A little more talking, a little more information, and a few more ridiculous stunts curtsey of the Avengers. Sorry this is a bit of a filler chapter. I'm trying not to rush through either Darcy and Clint's growing relationship or Clint's issues. Also, I really hate jumping from point A to point B without having some kind of transition.
Amityville Vacation
"So how do we want to split up?" asked Pepper as everyone gathered in the garage of Stark Tower. There were two cars parked in the garage: one was a van that Clint guessed was a rental (Darcy had nixed any kind of limo, citing that she didn't feel like making a scene in her old neighborhood) and the other was a black 1965 Mustang. He was guessing the Mustang belonged to Darcy, though it could be Tony's too; the man loved his cars way too much.
"Who's Mustang?" asked Tony. "I wanna go in that car."
"Mine," stated Darcy as she tossed a bag in the trunk. "Phil and I rebuilt the engine when I took shop."
"Nice," muttered Tony. "You're taking it up there?"
"It's the only car I own," replied Darcy with a shrug.
Clint's brow furrowed a little. "What's 'shop'?"
"High school class based in mechanics like car repair," explained Darcy with a shrug. "It was that or home economics and that class wasn't going to teach me anything new."
"Seriously? How do you not know what shop class is?" asked Tony with a raised eyebrow.
"Circus raised," reminded Clint with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't go to high school. No TV either."
"Geez," muttered Tony. "You really were deprived as a kid, weren't you?"
The sound of a trunk snapping firmly shut cut through the garage, causing Tony to jump a little. Glancing at Darcy, Clint actually wanted to shy away from the glare she had trained on their socially obnoxious college. "Can we please not discuss deprived childhoods? Clint's not the only one with one of those."
Tony at least had the decency to look ashamed of what he'd said. Then again, it could have been a reflex to the look Pepper was giving him, too. "Uh, sorry."
"Anyway," cut in Pepper. "Does anyone want to go with Darcy, or are we all just piling into the van?"
"I will," offered Clint before Tony could reply. He'd seen the way Tony had been eying the car longingly and, damn it, call him selfish but he wanted to ride up with her. Looking at Darcy, he realized she hadn't said a word. "If she wants company, that is."
Darcy just shrugged. "If you want to ride with me, you can. I'm not objecting. Just be prepared for a lot of classic rock."
"Seriously?" asked Jane doubtfully. "You and classic rock? Everything I've heard from your iPod sounds like it was made in the last ten years."
"I always listen to classic rock when I'm driving," explained Darcy. "It feels wrong to listen to anything else when driving a classic car."
"I like 80's music," stated Clint with a shrug. "Blare away."
The smirk that spread across Darcy's lips made Clint shiver. That couldn't be a good sign. "You shouldn't have said that." Going around to the drivers side, she popped the trunk again. "Now throw your bag in and lets get this show on the road. I need to still stop and get groceries on the way into town."
"Yes ma'am," replied Clint with a sketchy salute. Grabbing his duffel from the pile of luggage sitting beside the van (seriously, it was two days; how much clothing did Pepper, Natasha, and Tony need?), he dropped it in beside Darcy's own small bag and carefully closed the lid. "Does the latch do anything funny?"
"Nope," assured Darcy. "If it doesn't pop immediately back up, it's closed."
"Then just give us five minutes to get everything into the trunk and we'll head out," stated Pepper with a smile before she started to lift one of her bags into the van. Thor stopped her though, taking the bag from her and dropping it into the trunk before loading the other bags rapidly. "Um, never mind. I guess we can leave now then." Shutting the trunk quickly before Thor could (they didn't need the rental damaged), she motioned for everyone to get in before turning back to Darcy with a smile. "Lead the way."
"Right," replied Darcy, slipping into the drivers seat of the Mustang.
Clint nearly hopped into the passenger seat, giddy at the idea of taking any kind of road trip in this car. He loved Mustangs almost as much as Tony (though he'd never admit it). Looking around the cab of the car, he whistled. "Wow, did you redo the inside too?"
