Chapter Text
Darcy woke to large hands rubbing up and down her back, making her hum. Slowly she opened her eyes and smiled at the soldier.
"That feels nice." She hums and lets her eyes flutter shut, basking in the touch. She opens them again and they roam over his body, drinking in his body. But stops at the grey words wrapping around his bicep. His eyes follow her gaze and they darken.
"Don't worry about them. That was a long time ago." He tries to sooth her worries.
"To us maybe, but it's still fresh to you." Her eyes meet his and he sighs.
"It's still my past," he moves a hand to brush her hair back. "But I'm in the twenty-first century, and right now you're with me. And I wouldn't have it any other way." He leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead. She smiles and sighs.
A faint buzzing noise pulls them from their moment and Steve mutters a curse, making Darcy chuckle.
"You've got a mission to do soldier."
"SHIELD's always has a mission for me." He gives her a quick peck before getting out of bed and getting dressed. Darcy too gets out of bed and throws on her bra and underwear, snagging a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from Steve's dresser. They walk out of the room and straight into Natasha. She gives them a once over and shakes her head, chuckling. As she walks away, she throws a shout over her shoulder.
"Use protection!"
//
The next day, Steve was explaining that he was moving out of the tower.
"I'm leaving tomorrow, found a place in DC. And I was wondering if you would like to come with me." Darcy felt her heart stop.
"What?" Steve sighs and puts his hands on her upper arms.
"Come with me, Darce." His eyes are pleading but she shakes her head.
"I can't. I have Jane and Thor here. I can't just up and leave them." Her words are thick with emotion and he nods.
"I understand," he lets go of her arms and hangs his head. There's heartbreak in his eyes and guilt fills her, knowing full well that it's her fault. She should have never engaged in a relationship with Steve, she should've known the consequences of being with Captain America, the golden boy. "Still friends?" He looks to her, trying to cover up the hurt with humor. She chokes out a laugh.
"Yeah, we're still friends big guy."
He's gone before she even wakes up the next morning.
//
Darcy can feel the adrenaline rushing through her as she sprints down the hallways to the landing pad, terrified to see what she finds. Steve is just getting of the quinjet when he sees her, tears threatening to spill over her eyes. He sets down his bags just before she crashes into him, latching onto him for dear life. She sobs into his shoulder as he whispers sweet nothings into her ear.
"I saw the helicarriers fall from the sky knowing that you were on one of them. It was hours before they found your body on the riverbank. I was thinking for hours that you could be dead, that you didn't make it." She rambles and he only holds her tighter. He lets her down but she still has a steel grip around his torso.
"Darce, there's something that I need to tell you." He says and she looks up, fear on her face. But he doesn't need to say anything for she catches the black ink where his words are.
"How?" She asks and he can tell that she's waiting for the ball to drop.
"Soviets found him after he fell from the train and sawed off the remnants of left arm, giving him a cybernetic arm. He's been brainwashed, tortured and didn't have a clue that he was human. That's why his words were grey, because he didn't remember and thought he wasn't human. But before I fell into the water from the helicarrier, he started remembering. Then his words went back to black." His eyes were sad and she was facing the floor.
"You're leaving again." It wasn't a question but a statement and he nodded.
"He's out there, having no idea who his is or what's going on. I need to find him."
"Is this it?"
"I don't want it to be. But he's alive and I can't just say no to him, I'm sorry." A sob rips through her and guilt chews at him. She turns around and starts walking back to her room. His hands are clenched at his sides as he tries to contain his anger for the universe and it's cruel ways. Why did this have to happen to them?
//
The next months are hard for the both of them, giving each other side ways glances but never approaching the other. Darcy believes it's better this way, because he was never truly her's. She keeps herself occupied with work from Jane and Tony, transferring notes on paper to Friday to keep and helping with different experiments. She hates it though. The pain of being empty tearing through her, leaving nothing but black pain.
And of course it's not long before the others notice that something's wrong with the two of them, but it's only Natasha that puts two and two together. Nobody else figures it out.