Darcy was carrying Aria back in, nodding at the guard. She juggled her daughter to run her ID card, getting a smile back. "It's late for her," she said quietly, carrying her to the elevator. The pass sensor didn't want to work again so she sighed, looking back. The guard let her onto the elevator and she went up to her floor, getting off to go to her apartment. Which had a note on it. She looked up. "JARVIS," she asked quietly. "Can you pop open the door?" It opened and she smelled something. "Is that why there's a note?"
"I believe that was Dr. Foster trying to cook," the AI said quietly. "The note is a 'tell me how it went' from Agent Pekin."
"Oh, thank you, JARVIS." She put Aria into bed and took off her sneakers then backed out carefully, going to email that agent after taking down the note and airing out the stink of Jane's cooking. She looked up the various zoos and children's museums in the city, smiling at the large list. Her daughter would have months of field trips. Probably one a week or so because Jane would be stubborn.
She went to her own bed, curling up in dragon form so she didn't have to change clothes and wake her daughter up.
***
Aria bounced out the next morning and found her mother snoring in dragon form. She backed up slowly and ran over to Jane's apartment to hug her. "Mom's in dragon mode, purring."
Jane looked then at her. "That's snoring, Aria."
"Nope! Dragons do not snore! We purr," she said firmly, staring at her. She leaned on her aunt, hugging her around the waist. "Did you know there's *zoooooos* here in the city?" she asked, eyes wide. "Lisa told me about one in the big park!" She smiled up at her aunt. "It's our sacred duty to learn more about animals so we can protect them, Auntie Jane. We should go learn about them."
Jane stared at her. "I need to science today."
"You can take readings in the park! It's the park!" she squealed, smiling at her. "The park is good for you!"
"That's like your mom reminding me I need to go outside sometimes."
"So of course we're right," Aria quipped with a smirk. "We should go appreciate the animals so we learn about them. What if your bridge brings rhinos? We won't know what to do with them. Or monkeys! A lot of monkeys could cross before you shut it down again! We'd never know how to handle a monkey!"
Jane grinned. "They'd be in the lab so we'd probably let them nap for a bit until we could return them."
"Nope." She shook her head with a grin. "Because you said your bridge was one-way."
"We can turn it the other way so they can go home."
"How would we know what to feed them when they get here? It could take *months* to redo the bridge thingy!" She beamed. "We need to learn what they eat in case they show up! And if they can be petted!"
Jane sighed. "This weekend?"
"Will have a whole lot of kids. Do you want to listen to squealing dozens of kids?"
"No," she sighed, staring at her. "I really should get stuff done, Aria."
She grinned. "We can ask others if they want to come. Even Uncle Thor, even if you're not dating he likes animals but Mommy won't let me go with just him."
"That's because he'd lose you." She cuddled her. "Tomorrow?" Aria pouted, making pathetic noises. "Aria!"
"Please, Auntie Jane? And Mommy really needs a nap. That's why she's purring in dragon form."
"She won't like it if we don't take her."
"We'll bring her back coffee!" She beamed. "Mommy needs good coffee."
"She does. So do I."
"You have coffee." She looked in her cup then carefully carried it to the pot for her aunt. "Here, we can get more and bring it on the way over."
Jane sighed because the kid would start to whine soon. She couldn't take Aria being too unhappy even if it got in the way of science. "Put on sunscreen." She ran to do that while Jane got two travel mugs of coffee to go with them. And a few bottles of water for Aria. "Don't drift from my side. If I lose you, your mom's going to flame me." Aria beamed and nodded, taking her hand to walk out with her. Jane left a note for Darcy so that was good enough probably.
***
Darcy woke up with a yawn, looking at the clock as she got up and turned back to human. "Fuck." She went to check for her daughter, finding Jane's note. "Hey, my little girl made Jane get sunlight. That's cool. Though I'll have to hear about animals for the next week." She went to answer her own door, smiling at Brock. "Morning."
He looked at his watch then at her. "Late night?"
"Fell asleep in dragon form so I didn't wake up Aria."
"Where is the kid?"
"Jane's note said she begged her way into going to a zoo so they could handle any monkeys that came across the bridge before Jane could send them back."
Brock considered that then nodded with a grin. "That sounds like a kid. She okay with last night?"
"She was pretty good last night. There was only one older lady who tried to nag the kids. Aria stood up to protect her friends." Brock smirked. "Heard that?"
"From Agent Pekin, who claimed she was more polite than most of the adults there."
"She did try very hard. And made some new kid friends." That got another grin. "I'd offer you coffee but I haven't started any yet. I was going to shower and go save Jane from the animals."
"Thor got called to go help her."
"Hmm. They broke up."
"Yeah, he said Aria was worried about someone following them."
Darcy called Jane's phone. "So how's my spawn?" she asked patiently. "And I'm proud she talked you into getting some sun but sorry about the animal barrage." She listened. "Who was it that tried to get her? And is she still with you?" She looked at Brock, who waved a hand. "Here, talk to the commander." She let him have the phone. "Some SHIELD agent wanted Aria."
"What happened, Dr. Foster?" He listened. "I know of him. No, I'm going to stomp him myself. Does he have her? Oh, with Thor. You can't get much more protective than that. Is that an officer? Yeah, we'll be right there. Let Lewis change into something clean and we'll be right there to pick you three up." He hung up. Darcy was already heading to change clothes and spray dry shampoo into her hair. Then she came out pulling on a cardigan. "Let's go," he agreed. "Keys?" She held them and her wallet up. He noticed her tazer but Lewis had that reputation.
When they got there, Darcy headed for the location she could hear squeals of delight about Thor being there coming from. She walked through the crowd. "Hey, Thor. Is that my baby girl?"
He turned so she could get Aria off his back. "The agent wanted to walk her off and Jane stopped him but could not make him leave."
Darcy smiled at her little girl. "Nice job getting Jane out in the sun, spawn o'mine." She cuddled her on the way to Jane's side, staring at the agent and officers huffing at her. "Jane is her favorite aunt and I was sleeping in this morning. Jane has every right to bring my daughter to the park. Like most kids, she'll beg you into losing your temper to come to the zoo." An officer snickered at that. She looked at the agent. "SHIELD has no right to come near my little girl officially."
"We're watching out for her, Miss Lewis. She might get taken."
Darcy stared at him. Then she looked at her daughter. "Nope, I'd scream and rant and yell and if I'm not awake I can pee on them!" Aria said loudly. "Because they're evil and they deserve accidents!" She stared at the officer. "That's how kids do it, right?"
"It is," he agreed with a nod. "Though your aunt should be able to guard you."
"Jane does a really good job usually," Darcy said, letting Aria down since she wiggled so she could pull her jeans down so she didn't have a wedgie. The agent reached for Aria and Darcy zapped him, making him scream. "I'm still the same lab assistant who got Thor for being a mouthy asshole when Jane ran into him." She stared at him. "Don't touch the daughter. Ever."
Brock came over. "Officer, I'm a senior SHIELD official. I was checking his orders and he does not have one." Darcy hit the taser's key an extra time, making the agent scream again. Brock looked at her. "Let them arrest him for attempted kidnaping, Lewis. The other cons will make him hurt for it in gen pop."
She smiled. "I think he needs a better lesson and to become a lesson. Daughter?" she called.
"With Auntie Jane," she called. "We're watching the red pandas, Mom."
"Thank you. Stay with Aunt Jane please." She looked at the offer, smiling at him. "Can we have him?"
"No, ma'am, and we should confiscate the tazer." She pulled out her wallet and held up a card. "Oh, you have official permission." He handed that card back. "In that case please release him so we can arrest him." A guy in a mask stomped over. "Oh, no, who's that?"
Brock turned and fought the guy off. Thor hit the guy with his hammer and made him go to a gooey spot on the ground. Brock moved the mask. "Former SHIELD. Officers, we're calling in some higher ups." He looked around. "Foster?" She waved from her and Aria's position. "Okay. Lewis, go guard them?" She nodded, going that way. "Thor, can you help corral any more idiots?"
"Of course. I would not wish the local officers to have to tussle with such beings." He went to help Aria learn about animals. He had barely heard of red pandas.
Brock looked at the officers, who were calling that in. Brock called in Fury. Who showed up with Hill behind him. He pointed. "Tried to grab Aria Lewis," he said quietly. "Foster had to call in help from Thor to guard her earlier. Lewis was sleeping in so Aria talked her aunt into the zoo apparently."
Fury nodded. "It's good for kids to come to the zoo. This one...." He looked down. "Isn't he HYDRA?"
"Excuse me?" Darcy demanded. "He was *what*? Why would they want my little girl?"
