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Hello, my peeps!
It's not edited so apologies for all the spelling mistakes
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Of Ties that Bind
Darcy made her exit from SI just in time before the damage to her mental stability was irreversible. How did she know that? Simple. Virginia Potts told her. Well, not directly, and if you asked, she wouldn’t have known that she had confirmed any such thing. That wasn’t the point. Right now, the point was that Darcy was at a snazzy after work conference event when Miss Potts rocked up.
The world was a small place but come on! She hadn't expected to run into the incredibly busy woman here. She wasn't at the conference, Darcy would have noticed.
Part of her wanted Miss Potts to recognize her. Maybe say how sorry she was about how it all turned out. That was not how it went down. Miss Potts laughed. She had no idea that Darcy was no longer with Stark Industries and took the introduction of Mrs Long as the new boss as a joke. But quickly humour was replaced by confusion followed quickly by shock and expression of someone who could see trouble on the horizon.
“Miss Lewis, I - I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding.”
Hey, no one was irreplaceable after all, right? This encounter illustrated that point profoundly. Heat rose to her cheeks. That could have been attributed to the mass of people walking around. It was stuffy. Darcy Lewis had places to be and it wasn’t here discussing months of her life that were wasted in the service of SI.
“I’m sure it is, Miss Potts. If you’ll excuse me, ladies.” Some might have accused her of bolting from uncomfortable conversation, maybe they would have been right. The truth of the matter was that it’s ok to leave an uncomfortable conversation. For all the bravado Darcy displayed, being escorted out of the building was embarrassing and to be told, even indirectly, that no one noticed her gone, hit low and hard. She thought she was prepared to hear it. She was wrong. It didn’t help her anger issues.
‘Fuck this and fuck them.’
Darcy left the room with her head held high, ignoring CEO of Stark Industries attempts to get her to stay and talk. She was being ruder than it was strictly necessary but at this moment it was that or losing her cool. No one needed that. Least of all her.
It was the type of situation where Darcy really should have known better. She should have learned by now. Should have were the key words here. A good start would be to fucking check whose call she was picking up in the middle of the fucking night. Even after a run in with Miss Potts, Darcy Lewis continued to be a self-proclaimed idiot. Admittedly, at least she was consistent. Counted for something right?
“I like the way you don’t ask unnecessary questions-” Tony Stark did have exceedingly good opinion of himself. She wasn’t in a mood to deal with that, or him, or any of them. Red button was swiped, and the phone went silent. For whole of two seconds Darcy was proud of herself, but it rang again. She was an absolute sucker. It should have really come as no surprise at this point with the track record that she had. But life wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if you couldn’t surprise yourself with the most obvious conclusions.
“Do you know what time it is, jackass?”
“It’s Friday night, Lewis. Why are you even-” Darcy was going to admit that Stark managed to worm his way into her soft spot somehow, but even he wasn’t going to be allowed to call her up at this hour and pass judgement on her life choices while he was clearly making some of his own. ‘Nope, not dealing with it.’ Hanging up the second time was way easier. Go figure. Maybe she was finally getting the hang of it. Maybe a clean break still had a chance of happening. Like, a big maybe, because when the lights flashed guess whose dumb ass answered, again?
“Don’t hang up! I need a favour, Lewis! … Hello?” Was her inability to hang up a withdrawal symptom? The banter with Tony Stark was one of the very few highlights that the job had once Jane departed on the Rainbow Bridge. The man was funny, she could joke with him. That was too fucking rare there days… she was going to do it once. Just once and be done with it! Yeah, that was what she was going to do.
“State your case.”
“You sound off.” What kind of statement was that? This cranked up the annoyance level to the point that she had to turn the lights on to hear better. That withdrawal was winding down fast.
“It’s the middle of the night and you woke me up. I’ll give you a single chance to explain what the fuck you want or I’m turning my phone off, like I knew I should have fucking done.” Do you know the feeling when you have said something that sounded convincing but deep down, you knew, the only thing you were full of at that moment was shit? Darcy pushed that nagging feeling aside. She was done with that place and those people and… fuck, just fuck it all. Yet she held the phone to her ear instead of hanging up.
