Avengers fic, part 2
In the next few days, she’s vigilant for any sign that Tony’s told the other Avengers about her apparent sexual quest. As far as she can tell, he hasn’t told anyone. He does, however, take every opportunity to drop a sly remark. Especially in front of Bruce.
Tony’s taken an interest in their research, and he’s hanging out in the lab a lot more. Every day is a struggle for Darcy to keep her cool, while Tony does everything but announce what he knows about her sex life.
If Bruce or Jane notices, they’re polite enough to not say anything. Darcy does her best to ignore him, figuring that if she doesn’t engage with him, he’ll get bored and give up. But he doesn’t.
So one evening, when Tony leaves the lab to do whatever he does after tormenting Darcy all day, she follows him out. “Hey,” she says.
He stops and turns back toward her. “Yes?”
Darcy tries to say something, but anger gets the better of her. So she marches over to him and punches him in the arm.
Tony doesn’t flinch. He actually grins. “Problem, Darcy?” He keeps moving. Darcy follows him into the elevator.
“I hate you,” she says. “Yes, I enjoy sex. Yes, I slept two Avengers. And you know what? It was good. I don’t regret it. So why do you have to be such an ass about it?”
He looks genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know it bothered you so much.”
“Seriously?” She wants to punch his arm again, but she doesn’t. “Yeah it bothers me. I don’t care if Jane knows, but Bruce-” But then, why does she care if Bruce knows she slept with Steve? “Just keep it to yourself,” she says.
“Ah,” Tony says, and nods knowingly. The elevator doors open, and Darcy sees they’re at Tony’s workshop.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” They enter the workshop together, because Darcy’s not about to drop this.
“Oh, nothing. Now, I’ve got work to do, so-”
Darcy jumps in front of him and grabs him, roughly, by his wrists. “Don’t ‘oh, nothing’ me. What did you mean by that?”
“You’ve got a thing for the good doctor,” Tony says. “Obviously.”
“I do not,” she says. She’s still holding on to his wrists. He hasn’t bothered to shake her off.
“Yeah, you do,” he says.
“It was just sex,” Darcy says.
“Maybe with Steve, but Bruce is different,” Tony says. “And don’t worry, Bruce still has a thing for you.”
“I-he does?” Darcy shakes her head. “This is stupid.” She needs to prove him wrong about this. And since Darcy doesn’t think very clearly when she’s angry, she does the first thing that comes into her head to prove him wrong.
She drops to her knees in front of him and lets go of his hands.
Tony looks down at her. “Uh. What are you doing down there?”
“It’s just sex,” she says. “It doesn’t mean anything.” She slides her hands up his legs and then looks up, watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “I wonder. Has anyone ever seduced you? Or is it always the other way around?” She cups her hand over his crotch.
He clears his throat. “You sure you want this?”
And though she didn’t come into the workshop with this in mind, the idea of blowing Tony is becoming more appealing. It’d give her a chance to torment him a little, teach him a lesson. “Yes,” she says and gives his dick a squeeze.
Before he can say anything-and God, she just knows he’s not going to shut up even when she’s got his cock in her mouth-she opens his jeans and pulls them down, along with his boxers. His dick is starting to perk up. She leans forward and lets her breath ghost over it, watching as he starts to harden further, even without her touch.
Sucking cock isn’t Darcy’s favorite activity. When it comes to oral, she much prefers doing women. No gagging, no messy, unpleasant come to deal with. But she loves completely undoing a man, leaving him begging for more. So she kisses the tip of Tony’s cock, parting her lips just enough to let her tongue swipe over the head. Tony makes a small sound, but it’s not nearly enough for her. She parts her lips a little more, sucking gently.
Then she moves her mouth away, to lick the underside of his cock from base to head. Slowly, very slowly. Again she licks the tip, then returns to the base. Tony’s clean shaven down there, and his balls are too much of a temptation. She sucks one into her mouth, her tongue massaging the smooth, soft skin. She pays no attention to his cock.
She trades one ball for the other, and Tony sort of laughs, sort of groans.
