April 2 - An unexplainable predicament to explain - It’s not what it looks like… or maybe it’s exactly what it looks like? Either way, our girl’s gotta explain herself, one way or another!
With more time and about twice as many words this would probably be twice as good but it’ll do for now... just pretend there’s 1000 words of mutual pining or something preceding this...
again, un-beta’d etc.
“But what is it?” Darcy asked, turning the pencil-shaped metal rod over in her hands. “And what does it do?”
“I don’t know,” Jane replied, shrugging as she examined her own unidentified piece of metal. “It was in a box of junk I found in the warehouse a few weeks ago. As far as I can tell, it isn’t anything.”
“It has to be something. Ouch!” Darcy turned it over one last time before abruptly dropping it onto the desk and sticking her finger in her mouth.
“Are you okay?” Jane asked, a concerned frown wrinkling her brow.
“It bit me,” Darcy said, a sulky pout pursing her lips.
“Inanimate objects can’t bite, Darcy.”
“Tell that to your metal biting stick,” Darcy retorted. “See? I'm bleeding! Anyway, I have to go now. I’ll see you at dinner?”
“Yep.” Jane didn’t look up as Darcy left, just waved a hand in farewell.
Darcy completely forgot about the strange metal stick that had stuck her over the next several hours. She busily went about her day, running errands, taking (and making) phone calls, and generally keeping busy. After her work day finished she trudged back to the apartment she shared with Jane and peered tiredly into the fridge. It was just as empty now as it was this morning because she forgot to put the grocery order in yesterday. She didn't get it done today, either.
She was about to reach for the eggs when the memory of half a leftover lasagne surfaced in her brain. It was probably still in the common area’s kitchen freezer! Shutting the fridge door, she spun on her heel and came to an abrupt halt as she ran straight into the kitchen island counter.
Which was odd because she didn't have an island counter in her kitchen. The only kitchen big enough for an island counter was- was the kitchen in the Avengers common room.
She was still staring confusedly at the marble benchtop when the door burst open, releasing a veritable torrent of Avengers into the common room.
“Darcy!” Clint greeted her with an enthusiastic grin. “Whatcha cookin’?”
“What?” Darcy looked up. “Um. Nothing. I was just, um. Lasagne.” With a little mental shake she flashed a grin at the group. “I forgot to order groceries for me and Jane and then I remembered that leftover lasagne from the other week and I'm really hoping it's still in the freezer.”
Steve - who was already at the freezer - pulled the package out. “Still here,” he said, peering around the door at her, “but we're ordering pizza if you'd like to join us?”
“Oh, um.” Any other day Darcy would jump at the chance to have pizza with the team Steve but right now she just wanted to get out of here so she could freak out. “Thanks but I'm really tired and I just want a quiet night in. Maybe next time?”
“You're sure? It's from that nice family store you like so much.”
“Yeah, I just- I'm very tired,” she repeated. She stepped close enough to take the container and with a “Thanks,” and a short smile, went back to her apartment, put the lasagne in the oven to reheat, and freaked out until it was ready to eat.
Darcy slept fitfully that night, getting up to the bathroom twice, and tossing and turning more than the chefs at the Pancake Palace. She woke up with scratchy eyes, a slight headache, and a wish that it was Saturday. A shower helped a little bit she still hadn’t done the grocery order and was all out of cereal and coffee. At least she had milk…
She zombied her way through the first hour or two of work. And while the coffee in the break room was tolerable, it wasn’t really what she wanted - and it certainly wasn’t good enough to see her through the four meetings she had scheduled today.
The first meeting was with the Avengers to discuss which publicity opportunities they wanted to take, and who would be attending each one. Luckily it was an easy discussion as each team member preferred attending different types of events. Steve made a point of asking if she felt better today, and after the meeting Natasha hung back for the same purpose.
“How are you feeling today?” she asked. “Do you feel better after your quiet night in?”
Darcy smiled as she replied. “Ugh. Not really. I didn’t sleep very well and I still haven’t done my groceries, so I’m all out of decent coffee.”
