Darcy had spent enough time with Jane to know that scientists who are obsessed with their particular science don't take good care of themselves. So when Jane got invited to move in with Thor at Stark Tower (Avengers Tower?), she followed. Stark offered Jane her own lab and access to both his and Dr. Banner's, and she'd taken it without hesitation. Her one bargain was the right to bring Darcy with her, which was met with open agreement.

Darcy was regretting this decision when she was left to pack up their current lab all by herself. She'd fired her own intern after the fiasco of trying to date him, and she hadn't bothered taking another one since she got her own degree and started taking online classes for theoretical physics. (She hadn't told Jane about the classes, and she wouldn't until she'd gotten the degree. She wasn't completely sure she'd be able to finish, and she wanted Jane to be proud of her.)

She'd been at it for over five hours when someone rang the buzzer to get into the building. She wasn't expecting anyone, but SHIELD showed up at the worst possible times. Sure, she'd heard that they'd fallen apart, but she knew better. She had an inside source. But it wasn't SHIELD at the door, it was Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. Nat's face was blank, but Clint was grinning at her.

"Didn't I meet you a couple years ago, in New Mexico? You were one of the assholes who took our equipment," she asked him, frowning slightly. "What are you doing here now? I don't have time for this."

"Tony sent us to help you pack up and move your stuff," he told her, still grinning. "And yes, you met me in New Mexico. Kind of. I don't think we ever had time to really talk or anything. I'm Clint, and this is Natasha."

"Great, nice to meet you both. If you're actually going to help, follow me. Otherwise, go bug someone else," Darcy stated, turning her back on them and heading back to where she'd left off. "Everything goes into a box, where I will label it, and then out into the moving van. I think it's going to take two trips."

"We brought a jet, too. You can drive the van with most of this stuff, and we'll take the rest back with us," Natasha informed her, frowning at the stack of labeled boxes.

"You can start by taking those out to the van if you want, then," Darcy said with a small smile. "I really do appreciate this. Jane ditched me hours ago to spend time with Thor, not that I'm really surprised. It's just frustrating."

"You're her intern. Isn't this your job?" Clint asked, sticking a particularly breakable machine into a box.

"I was her intern. Now I'm her assistant, paid and everything. I got my degree," Darcy argued, moving over to repack the machine. "Careful with these. They're her babies, hand made and everything."

"Aren't you working on a second degree now? We've all read your file back at the tower, before Tony agreed to let you stay with Jane," Natasha asked, coming back in for more boxes.

"So Tony is an asshole just like all those stupid SHIELD agents, huh? Well, yes, I'm working on a second degree. It's supposed to be a secret, because I'm not completely sure I'm smart enough to finish this one. I just want Jane to be proud of me, and not treat me like I'm not as smart as she is. Just because I act like I'm an airhead doesn't mean I really am," she snapped, closing the box with more force than was necessary. She froze when she felt Clint's hand on her shoulder.

"Nobody thinks you're dumb, Darcy. Hell, I dropped out of school and never got any kind of diploma much less a degree. You've got one degree and you're going for a second one. I don't think you realize how impressive that is. Jane would be proud of you for even trying, but I think we all know you'll finish and get this one too. What do you want to do with it?" he asked calmly.

"I don't really know. It's just always fascinated me, you know? I mean, I couldn't make a career out of political science unless I'm teaching, which I don't want to do. But theoretical physics would be fun, in that I can do what Jane does. Come up with theories and prove them right, I mean. Different kind of science, same kind of job. For now, I'm happy keeping her alive. Eventually, I want to do my own thing," she replied.

"I think that sounds like a good plan," Natasha told her, closing the last box and writing the label. "We'll meet you back at the tower?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a couple hours. I've got my own room to pack up still. I didn't quite believe that this was real," she admitted.

"We'll tell everyone else that you're behind us. JARVIS will let us know when you arrive so we can help you carry everything inside and let you meet everyone," Clint replied, smiling.

The first few weeks were exhausting for Darcy and Jane. They unpacked everything and set up the lab (mostly Darcy with help from various Avengers while Jane hid away with Thor), met everyone, set up their own rooms, and made lists of things they still needed for Tony to buy.

