A/N That wasn't too bad of a wait for the next chapter was it? I just want to say a HUGE thank you to the response for the first chapter. It had been so long since V is for Victory I really wasn't sure how many people would be interested in this story and you guys allayed my worries in a huge way :D You guys just reinforced my belief that Darcyland is the best fandom out there!

And I need to give a huge shout out to Alexandra926 who is the reason that I was able to get this chapter out to you guys so quickly in the shape that it's in :)

Darcy didn't have a plan as she fled Stark Tower, like the hounds of hell were snapping at her heels. All she knew was that she had to be somewhere else. She had to get out of that room with all of those eyes watching her like she was a science experiment gone wrong.

She didn't stop when the elevator let her out on the ground floor either. Ignoring the strange looks she was receiving as she ran through the lobby, she burst through the glass doors into the mid-afternoon sun. Only once she was out of the building, did she feel like she could breathe again. She inhaled deeply, letting what passed for fresh air on a New York City summer afternoon fill her lungs.

When she realized that she was standing in the middle of the sidewalk blocking the doors of one of the busiest buildings in midtown, people glaring at her as they wove around her, she started walking, just to get out of the way. She didn't have any particular destination in mind, she didn't know the city well enough to have a destination in the first place. She just moved her feet, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, which was how she found herself wandering up 44th Street until she stumbled across a Duane Reade on the corner of 44th and 5th.

Hesitating in front of the drugstore, Darcy nibbled on her bottom lip as she considered her options. She didn't really think Thor or Captain America would lie to her about being pregnant. After all, what motive could they possibly have for that? However, she also knew that she truly wouldn't believe it until she saw the proof for herself. But another part of her, didn't want to have it confirmed, because then she could live in the blissful land of denial, and she could pretend it was all just a big misunderstanding and none of this was happening to her.

Taking another deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and marched into the drug store. No one would ever accuse Darcy Lewis of being a coward, not even herself. Wandering up and down the aisles until she found the appropriate section, she picked up the first pregnancy test that looked idiot-proof and headed to the check out.

Halfway to the front of the store, Darcy paused just long enough to grab a pair of obviously knock-off Iron Man novelty slippers that were on clearance. Her stockings were already ruined, silk being no match for the New York City sidewalks, but it didn't really matter. Darcy couldn't see herself needing to make use of them again in the future. But she figured she had enough problems at the moment without catching something from walking around barefoot on the dirty city streets.

She was concerned her attire might raise some questions, but fortunately this was New York City and a shoeless girl in 1940s period clothing was hardly the strangest thing the drug store clerk had ever seen. No, the real questionable moment was when it came time to pay and she realized that she hadn't thought to grab her purse – not that she had any idea where it currently was, anyways – before fleeing Stark Tower. She had a moment of panic before she found a ten dollar bill, a couple of crumpled ones, three quarters, a matchbook from the Savoy Hotel London, and a carved ivory handled pocket knife with the initials JBB engraved on a silver plate, in a pockets of her jacket. Slipping the knife and matches back into her pocket, she gave a silent thanks that 1940's Darcy was just as bad about putting change back in her wallet as the 2012 version was.

The moment of truth however, was when Darcy handed over the crisp, but clearly out dated bills to the cashier. He looked down at the ten and then at Darcy, then at the bill again before turning it over several times, clearly unsure what to do about it.

"Dude, I promise it's real, it's just old. The outfit I'm wearing belonged to my Great Aunt and it hasn't been worn since the last time she wore it in the 40s. I found that in the pocket." She wasn't lying exactly. "If it makes you feel better you can keep the change. Look at what I'm buying. I wouldn't be here using that money if I didn't have to be."

The clerk looked down at the pregnancy test on the counter and then once more at Darcy before wordlessly finishing the transaction and quickly handing over the receipt.

"Thanks man, do you have a bathroom?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

An uncomfortable pall settled over those still standing in the common room. And since Earth's Mightiest Heroes could defeat anything but an awkward silence, it didn't take long for the room to start to empty out once Darcy had disappeared into the elevator.

