#the incrediblesverse

[punkeropercyjackson]

Bro............This is so fucking good and i say that without a hint of irony,why'd we ever stop making multicrossovers and why'd we never make them girl ones

[aenariasbookshelf]

Darcy and Jane’s Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip, part seven

The continuing road trip adventures of a Jane Foster attempting to avoid the US Government and a heavily pregnant Darcy Lewis just keep expanding.  

Technically this fic takes place in an alternate universe offshoot of The Incrediblesverse, but you don’t have to read those fics to understand this one.

(parts one and two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six)

At some point I’ll edit this thing up and post it properly to AO3 (and get a proper title…and chapter breaks…you know how it goes.  This story seems to have taken on a life of its own).  Until such time, however, this story will live here on Tumblr…

I’ve started posting the story on AO3 here.  I’ve only got the first part up there, but it’s been expanded greatly, so I do recommend checking it out.  Someday soon I’ll put the rest up there as well.

Infinity War spoilers ahead…

Chapter seven summary: in which the women run into some interesting people in the desert, and a smidgen of plot starts to rear its head.

A/n: it has taken me far, far too long to get back to this story.  I won’t burden you with the details here, but it’s been a long few months for me for various reasons.  But, things have settled down for the moment, and I finally have a little time to do some real writing. (I should be job hunting, but job hunting is the absolute worst, so I’m alternating between fic and the search.)  If it helps, this chapter is a lot bigger than some of the other ones at over 2700 words?  Unbeta’d, but none of the chapters that have been posted on Tumblr have been, so par for the course.

In this chapter, we finally get a smidgen of plot coming that’s a little bit more than just driving through the desert.  I do want to forewarn people, especially those people who are very familiar with the comics more so than the movies, that I am playing fast and loose with some elements of comics canon in order to create my story here.  If you have any questions about what those aspects are, please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll be happy to explain!  If you’re looking for a faithful interpretation of those aspects, however, that’s probably not this story.

Okay, I’m shutting up now, and letting the story speak for itself.

**********

Part Seven

Their car eats up the miles through the night, zipping along empty roads underneath a bright, starry sky.  Jane’s laser focused on driving, leaving the main highway to slip along the parallel service roads and abandoned paths just in case their trip is being monitored by less than savory characters.  Kate’s in the back performing maintenance on her bow, keeping it ready for whatever could come their way.  

And Darcy is sitting still in the front seat, eyes closed and deeply breathing as she tries to bring her body under control.  Her blood is singing in her veins, like she’s got the energy of the universe inside of her, and while she can tell it wants to explode out, this is not at all the time for it.  Priority number one is keeping her baby and herself safe, no matter how much there’s a part of her screaming to fight back against the insanity and chaos in the universe.  

Eventually the meditation gives way to pure sleep, dozing off for a while.  It’s not deep enough to dream, but enough to rest a little bit.

Darcy awakens when the car rolls to a slow halt.  “What’s going on?” she asks, blearily, shifting her off balance body up in the seat a little bit so she can see out the window.

“Rest stop…I think,” Kate replies from the back seat, opening the window so she can stick her head outside of it into the night time.

Ahead of them and down the gentle slope of the pavement, set up along the side of the road, there’s what appears to be a tent city, dozens of tents and campers and shanties and cars stretched out into the desert, all the way to what appears to be the outskirts of the next small town along the highway.  Strings of lights are woven between makeshift lanes in the dirt, lighting up the night.  “What the hell?” Darcy mutters.

“They’ve got half of the highway blocked, too,” Jane says, her hands clenching on the wheel.  “We may have to stop for a little bit before we can get past this.”

“Is going around an option?” Kate asks.

Darcy purses her lips, looking around to the other side.  “I don’t think so.  The ground’s pretty flat, which means they could see us try to avoid them.”

“I think it may be a little late for that.”  Jane puts the car back into gear, waving a hand at the windshield.  Beyond it, off in the distance but getting closer to them by the second, are a couple of sets of car headlights.  “Got your weapons ready, just in case?”  She inches the car down the road, slowly, until they’re within an arm’s length of the other cars.  “Game faces on,” Jane breathes out, and Darcy can tell she’s trying to hold back the shakes.  “Play nice, and we’ll be on our way.”

There’s a part of Darcy that hopes like hell these people are harmless and will let them be on their way quickly, but that may be too much to ask.  

Jane opens the door and stands up behind it, keeping the bulk of the metal between them like a shield.  “Hello!” she calls out.  “How are you tonight?”

A middle aged woman emerges from the first car, slender and tanned with wrinkles, faded salt and pepper hair, and a welcoming smile, and waves at them.  Another man steps out from the backseat, half hidden in shadows, but looking like every damn bodyguard Darcy’s ever seen on television.  “Hi yourselves,” she replies.  There’s a shotgun slung across her back though, and Darcy glances over her shoulder at Kate, who looks about as worried as Darcy feels at that moment.  

