You're Welcome

It was late evening on a particularly cloudy night when Darcy Lewis found herself being followed by rouge Hydra thugs in a seedy part of Brooklyn. She had been on a date, and it hadn't even been a good one. The guy was creepy, with greasy hair and roving hands, the restaurant was seedy and if she ate any of the food she was bound to get sick, not to mention the fact that he had been talking to her breasts all night. Never again would she trust internet dating. She left while the idiot was in the bathroom, and made her way down the busy streets of the city.

Darcy loved the city. It had a life of it's own, always moving and never quite. She never felt like she was alone there which was a comfort after being stuck in New Mexico for months with no one but Jane, Erik and the dessert to keep her company. She had just walked down into the subway when she noticed them. There were at least three, dressed all in black; they stuck out from the sea of people all dressed in weird and wonderful ways. She made sure she was discreet in checking them out, wondering if she should call someone to rescue her.

'Fuck getting rescued' Darcy thought to herself. She was a bad ass mother fucker and could rescue herself. Natasha didn't make her train with her for nothing. She could put her new found skills to use.

And so Darcy got on the train like nothing was wrong. She noticed a rather well built man standing as far away as possible from everyone, which was hard to do on a crowded train at ten on a friday night. But he emitted a dangerous vibe that generally tended to ward of most people. Darcy found something eerily familiar about his shoulder length brown hair, days old stubble and scowl, but he was wearing a cap that covered most of his face and she couldn't identify him.

When Darcy got off at her stop, they still followed her. But so did the other guy. He had a back pack that looked stuffed full swung over one shoulder casually and it hit her suddenly that he may be homeless.

Soon, Darcy realised that she had no idea how to get rid of her tails. They were too close to her that they would over hear if she called someone for help. But maybe she could fend them off long enough for someone to come to the help her if she did call.

She pondered it for a moment before getting out her phone and sending a text instead.

SOS, outside my apartment building, thugs following me. She sent to Natasha and Clint just incase one of them didn't have their phone with them. Covers more ground that way.

Keep walking around. Stick to populated places. On the way. Clint sent back. Darcy sighed in relief and then kept walking, past her apartment building and down the strip near by.

The homeless man had taken of his cap when Darcy next spotted him. It was Bucky Barns/ The Winter Soldier/ Steve's best friend. Holy crap. Darcy had to stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Someone grabbed her arm and she turned to see one of the thugs grinning at her evilly. Crap, she thought as she twisted out of his grasp. Shouldn't have stopped, she chastised herself as she moved away from him. the street was basically empty and she cursed herself for not noticing sooner. She ran down the alley the homeless man/ Bucky went down before the thugs could catch up to her once again. Faintly she registered that it smelt like something died as she skidded to a halt beside him.

"Hey, you're the Winter Soldier Right?" She asked and the man froze next to her but she continued before he had a moment to respond, or kill her.

"Could you shoot a couple people for me?" She continued. He looked behind him to see the three thugs just coming into view at the mouth of the alley way and then back to her. He shrugged as he pulled a gun out from the waist band of his jeans.

"Sure." He said. He flicked of the safety, and then aimed it at them. The gun let out three startlingly clear ringing shots and the three men went down in a heap.

"Thanks." Darcy said, grinning at him. He looked at her with a sort of confused half smile before putting the gun away once more.

"Any time Doll." He drawled in his thick Brooklyn accent. They looked at each other for an undetermined amount of time, something akin to a soul touching understanding passing through them before a loud noise broke them out of it.

A car pulled up outside the alley way and car doors banged closed.

"You should hide." Darcy said and he nodded and slid into the darkness.

"Well it seems like you didn't need any help after all." Clint said, eyeing the three thugs with surprise.

"I forgot I had a gun in my bag." Darcy said as nonchalantly as possible.

"Really? And you just shot them? Without hesitation?" He asked her.

"Hey, it's not murder if you say sorry after." She said with a weak smile.

"Darce. They're not dead. Just seriously injured. I should get them to the hospital." Clint told her after checking their pulses and kicking them a bit, getting grunts of pain in response. Darcy felt herself start to shake as the enormity of what had actually happened crashed down on her. What if they had died?

"Darce. It's okay. You're okay. You did good. It was you or them remember?" He said pulling her into a brief hug.

"Thanks." She said.

"Do you want me to take you to the Tower for the night, or will you be okay in your apartment?" He asked her.