“I know what you’re doing,” he says, his voice strained. “You’re punishing me.”
Darcy says nothing, too busy lavishing attention on his balls. Finally, she lets them slide out of her mouth. “You have no one but yourself to blame.” She puts her mouth back on the head of his cock, swirling her tongue over it. She begins to suck it into her mouth. Tony’s got his hand in her hair, and he’s making sounds like he’s trying to talk, but can’t form the words.
She knows it must be agonizing for him to hold still while she slowly takes him into her mouth. She’s got to give him props, he’s doing well.
“Okay,” he gasps. “Okay. I’m sorry for all the comments.”
Darcy hums in her throat, and Tony loses control for a moment, thrusting into her mouth. Darcy gags a little and pulls back.
“Sorry, sorry.”
Darcy’s already sucking down his cock again. She picks up the pace, satisfied with his apology. She can’t quite fit the whole thing in her mouth, so she works her fist over the part she can’t reach. Tony’s making some lovely sounds, babbling about her mouth. Yes, this is exactly what she wanted. She bobs her head, moving her mouth quickly up and down his cock, until Tony’s making these interesting “uhn” noises.
It isn’t long before he starts saying, “Fuck, uhh, Darcy. I’m-” She figures he means he’s going to come, and she hums in response, letting him know it’s okay to come in her mouth. He’s earned it.
He spurts hot and bitter over her tongue-and oh, God, she’d forgotten how gross come is. She pulls away and spits it out into her hand.
Tony’s leaning against the table, breathing heavily, but he manages to toss her a rag. She wipes off her hand and then stands, wondering what’s going to happen next. Should she just leave? Going down on Tony has left her hot and bothered, but she’s not sure he’s the type to return the favor.
She starts to go, but Tony grabs her arm. “Hold on,” he says, his mouth close to her ear. “We’re not done yet.” Then he starts kissing her neck, and Darcy could get into this.
Darcy turns around and presses her lips to his. She’s pleased when his mouth opens under hers. Her last boyfriend wouldn’t let her kiss him after she sucked him off. She loves that he can probably taste himself in her mouth.
He backs her up against the table, his hands roaming over her body. He undoes her jeans and works his hand into her panties, his rough fingers rubbing her clit. He moves his mouth to her neck and starts sucking on her skin, and oh, she can’t wait until he’s doing that to her clit.
She’s so distracted by his mouth and his fingers that it takes her a while to realize what he’s doing. “Are you giving me a hickey?” No one’s given Darcy a hickey since high school. She pulls away, but she thinks the damage has already been done.
Tony grins and then gets down on his knees, tugging Darcy’s jeans and underwear to her ankles.
“You can’t just-” She interrupts herself with a soft, “Oh,” when Tony’s tongue flicks over her clit. “Uh. You can’t-oh yeah, right there, fuck.” He’s managed to find her g-spot on the first try. He curls his fingers inside her, rubbing that spot. Darcy grips the edge of the table, saying, “Oh God, oh shit,” as Tony sucks her clit and fingers her. It’s almost too much. She shuts her eyes and tries to get enough breath to moan.
She can’t, so she just pants out, “Yeah, yeah, like that.” Tony’s good at this, really good, and for a moment Darcy thinks of Steve and Thor and compares how they went down on her. All good, in different ways, but she has to give it to Tony. It’s mostly the way he’s working his fingers in her. Obviously the man is well aware of the function of the g-spot.
She can feel her orgasm coming, and she tilts her head back, her mouth dropping open in a silent scream as pleasure erupts in her.
When she comes down, she opens her eyes and looks down at Tony. He winks at her.
“Well, that was an interesting turn of events,” he says. “Worked out well, I think.”
Darcy pulls up her jeans. “I swear, if you tell anyone about this-”
He puts his hands up in mock surrender. “Not a word. I promise.”
Darcy tries to hide the hickey with make-up, but she still has a feeling that Bruce notices it the next day.
