Hi! It's been a long time. I am so sorry. i should probably go work on May God Guide You...

anyway, enjoy!

Darcy stormed through the door in a whirlwind of sweat, tears, and blood, twenty minutes late and looking like she was going to kill somebody. Surprisingly quiet, she slithered through the living room and into the kitchen, bashed her toe into the counter, and let loose a flurry of choice words that left my head ringing and Steve, Thor, and Loki looking like somebody had slid the rug out from under their feet.

(Loki, funnily enough, had been grounded by Odin. Yes, grounded. Minimal powers, no armor, and no honor either. Thor had persuaded Tony to let him stay for the month.)

Yikes, I thought, and stood up. "You're late. Again." Darcy froze mid-curse and spun to face me, balancing precariously on one foot. "It's not my fault Stacy was in a bad mood!" Stacy was Darcy's Colorguard coach, who was famous for a horrible temper and keeping the girls late. At this point in the year, I really shouldn't have been surprised.

"Darcy," I sighed, about to read her the riot act, but caught a look from Natasha that made me switch course. "Why don't you go take a shower? I'll heat a plate up for you." Darcy blinked at me. "Uh. Sure. Thanks." She hobbled upstairs, ponytail bouncing, black shirt sticking to her sweaty frame and three quarter length leggings bunched around her knees. As the sound of her flip-flops receded, I sat back down and raised an eyebrow at the deadly assassin who sat across from me.

"So?"

Natasha folded her hands and said, "Jane, did you see her arms? The way she was holding herself? I'll bet you anything she's bruised another one of her ribs. She really didn't need that tonight."

I sighed. "You're right. I just… I worry about her, you know? She comes home all beaten up and bruised and the next day she just up and does whatever the shit it was again. Did you know that last week she had to come home early from school because she got a bloody nose from her rifle and thought it might be broken? She's breaking apart! Darcy's running herself into the ground and thank GOD that she's almost done with the year because I don't want her getting hurt anymore."

Natasha nodded sympathetically. The others, I noticed, were in shock.

"She WHAT?" Steve asked. "How is that even possible?"

Oh. I'd forgotten. Steve didn't know exactly what it was Darcy did.

"Uh-" I started, and then gave up. "it's kind of… hard to explain."

At that point, Darcy came downstairs, pale and dazed. Thor set a plate of steaming food in front of her, and she dug in. And that was when Clint saw the bruises and pointed them quietly out to Bruce, who leaned forward to get a good look at them. Tony noticed him and started inspecting her himself, which made Loki get curious because he's Loki, and then he muttered something to Thor, whose eyes became huge. In one fluid motion, Loki grabbed her wrist, causing her to shriek and drop her fork.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I began, standing, but Natasha dragged me back down with a "Shut up, Jane."

It was then I realized they'd been planning this for a while.

Thor put an arm around my shoulders and for a minute, nobody moved. I looked at Darcy, whose eyes were wide. She pulled lightly at Loki's hands, trying to tug her arm away. "Cut it out!" she snapped, but he laid her arm flat in the gentlest possible way, throwing her skin into stark relief. It looked like she'd colored her wrist with purple and blue markers.

I felt sick.

"Darcy-" I started, but she stopped me. Standing up so fast that her chair knocked over, she ran from the room and nobody tried to stop her. That was because we were staring at her legs, which were covered in welts and bruises and a nasty scrape that traveled from the back of her right calf to the back of her left thigh.

Now I REALLY felt sick.

"I'm going to bed." I said quietly, and I left the room.

The next morning was Saturday, and I slept in late like the loser I was. When I woke up, it was 9:30. At this time, I knew where everyone was. In the gym, watching Steve break punching bags and Natasha beat up Clint and Thor and Loki and Tony and Bruce placing bets on who Fury was going to send on a mission next. (So far, the betting pool was at $200 for Clint and Natasha. Thor was half of this, declaring only "I ship it.")

And Darcy, bless her heart, was probably still asleep.

Hah. Loser.

I walked into the gym in all my pajama glory, gave Thor a kiss, ignored Loki's and Clint's usual crass remarks ("that is disgusting, brother." "Thor and Jane, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N- OW DAMN IT NATASHA!"), fixed myself a cup of coffee, and then nearly dropped my cup. What the hell? Darcy was up, on the gym floor, weapons and flags and an Ipod docking station beside her as she stretched. She was in costume. And when I say that, I mean full out SHOW costume. Her body tights were on, albeit the old ones with the runs in them, her hair was up in a pony tail with a bright orange flower. She had her yellow dress on, with its sweet heart neckline and capped sleeves and bright red sash. Her makeup was done in the natural tones that made her eyes look huge and her lips as red as cherries and her lashes long and dark.

As I stood and gawked, she calmly stood up, shook out her hands, set her equipment around her like she was about to do a run through of her winterguard show, and tossed Tony the remote to her Ipod. Then she hid behind a makeshift prop somebody had built for her and clapped her hands three times.

Tony hit the button, and Darcy's show music ("Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men) began to blast.

And Darcy danced.

I felt myself sink to the ground, lost in her mindless performance that she was doing for herself but for us as well, smile on her face as she whirled her rifle around her in a mind-boggling fast routine which suddenly cut off as she tossed the gun so high it sailed into the rafters and she spun with open arms underneath it.

I couldn't believe my eyes when she caught the thing with nary a pause, not even the bat of an eye. She just kept going, kept spinning and dancing and smiling and when the music came close to an end and she set her flag down for the last time and danced over to where she was going to stop, I realized that I was crying.

The music stopped and Darcy was curled on the ground, facing away from us as though she was asleep. She stood up, dusted herself off, and made a face. "Ugh. I messed up the final flag feature, did you see? My hands were TOTALLY in the wrong spot."

Steve led a round of applause, and Darcy blushed.

I got up and hugged her.

She hugged me back, and then said "Jane, you're gonna get glitter in your coffee."

I looked down at my cup. Sparkles danced in the tan liquid. Damn Colorguard girls and their stupid glitter.

Angrily, I went to go fix myself another cup.