Darcy's heart started to pound as she looked around without being super obvious about it; her eyes scanning cars, buildings and faces trying to see if there was anyone she didn't know but could be a possible creepy stalker that either wanted her dead or a way to the Avengers. Her hand went to her chest where the panic button lay and, considering she was fucking panicking, Darcy was really tempted to press it; the idea of Tony flying down to get her making her feel all the better.
And for all that she had dismissed Clint earlier she sure as fuck wished he was there now. All the other times she had been in danger he had been there to swoop in and make sure that she was safe. She could really do with some of his swooping right about now. She could really do with him, full fucking stop and she kind of hated herself for it.
"Are you sure?" Darcy asked as she looked back up to Logan's grim expression; he gave her a tight nod and Darcy squeezed her eyes shut. Logan did a lot of things but he didn't fret without reason and it proved to scare her more.
"Hey. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Logan assured her, his senses picking up on her obvious distress and trying to get her from her haze of fear. "I'm going to get you back to the tower and have a chat with the Captain."
Darcy's eyes snapped back open onto Logan's and she shook her head vigorously. "No, no, none of the Avengers."
Logan's frown deepened. "You're being followed Darcy, and by someone who has me worried and I don't spook easy, kid. People need to know; People who can help." He said as he scanned their surroundings with a more menacing focus.
"I get that Logan, I'm not an idiot. Take me to Phil, he'll help and not go overboard in the process." Darcy said as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder, her hand feeling the outline of her taser. What she needed right then was calm reassurance from a seasoned spy, not the emotional reactions of well-meaning but often overly emotional superheroes; she was getting emotional enough for fucking everyone as it was.
Logan studied her for a long moment, obviously debating his best move. "Fine," he bit out, "I'll take you to Coulson. He'll be at HQ right?" he agreed begrudgingly, getting onto the bike, holding his hand out to Darcy to steady her onto the back; his senses turned up to eleven so he could detect anything and everything for what he perceived as a very real danger to her.
"Yeah," Darcy said into his ear as she situated herself behind him. "He'll be waiting for Clint and Tasha to get back from mission." Darcy said as she held onto him tightly, hoping he couldn't feel her scared tremors but knowing very well he could. Darcy buried her face into his tensed back as he sped away from the sidewalk and went faster than the legal limit to SHIELD HQ; getting her out of sight and danger, as soon as possible.
They were at HQ quicker than Darcy thought to be possible. As soon as they were off of the bike outside the still disappointingly non –descript, office building, Logan sniffed the air and released a low growl with an angry twist of his lips, which were the beginnings of a snarl in her opinion. "They followed us back; they're not fuckin' around Darce." He rasped out as he crowded Darcy into the entrance trying not to look like he was using his body as a shield around hers. Logan really wasn't one for sugar coating things and while she usually appreciated his blunt honesty, as it was much like hers, right then she found herself needing some assurances; even if they were of the false variety; At least until she got her nerves back in check and didn't feel like throwing up. Her legs were shaking and she didn't think it was all to do with her ride on the bike.
As soon as they were safely inside and out of view of the large street facing windows, Darcy extracted her cell from her bag and scrolled onto Phil's contact info; Pressing 'call' she let out a slightly shaky exhale and bought the phone to her ear; her foot tapping a nervous tattoo on the tiled floor of the lobby. It rang twice before it connected.
"Coulson." Was the slightly static greeting she got and Darcy let out a relieved breath in response.
"Phil." Darcy said as brightly as she could, not wanting to freak him out before she could talk to him properly.
"Darcy? What's the matter? What's wrong?" he asked in quick succession and Darcy bit back on a sigh. Fucking spies; of course he could hear she was scared in one goddamn breath and his name. Clint could tell if something was wrong with her on a phone call just by the short pause between greetings, too.
"I need to see you now, please. I'm down in the HQ lobby with Logan." Darcy replied, still keeping the fake brightness even if they both knew it was complete horse shit at this point, but Darcy could keep up appearances when she had to and having breakdowns within SHIELD HQ was not something she really wanted to be known for.
"I'll be right there." Phil said before he disconnected the call. Darcy looked up at Logan and gave him a relieved smile and a short nod.
"He's coming." Logan nodded back as he moved to block her further from view and into a corner. Darcy spent the time it took Phil to get from wherever he was taking the elevator from to calm her erratic heartbeat. Taking deep breaths in through her nose and releasing them slowly through her mouth. She was startled after a few moments when she felt something touch her arm; but it was just Logan giving her a reassuring squeeze, which was slightly better than his animal impressions from before. She gave him a small smile, focusing back on her breathing and the warmth of his hand on her forearm.
Each breath in she took was full of Logan; slightly smoky from his cigars, a hint of cologne and the fresh air clinging to his clothes from the travel over on his bike. She lent her head forward and rested her temple on his chest, finding a small amount of solace in feeling the beat of his heart. Logan's other arm went to her shoulders and lightly stroked his thumb against the joint of her shoulder and the column of her neck. She was a little calmer but her fear was still too present to actually be comforted by him at that moment.
Just as she was about to close her eyes again, Darcy heard the elevator ding and the doors open, looking up in time to see Phil walking out; his head turning quickly, searching for her. She let out a gasped version of his name and darted around Logan as he released his loose hold on her and dashed to a stop right in front of Coulson; her fake brightness and barely managed calm forgotten as soon as he was in view. Phil looked at her in the assessing agent way of his, noticing her scared face and teary eyes and immediately opened his arms to her, knowing what she needed. Phil was well aware of Darcy's like of hugging and wasn't about to deny her then, no matter how unprofessional or how much it damaged his agent of no emotion persona.
Darcy breathed out a jagged breath that was almost a sob and closed the distance, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shoulder. One of his arms wrapped around her back as the other went to the back of her neck, giving a light squeeze and she relaxed against him, starting to feel a bit better now that she was with him. It wasn't that Logan didn't make her feel safe it was just that there was a difference between feeling safe and feeling comforted and lucky for her, Phil made her feel both.
"Darcy?" he murmured softly into her hair trying to get her to look at him but she just shook her head and held onto him tighter, her face going further into his shoulder; she didn't want to talk yet. She felt him strengthen his own hold and move them back into the still open elevator as he said. "What happened?" in his authoritative SHEILD voice and she knew he was talking to Logan.
"Our girl's got some nasty fucker following her." Logan drawled, the sound of his boots echoing off of the walls of the elevator as he followed them in.
Phil was eerily still for a moment as the doors closed before he said, "Press the exec level. We'll discuss this further when we get upstairs." he tensed and moved Darcy to his side, keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders the rest of the ride to the top floor.
The doors opened to the same empty hallway she had been to yesterday but Phil lead her the opposite direction, down to where she knew his and Maria's offices were. They entered his office and Phil settled her on the ridiculously comfortable black leather couch at the side of the room. He sat on the very edge, releasing his hold on her shoulders and turned to face her, taking her hands in his instead.
"What happened?" Coulson asked as he tried to catch her eyes but Darcy just shook her head again and rested her forehead on his shoulder. She was still in no mood to talk, especially as she really didn't know what was actually happening.
"Ask Logan." She said; words muffled by his suit jacket. She felt Phil look to Logan, could hear them talking, Logan telling him what had happened but all Darcy did was breath in and out, letting the random pressures of Phil's hands calm her further.
It was like as soon as she saw Phil, all of her hyper vigilance had disappeared and left her feeling just plain tired now that she knew she was as safe as she could be without having the Avengers surrounding her. She felt like her brain was short circuiting; each real thought she had just got pushed aside and another was in its place before she could gain any momentum on solving any of her problems.
Stalker. Abandoned kids. Clint. Secrets upon secrets. Stalker. Negotiations. Clint. Lab explosions.
All of them were battling for her attention and she was just too tired to try and fight for which one was most important; even if she knew it really should be her stalking situation, because duh.
"Darcy, I need to ask you some questions." Phil spoke softly after he'd gotten all he could from Logan; she took a deep breath and nodded her head against his shoulder. She knew he would have to; she sat back up but still holding his hands in hers, not willing to give the small comfort up just yet, hoping it would help to keep her on track if she felt herself drifting.
"Yeah, ok." Darcy said quietly, her eyes trained on Phil's fingers and the calluses she could see and feel from the years of handling weapons. Darcy would have normally made some sort of penis-as-weapons like innuendo but she just didn't have the energy and that was fucking concerning. "Ask away, Phil."
