Author's Note: Okay, so I haven't written anything in a few years, so I hope this doesn't suck. This was supposed to be a one-shot. I'm thinking there's a part deux here, but I'm really not sure. I own absolutely nothing.

He was just finishing his morning jog when he spotted her. She was trudging up to the tower from the subway, still wearing the clothes she'd had on the night before. He'd overheard her telling Jane Foster that she was meeting a new guy she'd met online. Kept going on and on about how nice it would be to meet someone normal for a change. He approached her, noting her hunched shoulders and smeared makeup.

"Morning Darcy," he said. She looked up at him, maybe surprised, definitely exhausted.

"Morning James," she mumbled back.

"Bad night?" he asked. Darcy shrugged.

"I've had worse."

They got on the elevator in silence. James was unsure how to react to her response. Way to go "normal guy". Guess normal wasn't so great after all. Later on, as he overheard Darcy telling Jane that her date had gone great, that she couldn't wait to hear from him, he almost choked on his drink. He couldn't believe a girl like that would settle for some chump.

As it turned out, Darcy didn't have to settle. The prick didn't have the decency to call. She started spending Friday and Saturday nights out at the clubs, without the rest of the team. Jane was always too busy in the lab. Barton and Romanoff went once, but came back early, complaining that the loud noises made them twitchy. The rest of the Avengers were far too recognizable and James…well, she never asked James. Not that he'd go, of course. He'd elbowed Steve and made some jab about young people and their piss poor taste in music. Darcy just rolled her eyes at them and continued out the door in her too-short skirts and her too-high heels.

It went on like this for a couple of months. Every weekend spent in the clubs, and almost every Sunday morning he'd see her returning to Avengers Tower to face reality and leave the normal world behind. He didn't know if she was seeing a different guy every week. Honestly he didn't care. Well, he did. Of course he did. Darcy was his friend, was one of the team. She'd been one of the first to treat him like a person and not like some programmable machine. She always treated him decent. Like a man.

He could tell she was lonely. Couldn't be easy, bright kid like her stuck in this world of monsters and magic. She didn't belong in this fight like the rest of them. At least her friend Jane had Thor to keep her grounded. Darcy was alone. And she deserved to find someone. She was clever, witty, gorgeous. A man would be lucky to have a girl like that.

One rainy Saturday night James decided to follow her. He planned it as carefully as one of his missions. He dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt. Stark had developed a sort of sleeve to hide the metal arm when out in the world. He'd never used it, not really caring to rejoin society. Today he did. The second skin covered him from hand to elbow, the rest covered by the sleeve of his shirt. To the casual observer he appeared to be a normal man with two normal arms.

He didn't join the rest of the team in the main common room. It was poker night. He usually loved poker night. Managed to win big from Stark practically every time, to the billionaire's dismay. He could hear the others talking to Darcy.

"Well, if it isn't the intern," Stark said, undoubtedly with a smirk.

"Looking good Darce," said Barton.

"Hope you have fun," added Banner.

"You look very nice," said Steve.

"Thanks boys!" Darcy replied. James heard the sound of the elevator door closing as she departed. He opened the door and walked toward the elevator.

"Where are you headed, Buck?" Steve asked. Stark gave him a once over.

"Got a hot date, Barnes?"

James chuckled.

"Something like that."

It had been easy for him to follow her undetected. Darcy was used to seeing him in uniform or workout gear. He rarely went out in civilian clothes. To the casual observer he looked like any other pretty boy on a night out. He smiled to himself. Getting dressed to the nines and going dancing used to be old hat for him. Back in the old days he was a fixture at half the dance halls in the area. He could have his pick of the pretty girls lining the walls at Roseland. These days the women he passed on the streets just stared at his arm and walked away quickly.

Darcy was different. The first day she met him she joked that he looked like the Terminator, but after that she'd ignored the arm, choosing instead to get to know the man it was attached to. He'd started looking forward to her bright smile and sharp tongue. When Jane was preoccupied with her Asgardian Darcy had taken to spending her evenings in the common room with James, watching movies or just shooting the breeze. They'd grown to value each other's company.

