Mark just gave a nod. "No problem fellas, let's just hope this was the highlight of the day." Then, without another word, he shot upward into the air and blasted off into the sky, vanishing into the New York skyline like a streak of blue and white. Below, the officers cuffed the robbers one by one.
Dwayne sighed as he was led to the cruiser. "Man... I really wanted that Charger..."
...
Mark blasted through the sky above New York, the wind rushing past him as he pushed his speed higher, the city lights blurring into streaks far below while he cut across the city. He had been going on four days without sleep now, and the exhaustion started to creep in despite his enhanced body, his eyelids feeling heavier with each mile and his reactions lagging just a fraction. He had been so busy that rest had taken a back seat to everything else piling up.
He banked toward a familiar high-rise, landing on the edge of the roof with a soft thud, his boots scraping the concrete as he collapsed lazily onto the ledge, letting out a loud yawn. He sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes while he stared out at the skyline, the lack of progress on tracking down someone who could explain the mutants gnawing at him. More powered people kept appearing, attacks like Juggernaut's felt targeted, and his board back home was filling with names and question marks, but no real answers surfaced no matter how deep he dug.
He considered SHIELD for a moment... they were super spies with resources everywhere, so they had to know something about the mutants. But the thought soured quickly; Fury and shield had their own agendas, and trusting them felt like handing over control, plus he still hadn't quite gotten over his last interaction with shield. No, he would do it himself, or at worst ask Tony for help, though that would be a last last last resort since Stark's ego and sarcasm would turn it into a lecture on how Mark should have just asked him in the first place.
Mark stood up after a minute, shaking off the fatigue as best he could, and decided to head home for at least a few hours of rest before the next call came in. He launched from the roof, flying straight to his building in Harlem, the familiar streets coming into view as he slowed and slipped through the open bedroom window he always left cracked for quick entries. He reached up, peeled the mask off, and tossed it onto the bed. He then ran a hand through his hair, shaking it out, and took one step toward the bathroom before he heard movement in the living room.
"Jess, if you drank the last of the orange juice again I swear to God I'm hiding the whiskey next time you come here," he called out, already walking toward the doorway. "You're turning into a professional couch squatter. Get a day job, woman. Or at least pay rent."
He rounded the corner and froze.
Darcy stood in the middle of his living room next to the open fridge, a half-empty bottle of soda in one hand, the other holding the freezer door wide. She wore ripped jeans and a faded band tee that hugged her chest in a way that made his brain short-circuit for half a second. When she saw him her whole face lit up. She threw both arms out wide, soda sloshing dangerously close to the rim.
"Surprise!"
Mark's eyes went wide. "Darcy?"
"Yep. In the flesh." She gave a little shimmy. "Miss me, space boy?"
He blinked twice, still processing. "What the hell are you doing here? You were in New Mexico a few days ago."
"I was." She shut the freezer with her hip, set the soda on the counter and walked over to him. "Decided to change that and move up here. Wanted to surprise you, but you're making it really hard to look cool when you're calling out another girl's name the second you walk in."
Mark opened his mouth, closed it, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, hold on. Back up. You're moving to New York? Like, actually moving here?"
"Yep." She leaned one hip against the counter and crossed her arms under her chest, which only made the shirt pull tighter. "Saw a couple job postings that didn't suck. Sent in applications. Got a couple callbacks already. Figured why not? New Mexico's great for stargazing and alien shenanigans, but the entertainment is almost drier than the desert down there."
Mark stared at her. "What about Jane? Doesn't she need you in the lab?"
Darcy waved a hand like she was shooing a fly. "Jane's fine. Ever since she nailed the Einstein-Rosen bridge proof she's been happy. Lab's calm for once. She's mostly geeking out over that little side project you two have been emailing about. Something about dimensional shear and energy bleed-off?"
"Oh," Mark said. He felt a little dumb just standing there repeating himself. "Right. That."
Darcy's face fell into an exaggerated pout. "Wow. Real enthusiastic welcome, Grayson. I haul my ass across the country, pack up my entire life, and you hit me with 'oh.' I'm wounded. Deeply wounded."
