United Authorised Defence Program Hearing Extract
S. Boynton: Witnesses state you were in the company of the aliens.
D. Lewis: Look, I don't know if you saw the photos but some of those guys were hot. Like, seriously cut. Why wouldn't I hang out with them?
Sen. Boynton: So in summary, you were flirting with a hostile alien species as they brought their war to a US city?
D. Lewis: No. I mean (pause) not when you put it like that. I was (pause)
Sen. Boynton: Doing what, Miss Lewis? Because I'm still failing to grasp what a liberal arts student was even doing with an astrophysicist?
D. Lewis: I was a political science student (long pause)... and I drove the van.
Sen. Boynton: Which I'm sure it was a fine use of your college credits, Miss Lewis.
"It was a disaster. I'm a disaster." Darcy slumped onto the bench after giving a brief summary of her question and answer session. "You'd better not suck as bad as I did," she yelled down the corridor towards Dr Selvig, who was being escort by Natasha to the hearing room. He was due to give his testimony in just a few minutes and Darcy it could only hope it went better than her recently concluded debacle.
"I'm sure you were fine." Jane said, even while her fingers were continuing their nervous tugging on her skirt.
"It was terrible. I mean, I knew they were going to be jerks. But everything I said got twisted by that megajerk senator Boynton. I wanted to jump across the room and strangle him with his ugly, distracting green-and-blue tie." Darcy's eyes narrowed at Clint, who was still casually leaning against the wall with a suitcase dangling from one hand. She jabbed a finger in his direction, barely able to restrain her rambling voice to a whisper. "Teach Jane how to do that before she goes in. With the tie. Like, in the next ten minutes. Then they won't have the chance to imply she got her doctorate out of a cereal box or something."
Clint crossed the hallway, a hand reaching for Darcy's shoulder to give a gentle squeeze. His posture was slouched beneath his rumpled suit, shoulders weighed down to resemble every low-level grunt running around Washington. Like Natasha he was seamlessly blending into the scenery. But behind the fake glasses, his eyes were still 100% bodyguard/assassin. It was reassuring yet intimidating at the same time. "You did the job, just like we asked. They shouldn't identify you as a threat or an asset. Now you're just Darcy, the girl who flirts with E.T.."
Slumping further into her seat, Darcy folded her arms across her chest. Clint's deadpan delivery wasn't helping and she felt a full blown ramble-rant coming on. "So I didn't have a better comeback. I don't care what the jackass made me look like. It's the rest of it that still blows. You guys are the heroes. Why do they want to make it seem otherwise?"
If Clint had an answer for her, it was cut off by Jane suddenly leaning forward and pressing her chest into her knees while groaning, "Oh my god. I can't do this."
Darcy began to gently rub Jane's back, just as Dr S. had earlier. Then she realised her friend's breath was becoming a little too ragged as the panic took a firmer hold. Before Darcy had a chance to say anything, Clint was crouching by Jane's side. "C'mon Doc. Keep breathing," he murmured while helping Jane sit upright.
"Full exhale." Darcy added while she took Jane's hand and squeezed gently. She and Clint alternated with talking Jane through each breath, forcing her to slow down until her chest was working at a steady pace again. A memory nudged around in Darcy's head; Jane had once vaguely mentioned in New Mexico that she'd passed out ("Definitely, absolutely, was not fainting") before being due to give a speech at some astrophysics conference. She'd blamed it on low sugar levels but Dr S. had muttered that Jane's fear of public speaking was going to hold her career back.
"You ok?" Darcy asked gently.
Jane managed a weak nod. "Yes. At least, I think so. But with what you were saying... I just started imagining that room, full of people... "
Darcy bumped her shoulder lightly against Jane. "Too much thinking is what gets you and your big brain into trouble. Don't think so much. Focus on the important stuff. For example... right now... my focus is that I need to pee." Casually brushing imaginary lint off her pants, Darcy stood and ignored the look Clint was giving.
"You need to stay where I can see you," he ordered.
"Tell that to my bladder. I'll be two minutes. Just try to keep our astrophysicist here from passing out while I'm gone." The frown on Clint's brow deepened as his gaze flicked between the two women. It seemed a safe bet to Darcy that Clint wouldn't leave Thor's girlfriend alone after a near panic attack just to follow her into the bathroom. So Darcy offered her most trustworthy grin, turned on her heel and walked down the hallway. After a few moments, when she hadn't felt a hand latch on to drag her back, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The solid pine door with the black-and-white sign indicating the ladies room passed by on her left. So maybe Darcy hadn't actually needed to pee. But she did need to get out of there before she said anything else that might upset Jane further. Clint was taking good care of her and also... Darcy wanted a chance to gather her thoughts and deal with the gnawing sense of frustration that had been chewing at her stomach since her turn before the committee. So she located the emergency stairwell and climbed her way to the rooftop.
