for @whyndancer
900 words
Rated T
I know I came with the house, but could you think of keeping me?
Sort of a Beetlejuice AU if you squint
~~~~~~~~~~
Darcy looked around the living room. “This is our living room...” She ran out the door behind her and ended up back in the same room again. “But I can’t go outside? What happened?”
Steve shook his head and tried it for himself.
“Why did you just try it? Did you not trust me?” she asked.
“It’s not that, Darce... I just...”
“I remember driving back from the hardware store, but I don’t remember coming home. How are we here?” she asked, her voice taking on that shrill quality it always took when she was anxious.
“I don’t know...” he replied.
She peeked out the window. “Where is the car?”
“I don’t know?”
Darcy went to bite her nails and when it came away in her mouth, she screamed, holding her hand out as a new one grew back in its place. “Oh my god.”
“Maybe we had an accident,” Steve began, trying to remain calm in light of the purely horrendous and macabre. “And we hit our heads.”
“And are having a shared hallucination?” she shrilled.
“Sit down... come here...” She let him lead her over to the sofa. As they sat down on it, he slid his arm around her and squeezed.
“Wherever we are, we’re together, so we’ll be alright...”
She let her head fall on his shoulder and they sat there for a long, quiet moment, just trying to figure out what was going on.
And while they were in the middle of that, a man walked into the room. Darcy was pretty sure she’d never seen him before in her life, but she also felt like she might know him? It was strange. She felt oddly at ease with his presence. He was wearing all black. Tailored suit. He looked nice.
A tall man. Dark hair. He walked passed them on the sofa, leaning over as he did and clearly looking down Darcy’s blouse. Then, he whistled softy and continued on his trek across the room and grabbed a book from the shelf.
He then proceeded to take a seat in the easy chair and open the book. He licked his finger tips and turned a page, getting comfortable.
“Who in the fuck are you?” Steve blurted. “And why did you just look down my wife’s blouse?”
The man slowly looked up at them, catching their gaze for the first time since he’d arrived and abruptly dropped the book into his lap. It passed through and he stood.
“Can you see me?”
“Um, yeah?” Darcy replied. “We can see you. Who are you?”
He visibly swallowed and held out his hand, a sickly sweet smile spreading across his face. “I’m Loki. And if you can see me, I must have clearly not put up the correct shields this morning. I can promise not to bother you again, I’ll just go shield myself and then---“
“No wait,” Darcy called, just as he turned. “Maybe you can help us.”
“Help us?” Help us how?” Steve hissed.
Darcy shrugged. “I’m out of ideas.”
“Fine.”
“We were driving back from the hardware store and um... I don’t remember getting home?” she said. And the car’s not outside. And we can’t leave. What is happening?”
Loki pursed his lips and held up one finger, turning and walking from the room.
Darcy groaned and flopped back on the couch. “Well that was useless.”
“Sorry, babe...” Steve sat back down beside her.
“I apologize for my abruptness,” Loki returned with yet another book. “I had no idea there’d been an accident. That certainly explains why you can see me.” He held out the book to them. “I didn’t think to look inside the cover. It’s been inscribed to you and Steve, Darcy.”
“How do you know my name?” she asked.
“I’ve been living here for a while now, I sort of picked it up,” he said, smiling in a bashful sort of way. “Hope that’s alright.”
Darcy took the book. “What is this?”
“Handbook for the Recently Deceased?” Steve read off the cover. “What kind of joke is this?”
“You said there was an accident,” Loki replied. “And the car’s gone? And you can’t leave the house through the doors?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled in a placating sort of way and gestured tot he book. “I thought it had been mistakenly delivered to me. It’s happened before. I move so often. But... I believe this one is yours.”
Darcy sat down hard on the sofa.
Steve sat down beside her.
Loki took a seat in the asy chair. “And I hope this isn’t a terrible time. But if you find it within your hearts to allow me to remain here, I’d be very much obliged. It’s quiet and lovely. I know I came with the house, but... if you could think of keeping me?”
