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Darcy and Jane watched the evening news in horror. The exact details were scant, but there was a two block section of one of the poorer neighborhoods in Chicago that was just gone. The news was calling it an act of terrorism. Jane said, as she poured them each a very stiff drink, that it looked like an experiment with explosives gone very wrong. Darcy wondered if maybe it hadn’t been some up and coming mad scientist who’d mixed the wrong things together.
Pepper arrive a short time later. “Tony called about twenty minutes after they got on the ground there. He said they’re not even sure if there’s going to be someone for them to fight. But while SHIELD is gathering more information they’re staying to help with the rescue operations. I’ve already scrambled SI’s disaster relief division.”
Jane pressed a vodka tonic into Pepper’s hand. “I was going to go work on formulas in my lab, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to concentrate.”
Darcy ran her hand through her hair. “I need to do something with myself. I vote for turning off the news, turning up some music, and getting amazingly drunk.”
Jane raised her glass in Darcy’s direction. “I can drink to that.” She finished her drink and turned off the television. “Before we get shit faced though Darcy needs to tell us about her date with Steve.”
Pepper perked up at the news. “Darcy had a date with Steve?” Her tone of voice conveying more surprised that Steve had a date than Darcy. Darcy was immensely grateful; since moving to New York she’d gone out on a grand total of four first dates. There had been no second dates.
“I asked him to go to the museum with me. I hadn’t been yet.” said Darcy defensively.
“What she means,” said Jane. “Is that Darcy asked Steve out to the museum after inviting him to have brownies with her one night and then cooking dinner with him another night while the rest of us were away. And dear, sweet, Darcy finally opened her eyes to the fact that Steve is probably the nicest human ever.”
“Jane! Christ. Can you even say that when you’re dating Thor?” asked Darcy, shooting her friend a dirty look.
“Yup. Because Thor isn’t human. Alien demi-god. Thor is the nicest alien demi-god. Steve is the nicest human.”
Pepper snorted, “That actually makes sense. And yes, Steve is so nice it’s unreal. So you asked Steve out, hmm? I’m not sure who I should give a shovel talk to.”
Darcy buried her face in her hands. “Oh god. We haven’t even gone out on a proper date and people are already talking about give me a shovel talk. I promise not to break him intentionally.”
“I suppose that’s all we can ask for.” Replied Pepper, loftily. “Though I would point out I said I didn’t know who to give the shovel talk to. So how did your not a date go?”
“Fine, better than fine. I only stuck my foot in my mouth a few times and only wanted the earth to open under my feet and swallow me whole once. For me, that’s practically a record. He was even super sweet when he had to leave.” Darcy blushed a little. “He wrote me a rain check for another trip to the museum and said when he gets back he wants to ask me out to dinner.”
The redhead smiled at the younger woman. “Well, that sounds promising.”
“I hope so. I mean. I like him. Really like him. I don’t want to fuck up.”
Jane refilled Darcy’s glass before intoning, sage-like, “I think the only way you can really fuck things up is if you try to be someone you aren’t”
“Well if that isn’t cryptic with a side of cryptic sauce I don’t know what is.” huffed Darcy.
Pepper knocked back the rest of her drink and stood. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I have a painfully early flight to Munich in the morning, and I still need to pack and to try to at least pretend I’m going to sleep.”
Darcy and Jane murmured their good nights to Pepper who departed with a tired wave.
Darcy was about to get up and rummage in the fridge when her phone chimed, indicating she had a new text message. It was from Steve. Nothing more to do here. Team coming back tonight. Darcy showed the message to Jane.
“If they’re coming back tonight we should order up a bunch of take out for them. I doubt they’ll have had dinner.” was Jane’s reply.
Darcy nodded and replied to Steve: We saw the news. It looked awful. Jane’s talking about ordering food. Should we order enough so there’s food for the team too?
The reply came from Tony, not Steve: Capsicle said something about food. I vote for Chinese. Order extra mushu pancakes. Stick it in the fridge. Team won’t be wheels down till after one.
Darcy tossed her phone at Jane, who grabbed at it and missed. “Damn, I haven’t had that much to drink.” She picked the phone up and read the message with a snort. “What does Tony think you are, his PA?”
The brunette huffed and rolled her eyes, “I sure hope not. Jarvis?”
“Yes Miss Lewis?”
“Can we get an order large enough to feed everyone from that Chinese place we usually order from? And order extra mushu pancakes?”
“With pleasure Miss Lewis. I’ve taken the liberty of putting the expense on Mr. Starks credit card. I will let you know when the food has been delivered so you may collect it from the lobby.”
“Thanks Jarvis, you’re the best.”
“As you say Miss Lewis.”
