A/N: thank you all again for the reviews and follows! As always I don't own anything, just a Darcy Lewis fan! So lets get to the party..
Darcy dried her hair and slips some fresh clothes on, grabbing one of the Stark Industries hoodies in the hall closet she put it on over her purple camisole. She grabbed her maroon scarf and slipped on a pair of flip flops and walked out the suite and across the hall to the lab. A note on her desktop had an arrow pointing up and the word RUTH scribbled in Sharpie marker on it.
She walked to the hallway again and stopped at the elevator. She pressed the up button.
"Good evening Miss Lewis" the A.I. welcomed her as she stepped onto the elevator.
"Good evening JARVIS, top level please" Darcy pressed the top button. She half expected the robot voice to talk back to her or ask her how her day was but the elevator door just opened, the white button to the penthouse already lite up inside.
Tony's penthouse was full of activity that night. Pepper was in town and her and Tony had been going
back and forth all night debating on whether or not Stark Expo was a good idea this year and was a party really necessary on such high alert. His friend, Colonel James Rhodes, aka War Machine, was there as well giving Tony insider military information on two bombing suicide incidences in America with in the last few months that they are hiding from the public.
Darcy brushed past all of them, giving a quick hello to Pepper, she opened the glass door and walked out onto the roof. "Sorry I'm late boss" she said taking her spot on one of the lawn chairs. She leaned back in the chair not realizing the workout had made her so sore.
"It's ok, I'm already preparing myself for the day they take you away for good and I'll have to get another intern from the science department." Jane said with a smirk handing the pen and notepad over to Darcy. When that day came she was fully aware she wouldn't find another intern as good as Darcy.
Darcy grabbed the writing utensil and paper and turned the page to a fresh sheet. "Good to know you won't miss me" she gave a small smile in return, she'd miss working with Jane if that day ever came but knew there were far better people that could help her, people with actual astronomy degrees.
Jane peered through the scope "not even a little."
"Liar" she replied cranking on the music on the laptop.
It was about an hour later when Darcy looked up from her lawn chair seeing a figure silhouetted from the door light. She could tell it wasn't Tony or his friend Rhode but was curious as to which random agent or spy was watching them. She went back to plotting star charts but got annoyed when she looked up and he was still there several minutes later. "Is that perv going to stand there all night? He hasn't moved in ten minutes"
"Just ignore him" Jane said pressing a button on the side of RUTH. She looked through the telescope again not really caring about someone watching them as long as she could get her work done.
Darcy could not just ignore him, slamming the notebook down she walked over to the glass and tapped it "you like what you see?"
Clint opens the glass door and steps outside. "You could save time if you automatically typed everything in the computer instead of hand writing it first"
Darcy saw it was in fact an agent, a bright silver and black S.H.I.E.L.D. patch on his shirt, she raised an eyebrow as Clint's eyes start to drift towards her chest. "Good advice creep! So, you can take all our data again, thanks but no thanks"
"Actually it's Clint Barton, but you can call me Hawkeye if you want Agent Lewis" he makes eye contact with her now flashing Darcy a snarky smile.
Unlike the other Avengers Clint could be just a guy off the streets that you would pass up if you didn't notice him. He was average height, short spiked blonde hair, wearing a black t-shirt and black cargo jeans, and combat boots. She was pretty sure if she saw him in a bar she'd flirt with him but it wouldn't
go far. "No frickin way." She couldn't believe this was the great archer. Then panic set in, was this another test already? She wasn't ready so soon, her body ached from earlier that day. "Wait you didn't come to get me did you?"
Clint laughs "no, that's not really my job"
"So what is your job? Cause watching us on the roof it's called stalking" Darcy zipped up her hoodie a bit more so the girls were hidden.
"Observing, I cover the tower two nights a week" Clint clarified it was actually his job. "When I'm not saving the world" he smirked trying to impress her. She was ballsy, reminded him of Kate, or his ex, he liked that.
Darcy rolls her eyes. Of course he would have an excuse for stalking them it was his 'job' suuurrre.
Clint crossed his arms. "I made Thor a promise"
"Thor?" Jane looks up from the telescope interested in the agent now. Any word from the Asgardian made her miss him even more.
Clint brushes past Darcy and walks over to Jane.
"What kind of promise?" Jane turns towards Clint now very interested in what he's saying.
"To keep you safe. We all did." Clint told Jane. "You are the closest thing we have to an answer about the portal"
Darcy stayed silent listening to Clint speak of Thor.
"He said that?" He had cared about her after all; Jane smiled. "He said he was going to return"
"Well he said something like that but it was more Norris like and something about jewels of Valhalla and whatever a bilsmitien is" Clint tried to remember the God's exact words the day he took Loki and left Earth.
