God, today sucks, thought Darcy as she walked down one of the New York side streets towards Stark Mansion, her ear buds blasting music so loud she couldn't hear anything around her (it was against security, but she really just wanted to be home right now. The backpack she was carrying bounced with each step, the strap gripped firmly in one hand and the other hand shoved in the pocket of her jacket.

Normally, she loved school. She adored going to classes because occasionally she learned something she didn't already know and it gave her a chance to socialize with other students. Today though, well, today she wanted to murder one of her fellow students. That bastard thinks he's so smart, but he messed with that wrong girl. I will make him eat his words when I show up with my-

Her thoughts were interrupted when a body suddenly flew right in front of her face. She might have jumped if flying bodies weren't as common to her as they were. Which probably said something about her life, but she wasn't going to dwell on it. Instead, she popped out her ear buds and looked towards the person who'd just flown past her.

Steve groaned as he pushed himself off the wall he'd hit, leaving an imprint behind. His eyes scanned the area, immediately stopping on Darcy. The rate at which he paled couldn't be healthy. Frantically, he scrambled to his feet. "Darcy, get out of here!"

"What's going on?" asked Darcy, tilting her head at Steve.

The super-soldier never got a chance to respond. In the next moment, a random man wrapped in leather with a massive gold, horned helmet appeared in front of Darcy. Black hair was just visible beneath the gold and his pale skin looked almost unnatural in the bright sunlight. The man didn't even glance at her, his focus solely on Steve. "I expected more of you, Super-soldier."

"Darcy, run!" ordered Steve as he scrambled to his feet. "Get out of here."

In the next few seconds, several things happened. The man who came after Steve suddenly turned on Darcy who, still feeling jumpy over the recent kidnapping incident, activated her bracelet and fired at the man without a second thought. The sonic waves struck her target, flinging him several feet backwards and slamming him into a wall. The action left a rather impressive imprint on the bricks, outlining the man's body almost perfectly. Steve just stood gawking next to Darcy, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Uh..." Looking at the mystery man, Darcy's first fleeting thought as her brain restarts is that the guy is really cute. Not in the same way that Clint is; Clint is the 'I will chain you to my bed' type of hot where as the guy in front of her is more like James Bond. Which is funny given Clint actually is a super-spy.

Steve started choking beside Darcy, staring at her in shock. "Did you just call him cute?"

"That didn't stay in my head, did it?" asked Darcy with a sigh. "Just don't tell Clint, please. He's so much hotter than this guy it's not even funny, but he'll still get all paranoid if he finds out."

"I'm going to pretend I never heard you refer to Thor's crazy little brother as cute," muttered Steve, shaking his head. "I mean, I hoped you had standards-"

"Hey!" objected Darcy, momentarily loosing her focus on their current situation. "Someone can be cute and a total sociopath. That doesn't mean you can't admire how they look."

"Are we really going to have this conversation?" asked Steve, staring at Darcy like she'd grown another head.

"You started it," countered Darcy, folding her arms over her chest. "All I did was say someone was cute. You're the one who implied it might reflect who I would actually date."

Steve opened his mouth to rebuke, only to be suddenly lifted clean off the ground and thrown back into the building by Loki before he could respond. The super-soldier flew through the hole in the brick again, his disappearance and the subsequent loud smack of him hitting something inside being followed by a moan. A pained one.

Turning back to Darcy, Loki narrowed his eyes. "I had no dispute with you, Mortal, until you chose to use your magic on me."

"Uh, this is a mini sonic cannon, not magic," objected Darcy, lifting her palm to reflect the device she'd built weeks before. "And you're attacking Steve for no reason. Of course I'm going to defend him."

"It is not for no reason that I have targeted him," argued Loki with a growl. "I have my reasons and they are not ones I expect a mortal to understand."

"Yeah?" countered Darcy, crossing her arms over her chest. "Try me."

However, before Loki could respond, a rather loud shout echoed from down the street. "Father! What the hell are you doing?"

Glancing down the street, Darcy caught sight of Fen as she stormed forward. "Hey Fen."

"Hey Darcy," replied Fen as she came to a stop beside Darcy, eyes locked on Loki. "Seriously Father, what is this?"

Loki winced slightly, still scowling as he gestured to the hole through which he'd tossed Steve. He nearly towered over Fen, though his stance wasn't menacing so much as protective. "I was having a chat with your supposed suitor. This man has nothing to offer you. Why do you insist upon associating with him, Daughter?"

