It's the Great Pumpkin, Darcy Lewis!

29 October 1998

Dear Great Pumpkin,

I can't wait for your visit this Halloween night. Linus said on the television that you always bring lots of presents.

I hope, now that I am old enough, you will bring some for me too. I will wait for you at the pumpkin patch.

Travel safe,

Darcy Lewis

The six-year-old put down her colored pencil, carefully folded the letter, and put it in the envelope she'd taken out of her daddy's desk. On the front of the envelope in big lettering she wrote GREAT PUMPKIN before adding it to her parent's pile of outgoing mail. Darcy slid from the kitchen chair, picked up her stuffed kitty and sat in front of the television to watch her morning cartoons before someone came downstairs to help her get dressed for school.


30 October 2011

Jane gagged as the thick smell of paint wafted in through the trailer windows. She stood from the fold-out table where she'd being sipping her morning coffee before shoving the glass panel further open and popping her head out to look down at Darcy.

"Whatever you're up to, can you take it downwind?"

Darcy grinned up at her boss and dropped her can of spray paint before holding up her masterpiece – a black t-shirt with an orange jack-o-lantern face.

"How does he look?" She asked Jane.

"Creepy."

Darcy gasped and flipped it around to face her. She frowned.

"How can you call that face creepy? That's his happy face!"

Jane held up her hands and conceded Darcy's point with a disbelieving shake of the head before ducking back into the trailer.

Darcy huffed before allowing herself a wide toothy grin.

"Don't worry! I'm making one for you too!"

The other girl didn't respond.


31 October 2014

"Ian!" Darcy called back to her boyfriend who was struggling to keep up with her under the weight of everything she'd shoved into his arms. "Hurry up! I want to get there before the sun sets too low. We have to find a good spot."

"Oh, come on Darcy," he groaned trying to catch his breath. "This is ridiculous. I've got work tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"How are you just gonna let Halloween pass you by like that?"

"Because," he sputtered. "Halloween is not a thing I'd like to spend my time doing, Darce. It's not a holiday meant for adults."

She tsked and shot him a look.

"There were people dressed up in the streets dude. They were celebrating."

"Halloween is a children's holiday," He said, indignant, before looking dejectedly up at the darkening sky. "Not an adult one."

He hitched the picnic basket further up his arm and rolled his shoulder where another bag strap was hanging haphazardly.

"If we had nieces or nephews, sure. Maybe then I would get it," He muttered to himself as he trailed behind his oblivious girlfriend. "I'd be all for it. But we don't have any of those."

"Speak for yourself," Darcy hummed, good-naturedly but kept moving.

"But they're not here. It's just the two of us and we look ridiculous," he reasoned back, voice pitched in a low whine.

"Oh, don't be a Scrooge!" She waved her hand flippantly in his direction. Too pumped up on candy and anticipation to be bothered by his complaints. "Now hustle up, chicken butt! We have to find the perfect spot, so we have a solid view when he gets here!"

1 November 2014 (the next morning)

Any minute now the sun would begin its ascent over the horizon. The sky, already a warm purple hue.

Darcy, wrapped in a giant quilt, sat in her camping chair wide awake. Her eyes flitted around her excitedly as she waited still for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.

Ian fumed in the chair next to her. His hair stuck up every which way and a light shadow haunting his jawline.

"Darcy, love." He croaked. "We've been out here all night. No stupid giant pumpkin. Can we go home now? It's not even Halloween anymore."

"Few more minutes," she muttered softly.

"If anyone had told me I'd spend a whole night sitting in a pumpkin patch with my girlfriend while she waited for the arrival of a giant magical pumpkin, I'd have told them they were mad."

Darcy smiled and told him the time spent had been worth it.

Gritting his teeth, he hastily packed up their supplies and tried not to snap at her when she got up to help but moved too slowly.

Robbed. He felt robbed of a perfectly relaxing night at home. He could've been at the pub last night, had a couple of pints among friends. But no. No, he had to have a girlfriend that went on fool's errands in the middle of the night.

"Don't worry, babe," Darcy came to walk beside him with a tired but contented smile. "We'll see him next year for sure."

