Feel Something

Chapter 18: Write in Every Empty Space

Loki hadn't said a word the entire flight to Camp Lehigh, still fuming at Darcy's presence on the mission. Granted, the flight only lasted maybe thirty minutes, but still. His tantrum was already getting old. As they descended the Quinjet's ramp just outside the seemingly-deserted military base, Darcy grabbed Loki's sleeve, forcing him to stop and acknowledge her.

"Look, I get it. You're pissed. But I'm already here and I want to help, so can you just let it go so we can focus on the mission? If I die in there, I'd like us to end things on good terms," that last part was said in jest, but given how Loki's expression managed to darken even further, he didn't find it particularly amusing. The other four agents assigned to the mission descended with hardly a glance at the pair, but Natasha slowed enough to catch Loki's eye, only continuing when he gave her a slight nod.

Once the rest of the team was well out of earshot and busily studying the security gate, Loki turned bodily toward Darcy, gripping her shoulders a little too tightly. "Your presence here is reckless and dangerous, and not just for your own sake. Understand this, Minn Ijós. If I must choose between you and Jane, I will choose you."

Darcy's stomach lurched. She understood she was his closest friend, but she hadn't considered how that fact might actually endanger Jane just by her being there. If Loki was forced to choose...it could compromise the entire mission.

Then another thought occurred to her. "And the Tesseract?" she whispered, unable to keep a tremble from her voice.

Loki stared at her unmovingly for several agonizing seconds before silently turning and walking away to rejoin the rest of the team.

"Loki!" Darcy shouted, forcing him to stop and listen or risk their conversation being overheard, "What about the Tesseract? Where does that fall in your priorities?"

Loki did not turn to face her but angled his head to reply, "I cannot allow it to remain in HYDRA's grasp. I will do everything in my power to rescue Jane, but I cannot choose her over the Tesseract."

Loki paused once more, then turned to face her with a look as cold as ice before finishing, "Nor you, for that matter. The Tesseract must be my only true priority."

Darcy's heart dropped at his answer, even though it was pretty much exactly what she expected him to say. Before she could think how to respond, he turned and walked away briskly. She had no choice but to follow and pray that Loki wouldn't have to choose...between any of them.

By the time they approached the gate, Natasha had successfully pried it open enough for them all to slip through. It looked like HYDRA cared more about the appearance of desertion than security. Either that or Stark was way off with his calculations—but no, Darcy had the proof right in her hands. The portable GRS she and Tony had jury-rigged from Jane's equipment showed strong readings right in this area. Regardless of whether Jane and Rumlow were here, the Tesseract definitely was.

"Got a direction for us, Darcy?" Natasha asked, gesturing for their guide to lead the way.

Suddenly Darcy felt the full weight of what she was walking into. The fact that Rumlow left her alive meant he definitely didn't see her as a threat. Would she prove him wrong? Or was she the liability Loki insisted she had become?

Determined to not let Loki be right for once in his life, Darcy stepped brazenly into the quiet, dusty collection of buildings, using the gamma readings as her guide. Relying on faint pulses of gamma rays as a GPS was definitely not easy, and Darcy found herself wishing Tony had stuck around, or that she had been kidnapped instead of Jane. She tried to look confident, but it was hard to keep up appearances when she walked into a building only to turn around and come back out, or rounded a corner to find nothing but a dead end and have to backtrack.