Writer's Note: I think a lot of us need to go to a safe, happy place after the election, so I start writing this. It's meant to be light on plot and heavy on fluff so enjoy. (Also I couldn't think of a title, so it's a lyric from "Don't Your Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia. It's been a really hard couple of weeks.)
Upon a Hill, Across a Blue Lake
Jane fumbled with the ringing phone, turning it upside down first and jabbing at it confusedly before she finally swiped at the red call button.
"Mm?" she managed. Pulling the phone away from her ear she saw it was Darcy calling her at 2am. "Darcy?"
"Hey Janey, I am so sorry I'm calling, I know it's like super late, and you're probably sleeping, but I'm stuck at the police station and—"
"Police station?" Jane interrupted. She sounded more bewildered then worried, but her brain caught up quickly. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, fine. Just can't leave since apparently between 11pm and 6am the NYPD reverses back a century." Darcy continued to mutter darkly, but Jane wasn't awake enough to understand most of what she said.
"You need me to bail you out?"
"I wish it were that simple. No, I need an Alpha to pick me up since pepper spray and a Taser—yes, it's licensed," she clearly spat at someone in the police station, "—doesn't mean an Omega can be let out on the streets."
Jane could hear voices in the background, the sounds of arguing, and raised voices.
"I'm sorry Janey, but can Thor come pick me up? If I'm here any longer, I'll end up actually earning the night in a jail cell."
"He's not here. Back in Asgard for a council."
"Shit," Darcy cursed. Jane sat up, holding the phone to her ear. "Can you find someone? Anyone but Tony. Maybe Nat's awake? I think I have her number."
"I'll ask FRIDAY," Jane said instead. She didn't even have to form the question though before the AI answered.
"I will alert one of the Alphas who is awake. What precinct is Ms. Lewis currently held in?"
"What precinct is it?" Jane asked, interrupting whatever rant Darcy was involved in with a cop. Several irate Omegas were arguing in the background.
Darcy told her and finished with profuse thanks. Jane hung up a moment later and Darcy rolled her shoulders, shot a glare at the cop who was still trying to calm down the annoyed Omegas, and slumped into a plastic seat.
Her night had been going well until a little after midnight. She'd met up with a couple grad student friends at an Omega-friendly bar to catch up over a few drinks. She'd just been getting up to leave when a drunk, enraged Alpha stumbled into the bar with a gun and his best bank robber impression.
A dozen 911 calls, three bullets in the ceiling, and a lot of distressed Omegas later, including one very upset ex-girlfriend of the drunk Alpha, half of them were driven to the police station to take witness statements and make sure all the Omegas were calm enough to go home. This Darcy appreciated, but by 2am when she had finally given her statement, sworn up and down she wasn't going to breakdown on a street corner, she'd been barred from leaving.
"It's an old law, miss," the tired, baggy-eyed cop had told her and the other Omegas who were held behind the precinct's front desk like children in a playpen. "I don't like it either, but I can't let you go."
"Are you kidding? I'm a responsible adult and at this point I'm not even drunk! I can catch a cab and you'll never see me again. You can't hold someone against their will without due cause!" Darcy and the others had argued, wheedled, and cursed, but the night-shift officers were the green ones, and they didn't dare break a rule when their superiors could find out. They'd made all the sad and sympathetic noises, but none of them would let any of the Omegas go.
Grumbling along with the other Omegas who were increasingly irate and sober, she hunched down in her plastic chair and wrote up a blistering post on Facebook about what kind of garbage bin 1845 laws belonged in and waited for Natasha.
It was hard to doze off when the room was full of agitated Omegas, some still tipsy, others angry, and some concerned about finding an Alpha to take them home. Darcy got a headache and no rest for the next half hour until someone called her name. "Miss Darcy Lewis? Ms. Lewis, your Alpha is here for you."
"Finally," she mumbled, stretching as she stood up and walked to the gate. When she looked up at the crowd of officers around the front desk she saw the wrong Avenger standing there.
"Darcy, are you okay?" Steve asked, his stupidly perfect face crinkled into worry lines. Despite all the officers standing around gawking, Steve immediately moved to stand between her and them. "FRIDAY said you were at the police station. What happened?"
Darcy had to consciously not sway into him. She should have been more specific to Jane, otherwise why would the woman let FRIDAY send her crush to save her from the ignorant laws of the city like a mate would have? It was embarrassing enough that her dynamic resulted in being stuck at a police station at two in the morning, but then for Steve to swoop in to get her out… Her hindbrain was happily perking up with thoughts of Steve pulling a dominance display like heading to the jail cells and punching the lights out of the stupid Alpha who got her into this mess.
Shut up shut up shut up…
"Thanks for coming all the way out here to bail me out even though it shouldn't be necessary." She shot another glare at the surrounding police officers with those words, but they were all still staring at Steve. He tended to do that. It was something about his celebrity, all-American charm, and the sheer Alpha that he exuded. Natasha said the serum had forever changed how Steve's dynamic was expressed, and his presence was considerably more powerful than most Alphas. That was useful for a motley bunch of Alphas like some of the Avengers and friends who didn't always get along, but devastating to Omegas like Darcy.
"It's not a problem," he said with that Boy Scout smile.
The officer at the desk was ogling openly at Captain America and seemed to have forgotten that he needed to buzz Darcy out. Steve had to address him twice before he remembered his job. "Sir, uh, Captain, uh, you need to sign her out. And we're required to inform you th-that for the next 4 hours she's in your custody. If anything happens you'll be responsible."
Steve winked at Darcy. "I'll take good care of her." He signed the book as Darcy steadied herself on the gate, knees wobbly. Steve didn't normally exude this much Alpha but he was obviously trying to spare her anymore time spent here. Unfortunately, he was affecting her too. She gathered herself, thought about all the mildew she'd found in Stark's lab fridge last week, and stuck her chin up, walking out of the stupid gated area where they'd put all the Omegas. Steve came right up behind her to cover her back, and even though she walked out in her own power it felt so right to have the Alpha trailing her just in case. Unexpectedly standing in the middle of her power-walk out of the precinct was Bucky Barnes.
"Hey doll, you okay?"
Darcy had to take a deep breath of that fresh, 2am garbage stink of whatever neighborhood of Brooklyn she was in. Steve Rogers, the good boy, was only one of her crushes. The other was the bad boy, and Bucky Barnes leaning against one of Tony Stark's hot rods in a leather jacket was way too much for her.
"Angry but good," she finally said after an extended moment to collect what remained of her brain. "You didn't both have to come."
"We know it takes two to handle you," Bucky said charmingly. Darcy firmly squelched her hindbrain's thoughts of just how Bucky could "handle" her.
"Hey, what happened exactly?" Steve asked coming to stand beside her. "They wouldn't say. I just promised to take charge of you until dawn, so if you're committing crimes I ought to know." He grinned down at her.
"Taking responsibility for jailbirds now, Rogers?" Barnes joked. "Guess if you're gonna abuse your power you should do it for good-looking Omegas." Bucky gave her an exaggerated once over and Darcy rolled her eyes. As he'd regained his memories Bucky had slowly regained his personality around the Avengers for the last eight months. He'd started to flirt outrageously with Darcy since she was the only unbonded Omega around a lot, recalling his old swagger from the 30s. Getting hot looks and compliments from sex on legs had done nothing good for her crush. Knowing he was happily mated to Steve was the only thing stopping her from seeing if he really was bluffing.