----
Darcy’s surprised to see Natasha enter the lab, but she greets her with a friendly smile. Darcy expects a curt nod from her, but instead of going over to Bruce like Darcy expects, Natasha stops in front of her.
“I’ve been thinking,” she says. “You don’t have any training in combat.”
“Uh. I took a self defense class in college,” Darcy says. “And I’m good with a taser.”
Natasha smiles. “So I’ve heard. But you really should have some training.”
“I haven’t had to fight these two off lately,” Darcy says, indicating Jane and Bruce. “Mostly they’re well behaved.”
“You’re involved in important research,” Natasha replies. “You may find yourself in a situation where you’ll have to fight off an attacker. I can help you.”
“What about Jane? She hasn’t had any training.” Darcy can’t help but find this a little odd. She doesn’t know Natasha well, but this offer seems uncharacteristic. Why would she want to help Darcy, when she’s mostly just ignored her?
“Actually, SHIELD had me work with Natasha,” Jane says. “She taught me some useful stuff.”
“So what do you say?” Natasha asks.
Darcy doesn’t have any reason to say no, so she agrees to meet with Natasha later that day.
She’s not sure what to expect when she shows up in the sparring room-she didn’t know they even had such a room. Natasha’s waiting for her.
“So, how do we start this?” Darcy asks. She’s starting to feel like maybe she shouldn’t have accepted this offer, since she suspects Natasha’s going to kick her ass.
“First, relax,” Natasha says, putting her hand on Darcy’s arm. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Darcy nods. “Yeah, okay.”
And really, it’s not too different from her self-defense class. Natasha’s surprisingly gentle, and she smiles more than Darcy’s ever seen her smile. It’s strange to see this new side of her. But it’s also nice.
Darcy’s got to admit, there’s something quite pleasant about being close to Natasha, having her touch her to guide her movements. Of course Darcy’s noticed how beautiful Natasha is, but she’s been too afraid of her to flirt with her. She hasn’t quite worked up the nerve for flirting with her now, but she does lean, oh so subtly, into Natasha’s touches.
Darcy’s shocked when she manages to take down Natasha. “Oh my God,” she says, reaching out her hand to help her up. “I’m so sorry.”
Natasha shakes her head. “No, no, it’s good,” she says. “That’s what we want. I think that’s enough for today. We can work some more in a few days.”
“You know, you don’t have to do this,” Darcy says, even though she liked spending time with Natasha.
Natasha shrugs. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to.”
And so, a few days later, Natasha comes to collect her at the lab. Darcy’s not really a quick learner, being a generally uncoordinated person, but Natasha shows a lot of patience with her.
“How’d you get so good at this?” Darcy asks, a little out of breath.
“Natural talent, I guess,” Natasha says. She’s positioning Darcy’s body for the next move, and is it just her imagination, or do her hands linger on Darcy’s hips? “All right, I’m going to come at you, and you try to take me down.”
Darcy does try, but somehow Natasha gets a hold of her and they both tumble to the ground. Natasha’s on top of her, and Darcy can’t help but laugh. “Sorry, sorry,” she says. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Natasha smiles down at her. “No.” And then she reaches down to touch Darcy’s face. Darcy’s not laughing anymore.
“Oh,” Darcy says, and suddenly they’re kissing. Natasha licks into Darcy’s mouth. They kiss slowly, like they’ve got all the time in the world to explore each other’s mouths.
Then Natasha pulls back and gets up. Darcy lies on the floor, not sure why the kissing ended.
Natasha hauls her to her feet. “So,” she says, “we’ll pick up where we left off next time.”
Over the next few days, Darcy thinks about what happened. Natasha kissed her. It was good. So why did she stop? Are they going to pretend nothing happened? Are things going to get even more complicated than they already are?
Things have gotten a little easier with Steve, though they never went back to their cultural reference education. Every time she’s with Tony it looks like it physically pains him not to crack some smart remark. And Bruce. Well. Bruce still kind of winces every time she touches him. Thor and Jane are the only ones who haven’t been acting different around her. They’ve even hinted at another threesome, but right now, Darcy doesn’t need that complication in her life.
