Sassy Sub Club Part 2
The next morning Darcy waylaid Clint after breakfast, asking him to go with her to take Nikita out shopping. His initial reaction was not only no, but "hell no, I do not need to spend a whole day holding your purse while you girls shop."
"No purse holding I swear," Darcy promised. "I mean, I don't think Nikita even owns a purse. Tony gave me his Amex, the black one. We can stop at FAO Schwarz and you can pick out some stuff for the kids, and you can pick the place for lunch."
"Why me?" asked Clint.
"Bucky won't let me go unless you come too," admitted Darcy.
Clint could understand Bucky's reluctance to let Darcy take Nikita downtown alone. He didn't think Nikita would deliberately harm Darcy, but who knew what situations might set her off? He vividly remembered their first meeting with her, surrounded by bodies, and knew that he would tag along to protect Darcy. The young sub had become like a little sister to him. Like Tony, Darcy was fiercely loyal and determined to take care of those that she considered family. The generous hearted subs had adopted all of the Tower residents, turning them into a makeshift family. Clint could tell by the expression on Darcy's face that she was beginning to put Nikita in that category.
"Please," Darcy whined, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "I'll make the spicy caramel bacon popcorn for you."
Ugh, Clint could not resist those puppy dog eyes. Of course, to be fair no one else could either. "No fair, you know I can't resist the bacon caramel popcorn," Clint relented.
"Great!," she enthused. "I'll Shanghai Nikita and meet you in the garage. Tony said we can take one of his cars and a driver."
"Dude, if I gotta go with you guys I'm gonna drive. And I get to pick the car," Clint said with a wicked grin.
After breakfast Nikita settled into the sitting area of the Common Floor with a book. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was on Steve's list, so they were both reading it. She had just started to get into it when Darcy strode out of the elevator.
Darcy told Nikita that Tony had asked her to do some shopping and run some errands. She wanted Nikita to go with her, insisting that Tony was happy to pay for anything they wanted and that she needed another girl with her, otherwise she would just be stuck with Clint. Nikita didn't particularly have any desire to go shopping but she did enjoy Darcy's company and Steve did want her to socialize.
Darcy and Nikita met Clint in the garage. It was full of high-end cars. Clint led them over to a silver 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider. Before getting into the car Clint unfastened the kevlar strap from around his neck, winding it around his wrist. He looked at Nikita over the roof of the car, "Almost no one outside of the Tower knows about my family. I will do whatever I have to to keep them safe."
Nikita met his intense gaze and solemnly nodded. This seemed to satisfy Clint who put on his sunglasses and got into the car.
Their first stop was FAO Schwarz. While Clint shopped with Darcy's enthusiastic help, Nikita browsed the shelves. Her attention was caught by a model car experiment kit. It had experiments to build fuel cells using solar energy to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. She thought of Thomas, the little boy from the church orphanage. He had chattered excitedly about science while she was cleaning him up. She thought that he would like it. Darcy found her looking over the kit. "Taking up an interest in science?" she asked.
Nikita looked at Darcy, sensing no malice in her expression. She considered keeping her silence, but at the moment she was heartily sick of it. "For a friend, at Steve's church," she explained.
"Cool, you should get it," Darcy said with a bright smile.
"I think I will," Nikita replied, her smile was a shy small thing compared to the other girl's but it was a smile nonetheless.
At the check out Darcy produced the black Amex card, causing a flurry of activity. Their purchases were quickly wrapped up with the promise that they would be delivered directly to the Tower.
Next, Darcy took them on a whirlwind of shopping. Store after store of clothes, each more ridiculous than the last. Nikita was glad that she had found her voice, because she needed it to veto Darcy's fashion choices. Eventually Nikita allowed her to purchase several pairs of jeans and a few v-necked cashmere sweaters. Darcy also chose about a dozen Avengers themed designer tee shirts, much to Clint's amusement. Like the toys, they had these purchases delivered to the Tower as well.
By this time it was almost 3 in the afternoon so they decided to break for lunch. True to her word Darcy let Clint pick the restaurant, so they found themselves in a steak house. "So tell me about your friend from church," demanded Darcy.
Nikita told them about meeting Thomas at the church. About how the little boy refused to give in to the Dom bullies. Her stepping in and treating his cuts and scrapes while he chattered on and on. Clint snorted coke out his nose. At their questioning looks he explained that Nikita had used a basin of holy water for first aid, which of course caused Darcy to snort with laughter.
Once they had calmed down Darcy asked Nikita, "So, like what do you do for fun?"
Nikita shrugged, "I read mostly, at least until Bruce clears me to start training."
"So that's it," Darcy asked incredulously, "just reading and training?"
Nikita just shrugged, a little concerned at the intent look in Darcy's eyes when the other girl announced, "I am going to find you a hobby!"