"The only crime was ignoring Omega rights. Apparently, I can't leave a police precinct without an Alpha between 11pm and 6am," Darcy butted in before Steve could call her a good-looking Omega too and mess up her calm. If he paid her compliments after playing the protective guardian her wise-cracking, friendly façade might shatter and she'd never be able to look at them again. Her control was hair-thin right now after drinking and then stressing out at a police station.
"Really? Sounds like something from our day," Bucky commented, opening the door for her. They'd grabbed a two-door sports car from Stark's lot, probably whatever key was on the hook, so she clambered over into the backseat. She missed the way Bucky eyed her ass in the tight jeggings as she did so, and his grin at Steve.
"Sounds more like something Peggy would've railed against. She was a beta with some strong opinions," Steve opined. "You sure you're okay?"
"My kind of gal," Darcy agreed. "And I'm fine. Some Alpha just got rejected by another Omega and lost it trying to get her back. He fired a weapon inside the Omega bar and threatened a bunch of us, so the police insisted on taking statements at the station. By the time they were done none of us could leave."
"Sorry your night was ruined, Darce," Bucky murmured, slipping in behind the wheel.
"This is nothing," she waved off. Steve got in on the passenger side and Darcy settled into the middle backseat, insisting they roll down the windows since it was a balmy summer night. The real reason being that their scents in the small space made her mouth water. Some Alphas smelled like shit to her, others like nothing much, but Steve and Bucky made Darcy wet if she let it.
"Where to?" Bucky asked. "I don't think you live in the Tower."
"No, I don't live far." Darcy gave them directions to her apartment complex and Bucky drove smoothly, the streets empty and dark this late at night. As Bucky drove Darcy basked in the combined scents of apple pie and pine forest that were Bucky and Steve and tried not to lose her head.
"Why the fancy car?"
Steve shrugged with an impish smile. "Tony left the keys out and we were worried. Took the fastest car we could find."
Darcy flushed a little at that. She liked the idea of these Alphas rushing out for her.
"You didn't have to."
"Of course we did," Bucky rebutted. "How come you don't live at the Tower?"
"Oh, uh, no space? I'm just Jane's assistant anyway. Erik doesn't live there either." Darcy considered herself lucky enough to hang out with Jane and Thor let alone the Avengers. Living in Stark Tower would be a little crazy given she wasn't much more than a jumped-up intern. She did get paid at least, and she loved her job.
"There's definitely room," Steve said. "I can understand if you want your own place, though… your neighborhood wasn't a great area in our day."
"What areas were? Didn't you grow up in a rough place?" Darcy countered, unwilling to discuss her neighborhood. It still wasn't the best at night, but during the day the bodegas, narrow, home-style restaurants, and concrete playground weren't too bad. Just at night… well, she always took a cab back right to her door.
"Just more bullies for Steve to pick fights with," Bucky said, and the fond look the Alphas shared reminded Darcy that they were a happy couple with a long history, and she was the Omega looking in the window.
Steve and Bucky regaled her with stories about the various neighborhoods they'd known growing up and how they'd changed. Steve still couldn't believe parts of Brooklyn were so expensive now, and Bucky complained that the subways were no faster than they'd been when they were trekking the boroughs as kids.
"Where on the block?" Bucky asked, slowing down as they reached her cross-street. Someone whistled at the car as they turned down her block.
"Further down. The one with the big brick arch." There was a flag outside the front door that had a special blue symbol on it for an Omega safe house. Clinics, certain businesses, and omega-only housing establishments had those.
"Some things have changed, but not everything," Steve commented softly. "I didn't know they still had Omega-only housing."
Darcy felt a bit of a flush creep up on her. "I don't like it much either, but unbonded Omega still have it tough finding apartments since Alphas don't like when their neighbors go into heat." She put her chin up as Bucky parked and turned in his seat. "Plus it's cheap."
Steve eyed the front door and the two men loitering not far from it. He didn't say anything but Bucky did.
"How cheap? I thought Stark paid you well, Darce. This neighborhood's better than it was, but this looks like spit-shin clean, not the real stuff." He was looking dubiously at the bars on the first three floors' windows and the graffiti on the car across the street. One of the street lights was out down the way.
"Student loans add up," Darcy admitted. "Now are you guys going to let me out or should I bed down here?"
"Sorry!" Steve quickly stepped out and folded the front seat forward so she could crawl out.
"Thanks guys, I appreciate you coming out to get me," Darcy said, turning around in front of her stoop. "I know it's far and late and you didn't have to."
"We're happy to help," Steve said immediately. Bucky came out too and walked around the car. Seeing the two Alphas standing shoulder-to-shoulder like a wall between her shitty street and her, Darcy didn't want to go back inside. Then she spotted a guy in a dark jacket and distinctive white hat across the street and decided she'd rather go inside after all. All the Omegas in her building knew who he was.
Steve and his preternatural senses must have picked up on something because he took two steps closer to her and glanced up at the looming brownstone. "You ever need anything just call us. Anything."
"Of course," Darcy readily agreed, knowing she'd never call unless she were desperate. One of the first ways Omegas fell for Alphas was relying on them like a mate. If they took to protecting her or posturing around her she'd unconsciously respond in kind, and then would come the inevitably awkward, we're-mated-and-happy-but-let's-be-friends conversation. There was no way her heart could take that. Better to keep them at arms' length.
"Be safe, Darce. We'll see you on Monday," Bucky added, and neither of the Alphas got into the car until Darcy had safely unlocked the outside gate and the Beta doorman waved her in.
"There's a bullet hole in the fourth-floor window," Bucky said immediately after she'd left their sight.
"I don't like this area either, Buck." Steve shook his head. He looked to the building next door to Darcy's and saw an Alpha creeping in the shadows. Steve barred his teeth and the Alpha turned and walked off. Bucky was eyeing the one in the white hat across the street.
"Never did like the Omega safe houses," Bucky muttered. "Like a giant target saying 'find an unbonded, packless Omega here'." He rounded the car back to the driver's side, taking in the details of the block.
Steve couldn't argue with that assessment except that Darcy did have a loose pack of the Avengers looking out for her. She was an adult though, and if nothing bad had happened yet… Steve got back into the car and turned in his seat to catch the last whiffs of her scent, disturbed, but he calmed at her soft, homey scent. He may have had an ulterior motive to picking one of Stark's smaller cars, but when FRIDAY had pulled him from his insomniac's workout to get Darcy, he hadn't quite been able to quell the swell of pride at being needed by her. Bucky didn't seem to want to quell it at all.
Darcy didn't see Steve or Bucky on Monday, but late in the evening on Tuesday she was coming back up the elevator with take-out when she ran into them waiting for the elevator by the labs.
"Oh! Uh hi there," she said, unable to wave because of the bags of Chinese food.
"We were looking for you," Steve said. "You haven't left for the day?"
"No, Tony and Bruce have an experiment going and neither of them are going to eat if I don't put it under their noses." Darcy waved the bags of hot food at them. "Speaking of…"
The two stepped aside and Darcy passed between them. Before she could push the glass door to the lab with her hip Bucky was there opening it. "Thanks," she said, plunking down Styrofoam cartons on Tony's desk. Bucky let the door close behind her, but he didn't take her eyes off the Omega.
"FRIDAY, can you let us know when Darcy heads out?" Steve asked, and Bucky shook his head with a smile. "What? I don't want her to walk back from the station to her apartment late at night."
"She's not going to let you. You never did know where to put your instincts."
Steve shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just- I know we were going to wait until you and I were more settled but—"
"I don't want to wait either," Bucky said, looking away for a second. Steve knew that Bucky's mind wasn't 100% and probably never would be, that the nightmares still plagued him badly and he hadn't recovered even half of the memories of the past seven decades. But Darcy… an Omega would be a wonderful thing to join them like they'd always wanted, and it might even be helpful. Darcy was fierce in her nurturing, willing to push when most wouldn't, and soft when they needed it. Steve knew how good it made Bucky feel to take care of her, and it would be a good balancing force for him.
