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Monday
Darcy moved into the 'Avengers Tower' as everyone was calling it - unofficially, of course - on a bitterly cold Monday in late February. It should have been one of the most exciting days if her life but the truth was she was feeling a little under the weather! She'd had a headache from the moment she woke up that morning and the very last thing she felt like doing was hauling all of her belongings to the penthouse suit of the ridiculously high tower. Thank God for elevators, she really couldn't see herself surviving the move if there hadn’t been one.
When she arrived on the correct floor there was no one in sight! It wasn't that she was expecting a welcome party or anything but she had imagined Jane, at least, to offer her a hand during the moving process! It seemed ridiculous that there wasn't a better organizational system in place; she made a quick mental note to offer Fury some "constructive criticism" about that, because she didn't even know where she was supposed to be staying. She let out a long sigh and dropped the first lot of her bags on the floor before turning back to the elevator.
By the time she had made the round trip to the lobby and back, she was feeling even sorrier for herself, and her headache was getting decidedly worse. The doors opened with a ping and she stumbled out under the weight of her bag, and straight into another person!
"Let me take those for you," the stranger smiled easily and relieved her of her burden. She took a moment to look up and appreciate his strong jaw and bright blue eyes. She didn't require an introduction; Steven Rogers was even better looking in person than he was in all of the photos that she'd seen. She opened her mouth to tell him exactly that and realized her mistake too late.
It was like an out of body experience, and she watched in slow motion as she opened her mouth and threw up all over the gorgeous Captain.
"Oh," she muttered, her eyes horrified, and he looked at her for a long moment, obviously in shock.
"I think we should get you to bed Miss Lewis." Tentatively she opened her mouth to point out she was in the middle of moving in, but found it hard to talk considering the last time she had she'd vomited all over, quite possibly, the most attractive man she'd ever seen. "Don't worry about your bags, I'll bring them up," he smiled easily, despite the fact his feet were still covered in the former contents of her stomach.
In a swift maneuver, he hooked her bag across his forearm and lifted her up into his arms. In any other situation she might have felt like the luckiest girl alive, after all how many women could say they had been carried to bed by Captain America? But her headache was so bad and his body was so warm that she drifted off to sleep before they even reached her room.
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Tuesday
By the time Darcy woke up from her 'nap' a cursory glance at her iPhone told her that it was already Tuesday. Admittedly, it was half three on Tuesday morning, but it was Tuesday nevertheless and she couldn't help but feel cheated by that - so much for her big, exciting move. However, despite the fact that she had lost a day and the fact that she was in a strange bed in a strange house, her head had stopped banging which was definitely a positive.
As far as she was concerned it was altogether too early and too dark for her to be conscious but she had been asleep for over sixteen hours and felt unbelievably awake, and so she knew there was very little chance of her getting back to sleep. She slumped back onto her very comfortable bed, before realizing that she hadn't finished moving in and shooting up in a moment of panic.
Thankfully, it appeared that Steve was true to his word and had deposited her belongings in her room. She must have been really out of it for him to gotten everything in the room without waking her, but that seemed like the least of her problems because it occurred to her that she had no idea where the light switches were. Plus, she had a multitude of things to unpack and she probably owed Steve a Starbucks. Distractedly, she wondered whether Steve even drank Starbucks, before coming to the conclusion that everyone appreciated Starbucks.
Using her iPhone as a flashlight she found the switch and winced as the bright light hit her eyes. She really hated unpacking. It was a further three hours before she had made any headway, even then she still couldn’t see the floor, but by that time she figured that she'd earned a coffee.
Luckily, she had found a power point and had managed to charge her cell because using it as a flashlight really drained the battery, and she didn't feel like she'd ingratiate herself with the rest of the occupants if she woke them all up at the crack of dawn. Or at least she figured that if someone woke her up at half six in the morning she wouldn’t thank them, and the Avengers couldn’t be that different to regular people, could they?
She swore under her breath as she stubbed her toe on a, (she looked down but was unable to discern what it was), something hard that had been left in the middle of the floor. She reached three dead ends before she finally managed to locate the kitchen and she was grateful to find a coffee machine, although looking at it she couldn't actually see how it worked. Damn Tony Stark and his gadgets, she thought distractedly.
"It helps if you switch it on," the voice coming from the darkness shocked her and she swiftly span around, her self-defense lessons kicking in, and wheeled a foot straight into Steve's crotch. For someone who supposedly had super-human reflexes he failed to dodge her attack and he dropped just like every other man she'd kicked in the testicles, (and there were quite a few).
"Oh shit," she swore again, as he righted himself, "sorry." As if it wasn’t bad enough that she had vomited on him the first time she’d met him, she’d almost managed to neuter him the second.
"I guess I should have made my presence known." His voice was pitched higher than usual and Darcy felt terrible.
"Now, I definitely owe you a Starbucks," she blushed, voicing her previous thoughts out loud.
"Starbucks?" He questioned as he ran a large hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Darcy looked at him for a few moments, appreciating the way that his damp shirt stuck to the ample curves of his muscles, before she answered him.
"Okay, two things, firstly no one has taught you what Starbucks is? And secondly, why the hell are you stalking around in the dark?" She was aware she was deflecting - a habit she'd had since she was old enough to classify the tactic - but Steve smiled brightly at her regardless. And the action managed to set her at ease.
"Firstly, Starbucks is the name of a coffee shop franchise but no, I've never been,” his smile came easily and Darcy was struck by its simple beauty, even if she was vaguely amazed that Tony had never introduced him to Starbucks given his caffeine addiction. “And secondly, I like to run in the mornings and Tony threatened to kill me if I woke him up again," she laughed slightly at that. "Turns out you can get very used to moving around in the dark,” he shrugged as though it was the most rational explanation in the world.