"Until Logan mentioned it, did you notice anyone watching you or anything even remotely strange? Seeing the same faces or cars around? Even a bad feeling could be helpful." He asked as he searched her face. Darcy felt a bubble of laughter in her chest but she squashed it back down. It wouldn't be appropriate. But fuck was it funny; her life was full of strange and all she'd been feeling for two weeks were bad feelings, just not the ones that could help Coulson in finding her creeper.
"No." Darcy shook her head. "The only time I've left the tower recently, was to look at the apartment Pepper picked for me with her and Seth and then my meeting with you guys yesterday; I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and you guys have all drilled it into me to check."
And good god had they; Happy, on Tony's orders, had once spent an entire weekend following her, with Rhodey in tow, after a lost poker game, taking her picture to show just how easy it is for her to be tracked without her knowledge; even by people she would recognise. It had Tony's sweet creepiness all over it. Not that she was too upset, she got one of her favourite pictures of her and Jane from it; the two of them eating ice cream outside central park, they were both having seriously good jean days; its quality was only slightly dampened by the bush that Happy had been lying in to hide from the girls and still get his shot. Rhodey had refused to go that far into the realm of creeperdom, because in his words 'he was a goddamn grown up who didn't look at ladies from undergrowth.'
Then there was the truly terrifying week that Tasha and Clint had spent following her around the city and the tower, jumping out at her and saying 'dead' when the time came that they felt she should have noticed them by. Well Tasha would say 'dead' Clint went for the sneak kiss; which was, admittedly, a very nice reprieve before she had to spend fucking hours being told all the different ways that they could have taken and or killed her. The leather twins did, at times, lack some serious people skills.
Assholes; well meaning assholes, that were just showing their very real concern for her, but assholes all the same. Again, that's why she didn't turn down the security details; she knew her skills weren't anywhere near as honed as the ones who had the goddamn training. Darcy was not a dumbass-she knew who was best equipped for her safety; hence Coulson being her go to guy.
"Other than those couple of times I've been 'hermit Darcy', spending my nights watching 'South Park' with Steve and Bruce. I would have said something if I felt anything strange before that." Darcy said as she rolled her shoulders and bit her lip. Her tiredness and lack of knowing was starting to make her feel flustered and she didn't fucking like it; this wasn't who she was, she could deal with shit and she was going to deal with this. Darcy took a deep breath and looked up to Logan then, who was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, using her frustration to help her focus she asked. "Did you smell it yesterday? When you left before me from here? If you didn't maybe this is new." Darcy hoped it was new. She didn't want to think that someone had been following her for god knew how long without her or her security detail knowing it.
"No, but Darce I came in and out of the underground parking lot; you came in through the front lobby." Darcy scrunched her face up at how he knew that and he rolled his eyes. "That's where Hill went to collect you for the meeting. I wouldn't have caught a scent."
"But you said you recognised it. That it was familiar. You really can't think of who it is?" Darcy asked with wide, pleading eyes.
"It's strange, Darcy; it feels like I've met the person before and I should know who it is but the scent isn't quite right, but I've definitely smelt it in some bad situations; recently too. They're at the back of my mind but I can't shove them forward. It's fuckin' frustratin'." Logan said looking equal parts sorry and angry. Darcy knew that he struggled with being answerless so she stopped pushing; it wouldn't be fair or helpful.
Darcy sighed, closed her eyes, nodded and leaned back against Phil's shoulder, "it's ok." She said letting Phil's presence soothe her again. He untangled a hand from hers and stroked it down the back of her head, leaving it to rest at her neck again.
"Ok, so you haven't noticed anything when you've been out and we haven't received any intel from your detail, or otherwise, to suggest anyone has been targeting you or the Avengers. Well, other than the usual suspects." Phil said to the room but she could feel his breath in her hair. "Logan, do you think you can see if you can track the scent? If not finding the actual person, a place that we can have JARVIS and SHIELD check camera feeds for an ID would be very helpful." Phil asked and Darcy opened her eyes to look at Logan in time to see him nod and stand from his table seat, his eyes firmly on Phil's.
"I'll go now and get back to you when I find something. You get onto those SHIELD feeds ASAP Coulson. I may not be able to tell you who it is exactly but I do know that whoever this guy is, he's no amateur and if he's following the kid he wants something and it ain't going to be anything good." Logan's gaze flicked to Darcy then. "I promise we'll sort this fucker out. He won't get what he wants, no matter what it is." He promised.
"Yeah." Darcy said, giving him a small smile that wasn't nearly as convincing as she hoped it had been if the slight frown Logan gave her was an indicator. With a nod to Phil and a look to Darcy that she couldn't quite decipher, he was gone.
"Darcy, I'm going to call Hill to get her to run the scans and then get JARVIS on the job too." Darcy made a negative humming noise, shaking her head and tightened her grip on his hand as she looked back to him from where Logan had gone from view, hearing the ding of the elevator in the distance.
"No, not Maria, she'll think she has to tell Fury and he'll tell the guys and then it'll become a massive thing. Can't you just keep it on the down low for now?" Darcy's voice was tired but defiant and she knew what she was saying made sense. As much as Darcy loved Maria she knew that Hill would follow procedure to the letter especially when it came to her friend's safety; whilst that was sometimes useful this wasn't one of them. Darcy needed Phil's sneaky under the radar plotting right then. He was quiet for a long moment, studying her face before nodding, seeming to understand her reasoning.
"Ok, I can do that. But Darcy this is already a 'massive thing' to worry about. When it comes to situations like this Wolverine is very rarely wrong. His senses are too advanced and he has too much experience." Darcy held Phil's gaze seeing the very real worry in his eyes and she smiled sadly, nodding her head in agreement.
"I know. He's really freaked and you've got the sad eyes working for you." She teased and Phil raised an eyebrow minutely that had Darcy's smile became a little less sad, his little micro expressions always made her a little giddy. "But whatever, right? Go and get this ball rolling; the sooner this guy's identified the sooner you can all go and kick his ass for me." She joked and Phil smiled at her but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Before she could say anything about it though, he lent forward and kissed her forehead, giving a final squeeze of her hand before he untangled them and left his office to make his covert arrangements.
And then Darcy was alone. Leaning back on the couch she closed her eyes, her weariness overcoming her again at just how fucked up everything was, becoming that much clearer. She raised her hands to her face and dug the heels into her eyes, not giving two shits about her already ruined makeup and slid her fingers into her hair, giving it a little tug.
She was just so damn tired of it all. The other shoe kept on dropping and crushing any and all good and she didn't know how long her frayed nerves could handle it, let alone anything else that would inevitably crop up, as was her life.
Darcy sighed, took her hands away from her face and scooped her hair back and put it into a messy bun at the top of her head, random curls spilling around her face. It had started to feel stifling and heavy against her neck and she had no doubt that she had some serious helmet hair going on, so fuck it, it's not like she had to impress Phil or any of the SHIELD drones she may run into.
Not really wanting to dwell on anything that she didn't have an answer for (which seemed to be every-fucking-thing at the moment), Darcy stood from the couch and took a circuit of Phil's office, to distract herself.
She looked at the odd knick knacks from his trips around the world and the gifts he'd received decorating his work space; smiling when she came across the TARDIS paperweight on his desk that she'd gotten him for his last birthday. She may have hacked that date from the SHIELD mainframe. It had been an interesting meeting with Fury when he'd found out; he just kindly informed her to 'never do that the fuck again.'
So she didn't do it again; she got JARVIS to do it for her instead. Much to Tony's utter glee and Pepper's exasperated amusement. Loop-holes, gotta love 'em.
If her SHIELD friends insisted on keeping stupid secrets, like each other's birthdays, then she was just going to have to dig for them. Even super spies deserved at least a card to celebrate their birth. Darcy had seen the 'Just hang in there' kitten card she'd gotten Fury for his last birthday in his folders; she thought he may have appreciated the seriously old crate of whiskey she'd gotten for him from her and the team; god knew the Avengers drove him to drink often enough. It seemed only fair that they keep his supply up for the next time they destroyed a city block of buildings.
Darcy picked up the yellow faced stress ball from Phil's desk and tossed it from hand to hand as she walked toward the ceiling to floor, street facing windows and lent her forehead against the cold surface, her breath fogging up the glass. She didn't know how long she stayed there staring out at the busy New York day below; tracing shapes into the condensation, but it gave enough time for Phil to come back from starting his undercover sleuthing on her behalf.
"I'd prefer it if you weren't by the windows right now." He said from the door as Darcy turned to him, her head tilted in question. "We don't know who this person is or what skill set they might have; I'd rather not take the risk that they're some sort of a sharpshooter." He explained as Darcy's eyes widened and she nodded her understanding, moving quickly away from the glass and accepting the bottle of water he handed to her with a grateful smile.
