A/N: Apologies for the delay! I'll make this short and sweet, thank you to all the continued followers! You have really given me hope that you're enjoying the story. And big thanks to my good friend Charlie, I could simply not do this without her assistance.

I truly hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I took pleasure in writing it.

OOOOO

OOOOO

Stark Tower is surprisingly quiet in the early morning after the previous night's adventures. Walking down the corridors of the building, Darcy wishes she could have just stayed in bed, already missing the warmth and comforts of her comforter. It was a place to forget that yesterday ever happened, and that what's been placed upon her isn't constantly looming, threatening to have her running far away, to the ends of the Earth. But after how her co-workers, her own friends dismissed her claims in defense of Loki, there's no way in hell she's going to abandon him. Darcy knows all too well what it's like to be overlooked and discarded without regard, and they were treating him in the exact same manner. Loki deserves to prove himself; she's going to figure out a way to get that scepter to him. On top of which, she can't believe SHIELD's blatant ignorance of what could truly happen if Thanos does come knocking on their door. She happens to like her planet just fine, without the threat of some crazy ass baddie coming to take over and destroy her home, thank you very much!

Checking her watch again as she starts to hurry in a brisker pace, she knows she's going to be late, but hopefully her boss will understand. Today Darcy outfitted herself in a pair of black jeans with flats and a crème colored blouse that had dark green trimmings at the end of each sleeve and one circular stripe at the bottom, just enough to accent it. Her choice of shirt selection had nothing to do with the vivid green coloring of a certain god's bright emerald eyes or the fact that his cape almost matches the blouse's shade perfectly. Not at all…. Sweeping around the corner, Darcy opens up a conference room door where her makeshift office is. Usually Darcy does most of her computer work here; it's only a few floors beneath the main R&D lab where Jane, Erik and occasionally Tony do all of their researching and analyzing. It allows Darcy to pop in and update them on any news she's received from SHIELD or newly encrypted data, but she really uses the time visiting them to make sure they're taking breaks and eating. She's pretty sure that they've caught on to her scheming by now, but none of them have ever said anything. It's a silent understanding they've all come to appreciate from her, and it gives her an excuse to catch up with Jane while she's up in the lab. Entering through the clear glass doors of the conference room, Darcy makes her way to her station at the other end of the room where she notices her boss is standing patiently, as if he knew she was going to be late. If Darcy had to guess, she's betting on JARVIS ratting her out, but what can you do when the AI pretty much has eyes and ears on everyone in the building? Darcy also takes note that her boss is also holding a Starbucks coffee. Phil Coulson doesn't do Starbucks; he told her this on her first day of work. He drinks black tea and nothing else, so this only meant one thing, either she's about to receive a shit-load of paperwork today, or her boss is going to attempt to bribe her into doing something she really doesn't want to do….and damn him if he didn't know her weakness for that caffeinated beverage.

"Morning Coulson, I see you're breaking all your rules. Is the apocalypse coming already?" Darcy greets far more chirpily than she feels at the moment.

"Miss Lewis. Good morning to you as well, please sit," Coulson addresses to her, motioning for her to sit down. "I trust you slept alright?" Placing the cup in front of her, he takes a seat directly across from her.

"Sure thing boss-man. You know last night didn't even faze me." Darcy replies, taking the proffered seat and rapping her nails on the desk. Only yesterday seemed to have turned her entire universe in one moment. Sleep only came from the exhaustion of the day's events. She still hasn't really had time to divest herself of all the activity. There's still a flurry of emotions she has yet to grasp. Her mind may have shut down for a short while, but her body is still wired. She still has the feeling of energy vibrating through her veins; Darcy's almost afraid what would happen if she dared to drink the sweet smelling coffee that's been placed in front of her.

"I'm glad to hear. Listen Darcy, I know last night was rough, and it may have seemed we were harsh with you, but you have to understand SHIELD's position and know that believe it or not, we're also looking out for your well-being as well. Loki –"

"Stop," Darcy throws up a hand and sighs. "I get that you guys care in your own warped way. I do, and I appreciate that, but you're totally dismissing the fact that Loki didn't do anything harmful; he just wanted to talk to me. A person, who by your own job description, is supposed to inform you and the team of any potential threats, and you threw it back in my face! I mean can you honestly tell me that if Loki had asked to speak to me in the building, you would have let him? And what's with the coffee? Don't think I don't know what you're up to." Finishing her tirade, Darcy slumps in her chair; placing an elbow on the table as she runs a hand through her freshly straightened hair.