She doesn’t know what to expect or how to act the next time Natasha shows up at the lab. “Ready?” Natasha says. There’s something in her eyes that makes Darcy’s heart speed up.
“Yeah.”
But instead of going to the sparring room, Natasha leads her to the lounge are where Darcy first met the Avengers. “Not exactly ideal,” Natasha says, “but I think it’ll be okay.”
“For sparring?”
Natasha smiles. “Not really what I had in mind.” She puts her hands on Darcy’s waist. “Unless that’s what you want to do?”
“No,” Darcy hurriedly says.
“Good.” Natasha leans in and their lips touch. It’s like the last time, slow and intimate. They end up on the couch, limbs tangled together.
It doesn’t occur to her until their kissing is starting to heat up that anyone could walk in on them. Darcy pulls back. “I really like where this is going, but this isn’t exactly the most private space.”
“Cap’s doing some publicity thing, Clint’s on a mission,” Natasha says.
“And Tony?”
“He’s working on his next Stark building, on site.”
They start kissing again, and Natasha slides her hands up the back of Darcy’s t-shirt to unhook her bra.
“Eager?” Darcy says and takes off her shirt and bra.
Natasha makes a low, pleased sound, then pushes Darcy onto her back. She lowers her mouth to Darcy’s left nipple, her tongue darting out to touch the hardening flesh. Her mouth latches on to her nipple, and Darcy sucks in a breath. Her breasts are very sensitive, and Natasha’s licking and sucking has got her so turned on she’s trying to find a way to hump Natasha’s leg. She makes several thrusting motions toward it, but can’t get contact.
Natasha notices and chuckles. “Like that?” she says.
“Yes,” she sighs, “but you are way overdressed.”
Natasha sits back and sheds her shirt and bra. Darcy reaches up and thumbs at Natasha’s nipples until they’re hard. “You’re beautiful,” she says.
“So are you,” Natasha says in a low voice. She lowers her body onto Darcy’s, and for a long time they just kiss, tongues sliding over each other. Darcy loves the feeling of Natasha’s breasts pressing against hers. Darcy likes men, yes, but there’s something wonderful about the female form, something that the male form can’t quite match.
Soon, they’re lazily grinding against each other. Natasha works her leg between Darcy’s legs, but it’s not enough. With a lot of cursing on Darcy’s part, they get their pants and underwear off. She tries to get up, wanting to get her head between Natasha’s legs, but Natasha pins her down.
“No,” she says. “Just like this.” She puts her leg back between Darcy’s legs and rolls her hips.
And Darcy was looking forward to tasting that lovely cunt, but this is good too. They kiss and grind together, shuddering and gasping.
Natasha says something in Russian and suddenly goes still. Darcy keeps thrusting against her leg, and soon she’s coming too, biting her lip as she rides out the pleasure.
They lie together, holding each other. It’s not exactly comfortable, but it feels so good Darcy’s willing to sacrifice comfort.
Natasha stirs first, disentangling her limbs from Darcy’s. She presses a kiss to Darcy’s forehead. “I have to go,” she says. “But I’d stay if I could.”
“I understand,” Darcy says. She watches Natasha dress, not bothering to get dressed herself. After Natasha leaves, she lies for a moment and thinks about what happened.
Yeah, things have just gotten more complicated.
----
Darcy’s been avoiding going out of the lab, to the point where Jane has commented on it.
“I think Clint’s back from his mission,” Jane says. “You should go say hi to him.”
Clint. The one Avenger she hasn’t slept with. One friendship she hasn’t managed to screw up. “Yeah,” she says. “I’ll do that.”
She figures he’ll be in the lounge, so she heads there. The doors are closed, and she hears voices. She pauses, remembering what Natasha and she got up to in that room.
“Yeah, yeah, you win,” Clint says. “But you cheated. And while I was on a mission. That’s low, Romanov.”
“Hey, she slept with me and not you,” Natasha says. “That’s all that was specified in the bet.”
