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seren_ccdTitle: You Might Need it Someday – Part Two
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seren_ccd
Fandom: Thor/The Avengers
Pairing/Characters: Darcy Lewis/Clint Barton, Jane/Thor
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual situations
Word Count: 15,600
Disclaimer: Not mine! The title comes from Heart’s What About Love?.
A/N: I cannot thank my incredible betas enough:aj and fringedweller, you guys rock my socks!
Summary: It all started because Clint’s a whistler and Darcy always liked 80s music. Lunch ensued.
Part One
The morning after Jane arrived, Darcy forcibly dragged her out of her new lab and straight to the cafeteria. She'd be worried about her cafeteria obsession, but seriously, that place was totally becoming her new spiritual home.
“First, we grab breakfast,” Darcy said heading for the baked goods. “Then, we confab.”
“Confab?” Jane said. “Has your vocabulary always been this good?”
“Yep,” Darcy said selecting a fruit bowl and a massive blueberry muffin. “But it’s really started to flourish lately.”
“I can tell,” Jane said going for the large chocolate muffin.
They got their coffee and went straight for a table already occupied by Pepper, Natasha and Val.
“Ladies, the incredible Dr. Jane Foster,” Darcy said as they sat down. “Einstein-Rosen Bridge re-creator extraordinaire.”
This was met with actual applause and grins from the other women, while Jane blushed. “I didn’t actually create it,” Jane said. “I just found it again.”
“Either way,” Darcy said. “You are brilliant and must be regarded as such. I think you met everyone yesterday.”
Jane nodded. “Hi.”
“Dr. Foster,” Pepper said. “I’d love to talk to you later about coming up with some possible uses for your discoveries with Stark Industries.”
Jane blinked. “Seriously? Stark Industries?”
Pepper nodded. “Oh, yes. We’d love to have first, well, dibs, if you will, on you. After SHIELD, of course,” she added after both Darcy and Natasha gave her a look.
“Um, yeah, yes!” Jane said smiling. She looked over at Darcy. “Yes?”
“Dude, it’s your break-through,” Darcy said. “You get to do what you want with it. You filled out those forms I sent you, right?”
“Ye-es,” Jane said.
“Then it’s yours,” Darcy said with a grin.
“Wow,” Jane said a smile spreading across her face. “I didn’t actually think about what I’d do past figuring out how to find the bridge. What do I do now?”
“You work,” Darcy, Pepper and Natasha said all at once. Val laughed out loud when they all looked at each other.
“Dr. Foster,” Val said, still smiling. “You’re in a very good position. You have something that a lot of people want and are willing to fund so you can keep doing what you do best. Just read over everything before you sign and don’t be afraid to say ‘no’. “
“Oh, I’m good at saying no,” Jane said before popping a piece of muffin in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “I just want make sure what I’m doing is going to actually make a difference.”
“It will,” Natasha said. “I’ve seen the preliminary development reports and what you’ve discovered is going to revolutionize a lot of technology.”
They heard a crowd of voices approaching the cafeteria and saw most of the male contingency of the Avengers stroll in. When Thor entered the smile he aimed at Jane was bright and blinding.
“Wow,” Pepper said under her breath, her brows rising in appreciation.
“I know, right?” Darcy said. “You should see him naked.”
Clint followed Bruce and when he saw Darcy he grinned.
“Well?” he called out across the room.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Keep trying.”
“Aw, come on,” he said looking crushed.
“Hey, I love Pat Benatar and I truly believe in the message of Billie Jean, because Fair is Fair, but she’s not my all-time fave,” she said shrugging.
“Fine,” he said walking backwards towards the others. “But I will get this, Lewis.”
“Whatever makes you happy, William,” she said.
He winked at her and she grinned as she picked up a slice of apple. As she bit into it, she realized that the other women were staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Pepper said not hiding a smile.
“I thought his name was Clint?” Jane asked.
“It is,” Natasha said. “She calls him William for William Tell.” Natasha smirked. “It’s cute.”
“Very cute,” Val agreed, smiling over her coffee.
“I don’t think I like any of you,” Darcy said narrowing her eyes.
Jane looked confused. “I thought you two were just friends?”
“We are,” Darcy said.
Val snickered. “Please. Darcy here is warm for his form.”
“Warm for his--,” Darcy stared at Val. “How the hell are you a contessa?”
“You’re a contessa?” Jane asked her eyes widening. “That’s an actual thing?”
Darcy just laughed at the look on Val’s face. Served her right. Warm for his form. As if.
Well.
She was.
But the whole world didn’t need to know that.
“Tell me I got it today?”
Darcy looked up from her phone and grinned at Clint. “Sorry. Although, I do love Siouxie Sioux. It’s always fun to wake up to a song with the phrase ‘jeepers creepers’ in it.”
“I aim to please,” he said taking his seat. She watched him get a handle on his Reuben and raised an eyebrow the sheer volume of roast beef in the middle, and the length of time he left it dipped in the sauce. Before he shoved it in his mouth, he asked, “Can I have a hint, though?”
Darcy thought for a moment. Then she looked down at her lunch, which consisted of a Greek salad and other nibbles from the salad bar, and grinned. “I think you just need a better understanding of cheese.”
“Cheese?” he said with his mouth full. “Really?”
“Now, cheese is an important part of a balanced diet,” she paused. “Except for those who’re lactose intolerant, but I understand there are some decent alternatives out there. But, for the purposes of today’s discussion, I’m going to disregard those.”
“You’ve really been enjoying writing up and giving those briefs, haven’t you?” Clint asked.
“I really have!” she said happily. “Who knew? Anyway. Cheese.”
“Cheese,” Clint said taking another bite of his Reuben.
“There are many types of cheese,” Darcy said. “Some are creamy and some are hard.”
“Heh. Dirty.”
“Shut up. All are good. But, only some stand the test of time,” Darcy said. “Only some can be used in many different settings.” She speared a piece of feta in her salad. “Take feta. A decent cheese, but not to everyone’s liking. A bit too sharp and some people have a problem with its texture.”
“Tell me about it,” Clint said eyeing the feta with distaste.
“Plebe. Now, one of my favorites, gruyere-“
“The stuff they use in the mac ‘n cheese that really pushes all your buttons?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff. Now, that’s a nice cheese, but not always what you want,” Darcy said. “Its flavor is extremely distinctive and sometimes a bit too strong.”
“Not too strong, got it,” Clint said submerging the remainder of his sandwich into the sauce before shoving it in his mouth.
“Then there’s Velveeta, which is just processed cheese. Cheese that has never experienced life and just comes from some vat,” Darcy said making a face. “Now, it’s got its place. And can be quite tasty. But, in essentials, it’s not going to make the grade and truly fulfill.”
“I should not be enjoying this as much as I am,” Clint said shaking his head. “Go on.”
“Thank you,” Darcy said. “Now, we come to the ultimate cheese. The cheese that can be used for everything. Cheddar. A good, hearty cheese that has history and different nuances to its flavor. It has lots of different varieties and always satisfies a craving for cheese.”
Clint just stared at her and Darcy wondered if her particular brand of wackadoodle was too much for him.
“You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought,” he said at last.
She shrugged. “I like to think.”
“That’s cool,” he said. “Thinking’s not really a big part of my life. Reaction’s always been more my line.”
“I’ve noticed,” Darcy said remembering watching the latest street battle. He’d done this leaping thing off of a building that had her holding her breath until he landed safely. “But, that’s important. So I think a lot. Big deal. I could never do what you guys do.”
“Sure you could,” he said around a bite of food. “You’re taking Natasha’s classes and Val’s teaching you about weapons. You’re learning.”
“Just to make myself more well-rounded,” she said and to his immense credit, his eyes did not leave her face to check out her rack.
He did grin, however as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Sooo, your band is the equivalent of a good Cheddar?” he asked changing the subject.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Darcy said after chewing and swallowing.
“Hunh,” he said. “I can work with that.”
“It’s a band that has history and is almost fundamental for your body to keep going,” Darcy said. “You’ve already gotten the gender. Finally.”
He said, “So, I’m looking for a band that has gravitas and substance as well as not being afraid to be, ah, cheesy.”
Darcy smiled. “Got it in one, William. And kudos for using gravitas in a sentence.”
“I blame you,” he said. “I never felt the need to try to impress anyone using words before.”
“Just used to flashing the guns at a girl and they swoon?” she said eyeing his arms and feeling the urge to leer coming on.
He laughed. “The ladies do like the gun show.”
“Oh, God,” Darcy groaned. “You kiss them and I’m outta here.”
She woke up the next day to the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket.
“Oooh, getting there, William,” she said and sang along as she headed to take her shower.
There were many places that Darcy considered sacred. Her shower was one. When she was in the shower, no one bothered her; that was her time. Past roommates learned this the hard way.
Another such place that inspired reverence in Darcy was a well-stocked office supply closet. She blamed it on visiting her mom’s office when she was a child and being given free reign with the pens, markers and paper clips.
Therefore, Darcy never considered it odd when going into a supply closet to take a moment to simply breathe in the atmosphere of clean, untouched notebooks, sticky notes and highlighters.
She was mid-sigh when Clint appeared behind her.
“Are you having a religious experience?” he asked.
“Almost,” she said, her eyes roaming over the shelves. “This is as close to bliss as I’m likely to get.”
“You need to get out more,” he said stepping into the closet.
“Bite me,” she said happily.
“I’m guessing you inside an Office Depot is a sight to behold?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said turning to him. “My personal nirvana.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said his mouth curving up into a smirk.
“Did you need something?” she asked. “And nice job with the Kate Bush this morning. Still not it, but very nice, just the same. I’m surprised you know her.”
“Hey, don’t let the flawless physique fool you,” he said. “I’ve got depth.”
