Disclaimer: I don't own anything that MARVEL owns like the Avenger Movies, the Iron Man Movies, the Thor Movies, the Hulk, MARVEL's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or the Captain America Movies. I am willing to make unscrupulous deals for them.
Chapter Two: The Secrets that she Kept
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts respected the hell out of the Avenger's Tower newest intern, Darcy Lewis. Pepper had thought that trying to run herd on Tony Stark for the past twenty was the worst it could get – and then she saw was Darcy went through keeping Doctor Selvig in pants, Foster in food, Banner non-Hulked, and Tony sane. She never asked for anything in return either. Upon further inspection, Pepper was appalled to learn that, for everything Darcy Lewis did for the merry band of misfits – keeping them safe, happy and healthy – Darcy was still an unpaid intern. The increased productivity, the positive media, and everything else – Darcy Lewis was not getting paid for it.
Within two hours of Tony's famous YouTube bath, the Avenger's PR had risen nearly 11% in the polls – and she was constantly defending the rest of the team on her blogs and social pages. She made the team more human and more approachable to the general public. The Avenger's didn't seem to notice – but Pepper did. She'd also noticed that the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (much to the chagrin of Team Science) had become extremely close her – showing their humanity more and more each day. When Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Deputy Director Maria Hill called for a lunch meeting between herself and Darcy Lewis – Pepper immediately turned her down.
After Pepper's hardball negotiations, it was decided that a lunch date would consist of Lewis, Foster, Romanoff, and Pepper herself. Before lunch, however, Pepper wanted to meet with Darcy first to iron out her contract with Stark Industries. Even if Darcy chooses not to sign on with SI and goes to S.H.I.E.L.D., Pepper wants to make sure Darcy gets paid for the work she has already done.
Pepper never even suspects that Darcy wants nothing to do with any contract and tries to refuse any payment. It's not that she doesn't want to continue doing what she was doing for her Team Science, it's that she thinks she gets paid enough in the fact that SI already pays for her food and lets her stay in the tower rent free (by way of Thor). She really doesn't need any other form of payment. When it is explained that, that isn't enough in anyone's mind, Pepper is woefully unprepared for Darcy's response. Having never once before considered that Darcy could be H.Y.D.R.A. or any of the other assorted enemies that the Avengers have collected, Pepper is thrown when Darcy asks for a 'private, doesn't leave this office', type of chat.
Once Pepper assures her that the conversation is between them and them alone, Darcy asks a question that comes out of left-field to Pepper. 'What is Stark Industries position on Mutants, Second Generation Mutants, and Mutant Rights?' completes catches her off guard. She never suspected that the girl could be a mutant – but now that the possibility had entered her mind – she can see it very clearly. Once Pepper explained that Stark Industries didn't care one way or another (provided they weren't using their abilities to harm others or the company) what their employees were – only that they were happy. Darcy explains to Pepper that she was at least Second Generation Mutant. While her father (and therefore his DNA contribution) is unknown, Darcy's mother had a distinct feline mutation that caused her to have cat-like traits including: sharper teeth, retractable claws, enhanced speed and durability, and den-mother persona.
Darcy explained that she had a Generational Mutation from that (or possibly her father) that caused her to be able to shift her characteristics away – but she would never heal as fast as her mother, and her strength and speed when in cat form was ten times greater than her mother would ever be. Unfortunately, both Darcy and her mother are alpha females and two alphas can never 'pack' together, or a dominance battle would end in one of them dead. Darcy hasn't seen her family since her mutation manifested and she was thrown out of the pack.
Darcy needed to have a pack to take care of – she was hardwired that way. Seeing that Darcy never wanted to have to give up an alpha child of her own, Darcy decided to 'adopt' a pack of her own. First it was Jane and Eric and then Thor, and then it was Tony and Bruce and most recently Natasha and Clint. She even got her own alpha males in the mix by way of Thor… and an accidental explosion leading to a Hulk-out. (Lucky for her Thor was completely, totally, and irrevocably Jane's – and the Hulk was still a toddler – and she hadn't been sent into a frenzy because of them.) It bugged her that a member of her pack was providing food and shelter instead of her, but she made due with meticulous cleaning, cooking, and scheduling for her entire crew.
Pepper had had years of practice strong-arming Tony Stark into meetings and paperwork that he didn't want to do. It took nearly all of her infinite patience however, to convince Darcy Lewis that she needed to be paid (retroactively of course) for all of the work that she did. The fact that Darcy had admitted to being a mutant in fact made the situation worse because of how many new social laws and conventions Stark Industries were in violation of for using her as slave labor. Darcy tried to argue – but when Natasha Romanoff slid into the office to warn that they had to leave for the lunch meeting with Hill soon – Darcy quickly signed all documents put in front of her – not wanting Romanoff to know about her Mutation Status (she did, but Darcy treated her like a normal human being – she could do the same to her).
In the end she didn't even read the paperwork – so she didn't know that Pepper had just made her the official Stark Industries Lab Manager and one of the Avengers Public Relations Strategists. She never paid attention to her salary or her benefits – second highest in the company to only Pepper herself – that would pay off her college loans in maybe two weeks and she'd never have to worry about medical (mutant or not!) again. She didn't read it because she was afraid there would be something in it with "DON'T DO THIS" and it would be one of the things that she needed to do to keep her pack and herself happy. It didn't really matter in the long run because apparently Darcy had a lunch date with Pepper, Natasha, Jane, and Maria Hill?
They had to leave soon too or they were going to be late. Darcy Lewis didn't know what the Former Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted with her – she was scared shitless that they had found out about her Mutation and that they wanted to use her as a weapon. She'd never agree to that though, she was no one's weapon – whether her mutation made her a monster or not. She was so focused on what could have been coming… she didn't see what was coming until it was almost too late.
The quartet of women for the Tower were making their way out of the elevation on the ground floor of the lobby when Darcy's extremely powerful scent receptors registered the unmistakable gunpowder, males, threat. Time seemed to slow down to almost a stand still as masked armed men burst through the glass front doors of the Avenger's Tower already firing their automatic weapons. She was no expert, but she knew that these men clad in black body armor and indiscriminately spraying the area with mayhem and death were there to kill those that were in the quartet that she walked with.
Darcifina Lynn Leanna Lewis hip checked one of the ladies into another – sending them into safety behind the great stone support pillar that stood center in the lobby – and stepping directly in front of the third and last member of their group just as a weapon was sighted and a trigger was pulled. The metal shard of death left the chamber of the weapon where in less than in a blink of an eye, it struck her dead center of her chest – shattering her sternum (sending shards of broken bone as well as the bullet) continuing on to shred her beautiful, beautiful heart (burst it more like), and then lodging in her spinal column. She was dead before she even began to collapse into the arms of the woman that she had saved.
Author's Note: How is everyone liking the story so far? The next chapter is written and just waiting to be posted ;) (P.S. this story will have a happy ending!)
Also, I can't promise to update everyday. As of right now, I know I have to work on my truck tomorrow after I get off work – I'm hoping to get home in time for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but we're doing break lines on the back end. Wish me luck… going is a good thing. Stopping even better ;)
