Work Text:
Darcy wasn’t at work.
Darcy
Wasn’t
At
Work.
In the year they’d knew each other that had not ever happened. Not once, and the Avengers were not happy. She was always there, bright and too early, and she’d even made plans with them that day, and she never broke her plans.
Steve noticed it first, when the bouncy young woman was not sitting in the kitchen ready for their morning run. He assumed she was with Bruce and Tony, maybe they had stayed up late and grabbed her, they did that on occasion. But when he’d gotten back from his run, they’d all been in the kitchen, and no Darcy.
A quick worried call to Jane and Pepper confirmed Darcy wasn’t there and hadn’t called.
It was Tony who found her, getting JARVIS to locate her using the microchips he’d placed in all their official ID cards and phones. Which if they weren’t so worried about her they would have yelled at him for.
They located her in what they assumed was her home, in Brooklyn. The website for the complex showed a nice, picturesque building with a sparkling pool on the side, nice fencing and shrubbery. Steve said it looked remarkably like it did when he was growing up the first time.
Clint was the closest, having been at a SHIELD meeting and got there looking at the building oddly. It did *Not* look like the picture. It was an old building, some of the outer facade falling off. A wall on the first floor had a hole in it. The pool was green, and had a variety of unidentified items floating in it, including something floating that was either a body or a pile of someone’s clothing. The windows were boarded, and if they weren’t they had heavy iron bars on them. If he hadn’t seen the faded and stained apartments for rent sign hanging limply and the few cars parked in the parking lot, he would have thought that it was abandoned.
Frowning harder he looked. The front door was out, he was not going to do that, the building looked like it might collapse. The hole in the side of the building was the same. Noticing the fire escape he shrugged, Darcy mentioned living on the third floor once. Slowly he made his way into the dark and dirty alley and looked up at the fire escape before jumping up to grab a rung. It seemed stable enough. Slowly he made his way up it, pausing only twice when his foot broke through a few badly rusted rungs. After the second time he climbed into the nearest window and into a dark stairwell.
He blinked as his eyes adjusted and made a sound of disgust as he saw two blurry shapes in a dark corner making out.
“Freeze” He yelled pointing an arrow at them, “Where’s Darcy?”
“Third floor room 7, dude chill.” The man slurred, the woman giggling as she snuggled into him, not even bothering to disengage herself from the man.
Clint shook his head and carefully opened the door, walking into a slightly less run down hallway, looking for the door labeled 7. He had to smile when he saw it, all painted white with pink and blue flowers on it, rather similar to the first Disney movie she’d forced them all to watch when they had first met.
Opening it slowly he looked inside and froze, wrinkling his nose at the smell inside, it was a mix of rotted wood, vomit, and mold, with the strong but not quite enough to overpower smell of flowers. He looked around the one room his hand going to his ear to activate the emergency communicator. There was a murphy bed, a row of counters, what looked like a hotplate and tabletop fridge, a dresser that looked like it would break if someone touched it, and several precariously stacked cardboard boxes.
Walking closer to the bed he looked and felt relief when he saw her, snuggled under a blanket. The relief turning to fear and concern when he saw the bucket beside her filled with vomit, and reached to shake her only to feel the heat radiating off her.
Tapping the communicator, he spoke evenly, “Get Here Now”
“This is the emergency line, Clint What’s wrong” came Steve’s voice concerned.
“Get. Here. Now. This place is a death trap.” He said as a floorboard cracked under his foot. Taking a step forward he reached out towards Darcy and could feel the heat radiating off her. “Darcy is here too, but she’s…” Clint trailed off as Darcy blearily opened her eyes.
“H…Hey” she said weakly looking at him before coughing and turning over to lose what was in her stomach into the bucket causing it to overflow slightly, small amounts of vomit trailing over the sides of the bucket and onto the floor.
“She’s very sick, and there’s no way this place is…AAAAHHHHH!” Clint’s yell startled them.
“CLINT!” they yelled over the com.
“Get. Here. Now. Either a very large rat, or an alien experiment gone wrong just came from under the bed and is eating vomit.” Clint growled.
Darcy looked at him blearily at his scream.
“Thaz Ro’ney, throw him a pickle he’ll go way.” She mumbled rolling back onto the bed and falling unconscious.
Clint opened the fridge, keeping one eye on the rat and gaped in shock. "The only thing in her fridge is Kool-Aid and pickles...And they're in the same container!"