Darcy got to know Clint very well, as he spent most of his free time around her. Natasha would join them sometimes, and she had started teaching Darcy more self defense that didn't involve her taser. She had a set weekly movie night with Steve and Bucky, to get them caught up on pop culture. She helped Bruce a couple of times with equations in his lab, but spent most of her time down there making sure he and Jane got enough food and rest. The only person she didn't have much contact with was Tony Stark himself.

After her first month there, she got to meet Pepper Potts. Pepper showed up early one morning to find Tony and make sure he was on time to some meeting. When she saw that Bruce and Jane were both alive and actually eating in the kitchen, she tracked Darcy down to ask why she wasn't doing the same for Tony.

"You're doing amazingly with Bruce, I'm impressed. But why isn't Tony up there with them? I know he's difficult, but have you even tried?" she asked, frowning.

"I'd love to help Tony, but he's locked me out of his lab. Bruce won't give me his code to get in, and Jane doesn't have one either. I can't get in there to feed him or annoy him into coming out to see the light of day," Darcy admitted.

"If I give you my override code, do you think you could 'annoy' him into coming out every once in a while?" Pepper asked.

"I'm pretty good at getting them to listen to me, because I know what to say to make them change their minds. Tony won't be any different," she replied with a small smile.

Pepper wrote down the code and handed it to her. "If he gives you much trouble, just have JARVIS call me and I'll come down here and set him straight. He can be... well, you'll see. I love him, but he drives me and everyone else crazy most days. Just make sure he isn't drinking, please. We finally got him to quit after the battle last year."

After that, Darcy spent quite a bit of her time in the lab with Tony. She did most of the talking, because he was almost never paying enough attention to actually respond to her questions and comments. She was pretty sure he wasn't even aware that she was there most days. She brought her laptop down with her to work on her classes while making sure he was drinking only coffee or water and eating actual food instead of trail mix for meals.

"Did I tell you about the intern I used to date? Back when I was still Jane's intern and finishing my first degree, I decided that there was too much work for just me to do by myself. So I hired myself an intern who was a year below me, and I didn't tell Jane until she noticed him for herself. That actually took almost ten days, by the way. She's just as unobservant as you are when she gets into it. I liked him from the beginning because he could keep up with me, but I wasn't actually attracted to him. I pretended I didn't know his name, just for fun. Actually, I didn't really notice much about him until he saved my life when the weird space elves attacked," she told him one day.

He didn't even look up from his experiment, not a single word about how dumb she was for all of that. No jokes, no compliments, nothing.

"Not that you seem to care, but Jane and I actually had fun before we moved in here. It was about more than the science. She's my best friend, practically my sister. She always had time for me before now. Now, I don't think she even realizes that I spend more time down here getting ignored by you than I do with her. Sad, right?" She was expecting the silence, but that didn't make it sting any less.

"It's okay, just keep working. I can talk all day," she snapped, hopping up to sit on the counter behind her. "So, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh right, the concert!"

She and Jane managed to make it out for lunch on their third month there, just the two of them to talk. Jane had noticed that Darcy seemed to be around less, but she didn't comment on it right away.

"How are you adjusting? I know it's a big change for us, but this is so perfect, Darcy!" she exclaimed when they'd sat down in the diner.

"I like it there. I'm getting along with everyone pretty well. Natasha is teaching me how to fight without my taser, did I tell you? I'm getting pretty good at it. I can beat Clint sometimes, although I think he lets me win," Darcy replied.

"So is that where you disappear to during the days?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because I think you'd be pretty sore after that."

"Sometimes, sure. I spend time with all of them. I usually learn with Nat in the mornings, then spend a few hours with Steve and Bucky. I always end up in Tony's lab just after lunch, though. You and Bruce are easy to take care of, but Tony tunes the whole world out. I bet he doesn't even know that I'm there over half of the time. I just talk about everything and nothing until he acknowledges me, and then I make him eat or sleep," she told her with a shrug.

"You spend all of your time with Tony Stark while he ignores your existence?" Jane asked incredulously. "That doesn't even make sense!"

"Pepper asked me to keep an eye on him and gave me her override code for JARVIS. I'm just helping her out," Darcy replied. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"He's treating you like you don't even exist. That's worse than the sexist comments he makes about me, or the jokes and insults he uses on everyone else," Jane stated, frowning angrily. "I'm going to talk to him about it."