"All right Miss Lewis. A point well made, but the decision remains, and there's no changing it. We will monitor Loki from his cell, and Tony is changing the frequency on his bracelet as we speak to prevent him from leaving the building. As for your coffee, think of it as a token of appreciation that my assistant is back in one piece." Coulson says, his stoic features in place not giving anything away.

"Thanks, boss." After several moments of pause, Darcy relents; she can tell he's being sincere with her. Eyes shifting back and forth between Agent Coulson and the coffee, Darcy carefully reaches out to grab cup in front her, but before she has the coffee within her grasp, Agent Coulson snatches it away.

"There's not a lot for you to work on today, but there is one thing that Fury has requested me to ask of you." Agent Coulson says, an almost apologetic look on his face, for taking the blessedly smelling coffee out of her reach.

Dammit. She knew it! Here it comes. Fucking Fury. What could he possibly want from her now?

"Et tu, Brute?" Darcy feigns a pained expression seeing her coffee being held against its will.

"Fury would like you to interrogate Loki and get more information out of him, specifically about Thanos. We need to know all possible outcomes from all sides, whether Loki is being truthful or not will be decided upon review of what information he is willing to provide."

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. This is not exactly what she wanted to deal with this morning. She is completely unprepared to talk to Loki. And interrogate? They underestimate her skills of persuasion; surely this is more up Natasha's alley. Darcy was hoping for some time to sort her own thoughts and feelings about the information Loki gave her yesterday, but maybe she can use this situation to her advantage. If she can get down to speak with him alone without any guards; then maybe she can figure out a way to let him know she's willing to help him out, even if everyone else isn't.

"So, why choose me? Why not Thor or Natasha? Thor has known Loki the longest, and Natasha was able to get information out of him before." Darcy answers back, seeing if she can use some reverse psychology on Phil and act as if she doesn't want to see Loki.

"We are working under the assumption that Loki is still reluctant to divulge sensitive information to Thor, and we are certain if we sent Natasha in he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Plus, he's already chosen you as the one person out of us all to give any information to of his own free will; so you are the most logical choice in this situation. I assure you Miss Lewis, your safety is our number one priority, and you will be monitored closely by myself, Agent Barton and JARVIS." Coulson says as placating as possible. Shifting in his chair, he starts to move the coffee forward a bit as a peace offering.

"I really don't get a say in the matter do I?" Darcy puffs out, crossing her arms against her chest. Trying to put on a show of disposition, she hopes her act works. She would never admit this out loud, but having JARVIS monitor her isn't exactly what she would call comforting in case Loki has one of his mood swings and her plan goes awry.

Coulson doesn't respond to her, he just gives this Mona Lisa smile and pushes the Starbucks cup all the way over to her. "I'll give you a few minutes to get some questions together, but then you'll need to head down. We'd like this over with as soon as you do," he says, standing and making his way out the conference room door.

Inhaling and exhaling a deep breath after Agent Coulson exits the office, Darcy swivels around aimlessly in her chair contemplating her next plan of action until she felt dizzy, an immature act, but it made herself feel better. How is she going to be able to talk to Loki without SHIELD listening in on her conversation? Sure, she can throw a few interrogation questions at him, with the hopes Loki will answer, but then he'll just assume that everyone is against him, including her. This could possibly be the only chance she'll get at speaking with Loki and without any agents or Avengers with her. Her only option is to attempt to get at Loki while they are letting her on her own to get information from him. Her friends are smart; if she had a member of the team with her, they'd pick up on her lying in a heartbeat. The room Loki is in obviously has a heavy amount of security cameras and motion sensors; they're outside of his glass panels and there are some on the inside….