But Bucky was also right; Darcy's fierce and independent streak ran deep. When she packed up her bag for the night, she found Steve at the elevator bank waiting for her. "Hi," she said, a bit confused. She normally saw Bucky or Steve a couple times a week at most, not twice in a day.
"Hey, I uh, thought I could drive you home."
"Why?"
Steve glanced at his watch. "It's 9:30 and dark out."
Darcy shifted her weight and popped her hip out. "I appreciate the gesture Steve, but I'm a grown-up and I've been doing this awhile. I'll be fine." She softened her tone though at the slight downturn of his lips. Stupid, perfect Alpha thoughtfulness that was making her heart inappropriately flutter. "I'm pretty sure Bucky needs you anyway."
Steve's lips twitched at that. "Not like an Alpha. The last time I tried to suppress my instincts for too long was during the war, and I ended up losing it and dumping a dead deer at his feet. It was, uh, pretty embarrassing." Darcy laughed, but thinking about the image of Steve presenting a kill was also alarmingly hot. That was a really base Alpha instinct and something that hit right at her Omega core. And what did he mean by 'suppressing for too long'?
"Well, I'm sure Tony wouldn't appreciate it if you dragged one into the Tower for Bucky again," Darcy finally said, firmly banishing the image and questions for when she got home. "Would you feel better if you walked me down?"
Steve rubbed the back of his head in an adorably awkward gesture. "Yeah, it would. I'm sorry about this, just it's dark and thinking about those Alphas hanging around your door…"
"It's okay," Darcy quickly said before he actually turned red. She didn't want to embarrass him. "It happens. Instincts, I know." She couldn't quite look at Steve though. It had happened with Natasha before, when something had gone wrong on a mission.
Nat had only said later it was a shitstorm, and she hadn't been able to protect her teammates or the target from a bomb that had gone off. For an Alpha with responsibilities like Natasha's, that had been unconscionable, and it became a classic case of instincts latching on to someone while the mind coped with the real events. So, Nat had ended up cooking Darcy meals for two days and encouraging her to sleep in the spare bedroom so she could keep an eye on the only unbonded Omega close to her. For her instincts, protecting Darcy was in some way making up and helping her cope with being unable to protect her teammates.
Then the Black Widow had been called out on another mission, killed a Hydra goon or two, and gotten the bug in her instincts out. Darcy hadn't been bothered by the impromptu sleepover, even enjoying the coddling for a little while. She'd done something similar before too, after Steve and Tony got into a big fight over Bucky joining up, dragging all the other Avengers on to their sides of the argument. The discord had upset her so much she'd ended up making lunch for Spiderman for a week and scowling at everyone since she thought all the Alphas had tricked and hurt a teenage boy into getting into the fight.
The only problem was, with Natasha or Peter there was no risk of her heart getting involved or misreading anything. Steve was another animal though. Darcy's attraction to him made it that much harder to withstand even friendly Alpha-laden overtures. When he inevitably got another mission and beat up some baddies he'd go back to his usual friendly but carefully not overtly Alpha self. Seeing him a little more unwound was messing with her cool and her hormones. At this rate if he actually did try to scent her or punched someone for her she'd probably go into early heat. That would be really embarrassing.
"Thanks Darcy, I'm putting you in a cab though. Subway's too risky," Steve gave her a real smile and a small wink, and Darcy smiled back automatically, cursing and blessing the universe for giving that man so much power in a smile. They rode the elevator down talking lightly about their day, and Steve insisted on paying for her cab back home, absolutely refusing to let Darcy get a word in. She eventually had to shup up when he gave her those puppy-dog eyes, and she told him off for using the nuclear option with her. Steve laughed, closed the door, and stood on the curb as the cab took off. Darcy absolutely did not look out the back window as his figure shrunk with the distance.
"You're distracted," Jane said, looking up from the microscope at Darcy, who had frozen mid-swivel in her chair. "Did something else happen at the police station?"
"No, nothing happened. I already told you the story."
Jane gave her a look. Darcy considered her best friend and promptly crumbled.
"Fine, okay. Steve and Bucky saw where I live and, I don't know, got the wrong impression. It's not that sketchy but, you know, Alphas overreacting or something. So, Steve tried to drive me home on Tuesday and I said no but it was hard. His face! I just, I can't, ugh." Darcy groaned and made some other unintelligible noise before finishing her explanation with, "I can't touch 'em Janey, and it's super frustrating."
"What did he do exactly?" she asked, turning in her chair. Jane was an Omega too, now mated to Thor, but she could understand Darcy's pain. She did have eyes.
"Just walked me downstairs and saw me off into the cab yesterday and the day before. Nothing crazy."
Jane frowned. "Sounds overt for him."
Darcy blinked, confused. "What?"
"Haven't you noticed? Whenever you and Steve or Barnes are in a room together one of them stands between you and another Alpha, and they always laugh first at your jokes."
Darcy stared at Jane openmouthed. "They do not! I would have noticed that! And my jokes are just funny." Darcy could feel that horribly swelling of hope inside her and desperately tried to tamp it down. Alphas who did those kinds of things were clearly interested, but it had to be unconscious. She was the only unbonded Omega they saw regularly. "They probably do the same thing with Skye when she's here."
Jane was already shaking her head though. "No, remember when Barnes took that paintball for you? Or you gave Steve dibs on the blueberry muffins and he kept smiling so much as he ate them that Tony wouldn't stop making fun of him?"
"That was- That was when Bucky was still new and thought I was being attacked by Clint! And Steve just likes food," Darcy sputtered. She'd chalked both those incidences up to circumstance.
"Mmmhm," Jane hummed, turning back to her microscope. "Let them actually drive you home. You do live in a sketchy area after all."
"It's fine during the day," Darcy argued weakly. She was too busy reading into every interaction she'd ever had with Steve and Bucky to pay much attention. Shit, there was no way she could be as cool about this as she had when Natasha had gotten a little crazy.
"That's why it's sketchy."
Darcy normally left around 6pm from the labs, taking the elevator down to the lobby and heading a block over to the subway. Today though, after Jane's revelations and anticipating Steve showing up again, she took the back staircase down a floor and caught the elevator there.
On her way home she swung by the small grocery store and picked up a few things for dinner, grabbing a chocolate bar at the last second. As she walked back to her apartment the shadows deepened with the evening, the sun sliding behind the talk buildings. The street lights weren't on yet and a little boy was still on his scooter in the playground, so Darcy wasn't worried. As she approached her building though, she saw a familiar man in a white hat leaning against the side of the stoop.
"Hey there," he said as she slowed her approach. Darcy had the full bag of groceries in her hands, otherwise she would have grabbed her Taser immediately. Aware of the eggs and easily bruised bananas in her bag, she ignored the Alpha and didn't make eye contact, heading straight for the steps. If she could just get within sight of the doorman, they could help her out.
"Hey, let me carry that," the Alpha said, pushing off from the stoop. "A pretty Omega like you shouldn't eat dinner by yourself," he said, lewdly eyeing her bare legs below the skirt. "I can pay too you know."
"I'm fine," Darcy said sharply, wanting desperately to avoid a confrontation. Everyone in her building knew this Alpha creeper hung around but she did not want to get involved in whatever his problem was.