"I should be fine. Tony made sure I had all sorts of security systems and alarms in place. You'll know if I'm not okay I guess. I can contact Jarvis from here too."

"Okay." He said and then he piled up the thugs into the car and drove off.

"Well that was eventful." Darcy said as she turned back to see that Bucky was standing right behind her once more. She flinched at the sight of him, not expecting him to be right there.

"You're going to stay with me for a while, until you get your shit together. Come on." Darcy said, not waiting for a response or refusal. She walked back to her apartment building, never once turning to see if he was still there, knowing somehow that he would be.

"Dude you stink. Go take a shower." Darcy told Bucky after a few minutes of standing awkwardly in her studio apartment. She directed him to the bathroom, the only door other than the front door in the place and told him where the towels were. He thanked her graciously and then shut the door behind him. Darcy sighed in relief as she got a moment to her self.

She looked around the room to see her bright purple and green colour scheme and smiled to herself. There was a large green couch sitting in front of an overflowing book shelf instead of the traditional Tv unit; a coffee table with cups of forgotten coffee, a news paper and a lap top sitting on it haphazardly. Her bed was up on a platform at the back of the room along with a wardrobe and then the kitchen was in the other corner. The Studio apartment was cluttered and chaotic but in a way that displayed personality and character.

She noticed a bunch of clothing leading a trail to her bed and began to tidy up a bit, hoping that Bucky hadn't noticed when he came in. She threw most of it in the dirty hamper behind her privacy screen that housed everything to do with her clothing. It took up a considerable corner of the room. She decided to get changed into her pajamas as well considering it was late.

When she walked back out for behind the screen she was greeted with the sight of Bucky standing in her living room with only a towel wrapped around his waist. The first thing she noticed was his abs. Man was he cut, she thought to herself. His skin was tan and covered in little scars here and there.

Then her eyes were drawn to his metal arm. At first she hardly noticed but it contrasted greatly with his skin. It was exactly the same shape as his other arm, but metal. Easily hidden underneath clothing, she thought. The worst of his scarring was around where the metal met skin. She resumed her perusal of his body, his hair clean and untangled. She could see his eyes now and she was surprised at how dark of a blue they were. And they were staring straight at her.

"Oh, uhh... Clothes. I'll get you some clothes." She said and scurried off to find some. She felt him watching her and it was unnerving. She wasn't used to having people in her apartment either. All of the people she interacted with lived at the Tower or she saw at the Tower so she never saw the need to have anyone here. Having him standing in her living room made the place feel a hundred times smaller than it was and that was saying something.

"Here. They should fit you. Their my ex boyfriends so..." She said handing the jumper and pajama bottoms over to him. He disappeared back into the bathroom and she sighed. She went about setting up the couch for him to sleep on, placing a sheet over it, and getting a pillow from her bed. She got the blanket from off the back of the couch and placed it on top of the pillow. By the time she was done, Bucky was out of the bathroom looking refreshed and relaxed.

"Right, well you can sleep on the couch. I'm... uhh... going to go to sleep now." She said awkwardly as she turned off the lights and then the apartment was lit only by the two laps she had, on next to the couch and the other on her bedside table.

Darcy got into bed and laid there for a while, acutely aware of Bucky's presence in her living room. She wondered if she'd made the right decision in letting him stay. In not telling Clint he was here. But she had seen something in his eyes last night, something had clicked between them and she trusted him. She knew that if Clint had known he was anywhere near her he would have taken her back to the Tower and called Steve out to look for him. His big brother complex kicking into overdrive as usual. She was going to have to tell them eventually. Especially Steve, though she didn't think it would be wise to do so without Bucky's approval.

Soon enough, Darcy fell into a fitful sleep. Her old dreams from London and the elves coming back to haunt her.

Darcy woke up in a panic, sweat dripping down her forehead and a worried looking Bucky sitting by her side. She took a deep breath and smiled softly at him.

"Do you have nightmares often?" He asked her, thankfully not asking her of the content.

"Most who go through a trauma do. I'd imagine that you would too." She said cryptically. He said nothing as he stood, giving her a small smile as if to say 'touché'. Darcy followed him up and slipped on a pair of neon green thick socks before going to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

"So I thought that maybe we could do some shopping for you today. You could use some clothes that fit you properly, some shaving equipment, and other stuff." Darcy said as she sat on one side of the couch, facing Bucky as he sat on the other, both sipping at their coffee.

"You don't have to do that for me." He said, not looking up at her.

