AN I didn't forget about this one either! This is for Tash who never lets me forget that he's the one I started this story for and then promptly neglected it :P This is unbeta-ed so let me know if you find any glaring errors and I'll be happy to get that sorted... I hope you all enjoy!
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"One of these days, I swear, I'm going to secretly switch you to half-caf."
Darcy yelped and spun around in her desk chair, knocking her computer mouse onto the floor, slamming her bouncing knee against her cubical wall, and flinging the pen that she had been rattling repeatedly between her teeth across the room. She watched in horror as the pen seemed to fly in slow motion at the man who stood in the opening of her cubical. Luckily for her, that man was Steve Rogers, and he had his handy dandy super soldier reflexes and was able to snatch the pen from midair. Saving her from an afternoon of filling out a time consuming accident report and having to explain to Coulson why one of the analysts she shared a floor with was in medical getting a papermate surgically removed from their shoulder.
"Jesus Darcy, maybe decaf would be better," Steve said, looking from the pen in his hand to his jittery friend, with wide eyes.
"Stay away from my coffee Rogers!" Darcy exclaimed, pulling the mouse out from under her desk as an excuse not to make eye contact. "I know where you sleep and have a taser that I'm not afraid to use." It was a long standing joke between them, Steve threatening her daily caffeine intake. But even when she was on hour 36 of scientist watch, downing red eyes like they were water, she wasn't usually this jumpy.
She chose to change the subject entirely.
"So Steve, what brings you to my humble half-walled home away from home?"
"My meeting with- "
"Meeting?!" Darcy snapped her tablet up off her desk, her fingers flying over the surface as she pulled up her schedule. "Did I know about this meeting?" If she found out that her grandmother was one of Steve's chorus girls and had a secret liaison with Captain America, she was getting on a plane and moving to Tibet and forgetting she ever met the Avengers.
"The meeting with the Director you called me yesterday to remind me that I had,"
he said slowly, his brow furrowed with genuine concern. "We finished up earlier than I expected, so I came by to ask if you had eaten yet and wanted to get lunch. Are you alright Darcy? I was just joking about the coffee, but now I'm not so sure."
Darcy forced herself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Of course. I remember now. Sorry, I had a surprise meeting with Tony this morning and it threw off my whole day," she said skirting around the truth.
"Say no more," Steve replied, handing her pen back. He wasn't convinced that was all of it, but he let it go for now, he was well aware that Tony could throw even the most unflappable off their game. "So, lunch?"
"God, yes." She logged off her computer which was only on to give the pretense of actually working, and pulled her purse out of the bottom drawer of the file cabinet beneath her desk.
They chatted amiably as they moved through the veritable labyrinth of corridors that made up SHIELD's New York headquarters to the employee cantina. Well, Steve was talking, Darcy was making what she hoped was appropriate noises.
Steve could dismiss the fact that she was quieter than usual on their walk to lunch, it was uncommon but not unheard of. Just as he chalked up the fact that Darcy didn't announce her excitement to the room when she realized they were serving her favorite fried calamari for lunch and instead stood quietly in line, to her having a more trying than usual morning. But it definitely caught his attention when she didn't even put up a token protest when he paid for both of their lunches. And when she didn't perform her traditional cephalopod masterpiece theater with the pieces that still resembled actual squid, before she started nibbling on her fries, his former concern resurfaced in full force.
"Between looking for the Tesseract in Norway and the Arc of the Covenent in Egypt, the Nazi's we're really working on scooping up as many mystical artifacts as they could. Granted, I had my hands full with Schmidt and tracking him and Hydra all over Europe, but I had no idea what was going on in Africa. At least that Jones fella had it handled, I wouldn't have minded having him in the Commandos even though he was a civilian."
"Wait what?!" Darcy exclaimed, looking up from where she was absently making a tower of calamari rings, as she clued back into what Steve was talking about. "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was not a documentary. And I warned Clint about what I'd do to him after I caught him trying to convince Thor that Independence Day was real and that was the actual reason we set of fireworks on the Fourth of July."
"Relax Darcy. I know it was just a movie, I was just waiting to see how long it would take you to cotton on to what I was saying. You've been a thousand miles away since I walked through the door. What is up with you?"
