Author's Note: For Darcy's daughter, the face claim I pictured was Dafne Keen. For Steve's daughter, the face claim I pictured was a young Elle Fanning. You're welcome.

Prompt: We're both single parents and our kids are best friends with each other AU
Characters: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster, Bucky Barnes
Tags: Alternate Universe- No Powers, Pre-Relationship, Friendship, Bucky Is a Principal, Humor

Darcy's in the middle of transcribing various sets of notes for the Scientists on the floor she manages when her phone rings. She's in absolutely no hurry to finish what she's started since her boss is usually lax because she always gets her work done by the end of the day no matter what, but a sudden phone call from her child's school in the middle of the day has her on edge.

Briefly excusing herself from the lab, Darcy takes the call outside in the hall. "Hello?" She answers.

"Miss Lewis? Hi, this is Miss Bennett from Spencer's Academy."

"Good afternoon, Miss Bennett," she greets the Principal's secretary politely. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well it's come to our attention that there's been a slight physical altercation between several students-"

Immediately, Darcy tenses. "Payton's been in a fight? How- what?! Is she okay?"

Miss Bennett is startled quiet, she then saying, "Every student involved are a little.. roughed up, but all ten fingers and ten toes have been accounted for." Darcy wants to scoff at her attempt to lighten the mood, but she knows and likes Miss Bennett, and doesn't want to put the woman in an uncomfortable situation. "Anyway, I was just calling to inform you of the incident and that Principal Barnes would like to meet with you as soon as possible."

"Of course. Is now an appropriate time?"

"Yes, if you can make it. We weren't sure of how flexible your work schedule was, so we didn't want to assume-"

"It's fine," Darcy cuts her off yet again. "Let me just tell my boss that I'm needed down at the school and she'll understand."

"Okay. We'll see you soon."

Darcy pockets her phone, takes a deep breath and then enters the lab once more. "Janie?" She calls out. "I'm taking the rest of the day off. Payton got into a fight and I need to go meet with the Principal."

Something metallic crashes to the floor, and her best friend/boss slides out from underneath one of her machines. "Payton got into a fight? Did she win?"

Darcy sighs. "You and Nat are bad influences on my child. If I find out she was responsible for starting this scuffle, I'm cutting back on your guys' visitation rights."

"Hey!" Jane pouts. "You're the one who enrolled your own daughter in those self-defense classes with Miss Romanova. Don't punish me for Nat's superb teaching skills and my god-daughter's knack for quickly picking up new skills."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let me go see what P's punishment is and I'll finish the notes later."

Jane waves her off. "Give my little scrapper a high five!" Darcy scowls at her and Jane quickly amends her statement. "Give my little scrapper a high five, but only if she didn't start the fight."

"You're a terrible human being. I'm going to pick up my kid."

.xXx.

When Darcy gets to the school, classes are still in session. She makes her way to the front office, waving at the receptionists there and making a beeline for the side room where the Principal's Assistant sits behind a desk and guards the door to said Principal's Office. There's only one other person in the room, a sandy brown haired guy with a too tight black Henley. He looks up when she enters and sighs a breathy, "Hello", to Miss Bennett and Darcy doesn't miss the brief look over he gives her.

She thanks her lucky stars that she's wearing her best skin-tight jeans, and a purple and red plaid shirt that has the top three buttons popped open. Her hair's pulled back and tied up in a ponytail since she'd been up in the labs, but she knows that she can rock the plaid and boots like no other.

"Please take a seat, Miss Lewis. Principal Barnes will be with you and Mr. Rogers shortly."

"Awesome," Darcy deadpans. Miss Bennett huffs a small laugh and Darcy makes her way to the row of chairs. Taking a seat that's two down from the apparent Mr. Rogers, Darcy manages to keep quiet for a minute before angling her body towards him. "So did your kid beat up my kid or my kid beat up yours?"

It takes a second for Mr. Rogers to realize he's being spoken to and when he does, his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Excuse me?"

She shrugs. "It's just that Miss Bennett said the Principal will be with us shortly, so I just assumed we'd be going in together. I'm sorry if-"

"Oh, no," he's quick to brush her apology off. "Don't be sorry. It's just, your question caught me off guard, is all."

"Oh." He smiles sheepishly and Darcy clicks her tongue as he falls quiet. Then not one to linger long in silence, she asks, "So do you know any more about this slight physical altercation?"

"Sorry, but I don't. I got a call from the Principal and he said my daughter Lucy got into a spot of trouble."