"Everything," confirmed Darcy as she started the car. The engine purred as it rolled over. "It took us over a year, but we'd finished by the time I had my drivers license." Shifting into gear, she pulled carefully out of the space and maneuvered them onto the street.
"Did you learn to drive in her?" asked Clint, still focused on trying to take everything in.
"No," sighed Darcy sadly. "I wish. Phil made me learn to drive in a S.H.I.E.L.D. sedan."
"Better than what I learned to drive in," muttered Clint, running a hand carefully across the dash. "This car beautiful."
"Thanks," replied Darcy, a smile tugging at her lips. One of her hands reached out to pat the dash. "She's my baby in a way."
Grinning, Clint reached for the radio and flipped it on. "So, you promised classic rock."
"Yep," agreed Darcy, cranking up the volume a little. The beginning cords of Boston's 'Rock and Roll Band' started to filter through the car. "I did."
For a while, all they did was listen to the radio. Classic songs filled the comfortable silence, easing any tension that might have otherwise been there. Not that Clint really thought their trip would be uncomfortable.
He split his time between relaxing and glancing back at the van were the others were. Jane was driving, which may or may not have been a bad thing given her propensity for running over Gods (or at least Thor). He couldn't see much more, other than Bruce's presence in the passenger seat (likely an attempt to keep Tony from harassing him too much) and the occasional flying object that would pass from the back and strike the front window.
"Are they killing each other yet?" asked Darcy, startling Clint a little.
"I can't tell," admitted Clint, turning his focus back on Darcy. "How did you know I was watching them?"
The sideways look she shot him said he was clearly an idiot. "Why else would you be intently staring at the rear-view mirror?"
"Point," admitted Clint with a grin. "I could have been looking for signs we were being tailed."
"But Clint, we are being tailed," pointed out Darcy. "Jane's following us."
Clint rolled his eyes a little. "You know what I meant."
"Yeah, I do," admitted Darcy, reaching out to fiddle with the radio as the station turned to static. They were out of the city now, cruising down the road at an easy speed. "I kinda wish they weren't following us so I could get some speed out here."
"Maybe on our way back?" suggested Clint hopefully. He really wanted to know the kind of power this car had.
"Maybe," agreed Darcy. Changing lanes to move around a slow car, she gunned the engine a little. The sound was music to Clint's ears. "Don't get anything on my seats. I know this car is hot, and it's reduced more than one man to a jelly-legged quivering mass, but I refuse to put up with jizz on my seats."
"Wait, what?" asked Clint. "What are you-"
Darcy just rolled her eyes again. "Your face, you looked ready to explode when I gunned the engine a little."
"Sorry," muttered Clint, his cheeks reddening.
"Don't be," replied Darcy with a touch of a smile. "I was teasing you." Keeping the car in the new lane while she was waiting for Jane to catch up, Darcy took the moment to actually look at Clint. "Are you going to be alright this weekend?"
Clint's brow furrowed a little. "Uh, I was planning to be. Why?"
"Because you don't trust yourself still and you don't think anyone else trusts you, either," reasoned Darcy. "And we're all going to be in one normal sized house for two days."
"I'll be fine," assured Clint, frowning slightly. "It's you I'm worried about. You never did explain the sudden need to come up here."
"That's because it's personal," explained Darcy.
Nodding slowly, Clint leaned forward a little in his seat and turned his full focus on Darcy. "Wanna explain the reason?"
Sighing, Darcy changed lanes again. "Honestly? I- I haven't really had time to grieve." The admission was quiet and surprising. She was one of the last people Clint would have suspected of suppressing her emotions. "I tried to make time, but everything just happened too fast. Jane and I were in Norway, then we weren't. New York was just barely not a smoking crater. Then there was the funeral, classes I had to finish and finals to take, I- I had to finish the paperwork to get my degree. I just...either consciously or subconsciously I've been too busy to actually absorb everything that happened."
