And, its done at last! Woot!

Alright, the series isn't done, but I'm afraid that I will have to potentially take an extended break for a bit to finish some prospectus work. As for this chapter, I know it probably doesn't tie up everything and if you guys see anything open-ended that you want explored more give me a heads up. Some of this will show up later and be explored further in other shorts, but this didn't feel like the place to delve into those issues.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and that it's as good of an ending as you were all hoping for.

- Illusinia

"Are you sure we can be in here?" asked Danya as she looked around the workshop curiously. Large, disassembled engines, sheets of metal, and a multitude of other materials lay scattered around. It almost looked like Zar's, but with better material and significantly more organization. Actually, what it looked like was Darcy's workshop at Zar's scrapyard.

Darcy shrugged. "Tony won't care. He told me to use his workshop here whenever I wanted to build something. Besides, he'd love what we're planning."

Danya chuckled. "Probably. He seems like the type who'd appreciate a good joke."

"Exactly," confirmed Darcy as she picked up a blow torch. "Now, lets get to work!"

Three Hours Later...

"Cheers," offered Darcy as her and Danya sat in a bar not far from S.H.I.E.L.D HQ. "To a job well done."

"To our reunion," returned Danya as they tapped glasses together. They probably looked like something out of a horror film, dressed in their formal clothing which was now decorated with assorted rips and stain with grease and oil streaked over their faces and hands. "Too bad we managed to destroy our clothing though."

"Eh, I'm sure Loki will fix it for us," offered Darcy. "He'll understand."

"Mhm," agreed Danya as she tossed back her shot of vodka. Darcy did the same. "So, what is going on with you and Loki?"

Darcy raised an eyebrow at her friend as she waved the bartender over for another shot. "What do you mean? There's nothing going on."

Both of Danya's eyebrows rose sharply. "So you don't have any feelings for him?"

"Of course I do," corrected Darcy with a roll of her eyes, downing her second shot and motioning for a third. "You know I do, Dani. He's the one who doesn't have any feelings for me."

"Bullshit," snorted Danya as she motioned for another shot herself. "The man has been competing with Steve over who gets to date you for the past three months. Of course he has feelings for you. From what Steve's told me, he's practically in love with you. By the way, what is with the whole 'turning blue' thing?"

Darcy downed the third shot as well, enjoying the way her head was starting to fuzz over. "He's a Jotunn. Apparently, Odin adopted him when he was an infant and failed to mention that fact for the last thousand years or so." The rest of Danya's sentence suddenly struck her like a sledge hammer. "Wait, what do you mean Loki has been competing with Steve for the last few months? What didn't anyone tell me about this?"

Danya snorted. "Everyone probably assumed you knew, Darce. So he's really a Jotunn?"

"Yeah, apparently he's actually a Frost Giant," confirmed Darcy absently while trying to work things out in her head. "So Schrodinger's cat, the dinners, going out to play pranks...that was all Loki's attempts to date me?"

"Probably sometimes," confirmed Danya with a shrug. "He also probably just wanted to hang out. I mean, it is Loki."

"He's our friend," confirmed Darcy with a sigh. "I'm going to jump that boy when I get home, set him straight, then make his eyes cross."

Danya smirked and threw back her third shot. "Sounds like a party."

"It will be," promised Darcy with a grin. "What about you and Steve? What's the story there?"

"No story," shrugged Danya. "Fury sends him to me for monthly blood work to make sure the super-soldier serum is stable and functioning."

Darcy cocked an eyebrow at Danya. "Really? 'Cause I'm doubting that's all there is to this. He looked way too happy when you showed up earlier. Plus, you were his date tonight."

"You, of all people, should know how little that can mean Darce," reminded Danya. "I recall you and Loki going on many 'dates' that weren't actually dates." The use of air quotes seemed funny to Darcy for some reason, though she didn't do more than giggle.

"Fine, point to you," chuckled Darcy. "But I'm still maintaining that he isn't immune to you either. Why did you go to the S.H.I.E.L.D with him tonight if you two aren't doing less savory things?"

Danya shrugged. "He more or less made me. I told him that he had to ask the girl he liked, you, first and that if you didn't agree to go, I'd go instead. He was originally supposed to use my invite to ask you, but wouldn't do it. Theoretically I was supposed to go even if you said yes, but 'Tasha wouldn't have made me."

Darcy smirked. "So, basically, he wanted you there no matter what?"

"Because he thinks I work too hard," growled Danya, cutting of Darcy's train of thought immediately. "I mean, really, why would that be the case? Its not like I work all the time because there's nothing else to do or anything."