Jane pushes some hair out of her face, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.  Jane’s deceptive looking though, as Darcy has learned from experience.  She looks like she could be knocked sideways by a strong wind, but she’ll lay someone flat without warning if she has to.  “Can we help you with anything?” Jane says.

The woman opens her arms, invitingly, gesturing at the tent city next to them.  “We just wanted to open our arms and provide some hospitality if needed.  Our church has opened these tents to provide shelter to anyone who needs it as there are a lot of people who have found themselves wandering aimlessly now that the end times have arrived.”

“Oh, crap,” Kate grumbles right in Darcy’s ear.

“As long as they don’t offer us any Kool-Aid?” Darcy fires back.

Jane waves her free hand through the door to shut them up, because it is not the time for jokes (even though being a smartass is the best way to cope, in all their experiences).  “We actually have a planned destination and people we’re scheduled to meet, but thank you for the offer,” Jane replies.  She holds her breath as the bodyguard strokes a hand up and down his shotgun, and her hand clenches on the car door.  

“Are you certain?” the woman says, her voice soft and sweet enough to make Jane that much more nervous.  “We’ve got some comforts for travelers, and it’s not always safe to travel through the desert this late at night.”  There’s a backbone of steel in the woman’s words, and Darcy doesn’t like the feeling it stirs up in her stomach.

“Let me speak to my companions, and see what they say.”  Jane drops down, eyes flicking back and forth between Darcy and Kate.  “Gut instinct is telling me that if we poke our head in for five minutes with them and then leave it’ll be the least problematic way to get out of this.”  

“No offense to your gut,” Kate says, “but that sounds like the worst idea ever.  I’ve been trained by Clint Barton; I know bad ideas when I hear them.”

“You want to try and negotiate with them, go right ahead, but we are out armed and out numbered.”

Darcy shakes her head slowly, trying to dislodge the feeling of unease settling in her bones and failing utterly.  “I don’t trust these people either, but it may be better to play this subtly rather than just running like hell.  Chances are they don’t trust us either.  If we prove to them quickly that we are harmless and no danger, we may have a better chance of getting out of here sooner rather than later.”

Kate grimaces, though she doesn’t disagree.  “No matter what I’m bringing my bow with me.”

“Fair deal.”  This time, her gaze lands squarely on Darcy.  “How’s your bladder doing?”

Darcy pauses, then squirms in her seat uncomfortably.  “Dammit, you had to remind me.”

“And there’s our excuse.  Keep your taser in your bag and your fingers ready.”

(They both know that if it means she can save herself, that there’s no problem whatsoever with Darcy using that energy to protect herself and her baby.)

Jane straightens up again and puts her most winning smile on her face.  “We could use a bit of a rest stop, it sounds like,” she calls out.  “Just for a little bit.”

The woman smiles at them again, slick and gleaming in the cars’ headlights.  “Sure thing!  Just follow us to the parking area and we’ll get you nice and comfortable.”

**********

Small mercies, the parking lot is pretty much right on the side of the road, next to a large tent with open sides that’s sheltering a bunch of picnic tables and chairs, with a firepit just beyond there.  Jane’s reassured by the fact that there are both adults and children huddled around the fire, chatting in calm, low voices while the children sleep curled up in their parents’ arms.  

“The toilets are just down there.”  The bodyguard points down one of the makeshift pathways, strung up with christmas lights to bring a little illumination to the night.  “Follow the green lights, then make a right.  The doors are marked.”

“Thanks,” Darcy nods.

“I’ll come with,” Kate says, adjusting her quiver so it lays flat on her back.  No one from the compound had blinked when she’d pulled the bow out of the car, which was another good sign, but they’ll still have to pry the bow from her cold dead fingers if they want to take it away from her.

Jane watches as the two stroll off in search of the bathrooms, then perches herself on the edge of one of the picnic tables.  She doesn’t feel like she can relax, not yet and probably not until they hit the road again, but their hosts definitely don’t need to know that.  “You’ve got a very homey setup here, Ms, uh,” she starts.

“Shelby,” the woman interjects, settling herself on the bench of the table opposite Jane.  “Rae Shelby.  I’m one of the Matrons here.”

“A Matron?  Is that like a nun?”

Rae laughs, slinging her gun off of her shoulder and propping it up next to the table, still within reach.  “Not hardly.  The Universal Church of Truth doesn’t believe that celibacy is a requirement.  A matron’s really just one of the caretakers of the Church’s traditions,” she says, her soft Texan accent making the words almost sing.  

“I can’t say I’ve heard of your church before,” Jane replies, a slight frown on her face.  

“Well, we do kinda prefer it that way,” Rae says with a tinkling laugh.  “Centuries have passed with our Church flying under the radar.  But the world’s changed now, and He’s finally woken up, so we thought it was a good time to make our presence known.”

“He?”

