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A Taste of Honey
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In the month since Darcy and Bucky returned from the horrifically spectacular bender across the universe, there were a few things Bucky was certain of.
One, said spectacularly terrifying universe had made a mistake when it thought Bucky—Bucky—was deserving of someone like Darcy.
Two, Tony Stark was fucking annoying.
He would never get used to this. Never. Every morning that had Darcy as the first person he woke to was novel. Every time Darcy tilted her head up to sweetly kiss him sparked electricity through his veins, as if he’d never been kissed by her before, as if he hadn’t spent hours mapping out every inch of her body with his hands and his tongue.
But Bucky wasn’t about to bring this up to the universe, to whatever gods idly watched him, that they’d made a mistake. Hell no. Bucky wasn’t the type of guy to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was hold or have taken away; it was how he was raised. It was how he survived this far. And he’ll never let Darcy go—not while she’ll still have him.
A loud bang jolted Bucky from his thoughts, and Darcy groaned next to him. Bucky shared an annoyed look with her before setting his scowl on the maniacal man before them, who’d just slammed his fist on the round conference tabletop.
“I swear to God, Stark, if you don’t shut the hell up the next thing I stab won’t be a slug.”
Darcy snorted. “He would need to talk for that to happen, babe.”
Bucky sighed.
It started with Jane.
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“You’re staring, again.”
Bucky’s lips twitched, shifting on the work bench where he was seated. “Can’t help it, doll. My eyes won’t look away. You’re so beautiful.”
Darcy looked up from his arm, fixing Bucky with the driest possible look, and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. “Yeah. Here’s my beautiful sweat, inside this beautiful work smock, with this beautiful blowtorch inside your arm.”
Bucky grinned, nodding eagerly. Darcy rolled her eyes, squashing down a smile that threatened to break free, and shook her head fondly. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.”
“That I do,” Darcy agreed, flicking off the blowtorch and setting it aside on the work tray. “Now lean closer. I have to look at the wiring in your bicep.”
Obediently Bucky twisted a little, letting Darcy get a better look at the exposed framework of his metal arm. “Wanna stop by the farmer’s market today? You ran out of the good lemons again.”
Darcy grinned. “I swear you love my lemonade recipe more than my Gran did, and she invented it.”
“It’s a dynamite recipe. Reminds me of before.” He glanced down. “You know.”
“I know,” Darcy said softly, pulling away a bit to look at his arm. “I’m surprised you’re letting me have a go at this. I’m like, not nearly as experienced in this stuff.”
Bucky shrugged his right shoulder. “I’ve seen you work. You’re a natural.”
Darcy gave a skeptical look, a sliver of uncertainty creeping in the way she looked at his arm. “I’m no Tony Stark.”
“Thank god. I wouldn’t want my mouth anywhere near Stark’s—”
“Aaaand that’s where I officially wish I wasn’t alive to hear this,” Tony said loudly, not lifting his head from generators he was tinkering with.
Darcy grinned slyly and resumed working on Bucky’s arm. Bucky watched her, taking in the little knit in Darcy’s brow as she concentrated, the way her tongue poked out from the corner of her mouth, just a tiny bit. Bucky couldn’t resist the urge to lift his hand and brush back a strand of hair behind her ear, fingertips lingering along Darcy’s jaw.
Darcy bit her lip, keeping her eyes trained on his arm. “Distracting the girl working on your arm isn’t the smartest move, Bucky.”
“Never said anything ‘bout being smart,” Bucky said plainly, running his tongue slowly along his top teeth. Darcy glanced up, following the movement of his tongue, and a tiny smile crept on her lips.
“Two minutes,” she murmured quietly, one hand slipping down to squeeze his metal hand. Bucky’s eyes darkened.
Immediately he sat straighter and remained silent as Darcy worked on the last bits of his arm, and almost sighed in relief when she closed the metal plating back with a loud shick.
“Polish,” Darcy said quickly, before Bucky could so much as open his mouth.
“…Polish?”
Darcy nodded, wiping her hands on the smock then looping it off her head and dropping it atop the tools tray. “For the arm. It’s looking kind of—well. Not great. And Tony would probably spike my coffee if I let you leave without fixing that up.”