Shaking her head slightly, her hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I still keep expecting him to just call me out of the blue to check on me or I keep reaching for the phone to call him and I have to stop myself because I know it won't go through." Sighing, she checked her rear view mirror to make sure the others were still following, then flipped on her blinker. "I just need to get away from the city and back to someplace quiet. It didn't even occur to me until I was back in town yesterday how much I've been putting it off."
"Are you sure you really want us around?" asked Clint quietly, brow furrowing with worry. "We aren't exactly quiet."
"No," agreed Darcy. "But having others around will help keep me grounded. I need time to absorb what happened; that doesn't mean I can't have my friend's around while I do it."
"Long as you're sure," muttered Clint with a shake of his head. "The last thing I want is to cause you trouble."
"Worst case scenario, I gag Tony with duct tape after sending Pepper and Jane to a local spa," stated
Darcy, a touch of a smile on her face. Her voice was shifted back to normal, loosing some of the shake it previously had. "They're the only two who might object to that."
"Key word: might," agreed Clint, glancing at the rear-view mirror again. Something flew against the front window of the van behind them, bouncing into Bruce's lap. He didn't even glance at the object, just chucked it back over his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure Bruce won't object."
"I packed plenty of duct tape for Bruce's sake, don't worry," assured Darcy, voice more normal now. "Wouldn't want the Hulk to destroy the house."
Nodding, Clint continued to watch the van. "I wonder if home-owners insurance covers destruction due to a Hulk-out."
Darcy shrugged a little. "I doubt it. Probably qualifies as an 'act of god'."
"So we've just got to keep Thor from destroying the house, got it," replied Clint, eyes still on the van. Another object flew from the back seats into the front, this time beaning Bruce in the side of the head. He tensed for a moment, worried they might actually have an emergency before they even reached the town, but the irritated scientist just confiscated the object. "I'm almost afraid to know what they're tossing around in there."
"A bean-bag?" suggested Darcy. "It's the type of thing Tony would do."
"Maybe," muttered Clint. Taking his eyes off the van, he returned his focus to the scenery around them. "It's beautiful out here."
A touch of a smile pulled at the corners of Darcy's lips. "That's part of why I like coming out here. Something about this area is soothing."
"I can see that," remarked Clint. Houses were beginning to appear in tighter clusters again, indicating they were entering a more populated area. "Do we need to stop at the grocery store before we reach the house?"
"Yeah," confirmed Darcy. "There's no food there what so ever. Can you call Bruce and tell him? We're gonna hit the store nearest the house, but it's still a few blocks away."
"I'm on it," stated Clint as he pulled out his phone and selected Bruce's number.
The scientist picked up on the second ring. "Is there a problem, Clint?"
"No," assured Clint quickly. "Nothing's wrong, but Darcy says we're hitting a grocery store before we head to the house."
"Alright, hang on," replied Bruce. "Jane, we're stopping at the grocery store first." There was a pause as someone shouted something from the back of the van before Bruce spoke again. "Thor wants to know if we can get poptarts."
Clint nodded. "I'm sure we can do that. Make a list of requests and text it to me. I'll talk with Darcy about it."
"That sounds good," agreed Bruce. "I'll get you the list shortly. Does Darcy want us all to wait in the car while she runs in?"
"Yes!" shouted Darcy, apparently having heard Bruce's question. Clint raised an eyebrow in response to her vehement response. "They know me here and the last thing I need is the Avengers running amok in the local grocery store. Tony'd probably just buy the whole place because he can."
"Probably," agreed Clint, shaking his head. "Did you hear her, Bruce?"
"I think the people in the next county heard her," called Jane through the phone. "We aren't that bad."
"Some of you are!" shouted back Darcy.
Clint just rolled his eyes and hit the speaker button. "It's on speaker, you can stop shouting."
"That's alright Darcy," assured Pepper. Apparently, Bruce had the same idea as Clint. "We can wait in the car."
