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"It is both an honor and a privilege that I was chosen to present this year's Exceptional Achievement Award," Tony stopped to allow the waves of applause to diminish before continuing. "I've had the pleasure of working closely with this year's recipient. I've watched her ideas and ambitions grow and blossom into fruition through the sheer force of her will. I've been lucky enough to witness and share in her moments of genius as well as her moments of failure, which are few and far between, and only serve to push her to strive that much harder on her next endeavor.”
As Tony took a small pause to allow for additional clapping from the crowd, Darcy started to feel a little uneasy, an uncomfortable fluttering within her belly. She’d felt wrong since that morning after she’d woken to find a certain redheaded spy-sassin perched on the corner of her bed.
“Whaddaya doin’ ‘ere, Nat?” Darcy slurred, her brain still clouded with sleep and her head half covered by her pillow.
“We’re spending the day together, sestra*,” the woman replied before yanking the plush comforter down off her friend. Darcy groaned and attempted to burrow further into the mattress.
“Don’t wanna. Sat’r’daaaay. S’early,” she complained and rolled over onto her belly, effectively turning her back to one of the deadliest women on the planet.
Natasha scoffed. “The hell it is, Darcy, it’s nearly noon. And before you start, I don’t care how late you were up in the garage. I have seven hours to work with. Come now, myshka*.” The ensuing silence was broken by the crack of Natasha’s hand smacking Darcy’s backside followed by Darcy’s subsequent indignant cry.
“You’re a menace,” Darcy hissed at her while rubbing her stinging ass cheek. Natasha did nothing but grin at her and thumb toward the en suite. Without much further grumbling, Darcy rolled from the bed to retrieve a tee shirt and jeans from her closet and teeter into the enormous bathroom to freshen and dress.
“Do I even want to know what we’re doing?” Darcy shouted through the bathroom door to her would be kidnapper.
"She is an unsung hero, working hard and late into the night," Tony lifted his hand to the side of his mouth like he was whispering a closely guarded secret into the microphone jutting from the podium. "Like every other passionate engineer I’ve ever met,” the crowd tittered. “All to make the world a better place. Beyond that, she aspires to make the world a safer place.”
Within an hour of being whisked from the Tower, Darcy found herself in a small shop that had its door tucked under a staircase in Little Russia. She was ushered into a backroom, instructed to strip down to her underwear and then stood on a red velvet covered pedestal surrounded by mirrors. The mirrors themselves were lovely, the edges covered in intricate patterns that were beautifully gilded.
This was, surprisingly, not the weirdest thing that had happened to Darcy since her work with Jane began.
While standing stock still on the little platform, Darcy watched Natasha speak in rapid Russian while gesticulating wildly with a miniscule woman who looked to be about ninety years old, cataracts and all. After what Darcy thought was a shouting match, complete with colorful insults, the two women embraced and kissed each other’s cheeks. The whole exchange left Darcy completely mystified.
“Can you tell me what we’re doing here and why I’m mostly naked? Are you selling me into slavery? It’s not sexual, right? She’s not really my type,” Darcy quipped, still feeling a bit prickly about being roused from her bed. The elderly woman bustled out of the room.
“Firstly, that woman you just insulted may as well be my grandmother. Secondly, there is a function tonight and you’re expected to be in attendance. I’ve been tasked with preparing you.”
“But I don’t go to those things,” Darcy said slowly.
The team was expected to put in regular appearances at charity events, galas, and benefits galore, it helped worthy causes and established good will with a city that may or may not have pieces of it inadvertently destroyed during the course of Avenger activities. But Darcy wasn’t part of the team. Nobody would recognize her walking down the sidewalk. Kids didn’t dress as Darcy Lewis for Halloween. The average New Yorker would never know her contributions to their continued wellbeing...and that was beyond fine with Darcy. “Those are for you guys,” she nodded her head toward Natasha, “You know, famous and heroic and shit.”
