Notes:
Chapter title inspired by Rebels of the Sacred Heart by Flogging Molly.
Okay, so I'm a day late with this one. I did actually have it written yesterday, but after three and a half hours stuck in traffic due to an over turned truck on the highway, I got home just in time to put my kid (he's not quite two yet) to bed, and then looked at my computer and thought about the prospect of spending a few hours typing it up and editing before bed, and said, screw it. So, late, with good reason.
I hope you all enjoy.
Equilibrium
Chapter 26: Rebels of the Sacred Heart
Darcy clutched the plastic CVS bag with both hands as she watched the numbers climb higher. She took a long slow breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. It had all seemed like a good plan when she was talking about it over the Barton's kitchen table, Laura's perfect apple pie sitting warm in her belly, a cup of coffee in her hands. Now that she was actually back in New York, waiting for the elevator doors to open at her target, she felt like her stomach was turning itself inside out.
The numbers felt like they were slowing down the closer the elevator got to its destination, drawing out Darcy's agony. Then, with a quiet ding, the doors parted. Taking a deep breath to fortify her, Darcy stepped hesitantly off and turned down the hall, eyes locked on her endpoint. She could do this, if nothing else, she had a few extra supplies and wouldn't have to go to the drug store again for a couple of months. Yeah, that was the only the upside if things went sideways. She knocked lightly on the door, ensured by Friday that her queries were both inside.
The apartment door swung open and Steve looked down at her, a wide grin breaking out across his face. "Darcy," he breathed out, pulling her off her feet and into a tight hug, tugging the door shut behind her.
"I guess you missed me," she returned the hug, arms wrapped around his neck, her legs dangling off the floor, her CVS bag forgotten just inside the door.
Steve buried his head into her hair and inhaled the rich lavender scent. "We both did."
No sooner than Darcy's feet touched the floor, was she swept up into James' arms. "It just wasn't the same without you," he dipped his head, capturing her lips with his, drawing her bottom lip between his, rubbing his tongue along the plump flesh as he sucked it gently into his mouth.
"Could have something to do with us both trying to fit on your little bed, Buck," Steve chuckled, slipping past the two, kissing Darcy's hair as he ran a gentle hand down his boyfriend's arm. "It's so much nicer having all three of us in my big bed."
"How does that give you any more room?" Darcy let James carry her into the kitchen, her legs wrapped around his hips.
"Said nothing about room, Darce, it's just better," he picked up the bag Darcy'd dropped on her way in. "Do some shopping on your way home, doll?"
"Oh," Darcy dropped back onto her feet and stepped away from her boyfriend. "Yeah, that, um," she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and reached out for the bag, placing it on the kitchen counter and opening it. "I thought I'd get some stuff to keep here when we all stay over, and that maybe you'd like a few things at my place, too."
Steve looked down at the bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and other various toiletries, his mouth open, before shaking it off and pulling Darcy into his arms again, and kissing her gently. James smiled as he watched Steve kiss Darcy, slipping back to sit down on one of the kitchen chairs to enjoy the show. The clatter he made as he missed the chair and tumbled to the floor caused the couple to break apart and look down at the gob smacked super soldier sitting hap hazard on the floor next to an over turned kitchen chair. "So maybe we should order that Thai a little early?" James said from his place on the floor. Steve just chuckled and nodded his arms still loose around Darcy's shoulders.
"But you hate Thai," Darcy looked down at her boyfriend. "And it's like nine in the morning." She rounded on Steve, his arms tightened on her as she turned towards him. "And don't think we aren't talking about that kiss."
"That's what the Thai's for," James hefted himself off the floor and took his girlfriend's hand, leading her gently out of Steve's embrace and pulled her down onto the couch. "Steve and I did a little talking over the weekend."
"Okay," Darcy watched as Steve rounded the couch and sat down next to her, taking one of her hands in both of his. "You guys are scaring me. First with the enthusiastic hug and then the kissing and now we're sitting down for a talk." She only just avoided using air quotes, with her hands both clutched in the boys.
Steve looked over at James, who gave them both a warm smile. "You and I agreed to be open and honest, and Steve agreed that we should do the same."
"You're breaking up with me," she went to pull her hands from the boys, but they held fast. "Let go."
"No," Steve looked at Bucky pleadingly. "You're doing this all wrong, jerk." He brought a hand up to cup Darcy's cheek, turning her to look at him, hating the hurt filling her ocean blue eyes. "No one's breaking up with anyone, least of all you."