"This really won't take long," insisted Darcy. "I just need to pick up a few fresh things and some basics."
"Is Clint going in with you?" mocked Tony from what sounded like somewhere in the back seat.
Darcy rolled her eyes. "Yes, because he's actually well behaved in public."
"Hey! I'm well behaved when I want to be!" argued Tony with a bit of a pouty tone. A collective groan from everyone else in the van came through the line clearly. "What? I am!"
"Tony, be quiet," ordered Pepper. Clint could almost hear the eye-roll in her voice. "We'll wait in the car, Darcy."
"Thank you," thanked Darcy. "Just send any requests to Clint. We'll pick them up."
The line clicked as Bruce hung up the phone, though Clint could hear the beginning of what sounded like shouting inside the van. Not for the first time on this trip, he was grateful to be in the car with Darcy. Sighing, he pushed a hand through his hair. "You know, there's going to be a lot of alcohol on that list."
"I know," sighed Darcy, turning them onto a main street lined with houses.
A ping from Clint's phone drew his attention. It was a text from Bruce, listing the food and drink requests of everyone in the van behind them. Three more dings told him it was a very long list.
"How much of it is alcohol?" asked Darcy wearily, clearly a little concerned.
"Not as much as I expected," admitted Clint. "Maybe half?"
Darcy nodded. "Better than I was expecting. What's on it?"
Scrolling through the text, Clint began to name items. "We've got poptarts, coffee, vodka, probably for 'Tasha, lots of very expensive sounding things I can only assume are alcohol, bottled water, cheese-its-"
"Cheese-its?" repeated Darcy with a raised eyebrow. "Who's that for?"
"I'm guessing Steve," remarked Clint. "He's always the one to eat them when someone does bring them into the house." Shaking his head, he continued: "Let's see, there's also two dozen eggs-"
"Also Steve," stated Darcy with a smile. "That man eats way too many eggs. His cholesterol is going to be through the roof when he's old."
Clint's own smile pulled at his lips. "I'm not sure Steve can get high cholesterol with the way his metabolism works."
"So jealous of that," muttered Darcy. "It's not fair."
"No, it's not," agreed Clint with a shake of his head. "Let's see...that looks like the end of it. Oh, frozen cookie dough."
"We aren't getting that," stated Darcy firmly. "I might not have gotten a normal childhood until I was 10, but I did learn that cookies are only good when you make them yourself."
Immediately, Clint perked up. "Are you gonna make more of those cookies you brought back? Please?"
"Sure," laughed Darcy. "I'll make a double batch."
"Yes!" cheered Clint, causing Darcy to laugh harder. "If you didn't flinch every time someone touched you, I'd hug you!"
"Good to know you respect my boundaries," remarked Darcy with a shake of her head. They both fell silent for a moment, content to listen to the music.
The road had become more and more suburban as they drove, with sparse houses turning into neighborhoods and finally emptying them into a neat little downtown area. It was all very small-town, but it worked.
"For the record, I don't mind it as much when you touch me." Darcy's voice was quiet with a touch of a shake; like that admission was hard for her to accept, much less admit. "Just, FYI."
Her admission made Clint's chest flood with warmth. He'd already determined that part of her phobia of touch came from her past; he'd been the same way still at her age. The fact that she wasn't as uncomfortable when he touched her meant she trusted him. She probably shouldn't, but that someone does is...nice. Even Natasha had exerted caution around him since the mind-control thing and she was his partner.
"Thank you," murmured Clint.
Darcy's brow furrowed. "For what?"
"For telling me that," replied Clint, offering her a smile. "For trusting me."
Her own smile was faint but solid, if not a touch uneasy. "It's the truth."
She turned the car into a parking lot then, sliding easily into a space. The sign on the building read: 'Greener Grocers'. Clint glanced in the rear-view mirror, double checking that the others had followed them into the parking lot, and climbed out of the car with Darcy.
