Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at

http://download.archiveofourown.org/works/12311235.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Relationship: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Character: Darcy Lewis, James "Bucky" Barnes, Friday (Marvel), Tony Stark,
Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce
Banner, Pepper Potts, Jane Foster (Marvel), Dummy (Iron Man
movies), You (Iron Man movies), Butterfingers (Iron Man movies),
Nick Fury
Additional Tags: Red Room Darcy Lewis, Thief! Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis,
Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Alternate Universe - Canon
Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Awesome Clint Barton,
Protective Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Natasha
Romanov Is Not A Robot, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Slow Burn,
Because the Author is a Sadist who likes making Readers beg, how
is that not a tag?, I know so many Authors that fit that description
Stats: Published: 2017-10-09 Updated: 2017-10-23 Chapters: 10/? Words:
18878

Darcy Lewis is no Thief!

by Victorious779

Summary

I really want to write a comic book but I can't draw so I'm going to do a few series on here
that draw parallels from my comic book super hero character.

In this one Darcy has escaped from the Red Room many years ago but gone her own way
from Jane after the events of Thor and Thor: Dark World as she can't risk SHIELD or the
Avengers discovering her past. She is flung back into the path of SHIELD and the
Avengers through no choice of her own.

Notes

This was all based of an original character I created but I'm on the Darcy fanwagon now,
so if this garners interest I'll keep writing this story :)
See the end of the work for more notes
 Chapter 1
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Darcy closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, you have no choice, she tells herself, you’ve
planned this out and you can do it. Failure is not an option.

“You OK over there?” Darcy opens her eyes and smiles with confidence that she doesn’t feel at
the pilot, he doesn’t know what she was about to do. They were in a little plane 20,000 feet in the
air flying over New York City, in three minutes Darcy was going to jump out of the plane and
parachute onto the Avengers Tower.

The pilot thought it was a publicity stunt about saving the rain forest and she should have felt
guilty about putting him in danger, but she didn’t mind if he was caught and prosecuted for
helping her. During her research into pilots she had discovered that he had aided in a bank robbery
five years ago that had resulted in a security guard being shot. It made him the perfect
choice. Karma’s a bitch, she thinks.

“Good to go!” She waves at him and heads to the door, she checks her watch and triple checks the
tech on it switching on the Pepper interface she built. “Now or never,” she mutters to herself as
she flung herself into the air.

Darcy resists the urge to hoot and holler as she speeds down towards the city, no matter how
many times she jumps she would always marvel at the feeling of flying, it was so freeing and
exhilarating. She directs her descent towards the Avengers Tower, she has to time it perfectly as
her parachute would only be out for a few seconds so she could avoid detection but also has to
aim flawlessly as to not end up squashed like a bug against the side of the tower, and that’s not
even the dangerous part.

The really dangerous part was if she ran into any of the Avengers while she was in the tower, and
although an “Assemble Avengers” had been called thirty minutes ago and they had piled into their
quinjet and left she didn’t know if anyone had stayed behind, or how long they would be gone.
She plans to be in and out in under five minutes, using the landing pad as her main point of entry
and giving her quick access to what she came for.

As the Avengers Tower comes into view Darcy gets herself into position and pulls her chute at the
last second and then roughly somersaults along the ground to distribute the force of her landing.
She pulls her chute in quickly and makes her way inside, checking her Pepper interface and
pulling up her mask as she enters the building.

“Good Afternoon Ms Potts.”

Darcy lets out a whoosh of breath that she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. She had no way to
know that her Pepper interface would work on Stark’s AI, she had been hopeful as it had fooled a
number of other security systems, but hadn’t been able to prove it outside of the tower.

“Good Afternoon FRIDAY.” Darcy replies primly as she heads to Stark’s R&D lab travelling as
quickly as she could.

“May I enquire as to what you are looking for Ms Potts? Perhaps I can be of assistance?” The AI
asks her as she goes through Stark’s lab heading straight for the back.

“No thank you FRIDAY, I’m just getting one of Tony’s suits for him, he called and asked that I
“No thank you FRIDAY, I’m just getting one of Tony’s suits for him, he called and asked that I
bring it to him ASAP.” She reached the space where she found the suitcase with the repaired
Mark V, although an older model, it would be the easiest to transport. She grabs it, gives it a quick
check over, turns the GPS off and heads back up to the landing pad, smooth sailing so far, but no
sooner than she thinks that than the elevator doors open next to her and the occupant stares out at
her. They are suspended in time for a moment as they eye each other in surprise.

Darcy had followed all the news coverage of the Avengers and their battles, and even though he’d
had a haircut, a shave and his skin was darker, she knew that she was looking at the Winter
Solider, her worst case scenario was getting caught by him or the Black Widow. They were the
ones that would be most likely to try and kill her first, ask questions later.

He takes a step out of the elevator towards her, his eyes narrowing as he takes in her mask and the
suitcase she was clutching, although her interface worked on FRIDAY it couldn’t fool humans
when staring at her directly. The Soldier's metal arm starts whirring and Darcy decides that she
isn't taking any chances and flicks her knockout powder at his face too quickly for him to avoid.
He stumbles forward, losing balance as his eyes slide shut, Darcy catches him as he drops to the
floor, cradling his head she falls under him, as he is extremely heavy. She grabs a pillow from the
chair next to them for him to rest his head on as she wiggles out from under him.

“Ms Potts, I’m concerned for Sergeant Barnes, he seems to have fallen asleep suddenly.”

“He’s fine FRIDAY, just a little tired from all the partying he’s been doing.” She gives her leg a
hard tug as it is stuck beneath him.

“I’m not sure what you mean Ms Potts, he hasn’t been doing any celebrating, he hasn’t left the
tower since he arrived two months ago.”

“Look I gotta get going FRIDAY and take this suit to Tony.” Darcy hesitates looking at the
sleeping soldier, his advancements will mean he wakes up quickly and therefore the Avengers will
find out about this sooner, I need to go with Plan B. She drops the suitcase down, flicks the open
switch with her foot and pushes her hands into the attachments. “Here goes nothing,” she mutters
to herself as she activates the suit and it assembles around her.

“Ms Potts, this is unexpected.”

“FRIDAY I need to leave now, set course for Hong Kong, I will direct us once we arrive.”

“Of course Ms Potts,” the AI replies as the suit launches off into the sky. “I’m having trouble
contacting Sir at this moment, you believe he’s in China?”

“FRIDAY you need to cease tracking me now and lock yourself out of the suit, it is imperative for
Tony’s safety that you do so at once.”

“Of course, goodbye Ms Potts.” The AI disappears from the suit.

Darcy closes her eyes for a moment breathing a sigh of relief, it wasn’t over but at least for now
she could relax and enjoy the flight.

Although she was appreciating the scenery the suit was heading upwards over 30,000 feet so there
wasn’t much more than clouds to look at after a while and her mind wandered. The Winter Solider
is much better looking in person , she catches herself thinking and can't stop the blush
from furiously covering her cheeks. Darcy keep your head in the game, the Winter Soldier is not
someone to lust after she orders herself. Well, maybe from far far away where he can’t shoot you
in retaliation for knocking him out.
…

Back at the Avenger’s Tower Bucky was waking up, he goes from sleepy to alert in half a second
jumping up and scouting the room for danger. “FRIDAY” he calls, although he wasn’t completely
trusting of Stark’s AI, he needed its help.

“Yes Sergeant Barnes?”

“How long have I been asleep? How far away are the Avengers? Who took Tony’s suit?”

“Two hours, sixty-three minutes and Ms Potts.”

Bucky is confused with the AI’s last answer, “show me the footage of her when we met at the
elevator.”

A projection of Pepper Potts outside the elevator appeared, Bucky watched as ‘Pepper’ blew a
white powder on him and then caught him as he passed out.

“It wasn’t Pepper FRIDAY, it was an intruder. She fooled your systems.”

“Impossible.”

“Not impossible. Have you contacted the team about this yet?”

“No, Sir’s communications were damaged on the mission and I haven’t been able to speak to him
yet.”

“Where is the suit and the thief now?” Bucky runs his hands through his hair in frustration as he
watches ‘Pepper’ take the time to put a cushion under his head. When the elevator doors had
opened he had instinctively he known that the thief wasn’t there to hurt him, but had still been
considering how to proceed when she knocked him out. He was never going to hear the end of
this from the team, especially Stark.

“I don’t know Sergeant, she ordered me to stop tracking her and locked me out. Last I knew she
was heading for Hong Kong.”

Bucky spent the time till the team returned rewatching the projection of the thief from when she
landed till when she took off. FRIDAY even got some of the footage from the suit but it only
lasted a few minutes before it blacked out when she had ordered the AI to lock itself out. He went
up to meet the team as they land, steeling himself for owning up to his mistake. However the AI
beats him to it, quickly describing the whole event to Stark as he walks in.

“How’d she get into the tower? How’d she get to this level? How’d she get into my lab? How’d
she get the suit to work for her? How’d she beat you FRIDAY?” Tony fires off questions rapidly
as he stalks to the common area.

Bucky just stands there waiting to be berated, as Stark moves to the projection followed by the
team, who precede to quietly watch all the footage, as Stark types furiously into the computers and
FRIDAY tries to answer his questions.

When it got to the part where she knocked him unconscious, Clint bursts out laughing, falling onto
one of the couches and Steve just pats Bucky on the shoulder trying to be comforting.
 “All that’s missing is the popcorn,” Clint smirks at Bucky.

“Did she look like Pepper to you?” Bruce asks him, his eyes sympathetic.

“No, she was about the same build as Nat, slightly curvier, long dark hair tied up and she was
wearing a mask.”

“BOOYA!” Tony yells triumphantly as he throws his hands in the air, “let’s see what you really
look like.”

The projection of Pepper flickered and died and in it’s place was the woman Bucky had seen
although her face was still covered.

Clint lets out a long appreciative whistle, “I see why you were so distracted Buck, she’s got a
killer bod.”

The image changes to the one in the Mark V suit and instead of Pepper’s face they see part of the
thief's, her mask has slipped down to just above her nose. Bucky steps closer to the image, her
eyes were a deep blue, her features delicate. He watches as she closes her eyes in triumph as the
suit flies up into the air and then when they open, just before the feed is cut they were serene, like
she was at peace.

“Fuck me she is gorgeous.” Clint exclaims as he steps closer to the image. Have I seen these eyes
before? He thinks to himself as he studies them.

Natasha rolls her eyes at Clint who was now openly ogling the woman on the screen, “Well I
don’t know about the rest of you but since we can’t do anything till the ‘Boy Wonder’ tracks her
down I’m going to eat and then stand in the shower for 10 years.” She saunters out of the room to
the elevator, Bruce and Clint quickly follow.

“C’mon and get some food with us Buck, we can brief you on the mission.” Steve claps him on
the shoulder and propels him to the stairs and they go to the kitchen to join the others, leaving
Tony to his muttering as he tries to figure out who the thief is and where she went.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for reading! What do you think?

 Chapter 2
Chapter Summary

A bit of backstory as to why Darcy did what she did.

Chapter Notes

OMGYOUGUYSICANTBELIEVEYOU!!!
You are all so totally awesome and I cannot get over the positive response I've had to
this story!

Here's a teeny weeny itty bitty bit of backstory

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Two weeks earlier...

“Wha… What did you say?” Darcy stuttered out in shock, staring at the Warlord in disbelief.

