Author's Note: For GalahadsGurl who wanted Darcy/Clint/Bucky awesomeness.

Home for the Holidays

"Miss Lewis?"

"Hey, J," Darcy looked up from her movie. "What's up?"

"You requested I inform you of the team's return," JARVIS replied. "They have left debriefing and should reach the Tower within the hour."

"Thanks, J, you are the best!" she enthused as she jumped up from the couch.

"I endeavor to do my best, Miss Lewis."

"And you never fail to deliver," she confirmed. She hurried into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner. "Let me know when they're about to land so I can light the candles, okay?"

"Of course."

She hummed as she spun about the kitchen and dining area. The apartment looked homey, exactly the type of comfort and solace her roommates would need after such absence. Her nose wrinkled as she considered it. The whole team might have only been gone for a couple of days, but the guys had been on assignment and then surveillance for weeks. They had to be desperate for some downtime by now. Sometimes she wondered what SHIELD was thinking. Did they not understand the psychological tension of these long term assignments? Yes, someone needed to do them, but then that someone needed to get a break – not be tossed from assignment to surveillance with less than a day off!

"Deep breaths, Darcy," she muttered, pausing to follow her own orders. "They're coming home and Coulson's being corralled by May." She spared a grin for the somewhat hunted look the normally stoic man wore when he assured her the team would get a few weeks off, barring an alien invasion. May and Skye had him well in hand and she could trust May's disdain and Skye's disappointed puppy looks to keep him in hand.

For now – she had a Christmas dinner to finish setting up for her roommates.

No one could quite explain how the three of them managed to gravitate towards each other. Any two of them made sense, but how the three balanced out proved to be quite the puzzle to the rest of the resident Avengers and affiliates. Despite romantic rumors to the contrary – and her own personal wishes some days – the roommates remained good friends, a source of support and refuge from the insanity of their world. Bucky needed a place with no constraints of the past, where he was not living up to a memory…or defending himself from past actions over which he had no control. Clint wanted people who understood his contradictory needs for silence and noise…and how he could shift from one to the other without warning. Darcy needed people who understood what it meant to live in the shadow of someone else…and who would take care of her when she grew weary of taking care of everyone else.

The three of them just…worked.

Each of them could pair off at any time, bonding over shared interests or attitudes, but they found a unique balance with the three of them together. Power within the trio fluctuated and shifted depending on strengths and weaknesses at any given moment. Sometimes Darcy wondered if they were moving closer, almost taking the step from friendship to something more, but though they toed that line from time to time, no one seemed ready to step over it. For her part, she feared damaging the deep friendship they had created. She wanted…oh, how she wanted! But what if one…or both of them did not feel the same?

And all of this woolgathering did not get her Christmas set up finished.

Darcy rushed into her bedroom to change into a new Christmas sweater. She found it when finishing her shopping and she had to buy it. How could she not? The black sweater might have seemed too dark for Christmas, but white snowflakes and glittering red words offset that. It was the words that had her snapping it up. 'Naughty or nice?' stretched across the front might have been enough on their own, but the back made her grin – 'I can't be both?'

The boys would smile.

"Miss Lewis?" JARVIS broke in as she reentered the dining room. "The team has arrived. Agents Barton and Barnes should be arriving within five minutes."

"Good thing all I have left are the drinks," she smiled. "They can clean up while I put the food on the table." She paused. "Oh, and JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Lewis?"

"Set the privacy protocols, would you?" she requested. "Unless it's an emergency, I want them to relax."

"Of course, Miss Lewis," the AI agreed. "Privacy protocols activated."

"Thanks, J."

Five minutes later and she heard the door open. She walked into the entrance to find two tired men dropping weapons and bags in a haphazard fashion just inside the door. Her smile grew soft and welcoming as she moved forward. The movement drew their attention and they focused on her, their own smiles curving their lips in response to hers. "Welcome home," she offered as she moved up to give them each a hug. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Bucky grinned. "I like the sweater."

"Yeah?" she asked, a teasing note in her eyes. She turned around to show off the back. "Personally I figure I'm awesome enough to be both."

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Clint brushed a kiss over her cheek. "Merry Christmas to you too." He drew in a deep breath, appreciation flooding into his expression. "And this place smells fantastic."

"Well go clean up and get back here," she ordered with a smile. "Dinner's ready and I'll bet you guys could eat."

"We can always eat, Doll." Bucky gave her a quick one-armed hug before heading towards his own room. "Trust me. Given the way this place smells, it won't take me ten minutes and I'll be at the table."

"Ditto!" Clint called out, already stripping off his shirt as he strode into his room.

One day she swore she would pass out from the sheer amount of gorgeous sexiness wandering around her apartment. "Totally worth it," she muttered as she hurried back to the kitchen to finish setting up the food.

Sure enough, ten minutes later both men joined her at the table, clean and changed and ready to eat.

"Lock the door and change our numbers," Clint moaned as he took a bite of turkey. His eyes twinkled at her from across the table. "I'm never leaving again."

Bucky just smiled, his mouth already full.

"Hush up and eat," Darcy laughed as her heart lifted with the joy of having them safe and home with her. "This is a special occasion. Tomorrow we're back to easy stuff like lasagna."

After a quiet, but joyful dinner the three settled on the large overlooking the city. They had spent more than one quiet night at home in this way and she thought it would be a good finish to the evening. She could feel the last of the tension draining away from the guys as they sank ever deeper into the cushions. Her own fears and worries of the past weeks ebbed away as she let herself absorb the presence of the two men on either side of her.

"Oh!" Darcy sat up as she remembered. "I have gifts for you!" She started to stand up, but Bucky snagged her around the waist and pulled her back down. "Your presents," she protested – a weak protest all things considered, but still a protest.

"They can wait, Doll," he rumbled, pulling her into his side. "This is the best gift I could have right now. Peace, quiet, and the two of you here for both."

She gave a humming sort of sigh. "I suppose," she allowed, resting her head against his shoulder.

Clint curled up against her other side, all but defying the laws of physics to take up so little space. She lifted her head to smile back at him. He returned the smile before exchanging a look with Bucky over the top of her head. Bucky's hold on her shifted and she found herself being lifted and moved until she say in Bucky's lap with her legs stretched out over Clint's. "What-?"

Bucky's arm tightened around her. "Time to do something we should have done a long time ago."

"We've been talking," Clint told her, a deepening smile flickering over his face. "And the two of us decided to stop tiptoeing around."

"Around what?"

"This." Bucky moved his hand so he could tilt her head back. His lips captured her is a kiss, the type of kiss meant to imprint a permanent memory into her mind. Surprise held her still for a heartbeat before she surrendered to it, returning the kiss with equal fervor. He responded by deepening it, nipping and probing and tasting before pulling back to let her catch her breath.

"Nice show," Clint murmured, his eyes dark as he watched them. Then he shifted and leaned forward to catch her chin with his fingers. "My turn."

His kiss offered her every bit of passion and depth as Bucky's and she responded in kind. Bucky brushed his hand through her hair and she could feel the warmth of both men surrounding her. When the kiss ended, she blinked at both of them, seeing the question gleaming in both sets of eyes. Her lips curved as she reached up to brush her fingertips across each man's cheek. Happiness began to eclipse the questions.

"So…we're doing this?" she asked, wanting one last reassurance. "We're really going to do this? The three of us….together?"

"We're really doing it, Doll," Bucky assured her as he bent his head to press a kiss against her hair. "We fit."

"Absolutely," Clint nodded, reaching out to pull her in for another quick kiss.

Darcy looked at both of them, dark and light in the reflected light, and her smile blossomed bright and joyful over her face. "Best Christmas ever."