Later that day, Fury came in to talk to Coulson. For the first time since they arrived, he asked Darcy to attend to the discussion as well. The director looked at the both of them before sighing.

"Stark has made a huge deal out of this. I am obligated to release you."

He paused, and sighed again.

"That is, if you accept. Even Tony Stark can't force you to move if you don't want to."

Coulson looked at Darcy, and asked her with his eyes. Darcy pondered her options. She could stay here, where she was getting bored, Phil or no Phil, but relatively isolated and safe. Or she should go to the tower with Tony Stark, and possibly Romanov and Barton. So not really safe. But entertained. She looked at Phil, and saw what he tried to hide. He wanted to get out. She smiled at him.

"We'll go."

Fury nodded.

"I'll inform Dr. Nguyen, and have the appropriate paperwork drawn up with instructions for care."

He made to leave before changing his mind. He came back to the foot of the bed, pressing his hand to Phil's ankle, the same place Natasha did. Maybe it was a spy thing. Everything was dangerous to touch except the ankle. The ankle is safe.

She smiled a bit, and bit it down when Coulson shot her a curious look. Fury stared directly to Coulson.

"I am ordering you to heal. No overexertion, no stupid moves. You mend, and you come back here."

Coulson nodded.

"I will boss."

Fury turned to leave, pausing to look Darcy straight in the eyes.

"Take care of him. Be careful."

Be careful was fast becoming Darcy's most hated sentence. She nodded. She was getting tired of being threatened all the time.

"Nick."

They turned to Coulson, who was glaring at Fury.

"I'd appreciate if you would stop threatening my assistant."

Darcy warmed up and beamed at him, while Fury nodded tersely and exited for good. Darcy skipped to the bed and gave Phil the tightest hug she could without upsetting his injury.

The agent patted her back awkwardly, as he was wont to do. Darcy found it hilarious, but refrained for mentioning it, afraid Phil would simply forbid hugs in retaliation.

She missed hugs. Phil was great, but physical contact wasn't his forte. She plopped down on the bed.

"So. Stark Tower."

Phil nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Yes. Darcy, could you promise me something?"

She cocked her head.

"Probably, what's the matter?"

"If Stark gets too insufferable, you will tase him for me?"

Darcy threw her had back and laughed hysterically. She then leaned forward to pat his shoulder.

"Don't worry, boss. It'll be my pleasure."

She sobered for a second before smirking.

"You know, I could continue that thought. I could be the girl who tased the Avengers! I already knocked Thor down, so I-"

"You will do no such thing."

Darcy tried to glare at Coulson for stealing her fun, but she ended up dissolving in giggles on the bed. His unimpressed look was just too priceless. She prided herself on being one of the very, very few people who could face it and not cower in fear.

Coulson was very proud of his unimpressed look.

OOOOOOOOO

Darcy was standing in the hall of the Tower, doing a very life like impersonation of a gold fish. A medical team was responsible for bringing Coulson in, so she had been left to her own devices to get to the tower, and now that she was there, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to go to the front desk? Would they be aware of her arrival?

She wasn't close to Tony Stark, but she was pretty sure she wasn't one of his top priorities, possible sponge bath or not. Darcy decided to go to the front desk anyway. The woman gave her a friendly smile. Darcy leaned over the counter, searching for her words.

"Hmm, Darcy Lewis? Have anything for me?"

She frowned, but went to look on her computer. After a few seconds, she looked back up, apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Miss, I've got not-"

"Miss Lewis?"

She whirled around, relief flooding through her. A tall red head-thankfully not Natasha-was walking toward her. Drop dead gorgeous, because her world was apparently one populated by women specifically designed to make her feel bad about herself.

She smiled herself, pushing away from the desk.

"Yep, that's me!"

The woman smiled at her, warm and nice. God, whoever that was, she'd earn a fortune as a model.

"I'm Virginia Potts, I work for and with Mister Stark. Phil texted me to make sure you were taken care of. I'm sorry Mister Stark didn't think to..."

She gestured to the desk with an apologetic face.

"He gets distracted sometimes."

Darcy shrugged and smiled, grabbing her bag.

"It's alright. The important is that everything's sorted now."

She paused.

"Everything's sorted right?"

Virginia sighed.

"Yes, Miss Lewis. Everything is fine. Shall we?"

She indicated one of the elevators. Darcy nodded and followed her, struggling for something to say.

"Thanks, Miss Potts. Please, call me Darcy. Miss Lewis is just weird. Except for people who I don't want to call me Darcy. Like Fury."

Virginia giggled, clasping her hand on her mouth like the sound escaped by itself against her will. Darcy smiled, biting her lip slightly.

