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dazzasarchives · 7 months

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The Incredible Hulk Volume 1 Issue 4

Alright so in the last issue I stated how it felt like the early Hulk comics felt like two separate issues trying to be combined into one. Well in this issue they actually make two separate story lines and combine it into one comic. Anyway let's begin.

We start in Bruce Banner's lab with Rick Jones and the Hulk. Rick Jones is trying to turn the Hulk back to Bruce Banner via a machine. Recently it's been pretty hard on Bruce changing back and forth between the Hulk and himself. We then cut to Betty Ross who is starting to figure out the there is a connection between Rick Jones, Bruce Banner, and the Hulk. I really appreciate that they had Betty realize this. She then races to her father General Ross. Who is testing a new missile on a Hulk dummy. She then tells her father what she's discovered and he happily agrees to get a hold of Rick Jones so that he can defeat the Hulk.

We then cut to several soldiers outside Banner's cabin ready to capture Rick Jones and possibly Banner. Rick tells the Hulk to flee, since the Hulk is still under Rick's mind control somehow. Then Rick is captured and questioned by General Ross and Betty. The Hulk on the other hand wrecks some havoc through the city, as well as a Hollywood production, and then the production crew tries to stop him. Hulk uses his super clap for the first time and escapes the assailants. He then finds the army jeep holding Rick and easily rescues him by leaping away into the wilderness.

We then finally cut back to the beginning of the comic with Rick trying to return the Hulk to Bruce Banner. He does so with the machine, and Bruce is left very weak after the ordeal. In which case he tells Rick that he can't be weak. So he straps himself back into the machine and turns back into the Hulk, but this time the Hulk has the mind of Bruce Banner. I wouldn't really say if this is smart Hulk, id say this is more like Bruce in Hulk's body. Anyway this new Hulk form goes to save a family in a burning house but they end up shooting at him, and we find out that this version of Hulk, or Banner, although having Banner's mind and mannerisms gets angry very easily. After this Hulk and Rick return home and the Bruce returns to his normal form and the two rest. That's all for this half of the story now on to the next half.

Alright in the second half of this issue an Alien known as Mongu descends onto earth. He calls out for a challenger and Bruce Banner and Rick Jones just so happen to be watching Bruce then takes the form of the Hulk yet again and goes to face this new foe. Hulk and Rick descend on the alien known as Mongu as they are surrounded by Russian soldiers. We then find out that Mongu is actually a mech suit piloted by a Russian named Boris Monguski. The Hulk easily fights off the Russian soldiers, destroying their ships and the Mongu suit. He the. Captures them by tying them together with all of their belts. Then as the U.S. Military surrounds the Russian soldiers we see Hulk return to the form of Bruce Banner

Alright so I really like that they split these stories into two for this issue. I feel like it really helped with the pacing of both. Though it looks like in the next issue that this will not continue. Oh well on to the character analysis.

The Hulk, technically the Hulk's personality was absent in the issue, since he was either under Rick's mind control, or it was Bruce Banners mind in the Hulk's body, but not in a smart Hulk kind of way. Though I like to think everytime Bruce got angry it was the Hulk trying to regain control. I hope he does because it's a shame not having him, I miss the big green guy.

Bruce Banner, I really enjoyed him in this issue. I also understand where he's getting at with him not being as strong as the Hulk and wanting to be. So he has Rick turn him back but in a change of fate he takes on the Hulk's form but his mind and personality stay the same. I think as long as the trope continues I will be doing the Hulk and Bruce Banner as one single entity until the personalities split.

Rick Jones has grown so much in the past few comics, he was an annoying kid to a pretty decent sidekick. I can't wait to see how he continues to grow and develop over time.

Betty Ross got so much needed character development in this issue, albeit only briefly. I adore the fact that she's the one to realize the connection between Hulk, Rick Jones, and Bruce Banner, and that Rick Jones is the connecting link between the other two. I can't wait to see more growth from her.

General Ross, I love this character I love his pure hatred and determination for wanting to capture the Hulk, and that he comes up with the most cartoonish ways to capture him, like an ice missile. So far the best reoccurring antagonist. General Ross you have my heart.

Mongu, or Boris Monguski, yes I realize that technically this isn't a true antagonist or character, and that he also calls in the Russian Military to help him fight the Hulk. I just love that Russia invented this whole mech suit to trick the Hulk into fighting them. I love it.

Alright so that looks like the end for this comic, next issue we see the Hulk go up against a figure known as Tyrannus. Until next time true believers, Excelsior!

I do not own the images above they are owned by Marvel Comics.

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#marvel #marvel comics #marvel universe #earth 616 #marvel 616 #comic books #comics #the incrediable hulk #bruce banner #general ross #betty ross #rick jones #mongu #boris monguski

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kitkatt0430 · 1 year

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Gonna watch one last What If? tonight and the third episode's description says a serial killer is targeting Nick Fury's picks for the Avengers before he can recruit them, so this sounds like it'll be very different from how the first Avengers movie went.

I always did like the Donut scene so it's fun to see that revisited from Fury's PoV.

And Tony's the first to die. Poor Tony. He spends most of IM2 dying of heavy metal poisoning that was definitely screwing with his decision making abilities and getting, quite frankly, shitty advice from people who later judge him pretty harshly for following said advice. (Mostly Natasha, honestly.) He's always kind of an idiot, but it is sad to have him die here at one of his lowest points and never be able to make things up to Pepper or fix things with Rhodey.

Also really sucks for Natasha because she thought she was helping him and instead she delivered whatever killed him. The way she reacts, I do get the impression she was a bit fonder of him than she wanted to admit. And now she's suspect number one, under arrest.

The escape scene is hilarious, I love it. :D

Meanwhile, back in New Mexico... who dies next? I mean, I'm assuming Thor? Could be Hawkeye or Coulson though.

Coulson is gay for Thor here, I'm telling you. Loves the hair, calls him gorgeous. Hawkeye also seems a bit gay for him too.

Ah, okay, Thor's dead and Hawkeye's been framed for this one. And then Clint dies too.

