Chapter Text
Darcy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing her hair. She could hear the sound of the ocean through the open balcony window. If she concentrated enough, she could feel the ship moving, cutting through the water in the dark of the night to get to its destination port. It thrilled her, the ocean. She and Steve had spent hours on the topmost deck, watching the water, occasionally making out to the sounds of music the late night band played. One of the cruise passengers had requested a Korean song which Darcy had never heard before and now she couldn’t get the tune out of her head.
It had been the best day of her life. No work, no nosy friends, no responsibilities, no battle to fight… just her and Steve, being normal with hundreds of other normal faceless people on the ship. They were there legally this time, and their cabin was bigger. When Steve was in the early stages of planning a cruise vacation, Tony had jumped up and down with excitement, saying they could take his private yacht to the sea. But Darcy wanted the experience of a cruise ship, so Tony had offered to buy the entire cruise. Steve had shot that idea down as well, saying it was too much and that they wanted to be normal among other people. In the end, Tony couldn’t resist upgrading them to the balcony suite from their measly twin bedded inside cabin. They got free in-room service as well, which Darcy was pretty sure other passengers did not get.
She felt bad for not inviting Tony and Pepper along, especially since the power couple had gotten back together but Darcy knew Tony had a new mission and unless he was successful with it, he wouldn’t take any sort of vacation or days off.
His mission was to create Vision again.
When Thanos had come to Earth and the Avengers had assembled, Darcy hadn’t known what would happen or how long the fight would last. Initially, Thanos had been suspiciously calm with the heroes, asking for the Mind Stone and coolly letting them know what would happen if they declined to cooperate. Tony Stark and Wanda had planted themselves firmly before Vision, and Peter Quill had mouthed off to the Mad Titan and that’s when the fight had begun. It was sick how entertained Thanos had looked despite being pitched against so many superheroes. It almost seemed like he was playing a game, taunting them, like he was merely showing off his abilities to let them know what they were up against.
But then Colonel Rhodes had died, their first casualty, and Thanos had used that moment of shock to finally wield the Infinity Gauntlet and obliterate Thor from existence. It was shocking and more than surreal, seeing Thor disappear just like that. The battle after that point had been brutal and very, very long. Sitting in the underground communications room in the Avengers facility with Maria Hill and many others, Darcy had lost track of time waiting for her people to come back. She and Jane ate and slept in that room, their eyes mostly fixed on the grainy, broken footage that aired online—footage of the Avengers fighting the Mad Titan Thanos.
Darcy still had no idea how they had managed to defeat him. Thanos was no ordinary villain. He was strong, so strong and powerful that he had blown a giant crater right in the middle of New York where he had touched down, his enormous spaceship still hovering ominously above them all. Much of the surrounding area had been evacuated due to the warnings given at the press conference but the human casualty list had still been very long and New York had definitely needed to rebuild again after the battle. Poor city, always targeted.
“Darcy,” Steve’s voice from outside broke into her thoughts and she called back, “Coming… five minutes.”
Steve had been badly injured in the aftermath. So had Sam. Tony’s armor had been irreparably damaged. Clint had come out with several broken ribs and a fractured leg. Natasha had almost died—Groot had saved her. Drax had taken a direct hit to the head that had rendered him in coma for three weeks. Everyone had taken a hit, even the Hulk… even Thor who, in Thanos’ second attempt to coax the Avengers into giving up the Mind Stone, had miraculously been brought back to life. Even through the grainy online footage, it was painfully obvious how shaken up he had been about it.
The worst part of the battle, however, was seeing Vision die. Fierce, pitiless and torturous, his death had been a blow to everyone, especially Tony and Wanda. It had strengthened their resolve to keep fighting. Once Thanos had all the Stones, there was no stopping him. Seeing the battle play out on the screen before her, Darcy had begun to lose hope. She remembered what she had said to Steve in his room. I’m a hopeful person. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth and she hated how helpless she was in that moment.
Unsurprisingly, it was Scott and Wanda’s special powers that had ultimately tipped the scales in their favor. With Wanda’s energy manipulation and mind zapping and Scott’s ability to morph his body to the extreme size, they had managed to trick Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet had made it into the hands of Peter Quill. The man almost lost a hand wielding the Gauntlet to destroy the Mad Titan once and for all. If it had not been for his fellow Guardians, Gamora and Rocket, Quill would be dead.