“Ha! I’ll just bet you do,” she said snickering. She turned away and perused the shelves for more post-it flags and a new highlighter. “So, looking for something in particular?”
“Not really,” he said. “I was on my way to see Phil and could have sworn I heard the hallelujah chorus coming from in here.”
“Cute,” she said spotting the post-it flags and cursing the tall woman from admin who kept forgetting to put some a bit lower.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Nope,” Darcy said placing her foot on the bottom shelf and stretching upwards. “Got it.”
She wobbled a bit on her toes as her fingers tried to poke the flags off the shelf.
“Oh, yeah,” he said stepping up behind her. “This doesn’t spell disaster.”
“Please, I do this all the time,” she said, her voice rising a little when his hands settled on her waist. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Um, hi?”
“Hi, yourself,” he said grinning. “Get what you need and I’ll make sure you don’t fall over.”
“I’m not gonna fall over,” she said turning back to get her flags. “I think you’re taking advantage of a small, enclosed space and fulfilling your heroic tendencies.”
“Well, yeah. Of course, I am,” he said a goofy smile on his face while his fingers spread just a little wider on her waist, covering more area. “Steve doesn’t have the monopoly on heroics, you know.”
Darcy shook her head, trying to ignore how very, very good it felt to have him touch her. Little synapses she hadn’t been aware of were firing like crazy and voices were shouting in her head saying stuff like, “Yes! This guy!” and “More! More of this!” and “Forget the stationary and kiss him!” She startled herself with that last one and her fingers slipped a bit, and not only poked the flags off the shelf, but also caught a large stack of post-it notes.
She winced and braced for getting pelted by falling stationary, but instead felt herself being whirled around. Darcy opened her eyes in surprise and the first thing she saw was Clint staring at her with that smirk on his face.
“Uh?” she asked brilliantly.
“I told you this spelled disaster,” he said glancing over his shoulder at the fallen yellow post-its.
“They wouldn’t have hurt that much,” she said, her voice a lot softer than she would have preferred.
“Maybe not.” He just lowered his head to look her right in the eyes. “But, this way was more fun.”
Darcy discovered that she was staring at his lips and could not seem to stop. Her eyes flickered up to his to see if he’d noticed and was kind of gratified by the fact that his own eyes seemed to be doing the same flickering from her lips to her eyes. Feeling a bit out of her depth and overwhelmed, Darcy nervously rubbed her lips together, which had an interesting impact on Clint’s eyes as they did this darkening thing and his own lips parted.
Oh. Wow, she thought. I think I’d really like it if he kissed me.
“Lewis!”
Clint jerked away from her so fast, she felt dizzy and had to grab onto a shelf.
“What?” she said softly. Then she realized who’d called her. “Oh!”
She stepped out into the hallway and rushed back towards her desk. “Director Fury. Sir. You called?”
Fury stood beside to her desk and glared. “You do know that you work for me?”
“Ah. Is this a trick question?” she asked, her equilibrium shot to hell and back and aware that most of her brain power was still trying to work out what had almost happened in the supply closet.
“No, this is not a trick question,” Fury said. “You do know that you work for me, correct?”
“Yes. Yes, sir, I do know that, sir,” she said nodding a bit frantically. “And I’m happy to continue to do so.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “So, since we’ve established that you do know that you work for me and you want to keep working for me, perhaps you might let your little friend know that I do not appreciate having my personal files hacked into and perused like they are her own personal subscription to Vanity Fair!”
Aw, crap. Val, what did you do? Darcy thought.
“I honestly do not know what you are talking about,” Darcy said, but quickly added when Fury’s glare intensified, “However, I will surely inform all that I know that your personal files are off limits. Beyond off limits. So far off limits they don’t actually even reside in this plane of existence.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it. And while you are informing all you know this particular fact, would you be so kind to tell them that if they wish to know more about me, they should just man up and ask next time.”
I think I’m being asked to pass on a note in class, Darcy thought. This is really weird.
“I will certainly relay your message to the appropriate people, sir,” Darcy said.
“See that you do,” Fury said with a nod. He stalked off and Darcy let out a sigh of relief.
“Val,” she said under her breath. Then she dashed back to the supply closet and saw that it was empty; her post-it flags stacked neatly at eye level. She stared at the flags. He almost kissed her. She almost let him.
But, we’re just friends, she thought plaintively. Friends don’t kiss.
“Okay,” she said to the flags. “It’s fine. I’m not freaking out about this at all. Nope. Not me. Not at all.”
Except for how she totally was.
As most things in life, the particular situation Darcy found herself in a few days later could totally be blamed on Tony Stark.
That thought made her dig her fingers even harder into the forearm that was currently holding her in a choke-hold while the bad guy holding her yelled at everyone else in the room.
She’d just needed clarification on a section of Tony’s latest research, because she couldn’t tell if he’d finally superseded his own genius or if it was a series of serious typos.
Darcy’d handed the printed version over to him with a, “For the love of God, Stark, not everything needs to be capitalized.”
“What? It reflects my inner exuberance,” Tony said as he took the page from her hands. “And wow. I…do not remember writing this.”
“So…typos?” she offered.
“Possibly,” he said. He cocked his head to the side. “Although that bit right there kinda makes sense.”
Darcy had opened her mouth to tell him to hurry it up, because she had a deadline, but she was cut off by the klaxons going off and a guy in all black burst into the room right behind her.
“I will not fail in my mission!” the guy yelled. Darcy had had no time to react before her hair was grabbed and (god damn it, she was never wearing her hair in ponytail ever again) was pulled out of the room.
She’d done her best and fought the asshole as best as she could while being dragged down the hallway. She was pretty sure the crack she’d heard was his nose breaking and the fact that blood was splattered across her shoulder while he yelled at everyone else gave her a perverse sort of satisfaction.
But then he'd gotten hold of her wrist and twisted it up and around her back in a way that'd made her cry out. Basically, she was trapped.
They’d ended up in one of the large training rooms with a whole passel of agents and superheroes surrounding them.
Yep. Totally Tony Stark’s fault, she thought grimacing as more blood fell onto her blouse while the guy yelled at everyone some more.
The bad guy had run out of room and was backed up against the wall, but he kept moving Darcy back and forth so no one could get a good shot in.
Her eyes caught Val’s at one point and the other woman re-adjusted her grip on her gun. Darcy saw Thor, Steve and Natasha practically vibrating on their toes and Coulson looked even more impassive than ever which meant he was furious.
She didn’t see Clint; which hurt almost as much as the grip the bad guy had on her wrist.
Coulson finally said, “Your colleagues have given up and left you here. There’s no way out. Let her go.”
The bad guy actually snarled and Darcy cringed and really wished she had her taser and then she heard it:
A short, sharp whistle of the William Tell Overture above everyone’s head.
Darcy grinned widely, then let her body go limp. The bad guy lost his grip on her in surprise and as she fell to the ground she heard the whisper of an arrow flying through the air, followed by a hollow thud.
She didn’t look behind her; she just let Val help her to her feet.
“Honey, are you okay?” Val asked looking at all the blood on her shirt.
“Yeah,” Darcy said, letting herself shake a bit. “It’s not mine. I think I got him in the nose.”
“You did,” Natasha said from behind them. “Nice job.”
Darcy huffed out something like a laugh. “Thanks.” Then she turned around to finally look at the asshole who honestly thought breaking into the Institute was a good idea. She frowned.
He was pretty non-descript: sandy-brown-hair, brown eyes, round face. He was also still alive. An arrow was holding him to the wall by way of his shoulder.
“You okay?” Clint asked.
She turned her head quickly, both startled at his silent approach and glad to see him. She turned a bit too fast because her head swam a bit and she swayed on her feet. He immediately reached a hand out to steady her. His hand on her waist was warm and large and she felt like swooning for a whole new set of reasons that had nothing to do with the blood on her blouse and the ache in her neck.
“Yeah,” she said nodding and wincing at the motion. “I’m okay.”
Clint frowned and she saw his grip on his crossbow tighten. He just stared at her neck and her very gross blouse.
She frowned again. “Hey. You missed.”
His gaze snapped up from glaring at her neck (and she couldn’t wait to see the rainbow of bruises in her mirror the next day) to meet her eyes.
“No, I didn’t,” he said evenly.
“You didn’t?” she asked glancing back at the guy who was moaning and groaning in pain while Natasha ruthlessly pulled out the arrow.
“Coulson wanted him alive,” he said in a grim voice that she’d never heard before.
“Oh,” she said. “So…you didn’t miss?”
His eyes met hers again. “No, I didn’t miss. I wouldn’t miss.”
Oh. Oh. Well.
Darcy wanted to say something. Anything. Anything at all. Like ‘thank you’ or ‘I think I might be in love with you’ or ‘I had a dream about you where you were mowing the lawn at my parents’ house, is that a metaphor for something, do you think?’
But before she could say anything, Val was back and wrapping someone’s jacket over her shoulders and saying something about a shower. She tore her eyes away from Clint’s to acknowledge Val and when the warm hand disappeared from her waist, she looked back to see him walking away to talk to Coulson.
“—shower fixes everything. Darcy? Girl, are you sure you’re okay?” Val asked.
Darcy shook her head. “I really don’t think I am.”
She let her head fall onto Val’s shoulder as they left the training room.
Her song the next morning was Eternal Flame by the Bangles and Darcy decided that enough was enough. She got up and got dressed and was out her door in a matter of minutes.
Darcy paused just outside of Clint’s door and wondered, not for the first time, what she was doing.
I’m just thanking him for saving my life, she thought. That’s all. No big. Right? Right.
She lifted her hand to knock.
“He’s not in,” Bruce’s voice came from down the hall, startling her.
“Sweet Jesus on a motorbike,” Darcy said her hand pressed to her chest. She turned to look at Bruce. “I think you need a collar with a bell on it.”
