Chapter Five: Degree Five: What Is Worth It?
Steve leaned forward on the bench as he wrapped his knuckles. He didn't always bother, and when he was in the kind of mood he was in now he found the extra bit of pain to be therapeutic. Only… only the last time he had returned upstairs with bloody hands and a couple of broken fingers he had been made to endure a two-hour long lecture from Darcy on how not to be an idiot.
He tried to ignore the man at the other end of the bench, though it was a pretty hopeless endeavor as the man seemed to be staring a hole straight through the side of his head. He had a good idea what he wanted, or at least in part, but he wanted to be sure before he blurted anything out.
"Would you just say whatever it is you want to say and stop with the creepy staring." He really hoped when Sam opened his mouth he would say anything other than about Darcy and a baby, but lately life wasn't that kind to him. Actually, life seemed to find it amusing to screw him over.
"What makes you think I want something? I could just be here for my own reasons, such as waiting on someone." Sam pinched his lips together as he watched his friend. Before his talk with Bucky the thing between Steve and Darcy had been funny. It was a sort of entertainment watching the two dance around each other, both taking the same steps but never actually syncing up. Now though as he looked at the tight line of Steve's shoulders and the heaviness in his eyes, Sam realized the amusement was over.
"You could be, but you're staring at me. You never look at me like that unless you want something, so spill." Any hope that Sam simply wanted to talk about the weather was lost when the man in question took a deep breath and turned to straddle the bench to face him.
"Some rather interesting information has come to light…" Sam cut himself off as Steve dropped his head done between his legs, his tapped hands coming up to fist into the back of his hair.
"Damn Barnes, he told you didn't he?" Of course he did, there was no one else. While Darcy liked Sam well enough their relationship was nowhere near close enough that she would say anything to him. So that left only one other person, and depending on what happened in the next few minutes that other person might find themselves with a black eye or two.
"Told me what?" Sam leaned down over one leg so he could try and catch the other man's eye. Only Steve shot up from the bench, throwing the roll of tape down into the opened bag on the floor at their feet.
"Sam…" Steve was tired of it, of the endless conversations between him and Darcy and him and Bucky. He didn't need to add Sam to the list as well.
He had thought about leaving, just for awhile. He would stay in his old apartment in DC and maybe when he returned Darcy would have that asinine idea out of her head. The problem was that he didn't think it would be out of his.
After his last talk… argument… with Darcy he realized just how far the idea had taken root in his mind, and if he was honest, his heart.
"No, tell me, what do you think he told me?" Sam reached down for the roll of tape before standing from the bench. He slowly worked to wrap his knuckles the same as the other man had.
"That Darcy is trying to convince me to have a kid with her." Alright, not too far from the truth. Still not the whole truth either.
"Ok, well he didn't put it that way. He said you both were thinking about it, did he get it wrong?" Sam lifted a questioning brow at the man before him and tossed the roll of tape back into the bag.
"Yes, no… sort of." Steve groaned and refused to look at his friend. Instead he worked to set up two punching bags, hefting them up on the hooks with a little more force than was actually needed.
"Alright, which one is it? Are you thinking about having a child with Darcy or not?" Sam just leaned against the bag Steve had set up for him, content just to watch as the other man beat the shit out of the other one for a bit.
"I'm thinking about it, yeah, but I'm not going to do it." Steve jabbed at the bag a couple of times before letting loose and punching it hard. In his life he tried not to yell, to start too many needless arguments when sensible words would work better. Because of that he sometimes had a build up of anger and aggression he needed to work out. The gym was one of the only places he could do that, and at the moment Sam was ruining that.
"Why?" Sam didn't flinch when Steve abruptly stopped and turned a sharp eye on him. He looked at him as though he had asked him why fire was hot.
"What do you mean why? I'm sure Bucky has already lined out all the reasons why I would be an idiot for entertaining this." Turning back to the bag, Steve gave it two swift punches before giving a bit of a side eye to Sam. "You going to actually hit that thing or you just want to cuddle it?"
Sam shook his head with a laugh and turned to give his own bag a beating. Not as violent as Steve, but enough that he didn't look too green next to the Super-Soldier. "Bucky has, but I want your reasons, and they sure as hell better be more convincing than his 'irresponsible' shit."