By that time next year, Ian was a sore topic of conversation. Darcy and Jane spent their time in Norway. The SHIELD security detail that had been assigned to them, refused to let Darcy leave in the middle of the night to look for a pumpkin patch.


29 October – Present (morning)

Tony paused mid-sentence, eyes dropping to Darcy where she sat writing intently at her desk. He looked mildly horrified as his eyes shot back and forth between her and her paper. She chewed on her pencil while she worked, oblivious to the man in front of her.

"That better not be—"

"It is," Jane sidled up next to him. "It's a long one this time."

"Longer than last year?" He said appalled, looking at his fellow scientist.

She nodded, affectionate, and exasperated as she watched her best friend.

"No," Tony shook his head. "Absolutely not."

He walked over to Darcy and snapped his fingers to get her attention. Tony made to snatch the letter off her desk, but she slid it out of reach and kept writing.

"Okay, Lewis. What's your price?" His voice was desperate and if he was whining, he'd never admit it. "What'll make you forget this whole thing?"

He still hadn't gotten over last year when she bailed on his Halloween Extravaganza to go jaunt around a sketchy old pumpkin patch alone.

"This year is the year, Stark. I'm sure of it. This year I'm finally gonna catch a glimpse of the Great Pumpkin."

"Good grief, kid." He shook his head and turned back to Jane, tabling the topic for later.

29 October (afternoon)

"Come on, Rogers," Natasha purred through the comm in his ear. "Trust me."

Steve grunted as he ducked out of the way of Bucky's fist, coming up behind him and giving a swift kick to his back, sending the other man off balance.

"I've heard that before Romanov." His voice was dry as he lazily brought up his shield to block Thor's half-hearted blow.

"Yeah," she called back, her voice getting louder as she ran. "But we're on the same team now!"

In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of her, holding onto Clint's bow as she forced the archer to roll out of her grasp and give up his weapon. He huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Since when has that ever stopped you," he grumbled.

"Should I be offended?" She asked without a tinge of hurt coloring her tone.

"I mean, I know I would be," Sam cut in good-naturedly as he dodged Vision in the air. "You're on the same team, Cap. Trust the lady."

"I think I'm good." He said, ducking into one of the hallways trying to get out of Bucky's line of sight before considering his shield thoughtfully.

He shook his head before jumping out of the way of the vibranium fist that appeared out of nowhere. Looking into the smug eyes of his best friend, Steve caught the other fist in his own before forcing Bucky backward out of his space. Barnes countered and Steve hit the ground with a thunderous sound. Thor's laughter sounded in the background as he took on the Vision with no small amount of jubilation.

"Whatever your considerin', punk, don't do it." Bucky's tone was dry, but his face was knowing as he studied the blonde.

They were evenly matched, neither of them tiring, both would inevitably call it a draw long before either came close to winning.

Steve's thoughts wandered back to the shield on his arm as the two of them went blow for blow. Thought back to Natasha's idea and all the ways it could go monumentally wrong.

"Now's your chance, Rogers," Natasha said to him seriously now. "We all know you and Bucky are gonna be stuck like that 'til we call an end to this. Only Thor would tip those scales and he won't because there's no point to it."

"Yeah man, what's the point of these things if we're not gonna push ourselves a bit," Sam said as he engaged Clint to free up Natasha. "Don't want things to get stale out here, Cap. Throw 'em for a loop."

Jarvis cut in then to remind the Captain that Agent Romanov had, in fact, signed a document attesting to the terms of their interactions during sparring sessions after the last time…

A chorus of affirmations followed the A.I.'s commentary and Steve pressed his lips together into a thin line.

Bucky got a jab into his ribs that sent him cussing and stumbling back.

"Fine." Steve spit out. Bucky paused in confusion at the other man, eyes widening when Steve wound up and sent his shield flying like a frisbee past him. The Soldier reached out to grab the weapon but was forced to the ground by a scrappiness he hadn't seen since the forties. Steve barreled past him then.

Bucky watched as Natasha dropped from the ledge where she was perched and landed on top of the shield, forcing the disc down with the weight of her body. She held it up so the back was facing a sprinting Captain America and the front was aimed directly for Thor as the god fought the Vision.

