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Darcy looked at the unpacked boxes in her living room, shaking her head. Nope, not tonight. She had already unboxed half her equipment in the lab today. One more, and she would feel the need to bite someone. And not in a sexy way.The Black Widow asked -no told her- to live at the Upstate Avengers Campus. Spy-assessin feared that her past work drew a bullseye on her forehead. Darcy lived out of her suitcase and begged for research funds for too long to say no. The futuristic lab and fully furnished apartment were a nice bonus. It saved her from assembling her couch before she could chill on it and read some steamy fanfiction. Due to her travel experience, her tablet was in her big bag of personal belongings that she always kept close. So she didn't have to search for it. She only hoped she hadn’t put the charger in one of the other boxes, but that was a problem for tomorrow-Darcy. Now, she only had to find something to eat other than pop-tarts and chips.Opening the fridge, she closed it imminently, blinking in disbelief. She opened it again with a raised eyebrow, staring at the wine and vodka that filled the whole space. It was a lot of alcohol. When should she drink all of that? Her college times were over, and not even then did she drink that much. Now, she only drank at their girls' nights with Jane and the gang. Alcohol was never one of her problems. Gummy bears, on the other hand, she couldn’t say no to them.“Doctor Lewis, if I may offer my help?”Darcy grabbed a bottle and spun around, bottle raised, taking a deep breath. “Damn, Friday! Did you have to spook me?”“I’m sorry, Doctor Lewis. I only wanted to offer my help.”“It’s okay. I completely forgot about you.” Darcy closed the fridge. Even with an arc reactor running the power grid, there was no need to waste power. “Friday, my girl. Clue me in. What's with the wine and vodka in my fridge?”“A bribe from the boss. He wishes to be invited to one of your events someday since he heard only good things about them from Miss Potts.”“You mean girls' night?” Darcy stared at the ceiling.“I assume he does.”“Nope, it’s girls’ night. Only girls of all variations are allowed.” Darcy stemmed her hands on her hips. “Friday, is there any food or only booze?”“Agent Barton stoked the freezer with frozen pizza. Should I preheat the oven?”“Yes, please. Thank you, Friday.” Darcy made her way to the freezer. She had to bake some cookies for Clint. As chaotic as Clint was, the man was a godsend, and his taste in pizza was exquisite. “I still don’t think that is a good idea.” Sam crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at his so-called friends. If he didn’t know better, he would think they tried to get him killed.“Sam! I’m a genius! Trust me.” Tony leaned against the table, pointing to his glorious invention. Or as Sam saw it, his imminent death. Stark's bravo didn't convince. The suit from Wakanda was perfect; he didn't need Tony’s improvements.“It could be fun!” Bucky shrugged, grinning at Sam with an agonizing smile.The former Winter Soldier lived to make his life difficult. No, he wouldn’t react and start something. No, he won’t. Not tonight, with his death waiting for him just around the corner. He slowly began to understand what Steve meant when he said his life would get more complicated with the shield. “If it works, it could give you an advantage during an aerial fight.” Steve pointed out, adjusting the glasses on his nose.“It could, but it also could kill me!” Sam narrowed his eyes at the former owner of the shield.Sometimes it still hit him. The shield was now his, but at what costs? Returning the infinity stones and bringing Natasha back cost his friend dearly. Steve had lost the serum but not his spit and spirit.“I'm gonna call Suri and ask if she put a parachute in the suit.” Sam took his phone out.“No, you won’t. The princess will only scream at me for messing with her tech.” Tony pouted, grabbing for Sam’s phone. “You won’t need a parachute. I know what I’m doing.”“C’mon, Sam. Where’s the guy that tried to stop supersoldiers alone? Put your big boy panties on and try it.” Bucky taunted him.The man knew too well how to push his buttons. Sam hung his head, unwinding his arms. “Okay, I do it. But remember that when I die, my ghost will haunt you all.”“Don’t be dramatic, Sam,” Steve said, offering him one of his blast-from-the-past cookies.Tony only beamed at him. “Suit up, Cap 2.0.” He was too fast and close to the apartment complex. Fuck, he knew it. Modifying his suit with Stark’s Iron Man repulsors was a bad idea, especially without the aid of an AI.If he only could get a little lower, he could aim for the window to not crash into the wall.Managing the feat at the last moment, he closed his wings and held the shield out, shielding his face.The window exploded with his impact. Turning, he landed on his wings to cushion his fall. Just as he got up to apologize, a plate and flying pizza was the last thing he saw before the world went dark around him. Darcy lay on her couch, lazily eating her pizza that went cold a while ago. Sue her, but she had reading to catch up on, and the vampire AU of her favorite show hit all her spots. The tension the author created