"Aren't these windows like some super polymer, you know, the kind of stuff that could survive a nuclear explosion or like a Hulk attack, or something?" She asked nodding her head back to the view she'd just been looking down across. "Because seriously, if they aren't that is just some really bad architecture for a super spy building and adds more weight to my argument that you need a kick ass underground lair, Phil. Your half-assing in this building makes me so sad." She intoned with faux solemnity and disappointment, putting a hand to her heart.
Phil smiled slightly, playing along with her avoidance for a small moment, and made his way over to his desk. "Your opinions on that matter have been noted and ignored Darcy; stop spamming Fury with memos. And Batman comics for what we should aim for are not blueprints, suggestions maybe and bad ones at that; no one wants to work in a leaky cave." He said as he moved the TARDIS paperweight to the side and revealed some buttons under a clear case; flipping the lid, he pressed a few and the room began to darken as shutters covered the windows and then lit up again as the over head lights came on, making up for the lack of natural daylight. "And to answer your question; yes they are able to withstand considerable force, but as I said we don't know their skill set or what resources our problem might possess. Why tempt fate." Phil gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
Darcy took the hint and sat down, crossing her legs at the knee as she smiled slightly, looking around at the room and how freaking cool that was. She may be around robots on a daily basis and an honest to Thor AI, and whatever else Tony had invented, but things like that still made her stupidly happy. Hell, clapper lights still made her smile. She was easily impressed sometimes. Especially at things that meant she didn't have to exert actual energy other than the press of a few buttons.
"So, what's the plan, G man?" Darcy asked as he took his seat behind his desk and she uncapped her drink for a long sip. After her little respite from serious thought, her brain felt clearer and more capable of dealing with what was going on now. She was totally focused on how to handle her stalker issue.
"I've started running searches on the route Logan said he took from the tower to 'Garrity's' and the one he took here. Hopefully something will come up and we can see who this person is." Darcy nodded, glad to see that now he was somewhat less anxious about her follower now he had some plans in action, she found it eased her a little too. "I've already contacted JARVIS; he's searching normal cameras and any and all social media for picture or video taken that coincide with your GPS. He's going further back to track your movements to and from the Tower over the space of the last six weeks, I've given him full access to the SHIELD camera feeds; not that he needs it, he could hack us in no time flat."
Darcy's eyes widened and she swallowed her water quickly to avoid any gross spit-take scenarios, her ease lessening suddenly and drastically. "You think this could have been going on for that long?" she asked, her stomach twisting a little as she squeezed little yellow face that was still in her hand; making it's cute little expression contort uncomfortably.
"I think I have no idea. I'm just covering all the bases. I also told JARVIS to tell Stark and the others that I have requested your and Logan's assistance on some negotiation business and you'll be back later than your lunch allows; and that he should resist the urge to cause an explosion in protest of your prolonged absence." Darcy let out a snort at Phil's trademark deadpan delivery and shook her head but was glad that she wouldn't have to lie to her friends anymore than she already had.
"Yeah, I'm sure they're going to be thrilled with that excuse. They weren't overly happy with our dinner conversation last night, Phil." he raised an eyebrow and she waved a hand at his concern. "Not to worry, Tony shouldn't be too destructive, all good on the home-front now. I even got a present out of it." Darcy preened as she plucked up her necklace for Phil to see. "He felt bad for accusing me of being all chummy with you guys about the negotiations and gave me this. It's a GPS and panic button, too."
Phil looked at it for a moment and then nodded with an approving hum. "It's pretty and practical."
"Just like me." Darcy joked, shrugging a shoulder and batting her eyelashes before she took another sip of water and a thought occurred to her mid mouthful. "You did tell JARVIS to keep this to himself right? No telling the Avengers and friends?"
"Yes." Phil nodded. "I used my override codes. This remains between You, Logan, Natasha -when she gets back- and me." Phil said and Darcy tilted her head to the side with an unimpressed narrowing of her eyes.
"Um, Phil, in case you've forgotten, Tasha is an Avenger." Darcy said in a slow voice like she was talking to a child or Tony when he was busy being a little shit about something stupid; giving a slight shake of her head that had Coulson staring at her blandly in response.
"Yes, Darcy, But it's part of my plan for how to deal with our situation." Darcy narrowed her eyes at him again but remained quiet, willing to hear him out; she did come to him for help after all and her heart may have swelled three sizes from him referring to her stalking problem as 'our situation'; it made her feel a lot less alone and like she had a big target on her back. She nodded slightly and he continued. "I think the best move is to keep as normal as possible; your unwanted shadow doesn't need to know we know about him, even if you coming to HQ could be seen as suspicious. We'll wait here until we hear back from Logan and compile what we've both found. I don't want you going anywhere until we have at least an idea of what we're up against. We'll then send you back to the tower with Seth, not Logan. Motorbikes are too vulnerable to attacks and I would feel better knowing you have more protection. Then you go and get ready for your party, because I don't see you making it back to the tower in time to do anymore work. When Natasha comes back from mission and has finished her debrief I will inform her of the situation. We'll then arrive at the party and Natasha will take you to your new apartment when you want to leave, where she will stay and keep you safe for as long as it takes. With your new homes added security measures, I see no reason for you to stay within the tower while we deal with this."
Darcy was silent for a few moments while she dissected Phil's plan, periodically squeezing the ball in her hand. "Why don't we want the creep to know we know about him? It might make him stop if he knows SHIELD has eyes on him now."
Phil nodded slowly. "It might. Or it might make him speed up his timeline for what his objective is and considering we don't know what that is, we don't want to risk it. With how dangerous Logan believes him to be I wouldn't be surprised if a very good possibility is he grabs you up at the earliest opportunity or just takes you out permanently for his troubles." Darcy immediately blanched at his bluntness and went completely still; her hold on the bottle and stress ball loosening but not enough to actually drop them. Phil, seeming to realise his tone had scared her, softened some before leaning forward onto his desk, his stare intense. "Which is why we are taking all of these precautions; I won't let any of that happen to you, Darcy. I promise."
Darcy looked into his eyes and saw the belief there. He truly thought he could protect her and she was inclined to believe it to; had no reason not to. It was always good to remember that for all he may look like a buff accountant, Phil Coulson was, in fact, a total badass who could kill you with a clicker pen. "I know. The plan's good Phil. We'll do all of that." Darcy said on a sigh, waving her water bottle at him in agreement of his ideas as she closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. Her thumb was showing a slight nervous tick of peeling the label off of her bottle, as she tried to not remember all the examples of how easily Clint and Tasha said they could have murdered her. She'd managed to get half of the label off and to scenario six: garrotting her with a shoelace, in silence when Phil broke it, speaking softly.
"You look tired."
Darcy let out a huffed laugh through her nose, not opening her eyes. "That's because I am, Phil." She opened one eye slowly and looked to him with a wry smile. "My life has become exhausting and that was before this whole stalker-y thing." She gave another sigh and heaved herself back up, opening both of her eyes fully. "Everything's happening all at once and I can't quite seem to process it. My skills at compartmentalisation are shot because I'm so tired of it all." Darcy looked down to her hand and rolled her thumb and forefinger together, gathering the label adhesive into a ball. "First it was Clint ending things out of nowhere and going to save the world someplace super classified, whilst I just have to carry on without him, having our friends give me sad faces and emotional speeches about my well being that make me feel like crap for lying to them for months; then you guys getting me involved in the negotiations from hell; Logan telling me about the X –Men wanting to play super-nanny to a bunch of emotionally damaged kids with abilities and now a fucking stalker. All in a stupidly short span of time and in conjunction with making sure my scientists are looked after. I just need things to stop for a moment so I can put everything in place." She said, looking back to him, but Phil just stared; face carefully blank and it had Darcy shaking her head as she took a large breath, exhaling slowly. "So, yeah, I'm tired." When he continued to not say anything she let her head fall back against her headrest and started to count the tiles on the ceiling. She had just unloaded on the poor man she at least had the decency to let him digest. She got to tile thirty, which looked like a frog if she squinted just right, before Phil spoke up.
