For the AO3 2015 Valentine's Day Steve/Darcy Fanfic Exchange- Tony and Pepper plant gifts for Darcy and Steve, saying the gifts to Darcy are from Steve and vice versa, in an effort to get them together. FLUFFY
Prologue
After the battle with the Dark Elves, when Thor returned from Asgard, he was free to stay with Jane on Earth. A few days later, he touched base with his Avenger friend Tony Stark, and announced that they were invited to move to New York City. He and Jane would live in Avengers Tower, so that Thor could be on hand to save the world, and Jane could put her head together with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to !science! with them.
Darcy wasn't sure what that would mean for her, but went along to visit, to help set up Jane's lab, and to offer moral support as Jane started working with superheroes. After Pepper Potts witnessed Darcy tear into Tony Stark so thoroughly that he actually showed sincere remorse for the not-so-well-thought-out experiment that nearly killed everyone in the lab on the third day of Darcy's visit, Pepper insisted that Darcy become Tony's new Personal Assistant. The position included the world's most generous benefits package (a clothing allowance, full medical/dental/vision coverage, access to a discretionary fund, company electronics including computer, StarkPad, StarkPhone w/unlimited texting and minutes, moving expense coverage, and an outrageous starting salary that would go up another $50,000/year if she survived past six months), so Darcy jumped at the opportunity.
She did not want to live in Avengers Tower, however. She wanted to 'experience' New York. Tony groused about security issues, made her a custom Taser that would alert JARVIS the instant she activated it, gave her a panic button in case she couldn't reach her Taser, installed a StarkHomeProtection system alarm in her Brooklyn apartment, and constantly accused her of disliking him.
Darcy didn't dislike Tony. She adored him, and knew he felt the same way about her. They snarked together so much that Tony researched her family history to make sure they weren't related, and made her take a DNA test. Darcy terrorized him gleefully. She was well past the six-month mark of working for him now, and loved her work more and more all the time.
The fall of SHIELD was pretty terrifying. The data dump of SHIELD's files onto the Internet nearly broke JARVIS (which made Darcy cry… so Tony gave her a raise because… JARVIS!). The security lockdown forced Darcy to sleep on the couch in her office for three weeks. Nearly half of the building staff turned out to be Hydra. Darcy used her Taser on two of them who tried to ambush Tony while he was asleep. She got another raise for that.
One spring Friday morning (casual day, yay!), JARVIS woke her early with the explanation that there were visitors waiting in Tony's office to see him, and that he was out kicking Hydra tail. Darcy wondered who in the world would call on Tony Stark at 6:00am, and told JARVIS she'd greet the visitors in a few minutes. She took a quick shower, half-dried her wavy hair, and dressed in a Captain America v neck t-shirt (they drove Tony crazy) with jeans, a kickin' black blazer, and silver-studded, stompy black boots. She grabbed her data pad, and ordered coffee to be delivered to Tony's office.
She entered breezily, and smiled at two gorgeous men who stood and turned to greet her. Laughingly, she burst out, "Whoa! Dude! I'm wearing you!"
Steve Rogers blushed to the tips of his ears and smiled softly in return, while Sam Wilson burst out laughing. And so, it began. By the time Tony returned from his mission, Darcy had convinced Steve to call her Darcy instead of ma'am, and asked Steve if he could get Peggy Carter's autograph for her. She had personally guided Steve and Sam on a complete tour of Avengers Tower. She had ordered in vast quantities of their favorite breakfast foods and shared the meal with them, learned how Steve and Sam met, started JARVIS on a comprehensive search for Bucky Barnes… and fallen almost completely head-over-heels in love with Captain America.
Steve requested that Tony fix Sam's wing pack, and let him know if JARVIS found any leads on Bucky. Steve accepted Tony's offer of a place to stay in the Tower, as a 'home base' while he followed leads and searched for his old friend. He smiled politely at any overtures that any woman, including Darcy, made, but was never seen to go on a date with anyone.
Darcy's unrequited crush irritated Tony to no end at first, but after a while, even he was rooting for Darcy to achieve her passionate dream. He needled Cap about it every time they met. Pepper thought Darcy and Steve were perfect for each other, too. Thor took to hinting that Steve ought to ask Darcy out (not subtly, Thor didn't do subtle). Hulk was known to turn on Captain America after battles and advise, "Date Darcy, Stupid!"