“Keeping you?” Steve asked. “You can do what you wish, can’t you?”
“Until I’m spotted by the owners of the house. Then, it’s up to you.”
“You stared at Darcy’s breasts,” Steve said bluntly.
“Because they’re very nice breasts, I’m sure you can attest,” Loki said with a grin. “I also stared at you, but you were sitting on your most stare-worthy asset, so...” he shrugged.
Steve blushed and Darcy smirked. “Yeah. You can stay,” she replied.
Darcy!”
“Why not? We’re dead. The more the merrier, right?”
Steve sighed and took the book from her. “Let me see that.”
Steve had spent countless hours since his defrosting 'catching up'. Books, movies, tv shows, the internet, it was a never ending well of trying to figure out all the ways the world had changed. But he was lucky enough to have found people to help him through it. Lucky enough to have found Darcy, who was as well versed in modern culture and cultural history as anyone he'd ever met, and more than that was always delighted to share it with him and never ever made jokes at his expense for not knowing something yet. Lucky enough to have found Loki, who in many ways, had even more catching up to do than he did, who understood what it was like to find yourself in a whole new world, who was a voracious learner and always eager to share new discoveries. And now, as he watched them dance to the jazzy 60's pop song that was the latest item on the Darcy's neverending "essential songs for Steve and Loki" playlist, he knew that he was hooked on this feeling.
Darcy was the one who suggested it in passing, but it was surprisingly Loki who made it happen.
When he went to visit New Asgard, he returned with two small hand-carved boxes. One with a ‘D’ on top and one with an ’S’. And then he set them under Darcy’s tiny Holiday tree in their shared living room and made them wait until December the twenty-fourth to open them.
By that time, Darcy was practically vibrating with excitement, much to the amusement of Steve and Loki.
“Maybe we could just put this off until New Year’s?” Steve pondered aloud. “I sort of like her this way. She’s cute.”
“How are you not more curious? How is this not driving you insane?” Darcy asked, bouncing in her seat as Loki handed her the box with her initial on it. He handed Steve his as well.
“As much as I agree about Darcy being adorable when she’s curious, I am impatient to give these to you. I hope you’ll like them.”
Darcy cracked open her box, the hinges squeaked, and then she gasped when she saw what was inside.
“Whoa...” Steve was the second to open his and react.
Their reactions were totally merited, however.
Matching silver bands. Darcy’s being a bit thinner than Steve’s, mostly hammered silver, but with a tiny intricate polished gold inlay that spelled out something in another language. Likely Asgardian.
“The translation’s inside the band,” Loki said softly, and Darcy quickly held hers up to the light to read it.
“One life. One love. One forever,” she read aloud, tearing up slightly as she brought the ring back down to lie in her palm. “I can’t believe you got them.”
“Loki, it’s truly beautiful,” Steve added.
“I got one of my own, but I saved it back for when I gifted yours to you. You do... you do like them, right?”
Darcy practically leaped into his lap and flung her arms around him for a big hug.
“I love mine. Thank you, Loki.”
Steve was already slipping his on, and Loki had taken hers to slide onto her ring finger.
Then, he procured his out of thin air and placed it on his own finger.
It wasn’t a true marriage in Earth terms, but Darcy felt like this was bigger than some dumb Earth wedding.
for this_empty_room
Rated T
628 words
Fever - Peggy Lee
~~~~~~~~~~
Steve let his hand slide down Darcy’s spine to rest at the small of her back. Her skin was so hot, he could only imagine how it felt to Loki.
Loki.
That’s who she was with. She wasn’t really his girl. She was just on loan while they were undercover. Because Loki could do that whole hocus pocus deal, Steve and Darcy were supposed to be the decoys while Loki got what Coulson had sent them after.
He would have been fine to go get it while Loki stood in this role, but Coulson had it out for the guy after he’d stabbed him. Nothing dangerous, just a playful rivalry. It would have been weird if this wasn’t SHIELD.
