Darcy ended up falling asleep beside Jane that night, holding the other woman tight. The scientist shook for a few hours, long after the sobs stopped. Darcy kept quiet, rubbing her back. She never knew what to do in these situations and falling asleep in the middle of the night, still wearing her clothes, wasn't something she had been eager to experience again. It reminded her a bit too much of the many pajamas parties she attended in her teen age years, where complaining about your sad love life and gorging yourself on junk food was mandatory.
At the very least, Jane had a good reason to be that way. When Darcy had still worked for her, she did her best to make sure the scientist expressed her feelings, doubts and depression. However, from what she gathered about the new team, they weren't exactly encouraging Jane to open up about Thor.
Basically, the scientist had been running on a lack of food, sleep, and hadn't been able to get rid of her excess of emotions ever since Darcy left. No wonder she broke down last night.
Darcy sighed and began to extract herself from Jane's vice-like grip, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes with the knuckles of her hands. She pawed for her glasses, still sleepy. Jane mumbled, and curled in on herself, which made Darcy frown. She would have to do something about that.
She finally found her glasses and slid them up her nose. She glimpsed at the clock. Five in the morning. She grimaced and sighed. They would have to start gathering their things if they wanted to be out of there by dawn. She leaned back in, shaking Jane's shoulder lightly. The scientist groaned, and rolled away from Darcy. The young woman sighed.
"Jane, we have to go."
A moan.
"Jane, we have to go."
The scientist curled up even more, hiding her face into the pillow.
"Jane. Up. Now."
The unusual tone did it and the older woman opened her eyes, sitting up slowly. Darcy sighed. If that hadn't worked, she would have had to use the Thor card and she really didn't want to make any promises to Jane. She wasn't sure how much disappointment the astrophysicist could endure. She wasn't really keen on finding out.
Jane was in official zombie mode, walking around and gathering her belongings. Darcy threw her a skeptical look, but decided to take a chance and leave her for a few moments to pack her own things.
In the hall, she ran into Camille, who was striding around with a stack of notes. The scientist stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes darting all over Darcy's face.
"How is she?"
Darcy pinched her lips, frowning.
"I don't know yet. As good as can be expected, I guess."
Camille nodded and seemed to hesitate before walking forward and wrapping Darcy into a loose hug. It lasted for a few seconds before she freed Darcy and smiled sweetly.
"Thank you for your help. Both of you. If you ever need anything, please give us a call. It'll be a pleasure."
Darcy smiled back, and tried to ignore her stinging eyes.
"Thank you. It's really appreciated."
Camille nodded, and Darcy went to her corner and wrapped everything up quickly, anxious to go back to Jane. When she walked back, the facility was starting to wake up and many people tried to stop her and talk to her about Jane and about what happened yesterday. She gave them fake smiles and weak excuses, focused on her friend. She probably got a few frowns for that but she honestly didn't care. She doubted she would see them again, and anyway, they didn't have any kind of influence over her.
When she arrived, Jane was waiting, sitting on her bed. Darcy forced herself to smile.
"Hey girl! Ready to leave?"
Jane looked up, eyes finally focused, if still sad. She nodded. They quickly exited the building, and thankfully met no one. The plane was already waiting for them. Agent Taves and the other agent were there again. Jane grimaced and stopped Darcy by grabbing for her arm. The older woman was distressed again.
"Darcy? Do you think I'll see Thor again?"
Darcy cocked her head. She wasn't going to lie.
"At some point? Yes, you'll see him again. In the next few days? I honestly don't know Jane. I'm sorry."
Jane nodded and let her go. The petite woman squared her shoulders, walking into the plane. Darcy sighed, and followed.
She gave a curt nod to the agents, and couldn't help but notice they looked like they had been through a rough patch. Taves had a bandage showing at the top of his collar, and Other Guy's hand was a mess of red lines. Darcy arched an eyebrow at them, which was only answered by a pair of blank faces. She frowned, but still to no avail.
