"Whoever left me the coffee this morning, I will have your children," Darcy announced as she walked off the elevator and into the media room in Avengers Tower, and took in the scene.

Tony and Clint were playing video games. Bruce was reading in a recliner by the window. Steve was sitting on the oversized chair sketching, and Natasha? Darcy didn't have eyes on her, but she was willing to bet she was somewhere in the vicinity. The media room took up half an entire floor. The other portion of the room was divided between the kitchen and dining area.

And, oh man. What a kitchen. Made her hands twitch to start cooking something.

Sometimes, she really didn't know how she ended up here.

Wait, never mind. She was the only person Jane listened to. Sometimes. Occasionally. Okay, she was the only one Jane let randomly shove food into her mouth without looking.

Same thing.

Darcy and Jane were a packaged deal, apparently. When Jane was offered epic lab space and residence in the tower, one of the stipulations was Darcy. Somewhere along the way from that seemingly random internship in New Mexico, they became close. Closer than close. So close that Darcy sometimes wondered that if everyone on multiple planets didn't know Thor and Jane were a Thing (yes, it needed to be capitalized), that her and Jane would be mistaken for married.

Well, she has seen Jane naked. For a woman who would spend every waking moment in the lab, she had a bangin' body. Darcy wasn't blind.

"It was Nat," Clint answered from his spot on the couch, before going back to concentrating closely on the Mario Kart battle he was waging against Tony. "Son of a bitch! Stop red shelling me!"

Darcy cocked her head. "We'd make cute babies."

"We would, дорогой," Natasha agreed as she breezed by Darcy to sit on the couch next to Clint. Somehow in the last few weeks, Darcy had made it from Natasha's list of People She Did Not Actively Try to Kill, to People She Spent Time With. It was a short list. Darcy was proud. She didn't know what she did, exactly, but she was still proud. It also made sleeping at night a little easier.

"You did look rough this morning, Lewis." Tony. Grumble. She was hoping he'd be too fixated on the game to really say anything.

She rolled her eyes as she walked over the fridge in the bar area to grab a water. "Well, if someone hadn't kept Jane up with SCIENCE," she may have used jazz hands, "then the lackey could have gone to bed before the sun came up. Even Bruce went to bed! It couldn't have been that interesting."

"We like to send Brucey to bed before he starts looking green around the gills."

Nearly everyone rolled their eyes. Really, the green jokes started to get old.

"Be that as it may, I have been trying to get Jane to go to bed at a decent hour. But every time I start winning that battle, you come up with some new idea. Every time! And they're always bad ideas! I swear to God, you are doing it on purpose."

Tony scoffed and turned to look at her. "They are not bad –" there was an explosion on the screen. "What the fuck Barton! Again. We are playing again! Don't you dare put that down…thank you. They are not bad ideas, Lewis. They're genius. 'Cause I'm a genius. SWEAR TO GOD BARTON."

She held up a finger. "Panini press."

Tony paused, whether he was trying to think of a way to justify that horror show or was too busy trying to catch up to Wario, she had no clue. To be honest, she didn't care. The panini press tried to kill Steve. It was evil. And unpatriotic.

"Yes, Tony. Not exactly your most shining moment," Bruce agreed from his spot on the chair, not even looking up from his, not science, book.

Darcy saw the rebuttal forming in Tony's brain and then fizzle when he slipped on a banana peel. "Katniss! I hate you so much right now!"

Watching them play video games was probably one of the greatest things to do in the tower. Actually, watching Tony play video games against anyone was funny. He did not lose graciously. Or win graciously. Tony Stark really did not do anything graciously.

"Well, ladies, if you'll excuse me. This little worker bee is going to go unwind with those other Starks and the Lannisters. Peace."

"You're going to unwindwith Game of Thrones? Probably one of the most violent television shows, ever?" Clint asked, eyes firmly focused on winning yet another race.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do we want to explore the types of things you watch?"

He should his head and emphatically said, "No. No we do not."

The man watched Honey Boo Boo. He was not one to judge. She stopped on her way back to the elevator. "Nat. Your turn. Pick your poison."

Not the strangest thing she's ever said to the Black Widow. Thank God Darcy switched lists.

The female Russian took a moment to think. Then smiled. Some would call it creepy, but it just made Darcy smile in response. "The peanut butter cookies."

"YES!"

Everyone looked at Tony as Darcy asked, "What, you finally win?"

He shook his head and answered, "No. I love just those cookies. Make a triple batch. Quadruple, even."

Considering one batch was probably thirty cookies that was saying something. Then again, spies, super soldiers, and scientists who only remembered to eat once every seven hours could put back a lot of cookies. Hmm, maybe one batch per soldier. She remembered the last time she had baked something and run out. Bucky was not happy. Grumpy Winter Soldier was almost scarier than angry Natasha.

Almost.

"Don't worry, Tony. I'm sure if you ask nicely, someone will save you one," she said as she stepped back into the elevator, and then chuckled when she heard him whining.

As soon as the doors were shut, she let out a deep breath and leaned against the back wall, eyes closed.

"Are you alright, Miss Lewis?"

"Yeah, J. I'm fine. Long day."

The doors opened onto the floor she shared with Jane. Tony, for all his various issues, was actually pretty generous when he offered a place to everyone in the Tower. Her and Jane had one floor, split into two apartments. The working theory that Jane had such nice digs was because whenever Thor was on plnaet he would always bunk with her, and keeping Darcy in close proximity made sense. As it was, the little indicator light outside Jane's door was green, meaning the scientist was inside. Dear lord, Darcy hoped that she was eating or sleeping. Hopefully both.

Darcy pressed her thumb to the fingerprint pad and was let into her apartment. As she closed the door behind her she toed her shoes off, enjoying the feel of the soft carpet beneath her feet. As she made her way to the kitchen, she went over the shopping list in her head. The communal kitchen definitely had enough eggs, but she needed to make sure to add peanut butter and sugar to her list. Oh, and chocolate chips. The cookies really were delicious.

Sigh. But baking meant shopping, and shopping meant going to the store, and the store meant a lot of people. Something Darcy was not looking forward to. Grocery shopping in the city was always an adventure. One that she tried to avoid whenever possible. Damn her and her baking abilities. The joy of baking for a group of people who sincerely enjoyed it mostly outweighed the anxiety of being around people. A lot of people.

Normally she would ask and see if anyone wanted a trip out of the tower with her, but she completely forgot. Besides, if she kept asking every time she was going to leave they would start to realize something was up. So what if big groups of strangers freaked her out? That was normal. Right? Besides, the group of individuals she lived with had way more important things to worry about than her silly anxiety. It wasn't even that bad. She didn't have panic attacks. Much.

And now she was thinking about

Yeah, she really wasn't looking forward leaving home tomorrow.

But, cookies. It really was her own fault.

This is the first time I've ventured into the Marvel universe. Please be gentle with me.

Also, find me on Tumblr, if you're so inclined: nobutsiriuslywhat