Steve watched as Darcy licked her red lips and turned towards him, grabbing his tie and making him forget this wasn’t real. She ran her fingers up and down the silk and tugged him surreptitiously so he’d bend down closer.
“Loki just gave the signal, did you see?”
“No,” Steve replied gruffly, reaching up to mess with his hair. He had dye in it. Plus a cabana hat. He really hoped the dye wasn’t dripping down his neck or anything. His other hand slid in the sweat beading on Darcy’s back as she stood from her stool, her drink all but untouched.
“Let’s blow,” she said softly, making his breath huff out as she linked her arm in his and tugged him towards the exit. She was shaking a little, so Steve knew he had to stop being gross and actually protect her.
“I’ve got you, Darce,” he murmured. “Slow down, keep your eyes on the exit, okay sweetheart?”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
Once she calmed down, they were able to get out of the beach cabana before the agents descended upon the entire place.
And when they rendezvoused with Loki and Phil, Darcy hugged Loki in a way that made Steve’s throat ache a little. And it wasn’t just because of Darcy either.
“Thank you for taking care of her,” Loki said with a knowing smirk that had Steve panicking because what if he knew? Was he able to read minds? Did he even have to be able to read minds to see what was on Steve’s mind?
Darcy went to go unstrap all her secret weapons and hand them over to Phil and Loki came up to clap his hand on Steve’s back. It was a distinctly ‘Thor’ move and not characteristic of Loki whatsoever.
“I say, Captain. Did you ever think to speak to her of your little infatuation?” Loki asked.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he replied, fighting not to look Loki in the eyes. Because if he did, Steve wasn’t sure what he’d say. Or do.
“Are you certain? Look me in the eye and tell me there’s nothing.” Steve swallowed and turned to look into Loki’s eyes. And what he saw there shook him. In a good way.
“So I should just talk to her.”
“If it’s what you want,” Loki said. “I’ll have you know I don’t share.”
“What if it’s not just Darcy who I need to talk to?” Steve replied.
Loki’s mouth twitched upward. “That’s more like it.”
“Does this count as the talk, then?” Steve asked.
“Not in the slightest, I would like details, Steve.”
“Might need to go somewhere quieter for that.”
“You might also need to talk to Darcy as well. I’m not going to do it for you.”
“Talk to me about what? Oh god, did you finally come around?” Darcy asked, reaching over to squeeze Steve’s bicep. “God, that’s... that’s...”
“Dinner?” Steve offered. “At my place? It’s nice and uh.... Quiet.”
Loki smirked and Darcy was the one who spoke. “Sounds great. Can’t wait.”
for this_empty_room
566 words
Rated T
He hasn’t been dead long, I just need to know if I can talk to him again!
~~~~~~~~~~
Darcy’s voice was shrill yet strangled. Like she was holding something back. And if she was holding anything back, Loki didn’t want to know what.
She was holding Steve’s limp hand. “He hasn’t been dead long, Loki.”
“I’m aware, but necromancy is a fickle thing...”
“I don’t care. I want to try. I just have to know if I can talk to him again.”
“I know that. So do I, but if I mess up even one iota, it can cause dramatic repercussions. He might not remember us. He might not be himself. He might not be Steve anymore.”
Tears began to drip down her cheeks and Loki knew he might as well strap in, because he was in this for the long haul.
Despite the aura of mystery surrounding the act, necromancy wasn’t really time consuming. It was a matter of reagents and other things that needed to line up.
Loki pushed all else from his mind and worked to reanimate Steve’s body. Once he did, he could harness Steve’s soul and force it back in. If all went perfectly, it’d be as if Steve was never gone.
If it didn’t? Well, there was a reason this wasn’t a branch of magic most witches worked with.
He’d only ever seen the spell completed correctly one time. And that had been by a team of witches. An entire coven.
This was just him. And Darcy.
And their love for the man laying prone on Loki’s table.
He handed a jar to Darcy. “Apply this to all his airways.”
“Airways?” she asked.
“Up his nose, down his throat,’ he replied. She didn’t shirk from doing it, and usually she balked at tasks Loki gave her. It was a true testament to how badly they wanted this to work.