**********

“I swear to god, I spend more of my time peeing these days than anything else,” Kate hears Darcy grumble through the door of the, well, glorified outhouse.

“It could always be worse?” Kate replies, though even she doesn’t quite believe the words that are coming out of her mouth right then.  The death glare that Darcy gives her when she comes back out is enough to tell her that she’s full of shit also.  “I know, I know,” Kate says with a rueful shake of her head.  “How much longer do you have to go?”

“About a month, I think.”  Darcy liberally douses her hands in the anti-bacterial lotion placed just outside the bathroom door.  “It’s weird, though.  I can feel like my body’s getting ready to drop this little parasite out, finally.”

“That’s a charming way to talk about your future child.”

“It’s all meant with affection.  Besides,” Darcy says with a shrug, “if I can’t keep some sense of lighthearted hope up these days, what’s the point of going forward?”

Kate cocks her head in agreement, because yeah, what’s the point of it all without hope?  “All right, my turn.  I’ll be back in a minute - stay put, please?”

Darcy snorts indelicately.  “I’m not going anywhere fast these days.”

When Kate emerges not two minutes later Darcy’s disappeared, a pair of dusty footprints leading deeper into the desert.

“Dammit!”

Kate hustles down the footpaths, following the markings of Darcy’s steps in the dirt.  She’s more used to tracking down people in the city, but it doesn’t take that much skill to see the footprints a heavily pregnant woman leaves behind.  Luckily, she doesn’t have too far to go before she finds Darcy again, standing at the line where the tents and huts stop and the desert truly takes over, but Kate feels everything inside of her come to a grinding, crunching halt when she sees what’s captured Darcy’s attention.  “What the hell is that?” Kate breathes out.

The statue looms over them - and statue seems like a very weak word to describe what she’s seeing.  Kate had seen the Statue of Liberty as a kid, every school kid in New York City’s been dragged to visit at one time or another, and the statue in front of her now downright dwarfs that.  It gleams gold in the moonlight, reflecting back the lamps from the tent village, and looks vaguely human, though it’s lacking details in just about everything but the face, which has a heavy, white veil draped around it.

‘Faces’, Kate corrects herself.  The face at the front of the statue is entirely unveiled, mouth unsmiling and eyes downturned and dull.  On one side of the head another face is half veiled, the frowning, stern mouth still visible in the air.  The other side of the heady is fully veiled, the bumps of the nose and mouth covered completely by the white veil.  There’s something else lurking there, just beyond the fabric, but Kate can’t pinpoint what it is.  It’s enough to send her stomach squirreling away in fear.  “What the fuck am I looking at?”

“I don’t know.” Darcy shakes her head.  “I thought I heard someone yelling, but I don’t think it was that.”

“But what even is that???”

“It’s called the Tribunal,” a soft voice says from behind them, followed by footsteps coming closer and closer.  “The Living Tribunal, technically, but he seems to be dozing right now.  He only wakes up when it’s necessary these days.”  Darcy and Kate turn, nearly as one, to see a boy in his late teens standing there, tall and lanky in dirty jeans, blond hair pushed away from his eyes by a bandanna.

“That thing’s alive?” Darcy jabs a thumb in the Tribunal’s direction.

The boy nods, turning bright blue eyes on them.  “Yeah.  Older and more alive than us humans.  He’s been asleep for a long, long time, though.  It was only after the world went to shit that he woke up to cast judgement upon us,” he finishes with a flourish of his arms.

‘Great, another crazy cultist,’ Kate thinks, resisting the urge to kneecap the teen with an arrow and haul Darcy all the way back to the car as soon as Darcy’s pregnant stomach will allow.  “How does he judge you?” Kate asks instead.  Any ammo to get themselves safely out of this situation, she’ll take.

“I don’t know what the criteria is.  The Church isn’t exactly clear about it.  But if the Tribunal doesn’t like you?”  He runs a finger across his neck swiftly, head tilting to the side with his eyes crossing.

Darcy rolls her eyes at that one.  “So basically, they’re the men behind the curtain using the statue as a creative method of execution.”  Kate can clearly hear the skepticism in her voice, though the pale cast the boy’s face has, combined with the nervous twitching of his hands tells her something different. 

“I’m not lying, I swear,” the boy says, shaking his head rapidly.  “He’s older than the church; there’s no way they can control him.  But we’re all safer when he’s asleep, unlike tomorrow night when they’re going to wake him up so that they can try and feed me to him!  I was told once that the Living Tribunal sits in judgement of all of the universes out there, not just our planet, not just our galaxy, but every single one of the millions of universes out there.  He casts his judgment to make sure that the universes are kept in perfect balance and right now?”  The boy waves his arms around, practically flailing at the desert and making Kate and Darcy take a couple of quick steps back.  “Thanks to Thanos and those damn Infinity Stones we are so far off balance the see-saw’s broken!”