“I said, bring me the Iron Man suit and I will let your brothers, the Elders, go unharmed,” Zhang
Wu replied, speaking in Mandarin, as Darcy was, he gestured to the monks that he and his men
had their weapons pointed at. They were at the hidden Shaolin Temple in Southern China, known
as Nan-Shaolin, however thought to be legend to most of the world as it was yet ‘undiscovered’
by modern civilisation. The Warlord’s men were spread out across the Temple with their guns
pointed at the five elderly monks in the centre of the courtyard. On another day the Temple would
have looked stunning, with the huge rocks making up with walls of the Temple and the forest and
flowers spilling over the walls to make the courtyard colourful and bright. However with the
Warlord and his militia roughly handling the monks Darcy wasn’t able to appreciate it’s beauty
like she used too. There was no way that Darcy could get the Elders out of there without a few
casualties, even with her pair of glock handguns she couldn’t risk attacking the armed men.

“How do you expect me to do that? Tony Stark will surely have the best anti-theft systems
possible on his Iron Man suits, it would be impossible to steal one.” Darcy’s eyes dart all over the
monks, checking that they are unharmed, she is trying her best to use her training in the Red
Room on clandestine work but her emotions were always too overwhelming to be any good. Her
specialty was information gathering, as her instructors had trained her to use her natural emotions
to make people trust her, as no one ever thought the girl that sang or swore or threw things or
made mistakes could ever be dangerous.

“I know of your secret Annchi,” the Warlord glared menacingly at her using her Chinese name. “I
know of your abilities, you will find a way or I will slaughter your brothers.”

Fear over took her for a moment as she looked to Dao Yong Fang the Temple Abbot and leader,
standing serene next to the warlord even though he had a gun pointed at his head. For a moment
she considered both options of fleeing and fighting, however the Abbot’s calm presence filled her
as she remembered her training and centred herself taking a moment to meditate.

Seven years ago when she left the Temple to explore the world, Dao Yong Fang had been explicit
in his instructions that she live her life to the fullest and while honoring the gifts that she had been
given, she also needed to honor herself. She had travelled the world twice over, stopping
everywhere she could, when she left the Temple she had been fluent in fifteen languages and was
now able in carry conversation in another eight with perfect accents. Having an eidetic memory
helped her vastly with gaining knowledge in the technology of the modern world, building on
what the Red Room had given her, this included gun, ammunitions and explosives training as well
as computer forensics training and some time working with forgers learning to put together IDs
that would protect her from being discovered for what she was. She also discovered her passion
for extreme sports and climbed every rockface, snowboarded every ice cap and glided off every
mountain she could while learning the new customs and cultures of today’s society. The people
she travelled with were young, carefree and invited her into their world without hesitation, it
helped that she looked so young. She had decided to follow some of the friends she had made,
while volunteering with an aid group in Sierra Leone, to University, where she did her degree in
political science and picked up an internship with Dr Foster. That had been more than she had
bargained for and after 2 alien attacks she got her degree and moved on. Although she missed
Jane, she had no need to be on SHIELD or the Avengers radars. She hadn’t planned to return to
the Temple any time soon, but she had received a disturbing message the day before from the
Abbott and flown in quickly from Indonesia, where she was using her degree to work with
humanitarian relief, to see what the problem was, now she knew.

Even though she had only been meditating for a few seconds, Zhang Wu was frustrated with her
lack of reply and yelled at her to get her to bring her attention back to him. “Will you accept this
task or will you watch as I kill your brothers?”

“I accept,” she replied hurriedly, “but I will speak with the Abbot first before I leave.” The
Warlord nodded in agreement and took his gun off Dao Yong Fang and prodded him toward
Darcy.

As he reached her and she started to speak, asking for his guidance, but he motioned for her to be
quiet, “The students are safe, they will return when this is done. However Annchi, once you do
this you must never come back. This place is no longer safe for you and your enemies will use it
as a means to trap you. Zhang Wu will not cease to use you if he can and surely he will pass the
knowledge he has of you on to others, if he has not done so already. You know that although the
program is decommissioned that there are others out there who will come after you. Everything
that has happened with the Winter Soldier and Hydra has made you incredibly valuable to both
sides. When you leave today you must never return. You have spent years training with us, I
would not have insisted you leave in the first place if I did not believe you were fully prepared. I
knew my predecessor believed you ready to depart Nan-Shaolin but you wanted more time, I have
given you that more time. It is truly time for you to use what you learned and forge your own path
now. Whether it is in the shadows or out in the light it is your journey to choose.”

Dao Yong Fang then bowed low to the ground and stayed there waiting for her to leave, Darcy
looked up to see the other elders bow equally as low. She bowed in return, her eyes glistening
slightly as she faced the Warlord.

“You will have your suit and you will swear on your honour that you will not harm any of my
brothers or their students. Or you will have a war on your hands you cannot win.” With that
declaration she turned her back and walked out of the Temple. It took all of her willpower to not
look back at the Abbott and the monks she knew as her brothers.

“You have until the new moon,” Zhang Wu shouted after her, “if I don’t see that suit by the time
the new moon rises your brothers will be dead.”

Darcy shook off her rage at the Warlord as she steeled her resolve, she could do this, she would
do this. As she walked into the forest she focused on her objective and by the time she got to her
boat on the river she had a plan.

Now…

Darcy flies one quick loop over top of the Temple, using the suit to scout out all of Zhang Wu’s
militia. There are two dozen men, armed to the teeth holding her brothers, the Temple Elders,
hostage all over the central courtyard. What’s to stop him from killing them once I hand over the
suit? There is no option, I can’t fight that many men with guns so close to the Elders, I’m not fast
enough to stop that many bullets and I have no idea how to use the suits weaponry, or even if it
will work for me. She lands in the training square of the temple where the Warlord is standing with
the monks held hostage.

“Well done Annchi, you have made your Elders proud today.” Zhang Wu says with a flourish as
he come up to the suit, studying it and touching the armour. “Now take off the suit and we will
leave you all in peace, you have my word.”

“Swear on your honour.” Darcy demands, knowing that the Warlord could go back on his word
but not on his honour. Not when he does it so publicly in front of his men.

Zhang Wu tilts his head slightly and Darcy thinks for a moment he isn’t going to do it, but then he
raises his hand and says, “I swear on my honour, that my men and I will do no harm to the monks,
once you have handed over the Ironman suit.”

Darcy nods in compliance, but just as she is about to take off the suit, the display starts flashing
and a loud voice snarks over the intercom.

“If I wasn’t so damn mad that you stole from me I would be impressed! OK I am still impressed
but you are in SO much trouble you little thief!” Tony Stark’s face comes on screen, staring her
down, and his voice fills her ears, and from the looks of the Warlord’s face he can hear him too.

“Take the suit off now!” Zhang Wu orders her in english as his men hold their guns up closer to
the Elders’ heads and some even point their guns at Darcy as they become agitated and fearful.

“I’m trying! He’s locked me out of the controls!” Darcy cries out in alarm, fearing for her
brothers’ lives as she tries to exit the suit, she can’t even move her arms to try and rip the suit off
her body. Oh no oh no ohno ohnoohnoohnoohno. Darcy begins to chant in her head in
desperation. I can’t let them get hurt! It’ll be all my fault! More innocent lives on my soul!

“Oh yeah you have no chance of escape now you little cat burglar. What’s going on here?” The
suit moves its head and Darcy is like a puppet inside as Tony scans the area. “Let me guess, you,”
the suit points to the Warlord, “decided that it would be a good idea to threaten these monks,” the
suit points at the Elders, “who I’m guessing are special to this little criminal here,” the suit points
to itself and Darcy inside it, “and made her steal my suit to free them? That’s about it?”

Darcy is frozen to the spot, all her intense training in the Red Room and at the Temple never
covered hostage situations where you were stuck inside a robot.
 Zhang Wu looks perplexed for a moment before reverting to his usual rhetoric, “give me the suit
Tony Stark and we will not kill the Elders.” His men are moving in staggered motions around the
Elders, pulling the monks tightly to the front of their bodies like a shield in between them and the
suit but also darting glances up into the sky like they are expecting more to appear.

“Fucking warlords.” Tony scoffs back, “always trying to steal my tech. Ahhhhh no way Jose.” Is
Tony’s reply and then all of a sudden a compartment on each shoulder of the suit rises up and a
heap of mini-missiles rocket out and take down Zhang Wu and all his men before any of them can
pull a trigger.

Darcy has seen plenty of death in her past, so she knows that these men are all dead and that her
brothers are safe. That’s all that matters to her right now, as she looks at the Abbott, and although
he can’t see her face, her distress starts dissipating as his calmness feeds into her. The Elders move
around the bodies lying on the ground to surround Darcy, thanking her, although it is a somber
occasion as they all heard the Abbott tell her that she is not meant to return again. For her safety,
but for more so for that of her brothers and the students, Darcy knows she has to respect the
Abbotts wishes and never come back.

“Everyone good? Well now I’ve taken care of that for you, you can take care of something for
me.” Tony says looking directly at Darcy through the screen and the suit shoots off into the sky.
“You and I have a date, little miss robber, I’ll meet you in Hong Kong.” Tony signs off the suit
and the display goes dark.

Chapter End Notes

Love you all you amazing readers, subscribers, bookmarkers, kudosers and
commenters! :***
 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

Tony drinks some tea

Chapter Notes

The pure amount of interest this fic has garnered has me working on it far more often
than I planned! Thanks for all the motivation you wonderful people!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Oh fuck! Is all Darcy can think as she tries to wrap her head around what just happened as the suit,
with her still stuck inside, flies through the clouds heading to her ‘date’ with Tony Stark aka Iron
Man aka a FUCKING Avenger. Oh fuckity fuck fuck fuck! What is he going to do to me? What if
SHIELD managed to keep hardcopies of photos of me and he recognises me? Because I know
there isn’t a single picture of me online. Holy fuckballs what if Hawkeye is with him? I only met
him briefly in New Mexico but a spy who’s literally known for his eyesight will definitely put two
and two together. Faaarrrrrccccckkkkkkk!

Darcy is so worked up from what happened at the Temple and the Avengers not only finding her,
but finding her before she got the suit off (she had hoped they would find it once the Warlord had
it), that her years of meditation training don’t come all that easily as she is forced to figure out a
game plan. It has been a long time since she has been in the espionage business and in living the
life of a millennial she has almost forgotten everything she was taught about how to process
information and make plans under pressure from the Red Room. At least she knows that the virus
she set up will either delete or blur all photos posted online to social media or other websites. With
the selfie craze taking over the generation nowadays there is only so many times she can be the
one taking the photo of the others or turning her head at the last minute before they get suspicious.

Darcy never scored top marks with her poker face, her eyes being to expressive of her emotions.
So while her inner monologue of anxiety is ranting and she manages to keep her face impassive
behind the mask, her eyes are telling the whole story to those who are watching. Her eyes get
decidedly more jittery as the clouds clear and she can see the tall buildings of Hong Kong appear
under her. If it were under any other circumstance Darcy would be enjoying the ride and the view.

The suit lands her at an empty outdoor seaside cafe towards the outskirts of Hong Kong. Tony
Stark is sitting comfortably at a little table with 2 chairs and a pot of tea, watching the boats in the
harbour. The suit walks her to the table and sits down across from him. The face panel slides up
but doesn’t let her out.

“Thank you for making the time to meet me today little miss bandit, I know you must be quite
busy.” Tony says somewhat dryly, he hasn’t even looked at her yet.

Darcy stays silent, thinking that it might be her best plan at this point.
But then Tony leans forward and pulls her mask the rest of the way off, she tries to dodge away,
but she can’t move her head, stuck in the suit like she is.

“Annchi huh? You don’t look like an Annchi, more like an Emma or a Hannah. Funny, a little
birdie is telling me your name is actually Darcy Lewis, assistant to Dr Jane Foster,” Tony says as
he takes a sip of his tea and then makes a face dropping it back down on the table. Darcy now
knows that Hawkeye is definitely set up somewhere with his sniper scope aimed on her face.
Tony’s penetrating gaze never wavering from her eyes now he’s looking at her and not the boats.
Darcy gets the feeling like he’s categorically going through all her features and engraving them in
his memory. “So tell me Darcy Lewis, how’d you do it? How’d you fool my AI?”