Natasha stepped up to where Darcy was still perched on the pedestal and grasped her shoulders. “Just because others don’t know it doesn’t mean you are any less heroic, myshka*. Now hush and let me do this.”
Darcy felt like she was going to empty her stomach of the glass of champagne she’d had earlier in the evening all over the beautiful cherry wood floor. Tony was still on stage, still stood at a cut glass podium with a powerful spotlight trained on him and still in his perfectly tailored tuxedo. Her vision swam a little and she realized she’d forgotten to continue to breath and her lungs were on fire due to the strain.
Tony’s smile was close lipped and his chest was puffed out as he waited yet again for a smattering of applause to end. Darcy had a thought flit through her brain that he looked like a proud peacock.
“Our recipient works alongside government agencies, all branches of our armed forces, world aid agencies, and even with the world's mightiest heroes to deliver new and better equipment, advancements in safety, and all manner of lifesaving technologies. All while asking for nothing in return."
“Oh fuck,” Darcy said in wonder.
She was still in the shop in Little Russia with Natasha and the little old woman, Irina, Natasha had told her, balanced on the stand with plush velvet under her feet. Irina and Natasha stood behind her, both stood casually with their arms crossed in front of their chests looking very pleased with what they saw.
Darcy was zipped into a deep royal blue dress, handstitched by the Russian grandmother herself. Small cap sleeves rested atop her shoulders, a sweetheart neckline showed just the right amount of Darcy’s cleavage to be alluring, more of a promise of what lay beneath than a flaunting of the girls. The bodice was embellished with crystal beads and small rhinestones, all accented and swirled together with hand-embroidered flowers and vines in gold and silver thread. A swingy skirt drifted out from Darcy’s full hips to hit just below her knee. The dress screamed 40’s glamour and perfectly accentuated every bit of Darcy’s curvy figure.
She could barely breath, but not because the dress didn’t fit. She couldn’t believe the woman looking back at her from those antique mirrors was Darcy Lewis. She’d never looked so beautiful in all her life.
Natasha turned to Irina and murmured something in Russian. Irina took in Darcy’s reflection and a large smile bloomed on her face as she fussed with the skirt. “Vy krasivaya, milaya.”*
Darcy met Natasha’s eyes via the mirror and arched an eyebrow in question. Nat huffed out a little laugh. “She said you looked beautiful and I wholeheartedly agree.”
Darcy smiled shyly and blushed.
Her gaze darted around the table to focus on her friends as she tried to will her pulse to calm. She briefly wondered if they could hear her heart hammering away in her chest. She needed to get the hell out of there.
The table she sat at, laden with candles and fresh cut flowers, was occupied by her friends, which translated to Avengers with a couple agents of SHIELD for good measure…trying to plan an escape with these folks so near would be difficult, if not impossible. Nobody seemed to be looking at her. Maybe she could just pretend to need the ladies room…
“The first time I witnessed tonight’s honoree working, I insulted her,” Tony said with a chuckle. “I know, big surprise,” he paused and cleared his throat while the audience chortled. “Since that first faithful meeting, I’ve been in awe of her. Her dedication and work ethic, her lust for knowledge, I’ve admired it all. I made the mistake of underestimating her that single time and have never followed that performance up with an encore.”
Darcy still couldn’t reconcile the fact that the reflection in the mirror was actually her.
After her adventure in the dress shop, followed by shoe shopping and then an embarrassing stop in a lingerie boutique, Natasha had insisted that she should wear something as equally beautiful as her dress underneath it, Darcy had been returned to the Tower. She was instructed to shower and when she emerged, fresh smelling and pink skinned, Natasha and Clint, of all people, worked to style her cloud of brown curls and apply her makeup.
What had they done to her? Surely that woman, with her hair gracefully pinned up, a few errant curls escaping to brush against the side of her face and nape of her neck, with classic makeup, eye shadow soft, winged eyeliner and deep crimson lips evoking a look to compliment the era of her dress…it couldn’t be HER. The only thing that belied her doubt was that no matter the expression she made, the reflection would perform a perfect copy.
