Shout-out to "notashamedtobe" for suggesting Little Italy.

Ch. 4

When he knocked on her door a half hour later, Darcy was dressed in black boots, jeans, a loose-fitting charcoal gray cowl neck sweater, and her glasses. She was sporting a matching gray knit cap; her dark hair was long and loose. She wore a bit of make-up, some concealer smudged under her eyes to hide the dark circles, a swipe of hot pink lip gloss. She cleared her throat and Steve gave a start, realizing that he'd been staring at her lips.

Very kissable lips.

She took a step forward through the door and Steve stepped aside to let her by. She gave him a smile. "So . . . lunch? I'm a bear if I don't get fed. Not as bad as Thor though. He keeps complaining that Midgardian food doesn't 'sustain him properly'. Once, he roasted a whole goat. In a public park. There were children around. It was a mess."

"Yeah, uh . . . lunch. I found a nice bistro. Down in Little Italy."

"Sounds good."

The restaurant was only four miles away and Steve could have easily walked it, but taking one look at Darcy's spike-heeled boots put a damper on those plans.

"We could take one of Tony's cars," Steve offered as they made their way to the elevator.

"Really?" Darcy asked. "He's okay with you swiping one of his cars?"

"Borrowing," Steve corrected as they entered the elevator. Tony had told Steve that he was welcome to use whatever vehicle he needed. "Underground parking garage," he announced to the voice activated elevator.

"Yes, sir," came the automated reply.

As the doors slid closed, he was acutely aware of her in the enclosed space. The strawberry scent of shampoo, the soft sigh of her breath, the way she tucked an errant curl behind her ear. He felt nervous and all of a sudden didn't know what to do with his hands, shoving them in his pockets.

"So . . . " he began. "Nice weather we're having." He winced at his lame attempt at conversation.

"Anything's better than all that rain in England." She paused for a moment. "I used to give Thor a bad time about that. You'd think the god of thunder would have a better hold on the weather."

Steve's mouth quirked into a half-grin at her irascible attitude. "This your first time in New York?"

"Yeah. Grew up in Colorado, went to college there, studying poly sci. During my last semester, I took an internship out in New Mexico with Jane. Then, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent us to Norway during the whole Chitauri thing." A flash of disgust flitted across her face before she forced a smile to return. "After that, we ended up at Jane's mom's apartment in England." Her face fell as her mind replayed what happened in Greenwich. "And you know the rest."

They arrived at the parking garage with a soft ding as the doors opened. He stepped aside to let her go first, earning him a smile of gratitude. Steve scanned the garage to find the section that housed Tony's extensive collection of cars. He motioned for Darcy to follow him as he started towards a modest dark sedan in the corner.

"What about that one?" Darcy asked, waving towards a silver convertible sports car.

"Uh . . . . sure," Steve said. The car looked expensive, but he gestured for the uniformed valet who had been sitting on a stool, playing with his phone.

"Yes, sir?" the young man asked as he stood and stowed his phone in his pocket.

"We'd like to take out that one, please."

"The Bugatti? Of course. Mr. Stark has authorized you to use every vehicle in the garage," the man said as he handed over a keychain.

As they pulled out of the garage, Darcy turned to Steve with a gleeful grin. "I can't believe I'm actually in a Bugatti! Do you know how expensive these things are?"

Steve swallowed, praying that Tony had good insurance. "How much?"

"A million, million and a half, easy."

Steve gulped. "Dollars?"

"Yep," she replied as she lightly caressed the leather interior.

Steve stared at the way her fingers glided over the upholstery. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the way her hands brushed across dashboard, mesmerized by her half-smile of delight.

"Watch out!" she shrieked all of a sudden and Steve stomped on the brakes to avoid hitting a truck in front of them that was stuck in midday traffic. They lurched forward and he flung a protective arm across her.

Her breath came out in pants. Steve quickly dropped his hand, self-conscious that he'd grabbed her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, shaking slightly.

"Sorry about that. I got distracted. It won't happen again."

"I'm . . . fine," she assured him. "I'm just glad nothing happened to the car. I'm expendable. The car's priceless."

"You've got that reversed," Steve said, not looking over at her. "You're anything but expendable."

She didn't reply and they spent the rest of the ride in silence. Once they'd arrived at their destination, Steve hopped out of the car and beat the valet to opening Darcy's car door.

"Uh . . .thanks?"

"You're welcome," Steve replied.

It was cool out, but as they walked side by side down the cobblestone streets of Little Italy, Steve's hands were clammy and he wiped them on his pants. He opened the door to a small bistro where JARVIS had made a reservation for them, stepping aside to usher Darcy in. When he walked inside, the smell of garlic and tangy tomato sauce permeated the restaurant and his mouth began to water. He gave his name to a tuxedoed maitre d and he showed them to an intimate table at a back booth.

Steve perused the menu, his mouth watering even more as he read one description after another. Their waitress came by, dropped off a basket of garlic bread and took their drink and food orders. Once she had left, Steve gave Darcy a tentative smile.

"Uh . . . Thor said he was taking Jane to Central Park," Steve began, for lack of a better conversation starter.

