Darcy stood in the kitchen of Avengers Tower, making breakfast. While she didn't have an official position in the tower (yet), she had taken it upon herself to care for the heroes living in the building. If that meant being up at the ass-crack of dawn to make them food, so be it.

"Darcy."

Darcy jumped and dropped the bowl of pancake batter,

"Dammit Bruce! Don't surprise me!" she said. Bruce blushed,

"Sorry. I just wanted to ask if you needed any help." he said, already grabbing a wet washcloth to clear up the spilled batter. Darcy leaned over the top of him, since he was directly in front of the stove, and flipped the pancakes already on the griddle. Bruce tried very hard to ignore the way her breasts pressed against his back. Well, he tried. He didn't succeed as well as hoped. Once Darcy was off his back, Bruce stood. Darcy put her hands on her hips,

"Well, if you want to, you can get the bacon started. There should be six packs thawing in the fridge."

"Six packs of bacon?" he asked skeptically. Darcy turned to him, waving her spatula threateningly,

"We're feeding mad amounts of people today. The whole team is in. Assassins and extraterrestrial gods don't skimp on the protein."

"I see." said Bruce, grabbing the bacon from the fridge. Darcy turned on the new burner and put a giant frying pan down. As she continued making pancakes with the salvaged batter, Bruce started unwrapping the bacon, separating it as he waited for the pan to heat up. It was nice, working with someone like they'd always done it. He really didn't know Darcy that well, now that he thought about it. They both lived in Stark Tower (renamed Avengers Tower), so that meant saying 'hi' in the hallway, but he hadn't ever held an actual conversation with her. He spoke,

"Do you usually make breakfast alone?" he asked. Darcy shrugged, pouring another pancake onto the griddle,

"Eh. Sometimes Sam will help me, when he's here or if he wasn't up all night. Same with Steve. But yeah, most mornings it's just me." she said. Bruce absorbed that for a moment. He normally just accepted that when he woke up at eleven, there was breakfast leftovers. He'd always assumed they ordered in or something.

"You don't have to make food for the whole team." he said. Darcy shrugged,

"I don't mind. I enjoy cooking. You guys can all do molecule science and stuff from morning to night. I cook and talk shit about politicians. It's nice to feel useful." she said. Bruce couldn't disagree. He knew that feeling. They worked in silence a moment longer. As he was dropping the first strips of bacon into the pan, something dawned on him. He asked,

"Wait a minute, are you the one who always brings down tea?"

"Yep." said Darcy, flipping a pancake with the ease of a master. Bruce looked at her, brow furrowed,

"Why?"

"I spent three months with Jane. After three months with an obsessive scientist, you learn that self-care really isn't on their Top 10 list of priorities. Tony's right there with her, so he gets sandwiches. Jane still gets PopTarts. If I'm making sure that they stay semi-functional, I can't exactly leave you alone in your corner with your computers."

"But how did you know tea?" asked Bruce. He was surprised that he'd never noticed her bringing down food for everyone else as well. Most days, he didn't even realize someone had brought him tea until he went to reach for the paper that the tea and its coaster were currently on top of.

"I noticed there was tea in the cupboard and everyone else around here is a coffee freak. Elementary, my dear Watson." she said with a grin. Bruce hesitantly smiled back,

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." said Darcy out of hand, as she was a bit distracted by trying to make an Iron Man pancake. Bruce smiled and put down some more bacon.

"You wanted to see me, Miss Lewis?" said Bruce with a smile, standing at the corner of Darcy's cubicle. Since he'd first helped with the bacon two months ago, he and Darcy had gotten into the routine of making breakfast together in the morning. It had gotten to the point that she was handing him chopped onions for the scrambled eggs before he asked and when the pancakes needed flipping, Darcy suddenly found him holding out the spatula. Sam had dropped by one time and remarked on how weird it was to watch them work together. Darcy had blushed a little and Bruce had told Sam to set the table.

Darcy looked up at him, smiling,

"Yes, Dr. Banner. I have a proposition for you." she said, leaning back in her chair and spinning slightly, "I believe that it would be to our mutual benefit if we were to meet for coffee and tea tomorrow afternoon."

"Sorry?" asked Bruce. He had a vague idea of what he'd just heard, but wanted to be sure.

"You. Me. Date. Coffee and tea." said Darcy. Bruce reached up and rubbed the back of his neck,

"Yeah, I don't know that that's the best idea."

"So help me Bruce Banner, if you cite the Growly Green Giant as a problem for this, I will ensure that Tony knows that it was you who told Pepper where he hides from meetings."