“If I tell you...” Darcy has to pause to take a gulp, her trainers would be disappointed in her but
the analytical part of her mind thinks it’s only a good thing for Stark to think she’s scared and out
of her depth, even if it’s actually the truth. Darcy tries to make her voice sound more confident, “If
I tell you how I did it. If I give you my tech. Will you let me go?”

“Sure I will, I’m only interested in how you did it.” Is his reply as he leans back and links his
fingers behind his head. “You’ve returned my property to me in relatively the same condition so
no harm no foul.”

“You don’t want to know why I did it?” Darcy says quietly, looking down at the table to make
Stark think she is contrite.

“I know why you did it little miss crook.” Tony half smirks at her, “and if it’s any consolation I
admire you for it. Now tell me how you fooled my AI into thinking you were Pepper!”

“I programmed the interface into my watch, it will be easier for me to just show you.” Darcy says,
trying to move her arm, hoping he is distracted enough by the idea of new tech he will let her out
of the suit.

“Oh gimmie gimmie gimmie!” Tony says as the suit abruptly stands up and disassembles around
her. Darcy gets out immediately and takes the watch off handing it over to Stark who almost does
a little dance on the spot. She is watching the suit reassemble and move off to the side, like a
sentry watching his post. Darcy is careful to keep her front to Stark and the suit as she doesn’t
want either of them to realise that she has her glocks tucked securely into holsters in the back of
her pants under her shirt. She wouldn’t use them against Stark but she would use them to stop the
suit if it tries to take her captive again. She knows there is someone else close by keeping watch,
she can feel it now she’s out of the suit, but she hopes they are focused on her front and not her
back.

All Tony really cares about is the Pepper interface, he seems to have completely forgot she’s there
as he coos over the watch, muttering quietly to himself as he turns it over studying it.

“So… um… can I go then?” Darcy asks after a few minutes of him ignoring her.

“Yeah, yeah.” He gives her a distracted wave as he continues muttering to himself.

“Great! Um… OK bye!” Darcy says awkwardly, but just as she’s turning to leave she feels a
rustle in the wind and movement against her neck.

“Stark may have said he would let you go but he wasn’t speaking for the rest of us.” A smooth
female voice almost whispers in her ear. And before Darcy realises it she’s acting on instinct and
twirling quickly into a crouch on the ground, pulling her guns out of their holster in her waistband
to point at the Black Widow, who looks unimpressed and already has guns pointed back at her.
They are so close their hands are almost touching.
 Darcy can’t hold back the, “Oh fuck it’s the Black Widow!” Semi-fangirl-sequel, semi-resigned-
groan that escapes out of her mouth, and a light pink blushes across her cheeks.

The Black Widow was infamous in the Red Room, the single most perfect asset to ever be
produced. The trainees were brought up on stories of her missions. When she went rogue the
instructors were in an uproar for months. But no one could ever bring her back, they stopped
sending other assets after her when they would always disappear too. Shortly after they stopped
hunting for the Black Widow they changed the training program so the girls didn’t have to kill
each other, punishments were no longer death or as painful and they were allowed to build
friendships with each other. Darcy guessed the hope was that with the friendships it wouldn’t
seem so bad so the trainees wouldn’t go AWOL like the Black Widow, and also so the Red Room
had a larger pool of assets to utilise.

Tony was staring at them, shocked out of his focus on her watch. “OK for that I’m going to have
to offer you a job at SI… and I’m going to have to insist you take it.” Tony says as the women
continue to stare at each other. A quinjet appears out of nowhere hovering gently next to them and
the platform opens up as Tony walks towards it. “Come along Lewis, I’m sure the benefits
package will make you a very happy little miss kleptomaniac.”

Darcy is focused on the Black Widow, who raises an eyebrow at her with a half-sardonic look on
her face, as they are still pointing their guns at each other. I might as well see what he’s got up
his sleeve. It’s not like I have a chance in hell against the Black Widow in hand to hand combat
anyway. And I can’t risk having to defend myself against her and them realising my abilities.

“Well, why the fuck not?” Darcy huffs as she goes against all her training and shifts, opening up
her back to the Black Widow, as she places her glocks in their holsters and turns to follow her
new boss up into the quinjet, the Black Widow following close behind her. “Time for Alice to go
back down the rabbit hole.” Darcy chirps as the platform begins to raise behind her.

Chapter End Notes

Seriously, I love you guys xox

 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

Steve is kinda a protective asshole. Tony has a heart of gold.

Chapter Notes

The muse is keeping me pumping with this one thank you to all you wonderful
readers!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Maybe she was the stupidest asset to ever live but Darcy was more than the weapon that the Red
Room had tried to make her into. She refused to live by their ideals, kill or be killed. The
Avengers had proven themselves to be willing to take in assets from the cold, Black Widow, the
Winter Soldier even the Scarlet Witch, so maybe they wouldn’t try and imprison her.

The flight isn’t nearly as horrific as Darcy envisioned, in fact it’s pretty uneventful. Hawkeye was
piloting the quinjet, and besides giving her a lascivious wink, that makes her roll her eyes, when
she boards, he doesn’t look or speak to her again. The Black Widow joins Hawkeye in the cockpit
the second the platform closes and they take off, also not sparing Darcy a glance throughout the
journey. Although Darcy doesn’t blame them because the suit has her covered as it sits next to the
exit.

Tony Stark aka Iron Man aka the mad scientist, as Darcy has now discovered, pulls up a digital
workbench the second he’s in the quinjet and is scanning the watch into his complex system while
talking to his AI in what is almost gibberish. Darcy is enthralled by the tech she is seeing,
advanced beyond anything she’s ever dreamed of and steps closer to get a better look.

“Watch out little miss pickpocket, don’t want FRIDAY giving you an electric shock! She’s pretty
pissed that you fooled her.” Stark is grinning as he says this as Darcy has stopped in her tracks.

“Miss Lewis, please ignore Sir, I would never behave in that way, even if I could.” The AI sounds
somewhat peeved at her creator which makes Darcy crack a grin.

“I bet she’ll forgive you if you talk her through what you did integrating this watch with the
interface you created of Pepper.” Stark pulls his face into what he must think is his puppy dog
eyes expression.

It’s pretty cute actually. So Darcy spends the rest of the trip explaining to Stark what she did to
create the interface, how she got it into the watch and then how she tested it on different security
systems around New York. Stark interrupts every second word, but instead of bothering Darcy he
just reminds her of an excited kid so she handles him without issue. It’s not like he wouldn’t figure
this out eventually anyway, might as well stay on his good side. Darcy justifies to herself.
…

Back at the Avengers Tower, Bucky is sitting in the communal kitchen with Steve, pouring over
the files FRIDAY provided the team on Darcy Lewis the moment Barton identified her. An
adventurer, a humanitarian, an intelligent young woman, who only appeared 5 years ago. Before
that all that existed is a high school diploma, a birth certificate and a social security number. And
this is highly suspicious to Bucky because someone like Darcy, would have joined clubs, political
parties and sports teams from a young age. Also, if FRIDAY’s teachings of the 21st century are
accurate, she is probably the only millennial in the western world not to have a social media
account. The other thing Bucky thinks is worth noting is that Darcy Lewis is an excellent student,
but not excellent enough to stand out on paper. She is always, perfectly sitting, in the top 10% of
all her classes, never more, never less, with flawless accuracy. There is a lot more to Darcy Lewis
than meets the eye, and he is going to make it his personal mission to find out everything there is
to know about her. And since he was still on lockdown in the Tower it was going to be a better
way to spend his time than triple checking the security every hour.

“Please excuse me Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes. Sir and the team are back from their mission
now and have brought Miss Lewis with them.” FRIDAY announces.

“Did she fight back when they took her prisoner?” Steve queries.

“They didn’t take her prisoner Captain Rogers, Sir has hired her.”

“What?” Bucky is flabbergasted, “why did he do that?”

“Why does Sir do anything?” Bucky could swear he heard the sigh in FRIDAY’s voice. “ETA 3
minutes.”

Steve doesn’t say anything but Bucky can see his jaw working as he packs up the papers they
have spread over the counter so Darcy Lewis doesn’t see that they were looking into her past.

“You OK Punk?” Bucky asks Steve.

“Fucking Stark.” Is Steve’s response.

...

Darcy actually has a lot of fun talking tech with Stark and in the end the trip goes by quickly.
Before she knows it they’re landing and her stomach automatically starts knotting up with worry.
She was never relaxed about potential trouble like most of her class at the Red Room, the majority
of them even came to enjoy the missions and the fighting. Darcy never did.

When the platform opens the suit powers back on and stands, waiting like a sentry again.

“C’mon little miss cat burglar, let me give you the tour.” Stark says as he leads her off the quinjet,
the suit following behind.

“If the tour ends in a jail cell I’m going to be extremely disappointed in you.” Darcy quips as they
enter the building, only half joking as she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that were the plan.
“You think a thief doesn’t deserve to end up in a cell?” A strong confident voice directs her to a
tall blonde man standing across the room they’ve just entered.

“Yup that’s Captain Fucking America right there with his ‘America is disappointed in you’
voice.” Darcy’s mouth says before she can stop it. To the delight of Stark who begins to laugh
with gusto.

“You’re alright Lewis.” Stark says as he slaps her on the back and begins the tour of the atrium
style living area under the watchful gaze of Captain America.

This area is open and full of so much light from the glass that the buildings walls are all made of.
From here Darcy can see the labs and what looks like a war room, that look down onto the
living/kitchen/bar area. Stark is clearly proud of what he has designed as he shows her how to use
the Stark appliances, including a coffee machine that looks like it was designed for a space station.

As she is sipping from the biggest mug of coffee she has ever seen, Stark starts to lead her to his
workshop, but they’re intercepted by Hawkeye holding a plastic tub like you see at the airport
security.

“Sorry to interrupt the tour, but weapons are allowed on a trust system around here.” He says to
Darcy with a gentle smile. “Can you please put everything into the tub.”

Darcy is aware of the Black Widow standing to the side, just out of her line of vision, ready to
jump in should Darcy refuse. Psht like I’m going to try and attack any of the heros of New York.
Seriously I’d have no chance of winning a fight against any one of them let alone 4, even with my
weapons.

Hawkeye is still smiling gently at her as she puts her coffee on the counter and she slowly moves
her hands under her the back of her shirt and pulls her glocks out with her thumb and index finger
on the handle of each, moving carefully as she places them in the tub. Aware of the rigidness
emanating off the Captain now, as he sees her guns for the first time, she moves even slower as
she pulls out 3 knives from various places around her body and a small tool kit tucked into her
right boot. With a considering look at Hawkeye she then pulls out her bag of knockout powder
and her last knife, a ceramic one that is invisible to metal detectors and most other security
software.

Hawkeye nods at her in recognition that she didn’t have to do that. So she decides to push her
luck.

“Everything?” Darcy asks him a little cheekily, toying with the collar of her shirt.

Hawkeye snorts as Stark jokes back, “Sorry to wreck your vibe Lewis, but I think if we were to
strip search you the Captain would have a heart attack.”

Hawkeye leans in and stage whispers to her, “we have to be careful in his old age to not let his
sensibilities be disturbed.”

Captain America shifts uncomfortably, “shut up Clint.” Is his best response as he rolls his eyes and
his cheeks go a little pink with the teasing.

