Sweet Nothings

When Darcy forced herself out of bed and struggled with her eyes closed to pull on a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt, she was really wishing she had a secret stash of alcohol in her room. She’d been lucky enough not to have classes before noon through the entirety of her college life, so waking up early to work at the bakery just about every morning was beginning to catch up with her. She stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Bruce thoughtfully passed her a cup of coffee.
Darcy drank greedily, glancing out the window. “At least it isn’t snowing.”
“I wouldn’t hold onto that thought,” Tony said, shifting his newspaper to look at her. “There’s a snowstorm due sometime in the next few days. No one can be sure of much except that it’s going to be a big motherfucker.”
“That’s reassuring,” she grumbled sleepily.
Peter tossed her an apple from the bowl on the counter. “I don’t know why you’re so against snow, Darcy. I swear, it’s like you were jumped by Jack Frost when you were a kid or something.”
“It is too early for your judgy bullshit, Peter Parker. Too early,” Darcy warned.
Natasha swept into the room, looking like she’d been up for hours. “I just got off the phone with our dairy supplier. Because of the storm that’s coming in, they’re pulling all of their trucks off the road tomorrow afternoon. When we get to the bakery, I need everyone to help track the supplies so I can get an emergency order in by noon.”
Tony saluted her with a piece of toast. “As you wish, madam.”
Natasha swiped the other piece of toast from his plate and pointed at Darcy. “You’re with me, kiddo. We’ve got a meeting with Professor Fury in half an hour. Grab your coat.”
Darcy followed orders, but couldn’t help the inkling of worry that crept into her mind. “I’m not in trouble, am I? We aren’t, like, on our way to my hanging are we?”
Natasha laughed and ushered her outside. “No, nothing like that. Fury called me a couple of days ago and asked me to bring you in today to discuss the terms of your probation.”
Darcy froze in her tracks. “What?”
“Don’t worry, Darcy. They’ll be changing for the better, I promise you that,” Natasha said as she unlocked the car.
Darcy all but fell into her seat and gripped the door handle tightly. They drove in silence for few minutes before Natasha glanced over at the intern.
“Hey,” her voice was soft. “I promise, it’ll be okay. I won’t let them throw you under the bus.”
Darcy smiled nervously. “I know you won’t. It’s just that, the last time I was in a meeting discussing the terms of my probation, I may or may not have gotten in a bit of an...argument with Professor Fury.”
“Oh?” Natasha arched an eyebrow. “Well, I’ve known Fury for a long time. He tends to respect the people who have the gall to stand up to him.”
Darcy bit her lip. “How does he feel about people who possibly, shall we say, ‘tangoed’ with his secretary?”
Natasha couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that escaped her. “You what?”
“It was stupid. Professor Fury laid down the law and then tried to dismiss me without letting me defend myself, and I got upset. He buzzed his secretary to have her escort me out, and I reacted without thinking. I would’ve felt bad about it, too, had I actually hurt Ms. Hill, but she held her own. After Fury broke us up, he actually listened to my side of the story, so I guess it was worth it,” Darcy sighed.
Natasha shook her head, grinning proudly. “Oh, God love you, Darcy Lewis.”

Tony pushed aside the stack of invoices on his desk and opened his laptop. He worked quickly, glancing at the clock every few minutes to make sure he wasn’t cutting the time too closely. T-minus two minutes before the scheduled time, Clint slipped into his office.
Tony glanced up at him. “Are you sure about this?”
Clint nodded once. “I have to at least hear him out.”
Tony sighed. “All right. You’re all set. You want me to stick around?”
“That’s not necessary, but thank you,” Clint smiled.
Tony hesitated before moving toward the door. Clint followed him and locked the door, then took a seat behind the desk to wait for the call.

“Miss Lewis, Ms. Romanoff, please come in and have a seat,” Professor Fury gestured to the chairs across from his desk.
Natasha sent Darcy an encouraging look as they took their seats and Darcy smiled gratefully.
Once they were all settled comfortably, Fury folded his hands on his desk. “So, Miss Lewis, I hear you have been doing remarkably well at the bakery these past couple of months. Is that correct?”
“It is, sir,” she confirmed.
“And are you enjoying yourself?” he asked.
Darcy thought for a moment he was joking. “Um... yeah, I have a lot of fun at the bakery. The work is always interesting and the people I’m working with have taught me a lot. Not only about their trade but also about life in general. I like to think I’m a better person for having spent so much time with them.”