Bruce blinked. Then said, “I’ve never been told that before, I have to say. But, yeah. Clint’s not here.”
Her hand still pressed to her chest, she asked, “Is he alright? Where is he?”
“Mission,” Bruce said coming closer. “In, uh, Dubai, I think.”
“Oh,” Darcy said eyeing Clint’s door and making a face.
“He’ll be back in a day or two,” Bruce said. “I think it’s a re-con thing. Not a full scale battle thing.”
Darcy glanced at him. “They really need to get you a copy of the User’s Guide to Battle Lingo.”
“I’ll put it on my next requisition list,” Bruce said with a sheepish smile. “Underneath the collar with a bell attached.”
Darcy tried to smile back but must have only made a creepy face because Bruce looked worried.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He eyed her bruised throat. “You look a little, um…”
“Beaten up? Rough? Awful? Gross?” Darcy offered as she slouched against Clint’s door. “Yes. All of the above.”
“I heard about yesterday,” Bruce said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
To Darcy’s absolute disgust, she found herself tearing up.
“Oh whoa, hey now, uh,” Bruce said looking panicked. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Ugh, yes,” Darcy said covering her face with her hands, sending her glasses askew. “Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve totally missed something? Like, you’ve been doing stuff and you can remember it all, but it’s actually sort of hazy when you look back on it and it was you, but it wasn’t you at the same time? It was this alternative you that you had no idea you were projecting? But it wasn’t a completely alternative you, it was still you?”
She dropped her hands and looked at him. He just stared back at her for a second, and then lifted his hand in a wave. “Hi. I’m Bruce Banner.”
“Oh, crap,” Darcy said covering her face again with her hands. “Sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m just all over the place today.”
“Is this about what happened yesterday?” Bruce asked taking another step closer. “You’re going to talk to someone about it, right?”
“I’ve got an appointment with the shrink tomorrow afternoon at two pm sharp,” Darcy said dropping her hands. “And it’s not yesterday. It’s everything.”
Bruce frowned and leaned against the wall nearby. “You’re not worried about your job, are you? Because I can finally understand all the reports that Tony writes now, thanks to you.”
“You couldn’t before?” Darcy asked. “I thought you were a brain.”
“Oh, it wasn’t the concepts I had a problem with,” Bruce said. “It was the stream of consciousness style of writing. I never really got into the whole post-modernism thing.”
Darcy chuckled. “Then you should avoid the latest article going around about the symbolism of the Hulk and what it means for the modern world.”
Bruce looked like he smelled something rotten and Darcy grinned.
“That really disturbs me,” he said pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Yeah. Whatever you do, don’t read the comments,” Darcy said.
“Got it,” Bruce said shaking his head and sighing. “Anyway, it’s not your job, is it?”
“No, it’s not my job,” Darcy said her head falling back against the door with a thud. “I love my job. I love you guys. It’s amazing here. He’s a hard guy, but Coulson is the best boss ever. I’m thinking of getting him one of those mugs that says ‘Number 1 Boss’ on the side.”
“I’d like to be there when you give it to him,” Bruce said.
“I know, right?” Darcy said. “So, no it’s not my job.”
Bruce nodded. “So, then it’s Clint?”
Darcy’s face heated up and she looked down at the floor.
“Ah. It’s Clint,” Bruce said. “Well, um, he, ah, likes you? If that helps?”
Darcy looked over at him and couldn’t stop her grin when she saw how uncomfortable he looked. “He does? Does he talk about me in the locker room?”
“Kinda yeah,” Bruce said rubbing his jaw.
“No way! He does?” Darcy asked turning to face him, still leaning on the door with her shoulder. “I was totally kidding.”
“Oh well, he does. Talk about you. Nothing racy,” he added quickly. “Just about what you said or did or, um, wore.”
“I knew it!” Darcy said pointing a finger at him. “You guys are a bunch of old hens. That’s just priceless. So he likes me?”
“Oh yeah,” Bruce said. “A lot.”
“Oh,” Darcy said smiling. “Good.” She stopped smiling. “I think I’ve been doing it all wrong, though.”
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Everything?” she offered. “I let it get weird and it didn’t need to get weird. So now everything’s…”
“Weird?”
“Yeah.”
“Darcy.” Bruce’s tone was serious, so she looked over at him. “We hang around with a guy who was frozen for seventy years, another guy who wears a metal suit and flies, and I turn into a giant, green hulk of rage. Weird is what we do. Apparently.”
She smiled. “You’re a very good guy, Bruce. Thanks.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened and so did hers. “Oh, no! I didn’t like, trigger something? How’s your heart rate?”
“Elevated, but not critical,” Bruce said honestly. “It’s okay.”
“Good,” Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t have my taser with me.”
“I hate to say it, but I don’t know that it’d do any damage,” Bruce said. He turned thoughtful. “We might have to try that some time, though.”
“Not with me in the room, buddy,” Darcy said.
“Naturally,” he said still sounding thoughtful. “Are you feeling better?”
“Meh,” she said shrugging her shoulders. Which was true. It felt pretty darn good to know that Clint actually liked her, but she still had to do something about it.
“Well, I was going to go meditate,” Bruce said slowly. “I don’t know if that’s your kind of thing, but it can help to put things into perspective and calm your thoughts down.”
Darcy thought for a moment, then nodded her head. “Sure. I’ll try anything once. And my thoughts could definitely do with being slowed down. Thanks!”
For the record, meditation was not her thing. But there were a few moments when she could actually feel her breathing and her mind did sort of focus. But then her nose itched and she scratched and Bruce sighed heavily and Darcy apologized and left the room.
She’d definitely consider trying it again. Only maybe without the company of a guy who depended on it for his and others well-being.
A few days later, when five-thirty rolled around, Darcy got up from her desk to go drop off the late afternoon batch of reports into the mail room. She was halfway to the elevator when she realized that she’d forgotten to check Coulson’s desk for anything he’d needed to send out. With a massive sigh that was far louder than it needed to be, she turned around and headed back to her desk.
She stopped abruptly when she saw who was standing next to her desk and took in what he was doing. Her jaw dropped.
“No freakin’ way!” she said loudly. “You? Really?”
Coulson barely spared her a glance as he continued to program what she assumed was her next morning’s wake-up call onto her phone. “Yes. Me. Really. Frankly, I expected you to figure it out sooner.”
Darcy just stared at him.
Finally she asked, “But why?”
“Because Agent Barton asked me to and in return, he promised to turn all of his paperwork in on time and in accurate condition,” Coulson said. “It seemed like a fair exchange.”
“Okay,” Darcy said putting her hands on her hips. “But… Why?”
He stopped and looked at her. “A very smart man once told me that a very wise man told him to be sure to take time to treat yourself to a present every day. Whether that is a good cup of coffee, a moment reading a good book or” - he held up her phone – “playing DJ for a colleague.”
Darcy watched him finishing tapping on her phone. Her eyes narrowed and she said, “You’re a bit of dark horse, aren’t you, Phil?”
Coulson smiled and handed her the phone. “Sweet dreams, Miss Lewis.”
Then he walked back into his office while Darcy stared at the phone.
Darcy didn’t sleep very well that night. And considering the glasses of red wine she’d drunk while watching all the Liv Tyler movies (Empire Records, Stealing Beauty, Armageddon - but only because it was on TNT, again), this wasn’t really surprising. So, she was awake when her alarm went off.
When the chorus of What About Love by Heart came on, she let out a laugh of delight.
“He actually got it,” she said out loud. “How the hell did he get it?”
She sat up and picked up her phone and, as it had become something of a habit these days, she stared at it. She stared at it so long that the alarm popped back on after the usual five-minute snooze.
“Ugh!” she said, turning it off and then tapping Val’s number.
“This had better be of the utmost importance, Darcy,” Val’s voice was lower than usual with sleep.
“He got it,” Darcy said. “He got my band. He figured it out. How did he figure it out?”
“Because you’ve been dropping hints for the last few weeks and because he likes you and isn’t dumb,” Val said. “Go get him.”
“What do you mean ‘go get him’?” Darcy asked.
“I mean, go get the guy you’re crazy about and kiss him on his mouth and then do whatever comes naturally,” Val said.
Darcy didn’t say anything.
“Darcy?” Val said sounding worried.
“I’m nervous, Val,” she said. “I really do like him.”
“I know you do,” Val said. “And you were nervous the first time you fired a gun and when you gave your first briefing. But you did it and you can do this.”
“You’re right,” Darcy said throwing off her covers. “I can. I want to.”
“Good girl,” Val said. “What are you going to say?”
“Jesus, I have no idea. I’m making this up as I go along, Val,” Darcy said getting out of bed and grabbing a hoodie.
“Honey, that’s what everyone does,” Val replied with a chuckle. “Welcome to being an adult and starting a relationship.”
There was a muffled snort right after Val spoke that did not come from her. Darcy stopped her search for her slippers and asked, “Val, are you alone?”
There was a pause and then Val said, “As an adult, I exercise the right to not answer that.”
“Uh hunh,” Darcy said with a grin. “Well, I’ll let you get back to, ah, exercising your rights. Thanks, pretty lady.”
“Go get your man, dollface,” Val said before hanging up.
“Get my man,” Darcy said under her breath as she gave up on the search for her slippers and settled on her flipflops. “I can do that. Yeah.”
She grabbed her phone, rushing out of her room and heading towards Clint's. She passed Bruce on his way to the elevator and she gave him a big grin and a wink.
“Mornin’, Bruce!” she called.
“Morning, Darcy,” he said grinning back. “Good luck!”
She waved her phone at him and continued down the hall to Clint’s door. After checking to see that Bruce had gone on and squaring her shoulders, she knocked on the door.
Clint opened it after a few seconds.
“Hey,” he said the corners of his mouth quirking up. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’m fine.” Darcy suddenly found it hard to speak, so she held up her phone.
