Epilogue

Most of the room looked up as Darcy entered, tablet in one hand and coffee cup in the other. The Avengers and associates who lived in Stark Mansion, save for Pepper and Tony who were busy with Stark Industries-related work, had gathered for an attempt at a movie or game night. Some form of entertainment that could allow for bonding. Darcy hadn't been seen since Tony and Pepper's lecture, which had lead everyone to assume she'd left with her parents. Apparently, she had other hiding places in the mansion than her room and workshop. They'd checked both of those.

Darcy's face was lit by the screen in the darkened room, brow slightly furrowed as her eyes darted around rapidly. Whatever was on the screen had her full attention because she didn't even acknowledge that anyone was in the room, much less looking at her. The cup in her other hand was set down as she passed a table, fingers flying over the tablet's screen as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Well, that explains the random coffee cups around the house," commented Natasha with a face, eyes focused on the table and its lone cup.

Steve let out a small noise of agreement, eyes focused on the door Darcy had just disappeared through. His own brow was creased in concentration, as if he were weighing many solutions to a problem. Clint was staring at the door as well, though more with puppy eyes than concentration or concern. He'd been in a mood since that morning for reasons that no one really understood. This was the first point all day that he hadn't been really moping.

"Should we ask her to join us?" asked Bruce from where he sat near the end of the couch, watching the others. "She does live here after all, and is Tony's daughter. Maybe we should try to get to know her too?"

Natasha snorted elegantly. "Besides myself, Steven, and yourself, Bruce, everyone else here knows Darcy. Some of them quite well." The last bit was stated with a pointed look at Clint, who wasn't paying her any attention.

"She'll just sit down if she wants to join us," pointed out Clint absentmindedly. His eyes were still on the door, like he was hoping she'd come back out.

Jane shook her head. "If she thinks we're not interested in her company, she might not."

Thor nodded in agreement. "Yes, I do believe that many rules exist in this house concerning the respecting of the privacy of others, even when in group."

Steve shook his head. "There are also rules pertaining to the purchase and use of high explosives, where one can sleep naked, how much one is allowed to drink within an hour, workshop curfews, and what animals are not permitted in the house."

The group made a bit of a face at the last one, not really wanting to know why Pepper felt the need to establish rules against keeping certain types of animals in the house. Just like no one wanted to know why there was a rule which expressly forbid tinkering in the kitchen and one that stated all the things food would not be used for within the kitchen. Last count, Jarvis admitted that there were nearly a hundred house rules, though most of them were inapplicable to anyone who wasn't Darcy or Tony. The 'no robot furniture in Darcy's room' was one of that long list.

"It's still her house," pointed out Natasha. "I think if she wishes to join us, she will. It's my experience that Stark's tend to do as they please, regardless of what anyone else wants them to do unless the request is made by Pepper."

"True," agreed Bruce, "but Darcy was also raised by Miss Potts, which I'm relatively certain is the only reason she survived her childhood."

"Actually, Tony isn't a bad father," commented Darcy idly as she stepped back into the living room, fresh cup of coffee in hand and eyes still glued to the tablet in her other one. "He was more protective than Pepper a lot of the time."

For a second, the Avengers all attempted to imagine a protective Tony Stark rather than the egotistical ass that he usually was. It was hard but when they considered how he acted towards Pepper, it became at least feasible.

Jane shook her head, rubbing slightly at her forehead and muttering something that no one probably wanted to actually hear. "Want to join us Darcy? We were just going to watch a movie."

"Sure," agreed Darcy as she wondered over to the couch and dropped into Clint's lap like it was her own personal seat. "What are we watching? Are there explosions?"

From the chair beside Clint, Steve choked a little. "Haven't you had enough excitement for one day?"

Darcy shrugged. "What can I say? Its been a slow day."

Everyone in the room stared at Darcy like she'd grown a second head. Or a third. She glanced both ways to make sure her coffee wasn't mutating her in some weird way but couldn't see any signs of a problem. Shrugging, she glanced at the others. "What? It was."

