xp_logs | Kevin & Darcy

xp_darcy posting in

Kevin brings up Darcy's sleeping habits, and she counters with his seeming lack of care about his own safety.

Darcy hummed to herself from her place in the corner of Kevin's couch, knees providing a perch for the file she was annotating. It was late and quiet, streetlights filtering through the blinds, and the quiet click of Kevin's fingers on his keyboard were a comforting bit of white noise while she engrossed herself in work.

She was so immersed, in fact, that she didn't notice the noise had stopped until she heard the turn of the doorknob. Her head came up slowly, mouth opening in a question even before she registered the stern look being directed at her. "Everything ok, Boss?" Her tone was light, but her eyebrows had furrowed in confusion as she took in his face and tux.

"Based on my count, this is your second day not being home overnight." His tuxedo was classic Sinatra and stained like classic Carrie. He tossed the jacket in the rubbish bin as he passed it. "Any reason you don't want to go back to the mansion?"

"Busy," she replied, ducking her head back down to her files. "Lot of data to go through. Needs done. Any reason you look like a slasher flick? I didn't realize you'd gone out."

"Meeting went bad. You can delete Paolo Alphonso from the files." He said. "And don't change the subject. There's nothing busy enough that you need to be here around the clock."

She made a notation on her notepad, but closed the file she'd been looking at and set it to the side. "That's obviously not true, or you wouldn't be here right now." Her feet hit the floor quietly, padding across the room to him. "You've got blood behind your ear. Gods, Kevin, sit down and let me get you cleaned up before I get twitchy about it. You can interrogate me while I make you look a little less Murder King."

"Well, it could be worse. I could be Paolo." He gave her an entirely sinister grin with the streaks of blood on his face. "I have some fresh clothes in the closet. Can you grab a shirt and a suit? Fuck, he bled like a pig."

She didn't bother dignifying his ask with a response, moving to the closet to make a decision. "Is that more of a 'You are what you eat' or a clever reference to his tendency to squeal to the cops?" she asked, giving the suits a quick glance before grabbing one and a white shirt. "Drink first, or cleaning yourself up?"

"God yes, a drink. Two. Or three, if you want one." He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, for which he was often teased about, and wiped his face. "Wait, why are you here again? Did you have a fight with... someone?"

"Two and a half, gotcha." She went to the liquor cabinet and grabbed two standard glasses, pouring with a steady hand. "I got busy working with the machine, and then it was nice and quiet so I thought I'd do some files too. Lost track of time. You know I haven't been sleeping the greatest. Well, I assume you noticed, since I haven't really been trying to hide it. Sometimes it's easier to take a few shorter naps than try and get a whole night of sleep." She set both glasses at his elbow, holding her hand out for the small square of fabric. "Let me?"

He took a long swallow before handing over the handkerchief. "Of course. But you shouldn't do that. It's a bad habit. You'll burn yourself out."

It's not every night, and it's usually not even two nights in a row," Darcy replied, moving back to the liquor cabinet and digging for one of the small bottles of water she kept for herself in it. A light splash, and it was wet enough for what she needed. "I'm not going to burn out. I kept much more ridiculous hours working for the scientists and while I was in law school. I doubt I've got the worst sleep schedule of our bunch, I just stopped hiding in my room until acceptable hours." The damp corner of the cloth scrubbed gently over his ear and the space just below it, stubborn drops of blood further staining it. "How on earth did you get blood over your ear like this? Did you slash his neck with a steak knife or something while he was standing next to you?" Her voice was faintly scandalized at the thought.

"He decided that he no longer liked our deal. And he thought he was clever by hiding some guys close by." Kevin said. "I had to improvise and, well, arterial spray."

"Glad your reflexes are so good," she murmured, taking a slow sip from the second glass as she thought through the potential consequences of what she wanted to do. "You know, we keep going like this and you might as well give me the title of murder assistant," she continued lightly, setting the glass back at his elbow and circling behind him, occasionally reaching out to swipe a stray spot of blood off until she couldn't see anymore, thumb lightly rubbing over the nape of his neck. "You want to tell me why you went out without saying anything? I was in here, it would've been easy to give me a heads-up just in case."

"Meet was scheduled." Kevin shrugged. "Slaughter wasn't, but that happens at times. Besides, Paolo was supposed to be solid. He's been providing info to us for years. Better question is why did he decide to flip now."

"Was he desperate or calculated about it? My gut says the most likely options are bigger payout--and if it was calculated, that's what I'd lean towards--or something he saw as a bigger threat. If it was desperate, I'd almost bet money on a threat to a loved one. Maybe himself, but less likely." Darcy moved as she thought about the limited information he had. "He's got a kid in school, I think? So some surveillance photos of routine locations, something with less routine locations to imply they can get to the kid at any time... desperate parents are pretty dangerous."

"Might be." He took a long drink before getting up from his chair and peeling off the bloody shirt. It was torn in several places and there were several slashes, suggesting not all the blood on it was from other people. "Shame. That was a new one." He tossed the jacket into the waste bin.

Darcy stopped in the middle of the room, arms crossed over her chest as she gave him a stern look. "Of course he stabbed you and you didn't say anything. Of course. Fuck's sake, Boss. I know you heal, but you don't have to be ridiculous about it. You need a shower, and I need the rest of your bloody clothes so you stop tracking blood stains across the office."