Without warning, the boy winces, eyes falling shut as he crumples to the ground with an uncomfortable thud.  Behind him stand two men, one of whom Kate recognizes as the bodyguard who had cornered their car before.  “My apologies, ladies,” he says.  “This piece of trash shouldn’t have escaped from his tent.”  He finishes up with a kick to the boy’s leg, but the boy’s so insensate he just groans, face half in the dirt.  

“It’s okay; he wasn’t bothering us at all.”  Darcy’s still staring at the boy, hands twisting over and over in front of her.   

“Regardless.”  The bodyguard turns to his companion with a sharp jerk of his chin.  “Take him back to the trailer.  I’ll make sure the ladies get back to Mrs. Shelby.”

The message is clear, and Darcy and Kate are silent as they follow the bodyguard back towards the tents.  They keep glancing back over their shoulders at the boy who’s being dragged away, until he’s out of sight.

[wipbigbang]

New Fic: Wakanda 2019 (i've seen the lights go out in new mexico)

Story Title: Wakanda 2019 (i’ve seen the lights go out in New Mexico) By: Aenaria Fandom: MCU Link: AO3 Summary:

So…that happened. Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down. Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda. The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done. But, Darcy and Jane aren’t going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they’re going to make it through, safe and whole.

An Interesting Times/Incrediblesverse story…kind of.

Warnings: No archive warnings apply Characters: Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanov, Thor, and maybe a couple of others showing up but I don’t want to spoil it… Pairings: Darcy/Steve (this is me, so this should not be surprising at ALL) When I Started: About a day after I saw Infinity War, so somewhere in April 2018. How I Lost My Shit: The combination of depression and anxiety is a nasty little brat.  Combine that with a lost job, a lost apartment, and a living situation that wasn’t good for my mental health for about a year, and you have the perfect storm that saps a lot of desire to write anything substantial. How I Finished My Shit: Having a deadline is a surprising help, which is why this big bang is one of the best ones out there.  Also having friends who kicked my ass into writing as well.  I love all of you. The fanmix for this story by the fantastic Ragna can be found here.  Please go give her excellent work some love, because she is awesome and deserves all good things in this world.

[fuckyeahdarcylewis]

Frigga’s Day

by Aenaria

Scenes from a wedding day, 2022. An Incrediblesverse story, guest starring some familiar faces who have gathered to celebrate the wedding of Darcy Lewis and Steve Rogers (or whatever alias he’s using now).

Words: 1980, Chapters: 1/5, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of Interesting Times

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Black Panther (2018)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen

Characters: Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Original Child Character(s), Jane Foster (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri

Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers

Additional Tags: Unrepentant Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, Kidfic, Families of Choice, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Series, 2014 timeline is a thing here and I'm going to embrace it, Wedding Fluff, And Other Shenanigans, inspired by 'The Incredibles', ShieldShock - Freeform

via AO3 works tagged 'Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers' https://ift.tt/2SfuHSo

[thebiscuiteternal]

With a little encouragement from @lohelim and @notllorstel I decided to show y’all my Incrediblesverse Dragonfly burglar.

Crystal Amburn, a Selina Kyle-like figure from the 30s and 40s. She’s getting on and getting grey and doing quite well in her current job as a museum curator (the irony was lost neither on her, nor the agent who worked with her), but she can still fit into her dress and the suit she always hid under it. The fake wings were a flashy ruse to hide the fact that she could sprout and shed real ones.

[darcy-and-steve]

by Aenaria

So...that happened. Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down. Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda. The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda before the world goes too crazy, but given that a good part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, while another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, that may be easier said than done.

An Interesting Times/Incrediblesverse story...kind of.

Words: 1582, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 5 of Interesting Times

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Black Panther (2018), Marvel (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen

Characters: Jane Foster (Marvel), Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, maybe a couple others showing up but I don't want to spoil it just yet...

Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis

Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Road Trips, post-apocalyptic...kind of, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, this means that all the bad shit that happened in that movie happened here also, pregnancy fic, it's the end of the world as we know it and the girls aren't going to take it lying down, Incrediblesverse, Kidfic, did I mention the spoilers?

darcysteve love via AO3 works tagged 'Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers'

[ao3feed-janefoster]

Frigga’s Day

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SfuHSo

by Aenaria

Scenes from a wedding day, 2022. An Incrediblesverse story, guest starring some familiar faces who have gathered to celebrate the wedding of Darcy Lewis and Steve Rogers (or whatever alias he’s using now).

Words: 1980, Chapters: 1/5, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of Interesting Times

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Black Panther (2018)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen

Characters: Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Original Child Character(s), Jane Foster (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri

Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers

Additional Tags: Unrepentant Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, Kidfic, Families of Choice, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Series, 2014 timeline is a thing here and I'm going to embrace it, Wedding Fluff, And Other Shenanigans, inspired by 'The Incredibles', ShieldShock - Freeform

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SfuHSo

[aenariasbookshelf]

Darcy and Jane’s Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip, part six

The continuing road trip adventures of a Jane Foster attempting to avoid the US Government and a heavily pregnant Darcy Lewis just keep expanding.  

