“What the hell are you doing here?”
It was the middle of her second night shift in a row, and Darcy had no intention of putting up with Loki's tricky shenanigans. She was too tired to keep up with her complicated riddles and fancy words. Just too tired.
But Loki threw some doe eyes Darcy's way, took away her hand from her side and it was bloody.
“You said if I ever got hurt...”
Of course she had said that! Loki was always pretending she wasn't hurt and then collapsing in front of everyone, worrying and scaring all of the Avengers, all their companions and all and any medical personnel present. That included her, ER nurse extraordinaire – so she'd told Loki that if she was ever hurt and didn't want the others to know for any reason that she could go to her, no questions asked, for some quick healing work. She didn't think Loki would use her offer that much. Now she seemed to be always there, in the hospital, exactly in the moments that she was on shift.
“What have you done to yourself now?”
She was always getting hurt, one way or another. She was semi-part of the Avengers now, but didn't like following rules and generally ignored the established plans in favour of double-crossing their enemies, charming and sweet talking her way into places where she wasn't supposed to be
(Scene
Avengers HQ all of them sitting, thinking up a plan.
TONY: How the hell can we get in there? It's impossible.
LOKI: (on comms) I'm in.)
and other typical things that got her into lots of varying troubles. And when she was in trouble she would go to Darcy, because Darcy could keep a secret and she also happened to have a sense of humour and be really really hot.
In this occasion, what she done to herself was a nice slash in her gut that had bled profusely, made by some sort of alien dagger. Darcy prepared the disinfectant and the bandages with a little sigh.
“You should be more careful. One of these days you'll end up with something not even I can fix.”
Loki smiled slyly, as she often did. Stupid Asgardian charmer.
“I refuse to believe that such a thing as an injury you cannot undo even exists.”
“Flatterer. Now take off all that leather so I can reach the injury properly.”
“How is it that any time I come to you I always end up naked?”
“Because you a naughty bad anti hero.”
“That's right.”
“Now stop moving, I need to clean this up.”
Loki also had the tendency to start making out in the middle of Darcy fixing her up. Which was no good, because how was Darcy going to resist? With all that long black hair, and the piercing eyes and all that pale skin and curves and....But no. She was a professional and she had finish fixing Loki up before anything else.
Although thinking ahead... If they... got busy after she fixed Loki up they would reopen something, and she would have fix it again afterwards. So getting into before anything was only her thinkin ahead and avoiding some extra work. You know, so she could get back to her actual work afterwards, nothing else.
Oh, Darcy could rationalise her escapades with an Asgardian Avengers/Goddess/Former villainess nine ways to Sunday. And so she kept doing it, and doing it, and doing it....
**
Darcy thought it would be a good thing – they called some medical backup for an Avengers op and she figured that maybe it would be nice to be there on-site with Jane and the other Doctors, watching the action as it happened rather than to fret in the hospital, having to wonder if she was going to see Loki in one of those stretchers, half dead and all covered in blood. And really, being there wasn't as bad. No, not as bad – it was worse.
Having to actually see Loki out there in motion getting all those blows putting herself in the line of fire... Darcy couldn't even watch, which was stupid, because it was her job and it was she was there and really, it shouldn't be so bad, she'd seen Loki hurt badly hurt plenty times before and it was stupid to feel different now. But it was.
She didn't mind when it was some stranger getting hurt, hell, any of other Avengers could be getting blown to pieces and she would only think about how much work it was going to be to fix. She people get hurt and then undoing the damage was her job and it was actually a job she liked, she enjoyed. But Loki... seeing her there, not knowing what could happen to her... It was too close to home, too close to her heart.
She asked Jane how she did it. Jane was one of her best friends and a doctor at her hospital, and also Thor's wife. And Jane had been there on-site for all of Thor's Avenging in the last year, and she didn't seem all that nervous.
“Ah, Darcy, my little padawan, you have so much to learn. Dating an Asgardian is different, all right? You have to know that they can take so much more than a mere human. Thor took the strength of a star, Loki was impaled, and still, look at them, fighting still the most fearsome foes, teasing each other as if they were any regular siblings. Our significant other are much more resilient than any other human, any other avenger even. You have to keep that in mind, remember it.”