"Easy for you to say, super soldier,” she threw the comment out, and it ended up sounding a lot harsher than she meant it to. "I'm sorry," she said again, but once again he shrugged it off.
"Don't worry about it," he said, "people never know how to deal with me,” he added, a frown forming on his face. Now that, she thought, really did sound bitter, especially coming from Mister Perfect USA.
"I, uh..." she blinked several times and he shook his head, obviously appreciating the awkwardness which had swept over the conversation. He smiled disarmingly, and she bit her lip to stop herself from rambling some more.
"I'm gunna go for a shower," he waved his hand across his sweat-dampened clothes, before leaning over to the coffee machine, "but like I said, it works better if you switch it on." Darcy couldn’t help but admire the curve of his spine as he did so.
He flicked the power button before shooting her departing grin that was almost blindingly endearing. It was at that point that she became pretty sure that someone was trying to break her, since it wasn’t fair for her to have made such an ass of herself in front of him twice in as many days.
She sat in the dark kitchen for another hour before Natasha woke up and she was finally given a tour around her new home. As she was lead down the countless corridors and past the various weapons casually left lying around she couldn't help but think she'd stepped straight from college into the twilight zone.
That night, when she went to sleep she dreamt of lying in bed with Steve Rogers, those unbelievably blue eyes fixed on her. She imaged his gentle kisses and the warmth of his enhanced body. And what a body, her imagination had run wild, from his sweat soaked abs and down into his more than adequate crotch. She imagined their slow love making on the roof of a summer home, naked and bare for everyone to see.
All of which was very awkward when she saw him the next day.
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Wednesday
Darcy blushed a bright red when Steve pulled out a chair for her to join him at the breakfast bar, an action that was not missed by Clint, who looked between the two of them and raised a questioning eyebrow. Thankfully, the look was missed by Steve, and she managed to shrug it off, which spoke volumes for her strength of character as far as she was concerned.
As it turned out Steve was a bit of a recluse, outside of official business and away from Tony, and none of the other Avengers (JARVIS included, although she guessed he was probably programmed to protect the Captain’s privacy) seemed to know all that much about him. She had made it her personal mission to discover as much about him as possible, in order to avoid offending him further, however her search revealed precious little about the Captain that she hadn’t already figured out herself.
She knew that he woke up at dawn every morning, went for a run around the island and arrived back before anyone else woke up. After that he would either shower or head straight down to the gym, before joining the rest of them for breakfast and taking care of any other official business Fury demanded of him. But outside of that, no one seemed to be able to tell her what he did in his free time – although she had yet to ask Tony. Talking to Tony usually ended in an insult, and she didn’t completely trust herself not to whip out her tazer just to shut him up, and since he was the financer of the Avengers, and thus he funded her (impressive) salary, she didn’t foresee that conversation ending terribly well for her.
In the end, she had given up her search for anything of interest and had settled down with Bruce to watch the X Factor. Which, for the life of her, Darcy couldn’t work out why anyone would want to watch, let alone Bruce? The man was supposed to be a genius, why could he not see just how contrived everything about those kind of shows were? The sob stories made her feel like throwing a shoe at the television (although it looked expensive and she didn’t fancy paying for a replacement) and some of the cover versions were absolutely atrocious. In fact, they were so bad that she was sure she could do better singing into a hairbrush while she had a cold.
“Simon is so typical of a patriarchal society,” she finally voiced out loud, after nearly an hour of watching awful cover songs, and trying desperately to find anything redeeming about the show.
“What do you mean by that?” Bruce asked, and if Darcy had known him a little bit longer she might have known just how seriously he took his trash television.
“I just mean that it’s degrading to everyone on there, especially women,” she shrugged, and Bruce looked at her for a long moment before she added. “And he’s so rude. There’s just no need to have that attitude, if I were his…” she tailed off, realizing that Bruce was sucking down some serious oxygen, in an attempt to stay calm. She probably should have let the situation go at that point, should have walked out of the room and left him to calm down, but she didn’t.
“I need my meds…” he said through gritted teeth.
“Jeez, I didn’t think anyone took reality TV so seriously,” she said before she could stop herself. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best way of dealing with someone who had severe anger management issues. She gaped as his eyes turned green and his body began to change before her eyes. Objectively, she understood where his transformation was going, but it was impossible not to be fascinated by the change in him.
Or at least, that was until he started filling out past what she could possibly deem as interesting, to the point where the sofa broke under his weight, and the sense of fear began to creep over her body. She felt her heart begin to race and she longed to scream but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. She struggled to come to terms with her own mortality and the certainty that she was going to be squished by a giant green freak.
Hulk growled, and stood up to his full height, his head touching the high ceiling of the room. As cliché as it seemed she couldn’t help but swallow, and at another time she might have laughed at that, but the laugh was killed by the image of the Hulk staring at her, before it had even been formed. The Hulk swung a thick arm towards her, but she was pulled out of the way in the nick of time.
It took her a few moments to grasp what was going on, and by the time she had Steve had detached himself from her and was taking on the creature that dwarfed even his impressive stature. It was hard not to be impressed by the way Steve moved around the Hulk, ducking and dodging with impressive speed. Even when the Hulk did make contact with him, and he was sent hurtling across the room, he bounced back up as though it were a simple stumble. Somehow, he managed to jump up and land on the Hulk’s back and she couldn’t help but be impressed as he hung firm like a rider at a rodeo. The green creature roared as Steve drove home a needle into his neck, and he jumped off and rolled to a halt by Darcy’s feet.