"Don't be like that, come here," he ordered, and her back went ramrod straight at the Alpha voice that thrummed through her. She was angry and disgusted enough that he couldn't make her do anything, but even trying that on someone that wasn't his mate—
"Fuck off," Darcy snapped, trying to brush past him quickly, but he grabbed her arm before she could go. Deciding to hell with the eggs, Darcy dropped the grocery bag and reached for the Taser in her purse.
"Hey, don't be a bitch! I'm a paying customer!" he snarled, pulling her into him so fast that her breasts hit his chest and his nose was in her hair. Pissed off and now seriously upset that he was trying to scent-markher on top of using his Alpha voice on her, Darcy yanked out the Taser and hit the trigger. He yelped and fell backwards, but not before he pulled her down too.
Darcy skinned her knees on the ground and his nails cut into her arm, but she was up in a flash and kicked the Alpha in the side for good measure.
"I said fuck off!" she yelled, not taking her eyes off him as she scooped up her grocery bag and hightailed it for the door. She was fumbling with the keys when he got back up and the doorman, seeing her struggling, buzzed her in. Darcy slammed the door behind her in time to hear the thump of a fist strike the bars outside the glass.
The Beta doorman stood up and pulled her nightstick from her sheath. "Are you alright?" she asked, moving to block the sight of Darcy from outside.
"I'm fine," she said hollowly, but inside Darcy could feel herself start to shake. She'd been close to assault before, but never quite like that. Right outside her own home, in broad daylight…
"He didn't touch you or—"
"I'm fine, I'm just going- going upstairs. Good night," Darcy murmured to the doorman and fled. Her hands started to shake in the elevator up to her floor, and by the time she unlocked her door and put her groceries on the counter her legs were ready to give out. She sank down to the floor and pulled her knees into her chest, counting her breaths. It's just a small panic attack, she told herself, totally normal, anyone who'd been attacked like that would do the same.
She didn't know how long she stayed there, but she felt exhausted from the surprise attack and defying an Alpha's order. She put her groceries away, bandaged up her arm and knees, devoured the chocolate bar, and threw her clothes into the laundry basket, burying them beneath a heap of her other clothing so his stink would disappear. When she continued to feel out of sorts she gave in and grabbed every pillow in her apartment and threw them on her bed, arranging them into a nest. She was proud her life was stable and happy enough not to need a nest all the time, but there was comfort in curling up around her own things behind locked doors. Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.
Darcy woke up late the next day, having failed to set her alarm clock, and rushed around to get ready. She yanked on some jeans, an oversized cardigan and sandals, and skipped breakfast instead to rush out. She jogged all the way to the subway station, telling herself it was because she was going to be twenty minutes late, not because seeing the stoop and the spot that the Alpha had been last night gave her the creeps.
When she did get in, she wanted to tell Jane about the incident the next day, but Darcy didn't think she could stand hearing about how sketchy her neighborhood was after everything. Jane had offered her guest room before, but with Thor there Darcy wasn't comfortable, nor did she need the constant reminder of a great relationship she didn't have.
She called her sister that morning instead as Jane fiddled with one of her machines and Darcy filed copies of patent requests in the back of the lab. She regaled her sister with her heroics with the Taser yet again, commiserated about handsy, entitled Alphas, and felt a lot better.
By mid-morning though Darcy's stomach was grumbling. "Hey boss lady," she said, pushing off her desk and rolling towards Jane and her pile of illegible notebooks Darcy would have to translate later. "Want something from upstairs?"
"Hm? Oh, maybe a donut? I saw Tony with one earlier."
Darcy's eyes narrowed and she glanced at the trash bin, seeing Pop-Tart wrappers, a miniature cookie tray, and a soda can.
"Fruit. I'll get you fruit."
Jane was already absorbed in her work again though, so it was left uncontested.
She hopped on the elevator and exited on the Avengers communal floor. There was a large, sunken living room complete with game table, big squishy couches, and a state-of-the-art projector and television, all connecting to a balcony with a small garden. The kitchen was just as exciting, and Darcy took full advantage of the double ovens, gigantic fridge and freezer, and great counter space when she had the time.
She was debating whether an omelet was worth the trouble or a sandwich would be better when Steve and Bucky walked in. She smiled at them as she pulled out the makings for a sandwich, turning in time to nearly bump into Steve despite the size of the kitchen.
"Oh, sorry, uh—"
Instead of backing up politely, Steve didn't move, standing too close for her to get past. Before Darcy could get out a question he leaned in and breathed in her scent. She froze, completely shocked at the forwardness.
"Steve," Bucky growled, and he seemed to jerk out of whatever had taken him. He took a couple steps back quickly, looking surprised and apologetic.
"I'm sorry Darcy, I don't know what came over me. That was incredibly rude—"
"It's okay," she said, regaining herself. It had been a shock mostly because she hadn't been expecting it and after that incident yesterday—
"I just caught the scent- It's none of my business."
"Oh my god," slipped out before Darcy could catch herself. She'd been in such a rush she hadn't showered this morning and she'd fallen asleep early last night, and if that bastard really had scent-marked her then she was still wearing it. She'd forgotten completely about the way he'd rubbed his cheek on her hair, caught up in the rest of the event, but now that Darcy remembered she recoiled. "I need to take a shower."
Steve's face fell immediately and Bucky tensed. The acrid scent of burning pine needles filled her nose.
Realizing exactly what she'd said Darcy backtracked. "Oh no, no, I don't mean you, I'm sorry Steve! This Alpha yesterday, he just- well, I mean," she touched the top of her head and in an instance Steve was back in her space.
"What did he do?" His voice had dropped nearly to a growl and that angry Alpha scent doubled.
"Nothing that bad, I think he just got me on the head—"
"He got that close?" Bucky cut in, voice deadly. He was on Darcy's other side immediately, and he noticed the bandage on the inside of her arm first. "He cut you?" Something very dangerous was in Bucky's voice now, and Darcy felt the urge to wrap her arms around him and press her nose under his jaw until it went away.
"Accidentally. Then I tased him." Darcy knew she should step away; she was feeding into their instincts and her own, but the fear and anger from last night was bubbling up inside her again. That Alpha in the white hat was still on the streets, and Darcy suddenly just wanted to be back in her nest again, maybe cuddled into someone's chest. And she needed his stink off her.
Steve glanced at Bucky before pressing. "Darcy, one of us can—"
"No, it's okay. Just- Just tell me if he… if he did scent-mark me. I can't—"
Steve nodded, and watching her carefully he stepped in, his big shoulders and muscular torso distractingly close. Darcy's fingers itched to see if his abs were as extraordinary as she imagined, but he thankfully drew back before she lost control. "It's not a strong one, but I can smell him."
"Okay, I'm going to, uh, get that out. Thanks guys, really."
"We can replace it," Bucky said suddenly, his gaze intense. "No one will bother you then."
Darcy felt her heart skip a beat. Offering to scent-mark an Omega was pretty serious, even between friends. It was a sign to everyone you were spoken for or at least had close Alphas ready to help you. No one had done that to her in a long time, not since her last Alpha boyfriend before she'd met Jane.
"We'll talk to Tony too," Steve added. "So you don't have to live in that area."
"That's really too much," Darcy hedged, not wanting to offend Bucky by saying no, but also keenly aware that saying yes to his offer would be like throwing her heart over the edge.
Bucky kicked Steve out of the way and stepped up to Darcy. "Come on doll, we told you that neighborhood's no good, and if it happened once it might happen again. It's just gonna work us up more if we don't know you're safe." When Darcy didn't know what to say he crooked his metal fingers at her. "C'mere."