Halting her spinning, Darcy suddenly gets an idea. It's a long shot, but it might work. Standing abruptly, Darcy leans sideways grabbing the edge of the table where she stands, "Whoa. Head rush." Striding towards the door, she heads down to the elevator. Darcy doesn't know a great deal about the technology of Loki's bracelet, but if some of Loki's magic is still available, then maybe, maybe she can get him to disrupt the security feed long enough for them to talk without fear of being caught. Though, from what Agent Coulson said earlier about Tony changing his frequency again, she can only hope it doesn't prevent him from using any magic at all. Otherwise, this will be a complete bust.

OOOOO

OOOOO

'Be cool. Be cool. Don't panic. You can do this.' Darcy repeats her mantra over and over as she's walking towards the familiar opening of Loki's containment room. As she left the elevator, she only had to present her identification to the two agents stationed at the reception area of the floor. Darcy was actually surprised after Loki's disappearance that more agents weren't placed on duty, but I suppose when you can poof yourself out of anywhere, it's kind of just a waste.

Stopping in front of the entrance of the room, Darcy takes one more look back towards the way she came in hesitation. Bracing herself, she takes a deep breath, straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin as she heads into the cell. Glancing up, she cautiously and discreetly looks up at the cameras located around in the room. Through the long panel of glass, she sees Loki sitting in the center of the room, legs propped up on another chair while an arm rests on the table; he's reading a book, Darcy tries to see what he's reading but can't see the cover of the book from where's she's standing. She carefully moves to the side of the door located in the center and places her thumb on the identification pad. Her breathing speeds up a bit and nerves settle in now as she's about to try and jump through her first hoop. She hopes they let her in; talking to him from the outside, Darcy won't be able to convey what she needs him to do. As her thumb is being scanned, Darcy glances back and forth between Loki and the device; she notices Loki stiffen slightly as the reader is emitting a series of beeps. After what seems like a lifetime, the scanner glows green and the door to Loki's cell opens. Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Darcy steps up and into his room; the door behind her closing automatically making a loud locking sound. 'We are at the point of no return Darce.'

"Hey." Darcy softly speaks, glancing around the room until her gaze finally lands on the back of his head; she takes a quiet step forward unsure with her surroundings.

She sees Loki straighten in his chair, dropping his legs and closing his book in one graceful motion. Whipping his head around, Darcy can see the surprise on his face with her arrival in his cell and unguarded.

"I must say, this is quite the pleasant surprise. Good morning Miss Lewis. To what to I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Loki says, apprehension and amusement coloring his voice; he turns more fully towards Darcy, resting another arm over the back of his chair.

"Well, I thought since you were so kind to pay me a visit; I felt I owed you the same courtesy – minus the 'poofing' of course." Darcy quips back, waving a hand in front of him as she makes her way closer to him.

"Hmmm….an interesting answer, though not the correct one. Why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?" Dropping all pretense, Loki stretches his long legs from their position at the table before standing to walk around and over to Darcy.

Quickly trying to think of a reasoning to give Loki, she fails to come up with a decent answer and decides to settle for the truth while slowly backing away towards one of the walls in the corner of his room.

"Okay, you got me. I definitely suck at the lying gig. I was sent here to ask you about Thanos." Darcy answers back, stealing a glance at a camera at the opposite end of Loki's room. She reaches back with her right arm and rests her hand against the wall, absently rubbing her fingers up and down the wiring running up and down the length of the wall trying to play off a nervous motion. "SHIELD was kind of hoping you'd be willing to give me some more information about when you think Thanos is coming; so they can assess the threat level."

"Really? I find that hard to believe after how adamantly they were all against what I told you. I'm inclined to believe that whatever I say they will take as a fallacy. And you're helping them. Apparently I made a poor choice in estimating your value and capabilities." Loki sneers. Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at Darcy, his posture becomes slightly more menacing than a moment ago.

"Whoa, hey - listen Mr. Eavesdropper – you should also know, I defended your sorry ass; so don't take it out on me. I mean I don't want to say 'I told you so', but I totally told you so, dude. I'm just here to do my job; you really think I'd be here willingly, wanting to have a one on one with you?" Darcy slaps her hand lightly against the wall, tapping her fingers against the wires as she fires back at him, her voice growing louder as she emphasizes the last set of words, giving a pointed look to her hand and then back to Loki, in the hopes he'll catch her drift.

