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There were certain dynamics to their relationship that provided a balance to it.
For example; Darcy was a mother hen. She made sure everyone was eating properly, getting enough sleep and never, ever working too hard. She had unofficially adopted all of the Avengers, and they allowed their surrogate mother to care for them.
Bucky, on the other hand, had a hard time taking care of himself. He would often return from missions with broken bones because he had yet to master the art of parkour and energy displacement- jumping off overpasses and landing on flat feet would lead to a broken calcaneus at least.
Darcy had a hard time knowing when to shut up. More often than not she'd gotten up in arms at a reporter who was targeting her little family, and would issue more public apologies for herself than for the Avengers.
Bucky was cool as a cucumber when he had to be. He'd learned to wait until a door was closed before ranting about the person that had just passed through it. He was able to keep his emotions in check- which meant that he wasn't a crier.
Darcy would know, she'd spent the longest time trying to get him to let a few tears loose.
"It's unnatural. Everyone cries." She insisted when he had been dry-eyed for all of Titanic.
"I don't cry at stuff like this." He shrugged, grabbing the last handful of popcorn.
He didn't cry at ASPCA commercials.
He didn't cry when he stubbed his toe.
He didn't cry. The man had no tear ducts.
Or so she thought.
The explosion was intended as a distraction, he would be told. That way AIM could infiltrate Tony's lab and get their hands on whatever tech they could carry.
But Darcy was apparently learning to take after Steve, and when she heard the beeping coming from within the box, dove on it. It detonated just before she landed.
He had been in Bejing, tracking down a group of assassins with Natalia and Sam. Then he got the call from Steve.
"Punk, I can't talk right now-"
"Buck you gotta come home."
"Aw, miss me Steve?" He laughed. "We're almost done over here-"
"There was an accident- Darcy's in the hospital."
"What happened- is she?"
"She's in a coma Buck." Steve was speaking quietly, and in the background Bucky could hear a faint beeping.
He didn't say anything for a moment, Steve's words still processing slowly through his mind.
---
"You be careful when I'm gone." Bucky told Darcy while he packed a bag for China. "No wild parties, no drinking, no friends over past six-"
"Holy Thor you're worst than my mother." She laughed from behind the bathroom door. "What time do you guys take off again?"
"As soon as we all get there. Beauty of private airways." He went to zip his bag shut when he saw his baseball cap was missing. "Hey Darce, you seen my-"
He heard the door open slowly. "Dodgers cap? Nah." Darcy stood in the doorway, wearing little else but the hat on her head and one of his sweaters that was too big on her. "You know, you're leaving me all alone- what's a girl to do about her urges?"
Bucky grinned as she stepped towards him, her bare feet making soft sounds on the floor. "Make do with some great memories and a three finger salute?"
"Good idea." She pushed his chest so that he sat back on the bed. Darcy sat on his lap with one leg on either side of him. "If only we had enough time to make a few more memories... Oh wait, we do."
"Minx." Bucky chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist and tipping his head up. "You just don't want me to go."
"Gasp! Oh woe is me- I've been caught in my lie." She leaned forward to brush her lips against his. "Maybe I just wanted you to see how good your clothes look on me."
"They look better off of you."
"Now who's the minx?"
---
"How long?" Bucky asked in a choked voice.
"Buck-"
"How long, Steve?!" He shouted, drawing Sam and Natalia's attention.
"She's been out less than a day. We don't know how long she's gonna stay like this. At best? A week. At worst... Longer."
"I'll be right there." Bucky's nostrils flared and his tone was clipped.
"I know. I'll have FRIDAY send you more information. I'm really sorry Buck."
"How- how did it happen?"
"She launched herself on top of an explosive."
Bucky barked out a harsh laugh, and shook with it. Shook with humourless laughter. "Of course she did. She's just like you, punk. Better looking though."
"Bucky-"
He hung up before he could hear what Steve had to say.
"What happened?" Natalia asked quietly.
"I've gotta get home."
---
"I worry about you."
Darcy was sprawled across his chest- his Dodgers cap and everything else that resembled clothing had long since been discarded.
The air was cold on his skin, but she was warm. Bucky ran his fingers through her hair. "Yeah?"
"Mhm. Every time you go I start to worry if you're ever gonna come back."
"I used to worry about it too." He whispered. "Don't anymore though."
"Why?"
"Cause I've got someone to come home to now."
---
He'd never seen her so still. Even when she was sleeping- her nose would twitch, or she would kick her leg or hum.
Darcy didn't do any of those things. She just laid on her back with her eyes shut- Bucky could barely see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She had a tube down her throat to help her with that. More that would feed her. Wires that monitored her heart rate, brain activity, temperature- everything indicated she was alive when she may as well have been dead.
Steve was sitting in the chair beside her bed when Bucky got there. Jane was at the foot of the bed reading a heavy textbook on recent comatose cases, lining passages with a highlighter.
His boots echoed heavily on the floor- it was a private room in an expensive hospital that he would bet any money Stark paid for. Bucky had seen Tony standing with Pepper at a vending machine, muttering about how he wasn't a doctor but he'd be damned if Darcy stayed like that longer than a day.
The Maximoff's were with Barton, on a mission in Australia without means of contact until three days later at least. Which meant Wanda was of no immediate help.
Steve rose from the chair and touched Jane's shoulder. The scientist looked up- her eyes were rimmed red. She looked at Bucky and her lips trembled.
Jane left, forcing a smile and asking who wanted crappy coffee. Bucky took her place on Darcy's bed, and Steve sat down again. He explained what happened again, even though he knew Bucky would have read the file over and over again on the plane.