"I do. Because you look ridiculous in that and it's not like I'll be buying you designer clothing. You need it Bucky." She said and he winced.

"I don't feel like I'm Bucky anymore. Call me James." He said quietly. Darcy absorbed the information and filed it away for later.

"Okay James. We're going shopping and you can't say no." She said and he smiled that half smile of his. She took it as an agreement.

It took them an hour to get everything they needed. It was a simple in and out procedure. Five pairs of pants, five tops, five pairs of socks, five pairs of underwear, two pairs of shoes, two jumpers, one coat, shaving cream, shavers, a toothbrush, deodorant and done. James wasn't fussy over what to get, and would have, given the chance, gotten five of the same shirt etc... Darcy had intervened and picked out some variety.

"It's boring to wear the same thing every day." She argued when he protested.

"Fine. Go ahead." He said with a smile. He was clearly indulging her. She didn't care.

When they got back to her apartment, it was lunch time so Darcy made them some sandwiches and a pot of tea. They ate in silence.

"Well, I'm going to bed." Darcy said with a yawn. Bucky looked at her quizzically.

"But it's noon." He said, stating the obvious.

"Time is irrelevant." She said waving a hand at him. She walked over to her bed, pulled off her socks and pant and slid under the covers. She snuggled into the warmth and sighed as she dozed off into oblivion.

Darcy woke slowly, disturbed by the feeling that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes cautiously only to see James sitting cross-legged on the bed beside her, watching her with interest.

"Why are you doing that?" She grumbled, turning over and pulling the blanket over her head in protest.

"I made dinner." He said and she huffed. She pulled the blanket down slowly and rolled back over to look at him with suspicion.

"You can cook?" She asked him, feeling hopeful.

"Yep. Mi Ma always delegated the cooking duties to me back in the day. She worked nights at the hospital most days so I had to feed me an' Sarah." He said with a wistful look on his face.

"Well you saw the extent of my culinary skills at lunch. I can make sandwiches and the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever tasted but I can't do anything else." She admitted sitting up and rubbing at her eyes tiredly.

"I made pasta. And a salad." He said hesitantly.

"You actually found things in my fridge to make salad?" She asked with surprise, climbing out of bed and stretching. She looked back at Bucky to see that he was staring at her very bare legs.

"What?" She asked as she grabbed her jeans from earlier in the day and pulled them on, noticing the way he raised an eyebrow at her in amusement.

"Nothing. I'm just not used to dames being so forward and unashamed." he said.

"What does that even mean?" Darcy asked.

"I just mean that you're a girl. You should act like a girl." He said and it was Darcy's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know that my vagina came with a terms and conditions manual." She said dryly.

"I don't think I said that right. What I mean is that I'm not used to seeing women who are... I guess I just have a lot to learn about what is and isn't acceptable in this decade. I had a sheltered life as the winter soldier. I went out to do a mission and then I was put on ice when they had no need for me." He said and Darcy just stared at him for a moment. She hadn't considered how much he wouldn't know. Steve was completely lacking in knowledge having been practically asleep for seventy years but James was just as ignorant of that knowledge.

"I guess we need to get you caught up then." And so that was how they spent the rest of that night and all of sunday. Darcy showed him pictures and wikipedia pages and documentaries and they had discussions about all of the things that he had missed over the years.

When Darcy got up for work on Monday morning, she was hit with a sense of dread. She was going to have to go into work and act as if nothing was wrong, interact with everyone and lie to their faces about the fact that she was basically hiding a fugitive in her tiny apartment.

She decided after her shower, that she would start the day with something that would brighten her spirits. So she brought out 'THE DRESS'. It was her favourite and she wore it on bad days to make them brighter. It was bright green, with a sweet heart neck line and swept the floor as she walked. She paired it with brown boots and a brown jacket. As she was sweeping her long brown hair up into a bun at the top of her head she head James stir.

"You look pretty today." He said with a smile. Darcy finished her hair a second after, turned to him and looked him straight in the eye.

"I don't want to look pretty. I want to look other worldly and vaguely threatening." She said deadpan and he considered her for a moment before responding.

"Add some red lipstick." He said and she beamed at him. She chose her blood red lipstick and applied it liberally.

"Right, well I have to go to work. Will you be okay here or?" She said and James nodded.

"I'll be fine. Though I don't know how anyone will get any work done when you look like that all day long." He said with a smirk and a wink. Darcy was stunned for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Thanks, I think." She said as she grabbed her bag and headed out to face the day.