Technically this fic takes place in an alternate universe offshoot of The Incrediblesverse, but you don’t have to read those fics to understand this one.

(parts one and two) (part three) (part four) (part five)

At some point I’ll edit this thing up and post it properly to AO3 (and get a proper title...and chapter breaks...you know how it goes.  This story seems to have taken on a life of its own).  Until such time, however, this story will live here on Tumblr…

I’ve started posting the story on AO3 here.  I’ve only got the first part up there, but it’s been expanded greatly, so I do recommend checking it out.  Someday soon I’ll put the rest up there as well.

Infinity War spoilers ahead…

Part Six: in which the women spend some time on the road, ask a few questions, and maybe a little explosion or two.

I’ll admit, I’m not as thrilled with this chapter as I’ve been with others, but it’s at the point where it’s not worth holding back and fiddling with anymore.  And, if I post it now, then I can move on to the next chapter which is where things are going to get a bit more interesting...

This chapter does refer to something about Darcy that’s been brought up in the Incrediblesverse numerous times, though not in this spin off...until now.  Any questions, you should probably refer back to the original story line, or ask me - I’m more than happy to answer your questions. :)

**********

It's hard to talk with a stranger camped out in their backseat, even if that stranger has been vetted by Steve and was specifically sent there to keep them safe.  Still, she did get Darcy out of a sticky situation back at the store, and she trusts Steve's judgement.  "Soooo...why archery?" Darcy asks, twisting around in her seat to look at Kate.

Kate's busy sorting through her cache of new arrows, sorting them into stacked piles that mean something only to her.  "It's one of the few acceptable rich kid hobbies," she replies, not looking up from her handiwork.  "At least according to my dad.  Not like he paid much attention anyway.  He barely even blinked when I told him I was heading out to Iowa to train with the best archer around."  She looks up, rolling her eyes rapidly.  "Actually, no, what he asked was why the hell would I even want to head out to Iowa?  Said that there's nothing out there but corn."  She shakes her head.  "Yeah, he's one of those."  

"Is bodyguarding something you do often?  Or is this just a side job for you?" "How much of an answer do you really want to that question?" Darcy sighs, pressing her fingertips against her temples as her eyes fall closed.  "Oy vey." Kate leans in closer, poking her head between the two front seats with a smirk.  "All right, my turn to ask questions - how do you know Captain America?" "I bought him a slice of pie once." **********

Of course, of course one of the tires on the SUV has to blow, right after sunset, in what's probably the most middle of nowhere place Darcy's ever seen.  Even the tumbleweeds seem lonely, she thinks, exiting the car and stretching her legs a bit, staring off across the gloom, towards the rainbow of colors lining the far off horizon.  It's surprisingly warm out, even though there's still a chill in the air.  Desert nights are very strange, she's learned over the years.  "Please tell me we've got a spare," she asks, peering around the corner of the car where Jane and Kate are attempting to clear a space in the trunk compartment.   "Just one, but it should be enough."  Jane wipes some sweat off of her forehead, and readjusts the little headlamp perched there.  "We'll be fine as long as we don't lose any more tires." Kate hops onto the back bumper so she can get a better look at the roof rack.  "We can probably stash a few spare tires up here, if we can find a place tomorrow that still has any." "We can put the dead one up there first - I've got more than a few bungee cords back here."  Jane grunts, then there's a scratching noise and a solid thump, the sound of the spare tire hitting the ground with a cloud of dust puffing up after it.  "There we go.  Do you see a jack in there also?" "I think so?  I hope so." "Well, you two have fun sorting that out.  I'm going to go find a boulder to pee behind." Darcy knows not to wander too far into the desert, not at night and especially not after the apocalypse, but it's good to get out for a bit.  To shake the dust off of her feet and her skin and soak in the night air.  She turns her face up to the sky - out here all the stars are visible, twinkling down like everything on Earth is as usual and all they have to do is shine on.  But she knows that's not the case, from the tale that Steve had told her and the feeling inside of her bones that something is deeply, profoundly wrong in the entire universe right now.  A lazy elbow from her baby glides across the inside of her stomach, pulling her back inside her body, and she runs her fingertips over the little protrusion, feeling him push against the pressure.  "We're gonna get through this, baby," she murmurs. The baby kicks at her again, and Darcy shakes her head, smiling.  "All right, let's find a place to pee before you kick my bladder open." ********** "So, what makes you so special?" Jane doesn't startle or drop the wrench at Kate's blunt question, though it's a very near thing.  "Excuse me?" Kate taps her fingers on the tire that she's holding upright, and shrugs nonchalantly.  "It's not every day that Captain America reaches out to a retired fellow Avenger to get two people out of the country, especially when the world's gone to even more shit than we've ever seen before.  So...why you?" Jane continues loosening up the lug nuts of the tire, taking her time to think about the question.  She likes Kate well enough, but they've only known each other for a few hours, and Jane's not one to trust easily, not after everything she's been through.  And nobody but Darcy and Steve really needed to know just yet that she'd had one of those damn stones inside of her once upon a time and lived to tell the tale.  "I'm an astrophysicist," she settles on.  "I specialize in Einstein-Rosen bridges; wormholes that will let you travel between two otherwise unconnected places in space.  Given that this whole shitstorm was caused by crazy aliens from outer space, I guess the Captain thinks I can help them get out there to figure out more of what happened and get the Earth back to some semblance of normality."

