Chapter Text
"If you play that song one more time I will literally mutiny."
"It's my comfort song, Darcy, you wouldn't begrudge a dying woman her comforts, would you?" Jane whines as she looks over her desk at Darcy, her lip pressed out in a pout. Darcy points upward where Friday continues to play Wild Horses by Rolling Stones. It may be Jane's comfort song but it always made Darcy want to cry and this was going on the eighth replay of it.
"You use that excuse too often, boss lady. You're going to make me cry again." Darcy says with a groan and a smack of her palm to her face. Jane grins and spins in her chair so she can face Darcy.
"I thought you had no tears left to cry"
"It's a song, Jane! You know, that I know, that you know, it's a song. I will make you listen to it on loop like you've tortured me with this." Darcy warns. Jane sticks her tongue out and Darcy throws a dry erase marker in her direction, missing by a mile. Jane laughs and stands from her stool, stretching as she walks to one of the white boards.
"We've been at this all day Darce, maybe we need a break."
"Are we in opposite land, boss, is the world ending? Cause I think you just suggested doing something other than working."
"Don't laugh at me! I just realized that there are other things in life, you know? Thor's on base for once and he's been trying to make up for things, trying to see if we can make things right." Jane says a little wistfully, her eyes out the wall of windows. Darcy tilts her head a little with a smile creeping up on her face. She can't stop her heart from doing a happy dance even if things are just at the beginning. She's been rooting for Jane and Thor since the beginning.
"Oh I see, it's not that you want a break, it's that you want to end a break up."
"That sounds stupid Darcy."
"Yeah, I heard that when I said it. But I'm happy for you, I always liked you and the big guy together. I just don't want him to break your heart again. He'd be really hard to beat up and it's my sworn duty as your best friend to at least try." Darcy says with a hand over her heart. Jane rolls her eyes and tosses her lab coat onto the coat rack by the lab doors, waving a hand at Darcy to catch up. Darcy rushes towards the door and throws her coat half-hazardly towards the rack, probably missing.
The state of the art facility in upstate New York was basically a dream come true for any scientist. All the latest technology, spacious labs, and plenty of good coffee. Darcy hadn't really expected to get invited to come with Jane after the whole end of the world thing had gone down, but she had jumped at the opportunity. She wasn't a lab assistant anymore, she was a scientist of her own with a doctorate to prove it and half a lab with her name on it.
The facility had been rebuilt after the whole thing with the purple thumb and evil gems, the wasn't insurance for world ending cataclysms. Luckily Stark had more money than really existed in the world and liked to spend it on being a superhero. He had a good heart too, but Darcy would never tell him that.
Darcy sometimes felt like she didn't belong at the shiny facility full of big name superheroes and scientists with more degrees than she had pairs of shoes. Of course now she had the money for more pairs of shoes. But it was a little intimidating. So Darcy did what she had been doing since middle school and geared up in her cozy beanie, her hand knit cardigan, her worn out combat boots, and her stretchy leggings, and she held herself high. She acted like she didn't care who else was around and what amazing things all these people had done, because she was Darcy, and Darcy is amazing damn it.
It mostly worked, she only got truly star struck when Steve introduced her to the fucking black widow. She had not adequately prepared herself for that. She may have fawned a bit at how badass Natasha was but Nat had been chill about it and smiled at the way Darcy gushed at the way she handled congress. That lady was the full package.
Now, a few months in, Darcy mostly felt comfortable around everyone. She knows almost everyone by their normal names and has given Bruce Banner a fistbump. Really life has been pretty freaking good. Except for the whole Jane thing.
Jane has just a little issue. She has cancer, the big C, a tumor that grows silent and deadly. But they have the best scientists in the world under one very fancy roof. Doctor Helen cho and Banner are teaming up to try and at least halt the growth and help her symptoms, even if they can't reverse it completely. Even the superheroes aren't immune to everything. And Jane has kept going, kept working even while she gets her chemo and sits in a hospital chair with a tube in her arm, scribbling on a screen.
"What do you want for lunch?" Jane asks as they walk down the hall towards the chow hall. Darcy has totally spaced out, her brain elsewhere as they've crossed campus. She looks across the room and notices the scent of garlic bread in the air.
"Aw man, it's lasagna day, my favorite."