“Damn right I would,” Tony muttered just before revving a chainsaw, waving it warningly at Darcy. “Top shelf, my office. I’m letting you use the good stuff. I want to see my reflection in that arm, Lewis.”
Darcy said nothing, giving a short nod before looking at Bucky, eyes lingering on his, then turned around and walked to Tony’s office.
He sat still for about ten seconds before quietly slipping off the work bench, glancing at Stark (mask on, chainsaw blazing), and stalking to the office.
Gripping the handle tightly, Bucky threw the door open.
Darcy sat, grinning and one leg crossed over the other, feet dangling, on Tony’s desk. Bucky’s eyes flickered to the floor, where Darcy’s pants were discarded.
“Think you lost something, doll,” Bucky said quietly, closing the door and locking it behind him.
“Maybe. Twenty seconds, Bucky? Really?” Darcy clicked her tongue in mock disappointment. She leaned back on the desk, shifting her legs, and Bucky’s eyes zeroed in on the lacy purple panties. “After I worked so quickly on that arm, and under two minutes too. I started thinking I’d be stuck here all by my lonesome.”
“Ain’t alone now,” Bucky murmured, walking until his knees brushed her bare legs. Darcy’s eyes darkened as he dropped his hands to her knees and pushed her legs apart, hands slowly sliding up the bare skin of her thighs.
“So,” Darcy managed to keep her voice steady as he slowly dragged a finger over the delicate lavender cloth, stopping just below where Darcy wanted him to touch her, her hips squirming. “Any plans? Maybe…bring out a bucket of that polish and give it to Tony?”
Bucky stopped, his face pulling into a grimace. “Good god, Darcy. Don’t bring up Stark when I’ve got my hand in your panties.”
“Technically they’re still—ee!” Darcy squealed when Bucky slid his fingers underneath the fabric and ran along her slit, turning into a soft moan when his thumb teased the flesh around her clit in a circle.
“Good?” Bucky asked, hesitating as his eyes flickered to her face.
Darcy nodded faintly, grabbing at his shoulder and drawing him close. “So good, Bucky. You are so good to me.”
She dragged his mouth to hers as his thumb pressed against her just right, wrapping an arm around Darcy when she arched her back and gasped against his lips. Bucky groaned, the sounds she made always soft and light and—and suddenly filling him with a new desire to make them louder, longer. He hadn’t realized it until recently, didn’t know it was something he wanted to hear before but desperately wanted to now. In all their times together Darcy had always been quiet, soft sighs and little sounds of need and Bucky loved all of them. Maybe it was being here, doing this in a place they shouldn’t be, that ignited something new in him.
Darcy squirmed against him, hips meeting his hand as he left only teasing, light touches, enough to make her gasp but not enough to do more than that. When his finger grazed her clit Darcy tore her mouth away from his in frustration. “Damn it, Bucky!”
Bucky grinned, pushing a finger inside her and drawing a small, tight circle against her at once. Immediately Darcy’s eyes shuttered and her hips lifted, a loud moan filling the small office. Bucky’s eyes drank her in, his smile slipping, and Darcy opened her eyes to stare at him. Softly, Bucky said, “Louder.”
Darcy’s eyes widened, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. “Tony’s right outside,” Darcy whispered, eyes darting behind him to the door.
“Fucking Tony again,” Bucky pushed in a second finger and thrust in deeply. Darcy gasped in surprise, falling backwards on the desk to support herself on her elbows. “Hear that outside? The chainsaw? We’re good. Come on, doll.”
Darcy, once she caught her breath, gave Bucky a little grin with a glint in her eye. “If you can make me.”
Bucky smiled slowly, and he slipped his hand out of her underwear. “I think I learned a thing or two.” Darcy’s pout turned into a yelp of surprise when he grabbed the sides of her panties and yanked them down her legs, and she started giggling. Bucky raised a brow as he pushed her thighs apart and pressed them as close to the desk as he could, then gave a long lick up.
