Chapter Text
There was both a question and a mystery surrounding Darcy's aversion to being bound to a soulmate.
Did Darcy Lewis believe herself so independent from the universe that she could not be bound by a predetermined fate? Could it be as simple as the dismissive words written neatly, tracing the right side of her collarbone, were cause enough to believe happily ever after is not guaranteed for all those who are marked?
" Context ." Her mother would remind Darcy as a child. " We don't know the context ."
When Darcy was fourteen , her father, Darcy's mother's soulmate, left them for parts unknown. Darcy's Mother remained a deluded romantic and Darcy grew more cynical at the idea. She was nearly convinced she was better off getting her walking papers before it began.
Though to her it is not all a sob story. To her it was a blessing. Never let it be said that Darcy Lewis didn't live life on her own terms. She lived life on the fly. She never had to worry that one day, it all would change by eight words thrown her direction. Her soulmate would say his or her peace and collectively they would move on. Free to float independently among the Universe as she always had.
Darcy would have done well to listen to her mother...
~*~
Nothing in the early morning hours has led her to believe that a cosmic conspiracy is in fact, conspiring against her. The day is beginning like most had... right on the tail of the one before.
When she originally had agreed to stay on with Jane as Jane moved her whole operations from Stark Tower to the new Avengers facility, she made it her mission to see to it that Jane got on Regular Human Time.
Yet, here she is walking like the half dead back to her own tiny accommodations after finally getting Jane tucked into the much more spacious married couple housing that Jane occupied because apparently being bound to Thor somehow got you preferred treatment around here.
It is no wonder when she passes Steve in the hall, giving the official tour to his long-lost-childhood-friend-turned-Hydra-made-assassin-turned-down-and-out-but-super-hot-amnesiac-out-to-find-himself, Darcy is not in the right mind space to act within social norms during introductions. She acts like... well she acts like Darcy.
Of course she knows who he is. She read everything she could get her hands on after the fall of SHIELD. She heard Steve had found him weeks ago and after some initial brainwashing, detoxing, or whatever it is they were doing, Steve thought it was time to bring him to the safety of the compound.
Somehow in the midst of a battle with the weight of her eyelids, she manages to make eye contact with Steve. He looks surprised to see anyone up at this hour but smiles softly and indicates for her to come over.
"Looks like you caught us. I was hoping we could sneak in and make our rounds relatively unnoticed." Steve positions himself to face both Darcy and Bucky. "Buck, this is Darcy. She works here at the facilities in one of our labs."
At the mention of labs, Bucky's head dips. He gives a nod directed at the floor. His fingers splay and then ball into a fist. To see such a solid mass of brawn be reduced to a frightening shell is a total bummer.
She keeps a careful vigil of him as Steve continues on with the introductions. She fights against every instinct to braid his hair and promise that the bad men will never get him again.
"Darcy, this is Bucky... uh, James?" Steve stumbles over his name and Darcy loses that one last stitch of self control. She propels herself forward.
"Come here you beautiful broken dove." Darcy engulfs Bucky... (James?) in a big hug. Aside from the HELLO muscles she can feel him tense up. He is unyieldingly stiff with his hands still at his sides. Furthermore, she can feel the tension radiating off in waves from Steve at her side.
She pulls back and looks quizzically at both men. Bucky's, we'll just go with Bucky, face wears pure horror.
"Oh! Is it my morning breath?" Darcy shoots a hand over her mouth.
Steve chokes on air. So much so that Darcy has to draw her eyes off Bucky's face to check on Steve. His eyes are bugged and the way he opens and closes his mouth at his words reminds Darcy of a very patriotically dressed goldfish. He reclaims himself to speak.
"No. Darcy... you just said his words ." Steve is still astounded even after he managed to say it aloud.
"Oh." Darcy gives a peppy shrug of relief and drops her hand. Then the realization hits. "Ooooh!" She looks at Steve who gives a ah! yeah? ! look and she turns back to Bucky. He still looks like his worst fear has been realized. He looks at the floor and shakes his head swiftly from side to side before taking a step back to turn and fully retreat.
Darcy watches him go.
"Huh, how do you like them apples? A non-verbal reject before the verbal one." She turns and pats a stunned, frozen Steve on the arm as she makes her way to carrying on her intended destination. "Looks like Hydra went about wiping your buddy's old fashioned manners with everything else. Add that one to the list of things to work on." Darcy actually chuckles to herself and Steve looks as if he is going to have a coronary.
She is already a few feet down the hall when Steve catches her with a hand on her forearm to stop her. "Wait, aren't you going to go after him?"
"What?" Darcy squishes her face in disbelief. "No. I'm going to go watch the back of my eyelids in bed. That's what I'm going to do."
"Darcy. He's your soulmate."
"And he's your best friend. You know him a whole hell of a lot better than me. That's for damn sure. I need sleep, Steve. Sleep ."
Steve looks at the floor between them as if he is replaying everything, trying to figure out what he missed.
"I don't understand?... I know he just walked away but he's-"
"Steve, buddy, quit looking like a kicked puppy alright? I know his deal. He'll be around. There's plenty of time to get this squared away. Ooooh, but if your look right now is any indication of an opportunity to take advantage of that Peace, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness guilt, I would love an egg bagel from the shop in town I like. You're the best." Darcy ruffles his hair and continues once more to end the day.
