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[stemtypeoflady]

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a bbq meet-cute.

[armeyets]

Today is a combined Labor Day cookout and a ‘welcome back to Earth-slash-Midgard’ party for Thor in the Wilsons’ backyard, which means the guest list includes all of the old Avengers and new Avengers, plus their assorted allies and loved ones.

And they congregate into natural groups: Thor himself cheerful and boisterous next to Jane looking wan and a little tired, the pair of them accompanied by the king of New Asgard and a pretty brunette in glasses. Clint, his wife and kids, and the new Hawkeye, hanging out with Sam’s nephews. The remnants of Tony Stark’s family — his wife, daughter, and Happy — chatting to a few people from SHIELD. A gaggle of sorcerers eventually portalling in, alongside some new faces Bucky hadn’t even met yet, a rambunctious pair from San Francisco.

All of it was chaotic, but a good kind of chaotic, even if it made him want to retreat back into his shell. Most of the old guard are gone, shuffled off the board, which also means Bucky is missing the people he knew best thanks to their time on the run together: Steve, Nat, Wanda.

So it turns out he’s completely neurotic at these parties. When he’s not glued to Sam’s side, then he’s lurking awkwardly on the outskirts; he’s technically part of this group of heroes and yet he doesn’t entirely feel like one of them. And he doesn’t have anyone to talk to at the moment, since Scott winds up busy manning the grill with Clint, the pair of them wearing matching KISS THE CHEF aprons, and Sam is attending to something in the kitchen inside.

Which means Bucky has taken anxious refuge standing by the table of food, steadily piling on his paper plate with a truly ludicrous amount of meat (two burgers, three hot dogs), when that brunette appears beside him, waiting her turn.

“Sorry,” he says, shooting her a sheepish look for holding up the line. “I, uh. Have a quick metabolism.”

♥️

[stemtypeoflady]

It was nice getting the whole gang together like this without it being the end of the world.

Darcy mostly knew Thor's side of things. They'd kept in touch over the years even after the Snap. He hadn't been in a good way, and she'd been focused on her doctorate. Both of them were just trying to get by a new, strange world. But now everyone was back. Mostly everyone. The losses of Tony and Natasha hung in the air even as they all celebrated being there together. Wanda was also noticeably missing. After losing Vision, she'd gone off on her own and needed space from what she'd heard. Darcy worried about her, but she also knew it was her business.

She was Team Asgard. She'd been helping out around New Asgard with King Val while Jane got the best treatment available for the cancer. It made her heart heavy to see her vibrant, passionate best friend look so exhausted, but they were hopeful. This new round of treatment seemed promising, and Thor had been scouting the galaxy for something to cure her completely.

But today was supposed to be about haply things, so Darcy mixed and mingled. She flitted from one group to another as she chatted up a storm and laughed brightly. She easily went from playing tag with the kids to giving unsolicited grilling advice to Clint and Scott to helping out Sarah and Sam in the kitchen. She was a force of nature that hadn't stopped moving, so by the time she made it to the food table, she was starved.

Her eyes zeroed in on the hefty plate of food held before her. It made her brows shoot up. The plate was held by a strong arm that led to very broad chest and a rather handsome face. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. She knew who he was though he didn't know her. She remembered learning all about him and Captain America in middle school. While girls swooned over Steve, Darcy had been rather taken with the grainy black and white photo of Bucky Barnes where he flashed a rather charming devil may care sort of smile.

He didn't quite look like that now, but it didn't take away from his beauty. This time, it was she who flashed the charming smile. "To tell you the truth, my heart wants to eat all of that, but I know my eyes are bigger than my stomach," she explained to him. "And unfortunately, I definitely do not have a fast metabolism."

@yeahmagnets

[stemtypeoflady]

[ Darcy's thrilled when she gets the message from Jesse that he's there. She's starving, but she's also looking forward to his company. She's been spending the last twenty odd minutes getting the lab in order, so it didn't look like a disaster zone when he came up. She wants to show off all her cool science bits to him since he genuinely seems interested. He's gotten her pizza and come all this way, so she wants to make sure it's a good time.

