"I don't mind you comin' here, and wastin' all my time... I guess, you're just what I needed." - The Cars

I.

Darcy met Danny after she returned from London.

At a party, of all things. Darcy was not the type to party, but her long-time roommate Annie was always trying to get her to come out each weekend.

Darcy was not antisocial. She usually just kept to herself. The polite word to use was introverted. She was introverted and Jane always indulged Darcy in that sense when they worked together, because Jane was also introverted.

Contrary to whatever Annie said about her, Darcy did not hate people. She was friendly and thorough when she got to know people. She remembered birthdays, the TV shows that certain friends liked.

When she walked on campus she waved to people she knew.

But she would rather spend a Saturday night with her Netflix queue than with a bunch of other drunken grad students who bitched things Darcy did not relate to.

It became harder to pretend to be interested in things other than Thor-related shenanigans. It was her secret weak spot.

She came to the party with Annie because their WIFI was down and they still had not fixed it, so maybe the universe for once was telling Darcy to not watch Queer Eye again.

She sat on a couch alone with a red cup with lukewarm beer in it while Annie stood against a wall with a friend, laughing.

Darcy frowned yet again, feeling a little left out.

As if on instinct, Annie turned her head, giving Darcy a sharp look.

It was funny how she came across as so beautiful and quiet to most people when just beneath the surface, Annie had the temperament of a barely contained cobra snake.

Darcy imagined Annie with a forked tongue darting out of her plush pink lips and sniggered, making Annie give her another sharp glance.

Darcy shrugged.

"Can I sit here?"

Darcy looked up toward the voice and saw a man with untidy brown hair, square glasses and a flannel shirt.

She blinked a couple times, understanding he meant the space beside her on the couch. She could not escape the feeling of dread that the guy was going to try asking her out at some point if he was allowed to stay close enough to her.

Darcy saw Annie glance at the mystery man from her spot on the wall, making Darcy feel more self-conscious than ever.

He was a decent-looking guy. Cute, even, if she thought about it long enough. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows and his scruffy facial hair were usually right up Darcy's alley.

She regarded him. "I don't know, can you?"

She imagined Annie face-palming or even hitting the back of Darcy's head at her impertinence. Darcy was not being funny by most standards.

The guy smirked a little, and Darcy felt something loosen a little inside her. He did not mind a challenge.

"Excuse me, may I sit here, miss?"

Miss. That did something to Darcy. Made her want to make him laugh. Made her want to tease him more. Maybe even flirt.

She just nodded, and the music coming from the kitchen area of the apartment changed over, and Darcy groaned.

Whoever picked the music needed a fucking lesson or two in reading a room. This trance bullshit might work if everyone was on molly but the most they had between the thirty or so people at the party was a couple kegs of beer and some Pinot Grigio Annie smuggled in.

The guy sat beside her, arm over the top of the couch above her head, and Darcy heard him sigh.

"Jake's music sucks."

Darcy chuckled. "You can stay."

"Awesome," the guy murmured. "I'm Danny, by the way."

Darcy looked down to see his large hand extended to her, and she shook it. His palms were rough and dry.

He pushed his glasses up his nose, looking at her.

"Short for Daniel?" Darcy asked, and he nodded.

He took a sip of his beer, and Darcy saw his eyes had an unfocused glaze to them. She only arrived twenty minutes ago, but the party had been going for nearly three hours.

Annie cackled at something the guy next to her said, and Darcy smiled a little.

"Yeah," Danny replied.

"Jewish?"

"Bit soon to be asking personal questions?" he threw back, smirking again.

Okay, so maybe he was drunk. His smile was crooked and his gaze kept shifting up and down her face. He stared at her mouth.

"What, it's personal to ask if you're Jewish?" Darcy countered. "I'm Jewish."

She was half-Jewish but Jewish all the same. No bat mitzvah but most other traditions her mom kept up as Darcy grew up.

