mistake | darcy/tony, soulmates (part two)
The second time Darcy Lewis met her soulmate, it wasn’t chance, and it wasn’t serendipity. It was planned, a tactical move to push him off kilter – Natasha had suggested it, coolly rebuffing any and all of the vehemence sent her way for “even daring to think of using Darcy like that,” but she’d insisted.
“Besides,” the redhead said smoothly, calculating and curious as she stared Darcy in the eye. “I doubt he’ll care all that much.” It wasn’t meant to be a barb, but it felt like one – she bit her lips though, because the assassin was right. He probably wouldn’t care.
Regardless, Darcy agreed, and she stood between Wanda and Sharon in the Avengers HQ conference room as her soulmate stalked in, all traces of his normal personality washed away by the tight lines around his eyes.
Despite his rejection of her, she drank him in, soaking in the force of his presence before he saw her. She probably wouldn’t ever see him after this – not if it was going in the direction she was thinking, and not with whom she was with now – but he was still her soulmate. She wanted to remember him, pain and all else aside, as a reminder of whom she actually chose to be with.
“Tony,” Steve greeted, nodding his head cordially.
“Capsicle,” he said, flippant and a little mean as he waved a careless hand, his blasé demeanor at odds with the tense lines around his mouth and the whiteness of his other hand, clenched in a tight fist. His gaze travelled around the room, a sneer growing across his face as he catalogued the faces in the room. Natasha and Maria gave him matching sharp smiles; Wanda’s was a little softer, and Sharon’s was a little blander. Both Sam’s nod of acknowledgement and Scott’s cheery grin were ignored in favor of James – the sneer turned into a snarl. His eyes traveled to Clint, leaning against the wall, an arrow spinning in his fingers, before returning to Steve, who was blocking Darcy from his view. “Looks like a full house. I’m flattered.”
Steve pursed his lips, before stretching his mouth into a tight-lipped, hollow smile. “Only the best for a Stark,” he said, and he stepped forward and to the side, putting Darcy right in her soulmate’s line of sight.
When he saw her, she could tell he didn’t really register her presence as he dismissed her, looking back to Steve. Then, he had a double take, his head snapping back to where she was standing, he flinched, as if struck by a live wire. His face shifted from shock to rage. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Tony hissed, and at that Darcy recoiled, the action severe enough that both Sharon and Wanda’s hands shot out to steady her in concern.
He looked startled at her reaction, frowning and stepping forward, but she squared her shoulders, fixing her expression into something impassive and stoic as she replied acerbically, “What does it look like, genius?”
His eyes widened as she said the words, and James growled, shifting protectively in front of her as Steve’s mouth tightened, his eyes turning cold.
“You have no right to speak to her like that,” Steve said lowly, and Tony stilled, his eyes darting between her, Steve, and James. She could see when it finally registered, the blood draining out of his face.
“You chose them,” he whispered, and she felt fury course through her body when she saw the betrayal in his expression – as if he had any right to feel betrayed, to feel hurt. “Over me?”
“You chose her,” she mimicked, and his face twisted as she pushed James aside, stepping forward as the anger and rage and fury swelled in her heart. Her voice rose as she spat out, “over me?”
His face turned cold. “I’m married.”
“And I’m in love,” she shot back. “With them.” She reached out to grab Steve’s hand, watching as Tony’s eyes darkened – and when James stepped up to take the other, her soulmate looked furious.
“You’re making a mistake, Darcy.” And when he said that, she began to laugh hysterically.
“A mistake?” she barked, bitter and incredulous as she shook her head. “Do you even know what it’s like, to have a soulmate who doesn’t want you? Let me tell you – no, you don’t, because you were the one who pushed me away. You’re married – fine, but did you ever stop and think about the fact that maybe, just maybe, I’d understand? You didn’t even give me a chance before you shoved me out of your life, thinking that buying me shit would make up for treating me like a goddamn leper! And every time I tried to talk to you, every time we were in the same room together, you either avoided me, left as quickly as you could, or pretended like I didn’t exist.” Steve stiffened, and she could feel everyone’s eyes on her as she spilled her heart out, clutching the two hands in hers tightly.
“Two years since we’ve met, and this is our second conversation. Ever,” she continued, her voice breaking a little. “And today – right now? This is the first time I’ve ever heard you actually say my name.”
Her voice echoed a little, her words ringing sharp in the room before fading into silence. Steve was staring down at her in concern while James was bristling at her side, and everyone else was quiet, either looking at her or watching her soulmate.
Tony opened his mouth, and then closed it, staring as if seeing her for the first time. She looked him dead in the eye, recognizing the beginnings of guilt, and said softly. “Waiting and trying for two years was a mistake. This? This is me, fixing it.”