"But it is…"
"Shut the fuck up and start listening to yourself, 'cause all I'm hearing are weak excuses based on fear. Now, tell me really why this is a bad idea." Sam stopped the swinging of his bag and turned to look at Steve. He understood both him and Bucky, it was so easy to become fatalistic after everything they had been through. He had seen many soldiers allow that kind of attitude to rule their lives and ultimately become their downfall. It just didn't bother him to see that in his friends, but scared the ever living shit out of him.
"We're not married, hell we're not even dating! I'm not about to put her through all the grief that will come with being an unwed mother." Steve hoped that Sam would drop it at that. He hoped that he would accept that Steve had made his decision and just leave him alone. Of course he knew the other man better than that.
"Ok, hold it right there. This is not the fucking forties, sure unwed mothers still get crap from people, but it isn't like it used to be. She won't be shunned from society. And if the whole not dating her bothers you, then change that." Sam really couldn't believe what he was hearing. My God! It would probably be easier to get Tony to admit he was wrong than get Steve to admit he wanted Darcy. Sam would've laughed if he wasn't just so frustrated with the man.
"I can't ask her out, she's one of my best friends." The abuse he was heaping upon the bag became worse and worse. What was he supposed to do, just go up to Darcy and ask her to dinner? It sounded easier than it actually was. And even if by some miracle Darcy did want to date him, what would happen when it all came falling apart? He wasn't willing to lose Darcy, he couldn't lose her.
"Some of the best relationships come from being friends first." Sam gave the bag a couple more punches, mainly just for show, before he gave up on trying to keep up and went to sit on the bench and watch instead.
"What is it with you and Bucky? Buck's been trying to convince me that this is a bad idea, and now here you are telling me that I should date Darcy and what… that I should have a kid?" Steve hit the bag hard enough to bust it open, his breathing harsh as he took a step back. Why couldn't everything have just stayed as they had been before that damned party? Life had been perfect/easy then.
"I'm not saying either of those, all I want is you to be happy. If you don't want a child, fine, tell Darcy and be done with it. But if fear is the only thing holding you back, if you really do want all of this, then take it. You might regret making the wrong decision, so really think on this. That is all I'm saying." In his own life there were regrets, decisions made that could never be unmade that in the end turned out to be wrong. He never wanted that for his friends and teammates.
"But you don't think I'm an idiot if I chose to have a kid?" Steve looked down at Sam, unsure if he believed him or not.
"Not if it is what you want. You and Darcy will have a huge support system here if that is what you chose." Maybe that was a bit of an understatement actually. Sam knew the only person who wouldn't be happy about the pair would be Bucky, but even then if the two actually went through with it he knew the man would never deny his friends.
Sam stood up from the bench again, mostly full bottle of water in hand. He had come into the gym in order to talk with Steve and to let him know that he had his support if he and Darcy chose to go ahead with having a child. What he hadn't expected, though he should've, was to find a confused Steve with the same fears as his friend. He understood those fears, but he also knew that if they let it rule them they would never be happy.
He smacked the back of his hand against Steve's arm as he passed. He doubted what he said changed his mind one way or the other, but hopefully it would make him think.
"Oh, and I know Barnes will be the godfather, but if you do have a kid I hope you know I better be Uncle Sam… um yeah on second thought…"
Jane looked over towards her intern turned friend. When she had taken Darcy on as her intern it had been out of sheer desperation, she needed someone but no one seemed to need her. At least until one quirky poli-sci major signed up out of her own desperation for credits.
When she had met the younger woman she had figured it would last a month or two. Darcy had been a nice girl, but Jane had found beforehand that most people outside of her field found her strange. Hell, most in her field thought of her that way. Of course not that any of them were laughing now. Now, now they were eating so much crow that if Jane had been lesser of a person she would be smiling in glee… ok, so maybe she was a little.
Finding out that their personalities just clicked had been a wonderful surprise. Having Darcy stick with her after everything in New Mexico and London, well that was a miracle. One that she thanked God for every day.
Now though, Jane watched as her friend worked quietly at her desk, imputing data into the computer without a word. This was strange for Darcy, as the woman normally ran a continuous commentary throughout the day. The fact that she was quiet was worrisome enough, but the fact that Darcy wasn't even listening to music scared the shit out of her.
"So, what is the matter, you've been acting really strange since the party?" Jane capped the dry-erase marker she had been using, but instead of placing it back on the little ledge of the board she fiddled around with it. Darcy had scolded her about that habit several times, mostly when she sent the younger woman out to buy more markers to replace the ones she had lost.