Fury studied her for a moment. “Why do you say that, Miss Lewis?”
“Well, we’ve come to be more like a family than just coworkers. I’m sure you’re aware that Mr. Stark purchased a large estate recently and that he extended an invitation to not only his permanent coworkers, but also Peter and I to live there with him. In the time I’ve worked and lived with these people, I’ve grown close to all of them, and I’d guess they feel the same way about me. They recently helped me through a bit of a rough patch in my personal life, and when Peter was attacked a while back, Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers both took care of him as if he was their own child,” Darcy told him.
“And, Miss Lewis, do you think in the time you’ve spent with them, that you have learned the lesson I wished for you to learn when I laid out the guidelines of your probation?” Fury inquired.
Darcy glanced down at her hands. “You told me that in order for me to be released of my probation, I needed to show that I was capable of stepping up and taking responsibility when I’m needed, not just when I want to be. In all honesty, sir, there isn’t any part of the job, nor any person working at the bakery that I wouldn’t do absolutely anything for, so I don’t think it would be fair for me to say that I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Well, that’s all I needed to hear,” Fury said, straightening.
He pulled a slim folder from the wire rack behind his desk and flipped it open. He signed something inside of it and passed the folder to Darcy.
“It was good to see you, Miss Lewis. You, too, Ms. Romanoff. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important video conference scheduled in just a few minutes. I trust you can see yourselves out?” Fury stood to shake their hands.
After Natasha closed the door behind them, Darcy stopped walking, leaning against the wall, the folder clutched tightly in her hands. Natasha took her by the elbow and led her down the hall and out to the car.
“Don’t worry about it, Darcy,” Natasha tried to soothe her. “If it was something terrible, he would’ve told you face to face. Trust me, I’ve seen Professor Fury handle his students before.”
“I’m such an idiot,” Darcy moaned. “Why couldn’t I have just said I’d learned my lesson?”
“You have learned your lesson, Darcy,” Natasha said softly.
Darcy lifted her head to look at the redhead.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Natasha smiled wryly. “Personally, I think you learned your lesson the first day you came to us. From practically the moment you introduced yourself, you’ve been willing to do just about anything to help us all. Do you remember the wedding cake that you, Peter, and I had to remake? Or the time you stayed until three in the morning helping Bruce bake cookies for a charity auction? What about the countless times you’ve volunteered to go on supply runs or deliveries because we needed an extra person, even if it meant canceling your own plans? I’d say you’ve more than learned to step up to the plate.”
Darcy was quiet for the rest of the ride. When Natasha pulled to a stop next to the curb outside the bakery, she looked over at the younger girl.
“Do you need to take a minute to yourself?” she asked.
Darcy shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
Peter met them at the door, looking as nervous as Darcy felt. “How did it go?”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”
“What’s in the folder?” he poked at the thick paper.
“I’m kind of scared to look,” she admitted.
Natasha patted her on the shoulder. “Open it, Darcy. I gave a good feeling about the meeting.”
Darcy took a deep breath before flipping open the folder. Her eyes scanned the first page quickly, catching on a few important fews. She hurriedly flipped through the couple of other sheets behind it before looking up triumphantly at Peter and Natasha.
“Oh my god,” she gasped out.
“What?” Peter’s forehead scrunched in concern.
Darcy flipped the folder around. “They’re releasing me from my probation, and they’re increasing my scholarship money!”
“‘For the service and initiative you have shown the community, the university, and the business of the Shield Bakery, we would like to congratulate you for receiving the Erskine Memorial Scholarship.’ It says here that the scholarship is awarded to students exhibiting the traits of honor, duty, integrity, and independence. This is amazing, Darcy!” Peter laughed.
Natasha pulled Darcy into a hug. “Congratulations, kiddo. You deserve it.”
Their hug was cut short by Tony walking into the room, his face drawn and serious.
“Tony, what happened?” Natasha demanded, immediately alert.
He glanced between Darcy and Peter and gestured for her to join him up on the balcony. She followed, giving the interns orders to head into the kitchen to lend a hand.
“What’s going on, Tony?” she crossed her arms and leaned against the glass doors.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I got a call from the Department of Defense this morning, and about an hour after that, I received a request for a video conference with Barton. He’s with them right now in my office.”
