Chapter Text
Darcy was tired. Her feet were aching from the fourteen hours spent in the cute but not very practical wedges she had shoved them into earlier that morning. She leaned on the glass wall of the elevator behind her, slowly rolling her neck as she tried to mentally calculate how long of a nap she could sneak in if she could hurry back to the lab with the coffee Jane and her science bros had requested.
She had just decided that a twenty minute power nap was definitely do-able when the doors to the elevator slid open. She hadn’t even realized they had stopped, five floors up from the ground floor.
“I’m just sayin-” the man said and Darcy grimaced as she realized who was joining her on her commute. “Oh, hey Darce.”
“Hi Sam,” she smiled, then added, almost as an afterthought “Hi Cap.”
The latter merely gave her a quick nod of the head as an acknowledgement before he turned his jaw of justice back to the front of the elevator and pushed the button.
“What’s up with you today?” Sam asked, moving to lean beside her on the elevator. “Any fun nerdy stuff?”
Darcy scoffed, “Nerdy stuff says the king of nerds.”
Sam had the gall to look offended. “I am not!”
“Please, you talk to a drone as if you’ve rescued it from the shelter.”
The good captain made a weird noise at that but continued to ignore her entire presence as the elevator descended.
“His name is Redwing,” Sam was affronted.
Darcy raised a brow, though not nearly as good as Natasha she had been practicing and at least Sam had the sense to look embarrassed as he grumbled something under his breath.
“You comin’ to team dinner?” he finally asked.
Darcy’s eyes darted to where Steve stood in front of her and she saw his shoulders tense at that before she shook her head, “Probably not.”
Sam gasped, “But I'm makin’ gumbo!”
Darcy bit her lip her eyes darting to the third once more, it was a thing with them. She wasn’t sure exactly when it had officially started but if there was one thing she was absolutely sure of it was that Steve Rogers hated her guts. Not that she was overly fond of him either.
“Maybe next time,” she assured the man as the door opened to her stop.
“Imma hold you to that!” Sam called after her and Darcy turned to grin at the man, just managing to catch Steve’s eye before the doors slid shut and if the glare was anything to go by, yep, definitely still hated her.
The first time she had met Steve Rogers had been when she was moving her and Jane into the tower, her hands laden with boxes. She had been rushing to get the elevator and had called out for whomever had just loaded it to “hold the doors!” Of course it had been Steve with his holier than thou attitude that had stepped up to catch the doors before they slid shut. Darcy vaguely remembered that he had asked if she needed help. When she had smiled, telling him no thank you he had made some offhand comment about her being a delivery girl. She hadn’t even had the energy to correct him at that point but when Tony Stark had hopped on at the next stop with a friendly “ Lewis! how are you settling in? ” the good captain had merely looked ahead, ignoring her entirely after that. And from then on out it had been a battle of wills between the two. Steve hated her and she, well, she was unimpressed with the chiseled champion.
She finished her coffee run, making it back with time to spare for that much deserved nap, only to find out that Science Bros ™ had gone off on a new tangent and asked for her to run the data with them. She hurriedly deposited Jane’s coffee, grabbing her tablet off the desk.
“Hey, thanks,” Jane said as she resurfaced from her own data.
“You’re welcome,” Darcy said, “I would have grabbed a croissant but Captain Condescending ruined my appetite.”
“Captain Con-Darcy, you’ve got to get over this thing about Steve.”
“Oooh… Steve ” she mocked as she backed towards the lab doors, “Didn’t know you were on a first name basis with the haughty hero.”
“Okay, great alliteration-”
“Thank you”
“But really, he’s a nice guy. It’s only you that seems to have a problem with him.”
“I don’t have a problem with him,” she insisted for what felt like the millionth time. “ He has a problem with me . And, may I remind you that he’s the only one.”
She gestured widely with her arms open as the lab doors slid open behind her. Jane merely rolled her eyes as Darcy bowed and ducked back out, off to find Bruce and Tony to do some science and forget about the Snobby Savior. She wrinkled her nose,
that one needs work.
“I’m just saying you can’t expect there to be a minimal level of radiation if you
don’t
take the time to limit the PMD-”
Tony groaned at Bruce’s obtusensess, “ wrong and if you’d just- Lewis , where’s Lewis?”
“She went home-”Bruce sighed.
“Why?”
“Because it’s three am.”
“So?”
