Chapter Text
Darcy certainly could be more excited about the move to Avengers Tower, but she couldn’t help but whine and moan about her and Jane having to move all of their equipment by themselves. Wasn’t Stark rich enough to hire some people for this? She continued to pant and shove a ridiculously heavy cardboard box across the Tower’s polished marble floor after a huffing Jane, slowly but surely making their way to the elevator where the rest of their stuff was set in a pile on the other side of the lobby. After hitting the call button, both Darcy and Jane slumped to the marble ground and waited for the car.
“This is ridiculous,” Darcy whined, “Your boyfriend is a god for fuck’s sake, why isn’t he helping us?”
Jane simply groaned from where she was sprawled on top of the duffle bag that was stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends of machinery. Darcy didn’t even have the energy to wince in sympathy for her friend, knowing that the older woman would be covered in bruises from all the pointy shit that was in the bag.
Darcy rolled her head back at the sound of the elevator doors opening and sighed in relief. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to get up but knowing that they had to: there were people in the lobby who were starting to give her and Jane funny looks. Not that she could blame them, honestly. Darcy was about to speak up and let Jane know that it was time to move when someone cleared their throat. Cracking one eye open, she groaned at the sight of the beautiful redhead towering over her and her best friend.
“Janie,” she nudged the older woman with her ratty converse without breaking eye contact with the new arrival, “Janie. Pepper Potts is standing here and it’s amazing but I need you to confirm that I’m not hallucinating.”
Pepper just quirked her brow in amusement and turned her gaze to Jane, waiting for her response. Jane turned her head so that she was no longer face-down on the canvas bag and looked up to the amazonian woman.
“Shit. You’re not hallucinating. I wish we were though, we’re in no condition to meet the Queen.”
Darcy wanted to protest and tell Jane to speak for herself, but then she remembered that she was sitting on the floor of Avengers Tower in ripped jeans and a ratty tank top, with equally ratty shoes. Thankfully, Pepper Potts didn’t seem to notice, simply tilting her head in curiosity at the women sprawled on the floor.
“The Queen?”
“Yeah,” Darcy agreed, still not bothering to stand, “You’re the Queen.”
If Darcy wasn’t already on the ground, Pepper’s beaming smile would have put her flat on her ass in no time.
“Queen of what?”
Jane huffed, looking at Pepper Potts as if she was the one being absurd. “Everything!” She insisted, “You’re the CEO of Stark Industries, you’re a role model to girls and women everywhere, and you’re Pepper Potts!”
“Last but certainly not least, you managed to tame Tony Stark and have him practically by the balls,” Darcy added wryly, cupping her empty hand in the air in front of her and clenching her fingers in a fist.
Pepper let out the most inelegant snort of laughter Darcy had ever heard, which simply made the older woman that much more amazing to her. It took another minute for Pepper to control her laughter, having to wipe a few stray tears that had leaked from the corner of her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a while, so thank you, Miss Lewis.” Darcy’s jaw hit the floor when she realized Pepper knew her name oh my god, but didn’t have time to react when she turned to address Jane. “I’m sorry that Tony forgot to mention that you two were coming today, Dr. Foster, otherwise I would have had someone help you deliver all of your things.”
The tiny astrophysicist stuttered for a couple moments before gathering her wits around her, apparently she was fan-girling just as hard as Darcy was.
“Call me Jane. And you can call Darcy, uh, Darcy. Giving her an honorific will only encourage her shenanigans.”
“Then you two must call me Pepper, I’m not a big fan of formalities, either.” Darcy just about melted at the woman’s smile, hardly ever seeing anyone look so genuine. Pepper offered a hand to Darcy and helped her stand before turning and doing the same for Jane. Straightening her blouse, Pepper raised one of her perfect brows mischievously.
“So, ladies, want to see your new lab?”
