Bygone

It’s cold. That’s the first thing she notices, then her vision comes into focus and she’s staring at a giant industrial dumpster.

“Why is it always alleys?” She asks, bracing one hand against the brick wall to steady herself as her heart races. “Get it together, Rogers.”

She’s wearing her flight suit. Because she flies planes and can keep up with James Montgomery Falsworth, damn it.

Turning towards the back of the alley she unzips the suit and reaches under her t-shirt to the pouch Howard had commissioned for her. It’s made from butter soft leather, stained bright red. To match her lipstick he’d said.

It contains a hundred dollar bill, the wedding rings she can’t wear in-air, and two keys. One to the Prescott house, and one to Stark Mansion. Darcy puts on her rings, having to push since her fingers are still swollen from being in-air, and zips the hundred dollar bill into one of her flight suit pockets.

The she lifts her head, straightens her shoulders, and marches out of the alley. The street is full of traffic, but hardly anyone is walking. Windows are broken out of store fronts, and most look empty.

The neighborhood is a shadow of its former self. With some shock, she sees the bank. It’s closed and a woman sleeps on a blanket on the front steps.

There’s a newspaper stand on the corner and Darcy hurries down the street. President Lyndon B. Johnson is on the front page. Her eyes find the date. Wednesday November 23rd, 1965.

Darcy manages to flag down a cab, but the man only rolls down the window instead of coming around to open the door. He eyes her clothes distrustfully.

She gives him the address of the Prescott house and holds out her money.

“You crazy, lady? I can’t make change for that.” He cranks the window back up and pulls away from the curb.

So she walks, and her outfit gets strange looks from everyone she passes.

She remembers another long trek and figures at least this time she’s in comfortable shoes. Unlike before, the neighborhood doesn’t seem to improve as she gets closer to the brownstone.

The cars parked on the street are in disrepair and some of the houses have extra mail boxes added to the fronts, signifying they’d been split into apartments.

When Darcy’s knock is answered by an unfamiliar woman, her heart sinks.

“The Prescotts? They ain’t lived here for goin’ on four years.”

“Do you have a forwarding address?” Darcy asks hopefully.

“Why would I have a forwardin’ address?” The woman asks, shaking her head.

“Could you tell me where the closest bank is?”

Darcy walks to the bank and breaks the hundred. She buys a newspaper and finds a hotel room for $36.99 a night. According to the paper, Howard is in Paris at some kind of summit. The walls are thin and she can hear the people on both sides of her.

She doesn’t have enough money to buy other clothes and eat, not with having to pay for the room for two nights.

So when she sets off for Broad and Halls Ferry she’s back in her flight suit. She turns the corner and there are Howard and EJ, both leaning against the car. Howard’s reading a newspaper, but EJ bumps him.

Howard lets the paper flip down and sees her. He rolls up the paper and hands it off to EJ before holding his arms open. Darcy walks straight into them.

They drive directly to the upstate mansion, Howard making calls from a rotary phone in the backseat. He calls Peggy first, then a military base and asks for Sergeant Dugan. He makes a third call, explaining that something has come up and he’ll have to put off coming back to Paris for another week.

“Mrs. Stark.” EJ explains.

“Mrs. Stark!” Darcy punches Howard in the arm and he makes a show of rubbing it. “Tell me all about her. Right now!”

“One more call. Why don’t you make this one.” Howard says, handing her a small black notebook. It’s open to the P’s.

“I went to the brownstone.” Darcy says, already reaching for the phone.

“They moved uptown a few years back. The crime rates were too high. John opened a new shop, but he keeps the old one open. Does free work for anyone in the neighborhood interviewing for a job.” Howard shakes his head, like it’s just too quaint.

“Prescott residence.”

“Yes, can I speak with Mrs. Prescott?”

“Who is calling?”

Howard points at himself, a folder already flipped open in his lap.

“Howard Stark.” Darcy replies smoothly.

“Of course, just one moment.”

Then Rebecca’s voice. “Howard?”

“Hey, Becks.”

“Darcy! You’re back! John!” Rebecca yells. “John!”

“Dinner next Friday. It’ll be a thing.” Howard says distractedly.

“Where are you?” Rebecca demands.

“In Howard’s car on our way upstate.” Darcy feels herself settling. “He’s invited you to dinner next Friday. He said it’ll be a thing so-“

“Dress fancy.” Rebecca finishes. “And we’ll have to bring you some things. John, there you are! Darcy’s back, here!”

“Darce?” John’s voice comes over the line.

“It’s me.”

There’s only a grumble and then Rebecca’s back on the line. “You can talk to him later! Oh, Darcy. I’ve missed you!”

Darcy settles back into the corner of the bench seat. “Tell me everything I’ve missed. Oh, Thor. How old is JJ now? Twelve?”

