Their relationship had shifted. Neither of them mentioned it but both of them knew it. Darcy spent three days a week working with Jane and Erik in their lab, Tuesdays and Thursdays she was with them in the morning and then in Bruce's lab in the afternoon. She fed all of them when necessary, as well as whichever other scientists on the floor looked like they needed feeding. Saturdays she often hung out with Jane and now Thor who had made a reappearance after repairing the bifrost his end, she also usually crashed on Jane's couch after having had too much to drink to make her way home. Sundays she often hung out with Bruce.
It had been a casual shift, one day she had seen him looking frazzled by the gadgets in the kitchen and simply taken over cooking his late breakfast. They had dished up two plates and then sat together watching TV. After that, on Sundays when Darcy had stayed in the tower the night before she would hang out with Bruce.
Tony was trying to convince Darcy to move into the tower. She had said no. Repeatedly. After all, the other lab assistants didn't get rooms at the tower, neither did a lot of the scientists. Jane had had her own apartment until Thor had arrived and after the pair became inseparable, Jane eventually gave up her apartment because she was never there. Just because they shared some DNA did not mean that he should be buying her things of making decisions in her life. She did however except the new stark phone he gave her because trying to buy her or not, she wanted one and couldn't afford one. It wasn't like they were even on bad terms, they actually got on quite well. The problem was that Tony seemed to feel the need to buy her things as if he was trying to make up for twenty-five years of not being there. She though it was ridiculous because whilst he could have been a bit more careful and a bit less promiscuous, it wasn't his fault that her mother never told him she existed. Her mother hadn't even known which guy had gotten her pregnant.
On Saturday mornings, before meeting up with Jane, Darcy now her counselling sessions, or possible therapy...she still wasn't entirely sure on the difference between the two. Despite being pretty skeptical to start with, after three months of sessions, she found herself much calmer than she had been in years. She was able to have passing contact with most people that she saw regularly, without freaking out and some of them without even thinking much about it. It was thanks to her progress that she was able to endure Thor's extreme bear hugs.
Bruce was still her happy place, her calm, her rock. With Bruce she felt safe, she didnt have to think about things. Except she did.
She thought about his arms a lot and his chest that she had seen several times now after he had changed back from the Hulk and ended up nearly or completely naked. She found herself wanting to kiss him, for the first time in years she wasn't just wistfully thinking about what she couldn't have, she actually wanted it. She wanted to be able to kiss Bruce, to be close to him, to maybe even sleep with him but Bruce didn't really do getting close to people either.
She knew that he knew too. He wasn't stupid. There was no way he could have miss the flushed or dazed looks she sometimes had on her face when they invaded one another's space.
"You have a dopey look on your face." Jane's voice snapped Darcy out of her mental musings.
"Oh." She said rolling her eyes. "Well we can't all be geniuses can we?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Jane laughed, coming to lean on the counter next to her. "Spill."
"I don't wanna." She pouted.
"Please, come on Darcy!" Jane begged, pulling the puppy dog eyes on her.
"I like Bruce." She admitted.
"I noticed." Jane nodded.
"No, like...like him like him." She explained shyly.
"Yeah, I noticed." Jane repeated.
"Oh...is it that obvious?" She cringed.
"Only to...everyone." Jane grinned. "Honestly Darcy, you two are adorable. You're practically dating already, what the problem?"
"I haven't dated for like...about six years and those were disasters." She huffed, dropped her chin onto her hands.
"You've come a long way Darcy and Bruce...he understands you." The older woman said quietly. "It's really sweet, you know? You two get each other like no one else."
"He doesn't date either. He doesn't like people getting close to him in case they get hurt." Darcy pointed out.
"And yet somehow, you spend time with both him and the bigger, greener and grouchier version and he hasn't pushed you away."
Darcy froze on that thought. It was true. She was probably closer to Bruce than anyone else and spent more time with him than most. Tony was probably the only one that spent as much time with him...but Bruce had never once suggested that she stay away from him.
"I gotta go." She blurted out, getting up and darting out of the lab, leaving a smiling Jane behind.