"What?" Darcy's head shot up from where she had been staring at the screen. Inputting data was nothing to write home about, not unless your parents needed a good sleeping aide, but that day she went at it as though it were the most interesting thing she had ever been involved with. It may or may not have had anything to do with one very stubborn super-soldier.
"Come on Darce, I've known you for many years now, I know when something is bothering you. You haven't been this quiet since you and Ian broke up." And damn, if that hadn't been the worst. Jane had never actually seen upset Darcy before. Sure, after everything in New Mexico and then the elves in London Darcy displayed a bit of distress, but the woman had always been able to hold it together. Not so after Ian threw his little ultimatum at her. Jane had been sorely tempted beat that boy severely with one of her machines.
"I'm fine, really I am." About as fine as a drowning man. Darcy laughed under her breath. She really had felt like she was drowning when she had talked to Steve last. They were both drowning, both unable to pull the other one up. It was distressing.
"I'm not convinced." Jane tossed the marker Darcy's way, thankfully missing the other woman by a full yard. She had learned her lesson the last time she had perfect aim and conked Darcy square between the eyes with a pen. Jane swore she still had a bump on the back of her head from the cell.
"Jane, seriously I'm fine. I just think… I just think I need a baby free girl's night out. Booze, music, dancing, bitching about old boyfriends and current ones." Darcy plastered an obviously fake smile across her face. She had, for just a moment, wanted to tell Jane everything. From the late night scotch and cake to the conversation/argument her and Steve had about why and why not it would be a good idea to have a baby together. For just a second she had thought to tell her and then she thought about how her friend would react. Which really she had no idea, it could be anything from a hearty congratulations to a scolding. And at the moment she wasn't up for either of them.
"You got a current one to bitch about?" Jane lifted a brow and tried not to smile. She had noticed how strained things were between her and Steve lately and had hoped it was just the two of them figuring things out.
"Oh My God, no! And don't think I don't know about that stupid pool." Picking up a marker of her own, Darcy lobbed it at Jane, hitting her directly in the center of her chest. Sure, Darcy knew that bets were made throughout the tower, and she knew that sometimes they were about her. Hell, after her and Jane moved in Clint had started one about the color of her panties. Nat had been the one to win that one, and Darcy still wasn't sure how the woman had done it. And she wasn't sure she wanted to know anyway.
"Hey, it's been quiet around here, can't blame us for trying to keep entertained." Jane stuck her tongue out at her friend before plopping down into her desk chair.
"Well, at least you didn't bet that I would be with both of them." A roll of her eyes revealed just what Darcy thought of that particular bet. Yeah, ok, so it would be hot… damn hot, but she couldn't even make it happen with one of them, what was the chance she could get both?
"I almost did. I mean if I was in your position." Jane wiggled her brows and fanned herself with a hand. She might have Thor, but a girl can dream… and what good dreams those were too.
"You?! You sweet Jane in a threesome?" Darcy was shocked, the older woman had always seemed so vanilla. When Thor had come into her life she had rejoiced for her friend, thinking maybe the thunder-god could spice things up for her.
"I'm not a prude or an innocent you know, I was a bit wild in my uni days." She couldn't help the blush that rose along her cheeks. There were a great many things that Darcy and the others didn't know about her. Thor on the other hand, well, he had delighted in hearing all about her adventures before they had met and had even made a few suggestions about some things he thought she would like to do later.
"Doggie style is not wild, Jane." Darcy scoffed. She had once had a friend that thought doing it 69 on the couch had been wild. She had taken great pleasure in enlightening her otherwise.
"Remind me to tell you about this one spring-break where my friends and I spent the entire time with this commune that believed clothing was the devil's invention and took free love to a whole new level." It had happened by accident, they had supposed to have been going to stay at a friend's cousin's house only to take the wrong turn and stumble upon a house filled with some of the most attractive people she had ever seen. Even thinking about it now, so many years later, made Jane turn bright red.
"Remind me not to. Good God, Jane, I'm never going to get that image out of my head!" Darcy scrubbed at her eyes. So, she did have to give it to her friend. Still, she did not need to be thinking of her boss in that way.
"Don't infer that I'm a prude and I won't regale you with my wild days… which really since I've been with Thor…"
"NO! Nonononononononono! Just No!" Darcy shook her head and tried to push away from her desk. What she needed even less than visions of a younger Jane doing it, was the image of Jane now doing it with Thor. She would never be able to look either of them in the eye again.