Steve's hand moves through his hair causing even more of a fluffy mess than Darcy just caused.
"Darcy. No."
Come again? Darcy turns at the sound of Captain America's voice coming from Steve.
"Please." The Captain asks.
"Oh alright, Geeze! Anything else Steve needs you to bully me into while you're at it, Captain?"
Steve's face remains passive.
"Ugh!" Darcy complains to the ceiling. "You owe me an apple juice with my bagel, buddy!" She moves past Steve. "The one in the apple-shaped glass container!" She says as she heads down the hall to find Bucky.
~*~
He has a soulmate. She isn’t dead. They hadn't killed her like they had said they had. They hadn't killed her because; Assets have no souls and no need for soulmates.
He briskly and aimlessly walks around the building. Each corner leading to even less familiar territory. He had unintentionally let himself get lost and his soulmate, his soulmate , was probably close on his heels.
Bucky Barnes was never one to have a panic attack. The Asset certainly would not fall prey to them. However, whoever he is now felt something of the sort coming on. The loss of control is still a fresh wound from his time as a POW. He leads himself over to the three little steps in the distance and sits to gather himself. His eyes shut tight around his breathing.
"Ah hell." Darcy sighs. "Are you alright?" Bucky opens his eyes and quickly surrenders. He shakes his head side to side and Darcy kneels on the step before him.
She reaches out for him but Bucky grabs her by one of her wrists and snarls on reflex. Her eyes go wide. She throws up her other hand, palm out. "Whoa there! Okay, that was totally dumb of me." She searches for his stare. "Soulmate, here." She points to herself. "Remember?" She keeps eye contact. "I am not going to hurt you and I know you won't hurt me. I just want to help you calm down. Okay?" She offers it in a slow, calming and almost condescending tone but he believes her.
He nods sharply.
She approaches slowly this time. When her hand reaches the side of his face she draws his head into her chest and cradles his head in her hands. "Come here." She says gently. "Alright. Breath with me. In and out. Good." She rubs a hand over his back. "... and again, In and out."
Her scent. Her scent is like rosebuds dusted with baby powder. Judging by the state of her clothes and exhausted eyes, the scent couldn't be fresh soap but her own scent saturating her skin. He is instantly drunk off it and looking for more. He draws in another helping. By the time his hands move on their own accord to either of Darcy's hips, he is nearly sedated. His breathing is even and his mind is quiet.
It is his soulmate who notices the positioning first. He can feel her awareness shift and it draws them out of their connection. She begins to move slowly.
"Alright there Bucko, soulmate or not, that's a dinner first zone . " She pulls back, removing Bucky's face from the cradle of her cleavage. He has the good sense to look a little sheepishly apologetic, though he is not. "Feel better?" She ducks her head to make eye contact.
He nods.
"Good. Now out with it!" She rolls her hand encouraging the inevitable.
The words wrestle with themselves. Each sentiment crosses his mind conveying a different meaning. Each phrase falling on either the side of keeping her near or the other side pushing her way. He feels one fight to the surface and he is not sure what he actually feels but there is no stopping it.
"Doll, we are never going to be together." Splat. It is out and in the space between them.
"There. Isn't that better?" She bends further to meet his eyes and pats him on his shoulder.
He looks at her. He searches her face as if trying to assess her particular brand of crazy.
"Since birth, remember? I've had some time to get over the sting, ya know?" She shrugs.
Oh God. Those words. She has walked around her whole life with the words from her soulmate basically telling her to take a hike. The way his mom would bring a hand to her chest whenever she really considered her son someone's broken dove was nothing like the rejection she wears. He has another life that his action would need him to atone for.
"Don't do that. It's not your fault." He must wear his thoughts on his face. "You are at the beginning of a very large hill, you have got a lot of things you're gonna need to address. This..." She draws a finger back between both of them. "...isn't one of them. Alright? You're off the hook."
He tries to will his face to move. To form any emotion across it. He can't actually feel his face anymore. It has gone laxed. He does, however, get his eyes to blink. Which he does. A few times.
Darcy sighs dramatically and goes to sit next to him to finish their rendezvous.
"For what it's worth, I'm a little relieved." He turns slightly and raises a brow at her. She continues. "No, really! Do you know how much of my teen years I spent thinking I was going to be turned down by some pompous asshole who thought it was cool to use outdated slang? Then have 'em take one look at me and decide I wasn't for them?" He looks at her again. This time it was more of a once over. To Darcy's credit she did not balk at it. "The Doll thing is now kinda charming coming from you and given the extra few beats spent literally head first in between my rack, I'm confident that you have the good taste to think I'm the knockout that I am."
He huffs out a lighthearted breath behind a smirk despite himself.
"So don't worry about me. I'm adjusted. You just do you, Boo. You just do you." She pats his knee and stands. He grips her fingers as she goes to move. Her face turns back at him and they lock eyes. He doesn't want her to leave he realizes but he doesn't know how to ask her to stay.
So he doesn't.
"Thank you, Darcy." It is the deepest use of the simple phrase he has ever used.
"Don't mention it." She smiles warmly. "And if it's all the same to you, I was growing kinda partial to Doll." She winks at him. "See you around, Bucko."
He certainly hopes so.