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Chapter 7

November 11, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower

Darcy had expected their reunion to be more climatic than it actually was. Meeting them on the landing pad was…disappointing to say the least.

Natasha and Tony had clucked at her about her body before her boys had simply looked at her and hauled her away to Steve's apartment. It's not like she was capable of fighting them off; she was too tired.

"Honey…when was the last time you ate something?"

And now she was being interrogated. Two soldiers in front of her while she was sitting on the couch with her knees tucked up to her chest and a chunky jumper covering her almost completely.

"I had popcorn this morning with Clint," she answered, cocking her head to the side as she thought about it. "The good kind. Smothered in butter."

Bucky crouched down in front of her and gently grabbed her chin, tilting her face from side to side. "You've lost weight."

That was one of the best things about the other brunet of their threesome. He never pulled punches, never gave her a reason to doubt him. He was always straight up and honest.

"It's not a bad thing," she nodded.

He sighed and pressed his lips against her forehead before he stood up. She was pulled up after him and he stripped off her sweater. It was hard ignoring Steve's sharp intake of breath, but Darcy managed to keep her chin held high.

After she'd taken a shower that morning, she'd seen the way her body had changed. Seen the way her waist had drastically narrowed and her hips slimmed. Her chest was still there, but not as full as usual. It was weird seeing her body that way when she'd been used to it for a certain way for years and years.

"We were gone too long," Steve said quietly, his hands scrubbing against the lower part of his face. It wasn't long until his fingers brushed against her ribs, her breath catching at the tenderness of it. "We shouldn't have left you alone for so long."

Darcy instantly protested. "I wasn't alone – "

"Barton doesn't count."

She glared at him before relenting with a shrug of her shoulders. Clint never really pushed her. At most, he'd yell at her or give her a stern lecture, but he was all bark and no bite. Not like Bucky at all.

Maybe that's why she preferred Steve sometimes. She didn't hesitate curling into him and resting her head against his broad chest. His arms encircled her immediately, even if it was more gentle.

"What do you need, honey?" He whispered against her hair.

It didn't take her long to collapse into the puddle of tears that she'd been waiting to become since they'd left.

They were safe.

Nothing was going to hurt them now.

November 12, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower

Struggling internally was something Bruce Banner was well versed in. Concealing it, working through it. He could handle it. However, he could not handle holding the maybe-cure to Darcy's aging abilities. For all intents and purposes, the serum Clint had recovered from SHIELD was able to restore normal aging properties to the blood he'd kept on file. Having it interact with a live host would have to be another experiment.

Clint had said not to tell Steve, but he felt compelled to. Especially after all they'd been through.

That's how he found himself standing outside the blond's door at four in the morning, hoping to catch him before his morning run.

The door opened and closed in quick succession with Steve looking puzzled. "Bruce? It's – "

"Early, I know. I…I have a few things I want to go over about the serum."

The blond blinked. "Do you need Darcy and Bucky, too?"

"This is, ah, actually about Darcy. I'd prefer she didn't know just yet," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "When you're done, would you meet me in my lab?"

An hour passed before the duo was huddled around a lab table, samples spread around them.

"You're saying that Barton got the cure?" Steve asked sourly.

There was ice in Bruce's gaze when he shot a glare at the blond. "Clint risked his life to get it. He died for her, Steve. Give him some credit."

"I just – "

"Everyone can see how much they mean to each other," the doctor said gruffly. A vein in his neck was turning a little green and he took a step back. "You're not the only one that cares about Darcy. Maybe I should have told her first. I thought I was doing you a favor."

The blond looked down, properly chastened. "Thank you for telling me. Are…when are you going to tell Darcy?"

"When I know it'll work."

November 13, 2012 – Manhattan New, York – Central Park

"He wrote you into his will, you know."

Strolling through Central Park with Pepper Potts was not at the top of Darcy's to-do list. When she'd rolled out of bed in the penthouse and was rifling through the kitchen for something edible when someone had delicately cleared their throat behind her.

"You must be Darcy," a woman with straight red hair had said. She was dressed impeccably in a in a designer pantsuit and it made Darcy feel like something that had crawled out of a swamp.

"That's me," she acknowledged lamely, grabbing one of the poptarts that Tony had stashed for her.

"Pepper Potts," the woman said, holding out her hand.

The brunette stared dumbly before she shook the other woman's hand awkwardly.

Pepper cocked her head. "How about we get to know each other? How does lunch sound?"

They had not gotten lunch. Darcy had settled on a very large, very caffeinated cup of coffee, while Pepper had a relatively small espresso.

It was intimidating finally meeting the woman that Tony had been pining after. Especially when she was scary efficient with handling anything the Avengers managed to throw at her.

"He made you sole beneficiary," Pepper continued, her expensive shoes clicking against the sidewalk. "Any idea why?"

"I'm awesome?"

"I used to think that it was because he was sleeping with you," she admitted, her brow furrowed. "But I've seen how you two are together and that's laughable. You're family, aren't you?"