"Fine, then when did you want to do this girl's night?" Jane spun her chair around once, her head flinging back as she turned so she could keep an eye on her friend. There was something else behind the girl's night besides needing some baby free time, but Jane knew better than to push too hard. She was sure she would get it out of her eventually, if not on her own than with Nat's help.
"You free tonight? We could get Nat and go to this new club I've been hearing about, it's supposed to be like a coffeehouse, jazz club and bar fusion thing." Darcy felt a little bit bad about not inviting Pepper, but she hadn't really lied about needing the baby free time. She needed a night, just a few hours without the reminder of what she might never get. Pepper would understand, or at the very least Darcy would make her those waffles she loved so much as an apology.
"Yeah, I'm free. As long as Nat is I am. Do you think we should invite Hill?" Jane swayed the chair side to side, her body starting to relax more than it probably should this early in the day.
"Um, no, Hill and I… yeah I may have pissed her off a couple of weeks ago and she is still threatening to snuff me." Darcy visibly shivered as she thought about the other woman. She wasn't the scariest person in the tower, that would be Nat, but no one wanted to be on the wrong side of Hill. Not even the Hulk. That woman had a disapproving face that would make any grandmother green with envy.
"Snuff?" Jane snorted, her hands coming up to press against her mouth.
"Shut up." Darcy stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose. At least she hadn't said 'rubbed out,' which could have been a possibility as she had been watching one too many bad gangster movies lately.
"Fine, fine, just get with Nat and give me the details. Right now though, we need to get this done so we can go out." Sighing to herself, Jane stood and went back to her board. She loved her job, but just like anyone else she did love her downtime too. Problem was sometimes work had to come first.
"Ugh, I need to teach you the finer points of skiving off." Darcy shook her head as she watched her boss search around the dry-erase board for her marker. One day she was just going to buy an entire truck load of those damn things and just cover the lab floor with them.
Dragging herself from her chair, she bent down and grabbed the marker and held it out to Jane.
"Work first and play later, we are adults now." Jane gave Darcy a bit of a smile and took the marker. Eventually she would hold on to one for more than an hour.
"I'm still resentful of that."
Steve would readily admit that he was confused. Confused, frightened, and maybe even a little excited. He wanted to be angry at Darcy for pushing the issue, and he was at least a little, but he also felt something like hope at what she offered.
He knew why Bucky objected, they both feared the same thing. Growing up the way they did, neither of them wanted to put children of their own through that. Sure, things for him and Darcy would be different. If he died Darcy and his kid would want for nothing, not with Stark and the others around. Still, he didn't like the idea of his child growing up without him.
On the other hand the idea of becoming a father was alluring. He couldn't deny that the things that Darcy said hadn't gotten to him. He had dreamed the night before of waking up beside her, his arm draped over her hip so his hand rested against her full belly. He had watched as she grew larger, and as they both shared their joy with their friends. He had woken up feeling the lightest he had in a long while.
Walking into the common room with his sketchbook in hand he stopped short at the sight of Pepper. The woman was lying back on one of the couches, feet and lower body covered by a throw blanket. He took a moment just to look at her.
She had always been an elegant woman, designer clothes and shoes, and the power and bravado needed to run SI. Now as she relaxed on the couch, a large bowl of popcorn and frosting set on her bulging belly, he noticed not one ounce of her grace and power seemed diminished.
"You know you can come in, I wouldn't mind a bit of company." Pepper smiled wide at the man hovering just at the edge of the room.
Steve had been somewhat a surprise when he had come to live in the tower. Everyone learned of Steve Rogers, the Captain America, in school. Over time this persona of absolute perfection became attached to the man, the icon. It hadn't taken but a week for that image to fade for Pepper. The icon had become the man, and someone she proudly called friend.
"Sorry, I was just surprised. I thought you'd be out at girl's night." Not really a wrong assumption, he thought, as Pepper regularly joined the other women on their nights out.
"No, tonight was sort of a baby-free night. I don't blame them, I would probably do the same if the roles were reversed." Actually, even though she was pregnant she still would've enjoyed her own baby-free night. She loved being pregnant, well maybe not the heartburn and cramps and such, but knowing she held her daughter there beneath her heart filled her with joy. But… well she did still miss the nights of drinking, dancing and laughter that came with being not pregnant.
