A/N: This will be the last one! Thank you all for reading and I'll see you later. :D

Written for: tumblringinthetardis. November 14th, 2019 ShieldShock secret relationship fic.

The first person who noticed was Jane.

But of course it was. No one spent more time with Darcy than her boss/best friend, or so she thought.

The first person she told was Bucky.

It was harder than she expected. The big jerk wouldn't stop trying to distract her.

"I know Darcy is hiding someth-eek!" Bucky nibbled the exact right spot on her neck and she torn between swatting him away or grabbing him and kissing him breathless.

"Darcy?" Bucky kissed all the way to her shoulder. "Who's Darcy?"

"Bucky, come on," Jane moaned, not just because he'd started on her breasts. "This is not the time…"

"I respectfully disagree, and I still do not recall this Darcy person." He grinned like the cheeky asshole he was. "Ask me again after a few orgasms."

Eventually, hours later, things were calm enough that Jane could explain her theory more in-depth. "Every day now I catch her texting in the middle of work. She'll go on thirty-minute breaks and come back two hours later like nothing happened, and she always so… disheveled."

"Like she hasn't just been getting a burger all that time," Bucky filled in.

"Exactly. She has to be seeing someone, I just don't know why she won't talk to me about it."

Bucky shrugged. "Maybe they're keeping things private for now."

"Could be," Jane said, playing with a lock of his hair, "she's not usually like this, though. Makes me think there's more to it that I'm not realizing."

The next person who noticed was Bucky, and not just because Jane had planted the idea in his head.

He returned to his apartment the next day just as Steve stepped out with a shirt over his head. His neck and chest were covered in hickies and he looked like he'd just run twelve marathons in a row. Bucky waited for him to work the thing on and fix his mess of bed head before coughing.

Steve's eyes bugged out. Bucky grinned. "Rough night?"

He stood so straight even a drill sergeant would be impressed. "No, not really."

"Uh-huh," Bucky said. There was definitely movement coming from inside his room, though his special guest was trying her(?) best not to make a sound. "Should I let everyone know you'll be late for the meeting today?"

"No, thank you."

"Are you sure? I know your workout regimen can be pretty tough."

"Fuck off." Steve got in the elevator flipping him off. Bucky flipped him off right back and it took all their combined strength not to crack a smile.

Next was Bruce. He'd been coming over regularly to consult with Jane on her research and had even taken to looking over pages of Darcy's thesis for her. While political science wasn't exactly his field, he had a keen eye for spelling and grammar issues.

"You have an affect where you need an effect," he said, handing her back a page.

"Are you sure?" Darcy re-read the line. "Dammit, why didn't Word catch that?"

"Maybe you need a different processor."

"You mean definitely."

Darcy threw the page aside and rubbed her forehead. Her phone rang, the screen lit up with a screenshot of… someone from behind. They were somewhat familiar to Bruce but it was hard to tell when the phone was upside down with Darcy's books covering it.

"Does that say 'Sweetass Apple Pie?'"

"No!" She snatched the phone and hightailed it out of the lab.

Then came Tony, because Tony knew everything.

"Are you banging Lewis?"

Steve spat out his drink. "What? I wasn't…"

"I know you're not with Jane because Barnes is and I haven't seen any brawls recently," Tony paced like he was considering an issue with one of his suits. "But you're always over there and sneaking back from their wing at five in the morning. Nice job dodging the security cameras, by the way. Friday almost missed you."

"I was just… I was… uh…"

"I wouldn't pry, it's just I have a bet going with Rhodey. He thinks you're with Mandy in accounting for some reason, but I know it's Lewis. You guys are the opposite of subtle about it."

"Well, I was… I mean I do… we've met of course, but…"

"I'll leave you to think it over," Tony slid out of the lounge with a knowing smirk. "So you really think about it."

Within a week, neither Steve nor Darcy knew what to do.

"Maybe we should tell them," Darcy said, resting her head on Steve's shoulder. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep lying to Jane."

"Yeah, Bucky's starting to catch on, too," Steve said.

"It wouldn't be so bad, would it?" Darcy asked herself more than him. "It's not like we have to put out an official press release. We're just telling our closest friends, 'Hey we're an item now. Don't be weird about it.'"

"They'd keep it a secret for us if we asked."

"Of course they would."

Darcy took Steve's hand and he brought her knuckles to his lips. His breath was hot, making her shiver. "We'll do it later."

"Right, later," she agreed as he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. "Or tomorrow."

"Tomorrow works, too."

Things always grew heavy fast for them. It was part of what had brought them together. Within five minutes, Steve's shirt was off, Darcy's bra was unclasped, and they were on the couch grinding into each other. This would've been the start of a long and fruitful night of passion, but then someone coughed.

"Pardon me, lovebirds?" said Tony as he, Rhodey, Bruce, Jane, and Bucky watched them from the bar. "Sorry to interrupt, but next time you want to have a secret romantic interlude, maybe don't do it in this extremely public lounge where anyone could walk in, huh?"

"I knew it!" Jane pointed dramatically at the pair.

"I also knew it!" Bucky shouted, also pointing.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Apple Pie," Bruce snorted.

Rhodey sullenly handed Tony a twenty.

"Uh…" Darcy swallowed, then shrugged at Steve, "well, I guess that's one problem solved."

"Great," Steve said. He could already feel a headache coming on, but at least he had the right girl to kiss it better.

"Also I'd recommend shutting FRIDAY down while you're in here? Not that the world wouldn't want official Captain America porn but you might get in hot water with your sponsors."

...he was going to need a lot of kisses.