"Don't. It's really not a big deal. Don't change your opinion on him just because of me, Jane. Clearly this is just his opinion of me. And I don't let it bother me," Darcy informed her. "If you want to get on someone's case, you should yell at Bucky for not liking Harry Potter."

The rest of the lunch was spent trying to get Jane's mind off of Tony's behavior. It worked, after she started asking about the newest theories.

"She's right, you know," Clint told her when she relayed the conversation later. "He treats you like shit and you just take it."

"He'd actually have to talk to her to treat her like shit," Nat pointed out helpfully, correcting Darcy's stance easily. "Relax, Darcy. You're not going to land any blows if you're completely tense like that."

"Easy for you to say. And he's always in the science zone when I'm there. I know it going in. Nothing he does down there offends me because I know he's not going to notice me when I go in. I've been doing classwork recently instead of talking as much. Actually, I think I concentrate better when I'm not on my own, so technically he's helping me," she argued.

"Right, and pigs can fly. Actually, that's no longer a valid argument after last month. I will never be able to unsee that," Clint shot back, wincing. "My point is that you're grasping at strings when the truth is staring you in the face. He could care less if you lived or died, and you're defending him. Why?"

She was hoping nobody would ask that question, because the answer was something she didn't want to even think about much less admit out loud. Sometime in the month of making sure Tony stayed alive while he made his cool machines, she'd managed to form some kind of crush on the genius. She couldn't look at him without thinking about what it'd be like to have him actually pay attention to her, maybe in the way that Thor pays attention to Jane. She defended him because until he actually spoke to her and proved otherwise, he truly wasn't an ass to her. It probably helped that he was completely gorgeous and totally her type.

"Because for now, he has never been rude to me or said something that makes me want to slap him. So until he does, I'm going to assume that he's not a complete jerk and defend him when you call him one," she informed them. "And isn't the point of our time in the gym to be helping me learn how to defend myself?"

They left her alone after that, but she caught their knowing looks every once in a while when she'd head for the elevator every day to check on Tony.

No amount of lessons with the assassins could help her against magic or illness, which is something that hadn't occurred to anyone until the attack nearly a month later. All she could do was curse her luck and wonder why the hell she'd thought it was a good idea to move into a tower with people who had enemies with super abilities and magic. In this case, she was cursing Victor von Doom, who had engineered some kind of virus that currently had no cure and was making her sick.

She spent most of her time in the bathroom connected to her bedroom for the first couple days. Jane would come in occasionally to check on her and take samples of blood and DNA to run tests and try to make a cure, but she was the only one who risked exposure to see her. Darcy was pretty sure Tony had issued a quarantine on her entire floor, actually, because she couldn't even get into the elevator.

The fourth day is when the first gift showed up. She woke up to a new TV on her wall, and a stack of her favorite movies on her bedside table. They were stacked in order of preference, with a note on top saying that there would be more when she made it through all of these.

"JARVIS, who left these?" she asked, her voice hoarse from disuse.

"I believe Dr. Foster left them for you, but they were chosen by Mr. Stark. He sends his regards and hopes that you feel better."

Darcy didn't know how to feel about that, so she chose to pop the first movie in and just enjoy it. Movies was the first thing she'd shared with him on all of those days he'd seemingly ignored her, but clearly he retained some of it. Unless...

"Did he know these all on his own, or did he get help from someone?" she asked quietly, dreading the answer. She badly wanted it to have been all him, but she was pretty sure he'd asked at least one other person.

"Most of them were his own doing. He did ask Captain Rogers a question about one of them, though he didn't listen to the answer."

Okay, she was impressed. Maybe he didn't ignore her like she'd assumed. Maybe he was actually listening to her talking while she tried to get him to acknowledge her... But then he'd know more about her than anyone else in the world, and she wasn't sure she was comfortable with that.

It took her three days to get through all of the movies, with Jane and Thor joining her occasionally. None of the others were brave enough to see her themselves, but they sent notes and food with Jane every day. When the movies were done, a brand new iPod showed up on her bedside table, preloaded with all of her favorite songs and all of the albums she'd told him she'd wanted to try. After that was a stack of books that she'd told him she loved, both from her childhood and from her time before becoming Jane's assistant. She hadn't had much time for reading after that.