Jane corrects him "bilgesnipe." She had so many more questions for the archer but her time was cut short as Tony Stark strolled past Darcy and stands next to Clint.
"We are kind of busy here Tony" Clint said looking over at him, he didn't care this was his house or his balcony, he wanted to let Jane know what they had been hiding from her. "We all agreed" he managed to get out before Tony started to talk. For Jane's safety, she was the key.
"Sorry to interrupt." Tony had a smug look on his face, he wasn't that sorry. "Just wanted you all to be the first to hear the great news" actually he would have told anyone around they just happened to be standing there.
Clint raised an eyebrow but kept silent.
"Stark Expo is on! We are going to celebrate with a party, a dance, a shin dig, a hoopla, a hoe down if you will!" He wrapped his arm around the archer's shoulder. "Bird Man what do birds call them? A hoot-la" he released his fellow Avenger feeling very proud of that pun, a big smile on his face grows as he made his way over to Jane and Darcy. "What do you say girls?"
Clint spoke up, "I don't think it's a good idea"
"Butt out Robin Hood." Tony quipped without even looking at the agent. He waved his hands at Darcy and Jane. "I'm asking the lovely ladies if they want to party."
Darcy spoke up now "after the day I had I could use a party"
"We're on high alert" Clint reminded Tony again.
Tony scratched his beard, true they were on high alert, great. "Then what better time to celebrate, hmm we'll need a theme… Doctor Foster shoot" Tony points to Jane.
Jane was caught off guard looking at her telescope and back at the men standing to the side of her, she slowly answered. "Space party?"
"No, no, no, what is this NASA? Hey why aren't you working for NASA?" Tony asked shooting Jane a quick glance back before going on about the party. He looked towards his next victim, Darcy "Daria, quick help your superior" he snapped his fingers quickly trying to think of something.
Darcy didn't bother correcting him, it had been a long day, but she did love a good themed party if that is what he was looking for. "80s Retro party? Or 50s, or 20s… flappers are in this season"
"Masquerade party!" Tony throws his hands up in the air like he was the first one to ever think of that idea. He pictures it in his mind, describing everything he sees out loud. "Lots of costumes, lights, bling, something that says I am Iron Man!"
"Costumes?" Clint had met Tony late in the game. He didn't get the chance to socialize with him on the Hellicarrier like the others did, it took time to get used to him, and he didn't think he'd ever get use to his terrible archery jokes.
"Relax" Tony patted Clint's shoulder as he started to walk inside to tell Pepper the news. "I'll make sure no one else wears your Park Nam-Joo costume" he'd have to remember to have JARVIS research more famous archers for him he was running low on quip material.
"JARVIS blueprints for a bunny suit!" Tony said as he opened the glass door and went back inside.
Clint stood at the edge of the roof looking down, then right and left to the adjacent buildings. He tapped on his ear piece. "Barton checking in, Stark Tower roof secure"
Darcy walks over to the edge looking down, Clint sticks out his left arm in a protective manor. She feels his arm against her torso and steps back. "You really are working?"
"I may joke a lot, not as much as Stark, but when it comes to work I'm serious. These people gave me a second chance, and a third chance." Clint thought about getting his mind warped by Loki, it should have been the end of his career at S.H.I.E.L.D. "I have to prove myself now"
"And here I am thinking my day sucked" she gave him a small smile.
"You did good Kid." He said using Ward's nickname for her. He only wished his kid brother would have been as strong as she was. "Tasha' said you were great out there."
Natasha must not have told him about the Destroyer, or he wasn't telling her. "Thanks, it didn't feel like it."
"If she wants to train tomorrow, and she will, tell her you feel like Paris. She'll understand." Clint knew she'd remember Paris, one of their best missions together, sure they had almost gotten killed but it wasn't Budapest. He heard the awful noise coming from the laptop and bit his tongue not telling Darcy about her IPod. Clint walked over to some vents, stepping on a certain brick the vent opened and without saying another word the archer spy was gone.
The Stark Expo party was held that Saturday at Stark Tower and it was a grand event. The whole bottom floor of the building was being used for the party. Darcy and Jane walked into the main ballroom costumed and in Darcy's case ready to party. She was in high spirits that night, needed a good party, lived for the music, dancing, and purely to let go of your troubles for a few minutes. Clint, Natasha, and about twenty others had been given a small hearing aids to wear so they could keep in contact secretively without causing alarm.