* * *
The lab was everything that Jane could have every wanted, honestly. It took up a third of one entire floor, the two other spaces used by Dr. Banner and Tony Stark. The labs technically took up four floors of the Tower, but this was to be their main stations, the rest meant for more elaborate experiments. The entire floor was a wide-open space of clear glass, sleek lines, and top of the line equipment. Each of the three lab spaces faced inwards toward the center of the tower where a small kitchenette and living space occupied the center. Jane was pretty sure it was called the atrium or something, but Darcy had taken to calling it the ‘Donut Hole’ which was picked up by everyone else, unfortunately. Tony, of course, would only ever call it the ‘Hole’ and snicker childishly with her intern-cum-assistant-cum-best friend. Jane gave up all hope when Bruce of all people called it the Hole by accident, leading Tony to crow in victory and even get the name changed on the Tower’s blueprints in celebration.
Darcy had come to be an assistant and lab manager to all three scientists, which they were all grateful for. Jane didn’t feel so self-conscious when she realized that Bruce and Tony were just as bad, if not worse (looking at you, Tony), at taking care of themselves as she was. Darcy had set up a small desk in the Hole (“Tony, please, stop snickering.”) where she could keep an eye on everyone easily.
Tony and Darcy bonded quickly, and Jane’s friend only seemed to endear herself more to Iron Man when she was able to get Bruce to come out of his shell a little bit. The man was clearly shy around new people, but Darcy didn’t have time for shy as she often said. She was free with her affectionate and friendly touches, pats on the back or full-out hugs, so that Bruce got used to in no time and eventually began to lean into them.
Jane was also grateful that she and Thor were finally in the same place at the same time, letting them pick up their relationship from where it had (kind-of-but-not-really) started two years ago. She was even more grateful that the time apart didn’t seem to estrange them from one another, the soul-deep feelings and care for one another still as strong as ever.
“Boss-lady, I didn’t survive an invasion of shitty space elves and Ian the Intern so I could sit here and watch you moon over Thor’s golden locks and not do Science!”
Jane huffed at Darcy, “I am not mooning, minion.” She was immediately met with three pairs of disbelieving eyes from three separate points of the lab. Well, she assumed Tony’s were disbelieving, Jane couldn’t tell since he was still wearing his welding mask. Bruce just sighed around a grin and looked back to his microscope as he spoke.
“There was certainly mooning involved, Jane. Big Bambi eyes and all.”
Darcy snorted out a laugh as she fiddled with some hunk of machinery in her hands. Jane loved that Darcy knew her way around electronics and a set of tools (fixing homemade machines were a bitch to do by herself), but sometimes she wished that her friend didn’t team up with Tony when it came to new ideas. Calculators were not meant to be sentient.
Jane rolled her eyes at her friends, mumbling to herself about where she could potentially find new ones.
“Why, Foster! I am hurt! What other friends could set you up with such sweet digs?” Tony’s smile was finally visible now that he took off the mask and Jane could see just how shit-eating it was. She kept forgetting that the labs were set up with little microphones and speakers so that no one had to shout at each other cross the immense space. Jane groaned, flipping off the engineer for lack of a good comeback. Snark and wit was more Darcy’s area of expertise, anyways.
“You’re like our Science! sugar-daddy, Tony,” Darcy laughed. She downright cackled when Tony cringed at the moniker.
“Please, for the love of all that is holy, never call me that again.” Tony closed his eyes like he was too upset at the name to look at them all.
Bruce huffed at his friend’s melodramatics and tossed a wink at Darcy, silently encouraging her to keep pushing Tony’s buttons. Jane rolled her eyes, something she was finding she did a lot at Avengers Tower, trying to focus on her notes for a lecture she was giving in Denmark in front of her.