"Don't know yet," Brock called. "Stay with her. Hit anyone who shows up."
Aria beamed at him. "Some day soon I get my own tazer." She beamed at her mom. "Then I get to be an official intern, right, Mom?"
"That's right, when you get one you get to be an official intern, sweetie, but it won't be until you're at least six so you can hit people effectively. They're too heavy at four." Aria pouted but nodded. "We'll figure it out, sweetheart." She took her back to cuddle.
"Mom! I don't need cuddles!"
"Yeah, suck it up, I do." Aria huffed but did cuddle her mother. Jane grinned at her. "Sorry that they turned your day at the zoo into a problem, Jane."
"It was good until someone tried to grab her and they didn't have anything to do with any of this. Then the agent showed up. It was suspicious so I called Thor."
Thor nodded. "It was wise to do," he agreed. "The agent was not doing what he should."
"We can ask him why," Hill said. "Someone left him living."
"I don't tend to kill people," Darcy said, staring at her. "Let me know, okay?"
"Gladly, Lewis. Um, scales," she said with a hand wave.
Aria looked then grinned at her mother. "They're cute, of course. Because we're Lewis girls."
Darcy grinned at her. "That's right, we are. All Lewis girls are cute."
Jane nodded. "That's why I'm not as cute."
Thor scowled at her. "You are so, hush that, Jane." She scowled. He stared back. "You are more than cute and pretty enough to be of Darcy's tribe. Do not argue with me, I could not have dated you if you were not at least cute and pretty." Jane hit him on the arm but followed Darcy and Aria to the next exhibit to get the kid away from the violence.
Hill frowned at Brock. "She's moving the kid so she doesn't have to see us hurt them."
"Oh. That's good then. A firm mom move I guess." She looked at the being on the ground. "You will tell me what you had planned or I will have someone talk to you for me so I don't mess up my manicure." The man spluttered.
A female cleared her throat, showing two Avengers behind them. "Can I perhaps help?" Natasha Romanoff asked. Clint slurped from his drink.
Brock pointed. "Backing up or showed up to snatch Aria as well."
"Interesting," she said, staring at the mess of human. Then at the alive one. Who was trying to wiggle away. "Unlike Darcy, I am not a nice young woman." She walked closer. "You will tell us all. Won't you," she said, staring at him until he made begging noises. Clint slurped another drink, staring at him. "He does not like those who would hurt children. Nor do I." Brock got out of the way. "You can guard," she ordered. "Preferably the child and mother."
"And the astrophysicist and Thor," he agreed, going to do that. He didn't want to witness that. "Wait on me," he called, jogging to catch up to them. "Good idea to move on from there," he told Darcy quietly, getting a smirk back.
Aria looked over at him. "We're checking on the monkeys in case Auntie Jane's bridge brings some. Monkeys seem to be everywhere on earth so they should be everywhere the bridge connects to but it may take a few months to put them back so we need to know how to take care of them."
"Most of them eat vegetables," he said with a smirk. "A lot of vegetables." She sighed but nodded, turning to look at the monkeys. She wiggled to get down and went to talk to the person who was wearing a zoo shirt. Darcy sighed and followed her. The zoo employee smiled at them when Aria told her why she wanted to know about what monkeys ate. She explained what they fed to the monkeys and how they could make sure it was healthy for alien monkeys. Aria thanked her and danced off to stare at the monkeys.
Jane shrugged. "I don't know why she thinks the Bifrost will bring monkeys but thank you," she said quietly.
"It's always good for kids to ask," she said with a smile. "She has a great imagination."
Darcy nodded. "Yes she does. She wanted to bring tiny flying dragons too." She went to follow her daughter. "Thank you! I know she has a lot of questions sometimes." She picked up Aria again. "No getting away from the group," she reminded her. Aria hummed and nodded, watching the monkeys.
Brock looked at Thor. "Does Asgard have monkeys?"
"Not that I'm aware of but you never know where the bridge will first connect to." They followed the kid, though Brock looked back to check on the interrogation going on.
Clint Barton was strolling their way with a new drink from a drink cart. "Hey," he said with a nod and a smirk for Brock. "The kiddo?" He pointed. "That's cool. She must like animals." He went to talk to her. Thor had praised her being smart and a bit of a smartass. "Hey."
Aria looked at him over her mom's shoulder. "You don't look like the other agents but I remember you're one."
"I'm Clint, I work with your Uncle Thor, and I fire arrows."
"Oooh at bad things? Like deer or bunnies or..."
"Only at bad things. Which you probably won't be. Your mom has sense."
"Oh, okay. Do you like monkeys?"
"I think they're cute and really weird. Show me the one you liked most, kiddo?" She waved him over and pointed at one grooming another one. "Awww, it's cute!" She nodded, leaning on her mother's shoulder. "We can sit if you want a rest break."
"I'm good. There's more types of monkeys." He nodded, walking them off together.
Thor smiled at Clint's back. "He is good with children. I have no idea about children other than her." He, Brock, and Jane went after the other trio. They got a report over Brock's comm system that the problem was removed and that HYDRA had wanted the price on Aria and Darcy's heads. Brock paused to call back about that, and sighed. "Darcy." She looked over so he waved her over. "Tell her, Hill."
He handed over the earpiece. Darcy put it in and listened. He grabbed her arms when she started to growl and sat her down. He took the earpiece back. "The party line on this is.... Yeah, I can do that. Yup, sure, we'll guard the kid. Tell me how many more want money from that piece of shit. Thank you, Hill." He hung up and looked at her. "So I'm back to guarding you both," he said, staring at her. "This time we won't need a cave and the ones who were supporting him are in jail. He's in jail. His lawyer isn't."
"Is it the guy who showed up with the fake demands?" she asked quietly.
"No. Different guy in London. The European SHIELD office will handle it and tell us tomorrow. As far as we know, he's a dead man."
"Nope, he's being sued first," she said, smirking at him. "That would cause his family in Boston and London a lot of noteworthy cringing. She could use a good hoard."
He grinned and texted that to Fury, who agreed they could push that and then take him out. "Let's get the kid back to the tower?"
She nodded. "We can do that. Aria, pack it in for the day. We need to go home to feed the Jane."
"Yes, Mom," she sighed, looking at her aunt. "You should've said you had belly grumbles! We could've gotten you food!"
"Your mother reminds me of that repeatedly."
She grinned. "Of course she does. That's who I learned it from," she quipped with a smirk. "Let's go feed her belly grumbles please, Uncle Thor."
"Of course, Aria. Let's go help your mother cook dinner." He took her to carry. "You're getting very big."
"I'm nearly four," she reminded him, then grinned. "Mom said I could have a party at the kid pizza place."
Clint grinned at her. "That'll be a lot of fun for you." He was sure Darcy would need to get drunk afterward but that's what moms did he guessed. They went back to the tower and Darcy cooked for everyone and they played games with the kid to keep her from getting too stressed out.
Her mom could go into the bathroom after Aria was down to have a fit.
***
Brock looked over the guard shift the next morning, shaking his head. "No." He turned when he heard someone and nodded at Pepper Potts. "I'm removing these guards for someone better."
"Why did HYDRA come after Aria?" she asked quietly.
"The one they wanted to force mate her to put out a price on both their heads. HDYRA thought it'd be fun to get them then hand them over apparently. They think Darcy can do some bigger things than she can. They want to test it in someone Aria's age. They'd probably destroy the guy after taking his money and keep the duo."
"All right. I'm sure you've told her?"
"She had a 'fuck that, I'm going to make him suffer before he gets to die' fit last night," he said then grinned. "We all clapped at it. He needs to die but he can gladly pay them first."
Pepper nodded. "Are those Stark gaurds?"
"No, they're lower SHIELD agents and ineffective. Bordering on dumbass. I'm calling up better guards. Mostly changers because this is our people screwing up."
"That's fine. Let me know personally if things change. I know the ladies hate this going on."
"Lewis was worried she'd have to leave Jane to stop all this stress."
"Not likely. Assistants like that are worth their weight in platinum. I wish Tony had one." She went to talk to Darcy while Brock handled the security needs of the labs.
Brock looked at his chosen lieutenants in the dragons within SHIELD. "People, that idiot went after Lewis and her daughter by offering a price on their heads," he noted. They all groaned at that. "Which apparently HYDRA took." They stared at him, mostly glaring. He nodded. "Lewis has let us handle him going to jail and/or dying but she's back in vindictive land again and said he's going to pay for this greatly. And all the others that're involved." A few snickered. "She's serious. She's put in a legal challenge against him to pay reparations for the snakes and all that shit that went on."
