As all children knew, the world's true monsters hid in the light. They lived and thrived in the dark where they could easily shed their masks and chase their prey. This was what made them so dangerous, you only knew who they were when it was too late. This was something that the Avengers had seemed to have forgotten about during their war with HYDRA.
Darcy walked the halls of the tower unimpeded, her unassuming nature raising little alarm for the group of superheroes. She laughed to herself as she slipped into her chair in Jane's lab. Over the years she had learned to hide her true nature, to be able to walk among the "normals." It was something she prided herself on, even if she knew that one day life would throw her for a curve.
Everything had been easy when it had just been her and Jane. All she had to do was mention an astronomical anomaly to the scientist and off she went on a night of binge research and experimentation. It left Darcy with plenty of time to run the desert. Things had become a little harder in London, but she had managed even if her presence had created a few unlikely rumors. It wasn't until they had moved to Avengers Tower that things changed drastically.
It wasn't just the fact that she had a harder time sneaking out at night, or that JARVIS was an all seeing bastard, or even her expanded job as mission support for several of the Avengers. No, the main reason rested with the presence of a single man.
Bucky Barnes was a study in contradictions; a man that was both hard and soft, angry and yet light-hearted. He had intrigued her the moment he had stepped foot into the tower looking like he had been ravaged by a thousand wolves. They had been introduced, but Darcy couldn't tell you what either of them had actually said as all that she could concentrate on was his scent.
When she had been small her mother had told her that one day she would experience it, the Call. She had explained how when she met the person she would just know, their scent, their taste, it would be the only thing they hungered for. Nothing would satisfy her until she had them in her grasp and gave into the Call.
Most of the other young ones found their Calling early on, taking part in the Rites and Marking at ages as early as sixteen. When she hadn't felt the Calling by twenty she had grown to despair that she would be left alone in the world, to run the nights unaccompanied. It hadn't mattered what her mother said, how many times she told her that her mate was somewhere out there. It had been just days after her birthday that she had left her family, her people and went in search of a life of her own.
Standing in front of the battle warn Bucky she had finally understood why she had never felt him, had never caught his scent. It had also created a problem, one that Darcy was unsure how to fix. It wasn't unheard of for the Calling to be directed at a Normal, but it was rare. Those pairings never lasted long, Normals had a hard time accepting her people and their way of life. She knew Bucky was different, but she still feared what he would do when he finally saw her true form.
Of course none of that kept Darcy from forming a bond with him. It had started simple; visiting him in medical as he recovered from missions, bringing him fresh baked goods and hand knitted blankets and clothes. He accepted each gift with a smile as well as her offer for friendship. She had never hoped for anything more, but the Calling was stronger than she had anticipated and she found herself craving him in a way she hadn't any man before. It was problematic, mostly with the upcoming mission.
"I'm surprised to see you today, I figured you would be packing." Jane slipped out from behind one of her many patchwork machines. Machines that Tony had tried his hardest to burn, much to Jane's chagrin.
"I've been packed for several days already. Unlike you, my dear Jane, I don't wait until the last minute and end up stuck in the middle of nowhere without one pair of pants." Darcy shook her head as she started up her computer. She wished she had been exaggerating, but sadly Jane was just that absentminded when it came to such simple things. As evidenced by the fact that it had happened on no less than seven occasions.
"Hey, I eventually found a pair." Jane grabbed the cup of coffee from Darcy's desk and took a gulp, promptly cringing at the cold, bitter substance. Apparently it had been sitting there longer than she had thought.
"Yeah, a pair of mine, and you looked ridiculous. I'm sorry Baby Jane, but you don't have the hips and ass to pull off these." Darcy stood up and wiggled her ass in the air.
"I really wish you would stop calling me that." Jane shook her head at her friend's antics. Though she did have to admit she looked silly, her narrower frame had meant she had to constantly pull the pants up just to keep from flashing her panties to all and sundry.
"Stop calling me Fitzwilliam and I will." Darcy clicked open several files on her computer, quickly transferring them to her memory stick.