She shoots off a quick message that she's coming down to meet him. She's a flurry of energy as she rushes to the elevator to head downstairs. The brief descent down is spent tending to herself. Running her fingers through her hair and making sure she didn't look like a mess with her phone camera. She's been at the lab since early that morning and has had way to many cups of coffee.

When she gets to the lobby, she immediately goes to meet him with a bounce in her step. She flashes him a cheery grin. ]

My hero. That pie smells amazing!

[yeahmagnets]

[ There's honestly no need for Darcy to organize the lab. Jesse's place, on any given day, is only slightly less than disastrous, and the 'slighly less' bit is because he doesn't spend a whole lot of time at home. He glances around in between looking at his cellphone, but there's no message back--instead, the elevator doors open and Darcy comes out to greet him. She's a welcome sight. ]

Best in town. Aside from that one place that doesn't cut their pies, but I figured we're better off without that inconvenience.

[ There's amusement in his tone, and a not-quite-there scoff of a laugh follows his words. Jesse grins, though, brightly as ever. Hero material, he is not. At least not in his own eyes, but he'll take the compliment. ]

So...where should I bring this?

[stemtypeoflady]

Follow me, I got you.

[ Darcy gestures for him to follow her into the lab. She flashes her badge to Lou, the security guard, and juts her thumb at Jesse to indicate that he's with her. It's late, so Lou didn't give too much fuss. He just wants to get his paycheck and play Candy Crush. She leads Jesse to the elevator and presses the call button for it. There's hardly anyone here, so it didn't take very long for it to ding and slides its doors open.

She steps on and presses the button for her floor. ]

Just to be clear, everything I show you tonight stays between us, cool?

[yeahmagnets]

Okay, sure.

[ Jesse holds the cardboard box of pizza with both hands, making sure the box stays level so the toppings don't end up all sliding to one side. He hates when that happens. There's this one delivery guy who always fucks up his pizza. Jesse wonders if he chucks the thing into his backseat and lets it rattle around the car on the drive over. He must.

Jesse looks at the mirrored ceiling of the elevator briefly before he watches the little screen above the doors flash, indicating what floor the elevator's on. When it stops, Jesse lets Darcy get off first so he can follow her to the lab. ]

Yeah, totally. It's safe with me, don't worry.

[ Jesse says, and then a sort of skeptical look glosses over his face. What exactly is she planning on showing him that's so top-secret? Now he's curious. Jesse's definitely trustworthy, though. He's been through times where the only thing he had was his word, so he makes a habit of keeping it whenever he makes a promise or other commitment to someone. He's always prided himself on his loyalty. It's one thing he's never fucked up, anyways. Besides, it's not like he has a ton of friends to go blabbing about shit to. He has a few buddies, but that's it. And he's definitely not messing up anything with Darcy just to let them in on some information. ]

[stemtypeoflady]

[ She walks off the elevator to lead him down the hall to her lab. She uses her access card to unlock it. The doors slide open to let them in. She gestures for him to set the pizza down at her workstation which she'd cleared for this occasion. Off to the side of the lab, there's a break room connected with a mini fridge and some napkins and paper plates. ]

Right there is fine. Make yourself comfortable. All the expensive equipment isn't by the work table, so you should be good. You want a water or a Coke?

[ She has music playing over the speakers in the lab at a comfortable volume. She hates working in silence. This is her late evening playlist which has some good bops. A mixture of hits from both the 80s and early 2000s. ]

I got tea and coffee too, but I figure that's weird with pizza.

[yeahmagnets]

[ With all of this security and doors that need access cards, it's becoming a little clearer why Darcy asked Jesse to keep what she shows him a secret. With everything kept under lock and key, it's obvious they have some research going on that they'd rather not share with the general public. Of course, it could just be because the equipment is expensive as hell, too.

Jesse follows Darcy into the lab, looking around with a low whistle before he sets the pizza box down on the workstation that she gestures to. ]

Coke's good.

[ Jesse replies as he shrugs his hoodie off and then pulls the beanie off of his head, tucking it into his roomy back pocket before he takes a seat and gets comfortable. ]

Yeah, I don't know about coffee and pizza.