“Twelve.” Rebecca confirms, and then just keeps talking.

They’re an hour out when a plane roars overhead. Howard glances up. “That’ll be Peg.”

Peggy meets them on the mansion steps. She takes one look at Darcy in her flight suit and curses. “That puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?”

Darcy agrees, but for her it’s the fine lines around Peggy’s mouth and creasing at the corners of her eyes. Darcy steals a quick glance at Howard and this time she sees the sliver peppering his temples.

The rest of the Rogers Circle arrives throughout the week. The Commandos, Peggy’s husband Charles Montgomery, the Prescotts, and Fred Phillips.

It’s Darcy’s first time meeting Phillips face-to-face, but she’d talked to him over the radio on some of her flights. He’s the son of Colonel Phillips, and is one of Peggy’s most trusted agents at SHIELD.

Darcy isn’t the only one amused by his slightly shell shocked manner upon meeting her.

Despite Howard’s frequent traveling, Darcy is rarely alone at the mansion. Falsworth comes to keep her sharp in the air, but really he has to teach her about new gauges and innovations. Gabe brings his son for her to meet. Rebecca and John visit for a weekend, and bring her back to see their new house.

She spends Christmas with them, and then New Years as well because Howard has to be with Maria. JJ accepts her so easily that she thinks some part of him must remember her.

Every two weeks Howard and Peggy return to discuss reaching some kind of agreement about Stark weapons.

It’s easy to see that the issue has strained their friendship. Darcy acts as a go between for the two, and ends many nights with a headache. Peggy feels strongly that Howard needs supervision and oversight. Howard doesn’t trust anyone with his tech, and says that even Peggy has let it get into the wrong hands.

The worst night by far is the night that Peggy loses her temper and reminds Howard of the time he’d lied to her and used her to retrieve his vial of Steve’s blood.

Howard reminds her of Finow, of his stolen Midnight Oil, and Darcy braces herself against the desk strewn with papers of their proposed agreements.

Peggy is in the middle of promising that she’d never allow that to happen again when she sees Darcy’s face. “Oh. Oh, darling. I poured it into the East River.”

“I think,” Darcy says slowly, “that we all need a break from this.”

“Kid.” Howard says, and she’s surprised to see shame in his eyes.

“Oh, Howard.” Peggy sighs.

Darcy leaves the vault and has dinner in her room. Sometimes she forgets how much she misses. Of course it’s obvious when she has to be reintroduced to JJ and win him over again, or when television is suddenly color. But she can’t help but treat her friends as if they are the exact same people they’d been, but time changes people.

Howard brings her a drink the next night. “I never wanted you to know about that.”

Darcy shrugs her shoulders. “It was a long time ago, right?”

“Forty-seven? Forty-six?” Howard swallows. “I just couldn’t give up on him. When they used the midnight oil on me, I was going to find him. Peg had to talk me down, and I always hated that. That she had to get on the radio with me that way. It wasn’t right.”

“She loves you.”

“I blame Steve, you know? He left us, and now here I am with a pair of dames for best friends.” Howard laughs weakly. “And I blame the pair of you for Maria. If I hadn’t have known you two, I would have run in the other direction when I met her like any other smart man would have.”

“You’re welcome then.” Darcy tells him, clinking her glass against his. Because it’s obvious that Howard is in love with his wife. Head over heels. It makes her heart ache to hear the softer, warmer tone he uses on the phone with Maria.

“I don’t know what to do about this agreement with Peg. With SHIELD.”

“Don’t sign it.” Darcy says quietly.

Howard looks at her in surprise, then nods once.

The next day Peggy joins Darcy in her daily morning-ish walk around the pond. They crunch along together in silence.

“Peg-“ Darcy starts.

“If you thank me I swear I’ll punch you. I did what I did for Steve and for Howard.” Peggy says.

Darcy nods.

“Besides, Howard tells me you’ve told him not to sign any agreements with me.” Peggy picks up the pace and shoots Darcy an angry look. “And that he’ll not change his mind until you do.”

“Thanks, Howard.” Darcy mutters.

“I thought you were on my side on this.” Peggy says. “You know how caught up he gets. I love him, but he is the most arrogant man I’ve ever met. He’s dangerous.”

Darcy stops and Peggy stops with her. “Peg, I’ll have him sign an agreement with you the day you take me around SHIELD headquarters and introduce me to everyone as Darcy Rogers.”

Peggy opens her mouth, then she closes it.

“If you don’t trust them with me, how can you trust them with Howard’s work? You said yourself, it’s dangerous.”

Darcy sighs when she feels the pull, now familiar. It’s only been three months this time. Last time, she’d gotten a year. Peggy’s eyes widen in alarm. “Don’t worry. Howard knows what to do.”