Even though he hadn't used anything like his Alpha voice, Darcy automatically moved to him. She felt Bucky's warm fingers slide around the back of her neck in a loose hold and then he nuzzled into her top of her head, moving down one side slowly until his lips brushed the top of her ear. Darcy shuddered with the sensation, arching her back a little into Bucky, sensing Steve watching as much as he guarded this private moment. Their combined scents were going straight to her head as much as the intoxicating warmth of Bucky's embrace.
"That outta help," Steve murmured, something familiar and arousing in his voice as he watched his mate mark her. Darcy wasn't sure how her quest for a sandwich had ended up here, but she was having trouble breathing when the moment passed and Bucky stepped back.
She didn't end up making her sandwich and she completely forgot about the fruit she'd planned to get for Jane when she left the kitchen. Darcy was too caught up in the headiness of knowing that Bucky's pine scent had tastes of mint and crisp winter air, and that Steve hadn't been able to resist a slightly less intimate scent-mark on her wrist on her way out. That one was nice too because she could press her nose to it and pick out cinnamon, apple, and a muskiness that sent a jolt through her the first time she caught it.
She was doing it again when Jane casually looked up, stared at Darcy, and blurted out, "When's the date?"
"What?"
"The date. You're covered in Bucky's scent so I assume one of them cracked." Jane sniffed delicately before clearly deciding she didn't mind.
"It's not- we're not- I mean, it's just for protection," Darcy said lamely. Jane's eyebrows went up. "Oh don't give me that look. I know that's the cheesiest line out there. But this Alpha last night came on to me and I had to tase him, and he got his cheek on me—"
"I told you it was a sketchy neighborhood!" Jane interrupted triumphantly. "I'm glad you're not hurt, but I'm gladder this is finally going to get you laid. You need it."
Darcy's mouth dropped open. "What is that supposed to mean?"
When Bucky showed up at the lab doors on Friday with a set of car keys in his hand, Darcy was confused. "I thought, well, with the scent-mark I'm good?"
"Why test it?" he said cheekily.
He walked her down to the parking garage, almost humming as he clicked the keys. "Thought we'd go with something less flashy."
It was a silver Audi, not exactly a cheap car, and it shined like it had just been washed and buffed. At Darcy's look Bucky shrugged. "Steve would've taken you on his bike if you'd prefer."
Having been on exactly one moped and gotten into an accident, Darcy had no desire to try another two-wheel vehicle that wasn't human powered. (Jane should never be trusted to drive.) She settled into the passenger seat. "Where is Steve?"
"Testing something with Sam," Bucky said, pulling out into the street. Darcy had ridden in precious few cars worth as much as this one, and the ride was noticeably smooth and silent. "You've got me all to yourself."
"How tempting," she said drily, meaning it. She knew she should stop staring, but then she'd glance at his strong profile, the stubble, how the sleeve of his shirt rolled up drawing her eye the tight muscle of his arm as he shifted gears, and she forgot. The car was almost suffocating with his wonderfully crisp, wintery scent, and Darcy loved every second of it.
They chatted a little on the way to her apartment but mostly enjoyed the low music and each other's presence. Bucky was easy to be with, Darcy had found, whether in the kitchen, watching a movie on the couches, or now in the car. He didn't hover, didn't pressure her, but was always happy to grab the stuff on high shelves and throw her a blanket on the couch. It wasn't something she felt much with Omega-less Alphas, so when they did finally stop outside her place, she lamented how short the trip had felt. "Thanks for the ride, Bucky."
"It's my pleasure, doll." He had that dangerously roguish smile on, and coupled with those dimples, Darcy was afraid to stay in the car any longer before she did something stupid. He's mated Darcy, don't forget. "Will you be around the Tower this weekend?"
"Probably not," she admitted, knowing she should get out of the car but not quite managing it. "Errands and laundry, you know."
Bucky nodded before his expression melted into something more earnest. "Call us if you need anything. FRIDAY added our number to your phone."
"Really, thanks Bucky," she said softly, finally exiting the car and walking up the steps. He didn't drive off until she was inside.
She really did do her laundry, dust her apartment, reorganize her closet, and fluff up every pillow she owned. Some of it was necessary, but most of it was that lingering nesting instinct she couldn't shake. Being around two Alphas she wanted and with their scent-mark mixing with her pillows was putting her off her groove. By Sunday Darcy decided she was done with cleaning and acting weird, so that meant baking and marathoning. She put on her flip flops and headed out to the store.
It wasn't like the Alpha that attacked her was a vampire, but Darcy had almost forgotten that the Alpha in the white hat could come out during the day. She certainly didn't expect to see him in her grocery store of all places. Standing in the aisle with the flour and sugar, Darcy froze as she recognized him the same moment he spotted her. Immediately the acrid smell of burning hair filled her noise and his face turned dark red with anger. Darcy started to back up, forgetting whatever she needed for her baking.
At the end of the aisle were the cash registers, and with the comfort of witnesses Darcy grabbed her basket and tried to leave in a hurry. Unfortunately, the Alpha wasn't having it.
"Hey you! Omega come here!" A number of Omegas in the store jerked in place at the command, and Darcy whipped around, Taser out.
"Leave me alone!"
"You bitch! You deserve to be—!" She shocked him with the Taser before he could finish whatever horrible thing he tried to say. He made a gargling, choking noise as the voltage went through him, but it didn't knock him out, just knocked him on his ass. Darcy dropped her shopping basket and made to rush out of the store, but the crowds were in her way, and before she could elbow through he was up and grabbing her.
It wasn't entirely clear what happened, except that Darcy wiggled free of his grip, he slipped and fell, and then he pulled her down and they tussled. She didn't know anything about self-defense and certainly didn't have the weight advantage, but he was trying to subdue her and she was having none of it. She managed to kick him twice before a couple people pulled her up and someone stepped on the Alpha's hand, and then the police were there.
Darcy's shirt and glasses were askew, her hair thoroughly messed up, and her bag of flour was ripped and spilled on the floor. The Alpha didn't look to be in much better shape, suffering a split lip she didn't remember giving him, a bruised wrist, and mangled pride.
"She's a whore!" she could hear through the thin walls of the police precinct half an hour later, a place she did not expect to be at ever again, let alone in the same week. "She obviously charges by the hour, I saw what those Alphas drove up in, and it's instincts you know, I just—"
"You don't have to listen to that," said the Beta officer, shutting the door and flicking a switch. White noise started and she couldn't hear the other conversation anymore. "We understand he assaulted you earlier this week?"
"Yes," Darcy said, throat feeling raw and knowing she was still in shock. She was confused and twitchy, but also getting angry. "He used his Alpha voice on me and scratched me. I didn't report it since I got away and I wasn't thinking straight."
"And your Alphas? Were they going to handle it?" the officer asked calmly, making a note.
Darcy head jerked up. "I don't have Alphas. My friends were just helping me out."
"Mm." He flipped through some of the papers in the folder before speaking again. "We have the security footage from the store and the witnesses agree this appeared to be an unprovoked attack. He'll be held here while we get the paperwork done and then if he posts bail he'll be let out."
Darcy's mouth opened in outrage but the officer wouldn't let her start.
"We can probably pin this as a stalker case, since several of your neighbors have submitted reports before of this Alpha hanging around the building, and this is the second attack in a week. If you want him behind bars that's your best bet, but it does mean we recommend you stay away from your apartment if he makes bail."
"What?"
"They'll be a preliminary court hearing next week, but if he posts bail tonight or tomorrow he'll be on the streets until then. It's just how the law works. After that hearing we should be able to get a tracker on him and a restraining order if you have a good enough lawyer. Until then though, for your own safety we're recommending you remain with your Alpha."