He held his breath in anticipation, waiting for Steve to kick the shield and send it flying into an unsuspecting Thor. Held his breath as Steve jumped with both feet out in front of him to kick the shield balanced in the Black Widow's capable hands. And then, he released the breath in one long wheezing laugh as the Widow nimbly ripped the shield out of the way before the Captain could kick it. The room echoed with the thud and the groan that escaped him as his body made contact with the concrete flooring and slid. Natasha carefully skittered away.

"Peculiar thing about that document…" Natasha purred as she laid the shield down next to him and sauntered out of the room. "It was never notarized."

Bucky shook his head and made his way over to Steve where the other man lay.

Clint and Sam were chuckling as they gathered up their discarded equipment. Thor and Vision moved amicably toward the door Natasha had disappeared through.

He held out his hand for his friend with a wry smile.

"Should've seen that one coming, punk."

Steve let out a small breath of laughter and accepted his help up out of the indent his body had made in the ground.

"Yeah," He rubbed at a sore spot on his head. "Yeah, I know."

30 October (afternoon)

"Whatcha doin, doll?"

Darcy looked up at Bucky from where she had ducked into the pantry.

"I'd rather not say." She said suspiciously. "You're gonna laugh."

If he wasn't curious before, he was now. Leaning forward with a serious, if intrigued, look in his eyes Bucky stuck his head in the pantry with hers.

"I'd never laugh at you. You're my best girl."

She hmphed and shot him a look. The grin she received in response was wide and tooth-rottingly sweet.

"Getting snacks for the pumpkin patch." She said to him.

"And why would I laugh at that?"

"Because I'm going there to wait for the Great Pumpkin."

"The great what-now?"

"You know…the Great Pumpkin…" She said nonchalantly as she pulled out a bag of chips and a couple of cans of soda. "Like Santa Claus…only real and way cooler."

He cocked his head and smiled at her; eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Umm—"

"Nope," Darcy held up a hand. "If you don't have anything nice to say, James Barnes, then you shouldn't say anything at all."

"I just—" He started and then glared at her when she moved to interrupt him again, she fell silent and dropped her hands into her lap.

"What if I want to see the Great Pumpkin, too?"

She recoiled, eyeing him suspiciously.

"We don't joke about the Great Pumpkin, James Buchanan Barnes."

"Who said anything about joking, dollface?"

"You don't want to go see the Great Pumpkin," she told him with a condescending smile.

"I do." Was his easy reply.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to go see the Great Pumpkin? Why aren't you joking?"

"Why should I be joking?"

"Everyone else does," She said like it was obvious.

"Well, everyone else is stupid," he rolled his eyes before taking the food out of her hands so she could stand up. "You take it seriously?"

"Of course, I do!"

"Well then, if it's serious to you. Then it's serious to me."

He reached into one of the higher cabinets and came out with a bag of candy, holding it up for her to decide.

She looked at him for a minute before dropping her eyes to the bag he held out to her. Smiling awkwardly, she nodded, and he added the candy to their stash for the next day.

30 October (evening)

Steve glared at Natasha and the green tights she held toward him with a smirk.

"No."

"Come on."

"No."

"You have to wear something."

"I'll go in jeans."

"It's a costume party," she pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side as she looked him up and down.

"Stop." He said before turning from the doorway to make his way back to the pile of paperwork on top of his kitchen table.

She followed him in, closing the door quietly behind them and hanging the costume she bought him on the coat rack by the entry.

"I happen to think you'd look dashing," she batted her eyelashes and plopping into the chair next to him.

Silence.

"Alright, fine. No more flirting." She smirked when he glared. "But seriously. You totally have that whole Robin Hood vibe, Rogers. It'd be a good look."

"Natasha—"

"Fine. Fine." She held up her hands. "Something else then…"

31 October (morning)

The event staff bustled about the common area of Avenger's tower with an air of stifled anticipation and carefully maintained professionalism. This was not the first Tony Stark party most of them had worked; never once had the billionaire disappointed and his tips were legendary.