It made her stand out a little when she went to a Catholic high school, but that was because her best friends went there and she begged her mom to let her go, even though her mom warned her she could not keep wearing her Star of David without a teacher making a scene.

Her mom was only a little off. It wasn't a teacher but a student that asked her why she was wearing ghetto jewellery under her shirts. When Darcy thought of the incident now she still cringed, wishing that at the time she had unpacked that for the nosy girl. At the time, all twelve year-old Darcy could do was mumble "shut up" to the girl and turn beet red.

"Nothing wrong with that," Danny replied, one hand up in defense.

But that was kind of the point Darcy had been making. There was nothing wrong with being a Jew.

"So it's not biblical," Darcy murmured, turning her gaze elsewhere and taking a sip of her beer.

She regretted it, deciding that the beer wasn't worth swallowing to get a tiny buzz. She tried to spit it back into the cup subtly, but she just made Danny laugh beside her.

"It's disgusting. I should have brought something else. Jake's idea again."

Darcy just looked at Danny, who was shaking his head fondly.

"This is Jake's place, isn't it?" Darcy asked, feeling for the first time like a bit of a dick.

"Yeah, whose place did you think this was?"

"No idea," Darcy said. She set down her beer cup. "I came with Annie."

Connecting the dots, Danny looked from Darcy and then Annie against the wall and smiled.

"You're Darcy Lewis?"

Darcy did not know what to make of his tone. He sounded surprised. Whatever he heard about her was probably way more impressive than whatever air she exuded now with her eyes downcast and her voice quiet.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"Dude, you're hot shit around here!"

"Oh," Darcy said. Her eyes widened a little, and she dared to look at him.

Still drunk, but somehow looser.

"The fuck are you doing back here? Where's Thor?"

Darcy always found it fascinating to witness the Avengers' impact from the outside. First, Tony Stark turned out to be Iron Man, and then Puente Antiguo happened – and then New York happened.

And then London and the Dark Elves happened.

Darcy pushed some old fears away. She was back with civilians again, and closest thing to danger here was some guy streaking across the football field during their hazing, and Darcy had not seen a naked dick in the flesh (so to speak) in months.

"Doctor Foster was sent to Norway again and I'm doing my Masters."

She fed everyone that line. It was a version of the truth Jane and Darcy deemed appropriate enough to answer outsiders, but it gave very little away.

Darcy didn't usually tell men right off the bat that she knew any Avenger, let alone Thor.

"You serious?" Danny asked, eyebrows quirking. "Huh."

His disappointment was obvious. Darcy felt the urge to get up and leave. Spending this much time her already had to be enough to satisfy Annie, and maybe if Darcy stuck to the task, she could reconnect the WIFI or even read a book off the shelf. She still had her phone's data.

"Sorry, I'm being an asshole," Danny said, and Darcy looked back at him, his eyes looking sharper to her. "It's probably classified, right?"

"Yeah," Darcy admitted. "My mom is still recovering from when SHIELD searched her house last year."

Danny's eyes widened. "Yikes."

"Yikes, indeed."

Darcy felt a little better. The song finally changed over to something vaguely bearable. Darcy sighed.

"Somebody hijack that?" Annie called, and there was an affirmative yell from the kitchen.

Annie gave Darcy a thumbs-up, and then pulled the guy beside her along toward the music.

"Getting a refill – you want one, Darcy?" her friend called.

Darcy grimaced. "God, no."

Danny laughed beside her.

He was cute. And not dumb enough to pry about Thor too much.

Toward the end of the night, she kissed him goodbye, a light peck on his unshaven cheek.

He reeked of beer, and drew his thumb across her lips before she left with Annie.

Back at their place, Annie's words were slurring a little but she made several good points.

"The guy who was trying to get into my pants tonight – he was asking about the Korean war."

Darcy handed her friend a cup of black coffee, settling down on their couch.

The WIFI was still down. She frowned at the modem by the TV, wondering what to do.

"Why the Korean war – OH!" Darcy cut herself off mid-sentence. "Oh, God."