The outburst from Darcy gives Loki a moment of pause. Resting his hip against the table his eyes roam over her form and his brow knits together in slight confusion, raising his gaze up to Darcy's face; she can see him looking back and forth between her face and her hand. His face lights up ever so slowly and a delicate, but small smile graces his features.

"Yes, it was foolish of me to think otherwise, my apologies." Loki smirks at her all the while walking over to her position at the wall.

As Loki stops, nearly inches away from Darcy, he looms over her stretching an arm behind her to place his hand on top of hers and gently taps his fingers against hers where she's touching the wires that connect to the security feeds. After several moments of staring at each other, Loki removes his hand from the wall and brings Darcy's hand with him. He holds her hand lightly as he turns and silently strolls back to the table he was previously occupying.

"You are right. You are horrid at lying, but more cunning than you give yourself credit for." Loki says, now smirking in amusement at her. Leading Darcy into one of his chairs, Loki releases his hold on her and sits opposite of her.

"Did you just give me a compliment?" Darcy replies, clearly surprised by his admission, she looks down at the hand Loki had been holding and rubs at it nervously; her hand tingling from where he touched her. Darcy's unsure of whether her hand is full of sensation because of the small amount of energy she felt when Loki placed his hand on hers or for other reasons entirely. Looking up at Loki, she makes another pointed look to a camera behind him, "Does that mean…?" Darcy trails off as she brings her eyes back to his face.

"Yes, Darcy. You conveyed your words well enough, and we are free to speak without consequence for the moment." Loki says, his eyes dancing in mirth and a genuine smile appearing on his face.

Relief sweeps through Darcy's body and she allows herself to relax and let all the tension leave her body with the knowledge that her instincts were right. 'Darcy 1,000; SHIELD Zero.' Darcy muses.

"Look, I know you've done a shitload of bad things over the past few months, and I'm pretty sure you can figure out that SHIELD could give a rat's ass whether you're telling the truth or not regarding Thanos; they just want big bro to take you back to Asgard. But, given the circumstances, I want to help because I really do think you're being honest this time around." Darcy says, finally getting the chance to speak her mind about the events that have taken place.

"You are willing to go against your friends and help me, after everything I've done – you're going against your better judgment to trust me? My, my, Miss Lewis you continue to surprise me, why is that I wonder?" Loki's gaze darkens as he shifts forward assessing Darcy in a new light.

"I know you're the God of Lies, but when you were telling me about Thanos, I just knew for a fact that you were telling the truth, I could see it in your eyes. That dude is bad news, and I totally get why you want to destroy the scepter." Darcy admits to him. Shifting back in her seat slightly, she ducks her head under Loki's heated gaze. "And…and I'm willing to help you get the scepter because…well because I know what it's like to be disregarded and left to fend for yourself, and you deserve a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of those you wronged, or whatever….," Darcy finishes lamely, flopping a hand out in Loki's direction, waving it up and down. Darcy can feel Loki's eyes boring into her head. She lifts her head to meet his gaze and sees something that catches her off guard, compassion and understanding. 'Who would have thought the God of Mischief and I would have something in common', Darcy thinks to herself.

"You are not what I expected Darcy Lewis." Loki softly speaks to her, outstretching a hand to one of hers, he flips her hand over and starts to draw lazy patterns into her palm.

"Yea-yeah? Well, that makes two of us." Stuttering slightly, Darcy glances down to watch Loki play with her hand lightly, causing a whole new set of feelings to flood into her. "So, uhm, I've been trying to figure out how to get the scepter to you, but I really haven't had time to think up a decent plan. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants here, and after today, I doubt I'll be able to see you again without guards and what exactly are my boss and Hawkeye looking at right now that's keeping everyone from yanking me out of here with our current topic of conversation?" Darcy quickly rambles on in nervousness, a blush forming on her face from Loki's continued attention on her extremity.

She notices upon the mention of Clint's name he halts his ministrations on her palm. She can see him thinking about her questions in quiet contemplation.

"Fear not Darcy, my magic may be slight, but it is powerful enough to provide the illusion that I am simply ignoring you for the time being. As for how you are to obtain the scepter, I'm not completely sure. I cannot for obvious reasons…," Loki pauses momentarily to tap his bracelet. "But, what I do know is that the power of the bracelet wanes, I can slowly start the build of the previous levels of magic I had prior to our meeting yesterday; therefore, there is a chance I could duplicate myself in the cell and teleport myself a short distance within the building, but that would require the distraction of your Agent Barton." Loki says looking away, releasing her hand and sitting back in his chair; distain is heard in his voice as he mentions Hawkeye.