"Well, good thing you have people here now who can drag you out to do other things," pointed out Darcy as she held up her glass. "So, are you going to tell him you're crushing or just pretend that it's not happening?"

Danya jumped a little. "What makes you think I'm crushing on him?"

Darcy's look of 'seriously?' was the only answer she got. Both women threw back their fourth shots which neither remembered ordering but both were grateful for none the less.

"Maybe," admitted Danya after a moment. "But only if he shows some kind of interest in me. Otherwise, no."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "He's interested Dani. He might not realize he's interested, but he is. Besides, you're more his type than me. I'd tear him to shreds."

"And I wouldn't?" asked Danya with a raised eyebrow.

"Not as much as I would," replied Darcy with a grin.

Danya snorted. "Remember my cousin? Scary red-headed woman who taught us how to beat the crap out of someone when we were 15?"

"'Tasha's a little hard to forget," agreed Darcy. "But that's the thing: you can hold your own but you aren't inclined to unless absolutely necessary. I'm sarcastic, rude, disinclined to follow orders unless necessary, and generally self-sufficient to the point of driving most people away."

"Yet, you aren't afraid of hurting Loki," pointed out Danya with a raised eyebrow and finger in her friend's direction.

Darcy shook her head with a grin. "Nope, because he's not stupid enough to get in my way when I'm pissed or in a mood. He lets me work out my frustration and keep my secrets. Plus, when I do need help, he always knows what to do. Steve...Steve's a great guy but he can't do any of that. I'd hurt him."

Danya sighed. "But you don't think I will."

"You're better than me," shrugged Darcy. "We both have issues, that's to be expected. But we have different issues which means we have different problems. Steve can handle yours, but he'll die under the pressure from mine."

"You don't give him enough credit," commented Danya, though she didn't completely deny that was true.

Darcy shrugged. "Maybe not, but I know his kind. It wouldn't work."

Danya nodded slowly, bowing her head in consideration. Darcy feel silent as well, allowing her friend to think through whatever she needed to. When Danya spoke again, it had nothing to do with the previous topic.

"So what do you think about Stark's offer to go work for him?" asked Danya as she looked over at Darcy again.

Darcy shrugged. "I'm thinking about taking him up on it, but I don't have an engineering degree. I dropped that to get one in political science after the accident."

Danya groaned. "That is exactly why I wanted Fury to tell you I was still alive. So you wouldn't do something like that." She sighed. "Was it at least interesting?"

"Completely," assured Darcy. "If I ever want to take over the world with you now, we can run it too."

Danya laughed and shook her head. "I still can't believe Loki tried to take over the world like that."

"Eh, I can see him doing it because he can," admitted Darcy. "But he'd probably just go 'well, that was fun' and hand over responsibility to someone else."

"Sounds right," agreed Danya as she lay her head down on the bar. "So, Stark's offer?"

Darcy shrugged. "We should probably take it. I mean, I pretty much already work for him. Coulson and Pepper require that he have adult supervision while working in his shop and I'm always the person he grabs."

"He's not too bad then?" asked Danya.

"Hardly," dismissed Darcy. "Yeah, he can be a bit annoying but he won't fault us for talking back to him."

Danya nodded. "I guess we should take his offer then, unless I get something really good back from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"And you might," confirmed Darcy. "Fury was actually taking the punishment we dished out. I think he's pretty serious about keeping you on staff."

"If that's the case, he shouldn't have lied to me," growled Danya.

Darcy shrugged. "Look, just keep an open mind about this. Fury has been funding your research for years now. He's give you a lab with equipment I'm assuming and probably access to more data than you can honestly use. Correct?"

"Yeah," admitted Danya with a sigh. "That doesn't change what he did."

"Do shit, but it does show that he's serious about your research," pointed out Darcy. "So if he makes you an offer, at least listen to it."

Danya was silent for a long moment, turning the information over in her head. Finally, she leaned back and nodded. "I'll think about it. Come on, lets get out of here."

Paying their tabs, both women stepped out onto the still-busy streets of New York. It wasn't really cold outside but it wasn't precisely warm either. Darcy looked up and down the street, then turned to Danya. "Want to come back to my apartment for the night? There's space."

With a laugh, Danya shook her head and turned in the other direction. "Nah, I have a place to go. Thanks though. Make sure you jump on Loki, literally. Surprise is the best advantage."

Darcy laughed. "Trust me, that boy is going to be surprised enough as it is. Alright, text me later Danya, so I know you're safe."

"Will do," promised Danya. "See you tomorrow Darcy!"

"See ya," parted Darcy as she waved while turning towards where her apartment was.

Danya waited until her friend was out of sight before pulling out her phone and making a call as she started in the opposite direction. "Hey, you still awake?"