"He was asking if it affected my family, like if some of them were stuck in the North," Annie went on. She rolled her eyes. "I'm from Queens. My parents are from Vietnam. Who are these dumbass kids?"

Darcy gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "We might have to wait until we graduate to find some sugar daddies. Become trophy wives."

She was joking. They both joked about resorting to that, given their shared dating track records. After Ian in London, Darcy had not had a single serious relationship.

She was still friends with Ian on Facebook and they chatted occasionally. She knew they would always be friends. But she was nearly twenty-six years-old and men were not flocking to her side.

Annie, on the other hand, had plenty of opportunities. But for whatever reason she attracted men a lot dumber than her.

"Would you date George Clooney?"

"Um, duh," Darcy replied. "We have discussed this."

"No, I mean – he leaves Amal and the twins and dates you."

Darcy thought for a second. "Sure. But only if he sees his kids. I am not into deadbeat dads, George Clooney or otherwise."

Annie let out a laugh. "Yeah, okay. Maybe we're just destined to be hookers with hearts of gold."

They sat and drank their coffee, Annie's head resting on Darcy's shoulder.

"What if I settle for some Wall Street guy?" she murmured, and Darcy shook her head.

"You won't."

"What if I did though? For real."

"That's not gonna happen."

Darcy's phone vibrated, and she took it out, unlocking it.

Annie read over her shoulder. "Oh, hello. Danny Palazzo."

"Web development," Annie continued to read, as Darcy accepted Danny's friend request and scrolled through his page. "Excellent career choice."

Darcy kept scrolling, aware of Annie's hot breath on her cheek.

"Your page is so bare, I wonder what he's making of it," Annie finished with a low chuckle.

"Alright. I think you should go to bed, you drunk," Darcy muttered, pushing her off and walking toward her room and shutting the door behind her.

They knew each other well enough to know that Darcy meant nothing by it, and she wanted privacy.

Darcy threw herself on her bed, staring at her phone.

Danny sent her a message.

You want to grab dinner tomorrow?

She smiled, staring at his photo that smiled up at her.

They were dating for nearly two years.

SHIELD fell. Darcy did not have the opportunity to participate when it all unravelled. She watched TV screens with bated breath, Annie beside her before Danny joined them.

"You hear from Jane?" Annie asked, and Darcy nodded quickly.

"She's okay. When the shit hit the fan, someone came to take her to a safe house."

"That's good," Danny murmured. He pushed his glasses up out of habit. "You sure the door won't get kicked in by anybody looking for you?"

The more Darcy thought about it, the more laughable the idea seemed to be. Not many people knew her involvement in Thor and Jane's research. Erik Selvig was in greater danger than her, and luckily he still lived in London, and Jane had assured her that he was safe.

"Shit is on fire," Danny added, but Darcy shook her head.

"It's fine. No-one cares about me."

"I care about you," Danny muttered, sounding a little hurt.

She glanced at him and felt a twinge of annoyance, but knew he meant well.

"You're sweet," she replied. "Really. But SHIELD doesn't remember me that much."

A couple days later, more news spread. Forums blew up about the major government conspiracy. It made Darcy ill, and she spoke to her mother on the phone for over an hour, trying to assure her that everything would be okay.

"The whole thing makes me sick," her mom muttered, and Darcy sighed.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Darcy whispered.

She sat on her fire escape, remembering the distress her mother was in when SHIELD showed up and scoured every inch of her family home, demanding Darcy's mom cooperate.

Knowing that they were secretly run by fascists made Darcy want to punch the brick wall beside her head, but she decided against it.

"You sure it's okay? I'm scared people will come back."

"They won't. It's all over now. I'm just sorry I got you involved," Darcy whispered back.

There was a tap on her window behind her, and Danny was looking out at her, expectant.

"I have to go, Mom. Danny's waiting."

"When are you coming to see me, the two of you?"

"Soon, I promise," Darcy said.

Danny motioned Darcy wrap it up. Darcy frowned at him.