[ Jesse grimaces visibly and then laughs. And he's definitely not a tea drinker unless you count sweet tea. That shit is bomb, but he'll leave the rest to, like, the British or whatever. ]

They gave me a stack of napkins and paper plates, too.

[ He sets both out next to the pizza box before taking a plate and a couple of napkins for himself, doing the honors of opening the box. Damn, it looks good. His stomach's growling already. ]

[stemtypeoflady]

[ She comes back with two cans of Coke since he has the rest handled. She hands a can to Jesse before she plops down on her rolling stool next to the table. She gives a little sigh of happiness when he opens the box. It's a beautiful sight. The perfect cheesy pie with pepperoni all over it. She takes a plate and napkin and grabs a slice to start with. ]

God. This smells amazing. I definitely need to show off some cool science to make up for this.

[ She takes a crushed red pepper packet and sprinkle it on her slice before she takes a bite. She loves spicy. She shifts her stool to face towards him. ] What do you think of my humble abode? I mean, I don't technically live here, but I spend enough time in this lab to make it feel like home away from home.

[yeahmagnets]

Thanks.

[ Jesse nods, accepting the can with an outstretched hand. He taps on the top of it a few times out of habit before cracking the can open with that satisfying pop and fizz sound, taking a sip before he sets it down out of the way on the desk, making sure it's not somewhere where it can get knocked over easily. The last thing he needs is to spill a soda on some equipment he can't afford to replace. ]

Doesn't it? Looks bomb, too.

[ Jesse follows suit and grabs a slice, too, before he closes the pizza box to give them a little more room to work with. He's too hungry to bother with any seasoning, just taking a bite, his cheek full as he chews and listens to Darcy talk. ]

Mm--

[ He swallows before talking, for once. ]

It's tight. I mean, seems pretty high-tech. I don't know what have of this stuff does, but it looks...expensive. Seems like a pretty sweet job to me. Getting to play with gadgets all day? That's awesome. So what kinds of stuff does all this do? Like, what are you researching mainly?

[ Jesse knows it's space related. Right? Or at least that's what he assumes. Most of the high-tech gadgetry stuff has to do with space. But he wants to know more. Particularly, he wants to know what she has to show him that's so top-secret. ]

[stemtypeoflady]

[ There's silence at first as they both settle in and eat. Darcy is starved, so it's taking all of her willpower not to vacuum up her pizza slice along with two others. She takes her time with chewing to slow herself down, but once she's a few bites in, she feels slightly more human. She sets her pizza slice down to move her hands animatedly as she explains what she does. ]

I'm taking the Foster Theory and the very foundation of the Asgardian Bifrost to create a more convenient version from our side. Basically, a way to travel from our world to another. Another planet, another realm, that kind of thing.

[ She wipes her hands, so she can pull up a visual for him. Her lab is funded by a subsidiary of Stark Enterprises, so a lot of the tech she works with is the same. She pulled up a holo-image of the Bifrost, showing how it connects Midgard to Asgard. She manipulated the image with her fingers to show him the theory of her portals. ]

I just need a strong enough power source.

[armeyets]

His shoulders had unconsciously tensed up at first, as they started talking. Bucky was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for that startled look of recognition to flicker into someone's eyes once they realised who he was, to watch their expression fall like a shutter had slammed down between them. Strangers were usually either shaken, or starry-eyed about the war hero he wasn't anymore, and neither identity fit quite right. He was still unraveling some of that with his therapist, but in the meantime—

In the meantime, he was on edge around new people. At least it was a little easier with the Avengers' cohort, since they'd all pretty much been served with the disclaimer: hey, there's a known war criminal and former assassin at the party, but he's been pardoned and we're pretty sure his programming is okay now, so...

But this woman just dove right into the conversation without missing a beat, her smile radiant, and so something about it put him more at ease. Bucky volleyed back, "It's one of the reasons I'm useful to have around. I can polish off people's plates like a dog destroying the leftovers."

He balanced his food while tucking a can of beer beneath his elbow, and then shuffled a little further down the table to let her start to assemble her own smaller plate. Then, realising a second later: had he just compared himself to a dog? Oh, god. This is why he shouldn't meet new people.