Darcy, admirably on her part, tried to stay quiet—this thing with Bucky was new and interesting and it was the first time he initiated this kind of game, and it was exciting to try to win—but soon enough biting her lip was no longer an option, and her hips twitched and rose against Bucky’s lips and tongue with each stroke, every flick against her clit leaving her hoarse and trembling.
But still, it wasn’t enough.
“Bucky,” Darcy pleaded. “God—fuck—” she grappled at his shoulders, nails digging against skin and metal as her voice rose, each swirl of his tongue making her shake with need. “I can’t, I can’t—just fuck me, please, Bucky—please, Bucky, please, please—”
Suddenly he pulled away and his lips were on hers, working frantically against her as he unbuckled his jeans and Darcy helped them down. “How d’you want it?” Bucky asked, pressing hot kisses down her throat and pulling down the neckline of her shirt to leave a kiss on the swell of her breast.
It took her a second to process what he’d said, both of them distracted by each other, but finally she said, “You want me loud?” Bucky’s head jerked up, eyes searching hers as his throat bobbed convulsively and he nodded quickly. Darcy nodded back. “From behind, then.”
Something dark flashed in his eyes, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth before he scrambled off of her. Darcy slid off the desk and turned around, bracing herself and spreading her feet apart. Bucky made a soft, helpless sound behind her and Darcy twisted around to look at him. He was shaking his head, covering himself over her and kissing her hard. They both shivered when he rubbed against her folds, sliding up a few times. Bucky’s hand shot out to grab hers, burying his face against her neck as he positioned himself, both of them panting and breathless.
“MOTHERFUCKER!”
They jolted, Bucky instinctively pulling out a gun—Darcy never did figure out where he pulled it out from—and shoving Darcy away from the desk to stand behind him. Darcy shifted behind him uncertainly, and Bucky crept closer to the door. They jumped again when Tony let out an ungodly yelp.
“DARCY!”
“What the hell?” Darcy scowled. Bucky was already pulling his pants back up and tossed Darcy her jeans. She let out a little whine as she slid her panties and jeans on and Bucky grunted, trying his best to cover himself. They shared a look of mutual longing and frustration before opening the door.
When Darcy saw Tony, she stopped dead.
“You’ve got to be joking.”
Bucky took two steps forward, knife poised.
“No!” Tony yelled, throwing up a hand that wasn’t clutching his ankle. He was hopping on one foot and just inches from him was a large, docile slug. It tilted its head when Bucky tilted his, frowning as he lowered his knife. “No, we need it alive! It’s bitten—this asshole bit me. We need it in case we need an antidote.”
“If you don’t want it dead why did you call me?” Darcy said angrily, shifting her legs together to relieve the tension. Bucky gave her a tortured look of agreement.
“Why? These space slugs are here because of you! Didn’t I tell you and Foster to put a lid on this weeks ago? Look where it’s come! In my lab! My holy sanctuary—”
Suddenly, he stopped. No, that wasn’t it. Tony’s mouth kept moving but all sound ceased. He didn’t seem to notice until Darcy stepped in.
“Uh, boss man? What do you think you’re doing?”
Tony stopped, giving Darcy the world’s dirtiest look. But again, he opened his mouth only to have nothing to voice his words. Tony frowned.
Darcy turned to Bucky, eyes wide. “Did he…did he lose his voice?”
Bucky blinked. Then threw back his head laughing.
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“Man, I ain’t never thought I’d see the day where Tony Stark actually shut the hell up,” Sam shook his head as he watched the standoff before them.
Tony and Jane stood face to face, Jane with her arms crossed and staring up at Tony utterly unimpressed. Tony was waving his hands, shouting words no one could hear but knew he was saying (nobody’s vein popped that big without the intention to shout). Darcy stood behind Jane, hands on her hips and ready to defend Jane if needed. Bucky, like the ever-present shadow he’d become since their return from Tartaret, was a silent presence beside Darcy.
“For the last time,” Jane snapped, shoving away Tony’s hand when he threw it up in the air out of frustration, “I didn’t bring slugs with me on purpose. They like places with a high energy, activity. Of course it’d find its way to your lab.” Tony glowered. Jane sighed. “I don’t see the problem here, Stark. They’re harmless.”