“Hi,” he smiled, his breathing barely labored and a faint glint of amusement dusting his eyes.
“What, just… and… he, we,” she stopped realizing that she wasn’t making any sense. Dumbly, she watched as Bruce began to shrink back down to a normal man-sized figure. “I’m never watching TV with him again,” she muttered and Steve laughed.
“I’m sure it hurt him a lot more than it hurt you,” he said, almost bouncing back into his feet and holding out his hand to assist her up. “Hey Bruce, you okay?” He said softly, as he made his way over to the huddled figure in the center of the room. Bruce groaned and Steve shot Darcy a pointed look, before aiding Bruce out of the room and probably to his bed.
Later that evening, after she had concentrated on avoiding everyone for a few hours, there was a knock at the door. Initially, she tried to ignore it, pretended to be asleep, but she knew that it was a feeble and predictable lie.
“Can I come in?” A soft voice drifted through the door, and she sighed. If it had been anyone other than Steve then she might not have answered the door, but it didn’t seem fair to punish Steve for her mistakes, when she had done nothing but create a horrible first impression of herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said carefully as she opened the door, and he looked at her for a long moment as though he wanted to say something important. When he didn’t say it immediately, she began to get a little uncomfortable, and moved from foot to foot, and tucked her hair behind her ear before realizing that he had asked her if he could come in. Wordlessly, she stepped back out of the doorway and granted him access to her room.
Twice in three days, this was turning into quite a habit. As the thought washed over her, she remembered her previous dream and felt her cheeks begin to heat up as she walked over to her bed and sat down.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Steve said after what felt like an eternity. From her position on the bed the Captain seemed even bigger than he did usually, and that unsettled her slightly. He seemed to notice her discomfort because he motioned to the bed in a silent question of whether he could join her. “Bruce once hulked out over Supernanny…” he frowned slightly, “I think that’s what put Coulson off the show.” Darcy laughed despite the situation.
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Well,” Steve admitted, “I’m not completely sure, but Clint told me and no one has ever corrected me,” he smiled and she got the impression that he was just as lost in the Avengers way of life as she felt at that moment. She found that oddly comforting.
“But Tony’ll be mad,” she was aware that she sounded like a child, but for some reason she didn’t care, not even when Steve laughed, the sound low in his chest.
“Tony’ll probably give you a pay rise,” he smirked and only explained after her eyebrows had knitted together in confusion. “You’ve met Tony right? He loves antagonizing people… and sadly he hasn’t learned not to do it to Bruce.” Darcy laughed again, and immediately felt a lot better about the situation.
“No one hates me then?” Steve shook his head.
“Nope,” he smiled, “you’re kind of hard to hate,” he admitted and she felt her stomach turn over at the admission.
For some odd reason that night was the best night’s sleep that she’d had in a long time.
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Thursday
She found a picture of herself sleeping stuck to her door when she came back from the latest briefing from Fury, non-the-wiser and irrationally annoyed. All in all, it was the perfect end to a day that had started off pretty well and descended to shit fairly quickly after that. She couldn’t help but be annoyed that someone had taken the liberty to sneak into her room and sketch her whilst she was at her most vulnerable.
“Is this some sort of a joke?” She marched into the communal area, which had been outfitted with new furniture some time during the day and she couldn’t help but be vaguely impressed at the speed Tony worked.
“Uh, what?” Clint was the only one who dared to ask her what had gotten her so mad and for that he was punished with a look that would have caused a lesser man to back down.
“This picture smart ass,” she slammed the picture down on the brand new coffee table, much to the amusement of Tony. “It’s not funny. What kind of sicko sneaks into a girl’s room while she’s sleeping to try and draw a freaky assed picture of her.” Steve shifted uncomfortably in his position next to Tony.
“In my defense, it was mainly based on your expression during the debriefing,” he said softly, “I thought it might cheer you up, people usually, uh, like my drawings.” He shrugged, and Darcy immediately felt like the biggest bitch in the world, because the drawing was actually pretty good. Actually, strike that, it was damn good. And she had no real reason to be so annoyed by it.
“I, uh,” she felt everyone’s eyes looking at her, boring into her and Clint was barely able to contain his laughter. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, feeling like a complete idiot. And really, it was beginning to get embarrassing, because literally every time she spoke to Steve she ended up apologizing.
“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, and she couldn’t help but think that the man must have the patience of a saint. “If it’s any consolation I didn’t sneak into your room, I just, uh… have a photographic memory,” he blushed slightly. She nodded in response and felt blush burning against her own cheeks.
“I just, uh, I’m sorry, it’s been a long day. I think I’ll just go…” she racked her brain for something to say, “…and have a shower,” she finally settled on the most obvious answer and got out of the room as quickly as she could to save herself further embarrassment.
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FRIDAY
Though Darcy was fairly sure that she should be overwhelmingly happy with her new job – after all how many graduates got the job of their dreams before they had even had their graduation ceremonies? And how many of those who did got to work with one of the most successful business men of his generation who also managed to be a superhero in his spare time? She was distinctly feeling the strain of it after her first week. However, she had made it to Friday and given the fact that she had nearly destroyed their base of operations, offended Captain America more times than she cared to remember she found that fact pretty impressive.
What wasn’t impressive, however, was the fact that it was a Friday night and everyone else seemed to have something much better to do than hang out in the Avengers tower. This, admittedly, wasn’t all that much of a surprise, after all Tony was Tony Stark and Clint and Natasha were probably off to find a quiet place to consummate their obvious sexual tension. However, it was concerning that even Agent Coulson seemed to have better things to be doing.