When she got to The Tower, Jarvis greeted her in the elevator.

"Good Morning Miss Lewis." He said and Darcy sighed.

"What have we talked about Jarvis?" She asked him, talking as though to a child.

"Good morning Darcy." He said, his voice sounding long suffering and if he had a human face, he would be shaking his head.

"Great. Keep it up. You know how it annoys Tony." She said.

"That's the only reason I agreed to it in the first place Darcy." Jarvis replied as the elevator opened up onto the R and D floor that housed the scientists. Darcy made sure to go in and say good morning to Jane and Bruce, check to see that they'd slept a reasonable amount over the weekend and had breakfast, before facing Tony. She always saved him till last because he was the most difficult to deal with.

She walked into the lab only to see that he had Pepper up on one of his work tables. Their was an indecent amount of skin on show and Darcy screamed before running out into the hallway. She took a moment to allow the image of what she saw sink in as she tried to control her breathing. She opened the door a fraction, covered her eyes and stuck her head through the door.

"Just for the record. I really really hate you right now." She said.

"Come one Darce." Tony started to make excuses but she cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. Put a sign up or something or maybe just don't have sex in the lab. I thought we made it a rule the last time you scared me for life." Darcy said and Pepper sighed.

"I'm sorry Honey. We got a bit carried away." The red head said.

"You've been together for how long? And you're still acting like you're randy teenagers." Darcy said.

"Well, you know we don't see each other as often as we'd like nowadays." Tony said.

"Just not in the lab. Or in the apartments upstairs unless you've locked the door. Or anywhere unless you've locked the door. Got it?"

"Fine." Tony agreed petulantly.

"I'm going to my office and I'm not coming out until lunch time." She said and walked away from the couple. It was a disturbing sight to see your uncle and aunt having sex in your workplace. Darcy'd eaten lunch on that table only last week. She shuddered in disgust and closed the door to her office.

Darcy's office was the forth lab on the floor, except it had been renovated to suit her needs. So basically it had one lab bench at the front of the room, then a lounge area, a kitchen and then her office area which was a nook in the far corner of the room.

She sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. The first thing she did everyday was read and answer emails. She filtered all of Tony, Bruce and Jane's emails. She forwarded on anything she thought they would be interested in reading such as journal articles or correspondence that they had been with other scientist about their research and experiments or new inventions. She accepted or declined invitations to events after consulting the scientists etc...

She then moved on to typing up any notes that the scientist's happened to write down on paper. Darcy usually encouraged them to use the white boards in their labs because it transcribed the notes with the click of a button and then you could erase it and start again but Jane preferred paper and sometimes the closest thing to Bruce when he's in a science bubble is a note book and he doesn't remember to use the white board.

Darcy moved on to various grant applications the scientists had requested. Tony didn't need to request grants for research because he owned the joint but the other two had to submit an application to the R and D manager so they could allocate funding to their particular projects. It fell to Darcy as their assistant to write up the applications and proposals and send them off to the manager Terry Pickett. He wasn't a very nice man but he had a soft spot for Jane and gave her anything she asked for so Darcy kept her opinions to herself.

By that point in her day, it was time for lunch. Darcy usually ordered something at around one so that it would be here by the time the scientists wondered in from their labs looking for food.

Today was caesar salad.

As Darcy was dishing out some servings, Clint dropped down from a vent in the ceiling. Darcy startled so violently that she hit her hip on the corner of the bench.

"No offense but you're a cunt." She said as she rubbed her hip.

"Wow. Someone's nasty today." He teased and Darcy scowled at him.

"I'm not having a good day." She huffed.

"Well I just popped down to see how you were holding up after Friday night." He said as Darcy handed him a plate. Clint was always hungry Darcy had learned from experience that it was better to feed him that to let him steal all your food.

"I'm just peachy." She said with faux cheer.

"The guys you shot are okay, unfortunately, but they are in prison, if that's any consolation." Clint continued and Darcy felt a weight lift of her shoulders that she didn't know was there.

"Why were they following me, do you know?" She asked him.

"They were going to kidnap you for information on how to get into the Tower. Planning on killing the Avengers or some crap." He said and Darcy was acutely aware of how he was studying her for her reaction.

"Well I guess it's a good thing I had a gun then." Darcy said with a weak smile. If James hadn't been there, she would have been kidnapped. They would have tortured her for information and god knows what else.