Steve was standing next to the front door when Danya vaulted the tall gate surrounding Stark Mansion. How she managed to do that in a dress like the one she was wearing, Steve wasn't sure. He assumed Natasha was to blame.

Danya shot him a soft smile as she approached, attempting to tame the now destroyed dress as she went. Her eyes moved over the mansion curiously,taking in everything she could see. "Wow, nice place. I think Darcy and I broke into a few abandoned places that looked like this in high school. Not sure they were this big though."

He shrugged and moved to meet her halfway to the house. "It's kinda intimidating but with everyone else around feels more like a home."

"So is everyone else here then?" asked Danya as her attention turned towards Steve.

"No," assured Steve as he lead her towards the front door. "I don't think so at least. Tony probably is, it's his house after all, and I'm sure Pepper is here too. But I don't know about anyone else."

Danya nodded and glanced at Steve. "So why are you here tonight and not, I don't know, out somewhere having fun."

"Its hard to have fun when your friend has been wronged like you were," confided Steve with a shrug.

For a split second, Danya felt her heart speed up. She refused to read into his words though, squashing any other feelings that chose to rise up. "It's not the worst thing that's happened to either of us, Steve. Definitely not the worst that's happened to Darcy and I've had worse happen. It just pisses me off that I trusted Fury to do that and he had the gall to lie to my face about it. I don't put up with that shit."

"Clearly," chuckled Steve. "Normally I'd never condone such behavior, but I have to give Loki props for his creativity."

The grin that uncoiled across Danya's face was predatory. "Yeah, well, Darce and I had our own fun after we left. Fury is in for a not-so-fun surprise tomorrow morning."

Steve shot her a worried look. "You aren't going to hurt anyone, right Danya?"

"Nope," assured Danya. "Darce and I don't like to hurt people if its not absolutely necessary. Now, if Fury had physically harmed one of us then yeah, there would be blood. But he didn't, so we'll let him keep his internal liquids."

"Good to know," sighed Steve heavily. "In all seriousness though, Danya, how are you holding up?"

Danya shrugged. "I'm pissed, a little tipsy, and kinda feeling lost. But mostly, I'm still pissed."

Steve winced. "Can I help with anything?"

"Nah," dismissed Danya. "Like I said, Darcy and I can handle it. Especially now that Loki's back."

For a moment, neither one spoke as they entered the mansion and Steve led her upstairs. The silence was maintained as Steve handed Danya fresh clothing without a word and pointed to the bathroom. She took the hint and disappeared to shower. It wasn't until she reappeared twenty minutes later that Steve spoke.

"I'm sorry," apologized Steve as Danya stepped out of the bathroom. The tilt of her head and cocked eyebrow told him she didn't understand what he was saying. "For not telling you about Darcy being here. Or Loki."

"Uh, okay?" replied Danya, eyebrow still raised in a confused. She threw the towel over her head for a moment, rubbing her hair dry before tossing it around her shoulders to catch any remaining drips. Standing there in Steve's t-shirt and way too big sweatpants, she looked more like a child than a genius biochemist with an IQ somewhere in Tony's vicinity. "Can you run that one by me again? Because, no offense Steve, but that made no sense. Darcy in engineer mode makes more sense, and she stops using real words after the the first two hours." At Steve's cocked eyebrow, Danya shrugged. "She does this weird thing where she starts combining words to make new ones and between that, her tendency to use equations in lieu of explanations or words, and the amount of coffee she consumes during one of those sessions, she's incomprehensible unless you've worked with her for a very long time."

Steve felt a smile tug at his lips. "She sounds like Tony."

"That's what I've heard," confirmed Danya with a sage nod as she dropped onto the couch next to Steve. "I've been telling her for years that she's probably his kid, but she's never been willing to ask for the paternity test. Loki and I even have a bet going. Or, at least we did. Presumably it's still on. I'll have to ask about that..." Steve really did crack a smile that time. Noting the less dower face, Danya plowed on. "Now, what are you sorry about? Because, seriously, I couldn't understand your reasoning."

"I think you're the one related to Tony, Danya," commented Steve mildly. "He tends to spit out what he's thinking in a jumbled mess."

Danya snorted. "Please, I do that once in a while. Darcy does it everyday. Or whenever she's in her own workspace. I suspect her and Tony would actually function well together from what I've heard. Anyway, stop trying to distract me and explain your apology."

Steve sighed heavily and thumped his head against the back of the couch. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Darcy sooner, or Loki. If I hadn't been so worried about bein' judged for liking a girl who's so..."

"Combative? Abrasive? Crazy? Intelligent? Mischievous? Tazer-happy?" supplied Danya easily. "I can keep going all night."