Clint looked at it and then at her and gave her a full smile. “Did I get it?”
Darcy nodded and took a deep breath. “I am here to acknowledge your brilliance and all-around awesomeness.”
He grinned. “You better come in, then.”
His room was spare but not empty, Darcy noticed. There were a few too many dishes in the sink, but the sofa looked soft and comfortable and magazines were strewn about the coffee table.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked coming to stand next to her and looking around his apartment. “Not that I’ve got much. Coffee. Probably.”
“No, no, I’m good. Do you like me?” she asked all in rush. She mentally slapped her forehead with her hand.
“Uh, yeah,” he said looking at her and starting to smile. “Yeah, I like you a lot.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, pleased that she didn’t collapse on the floor in relief. “I like you, too.”
“Well, that’s…good?” he asked furrowing his brow and chuckling. “I mean, you don’t look like it’s good.”
“It is,” Darcy said quickly. “It so is. I’m just kind of a dork about this stuff. I mean, all the lunches and stuff. Were we, um, like pre-dating?”
He made a face and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kinda, yeah. I thought we were heading that way. Are you here to tell me we weren’t?”
“No!” she said loudly. “No, we so were heading that way. I just. Ugh, God. I just didn’t realize that we were.
Clint just looked at her and she sighed.
“I just didn’t think you’d be into me that way,” she said. Then she scrunched her face up, because that sounded dumb. “Ugh. Not that I don’t have a good opinion of myself, but because I’m not, you know…”
She flapped her hands a little.
“You’re not what?” he asked sounding really confused.
“Look, you dated Natasha. The Black Widow!” she said. “That’s so not me.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t really dating,” he said looking uncomfortable and kind of embarrassed. “More like a lot of angry sex.”
Darcy closed her eyes. “Not. Helping.”
“Right. Sorry.” Suddenly he was standing right in front of her with his hands cupping her face. “You are incredible. You are totally nonplussed by all of this superhero stuff and you are like a walking encyclopedia of pop culture and big words and yeah. I really like you, Darcy.” He grinned. “Not to mention that you’re fucking hot.”
“Wow,” Darcy said fighting the urge to dissolve into a puddle at his feet. “I am really bad at reading signals. Have you been flirting with me?”
“Yes,” he said nodding seriously. “I have.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said.
“Is that all right?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’ve been flirting with you, too. But I didn’t realize I was flirting with you. I thought I was just being myself. Not that being myself is a big flirt. I was just talking to you and I like talking to you. But then it took on this whole new level of meaning every time I talked to you and now I’m rambling.”
“You are,” he said. “But, it’s great. And see? All this freaking out is what happens when you think too much.”
“Good point,” Darcy said. “So, back when I started to wonder what it might be like to kiss you, I should have just kissed you?”
“Yes,” he said smirking. “You definitely should have just kissed me. Actually, you know what?” He stepped in close. “No more thinking.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. At first gently and softly, but when she made a tiny noise and her hands grabbed at his waist, the kiss deepened.
“Oh, baby,” Clint breathed against her lips when he pulled away briefly.
“More,” she said rising up on her toes to nip at his bottom lip.
He let out a proper groan before covering her mouth with his. It wasn’t until several minutes later that his phone rang, Def Leppard’s Armageddon It signaling that it was Steve calling.
He groaned as he lifted his head from hers and Darcy immediately started to kiss his throat while he answered his phone.
“Hey, Cap,” Clint said his hand sliding down to massage her ass. “Yeah, I’m gonna miss this morning’s workout. Yeah. I gotta make a lot of love to Darcy. Cool? Thanks.”
He hung up and threw the phone on his counter. Darcy burst out laughing. “You asshole! He’s going to explode from blushing!”
“Invincible, remember,” he said before kissing her.
She sighed into his mouth and hitched her leg on his hip then shifted her pelvis against him, which produced a very decent groan from the back of his throat. He pulled back enough to say, “Well, hello.”
“Hi yourself,” she said shifting her pelvis again.
“Fuck, baby,” he said pressing his forehead to hers. “I was kidding, you know. On the phone. We don’t have to do anything other than this.”
“You’re such a sweetheart. But, I’ve been wanting to do bad things to you for a while now,” she said next to his ear before nipping at his lobe. “We’re so gonna do it now.”
“Thank God,” he said before hitching her up fully against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on as he went straight to the bedroom.
Darcy sighed sleepily from her position curled around Clint and dragged her foot along his calf.
“Hey,” he mumbled against her forehead. “Don’t tease.”
“Who says I’m teasing?” she asked, but her statement was derailed by a yawn.
He chuckled and let his hand drift lazily down her back.
Darcy gave his shoulder an Eskimo kiss with her nose and sighed again. She still had little tingles of pleasure running through her system. Clint’s arms were everything they’d promised, and the man knew his way around ladyparts.
Not to mention, the actual sexin’ itself. Forget diamonds, girth was a girl’s best friend. Remembering just how incredible he felt inside of her, Darcy shifted against him once again and tilted her face up to kiss his chin.
He hummed and bent his head to kiss her, a slow, steady, lazy kiss that had Darcy almost ready to climb on top of him again.
“So, why Heart?” he asked softly after a few minutes.
“Kickass sisters with great voices who play their own instruments, sing about love and men and who totally rock?” Darcy said. “What’s not to like?”
“Fair enough,” he said. “I always liked Barracuda.”
“I was thinking of making that Natasha’s ringtone on your phone, but I like my face as it is,” Darcy said.
He nuzzled said face. “So do I.”
This led to another round of lazy kisses.
“Hey,” Darcy said when they stopped. “Do you realize we could have been doing this instead of having lunch?”
He grinned. “Yeah. But I like our lunches.”
“Me, too,” Darcy said grinning back. She propped her head up on his chest. “You know, I actually have forty-five minutes for lunch. We can easily have a quickie and eat in that amount of time.” She narrowed her eyes. “The quickie first. Sex after eating fast never ends well.”
“See? This is what I love about you,” he said smoothing his hand over her hair. “Deviant and organized.”
“Love?” she asked surprised.
“Yeah,” he said. “Love.”
She smiled. “Cool. Same here.”
Then she did what she’d been wanting to do for a while, which was climb on top of him and get round two started.
It has to be noted that he woke her up later by singing Magic Man and running his hands all over body, lingering especially on her chest.
Let’s get high awhile, indeed, she thought before they headed into round three.
Epilogue
“You do know that Val is going to be very upset with you?” she said holding tightly to his hand, her other hand adjusting the blindfold he’d put on once they’d gotten into the cab. “I’m missing target practice.”
“You can make it up tomorrow,” he said. “We’re being bad. Enjoy it.”
“Ooh, how bad?” she asked, her hand sliding around his waist towards his ass.
He chuckled. “Not quite that bad, baby. We’re in public, I’m afraid.”
“Yeah, I do hear a fair amount of people,” she said scrunching up her face, trying to loosen the blindfold. “Where the hell are we, William?”
She felt him move around her so that he was hugging her waist from behind. His voice came from right next to her ear. “You mean you can’t tell?” he asked.
Darcy closed her eyes behind the blindfold and tilted her head to listen. It was a big space, because the sounds seemed to echo. She heard shopping carts and it sort of smelled like…
“Oh, holy crap, did you bring me to Office Depot?” she asked loudly.
He chuckled and kissed her neck. “Yep.” He removed her blindfold and Darcy blinked staring at the massive Office Depot.
“You are such a gomer,” she said turning in his arms and pulling his face down for a kiss.
“Hey, it’s our first date,” he said. “Gotta make an impression, right? We’re going for fondue later.”
Darcy laughed. “Because of the cheese?”
“Yeah and because Steve kinda insisted that it was something he would’ve done,” Clint said. He pressed his forehead to hers. “What do you think?”
“I think that you’re a dork and I’m a lucky girl and you’re a lucky guy who’s going to get very lucky later on tonight,” she said.
“Lucky, lucky me,” he said in the low voice that gave her happy shivers.
“Come on,” she said taking his hand and walking backwards. “Let’s scope out all the notebooks and try out all the pens. Then let’s see how many desk chairs we can make out in before they kick us out.”
They managed six before someone came over.
Author:
seren_ccdFandom: Thor/The Avengers
Pairing/Characters: Darcy Lewis/Clint Barton, Jane/Thor
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual situations
Word Count: 15,600
Disclaimer: Not mine! The title comes from Heart’s What About Love?.
A/N: I cannot thank my incredible betas enough:
aj and fringedweller, you guys rock my socks!Summary: It all started because Clint’s a whistler and Darcy always liked 80s music. Lunch ensued.
Part One
The morning after Jane arrived, Darcy forcibly dragged her out of her new lab and straight to the cafeteria. She'd be worried about her cafeteria obsession, but seriously, that place was totally becoming her new spiritual home.
“First, we grab breakfast,” Darcy said heading for the baked goods. “Then, we confab.”
“Confab?” Jane said. “Has your vocabulary always been this good?”
“Yep,” Darcy said selecting a fruit bowl and a massive blueberry muffin. “But it’s really started to flourish lately.”
“I can tell,” Jane said going for the large chocolate muffin.
They got their coffee and went straight for a table already occupied by Pepper, Natasha and Val.
“Ladies, the incredible Dr. Jane Foster,” Darcy said as they sat down. “Einstein-Rosen Bridge re-creator extraordinaire.”
This was met with actual applause and grins from the other women, while Jane blushed. “I didn’t actually create it,” Jane said. “I just found it again.”
“Either way,” Darcy said. “You are brilliant and must be regarded as such. I think you met everyone yesterday.”
Jane nodded. “Hi.”
“Dr. Foster,” Pepper said. “I’d love to talk to you later about coming up with some possible uses for your discoveries with Stark Industries.”