Darcy almost feels bad for him so decides to stop the inappropriate flirting she’s thinking about
with doing the sexy archer. And, unless she’s mistaken, and she’s not that often when it comes to
romantic engagements, Hawkeye and the Black Widow seem to be very much a unit, very much a
couple and Darcy does not want to get in the middle of that. But there is something missing from
their dynamic which Darcy can’t put her finger on, so she folds that into the back of her mind for
 another day.

“Alright Lewis let’s carry on the tour I haven’t got all day!” Stark decrees as he grabs her coffee
and gives it to her, almost pulling her up the stairs into the lab and workshop spaces.

“Sir, may I suggest you show Miss Lewis to her quarters where she can freshen up before you
both get stuck in the workshop all night?” FRIDAY asks to Darcy’s relief, she is feeling grungy
and a little overwhelmed, so having 5 minutes to clean up would be a comfort.

“Argh, fine.” Stark huffs as he takes Darcy to the elevator and the doors open, close and the
elevator moves to what Darcy assumes must be the correct floor without a single button being
pushed. He then leads to to a door, motioning for her to open it, and when she does her mouth
drops open.

“If this is my jail cell then I am quite happy thank you very much.” Darcy says as she walks inside
to a huge apartment with open flow kitchen, dining, living space that is lit up from the sunset in
the west, displayed through floor to ceiling windows.

“Bedroom and bathroom are down the hall, I’ll be in the workshop when you’re ready Lewis.”
Stark says as he heads out the door.

“Stark.” Darcy says softly and he turns back to face her waiting. “I’m not a thief.” She doesn’t
know what’s come over her, but for some reason she just has to have him believe her.

“I know.” He half smiles at her as he closes the door behind him as he leaves.

Chapter End Notes

As ever, let me know what you think you amazing people you! xox
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

Darcy tells Bucky off

Chapter Notes

Home sick = lots of writing and sleeping.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Darcy stares at the door, mentally preparing herself for it to not open when she tries the handle.
She knows Stark said to come join him in his workshop when she was ready but she can’t help
but wonder if this was all some elaborate plan to get her into captivity. When Stark had closed the
door behind him she had made the conscious decision not to worry about it until it was time to
leave. Darcy had headed down the hall and stared at the big bed with her eyes bulging out of her
head for a minute, then showered in the shower big enough for 6 people. She was now dressed in
some of the new clothes she found in the wardrobe in the bedroom that were all in her size, even
the bra fitted perfectly, which was not an easy task. She figured that she had FRIDAY to thank for
that, so Darcy decides to test a hypothesis.

“Thanks FRIDAY for the clothes, they fit perfectly.”

“You’re welcome Miss Lewis.” The AI responds immediately, confirming Darcy’s thoughts that
she would be under constant surveillance.

Well, it’s not the first time and at least this is by an AI and not a pervy goon. Darcy wasn’t able to
find any cameras in the apartment on her initial perimeter check but she doubted Stark would have
something as low tech as a hidden camera. She wanted to ask the AI if the door would open for
her but she didn’t want that weakness on record, so she takes a deep breath and pushes the handle.
The door opens easily and Darcy refuses to rejoice out loud, instead doing a mental FUCK YEAH
I’M NOT A PRISONER! in her head. And if FRIDAY saw Darcy marginally boogy her butt in
celebration, the AI didn’t say a word.

“Would you like me to direct you back to the workshop Miss Lewis?” FRIDAY asks.

Darcy is just about to decline her offer, she does have an eidetic memory after all, but she stops
herself at the last minute as it’s important she try and act as normal as possible. “Thank you
FRIDAY, I’m sure I would be lost for days around this maze.” Darcy says innocuously.

“Yes, when Colonel Rhodes visits he keeps on getting off at the wrong level. I don’t know why
he won’t accept my help.” FRIDAY says with what Darcy swears is a hint of annoyance.

“It’s a male thing FRIDAY, they all hate asking for directions.” Darcy chuckles.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right Miss Lewis.”

Darcy wonders if the AI is this open with everyone about each of the tower dwellers. Might be a
good way to do some innocent information gathering. She files that away for later, not wanting to
seem pushy or suspicious on her first day.

“Follow the lights Miss Lewis and I’ll lead you to the elevator and then to Sir’s workshop.”

“Thank you FRIDAY.” Darcy says as she does what the AI tells her.

A few minutes later the doors to Stark’s workshop open in a whoosh of air and Darcy walks into
chaos. A robot is trying to put out a fire, but spraying the fire extinguisher about a foot to the right
of the actual fire, another one is hitting the fire with the bottom of a fire extinguisher, possibly
making the fire worse as it fans the flames, while another with a dunce hat on it is just spinning in
a circle making a weird siren sound of excitement, and Stark, well Stark hasn’t seemed to notice
any of it and is intently focused on a hologram of her Pepper interface.

“What the fuck!” Darcy exclaims as she darts across the room, over to the robot hitting the fire
with the extinguisher and wrestles with it for a moment over control of the extinguisher, before
managing to break it free and spraying the fire, smothering it and watching it die. Once the last
flame sputters out and everything in the radius is covered in foam, including Darcy’s shoes, she
looks up to find Stark still focused on the projection. “Surely you’re not that unaware of your
surroundings Stark.” Darcy shouts at him, who, at the sound of his name, turns round in his chair
looking perplexed at Darcy in his workshop.

“Bonnie! What are you doing messing round with U, Dum-E and Butterfingers?”

“I am not messing around!” Darcy asserts, as the robot she can see is called U, tries to grab the
used fire extinguisher from her, resulting in a mini-tug of war that U wins and zooms off to the
other side of the workshop beeping merrily with his prize.

“Well, that’s what it looks like.” Tony retorts, raising one eyebrow at her.

“Your Difference Engine was on fire, I don’t know how the hell that happened, but your robots
weren’t putting it out very successfully so I had to step in!” Darcy defends herself.

“Huh.” Tony says looking over at the smouldering pile behind Darcy, “FRIDAY why didn’t you
put it out?”

“Because you disabled my capabilities in your workshop Sir, and then you went and manually
unscrewed the smoke alarms and the sprinklers. You said that you didn’t have time to be halted by
‘nanny-state safety restrictions’ when you were focused on saving the world.” The AI responds
with an indignant tone.

“Yep, that sounds like something I would do. Good job Capone.” Tony says before turning back
to his display.

Darcy is used to being dismissed by geniuses, too focused on their SCIENCE! to pay attention to
anything else, often including their own survival if Jane is anything to go by. So with a roll of her
eyes Darcy decides to have a look around the lab, poking the bits and pieces Stark has lying
around. The robots are now trying to clean up the debris from the fire, and just making more of a
mess. She leaves them to it and begins searching through a pile of junk, pausing when she finds a
radio. Pulling it out and turning it over she sees that with a little bit of work it will be running in no
time. So she settles herself on the floor with a pile of Stark’s tools and gets to work.

…
“Hey Stark do you have time to look at my arm, I think it needs a tune up.” Bucky walks into the
workshop but stops in the doorway as Darcy’s head pops up from behind the pile of metal she has
collected.

“What? I’ve been badgering you for weeks and now you come in?” Tony says confused as he
rolls his chair across the floor to look at Bucky.

Of course the only reason Bucky is letting Stark near his arm is because he wants to get a better
look at Darcy Lewis and FRIDAY doesn’t share any footage or knowledge of what’s going on in
Stark’s workshop ever, so he has to go there himself. He just hopes Stark doesn’t blow it,
although with the way he’s slyly winking at Bucky now and darting his eyes to the girl he
wouldn’t be surprised if he just outright tells her.

“Yeah it’s been playing up and my basic knowledge isn’t helping it any.” Bucky tries to cover
Stark’s idiocracy, “But if you’re too busy I can go see if Barton can help.”

“No no no need I’m free now.” Tony waves at Bucky to sit down, Bucky covering his smirk at
Stark’s eager and obvious desperation.

Stark goes to grab his tool kit, perplexed when he can’t find it, until Darcy goes and grabs it from
under a pile of wires in the corner.

“Here you are Stark.”

“Thanks and you should call me Tony, it’s weird having a co-ed call me by my last name.”

“Well then call me Darcy.”

“Nah I like Doris more.” Tony says as he rolls his chair back to Bucky and indicates for him to
place his arm on the bench. “You know like Doris Payne the jewelry thief?”

Darcy rolls her eyes, “yes Tony.” She sighs as Bucky smirks. Looking at the Winter Solider is
awkward for Darcy, she never imagined she would be in a situation like this and he is
unabashedly staring back at her with a smirk still on his face. Tony is completely in the zone,
focused on the metal arm so isn’t any help with a distraction.

“So, um, I probably should apologise to you Sergeant Barnes? You know, for knocking you out
like that.” Darcy stammers out while chanting in her head, please don’t try kill me, please don’t try
kill me.

Bucky continues to look at her, his gaze never wavering from hers until she starts to shift
uncomfortably under his scrutiny. “It’s OK Miss Lewis, you had your reasons.” A smile spreads
across his face, changing his look from battle-hardened to debonair in an instant. “Anyway, it’s
the first time I’ve ever been taken down so swiftly and so gently. I’ve got to admire that.”

“Oh.” Wow, more like Winter McDreamy than Winter Soldier. Darcy’s mind stops working at his
smile and compliment, said smile growing larger every moment she is mute. “Oh, um, thanks.”
Darcy stutters.

Bucky’s grin grows even wider as he decides to be audacious and lets his eyes wander around her
body boldy. Taking in the plumpness of her lips, the shape of her bountiful bust, the curve of her
waist, and the contour of her hips. He watches carefully as her nervousness disappears and
irritation takes over. A trained asset would take advantage of the situation and flirt back with him,
 trying to get close to take his guard down. Turns out he’s in for a surprise.

“Hey, eyes up here buster!” Darcy scowls at Bucky as she clicks her fingers in front of his face,
angry by his obvious and disrespectful perusal of her body. “Just because you are a super sexy
superhero guy does NOT mean you get to forgot all basic decency and treat women like pieces of
meat.”
Bucky opens his mouth to apologise but Darcy is off ranting as she paces back and forth across
the floor of the workshop.

“I GET that you probably have women throwing themselves at your feet, you probably had that
happen before the war as well, I mean look at you, but STILL you do not act like that today's
society.”

“I’m sorry.” Bucky jumps in as Darcy takes a deep breath ready to continue her tirade. “I just, I’m
still learning how to interact with other people and I keep forgetting basic principles of
civilisation.” Putting his best puppy-dog eyes on, Bucky hopes the reminder of his very well
publicised past will get her to forgive him.

“Oh,” The wind goes out of Darcy’s sails as she deflates, remembering everything she’s ever read
about the Winder Soldier and what he went through with Hydra. Definitely worse than anything
she ever experienced. “Well treat me like your 21st century liaison then Sergeant Barnes because I
will not let you forget!”

“I will, and call me Bucky.” He smiles humbly at Darcy and she smiles gently in return.

“How come I don’t get an apology Gru?” Tony demands, tuning back into the conversation
around him.

“Your apology was getting the Pepper interface.” Darcy says sticking her tongue out at Tony.

“Oh yeah.” Tony replies, getting back to work on the arm. “Sweet deal.”

A few hours later Bucky has left and Tony is back staring at the watch, Darcy has moved on from
the now repaired and working radio, to fixing a microwave.

“Hey Thelma, could you recreate this interface for me with a different person?” Tony calls across
to Darcy, his voice deceptively innocent, immediately ringing alarm bells in Darcy’s head.

“Depends on the available graphics,” Darcy says carefully. “Who do you have in mind?”

“Natasha Romanoff.”

Darcy turns to Tony with a gape, “do you have a death wish?”

