A/N: So this just kind of happened. Darcy started talking in my ear and out came this first chapter! Lemme know what y'all think, what you'd like to see, and what should happen to my lovelies. Oh, also, I'm always open to hearing what you think comes next even if it's way off the wall! So, yeah, drop me a note and look for more chapters soon :)
Darcy couldn't believe that this guy was being so idiotic. Wait... was he about to commit suicide? What was this book even about anymore? She heard a cyclist whizzing her way and, not wanting to stop reading at this tense moment in book history, side-stepped him and continued on down the path.
No. Freaking. Way.
This wasn't happening. This character was a jerk, but he wasn't that big of an idiot. Was he? Wait, was that a second canister of arsenic he just pulled...
"NO!" Darcy screamed out loud, clutching the book tighter and letting her jaw fall open. "You did not just... Ugh!"
Thankfully, no passers-by had seen or heard her outburst. She didn't want to be taken to an insane asylum. She wasn't insane, she was just overly passionate about characters in fictional worlds. They were real to her, okay?! Forget what other people thought about her crazy reactions to a world that didn't exactly exist. Books were good for... adventure. She didn't get enough of that.
A twig snapped somewhere nearby.
Darcy stopped, lowered her book, and readjusted her hair behind her ear. She should be used to weird noises on this trail. There were too many dog people around, and little bunny rabbits who wanted to stay hidden. Yeah. That's what it was. A cute, adorable little bunny.
She lifted her book and took another step.
This time, a moan, long and low, reached her ears.
No, that wasn't right. Maybe she had been reading too long. This was all one big hallucination.
It came again, this time sounding like someone in immense pain.
Oh, screw it. If it was a hallucination, no harm no foul. If it really was someone in trouble—or pain—then she had the chance to be a hero for once. To actually be useful for something. Instead of just being the boring third wheel all the time.
Well, that was settled. Darcy closed her book, hugged it to her chest, and stepped past the row of nearly impenetrable bushes blocking her path. Darn thorns and thistles! Darcy gave the bushes one final karate chop and a frown, then turned to venture into the trees.
"Stupid... sticky things... I'll show you... poke me... the nerve!" Darcy mumbled incoherent sentences as she tugged a few limbs from her boots and jeans.
She stopped short when she heard the moan again, this time ending in an animalistic wail. Never a good sign.
"Hel-lo?" Darcy held her book tighter and spun her gaze in a semi-circle. No signs of life. Yet. "Anyone there?"
Great, Darcy. Yell out the most obvious thing that comes to mind, why don'tcha? People in horror movies always screamed that seconds before their overdue demise. They, however, were idiots. Darcy was a very intelligent poli-sci major (drop-out) slash science-y intern person slash witty comeback queen. She could do this! Sure, she was scared half to death, but who cared? She could totally just tase the person—if indeed it was a person—if they tried anything terrible.
This time, it wasn't a moan or a yell that caught her attention, but two breathless words. "Help. Me."
Okay, that sounded like someone being strangled. Darcy yanked her taser from her bag and held it in one hand, the other still crunching her book to her chest.
"Help-" anything else the person might have said was cut short with a wheeze.
Darcy stepped over another small line of bushes and found herself on one of the jogging trails. One of the abandoned, "I'm-under-construction-so-don't-come-near-me" jogging trails that were basically a death trap waiting for their next victim to swallow whole.
Another choked sound came from across the path. Well, it didn't look too far across and there weren't any holes or wet cement, so Darcy shrugged and stepped out, holding her taser out before her. Sparky would stop any bad guys that tried to jump at her.
As usual, Darcy turned out to be totally wrong.
Something slid over her head and clasped tightly around her windpipe.
Instinctively, Darcy dropped Sparky and her book so her hands were free to grasp at whatever that thing was. Was that... metal? What the heck? Who strangled people with a chain? Oh, no. This was a serial killer, wasn't it? She had always known this day would come. That one day, she would use her naivete to her own disadvantage and find herself thrown in a ravine.
Nevertheless, she would not go easily.
Darcy grasped the chain as tightly as she could, wiggling her fingers between the disgusting metal thing and her own neck. If she got scars from this, she was going to sue. In one swift movement, she kicked out behind her, but the shifting chain signified that her attacker avoided her counter-attack.
Suddenly, she found her back pressed tightly against... something. Something that felt a lot like either rock hard abs or Thor's armor. Had to be abs through a shirt. Thor wouldn't try to strangle her, and the only time he'd shielded her close enough for her to feel the metal and leather was... a sore subject in the lab. She'd rather not talk about that. She liked Jane's friendship too much to bring it up.