"He's not my – …never mind." Darcy mutters trailing off slightly, rubbing her palms over her face while thinking over Loki's offer.

'Okay, so he thinks he could duplicate himself allowing the cameras to believe he's still in his cell, and he might be able to teleport somewhere in the building, but even if she could get her hands on the scepter – where would she go? And how on Earth would Clint be able to be distracted long enough to…Wait! That's it.'

"I might have a plan." Darcy says, lowering her hands away from her face. She sees Loki raise an eyebrow, asking her to continue on. "So, I need to get the scepter to a place you can teleport, and you need Clint to be distracted long enough to duplicate yourself and teleport to a safe location where no one will see you…," taking a breath, Darcy surges forward with her explanation, "I'll find a way to convince Clint that I've been asked to retrieve the scepter from the vault and take it down to the lab where Jane and Erik are working; so they can run some comparable tests between the tesseract and the energy source in the scepter. You, during this time will teleport yourself to my bedroom-" Darcy stops after seeing a devious and sinful smirk appear on his ridiculously handsome face.

"Your bedroom? Really Miss Lewis, I was unaware you had other intentions towards me. That could be fun." Loki speaks as he absently rubs a hand against his chest, laughter flitting through his voice and his eyes lighting up with glee.

"Do, you want my help or not?" Darcy's voice pitches high, embarrassed, she turns her head away from Loki in attempt to hide the heat flooding her cheeks.

"Of course, yes – you were saying."

"There aren't any cameras in the bedrooms; so you would be safe from being caught. I'll figure out a way to get away from Clint, and I'll bring the scepter to you, where you can do whatever it is you need to do with it to stop Thanos from coming here." Darcy finishes exasperated and unnerved. She knows she's going to be on the receiving end of the 'Shittest Friend' award, by using her connection to Clint to help out Loki, but she figures it's her only shot to do what's necessary. But Darcy is also secretly hoping she can smooth things over with Clint and figure out their feelings in the process. If anything, she hopes they can return to the friendship they once had, but with what she's about to do, she has a hard time believing that may be possible…She must be insane for agreeing to this!

"Your plan may be of use, though I am not fond of Agent Barton being the one to escort you to the scepter." Loki methodically replies, dropping his hands to his sides, Darcy can see him clenching and unclenching his fists again.

'What is his deal with Barton?' Darcy contemplates, watching his features morph into irritation and his jaw tighten.

"Loki, dude, there is no other way – he has the clearance needed to get into the vault and I'm distracting him for you. I thought you'd be overjoyed." Darcy says, standing up and poking Loki in the shoulder playfully.

Silence stretched on and Darcy could sense an inner battle tugging at Loki, though she has no idea the reason. Watching him turn towards her, she sees his brow drawn in confusion and worry, but ultimately acceptance as he also stands, grabbing her fingers to stop her from further provoking him.

"Would you be able to go about your plan shortly?" Loki asks of her, dropping her hand as if he had been burnt.

"Uh, - yeah sure. I have the rest of the day to do whatever, so I can go find Clint now if you're ready?" Darcy says stunned, glancing at her hand, she can't help but feel slightly hurt at his reaction to her playful encounter with him, wondering what caused such a reaction.

"Good, because we're about to have company. Aim for the next hour for us to meet. Shall we each play a part now?" Loki grabs Darcy and twists her around so she's trapped between the table and Loki. His posture is menacing, but his eyes have a more mischievous gleam to them.

Darcy can't see around Loki, but she can hear the tale tell signs of boots echoing against the ground and someone standing at the door going through the identification process. Loki's grip on her wrists appears forceful, but is shockingly tender. The playful look in his eye grows as does the smirk on his lips, his body moving forward until they are flush against one another.

"Miss Lewis, I do believe this will be well worth the reaction this causes." Loki whispers down to her and not giving Darcy time to respond, he leans down to kiss her.