“Anyone ever tell you your face would stick like that?” Clint asked whispered in her ear.
With a surprised cry Darcy spun and punched the archer in the arm, which she immediately regretted seeing as the muscles in the guns in question were a formidable opponent to her little balled up fist. “Y’ouch!” She cried and cradled one hand in another. “What the hell are you made of?”
He shrugged but didn’t stop smiling. “Pizza and coffee, mostly. Nice reflexes, by the way.” Clint took a lingering look from the top of Darcy’s head down to her toes and nodded. “Gorgeous. I did good.”
“Smug, birdie, very smug,” Darcy laughed, but held up her hand for a high-five.
“Can’t is not a word in our winner’s vocabulary. I have personally witnessed her be presented with tasks, both menial and overwhelmingly large, that I would balk at, only to watch her take them and not only do what was asked of her, but do it better and do it smarter.”
Steve turned in his seat to give Darcy a blindingly bright and fond smile. Darcy broke out in a cold sweat. He’d noticed her. There would be no escape.
“What’re you doing here?” Darcy asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
“I’m to escort you to the festivities, of course!” Thor boomed, standing at Darcy’s apartment door. He wore a tuxedo and his long blond tresses were tied back from his face with a red ribbon.
Natasha and Clint had both been very tightlipped about what she could expect tonight. Staring up at her gigantic friend, the god whom she considered to be family, she had a spark of genius.
Thor often had trouble with Midgardian custom. She started to hope that surprises weren’t common on Asgard. “And what festivities would those be, big guy?” Darcy inquired.
Thor’s eyes squinted and he quirked up one side of his lips in a wry grin. “If I told you my little shield sister, it would spoil the revelry!” Darcy mumbled a damn under her breath. Someone had told him to keep the nature of the event a secret. She knew that once he got his mind on something, it was nearly impossible to sway the mountain of a man.
Darcy stepped back and grabbed the gossamer wrap and small beaded clutch Natasha had foisted on her that afternoon, shoving her phone and ID inside before threading her arm through Thor’s elbow. He guided her down the hall way to the waiting elevator. “Where is Jane?” She asked, suddenly wondering why Thor was her companion when he had a perfectly good woman of his own that he was crazy about. Speaking of significant others…where the hell was hers?
“The Lady Jane is still in Norway at a…” the man stopped for a moment in thought, trying to puzzle out the word he needed. “Think tank?” He said slowly and shrugged and patted the petite hand she had curved around the inside of his elbow with his own substantially larger fingers. “It is an honor to be able to accompany you to the celebration. I’ve been assured there will be much merry making!”
Happy met them in the underground garage and ushered them into the same town car he’d drive her and Tony around town in, the windows tinted dark so nobody could puzzle out who was inside. The drive was relatively short with the venue still being situated in Manhattan. When the door was opened cameras immediately started flashing and the roar of reporters and paparazzi alike flooded Darcy’s senses. Thor easily led her down the carpet and into the building, pausing only to hand her wrap to the coat check girl.
The ballroom was gorgeous. The majority of the ceiling was dominated by three enormous crystal chandeliers that emanated low, warm light while they sparkled and shone. The floors were a dark cherry hardwood and were polished to such a high shine they picked up the shimmering illumination thrown by the chandeliers, reflecting the twinkling crystal like starlight. Fresh cut flowers were artfully positioned around the room and in ornate arrangements coupled with candles on each of the circular tables that were placed in formation around the stage and podium.
“Wow,” Darcy breathed as she took in her spectacular surroundings. She felt Thor’s enormous hand warm at the small of her back, guiding her over to where a small group of people hovered. Darcy’s brain kicked back online and she realized the group was comprised of her friends. Steve, looking dapper in a dark navy suit, Bucky tucked into his side, Pepper, as elegant as ever, her head tilted toward Bruce while they conversed, Natasha and Clint, of course in all black. The only person that seemed to be missing was Tony.
