Sunshine

It was supposed to be a good, happy day.
And then there was near to nothing left.
They were having a great day. Thor had come back and Erik and Jane came to visit, Jane wanting to see her boyfriend more than her best friend, really. Darcy wasn’t very happy about Thor’s return being the only thing to convince her to come to New York, being that Darcy’d transferred to a college in New York and gotten an apartment and even graduated, and she’d never come unless Thor was back. Frankly, it was disheartening, but she kind of understood it, since she’d finally found out what the whole love game was about.
Of course, Tony’d tried to hit on her multiple times, despite their age difference, and she’d brushed him off. But the age difference was not the reason he was rejected time and time again; it was his attitude.
She knew it wasn’t the age difference that didn’t bother her when she got the pleasure of meeting Doctor Banner. At the time, she’d been looking for a job, and in addition to one of Tony’s romantic advances on her, he’d offered her a job. When she turned him down, though, she said she didn’t want to work for him. She said that she’d rather work somewhere else. Then Tony got an idea.
Bruce could always use a hand. So he introduced them… And with ever pizza delivered to his room by Darcy late at night and all of the things she brought him, there was a bit more than a friendship blossoming. It was awkward, at first, having Darcy blurt out suggestive comments and seeing Bruce start to blush and stammer over a response, trying to divert it from it’s intentional meaning.
But between the late-night pizzas and work, they’d both begun to like each other. Bruce hated to admit it, but he was smitten for a girl that was more than half his age. Even so… He never made a move. He didn’t dare touch her.
But she was completely the opposite. Almost every time they had a potentially romantic moment, she fought the urge to jump him with kisses and hugs… But she refrained herself, somehow.
Until one day. She’d brought Carl’s Jr. this time, not pizza. It was later than usual, too. She knocked on his door and he let her in, sighing with the knowledge that he’ll be forced out of the lab and into his room soon after eating, just like any other night. But he’d let her in, anyway, and they talked a little, until she asked about special people to him. Then he went quiet, thumbing his fingers over the sesame seeds. He said that he’s had special others, but he didn’t have any more. Soon enough, though, she’d said a few more suggestive things and let herself get closer, and she’d carefully run her fingers through his curls, making him blush almost bright red, and leaned in to kiss him. She didn’t really know how he’d react, to be honest. But she kissed him. And got as close as she could, carefully sitting on his lap, even. She didn’t know that he hadn’t kissed anyone in at least ten years, she didn’t know that he’d almost forgotten how to kiss, or how to hold someone you love.
He didn’t push her away, though.
He kissed her back gently, only beginning to freak out when she deepened the kiss and wiggled in his lap. His sharp intake of breath was a sign for her to stop, and she pulled away, making sure he was alright.
Soon she slipped off of his lap and walked him up to his room, quietly, hesitating at his door before giving him a hug and walking away.
Though, she was only to return shortly to give him a kiss on the cheek. She shyly left afterward, and she didn’t talk to him until she brought KFC to him at nine o’clock the next day, awkwardly opening the bag and giving him some food.
They didn’t talk much, until Darcy apologised for her actions, only to have Bruce brush it off, and they’d talked about it for a little while. They talked, and decided it was okay.
And that’s how things were. That’s how things stayed for awhile.
They’d kind of become a couple without saying anything, and everyone was always surprised when they were seen holding hands or just together, standing so close and being together so often. Tony’d gotten jealous but eventually became accustomed to it, and ignored it a little. They’d been together ever since, seemingly having no problems for quite awhile… They’d been together for a long time. And when Thor finally came back, Darcy was upset that Thor was the only thing to bring her back, but she didn’t care so much when she was with Bruce. It was like nothing else existed.
So she was happy.
She had he boyfriend out of the lab and at the party Tony had thrown, exclusively for Avengers and friends, including Jasper and Hill, though none of them knew that Coulson would crash the party and leave both Thor and Clint devastated the most. It was the gang, to them, really. The Agents. The girlfriends. The exes. And they all made up the Avengers. They had food and music and Tony was playing games with Sam and Clint, and there was kissing and laughing and not a bad thing happened, save for Coulson's return and bringing tears to Clint's and Thor's eyes because they all thought he was dead.
Until hell broke loose.
The tower shook and stopped after a moment, and when JARVIS said that it wasn’t an earthquake, Tony moved quickly and got his suit on, asking Jarvis some important questions as he flew up to the roof to see what was going on, and all he saw was a big, wormhole-like portal, and Tony’s stomach turned when he looked at it.Thor had soon appeared, and ao had the rest of the Avengers, ready to defend their home against whoever decided to crash their party.