"Alright, Darcy. Please call me Pepper."

Darcy frowned, trying to puzzle this one out.

"Pepper? From… Virginia?"

Pepper shrugged.

"I don't really remember where I got that one from. It just stuck."

Darcy shrugged.

"Well, if you get to be Pepper, I want to be Cayenne."

Once again, Pepper giggled against her will. By that time, they were in the elevator and climbing. Pepper took a deep breath.

"Alright, Darcy, I feel I have to warn you. I know you've been through a few weird incidents recently, and I've been told about Norse Gods and Coulson sitting. But Tony is a different category of weird, and I'm considering creating one all for him."

She sighed again, and Darcy was pretty sure she would rubbing her eyes, or banging her head against the wall, if she wasn't afraid to ruin her make-up.

"And he lately decided to adopt another fellow scientist who is now bunking here."

Darcy stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"And that is bad?"

Pepper shook her head.

"No, Dr. Banner is a great man. It's just... Tony is not used to people... Keeping up with him. He's still hasn't come down from the high, and he's all over the place as a result."

Darcy bit her lip, and frowned around the elevator.

"When you say all over the place?"

Pepper gave her a pitying look.

"All. Over. The place."

Darcy shivered. And raised her shoulders to her ears. Pepper smiled, and patted her shoulder.

"JARVIS can be mellowed with picture of cute kittens. He especially like Siamese."

Darcy frowned. Coulson told her about JARVIS being an AI running the house. As far as Darcy was concerned, AI's weren't really supposed to like things.

"Kittens?"

Pepper grinned.

"I think it's mostly because Tony forbids him to look for them anymore."

Darcy stared at Pepper for a long moment.

"This is insane."

Pepper smiled at her kindly.

"I'd like to say you get used to it, but, honestly, you don't. At least they're cute."

The doors opened, and Pepper exited. Darcy was still frozen.

"So I have to enjoy living in this mad house because they're cute?"

A disheveled head appeared in her face.

"Nope. You'll enjoy living here because I am the most incredible human in the world!"

She heard Pepper sigh behind Stark.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Stark frowned, actually considering the question for a moment, before turning dramatically, spreading his arms open.

"Tuesday!"

Pepper gave him a stern look.

"Tuesday was three days ago."

Tony arched an eyebrow, looking perfectly fine with the notion.

"Three days ago, than."

He whirled back around., facing Darcy once again.

"Anyway, Darlene-"

The young woman interrupted him, arching an eyebrow.

"Darcy."

He waved a dismissive hand.

"Darcy. It's a pleasure to have you here, and you are very welcome."

She raised the other eyebrow.

"If you are so thrilled, why didn't you notify the front desk of my arrival?"

He frowned again.

"I didn't? My god. I was busy."

Darcy pursed her lips.

"Busy? You invited me yesterday!"

Tony shrugged.

"Yeah, I was busy! Bruce, tell her we were busy!"

He turned around, and frowned.

"Pepper? Where's Bruce?"

Pepper looked up from the phone she had just fished out of her pocket.

"How I am supposed to know? Probably in the lab? Where he is most of the time, when not sleeping or eating, and even than..."

She went back to her phone. Stark gazed at her for a moment.

"You are no use at all."

Darcy hit him on the back of the head.

"Ow."

"Show some respect."

He stared at her for a moment.

"You hit me."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"I like you."

"You're weird."

He extended his hand.

"Tony Stark."

She shook it.

"Darcy Lewis."

On her left, she saw a door open, and a man walked into the room, nose buried into a stack of paper.

"Tony, there's something I need you to look at for me."

His voice trailed off when he finally looked up. He clearly didn't expect so many people to be in the room. Tony beamed, and skipped over to him.

"Bruce, come on, let's get you introduced to our newest housemate."

He bodily dragged the doctor to Darcy. The young woman awkwardly stuck her hand out again. Which the doctor shook just as awkwardly.

"Dr. Banner, it's an honor."

He twitched a bit.

"I- Don't know you."

She shrugged it off, but honestly, was anyone aware she was coming?

"No one does, don't worry about it."

He looked around, and shrugged.

"Well, if you're around here, you should be worthy to know."

Alright. She admitted it. That really, really felt good. That doctor? Favorite person in the place. She also beamed at him, which seemed to surprise him. Hm, maybe she wasn't the only one not getting a lot of love lately.

"I'm Darcy Lewis. And I'm around here to take care of Phil."

Banner gave her a quick, fleeting grin.

"If you need any help, I'm always available."

Stark popped in.

"No you're not! You've got to help me!"

Pepper cried indignantly.

"Tony! Bruce is not your property!"

A British accented voice rung through the intercom.