She got the message, and decided she didn't care. It wasn't her problem if they were injured, and it certainly wasn't her place to inquire about it. She lifted her nose and went to drop herself on a seat just beside Jane, letting the scientist know she still was available for sympathy cuddles.
It took her all of ten minutes to get bored, and she was intent on not falling asleep on Jane. She looked at Other Guy, and decided to address him first, Taves second.
"Hey buddy, can you hook me up with Coulson? I have things to deal with him."
The man looked at her for a moment, a weird expression on his face, visibly pondering if he should answer. Finally, after a long, questioning silence that got the attention of even Jane, he spoke slowly.
"Agent Coulson is dead. He went down during the attack of the helicarrier."
Jane stopped breathing and Darcy froze. And desperately tried to wrap her head around it. And hoped she misunderstood.
She croaked.
"Dead?"
He gave a curt nod, before turning to his pad. Darcy struggled to breathe, and leaned on Jane. God. How was that even possible?
Coulson was the most badass motherfucker around. BAMF had been created for Coulson. She saw trained agents, assassins, and other deadly folks cower in fear before Coulson when he was having a bad day. Or craving coffee.
"How?"
Jane was rubbing circles on her back. Because she knew Coulson reminded Darcy of her Dad, who passed away a few years prior. The agent, though, didn't seem moved by Darcy's emotional reaction. He gave her an annoyed look before shrugging.
"I don't know."
Like it wasn't his business. Like it wasn't hers. Like he didn't care. Like she shouldn't.
The only thing that kept her from jumping at his throat was Jane, who was holding her down as she comforted her. It wasn't fair the scientist was so good at reading Darcy.
Coulson was dead. Fuck.
It had to be Loki. He was the only one who could have taken down Agent Phil BAMF Coulson.
Darcy was going to rip his throat out. Slowly. With a tea spoon. For Thor. For Jane. For Coulson.
Who was she going to banter with? To try to blackmail while knowing perfectly well he's only humoring her? To bitch at because he stole her iPod or request crazy expensive coffee, listing it as a necessity to deal with Mad Scientists?
How was she supposed to work with said Mad Scientists without being able to call Coulson?
Yeah, she did say he reminded her of her daddy.
She might have been projecting a bit. He never complained though. Darcy liked to think she was a nice, welcomed break from genius scientists and annoying coworkers. She was nothing to him and yet he always found time for her, even if to only tell her he didn't have time. She saw many youngsters that received nothing more than an unimpressed look. One of her greatest joys was watching them run away, afraid for their lives. Sadly, Coulson never allowed her to record it. Secrecy and all that jazz.
How could Coulson be dead? He was supposed to be immortal. Like an elf. Wise, quiet, and able to kick your ass all the way to Jupiter if so inclined.
Then again, elves could die if slain-yeah, she read the Silmarion-so maybe that's what happened.
Darcy frowned, and looked to Jane, who seemed as awkward as Darcy had felt the day before. Darcy nodded and let herself be pulled into a hug.
Someone would have to provide her some answers the moment she set foot wherever this plane was heading.
OOOOOOOOO
They landed inside a huge thing. Which flew. And looked like a giant fortress.
What the hell.
She jumped out of the plane, looking positively manic, and barged toward the single woman standing around with a white bandage covering her temple. She looked at Darcy's approach with the blank, expressionless look Darcy learned to associate with secret agents. Darcy stopped right in front of her, and leaned in until their noses were about a foot away from each other. She heard Jane's footsteps behind her, but didn't turn, afraid the agent would disappear if she let her out of her sight. She growled, leering.
"I want answers. Now."
The woman didn't twitch, taking on a calm tone of voice.
"I am aware the present situation is-"
Darcy cut her off, royally annoyed. How hard could it be for these people to give her a fucking direct answer for once! One of her friend's had died in the last few days, and no one seemed to think she deserved any notification. Or any reaction on her part.
"Alright, Agent-" she threw a quick look at the name tag, "Hill. I'm going to say this again. I want answers. Now. I don't care about your bureaucratic bullshit, or any top secret shit. I want some answers about why Coulson's dead and your still here."