Tony thought he saw cracks in Steve's armor every now and then. He thought Steve looked at Darcy differently than he did other women. He saw Steve struggle to hide smiles and blushes when she was around him. Watching them together, and adoring Darcy so much himself, Tony thought Steve was nuts!
Months and months passed this way, and the frustration from the constant flow of sexual tension in the office drove Tony (and, thus Pepper) to go to great lengths and resort to desperate measures.
Valentine's Day seemed like a particularly ripe opportunity…
Valentine's Day, 2015
Darcy Lewis laughed as she made her way to her office in Avengers Tower. There seemed to be a singing competition in the lobby, since every singing telegram character in town was there belting out love songs. Her money was on Heart Gorilla Guy. He was knocking 'I Will Always Love You' out of the park! She knew that Valentine's Day in the tower would be a unique experience, just like every day since she'd accepted her job as PA to Tony Stark had been weird beyond weird, but the poor delivery guys were being so run to death it was funny. The line at Security was filled with balloon bouquets, floral deliveries, fruit bouquet runners, and a pastry chef carrying an enormous heart-shaped confection that Darcy did NOT want to see after Security did their thing to it.
Honestly, the only Valentine gift she ever asked for was a box of those little heart candies. Anything else was just icing on the cake…
She was recognized immediately, and waved around to the front of the high-security line. The only delivery person in that line was from Tiffany's… so probably there to see Pepper Potts, and add to her extensive jewel collection. Darcy had vague thoughts of setting up Pepper's stash on display, like they did the Crown Jewels in London. People would pay to see, since Pepper might even have more bling at this point than the Queen (given Tony's habit of jewel-accompanied apologies).
When Darcy reached her office, she stopped in her tracks. Why did her desk look like the poster child for Valentine's jumbled together with the Fourth of July, gone utterly wrong? There was red, white, and blue everywhere. Was festooned the right word? Yep. Her office was festooned in red, white, and blue… and there were heart shaped balloons.
She took a picture of it with her phone and sent the image to her best friend, 'huh… Happy Valentine's Day?' The immediate text reply of 'what's going on?' made her giggle.
Still giggling, Darcy waded into her office, set her purse down, and then sipped the last of her mocha latte. There were two flower arrangements. One of them had her favorite peach and salmon colored roses, interspersed with daisies and baby's breath. It was unsigned. The other consisted of three dozen roses… red, white, and blue… with a card that read, 'Happy Valentine's Day- from Cap'. Darcy choked on a rueful laugh. There was NO WAY that Captain America had sent her that. She shifted that arrangement so it wasn't visible outside her office door.
She moved the huge stuffed dog, wearing three ribbons (red, white & blue) around his neck, out of her desk chair, gave him a hug, and set him in the guest chair. A tag on the ribbons read, 'I'd obey your orders, Valentine – from Cap'. This time she snorted laughter. Then, she carefully removed the white and blue ribbons and card; putting the card in her purse and the ribbons in her trash can.
She opened four Valentine cards. The first was from Tony and Pepper and had a spa card worth $500 in it. She yelped, "score!" The second card was incredibly suggestive and was signed, 'from Cap.' She sighed, stuck it in her purse, and moved on. The next was funny and sweet, and was signed by Jane and Thor. They'd included tickets to a play and a note suggesting she ask 'someone special' to attend with her. She frowned, wishing that she could do that with ANY hope whatsoever that Captain America would go with her. The final card was gorgeous and tasteful. It included tickets to a gala at an art gallery and was signed, 'Be my Valentine- Steve'. She frowned at it, a bit confused. Her purse was getting full, but she stuffed the 'Cap' and 'Steve' gifts, her spa card, and play tickets inside.
Another present made her choke with laughter so hard that she both snorted and started to cry. It was a little bit like a star-spangled girl chorus girl costume from Captain America's USO show, but with far less material. And, yep, the note read 'You make my heart dance, Valentine. - from Cap'. Other presents on the desk included an ostentatious box of chocolates 'from Cap' and a smaller wooden box of Burdick's chocolates (YUM!) 'from Steve.'
There was also a box of those little heart candies with messages like 'Be Mine'. She held it to her heart and squealed with delight. She couldn't wait to read all of the messages!
While she was trying to deal with all of this, someone knocked at her door. She gaped as Security escorted the courier from Tiffany's into the room. She signed for the delivery, then opened ruby heart earrings, signed, 'Be my Valentine- Steve'. She raised her brows as she stared at the gorgeous earrings. She finally shrugged and put on the earrings. She texted her best friend again, 'they all say they're from Cap – the tacky ones – or from Steve, the classy expensive ones… what'd your Valentine get for you?' Her laughter echoed down the corridors for a long time after she read the replies and saw the pictures.
