Chapter Text
Darcy was walking in fog. She had been for the last month, ever since she’d found out about Phil. It had only taken a couple hours for Tony Stark to tell Jane they would fund her research one hundred percent so long as she moved into Stark Tower. Jane had looked around the damaged building and agreed. It had taken Pepper Potts less than four days to have all the proper paperwork signed and all of their belongings moved into the tower. It took another week for most of the damage done to the building to be repaired enough to make it livable and for the two women to move into the suites that had been designated for them in the upstairs “Avenger” portion of the tower.
Darcy had always been a vivacious girl; loud, playful, friendly. She was a force of nature and it was a big part of what had attracted Agent Phil Coulson to her in the first place. People who hadn’t known her before the Invasion didn’t know that though, all they could see was a slow, quiet, distracted young woman who seemed to zone out at odd times. She was working with a brilliant scientist and Tony Stark himself seemed to hover, so the SI staff let her oddities go and chalked it up to brilliance that had yet to show itself to the peons. The SHIELD Agents tried not to look at her even as they gossiped behind her back. Phil Coulson had been a legend after all, and this young woman had been his for all intents and purposes.
Darcy spent her time making sure that her scientists were fed and watered, easily adding Tony and Bruce to the list just under Jane. If Phil wasn’t here to take care of Tony then Darcy might as well. When Jane opened the Rainbow Einstein Bridge or whatever to Thor-land things were going to change even more. Someone needed to be on top of it, someone that wasn’t Nick Fury because he had an agenda and those people didn’t need anyone else telling them when to move and where to go.
She wasn’t deaf, dumb, or blind for all that sometimes she appeared to be, so she was pretty up to date on the rumor mill as well. She’d never been much for quiet, that had been Phil’s shtick, but she was starting to see its upside. People simply didn’t expect her to be paying attention when she wasn’t looking at them. She could open a book and stare at the same word for twenty minutes and know everything that was being said around her. Things like Phil being the one put in charge of the Avengers Initiative or Mary down in accounting having an affair with Bryan from HR. SHIELD agents were some of the worst gossips in the cafeteria.
The brunette dressed in her usual thrift-shop chic ensemble that morning; jeans, t-shirt, oversized boyfriend sweater, and keds. Then she pulled her hair up high on her head, wrapping it into a loose bun before heading to the kitchen. So far the only people that lived in the Tower were herself, Tony, Pepper, Bruce, and Jane. Two more were expected within the week, Hawkeye and Black Widow, as SHIELD was officially assigning them to the Avengers Initiative and Stark Tower. There was still no set date for Steve Rogers to be showing up, the man was exploring the changes in his world out in Brooklyn. Not that anyone was supposed to know that, but Tony liked to keep an eye on his team and he didn’t mind answering all of Darcy’s questions. Not that he would ever admit to caring about any of them.
She started a pot of coffee, knowing the no one else was going to be awake at half past five in the morning. Not unless they had been up all night working on some kind of science project and Darcy had chased them all out of their labs twice last night, she didn’t usually have to do it a third. It was something about puppy eyes and not wanting to make her worry. Maybe it was the dark circles around her own eyes? It didn’t matter, whatever worked could continue to work as far as she was concerned. The coffee finished and she poured two cups. She stirred two teaspoons of sugar into one and left the other one bitter and black. She walked both cups over to the far table and left the one with sugar in front of a picture of Phil. Her very own little shrine, pitiful as it was.
“He was a good man.” The voice was unfamiliar and made her shriek, turning and throwing the cup full of scalding liquid at the person before she’d even entirely realized that the voice belonged to a stranger. A stranger who should not have been able to get into the living quarters without Tony’s or Pepper’s permission. She had Phil’s coffee in her hands now and stared wide-eyed at the tall blond in front of her.
“Who the hell are you?” Her voice was high pitched and extremely loud in the open air of the large room Tony insisted on calling the breakfast nook. The man winced a bit as he pulled a now stained shirt away from his body, the broken pieces of the mug strewn about his feet.