Darcy sprawled out on the couch and stuck her hand out to Jane. “Gimme my phone.”
“Nope.” replied Jane, holding her friends phone out of reach.
“Nope?! What do you mean ‘nope’?!” was Darcy’s outraged cry.
Jane grinned, triumphantly, “I mean I’m not giving you your phone back until you give me some juicy detail about your trip to the museum!”
Darcy lobbed a pillow at her friend, “There aren’t any juicy details. I held his hand a few times. And I kissed him on the cheek before he left. I’d have actually kissed him, but I didn’t want to freak him out. It’s not like there’s a guidebook on how to date a guy who was born roughly the same time as my grandparents. Now gimme my phone.”
“You’re no fun.” was Jane’s tart reply.
“You’ve been to karaoke with me, you know I’m plenty of fun. Especially when there’s tequila.”
Jane rolled her eyes, “You and I have a very different idea of fun.”
“It’s hardly my fault that asshole couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I warned him if he touched me again he’d regret it - and he did.” Darcy said, smugly.
The friends bickered good naturedly about the exact cause of the bar brawl that Darcy had instigated in New Mexico until Jarvis interrupted to tell them the food had arrived. Since they’d ordered enough food to feed a small army; or a team of Avengers that included a metabolically enhanced super soldier and a Norse demi-god they went down together to bring up the cartons of food. Jane even remembered to grab her wallet so she could give the delivery kid an extra tip.
By midnight the astrophysicist declared exhaustion and turned in for the night. Darcy wasn’t tired, but decided she’d return to her room to read and left a note on the dining table that food was in the fridge.
Darcy was passed out cold on her couch where she’d fallen asleep reading when she startled awake. Blinking blearily she sat up trying to identify what had woken her up. She heard a quiet knocking at her door. Puzzled she checked the time to find it was a little after two in the morning. “What the hell?” she muttered as she got up to answer the door.
“Steve!” she exclaimed. He was leaning against the door frame, barefoot, wearing khakis, and a plain white t-shirt. Some part of her brain couldn’t help but appreciate the way the shirt showcased his excellent upper body. The rest of her mind took in his weary expression and the fact he still had dirt smudged over his right cheek. “Is everything alright?”
“No. Not really.” realizing he must have woken her he straightened up. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you up. I’ll... I’ll go now. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“It’s fine. Why don’t you come in for a minute? You look like you’re about to collapse.” and she opened the door and stepped back, inviting him in.
He stood at her door, looking uncertain. She reached out and took his hand, drawing him into her living room and shut the door. He followed her to the couch where she gave him a little push to encourage him to sit. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Water?”
She bustled into her kitchenette and brought back a glass of water before settling on the couch beside him. “So why the concern for my well being? I’ve been safe and sound here at the tower since this afternoon.”
Steve’s expression was unreadable. “The last time I said goodbye to a gal before leaving on a mission I spent seventy years frozen in a glacier. We were flying back and I had this awful feeling that we’d come back and another seventy years would have gone by...” his voice faded and he took a gulp of water.
She placed her hand on his forearm, “I’m right here.”
“Thank you. You must think I’m a complete idiot.” he replied, unable to meet her eyes.
“No, I think you’ve probably had a really awful day.” she paused before continuing, “I saw the news. What happened?”
“No one seems completely sure. Casualties weren’t as bad as they could have been because a lot of people were at work and school. But it was bad enough. We’re thinking it might have been a splinter cell of Hydra running some experiment that got away from their scientists.” his voice was subdued.
“Hydra? What does Greek mythology have to do with two blocks of Chicago blowing up?” asked Darcy, clearly confused.
“I probably can’t tell you much. It’s the name of a group that supported Nazi Germany in World War two. Turns out we beat the Nazi’s but Hydra lived up to their name. They’ve been cropping up a lot lately, but we don’t know exactly why. They’ve been the reason behind a lot of our missions.” Steve trailed off, “I think that’s all I can say without getting us both in trouble with the Director.”
“They sound like first rate bastards.”
“They really, really are.” was Steves emphatic reply.
Darcy realized she still had her hand on Steve’s arm and started to draw back. He quickly caught her hand in his and looked up to meet her steady gaze. Darcy’s breath caught in her throat and her stomach did a lazy somersault. Steve’s expression was unexpectedly intent, as though he were trying to memorize her face. With her free hand she touched his cheek, feeling grit and stubble beneath her fingers. Her heart felt as though it was trying to hammer it’s way out of her chest, and she wasn’t entirely sure that her world hadn’t subtly and irrevocably shifted.