The name briefly startles Darcy, her mind working a mile a minute. "Lucy," she drawls. "Lucy Rogers?" She then grins.

Mr. Roger frowns. "Uh, yeah?"

Darcy chuckles. "Two words; Payton Lewis."

His brows furrow for a moment and the realization dawns on him. Smiling slowly, he lets out a deep chuckle. "Our girls are best friends."

"Yep," Darcy says, popping the 'p'.

Mr. Rogers then shakes his head in amusement. "So then it's likely they fought together instead of each other."

"Yep," she says again.

It's Darcy's turn to shake her head in amusement while sticking her hand out in greeting. "I'm Darcy, by the way."

"Steve," he introduces himself.

"So, Steve," she drawls once the introductions are out of the way. "Are you the stern parent or the relaxed one? I need to know beforehand whether or not I need to work on my poker face because I gotta tell 'ya, man, little kids brawling is kind of hilarious and I'm not sure I can keep a straight face when we're talking to the Big Man behind the desk."

"I'm, uh, sort of both? Kind of have to be," he reluctantly admits with a hesitant smile.

Darcy stomach sinks. "Aw, crap. Don't tell me-"

"Lucy's mother passed away during child birth."

"Yep. I totally did," she sighs in resignation. "I totally stepped in it." Steve chuckles sadly and Darcy suddenly feels terrible that she's brought this up. Oh well, tit for tat, right? "Well, it won't make you feel any better, but I'm in the same boat. Kind of. Payton's father up and left when he realized just how much responsibility raising a child was going to be."

Steve grimaces. "I'm so-"

"Don't you dare," she cuts him off with a mock glare. "I'm the one who brought up this terribly sad topic, so there's no reason for you to apologize." His mouth snaps shut and a sheepish smile stretches across his lips once more. Silence falls between them and yet again, Darcy just can't keep quiet. "Wow. This totally takes the award for worst first impression ever." Steve keeps quiet and when Darcy glances at him, she finds that his face is hidden in his hands and that his shoulders are shaking with suppressed laughter. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, beardy McStevenson."

Miss Bennett's phone rings and she's quick to answer it, she speaking quietly into the receiver briefly. Once the receiver is set back in it's cradle, she turns to Steve and Darcy. "Principal Barnes will see you now."

As one, Steve and Darcy stand up. Steve's quick to open the door for Darcy and as they enter, Principal Barnes turns to greet them.

Hair slicked back, Principal Barnes is as handsome as she remembers, but right now her focus is her child and not the two most handsome men in the room (seriously, Barnes and Rogers were unbelievably attractive). Both children are seated in overly large cushioned chairs, one brunette little girl and the other blonde, and Darcy hurries to her own child while Steve does the same for his.

"Jesus Christ, P," Darcy sighs as she crouches in front of her daughter and takes in the split lip, the red-rimmed and puffy eyes, and the welt across one cheek. "What happened?" But all Payton does is stare up at her mother, the angry mute-ness reminding Darcy so much of her ex-lover and P's biological father.

"Luce?" Steve rasps. "You good?" His little girl's eyes shine with tears, her skin so fair that it looks like she's wearing a pink eye mask from where she'd been crying.

Neither child utter a single word, and Steve and Darcy share a quick look with one another.

"Children," Principal Barnes says, clearing his throat. "Which one of you would like to explain what happened first?" Immediately, Payton and Lucy start trying to speak over one another, the both of them turning sheepish as they quiet down and glance at one another. Barnes chuckles, "How about one at a time? Lucy?"

Lucy bites the corner of her bottom lip, sinking into her seat and nervously clutching the blue straps of her backpack on her shoulders. "Payton and I were sitting on the swings when Jack Jr. and Brendon started picking on Milton in the sandbox. Payton, she," Lucy pauses, lips twitching despite her shyness, "she told the boys to leave Milton alone and then they started teasing Milton and Payton, and Payton.. she just-"

"I tackled those giant dillholes to the ground," Payton grumbles. Lucy giggles and Principal Barnes snorts, but as Steve and Darcy turn to glare at him, he's the perfect picture of innocence.

"Language, P," Darcy eventually sighs as she faces back to her child. "Now tell me what else happened?"

Payton shrugs, her stern little glare shooting daggers just over Darcy's shoulder and out the window. "They're your classic bullies, mom. They were picking on Milton because he likes to read Science books, just like his dad Dr. Banner, and I stood up for him because the Banner's are our friends."