In addition to her duties with Jane, Darcy had been assigned to help Pepper make sure everything ran smoothly tonight with the party. Her mission was to observe. The Avengers have not had a battle in a week and tensions were high that something was bound to happen tonight with Doctor Doom still MIA; at least that was the vibe Darcy had received from her two new favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She stood near the punch bowl watching the agents and Stark employees and invited guests on the dance floor.
Clint was dressed in a green version of his usual uniform, he had gotten the idea from Tony and actually dressed like Robin Hood so he could keep his weapons close. Darcy didn't even want to know where Natasha's guns were hidden as the slit that ran up her black gangster dress was almost to her hip, and her normal heels were replaced with a shiny gold pair of stilettos which she assumed could be used as a weapon. Darcy was pretty sure the Widow had at least had two pistols hidden in the fedora she was wearing. She watched the agents on the dance floor, wondering how many times they had danced before for a mission; they were killing it. She also watched Dr. Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne on the floor, she wondered what the relationship was there.
Jane and Darcy stood towards the entrance of the hall. Jane, dressed as a black cat, was caught up in talking about a scientific theory with another Stark scientist. Darcy watched the dance floor as Clint and Natasha danced to a traditional type of waltz with a few of the other guests that knew the dance. Bored with the science jargon Darcy started to make her way around the hall. She stopped near the appetizers, curious if these were bagel bites or some fancy Italian food that just looked like one of her favorite snacks. She didn't even notice the man behind her at first until she turned and jumped. "Geesh, Barton you scared the crap out of me, you should wear a bell."
A smirk rose on his face "Coulson used to say the same thing. How about a dance?" The spy held his hand out towards her.
Darcy took his hand tentatively. "Why? Won't Natasha get mad you are dancing with me?" Her eyes drifted to the other side of the big ball room where Agent Romanoff seemed to be schmoozing some rich Mexican mogul type. She was guessing there was more to the story then what bubbled up in her mind at the moment.
"Tasha and I are complicated, always will be. It's just a dance Darcy. There are eyes on you. I wanted to make sure you are noticed in your" he looked her up and down, his eyes this time resting on her chest a bit too long before drifting back up to her face again. "What are you anyway?"
"Well, I was supposed to be a 50's diner waitress" she points to the cat eye style glasses on her head and the giant up do and the hair sprayed mess of curls falling around her head. The white button shirt and short poodle skirt were supposed to be a dead giveaway but Darcy thought she'd reconsider the costume next time.
"So who is this person?" Darcy slid her arm around his neck as they started to dance. Though Clint threw off a great air about him he was only a few inches taller than her. He spun her with the grace of a ballroom dancer. She remembered reading his file, his parents had died and so he ran away to the circus. She wondered if dancing was a trait he inherited from his time there.
Clint turned her again towards where Natasha was still hanging on some ugly mobster's arm. "Here is your lesson for tonight. There are how many waiters?"
Darcy looked around a bit "ten"
"Thirteen, two on our radar as suspected felons" Clint said spinning her with the grace of Fred Astaire. "Three potential threats if you count King Pin's right hand man hanging on Tasha's ever word"
Darcy whispered low, not that anyone could hear her over the loud music "so why not kick them out?"
"The bunny let them in" Clint said with a scowl at Tony's behavior "to show we are not afraid or to piss off Director Fury." Clint was sure it was the latter of the two, this whole party was a show.
He turned her again and for a second time and she noticed the white masked man in the black tuxedo that had seemed to blend into the background before. Clint turned her again as the dance continued.
"I thought he avoided social events" Darcy said slowly into Clint's ear. Darcy's eyes falling upon the scientist again. She wasn't sure at first it was him, but he hadn't moved from the spot against the wall.
"Can't blame the guy, none of us really do like this sort of thing, even Rogers likes to keep a low profile, except for Tony" Clint said turning Darcy again so he could see the giant robotic Roger Rabbit dancing in the middle of the floor. His personality somehow making even a giant bunny seem extraordinary.
The dance ends and Clint releases Darcy leading her off the dance floor. "Thanks I was kind of feeling like a wildflower"
He smirks and winks "wildflowers aren't so bad"
Tony is on the microphone now at the DJ booth. He seems to be still composed and not as drunk as his parties in the past but he is rattling off about any goons that think they can destroy Iron Man should come at him.
"Not letting the press in was a good thing" Clint says as he starts to walk away towards a few more costumed agents.
Darcy turns looking for the masked man, and finds herself sad when he isn't where he stood a few minutes ago. She meanders through the crowd until she reaches the punch bowl. She turns watching the dance floor again as the beautiful strawberry blonde in a sparkly red dress escorts Roger Rabbit off the stage. She spots Jane talking to Henry and starts to make her way over to them.