Coulson, please stop perving on Thor's corpse.

Betty!!! Betty Ross!!! I did not expect to see Natasha go to her for help.

Loki? Someone is not happy that someone else killed his brother before he could. He did love his brother, despite it all. He did bring an army. I admit I was half hoping we'd get a bizarre Loki and Coulson team up, but taking the planet as retribution is much more his style. And of course at the same time that's happening, someone sets off the Hulk.

I seriously love Betty here. Poor Bruce, though. Terrible way to die.

Coulson's password - SteveSteveSteveI<3Steve

That man is bi or gay, no way Coulson is straight.

Kudos to Natasha for figuring out whodunit and passing that info on to Nick first.

Hank Pym being the bad guy here really fits though I didn't see it coming. Hope having been an Agent too... I can definitely see her death unhinging her father enough to use the Yellowjacket suit. ('it's about Hope' was good foreshadowing, it's just been long enough since I saw an Ant Man movie that it didn't click at first.)

I'm pretty sure 'Nick' is actually Loki. Yeah, definitely Loki.

Loki - I thought I might stay longer.

Nick - Oh fuck, please don't.

Oh, hey look, President Loki. lol So the Avengers - Steve and Captain Marvel along with whoever else rises in place of the rest of the team - will still come together because of Loki in the end.

I think I liked the first two more, but this one definitely had a stronger plot than the second episode.

#kitkatt0430 watches #marvel's what if

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aboutzatanna · 2 years

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Meet Zachary Zatara! Zatanna’s Cousin

I’ve covered Zatanna’s mother, father and now to complete my series of posts on the pairing, lets look at Zachary Zatara.

Zachary is a magician just like Zatanna, making her one of the few female heroes with a male side kick. He was also a member of the Teen Titans during Geoff Johns run which the YJ show draws heavily from.

I’ve included a recommended reading guide for him at the very end of the post including some lesser known, obscure stories so do check that out if you’re interested in wanting to read more about him.

The inspiration for Zachary goes back to writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross Kingdom Come OGN. KC was seminal back in the day and had a huge influence on the DCU both positive and negative.

A big part of KC were the children of various superheroes and super villains whom Superman, freshly out of retirement, recruits into his new super powered army in order to fix a world ravaged by out of control anti heroes like Magog.

One of them was John Zatara, the son of Zatanna and Constantine (the latter of whom was walled off from the rest of the DCU at the time). It’s not known what happened to Zatanna and Constantine in the KC timeline, Zatara being their kid was only revealed in the back of the Absolute edition of Kingdom Come.

Zatara barely had a speaking role in the OGN, here is a couple of scenes where he shows up in:

He also showed up as a supporting character in ‘Kingdom Come: The Offspring’ one shot by Mark Waid and Frank Quietly which focused on Plastic Man’s son Earnie a.k..a ‘Offspring’ where it was mentioned that he was dating Avia, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda.

Also note that all of his dialogue was written backwards throughout the whole comic even during normal every day conversations:

He also appeared as a background character in The Kingdom Special as one of the many heroes trying to protect Superman and Wonder Woman’s kid from Magog.

Given these minor appearances it’s really hard to get a feel of Zatara’s personality here. One gets the impression that Avia is the assertive one in their relationship whilst Zatara is the passive one. And...this is just my speculation here, but I think KC Zatara might be autistic or at least, on the spectrum.

After KC’s monumental success, DC began incorporating elements from KC into it’s main universe, and just to give you an idea of how immense and influential KC is and continues to be:

(feel free to skip past these bullet points if you’re not interested in KC’s influence)

- Maxine Hunkel, Magog, Jai and Iris West first appeared in KC then later in the main DCU.

-The concept of a Blue Beetle who wore mecha armor ended up becoming Jaime Reyes.

-It also popularized the idea of Bruce and Talia having a son. The idea originated from ‘Son of the Demon’ where we first see their infant child given up for adoption. Then in KC we see him grown up and named ‘Ibn Al Xuffasch’ and later incorporated into the comics in the form of Damian Wayne. Xuffasch also had a romance with Nightstar (Dick and Kory’s kid) much to Dick’s chagrin.

-Alan Scott’s GL armor was introduced in KC that later appeared in the main universe.

-WW’s golden eagle armor which has appeared in both the main universe and in WW84, her being the one Trinity member being willing to kill in the series which also directly paved the way for Rucka’s Sacrifice arc in which she killed Maxwell Lord. Granted she killed once during Perez’s run but the context of how it happened in Sacrifice directly pertains to KC. This lead to the false perception of Diana being a blood thirsty warrior and her thus her characterization in early Nu52 era.

-KC Superman even showed up in the main universe and even talking to Diana about how the main universe was turning similar to his.

-The concept of Diana being exiled from Themyscira. In KC universe she was exiled because of her failure to change Man’s World. In JLU, 2017 Wonder Woman and Bloodlines DTV movie, her being exiled would be incorporated into her origin story instead (not for the better, if you ask me). In the Golden Age, Post Crisis and Rebirth versions, she left voluntarily with the blessings of her mother and sisters and was later able to reunite with them.

-Even the core concept of the Infinite Crisis event of older heroes trying to impose a nostalgic outdated view of heroism on a world they deemed too dark and cynical was clearly inspired by KC.

-JLU’s Cadmus arc and the paranoia about Superman turning the JL into a super powered army, the fight with Captain Marvel on the show, things turning out for the worst despite Superman’s best intentions and Batman disproving of Superman sentencing criminals to the Phantom Zone felt like they were directly drawn from KC.

-CW’s version of Crisis on Infinite Earths where Brandon Routh’s Superman had a costume similar to KC Superman and even has elements of his backstory like Lois, Perry and his co workers being killed by a gas attack from the Joker.

-Even CBR exists because of KC since the site started off as a fansite for Kingdom Come before turning into a forum and later a comic book news site. So yeah, good and bad influences on the DCU all round.

