Okay, I had someone specifically comment on the 'bad day' thing Darcy mentions in one of the previous chapters, so here it is. An explanation of what a 'bad day' is, by Darcy's standards. And Fury's.

Enjoy!

- Illusinia

Prompt: Control

From: avengers-tables .livejournal under 50-word prompt (yes, I do intent to use all 50 words)

Pairings: Clint/Darcy

Darcy knew it was going to be a bad day when she awoke that morning. But it wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized how bad it was looking. She didn't have to think twice as she reached over to pick up her cellphone and dialed Jane. An excuse about a migraine would work. No thought when into the text she sent to Clint either, telling him she was sick and asking him to remain away that day.

With everyone contacted, she closed her eyes and rolled over. Hopefully more sleep would help. If not, she could always try to meditate. Days like this sucked. A faint pulse from the child in her womb told her the baby agreed.

Clint knew he was distracted, it was hard not to be. Darcy had told him she was sick then asked him not to visit. Something like that? It was scary. He wanted to protect her, needed to protect her and their baby. But she wasn't letting him even take care of her when she wasn't feeling well.

A energy blast to the back sent him flying and he suspected his clothes may have caught fire due to the heat. It was hard to say though, given how badly his head was spinning. People were shouting around him and he heard their simulation shut down (they had adapted Professor Xavior's Danger Room program to work for their own needs), but he found it hard to focus on the chaos. Then an arm was propping him up and Natasha was examining him for signs of damage.

"He doesn't appear seriously hurt," she reported calmly. "At least not yet. I suspect Darcy may have a good amount to say to him for his lack of attention."

"I certainly do," growled Fury from behind the group.

Steve, Tony, and Natasha all moved aside to allow Fury to pass, Loki following behind him curiously. It was strange to see the Mischief God following Fury, but Clint had watched Loki grow closer to Fury, Darcy, and Tony in the short amount of time that he had been working with the Avengers, even in his limited context. Clint suspected part of that had to do with the conversation Fury, Darcy, and Loki had the day after Darcy apparently lit him on fire. Fury confirmed it happened, even though no one else could see it save Loki.

The polished black boots Fury always seemed to wear stopped in front of Clint, the S.H.I.E.L.D director glaring down at him. "Hawkeye, care to explain what that was all about?"

"I was distracted sir," admitted Clint, bowing his head to look at Fury's shoes. Fury could always make you feel like a little kid being chastised for breaking a window with a baseball. "It won't happen again."

Fury sighed and knelt down in front of Clint, surprisingly sympathetic. "No, it won't. Not today. You're done until tomorrow, when Miss. Lewis is feeling better and you're not so worried."

Everyone was staring at Fury as if he'd grown another head, including Clint. Since when did the director of S.H.I.E.L.D give anyone a break? It was so far out of character, Clint wondered if Loki hadn't done something to the vicious one-eyed man.

"Sir?" questioned Clint, uncertain if this was a test or if Fury was fucking with him somehow. It seemed like something the director might do.

Fury just shook his head and stood. "I understand how Miss. Lewis is feeling today. I've had a few of those days myself, and I'd imagine they're worse for her than they ever were for me."

"Indeed," confirmed Loki. "I popped in to check on her and she literally expelled me from the apartment with a rather strong show of force. The only way I was allowed to enter was if I masked my energy signature so it wasn't as strong."

"Wait, what's happening to Darcy?" asked Clint, clearly confused. "She just told Jane she had a migraine!"

Loki nodded. "As one might when unable to explain why they are feeling bad. I do not know the full extent of her ailment, but she did assure me that all would be well tomorrow. When questioned, she likened her current state to suffering from a second-degree sunburn, whatever that is."

"Its when the skin burns, becoming raw and painful," supplied Fury. "And that's pretty much an apt analogy."

"She also mentioned an inability to actively acknowledge physical barriers and objects," continued Loki, apparently considering what was said. "From what I gathered, she has become temporarily over-sensitized to energy and finds functioning difficult."

Fury nodded. "Its a loss of control. Happens to all of us sometimes."

"Control is vital when dealing with any magic," agreed Loki. "A single slip can have negative consequences for all involved."

Clint nodded slowly, the pieces falling together with the little he knew. "So Darcy's mind is placing too much emphasis on the part of her mind that processes the energy-related stuff and not enough on the senses that process the physical stuff?"

"Correct," confirmed Fury. "It's thrown her into an imbalanced state of mind and is limiting how well she can function."

"And me going near her..." started Clint.