Darcy’s head is swimming. She should go. She should turn around and leave right now. Instead, she opens the door.
Natasha’s smiling, but her smile fades as soon as she sees Darcy. “Darcy,” she says.
“You were-you were betting on me?” Darcy can hardly take a breath. She wants to cry but won’t let herself. “On who I’d sleep with?”
Natasha opens her mouth, closes it again. She takes a step forward, toward Darcy.
And fuck, now Darcy’s crying, and she’s not going to let Natasha see her like this. She turns and walks out of the room. It’s not as though they can say anything to make this better.
Natasha follows her, calling, “Wait, Darcy!”
Darcy doesn’t, but of course Natasha catches up to her and grabs her arm.
Darcy wrenches her arm out of Natasha’s grip, whirling around to face her. There’s a lot she wants to say right now, but she’s so upset she can’t really do anything but blink out tears and swallow painfully.
“Darcy, I am so sorry,” Natasha says. “I never meant for you to-”
“Find out, yeah, whatever,” Darcy says in a burst of anger. “How much was I worth, anyway? How much did you fuck me for?”
Natasha reaches out to wipe away Darcy’s tears, but Darcy slaps her hand away.
“Don’t touch me!” she says, more shrill than she intends. Darcy’s never been used like this. She thinks of the tender way Natasha kissed her forehead, just before she left. God, how could she have been so stupid?
“I swear to you, I wanted to be with you,” Natasha says. She smiles weakly. “I told you, I never do anything I don’t want to.”
“But why did you bet on it?” And then it all hits Darcy. She closes her eyes for a moment. “Fuck. You knew.” She takes in a shaky breath and opens her eyes. “Did Tony tell you?”
“No,” Natasha says, gently. “With Steve, it was kind of obvious. Tony-he didn’t say anything, but he always had this look when you were mentioned, like he wanted to say something.”
“And the others?” Darcy says, with a sniff.
“What others?”
“You don’t know? Well it turns out I’m the Avengers’ personal whore,” Darcy says. “You’re sloppy fifths.”
“Don’t say that,” Natasha says.
And she looks so open, so truly repentant that Darcy wants to let Natasha hold her and tell her it’s all right. But she doesn’t. She wipes off her cheeks, knowing that she must look awful. She’s an ugly crier.
“You could have just asked,” she says, and God, she doesn’t want to keep crying. She looks up, trying to hold back the fresh wave of tears.
“Darcy, I’m sorry.”
Darcy shakes her head and walks away. Natasha doesn’t follow her this time.
She doesn’t want to go back to the lab, doesn’t want Bruce and Jane to see her like this. She wants to go home, but her bag’s in the lab, and her keys are in her bag.
So she goes into the lab, trying to escape notice.
Of course Jane sees right away that she’s been crying. “Oh my God, Darcy, what happened?” Jane asks, walking quickly over to her.
Darcy wants to say that nothing’s wrong, but she knows Jane will just hound her for the truth. “I can’t seem to not fuck up my life,” she says. She grabs her bag, intending to leave, but Jane steps in her way.
“Just tell me what happened,” she says, putting her hands on Darcy’s arms.
Darcy’s aware that Bruce is watching them, but she can’t seem to stop what comes flooding out of her mouth. “For starters, I’m an enormous slut,” Darcy says. She glances back at Bruce. “I slept with Bruce.” She turns back to Jane. “I’ve slept with you. And Thor, Tony, Steve, and now Natasha. I’m the goddamn Avengers bicycle. Everyone gets a ride.”
Jane lowers her hands. “Oh. That’s, well, that’s nothing to feel bad about.”
Darcy laughs. “No, it should go on my resume. Darcy Lewis: ambitious slut.”
“You shouldn’t call yourself that,” Bruce says.
Darcy looks back at him. “Doc, it’s just the truth. You know, Natasha and Clint were betting on who I’d sleep with next.” She sighs. “Yeah, I’m just going to go home now.”
Jane nods. “Of course.” She gives her a quick hug, and then Darcy leaves.
