Darcy's Crush

Darcy's relationship with Captain America started when she was nine years old.

September 1992

When Darcy Lewis was nine years old, her class had its first lesson on Captain America. Darcy was impressed by how honorable and loyal he was. Her own father had split the year before and her mother was never very warm or affectionate so she formed an instant affection for the Star Spangled Man with the Plan and was irrationally jealous of the woman in his compass from the films they watched.

That night, while they were eating, she told her mother that when she grew up she wanted to marry Captain America. When her mother rolled her eyes and said Captain America was dead then turned up the volume on the TV, Darcy burst into tears. She cried about it for a week.

How could someone as brave and good as Captain America be dead?

OOOOooooOOOO

May 2003

When Darcy Lewis was sixteen, her history class was focused on US History. After the AP exam in May, there wasn't a lot to do, but instead of watching movies until the school year ended in June, her teacher assigned them each a report on a famous American to present to the class. Darcy did not get Captain America. She didn't know whether she was happy or disappointed by that.

Now, slightly older and massively more cynical than her nine year old self, she could understand how someone so brave and good could die. They would sacrifice themselves for others. Darcy stared at the pictures of Captain America her classmate put up during his report and she could still feel a flutter in her heart at his earnest gaze. She tried to squash it, knowing it was silly. Instead, she resolved that she would marry someone like Captain America.

Looking around at the boys in her class, she couldn't hold back a sigh. They were nothing like Captain America. She did her report on Virginia Hall and passed that class. That was good enough for now.

OOOOooooOOOO

December 2006

When Darcy Lewis was twenty years old, she was a history major at Culver University. She didn't know why she was surprised that her survey of WWII class had so much on Captain America. However, she was a little annoyed that they weren't studying anything about the Pacific Theater- her grandpa had fought with the Marines and was at Iwo Jima and Bourgainville. But with Professor Jones it was all about the Captain.

The only good part was they really got to study him. Not just Captain America but Steve Rogers too. And that's when Darcy realized it was Steve that made Captain America brave and heroic. She started dating a skinny artsy guy in her dorm and thought that maybe maybe this was it. She had found a guy "like Steve Rogers" that she could really see herself with.

So when she caught him in bed with her roommate, she was crushed and humiliated that this was the guy she gave her virginity to. Steve Rogers would never have done that.

The next day, she moved out of the dorm, changed her major to political science, and vowed that she would never get married.

OOOOooooOOOO

April 2014

When Darcy Lewis was twenty seven years old she moved to New York and actually met Captain America. With SHIELD debunked by the Internet and trending on Twitter, Jane had been offered a position at Stark Industries to continue her research. Jane had insisted that Darcy come along. Darcy wasn't going to complain because she didn't really have any other job prospects and she had grown used to working with Jane. And things with Ian had taken a decidedly awkward turn and she couldn't wait to leave that mess behind her. Of course, the first thing out of her mouth had been decidedly embarrassing.

"Holy shit! You're Steve Rogers!" Darcy said upon walking into a room and seeing Steve Rogers who she'd had a crush on since she was nine years old sitting at a table in the break room drinking a cup of coffee. She promptly covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and missed the bemused smile on his face. She spread out her fingers and peeked out from behind her hands at him. "I'm sorry. I bet you get that all the time. I am such an idiot…God, Darcy! And now I can't shut up, why can't I shut up…just stop talking." And she actually physically moved her hands to cover her mouth so no sound could come out.

Darcy was so embarrassed. It didn't help that Stark was standing at the counter laughing at her and that her face was so hot she could actually feel the blush on her cheeks. Through her embarrassment she heard Stark introduce her as "Darcy- one of the new lab monkeys" and she chanced a look at Steve and saw that he wasn't laughing at her. But he was giving her a smile.

"Actually, I don't get that a lot." He said and gestured for her to sit down. Darcy cautiously sat down on the edge of a nearby chair looking at him nervously. She swallowed and took her hands away from her mouth after Stark left the room.

"Get what?" She asked still slightly in awe of him.

"Steve Rogers." He clarified. When she still looked confused he went on. "Usually people say 'holy shit you're Captain America.'" He said with a shrug. Darcy snorted at his cursing but gave him a tentative smile.

"Well, there wouldn't be any Captain America without Steve Rogers, right?" She asked and felt her heart soar as he blushed and ducked his head.

"That's nice of you to say." He finally said and Darcy felt her confidence return. Which of course meant that she was bound to embarrass herself again.

"Well, I mean, I practically took a whole course on you in college. It was actually sort of annoying that a supposed survey of WW2 was really just an episode of the Dating Game, Captain America edition." She paused and saw that Steve was looking at her with his mouth open and she realized what she had just said. "Oh God. Kill me now." Darcy said covering her face again and sinking into her chair. Steve gave her a half smile.

"Actually, it's sort of nice to not wonder if what you're saying is true." Steve said sincerely.

"Well, finally my complete lack of social filters pays off." Darcy said with a smile. She figured she had better get out of there before she said something else completely embarrassing so she got up and walked over to the coffee pot to pour a cup and go back to the lab. Feeling generous she poured one for Jane too.

"No, I mean it." Steve said and reached out and gently touched her arm not pouring coffee. "After the whole 'SHIELD-is-Hydra' thing, it's nice to talk to someone and not worry that they're hiding stuff from me."

"Thanks. That's really nice of you." Darcy replied and felt herself relax at last. She gave him a true smile before putting the coffee pot back and grabbing the mugs. "I should get back to the lab, but hopefully I'll see you around." And with one more smile she left heading back to the lab and mentally congratulating herself for saying something to him and not wanting to die in embarrassment immediately after.

Meanwhile, when she smiled at him, Steve realized just how beautiful Darcy was. He hadn't noticed it when she was turning bright red from embarrassment, but now that he did see, he froze a bit as his awkwardness with beautiful women made him tongue tied. He'd barely even been able to squeak out a good-bye when she left for the lab.

Steve took out his notebook and added one more thing to his list: take Darcy out on a date. He thought about it for a second and then ran out after her. He had a lot going on right now; finding Bucky, deciding what to do with his life…but he wasn't going to sit around and wait for anymore dates in his life.

"Hey Darcy! Wait up! I wanted to ask you a question…"

OOOOooooOOOO

AN: Based on a couple of Marvel timelines, I'm going with Darcy was born in 1986. If the stuff with Thor (New Mexico) happened in the summer of 2011, she would be 25 years old. Which I'm assuming that she took a gap year (which then actually lasted 2 years) and she's had to work her way through college along with changing her major made her a bit older than your 21/22 year old college graduate.

For her history report I chose Virginia Hall. Hall was a female spy in WW2. I only read a blurb on her online when I was trying to decide who Darcy's report should be on but she sounds completely fascinating. For the college professor, I was going to try to have it be one of Peggy's kids but decided against that since I couldn't remember who they had said was her husband in the movie I thought…huh. Why not one of the Howling Commandos' kids? I chose Gabe Jones since he went to school at Howard and I'm hoping that the family stayed in the area and one of his kids became a professor at nearby Culver College (on the Virginia side of the river!). I should also note that the battles listed that Darcy wants to study in the Pacific are real battles and it is feasible that a Marine back them would have been in both. I based it on the experiences of Sgt. Mike Strank who is one of the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima in the famous picture. You can read about the six men in that picture in the book "Flag of Our Fathers" which is written by one of their sons. It is an amazingly good book!