Darcy stared at the wall of the lab as she processed what Jane had said.

"Pepper said that Steve and the other Avengers are going to be at the Maria Stark Charity Masquerade Ball."

Jane had tried to break it gently, she was there when the Righteous Do-Gooder decided to break things off with Darcy with the good old fashioned dose of 'it's not you it's me,' a little 'I'm just not looking for anything right now' and a small amount of, 'I just think that I'm meant elsewhere.' Which would have been a fine and dandy let down after a date or two, but after eight months of serious dating, it was like whiplash and felt like a load of bullshit.

Only a few weeks later, after he'd packed his shit up and moved from New York to DC, it came through the spy-vine (read: avenger gossip queens) that he was doing the do with one Agent Sharon Carter. As in his ex's grand niece. It squicked Jane and Darcy out, but also they finally knew what he meant by 'elsewhere.'

That was three years ago. Since then there was the fall of SHIELDRA, the convergence and evil space elves in London, and the brief issue with the Accords (that got canned almost as fast as it tore the Avengers apart). Shortly after that Darcy, along with Jane and Thor, had moved in with Tony and his small collection of Avengers. The abroad division of the Avengers gang were expected to consolidate under the one, new and improved mega structure of overcompensating proportions (we see you Tony) and everyone is expected to play nice. That wasn't meant to happen for another five months. It seems things got moved forward, because the Masquerade Ball was next month.

Darcy flicked her eyes over to Jane, who was watching her carefully, worry etched on her face. The silence in the room at large indicated that the other person present was trying to be subtle in his concern, but failing miserably. This was a topic that really made him angry. She needed a distraction and this gave her an idea.

A coy smile curled on Darcy's face, mischief alight in her eyes. "Hey Jane, wanna go shopping on Daddy's credit card?"

A startled squawk form the other side of the lab, followed by the sound of swearing, caused the two women to snicker.

"I'm not your father! We ran tests! You were there Fun-size!" Tony's complaint was ignored entirely by the two women as they packed up their desks. The connection between Darcy and Tony was almost instant, and they fit into each other's lives and personalities with such ease that others (Peter Awkward Parker) had questioned if she were his illegitimate daughter.

"Seriously, I'll call Pepper and she'll file a lawsuit if you keep claiming to be my daughter." Darcy perked up at his weak threat. They both knew Pepper loved Darcy, because of her ability to keep Tony from destroying things, even managed to get him to look after himself. "Do you think she'll let me call her Mom?"

Tony's only response was to scowl and hand over his card.

"I promise to bring you back those bagels you like, Dad." Darcy offered as consolation, rubbing her hand up and down his arm while pocketing his black Amex. He let so few people have any physical contact with him; since he let her in, she tried to make up for it so he didn't become crazy(er) from being too touch starved.

Placing his hand over his heart, Tony gasped. "That's it, I'm adopting you. You're such a good daughter. I'll make sure the lawyers put a rush on the paperwork."

When the DNA tests came back negative and both their response was to put on a good face and both privately get hammered, Pepper had sat them both down, hangovers and all and suggested to them both an adult adoption.

Rolling her eyes, Darcy walked off, throwing over her shoulder, "The paperwork went through officially 16 months ago, Dad. If you recall, we went through Grandpa Howard's good whisky."

She felt her face stretch into a contented smirk at Tony's loudly proclaimed, "That's my girl!"

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