AN: Okay, chapter two is a little smaller then I'd of liked, but I have work in the morning and I'd like to update as frequently as possible. I'm still trying to grasp my version of Darcy still. I'd like her to be snarky and whatnot, but I don't want to write her like Kat Denning's other character Max Black from 2 Broke Girls. So bear with me kids.
DISCLAIMER: The M in my name isn't for Marvel, so I own nothing.
Wrapping up things in Virginia had been no problem. Her apartment was some month-to-month place she'd been sharing with a strangely well-spoken stripper named Morgan, who had been cool with her splitting with the stipulation that she could crash at Darcy's new place in New York City if she ever got the itch to try her acting career out again. She'd also given Morgan her jeep, because she really had no need for it in New York, not to mention the fact that it was going to fall apart any day now. She finished packing up all of her stuff and looked around her empty room. "Looks like I'm all set…"
Morgan, who'd just moments ago had been eating leftover pizza and watching the news, stood in the doorway, "Looks like. Okay babes, it's been swell knowing you, but there's a car here for you and I've got a potential roomie on their way to see the room."
"Oh Morgan, stop, you'll make me cry with all your sweet sweet goodbyes." Darcy scoffed, but gave the black haired dancer a grin.
The two girls would pull each other into hugs. Darcy took a moment to reflect on what she getting herself into. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard, sure, these people had super powers, but they were supposed to be a bunch of lame scientists and astronauts who were on the down low for the time being. She'd probably just be fetching coffee, cleaning work spaces, and sending boring reports back to Agent Stone-face.
The television was still going in the living room and the audio would catch Darcy's attention, causing her to break the friendly embrace and push past Morgan to see the screen.
"They're being called the Fantastic Four…We go now to the scene where these four extraordinary persons are giving statements concerning today's bridge accident…"
Darcy stared as the people from her file popped up on the news one by one. Well, aside from Ben Grimm, but she had a feeling the man made of orange rock might be him. Morgan saw what caught her attention and gaped at the screen, "Whoa. No way. That's just…intense."
"Yeah. Real intense."
They'd only been back at the Baxter building for a few days after being released from the recovery center and dealing with the situation on the Brooklyn Bridge. Ben wasn't talking to anyone for the time being, spending most of his time staring at the diamond ring resting on the coffee table in the lounge. Reed had thrown himself into his work, blaming himself for his friend's transformation, searching diligently for some way to reverse things. Sue Storm was silently sitting by Ben, trying to comfort him with presence alone as he didn't want to open up. And Johnny, well, he was going stir crazy.
"How long exactly are we going to keep this crazy quarantine up? Cause I haven't been outside in like 2 whole days and as much fun as it is sitting around and watching a rock weep, I could really go for some tacos. And maybe some water skiing. Do you think I'd just make a big steam trail?"
Sue shot her brother a look for how insensitive he was coming across, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder as the man clenched his hands with rage. "Suzy, I love ya, but if your little brother doesn't learn to shut his mouth I'm going to clobber him!"
"Ooo Clobber. That could be your catch phrase." Johnny smirked, and proceeded to do his best impression of the man's low gruff voice, "It's clobbering time!"
"Johnny!" Sue snapped, standing up, her eyes fixed on him the way their mother's used to. "Apologize."
"What? Ol' Grimm here knows I'm just having a laugh," He'd jump the sofa, sitting next to Ben, who was grinding his teeth. "I love ya big guy, ooo, you know, I always wanted a pet rock."
He just nearly avoided the fist that came his way as Reed's elongated arms pulled him out of the way, before correcting themselves to an average size. "What's going on in here? I can hardly work with all the noise."
Ben just scoffed and stood up, "I'm going up to the roof," before making his way out of the room to go find some peace.
The beautiful blond woman would look after him with a sympathetic expression, before fixing her gaze on the two remaining men in the room, "Johnny, lay off of Ben, and Reed. There are more important things happening here then you being able to fiddle with your beakers right now." Reed opened his mouth, looking startled, "But I'm trying to fix things… I just need more time and fewer distractions…and maybe a little help."
Sue's eyes softened some, hearing the tiredness in his voice, "I'll give you the help I can, but only after you take a moment to rest. You've been non stop since the bridge incident, which," She looked back at her baby brother who was grinning like a fool, "You didn't help one bit. Which is why you're staying inside until we've worked everything out."
"And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Huh? Play solitaire?" Johnny pouted.
"You could try helping out. We need to get this place cleaned up, begin gathering data, and work towards fixing this." Reed spoke up.
"What? Do I look like an intern to you?" Johnny scoffed. "…Actually that's not a bad idea. Reed. Get us an intern, a real hot one."
"Johnny, we are not getting an intern so you can sexually harass some poor girl," Sue crossed her arms, and Dr. Richard's face took on a thoughtful look, "Actually… we did put out an ad before the space mission for a new lab assistant. It's not a terrible idea to have an extra set of hands on deck," He'd go immediately to his laptop and pulled up the listing he'd had on the web. A disappointed expression came across his face, "…There was only one applicant."
The Storm siblings had followed him over and Johnny snickered, "You mean no one wanted to work with the great Reed Richards?" Sue smacked him on the arm and looked at the screen, "…Reed, it says you sent an acceptance email."
"What? That's impossible. I haven't touched this in months." He clicked open the email exchange and confusion met his eyes, "The automatic message I had prepared must have malfunctioned and sent on its own…" He moved the cursor over to her response, "…This girl thinks she's been hired here and will be arriving on…"
"Today?" Johnny looked over his shoulder with a gleeful expression, "OH man, this is going to be hilarious. How close to 2 o'clock is it? I am pumped!"
Reed winced and looked at Sue, "Well… maybe it won't be so bad. We needed someone anyways…"
The elevator dinged, signaling that it was about to open, causing all 3 of them to look that way as the curvy brunette stepped out. Darcy's long curly brown hair was hanging loose and she had opted for a simple black pencil skirt with a red Beatles shirt tucked in and a pair of chucks. She had a computer bag slung over her shoulder, a tray of lattes in one hand and she adjusted her black rimmed glasses with the other, "Uh, hey, I'm Darcy Lewis. I'm here for the job. Oh, and I brought coffee."
"Director." Phil Coulson held his phone to his ear. "Lewis has just made contact,"
"Coulson, I thought I told you we were pulling that plan when they went public 3 days ago," His boss's irritated voice made it's way over the secure line, "Why did you implement it against my orders?"
"Sir. I apologize, but Miss Lewis had already seen the files, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to continue with things as previously decided opposed to terminating what could be an excellent resource in the future."
"I wanted to put a trained agent in there. Not a sorority girl."
"Darcy Lewis was never a pledge of any sort sir." Coulson's dry humor made Fury's lip twitch upward.
"You're keeping an eye on this one, in the meantime I need you down in Los Angeles. Stark's acting up."
"Already on a plane sir."
"Good." Fury discounted the line, and turned to Maria Hill, who'd been standing at attention near his podium on the Hellicarrier, "Hill. I need you to assist in containing any media coverage pertaining to Reed Richard's and 'team',"
"Wouldn't that be better handled by the PR department sir?"
"Are you saying that you're incapable of carrying out that order Hill?"
"No sir, I'm merely questioning if you think my time would be better spent handling a different matter."
"Agent Hill, if I thought your time was better spent doing other things would I have given the order?" He turned his one good eye on her, daring any additional insubordination, "This is a special case, and I'd like someone skilled on it."
"…Yes sir."
Maria Hill would salute and go off to carry out the order, but rolled her eyes once her back was too him.