Tony’s eyes bugged out and he made an exaggerated gesture to his throat, then spread his arms in a way that clearly said, Seriously?
Jane glanced at his throat, then back up. “Like I said. I don’t see the problem here.”
Darcy let out a snort and glanced up at Bucky, who gave her a little smile.
“Besides,” Jane continued, sauntering to the lab doors behind her and yanking them open with a mulish air of indifference Darcy was surprised to see in the scientist, “I got bitten yesterday and nothing’s happened to me. Maybe you caught a cold.”
The smile that had been playing on Darcy’s lips shrank. “Jane,” Darcy said slowly, following her into their laboratory. Darcy stopped dead, glancing around the lab as her eyes grew steadily wider. “My god, Jane…what happened here?”
Bucky, Sam, and Tony now stood next to Darcy, wearing identical expressions of bafflement. The lab was in utter disarray; ring stands littered the floor, piles of clothes—clothes—stacked upon the table tops, and the whiteboard, which normally had lines upon lines of equations scribbled, now had written across the mathematics in giant red letters, WELL FUCK YOU TOO.
Jane turned, startling at the attention focused on her. “…What?”
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“So Anthony lost his voice,” Thor said gravely, sitting on a bench in Jane’s lab and staring up at the small crowd formed around him. “And Jane has lost the will to science.”
“Well, I think she’s gotten a bit more vocal about not giving a shit about science sometimes,” Darcy amended, glancing at the woman in question. Jane was busy folding her laundry into several neat piles. Natasha was sat beside her, folding a large sweater with a stitched hammer on the front.
Thor nodded contemplatively. “Show me the creature.”
Tony held out a plastic tank, similar to those used for baby hermit crabs. Thor bent down to peer inside, where a slug lay curled up and snoring softly. Bucky wondered if slugs were supposed to do that.
Thor, however, immediately lit up and grabbed the tank from Tony. “Little Darwin! Yes, I’ve seen this creature not a day ago! Little bugger tried to pull a fast one on me, but ancient blood runs through my veins. Its venom could do me no injury—to anybody, for that matter. It is harmless.”
Tony and Sam stared. Natasha stopped mid-fold, looking between Tony and Thor.
“What?” said Darcy, incredulous. “Thor, did this thing bite y—did you just call it Darwin?”
“Aye,” Thor said fondly, holding the tank closer to his chest. “A name which I bestowed upon it. Truly, names can give life meaning. Life itself is curious to ponder on, is it not?” Thor said brightly. “Suppose we wanted to find the mean. Not meaning, as simpletons may think, but the numerical, empirical value—we’d simply start by assigning a rune to each letter—that’s number, if you didn’t understand—and assuming ‘L-I-F-E’ represents a population, thusly μ is the distributional average—”
Everyone in the room started backing away except Jane, who held up a mug and muttered bitterly, “God, I hate coffee.”
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Tony, Jane, Thor, Sam, Natasha, Bucky, and Darcy made their way to one of Tony’s main conference rooms. Friday announced for all main occupants (read: Avengers) to attend a mandatory ‘Come Down Or I’m Kicking You All Out’ meeting to figure out who else had been compromised by the space slug epidemic, and how to shut this thing down and contain it in the Tower. Naturally, Tony instated a quarantine on the whole building.
Just as Darcy neared the conference room she felt arms wrap around her waist and pull her backwards. Bucky backed them into a supply closet, closing the door behind him and flicking on the light.
“What’re you doing?” Darcy whispered—or tried to, before gasping as Bucky led a blazing trail of kisses along her neck, hand sliding under her shirt and skimming across her stomach.
“Finishing what we started,” Bucky muttered, making quick work of her jeans and unbuckling his pants before hiking her up and steadying her against the wall. They groaned when he rolled his hips against hers, sending a thrill of heat pooling inside her. “Want me to stop?”
“God, no,” Darcy rolled her hips, seeking the friction that sent her mind reeling and her heartbeat racing. “I’ve been in pieces since Tony’s office. Don’t even want to know how you managed.”
“I didn’t,” Bucky said, and Darcy shifted against him again. She heard Bucky groan and he reached between them to tug the strip of her panties to the side, his finger dipping between her folds and swirling at the wetness already gathered there.