“So? Tony-”
“Nah-ah ah,” Tony said as he waved his finger behind him, because he was right - of course he was, if Lewis was here she’d agree- and he was going to prove it.
He continued his calculations on the board, ignoring the man’s murmured protests behind him.
And he was right, of course he was, he was almost ready to prove it to Bruce when there was a crack. The sound of glass breaking and then-
Then the most high pitched, ear shattering screech he had ever heard.
“Jesus-Bruce!”
The man was on the floor, murmuring words under his breath and Tony paused, grabbing a wrench. It wasn’t until he was sure the green guy wasn’t going to make an appearance that he moved.
He kept the wrench up, ready for a fight as he rounded the corner and then-
“What the fuck-”
The little girl was standing there, surrounded by broken beakers, the glass shards glittering in the light from above. She was small, teeny really, blonde and had tears streaking down her face. Tony lowered the wrench but kept his grip tight.
“ Hey ,” he said, a little more forcefully than he had intended. He steadied himself and tried again, “hey, can you-Just… Don’t move okay.”
The little girl sniffed but didn’t move, “I want mommy.”
“I’m sure, I’m sure you do,” Tony said as he moved closer.
“What’s going on Tony?” Bruce asked and Tony turned, gesturing for him to hold on a moment before he turned back to the small girl.
“Can you tell me, what is your mom's name?” Tony asked as he moved just a little closer still. The girl cowered from him slightly and he stopped, moving to squat down to her level a little more.
She nodded, “mommy.”
Tony choked back a laugh at that. “Friday, run diagnostics?”
There was a pause before the AI voice sounded, “There is no imminent danger sir. She is as she seems, a simple human child.”
“But where did she come from?” Bruce asked, before, “Friday, play back the cameras from the thirty seconds before she appeared.”
“Right away sir,” the AI said and Tony assumed Bruce had moved to view the footage on the holo.
“Okay, So we need to find mommy. Can you tell me, what is your name? You got one of those?”
The girl nodded, “I Sarah”
“Sarah, that’s a nice, normal, easy name.” Tony smiled and set down the wrench in his hand. “Ok Sarah, I’m going to come help you okay? Get you out of that mess and we’ll find your mommy.”
The girl nodded and reached out her arms as Tony moved to pick her up, pulling her small body out and over the glass shards. It was only as he picked her up that he realized something.
“Friday, what’s the temperature right now?”
“It is ninety-eight degrees fahrenheit outside sir.”
“What’s going on?” Bruce asked as he once again appeared beside Tony.
“Does she look like she came from outside?” he asked as he moved to sit the girl on the table nearest him. She was bundled up. Her blonde hair was covered by a grey knit beanie that matched the little gray wool double breasted peacoat. Her cheeks were tinged pink and the tip of her button nose was red.
“Was it cold?” Bruce asked, “Where you came from before?”
The little girl nodded. “I has mommy scarf.”
It was then that both men noticed that she indeed did have a scarf tucked into her hand.
“Can I see that for just a moment- Sarah?” Bruce asked gently and Tony was glad that at least one of them was good in a crisis.
The little girl nodded and held out her mitten clad hands, letting Bruce pull the knitted pale blue fabric from her hands as a small square fell from where it had been tucked inside.
“What is-” Bruce asked as Tony leaned down to pick it up, his brow furrowing as something nagged at the back of his mind.
“Hey Sarah, where did you get this?”
The little girl merely shrugged but something persisted and Tony held on to the little square, trying to recall just what it was he was missing .
“Where did you come from?” Bruce was asking and the little girl pointed behind her, to where the glass still shone on the floor. “Yes, but before that, where did you-”
“Hered. We were hered,” she said softly. “In Papas lab.”
Tony nearly swallowed his tongue. “Did she just say-”
“It may not mean anything,” Bruce reassured him and he reached out to the little girl once more, “Hey Sarah, can we take some of these things off?”
Sarah nodded and held out her hand, patiently waiting for Bruce to extract her from the heavy wool coat and outer accessories. It was as he pulled off the coat that Bruce stopped, noticing something, “Hey… Tony is this…what is this?”
Tony moved forward, his brow furrowed as he looked at the offending object. A bracelet wrapped several times around the little girl’s wrist with an empty glass tube on it. “I don’t-” his frown deepened, “I don’t know”
“Hey Sarah,” Bruce said, his voice slow and cool as ever, “Can I take this off and let Tony have a little look?”