"How about mischievous?" suggested Steve with a small smile. "Anyway, if I hadn't been so self-conscious and just trusted you not to tell Natasha or anyone else, you would have known about Darcy and Loki months ago an' none of this would have happened."

Danya snorted. "It still would have happened Steve. I joined S.H.I.E.L.D close to five years ago. That's five years Fury had to complete his end of our contract. No matter what, things would have blown up."

"Yeah," muttered Steve, "but you coulda been hanging out with the others before now if I'd just told you from the start."

"No," sighed Danya sadly as she shifted to kneel before Steve, covering his hands with her own. Steve raised his head to look down at the genius kneeling on the floor in front of him and tried very hard to keep his mind from going anywhere deviant. It was kinda hard when she was wearing his clothing though... "Look Steve, the only thing that would have changed if you'd told me who you were crushing on to begin with is the advice I gave you."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Danya stood and wondered over to where the window in Steve's room overlooked the grounds of the mansion. "If you'd told me it was Darcy to begin with, I could have given you better advice. Like

telling you to just blatantly tell her what you were feeling and be done with it because Darce doesn't do subtle. If I'd known you were competing with Loki, I would have told you not to bother. Those two have been waiting to happen for years. Remember the friends from high school I ranted about more than once?"

"The ones who slept in the same bed?" confirmed Steve, feeling his heart sink a little.

"Yeah," sighed Danya. "Those two were Loki and Darcy."

Steve let his head drop into one of his hands. "Figures."

"I'm sorry Steve," muttered Danya. "If it helps any, I would have discouraged you then kicked Loki's ass back to where ever the hell he's from."

"Asgard," supplied Steve.

Danya nodded. "Thanks. I would have kicked his blue ass back to Asgard until he got his act together if I'd known."

Steve nodded sadly. "So I suppose they're together now?"

"Darcy said something about making Loki go cross-eyed, so I'm going with yes but won't say that with certainty until I get confirmation from both of them," replied Danya. Noting Steve's dropped head and sad tone, she returned to the couch and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Steve, for what its worth, I think you're a great guy."

The dry chuckle that fell from Steve's mouth was nothing like him. "But not great enough to date, right?"

Danya shook her head softly and dropped back before him, Darcy's words bouncing around in her head. "No Steve, I think you're great enough to date. Possibly the best guy I've ever met." Steve raised his head some to look at her. "The thing is, Darcy has issues. And I don't mean minor ones. She doesn't trust people as far as she can throw them most of the time, and had her trust broken by the two people who never should have lied to her way too young." Pausing, Danya considered her words carefully before continuing. "You would have gotten hurt with her, Steve. And she never would have forgiven herself."

Steve sighed and nodded sadly. "She's probably right, it just would have been nice to have a chance."

"I know," offered Danya with a sad smile.

"So," continued Steve, switching tracks quickly. "Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"

Danya's eyebrow went up as she leaned back on the balls of her feet. "I figured I'd hang around here until you wanted to pass out or until a time when 'Tasha and Clint should have finished having wild monkey sex then head over there."

Steve turned bright red. "Y-you'll just intrude on them like that?"

"Sure," shrugged Danya. "'Tasha walked in on me having sex once so I figure I owe her."

The red tint of Steve's cheeks darkened until he looked like an over-ripe tomato. "Um, uh, alrighty then. That, uh, sounds swell?"

Danya cracked up at that point, falling over backwards on the floor so only her elbows were supporting her. "Wow, Steve, I don't think I've ever seen you turn that red before."

"W-well you usually abstain from sharing details like that," muttered Steve, eyes averting towards the window. Danya sprawled out like that on the floor in this clothing was uncomfortably appealing. He felt like a dirty old man. Even Darcy hadn't invoked reactions like these.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes as Danya worked to get her laughter under control and Steve fought to calm his blush. When his face no longer felt like a fire engine again and Danya's laughter was mostly contained, Steve braved speaking again. "You can stay here you know. There's the couch for me and you're more than welcome to the bed if you'd like..."

Smiling, and managing to contain another bout of giggling, Danya nodded and rose. "I think that might be the safest bet. Clint might be hot, but I really don't relish the idea of seeing my cousin as naked as him."

This time, Steve's face only went half as red as it did before. "I can make up the bed with fresh sheets if you'd like."

"Nah," dismissed Danya. "I'll take the couch. There's no way I'm kicking you out of your own bed, not after the night you've had."

Steve snorted slightly. "Yours was worse."

"Maybe," agreed Danya. "But its your apartment and I'm the one crashing here. I'll take the couch unless you can handle sharing the bed, which I doubt."

