Chapter Text
Things were weird when Darcy got back to the office after lunch. Er. Weirder. There was always a certain amount of weirdness around the SSR office, especially since the whole night in the club. Yeah. At least Thompson had quickly gone back to his own base on the other side of the country and she hadn’t had to speak to him or look at him since.
But today the guys weren’t even pretending to work. They stood in knots staring at Daniel’s door and murmuring like he had a pin-up painting in progress. Even Rose had been a bit flustered when Darcy had passed through her sanctum into the actual offices. She wouldn’t say anything, just said it was a big day.
It was hard not to worry as Darcy opened the bottom drawer of her desk and set her purse inside. She’d opted to stay as opposed to being relocated again, and after a long, long discussion, her and Daniel were working on it. But what if Colonel Phillips had bustled in with some sort of life-altering news? Or something worse?
She’d barely sat in her chair before Daniel’s office door opened. The shades were all drawn so there was no way to see what was going on in there, and the one over the door rattled before being caught against his shoulder.
Brown eyes narrowed in on her right away. “Darcy, would you come into my office, please?” His tone gave nothing away. His face was a carefully-schooled neutral. It could’ve meant anything. Somehow, though, she was sure he wasn’t talking about a sexy interlude on his desk.
“Of course.” She got up and crossed to him, aware of the multitude of eyes now focused on her.
He stepped aside to let her in, shutting the door quickly behind him. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to.
Whoever or whatever Darcy had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t the large blond crammed into the chair in front of Daniel’s desk. “Steve?” she breathed incredulously. She took a step toward him before stopping herself. “Wait. Which Steve are you?” Because there was basement Steve and tower Steve. The only way she’d been able to keep herself from stepping in it when she’d met him in the past was to think about them like two different people.
“Well…” A familiar smile lit his face as he unfolded himself from the chair. “We once spent a night hunkered down in a bombed-out church. And you were the person who taught me how to play Mario Kart.”
A wide grin split her face before she could even think to stop it. “Steve!” she exclaimed before rushing across the room toward him, arms outstretched. She knew it wasn’t true, knew it, but for a second she let herself think he was there to take her back.
He wrapped her in a giant hug, picking her up off the floor and holding her close. “It is so good to see you again. We were worried sick about you.”
“Oh my god, you have no idea .” She held him tight until he set her down and let her go. “What happened? How did you get back here? Is everything okay?”
“Things got a bit… weird.” His face held a mix of emotions, but happiness seemed to be the dominant one.
“I bet.” She rested her hand on his arm as she looked up at him, almost like he was a physical connection to home. “Have you seen anyone else? Peggy? Any of the guys?” Although Peggy… That would be a thing.
“Not yet. I checked in with Colonel Phillips and he sent me out here.” He glanced up at Daniel. “Said I needed to touch base with you and base myself on this side of the country for now. You keep up with any of them?”
“Yeah. I talk to Peggy a lot. Although…” She looked at Daniel too, who was watching them intently. She was fairly sure he both knew and had no problem with Peggy’s relationship, but on the off chance he was still all gals being pals about it, it wasn’t her place to out Peggy. “Yeah, that’s a thing. I ran into Jim randomly. He was here for family or business or something? Ran into him out in the street. He’s doing really good. I see Tim every so often. He and Howard are pretty tight.” A tinge of guilt fluttered through her at the thought. Except for the last time, every time she saw Tim, she seemed to end up with her legs around his hips.
“Darcy.” Daniel stood off to the side, a strange look on his face. Maybe jealousy? Maybe something else? Things had been a bit hard since he’d walked in on her fucking Thompson and then joined in. “Why don’t you take Captain Rogers out for a bite so you can catch up?”
Darcy almost reminded him she’d just had lunch, but fuck it. If she was getting paid to go out with Steve so they could talk, she was definitely on board. “Yeah, that sounds good. There’s a diner just a couple blocks away.”
“Report back here when you’re through.” Daniel’s eyes lingered on her before he made his way behind his desk.