"I thought your go to weapon was a taser?" Clint asked after a moment of silence.

"They're illegal in New York." She said knowing now that he didn't believe she had shot them herself.

"So you went out and bought a gun instead?" He asked and she nodded.

"After London, I thought it was a good idea to be prepared for anything, especially when I'm working for you lot." She said and thought she sounded convincing.

"Right." Clint said, obviously doubtful. Before he could continue with his inquisition, the others trailed in and grabbed a plate of food, each thanking Darcy as they did so. Clint gave her a look that said that their conversation wasn't over.

The next week went about the same as that first day. Darcy went to work, Clint snuck up on her at random times during the day and tried to get information out of her but to no avail and then she went home to James. They talked about history and pop culture, him asking her to explain certain things that he had encountered during the day out and about or on the computer.

By the time that friday came around, Darcy was exhausted. As soon as she got home she ignored James's greeting and got changed into her favourite oversized jumper, ditched her bra and put on her fluffy neon socks before crawling into bed and curling up in a heap. James came up a minute or so later and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concern in his voice. Darcy looked up at him for a moment before pulling the covers back and motioning him to join her under the covers. Over the past week that had grown closer but by the look on James's face, his 1930's upbringing felt it improper to get into bed with a girl he had only met a week ago. Darcy stared him down until he sighed with a soft smile.

He took off his jumper and climbed in beside her. At first he made sure to keep his distance from her, careful not to touch her but Darcy was having none of it. She scooted closer, grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder and rested her head on his chest as she snuggled in close to his warm body.

It took him a little while to loose his stiff posture and just accept the situation for what it was; comfort. Darcy realised that he probably hadn't been this close to someone and in such an intimate position since the 40's. She let her arm wrap around his waist and pulled him closer so that she was flush up against him.

"This is inappropriate." He said, though he made no sign of moving away from her.

"And here I thought the history books said you were a huge flirt. Don't tell me that you've never been in this position before." She mumbled against his shirt. He huffed a laugh that she felt vibrate through his chest.

"Mmm, now that you mention it. But those situations usually came after something much more satisfying and involved a lot less clothing." He said and Darcy could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Now wouldn't that be nice." Darcy mused quietly. "I suppose you haven't had sex since the 40's then?" She asked and then wondered if it was an insensitive question.

"The last time was with one of the army nurses. Pretty little dame she was and shy. But I loved the chase, and she proved to be a challenge. Took me two months to talk her out of her knickers." He said and Darcy smiled.

"I think it's been a year since I've had sex, two years since it was actually good." She said thinking of the sex she'd had with Ian. He'd never managed to actually make her come and didn't care that she hadn't. She'd never wanked so much in her life. Darcy shuffled her position next to James, feeling a little hot. If was stupid of her to bring this up when she was so close to him. She could feel his body heat radiating from him; could feel the muscle of his stomach under her hand. She couldn't help when she rubbed her thighs together to try and relieve some of the tension that was starting to build up at her core.

"You're so warm." She said, her voice a tad deeper than usual and felt him tense under her. Her hand lightly grabbed at the fabric of his shirt.

"Darcy..." He groaned, his voice hoarse and pleading. She wasn't sure what he was begging for.

"Mmm?" She half moaned. She didn't know what had come over her. She'd only known the man a week, but she'd been living with him, spent every minute of her free time with him. She couldn't deny the attraction she felt or the instant connection. She leaned back from him to look up into his eyes. She saw lust there. And hesitation. She reached a hand up to stroke his cheek lightly and he closed his eyes at the feel of it. And then she begged him.

"Please?" She whispered and he pounced on her. He rolled them over so that she was underneath him, his hips cradled between her thighs, his hard length pressing against her core. She met his sapphire eyes for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. His lips devoured her, possessed her. Her lips parted almost immediately to allow his tongue to plunder her mouth. He was totally dominating and Darcy didn't mind letting him take control.

He certainly knew what he was doing, she thought as he rolled his hips against hers lightly. Soon enough Darcy was reaching for the hem of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head. She explored his chest with her hands, as he moved his lips to nibble and lick down her neck. He returned the favour, pulling her jumper off of her, baring her breasts to him. He sat back for a moment to admire them before diving in to attack with hands, lips, tongue and teeth.