"I thought pizza was your favorite." Jane says as they get in line and load up on apples and juice boxes. Darcy shrugs and takes a bunch of grapes, checking them for freshness. They're always perfect.
"They never have enough non-pepperoni options. I told Stark he needs Kosher options and he said he'd update the menu, but that was weeks ago." Darcy says over her shoulder before stepping up to the hot plates and scooping up a serving of the beef lasagna. She serves Jane while she's got the spoon.
"Yeah, but he's been on a hyperfication with Rocket's ship design for months. Trying to tear him away from that would be impossible."
"You're one to talk, getting you away from work is usually a sisyphean task." Darcy says, pronouncing the words carefully. Jane slows to a stop and it makes Darcy pause.
"You just wanted to use a big word."
"It's on my word of the day calendar!" Darcy protests, turning away and smiling at the lunch lady as she passes her, waving a hand when she waves at her. Jane huffs and follows after her as she looks around the room for an open table. It's not the busiest time of day but there are plenty of people in here for lunch. There are more than just the big time scientists that work in the facility. There are lab assistants and avenger agents, office workers and support staff. It takes a whole lot of people to keep this team running smoothly.
"So what's it going to be boss lady, lonely in the corner, or invite ourselves in with the team?" Darcy asks as she nods to the table where Sam, Steve, and Nat are sitting. They could join any of the lab monkey tables but some of them tend to give Jane long looks of sympathy that she doesn't like. The heroes are more likely to just treat them like regular people. Jane nods towards where the half full table and Darcy leads the way.
Steve sees them headed in his direction and raises a hand to wave them over, a smile on his dopey face. That guy is such a nerd. Darcy slides into the seat next to Sam and rubs her elbow against his just to make him squawk. Nat laughs and rolls her eyes at them as she takes a delicate bite of her salad. Her every move looks practiced and perfect and Darcy can't help her little bit of hero worship.
"Hey, what's up guys? Saved any kittens today?"
"Nah, just an orphanage and a building full of puppies." Sam says with a hand wave. Steve scoffs and tosses one of his pieces of garlic bread at Sam. He takes it good naturedly and rips a bite out of it with a smile. Darcy shoves his shoulder with hers and steals one of his apple slices. He pouts at her but can't stop his grin. Jane shakes her head at them and turns back to Steve and Nat.
"How have you been? We heard you guys were leaving."
"Yeah, Nat, Vis, Wanda, and I are leaving tomorrow. It's nothing too dangerous, we have a new list of exposed Hydra bases and finally have the time and resources to start going after them. We're leaving some of the team here just in case but there shouldn't be anything major headed our way."
"Don't say that! As soon as someone says that, they jinx us. I thought you knew better cap." Darcy exclaims as she drops her spork full of lasagna. Steve shakes his head and raps his knuckles on the table, just to appease her. Darcy points her spork at him and tries to look stern as she shakes it. "You better not get into trouble. My heart just can't take it."
"I'll try Darcy, really." Steve says with a dramatic hand over his heart. Nat snorts as she looks between them and goes back to her salad. Darcy nods and is about to take another bite when her attention is stolen by someone at the door. She nudges Jane and nods over to the sliding doors. Her smile is mischievous as she watches Jane blush while looking at Thor. Thor immediately spots Jane and is like a golden retriever in the way he nearly runs over to her.
"Lady Jane, Sister Darcy, how fair you?"
"Hey dude, we're good, how about you?"
"I am well. I was training with James and he required a break. I've heard of your departure captain, and I'm glad to have a chance to wish you well."
"Aw, well, it's just another mission." Steve says as he rubs a hand across the back of his neck. Nat smirks as she looks over at him and nudges him with her shoulder. Thor sits next to Steve and wraps an arm over his shoulder, jostling him as he sits. Jane has the same love sick grin on her face that Thor does and it's sickening how sweet they are when within 100 feet of each other.
Darcy picks at her lunch and listens as Sam teases Steve, Thor tries to keep up and add in friendly jabs. Jane has pulled a napkin out to write on and already discarded two pens that won't write. Darcy takes the pens and stashes them with her other trash as she looks over Jane's shoulder. More of the same calculations with different variables. They haven't made headway in days.