"Sir? Coulson's transfer has been completed, and he would like to see Miss Lewis."

Tony sighed.

"Well, JARVIS, show her the way."

Lights embedded in the floor came to life, designating the path to what Darcy hoped was Coulson's room. Tony dismissed her with a lax hand, and a slow drawl.

"Go on, Cayenne, go give the Agent a sponge bath."

Darcy stuck her tongue at him, and skipped down the hallway. Well, now she was warned. Tony was watching her. She felt the Cayenne thing would stick. She heard a chuckle, and Bruce's quiet voice.

"God help us, she's your spiritual little sister."

Pepper answered.

"Thankfully, she is a little less emotionally constipated."

"Hey!"

Darcy slipped into Phil's room. The Agent was seated on his bed, looking around the room.

"Hey boss!"

He looked slightly relieved at seeing her.

"Darcy. I wasn't sure Pepper got my message."

Darcy smiled, and plopped down beside his bed, resuming her usual position.

"She did. And she introduced me to the rest of the household."

Coulson smiled, probably reading something into her eyes. Which was highly probable. Coulson was a mind reader. Coulson could get you the name of the pet you had in first grade by looking at the vein in your neck. At least, that's what he would want you to think. Darcy had seen him study personnel files in his free time, and he was a pro at reading people. He told her it cultivated the mystery. In a big organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. you had to appear more than human to rule, and Phil accomplished that nearly as well as Fury.

She smiled to him.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. Dr. Banner seemed very nice."

Coulson turned to look at her, weighting something. Darcy arched an eyebrow at him, surprised a remark about the doctor would put him into this mood. He pursed his lips.

"Do you know who Dr. Banner is?"

Darcy frowned, and racked her brain. Was she supposed to? Because honestly, as far as she was concerned, he was simply a slightly absent minded, especially fluffy scientist who lived in the Tower. She cocked her head to the side.

"Hm, Tony Stark's science pal?"

Phil snorted, and looked away.

"I love that you live in the world where someone would expect to come and live with Tony Stark, while being nothing more than a science pal."

Darcy gave him a stern look, which was answered by a small twitch of the lips. She rolled her eyes at him, and leaned on the bed, smirking at him. He arched an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Come on, old man, enlighten the poor soul I am about the dangers of Dr. Banner."

Phil leaned forward, smirking as well.

"If you are going to be skeptical about everything weird I know more about than you, we're both going to have a problem."

She pinched her lips, and looked away.

"Does it matter? By the time you're alright, I'll be gone."

Phil frowned at her, pushing himself up on an elbow.

"Do you want to go away?"

Darcy stared disbelievingly at him. Of course she didn't, but Barton made it pretty clear. She wasn't in her place.

"No, of course not. But you've said it yourself. I'm an innocent, naive girl who has nothing to do in this place. I won't be a burden."

Phil stared at her for a moment.

"Darcy-"

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Darcy called out, pretty sure it'd be Pepper. She didn't even turn around when the door open, but noticed Phil's frown, his eyes fleeting between the newcomer and her. She ignored the chill, until the rough voice sounded.

"Hey."

She turned around and sure enough, Barton was there. She could also see the Widow standing in the doorway. She looked back to the man. He was tired, dark circles under his eyes she didn't notice yesterday. He stared directly into her eyes. He didn't like her. That much was obvious. His blue gray ones were cold and hard, but there was no self-pity in them. Well there was some self-hatred but luckily he wouldn't talk about that one now. She nodded to him, satisfied she succeeded in reasoning him. He jerked his head toward Phil.

"Can I talk to him?"

Darcy looked briefly to Coulson, waiting for a sign. He nodded slightly, looking reassuring. Darcy glared at him for a second, before turning around. When she went to go by Barton, he grabbed her upper arm. She froze, not looking at him, waiting. She was pretty sure he wasn't going to start beating her up in front of Coulson. He took a deep breath, and mumbled almost too low for anyone to understand.

"Thank you."

The words were jumbled, as if they were wrung out of him by force. She glanced at him. For a moment, they understood each other. He was grateful that she took care of Phil, that she was there when he couldn't be, and that she stood up to him for Phil. But he despised her for siding with Fury, he hated her for what she said to him, and he resented her for forcing him to express gratitude he would have preferred to not feel. All in all, they weren't the best friends in the world, but he wasn't going to kill her in her sleep.

She was reassured. She nodded, and went for the door. Romanov seemed to be weighing whether or not she should go and see Phil, or if she should come out and talk to Darcy. The younger woman sighed.

"Look, I get it. I hurt him, I disappear from the surface of the planet. But as far as I'm concerned, I did your boyfriend a favor."