He fished one out, trying not to gag at the sour cherry smell and tossed it at the rat, only slightly smiling when it bounced off of its head.
The rat -- Rodney apparently -- grabbed it up in his paws, examined it, picked it up with his teeth and ran off through a hole in the wall.
"This is so...wrong." Clint declared, making his way back to her bedside, sidestepping the mess.
"Darcy? Darcy, wake up." He said gently shaking her.
"We're on our way." Natasha informed him over the com. "We'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
"Ugh..." Darcy whimpered and tried to force her eyes to focus on Clint, "Did I get roofied 'gain?" she slurred.
"...Make that ten." Natasha said as he heard everyone else start yelling in the background.
Five minutes later they arrived, breaking every speed and traffic law imaginable. They stared at the dilapidated building with varying degrees of horror and disgust.
“He wasn’t wrong, it looks just like it did when I grew up here, well…the pool is new, and that hole in the wall used to lead to another room, but…I don’t think it’s been repaired since then.” Steve said half in shock as he stared at where one of his best friends lived.
Deciding to brave the front door, the team ran upstairs to find Darcy unconscious again, and Clint, Clint who was now poking at a rat with an arrow in its side, with another arrow while holding a chair like a lion tamer. "This thing is a demon and it's eating the vomit!" he grumbled.
"Darcy?" Jane immediately went to her friend's side. "Hey, Darcy?"
"Ugh...Jane?" Darcy tried to open her eyes but everything was bright and hurt.
"Hey, we're getting you to the Tower, okay? How long have you been sick?" she asked gently.
"I'll be work 'morrow." Darcy promised fuzzily, losing her fight with consciousness.
"Steve?" Tony gestured and Steve stepped forward, braving the mess and the rat to lift Darcy in his arms. "Great. Clint, Natasha, pack anything she might need, Jane call ahead." He crossed his arms and looked around, "I'm betting I could demolish this entire place with my very first suit."
They followed the orders quickly, Tony and the others disappearing down the stairs. It didn’t take Clint and Natasha long, Darcy apparently had very few belongings, most stacked in boxes in a closet, a few clothes in a hamper on top of a table a photo album, some Avenger plushies, that all of them blushed at and her purse. Fifteen minutes later they were rushing back to the tower.
"Okay, anyone that doesn't absolutely HAVE to be in here, leave!" Bruce ordered after ten minutes of trying to do his job with five other avengers and three non-super humans interfering.
Silence and then protests greeted him.
"Right," he whistled loudly, "Unless you have a medical degree, a PHD or are the next of kin, leave."
Jane looked over, "I'm the medical proxy and emergency contact." she offered, holding Darcy's hand.
"Great, Jane, Betty, you two can stay. Rest of you go away." Bruce ordered.
Ten minutes later as Clint and Natasha were arriving, Clint cautiously holding a birdcage with the demon rat inside with one hand and as far away from him as possible. Bruce exited the spare room,
“Influenza, common flu, she’ll be better with lots of rest, quiet and fluids.” He said to the worried crew. “If it gets worse we’ll take her to a hospital but for now she should be fine.
"So right...that's here. We can do rest and quiet." Tony nodded. He paused when everyone just looked at him, "What? I can do quiet!"
"Tony, you blew up two computers yesterday." Steve pointed out.
"Thor is a walking noise maker, no offense," Clint offered.
"None taken?" Thor looked confused.
"We'll get her her own floor fixed up but for now," Pepper interrupted them, "Is the big question: Why was she living THERE?" she questioned the others.
Tony frowned and started tapping away on his tablet, “She’s got nothing in her bank account, I thought Stark Industries was paying her?”
"No." Pepper frowned, "And I quote 'You don't get to give her orders, I'm the one paying her!'" she responded with a slight glare.
Tony winced, "I should be doing that...Doesn't she get paid from Jane?" he asked turning to the others.
"An intern’s salary based off of Jane's own salary." Bruce said worriedly. "Plus she had to move to New York and her college classes can't be cheap." He said thoughtfully.
"She's not taking them anymore." Clint said with realization, "I think I might have helped do something that led to this..." he trailed off guiltily looking at the woman in the bed.
"What?" came the response from the others.
"In New Mexico, when your hammer fell and then there were girls tazing people and the stealing of equipment?" Clint continued when Thor nodded, "We took and blocked everything. Coulson still has her iPod somewhere...To get the girls to move and work here there was a bit of a...threat, I think."
"What threat would that be?"
"He made moving here the only option, didn't he?" Natasha asked, clearly stunned and annoyed.