"You're, uh. With the Asgardians, right?" He tipped his head toward Thor (extremely noticeable in a crowd, standing head and shoulders above the rest) in the distance.

[stemtypeoflady]

Whatever reaction he was waiting for, he didn't get it. Darcy knew he was and what he'd been through. She didn't hold it against him. If anything, her heart went out to him, but she had a feeling that he didn't want her pity. I anyone's. Instead, she bantered with him like she would anyone else. She was amused at all the food he could put away. It made her own normal sized plate look practically petite. "Good to know. I know to come to you if my eyes end up bigger than my stomach," she teased him. She felt pretty ravenous, but she knew that once she started eating, she was going to have some regrets.

She was focused on piling her plate with food when she realized she hadn't introduced herself. She followed his gaze and saw Thor with his arm slung affectionately around Jane's shoulder. A smile tugged at her lips at the sight. "Yeah, I'm with Thor and Jane and King Val," she confirmed. She extended a hand towards him for a shake as she introduced herself. "I'm Dr. Darcy Lewis. Resident sidekick."

Her tone was playful with a hint of self-deprecating. She saw that he had a beer which made her crave one. It felt like the perfect thing on this warm day. "Oh, hey, where did you get that? I need me to grab more one of those before I melt," she quipped. Her eyes scanned the area for the coolers before she came back to look at him. Studying for a moment, she let her gaze linger. He was pretty cute. Scratch that, he was a bonafide hottie, but totally out of her league. He had enough shit going on that he didn't need her ogling him.

@breaksruletwo

[stemtypeoflady]

Science usually got the best of Darcy.

Whether it was forgetting to eat or sleep in the name of science, she was typically so focused on her work especially when she was close to a breakthrough. Her research in recreating a portable, more convenient Bifrost Earthside to allow for easier travel across space was getting closer to becoming more than just a theory. More than just an idea.

She'd finally found a strong enough power source, courtesy of Stark Enterprises. She triple checked her math and then went for it. One minute, she was in her lab, watching as her device powered on, and the next, there was a blinding, glowing light that enveloped all of her senses. She had a strange sensation of falling. Her stomach did a nauseous swoop, but when her vision cleared, she was standing.

She was standing in what looked like New York City. Brooklyn. Only everything didn't look right. It wasn't quite as crowded and all the hipster coffee shops and boutiques weren't there. It was the cars that she truly noticed first. They were bigger and louder, heavier too, as roared down the streets. It was the fashion next. Darcy looked sorely out of place in her fitted blue jeans and chunky purple sweater. She ducked into an alley and pressed herself against the wall. This was not good. This was very not good.

"Oh, frack," she muttered to herself. She needed a moment to recalibrate and figure out her next move when a man strolling down the sidewalk spotted her. She saw his leer a mile away.

"Your mama let you out the house dressed like that?" he called out to her as his eyes raked her over.

[yeahmagnets]

[ Jesse keeps on munching his way through his slice of pizza, but his eyes focus on Darcy while she explains everything. It's a lot to wrap his head around, but he thinks he gets it once she puts in it layman's terms instead of using all those words that fly right over his head. He reaches for a napkin, wiping his mouth. His cheek is still chipmunk full when he answers. Manners escape him a little, apparently. ]

So like...teleportation, basically? Sounds like you'll need a pretty hefty power source. Where d'you think you'll find somethin' like that? Or is it somethin' you have to, like, construct yourself?

[ Jesse's pretty blown away by the holographic images and all the advanced technology she seems to have just laying around in the lab, but he's trying not to openly gawk too much. Gotta keep your cool in front of the ladies or whatever. ]

[stemtypeoflady]

Basically. But more like, opening a portal and stepping through it? I'm-- well, I'm not going to say ripping because that sounds worse than it is, but I'm opening a hole in the very fabric of time and space for people too move through.

[ She still needs to research the long-term effects of doing such a thing. It's all so delicate, so she knows that doing it too much could harm things. She just wants to make sure it's possible first. She takes another bite of pizza and washes it down with her drink. Once she swallows, she gives him a wide grin as if she's very pleased that he's asked. She scoots her chair over to one one of the lab tables and pulls out a sparkling meteorite that's encased in a protective tube. Or at least that's what it looks like. She brings it over for Jesse to see. ]

This beauty right here. It looks like a piece of space rock, but it's a special piece of space rock from the Kree. Something Captain Marvel left behind on one of her visits here.

