Everything Has Changed

Chapter 1: Savior

The bar was dingy, drafty and smelled like stale beer, but the booze where cheap, and her pay checks had dried up when SHIELD fell. Darcy sighed, she never thought she'd find herself back in nowhere Kansas, but here she was, sitting in a crappy bar, no job prospects and an unfinished degree, broke. At least the hot guy at the end of the bar seemed to be checking her out. She could use some free drinks and maybe some drunk uncomplicated sex in the back of her car. She sent him a wink and threw back her vodka shot. His clear blue eyes shone with mischief and he sent her a devastating grin and slid off his stool.

Darcy wasn't surprised when a pair of strong hands came around her hips, one resting on her waist, the other sliding over her arm and cupping her hand over her shot glass. His breath was warm as he pressed close along her back, he smelled like vodka and leather with something deep and dark underneath.

"Darcy Lewis," he whispered in her ear, she stiffened and went to turn around. "Act natural," he slid the hand on her hip up into her hair. "I'm going to put something in your ear, I need you to smile and look at me when you talk." His fingers touched the shell of her ear and slipped what felt like a Bluetooth in her ear. She looked up at him and gave him a shaky smile. "Good girl." He leaned back and put his hand in his pocket, the other trailing down to rest on her jean clad thigh.

"Darcy?" Jane's voice want tinny and breathy, but it was undeniably Jane. "I'm so sorry Darce, if I'd know you were in danger we'd never have let you leave."

"Jane," she felt like her heart had stopped, Jane had been devastated when she had to let Darcy go, but with no funding, she hadn't needed an intern. "What's going on?"

"Apparently your SHIELD file piqued the interest of Hydra when it hit light. Coulson buried it pretty deep, but when they dumped all their files, it eventually came up." Jane wasn't making any sense, what SHIELD file, the one that said she was a loser college dropout who couldn't let go of her six science credit internship, or the one that said she was an absolute nobody. "The Avengers have all gone to ground, they sent Bucky to get you." Darcy's eyes went wide, Bucky, as in Captain America's best friend from the 40's? She'd listened in history class, Bucky Barnes died in 1944. The dark haired man just winked at her and ran a hand through her hair. "Listen to everything he says, he'll keep you safe. I'll call you when I can." The line went dead and Bucked leaned in, brushing her hair back and retrieving the Bluetooth.

"You see those three men behind us," Darcy went to turn, but his hand on the back of her neck stopped her. "No don't look, you can see them in the mirror over the bar." She glanced up out of the corner of her eye. They looked like goons, how had she not noticed them before? "They're Hydra," his breath was hot against her ear and his hand tightened on her leg. "They think I'm still working for the, so I need you to play along, and I'll get us both safe."

"Okay," Jane told her to trust him, so she had little choice. "What do I do?"

"Act like we're flirting," he told her, shifting even closer. "They want me to isolate you, and get you outside so they can grab you. Keep smiling, I'm going to order us some drinks, then I'm going to get fresh, it's all part of the plan they've laid out, so they won't be surprised. I want you to slap me," he smiled at her and twisted a piece of her hair in his hands. "Don't hold back, it needs to look god. You're going to stalk out of the bar and then turn left into the ally, let me catch up to you. I have an empty needle, it's going to hurt," He looked down at his hand on her leg, she'd just let it stay there, no comment. "I'm sorry." He leaned in as if he were kissing her neck, his lips ghosted over the skin and set goose pimples alight all along her body. "Let yourself drop to the ground, I'll talk care of Hydra. I'll explain everything else once we're safe." She reached down and squeezed his hand, her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she was sure he could see it, but he just smiled and signaled the bartender for another round.

"So, Bucky," Darcy fidgeted in her seat a bit and he slid in between her legs. "I'm assuming since your practically dry humping me in a bar, I can call you Bucky." He bit out a sharp laugh. "What brings you to bum fuck Kansas?"

"You've got quite the dirty mouth there, doll," Bucky chuckled. "Steve's going to be so sore he missed this."

"Captain America likes girls who swear like sailors?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he likes some sass in his girls," Bucky smiled at the bar tender and slipped him a couple of bills. "I'm tracking you, sweetheart. I was closest when your file hit light, it helped that Hydra still thinks I'm working for them, I'll throw them off our tail long enough to go to ground." He handed her a shot. "Take the shot, I'm going to take advantage, my hands real cold, nothing I can do about it, hit me hard and walk out."

"To the left, down the ally," Darcy clinked her glass against his and threw it back. He leaned in close and slipped his hand up under the front of her shirt. It was like ice against her ribs, her eyes went wide, though that was probably what he was going for, gasping as the metallic hand rested just below her breast. She hauled back and punched him as hard as she could, feeling a little bad when he hit his head on the bar as she stocked out.

He caught up with her in the ally, his eyes full of amusement. "Baby, that was impressive," he pushed her up against the wall of the bar. "Wait until those goons round the corner, fight with me, I'm going to jab you with the needle, I need you to drop to the ground, do not brace yourself, just fall." Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. Bucky pushed his knee between hers and grabbed her hands, pulling them above her head and holding them there with his very cold hand. She struggled and squirmed, not that it did her any good, his hold was like a vice. She was a little embarrassed when she realized he was enjoying their little charade more then she thought he should. He caught her eye and winked, then jabbed the needle into the side of her neck, he was right, it fucking hurt. He dropped her, and she let herself hit the ground and didn't move.

Darcy kept her eyes closed, trying to keep her breathing even, while she tried not to listen to the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. Something slid to a stop near her face and she cracked one eye open. One of the goons had dropped their knife right in front of her. She watched Bucky take out one of the remaining two goons as the other one snuck up behind him. He hit the ground, slumped against the far wall, a needle empty next to him. The last goon stalked over to her and leaned down. She gripped the knife and swung it in an arch in front of her. It was obviously very sharp, but it took all of her power to force it through the flesh it caught. Blood washed over her face and arms and the man slumped down, his eyes wide and unseeing.

