The cabin was even smaller than Darcy expected it to be. She’d expected two bunks, but found instead two chairs facing a small table with a mirror over it. There was barely room for both of them to stand, but unsure what else to do, Darcy sighed and sat in one of the seats.

"They fold," Loki said suddenly.

She looked up at him, startled by his non-sequitur. A moment later, she realised he was looking at an instruction sheet tacked to the door.

"When’d you learn how to read?" she asked.

Loki shrugged and turned around to inspect the cabin. He seemed positively insulted by it, but it would have to do. Still, the way he frowned at the seats told her that he wasn’t going to tolerate this situation at all. Sighing again, Darcy got up and tried to stand out of the way while he worked out how to fold the bottom bunk out from the wall. The cabin seemed even smaller for it, but Darcy had to admit that it would be much more comfortable to spend two days with her feet up than in the chair. Still, there was the small problem of space.

"Aren’t there supposed to be two?" Darcy asked.

Loki actually rolled his eyes and started fussing with the wall to unfold the top bunk. Darcy couldn’t help the small wave of relief at the small size of the bunks. She might actually get some space to herself, safely out of Loki’s reach during the trip. For a moment, she contemplated taking the bottom bunk for herself so she could see out the window, but she wasn’t sure if the top would support someone who seemed to be made out of cement.

"I guess I get the top," she said, picking up the bag to take with her.

While she climbed up the precarious little latter, Loki got settled in beneath her, immediately rolling over to take another nap. As Darcy got settled up top, she opened the bag and froze. She’d intended to grab her book out, forgetting it was in her pocket, and what she found instead was crumpled clothes with her ruined panties on top. Darcy quickly pulled them out, and not sure what to do with them, shoved them into another pocket, never to be looked at again, and started digging for her book. She began to panic as she dug deeper, unable to find it. She didn’t know why it was so important to find, but in that moment, not being able to find it was the worst thing in the world. She found the others that had been packed away, but not the one she’d already been reading. Finally, when she realised she could feel it through several layers of fabric, the biggest, most misplaced wave of relief washed over her. But when she pulled out her book, she looked at the cover and found herself completely disinterested in it. The trash romance novel had been a good distraction before, but now the whole thing felt entirely too uncomfortable. She checked the others she’d brought with, but they were all the same. Taking a deep breath, she closed the bag again and dropped it to the floor as gently as she was able.

If Loki was going to take a nap, she figured she might as well try to get some sleep as well. She’d barely slept the night before, and had been running on the bare minimum the entire trip. Maybe with two days in a tiny, private bed, she might be able to get some real sleep.

And so would Loki. She didn’t want to think about him, but he kept creeping into her brain all the same. He hadn’t got the week-long nap he’d talked about, but maybe by the time they got to wherever they were going, he’d feel well enough to leave her behind, never to see her again.

But she thought about the other thing he said. He’d used his magic on her to keep her safe and hidden. He wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble and completely exhausted himself over that for nothing. He was keeping her around for a reason, whatever that reason might have been. Even now that he’d apparently figured out how to read, he still kept her close by. There was something else he kept her close for. Something else he knew he could not do on his own.

She didn’t want to feel sorry for him. She hated that she did.

Darcy lay down on the tiny bunk, turning her back toward the cabin, and tried to close her eyes. But even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes closed for more than a few second at a time. Even once the train started moving, and the cabin began its gentle rocking sway back and forth, it wasn’t quite enough. She could still hear Loki below her, snoring quietly. She hated how easily he could just fall back asleep, but he didn’t have as many things to worry about as she did.

He didn’t have to worry about someone forcing their way into his space, putting their hands all over him.

Except he wasn’t as asleep as she thought he was. A sudden flurry of motion beneath her startled Darcy wide awake again as Loki climbed out of the bunk. He stepped up next to the door, holding his hand over the lock and listening through the thin panel.

"What is it?" Darcy asked quietly.

"I don’t know," Loki said.

He looked around the small cabin with a frantic energy Darcy had never seen on him before. For a moment, Darcy considered getting up to help him find whatever he was looking for, but she realised whatever it was, she’d probably only get in the way.

"Damn it to hel," Loki hissed quietly.

"Were we followed?" Darcy asked. She cowered into the corner of her bunk, not sure what she’d do if the door suddenly burst open.

"No, but they’re searching for us," Loki said.

That was just as bad. Even in a private cabin, two days was a long time to go unseen.

"Get down here," Loki said, still listening through the door.

Afraid of what would happen if she argued, Darcy quietly climbed down the ladder and stood close to Loki. She looked around as well, realising he was probably looking for something sharp, but they were woefully unequipped in that area. Instead he reached out and grabbed her, pressing his thumb hard against her forehead. Darcy squealed when it hurt more than she thought it should have, blinding hot and sharp going straight through her skull. She managed to pull away and rubbed the spot where it felt like he’d burned her with his own skin. A moment later, the cabin flashed with a bright green light, and a strange man, tall and blond, stood in Loki’s place. He was someone Darcy had seen before, with a goofy little goatee straight out of a Robin Hood movie, but she couldn’t quite place him.

"Sit down," the man who wasn’t Loki said.

Darcy sat in the lower bunk, scrambling to look like she was comfortably lazy in bed. A moment later, someone knocked sharply on the other side of the door. Rather than opening it right away, Loki waited a few moments. When he opened the door, the conductor stood outside holding a printed flyer.

"Sorry to bother you. We’re looking for a couple who might be on this train. Have you seen them?" he asked.

He handed Loki the flyer, waiting patiently as he looked at it and shook his head.

"No, I’m afraid I haven’t," he said.

He handed the flyer over to Darcy as well. Following his lead, she pretended to study her own picture, and shook her head.

"Nope. Sorry," she said, trying not to seem startled when her voice wasn’t her own.

Loki took the flyer back, and passed it along to the conductor.

"Thanks," he said. "If you see anything, ring for an attendant."

Nodding, Loki watched the conductor walk away before closing the door and locking it again. As he leaned against it, looking suddenly a bit more tired than he had when they’d got on the train, Darcy sat up to look at herself in the mirror.

"Yo, what the fuck?" she asked when the woman looking back wasn’t her.

Looking at her new long, black hair, Darcy realised where she’d seen both faces. They were both in New Mexico the day that giant robot showed up. Other Asgardians who had come down from that wormhole to take Thor home. She couldn’t remember either of their names, but it hardly mattered. A moment later, the cabin filled with the same flash of green light again, and Darcy found her own reflection back in the mirror. Looking up, Loki was back to himself as well, rough around the edges all over again. As Loki climbed back into the bunk, Darcy sat up, but didn’t get very far. He pulled her back down with him, holding her tight against him.

"Can I please go to the other bunk?" Darcy asked.

She was surprised when Loki let her go. Moving quickly, before he changed his mind, Darcy scrambled back up the ladder to her own bunk, feeling more relieved than she ever expected to. The sudden spike of action had her wide awake all over again, but she lay down anyway, trying to convince herself to fall asleep.