Jane blinked. “Seriously? Stark Industries?”
Pepper nodded. “Oh, yes. We’d love to have first, well, dibs, if you will, on you. After SHIELD, of course,” she added after both Darcy and Natasha gave her a look.
“Um, yeah, yes!” Jane said smiling. She looked over at Darcy. “Yes?”
“Dude, it’s your break-through,” Darcy said. “You get to do what you want with it. You filled out those forms I sent you, right?”
“Ye-es,” Jane said.
“Then it’s yours,” Darcy said with a grin.
“Wow,” Jane said a smile spreading across her face. “I didn’t actually think about what I’d do past figuring out how to find the bridge. What do I do now?”
“You work,” Darcy, Pepper and Natasha said all at once. Val laughed out loud when they all looked at each other.
“Dr. Foster,” Val said, still smiling. “You’re in a very good position. You have something that a lot of people want and are willing to fund so you can keep doing what you do best. Just read over everything before you sign and don’t be afraid to say ‘no’. “
“Oh, I’m good at saying no,” Jane said before popping a piece of muffin in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “I just want make sure what I’m doing is going to actually make a difference.”
“It will,” Natasha said. “I’ve seen the preliminary development reports and what you’ve discovered is going to revolutionize a lot of technology.”
They heard a crowd of voices approaching the cafeteria and saw most of the male contingency of the Avengers stroll in. When Thor entered the smile he aimed at Jane was bright and blinding.
“Wow,” Pepper said under her breath, her brows rising in appreciation.
“I know, right?” Darcy said. “You should see him naked.”
Clint followed Bruce and when he saw Darcy he grinned.
“Well?” he called out across the room.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Keep trying.”
“Aw, come on,” he said looking crushed.
“Hey, I love Pat Benatar and I truly believe in the message of Billie Jean, because Fair is Fair, but she’s not my all-time fave,” she said shrugging.
“Fine,” he said walking backwards towards the others. “But I will get this, Lewis.”
“Whatever makes you happy, William,” she said.
He winked at her and she grinned as she picked up a slice of apple. As she bit into it, she realized that the other women were staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Pepper said not hiding a smile.
“I thought his name was Clint?” Jane asked.
“It is,” Natasha said. “She calls him William for William Tell.” Natasha smirked. “It’s cute.”
“Very cute,” Val agreed, smiling over her coffee.
“I don’t think I like any of you,” Darcy said narrowing her eyes.
Jane looked confused. “I thought you two were just friends?”
“We are,” Darcy said.
Val snickered. “Please. Darcy here is warm for his form.”
“Warm for his--,” Darcy stared at Val. “How the hell are you a contessa?”
“You’re a contessa?” Jane asked her eyes widening. “That’s an actual thing?”
Darcy just laughed at the look on Val’s face. Served her right. Warm for his form. As if.
Well.
She was.
But the whole world didn’t need to know that.
“Tell me I got it today?”
Darcy looked up from her phone and grinned at Clint. “Sorry. Although, I do love Siouxie Sioux. It’s always fun to wake up to a song with the phrase ‘jeepers creepers’ in it.”
“I aim to please,” he said taking his seat. She watched him get a handle on his Reuben and raised an eyebrow the sheer volume of roast beef in the middle, and the length of time he left it dipped in the sauce. Before he shoved it in his mouth, he asked, “Can I have a hint, though?”
Darcy thought for a moment. Then she looked down at her lunch, which consisted of a Greek salad and other nibbles from the salad bar, and grinned. “I think you just need a better understanding of cheese.”
“Cheese?” he said with his mouth full. “Really?”
“Now, cheese is an important part of a balanced diet,” she paused. “Except for those who’re lactose intolerant, but I understand there are some decent alternatives out there. But, for the purposes of today’s discussion, I’m going to disregard those.”
“You’ve really been enjoying writing up and giving those briefs, haven’t you?” Clint asked.
“I really have!” she said happily. “Who knew? Anyway. Cheese.”
“Cheese,” Clint said taking another bite of his Reuben.
“There are many types of cheese,” Darcy said. “Some are creamy and some are hard.”
“Heh. Dirty.”
“Shut up. All are good. But, only some stand the test of time,” Darcy said. “Only some can be used in many different settings.” She speared a piece of feta in her salad. “Take feta. A decent cheese, but not to everyone’s liking. A bit too sharp and some people have a problem with its texture.”
“Tell me about it,” Clint said eyeing the feta with distaste.
“Plebe. Now, one of my favorites, gruyere-“
“The stuff they use in the mac ‘n cheese that really pushes all your buttons?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff. Now, that’s a nice cheese, but not always what you want,” Darcy said. “Its flavor is extremely distinctive and sometimes a bit too strong.”
“Not too strong, got it,” Clint said submerging the remainder of his sandwich into the sauce before shoving it in his mouth.
“Then there’s Velveeta, which is just processed cheese. Cheese that has never experienced life and just comes from some vat,” Darcy said making a face. “Now, it’s got its place. And can be quite tasty. But, in essentials, it’s not going to make the grade and truly fulfill.”
“I should not be enjoying this as much as I am,” Clint said shaking his head. “Go on.”
“Thank you,” Darcy said. “Now, we come to the ultimate cheese. The cheese that can be used for everything. Cheddar. A good, hearty cheese that has history and different nuances to its flavor. It has lots of different varieties and always satisfies a craving for cheese.”
Clint just stared at her and Darcy wondered if her particular brand of wackadoodle was too much for him.
“You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought,” he said at last.
She shrugged. “I like to think.”
“That’s cool,” he said. “Thinking’s not really a big part of my life. Reaction’s always been more my line.”
“I’ve noticed,” Darcy said remembering watching the latest street battle. He’d done this leaping thing off of a building that had her holding her breath until he landed safely. “But, that’s important. So I think a lot. Big deal. I could never do what you guys do.”
“Sure you could,” he said around a bite of food. “You’re taking Natasha’s classes and Val’s teaching you about weapons. You’re learning.”
“Just to make myself more well-rounded,” she said and to his immense credit, his eyes did not leave her face to check out her rack.
He did grin, however as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Sooo, your band is the equivalent of a good Cheddar?” he asked changing the subject.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Darcy said after chewing and swallowing.
“Hunh,” he said. “I can work with that.”
“It’s a band that has history and is almost fundamental for your body to keep going,” Darcy said. “You’ve already gotten the gender. Finally.”
He said, “So, I’m looking for a band that has gravitas and substance as well as not being afraid to be, ah, cheesy.”
Darcy smiled. “Got it in one, William. And kudos for using gravitas in a sentence.”
“I blame you,” he said. “I never felt the need to try to impress anyone using words before.”
“Just used to flashing the guns at a girl and they swoon?” she said eyeing his arms and feeling the urge to leer coming on.
He laughed. “The ladies do like the gun show.”
“Oh, God,” Darcy groaned. “You kiss them and I’m outta here.”
She woke up the next day to the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket.
“Oooh, getting there, William,” she said and sang along as she headed to take her shower.
There were many places that Darcy considered sacred. Her shower was one. When she was in the shower, no one bothered her; that was her time. Past roommates learned this the hard way.
Another such place that inspired reverence in Darcy was a well-stocked office supply closet. She blamed it on visiting her mom’s office when she was a child and being given free reign with the pens, markers and paper clips.
Therefore, Darcy never considered it odd when going into a supply closet to take a moment to simply breathe in the atmosphere of clean, untouched notebooks, sticky notes and highlighters.
She was mid-sigh when Clint appeared behind her.
“Are you having a religious experience?” he asked.
“Almost,” she said, her eyes roaming over the shelves. “This is as close to bliss as I’m likely to get.”
“You need to get out more,” he said stepping into the closet.
“Bite me,” she said happily.
“I’m guessing you inside an Office Depot is a sight to behold?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said turning to him. “My personal nirvana.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said his mouth curving up into a smirk.
“Did you need something?” she asked. “And nice job with the Kate Bush this morning. Still not it, but very nice, just the same. I’m surprised you know her.”
“Hey, don’t let the flawless physique fool you,” he said. “I’ve got depth.”
“Ha! I’ll just bet you do,” she said snickering. She turned away and perused the shelves for more post-it flags and a new highlighter. “So, looking for something in particular?”
“Not really,” he said. “I was on my way to see Phil and could have sworn I heard the hallelujah chorus coming from in here.”
“Cute,” she said spotting the post-it flags and cursing the tall woman from admin who kept forgetting to put some a bit lower.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Nope,” Darcy said placing her foot on the bottom shelf and stretching upwards. “Got it.”
She wobbled a bit on her toes as her fingers tried to poke the flags off the shelf.
“Oh, yeah,” he said stepping up behind her. “This doesn’t spell disaster.”
“Please, I do this all the time,” she said, her voice rising a little when his hands settled on her waist. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Um, hi?”
“Hi, yourself,” he said grinning. “Get what you need and I’ll make sure you don’t fall over.”
“I’m not gonna fall over,” she said turning back to get her flags. “I think you’re taking advantage of a small, enclosed space and fulfilling your heroic tendencies.”
“Well, yeah. Of course, I am,” he said a goofy smile on his face while his fingers spread just a little wider on her waist, covering more area. “Steve doesn’t have the monopoly on heroics, you know.”
Darcy shook her head, trying to ignore how very, very good it felt to have him touch her. Little synapses she hadn’t been aware of were firing like crazy and voices were shouting in her head saying stuff like, “Yes! This guy!” and “More! More of this!” and “Forget the stationary and kiss him!” She startled herself with that last one and her fingers slipped a bit, and not only poked the flags off the shelf, but also caught a large stack of post-it notes.
She winced and braced for getting pelted by falling stationary, but instead felt herself being whirled around. Darcy opened her eyes in surprise and the first thing she saw was Clint staring at her with that smirk on his face.