"So, why are you here anyway? Packed or not, shouldn't you be getting prepared to spend the next month with the Sexy-Solider Boy Brigade?" Jane might have Thor, but she would admit to being a little bit jealous that Darcy would be alone with not just Steve, but Bucky and Sam. She loved Thor, but she wasn't blind or dead.
"Oh My God! Seriously? Can I be there when you call them that to their faces? Please?!" Darcy would have to remember that one.
"Shit no, hell you better not tell them that. I really don't need your boyfriend breaking my neck." Jane shivered and gulped down the rest of the coffee even though she was pretty sure there might have been something starting to grow on it, she had been up for almost two days and needed to be up at least another to get her calculations done.
"Bucky is not my boyfriend." Darcy pulled the memory stick from her computer, placing it into her bag without looking at the other woman.
"I never said a name, but it is interesting that you thought I was talking about Bucky." Jane, and really everyone but Bucky, had seen the way the younger woman had attached herself to the ex-assassin. The poor girl was completely in love with him, but he just couldn't or didn't want to see it.
"Shut up, now I've got what I came for and need to leave before I'm late." Darcy stood after quickly shutting her computer down, trying to make it to the door before Jane had time to respond. Not that she actually made it.
"Hey, Darce, you need to do something because you can't just keep chasing him." Jane flinched back when Darcy turned. There was a look in her eyes that she had never seen before, something rather feral.
"I know, don't worry, I'm going to make him chase me."
The cabin was little more than a two room shack with a closet masquerading as a bathroom. The four of them had stopped in the door as soon as they stepped in, their bags dropping along with their jaws.
"What the fuck is this?!" Sam scanned the dilapidated "cabin" with the same scrutiny that one would give a plate of rotten food. This was ridiculous.
"Remind me to kill Tony when we return. Luxury holiday cabin my ass! This is more like horror movie chic." Darcy was seriously going to do some damage to the idiot. He had assured her that the cabin where they would make their base was large enough for the four of them…and had running water and a working toilet. She was pretty sure she had seen a goddamn outhouse behind the cabin.
"We're not here on vacation, this is a mission. This might not be much but it will give us shelter and a place for you to set up your equipment." Steve patted Darcy on the shoulder before picking up his bag and shouldering into the cabin. Admittedly the place wasn't much to look at, but he had stayed in less hospitable places during the war.
"After you've been to war this place is positively homey." Bucky wrapped an arm around Darcy's shoulders and carefully maneuvered her inside. He was shocked, and hell he would be talking to Tony, but Steve was right; they were there to work.
"I think you guys are forgetting a couple of things here. I'm not a solider, and I'm a woman." A woman that had only brought a little t-shirt to sleep in as she thought she would be getting her own room.
"It's not like you have anything that any of us haven't seen before. We're all adults, if any of us can't handle the sight of a breast or cock we really shouldn't be here." Sam winked at Darcy, a smirk pulling at his lips at the way Bucky clenched his fists at his side.
"Darcy is right, this place at least has two rooms. She can have the other one and we can just bunk out here." Bucky tried not to leap forward to pin Sam to the wall, not only was he sure such a move would bring the cabin down, but he knew Sam had no interest in Darcy at all. Nat would probably castrate him if he tried anything.
"Thank you, Bucky. We still have another problem, I'm not sure this place even has any electricity. How am I supposed to hook up my equipment?" Darcy sighed, she had been on difficult missions with the three guys before, but there had always been basic amenities. It was stupid to send tech support along when the tech couldn't even be plugged in.
"We've got a portable generator, ARC Reactor powered according to Tony, but nothing as powerful as what is hooked up to the tower. So, I would suggest conserving it as much as possible." Steve finally understood why Tony had thrust the small silver box at him before they had left. He had hoped it had meant that the other man was finally learning to properly prepare, he really should have known better.
"Great, there goes the movies I had downloaded just for this mission." Darcy huffed and flopped down in what looked to be the most comfortable chair in the room. A cloud of dust puffed out of the cushions, making her nose burn.
"You really need to stop illegally downloading things off the internet." Sam rolled his eyes at the woman, she was being paid by one of the richest men on the planet and she still downloaded all her music and movies.