“Techy, aren’t we tonight?” Before Darcy could have a go at him Stark steam rolled ahead. “I need a power drill, a set of wrenches and for your gorgeous self to bring those. You do have a set, right?” Should she feed him grapes while he worked too?
“I’m a single woman that lives alone, what do you think? You knew the answer before you even called. Twat. Last I checked you got people for shit like this.”
“If it helps it’s important and I trust you.” You damn dick. That was not what she needed to hear right now. He was such an asshole. It messed with the aura of anger that she was trying to maintain.
“I regret you not being total a-hole to me so this wouldn’t work.”
“You love me, Lewis. There’s no need to hide it. I pinged you my location.” Such an asshole. At least it was never boring with him around. She totally didn’t miss it these last two weeks. Anyway… It looked like her dumb ass was about to go for ride in pursuit of new shitty decisions.
“Let me guess, you’re not at the Tower.” Darcy didn’t even pause to let him answer. “Of course not, why am I asking? Why the fuck would you make it easy for me. Prick.” The last few months of her employment at SI was when she developed the highly unladylike habit of swearing like a drunk sailor. Luckily, she skipped the drunkenness part, or she would have been serving life for murder right now.
“You might want to wear something besides your standard robe that’s not at all needs to be upgraded. It’s chilly tonight. Just get one of my cars. Get some wind in your hair. If you move now, it will take you an hour.” Oh great, only an hour. An hour to there, few hours there, and an hour back. The whole night gone. Darcy stubbornly ignored the red flag that was Stark’s assumption of her being close to his vast collection of cars. Somebody would have told him of her departure, it’s been two weeks, somebody would have. Maybe it was just Miss Potts that didn’t know. In the grand scheme of things why would a CEO care about some random PA? Right? Had anyone given a fuck about her, Darcy would have still been there. There were both cons and pros to keeping your distance from other people as Dr Banner demonstrated all too well.
“Are you dying?” How much did he need help anyway? Was she up for the conversation in case he didn’t know? It was late and she was tired.
“Aren’t we all in the grand scheme of things?” Since when he was a philosopher?
“Are you actively dying right now? As in do I need to bring the ambulance with me?”
It might have sounded weird, but she was sure she could hear him smirk. “No. But I’m touched you care, Lewis.”
Sure he was. Darcy rolled her eyes. “Of course, I care! Who do you take me for, Stark? Seriously. I’m too fucking poor to be held liable for your death, dickweed. So, what’s the status?” Her fist aid kit had some bandages in it. Maybe something else. Perfect opportunity to do a little review of it. Didn’t expect needing it quite so quick.
“… I-” The silence on the other end lasted just a few moments too long to be a good sign.
“Fuck it, I’m calling the ambulance and sending it to your location, right now.” Half measures didn’t cut the mustard when dealing with the super-whatnot-peeps. They didn’t do things halfway so when things were good, they were amazing, when they were bad it was a spectacular shit show. No one called Darcy because things were going swimmingly. She took a deep breath, but mostly so she could tie her shoelaces.
“Scrapes, bruises, nothing broken, or bleeding too much if you must know.” He sounded bored, but Darcy knew better.
“Have you crash landed? Do I need heavy machinery to cut you out?” Darcy was staring at the massive heavy-duty box containing the set of needed tools. Wrenches, the strongest drill you could get with a battery pack and the like, oh, and duct tape.
“Controlled descend and no. The tools you got will suffice, Shorty.” Despite the reassurance she had doubts.
“Right. Ok. To be clear, I expect you to be not dead and preferably still lucid when I arrive to wherever your ass is stuck at. I reserve the right to make to call for aid if your description isn’t 110 % accurate.” There were risks that were not worth taking.
“Crystal, Lewis. I love it when you’re bossy, it really -”
“Don’t get dead, Casanova. I’ll see you soon.” The taxi was still several minutes away but Darcy had to get the box downstairs, thank goodness it had wheels. People often forgot to consider logistics. Things didn’t just happen.