Chapter End Notes

I'm loving this story, there are a few twists and turns planned so I hope you all stick
around :D
 Chapter 6
Chapter Summary

Darcy gets to work

Chapter Notes

Still sick, therefore another update!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

After a huge debate Darcy finally manages to convince Tony that creating an interface of the
Black Widow was not only dangerous to their health, but not feasible. “There isn’t enough
coverage of her online anyway, I need not just pictures but film too. That’s why Pepper was so
easy for me to create because there are recordings online of her from every angle possible.”

“Hmmm OK Louise, how about Rhodey?” Tony ponders, “could you do him?”

“Colonel Rhodes? Sure there should be enough coverage of him.” Darcy sets herself up at Tony’s
display and starts working away.

A few hours later Darcy has set up the digital bones of the interface, now just needing to work it
up with the physical watch, she turns to ask Tony for it and finds him passed out asleep on the
couch in the corner of the workshop.

“What’s the time FRIDAY?” She asks quietly.

“6:37am Miss Lewis, you and Sir worked through the night.” The AI responds

“Yeah I do that sometimes when I get caught up in a project.” Darcy tries to make her chuckle
sound self-deprecating, they don’t need to know that I need a lot less sleep that the average
human. “Speaking of which,” Darcy fakes a yawn, “I’m exhausted and hungry, is it alright to
leave him here like this?”

“Sir sleeps in the workshop all the time, normally in the chair you’re sitting in his face resting on
whatever he’s working on, so the couch is a nice change. There is food in the communal kitchen
down the stairs, if you would like to put in an order I can provide you whatever you need to your
kitchen.”

“Thank you FRIDAY, I’ll put an order together for you later. Right now I’m starving.” Darcy lies
again as she heads to the door, carefully edging around all the junk to make sure she doesn’t
knock something and wake up Tony. Although from his snoring it sounds like you would need a
buzzer louder than a freight train to wake him.

In the kitchen she finds a freezer full of microwave meals, and sure, they are the good quality ones
that actually taste like the food they are meant to be, but Darcy just can’t get the enthusiasm up to
eat one. So she explores through the cupboards and finds what she needs, 45 minutes later she is
smearing nutella over a hot banana muffin she has just pulled out of the oven. The muffin
scorching hot, but it doesn’t bother her as she eats it with relish, ending up with melted nutella
smeared over her face and fingers.

Just as Darcy is trying to clean her hands by licking the chocolate off them she hears the stairwell
door open and the 2 super soldiers walk in, she is careful not to turn until one of them, she’s
guessing the Captain, coughs politely to announce their arrival. Darcy twirls around, a look of
innocent surprise on her face. Good god they look amazing, all muscled and sweaty and shit. I
wonder if they have girlfriends or are together? Warmed each other up on a cold WW2 night?
No! Bad brain! Do not go there. Oh yes, do go there. No!

“Hi guys!” Darcy says super brightly, trying to distract herself from the perfection standing in
front of her. “Did you just go for a run? Sorry if I’m in your way, FRIDAY said it was alright for
me to come here.”

“It’s no problem Darcy, you’re not in the way.” Bucky says with his gorgeous half-smile. “We
were just doing our morning workout in the gym.” It would have been so easy to flirt with him last
night when he opened up the opportunity for her. The Red Room training had been right there in
the back of her mind, egging her on to take that avenue into safety, into getting trust. But the Red
Room wasn’t what Darcy was about any longer, and wherever possible she did the opposite of
what she had been taught there. She knew in the long run, using whatever skills the Red Room
had given her, would hurt her, not help her.

“You been doing some baking Darcy?” Bucky says with a smile, breaking her out of her thoughts
as he leans over the bench making an exaggerated face as he sniffs the muffins cooling on the tray.

“Yeah, I hate premade meals, if you’re going to eat you should eat well, am I right?” Darcy
gestures to the tray as she heads to the sink to wash her hands and plate. “Help yourselves guys.
I’m not going to eat anymore.”

“Thanks Darcy.” Bucky says as he reaches for one but is stopped by the Captain’s hand on his
arm.

“That’s not a good idea Bucky.”

“Don’t be a punk Stevie.”

Darcy looks up in confusion as she sees Captain Rogers stopping Bucky, his face hard and
untrusting as he looks at her. It’s then that realisation hits. “You know FRIDAY was watching the
whole time, she would have seen if I had put rat poison in the batter!” Darcy exclaims upset, as
she throws the teatowel on the counter that she was drying her hands with and storms from the
room, heading for her apartment. She hears an argument break out between the two as she reaches
the stairwell and starts running up it, their voices following her.

“You saw the breakdown Dr Banner gave us of the ingredients in that homemade knock-out
powder Buck! You know that if she had messed up the dose she gave you even a little it could
have killed you!” The Captain is yelling.

“And I KNOW you saw that she grabbed me so I wouldn’t hurt myself by falling on my face!”
Bucky is yelling back.

“Yeah, and I know that you know that she is hiding something Buck!”

“She’s not going to poison us Punk!”

“You don’t know that Jerk!”

 “Yeah I do.”

“Put that down Buck!”

“Make me.”

Darcy hears a crash as she runs out onto her level and the door closes behind her.

Why are you so upset Darcy? You know they have no reason to trust you. You STOLE from them.
They are the enemies of Hydra and all other evil! Of course it’s smart for Captain America to be
suspicious of you, the thief. You’ve not been in the Tower 24 hours and you’re already trying to
feed the two super soldiers. They probably have to deal with kidnapping attempts three times a
week! Hydra and Aim and even Aliens are probably desperate to get their hands on them and
start reconditioning.

Darcy is pacing her apartment now as she works through her frustration. Knowing that the
Captain’s concerns are justified and smart, doesn’t make it any easier on her. She fights back tears,
not because she doesn’t want the AI to report on how upset she is, but because it’s a matter of
pride for her. In the end Darcy takes a shower, as hot as the water will go, and falls into the huge
bed. Whereas earlier she couldn’t have slept at all, now she is emotionally exhausted and falls
asleep the moment her eyes close. Why can’t I just be normal?

Chapter End Notes

Absolutely blown away by the love this fic is still receiving. Adore you all xox
 Chapter 7
Chapter Summary

Darcy hates to lose

Chapter Notes

Thank you for all your lovely comments and kudos xox

Just a reminder that all my work is unbetaed and it's just me double and triple
checking :*

See the end of the chapter for more notes

A knock on Darcy’s apartment door startles her, although she is expecting a delivery of groceries
from the order she put into FRIDAY, that was less than an hour ago. “Who is it FRIDAY?”
Darcy asks, looking at the ceiling, although she knows FRIDAY isn’t physically in the ceiling, it’s
hard to stop because that’s where her voice comes from.

“Sergeant Barnes is at your door Miss Lewis.” the AI announces, “He picked up your groceries
from the deliveryman in the foyer.”

“Thanks FRIDAY.” Darcy says as to walks over to the door, opening it and staring at the super
soldier.

“I have your groceries.” Bucky says holding one arm up showing the overflowing bags he’s
holding, there are even more in his metal arm by his side.

“Checked to make sure I didn’t order any bomb components?” Darcy snarks, wincing the moment
it leaves her mouth. He was defending you Darcy, stop being a bitch. “Look, I’m sorry, that was
uncalled for I know you don’t think I’m here to drug your food.”

Bucky waves away her apology as she steps back to let him inside. “Nah Doll I came to apologise
to you for the way that punk behaved.” He carries all her groceries like they weigh nothing and
puts the bags on the counter. “We’ve all read Tony’s mission report. We all know why you stole
the suit. We all know that if you wanted to hurt us you could have done a lot more during your
time in the tower while I was passed out.” Bucky steps closer to her and takes her hand in his flesh
one making her look up at him from where she was staring at the ground. “We all know that if
you had wanted to take me back to Hydra it would have been a simple thing for you to call in
reinforcements the second I was on the ground. Stevie, he’s just strung out at the thought of me
not being safe. It’s taken so long to get me back, he doesn’t think straight when it comes to me.”

“I don’t blame him. I get that he wants to keep his family safe.” Darcy says smiling gently at
Bucky.

“Yeah well that’s no excuse for him talking to a lady that way.” Bucky scowls before smiling
charmingly and winking at Darcy. “And I reminded him of that, repeatedly.”
Looking down at her hand, so little in his large one, Darcy feels more like herself than she has
since the warlord took the monks hostage. She laughs as she thinks of the crash she heard, “Still
able to take him down a peg or too huh?”

“Only when needed.” Bucky smirks, making Darcy’s stomach flutter a little at the sight. She lifts
her hand from his as she places it on her hips and gives him a faux-glare.

“You know that in the 21st century the way you speak to a woman shouldn’t differ from how you
speak to a man? That a level of rudeness doesn’t depend on what’s between one’s legs?”

Bucky grins as he leans against the counter, crossing his arms as he takes in Darcy. “You can
debate this till the cows come home, Miss Political-Science major, but my Mother didn’t raise no
fool and I’ll always be treating a lady like a lady.”

“Uh huh.” Darcy grins back, “so can you indulge me and answer a question I’ve wanted to know
for a while, are you and the Captain a thing?”

“A thing?” Bucky looks confused as Darcy hides her cheeky smile behind her hair as she walks
around the counter and starts to unpack the groceries.

“You know, like together...” She puts the bananas in the fruit bowl.

“You mean stepping out together?” Bucky says, his face shows shock momentarily but it’s not as
aghast or repulsed as she had been expecting from a early 20th century man. In fact a smile is
slowly spreading across his face. “You been having some thoughts about that have you?”

It’s Darcy’s turn to hide her shock as she turns around, pretending to organise her fridge as she
pulls items from the bags and stacks them inside. “No, no, I was just curious as there are a lot of
fans that theorise that’s why Captain Rogers did what he did to save you.”

“You know, a lot has changed in the 70 years I’ve been in and out, but I’m pretty sure you still
don’t put your cornflakes in the fridge.” Bucky changes the subject as Darcy looks at the box of
Cap’n Crunch she has just put next to the milk.

“Well there’s a logic to my madness Buckster, the milk and the cereal get stored together so it’s
easier to find in the morning before I’ve had my coffee.” Darcy makes up as she closes the fridge
door.

“Uh huh.” Bucky continues to smirk.

“Yeah huh,” is Darcy’s intelligent retort.

“What’s this?” He asks, gesturing to a pile of documents.

“Oh that’s my contract to work with Stark Industries, this is my copy, the SI lawyer took the other
earlier to make it all official.”

“Congrats Doll, we should celebrate.” He grins cheekily, “not that I can go anywhere.”

“You’re a prisoner?” Darcy says sharply, upset for him.

“No Doll, no. I’m just under house arrest while they make sure all the triggers are gone from my
head. Can’t have another Vienna. I’m OK with that.” Bucky assures her.

Darcy wants to ask if she’s under house arrest too, but she doesn’t know if she could handle the
answer. So for now she’ll stick her head in the sand. “You never answered my question.” She
says deflecting back to the whole Winter-Shield debate.

“Let’s make a deal,” Bucky says with a smile Darcy doesn’t trust.

“OK,” she replies warily.

“The reason I came to your door, beside to apologise, was to get you to come down to the training
floor with me, there’s something there I’ll think you’ll love. If you come with me I’ll answer your
question.”

Darcy isn’t sure of what he’s up to. The soldier isn’t showing any signs of deceit, only a little bit
of excitement, but he is a world class assassin so Darcy can’t be 100% sure. “I might have to
check on Stark since he’s technically my boss now.”

“Sir is still asleep Miss Lewis,” FRIDAY tells them, “even if he wasn’t, your hours are extremely
flexible and you are not required to report to him unless he needs you.”

“Um, OK, sweet gig then. I guess we can go check out this thing.” Bucky waits as Darcy puts on
some shoes and then follows him to the door where he holds it open for her. She rolls her eyes,
smiling at his old fashioned manners, and the get into the elevator.

