Hello
For Darcy Lewis Week over at fuckyeahdarcylewis on tumblr
Prompt: Hello
Category: Hurt/comfort
Pairing: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Set: After The Avengers movie, in Stark Tower, where Drs Banner and Foster have moved into one of those top ten floors of R and D.
AN: I've been having a great time filling these prompts for Darcy Lewis Week on tumblr and some of them have gotten rather long so I thought it was best to post them here so I could link to them. If you're here from tumblr, thanks for following the link! If you're here through an alert and you don't know the fandom, all these posts are pretty much just about a guy and a girl, no previous knowledge really required. Having said that though, you're always welcome to PM me and I'll happily provide some background!
Steve is running at full speed, legs and arms pumping, skidding around corners. By the time he reaches the source of the explosion, Bruce is already helping a bruised and battered Tony out into the hall.
The windows of Tony's lab have been blown out and black smoke is billowing through them. It's hard to see, but it looks like the explosion, while fairly small, has taken out part of the interior wall between Tony's lab and the next. Tony is coughing and leaning heavily on Bruce, but seems to have escaped major injury.
"Banner?" says Steve, and apparently Bruce hears all the questions he's actually asking—Are you okay? Is Tony okay? Is the Other Guy under control? Is anyone else still in there? What can I do to help?—because he answers:
"We're alright, but I think Darcy might have been next door."
Steve's stomach lurches sideways.
Darcy. He's never spoken to her, but he knows who she is: the girl who assists Dr Foster, with the long dark hair and big pretty eyes. He often sees her when he visits Stark Tower. He'd been hoping he might see her today. Not for any particular reason (it's not like he'd know what to say to her, even if the opportunity arose), just to admire her from a distance. He was on his way to meet with Tony and Bruce when he'd heard the explosion.
Steve is already running down the hall, glass crunching beneath his boots.
"The smoke is toxic, Steve, make it quick," Bruce calls after him.
"Copy," Steve shouts over his shoulder, bursting through the door with 'Dr Foster' on the nameplate.
The smoke makes it hard to see, but she's the only thing moving in the room. She's on the floor, surrounded by debris, coughing and trying to sit up. Steve feels a small flash of relief. If she's moving, she's conscious, alive. In an instant he's on his knees at her side. He slips an arm behind her shoulders, helping her to sit up. At first glance he can only see a few scrapes and a gash on her cheek, but spinal damage or internal injuries are a definite possibility if she's been hit by flying debris.
"Can you move your feet?" he asks.
"Are you asking me to dance?" she says with a faint smile between coughs.
Possibly a concussion, then. His own throat is starting to burn from the acrid smoke, and getting them both away from the noxious fumes would seem to be the first priority, so he scoops her up in his arms and carries her out into the hall.
Banner and Stark are already gone, no doubt in search of cleaner air, and Steve does the same. He takes her to one of the well-appointed common areas and lays her down carefully on a couch.
"JARVIS?" Steve looks at the ceiling, though he's not sure why. He's never actually spoken to JARVIS before, just seen Tony do it. "Can you call the paramedics? Is that something you can do?"
"They are already on the way, Mr Rogers, and there is a first aid kit in the cupboard to your left if you require it," came the polite response.
"Thank you," he says, getting up and locating the kit, then returning to Darcy's side. She's breathing easier now, and looking a little less dazed. He puts a hand on her knee and gives a gentle squeeze. "Can you feel that?"
She nods. "My legs are fine. Sorry, that was stupid of me to say that thing about dancing before. It's from Firefly, and I figured that was probably the one time in my life I was going to get to use that line so I just had to go for it, you know?"
He really doesn't.
Carefully, he presses a piece of gauze from the kit to the cut on her cheek. "How are you feeling?" he asks, hovering over her face to check her pupils.
"I'm pretty sure I'm fine, now that the air isn't, you know, trying to murder me," she says.
He's never been this close to her before, hadn't realised her eyes are actually an interesting shade of blue, not brown. He's tracing the rows of long dark eyelashes with his gaze before he realises he's staring.
'I'm Darcy, by the way. Hi,' she says, with a kind, lopsided smile.
He swallows. 'Steve Rogers. Hello.'
AN: Thanks for reading. I always reply to reviews so feel free to leave one :)