Tony left first, telling the room, but mainly Steve, that he and JARVIS would keep an eye on Darcy and make sure that she didn't get into any more trouble. Clint and Natasha silently slipped from the room next. Bruce paused to place a consoling hand on Steve's shoulder before he left, Erik following behind him. Thor offered what Steve was sure were supposed to be comforting words, but all he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears, drowning out everything else.

Jane followed Thor from the room, but returned just a few minutes later. In the time she'd been gone, Steve made his way over to the breakfast bar, sitting where the two of them had spent so many hours sharing stories about Darcy, both of them eagerly awaiting the day they brought her home.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked, as she moved around the kitchen, making them a couple of coffees.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said reflexively. "Actually, no. I'm not," he corrected honestly. "I'm pretty damn far from okay." He chuckled, humorlessly. "I don't even know when the last time was that I was 'okay'."

"With everything you've been through, I don't think anyone would expect you to be," Jane said.

Steve glanced up from where he was staring at the counter in front of him, just long enough to give her a pointed look. He was Captain America. Everyone expected him to be fine, always.

"Okay, I don't expect you to be okay, with everything that's happened," she amended.

"Thanks, Dr. Foster," Steve said sincerely.

"I told you, it's Jane," she corrected gently, setting a mug down in front of him, feeling that they were certainly on a first name basis by this point.

"Thanks, Jane," he repeated, this time for the coffee as much as the fact that she was one of the few people that remembered that he was human, too.

"Is that… is that what I think it is?" Jane asked with wide eyes, when she saw why Steve hadn't picked up his mug yet. In one hand, the flash of gold told her that he was holding onto the compass which was his constant touchstone. But in the other…

Steve held up the small velvet box so that Jane could see it clearly. "If you think it's proof that I'm a damned fool, then yes, it's what you think it is."

"Can I see it?" she asked cautiously.

Steve didn't respond verbally, but he put the box down on the counter between them, so she took that as answer enough. Jane picked up the box and carefully opened the hinged lid, a small gasp escaping her lips as she took in the delicate diamond engagement ring.

"It's beautiful, Steve," she said softly, "When did you buy this?"

"The day after we realized that my Darcy and your Darcy were the same person." Steve laughed, but there wasn't any humor in it. Once he had realized that he could have the woman he loved back, he had rushed right out to a jeweler that JARVIS had suggested for him.

"It's vintage isn't it?" she asked, carefully pulling it out of the box, taking in the Art Deco style ring.

"I looked at the new rings first, but none of them had stood out to me," Steve sighed. They were all to either too plain, too gaudy, or too common looking by turns. He needed something special and unique, but not ostentatious, for the movie star that stole his heart. "I'd almost given up, but then the jeweler showed me a tray of vintage estate rings. And I immediately knew that was the one."

Set in platinum, the European-cut center diamond was just over two carats and was flanked by marquise cut amethysts and round cut diamonds, set into the delicate filigree and milgrain band. He knew instantly it was the only ring for Darcy. He'd told the jeweler he'd take it, before he even asked the price. With seventy years of back pay, he could afford it, and his girl deserved the best.

"Purple is her favorite color," Jane mentioned, taking in the unique choice of the amethyst accents, before putting the ring back in the box and gently pushing back across the counter towards Steve.

"I know," Steve sighed, taking a deep breath before taking the box and once again looking at the ring he'd hinged all his hopes and dreams on. "And it matches the necklace I got her for Christmas. She never takes it off. At least she didn't," he sighed again and shut the lid, the spring loaded hinge closing with a snap.

Jane didn't know what to say, and the pair sat in silence for a few moments.

"I was so sure I was getting it right this time," Steve said, finally. "I had told her that I was going to propose again the next time I saw her. And that this time I would have a ring and do it properly. I just assumed that the next time I saw her, she would know who I was."

Jane grimaced, her heart aching for how Steve must be feeling. "Wait, propose again?" she asked, confused. "She didn't turn you down, did she?"

"She didn't say no, but she didn't really say yes either," he admitted. "She met me in London the night Bucky…" he trailed off, not able to finish, but Jane knew what he meant. "It wasn't until much later that I realized that she'd been in London to tell me about the baby, but after she found out about Buck, she decided to wait to tell me."