"Darcy," started Clint slowly, one of his hands settling on her waist. She promptly wrapped it around her waist instead and leaned back to look at him. "Today, alone, you've left six people in shock-"

"Seven," corrected Darcy with a shrug as she powered down the tablet. "Coulson stopped by earlier."

Natasha burst into laughter. "You surprised him as well?"

"He was being an ass so I may have rubbed my parents in his face," explained Darcy, careful to leave out Jarvis' hand in the matter. "Actually...hey Jarvis, is Agent Dickweed Coulson still on the porch?"

"No Darcy," assured Jarvis. "He left hours ago."

Darcy nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Good, that means I didn't kill a S.H.I.E.L.D agent today. Last thing I need is Nick on my ass." Looking back at the others, she offered a sly grin. "Coulson was being a dick earlier, so I dropped the bomb rather than wait for Nick to tell him."

"Nick?" asked Steve, head tilting to the side like a curious puppy.

"Er, Director Fury," corrected Darcy. "Sorry, I forget that you guys don't know him as Nick."

Behind Darcy, Clint groaned and pressed his face into her hair. "Just don't let him catch you calling him Nick."

"Why?" asked Darcy, twisting so she could look at Clint. "I've been calling him 'Nick' for years. He doesn't care."

"Right," snorted Clint.

Darcy shrugged and leaned back against him again. "Hey, its true. His daughter used to babysit me. I've known him since I was 8. He even offered me a full escort of guards for when I went to college."

Jane's eyes widened in shock. "Really?"

"Mhm," confirmed Darcy. "Though, I was only 16 at the time, so that might have had something to do with it."

"You were 16 when you went to college?" choked Clint.

Darcy glanced at him again before focusing back on the rest of the room. "For my first degree, yeah."

"First...degree..." breathed Jane in some shock. "Darcy, you're only 20. How many degrees do you have?"

"Two," replied Darcy. "One in Mechanical Engineering and one in Political Science. I'm working on getting ones in physics, math, and architecture right now."

Even Bruce looked surprised. "All at once?"

Darcy nodded and stretched against Clint. "Yeah, it'll probably take two or three years." Grinning, she settled back into her archer pillow. "Its amazing how fast it is to get a degree when you don't have to take GE classes. Or can test out of most of the lower level classes."

"I'd imagine..." muttered Bruce, noting Clint's flinch.

"Anyway," continued Clint, trying his best not to think about how much smarter than him Darcy probably was, "today you managed to shock the hell out of 8 people, nearly blow yourself up, get into two major fights with your dad, and almost got trampled by big, pissed, and green." He paused in his list, looking at Bruce. "No offense Bruce."

Bruce just shrugged. "Its true."

In Clint's lap, Darcy just shrugged. "Like I said, slow day." The 'you're growing multiple heads' look was back. Again, she checked her shoulders but found no signs of mutated growth. "What? I grew up with Tony Stark."

"Point," sighed Jane.

Clint groaned out something along the lines of 'don't remind me' and everyone else just seemed to nod except Thor, who just looked confused. "What does our shield-brother have to do with this?"

Sighing, Darcy settled in as she attempted to explain to Thor exactly why growing up with Tony had warped her sense of excitement. Everyone else listened with rapt attention as she spun her story, curious about exactly what his daughter saw. By the end of the night, everyone in the room had cried at least once, laughed so hard they'd nearly fallen off the furniture, and learned more about Tony, Pepper, and Darcy than they probably wanted to know. It was fun though, with pretty much everyone falling asleep in the living room by 3 am. Which is exactly how Pepper and Tony found everyone the next morning.


And..done! Hope you guys liked this. If anyone is interested in seeing more of this series, let me know. I'll start posting the 'this is the insane story of Darcy's life' stuff I have that runs from her birth (when Pepper and Tony find out about her) and will probably end around the time this story begins. Thoughts?