Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, Ant-Man, Thor or any characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I'm only borrowing them for this story. Trust me, I didn't get paid for this in any way, shape or form. Bits of ideas are being borrowed the comic books as well as the movies. There will be hints at the start of Scott/Darcy throughout (as well as some full-blown ship stuff to come) but it's not the sole purpose of the story. This is about Darcy and how she can and does help the Avengers (and Secret Avengers) as well as how she really gets to come into her own without being Jane Foster's intern. I hope you enjoy it!
Darcy Lewis knew this was a stupid idea. She knew it with every fiber of her being. Then again it was equally crazy to think that she worked for Tony Stark now or that there were currently two versions of the Avengers out there.
One run by Tony Stark.
One run by Steve Rogers.
And she happened to work for Tony's Avengers. And it was weird as hell. When Jane Foster started on her latest lecture circuit, Darcy had been left with nothing to do. After all, she had finally finished getting her degree in political science and had no real employment to speak of. So when Thor had come back to Earth briefly to talk to Tony, Darcy had tagged along for the hell of it.
Boredom could make a person reckless or, in Darcy's case, could send a person on a new path in life.
The visit had left her speechless. The place was run like a fine tuned machine and she was certainly not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination but damn, had she left that place impressed. And actually the brunette - with her sassy attitude and pure curiosity - had left an impression on Tony Stark as well.
Tony had been quick to offer Darcy a position with his team. She would be well-paid and she would have a roof over her head. A really awesome roof at that. The catch was that Darcy had to become the go-to girl, the in-betweener for Tony's team and Steve's team.
That would have been fine except for the fact that Darcy Lewis was a huge Captain America fan. It made it hard for her not to play favorites - in favor of Steve Rogers. It also meant that she had met some pretty amazing people.
Clint Barton, the coffee-addicted archer with the biggest heart.
Sam Wilson, a charming and sarcastic former soldier.
Wanda Maximoff, the sometimes scared and sometimes scary wielder of a magic that Darcy didn't understand.
Steve Rogers, the patriot and stand up kind of guy that everyone seemed to respect. No questions asked.
James Barnes ...
Well Darcy had only met him once and she got the impression that he was a good guy but seriously misunderstood.
And then there was Scott Lang.
Darcy had more than a few opinions on Scott. Especially since the first time she had met him had been so ... interesting.
She had been sent to Scott not by Tony but by Steve since Scott's particular skill set was more suited to what Tony's team had needed at the time. But Scott had been less than receptive to the idea.
She had met him at the apartment of one of his old associates and by the time she left, Darcy honestly had a more favorable opinion of Luis, Dave and Kurt than she did of Scott Lang.
It had taken an hour long phone call with Steve Rogers to convince Darcy to try again. In the end, she had spent three days trying to convince Scott to help Tony out. To get him agree, she had to agree to come back to San Francisco at some point so he could 'properly apologize' to her.
That had been difficult for her to agree to do because Scott had been just plain rude to the brunette in the first place. Yet she had agreed and he had taken her to Chinatown for the best meal that she could ever remembering having and then a walk around Golden Gate Park. It wound up being a decent day and at least her second impression of Scott had been more favorable than the first.
Scott Lang, a thief turned hero who actually tried to look after the important people in his life.
When Tony called her into his office this time, Darcy wasn't surprised. There had been some rumblings of trouble coming. Not that anyone ever told her what it was. She wasn't a fighter, wasn't an Avenger.
No, Darcy Lewis was there to be the tie that bound the Avengers and the Secret Avengers together. And it was time for her to talk to Steve again.
Butterflies seemed to take up residence in her stomach as she tossed together a bag. Since she never knew when she would be needed, the brunette kept a duffle bag packed with the essentials. It made it easier to add other things to the bag once she knew where she would be going.
San Francisco, California.
Why did Captain America ask to meet with her there? It felt like a joke but one that she didn't know the punchline to yet. As much as Darcy was happy to see everyone again, she was betting Scott would be there and well, she had sort of been avoiding talking to him the last couple of months.
