Underdog by Kasabian
- from Darcy's iPod
vii.
NOW.
Darcy was walking down the street towards Avengers Tower.
She borrowed clothes from Natasha, who for the most part liked to wear some pretty flashy figure-hugging things in her spare time.
Well, they were flashy for Darcy's taste. She missed her boots and hooded jacket, but she was sick of wearing the same clothes over and over from the same duffel bag.
The safe house had been suffocating, but they finally arrived in the city three days after Bucky met up with them in the hotel.
Not going to the Brooklyn safe house Natasha had mentioned was Bucky's idea. Instead they stayed in New Jersey and mostly played cards and strategized.
Darcy stopped and looked up at the Avengers Tower and noticed the Stark Industries sign where the capital A once was. Darcy cringed, remembering her last conversation with Tony and how vicious he had been.
Darcy had her taser, just in case. She hoped she was just being overly cautious. She didn't think Tony would ever actually hurt her, but he could come close depending on the trigger.
Bucky was nowhere to be seen so that was a good start. He and Natasha were a few blocks away in the Jeep, laying low. They were Darcy's backup, though the more she thought about it, the likelihood of her leaving Tony after this conversation felt exceptionally unlikely.
Bucky said he could keep her away before the police came and got her.
"Darcy?"
Darcy's head whipped around to see Happy Hogan coming up beside her, and she squinted at his sunglasses and failed to see his eyes.
"Happy."
"He wants to see you."
Darcy looked around behind them at the long street for any kind of escape. She counted dozens of people hanging around the streets, on their way to work or to school. She couldn't be sure who could be someone undercover, and who could just be a civilian.
"Where is he?"
Darcy wasn't in the mood for friendliness most days, let alone when she was back in a place that only ever reminded her of Bruce, and how in love they once were.
Were, or are? Of course Darcy still loved Bruce, but she didn't know how he felt any more. She didn't talk about Bruce at all during those days in the safe house with Bucky and Natasha because she didn't want to tell them the truth - Bruce was her life, and now he was gone. She didn't want them to pity her.
Happy gestured over to a limo some thirty feet away and Darcy rolled her eyes.
"Right."
She walked over to the limo and slipped into the back seat.
Tony sat opposite her, a glass tumbler of scotch in one hand.
He lowered his tinted sunglasses and Darcy sighed, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.
"Hi, Tony."
"Hi," he said, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Thought you'd drop by sooner or later."
"Like I had a choice. What the fuck is going on?"
Tony drained his glass and retrieved another drink from the minibar.
"Sure you saw on the news."
No pleasantries. No questions about where she'd been, why she hadn't said a thing in eighteen months. Darcy thought of Bucky and how he'd asked her right away.
"Bucky said you shot Steve out of the sky."
Tony clenched his empty fist and his eyes flashed with rage.
"Bucky?"
"Yeah."
Tony's eyes went to Darcy's naked left ring finger. He had the nerve to tut at her, shaking his head.
"Wow."
"I'm not sleeping with him, if that's what you think. I wouldn't ever do that to Bruce."
Tony didn't seem entirely convinced, and took another sip from his drink. "I had the theory that the second Bruce left, you'd be with him."
"What, to spite you or something? Is that really what you think of me?" Darcy snapped, wanting to slap the drink out of Tony's hand like the last time she saw him.
She remembered them screaming at each other, how hurt he'd been, and how hurt she was about everything going wrong so spectacularly. They weren't alone in the compound and yet she couldn't remember anyone trying to break them up to tell them to calm down.
Tony looked away. Darcy scowled.
"You didn't answer my question about Steve."
"I did." Tony's voice sounded small.
"Doesn't sound like you meant to."
"Everything was out of control. You weren't there, you wouldn't know."
Darcy felt like he'd punched her in the gut. She ran away and this was how her solitude repaid her. The whole world went on without her and she made a huge mistake. She knew that now. But it wasn't like she could go back and change that, and Tony shouldn't just throw that in her face.
"I know you just think I'm Bruce's little wife. I was your little secretary. The one you called 'kiddo'," she hissed, leaning forward and forcing Tony to look back at her.
"You need to make this right and help us find Steve. Because he's not dead, as far as we know."
Tony's eyes widened. "I didn't think that was why you came here."
"What?"
"I thought you came here for Bruce."
"You know where Bruce is?" Darcy didn't care if she seemed eager. Bruce was her other half.
She felt the tears well in her eyes so suddenly she was surprised by them falling on her cheeks.
"And you know where Bucky is."
Darcy let the other foot drop. As soon as any sympathy for Tony was felt, it left her in that moment. She leaned back into her seat and waited for the rage bubbling at the surface to calm.
"You and all your fucking secrets, Tony. You don't protect me anymore."
"You know I would never hurt you. But Bucky is still out there when he should be in custody."
"Because you want to kill him! You don't give a shit about his recovery."
Darcy wanted to scream and cry; she wasn't sure which first. Tony could be bluffing, but if he knew where Bruce was and she was that close to finding out for herself, Darcy wasn't sure how she would cope. She wouldn't give up Bucky just so Tony could get his revenge on something that wasn't even Bucky's fault.
"It won't bring your parents back, Tony."
Whatever composure Tony had was gone. He threw his glass against the door beside him, the glass flying in every direction, but luckily Darcy had already covered her face with her hands in fright.
"Give me a quinjet."
Darcy knew she was a sentence or too away from being arrested. She imagined Tony just taking it all out on her. In some ways, he could be worse than Bruce in terms of managing his anger.
Tony just turned to glare at her, and Darcy didn't see someone she knew anymore.
"Fine," she said, keeping still and blinking too much.
"Get out," Tony managed through gritted teeth.
Darcy didn't need to be asked twice. She slipped out of the limo, and stalked off down the street in the other direction.
She couldn't stop shaking. She couldn't walk properly, and bumped into a couple people who stared at her, annoyed.
"Sorry."
She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. This had been a massive mistake and she was going to pay for it all. She was stupid for bringing Bucky and Natasha here.
When Darcy got back to the car, jumping into the back seat and pulling Natasha's jacket tighter around her, Bucky and Natasha turned around to look at her.
"Are you okay?" Natasha asked.
"Lew," Bucky said, when Darcy stayed silent.
The words fell out of her, the news that Tony might know where Bruce was, but that he wasn't going to give up that information without Bucky somehow turning himself in.
"That son of a bitch," Bucky hissed, his eyes wild.
He reached for his door handle but Darcy grabbed his arm to pull him back.
"Bucky, don't! We need to get out of here."
"Back to Jersey?" Natasha asked, and Darcy shook her head.
Bucky stayed in his seat and growled. "Fuck that."
"We need you to pull some of your contacts and find that Versailles Hydra cell Bucky talked about," Darcy said to Natasha. "Because Tony didn't say Steve was dead."
Bucky and Natasha gave each other near undetectable nods.
"A trio is always better than a duo," Darcy added. "And you two can stop looking like me at that every time I suggest helping, because you're stuck with me, alright?"
Bucky smirked. "Alright, Lew."
"Give me my ring back, Nat," Darcy said. "I'm not arrested, I may as well keep my valuables on me."
Natasha pulled the wedding ring out from her jacket pocket and Darcy slipped it back on her finger.
It felt better with it on than off.