She lamented the fact that Jane had travelled to Norway with Thor in search of something scientifically relevant that she really could not care less about, because if Jane was in New York then at least then she would have had another girl she could have talked to. Someone who could, maybe, have introduced her to someone who would take her out – although given what she had seen of Jane she doubted it very much. In fact, she’d probably have a better chance of Thor hooking her up with someone.
She took a long hot bath, and changed into her most homely clothes because she had nothing to do and nowhere to be, and that was what single, pathetic, women did on a Friday night. She bet even Fury had something to do on a Friday night, although she dreaded to think of what he might do for amusement.
On the upside, at least she had access to one of the finest entertainment systems on the planet and as much take-out food as she could order. And while it wasn’t the most glamorous night in the world, she had to admit she’d had much worse Friday nights. And at least there was very little chance of her waking up in a ditch the following morning.
Without thinking she pulled out her microwave popcorn and instructed JARVIS to put on Mean Girls. It wasn’t that she thought it was a particularly great film but it seemed like appropriate viewing for a girl’s night in – minus the rest of the girls. She had just gotten comfortable on the sofa in all her slobby glory when someone else entered the room.
Ordinarily, it might have freaked her out, but she was only too aware of the fact that the tower was host to the most impressive in-home security in the country, which meant that it could only be one of her housemates. She turned in silence, already knowing who it was from the clean and soapy smell that seemed to accompany him everywhere.
“Hi,” he said, somewhat gingerly, “I didn’t expect anyone else to be in on a Friday night.” Great, even Steve, a man who has been frozen for seventy years, realizes how pathetic I am, she thought offhandedly.
“Yeah, uh, lazy day,” she blushed as she motioned down to her slumming clothes, and wished that she’d put on some make-up. She looked up at him, all tall and blond and gorgeous and cursed her own luck.
“Can I join you?” It wasn’t entirely a question and she nodded in affirmation.
“Take a seat, Cap,” she replied easily and he pulled a face.
“I like it better when you call me Steve,” he said honestly as he sat down, and she chose to take it as a compliment. “What are you watching?”
“Mean Girls,” she said, before realizing that made her sound like an over enthusiastic teenage girl and wishing that she’d had the foresight to watch something a little more mature like Shawshank Redemption or even something more justifiable in its brilliance like Ghostbusters. Hell, she could have even justified something as awful as Footloose, based on its status as a camp classic. But no, she had to have chosen Mean Girls.
“Sounds…” he started, though his voice trailed off in the hope that she would finish his sentence.
“Lame,” she finished, and he did not disagree. “But what can I say, I am a single girl sat at home on a Friday night,” she didn’t add that she was alone in an apartment with the literal embodiment of human perfection because she figured that rather defeated her point. “And the fact that I watch such terrible films is probably one of the many reasons why I’m un-datable.” Her argument was somewhat clichéd and she knew there were a myriad of reasons why she was single but she felt better blaming her taste in movies. Since, it was easier to believe it was because of her affinity with pop culture rather than her tendency to intimidate men.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Steve said, like the gallant hero he was. But she knew that he was only saying that to make her feel better.
“I’m terminally single,” she laughed harshly at her situation. Sometimes it was hard to maintain the illusion of toughness that she worked so hard to create.
“I haven’t got a, uh, girlfriend,” he said honestly. It wasn’t exactly a surprise that he was single, since she knew that he had a very limited social life, but she couldn’t help but think it was a waste that he hadn’t found a significant other since he was so damn good-looking.
“That’s true, at least I’ll never be a ninety year old virgin,” she had meant it as a joke but it was obviously in bad taste, and while Steve didn’t say anything his face seemed torn between embarrassed and annoyed. “I’m sorry,” she said falling back to her standard response to him. “I, uh, have a tendency to forget what I’m saying when I open my mouth,” she hoped that he understood that she was not intentionally trying to hurt or offend him.
“It’s okay,” he said, but he shifted on the sofa awkwardly which suggested that it really wasn’t okay. “I, uh…” he paused for a long moment and took a deep breath. “Maybe we should go out tomorrow?” he said, finally, and she couldn’t help but smile. Of course, Steve would want to avoid a repeat of the awkwardness they had found themselves in, and it would be nice to go out and get to know all the other Avengers.
“Yeah, sounds like a plan.” She smiled, and he nodded contentedly and focused his attention, intently on the screen.
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SATURDAY
It was easy to forget that Steve was Captain America given the way he sometimes fumbled over his words and blushed so easily, but it was hard not to see him as the embodiment of all that was perfect when he wore dark denim pants, a dark blue sweater and a long blazer that skirted his knees. It wasn’t his normal attire at all, and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze as though she would call him out on it. The blues bought out the color in his eyes, and he looked more like a GQ model than a man out of his time.
“You look, uh…” she paused trying to think of the correct adjective, “really good,” she looked him up and down and bit her bottom lip. She hadn’t expected him to look quite that good. Sure, he was Captain America but he usually dressed like her granddad when he wasn’t in his gym clothes or in uniform, and Darcy had to admit that all of those clothes had retarded his good looks, because… damn.
“Thanks,” he said softly, “you look…” he paused, taking in the image of her short red strapless dress, which accentuated her chest, “…amazing.” He finally verbalized his thoughts and she grinned, feeling her cheeks redden. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, a small smile creeping across his face. He looked oddly youthful with that expression, more like a kid coming to pick up his prom date than an international superhero.
“Yeah, sure, I just need to text the girls and let them know where to meet us,” she said, quickly as she turned to pick up her bag.
