Darcy Lewis didn't believe in soul mates.

But it wasn't always that way.

OOO

Like all little girls, she'd grown up dreaming about the day she'd find her soul mate – she'd daydreamed about finding them in a downpour and they'd show up with an umbrella for her, or maybe she would catch their eye from across a crowded room and just know even before they said their words. Darcy watched movies and devoured books, each adding a new scenario to just how she might meet them.

As she got older, she would spend a long time naked in front of the mirror just hoping that her mark would appear. Her best friend, Lindsay, was the first to have hers appear when they were in fourth grade and ran across the street to show Darcy.

"Look!" she said, twisting her leg to show the writing on her thigh. Darcy crouched down to get a better look and chuckled.

"Hey, throw it back?" Lindsay nodded dreamily.

"I wonder when I'm gonna meet them."

Two days later, she met her soul mate.

"That's him," Lindsay whispered, pointing to a boy across the cafeteria. He had spiky hair and braces, and kept glancing over at them. She blushed from head to toe and looked down at her lunch tray.

"Him?" Darcy asked, scrunching her nose. "Isn't he in sixth grade?"

"Yup. He nearly hit me with his football this morning."

"And he has your words?"

"Uh huh," Lindsay nodded and drew a line over her heart. "Right here - 'Watch it, jerk face'."

"Wow," Darcy said, putting her chin in her hand and looking over at the boy. "You're so lucky."

OOO

"It's not fair!" Darcy whined.

"Really, Darcy Ann," her mother scolded. "There's nothing strange about it not showing up yet – you're just a late bloomer."

"But all the other girls in gym have theirs," she sulked. More than once she'd found herself glancing over at the other girls, envious of the marks that decorated their bodies. "I'm thirteen for Christ's sake!"

"Language, young lady!" Her mother sighed and leaned across the counter to tip Darcy's chin up. "I didn't get my mark until I was fifteen, and I found your father just fine. You'll get yours and you'll find them, honey, you just have to be patient."

"Fine," Darcy sighed.

"Hey Karen, what are we having for dinner?" her dad asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

"I swear, Dave, you're memory's getting worse with every day – we're having pork chops and homemade apple sauce." Looking back at Darce, Karen rolled her eyes, "After you find them, you have to be patient with them."

OOO

"MOM!"

There was a thud and then loud pounding before Darcy's bedroom door was thrown open. "What? What's wrong?" her mother panted.

"Darce?" her father demanded, coming to a stop behind Karen.

"Look!" Darcy pulled up her shirt. Just below her ribs, written in her skin, was 'You're not what I expected'.

She was three months from her fourteenth birthday.

OOO

High school was hell.

Like her mark, puberty seemed to hit Darcy overnight. She'd left eighth grade with smaller breasts and the beginning of hips, only to enter high school breasts that rivaled some of the senior girls and didn't stop there.

Lindsay told her not to pay attention to the boys that open leered at her in the hallways. After the first few times of being sent to the principal's office for dress code violations, Darcy started to keep a change of clothes in her locker before starting to wear baggy sweatshirts year round. Gym class was terrible because even wearing two sports bras did little to keep her chest from moving.

Joey – Lindsay's soul mate and a junior – actually got into a fistfight with a guy that had been harassing her and spent a week in detention. Darcy's dad invited him over for a steak dinner for that.

On bad nights, she would look at herself in the mirror and wonder what would make her soul mate say those words. What about her was what he didn't expect? Did he think she'd be skinnier? Smarter? Someone with less of a mouth?

But still, she kept her ears open for those five words, hoping beyond hope that she'd hear them.

OOO

A month after graduating high school, Darcy stood beside Lindsay as she said 'I do' to Joey.

In August, she and her mother spent two days packing and repacking the cars. Culver University was only a few hours from home but there hadn't been a discussion of Darcy going by herself.

"Don't tell your mother," her dad said, handing her a small box. Darcy raised an eyebrow at the taser inside.

OOO

College was everything Darcy hoped it would be. She spent her freshman year without a major but had narrowed it down to History, Philosophy, Political Science, and English. Her roommate – a business major – pulled her out to nightclubs where Darce would sneak drinks and dance the nights away. She tailgated and went to football games, snuck into her dorm drunk off her ass, partied at fraternities and sororities, and fell in love.

They met in class – American National Government – when he asked to borrow a pen for the attendance sheet. They paired up to study for the first test and spent hours holed up in the library with flashcards and coffee, pouring over their notes.

Brad kissed her during one of their all-nighters.

It wasn't the all consuming love that Darcy had dreamed about as a little girl, but it was more than she'd felt for the few boys she'd dated during high school. Brad would come to her dorm room and watch movies with her before going to the cafeteria for ice cream. After the first big snow fall, they stole trays to go sledding down the main hill on campus and made a snowman and snow angels. When her roommate went home for the weekend, they had sex for the first time.

