entranceway | 004 ✦ Text

[She'd been back on the real side with her memories restored for about an hour... And what a grueling hour it had been. One of the first things that had struck her was that in the past week or so - the entire time she'd spent as a kid and then that, is that she hadn't seen Jane.

Starting in the basement, Darcy had slowly worked her way up to the roof looking for her, the panic she was already feeling from the past week plus getting worse with every minute. By the time she reaches the roof, in the hopes that maybe she'd missed the whole Jabberwocky mess stargazing - something that honestly wouldn't surprise her, is hanging by a thread. When she's greeted with what seems like an empty roof and a bitter cold, whatever that had let her hold onto the little bit of hope that not everything was hitting the fan finally snapped.

There's no tiny astrophysicist to greet her when she gets up there and babble about something she doesn't understand. It feels as though she's had the wind knocked out of her, a debilitating panic starting to take over - she needed help. With shaky hands, she settles on text, not sure if she'd be able to keep herself composed enough for voice or video. Not right now.]

I can't find her. I can't find Jane. Has anyone seen her? Please let me know ASAP

[She needs to keep it check - it's possible that maybe Jane was just taking longer to get back from the other side if she'd been stuck there. Or she'd set up in a completely different area, somewhere a little more secluded. Until someone confirmed the sinking feeling of one of her worst nightmares becoming real, she wasn't going to let it completely destroy her.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

When was the last time you saw her.

I'm sorry. I've never met her, so I'm not sure who to look for.

Do you think she's left? Or that something else has happened to her?

[Shit. That's a good question, one that takes her a few moments to think about as the guilt sinks in.]

At least a week. I don't remember seeing her before the kid thing and then there was the swap.

I don't know. There was so much going on that it's just -

[A reminder that she was being a craptastic intern? No, she couldn't let it get her down that much - not when there was no for sure that she was actually gone.]

I need to find her.

Could you describe her? I'll keep a look out.

[She's gonna do one better - sending off a photo she'd taken when Jane hadn't been paying attention. Little did she ever think it'd be for a makeshift missing poster.]

She spends most of her time on the roof or in the basement.

[Kaneki's grateful for the photo ~~all you Caucasians look the same sob~~. He's going to have to remember these things do attachments.]

I'll keep my eye out for her, I promise.

Are you doing alright, Darcy?

[Other than her friend being missing.]

[It's only been a day since they were all brought back from the Mirrorside, and Steve's still busy trying to get all of his marbles back in order. He'd been without memories just a couple of days, and yet he'd still gotten a bitter taste of what Bucky's entire life must be like.

Except that in his case it had been blessedly temporary. Bucky, on the other hand...

But the jabberwocky has supposedly been dealt with, through no effort on their part. Steve has to work through that, too -- through the realization that they'd all failed. On top of that, Jane Foster is missing, and Steve once again feels that all of the sand is seeping between his fingers.]

I haven't seen her. Did she stay on this side?

I don't know. [Which is painful for her to type, the truth that she had no clue about her boss.]

I don't think I've seen her since before the kid thing.

[Sure, there'd been chaos but it doesn't stop the weight of the guilt that seems to be slowly crushing her.]

I should have noticed it sooner.

[To be fair, Steve hasn't seen much of Jane either. It probably means that she wasn't switched to the Mirrorside at least, which is a good thing.

Then again, Steve doesn't make it his personal responsibility to keep an eye on Jane the way that Darcy does. They're good friends on top of it all. No wonder she's panicking.]

Have you checked her room?

Thanks.

[And after her first Christmas in Eway, not so much. This isn't the time for it, though. No, that particular meltdown could happen later.]

I'll be fine. [She always was, but she didn't want to talk about her right now.] I hope the crap storm that blew through didn't hit you too hard.

[ It's not till the 27th that Natasha sees this, having been passed out in Bruce's room for most of the time after her return t the Real Side. Now, though, she hastens to reply. ]

Darcy? Any luck locating her?

I started in the basement and worked my way up to the roof.

[Where she was currently camping out in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she'd missed her and would make her way up here to look at the stars. That they could have a laugh at just how much of a mess she was feeling like right now.]

I checked out all of her usual haunts and all of the food spots. It's hard to tell with her room since Thor's in there, but it looks like some of her stuff is gone.

No. I looked everywhere.

[And had eventually made her way back to her room and off the cold roof... Not that she'd slept.]

What if she's gone for good?

[ This not a conversation for text messages. ]

Where are you?

In my room.

[Curled up on the couch in a very familiar position, similar to one she'd adopted a few months ago. The door wasn't locked, was pretty much never locked considering who her neighbors were, and she hadn't bothered to turn on the lights. Nope... Today was a sit in the dark and stare at the wall kind of day.]

I'm on my way.

[ It's not far and Natasha's slipping through the door a few moments later, a frown on her lips, her expression worried. ]

Darc?

I think I got lucky. Nothing really happened to me at all.

Over here.

[She doesn't move to greet her or turn on any lights, perfectly content to instead just to sit there as her world slowly unravels.]

No one's seen her and I couldn't find her. I don't even know where else to look.

[The words are flat, too overwhelmed to connect any emotion to anything right now.]

Good. That's good. Could you do me a favor and just keep an eye on the coffee shop for a few days?]

[Because if Jane was really gone, she'd need some time to deal with it.]

[ Natasha crosses the room to sink down beside Darcy, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and tugging her close. ]

Her room. Is everything still there?

Of course. It's not a problem at all.

[It's true, with the shared rooms it does get a little more complicated. That had been the issue during Tony's disappearance too, and all of them had been in denial about it.

It strikes Steve as more than a little alarming that it's the scientists who are being sent home. Maybe Wonderland sensed that they were getting too close to something.]

If her things have disappeared from their room, then that may mean she's not coming back. I'd say give it a week before you assume anything, though.

Thank you. I think it might need some attention after the whole mess with the Jabberwocky.

[Oh god, it must be a disaster area... Unless the mansion did what it does best and cleaned itself up.]

If it looks really bad, just hang a sign up saying it's closed and let me know. I'll swing down to clean it up.

A week? I don't -

[The text fires off while she thinks, not sure what else to even say right now. It was easy enough to say 'wait' but not so much on the actual waiting front.

She lets it hang for a long moment, not fighting the hypotheticals that are starting to fill her mind.]

What do I do if she doesn't come back?

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