The morning after
After a sleepless night Alexis woke around 6 AM. She felt horrible and was no were near ready enough to face the day and put on her persona of Darcy Lewis. Darcy was an act. She invented the name, came up with a backstory to tell if someone would ask her and carefully avoided using magic. With glamour spells she hid the scar she was famous for, and she used a different glamour spell to change the color of her eyes. Make-up did wonders and her hair was now curly, thanks to a Muggle hairdresser. She hadn’t touched her holly wand in years. She still had it, but after she had left England, she needed to stay under the radar, so she locked it away. She had improved her wandless magic, because that was impossible to trace, but wands amplified magic, so she wasn’t as powerful as she could be. Which was fine. She was an assistant, had friends, lived her life and she tried to forget about her past.
Yesterday had brought everything back. The shame about leaving. She knew it was a cowardly move. The anger about how they had treated her. Dumbledore, Snape, the Dursleys, her so-called friends, Sirius, Remus. The loneliness that she felt in her fourth year and the years after that. How thankful she was about Dobby. They had bonded, he was really her House Elf and he took care of her. She let him wear clothes and still paid him. Just not in Galleons, but in dollars. Dobby had apologized again and again after Loki had left. She couldn’t be mad at him. He really was only trying to protect her secret.
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Loki had also slept like shit. Sleep alluded him, as he kept thinking back on the story he was told. A secret society, magic, a whole Ministry of Magic, Muggles, spells, potions, Dark Wizards…it was alluring. He wanted to know more. He needed to know more. When he had left Dar…no, Alexis, the evening before he had looked in his own books. Surely the magic had to come from somewhere. Maybe Asgard gave it to the mortals, and through birth, it had evolved? Question after question plagued him. It was fortunate he didn’t kill the girl, as she was most intriguing. He felt a little bit ashamed about threatening her. Perhaps today she would tell him more. He could always make her…
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The scourging hot shower Alexis took didn’t help. She still felt like shit. So for the first time since she had been Jane’s intern (and later on paid assistant) she called in sick. Jane was worried, but Alexis told her she had a slight stomach bug and that she would be fine in a couple of days. Ending the call, she put on her pajamas and settled on the couch.
‘Miss A wants breakfast?’ Dobby squeaked. She shook her head. ‘Not hungry Dobs.’
Dobby snapped his fingers, so she was covered in a fluffy blanket and left her alone. Not long after that Alexis dozed off.
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‘Where is Darce?’ Steve looked around. ‘Sick, stomach bug,’ came the reply.
Hearing this Steve walked out of the lab, in search of Darcy, whom he loved like a little sister. Witty, smart, beautiful Darcy, who somehow singlehandedly helped him navigate through life. Because of her, he fit in. She never let him down. She told him about history, about music, movies and books. She went to museums with him, visited Peggy and always listened to him. She really was the best thing that happened to him after he came out of the ice. After Bucky was found and was housed in the Tower, everyone avoided him like the plaque. Bucky was a killer, was dangerous, mentally unstable and wanted to be left alone. But Darcy wouldn’t have it and with a complete disregard for her own safety, she pestered Bucky until he came around. Together with Steve, and Sam, she had helped him overcome his demons. The trigger words no longer affected him. Bucky was a full member of the Avengers. All because of one stubborn little girl.
‘Jarvis?’
‘Captain?’
‘Darce in her room?’
‘Yes, but she asked me to tell anyone who wanted to visit, that she is not well and wants to be alone.’ Steve halted. ‘Surely she wants company? Does she need a doctor? Maybe I can bring her some soup?’
‘I assure you Captain, Darcy is as well as she can be. She promised to let me know if she needs anything.’
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‘Darce is sick.’ Tony looked up. Natasha was standing in front of him. ‘Stomach bug.’
Tony hummed. People got sick, no big deal, she would come to him or ask Jarvis if she needed anything. He continued working on one of his suits. Tony wasn’t worried. The girl proved she could hold her own and otherwise Jarvis would inform him. Natasha squinted her eyes at his comment. Tony wasn’t even slightly worried, that was for sure. But Natasha also knew Darcy normally never called in sick. Even when the girl had a fever she would come in. She wasn’t the type to call in sick. She was the type you had to drag back to her room if something was amiss. So this was…weird. Maybe she was being paranoid. But her gut told her there was more and Natasha always followed her gut.
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Loki came down to the lab around 8.30 AM, fully expecting to find Darc…Alexis there. He looked around, but only saw Jane and Bruce. Deciding it would raise suspicion if he suddenly wanted to know where she was, he ignored her absence and helped where he could. Jane was trying to make her own connection to Asgard. He couldn’t fathom why, Heimdall would bring her up in a second if she wanted to. Weird mortal.
After about an hour, he became irritated. Why wasn’t the girl here? He needed answers. Without anyone noticing he conjured a double, whom he left in the lab. The real Loki walked out and teleported himself directly into the girl’s room. He looked around and saw her lying on the sofa. He looked around more and didn’t see the little creature. The girl seemed to be sleeping. He wanted answers but had no interest in being tied up again.
‘Dobby?’ He tried.
With a soft pop the Elf appeared. ‘Angry man calls Dobby?’ Once again Loki had to blink to process the clothing the Elf wore. This time it was a pink tutu, with a colored lei on top and polished dancing shoes.
Loki looked dumbfounded for a second. ‘Yes, I need you to go…away.’ The Elf looked unfazed. ‘Dobby does not take orders from angry man. Angry man came snooping. Dobby takes care of his witch.’ Loki admittedly was impressed. It seemed the Elf really had a bond with the girl. He crosses his arms and tried to look as intimidating as he could and said:
‘I assure you, I mean her no harm. I simply wish to talk to her. So leave!’ Dobby gave him a pointed look, looked over to Alexis, who was still sleeping, and looked back to Loki. Without another word the Elf vanished. Hmm…that was easier than expected.
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Natasha stood in front of Darcy’s door. As a skilled assassin and spy, nothing got by her. She never commented or confronted Darcy about her suspicions, because everyone deserved to have secrets, but she knew there was more to Darcy than everyone knew. It was the way the girl acted when she thought no one looked. The way weird little things happened when she was scared or upset. Natasha even thought she once saw a tiny creature around the Tower, dressed in a princess dress.
‘Jarvis?’
‘Miss Romanov?’
‘Is Darcy okay?’ The AI remained silent for a moment.
‘Yes miss Romanov. Miss Lewis is sleeping. Shall I inform you when she wakes?’
‘No need, thank you, Jarvis.’ Natasha was convinced the AI was wrong. But Jarvis was not programmed to lie. He was a user interface, who basically handled everything in the Tower. And she was convinced Darcy was not alone in her room. Time to find Clint. She had a vent to get into.
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Looking down at the sleeping girl, Loki noticed she was distressed. Her eyes moved quickly behind the eyelids and she moved her head restlessly. She muttered something and made a dismissive gesture with her hand. He looked at her forehead. The scar. His magic reached out and he felt darkness. He bend down to stroke the scar when the girl’s eyes opened.
When Alexis woke up from her nightmare and opened her eyes, she looked straight at Loki. Her eyes were pitch black. He stood over her, hand outstretched. Out of sheer instinct, she raised her hand and released her magic. Coming out more forcefully than she intended, it connected with Loki, who was thrown across the room, slamming into the wall next to her front door with a dull thud. She yelped, set up straight, and once again found herself on the receiving end of a murderous glare, from a very angry God.