Re: @breaksruletwo

[breaksruletwo]

Bucky wasn’t the sort of Knight In Shining Armor that his buddy Steve was but he also didn’t take kindly to people disrespecting others. He especially didn’t like it when guys did it to women, so when he heard the lug head call out to the admittedly oddly dressed woman, he had to say something.

“Hey, didn’t anyone ever teach you to treat women with respect,” Bucky called out. While he wasn’t overly tall he was broad shouldered and cut an intimidating figure in his uniform. Besides, he’d grown up in Brooklyn with Steve as a friend so he knew how to handle himself and people usually picked up on that.

“Hey, sorry man, I didn’t mean anything by it,” the guy said.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to. Tell her you’re sorry then scram,” Bucky warned him. The guy quickly sputtered out an apology before taking off.

“Sorry about that,” Bucky said, flashing the woman a smile. “Some guys can be a real asshole around a pretty girl.”

[stemtypeoflady]

Darcy's hand went to her side where she usually kept her taser. She found nothing but air which made sense. She didn't have her bag on her in the lab. She grimaced a little because while she knew she could give this dude the verbal lashing he deserved, she hated being at a disadvantage. Before the creep could go any further, another voice intervened. To her surprise, she came face to face with Bucky Barnes. Not how she'd see him now though. This was like he'd walked right off the pages of history book with his uniform and jauntily tipped hat.

She was so taken aback that wasn't able to give the man the piece of her mine like he deserved. Soon, she was getting an apology from him before he turned tail and made himself scarce. She blinked a little because this was all happening much faster than her brilliant brain could process.

She knew that she was staring at Bucky which was rude in of itself, but she was also blatantly checking him out. His smile made his eyes twinkle with devilish mischief. She could easily see how he'd gained the reputation of being a ladies' man. But it was so different from the man she'd seen around the present. That man had long hair. He hunched his shoulders as if physically trying to make his presence less intimidating. His eyes were haunted.

This Bucky didn't have any of that. She'd sent herself right into the past. She swallowed hard as she considered her options. "Thank you," she managed out. "Mind telling me today's date? Like with the year?"

[armeyets]

He took her hand with his right and shook it, a warm and polite squeeze. “Bucky Barnes,” he said, despite the fact that he was pretty goddamn certain she already knew; it was worth it just to keep up appearances and some semblance of normalcy. Normal people got to introduce themselves. “And hey, me too. You could pretty much bill me as a professional sidekick by now. I’ve technically got decades of practice.”

When she asked where the beers were, he considered — he could just point Darcy to the right area, then politely take his leave — but god, he was getting tired of hanging around the edges of the party and constantly looking like he didn’t belong. Maybe it was time to socialise. So, he gave a follow me wave and started leading them over to the coolers and an unattended picnic table in some half-shade, where he set down his plate. An implicit invitation, while he cracked open his beer with his metal hand and stood by as Darcy started rummaging through the coolers.

“So what kind of doctor are you? Something like that guy?” He gestured with his thumb over to Doctor Strange and his contingent of sorcerers.

[stemtypeoflady]

"It's really nice to meet you, Bucky," Darcy said warmly with a twinkle in her eyes. She meant it. She'd noticed him around, but she hadn't wanted to approach. She knew her presence and energy could be a lot, and she didn't want to overwhelm him. She was just glad they got a chance to finally meet instead of being two passing ships in the night. "Us sidekicks gotta stick together, right?" she teased. She didn't really see him as a sidekick, not in her eyes, but she liked the solidarity.

She happily followed after him to the coolers. There was an empty picnic table, so she followed suit and set her plate down to free up her hands. She bent at the waist to start rummaging through what they had in the ice. There was a nice variety of sodas and bottled water, but she grabbed a bottle of beer because it felt right for a picnic. Straightening up, she cracked it open as well and clinked her bottle against his jovially.