For a solid six months after the Aether and Dark Elves in England Jane and Darcy went back to her mom’s flat in London to analyze as much data as they could about the Convergence. Since SHIELD didn’t bother to show during the invasion, Jane had no one to stop her from publishing her work, letting her be recognized by her peers for the first time in her career. Suddenly everyone was sending her letters and asking her if they could work or study with her, saying that they all believed in her theories from the very start. Jane and Darcy had a drunken night of rage about that, ranting to one another about shitty opportunists and people trying to steal her work. Jane actually doesn’t remember a whole lot about that evening, but despite the hangover Jane felt pretty good the next morning. It was cathartic.
The two women began filtering out what Darcy called ‘clinger letters,’ only responding to people who they knew to be sincere. Around that time, Jane started getting contacted for guest lectures all over the world to explain her theories and her work. Darcy cried with her that night, ecstatic that after a lifetime Jane was finally getting the acknowledgement she deserved.
The next six months resulted in Jane and Darcy traveling around the world, hopping from university to university and visiting almost every research center and lab as they went. It was all this travel that got them on Stark’s radar, and not in a good way. Jane had severely edited out many of the things that happened at the Convergence and Thor’s initial landing but there were people who wanted her work for nefarious purposes. Stark had picked up the chatter and decided it was time for him to intervene. It was during one of Thor’s breaks that he took from the Avengers that Tony tagged along to a lecture in Chile, having said that he had been ‘wanting to meet Shakespeare’s lady love and lightning sister,’ and to offer Jane a job.
It’s not like she could’ve said no to his offer, seeing as the main selling point was no SHIELD. Darcy had cracked open a bottle of champagne when they signed their contracts, saving the video of them signing the contracts ‘for posterity.’
So here Jane was, just over a year after the Dark Elves Incident, working in Avengers Tower with some of the greatest minds and heroes, her boyfriend, and her best friend. She got unlimited funding and state of the art equipment, not to mention a free suite of rooms in the tower for her, Thor, and Darcy.
The universe, of course, thought that it was high time for Jane to get knocked down a peg or five a couple of weeks later.
Jane was on her way to meet Darcy in the university’s mess hall after her lecture when she got the call. It took the phone a couple cycles through her ringtone before she could actually find her phone in the bottom of her bag, but Jane got the call regardless. She frowned at the caller ID, wondering why JARVIS was calling her. Shrugging and deciding that she shouldn’t really be surprised by the AI’s abilities, Jane answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Doctor Foster, it is of utmost importance that you listen to me. I need you to remain calm and act natural. You and Miss Lewis are in danger, do you understand?”
Jane’s stomach dropped and ice clawed her way through her chest, “Okay, yes, I understand. But Darcy’s not with me! I need to find her! What if—”
“I am currently speaking to Miss Lewis at the moment as well, do not worry. I will keep you both safe. Continue to walk, casually, as if you are still going to meet Miss Lewis in the dining hall. Keep your head up, no one must suspect that you are troubled.”
Jane did as the AI told her to, but couldn’t help her curiosity. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Turn left at this next crosswalk. Very good. Hydra has been revealed to have been residing within SHIELD, Dr. Foster. It was discovered by Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov that the organization has been corrupt since the very start. Roughly a third of SHIELD is suspected to have ties to Hydra.”
Jane scraped her palm on the brick wall at her side as she stumbled at JARVIS’ words, catching herself at the last moment. A woman walking toward her looked at Jane in concern and started toward her, but Jane just smiled and waved the woman off and continued on her way. She couldn’t risk anyone getting near her right now, how was she supposed to know if they were the good guys or not?
“I’m not going to be dumb enough to ask why I might be in danger then if…they are involved.”
“I did not doubt that, Dr. Foster.”
As she looked around, Jane realized she was in an unfamiliar part of town, just on the far edge of campus. JARVIS must have been monitoring her from security feeds because he answered her unasked question.
“Going to the dining hall is no longer an option, Dr. Foster. I am leading you and Miss Lewis to a location that I have deemed safe until you can be retrieved by Prince Thor and Mr. Stark.”
