In the six months that Darcy trained to become an agent, she developed many skillsets.
She had always been an excellent mark, having been the best at archery at summer camp and the raining darts champ at undergrad frat parties. So, when she was handed a gun, and asked to shoot three bullets at a target, it took a week for Clint to pick his mouth off the floor after all three bullets hit the center of the target with not so much as a flinch on Darcy’s part.
So weapon training had been a breeze.
Hand to hand combat did not come as naturally, however, and Darcy had to train for over twice as long as she had with her previous skillset before she passed. It was mostly because of the help that Nat and Steve put in toward the end.
The next skillset was one that Darcy wouldn’t need until her second op: Seduction.
Darcy knew that she had a great body, and she was no stranger to using it to get her way, but usually that entailed wearing a low-cut top to a bar to get free drinks, not manipulating a powerful man into spilling all his secrets.
Two weeks after her first mission with Clint, Darcy was put on assignment to retrieve a flash drive from a very powerful man with very deadly friends.
This time, Clint wasn’t the one to mentor her one on one, it was Natasha, and she new all the tricks.
Natasha was waiting in the Tower training room when Darcy walked in, wearing Gym clothes.
“Well, I’m here.” Darcy said as she walked closer to Natasha.
Before speaking, Nat handed a killer pair of heels to a perplexed Darcy before stating, “You will need these to practice.”
Darcy knowing better than to question Natasha’s better judgment quickly slipped off her sneakers, trading them out for the stilettos.
Natasha rewarded her with a nod of approval.
“The first step to manipulation is analysis.” Natasha began. “You will want to assess the target for weaknesses, interests and disinterests and press on them.” She demanded.
Darcy let that absorb, “Step one: Analyze.” Darcy repeated nodding her head in confirmation.
Natasha smirked, “Good, Now, after you find a soft spot, you have to approach, but the method in this step is crucial. If you come on too strong, you become suspicious, so, once you have your in, make friends. Convince them you are not a threat.”
“Step two:” Darcy nodded, “make friends.”
“Now the next part shouldn’t be too tricky for you.” Natasha smirked as she began to walk around Darcy in circles, “Once you have their attention, you have to keep it. Use your assets to their fullest potential to steer their train of thought toward sex. You have to be very aware of your body, making sure that every movement is deliberate in gaining the distraction of the mark.”
Darcy blushed, averting her eyes from the other woman as Natasha gave her a once over. Her skin burned. “Step three: Keep them interested.”
“The rest is pretty simple,” Natasha said in a blasé tone, “You get them to take you to their hotel room or apartment or where ever you need to go, and hint suggestively at the activities that could be participated in.
“At some point during your time with them you will have to slip them a sedative. The typical SHIELD grade sedative will take about 20 minutes to activate so you will have to plan accordingly. You get inside, they take a nap, you retrieve whatever it is you need, and you extract yourself as quickly and quietly as possible.”
Darcy nodded, “Step four: spike their drink, Step five: get in get out.” Darcy nodded again and blushed before asking, “So, should I practice on you?”
Natasha blushed as well before Quirking an eyebrow in Darcy’s direction, “Alright.” She said with a slight smile, “The situation is this: I have a flash drive in my hotel room in Prague and you need to retrieve it. Follow the steps.” Natasha then gave Darcy a devilish smirk.
Darcy let the moment sink into her before she took a step forward, the heal making a clicking noise on the floor of the training room. Darcy suddenly understood the practicality of such a shoe. She stood up straighter, walked with more elegance and purpose, and the power that came with the harsh click clack on the ground, well, that was definitely a plus.
Darcy continued to walk toward Natasha, slowly and sultrily, but with a slight reserved tone, not giving every bit of her intentions away (thank you high school theatre class). In Darcy’s imagination the fitness equipment and sparring mats of the training room blurred into a hotel bar.
Darcy racked her brain like a Rolodex for some weakness that Natasha had that she could exploit. It suddenly occurred to her.
“Excuse me?” Darcy got the attention of the red head, her voice almost a purr “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I could borrow your phone? My neighbor is watching my cat and my phone died just as I was about to call and check up on her.” Darcy pleaded, making sure to bounce a little as she did so, causing her chest to bounce slightly, calling attention to her body.
Natasha smiled, fished her phone out of the training clothes she was wearing before handing it to Darcy, “Not a problem. Nice work finding an angle. I have a cat, you are making your cover and I have a commonplace.”
Darcy nodded before taking the phone and beginning to dial the SHIELD fake phone number, talking to no one on the other end about a furry friend that didn’t exist.
When she had finished, Darcy had made a show of swinging her body around by her hips in order to face Natasha and hand her phone back to her. “Thank you so much!” She exclaimed, adding another bounce for measure.
Natasha’s mouth went dry by she didn’t let it show.
“Not a problem. I have a cat too, so I get it. What’s your name? I’ll buy you a drink.” Natasha offered.
“Elizabeth.” Darcy breathed, “and you?”
“Natalie.” Natasha held out her hand and shook Darcy’s, “It’s a pleasure.” Natasha went quickly to get two cups of water from a dispenser in the corner of the training room, handing Darcy a cup before taking a sip of the drink. “So,” Natasha began, “What brings you to Prague? Business or pleasure?”
Darcy took a sip of water, maintaining eye contact before replying, “At the moment, just business.“ She took a step closer so that she was mere inches away from Natasha, “But I could stand for a bit of… pleasure.” She drew out the last word with a suggestive gaze, before taking another sip of her water, eyes still glued on Natasha, but this time with a lacing of mirth.
Nat gulped as Darcy pulled the cup away from her mouth, her lips now moistened by water droplets.
“What do you do for business?” Natasha asked, testing Darcy’s ability to come up with a cover story on the fly.
“I’m a curator.” Darcy answered, her voice thick.
“A lover of the arts? I am as well!” Natasha responded.
“Well,” Darcy mischievously asked, “what do you do?”
“I own a small business.” Natasha said coolly.
Darcy nodded slowly, “I see, so, what are you in the mood for tonight? Business?” Darcy moved until she was close enough that her mouth was by Natasha’s ear. “Or pleasure?” She whispered.
Natasha’s knees almost gave out and even though her rational mind told her that this was a complete and utter act, that she was in a training room with her friend who she was training and that all of this was just a part of that, but Natasha couldn’t help but melt at Darcy’s tactics.
The woman was good.
Before Natasha did something embarrassing or that she would regret or both, she cleared her throat loudly and stepped away from the other woman, putting on a stone mask before addressing her.
“That was exemplary Agent Lewis. A little more details in the cover story would have suited better, but overall it was a fantastic first effort. You will definitely be prepared to face your op next week.” Natasha said before looking down and exiting the training room, making sure her face was away form Darcy as it turned a most unflattering shade of pink.
Darcy stood in the middle of the training room with stilettos on, looking after the red haired agent who had just left with an expressive mix of bewilderment and complete and utter elation.
“Well,” Darcy muttered, “That was certainly new.” She reached down and took off the uncomfortable shoes she was wearing before making her own exit of the training room.
Neither woman was aware of the archer hiding behind the weights rack, looking at the doorway both women recently exited with a smirk.
“Idiots.” He snorted before climbing back into the air vents to continue his previous mission of mapping out the duct system, this time thinking about two secret agent friends he had who were so completely and utterly oblivious.
Idiots indeed.