Mark panicked. "No, no, wait, that came out wrong. I'm happy you're here. Really happy. Like, stupid happy. I just.... My brain's running on fumes right now. I haven't actually slept since I saw you last so I'm not firing on all cylinders."
She kept the pout for another second, then cracked, giving him a grin. "I know. I'm fucking with you. But seriously, you were calling for Jessica the second you walked in. What's she got that I don't, huh? Better tits? Better blowjobs? Does she do that thing with her tongue where—"
Mark groaned and dragged both hands down his face. "Darcy."
She smirked, clearly enjoying herself. "What? I'm just asking. Girl's gotta know her competition."
He dropped his hands and sighed knowing she was playing with him. "Yeah yeah you got me. You win. Happy now?"
Darcy giggled then launched herself forward. She crashed into him chest-first, her breasts pressing firmly against his ribs as she wrapped both arms around his neck and squeezed. "Don't worry, big guy. I'm not the jealous type. We're still casual. No strings, no drama. Just good vibes and great sex. Right?"
Mark let out a long breath, tension bleeding out of his shoulders. "Right. And yeah, I'm relieved. You have no idea."
She pulled back just enough to look up at him, still grinning. "Good. Because I'm not here to lock you down. I just want to be in the same zip code so we can fuck whenever we feel like it instead of waiting three weeks for you to fly out."
Before he could answer the doorbell rang.
Darcy's eyes lit up. "Oh shit, that's the pizza! I ordered while I was waiting for you to show up." She spun away from him, practically skipping to the door. "Hold that thought, hero. Dinner's here."
Mark watched her go, then ducked back into the bedroom while she was busy with the delivery guy. He stripped out of the suit in about two seconds flat then yanked on gray sweatpants and a plain black tee. By the time he walked back out she was shutting the door with a large pizza box balanced on one hand and a stack of napkins in the other.
He leaned against the doorway. "How the hell did you even get in here?"
Darcy set the box on the coffee table, flipped it open and shrugged. "Wasn't hard. Your building security is trash. The super let me in after I told him I was your cousin dropping off a care package. Gave him twenty bucks and a sob story about surprising my favorite family member after a long flight. Dude practically carried my suitcase up the stairs."
Mark snorted and dropped onto the couch next to her. "I'm sure it was the sorry that did the trick and not any other factors," he said while glancing at her chest.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I have far better qualities than these," she said while grabbing her boobs and jiggling them, giving Mark a chuckle. She then grabbed a slice folded it in half and took a huge bite. Cheese stretched in a long string before she bit through it. "Mmm. New York pizza hits different. Anyway, real talk. I haven't found an apartment yet. Everything's either a shoebox for three grand a month or way the hell out in Queens. So I was wondering..."
Mark didn't even let her finish. "Stay here. As long as you need. Couch is yours, bed's yours if I'm out, whatever. Mi casa es su casa."
Darcy's face split into a huge grin. She leaned over, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and pulled back. "You're the best. Swear I'll be the best bang maid you've ever had. I'll cook, I'll clean, I'll walk around in your shirts and nothing else. Full service."
Mark rolled his eyes, but he was smiling as he grabbed a slice. "You're ridiculous."
"Yeah, but you love it." She took another bite, talking around the food. "So what's the plan tonight? You look dead on your feet. We eating, crashing, or are you gonna rally for a round or two in the bedroom?"
Mark sighed as he sank into the edge of the couch. "I've got work to do."
Darcy made a loud snort and leaned back with both arms draped over the backrest. "Work? Dude, you've been up for four days. Four. I haven't pulled that kind of stretch since college."
Mark raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you were such a dedicated student."
Darcy shrugged and smirked. "Who said anything about studying?"
"Of course," Mark said with a laugh under his breath. He stood up and stretched, rotating his shoulder a little before walking toward the hallway. "Unfortunately, I can't afford not to stay awake."
Darcy got up too and followed behind him as he moved into his workshop. As soon as the door opened, she stopped and blinked. "Whoa," she said, stepping inside. "Okay. This is... serial killer level obsessive."
Mark didn't argue. The walls were covered with a massive information board. There were printouts, maps, newspaper clippings, and several photos pinned to corkboards with red string connecting some of them. One large picture at the center caught her eye. A man with a metal helmet, thick neck, and biceps the size of tree trunks.