The blood was tacky on her hands as she whipped the knife off against her jeans before tucking it in her purse. Three dead bodies lay in the alley between her and the unconscious form of Bucky Barnes, one of which she'd help put there. Her stomach lurched and she put her head against the filthy ally wall and vomited. Darcy crouched down and took long deep breaths. 'Gotta get yourself together, Darcy. You don't know how many more might be coming.' She stood up, she could freak out after she got the crazy not so dead man with the weird metal arm that her best friend told her to trust, out of the ally and away before someone looked down the ally and saw all the death. Not looking at the cooling bodies, she made her way over to Bucky and checked on him. He was still breathing, but it wasn't looking like he would be moving on his own any time soon, a few stab wounds were leaking blood, and she was really going to have to do something about that before he bled to death. She was pretty sure Captain America would just let her die if she let that happen. She could feel the adrenaline slipping away, her hands shook as she searched his pockets for keys and a phone. She found both, sticking the phone in her back pocket, and palming the keys, before giving her new friend a critical eye. She hefted his arms up and pulled him over her shoulder in her best attempt at a fireman's carry, glad she'd opted for her boots and not the nice pair of heels she had in the back of her closet. He was heavy.

The clicker on his keychain led her to a big black SUV, because of course he'd drive a car she'd need help getting into. It took some careful maneuvering, and she was pretty sure she'd added to his injury count, for her to get him up into the back seat, but she finally managed, huffing and puffing as she climbed into the driver's side door and scrolled though his phone. Darcy scrolled down to the name 'Steve' and said a little prayer that Captain America was the only 'Steve' that Bucky knew, and opened a call.

"Hey Buck," a kind voice came through the phone, she'd always imagined that Captain America would have a nice voice. "Everything okay?"

"We had a bit of a hiccup," Darcy said into the phone, cradling it between her shoulder and her ear, turning the key in the ignition and pulling the SUV out of the lot.

"Who is this?" The nice voice grew and and demanding, oh Captain Voice, all commanding. If this wasn't so serious, Darcy would have laughed.

"Darcy," she sighed.

"Where's Bucky?"

"Sleeping it off in the back," Darcy looked into the rear view mirror, he still hadn't moved. "Listen, I need to know where he was taking me, cause I don't think our handsy friend's gonna be very useful for a while."

"What did he do?" Steve sounded suspicious, he also sounded like he knew his friend very well, and wasn't surprised.

"A little groping, some teasing, nothing I couldn't handle," she laughed at the groan on the other end of the phone. "One of those Hydra guys stuck him with something and he's got some stab wounds I'd like to look at, so a destination would be nice."

"There's a little motel off of Highway K on the way to Topeka, Buck's got a room there," he said. "Sorry if he got too fresh."

"No worries," Darcy said, pulling up the GPS and setting the destination. "He gave me fair warning before he stuck his hand up my shirt. Got a little excited when he told me to struggle."

"Yeah, I'm not going to touch that one," he said. "Look, get to the motel, clean up, Bucky will come around in a few hours, maybe less. I'll meet you in a day or two."

"Can do, Captain," she said into the phone.

"You did good, sweetheart," he disconnected the call before she could respond.

The motel was dingy and old, but clean. Getting Bucky back out of the car was much easier than getting him in, she lay him out on the bed and sat astride his legs with the first aid kit she found in the back of the SUV, and cut his shirt off to get to the stab wounds. She had just finished bandaging the last one when her patient groaned and gripped her hips with his large hands, pushing his hips up into hers.

Darcy made the most undignified squeak, and Bucky's eyes flew open. "Hey doll," he said, groggily and tried to raise his hands above his head causally, stretching. "What did I do to earn this unexpected lap dance?"

She could feel her face heat up as she ungracefully dismounted his hips. His hand shot out and caught her before she went tumbling off the bed. "It was easier to reach all your wounds." He smirked and took a good look at her. Dried blood covered her arms and matted in her hair, her jeans were nearly black with tacky blood. Bucky shot up and started pulling her shirt up. "Hey, hey," she slapped at his hands. "The little slap and tickle at the bar was fun and all, but I need at least dinner before you get access to the girls."

"Are you hurt?" he was undeterred by her slapping hands, running his fingers over her stained but unmarked skin.

"None of its mine," she snatched his hands. "Most of it's the asshole who got the jump on you."

"You're okay?" he said, satisfied with her nod. "What happened to the third agent?"

"I stabbed him," Darcy tried not to look pale as she looked down at her hands.

"Seriously?" Bucky puffed out a big breath. "Hot and deadly, I'm so never complaining about babysitting duty again."

"Whatever," she rolled off the bed. "Were to next, cause I need a shower and I've got nothing to change into, and I kind of killed your shirt, not that I'm complaining, cause, damn, but you need a shower too."

"Mutual attraction, I can work with that," he put his hands behind his head, displaying his chest and giving her an appreciative look. "We'll leave at first light," he jumped topic. "We need a new care, we're heading to St. Louis, there's a safe house for us there. Steve will meet us in a few days."

"He said," Darcy sat back down, digesting everything he'd said.

"Good," Bucky smiled, a nice smile. "Curl up, doll, we can shower at the house tomorrow. There'll be clean clothes there." She must have looked dubious. "I won't take advantage. Not unless you say it's alright." Darcy nodded and lay down. "You did good, doll face. I'm impressed, and I'm hard to impress."

"Thanks, Bucky," she smiled and curled on her side.

"We're going to be stuck together for a while, sweet girl," he told her.

"I can handle that," Darcy mumbled.

"Good, cause I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."