He'd barely shut the door before the sliding door on the side of the van popped open and Steve nearly stumbled out of the van. He was followed by Thor, who banged his head on the way out, and Natasha, who looked ready to murder someone. Bruce climbed out of the front seat with more ease than the others had, Jane popping out the other side and stretching out her back. Pepper and Tony were the last two to climb out, both looking a little rumpled.
"That's a longer ride than I thought it would be," muttered Tony, popping his back. "Alternatively, I am never traveling in anything that isn't my limo again. Well, unless it's one of my sports cars. Then I will."
Darcy just rolled her eyes. "Any other last minute requests before we go in?"
"No, I think what we said before was everything," assured Pepper. "Do you need money or-"
"I'm good, Pepper," assured Darcy. "This won't take long. Clint?" Turning to him, she cocked an eyebrow. "Can you help me?"
"No problem," agreed Clint, following her as she walked into the store.
Inside, the store was bigger than Clint had been expecting. The floor plan was relatively open, with short aisles and lower shelves that let Clint actually see a fair distance around the store. It definitely made him feel less confined.
Grabbing a cart, Darcy started moving around the store. Clint followed silently, watching her. It was a little strange for him to see her in such a mundane environment. Normally, when he saw her, they were talking and there was nothing normal about what happened. But everyone had to get groceries, including the adopted children of super ninjas.
"Is there anything I can grab?" asked Clint curiously as he watched Darcy drop various things in the cart.
"If you want to grab the stuff the others requested, that would be great," replied Darcy, offering him a smile. "Just don't get any of the obnoxiously expensive alcohol, assuming you can even find it here. This isn't exactly the kind of place that sells vodka with gold flakes in it or whatever Tony has on there."
"No extremely expensive alcohol, got it," chuckled Clint as headed towards an aisle that was labeled 'breakfast food'. "I'll leave the alcohol in your care."
Scanning the various labels, he quickly located the pop-tarts and grabbed ten boxes. He'd seen Thor eat more pop-tarts in one setting than should be possible for anything, including an alien. Hopefully Jane would be able to distract the god so he didn't eat all of the boxes at once. Some of his teammates appetites were truly frightening.
Heading back to where Darcy last was, Clint lost his grip on one of the boxes. Stumbling to grab it, he was momentarily distracted enough that he bumped right into someone. "Oh, sorry."
A young woman blinked back at him with startled green eyes. She had almost artificial looking red hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun and he could see one white ear-bud tucked into the front of her shirt. The other was nestled in her right ear. After a moment of staring, she smiled and took several of the boxes from the top of his pile. "It's alright. You really should get a cart if you're going to buy this much though."
"My friend has the cart," replied Clint, shifting everything around so he could take the fallen boxes back.
The woman just rolled her eyes and shifted the boxes out of his reach. "At least let me help you until you find your friend. Where did you last see him?"
"Her," corrected Clint with a sigh. He wasn't going to argue at this point. "She was down the aisle with all the baking stuff last."
"Pop-tarts and baking, hmm," hummed the woman. "Your friend doesn't happen to be a girl from around here named Darcy, does she?"
"You know Darcy?" asked Clint, clearly startled.
The woman laughed. "Everyone around here knows Darcy and her father, Mr. Lewis. They're two of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Mr. Lewis used to teach a self-defense class at the community center before Darcy went to college and Darcy was head of the debate team and started the local 'Youth in Government' group for the high school."
Well, that hadn't been what Clint was expecting. He hadn't thought anyone would know Phil or Darcy. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coveted their anonymity and Darcy seemed like she was the same way. "Really?"
"Yeah, but you'd never hear either of them say anything about it," remarked the woman. "They were the 'keep silent about your achievement' types." Grinning at Clint again, the woman added: "I'm Mary, by the way."
"Clint," supplied Clint. "So, were you a friend of Darcy's in high school?"