Turns out, Cap knew the guy. Red Skull.
---
Soon enough, one of Cap’s old enemies from the 40’s, Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull (or, now the “Cosmic Skull,” with the power of the Tesseract and one of Tony’s stolen suits) had reduced a lot of the tower to rubble, creating a big pile of what was Stark Tower into a few heaps of cement and broken furniture and gadgetry. Thor and Sam had flown through the tower to get Pepper, Jane, Erik and Darcy out of the tower and out of the destruction zone with Hill, Coulson, Jasper and Happy before the building began to collapse, creating dust and glass and cement and everything, They’d surely gotten a few injuries when they were almost hurriedly put down into a safe area. Hulk knew that they were there, he knew that they were at a safe place, because, why would Thor and Sam put them where the danger was? So he continued on, smashing things to throw at the red man who floated in front of a portal. He'd jumped a few times, trying to get to him, only to be pushed away by a sort of force that wasn't really seen, and it only made him angrier. So he began breaking things and throwing it at the man.
But that didn't stop Darcy from trying to help, remembering Beuce's words about herself being his hero, and though she never believed it before. Maybe she could finally do that.
He'd always told her, each time he turned her down for sex or something that normal couples did, that she was his hero; she saved him from the drk place he was in. Before she began bringing him food and trying to befriend him, he was trying to kill himself. He was fasting. He wante to die. But he'd never told Darcy that. He just said that he needed the company she provided, and she was his hero for that. But she never believed it.
Since Darcy came into his life, he hadn't been starving himself. He didn't want to die as much. He didn't feel as crazy.
She just wanted to earn the title of hero.
But Hulk didn't know that. Bruce didn't. And she didn't know that he wasn't aware. She didn't know that he wasn't aware that she was behind him at one point. He wasn't aware that as he reached behind him to pick up a chunk of broken asphalt to fling at the Red Skull, that she would be hit. He wasn't aware of the damage that had been done. He didn't know that he hit her with such force until it was too late, and she flew behind the others, hitting a wall with a sickening crack before she fell to the ground, leaving a dentin the wall.
Hulk looked at the thing that he hit with the asphalt, his green features crumpling into a horrified face, and the other Avengers paused to look, Red Skull following suit, only to laugh and have his face shot at, finally getting hit by one of Tony's repulsors. Cap looked at Hulk, telling him to go after seeing the devastation on his face.
He didn't really respond to Steve, but he ran off toward the girl he'd hit, kneeling down to see Bruce's darling Darcy, almost broken on the ground. Hulk felt horrible, and Bruce was screaming at him inside his head. Bruce was scared shitless, honestly. Hulk carefully picked her up in his arms, cradling her there, gingerly, despite her cries and whimpers to leave her there.
Darcy knew who was there, helping her, even without looking. Civilians would be scared to death if they were in her place. But she'd met Hulk quite a few times, and the Hulk loved her. So she trusted him, honestly, even if he was the one who put her there. She rested her head on his chest and tried to focus on Hulk's apologies as he ran off, instead of the ache at the back of her head and through her shoulders and her back. He ran toward the park that was nearby, trying to hold her away from his chest as he ran to keep her steady, mumbling gruff apologies while she moaned in pain.
Once they were in a relatively safe area, Hulk let Banner take over, and, honestly, Bruce didn't care that he was nearly naked and swimming in his ripped shorts once he set her down and knelt next to her, cradling her to his chest. He was actually crying. He was crying, and almost bare naked as he held her, asking what hurts and trying to see how bad her injuries were.
He felt awful, and angry, and he felt like scolding her a little, too. But it was mainly his fault. The short, snarky, red-lipped girl in his arms was special to him. And he'd given her injuries that, after some inspection, clearly were not going to allow her to survive. If thy were near a hospital, he'd have taken her there to try to save her, but a hospital was nowhere near and she was too badly hurt. Even he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
And he knew she'd die right here in his arms, and he hated knowin that. He didn't like how he had to see so many of the other women he'd loved. He didn't want to see more, but he knew it was going to happen, so he leaned down and kissed her, his chin quivering and his brows furrowed. He pulled away only to apologise and tell her how he didn't know she was there and how he loved her, knowing that he wouldn't have much longer as he was running his hands along her body, despite how he knew that it hurt her to do so, just to feel how bad she was. It hurt him to do this, and she groaned at every touch, listening to his apologies with a bit of annoyance... And she shushed him as he talked, as much as she wanted to hear him before she went, she could shush him.