The girl pulled her arm back, holding her wrist against her chest. “Mama gived it to me.”
Bruce nodded, “I know, I just want to see it. See if we can’t help figure out who- where ” he corrected himself quickly, “mama is okay?”
Slowly and ever so slightly the girl nodded and Bruce reached out to gently unravel the much too large bracelet from her tiny wrist before he handed it off to Tony.
“It looks like more than a bracelet,” the first man said and Tony gave a nod as he moved to set it down on the workbench closest to him.
“Friday-”
“On it sir,” the AI said and Tony nodded as he turned back to Bruce and Sarah.
“What do we do?” Bruce asked.
Tony swallowed, “What we always do…”
“There better be a damned good reason you pulled me out of my bed at three am.” Sam was saying as he walked through the lab doors close on Steve’s heels, Natasha following smoothly behind. They had made it all the way into the lab before they noticed her, perched behind the desk in the small office off to the side, a pen in her hand as she doodled on a piece of paper.
“Okay, I’ll bite, who’s the kid?” Nat asked.
Bruce sighed, “We don’t know-”
“Wait- what?” Sam stammered.
Tony gave a nod, “he’s right. One minute we were arguing about radiation particles, I’m still right by the way, and the next she just showed up here.”
There was a cacophony of voices at that as everyone tried to be heard over each other until-
“Children don’t just appear out of nowhere Tony,” Steve said, loudly and with a tone of finality that left no room for argument.
Tony rolled his eyes, “No shit Sherlock, I didn’t just kidnap a kid.”
“Well then, we find her parents and return her-” He offered, shrugging with his hands in his pockets like it was the most simple thing in the world. And really, it should have been. Would have been, if not for the fact that they had no earthly idea where she had come from to begin with.
“You’re telling me- Look, I already ran a DNA sample and we’ve put her face through every Tom, Dick and Harry database we could think of. There are no missing children’s reports that fit her description within a two thousand mile radius. So if you have a better idea Cap, I’m all ears.”
“Ask her-”
“You don’t think we tried that? She’s what, 6?”
“I’d say around 3,” Bruce corrected him.
Tony waved him off, “The point is the kid doesn’t know her ass from her elbow, let alone how she ended up alone in the middle of my lab with nothing to show for it.”
“Does she have a name?” Nat asked and Tony exhaled.
“ Yes , finally, someone asking the right questions,” he snapped with a glance at the good captain.
“Sarah-” Bruce supplied, moving towards Nat to hold out the tablet with the information they had been able to garner from the girl.
Steve made a sound at that and every eye turned towards him, he shook his head but Tony narrowed his eyes and finally the man sighed, “That was my mother’s name.”
“Okay, so she’s around 3, her name is Sarah. Anything else?” Sam cut in.
“No- that’s all-” Bruce started.
“She was dressed in winter clothes,” Tony said, “Hat, mittens, thick coat and her hands were cold, cheeks a little rosy.”
Steve frowned.
“So she’s what- teleporting?” Sam asked as he leaned back against the table, crossing his thick arms over his chest.
“Maybe we should get Vis and Wa-”
“No,” Nat said quickly, “ We may be used to a sentient being that can phase through walls and a woman that can manipulate your mind but-”
Bruce agreed, “Let’s not dump any more on her than she needs right now.”
“I’ll go talk to her,” Nat offered, “Maybe a woman’s touch can-”
“Sir,” Everyone froze as Friday’s voice resounded through the lab, “I have the results of the DNA scan-”
Tony moved forward, pushing through the crowd that had gathered around his equipment as he used his hands to pull up the report. It stated the basic information about the girl until-
“No,” he said, swiping the image up more, “That can’t be-”
“I’m afraid it is sir”
“Run it again,” he insisted.
“Sir, this was the third run-”
“What does it say?” Sam asked from somewhere to his left and Tony frowned some more. “She some sort of alien or…”
“Worse,” Tony supplied, “We know who her dad is-”
“Oh, please tell me it’s not you,” Natasha groaned.
Tony shook his head, “No, it’s- well,” he turned instead and used his hand to project the image before them, the DNA that matched and the photo that came along with it.
Just below the image Friday had taken of the girl, her blonde hair mussed from whatever had deposited her into their midst, her blue eyes wide, was a photo of the man behind him.
Steven G. Rogers
Combined paternity: 553,475 Probability of paternity: 99.9998%