Mid-afternoon, she was returning from a doctor's appointment when she heard voices inside her office. Tony was gesturing at all of the gifts and reading Captain America the riot act. "It's un-gentlemanly, Cap! You shoot her down all these months, and now… look at all of this! And I don't EVEN want to know what was in the box from Tiffany's! The least you can do is to accept her dinner invitation and go out with her tonight, you big jerk!" Steve was blushing, looking rueful, and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
Darcy stepped inside of her office and closed the door behind her and leaned against it, "Tony! Please stop. We know it was you and Pepper." She smiled brightly at Steve. A soft smile crept across his face in reply. Her smile widened, and she shrugged, "you sent the flowers I like, and those little heart candies, right?" Steve looked at her quizzically while he continued to smile softly. He nodded in reply and she thanked him.
Tony's head swiveled back to Steve, "you sent her flowers?"
Darcy nodded and added importantly, "and those little heart candies, too. They're my favorite Valentine thing ever!" She turned back to Steve and gestured around the room, "isn't all of this even worse in person?"
Steve chuckled, "yup. Even worse than the picture you texted me earlier…"
Tony looked miffed. Darcy rolled her eyes and pointed at Tony, "YOU are a big-hearted, sweet, over-the-top fool! I would NEVER send Steve men's red bikini briefs that say 'eat me,' or a life-sized cutout of me blowing a kiss!" Steve blushed and shook his head.
Darcy put her hands on her hips. "Please tell Pepper I said thank you for the earrings, the Burdick's order, and the lovely card… and the spa card from both of you." Tony frowned, almost pouting. Darcy laughed, "as for you… thank you for the humongous, stuffed dog, and the thought behind the rest, but we really don't need you to help, or for you to try to twist Steve's arm about taking me out on a date."
Steve cleared his throat, "Darcy? I thought you didn't want to tell them for a while longer?" Tony looked from one to the other.
She shrugged, walked forward, and pulled Steve's head down so she could cup his jaw in her hand, and give him a passionate kiss. "They're gonna realize something's up in the next few months, ya know, when you become a daddy."
Steve's eyes widened and he encircled her in his arms. He held her close against him, "oh, Darcy!" He gasped, "a baby! Oh, I love you so much… I can't believe!"
Tony was gob smacked, "what? How?"
Steve laughed heartily, "what do mean 'how?' I KNOW Howard must have explained that!" He kissed Darcy again, laughing happily against her lips, and hugging her gently… like she was the most precious thing in the world.
Tony shook his head, "but…" Darcy reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, cloth pouch and emptied a wedding band and a diamond ring into her hand. Steve picked them up carefully and put them on her finger. Tony gasped.
Steve explained, "I fell in love with Darcy the day we met. I've never known anyone like her. But there have been so many threats from Hydra and others… I don't want her to be targeted." His brow furrowed with concern now that there was even more to protect.
Darcy touched Steve's cheek comfortingly, then crooked a brow, "and you guys were so funny and silly about it, and it was kind of nice to have something separate… something that was just ours."
Steve grinned naughtily, "and the sneaking around was fun."
Darcy laughed, "we nearly got caught together so many times!"
Tony crossed his arms and frowned, "JARVIS?"
JARVIS replied, "yes, Sir?"
Tony asked, "you kept this secret from me and Pepper?"
JARVIS replied, "yes, Sir. There was nothing illegal in their actions, Sir."
Tony looked miffed. Then he shrugged, "so, you gonna move into the Tower now, Mrs. Rogers?" He couldn't help but smile as he said the name.
Darcy made a face, "Mrs. Lewis-Rogers, please." She sighed, "I hate to leave Brooklyn… but, yes, anything for my littlest Valentine." She shook her head in amazement and grinned, looking down and putting one hand over her abdomen.
Steve touched there reverently and then pulled her close and dropped his forehead so it touched Darcy's, his eyes closed. "Oh! A baby…"
After a long moment, Darcy kissed his cheek, shifted, and turned so that her back was against Steve's chest. She looked at Tony and smiled joyfully, "so, the stuffed dog is the baby's first gift!"
Tony grinned, "the first of many." He stepped forward and kissed Darcy's cheek, then shook Steve's hand. "Congratulations and Happy Valentine's Day!"
fin