She spends the rest of the day in bed, feeling sorry for herself. She really thought she had something real with Natasha. It hurts, and Darcy feels like fool for buying into Natasha’s act.
And Clint, was he planning to try the same thing with her? Seduce her before Natasha got to her? They’re not best friends, no, but Darcy did think of him as a friend. How could he do this to her?
God, what a mess. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do. What do you do when you’ve slept with pretty much all of your coworkers?
Darcy curls up with her knees pressed to her chest. She’s got to talk this out with someone. But who can she talk to who won’t judge her for sleeping around?
“You mean to tell me you had sex with Natasha in this very building?” Tony’s practically drooling.
Darcy pulls a face. “Could you, like, focus? I have a problem.”
“What problem? You should be proud of yourself,” Tony says. “You bagged the whole team, well done.”
“Not Clint,” Darcy says. “And of course I have a problem.”
Tony nods. “You still have to sleep with Clint.”
“I am not going to sleep with Clint.” Darcy’s starting to regret coming to talk with Tony, but she honestly couldn’t think of anyone else.
“Okay, so you slept with most of the Avengers,” Tony says. “So what?”
“So just about everyone knows it,” Darcy says. “They’ll all think I’m a big slut.”
Tony shrugs. “And?”
Darcy tries to think of a retort, but can’t.
“Look, everyone on this team has a past,” Tony says. “None of us are really in the position to judge someone just for sleeping around. And if they do, it’s not like it affects you.”
“Easy for you to say,” Darcy says. “You can sleep around all you want and no one cares. Because you’re a man.”
“Darcy, what do you want?” Tony says. “Right now. What do you want to happen?”
“I want to get on with my life,” Darcy says. She wants to forget about this.
“Why don’t you take some time? You know, take a break from the Avengers,” Tony says.
And it’s not a bad idea. “Maybe I’ll do that.”
She lets Jane know that she’s going to be taking a break for a little while. Jane says she understands and wishes Darcy good luck.
Darcy spends a lot of time walking around the city, thinking about her life. She likes the work she’s doing, and she doesn’t want to leave that. But some things need to change. She can’t erase her sexual history, and to be honest, she doesn’t really want to. The only person she regrets being with is Natasha, and that’s only because Natasha was with her for the wrong reasons.
The thing is, she loves each of them in her own way. Steve, Jane, Thor, Bruce, and yes, even Tony and Natasha. She couldn’t be with someone she didn’t love in some way. She’s happy to have shared herself with these people.
The more she thinks about it, the better she feels. She’s not ashamed of what she’s done. Yes, it’s made her life more complicated, but nothing’s been wrecked. She can rebuild these relationships-she hopes.
She’s walking home one evening when she becomes aware that someone’s following her. Quickly, she reviews what Natasha taught her and prepares herself for an attack.
“Darcy,” a familiar voice calls.
Darcy turns around. “Clint,” she says, a little stiffly.
Clint comes up to her. Darcy’s not exactly thrilled to see him, since she’s not quite over what he and Natasha did to her. “Haven’t seen you around Stark Tower,” he says.
“I’m taking some personal time,” she says. “How long have you been following me?”
“Honestly? Pretty much since you stopped coming in,” he admits.
“I didn’t see you,” she says.
“Kind of the point.”
For a moment, neither of them speaks.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “Darcy, I mean it. Natasha and I-we get competitive. And she really did like you, before that stupid bet.”
“Doesn’t really make me feel better,” Darcy replies. She looks away. “And you? Were you just in it to screw me?”
“I never meant to hurt you,” he says. It’s not much of an answer.
“Yeah, whatever,” Darcy says.
“I want to make this right.”
Darcy smiles humorlessly. “Not sure that’s possible.” She pauses, thinking. “Take me on a date.”
Clint looks surprised. “A date?”
“Yes,” Darcy says. “A proper date, where you treat me like a lady. No one else has lately.”
“All right,” Clint says. “I can do that. Tomorrow, at seven?”
Darcy nods. “I’ll see you then.”
So its turns out Clint has car. A really nice car.
