It was summer, a very hot summer which made Darcy very grateful that most of the places she spent her time in were air conditioned. She had to hand it to Tony, his air conditioning was the bomb.
It was also the first summer in the very long time that she had felt pretty much comfortable with who she was and where she was at. She might not be normal, she might never be normal but she was still seeing someone to talk through her problems and she hardly ever had panic attacks any more. Jane and Erik were now in her group of comfort zone people, Thor also and Tony. She was pretty much alright with Steve and Pepper and sometimes Clint too but she wasn't quite as relaxed with them as she was with her select few. Then there was Bruce. Bruce who had first earned her trust. Bruce who gave her a safe place and somehow made her want things she hadn't in a years.
That was a lie. She had obviously wanted those things, deep down she had always wanted those things, she had just buried all hopes of having them. With Bruce she wanted them, unfortunately he pretty much avoided those things himself. He didn't want to settle down, he didn't want a family that could get hurt or be burdened by his problems. She wanted him anyway but that was just her typical luck; finally wanting someone and trusting them enough to let them in and him being someone unwilling to let her.
Still, she could wait him out, prove that he wasn't a risk to her. She had waited this long after all. If they just kept going the way they were, hovering on that line somewhere between friends and more than friends, eventually his argument that he was a danger to those closest to him would be proven false. Plus it helped that the big guy totally adored her. Sometimes she actually wondered if it would be easier to make a move on the Hulk than on Bruce. Still…for now she was content spending her days working with those closest to her and not having to be on guard every second in case someone touched her. Life was good.
"You should take a few days off while Jane is upstate, come with me to Malibu." Pepper offered. Jane and Erik had left on a short trip upstate to get some clearer views of the sky without all the light pollution. They hadn't needed Darcy to go with them, apparently. She had to admit that she trusted Erik to eat more than Jane...so hopefully a few days wouldn't be a disaster. That was obviously one of the reasons that Pepper Potts had made her way to Bruce's lab for a visit. It was the other reasons that made Darcy uncomfortable. Since the discovery that Darcy was Tony's daughter, Pepper had made polite attempts to get to know her. It was fine, totally understandable…it just made Darcy feel a bit uncomfortable and on the spot. This invite was almost certainly one of those politely getting to know one another things.
"I'm not sure...I mean, it's Tony's house, it'd be weird." She hedged, looking to Bruce for some kind of help. He just shrugged at her, fat lot of use he was.
"It won't be weird, you can spend whole days by the pool, or even in the ocean if you like. I have the weekend off but that doesn't mean you have to follow me around, you can do your own thing. Have you ever been to Malibu?" The older women smiled.
"No, I haven't and it's not you, you're great but just...being in his house, when he's not there...it just seems like it'd be-"
"Hey, who said I won't be there?" Tony's voice interrupted, entering through the sliding doors of Bruce's lab. "A long weekend of watching this gorgeous woman of mine led by the pool? Why wouldn't I be there?"
"Yeah now you made it weirder." She cringed. "Third wheel ring a bell? I get enough of that when I sleep on the couch in Jane and Thor's room on Saturday's."
"Nah, I was planning on dragging a few other people out too. Rhodey is going to come hang out on the Saturday night and I might have convinced Steve to come. You can help Steve-sit." He waved off her concerns and began poking at one of Bruce's screens, just as nosey as ever.
"Steve doesn't need a babysitter!" Darcy countered.
"When he sees all the skimpy bikinis in Malibu he'll probably have a heart attack." He deadpanned.
"He's a big boy, he can handle the ladies just fine."
"Since when?" he asked looking horrified.
"I've seen his flirting, he's pretty good at it." she said, shutting down the screen Tony was playing with.
"Flirting? What flirting? What do you mean seen?" he asked, instantly diverted from the screen to her.
"Jeese, flirting does not mean sticking tongues in eachother's mouths. Seriously!" she snorted back a laugh.
"Did you know about this? Why didn't I know about this?" Tony pointed accusingly at Bruce, who had only just started paying any attention to the conversation when he had heard mention of flirting. Of course Bruce would never admit that the thought of Darcy flirting bothered him in the slightest, no good would ever come of that.
"Why would I know about Steve's ability to flirt?" He asked glancing at Tony.
"I don't want you and Rogers getting all flirty in my pool!" Tony exclaimed whirling back on Darcy. "Now I can't leave you and him alone ever again without getting wrong thoughts!"
"I'll go too if that helps." Bruce offered before he even realised that his mouth had moved. His hand slid up to pinch the bridge of his nose, so much for not letting anyone know about Darcy and flirting bothering him.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, we'd love to have you." Pepper beamed in a way that made Bruce wonder if he hadn't just been played somehow, he glanced up at the woman suspiciously and found his thoughts confirmed by her subtle wink.