“If we can even get back to what we once had,” Kate says with a heavy sigh.  “This may be our new normal.”

“Not if I can help it,” Jane says, grunting as she removes the final lug nut.  “All right, I can do this,” she mutters under her breath.  “I can build high tech, sensitive equipment to monitor the outer reaches of space, I can change a damn tire.”

**********

Darcy doesn’t go back to the car, not just yet.  Out here, under the desert night sky, it almost feels like the world hasn’t changed from a few weeks before.  Like if she just turns around and goes home, her mother will be there waiting with Steve so they can go to her next ultrasound appointment.  But that’s not the world anymore.  Hell, given the state of the world she doesn’t even know if her baby will have the opportunity to grow to adulthood, which is the scariest thought of all.

A shiver goes over her skin, making her feel even more unsettled than usual.  The sky’s gone fully dark now, but the moon is there, a glowing partial circle that manages to illuminate things here in the middle of nowhere.  And it looks...so innocuous.  Happy little stars and wispy little clouds that flutter past the moon.  But the rest of the universe is dealing with the same shit that Earth is also, if she understood Steve correctly.  

Half of the entire universe was obliterated in the blink of an eye.

Maybe there’s a universe next door that they can escape to for a little while.

There’s a rustling off to the side of her somewhere, low and alarming.  Darcy stiffens up, head whipping around to try and pinpoint where the noise is coming from.  Dammit, shouldn’t have lingered, she thinks.  

The rustling happens again, and before Darcy can even think about running away she feels energy swell up under her skin, and a bright light flashes behind her eyes.

**********

“What the hell?” Kate says, spinning to try and see where the flash of light, followed quickly by a small cracking noise.  

“Darcy?” Jane calls out, dropping the wrench and straightening up.  The tire’s mostly done anyway, so she runs out into the desert, headlamp bobbing along, trying to follow where she’d last seen Darcy wander off.

“Dammit, Foster, wait up!”  But Jane’s got bigger things to worry about, namely making sure that Darcy hasn’t been injured by whatever they just saw out there.  If her suspicions are right, however, Jane’s fairly certain that light wasn’t something that was harming Darcy.  A minute later Kate catches up with her, arrows in one hand and bow in the other, ready to kick the ass of anything that gets in their path.  “I can’t,” she pants as they run, “protect you if you don’t wait for me!”

“Too bad!”

They run behind a boulder and then skid to a halt, because Darcy’s there, one hand on her belly and the other over her heart as she breathes heavily.  “Are you okay?  What the hell was that?” Kate asks.

“Yeah.”  Darcy waves her hand at the scrubby bushes, motion at the twisty little tracks in the dirt.  “I got spooked by a snake.  Sorry for freaking you out.”

Kate shakes her head, hefting her bow up high.  “That still doesn’t explain the flashy thing, or the noises.”

“Just drop it,” Jane sighs.

“But - “

“Let it be.”  Jane shakes her head.  “We don’t have time to linger.  Our goal is to get to Alice by dawn.”

The look Kate gives her is highly suspicious, but she doesn’t say anything because Darcy begins walking back to the car, leaving the other two to scramble after her.  Just before they reach the car, however, Jane pulls Darcy to the side, out of the earshot of Kate (she trusts her, she really does, but there are some things that Kate doesn’t need to know just yet.  “That was a flare up, wasn’t it?” she asks in a low voice.

Darcy nods, chewing at her lower lip.  Both women were all too aware of the sudden onset of Darcy’s explosive energy issues after their adventure with the Dark Elves, and while Jane hates to use the word magic because that implies there’s no cause or rationale behind what has happened, they haven’t found a satisfying scientific explanation yet.  Not even Thor knew what had really caused this in Darcy, though he was able to give Darcy some of his mother’s books on magic to at least help her channel the energy as needed.  

“There really was a snake,” Darcy says.  “I got spooked, and then bam.”  She flicks her eyes in the direction of the car, where Kate is settling down in the backseat.  “Once she’s asleep I’ll look at some of Frigga’s texts to see if I can find anything to help with this.”

“We can ask Thor once we see him also,” Jane points out.  “Maybe he’ll have some new ideas.”