"Why would I? I appreciate the concern, Darcy, but powers, remember?" He said, stepping out of his ruined pants. He went over to his small on-suite and pulled a towel out to pass it under the water and start to clean up. "I didn't mean to freak you out with the blood, but remember, some things apply differently to me because of them."

Darcy let out a sigh, leaning against the door frame as she watched him clean up. "I know you do, and after the initial shock of seeing you like that I deal, but..." she trailed off for a moment. When she continued, her voice was quietly serious. "I worry about your lack of regard for your own safety. Your powers, I know. Doing things you can heal from to spare those of us who can't. But I'm starting to wonder if you're doing it when it's the only option. The last resort. The actual best option. Or if it's becoming the easy option. Kevin can't die, he'll heal, he can take it." Her eyes were sharp as she pushed off the frame, taking a small step that had her standing just off-center of his back. "Is this your absolution? Some latent Catholic guilt eating at your brain?"

"I haven't been a Catholic since before your grandparents were born." Kevin said as he wet the towel and began to clean up the patches Darcy hadn't seen. "I didn't walk into this meeting expecting a bloodbath. And I wasn't trying to martyr myself. But... this is tactical. The same reason that I deploy people towards certain situations is the reason I take others. Because we're in the best position to handle it. Sometimes, it gets a bit messy, but it is smart."

Darcy laughed. "Gran would appreciate the compliment, but she's got a few years on you." The comment about deploying people toward certain situations made something ping in the back of her mind, but she shoved it further back. Not the time to split thoughts like that. She poked him lightly in the back, just over a long, shallow slash that was already healing. "I'll take your word for it, but I'm still going to worry. We're a team, I worry about my people." She gave him a small smile through the mirror. "Give that a rinse and hand it over once you're done with the front, you've got blood on your back."

"Do I? Shit. That fucker." He followed her instructions, passing back over the cloth. "Got him with a broken bottle."

Darcy traced a long line across his back, following with the cloth. "It's mostly healed up, very Zorro insult slash. You've got a trail of blood going all the way down your back, though. I'm pretty sure it looks worse than it was." She reached around him to wring the cloth out, letting it sit on the sink as she scrubbed her hands. "I know you weren't trying to martyr yourself tonight. We'd be having a very different conversation if you were. There would be emotions."

"Relax. After all, just because it can't kill me doesn't mean it's any fun. Getting slit up hurts." He concentrated for a moment, clearing the last of any wounds. He grabbed a second towel and scrubbed himself dry quickly and started to pull on his shirt. "This is an operational risk for all of us, including you. So take this as a 'this is why we never get complacent in the field' lesson. A... what did Colbert call it? Teachable moment."

"Pretty sure that's still like 85% of my moments in the office, Boss." Darcy gave him a wry grin, turning and stepping out of the space to add his ruined slacks to the rest of the trash. "Do you have peroxide in there?" she called over her shoulder as she pulled out a bleach wipe and started wiping things down. "There's a little bit of blood on the rug and your chair, I can get it out while you run the rest down to the incinerator. Or you can keep asking questions about my sleeping habits and I can get annoyed enough to show off my new trick."

"I do not. No chance of infection and it mixes terribly with tonic. But there should be some in the kitchen." He said, slipping into new pants and a jacket, looking at least mostly back to normal. "Also, no electricity. We saw what happened the last time I ran into a giant shock." He collected the bag of ruined clothes from her.

"Maybe I want Nora to visit for another week," she teased. "I wouldn't even run into things this time. But no, I wouldn't.. at least not a shock strong enough to do that to you, unless we were specifically testing it. Maybe we should. Give Barton something to do that isn't staring at the damn portal like he's currently doing."

"Barton's portal... thing is important. I'm told. I don't mind being a guinea pig for your powers experiments, but strictly controlled environments. I did not enjoy going back to sweating and hangovers."

"Stabilizing an Einstein-Rosen bridge is exceptionally important, yes. I would never downplay the importance of Jane's life work, but sleeping, hygiene, and just taking simple breaks from the work to refresh your mind is also important. But my understanding is that a lot of it right now is watching and recording, and there's an entire house of people we could train enough to share that burden. I offered my help and advised him on what I know from my time with Jane." Darcy shrugged uncomfortably, a small frown on her face. "Clint was... is my friend, but he's also an adult and can choose whether or not he'd like to listen and apply that information." Her fingertips worried the hem of her sweater, voice soft. "I don't have the the time or energy to make sure he's taking care of himself, and he hasn't chosen to involve me enough to make sure the data's not being affected by--" she waved one hand broadly in the air, an indication of everything she'd mentioned, then abruptly changed the conversation. "Jean-Phillipe is training me. Once he thinks my control is stable enough maybe you can watch a session and be my guinea pig."

"I offered him a job. But he thinks the wormhole is more important right now. Maybe trust him." Kevin said, but there was no judgment in his voice. "As for powers, just let me know. I'm happy to help out."

Darcy shut her mouth behind a smile. "Of course." She opened the door of the office, waving him past. "Will that be all, Boss?"

"Go home. Get some proper sleep. All of this... including me, can wait until tomorrow."