"Oh god, James." Darcy breathed as he bit one of her nipples lightly making her back arch up pressing her breasts more firmly into his hands. Darcy's hands went down to his pants toying with the waist band for a moment before pushing them, and his underwear down, freeing his length. Bucky paused his ministrations to help her rid them completely and then turned back to her, moving to toy with her underwear.

"You sure?" He asked and Darcy nodded. God she wanted him so badly. He smirked then, moving down her body taking her underwear with him and then chucked them behind him. He settled himself down between her legs placing them over his shoulders and holding her hip and thigh in his hands to hold her still. He looked up at her for a moment before turning his full attention to her core.

He licked her slit from one end to the other, making her jump a little at the sudden pleasure that shot through her. He held her down and still as he continued. He licked and sucked and nibbled at her folds warming her up before parting them to find her clit. He sucked it hard and Darcy convulsed.

"OH shit!" She moaned as he worked her clit over until she could feel an explosive orgasm building up inside of her.

"Stop stop stop." She said, pulling at his hair. He stopped immediately, looking up at her worriedly, as if he'd done something wrong.

"I don't do multiple orgasms and I want you to be inside me when I come." She said and he grinned at her. Darcy smiled back as he crawled up her body. She grabbed his face and wiped away some of her juice.

"I can wipe my face if you want." He offered and she just shook her head at him, amused before kissing him passionately. She moaned at the taste of herself in his mouth. James ran one hand down the length of her body, bringing her leg up to rest on his hip and he pressed against her opening. Darcy sighed into his mouth as the head of his cock entered her. He pressed into her slowly, savouring the moment as he sheathed himself fully inside of her. Darcy hugged him to her as he started to move inside of her, pulling out once more and then thrusting back inside.

He sped up, moving faster and faster until they were both swept up by the heat. They chased the pleasure building inside of them, Darcy lifting her hips to meet him thrust for thrust until she felt herself fall of the edge and an orgasm rattled her body with pleasure. Her muscles convulsed and James followed her, spilling his seed inside of her. They laid still for a while, James resting his weight on her, gathering their breath back and letting it sink in that they had actually just done that. Darcy didn't know what she had been thinking. Having any sort of relationship with this man would be complicated no matter how they went about it. Had it just been a one time thing? She had no idea what to do now.

James rolled off of her and pulled her into his arms so that he was spooning her. Darcy absently noticed that their bodies fit together perfectly as she drifted off into a satisfied sleep.

In the morning, James was gone. All of his things were gone, the couch had been put back to normal and there was practically no evidence of him ever being there at all. Darcy went back to sleep.

When Darcy went to work on Monday morning, it was with a large cup of coffee, no make up and a bad mood. She was greeted with a completely empty lab. She ventured up to the Avengers private floors and made her way to the common room/ kitchen only to find everyone gathered and what seemed to be a serious conversation happening.

"He remembers everything. Don't you think that's punishment enough?" Steve asked and there was silence in reply.

"I think that it would be prudent for you to stay here for now while we figure out what to do." Tony said.

"Creating a new identity for him may be the way to go." Clint said and Natasha nodded in agreement but looked wary.

"What on earth is going on?" Darcy butted in as she walked into the room only to find James sitting next to Steve at the dinning table. She took a deep breath not meeting his eyes as she waited for someone to explain the situation, though she knew just by looking what was going on.

"Steve found Bucky standing outside his apartment in Brooklyn this morning. We're just discussing the best course of action." Pepper explained.

"Right. Well don't execute him." Darcy joked but no one laughed. Darcy could feel James watching her, and it was unnerving. She remembered that he was in fact The Winter Soldier. The entire thing could have been a lie. He could have been using her for information or she didn't know what else. If it had meant something to him, he would have told her what he was going to do. She wanted to kill him; just a little bit.

"I'm going back to work." Darcy said and turned around to walk out the door. No one took any notice of her absent behaviour. Usually when it came to group decisions like this, she always had an opinion but she didn't want to have anything to do with this one. Just as she was reaching the elevator a hand grabbed her shoulder. She closed her eyes for a moment, wishing it to be anyone other than James.

"Darcy." He said and she sighed. It was him. She turned and looked up at him, her face impassive.

"I thought you'd be angry or upset..." He said, his face hopeful.

"I may look calm, but in my mind I've already killed you three times." She said unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. James's face went from hopeful to crushed in a heart beat.

"I didn't know what else to do Darcy. It was time and I... I couldn't hide with you forever. I needed to face Steve and the rest of them. Turn myself in." He said and she pulled away from him. She couldn't stand to be touched by the same hands that had brought her so much pleasure only days ago. She felt betrayed.

