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Darcy couldn’t be sure if the penguins on her fuzzy pajamas were actually dancing or if she was so tired she was hallucinating that they were, but either way she figured the situation required more coffee.
“More coffee,” she called out to Jane as she made her way out of the lab and down towards where the communal kitchen and lounge were on this floor. She trudged down the hallway towards the lab kitchen, her feet barely lifting from the ground. She just needed one more cup of coffee, or at least that’s what she’d been telling herself the past three cups. She was exhausted and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
“Maybe I can nap on lunch?” she murmured to herself as she refilled her coffee mug.
“What was that, penguin?”
The voice startled Darcy so much that she jumped, hot coffee spilling out of her mug and onto her hands. She barely had time to register Tony coming around the bar and easing the mug from her hands before he dragged her to the sink and ran her hands under cold water.
“You okay, Darcy? I didn’t mean to scare you,” Tony asked as she stared down at her pink hands.
There was a brief moment of comfort as the cool water rushed over her skin before she realized who she was standing so close to and what she was wearing. She’d been fighting through her exhaustion and making sure she looked cute every day this week on the off chance she’d see Tony and he’d been nowhere to be seen. This morning, after another sleepless night, she gave up and stuck with her most comfortable clothing and of course Tony sees her.
“I’m pretty easy to scare lately,” Darcy shrugged, turning off the water and turning back to survey the small puddle of coffee that was dripping from the counter onto the larger puddle on the floor. “At least I didn’t break the mug?” Still moving slower than she’d like, she grabbed a towel from the cabinet and began to work on cleaning up the coffee.
“You don’t have to do that, you know. We have robots for that sort of thing.”
“What, are you doing to get Dum-e to clean it?”
“Eh, he is better at making messes than cleaning them up. I was thinking the mopping vacuum would do the trick?” As he spoke a squat, square machine came rolling out from a closet aiming straight for the pool of coffee on the floor.
“If I wasn’t so tired right now I’d be way more enthusiastic about this.” There was a faint trace of a smile on Darcy’s face as she watched the robot mop up the spill before rolling back to its closet.
“Not sleeping? I know I’m not much of one to talk, but all-night science benders aren’t healthy.”
“Nightmares,” Darcy admitted before she realized what she was doing. “I should probably be embarrassed about telling you that, but all I can think about is how you’re standing in the way of my coffee.”
“Oooh, what flavor?” Tony handed over her filled and perfectly doctored coffee mug as he continued his line of questioning. “Giant space worms attacking the city? An AI gaining sentience and trying to take over the world? C’mon, talk to me, I’m a nightmare professional.”
“I-uh-you’re what?” Darcy asked, too stunned by his line of questioning - let alone the mystery of how he knew exactly how she liked her coffee - to provide an answer to his question.
“I’m well versed in nightmares. Probably not a variety of nightmare I’ve not had,” Tony frowned then waved his hand through the air. “So what’s the deal, you can’t fall asleep or you can’t stay asleep, tell me what we’re working with.”
Darcy blinked several times, checked the clock on the wall, then finally poked at one of her still-pink hands. “Sorry, just making sure I’m not somehow asleep and dreaming now? This is the last conversation I expected to be having today.” She took a sip of her coffee to stall for time as she considered how honest she wanted to be before remembering she was a shit liar on a good day.
“This is ridiculous, but ever since the last lockdown when Hydra tried to take over the building, I’ve had trouble falling asleep at night because I’m afraid of waking up to the emergency alarm, with no way to get to Jane or know what was going on or to check on everyone and make sure they’re safe.” Darcy shuddered as she remembered the last lockdown that had put her directly in what was now her worst and most often repeated nightmare. She tried hard to keep the emotion out of her voice as she spoke, but she was pretty sure she was failing. “Then once I do fall asleep, I invariably end up in a nightmare of exactly that.”
“That attack was over a month ago,” Tony said softly as he guided her towards the couch in the lounge adjacent to them.
“I know,” Darcy deadpanned. “Thanks for the coffee, but I can’t sit down, I’m pretty sure I’ll fall asleep and I’ve got to get back to Jane.” She stepped out of Tony’s grasp and continued down the hall back to the lab.
“See you later, Lewis,” Tony called after her.
The cup of coffee did not help, but with the way her stomach was knotting, Darcy knew more was out of the question. There was still at least an hour until she could reasonably take a lunch break, and the couch in the lab seemed like the perfect place to rest. In the event of another lockdown, she’d already be with Jane. Tony and Bruce were both on this floor too so she’d hardly be left without access to information. Sure, she may not be able to get an entirely restful nap in between Jane talking to herself and the whirring of machinery, but it’d be better than nothing.