“You have a car,” Darcy says, as Clint opens the door for her. “Nobody in New York has a car.” Darcy hasn’t driven a car in a long time; she left hers behind when she moved.
“It’s a company car,” he says.
Darcy feels kind of underdressed just getting to the car, and when they get to the restaurant, she definitely feels underdressed.
“Okay, I know you’re trying to make this up to me,” Darcy says, “but you didn’t have to go all out.”
“Just enjoy it, Darcy,” Clint says, with a smile.
He pulls her chair out for her when they get to their table. It’s kind of ridiculous, kind of sweet. She did ask to be treated like a lady, but she wasn’t really expecting all this.
“If you’re looking to impress me,” Darcy says, “you’re succeeding.”
“Good,” Clint says. “Hopefully it’ll distract you from what an asshole I was.”
And though Darcy’s still hurt, she feels more inclined to forgive him. “Did Natasha tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Darcy doesn’t know why she’s bringing this up. It’s just that she doesn’t care so much anymore. “You’re the only Avenger to hold out against my feminine wiles,” she says. “I’ve gotten everyone but you.”
Clint raises an eyebrow. “I guess you’re going to have to try harder to get me.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
The wine is way too expensive. Everything on the menu is way too expensive. Also it’s in French, and Darcy murders the title of what she orders trying to pronounce it.
And it’s all good, of course. But it’s not Darcy’s style, so at the end of the meal, she says, “Let’s get out of here. I know where we can get some fried twinkies.”
Clint laughs. “Fried twinkies, really?”
The twinkies are awesome, even Clint has to admit it. They walk along the streets, not really headed anywhere in particular. They talk about everything and nothing. Darcy tells him about meeting Thor, because he’s never heard that story.
“You hit him with a car?”
“Totally not my fault,” she says. “Although I did taser him.”
“What? Why?”
Darcy shrugs. “He was freaking me out. But I’m glad the whole thing happened. If Thor hadn’t fallen from the sky, I’d be working in some boring governor’s office. Instead I get to work with you guys.”
“I’m glad too,” Clint says. They stop. Clint’s got this look in his eye, and Darcy has a feeling she knows what’s coming.
“Wait,” Darcy says, holding up her hands. “Let’s just take this slow. I mean, I like you, but I have got to learn to go slow.”
“I get it,” Clint says. “I’ll take you home. Won’t even ask to be invited up to your apartment.”
Once they’re at her apartment building, she starts to regret her decision to take it slow. Clint says goodnight, and he’s just about to leave when Darcy grabs him and kisses him. “Sorry,” she says, “couldn’t help myself.”
Clint grins. “Don’t be sorry.” He pauses, shifting from one foot to the other. “So, you want to do this again some time?”
“Yeah,” she says, feeling like she’s fourteen again, coming home after her first real date. “But I’m picking the activity.”
A few days later, they’re at Stark Tower.
“I don’t see how you consider this a date,” Clint says.
“We can go back to my place after and break open my box of wine,” she says. “But I want to see what I can do.”
“After two lessons with Natasha?”
“Hey, I took her down one time,” Darcy says. “Besides, from my experience, sparring leads to interesting things.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“All right. I’ll try not to hurt you,” Clint says.
“Bring it.”
He comes at her, and Darcy tries to do that move Natasha showed her, but Clint just grabs her and throws her over his shoulder. Oh, strong. She likes strong men. “Well, you’ve got me now,” she says, in as sexy a voice she can manage considering the position she’s in. “What are you going to do with me?”
He puts her down, gently. “I’m going to teach you some proper moves,” he says, “because that was just pathetic.”
Not exactly the answer she was looking for, but the teaching involves enough lingering touches that Darcy can forgive him. More than once, she ends up flat on her back with Clint standing over her, looking smug.
“I’m going to show you,” she says. “Once day I’ll be able to kick your ass.”
“Yeah, I’ll be waiting.” He helps her up for the fifth time. “So,” he says, casually, “want to go back to your place?”
Darcy should at least try to be coy, but she just smiles and leads the way out of the sparring room.
