A Favor Between Friends part 9

AKA – That one time when Natasha helped Darcy nurse a hangover.


Padding silently across the kitchen floor, Natasha is startled by a soft, melancholy voice.

"There are over 4 million men in New York."

The redhead turns to see a pair of dark pink fuzzy socks on the table, the hidden figure looks down at the beautiful dark city, ablaze in lights.

"Hell, probably dozens, if not hundreds of super-heroes in this town."

The chair spins, and Natasha sees Darcy Lewis, wearing heart patterned flannel pajamas, matching the hue of her silly socks, and nearly as red as the young woman's bloodshot eyes. Natasha looks down at her own short black silk negligee, wondering if two women with XX chromosomes could possibly be more different.

"So many men…And we have to fall for the same guy." Darcy snorts indignantly, but then her voice softens again with sorrow. "What are the odds."

Shit, Barton must have told her about the 'favor'. The poor girl looks like she's been drinking for hours. Stupid man, why hurt her like that? Clint Barton is an idiot.

Natasha opens the fridge, pushes away a few of the larger bottles, slides a hidden panel open and punches in a code. A quiet hiss and a section of the back slides open, exposing a half dozen vials of a glowing blue liquid. The spy sets in down in front of the girl. "Drink." There is no room for argument.

Hesitantly the girl sips, then gulps the rest greedily. "Oh my god, it's like I'm getting my brain back. This is amazing. What is it?"

"Tony Stark and Clint Barton started hanging out together…between the two of them, they managed to perfect a hangover cure in under a month. Bruce is patenting it now, and by next year they should make enough off it to build our own helicarrier."

"You know, I really want to be furious with you right now, but whatever's in this is enough to take me from murderous to only very angry."

Natasha gives her an apologetic smile. "I am sorry, for what it's worth."

'Not much' Darcy thinks. "Can I ask why? I thought… Clint…" She can't bring herself to ask what went wrong between them.

"If it makes you feel better, it was never romantic. Just sex, a means to an end."

"What?!"

Natasha struggles as she tries to explain the termination of the romance with her partner. "I promise, I did it as soon I as soon as I knew how you felt."

"WHAT?!" Darcy's world goes red with anger. "You KNEW how much I liked him?"

"Of course, I broke it off with Barton as soon as I figured it out."

"Oh my god, you ARE evil. You've been ensnaring them for some evil plot, just like I told Barton, and you're going to kill me now that I know about it!"

Natasha wonders if Darcy's still drunk. "I was a brainwashed soldier, and we prefer the term 'morally ambiguous' to evil." She stalks over to the cowering girl. "And I promise I am NOT evil, but if you don't start talking sense, I may have to use some interrogation techniques you're not going to enjoy… So spit it out, now."

The brunette trembles with a combination of fear and rage. "You… You seduced the man I adore."

"Yes, and I said I'm sorry." She feels like she's talking to a toddler. A toddler who smells like vodka and cherries.

"JARVIS – if Natasha kills me, you need to let Tony know about her evil plan." Darcy cocks her head in askance. "Or did you reprogram him to fall in love with you too?"

Natasha resists the urge the throttle the young woman, as this would seem to feed into her delusion. She must still be drunk, that's the only answer.

"Talk to me when you're sober, you're not making sense." Natasha turns to leave.

"You're not worthy of him."

Natasha spins and glares daggers at the girl. "Look here you insolent child –"

"Screw you. I hate you, you evil lying bitch!"

"The only lie I'm guilty of is telling Clint Barton I didn't want to keep seeing him so he could pursue a relationship with YOU, you spoiled brat. So don't you DARE dump him just because we had sex a few times, it was nothing to him, just a favor between friends."

Darcy's face goes blank for a moment, then, she doubles over, shoulders shaking, barely able to breathe. It takes Natasha a moment to realize the girl is LAUGHING, shaking so hard with laughter she's barely able to make out the words as Darcy grips the edge of the counter in order to stay upright.

"Oh, my god…You're not insane or evil, just…just…a moron."

Natasha frowns at her but it has no affect on the hysterical co-ed.

"Seriously, you're a fucking idiot. Literally."

Natasha begins to rethink the 'no killing Darcy' promise.

"Clint Barton is STUPID in love with you. I have a crush on Steve, and you've managed to fuck this up six ways from Tuesday."

The redhead shakes her head, in disbelief. "Last week, I saw you and Barton, right here…"

"What you saw was us conspiring to get Cap to notice me. Clint was planning and playing wingman."

"You're wrong, he likes you…and you two have been spending more time together lately."

"I've been his FRIEND, nothing more. He's been a wreck since you broke it off, he's so in love with you it's killing him."

Natasha shakes her head in denial.

"Now he knows you're with Cap, and it's nearly destroying him."

Chaotic emotions swirl around her head. Barton loves her. It's not true, it can't be true, not after she just told Steve that she's be his girl-

"Darcy, can you excuse us for a moment?"

The deep baritone interrupts her thoughts.

Natasha and Steve stare at each other across the room as Darcy bolts to her room. The spy begins to approach, but he holds out his hand entreating her to remain where she is.

"Please, Natasha. Let me say what I need to say. I'm afraid I'll lose my nerve if you come to close. You see, I heard…everything." He scrubs a hand across his hair, struggling to find the words. "I never considered myself a selfish man before. But I realized there is a real possibility that you might feel indebted by… by words we said last night. That you might stay with me out of a misguided loyalty."

"I am selfish enough to hope that there is a slight possibility that if I ignored what I heard here, you might come back to me. That I could make you learn to love me the way you love him." His breath hitches. "I want to keep that fantasy, but I know it's not real. You love Barton, and I can't compete with that. Not when he loves you too. I want all of you, and I can't let you be with me just because you know it makes me happy. You deserve more than that, and so do I."

She is in awe of this man, a good man who's honest enough to admit this to her.

Having gotten out what he wanted, no NEEDED to say, he allows himself the luxury of crossing the room and taking her in a fierce embrace. Savoring her heat a final time. She hugs him back, gratitude and joy war for dominance.

He is letting her go, her knees are nearly weak with relief.

"You love him." It's not a question, but she nods her in assent.

"Go, find him." He brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, a sad melancholy smile tugs at his lips. "Tell him how you feel."

"He won't believe me…"

"MAKE him believe, Natasha. Tell him you love him. Keep telling him until it penetrates that stubborn scull of his. He needs to know the truth, make him believe it."

"The truth?" The words stick in her throat; truth is not what she bargains in.

"This truth." He kisses the top of her head. "Now go, tell your partner you love him and don't take no for an answer."

She hugs him once more, and then turns to leave. As she passes the table, she sees the jar of maraschino cherries, forgotten on the table. Natasha picks it up and hands it to Steve, smiling at his bemused expression. "When you feel up to it, deliver these to Darcy Lewis. She's a very nice girl who's crazy about you, you know."

He nods, it won't be today, but he won't let another 70 years go by either.

The end - for now

Sorry for the delay, my beta's got hit by a hard case of real life, so eventually I decided to just post it un-beta'ed. All mistakes are mine, and I hope my peeps are doing well.

Thanks for all the reviews and PM's - it's awesome to hear from you!