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There is a trilling, chiming noise going on somewhere in the lab, and Jane knows it’s none of her equipment as she surfaces from her review of her research paper for her Einsten-Rosen Bridge work. Culver and Stark are both throwing their weight behind her research – big surprise there – and SHIELD had been pretty quiet lately. Stark Industry lawyers had looked into her NDAs and nowhere did it restrict her publication rights; SHIELD had just always been good at persuading people not to publish her. Now that she had more solid proof, post The Battle of Manhattan, well, there was nothing standing in her way. She got Erik’s part of the paper meshed in last night, and now it’s her turn to proofread. Except what the hell is that noise? Then she sees a wave of dark brown hair in her peripheral and turns to see Darcy leaning against a lab table a bit away, tapping away at her cell phone.
“Darce, I thought we discussed your game-playing in the lab. Sounds off,” Jane calls out, frowning when she gets absolutely no reply or movement out of her assistant. “Hey! Darcy!”
Darcy raises her head and looks slowly to Jane. “Me?” she asks, eyebrows raised.
Jane has to laugh. “Yes, you. No sounds on the games in the labs, you promised last week.”
The other girl’s eyebrows furrow, then relax into their normal state as she smiles. “Right! I totes forgot, my bad. Sorry, Janey,” she replies, fingers moving to presumably turn the volume on her phone off.
Of course, now that Jane’s looking at anything but her laptop, she notices a few things: one, that she is hungry, and two, that Darcy is rather dressed up. Dark wash jeans, a low cut and flowy top, boots instead of Chuck Taylors. “Did I forget that we have dinner plans, or something?” she asks, shuffling around some notes on her desk. She would have a post-it of dinner plans, she was sure of it, and Darcy would’ve mentioned it earlier in the day.
“No, we don’t. Why?”
Jane stops shuffling papers. “You’re dressed up, that’s all. Oh my god, are you finally going on a date?”
The other girl’s red lips curl up, and she uncrosses her ankles and stands. “God, no. Just out to eat with a new friend.” She seems to remember something, and reaches back on the lab table to a white box that Jane is just now noticing. “But speaking of, that friend bakes cupcakes. I brought you some!”
Oooo, cupcakes. “I should probably have dinner first, but you know I can’t resist cupcakes,” the scientist laughs as she stands from behind her desk, going to meet Darcy.
“Hence why I brought them,” Darcy says, opening the box and sliding it to her.
Jane sees a dark chocolate-frosted yellow cake that she is delighted to find has hints of lemon and almond when she bites into it. “Ohmigod, this is really good,” she says around her mouthful. “Your friend can bake for us anytime.”
“Max! I am SO sorry, there was an accident with one of Tony’s bots, and, well…” the girl who has just walked into the lab stops, halts, and takes in the scene in front of her. Jane is frozen, cupcake just pulled away from her mouth, her brown eyes wide. Her new friend and twin, Max, looks like she’s about to choke on a laugh. Darcy sighs, smacks her hand to her forehead, and then laughs. “This, this would happen. I see you’ve met Jane.”
“Oh, yeah, Jane and I are totally kickin’ it. I bribe with baked goods, what can I say?”
Jane has unfrozen and is now looking between the two of them, finally landing her gaze on Darcy. “Darce?” she asks, confused. Then she looks back at Max and steps backwards. “Then who the hell… what is going on here?”
“Jane, calm down. No, Tony didn’t clone me or anything. This is my new friend, and my long-lost sister, apparently – Max. Max Black.”
Max chin nods at Jane. “Sorry, I won’t play games with the sound on anymore.” She looks back at Darcy. “That was not in the list of lab rules. You specifically said no unexpected loud noises and bring cupcakes, not that it was like a library.”
“Oh, it’s only quiet because Tony’s not down here, or else you wouldn’t be able to hear yourself think,” Darcy replies, adjusting her beanie with her glasses. “Now I’m freaking starving, I skipped lunch. We still going out?”
“Duh,” Max replies. “Caroline has informed me that I am not allowed to come home without photographic evidence that I didn’t make you up.”
“Jane, you want some pizza?”
The scientist was staring, her cupcake sitting back on the lab table, her fingers twitching against the metal. “What. The. Hell.” Her look was pure confusion.
Darcy threw up her hands, walked over, and draped an arm over her boss’s shoulders. “Come on, Janey-Jane, pizza. On the way there, I’ll tell you a funny thing that happened on the train this morning…”