"And you're scared." Darcy looked back up to him suddenly and froze, shocked that he had gotten to the core of her neuroses and feeling a little uncomfortable about it; she thought she had been better at hiding that little fact, than that. Phil just smiled his 'I'm Agent Coulson; I can decipher each and every one of Black Widows eye brow twitches, that was nothing.' "I'd be more worried if you weren't, it would mean you weren't taking these things as seriously as you should be. You're in flux, Darcy. You're scared because you know that your life is changing but nothing has actually started yet." Phil said as he stood from his seat and walked to the front of his desk and sat on the edge, never taking his eyes off of her. "It's not a bad thing; it's human. You're going through a lot right now; more than most anyone should, no wonder you're feeling the strain, but if anyone can deal with it, it's you; All of it. Of that I have no doubt."
Darcy licked and folded her lips as she stared back down at her hands. "It's stupid, though; I can face the prospect of alien armies invading on the reg without batting so much as an eyelash but all of this stuff has me terrified." she said quietly as hands that weren't hers were suddenly in her line of sight, gently removing the stress ball and water. Darcy lifted her head slightly and found Phil crouching in front of her.
"It's not stupid to be scared, especially about this person following you; it is scary. It's also not stupid to be scared about people expecting you to be as exceptional as everyone who already know you, knows you to be;" He said as he filled her empty hands with his own. "Before yesterday you lived and worked under the radar, getting things done without being asked and expecting no praise for your efforts; and you were comfortable in the role that you'd carved out for yourself. But now important people have recognised all the things you can be capable of and want to utilise you and your incomparable skills, and that has you distinctly uncomfortable. You like people underestimating you so that you never have to disappoint the people you care for." He looked her seriously in the eye and made a slight grimace, as if he was unsure whether to say what he wanted, before he decided to go ahead and do so anyway. "Like how you were continually disappointed by your mother and father." And Darcy froze again, her heart feeling like it stopped dead in her chest.
"How...What...I don't..." Darcy spluttered for a moment, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly a few more times as she tried to figure out how he knew about her monumental parental issues and how it was playing into her apprehensiveness of the expectations being put upon her now.
"You'd be surprised what your SHIELD file has on you." He said with an apologetic lilt of voice and tilt of his head as he looped a loose curl behind her ear, his palm covering her cheek; the action so surprisingly paternal that it took the wind out of her indignant sails at SHEILD doing what SHEILD did and she just closed her mouth again, waiting for him to continue; knowing that he wasn't bringing up her childhood to be hurtful but for context; painful and personal context, but necessary to his point and her issues at large. He gave Darcy a grateful nod for her not going off the deep end at him and said. "Darcy Lewis, you have so much to offer the world; you are meant to do great things and I know that you won't let the threat of a stalker, the idiocy of an archer, or your own fear and insecurity stop you from achieving them."
Darcy was quiet and still as she let his insightful words roll around her mind and she tried to find the right ones in response. "It's just a lot for me to screw up and I've already screwed up so much with the whole Barton thing." She finally said, leaning into his touch a little. "Part of me just really wants to run." She admitted with not a small amount of shame as she looked away from Coulson's face and down to his chest.
Phil moved his hand to just under her jaw and tilted her face back to look at him, after a moment so she could gather herself, with a soft understanding smile that had Darcy fighting back grateful tears. "But you won't." He said firmly but not unkindly. "Darcy Lewis does a lot of things, but she does not run when things get hard; she stays and she fights and she succeeds. That is who you are and that is who you will always be. You just need to believe in yourself, but if you can't do that right now, use the fear you feel as an agent for change; use it to make you better."
Darcy continued to be quiet. She didn't have the heart to make the point that what he said wasn't quite true. She had run in the past, her lack of a relationship with both of her parents being prime examples. Yes, there may be extenuating circumstances; her parents being crappy people and wanting to keep her sanity, but she had still run when she had had enough of their particular brand of bullshit. Then there was what she was doing by moving out of the tower and away from Clint; it wasn't exactly 'staying, fighting and succeeding'.
But then again maybe he was also a little right; Instead of being afraid of whatever changes coming her way she should try being excited and open to them, she should see them as opportunities of growth and self actualisation (and if she started to sound anymore like a self help book she was going to drown herself in the goddamn Hudson).
And if she couldn't be excited right then she could use the faith that Coulson had in her to fight her fears back and start to actually believe that she was as able as everyone kept telling her. Darcy was starting to annoy herself with all the doubting she was doing when her friends said they thought she could do things. She knew she was awesome, why shouldn't other people.
Deciding to start changing immediately, Darcy found that if she stopped looking at all of her challenges all lumped together in a tangle of 'oh-my-god-no!-ten-people-couldn't-deal-with-this-let-alone-me-on-my-own' but individually like she usually did when things got a bit too much, she thought herself more than capable of handling them and not nearly as afraid. It felt like her brain was taking a deep and satisfying sigh after having the weight lifted off of it; and it was all thanks to Phil and his calling out her hidden fears.
Biting her lip in thought of her new/old outlook, Darcy tilted her head at Phil and asked in a surprisingly strong voice. "I can do all of this, can't I? Stalker and all?" and Coulson gave her a decisive nod.
"No one better." He assured.
Darcy smiled at him before slowly wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him hug, conveying her gratitude with each squeeze.
Coulson hugged her back and said into her ear. "And you won't be doing any of it alone." Darcy hugged him a little tighter and smiled into his neck, happy tears brightening her eyes but not falling.
Darcy blew out a breath and squared her shoulders as pulled back after a long moment, smiling slightly. "You know if you hadn't just completely changed my life with your Obi-Wan speech giving, I would be seriously creeped out by how well you just read me, Secret Agent Man." Darcy joked, as her brain processed her sudden change in life view; already putting plans into place of conversations she would have to have with her team about the negotiations and her job offer.
Coulson shook his head with a smile and stood from his crouched position, he held a hand out for her and she tipped her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me to dance in celebration, Phil? Because I have to warn you I have been known to tear up a few dance floors in my time." Darcy teased as she stared up at him with a teasing smirk.
"Not right now; but I'll make sure to give you a spin later on this evening." Darcy's eyes widened and she bit her lip on a laugh as she heard him release a pained little groan as he closed his eyes slowly. "You know what I meant." Darcy just grinned up at him as he shook his head when he opened his eyes and looked back down at her. "As I was saying earlier;" he said firmly to change the topic from his unintentional innuendo. "You look tired Darcy, and I have a very comfortable couch." He said with a nod of his head to the piece of furniture in discussion.
Darcy gave him a look that very much questioned his sanity and she let a little laugh out. "Um, Phil, do you not remember the conversation we just had about how packed my life is, right now? I don't really think nap time is the best way to utilise my abilities." Tipping her head to the side and holding up a finger she added. "Also, saying a woman looks tired isn't really a boost for the ego. Next time go with 'your radiance seems somewhat dimmed by recent events.'" She suggested glibly and bit her lip on another smile at his non stare.
"There is nothing you can do right now." Phil told her, disregarding her solid girl advice. "JARVIS and I have our searches running and Logan is out doing reconnaissance. The best thing for you to do at the moment, is rest and keep up your energy for what's to come." Phil told her as he lightly took her elbow and tugged her to standing. Darcy narrowed her eyes at him but he just ignored it and towed her along to stand in front of his couch. "I promise that as soon as I know anything I'll wake you up." And Darcy found herself relenting. She really was tired and she supposed that planning her talks could wait for a small sleep.
Looking from Phil to the couch and back again Darcy finally nodded and removed her bag and placed it onto the floor. Phil, satisfied, let go of her arm as she sat on the couch and she started unlacing her shoes; she paused, peering up at him through her eyelashes, mid unknotting and said. "The shoes may be coming off, Phil, but the ducklings stay on." She mocked, her hand motioning side to side at the baby animals that covered her chest.
"Oh, darn, you have foiled my plan to seduce you when you are emotionally drained; because that's how I like my women: sad." Phil mono-toned and had Darcy laughing as she finished removing her shoes and started to lie down.
"We all have our kinks, Phil. Mine's emotionally stunted archers with ridiculously muscular arms and a wicked sense of humour; so who am I to judge, right?" Darcy said as she moved onto her side, facing Phil and rested her head on her folded arm.
"Sleep." He stressed as he went to his desk and produced what seemed to be a red and gold blanket from plastic wrapping but on closer inspection...
"Phil, why do you have a blanket with Iron Man's face on it?" she asked slowly, a little horrified but a lot more amused at what she was witnessing. Phil sighed as he walked over to her, shaking the blanket out and spreading it over her prone form, tucking her in around the edges.
"Tony thought it was amusing. He got Maria one with Captain America on it." Phil told her as he removed his jacket, bunching it up and motioning for Darcy to lift her head, before he fitted it as a pillow and smoothed some loose curls away from her forehead.