"Her daughter should be able to afford school," Pepper said as she walked past them. "Aria was worried about daycare so she's in the lab."
"We'll make sure no one explodes the floor," Agent Pekin noted. "Thank you, Miss Potts." She nodded, going back to her office to make notes on all this. "Think she'll get them into court before we take him out?"
"We think HYDRA wants to see how she did that and take the kid for a future operative," Darcy said as she came out to stare at them. "Don't make my daughter paranoid. Right now she thinks the bad people are getting arrested. She's three." She gave them a pointed look then looked at Brock.
"Most of us aren't doing anything that would make an explosion today. Friday is a testing day and Thursday has a few late that night somewhere else. We'll be home that night. I've already called off my date for tomorrow." She walked off to get something from the snack machine. "Let me know what I need to do to help guard us."
"Just relax for now and don't get too tense. You'll be too tired to react when something does happen," Brock said. She nodded at that, walking off eating her M&M's. He looked at the other changers, who just nodded back.
"My wife does that same thing but it means she's at the volcanic level of temper," one of them said quietly. "Let's find a way to stop it sooner? Before she has to explode?"
"Too late," Darcy called from the lab. "The lawyer was amused though."
"Great," that one said, ducking his head. "Usually I buy her something pretty for that temper." He walked off. "I'll take the other end of the hall."
"Thank you. Spread around the labs and the nearby entrances. Make sure they don't get in by helping the building's security. If another agent shows up, figure out if they're HYDRA after you knock them out. We had one last night who was a US Marshal and he was an idiot." They nodded, going to do that. He stayed on the lab floor. It was the most vulnerable spot if they got past the others somehow.
***
Darcy waved at the picture on the screen. "No, myself and my daughter are both out of the area, not only not in London for this, but also in protective hiding at work. Not thanks to the snakes but because of the second complaint where he put a price on mine and my daughter's head." She stared at the judge, who was flipping through that complaint. Then she smiled at the moan. "I take you saw the official notice and what happened when she talked an aunt into taking her to the zoo when I was sleeping in?"
"This group noted?"
"HYDRA are the terrorists who infected so many agencies they almost all fell in. Including SHIELD, who we are near. They work in the same tower my boss does and we have a team of them guarding us. Thankfully they figured out it was HYDRA who was coming for my daughter at the zoo and stopped it."
The judge cleared his throat. "You should be here for this, Miss Lewis."
"Yes but I'm presently employed in New York and that cowardly murderer switches cities. He's presently in London avoiding being arrested *again*."
"Again?" the judge asked.
"Again," she said firmly. "That's in the brown folder in front of you. The red is the threats against my daughter and myself he did because we denied his desire and what happened when it showed how broken all the confederation councils are. The blue one I do believe is the proof of those threats with pictures from all the snakes he sent us."
The judge grimaced. "I heard about that in a sideways manner. I was appointed after that."
Darcy nodded. "Half the old council in London was responsible for him being given women by forcing them to mate to him."
The judge grimaced. "I heard. That's disgusting."
"They tried it with me and I fought back," she said simply. "Now he's trying to have us taken and tortured by terrorists. I'm tired of playing. I want to be punitive and when he has to show up to answer to this they can arrest him afterward."
The judge looked at her. "I saw the two agents in the hallway, Miss Lewis."
She grinned. "I have nothing to do with that, Your Honor. That's SHIELD because he played with terrorists."
"Oh, dear." He read through everything, then looked at the camera. "Is your daughter all right?" She tipped the tablet to show her drawing in the corner then back on herself. "Good. The snakes?"
"If I remember right, nineteen of them. Only one wasn't poisonous."
"That's what I read."
"Including things snuck into her toy box and our cabinets in the kitchen. Plus some in the air ducts that got others. He is psychotically dangerous to the community and my nest. I won't put up with this any longer." She chewed on the side of her nail then put it down. "I'm sorry he decided to warp things so much that it brought down multiple councils from forcing women to go to him, but that's his fault and my ancestors would be appalled."
He nodded at that. "So would mine and some of them did such things but never killed them." He looked over the information he had. He looked at her. "Why be punitive?"
"So no one can do it in his name and HYDRA has no more incentive to come after myself or my daughter. If there's nothing there to pay for it...." She waved a hand.
"That's a good point. The government would do it for you probably."
She nodded. "But they're not so I am. They tried the first time he got arrested but the New York confederation council stepped in to get him out of jail because he had so many dirty. It's a shame he brought down so many probably decent families."
"It is," he agreed, looking at her. "Did you sign that document to end the councils?"
"I didn't have to. Yet. Looking at the charters showed how many had broken all their clauses. Which automatically dissolves them by law. If I have to, yes I will. So will a few others. They asked me to hold off to see if they could rebuild it better and the way it should be."
"Good. We're hoping we can rebuild."
"I'm hoping you can rebuild in a way that's just, and right, and in the spirit of the original agreements to be our version of the UN, plus to stop forced matings."
"I can definitely agree with that. Including that the European council needed to go down for not stopping the problems." He sighed and looked at the camera. "You had the right to sue him for the first offense. Why didn't you?"
"Because the local council here decided to ignore everything and let him attack me." She shrugged. "I had to defend myself and it nearly destroyed a whole block and unfortunately got caught on the news."
"That was you?"
"That was us. The one helping us was a SHIELD agent who was guarding us due to all the snakes. The idiot in question had actually tried to sue me and say that we were mated but lied horribly."
"I saw that on the news. Damn it."
She shrugged. "I managed to defend us and get us out of the area because I went into heat."
He nodded. "You should have sued him then in an all changer court."
"Not available here in the city."
"The Yanks are all screwed up," he complained lightly. "All right. With what I have here in front of me, and him not showing up yet to defend himself, I'm going to grant this." The idiot's lawyer complained so he glared at him. "Shut up." He looked at her. "If anything you find that is given to you was theirs...."
"It'll go back to their families. I had that plan already, Your Honor."
"Good." He tapped the papers. "What he's done is disgusting and I would've wanted her to sue him sooner." The lawyer started to complain again. "He went to terrorists to have her and her daughter captured. That's not a good thing," the judge said more firmly. The lawyer tried to complain again. "You're in contempt of court." That shut him up. He looked at Darcy. "Do you have any other plans?"
"I didn't have this plan until my daughter nearly got kidnaped from the zoo by terrorists. I figured one of the other girls' parents would've asked to have the hoard checked for their daughters' things."
"I'm going to agree to that before hand," he decided, making that order. "Which means you may not get much, Miss Lewis."
"I'm fine with that. They lost their daughters. They deserve it. Even though a few were sold by their parents, I don't want to get into that."
"That's a good thing," the judge agreed. "We'll be looking at those matings." They nodded. "For now, have your client appear by force," he ordered. The lawyer did that and the idiot had to appear. The agents got him as he stomped in. "Thank you. Miss Lewis, I hope she's safe."
"I hope so too. I hate to go evil or violent." She grimaced. "I just had to." She hung up and popped her neck, looking at Aria. Who was now napping on her coloring. She looked around with a frown. "What is doing that?" She got up and felt dizzy. "Please let this be hunger. JARVIS?" She went down and the AI got one of the guards in to check them both and take them to the infirmary. The reason for them passing out was found easily enough. It got destroyed too.
***
Darcy blinked at the man standing in front of the chair she was tied to when she woke up. "What do you want and where is my daughter?"
"We wanted to know what you did when you changed. We've seen hysterical motherhood events in the past," the man sneered. "We wanted to see if it was something else."
"Even if it was, you'll die for touching my daughter. There's no way in hell I'd let her be hurt."
"Awww, motherhood," he sneered. "We can harm her greatly before anyone here realizes it."
She stared at him. She looked at the chair she was tied to then him again. "Even if it was a hysterical motherhood moment, you provoking another one would get you dead. Me probably going into heat again but you'd be dead."
"We could handle your heat for you."
"No, not likely. It doesn't really work that way." He changed down to his smaller dragon form. She snorted. "Thankfully we don't rate ourselves on colors as yours is mud." He said something and she heard a kid yell. "That's not Aria, but provoking her first change won't help you either." She was mentally swearing at them and gathering herself for a battle. It was going to be a huge battle. She wasn't a warrior but oh well this time.
She heard the kid yell again and changed suddenly to her full red form, stomping on that small dragon until he nearly died. Then she ripped through the walls with her claws and went for the kids she could hear. They were being held by someone. Who died. Messily. The kid strapped down had a few cuts. Darcy leaned down, using a claw to let her free.
"Melissa, I need you to hide. It's going to be really mean soon. Okay?" She got her free and pointed a paw. "Take Aria and any other kids into a closet and shut the door for me." Aria grabbed the other three kids and hid in the closet. One kid almost got left out but Darcy got him into another closet. She realized she was in the daycare and sighed.
