-(.:.)-
-One Year Later-
Darcy checked the straps of her belt to make sure it was secure. The leather holster attached to it held the modified Taser gun that Tony Stark had made for her; and her Swiss army knife was latched with a clip to the other side. She felt exceptionally bad-ass. She wore black fingerless gloves, a long-sleeved tunic made out of bullet proof/ laser proof material (another Stark creation) and black cargo pants. The only thing that gave her away was her "You remind me of the Babe" Labyrinth t-shirt that she wore over the tunic, and her signature red stocking cap.
Of the three women who travelled together, Darcy knew she was the least intimidating; Natasha Romanoff was the best assassin in the world, and Maria Hill could break a man's neck in 5 seconds flat. Darcy felt a little bit of girl power pride that she had been included in this mission.
"Remember," Natasha said, "If you find the orb, don't touch it. Tell us and we'll contain it." Darcy nodded, remembering what they had told her about how the orb could kill you with a single touch. The Avengers and Shield were equally reluctant to have the orb in near proximity of any of the other infinity stones, however they did want to know where they were, and preferably have control of them.
It had been terrifying enough watching Jane be consumed by the Aether, to see the power that it had. Thor had sent Sif and Volstagg to store it on another planet, with some guy called the "Collector." Darcy wasn't actually supposed to know this, but it wasn't HER fault that people talked about things when she was in the room as if she were invisible.
The orb was supposed to be in the possession of the Nova Corps, which sounded like an intergalactic version of SHIELD. But a rumor was circulating that the orb had been given instead to a band of space pirates, who had in turn sold it to a group of Skrull as a way to hold it over the heads of the Kree.
Darcy speculated on the fact that aliens really did appear to love their drama.
And of course Shield felt that it was their responsibility to discover whether there was any truth to the rumor, and had sent the task force to investigate.
Maria was in the lead as they wandered through the terrain, gun drawn, motioning to Darcy and Natasha to stay back against the wall of the cave where they were hiding. Skrullos was a rocky, unforgiving place, with lots of caves and boulders. It made it easy to hide but difficult to find what they were looking for.
Maria finally motioned to the left, pointing out a Skrull guard about 100 yards away, who seemed to be protecting a small silver ball with etchings on it. The orb!
"Is that it?" Darcy whispered excitedly.
"Shh," Natasha answered. "It's the container for the stone. We have to check and see if the stone is inside." Darcy nodded, and Maria was looking around the ground for something. Finally, she found a small rock, and palmed it, inching out from the cave but remaining hidden from the guard. When she was within 6 feet of the orb, she threw the rock upward toward a stalactite that was hanging from a cliff above the guard, in the opposite direction from where she was hidden. The stalactite dropped, startling the guard and causing him to shout out and hurry toward where the noise had come from. Quickly, Maria approached the orb and pushed a button that must have been hidden on its face.
There was a stone inside, alright, but not an infinity stone. Someone had painted a bright yellow smiley face on a plain old rock, and stuck it in there. Maria quickly pushed the button to close the orb, and quickly moved back to her hiding spot, quietly inching along behind boulders until she reached her colleagues. She motioned for them to follow her, and they made their way back through the cave as the Skrull guard returned to guard the smiley rock for all he was worth.
"Someone is playing a joke on the Skrull," Natasha said quietly, when they were out of hearing range.
"Well," Maria said, smiling, "if they didn't check to see what they purchased, they aren't the brightest crayons in the box, now are they?" The three women laughed, heading back to the exit point where they could call to Heimdall.
Five minutes later they were standing in Asgard, in front of a gigantic man with all-knowing eyes and the power to send them anywhere in the galaxy.
"Thanks, key man," Darcy said. "Could you zap us on over to Earth now?" The majestic being did not smile, but turned a large sword and brilliant light enveloped them as they were transported back home. When they appeared in the transport room at Stark Tower, Natasha looked irked.
"We couldn't have spent FIVE minutes in Asgard, Darcy?" The girl had the good manners to turn red, but quickly recovered.
"No place like home, right? And that Skull-o's place was giving me the heebie jeebies." She put her arms around herself as if she were cold.
"Skrullos," Maria corrected, taking off her weapons. Natasha and Darcy followed suit, heading out of the room and to their respective dormitories to stow their gear.
"Meet at the common room in 5 for our briefing," Natasha called to them. Darcy groaned. She had really been looking forward to a long, hot shower; which would now have to wait.
-(.:.)-
Over the past year, Darcy had slowly drifted away from being Jane's intern and more toward being her friend. As they were drawn more and more into the activities of the Avengers and Shield, Darcy began looking for other mentors who were a little bit closer to the action. Maria and Natasha had zeroed in on her as a protégé, first because of her technical computer skills, then later because she was a sponge for new information and learned quickly.
She hadn't just gotten closer to the power women either; she had bonded with most of the Avengers by now.
Back in the common room, the gang started to assemble, and she bounced down on the couch between her two favorite Avengers rejects, Loki Odinson and Bucky Barnes. Neither of them talked very much, which meant that she could chatter on at will.
"Hey boys," she said, draping an arm around each of them. Predictably, they each stiffened, Loki giving her a look of contempt and Bucky looking tight lipped around the room for Steve to save him. Darcy grinned. She couldn't help it, she loved making them feel awkward. "Guess what I did today?" she continued, linking her arms with those of the guys on either side of her.
"I am on the edge of my seat in anticipation, Ms. Lewis," Loki drawled. Bucky continued to not make eye contact.
"I travelled all the way to Skull-o's," Darcy started.
"Skrullos!" yelled Maria from somewhere on the other side of the room.
"Skrull- o's, just to see a prank." Darcy pointed a finger at Loki's nose. "YOU would have been very impressed, Mr. Trickster and Lies." Loki rolled his eyes and pulled his arm away to sulk in the furthest corner of the couch. Steve Rogers walked in and Bucky immediately jumped up and headed over to where his friend was grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"Oh you guys are no fun at all," Darcy said, pulling her feet up on the couch and sulking.
"Darcy, you need a man," Natasha said, entering the common room, "so that you will stop torturing poor Loki and Bucky." Bucky nodded at her, and Loki smirked. Darcy just pouted.
"Men suck," she said.
"Are you still pining over that Star Lord guy?" Clint Barton followed behind Natasha, and tousled Darcy's hair affectionately as he headed to a stool in the corner of the room.
"I'm not pining," she complained. "I'm applying that label to all men. Current company excluded, of course. Mostly." She gave Loki a pointed glare. "And the guy put a hole in my apartment. It took me six months to get the funds to repair that shit."
Natasha smiled evilly. "Should have shot him when you had the chance."
"Who exactly are we shooting?" Everyone's attention moved to the imposing figure who had entered; Director Fury.
"Anyone who gets in our way," Maria Hill chimed in.
"Fair enough," Fury responded. "Now tell us about what you found on Skrullos."
-(.:.)-
As the warm shower finally washed away the day, Darcy allowed her thoughts to wander, as it did way too often, to Peter Quill. He was a jerk, she thought, for the hundredth time. She was just some Terran he'd wanted to sleep with. Even though some dormant part of her mind thought that just maybe he had been trying to draw the alien creature's attention away from her. But then why hadn't he returned? It couldn't be that hard if he had his own spaceship.
She pictured him as he'd been sitting at that bar at the concert, then holding her away from the drunk, then kissing her in the upper viewing area…
She yanked the shower knob over to cold, shrieking as the temperature turned.
-(.:.)-