Whoever—or whatever—was behind her, Darcy didn't care. She pulled at the chains, motivated by both fear and anger. "Let me go!" she shrieked, although it sounded rather hoarse. "You'll never get away with this. You'll be tried and hanged! Burned at the stake! I know powerful people, not to mention my boyfriend is a master assassin!" Okay, so the last part was a half-truth, but who cared?
The man behind her (at that height, he had to be a guy) lowered his head to her ear. She could feel his breath on the side of her face.
"That's just what I wanted to hear," he cooed.
Darcy squeaked, mostly in fear but also because he tightened the chain around her neck. As much as she fought it, seconds later Darcy's world went black.
/ /
"Okay, so then we can just fly on up to the roof—I'll grab Arrow over there—and then it's down we go. Through the chimney. Merry Christmas bad guys, Santa's coming in the form of the Avengers." Stark pumped a fist and grinned evilly.
Clint Barton rolled his eyes and stretched out in his corner hammock. He didn't understand why Tony had called this whole "strategy" meeting. For the past half hour, it had just been one man ranting and telling all the other grown men (and woman) what to do. Not that there was anything unusual about that. There wasn't. Tony needed to grow up. And fast, before he got arrow-happy.
"This plan is missing something..." Tony stood and began to pace.
Clint watched him warily. He hadn't heard anything missing in the entire rant. What was Tony up to?
The man in question stopped and snapped his fingers. "A decoy! J, ring Ms. Lewis in the lab and tell her I need to talk to her pronto."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Clint was the first to speak, but not the first person to jump to his feet. Every other guy in the room jumped as soon as Darcy's name was mentioned.
Thor flexed his fingers on Mjolnir's handle.
Steve's shield was aimed in the direction of Tony's head.
Bruce looked a little green.
Clint would have joined the party of threats, but they had that pretty well covered. Truth was, most of them had kind of adopted Darcy as a little sister of sorts. Most of them. He would have preferred a different sort of relationship with the beautiful brunette lab assistant. He just hadn't found the guts to ask her yet. Besides, even though she seemed to flirt with everyone else, she never flirted with him. At least not like that.
Tony tilted his head and furrowed his brow. He resembled a puppy that didn't understand why it was being reprimanded. "I'm listening, but I don't think I'm going to like what you're going to say."
What Clint was about to say was, "We're not using Darcy as bait." Unfortunately, he didn't have time to get it out. JARVIS interrupted him.
"Sir, Ms. Lewis is not in the labs."
"Then check her room," Tony instructed.
"I'm afraid she left early this morning with a book and her iPod and hasn't returned since, sir."
Clint checked a clock. Eleven in the morning. She should have been back hours ago. Sure, she always took an early morning walk around the park to have some time to herself, but she was always back by nine, at the latest. He threw a look to Stark, who seemed just as concerned.
"Jarvis, what time did she leave?" Clint asked, then set his jaw to keep from tirading all over the place.
"Promptly at six-thirty, sir."
"She should be back by now." Steve anchored the shield to his back and shook his head.
Bruce held up his hands as though to settle an angry crowd. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Has anyone tried calling her yet?"
"Bruce, she's always back by now," Tony clarified.
"Maybe she got distracted." Bruce tossed Tony a look that said he better shut up and listen to reason.
"By what?"
Good question. Darcy usually had singular focus. Get done what she needed to get done so she could party or watch a movie or go eat.
Bruce shrugged. "I don't know. A puppy or something. You know how she gets around anything cute and fluffy."
Clint had to agree with that one. There had been an incident with a kitten not so long ago. Jane still hadn't quite forgiven Steve for bringing it to see Darcy while she was working. The lab had almost burned down. Needless to say, cute fluffy things really distracted Darcy Lewis. Just another one of her charming flaws.
"Barton, phone— no." Tony shook his head like it was a ridiculous idea and instead glanced to the ceiling. "Jarvis, call Darcy's phone."
Clint caught his breath and held it. Bruce had to be right. Darcy was okay, just distracted by something shiny. She would pick up the phone and apologize in her overly dramatic, wordy way and everything would be fine. She had to be fine, because he didn't think he could handle it if she wasn't. Come on, come on, come on. Pick up the phone, Darcy!
The ringing on the loudspeakers cut off. Clint listened intently, hoping for Darcy's cheerful, "Y'ello, superbros!" It didn't come.
"Hey, I don't know you, and this is crazy, but you've reached Darcy's number. Call again later maybe?" Her voicemail message. That couldn't be a good sign. She always answered when JARVIS called. Always.
Bruce, Steve, and Clint all turned for the elevator at the same time. Clint heard the clicks and whirs behind him as Tony's suit bolted itself into place around him. Thor's heavy footsteps sounded like he was headed for the balcony, but Clint didn't care. Something was wrong, Darcy was missing, and he would give his own life if it meant getting her back. He stepped into the elevator and let his anger for the situation simmer. Together, the Avengers set out to find their adopted sister.