Bruce glanced up from his work to see Darcy lingering in the entrance to the lab. He was working with Tony again today and whatever it was it was causing a lot of smoke so stood back.
"Hi." He greeted her.
"Hey." She smiled back. "Can I borrow you?" She watched as he glanced down at his watch thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I could take a break." He nodded. "Do you want lunch?"
"Good plan, we can go to the deli again." She agreed. "I'll let you finish whatever that is and go see if Tony wants us to bring him back anything."
"Alright, I'm done. I'll just go put these away and be right back."
Darcy crossed to the other side of the lab where Tony was working.
"I'm stealing Bruce for lunch, you want us to bring you back anything?" She asked, when he noticed her.
"No invite for me, I'm sensing favouritism." He commented, waving his screwdriver at her.
"And I make no secret of that." She smirked. "He's the most adorable, he gets to be favourite."
"Yeah, yeah. I could eat one of those steak baguette things you get from there." He said.
"Deal." She nodded, she stepped backwards and flinched as she knocked something over. "Crap, sor-"
She voice cut off in a scream as something shot out across the lab and hit against some equipment near the wall.
"Sorry." She squeaked, moving to go check she hadn't damaged anything.
"Darcy!" She heard Tony shout her name and then she was flung backwards and down, as the room lit up and a large bang sounded. She hit the ground hard. Bad memories surfaced and for a moment she panicked.
"Darcy!" Another voice called. Bruce...why did Bruce sound so far away. She panicked when she realised someone was on top of her, until she realised that they weren't moving.
"Oh shit, Tony." She gasped out, wriggling out from under him. There was an area of the lab that was smoking and damaged and she could see one of Tony's robotic pets using a fire extinguisher on the few remaining flames. Tony had someone ended up in front of her and the on top of her. "Oh god..." Horror filled her as she saw the shrapnel sticking out of his arm and shoulder, blood seeping through the material.
"Darcy, oh thank god." Bruce exclaimed as he reached them. "Tony..."
"Tell me he's not dead, Bruce, tell me he's not dead." She blurted out desperately, moving Tony's head to see his face better.
"He's not dead," he said, feeling the pulse at his neck. He brushed Darcy back so that he could listen for breathing. "He's breathing too. Get me some a lab coat from over there."
"OK here." Darcy said rushing to do what he told her. Bruce used a tear in Tony's shirt to rip it off of him and out of the way, giving them a good look at the damage. "Oh god..."
"It's alright, I'm just going to use this to carefully apply pressure and slow the bleeding around the biggest piece." He explained as he worked. "I don't want to move the metal shard around and cause more damage. Now we just wait for medical to get here and they'll take care of him."
"He...that would've been me, it should've been me." She said quietly.
"What happened?" He asked. "Jarvis toxin levels?"
"Within safe range Dr Banner." The A.I. Responded.
"I knocked something and then it went flying over there and knocked other stuff. I was going to make sure nothing was broken but then..." She trailed off looking down at the unconscious man on the ground. "He wasn't even in the suit."
"He's going to be fine. This bit piece here, it doesn't look too close to any major arteries, he's going to be fine." He told her firmly. "Sit down, you're in shock."
She immediately sat, not on the chair he had pointed to but on the floor right where she had been stood. She shuffled forward and took Tony's hand in hers, relieved to find it warm, as if that proved to her that Bruce was telling the truth. People came rushing in around them and before Darcy knew it Tony was wheeled away from them.
"Miss Lewis, you should come for a quick check over before-"
"I've got her." Bruce said, moving Darcy to the nearest chair. "I'll keep an eye on her." The doctor nodded and left them alone.
"We should go with him." Darcy said, moving to stand up.
"Easy," he said softly, stopping her with his hands. "You look ready to faint. Let's get out of here and somewhere more comfortable for a minute, Jarvis will let us know as soon as we can see Tony."
"Of course Sir." The A.I. agreed, as Bruce lifted Darcy into his arms and carried her from the room.
"Is this OK?" He asked, refering to his hold on her.
"I trust you Bruce. Unless you do something that directly reminds me of them, you're golden." She murmured, letting her head rest in the crook of his neck and inhaling his scent. "Besides, I like it when you touch me."