“Jesus, Darcy,” Bucky said brokenly, hips aligning with hers and pressing against her folds.
The door ripped open and Darcy screamed, arms tightening around Bucky’s shoulders. Bucky’s hand yanked away and pressed Darcy harder against the wall to cover her. At the looming figure before them, Darcy yelled, “Steve, what the hell!”
“I should say that to you,” Steve said indignantly, turning his glare to Bucky. “Didn’t you hear what Tony said? Mandatory fucking meeting. Not mandatory closet fucking. Seriously, Buck? This the type of shit you wanna be remembered for before a goddamned infestation?”
Bucky twisted his neck to glare at Steve incredulously. From behind him, Darcy muttered, “I think we know who else got bitten.”
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They stared awkwardly when the Hulk plopped down on the floor of the conference room.
“Banner not feeling well today,” Hulk grunted in explanation.
Tony let out a silent screech.
“It is quite alright, my cyprus friend,” Thor said warmly, patting one giant index finger.
“Fucking hell,” Steve groaned, pressing his fingers against his temples.
“Where’s Vision? Wanda?” Sam asked, staring up at would-be-Bruce warily.
“Reconnaissance,” Natasha replied easily, sharing a small smile with Hulk when he twisted the legs of a steel chair into a flower and placed it before her.
“We’re fucked,” Steve said. “Lucky for me the fucking super soldier serum didn’t let the poison affect me. Else we’d be even more fucked.”
“You know there’s more colorful words out there, as far as colorful words go,” Darcy said lightly, and Steve sent her a glare. “I expected a bit more.”
“Get bent,” said Steve. Bucky snorted.
“Ooh, Steven potty mouth,” a disembodied sound said, and everyone whipped their head at Tony. He was strapping a tiny black box to his throat.
“Is that literally a voice box?” said Jane, frowning.
Tony grinned smugly, his lips unmoving. “Own design. Took less-th two hour.”
“There’s some words missing I think, boss man,” Darcy observed.
“Banner say Tony idiot.” Hulk eyed the black box distrustfully.
Natasha straightened. “He’s talking to you, big guy? You can communicate?” Hulk nodded stiffly. Natasha blinked slowly. “Huh.”
“Alright, let’s get this squared away,” Darcy interrupted. “Who here’s been bitten by the drooling space slug over there by Thor in the last twenty-four hours?”
“Darwin,” Thor corrected.
Tony, Steve, Jane, and Thor raised their hands. Darcy gaped when Natasha raised her hand last. “Really? How come you’re not—you know—different?”
Natasha shrugged. “No clue. Guess I’m just lucky.”
“Well I haven’t,” Sam announced, looking cagey and rubbing his arms uncomfortably. “And I plan to keep it that way.”
“Think again,” Thor said cheerfully, the tank opened in his lap, and Sam let out an unholy scream when the slug looked up from his arm.
“Did you just—on purpose?” Sam growled, jumping from his seat and rubbing the spot the slug, as Darcy had seen it, had politely bitten Sam.
Thor was aghast as the slug serenely slipped back inside the tank. “Of course not. The little critter looked thirsty. I was merely about to feed Darwin a bit of your human’s dihydrogen monoxide. Did you know the vector between the atoms gives a relative velocity of—”
“If you were this good at arithmetic and theoretical mathematics, why didn’t you ever tell me?” Jane asked, looking not a little bit hurt.
Thor’s gaze softened. “I had no means to convey them in a way we’d both understand. My education on Asgard and that of Midgard differ immensely. It wasn’t until recently when logic dawned on me—the way you spoke of the soul forge as a quantum field generator? I relied on that and suddenly I can—I can explain what I know!”
Jane smiled at Thor fondly, reaching over to rest her hand over his.
“Think we’re missing the big picture,” Tony’s voice box crackled, and he turned to Hulk. “Think you can biochem right n—ow?”
Hulk frowned, lost in thought—or conversing with Bruce. Hulk slowly nodded. “Hulk science. Banner science better.” Then, without preamble, his body contorted right before their eyes, causing everyone to jump back.
