Darcy/Bucky 11
Darcy hadn’t really talked to Bucky since she’d saved his life with her vagina. More to the point, he hadn’t really talked to her. He hadn’t needled at her, hadn’t pressed her buttons until her temper got up. And that… She figured that was pretty telling.
So when the elevator doors whisked open and he was standing in the corner like a spider or something, Darcy paused. But she was an adult, right? She could do this. She stepped onto the elevator and turned to face the door. The adultiest.
It was… She hadn’t really thought about the consent issues going into it, it was all just emergency save a guy’s life with her vagina. After, though, she had lots of time to think, and she realized that he wouldn’t have been able to say no if he wanted to, at least not at the beginning. Nat assured her that he had given consent for her before she got there, but he hadn’t given it to her.
So that was a thing. Nat put her in touch with a therapist who’d worked for SHIELD and who had dealt with that sort of thing before, Dr. Garner. That helped.
But they still hadn’t actually spoken. And the tension felt thick enough to strangle her.
The elevator suddenly lurched to a stop, instead of the smooth you’ve-reached-your-destination glide. She stumbled a bit, hands out to steady herself. “What the fuck?” she muttered to herself. Then the emergency lights came on.
Her stomach sank. Of all the people she could’ve gotten stuck in an elevator with, it had to be him.
Silence. And not, like, normal people silence with breathing and shifting and stuff, oh no. Eerie silence. Dead silence. Darcy moved her gaze as far to the corner of her eye as she could without moving her head, but she couldn’t see him. Obviously. If she could feel his gaze on her, she might have been tempted to think he was gone.
“I never thanked you-” Bucky started, voice low, but she shook her head, one hand coming out to cut him off.
“Believe me, you did. Over and over again.” Her stomach twisted in an unpleasant way.
“Not properly, though. You didn’t hafta…”
“Fuck you?” She turned to face him, her lips pressing together as she looked up at him. “I know. Especially since you didn’t actually, you know, tell me it was okay.”
“Is that what’s eatin’ you?” One eyebrow quirked. “Believe me, Darce, I was more than okay with what happened.”
Darcy sighed. “Okay, but you didn’t tell me it was okay. Consent’s, like… Consent’s a big thing for me.”
“Hey.” He pushed away from the wall, taking a step towards her. “Before you get… Like that, there’s time to sort out who… Who you want it to be.” He reached out towards her, hand hovering just over her arm without touching her. “I said I wanted it to be you. If you were okay with it, I mean.”
She nodded. He sort of held out his arms and quirked an eyebrow, and she couldn’t help but smile in return, stepping in close against him, her hands resting on her hips. Dr. Garner had told her that, but hearing it from Bucky was different.