“Foster, I need to borrow the coffee queen for a few hours. You don’t mind do you?” Tony asked as he burst through the doors to the lab. “Great, that’s what I thought,” he continued on before Jane even had a chance to reply. “Darcy?”
Darcy glanced between Tony and Jane unsure of what to make of his outburst. “Jane, are you good?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Jane replied, barely glancing up from her computer.
Tony stood a few feet away from her with an outstretched hand which Darcy took readily. She knew at some point in time she’d be analyzing this moment for meaning, but at the moment the most she could process was Tony is touching me .
“Whatcha need help with, Tin Man?” Darcy asked, mustering all the enthusiasm in her body for whatever task he had in store for her.
“Nothing, actually,” Tony replied as he lead her through his own lab to a sunny corner in the back. “But you and I both know you weren’t getting anything actually accomplished over there, and I figured you could use a bit of a break.”
Tony ushered her around a machine and motioned to the lounge area he had set up in his own lab. The couch which was normally covered in papers and half-read books had been cleared completely and made into a bed of sorts - a pillow at one end and an array of blankets for her to choose from stacked on top. The floor-to-ceiling windows that usually looked out on the city had been tinted to allow in enough light that Darcy could still see but were nowhere near as bright as the rest of the lab was.
“Oh, wow, Tony. This looks so comfy,” she said as she rubbed her hand against the blanket stack, her eyes immediately going to the softest blanket there, a light green fuzzy number that was large enough she could fully burrito herself in. “I hope I’m actually able to sleep.”
“Well, I figure it’s definitely not somewhere you’ve slept before, and there’s no way you’d be left out of the loop of what’s happening. If you’re here you’re pretty much at ground zero if something were to happen,” he shrugged. “Not that I think it would!” he added quickly. Before Tony had a chance to open his mouth and dig himself deeper, Dum-E came rolling into the lounge, a bottle clutched in his claw spraying a fine lavender-scented mist as he moved.
“Dum-E! No, I told you we weren’t doing that!”
“What’s this?” Darcy asked as the machine rolled to a stop in front of her. She reached for the bottle and pulled it from his grasp, turning it until she could read the label. “Nightmares-B-Gon?”
“I, uh, thought it might help you feel more comfortable?” Tony offered sheepishly. “It’s silly, forget it ever happened.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” Darcy smiled for the first time that day. “This is so nice, Tony. Thank you.”
“Anytime, Darcy. How about I leave you to sleep? I’ll just be over there,” he gestured behind him to the lab at large. “Let me know if you need anything.”
He turned on his heels and left muttering something about stupid robots as he went.
Tony settled at his desk and dove straight back into the work he’d been doing before happening upon Darcy in the kitchen that morning. He knew that if he spent any time at all thinking about the fact that Darcy was resting not twenty feet from him he’d be unable to accomplish anything. Instead, he’d likely spend the time wondering if she was sleeping all right, if there was anything he could do to help her to sleep better, or, god forbid watching her sleep and wishing he could be holding her.
Thankfully the modifications to the suit he was working on were engrossing enough that eventually, he’d completely forgotten about the slumbering brunette behind him. “Hey, Jarvis, can you run a simulation with that most recent change? I want to make sure I’m not going to blow myself up.” A moment passed with no response, but before Tony could open his mouth to call out again an insistent yet quiet beeping sounded from his computer.
The simulation was successful, Sir. I’ve sent the results to your pad.
“Thanks, Jarvis. You want to tell me why you’re not talking to me?”
Miss Lewis is sleeping, Sir.
Tony lightly smacked his head and pulled his keyboard closer. Tell me my dumbass didn’t wake her up?
Resting peacefully. Might I recommend you keep this window open in case you need assistance again?
Thanks, Jarvis. He smiled as he reached for his tablet to review the simulation and noted that Darcy had been sleeping for over two hours already.
He kept up his chatting with Jarvis as he continued his work, only losing focus when he heard a clanging sound as Dum-E dropped something on his desk.
“Hey, watch it,” Tony scolded the robot quietly as he examined what had been dropped. Resting next to his elbow was a prototype earpiece communication device he’d worked on for the team. The design had been abandoned in favor of something lighter weight, but it was still working.
Jarvis, you know anything about this?
I believe he’s under the impression that Miss Lewis could find it useful.
Tony glanced back to the corner where Darcy still lay sleeping and considered how she could use the small device. The last time the tower was attacked, Hydra had immediately cut lines to the internet, which had effectively shut off communication for anyone inside the tower.
