Marked

Marked

Chapter 5—There's a first time for everything

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers. They belong to Marvel/Disney.

Darcy watched Rogers wolf down four hot dogs and two cans of soda. She knew about his metabolism, but it was still something to behold. He looked embarrassed, noting she was still on her first hot dog.

"Thanks for lunch," Rogers said. "I could've paid. . ."

"No," Darcy said. "My treat for helping me move my stuff and decking Fury."

"Stark is still trying to come up with something," Rogers said.

"He's a genius, so it shouldn't be that hard," Darcy said. "We should fill Fury's office with Cheetos or something, but that's a waste of Cheetos."

"What's a Cheeto?" Rogers asked.

"You've never had Cheetos?" Darcy asked.

"No," he said.

"Twinkies? Sushi?" Darcy said.

"Never had a Twinkie and isn't sushi raw fish?" Rogers asked.

Darcy patted him on the arm. "We're going to have to fix this, you know," she said.

"Why would I want to eat raw fish?" Rogers said.

"Sushi isn't just raw fish," Darcy said. "You have so much to learn. . ."

"I know," Rogers said. "Don't remind me."

"Look, we can pick up some Twinkies and Cheetos before we head back to see Phil," Darcy said. "Don't want him missing your first time trying out some modern food."

"I've had all the 'modern food' I can stand," Rogers said.

"You just haven't tried the right kinds of food," Darcy said. "But enough about food. Why do you have my brother's cards, which he never, ever parts with?"

Rogers sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket, getting out the stack of Captain America cards, handing them to Darcy. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood staining them.

"Oh my God," she said. "Is that. . ."

"Yeah," Rogers said.

"Why. . ."

"Fury used them to 'motivate' us," Rogers said. "I've been carrying them around since."

"Phil is going to kill Fury," Darcy said.

"Coulson said Fury did what he thought was right," Rogers said.

"Whatever," Darcy muttered. "Phil's always been a good soldier."

"What do you mean?"

"He was an Army Ranger," Darcy said. "Then he was recruited into SHIELD. I didn't know about the SHIELD thing until last summer, but it explains a lot. Now I know why he never talked about work."

Then her phone was going off, and she reached into her pocket, reading the message, from Phil. Help me. Stark is here and he won't leave so I can sleep.

Darcy showed the message to Rogers. "Should we go rescue him?" she asked.

He shrugged.

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Against Rogers' better judgment, they did go back to the SHIELD recovery wing and "rescued" Coulson. Except the meeting between Darcy and Tony Stark was one he wasn't going to soon forget. Darcy and Stark glared at one another, sizing each other up when she walked into her brother's room, Rogers stopping behind her, watching the exchange.

"Who are you?" Stark asked. "I saw you the other night, but nobody bothered to tell me who you are."

"Phil's sister," Darcy said. "Darcy Lewis."

"The girl who tased Thor," Stark said. "Nice work, that."

"I understand you're planning something special for Fury," she said.

Stark looked at Rogers. "Nobody's supposed to know," he said.

"She deserved to know," Rogers said.

"Can I help?" Darcy asked.

"Sure," Stark said. "C'mon."

Darcy handed the bag in her hands to Rogers. "Keep Phil out of trouble," she said.

"I hope you haven't been corrupting Capt. Rogers," Coulson said.

"Phil, that's your job," Darcy said, following Stark out of the room.

"What did she mean by that?" Rogers asked.

Coulson blushed. "Nothing," he muttered. "What's in the bag?"

"Junk food," Rogers said, dumping out the bag's contents on Coulson's bedside table, sitting down in the chair beside the bed. "Stuff I've never tried."

"Cheetos and Twinkies," Coulson said. "Any donuts?"

Rogers produced a package of powdered and one of chocolate from beneath the other junk food. "Darcy said you can never decide."

"Did she divulge any other secrets?" Coulson said.

"Maybe," Rogers said, a hint of a smile on his lips, opening a Twinkie package, taking a bite. Coulson watched, interested in his hero's reaction.

"Oh my God," Rogers said. "This is. . ."

"Bad?"

"No. Amazing," Rogers said, stuffing the rest of the cake into his mouth.

Coulson bit back a smile.

"No wonder people eat stuff like this all the time," Rogers said, licking the cream off his fingers.

"Not healthy, but very satisfying," Coulson said.

"No kidding," Rogers said, wolfing down the other Twinkie in two bites, then ripped open the Cheetos bag. "Darcy said I need to try sushi, and Chinese food, and Thai, and everything Italian. . ."

"You have much to look forward to," Coulson said.

"You know, I hadn't thought of it like that until now," Rogers said. "I just kept thinking about all the things I'd missed, not everything I have to look forward to."

"I can think of a few movies you might enjoy," Coulson said.

"Sounds fun," Rogers said, reaching into the Cheeto bag, taking out one of the puffs. He eyeballed it, taking a whiff before taking a bite. "Not bad, but not as good as the Twinkie."

"Twinkies are Darcy's Kryptonite," Coulson said. "Like her Ipod."

"I do understand that reference," Rogers said. "Natasha explained it to me."

"I hope you're writing down everything you don't understand," Coulson said.

"Actually, Pepper showed me how to make notes in my phone," Rogers said.

"I can try and explain anything you're having trouble with," Coulson said. "Since I do have the time."

"I'd appreciate that," Rogers said, getting out his phone, going to his list, and handed it to Coulson.

"Get comfortable," Coulson said. "This is going to take a while."