"S-sharing the bed?" studded Steve, eyes going wide.

Danya rolled hers. "Fully clothed, of course. Its just like sleeping in a bed with a guy, except you don't run the risk of waking up with morning wood against your-"

"I don't need to hear any more," cut in Steve, face returning to the previous bright-red color. "A-are you sure you won't take the bed alone?"

"Positive," insisted Danya. "Either give me the couch to myself or I'll share the bed with you."

Steve sighed and stood walking into his bedroom for a moment, staring at the good-sized bed that came with his room in the mansion. Really, there were bound to be guest rooms somewhere that JARVIS could identify, but he didn't like the idea of Danya sleeping in a random room in the mansion. For one thing, anyone could walk in on her in this place and for another, it felt like being a bad friend. Most of the time before, she'd fallen asleep from exhaustion on his couch with him while they were watching a movie and he'd moved her to the bed without argument. Yeah, they'd fallen asleep together before on the couch, but that hadn't been intentional. This would be intentional. Or, he could be a crappy guy and let her have the couch. Was it being a crappy guy if she insisted? Technically yes, he could move her later. But then she'd kick his ass. Or make him feel guilty. Okay, yes, he was a super-soldier and she probably couldn't actually hurt him without the help of a weapon but this was Danya, cousin to Natasha Romanov, who was easily one of the scariest women Steve had ever met. Yeah, no ticking off Danya.

With another resolute sigh, Steve turned back into the living room and motioned to the bedroom. He could sneak out later if he was desperate so long as he was up before Danya. "After you, I guess."

Danya gave him a disbelieving look. "You're actually going to share a bed with a woman you are neither fucking nor married to?"

Steve couldn't help his blush. "I-is there really a difference?"

"Believe it or not, one does not necessarily specify the other," confirmed Danya. "Where do you think the phrase 'sexless marriage' comes from?"

"Uh, I h-hadn't heard that one before," admitted Steve bashfully.

Sighing, Danya went into the bedroom and started pulling spare blankets from the closet. Steve stared at her, open mouthed and gaping. "Danya, I said we could share the bed..."

"And we are going to," confirmed Danya calmly. "But you aren't comfortable with skin contact with anyone else and I know if I go to sleep on the couch, you'll just move me once I'm asleep so I won't bother with that. And you won't fall asleep before me, that's for damn sure. I'm already four vodka shots into the night and will probably pass out as soon as I lay down. Thus, two sets of blankets."

"Huh?" Steve was wondering if the vodka was messing with Danya's head. Though, he'd seen her do four shots of vodka and then concoct a new solution that would allow for the repair of skin wounds by the body at twice the normal rate. From scratch. "Why two sets of blankets?"

Danya rolled her eyes as she lay one set on top of the other, then folded it in half. "This way there's no skin contact. More barriers means less discomfort for you. Think of me as a really big pillow."

Steve rolled his eyes and collected the blankets from the bed, returning them to the closet. "I think I can handle this without pretending you're a giant pillow, Danya. Really. I promise."

Her eyes narrowed at him for a moment, but she nodded none the less. "Alright, but if I catch you on the couch tomorrow morning I'm never sleeping over here again unless absolutely necessary. Then I will pass out on the couch after securing myself there with Velcro straps if necessary."

"Deal," agreed Steve with a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get any sleep that night. Really though, that was okay. Danya would get sleep, she'd be someplace safe, and Natasha wouldn't castrate him the next day for allowing Danya to interrupt her and Clint. Really, besides the Darcy/Loki thing which Steve, if he was honest with himself, had seen coming, tonight wasn't that bad. Tomorrow, things would probably explode. But tonight was calm, and Steve really couldn't ask for much more.

Loki had to refrain from jumping up as he heard a key in the lock. Instead, he muted the TV that he had been watching, for lack of better things to do, and turned his head to watch Darcy walk into the apartment. Her skin was smudged with oil and grease, with the same substances staining her dress. Small tears were located in various places on the material and one of the sleeves appeared slightly singed. "You appear to have had some fun. Care to fill me in?"

Darcy grinned as she set down her purse and wrap. "You'll see tomorrow. I want it to be as much of a surprise for you as it will be for everyone else."

Both of Loki's eyebrows rose as he tracked his friend to the kitchen. "Should I be concerned?"

"Nah," dismissed Darcy as she came back in with a glass of water, which she proceeded to gulp down. "Though Fury might not appreciate it."

Loki snorted. "As if that man appreciates anything that isn't military."

"True," agreed Darcy. Setting the glass on the counter, she made her way over to where Loki was sitting. There was a sight sway to her hips as she moved. "So, Danya told me something interesting tonight. She said you and Steve have been in a bit of a competition recently."

