Chapter Text
The heels of Darcy’s boots click-clacked against the pavement as she walked, picking up her pace as she felt a cold knot of suspicion unfurl at the base of her spine. Someone was watching her. She could feel it in the tiny hairs standing at the nape of her neck and the leaden weight growing in the pit of her belly.
The street ahead was empty. Or so it seemed. The streetlamps were on, but every odd one seemed to flicker ominously with a threat yet unseen. Buildings on either side of the road were boarded up, spray-painted with various symbols. Signs of resistance in most cases, but others were warnings. The war had everyone one edge. Nobody was safe these days.
She left her iPod in her pocket, the string of her earbuds tangled around the fingers of one hand. She couldn’t risk listening to it; that would lead her an open target. In the other pocket of her coat, her hand gripped a can of heavy duty mace. Gifted to her by the great goateed man of metal. Equal measures a friend and a pain in her ass.
Not for the first time, she wondered what Stark might say about her being out late and alone in a part of town that basically screamed ‘go back.’ But Darcy was a woman of danger… Okay, not so much. But she was on a mission and her wi-fi connection was better in this part of town. She wasn’t sure why, and it wasn’t like there was anyone she could call to ask. There was no 1-800-War-WiFi hotline that she could use, and if there was, it was probably a trap. She would hole up in a Stark-approved place, but he was a little hard to get a hold of these days. Actually, everyone was. Hence, where she was and what she was doing.
Three more blocks, that was all she kept telling herself. Just three more blocks until she was safe and—
Eep.
She was yanked into the dark, shadowy guts of an alleyway and pinned against a questionable brick wall.
A dumpster a few feet away, overflowing with rotten refuse, warned that she was probably pressed up against nothing she wanted to name or see. But that was the least of her problems. At least presently. She would definitely be complaining about it later, if she lived. Which, let’s face it, could be a very big if.
A large, unmoving arm was pressed across her upper chest, not low enough to make that bile-inducing fear of assault scream through her body on red alert, but high enough that it was clearly aiming to send a message. One she obviously didn’t get, because her legs started swinging wildly, kicking for anything available. The toe of her boots hit shin and knee, but her assailant was unmoved. She aimed higher, but all he did was draw his hips back. And it was a he, the shaft of light coming from the unreliable street lamp let her see stringy brown hair that fell across stubbly cheeks.
Darcy drew her hand free from one pocket, thrust it forward, and regretted that she’d just smacked him in the face with her iPod. Less because he actually pulled back as the corner caught him in the eye and more because it fell to the ground with a crack. Just as he gritted his teeth at her, she drew her other hand out and sprayed a gust of mace at his face.
He cried out and stumbled away.
Triumphant, Darcy let out a 'hah!’ before she raced toward the light of the street, already offering up a farewell to her iPod as she went. But just as she reached the sidewalk, an arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her back into the darkness.
“Son of a…” Darcy kicked her legs and clawed at the arm banded tight around her. Still, she found herself pressed up against the brick wall once more, spitting mad and more than a little terrified. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I’d say the mace wasn’t much of a treat, Doll.” He rubbed his face against his shoulder. “You wanna more extensive list, we’ll be here a while.”
“So, call a therapist. Just let me go.”
“No can do. You’re about the only lead I’ve got right now.”
“Wait.” Darcy stilled. “Lead?” She raised her head and peered at him, wariness tripling. “Who do you work for? Huh? HYDRA? SHIELD? Or, what are they calling themselves now, SWORD or some crap like that?”
“What? No. I…” He blew out a heavy breath. “It’s complicated. But I’m not tied to anybody. Or anything. Not right now.”
“Which means you were?” She lifted her chin and glared at him. “Well? Who was it? Because if you’re one of those HYDRA assholes, you better be ready to get maced a hell of a lot more.”
He ground his teeth together and turned his head, staring off into the distance a beat. “I just need your help.”
“And the best way to ask for it was to kidnap me?”
“I need to stay off the streets and under the radar.” He scoffed. “Somehow, I didn’t think calling to you from an alley was going to do me any favors.”