"Okay," Darcy drawls. "But who threw the first punch, P? You don't get a split lip from tackling someone."

Lucy giggles again and Payton sighs with a roll of her eyes. "I did," she mumbles. "But Jack Jr. tugged on a piece of my hair first!" She's quick to defend her actions. "He tugged on my hair, so I tackled him and then punched him on his arm. And then Brendon jumped on my back and Lucy jumped on his. When Brendon shoved Lucy really hard and she hit her elbow on the side of the sandbox, I just- I got really angry and started punching and kicking. They just hit me back."

"Payton," Darcy groans. "I'm really glad you stood up for Milton, but you know violence isn't the answer."

"You do, too, missy," Steve finally speaks up, addressing his daughter. "I know you want to protect your friends, but Miss Lewis is right. Violence is not the answer."

Lucy looks more distraught of the two children, and before either parent can make their child feel worse (Lucy) or angrier (Payton), Principal Barnes speaks up. "Children, I thank you for your honesty. Now if you'll please excuse us, I'd like to have a few words with your parents."

Payton huffs, but stands nonetheless and Lucy immediately starts sniffling. Payton glares at the Principal as if it's all his fault Lucy's crying again and slings an arm around her friend's shoulders, letting Lucy lay her head on her shoulder. As the duo walk out, Steve and Darcy watch them rather fondly and then take the newly vacated seats to face the Principal.

Once the door is shut behind the girls, Principal Barnes immediately starts laughing. Darcy gapes at him and Steve sighs a long sigh. "Really, Buck?"

"Buck?" Darcy asks, incredulously and Steve guiltily smiles.

"Best friends since the womb, apparently. He's also Luce's god father."

"And a damn good god father, too," Barnes muses. "But sometimes I gotta be the bad guy and separate my work life from my personal life."

Steve huffs and Darcy merely nods. "Okay? So what does this mean for the kids? Are we looking at in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension?"

Principal Barnes smirks. "Neither, actually."

"What?"

"Yeah. What?" Steve asks.

"I've reviewed the footage of the fight," Barnes shrugs. "The little Rollins and Rumlow brats got what they deserved."

Darcy's back to gaping and Steve snorts. "Rollins and Rumlow? Of course. They obviously take after their fathers."

Bucky's grimly nodding along, but Darcy's still stuck on the fact that her child is not being punished for starting a mini-brawl. "But if the kids get no punishment, they're just going to think fighting is okay."

"They, technically, didn't start the fight. Payton downplayed the fact that Jack Jr. tugged on her hair. He didn't tug, he yanked and it was hard enough to jerk her head to the side. Twice."

"That little bas- dillhole!"

Barnes chuckles, but continues on. "Brendon encouraged it, so both those boys have been suspended for two days. Milton was let go scot-free and the girls just got their recess privileges taken away for two days, plus a verbal reprimand. So really, the girls deserve the rest of the day off. Take them to get some lunch and enjoy the weekend with your little asskickers."

"You're a menace for being my child's Principal," she deadpans, "but.. thanks. It's a relief to know P's not in serious trouble."

"Uh huh. Get the hell out of my office, Lewis, and take my bonehead of a best friend with you." Steve sighs at his friend's words. "And just FYI, Luce and Payton enjoy Chuck E. Cheese. Why don't you and Stevie take the girls and blow off some steam at Air Hockey or something?"

Principal Barnes' smirk is rather smug, too smug for such an innocent suggestion, and her suspicion only rises when she glances at Steve and sees him trying to sink down into his chair with the tips of his ears burning pink and shaking his head rather furiously at his best friend. "Are you- did you just try to suggest what I think you suggested?" She asks, looking back at Barnes.

"I don't know. What do you think I'm suggesting, Miss Lewis?"

She rolls her eyes. "You're a meddling dillhole, Principal Barnes, and I can't believe I trust you with the safety of my child five days out of the week." Standing up, Darcy fights off a smile and huffs at his smirk. She then glances at Steve and caves, letting a grin curve up the corners of her mouth. "Well, lets go, Rogers. Now I'm craving pizza and our little asskickers do deserve some sort of praise for sticking up for the little guy."

Startled, Steve stares up at Darcy as Barnes chuckles. She winks at him and then starts walking towards the door, letting her hips sway just a little more than usual as she feels the stares on her back. Just as she's opened the door, however, she can't help but overhear, "Hurry the hell up, Stevie. You don't keep a woman like that waiting."

And well, he's not wrong. Darcy waits for no man. Especially if he's keeping her from pizza and games.