Steve looked at her for a long moment, and for the briefest of seconds she wondered whether she had misunderstood the situation, whether he had meant the evening as a date and not as an Avengers night out - after all had they been speaking about their mutual single status. She felt her heart rate increase as he continued to look at her, and hoped to God that she wasn’t pulling a stupid face.
It took her a few more moments, but she finally opened her mouth to ask him the question. However, he stopped her before she could speak, preventing her from voicing her fear, and causing her to realize just how stupid she had been. There was simply no chance in the world that Captain America would want to take her out on a date – things like that happened in crappy movies and not to her.
“Well, uh, I mean Tony was the one who was organizing it so I guess I’ll go and ask him,” he smiled, but she couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t quite reach his eyes. She watched him leave in silence, and didn’t completely understand what had just happened. While he had denied her silent question with his words, something didn’t sit quite right with his reaction.
Later that evening, when the club was in full swing and when two of her friends had disappeared off leaving Layla to drape herself over Steve – and she couldn’t help but be a little pissed about that. Sure, it wasn’t like she was dating the Captain or even like she had come out with him in any capacity other than a friend -in fact, she barely knew him - but she couldn’t help but be annoyed at the fact that he wasn’t paying her the attention she had come to expect. However, she was an adult, and as such she had swallowed her anger and was slowly getting drunker than she should have been at the bar.
Tony found her in the middle of her third straight shot of tequila, and laughed slightly, before raising his hand to signal to the bartender that they required another drink. Just for that she actively considered kissing him. However, she doubted whether that would solve any of her problems.
“How about you try to look a bit less like someone just kicked your favorite puppy,” he yelled over the thud of the bass line. His eyes were slightly glazed, but he was nowhere near as drunk as she knew she was. The thing about Tony was that he was pretty flirtatious when he was sober, so when you gave him a few drinks he practically oozed sex.
“How about you leave me alone?” She suggested, but only after he had paid for her drink. And then focused her attention on Layla, who was demonstrating just how flexible she was by cocking her leg up over Steve’s shoulder. She downed her drink quickly, and wondered whether she could complain to security and get her ‘friend’ kicked out. She had almost forgotten, in her drunken haze, that Tony was beside her until he spoke again
“Hasn’t anyone told you drinking alone marks the start of a downward spiral?” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, it was a cheap chat up line, even by Tony’s standards. Especially since, Tony Stark was a fine one to be lecturing her on the dangers of alcohol consumption given his own demons.
“I guess, you’d know,” he smiled at that and Darcy was forced to admit that she probably had the coolest boss in the world – or at very least in New York. “Listen, you can leave me alone, I’m nowhere near drunk enough to sleep with you,” she added, almost forgetting that he had the ability to fire her, or at the very least not caring, because at that moment Layla climbed up onto Steve’s lap.
“But you’re drunk enough to insult your employer?” He arched an eyebrow and drew her attention away from Steve and Layla and back to him. It occurred to her, judging by the unimpressed look on his face, that she had probably been misreading how comfortable he was in the conversation. Well, either that or she was way too drunk to read either his facial expressions or his sarcasm. She hoped it was the later.
“I, uh…” the apology died on her lips, and she floundered in the search for something that might save her career.
“Don’t worry about it,” he waved her off and she felt the relief wash over her. It must have shown on her face because he laughed lightly at her reaction. “Although, if you will invite a group of rabid girls out with Captain Gorgeous over there then you should realize that you’re going to have to share him.” She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision before she forged her reply. It wasn’t the way she had expected the conversation to turn.
“That’s not it,” she finally replied, defiantly.
“Don’t try and kid a kidder,” he muttered. “I’ve seen the way you look at him… hell, I’ve seen the way everyone looks at him… in fact, I find myself looking at him sometimes,” she laughed slightly at that. The thing about Tony was that he rarely managed to stay on track in a conversation and that usually led to some of the most bizarre discussions that Darcy had ever been a part of.
“He’s pretty nice to look at,” she admitted with an almost grudging tone. Had she been slightly less drunk, she probably wouldn’t have admitted that to Steve’s best friend, but Tony had practically goaded into it.
“So why’d you invite the world on your date then?” She opened her mouth and closed it several times. She’d had the niggling feeling all evening that Steve had meant to take her on a date, but hearing Tony confirm it made her stomach turn over, especially when Layla was acting like an erotic dancer, and he didn’t seem to be complaining.
“Date?” She questioned, both doubting whether she had heard him correctly and yet at the same time knowing for sure that he had done. Tony threw his hands in the air in an over exaggerated declaration of his disbelief.
“He didn’t want to go out with us he wanted to go out with you,” he explained, while rolling his eyes and Darcy got the distinct impression that he looked upon both Steve and her as children.
“Oh,” she shook her head and felt a little dizzier. She was definitely going to have a headache in the morning.
“Oh…” he mocked her, before he took a long drink. “Oh? Don’t tell me that’s a shock to you,” she blinked by way of a response. “You’ve been sick on his shoes, nearly maimed him, set the hulk on him, insulted his drawing, and he still wants to talk to you,” he listed the embarrassing things she had done to Steve and she shifted uncomfortably. “You really think he doesn’t want to get in your pants?” She opened her mouth to argue but she ignored her. “Not that he’d admit that of course because you’re a lady,” he dragged out the final word, and rolled his eyes. Which left Darcy unsure whether she should be offended or whether she should still feel elated that Captain America wanted her.
“I just…” she took another shot, and her face screwed up as it burned against the back of her throat, and tried to style out the resulting cough. “He can’t like me,” she finally replied, choosing to ignore the comment about getting in his pants.
“Let me try and put this another way, why do you think you got a job from me,” he asked, and she sensed that the answer wasn’t going to be because of her excellent résumé.
