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3:30 AM. Time for another cup of tea; Darcy made her way to the dimly lit kitchen. Luckily for her, FRIDAY always has the main rooms’ lighting set on low when not in full use. It saves energy but also made everyone from the midnight oil burning Tony to the insomnia ridden Darcy feel comfortable at any hour of the day.
Darcy went straight to the electric kettle, filling it and turning it on, before turning to retrieve one of her favorite mugs.
Mm, she thinks, I thought I filled it last time I was down here. Oh well.
She stares into space, well, into the pantry while she waits for the water to come to a boil. Pulling down a small box of chocolate cookies, she turns towards the large kitchen table.
“Heya Steve.” She says before she even fully realized he was sitting in the darkened corner, causing her to do a double take and jump after the fact. “Shit, Steve, hi.”
He chuckles, shoulders lightly bouncing, a grin spreading across his face as he sips his tea, “Heya Darce.”
“Nearly scared me half to death. I didn’t take you for a night owl.”
“I’m not normally, but jet lag’s a bitch.”
“Jet lag huh? Where were you, soldier? Everybody thought you were out in Brooklyn, doing your own thing… For over six months…” She eyes him skeptically, wondering if he was a phantom brought on by her boredom and general lack of sleep. Loki wasn’t on planet, so it couldn’t be him pulling one of his tricks.
Steve cracks another smile, “I wasn’t exactly on this continent, but it’s good to know that Nat still hasn’t lost her touch.”
“Nat huh? No wonder she’s been so busy lately.” She chuckles, “Keeping your paper trail alive and well, huh?”
“She’s exceedingly good at her job.”
“Oh, I know, she’s at the tip top of my ‘do not piss off’ list; she’s scary good.” Darcy dramatically deadpans, making her tea. Cracking a smile, she asks, “How long have you been back?”
“Two – one day. Technically.” He stares into his cup, avoiding her gaze. “I’ve been up for three, I think.”
“Dude. I don’t sleep, and I’m not even up that long. That’s not good. You’re gonna hit Tony levels of crazy.”
“I know..” He says still lightly avoiding her gaze.
Now Steve looked like a hurt puppy, a look Darcy hated but couldn’t say no to.
“Hey.” She barely whispers, “What’s eating at you to keep you up for three days?” She slides into the seat next to him, putting her hand on his arm, and squeezing lightly.
His hand moves to cover hers without him willing it to.
“I was gone for so long. And I acted like it wasn’t a big deal, until, I realized, probably too late, that it was breaking me.” He pauses, or seems to pause, but never startes again.
After a moment, Darcy moves closer to him, wanting only to comfort him, still holding his hand.
“It’s okay, you can tell me, go on.”
“I,” he clears his throat, shaking his head, “Enough about my non-existent missions, why are you up?” Steve inquires while moving away from her to make himself another cup of tea.
“Typical insomnia stuff. But I don’t fully mind; I tend to get more done in the wee hours. At least that’s what I tell myself.”
“You’ve been hanging around Tony too much.” Some of his smile returns in the form of a smirk.
“And Doctor B.” Darcy admits, propping her chin on her hand.
“Banner too?”
“He has irregular sleeping patterns, like everyone here. I don’t understand the science that much, didn’t with Jane either, but I’m just the data junkie.” Steve looked still a little confused. “Data, data, data. You know, he can’t make bricks without clay. I do the notes, data logs, organizing. The small stuff so he can do the science stuff.”
“But you like working with Banner?”
“Yeah, he’s kinda my new Jane.”
Steve’s eyebrows rocket toward his hairline at her remark. “Your. New. Jane?”
“Doctor Foster? You remember her right?” He nods. “Well, evidently I like keeping quirky scientist types feed and on schedule even if I can’t seem to manage that myself. Since Jane left, and Bruce can back.. well, I’m kinda his side kick now.”
“Does that come with tights?”
“Not yet, but I’ll let know if it does so you can tell me which ones go best with my fancy lab coat.”
“I’ve missed this.” He damn near giggles, causing Darcy to beam back a smile.
“Me too. And who knew, you were such a fun night owl.”
Silence grows steadily between them. Darcy takes a bite out of one of her forgotten cookies, pushing the rest of them towards Steve, nodding lightly. He nods back, taking one, then another, and another. Soon the box is empty. Rolling her eyes, she stands up and retrieves another box.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.”
Steve opens the new box of cookies, handing her the first one. “Can’t I blame it on the jet lag?”
“You could, or you could make it up to me?”
“Name it.” He says too quickly for his liking. Offering a smile as another apology, his cheeks flush with color at his lack of subtly.
“What were you avoiding earlier? I mean, I know you can’t tell me probably most things that you do, but you can tell me how you’re feeling. I just, I missed seeing you around here, and well, maybe if you talk to me, you won’t look so down, and maybe you’ll stay around a little longer this time?”
Steve huffs out a sigh, somewhere between grateful and content. Which definitely confuses Darcy.
“You’re right about the mission stuff. I doubt you have clearance for it, Nat doesn’t even have it. And if you did, I’m sure it’d bore you to sleep..”
“That might be a good thing.” She winks at him, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah.” He shifts so he’s able to look more directly at her. Mentally boosting his confidence, so he can get through this, get it all out, say what he desperately needs to say to her. “Darce?”
“Yeah, Steve?”
He clears his throat one last time. “I was avoiding something. And the mission helped, more than a lot. I was physically gone, and mentally focused on the task at hand. But I kept drifting back to this one thing. One person really. I couldn’t get her off of my mind. Whenever there was down time, or a silent moment, her face flickered across my mind…”
Steve kept talking, though now she was barely listening. Her eyes couldn’t leave his face as he rambled about some girl he couldn’t get off his mind. It was awe-inspiring, watching him open up like this. Though it hurt her heart, knowing that there was some perfect girl out there that had Steve’s heart. Sure, it was good that Steve was finally getting this off his chest, but why go into such detail? Why tell her, when he clearly couldn’t tell this wonderful creature that’s captured his attention? Oh, shit. She had asked him to open up to her, and he was, but her attention drifted as her internal heart ache took over.
“Darce? Darcy, baby?” He reaches out a hand, slowly stroking her own. Darcy finally breaks back into reality. Baby? The hell?
“You okay?”
“Um, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking.” Darcy moves her hand away from his, his touch some how too much for her to handle. “I uh, I think I’m gonna go to bed. You should tell her Steve. You should tell this girl that has your attention. Tell her you want her. Don’t tell me. I just.. I.. yeah. I’m going to bed.”
She shakily stands, leaving her mug and the cookies on the table. Out. Is the only thing on her mind, when a strong hand reaches for her fingers, tugging softly.
“Hey.”
She doesn’t look at him. She can’t. “Yeah?”
“Darce, it’s you. I thought you knew.”
“What?”
He stands and moves in front of Darcy, blocking her view of everything but him.
“I’m an idiot. And I should have just flat out said it. I’m sorry. I missed you; I can’t get you off my mind. I want you, and only you. If I am anything, I am yours. If you’ll have me.”
Darcy looks into his eyes and only find sincerity and hope, mingled with a tinge of fear.
“Fuck, Steve. I thought.. You.. You can’t just.” She tries her best to scold him or to at least get a full sentence out. A smile breaking fully across her face as her mind races faster than her mouth can keep up.
“So, is that..” He moves closer to her, fingers itching to touch her more, but remaining still.
“You’re an idiot, Rogers. And so am I.” She fully threads her fingers with his, tugging lightly. His boy-ish grin is back. “Get down here.”
His free hand moves to her chin, lifting it slightly as he ducks his head to press his lips against hers. Finally.