"A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement."

- Erwin Schrödinger

It's late one Friday evening and Steve is shooting pool with Bucky in the game room when his phone vibrates in his pocket. He fishes it from his jeans, feels a smile tug at his lips when he sees a new text from Darcy.

Bucky circles the table slowly sizing up the best possible shot. "I know that look, punk," he says, amusement lighting his voice as he arches a brow.

"What look?" Steve returns.

"What look?" Bucky mocks, sinking his next shot without even looking at the table. "That dopey ass grin you get when the girl-you-want-to-be-your-girlfriend-but-isn't-beca use-you're-too-chicken-shit-to-do-anything-about-i t—aka Darcy –does anything."

Steve rolls his eyes. "Can it, will ya? Darcy and I are just—" his voice trails off when he opens her text message.

Darcy: How big is ur dick? im asking 4 a friend.

"Jesus," Steve grinds out, his stomach somersaulting as he stares dumbly down at his phone. Bucky laughs over his shoulder and startles the shit out of him. "Dammit, Buck, you need to wear a bell or somethin'."

Bucky laughs some more and there's no point in pretending his best friend isn't mocking him. "You know she's not really asking for her friend, right?"

Steve shrugs carelessly and smirks. "She might be. She's having dinner with Nat tonight." Bucky takes a swing at his head and Steve skirts out of the way, laughing his ass off.

"My girl don't care about your dick, pal. But for sayin' she might—" Bucky starts and knocks Steve to the ground, grappling for the cell phone in his hands.

"You're insane," Steve bites out, pushing at Bucky's face when the cybernetic hand wraps around his throat, cutting off his air supply. Bucky sneers down at him, plucks the phone off the floor behind Steve's head, and loosens his grip.

"Yup," he chuckles, slapping Steve's cheek hard before running for the door. Steve jumps to his feet to chase after Bucky. He's fast, but not fast enough. Bucky's human fingers are tapping rapidly on the screen. "Sent," Bucky says, tossing the phone back.

Steve reads the sent message to Darcy.

Steve: Come over and measure it.

"Goddammit, Bucky!" Steve snaps, his face flaming red, part anger, the rest embarrassment. "Why the hell would you send that?"

"M'doin' you a favor," Bucky drawls, folding his arms across his chest and giving Steve a pointed look. "That girl's been sending you signal after signal and you've missed every damn one 'cuz you're stupid."

"You're wro—no. She hasn't." Steve quickly runs over various encounters with her in his mind and he just comes up blank. "Has she?" Steve asks dumbly.

Bucky rolls his eyes at him. "How come you're super smart about most things and so damn clueless about this? Seriously, Rogers."

Steve scowls at his friend and stalks back towards the pool table. "Let's just finish our game."

"Gladly. There's no way I'm leaving and missing you make an ass of yourself when Darcy shows up," Bucky says with a shit-eating grin.

"Shut it," Steve says without malice, picking up his pool cue to chalk it. "It's your shot."

"Excuse me, Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes," JARVIS's posh voice interrupts a short while later.

"Yes, JARVIS?" Steve says.

"Agent Romanoff and Miss Lewis are inquiring about your location. Shall I inform them?"

"Send 'em up, JARVIS," Bucky answers, smirking at Steve. "I hope she shows up with a ruler."

"You're an asshole," Steve grumbles and stalks towards the bar for something to drink. His throat is suddenly drier than the desert.

The elevator doors slide open and a laughing Darcy stumbles backwards into the room with Natasha smirking and following after her. "Jesus, Nat! Why'd you push me?" Darcy hisses and turns around, and Steve has to actively concentrate on not choking on his drink. She's dressed to the nines in a sleeveless, low-cut black dress that makes her tits look truly spectacular, hugging every curve of her amazing hourglass figure. Her full pink lips turn up slowly into a naughty smile when she spots him. "There you are, Captain."

He's so fucked.

Bucky barks out a laugh over something Natasha whispers into his ear and they're both watching him intently as Darcy saunters across the room to stand in front of him. "Darcy," Steve says lowly, and his stomach flips again. "Hi."

Darcy stares at him for a long moment, mischief all over her gorgeous face, before reaching into her purse and pulling out a cloth measuring tape. "Let's go."

Steve groans and rubs the back of his neck where he can feel the heat slowly crawling up his skin. "I, uh…" he starts, clearing his throat, wincing when he sees Bucky shake his head in disappointment. "Thought you were jokin'."

Her lips twitch and she huffs out a wry laugh. "I wasn't. I'm not." Darcy glances over her shoulder at Natasha and Bucky before turning her attention back to him. "You wanna do this with an audience or take me to your place?"

He lifts the bottle of water to his lips and drains the rest, eyes never leaving hers. This is a horrible idea. Okay, it isn't, and he really, really wants to, but he really shouldn't go through with it. Not like this, before they've even gone on a date. But frankly he's tired of not having what he wants—who he wants—and she's standing right in front of him looking sexy as hell, asking him to take her back to his room. Despite what Bucky thinks, he's not a total moron, and no matter what so many others might think of him, he isn't a saint either. "My place."

Darcy tugs her bottom lip between her teeth and looks up at him through her lashes. Jesus, she's gorgeous. She grabs his hand and pulls him off the barstool. "Good night," she says as they pass an amused Bucky and Natasha.

"Fucking finally," he hears Bucky mutter when they step into the elevator. Steve glares at him until the doors close.

Neither of them says a word as the elevator descends ten floors to his private quarters. The ride seems much longer than it is and the air is ripe with tension over what's about to happen. He feels a jolt up his arm when Darcy's arm brushes against his and Steve glances over, finds her staring straight ahead. "I was just about to give up on you, you know," she says quietly, turning her head to look up at him.