For his part, Loki thought he did an amazing job of not looking panicked. "Perhaps. Why?"

All Darcy did was give him a dirty smirk before she suddenly jumped on Loki, pushing him into the back couch cushions. "You're a dumb-ass, just for the record." Then, she was kissing him and Loki promptly forgot anything else that he was going to say.

Never had Loki actually thought that doing something as simple as kissing Darcy could leave him feeling shocked and winded. Or desperate for more. It was as if electricity was running through his veins. Her fingers wrapped themselves in his hair, scrapping along his scallop and tugging slightly.

For a second, Darcy drew back, her lips moving to his neck. "Loki, you have ten seconds to get us to the bedroom, otherwise I'm jumping your dumb ass right here."

Loki sucked in a tight breath as she bit softly near his jugular. "Darcy, are you sure? Do you understand what-"

Her lips silenced him again for a few seconds before she drew back. "5 seconds Loki. I know what I"m doing."

Grinning, his arms slid around her waist as he teleported them both onto the bed. "Better?"

"Much," growled Darcy as she tackled him to the bed. As she had promised Danya, Loki's eyes were definitely crossed by the end of the night. And both of them were much happier.

Fury stood just inside the lobby of S.H.I.E.L.D's building, staring at the small creature which in front of him. "Agent Coulson, what is that?"

Beside him, Coulson cleared his throat uneasily, eying the monstrosity currently featured over the center of the impressed S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. "It appears to be a Furby, sir. A giant, yellow Furby."

Indeed, the thing which currently occupied the middle of S.H.I.E.L.D HQ's lobby was a yellow Furby twice the size of a normal one. It's giant eyes blinked at them in the creepiest fashion imaginable, following their every move. Sounds made its ears twitch.

"Well, whatever it is, I want it out of my lobby immediately," growled Fury as he started towards the creature with Coulson directly behind him.

However, as they approached, the creature blinked its big eyes at them and opened its mouth, speaking in the creepiest synthesized voice imaginable. "Good Morning, Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ." Then, the Furby-from-hell tilted back its head and opened its mouth, spitting a fifteen foot column of flame into the air above it's head.

Both Fury and Coulson jumped back like they had been burned, even though the fire came no where near them. The column lasted all of five seconds before the creature returned its head to the normal position and closed its eyes with a, "Have a Good Day."

Coulson twitched a little. "I believe its safe to say that both Miss Lewis and Miss Lyon are still irritated with us."

"Clearly," sighed Fury as he scurried around the creature. "Put up a perimeter around that thing. I'd tell you to remove it but I don't want to run the risk that it'll explode when moved. Knowing those two, that's a possibility."

"Yes sir," agreed Coulson as he pulled out his cellphone and began talking to someone.

Fury just shook his head as he boarded the elevators near the back. Never again. He was never going to break a promise to a genius again. Especially, not anyone who claimed a Norse God as a friend. Or had a Russian ex-assassin for a cousin. Really, he wouldn't break a promise to anyone with a heritage even remotely resembling either girl's. It just wasn't worth it.

Darcy wasn't surprised when she showed up at S.H.I.E.L.D the next day to find her and Danya's little present to Fury and Coulson partitioned off like it was radio active. Loki, who was behind Darcy, shivered when he saw the thing. "Did you really have to use one of those...toys as a model for your revenge?"

Darcy shrugged. "It was that or a cabbage patch doll and we didn't feel those carried enough menace. Besides, Tony didn't have the right material to make hair."

Loki shook his head but followed the insane genius who he could now call lover up to where her office was near Jane's lab. Lover. That was a novel idea. Darcy was his lover. The thought made him grin and he knew it made him look like a loon.

As they hit the elevator button, a voice called out to them from behind. Turning, Darcy grinned as she saw Danya heading towards them with Steve, Pepper, and Tony in tow. All three of the others stopped to stare at the yellow creature for a moment before shuttering and hurrying past. The creature just spoke its phrase before tilting its head back and belched a column of fire into the air.

"A lot of people must have been triggering our surprise, the column isn't as big as last night," commented Danya idly as she reached Darcy and Loki.

Tony's head turned swiftly to look at both girl's wearily. "How big was it last night?"

"Fifteen feet," chorused the girls in return.

"That's...frightening," muttered Steve as he glanced back at the creature. "How long did it take you two to make?"

Darcy shrugged. "I don't remember, two hours maybe?"

Danya shrugged. "I didn't check the clock to see when we finished. I know it was only 10:30 when we reached the bar though."