In their sophomore year, Darcy chose Political Science and Brad found his soul mate.

OOO

Her parents hated Rob after he took her to a political rally. Things had got out of hand and Darcy ended up with a sprained ankle after running from the cops.

Things ended when Darcy got fed up with him being high all the time.

OOO

"She's so gorgeous, Linds," Darcy cooed as she cradled her goddaughter.

"She is pretty amazing," Lindsey smiled tiredly. Joey was beaming; his eyes locked on his daughter as he lazily stroked his wife's shoulder. When she turned to look at him, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"She's perfect," he said softly.

Darcy looked away and tried to stifle the twinge of jealousy she felt.

OOO

"You are living in sin!" the preacher yelled, holding his Bible aloft. "You flaunt God's plan for you when you choose extramarital sex!"

"Oh god," Darcy groaned, rolling her eyes as she passed the free speech zone on her way to the library. There was a relatively small group of people standing around, some nodding along with the man but most mocking him. A bored looking security officer stood nearby to make sure things didn't get out of hand, and another guy had a camera trained on the crowd.

"The Bible says that Woman was made for Man in Romans one, and her natural purpose is to bear children."

"What about women who can't have children?" a girl yelled back. "Or they don't want them?"

"They should dedicate themselves to being brides of Christ, or celibate."

"So you're saying that I should be a nun, or just never have sex?" the girl asked, disbelief coloring her voice. "Respectfully, fuck that!" There was a round of cheering, which the preacher ignored.

"God has chosen the perfect mate for you!" the preacher said, rolling up his sleeve and showing his soul mark. "In his infinite love, God has made the man or woman to complete you – he has created Adam for you, Eve – "

"It's not God doing it!" a student yelled back. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face was flushed. "It's brain chemistry and biology – not God."

"What about the homosexuals? And the bisexuals?" a girl asked. "And the asexuals? Did God make their soul mates? 'Cause you were just saying that homosexuality was a sin."

"Man shall not lay with man as he lay with woman."

"Well that doesn't exactly apply because my soul mate and I are lesbians," another girl quipped, wrapping her arm around the girl next to her who blushed.

OOO

"So what are you writing?"

Darcy looked up from her laptop and pushed her glasses further up her nose. "A paper for my philosophy class."

"What's the topic?" her mom asked.

"Soul mates." Raising an eyebrow, Karen finished checking the Thanksgiving turkey and took off her oven mitts before resting her hip against the counter.

"And what's your argument?"

"I don't think they're real."

"Oh?"

"I just…" Darce shrugged. "I don't think one person can be all things to another person."

Smiling slightly, her mother checked the kitchen timer. "Okay, so what makes you think that?"

"There's…so you dated before Dad, right?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't one of those guys make you feel something? Like you could have been happy with them even if they weren't your soul mate?"

"Of course I did," Karen shrugged. "But in the back of my mind, I always knew your dad was out there and that he would be the yin to my yang." Darcy rolled her eyes even as she fought a smile.

"But why? Why would you choose to leave someone you're happy with for the possibility of being happy with someone else?" Darcy asked. "Like, it's expected that you drop everything and get together with the person as soon as you hear your words. But what if you're really, really happy with someone else?"

"So you're saying that soul mates don't allow for free will?" Karen frowned.

"I…kind of?"

Her mother just gave her a knowing smile and shook her head, leaning over to take her daughter's hand. "Here's what you're not realizing: your soul mate, they're going to be put you before themselves. So if you're with someone else and you're really happy with them, then your soul mate can wait."

"But you still have to go with them in the end," Darce argued.

"It's not that you have to," her mother countered, "it's that you'll want to."

OOO

Darcy looked at the email and felt her jaw drop. Her application for graduation had been declined.

Six credits.

"So you have a couple of options," her advisor said. "It's too late to add a course to your schedule for this semester, but you can take two science classes over the summer or can take the classes in the fall."

"I can't be here in the fall! I got accepted into law school!"

"Okay, so we'll focus on the summer classes then."

"But isn't it harder to get financial aid during the summer?" Darcy asked.

"Unfortunately. There is another option, though. How do you feel about an internship?"

OOO

"You're going to New Mexico?"

"Yeah. It was that or taking Chemistry and Biology together for the whole summer."

"Good call kid."

"Thanks, Dad."

OOO

Chemistry and biology might have been easier than dealing with Dr. Jane Foster.

"Go to New Mexico and do some stargazing, Darcy, it'll be fun!" she muttered while inputting data into an Excel sheet. Sighing, she straightened up and rolled her neck before grabbing her empty coffee mug and going for another round of liquid energy.

"I need you to help me load up the van as soon as you're done with that spreadsheet," Jane said as she waltzed past with bundle of wires in her arms.