1/3 Zachary Meets Infinity Inc & Black Adam

Anyway, back to Zachary Zatara, he first debuted in Teen Titans Vol 3 #34 and was created by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniels. Although his first published appearance was in Teen Titans, his first chronological appearance would have been in 52; a weekly series which covered the gap year in which Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were inactive and other heroes were filling in for them.

Zachary showed up in 52 #21 as part of the Teen Titans team investigating the new Infinity Inc (a group of kids given super powers by Luthor).

Note that’s not Big Barda. That’s Little Barda. A New God who takes after Barda and clearly based off of Avia.

Zach gets off on the wrong foot with one of the Infinity Inc members:

Later, in the issue, one of the Infinity Inc members was killed in battle (thanks to Luthor’s machinations) and Zach and Little Barda are seen at the funeral:

Note that Zach is associated with Raven.

Later in 52 #32 Zachary is among the crowds of young heroes gathered to fight Black Adam (he’s right next to the Superboy statues palm):

Among them is also a young, costumed Eddie Bloomberg aka Kid Devil whom we will see will be an important character for Zachary:

In World War III #3 we get a small glimpse of Zachary fighting Black Adam as well as Raven reacting to him getting hurt (these two always had a connection):

And finally in the 52 #50 we see Zachary working with Zatanna and several other mages attempting to stop the rampaging Black Adam with the help of Billy Batson:

Zatanna and Zachary don’t share any dialogue with each other in the issue but it’s cool to see them working together as well as seeing Zatanna and Billy effectively leading the magical side of the DCU and I love that it’s Billy who figured out how to defeat Black Adam.

2/3 Zachary & Eddie + The Teen Titans

Zachary would make single panel appearances in Teen Titans #34-38, they were from bits and pieces from Cyborg’s recordings from when he was in a coma. The ‘present’ day of these issues were set the year after the events of 52 Zach complains about Raven’s powers affecting him and we also get hints of his personality:

So Raven has gone missing and in between fighting super villains, the Titans go on search for her which leads them to meet Zachary.

Zachary finally gets the spotlight in Teen Titans #39 in which we are also introduced to his assistant, Bunny and he and the Titans don’t really get along:

We also learn from Cyborg that his powers were only awakened recently after the events of Days of Vengeance (long story short; Spectre went crazy, Nabu died, magic died and was reborn):

Zachary is kind of snobbish, arrogant and rude but they are also a way for him to hide his insecurities and fears.

As you can see he also has history with Kid Devil/Eddie Bloomberg and we finally learn about their history and Zachary’s role in Eddie’s transformation from the kid in the suit you saw in 52 to the humanoid devil in present day in Teen Titans #42.

So, Eddie is a huge of Blue Devil aka Dan Cassidy and idolizes him much to the latter’s chagrin , this leads to him wanting to get powers just like BD. One day he gets a strange mystical candle from a stranger which he takes to Zachary for consultation:

So despite Zach’s warning, Eddie goes through with the deal and to no one’s surprise, his trust in Blue Devil is in fact broken, when Eddie learns that Blue Devil was indirectly responsible for his Aunt’s death. (Long story short: Neron promised him a way to return to being BD if Daniel blew up a power plant, the latter did but the feed back ended up killing Eddie’s aunt who was miles away. Dan Cassidy kept it a secret until Eddie confronted him about it).

So yeah, Eddie is pretty much damned now but Zach tries to console him the best way he can, in Teen Titans #56:

This era of Teen Titans was heavily dependent on making the Titans into a Junior Justice League. Along with Zachary, this run also introduced Miss Martian and reinvented Superboy/Connor from a fun loving Booster Gold style glory hound to the angsty black t-shirt wearing Superboy we know today and Cassie Sandsmark from the tomboyish fangirl to the cheerleader archetype. Instead of a stand alone squad the Titans were now tutored by older heroes, at least initially. Suffice to say, this run had a huge influence on the Young Justice show.

As for the run itself, I wasn’t a fan of how Robin, Wonder Girl and the Wonder Twins were written. Especially under Sean McKeever post Infinite Crisis (though tbf he faced a lot of editorial hurdles) but the Eddie/Zachary stuff was a highlight for me personally.

Side note, Teen Titans #52 also gave us a peek at a possible future version of Zachary, you can tell he is evil because he has a goatee:

Zach also showed up in Tim Drake’s Robin series (Robin vol 2 #166) to help him out with some bad guys:

There are so many dark haired caucasian costumed guys around, especially in Gotham that even the villains get confused.

There are some interesting parallels between Zachary and Donna Troy. They’re both the side kicks of female heroes, both of them debuted in a title that didn’t star said female hero and they operated independently for a while before actually getting to interacting with their female mentor.

Despite Zachary being a ‘part time’ Titan, he would show up in the 6 issue Terror Titans mini in which the Titans took on Clock King who was running a meta human fight ring. Zachary and the Titans were captured and mind controlled to participate in the tournament and somehow Zach lost to Terra in a straight up fight:

(I call bull shit, maybe he threw the fight)

Also Zach being emotional about Kid Devil is what got him caught in the first place:

Meanwhile, in the main Teen Titans Eddie has managed to beat his curse and returned to normal human form.

Then in the follow up in Teen Titans #69, he harshly turned down Wonder Girl’s offer for Zach and other teens held prisoner by the Clock King to train with the Titans.

His next appearance in the Titans would be part of a back up title called Coven of Three which ran from Teen Titans #84-87. The series starred Zachary Zatara, Traci 13 and Black Alice in which the Demon’s Three trapped them in a world that brought their deepest desires to life. All of it as part of a gambit to escape their imprisonment and threaten the world again.

The series begins by showing Zach in the least flattering light as possible:

Then drops this reveal on us when Zach’s dream world is shown:

Yes, he had a girlfriend with unborn twins who died untimely deaths. How old is this kid anyway? Was it a teen pregnancy? Does Zatanna know? This is one of the many plot threads that could have been addressed in the Zatanna ongoing were it not for it’s untimely cancellation and the 52 reboot.