“Darcy?” Pepper’s voice was calm, despite the background of a laughing Tony. Darcy turned dark blue eyes on the redhead and then back to the tall man in front of her. It took a few seconds to relax her shoulders and then set the mug in her hands carefully back in front of Phil’s photo.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Steve Rogers told her a few minutes later as Tony made sea-weed smoothie (it wasn’t actually made with seaweed, it just looked like it was) and Pepper sat at the island, her long legs crossed neatly at the knee. Steve was now in a new shirt and Darcy had a fresh cup of coffee in her hands after cleaning up the mess she’d made.
“It’s alright,” Darcy waved him off, chuckling a bit as she imagined what they must have looked like to Tony and Pepper. “Besides, it’s not everyone that can say they attacked Captain America and got away with it.” The wry twist of her lips grew into more of a smirk, “Far fewer can claim they got to see him strip afterwards.” She added.
“He blushes, isn’t it darling?” Tony came up to her side and tossed an arm over her shoulders, staring at the other man like a doting aunt. Darcy sighed and shook her head as she looked up at the man, affection on her face. Tony was something else, that was for sure. Underneath all the ego and swagger was someone who considered very few people to be his real friends and who was ridiculously loyal once you were in.
“Be nice you two.” Pepper told them, her own mouth quirked up a bit as she tried not to smile at the man’s antics. Tony was interrupted in the midst of opening his mouth for a retort by a tiny whirlwind that dashed through the kitchen and straight to the coffee pot. Darcy pulled out a package of pop-tarts and held it out, a bored expression on her face as the petite scientist snatched it and dashed back out, heading for the elevator.
“What was that?” Steve asked after a moment.
“Mad scientist in the midst of a thought that will probably toss current laws of physics out the door,” Darcy replied evenly, taking another sip of her blessedly bitter brew. Steve stared at her and Tony, the other man having draped himself over the curvy brunette. Then he turned a cautious look of confusion to Pepper who sent him a rueful look in return and nodded the affirmative.
“Good to know.” Steve said, blinking a bit as he wrapped his mind around that bit of information.
“You’ll be fine so long as you never take the last of the coffee.” Darcy promised, detaching herself from Tony and refilling her own cup. She sent Steve a wink and made her way after Jane, she would be needed for her boss skills at spreadsheets and data analysis. Tony finished his smoothie and went to pour himself a cup of coffee, only to find the carafe was empty. He sent a dirty look after the girl and went about starting a new pot.
“So she’s the exception to the coffee rule?” Steve asked, an amused smile on his lips.
“Darcy is the exception to most rules.” Tony responded, sharing a quick glanced with Pepper.
“What is it that she does?” Steve asked, settling in for a nice chat.
“She’s … hard to explain.” Tony informed him, a frown on his face as he pressed a distracted kiss to Pepper’s cheek and took off as well. Pepper smiled sadly after him, pain clear in her eyes.
“I didn’t mean to upset him.” Steve said quietly, looking at the poised redhead.
“Darcy is Jane’s assistant. I’ve been informed that she is on schedule to take over most of the R&D labs, not that she is actively aware of her actions. Jarvis and Jane are keeping an eye on her.” Pepper smiled, a fondness washing over her as she thought about the girl that had become quite a close friend after crying her heart out on Pepper’s shoulder.
“Something other than the average assistant, I take it.” It was a statement, not a question. Steve might have been sleeping for seventy plus years, but he was pretty sharp.
“She and Agent Coulson were very close for a little over two years,” Pepper didn’t add that she was fragile. That she was different from how Phil had explained the girl to Pepper and maybe Darcy was more than a little broken at the moment. Steve’s jaw clenched as his fingers tightened around his cup. He hadn’t known Phil Coulson as well as the others, but he had known just enough to label the man a hero. A man of his position didn’t trust easily, and that meant Darcy must have been special indeed.