"-Would cause her discomfort," finished Loki with a slight nod of his head. "Allow her the remainder of the day to recover. Come tonight, she should feel significantly better. Or, at the vary least, she should have regained her control."

Which was how Clint found himself just outside of the door to Darcy's apartment around 8 that night with a bag of food in hand and a prayer on his mind.

A faint knock at the door drew Darcy from her meditation. It had taken most of the day, but she could finally see walls again with relative clarity, rather than having to reach out a hand to feel for them. It was hard to move around when your mind couldn't seem to process completely what your eyes were seeing. Thankfully, her control was back.

From the other side of the door, she could feel Clint and his worry. Her sensitivity to other energy sources hadn't dissipated completely yet, but she figured her body could tolerate being around Clint, so long as he wasn't in too much of a cuddling mood. Then she'd probably get sick.

Her legs unfolded from beneath her body, allowing her to stand without using her hands. She wouldn't be able to do that for much longer, once her bump became more of a bulge but for the time being she'd enjoy the flexibility.

The door was hardly open before Clint was reaching for her. He stopped with his hand halfway out-stretched however, and gave her a questioning look. "Can I touch you, or will you get sick?"

Darcy smiled slightly at him, leaning on the door frame with a sigh. "Fury and Loki told you, I'll take it?"

Clint nodded sheepishly. "I might have been a little distracted."

Her eyes narrowed. "How distracted? Injured distracted?"

"Not badly," assured Clint quickly, but she was already pulling him inside and swiping the food from his hand to set it aside. Then she was stripping him of his shirt to examine his body for damage. He knew she found the large bruise on his back when the soft gasp left her mouth. "Its not as bad as it looks, I promise."

"Clint!" shouted Darcy angrily. "How could you allow yourself to be distracted? What if this had been a real fight? You could have been killed!"

He spun quickly, grasping her hands softly to get her attention. "If it had been a real fight, I promise nothing could have distracted me. Nothing. We train to help ensure we come back from every mission alive but I have more reasons than anyone else to come back alive." The finger tips of one hand brushed over her shirt. "You and the baby are the most important things in my life and my reason for coming back alive. I train to stay strong so I can come back alive as well as keep you both safe. Never think that I would allow myself to be distracted in a real fight, especially if it might mean not coming back to you."

Her hand came to rest over the one who's tips were against her stomach, pressing his hand flat and interlinking her energy with his own so he could feel the soft pulse of their child. "As long as you always promise to try to come home."

"I promise," whispered Clint as he drew her close. "Now, how are you feeling?"

Darcy smiled softly and carefully hugged him. "Better, though I wouldn't suggest a lot of physical contact tonight. My body is still really screwed up from that whole mess with my energy today."

"Yeah, Fury mentioned that might be the case," whispered Clint as he lay a kiss on her forehead and released her. "Which, I might add, is kinda creepy. Especially because he was actually, well, empathetic today. Did you and Loki swap him out with a new and improved Fury when we weren't looking?"

"Hardly," laughed Darcy as she swept up the food and headed for the table. "He just knows how unpleasant a day like today is and how stubborn you are."

"Huh?" asked Clint, not making the connection between the two.

Darcy sighed. "Basically, he knew that if he and Loki didn't explain what was happening, you'd come to me about it and I wasn't in any condition to explain it. Hell, I wasn't in any condition for any human contact. Too much risk of damage and all that. Plus, healing someone after you've lit them on fire or turned them into a cowering pile of fear-riddled human flesh is a bitch."

"I'll keep that in mind," muttered Clint. "But you're okay?"

"Now? Yeah, I'm fine," assured Darcy. "Tired, hungry, and a little stir-crazy, but stable."

He nodded happily and pushed her into a chair at the table before heading into the kitchen for a plates, silverware, and everything else they'd need. "I have the solution for one of those. Now sit down and let me actually take care of you for a bit. You had me worried all day."

Darcy laughed softly and turned in the chair, careful to lay her hands across the back rather than missing it all together. Her ability to interact with the physical realm was still a little up in the air. "Geez, if you're like this on a day when I just suffer a little loss of control, what are you going to be like when I give birth?"

Clint stuck his head back out of the kitchen, eyes dead serious when he replied. "Honey, when you give birth I am going to be an absolute mess. Make no mistake, Natasha will be stripping me of all weapons and be armed with a sedative."

"Why a sedative?" asked Darcy curiously.

The serious look faded to more of a grin. "So if I pass out from the experience she can lie and say that she had to sedate me for the safety of the medical staff."

Darcy's laughter was music to his ears, reminding him that she was well and assuring him that, no matter what they faced, everything would be okay.