Steve looked a question at her, but Darcy gave a small headshake. They’d talk about that when they weren’t in the office where a bunch of people were waiting for something to gossip about.
Steve opened the door for her, his hand hovering over her back as she stepped out. “Just let me grab my purse.”
“Sure.” He matched her stride as she went back to her desk and got her purse out. Everyone was staring at him, but he ignored them almost casually. He had a lot of practice with that, that was for sure.
Darcy could already feel the shift in the office. She wasn’t sure exactly what Daniel had said to them, but no one had mentioned the incident in the club, despite the fact that it at least started on a recorded line. Not to her face. She was fairly sure they talked about it, if the way they looked at her was any indication. And there’d been rumors about her and Daniel before that - nothing substantiated. Now it looked like they were going to gossip about her and Steve.
Steve stiffened as they headed down the hall toward the door, anger crossing his face. He had that super sensitive hearing, and had probably picked something out of the murmurs.
“Don’t,” she told him in a low voice. “It’s not worth it.” It was never worth it.
He looked at her and shook his head, but they continued out to Rose’s outer sanctum, and then out into the street.
Their pace was a casual amble as they headed toward the diner. Steve’s hands were tucked deep in his pockets, and his posture relaxed with every step. “I’ve missed this,” he said at last. “Maybe not that.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, but that happens in the future too.” She rolled her eyes. “There was a thing a couple weeks ago. It’s been…” She let out a long sigh. “I told Phillips I’d stay here, but I’m also kind of thinking of not .” Colonel Phillips had actually turned up in person to debrief them. He’d actually seemed concerned about Darcy’s wellbeing.
“Where would you go? Back to New York?” So Steve knew she’d been in New York for a while. Catching up was going to be interesting.
“No. I’m thinking about London.” She made a vague gesture that probably definitely wasn’t in the direction of London. “Could be nice to be in Europe again. I know they need some help rebuilding.”
“Sounds serious if you’re talking about another continent.” Steve was good at not being judgy.
“Yeah. So…” She took a look around. The sidewalk was as busy as it usually was, but no one was staying close enough to really listen to what she was saying. “You remember that one time we went to visit Howard and, um, you walked in on me naked?” That was probably the most innocuous thing she could bring up while still making it clear what she was talking about.
“Yeah. Yeah, I remember that.” A touch of red spread into his ears. It was nice to see that as much as Steve had changed, he was still so much the same.
“Right. So Howard stopped making that shit, but he made something else. Something very similar. Something I tripped into with a…” How to put it. “Colleague? From New York. But I’d put a listening device in the room, and Daniel walked in…”
“Daniel. Chief Sousa. And from the way he was looking at you…” Steve trailed off, clearly a question.
“Yes. Yes to that.” She pointed at him. “So he joined in and now it’s a whole thing.” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. Being stuck in a basement fucking sucked, but the interpersonal shit was way, way easier.” Because after the incident in Howard’s lab, they’d all gone back to business as usual. Now she was looking at going to London because everything was all weird and different.
“Yeah. There were a lot of things that were easier back then.” A wistful expression took his face. “What was that you were saying about Peggy?”
“Oh. Right. So…” She gave him the side-eye. “She’s, um, living with her girlfriend.”
He opened his mouth and closed it, then looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Peggy’s…”
“Bi, yeah.” She couldn’t not tell Steve. “Happy as a clam. I don’t know if Angie’s into dudes, but there’s always a chance. At the very least, I bet you all would make a cute polycule.”
“Yeah, because that always works out.” Bitterness dripped from his voice.
“I don’t know if you remember how I spent the war, but when the Howlies took me out, it wasn’t just to go dancing.” She shot him a pointed look.
“Okay, but does your current partner know about all of that?”
Well. He suspected, but he didn’t actually know . And Darcy was pretty keen on keeping it that way. Daniel got a bit weird at the thought of what she got up to during the war. “You know what, we’re not talking about me. And Peggy knew exactly what I was getting up to and didn’t have a problem with it.”