A few hours later Darcy had failed to chase Jane out of her lab and instead brought her coffee and a sandwich. She made her way to Tony’s lab, easily identified by the music you could feel pulsing through the floor before you got near the door. Thankfully Darcy enjoyed her music at about the same ear-piercing volume, so it was easy to hide in a corner. She typed in the code she’d been given weeks ago and flopped into a swivel chair, watching the manic movements of her second favorite genius as he designed … something. She had no idea what it was, probably a small part of something larger that would change the world and make it a better place. She ignored him in favor of one of his creations. Dum-E was making his way forward and Darcy pulled a hard, red rubber ball out of her pocket.
It was almost twenty minutes before Tony noticed that his labs had been invaded and that was only because Dum-E dropped the ball (literally) and it bounced into the man’s foot. Tony opened his mouth to yell and then paused as he noticed the rubber ball. He looked behind him and found an amused Darcy smirking as she sat on the floor, back against the glass wall. Dum-E grabbed the ball and zipped back over to Darcy, dropping it in her lap and then backing up a few feet. Its little arm bobbed up and down as it waited for the girl to throw the ball.
“Did you teach my robot to play fetch?” Tony asked, blinking and unsure if he should be offended or amused.
“He likes it,” Darcy shrugged and tossed the ball. Tony eyeballed her and then the robot.
“How’d you figure that out?” Tony was honestly curious now as he watched Dum-E bring Darcy the ball once more.
“I was having a day and Dum-E was being helpful,” Darcy shrugged. She wouldn’t tell him that she’d wandered down to his labs, grabbed a hammer, and started pounding out her grief and frustration on a piece of junk metal that he usually used for target practice. She’d thrown the hammer when she realized she wasn’t making herself feel better and Dum-E had brought it back. In her frustration she’d thrown it again and Dum-E had brought it to her once more. She might have cried on the robot like it was some kind of loveable dog at that point, but if Jarvis hadn’t taken video footage she could pretend it didn’t actually happen.
“Having a day? Seriously? You can’t even come up with a proper descriptor? I’m disappointed Lewis.” Tony walked over and sat beside her, sliding slowly down the glass. He smelled a little like motor oil and the expensive cologne he favored. The girl rested her head on his shoulder as he settled down and he accepted the ball from Dum-E, throwing it hard across the room. They were silent for a long time before Darcy decided to speak.
“I seem to be angry a lot, this last month. I’ve never really been an angry person, despite my penchant for tazing first and asking questions later.” Her tone was light, conversational. It wouldn’t have worked on anyone else, but Tony understood Darcy perhaps better than most others. They had a lot of similarities when all was said and done.
“Anger is healthy, or at least that’s what people used to tell me. It’s still frowned on, but it’s normal.” Tony shrugged and Darcy tucked herself in closer to his side. If someone had told her six weeks ago that she’d be taking comfort from Tony Stark himself, she’d have laughed in their face and accused them of not sharing the good stuff. Now, though, it seemed normal. He and the team were really the only ones that seemed to understand that nothing in the world was right. At least nothing in her world.
“People are stupid. Nick Fury is the stupidest.” Darcy muttered, watching the ball fly and Dum-E chase after it gleefully. Tony chuckled, enjoying the idea of Darcy saying that to the man’s face. She would too, given half a chance. Darcy did not deal well with intimidation. If she felt intimidated it just made her hackles rise and her tazer appear in hand.
“I need a drink,” Tony informed the girl, handing the ball to Dum-E and standing. He held a hand out to the brunette and Darcy took it, giggling when Tony leered at the low cut nature of her shirt.
“Hello there ladies,” He waggled his eyebrows, eyes locked on her cleavage.
“You’re incorrigible.” Darcy informed him as they walked to the elevators.
“You love it,” Tony told her.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” Darcy responded, sticking out her tongue as they entered the elevators. “Maybe I’ll tell you if you get me drunk enough to think the world is made of sunshine.”
That night she was positive the world was made of sunshine, but the next morning she was equally positive that sunshine was actually evil.