Their work was overseen by Happy Hogan who walked around the common area, high strung with a clipboard and an earpiece he probably didn't need.

The overall vibe in the room probably wasn't helped any by the thunder god sipping coffee at the dining table with Captain America, Pepper Potts, and the Iron Patriot.

The team of legends sat comfortably in the middle of organized chaos, occasionally sharing looks and casting amused glances over coffee mugs and newspaper pages while newer staff members tried to not get caught staring. They stifled laughter and good-natured scoffs as Happy tried to establish a security perimeter around them, to better protect them from any unforeseen threats the ladle holders and wine pourers could pose.

"Hey, you!" Happy called out, pointing at a pair of jean-clad legs and converse covered feet moving rapidly through the common room. The person's upper body and face were blocked by a large cardboard sign, held up on an angry-looking picket. In giant block lettering it read:

WELCOME GREAT PUMPKIN!

The staff froze in horror, trying to figure out who the offender was and what they were supposed to do. The person with the sign; however, continued ignoring the man's call.

"Hey!" Happy stalked over to them. "You with the sign. Let me see a badge. You got a badge?"

Still, they ignored him. Those at the table looked on curiously, Pepper stood with a noise of protest to call Happy off.

"Happy relax, it's probably their first day—"

"Hey man, what the fuck? Give that back!" Darcy Lewis's raised voice shocked Happy back a step as he looked between her and the giant sign he'd just ripped out of her hands.

"Miss Lewis—" Happy stuttered caught between a look of indignation and embarrassment.

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms as she looked up at him curiously. Pepper appeared, a calming presence by his side.

"I asked you to identify yours—" He started then turned to Pepper. "I asked her to identify herself. She needs to carry her—" He held up his hand exasperatedly and looked back at Darcy. "You need to carry your badge! This incident could have seriously escalated Miss Lewis. Seriously escalated."

He looked between the two women, the younger who was putting her earbuds back into her ears and making grab hands at her poster, and the elder who was trying to decide if she should be glaring or smiling at the head of her security team.

With a sigh and a shake of the head, he handed Darcy back her poster and turned back to Pepper.

"We have rules for a reason. I advised against this, in the beginning. You remember—"

Pepper patted his arm and guided him away from where Darcy had retreated.

"I remember, Happy." She said.

Darcy paused in the doorway, glancing back at the table where the rest of the gathered Avengers sat.

"Let's go, Fury." She called back.

The little orange cat hopped up onto the table with a yowl and a flick of his tail. He stole a piece of lox from Rhodey's bagel and sprinted off toward Darcy.

Mouth open, hand midair, Rhodey released a long breath through his nose and set his violated bagel back on its plate.

"I find the little Fury's outfit to be most intriguing," Thor said thoughtfully.

"Was he wearing a—" Steve started.

"A bowler hat and a set of dog tags?" Natasha asked as she appeared from nowhere and sat next to Pepper.

Steve nodded.

"Yes."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because he's a genuine World War II Howling Commando."

Steve just stared at her.

31 October (evening)

"Flashlight?"

"Check"

"Snacks?"

"Check"

"Hot cocoa and coffee?"

"Check. Check."

"What about the—" Darcy turned to remind Bucky about the keys to the company vehicle they were borrowing, expecting to see him rifling through their supplies and verifying everything she threw out. Instead, he was lounging on her couch with an arm propped behind his head, eyes closed.

She cocked her hip and tilted her head.

"Blankets?" His responding "check" was immediate; he didn't so much as twitch to confirm whether or not he was right. Her nostrils flared.

"Back up batteries?"

"Check."

"Thor's hammer?"

"Check"

"Nun chucks?"

"Check."

"Condoms?"

"Check."

"Ball gag?"

He paused then, his foot twitched and his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Before his eyes shot open and he sat up.

"Think I misheard ya, doll…"

His eyes widened then as he took in the look on her face and the foot she tapped critically on the floor.

"This is serious Bucky. I don't want to get there and not have everything we need."

He scratched the back of his neck, looking back at her.

"Darcy, we've run through this list twice now. I have an eidetic memory from the serum and am slightly overqualified for the job…I promise you we aren't forgetting anything."