“Yeah, well your other plan has some holes, too.”
“Duly noted.” He let up on the pressure he was putting on her chest, but didn’t release her completely. “You know the Avengers. Or you have a way to contact them, right?”
Darcy pressed her lips together firmly. “The who?”
He rolled his eyes. “Cute.”
“I have my moments,” she mumbled.
“Look, I’m just trying to find a friend. Resources these days are a little scarce.”
She snorted. “Yeah, war does that.”
He grimaced. “Tell me about it…”
Darcy’s brow furrowed. “What makes you think I know anything? Or that I’d help you?”
“Stark.”
“What about him?”
“I’m not his favorite person, but he’s the easiest Avenger to find.”
Darcy was well aware that Tony, though the most public about his super-persona, was not as easy to find as some might think. Point in fact, she hadn’t heard from him in months. Two to be exact. And, while he wasn’t usually great for picking up the phone, FRIDAY usually made sure he fielded her calls as often as possible. Two months of no contact, especially in the current climate, was worrisome. “And?”
“And he’s as underground as the rest. But his talking box or whatever sent me your way.”
“Talking…” She frowned. “You mean FRIDAY? Tony’s AI program?”
He shrugged. “Whatever it was it said you’d be able to help me.”
She stared at him a long moment, his hair shielding much of his face still. He was a big guy, but she was no stranger to that these days. Most of the Avengers were ridiculously large, and having befriended Thor years ago, her awe was a little less obvious. But this guy had that 'beefcake’ look going for him that spoke of either super-serums or steroids. She assumed the latter, which was why her gaze suddenly moved to his left shoulder, where an arm was noticeably absent.
“You’re Bucky Barnes…” she murmured.
He looked back at her, eyes red and puffy. And then he released his arm from her chest completely.
Darcy shook her head. “But, I thought you were in cryo-freeze. In Wakanda.”
“I was. And then I woke up.”
“What? How?”
“Place was empty. Lights were out, cryo-freeze was off, looked like it hadn’t been running in years.”
“Even if King T'Challa somehow forgot to pay his electric bill, I’m pretty sure your little freezer would still be running.” She stared up at him searchingly. “Things have been weird since the war started. Everybody scattered. HYDRA stopped playing in the shadows and showed their face, front and center. We’ve got aliens wreaking havoc wherever they want. Between the Government denying everything and putting a ban on anyone with superpowers, the world’s a little topsy-turvy lately.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Darcy nodded. “So, what, you were hoping I could help you find Rogers?”
“Any idea where he’s hiding?”
“No,” she said honestly. “But, I haven’t exactly been looking for him.”
He tipped his head curiously.
“I’ve been keeping an eye out for Tony. He’s my tie to most of this stuff. Him and Thor. But Thor’s not great with technology, not Midgardian tech anyway. He’s used to something a little more advanced. Anyway, Tony’s usually good about getting back to me and even he isn’t picking up.”
“What if you were looking for Steve?” Bucky lifted an eyebrow. “Think you could find him?”
She shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try.” She motioned to the sidewalk with her thumb. “I’ve got a place we can go. It’s still got wi-fi. We’ll tap into the resistance blogs, see if anyone’s seen Cap anywhere.”
Bucky nodded. “Lead the way.”
Darcy pushed off the wall, then paused to lean down and grab up her iPod. Tucking it into her pocket, she started walking. “You know, taking advice from faceless voices in billionaire’s abandoned apartments probably isn’t your best idea for finding people to work with.”
He shrugged, pulling up the hood of his jacket as he walked next to her, keeping his head down. “Didn’t have much else to work with, sweetheart.”
“Darcy,” she corrected. “You prefer James or Bucky?”
He paused, glanced at her, and then muttered, “Bucky.”