Jane’s chuckle was a little dry and very humorless as she made her way down another alley per JARVIS’ instructions. “Well aren’t I flattered that we’re getting two of the Avengers as our personal back-up.”
“Your hired security in the hotel was revealed to be Hydra, we’re keeping your new security in-house, so to speak.”
“You really know how to cheer a girl up, JARVIS.” Jane grumbled.
“I do try.”
The result of forty-five more minutes of walking was Jane forcing her way through a rusted door in the basement of an abandoned restaurant where JARVIS assured her she’d find Darcy. Jane was thankful that her friend had gotten there before her because there was no way that Jane could have busted that door open without Darcy easing it open first.
“Janie!”
Suddenly Jane had two armfuls of worried best friend who she hugged back wholeheartedly.
“You okay, Darce?”
“Yeah, I felt like a cast member of Eagle Eye when JARVIS called me, but I’m okay.”
JARVIS, who was on speakerphone in Jane’s back pocket huffed.
“Please don’t compare me to that abomination of a film, Miss Lewis. I would even consider it an insult to DUM-E.”
As Jane laughed, she looked around the room she and Darcy were in, the only light coming from a flashlight propped up in the corner. Jane figured the light must have come from Darcy’s oversized purse. The younger girl had a habit of packing everything into the bag, citing that after a couple run-in with aliens she needed to make sure she was prepared at all times. Jane called it Darcy’s zombie-apocalypse-preparedness purse, but certainly wasn’t knocking the idea now, that’s for sure.
“Are we in a wine cellar? How the hell did no one clear this out?”
Darcy giggled, and that’s when Jane noticed her friends flushed face and unsteady feet.
“Darcy, please tell me you didn’t get drunk when Hydra is after us?”
Jane’s best friend simply cocked an eyebrow at her, “Do you have any better suggestions?”
Jane didn’t, in fact, so that was how Thor and Iron man found the women several hours later: plastered and making JARVIS play Disney songs for them.
* * *
Thor could not look away from the slumbering women on Stark’s jet, still too anxious about the Hydra revelation to rest his mind. I was not close enough to protect Jane, to protect Darcy. Guilt clawed through his gut though he knew rationally that there was no way he could have known about the hidden danger. Tony sat himself down at Thor’s side, his own look of guilt on his face.
“Is Lady Pepper safe?”
Tony grunted, tossing his drink back before he answered. “Yeah, she’s okay. A little shook up, but she’s fine. None of her security was Hydra, thank god, but she’s feeling a little untrustworthy of everyone right now.”
“Tis reasonable.”
“Yeah,” his friend scoffed, “can’t blame Pep at all.” Tony continued to fiddle with his empty tumbler and stared into the middle distance, an expression that Thor had come to realize only appeared on his friend’s face when he was deeply troubled.
Tony spoke before Thor could pose his question to the other man. “It gets worse Thor, there’s more than just the Hydra infestation that’s out there.” He ran his hand through his hair, chuckling humorlessly, “It’s so fucked up. Sometimes I don’t understand the world we live in.”
Thor turned some in his seat to face Tony, though making sure that Jane and Darcy were still in his line of sight. His mortal friend took a deep breath, as if bracing himself, then began his tale.
Tony spoke of how Natasha exposed all of SHIELD and Hydra’s secrets to the world, how every piece of information on them all was on the internet for anyone to read. He was quick to assure Thor that JARVIS was sifting through the data currently, making sure that all traces of their friends and family were gone from the web. Tony spoke of Director Fury’s attempted assassination and faked death, of Natasha and Steve, as well as a new shield-brother called Sam, and how the three of them tore apart SHIELD from the inside out.
“Was the assassin apprehended?” Thor asked, immediately wary of a mortal that could match Steve blow for blow.
“That’s where things get complicated,” Tony sighed. He peered into his still-empty tumbler and must have decided that he needed another drink as he stood only half a moment later. Tony quietly made his way to the back to the jet (readjusting the women’s blankets over their bodies as he did) and quickly came back to Thor’s side.