Her green eyes shimmered with fresh tears and she managed a shaky smile. She felt a horrible darkness try to take her, and she refused to let go yet. She reached up to painfully wrap her arm around his neck, staying quiet for a moment, watching him with hazy eyes.
"Don't.." She mumbled, letting her hand drop from his neck and it moved to brush at her hair. "...I'm not gonna make it, am I?" She asked, watching his face with a sniffle. Bruce didn't glance up like Darcy did when the agents appeared with Jane, who covered her mouth at the sight of her friend, tears welling up in her eyes. Darcy didn't say anything, but she smiled, before she looked away.
Bruce didn't answer her question, and he brushed a hand through her hair. She sighed with a groan, and her brows furrowed. "I never got to graduate.. Never got to get married.. Have kids.. Or sex, even.. Never got to grow old.. With my husband.." He mumbled mournfully, looking at Bruce. "I wish I could have lived my life with you," she stuttered.
Bruce shook his head and sniffles an he apologised. "I'm sorry, Darcy.. The least I could have done.. I could have had sex with you, at least... I'm sorry, honey," he cried, his mouth twisting in a tearful grimace.
Darcy sighed a little and reached up again, trying-and failing-to bite back her pained noises and wipe away his tears. "I wanted you to be there till the end.... I guess I got my wish." She mumbled softly, sniffling and letting tears of her own slipping down her cheeks. "I love you, Bruce.." She breathed, coughing harshly, and covering her mouth to find blood on her lips. Bruce knew that meant that something happened to her lungs. As much as he hated to think it, he knew she wouldn't survive.
"I would have stayed with you to the end if you hadn't gotten hurt, Darcy.." He murmured, and he kissed her again, not caring about the blood on her lips. He didn't care. He just wanted to have her. "I love you so much," he cooed softly, pursing his lips.
Darcy smiled a little, sniffling after the kiss. "Would you marry me, Bruce? I don't want to go without that.." She admitted after a moment, followed by a groan when she shifted in his arms.
"Yes, I'd marry you, Darcy. I would." He promised quietly, and he sniffled again, blinking the tears away from his chocolate eyes.
Darcy couldn't help whimpering a little, and she looked up at him, pausing. "Marry me, Bruce. Now... Kiss me, say the thing." She pled softly.
Jane was quiet as she watched, and cried through the exchange, and she came an sat on the other side of Darcy, crying herself. "You want help?" She asked them both softly, swallowing at the lump in her throat, and Bruce nodded. "Do you take Darcy Lewis to be your wife?" She asked in a set of makeshift vows, making Bruce choke up and nod fiercely, wordlessly. "Do you take Bruce... To be your husband?" She asked, hesitating on the name and starting to cry more again.
"I do, I do.." Darcy mumbled and bit her lip, pausing as Jane said the last bit. Bruce mumble another "I love you" before he kissed her, careful and slow.
Jane began to break down more when Darcy pulled away and coughed up more blood. When she stopped coughing, She rested her head on Bruce's lightly haired chest, sighing tiredly. Bruce knew tht, at the sight, that she didn't have much longer. Jane carefully leaned over and kissed her head, sniffling.
"I love you, Darcy.. You know that. You're my best friend," she cried, her breath horribly uneven.
Darcy nodded and let her eyes look up at Bruce, her body relaxing a bit in his arms. Bruce knew that wasn't good. And he cried a bit harder. He was almost sobbing, Almost as ba as Jame at this point.
But he sucked it up after a moment, sniffling before he kissed her nose softly, rocking her gently, pausing when Darcy's eyes dropped and she spoke up. "Sing for me, please, love.." She pled quietly, her voice weak.
Bruce didn't sing. Darcy ha attempted to get him to sing on a number of occasions, and he flatly refused each time. But he couldn't refuse it to her now. He just tried to think of something. And when he thought of something, he remembered the song his mother sang him before she was killed.
He cleared his throat, and he tried to sing, his voice breaking a lot. "...You are my sunshine.. My only sunshine.. You make me happy when skies are grey..." He started, pausing with a shuddering breath when Darcy's eyes closed and she stilled. He cried out a little and he whimpered, tugging her closer to him, hugging her tightly, ignoring Jane's sobbing.
He had to finish. For Darcy. He took a long moment, and he finished, crying through the last words.
"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you... Please don't take my sunshine away..."