Rolling her eyes, Fen crossed her arms the same way Darcy was and scowled up at Loki. "He's a honest guy, Father. Honest, kind, and loyal. Isn't that what you're always telling me to look for? Someone who'll stand beside me no matter what?"

"I am unconvinced this man is truly worthy of you," countered Loki, scowl deepening. "That he will protect you as you should be protected."

"Because you're my father," argued back Fen. "You aren't supposed to approve of my boyfriends. Besides, I can take care of myself."

Sighing, Loki's shoulders slumped. "I know you are capable of such, Fen, but I would still prefer you be with someone who is at least capable of protecting you."

Shaking her head, Darcy said the first thing that came to mine. "My dad doesn't approve of my boyfriend either, and he's one of my dad's teammates."

Fen cocked an eyebrow at Darcy. "You mean Clint?"

"Yeah, he's Hawkeye," replied Darcy with a shrug. "The dude with the bow."

"He's cute," remarked Fen with a shrug. "Think I said that already though."

Loki groaned. "Fen, must you say such things?"

Fen just shrugged and climbed through the hole Steve had been thrown through. "Doesn't change anything if I don't say it."

Rolling her eyes, Darcy patted Loki's shoulder and dropped her voice. "If you want some advice, talk to my dad. He did this same thing with me."

Looking at her with a raised eyebrow, Loki shot Darcy an incredulous look. "And who are you to believe I do not know what I am doing? Or furthermore, that I lack my own associates to seek advice from?"

"Because Thor doesn't have kids, Odin's already proven he has terrible parenting skills, and your mother will just tell you to let her be," replied Darcy with a shrug, shifting her backpack. "I'm guessing none of the other men you're familiar with have children either. So, talk to my dad. Have a drink. He'll maybe, possibly be able to help. He certainly isn't a screw up as a father." Retracting her sonic cannon back into it's bracelet form, she turned to the hole in the wall. "Hey Fen, I'm gonna bolt."

Her friend's head popped out a moment later, followed by Steve's head, shoulders, and the rest of his body as Fen helped him out of the hole. "Where are you going?"

"Home," replied Darcy with a wave as she started down the street. "I have robot to build and people to humiliate with my genius."

"Don't forget to video tape it!" called Fen just before Darcy turned the corner. Darcy just gave her a thumbs up and popped her ear buds back in.

A knock on Darcy's lab door drew her attention away from the robot that was currently still in pieces in front of her. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Tony standing on the other side of her lab's wall looking somewhere between thoughtful and concerned. That was never a good sign.

"Josie, lower the music and admit my dad, please," called Darcy, spinning away from her creation to face her father completely.

He stepped inside a moment later, scratching his head. "Hey Darce, do you know why Loki popped into my lab earlier for a drink and a discussion about parenting?"

She shrugged, picking up the cup of coffee resting near her arm. "Because I told him to talk with you about how to handle his daughter dating."

"I got that much, but I'm wondering where you come into this whole thing," replied Tony, eying Darcy worriedly. "Who's his daughter?"

"Fen," answered Darcy, taking a sip of her coffee. "And he decided beating up Steve would somehow get Steve to stop dating Fen. She didn't take that very well."

"Yeah, that's kinda a no brainer," muttered Tony. "Otherwise I would have tried it with Clint. Maybe."

Rolling her eyes, Darcy stood and stretched. "So how did it go?"

"Fine," confirmed Tony with a shrug, dropping onto one of the free stools in her lab. "He's...less crazy than I thought. Also, kinda afraid of you. Plus, he's joining the Avengers, I think."

Darcy blinked in surprise. "Wow, that's a complete 180. What caused that one?"

"Apparently, he's afraid of the fact that I've managed to reproduce," replied Tony with a shake of his head. "Can't decide if that's an insult or a compliment."

"Compliment," replied Darcy. "Just take it as a compliment."

"Yeah..." Shaking his head again, Tony refocused on his daughter. "Anyway, that's that. Steve's in medical still, Fen's with him...you know, the fact that she's Loki's kid explains a lot."

"Trust me, I came to the same conclusion," agreed Darcy as she moved to nuke her coffee.

Nodding, Tony stood and stretched. "Alright, well, I'll leave you to build a robot to shame every kid in your school. But Darcy?"

"Yeah?" asked Darcy, looking over her shoulder at her dad.

"Next time, please warn me when you send a super villain to me for parenting advice," requested Tony. "Walking into my lab to find one of the guy's I've beaten the crap out of sitting there looking for advice isn't my idea of a fun Wednesday night."