"So, probably about two hours," concluded Darcy with a nod. "Its not that complex though. A simple sensor to detect when movement occurs within a distance of x and then its just a looping program to send it through a set of actions."

"The tricky part was creating a fuel that would burn long enough," confirmed Danya. "That took almost an hour."

Steve's eyes nearly bugged out. "It took an hour to find a fuel source?"

"No," corrected Danya with a furrowed brow. "We had to invent a new one. That took a hour. If it was one we already knew about, we would have been done sooner."

Tony was slightly slack-jawed at their news. "In an hour you invented a new fuel source?"

"Yep," confirmed Danya. "By the way, we used your workshop. Darcy said she didn't think it would be a problem."

Everyone turned to face Darcy, who shrugged. "I figured 'pranking Fury and Coulson for being dumb-asses' qualified as a emergency. Or at least a project you could get behind. I'll reimburse you for the materials we used."

"No, its alright," muttered Tony as he looked back at the creature they had built. "I can handle that. Jesus, you two must be genius'."

"IQ of 175," reminded Darcy.

"184," remarked Danya mildly.

Pepper shook her head. "I'm amazed that Director Fury would do anything that could risk you leaving S.H.I.E.L.D."

Danya shrugged, eyes darkening a little. "It's his loss."

The remainder of the elevator ride was silent with Darcy exiting at the labs with Loki and reminding Danya to come by her office when she was done with Fury. Danya nodded, serious expression still plastered to her face as the elevator doors shut.

When they were in Darcy's office, Loki let out a sigh and shook his head. "Fury will not survive this encounter unscathed."

"Nope," agreed Darcy. "We'll have to wait until Danya comes by to know what happened for sure though. Jane's confirmed that I still work here and haven't been fired, so I have stuff to do. Are you gonna go find Thor or just hang around here today?"

Loki shrugged. "I believe I will seek out Tony. The man amuses me when he is not armed with rubber bands and drinks of the alcoholic variety."

Darcy chuckled. "That sounds like a story."

"For another time," confirmed Loki. "I will return later to gather you for lunch."

"Sounds like a plan," confirmed Darcy with a grin. "Later Loki."

With that, the God of Mischief vanished, leaving her alone in her office and the stacks of data Jane needed summarized. Sighing, Darcy started into the first pile and was half-way done when Steve popped up thirty minutes later. His knock was surprisingly soft for such a strong man.

Darcy turned and shot him a grin while motioning for him to enter. "Hey Steve, what's up?"

"Nothing," replied Steve with his own smile. "I'm just waiting for Danya to finish her meeting with Director Fury."

"When did it start?" asked Darcy as she shifted some papers out of a chair so Steve could sit down.

"About half an hour ago." For a moment, he just stare at the chair before carefully taking a seat. "Darcy, can we talk?"

"Depends," replied Darcy, spinning her chair to face him. "Is this about you and Loki's little competition?"

Steve winced. "You know about that then."

She nodded. "Danya told me."

"So, you and Loki are together then?" confirmed Steve, an unreadable expression pasted on his face.

"Yeah," sighed Darcy as she leaned back. "Look, Steve, I'm sorry if I led you on or anything. I really didn't get what was going on. Loki's behavior didn't seem that out of the ordinary and I thought you just wanted a friend-"

Steve cut her off with a grin and shake of his head. "Don't worry about it, Darcy. As long as you're happy and Loki doesn't hurt you, everything will be fine."

"He won't," assured Darcy. "He's always been protective, I doubt that will change now."

"Probably not," confirmed Steve sadly. "I feel bad now, about being so hard on him. Danya told me a lot about you two last night."

Darcy laughed softly. "She does that. So...," for a moment, she paused, considering her next words, "I know you just got turned down, but are you and Dani dating or even thinking about it?"

"Huh?" asked Steve, clearly confused. "Why would we be considering something like that?"

"Because she likes you?" suggested Darcy with a roll of her eyes. "You can't be that dense Cap. Danya has a crush on you that I picked up within the first two minutes of talking with her. Don't tell her I told you that, by the way."

Steve nodded, stunned. "Noted...does Danya really have a crush on me?"

"Yeah," replied Darcy with a smile. "You really didn't know?"

"No...," muttered Steve. "I didn't have any clue. She never said anything."

Darcy nodded. "Which is why I told you, because she never will. When Danya wants to be secretive, she can be. Hell, she's better at it than most people I know, Loki included. And this is one of those times she'll never say a word. Now, I'm not suggesting you use her as a rebound-"

"Never," cut in Steve suddenly. "Danya is one of the few people I can call a friend here. She's special to me and I would never dream of doing anything to hurt her."

