Just thought I would mention that I've cleaned up some of the chapters a bit, just for some typos that I had been too lazy to deal with before after catching them.

Looking back at this story and its progression for what it is..I will say that I intended originally to write oneshots but this story eventually evolved into something a little more cohesive. While I am keeping the original chapters what they are, as I think they set a tone for certain characters and situations, I acknowledge that some are a little more nonsensical than others.

Please enjoy and review. Feedback is definitely a helpful motivator.

A Gradually Increasing Distance

Avenger's Tower was unnervingly quiet on nights when the team was away. Jane was down in her lab, face down on a half-eaten pop tart. Darcy hadn't bothered to move her.

Instead, she had gone up to the common area to see what the others were up to. It was Jarvis who informed her that the place was, in fact, empty. In the kitchen was a half-cooked meal that one of the team must have abandoned when the call rose to assemble. She didn't know what it was, but she was sure it was unsalvageable. Darcy tossed it in the trash. Moving to the window, she wondered where they'd gone off to this time, and the longer she stared outward she began to wonder just what it was like to see the world through their eyes.

The city was bright below them, but the sky was starless and vast – a void that felt like it would consume her body and soul.

Darcy, by default mostly, was the only normal person in the tower. Followed at a gradually increasing distance by Sam. She was not a hero. Not a genius by any means. It's like ever since Thor fell out of the sky, her entire existence was caught up in some fucked up microcosmic big bang. The universe kept expanding, creating its own uncharted plane. And Darcy? Darcy was spiraling the fuck out of orbit – she had no center of gravity, no sun or moon.

Space. A concept that had enchanted her boss turned best-sister-friend; a place that had produced her big badass adopted brother from Asgard. Every day she had too much of it and somehow not enough. It expanded and increased on a whim, Darcy's thoughts on the matter be damned. Space made her hands sweat when no one else was around.

"Miss Lewis," Jarvis said.

"J-man."

"I am detecting an irregularity in your vital signs," He hesitated. "It is an irregularity that I have detected at an increased rate over the course of the last three weeks. I…do not wish to speak out of turn, but I would strongly advise you to contact a medical professional."

"I'm fine J."

"Miss Lewis- "

"Jarvis, there's nothing wrong. I promise."

"I have gathered a list of qualified professionals who have a wide range of expertise," Jarvis persisted, defiant as only Tony Stark's brainchild could be. "I have taken the liberty of downloading it to your cell phone and portable computer."

"Unnecessary Jarvis," Darcy grumbled, but her face softened before she added a quiet "Thanks I guess…"

"You're quite welcome, Miss Lewis." If an AI could sound smug…

The TV lit up, seemingly of its own volition. The lights dimmed and the fireplace came to life. Behind her in the kitchen, Tony's version of a Keurig began to gurgle and hiss as Jarvis made her a cup of cocoa. She sighed and did as the AI indicated she should. Trudging over to the kitchen, her shaking hands grasped the mug and felt better having something to hold onto. Cocoa at the ready, Darcy made her way to the couch and cuddled up in a blanket watching Jarvis scroll slowly through her viewing options. She hummed in agreement when he paused on Call the Midwife, asking him not to turn off the show even if she fell asleep. Darcy lost herself in the simplicity of the episodes, no matter how much drama they packed in, at the end of the day, there was optimism and structure.

Darcy felt heavy as she watched the show. Felt the tightness that had settled in her shoulder blades start to fade, and she felt the typical tingling in her fingers and toes as the adrenaline began to wear off. Her breathing was deep, and her bones felt squishy.

Darcy wasn't aware she had fallen asleep at all.

The only sound in the room was the crackle of the fireplace and the hum of the television, which was odd since the screen in front of her was black. She tried to ask Jarvis if he knew what was wrong with the TV, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. The now empty mug that she held in her hands, fell away and shattered on the floor as Darcy tried in vain to stand up and detangle herself from a pile of a thousand blankets she had never put on.

Stepping on the glass to get away from the couch, she stumbled toward the windows. A trail of bloody footprints in her wake, a baby was crying on the show – it's mother still screaming as she delivered its twin. And Darcy was holding herself up, only the thin pane of glass supporting the full weight of her body.

The city lights were gone. Everything was black. The whole world had gone dark and she tried to call Jarvis but she couldn't talk. And the baby just kept crying and the woman kept screaming and there was blood on the floor. And the whole world was black, the sky and the city were dark. She couldn't even make out the shapes of the buildings below. It was like everything had evaporated into space.

And then, as though someone had turned on two tiny suns, she was met with the glowing red eyes of the destroyer. Darcy's hands were practically melded to the glass, she couldn't move as she stood face to opening mouth with the giant death bot from Asgard. And when the flames burst from the destroyer and rushed toward her, Darcy could do nothing but wait for her own death.