The spell work was intense, and he couldn’t be bothered with the state of Steve’s body once he’d reanimated it.
He closed his eyes and channeled an electric pulse from the earth to surge through the rod in the center of the room and then into Steve’s body. He saw him alight for a moment, and then, he began to breathe.
Darcy choked out a sob and Loki squeezed his eyes shut, reciting the incantations from start to finish three times. So long as he didn’t make a single mistake, so long as he did it perfectly, when he opened his eyes, Steve would be laying on that table. As alive as he’d been that morning.
A brilliant flash of light set the room alight when he finished speaking. Darcy exclaimed loudly. “Steve!”
And when Loki opened his eyes, he saw the most welcome sight before him.
It had worked. Steve hadn’t even realized he was dead, and Darcy was still crying.
But this time, they were happy tears. Loki nearly fell out of his chair, but he managed to stand and walk over to Steve, patting him on the shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re back.”
“Get down here,” Steve said, throwing an arm around Loki and hugging him tightly. “Heard you saved my life.”
“Saved it? More like plucked it from oblivion,” Loki scoffed.
“Some things never change,” Steve laughed. “You’re as full of yourself as ever, aren’t you? I’ll bet you’re going to be impossible now.”
“Oh, there will be no living with me,” he replied.
“I’m sure we’ll manage, though,” Darcy said, reaching out for his hand.
823 words
Rated T
It’s Been a Long Time - Kitty Kalen
a/n - 1940s AU
~~~~~~~~~~
She was a dish.
That was Steve’s first thought when she stepped into the room, her shoes clicking on the wooden floor of the community center turned dance hall.
She had a red dress nipped in at the waist and legs for miles.
Her brown curls were like a halo around her beautiful face, and she was swinging her arms as she moved.
She grinned and waved at someone near him, a group of giggly women who called her over. “Darcy! Over here!”
Steve took a sip from the cup in his hand, mostly out of necessity for something to do with his hands. He tried not to look at her, to watch her every move, but when she walked, her skirt swished.
She crossed her arms over her narrow waist and started tapping her toe, watching the couples out on the floor. This song was half over, but Steve could oblige her. Even if he had two left feet. He could pull it together for a dame like that.
But before he could take a step in her direction, Loki moved in front of her, on hand behind his back while he held out the other for her. Steve pressed his lips together in disdain.
The man was always one step ahead of him. And he knew it.
Loki turned, locking eyes with Steve as he waggled his eyebrows, leading Darcy out to the floor.
The dance was slower, so he could hold her a little closer. The more that Steve watched, the more he figured that it was better this way. His lack of dancing skills was more noticeable during slower dances. He could fake a jitterbug if the woman knew what she was doing.
And judging by how Darcy was moving, she knew exactly what she was doing.
She danced the next with Loki as well, this one even slower.
Steve swallowed his nerves and walked closer to the couple as the song ended. Everyone clapped for the band and he tapped Darcy on the shoulder. “May I have the next one if your dance-card isn’t full yet?”
She grinned when she saw him. “Absolutely, sailor.” She gave a mock salute, a little lackadaisical, but Steve liked it. “You are a sailor, aren’t you?” she asked.
And he almost didn’t want to correct her, but he wasn’t.
“A soldier. But you can call me whatever you want. I’d learn to sail one of those big boats if you wanted a ride.”
She laughed, clapping. “A girl can’t argue with that. Thank you for the dances. Until later, Loki.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said, nodding to Steve. “Have fun.”
The dance was quick. And Steve got the opportunity to fake the jitterbug until the song ended and Darcy begged out for a glass of punch. Steve went to get it for her, coming back to see her talking with her friends. He smiled and handed it to her, and she waved her friends off.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a long sip. “You sure can hoof it.”
“I believe it’s you that’s good,” Steve chuckled.
“Well, I mean, a good lead makes a girl look good,” she said, winking and taking another sip. “So, Steve. What brings you here on a night like tonight? You look a worldly sort of fella. There not enough pretty girls where you’re from? Where ever you’re from?”