The next three blocks were walked in silence. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, while he watched everything else. He was tense and ready for attack, but, thankfully, all they were greeted with along the way were a couple stray cats and the distant whine of an ambulance. Nothing quite worked like it used to, but there were still good people out there, trying to do good things. EMTs and doctors that answered the desperation of the people, even if it meant putting themselves at risk, possibly with no reward or paycheck to answer for it. The world was crumbling, slowly but surely, and she wasn’t certain what it would look like in the end.
The building she was staying in was boarded up like all the rest, but there was a way in through the emergency ladder. They went all the way to the roof and then through a skylight she kept covered with dirty, flattened boxes. Inside, the room was dim, the windows covered in black paint. The electricity was still running, but she couldn’t say for how long.
Bucky kept pace behind her, closing the skylight and hopping down to the table below before stepping onto a kitchen chair and landing on the floor with a dull thud.
Darcy’s laptop was tucked away in a cupboard. She purposely kept the place looking like it was abandoned so nobody would catch on that she was staying there.
After lighting a few candles, she pulled her laptop out and took a seat on the floor. “There’s no guarantee this will work,” she warned him. “There’ll be a lot of false sightings to sift through. Best guess, we look for which sightings are backed up by other people seeing him in the same place and go from there.”
He looked at her, but said nothing.
Sighing, she leaned her back against the closed cupboard and started typing. She couldn’t say this was what she was expecting out of her day. But then, who could expect a super-soldier to accost her and then ask for help? Actually, with her history, it wasn’t that shocking. All things considered, she was kind of hoping this would lead somewhere good.
“What’s your mission?” Bucky wondered, an hour into her search. He’d already triple-checked the windows and doors for any security breaches and seemed somewhat content. After cleaning his eyes of the mace, he’d raided her kitchen and was now eating an entire box of Shreddies in a large ceramic bowl, with the biggest spoon he could find.
“My what?” she said, not looking up from the laptop screen.
“You’re looking for someone, aren’t you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Consider it a guess.”
She frowned. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with Tony. He dropped off the radar a couple months ago.”
“Is he why you found this place?”
Her fingers tapped the keys a little harder. “No.”
He hummed. “You were with the Asgardian, weren’t you?”
Darcy squeezed her fingers, popping the joints. “We’re friends, yeah.”
“Your file said—”
“My file?” She looked up then, her brows hiked.
“I read it, after I escaped HYDRA. I read everything that was put out there.” He stirred his cereal. “You were one of the first people to meet Thor when he landed. You and an astrophysicist. Doctor Jane Foster.”
Darcy’s teeth clenched. “Yeah.”
“Is she who you’re looking for?”
She didn’t answer.
He looked up then, and stared at her. It only took him a second before he nodded. “Guess we got something in common, huh?”
“Danger-friendly best friends?” She snorted. “Yeah.”
His mouth hitched up faintly. “You help me find mine, I’ll help you find yours.”
She tipped her head, a brow raised. “How? Somehow, I don’t think an omnipotent voice from the ceiling will help you out this time.”
His smile widened. “FRIDAY just gave me a name. Finding you was on me. No offense to the Doc, but she’s a civilian. Steve’s a little harder to track down.”
“Finding him is one thing. Getting to him is another…” She shook her head. “The world is a war zone out there. You never know who to trust and even when you think you do, they’ll just as soon stab you in the back if it means saving their own neck.”
“That a threat?”
She stared at him. “It’s a warning. Look, I’m helping you because you’re Steve’s friend. I don’t know him well, but I do know that you’re not one of the bad guys. That said, you chose Frozen 2.0 for a reason…”
“Safety.”
“Exactly.” She frowned. “I’ll help you find Steve. But after that, you’re on your own. Jane is my problem, not yours. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
He pursed his lips, but nodded. “Deal.”
“I’d ask you to shake on it, but you seem pretty attached to that spoon.”
He glanced down at his cereal. “Haven’t eaten in a while.”
She waved dismissively. “Have at it.”
He dug his spoon in deep and came out with a heaping bite. “Thanks.”
“Eat as much as you want. I’m sick of cereal anyway.”
“Not that. With Steve.” He cleared his throat. “Thanks for helping me find him.”