She'd been sending little notes to the others when they asked, but she didn't think Tony was coming out of his lab anymore so there wouldn't be a point to sending him things. Then it occurred to her that JARVIS could do things like get messages to him in the lab, and it opened up a new door for her. She recorded voice messages for him and sent them at meal times and when she knew he should be sleeping but wouldn't be. She had JARVIS monitor his vitals the way she knew he was monitoring hers, and she sent a video message the time that they got dangerously low. He was careful after that, much to her surprise. He stopped missing meals and started sending voice messages back.

Darcy didn't get any worse, but she wasn't getting any better either. She was spending just as much time in her bathroom as she was in her bed, and her entire body ached constantly. Jane's attempts at cures only helped for a few hours at a time, and she could only take them once or twice a day without it being more harmful than the virus itself.

"I don't think this is working. I think whatever this is might not be curable. In which case, I don't think I can take much more of this," she said quietly on the tenth day.

"I don't care if it takes us a year, Darcy, we're not giving up. You aren't giving up. Don't make me tell Tony that you're thinking about death. I don't think you want to see what he'd do about that," Jane shot back, glaring at her.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Jane! I'm in pain all the time, and I can't keep most food down. It's like... being pregnant without actually having a baby inside of me. All of the symptoms with no reward at the end. I'm tired, and I'm hurting, and I just want it to be over," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Darce. I'm sorry. I know this is hell for you, I know," Jane said quietly, hugging her tightly. Darcy didn't protest even though it hurt. She knew Jane needed the comfort more than she did.

There were no more gifts from Tony after that. He stopped sending her messages, JARVIS stopped giving her his vitals, and Jane informed him two days after their death discussion that he wasn't even in the tower.

"He's been monitoring you this whole time, having JARVIS tell him anything important. From what I understand, he heard our conversation and left a few minutes after I left your room. Nobody knows where he went, not even Pepper. I asked her myself," Jane informed her when she asked.

On top of that, Darcy actually started getting worse. It was like the second she stopped having Tony to make her feel even a little bit happier, she completely lost her ability to fight off the virus. She was too weak to stand on her own, and her body was rejecting all food and liquids. Bruce had moved her into his lab, and she was hooked up to six different IVs while they struggled to make her better and keep her alive. Still, nobody could find Tony.

"He'll show up soon. He always manages to show up when he's needed, even if he's late sometimes," Steve assured her. She knew what it meant for him to be saying that since he didn't even really like the genius. And that any of them were assuring her at all was a miracle because she could tell they were all completely pissed at Tony. She was just resigned.

"It doesn't matter," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I'm not going to make it much longer, and we all know it. I've got a day or two left, tops."

"Don't say things like that," Jane reprimanded, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Somebody has to say it. We're all thinking it," she replied, trying to smile. She had very little energy left, and talking was draining it faster. "Just... tell him that I'll come back and haunt him if he does something stupid after this. I really will, I mean it."

"I'll hold you to it, too," Tony said from the doorway, his signature grin in place. He was holding a vial of purple liquid, which he held out to Bruce as soon as everyone was looking at him. "I got tired of waiting for all of you to make your own cure and I went after Doom. I managed to persuade him to give me the cure, and I seriously doubt he'll be back here for a while."

Bruce made everyone leave the room while he and Jane administered the cure and monitored Darcy's vitals carefully. In less than an hour, she was able to stand on her own and keep down liquids and some solid foods. By the next morning, she'd stopped throwing up entirely and had color back on her face. Bruce let her have visitors that afternoon, but Tony didn't come to see her. Clint and Nat were the first ones in, and Bruce and Jane left them alone to talk.

"As soon as we were all on the communal floor, Steve started yelling. Well, not actually raising his voice, but you know what I mean. He's mad that Tony went and did that without telling any of us. We all are, actually. You were doing fine until he left," Clint stated as he sat down on the bed beside her.

"Yes, and that told us what you so conveniently left out when giving us your reason for defending him. How long have you had feelings for him?" Nat asked, her lips twitching. Darcy was sure she was blushing, and she wished it wasn't too late to deny it.

"I thought you guys had caught on from that first day, honestly. I didn't realize it was something I needed to say out loud," she replied quietly. They both grinned at her.