Two new dragons came in and she blew smoke at one, making her stop. "The kids are safely in a closet." That one changed back and ran to check the kids, getting that other one Darcy pointed out to guard in a safe room in the back Darcy hadn't known about. The other dragon stared at her. She stared back. "So," she said. "Are you with them or someone else?"
"I'm SHIELD."
"For some reason I don't believe that." A man ran in. "Agent Pekin, there's a female with the kids." She nodded. "Safe room she said."
"We can check that. The one that took you?" Darcy pointed a paw then stared at him. "Okay. You stay here."
"I'm not moving. I'm really mad and I can't change back yet because of it."
He patted her on the shoulder. "That's fine. Let me handle the kids." He ran to do that. The other dragon there backed out slowly.
Brock stomped in, nodding at Darcy. "You calm?"
"Nope."
"Okay. Try to calm down? The one you stomped?" She waved a paw. He went to check it and nearly had to go 'eww' at the broken body. But they could force him back to see who he had been. He came back to look at Darcy. "What were they wanting?"
"He thought my change during the battle was hysterical motherhood. Had one of the kids cut a few times to make them scream." She looked at him. "He didn't get what he wanted. I just stomped him."
"You did a good job too." He patted her on the arm. "Try to do some breathing to calm down?"
She sighed. "I'm fine. I'm slowly calming myself down," she said impatiently.
"Okay. I know Aria will want a cuddle."
"I can cuddle in this form." She looked at him. "Didn't you tell me that our dragon forms is our natural form?" He nodded. "I'm not hysterical."
"No you're not and I'm happy with that."
She sniffed. "Change," she ordered. "Right now." He backed away. She stared at him. "Right the hell now." He changed into a wolf and she pounced him to fight him. "Commander Rumlow guarded us for a bit. I saw his natural form." The wolf was injured and trying to bite her but she stuck a paw in his mouth to block his jaw while standing on his back. "Stop it, puppy. Before I bite you back." It went limp.
She looked at the man in the door. "I know you're not Stark. He's not a changer. So quit trying." They changed and came at her. She punched one, making that wolf yelp. The other one tried to get her throat but she headbutted him and backpawed him into a wall.
She heard a crunch and sighed. "I hate that." She stared at the lone dragon. "Keep trying." He whined. "If we're really in the daycare, JARVIS! Help the kids please! Or let your boss know!"
"The AI was rendered mute," the dragon in the doorway smirked. "And the one with them will take care of those children nicely."
"I doubt that. I met Agent Pekin's grandma the other day. I'm pretty sure she'd destroy him if he hurt a kid. If I'm wrong, I'll avenge them." A shield came up the hall and hit the dragon to distract him. Darcy blew fire at him, making him scream as he changed back to human and cowered. She stared at him.
"Wow, look, a damsel," she said dryly. She looked at the wolf underneath her. "Are you a damsel that same way?" He whined in pain. "Hmm. Agent Pekin, are the kids all right?" she called. No answer. "Oh, great." Bucky stepped into view with the shield. "Agent Pekin and some female I think was one's mom, have the kids in some safe room in the back and they didn't answer. Get the kids please?"
He nodded, going to do that. She sighed, sitting down. "We'll see who this was from," she decided. "And then I get to eat someone. Or maybe a whole cow. I'm hungry for some reason." She looked at the wolf under her paws. "Are you hungry?" He just whined louder. She hummed and checked the others she had handled. "Well, I guess I made a mess. I'll have to volunteer to clean it up." She heard Aria yelp and went to help Bucky. Who was trying to get the kids out of the closet. "Aria?"
"Mom!" She stared up at her. "That's not metal guy! It's not!"
"Okay, all the adults need to get away from all the kids until someone *I* fucking trust gets here. Because she can tell that people aren't right." Aria ran back in there and she pulled the door closed and locked it. She sighed, looking at the other kid. "You're good at being invisible, kiddo. Aria, you forgot one." She came to get him and then did it again. She looked at Bucky. "So....."
"Hail..." He started to speak and sneer so she batted him on the head into a wall. He came up to fight her so she knocked him down and sat on him this time. He was not getting out from underneath her heavy butt.
She stared at the other two. Agent Pekin looked sick. The other woman was crying. "I have no idea about either of you but according to my daughter, who can tell sometimes, you're not the way you're supposed to be so I'm going to wait on someone I trust to come help the kids. All right? We're all going to sit here and wait on someone to help the kids." She looked back at the wiggling body, shifting her weight. Bucky moaned and went still. "Thank you. You're making me itchy and I hate itchy scales." She spun the shield a few times while humming until someone else ran in. She stared at him. "Well, I know who you are but we've never formally met. So are you one with them? Or been brainwashed or anything?"
Sam Wilson stared at her. "No, I haven't. Though nice job sitting on Barnes."
"He stared to hail HYDRA. My daughter could tell they're not normal so they're locked in a room." She pointed. "All the kids I found."
"Good!" he agreed, nodding at that. "I can agree that's a great thing, Lewis. Are you still angry enough to blow fire?"
She looked at him. "If I need to, I can always blow fire." She smirked. "I'm a mother, we can do that even if we don't change."
"Point. My mother can too and we're normals," he decided. She grinned. "What's with the wolves?"
"One of them tried to pretend to be Commander Rumlow but I smelled it wasn't him so I had him change. The few wolves attacked but tiny little mouths aren't really a full match for scales."
"You've got a few open cuts."
She shrugged. "It'll heal. I'll cry later."
He nodded. "That's what a mother does." He called it in and the actual Stark ran in. "We think Barnes was rebrainwashed." He kicked Bucky's foot. "She said he started to call out for HDYRA."
Darcy nodded. "I knocked him into a wall when he started to hail them. He kept fighting back so I knocked him down and sat on him."
Stark patted her on the side. "That's not a bad form of restraint, Lewis. The kids?" She pointed. "Let's work on getting them out of the way. Wilson?"
"I'm not letting anyone go anywhere with people I don't know!" Aria yelled. "Fuck that shit!"
"Language," Darcy called back.
"Tough noogies, Mom! This is a time to swear!"
"It is," she agreed. "Still, less swearing, Aria. I appreciate the sentiment and the actions but not the language you used."
"Yes, Mom," she sighed. "Still true though!"
"We can arrange that," Stark agreed. "Let me get Dum-e down here. She'll trust him."
Darcy looked at him. "He can be reprogrammed," she said quietly.
"She doesn't understand that, Lewis. Aria, want Dum-e?"
"Please! He's safe and cuddly. We can cuddle him."
"Sure." He looked at her while sending for the robot. It trundled in and Aria let it in to cuddle the kids with her. She locked them back in again. Stark shrugged at Darcy. "It's safe."
"I hope so. They had one kid they cut to make her scream," she said quietly. "The second one I decided to get stomp happy like it's a line dance."
He grinned. "I'm sure you'd do fine with that, Lewis." He got guards down to clean up the mess. Rumlow finally got found and stomped in. Darcy stared at him and Stark got out of the way. "There was a fake you."
"They gassed the whole lab floor," he told her.
"I finished talking to the judge and turned to find Aria passed out so I called for JARVIS. Then I guess I passed out," she said.
He sighed, nodding. "That's reasonable. You can't fight sedative gas, Lewis." She stared at him so he changed. "See, it's me." She leaned over to sniff and relaxed. He made himself appear more relaxed as he changed back. "They had a fake me?" She looked and pointed at one of the wolves out front. "Ah."
"I realized you didn't smell right and he turned into a wolf."
"That sucks." He stared at her. "Can you change back?"
"Not sure yet," she admitted. It cracked up Tony. "Right now I'm kind of seething that they cut one of the girls to make her scream to make me act." She cleared her throat. "And I'm wondering if we should probably hightail it to somewhere safer again. Probably for good."
"Like hell," Stark ordered. "Get off Barnes at least since Spangly is here?" She got off Bucky's head and back. He wheezed in a breath and got up. Rumlow knocked him out with a nerve pinch while he was disoriented. "Rogers, he went back."
"Fuck." He looked at Bucky then at Darcy. "Did you fight him?"
"I batted him a few times. He kept getting up so I sat on him. It was safer for everyone."
Steve nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea," he decided. He put cuffs on Bucky and got him taken to the infirmary to be guarded in there. He looked at Stark then at Darcy. "The kids?" She pointed at the room. He knocked. The kids screamed and he winced and sighed. "Guys, it's safer," he called. "Can we get you to the infirmary so your parents can pick you up?"