“Whoa, hold off your horses there, significant other? Loki and I have casual sex when she gets hurt. That's it. I wouldn't even call her my girlfriend. It's a friends with benefits kind of thing. We're fuckbuddies.”
Jane raised an eyebrow.
“Of course, that's why you can't even look at the action, and that's why Loki only ever comes to our hospital, even if she's in another town. Sure, Jan.”
“Don't you dare quote memes I told you about back at me, Doctor Foster.”
Ok, so maybe Jane had a point and there was something there going on. The sex was amazing, yes, but by this day she couldn't deny that some feelings were happening. Loki was a horrible person, tricky, a liar, so complicated and convoluted and self-important but self-loathing at the same time... But she was her convoluted ass, and she wouldn't change it for anything.
Still, Loki was a free spirit, nearly anarchic, and Darcy didn't think that she'd do traditional committed monogamous relationships. Never ever. Although it was difficult to not get attached, specially seeing her lady love in her Avengers leather getup. That was some seriously sexy shit.
Still, she liked this nonconforming thing, casual, not feelings... And yet feelings kept happening. Loki was punched halfway to oblivion while trying to shield an unconscious Steve Rogers from more damage, and Darcy felt her heart skip a beat. She ran to her with her supplies, scared of being too late....
And Loki just smiled at her.
“Hey, you.”
Darcy smiled back.
“Never thought you were quite so heroic, Lokes.”
“I'm not. But the thing is, my girl is a nurse, and getting hurt guarantees me some one-on-one time.”
“Your girl, huh?”
There was an idiotic smile on Loki's banged up but still otherworldly pretty face.
“Love ya, you idiot.”
OH SHIT, THE L WORD! DARCY YOU DONE FUCKED UP!
“Right back at you, nurse Lewis. Right back at you.”
Ok, so maybe they were something more than fuckbuddies.
**
Now Loki was posing as a Doctor because she was an idiot who liked to mess with Darcy's head and grope her in any down time that they got. She was using some sort of illusion so that everyone would see some other woman and not her (Jane had figured it out, but only because she was that smart and knew Loki better than most, it was in fact her sister in law) and Darcy wasn't victim of the illusion.
For the rest of them, Doctor Friggasdottir (could she be more obvious? Probably not) was just some foreign transfer who was helping when they had too much work in the ER. And both Darcy and Jane had to admit that she wasn't all that bad in emergency medical work, even if the main reason she'd come was to be able to make out with her in the blood bank more often (ok, maybe there was a bit of a blood kink going on there, she was going to admit it). But hell, they could use the help.
Now nurse Lewis and Doctor Friggasdottir had been summoned to the hospital's director office. Darcy was fidgeting, convinced that they were going to sack her for being suddenly MIA while on work hours, or worse, that they had footage of her and her girlfriend doing unspeakable things on places that should have been sterile, oh god, I mean Loki said that she could re-sterilize them with her magic, but who knew? And who would hire her after a scandal like this?
Loki was cool and calm of course, she was just doing this for fun, if they fired her she was still an Asgardian royal something, and an Avenger... And she could do anything she wanted, really. This had only been a passing fancy.
“Dear ladies” the director spoke “I asked you here because you have been selected as the recipients of this year's Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award as chosen by me and...”
Darcy threw the “Doctor” next to her a sharp look. With one move of Loki's hand the director was stopped frozen in time as they talked.
“Loki, did you brainwash the director and the committee of giving this award?”
“I may have... planted an idea in their heads...”
Darcy sighed.
“What? You're always saying that your work is not recognised and you know I loooove recognition”
“Loki!”
“It hurts no one and we get a gala and a party... You know we deserve it.”
“You've been a doctor for a grand total of three weeks!”
“Three magical weeks.”
“You know what? Screw it. Now I want a fancy gala to myself honoring the incredible Public service I do.”
“Yesss! Party! Party!”
And that's the story of the first time that important award was given to two women, one of them of a country that didn't even exist anymore.
Jane figured it out the same day.
She wasn't even surprised.
**
It's three in the AM, they in their second night shift and they were covered in blood from a patient with class three haemorrhage, Darcy and Loki kissed ignoring the rest of the world, the rest of the Avengers, all the things they shouldn't be doing like that.
Who cared. They were awesome. They were together. They were magical.