"Good," assured Darcy. "Look, when you feel ready, maybe consider asking her out if you feel that way about her. I don't know if you do or not, but if you were attracted to me, well, its a safe bet she's your type too. Her and I aren't that different except she's nicer when her angry Russian side isn't showing. Or her angry Scottish side. Really, when her temper is down she's very nice."

Steve chuckled softly and nodded. "I know Darcy. I've spent a lot of time listening to Danya cuss Coulson out for something, then smile at me like nothing happened."

"That's Danya," confirmed Darcy with a grin. "She's a force to be feared when pissed. Did you ever hear her curse in Russian? The first time Loki heard her do that, I thought his jaw was never going to make it off the ground. Don't remember what she called the guy she was cursing at but it was something insanely lewd about his mother, a horse, and a prostitute. Or was it an elephant? I can't remember now."

Steve shook his head. "The elephant sounds more her speed based on what she's said to get Coulson off the phone before. Did Natasha teach her to speak Russian?"

Darcy shrugged. "No clue but I'd bet money she was the one to teach Danya to curse in Russian. Poor Barton, he's a dead man."

"Then he's a happy dead man," commented Steve with a smile. "I saw him on the way over and he looked as if he was on cloud nine."

"Yeah, getting laid will do that to a guy," confirmed Darcy with a sigh and shake of her head. "He's going to be impossible for a few days."

Steve managed not to blush too badly at what Darcy said. After dealing with Danya last night (and having dealt with her for almost a year), embarrassment over blatant sexual talk was minimal so long as details were not involved. Then, he would turn the color of a rose. "I'm sure. Anyway, I'll let you get back to work Darcy. I just...wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"We're good Steve, don't worry about it," assured Darcy as she stretched in her chair. "If you want, you can hang around here until Danya shows. She said she'd be by after the meeting."

"That's alright, I'd rather wait for her there." A faint smile broke across Steve's face that wasn't just friendly. "Someone needs to make sure Director Fury is still alive after this."

Darcy nodded with a snicker. "Yeah. I can't wait to hear what he offers Danya. You know it's going to be good."

"Probably," agreed Steve as he stood and headed for the door. "Anyway, have a nice day Darcy."

"See ya Steve."

When Steve had left, Darcy stood with her coffee cup and headed for the break room. Coffee and sugar were necessities after all. Especially if Tony was in the building. That would probably mean she was going to get kidnapped at some point in time today.

Entering the break room on her floor, the scent of coffee greeted her, along with the sight of doughnuts. The good kind with heavy glaze. Grinning, she filled her cup and snagged a sugary treat just as Danya walked into the room with a faint scowl still plastered to her face. She grabbed a foam cup, filling it with coffee and downing half of it before she spoke.

"I'm not leaving S.H.I.E.L.D," admitted Danya as soon as she lifted the cup away from her lips.

Darcy nodded. "I didn't think you would be. Good deal?"

"Reasonable," replied Danya. "It's better than I'd get a lot of other places, though I still have to deal with Coulson."

"He's not that bad," pointed out Darcy. "I mean, yeah, he's an ass, but he usually tries to do things with some consideration for the other individuals involved. Well, except when he took Jane's research. There was no consideration involved in that."

Danya nodded and took another sip of her coffee. "Fury offered me publication rights, additional resources for my experiments, and he's splitting some of my workload up among the other scientists so I don't have as much to do. Plus, I don't have to live in the labs anymore if I don't want to. Apparently Tony offered me housing at the mansion. He'll probably do the same for you, Loki, and Jane too, just an FYI. Fury also agreed to have weekly sparring matches with me, so I get to beat the crap out of him for the shit he's pulled on us for a while yet, which will rock. Oh, and Fury cleared me to do research with some of the engineering and mechanical teams here in S.H.I.E.L.D, including Tony."

"So it'll be more like when we were younger and working together," stated Darcy with a smile.

"It'll be exactly like that," grinned Danya. "Fury say's you'll be on at least one of the development teams with me."

Darcy blinked at her with wide eyes. "What? Since when?"

Danya shrugged. "Apparently since the team roster was established this morning. After seeing your little Furby downstairs, they decided to offer you a position on a few different development teams if you wanted to. Probably with Tony, but still..."

A smirk rose to Darcy's lips. "Do you think Fury realizes that he just single-handedly destroyed the world by putting us on the same development team as Tony Stark?"

The same smirk was mirrored on Danya's face. "Who knows? Better yet, who cares? We get to blow shit up again together."

"And get another genius to help us blow shit up," added Darcy. "A genius who blows shit up half the time for the fun of it."

Both girls grinned manically at each other, speaking in unison. "Let Mischief and Mayhem join forces once again to bring the world to its knees."