"Didn't want to add anymore weight to your shoulders," Jane figured.

"I suppose." Steve shrugged and put down the ring box so he could pick up his coffee, taking a long sip before continuing. "She was worried that I was making a rash decision based on grief, and told me that I didn't have all the information. She said that the next time we saw each other, we'd talk. And if I still wanted to marry her, she'd say yes. Like there was anything that could make me not want to marry her."

"That sounds like her," she said, with a sad sort of smile.

"We never got to have that talk. I went into the ice the next day," he continued. "Peggy told me I was going to be a father seconds before the plane crashed. I didn't put the pieces together until after I woke up."

"She told Agent Carter, before she told you?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

"Apparently," Steve said wryly. "I was planning on asking her about that, but…"

Jane winced. "Sorry."

Steve just shrugged, before his shoulders hunched in on themselves, and Jane could suddenly see the much smaller man he must have been before the super solider serum. "I'm such an idiot," he said, his voice full of self-loathing. "I was so sure everything was gonna turn out differently. That we'd finally be together again and with the war over, there'd be nothing that could tear us apart. That we'd be happy. Instead, I lost her all over again."

"You're talking about her like she died," Jane frowned.

"Your friend came back," he pointed out. "My girl didn't. And as happy as I am for you, the woman who loved me is gone."

Jane picked up the spoon she'd used to stir the sugar into her coffee and rapped Steve smack dab in the middle of his forehead with it.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, looking at the small scientist in surprise.

"Were you not standing right there while we all had to convince Darcy the she, and the 40s version of herself were the same person?" Jane asked pointedly. "You're entitled to be upset that today didn't work out the way you were hoping it would, but I'm gonna stop your pity party right there. Darcy is not dead. She is alive and well and here. Well, not here here, since she's taking a walk, but she's here."

"But she doesn't know who I am," Steve lamented.

"So? You won her over once, you can do it again," Jane said surely. She knew her friend, and she'd gotten to know Steve fairly well over the last few weeks. She had no doubts that they would be perfect together if they could get past this. "You love her, don't you?"

"More than anything," Steve said truthfully.

"Did you or did you not just tell me that there was nothing that could make you not want to marry her?"

"I did," he admitted.

"You thought she was dead. She's not. This is your second chance, Steve!" Jane exclaimed. "So take it! You owe it to yourself, to Darcy, and to the baby she's carrying."

Steve inhaled deeply and then held it while he considered Jane's words. His entire life to this point was a series of unlikely second chances. Everytime he so sick as a child that the doctor told his Ma that there nothing left to do but pray, and instead he got better. Getting chosen by Dr. Erskine for project rebirth, when he'd been rejected by the Army time and again. Being shunted aside to be a dancing monkey, only to be in the right place at the right time to be able to rescue Bucky and the 107th, pushing him right into the center of the fight against Hydra. The fact that he didn't die when he purposely crashed a plane into the Arctic, instead awakening seventy years in the future.

Against all odds, the woman he loved was alive and he would not give up on her.

"You're right," Steve nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time since Darcy asked him who he was. "You're absolutely right."

"I know I am," Jane said with a smile. "So don't screw it up, or I'll have Thor knock some sense into you with something larger than a spoon."

"Yes ma'am."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Leaving the drug store in a daze, Darcy didn't know what to do next. For a moment she considered stopping at Starbucks, getting a caramel frappe with extra caramel drizzle and contemplating which of her life choices was the catalyst for how this had ended up being her life. Maybe if she could pinpoint the exact moment, she could talk to Thor about going back in time again and stop this from ever happening. But then she remembered that she only had three dollars and change in outdated money and she probably wasn't supposed to be drinking caffeine anyways.

At a loss for anything else to do, she ended up slowly shuffling, in her cheaply-made fuzzy slippers, back up the street towards Stark Tower, little white stick in hand. At least, that was her intention, but when faced with the gleaming double doors, she just couldn't force herself to go inside. Instead she kept moving, eventually walking around the block and looping down around Grand Central and back up Park again and again. Each time pausing in front of Stark Tower before moving on again.

