Dry your eyes
Little girl.
The battle
Is far from over.
The night
Has just begun.

"You are marked as a disciple… as my disciple…"

When Loki's fingers touched the mark on her throat, she audibly gasped from the sensation. The only comparison she had for that moment was that she felt as if she was touching an exposed wire, a charge spreading through her body like an uncontrolled wildfire. Her fingers clenched tightly into fists at her side, nails digging into the palms of her hands.

The sensation was not unpleasant, though. She vaguely wondered if it was supposed to feel okay, or if she was discovering some dormant, masochistic tendencies. Either option was a possibility in her case, if she was being honest. And the fact that he seemed to be reacting the same as her did not help because she honestly would not be surprised if he turned out to be a masochist as well.

As his fingers began to move, slipping to wrap around her throat, the pair was broken from their trance by the sharp whistle behind them.

"Hey, you, Mr. War Criminal!" Tony snapped in his usual way, though with a little more bite in his tone. "Stop with the hypnotism bullshit and hands off the intern!"

The fingers suddenly pulled away from her throat, and as his gaze tilted from her own to presumably Tony over her shoulder. His eyes shifted from cool and assessing to hard and fiery, glinting in a dangerous way that sent ice through her veins. She found herself scrambling backward from the Trickster God, her eyes wide and hands trembling, though she could not bring herself to turn away from him. She just backpedaled till she hit another body, assuming it was the Captain due to how sturdy he felt against her back, his hands resting protectively on her shoulders.

The motion only caused the fire in Loki's eyes to darken, but though his eyes screamed of possessive anger, his face only read amused mockery, a sharp smirk planted on his face. "My, my, Stark. Are you concerned that she might enjoy the pull of our mark?"

Our. For some reason, that word rung out loud in her mind, echoing off the walls of her skull. The word had not crossed her mind in regards to the mark: the only references she had heard to it had been in the sense that marks belonged to just the patrons, a deep sense of ownership and just something that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Our…" The word rolled off her tongue before she could stop herself, curiosity scrawled across her face.

Loki's expression chipped away, a calmer glint to his eyes as he shifted his gaze back to her. His body seemed to relax minutely, his smirk with less edge to it. "Is that such a surprise?" His head tilting in a way that was supposed to be disarming, but came across as predatory, he pointedly stated, "I was under the impression that you knew what the mark around your throat was."

She tried to shrug in a casual way, but the shaking in her hand and the way her fingers tapped on her leg just ruined any illusion of calm. "I'm used to patrons referring to the marks as 'my mark'."

Understanding crossed his face. "I am not one of those brutes who would assume ownership over others."

The Captain spoke up. "I distinctly remember a conversation with you in Germany where you were commanding a group of people to kneel for you."

"Followed by your failed attempt at conquering Earth," Tony chimed in with a very amused tone.

Loki scowled. "Do not presume to know my intentions back on Earth."

"Yeah," Tony drawled out. "The whole 'freedom is a lie' speech kind of gave us a good look at your intentions."

"You know nothing."

"As amusing as it would be to watch you two bicker," Natasha chimed in pointedly. "We came here for a reason, and I don't believe we have a lot of time."

"Ever the practical one," Loki mused, grinning in a not so pleasant way. "Am I correct to assume that you came here to do more than just flaunt Lady Darcy in front of me?"

Darcy took that as a cue to speak up. "Umm, well I just… wanted to talk… to you?"

He watched her, head tilting as he seemed to assess her as she fidgeted under his gaze, her hand tapping on her thigh. "You wished to speak to me?"

"We share a mark," she replied, trying to build up more confidence. "I wanted to learn more about you to figure out why."

His gaze drifted away. "Does it disgust you that much to share a mark with myself?"

"Uh… no?..." Even with the hesitancy in her voice, he could clearly hear the honesty in it. "I'm just curious. All I know about you is kind of biased… a little justified in bias… but yeah." Shaking her head at her own rambling, she added, "I just want to form my own opinion of you."

He remained quiet, staring at her with a blank expression. Darcy began to wonder if she had said something wrong or if she should try to poke the conversation back to life. Then, as if wanting to lead the conversation, he asked, "Do you have any other marks?"

She slowly nodded.

He held out his chained hands. "May I see them?"

She moved to take a step forward, but the hands on her shoulders tightened. "You can show him from here, Darcy."

The darkness in his eyes returned, and Loki practically spat his words. "Do you think I would harm her? Here, as I stand before you in chains?"

Natasha cooly remarked, "Forgive us for being paranoid about the earlier display."

Loki rolled his eyes. "It is simply a side effect of the marks. I would have assumed that oaf would have explained to you…" Shaking his head in a disgusted manner, he snipped, "When a patron touches their mark, energy is exchanged. It helps alleviate the drain."

Stark chimed in from behind. "We've already got the drain issue under control-OUCH."