"Oh, we did. It's just nice to hear a confirmation. Barnes owes me a hundred bucks now! Nat, you're my witness," Clint said happily, hugging Darcy. "In all seriousness, I think this whole thing is a catastrophe waiting to happen. If he ever hurts you, I will kill him."

"We both will, and I'm sure Phil will help us," Nat added, giving her a small smile. Darcy groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Please don't bring him into this. The last thing I need is Dad coming in here and giving everyone a heart attack," she pleaded. "They don't know he's alive, remember?"

"I think they'll be finding out soon. We called him about an hour ago to tell him about the illness and all of the things that have been happening around here. I think he's annoyed that you didn't tell him yourself when you got sick. You know he'd have flown out here in a heartbeat, and he's got that bio-scientist, Simmons, who could have helped Jane make a cure," Clint reminded her.

"Great. That's just great. I'm never going to hear the end of this, just so you know. He's never going to stop trying to talk me into moving back onto the base with him now. I'm going to go crazy!" Darcy exclaimed. "When is he showing up?"

"He's about an hour out. Speaking of, we should be heading out to meet him. And I think there's someone who has been wanting to see you for a while now. We've kept you occupied long enough for Jane to castrate him, I think," Nat replied, smirking. They both gave her hugs and then they were gone.

She was only alone for a few minutes before the door was opening again and Tony was walking in with his hands in his pockets. "So I heard you couldn't live without me," he stated casually.

"Of course that's what you'd take out of all of this. If you want to get technical, I think Jane said it was because my body ran out of energy to fight off the virus shortly after you ditched me. It was all about timing and had absolutely nothing to do with you," she shot back, blushing again.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's true. It's got nothing to do with that fact that you're in love with me and you thought I didn't return your feelings because I left without saying goodbye or saying where I was going," he replied, grinning.

"Exactly. Nothing to do with any of that," she said, nodding. Then she realized what she was agreeing to and paled. "Shit. Not that I'm actually in love with you. Don't put words in my mouth, Tony!"

"Fine, maybe it isn't love yet, but you can't tell me you don't have feelings for me. That would make all of this really awkward," he shrugged.

"I... well, I mean... damn it. I can't even deny it. You've had JARVIS spying on me, so you already know you're right. I feel like Clint and Nat were in on this with you and are just outside laughing at me now. Listen, I don't need you to tell me that I'm stupid and that the feelings aren't returned. I get it, it's fine. Just go, I'll get over it pretty quickly," she said quietly, turning on her side so she didn't have to look directly at him anymore.

"Whoa, hey, I wasn't going to say anything like that. Do you think I put so much effort into saving people I don't genuinely like?" he asked, confused. "You showing up in the lab daily was the highlight of my time down there every day. There's a reason I shut the music off when you get out of the elevator. I liked hearing you talk about yourself and meaningless things like the weather outside. I loved watching you work on your classes, because you're so cute when you're trying to concentrate. You bite your lip, and it's just... adorable. I spend more time watching you do that than I do actually accomplishing anything. And I think I'm more healthy now than I was when Pepper was my assistant and keeping me fed. She was not nearly as successful as you are."

"What are you saying, Tony?" Darcy asked, pushing herself into a sitting position and staring at him. He looked down to meet her eyes calmly.

"I'm saying that I know you have feelings for me, and those feelings are returned. If you say it isn't love yet, then fine. It can be attraction or affection... whatever. But it's something, and it's getting stronger every day. You can't deny it any more than I can. That's why I left when I heard you talking about dying," he replied.

"Because you couldn't imagine a world without me?" she asked, only partially joking. She'd had a similar thought once when she realized that Tony building more suits meant he was planning on rushing into more danger eventually.

"Basically, yes," he admitted, looking slightly sheepish. "Look, I'm terrible at showing emotions. I'm even worse at talking about them. But I'm trying right now, because I know it's important. I'm not all that good at relationships because I inevitably do something stupid. But I want to try this, I want to be with you. What do you say, give me a chance?"

Darcy stared at him, trying to determine if this was real or a dream. Had she actually died and this was her heaven? He was watching her, obviously waiting for an answer. She decided that it didn't matter if it was real or not, because her answer was the same either way.

"Of course, you idiot," she murmured, pulling him into a kiss. As if she could say anything else when he was looking at her like that.