It wasn't until the setting sun and her rapidly falling apart footwear forced the issue, that she managed to talk herself into entering the building. She even managed to get on the elevator, before realizing that she still wasn't ready to face anyone yet. In a panic she slammed the button for the next level, breathing a sigh of relief when the elevator let her off on the 17th floor.

Realizing that she couldn't just wander around what appeared to be an office space, even if it was after hours, Darcy spotted the sign for the emergency stairs. Figuring that was the perfect hideout, since no would be taking the stairs this high up in a building this tall, she slipped through the door and went up half a flight of stairs before taking a seat, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head against her knees.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there before she sensed someone sitting down beside her.

"Should I even ask how you knew where I was?" she asked, not bothering to lift her head.

"It's my building. I can know where anyone is at any time," Tony replied.

"Because that's not creepy at all," she said, looking up so she could give him the side eye.

"So I guess this would be a bad time to tell you that I had JARVIS hack into the city's big brother cameras to follow you from the minute you stepped out of the building," Tony countered shamelessly.

"Little bit, yeah."

"It was the only way we could keep Cap from charging after you. He was worried that you weren't wearing shoes when you left," he shrugged. "Which in my opinion, only made your seven trips around the block more impressive."

They both looked down at her feet. The cheaply made fuzzy slippers were already destined for the trash, filthy and falling apart after shuffling around outside in them all afternoon.

"I don't think those are licensed," Tony said casually, tilting his head as he took in the knock-off version of his likeness.

"No, I don't think so either," Darcy agreed, wiggling her toes.

"But I appreciate your superior taste in super heros."

"They were two dollars and ninety-eight cents on clearance," she explained dryly. "Vintage me didn't carry my debit card."

"Oh."

"Yeeeeeah," she drawled. "I just figured barefoot wasn't the best choice."

"You are absolutely correct about that," Tony agreed with a shudder.

"Although I guess I should be grateful that I was gone long enough that the cleanup from Loki's hissy fit is moving along nicely," Darcy mused with a shrug. "The sidewalk is actually pretty clear. How long was I gone, anyways?" she asked when she realized that she had no idea.

"Here, about a month," he told her. "But from what we can tell, from what Rogers has told us, you were probably in the past for closer to a year."

"A year?!" Darcy exclaimed, horrified at the prospect that in addition to everything else, there was a whole year of her life missing from her memory.

"That's if you started your stay in the past at the same time that you met him for the first time," Tony explained further. "But that's an educated guess. Time travel and magic…. not an exact science."

"Right," she said hollowly.

"But Thor thinks that if Rogers was the last thing you saw or thought of before you fell through the portal, that you were magically linked to him and that's why you ended up where you did. Or ya know," he waved a dismissive hand, "something."

Darcy let her head fall back to her knees as she processed this new information. She didn't know what do with the idea that she was or at least had been magically linked to Captain America.

"Does he know where I am right now?" she asked, figuring Tony would know who she was talking about.

"No," he assured her. "I told him I would keep an eye on you and tell him if you ran into trouble."

"Thanks," she sighed. "I don't think I can face him yet."

"Yeah, about that… what was the verdict?" Tony asked curiously, since they both knew he was watching her go into the drug store.

Unwrapping her arms from where they were tucked behind her knees, she extended the little white stick that was still clenched in her hand.

"I don't like to be handed things," he informed her. "That goes double for things that have been peed on."

"I didn't pee on the handle," Darcy shot back, with a roll of her eyes. "But to answer your question, I am, in fact, baking a seventy-year-old bun in this oven."

"At least you know it'll be well done."

"So," she said lightly, trying to find the humor in the situation, "I'm thinking if it's a boy, I'll name him Marty, and if it's a girl, I'll name her Jennifer."

"Classy," Tony nodded. "You could also go with Bill or Ted for boys. Or both if they're twins."

"Oh, those are good ones," Darcy grinned. "But don't you dare wish twins on me."

"So I take it that naming your time-traveling fetus means that you're going to skip Planned Parenthood tomorrow?" Tony asked, calling her out on her earlier statement.

