Phil leaned over the cup of coffee in front of him. He allowed the fragrant steam to steady his nerves, the familiar scent something grounding in the ever-changing world. He had thought that nothing could shake him anymore. He had met alien gods, seen war heroes frozen in time, died and was brought back to life. Everything that surrounded him was strange, nothing should be able to shock him. That was before her.
He had thought he had known all there was to know about her. She wasn't all that remarkable, a student that had gotten herself caught up with the wrong internship. She was a passable hacker, smart, but not genius. The only reason she had caught Shield's attention was because of Dr. Foster and Thor, otherwise they would have never known her name. He wondered now if maybe that had been her plan all along, maybe she was unremarkable by design.
He shook his head and took a long drink from his coffee. The burn down his throat was nothing, not even a distraction from his thoughts.
"You look like you could use something stronger."
Phil looked up to find her slipping into the other seat. She looked like she always did; oversized sweater and chunky beanie obscuring much of her features. But now that he knew, he could see the slight spark within her eyes. She pulled a small silver flask from her purse and set it on the table.
"I don't drink." Phil looked at the flask warily, as though it could blow at any moment.
"You and I both know that is a lie. Come on, Coulson, I promise it's not poison." She smiled that little smile of hers.
It was one he had seen before, just once. He had never been able to get it out of his head.
"What makes you believe that I would trust you?" He took another drink of his coffee; the dark brew having cooled to a tolerable temperature.
"Think of me what you will, but I have no reason to kill you. I'm not some monster." She reached out and slowly drew the flask back towards her. Uncapping it, she took a healthy drink of it and replaced it back into her bag.
She looked away from him, her eyes searching out the window. For what, he couldn't tell. That spark within her eyes dulled, becoming a faint glow. For some reason, this made him sick.
"What are you then, because you are no human." That was not something he had ever thought he would be asking this particular woman. He waited, expecting for her to weave him some story about aliens or something he was at least familiar with. She just turned back to him and gave a soft sigh.
"No, I'm not. I haven't been human in over a thousand years. Sometimes it feels like yesterday, others…." She looked around the small diner with a sad smile. "…others I feel every single one of those years."
Suddenly, Phil felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. At that moment, he realized how much he was hoping to hear the word alien. At least that was something he could deal with. He sat there quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Before he could even think to speak, she turned back to him.
"There are so many things in this world that you do not know. I'm just the first in a long line you will come to understand." She set her hand on the table, sliding it forward as far as she could.
He looked down at her hand, palm down on the stained table, and back up at her. "That's the thing, I don't understand you. Miss Lewis…. Whoever or whatever you are…."
"Then let me help you." She turned her hand until she presented him with the palm. She waited, calm as he seemed to argue with himself. In the end, he set his cup down and took her hand.
It had been a calculated risk, one that Phil immediately regretted when the world around him melted away and he found himself standing in the middle of a forest.
"Where are we?" Nothing around him gave him a clue to his location, he couldn't even be sure this was still Earth. A soft rustling brought his attention back to the young woman. He blinked as he took in the transformation of his companion. He had seen her changed before, at least partly. She still looked like Miss Lewis, but now her skin glowed enough to light the world around them. She seemed to have grown longer, not taller, but somehow longer. Her fingers more slender and her neck taller. Hair that had once hung over her shoulders, danced around her face as though a living creature all its own. But it was her eyes that left him shuddering. They were fire, cold, silver fire. The flames flickered as she looked upon him.
"My home." She took a few steps until she was standing before him. Once again she held out her hand. "Do not worry, you shall remain safe. I have no desire to see you hurt."
After taking her hand, he allowed her to lead him through the woods. They wound around trees, stepping over moss and mushrooms. He had the strange feeling that he had stepped out of reality and into some fairy-tale. Eventually they came across the opening of a small cavern. She looked at him with that small smile, and pulled him along inside.
The glow from her body lit the way as she walked them deeper and deeper into the cave. He remained silent, taking in the changing stones. The plain gray gave way to sharp and jagged crystals. If it weren't for the growing warmth he would have thought he was walking through ice.
They soon came upon the end of the cave. A single crystal room, empty but for the fire-pit in the middle. The flame inside flickered and danced, turning the crystal walls orange with its light. Miss Lewis let go of him then. She stepped back and he watched as the oversized sweater faded away to be replaced by a long white, hooded gown.
"I told you I was human once. I had been a simple girl then, content to go about my life. I cooked, cleaned, made my thanks to the Mother. But then she came."