Mary's lips tilted up a little in an 'it's complicated' slant. "Darcy didn't really have friends in high school, honestly. I was the closest thing she had to a friend, but she always threw herself into her school work and never talked much about her life." Dropping her voice, Mary added: "Truthfully, I think she was adopted out of a bad situation."
"Why?" asked Clint, keeping his voice neutral. He couldn't imagine Darcy would have said much to anyone about her previous life if she'd barely told anyone on the team.
"Little things," admitted Mary with a shrug. "All the photos I saw of her were from when she was about ten onwards, she had this whole 'no touching' thing going on, just general stuff. Plus, she freaked out really badly once when two guys were messing around in the hallway and one of the guys threw a playful punch at his friend but missed. He almost hit Darcy as she was walking by and she totally flipped out. Mr. Lewis had to come get her from school." Shrugging, Mary was careful to keep her voice. "I think she was abused at some point. I never asked, but the signs were there."
Clint nodded slowly, keeping his face neutral. He wasn't going to give anything away that Darcy had told him. "You seem pretty observant."
"My parents are psychologists," explained Mary quietly. "I never told Darcy, but my mom's specialty is working with abuse victims. I know my mom spoke with Mr. Lewis about it once, but she didn't tell me what he said." She shrugged. "It didn't matter really, Darcy's a good person. I mean, she really wants to be an international lawyer in the criminal courts so she can make a difference on the global scale. Not a lot of kids decide that when they're in high school."
"She'll make a good one," stated Clint. "At least, from what I've seen."
Mary grinned. "Then you've seen the same thing as everyone else."
Turning down the baking aisle, Clint spotted Darcy immediately. Mainly because Steve was standing in front of her looking sheepish. Glancing quickly around, he spotted Pepper at the other end of the store. This couldn't be good.
"Hey Darcy," called Mary, smiling when the brunette woman turned towards them. "I found your boyfriend juggling boxes in the breakfast aisle and offered him a hand. Hope you don't mind."
Darcy shrugged, returning Mary's smile with her own. It was only the amount of time that Clint had spent around her that let him know it was fake. If Mary knew though, she didn't seem put-off.
"Hey Mary," greeted Darcy, nodding at them. "Thanks for helping him out."
"No problem," replied Mary, dropping the boxes in the cart. "So you decided to come down for the weekend, huh?"
"Yeah," confirmed Darcy. "It seemed like the right time."
Mary nodded, turning her attention on Steve. "And who's this?"
"This is Steve," introduced Darcy. "He's one of Clint's coworkers and a friend."
"Geez, can I come work with you?" asked Mary, her eyes taking in Steve's body. "If your coworkers look like that, I'll switch fields."
"But you love psychology," remarked Darcy with a grin. "All those troubled minds just waiting for your input on their lives."
"Please," snorted Mary. "Until I get a PhD, I don't get to deal with more than chronic bed-wetters and people with bad communication skills."
"How's that going, anyway?" asked Darcy as she pulled more things off the shelves. The grocery cart was pretty full as things were. Clint could see Steve's eggs poking out of the bottom.
"Eh, it's going," replied Mary with a shrug. "What about you? Last I heard, you had an internship with a scientist in the middle of nowhere New Mexico."
"I'm interning at SI now," admitted Darcy. "In the PR department."
"Seriously?" asked Mary, eyes going wide. "That's amazing." Glancing around, she dropped her voice again. "Have you told Sherry? She'll flip."
Darcy rolled her eyes. "Sherry was a bitch in high school, but I'm not, nor was I ever, competing with her. Besides, I haven't decided if I'm going to accept the permanent position I've been offered or not."
"What?" exclaimed Mary, eyes going wide. "At SI? Why wouldn't you?"
"I have another offer," replied Darcy with a shrug. "It's with an national peace-keeping organization but they do a lot of international work. It could give me a way into international law."
"That sounds like a better gig," observed Mary. "Why not take that one?"