It had been a sight to see, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy holding hands, standing in a circle around the Mad Titan, surrounded by a power bubble so strong that Darcy had wondered how they hadn’t all been electrocuted inside. When the bubble faded, the heroes stood alone in the circle and Thanos’ ashes lay on the ground, his body blown to smithereens. All the Infinity Stones had been destroyed as well, all except the Mind Stone which Quill and Tony had somehow managed to save. Tony intended to use it to bring back Vision.
“I couldn’t save Rhodey,” he had told Darcy later, his eyes red-rimmed and face determined. “But I can at least bring Vision back to us.”
Once the air had settled, King T’Challa had returned to his country and the Guardians left as well. Tony had helped them repair their ship. It had taken about three months and in that time, the five of them had bonded well with the Avengers. Darcy got along best with Peter Quill—the little shit—while Gamora and Natasha sat together, shaking their heads at the antics of Peter and Darcy. Thor left for Asgard as well but promised to return soon and this time, forever.
In a surprising turn of events, the UN agreed to amend the Sokovia Accords in favor of the enhanced. None of them knew what Pepper Potts had done or how the hell she had done it but she had set up a Stark Industries research division overnight which would be responsible for vetting threats, and the government would be informed about Avengers missions via mission reports once they were complete and the day had been saved. A PR team, personally overseen by Pepper, had also been assigned to the group.
Darcy had been asked to apply for a position in the PR department but she had turned it down, citing she was happy taking care of her scientists at the compound. Along with Erik and Jane, she had also welcomed Tony, Bruce and Helen Cho into her fold, and was pretty sure the five of them couldn’t live without her. Plus, Steve was at the compound and he liked to know Darcy was nearby if they needed each other. So a job at SI was never in her cards.
“Darcy,” Steve called again. “You’ve been in there for fifteen minutes! Do I need to rescue you from the shower curtain?”
Darcy rolled her eyes. That was one time, Steve, one time. She placed her hair brush on the sink and went to lean on the doorjamb. Steve was sitting on the bed, his back propped up comfortably against a pile of pillows and his legs stretched out before him. He was pouring red wine in a glass and looked up when he sensed her eyes on him.
“Why are you shouting?” asked Darcy.
“Why are you so far?”
She walked up to him and climbed over his legs, straddling him. “Better?”
He let his eyes roam over her, taking in the red negligee she was wearing, and skimmed his palms over the smooth silk. “Much better,” he replied huskily.
Darcy trailed her fingers down his face and leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek. “You talk to King T’Challa?” she asked, planting another kiss on Steve’s jaw.
“Why are we talking about him right now?”
“He was going to update us about Bucky’s progress, Steve, or have you forgotten?”
“Hmmm no,” he mumbled, trying to catch her lips with his. “I haven’t. But he messaged me earlier today. Said it would take another month but his doctors will definitely be able to deprogram him once and for all.”
“He won’t let Bucky speak with you?”
“No.”
“Have you talked to Tony?”
“Why are we talking about other people when you’re sitting in my lap wearing this red thing that I could very well rip apart with my littlest finger?”
Darcy regarded him silently and he stared back grumpily, his hands bunching the hem of her night dress and tugging roughly to prove his point. Deciding to tease him a bit more, she pressed herself against him and ghosted her lips over his until his eyes fluttered shut and his breathing quickened.
“Okay but can I call Jane?” she asked, pulling back abruptly. “I really need to talk to—ah, Steve !”
In the blink of an eye, Darcy found herself flat on the sheets with Steve on top of her. She laughed loudly when he lowered his head and blew a raspberry into her neck. He did that until she was screaming with mirth and begging him to stop.
“You still need to call Jane?”
“Well,” she began breathily and burst into giggles when he blew another raspberry on her skin. “No, no, God no!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure.”
“Good. Will you let me kiss you now?”
“Yes.”
“And you won’t interrupt until I’ve kissed you all over… several times?”
“Y-yes.”
“That’s my lil’ sidekick.”
Before Darcy could curse him for calling her that, his lips were on hers and his hand came up to rest some place very important to the both of them and all thoughts of reprimanding him for calling her a sidekick flew straight out of her head. In spite of the fact that Darcy had fallen in love with him, there was one thing that would never change—
Captain America was and would forevermore be an ass.