His words were cut off as widow's heel stomped heavily on his toes, her face never flinching while Tony hopped on one foot, staring at her with an incredulous look on his face.

Tilting his head curiously, Loki took a step forward. "So you've begun to have issues with the drain?" His brows furrowed together as he turned his attention to her. "And how long have you been marked?"

She really should have kept her mouth shut, but she found herself blurting out a very obvious lie. "Not long! Not long at all. Just a short amount of time!" Swallowing nervously, she squeaked out a quiet, "Very short…"

His eyes narrowed. "How. Long."

"Five days," Natasha said smoothly.

Loki barked out a contemptuous lie. "I am the God of Lies for a reason, Widow." Grinning in a dangerous way, he added, "You may be able to fool mortals, but never me. So, tell me… how long?"

"We are nearing three Midgardian weeks."

The loud, booming voice caught most of the group off guard, sans Natasha and Loki. The Trickster, though, likely only appeared to not be caught off guard due to the moment of rage which overtook him as Thor approached.

"What?!" His voice was not as loud as Thor's, but the outrage and pure wrath which snarled through his tone was enough to make up for it. He stared at his brother with such utter hatred that Darcy found herself melting farther backward into Steve. "How could her life be put at risk for this long?" Barking out a bitter laugh, he asked, "Does your contempt for me run so deep that you would let one of your precious mortals suffer just to get back at me?"

As he reached Loki, Thor angrily bellowed, "Must you always presume everything to be a slight against you?!"

"Then what is it, dearest brother." The tone was mocking, egging out Thor's emotions. "Is it because you do not truly care for the wellbeing of mortals, just your mortal." Laughing bitterly, he snapped, "Just admit it: other mortals are expendable to you unless they are in your bed. You truly only care for that whore-"

The Captain yelled out protests, drawing the brothers' attention, only in time to see Darcy run up to Loki, her face twisted into an angry scowl. No one could react quick enough as she drew her arm back, swinging it around as hard as she possibly could connect her palm with Loki's cheek.

The smacking sound echoed throughout the hall, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Breathing heavily, Darcy still managed in her angry haze to point a finger in his face, her face bright red. "Don't you ever, and I mean ever refer to Jane as a whore again, you egotistical fucking prick!" Not being able to stop herself, she shoved his chest, which in his shock, he stumbled back a few steps. "She is amazing and brilliant and kind and deserves some damn respect you, you bad c-list movie villain reject!"

Everyone seemed to suddenly gain some sense, and they all descended on Darcy at once: Thor jumped between her and the still shell shocked Loki, while Steve hauled her up and tossed her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Natasha drew a gun out of God knows where, and Tony seemed to flail next to her, wondering what in the hell just happened.

Darcy yelled out protests from her perch on Steve's shoulder as the Captain all but sprinted her out of the room, Tony following with some weird half run, half walk, looking between her and the Gods while he still gestured wildly. Natasha was the last to leave, having slowly backed out of the room with her gun still drawn, never turning her back on Loki. It wasn't until Thor nodded to her that she finally left the room.

Turning his full attention back to his brother, Thor watched as Loki lifted his chained hands to his cheek, his fingers lightly brushing the spot where she had struck him. Thor remained tense, prepared for Loki to lash out, but he had not expected the wide grin to cross his brother's face.

"I like her."

"What in the hell were you thinking?!"

Sitting hunched over on the bench, she looked up at Stark with an ashamed expression. "In case you couldn't figure it out, I wasn't really thinking in that moment."

Tony began to sputter, gesturing wildly as he paced in the hall. Steve just watched him from where he was seated next to Darcy on the window ledge, shaking his head at the billionaire. "Just give him a minute to calm down: you scared him. He was worried for you."

Brows furrowed, she hesitantly asked, "So… I didn't scare you too much, right?..."

"I snatched you and ran out with you thrown over my shoulder: how do you think I was feeling?"

Groaning, she buried her face in her hands. "I know I fucked up."

"You went way beyond just fucking up, young lady!" Tony snapped, turning to point a finger at this. "You aren't speaking to him again."

She leapt to her feet. "What?! You can't just tell me what to do-"

"Oh yes I can! Since you don't even have the sense enough to not assault a murderous god-"

"I had a slip in judgement-"

"More like a slip in sanity-"

"He pissed me off-"

"That's what he does!" Tony shouted back at her. "He is the God of Chaos! He knows where to hit to piss people off the most!"

"Tony's right," Natasha chimed in, pushing off the wall and striding over to Darcy. "He reads people and hits their weak spots. And you let him play you like a fiddle." Crossing her arms and staring the younger girl down, Natasha did not hold back. "You gave him ammo during that conversation, and he has enough to manipulate you like a toy."

Darcy stared wide eyed at the woman. "I didn't give him that much-"

"You showed how horrible you are at lying," Natasha started. "You let him see how much you dislike being used-"

"How?!"