"Baby-free? I thought women liked doing all…" Noticing the raised brow of the woman on the couch he floundered with his words. He hadn't been around too many pregnant women in his life, but he was pretty sure the look she was giving him wasn't a good one. "…well you know, sitting around and talking baby stuff. Am I right, or am I just making a huge bastard of myself?" Steve cringed and whished he hadn't finished his words. If Bucky had been there to hear him he probably would have hit him upside the head, hard. He was pretty sure he would later on if this conversation ever got back to him.
"Normally I would say huge bastard, but you are forgiven if you get over here and rub my feet. Being this pregnant and still wearing those heels are playing hell on my feet." Pepper lifted one leg up and wiggled her toes. She loved her shoes, but even before the extra weight and the swelling they would play hell with her feet after a long day. Normally she would bribe Tony for a foot rub, but Steve was there and he wouldn't spend the entire time complaining.
"Sorry, I just thought… well with the way they've acted since you announced your pregnancy." Steve shrugged his shoulders as he slipped down on the edge of the couch and took her feet. He willed the blush down as the woman made the most obscene noise when he pressed his thumb into the arch of her right foot.
When he had been younger he would do this for this mother. She had worked long hours on her feet at the ward and then spent all her time at home working to nurse him back to health. The least he could do was relieve some of the pressure on her feet.
"There might be a bit of baby-fever going on, there always is when someone is expecting, but on a whole it tends to get tiring when you're not the one pregnant. They wanted a night to drink and dance, I would have just slowed them all down." They had attempted a girl's night when she had been a couple of months along, and she had ended up throwing up all over the table of their favorite bar. That had actually been how the media had gotten a hold of the information that she was pregnant. After that all girl's nights took place in the tower.
"May… may I ask you a question?" Steve refused to look up, and instead kept his eyes on what he was doing. He probably should keep his mouth shut, but Pepper always had a way of comforting him enough that he let down his guard.
"Of course, what's on your mind?" After seeing the pink rising in Steve's cheeks, Pepper made sure to hold back the moans. But by God, that man had magic hands. Large, warm, and strong, and the man knew just how much pressure to use. Damn, Darcy would be a lucky woman if only the two would stop being stupid.
"Do you ever worry about what would happen if Tony just didn't come back one day?" Steve held his breath as Pepper went completely still. That may not have come out like he had planned it to.
"Ok, now are we talking about Tony reverting to his old ways, or are we talking about him dying?" She doubted there was anything going on with Tony, she would've known. Still, there had to be a reason for Steve to bring it up.
"The last one, Tony may be an idiot sometimes, but he's not stupid. He would never mess things up with you." Steve laughed nervously. Tony flirted a lot, but it was mostly for show. Everyone could see how much he loved Pepper. That man was not going anywhere.
"Of course I worry, I would be insane not to. He goes out there fighting aliens and evil scientists, and generally doing stupid stuff." Pepper worried so much that she had developed a nervous tic. Not that she would ever ask him to stop. She knew there was more to the Iron Man thing than the show and fanfare. He generally cared about people, even if he acted differently. He also still felt guilt at what his company had done and all the lives lost at SI's hands.
"Doesn't it scare you that your daughter could end up never knowing her father?" Steve leaned back against the couch, Pepper's feet still resting in his lap. He continued to manipulate the muscles of her arch, but his eyes now rested on her own.
"Steve, is there a point to this or are you just trying to stress out a pregnant woman?" Pepper sat up a little, a few tears clinging to the edge of her eyes. One thing she hated about being pregnant was the hormones. One minute she was laughing away at some joke and the next she was either angry or sad about something completely different.
"Oh, shit, sorry! I didn't mean…" Steve held up his hands and tried to backtrack on what he was saying. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Pepper. One, because she was his friend, but two because Tony would try to kill him.
"Calm down, Steve, and just tell me what all this is about." Pepper pushed the tears back, unwilling to break down when her friend so obviously needed to talk. Not that she had the slightest idea what it could be about with his current line of inquiry.
"I… there is a chance that I could, well maybe, possibly become a father." Yeah, that came out smooth and calm, right.
"Hold on a minute, I didn't even know you were dating anyone." What the hell was going on? Steve never went anywhere and surely if he and Darcy were actually together everyone would already know. It wasn't impossible that they were together or he was with someone else, but at that point it would be surprising.
