Bygone

She works with Howard, who hasn’t slowed down a bit. Tony comes to visit, and with Maria she manages to drag Howard from the lab for dinner.

It doesn’t go well, even with Darcy and Maria working together to steer the conversation away from sensitive topics towards the beginning. Maria downs her glass of wine in three gulps during the first fight over Tony skipping his classes. By the time they start disagreeing on what Tony will do when he takes over Stark Industries, Maria is slightly slumped in her seat and just watches with a tense expression.

Tony goes out to party that night and ends up in the papers. Stark Heir: 15 years old and out of control! Maria Stark is Heartbroken: Tony is just like his father! Tony Stark Headed to Rehab! Alcohol, Drugs and Older Women: the life of an out of control heir.

Maria and Howard fight about it, Darcy can hear their voices echoing down the hall. As usual, they can’t come to an agreement.

Darcy starts flying to MIT every two weeks to spend a few days with Tony in the labs. She knows a bit of coding, and quite a bit about mechanical engineering thanks to her time with Jane, and then with Howard. Tony teaches her until she knows her way around his extremely complicated programs equally complicated machines.

They take helicopter flying lessons together. They start getting donuts after shit nights of programming, and it becomes a little tradition.

Maria goes on another ‘retreat’. Tony is old enough and smart enough to know it’s another attempt to dry her out. Howard disembarks for London, the way he always does when Maria won’t be home. Tony holds it against him, even though visitors aren’t allowed.

Darcy does her best to calm the waters, but it’s Maria who settles them back into their uneasy truce when she returns after ninety days and they all spend a weekend in Spain.

Darcy isn’t stupid, she realizes the trip coincides with Rebecca’s birthday. Peggy and Dum-Dum fly out. Darcy calls JJ, and Howard stops by her balcony to put a drink in her hand. Tony finds her later and replaces her empty glass with a mess of gears and wires.

She wakes up to Maria pulling a quilt over her. Howard stands over Tony, who is already covered with his own blanket, holding what Darcy is pretty sure is a robot arm, looking baffled and proud. Maria softly brushes Darcy’s hair out of her face.

“Sleep, poppet.” She kisses the top of Darcy’s head, and Darcy slips back to sleep.

Howard steals her away back to London. He’s consulting for Peg, and Darcy is glad to see the tension drain and the two of them slip back into the honest and blunt relationship that is good for the both of them. Peggy has always been able to keep after Howard until she manages to strip, sometimes painfully, his bluster away and get at his true motivations. Make him face himself.

And Howard has always been able to call Peggy on her shit. Peggy hates it, but she needs it and Darcy can tell the other woman knows it. They’re working in one of Howard’s private labs, separate from both SHIELD and Stark Industries.

Darcy comes back from a lunch time phone chat with JJ, who stops in on a buying trip, to Peggy yelling at Howard and Dum-Dum. Dum-Dum is standing chest to chest with Howard.

Dum-Dum steps forward, jostling Howard back. The two are yelling, their voices echoing in the large lab space. Peggy yells for the two of them to stop before she shoots them both.

Dum-Dum roars at something Howard says, and Howard lifts his chin. Darcy shoves herself between the two men. She turns and plants two hands on Dum-Dum’s chest and shoves. After glaring at Howard over her head, Dum-Dum stalks away.

Darcy turns on Howard. “What the hell?”

“Dugan’s decided he’s a scientist and knows-“ Howard cuts off, likely hearing the same worry-inducing high pitched whine. They both look towards the table. As one they both lunge at it, hands flying. Darcy realizes they’re too late at the same moment Howard’s arm wraps around her and tugs her backwards.

The explosion is bright and hot and throws them backwards.

An alarm wails and Howard scrambles up. He’s flipping switches and Darcy stands up to grab an extinguisher, putting out the fire.

“I told him!” Dum-Dum yells, crawling over the over-turned tables towards Darcy.

Howard rubs a hand over his face and turns to face Darcy. “I guess we’re gonna have to leave building robots to Tony. Did I tell you he built a robot at MIT? Responds to voice commands. I told Peggy he was a genius when he was two! And do you know what she did?”

“I was there, Howard. She rolled her eyes.”

“She rolled her eyes!” Howard looks back over the tables again, then turns his attention to Darcy, gingerly examining her shoulder. “Come on kid, let’s go get this checked out.”

Darcy looks up at him and opens her mouth.

“My toe is fine, you ingrate.”

Darcy shares a plane back to the States with JJ, so she can see this robot. Tony isn’t half so pleased with it as Howard. He’s named it Dum-E, and the poor thing really does try.

Tony threatens to break it down for scrap. Darcy points out that the programming itself is a success, and Tony scoffs. But the bot does respond to voice commands, knows it’s name, and even seems to learn. Half of its problems stem from its eagerness to help and always getting in Tony’s way.

Darcy finally shoves a fire extinguisher into its claw, and that seems to temper its need to be useful.

They go out for burgers once, and it’s the second time the press ties her to a Stark. This time her face is obscured by the window, and on the way out, Tony’s driver.