Bruce struggled to his feet, fallen to the ground as he was once the transformation was over. Thor withdrew his cape and draped it over his shoulders, who gave a pained, albeit grateful, smile. Bruce waited several minutes before speaking. “I think I need a drink.”
Darcy smiled gently. “I know a killer lemonade recipe.”
Bruce said nothing. He turned to Tony and tugged the voice box off his throat, who then let out a noiseless squawk. “Come on, man. You know we all know ASL.”
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“So Thor can communicate better, with technical stuff at least,” Darcy said to Bucky as they entered her apartment. “Steve lost his profanity filter, which is basically just him speaking his mind without as much restraint. Bruce can also communicate with the Hulk, Natasha…is Natasha. Maybe she’s immune?” Bucky shrugged, following Darcy into the kitchen. He watched as she opened the fridge and started pulling out several lemons. “Tony…maybe stopping the outside noise calmed the inside noise. I have no idea about that one.”
“Jane takes breaks from work,” Bucky noted, taking out the pitcher from the cabinet. “And shows her impatience with her own field?”
“I guess? I think it’s just Jane without the stress of having to get things done now,” Darcy shrugged, taking out the juicer as Bucky started halving the lemons. He took one in his hand and held it up to his eyes, inspecting it briefly before bringing it to his nose and inhaling.
“These aren’t the good ones.”
Darcy sighed, nodding. “Yeah, we ran out of the locally sourced lemons. This is all I got left.”
Bucky would never admit to pouting, but Darcy saw it and grinned slowly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get more tomorrow—or whenever this shit storm ends. God, I never thought space slugs would be on the Avengers’ top list of problems to deal with. I thought the slugs were just an epic mood kill, not going around biting people.”
“It doesn’t add up,” Bucky shook his head, setting the lemon down on the counter. “We’ve seen ‘em long enough by now, right? They eat normal bug things. They’re…kind of docile, like Thor said. Harmless. It doesn’t look…doesn’t look like they’re biting people because they feel threatened like most things would.” He paused, thinking. “Jane mentioned they’re drawn to places where there’s a lot of activity. You think that includes stress? Sense where there’s lots of stress?”
Darcy chewed her lower lip in thought. “It could. I don’t know. I mean, at first when we saw them on Tartaret, one was in the shower where I was—sorry Buck, but where I was stressing about you,” Bucky grimaced, closing in on himself for a bit before Darcy ran a reassuring hand down his arm. “And then when I was puking, which admittedly is pretty stressful. Then when we—when we were—”
“Fucking,” said Bucky bluntly, mischief lighting his eyes when Darcy gave him a dry look.
“Right. But it never bit us. Also, that was definitely not a stressful thing we did.”
“But high energy. We killed those slugs before they could try biting,” Bucky reminded. “But…maybe…they have, and like Natasha, we’re immune somehow?”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Darcy shook her head, sighing frustratedly. They worked in silence for the next several minutes until the lemonade was finished. Bucky immediately poured himself a glass and downed it one go, making Darcy laugh.
“Sure you weren’t craving that, Bucky?” Darcy grinned, and Bucky leaned closer.
“Not the only thing I was craving,” he said quietly.
“But the lemonade,” Darcy said innocently when he moved into her space, pulling her flush against him. “For the team.”
“We’ve been interrupted twice today,” said Bucky, running his hand caressingly through her hair, his other hand going to her waist and pressing her closer to him. “No way can any shithead barge its way in now. Remind me to sock Steve in the jaw later, by the way.”
Darcy suppressed a laugh. “To be fair, it’s not really his fault.”
“I was literally about to go in, Darcy.”
“I know, Bucky. I know.”
Just as their lips were about to meet, a loud pounding came from the door. Bucky literally whined, helpless and frustrated. Darcy sighed.
“Darcy!” she heard Jane’s muffled voice from the front door. “Those assholes kicked me out and won’t let me science with them! I hate the damn boys’ club!” Then, quieter, “I had enough of that in grad school.”
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Darcy, lemonade pitcher in one hand and the other placed delicately on her hip, stared down Bruce and Tony.
“Look,” Darcy said evenly. “No science gals, no sustenance.”