“To answer your question no, we ain’t a couple.” He says as the doors close. “I like dames,
always have, always will.” The doors open and they stroll into the training area, Darcy pausing in
awe to take in the huge space.

The floor is divided into huge sections with a weights area, a space with the machines you see in a
gym, a boxing ring, a segment with mats, another with what looks like a dance floor with a barre
and then a running track spanning all the way around the outside.The area seems to take up about
3 floors with it’s massive ceiling height, Darcy sees why when she sees a rock wall taking up one
whole wall.

“Wow!” She breathes out, speechless.

Following her eyeline Bucky watches with Darcy as 2 figures leap from beam to beam, suspended
up in the air the whole way across the ceiling. One is firing arrows as the other dodges lithely,
cleverly using the uneven beams as obstacles for the hunter.

“They are pretty amazing.” Bucky says as he watches them with her for a moment before placing
his flesh hand on her back and gently moving to the rock wall with her, “thought you might want
to see this.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so huge!” Darcy exclaims, standing right up to it and running her
hands over a few holds. “Although the rock pattern is pretty basic, a long climb but an easy one.”

Bucky grins at her statement, “FRIDAY change it up!” He calls and the holds on the wall
immediately disappear and new ones reappear with sections of the wall moving out so now the
climber will have to scale over regions that are parallel to the floor.

“That’s more like it.” Darcy grins back at Bucky, rubbing her hands together like an excited child.

“What are you waiting for?” Bucky asks, “have a go!”

“Yeah? Where are the harnesses?”

Bucky lets out a guffaw, not a laugh, a full body guffaw. “Sweetheart, this is the Avengers
training facility, these idiots don’t know what a harness looks like, let alone how to use one. Just
go as high as is comfortable for you and I promise to catch you if you fall.”

“I won’t fall.” Darcy winks at Bucky with confidence as she toes off her shoes and begins to
climb, making child’s play of the first bit. She had meant to take it easy, to not show off, but
Darcy gets caught up in the freedom she always feels when doing something adrenaline inducing
and before she knows it she’s about two stories up and at a horizontal section where her back is
parallel to the floor. Pulling herself up she begins to huff, not because she’s not of breath, but
because she knows someone is up on the ledge waiting for her and it would be suspicious for
anyone to get there far and not be a little bit tired. As her head peers over the edge she sees
Hawkeye perched there, grinning at her.

“You’re not half bad kid.” He says, “although your technique could use a little work.”

“Screw you, it’s perfect.” Darcy retorts back before she can stop herself.

Luckily instead of getting mad Hawkeye just chuckles. “Well I was gonna ask if you wanted me
to give you some pointers, but if you’re perfect already maybe I should just challenge you to a
race?”

“Oh yeah like I’m gonna race the Hawkeye and expect to win. No chance.” Darcy bites her lip to
keep from accepting, she knows her natural competitiveness will show and she’s likely to slip up.

“We usually save our codenames for the field, and when we’re doing drills. Round here people
call me Barton, or Clint, dealers choice.” Clint does a complicated twirl on the holds, pushing his
body out to a 45 degree angle like a breakdancer, but in the air.

“OK now you gotta give me some tips.” Darcy says as she tries to recreate his move and then
fumbles.

“I don’t think so little miss perfect technique. You too chicken to walk the walk now that you’ve
talked the talk?”

Clint bobs his head as he talks, making Darcy groan in mock distastement, “oh dear god you are
SO old.”

“You too scared to be beat by this old guy huh?”

“Oh hell no.” Once again Darcy’s mouth overrides her brain and she accepts his challenge.

“So the race is to the top, and then to back to the ground.” Clint says pointing with both his hands,
showing off his leg strength as they perch on the holds. Darcy immediately starts figuring out the
best pathway to take. “And because this old guy is so cool, and I don’t want you to say that I bet
you cos I know the wall better, I’m gonna give you a head start. I’m not gonna move from this
spot till you’ve gone all the way up and then halfway back down again at that red rock there.”

That was a huge headstart, almost a third of the race. “Aren’t you a confident little birdie?” She
taunts, unable to help herself.

Clint lets out a snicker, “you’re gonna regret that.”

“See you at the bottom.” Darcy heads up the wall, going slowly, taking her time because she can,
making it look like she’s conserving her energy. She makes it to the top in good time, even though
she wasn’t rushing, she moves a bit fast in the downward, speeding up again when she passes the
red rock.
 “I might be old but you’re the one that moves like a grandma!” Clint teases as he races past her.

Fuck he’s fast! Darcy thinks as she wastes a precious second watching him move. Of course he’s
quicker than any of the world champs you climbed with Darcy he’s a fucken super spy Avenger!
Darcy shakes herself out of her head and picks up her pace, moving quicker and quicker down the
wall. She’s at the section parallel to the floor when Clint catches up to her, dangling like a fucking
monkey as he takes the holds like rungs in a ladder.

“Need to tap out sweetheart?” He taunts as he swings past her.

“Bite me big bird.” Darcy sasses back, poking out her tongue. There is no way she can beat him
going handhold to foothold down the wall. She looks down, it’s about a two storey jump. Darcy
doesn’t even think it through, because if she thought it through she would have known it was a
bad idea and it was just her ego wanting the win. But instead of thinking, Darcy just lets go of the
wall, and drops.

Chapter End Notes

Muhahahahahhaha what do you think happens next?

(It's already written, I just thought this was a good place to end this chapter)
 Chapter 8
Chapter Summary

Darcy bakes a cake

Chapter Notes

Because I love you guys so much, I'm doing another quick update :D

See the end of the chapter for more notes

A two storey jump is more than manageable for a normal person, if they hit the landing right and
roll they probably won’t even sprain an ankle. However most normal people don’t know this, and
normal people also don’t willingly fall those distances. Luckily for Darcy, she doesn’t have to
show off her not-normal-person skills, because true to his word, Bucky catches her.

“What the hell Darcy!” Bucky yells, Darcy can almost see the steam coming out of his ears like in
the old cartoons.

“Put me down, put me down, put me down!” Darcy exclaims, wriggling in his grasp till he does
what she says, and when her feet hit the floor she looks up at Clint still on the wall, turned and
gaping at her, “I WIN!” She waves her hands in the air and does a little boogie to rub it in as Clint
takes the jump himself, landing and doing a perfect roll, ending up standing right in front of her.

“You little cheater.” Clint accuses, his wide smile at her audacity taking the sting out of the
allegation.

“Nah ah, you didn’t say anything about how we got to the ground.” Darcy sticks her tongue out at
him.

“The assumption was that being we were on a rock wall and therefore having a climbing
competition.”

“When you assume you make an ass out of you and me!” Darcy is having too much fun rubbing it
in to Clint, that it takes her a while to notice Bucky glaring at them with his arms crossed and feet
planted.

“Ahem,” Bucky fake coughs to get their attention.

“Uh oh.” Clint skedaddles off to where the Black Widow is leaning nonchalantly against the ropes
of the boxing ring, leaving Darcy alone to face the angry assassin.

“Sorry I didn’t think and I trusted you to catch me?” Darcy semi-apologises as she tries to put on a
sweet voice and doe eyes. Not the sweet voice and doe eyes that the Red Room taught her, but
her own real sweet ‘please forgive me’ voice and doe eyes.

Bucky huffs with partial laugh shaking his head at her, “You are a real piece of work you know
that? I thought you had seriously injured yourself.”

Looking closer, through the mask of neutrality he wears 99% of the time, Darcy can see that she’s
really upset Bucky. “I am sorry Bucky, I knew you were gonna catch me but that’s no excuse for
acting so reckless and putting you in that position.” Darcy drops the act and let’s him see that she
is actually very sorry, walking closer and taking his metal hand in hers, he jolts when she laces her
fingers between his and Darcy pauses, waiting to see whether it’s her touch, or her touching his
metal arm that’s the problem. After a few moments his metal fingers curl back round hers.
“C’mon, I’ll bake you a cake that will persuade you to forgive me!” She tugs his hand to follow
her back to the elevators, swinging their hands in a friendly way as they walk.

“You know, I’m actually worried that you and Stark are gonna be hanging out, you two are
already too similar.” Bucky cracks as the elevator doors open and the Captain steps out.

“Hi Buck.” He says, nodding at Darcy, “Miss Lewis.” Before his gaze is focused on their clasped
hands.

Darcy drops Bucky’s hand immediately and steps away from him as he makes a sound of protest,
“Captain Rogers,“ she replies formally, stepping around him and into the elevator.

“We need to talk Buck.” The Captain says, placing his hand on Bucky’s arm as he goes to join
Darcy.

Bucky looks at the other super soldier before stepping back, “yeah OK.” He acquises, “Darcy I’ll
join you in a bit. Go bake in the kitchen in the common area, it has a really well stocked pantry.”

Darcy’s face is uncertain, but she nods in agreement at Bucky as the elevators close and it
automatically rises to the common kitchen. You stupid idiot Darcy! You had to show off didn’t
you? You had to win! It’s not going to take much longer for the Black Widow or the Captain to
figure out you’re Red Room. You need to own up. You need to be honest. Bucky will never trust
you ever after this! She berates herself internally as she goes about getting the ingredients she
needs for the cake and all the cooking utensils. If she throws a couple of plastic bowls onto the
counter a little too hard in frustration, well then it’s between her and FRIDAY. While she does her
baking she figures out how to tell Bucky that she’s from the Red Room because he is definitely
the one she wants to tell first.

The cake has about 20 minutes left in the oven when the elevator opens and Bucky and Clint
arrive laughing about something.

“That smells amazing kiddo!” Clint declares as he jumps to sit on the counter. Bucky pulls up a
stool, rolling his eyes at Clint’s antics.

“Well it’s still got a bit to cook and then needs to cool before I can ice it and it can be eaten.”

“And it’s my cake Barton, so sweetening up Darcy here won’t help you with getting a piece.”
Bucky smirks as Clint turns to him his mouth dropping open in mock hurt.

“Darce! C’mon sweetheart, you can’t let him do this to me!”

Darcy is assuring Clint that Bucky will share his cake, when the elevator opens again to show
Tony sniffing the air, literally following his nose to the oven.

“Catherine! I approve of this direction you are taking your job in!”

“Catherine?” Clint mouths to Bucky who just shrugs back.

Just then the stairwell door opens and the Captain and Black Widow appear, each pulling up a
stool to the counter.

“Are you doing a homemade dinner too?” Tony asks, his eyes pleading with Darcy, enough to
make her laugh.

“Yeah sure boss, let’s see what I can do.”

Darcy is looking in the fridge when she feels the air move and instinctively she shifts to the side,
covering her move with picking up a bag of baby spinach. She pretends to completely miss the
knife now embedded in the back of the cupboard as she turns.

“How’s gnocchi?” She suggests to the room with a bland tone of voice and amicable smile. Tony
nods, completely engrossed in his StarkPad leaning against the counter next to her, the Captain
has his arm on Bucky’s shoulder, standing just behind him on the other side, the Black Widow has
a magazine out at the end of the counter and Clint is looking mildly interested at the cake still
baking in the oven, still perched at the opposite end to the Black Widow.

“How long till the cake’s ready?” Asks Clint, a one track mind as ever.

Darcy laughs a laugh she isn’t feeling, They know. “You’d think a world class sniper would have
some patience.” She turns to Bucky, “hey you got a minute to maybe step outside and chat?” She
desperately wants to tell him first.

“Yeah sure Doll.” He replies getting up from his stool, Captain Rogers moving his arm slowly off
him.

Just as Darcy is about to pass Tony, to round the counter and head to the balcony with Bucky she
feels the air shift again. She only has a split second to react, as this knife isn’t heading for her, but
just past her shoulder to Tony, directly for his right eye, and he is completely unaware. So Darcy
does what anyone with a conscience would do in this situation, and she grabs the knife, stopping it
an inch from Tony’s eye.

