A/N: I updated this on AO3 but forgot to do so here! So 2 chapters today!
Don't get Darcy wrong. She loves her family. She just tries to ignore everything that they do. Obviously, she operates under a lot of 'grey area' mentality. When she was 8-years-old and the kids started to avoid her in school because their parents told them to, Darcy realized that there were some major downsides to her last name, even if she wasn't exactly sure why she'd suddenly become the plague at the time. So when she was 12, she begged her parents to send her off to a private school outside of their district. She started going by Darcy and enjoyed minor obscurity. On her 18th birthday, Daniela Locatelli legally became Darcy Lewis.
Even if her family didn't like it, they accepted it to a degree. They agreed to call her Darcy, never shamed her for not wanting to get involved with family business and cheered her on when she decided to become a political science major. To be fair, she's pretty sure Uncle Rocco was hoping she'd eventually use her newfound political power to help them out but then she interned for Jane and a lot of things changed. Nonetheless, her family is supportive. As long as you aren't endangering the family, you're adored without question and she guesses that's one of the pros of being in a mob family. With the family agreement of no shop talk during holiday dinners, it got pretty easy for Darcy to 'ignore' her family's business.
It's also times like these, when she's wandering through a Petco and giving her cousin advice on wooing his wife, the whole 'Cosa Nostra' thing is practically forgotten.
"I thought you and Lucy were fine. Why all the sudden need for romancing? Not that I'm saying it's a bad thing," Darcy asks while testing out doggie beds. Her new corgi puppy is excitedly weaving his way in and out of Darcy's legs. The little fur ball was a gift from Uncle Rocco this morning. He said he noticed how down she's been and wanted to cheer her up. Free puppies are always appreciated, as far as Darcy's concerned. Though, she's hoping the reason for her emotional turmoil is going to be moot soon. This morning, Kate called Darcy explaining what really happened, that Clint is an idiot (which she already knew) and has been moping ever since Darcy left for Thanksgiving. Kate even recited what she claimed was, verbatim, Clint's apology. Apparently, she's a little sick of Clint messing up good relationships as well as listening to his apology speech over and over. Darcy just hopes that Clint adults up and actually goes through with the apology. What she heard was sincere and sweet in the clumsy way that is all Clint's own. Now it just needs to be said by the socially incompetent archer himself (how the hell Clint was a spy for SHIELD for so long, Darcy's not entirely sure).
"You know Lucy and I have been tryin' for a baby," Tommy mumbles with a shrug. There's a pad of paper and a pen in his hand that he's been using to take down romance notes. He shoves them into his back pocket. Tommy's only a few years older than Darcy and she's always liked him. The guy even took her to her Prom when no one else would (though he met his wife there, so he did get something out of it in the end). Despite his heavy involvement with the family, he's got a good head on his shoulders. Even got a degree in accounting so he could pick up the less violent side of the business. Darcy would not expect anything less for her best friend, Lucy Cardoso. "She's just really upset it hasn't happened yet and I wanted to do something nice. The doc says it may help to take her mind off the stress."
"Oh, that's really sweet. I'm sure you guys will be all right. The doctor said everything was fine…down there, right?" Darcy waves a hand towards the general direction of his parts and Tommy smiles.
"Yeah. You shoulda heard what Uncle Rocco suggest I do," snickers Tommy before turning his attention back to the aisle. "Why don't we just spread out some of these beds and see which one Little Rocco goes to?"
"I am totally changing his name from 'Little Rocco'," Darcy looks down at said corgi shaking his little butt in excitement. She rolls her eyes at Rocco's vanity but says nothing else on the matter and sets a few of the beds down in the middle of the aisle. "And let me guess, did he tell you to just get her a bottle of Chianti and a Frank Sinatra album?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"He tells that to my dad every time my parents get into a fight. Claims that's how each of his sons were conceived."
"Lucy's getting to the point where she's considering it," Tommy smiles, watching as 'Little Rocco' sniffs at the line of beds before sitting in front of one that has a little flap where he can curl under like a blanket. They put it in the shopping cart. "But she wants to switch out Sinatra for Salt-N-Pepa."