Darcy felt herself deflate a little in disappointment. She never attended these events. Was it wrong to want to be there with her boyfriend? It would have been nice if he’d been the one to pick her up at Tower, to brave the cameras and reporters outside. Before she could get more melancholy, Pepper was there, thrusting a flute of champagne into her hand and everyone was telling her how beautiful she looked.
After finishing her champagne with two large gulps, she was led over to one of the large round tables situated near the stage. She was pleased to see the table was large enough to allow everyone to sit together. Once settled, she had just enough time to take notice of the empty seat to one side of her before the lights dimmed further and music filled the ballroom. A spotlight pierced the darkness and shone on stage, following the swaggering entrance of none other than her boyfriend, Tony Stark.
Darcy watched slack jawed as Tony waved and smiled out at the audience that had filled in the remaining tables without her notice, who were all cheering for him and applauding.
And then his speech began.
“Tonight we gather to celebrate the contributions of a truly selfless woman to the world of mechanical engineering and the world as a whole. We gather to give her the recognition she so badly deserves, but would never expect.” Yet another round of applause erupted from the crowd.
“Uh,” Tony paused and Darcy thought he looked…nervous. She couldn’t recall a time that she’d ever witnessed the man seem anything but unflappable when it came to public appearances. “I’m going to get so much hell for this later,” she heard him mutter. His back straightened and a look of determination overtook Tony’s features. “I’m luckier than most to know tonight’s honoree. I’m privileged to call her friend. I’m privileged to call her confidant. And most of all, I’m privileged to call her the woman I love. Without further ado, it gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce to you the winner of this year’s Mechanical Engineers Guild’s Exceptional Achievement Award, wow, what a mouthful, Ms. Darcy Lewis.”
A cacophony of applause and cheering erupted around the ballroom as the spot light swiveled to land directly on where Darcy was cemented by shock to her chair. Instinctually, after hearing about one third of Tony’s speech, she had known that her name would be called when he finished, but that knowledge didn’t do her a damn lick of good. Her eyes floated around the table to land on each of her friends, all of them clapping wildly and wearing the widest, toothiest smiles she’d ever seen. They were proud of her.
Darcy rose on shaky legs and managed to climb the stairs to the stage without tripping on her own clumsy feet. Tony offered an uncertain smile as she approached. She went on tiptoes as she paused next to him and kissed his cheek. Tony’s answering grin couldn’t be rivaled as he thrust the great glass award into her hands and arranged her in front of the microphone.
She stared out at the sea of people and took a steadying breath.
“Wow,” she laughed. “Uh, this is a surprise. If I’d known this was going to happen, I may have had more than one glass of champagne; as it is, I feel like I’m gonna barf.” The crowd snickered. “But before I do that, I want to thank you all for this amazing honor. I need to thank my friends, no wait, they’re more than that,” Darcy paused and pointed her finger at the table where she previously sat. “Those people are my family and they’re the reason I get to create every day. And finally, you, Anthony Edward Stark,” she turned to address Tony who was still stood off to the side of the stage, his hands shoved into the pockets of his perfectly tailored slacks. “You are going to be in so much trouble later for keeping this from me.” Darcy blew Tony a kiss and walked off stage to the roar of applause from her peers.
“Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with it,” Darcy growled against Tony’s neck as she sucked and licked possessive marks on him. He’d effectively outed their relationship to every colleague she’d probably ever have, she could afford to be possessive.
They were stashed away in the coat check closet where she’d roughly shoved him to be hidden by low light and rack upon rack of outerwear while everyone else was away dancing and drinking in the ballroom.
Darcy had endured a single dance with Tony, their bodies clutched together hip to shoulder, while he whispered the creative ways he was picturing peeling her out of her beautiful dress before she’d cracked and pulled him from the room to find somewhere more private. It would do nobody any good if he made her spontaneously combust on the damn dance floor.
He groaned and she could feel his fingers working on the pins holding her hair aloft as she attacked his sensitive skin. “What do you mean?”