Who did you blame after you have done a stupid thing? Darcy knew picking up the phone for Tony Stark was a shitty idea. So was going out to some abandoned industrial warehouse complex. Some would call it crazy. Why no one else was coming to help the guy? Maybe security or some robot that he had built? There were options, he was a smart man. Yet he called her, and she answered. Maybe that said more about her than him…
Lucky for Stark, her trusted taxi driver, Rafael, that always smelled faintly of weed and drove like a god-fearing grandmother, asked no questions, and passed no judgement, otherwise this mission would have been cancelled before it started. Even when he had to keep his headlights on certain easily identifiable superhero being cut out from a massive cluster of pipes that were fused together, it suggested high heat and considerable speed. Controlled landing, sure. The face plate was half gone. The dazzling smile could have been seen a way off.
“High engineering, huh. Hit a pigeon, Stark?”
“So, Friday night, in bed early, huh?”
“All those expensive watches and no idea how to tell time, wow.”
“I- Ouch! Circulation, Lewis! Let’s keep it flowing, shall we? One might assume that the fact that you got no one to keep you up at night, is touchy subject.” Stark was fishing on the topic of her personal life. He loved doing that. She hummed under the breath as the last obstacle immobilizing the battered armour, and the man trapped inside, gave way.
There was no harm in flirting. That was a thing they did. He was right after all; there was distinctive lack of excitement in her life. Now that the job didn’t consume all hours of her day and night, which was refreshing, she probably should start dating again.
“That’s the thing, got surprisingly decent neighbours. For NYC, just to be clear. The bar is low.”
“The Tower’s apartments have the best sound proofing money can buy, Shortstack. There wasn’t an expense spared. I’ll be right back!” The words were shouted because Stark half hobbled half sprinted to the nearest corner to take a leak the moment the armour was off him and they got down. It was a surprise that he hadn’t just done the business in the suit. Darcy waited for the groaning and splashing to subside. The dating life was going to have to wait. How the hell would she explain to any man what she was doing right now? Or even better, why she was doing it? Yeah, it might be better getting old habits under control first.
“You could tell. I loved it there.”
“But you don’t love it anymore, Shorty? The only upgrade is the Penthouse, I don’t think we there yet. And why didn’t you get one of my cars?” Stark was back after the toilet break. Looking his cheeky handsome annoying even if slightly bruised self. Nothing like a good piss to lift the spirits.
“You know I don’t work for SI anymore, right?” Stark stopped dead in his tracks. Looks like he didn’t. This what happened when she went to bed angry.
“You what?” He was sore in various places and just took a semi-public leak. Despite what the Tabloids had everyone believe he wasn’t into that. Surprise didn’t cover his reaction, Tony’s brain out right refused to compute what Lewis just said. It just dropped into his lap and he had no idea what to do.
“Stark Industries decided that it’s best for us to part ways.” Lewis shrugged like it was old news.
The warehouse was large but only now he realized how good the acoustics were when his reply echoed. “Dumb it down for me, Shakespeare. You quit?” She was stood before him the vision of calm. Was he hallucinating? Was he still hanging suspended in the malfunctioned suit? It could have been the stench of the place.
“I didn’t quit. I was let go, my perforce review came up unsatisfactory.” Lewis was speaking, he could tell because he heard words, but the sentences came together all wrong and made no sense. He hated being thrown off balance like this.
“No, no. Back up. What review?” If there was anything like that going… would he know? Tony paused. It was not a part of SI internal workings that he concerned himself about. Unless someone informed him. Ok, it’s possible he might have missed it. A ball had been dropped by someone. Also, that didn’t explain another thing. “Why would anyone review you? Are we having two separate conversations here, Lewis? Bruce-”
“Bruce wasn’t my boss. It looks like he was, but alas. Technically I was part of the admin pool. Led by one Mr Andrews.” The name was noted. Bruce was going to be incredibly surprised at this bit of information because he sure was. Darcy Lewis was passed on to his buddy by Foster. Because that what happened to people that provided valuable service. They didn’t get let go. The brunette dealt with shit. Their shit. In all shapes and sizes even if she had to wear hazmat suit. That was dedication. Never say anything about it later, that was loyalty. All that was wrapped in sexy, funny, natural hourglass shaped exterior. Pure bonus.