"You got Iron Man and Maria got the Captain? I bet you are soooo jealous." Darcy laughed as she nuzzled her head to get comfortable in the fabric of his jacket, but then narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in thought. "Wait, does Maria use her Captain-y blankey?"
"I have been sworn to secrecy." Phil said as he gave her hair a final smooth down and turned to his desk sitting back in his seat, his fingers swiping quickly across a tablet as Darcy snorted.
"That means she totally does and you're just scared she'll kick your ass if she finds out you let it slip." Darcy said on a yawn and Coulson chuckled. The room was quiet for a long moment after, the only sounds the odd click and swipe of his tablet, computer and cell, before Darcy spoke again. "Phil?" she called out softly. He looked over to her and raised his eyebrows. "Thank you, really. Your support...it means...well it means everything, you managed to see all my problems and put them into perspective and I don't think anyone else could have. I don't think I'll ever be able to verbalise how much you've just helped me; I actually think you may have helped me more than I even realise right now. So thank you for that and for making me feel safe, like you always do." She said feeling awkward in her sincerity without snarking too, but knowing it was worth it when he gave her a slightly sheepish smile and nodded.
"Anytime; now sleep." He insisted and Darcy smiled back before she snuggled down into the fabric of his suit and closed her eyes. The couch really was stupidly comfortable and not even being skeeved out by having Tony Stark on top of her while she slept could keep her from answering the call of slumber.
"The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions."
John A. Simone, Sr. quote
Darcy was woken once again by the sound of people talking, though this time not as softly as Steve and Bruce had been that morning after movie night. She groaned a little as she rolled onto her back and blinked her eyes open, remembering where she was. Turning her head she saw Logan and Phil having a particularly intense discussion if the tension and tone she saw was anything to go by.
"Hey." She called out, her voice still a little sleep rough. "What's with the testosterone showdown?" Darcy asked as she sat up and stretched her hands above her head and pushed the Iron Man blanket down to pool at her hips.
Phil and Logan looked over to her, both with looks of worry and frustration.
"Nothing." Phil said before turning his eyes back on Logan who just shook his head and scoffed. Oooh, discord within the ranks.
"Yeah Darlin', it's nothing. Literally, we have nothing." Logan bit out as he flexed his fingers, obviously resisting the urge to let his claws loose.
Darcy frowned, pushing the cover from her legs and swinging them over the edge of the couch and rested her elbows on her knees, burying her Hulk sock covered toes into the carpeting. "When you say 'nothing' you mean that the searches that SHIELD and JARVIS did found nothing and you couldn't find anything with your super sense-y smell?" she deduced.
"Yes and no." Phil told her in a soothing tone that she didn't actually find all that soothing. Her need for false assurances from earlier no longer necessary after her Phil Coulson pep talk had set her mind and priorities straight; her entire focus now on her stalker problem and nothing else. Compartmentalisation was a close friend of hers once more. If she could give a coping mechanism a friendship bracelet, she totally would.
"And what does that mean?" Darcy asked as she started putting her shoes back on and checking her watch, eyes widening at the time. Shit, it was twenty five to six and she needed to be back at the tower at six to get ready with the girls for the party or people would start to get suspicious.
"It means that the camera feeds picked someone up but whoever they are, are good; very good. They knew where to avoid getting their face captured on any and all cameras. We have been able to define sex, height and weight, though." Phil said as he picked up some photos from his desk and handed them to her to inspect. "Familiar?" he asked even though his tone already seemed to know the answer.
Darcy studied the glossy pieces of paper with a concentrated frown. The man, because it was obviously a man, was tall; just over six feet if the trigonometry diagram to estimate height was correct and very in shape if the tight shirt he was wearing, revealing rippling muscles was an indication. The baseball cap he had on not quite able to cover the hint of brown-y red hair that was just visible at the back of his head. Darcy flicked through the rest of the photos and shook her head. "No, I don't recognise him." She said not taking her eyes off of the images, taking note of the camera the mystery man had in his grasp.
"Like I said he's good, we couldn't even get a reflective image." Phil groused as he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms in barely contained frustration.
"What like a vampire?" Darcy asked, her brain still waking itself up. "Because, dude, if I have some weird Dracula wannabe following me thinking I'm their Mina or whatever, I am going to be seriously pissed." Darcy griped as she put the pictures into her bag and started to fold up Iron Man.
Phil let out a half-hearted laugh and shook his head. "No, no vampires, the cap he wears shadowed his face and made an ID impossible. He even wipes down everything he touches so we can't get a fingerprint to run. This is someone highly trained; military, alphabet agency and otherwise."
Darcy nodded and looked to Logan who shook his head. "I retraced our routes but lost him, he must have had a vehicle somewhere but the cameras didn't pick anything up from where I couldn't track him further."
Darcy nodded again, reaching for Phil's jacket and shook it out to get rid of some of the wrinkles, glad to note there was no embarrassing drool spot. She stood folding it and the blanket over her arm, walking over to where Phil was standing against his desk and leaned into his side a little. "So it's not really nothing. We have more than we did a few hours ago." She gave Phil a little nudge with her shoulder, hoping to make them feel a little better. They had something, even if it wasn't much. Optimism thy name is Darcy. She tilted her head to look at him. "Could you tell how long he's been following me for?" and she noticed his little grimace and turned her head to look at Logan when he released a low growl.
"JARVIS and the SHIELD feed have the earliest confirmed sighting at five weeks ago." Phil said as he retrieved a photo of her and Natasha laughing as they entered a phone store. She looked at the top left corner and saw the creeper leaning against a wall, cap in place and camera in hand. "We're still looking further back."
"I remember that day." Darcy said as she took the paper from Coulson. "We were getting Steve a replacement cell when he broke his old one after a particularly vigorous Flappy Bird session. I told him not to download it, but did he listen to me? Noooo, it was like Candy Crush all over again." Darcy said as she pushed herself off of the desk and walked forward a few steps handing the folded jacket and blanket to Coulson. "Against popular opinion and Tony's relentless teasing, Steve knows as much about modern technology as the rest of us. He's a man out of time; he's not still living in it. He has top of the range phones and tablets and laptops and he knows how to use them all; I've never had to explain one piece of tech to him, he can read instructions, but he always seems to forget about his super strength thumbs and ends up cracking the screens." She said to no one in particular as she wiggled her thumbs in demonstration without looking up from the photo. Darcy made her way back to sit on the couch and get her bag, retrieving the pictures she'd put away and trying to discern how much of her life this guy had encroached upon based on the dates in the corner. She knew that she was babbling but having photographic proof that she had a tail was doing a number on her nerves. "Not that he has that problem anymore; Tony made him a phone that has some kind of protective casing during one of his rare moments of actually admitting he likes Steve and wants to make his life easier. Not that he actually said that, according to him he was all about the science! of it. He's a bad liar sometimes." Darcy felt the couch dip next to her and turned to see Phil looking at her with concern and she grimaced. "Sorry, Rambley!Darcy just made an appearance." She took a deep breath and released it on a sigh. "I just don't get it. All these photos are of me being ridiculously boring;" she said with shake of the photos in her hand. "Me, Pepper and Thor shopping for Jane's birthday presents," She said placing the paper in her lap. "Me and Bruce going to the bank," She placed the picture down on top of the other and continued. "Here's Steve trying to teach me to rollerblade in Madison Square Park. Tony taking me on a tour of some clubs looking for the right one to rent out for a Stark meet and greet with investors; the answer being none. I mean I know that they prove that I'm close to the Avengers and everything but I'm not the only one and I'm hardly the most valuable target for someone to have."
"It proves that they can get to them through you. Sometimes that's enough." Logan pointed out as he leaned against wall between the windows his stance looking relaxed but his frame tense.
"Yeah, but they could get that with Jane and with it the knowledge of how to open freaking rainbow bridges. Pepper can get them access to next gen tech and more money than I can even put a number to." She shook her head as she placed the pictures back in her bag, not wanting to see them anymore. "I'm not putting myself down, guys; it just seems to be a lot of time and effort for such little pay off when there are much better targets." She frowned for a moment and tilted her head. "Could it have to do with the treaty business or the job offer with you guys?" she asked. "Someone might not want me helping out to make a super squad or bringing lost little lambs into the fold." She looked between Coulson and Logan and sighed when she saw the exchange of looks. "No, you don't get to hide things from me. Not to sound self-absorbed or anything but this is literally all about me. Spill it." She demanded her voice hard and unflinching. No way were these bastards going to start holding out on her now.