“The assassin is known as The Winter Soldier; he’s been rumored to have dozens of kills spanning the past seventy years or so. He’s got a metal arm, and seems to have the same or similar super-soldier serum that Steve does. But it gets worse.” Thor wasn’t sure how that could be true, but he gestured for Tony to continue.
“He’s Steve’s best friend from World War II,” Again, Tony drained his glass in one gulp, hissing at the burn. “Sergeant James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes. He was Steve’s second-in-command in the Howling Commandos, as well as Steve’s childhood best friend. When Bucky fell from the train they assumed he died, but it turns out he was still alive. The Russians captured him, brainwashed him, and turned him into a weapon. Somewhere along the line, Bucky was sold to Hydra.”
There was a bitterness and anger in Tony’s words that were out of place, that weren’t on par with the sympathy Thor was beginning to feel for this wronged soldier.
“What aren’t you saying, Tony?”
Tony’s next words were rushed, as if he was afraid that if they did not leave him quickly they would not leave him at all. “He killed my parents. JARVIS found the hit order in Hydra’s files that Natasha released, Bucky Barnes killed my parents.” He raised his hand to cut off Thor’s protest, “I know, I know. He was brainwashed and it wasn’t really him, but it’s still shitty to think about, okay? It’s still okay to be angry and upset. Not at Bucky, but at the situation I guess.”
Thor’s friend deflated then, his anger and grief briefly sapping whatever was remaining of his energy. Slowly, as to not startle the man, Thor reached out and placed a hand comfortingly on Tony’s shoulder.
“No one will begrudge you your grief, Tony, you know us all better than that.”
“Thanks, big guy.”
“Is Bucky with Steve now? What has happened to the man?”
“Apparently, he’s MIA. Steve’s torn up about it, he’s hell-bent on going after him.” Tony once again had that look in his eye, telling Thor that his mind was far off from where he was moments ago.
“You’re going to help find him, aren’t you?” Tony simply nodded, too busy planning a million different things in his head to respond.
“Good. I shall help our friend as well. Bucky will not stay missing for long.”
* * *
Before Jane knew it, they were stumbling off Stark’s jet and into their way into one of the man’s many black SUVs. Her head was pounding and she was cranky as hell, so she couldn’t help the groan she let out when Darcy spoke.
“Why does everyone use black SUV’s when they’re trying to be discreet? They’re like, the biggest give-away ever. You might as well be shouting that you’re a fucking jack-booted thug and shady as hell.” There was a muffled laugh from Tony followed by an curse when Jane heard Darcy fall down. She probably tripped over her own feet, Jane rolled her eyes fondly but immediately regretted the action when it sent pain spiking through her head.
Jane rested her head against the window and sighed at the cool feeling of glass on her forehead. She hummed her thanks when Thor began rubbing circles on her back soothingly, starting to feel the tension ease out of her body.
Tony’s huff of laughter could be heard from the front of the SUV where he was helping Darcy into the car. “How are you not hungover as shit, kid?”
“Oh, I’m still hammered. Give me a couple hours though and I’ll probably feel like I took mew-mew to the face.”
Tony downright cackled at Darcy’s matter of fact statement, batting her hands away when she kept fumbling with her seatbelt and doing it for her. “You’re a goddamn mess, Darce.”
“Hey,” Darcy slurred, her exhaustion starting to war with her drunken indignation, “I was in a cellar filled with vintage wine for a coupla hours by myself. You tryna tell me that you wouldn’t have done the same, Man of Iron?”
Next to Jane, Thor chuckled at Darcy’s antics and reached up to smooth his hand over her head from his spot behind her seat. “Rest now, Lightening Sister, we have much to do when we return to the tower.” Having gotten used to drunk-Darcy over the past year or so, Thor began removing his cape and draped it over her just as she opened her mouth to speak. Within moments, Darcy had snuggled up to the red fabric and was snoring softly in the front seat.