“Jane got Thor to put in a really good word,” she smirked, proud of her answer.
“Just how good of a liar do you think Thor is?” She felt that she definitely had the right to be offended but he didn’t allow her the dignity of a response. “You got the job because when I was watching your, slightly kooky, video résumé Steve actually stopped what he was doing to watch. And considering I’ve spent the best part of the last year trying to get him to show any attention in any form of recreational relationships, I saw my chance and took it.” She looked at him for a long moment. “Why the hell do you think that you’re the only non-avenger that lives in the tower?” He concluded his argument with a flurry and smiled at her.
“I thought that was because of my shinning personality,” she tried to joke but Tony merely arched an amused eyebrow. “Oh, cos you’re one to talk,” she bit back again, and Tony laughed in agreement.
Sometime during their discussion, Steve had managed to pull himself away from Layla and he appeared at her side just in time for her to choke down another shot. Tony laughed at her and then nodded at Steve as though he was giving him the confirmation to make his move, something that Darcy couldn’t help but find a little condescending, although she kept her mouth shut.
“I’ll leave you two kids alone,” he winked as he left. Tony Stark, Darcy decided, was like a walking teenager mixed with a medaling old woman.
“Old enough to be your dad,” Steve threw out to Tony’s retreating form.
“Granddad, actually.” Tony shot back over his shoulder as he headed over to where Clint was slowly making his way through a bottle of Scotch.
“Fun night, uh?” Steve drew her attention back to him, and she turned to greet him with a smile, but as she moved she felt the four shots of tequila hit her all at once and she wobbled on the chair.
“Oh God I’m gunna…” she looked at him, cursing herself for drinking so much besides the tequila, but managed to swallow back the bile. Keep it classy, Darcy, she chided herself.
“I should take you home, uh?” He smiled gently, looping an arm around her waist and drawing her towards him without waiting for an answer. However, she didn’t argue because he smelt just as good as he always did, despite the stuffy atmosphere of the club.
“Yes please,” she said, feeling a little queasy. “I’m sorry I ruined our date.” She muttered as he led her out of the club, the flash bulbs of the waiting press outside, clouding her vision with colored orbs and doing nothing to ease the sickness in her belly. She was all too aware that there were going to be some highly attractive photos of her being hauled out of a club by Steve, and she groaned inwardly.
“Tony told you about that then?” He said his voice hot against her ear as he helped her into the waiting car.
“I feel like an idiot,” she admitted, and he laughed slightly. “I’m so wasted,” she added, as though he needed to be told. But wasn’t that always the reaction of an inebriated person?
“That’s why I’m taking you home,” he replied. Good old Captain America, always looking after everyone, even her – especially her.
“Try’na take advantage of me?” She muttered, and he smiled easily in return but she noticed a faint blush creeping down his face.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather not right now,” he soothed his hand against her hair. “You’re a little too drunk,” he admitted, and once again she cursed herself.
“Hmmm,” she learned against his broad shoulder and relished the heat radiating off him and the smell of whatever aftershave Tony had put on him. “You smell good,” she murmured and he made a noise of affirmation as the car pulled up outside the tower.
Gently, he slipped his arm under her and lifted her out of the car, she moved her head from his shoulder but she didn’t say anything. He moved with an effortless grace and she was shocked by how steadily he managed to hold her – the only movement she felt was the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he carried her to her bedroom.
She’d had Captain America in her bedroom three times in a week, and she’d still hadn’t managed to get his pants off.
“How about we get some breakfast tomorrow,” he said as he placed her on the bed. She made a groaning sound, which Steve took to mean she wouldn’t feel up for breakfast. “Lunch then,” he smiled and she nodded in agreement.
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SUNDAY
When she woke up she felt like crap, which was just as well because she appeared to be lying in it. She groaned, trying to retrace her steps back to the previous night. It hadn’t exactly been the peak of her emotional maturity, but she remembered Steve’s comfortable embrace as he put her to bed, and she remembered rolling over and out of the bed as soon as he left the room to run for the bathroom. However, she also remembered getting back into bed, and she definitely remembered falling to sleep.
None of which went any way towards explaining how she appeared to be trapped in some sort of underground layer.
“Oh, you’re awake, good,” said a greasy looking man, with dark hair but not unkind eyes. She recognized him from Thor’s pompous stories and her own research of the Avengers database (because seriously some of the stories the demi-God had told her had to be lies), and a quiver of dread spiked through her
“Loki,” she murmured, pushing her back against the cold wall, momentarily giving into the rising fear.
“You did your homework,” he nodded, and his voice was not at all harsh, which she couldn’t help but be surprised by. She looked at him for a long moment, the pounding in her head doing absolutely nothing to clear her thoughts or quell her fears. She looked around, moving too quickly and feeling sick with the movement, only to discover she was alone with Thor’s supposedly evil brother.
“You broke into the mansion just to get me?” She asked because nothing about her current situation made any sense to her. Why the hell would he bother to kidnap her when he had an apartment full of Avengers to choose from?
“You’re not important to me,” he clarified. Despite the gravity of her situation, she couldn’t help but be offended by that comment. Nevertheless, she continued on her thought process, pushing aside the annoyance and her initial fear.
“But I’m the only one you took?” She rephrased her initial question, hoping for a more rewarding answer.
“That is accurate,” Loki admitted, which did nothing to answer her question.
“Then why?” She snapped, before biting her lip, it was probably best not to antagonize the demi-God. She sensed that conversing with mortals was not one of Loki’s strengths and the banging in her head made her less than inclined to put up with his dance-of-no-information.