That silenced Hill pretty quick. She stared at Darcy for a few moments, before darting a look at Jane over her shoulder. Finally, she addressed Jane.
"Dr. Foster, Agent Taves will escort you to a room where one of our senior agent will give you an update about Thor Odinson's situation."
Jane brightened at the mention of Thor, but looked weary at the idea of leaving Darcy alone. The younger woman gave her an encouraging jerk of her head, and Jane trailed after the agent.
Darcy turned back to Hill, eyes expectant. The agent turned around.
"This way."
Darcy arched an eyebrow, but decided to wait and see where they were leading her before complaining. The place was as much of a maze as she expected it to be. She hoped Hill wasn't leading her in here just to disappear. It would be an efficient way never to have to deal with her ever again. She managed to get lost in the two streets of Puerto Antiguo once.
After way too many twists and turns, they arrived in front of a non-descript door identical to all the others she had seen so far, and had no idea what made it special until Hill knocked.
"Director?"
Oh. She had been brought to Fury. Coulson had talked about his boss a few times, nothing big, nothing relevant, just naming him in passing. However Darcy couldn't help but wonder whether it was a good thing or not. She heard a vague reply, which Hill visibly interpreted as an invitation to enter, and she opened the door. With a calm, blank look, she beckoned Darcy inside. The younger girl didn't miss the ominous way the door closed behind her, nor the fact that Hill hadn't followed her into the room.
Said room was bare, walls a generic white. The only furniture was a desk, which in itself was as dull as a desk can be, all metal with a bunch of papers on top. All in all, the only interesting there was the other person occupying it.
The black man was bald, and had a leather eye patch over his left eye. A black leather coat had been thrown over one of the two chairs sanding in front of the desk. Very BDSM. And he was staring at her.
Like he was looking into the deep corners of her soul.
Between him and Coulson, the poor baby agents must have had nightmares for the first few months of working here.
Except Coulson wasn't around anymore. Coulson was dead. Darcy wanted to know how that happened. God help her, Fury would tell her. After a minute or two of their staring contest, during which Darcy discovered the sheer awkwardness of staring into a single eye, Fury spoke.
"Miss Lewis, it is a pleasure to meet you."
Darcy cocked her head.
"Director Fury. I heard a lot about you."
He grinned, noting her phrasing. He gesture to the last free chair, and Darcy moved hesitantly to take a seat. As she sat down, Fury spoke again.
"I am happy you accepted our invitation-"
Darcy couldn't help cutting in.
"It was an invitation? Didn't sound like one to me."
He ignored her.
"Especially since we sent you away after your internship with Dr. Foster."
Darcy waited, sensing there was more to that. Fury paused to look at her, before resuming.
"Agent Coulson, during his period with you and Dr. Foster in New Mexico, noted that you would make a fine asset to this division."
Darcy's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. She never heard that. Why would Coulson think so? She never did anything special when he was around. Fury continued, ignoring her reaction.
"And he informed me of his opinion. Agent Coulson's instincts and insight in matter of recruiting have yet to be proved flawed and I place my complete trust in his judgement."
A breath.
"Unfortunately, we have standards we tried to uphold as often as possible in the matters. A completed college degree is one of them."
Darcy couldn't help but bristle at this.
"I've been out of college for months now! Why haven't you contacted me then?"
Fury sighed, and opened his hands.
"Agent Coulson wasn't sure how you would react to an offer now that you had some time to reflect on what happened and a chance to return to civilian life."
Darcy frowned.
"So why now?"
Fury sighed.
"The situation changed."
Darcy frowned, spitting.
"Yeah Coulson's dead."
Talking about him, about how he had appreciated her, and how he wanted to hire her but held back because of how it might make her feel...it hurt. Because he was dead. And Fury, his direct superior, seemed as unaffected by it as Taves and the Other Guy. Was she the only freaking person around here that cared about Coulson? Fury cut through her musing.
"No."
Darcy's head snapped up. Fury's eye was dead serious.
"Because Coulson's still alive."
.
..
...
...