"No!" Aria called. "How do we know you're not a bad guy. I haven't met you yet! Strangers can be bad."
"I'm right here, Aria," Darcy called.
"Hey, littlest intern, I'm here too," Tony said. "C'mon, you know me." Aria cracked open the door with the robot right behind her. "You can sense me and tell I'm me." She did and nodded. "So let me help you and the robot into the infirmary so their parents can get them?"
She looked at her mother, who nodded. "Mom says it's okay and it's him. I delivered him papers before for Mom." Tony got all the kids to the infirmary with Wilson helping by carrying two who were too little to walk that far. Dum-e followed them to keep watch on them.
Darcy sighed and changed back, wincing as she rolled her shoulders. "Damn it."
Brock stared at her. "You have a few cuts."
"The wolves tried awfully hard." She touched one and shrugged. "I'll heal. Am I under arrest?"
"For being kidnaped?" he countered. "Does that happen often?"
"In the US? Yes!"
"Oh. No, not as far as I know. We'll figure this out." He walked her off. "Who was the other dragon?"
She shrugged. "He said I'd prove it was hysterical motherhood. He had the kid scream by having her cut. At the second scream I changed and stomped."
"Good. That's a good response," he said calmly. He was going to keep her calmer. "And if this was really HYDRA I'm going to stomp them for you."
"Agent Pekin has something wrong according to Aria."
"We'll check both of them. It'll be okay." She sighed but nodded, swallowing. "You can lock yourself in the bathroom in the infirmary so your daughter doesn't worry," he said quietly. She nodded more quickly and ducked into one to cry while he stood guard.
Agent Hill stomped in. "She protected the kids. Aria said something's wrong with Pekin, and he did seem fairly pale. The other one I don't know that well. She knocked Barnes down and sat on him to keep him down. She has a few cuts," he said to the nurse coming over. "She fought a few wolves off in dragon form."
"We can stitch them," the nurse said. "Is she all right?"
He listened by tipping his head then shook his head. "Still crying in reaction." The nurse nodded and got the nearest bed ready to treat her. He looked at Hill. "She was worried that the stupid in the US would have her arrested."
"Not for protecting herself and the kids," she said. "Even if they tried, we'd overrule them." He nodded. "You told her that?"
"That I doubted it'd happen."
"Good. Lewis, can you come out yet?" she called quietly.
"Give me a minute," she said quietly, and they heard water running. And the toilet flushed then more water running. She opened the door, staring at Hill. "How's my daughter?"
"In the other room talking to Stark," Hill said. She stared at her. "You're not in trouble for protecting you or them." Darcy sighed and nodded, going a bit limp. "Let's get you treated before your daughter sees and freaks out." Darcy got led to the bed and let the nurse clean the injuries.
"Can you change to your scales in the injured areas?"
Darcy shook her head. "I can do my arms or legs but not my chest or neck." She changed to her smaller form, letting the nurse clean those areas too. The nurse smiled and fixed them up, letting Darcy change back for stitches now that the scales in the way were trimmed.
Brock looked at Hill. "So?" he asked patiently.
She blinked at him. "We're finding out if it was HYDRA and how they retriggered Barnes."
"He had the shield," Darcy called quietly. "And something on his arm."
"We can check that," Hill agreed. She looked at him. "If you hear something..."
"I'm going to stomp someone then present their body to her," he said dryly. "It's only right."
Hill nodded. "Not a bad idea. Let me check on the kids and Barnes. Their parents are on their way from a safe room we had them in." She went to check on the kids first. The nurses in there stared at her. "Parents are on the way," she said quietly. "All but one was found."
"I came down to play but my mom was at home," that girl said, staring at her. "She had a migraine."
"We'll let her come down to get you." She looked at the kid with the two sets of stitches on her arm. "Your father is really mad at them for hurting you and he's been ranting and screaming in a hallway. We'll make sure he can pick you up without anyone having to see him having a dad fit." She went to make that order. That father was sneering about all this. An agent came up with the plans someone had in their phone.
"They were going to take all the children to use," she said, staring at that father, who huffed. "Your daughter has two tiny lines of stitches. They did enough to make her scream," she said calmly. "But she's fine. Lewis got them into a safe area when she screamed the second time."
"Why do they want that one?" he demanded.
"Because she fought back against a murderer and he put a price to get her body to abuse. HYDRA saw the battle with her saying no and thought she'd make a good bit of fun." She grimaced. "She guarded the kids."
He nodded. "I don't blame her. I'm worried the daycare won't be safe enough."
"Stark got the kids moved because Aria wouldn't go with anyone she didn't know. Him and one of his robots." He huffed again. "We told her you'd get to calm down before you yelled and scared her."
"I'm not going to yell at Lewis. It's not her fault. I know that. But my little girl and I need to go sit and cuddle, Agent Hill."
"Granted. They're all in the back right side of the infirmary together." He nodded, going that way with the other parents. Including the one who hadn't been in the lab. Aria was let into where her mother was being fixed up, letting her pounce her mother. Darcy shifted her some so she wasn't on an injury but still cuddled while the nurse finished up.
Then the temper showed up in the form of Jane Foster. The nurse saw her and got out of her way.
Brock stared at her. "They're all fine, Foster. Calm down. You're not a five-foot-six hurricane of anger. You'll scare the others." Jane glared at him. "They gassed the whole floor, Foster. Calm. Down." He glared at her until she huffed but calmed herself slightly. He pointed. "They're in there." Jane went in to check Aria and nag Darcy. Brock let the nurses nag Foster for now. Before he shoved her into a closet and locked her in there for a few minutes. The next time he heard her blame Darcy he did just that and slammed the closet door in her face. "No one needs that shit, Foster." He went back to his guarding post.
Darcy looked at him. "She's just upset, Brock."
"It wasn't your fault," he said firmly, staring at her. "And it's wrong of her to say that, especially in front of the kid." She looked down but nodded. "Foster can get out of her time out when she's less huffy and not blaming the wrong person." He looked at a staring parent. "We're going to find out why they wanted to take all the kids as their newest...employees like Barnes," he told her. "And I'm going to beat them to death for it." The mother smiled, walking her daughter off cuddled to her shoulder.
Aria came out to stare up at him. "You're going to scale up soon. Mommy does when she gets that mad." He stared down at her. "It's how dragons are sometimes. Not that I don't want to too but that might not be good right now. Even though it'd give Mom and me someone to pet." She went back to cuddling her mother.
Brock snorted but did make himself appear more calm. He was fighting some of his scales coming up. Stark stopped by him. "I'll make sure they're safe in their apartment tonight."
"Sure," he agreed with a nod. "Good idea. Let us help with HYDRA, okay?"
Brock looked at him. "Maybe." He smirked. "I might leave someone something."
Stark grinned back. "Well try really hard. Rogers wants some of them now too and so do I for doing that in my tower." He walked off with his robot following. "I'm going to have Lewis and Foster moved to a bigger apartment on a safer floor. That way Lewis has her own room too." He went to talk to Pepper, who agreed it was a good thing.
They had a nice four bedroom apartment open. Or a couple of two bedrooms that they could be next to each other again. That way Foster had an office so she could work from home. Agents moved everything for them, though a few did give the sex toys in the kitchen an odd look. Stark looked then texted Foster, who sent back why. "It's to keep the kid from finding them, people." The agents just nodded. That figured to them.
***
Brock looked around the new apartments, which were joined by a big hole in a wall, nodding slowly. It was nicer. Darcy was putting Aria into bed. Then she came out sighing. "You okay?"
"They put my clothes in the room with her bed."
"Maybe they mixed them up because they're the same size?"
"Hers had disney sheets."
"You never know about some agents. You can arrange them tomorrow." She nodded, going into the kitchen. She saw the three sex toys in a plastic tub on the counter and put them up in a higher cabinet she could barely reach. He grinned at that.
"She went searching in my dresser the other day," Darcy said with a shrug. "It keeps her away from them."
"It's not a bad idea. I'm guessing my mother had a locking drawer or didn't have any." He settled into a chair he could see the door and the hole in the wall from. "You should rest. You're exhausting yourself."
"I... yeah." She ran a hand over her hair. "They hate us," she said, looking at him. "I'm sorry we brought all this drama."
"Not your fault. That was theirs." He stared at her. "Go curl up in dragon form."
"I...it's like I feel creepy about it now." She flopped down on the couch. "If I wasn't a dragon none of this would've happened."
He kicked her foot, making her stare at him. "It is not your fault!" he said firmly but quietly. "Not the fact that you change, none of it was your fault. The idiot stalker and murderer was at fault."
"And he wouldn't have done it if I was more cultured or even not a changer."