“Uh?” she asked brilliantly.
“I told you this spelled disaster,” he said glancing over his shoulder at the fallen yellow post-its.
“They wouldn’t have hurt that much,” she said, her voice a lot softer than she would have preferred.
“Maybe not.” He just lowered his head to look her right in the eyes. “But, this way was more fun.”
Darcy discovered that she was staring at his lips and could not seem to stop. Her eyes flickered up to his to see if he’d noticed and was kind of gratified by the fact that his own eyes seemed to be doing the same flickering from her lips to her eyes. Feeling a bit out of her depth and overwhelmed, Darcy nervously rubbed her lips together, which had an interesting impact on Clint’s eyes as they did this darkening thing and his own lips parted.
Oh. Wow, she thought. I think I’d really like it if he kissed me.
“Lewis!”
Clint jerked away from her so fast, she felt dizzy and had to grab onto a shelf.
“What?” she said softly. Then she realized who’d called her. “Oh!”
She stepped out into the hallway and rushed back towards her desk. “Director Fury. Sir. You called?”
Fury stood beside to her desk and glared. “You do know that you work for me?”
“Ah. Is this a trick question?” she asked, her equilibrium shot to hell and back and aware that most of her brain power was still trying to work out what had almost happened in the supply closet.
“No, this is not a trick question,” Fury said. “You do know that you work for me, correct?”
“Yes. Yes, sir, I do know that, sir,” she said nodding a bit frantically. “And I’m happy to continue to do so.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “So, since we’ve established that you do know that you work for me and you want to keep working for me, perhaps you might let your little friend know that I do not appreciate having my personal files hacked into and perused like they are her own personal subscription to Vanity Fair!”
Aw, crap. Val, what did you do? Darcy thought.
“I honestly do not know what you are talking about,” Darcy said, but quickly added when Fury’s glare intensified, “However, I will surely inform all that I know that your personal files are off limits. Beyond off limits. So far off limits they don’t actually even reside in this plane of existence.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it. And while you are informing all you know this particular fact, would you be so kind to tell them that if they wish to know more about me, they should just man up and ask next time.”
I think I’m being asked to pass on a note in class, Darcy thought. This is really weird.
“I will certainly relay your message to the appropriate people, sir,” Darcy said.
“See that you do,” Fury said with a nod. He stalked off and Darcy let out a sigh of relief.
“Val,” she said under her breath. Then she dashed back to the supply closet and saw that it was empty; her post-it flags stacked neatly at eye level. She stared at the flags. He almost kissed her. She almost let him.
But, we’re just friends, she thought plaintively. Friends don’t kiss.
“Okay,” she said to the flags. “It’s fine. I’m not freaking out about this at all. Nope. Not me. Not at all.”
Except for how she totally was.
As most things in life, the particular situation Darcy found herself in a few days later could totally be blamed on Tony Stark.
That thought made her dig her fingers even harder into the forearm that was currently holding her in a choke-hold while the bad guy holding her yelled at everyone else in the room.
She’d just needed clarification on a section of Tony’s latest research, because she couldn’t tell if he’d finally superseded his own genius or if it was a series of serious typos.
Darcy’d handed the printed version over to him with a, “For the love of God, Stark, not everything needs to be capitalized.”
“What? It reflects my inner exuberance,” Tony said as he took the page from her hands. “And wow. I…do not remember writing this.”
“So…typos?” she offered.
“Possibly,” he said. He cocked his head to the side. “Although that bit right there kinda makes sense.”
Darcy had opened her mouth to tell him to hurry it up, because she had a deadline, but she was cut off by the klaxons going off and a guy in all black burst into the room right behind her.
“I will not fail in my mission!” the guy yelled. Darcy had had no time to react before her hair was grabbed and (god damn it, she was never wearing her hair in ponytail ever again) was pulled out of the room.
She’d done her best and fought the asshole as best as she could while being dragged down the hallway. She was pretty sure the crack she’d heard was his nose breaking and the fact that blood was splattered across her shoulder while he yelled at everyone else gave her a perverse sort of satisfaction.
But then he'd gotten hold of her wrist and twisted it up and around her back in a way that'd made her cry out. Basically, she was trapped.
They’d ended up in one of the large training rooms with a whole passel of agents and superheroes surrounding them.
Yep. Totally Tony Stark’s fault, she thought grimacing as more blood fell onto her blouse while the guy yelled at everyone some more.
The bad guy had run out of room and was backed up against the wall, but he kept moving Darcy back and forth so no one could get a good shot in.
Her eyes caught Val’s at one point and the other woman re-adjusted her grip on her gun. Darcy saw Thor, Steve and Natasha practically vibrating on their toes and Coulson looked even more impassive than ever which meant he was furious.
She didn’t see Clint; which hurt almost as much as the grip the bad guy had on her wrist.
Coulson finally said, “Your colleagues have given up and left you here. There’s no way out. Let her go.”
The bad guy actually snarled and Darcy cringed and really wished she had her taser and then she heard it:
A short, sharp whistle of the William Tell Overture above everyone’s head.
Darcy grinned widely, then let her body go limp. The bad guy lost his grip on her in surprise and as she fell to the ground she heard the whisper of an arrow flying through the air, followed by a hollow thud.
She didn’t look behind her; she just let Val help her to her feet.
“Honey, are you okay?” Val asked looking at all the blood on her shirt.
“Yeah,” Darcy said, letting herself shake a bit. “It’s not mine. I think I got him in the nose.”
“You did,” Natasha said from behind them. “Nice job.”
Darcy huffed out something like a laugh. “Thanks.” Then she turned around to finally look at the asshole who honestly thought breaking into the Institute was a good idea. She frowned.
He was pretty non-descript: sandy-brown-hair, brown eyes, round face. He was also still alive. An arrow was holding him to the wall by way of his shoulder.
“You okay?” Clint asked.
She turned her head quickly, both startled at his silent approach and glad to see him. She turned a bit too fast because her head swam a bit and she swayed on her feet. He immediately reached a hand out to steady her. His hand on her waist was warm and large and she felt like swooning for a whole new set of reasons that had nothing to do with the blood on her blouse and the ache in her neck.
“Yeah,” she said nodding and wincing at the motion. “I’m okay.”
Clint frowned and she saw his grip on his crossbow tighten. He just stared at her neck and her very gross blouse.
She frowned again. “Hey. You missed.”
His gaze snapped up from glaring at her neck (and she couldn’t wait to see the rainbow of bruises in her mirror the next day) to meet her eyes.
“No, I didn’t,” he said evenly.
“You didn’t?” she asked glancing back at the guy who was moaning and groaning in pain while Natasha ruthlessly pulled out the arrow.
“Coulson wanted him alive,” he said in a grim voice that she’d never heard before.
“Oh,” she said. “So…you didn’t miss?”
His eyes met hers again. “No, I didn’t miss. I wouldn’t miss.”
Oh. Oh. Well.
Darcy wanted to say something. Anything. Anything at all. Like ‘thank you’ or ‘I think I might be in love with you’ or ‘I had a dream about you where you were mowing the lawn at my parents’ house, is that a metaphor for something, do you think?’
But before she could say anything, Val was back and wrapping someone’s jacket over her shoulders and saying something about a shower. She tore her eyes away from Clint’s to acknowledge Val and when the warm hand disappeared from her waist, she looked back to see him walking away to talk to Coulson.
“—shower fixes everything. Darcy? Girl, are you sure you’re okay?” Val asked.
Darcy shook her head. “I really don’t think I am.”
She let her head fall onto Val’s shoulder as they left the training room.
Her song the next morning was Eternal Flame by the Bangles and Darcy decided that enough was enough. She got up and got dressed and was out her door in a matter of minutes.
Darcy paused just outside of Clint’s door and wondered, not for the first time, what she was doing.
I’m just thanking him for saving my life, she thought. That’s all. No big. Right? Right.
She lifted her hand to knock.
“He’s not in,” Bruce’s voice came from down the hall, startling her.
“Sweet Jesus on a motorbike,” Darcy said her hand pressed to her chest. She turned to look at Bruce. “I think you need a collar with a bell on it.”
Bruce blinked. Then said, “I’ve never been told that before, I have to say. But, yeah. Clint’s not here.”
Her hand still pressed to her chest, she asked, “Is he alright? Where is he?”
“Mission,” Bruce said coming closer. “In, uh, Dubai, I think.”
“Oh,” Darcy said eyeing Clint’s door and making a face.
“He’ll be back in a day or two,” Bruce said. “I think it’s a re-con thing. Not a full scale battle thing.”
Darcy glanced at him. “They really need to get you a copy of the User’s Guide to Battle Lingo.”
“I’ll put it on my next requisition list,” Bruce said with a sheepish smile. “Underneath the collar with a bell attached.”
Darcy tried to smile back but must have only made a creepy face because Bruce looked worried.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He eyed her bruised throat. “You look a little, um…”
“Beaten up? Rough? Awful? Gross?” Darcy offered as she slouched against Clint’s door. “Yes. All of the above.”
“I heard about yesterday,” Bruce said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
To Darcy’s absolute disgust, she found herself tearing up.
“Oh whoa, hey now, uh,” Bruce said looking panicked. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Ugh, yes,” Darcy said covering her face with her hands, sending her glasses askew. “Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve totally missed something? Like, you’ve been doing stuff and you can remember it all, but it’s actually sort of hazy when you look back on it and it was you, but it wasn’t you at the same time? It was this alternative you that you had no idea you were projecting? But it wasn’t a completely alternative you, it was still you?”
She dropped her hands and looked at him. He just stared back at her for a second, and then lifted his hand in a wave. “Hi. I’m Bruce Banner.”
“Oh, crap,” Darcy said covering her face again with her hands. “Sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m just all over the place today.”