“I’m sorry, Darce,” Bruce said kindly, adjusting his glasses on his nose. “But we—Tony and I—we tag team these things. We work best, and faster, alone. And frankly, astrophysics won’t help us here. Or an assistant who’s still learning.”
Darcy felt like she was punched in the gut. Jane boiled in rage behind them. “Yes, because alien space slugs have absolutely nothing to do with astronomy or physics,” Jane snapped. “And don’t you dare talk about Darcy that way. She’s brilliant.”
Bruce’s eyes widened and he stepped back, glancing up at Darcy with panic. “Oh no—I didn’t mean—”
“I know,” Darcy nodded. “But it still sucks to hear it. Whatever. Your loss.”
Tony, who was walking by, stopped near Darcy and reached excitedly for the pitcher. Darcy swiftly dodged him and turned around, Jane in tow as they linked arms. Bucky, who had been watching silently, regarded the two science brothers with a deadly stare.
“I hear that kind of bullshit about Darcy or Jane again,” Bucky said calmly, “I will end you. Doesn’t matter what suit or color you become.”
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Natasha and Sam met them outside the lab. “Hey,” Darcy smiled wearily. “I made the thing. Whole pitcher, if you want.”
“’Course we want it,” Sam smiled, looping an arm around her. “Told you last night, didn’t I Nat? Best damn lemonade ever made.”
“You did,” Natasha said serenely, linking with Jane’s arm that wasn’t already entangled with Darcy’s. “What’s the hidden ingredient again?”
Darcy smiled secretively, lifting her chin. “I’d have to kill you.”
Bucky hid a smile. “It’s not that special.”
“Don’t listen to him! They’re all slander and lies.”
Thor and Steve were waiting a little further out, and Natasha shook her head.
“For fuck’s sake,” Steve frowned. “Their goddamn testosterone clouding their minds, rejecting two of the smartest women I’ve ever known. Read this in an article, women not taken seriously in STEM fields. Can you believe this bullshit, Bucky? Can you believe this sexist bullshit?”
“Blows my damn mind,” Bucky agreed, looking fondly at the two ladies. Darcy smiled softly at him.
“How about in the meantime we all head to my place, put on Netflix and drink the rest of this?” Darcy waved the pitcher in her hand lightly.
With the resounding murmur of agreement, they all took the elevator to Darcy’s rooms.
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For a while, there was silence.
Jane blinked. “Huh.”
Steve nodded. “Wow.”
Sam stared suspiciously down the lemonade, not fully understanding, but piecing it together slowly. He looked at Natasha. “You already knew, didn’t you. That’s why the bite didn’t affect you. Or me, it looks like.”
Natasha shrugged. “It was a hunch. I couldn’t be sure.”
Thor scratched his beard contemplatively. “I can see now, the effects that slug’s venom had, though…my assessment remains. It was not with the intention to harm. In fact, the liberties that the slug showed me can now help me communicate better with Jane and her field of science and mathematics.”
“It…helped?” Steve asked aloud. “You’re telling me the slug was trying to help?”
“Bucky thinks it senses high levels of stress,” Darcy said, her face shining with anguish and her lower lip trembling. “God. Bucky. We killed, like, three of them. They were only trying to help because they knew we were stressed.” Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight against him as they sat together on the sofa, Darcy sniffing softly.
“I will go to Tartaret myself,” Thor said gravely, looking at the tank where the space slug was happily rolling in the tiny gravel. “I will make amends to its species. Truly, they did not deserve such a disservice.”
“But what about this lemonade made the difference?” Sam shook his head, still in disbelief. He glanced at Darcy. “What’s the secret ingredient?”
Darcy croaked out a laugh. “Honestly? Honey. It’s freaking honey. Weird, but it helped us out so yay?”
“Honey and love,” said Bucky, tucking a strand of hair behind Darcy’s ear. She blushed, biting her lip.
“Jesus. Go find a closet,” Steve grimaced.
Bucky moved his hand away from Darcy and rolled his eyes. “You just had to open your goddamned punk mouth.”
A soft knock came from the door. Darcy squeezed Bucky’s hand and stood, heading to the door. When she opened it, Bruce stood awkwardly before her.