Darcy was stunned. She didn't know much of the legal ins and outs and certainly couldn't afford a lawyer, but they weren't seriously letting this guy out on the streets if she was there too?
"How can he be let out when I'm in danger?" she demanded, feeling a horrible fear and anger rising inside her that made her want to burst into tears or punch something. She wished she had a Taser back or—or—
The officer gave her a sympathetic look that only made her wish harder she could zap something. He closed the folder with the attack's details. "We could assign you an officer on protection duty, but it would add to your legal fees, and most Omegas find it very uncomfortable. That's why we recommend you stay with an Alpha you know and trust. Now I've got one listed here you're affiliated with, and we'll let you collect some necessities from your home before we take you to his."
Darcy was left to sign a bunch of documents full of legalese she could barely understand, only knowing that an officer was going to let her pack up some things and she'd be spending the next week at Jane's apartment pretending Thor was there to "protect" her while they let the crazy Alpha back on the streets. What if her court-appointed lawyer couldn't get a restraining order on the guy next week? What if the Alpha ignored the order like the nut-job he clearly was? She couldn't live at Thor and Jane's for months if they got a late trial date, but she couldn't leave a predator on the streets like that either.
By the time Darcy was back at her apartment with her duffle bag, an officer loitering in her kitchen, she was frustrated and muttering vitriol under her breath about the justice system, Omega rights, and the pros of vigilante justice, afraid that if she stopped being angry she'd breakdown. Every time her mind touched on the attack she choked all over again on the strength of that Alpha's grip, her feelings of desperation, and then impotence when she couldn't argue with police protocol. It sent a fresh wave of horror and tears through her that she had to continuously stifle.
She fought it so hard she barely paid any mind to the packing, trying to stuff a third pillow into the bag before giving up, chastising her dumb nesting instinct. Instead she threw her extra Taser charger into her bag and a pile of random shirts. The police had confiscated her Taser but with "her Alpha's" permission she could have it back. Snarling to herself about the similarity of child protection and Omega protection laws she stormed out of her apartment, refusing to look at the Beta officer escorting her.
She steamed in the backseat of the police cruiser the whole way to the tower, and then flamed her anger higher when the security guards at Stark Tower looked questioningly at her with the officer walking beside her. They didn't contest her though when she marched up to the express elevator and hit the button for the Avengers residential floors.
"I've got the exact address here," the officer said as they stepped off the elevator. He looked nervous to be wandering around Stark Tower, which made Darcy viciously happy. If the police were going to make her life more difficult she didn't mind scaring the pants off one officer.
"It's this way," Darcy said, moving down the left hall toward Jane's rooms.
"2B I have," the officer insisted, heading the other way. He knocked on a door before Darcy could argue, and she hoped it was Nat's rooms.
Instead it was Steve who opened the door, wearing nothing but a pair of old sweats and a white tank-top that did everything for his arms, pecs, and shoulders, still sweaty from a workout. Speech completely failed her.
"Officer?" Steve asked, and then spotting Darcy behind him his brow immediately wrinkled with concern. "Darcy? Is everything okay?"
"Captain, uh, Captain Rogers, sir, we have you listed as an affiliated Alpha of Ms. Darcy Lewis, and who has taken responsibility for her safety before," the officer recited, sounding like he'd been practicing on the way here. "There's been an incident with Ms. Lewis and her safety is paramount—"
"What happened?" he demanded sharply in his Captain America voice. Darcy was still frozen in the hall but she saw Bucky push Steve into the hall and beckon to her.
"Come here doll, you okay?" Bucky put an arm around her, enfolding her in that wintery scent, and whatever else the officer had to say was lost to her as Steve closed the door to their apartment and stepped into the hall with the cop. Bucky steered her to the couch but Darcy was having none of it, refusing to sit down and pushing his arm off her.
"I am fine. I want to go home and eat a lot of chocolate and recharge my- I need my Taser back. And then, and then, I'm going to kick that Alpha again and…" she kept going, spilling out the whole story of the deranged Alpha who thought she was a prostitute and had been personally offended when she downed him with her Taser instead of having sex, and then picked a fight in her grocery store, ending with how betrayed she felt by a justice system that was going to let that predator wander the streets and force her into someone else's custody instead—punishing her instead of the attacker. By the time she was halfway through Steve had come back in, and when she finally was done excoriating the NYPD Omega handling rules and shredding Omega stereotypes she was just about out of steam. When Steve handed back her trusty Taser, still lacking its charge, Darcy burst into tears.
Tears are not something Alphas handle well when they come from an Omega. It's a high distress signal, and it makes their instincts go crazy. Bucky and Steve jumped into action before Darcy could explain that she was just emotional and still in shock. Unable to talk because her throat had closed up and her whole chest had seized, she let Steve scoop her up into his lap and cradle her on the couch, shushing and stroking her hair and nuzzling into her in classic soothing technique. Bucky joined him a moment later with a bottle of water and a blanket, and started to rub her back.
"It's okay, shush, it's okay. We've got you, he won't get you here with us. You're gonna be okay," they murmured. Darcy snuffled into Steve's shoulder, his scent homey and warm, the mild mint of Bucky underneath it, and hiccupped her way back into control. When she did manage to get her wild emotions under wraps she straightened and gave them both a wobbly smile.
"God that's embarrassing," she managed, but Steve gave her a firm look.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You were attacked twice, it's a normal reaction."
Bucky handed her a water bottle and held an icepack to her bruised eye. "You're safe now," he said abruptly. "We won't let that coward bother you again." Overwhelmed and still feeling on the brink of more emotionally embarrassing breakdowns, Darcy drank the water and adjusted the ice pack, brushing Bucky's hand as she did. He was warm and protective at her back while Steve still cradled her on his lap, and she'd never felt safer.
She chuckled hoarsely as she realized it. "This week has been so crazy."
"You're telling us," Bucky murmured, and he squeezed her side before shifting back a little. Darcy slipped on to the couch from Steve's lap and felt cold already, even though both Alphas were pressed to her sides. "What do you need?"
"I- I'm going to bake something. I need to do something with my hands and just be normal."
"Can we help?" Steve asked immediately.
"No, it's okay, I got this. You guys have done enough, vouching for me with the police and all." Darcy mumbled the last bit an aggrieved voice.
"Let us, Darce," Bucky said gruffly. "You can't show up with a copper, a bruise on your cheek, and another Alpha's scent all of you, and expect us to be okay with that."
Bucky looked away, and Darcy flushed. She looked and felt like shit, and now she felt doubly bad for bringing this extra burden on them. "I'm sorry, I know this isn't your problem and—"
"We're happy to help," Steve interrupted. "Not gonna lie, it's good to feel needed."
She actually snorted. "Needed? The whole world needs you." She sounded bitter about that.
She didn't see Steve look at Bucky's dark, faraway expression or his own clenched jaw. "Not needed as super soldiers. Not as weapons aimed at targets," Steve said fiercely, talking to them both. "Needed as friends, and support, and… and regular Alphas."
"As Steve and Bucky," Darcy filled in after a moment. She was looking down at her lap again. "I'm sorry I said otherwise." Silence fell for a second before Darcy was sitting up and wiping her face. "You know I could use a sous-chef who can also keep Barton away from the raw dough. But you have to do what I say in the kitchen." She recovered some of her playfulness then, and Bucky huffed but acquiesced with poorly faked reluctance.
