This work will be completed. I plan to post regularly until it's done, which I'm estimating will take about two months. It is being cross-posted on AO3.
What you can expect:
A romance you can sink your teeth into
A lot of snark
Some semi-crack action scenes
Some eventual smut
I also want to give a huge thanks to Noxnthea who is a constant encouragement, never too busy to brainstorm, named this fic, and the best beta reader ever. Thank you!
Darcy looked down at the paperwork in her hand, then back up at the building in front of her, and let out a long sigh. She should have known it was too good to be true. The job market hadn't exactly been kind over the last two years, and it wasn't looking to get any kinder. This offer had come out of nowhere, and she'd been so excited to see something that wasn't minimum wage she'd accepted the appointment without question.
Now she found herself standing in front of Aspen Technology, staring at the smaller words under the outdated logo on the building facade: *a Stark Industries Company*. It fucking figured. She looked back down at her paperwork and tried to mentally calculate the odds that this wasn't a setup. "And then there's the question of what kind of setup it is," she muttered to herself.
Well, she was here, and it was almost certain that whoever wanted her to come in was fully aware she'd been standing out on the curb for the last five minutes, so with one last deep breath, she started toward the front doors.
Ten minutes later found her sitting in a very uncomfortable office chair in a dingy beige room, staring at Nicholas J Fury himself. "I thought you were supposed to be dead," she tried not to stare at his eye patch, "well, not actually dead, but you know… pretending to be dead." Fury didn't react. He just leaned back in his chair and continued staring at her in silence. "Oh," Darcy said, "we're waiting on something?"
They didn't wait long.
Natasha Romanoff stepped into the office, looking as solemn as Darcy had ever seen her holding a thick folder. "The file you requested." The Black Widow handed the folder to Fury and then moved to stand behind his shoulder, arms crossed over her chest.
"Ms. Lewis," Fury rocked forward as he started speaking, and Darcy forced herself not to lean away. She refused to be intimidated by a man using borrowed office space. "You're here today because we have some concerns." He steepled his fingers over the desk, and his eye narrowed.
Darcy pressed her lips together. Did he think she was going to start spilling her guts because he expressed concern… undefined concern no less. He could at least do her the courtesy of explaining why he was concerned.
"Ms. Lewis." Fury barked her name, and Darcy realized she'd been staring off into the middle distance.
"I thought you were going to continue to explain what you were concerned about." Darcy said, barely managing to keep her frustration from her voice, "I didn't realize you thought I was so useless I'd break without being asked a question."
The Black Widow shifted on her feet, and Darcy spared a thought for the fact that antagonistic might not be the way to play this, but she shoved it down and refocused on the one-eyed bully directly in front of her. Fury closed his eye and then leaned back in his chair again.
"Fine. Ms. Lewis, as I'm sure you know you've been classified in our system since you were a part of the first contact team for Thor." Darcy nodded along, "For the last two years —"
"You mean since your shit got blown to kingdom come and it was revealed you were a front for nazis?" Darcy couldn't help herself.
"Since the events two years ago," Fury continued as though she hadn't spoken, "we have been undertaking the long task of cleaning house, so to speak. As part of that process, every asset on SHIELD's docket has had their file reviewed. Do you know what we found when we looked through yours?"
Darcy did know what they would find. She was also painfully aware what it looked like. She'd warned Tony. She'd told him repeatedly to leave well enough alone, but he never listened. She risked a look at the Black Widow and looked away. This was going to be… un-fun.
"We're waiting, Ms. Lewis." Fury was starting to sound impatient, and Darcy was suddenly curious about why he was here at all. Even if her file made her look suspicious, she wasn't remotely significant enough to warrant being brought in by Nick Fury and the Black Widow. There was something else going on.
"Could you explain exactly what you're concerned about?" She asked, trying to buy herself time to figure out precisely what suspicious activity she needed to address.
Fury raised his eyebrow, but to Darcy's surprise, he continued, "Two and a half years ago, 3 offshore accounts were set up in your name. A name I would mention that does not appear connected to any valid birth records in the US. Something we did not catch in our original background checks. For the last two years regular deposits have been made into these offshore accounts for large amounts. The money has been funneled out occasionally. Transfers in both directions have been, so far, untraceable." Fury leaned forward again, and Darcy was starting to resent all his rocking around, "Would you care to explain?"
