hers. He laid a soft kiss on her palm before placing her hand down on the bed.
Darcy felt the heat from that tiny kiss all the way to her toes. Oh, he was so going to make up for that at a later date. For now though, she needed rest and so did he, so she patted the empty space next her.
“Lay down, Loki, you don’t have to face the night alone anymore.” She was guileless in her ways, which made the sudden lump in Loki’s throat hard to swallow. Her eyes held his and he knew she meant what she said.
“Darcy…” he pleaded, but for what he didn’t know.
Somehow, though, Darcy knew. Without words she scooted over to make room for him then gave a gentle tug on his arm. There was no fight in Loki. Not against her and so he did as she wanted.
Once he was settled in, Darcy rested her head on his chest and they wrapped their arms around one another. It only took a minute for the woman at his side to fall sleep. It only took another thirty seconds for Loki to decide that this moment would be the one he’d look back on and reflect on how the night had lost its ability to leave him cold and alone.