Anyone except for an Avenger, that is. The team couldn’t risk losing communication when something like that happened, so he’d set up their own communication devices to operate on Jarvis’ server located offshore.
Can you pull up the files for this unit? I want to test something out.
When Darcy woke it was the first time in her recent memory that it was peaceful, rested waking instead of her typical sitting straight up in bed gasping for air routine. This was something she was immediately grateful for when she realized she was in Tony’s lab.
As she sat up on the couch bits and pieces of her conversation with Tony that morning came back to her and she couldn’t help but groan in embarrassment. Here was the man she was trying to impress, hoping to score a date with, and she’d gone and run her mouth about her sleeping issues.
“Sleep okay?” Tony asked her as he stood up and walked towards the couch.
“No nightmares, which was incredibly nice, thanks. What time is it? I should probably get back to Jane.”
“Nearly six. I’d say she’s probably gone by now, but we both know that’s not true. She did come to check on you earlier. I think she wanted to drag you back to her lab and force you to nap, but I beat her to it,” Tony smirked.
“Wow, I must have looked horrendous this morning for Jane to have noticed.”
“I don’t know, I thought you looked pretty cute mumbling to yourself in your pajamas.” Darcy glanced down, suddenly remembering her too-large t-shirt and fuzzy pajamas. “You look cuter now that you’ve slept through,” he added before she could feel embarrassed.
Darcy resisted doing a double take at Tony’s flirtatious words. She wished she was more awake to come up with a flirty line herself, but as it was all she had was a simple, “Thanks.”
A beat passed and she stood up from the couch and began folding the blanket. “I really should get back to the lab. I feel great, though. Thanks for the napping space. I might have to sneak in here again in the future if I can’t get control of these nightmares.”
Darcy turned to leave the lounge area of the lab but found the way blocked by Dum-E, his single arm held out with a small earpiece in his clamp.
“About those nightmares,” Tony said as he reached for the earpiece. “I remember you mentioned being worried about being cut off from everyone earlier. Dum-E reminded me about this while you were napping, and Jarvis and I made some updates to it. Here, try it on,” he said, pressing a button on the side to turn it on before handing it over.
Darcy took it in her hands and turned it over. It was made to fit inside her ear, with a hook and battery pack that would rest behind her ear, reminding her of a hearing aid. She placed it on her ear and offered a tentative, “Hello?”
“Good evening, Miss Lewis,” Jarvis said through the earpiece.
“Oh! Hi, Jarvis, nice to hear your voice.”
“Likewise, Miss. Might I suggest you come by the lab more often?”
“Oh, I should?” Darcy asked the AI with a shy smile.
Tony stepped forward and reached for the earpiece, gently lifting it from her ear and turning it off before Jarvis could respond. “Alright, alright, enough sweet talking the pretty girl Jarvis.” If Darcy had questioned if Tony was flirting with her earlier, there was no doubt about it in her mind now. “This will allow you to reach Jarvis at any point in time, regardless of if you have reception or cell service. He’ll be able to keep you posted on what’s happening in the event of another lockdown.”
“Tony, did you just give me an Avenger’s earpiece?” Darcy asked incredulously as she took the device back from him. “This feels like a little much for I-just-slept-on-your-couch-for-seven-hours. Seems like you should wait until at least the fifth date before letting a girl in on your top secret missions.”
“Well, it won’t quite do that much. It just connects you to Jarvis. We can’t have you interrupting a mission in progress, and honestly hearing that is probably the last thing you’d need if you were worried. But, uh, if you ask Jarvis he can patch you through to me,” Tony said as he scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly.
“As much as I appreciate that, I doubt I would do that. Wouldn’t want to be a distraction, you know?” Darcy shrugged and pocketed the earpiece.
“Here’s where I’d really like to say you’re always a welcome distraction, but I think maybe given the circumstances we’re discussing you’re probably right.”
“Wow, okay, I really need to get back to the lab and drink about 3 pots of coffee before I’ll be able to flirt back. But, uh, noted? And right back at you. I mean, with the welcome distraction thing, not the pretty thing. Not that you’re not pretty? Okay, yep. That’s me putting my foot in my mouth so I’m just going to leave before I dig myself deeper.” Darcy stumbled backward before turning and walking quickly towards the door of the lab.
“Hey, Darcy?” Tony called after her. “Come see me tomorrow after you’ve had some coffee and maybe we’ll see about working towards that fifth date?”
Darcy grinned the entire walk back to the lab, a weight lifted from her shoulders and her head finally filled with dreams of good things ahead.