Traci 13′s dream is a world where she is worshiped as a Goddess and Black Alice’s dream was a world where her parents were alive and they had a normal family unit. Of the three, she was the most reluctant to give up her wish. It made things more complicated because undoing the spell required the consent of all three individuals. Zachary and Traci have relatively normal, stable lives to return to, Alice doesn’t.

We also got this interesting scene showing the difference between a book worm mage and someone who has natural abilities but never studied actual theory:

Zach also brings up Eddie again and he gets a moment with Kate (his dead gf) before helping Traci undo the spell:

The three managed to undo the spell and even agree to become teammates:

But there is a twist at the end where we learn that oops, even though they ‘won’, it was all still a ruse on the Demon’s parts as they’re still playing right into the demon’s hands:

The ending also flips our view of the character. Zachary, whom in the beginning was kind of a jerk, ends up with the most sympathetic motivation of wanting to use magic to bring back his dead girlfriend and unborn child. Black Alice ends up more or less at the same spot she started in. Meanwhile, it looks like Traci 13 is on the path of actually bringing her dreams of being a goddess to reality as she keeps one of the magical items used to trap the Demons Three for herself.

On the YJ cartoon, I wasn’t a fan of Mary being the corrupted one for various reasons. But given Traci’s characterization here, I would have rather she had been the one corrupted by power.

It’s a neat twist and I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been any follow up to it. Especially the part about Zach’s dead girlfriend. Zatanna and Diana need to have a talk about their respective side kicks going through all sorts of trauma in stories without either of them getting involved.

NGL, I still find weird that the Young Justice show, which draws heavily from Geoff Johns era of Titans decided to deage Zatanna and put her on Dick’s team instead of using Zachary, who was already associated with the Titans. Plus it’s rare for a female hero to have a male side kick. But then, if Zatanna was with the adults on YJ, we’ll probably see even less of her.

2/3 Zachary & Superman: World of New Krypton Era

Sometime after his first appearance in Teen Titans, Zachary later showed up in Superman #680 in which Superman fought the mythological Atlas and was getting his ass beat. Supes realized that he needed help so he went to a magic show Zatanna was meant to headline but instead met Zachary there and the two got off to a rough start:

I’ve mentioned this story in another post but lets cut to the chase; Supes is a little abrasive here but lets cut him some slack, the Man of Steel was forced to leave his dog to fight his battles for him.

After getting a super charge from Zachary, Supes managed to beat Atlas but he wanted everyone to credit Krypto instead.

Zachary would have a minor role during the ‘World of New Krypton’ era of Superman comics. This was imo, the most interesting era of Superman comics which was kicked off when Superman rescued the shrunken bottled city of Kandor and restored it to full size on.......earth. So now the inhabitants on earth are neighbors with a thousands of Kryptonians and not all of them are as nice as Superman.

This event was like a tide for the Superman books and supporting cast, I can’t think of another era (besides maybe Death of Superman) that elevated supporting characters like Supergirl, Guardian, Dr Light/Kimiyo Hoshi, Captain Atom while also reviving Silver Age characters like Mon-El, Flamebird and Nightwing/Chris Kent (hey, remember him? he was the proto Jon Kent).

Zachary and Zatanna appeared in Action Comics #873 along with the ‘Sentinel of Magic’ where they cast a spell to ward off a group of hostile Kryptonians and we also get a peek of Zatanna mentoring Zachary:

The Zatara’s and the Marvel Family should team up more, imo. Plus it’s cool to see them doing combos and this is a great follow up from their appearance in 52. Their team work is better here and they’re doing combos now.

In Superman #690, Zachary is meeting one of his stage hands who has something important to tell him when they are suddenly interrupted by Parasite:

Mark Merlin is an old Golden Age character, the writer, James Robinson (who also wrote Starman) is a huge fan of Golden Age characters.

I’m normally not a fan of jerkass protagonists but Zachary is a little different. His arrogance and aloofness serves as a mask to hide his insecurities and cowardiance. Plus you know Zee would whoop his ass if he really crossed the line.

In a sudden twist though, we learn in Superman #692 that the man Zachary was talking to was not Mark Merlin, but Mirabai; a sorceress who agreed to become an ally for General Sam Lane in his anti-Kryptonian war in exchange for him loaning her a brainwashed Captain Atom so she can rule her realm (called the Sorcerers World) with an iron fist.

Zachary appeared in the Captain Atom back up series in Action Comics that ran from Action Comics #879-889. Zachary appeared in #887-889 as an unwitting slave to MIrabai. He doesn’t really get to do much here, the story is centered on Captain Atom who has managed to break out of the Mirabai’s mind control and joined the rebels to help them over throw Mirabai.

He succeeds only to find out that one of his ally’s was actually the wizard Mordru (I’ve mentioned him before in relation to Dr Fate) in disguise who quickly banished Zachary back to the mortal world:

But he is friendly with Captain Atom, telling him that the latter could come back to his realm at any time.

This issue also came with preview pages for Zatanna’s solo series by Paul Dini and Stephane Roux which is where we meet Zachary next:

Side note: Mirabai would make a good foe for Zachary and by extension Zatanna (’nobody enslaves my cousin!’).

3/3 Zachary & Zatanna

Finally, when Zatanna’s own ongoing was launched in 2010, we finally got to see what their relationship was like.

Zachary showed up in Zatanna #04-06 written by Paul Dini and we finally get a little backstory on them including this flashback showing a teenage Zatanna teaching a young Zachary:

Zatanna promises to show up for Zachary’ next show but fails because an evil casino owner who made a deal with a literal demon hypnotizes her to marry him so he can sell her soul in exchange for immortality.

Zachary is at first, pissed when Zatanna doesn’t show up...

but ends up helping her escape from the evil casino owner while also bickering like siblings:

The issue walks a fine line between not rendering Zatanna a damsel in distress, giving her agency in saving herself while also allowing Zachary to contribute to the story.