“Yeah. It’s one thing to conceptually know what your friend is getting up to. It’s another to think about it pertaining to you. Especially…” He gestured around them before shoving his hand deep in his pocket. “They don’t exactly embrace alternative lifestyles here, Darce.”
“Maybe not, but it still happens.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, just for a second. “So how come you’re back here, anyway? And why am I still here?”
He told her all about what had happened, both while they were walking and after they were seated at a booth in the diner. A lot. A lot had happened, apparently.
“So…” Darcy took a long drink from her coffee as she tried to work out how to say what she wanted. “You all were zipping back and forth through time, and no one thought to come get me.”
Steve let out a long sigh. “We did, Darce. We really did. There just wasn’t enough of the stuff we needed.”
“Huh.” That hurt. That really hurt. “Okay. So unrelatedly, or maybe semi-relatedly, when you first met me in the future, why didn’t you warn me I’d end up here?”
He lifted his chin, and she could see the sorrow in his clear blue eyes. “Fury had a good few things to say about it when I thawed out. I could ask you the same thing. Why didn’t you warn me that I’d end up in the future?”
“Okay, you’ve got a point.” It had been Colonel Phillips in her case. He didn’t want her to do anything that might affect the outcome of the war. It had sucked, but telling Steve what would happen may have done that. “It sucks, though, it really does. Having to get to know you again when we’re already close and you’re the only link I have?” She shook her head.
“Tell me about it.” He lifted his own mug to her.
“I had to think of you as a different person. I mean, you were, in a sense. You weren’t the Steve I knew who liked cleaning up after I made brownies because it meant you got the first crack at them.” Her voice wavered, hot tears stinging her eyes at the memory. She impatiently brushed them away. Now was not the time.
“I know. I’m glad I got to know both versions of you.” He took her hand, squeezing her fingers in his. “And as glad as I am to see you again, I’m not going to London with you, though.”
That made her laugh. She scrubbed at her face, wiping the damp tears off on her skirt. “Fair. Although I don’t know that I’m going yet, either.”
Darcy just ordered pie to go with her coffee, but Steve got a full lunch. They ate, chatting and reminiscing and catching up until Darcy felt too guilty to stay any longer. After all, she was still on the clock. She paid for the food, and they headed back to the office.
“So what are you going to do now?” she asked when they were almost at their destination.
“Phillips wants me out here for now, so I’m attached to this branch. He’s mentioned that I’ll be moved around as needed, though.” His lips gave a bitter twist. “No rest for the weary. I got the impression he’s purposely stationed me away from Peggy.”
“Yeah. Well, it’ll be nice having one person in the office who isn’t, you know.” She gestured. “That.”
“Yeah, I know.” He held the door for her as they headed back inside.
The noise level died away to practically nothing, all eyes glued on them as they entered the office.
Daniel’s door was still closed when they got there, the shade drawn down. Darcy knocked briskly, pushing it open when he bade them come in.
“There you are,” he mused, taking them both in. “I was wondering if we’d have to send a search party.”
“Sorry, that’s my fault. It’s just…” She trailed off and shook her head. “It was nice to have a bit of a taste of my time.” She twisted her hands together in front of her. She’d almost said home , but she had a feeling Daniel wouldn’t react to that too well.
“It’s fine, I know it’s not a habit.” He gave her a brief smile that didn’t touch his eyes. “Darcy, we are going to be hosting a training exercise for the Howling Commandos here. I understand you’re familiar with them?”
Her expression froze before she forced her own smile that probably didn’t carry. “Yeah, I’m familiar.” She had to fight to keep her voice normal.
The twitch of Steve’s eyebrow and the quirk of his lips showed he was trying not to smile, but he didn’t say anything. Small mercies.
“I’ll need you to coordinate with Rose to make some arrangements.” Daniel closed a folder on his desk and picked it up to offer to her.
“Right. I am on it.” She took the folder and practically fled from the office. As soon as she closed the door behind her, her face fell, her shoulders slumping. This was going to be interesting. London was looking better all the time.