Darcy shot a look to the bed, making sure Phil wasn't upset and seemed to enjoy his talk with Barton. She looked back to the red head.

"Go talk to him. He needs you more than I do."

And she exited for real. She felt the weight of Natasha's gaze on the back of her neck until the door closed behind her. She turned momentarily to the door, worrying her lip. She just didn't feel good leaving Coulson alone. She knew the agent wouldn't hurt him. Fury wouldn't have let him go that easily if Phil was in any danger in the Tower. But it still didn't feel right.

Then again, Pepper did mention something about Tony having a spying system around.

"JARVIS?"

She crossed her fingers, hoping that Tony would have at least thought to allow that.

"Yes, Miss Lewis?"

She took in a deep breath.

"Could you please notify me if Phil seems distressed, or upset, or anything?"

There was a pause.

"Yes, Miss Lewis, I will. If I may, I would like to add that Agent Coulson seems very comfortable at the moment. Shall I show you to your room?"

Darcy looked at the door, than at the bare hallway. Than the door. Than the hallway. She sighed, and leaned momentarily on the wall. She would do no good by staying here. And she was tired. She was pretty sure a bed around here would be made of an alloy of marshmallows and cotton candy. But what if Coulson needed her? JARVIS disembodied voice rung out once more.

"I will notify you as well if Agent Coulson needs you."

She smiled weakly at the ceiling. She decided looking at the ceiling was the best option at the moment, since she had no idea where JARVIS actually was.

"Thanks, JARVIS. You're the best."

The answer was quick, this time. Darcy could tell the system was touched by her compliment.

"You're welcome Miss Lewis. And may I add, once more, that we are glad that you are here."

Darcy smiled a bit self-deprecatingly.

"You don't know me."

"And you don't know us. Yet you agreed to come live here because you wanted to take care of Agent Coulson. We protect our own. People who protect our own are part of us."

Darcy smiled, and followed the path JARVIS lit up for her. Unsurprisingly, the room was huge. And equipped with a monitor linked to Coulson's room. And a lot of other things Darcy was pretty sure she couldn't name, and certainly didn't know how to use. JARVIS spoke one last time.

"Agent Coulson also would like you to watch some videos."

A screen came to life at one end of the room. Darcy frowned and carefully dropped her bag, walking slowly toward it. She deposited herself gingerly in it the chair, afraid to break it.

A security record started playing, and Darcy, slowly, started to sprawl in the sofa. It was stronger than her. It was just that awesome. The record showed a man she recognized as Dr. Banner. The city looked like New York, but Darcy couldn't be sure. She was more of a West Coast girl. She cocked her head, and all of the sudden, the army barged in. Darcy frowned, and leaned in.

And jumped back when Dr. Banner exploded. Literally. And turned green.

Fuck. The Hulk. Dr. Banner was the Hulk. The quiet, nice, unassuming man was the Hulk.

Phil was right. She was naive. At the end of the recording, which lasted just long enough to see the complete transformation, a message came.

'This is why we need you around. Dr. Banner needs people to treat him normally. Never underestimate the power of an innocent smile.

Phil'

Darcy stared at the screen for a while. Her boss was officially a mind reader. No matter what he said. Or maybe she was obvious. It was part of the innocent thing. Naive people are predictable.

"He wouldn't go through that much trouble if he didn't want you here."

She turned around. Barton was in the door, leaning on in, looking as cool as a cucumber. He jerked his head toward the screen.

"And he wouldn't want you around here if he didn't think you were good enough."

Darcy forced a strained smile on her face.

"And you don't agree. After all, I'm not part of this world."

He half shrugged.

"What I think doesn't matter. You're here for him. Not me."

Darcy couldn't help but be grateful she wasn't taking care of Barton. She knew it would have ended with something on fire. Probably Barton. And someone in jail. Her, if she wasn't able to frame someone else. Anyway, she was digressing.

"Well, that is fortunate. Now why are you here? For the 'Be careful, don't hurt him or I'll hurt you' routine?"

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"No. I'm here for the 'We're done, and Phil wants to see you' routine."

He turned around and left. Darcy arched an eyebrow and huffed.

"Well, it was nice talking to you too."

She walked to Coulson's room, and plopped down on the bed.

"Nice talk?"

Coulson let out a long suffering sigh and lightly poked her with his foot until she moved a bit farther down the bed. Phil eyed her for a moment, before opening his mouth again.

"Yes thanks. It was good to talk to them again."

She nodded.

"Then I'm glad you did."

He cocked his head.

"They're not your biggest fans."

"Great. I'm not theirs. Come on, you need to do your exercises."

Phil grumbled while she helped him into position.