At the end, she finally does manage to make it to one of his performances:

He showed up next in Zatanna #14 written by Adam Beechen which starts out with Zatanna chewing him out for screwing up a joint performance:

Zach, predictably doesn’t listen and ends up getting into trouble which his cousin had to bail him out of:

Part of what makes the Zatanna/Zachary dynamic so fun is that both Zatanna and her father are often portrayed as heroic and selfless (even if they have some morally gray moments at times) but Zach is more self absorbed and arrogant which forces Zatanna to be more up front in dealing with her side kick. It also gives Zach a character arc; his hubris is a cover for his cowrdiance and insecruities thus his story arc is one about overcoming them to become a better person.

They also worked together during the Reign In Hell event which is set sometime before Zatanna’s series, I’m posting this here because I found Zach’s impudence here to be hilarious:

You know you done fucked up when even Jason Blood is horrified.

Post Nu52, Zachary disappeared but he did show up in Raven: Daughter of Darkenss, a 12 issue limited series by Marv Wolfman as part of the Nightforce:

I haven’t read it yet and it’s the kind of thing that deserves it’s own separate post anyway.

Finally, in 2021, a Suicide Squad book was among the titles in DC’s Round Roubin (basically, vote for whichever title you want to read the most otherwise it won’t see the light of day) with Zachary on the roster. The title never made it past the rounds and was never published but we did get some preview pages, Zach screwed up royally and has to work with the Squad to make up for it:

Thank god this was never published, all I can imagine is Zatanna downing a whole bottle of alcohol and screaming after hearing this.

That’s about it for his major appearances to this date. Now for some FAQ’s before wrapping this up and also check out the Recommended Reading List at the very bottom:

Who Are His Parents?

Zachary’s parents have never appeared on panel and has never been mentioned. Sure, in Earth-22 Kingdom Come universe, ‘John Zatara’ is the son of Zatanna and John Constantine but as you can see there are differences between ‘John Zatara’ and the ‘Zachary Zatara’ here.

Zatanna having an adult son either in the Pre Nu52 universe or the Rebirth timeline doesn’t make much sense timeline wise unless you go down the path of convoluted retcons involving aged up magical babies and false memories ala Pre Crisis Dinah Laurel Lance. You also have to consider the flashbacks showing teen Zatanna training kid Zachary, how they interact like cousins/siblings instead of mother/son and they refer to each other as cousins even when they are by themselves. .

That said, there is no indication in Giovanni’s backstory of him having any siblings either but not enough to completely rule out the possibility either. It’s possible that he had an estranged brother or Giovanni himself became distant from his own family or he had an uncle and Zachary is his cousin first removed.

Also, this is just my opinion, but I can’t really see Zatanna as a mom. Even with characters like I like seeing her dating (whether it’s Blue Devil, Joshua, Batman, sometimes Dick Grayson). I can see Wonder Woman, Mera, Big Barda and Catwoman being mothers but never got that vibe from Zee. Sure she’s great with kids but I never got the ‘mom’ vibe from her character. She always struck me as a Helen Mirren type who would remain childless but fulfilled even into her old age.

I have a few guesses as to who his parents could be in the pre Nu52 timeline:

-Fulcanelli. A minor character that appeared in Fate #10 (click here for more). Zatanna initially introduces him as a friend of her fathers. He’s an alchemist who is burdened with the cost of magic. At the climax of the issue, right before he is turned into a gold statue, Zatanna calls him uncle while in turn he calls her niece. Whether it was just an affectionate term, like she thought of him as an uncle despite not being related or if they were actually blood related was never clarified. Plus Zatanna has referred to people she isn’t blood related to as uncles or aunts, like the time she called Rose Psychic her Aunt during Reign In Hell.

But suppose Fulcanelli and Zatara’s were blood related, Zachary’s father being an alchemist could explain why his power doesn’t work on anything organic.

-Giovanni himself.

Which would make Zatanna and Zachary into siblings as well which also fits their banter in the comic books. My theory in this case is that they share the same father but different mothers. Giovanni has been associated with multiple women, both romantically and non romantically; Madame Xanadu, Charity from Starman and Tigress. He was smitten by Madame Xanadu and outright said he wanted to make babies with her but the latter turned him down since she was aware of his future. Their relationship never moved beyond friends with benefits but it would be interesting if she ever did take up on his offer after Sindella’s first death.

The other option would be Tigress; the classic enemy-to-lovers trope. Tigress was a thief and a normal human who was Zatara’s main nemesis and sometimes-ally during the Golden Age. There are no stories where their relationship turned romantic but imagine if it did at some point but for whatever reason it didn’t work out, they divorced and Tigress had custody of Zachary. The flashback of teen Zatanna training a young Zachary could have taken place during brief visitations. It also fits Zachary’s stated origin that his powers were only awakened after the events of Days of Vengeance, especially if one or both of his parents are human. It also explains Zatanna telling Flash that she doesn’t have a family in JLA: Crisis of Conscience, technically she wasn’t lying as this scenario involves Tigress separating herself from the Zataras. But then Zach got his powers and started following in his father’s footsteps and the two started to bond again. It also contextualizes Zachary’s ego; he is trying to reject his mother’s villainous roots and trying to embrace his father’s heroic side.

Still, this is just what my speculation.

Who knows what Johns, Robinson and Dini had actually planned though. Maybe they were intending for him to be Zatanna and Constantine’s son and had a convoluted explanation involving wizards and genies and time travel involved.

Is Zachary Queer?

Zach has never been confirmed to be queer but I noticed that he does have a queer fanbase and his close friendship with Kid Devil aka Eddie Bloomberg can be interpreted as such. They just have that vibe to them. He also does have a relationship with Bunny, his stage assistant but that could just mean he is either bi sexual or polysexual. Folks are free to interpret him however they like.

I’m supportive of the head canon that Zachary is queer and him being in a relationship with Eddie totally works.

I hope Zachary returns one day. He would be perfect for JLD and I love his dynamic with Zee and an appearance there is long over due.

Litnu txen emit!

