Mr. Pierce And His Granddaughter
The drive from New York to Washington D.C. was a peaceful one. As they got closer to the clients home, Darcy couldn't help bur notice and recognize the area that they were in. However, when she looked in front of the van in front of them, Darcy started to panic. If this was the client, she couldn't be here.
"Bucky, let me out. Bucky, let me out!", Darcy started to say. Bucky looked at her with a confused look. "What? Why? We're almost there", he said to her. Jane, Thor and Clint were starting to pay attention to their little drama. "Bucky, let me out! Now!", Darcy demanded. "No. We are almost there. Just wait", Bucky said. But nobody anticipated what Darcy did next. She grabbed her purse and opened her door. Bucky slammed on the brakes, causing the truck behind them to also slam on their brakes, and stopped about ten feet from entering the property. Darcy proceeded to get out of the van and walked off without saying a word.
"What the hell? Why is Darcy leaving like that?", Jane asked. Bucky shook his head, "I have no clue." He continued to drive onto the property and parked behind the other van. Bucky looked to where Darcy went as he got out. Everyone else looked confused as they got out of the vehicles.
"What's going on? Where's Darcy?", Tony asked. "Don't really know. Darcy started to freak out right before we got here and actually tried to get out of the van while it was still moving", Bucky said. Tony looked to where Darcy went off. "Ok. Well, let's go do the interview and then figure out what's up with Darce", Tony said. Bucky nodded and followed Tony to go get things ready.
Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Sam went to go talk to the client. As soon as they rang the doorbell, a man of Hispanic descent answered the door. He introduced himself as Jasper Sitwell, the butler. He then showed the group to the client's study. As they entered, a gentleman in his seventies rose from his seat and extended his hand to shake.
"Gentlemen, miss, welcome. My name is Alexander Pierce. And welcome to my ancestral home", Pierce said. "Thank you for having us", Steve said as he shook Pierce's hand, "I'm Steve Rogers. And this is Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Tony Stark and this lovely woman is Natasha Romanov." Pierce raised an eyebrow at Natasha. "Natasha Alianovna Romanov?", Pierce inquired. "Yes, that is me", Natasha said proudly, "You've heard of me, obviously." Pierce huffed at her, "I am very aware of your family and their situation." That seemed to shut her up and look at him with wide eyes.
"Well, I hate to say this, but unfortunately we have to do things differently this time. Our researcher had a weird meltdown and couldn't join us", Tony said. "That's absolutely fine. I get it. This house can make people freak out", Pierce said. "No offense, sir. But it's not easy to scare Darcy", Clint said. Pierce scrunched his eyebrows, "Darcy?" The guys nodded. "Yeah, Darcy Lewis is her name", Sam said. Immediately Pierce paled and started to freak out.
"No... no... she's not suppose to be here. At least not yet", Pierce mumbled. "Mr. Pierce?", Steve said. Pierce looked at them. "I'm sorry, but I will not be able to do the interview. However my butler, Sitwell, will do it. Thank you", Pierce said before rushing out of the study and leaving the team confused.
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Meanwhile, Darcy had gone to the local diner that had been around forever. She had been picking at her hamburger and fries, just contemplating everything that had brought her back. As she dipped a fry into her chocolate milkshake, Darcy was unaware of the man standing next to her.
"You still eat your fries like that", he said. Snapping out of her thoughts, Darcy looked at the elderly man standing next to her. "Pop pop?", Darcy said to Alexander Pierce. "Hello, sweet pea", he said as he sat next to her. Darcy immediately hugged him with the best of her ability in the booth. Pierce tightly held her close to him. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes before pulling away from each other.
"How are you here?", Pierce asked. Darcy looked unsure for a moment, "I guess that I should probably start from the beginning." Darcy explained what happened school wise and how she met Jane. "One night we went to a party because she met this guy named 'Thor'. They're dating now. He then introduced us to Steve, Bucky, Sam and Clint. They all served and while Bucky and Clint receives medical discharges, Steve and Sam were able to get honorable discharges. After hanging out with them for awhile, we met Tony, Rhodey and Happy", she said. Pierce raised an eyebrow at her, "Some interesting names for your friends." Darcy smiled, "They're just nicknames. Anyway, we all realized that we all had an interest in the paranormal and decided to start doing it for fun. But soon it became an actual job." Pierce looked thoughtful.
"So how does Miss Romanov get involved with this? Besides the fact that she is a medium", Pierce said. Darcy sneered at the mention of Natasha. "Yeah... Steve met her one day and shortly after that they started dating. We've been stuck with her ever since. But yeah... She's very diva and can be a bitch. Pardon the language", she said. Pierce chuckled, "So the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Darcy thought about it and remembered what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, definitely", she said. They continued to talk for a couple of minutes until someone came and sat down across from them. The man looked familiar to Pierce, but Darcy was smiling at him.
"You ok, baby?", Bucky asked. Darcy reached across the table for him to hold her hand, which he gladly did. "Yeah, I am. Let me introduce you to my Pop pop. Pop pop, this is Bucky. Bucky this is my Pop pop", she said. Bucky extended his hand to shake Pierce's hand. "James Buchanan Barnes, sir. Everybody calls me 'Bucky'. It is a pleasure to meet you", Bucky said. Pierce shook his hand, "Alexander Pierce. And how are you so close to my granddaughter?" Bucky smiled softly at Darcy, "We've been dating for about two years, sir." Pierce nodded and looked over at Darcy.
"I'm guessing that you met at college or at least a college party", Pierce said. Darcy blushed before answering, "Yeah, we did. But not the way you think." Pierce raised an eyebrow at her. "If I may, sir. When I met Darcy, I wasn't in the best place. I had been out of rehab for five months when I met her. I was just sitting in the corner at a party, not wanting to socialize. I noticed that she kinda didn't want to be there either, so I motioned for her to join me. We exchanged names and did the usual small talk. After that we started to hang out. She's seen me at my best and at my worst. Darcy has really been a blessing, sir", Bucky said. Pierce nodded.
"She said that you served", Pierce said. "Yes, sir. Steve, Sam, Clint and myself were apart of the 107th", Bucky said. "The Howling Commandos", Pierce then said, "I heard about the ambush on the news." Bucky nodded, "Yeah. I was driving our vehicle and the rocket exploded by my door. Flames engulfed my entire left arm, hand and part of my shoulder. Clint was sitting behind me and the sound exploded his eardrums. Steve and Sam were on the other side of the Humvee." Pierce looked at Darcy and then back at Bucky.
"I imagine that your recovery was hard", he said. Bucky nodded again. "It was. Clint was able to get hearing aids. My burns healed. I can somewhat feel throughout that limb. But if anything, Darcy really helped with it", Bucky said. Pierce looked at her, "How so?" Bucky took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a very big and detailed tattoo. It looked like an arm made of metal plates with a star at the top of his arm. "When I had finished going to a therapist, Darcy thought that it would be a cool reminder that I'm stronger because of what I went through. Sure I still occasionally suffer from PTSD, but the tattoo reminds me that it will be alright", Bucky said.
Pierce just smiled and nodded. They continued to stay at the diner until Pierce decided to take them to the hotel that they were going to stay at.