He laughed. “Brooklyn. And yes. There are. Never met one quite like you, though.”
Darcy blushed. “I think you’re a shameless flatterer.”
He reached for her hand. “And let me fill your dance card, doll?”
“As tempting as that is... I’m afraid you’ll have to share me with someone else,” Her eyes cut across the floor to where Loki was standing. He raised his hand to wave and both she and Steve waved in reply. “That gonna work for you, Soldier-Steve?”
He sighed and nodded. “Absolutely that’ll work for me.”
She waved Loki over. “Do you two know each other?”
“Yes, we’ve met,” Steve said.
“Oh, come off it, Steven,” Loki chuckled and clapped his hand on his back. “We always run into each other at these things. Always seem to gravitate towards the same dame as well, so we both have equally good taste, it would appear.” He grinned and Steve hated that he understood why Darcy was swooning. Loki had this way about him. He made you think you were the only one in the world.
“You ever played nice and shared?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Not yet,” Loki said. “First time for everything, isn’t there, Captain?”
“Captain!” she said, grinning widely. “You didn’t tell me you were an officer!”
“Yeah, I... don’t tell many people that. Loki just knows because he heard some grunts address me. And yes. A first time for everything.”
“Good,” Darcy said. “Because I don’t like choices. I’d rather have you both.”
404 words
Rated T
Please don’t leave me alone again
~~~~~~~~~~
“So that’s why I only ever order online,” Loki said. “Or at least I did. Now I suppose I’ll have to scavenge.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Do you ever shut up?”
“No,” Loki replied, completely deadpan. “That’s sort of my thing.”
Steve sighed heavily and they stepped into the new hallway. There was a thud in the closet and he held his hand out, pointing to the door, and then motioning for Loki to go.
“There’s no one else here,” Loki grumbled. “We can just talk.”
“I don’t want it to hear us if it’s a walker. It’s better if we get the jump on it.”
Loki groaned and pulled open the door, Steve reached for his shield and froze when he did.
There, crouching on the floor of the supply closet, clutching a bloody and broken mop handle, was someone who he thought was safely upstate at the facility there with Dr. Foster and the rest of the lab unit.
“Darcy?” Steve asked, noting how her shoulders were heaving as she waved the makeshift spear in front of her. She seemed to hear him, though, narrowing her eyes and looking between him and Loki.
“Oh god, I’m so happy to see you,” she said, scrambling to her feet and throwing herself into Steve’s arms.
Loki waited patiently for his own hug, and when one wasn’t forthcoming, he cleared his throat expectantly. Darcy cracked a smile and hugged him too. “Please don’t leave me alone again,’ she whispered in his ear.
“I wouldn’t have if I’d have known you were here,” Loki insisted.
Steve felt angry at the thought of someone leaving her here. “Who left you?” he asked.
“No one. Well. Everyone. I missed the shuttle upstate and then when the hoard came, I hid. I got a few with my mop handle though. I was looking for a communicator to see if someone could pick me up off the roof.”
“Well, we’re here now. We’ll arrange for transport,” Steve said.
“And you’re coming too?” she said hopefully, and Steve was about to come up with an excuse, because they had patrol duty until at least oh-sixteen-hundred hours, but Loki was the one who spoke first.
“Yes, we’re coming too,” Loki said. “As soon as we sweep the rest of the building for survivors.”
She relaxed immediately when he said that and Steve thought that maybe Loki’s mouth wasn’t so bad after all.
for @whyndancer
932 words
Rated T
Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
~~~~~~~~~~
Steve was pretty sure she was going to be angry with them. She’d sounded really angry with them before she left.
And that wasn’t long before the entire world seemed to fall apart. Fire rained from the sky, and yet another alien race tried to take over Earth. He wasn’t proud to say that Loki and Darcy had been far from his mind as he’d been trying to stay alive from one minute to the next. From one second to the next.