Howard does his best to squash it, and Darcy decides to take JJ and Andrew up on their invitation of a two week vacation out at the country house to take advantage of the warmth of mid-summer.

She burns in the sun. She drags them to see Labyrinth on opening night, and they go see it another two times. They wade in the river JJ learned to swim in, paddling back and forth between Darcy and Rebecca.

Gabe and Grace drive up for a weekend. They head out for dinner one night, Grace wearing one of the dresses JJ had sent her. Later Gabe wraps his arm around JJ’s shoulder, while he explains why JJ is wrong about liking the Dodgers. Going by JJ’s expression, it’s not the first time. Doesn’t matter, Rebecca and John raised him right.

But Darcy is glad to see it. To see the good relationship between them, and to know that other people are there for JJ and Andrew when she’s not able to be.

They all drink too much, and Gabe gets to talking.

“No. No.” JJ gasps, clutching his stomach as he continues to laugh. He'd switched to water so he could drive home, but he doesn't seem to be suffering as the only sober one.

“He’s exaggerating!” Darcy sniffs. “No one else got sick, and everyone ate the same pie.”

“Sure, girlie. Sure.” Gabe leans forward. “Jac was passing him sandwiches and water through the crack in the door.”

“You’re going to make yourself sick!” Andrew pushes another glass of water closer to JJ, who looks just like Rebecca when he laughs. He shakes with it, like he has since he was little, and Andrew rubs a hand over his back.

JJ looks at her, tears of mirth in his eyes. Waiting.

“You’re mother was the one that taught me that trick.” Darcy tells him. “Couldn’t cook anything before I met her.”

“You know, now that I think about it, Dum-Dum was always unnaturally polite to Becks.” Gabe says, chuckling. “And how about the time you punched Falsworth? There wasn’t a one of us that didn’t want to punch Falsworth at one time or another.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Grace laughs. “But I think we should be heading back. It’s getting late.”

“Let me run and get the car.” JJ is already up and out of his seat. “Need to walk this off anyway, or I’ll be having laughing fits all night.”

Darcy is glad for JJ’s quick thinking. The streets outside are steep, and the sidewalks uneven. Parking had been a mess. Gabe is less steady on his feet than he used to be, but too stubborn to admit it.

Darcy watches JJ’s blonde hair disappear in the crowded restaurant.

“What about the time we got stuck in that distillery?” Gabe reaches across the table to pat Darcy’s cheek. “Our girl here bet she could drink Jac under the table. She did too, should have known, what with her running with Howard all the time. The man drinks rocket fuel, Andrew.”

“Oh, believe me, I know.” Andrew laughs. “Mr. Stark stopped by once, and we get invitations to some of their parties.”

“Well, Jac, he’s swaying in his seat, talking in French, slurring something awful, and Darcy’s as steady as you please. Jac goes over, damn near broke his nose on the floor, and Darcy,” Gabe grins and shakes his head, his hand now cupping her cheek, “Darcy turns to Morita and says carry me out, I’m gonna puke.”

JJ comes back, tossing the keys in his hand. “Got a spot right up front. Gabe, you ever here about the first time Aunt Darcy met my Uncle Bucky?”

Darcy sits in the back with Grace and Gabe, enjoying the sound of their laughter and teasing voices.

JJ turns, looking back at her with dancing dark eyes. “Tell Andrew I hit one of the stone swans at the mansion and that’s why Maria had them moved!”

“Darcy, no.” Andrew begs.

“It’s true, young padawan.” Darcy tells him as they reach the long driveway that leads to the house. “It was in Rebecca’s new car too.”

“The 65’ convertible mustang.” JJ sighs. “Red and white.”

“She loved that thing.” Darcy grins. “Drove too fast.”

JJ laughs. “Glove box of every car she owned was lined with speeding tickets. New one fell out every time she opened it.”

“No, no. How did I never know about this? That car, JJ. That car.” Andrew jogs up the steps and fishes his keys out of his pocket. Bugs buzz around the hanging lamp. “I could never have stayed with you if I knew.”

"Well, that's a load of bullshit, son." Gabe tells him. "Knew first time I met you that you two weren't just 'friends' like you were telling us."

“I fixed it with the money I made from my first line.” JJ promises Andrew, and begs his forgiveness as they make their way into the house. “Grace you remember that?”

“Tina loved that line. You should have seen her face when she opened her Christmas gift that year. Gabe got her three of those dresses.”

Andrew offers to pour another round of drinks, but Darcy waves him off. “We’ll let you kids stay up.”

“Sure? How about-“

JJ cuts Andrew off with a kiss. Darcy doesn’t hear any other objections. Gabe and Grace are sleeping in one of the rooms on the main floor, so they part ways at the stairs because she’s in the same room she’d always taken.

It had been a good night. The memories hadn’t hurt quite so much, and now she feels at home, surrounded by pictures and mementos from years of vacations spent here.

As she settles in, she hears Phil Collins float up the stairs along with JJ’s laugh.