Darcy fought back frustrated tears. This day was going horribly wrong.
She'd been woken up early to do some things down in the labs. Normally, she didn't mind, but she'd had trouble sleeping the night before.
Steve had been on a mission with SHIELD and was expected back sometime today. She always worried about him when he was on a mission with the Avengers or SHIELD, even though she knew, logically, the odds of anything serious happening to him while away were slim to none.
Still, she usually got pretty anxious. It was hard, having to wait for him to come home and not being able to do anything to help. She wasn't an Avenger, so she couldn't go on missions.
When she got like this, she'd throw herself into working, staying later than she normally would have to finish things. She was working for Jane, Tony and Bruce, so she always had something she could be doing to take her mind off her anxiety.
Today, though, she was functioning on less than two hours of sleep. She'd been drinking cup after cup of coffee, but drinking too much of it at once made her a bit shaky and sick to her stomach, so she tried to avoid doing it as often as possible.
Not today.
The coffee was the only thing keeping her awake at this point.
She was assisting both Bruce and Tony, who were working together on a project. Jane was in the lab down the hall, and only needed the occasional check to make sure she was doing fine and didn't need help with things.
Something had gone wrong with two of the chemicals they'd been mixing, which had caused a minor explosion. It wasn't serious, there were no injuries, but her adrenaline was still high. Even after they'd gotten things cleaned up and taken a break for everyone to calm down, she was still on edge.
Then, after that, she'd had to fill out paperwork. She hated paperwork.
Finally, Bruce had called it a day. They all left the lab together and headed back up to the residential floors of the Tower.
Now, here she was, home alone and missing Steve.
She was curled up on the couch, not bothering to go into their bedroom. She was just so tired. She hadn't made dinner, either.
There was the sound of a key in the lock.
She jerked up into a sitting position, heart picking up speed. It could only be one person, and a sense of calm she'd been craving all day came over her when the door opened to reveal Steve on the other side. He looked tired, too, but smiled when their eyes locked.
She returned the smile with a weak one of her own. Although having him home made her feel immensely better, she still couldn't shake off the lingering sense of general fatigue.
"Hey." He said, in that low, warm way he spoke to her after they'd been apart for more than a few hours.
"Hey," she replied, relief in her tone. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too. We both already knew that." He approached, bending down to kiss her. "I saw Tony on my way up. He said you three had a pretty rough day."
"We did. It was just a lot of things piling up, you know? One thing after another."
He nodded, turning to head into the kitchen. "How about I make us something to eat, and we watch something on TV. A movie, or a show - I don't care which, you pick. We'll just relax and try to de-stress."
"That sounds great." She reached for the remote, flicking through channels.
She wasn't sure what to pick. Something mindless that they could enjoy, but not have to pay too much attention to. She settled on a random sitcom. She wasn't entirely sure which one. It didn't matter, either way, because Steve was home, and he could make anything better just by his presence.
They spent a few hours eating and relaxing, kissing on occasion.
Tonight, she would be able to sleep, knowing he was near her, safe.
He always brightened her day, and she loved him for it.