Darcy pulled back to meet his whiskey brown eyes, now heavy lidded with lust, with her own. “Did you rig it? Pay off the judges? How was I even nominated?”
Tony’s chuckle reverberated through his body and into hers. “That was all Director Fury, believe it or not.”
Her jaw went slack. “No fucking way.”
“Mmmhmmm,” he mumbled, after beginning to trail little nibbling kisses over the creamy, soft skin of Darcy’s cleavage. He pulled away and took her face in his calloused hands, forcing her to look at him. “Do you realize all the good you’ve done this year alone? You updated the Quinjet, not once, but twice, you created that electromagnetic return mechanism on Steve’s uniform to retrieve his shield, fabrication and creation of countless machines for Jane and the Bifrost project, fresh water generation filters and single delivery medication syringes that cost pennies for SI to make that we can ship to third world countries or pack out to relief organizations. You’re changing the world for the better. Fury saw it and made the case. The guild picked you because you deserve it. I didn’t know you’d won until they asked me to present. This was all you, kiddo. I’m so damn proud of you.”
Darcy crashed her lips against his and his lips parted instantly, granting her access to his mouth with her clever and searching tongue. Tony growled into her hungry kiss before clamping his hands over her full hips and reversing their positions. He pressed her into the wall and rucked up the skirt of her dress so he could bring one of her stocking clad thighs up to bracket his hip. Tony let his hand roam over the newly exposed flesh and returned to the task of nibbling and sucking the area just above the bodice of Darcy’s dress.
She sighed and scratched her nails through the short hairs at the nape of Tony’s neck, feeling the slight shiver run through him. “You’re so good at that,” she whispered against his ear, letting her lips catch the fleshy lobe and give it a playful suck just to listen to the noise Tony made. “Want you so much,” she confessed and gasped when Tony’s hips undulated against hers and she felt the hard line of his arousal rub against her. Darcy dragged his face back up to hers to initiate another deep and searing kiss as her hands moved to his waist and began working on the leather belt and button of his trousers.
Tony tore his mouth away from Darcy’s. “What are you doing?” He asked between gasping breaths.
“Need you, Tony, now,” Darcy responded breathlessly and licked at his bottom lip before giving it a quick suck, wrenching a groan from the back of his throat.
He was having a hard time concentrating when Darcy’s hands were making such quick work of his wardrobe below the waist. Tony felt the heat of Darcy’s fingers through the fabric of his shirt as she wrestled with the leather of this belt. The muscles of his stomach jumped and danced when her hand brushed over them during her ministrations. “Th-this isn’t exactly private, sugarplum,” Tony offered.
Darcy flashed a dirty and mischievous grin up at him. He felt his belt and the fastener of his trousers give way. Her dexterous fingers grasped the pull of his zipper and gave a sharp little tug. The sound of the zipper seemed deafening in the room where the loudest noise was that of their labored breathing.
“Not exactly public either. Live a little, Red. Com’on, don’t you want me?” Darcy purred. The combination of her little white teeth sinking into the plush pink of her bottom lip and her hot hand snaking into his boxers to wrap around his dick and give it a slow, deliberate stroke melted any resolve Tony was harboring.
He surged against her, shoving his hands under her skirt and grabbed the delicate scrap of silk that comprised her panties, dragging them down and off her legs. “What the hell’s gotten into you?” He growled playfully, causing her to let out a lustful giggle and shove his pants and boxers off his hips.
“You’d better be getting into me if you know what’s good for you, Mr. Stark,” Darcy teased with a wry twist of her lips. That smirk was wiped from her face and replaced by a look of shock as Tony lifted her off the floor with his hands firmly placed on her backside, trapping her against the wall with the press of his hips. Darcy wrapped her legs around him and tossed her arms around his neck before she rubbed her wetness against the hard line of his cock and pulled him in to another filthy kiss. “Now, love, please?” She begged, breathless again at feeling the blunt head of his cock at her entrance.