That made her smile drop. "I shouldn't have said that." Darcy sighed deeply. "That's not something you just blurt out without a lot of forethought."

When Tony didn't reply right away, Darcy looked over at him, grateful to see a complete lack of judgment.

"If there was ever a situation that could excuse a rash statement or two, I think this qualifies," Tony said finally. "And whatever you decide to do, I've got your back."

Darcy couldn't even process the fact that she'd just gotten Iron Man's support in her woman's right to choose – which she did in actually appreciate a great deal – when she was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was pregnant in the first place. Speaking of which…

"I can't believe I'm going to have a baby!" she exclaimed, eyes wide, as it hit her all over again. "I can't keep a houseplant alive! I can't be responsible for a human being!"

"The way Foster tells it, you've done a pretty good job keeping her alive the past couple years."

"Jane's an adult! I can just shove a Pop Tart in her hand while she's distracted, when she's being too stubborn to actually stop what she's doing to eat," Darcy threw up her hands. "I don't think babies are supposed to eat Pop Tarts!"

"No, not at least until they have teeth," Tony agreed.

"Oh god. It's gonna have teeth!"

"Well, not right away," he offered, as though that made it any better.

"I'm growing an entire person. Inside me, right now," she said, with wide eyes.

"You make it sound really creepy when you put it like that," Tony said, looking a little queasy.

Darcy leaned back against the stair behind her, and rested her hands on her stomach. There was a definite swell, there was no denying that, but she'd had a bigger belly the time she'd challenged Thor to a pizza-eating contest. She'd lost, of course, but she'd put in a good showing.

"I don't even know how far along I am," she realized. "I'm gonna have to go to a doctor, and being Jane's assistant does not come with a PPO," she sighed, the practicalities of her new situation coming to mind for the first time since the stick had turned blue. "Thank god ACA passed, I guess."

"You're having Captain America's baby," Tony pointed out. "I'm sure that qualifies you to be on SHIELD's health plan."

Darcy wrinkled her nose at that idea. She'd about reached her lifetime limit on all things SHIELD at this point. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to get any further entrenched with the secret government agency. "Maybe I'll just take my chances with socialized medicine. It's worked out for Canada pretty well so far. Despite who the father is, the baby doesn't know it's American yet."

"Hate to break it to you kiddo, but I'm pretty sure you won't have a choice. Like I said, you're smuggling Captain America's progeny in there," he said, nodding at her stomach. "He's a super solider, with super sperm, which could potentially make super spawn. I can't see them letting you get anywhere near a doctor that doesn't have clearance. For your safety as much as the kid's."

"So you mean to tell me that not only am I pregnant by some guy I've never met, but I could potentially be carrying a super fetus that might have the strength to bust through my belly button like in Alien?" Darcy said, with a remarkable level of calm. "Today keeps getting better and better."

"It's possible, but that particular scenario seems unlikely," he replied in the same even tone, concerned that she might be seconds away from a total breakdown.

"Stark, I want you to promise me something," she said, turning to face Tony straight on, the very picture of seriousness. "If it looks like that's the way things are going to go down, I want you to record that shit and upload it to YouTube. If I'm going down, I'm going to go down with more hits than five people playing one guitar and Rebecca Black's Friday combined."

"I like your style, Lewis," Tony said appraisingly.

Darcy just shrugged at was actually a high compliment coming from Tony Stark.

"Why are you here anyways?" she asked suddenly realizing she was sitting in a stairwell with Iron Man discussing her unplanned pregnancy. It was more than a little surreal.

"Because I own the building," he said simply.

"No, really. I mean why are you here talking to me? You don't even know me. You could have just sent Jane. Not that I don't appreciate it, but none of this is your problem." Darcy wasn't being rude, she just really wanted to know why Tony Stark, who was easily one of the most powerful men in the world, was making the time and effort to check up on her.

"Jane and Steve are sitting vigil together, and while we were able to keep him from scouring the city streets for you, I don't think we could have kept him out of the stairwell," Tony answered after several beats. "And I assumed that if you were ready to see him, you wouldn't have gotten out of the elevator."