Steve reached up and tucked an errant lock of her hair back and it was all it took to tip the balance of their tableau. His hand was in her hair and her lips were suddenly on his. His lips were chapped. Hers tasted faintly of the fruity lip gloss she’d worn earlier. The kiss began as a tentative thing, verging on chaste, but when Darcy felt the kiss beginning to deepen she would swear it was suddenly like grabbing hold of a live wire. Her arms went behind his neck and his hand in her hair tangled even further. His other hand rested at her waist, just above her hip.
When they came up for air Steve blushed and began trying to apologize. “I’m sorry... I shouldn’t ha-”
“Don’t you dare apologize for kissing me like that. The only way you get to apologize for kissing me like that is you’re about to tell me you’re never going to do it again. And if you do, I swear to every power in the ‘verse I will kick your Brooklyn ass so hard and so far you won’t know what hit you.” Darcy’s voice was a little breathless.
Steve chuckled, they were pressed so closely together she could feel the laughter thrumming through his body. “You think you could take me?”
She gave him a wickedly knowing smirk, “Oh, I’m pretty sure I could take you.”
Steve gave her a frankly shocked look and blushed all the way down his neck.
Darcy suddenly wish she’d bitten her tongue. She was pretty sure Steve hadn’t meant it like that but after that kiss all she wanted to do was show him exactly how she wanted to take him. She tucked her head against his shoulder to hide her face, “Can we please pretend I didn’t just proposition you?”
She could feel Steve’s shoulder shaking under her head. It took her a moment to realize he was trying to smother his laughter. She jerked back to stare at him. His face was still suffused with red from blushing, but he was also laughing. Laughing at her! Darcy wasn’t sure if she should be offended or relieved. She leaned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t suppose you’d care to tell the rest of the class what’s so damn funny?”
Steve just whooped with laughter even harder.
“Rogers, this is so not good for my ego. I’m pretty sure laughing at a girl who says something stupid after being kissed was rude even in the forties.” said Darcy drily.
Steve finally got his laughter under control and grinned at Darcy who was still glaring at him, arms crossed. “I think one of the things I like best about you is you say what you think.” Darcy continued to glower at him. “Look, I’m hardly as innocent as Tony makes me out to be. I spent nearly a year traveling around the states with more than a dozen very fit young ladies for the USO shows.” He shrugged seemingly embarrassed, “I was young.”
Darcy narrowed her eyes, “And you’re positively ancient now.”
He reached out and brushed his fingers against her cheek. “I’m sorry I laughed at you. I may not be entirely innocent, but I still tend to turn into a fumbling idiot around a gal I want to impress. And I don’t know what to say when a gal gets direct. I always feel like I should be looking around for someone else - someone who isn’t a scrawny nobody.”
She uncrossed her arms and gave him a slight smile, “Anyone who ever thought you were a nobody deserves to be kicked in the shins.”
He traced the shape of her face with his fingertips, forehead, eyebrow, and cheek bone. “Darcy?”
“Yes, Steve?” her voice was a little breathless and she wasn’t sure what she was anticipating.
“I’d like to take you out on a date. A proper one. With dinner. And dancing if people still do that.” His expression was wistful.
“They do, but I’m not sure you’d recognize the music they play at dance clubs as something to dance to.”
“Then a movie instead?”
“Sure. I’d like that.”
“Tomorrow night?”
She furrowed her brow and asked, “You mean tomorrow night which is really tonight because it’s after midnight or two nights from now?”
He continued stroking her face, “Tomorrow night that is really tonight.”
She her face lit up as she smiled. “Yes.”
Regretfully, Steve stood up to leave, “I should go. It’s late.”
Darcy bit the inside of her cheek, biting back the invitation for him to stay with her. Bad idea Lewis. Bad idea. she chastised herself. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Er, later today?”
“Can I pick you up at six?”
“Six is good.” she replied, getting up off the couch and walking him to the door.
He opened the door and turned to her. “Thank you for waking up when I knocked.”
“Hey, what’s a little reassurance and insomnia between friends. Don’t worry about it, it’s alright.”
“It doesn’t mean it isn’t appreciated. Good night Darcy”
He’d stepped into the hallway before Darcy grabbed his hand. “You’re forgetting something.” she said before pulling him down into a kiss, her body pressing against his.
When the kiss ended they were both flushed and breathing quickly. “Good night Steve. Sweet dreams.” She stepped back into her apartment and closed her door leaving a dazed looking Steve standing in the hall.
Darcy picked up her laptop and sent Jane a quick email before she walked to her bedroom, feeling like she was floating on a cloud.
Steve walked down the hall to the elevator in a haze of elation and exhaustion. His last conscious thought before falling at last into his own bed was that he really need to call Pepper in the morning, she’d know where he should take Darcy out to dinner.