Might as well go with the weird lie they'd been trying to convince themselves of.

"He's my dad."

Pepper froze. Her eyes widened slightly as she took Darcy in, lingering on her nose, her hair…

"Oh my."

"So…you're gonna be my stepmom?" Darcy asked, a smirk on her mouth. "I can dig it."

The redhead turned crimson. "I always wanted a daughter."

She squealed and threw her arms around the woman's lithe form, sighing happily when she hugged her back.

November 14, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower

"I love you, Steven Grant Rogers. If I wind up pregnant, then I'll be one of the luckiest gals in Brooklyn. You're…you're my man, Stevie. You and Bucky are all mine and once I'm back from Russia, we're gonna get married and have all the babies ya both want."

"Honey…" he swallowed noisily, his hands going to her hips and squeezing gently. "Babies?"

Her hand cupped his cheek softly and she smiled. "Babies, Steve." Placing her hands on his, she moved them to her flat stomach. "I want your babies right here. Yours and Bucky's. I don't care what everyone else thinks; I want a family with ya both."

His lips crashed down on hers and she squealed when his hands went around her waist and squeezed her butt roughly.

"I'm gonna give ya a houseful o' kids, honey," he promised raggedly when he tore his mouth away from hers. "A houseful o' 'em."

Darcy woke up, blinking back tears. Her hands felt for the boys and her stomach clenched painfully realizing that they had left the night before and she was in the penthouse.

God, how she wanted a family. She remembered her pregnancy, remembered how she couldn't carry to term. But maybe she could be more careful. Maybe she could try without telling them. Maybe…

Small fingers probed the implant that she'd woken up with after Bucky arrived at the tower.

It would be easy to remove.

She wasn't even sure how she had managed to walk to the bathroom with one of Bucky's knives that she kept with her just in case.

It didn't register what she was doing until Tony was bursting through the door and ripping the blade from her hand.

"What the hell?" He demanded breathlessly as he grabbed a towel and forced it against her arm to staunch the blood flow. "What happened? Are you okay?"

She blinked away the haze that had settled over her eyes. Her arm hurt. "Tony?"

"Hey," he whispered, cradling her face in his hands when she started to shake. "You're okay, sweetheart. Everything's fine, okay? Let's go down to medical – "

"No, no, no," she mumbled repeatedly, shaking her head.

He cursed under his breath, but ended up stitching her skin back together with such focus that she wanted to squirm. The blood was washed away and four neat little stitches now decorated her skin.

Tony swept her into his arms when she started to sob, holding her close as she soaked his shirt. "Shhh…it's all right. Steve and Barnes will be back soon." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because she only cried harder.

It took almost an hour for her to cry herself out, but he thought he'd handled it quite well. When JARVIS had alerted him that she was in distress, he had half a mind to go in there in a suit, but he didn't. He'd cleaned her up and, hopefully, made her feel better.

Idly, he cleaned her bathroom, quietly putting in an order for new towels. He was almost done when something small on the tile caught his eye. Picking it up, he cringed when he realized what it was.

He'd have to have a talk with her soldiers.

November 20, 2012 – Unknown Location

The quinjet was quiet. SHIELD – what was left of it, anyway – had called in a favor and they'd assembled appropriately. As it turned out, over a week had gone by without seeing any action before being sent home. It was a waste of time, but Barton had been itching to get back in the field. It had only been the four of them, four bodies that sat around in uncomfortable Kevlar, with an itching gas explosion that had left them all cranky.

"Two hours out, Barnes," Natasha called back from the front. "We're testing out Stark's new boosters."

Bucky sank down further in his seat, his eyes resting on Steve. "Have you her from her?" He asked gently, hoping the little hum from the engine would mark his voice from the others.

"Got a text to meet Tony when we land, but – "

"I'm goin' straight to our girl, he can wait."

Steve smiled. His best friend had always had a 'fuck everything' mentality when it came to Darcy.

"Have you heard anything from Banner?" The brunet asked after a beat of silence.

"Ah, not since we left. He hasn't tried to contact me," Steve said as he scratched the back of his neck. He was glad to be out of his suit.

He'd told Bucky about his meeting and regretted it nearly as fast.

"A serum? Steve, we gotta tell her!"

Steve groaned, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. "Bruce doesn't know if it'll work yet. He doesn't want to get her hoped up if it doesn't work."

Bucky glared at him. "You don't want to tell her?"

"It's not that easy, Buck – "

"It fuckin' is and you know it. She deserves to know. HYDRA took everything from us." A shuddering breath fought its way through his lips. "Hiding it from her is wrong."

The blond huffed. "Bucky – "

"You have until the end of the week to tell her. Otherwise, I will."

They'd been called away before the end of the week came, so Bucky's threat didn't really stick.

"I'm gonna tell her, y'know."

Fuck.

"Let's talk to Bruce first and go from there."

