Second Chances

‘Something up, Mrs Mischief?’ Darcy asked as she came into the common room, finding Sigyn sitting at the table, looking at her Stark Phone.
‘I don’t know.’ She was looking at a webpage on supposedly norse mythology, the closest she had to the records from Asgard, however inaccurate they might be, and she was tapping her teeth with her thumbnail.
‘Well, whatcha looking at?’ The young lab assistant came and leant over her, looking at the page. ‘Googling yourself? You’ll go blind doing that.’
Sigyn laughed. ‘Kind of. You ever get that feeling that you missed something? That it’s on the edge of your memory but you can’t remember why?’
‘Oh God. I hate that.’ Darcy straightened again. ‘You want a coffee?’
‘Please.’
‘What do you think you forgot?’ Darcy asked as she went to the coffee machine, brought over two mugs, cream, sugar and the coffee pot.
‘Something important. I don’t know why, but it’s been niggling me since I woke up. Just after I woke up.’ She corrected herself. It had been after she and Loki spoke about regrets, like she had left something unsaid that was relevant but didn’t know what that something was.
‘It’ll come to you.’ Darcy said as she poured coffee. ‘What were you talking about when you forgot?’
‘Regrets, from when I was Sigyn the first time round.’
‘You want to share so we can try get to the bottom of the mystery, or just mull it over some more? Because I don’t mind. I have nowhere else to be if I can help, but also, don’t wanna pry. Totally respect your privacy.’
‘It’s okay, I don’t mind. It was all silly things we could have done different.’ She said as she fixed her coffee. ‘Like Loki asking me to a feast day sooner, asking for my hand, the fact we never had…’ Sigyn’s face fell as she dropped the teaspoon in the cup. ‘We never had kids.’ She said quietly as what was wrong started to sink into her conscious. ‘I think I…’
Darcy watched her carefully as she obviously tried to get some thought or memory straight in her head, confusion running across her face as her eyes darted side to side like she was following something Darcy couldn’t see.
‘Odin sent me with my father to collect a relic from Niflheim. We had a small travelling party; four soldiers, a healer. It was a straightforward mission, there was peace in the realms so such a small group was normal, we didn’t see the need for more.’ She looked up at Darcy, the pain in her expression clear. ‘I got sick, and the healer checked me over. I was…’ her voice caught, ‘I was pregnant.’
‘Oh jeez.’ Darcy slipped into the chair beside her and shuffled it close enough to touch so she could wrap her arms around her. ‘You got it, girl, you don’t have to go over it any more, if you don’t want to.’ Darcy told her reassuringly.
‘He never knew.’ She whispered as Darcy stroked her back.
‘It’s okay, you didn’t do it on purpose.’ Darcy hoped she was saying the right thing, not quite knowing what had happened.
‘Shit, Darcy.’ She sat up and looked at the brunette. ‘We waited three hundred years and I found out I was pregnant the day before I died. No one knew, just me and the healer.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Darcy said quietly, not knowing what could make it better but suspecting nothing could.
‘No, it’s okay, but, what do I say? How can I tell him?’ She asked desperately. ‘It was all we ever wanted.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ Darcy pulled her coffee cup closer, a great believer that caffeine was a cure all. ‘Maybe that’s why you got to come back? You weren’t meant to go, you were meant to have all these little mischievous kids running around, but something screwed up the master plan. You get another shot at it.’
Sigyn was trying her hardest not to cry, realising what they lost that fateful day, but also knowing Darcy was right, that they had another chance. She drew a deep breath in through her nose and let it out slowly, taking the coffee Darcy pushed into her hands. ‘Holy Valhalla.’ She murmured.
‘Oh, is that an Asgardian cuss?’ Darcy asked.
‘Kind of.’ She laughed but it sounded pathetic. ‘I have to tell him though, right? That’s the right thing to do?’
‘Well, yeah, but you’ve learnt so much the last few days maybe don’t spring this into conversation. Do it in a way where if you both need to break down you can, private and stuff.’
‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘Thanks, Darce.’
‘Hey, no problem. Any time you need someone to listen to stories of your reincarnation romance, I’m your girl. I’ll bring chocolate and coffee and Kleenex. All the essentials.’
Sigyn smiled gratefully. Everyone had been so nice since her arrival, so accepting of her circumstances. She was so thankful for that. She and Darcy talked for another hour, just little facts she remembered, from the colour of the flowers in her hair when she married Loki to what they played as children, and it helped calm her again. She would tell Loki, when they were alone and not likely to be disturbed. He deserved to know and she would break it as gently as possible.
‘You are sure this is correct?’ Loki asked as Bruce passed him the print out.
‘There’s a minimal margin for error, but that’s exactly what it looks like.’
‘It makes no sense, how can it have a heat signature that acts like an emotional response?’ He looked over the graph before him.
‘It might be a coincidence, that that’s what it does.’ Tony added, pointing to the rises and falls on the graph from the sensors on Banner’s cell. It was like a polygraph of the mass, showing where it got angry at Loki, where it heated at Sigyn’s nearness. It had the same response as would someone whose crush walked in versus their worst enemy, basic but true.
‘Are we saying that whatever this thing is, covets my wife?’
‘Not your wife yet, Rudolph.’ Tony pointed out. ‘Plus, it might be coincidence.’
‘If this thing is attracted to her, for whatever reason, be it power or something else, she’s truly not safe.’ Loki looked at him worriedly.
‘FRIDAY, where’s the handler formerly known as Maia?’ Tony asked.
‘She’s just returned to the apartment she shares with Loki, boss.’
‘Thanks.’ He turned back to him. ‘Go check on her, stay with her, whatever you feel you need to do to keep her safe.’
Loki didn’t speak, instead he just nodded his gratitude, and left the lab, realising he wished he had realised much sooner that being near him was a dangerous place to be.

Notes