Disclaimer—I do not own the Avengers, Lie to Me, or any of the characters therein. Nor, sadly, do I make any moneys off the posting of this fanfiction.

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy.

Chapter Two

The Second Interview

Instead of waiting to make an appointment, Cal went over to the Avengers Tower bright and early the next morning. He was shown up to the floor that was referred to as the common floor, where he found Darcy cooking breakfast. Without saying a word, Darcy poured him a coffee and placed the sugar as well as the creamer next to him. She went back to work whisking what looked to be pancake batter.

"So you make breakfast for everyone?" he inquired, as soon as he was finished preparing his morning brew.

"Team Science was up all night," she said. "I know as because the Metallica is still ringing in my ears from when I went to go check on them this morning."

Frowning he asked, "So you're making them breakfast?"

"No, I'm making everyone else breakfast, as I can't strangle Tony," she corrected him. "How is the coffee cake looking, J?"

"The cinnamon brown butter coffee cake is nearly finished baking, Miss Lewis," a British voice came out of nowhere and had Cal looking around to see who had spoken.

"That was Jarvis," Darcy told him, as she was coating the pan with nonstick spray.

"Where is he?" Cal asked her.

"Everywhere," she replied, as she started making the pancakes. "So we have an interview to finish, huh?" She flicked a look over to him, as she put down the bowl and took up the apples she had prepared earlier. She was placing some within pancakes she was making, before setting them aside as she waited for the cakes to cook. "I don't get it." Darcy looked over to Cal. "I've been a part of all this stuff since…Well, for a while now. And in all that time, I haven't done jack shit as far as giving away state secrets, intergalactic secrets, or any other sort of secrets I can think of." She pointed at him. "So why hire you?"

"Excellent question, Miss Thing!" Tony said, as he joined them. "Her famous apple pancakes!" He looked to Cal, as he served himself a coffee. "I must have really pissed her off this morning."

"You enjoy pissing her off," Cal said casually, sipping on his coffee.

"I enjoy pissing everyone off. Why should she be the exception?" Stark asked, looking him over. "Who are you?"

"Dr. Cal Lightman."

"The Human Lie Detector! I've heard of you," he said, as he went over to one of the chairs next to Darcy and sitting down. "Did anyone ever tell you that you look exactly like a man named Emil Blonsky?"

Darcy gasped, spinning around to face Cal. "That's who you reminded me of!" She looked over to Tony, adding, "But I was thinking more along the lines of my seventh grade science teacher." She turned over the pancakes, asking Cal, "Do you scare easily?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Is Bruce in the tower?" Darcy asked Tony, who nodded.

"He was supposed to be meeting up with someone, but it was canceled at the last minute by Mean Green. I think he mentioned something about being too tired to deal with Betty drama." He stole a slice of apple declaring, "Those two crazy kids still have more drama than a Mexican soap opera."

"Oh yeah, because your love life is just so normal," Darcy said dryly, serving up a plate of pancakes and handed it over to the billionaire next to her.

"Thank you, brat," he said, kissing her cheek and walked away.

"You're welcome!" she called out over to him, looking over to Cal. The man was watching her intently. "What?"

"Do I have to be worried about this Bruce that you've mentioned?"

"I don't know," she answered. "Bruce is pretty cool. It's the Hulk you have to worry about."

He blinked at her in confusion. "The Hulk? As in the eight or nine foot tall green man whose main vocabulary word is the word, 'Smash'?"

"That would be him," she said, nodding her head just as Bucky and Steve came out of the elevator. "Hey guys! Steve, can you be a sweetie and make the bacon for me?"

"You know I can, kiddo," he said with a grin, as he went over to the fridge to fetch the breakfast meat.

"Good morning, doll," the tall muscular raven haired man said, as he went over to where she was standing. "Who's the scholar?"

"Guys, this is Dr. Cal Lightman," she introduced him to the two men. "He's a human lie detector that they, meaning Shield and the Federal Government, hired to investigate the people on the fringe of the Avengers—namely me and my ilk." She smacked Bucky's hand when he tried to steal a pancake. "Wait for your plate!" She looked over to Steve. "Can you two hang out in the immediate area?" Steve stopped opening up the bacon wrapping, looking over to her with concern. "Just that the dude through no fault of his own looks exactly like Emil Blonsky. And seeing as Hulk only listens to the three of us…"

"Not to worry," Bucky assured her, kissing her head. "We'll be within range, even after we're done eating."

"Thanks, Bucky," she murmured, handing over the next plate of pancakes to him. "I saved you some of that caramel topping you love so much. It's in the fridge."

Smiling like a little boy, he rushed over to get the syrup.

Grinning herself by this time, she looked over to Cal. "So are you going to ask me any questions or are you going to just keep observing?"

"You are a very fascinating person," he said to her. "Honest, but can lie at the drop of a hat, if you wish, but you don't tend to unless it proves to be entertaining…" He tilted his head. "But something tells me that you would do so more to keep a person from being hurt."

"But you don't have evidence of this," Darcy said, serving up another plate of pancakes, only to say, "Jarvis, where is Jane?"

"Dr. Foster is still in her lab, Miss Lewis," he answered, making the young woman roll her eyes.

"Shut down the lab and tell her that her breakfast is served," she ordered.

"Yes, Miss Lewis." He paused. "She isn't happy."

"Tough cookies! Get her here! She didn't eat dinner last night. Jane got her way last night, but not now! Get her down here or so help her, I'm coming up there to get her personally! And if you think she wasn't happy before…"

"Darcy!" Jane yelled, as she came stomping into the kitchen.