An incoherent noise of surprise makes it way out of the back of Darcy's throat, shock filling her, she's unable to comprehend that Loki is kissing her. Loki, God of Mischief, is kissing her. Darcy can hear distant yelling in the background, but all she can focus on are Loki's lips sliding, crashing against hers in fervor. Something snaps inside of her, and she responds back in turn, not caring for the moment that they have an audience. And then as suddenly as it started, it was over – feeling Loki being ripped away from her, Darcy hears shouting inside the holding cell from various people. Opening her eyes, Darcy gasps and sags against the table taking stock of her new predicament, shock and awe still flooding her system. Looking up straight ahead, she can see Barton being restrained by two agents, a look of anger etched across his face that Darcy has never seen so forcefully displayed from him before. Glancing down to her left, she can see Loki has been pinned to the ground by two more agents, holding his hands up in mock surrender with a look of amusement all the while. Catching his gaze, their eyes lock and his devilish smirk deepens with the uproar he knew his action would cause. 'He knew Clint was coming and wanted to rile him up on purpose.' Darcy muses, glancing back at Barton. Getting up and walking forward to where Clint is still struggling, she steps in front of him and places her hands on his shoulders hoping to calm him.

"Clint, calm down. It's alright. Loki was out of line, but I'm okay." Darcy speaks quietly to Clint trying to placate him.

"You bastard. You keep your damn hands off her!" Clint shouts back at Loki, looking past Darcy completely, Clint is seething with anger.

"Okay, boys – let's uh, move this out of the cell shall we?" Darcy acknowledges the two agents that are gripping Barton and motions to them to take him out of Loki's containment unit, following in suit, Darcy shares one last look at Loki, shaking her head in disapproval, but the hint of a smile manages to form on her lips anyways. Loki looks positively gleeful as if he's accomplished some major task, she's starting to get the feeling that kiss was meant to be seen as staking a claim. Darcy's not exactly sure how she feels about that, as amazing a kiss as it was. Her body is still humming with approval, or that may just be the energy coursing through her body. Either way, she's totally fucked. Stepping down out of the room, Darcy notices the agents have released Clint and Agent Coulson has now entered the room, speaking in hushed whispers with Hawkeye. Coulson notices her walking over to them and he says something to Barton she can't hear before he's stepping back from him to speak with her.

"Miss Lewis, that was quite a display in there." Agent Coulson says to her.

"Never a dull moment with me around." Darcy quips back at him, noticing Clint has not so stealthily edged himself closer to the two of them now.

"Yes, well, I think it's safe to assume Loki has been playing you and us the whole time. I am sorry we weren't there sooner." Phil regretfully replies.

Darcy can hear a huff of indignation from Clint.

"You are free to go about your day Darcy; I will inform Director Fury of the results of your visit." Agent Coulson says, he pats her shoulder affectionately and turns to leave the room but not before giving what Darcy assumes to be, a meaningful glance at Clint.

"Yo – Boss-man?" Darcy shouts at Phil before he can fully leave the room; she sees him stop and turn to giving her a questioning stare. "What exactly are you going to tell Director Fury what happened while I was in the cell?" Darcy wants to, as unsuspectingly as possible, find out just what they were viewing while she and Loki were having their secret meeting. She prays it all goes as planned.

"Just that Loki has failed to provide us with any information he claimed to have had and then took advantage of a member of our team. If you're worried about what happened Miss Lewis, I'll be discreet about it." Phil says, a slight smile appearing on his face before continuing down the corridor, the other agents now following in tow as it seems Loki has been left to his own devices again, which just leaves her with Barton.

'Hoo-boy, here we go….phase two time.'

OOOOO

OOOOO

A sense of déjà vu comes over Darcy.

Clint's looking at her again like the world is about to end. His face is contorted in grief as if he blames himself for not being able to stop Loki from attacking her. Well, that's what he sees; Darcy has an entirely different viewpoint. Guilt is already scratching at the back of her brain, knowing what she has to do next will be difficult, but will ultimately save them all. This is about the time Darcy believes she's about to make career suicide, but she's not going to back down after coming this far. She just hopes when SHIELD finds out they don't throw her in a prison for the rest of her life, or simply kill her for what she's about to embark upon.