“What the FUCK!” Tony exclaims, jolting back, knocking the containers on the counter over in
his surprise as he stares at the knife Darcy is holding and then to a smug Black Widow, no longer
pretending to read a magazine.

“Natalia! What do you think you are doing!” Bucky yells as he stomps towards the her, the
Captain jumping up between them.

“Bucky she was just testing a theory, a theory that turned out true! Darcy isn’t who she says she
is!” The Captain holds his best friend back as he beseeches him to see the truth.

“You risked my life on this theory!” Tony demands angrily.

“You risk our lives on your theories all the time,” Clint shrugs, “we trust you.” That seems to
make Tony stop in his tracks.

Throughout this Darcy and the Black Widow haven’t taken their eyes off each other, Darcy sighs
deciding to bite the bullet, perhaps literally. “Your aim has gotten shit in your old age Auntie,
what would our instructors think?” She taunts the assassin in Russian as she throws the knife over
her shoulder and into the sink.

The Black Widow’s eyes narrow as her smile becomes like that of a shark. Maybe that wasn’t the
smartest move. Darcy has time to think before the Black Widow launches herself over the counter,
intent on taking Darcy to the ground.
Chapter End Notes

Most of you were right with what was going to happen on the rock wall, but did you
see this coming? ;)
 Chapter 9
Chapter Summary

"And now the fecal matter has hit the oscillating blades." Thanks for that quote
quadrad!

Chapter Notes

The response I'm getting for this fic makes me so excited all I want to do is write. I
hope I was able to do this chapter justice! Thank you so much for your support! <3

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“FRIDAY translation please? OH FUCK!” Tony calls as he stumbles out of the way of the two
women, as they punch and duck and kick over the kitchen.

“Miss Lewis said ‘Your aim has gotten... ‘poor’ in your old age Auntie, what would our
instructors think?’” The AI responds.

Clint let’s out a low whistle, “your girl’s got some balls! 20 bucks says the mini-widow gets a hit
in.”

“Are you serious?” Tony asks, “I love my new lab monkey but seriously against Natasha? I’ll take
that bet.”

“Don’t interfere Buck.” Steve warns, as Bucky takes a step forward towards the battling women,
raising his arm to stop him, but thinking better of it at the last second, pulling back.

“Don’t push me Punk.” Is the stern reply he gets.

“Look out how they’re fighting Buck, they aren’t trying to take each other out. They’re testing
each other.”

Bucky looks and once he calms down and pushes the Soldier from his mind, he sees what Steve
is telling him.

Natasha is solidly attacking Darcy, but only enough to make Darcy defend herself, none of the
moves she is pulling would seriously harm the girl. It’s clear from their fighting styles that they
were both trained in the same place, but Darcy has something more fluid, something more oriental
in her movements. Whereas Natasha is a weapon, Darcy is a dancer. Darcy has yet to go on the
attack, just blocking and dodging Natasha’s onslaught with the Black Widow yet to make a solid
blow land. That is incredibly impressive, Steve and Barton, even Bucky himself have sparred with
Natasha and gotten seriously hurt.

Bucky can tell from the microscopic facial expressions that Natasha is displaying that she is both
impressed and pissed. Impressed that Darcy is defending so well, but also pissed Darcy is
defending so well, that she has yet to make an impact against the younger woman. This makes the
Black Widow a bit frustrated, and she starts to push harder.

Darcy notices this, working hard not to let her opponent through, but remembering all the Red
Room’s instructions she recalls the moves the Black Widow is making and begins to predict what
is about to happen.

No one in the room notices the timer on the oven going off, or if they do, they don’t care. Until
Natasha takes a chance on doing a powerful swinging kick, hoping to knock Darcy down,
instead, to the surprise of everyone in the room, Darcy steps nimbly into the Black Widow’s
space, rotating with her, and launches a forceful punch into the assassin's solar plexus, knocking
her to the ground, winded.

You could hear a pin drop as everyone’s hearts seem to miss a beat in surprise, including Darcy’s.
Tony pulls a bill out of his pocket and hands it to Clint, with his mouth gaping open.

“Well I don’t know about you guys.” Darcy says, turning her back to Natasha, admittedly
somewhat foolishly but Darcy is determined, and walking to the oven and stopping the timer. “But
I don’t like burnt chocolate cake.” She pulls the cake out and sets it on the rack to cool. The Black
Widow is still sitting on the floor so Darcy makes another potentially foolish move and goes back
to her, offering a hand up. The assassin takes it and Darcy is surprised not to find herself on the
floor with a knife at her throat, instead the Black Widow nods at her in a sign of respect, before
moving to sit back on her stool at the kitchen counter.

Tony is the first one to recover from the shocked stillness of the rest of the room. “Where the hell
did you learn that Lucy Liu?”

“Clearly the Red Room, like Natasha.” Steve answers for her.

“There was a different style in there though that the Red Room doesn’t teach,” Clint turns to
Darcy, “The monks, it was a martial arts temple?”

“Oh that makes sense then, cos that was some serious Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee shit.” Tony says,
not giving Darcy a chance to answer, as he moves his hands in a cheap imitation of a karate chop.

“So who sent you to us then Miss Lewis, if that is your name?” Steve asks crossing his arms and
glaring at her.

“The Warlord sent her Rogers, we’ve all read the mission report.” Clint answers stepping in
between Steve and Darcy, facing the Captain with his stance mirroring his, acting as a sort of
shield for Darcy.

“Don’t forget I offered her a job, so technically I’m the one that sent her here.” Tony defends
Darcy as he too moves between her and the Captain.

Steve is looking stunned that his teammates are advocating for her, he looks to Natasha who just
smiles at him slightly and shrugs. “The Red Room was decommissioned years ago, I’m guessing
she escaped before then. I wouldn’t mind hearing your story Darcy, when you feel up to it.” Steve
isn’t the only one shocked at the Black Widow’s soft and gentle voice as she makes her request of
Darcy.

Throughout this whole discussion Darcy and Bucky haven’t said a word, Darcy is looking at the
ground near Bucky’s feet, scared to look up and see the disgust and hatred he will surely be
displaying. But Bucky is looking directly at Darcy with the complete opposite of that on his face.
He moves to her, gently putting his finger under her chin and pulling her face up so she has to
look him in the eye.
“You escaped from the Red Room?” Bucky asks her quietly.

Darcy nods, a single tear escaping from her eye when she sees he doesn’t hate her. “A long time
ago,” she whispers back.

“Clever girl,” Bucky says as he pulls her into his arms, laying a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m
sorry you had to go through that.”

Darcy’s body trembles as she holds back a sob, unable to process the emotions going through her
with his simple acceptance. “I had decided to tell you, I was just scared.” She murmurs into his
chest as he holds her.

“I know Doll.” Bucky looks over her head at Steve with anger in his eyes for how his best friend
has been acting. Steve, for his part, is hanging his head in contrition, the remorse clear in his eyes
as he watches the two together.

“Natalia, you risked a teammate on your hunch, was it worth it?” Bucky questions in Russian.

“I risked nothing,” she replies, also in Russian.

“Translation please FRIDAY!” Tony calls but the assassins ignore him and the AI as it repeats
their conversation in English.

“I saw how she caught you, how she put a pillow under your head. How she took care of Stark,
like she did in the reports and footage we have of her looking after Dr Foster and Dr Selvig. In the
attack in New Mexico, she risked her life to save the animals in the pet shop.” Natasha continues
in Russian, counting off her reasoning on her fingers, “there was never any risk. I knew she would
protect Stark because she had already adopted him into her care, just like she did with Dr Foster.”

“Adopted me? Pssht.” Everyone ignores Tony.

“What if she didn’t have the skill to stop the knife! What if she tried and failed! You would put
that on her conscience?” Bucky accuses. Darcy can feel him vibrating with anger at the Black
Widow and she tentatively rubs his back, trying to calm him.

“You saw the speed of her reactions, her ability, when you surprised her, when I surprised her,
how she decided to beat Barton on the rock wall. Again no risk.” Natasha scoffs, completely
unconcerned.

Darcy is as quiet as a mouse during this exchange as she is surprised and feeling very warm with
how ardently Bucky is defending her, but on the other hand she does actually agree with
everything Natasha is saying. And if someone had entered her family unit, showing signs like she
did, she would probably have done something similar to draw them out. Maybe not risking
someone’s life on it, but somehow she would have got to the bottom of it.

“It’s OK Bucky,” she gives him a fierce look as he goes to argue with her, “no, I’m not saying
they did it the right way. But I understand why she did what she did.” Darcy pulls out of Bucky’s
arms, feeling bereft of his touch immediately so she takes his metal hand in both of hers. Looking
at the Captain she speaks in English now, “I understand that you may have felt pushed into a
corner, with everything Bucky has been through, and everything you have been through to get
him back. To have an unknown, come in and seemingly threaten him, I may not agree with it but I
understand it.”

“You’re not Hydra.” The Captain states, rather than asks, but Darcy feels the fury and indignation
travel up her spine as she steps towards him, poking her finger into his chest.
 “I’m Jewish you douchenozzle! I have forgiven your rudeness to this moment Captain Rogers,
because I have made allowances for your emotional distress regarding the treatment of your best
friend. But from now on you better watch it or I will make you regret it.”

The super soldier raises his hands in repentance as Tony claps his hands and Clint whistles in
encouragement, both enjoying seeing their new friend stand up for herself.

The Captain opens his mouth, to apologise maybe, but Darcy never finds out, as the Avengers
Assemble Alarm goes off and quickly they all disappear to the Quinjet, to go face the next villain.
Leaving Bucky and Darcy alone in the common area, still holding hands.

Chapter End Notes

Thoughts? xox
 Chapter 10
Chapter Summary

Darcy learns Bucky has some skill with 'sugar arts' aka he is good at decorating cakes
;)

Chapter Notes

Time for some fluff, some plot and a fight scene.

P.S. I'm not a scientist

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Do you miss going on missions with him?” Darcy asks Bucky, looking at him over the three
layered chocolate cake they are decorating together with chocolate buttercream icing. Oh wait, is
that a bad question to ask? They had been talking about Bucky’s time with the Howling
Commandos but Darcy feared this question was too fresh for Bucky to be dealing with.

She is knocked out of her internal anguishing with Bucky answering easily. “I miss the action,
knowing that I’m doing good, making sure that I can be there to stop Stevie from doing anything
stupid, or when he inevitably does, that I’m there to bail him out.” He pauses and looks up from
his careful placements of silver pearls in an intricate pattern around the base. Darcy discovered his
knack for this earlier and being incredibly impressed by his ability has put him in charge of the
design, and he seems to be finding the job extremely calming. “I don’t miss the killing. I mean if I
get a chance to take on Hydra, I will snap all of their necks, but I don’t really consider those
people human, they’re monsters. So it’s different.”

Darcy is nodding in agreement, “I’m the same, I love sparing, the excitement of the challenge, but
I hate taking lives. Although if anyone hurts my people, all bets are off.”

Bucky smiles at her, seemingly completely in tune with what she’s saying. “If you ever want to
spar, I’d be keen to train with you, you could probably teach me a few things. I know most of the
team probably would enjoy the chance to drill with a new style of fighter too.”

Darcy focuses on her piping icing around Bucky’s design, as his smile and compliment make a
light blush cross her cheeks. “That could be fun, I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Bucky presses curiously.