"You could have told me that was what you wanted to do, instead of sneaking off in the middle of the night. "Hey Darcy, I'm going to turn myself over to Steve on Monday." Easy as that. I would have gone with you. I could have helped you." Darcy said.

"I'm sorry." He said but it didn't do any good. Darcy didn't want to hear it. She left and he didn't try to stop her again.

The next few weeks were torture for Darcy. James was confined to the Avenger's floors of the tower, which included the labs that her scientist worked in. She saw him around every corner. She couldn't get rid of him. Darcy took out her anger and frustration with the soldier in training with Natasha. If the red head noticed something was wrong with Darcy, she didn't bring it up. In fact, she had received a compliment from the assassin that made both Steve and Clint freeze in their sparing match. It was rare for Natasha to praise something, usually she just called you out on all the things you were doing wrong and when you did something right there was silence. But today was different.

"That was good." She said as she blocked the series of punched and kicks that Darcy threw her way. She managed to land only one of them. But when training with Natasha, that was a big achievement.

"Did I just hear that right?" Clint asked Steve.

"I don't know, are your hearing aids working properly today?" Steve shot back with a grin.

"Nat just said something positive." He said and Steve raised an eyebrow, looking over at Darcy, who was now flat on her back, with Natasha sitting on top of her.

"I can't believe I actually landed a hit." Darcy said, in a dazed sort of awe.

"Good job Darce." Steve said encouragingly.

"Thanks man." She replied.

"Well now that we have you where you can't run away. What's been going on with you lately?" Steve asked her, coming to sit down on one side of her, Clint following and settling on the other side. She was completely surrounded.

"Nothing." Darcy said, her mood immediately turning sour.

"Ah, don't be like that." Clint said.

"Come on, you know you can tell us anything." Steve tried to reassure her. Darcy bristled. Nat remained silent but observed Darcy's reactions with interest.

"My business isn't your business. So unless you're my thong, don't be up my ass." She said, shoving Natasha off her, knowing that the russian would allow herself to be moved and storming out of the gym. She left the boys in confused shock. She faintly heard Steve ask "What's a thong?" before the gym doors slammed shut behind her.

Darcy retreated to her office, packed her things and made to go home. She'd had enough of the world for today.

"Darcy!" Someone shouted at her and she turned to see Bruce calling for her from his lab. She sighed and went to see what he wanted.

"What do you want?" She asked, coming of sharper than she intended, making him look up at her with concern.

"I was just going to ask if you'd typed up those notes I gave you yesterday, but I can see that there are more important things that you may need to talk about." He said intuitively. She hated that about Bruce. He always knew when something was wrong.

"I'm having a bad day." She said.

"I'd say you've been having a bad month." He said with a small smile as he took of his glasses and attempted to clean then on the bottom of his shirt.

"I just want to go home and have a bath. Some me time." Darcy said and he nodded in understanding.

"Relax a bit. Sounds like a good plan." He said, "But working things out with James is an even better plan." He said. Darcy narrowed her eyes at him, not liking where this was going.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"James and I have become friends since he's been here, he told me what happened." he said and Darcy wrinkled her nose at the thought of Bruce knowing anything about her sex life.

"I don't want to talk to him." She stated.

"But you're both miserable." He pointed out plainly.

"He deserves to be miserable." Darcy said.

"Maybe. But you don't. And he may have an explanation as to why he left so abruptly." Bruce said and Darcy considered it. What could he possibly say to assuage her? He'd had sex with her and then left without a word.

"I'm not ready to face him yet." Darcy said.

"Well, just consider what I said." Bruce said and then turned back to his work. Darcy left his lab with several new things to consider.

Over the course of a week Darcy had changed her mind twenty seven times about whether or not to confront James. It wasn't until Natasha knocked some sense into her that she decided to talk to him.

"Everyone has the write to be stupid, but you're abusing the privilege." She had told her as she once again had her ass handed to her in a training session.

"What?" Darcy asked, confused about what the red head was talking about.

"Talk to James." She said, as she helped Darcy up off the ground.

"If I don't, will you use your magical assassin powers to kill me?" Darcy sassed.

"Yes." Natasha deadpanned and so Darcy's mind was made up. She didn't want to take any chances.

Darcy was drunk when it occurred. The team had had a dinner and movie night in which Tony had instructed everyone to drink or get out.