"It is a possibility that we are looking into." Phil said diplomatically but buckled slightly under Darcy's unimpressed glare. "It is one avenue of many we are looking into. We have feelers out to other agencies and contacts. Only a handful of people know about either venture, so it shouldn't take long to find a leak and see how far it spread. We truly don't know any more than what we're telling you." Phil assured and Darcy had no reason to not believe him except she still had a feeling that he was withholding something; maybe not something concrete but enough to have given him an idea and obviously not a very good one. She narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips for a moment before nodding deciding to drop it for right then; but later if she still felt like he was being all sneaky spy it was going to be on like Donkey Kong.
Darcy looked between Logan and Phil before asking, "So, what now?" as she put the strap of her bag around her body. "I'm going to need to head for the tower to get ready for the party and I imagine you have to debrief Barton and Tash soon."
"Yes, they should be about done in medical; band aids don't take long to apply." He said with a check of his cell and Darcy tensed; that meant that Clint was in the building and it was the closest she'd been to him since they'd broken up, the thought made her a little queasy, but at least they weren't seriously hurt. "We'll stick to the plan; Seth is waiting downstairs and will take you back to the tower, he knows there was an incident and he needs to be vigilant; with Logan following on the bike, looking for tails and Natasha will take you home at the end of the night." Phil looked to Logan and he just shrugged.
"If it's still good for Darcy." He said with a look to her and she smiled. She really wanted to pet his side burns for that moment of sweetness. He totes had a marshmallow-y centre.
"Ok." Darcy nodded and stood from her the couch and Phil followed her to his office door that Logan had already opened. "I'll see you tonight?" she asked when she turned to face Phil by his office door.
"You will. This debrief shouldn't take long, we'll probably be there just after eight, knowing Stark though, the party won't actually start until nine." Noticing Darcy's grimace he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be fine. Natasha and I will make sure that Barton behaves himself. You just concentrate on having a good time. Take fun when you can get it, Darcy."
"Ok, yeah." Darcy took a deep breath and put on a smile that wasn't even half faked, maybe just an eighth. "Maybe you should take your own advice. Sif is an awful lot of fun, Phil."
Using the hand on her shoulder, Phil turned Darcy towards the door and a waiting Logan, who wasn't even trying to hide his amusement. "Go." He said with a little push whilst shaking his head, but he had a smile on his face too so Darcy was pleased.
"Fine, but get ready to have your socks knocked off, my dress is totes amazeballs." She called over her shoulder as Logan pulled her to the open elevator doors.
"I will try and contain my urge to take you in a manly fashion." He called back as he put his suit jacket on, dusting the shoulders off of some of her long hair.
"You know, if you and Sif had gotten your acts together months ago you could of been able to use the 'were I unwed' part of that quote." She countered but missed what he said back when Logan gave her a little nudge into the waiting elevator car. She did not however miss the loud 'thank you, Logan' he shouted. "Hey!" she yelped with a pout as the doors closed and Logan punched the button for the lobby.
"Leave the man alone." Logan quipped with a smile as he came to lean against the wall next to the corner Darcy had lounged herself in, arms resting on the handrails. "I've met Lady Sif, he's going to need all nerve he can get to face her and your teasin' won't help."
Darcy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please, Sif's a love. And I know for a fact that she likes Phil in an 'I wanna rock your body' kinda way." Her nose scrunched a little and her brow furrowed. "She told me in some very graphic detail the last time she took a rainbow trip. I had to stop her from drawing diagrams to explain some of her moves. Unfortunately Phil was off cleaning up another Barton/Romanov thing so she couldn't do any hands on playtime." With an exaggerated shudder, she shrugged. "Although, some of what she described did make me regret turning down Fandral, that could have been a good alien warrior sexy times." She said with a quirk of a brow and Logan snorted.
"I'll take your word for it, kid." Leaning his head back to rest on the wall, he rolled his head to the side to look at her and narrowed his eyes a little as she made sure she didn't have panda eyes and her hair wasn't a nest. "Why're Romanov and Coulson keeping Barton a leash for ya?"
Darcy whipped her head to look at him, mouth open a little in shock of his question. She looked away slowly and chewed her bottom lip for a moment as she smoothed the last snarl of hair away. "You know how Barton can get. They probably just don't want me stressing any more than I have to." She lied and she felt quite convincingly, but casting a look at her elevator companion said otherwise.
"You know I can hear your heartbeat, right? Try again." He said with a raised brow, crossing his arms exuding stubbornness.
"It's really nothing for you to worry about; just stuff." Darcy hedged hoping with all the hope she processed that he would drop it and considering she wasn't really lying to him there was no reason for him to pursue it any further. But hope was obviously for idiots when he continued.
"Stuff like why you're miserable?" Darcy frowned and looked back to him. "You can put on a pretty smile and snark with the best of us kid, but you ain't happy. The last two days I've seen you angry, defiant, flirty, scared and stubborn but underneath it all you've been sad; and I'm guessing that has something to do with Barton, if Coulson shooting down my suggestion to get Hawkeye involved with looking for your stalker and the way your heart constricted when you heard he was in the building." Darcy looked away from his all too knowing look and stared at the opposite corner.
"We were together and now we're not." She said after a moment and then looked back at Logan with narrowed eyes and said. "It's also a secret; so keep it to yourself, Wolverine."
"Sure thing." He agreed after he studied her for a moment before looking away. "Falling for a super hero ain't smart kid." Logan said quietly, still not looking at her.
Darcy gave a humourless laugh and leaned her head back looking at the maintenance hatch on the ceiling. "Yeah, well, law of total probability, right? My immediate and not so immediate circles consist mainly of super heroes; Kind of inevitable, if you think about it. And then there's the kicker that he is one of the best men I've ever met, I never stood a fucking chance." Feeling his eyes on her she looked down to see a flash of sadness and regret in his eyes. "But you already know that, don't you." She gave him a sad smile and moved to stand next to him, her head resting on his tense shoulder, hand on his crossed arms. "We've loved people, had them love us back and then we've lost them; but I think we both know, no matter how not smart it is, we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Wouldn't we?" she asked when she tilted her head up to look at him.
Logan turned his eyes down to her and let out a heavy sigh before nodding, the sadness still there but with a little fondness to take away some of the sting. "In a heartbeat, darlin'; in a goddamn heartbeat." He agreed as he loosened his stance and relaxed a little against her. Darcy smiled and closed her eyes for the rest of the ride down, happy in the knowledge that her secret was safe with someone who could understand and empathise without being patronising.
She felt the elevator slowing to a stop and opened her eyes on the bump of it reaching its final destination. Logan uncrossed his arms and Darcy leaned away from him, allowing him to roll off of the wall. He captured her hand and led her out of the elevator and back into the empty lobby, everyone non-essential home or in the bowels of the building doing super-secret after hours spy work, keeping her out of sight the best he could by keeping her behind him. She could see Seth waiting at the doors waiting for her and a not too pleased look on his usually happy face; before she could reach him though, she heard her name being called. She felt Logan tense for a moment but relaxed when he put a name to the voice at their backs.
"Maria." She called back as she turned to see her walking slowly towards her and Logan with a blank stare, but Darcy could see that her friend was suspicious of their presence in the building so late. "Leaving for the tower?" Darcy asked casually, motioning to the garment bag, go bag and purse she was holding in one arm.
"Yes, Pepper text me and said her and Jane are already in Jane and Thor's suite; apparently she's struggling to keep Jane out of the tequila supply before we show up, 'Worse than Tony' may have been muttered about her sneaking drinks." Maria said as she studied Darcy and Logan, noting his vaguely defensive stance and lingering on their joined hands for a long moment and raising a brow when she reached Darcy's face. Darcy smiled as innocently as she could and squeezed Logan's hand to get him to be more casual about the whole thing. "What are you two doing here?"
Darcy opened her mouth to answer but Logan cut in. "I took Darcy out to lunch and told her about the X – Men's request for her assistance. Then we came here to see Coulson." He said in a deep drawl that showed no sense of deceit. Not that it would as he didn't actually lie. Darcy smiled a little and stroked her thumb against his hand in thanks for the save of her not having to lie to Maria.
Maria scowled at Logan and her jaw ticked. "When we asked you not to until after the negotiations? Fantastic, Logan; we agreed not to say anything so that the Avengers didn't get petty and make things even more difficult for taking the precious away." She bit out, motioning at Darcy who couldn't help but smile at the reference.