Darcy pointed. "Isn't that the roid rage freak who tried to stomp you after that hangout we had?"
Mark followed her gaze. "Yeah," he said. "That's him. Juggernaut."
"Right. That guy threw you like a football," she muttered. "So he's a mutant?"
Mark nodded and stepped over to the board. He grabbed a marker and tapped it against one section. "He's one of a bunch that's shown up lately. It's been happening for months now. Isolated at first. Random. But now I'm starting to think it's not. At the Marriott Samir mentioned something about a Brotherhood, I'm starting to think that a few of the mutants I've encountered are connected to them, I'm guessing the Marriott was their doing to and the reason the Juggernaut was sent after me."
Darcy walked closer to the board, scanning the photos. "So you're building your own conspiracy web?"
Mark shrugged. "More like a puzzle. And so far, I'm missing most of the pieces."
She gave a thoughtful hum as she crossed her arms and leaned forward a bit. "So wait... are you a mutant?"
Mark turned toward her with a raised brow. "What?"
She looked at him with a straight face. "Come on. Flying, strength, durability, doesn't exactly sound like a normal person."
"I'm not a mutant," Mark said with a chuckle. "Let's just say my father was... a little special."
Darcy's expression changed immediately. "Oooh. Papa Grayson. What was he like? Was he a hottie like his son? Do you think he'd approve of the type of girl you're seeing?"
Mark hesitated for just a second. Then he laughed. But it was a nervous laugh and his eyes glanced away.
********************(FlashBack)********************
"I didn't raise you to act like one of these things, Mark."
"They're barely sentient. On Viltrum their IQ would be negative."
"They took 10,000 years just to fly to the moon!"
"You're above them. You're born above them."
"Honestly, their only real use is for reproduction."
"Let's kill the males. Keep the women and breed a more advanced race for this planet."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm trying to work with what I've got."
"What you think I'm happy I got sent here to play with a bunch of Primates?"
"I'm sorry son but your mother is literally a Monkey..."
"You're lucky I'm your father otherwise you'd be slinging shit at the walls with the rest of them."
"Son, stop crying."
****************(FlashBack End)********************
Mark rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the floor. "Yeah.... He would've loved you."
Darcy blinked, picked up on the tone, and spoke a little softer. "Where is he now?"
Mark answered without flinching. "Dead."
"Oh," she said. "I didn't know. Sorry."
Mark waved it off and dropped into the rolling chair by the desk. "It's fine. I'm over it." He leaned back, yawned, and let his arms hang down for a second. Darcy wandered over, letting her eyes scan the desk this time. She noticed a thick paperback book near the edge and picked it up.
"What's this?" she asked, turning it around.
Mark looked at it and said, "Mutants: The Next Step in Human Evolution. It's an interesting book about mutants. The author argues that mutations are the next evolutionary leap for humanity. He talks about how powers manifest in adolescence and how mutants could solve problems humans can't if they were integrated. It's by a guy called Professor Charles Xavier."
Darcy flipped through a few pages. "Sounds like he knows his stuff. You gonna reach out to him?"
Mark nodded. "That's the plan. I need someone who understands this mutant phenomenon better than I do. If there's a group organizing attacks like Juggernaut's, Xavier might have intel or contacts that can point me in the right direction."
Darcy set the book down. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Mark looked at her. "Why not?"
"You don't know who this guy is," she said. "He could be a whack job."
Mark chuckled. "I'll be fine. I can handle myself."
Darcy insisted and stepped closer. "Seriously, don't go see him. It's likely a waste of time and you could walk into something sketchy."
Mark stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I appreciate the concern, but I need answers. I'll be safe."
"Fine," Darcy said with a smirk. "But you're not doing any more work today." She gave him a sultry smile and grabbed his hand. "I've been without for five days now and I'm practically in heat. Come here." She dragged him over to the couch in the living room.
Mark laughed and let her pull him down while she climbed onto his lap. "You're relentless," he said.
(AN: A little teaser for A certain group of mutants and Darcy has come to stay with him which is a little strange, but ah well i wouldn't say no to those tits. Enjoy)
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