Natasha’s face hardened. “How could they do that to him? Are they calling him back into the field? And what the hell is the DOD doing involving themselves in a mission?”
“They aren’t involved directly,” Tony corrected her. “They received some alarming intel, and passed it on to someone at the agency, who then arranged for a meeting with Clint.”
She bit her lip. “Do you think he’ll take the mission?”
“I think,” Tony sighed, “that if they can make the case personal, he’ll take it without a second thought.”
Natasha’s head snapped up. “Not Barney.”
“I wish I could say they were above that, but we both know better than that,” Tony said cynically.
“He has a civillian life now, Tony. He can’t just pack up and disappear like he used to. He has friends. He has a family,” she spat out.
Tony put a hand on her shoulder. “Nat, he’s a grown man. We can’t make this decision for him. If he chooses to go with them, it’ll be a tough decision, but we need to support him.”
“I know,” Natasha breathed. “The last time....the last time he left on a mission, he almost died. I thought I was never going to see him again. He was in that hospital for almost three months, and it wasn’t until the last couple weeks of that that anyone was even remotely confident that he was going to pull through. I can’t go through that again. I can’t watch my best friend die.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Tony responded quietly.

That evening, Tony and Steve left the bakery early for a dinner with the governor. Wade showed up to steal Peter shortly after, and Bruce bowed out about the same time, meeting Betty on the sidewalk. Natasha waved goodbye as she dashed out to meet Bucky. The bakery was left in the somewhat capable hands of Thor, Darcy, Loki, and an unusually quiet Clint.
“I say we order pizza and have a flower making contest,” Darcy proposed.
Thor laughed heartily. “I fear I would most assuredly lose that competition. My fingers are not quite suited to such a delicate art. I prefer molding the metal armatures needed to support the more elaborate creations. I am quite talented with a hammer.”
“I’m sure you are, big guy,” Darcy winked.
Loki laughed lightly. “I, on the other hand, am quite good at making flowers and I accept your challenge.”
“How about you, master decorator? You up for a steel cage match?” Darcy nudged him.
He started, having been lost in thought. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“Come help me gather the supplies,” Darcy asked.
He followed her up the ladder and headed for the shelves of tools. When he turned back, Darcy was studying him carefully, her arms crossed over her chest.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him bluntly.
“Nothing,” he replied automatically.
The look on her face clearly said she didn’t believe him.
Clint backtracked. “I just got a call this morning that was a little unsettling. It’s no big deal, it’s just a lot to think about.”
Darcy seemed to accept this. “Okay. If you need to talk, you know where I am.”
He smiled gratefully, knowing she meant it. “Thanks, Dancer.”
“You’re never going to forget that, are you?” she laughed.
“Not a chance in hell,” he confirmed.
Back on the ground floor, Loki had cleared space on one of the tables.
“All right, here’s how it’s going to work,” Darcy began. “We’re going to see who can make the most poinsettias in five minutes. Thor, you can keep time and count the flowers after time runs out. Each flower has to be completed to be counted. Deal?”
Clint and Loki both accepted the terms and they all took their places, waiting for Thor’s cue. He nodded and they set to work, their hands moving so quickly that they nearly blurred. Clint’s elbow bumped into a can of shortening, sending it to the floor. He cursed, but didn’t spare the time to retrieve it. Darcy’s brow was furrowed as she worked, her fingers working nimbley with the fondant. Loki was the most graceful of the three. He was working at the same pace as the other two, but he made it look effortless and beautiful. It was a good thing Darcy was distracted, or she would have been extremely jealous. Thor called time and everyone’s hands froze as they stepped back from the table. In the end, Clint won by two, with Darcy and Loki tied.
“All hail the master,” he teased.
Darcy rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully. “Whatever you say. I’ve only been doing this for a couple of weeks and I only lost by two.”
“I taught you everything you know,” Clint pointed out.
Darcy smiled evilly. “Not everything.”
“And on that note,” Loki broke in, “we’ll bid you two a good evening.”
After the brothers left, Clint and Darcy spent a few minutes cleaning up the remains of the competition before packing up to go home. Clint was switching off the lights when a thought struck him.
“Natasha drove you to work this morning, didn’t she?” Clint said.
Darcy nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“Because I rode with Tony. Who is now across town. With the car,” Clint explained.