“Technically the pigs can fly if you launch them with a catapult.” This was absurd, whole situation felt like a poorly thought-out joke.
“Well, guess who took the flight with the pigs, Tin Man? Me.” The agitation was starting show on the surface. Lewis hissed at him.
“Well, come down to Earth then!” His tired mind was all over it. It was going to be ok; he was going to fix it. It was his bloody company. It was just a detail. “Forget about the review, consider it gone. Corrected. I-”
“Not the point anymore. It’s been two weeks, Tony. I have a job elsewhere.” Why was this still escalating?! Fuck.
“Quit and come back. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s little more complicated-” Shortstack had packed the instruments. This conversation didn’t even slow her, even when she was angry and upset. Just doing her thing, moving forward no matter what. It felt like she was about leave them all behind. His jaw tensed; it resonated in bruised muscles.
He didn’t need easing into what ever happened, he needed some damn answers. “No. It’s not- ” That was mistake. Tony could tell by the glint. in her eyes Lewis had a special, fiery glint that meant you just fucked up. The worse thing that you couldj get from Lewis was exactly what you asked for. Since meeting her he had reconsidered several decisions at the very thought of her. The woman achieved something that previously had only been done by near death experiences and that was to make him second guess himself. What if the problem was him? Shit. He hasn’t considered this outcome.
“You’re right. It’s not. Shame you showed up after Dr Banner had already pawed me off to do tasks for others, I know he wanted to help, maybe because of the Other Guy, maybe he feared me getting hurt, maybe he thought doing other stuff would get me noticed, be moved to a job with better prospects and less risk. Not sure if you noticed, because Dr Banner sure as fuck didn’t, but when you belong to administration pool and your boss decides that you’re not needed, you get pushed out. Majority of my duties, that’s the shit I ended up doing because I know how to deal with you lot, surprisingly didn’t get included into the final review. Stuff like that never does. People don’t see what I do so they assume it mustn’t matter.” The boot of the taxi got slammed shut.
It made too much sense. A lot rode on assumptions. It always has. Money, influence, importance. It was all perception. You made people think you got it and they give it to you. “What did the HR say when you objected? What the hell did Bruce put down-”
“Bruce was too busy avoiding imposing on me. I didn’t object. Why? Because it fucked me off so much, and I got so angry that I just couldn’t…” Darcy’s voice cracked and she silent for a moment before fixing those big eyes on his, calm once more. They could have been back in the Tower chatting shit. Two weeks was long time. “I didn’t want to object. At some point I just decided that I deserved better. Ok? I deserved to get angry and not think about everyone else in my life just once.”
He knew that feeling. Jagged and coiled around your throat, suffocating anger. It made people do ugly things, take paths previously unthought of. “Bruce can sometimes be a little withdrawn, but he’s a good –”
“I get it, but Dr Banner isn’t Jane, ok? He’s not my friend, we haven’t spent years joined at the hip. I don’t know him. Just not enough time. It’s a lame excuse, Tony. I know. I tried making courtesy calls, stood in Steve’s doorway, went to see you, watched Bruce work for hours. Couldn’t do it. Stupid, isn’t it?”
“You just left? Why didn’t you come to me?” That was the question.
“Because reasons, main of which being that I’m a sap. I know you would have saved my job had I asked. But it would have been wrong. Imagine the gossip. Ugh. No, thanks. Tell me, Tony, what was so great about that job I had?”
“Benefits? Pay? Prestige? Me? You saw Captain America naked!” Why did that came flying out of his mouth was a mystery. Seeing Cap in that state would have made others quit on the spot.
“I peeled him like a blanched tomato, and I clearly don’t need to work there to see your smug mug as tonight emphasizes.” Lewis got into the car and gave him a pointed look, implying she wanted to end this. “It’s late. You want a ride or you’ll walk?”
Tony picked the ride. First, they dropped Lewis off at her new digs. That was an appropriate name because the place was ruins in Brooklyn. The small apartment smelled like fresh paint, cheap furniture and excess damp. The lock must have come with the building when it was build. He was still thinking about it on the way home, that and how the Hell no one had a clue what was going on with Lewis's position. Mr Andrews better had a damn good explanation.
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