Clint laughs when she brings out the box of wine. “I thought you were kidding about that,” he said.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” she says, pouring the wine into a plastic cup because she’s out of clean dishes.
“Well, this does take me back to my college days.”
Darcy fiddles with her iPod, trying to find just the right song. Finally she finds it and hits play.
“Marvin Gaye,” Clint says, deadpan.
Darcy blinks innocently. “I happen to like him.” She settles next to Clint and places her hand on his knee.
Clint smiles faintly. “Yeah, I can see why no one else has been able to resist you.”
“My feminine wiles are impressive,” Darcy agrees. She starts to slide her hand up his thigh.
“I, uh-” Clint clears his throat-“I thought you wanted to go slow.”
“That was dumb of me to say.” She leans forward to press her mouth to his neck. She parts her lips and licks his skin.
Is she really doing this? Is she really jumping into bed with the last Avenger? Think, Darcy, she tells herself. Are you prepared to accept the consequences of this?
Clint tips her head up and starts kissing her, and Darcy stops thinking.
“I’m not a slut,” she says against his mouth.
“I know,” he says and keeps kissing her.
She pulls away. “I mean, I’ve only been with two guys and a girl before this year.”
“Darcy, I don’t think you’re a slut,” Clint says.
“I just wanted you to know,” she says. She goes back to kissing him, and it’s sweet and slow.
She considers protesting more, but she’s afraid that will make him stop. And with his hand sliding up the front of her shirt, with her hand sliding over the front of his jeans, she doesn’t want to stop.
Their undressing is a slow process, interrupted often by kissing. Even once they’re naked, they just stand together for a moment, bodies and mouths pressed together.
Darcy pulls out the futon and lies down. Clint kisses her collarbone, strokes the inside of her thigh with his hand. He takes his time with her, kissing and touching her all over, but never touching her where she most needs him to. She doesn’t think he’s trying to torment her. It’s more like being worshiped.
She’s never liked the term “making love,” but it’s the only term for what follows after Clint enters her. It’s hot, yes, but above all it’s loving.
When she comes, she holds onto him, shaking and gasping through her orgasm. Clint comes shortly after she does, in near silence, save for the single breath he lets out. He pulls out and lies next to her, his hand finding hers.
And suddenly, Darcy feels a rush of sadness, because that was wonderful and she likes Clint, but-
She turns toward him, feeling like she should apologize.
But she doesn’t have to. “I know,” he says. “It’s okay.”
He stays the night, his body pressed close to hers, and in the morning she kisses him goodbye. She’s not sorry she slept with him. As with all the others, she can’t help but love him in her own way.
But she’s never stopped looking at Bruce, never stopped wanting to touch him. He’s been at the back of her mind all along, even when she was with the others.
She goes back to the lab that day and pulls him aside. It’s been long enough since their encounter that he doesn’t look panicked when she says she wants to talk to him alone.
She’s never been good at easing into things, so she just says it. “I want to be with you.”
“Darcy,” Bruce says, looking like he’s winding up for a long explanation of why that’s not going to happen.
“I don’t want to hear that it’s wrong or that it’s not going to happen,” Darcy says. “I’m just letting you know. And I’m not going to just sit around pining. I warn you, I play dirty.”
He doesn’t smile. He just looks tired, as always.
Darcy puts her hand on his cheek. “Why can’t you have this?”
“People get hurt when they’re around me,” he says. He doesn’t pull away.
“You’re dumb,” she says, softly, and then steps forward so that she can clasp her hands behind his neck.
They stand like that for what feels like a long time. He doesn’t kiss her, doesn’t say anything.
Darcy unclasps her hands and steps back. “So, think about it,” she says.
He lets out a breath. “Yeah, okay.”
It’s not a no, not exactly a yes, but it’s progress. They return to the lab. He goes back to his work, and Darcy does hers, smiling the whole time. Every once in a while she’ll catch him looking at her, which only makes her grin more.
He’s not saying yes. Yet. But for once in her life, Darcy feels like she can be patient.