"I'm sorry," Darcy apologized chagrined, as she ran her hands through her hair. She knew she had good reason to be preoccupied, but that was no excuse to be rude to the most polite man she had ever known. Well, polite when he wasn't being a smart-mouthed little shit. An endearingly charming one, but still a little shit. Speaking of which, she looked up to see the shamelessly self-amused smirk he was currently wearing. "You are such a troll Steve Rogers," she grumped throwing a French fry at his face, rolling her eyes when he caught it without so much as blinking. "And 98% of the people in this room have no idea that you're really Captain Sassy Pants. What would they think if they knew?"
"They'd probably say that I've been hanging out you too much," he shrugged, making Darcy laughed out loud at his undoubtedly true statement as she picked up her water bottle. "Well you and Tony both. I have been warned by multiple sources that you're both professional bad influences. So you have that in common."
She didn't mean to do it, but when Steve called up her and Tony's similarities, bringing her attention to the very thing she was trying so hard not to think about, she choked on the mouthful of water she was half way through swallowing, spraying a fine mist directly in Steve's direction. He took his unscheduled shower in stride though, instead hovering over Darcy, concerned as she hacked and wheezed trying to expel the water that managed to go both up her nose and down into her lungs. He wanted to offer her more water but somehow that seemed counterproductive.
"Are you okay?" he asked, once Darcy seemed to be breathing with semi regularity. "What was that about?"
"I think I'll live," she confirmed, pounding on her chest. "I just forgot how to drink water there for a second."
"Right…" Steve replied, not believing that there wasn't more to it for a second. He watched Darcy toss her now soaked napkin onto her mostly untouched lunch. She was clearly done pretending she was going to actually eat lunch. "You know what, let's get out of here."
"Out of where?"
"Out of here," he motioned to the building around them with his head, as he picked up both of their trays. "Let's go find something fun to do."
"I wish I could," Darcy lamented. "But it's not even noon."
"So?" he asked, pushing back his chair and standing. "It's a beautiful day. It's almost criminal not to take advantage."
Darcy cocked her head, as she followed him, not sure she was believing what she was hearing. "Are you seriously suggesting we play hooky?"
Steve just grinned and nodded, as they crossed the cafeteria.
"Some of us don't save the world on a regular basis," she felt the need to remind him.
"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but you'll be in the company of someone who does."
"And I'm not sure what that has to do with it, except that you'll have a front row seat when I get yelled at for ditching out half way through the work day."
"If anyone asks, we'll tell them that we're on a field trip as a part of my reintegration to society," Steve offered with a charming grin, as he threw away Darcy's lunch and the trash from his. "That's part of your job description isn't it?"
"It was," she said, one eyebrow raised dubiously. In fact that was the reason they were so close now. Even before she became the official Avengers Junior Liaison, when she found out that SHIELD had given Steve a laptop, showed him how to use the internet, bookmarked Wiki for him and basically left him to figure it out on his own, she decided that with her PolySci degree and love of all things pop culture she was the perfect person to get him caught up on the last seventy years. What started out as meeting a couple afternoons a week for lessons, evolved into the friendship they had now. "But except for the occasional pop culture reference or slang that passes you by, you're pretty much as reintegrated as you're going to get. And you have been for awhile now."
"Yeah, except half the agents in this building don't seem to believe that." He rolled his eyes as they walked towards the elevator bank, "Everyone still looks worried when I use the coffee maker. If anyone wants to dispute the validity of our field trip I'll just stare confused at the microwave in the break room tomorrow and call someone older than me 'son'."
Darcy threw back her head and laughed. She knew that Steve was more than sick of the man out of time shtick, but at least he still had enough good humor about it to use it to his advantage.
"You know the boss man would never go for that, he knows you too well and he's the one that's going to yell at me for slacking off." Of course he might be more understanding than usual today, what with current circumstances, but Darcy was pointedly not thinking about that.
They stopped in front of the elevators and Darcy made to tap the up button that would take her back to her office, but Steve reached out and grabbed her hand before it got there.
"And I just signed his Captain America Issue #1 for him last week. Even if he got upset I think I could tell him it was my idea and you'd be safe from Agent Coulson as well. And quite honestly, as distracted as you've been since the moment I found you, you really think you were going to get any actual work done this afternoon?"