She studied him for a second, blushed, and then turned back to her list.

"You have a point, I guess. Sorry."

"Don't need to apologize," He said easily. "Don't need to freak out either."

31 October (night)

The party was in full swing. Tony was only mildly toasted, walking around with a pair of bunny ears on his head. The place was packed and loud and happy. Each of them relished in the lighthearted feeling while it lasted.

Steve wandered away from where Sam and Thor had engaged in war stories with a group of old veterans none of them knew, eyebrows shooting into his hairline when Jane Foster stumbled past him giggling with a knife in her hand. His hands shot out to grab her when she tripped and went careening toward the ground. She snorted but let him right her and jumped up trying in vain to recover the knife he swiped from her hands.

"Captain America, give me my knife," She laughed and jumped again.

He glanced between her and the knife, pretended to consider it before crossing his arms and looking down at her.

"No can do, Dr. Foster."

"Call me Jan, Captain America."

"If your name is Jan, then my name is Stove." He quirked his lips as she looked up at him with glazed eyes.

"Stove…" She said thoughtfully, rolling the name off her drunken tongue. "Stove."

"Jane." Natasha appeared then, holding herself carefully and not meeting his eyes. He would never get tired of seeing Nat pretend she wasn't toasted.

Jane gasped and turned to Natasha.

"Stove took my knife," She said pointing at Steve.

Natasha studied him carefully, held out her hand for the knife which he begrudgingly gave her, and then snatched his wrist in a steel grip. Despite his yelp and protestations, Natasha muttered to herself and turned to drag him behind her. Jane trailed them giddily.

They stopped in the kitchen where Natasha forced him to face the giant pumpkin sitting on the counter.

"Steve Rogers," Her voice was light as she took the knife and ran it down the fabric of his shirt.

"Natasha!" He yelped and turned to look at her with wide eyes. "What the hell—"

"You'll have to model for us," She grinned up at him, yanking the torn fabric down his arms.

"He'll be the perfect model!" Jane clapped her hands together, her voice bright and airy.

Jane eyed him appreciatively as Natasha tossed her a sharpie. He stood bare-chested in the kitchen, with a blush on his face that only deepened when Natasha nodded to Jane.

"Show me that design you were thinking of?"

Jane hopped up excitedly and opened the sharpie. He raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes exasperatedly upward as the tiny scientist began to draw her Jack-O-Lantern design on his body. Natasha eyed his abdomen critically before turning back to their pumpkin and carving into it enthusiastically.

By the time the two of them had finished, he'd gained an appreciative audience of female partiers, and suffered a barrage of teasing from Clint and Thor who were cackling in the corner.

After Natasha handed him his torn t-shirt and released him, and Jane had thanked him profusely for being the perfect model, he shook his head with a light chuckle and went to find a shirt. The elevator doors slid closed as he got in, but he could've sworn he caught a glimpse of an orange tail and a bowler hat skulking quietly between the legs of party guests. He wiped a hand over his eyes.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"I thought I saw Darcy's cat in the common area just now…" His finger hovered over the button that would return him to the common area floor. He didn't want the poor guy to be overwhelmed by so many strange people.

"I am afraid I am not at liberty to share details, sir. The young Fury is on a top-secret mission behind enemy lines."

Steve tilted his head and mouthed the words 'top-secret mission' back to himself.

1 November (morning)

Bucky watched Darcy's chest rise and fall to the rhythm of her breathing, eyes clutched tightly as though to ward off the inevitable morning. She'd fallen asleep hours ago; he hadn't bothered to wake her.

Turning away from the girl in the chair, he leaned back against the tree they were camped under and watched the sky turn purple over the empty pumpkin patch.

She'd made him swear to wake her if she nodded off, swear on his life. He solemnly gave his word knowing that, if she fell asleep, he would break it without an ounce of remorse.

It was in the breaks between conversation that he learned more about the great pumpkin than she could ever tell him in words. She had talked passionately about the condescending comments of non-believers, about Tony's bribery to get her to give up her faith in the great pumpkin, and Ian's less than enthusiastic reaction to being involved in the childish endeavor.