"Bullshit. He got three normal women too." She went green and shuddered. "The only one at fault is the one who started all this and got the people in those councils dirty and then tried to give you to terrorists. Quit blaming yourself."
"I don't want to," she said. "But..."
He held up a hand. "Two of the young women he took? They were eighteen, Darcy. They didn't know you could fight back. By their autopsies, they figured it out somewhat." She slumped, biting her bottom lip but nodding. "He was a sick minded bastard. It had nothing to do with you beyond the fact that you're pretty and had a daughter he could branch off into." She shuddered. "It's. Not. Your. Fault." He stared at her. "Any of it!"
"I guess," she said quietly. She looked at her hands.
"Go rest," he said more calmly. "You need rest to handle her tomorrow and Foster being angry again." Darcy sighed but nodded, going to rest. Brock considered it and wrote his mother an email about how to help her get over that hump. It was probably pretty normal psychologically but it was still harmful to her.
***
Darcy got yet another email from an aunt she'd really want to gut and cook over an open pit, but she wasn't supposed to do that. But she was still having problems with her change. She had been talked through getting in touch with her dragon form, though she had always had an instinctual merge with it instead. It had made it harder to meditate on all that. So now she was feeling stuck and angry and upset and wasn't sure what to do about anything. She looked at her daughter, who was at her desk in the corner, then at Jane, who was scowling at her. "What?" she asked Jane.
"You look upset."
"My aunt." She let her see that email.
Jane looked at her. "Who's the matriarch of your clan?"
"Well...." She sighed. "That's... yeah, I need to do that but I need to be able to change again. Which I'm having a problem with thanks to all that recently."
Jane sighed. "Can I help with that?"
"No. Probably not. I've got an instinctual handle on it, and most everyone else seems to meditate to bring it up for some reason." She shrugged. "Right now my dragon is feeling guilty about all that coming thanks to her being here."
"It wasn't your fault." She stared at Jane. "It wasn't."
"The thing in the daycare was," she said quietly. "Because I lost my stupid temper."
"They might have...."
Darcy shook her head. "They wanted to make sure I couldn't do it again, Jane," she said quietly but firmly. "That's why they went after the kids." Jane slumped. "That's my fault for not being more careful."
"Not like you could've been more careful when you were protecting both of you."
"I could've let them handle it more."
Jane stared at her. "Why would you trust someone else to handle an emergency for you?"
"I wouldn't!" She sighed. "Which is why I feel hella guilty right now, Jane. And it's created a huge block."
Jane sighed but nodded. "I get that. I get why. But you're going to end up getting hurt because you've got that block. What if they come back again." Darcy shuddered, ducking her head down. "Exactly. So how do we help you get over that?"
Darcy shrugged. "I'll figure it out. Then I've got to go stomp on some aunts again." She sighed, looking at her computer again. She really had to handle that. Maybe Brock had the right idea in that the dragon was the natural form here. She didn't meditate very well and that never seemed to work for her. Instead, she'd talk to them tonight when she napped. If she got to sleep. She hadn't gotten there last night. Aria looked over. "What's up, kiddo?"
"Mom, is it nearly time for lunch?"
Darcy looked at the clock then at her. "No but it's nearly time for dinner. Sorry, I forgot to set a timer. Jane, dinner?"
"Yeah, I can work in my office area." They locked up for the night and went up to make dinner and let Aria have her nightly bath. Then Darcy tried to get into her dragon form, but it was still feeling guilty that someone, a kid, got hurt because she could change. So she couldn't get there and ended up laying on the couch to work through it again.
If that meditative stuff actually worked for her, she might be able to talk to her dragon form but she couldn't do that. She shifted, wincing as her hips hurt. "Oh, great, and in heat too," she muttered. "Just fucking great." She went limp, considering things. She knew it was her mental block, she and the dragon weren't separate. She had to work through this.
Then she'd have to go yell at her relatives about their stupid problems. "I really need to make a whole different lineage and family," she decided. "But that would mean having more kids." Which she didn't want to think about and was kind of freaking her out. Her last time, it hadn't been that pleasant.
Her mother hadn't shown up until it was over with. Most of her family had yelled at her about it. And she just really wanted to kill them all but she had been too tired. Now...still tired but for different, Jane related, reasons. She heard Aria have a nightmare and got up to go soothe her. The nightmares Darcy had weren't helping her sleep either.
***
Rumlow looked at the mother and kid the next day. They were walking past his desk toward the infirmary. Neither one looked like they had gotten any sleep or were in any shape to do anything but nap. He considered talking to Foster, but he realized Darcy would hate that. He got up and went to stop them. "Are you okay?" he asked Aria quietly, staring at her.
"I'm okay. Just twisted my knee." She pointed at her good one. "It hurts a lot and we need a new ice pack."
He nodded. "You could be carried."
Aria looked at Darcy then at him. "She's too tired for that and I'm too big."
He picked her up. "How about I do that and bring you back to your mom while she goes to rest?"
She blinked at him. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I kinda like you, kid, and seeing you limping around sucks." He looked at Darcy. "Go rest and I'll bring her back to your apartment?"
"We were there but my ice pack is missing." She rubbed her forehead. "I can do it, Brock."
He grinned, walking Aria off. "I'm using her to avoid a meeting, Lewis. Go sit down and I'll bring her right up."
"Thank you." She went back to her couch to rest for a few minutes.
Brock looked at the kid outside the infirmary. "Nightmares?" he guessed. She huffed but nodded, pouting down at his chest. "Hey, they happen to all of us, Aria. It's perfectly normal after bad things happening." He tipped her chin up. "It happens to all of us and you can talk to me about those too. Okay?"
"We're not your den mates," she said, staring at him. "The book talked about that."
"Well, you kinda are because I head the ones here in SHIELD and the ones in the lab. So technically you are. That's why I can answer questions for you."
She put her head on his shoulder slowly. "I hate the nightmares and they wake Mommy up," she said quietly.
"Yeah, and she's probably had some of her own." He patted her on the back. "We can handle that. That's what parents do for kids. Your mom's helping you handle yours and we'll help her handle hers." Aria looked up at him. "Really."
"Are they coming back?" she asked quietly, looking like she was about to cry.
"Not if I can help it. They made a horrible mistake trying for you at the zoo and we didn't get them before they made an even bigger one by coming here. Now, they're not going to get a third chance."
She sighed, slumping in some. "I miss having friends."
"I know and it's not your fault they showed up. The same as it's not your mom's. Even if she does try to blame herself, it's not anyone's fault but the bad guys." A nurse looked out. "She could use an ice pack, she twisted her knee."
"I can get one, Commander." She looked at the girl. "You look like it's nap time." She smiled gently.
Aria shook her head quickly. "I can't do that. It's evil to sleep." She put her head back on his shoulder.
The nurse looked at him. "Oh," she said, realizing why. She got him an ice pack to help her. "If she needs it, we have a counselor on staff."
"We'll see, I'll ask her mother," Brock said. "I'm just helping. Thank you."
"Thanks," Aria echoed.
He walked her off. "If you need to talk about the nightmares I can listen, Aria. I'm going to be here for the next two days, then I've got a mission coming and I can listen when I get back." She looked up at him. "Really. I can help if you want me to. The same as your aunt could."
"Auntie Jane doesn't understand people and Grandma would help but she's being a butthole about Mom."
"Your grandmother needs to have her mind rearranged," he agreed, staring at her. "None of this was yours or your mother's fault."
She nodded, putting the ice pack on her knee. "I know. Mom said bad guys are super stupid. Doesn't mean they didn't hurt kids to get us."
He cuddled her. "It wasn't because of either of you."
"It was what Mommy did to protect us."
He tipped her face up again. "What your mom did, a lot of others could do if they're pushed there. They just haven't been pushed that far." Aria blinked at him. "Really. Plenty of us can stomp on others to protect the ones we care about. Your mom may have done a few things that were bigger than what some people do, but that's because they never had to try. They never had to handle super stupid bad guys."
Aria relaxed and nodded at that, putting her head back down. "And I know it was scary but we came to rescue you as soon as we could. The same as your mom did." She nodded again. He carried her upstairs. "Remember, you can talk to me about bad guys, Aria. I may be out of the area for missions sometimes but you can record an email for me."
"Then Mom would hear."
"Could be but if you ask your aunt she'd help. Or you could steal your mother's phone and have JARVIS help you do it. He can probably send an email for you."
"You think?"
"I'm pretty sure. JARVIS ordered me dinner last night so he could probably send an email for you." She nodded, cuddling in and holding the ice pack on her knee. He knocked on the door, handing her over. "They offered a counselor if she needed one but we talked about it," he told her quietly. Darcy scowled. "And I reminded her she could talk to me if she wanted to, Lewis."
