No Bucky in this one, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of the characters contained therein. Andrew Carman and Millicent Kaur are characters of my own creation.

WORD: 1354

"This is harassment!"

Darcy grumbled as her yells continued to go ignored. She huffed and plopped down onto the bench of her holding cell, grimacing as she examined her wrists.

The cuts weren't that deep, and they were barely even bleeding, but they still hurt, and the reddened skin around them was definitely going to bruise. Just flexing her hands sent a small amount of pain shooting up her arms, but she needed to get the feeling back into her fingers. She was definitely setting Tony's lawyers on the bastard who did this. Badge or no badge.

One of her best friends in high school had a cop for a mother, and they both looked up to that woman. She was a strong, confident police officer who did her best to help people, both on and off the job. The officer who dragged Darcy in here was the kind of cop who would make her curse a blue streak and call a disgrace to the uniform.

Eventually, a different officer came and escorted Darcy to a room with a phone. Darcy cursed speed dial – which she normally considered a good thing while simultaneously taking it for granted – for the fact that she didn't have a whole lot of phone numbers memorised. Luckily, there were a few that Clint had insisted on drilling into her brain, in case she was in a situation where she couldn't use her cell phone. After thinking on it, she chose a number and punched it in, waiting for an answer, which she got after only one ring.

"This is Pepper."

"Hey, Pep, it's Darcy. Uh… I'm at the police station, and I kinda need a lawyer. And a check into my arresting officer, if you don't mind. A misogynistic douchebag named A. Carman, badge number 5212, I'm pretty sure."

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the second officer, a woman, rolling her eyes, muttering something that sounded like "Of course it's him."

Millicent Kaur was a five-foot-two spitfire in a designer suit, and she walked into the police precinct like she owned it. "I'm here to speak my client, Darcy Lewis." Her tone brokered no argument. When she was led to Darcy's holding cell, her eyes immediately zeroed in on the bruise on her cheek, and then fixated on her mangled wrists. "Miss Lewis, I'm Millicent Kaur, your attorney. Ms. Potts sent me. Care to tell me what happened?"

Darcy sighed, exhausted. "I was out on a blind date, the guy was a perv, so I ended it early. I stopped at a bar on my way back to the Tower, and some other guy, Perv Number Two, came up to me and started hitting on me. I turned him down, like, three times, before I got fed up and started to walk out. Only, when I turned around, he reached over and grabbed my ass, pinched it really hard. So, I turned around and I punched him. Only there was an on-duty cop in there, for whatever reason, and the guy arrested me for assault, and did absolutely nothing about the guy who assaulted me! Dude just said something about how I was asking for it because of the dress I was wearing, and the jackass with a badge agreed with him! Even accused me of being a hooker!"

She knew her voice was getting louder and shriller as she continued her rant, but she was past the point of caring, right now. "This dress isn't even all that skimpy! I mean, am I supposed to walk around in a nun's habit, or something?! Seriously, what is it with men these days?! I didn't ask to have boobs this big-"

"Miss Lewis," Ms. Kaur interrupted her, "I think I get the picture. I've looked into the arresting officer like you asked, and I think I should be able to get you out of here without any charges being pressed."

Sure enough, Darcy and Ms. Kaur ("Call me Millicent") were walking out of there less than an hour later, after Millicent glared one of the cops into treating and bandaging the cuts on Darcy's wrists. A complaint of police brutality had already been filed, but that could be dealt with in the morning.

Or not. Officer Andrew Carman caught sight of them walking out, and he was not happy. "Are you kidding me?" he snapped, loud enough to be heard by everyone in the lobby, "I only just brought this lunatic in, and she walks out with a fancy lawyer? What the hell?!"

Darcy glared at him and clenched her fists, but she knew better than to punch this asshat in the middle of the police station. Besides, Millie had this taken care of.

"Andrew Carman?" she checked, raising an eyebrow coolly, "I would suggest you keep your voice down, and call your union rep. You're going to need one."

Carman snorted. "What for?"

"My client and I have already filed a complaint to your supervisor regarding your discriminatory behaviour. And unlike the last three, your family won't be able to make this one go away."

Apparently, Carman's whole family was well-placed in either politics or law enforcement, and they were always able to sweep the previous complaints against him under the rug. This wasn't the first time he'd sided against a young woman who'd been sexually harassed or assaulted and fought back. But this was the first time the woman in question had connections that trumped his.

But it didn't seem that Carman had processed that, yet. He snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about, Missy. I've never done anything wrong. Why don't you just go back to whatever discount firm you work for, and forget about fighting for a lost cause like that." He gestured at Darcy, more to her boobs than any other part of her, but to be fair, he wasn't even looking at her.

Millicent's eyes narrowed, not missing the 'Missy' comment.

"I mean, what kind of firm represents prostitutes, anyway?"

"Seriously?!" Darcy snapped, "Are you seriously accusing me of being a hooker?!"

Carmen huffed, his elevator eyes full of both male appreciation and disdain. "Well, who else would wear a dress like that?"

Darcy glanced down at her dress. It showed a bit of cleavage, and it did fit her a bit snugly, but it went past her knees and wasn't at all scandalous. "Uh… someone on a date? Someone at a wedding? There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing! A dress that doesn't have a turtleneck is not an automatic 'I want to sleep with you' sign!"

She could have gone on, but was stopped by Millicent's gentle grip on her arm. "That's enough, Darcy. Save it for his hearing." She raised her voice a little, to be sure that Carman could hear her. "You know as well as I do that Mister Stark doesn't take kindly to those who bring harm to his friends and employees." She made a point of gesturing to Darcy's bandaged wrists, where Carman had fastened the handcuffs so tightly that they'd drawn blood.

Carman paled a little, but didn't lose his bravado. "Stark?"

Darcy gave him a sunny smile. "My boss. Tony Stark. I'm the official PR Manager for the Avengers Initiative. It's a very well-paid position, so even if I was willing to turn tricks, which I'm not, I sure as hell don't need the money." She turned back to Millicent. "So, how about we get me back to the Tower? I think that weekly game night Hawkeye started is still going on, and I wanna see if I can kick Cap's ass at Mario Kart."

She saw Carman's face pale and fall as she and her awesome lawyer (who was totally invited to the next Ladies' Night) walked out.

Additional disclaimer: I have nothing but respect for those in uniform who uphold the motto 'to protect and serve'. Sadly, there are those who bring disgrace to the rest of the police force. Brutality, misogyny, and racism exist amongst law enforcement, and it makes things more difficult both for civilians and for the good officers who really are just doing their jobs.

I like to have meaning in some of my character names, for example, the name Andrew is the Latinised form of the Greek name Andreas, which comes from the word 'andreios', meaning 'manly'/'masculine'. Millicent is from the Germanic name Amalasuintha, which comes from the elements 'amal' (work/labour) and 'swinth' (strong).

Next up: Broken ribs