"Me? Nah," she shook her head with a laugh. Darcy took a long pull of the beer and sat at the table under the shade. Her skin was so fair that she knew she'd burn if she wasn't careful. "I'm more the PhD type than MD. I have my doctorate in astrophysics. Janey rubbed off on me after all these years."

[breaksruletwo]

Bucky didn’t mind her staring, it wasn’t like it had never happened before. He had to say he maybe stared a little back as well because as oddly as she was dressed it was easy to tell that the woman was gorgeous. That other guy was an idiot if he thought her clothes were the most interesting thing about her.

“Are you okay? You should know that it’s 1942,” Bucky said, giving her a worried look. She didn’t look like she had bumped her head but maybe she had. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

[stemtypeoflady]

"Right," she echoed back at him. "1942."

Darcy knew her history. She knew that Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes had enlisted and been assigned to the 107th. She knew that Steve Rogers was somewhere, still trying to enlist and failing. They were both right on the cusp of world changing events. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought this was a fever dream, but that would be too easy.

Okay, so she was in the past. What did that mean now? She couldn't mess with the timeline which was tricky. "No, no doctor. I'm good-- I'm just a little lost," she said as she tried to come up with a good cover story. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she'd skipped a few meals in favor of work. "And uh-- hungry, I guess."

[breaksruletwo]

"Well, we can't have that," Bucky said, flashing her a smile as he offered her his arm. "Allow me to show you around and feed you. I'm James Barnes but you can call me Bucky."

He still wasn't sure that she wouldn't need a doctor at some point so he wanted to be around just in case she did. Well, that and he wasn't about to let a woman wander around lost and hungry when he could do something about it, that sort of thing just wasn't done. The fact that she was gorgeous was just a bonus.

[stemtypeoflady]

She knew all of that. She knew her history. She'd seen that smile from textbooks. When she'd seen him around the tower, he was more sullen with a perpetual frown and a haunted gaze. He was a far cry from the man that he was going to become, and that made her heart ache a little. She knew she probably shouldn't get too close to him. Darcy should just walk away and figure it out on her own.

She doesn't.

Instead, she quirked a grin at him. "I'm Darcy. Darcy Lewis. Thanks for being my knight in shining armor," she teased him. She sipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and chuckled up at him. "You must be a hit with all the ladies," she added mischievously.

Loki and Darcy AU

[whose_son_am_i]

Neither Loki nor Thor, nor anyone in the nine realms likely knew what had been set in motion more than a decade-and-a-half before. The changes that would happen, bonds forged and broken, and sometimes re-forged anew. What had the Norns and the Wyrd wrought, and would they weave further?

Thanos had attacked the statesman, killing half of the population and taking the Tesseract. Loki had, once more, faked his death successfully though it had been a near thing. Heimdall had come even closer to death, with no fakery required--it had been a miracle he survived truly. Thor and Loki had gone one a strange journey with stranger companions, to find Nidavellir dark and cold. Thanos invaded Earth, seeking the final Infinity Stones for his gauntlet.

In the battle of Wakanda, they had failed to stop Thanos, to the loss of half of the population in the Universe. It had been devastating, and taken time to recover--to restore the will to fight, and to change things. But eventually they'd succeeded, and the world was consumed with more growing pains as half of the population returned as if nothing had happened for them. Thor had decided to leave, travel the galaxy with the Guardians--and Loki went with him. For a time. Eventually he returned to Earth, where Dr. Strange gave him a warning, had been assured by King Valkyrie of his 'good behavior' (though Loki scoffed). He wandered in disguise for a while, before returning to New Asgard.

**********************
Another day dawned in New Asgard, formerly Tønsberg; under the rule of King Valkyrie, known to those closest to her or in private council as Brunhildr. Amazingly, this council included Loki, though he was far from the closest to the King. Still, it meant he had official 'state duties'; one of which being meeting official guests of the crown.

As such, he waited at the airport currently, dressed in a black and greeen suit and with a car waiting. They were receiving an American scientist who wanted more info about the Bifrost and to see if the technology and techniques could be duplicated. No name had been given, only that it was a female and she was being brought by private jet.

{OOC: I hope this works.}