Darcy/Matt 2
Claire had called her. Claire had called, because of course Matt sure as shit hadn’t. It was the middle of the night, and Darcy had thrown some clothes on and got over to Matt’s apartment just as quickly as she could.
Darcy let herself into the apartment with her key. Claire was still there when she arrived, just picking up the mess of swabs and gauze before taking off her gloves. She waited until the cleanup was complete, not wanting to get in the way.
“Thanks,” came out quietly, almost a whisper as Claire got to her feet, moving towards the door.
The other woman nodded, shooting a glance over her shoulder to where Matt was stretched out on his couch, and gave Darcy a strained sort of smile before she left.
Letting out a long sigh, she moved over to the couch. Matt’s eyes were closed but he was awake, looking absolutely miserable as he lay there, covered in stitches and antiseptic.
She sank to the floor, looking over into his face. “So there’s this guy I work with, his name is Tony, and he’s sort of like an inventor? He’s actually made body armor before. Like… Actual body armor.” This wasn’t the first time this had come up. “For Captain America, so you know that shit is built to last.”
Matt shook his head. “No.” That was always his answer. “He has more important things to worry about.”
Darcy sighed again, turning away from him to lean back against the front of the couch, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “You are important,” she told him quietly. “And not just to me.” Tears stung her eyes. This was the worst part of loving someone like Matt. Knowing that this was going to happen again, and that the next time she might be called down to the morgue instead of his apartment.
His fingers brushed over her shoulder, combing through her hair. “Darcy…” Of course he probably smelled the salt from her tears.
“You’re the one bleeding, yet I’m the one crying.” She shook her head, shaking off his hand and reaching up to impatiently dash the tears away. “I need you to not die, okay? I mean, I know you have a lot going on right now to worry about what I have going on, but I just… Really need you to not die.”
There was no answer for a while, just the sound of the city moving on outside. “I’m looking into body armor,” he replied, voice hushed. This time when his hand brushed over her shoulder, she didn’t shake him away. Instead she reached up to rest her hand over his. She didn’t say anything, just sat there against his couch, futilely wishing that there wouldn’t be a next time.