She sighed but nodded. "It's good she can talk to someone beyond me and Jane." She looked at her girl, who cuddled in and yawned. "We'll try a nap on the couch to cartoons, kiddo." She kissed her on the head. "Thank you."
"Welcome." He went back to his desk.
Darcy laid down with Aria on her chest, letting her talk about what Brock had told her. She could agree with it, it helped her daughter quit feeling like it was her fault. No kid Aria's age should ever feel guilty for idiots attacking kids. It was good he had helped break that cycle for her.
***
Brock got handed the file on the idiot that had started all these problems, reading it over while Fury watched. "Anyone tell her yet?"
"That's classified and need to know, Commander."
Brock stood up. "I think she needs to know, Fury. It nearly got her killed on purpose." He walked it off. "Fire me if you want."
"Damn it." He tried to follow but a few of the other STRIKE agents got in his way and just stared at him. "She doesn't..."
"She does. She blames herself for them coming here and hitting the daycare," Rollins said firmly, glaring at him. "The same as most of us would. So drop off."
"Fine. Whatever. It doesn't get out." He stomped off because he had lost this round.
Rollins looked at his teammates. "Let's make sure they never come back, right?" They nodded. HYDRA was a menace they had been fighting anyway.
Brock tapped on the lab's door, nodding at Darcy. "C'mere please." She sighed but got up and came to stare at him. He held up the folder. "On the moron."
She took it to read. "Should I be able to see this?"
"Nope but Fury can sit and spin, sweetheart."
She looked up at him. "What?"
"Too old a saying?" he quipped.
"The pet name?" she asked patiently.
"It happens sometimes. Just read that." She sighed but read it over, getting very angry, and still no scales. She finally turned and kicked the wall a few times then went back to reading. "Exactly. It wasn't anything you did, Darcy." She turned to stare at him. "They went after a lot of us to get new warriors since they lost Barnes. They thought they could turn you into Romanoff." He stared down at her. "It wasn't your fault. And I'm mad that you still can't scale up."
"I..."
He put a hand over her mouth, staring at her. "They had no idea who you really are, Lewis. They just saw a single mother who had a lot of college loan debts."
"Let her go," Jane called.
"Shut up, Foster." He looked at Darcy again, seeing the glare. He stared back. "If they had known who you are, who your daughter is, they would've snatched you off the streets in London due to your father's lineage." He let her mouth go. "If they knew about your great-grandmother they would've taken you in and made you a point at fixing the old system so they were on top again. You would've been brainwashed into being a figurehead and then taken out when you got popular to prove their point they could rule them all."
"I don't want any of that."
"I know that. Which is why you didn't mention it before very often. They *still* don't realize who your father is, or your aunts or any of them. And that's kept you at an average level of safety. You being a single mom actually put you in more danger this time."
"I..." She rubbed her forehead.
He tipped her face up again. "I went undercover in them to stop them, Lewis. They thought you'd be usable and your daughter could follow in the Black Widow's footsteps, only with extra abilities. The fact you did all that to protect you both means you're a lot tougher of a target. The one that came here, he wrote it up as hysterical motherhood. Like the panicking mother who lifts a car off her kid, they thought you did that."
"They said that."
He nodded. "I saw the security footage. I couldn't have stopped myself after the first yell."
"I'm a bit worried that I could."
"No, you tried to discourage them. They did it a second time anyway. Only the cold, serial killer sort could've handled that and not changed." He stared at her. "They actually only had you as a side topic to prove themselves right. They wanted a few of the kids. That's why they put something on Pekin to take his mind over and that one kid's mother. That way she wouldn't complain when they came for her kid."
"I was just a side topic."
He nodded. "Yup. People have no idea how hysterical motherhood happens so they were going to test that. You were conveniently in the building when they came for that other kid and her mom for her science work. If they knew the *real* you, you'd be considered a dangerous enemy and they might try to take you out but they don't have many assassins anymore since we have Barnes." He patted her on the cheek, taking the folder back. "Does that help any?"
"I..." She nodded. "It may."
"Can you try to scale up?"
"No."
"Try," he ordered, staring at her. "In case you have to do it to protect her again," he finished quietly. "We're going to take down another group of them in a few days. I need you able to protect yourself and her, plus Foster in case they feint this way to distract us."
She winced. "I didn't want to think about that. We can stay inside."
"Yeah, and that'll probably solve it, but I've also heard your mom is being a bitch."
"I need to go take the matriarch's vows. I really do."
"Which means you have to be able to change into your true form." He stared at her. "Try the meditation again?"
"That has never worked for me. I have instinctual control, not forced."
"I just met them and we talked. I didn't have to force anything."
"I can't do that."
"So you're a full changer, you're the same being," he realized. She nodded. "Okay. Do you want me to try to threaten you to force the change?"
She shuddered, shaking her head. "That's for warriors, Rumlow. I'm not one. I'm a mom, I'm a single mother, they had that part right. That's the most of who I am. I never acknowledge my father and half the time I ignore my mother too. Hell, me taking those vows will shove a few aunts and others out of the family. It'll cause even more stress."
"Mothers do what they have to do to protect their families," he said simply. "The same as matriarchs protect their nests and dens." She nodded, handing back the folder. "Try again," he ordered. "Just try to scale up something. You being stuck means you could be in a lot of danger. What happens if something happens and you try to suddenly change to handle it and don't make it?"
She shuddered. "Yeah, we don't want you to burn up from the inside for that. And your daughter sure doesn't need to see it." He stared at her. "Change." She concentrated and a few scales appeared from her lesser form. "No, your real form. You may end up losing your lesser form."
She winced. "I worked really hard for that."
"I know. That sort of thing takes study and work. Try your real form."
"I usually have to go to one then the other."
"That's because you made yourself do that to protect your identity. You don't have that now." He stared at her. She huffed but did concentrate and bring up some of her red scales. Then she changed to her tiny form, mostly. No tail. He stared down at her. "You're a foot shorter than usual and your tail is missing." She looked and groaned, coming back to human. "And you're in heat."
"I noticed," she complained.
He tipped her face up again. "Let her have a babysitter and fix that somehow?"
"I'm trying!"
"Fine. Now change for real." He started to shift and she stiffened, but changed to hiss at him. He grinned. "Good to know, sweetheart, but I'd never force it. I'm not that way." She changed back and hit him a few times on the arm. "Someone needs to work on your hitting strength too, Lewis." He grinned. "For now, cure that please? It means you're vulnerable and I don't want to help the kid understand any other rituals this year."
"I... I'm not real comfortable with all that."
"Which means you never got any help after the rape," he said quietly. She shuddered. "I get that. I do. I've seen female agents who did the same thing and did it on their own. They had to fight like hell to find a real relationship after years of working on it." She slumped, shaking her head. "And I'm not against you working through it if you can do that, but being in heat will mean something will try to take over on you. Can you fight that if you end up that bad?"
"I have." She looked at him.
"Good. Most people can't, the same as most guys can't fight off a rut. But you doing that will mean it'll only get more traumatic. I can only hope that some day you find a good, real relationship that makes you both happy."
"You're talking like the den alpha."
"I am of SHIELD's dragons," he agreed with a smirk. "There's one that's older but I can beat him in a fight so he doesn't even try to be an elder." He shifted his stance. "We rolled all the ones in the lab under us for their own protection. It kept people like AIM from coming at the changers a few times. So technically, I am the den alpha around here. You're a family matriarch. You've been making nesting motions for years."
She snorted, shaking her head. "I'm not. I'm not decorating or anything."
"Not all nesting is physical. Some of it's adopting extra kids to monitor." He stared at her. Then looked at the staring engineer. Then back at her. "You've been doing the other form of nesting to build a new nest family. Decorating isn't always important as long as it's comfortable."
"I don't even have part of my hoard up here."
"Does that really matter? Most of us don't really sleep on our hoards anymore. Mine's in a bank box. I never see it." He shrugged. "You're in full nesting mode because you've dropped the assholes in your family for what they've pulled. Will that stop when you take the matriarch vows?"
"No," she admitted then huffed. "Damn it!"
"Yup." He nodded as he shifted his stance again to lean against a wall. "You're about the toughest mother dragon we have in this den too by the way. Most of the female dragons are in DC or the LA office. They've got their own dens and they're highly rabid about the ones near them. DC's are mostly admin types so they can't defend themselves.
"LA's has a lot of lower level agents so they're protective over them. The same as this den is over all of you. There's only eight female dragons in this den." She grimaced. "And I'm not offering you the matriarch position. You have to fix your own nest first. That's just a reality but you're the strongest we have emotionally and physically."