"Hey, what is the point of living and working with the Avengers if I can't get away with stuff?" Darcy stuck her tongue out, but regretted it immediately as she got a mouthful of dust causing her to gag. Heightened senses could be both a blessing and a curse, at the moment it was the later as she was able to taste things in that cloud of dust that Normals would have never been able to pick up.
"Alright, enough of this. Darcy, set everything up while Buck and I do a ground check. Sam, I need you to do an aerial sweep of around a mile. Come on, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get to the cake in Darcy's bag." Steve strapped his shield to his back, watching Darcy with a smile. After he had been thawed out he had lost all hope of ever having a happy ending, but there he was with the three people he considered his best friends.
"What makes you think I have cake?" Darcy was still trying to get the taste of dirt out of her mouth, so for the first time in her life found herself truly surprised as Bucky leaned over the back of the chair, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Because you always have something for us. Our girl would never let us down." Bucky placed a quick kiss on top of her head before heading out with the others.
Darcy sat there a moment, trying to will herself to remain seated when she wanted nothing more than to rush outside and tackle him to the ground in a flurry of kisses. The Calling was getting stronger and stronger and she wasn't sure how she was going to survive an entire month enclosed in such a small space with him.
Darcy looked around the room that she had claimed for her own, taking in the dirty old mattress on the floor that had served as her bed for the past week. Things had been pretty normal, well what was normal for the four of them. None of her equipment had yet to pick up any activity in the vicinity, but considering the information that had led to the mission had stated that the place was only sparingly used, it really wasn't all that surprising.
Pulling open the shutters that covered her window, Darcy took a deep breath. She had been right about the mission being personally difficult for her. The Calling was so strong that at dinner earlier she had to keep herself from pouncing across the room and ravishing Bucky right there in front of their friends. It had been a hard thing, but she had excused herself with a headache and locked herself in her room.
She stood now at the open window, looking up into the night sky. She groaned as she noticed the phase of the moon, no wonder her skin itched as though she had been bitten by a thousand fire-ants. She had snuck out of the cabin every night since they had arrived just so she could run the woods surrounding the base. Of course it still didn't stop the pull of the moon, and she knew she would be unable to ignore it.
Hoisting herself up over and out of the window, Darcy took off at a sprint as soon as her feet touched the ground. She had known this night would be coming and had prepared accordingly that first night. Unlike the past week she wouldn't be returning to the cabin until first light.
Bucky sat up and propped his back against the chair behind him. There had been something off about Darcy lately, well more off than normal, she had always been a bit of an odd duck. Not that it ever bothered him, he actually found it really endearing. And that was the problem.
There had been an instant sort of attraction on his part when they had met. He had never felt that sort of thing before, that immediate need to protect. It was almost territorial, feral. The attraction had only grown stronger the longer he knew her, and it was driving him insane.
After their first introduction he had planned on maybe asking her out for coffee. He had had it all planned out, from what he would say to where he would take them. Then he and Steve had gotten called away on a mission and he had come back injured. He had felt his heart jump when she had shown up in medical when he returned, but that jumping quickly turned to a stone weight in his stomach as he realized she was only willing to offer him friendship. Still he took it, and though he wanted more he never regretted it.
He had done things in order to spend more time with her. He actually ate with the other Avengers instead of locking himself in his room just because she would be there. He had pretended to be interested in whatever science it was that Foster and Banner were into just so he could see her in the labs. He had even been the one to suggest her as tech support when they went on missions. No one ever seemed to question why she only ever went on site when it was a mission with the three of them.
He looked around the room from where he sat, both Steve and Sam were fast asleep. He tried to concentrate in order to pick up the rhythmic breathing of the woman in the other room. It was strange, but he seemed to be so in tune with her that he could pick out her breathing in a room filled with hundreds of people. He sat up straighter as he realized he couldn't hear her.
Not bothering to wake the others up, Bucky rushed straight for Darcy's room hoping that he was simply imagining it. His heart stopped in his chest when he opened the door to find the room empty and the window shutters wide open.
He rushed towards the window, jumping out of it without thought. The only thing running through his head was that somehow HYDRA had found them and had taken Darcy.