“Is this about what happened yesterday?” Bruce asked taking another step closer. “You’re going to talk to someone about it, right?”
“I’ve got an appointment with the shrink tomorrow afternoon at two pm sharp,” Darcy said dropping her hands. “And it’s not yesterday. It’s everything.”
Bruce frowned and leaned against the wall nearby. “You’re not worried about your job, are you? Because I can finally understand all the reports that Tony writes now, thanks to you.”
“You couldn’t before?” Darcy asked. “I thought you were a brain.”
“Oh, it wasn’t the concepts I had a problem with,” Bruce said. “It was the stream of consciousness style of writing. I never really got into the whole post-modernism thing.”
Darcy chuckled. “Then you should avoid the latest article going around about the symbolism of the Hulk and what it means for the modern world.”
Bruce looked like he smelled something rotten and Darcy grinned.
“That really disturbs me,” he said pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Yeah. Whatever you do, don’t read the comments,” Darcy said.
“Got it,” Bruce said shaking his head and sighing. “Anyway, it’s not your job, is it?”
“No, it’s not my job,” Darcy said her head falling back against the door with a thud. “I love my job. I love you guys. It’s amazing here. He’s a hard guy, but Coulson is the best boss ever. I’m thinking of getting him one of those mugs that says ‘Number 1 Boss’ on the side.”
“I’d like to be there when you give it to him,” Bruce said.
“I know, right?” Darcy said. “So, no it’s not my job.”
Bruce nodded. “So, then it’s Clint?”
Darcy’s face heated up and she looked down at the floor.
“Ah. It’s Clint,” Bruce said. “Well, um, he, ah, likes you? If that helps?”
Darcy looked over at him and couldn’t stop her grin when she saw how uncomfortable he looked. “He does? Does he talk about me in the locker room?”
“Kinda yeah,” Bruce said rubbing his jaw.
“No way! He does?” Darcy asked turning to face him, still leaning on the door with her shoulder. “I was totally kidding.”
“Oh well, he does. Talk about you. Nothing racy,” he added quickly. “Just about what you said or did or, um, wore.”
“I knew it!” Darcy said pointing a finger at him. “You guys are a bunch of old hens. That’s just priceless. So he likes me?”
“Oh yeah,” Bruce said. “A lot.”
“Oh,” Darcy said smiling. “Good.” She stopped smiling. “I think I’ve been doing it all wrong, though.”
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Everything?” she offered. “I let it get weird and it didn’t need to get weird. So now everything’s…”
“Weird?”
“Yeah.”
“Darcy.” Bruce’s tone was serious, so she looked over at him. “We hang around with a guy who was frozen for seventy years, another guy who wears a metal suit and flies, and I turn into a giant, green hulk of rage. Weird is what we do. Apparently.”
She smiled. “You’re a very good guy, Bruce. Thanks.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened and so did hers. “Oh, no! I didn’t like, trigger something? How’s your heart rate?”
“Elevated, but not critical,” Bruce said honestly. “It’s okay.”
“Good,” Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t have my taser with me.”
“I hate to say it, but I don’t know that it’d do any damage,” Bruce said. He turned thoughtful. “We might have to try that some time, though.”
“Not with me in the room, buddy,” Darcy said.
“Naturally,” he said still sounding thoughtful. “Are you feeling better?”
“Meh,” she said shrugging her shoulders. Which was true. It felt pretty darn good to know that Clint actually liked her, but she still had to do something about it.
“Well, I was going to go meditate,” Bruce said slowly. “I don’t know if that’s your kind of thing, but it can help to put things into perspective and calm your thoughts down.”
Darcy thought for a moment, then nodded her head. “Sure. I’ll try anything once. And my thoughts could definitely do with being slowed down. Thanks!”
For the record, meditation was not her thing. But there were a few moments when she could actually feel her breathing and her mind did sort of focus. But then her nose itched and she scratched and Bruce sighed heavily and Darcy apologized and left the room.
She’d definitely consider trying it again. Only maybe without the company of a guy who depended on it for his and others well-being.
A few days later, when five-thirty rolled around, Darcy got up from her desk to go drop off the late afternoon batch of reports into the mail room. She was halfway to the elevator when she realized that she’d forgotten to check Coulson’s desk for anything he’d needed to send out. With a massive sigh that was far louder than it needed to be, she turned around and headed back to her desk.
She stopped abruptly when she saw who was standing next to her desk and took in what he was doing. Her jaw dropped.
“No freakin’ way!” she said loudly. “You? Really?”
Coulson barely spared her a glance as he continued to program what she assumed was her next morning’s wake-up call onto her phone. “Yes. Me. Really. Frankly, I expected you to figure it out sooner.”
Darcy just stared at him.
Finally she asked, “But why?”
“Because Agent Barton asked me to and in return, he promised to turn all of his paperwork in on time and in accurate condition,” Coulson said. “It seemed like a fair exchange.”
“Okay,” Darcy said putting her hands on her hips. “But… Why?”
He stopped and looked at her. “A very smart man once told me that a very wise man told him to be sure to take time to treat yourself to a present every day. Whether that is a good cup of coffee, a moment reading a good book or” - he held up her phone – “playing DJ for a colleague.”
Darcy watched him finishing tapping on her phone. Her eyes narrowed and she said, “You’re a bit of dark horse, aren’t you, Phil?”
Coulson smiled and handed her the phone. “Sweet dreams, Miss Lewis.”
Then he walked back into his office while Darcy stared at the phone.
Darcy didn’t sleep very well that night. And considering the glasses of red wine she’d drunk while watching all the Liv Tyler movies (Empire Records, Stealing Beauty, Armageddon - but only because it was on TNT, again), this wasn’t really surprising. So, she was awake when her alarm went off.
When the chorus of What About Love by Heart came on, she let out a laugh of delight.
“He actually got it,” she said out loud. “How the hell did he get it?”
She sat up and picked up her phone and, as it had become something of a habit these days, she stared at it. She stared at it so long that the alarm popped back on after the usual five-minute snooze.
“Ugh!” she said, turning it off and then tapping Val’s number.
“This had better be of the utmost importance, Darcy,” Val’s voice was lower than usual with sleep.
“He got it,” Darcy said. “He got my band. He figured it out. How did he figure it out?”
“Because you’ve been dropping hints for the last few weeks and because he likes you and isn’t dumb,” Val said. “Go get him.”
“What do you mean ‘go get him’?” Darcy asked.
“I mean, go get the guy you’re crazy about and kiss him on his mouth and then do whatever comes naturally,” Val said.
Darcy didn’t say anything.
“Darcy?” Val said sounding worried.
“I’m nervous, Val,” she said. “I really do like him.”
“I know you do,” Val said. “And you were nervous the first time you fired a gun and when you gave your first briefing. But you did it and you can do this.”
“You’re right,” Darcy said throwing off her covers. “I can. I want to.”
“Good girl,” Val said. “What are you going to say?”
“Jesus, I have no idea. I’m making this up as I go along, Val,” Darcy said getting out of bed and grabbing a hoodie.
“Honey, that’s what everyone does,” Val replied with a chuckle. “Welcome to being an adult and starting a relationship.”
There was a muffled snort right after Val spoke that did not come from her. Darcy stopped her search for her slippers and asked, “Val, are you alone?”
There was a pause and then Val said, “As an adult, I exercise the right to not answer that.”
“Uh hunh,” Darcy said with a grin. “Well, I’ll let you get back to, ah, exercising your rights. Thanks, pretty lady.”
“Go get your man, dollface,” Val said before hanging up.
“Get my man,” Darcy said under her breath as she gave up on the search for her slippers and settled on her flipflops. “I can do that. Yeah.”
She grabbed her phone, rushing out of her room and heading towards Clint's. She passed Bruce on his way to the elevator and she gave him a big grin and a wink.
“Mornin’, Bruce!” she called.
“Morning, Darcy,” he said grinning back. “Good luck!”
She waved her phone at him and continued down the hall to Clint’s door. After checking to see that Bruce had gone on and squaring her shoulders, she knocked on the door.
Clint opened it after a few seconds.
“Hey,” he said the corners of his mouth quirking up. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’m fine.” Darcy suddenly found it hard to speak, so she held up her phone.
Clint looked at it and then at her and gave her a full smile. “Did I get it?”
Darcy nodded and took a deep breath. “I am here to acknowledge your brilliance and all-around awesomeness.”
He grinned. “You better come in, then.”
His room was spare but not empty, Darcy noticed. There were a few too many dishes in the sink, but the sofa looked soft and comfortable and magazines were strewn about the coffee table.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked coming to stand next to her and looking around his apartment. “Not that I’ve got much. Coffee. Probably.”
“No, no, I’m good. Do you like me?” she asked all in rush. She mentally slapped her forehead with her hand.
“Uh, yeah,” he said looking at her and starting to smile. “Yeah, I like you a lot.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, pleased that she didn’t collapse on the floor in relief. “I like you, too.”
“Well, that’s…good?” he asked furrowing his brow and chuckling. “I mean, you don’t look like it’s good.”
“It is,” Darcy said quickly. “It so is. I’m just kind of a dork about this stuff. I mean, all the lunches and stuff. Were we, um, like pre-dating?”
He made a face and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kinda, yeah. I thought we were heading that way. Are you here to tell me we weren’t?”
“No!” she said loudly. “No, we so were heading that way. I just. Ugh, God. I just didn’t realize that we were.
Clint just looked at her and she sighed.
“I just didn’t think you’d be into me that way,” she said. Then she scrunched her face up, because that sounded dumb. “Ugh. Not that I don’t have a good opinion of myself, but because I’m not, you know…”
She flapped her hands a little.
“You’re not what?” he asked sounding really confused.