Would she care to explain? Well, no, not really, but she had a feeling that wouldn't be an acceptable answer. It wouldn't be hard to explain. Honestly, of all the things he could have brought up, this was the easiest to explain. It would only take a phone call. It just wasn't a phone call she wanted to make.
Fury cleared his throat, and Darcy gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Can I make a phone call?" Better to make the call than end up in some kind of black ops site. That wouldn't end well for anyone.
"A phone call?" Fury sounded interested but impatient.
"Yep," Darcy made sure to pop the P as obnoxiously as possible. "One phone call and I can have this all cleared up and explained to your satisfaction."
Fury was looking a little too smug for Darcy's liking. "By all means."
"Douche." She muttered under her breath before digging her phone out of her bag and typing in the number she knew by heart. It rang for longer than she expected, and she glanced up from the screen just once to see Fury still looking very sure of himself. She counted 12 rings before there was a click and then "Darce?"
He sounded out of breath like he'd run to pick up the phone, and Darcy was a little relieved to know that the last few months with limited contact hadn't changed things too much. "Hi," she said, and a long breath was released on the other end of the line.
"Are you okay? What do you need?" She felt a moment of frustration that he assumed she'd only called because she was in trouble, but then, she had to let it go. She had, in fact, only called because she was in trouble. She risked another glance up at her personal intimidation squad and sighed.
"I'm in a bit of trouble actually. Do you think you could come here?" Fury raised his eyebrow again, and Darcy chose to ignore him. *Who* he mouthed at her, and Darcy rolled her eyes.
"Absolutely," There was a scuffle from the phone, a muffled conversation, and then the very recognizable voice of FRIDAY came over the line, "seven minutes away if you take the new Mach XII, sir." And then Tony was back, "I'll be there in five and a half, kiddo." The line disconnected.
"Ms. Lewis, I'm not sure what your relationship to Tony Stark is, but I can promise you that without a proper explanation, his presence will not necessarily fix anything here." Fury looked, if possible, even more annoyed now that he realized who she'd called, the Widow looked thoughtful, and Darcy spared a thought for whether or not they were likely to kill her before Tony got here just to get out of talking to him.
"His *presence* will actually explain everything," Darcy said, and then she played the one card she knew would keep her whole and hale for the next few minutes, "he's the one who set up the accounts and who's been making the deposits."
"And why would he do that?" Fury asked.
"That part's simple," She shrugged, "he's my dad."
Her paternity had been a well-kept secret for most of her life. She'd met Tony for the first time at age three, and while Tony wasn't exactly a hands-on father, he couldn't be. He was present. When her mom got sick, he showed up with money, comfort, and expensive private doctors. When her mom finally passed, he'd very quietly moved Darcy in with him.
It was SHIELD poking around after his kidnapping in Afghanistan that triggered changing her birth records in an effort to keep her away from prying government and bad-guy eyes. A change that had proven very useful when the jack-booted thugs showed up in the desert a la Thor. And again when the Avengers went public and then again when Thor returned, and again when SHIELD turned out to be Hydra all along.
Overall it had been a good few years to *not* be Tony Stark's publicly recognized kid.
—
The next few minutes were incredibly awkward. Darcy could tell the two spies were holding on to their straight faces by a thread. She sympathized. She really did.
Tony met her, Fury, and the Widow on the roof five minutes and 42 seconds later.
He landed with his customary, and in Darcy's opinion, dramatic, pose and then straightened up only to crook two metal fingers in a come here motion. "Darce, kiddo, come stand next to me." No one stopped her as she crossed the roof to stand at his side. "You okay?" The Iron Man suit made his voice sound electronic, and she didn't like it.
"Yep, just need you to explain to these nice people that I'm not an evil nazi." Fury was watching the scene unfold like a man waiting for execution.
"What's the deal here *Nicholas*?" Tony settled into a more relaxed stance, the face plate of the suit flipping up. "You think it's cute to bother civilians these days?"
"We found anomalies in her records that suggested a clandestine relationship with foreign parties and inconsistencies in her background." The Black Widow broke her long silence, and if Darcy wasn't mistaken, it looked like she was trying to convey to Tony that none of this was meant to be personal. That was interesting. Darcy knew things were tense for the Avengers, but she hadn't realized it went that deep. She looked back to Tony to find him considering the red-headed assassin with narrowed eyes.