But Darcy deflects with another question. “Do you think… Do you think that if someone has
certain abilities, like for example Captain America.” Darcy shifts in her seat, trying to make this
question as non-obvious as possible but is acutely aware of how intensely Bucky is watching her.
“Take the Captain, do you think because of his abilities that working with the Avengers, saving
the world and hunting Hydra, that it’s something he must do? Rather than something he does
because he wants to and he can stop at any point he chooses too?”
Bucky mulls it over for little while, Darcy has almost given up hope of an answer when he finally
speaks. “I think it’s up to the individual. I think just because Steve signed up for the serum doesn’t
mean he has to dedicate his life to fighting evil, he has done more than enough already. He could
settle down and get married and raise a family and never throw another punch again. But the thing
is Doll, that’s not something Steve will ever choose to do, he is and has always been a fighter and
destroying Hydra is his personal mission. Even without the serum he’d be out there doing
whatever he could.”

Darcy is silent as she processes what Bucky said, she is about to ask another question when
Bucky interrupts her. “So what’s your favorite colour?” He diverts the conversation to nice non-
avengery things making Darcy obviously relax and pick her piping bag back up.

“Red.” Darcy answers empathically, “like a rose, or watermelon, or the English telephone boxes
or your star.” She points to his arm, before going a little shy and ducking back down to
concentrate on her icing. Jeez Darce, you didn’t have to explain what red was, the guy has seen
red before you idiot. “How about you?” She asks back.

“Blue.” Bucky answers immediately, “just like your eyes.” And before Darcy can reply he scoops
a bit of icing from the bowl on his finger and taps it on her nose.

“What!?” She laughs then she quickly leaps forward, giving him no chance to dodge, and rubs the
icing off her nose and onto his cheek. Both giggling they pause, their heads shifting closer.
Darcy’s focus flicks between his blue eyes, intent on her own, and his mouth, in the slightest pout
as it moves towards hers. She can see his gaze move to her lips, and she licks them delicately,
readying them for what is about to happen.

“Please forgive the intrusion, Sergeant Barnes, Miss Lewis, but the Avengers require your
assistance.” As the AI speaks, Bucky and Darcy jump back like they’ve had a bucket of cold
water thrown over them. Which essentially they have, as Darcy watches the professional mask of
the soldier shutter down Bucky’s face.

“What’s wrong FRIDAY?” Bucky demands as he heads to the door, Darcy following behind
quickly, cleaning her face with a paper towel she grabbed, offering it to Bucky so he can wipe the
icing off his cheek.

“A giant robot squid is attacking the city, and through a series of surprise attacks is managing to
do a lot of damage.” The AI explains as they follow the pathway it lights up sending them to the
tactical room, Darcy pauses, somewhat in awe, as she looks at all the weapons available.

“A giant robot squid? Where’s the Hulk?” Darcy questions as she quickly picks up her glocks,
extra ammo, and straps on her knives. She sees a double edged sword hanging on the wall, very
similar to a Katana blade, like the one she practiced with back at the temple. Going on impulse she
grabs it and straps it on her back.

“Dr Banner left New York the day Miss Lewis moved in.” FRIDAY tries to put it tactfully, “The
Doctor was uncertain how he would respond to a... ‘new housemate’ being in his living space.”

You mean potential Hydra agent, Darcy thinks as Bucky nods his approval at her choice of
weaponry.

“Dr Banner decided it would be best for all involved for him to have a retreat while the team got
to know Miss Lewis. This leaves you as the closest back up, the team from Washington were
already dealing with another incident so will not get here for another few hours.” FRIDAY
continues, “I will provide you a more thorough briefing on the journey there.”
Bucky has put on his gear, is checking his rifle, and loading his belt up with a few grenades and
other Stark tech. Darcy watches as he transforms into the Winter Soldier. He hands Darcy a
comms unit that she places in her ear, she checks the frequency and then nods at Bucky that she’s
ready to go, before heading to the helipad on the roof. The Stark-Helo that is waiting for them,
ready to go, is self piloted, lifting off immediately as soon as they sit down. Although Darcy could
fly it herself if she needed to, and she knows Bucky could too.

20 minutes after FRIDAY had first interrupted their cake decorating session they are on the
ground staring at a chuck of metal as big as a house. Tony flies over in his suit to greet them.

“That’s the thing that’s proving difficult for you to beat?” Bucky asks with disbelief.

“Oh you laugh now, but wait till it gets it’s tentacles unwrapped from its core and decides to crush
you.” Tony replies deadpan, Darcy winces as she sees a dent in Tony’s side armour. “Cap is
trying to come up with a plan to attack the core next time it unravels, I haven’t had enough time to
scan its structure properly yet so we’re flying blind here.” He zooms back up into the air, hovering
above the metal lump.

“Bucky, I need you on the north facing roof at your 3 o’clock with your rifle aimed at its centre.”
Darcy hears Captain Rogers’ order through her comm, because this is definitely the Captain
speaking, different from how he speaks around the Tower. Here, he is the one in charge, no
question. “Miss Lewis, I need you to clear the surrounding buildings of any left over civilians
through the building back entrances. Stark will scan and tell you where to find them.”

“Ten-Four.”

She responds the same time as Bucky says, “Affirmative.” They pause, sharing a look for a
microsecond, before turning and running in opposite directions.

Darcy rushes past the first building as Stark tells her over the comms it’s empty, the second
building she gets to he sends her to the third floor. She finds a single office worker hidden under
his desk, frozen in fear, clinging on for dear life. It takes a hard slap but it breaks him out of his
stupor and he quickly follows her down the stairs and into the back alley where he sprints like
mad away from the action and toward the police barricades. She empties two more buildings of
people before everything on her side of the street is empty and she rushes across the road to start
down the other side. Just as she’s entering the final building she has to clear, with at least five
people huddled together on the ground floor, the robot wakes up and Darcy sees why back up
was needed.

It’s tentacles unravel from around its core, and within seconds have smashed through the building
Darcy removed the single office worker from. It then shoots a tentacle up into the sky, making
Tony do some quick maneuvers to avoid being carved in two. His propulsion rays are apparently
useless against the metal as the tentacle keeps stabbing at him. She hears a rifle shot and then a
ding as it hits the core of the squid-thing, followed by a number of exploding arrows but there is
no reaction that it has affected the robot. Then, just as quickly as it unraveled, its tentacles wrap
back around itself and it goes still.

“Lewis, civilians!” Captain Rogers instructs over the comms, breaking Darcy out of her
bewildered daze as she hurries inside to do what she’s meant to be doing. She finds the group
clustered together in the huge industrial fridge at the back of the restaurant on the ground floor of
the building.

“As great as this is for a game of hide and go seek maybe you’d like to go somewhere a little
warmer? This way everyone.” She directs them out the back of the building and they all race off
down the alley toward the police who are cordoning off blocks to stop curious public and intrepid
journalists from getting any closer. Once the last person has crossed the barrier she gives the all
clear. “Ten-Twenty Four.” She says over the comms.

“Seriously Lewis, we’re not all police, we don’t know what all these numbers mean.” Tony
snarks at her over the comms.

“It means all clear.” Hawkeye translates.

“We need to figure out how to stop this thing!” Captain Rogers declares, “we haven’t even
managed to make a dent.”

“How did the electrocution go?” Darcy asks as she heads back to the street.

“My bites did nothing to it.” The Black Widow answers.

“Well it’s metal right?” Darcy asks again, scanning the closed up robot from a distance.

“Well some sort of alloy but the progression of the electric current didn’t get very far and the
shield hasn’t made a dimple.” Tony replies.

“So… water?” Darcy urges, as she runs to the fire hydrant in front of the building she’s just come
out of.

“Yes!” Tony yells, “break the fire hydrants and pool the water around the squid, then we can
electrocute it.”

“I don’t have any bites left!” The Black Widow calls.

“We’ll use the power line then, Stark can shoot it down once the robot is sitting in a puddle.
Lewis, get that hydrant next to you, I’ll get the one across the street.” The Captain instructs.

“Aye aye Captain.” Darcy hears a few sniggers to her response. She has a moment of glee as she
pulls the sword out of its sheath on her back, seeing the gorgeous metal glint with the sun and she
feels the familiar weight in her hands. It swings down cutting through the nozzle of the hydrant
like it’s butter. Water gushes out into the street, heading towards the robot. She jogs away putting
lots of space between her and what’s about to be a very deadly area shortly. She can see the
Captain slash through the hydrant on the opposite of hers with his shield before also moving away
from the area, running towards her.

Suddenly the robot wakes up again, and a tentacle zooms at the super solider.

“ON YOUR LEFT!” Hawkeye yells into the comms and the Captain dodges at the last
microsecond, and instead of the tentacle slicing him through the middle it misses him by an inch. It
quickly changes direction and knocks him on the head, he goes flying and lands on the ground,
not moving.

Darcy starts running towards his prone body. Voices are screaming in her ear for the Captain to
get up as the tentacle raises. Stark is trying to get to him but the other tentacles are attacking the
Avengers as a whole and there is no way through. There is no time to think as a tentacle rears up
and plunges down, preparing to smash the Captain like a bug. Darcy jumps on top of him and
raises her hands just as the tentacle reaches him.

A dome of white light appears just beyond the tips of Darcy’s fingers, it surrounds her and the
Captain and it stops the tentacle in it’s tracks.

“How’d you make that force field?” Stark demands, distracted for a moment by glow coming
 from her.

“The power line Tony!” Darcy screams at him, as the tentacle rebounds off the force field, and
comes down again, slamming against it hard. “Wake up Rogers WAKE UP!” She yells at the
Captain who is passed out cold.

“Sir, Captain Rogers internal injuries, are deadly for a normal human, and the internal bleeding
needs to be stopped immediately.” FRIDAY says over the comms.

“The water is getting close to them Stark!” Bucky shouts.

“Fuck!” Darcy exclaims as she moves one hand down to press against Steve’s chest, and for a
split second the force field disappears and the Captain becomes luminous.

“What the…?” He exclaims as he wakes up, completely healed, confused with seeing Darcy
sitting on him, even more confused when she quickly takes her hand off his chest and a white
vibrant bubble appears around them.

“Welcome back Cap.” She smiles exhaustedly, drained from exerting so much power. The
tentacle hits again, and this time she is physically jolted from the force of the blow, falling back
onto the Captain.

“TIMBER!” Tony hollers and Darcy hears the screeching of the power line falling.

“Barnes no!” Hawkeye shouts.

“The water is too close, run Stevie!” Bucky yells, closer than before.

Darcy looks towards his voice, her vision dulling as her capacity to keep the force field going
dwindles. She feels wind against her hair as the Captain picks her up in his arms and runs, her
sight wobbly, she sees the tentacle coming at them again. All of a sudden a dark figure jumps up
and is slamming into the tentacle pushing it off their course, there is a hum, and a spark where the
two meet. Then everything falls silent.

“BUCKY!” Steve screams, they quickly change direction, her head almost snapping with the
intensity of the turn, as he sprints them to his best friend.

“I cannot detect Sergeant Barnes’ heartbeat Sir.” FRIDAY intones through the comms.

Steve stumbles to his knees, Darcy lands on the ground next to Bucky’s body. She senses the
others running to them, she tries to crawl, but too weak to move herself, she flops forward on top
of Bucky, raising her hand to his heart, and pushes everything she has left, and more, into him.
The exclamations of surprise from the others barely register as Bucky is engulfed in a glow.

“Heartbeat steady.” FRIDAY declares, as Darcy’s head falls down on his stomach, her eyes open,
unseeing and unblinking. “Sir, Miss Lewis is going into cardiac arrest.”

Chapter End Notes

 In case it wasn't clear, Bucky hit the Tentacle just as the power line hit the water so
he was blasted with the electricity the same as the robot.

This chapter has been 2 years in the making, ever since I created this character I was
always working on how she would reveal herself to the Avengers.

I hope you enjoyed it and that you don't hate me :P xox

End Notes

Thanks for reading! xox

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