"It's still not law," explained Darcy. "It's with the same organization my dad works for. Er, worked."
"Oh god, did he get fired?" asked Mary, her eyes going wide. "You can't take a position at a company that fired your dad. That would be horrible for him."
"No, he wasn't fired." Shaking her head, Darcy dropped her voice. Clint could hear the shake in it as she spoke. "I don't want this all over town Mary, but he died during the battle in New York." Her voice nearly broke Clint's heart; he really just wanted to draw her into a tight hug and not let go. And from the look on Steve's face, he was feeling the same way.
"Oh god," whispered Mary, tears welling up in her eyes. "Darcy that's horrible."
"Yeah," agreed Darcy, nodding. "It wasn't expected, that's for sure."
"Is that why you haven't been back?" asked Mary. "We were all wondering why no one had seen either of you even though it was summer. I mean, your dad wasn't a surprise because he wasn't around much when you were gone, but we'd all expected you to come back for at least a little while."
"It's part of it," replied Darcy. "A lot of it is that I've just not had the time and not been able to bring myself to come back."
Mary shook her head and looked like she wanted to hug Darcy as well. She didn't though. "God Darcy. Well, if you need anything, I'm here. Just, you know, pick up the phone or come over."
"I will," agreed Darcy, rubbing just one of her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Thanks." Sighing, she glanced at the cart for a moment before offering Mary a smile. "Look, I'm sorry to have to do this, but I really need to get going."
"Of course," agreed Mary instantly. "You've got friends here and I'm sure you want to get home. Take it easy Darcy, and I won't say anything."
"Thank you," sighed Darcy. "I'll eventually make the announcement but I just can't deal with it right now."
"I understand," assured Mary, waving at Steve a little. "It was nice to meet you, Steve. Seriously Darcy, I want to come work with you. I'm sure SI could use a good shrink."
"Stark needs one," agreed Darcy. "He's a few cards short of a full deck."
"Just a few?" snorted Clint. "Try half the deck. He tried to build working x-ray glasses while drunk the other night and somehow blew up half his workshop."
"It sounds crazy," sighed Mary. If she was feeling wistful or relieved that she didn't have to deal with the chaos, it was hard to tell. "Also, Darcy, you are seriously lucky. And you completely deserve it. Anyway, have fun with your friends and try to remember to call once in a while. Okay?"
"Alright," agreed Darcy, offering Mary an actual smile. "I'll try. Have a good day, Mary."
"You too," replied Mary before she walked out of the aisle.
When she was out of sight, Clint turned to Steve. "Steve, why did you come in? And why is Pepper in here?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Darcy, turning to the super-soldier as well. "I thought you guys were waiting outside."
"We were," sighed Steve, one hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "But Tony kinda distracted us for a moment and slipped inside and we've just been trying to find him before he does anything, well..."
"Anything Tony?" tried Clint as Darcy groaned beside him and muttered something about her anonymity going out the window.
"Pretty much," confirmed Steve.
"What does that even mean?" Tony cut in, wondering into the aisle like he owned the place. "'Do anything Tony'."
Darcy rolled her eyes. "He's referring to the random ass stunts you tend to pull. I thought you were waiting outside."
"I got bored," replied Tony with a shrug. "Thought I'd come check the place out. Are you sure this is a grocery store? They don't even have good scotch here."
"Positive," growled Darcy as she started pushing the cart out of the aisle. "Now if you're going to come along, then come. Otherwise, wait outside."
"Yes mommy," mocked Tony, though he started following none the less. Then he shouted loudly enough for the whole store to hear. "Hey! Where do you guys keep the good booze around here?"
Clint was drawn between shuttering and groaning. He just hoped he'd never hear Tony call Darcy 'mommy' again. Something about it was strangely perverted. A glance at Steve told him the super-soldier was thinking the same thing.
"That was disturbing," remarked Clint dryly as he started after Darcy and Tony.
Steve nodded, following with a mutter. "Disturbing is one word for it."