“I hope so.”  Darcy runs a hand back through her hair, then over her stomach where even Jane can see a slight rippling where the baby’s moving inside.  “I feel better, but I can still feel the energy inside me wanting to come out.  It feels like...like it likes what’s happening in the universe about as much as the rest of us do right now.”

“So in other words, not much.”

“Yep.”  Darcy takes another deep breath, like she’s trying to center herself back on Earth and come down from the stars.  “Okay, you drive, and I’ll see if I can meditate so I don’t blow up another damn tumbleweed.”

[aenariasbookshelf]

Darcy and Jane’s Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip, part three

Continuing on from this post, the road trip adventures of a Jane Foster attempting to avoid the US Government and a heavily pregnant Darcy Lewis just keep expanding.  

Technically this fic takes place in an alternate universe offshoot of The Incrediblesverse, but you don’t have to read those fics to understand this one.  Parts one and two, however - you kinda need to read those. ;)

Infinity War spoilers ahead...

**********

"You know, I am this close to killing you right now, Steve."  Darcy rubs her head, her eyes falling shut with weariness.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Steve replies, the distant phone connection sounding fuzzy even with the advanced technology propping up the signal on Steve's side.  "There's no way we can get a jet over American airspace right now.  But we got a guy with a boat in Galveston, who can get you and Jane out to sea far enough that we can pick you and Jane up."

Darcy frowns, her hand moving to her lower back to try and rub away the constant tension there that's been building up in her hips and at the base of her spine.  "It's thirteen hours to Galveston.  And that's without stopping.  Your son keeps kicking at my bladder every five minutes, so we'll be lucky to go ten feet without a bathroom break."

Steve doesn't really have anything to say in response to that, probably because discretion is the better part of valor, but also, frankly, because it's damn true.  

She takes a deep breath, flicking her eyes over at Jane who's pacing in circles as she waits for the chat to be finished.  "What sort of time frame are we looking at to be in Galveston?"

There's a pause, like he's checking in with someone given the muffled sounds that still manage to sneak through.  "Do you think you could be there in three days?  That'll keep our window as narrow as possible for getting you out of there."

Darcy looks over at Jane again, who's scrabbling through her bag to try and find the giant book of road maps that she'd been using lately to try and stay as far off the radar as possible.  "It's definitely doable, even taking a slow, roundabout route, " Jane says, after a couple of moments and some quick mental calculations.  "We'll just have to get a bucket and some cat litter for Darcy just in case."

"Oh, fuck off, Jane," Darcy spits out, even though there's barely any heat behind it.  They've got a plan now, and that feels a hell of a lot better than just sitting around waiting for the world to end.

**********

Jane plots them out a route that avoids major highways and major cities - it may take them a little longer, but they both feel better staying away from the larger population centers right now.  "Don't worry about the car," Jane says as they work on emptying out the dry goods from the cabinets to take with them later that day.  "We'll use mine...well, it's sort of mine.  Mine now, at least."

"Jane!"

"What, it's not like Marchand's going to miss it."  Jane shrugs, looking at a box of crackers and tossing them into a carrier bag.  "He's dust just like the rest of them, and his car's got a hell of a lot better gas mileage than my old van did.  And Ross won't be looking for his plates, either, so there's another bonus."

Darcy shakes her head, focusing on the tiny little onesies in her hands that she's folding up to put in a duffel bag.  She's got no idea how long they'll be away, and as it's looking more and more likely she's going to give birth in a foreign country, it's best to be prepared.  Most of the car will be baby gear by the time they're done, she thinks.  “As long as it can get us out of town quickly, and the seats aren’t too uncomfortable, I won’t complain.”  She fits a few more onesies and some of the tiniest socks she’s ever seen in the bag, and zips it shut with a rough tug.  “Are we still on track to leave tonight?”

They’re giving themselves as much of the three days as they can to reach Galveston.  It’s more time than they’ll need going by the map, but with the state of the world outside, it’s better to not take a chance.  Between the Army Corps of Engineers setting up shelters for the people who have suddenly found themselves without caretakers, the religious zealots screaming loudly that the Rapture has happened and the world is ending, the people setting up heavily armed compounds in some more rural areas to defend against the oncoming aliens, and the assholes who just want to take advantage of the current state of lawlessness in the country at the moment, it may not be the easiest ride.

“Yes, we are,” Jane says as she hops off the counter and surveys the food that looks good for traveling with.  It’s not a lot, but if they don’t have to stop too much for food, all the better.  “If we leave by 9 pm tonight, we can make a stop at Walmart for some necessities, and can still be in Marfa by the morning if all goes well.  Then we make for the coast after some sleep and drive up that way.  We’ve got time to stop for some solid sleep during the trip, even if we end up sleeping in the car. ”

“And you’ve met the person we’re supposed to meet in Galveston?  I don’t want to get all the way down there only for this guy to turn out to be a serial killer or something like that.”  Darcy sighs, pushing some hair out of her face, feeling more frazzled than ever.  “I swear to god, the more pregnant I get the more paranoid I get.”  What she wouldn’t give to turn back the clock, where her biggest worries were related to impending parenthood, something nowhere near as cosmic as their current state.