"Then why the sit down talk and my favorite food, and all this open honest stuff?" she watched while the two men conducted another wordless conversation over her head. "Will you two quit it and someone just spit it out, cause you're both killing me here."
"I want to be with you, too," Steve all but shouted in a rush to get the words out of his mouth. James smacked his hand over his face.
"Oh," Darcy looked at both men before grinning. "Good," she pulled Steve down into a deep kiss, really taking the time to enjoy the sensations of his lips against hers, tugging both men against her and snuggling down on the couch. "So, someone said something about Thai?"
Both men chuckled. "This conversation isn't over," James told them.
"Logistics," Darcy shrugged. "We'll work that out over food."
"You gonna make the punk wait three dates, too?" James pulled himself off the couch and grabbed the bag of Darcy's toiletries.
"Yes," Darcy told him, snuggling into Steve's arms, relishing in the new freedom to touch him. He buried his head against her neck, nuzzling his nose into her pulse point.
"Three dates?" Steve mumbled into her skin, sending warm vibrations down her spine.
"Before you get to take our girl to bed, punk," Bucky called from the bedroom. Steve raised his eye brow at Darcy, her hair beautifully disheveled.
"Sex, Steve, I made James wait three dates before we had sex," she shrugged her shoulders. "You and I are waiting, too. Three dates, just the two of us."
"Oh," Steve pulled away from Darcy, taking both of her hands in his. "We aren't having sex until we're both ready."
"I know," she smiled up at his pink cheeks. "I also think we need to go out, all three of us, before we take that next step."
"I don't want you to think you aren't welcome to stay the night, though," Steve told her. "Bucky and I missed you."
"I think I can manage," she pulled him down for a kiss. "Now shut up, I've been wanting to do this for a while."
Darcy woke up between her two boys, Steve's arms around her waist, her shirt hiked up under her boobs, his fingers tracing lazy circles on her belly, as Bucky held her against his chest. She watched as the boys kissed over her head, rumbling sounds of contentment coming from both of their chests, capturing Darcy between their warm vibrations.
The boys shifted fully against her, pressing her tightly between them, their hard bodies pressing into her soft one, making things in her body low and tight, pushing into dangerous territory if they were going to try and wait the requisite dates before indulging in more amorous activates all together.
"Alright boys," Darcy pushed herself from between them, immediately feeling the loss of their warmth. "I'm tapping out." She kissed each of the boys, pulling reluctantly out of James' arms as he tried to coax her back into bed, before slipping into the bathroom for a long hot shower, giving the boys some time alone.
Steve caught her on her way out of the apartment. "We didn't mean to run you off, doll," he steered her back into the kitchen where Bucky was making coffee.
"You didn't, Stevie," she cupped his cheek gently. "I wanted to stay, trust me."
"Please stay with us tomorrow," he pleaded, pushing his face against her palm. "Bucky misses touching you." James' arms wound around her middle and she relaxed against his chest. Her hand still cupping Steve's face.
"He can touch me anytime he wants," Darcy smiled as Steve stepped into her personal space, looking at the other man at her back. "I just, I'm not ready to jump that quickly into bed with you. I think we need to have a solid foundation first. If we rush, we could ruin this for all of us."
Both men nodded. "Then if it's alright with you, maybe we could stay at your place tonight, and I'll be the one to bow out when it gets to be too much," Steve suggested, his hands over Bucky's arms where they held Darcy to his chest.
"Oh," Darcy just looked up into the Captain's face, enjoying the feeling of both of them so close, the smell of hazelnut coffee surrounded them, mixing with James dark musky scent and Steve's ocean tang.
"Is that alright, sweetheart?" James' voice rumbling through her body.
"Yeah," she smiled and a chaste kiss against Steve's lips as James rubbed his face into her hair.
"At some point, though," Steve kept Darcy tight between their bodies, his face close to her ear, dark and low. "Bucky wants to watch me touch you." James hummed in agreement.
"Three dates, Captain," she murmured into his hear. "And at least one night just you and me. Then James can watch whatever he wants."
"I'm glad to hear that, sweetheart," James spun her in their arms, so she was facing her, capturing her lips hard against his, pushing her back into Steve's embrace, trapping her between them again. "Now scoot, before I decide I can't wait."
Darcy grabbed a cup of coffee and kissed both men before slipping out of Steve's apartment and up to the R & D floor for the day.
Notes:
And we have OT3. And still a long journey to go.
Don't forget to feed the muse!