"I'm not, it isn't like what you're thinking, I didn't get a girl pregnant." Of that he had been very careful. Sure, there were a few times when things got too heated, but nothing thankfully came of it.
"Yet?" Pepper sat up fully at that. She wasn't sure just what he was saying, or how she felt about it. If Steve was with some other woman, Darcy… well, things might end up hard for awhile.
"Yet. The thing is I think that I really do want a child, but I'm worried. I grew up without my father, and then my mother died. I don't want to leave my child and its mother alone if something should go wrong." After he had woken up he had decided to simply shut himself off from the world. He hadn't wanted to chance leaving friends and loved ones again and hurting them. His plan hadn't worked and now he had more friends than he knew what to do with. He still feared leaving them heartbroken, but none more so than Darcy. Add a child to that… well that would be what all their arguments had been about.
"So you should live your life miserable because of something that might or might not happen?" Taking in a breath Pepper took a moment to really look at her friend. She loved him and wanted the best for him, even if it wasn't with Darcy.
"That is not what I…" He felt as though she had just smacked him across the face. He had stopped purposely making choices that would make his life miserable. Which was something he had done in the beginning. Survivor's Guilt they had called it.
"I know what it is like to deal with those kinds of worries, Steve. You cannot imagine the amount of times I've laid awake at night worrying over all the what-ifs involved in loving Tony. I almost left him several times before we were even together." Pepper laughed at herself. Every time she had tried to leave, Tony had done something or looked a certain way and she realized that she had just been blowing hot air. She could no more leave Tony than she could stop breathing.
"Then why are you still with him?" How could someone put themselves through so much worry and stress? Steve felt as though it would tear someone apart.
"Because it is worth it. I love him and I love my daughter, and even if he died tomorrow I could never find it in me to regret a day I spent with him." Pepper knew to regret it would be to make the time they spent together now absolutely worthless, and that was something she would never do.
"So, that is it, it's just worth it?" Steve felt small compared to the woman next to him. There was just something about her confidence, about her absolute belief in herself and her relationship, that made him want to curl up next to her. He had never told her, but she reminded him so much of his mother. She was strong and strong-headed, she knew what she wanted and how to get it. She also knew how to get through his thick skull, something not even Bucky could do.
"Tell me, before the serum when you were just this little ninety-pound weakling, did the fear of dying in war prevent you from enlisting?" Pepper knew there was really no need for asking, the answer was right there in his eyes. Still she needed to make him understand, and this was the best way she figured.
"No." Steve's voice may have been a bit harsher than he had planned, but anyone who knew his history would know how silly that question was.
"Did you fear dying though?" Pepper held back the laugh that threatened to bubble up as she watched the play by play of Steve's face. His nose crinkled up and he flung his head back a little as though she had slapped him. It was funny just how indignant he looked at her question.
"Of course I did. I wanted to help my country, I didn't have a death-wish." Back when he had first enlisted he had met men that claimed no fear in the face of war and death. But in the end they all feared it. He was no different.
"Well then, if you thought going to war was worth possibly dying, why is your happiness not worth the risk?" This was something that Pepper had seen a lot of since Tony opened the doors of the tower to the team. The people liked to paint their super-heroes as objects of perfection; people with little to no flaws, with the perfect life. While on the other hand the media could present them as amoral and flawed more than the devil. The truth was somewhere in the middle. They were all good people, some had done some very bad things or had been forced to, and in the end they were just trying to atone for their sins.
Steve was no different, even if he claimed to be. He felt guilty for surviving, for leaving Peggy and the others behind. He felt responsible for what happened to Bucky, as well as what had happened in DC those couple of years ago. Because of this she had seen him work himself harder and harder as though he could make up for everything. For Steve, being Captain America was his sin.
"…I…" Steve blinked. Sam and Darcy had both said similar things to him, but never so bluntly or clearly.
"Think about it, Steve. And while you think about it, go get me that pint of butter pecan in the freezer." Pepper poked her toe into Steve's thigh, and finally allowed her smile to bloom. She had given him enough to think about, she didn't want to tire him out. Tony always warned her about scolding too much, he claimed that one day his head would just explode.
Steve shook his head in amusement as he stood up and headed into the kitchen. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he had asked her that question, that the worry was too much or that she regretted everything. Though maybe he was hoping to hear just what she had said. Maybe he had been hoping for a bit of his mother and the advice she would have given him.