A blast of cold air hit her as Darcy pushed the heavy fire door open and she tugged her suit jacket tighter around herself. The building was large and blocky and, like she'd guessed, the roof was flat and clear apart from clusters of big heating vents breaking up the space. Darcy paced across the grey concrete surface, trying to stay warm against the chilly March morning. She'd realised she'd only have a limited amount of time before Clint or Natasha came looking for her but freezing temperatures be damned, she was taking some time out.
It wasn't as if she'd expected this to be easy. One of the last essays Darcy had handed in before leaving for her internship had been for her Politics and Media class. She had referenced quotes from the infamous exchange between Stark and Senator Stern, back when the government wanted the Iron Man suit. She'd known the words off by heart at one point, everything from "The suit and I are one" onwards. So Darcy had already seen the methodology of the State Armed Services Committee in action before S.H.I.E.L.D. had handed her a briefing pack. But at the hotel last night, after having said goodnight to Clint, Darcy had retrieved the laptop and rewatched the video on YouTube. Some part of Darcy had hoped that, somehow, she'd pull off a Tony Stark. Ignore the orders, unleash the full-force snark and take a stand. Decimate the committee with her cutting words. Defend her friends and their allies, not let them be derided and slandered. But she hadn't. Frustrated, Darcy kicked the nearest vent before cursing when her big toe began to throb through her sensible business shoes.
A slam of the steel fire door suddenly vibrated through the air. Startled, Darcy pressed herself behind the vent she'd just lashed out at. Last thing she or anyone needed was for her to get dragged through the government building by some underpaid security guard. "What is it?" The voice was lowered but the tense, sharp words carried across the open rooftop. Darcy was instantly sure she knew who it was. Even from just those few syllables, she recognised the impatient tone of the man that had just hounded her for a solid twenty minutes.
Darcy sneaked her head around the corner of the vent. Sure enough, there was Senator Boynton and his damn awful green-and-blue tie. The senator was pacing near the ledge, his brow speckled with sweat despite the cold and his focus was entirely on the terse phone conversation. Darcy cautiously drew back before the senator saw her. Interest thoroughly piqued, she slowly drew out her phone and started to listen closely.
"Make it quick. I had to call recess to take this." A few moments of silence passed, aside from the scrape of his shoes striding back and forth. It gave Darcy enough time to force her chilled fingers to locate the microphone app on her handset and flick it on. After all, the rule was 'photos or it didn't happen.' Or audio in this case. Darcy hadn't had a reason to test the range of her phone mic yet, so she could only hope it would pick up enough. "The committee is proceeding as fast as humanly possible. If you want results that will stick, you will need the legislation behind it. For that, we need to establish the Avengers as a threat first. Tell Manfredi to be patient." Another drawn out pause.
Darcy grimaced and imagined the satisfaction of getting to taser this dodgy politician. But if she couldn't zap him... Darcy flicked her phone to video record mode and shifted around to carefully angle the camera until she could see the senator in the screen. It left her a little more at risk of being seen but while audio recordings were good, video that CNN could broadcast was even better. Incriminating evidence was worth the risk of getting caught. Darcy crossed her fingers that the senator was about to say something that would shut down the committee for good.
"I understand. Hydra will get their desired results. Just give me time." And with a beep Senator Boynton ended the call. In her screen, Darcy watched the man reach for a handkerchief and wipe down his forehead. He mightn't have provided her a career destroying sound bite, but something clearly was going on. The harried way the senator pulled out a pack of cigarettes before lighting one up and inhaling deeply made Darcy wonder if the man was actually scared right then.
Feeling the urge to get out of there as soon as possible, Darcy edged around the vent and looked towards the doorway. No chance she would make it without the senator seeing her. She'd have to wait him out. Or at least, that was the plan. The plan Darcy had to throw away the moment her cell phone began to chime out "Call Me Maybe" - a fantastically ironic ringtone last summer but now was not when she wanted it to be blasting at full volume. Clint's number was on her screen when she jabbed at the "Reject Call" button.
"Who's there?" Senator Boynton's voice cracked through the air.
Oh crap.