"Aww, come on Clint – you know this isn't your fault. I'm a little shaken up, but all is right with the world right now. I promise." Darcy says, trying to play down the incident and get him to lighten up a bit, she bumps his shoulder lightly with hers and grasps his upper arm to swivel him around to the exit.

"Darce -, it's just twice now he's gotten to you! I can't believe this happened again. I should have shot him with my arrow when I had the chance all those months ago." Barton exclaims, roaming his eyes over Darcy for any outlying injuries that she may not have mentioned.

"Seriously, Clint, don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" Darcy stops them both in the hallway to embrace Clint in a friendly hug. Barton stiffens infinitesimally but quickly returns the sentiment in full force, crushing her to him.

"I just want you to be safe Darcy. A world without you in it would be pretty damn sad." Clint whispers, breathing her in and squeezing tightly before reluctantly releasing her from his grasp.

Walking to the elevator she looks over to Clint and sees him fighting himself from saying something, but refrains and punches the down button on the elevator. Crossing her arms in front of her and leaning against the wall, Darcy taps her foot impatiently on the ground, eyes flitting over to Clint she starts to get an idea in her head.

"Hey, you have a few minutes to spare?" Darcy nonchalantly says, halting the tapping of her foot, she doesn't want to come off as nervous to him, which she totally is right now.

"I have some time, why?"

"I was just hoping you could take me down to the vault, Jane sent a message to my phone a short while ago asking if I could bring the scepter down to her and Erik so they could run some tests on it for whatever it is their currently working on. I always pop down there close to lunch time anyways, so I told her I would. Do you mind at all?" Darcy replied, attempting to refrain from rambling in all one long-winded breathe. 'Please don't say no, please don't say no.' Darcy mentally prays to herself, hoping Clint will agree to her request in his already guilt ridden mood. God she feels like a terrible person for doing this to him, she hopes it all works out for everyone. She cares about Clint so much, loves him even, but Darcy realizes not as a lover. She would hate to lose his friendship over this, but Darcy realizes this is a risk she is willing to make right now in order to help save everyone and restore Thor's faith in his brother.

"I suppose so, how long are they going to need it? It shouldn't be out in the open for long periods of time. If I had my way, I'd toss the fucking thing out into the atmosphere. I hate that scepter." Clint vehemently replies, but gives her a quizzical look.

Darcy knows of all people, Clint could care less what happens to the scepter. He probably wants it destroyed more than anyone here given his previous introduction to it. Darcy steps into the elevator once the doors open and shrugs at Clint not knowing the answer to his previous inquiry; she hits the floor level they need to travel to as Barton follows in suit after her.

As the elevator descends, Clint starts rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, staring at the floor in a nervous manner. Darcy wants to smirk at his obvious discomfort, not because she's trying to make him feel that way, but because this is completely un-Hawkeye-like behavior. It's almost an endearing mannerism coming from him.

"Listen Darcy, about what happened last night between us…..I know you're dealing with a lot right now, and I should have said something a lot sooner, but last night freaked me out. I never felt the way I did the moment I found out Loki took you. I had never felt so helpless, so lost; it was if all my training left my system – gone. " Clint says sincerely glancing up to look at Darcy in the eye; pausing to collect the outpour of emotion coming from him, after a few moments, he finally continues "And I promised myself, that if we got you back safely, I would say something, so I'm saying it Darce, I feel something more than the friendship that we have, and I'm not asking for any type commitment or even an answer today, but all I ask is if could you think about the prospect of more, of an us?" Barton finishes, placing his hands on either side of Darcy, pulling her closer to convey the seriousness of his speech.

Mouth opening and closing, all Darcy can do is gape at the man in front of her. For the first time, Darcy is speechless; she doesn't think in all the time she's known Clint to ever be so candid and honest with his feelings. She must have really thrown him for a loop to cause this kind of emotional tirade out of him. Darcy knows what's in her heart, and she refuses to lead Clint on, but if she were to turn him down now in his emotional state; she's afraid he'll be unrecoverable and even their friendship won't survive.

"Clint, I-I don't know if there's a future for us together, as something more, but I promise I'll at least think about everything you've said." Darcy responds looking up into his grey-blue eyes. Darcy takes his hand and gives it a brief squeeze; she knows it's the least she can do for him; she owes him that much, to really think about their future.