Darcy cut a bite of the pancakes and went over to her. The moment Jane opened her mouth to yell at her, the younger woman shoved the food into her mouth.

"Chew," Darcy ordered, gaining her a glare even as she pulled the food free fork out of her mouth and put it on the plate. "If you insist on acting like a fool that doesn't know how to feed themselves, I'm going to treat you like one." She lifted Jane's hand, placing the plate into her hand. "Go to the table. The bacon is going to be done in a minute. Do you want any?"

Still glaring, Jane nodded and turned to walk over to the table in question to sit down to eat.

Darcy rolled her eyes, as she walked back over to the stove to pour more batter. "So, Doc, are we all crazy here or is it just me?"

Cal laughed.

"Want some more coffee, Dr. Lightman?" Darcy asked, as she was going about pouring some coffee in a large mug.

"Yes, I would." She refilled his mug and went back to work on the breakfast.

He took a sip of the brew and let out a hum of delight. "This coffee is amazing."

"One of the benefits of living with a billionaire is the best coffee money can buy," she said, as she went about pouring another three mugs of the brew. "Jarvis, alert the others that the coffee is done." She looked up to a vent. "Clint! Coffee! Please get Tasha!" She looked over to Steve. "Can you watch the pancakes as I get the coffee to Jane?"

"Sure," he answered, as he plated some of the bacon and held it out to her. "Here's some bacon for her."

"Thanks, Steve," she said, as she took the plate from him and took the food over to the scientist.

"…I don't care!" Darcy called back behind her. "Eat! You may have gotten away without doing it last night, but you know I won't let you go without a proper breakfast. That's our deal!" She got back over to the pancakes, muttering, "And to think my mom swears I don't know what having a child is like." This had Steve and Cal chuckling.

A toe-headed muscular man stepped into the kitchen along with a shapely redhead. Darcy handed a mug of coffee to both of them, saying, "Pancakes will be up in a minute. The maple syrup is over in the pantry…I think…"

"It is," the woman said quietly, studying Cal as she did so. "Dr. Cal Lightman."

"The lie detector?" The blond looked over to him. "Oh yeah." But then he frowned. "But that was supposed to happen at his offices, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," the redheaded woman said, looking more intently at Cal. "What are you doing here?"

"The first interview was interrupted," Darcy told them. "Personally, I think he's here to see how the other half lives." She studied Cal a moment. "Or maybe he was bored." She looked over to the man. "It's one of those. Whatever." She finished up another batch of pancakes and handed the plate over to Clint. "Bacon's over with Steve."

"Thanks, Darce," he said, going over to get some from the other man.

"He looks like Blonsky," the woman said.

"That isn't his fault, Tasha," Darcy told the woman. "I made some more of that strawberry vodka sauce. It's in the bottle marked 'touch at your own peril' in the fridge."

The redhead didn't smile, but the air seemed to change around her to be lighter. Once the pancakes, this time with no apples, were finished, Darcy handed them over to Tasha. The woman thanked her quietly, went to fetch the syrup, and to go eat at the dining table.

"What the hell…" The startled words had Darcy rushing over to the man in question.

"Hey, Bruce, I'd like you to meet Dr. Cal Lightman. No relation whatsoever to Emil Blonsky," Darcy introduced him to the scientist, who was standing there shivering as he stared at him.

"Dr. Lightman?" he breathed, even as another shudder went through him.

"Why don't you go to your meditation area and I'll bring you over some pancakes and your morning tea, okay?" Darcy murmured.

He looked over to Cal and nodded, saying, "That would be for the best. Thank you, Darcy."

"No problem, Doc," she murmured. "Want company later? You can explain the theory of almost everything again to me."

A small smile lit his face. "The book's name is The Theory of Everything."

"It has nothing about chocolate in there," she told him. "Or chocolate chip cookie dough. So it's only almost everything. You can't convince me otherwise."

"Yes that would be nice," he murmured, more at ease than he had been before and walked away to his mediation room.

Cal finished up his coffee, taking it over to the sink. Washing it out, he turned around to Darcy. "Thank you, Miss Lewis. This morning has been very enlightening."

"You don't want breakfast?" she asked, as she was serving up another plate.

"As much as I would love to, I have another appointment to get to this morning," he told her, waving goodbye to those there. "Thank you for all of your time."

Darcy watched him for a time, even as she was handing over the plate to Steve. "I wonder why he lied."

Steve looked towards the elevator where the man left. "I don't know."

"He lied?" Clint asked as he came over for a coffee refill. "About what?"

"The other appointment," she said, going over to the refrigerator and pulled out the vegan pancake batter she had made earlier. "Mind you, he's an excellent liar, but that time…" she worried her lower lip as she proceeded to pour the batter onto the hot griddle. "He was thinking about something else. It made him thoughtless as to his usual way he fibs."

"He figured something out," Natasha said, as she came over to put her plate, as well as Jane's. "Anything I can do?"

"Can you make Bruce's tea? I never get it right," Darcy told her.

"Of course," she said with a smile and did just that.

Meanwhile downstairs, Cal pulled out his cellphone and called the office.

"How did it go?" Gillian asked as soon as the pleasantries were out of the way.

"I do believe I now know why we were hired," he said to her. "Make an appointment with the man. I want to speak to him when I get back to D.C."

TBC…

And there's another chapter finished, flying out on the Internet express. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this. You guys rock! Take care and, as always, stay extremely awesome.