The Lord of the Rings was how she and Maria had become friends in the first place. Darcy had caught her reading a Stark pad version of 'The Fellowship', during various lunch breaks when Darcy was dealing with SHIELD paperwork during her first few weeks in her job with the Avengers, and always pretending it was some important after action reports that needed her attention. The next time Darcy went to HQ she took with her one of her two first edition trilogy sets leaving them on Maria's desk in her office (that Phil had let her into, she was sentimental not suicidal); with a note saying 'Tolkien should be enjoyed with paper, Assistant Director Hill, not a Stark pad. A much more immersive experience, I think you'll find." The next time she saw Maria a few days later, in an elevator, she'd held the door open for her and said, "You were right, Miss Lewis, a much richer experience." And Darcy smiled saying, "I find things are always much better when you take any and all traces of Stark out of the equation. Why do you think I still use my IPod and not one of those God awful Stark players he keeps trying to force on me?' She turned when she heard her laugh and held out a hand, 'And it's Darcy. I'm glad you're enjoying them.' Hill took her hand in a firm grip and gave an appraising stare before smiling and saying 'Maria. I'll have them back to you when I'm finished.' Darcy had just scrunched up her nose and waved her hand when it was released. 'No, it's a gift. My grandfather always told me that books should be shared and I have another set at home.' Noticing Maria looked a little confused at the offer of friendship, as shrouded as it was, Darcy continued. 'If you want, you could bring some wine to movie night if this is feeling a little disparate.' She carried on at her raised eyebrow. 'The movie night I'm having Saturday to watch the trilogy in full, with the girls of the tower.' When she still didn't look convinced Darcy went for the big guns. 'I'll even share my Gummi bears with you; I never share my Gummi bears.' And Darcy knew she'd won when a smile quirked Maria's mouth before she nodded. 'Cool beans,' she grinned as she left the elevator on the entrance floor with a departing, 'See you at four on Saturday, Maria.' Relishing in the shocked and confused stares of the SHEILD minions at Hill having a friend like Darcy Lewis. Thus the 'Fearsome Fivesome' was born from a movie night and grew up into shopping, clubbing, meals and just nice old fashioned chatting over drinks on lazy nights in.
"The kid deserved to know. I told you I don't like lying. She took it well, gonna have think about it for a couple of days, aren't ya?" Logan said with a tap on her shoulder.
"It's fine, Maria, really. I prefer to know and my guys will just be all the more pissed if they found out SHIELD was hiding more from them. If I can talk them into coming on Monday, I can talk to them about me maybe leaving." Darcy assured her friend who just closed her eyes and took a deep, hopefully calming, breath.
"Ok, fine, it's done now. Adapt or die." Maria said with narrowed eyes at Logan but turned softer ones on Darcy. "How are you getting to the tower?"
"Seth's driving. You could join me if you like, instead of waiting for your car service." Darcy offered as Logan started to pull her to the door and Maria nodded.
"Makes sense; going to the same place after all." She agreed as she walked through the door that Seth had open for them, he then jogged and opened the backdoor for Maria to get into. "I see Logan's taking the bike, I'll give you two a moment."
Logan tugged Darcy away from the open door a little to make sure Maria couldn't hear them and held up a finger to Seth to have him wait. "I can't smell him." He said in a low voice in her ear and Darcy felt the tenseness between her shoulders release and she placed her palms on his chest. "I'll follow back and walk you in with Seth, just to be sure; after that you'll have the Avenger's watching your back. You'll be safe."
Darcy looked up at him and smiled. "Why don't you come to the party? Good food and drink, plus they have a really nice guest wing or you could come crash at mine when Tash and I leave, I have some spare rooms and Tash will probably sleep in my bed with me anyway." Logan smirked and quirked a brow and Darcy laughed. "Yes, yes, Logan, two women sharing a bed; how can we not have sex?"
Logan chuckled and chucked her under the chin. "A guy can dream, Darlin'." But then he shook his head. "As much as fun as it sounds I can't, I got some leads to follow up and I don't want them going cold on me." At Darcy's sad little pout, he assured "It's all good kiddo, Coulson'll be there, he'll have your back and if you really need me I won't be far." Darcy nodded.
"Ok, but I am totally going to make you dinner when this is all over, Logan." She said as she pushed away from him and walked back a little towards the car.
"That to make Barton jealous?" he asked with an amused smile and Darcy scoffed.
"Screw that guy, right? That is going to be me thanking a very good friend for be being a sweetheart in my time of need."
"Damn straight. I'll see you at the tower." Darcy smiled and got into the car next to Maria and Seth closed the door, she could just make out the two men chatting by Logan's bike, when Maria spoke.
"So you and Logan?" She led and Darcy huffed a laugh.
"He's a very good friend." Darcy replied putting on her seat belt and turning to look at Maria's profile. "And a good guy; a bit rough around the edges but it just adds to the charm." And Maria nodded.
"Just be careful, Darcy." Maria said as she turned her head to look at her. "His history with relationships is not a very good one. His life, our life, doesn't really allow for happy endings."
"Then I guess it's a very good thing we're just friends then." Darcy reiterated, not wanting her friend to worry about her unnecessarily and deciding that she was going to have a seriously long conversation with her friend about not everything has to end happily to have fun when it's happening. Maria studied her for a moment and nodded, happy that Darcy was telling the truth.
"I have to say I'm very glad that you still have Seth as your security detail." Maria said as she looked in the rear view mirror at where he and Logan were still talking; thankfully the angle precluded lip reading so Maria couldn't practice her lip-reading spy craft and bust them.
"Why's that?" Darcy asked as she took a peek into Maria's garment bag and smiled, pleased that she had gone for the royal blue silk cocktail dress they'd brought a few months before.
"He's a very good Agent. Trained with Barton and Romanov at the academy, one of our best according to them; he was supposed to go on assignment a few weeks ago but was swapped out for someone else."
Darcy's movements slowed as she re-zipped the bag and settled back in her seat. "Hm, Barton and Romanov trained him. Must be good; but if he's so good then why was he replaced for this mission?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could, something was niggling the back of her mind but she didn't have enough information to flesh it out.
Maria shrugged. "Happens sometimes, but I think this had something to do with continuity of care." Darcy frowned and Maria explained. "His rotation being your detail; we don't like changing it up too much; things get missed in the shuffle of personnel and leaves holes in security." Darcy nodded her understanding and looked to the mirror for a second, looking at Seth and Logan shaking hands and going to their respective vehicles. Darcy frowned slightly because now Seth was in the car she couldn't ask any more questions and her theory was left half formed.
"To the tower?" he asked once he was seated and belted, the mirrors checked.
"Please, Seth." Darcy answered, deciding to leave it for then. "So how was work, Maria?" and Maria groaned.
"People are idiots." She grumped and Darcy snorted, settling back and letting her friend unload her bad day to her. Half way to the tower and half way through a story of how Fury nearly punched another Senator, Maria frowned. "Is there a reason that Wolverine is still following us? We passed the turn to his hotel two corners ago."
"Oh, yeah, that; he's just doing what he promised the guys, you know making sure I get from A to B safely. Steve at his most Captain-y had a word, as did Tony and JARVIS for that matter. I don't think he wants anymore bad blood between them than the... thing has caused." Darcy stumbled, not wanting to say any more than that in front of Seth, not knowing his clearance level.
"Ah, right." Maria nodded and went back to her story, satisfied with Darcy's not quite a lie not quite the truth.
Darcy was laughing so hard at how Maria had to trip a lawyer to cause enough of a distraction to gains Fury's attention from his murderous rage at said Senator that she almost missed the car stopping in underground parking.
"Oh God, I hate that Senate meetings aren't recorded." Darcy spluttered as she exited her side of the car, Maria following her grabbing up the bags so she could get out easier.
"It was something to see." Maria agreed as she took her belongings back with a soft smile. "Thank you. I need to get out of this." Maria said with a motion to her work gear. "And into a shower before I even think of pouring myself into this thing." She said shaking the garment bag.
"Ah, but what a tall drink of water you'll make. I know my mouth went dry when I saw you trying it on." Darcy lilted as Maria shook her head with an amused smile.
"Yes, your wolf whistles and cat calls caught the attention of the entire store. If Pepper hadn't been with us I'm sure we would have been kicked out."
"I calls 'em like I see's 'em, Maria and you are one hawtass babe." Darcy said with a shrug and dismissive wave of her hand.
Maria was about to say something when Seth cleared his throat, his face as red as when she was teasing Phil about him and Sif doing it. How was this guy one of the best if he got all beetroot like in the face of sex talk? "Sorry to interrupt Assistant Director, but I have to talk to Darcy about her travel plans for tonight."
Maria nodded at Seth before turning back to Darcy. "Where should I go to shower now that your room is no longer your room?"