"Thanks for that," she nodded, confirming his assumptions.

"Also, I'm probably the only other person up there, that knows what if feels like to be told that you're having a baby with someone you don't even remember sleeping with," he admitted with a shrug.

"You have kids?" Darcy questioned, unable to hide her surprise.

"What? No!"

"But you just said- "

"Paternity tests have always proved otherwise," Tony explained quickly. "I've always been very careful, but accidents happen. And even if I was always pretty sure that they were just looking for a payout, there was always a chance that they weren't, and I was having a kid with a stranger. It's not a good feeling, no matter how many times it's happened."

"How many times has that happened?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Four," he answered honestly. "But I'm pretty sure that I never actually slept with one of them, so that one I wasn't overly worried about. She was a nut job of epic proportions."

"Yikes," Darcy understated.

"Yep," Tony agreed. "But I figure that it's got to be about a thousand times worse for you, since you're the one actually carrying the mystery baby."

"It's not a great feeling, no," she agreed, her hands going back to her still mostly-flat stomach, still having a hard time coming to grips that there was actually a baby in there. "But even with all of that, you're still going above and beyond the call of coolness about all of this, though. And no offense, it doesn't really mesh with anything I've heard about you since, well, ever."

Tony shrugged. Even he wasn't completely sure of the motives behind his actions. He didn't know her, but after hearing so much about her from both Steve and Jane over the past couple weeks, he sort of felt like he did. And he had accepted the group currently upstairs into the select club of what he considered 'his people', and if Darcy was important to his people, than that made her important to him. "I meant it though, when I said I like your style. Besides, anyone who tased the god of thunder is okay in my book."

"You heard that story, huh?" Darcy smirked proudly.

"And what you did to save Foster," he continued, referring to the events that had led Darcy to fall through the portal in the first place, "was brave. Stupid, but very brave. Which I can respect. Clearly, life is less boring when you're around and I hate to be bored, so you're welcome to stay here while you figure out what's going on with Mr. Patriotic Pants."

"Thanks, Stark," she said, genuinely. "You're being incredibly sweet about all of this."

Tony looked horrified. "If you ever tell anyone that or about anything we've talked about, I'll rescind that offer, and your pregnant butt will be sitting on the steps of Grand Central with a one-way ticket out of the city before you can blink."

"Noted," Darcy replied, not believing his threat for a minute.

"And, also in the category of things that shall never be spoken of again… and frankly I can't even believe I'm about to say this since just thinking about it makes me nauseous," Tony continued, before he could talk himself out of it. "You should go easy on Steve. Maybe even consider giving him a chance. He's almost unbelievably decent. None of us expected you not to remember your little trip through time and he's pretty torn up about all of this. And it's obvious that he's stupid in love with you. Seriously, you should have seen him these past couple weeks when he realized you were, well... you. I thought that rainbows were going to shoot out of his ass when we finally figured out how to get you back."

"But he's not in love with me," Darcy countered. "He's in love with bizarro Darcy. It's like he's in love with my identical twin who looks and sounds like me, but is definitely not me. Seriously, like 94% of my personality would have been completely unacceptable in the forties and that is the version of Darcy that Steve is in love with."

"Lewis, I've known you for less than a day and I sincerely doubt that even being born in the first half of the twentieth century could have stifled your personality all that much," Tony replied. "And you've had enough life changing news today that you really shouldn't be making any life changing decisions tonight anyways. So I vote that we get off these stairs, because my ass is falling asleep, and go back upstairs and maybe do something mindless like watch a movie. What do you say?"

"Well, I suppose I can't hide in the stairwell forever," Darcy sighed in way of agreement.

"Excellent," Tony said standing and leading the way back to the elevator. "I think Pepper said something about picking up The Vow for tonight."

"That's fucked up."

"Well if that's a no, how about While You Were Sleeping?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Really?"

"No, not really!"

"50 First Dates?"

"You're a dick."

"I've heard that before."

A/N And there we have it! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! And I promise next chapter I'll finally get Steve and Darcy in the same room and talking to each other ;) So please let me know what you thought, your comments feed the muse :D