"Darcy…"

"Bruce. It's coffee. And tea. It's warm beverages. Not a suggestion to move in." said Darcy. Something in her eyes was smiling. Bruce was surprised to see that what he saw a hope. Hope that he'd go with her. He swallowed,

"Warm beverages it is. But this Other Guy conversation is not done."

"Deal. We can discuss that later." said Darcy. She winked and spun back to her computer. Bruce turned to leave and even he couldn't suppress a giddy smile that slowly spread across his face.

The next day, they met at the coffee shop around the corner. Darcy got something large and covered in whipped cream. Bruce got a cup of tea. They had just sat down when his phone rang, playing 'Fuck You'. Bruce flushed and Darcy laughed as he pulled it out of his pocket. It was only a text, but still his face fell,

"It's SHIELD. I have to go."

"Damn government and its timing. Tell the aliens to take ten." she said, sipping her drink and ending up with a whipped cream mustache. Bruce reached out and used his thumb to wipe it away, a part of him marveling at the softness of her lips beneath his finger.

"I know, but science calls." he said. He really did feel bad for bailing on her, but SHIELD had some kind of emergency they wanted him there for. Darcy smiled and shook her head,

"Go. Save the world from whatever is going down."

"Thanks. And I'm sorry." he said. Bruce stood and was about to rush out of the shop, but stopped. He turned back and before he could think better of it, kissed Darcy's cheek. She jumped and some of her coffee spilled onto the table. Bruce was gone before she even knew what had happened. She put a hand to her cheek, where his lips had just been, and smiled. He had kissed her.

Darcy fiddled with the sparkling bracelet as she sat at the table. The whole night had gone awry, right from when she clocked out at five o'clock. She and Bruce were celebrating their four year anniversary of dating and he had planned a whole night of it. The plan was to grab a limmo from Darcy's apartment, go to a speaker across town who was presenting a presentation on America's politics and its relations internationally, then go to the restaraunt in which Darcy now sat. Of course, that plan didn't quite pan out. Tony had blown something up in the lab, which meant everyone in the lower three floors had to go through the disinfectant process, which meant she was late getting back to her apartment, which meant she was late being ready for the presentation, which they ended up missing anyway because the limmo got tired of waiting and drove off with another customer. Darcy, in the process of trying to chase down the limmo, had managed to burn her hair with her hot rollers and ended up barely managing to keep herself from what would have been an admittedly pretty punk haircut. Darcy ended up calling a taxi to drive her to the restaraunt, texting Bruce to just meet her there. So Darcy sat, dressed to the nines, alone in a restaraunt where one meal cost the same as room and board at Culver. The waiter dropped off another bread basket without being asked, offering her a comforting smile. The classiness of the place was proved in that when he smiled at her, his gaze never dropped below her eyes, despite the plunging neckline and accompanying dress that Jane had swore almost turned her gay for Darcy. Darcy smiled at the man and started running her finger along the rim of her water glass, letting the clear note ring. She couldn't help it, it was a habit born from the family dinners of her childhood. Finally, a waiter escorted a Bruce to the table, muttering about bringing him a glass of water. Darcy stood and kissed his cheek as they both sank down into their chairs. Bruce sighed, resisting the urge to put his head in his hands,

"I'm sorry for all the hassle."

"Eh. We'll put dinner on Tony's credit card and call it good. No worries. And that speaker is probably on YouTube somewhere."

"Yeah, but still..."

"Bruce, it's fine. Let's order." she said with a smile. Bruce smiled shakily back at her. Darcy was looking over her menu when she noticed that Bruce looked a little queasy, "Are you alright?" she asked. He looked up,

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just…thinking."

"Well, thinking has made you green in the face, and not in the smashing way. Drink some water." she said. Bruce grabbed the glass and Darcy was alarmed to see that his hands were shaking. She leaned forward,

"If you feel sick, we can leave." she said. Bruce ran a hand over his face, then stood up,

"I was going to wait, but…" He walked over until he was standing next to Darcy. By now, the entire restaurant was pretending not to be staring at him. He dropped to a knee. Darcy gasped as he was fishing in his pocket. He pulled out a small velvet box, "Darcy, I love you. Even when I'm…not myself, I love you," he opened the box to reveal a diamond ring, "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" said Darcy through the tears streaming down her face. As she held out her hand, she managed to knock her water glass over, but neither of them cared. Bruce kissed her, and Darcy knew that he loved her. In that moment and every moment after, he loved her.