"I might," she said with a suborn lift of her chin. Steve gave her his I'm-Captain-America-and-lying-to-me-is-unpatriotic look. Yes, that was a specific look. "Okay probably not," she amended.
"Alright then, let's go."
"Well you've really thought of every contingency," Darcy shrugged lightly. "I guess I can't say no."
"You we're going to say yes from the moment I suggested it," Steve smirked, tapping the down button to call the elevator. "You just wanted to make me work for it."
"You think you're so smart," she shoved at his shoulder as she stepped onto the elevator, but didn't bother denying his accusation.
"I've got a highly strategic mind you know," he grinned.
Darcy was already in better spirits by the time they reached the lobby and Steve was mentally congratulating himself on his idea when they pushed through the glass doors and out onto the street.
"Oh my god it's so hot," she whined as soon as they stepped out of range of SHIELD's blessed climate controlling air conditioning.
"You're from New Mexico, shouldn't you used to the heat?" Steve asked, not bothered by the temperature in the least.
"Yeah, New Mexico, as in a dry arid desert. That I can handle. This humidity is the work of the devil. I swear I think if I inhale too deeply I'll actually drown."
"This actually isn't too bad," he mentioned. "It's still early in the summer yet, and it rained a bit last night, and that brings the humidity down some."
"You mean it gets worse?" Darcy asked her eyes wide with abject horror.
"Much," he admitted.
"Cheese and crackers," she moaned, ineffectually fanning herself with her SHIELD access badge. "Just kill me now, put me out of my misery."
"What did you do last summer?" he asked genuinely curious given her reaction since he knew she had been living in the city for more than a year.
"Eh I'm pretty sure my brain blocked out the memories to protect me from the horrors that is the City in summer."
"Oh, of course." He responded as if selective amnesia was a common response to weather.
"And I made sweet sweet love to my apartment's window AC unit." She sighed heavily, "I love that thing so much I'm going to put a ring on it."
It was a testament to his months of exposure to Darcy that his only reaction to her statement was a quick glance over to his companion and a good natured roll of his eyes as they walked.
"So now that we're officially playing hooky, what are we doing for the rest of this hot and muggy day?"
"I hadn't really thought that far ahead," he admitted. "Whenever Bucky and I ditched out of school we normally went down to the docks to sketch and watch the boats come in." Steve was quiet for a moment as he mused on those memories before he visibly shook them off and went back to the conversation at hand like he'd never been sidetracked. "But let's head up to the park, I'll buy you an ice cream to make up for the heat."
"Oh ice cream!" Darcy chirped. "And can we go to the zoo?" she added hopefully, turning her best puppy eyes in his direction. "I still haven't been."
"Only if you promise not to be disappointed," he replied, having no problem taking her to the zoo, even if he could say no to that look.
"Why would I be disappointed?"
"Because it's nothing like The Penguins of Madagascar," he answered, one eyebrow quirked knowingly.
Darcy's eyes narrowed indignantly. "I am aware that it's a cartoon, not a documentary," she retorted wryly. "And don't judge, it's a funny show, and I like watching cartoons while I eat breakfast."
Steve was unphased by Darcy's look of death. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."
"Consider myself warned."
Steve just chuckled.
They walked up 7th toward the park and approached the ice cream vendor that was parked outside the south gate. They were next in line to order when Steve felt a tug on the hem of his shirt. Steve turned around and looked down to spot a small boy, he couldn't have been more than six wearing a t-shirt with his shield emblem on the front.
"Are you Mister Captain America?" he asked in a small voice.
Darcy giggled before leaving Steve to his miniature fan so that she could order their ice cream. They usually didn't have any problems being out and about in the city, Steve not being nearly as recognizable when he wasn't clad in the stars and stripes. But occasionally someone picked him out of the crowd and she had noticed that four times out of five it was someone under the age of twelve that noticed him. Adults just did not give kids enough credit for being as observant as they are.
Steve was saying goodbye to his pintsize fan when Darcy approached them with their ice cream.
"I said I was going to buy, since it was my idea to leave the air conditioning."
"Yeah well, you were busy, you can take care of the zoo admission," she shrugged handing over the bar. "I got you strawberry shortcake."
"My favorite," he grinned, ripping off the wrapper and pitching it into the trash.