"You two need a break, you've circled the same equation four times, and I've seen it up in your lab for days." Natasha breaks in to say over the noise of the boys. Darcy's head snaps up and she stares at Nat. She hasn't seen her in the lab or passing by, ever, how does she know what's on their whiteboards. Jane groans and shakes her head, already about to protest. Darcy slaps her hand over Jane's mouth.
"That sounds perfect. We can have an extra long weekend and refresh our brains. It'll give us a chance to catch up on other things." Darcy says while flicking her eyes over to Thor for emphasis. Jane rolls her eyes and pulls Darcy's hand away from her mouth finger by finger. Darcy smiles at the pout on Jane's face, the look of defeat. She claps her hands and laughs as she imagines all the things she can do with an extra day to herself.
"Just this once. If you want any other time off you better submit it in advance."
"I already submitted my time for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur." Darcy dismisses with a hand wave. She's not worried about holidays and vacation time. She doesn't have family to spend it with and she doesn't celebrate the holidays that most Americans do. Jane has celebrated with her for all the years they've been together, it's been nice to have someone else to share the holidays with. Jane has become her family, her little Science! family, her and Eric.
"Eric said he'll be here for Chanukah, but he might be teaching in Iceland again."
"We'd be happy to celebrate with you." Steve offers, his face the picture of puppy dog eyes. Thor nods excitedly and slaps a hand down on the table, rocking the surface.
"It would be an honor to celebrate your holidays with you, again. I miss our merriment for your historical festivities." He says with a wide smile. Jane's smile is so sweet Darcy has a hard time not making a face at her. She's so sweet when she's looking at Thor it's sickening.
"You're always invited to our holidays guys, we're happy to have you. I think Purim is coming up, some time in March?"
"It's the 13th." Jane adds, her attention back on her notes, her pen circling the same numbers again. Darcy steals the napkin and holds it out of Jane's reach when she tries to grab it. So professional. Jane frowns and leans away, grabbing a new napkin out of her pocket. Darcy rolls her eyes and looks back over to Thor and Steve who have fond looks on their faces.
"It'll be fun, we have food, drink wine, and do henna. There's also some prayer and reading, but we can do that before you come over." Darcy explains, pulling up her phone and scrolling through her photos. She comes to last years photos and shows a pic of her and Jane eating cookies with glasses of wine. They are probably already a couple glasses in from the looks of it.
"Sounds like my kind of party." Sam says as he looks at the picture and smiles, winking at Darcy. Darcy shoves his shoulder and takes her phone back, looking at the picture and grinning. It was a rough year but they had a good Purim. It had been the last year of the snap and they had still been grieving but they had finally been coming to terms with things. To think that just as they were getting over things that then they'd be reversed.
"I'll bring wine." Natasha says with a sly smile, her eyes sharp as she looks over her glass of juice at Darcy. She's probably a master wine taster, Darcy is sure that's a skill Nat would master just for fun. Just because she can. Nat once gave Darcy some chocolate and she swears it was the best chocolate she's ever had, the woman must have stolen it from Asgard. Nat is cool like that.
"If we're back by then. I don't know how long this mission is going to take and we might not get any breaks." Steve says with a frown. Natasha waves the comment away and points her spork at Darcy.
"I will get you wine, no matter what."
"And I am grateful." Darcy intones with a serious look and a hand over her heart. Nat's lip turns up at the corner and she hides the smile behind a bite of salad. Steve shakes his head but has a smile as he finishes his garlic bread. Darcy finishes most of her serving but still has scraps by the time she feels full, pushing the remnants around the plate and frowning down at them. In her house finishing your plate was required. It's a hard habit to break.
Jane is the first to get up, she's too antsy and she eats like a bird, her tray barely had anything to begin with. Darcy follows after her and waves to everyone still sitting at the table. Her brain is trying to engage back into science gear but the beautiful sunshine from the windows and the view down to the lawn and trees is distracting. It would be a good day for a picnic. Who wants to be stuck inside with weather like this?
"I think we just need to account for the degradation of Gamma rays through negative dimensions."
"We tried to, but we don't know the variable for that, it's still theoretical. To solve that equation we would need to make a scientific breakthrough. How about we try for one discovery at a time?" Darcy complains as she turns the whiteboard towards them and erases part of the notes. Jane whines and tosses down her marker. Darcy sticks out her tongue and waves a hand towards the board.
"Come on boss lady, let's break the known universe.”