"Maybe I should tell Kate to give the hint to Clint," Darcy says, laughing at her friend's sex music preferences but she notices Tommy stiffen for just a moment in the middle of re-stacking the dog beds. Something about it seems…off. She's not entirely sure what gossip has been floating around the family in regards to her love life. They knew from the beginning of the holiday that she and Clint weren't doing too well but didn't know exactly what the fight was about. She'd hinted at a few things but didn't outright say anything. Out of anyone in the family, Tommy knows more about Clint, simply because of Lucy. Despite that, Darcy's done her best to keep Clint's superhero ego under wraps.
"Kate's Clint's protégée…for the archery club they're in. Lucy's met her. Said she liked her moxie," Darcy explains and Tommy just nods, lips pursed. They head towards the front of the store to wait in line, since the doggie bed is the last thing on their list. "There's nothing going on between Kate and Clint. She thinks he's old and not nearly smooth enough for her standards."
"Maybe you should raise your standards," Tommy says carefully.
"Okay, what has everyone been saying?" Darcy finally asks with a sigh. Ever since Thanksgiving dinner when she bumbled out an excuse for why she avoiding all conversation about her boyfriend, she's been getting pitying looks and offers of blind dates.
"Oh, you know," Tommy mumbled, "just that he's a bastard, broke your heart, steals candy from babies and maybe something about abandoning you at Coney Island."
"Okay…the Coney Island one is kind of true. But Clint definitely does not steal candy from children."
"He left you at Coney Island to deal drugs? Guy's not very organized if he can't set up a date and a deal properly," Tommy frowns and Darcy curses her Aunt Linda.
"No! He left because he got a call there were drug dealers around the building he owns, trying to poach a couple kids to become runners," Darcy says. "He's really protective of his tenants. I'm not even mad at him about that anymore. Now that I know what actually happened."
"Well, Aunt Linda's been sayin' that the guy left you to throw up alone, right after you rode the Cyclone. Also, that he hustled some kids out of candy," says Tommy, briefly answering the cashier on how their day is doing in a cheery tone. He turns his attention back to Darcy once the girl is ringing up their items.
"Of course she said that," Darcy growls, throwing up her hands. "And for the record, I've never puked after riding a roller coaster. In my entire life."
"Well, what do you expect when you tell Aunt Linda things?"
"I wasn't planning on it but you know how she drags things out of you, then twists it. Why does anyone still believe her? Uncle Rocco uses a crowbar and Aunt Linda uses her mind games. No wonder they're married," Darcy lets out a huff of frustration at Tommy's nonchalance over Aunt Linda's inability to not flourish the truth with ridiculous lies. Tommy's gaze dart between Darcy and the cashier, who is now listening to the conversation with wide eyes.
"Don't be too upset with Uncle Rocco and Aunt Linda. You know they try to help in their own way. Aunt Linda probably thought if she told us, it might help. Y'know, get through the tough times with the help of family, that sort of thing," Tommy says in an even tone, doing his best to keep any real details from anyone that can easily eavesdrop. "You've hardly told us anything about Clint. If you don't tell us things, we'll just assume it's because you're hiding something bad."
"I know," Darcy says, anger deflating and volume much lower. She can see how her lack of details over Clint could be worrying to everyone. Normally, things are pretty open between the Locatellis. Ever since Thor and the continuous stream of nondisclosure agreements she's had to sign from SHIELD and now Stark Industries, Darcy supposes she's been a little more tightlipped with her family. But to be fair, she's always been a little quiet about her boyfriends. The Locatellis have…interesting standards when it comes to her dates.
Picking up 'Little Rocco', who Darcy has just decided will be named Fig, she kisses the puppy on his forehead. Cuddling Fig should help her calm down. She waits until the cashier finishes and Tommy hands her Uncle Rocco's credit card before continuing. "Bottom line, Clint's a genuinely nice guy and I really, really, really like him. Yeah, he's kind of inept at relationships but I personally find it almost endearing. He means well and I know he's probably really sorry. Long as he apologies for not communicating and promises to try in the future, we'll get through it."
"So you're…thinking about getting back together with him?" Tommy asks, standing a little straighter and eyes narrowing slightly. His lips thin as he waits for her answer, stuffing the credit card and long receipt back into his wallet.