He stared at her. "So I need you to do whatever you need to do to work this out for yourself. Your daughter and you both need to be *healthy*. Including post incident trauma counseling if you must," he finished quietly. "However you need to do to work through the trauma before it infects your little girl's future life."
"I tried that, they decided I was just a woman and overruled by my biology."
He snorted, shaking his head. "Slightly but no. That's worse than the alcohol led to it." She nodded. "So talk to whoever and work your way through it. You're not doing your daughter any favors watching you struggle with this. Remember, she'll consider how relationships go by the ones around her."
"She already knows that guys aren't reliable. Thor taught her that."
He winced but nodded once. "Yeah, I can see that. Most guys aren't Thor though."
"Physically? No. Realistically? Most of the guys my age these days would bail."
"Which proves that my generation did something wrong raising them," he shot back, staring at her. "But does your daughter need to see you struggle with guys like that?"
"I've always said I didn't care who they were as long as they were good for both of us."
"I fully appreciate that. But some day I'd like to sniffle at your little girl finding someone nice to date."
"No nieces and nephews?" she joked.
"A few," he admitted. "I'm going to sniffle at theirs too." He tipped his head to the side. "Nice deflection tactic." He gave her a pointed look as he walked off with that folder. "I can get you a referral if you want."
"No thanks. But thank you for letting me know." He nodded as he hit the stairs. She sank down to sit against the wall, staring at Tony. "I'm not formally adopting you to be a Lewis. They're all sorts of bitches."
"That's fine. I'd make you a Stark but the press would run you over." He stared down at her. "You don't have to protect me."
"I know that. Quit fussing at me."
He snorted but looked amused. "Fine. I can help you find a good therapist."
She shook her head. "I've worked it out already, Stark. I'm not damaged that way anymore. Past trauma has it's moments, but I've fought that war already."
"Good." He patted her on the head. "Your kid hasn't brought me a single thing or snuck in to play with my robot."
"She's hiding in the closet today with a coloring book. She said she didn't want to talk about it."
"Aren't there medicines to help with heats?"
"Yeah, and I'm on them." She looked at her suppressant patch. Then back at him. "A female dragon will often go into heat right after a heavy battle because usually we were fighting to protect our nests. Men can go into rut the same way."
"So it's like post battle stress relief instead of the usual PMS reasons?"
"Plus hormones." She stood up. "We have vibrators and stuff to help."
"Uh-huh, but that would require you to go to bed," he pointed out. "And you haven't been. Your daughter has that same tiredness from the nightmares."
"She slept through last night."
"Great job," he said, smiling at her. "Did you?"
"I ...."
"Yeah, you probably didn't sleep at all," he said dryly. "Which doesn't help your hormones regulate themselves at all. Throwing your body out of whack makes all that harder. Trust me, I've had whole months when I didn't really sleep." She nodded. "Take something light tonight?"
"I tried Benadryl last night. Didn't work."
"We can get you a single pill for a low dose sleeping pill. The infirmary wouldn't care to do that. The kid can nap with her aunt if she has to."
"I can't do that to Jane. She has a date tonight."
Stark nodded. "I hope it's fun for her. You both could use more fun and less stress. You can have JARVIS talk to her if she gets up tonight."
"I...maybe." She sighed. "Thanks, Tony." She punched him on the arm, going back into the lab. "Someone found the original notes on me from HYDRA. They had no idea who I am beyond a single mother with college debt."
Jane looked at her. "Seriously?" Darcy nodded, sitting down again. "Is that why the London council picked you?"
"The idiot was one of them. He decided to solve the problem of working for you with application of him so they could replace me with someone they'd like to use." Darcy grimaced. "They still only think I'm a single mom with college debt apparently. They put that down to hysterical mom strength."
"Which is safer in a lot of ways," Jane agreed. She considered it. "I can cancel my date."
"No, you go have fun. We'll be fine. I have tomorrow off anyway."
"Point. Okay, if you're sure." She got back to work. "Aria, would you like to come out to get a snack for us with your mom?" she called. No answer. Darcy went to look and smiled at her daughter napping on top of the printer paper, mostly closing the door again so she could rest. Darcy went to get some snack food for her and Jane then came back to settle in to get back to work.
***
Brock came back a few days later to find Lewis working from home and Foster smelling like Lewis in heat. He sniffed Jane, making her spin to stare at him. He stared at her. "You're wearing her pheromones," he said quietly. "And someone young and stupid will probably try to flirt."
"One did earlier. I've taken a few showers."
"Try some dryer time with a smelly dryer sheet, Foster. It'll solve a lot of that. And help Lewis fix it?"
"I have no idea how to do that. I'm not into girls."
He nodded. "There's a lot of dragons in the area."
Jane stared at him, shaking her head. "Darcy's feeling on that are after marriage."
"Oh, one of those. Okay."
"No, she's not against guys, but she won't *mate* for years."
He nodded. "I've seen others like that. Let me see if I can set her up with someone to help her. Before you send someone into rut by smelling so cute." She scowled. He gave her a pointed look. "You smell like a prime aged female in heat, Foster. Even your ex would be fighting himself." She blushed, going back to the lab with her lunch.
He sighed, going to check his email. He had nine different suggestions of setting Lewis up with someone. She had stayed inside her apartment but you could still tell someone was in heat. He went to the security center to turn on something to help ease the scent from her apartment. Then he went to check on her. "JARVIS, please clean the air around her?"
"I have been," the AI said. "She has multiple scented candles around as well, Commander."
"Okay, I can hopefully set her up with someone." He rubbed his forehead once he was outside her apartment because the scent was affecting him too. He knocked, staring at the young girl who opened the door. "Your mom awake?"
"Of course." She ran off. "I'm going to my room so you can talk about big people things."
"Thanks, Aria." He shut the door and checked the candles, blowing out two. "Vanilla draws out the undertones of the heat scent." She winced. "The pomegranate was a nice idea though. It's strong enough to hide a lot of it." He sighed, staring at her. "I got nine emails asking if I knew someone to fix you up with." She blushed, shaking her head. "Anything needed beyond good in bed?" he asked quietly.
"I've been fixing it."
"Foster smells like a dragon in heat." She winced but moaned, curling up. "I told her about the smelly dryer sheets." He sat across from her. "Please let me set you up with a heat partner? Before you drive someone into a rut?"
"I've taken all the precautions," she defended.
"You have," he agreed with a nod. "Everything we'd expect any of you women to do. Or a guy in rut doing. But clearly..." He stared at her. "Change for a minute?" She sighed but did change the arm skin to scales. She stared at them. "You're totally bleached out, Darcy. That means you can't handle this with the vibes and happy thoughts."
"I..."
"I heard from Foster you'd prefer a human form due to wanting to save that for a real mate. I totally get that. A lot of women do." She relaxed again. "I can talk to a few other unbonded and unaligned males I know. Some are aggressive so I'd warn them you're skittish and it's been a while." She sighed but nodded. "Thank you."
He texted someone and they answered. He sent another one to the same person and he agreed he could help. When he mentioned who and why, he agreed he could be gentle and not spook her. He put his phone up. "Eric will be here tonight. He's a small time wrestler these days." She nodded, looking at him. "Do you need things like condoms?"
"I have some. I use them with the toys."
"That'll work too." He stood up, kissing her on the head like he would her kid. "Let me know if you need stuff to help stop this. I'll bring him up." He left her to settle herself and do whatever women did before sex dates. Including hopefully finding the kid a babysitter.
***
A few months later he heard the big news, Lewis and Foster were moving to her aunt's house upstate by about an hour outside the city. She had taken matriarch vows and removed a lot of the in-laws from her mother's second marriage from the family. He grinned at that news. That was good for her and her family. The fact that she had protected some of the teenage kids was very good of her too. She had sent him a letter too.
Well, Aria had sent him a letter, and she had added onto the drawings at the end. It sounded nice. Jane had her own building out back, basically a garage with an apartment on top to work from. Aria had a lot of area to roam around. She admitted there were a few extra family caves on the grounds but most were ground caves.
He looked at the address, memorizing it in case he needed to go find either of them. Or in case someone needed Jane Foster. He adjusted the SHIELD file so they weren't listed in New York any longer but he didn't put in the new address. They'd have to go looking to find the old family home, and the newer house they apparently lived in.
Aria had said they lived in the new house, not the old house that didn't have water and looked like something from an old west story book. He grinned at that news, tucking it into his bag to go home with him so it wasn't found here. That would do good for them.
He would write back to make sure they had adequate security systems. You never could tell when you needed one.
***
Changing Your Life.