"Wait...that's probably worse." Tony protested, glancing consideringly at Bruce.
"Dad! I promise not to have sex this weekend at all, OK?" Darcy blurted out in exasperation, stepping between the two men. "In case you are forgetting, I still have a long way to go in the mental department before I manage to have sex at all so you can butt out of it!"
"Ha! You called me Dad! I win!" Tony yelled, pointing wildly at Darcy.
"Probably would've been a more heartfelt moment if the word sex hadn't been in the same sentence." Bruce murmured, looking amused.
"Agreed." Pepper cleared her throat. "How about a blanket agreement that no one has sex in the pool this weekend? I think that would make everyone more comfortable, don't you? I'd like to try and add no nudity in the common areas but if Tony is drinking…"
"Totally unfair." Tony frowned.
"Gross!" Darcy elbowed him in disgust.
"I think it sounds sensible." Bruce said.
"So, a weekend in Malibu. I'll call ahead for the rooms to be prepared for extra guests." Pepper smiled politely, closing the conversation. "Tony, could you come with me please?"
"I'm guessing from the politeness of your tone that it isn't optional?" He asked.
"No."
"Fine, fine." He sighed, before pointing at Darcy emphatically. "You still called me dad."
"Fine, you win. You're my dad, now can you go away before I throw up?" She told him, shoving him towards the door.
"I'm a dad!" He beamed, despite Darcy abruptly closing the lab door in his face.
She pressed her back against the doors once they had slid closed and sighed in relief. When her eyes reopened she pointed at Bruce accusingly.
"Not a word." She warned.
"I didn't say anything." He replied, his placating tone belied by the slight smile on his face, as he ducked his head back towards his work.
"And you were supposed to help me get out of going for some family bonding weekend, what the hell Bruce? Don't you care about my feelings at all?!" she groaned, moving to drop into the swiveling chair closest to her. "I can't handle a whole weekend with them."
"What was I supposed to do about it?" he asked defensively.
"Something! Anything! Tell her we had plans! Private plans, work plans, secret Agent plans, I really couldn't care less!" she pouted.
"Darcy, Pepper's right, you don't have to stay attached to them the entire weekend. It was a big house before, it's even bigger now." He pointed out calmly.
"I know." She sighed, giving up the fight. "Plus now I can use you and Steve as human shields to keep some distance between them and me."
"Are you that worried?" he asked, sliding his own chair closer to her.
"I don't know. I'm just…not good at this family thing." She admitted quietly. "It's been year since I had a parent. My mum was an only child so when she died…I guess I just feel a bit out of my depth."
"I can relate." He nodded. "Going from being isolated and alone to being surrounded by people wanting to be part of your life is…overwhelming sometimes."
"I'm just me Bruce, I am not equipped to be Tony Stark's daughter! And Pepper is awesome, she can run a business and look classy and beautiful and do it all in killer heels." She tried to explain.
"Darcy…" Bruce said softly, reaching his hand out to her arm. "Darcy he loves you, he doesn't care how perfect or not you are or how many degrees you do or don't have, or anything else. He cares about you just as you are. No one wants you to be anything but what you are, anyone who thinks you need to change is an idiot."
"Logically, rationally, I know that," She nodded. "But sometimes I don't do rational, sometimes I just panic. What is the world going to say when the inevitable happens and it hits the media? I'm actually sort of impressed it hasn't already happened."
"You're right, it will happen and there will definitely be some people out there that will have horrible things to say about it." He agreed, taking her hands in his. Darcy found herself reveling in the warmth of them for a moment, feeling it seep into her skin. "But at the end of the day, those aren't the people that matter to you."
"No, I think I can count on one hand the people whose opinions actually matter." She snorted. "Possibly two, if we're being a little looser on the qualifying criteria. Don't worry, you make the top five obviously."
"And I for one, wouldn't change anything about you for the world, you know that right?" He said quietly. "Tony Stark, for better or worse…let's face it sometimes it's worse. He's your father, he will always be there for you, if you let him. He may not be the best father in the world but he wants to be and that has to count for something...if you're ready for that."
Darcy found herself launching forwards, diving off of her chair and flinging her arms tightly around the startled man in front of her. She found that after all the months that had passed since learning the news, she was ready to let Tony be her dad. Not only that but everything Bruce said about Tony, it applied to him too. Darcy was definitely ready to let Bruce be a part of her life and his words gave her hope that he at least wanted to let her be a part of his. Malibu was sounding like a better idea already. What better way to see if she could handle more physical contact with Bruce than by being around one another in swimwear. It being her father's house made it pretty much risk free in terms of any serious follow through, so it definitely seemed like a chance to push the boundaries a little.