“Darcy,” he said, relieved when he saw her. “Look I—I just wanted to say—I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was way out of line, you and Jane have as much right to work beside us to try figuring this out as any of us. Please, feel free to come to the lab.”
Darcy blinked, then a slow smile spread on her lips. “Dr. Banner, would you like some lemonade?”
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.
Doors locked, privacy protocols in place, and every window boarded shut, Bucky and Darcy were on the bed and naked within minutes.
“I don’t care if the goddamn apocalypse happens in the next half hour,” Bucky mumbled against her skin, Darcy arching her back when his fingers slipped inside her and his mouth closed around her nipple. Keyed up as they were, it didn’t take long for them both to be panting and ready. “I’m going to fuck you all night.”
“Loudly,” Darcy added, grinning when Bucky’s hand stuttered between them.
He nodded fervently, swallowing hard. “Loudly.”
Darcy’s grin widened, but a look of uncertainty crossed over her features. Immediately Bucky paused, peering at her with concern. “What? Did I do something?”
Darcy shook her head. “No, no, nothing like that. I just can’t help the feeling that we forgot something.” Her eyes went wide, and she looked at Bucky. “Tony. We forgot to give Tony the lemonade.”
“Fucking Tony again,” Bucky narrowed his eyes, then hiked her thighs up to rest on his shoulders. “What did I say about bringing him up when we’re doing this?” They both moaned when Bucky slid inside her, eyes rolling back.
“Can’t…can’t remember,” Darcy said breathlessly, a high-pitched moan hitching her breath when his hips began snapping against hers, the sound of their labored breathing and moans filling the air. She pulled on his scalp and dragged his mouth down to hers, a frantic mess of lips and teeth and tongue and sighs, until Bucky suddenly pulled away and flipped Darcy onto her knees. She shivered when she felt Bucky’s hot breath along her spine, pressing a warm kiss on her shoulder.
“Loud?” he said against her ear, sending another shiver down her body, still questioning, still wanting this to be about her, needing the assurance, despite whatever he may have wanted.
Darcy nodded, lowering further down to support herself on her elbows and arching her back. “Loud.”
She felt his hands run up and down her skin, her shoulders to her back to the sides of her thighs, to cup her ass then grip her hips as he pushed in again, smooth and slow, before thrusting hard and shaking Darcy against the bed. A loud moan escaped her, high and breathless and surprised and excited, grinding against him as he repeated the single, forceful thrusts, body thrumming against hers. She could hear the change in his breathing, hear the hitch when she clamped hard around him as he pounded in, her body twisted and her hands fisted into the sheets, could feel how it turned him on so much that he could scarcely catch his own breath, that it surprised him that he could feel this, could keep feeling it, could not and would not stop the moans he let out when she shouted in the darkness, out of pleasure, because of him.
Darcy reached down and rubbed against her clit, breath stuttering, and Bucky pushed down her hips and spread her wider, leaning over her until he was nuzzled against her neck. “Doll,” Bucky panted, the desperation clear in the tremble of his voice, “Darcy—”
She nodded, fingers tangling with his. “Almost—almost—oh my god—”
Her vision went dark as her body convulsed, squeezing her eyes shut until she saw stars. Bucky moaned brokenly, hips faltering before pushing into her hard once, twice, until his arms shook and he collapsed half on top of her.
Slowly, minutes later, she felt him kiss the back of her shoulder, between her shoulder blades, pushing her hair to the side. His arm tightened around her when a tremor would pass through her, shifting and pulling and turning until she was tucked against him, metal fingers running through her hair.
Darcy twisted around to look at the wall next to the bed. “No space slug,” she said, a quiet sigh escaping her.
“Nope.”
“I feel bad.”
“I know.”
Darcy turned to him, biting her lip. “They were literally little anxiety-helping puppies. They were just trying to help.”
Bucky looked at her thoughtfully. “You want one?”
Darcy wrinkled her nose. “They’re still kind of gross.”
“They are. You want one, though.”
“Maybe.”
Bucky smiled, kissing her softly. “We’ll talk to Thor tomorrow.”
Darcy grinned and threw herself over him, Bucky chuckling against her hair.