He fell to his knees, rolling to a stop before coming to alert at his surroundings. He couldn't hear anything, the entire forest was silent. It was eerie, he couldn't even hear the chirping of an insect. His eyes scanned the area, quickly landing on a single set of foot prints: Darcy's.
He wasn't sure what she was doing out in the forest in the middle of the night, but he had to get to her before something happened to her. There were predators everywhere, both animal and human.
The tracks led him a good forth a mile away from the cabin before stopping abruptly. He felt bile rise up his throat at the sight before him. There where her prints stopped was a pile of clothing, the same thing that Darcy had been wearing earlier. He bent down and picked up one article and brought it up to his nose, taking in a deep breath and the scent of the one woman he would never be able to forget. Relief filled him when he couldn't detect any hint of blood, but that relief was short lived as he noticed the large prints leading out away from the clothing.
They looked like a wolf, but were too large to be normal. He kneeled down and traced the imprint with his hand, the clothes and the print still held traces of warmth, which meant if he hurried he could possibly get to Darcy before it was too late.
He rushed off faster than before. Following the large prints, twisting through and around the forest until he reached a clearing. Stopping in his tracks, he stared wide-eyed at the large, cackling bonfire that took a good deal of the clearing.
"Come to play have you?" A voice and a shape moved from the other side of the fire, hot and rough at the same time.
Bucky couldn't move as he watched the figure move into view. He had been expecting to find Darcy's mangled body, twisted unnaturally in a pool of her own blood. What he found instead was a very naked Darcy, a feral smile gracing her face and leaves stuck in her wild hair.
"Darcy?" His breath hitched as she moved closer, her body moving so fluidly that she could have been flying for all he knew.
"Don't you know it is dangerous to go out in the woods, mostly during a full moon?" Darcy had had enough, the Calling was too strong. If she didn't answer it she had no doubt she would die.
"I'm not the one that took off naked in the middle of the night? I just came to find you." All of a sudden his simple pants and t-shirt were too hot and tight. Just the feel of the fabric against his skin made him itch.
"And you found me, now what are you going to do with me?" Coming to stop right in front of Bucky, she pressed herself tightly against him. She slipped her hand up his chest and into his hair, slowly pulling his face down to hers.
"Darcy, what is going on?" This wasn't her, or at least he didn't think this was her. She had always been a little flirty, but she was that way with everyone. This though, this was something completely different.
"Nothing, I'm just tired of hiding." Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath, the musky scent of her mate filling her lungs. She felt as Bucky placed his hands on her bare hips, pulling her closer whether he meant to or not.
"Hiding what?" Bucky could hardly think anymore. He had dreamed for so long about having Darcy in his arms like she currently was, and actually having her there was messing with his head.
"Who and what I am." She ground her hips against his slowly, causing a pleasing hitch in his breath as she did so.
"And that would be?" Maybe he should have been paying more attention, been a bit wearier, situation like this could easily turn dangerous. But Bucky refused to believe that the woman in his arms could ever be evil.
"There are more monsters in the world than you realize. Ones born from nightmares, written about in tales, and once feared by your ancestors. Monsters like me." The hand she had buried in his hair curled into a loose claw, her nails dragging with slight pressure over his scalp.
"The wolf prints?" Bucky groaned at the slight pain her nails created, his hips bucking against hers in a growing desperation.
"Got it in one. Though I'm more of a shapeshifter than a werewolf. Not that the moon doesn't have an effect on me. Like tonight for instance." Darcy gathered a handful of his hair, clutching at it tightly in order to move his head where she wanted it. She hovered his mouth just over his, breathing in his scent as though she would die without it.
"What is the moon doing to you?" Bucky could hardly recognize his own voice, it had grown so far beyond husky.
"I've tried to resist you for so long, you wouldn't understand what it means to be a bound mate of a wolf." She applied a little more pressure against his scalp. "You shouldn't have come after me, I can't hold it back anymore. I'll have you tonight, and every night after. You are mine now." With one last press she pushed their mouths together in a frantic kiss. Their teeth clashed, bit into each other's lips and drawing blood. When she pulled his head back her eyes flashed a glittering yellow as she licked a drop of red from her lips.