“Anything for you,” he swore and captured her lips before rolling his hips and sheathing himself within her with a smooth slide to the hilt. Darcy let loose a long moan of pleasure that he swallowed up with his kiss, letting his tongue tangle and dance with hers. Tony broke the kiss and rested their foreheads together, both of them breathing heavily against each other’s lips. “Gotta be quiet, Short Stack, or we’ll have to stop. Can’t have someone finding us. Can you be quiet for me?”
Darcy nodded and tucked her face into the crook of his neck as he started to roll his hips, drawing out of her tight, wet heat slowly before thrusting back in a little faster, with purpose. Darcy was making the most irresistible little whimpers and sighs on each plunge, interspersed with little kitten licks, kisses, and sucks of the skin at of his neck and shoulder. “Feel so good,” she whispered against his ear. “Oh god, Tony, don’t stop, please. Harder, baby.”
Tony felt her legs tighten around his waist and he sped up the pace of his hips, sharpening his thrusts until she was muffling little yes’s and right there’s against his throat with each forward movement, digging her fingers into his shoulders and back frantically. Tony knew she was close and he was right on the edge himself. He reached a hand up to push the sweaty tendrils of her hair out of Darcy’s face. “Kiss me, Darce,” he gasped raggedly. She latched onto his lips like a starving woman, suckling and nipping his bottom lip before thrusting her tongue against his, mimicking the tempo of his hips.
Tony drew his hand down between them, where Darcy’s legs clamped around his waist, and circled her clit with his thumb. He felt her gasp at the contact. A couple tight circles against the bundle of nerves was all it took to tip Darcy over the edge, until she was coming, her walls seizing rhythmically around his cock. He swallowed down her cries and continued to thrust through her orgasm, drawing out her pleasure and chasing his own release. A half dozen more pumps of his hips and Tony spilled hot within her with a drawn out groan of pleasure.
He cradled Darcy against his chest and slid down to the floor, arranging her on his lap. “Okay?” He asked softly and kissed her temple while he ran his fingers through her hair, pulling out the last couple of pins and tossing them to the floor.
Darcy cuddled against his chest and pressed a few lazy kisses to the underside of his jaw and corner of his lips. “Mmmmm. So good. 10 outta 10, would definitely fuck again.”
He chuckled, “You want to tell me what that was all about? I never pegged you as an exhibitionist. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. That was crazy hot, even with the bad pun tossed in.”
She shrugged and met his gaze with a shy smile. “I’ve, uh, never won anything before. I guess, it was really exciting…”
“I feel like I’m the one who won something!”
Darcy rolled her eyes and gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. “Take me home, Stark,” she said, unable to mask the fondness in her voice.
Darcy slouched in the corner of the elevator, talking with Steve about a new idea she had for the weave of his suit in between taking little sips from the coffee mug she cradled in her hands.
“Congratulations on the award again, Darcy, you deserve it,” Steve said, earnest and sincere as always.
She felt the blush rise in her cheeks at the praise. “Thanks, Steve-o, that’s nice of you to say. Um, so, the material I was talking about is like Kevlar, but far more flexible…” The two continued to talk as the elevator climbed its way up to the level designated for R&D.
When they made their way to the space Darcy had adopted as her office, Steve, ever the gentleman, opened the door for her only to stop short and make a little puzzled noise. Darcy peered around her friend’s huge shoulders and gasped. Her entire workspace was beset with little gold statues, each adorned with a tiny plaque decreeing her the best at a random activity. Darcy Lewis: World’s Best Laugh. Darcy Lewis: World’s Best Hot Cocoa Maker. Darcy Lewis: World’s Best Cuddler.
“Darcy, what’s going on?” Steve ask, confusion written all over his face.
“Oh Jesus Christ…TONY!!” Darcy yelled.
Tony darted around the corner and used Steve as a leaning post. Darcy settled her hands on her hips and glared at him. He just grinned at her. “Super exciting, isn’t it?”