But they flitted in and out. Darcy’s bright smile. The way Loki rolled his eyes. The way she’d sounded before the both of them had left her last night.
Left her at the tower, with the understanding that she’d be going up north to the Avengers complex upstate. Not far enough away from all this, but far enough that she’d be safe.
He hadn’t seen Loki in a while. But he wasn’t far away, apparently watching his back and fighting alongside him. Once the fire stopped falling and the carnage around them stank in the sun that filtered down through the clouds, he turned around and saw him, looking tired and beaten up, but still alive. He walked over to him, throwing his arms around him and hugging him close.
It surprised the fuck out of him. Surprised the fuck out of Loki too, who froze for a few seconds before embracing him in return.
“Glad you’re okay,” he said softly.
“And you as well,’ Loki replied. “But don’t you think we ought to go find Darcy?”
“What?” Steve asked. “She went with the other lab rats upstate.”
Loki shook his head. “There wasn’t enough room. Thor told me that she and Jane remained behind, in the basement of Stark Tower...”
“Why are we just standing here, then?” Steve asked, turning and running in the direction where he knew Stark Tower to be. The streets were completely decimated. He hadn’t been fighting near the Tower, but it was just that. A tower. It had to still be standing, right? They had to be alright. Were they alright? Where was Thor?
His chest actually burned with the smoke as he ran across the debris and by parked cars. He rounded a corner of sorts and gave a small sigh of relief when he saw the Tower rising like it always had. Against the skyline that looked a bit emptier than before.
“Steve,” Loki said, reaching for his arm. “We aren’t going to be able to run through that...”
He was pointing at a pile of debris that was piled up in the road, likely to keep the alien lifeforms from reaching this part of town. It seemed to have worked. He looked around and pointed to the building at their left. It had a hole blown in the side and it looked like the doors opened onto the street in question. They ran in and out again onto the street, which was much cleaner. Much less broken than the part of the city they’d just left.
The only sound was the vague yelling of people around them and the stamp of their feet on the pavement as they approached the tower. Thor landed beside them and shook the ground as he straightened. “You should have told me you wished to come here, I could have brought you...”
“Didn’t want to wait around,” Steve said with a shrug. Even though Thor arrived at the same time they had, he was right. Waiting would have driven him crazy.
As they approached the sidewalk, he heard someone call his name.
“Steve! Loki! Thor!”
He turned in the direction of the sound and saw Darcy standing there, waving her arm and beckoning them.
He didn’t hear much after that, not until he’d stopped running and was standing in front of her. Only for a split second before he pulled her into his arms for a tight hug. “Darcy...” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Darcy, I thought you were safe, I’m sorry, I would have come sooner if I’d known---“
“I told Thor,” she said in that matter-of-fact tone she had. “I told him to tell you guys. Did he?”
“He told me,” Loki said from where he was standing to the side, waiting for his turn to hug her, which Steve gave him promptly.
Loki didn’t embrace her immediately, he kissed her lips with a total disregard for the dirt on both of their faces. “Are you well?” he asked, smoothing his arms up and down hers in search of injuries. It’s what Steve should have done instead of pulling her into a tight hug.
“I’m fine, Loki. Fine.” She turned to look at Steve, her expression softening. “Fine, Steve. Everything’s good.”
“Everything?” he asked, arching an eyebrow to include the previous night when she’d been so angry at both of them.
“Look, I was scared for you both,” she said. “I’m just glad you’re here...” She wrapped an arm around each of them and pulled them close. “But if you try to tell me what to do again, I will mismatch your socks on purpose. You have my word.”
Steve chuckled and winced, not having noticed the pain in his side until just then. He’d chalked it up to panic and adrenaline before, but Darcy didn’t miss it for a second.
“Steve? You’re hurt? Let’s go to medical...”
“Darcy, it’s---“
“Medical,” Loki agreed, pointing to a Red Cross tent set up across from the tower.
“Fine. Medical,” Steve acquiesced, allowing Darcy and Loki to lead him over to the tent and relishing the feel of both their hands in his.
