A Suit of Armour around the World
Darcy couldn’t remember a time when she felt comfortable doing anything but running, depending on the set of memories you were examining, it could have been either towards or away from something - but the common theme was movement. It gave her a sense of purpose, and at the moment was something to do to distract herself from the fact that she had just managed to alienate the only people who could have reasonably been convinced to still love her.
But still, even a staircase in Stark Tower has to end somewhere, and as she reached the top of the passage she found a heavily locked door. Barely sparing a glance at the biometric scanners, she used her powers to push through the door - and immediately found herself face to face with none other than Bruce Banner. Well, technically face to face, if you don’t count the giant 3D projection of two sphere like shapes that were hovering between them.
“Uh…” She began, not quite sure what to say. ‘Sorry I just broke into your secure lab, but I just had a minor(major) meltdown and this is where I ended up’ didn’t quite sound right, even if it was the truth. The silence was broken by Tony striding over from some other part of the room, exclaiming over the beauty of his holograms. He stopped short when he noticed her standing there, and instead of expressing fear at the crackling energy coming off of her in waves, or staring at her no doubt glowing eyes - he simply continued talking as though she wasn’t there, asking for Dr. Banner’s impression of the spheres.
When one of the spheres responded to his prompting and begun talking, she jumped slightly in her spot and began slinking away, hoping her exit would be treated as casually as her entrance.
“Hold up just one second, I was hoping to ask your input on something as well,” Tony said, not even looking up from the blueprints he was going over on one of his holo-tables. Darcy found herself stopping in her tracks, the prospect of looking over something in this lab far more conducive to escaping her head than running down a bunch of stairs and potentially running into someone who wouldn’t be as blase about her presence.
The something he had wanted her input on turned out to be his most recent mark, a suit of armour built to go over his normal Iron Man suit that was built to fight ‘unfriendlies of unusual sizing’ according to the AI Jarvis(aka Small Sphere), that explained what she was looking at while Tony fidgeted nearby. Judging by the way Dr. Banner flinched across the room, Darcy figured that was the polite way of saying ‘the Hulk when he inevitably turns against us’.
She figured that asking him if the club for uncontrollable forces of nature had jackets would be pretty innapropriate, so instead she settled down in one of the stools haphazardly strewn around the large open lab and began pulling apart the hologram, occasionally stopping to write down notes about improvements or ways to maximize effectiveness. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t even notice the way that the other men in the room were studying her, watching as the static electricity that had been dancing over her body began to calm down.
After a while they continued speaking, and she briefly heard snatches of conversation about something called Ultron, but she really zoned in on what they were saying when she heard Tony utter the phrase;
“I see suit of armour around the world,” he spread his arms and Dr. Banner shook his head ruefully.
“Sounds like a cold world, Tony,” he replied grimly, and Darcy was inclined to agree. Plus, all the armour around the world wouldn’t do shit against the monsters that walked it’s earth.
“I’ve seen colder,” the other man countered, “This one, This very… vulnerable one, It needs Ultron,”
Seeing that they were gearing up for another round of arguing, Darcy rose from her spot and came over to investigate the pulsing sphere that was projected in the centre of the room.
“This is Ultron?” she asked, reaching a hand out to the force, and watching in amazement as it seemed to pulse around her hand, including her in it’s elaborate whirlwind. Pausing for a moment, Tony seemed to study her face as she studied the lifeform in front of her.
“It could be,” he answered finally, “If we let it,”
She was jerked from her fascination with the organism in front of her by the lab doors whooshing open and the Black Widow entering the room. Darcy was certain it was the Black Widow, and not Natasha, by the way the other woman held herself. Also - she had like, twelve weapons strapped to her body as she glanced wearily in Darcy’s direction.
She almost didn’t notice the way Tony subtly put himself in between herself and the threat, but she filed that piece of information away to examine at a later date.
“Natasha,” he said warily, “What can I do for you?”
“I’m just here to check up on Darcy, it took some convincing, but I finally managed to get Jarvis to let me in on her whereabouts,” Even with her enhanced hearing, she barely heard Tony mutter ‘Traitor’ to his AI in a sulky voice.
“She had a bit of an, episode… in the interrogation room, so I just wanted to make sure she was OK,” the redhead continued, staring steadily at her.
Darcy wasn’t an idiot, she could feel the caution and the fear creeping into her heart from seeing the other woman, and it wasn’t until that moment that she noticed it had been gone while she worked in the lab.
“I’m aware,” Tony replied steadily, surprising her, “We’ve been working on some stuff, and as you can see, she’s fine now,” When the Widow made no move to leave, he sighed dramatically and looked at the ceiling as if to say ‘How did this become my life?’
“Sir, I must inform you that I have been compromised, and Miss Romanoff approaches, with Mister Barnes not far behind,”
Huffing out a laugh, Tony leveled a half-hearted glare at Natasha, who was slowly starting to drop out of her battle stance.
“How many times do I have to ask you to leave my stuff alone?” he asked rhetorically before turning back to Darcy. “You ready to face the assassin twins?” he asked with a slight smile, “Or do you want me to unleash some of the suits on them and grab some popcorn?” His joking attitude diffused some of the tension she’d been holding as James burst through the door. His enhanced abilities meant he didn’t really get out of breath, but he did look frantic.
“Oh thank god you’re still here,” he breathed out, shoving past Natasha and walking straight through the projections, ignoring Tony’s indignant shout and wrapping her into his arms. “Please don’t scare me like that again,” he begged, leaning back slightly to scan her face before crushing her back to his chest. Misinterpreting his meaning, she shoved backwards and backed up until her back hit a wall.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out, and electricity began to bubble at her fingertips again, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just - I don’t know how to control it, this… myself,”
“Wha-” he looked confused for a moment before understanding settled on his face and he lunged towards her again, “No - No, you didn’t hurt me, and I didn’t mean that! I meant running away,” he stopped a step away from her, “I can’t stand the thought of losing you again,” he said, quieter and gentler this time. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, he crooked a half smile that felt achingly familiar in the best way at her, “As long as you stick by my side, we can figure the rest out,”
“Even if the rest means I lose control of my superpowers and throw you into a wall?” Darcy asked skeptically, cocking her head at him. He gave a short huff of laughter and pulled her to his side once more.
“A friend recently pointed out that you walked into hell for me without a second thought, so I think I can handle a little turbulence for you,” he assured her as he began steering her out of the lab. “Now I seem to recall you asking if my home happened to have a bed in it earlier…” he said, giving her a cheeky wink as Stark made an over exaggerated gagging noise behind them.
Darcy felt a weight lift off her shoulders and her heart as he leaned over in the elevator and whispered in her ear; “ I recently bought this box set of a show I thought we could watch together, I think it was called… Supernatural?” If everyone in the lab misinterpreted the excited squeal that escaped the lift as the doors finally shut, well, that wasn’t any of their business.