"Oh, yeah, hey, JARV could you light up Maria's world and guide her to a guest suite closest to Jane's? And tell Bruce I'm going to use his shower, please, so he's not shocked by a wet and sudsy Darcy, not that he hasn't seen it all before." Darcy called to the ceiling enjoying the choked laugh from Logan.
"Of course Miss Darcy; Assistant Director Hill if you'll just follow my lighted path." JARVIS spoke as he lit a route to the elevators.
"I think I could have found my own way to the elevators JARVIS." Darcy heard Maria say.
"Of course you could, Assistant Director." And Darcy snorted; he really was Tony's AI sometimes, especially when dealing with higher up SHEILD personnel and his perceived incompetence they had.
When Maria disappeared into the elevator and departed on a wave, Darcy turned to the two men in the underground garage. Deciding to get to the point and needing her half-formed theory from the car confirmed or denied. She levelled Seth with a glare worthy of the Black Widow and asked. "Did Barton stop you from going on a mission so you could carry on being my detail while he was away on his own assignment?"
Logan whipped his head to give Seth, with a glare of his own and balled his hands into fists; but Seth just stood as calm as ever.
"Yes." Was all he answered; after waiting a long moment, Darcy widened her eyes and shook her head.
"Going to need more than that, Seth, or I might just let my friend here turn you into a pincushion." She said with a nod at Logan who 'snkkt' out his claws and still Seth was as calm as ever. "And I will taze you so hard you'll smell burnt hair for a month. I'm done with secrets."
"I can't tell you more than that, Darcy. I said I wouldn't." Seth said with what looked like real remorse and Darcy sighed.
"Oh, bub, wrong answer." Logan all but growled as he took a step forward but Darcy shook her head at him.
"No Logan." She said quietly, and he stopped but didn't step back. Darcy looked back to Seth and said, "Maria said you trained with Barton and Romanov, that you're one of the best that SHIELD has to offer," Darcy cleared her throat and bit her lip. "And Clint would only trust my safety with the best. So just nod yes, shake your head for no and shrug for you don't know. Please." Seth clenched his jaw and looked conflicted for a moment before nodding his agreement. "Thank you. Were you aware that I'm being followed?"
He nodded yes.
"Did Barton tell you?"
Another nod.
"Did he tell you who it is? Or who he thinks it is?"
He shook his head.
"Did he tell you right before he went onto his mission?"
He shook his head.
"A week before?"
Another shake.
Darcy felt tears building as well as a sense of foreboding. "A month?"
Seth nodded with a sad grimace as Darcy's face crumpled for a moment. Clint had been lying to her for weeks. Pushing it away she continued her questions.
"Do you know if anyone else knows?"
He shook his head.
"Do you have any idea who it is that's tracking me?"
Another shake, this one slower, a little annoyed look on his face.
Darcy closed her eyes for a moment and let out a shaky exhale before opening them and looking to Logan. "Any questions?" she asked as she herself couldn't think of anymore.
Logan looked between Seth and Darcy with narrowed eyes. "They can wait until you're up getting ready for the party." He turned back to Seth and thrust his chin to the door. "Get over there kid, I'll deal with you in a minute." Seth nodded and walked towards the garage door leading to the mechanic offices before turning back and looking at Darcy.
"For whatever it's worth? Barton was wrecked and he hated lying to you."
Darcy gulped on a sob and Logan came and wrapped her in a hug as she tried to get herself under control. Was this why Clint had said she was a mistake? Was this the reason he'd broken up with her? It would make sense but she didn't want to think on it just then. It wasn't her most pressing issue and she needed to drag herself back into order.
"You can let it out Darcy." Logan said into her hair, but she shook her head against his chest as she breathed deeply.
"No, I can't, I have a party to get ready for." Darcy said as she pushed away from him and wiped under her eyes. Her most pressing issue was her leaving party; she had to keep putting on a good show until they knew exactly what was going on and even though they had more answers there were too many questions that needed answers.
"Yeah, you do. I'll get in touch with Coulson and tell him what we've found out." Logan said as ran a hand over his face.
"No, don't tell Phil."
"I thought you were done with secrets?" Logan said with a little venom that made Darcy grimace.
"I am, but this is barely a secret, I'm just withholding a piece of information until a better time arises to bring it up." Darcy reasoned, knowing full well that she was relying heavily on semantics. "Telling him now won't achieve anything; he can't do anything except be pissed at Barton and that doesn't set a very good atmosphere for a party. Until we can all talk about what we know I'll have Tash and Phil in the know as much as necessary and be surrounded by super heroes, I'll be safe. We just have to keep up appearances until I can talk to Clint."
Logan ground his teeth and blew out an agitated breath. "Fine; you have until tomorrow afternoon to get Barton talking. If not I tell Coulson regardless." He stared at her until she nodded that she agreed and carried on. "I'll see if I can get anything else from the kid and follow up those leads. Tell Coulson that we should meet up at your new place tomorrow so we can go over everything we've found out; it'll be safer to keep you out of sight and in the Widow's protection for the time being. That's your deadline Darce." Logan sighed and took a step forward and cupped the side of her neck, his thumb stroking behind her ear, obviously not enjoying playing the hard ass when she's stressed. "Keep your chin up for a little while longer, kid; things are falling into place. With what we know now and what we knew before we're in a much better position." He smiled a little and she raised an eyebrow. "You want some good news? Whoever was following you didn't track us back here from SHIELD." Darcy let out a relieved sigh and Logan's smile widened; pulling her forward with the hand at her neck he kissed the top of her head.
Darcy put her hands back to his chest and smiled. "That is good news." Looking over his shoulder, Darcy saw Seth leaning against a wall. "If you're truly insistent on not coming to my party you and Seth should probably get to talking and being all Nancy Drew."
Logan pulled back and shook his head. "Hey, trust me, right now I think if I saw Barton I'd have a little trouble with my temper; somehow I don't think gouging holes into one of their teammates will ingratiate me with the Avengers and that'll only make your job harder for the negotiations, no matter how much he'd deserve it for making a shitty situation shittier."
"How very considerate of you." Darcy said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "Now, go I have to make myself pretty." She ordered with a light shove to his chest. "And tell Seth I'll text him when I need him to pick me and Tasha up and if you could return him sans injury I would be very grateful. Tony hates it when we get his car upholstery stained. Apparently scotch guard, while within budget, is tacky."
"I'll see what I can do kid." Logan chuckled as he let go of her and walked back a little; his amusement leaving as he gave her a serious look and she tilted her head in question. "Barton obviously knows what's going on or at least some of it and as much as he is pissing me off right now, it sounds to me he that broke things off with you to keep you safe. He did put his best guard dog on you after all, made sure you were as safe as possible when he couldn't do it himself. From what I know about the guy, he may have been doing what her thought was best." He said, although it obviously pained him greatly to even give Barton an inch of consideration for the stunt he pulled.
Darcy looked to the floor and twisted her hands in her sleeves. "He also lied to me for weeks and left me in the dark about something that directly affected me instead of having a conversation like people do in relationships, deciding to end it instead." She shook her head and looked back up to Logan. "I'm caught between being angry and hurt, to missing him, feeling bad for him, because if he has hurt half as much as I have over this break up then...I just want him to feel better because I'm the idiot who still loves him and I don't like the people who I love being in pain."
"That's because you're good." Logan said as he put his hands in his pockets.
"Only when I'm not being bad." Darcy said before shaking her head of the snark, now was not the time for it. "No, but I am good enough to take Phil's advice. He told me to talk to Clint and I think that's the only way we're going to sort this mess out. That man seems to hold all the answers to every question I have and no matter how confused and angry I am I need to give him the chance to explain."
Logan smiled and shook his head as he looked over face, studying her. "You're amazing, kid. And God do we need your help in Westchester."
Darcy blushed and bit her lip. "And I need to talk to my team. One life changing thing at a time Logan; let me move out, talk to my ex, sort this stalker business, deal with the negotiations and then we can get into me being Mary Poppins to your sad little orphans up in that X-mansion of yours; which by the way? Is the worst name I've ever heard for a place as badass as that."
"Can't fault a guy for trying." Logan said as Darcy backed away towards the elevators.
"Oh you can, I just won't." She said as she entered the elevator and pressed the button for the residential floors.
"And what's the matter with the 'X-mansion'? I think it's a good name." Logan called as the doors started to close.
"You would." She shouted and the last thing she heard was Logan's laughter before the doors shut.
A/N: Ok, long wait was too long and I have reasons but whatevs, who cares; I'm just sorry.
I love all you reviewers and readers, y'all are sweet.