"You should have never resisted in the first place." Bucky tried to press his lips to hers again, but she held his head back in a surprising show of strength.
"Would you really have me, bind yourself to a wolf?" It was almost too much for Darcy to believe that he would want her that way. Fuck her, yes, but to fully bind himself as her mate…she had never hoped that he would truly do it.
"I would even if you were a fucking wererat, because as much as I am yours you are fucking mine." Bucky reached behind his head and removed her hand so he could lean down to kiss her again. It was hard, it was punishing, and it was too short as Darcy pulled back and placed her lips to his ear.
"Then, you better catch me if you can." Darcy gave a rather evil smirk as she stepped away from him, turned and took off. Only five feet away she jumped and in midair her body changed to a large copper wolf.
Bucky stood there dazed for only a second before he took off after her. For over an hour he chased her through the forest, around and around until they reached back to the still burning fire.
Darcy stood completely bare before him, one hand reaching out. He stepped forward, taking the hand she offered. Everything seemed surreal, and yet he had never felt more alive in his life. He followed as she pulled him down to the ground, his body covering hers.
He looked into her eyes as she slowly pulled each item of clothing off him until he was as bare as she. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped when he finally felt her flesh against his. Any slowness that either of them had been expecting flew right out the window when Darcy growled low in her chest.
The two of them were nothing more than a writhing pile of flesh. Hands slid, pinched and grasped handfuls. Mouths and tongues nipped, licked and tasted skin and sweat. Bucky groaned as Darcy flipped them over so his back was pressed into the dirt.
"After tonight there won't be anyone else for me. Once we do this I will be incapable to loving another, you will be free to do what you wish, but I would die without you." Darcy had heard of Normal mates leaving their wolves, she had heard the tales of the painful deaths the wolves endured. She feared it, but she also knew that it all would be worth it to have Bucky even for one night.
"Do you really think that I would be able to leave you without ripping my own heart out? This binding goes both ways. I would die without you." Bucky knew what he said was more than just mere words. He could feel it in his soul, there was no way he would ever be able to leave.
Darcy felt a tear slip down her cheek and sighed as Bucky reached up to wipe it away. She kissed his hand and sat further back in order to complete the binding. She cried out once joined before leaned down to clasp her teeth around the flesh in the curve of his neck.
Nothing she had ever been told by the other bound wolves could have prepared her for the feeling of giving into the Calling. It was as though she had lived her whole life with only half a heart and as she sunk her teeth in the whole in her chest filled. Her heart felt as though it would burst when Bucky pushed up from under her so he could reach her neck and returned the mark.
When the Rites had been completed Darcy rolled to the side, her arms wrapping themselves around his damp chest. She rested her head right above his heart and just held on. She should have been worried about the future, if he would leave or not, but she had believed him. And because of that Darcy allowed her eyes to fall shut and the exhaustion to take her.
When they returned back to the tower three weeks later, they had nothing to show for their mission except for the new relationship between two of the team members. A few people expressed surprised that Bucky and Darcy had actually gotten together, but others, such as Tony claimed he had known all along. Tony of course ended up getting punched in his smug face, though Bucky said it was because of the cabin he had sent them to and not the way he was eyeing up Darcy.
For the first time in a long while, Darcy was truly happy. She was no longer a lone wolf, forced to run alone. Bucky slipped with her out at night, the two of them playing prey and predator even though neither knew just which one was which. Not that it mattered as it always ended up with the two of them stripped completely.
Bucky kept Darcy's secret, even though he assured her that the rest of their friends wouldn't care. And though just days after their return, rumors of a wild wolf running loose in Central Park, no one ever connected it to the two of them.
Author's Note: So, this was a random idea. It sort of just happened because I had this idea of a werewolf Darcy, and then I listened to My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark, and this just came about. This isn't really werewolf Darcy, she really is more a shapeshifter from an old RPG that I had created and played with a couple of friends years ago.
I don't know, this could be something that I might continue, because I do have an idea, but it will be awhile as I'm working on "The Degrees of Normal" as well as another Wintershock and a Taserhawk, as well as a Darcycentric time period fic. Still, I might put this in my fic queue for later.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.