In the silence, he saw the bruise-like patches under her eyes, the pallor of her skin, and the slump of her shoulders.

"Have you talked to anyone about the last few months?" He inquired softly – facing forward but watching her in the corner of his eye.

Startled, her eyes were drawn from her thousand-yard stare to the man next to her.

"Hmm?"

"Have you talked to anyone about what's been going on recently?"

Her eyes widened then.

"No," She said. "Of course not. I wouldn't do that."

He blew air out of his nose in a quiet exhale.

"You should."

"What?"

"You should talk to someone."

"I can handle it, Bucky," She said tersely. He looked directly at her then. She dropped her gaze to the frayed edge of her blanket. They fell back into silence.

As the long night ended, Bucky observed the world come alive once more. It had been so long since he'd sat still, safe in the open with a pretty girl by his side and a moment to think about something other than the blood on his hands or global catastrophe.

A bird flitted around in the tree branches over his head, waking up early to search for worms in the damp earth. The sky was lighter now, but still no sun.

"I used to come out here with my cousins," Darcy told him. She smiled half a smile and held out the bag of candy for him to take one.

Once he popped a rolo in his mouth she continued.

"My aunt hated it, but she always had a stick up her ass," She shrugged. "They outgrew it and maybe I should have too, but then Charlie was old enough and I didn't want him to feel left out. And then I realized how much I loved reliving it through him. The anticipation, the candy, staying up all night and having this thing – this thing that no one else in the world had."

"So…you don't actually believe the Great Pumpkin is real?"

She looked at him and tilted her head, eyes warm.

"I don't think it's that simple Bucky."

He waited for her to continue.

"Before I started waiting for the Great Pumpkin, I was afraid of Halloween," she said. "I didn't like that people didn't look how they were, that they could hide behind masks and makeup and costumes. You couldn't read them the same way. I wanted to see people as they were."

She laughed and popped a tootsie pop in her mouth, giving it a few licks before biting the hard candy shell.

"I don't think I thought about it in that way when I was six but now that I'm older I'm pretty sure that's what it was."

"That makes sense, I guess," he told her.

"Anyway, once I had the Great Pumpkin there was suddenly this big, happy thing to look forward to on Halloween night. Don't get me wrong, the candy was a HUGE plus. Loved that part. But in some ways, I guess the Great Pumpkin chased away the uncertainty I used to have this time of year."

He nodded at her, held out a water bottle that she drank from greedily.

When the sun peeked over the horizon, Bucky stood and began to gather their supplies. He folded his own chair and picked up their trash before making a quick trek to their car.

She hadn't moved a muscle by the time he got back so he squatted down and gently squeezed her knee.

"Time to wake up, doll."

She twitched and scrunched her face up before curling back into the chair and returning to sleep.

He shook her knee gently this time.

"Darcy, doll, it's time to get up. Gotta head home."

She groaned and squinted at him.

"Hmmm?"

"Time to go," He repeated and sat back on his heels as her eyes widened and she sat up.

"Did I pass out? Did I miss it?" She swept her eyes frantically over the morning landscape of the pumpkin patch before resting them back on him.

Bucky looked at her seriously.

"No doll, we saw the Great Pumpkin. Don't you remember?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't mess with my head, Bucky."

"Not messing with anything," He told her seriously before standing and offering his hand. "We stayed up most of the night, ate candy, and yeah for a bit you fell asleep, but he was here."

"Oh yeah, how do you know?" She griped, taking his hand and hauling herself up out of her chair.

"Well…" He smiled down at her when she picked up her folding chair and held it out of his reach. Bucky slung an arm around her shoulders as they walked to the car. "All the bad things went away last night, didn't they?"

She pursed her lips.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard, dude."

His grin was all teeth when he opened the passenger side door for her.

"Is it?"

She just looked back at him, kind of groggy and kind of sad.

"It wasn't the same this year," she told him when he closed the driver's side door and buckled up.

"No?"

She shook her head.

"What changed?" He asked her as they pulled out of the parking lot and made toward the highway.

"Me, I think."