Clint's brow draws together as he looks down at Darcy in their small confines; searching her eyes, he slowly nods his head in acceptance of her response.

The elevator door dings, alerting them to their arrival at their destination and Darcy is immediately brought back to the gravity of her situation. Clint places a hand lightly on her back, motioning for her to exit first. They walk in silence together towards a set of metal doors at the end of the hallway, as they reach the edge of the vault, Clint motions to Darcy with his hand to wait while he gives his authorization. She can see to the right of the door's entrance there is a retinal scanner and key pad next to each other. Darcy watches apprehensively, absently picking at her nails as Clint bends over to allow himself to be scanned. Hearing the beep from the computer generated scanner, Barton quickly punches in a six digit code before hearing the low vibrating pull of the metal doors swing open. Clint steps back and motions with his head to move forward. Darcy can tell he's in complete Hawkeye mode right now; she's glad they got their conversation out of the way in the elevator; she doesn't think she'd be able to handle it out in front of the vault. Uneasiness starts to creep into Darcy's system as she makes her way inside. She can see the scepter placed on a stand in the back of the room where a table separates the artifact from all the monitoring equipment elsewhere. Darcy assumes the equipment is meant to keep track of energy levels and motion detection for unauthorized entrants, but she's never been down here – so she's just guessing at this point. Walking into the vault with Clint, she notices he's stopped at the edge of the entrance, not wanting to get any closer to the scepter than he has to. She can't blame him for that.

Looking back at Barton, she watches him as he leans on one of the vault's metal doors; he tips his head and gives a slight smile in reassurance, waving his hand at her to keep going. The vault is smaller than it appears from the outside. Glancing around quickly, Darcy can see in the dimly lit room that the walls look to be made of reinforced steel, as is the flooring. There are computers running schematics on one side of the room and the other has what appears to show signals of some sort, but it honestly looks like gibberish to Darcy. As she gets closer to the back of the room, Darcy can feel her skin start to itch, her body becoming even more energized by her proximity to the scepter. Making her way to stand in front of the item in question, she silently observes what everyone is so desperate to get their hands on. It certainly doesn't look like anything special, but Darcy knows just how powerful this thing can be when wielded. Darcy closes her eyes, a shiver running through her body as she remembers the video of Coulson's near death. Taking a shuddering breath, she opens her eyes to stare at the small blue-glowing gem emanating from the scepter. She can't take her eyes off it, locking her in place as if she were in a trance.

"Hey, Darce, come on. I don't want to be around that thing any longer than I have to." Clint says to her, his voice knocking her out of her reverie.

"Yeah! Sure thing, Clint." Darcy absently replies back. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she closes her eyes and opens them again with a renewed determination.

Reaching out with her left hand, she hesitantly grabs the scepter, lifting it up off its stand and bringing it in front of her to look at. 'Huh, it's a lot lighter than she imagined.' Darcy thinks. She makes a swiping motion with the scepter, moving it between her hands.

"Alright, you've had your fun." Clint's amused voice floats over the noise of the running computers.

Looking over to Barton, Darcy grins at him and makes a spinning motion with the scepter causing it to turn a full 360 degrees before she catches it in her hand and jolts it back up to hold it in its place. As she pulls up on the scepter, her body becomes flooded with an indescribable feeling. It's the same energy that she felt from Loki yesterday; only this was 100 times more powerful of a pull. She can hear the scepter start to hum loudly as the energy from her body flows right into the brightly glowing gem. The force of energy is so strong she can't move, and her grip on the scepter has unconsciously tightened, a burning sensation is felt, floating up and through her body, causing Darcy to slam her eyes shut and cry out in pain. Swirls of blue pixilated light shoot out from the tip of the scepter and begin encircling Darcy, each rotation of energy quickening, glowing brighter and larger than the last. The vault is now howling with the sounds of wind whipping around her; Darcy can hear the faint echoes of Clint yelling from somewhere in the vault, but his voice is becoming more and more distant, the vibration of the energy is almost at a deafening level as Darcy tries to open her eyes, but all she can see and feel is energy, surrounding and overwhelming her senses everywhere.

And then, feeling the sensation of one final tug, Darcy is gone.

OOOOO

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