"It's always personal when you involve the kids." Tony quipped, and Darcy didn't miss the way the Widow's eyes widened just a bit.
"So Ms. Lewis' story is true?" Fury asked.
"If her story was she's my kid then yes." Tony looked over to Darcy, and she nodded in confirmation.
Then because her temper was on a short leash today. "I told you to stop transferring that money." She hissed to Tony.
"And I told you it's your birth right and I'll do what I want." Tony whispered back.
"You're the most frustrating man alive." Darcy moaned in response before turning to look at him head-on.
"I'm your father." Tony snapped, "I want to take care of you."
"I don't need you to take care of me."
"If you're applying to jobs at Aspen Tech then you absolutely need me to take care of you. Is this about those student loans? I told you, you don't need student loans. In fact, I'll just pay them off. FRIDAY—"
"Don't you dare Tony!" Darcy had completely forgotten their audience, focusing entirely on her infuriating father.
"Yes boss." FRIDAY's Irish lilt came from the suit's speakers.
"Let's pay off Darcy's student loans."
"Don't you dare Tony! I told you I wanted to do this on my own."
"You don't have to do it on your own! That's what I'm here for!" They'd steadily risen in volume until Tony was shouting back at her.
"Searching for student loan data. Would you like me to make the payment when I find it?" FRIDAY interjected
"Yes!"
"NO!"
They shouted at the same time.
"I can see the resemblance." Fury's dry comment drew their attention back to their SHIELD-lite audience, and Darcy felt heat rise up her cheeks.
"Very funny." Tony waved a hand at Fury in dismissal and then turned to Darcy, "We're going now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you in that suit." She looked at Fury, "Are we done here?"
"I assume your father can provide proof of everything?" Fury was pushing his fucking luck.
"You're pushing your luck." Tony voiced her thoughts, and Darcy couldn't help the smirk that slid over her lips. For all that they fought, she and Tony had always agreed on the essentials.
"You can't expect —"
"I can expect anything I want." Tony cut off the former SHIELD director, "In case you've forgotten you're not actually in charge of anything anymore. I'm not even sure why *Natalie* here is humoring you."
That raised Darcy's eyebrows. If she'd realized Fury wasn't still pulling some strings behind the scenes, she wouldn't have sat through anything beyond realizing it was him in the office. She'd been warned the job offer was a setup, but she'd wanted so badly to finally catch a break.
"Come on, kiddo, Happy should be downstairs with a car by now." That was news to everyone on the roof, and Darcy leaned to her left to peer over the edge. Sure enough, Happy Hogan was reclined against a black car at the curb. He gave her a loose salute which she returned.
"Stark!" Fury said it like a man used to being obeyed.
"You don't run anything anymore, Nick." Tony turned away from the spies and started to herd Darcy towards the rooftop door. She allowed him to lead her down the stairs, out of the building, and then watched as his Iron Man suit collapsed into a pair of thick cuffs around each wrist before they both climbed into the back of the car.
"Where to?" Happy asked, and they were off.
—
An hour, a forced ice cream cone, and two fights later, Darcy stumbled out of the car in front of a brownstone where she was *absolutely* not renting an apartment on the top floor.
"Nice building." Tony was leaning over the backseat of the car to look up at said brownstone. He was angling for an invitation inside, and he wasn't going to get it.
"Thanks, I really like it. The landlord is very nice." Darcy lied through her teeth.
"Uh huh." Tony stared her down, his face far too tense to suggest he believed a word she was saying. "You should come by the tower for dinner soon. Pep misses you."
"I'll do that. See you around dad. Happy." She gave them both a wave and slammed the door. There was a moment when she thought they were going to wait for her to actually enter the building, which would have made her terrible ruse even more obvious. But, starting halfway up the stairs and turning to wave again was enough to get the car moving. She stood at the door fiddling with nothing until they'd turned a corner and then finally let her shoulders slump.
She walked down the steps, ditched her entire purse at the bottom of the stoop, and kept walking. She dropped her phone in a trashcan two streets over after removing the battery. "He's going to be fucking insufferable." She muttered to herself before traipsing down into the subway for the longest ride home.
Two hours, five trains, two pass-through cabs, and twenty minutes of walking down poorly lit streets, she finally climbed the two flights of stairs to her actual apartment in Sheepshead Bay. She pushed open the door and was greeted by the smell of curry.
"How'd it go?" Called a very welcome voice from the kitchen.
