The first time Darcy officially met Steve Rogers, she was helping Jane move her equipment into the new, shiny lab that Tony Stark had provided the two of them to work in.

She was huffing, trying to move a heavy box. Jane didn't want other people touching the equipment, she was afraid someone would break one of her machines. Darcy was sweaty and out of breath.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you need some help?" A male voice asked from behind her.

Darcy's head turned, and she blinked her eyes in surprise. Captain America was watching her with a concerned look on his face. He glanced from her to the box she was trying to lift, then to the multiple piles of other boxes stacked haphazardly beside her.

"Uh, thanks. Yeah, I could really use the help." Darcy told him, smiling somewhat shyly.

She had seen Captain America on TV, of course, battling the alien invasion alongside Thor and the other Avengers. She had studied he and the other Howling Commandos in her high school history class, the same as everyone else. His pictures had been in black and white, but Darcy could tell that Steve was a very determined and driven man.

Darcy could feel her face flush in self-conscious embarrassment at her sweaty and disheveled state.

"Where are you taking these boxes to?"

"I'm taking them to Dr. Foster's lab." Darcy explained, finally managing to shift the box she was attempting to carry.

"Dr. Foster?" Captain America inquired, looking a bit confused.

"Jane Foster. She's an astrophysicist."

Darcy knew most people didn't know who Jane was. If they did know, a lot of them still thought she was a crackpot. Tony Stark's interest in them was because of Thor, Darcy was sure. The miraculous offer to work in Norway had been a diversion tactic to get Jane and, subsequently, Darcy, to safety for Thor's benefit. The two women had watched, horrified, as aliens attacked New York City, led by none other than Loki. Thor had shown up, and Jane had been so angry. Darcy had been angry, too. It was ridiculous that Jane had only been approached to work in Norway just to get her out of New Mexico and out of the United States entirely.

They both had wanted to get to New York as soon as possible, but they had been forced to complete several more days of research before they could leave. By the time they had finally gotten back in to the US and then to NYC, Thor had been long gone.

Then, before Darcy and Jane had even had time to worry about where they would be staying or where they would go next, Tony Stark had found them and offered a place to stay and unlimited funding.

Both Jane and Darcy had been suspicious, at first, and Stark ("Call me Tony, ladies.") had told them he wanted to get in contact with Thor, and Jane's research was key.

They had accepted, a little reluctantly. Darcy had been surprised, again, when Tony had also offered to pay her. She would still help Jane, but she was no longer an unpaid intern; she was now a paid assistant. He had also offered to have Jane's equipment brought to Stark Tower, but Jane had outright refused to part with her equipment for any reason.

The fact that they had gotten it all back to the states in tact had been a miracle.

Now, they were bringing it all to Stark Tower by themselves. They had gotten the junky van filled with boxed up machines and now were transferring it all to their lab.

"We, uh, met Thor." Darcy felt herself grin at the reminder of Thor.

Even though Thor had up and left without so much as a hello, Darcy still considered him a friend.

"Ah, Stark — Tony — mentioned that."

Darcy blinked. "Oh, Tony sent you to help us?"

Steve blushed, but nodded.

"I'm Steve Rogers, by the way." He held out a hand for Darcy to shake.

Darcy stared for a second, before she carefully set the box she was holding awkwardly down.

She shook Steve's hand.

"I'm Darcy Lewis, Jane's assistant."

Steve smiled at her. Darcy could feel the controlled strength in his handshake. Firm enough to be felt, but not crushing her hand.

Darcy was struck, suddenly, by the fact that Steve, with the super soldier serum flowing through his veins, was one of the strongest men on the planet. Thor might be stronger than him, but Thor was an alien, so he didn't really count, in Darcy's mind. The amount of control Steve had to have over himself, as to not hurt anyone, was astounding.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Lewis." Steve told her, expression serious.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Steve." Darcy hoped her face wasn't flushed.

"How about I help you with these?" Steve asked, motioning to the piles of boxes. "It'll get done faster."

Darcy nodded, smiling at him. "Thanks for helping, Steve. I really appreciate it."

She tried, and failed, not to stare at Steve's muscles as he bent and lifted several heavy boxes in his arms.

"Do you mind, uh, showing me where to take these, Miss Lewis?" Steve asked her, face flushing with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'll show you. You can just call me Darcy, you know."

Darcy picked up a lighter box, since Steve was helping, he could get the heavy ones, and he wouldn't even really feel the strain. Darcy swallowed, glancing down at Steve's arms.

Steve smiled at her, and Darcy led the way toward Jane's lab.

The serum was a miracle. It had turned Steve from a skinny, sick man with multiple medical problems into a tall, capable, strong man. It had enhanced everything within him, his physical body was just a manifestation of that enhancement.

Darcy had seen pictures of Steve before he had gotten the serum. He hadn't been bad looking, but 1940's attitudes and the medical knowledge at the time had prevented him from finding employment often.

There were treatments and medication, in this day and age, that could help Steve, if he had been born in 1986 instead of 1918.

It was fortunate that Steve had the serum, though. He would have never gotten into the US army otherwise, and wouldn't be here, now, alive and well.