He still worried about Darcy and what this would mean when it came to their friendship. He couldn't help it, not when it could have such devastating consequences. But the thing was, after talking with Pepper, he wasn't as reluctant to the idea as he had been before. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen.
The club wasn't anything like Darcy had imagined it to be. It wasn't wholly bad, the music was good, and the drinks were not bad either. The problem was the clientele, it seemed as though Roxie-Moxie was a bit of a hipster hangout. One thing Darcy had learned was that hipsters and her just didn't get along.
"So, what made you need a baby-free night?" Jane sipped slowly on her Georgia Peach, a drink Darcy had gotten her hooked on during their second girl's night. Well, it had pretty much been either that or the rest of the bottle of Grappa they had drank the weekend before. Jane would never again touch anything even looking or sounding like that devil's drink. She wasn't sure what they had gotten up to that night, only that they had managed to alienate several people in the town in one night.
"Everyone just talks about the baby… and… well…" Darcy shrugged, not really sure how to answer without telling the whole truth. Something she knew Nat had possibly cottoned on to as she was giving her the scariest look. It wasn't so much the, "You're an offence to the human race and I shall now rid the world of you and all who know you," but it was at least the, "I know you are lying and I shall find out and make your life and the life of your children miserable." Darcy hated that look.
"Should we pretend that you aren't just as, if not more, excited about this child than Tony? Because if I remember right you keep buying and making baby items." Nat raised a brow at her friend. When Tony and Pepper had announced their upcoming parenthood, Darcy had jumped up bouncing and clapping like some teenaged girl. Since then Darcy had been providing gift after gift for the kid. You would have thought she was the one pregnant.
"See! I needed a baby-free night before I start singing lullabies all day." Alright, so she already did that. She had caught herself humming the lullaby her mother used to sing her; while cooking breakfast, in the shower, or imputing data. It was kind of getting out of hand.
"Fine, no baby-talk then. How about boy-talk?" Jane wiggled her eyebrows again, only to get hit with a straw by Darcy.
"What?" Why, why oh why did she think this was a good idea? She was going to track down whichever one started that stupid bet and she was going to taze them so hard in the balls.
"What I think she is getting at is what is going on with you and the Soldier Boys." Nat had yet to interrogate any of the three involved, or not involved as the case may be, and she wasn't going to waste a perfect opportunity to do so now. Darcy at least would be the easiest the break.
"Which she already knows the answer to since I told her this morning." Darcy scowled over at her boss, wishing she didn't like her drink so much so she could just dump it on the woman's head.
"Oh?" It was a little annoying that the scientist had gotten to her before she did, still she figured she could use this to her advantage.
"Don't play innocent with me. For your information you won't be making any money off me as I'm not with both of them, hell I'm not even with one." Yeah, there was a hint of bitterness in that. Darcy cringed and looked over at Nat hoping that the woman hadn't caught on to it. Though of course Darcy would never be that lucky, the raised brow and pursed lip pretty much was evidence enough that she had.
"Pity, James does this thing with his tongue and metal hand that will leave you seeing stars. The only time in my life I've actually fainted." A smile crept up one corner of Nat's mouth as she thought back to the days when the two of them had a future. Back before they were caught and punished. She missed James, but looking back on it now she figured it was for the best. She had her own life now and she knew James was working on building one for himself.
"What the fuck is it with you two and telling me about your sex lives?!" Darcy huffed and set her glass down on the table, her fingers moving to ring around the edge as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Nat. "Though seriously? Does he do it separately or is it some kind of sequenized maneuver?"
"Sequenized. He also has the strength to hold you completely in midair. I figure if you mix that with Steve's strength a girl probably wouldn't ever leave the bedroom." Nat couldn't say she hadn't thought about it. Damn, there had been a couple of times she had even thought about seducing Steve, just to take the edge off.
"Ok, are you rooting for me with those two just because you want to live vicariously through me?" Not that she would blame her. Hell, if the positions had been reversed she would be just as eager to know a few details. Not that her friends weren't still annoying, and she wished they would shut up.
"Honey, if I wanted both of them in my bed I would have them." Nat sat back with a smug little grin on her face.
"I'm not even going to question that because I'm sure you're correct." Darcy downed the rest of the drink in her hand, her eyes on anything else but the woman across from her. Even though Nat was her friend, she still delighted in sniffing out everyone's secrets. Sometimes Darcy thought it was more out of boredom than anything.