Recommended Reading

-52: #21, #50 (also World War III #3)

-Teen Titans Vol 3: #34-38, #39, #42, #52, #69 (after Terror Titans)

-Terror Titans #1-6

-Robin Vol 2 #166

-Teen Titans #83-87. Coven of Three back up with Zachary, Traci 13 and Black Alice.

-Superman #680, #683 (which is followed up in Action Comics #873), #687

-Superman #690 followed by #692 and the rest of the story is picked up in Action Comics #887-889 Captain Atom back up.

-Zatanna #4-6 and #14.

-Raven: Daughter of Darkness #1-12

If there is anything you would like me to add or remove, let me know.

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frenchrebelfries · 3 years

Text

Fury’s Daughter

AN: Idk wth I just wrote... I just got this idea so yeah... Happy Reading!

You are the adoptive daughter of Nick Fury, when you were 5 he adopt you when your parents died on a plane crash that was cause by Hydra, your parents and Nick were good friends that’s why he took you in.

You were a smart kid, always analyzing things, Fury told everything to you and never lie. To protect your identity Nick made you a new one as you volunteer to be an agent of Hydra to gain information and was branded by the organization. You did dangerous mission and always getting out alive.

You were then sent back to and joined the Avengers initiative but the avengers were suspicious of you as you came out of nowhere, no files, no nothing but a name and Fury’s trust.

No one knew who you are to protect your identity in recon so the avengers treated you coldly but you didn’t care, you didn’t tell it to your father about the situation you are in because you were train to adapt and you did. You were kind to them and all as you and Natasha got closer… like really close. Out of all Natasha Romanoff is the one you have trusted the most.

You got out from the elevator after a short report you did to Nick about the information you got for the Winter Soldier when you heard the laughing of the team as they sat in the living room with pizza on the table as they talked and laugh at each other.

The laughter halted when they all noticed you and silence came… you knew you were never welcome her but your father trust them so you really had no choice but to put up with it, sensing their discomfort you just gave them a nod greeting them.

“Good evening Avengers” no one answered as you expected and left and went to your room, you heard a light foot steps following you and a hand holding your wrist and seeing a familiar red head you have fallen with for the past few weeks.

“Hey Y/N, I’m sorry about the boys you know how hard headed they are” she sincerely apologized to you as you gave her a soft smile

“it’s ok Natasha, I know they still don’t fully trust me and I understand why, so it’s cool” you replied to her as she looked at you suspiciously searching your face for any lies but you being good at hiding your emotion she immediately gave up when she didn’t find one.

“So… Movie night?” she asked cheekily at you as your brows furrows

“what about the others?” you asked her as she started pulling you towards her room as she shrugged

“they can take care of themselves, come on!”

One day when you were alone practicing in the gym at 6 am of the morning you accidentally took off your clothes leaving you in your sports bra forgetting that Steve Rogers is always awake at that time and saw your Hydra mark on your chest and thought of you as an enemy and told the team as they planned to eliminate you on the next mission.

To eliminate the Hydra scum.

“can I get a hand over here?” you heard Clint said in the coms as you took down the last guy from your floor inside a hydra base that you’ve been recon last week

“I’m coming on your way” you answered running to Clint’s direction knowing the base like the palm of your hands as you shot a Hydra soldier who was sneaking behind him

“Thanks” you nodded at him you continue your pursuit taking down agents as you skillfully glide yourself on the battle field.

The battle had stop when Clint finished the last guy as Steve and Natasha immerge from the control room with a case on hand.

They must have gotten the information

“Mission complete, how’s the perimeter Tony?” Captain said on the coms as you get close to Natasha scanning her for any injuries and sighted in relieve when you found none.

“Perimeter is clear as the sky Steve were ready to go home” you smiled at the thought of home… Fury promised you a dinner with Maria and Coulson when you get back since things have been busy these couple of week and you were really excited about it since it’s going to be your first dinner with them again since you got back from recon.

“time for phase 2 then, Romanoff” you frowned at Steve’s word

Phase 2? You never heard about it when at the briefing

You were still in confusion when Steve called Natasha and you felt a searing pain by your side

You wiped your head to your side seeing a knife… a knife you gifted to Natasha lunge by your side.

You looked at her eyes full of betrayal and so as Clint and Steve who was in there with you.

“Phase 2 complete, were leaving, now die you Hydra scum” Steve said voice full of spite hearing a ‘good job’ from Tony and a ‘let’s go’ from Clint as you fall down on your knees looking at their retreating figure leaving you.

The last one you saw was the red headed assassin taking one last look at you as they close the door as your whole body fall down on the cold ground.

You shakily grabbed your phone dialing your father’s number as he answered rather cheerful

“Y/N why are you calling me? Is your mission done?” you heard your dad’s voice making you tear up a bit

“D-dad…”

“get your ass here kid Maria and Coulson just arrived here and im about to finish cooking these turkey”

“c-can I have a rain check on the dinner dad… I kinda messed up…” your voice was now shaking and you are feeling colder than usual the blade may have a poison as you felt a burn and getting light headed faster than normal.

Fury must have sense that there is something wrong by the way your voice sounded

“Y/N what happened? Are you ok?” you can hear his voice full of worry as you heard Maria and Coulson from the background asking what’s wrong.

“I-I think I was the p-phase 2 of S-Steve’s plan dad… it’s really g-getting cold here ya know” blood tricked on the ground from your wound

Your vision darken as flashes of memories filled your eyes.

You can hear the shuffles from the other line saying they are tracking my call and will be sending medical help

“I’m s-scared d-dad… I still d-don’t wanna go” you cried,

“Help is on the way Y/N keep holding on I’m here for you kid” you can hear the shakiness of your father’s voice, you kept trying to keep your eyes open and now seeing dark spots forming.

“T-thanks for everything dad… tell Maria and Coulson I love them…” your voice was barely audible hearing their cried for you to wake up.

“Keep your eyes open for me kid… please”

“I-I think a need a nap… l-love you dad” and you were gone.

They kept calling for you but you never answered back.

Fury along with Maria and Coulson with a medical team arrived at the base eyes redden because of crying as they found you on the cold ground with your phone by your side and a stab.