"You know exactly how it went." Darcy grumbled back as she toed her way out of her shoes and staggered deeper into the apartment.
"Well now that's just untrue."
She turned the last corner and entered the warm kitchen where the smell of dinner was like a blanket she could warp around herself. Two glasses of red wine were already poured and breathing on the counter, and she snatched one up, taking a long swallow.
"That good huh?" James Barnes, the former Winter Soldier, the White Wolf of the West, leaned back against the opposite counter and then reached out to wrap his vibranium hand around her hip, pulling her toward him with a gentleness that would have surprised his former handlers. She let him reel her in until she was pressed against his chest, burying her face in the soft cotton of his tshirt.
"It was not a job offer." She muttered into his pec.
"I'm sorry doll. Another MLM?" He reached up to twist his flesh hand into her messy curls.
"Worse." She whispered. She almost didn't want to tell him. The moment she did, she knew the quiet night of curry and wine he'd clearly been planning would be over.
"Worse?" He was still relaxed, his fingers scratching at her scalp in a way that made her want to purr.
She took a deep breath. "It was a front by SHIELD to accuse me of being Hydra because of those fucking accounts Tony set up. I had to ditch everything and take the long way home. It's why I'm so late." He'd tensed up on the mention of SHIELD. By the time she'd stopped talking, he wasn't breathing. "Talk to me," she said, leaning back to see his face as she made the demand.
"Do we need to leave?" That he asked rather than just jumping into action was proof of almost three years of trust between them.
"Probably." She admitted and then drained her wine glass. "I'm sorry." She added.
He let out a long breath. "Not your fault. We've got backup plans for a reason." He scratched at her scalp one last time and slid out from between her and the counter. "You said you ditched everything?"
"I had Tony drop me at a random brownstone in Mott Haven. He'll have figured out I wasn't renting there seconds after he left but I left my bag near the stoop just in case then ditched the phone a few blocks over in front of a Chinese place with apartments on top." She reached for the second wine glass only to have him snatch it up and dump it down the sink.
"Good job. If we're about to go to ground you know you can't be drunk." He started toward their bedroom.
"You could carry me." She whined. She was fucking tired.
"We did that once." He called back, and his voice was muffled. "Neither of us liked it." He came back out of the bedroom with a hoodie on over his jeans, and she *knew* he'd pulled armor on under the loose clothing. "You need to change." She was still in her interview pencil skirt.
"I liked it fine." She said as she pushed past him into the bedroom. "I had a great view of your ass." It was the work of seconds to pull on comfortable jeans and a long-sleeved tshirt. She snatched up another one of his hoodies and moved back into the living room to find him holding a bulletproof vest. "Tony isn't going to try and kill me." She said, eyeing the vest with disdain. They were so uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I know doll. But he's probably going to try to kill me and you've got a habit of getting in the way." His voice was soft, but his eyes brooked no argument. She held out her arms.
"That was one time." She reminded him as he buckled her in.
"One time that almost ended in you getting shot." He growled back, pulling the last strap tight around her waist. "Sweatshirt on." He helped her pull the loose gray sweater over her head and then leaned forward to smack a kiss on her forehead. "Never again."
She rolled her eyes. "*Almost* and you vastly over reacted."
"I love you." He said in lieu of letting her pick a fight.
"Low blow." She pouted, and his mouth caught hers in a quick kiss. "Lower blow." She whispered, kissing him again. "I love you too. So much."
He turned off the stove as she pulled the go bags out of the hall closet and then stepped into the well-broken-in boots sitting next to them. He joined her in the hall, already wearing his own boots, hat pulled low over his eyes. He helped her into her leather jacket and then settled her pack on her back.
"Ready?" He asked.
"You think we'll come back?" She looked around the apartment. She'd been hoping they could stay in this one, but after years of almost constant movement, she should have known better.
"Maybe." He never lied to her about the odds. Not anymore.
"Too bad." She said softly, looking up to see him watching her with sad eyes.
"You don't have to go Darcy. I can go and you can stay here, unpack, spend time with your dad." It was an old argument. One he'd already lost but insisted on still bringing up every few months.
She stepped into his space, reaching up to pull his face down to hers so she could kiss him again. "No," she muttered against his lips when they finally broke apart, and the lopsided smile that twisted his lips made it all worth it.
"Okay then sweetheart. Time to move out." He took her hand, and she followed him into the night.