"What? Elaborate, please?" Tony added the second word when Pepper nudged him.
"I think that Fury might have cancelled her classes and blocked accounts until she decided to move
here and he might not have got her back into them." Clint offered worriedly.
“She was in New York, had little money if any, and had to find a new apartment?” Pepper clarified.
Jane and Betty came out of the room, “I thought Shield was paying her, Fury said he was providing for her.” She said overhearing the conversation.
"Did Fury pay to move you up here?" Bruce asked gently.
"No," Jane shook her head, "Just my equipment. Anything private was on my dime...great, and I'm a Scientist with money stashed away..."
"And Darcy's just a college student living on scholarships and intern money..."
“And Fury is a lying liar who lies.” Tony said scowling, hitting a few more keys, “JARVIS call the decorators and repair crews to fix up the 86th floor for Ms. Lewis, and look into the college thing, I’m putting back pay in this account. Clint, Natasha did you get everything clear from Darcy’s room?
Cause if not you’ll have to go back tomorrow, that building will be declared condemned.”
"She has less stuff than I did when I moved in." Natasha said blankly. "There's nothing left."
"Can we blow it up?" Steve asked, surprising them all.
"Now you're thinking like an Avenger." Tony said with a grin.
"It'll be condemned by tomorrow, and then, well next time someone attacks the city it won't be our
fault if a few stray shots hit it right?" Tony asked hypothetically of course.
****
Darcy's head was swimming. She tried to move, to sit up and get away from all the heat that seemed to be pressing in but it was hard to do. She moved her left hand and felt something painful tug it back down.
"Wha--?"
"Hey, don't move."
Darcy tried to open her eyes but was blinded by a very bright light. She tried to speak again but found her throat far too dry.
"Shh, it's okay." Someone sat down next to her, hand holding hers and another brushing the hair from her face. "You're okay."
She willed her eyes open enough to focus but only managed to take in a blur of red before she lost the battle of wills and fell asleep again.
The next time she opened her eyes she was shivering, vaguely she felt someone tuck her in and blearily looked to see “Steve?” she asked not hearing his answer before she passed out again.
When she finally woke up and could observe the room she was very confused. It was pale, done in sedate -- well, bland-- colors and one side was filled with shelving and medical equipment.
She was in a pair of loose pajama bottoms that were not hers and some weird tank top that seemed to tie at the shoulders. The top was sort of logical, given her left hand had an IV in it.
"Not good." she mumbled, looking around. How...where.
"Miss Lewis, it's good to see you awake."
"Jarvis?" Darcy questioned, "Did he blow me up in the lab finally?"
“You have been asleep for 2 days Ms. Lewis.” JARVIS said as Darcy tried to stand up. Finally managing it she stumbled towards the door, blinking as she exited the room into the bright main room. “Stark tower…good, thought I’d been roofied again…wait was I roofied again?” she asked blearily seeing the confused and concerned faces of the Avengers as she looked around.
"Not that we know of...Wait, you've been roofied?" Jane demanded, pushing past the others to Darcy's side to make sure she didn't fall and take her IV with her.
"I was in college, what do you think?"
"Same rules as first day." Bruce declared, making a dismissive motion to the others, "Jane and Me only."
"You suck." Tony told Bruce.
***
Darcy wound up sitting in the center of the couch in the main room of the common floor in over large pajamas that definitely were not hers. Judging by the tiny Captain America shields on the pants and the weird spider on the T-shirt they're Tony's.
"So you guys rescued me from my apartment?" Darcy asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Clint said, "I scaled a fire escape for you."
"You've seen my apartment." She continued quietly.
"Yes and we're using that rat monstrosity as a lab rat." Tony nodded, "So far it's eaten two cages and
tried to eat my shoe."
"I mean...But..." Darcy bit her lip.
Realizing her internal struggle, Pepper interrupted the Avengers lack of tact. "Why didn't you tell us where you were living? We could have helped you and Tony could have actually remembered to pay you."
"It was all I could afford and I didn't want you to feel bad for me."
"Didn't SHIELD cover your moving expenses?" Steve asked.
"No. I was told to move here pronto or be arrested." Darcy admitted, "My college classes were
dropped, my credits all cancelled and my accounts basically frozen when Thor crashed down and
Agent Ass took my iPod."
"I was lucky, Candy offered me the room, yeah the place was a little run down, rat infested, and...ok so it sucked, I spent most of my time here, where I went for the few days I was off didn’t' matter." Darcy continued quietly.