And there it was, just hinting at the topic they avoided. That somehow Darcy had fallen in love with Bruce Banner and pretended to herself and everyone else that they were just close friends. That Bruce loved her, at least a little but wouldn't allow himself to cross that line from friendship to something entirely more complicated. Bruce said nothing, instead he held her just that little bit tighter and dropped his lips into her hair briefly.
They sat together in the small waiting area outside the medical wing. Bruce fetched her some water and a small packet of cookies to nibble on while they waited.
"He's coming round now." The doctor came to annouce finally. "He'll be fine. We removed the metal pieces successfully and he's all stitched up so he will be set to leave once we're sure the head injury wasn't serious."
"Can we see him?" She asked.
"Real hospital or not, protocol is still family only unless the patient gives permission for visitors." The doctor shook his head. Darcy looked to Bruce biting her lip.
"Go on, he'll want to see you." He said squeezing her hand.
"Well, he's my dad so...biologically anyway, that counts right?" She checked.
"Miss Lewis, there is nothing in your records to indicate-"
"Jarvis, unseal the file." Darcy cut in. "If you check now, it'll be there. Jarvis, tell the man I'm family for me."
"I can confirm that Miss Lewis is indeed the child of Mr Stark." Jarvis helpfully supplied.
"Very well," the doctor relented. Darcy did a quick cheer before darting to the door. She hesitated, at the last minute...how did one react to their father who wasn't their father until a few months ago saving their life?
With mental suck it up, she forced herself into the room. She came and stood hesitantly next to the bed and touched his hand.
"Hey, you're ok." He mumbled, cracking his eyes open a little.
"You...you've been unconcious for over an hour and you're worried that I'm ok?" She asked in disbelief. "You had bits of metal sticking out of you, you know that right?"
"Not the first time that's happened." He replied, "You are OK though right?"
Tony winced as he suddenly found himself smothered by a sobbing young woman clinging to him. Using his uninjured arm and shoulder he awkwardly hugged her back as she cried on him. To say he was surprised was an understatement. Darcy may have made improvements recently but she had never hugged him, never. She had certainly never thrown herself at him and clung to him like he was the most important thing in the world before, he would've remembered.
"So...just to clarify, you are OK?" He tried again, realising that she still hadn't answered him.
"Don't you dare do that again!" She snapped, sitting up abruptly. "Ever! You scared the helm out of me! I hate you so much right now that you wouldn't believe the-" she frowned when she saw his face smiling back at her. "Don't laugh about this Mr!"
"You don't hate me." He grinned. Darcy swallowed and stared at the clean white dressing on his right shoulder.
"No," she admitted. "I don't hate you." She sniffed and wiped her tears away, determined that that was as close to an I love you as Tony was ever going to get.
"Is Pepper angry with me?" He asked, changing the subject before it got awkward.
"No, she's not mad." Darcy replied, honestly. "She's arranging a flight to get back here. Get ready for her to fuss over you."
"Excellent." He grinned rubbing his hands together. "You know I love it when people fuss over me. Fancy waiting on me hand and foot until she gets here?"
"I would ask if you were brain damaged but unfortunately we already knew that." Bruce's voice said as he stuck his head around the door. Tony waved him in.
"See Darce, he's a bully, completely unadorable." Tony pointed out. "Why is he your favourite again?"
"Nah its the other guy that's her favourite really, I'm just tagging along for the ride." Bruce joked, looking a bit embarrassed. "They say you're going to make a fully recovery."
"So they tell me. It'll just be another manly scar to add to my rugged look." He grinned, then he saw Thor's large figure at the door also and waved him in, Jane followed. "Hey, getting pretty crowed in here, how popular am I?"
"I came for her." Jane said, rolling her eyes at Tony and approaching Darcy to hug her briefly. "I'm so glad you're alright."
Darcy felt for a moment like she was going to cry again but swallowed it down and smiled at the three mad geniuses and large alien slash thunder God. Here in this room, in these moments...it felt like something she hadn't had in a while...it felt like family.