Chapter Text
2013
Darcy Lewis was a little nervous when on her second official day as an employee of Stark Industries, she was informed that Tony Stark wanted to see her in his workshop. How could she have done something wrong already? All she had been doing so far was setting up Jane’s equipment and organizing the new lab. Jane wouldn’t even be there for another week. She was spending some time with her mother in London before moving to New York City and getting down to business building an Einstein-Rosen Bridge for Stark.
Darcy had met Tony Stark a couple of times before through Thor and when he offered Jane funding for her research after the Dark Elves incident in London. From what she’d seen of him so far, she kind of liked him. If nothing else, they seemed to have a similar sense of humor. But she also got the feeling that he was pretty unpredictable, so she had no idea what was in store for her when she entered his workshop.
As it was, she found him sitting at one of the long work benches dressed in a t-shirt and jeans as he rummaged through a box in front of him.
Darcy paused in the doorway and cleared her throat. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Stark?"
He looked up at her and pinned her with an assessing stare. It sort of wanted to make her squirm not because it was lascivious or anything creepy like that. It felt more like he was trying to figure out what kind of person she was, analyzing her intelligence and character. As if he could tell those things just by looking at a person, but who knows what kind of information he had access to about people between his fancy AI and SHIELD.
She raised an inquiring eyebrow and he broke into a grin. “Congratulations, Lewis. You’re going back in time.”
She gave a shocked laugh. That was not anything she was expecting to hear. “Sweet. I’ve always wanted a DeLorean.”
“You think I’m joking.” Tony nodded, but continued smiling. “Yeah, I thought it was a joke too when I got a delivery this morning from the Stark Industry archives. Apparently, your hire triggered some sort of contingency plan my dad had set up.”
“What? Did you get a telegram?” Darcy asked, expecting she was on the receiving end of some strange “Welcome to the Avenger’s Madhouse” prank or something.
“Funny, McFly. Hmm, I guess that would make Dad Doc Brown. Or at least 50s Doc Brown. Doctor Foster is 80s Doc Brown that sends you to 1943. Weird.” He shrugged. “Take a look.” He gestured to the box in front of him.
Darcy cautiously approached and looked down into the box. On top was a yellowed envelope with an old Art Deco version of the Stark Industries logo and her name written on the front in her own handwriting. She picked it up and looked at Tony for permission to open it. He just waved his hand at her to go ahead.
Dear 2013 Darcy,
This is not a joke. You will be going back in time soon to 1943. So that you know this is true, I’ll tell you something you have never told any other living soul.
“Holy shit!” She dropped the letter and collapsed onto a stool. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. Jane was trying to bend the fabric of the universe, so of course, she would end up accidentally sending Darcy back into time. To a world at war, no less. “What the fuck?!”
She opened her eyes, locking gazes with Tony and he smirked at her. “I believe the proper exclamation would be ‘Great Scott!’”
She shot him a dirty look, but could stop herself from saying, “This is heavy.”
He chuckled in response. “Keep that sense of humor, Lewis. You’re going to need it.” Tony reached into the box and pulled out a small card. He studied it for a moment before flipping it around to show to her. “Nice hair.”
It was an old Stark Industries ID card with a black and white photo of her with an elaborate 40s hairstyle and retro cat-eye glasses. It was either Darcy herself or a very impressive photoshop job.
Tony set it on the table between them and looked down at it, musing, “I always wanted to meet the infamous Miss Lewis. You were- or will be- Dad’s favorite research assistant. Apparently, you ruined him for any other assistants. You were the standard which could never be met again which he frequently expressed loudly to his later assistants. You’re probably responsible for quite a few inferiority complexes among the R&D department during Dad’s time.”
“Not that doesn’t sound awesome and all, but do I get stuck in the past?” Darcy had a weakness for old movies and had always thought it might be fun to step into the world of one of those films, but only for a few days. She was a modern woman and she had no desire to live permanently in a world pre- Women’s Movement. Not to mention pre- television, internet, and cell phones.
“According to Dad’s letter to ‘Tony Jarvis’.” He made an irritated face and held up the envelope to her. “Which I’m assuming is me. I think.”
Darcy rolled her eyes. “I probably didn’t want to fuck up the timeline by telling him too much.” At least that seemed like a good plan based on all the time travel movies she’d seen. It wasn’t like she was a quantum physicist or whatever. “I’d hate for you not to be born if I told your dad he was going to have a kid. Maybe you were an accident.”
A strange look flickered across Tony’s face, before that sardonic know-it-all expression was back. Maybe she had accidentally hit a little close to home. From what she knew it seemed like Tony had been born late in Howard Stark’s life. “Anyway, according to the letter you do leave the past in 1945. We can only assume that Dad successfully manages to send you back.” He grinned as if he couldn’t help tagging on, “To the future.”
Darcy sighed. “So, I’ll be in the 40s for 2 years? During the height of World War 2?”
“Better start practicing your jitterbug, McFly.”