Somewhere behind the couch someone hissed and whispered something she couldn't make out. Whoever they spoke to, rumbled quietly their response. Through her eyelids, she could tell that someone turned on a light, and she could vaguely make out the opening and closing of cabinet doors.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a blacked-out star. Disoriented from her dream and confused by the star in front of her, Darcy did what any sane person would do and reached out to run a finger over it. Except, she quickly came to realize that the star was attached to metal, and the metal was in an odd shape, and that shape was attached to a bigger, manlier shape that had frozen at the touch of her finger.

Ice blue eyes looked questioningly at Darcy from behind messy locks of hair. The Winter Soldier.

She flew up at that. Trying to jump off the couch, but tangled still in the blanket, Darcy flailed trying to stop herself from falling face-first into the coffee table.

Instead of a face full of table, a long metal arm wrapped itself around her midsection and hauled Darcy up to her feet. Bucky Barnes righted her before ducking back down briefly to gather the rag and dustpan he had abandoned on the floor. Her hot cocoa must have fallen after all.

"I am so sorry! I wasn't even thinking dude. I swear I was just like super out of it because I had this fucked up dream and I didn't even know I was sleeping. And then I looked up and there was this floating star and I was like really confused and I touched it – and I know that was like super insensitive and wrong of me, and it totally shows that I shouldn't be trusted with any like super important red buttons or anything. Like, seriously, man never ever give me something that says 'do not push' because I will, and I'll probably be responsible for a lot of innocent deaths. Fuck man forget I said that t—"

Darcy jumped when a hand landed gently on her shoulder and couldn't stop herself from flailing out and smacking the offending person…Who of course turned out to be a sympathetic-looking Steve Rogers.

"Oh shit, Steve. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to slap you," And then more to herself than him, she continued. "Fuck, who slaps Captain America? Where does that land of the scale of unpatriotic acts? Is it like not standing for the pledge or is it more like burning the flag? Or is it like a peaceful protest in front of the Lincoln Memor—"

"Darcy." Steve's smile was wide and toothy now. He had very nice teeth. She wondered if that was the serum too, or if he'd always been that way. He was blushing. Why was he blushing? Captain America really blushed a lot.

"Doll," Bucky interjected. "Your internal monologue…not so internal…"

It was Darcy's turn to blush.

"Shit sorry."

"Okay, Darcy… I'm gonna cut you off before we go back down that road again," Steve said. "You don't need to apologize for anything. Bucky is a grown man and he can handle it if someone touches his prosthetic – you didn't freak him out or hurt his feelings in any way. Right, Buck?"

Bucky quirked his lips and gave a half nod in confirmation.

"Second, you barely slapped me and it's not like I didn't have it comin. I caught you off guard is all. Third…we were already very aware of the fact that we should never put you in charge of the 'do not press' button," he smirked. "There's a whole page about it in your file."

Darcy squinted, unsure about whether or not he was trolling her on that last one, before releasing a deep sigh and shrugging a shoulder at him.

She looked down at the mess in Bucky's hands and reached out to take it from him.

"Thanks for cleaning that up... I can take it from here though. I should probably mop the floor too.."

Bucky pulled his arms back, not letting her take the shattered glass from his hands.

"Don't sweat it, darlin," He smiled at her before heading toward the kitchen where the rest of the Avengers were scarfing down whatever sustenance they could find.

"Darce.." Steve was watching her with a furrowed brow. "If you ever need to talk about anything…"

But she smiled at him and commented on his rippling pectorals…effectively heading off that conversation before it started. She left him blushing by the couch, while she wandered into the kitchen. No one commented on her presence despite the late hour. Clint passed her a bowl of cereal. Bruce provided an already brewed cup of tea. Bucky didn't say anything more, but he took a seat next to her and despite his moniker, the Winter Soldier's presence was a surprisingly warm one to be in.

If they noticed the dark patches under her eyes, they didn't say anything – some of them had patches of their own. And if they noticed that she didn't ask about their missions anymore, they didn't say anything about that either. And the Avengers filtered out of the room one by one, each wishing each other a good night and pleasant dreams. Some gave claps on the back or a squeeze on the shoulder to one person or another as they passed by. But Darcy stayed seated at the bar, zoned out and exhausted but not wanting to go back to sleep.

Thor pressed a kiss to her hair before retiring, and Tony left her with a lazy salute and a promise to see her in the morning. Bruce and Natasha both kind of just disappeared and Clint nodded goodnight. Darcy though didn't acknowledge much of any of them – focusing instead on the sensation of the countertop as she rubbed her fingers continuously over the grainy surface. She couldn't bring herself to stop, didn't know what she would do if she did stop.