She went to freshen up her red, splotchy face, and cover up some of the early bruising before she and Bucky headed to the communal kitchen to take advantage of the double ovens and the plethora of baking pans. Darcy was happily telling Bucky he could use the wooden spoon to mix the dough and hit Barton, whichever was closest, as they left. Bucky would be good at distracting Darcy, but Steve couldn't settle his agitation that easily, not after the story the police had shared. He had to work out some of that energy before he did something stupid, like hunt down that assaulting Alpha.
Before heading to what was going to be an intense workout, Steve went to find the billionaire inventor who could help with half the problem. "Tony, I need to ask a favor."
"Ask and you shall receive—with a catch," the other Alpha said, lifting the protective mask he wore while welding some contraption together. The moment he did, he caught of whiff of Darcy's teary scent still lingering on Steve's shirt. "Whoa, what the hell happened?"
"Darcy was attacked twice," Steve explained, running through the story quickly. He barely finished before Tony was calling out orders to the AI.
"FRIDAY, get Pepper on the phone and get the police reports. Replay for her what Rogers just told me and what the police told him, and make sure she calls my lawyers." Turning to Steve he smiled grimly. "I'm sure I can provide pro bono legal support to an Omega in need. Especially one I actually like."
"Thanks Tony," Steve said, giving the other Alpha a nod and turning on his heel to find some sparring partners.
"Punch him for me!" Tony yelled as Steve walked out. He was certainly going to punch things, but unfortunately not the man who deserved it.
Darcy hoped she could go home the next day after sleeping in Jane's spare room. The two Omega had made cocktails that evening, watched Mad Max to make Darcy feel better about Omegas kicking Alpha ass, and stayed up way too late. It had been fun, but Steve knocked on her door the next morning and found her groggy and slightly hungover in borrowed pants and an old shirt.
"Oh! Uh, hey Steve," she mumbled, starting to close the door. "Let me get dressed and—"
"The police called. He posted bail but a restraining order's been filed for you. It'll take a day to process but you probably shouldn't go back home." He looked apologetically down at her, and his gaze drifted to the shiner she'd acquired. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Fine, just disappointed," she muttered, wishing he'd hold her again and instead reaching up to touch the edge of the bruise. She knew it must look pretty bad now, since Steve's hands clenched and unclenched when she did. "I'll need to get more stuff. I brought a lot of pillows instead of pants."
Steve lips twitched up, and some of the brightness of his apple and nutmeg scent came back. "Bucky and I went a little crazy with our den when he first came back," he admitted. "If you want any more pillows while you're here we have some still in plastic." Steve's cheeks turned the barest hint of pink at the offer. "Uh, anyway, Bucky and I'll go with you so you can get what you need. It's gonna be okay."
"I know it will," she said, not realizing how much confidence that put in Steve until his chest almost visibly puffed up. She almost let Steve walk away with the promise of meeting in an hour to go, before she realized he'd mentioned a restraining order. "Wait, Steve. How did they… did Tony get me a lawyer?"
"He's not a pack-animal, but it shows sometimes," Steve said with a knowing look.
She got dressed and noticed another bruise, this one around her ankle. Three individual fingers were visible from where the Alpha bastard had grabbed her and yanked her to the floor. Snarling at the mark, she covered it up with her jeans and munched on one of the bananas she'd put in Jane's room in the hope of encouraging a better diet. When she'd sufficiently covered the black eye in makeup and pumped herself up, Darcy joined Steve and Bucky in the parking garage. They kept things light in the car with chatter about how well the snickerdoodles yesterday had gone over with the starving wolves who were the Avengers. Bucky promised that Clint hadn't stolen the refrigerated dough Darcy had left in Steve and Bucky's fridge, which she was saving to make the two Alphas a special treat. When they pulled up to her place both guys insisted on walking her up to her apartment, the doorman giving the Alphas a wide-eyed look and then an approving smirk to Darcy. She hustled to the elevator a little faster.
Her place was a mess, and she was a little surprised by how comfortable she was letting two Alphas inside her apartment. Normally Omegas were protective of their homes, especially ones they'd never shared, but Bucky and Steve were polite, not poking around, even as she offered them snacks and insisted they sit down. She made sure to dismantle the nest in her bedroom in case they saw it, since that was way too personal.
They drove her back to Stark Tower and she dumped her things in Jane's guest room and even though Jane had insisted Darcy take the day off, she still went to make sure the three scientists she monitored hadn't developed scurvy or blown anything up. Jane was tinkering with a telescope, Bruce with some beakers under a hood, and Tony as usual was disparaging Dum-E as he rooted around a box of random parts.
"Have you eaten breakfast?" Darcy demanded as she walked in. "I have grapes, grapefruit, and toast."
"Peanut butter?" he asked, glancing up hopefully. Darcy sighed and handed him the jar, a butter knife, and the toast. She plopped the grapes down too since the grapefruit would be too messy for the delicate wiring all over Tony's workspace.
"Thanks Tony, for the lawyer," she said after a moment of silence. "I really appreciate it."
He looked up at her, breaking from his work. "Darce, I may be a shitty Alpha who forgets to be an Alpha most of the time, and I may let my Beta run all over me because she's better at it then I am, but you know you can live here or demand a raise. Pretty sure the funding Foster's getting for her interdimensional warp-hole thing would cover a dozen assistants even though she only wants you."
Darcy opened her mouth to argue but he stuffed a grape into it and blithely continued. "That said, room 2-E is open and all yours, and the lawyer's name is John something, and Pepper has some stuff for you to sign including a job offer with the official title Scientist Wrangler. Now that I've been a good Alpha for once, what's my prize?"
Darcy felt a dizzy and short of breath at the offer of housing and a new job and she almost forgot to swallow the grape. "Tony, you don't—"
He held up another grape threateningly. "You'll hurt my sensitive Alpha feelings if you turn it down, so just accept it and move on. Life lesson there."
Darcy swallowed the grape feeling like it had grown significantly in size. "Thank—"
"My prize?"
What could a guy as rich and famous as Tony want? "A hug?"
Tony looked at her like she was an idiot. "And get punched by Barnes' metal arm? No, just make that coffee crumble cake for me and stop trying to give me healthy peanut butter, I can tell the difference. Now go distract Rogers and Barnes so they'll leave me alone."
"I'll bring you Nutella," she promised, giddiness bubbling inside her at suddenly realizing what this all meant. No more yowling cats outside her apartment, no more shady Alphas at night, and way more sleep since she was five minutes away from her job now!
"That's what I pay you for," Tony replied, turning back to his box of wires and metal parts. Dum-E perked up but Tony frowned at him. "If you brought me Nutella I might like you more too."
Jane shooed her out of the lab after that, so Darcy decided to make the promised sweets for Steve and Bucky. Midway into kneading the cold dough and prepping the frosting she finally started to feel settled. It probably helped too that Bucky walked in a moment later and smeared flour on her as he insisted he was trying to wipe her clean. His flirting was outrageously bad, but it got his scent all over her and Darcy loved it.
Steve showed up not long after Bucky hoping to steal some of the freshly baked treat before it was even frosted, and Darcy ended up threatening him with the wooden spoon. Bucky took that moment of course to steal a bit too, and when Darcy whirled on him with the spoon Steve grabbed her around the waist and tugged her away as Bucky wrestled her weapon from her. They were all laughing as they did. "Stop, stop!" she said breathlessly, trying to grab at Bucky's arm as though she could snatch the spoon back. "This is all for you, but it's not ready yet!"
"For us?" Bucky asked, pausing before he stuck a finger in the frosting bowl, his metal wrist still in Darcy's grip. Steve's arms were around her waist and Darcy didn't want him to let go any more than she wanted to release Bucky.