He couldn't understand what she saw in this place. The club was noisy and hot. The music was terrible. He stood at the corner of the bar nursing his drink, his eyes on Darcy. She was on the dance floor, hips swaying, eyes closed, not really paying attention to the guy in front of her. She'd been like that for the last hour, dancing to the music with some kid (ok, so they looked the same age as him, he was born during the Wilson administration). The guy had no finesse. He was all grabby hands and staring at her chest. Eventually the song ended and the…er…happy couple moseyed over to the bar.

James didn't have to wait long until the kid with the roamin' hands roamed off to take a leak or buy some condoms or something. He set his empty glass down and circled the bar until he was behind Darcy. Putting a $10 next to her empty glass he said "Another for the lady." Darcy whipped around, nearly elbowing him in the ribs.

"James? What the hell are you doing here?" He shrugged.

"Wanted to get a taste of the nightlife." Darcy's eyes narrowed.

"You followed me." He shrugged again.

"I might have." She hit his real arm.

"Why?" He moved toward the bar next to her and passed her the drink he'd bought.

"Wanted to see where you'd been going every weekend. " Darcy gestured at the club around them.

"Well you've seen it." She glanced at his left hand. "I'm pretty sure your hand was made of metal last time I saw you." He held out his hand.

"Stark's creation. Something to help me blend in." Darcy smirked.

"You're blending all right," she said. "I almost didn't recognize you. Didn't think you were the nightclub type."

"Didn't think you were either."

"Why are you really here, James?" Darcy asked. James sighed and finished his drink.

"I thought you deserved a better time than these punks were giving you," he said. Darcy raised her eyebrows. That was not what she was expecting.

"You tryin' to pick me up, Barnes?" she asked wryly. James grinned.

"Nah," he said. "Just wanted to show a girl a good time. You're not the only one who likes to dance."

"Didn't think this was your kind of music," Darcy said. James shrugged.

"It's not," he conceded. "But I could give it a shot. Dance with me, Lewis?"

He held out his real hand in a gentlemanly fashion. She took it and he led her back to the dance floor. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Darcy's previous partner shoving what looked like a small handful of condoms into his pocket. He caught the younger man's eye and shook his head, grinning as he twirled Darcy so she was facing him. He rested his hands on her waist and she began to move in time with the music. Although this music was unfamiliar to him, he managed to find the beat and move with it. They stayed like that for quite a while, moving in time with the music. As time passed he found himself drawing her closer to him, the scent of her hair and her soft curves clouding his senses as well as his judgment.

Sure, he'd developed a bit of a soft spot for the girl. He admired her wit and respected her intelligence. She refused to take shit from anyone, including a certain genius billionaire playboy who could get on EVERYONE's nerves. When Steve told him she was the girl who'd tased Thor when he first fell to Earth he'd nearly spat out his drink and done a double take. Technically Darcy was at the Tower as Foster's assistant, but she'd quickly been adopted into the dysfunctional family that the Avengers had become. She always remembered birthdays and special events. She often left food for the scientists when they were working late. She refused to put up with Stark's juvenile antics.

When Steve had brought James home she'd kept a careful distance like everyone else, but she wasn't afraid of him like everyone else. After a week she left a box of cannolis outside the door to Steve's apartment. The note said that they'd come from an old Italian bakery in the neighborhood where he and Steve had grown up. After a month she started inviting him to movie nights in the common area when the rest of the team was off saving the world. After two months she'd marched him down to the local barber and forced him to get a haircut and a proper shave. When the barber was done she did a double take, then loudly announced that James Buchanan Barnes had officially joined the 21st Century.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Darcy said. James blinked.

"Just tryin' to keep time with the music, sweetheart," he said with a grin. "Want to get out of here?"

"Sure," Darcy said. "Take me home?"