"Maybe just me, no Danny," she muttered.

Once she climbed back inside, Danny shook his head at her.

"I told you I don't like you going out there when it's not an emergency. It freaks me out," he said, and Darcy narrowed her eyes just slightly, the same annoyance from earlier returning.

"My mom needed to hear my voice," Darcy retorted. "You need to be more patient."

She knew she was avoiding his request for her to stop going out onto the fire escape. She didn't want to argue about that.

"She's really freaked out about Washington. She thinks Nazis are about to knock her door down."

Danny gave her a sidewards glance from his spot on the couch. "She realizes they're not Nazis, right?"

Darcy closed her eyes for a second, hoping her tone would not sound too harsh to his ears.

"How are HYDRA not Nazis?" she asked, her eyes still shut.

"Well, it's not 1930's Germany, for one thing," he said, and Darcy knew she made a mistake arguing with him.

She could either drop the conversation and go make them dinner, or stay in the room and continue.

Damn all her instincts, because she was too stubborn to back down.

And no matter what, every argument went this way.

"Okay, rule number one when talking about fascists: when you don't call a spade a spade you're giving an ideology too much legroom."

"I know that," he spat. "Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking five year-old."

Darcy glared at him. He didn't show any sign of fear or regret, and just pushed his glasses back up, eyebrows furrowed.

"They're Nazis, Danny. The biggest intelligence organization in America was run by fucking Nazis for the better part of a century. So can we not get into semantics?"

Her voice grew to its shrieking nasal height that she hated most, and she knew Danny was not a fan of it.

Their first ever big fight, she tried her hardest not to sound hysterical. She hated that she was self-conscious of her voice, hated that she had to change the way she sounded to be taken seriously.

"Alright, alright," Danny muttered, hands up. "Jesus. I get it. Why do you have to make such a big deal out of this?"

He got up from the couch, walking toward the front door.

"Where are you going?" Darcy called after him.

Her voice had less bite. She didn't mean for him to go. When he did this, he didn't always pick up his phone, and gave her the silent treatment whenever he got back.

She hated being ignored. She hated the heavy weight of silence, and the inevitable guilt.

She had reacted poorly. He meant well. He wasn't making excuses for Hitler or something like that.

Danny gave her a short glance before grabbing his coat off the hook.

"I'm getting a drink."

"Please don't."

She raced after him, trying to hug him from behind.

"I'm sorry. Please don't go. I'm sorry."

She knew why she acted like this. It was her dad, who she stopped seeing once he remarried when she was ten.

Danny shrugged her off him, opening the door.

The tears were sudden and hot, blurring her vision.

"Please, Danny. I'm sorry."

"Let me go, Darce."

He slammed the door behind him, and Darcy's face crumbled, and she began to sob.

For two whole days there was radio silence, and Annie kept giving her The Look.

Darcy didn't have to ask to know what The Look meant.

It was the really, girl? look. It made Darcy stay in her room and avoid any kind of judgemental quips. She'd heard enough.

She still felt guilty. She still felt like Danny leaving was her fault.

When he came back, he had a dozen red roses and a pizza box for her, and she peppered his face with kisses, sure than Annie was rolling her eyes somewhere in the background.

They made up, and then she got a call from Jane the morning after.

"I need you to come back."

Darcy's heart began to hammer. "What?"

There was a rustle on the other line. Danny beside her rolled over, muttering something under his breath. Darcy nudged him with her foot, indicating her phone at her ear.

He mouthed, what?

"They're going to rebuild it all. Uh, I don't know what else I can say on the phone."

"You need me to meet you somewhere? Where are you?"

"I'm outside your building, Darce."

Darcy climbed out of bed, and looked out her window into the street.

Sure enough, the familiar diminutive shape of Jane Foster stood outside the foyer doors, looking up at her, smiling.

"I think you're gonna have to move."

Darcy gave her a confused look.

Jane let out a little laugh.

"To Brooklyn."