"Yes, for you guys. Just for you. But I haven't frosted it yet so don't touch!" Bucky's face lit up when she reiterated it was for them, and Steve bussed her head lightly before letting go.
"That's real sweet of you Darce," he said, and she turned around and had to consciously remember she couldn't just kiss him. Steve looked so pleased though, and Bucky's grin was infectious, so she gave them both smiles and busied herself so she wouldn't keep thinking of things she couldn't have. Their happiness and doting was more than she asked for.
The guys left to train before dinner, and when the elevator doors closed behind them Darcy slumped over the kitchen counter and put her head in her hands. She was well into dangerous territory now, and she'd already forgotten where the line was days ago. She was going to give them this dessert, get through the hearing next week with Tony's kickass lawyer, and piece her heart together somewhere after that. Groaning, Darcy finished up the decorating, extracted a promise from FRIDAY to set off the sprinklers in the kitchen if anyone but the two designated Alphas touched it, and went back to Jane's room. She curled up in a sweatshirt and shorts and cued up a movie, craving the time alone and yet wondering what Steve and Bucky would be up to that night and if they'd liked her treat.
When Bucky and Steve came back from working out, they were warmed up and ready for their real plans tonight. Before they'd even gotten into their rooms though, FRIDAY hailed them.
"Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes, there is a gift for you in the kitchen. I have been warned that others will attempt to steal it, so you may wish to retrieve it before the dinner rush."
Bucky broke out into a grin immediately, and he felt the pulse of Steve's happiness bounce back at him through the bond. They turned as one and found a box waiting for them in the kitchen, their names written on in permanent marker. Darcy's scent lingered around the box, somehow a more personal calling card than any note.
Bucky whistled when he opened it. Inside was a huge cookie cake, frosted with the words "Thank you" in cursive and small dollops and shapes around the edges. With Steve peering over his shoulder, they could make out the scent of chocolate chip—Steve's favorite—and oatmeal—Bucky's.
"She's too good for us, Buck," Steve said a bit faintly. A strong sense of longing rippled over their bond between them.
"Well let's go get her gift and see if we can't convince her to stay."
One pizza, a trip down to the lab to pester Jane to eat dinner, and a movie later, Darcy was washing up and considering curling up in bed with her phone or a book when someone knocked on the door.
"Steve? Bucky?" she asked as she opened it, since no one else would bother to knock.
It was them, chins up and eyes bright, in combat pants and boots. They seemed a bit disheveled, and Darcy initially thought they'd been training or just really liked her cookie cake, but then a whiff of something familiar drifted by her nose.
She narrowed her eyes. "You guys didn't…" She let it hang, but neither guy said anything. Darcy was not impressed. "You didn't kill him, did you? I told the police you wouldn't do anything stupid to that Alpha."
"We didn't kill him, Darce." Bucky snorted, almost sounding offended. "Just roughed him up."
Darcy didn't care if it wasn't entirely appropriate, she stepped right up to Steve and Bucky and took a bigger breath. Steve shuddered a little, or maybe he just had a muscle spasm right across those pecs she was face-to-face with.
"I can smell blood," she said accusatorially.
"His nose was bloodied up a little," Steve admitted. "But we're not going to apologize, Darcy. Alphas like that—"
"They deserve it," Bucky grunted. He crossed his arms defensively at Darcy's nonplussed look. "You probably didn't read that whole thing from the lawyer, but your attacker is accused of stalking and assault, not sexual assault, so it's barely a felony. He'll get a couple years max maybe, so don't feel bad for him."
"I don't feel bad for him," Darcy snapped back, trying not to stare at the bulging muscle of Bucky's crossed arms. "I just don't want you guys to get into trouble. The government's lightened up on the Avengers, but if Captain America and Bucky Barnes are caught acting like vigilantes then—"
"Darcy, hey, look, I said before it's gonna be okay and we meant it," Steve said, reaching out to cup her elbow. When she didn't push away the touch he drew he closer to him. It pleased him a lot that she was upset out of worry for them, but he also didn't like to see her so agitated. "We just couldn't let it go, not when the police are slapping him on the wrist. We scared him, but we didn't actually hurt him. He tripped over a chair and tried to push past us, that's how he bloodied himself up, but we didn't touch him."
"He's a lot of bad things, doll, and a coward among them," Bucky added. "Guys like that aren't going to talk when a bar has seen them piss themselves."
Darcy gasped. "You didn't!"
"Not our intention," Bucky denied, holding his hands up. Darcy looked somewhere on the verge of scowling and laughing.
"We did bring you a gift though," Steve confessed slowly, not sure what her reaction would be. Some Omegas didn't like throwback behaviors like that, but Darcy's scent strengthened and her interest was obvious. "Just in case you wanted to use it for target practice sometime." Steve held out the white hat, still reeking of that Alpha.
Her mouth formed a perfect 'o' before she bit her lip to stop the indulgent smile. Steve and Bucky's gaze zeroed in on her mouth. "You guys spoil me. I don't want that thing stinking up my room or yours, but I appreciate it." Since they'd scent-marked her before, maybe it was her turn to reciprocate. They had gone above-and-beyond what most Alpha friends would do after all.
She tugged down on Steve's arm and gave him a sound kiss on the check, lingering against his jaw for a moment deliberately. She could tell he'd stopped breathing as she did, and his pulse ratcheted up. Then she pivoted to do the same to Bucky, only for him to turn at the last second and meet her mouth-to-mouth instead, his tongue swiping at her lips before she pulled back with a gasp, her head whipping to Steve.
Steve's face was hungry though, barely softening at her glance. "You're just what we've been missing, Darcy."
"If you'll have us," Bucky added. "Gonna have to put up with our posturing though."
Darcy was surprised, but her gaze flicked between the two men and then down to the white hat still in Steve's hand. It looked like she wasn't the only one who'd gotten caught up in how quickly their tentative friendship changed. "Well, if you bring me gifts like that…"
"Wouldn't bring 'em for anyone else," Bucky said, before deciding that was enough talk.
He tugged Darcy back towards him, giving her ample time to get away, but all she whispered was, "Are you sure?"
"Positive," he and Steve said together before he kissed her properly. His hair was thick in her hands as he tilted her head back, dominating the kiss until she was literally breathless when he pulled away. Darcy was quite sure she'd never been kissed so thoroughly.
"Darlin', this week's been painful from start to finish," Steve admitted, his pupils blown, that hunger on his face sending a throb of want between Darcy's legs.
"Just this week? It's been painful since I got here and met you." She blushed, but that was because Steve licked his lips and her mind spiraled further down into thoughts of what else he could do with his mouth.
"I'm sorry we've been a burden, ma'am, let me help you with that." Steve's idea of helping, of course, was to thoroughly ravish Darcy's mouth, lifting her on to her toes and cupping the back of her head in a possessive grip. He kissed with the same intensity he fought with, and Darcy gave as good as she got. She didn't want it to stop, but when he pulled away an honest-to-Thor whine slipped out of her throat. Steve froze with her still in his grasp, and he closed his eyes in brief agony. "Don't cheat, Darce, I don't have that kind of control."
Bucky's hands on her waist pulled her back from Steve. "Normally I'd say yes to this party, but Steve and I want to do right by you, Darcy. Not lose control immediately. We'll take the edge off and see you tomorrow." Bucky gave her another lingering kiss before pushing her back into Jane's rooms, and Darcy caught the sight of Bucky kissing Steve as she closed the door.
Darcy put her fingers to her swollen lips and replayed the kisses, imagining what Bucky meant by "taking the edge off".
She woke up the next day feeling the beginning of an early heat come on, and knew that she could convince the men to "do right by her" after they helped her through this heat.