Darcy's brain shut down. It just wouldn't compute. It wasn't possible. The Other Guy said... Hill said... Well, Hill didn't say anything, but she certainly didn't deny anything either.
Coulson couldn't be alive.
Though he couldn't really be dead either.
Coulson was Schrödinger's cat.
Shut up brain. She was listening to too much Big Band Theory. What the hell was wrong with her? Fury said Coulson was alive.
Darcy didn't really thrust Fury, but at the moment he was confirming something she always thought.
Coulson couldn't be dead. Coulson was an elf. Elves are badass, and they don't die. But it still didn't explain why Fury was telling her, since Coulson's status clearly wasn't part of the public domain. She finally gathered her wit enough to look up at Fury, realizing she had been staring at her hands.
"Really?"
Fury nodded, looking patient and compassionate. It was kind of ironic the only S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who seemed to understand her were the two scariest agents in the organization.
"Yes, Miss Lewis."
She felt oddly desperate.
"He didn't die?"
Fury grimaced.
"He did die. Twice. He flat lined twice before the docs managed to stabilize him."
Darcy ignored the dying twice part and focused on the still alive part. She nodded, feeling a manic giggle bubble in her chest. She wouldn't burst out laughing in Fury's office. She took a deep, bracing, controlling breath, until she felt she could talk safely. She couldn't help the slight tremor, though.
"Why are you telling me?"
Fury stared at her for a long while, sizing her up.
"At the moment, Agent Coulson is still unconscious. The doctors are not quite sure when he'll wake up, though they are optimistic he will wake up."
Darcy nodded, happy about that but still puzzled as to why she was being told all of this. Fury seemed to catch on, and resumed after a small pause.
"However, they say that having someone Coulson appreciated to stay with him, and watch over him may help. Company apparently encourage patients to wake up."
Darcy's eyes lit up and she leaned forward.
"And, from what I can tell, from years of dealing with Coulson, is that as soon as he wakes up, he'll be brewing up Hell all over again. Coulson never bore inactivity well, and certainly won't now that the Avengers Initiative has become active. I want someone to be with him at all times to make sure he doesn't over-exert himself."
Darcy took some time to process everything.
"So you want me to keep him company while he's out and to watch over him while he heals."
Fury nodded.
"That's about it, yes."
Darcy felt she should be grateful for what she already had. And she really was. She was ecstatic Coulson was alive, and that she got to work with him. But really, there was something she needed to know.
"And after that? When he's back to full health?"
Fury smirked for a split second.
"I've been trying to convince Coulson to take up an assistant for some time now. I have a feeling he would be fine with have you in that role. Especially if you spend the next few months shadowing him."
Darcy was pretty sure she was beaming now. She loved dealing with people. That's why she took up Political Science. And more than anything, she liked dealing with exceptional people. Like Jane and Thor. And Coulson. Fury seemed satisfied by her answer, and turned to grab some papers which he handed to her.
"Here is your contract."
She smiled.
"Anything fishy in it?"
Fury smirked.
"Except the part where you aren't allowed to talk to anyone about your job and Coulson? Nothing."
"I guess that also includes Jane?"
The director nodded.
"Yes. I believe Dr. Foster will have enough to be worry about without you adding to it."
Darcy smiled a bit sadly and signed with a flourish before depositing her pen and staring at him.
"Can I see him?"
Fury smiled, and stood. He went to the door, unhooking a key hanging on the side. He threw it lightly and Darcy fumbled with it for a moment before grabbing it surely. Fury turned and exited, leaving Darcy to jog to catch up. The new employee fell in step beside him.
"Who exactly are aware of the situation?"
"You, me, and his doctor."
"So Hill…?"
"Is in the dark, and will stay there until I say otherwise."
Darcy nodded and did her best to memorize the way to wherever they were going. Fury didn't even look at her.
"There will be a private elevator that will go straight from your room to Agent Coulson's."
Darcy didn't even bother to try and hide her relieved sigh. Now she only had to remember the way to her room. It would be easier to ask directions there than the room of a dead guy.