Steve's eyebrow arches questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"All these months, sending you signals to let you know I was interested, you never did anything about it, so I just thought—" she trails off, carelessly shrugging her shoulder. "You know, that you weren't interested."

"I'm interested," he insists. "Very interested. M'just…stupid. Sorry."

Darcy giggles and the happy sound fills the space. "That's what Nat and Bucky kept telling me." Steve snorts and glances down at his scuffed boots. "So, at dinner tonight Nat dared me to go for broke. I had a drink for courage and sent you that ridiculous text." The bell on the elevator dings and the doors slide open quietly on his floor. Darcy steps out first and tosses a flirty look over her shoulder. He hesitates, and her face falls a bit. She turns around. "Look, Steve, if you want me to leave, you need to say the words. Otherwise…" she trails off, holding up the measuring tape in her hand and waving it playfully.

Steve swallows and shakes his head. "I don't want you to go."

A kittenish grin stretches across her face and she turns to head for his apartment, hips swaying seductively when she walks. It takes his brain a few beats to catch up and he finally follows after her. Darcy's leaning against his door waiting for him when he rounds the corner and she arches a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, flirty smile still firmly in place on her full pink lips.

He closes in, planting his hands on the door on either side of her. Darcy's head tips back slightly, enough that she can look in his eyes. Her perfume is intoxicating this close, spicy, sexy, and he breathes it in slowly, his eyes dropping to the tempting view of her breasts, gently rising and falling with each breath she takes. Darcy runs her fingers down the front of his t-shirt, lingering over his abdomen, before sliding them lower to grab his belt. Steve presses her back against the door with his hips and the throaty moan that spills past her lips goes straight to his dick. "Jesus, Darcy. I haven't even kissed you yet."

Darcy angles her head just a little, slides the hand trapped between them back up his chest, curling warm fingers into the collar of his shirt. Her purse falls to the floor and she wraps her other hand around his bicep, the measuring tape still caught between her fingers. Her eyes flick down to his lips and slowly back up to meet his, a sly grin stretching across her mouth. "So kiss me, Steve," she challenges.

There's a second, just a split second of hesitation where the noble part of him threatens to swoop in and put a stop to this; he shoves that to the side and mentally tells it to fuck off. Steve's hands drop away from the door, sinking into the dark fall of Darcy's hair, drawing her head back, exposing the long pale column of her throat. He gives her a long, heated look and Darcy makes a soft sound in her throat that's something between a whimper and a moan, blinking dark eyes and nodding her head slightly at him. It's all he needs to dip his head and press his lips to hers. Darcy digs her fingers into his arm as she teases the tip of her tongue along his top lip, sending sparks of lust licking down his body. Tasting his name as she gasps it into his mouth, the last tether on his control snaps. "Darcy," he growls, and plunges again, kissing her harder than before, deep and messy, and it's better than anything he's ever imagined.

His hands slip from her hair to roam down her back; he can feel the heat of her skin through the soft fabric of her dress and the shiver that courses through her when his tongue curls around hers to chase the taste of whiskey in her mouth. Steve folds his arms tightly around her and pulls her flush against his body. He kisses her until his lungs burn, until he feels a little dizzy, sinking closer to insanity when Darcy's hands thread through his hair, warm fingertips and brushing the back of his neck.

Darcy makes a desperate sort of whining sound and breaks the kiss, sucking in a breath and dropping her hands to his shoulders. His own breathing is ragged as he presses his forehead to hers and loosens his hold on her a bit. "Jesus, wow!" she pants, warm breath tickling his neck.

A lopsided grin ticks up the corner of his mouth and he rubs his thumb in half circles on the small of her back. "Yeah. That was…somethin' else," he says, lifting his head slightly to look down at her face. Her eyes are dark and heavy, mouth curved into a warm, sultry smile.

Darcy huffs out a laugh and closes the minimal gap between them. She presses a kiss to the underside of his jaw that unravels his sanity a little further. "I can't wait to get my hands on you," she murmurs against his skin.

"Fuck!" he swears sharply, hands flexing on her body as he concentrates on not hiking up her dress and pressing against her in the middle of the hallway. "Darce—"

"Please stop worrying that pretty head of yours, big guy," she says softly, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "I'm sure about this." Another kiss. "I want you, Steve."

A happy grin flashes across his face and he gives her a long, slow kiss, letting the last doubt dissolve away. "We should go inside," he says when he pulls back.

"Yes," Darcy smiles, leaning back against the door. "You should probably know something first."

Steve keys in his security code and presses his palm flat against the panel by the door. Equally amused and turned on by her flirty tone, he ticks up a questioning eyebrow as the door hisses open. "Yeah? And what's that, Darcy?"

"I've been working for Jane for a long time now and all this science has rubbed off on me," Darcy says and steps back into his apartment.

"Okay…" he replies, unsure where she's going with this, but follows her inside and closes the door behind them.

The sexy smile on her face as she crowds him against the door is one of the best things he's ever seen. "You see, in order to get accurate readings," she says, running the measuring tape between her hands, "or measurements in this case, you have to run multiple tests and variables."

Steve smirks and combs his fingers through her hair, hand resting on the nape of her neck. "Scientific method. Of course."

"Exactly," she nods soberly, her lips twitching into a smile. "So…we could be at this all night."

He hums, considering, and has to fight the grin that threatens to split his face in two. "Well," he starts slowly, drawing her closer still, "I'm definitely your man for this job. As long as it takes."

"For science," she grins, her lips a breath away from his.

"For science," he chuckles and kisses her.