Darcy stared at him. “Balls!”
He laughed in surprise. “What?”
“Nothing. I hope your boots are made for walking, because it looks like we’re going to have to hoof it home,” Darcy said.
Clint grabbed his coat off of the hook and slipped it on along with a knit cap as Darcy pulled on her gloves and a red snow hat. Clint held the door for her and made sure to lock it before they trudged toward home.
“Holy Christ,” Darcy gasped out. “It’s colder than Jack Frost’s nipples out here.”
Clint chuckled. “Miss Lewis, you have a way with words.”
“It’s a gift and a curse,” she shot back.
Clint nudged her with his elbow. “Nat told me about your scholarship. Congratulations. It sounds like a pretty big deal.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s a hell of a lot better than what I thought was going to happen,” she admitted.
He cocked his head to the side. “What’s that?”
Darcy flushed. “In all honesty, I really thought I was going to get kicked out. I’ve never really gotten along too well with authority figures, so when I’m forced to meet with them, it usually results in some shitty circumstances for me.”
“The bakery, was that one of the shitty circumstances?” Clint pressed.
“No. I think the bakery is the best thing to happen to me since puberty hit,” Darcy replied easily.
Clint smiled. “Just the bakery, or the people, too?”
“Yeah, you guys are pretty great, aren’t you?” she teased.
Clint stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. “You know, I thought Natasha had lost her mind when she told us she’d agreed to take on a couple of college interns. I was so sure you two would be nothing but a pain in our collective ass. Now, I can’t believe we went three years without you and Peter. You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”
Darcy looked at the snowy ground. “It’s nice to hear.”
They were quiet for a while as they walked down the street, the stars blotted out by the streetlamps. The scenery started to change, and instead of businesses, they were passing houses. Darcy paused at the end of a driveway where a truck was parked, a large boat hooked to the back.
“Who the hell has their boat out in the winter? Aren’t you supposed to store them?” Darcy flapped her hand at the snow covered monstrosity.
“Technically, the bay wouldn’t be frozen this time of year. If the person was willing to risk the cold and the rough waters, they could go out anytime,” Clint told her.
“Ah, yes, the master returns,” Darcy joked.
“Hey, I’m great at boats,” Clint said.
Darcy let out a snort of laughter and started walking again. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Why, Darcy Lewis, does boat prowess turn you on?” Clint mocked. “You have a ship fetish, don’t you? Oh, take me now sailor!”
Darcy howled at his dramatic demonstration of a swooning woman. “I do not have a ship fetish. That’s not to say I haven’t had my way with a pirate or a mermaid or two.”
Clint raised an eyebrow. “Now I’m curious.”
“Halloween, 2009,” she explained. “I went as a treasure chest.”
“How exactly does that work?” Clint asked.
Darcy grinned. “You stuff your bra with gold plastic coins and paint a red X on your chest.”
Clint laughed. “Very creative.”
“Hey, Black Beard and Ariel bought it,” Darcy shrugged.
“Fair point,” he nodded.
They both chuckled to themselves. At that moment, Darcy looked up and realized that something was different.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” she shouted, half laughing. “It’s snowing!”
“Darce, it snowed last week. Plus, I thought you hated snow,” Clint pointed out.
“Yes, but this is special snow! This is almost-birthday snow!” Darcy said excitedly.
Clint grinned at the childish glow of happiness on her face.
“It’s good luck to get snow on your birthday,” Darcy told him. “It means a year of happiness and good fortune.”
She turned toward him excitedly and caught the look on his face. It made her heart beat faster and her mouth go dry. She subconsciously ran her tongue over her lips and she saw his eyes flick down at the action. The soft look he’d had just a moment ago was replaced with something much more intense. She could practically feel his gaze on her face. Clint took a step forward and before he could make a move, Darcy had risen onto the balls of her feet, her lips finding his easily. His lips were chilled from the winter air, and she shivered at the soft pressure of his mouth on hers. His hands slipped around her waist, pulling her closer. The heat from their bodies mingled as their lips moved against each other. It was a long moment before Darcy dropped back to her heels, breaking the kiss. Clint kept his hands on her waist.
He looked down at her, noticing the excited flush that colored her cheeks.
“Well, that was a surprise.”
“I like surprises,” Darcy murmured.
“Me, too, Darcy,” Clint said, brushing a short kiss across her lips. “Me too.”