Fury cradle you like a baby as the medic announced your death with Maria and Coulson crying by the side.

“Did you check the monitors?” Fury’s cold voice echoed in a quinjet as your cold body layed beside him with your head on his lap stroking the hair that is covering your face.

“you’re not gonna like it boss…” Maria said with blood shot eyes as she played the video of Steve ordering the Phase 2 and Natasha Romanoff stabbing you as they left you.

“call them up at SHIELD… they would pay for what they did to her” Nick ordered as Coulson took his phone out to call them.

Nick glanced at you as he swiped some blood by your mouth hugging your corpse closer to him.

They avenger’s arrived at SHIELD seeing Fury holding Y/N’s hand as she lay dead on the table with Maria and Coulson by the back holding back their anger.

“what is this Fury?” Steve stepped out in confusion to why they got the body of Y/N

“What is the phase 2 Captain” Nick’s voice was colder than usual

“… to eliminate the Hydra-“ Steve answered as the other’s stayed silent

“and who is the Hydra?”

“Y/n…”

Then there’s silence, the team were uncomfortable with the silence but Steve was getting impatient with all of it.

“Look I don’t know what is your point here but you should thank us for killing the mole here Fury”

Fury looked at them as Coulson held Maria who was about to attack Steve as Fury spoke…

“I see no dead mole here Rogers… all I see is my dead daughter”

The team’s eyes widen as they froze from there spot

“W-what?” Bruce asked

“Y/N Fury... is my daughter who you called a Hydra scum”

“B-but she had the brand-“

“She had the brand because she was undercover inside Hydra that gave her the mark to extract information for your missions that is saving billions!” Fury angrily shouted making them all flinch.

All of it dawned to them as Natasha fall into her knees realizing she killed a hero… she killed her friend who trusted her… she killed the person who loved her…

“I pulled her out of the recon to keep her safe knowing her all her covers were blown, I put her into your team so she can be protected thinking after all those years of being away we can have a normal dinner like she wanted for years, I trusted my daughter in your hand yet you are the one who killed her…”

Fury stood up tears streaming down on his face

“Avenger Initiative’s termination is effective immediately, all of you would be put in maximum security prison for killing Y/N Fury” Agents entered taking their weapons and cuffing them

“Nick… I’m sorry” Steve’s voice filled with regret rang out as Fury looked at him coldly throwing a file on the ground in front of him as the content spilled revealing pictures of the Winter Soldier.

“Y/N wanted to give you this information from the last recon she was put in to, James “Bucky” Barnes is alive and now known as the Winter Soldier who is working for Hydra and has killed thousands”

Steve’s face was full of shock knowing his best friend Bucky is alive…

“Nick-“

“I’m sorry to cap…” Fury cut him off and coldly apologies to Steve who is now confuse to why as everyone in the room looked at them in silence.

“you took someone dear away from me… and now I’m taking yours, Good Bye Avengers and thank you for your service” before Steve and others could react they were all tranquilized knocking them out cold and only waking up in a glass cell with Ross smirking at them as they sat there in silence thinking the things that they have done for you.

“welcome to your new life Avengers…in prison!” and a loud laugh erupted from Ross as he walked out as ex-heroes gazes followed his exit.

#nick fury #avenger #natasha romanoff x re #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff angst #steve rogers #tony stark #bruce banner #clint barton #maria hill #phil coulson #nick fury dad #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #angst #avengers angst #reader

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thenigotthisfamily · 3 years

Note

I think it would be awesome to read something from you about Natasha not surrendering to Ross and going with her family? Or maybe even just going with Yelena and Yelena seeing that her sister is not so unbreakable? I loved that look that Yelena gives to Nat's bruises in the Budapest apartment, and would love to read something about that idea, and the end of the movie is the perfect place because Natasha has a LOT of injuries.

Thanks so much for this request! This was honestly one of my favorite fics to write. I love exploring this time in their relationship. Hope you like it!

Word Count: 4,842

It’s so easy for Natasha to escape Ross, she wonders if he even wanted to capture her in the first place. With the aid of a paperclip from Yelena’s handy vest, she slips out of the handcuffs and truck before Ross can even finish his monologue.

The spy hides in the forest nearby. No one even follows her which reiterates her theory that Ross didn’t actually want her captured or was already tired of chasing her. She phones Mason and puts in her request for a plane to break her friends out of prison with. She also requests a vehicle and a safe house. What she gets from him is a crappy rundown pickup truck and no safe house, so she doesn’t have high hopes for the plane.

As she climbs in the car, the black widow debates her next move. She just had a crazy 24 hours and hadn’t really been able to process everything that happened. She went from going to almost being killed by taskmaster to the shock of seeing her sister again to the shock of hearing the Red Room was still alive to breaking her father out of prison to reuniting with her old family to finding out the girl she thought she killed years ago was taskmaster to finally taking down Dreykov and the Red Room for real. It was a lot of her to absorb and she still can’t quite believe it all happened.

She starts up the car and taps her fingers on the wheel. Rarely was Natasha Romanoff ever unsure of what to do. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to go see the baby sister she had just spent the last 24 hours with and was already starting to miss deeply after only a few short hours. But she wasn’t sure she’d be welcome. Yes, they had gotten along well together to take down the Red Room, but they had a lot of action and distractions during that time. She wasn’t sure how Yelena would feel about spending time with her when they weren’t planning extravagant missions or running for their lives.

Natasha sighs deeply. She’ll admit, it was a strange and rare feeling for her to miss someone and want to spend time with them. She had long ago learned that attachment was dangerous. And though she cared deeply about her Avengers family, usually they were the ones asking for her time and not the other way around. The feeling of wanting to be with someone else over being alone was a new and terrifying concept to the black widow.

It was even more terrifying when she had this deep fear that Yelena did not want to see or spend time with her after this. Sure, Natasha had apologized and said it was real and they had embraced. The redhead would cherish that moment forever. But she wasn’t stupid enough to think Yelena had just forgiven years of pain in that one moment. She wouldn’t blame her for that either. The black widow didn’t feel she deserved to have Yelena care for her at all.