"Hey it was okay really, you guys needed me."
"Okay, someone needs to have a talk with Coulson." Tony declared, "And since I'm not allowed near him while he's recovering --"
"I'll do it." Several other voices offered.
"Great...Um, I have to get back before all my stuff's taken--" Darcy started only to be interrupted.
"All your stuff is in a room on Jane's floor until we get your floor painted and decorated to your tastes." Pepper told her.
“But…” Darcy started
“But nothing, that place was one tap away from collapsing, literally, building inspector reported that it be condemned and destroyed.” Pepper said ignoring Tony’s grumbling about not being allowed to throw Hulk at it.
“Tony’s also given you back pay for the time he forgot, and I’ve set up direct deposits so it won’t happen again, though this does mean he doesn’t get to use the fact he pays you against me anymore.”
"And since you're still sick you're under watch till Bruce declares you're better." Natasha added.
"But--" Darcy sighed, "I can take care of myself."
"Yes, obviously, I mean, you were only unconscious for four days, sick beyond belief for longer and obviously only eating Kool-Aid soaked pickles." Clint said dryly.
"Hey, those are awesome!"
“They’re a waste of good pickles and Kool-Aid!” Clint said sticking out his tongue.
“You were very ill, the water in that place…I saw better conditions in third world disease ridden countries.” Bruce interrupted, “You need at least another week of recovery, and fluids, rest, and a low stress environment...ok that last one is optional…”
"Great..." Darcy groaned.
"Hey, it's not that bad. This means there's movies, video games and soup!" Tony told her.
"As long as no one home makes the soup I won't protest."
“Please let us take care of you.” Steve said moving to sit beside her a small frown on his face.
“I don’t think I have a choice Cap, seems my big siblings won’t let me leave.” She said sleepily smiling at them.
“Good” she heard him say as she fell asleep.
***
The IV was gone when she next woke up which was an improvement, the sudden need to throw up everything she’d eaten since waking up wasn’t. Turning on her side, she threw up again. She didn’t notice the other person in the room until she felt someone sitting beside her, holding her gently, and wiping her forehead with a wet washcloth.
"Ugh..." Darcy turned and found Thor watching her with concern. "Hey, didn't know you were back."
"I returned while you were sleeping. I wish you'd told us you weren't well and that you weren't living in a good place." Thor said, helping her sit up.
"Okay, that was an error on my part."
“Lady Darcy, you worried us all.” Thor said helping her back into bed.”
“Sorry big guy, won’t happen again.” she said “I’ll be back up an around in no time.”
Thor smiled at her, “My Lady Jane will be happy to hear that, she and the Man of Iron are finding it harder to navigate their labs without your presence.”
"Let me guess, they haven't eaten all day, can't find their files and no one knows when they last slept?" Darcy asked.
"Indeed."
Darcy nodded, "I'm allowed visitors, right?"
"When you're awake, yes. When you're asleep only one of us can keep watch."
"Good." Darcy nodded, "JARVIS?"
"How may I help you, Miss Lewis."
"Could you tell Jane I'm awake, whiny, desperately in need of tea and she's the only one who knows
how to make it for me right?"
"You could inform me and I would try to make it." Thor offered.
"Yeah, but if we make Jane I can trap her into eating something and taking a nap cause she's a comfy pillow. Later I can do the same to Tony." Darcy shrugged.
***
Three days later Darcy felt well enough, and was cleared by Bruce, to sit in the lab under his supervision. “This place is a mess” she sniffled, “Did you eat anything but fast food while I was sick?”
“Fast food is awesome, plus you were hogging the good cooks.”
“Sorry I’ll try not to get sick again.” She said sticking out her tongue.
"What's this?" Darcy asked when he presented her with a tablet.
"Your new tablet. Stark tech. prototype." Tony told her, "You need something to work on and your laptop is ancient. There's a new phone too, waiting for you."
"Wow...Tony, you didn't have to--"
"Yes, I did." Tony told her softly, "Because I forgot to pay you and we didn't realize the trouble you were in."
Darcy sighed, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere and nodded to indicate it was done with. "Thank you."
"You're welcome!"
Within twenty minutes she had figured out the tablet well enough to order in some basic groceries for the lab along with the restock of all essentials and lunch from somewhere that didn't specialize in greasy burgers.
"Never take another sick day." Betty begged as she took the to-go box filled with pasta and veggies.
"I'll try not to." Darcy laughed.