Jane reaches for the notepad that she’s been planning out their trip on, scribbling briefly before coming over to crouch down in front of Darcy.  “Look, it’s practically the end of the world out there - you’re allowed to be paranoid.”  She takes her hands, squeezing them tightly.  “But I can tell you this for certain - yes, I know the man who we’re going to meet.  Hell, he used to be an Avenger once, even though he’s retired now.  His name is Clint Barton, and he never misses.”

By the time the sun’s set and the sky’s turned an inky blue color speckled with glittery stars, Darcy and Jane are in the car and heading for the coast, leaving the little apartment that’s been her and Steve’s home for the last few years behind.

[aenariasbookshelf]

Small miracle of miracles, I actually finished a chapter this afternoon...which actually also wraps up one of my open WIPs nicely. Huh. *pats self on back because this shit hasn't happened in months*

So, barring any drastic editing changes, stay tuned for some Shieldshock goodness in the Interesting Times series to be posted by the end of the week...

[aenariasbookshelf]

Chapters: 9/16 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Black Panther (2018), Marvel (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis Characters: Jane Foster (Marvel), Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, maybe a couple others showing up but I don't want to spoil it just yet..., Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Road Trips, post-apocalyptic...kind of, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, this means that all the bad shit that happened in that movie happened here also, pregnancy fic, it's the end of the world as we know it and the girls aren't going to take it lying down, Incrediblesverse, Kidfic, did I mention the spoilers?, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant Series: Part 8 of Interesting Times, Part 1 of This weird, hopeful world Summary: So...that happened. Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down. Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda. The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done. But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

An Interesting Times/Incrediblesverse story...kind of.

Chapter summary: In which a plan is made.  It’s not their best plan, but when your resources are limited, you make do.

[aenariasbookshelf]

Story Summary: So...that happened.  Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down.  Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda.  The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done.  But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

Chapter Summary:  In which things begin to accelerate, and we learn that, even in the middle of chaos and strife and a world gone mad, there are still some very good things to be found.

And, it’s done.  We’ve done it.  Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it!

[aenariasbookshelf]

Chapters: 8/16 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Black Panther (2018), Marvel (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis Characters: Jane Foster (Marvel), Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, maybe a couple others showing up but I don't want to spoil it just yet..., Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Road Trips, post-apocalyptic...kind of, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, this means that all the bad shit that happened in that movie happened here also, pregnancy fic, it's the end of the world as we know it and the girls aren't going to take it lying down, Incrediblesverse, Kidfic, did I mention the spoilers?, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant Series: Part 8 of Interesting Times, Part 1 of This weird, hopeful world

Summary: So...that happened. Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down. Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda. The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done. But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

An Interesting Times/Incrediblesverse story...kind of.

- Remember this story?  Well, guess what’s officially finished and ready to be released into the world thanks to the always fantastic WIPBigBang.  Not gonna lie, I’m pretty proud of how this story came out, and there’s a whole universe waiting within this story that I can’t wait to explore some more.

Note: see that chapter count?  The whole story is finished and complete.  The rest of the chapters will be posted by the end of this week, so if you like what you see, stay tuned for more.  If you found this story on Tumblr at first, these earlier chapters will be pretty familiar, even though they’ve been expanded and had new material added in as well.

Ooh, also, there’s art attached to this story.  You can find her fantastic work here on AO3, and I’ll reblog the tumblr post soon so you can spread the joy that way too.

Okay, I’m gonna shut up now and let the story speak for itself.  Thanks for reading!

[aenariasbookshelf]

Story summary: So...that happened.  Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down.  Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda.  The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done.  But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

Chapter Summary: Running away, and getting one step closer to where they're meant to be.

A.k.a: in which Aenaria plays fast and loose with canon once more, and they meet a guy who's great with boats.

[aenariasbookshelf]

Story Summary: So...that happened.  Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down.  Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda.  The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done.  But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down.

Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

Chapter Summary: The calm before the metaphorical storm. (A.k.a. you knew this was coming from a mile away. ;)

[aenariasbookshelf]

Story Summary: So...that happened.  Thanos snapped his fingers, and the universe turned upside down.  Now, a very pregnant Darcy is stuck in New Mexico, half a world away from Steve, who’s still in Wakanda.  The plan is to get Darcy and Jane to Wakanda sooner rather than later, but given that one part of the population is screaming that the Apocalypse is nigh, another part is all too happy to take advantage of the resulting lawlessness, and that some of the rules of the universe seem to have been re-written, that may be easier said than done.  But, Darcy and Jane aren't going to take this lying down. Come hell or high water, they're going to make it through, safe and whole.

Chapter summary: Time to put that rescue plan into action.