“Look, you dated Natasha. The Black Widow!” she said. “That’s so not me.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t really dating,” he said looking uncomfortable and kind of embarrassed. “More like a lot of angry sex.”
Darcy closed her eyes. “Not. Helping.”
“Right. Sorry.” Suddenly he was standing right in front of her with his hands cupping her face. “You are incredible. You are totally nonplussed by all of this superhero stuff and you are like a walking encyclopedia of pop culture and big words and yeah. I really like you, Darcy.” He grinned. “Not to mention that you’re fucking hot.”
“Wow,” Darcy said fighting the urge to dissolve into a puddle at his feet. “I am really bad at reading signals. Have you been flirting with me?”
“Yes,” he said nodding seriously. “I have.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said.
“Is that all right?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’ve been flirting with you, too. But I didn’t realize I was flirting with you. I thought I was just being myself. Not that being myself is a big flirt. I was just talking to you and I like talking to you. But then it took on this whole new level of meaning every time I talked to you and now I’m rambling.”
“You are,” he said. “But, it’s great. And see? All this freaking out is what happens when you think too much.”
“Good point,” Darcy said. “So, back when I started to wonder what it might be like to kiss you, I should have just kissed you?”
“Yes,” he said smirking. “You definitely should have just kissed me. Actually, you know what?” He stepped in close. “No more thinking.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. At first gently and softly, but when she made a tiny noise and her hands grabbed at his waist, the kiss deepened.
“Oh, baby,” Clint breathed against her lips when he pulled away briefly.
“More,” she said rising up on her toes to nip at his bottom lip.
He let out a proper groan before covering her mouth with his. It wasn’t until several minutes later that his phone rang, Def Leppard’s Armageddon It signaling that it was Steve calling.
He groaned as he lifted his head from hers and Darcy immediately started to kiss his throat while he answered his phone.
“Hey, Cap,” Clint said his hand sliding down to massage her ass. “Yeah, I’m gonna miss this morning’s workout. Yeah. I gotta make a lot of love to Darcy. Cool? Thanks.”
He hung up and threw the phone on his counter. Darcy burst out laughing. “You asshole! He’s going to explode from blushing!”
“Invincible, remember,” he said before kissing her.
She sighed into his mouth and hitched her leg on his hip then shifted her pelvis against him, which produced a very decent groan from the back of his throat. He pulled back enough to say, “Well, hello.”
“Hi yourself,” she said shifting her pelvis again.
“Fuck, baby,” he said pressing his forehead to hers. “I was kidding, you know. On the phone. We don’t have to do anything other than this.”
“You’re such a sweetheart. But, I’ve been wanting to do bad things to you for a while now,” she said next to his ear before nipping at his lobe. “We’re so gonna do it now.”
“Thank God,” he said before hitching her up fully against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on as he went straight to the bedroom.
Darcy sighed sleepily from her position curled around Clint and dragged her foot along his calf.
“Hey,” he mumbled against her forehead. “Don’t tease.”
“Who says I’m teasing?” she asked, but her statement was derailed by a yawn.
He chuckled and let his hand drift lazily down her back.
Darcy gave his shoulder an Eskimo kiss with her nose and sighed again. She still had little tingles of pleasure running through her system. Clint’s arms were everything they’d promised, and the man knew his way around ladyparts.
Not to mention, the actual sexin’ itself. Forget diamonds, girth was a girl’s best friend. Remembering just how incredible he felt inside of her, Darcy shifted against him once again and tilted her face up to kiss his chin.
He hummed and bent his head to kiss her, a slow, steady, lazy kiss that had Darcy almost ready to climb on top of him again.
“So, why Heart?” he asked softly after a few minutes.
“Kickass sisters with great voices who play their own instruments, sing about love and men and who totally rock?” Darcy said. “What’s not to like?”
“Fair enough,” he said. “I always liked Barracuda.”
“I was thinking of making that Natasha’s ringtone on your phone, but I like my face as it is,” Darcy said.
He nuzzled said face. “So do I.”
This led to another round of lazy kisses.
“Hey,” Darcy said when they stopped. “Do you realize we could have been doing this instead of having lunch?”
He grinned. “Yeah. But I like our lunches.”
“Me, too,” Darcy said grinning back. She propped her head up on his chest. “You know, I actually have forty-five minutes for lunch. We can easily have a quickie and eat in that amount of time.” She narrowed her eyes. “The quickie first. Sex after eating fast never ends well.”
“See? This is what I love about you,” he said smoothing his hand over her hair. “Deviant and organized.”
“Love?” she asked surprised.
“Yeah,” he said. “Love.”
She smiled. “Cool. Same here.”
Then she did what she’d been wanting to do for a while, which was climb on top of him and get round two started.
It has to be noted that he woke her up later by singing Magic Man and running his hands all over body, lingering especially on her chest.
Let’s get high awhile, indeed, she thought before they headed into round three.
Epilogue
“You do know that Val is going to be very upset with you?” she said holding tightly to his hand, her other hand adjusting the blindfold he’d put on once they’d gotten into the cab. “I’m missing target practice.”
“You can make it up tomorrow,” he said. “We’re being bad. Enjoy it.”
“Ooh, how bad?” she asked, her hand sliding around his waist towards his ass.
He chuckled. “Not quite that bad, baby. We’re in public, I’m afraid.”
“Yeah, I do hear a fair amount of people,” she said scrunching up her face, trying to loosen the blindfold. “Where the hell are we, William?”
She felt him move around her so that he was hugging her waist from behind. His voice came from right next to her ear. “You mean you can’t tell?” he asked.
Darcy closed her eyes behind the blindfold and tilted her head to listen. It was a big space, because the sounds seemed to echo. She heard shopping carts and it sort of smelled like…
“Oh, holy crap, did you bring me to Office Depot?” she asked loudly.
He chuckled and kissed her neck. “Yep.” He removed her blindfold and Darcy blinked staring at the massive Office Depot.
“You are such a gomer,” she said turning in his arms and pulling his face down for a kiss.
“Hey, it’s our first date,” he said. “Gotta make an impression, right? We’re going for fondue later.”
Darcy laughed. “Because of the cheese?”
“Yeah and because Steve kinda insisted that it was something he would’ve done,” Clint said. He pressed his forehead to hers. “What do you think?”
“I think that you’re a dork and I’m a lucky girl and you’re a lucky guy who’s going to get very lucky later on tonight,” she said.
“Lucky, lucky me,” he said in the low voice that gave her happy shivers.
“Come on,” she said taking his hand and walking backwards. “Let’s scope out all the notebooks and try out all the pens. Then let’s see how many desk chairs we can make out in before they kick us out.”
They managed six before someone came over.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-03-05 11:04 pm (UTC)THIS IS A GLORIOUS FIC OF DARCY AND CLINT AND AVENGERNESS.
you did an amazing job with this, the whole 80's references, the cast of characters, the one liners, the flirtations and EVERYTHING
no subject
Date: 2012-03-06 06:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2012-03-05 11:59 pm (UTC)even if i'm going to have half of those songs swirling around in my head now. :p
Also? I'm very glad you found a way to do another supply closet scene, becuase you write them so damned hot :)
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Date: 2012-03-06 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-06 06:15 pm (UTC)she's so competent and yet human
Yes! Thank you! I was really going for that, so I'm utterly delighted that it came across.
Val is, sadly, not canon in the films, but she's around in the comics. A friend told me about her and once I read up on her, I had to include her. (I'm totally picturing Viola Davis!)
no subject
Date: 2012-03-06 12:19 pm (UTC)I LOVE THE EPILOGUE. It just made me grin so hard.
(And "magic man" is forever associated with Labyrinth for me - I think the first FMV I saw back when the internet was new and there was no youtube, was for Labyrinth /the Goblin King using that song. Every time it comes on the radio I get the urge to watch Labyrinth. And refreshes my crush on GoblinKing!Bowie.)
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Date: 2012-03-06 06:16 pm (UTC)Ooh, that's a great song for Jareth. Very appropriate.
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Date: 2012-03-08 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 03:15 am (UTC)*insertfailcaityhere*
But yeah, so freaking adorably epic like whoa. Love how we get glimpses of normal life for Darcy. She's not one of hte Avengers but she's still totes awesome and we get to see all of it!
Plus Clint... Really do I need to say more than his name to explain his charm? lol
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Date: 2012-03-08 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-03-08 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 06:46 pm (UTC)ADJ:LASDKA:D, 1) music nerd appreciation and also cutest flirting ever 2) OFFICE SUPPLIES (and this continues to give me hope that I could probably be Darcy when I grow up minus the norse gods falling from the sky) 3) I can't decide if Coulson, Val, Bruce, or Jane are the best so they all have to get that award and 4) this was so freaking delightful that I actually had to stop reading and make myself go to bed so I would stop squealing and cooing at my screen alternatively at 2am because family doesn't usually appreciate that.
So, so much love♥
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Date: 2012-03-08 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-03-09 04:29 am (UTC)Okay, I'll stop fawning now. :)
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Date: 2012-03-09 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-03-09 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 02:37 am (UTC)I loved this to pieces, basically. I'm so happy you posted this. ♥
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Date: 2012-03-11 11:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-20 02:46 pm (UTC)Basically, thank you for this, it was amazing. I loved every minute of it!
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Date: 2012-05-07 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-07 05:19 pm (UTC)But I think the secret star of this fic is Val, and I am desperately curious, what would it take to persuade you to write The Epic Courtship of Val and Nick? Because I yearn for that fic.
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Date: 2012-05-07 06:21 pm (UTC)I adore Val. A friend told me about her and I just had to try her out. And oh, god. I'd love to write the Epic Courtship of Val and Nick. We'll see? Maybe life will be kind and give me some extra time? :D
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Date: 2012-05-11 12:27 am (UTC)AWESOME.
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Date: 2012-05-11 06:03 am (UTC)