"The AIM brats are in custody. I pulled out all of the stops- no chance they're getting out of this."
Bucky remained quiet. He could feel himself shutting down; his eyes stayed on her too pale face.
"-alled her parents. They're not picking up- some off the grid reconnection thing-"
"How long till she wakes up?"
Steve sighed. "They don't know."
Bucky felt his jaw clench. "How long Steve?"
"Buck-" Steve reached out to put his hand on Bucky's shoulder, but he wrenched it away and stood.
"How FUCKING LONG?!" He shouted, shaking.
Steve just looked up at him, sighed, and stood up. "I'm gonna miss her too."
He walked to the door and shut it behind him, and flinched at the sound of the chair being thrown against the wall.
---
The sound of the fire alarm had Bucky flying out of bed somewhere around six in the morning.
He felt around for Darcy, but her side of the bed was cold. He ran down the hall and found her standing on a chair in the kitchen waving a newspaper over the offending device that was screeching away.
In the sink, a hot charcoal mess still in the pan was the evidence of pancakes gone wrong.
"Oh, good. You're up." Darcy huffed once the beeping had stopped. "I was just thinking; wanna go out for breakfast? I don't feel like cooking today."
"Uh huh." Bucky crossed the room to lift the pan out of the sink. "Turned the burner on too high again?"
"Hush and help me down."
---
Four days he sat by her side. He used the private bathroom to keep clean- he didn't want her not recognizing him when she woke up.
Jane would bring him food when she came to visit. They sat in silence while she poured over books of the human brain.
No word from Australia, other than a brief one way message saying they would be another few days. Natalia hadn't been able to get ahold of Clint since.
She and Sam had finished the mission in Bejing, Steve told him. He stayed with Bucky through the nights; his sketch pad on his knee and pencil in his hand but he never drew anything.
"She couldn't wait for you to get back." Steve would say while he and Bucky stayed at the corner of the room so the nurses could change the bandages around Darcy's abdomen. The only area the small blast had hit, there would be a large scar across her stomach.
Bucky could practically hear her- there goes swimsuit season. He would tell her she looked beautiful. She would call him a liar. They would kiss.
Day five they took away the breathing tubes. Day six Thor was due to arrive, so Jane waited at the facility for him. Bucky asked Steve to stay with her.
He didn't say anything for a long time. Darcy still looked so lifeless- her lips chapped, her hair was dull and her eyelids looked purple. Her hands were by her side- broken fingers on her left hand, so Bucky held her right.
"How's it going, Darce?" His voice cracked with disuse. He swallowed and tried again. "It's too quiet around here without ya- Steve keeps tryin' ta get a tv in here. Don't know why. S'not like you're watchin' it.
"I came back in one piece. Just like you wanted. 'Course maybe you coulda tried a little harder-" he choked, then cleared his throat. "God Darcy you can't leave me. You can't leave any of us- Jane's looking at fuckin' brain chemistry to try and wake you up, Thor's bringing something from space for ya- God Banner's been up for I dunno how long tryin'ta figure this whole thing out. I think Stark's gonna try building you suit I dunno how that's gonna help but dammit all if Tony's not gonna try and-"
He heard himself choke again, and before he knew it Bucky was on his knees, trying to push past the lump in his throat.
"Steve's always making jokes, callin' me a good catholic boy. Maybe I was. Don't remember praying much but- oh God Darcy you've gotta get up. Please. I love you."
---
"If I told you something, do you promise you won't get all weird about it?" Darcy asked.
They were sitting on the roof, staring up at the stars. Darcy sat in between Bucky's legs, leaning back with a blanket covering them both.
"Maybe. Depends on what it is." He said.
"I love you."
Not knowing how to respond, Bucky stayed silent.
"You don't have to say it back." She said quickly. "I just want you to know that I do. Okay?"
He sat up and put his arms around her waist, kissing her shoulder. "Thanks. For not... Y'know."
"Hey, pressure in a relationships no good. You're okay with me telling you?"
"Yeah. Yeah I am."
---
He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but Bucky blinked awake when he felt the hand brushing the hair out of his face. The fingers were too small to be Steve, which led him to believe it was Jane. But why would she be...?
"Hey sleepy head."
Her voice sounded hoarse, but it was her voice. Bucky's eyes flew open and he was on his feet, cradling her face in his hands. There was colour in her cheeks, he could see her eyes open and her lips turned up into a smile. Darcy was awake.
"Damn, if all the orderlies are this cute, I'll go to the hospital more often." She winked and Bucky started laughing.
At least he thought he was laughing. But he felt hot tears sting his eyes and run down his cheeks. He buried his face in Darcy's hair, convulsing with sobs.
"Oh my god you're crying. You don't cry- shh, it's okay baby. I'm here. I'm okay." She rubbed his back.
Bucky took a shaky breath, still hiding in her hair. "I- I thought I lost you for good."
"Nah, you're stuck with me for the next little while." Darcy beamed. "But- I thought you were in China. How'd you get here so fast?"
"Doll. You've been out for a week."
"Oh. Shit. No wonder you're so- um. Is this a bad time to say I'm sorry?"
Bucky shook his head. "Next time leave the bone headed hero tactics to the professionals. Please. I don't ever wanna go through this again."
"You got it. Neither do I." Darcy groaned, moving his head to wipe the tear streaks away. "Bet you liked having me be quiet for once."
"Nah. Hated it." Bucky smiled finally. "I love you Darcy."
"I know you do. I heard you." Darcy leaned forward to touch her forehead to his. "I love you too, you butt."