"Hand me the booze and watch me get fabulous." Had been Darcy's enthusiastic response. She felt it was the only way to handle being in the same room as James without yelling at him.

Darcy found it hard to look at him without wanting to kiss him thoroughly. She hated that he could make her feel that way even though she was angry at him.

After a while of listening to James, Steve, Sam and Natasha argue over the best strategies to finding a needle in a haystack, a drunk and inhibition free Darcy butted in.

"Finding a needle in a hay stack is easy if you just set the hay on fire." She said as she sipped her drink. They all paused and considered her reasoning before agreeing that it was the best option.

Soon after that everyone started to drift off to other parts of the tower, until it was just her and James left. She felt that she had been set up and knew that it was either Pepper or Natasha that had orchestrated it or even both of them working together.

"I'm sorry." He started and Darcy gulped down the rest of her drink before facing him.

"Why?" Was all she asked.

"I know that I didn't go about it the right way but I wanted not to be a fugitive anymore. I thought that if my name was cleared or I had a new identify, I'd be able to court you properly." He said and Darcy's alcohol addled brain couldn't help but giggle at the idea of being courted.

"You're an idiot." She told him.

"So I've been told." He said with a small smile. She stood, unsteadily on her feet and made her way over to him, settling between his thighs. His hand automatically went to her waist to steady her and pull her a little bit closer.

"I missed you." She said putting the glass in her hand down on the couch next to him so she could wrap her arms around his neck.

"I missed you too Doll." He said leaning in close and nuzzling her neck as he wrapped his arms around her.

"This doesn't mean that I forgive you." She clarified.

"Oh, I know. I promise I'll make it up to you." He said as he placed a kiss on her neck, but only one.

"Why did you stop?" Darcy whined at him and he laughed.

"I don't think you'll thank me in the morning for taking advantage of your intoxicated self." He said and Darcy pouted at him. His attention was drawn to her lips for a moment before he sighed.

"Let's get you to bed Darce." He said standing up and pulling her with him.

"Your bed?" She asked and he sighed.

"I suppose." He said.

The first thing that Darcy noticed was that she had a splitting headache. The second was that she was being spooned by a warm firm body. The night before came back to her slowly and she sighed in resignation. Damn Natasha and Pepper and their meddling ways.

She felt James stir behind her and he snuggled closer to her revealing his morning wood. It pressed firmly into her backside and she couldn't help but admire the feeling it stirred inside of her. Darcy realised he was awake when he started to kiss a trail down her neck to her collar bone.

"James?"

"Mmm?"

"This is inappropriate." She said and his responding laugh was muffled by her skin against his lips.

"Mmm." Was his only response as his hands began to travel over her body, one going down to fiddle with the hem of her underwear and the other lightly massaging her breast.

"Oh fuck." She moaned and he rolled a nipple between her fingers.

"I tasted you in my dreams." He whispered against her neck.

"Shit." Darcy groaned as the words sent a spike of pleasure through her.

"James? You ready to go for a run?" A voice interrupted, causing James to bite down on Darcy's skin a little bit too hard making her squeak in protest.

"Sorry." He whispered, wincing as Steve let himself into James's bedroom only to freeze upon seeing their intimate position.

"Oh holy crap. Sorry." He said, stumbling and blushing and covering his eyes. His reaction was so adorable that Darcy couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her.

"We're not doing anything too bad. Don't worry Steve." Darcy reassured him as she settled back into the blankets.

"How am I supposed to know that? You're under a blanket. You could be lying." He said and James sighed.

"It's not like you haven't seen it all before anyway. How many times have you walked in on me with a girl before?" James asked as he slid out of the bed and stretched. Darcy leaned up on her elbows to admire how his pajama pants hung low on his hips.

"Since when has this been a thing?" Steve asked and Darcy raised an eyebrow. She'd have thought that James would have told Steve everything, considering he told Bruce.

"He was with me for a bit before he showed up on your doorstep Capsicle." Darcy said. Steve looked confused and hurt; like a kicked puppy.

"I didn't tell you because she wasn't speaking to me and I didn't want to deal with it. I'll fill you in completely another time yeah?" James said and Steve just nodded solemnly.

"Is if safe to say you have better things to do that run with me?" Steve said and James just grinned.

"Hey Darce, you wanna go take a shower?" He asked, looking Steve directly in the eye and winking slyly.

"Only if you join me." Darcy replied.