Bygone

Howard convinces Darcy to come to London with him.

They stay at Stark House and commute together to Stark Industries London. She’s known as Darcy Lewis, his assistant. He fires his lab manager their first day when he treats Darcy like a secretary.

Asking her for coffee and patting her ass was bad enough, but he’d tacked on calling her gorgeous.

Howard has him escorted out and Darcy retreats to Howard’s office, sitting there with the lights off focusing as hard as she can on Steve’s voice.

What he’d sounded like calling her gorgeous. He’d called her doll and sweetheart, but gorgeous had been special. His voice had been the one he used only with her.

Howard comes up with lunch later, waking Darcy from the light doze she’d fallen into. She wipes at the spot of drool on his desk without embarrassment. They’d scienced together too long for that.

“Hey, kid. I’m starting to recognize your Steve face. Figured you’d want to be alone. But I ordered lunch.”

“You ordered lunch?” Darcy asks him, wincing when he turns on the lights.

“Fine. Theodora ordered lunch. But I told her to.”

The other lab workers don’t necessarily respect her after that, but they certainly respect her relationship with Howard. She’s well aware that many of them have assumptions about what that relationship entails.

She comforts herself that she can often put a stop to any misogynistic comments or behavior with a single raised eyebrow. Maybe the lessons are sinking in and will bleed into other areas of their lives.

Slowly, she gains a modicum of acceptance. Most of the workers come to recognize her competence in the lab, even if some of them continue to hold her lady parts against her.

Two months in she flies back across the Atlantic to spend a few weeks with John, Rebecca and JJ. One of the weeks John leaves for the fashion show, and the ladies decamp with JJ for the mansion.

During JJ’s nap times, Rebecca and Darcy convince Howard’s pilot Bruno to teach them to pilot his plane. Rebecca enjoys it so much that Darcy extends her trip. Bruno is gruff and acts annoyed with them, but Darcy sees his pride when Rebecca manages take off, a flight, and landing all on her own.

John is there to watch the landing that day. He walks across the runway with a smile on his face. “Rebecca Barnes Prescott, I always knew you’d keep me on my toes.”

“I guess now would be a good time to tell you I crossed the pipes on my own.” Rebecca says as he scoops her up.

His face is blank for half a second, then a laugh bursts out of him. “Of course you did.”

Peggy flies back to London with Darcy, intent on visiting Howard. Darcy can tell something else is going on. Peggy is accompanied by two SHIELD agents who refer to Darcy as Miss Lewis and treat her with so much respect Darcy wonders what Peggy had told them about her. Maybe that she could kill them with her thighs like the Black Widow? Darcy’s going to imagine that’s it.

Howard is in full party mode when he picks them up from the airport. He’s purchased tickets to the opera and he’s bought out a theater for a showing of Sayonara, they’re invited for dinner at the prime minister’s, and to a yacht party after that.

He hardly lets Peggy get a word in edgewise before they drop Darcy off at the door to her room. She washes her face and changes, unpacking her bags as she goes.

When she goes down for dinner Peggy is arguing with Howard over encouraging Darcy to live in the past by giving her Steve’s room. Howard is pacing angrily and at that he throws his glass against the wall and storms from the room.

Darcy slips into the kitchen to peek at the food and decides to just take a plate up to her room.

She comes back down for the cocktail party and finds Howard and Peggy talking quietly just outside the lively living room.

When Howard looks at her, she can see how bleary his eyes are, and isn’t surprised when he slurs. “Kid, I won’t judge you if you take your pick of any of those fellas in there.”

Darcy looks over the party. There’s a group laughing uproariously in one corner, a table playing cards, and a man playing the piano.

“Darcy, I’m sorry-“ Peggy starts.

“I counted. It’s been nine months and thirteen days since I last saw Steve. We were in our apartment, and it was the night before he had to report for training. So I like sleeping in the room that he did.” Darcy reaches out and takes Howard’s drink. She needs it, and he certainly doesn’t. “I’m not living in the past. I’m living in the future.”

“Hell, kid.” Howard says, his anger running out.

“I know it’s been longer for you. Sometimes Rebecca and John mention things, like they’re talking about something long ago that memory has faded. Who was that kid that always wanted the bottle caps, they’ll ask. It was Tommy Granery, Steve and I kept ours in a coffee can for him under the sink.” Darcy takes in the glittering chandelier, the trays of food. “I woke up in ’53 with ration cards in my purse.”

“I’m not living in the past. I’m here. I’m wearing the right clothes. I know how much money the subway costs. I watch television and make telephone calls and instead of burping JJ I give him piggy back rides.” Darcy takes a deep breath. “I appreciate that you’re worrying, but I’m telling you to leave it. I’m doing the best I can.”

“Howard! There you are, you old dog!” One of the men cries, a cigar wagging in the corner of his mouth. “Ladies! What’ll it be?”

Darcy lifts her chin and steps into the room. After several drinks, Peggy begins to shadow her. Darcy heads out onto the balcony, and they stand together at the railing. Darcy helps Peggy dab at a glob of cocktail sauce a someone had accidentally flung onto her, and shifts to block the stained part of the dress when a photographer comes by. SHIELD will either make the picture disappear, or Howard will.

When they pass back through the living room the crowd has thinned out. Three women remain with Howard, one perched on his lap.

EJ escorts Darcy and Peggy up to their rooms.

Darcy and Peggy have breakfast together, then Peggy departs for her London office. Howard emerges from his room with a red-haired woman and walks her to the breakfast table, inviting her to have as much as she’d like, tacking on that the driver will take her wherever she wants to go, and then offers his arm to Darcy.