After a good while of walking, they arrived at a door in a hallway filled with storage units. Not a place anyone would look twice, if they had no business to. Fury entered and gestured for her to follow him inside. She walked a bit gingerly, apprehensive as to what she would find.
A doctor was in the room, talking to Fury in low tones. She was a middle-aged Asian woman with a kind face and salt and pepper hair. Fury nodded at something she said before gesturing toward Darcy.
"This is Darcy Lewis, the one who'll be attending to Coulson. I expect her to be allowed to be present at any time."
The woman nodded and smiled kindly at Darcy. The younger woman was relieved all S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel weren't robots. She answered quickly, while Fury finished the introduction.
"Miss Lewis, this is Doctor Nguyen. She is Agent Coulson's attending physician. Feel free to call upon her at any time if you feel something is wrong."
Darcy nodded and looked toward the bed. Curtains were drawn, despite it being a private room. Doctor Nguyen gave an encouraging jerk of the head, and Darcy slowly walked to the back of the room. She slid through the curtains, eyes fixed on its occupant.
Coulson, who was never really tanned to begin with, was as white as the bed sheets. Out of his usual crisp, dark suit, he looked vulnerable and younger. She walked silently, and unconsciously sat on the chair. Her eyes never left his face, examining it.
He had dark rings under his eyes, which wasn't anything knew, except that they were even more apparent now in contrast with his almost translucent skin. She almost wanted to reach out and make sure he wasn't a ghost. Surely no one could be this white and still be alive.
She heard herself croak.
"What happened?"
Nguyen was the one to answer. She appeared, as cautious about unnecessary noises as Darcy had been. She looked a bit sad, looking at Coulson. Darcy was as well. Coulson would hate to know anyone saw him so weak. It would kill him. Coulson lived on being perfectly professional and always ready for action.
"He was stabbed in the chest."
The doctor leaned forward, and delicately lowered the bedspread, revealing Coulson's chest and the huge bandage wrapped around it. Darcy chewed her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from imagining the wound.
"Who did it?"
This time it was Fury who answered.
"Loki, when he escaped."
Darcy nodded. She expected as much. She didn't talk further and, after a while, she heard Fury and Dr. Nguyen exit the room. She sighed and leaned forward, taking her head in her hands.
"I hate you Coulson. You're not allowed to make me relive the death of my father. You're not allowed to die. Ever. You're going to live forever, because of you don't, I'll go drag you back from the dead by the ear. Might as well never go, right? Anyway, you're an elf. Elves don't die. So you can't die."
She chuckled, realizing she didn't make much sense. She hoped he couldn't hear her at the moment, but knew nonetheless it was a possibility.
"It was pretty boring, after everything. You know, being a civilian again. Going to school. Hanging out with friends. Getting drunk. The only thing I could think about was how Jane would rattle the periodic table when she got tipsy, and all your rants about kids nowadays being irresponsible."
She sighed, and leaned forward to pat his shoulder.
"I never really fit in. I worked hard too. So going back, after everything, it was hard. And now Fury offered me a job. I'm going to make sure you don't kill yourself once we are sure Loki won't finish the job."
Darcy looked around for inspiration. She wasn't used to making small talk with an unconscious person.
"It worked. The Avengers. They defeated the aliens, and took down a good part of Manhattan with them. Now everybody is either going on and on about them being their saviors or vile fiend who shouldn't interfere with the country's problem. Idiots."
She chuckled again.
"I feel stupid. Do I look stupid? No. Don't answer that. I won't like the answer. You better be grateful when you wake up Coulson, because I'm totally out of my element right now. Like, on the other side of the planet from my element."
She looked around one more time and finally saw a book lying on the bedside table. She picked it up, knowing Fury probably left it there. She laughed when she saw the title.
"Harry Potter, really?"
Of course she didn't get an answer and she chuckled as she opened the first page.
"I believe in heroes all right. Well, let's do this. Chapter one, The Boy Who Lived..."
And as she read on, she felt herself relax, melting her voice around the familiar words.
She could do this.