"Yeah. Good for him. She needs to take her mind off of work. And Eric."

"Eric?" The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Dr. Selvig. He's practically Jane's dad. Loki played around with his brain. Forced him to make the device that opened the portal. He hasn't been the same since."

Steve nodded. "It's the same for Clint. More or less. Nat tries to cover for him . . ."

Darcy gave him a bitter smile. "We've all got our demons. Although some of us went through more than others. And some people don't just fall apart and become utterly useless."

His eyes widened as he realized that she was referring to herself. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. What you went through . . . it's enough to push anyone over the edge."

She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a piece of bread. "Try explaining that to my ex."

"I take it he wasn't very supportive?" He couldn't help but smile when heard the word "ex". He was fairly sure she was single, but he also knew that he was a bit old-fashioned when it came to dating. Knowing that she was currently unattached reassured him that she was available.

"He made fun of me. He said he was right there with me, went through the same thing in Greenwich, and that he was perfectly fine. No nightmares. No panic attacks. No nothing."

Steve's eyes narrowed at that. Making light of someone's pain, acting the bully. He hated bullies. Always had. "What was his name?"

"Ian. We broke up a while back. He said I was bringing him down. He told me I was a wet blanket and he was tired of my 'moping about', as he put it."

"Ian what?" Steve could feel his fists begin to clench. It sounded like someone needed to be taught a lesson.

"Huh? Why do you . . .?" Her eyes widened as she caught on. "Thanks, but you don't need to go beat up my ex. He's on the other side of the world."

"Still, it isn't right."

She began to grin. "Thor had the same reaction. Called him 'dishonorable'."

"Thor and I see eye to eye on that one."

Her smile widened. "Well, with the Avengers on my side, I can't lose."

"I am, you know."

"What?"

"On your side."

She looked at him a moment, her head cocked to the side and then, shook her head slowly. "You really are too good to be true, you know that?"

"I wouldn't say that," he scoffed.

"I would."

Steve felt uncomfortable under her intense scrutiny and looked down, not able to meet her gaze. The moment passed as their food arrived. He bowed his head, mumbling a quick prayer of thanks before diving into a steaming plate of linguine alfredo. They were both ravenous and made short order of their meals. Darcy sighed in contentment when she finally pushed back her plate, completely clean of the butternut squash ravioli and sage cream sauce she had ordered.

The waitress came by the table shortly thereafter and dropped off the check after clearing their plates. "Take your time."

"Thanks," Darcy said as she snatched the bill and reviewed it. "Wow, Steve. Good thing I brought my credit card or else I wouldn't be able to cover my half."

Steve leaned over and gently tugged the check from her hands. "It's my treat. I know I'm behind the times, but I still wanted to pay for our first date." He swallowed and forged ahead. "And the rest of them."

Darcy reared her head back. "Uh. This isn't a 'date' date."

"A what what?"

She cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes. "Did you think this was a date?"

"You s . . . s . . . .said-" he sputtered.

"Figure of speech!" Her eyes widened. "Wait. You wanted to go out on a date? With me?"

Steve could feel himself turning red, but he wasn't about to lie. "Well, of course."

"You'd only seen my in flannel pajamas that I haven't washed in I can't remember when and no make-up and you, the man who make GQ models feel inadequate, wanted to go out on a date with me?" Her words all came out in a rush.

"Yeah," Steve said hesitantly.

"Wow."

"Is that a good wow or a 'I'm going to politely excuse myself, go to the powder room, and shimmy out a window' kind of a wow?" Steve asked.

She sucked in a noisy breath. "Tell me that never happened to you."

"Once." He sighed. "Okay, twice. Going on double dates with Bucky never worked out so well. The way the girl reacted when she saw she was gonna be stuck with me all night . . ." He swallowed hard. "Sorry that I misunderstood."

Darcy held up a hand. "It's not that I don't want to go out on a date with you," she said.

"So you do . . . want to go out on a date with me?"

"Of course. I mean, have you seen yourself? Plus, you've saved everyone on the planet, like how many times? And you're sweet and kind and amazing. I just would have dressed up if I had known this was a real date."

"You look gorgeous," he protested.

"Say that again," she said.

"You look gorgeous," he repeated.

"Your dating game's pretty strong, Steve. Are you sure you aren't fibbing about your past?" she teased.

"I don't fib."

"You sure about that?" she asked lightly. "S.H.I.E.L.D. was built on lies."

"Well, I don't work for them anymore."

"I guess you don't." She looked at him in confusion. "You said you wanted to pay for the rest of our dates. Just how many times were you thinking of asking me out?"

"Until you got tired of me."

"Oh, honey, that's never gonna happen," Darcy assured him.

Steve's grin broadened as he reached over and took her hand. "I was kind of hoping you'd say that."

Author's Note- I really didn't mean for there to be such a long gap between updating chapters. I got busy with other stories, but I never forgot this one. I'm marking this complete, even though there's still more to explore. I may add some more chapters (i.e. first kiss, etc.), but I think here may be a good stopping place as well.

As always, thank you for every single review, follow, favorite, PM, etc. I really appreciate them!