Tony didn’t hesitate a moment to take a picture with his phone, chuckling all the while. “That’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen, but what’s with the cape?”
“Darcy gets nightmares about New Mexico and the Elves, so she likes to use Thor’s cape as a blanket because she says it makes her feel safe. She only has the balls to ask Thor for it when she’s drunk, though.” Jane couldn’t help but to reach forward and tuck a corner of the cape under Darcy’s chin from where it was beginning to slip down.
“Aye, I have told Darcy that she may use it whenever she pleases, but she does not feel comfortable asking.” Thor continued, a fond smile on his face as he looked at Darcy. He soon moved his gaze to meet Tony’s in the rearview mirror, “Let us make haste, Tony, we should begin our own search for the missing Soldier as soon as possible.”
Jane could feel herself drifting off to sleep where she was nestled against Thor’s side. She could get caught up on what they were looking for later.
Later ended up being a good four hours after landing in Stark’s jet; after Jane and Darcy had naps in real beds, a couple gallons of water, a meal, and a hot shower. Darcy was feeling well enough to go get everyone coffee from their favorite cafe across the street (Tony had yet to get the owner to move into the retail floor of the Tower, much to his displeasure and bruised ego).
Jane sat at her desk with Bruce at her side as she watched Tony and Thor run around the lab space with a weird mix of determination and giddy excitement.
“You have any idea what’s going on?” She asked, quirking a brow at Bruce. Her friend just continued to clean his glasses off with the hem of his shirt as he watched the other men with amusement.
Bruce quickly gave her a highly condensed version of what went down in D.C. with Steve and Natasha, as well as who the Winter Soldier was.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, “That’s so messed up.”
Bruce snorted, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “I know, it’s kind of painful to think about all the fucked up shit Hydra’s been doing in the dark for the past seventy years or so.”
Jane shuddered in agreement. “So Tony’s going to use JARVIS and all his tech to search for the guy, and Thor’s going to use magic?” She hummed, trying to remember what Thor had said about his magic in the past. Jane knew that he isn’t as talented as Loki ever was, but from what she understood, no one was. Most of Thor’s magic involved Mjölnir, but Jane didn’t presume to know everything about it. She’d stick to theoretical astrophysics, thanks.
Thor and Tony were now hunched over a table in the center of Jane’s lab, arguing over what appeared to be a world map.
“The spell I cast shall help us to see where Bucky hides, Tony, then it will only take a short time for Steve and the rest of our teammates to convince the man to come home.” Thor clapped his hands together once and closed his eyes, brows furrowed as if he was searching for a lost memory. Jane narrowed her eyes at the hesitancy she could see on her boyfriend’s face.
“Wait, are you sure—” She started, but then several things happened at in quick progression.
Thor threw his hands down on the map with a flash of silver magic just as Darcy barged into the lab holding a tray of coffee in one hand and struggling with her zombie purse that was tangled around the other. Tony yelped and ducked as Thor’s magic ricocheted off the table, Bruce then knocked Jane off her seat when the beam of magic came hurtling for her next and tucked them both under her desk.
Darcy stood wide-eyed as she watched everything happen, too confused to duck when the magic ricocheted off of DUM-E and smacked her right in the chest.
There was a BANG! and a bright flash of white light, then dead silence for only a moment more. Jane scrambled from her place under her desk, turning around frantically when she couldn’t see Darcy anywhere.
“Where’d she go?! Thor, what happened?!”
Thor’s face was pale and bloodless, staring at the spilled coffee that was pooling on the floor where Darcy had stood seconds ago.
* * *
In 1940’s Brooklyn, New York, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were enjoying a game of poker together on their sofa when there was a flash of white light and a bang that shook their apartment’s walls. Suddenly, they were wondering where the hell the dame in their living room came from.