Darcy hummed. “Thank me when I’ve got a real lead.” She shifted her attention back to her laptop and settled in.
Hours later, she let out an 'aha!’ that startled Bucky enough that he raised his gun from its not-entirely-unthreatening position atop his thigh.
“Jesus, put that thing away!” She waved at him, rolling her eyes. “I’ve got it.”
“You know where he is?”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea.” She shifted onto her knees and moved across the floor, bringing her laptop with her. Settling in next to him, her legs crossed and her laptop in her lap once more, she bent the screen back a little for him to see. “I focused on more recent sightings. Anything a couple weeks old and there’s no point. Then I tried to line it up with any sightings of the others. Natasha, Barton, Tony, any of them. Anyway, from there, I narrowed it down to a handful of places. And with a little more whittling, I came up with—”
Abruptly, his hand covered her mouth.
Darcy paused. “Dude,” she said, her voice muffled, “not cool.”
“Shh.” His head turned, eyes narrowed. “Someone’s in the building.”
She frowned. “What?”
“They’re coming up the stairs. Fast.”
A sting of fear tripped down her back, and her eyes moved to him.
A muscle in his cheek ticked. “We have to move.”
“Move? Move where? This is my hiding place. It was the hiding place. As in, nobody else comes here. Ever. Part of why it’s such a good hideout is that most people get freaked out by how sketchy it is and just keep their distance.”
“They must’ve been following me. Caught my trail somehow.” He stood, and hooked his hand under her arm, pulling her up with him.
Darcy got her feet under her and stood. “Who?”
He grimaced. “HYDRA.”
“You led nazis to my top-secret hideout?”
“Not on purpose.” His eyes darted around quickly. “Grab what you need, we have to go.” He walked to the table, hopped on top of it and pushed the sky light open. A shaft of moonlight spilled across the floor.
Darcy froze, still holding her laptop.
And then a loud bang echoed from the front door, boarded from both the inside and the out, but clearly shuddering against the attack being waged against it.
She stared a beat, watching as the wood splintered in a few places. Her heart squeezed and jumped with each bang that followed. And then Bucky was standing in front of her, his face set firmly and his eyes like icy laser beams, focused and serious. His mouth was moving, but her hearing evaded her.
And then, very suddenly, it became clear and sharp.
“Darcy!”
“Huh?”
“Either we leave and make a run for it, or I take on however many people are outside that door. I can’t guarantee what happens when that door comes down. Do you understand?”
She stared up at him, her heart hammering and her lungs clenching. “I’m an assistant. An unpaid intern slash assistant. I don’t play with guns. I use mace and tasers and literally no hand to hand combat, ever.”
He took a deep breath, and then rested his hand on her shoulder. “New deal,” he suggested.
Her brow furrowed.
“I get you and me out of here safely. Then you find Jane, wherever she is, and I deliver you to her. How’s that sound?”
“Like I’m a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and your tip is going to be a super-soldier with a jaw for justice.”
He blinked. “Is that a 'yes’?”
She laughed, a tad hysterical, and nodded.
“Great. Now duck.”
Eep.
The door blew in, leaving a trail of splintered wood across the floor, and a handful of armed goons followed.
Darcy backed herself up against the wall, clutching her laptop to her chest, and watched as a one-armed super soldier from the 40’s decimated the team sent to either capture or dispose of him in five minutes flat.
Out of breath and a little more bruised than when he started, Bucky turned to her, his eyes a little wild and his chest heaving.
Swallowing tightly, she muttered, “If I wasn’t terrified for my life right now, I might swoon a little.”
He snorted, and then directed his gaze toward the skylight. “That was a scout team. There’ll be more soon. We need to leave.”
Nodding, she stepped forward. “Lead the way.”
All things considered, maybe this wasn’t the worst deal she could make. She didn’t know Bucky Barnes well, but her gut was telling her that he was one of only a few people that probably could get her to Jane. Maybe not without a few bruises along the way, but it was worth it. Jane was out there somewhere, and Darcy was going to find her.