“Captain Rogers intrigues me,” he answered. If he was annoyed at her insolence he didn’t show it, which was a pretty good thing, after all he was still an all-powerful deity and she didn’t think any amount of smart-assed comments (because that was totally her super power) would save her if he got truly angry.
“I barely know him,” she replied, trying to keep anything other than defiance from her voice.
“He has shown you much affection,” he waved his hand and created an image of Steve tending to her needs over the previous week, which was pretty surreal. “It is unusual for a warrior to show such consideration.” A small smile played over his lips and he looked at the image in almost reverence. She stood up in her corner to better see the image and Loki’s reaction to it. They stood in silence for a few moments as the scenes played out in the mystical hologram – which admittedly was very impressive.
“So, what? You wanted to test him?” She enquired, curious as to why she had been kidnapped.
“I wished to know his weakness, and I do believe I’ve found it.” Darcy blinked several times, realizing exactly what he meant. Loki had identified her as Steve’s weakness, she swallowed and he materialized in front of her. “I wished to understand,” she was surprised by his size but didn’t step back even though he was taller than Steve.
“So you’re going to kill me?” She tried to keep the fear from her voice, because she was a Lewis woman, and had been raised to maintain the illusion of nonchalance even when things really turned to shit. She looked him in the eyes and was relieved to see the confusion swirl there.
“The threat of your death is much more powerful than the action. If I were to relieve you of your mortal existence I would lose a method of controlling the Captain. It would not make sense,” he replied as though it was obvious. And actually, when she thought about it, it did make a lot of sense. She had seen Mad Max enough times to know that he only because a threat once the petrol heads had killed his family.
“So you’re not going to kill me?” She stated, feeling that it was better to clarify that fact because she allowed herself to relax. Nevertheless, when he nodded, she let out a breath. No death for Darcy - that was definitely a positive.
“No, I have no desire to kill you,” he stated and Darcy couldn’t help the smile from creeping across her features.
“But you ripped me from my bed in the middle of the night?” Knowing that he was not about to kill her meant that she could retreat to her previous annoyance at being ripped from her bed. And she figured that she could try and get some information while she was being kept prisoner.
“I merely wished to test the Captain’s patience,” Loki’s voice remained oddly emotionless. “As it turns out he has less of it than one might expect when someone he cares about is in danger. He is currently fighting my minions…”she cut him off before he could finish what he was saying.
“You have minions?” Loki looked at her with what could only be described as disappointment and she shrugged.
“God.” He replied curtly, pointing at himself. And she had to admit that despite the stress of her working week, that this particular conversation was definitely the most bizarre that she had been a part of… well, ever.
“Oh right,” she shrugged again.
“You may go to him if you wish, I have no desire to face him today, I must save my strength for my brother,” he actually puffed out his chest a little and Darcy couldn’t help but be amused. It was pretty funny that underneath his cool exterior he was just like every other little brother she’d ever met – born with a massive chip on his shoulder.
“Talk about issues,” she muttered, as she walked out of the room and out to where he had pointed her.
It had definitely been an odd start to her day.
The concrete was cold and sticky under her bare feet, and she wondered on almost aimlessly. Had she not had a raging hangover se might have had a greater appreciation for her situation, but as it was she really just wanted several Advil and a gallon of water. She had known that working with the avengers may place her life in danger – Pepper had warned her that much – but she had not expected Loki to test his theory within the first week of her working. Why the hell couldn’t he have waited until Monday when she was on the clock?
The tunnel gave way to a brightly illuminated factory and she scrunched up her eyes in a bid to stop the light from hurting quite so much. All around was the sound of gunfire and grunting – the sounds of a battle.
Iron man was the nearest, moving with surprising grace as he fended off a barrage of bullets. Hawkeye must have been somewhere above her, because the constant volley of arrows that rained down seemed to come from that direction. Widow twisted in an out of sight, proving exactly why she had earned her codename and in the center of the chaos, Captain America brandished his shield as a weapon. He moved with a dangerous control, fighting with a raw strength that Darcy had yet to witness. It was one thing to know that he was a super soldier but it was another to see him move as though the full force of Loki’s forces was nothing but a day’s work.
Somewhere along the line, his cowl must have been pulled off because his blond hair was flapping across his face and his lip was split. One goon after another went flying off away from him, and he finally looked up, seeing her even across the room in her half-hidden position in the shadows. He smiled, the expression lighting up his features, and maybe Loki did have a point that she was his weak spot.
Another girl, someone much nobler than she, would have seen that as an excuse to push him away, but her feet were moving before she realized what was happening and she was running across the blood stained concrete and dodging bodies and bullets alike to get to him. He reached her in a matter of seconds and drew her into his strong embrace as he continued to fend off the onslaught. She allowed herself to be lead back to the relative safety of the tunnel.
“Loki’s back there,” she said, by way of warning and tried to hold him back, “or at least he was.” She collapsed against his broad chest, wanting nothing more than to curl up at his side and shut out the world.
“Well I doubt he is anymore,” his voice was deeper than usual, all Captain America without hint of Steve Rogers. He looked down the hall as though he was contemplating going down after Loki, and she didn’t want to see that happen. Even though Loki had let her go unharmed, she was certain that he would not offer Steve the same courtesy.
“He bought me here to test you… he, uh, let me go, he told me to come to you… he doesn’t want to fight you, he just wanted to…” she took a shaky breath, all of the emotions she had tried to conceal washing over her as Steve drew her closer towards him in a hug. “It was a threat, he wanted to make sure you’d come after me.” She felt the tears running down her cheek and Steve seemed to understand the situation better than she did, which wasn’t exactly a surprise because she didn’t understand a damn thing about it. He dropped his arm from around her and drew back from their hug.
