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“I do not wish to be burdened with your love!” Loki shouted and then promptly vanished. Darcy stood, stunned motionless for a few minutes. Once the shock wore off she walked into the bedroom and packed a small bag.
“Jarvis, I need to leave some messages with you please.”
“Of course Miss Lewis.”
“ And after that I am cashing in that favour Tony owes me. As soon as I leave this room I want my files deleted, erased, destroyed or at least buried so deep it will be impossible to find. I might not be able to teleport” she said looking where Loki had last stood “but I need to disappear.”
“Are you sure Miss Lewis?”
“Positive.”
Three weeks later Loki returned to their apartment. With a broad smile on his face he called for out for Darcy. “Mr.Odinsson” Jarvis spoke softly “I have a message for you from Miss Lewis, she asked for you to listen to the entire message. That you owed her that much.” As Jarvis spoke the smile fell from his face.
“Jarvis, where is Darcy?”
“I’m sorry Mr.Odinsson, I do not know Miss Lewis’ whereabouts. Do you wish my to play your message?” Loki nodded his head. Darcys voice came over the intercom.
“So, um, it’s easier to let the lyrics speak for me.” When the music started Loki recognized it as one that Darcy had said was the saddest song she had ever heard.
Anywhere I would've followed you
Say something I’m giving up on you
And I will swallow my pride
You’re the one that I love
And I’m saying goodbye
Darcy spoke again, her voice thick with tears “I’m sorry, I never meant to be a burden to you. Please try and be happy now. Goodbye.”
“Jarvis, when did she leave this message?”
“Within an hour of your leaving.”
Loki started pacing and thought “No, no this cannot be happening. Not now. Not when I’ve fixed it.” The sound of the door being pounded on broke into his thoughts. He heard Jane yelling “ Let me in or I’ll have Thor smash the door down!”
Jarvis spoke quickly “May I request you comply with Dr. Foster. I do not wish to replace yet another door.” Loki opened the door and Jane stormed in followed by Thor.
“What the hell did you do? No one has heard from Darcy in weeks. She left me a message saying she had to leave, she didn’t want anyone to look for her and to please be kind to you.”
Loki snarled at Jane “So you just let her go?”
“Of course not, but we didn’t get the message until she had already been gone for hours. Before she left she wiped herself from SHIELDs systems and she isn’t with any friends that I know about.She even left all of her electronics behind, so we can’t even trace her that way.”
Loki dropped down onto the couch. Jane had been his best hope of finding Darcy. If her knowledge is insufficient, where could he start next? He knew Heimdall would never assist him even if Thor was the one who made the request. Thor asked “Loki, what happened when last you saw Darcy?”
Loki spoke ashamedly, “We were having an argument. The last thing I said to her was that I didn’t want to be burdened with her love.”
“You said WHAT?!” Jane yelled. “ You are an absolute ass. Have you ever asked her anything about her past? Of course not, because everything has to be about you.”
Loki spoke as calmly as he was able “Thor, remove your woman before I do something that you will regret.”
Thor said “Jane, I know you are worried about Darcy, as am I, but yelling at Loki is not helping us find her.”
Jane took a deep breath. “Did you know that Darcys parents died when she was just 7 and she was sent to live with an aunt?”
“Yes” Loki said, “It was mentioned once.”
“And did Darcy ever tell you about her life with that bitch? How the first thing her aunt told her at the funeral was that she was nothing but a burden and they couldn’t wait for her to turn 18 so they could be rid of her.” Janes tenuously held calm snapped “And then you went and called her the same thing you idiot!”
Loki glared at Jane. Quietly he said “Get out.” Thor looked at Lokis face and gently took her arm. “ Come Jane, Loki needs to be alone. He has much to think about.” Throughout the night Loki listened to Dacys message over and over. He thought “Why did I use those words? Why didn’t she tell me? Why did I never ask her about her past? Why do I just take and take? I do not deserve her love, but I cannot live without it.” When morning comes Loki is exhausted, but he has started to form a plan.
Darcy was just getting dressed when she heard “What the hell?” coming from the kitchen. She and Chloe had been friends in college.They had only spoken a few times since then but when Darcy showed up at her apartment Chloe was happy to let her stay as long as she needed. “What’s wrong Chloe?”
“Something really weird is happening. All my music is gone from my ipod. Whatever I try to play all I get is some song clip looping. It was fine last night.” Chloe booted up her laptop. “All I can say is there had better be a way to fix this or else...Holy Crap, Darcy! Look at this.” Darcy leaned over to watch the news report.
“Authorities are trying to determine if this is a prank or the beginnings of a more serious situation. All sources of music media have been hacked worldwide. Everything from ipods to online music sources and even radio stations have been attacked by what we believe to be a virus.
Darcy stopped listening to the news. She flopped onto the couch dropping her head into her hands. A memory had hit her so hard that it brought tears to her eyes. She remembered a rainy Saturday months ago when she and Loki had been discussing and debating ideas for pranks. Once she had explained what rickrolling meant Loki had said scornfully that it was pitiful since it only affected one person at a time. To be truly impressive it should be done on a much grander scale. Loki, she thought. She had hoped that time and distance would help her heart to mend but it had been almost a month and she missed him just as badly as the day she left. Darcy took a few deep shaky breaths. “Chloe, could you play the music clip for me?” maybe this had nothing to do with her, maybe it was just
I’m sorry that I hurt you
It’s something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That’s why I need you to hear
I found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
Tears spilled from Darcys eyes. “I need to borrow your phone.” As she dialed Darcy wondered if Loki would even answer a call from an unknown number. Then she heard his voice, “Who is this and how did you acquire this number?”
“You idiot” Darcy said softly, “you don’t even like that song.”
“Darcy,love, is that you? Please don’t hang up, Where are you? Are you well?”
She had never heard words tumble that quickly from Lokis mouth. “Wait a minute, did you just say love?”
“Yes, you are my dearest love, you are more important to me than anything in the nine realms...ah there you are”
Darcy dropped the phone as it started vibrating and shimmering with a green haze. When she looked up Loki was in front of her and in less than a moment she was in his arms. Then in a bright flash they were back at their apartment in the tower.
Loki kissed her forehead gently, then sat her on the couch and went to one knee in front of her. “I’m sorry for what I said. I have not earned it but I beg of you a chance to explain.”
darcy said “Of course, but first you really need to undo that spell. Messing with people's music is so not cool dude.”
“Everything went back to normal the moment I heard your voice. Darcy your love is not a burden it was wrong of me to say so. It is the greatest gift I ever have or ever will receive, but you are mortal. The idea of spending thousands of years mourning your loss made me lash out at the universe for its cruelty and also you for daring to make a god fall in love with you.” Tears were streaming down Darcys face again. “I had never thought of it that way, I’m so sorry, I..”
Loki held her face in his hands and kissed her. As he wiped her tears away with his thumbs he said “I have a proposition for you. What if there were a way for us to be together always. Would you be mine and stay by my side forever?”
“All I want is to never leave you again.”
Loki grinned and with a wave of his hand a box appeared. “I knew there was only one way to keep you with me always. It took three weeks to break into Idunns orchard and steal this for you.” Loki opened the box and handed Darcy the golden apple from within.
“Odin hates me. Won’t he be mad?” Loki threw his head back and laughed.
“When isn’t Odin furious with me. Mother on the other hand is delighted. She was the one who distracted Idunn for me and said to tell you that she cannot wait to greet her new daughter.
Darcy looked down at the apple in her hands and then back to Loki and said “I love you”. As she ate the apple Loki smiled broadly and told her “Now we have an eternity to love each other.”