"The 'our' thing." Her tone was sharp, her eyes narrowed. She then gave a sharp look at Tony. "Then Stark opened his damn mouth and revealed how weakened you are due to the bond." Tony had the decency to look put off by that fact. "And lastly, the worst thing you could have done." Leaning in close, Natasha snapped, "You gave away that you care about Jane. You care enough to pull such a stupid, idiotic thing as to strike him. Do you know how much he could use her in the future? Not just against Thor, but now against you-"

"Nat!" Steve jumped up off the wall, grabbing the spy by the shoulder. "That's enough."

The Widow shook his hand off. "I will not sit by and baby her like the rest of you. She should not have been allowed near him."

"That doesn't mean you should treat her so harshly-"

"Uh, guys…" Tony tried to interject, but he was ignored.

"And what if she had gotten herself killed? What if she caused an incident between Earth and Asgard? She already cussed out the King of Asgard-"

"She's not a soldier, she's just a kid-"

"Guys!"

The Widow and the Captain both snapped their heads to look at Stark, who had a look on his face as if they were both the idiots in the situation. Which, when they turned around to where Darcy had been standing, only to see her running off down the hall, they both felt like idiots.

As if to make the moment worse, while she rounded the corner, Thor chose that moment to come bounding out into the hall. "Everyone! Good news! Loki is not angry. He wishes to apologize to Lady…" His words tapered off as he reached them, looking around in confusion. "Where is Lady Darcy?"

"Yeah guys," Stark said in a mockingly bright tone to Steve and Nat. "Where is she?"

Stupid.

Her eyes started to burn as she ran through the halls.

Idiotic.

A sob broke through as she breathed heavily, her lungs aching from the running. She was so out of shape, her body protesting, but she did not care. She just wanted to disappear.

Kid.

Her feet slid on the stone floor as she rounded a corner, nearly colliding with a servant. She mumbled out an apology, ignoring as the servant called out after her in concern. Darcy faintly wondered where her feet were carrying her: she had no idea where she was running, but she felt a pull, telling her where to go, where felt safe, and she let the pull lead her.

She was beyond thinking straight anyway. Her body trembled from the unshed tears threatening to spill out, biting down on her lip as she ran, the burning in her eyes worsening, with the feeling of tears starting to spill out. And now the ache from her lungs spread to her throat, making the pain worse.

What was she doing here? What was she thinking? She should have just asked to have the marks removed, she was just a naive idiot: what made her think it would be okay to meddle in the affairs of Gods? She would always be the bratty little sister of the group, the one who messed up everything and caused nothing but trouble-

The pull felt stronger, and she nearly let out a sob of relief as she reached what she recognized as her quarters… or Loki's that is. But privacy was privacy to her, and she would not complain over the chance of locking herself away from the others.

Unfortunately, a hand caught her shoulder before she could fully reach the door, causing her feet to slip out from under her. She would have fallen had the person who stopped her not snagged an arm around her waist, catching her.

"Easy, my lady!" She found herself in the arms of Fandral, the lady's man warrior. "What is the matter?"

"I…" Her voice was hoarse, the ache pulsing in her throat as tears continued to pour down her face. "I want to go to my room."

"What happened?" he asked in concern, helping to settle her on her feet. "What did Loki do?"

She shook her head, refusing to look at him as she just stared at the door to her room. "I just need to get to my room."

"Did he harm you-"

"Please," she practically begged, pulling herself out of his arms and staggering towards the door, following the pull. "I just need to get to my room."

Fandral followed after her hesitantly, watching as she yanked the doors to the room open. "If you insist… but might I ask a favor?"

She clutched the door frame as she glanced over her shoulder, the ache in her throat pulsing strongly. "What?" she bit out more harshly than she intended.

He began to try to enter. "Loki took something of mine. I wish to retrieve it-"

"No." The words were out before she could think, her throat growing painful. "It's not my place to let others in here-"

"You called it your room-"

"It's a borrowed room," she snapped. "Frigga entrusted it to me: I can't just let anyone in-"

"I am not anyone," he replied sternly. "I am a friend of Thor-"

"Then ask Thor!" Pulling the door, she angrily added, "Just leave me alone!"

He grabbed the door, preventing her from closing it. "I will only be a moment-"

"I said no."

If she had to describe the feeling in the moment, she would have to equate it to a subsonic boom: the pressure in the area surrounding them seemed to grow weightless for a moment… just a moment... the pulse in her throat growing lighter…

And then everything came crashing down.

Author's Note: We finally have Loki! He will be heavily prevalent from now on, I swear. Also, sorry for another cliff hanger. ^^;

Comments:

ebarnea25: Thank you so much!

Guest: Whoops! My bad, I will fix that. Yeah she is not supposed to have her taser.