was the chef’s kiss, and the smut had her thinking about unpacking one more box.Just as the vampire broke through the window to corner the heroine, her window burst inwards, sending broken glass everywhere.Already high on adrenaline from her reading, Darcy did the only thing she could think of since her taser was in her handbag. She threw the plate with the pizza at the intruder. And it hit home, and the man went down. Another sheet of cookies needed baking as thank you. Steve was the best frisbee teacher.She shoved the cork deeper into the wine bottle and held it high like a slugger, walking around the couch.Her feet hit a shield. “Holy Shih Tzu. Fudge Balls on a Cookie sheet.” Her hands sank, and the bottle dropped from her fingers. She killed Captain America, the cute one without a husband. Oh, damn, now she only needed to take out the Black Widow and the Scarlet Witch, and she was officially a supervillain.Don’t panic! She should check for his pulse before she planned her supervillain lair.She touched his neck with two fingers and found a pulse. He wasn’t dead. Thank snickerdoodles, she didn’t have to live in a cave with incompetent henchmen.“Friday?”“Boss, Sergeant Barnes, and Captain Rogers are on the way.” Sam came back to the world of the living, groaning. His nose was hurting like hell. Why was his nose hurting? Was he bleeding too?He touched his nose. Yeah, he was bleeding. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Big blue eyes in a soft face framed by glowing brown hair looked at him concerned.He sat up, and the world turned a little. He still wasn’t in full possession of his bearings.Her red lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear her.Suddenly, she was shoved away and replaced by another Snow White, not as beautiful, at least not to him. Steve would argue differently. The beard and scowl were not his favorite attributes.Bucky ripped the earmuffs off his head. “You are bleeding.”He did know that, thank you very much.“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was startled when you crashed through my window. I only reacted.” The pretty Snow White was back, handing him a napkin with guilty eyes.“Yeah, Nat will be proud of you, Darcy.” Bucky said, touching Sam’s nose.“Hold still!"Sam tried not to pull away from the less gentle probing of his injured nose.When nurse Bucky let go of his face, he declared, "It's not broken, just a little cut. You’ll live."“Thanks for clarifying, Bucky. I thought I had only minutes left," Sam replied dryly, pressing the napkin on the cut. "What happened? I’m sure I wasn’t hurt when I crashed.” He was sure the shield protected him from the glass shreds. On the upside, he finally met the famous Darcy. Thor told everyone about her.“That was me. I threw a pizza plate at you. It knocked you out.” Darcy wrung her hands, nodding in the direction of the still-intact plate.“Did you throw it as I showed you, Darcy?” Out of breath, Steve asked, stepping through the apartment door.“Yup, I did. Out of the wist to give it the right spin.” Darcy imitated throwing the plate.“You did well.” Steve clapped her on the shoulder. They both were the same height.“Okay, as nice as that is. Will someone-” The words died on Sam's lips.He looked in disbelief at Bucky, who picked the piece of pizza off the ground, looking at it and plucking dirt off it before taking a bite.“Bucky, no. Really? You're as worse as Clint.”“What? It's still good. Cold but good. Clint’s brand of pizza?” He shoved the rest into his mouth, earning him an “Eww!” from Darcy and Sam.“Yeah, since Tony filled my fridge with wine and vodka.” Darcy looked at him, offering Sam a hand. “C’mon, the couch will be more comfortable than the floor.”“Where’s Tony anyway? Did he run?” Sam took her hand, getting up off the floor. He never would try one of Tony’s inventions ever again.“No, Pepper came to talk to him. Suri had called her,” Steve said, holding a broom and dustpan. “She didn't look happy.”“Doctor Lewis, I shall inform you that someone will come by shortly to cover your broken window. It will be replaced tomorrow morning.”“Thanks, Friday.” Darcy turned to him and held her hand out to him again.Sam looked at her, puzzled, but relented.“We were never introduced.” She shook his hand. “I’m Doctor Darcy Lewis, astrophysicist and subjugator of male superheroes, antiheroes, and villains.”Sam liked her grin. Her tooth gap made her even more likable. Grinning back, he shook her hand. “Sam Wilson, formerly the Falcon and now Captain America. Subjugator of superheroes, hm? What do you say? I take you out for dinner, and you tell me about defeating heroes and villains?”“Sounds good. Tomorrow at seven?” Her grin turned dangerous as she looked him in the eyes.“No, we can do that now while we wait for the handyman. I put a couple of pizzas in the oven. I still need to hear how she took my little Stevie down.” Bucky shouted from the kitchen. “We even have everything for Margaritas. Who wants one?”Sam groaned. Why couldn’t he catch a break? Sometimes he had the feeling that Bucky lived to agonize him.Darcy only winked at him, mouthing, “Tomorrow at seven.”Sam had to admit the evening damn sure ended better than it began. He had a hot date to look forward to. “I take two.”