"We both know she's correct. She could easily have the both of us if she wanted, you can't deny that." Jane laughed to herself as she waved down one of the wandering waitresses.
When they had first started inviting Pepper and Nat out on girl's night Tony had made several off color comments about their activities. That in itself wasn't so much funny as annoying, but what was funny was how Thor took it. Apparently it wasn't unheard of on Asgard for the female warriors to sometimes engage in… well, intimate games before battle. He said those who participated in such activities believed it helped create a stronger bond. Thor of course had thought the same tradition existed on Earth and sent them off with well wishes and a few pointers on how to please his fair Lady Jane.
"So true. Now, can we stop talking about sex because I know both of you are getting it, and I'm not." And such a waste it was, she thought. Darcy had a lot to offer… a lot more than just boobs too, unlike what so many guys she'd met thought.
"You could be." Nat wasn't just talking about both of the soldier boys together. She could most likely have both or either one on their own. She was also pretty sure she caught both Bruce and Rhodes checking her out.
"Yeah, so we are not getting any further into this topic than we already have." Why were they focusing on her nonexistent sex-life when one of them was dating the fucking god of thunder and the other was the goddess of sex herself?
"Spoilsport." Jane stuck her tongue out at Darcy. It wasn't that they wanted details… much… but they just wanted their friend to be happy.
Darcy did a lot for everyone in the tower, sacrificing so much for staying with them. Jane would admit to feeling a bit guilty about then Ian situation. She had dragged Darcy into everything and she had been the reason why they moved back to the states. She didn't want to see her friend end up bitter and alone, not when she needn't be.
"Alright, mind telling me why Hill asked if she could kill you without inciting the wrath of the Avengers?" Nat tipped her glass towards Darcy. That hadn't been the first time Hill had asked that kind of question, but it normally it dealt with Tony, and a few times with James. Darcy and Hill had never been close friends, but Nat had thought they at least got along pretty well.
"Gah! You would think I'd killed a loved one or something!" Darcy rolled her eyes, Hill was maybe taking the whole thing a bit too far. Sure, she probably should have kept her mouth shut, but that was no reason to harm her.
"What did you do, because I saw her giving you death-ray-eyes when we were leaving?" Jane cocked her head to the side as she looked at the woman next to her. Hill had always been a little closer to Pepper and Nat, but she was friendly enough with everyone else. So it was a little unnerving to see her direct her angry face at Darcy.
"I might have, sort of, maybe undermined her authority in front of a new employee." Darcy cringed back from the wide-eyed looks of disbelief she was receiving from both her friends. Ok, so when she said it like that it sounded way worse.
"Do you have a death-wish?" Nat knew Darcy could be mouthy, she had seen her mouth off at the Hulk. But everyone knew there were lines one didn't cross, this was one of them.
"No, but she was being a huge bitch and the girl was practically in tears all because she got lost in the tower." Darcy bit her lip. So, that might not have been the whole story. The girl had gotten lost in an off-limits section of the tower, and might have been somewhere where she shouldn't have been, but considering the girl was new she didn't think that deserved having a gun pointed at her.
"What exactly did you do?" Jane knew Hill could be a bit of a hard-ass, she had heard several of the lab assistants comment about that. Still, she had never seen the woman fly off the handle for nothing.
"I reminded her that she wasn't the one in charge anymore and that Tony has put in effect a three strike rule before reprimanding employees. And of course as it had only been the girl's second day…" …and maybe she had placed her hand on Hill's gun and forcefully pushed it down. She had gotten a rather long lecture after the girl had rushed out about security and potential Hydra agents.
"No wonder she was practically begging me to allow her to at least maim you. She never even liked it when Fury would do stuff like that. This one time he reamed her over a failed mission and she went on to destroy the training room. Took months to remove all the bullets." Nat shook her head. Hill was a friend of hers, but she sometimes had a problem with anger.
"She can't touch me though… right?" Darcy thought that surely being best friends with both Captain America and the Winter Soldier, as well as Shield-Sister to Thor would afford her some kind of protection.
"Not officially…" Nat shrugged her shoulders and watched as Darcy turned white as a sheet.
"Fuck, I am so going to need to get drunk. Very, very drunk."
Author's Note: Oh look, I got a chapter done before spring break! This is mainly because my Da bought me a tablet so I can actually write in between classes and pretty much anywhere not my bedroom.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.