“There’s plenty of coffee in the common room - you know you’re welcome any time.”
“Thanks, Natasha. I might just visit after my next meeting.”
After a bit more conversation Natasha left for training and Darcy headed for her next meeting. At least it was a teleconference so she didn’t actually have to share a room with anyone this time.
By the time her next meeting finished, all she wanted was an egg and bacon croissant and the biggest, strongest cup of coffee money could buy.
As soon as the last person left the teleconference, she picked up her purse, pocketed her phone and stood up.
The world blurred.
Darcy blinked to clear her vision and took an off-balance step backwards. “Oh no, not again,” she moaned. She was in the main foyer of the facility, hidden from view by a large potted tree that lived right next to the coffee cart.
She continued turning on the spot, confused and disoriented. Unfortunately, all this achieved was dizziness.
“Get a grip, Lewis,” she muttered. “Coffee. Maybe I just need coffee so badly that I don’t remember leaving my office and taking the elevator to the lobby. Yeah, that must be it. I zoned out, auto-piloted.”
Darcy bought coffee and a croissant, and then concentrated very hard on everything she did until she got back to her office.
Over the next several days Darcy experienced several more of the strange incidents. She would be busy doing something, and then suddenly she’d find herself somewhere completely different.
Maria’s office after she realised she’d left her phone behind.
The bathrooms in the east wing when the west wing ones were closed due to a burst pipe.
Tony’s (empty) workshop when she needed him to sign some urgent paperwork but had forgotten he wasn’t here this week.
The stationery storeroom when her pen broke, spilling ink everywhere.
A broom cupboard.
And then… and then one evening she got home after a very long and stressful day, kicked off her shoes and went to collapse on her sofa...
Only the sofa she landed on wasn’t hers.
And it wasn’t in her apartment.
And it was already occupied.
She leapt up with a startled squawk, turning around so quickly she almost fell back into the lap of- “Steve? Why are you on my sofa?”
Steve was just as startled as Darcy. There he was, enjoying a nice relaxing lay-back-with-your-eyes-closed-but-don’t-fall-asleep on his sofa when a lap full of Darcy Lewis appeared out of nowhere.
He knew she hadn’t come in via the door or the vents or any other way because he would have heard it. Nope, he’d been definitely the only person in his apartment.
“Darcy?”
But Darcy wasn’t listening. She was looking around in bewilderment at furniture, furnishings, and decorations that definitely weren’t hers.
“Wait- this isn’t my apartment?”
“Ah, no - it’s mine? How did you get here?”
“I- I don’t know?” She turned worried eyes on him. “I was in my apartment, sitting on my sofa. What the hell happened, Steve?”
“You appeared out of nowhere and landed in my lap. That’s what happened,” Steve said, sitting up and leaning forward.
Darcy frowned at him. “What do you mean, I appeared out of nowhere?”
Steve shrugged, never taking his eyes off the visibly shaken woman standing in front of him. “One minute I was here on my own, the next you were sitting in my lap.”
“So- I didn’t walk here?”
“Not that I saw or heard. You just - appeared.”
“What? Like a- a teleport or something?”
Steve thought about this for a moment and then stared at Darcy with curious worry. “Yeah. Exactly like a teleport.”
“What the hell? How, Steve? Why is this happening to me? I thought I was just- I dunno, blacking out or something.” Darcy’s voice became more frantic with each word.
Steve only just managed to hide his shock at Darcy’s words. “Darcy - has this happened before?”
She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s been happening for several days now. One minute I’m in one place, the next I’m somewhere completely different.”
Steve stood up. “You’ve been experiencing this for several days and you haven’t told anyone?”
She shook her head, and he could see she was shaking. He took a careful step closer, moving slowly so as not to spook her. “How about I take you to medical and we’ll get you checked out?”
“You think something’s wrong with me?”
Steve chose his words carefully. “No, but I do think something about you must have changed if you’ve suddenly started teleporting all over the place. Don’t you want to know why it’s happening?”
She glanced up him, bottom lip caught between her teeth and nodded. Steve offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and held his hand out. “Come on then.”