"Well, yeah," Darcy says in a 'duh' tone. They make their way back to the car, filling the trunk with everything a dog could ever dream of. There's even a few things for Lucky. "Hands down, he's like, the best guy I've ever dated."
"C'mon," scoffs Tommy. He shoves his hands into his pockets, looking uncomfortable with her admission. "You've dated other guys that…that haven't treated you like Clint has. What about Brock? We all liked Brock. He was a good guy."
"Brock is dead because he was a Nazi," Darcy says, rolling her eyes and regretting that she even entertained the notion of dating Brock and then introducing him to her family. They freaking loved him because of course they'd love Brock Rumlow. He was Italian and a criminal. Also, he'd apparently done a couple of jobs as an outside contractor for the family years ago. Maybe it had been kind of nice to have the family so accepting of someone she was seeing. It's possible she may have gotten so swept away in the 'accepting family' excitement that she glossed over the warning signs with Brock. Seriously, talk about Cosa Nostra rose colored glasses.
"But he never left you at the Cyclone," Tommy says in a sing-song voice, false grin in place. His foot starts to tap and she knows that's a nervous tick. Lucy's mentioned it before.
"Why are you nervous all of a sudden?" Darcy asks, narrowing her eyes. She'd cross her arms if she wasn't holding Fig. She thinks back through the day. Uncle Rocco had bestowed her with Fig and then Tommy offered to take her to Petco for supplies since he wanted some advice about Lucy. Then they drove to a Petco an hour away, because the one nearest to her parent's house was in recently stolen 'enemy territory' while the other ones were simply in previously claimed 'enemy territory'. She'd been too happy with her new puppy and Kate's explanation of Clint's actions, that she just went along with everything. But the last time Uncle Rocco gave her a random present out of nowhere was when she was in high school and he'd presented her with a brand new iPod. It was to distract her from the fact he'd kidnapped her Prom date and scared the kid so bad that he'd broken things off with Darcy and told all the boys at school to avoid her.
Oh god.
"Tommy, why did Uncle Rocco give me this puppy?" Darcy asks, voice hard as steel. With shoulders set and eyes blazing in fury, she probably looks like everything that one would expect from Frank Locatelli's only daughter. Although Darcy doesn't get furious often, she's been told that she's a mirror of the Underboss on the few occasions. She can see it in the way Tommy's eyes widen in fear and his lips turn into a thin line.
"Because, you've been sad this whole weekend," mumbles Tommy, keeping eye contact with difficulty. The answer isn't good enough and Darcy raises an eyebrow. The man blanches.
"You are taking me to Clint, right now. Where did they take him?" Darcy commanded, watching as Tommy lets out a frustrated grunt and run his hands frantically through his hair. Tommy considers what's worse: Darcy's anger, which is right here or Uncle Rocco's future anger for spilling the beans. He takes into account that Darcy actually wants to continue her relationship with Clint.
"That warehouse they took Richie Nash to when we found out he was embezzling," says Tommy with a wince. It's about an hour and a half away. It's also next to an easy access dumping site and she knows that no one will be answering her phone calls if what she thinks is going down, is actually going down. As if they'd even listen to her at this point. Uncle Rocco is a Capo and she's not even an associate. None of the boys will listen to her. She can't even ask her dad to call it off because he's at a spa with her mom and told everyone that he's be unreachable for the day. Her stomach drops and her chests seizes as she considers calling Natasha. It seems wrong to call an Avenger on her family but they also have an Avenger in captivity. Telling anyone about the location of the warehouse and who's associated with it is treason against the family. Yet, what else can she do? All Darcy hopes is that Natasha's already aware of the area and what goes down there, so she correctly guesses at vague hints. Is that still treason? She knows one of her cousins has a huge crush on the Black Widow and maybe meeting her is enough to ease the betrayal.
Everything is just messed up and Darcy regrets dragging Clint out for pizza and beer on what they consider their first date. Not if it all ends with Clint's body dumped in Gilgo Beach.
With a grim nod, Tommy slams the trunk shut. They run to the front seats and Darcy prays that it won't be too late.