It was Sam's voice that broke through the haze. Darcy absently registered that three people remained. Bucky to her left; Sam and Steve leaning on the counter across from her.

"Hey Lewis…" Sam started gently. "You want to do something for me real quick?"

She didn't look up from where she was running her fingers along the countertop. Knew she should say something back but couldn't find her words. She half cocked an eyebrow and bit the inside of her cheek.

"Can you take a deep breath with me?" He asked, and proceeded to demonstrate. She followed his example. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Hold, two, three, four, five. Exhale, two, three, four, five.

He asked her to do it again.

She did.

She hunched slightly as her back and shoulders released their tension. But, still, she was intent on the grain of the granite beneath her hand. She ground her teeth and worried the inside of her cheek.

"Good, Lewis," Sam continued. "Now, can you tell me five things that you hear? Anything at all."

Darcy counted her breathing again and dug her fingers into the surface a little harder.

Her voice was tight.

"The air conditioning," she hesitated.

"Good," Sam smiled. "That's one."

"A clock," she said.

She was straining her ears now. It was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping. The whole place was quiet. She didn't even know what else she could hear, but then she heard clicking and rustling and a crackling sound behind her too.

"Typing," She said and looked up from where her fingers were still moving. Across from her, Sam was smiling, tired eyed, but genuine. And next to him was Steve Rogers, typing away on his laptop. Most likely finishing up his paperwork from the night's mission.

"Rustling.." She looked to her left. Bucky was scrolling through his phone, eating from a bag of chips. "Rustling from Bucky's chips. The fireplace behind me…the fire is still going."

"Good, Darcy," He said and even though she was still absently tracing patterns on the counter Sam's eyes never once flickered to the action. "Now how about five things that you can smell?"

Darcy closed her eyes and took a sniff before wrinkling her nose.

"One of you hasn't showered yet." That startled a laugh out of them, but they kept their poker faces on. No telling who it was then.

"I smell the fire in the fireplace and the chips that Bucky is eating. I smell…coffee? Who is drinking coffee at four a.m.? And that plug-in candle thing that Pepper got.."

Her hands had stopped wearing a hole in Tony's granite, having progressed to wringing themselves nervously in her lap.

"And five things that you can see? Anything at all." Sam reminded her.

She looked around herself and saw everything. Uncertainly, she looked back at Sam who decided to help her out a little.

"How about five things that are blue?"

She chewed on her lip and nodded, looking around her.

"Cap's shield has blue," she said quietly, for some reason more insecure about answering this prompt than she was about the others. Steve stopped typing to look softly at her.

"The mug on the other counter; your shirt," she nodded at Sam before pausing.

"Two more, Lewis."

She brought her hand up and rubbed at the countertop again. Sam watched the movement this time but didn't comment. She felt a weight rest on the back of her chair, and she looked over to Bucky who was still scrolling casually through his phone. Nonchalant despite the placement of his arm – looking for all the world a man who was simply stretching out.

"Bucky's phone case is blue," Darcy said. Her hands came down to rest in her lap. "And there's a blue stamp on that envelope over there."

She exhaled slowly, before leaning back all the way in her seat. The back of her neck propped on the arm resting behind her.

She felt strangely wired, and the whole room seemed to be in sharper focus than before. The lights were brighter and even the friendly silence between them had a distinct buzz to it.

"What was that show you were watching before?" Sam straightened up while he waited for her to answer.

"Call the Midwife," She said – Her voice loud to her ears.

"Yeah?" He smiled with an arched brow. "Is it any good?"

She thought back to her dream. The crying baby and the screaming woman.

"I'm kinda burned out on it…" Part of her wanted to look out the windows to her right, to make sure the Destroyer wasn't waiting for her there. She kept her eyes averted.

"Huh, that's too bad…" He looked to Steve who was closing his computer and sliding it away. Bucky put his phone back in his pocket before standing and grasping the back of Darcy's chair.

"Heard this show called The Office was pretty decent…" Steve said, voice gravelly with the sleep he apparently wasn't going to get. "Want to watch an episode or two?" He asked her.

She looked suspiciously between the three of them. All dead on their feet, asking her to watch TV with them at four in the morning. She opened her mouth to protest. She wanted to suggest that they go to bed and get the rest that they needed, but Bucky pulled out her chair for her and guided her toward the couch. Trusting the other two to follow in their wake. He plopped himself down in the spot she had occupied when she was alone, dragged her to sit in the spot to his right so he could keep an arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders. Steve kicked up his feet to the right of Darcy and Sam all but collapsed into the love seat next to the couch.

Jarvis played the first episode without being asked to and they were all asleep before the theme song was done.