Phil watched her every move, his eyes traveling down until he noticed her bare feet. With the light of the fire he could see what he hadn't before. Along the whole of her skin silver vines had been tattooed, curling up her legs, along her arms, and up her neck. He couldn't help the thought that she, at that moment, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"She spoke words of such wonder, of a power hidden within the heart of the world. Many believed that she had been the Mother come to us in the flesh. So, when she asked for a child, they all gladly handed me over." She turned from him, taking a few steps towards the fire. "To this day I couldn't tell you who, or what she was. But I came to love her, and hate her in equal measure. She told me that I had been chosen, I was the Keeper. I would hold this power she had spoken of, and one day I would be the Key."
"The key to what?" The closer she got to the fire, the more he wanted to snatch her away.
"To the end, or the beginning. It all depends on how you look at it." She stood now right beside the fire, one wrong move and she could catch her dress aflame. "My training had been little more than torture. She marked my skin with ice and fire, imbued my body with their energy. And when she believed I was ready she brought me here. In this very fire she threw me. My clothes burned away, but my flesh absorbed it."
Phil watched with horror as she stuck her hand into the fire, the now silver flames licking up her arm. The same silver as he had seen flickering in her eyes. With care she pulled back, a single glowing stone in her hand. She stepped forward until she stood right in front of him.
"Things are coming, Coulson. Great things, horrible things. Death, life, destruction. You will falter, but you will never fail. You must always believe that, you will never truly fail." She pressed the stone against his chest, pushing against it until it ripped past the fabric of his shirt and began to dig into his skin.
He screamed as the burning stone broke past flesh and bone, settling itself beside his heart. He could feel himself collapsing, his knees hitting the ground with a bone jarring force. But the pain in his knees was nothing compared to what he felt in his chest. He had the momentary thought that she had promised no harm would come to him, but it was chased away the moment he felt lips upon his own.
She kissed him deeply, as though she were trying to fuse herself with him as well. Her hands ran along his chest, smoothing over the wound the stone had left behind. By the time she had moved back all pain was gone, leaving him with nothing more than a gentle heat within his heart. He looked down, blinking in wonder that he could find no mark.
"I wish I could remove that scar as well." She ran a single finger down the puckered line left behind by Loki. "But some things are even beyond my power."
"What did you do to me?" His voice was shaky, sweat dripped down from his brow, sliding over his nose.
"Keys are made to open something, are they not?" She smirked. "Just as she chose me, I have chosen you. In the end, you will be the weapon. No one will know, no one will see. It is through you that everything will change."
"You said something is coming, what?" He tried to stand, but she stilled him with a single hand on his shoulder.
"An old enemy, and a new one. I cannot say any more than that. Only… do not trust easily, dragons can hide anywhere." She brought her hand up to run along his cheek. A sad smile spread across her lips, but she spoke nothing more.
Phil's mind flashed quickly to the kiss she had given him, but shook it away. That was not something he had time to think about.
"How will I…"
She pressed a finger to his lips and shook her head. "No more questions. You must rest, the bond will have weakened you."
"Bond?" He barely could utter the word. She had been right, he felt tired and weak.
"You are still human, had I given you full access to the Stone, it would have killed you." She took his hands, pulling him up and leading him around a hidden corner to her bedroom. "I had to create a bond between us. Our hearts are now linked, a piece of me lives in you. Through this link you will be able to use the Stone's power."
She gently pressed him down atop her bed of furs, laying down beside him. Not really paying attention to what he was doing, he wrapped her up in his arms.
"What do I call you?" He wondered what her name had been all those years ago, who had she really been, and how many had she been since then.
"Darcy. I am still her, and when this is all over I will be her again. Forever this time." She sighed and held on tightly.
"Darcy…" He slipped off to sleep, everything she had told him forgotten at the moment. He would remember in time.
When it came he would remember a beautiful woman and the piece of her heart he had resting beside his own. He would call her, the power of the Stone flowing through both of them. The world would stop, be destroyed, and built again. He would seek her out when all the dust had settled, and he would watch as the flicker of silver flame faded away from her eyes. And in the end… there would be a beginning.
Author's Note: So if you are confused by this, so am I. Ok, so I really had no idea where this was going, I just started writing and this is what happened. I have a vague idea of what is going on, mainly that in this storyline Coulson is the one who is the key to everything and he ends up being Thanos' downfall, and the one to save the world, with Darcy's help. And the Stone is this source of extreme power at the center of the Earth, which is what made Darcy, sort of, immortal. Of course when the world is safe the Stone retreats from her, and she lives as just Darcy… well Darcy Coulson.
I think she probably had to choose someone else to take the power, or possibly the woman who came to Darcy in the first place is actually a physical manifestation of the Stone, and would be able to choose a new Keeper when needed again. You chose which you like better.
Also, I'm a bit stuck on Coulson right now, so until my muse allows me to write other things you might find an influx of AgentTaser.
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.