"Yeah, yeah, almost done," Darce nodded. She had thought that she could handle the all-nighters required when working for an astrophysicists – after all, she'd done a lot of them while studying – but this was getting ridiculous. Coffee. Coffee was a necessity. Except for the pot was empty…again. "Seriously Jane? Seriously?"

OOO

So things didn't work out the way she though they would.

What was supposed to be an easy internship ended up being something that she'd never forget…but could never talk about.

After the robot rampage through Puerto Antiguo and Thor went back to confront his brother, Jane became even more manic about work. SHIELD swooped in with their non-disclosure forms and offered her assistance in her research, bringing in people that actually understood what the hell she was studying.

For once, Jane leaned on Darcy for more than her typing and editing skills. They sat on the rooftop and talked about Thor, Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three, and how everything was different now that aliens actually existed. The fact that Jane's soul mate was a one of those aliens, and that they'd been separated – for who knows how long – had understandably upset her.

Darcy fell asleep with her hand over her words, wondering how she would react when faced with the same situation. It wasn't like Thor was dead, so Jane didn't feel like she could move on, but he wasn't there for her to be with. Darcy's mom had said that, once you found your soul mate, you never wanted to leave their side. She had read stories about people whose soul mates had died and the emotional agony of knowing that your perfect match was gone.

So she cut her some slack, didn't say anything when Jane yelled at her or muttered under her breath about how Darcy had done the calculations wrong. (Not everyone needed to take advanced calculus, Jane, some people were perfectly fine taking College Algebra and Statistics – and it was pretty damn impressive that she took the initiative to even learn some calculus.)

When the summer was over, Jane filled out the internship evaluation form and sent it off to Culver, and Darcy flew back to Virginia to graduate. She also had to tell her parents about a difficult decision she'd come to in the last few days.

Rather than packing up and moving to New York City to attend Columbia law school, Darcy packed up her small apartment and went back to New Mexico.

Taking some time off of school wasn't a bad thing, she'd told her confused but supportive parents. She had a paid position – granted, not in a field she was interested or qualified for – but it would give her some time to think and figure out her next step.

OOO

The travel was an added benefit. SHIELD sent them to Norway to work with a high-powered telescope.

New York City was attacked, and her parents called to express their relief that she'd decided against going to Columbia.

OOO

Things with Jane got worse, but Darcy chose to stick it out. Living in a flat in London with Jane's mom wasn't ideal, but it gave her a chance to network with some nongovernmental organizations in the city. She spent her nights looking at internship opportunities and what it would take to get a work visa.

The stress of looking after Jane and Erik was getting to her, and adding Ian Boothby to the mix didn't make things easier. He was able to help out with the science parts of Jane's research but Darcy had to run interference to make sure that nothing under the NDAs came out and to keep Jane's mother happy. Jane snapped at her more often than not and Darcy spent a lot of time walking around to calm down rather than screaming back at her boss.

Her parents suggested coming home and looking for a job in the US, but Darcy wanted to give living overseas another shot.

At least until Thor came back and the attack in Greenwich.

With the flat already crowded and Darcy was feeling particularly under appreciated, so she booked a ticket home.

OOO

Working retail wasn't ideal. Living with her parents wasn't ideal.

But it gave her a chance to save up some money and pay back a bit of those student loans.

At the end of February, she got an email saying she'd been accepted into George Washington University's Political Science department, where she'd study comparative politics and international relations.

OOO

Darcy loved graduate school. Being around people who understood the importance of looking at the world and not just what it was composed of was amazing. She loved her professors and classmates, and while teaching wasn't something she had a lot of experience with, it was something she was growing to enjoy. Even after SHIELD collapsed and nearly took out half of the nation's capital in its wake, DC was a nice place to live.

While she appreciated the letter of recommendation Jane wrote her, they didn't really keep in touch. She knew that Jane and Thor had relocated to New York, so when she traveled up to the city for a conference, Darcy shot her a text and suggested grabbing lunch.

The highlight of that had been seeing the inside of Avengers Tower. Jane had never left the lab and Thor was off planet so Darcy had ended up walking around the city by herself and doing the tourist thing.

All in all, not a bad trip.

OOO

Her undergrad Intro to International Relations class had just let out, and she was pulling her jump drive from the computer when she heard the door open. Another class came in right after hers let out so she didn't think anything of it.

Sliding the memory stick into her pocket, she turned her attention to the papers stacked on the front table. Darcy was straightening them out with the student spoke.

"You're not what I expected."

Her hands froze.


Author's Note: I apologize to those I offended with the campus preacher part, but that's something that's pretty common on college campuses. A majority of the dialogue came from a video I found on YouTube. As for Jane and Darcy's relationship? I've had a few long conversations with pizzagirl about how Jane was pretty rude to Darcy in both Thor movies, and I kind of subscribe to the idea that they wouldn't have kept in touch/been best friends. That's not to say I don't love Jane because I do! I just think her and Darcy and two entirely different personalities who probably wouldn't mix.

Also, thank you so much for the support!