Bucky made a sound in the back of his throat.

In Brooklyn, it had always felt like it was Darcy and Bucky with Steve. The two of them were as thick as thieves and maybe being together in Russia had made them closer, but he wasn't going to give his girl up that easily.

"I'm not the bad guy here, Buck. I'm protecting her. Just like you didn't want to tell her about Pierce and we didn't want to tell her about the miscarriage." Steve had a tight grip on his shield and a determined look on his face. "I'm not letting you take her. She's mine as much as yours."

Bucky tilted his head and observed Steve before he stood and tapped a button on the wall of the jet.

"Barnes?" Natasha called from the cockpit.

"Rogers has been compromised. We all have."

Barton popped his head up from where he was drooling on the couch. "Fuck. The gas?"

"Steve's body should have metabolized it faster than any of us," Natasha argued, making sure the partition went up to separate Steve from the rest of them.

Bucky shook his head. "Not if it was meant for him. Barton, you were aggressive over those damned dehydrated berries a few days ago."

"They were good!"

"But he makes a good point," the redhead said as she typed something in to the screen in front of her. "I'm making emergency arrangements. Medical should be able to accommodate us."

BAM!

"Let me out!" Steve yelled, slamming his shield against the partition that was normally used to contain the Hulk. His blue eyes were rimmed with red and his chest was heaving.

Bucky twitched, feeling his own need creeping up on him. Whatever they'd been hit with must have been relatively harmless based on how the archer had reacted, but the serum would amplify that. Especially in Steve's case.

All he could think about was getting to Darcy. Leaving his mark on her skin. Making her scream beneath him.

"Romanoff, make sure they have three rooms set up."

Clint's eyes widened. "Shit."

"Bad news, short stack," Tony started as he popped a blueberry into his mouth. "Your geriatric wonder twins were hit by some sort of gas – sit down. They're in medical under observation."

Darcy swallowed and sat back down. "Clint? Talia?"

"Romanoff's not showing any signs and it's already worked its way through bird brain's system."

She scowled at the name, but ignored it. "What were the results?"

"Aggression. Especially when it came to you."

"Me?" Came the resulting squeak.

"Fighting over you like a shiny new toy."

She'd never noticed any sort of jealously between her boys. She'd kissed Steve first, gave her virginity to him, but Bucky was always right behind. Letting her go at her own pace. She didn't have a favorite. Didn't choose one over the other. They were each a part of her and had been since she was a little girl. A lifetime ago…

"Get out of your own head, Lewis-Stark," Tony said, kicking her shoes over to her. "Go annoy Barton a little."

"I'm hyphenating?" She asked bemusedly.

"Haven't decided. It'll be a while until all the paperwork goes through."

The Hulk containment unit was not meant to contain two super soldiers. Especially when there was a wall between them.

They each stalked up and down the way, eyeing each other viciously. Occasionally, they'd spit insults at each other that would have them trying to fight their way through the glass. And rip the other's head off.

It had taken Bucky's system about three hours to be affected after Steve, but once it happened, it was downright malicious.

Bucky stumbled through as the door closed behind him, turning around to snap at the archer that had shoved him into the same room he'd spent his first night at the tower in. Steve was there, too, separated by a wall of Stark-grade glass.

A small click told him that the door was locked and Barton grinned. "I'm gonna go find your girl and fill her in – "

"You stay away from Darcy!" Steve yelled, slamming his fists against the glass uselessly.

Barton held up his hands. "Scout's honor, Cap." He disappeared before the blond could reply.

"He's gonna be touchin' our girl," Bucky said gruffly.

"My girl."

"She's as much mine as she is yours."

Steve took three long strides and he was right against the glass, his face twisted into a snarl as he looked down at the brunet. "Don't think that you have some sort of claim to her. I'm the only one that made it through everything in one piece – "

"You were frozen in the goddamn ocean!"

" – and I can offer her the most! Stability – "

"You're Captain fuckin' America!"

" – and a family! I can get her pregnant and have all the kids she wants!"

Bucky bit his tongue so hard he was sure he drew blood. "She miscarried both of our children. That cure that Banner has brewing in his lab is the only answer to her gettin' the life she's always wanted. The house, the wedding, the babies – "

"We don't even know if you're sterile!"

It has been something that Bucky was worried about. That somehow HYDRA had took away his future like they'd done to Natasha. But he didn't think they'd do that. Not when a child with Sirena could have been so beneficial…

"I'm gonna knock her up, Rogers. And when I do, you're gonna look damned stupid to our pretty little dame."

Steve scoffed at him. "I'd like to see you be man enough."

And that was just the beginning. Trading insults and snarling that trussed up cats that made JARVIS restrict all viewing channels for the room. Even the AI knew that both men would be ashamed after they came out of it.

"Just wait, Rogers," Bucky said, finally taking a seat against the smooth glass. "She'll be pregnant within the month.

Steve laughed mirthlessly. "Not if I get there first."

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~Grace