“We have to get your out of here,” he said, and she reached over to touch his arm, hoping to snap back Steve. She really didn’t want Captain America running off and facing down a God and getting killed on her behalf.
“I’d really like to go home,” she murmured, hoping to make him see sense.
“Iron man,” he spoke into battered remains of his communication device. “I have the package, rendezvous at the tunnel entrance and take her to safety.” Barely a second passed before Iron man joined them, his face was expressionless and Darcy found it unsettling even though she knew that it was Tony underneath. He scooped her up, much rougher than Steve would have, and flew them up an out of the building.
Obviously, the last thing she saw was Steve head off at full pelt down the tunnel.
Men and their freaking egos.
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Monday
“I bought you breakfast,” she said softly, entering the sparsely decorated room with a plate of eggs.
“Hey, thanks,” he replied, his voice strained and even from the doorway she could see the bruise that disappeared into the covers and stretched down from his collar bone. He’d looked worse when they first dragged him back from the fight the night before, but he healed remarkably quickly and Tony had told her that he would be up and about by the end of the day and back to his usual routine.
“You look awful,” she said as she joined him on the bed, and he sat up to accept the plate of eggs. Despite the bruises his shirtless form was still a joy to behold, but she that didn’t mean she was quite ready to forgive him.
“Thanks,” he laughed.
“Why did you have to go and do that?” She said after a long moment of silence. “I just… you could have been killed,” he shook his head.
“Anyone would think you were worried about me,” he raised an eyebrow over a mouthful of eggs and she shot him a death glare. “Sorry, I guess I’ve spent too much time around Tony and Clint,” he sighed and she nodded in agreement. “You don’t have to be worried about me, I can take care of myself,” he nodded.
“Looks like it.” She muttered, and he nodded his head, conceding the point. “I just…I’d hate to see you…” she took a shaky breath.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly, “the company’s too good right where I am,” he added with a smile. “That was a little corny, uh?” He smiled, and shifted awkwardly in the bed. Darcy was torn between being concerned for him, and righteously angry that he had done what he had promised her he wouldn’t and gone after Loki. However, she voiced neither emotion.
“Just a little,” she confirmed with a slow smile. It was hard to stay mad at Steve Rogers.
“Just make sure you don’t get kidnapped again,” he said softly, concern dripping across his every word. And she had to admit that maybe Loki had a point.
“In my defense I was asleep,” she sighed, dragging a hand through her hair.
“Tony’s God-proofing the building as we speak, he took the whole thing as a personal insult,” he smiled, and Darcy couldn’t help but laugh at the image of Tony toiling away in his workshop trying to God-proof the most secure building in the world.
“Charming,” she murmured and he laughed. He shifted slightly in the bed so that she could lie next to him and she complied.
“Not like that, he just… he deals with situations by making things,” he shrugged slightly, misreading her reactions. “These eggs are good by the way,” he offered, trying to change the subject.
“They should be. Natasha made them,” he laughed at her honesty, and she couldn’t help but smile. From her position next to him she could see the bruises already fading against his collarbone. She let out a shaky sigh and he continued eating.
“They’re better ‘cos you bought them me,” he said over a mouthful of food.
“Nice save,” she smiled slightly, and sank further back against the headboard. They sat in silence while Steve finished his eggs, and when he finished he tried reach over her to place the tray on the bedside table, but his breath caught and she took over.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, “I’m not used to being so incapable.” This time it was his turn to sigh. “Don’t worry; I’ll be better in a few hours.” There was something about his tone that suggested that he wasn’t completely happy about that fact, but Darcy didn’t feel it was the right time to comment.
“I hope so, I need my knight in shining armor back again,” she said, looking up at him from under her long eyelashes.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied easily, shuffling down the bed so that he was lying next to her, and even though the covers separated them, she could still feel the heat of his body radiating through them.
“Do you think this counts as a first date?” She asked, and couldn’t help but hope, (somewhat tangentially), that he didn’t do everything as quickly as he ate. He looked at her for a moment, as though he was trying to read her, before he replied.
“I had something a little more romantic planned.” In their close proximity his eyed seemed even bluer than they usually did, and she couldn’t help but smile shyly.
“Really,” she asked in a flirtatious tone, dropping her voice a little bit.
“Well,” he grinned, “there was going to be flowers, wine and maybe a bit of dancing.” She laughed; sometimes Steve was a little bit too old fashioned to be real. Before she had met him she had assumed that Tony would have beaten the nostalgia out of him, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“And then after you were going to take me home and ravish me?” She raised an eyebrow, and he looked at her in mock surprise.
“On a first date?” He hitched his voice a little higher, and she laughed. Evidently, Tony Stark had influenced Steve’s humor, even if he hadn’t managed to turn him into a modern man.
“Can’t a girl make an exception for Captain America?” She fluttered her eyelashes, and he smiled again.
“I’d rather you make an exception for Steve Rogers,” he said honestly, and she took the opportunity to scotch closer to him. In return, he lifted his arm so that she could curl up against the side of his body, and rest her head on his chest.
“Hmmmm,” she drank in his scent. “I think I would too,” she admitted.
“I’m not sure that makes sense,” he said and the sound reverberated against her ear. She lifted her head to look at him and moved to place a gentle kiss against his lips. It wasn’t the best first kiss she’d ever partaken in; the angle was wrong for both of them, but it still seemed kind of perfect. Plus, you know, Captain America.
“How about that?” She pulled back, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Sense? Who needs sense?” She laughed slightly, and the second kiss seemed even more perfect.