"I know," she returned his grin with one of her own, following his lead.
"Is that…" he trailed off as he watched Darcy take a long lick of her ice cream.
"What?" she asked, her eyes wide with faux innocence.
"Is that me?" Her ice cream bar was clearly supposed to be a face wearing a blue helmet with a lopsided A and wonky blue eyes.
"I'm pretty sure it's novelty ice cream," she replied evenly.
"There's ice cream in the shape of my face."
Darcy wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question. "Your eyes are made of gumballs."
"You're eating an ice cream bar in the shape of my face." That one was definitely a statement.
"Your face is delicious," she grinned, taking another long lick.
"I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with this."
"You wanna taste?" Darcy asked, extending the confection in his direction, her face the picture of innocence belayed by the deviousness in her eyes.
Steve knew exactly what she was doing and ignored her completely. "Come on, if we hurry we can get there before the Delacorte clock goes off."
Darcy just laughed as she followed him down the path, enjoying her ice cream all the more.
It wasn't a large zoo, but that didn't stop them from taking their time and enjoying themselves at all the exhibits. Darcy especially enjoyed watching the sea lions being fed, while Steve took his time to sketch the snow leopard in the moleskine he kept in his pocket.
"I wanna pet a goat," Darcy announced after they both decided that a quick visit to the tropic zone was enough. It was hot and humid enough in New York that day, they didn't need to spend long in a simulated rain forest.
"You want to what?" Steve asked, not sure he had heard her correctly.
"A goat," she stated. "I want to pet one."
Steve paused, trying to decide if that was possibly code for something, before it came to him. "You mean at the children's zoo?"
"That is where they keep the goats that are available for petting," she replied, the 'duh' obvious in her tone.
Steve wasn't sure why he was surprised and just shrugged. "Alright, if that's what you want to do."
Darcy practically skipped into enclosure with all the kids — of both the human and goat variety. Digging into her purse she found a couple of quarters and bought some feed out of the dispensers and quickly made some farm animal friends. She had no problem squatting down in the dirt despite the fact she was still in her work clothes and three inch heels.
Steve had never been more charmed.
Sitting down on a hay bale, Steve pulled his note book back out and quickly began a rough sketch, enough to give him a reference for later.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked curiously, looking up once she ran out of food and the goats had moved on to greener metaphorical pastures.
"I was just drawing you."
"Oh like one of your- "
"One of my French girls, yeah yeah," he cut her off with a roll of his eyes.
"You know, sometimes I miss the day's you didn't know all my pop culture references," Darcy sighed.
"I'm sure you do," he smirked.
"Careful there Jack or you're going to lose your sketch book, French girls and all," Darcy warned with a smirk of her own.
Looking down Steve found a curious goat had wandered over and was attempting to nibble on the ribbon bookmark that was hanging over the back cover.
"Hey!" Steve exclaimed, gently pushing the small but stubborn animal away. "That's not for you!"
Laughing, Darcy stood, clapping her hands together to dust off the remainders of the feed. "Come on, the only thing we haven't seen yet are the penguins."
Steve offered an elbow, which Darcy was grateful to take. She'd become a pro at wearing heels to work, but they weren't the shoes she'd have chosen to wear to the zoo. Luckily it wasn't too far and quickly enough they were in the Penguin House watching the black and white birds chilling on the rocks and swimming through the water.
They'd been standing there for ten maybe fifteen minutes before Darcy let out an audible sigh.
"What's wrong?" Steve asked looking down at his companion.
"You were right," Darcy sighed again, tilting her head to lean against his shoulder. "It's nothing like The Penguins of Madagascar."
Steve laughed so loud that everyone in the room turned to look at them, which only made Darcy laugh too.
"It's getting late, we should head back to the tower," Steve said once he stopped laughing. "Pepper's out of town so that always means that Tony's going to order something that she wouldn't approve of."
Darcy's back stiffened as all the things she had successfully managed to ignore the last couple hours came rushing back. Her reprieve was over. It was time to face the music."
A/N So what did you all think? This was just a bit of Steve/Darcy interlude before we dive back into the heart of the story in the next chapter when both Darcy and Tony have to come to grips with their new reality when the second DNA test comes back and shenanigans ensue :D
