Day seven (Nick/Darcy)
The first time Darcy wakes up her head is beating loudly and painfully. She tries to move but her hands and feet are bound. When someone opens the door with a loud bang she promptly passes out again.
The second time Darcy wakes up it’s to a rhythmic beeping and too much light. She passes out again before she can figure out what’s going on.
The third time Darcy wakes up she can feel someone holding her hand. When she tries to wake up properly some things fall into place; the rhythmic beeping indicates that she’s in a hospital and the handholding means she’s not alone. She slowly opens her eyes and thankfully the lights are dimmed. She turns her head a little and smiles at the sight of Nick Fury, laying uncomfortably in the chair, fast asleep. It’s not long before she’s asleep again.
The next two times when Darcy wakes up she answers questions of the doctors, nurses and agent Coulson who is in charge of finding and dealing with her kidnappers. It’s exhausting and it never takes her long to fall back into a dreamless sleep.
The sixth time Darcy wakes up she’s no longer in the hospital and the lack of the white room and the heart monitor scares her. She tries to get up but gets stuck in the blankets. She must have made noise because the next thing she knows is the door flying open, causing her to fall out of the bed and scramble into the corner. She must have dreamed that she was rescued.
Soft cursing breaks through her fear and she lifts her head enough to see Nick kneeling down in front of her, careful not to crowd her. “Nick?” The whisper is soft but it’s enough. He sits down beside her and lifts her into his lap, arms wrapped protectively around her. “I’m here baby, you’re safe.” He whispers as he gently rocks her. She starts to cry as memories flood her and she grasps on to his sweater to remind herself that he’s really here.
She must have fallen asleep again because when she wakes up she’s in bed again, Nick curled protectively around her. It takes her longer to fall asleep this time but eventually Nick’s breathing soothes her back into a dreamless sleep.
The next few days she sleeps a lot but she knows that she’s safe and slowly she works through what has happened. She doesn’t truly relax until one day Nick comes upstairs to tell her that Coulson caught the bastards and that they are in custody. Nick smiles when he tells her that apparently they are quite clumsy because they got hurt quite a bit during their arrest. Darcy smiles and curls up in his arms, finally relaxing.
When Darcy wakes up the next day she feels a lot better and for the first time since they got there she truly takes in their surroundings. The cottage is remote and clearly meant as a safe house. She writes a note for Nick, who’s in the office doing whatever the director of SHIELD does, and goes out for a walk. When she comes back there’s a Christmas tree in the living room and when Nick tells her that they’re staying for another week she smiles for the first time since her kidnapping.
The next morning she wakes up to the smell of breakfast and she goes downstairs with a smile. She kisses her husband and steals his coffee. It’s only after her second cup that she sees the presents underneath the Christmas tree and she squeals with joy. The reason they are here may be awful but this will be the first Christmas they get to spend with just the two of them and that is the best present she could ask for.