The spy inhales, trying to calm her scattered mind. She realizes she can’t smell anything since she severed the nerve in her nose. Normally she’d ask Tony or Bruce for help, and they would have her fixed up in no time, but Tony was currently being an asshole and Bruce was god-knows-where so that was off the table. She didn’t really rely on her sense of smell too much, but she can’t say she wanted to go without it the rest of her life either. The only other option she can think of makes her roll her eyes a bit. Still, it’s a good excuse to go see the person she wanted to the most. With that determination in mind, Natasha takes off in search of her sister.

Through a call to Mason and some investigation, Natasha finds that Yelena is still in St. Petersburg. She vaguely wonders if the blonde is still with their parents and the other widows. It would make sense that Yelena would be considering they all left together only hours before. But secretly she hopes the others aren’t with Yelena so the two of them can catch up more, even though she’s apprehensive about what that looks like.

When she arrives outside the St. Petersburg apartment, she feels so nervous she briefly considers leaving. For God Sakes Natasha pull yourself together. The Black Widow doesn’t run away. Natasha takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

A second later the spy hears the distinct click of a gun safety. “Whoever is out there, you have 5 seconds to tell me who you are before you suffer a painful death.”

The redhead can’t help but grin at the gruff Russian accent she had already grown so fond of.

“Your 5 seconds are up…”

“Это я[1].”

Natasha closes her eyes, hoping that Yelena wouldn’t still shoot, even if she knew now who was outside the door. After all, it was just yesterday that they met in an apartment and tried to kill each other. She smirks at the memory. Even though Yelena had been pointing a gun at her, she’ll never forget the first time she saw her sister after 21 years. She vividly remembers the overwhelming sense of pride she felt at the sight. Despite everything she’d been through, Yelena clearly had become every bit her equal. That pride only grew in the next 24 hours as she saw Yelena’s courage and resilience firsthand. The younger sibling had been through so much hell that it made Natasha’s heart ache, and yet the blonde still was a ball of sarcasm and energy that showed Natasha that there was still some of child Yelena left.

The door opens, shaking Natasha from her thoughts. She finds herself nervous all over again as she faces her sister. She wonders if they were only good at communicating with a gun in their hand or when someone was trying to kill them.

“Hi.” Natasha says awkwardly.

Yelena raises an amused eyebrow, “Hey Poser. What are you doing back so soon?”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “What, do you want me to leave?”

“No.” Yelena says a bit too quickly.

Now Natasha smirks in amusement, feeling joy at the fact that she could tell Yelena was happy to see her. “Are you gonna let me in?”

The blonde pretends to huff in annoyance but opens the door wider. Natasha steps in and takes a look around, checking for any threats.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re all at Melina’s.”

“But you aren’t?”

Yelena shrugs, “I needed time and space to clear my head. It’s been a crazy 24 hours.”

Natasha nods in understanding at that. The blonde beckons her further inside. “Come on Poser, have a seat. Want vodka?”

The redhead stands there absorbing the moment. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine that this was their normal life. Yelena would have a house. Maybe Natasha did too. Maybe they’d even live together. The sisters would visit with each other and drink vodka and talk like normal humans. No Red Room or Civil Wars threatening their existence. It sounded perfect. But that wasn’t their life.

“Well?”

Natasha shakes herself out of her thoughts, “Yeah.”

She moves over to the couch, grimacing a bit as she sits down. She had more cuts and bruises than she could count. She had been successfully ignoring them the past day because the adrenaline and action kept her distracted, but now every ache and pain was really starting to hit her. She thinks she needs more than just an ibuprofen at this point. Yelena’s right, Thor probably doesn’t feel like shit after a fight, Natasha thinks bitterly.

A second later a glass of vodka appears in front of her face. She takes it and looks up at Yelena who is looking down at her with a mix of confusion and…was that concern?

“Thanks.” The redhead grabs the glass and drinks all the vodka in one gulp, hoping it will dull the pain a bit. It doesn’t. She’d need a lot more glasses for that to work, but it was worth a shot.

Yelena meanwhile sits next to her sister hesitantly and studies Natasha’s movements. To most people, it would look like the spy was completely fine, but Yelena can clearly see the tell-tale signs of her sister hiding great pain. The blonde would know what that looks like, having been well-versed in it herself.

It’s a strange realization to the younger sibling though. When she was 6, she always thought Natasha was unbreakable. A hero. Then they grew up and Natasha literally became a superhero which just further solidified the idea in Yelena’s mind that the spy was invincible. There was even a rumor in the Red Room that Natalia Romanova didn’t bleed.

Obviously she knows her sister is human. But it doesn’t fully hit her until now. In just the last day she had seen Natasha walk away from a car crash, fall off the side of a building, and dive out of the sky without a parachute and hardly come away with a scratch. At least that’s what it looked like. Yelena admits she’s impressed with her sister’s ability to hide the pain. Her own worst injuries came from the car crash and falling through a glass window, and she felt like she had gotten smacked by a truck. So she can only imagine how Natasha feels.

“You’re staring,” the spy comments, drinking more of the vodka straight from the bottle.

Yelena frowns, “You’re hurt.”

Natasha huffs, “So are you.”

The blonde rolls her eyes at the obvious deflection tactic. “Yeah, but I didn’t fall off a building and then fall out of the sky.”

“I fell off a bridge before that too.” Natasha says lightly.

“Jesus Tasha, you’re going to kill yourself falling off something one day.” Yelena says it without thinking, genuinely frustrated that her sister was so reckless with her life. Though she’s not really sure she has much argument against it considering her own recklessness, but that’s beside the point.

Meanwhile Natasha is hung up on the nickname that Yelena called her. She hadn’t been called Tasha in a long time. 21 years in fact. Not since little Yelena called her that the night she was pull from her arms by the Red Room. Not even Clint and his family called her Tasha. She thinks they assume she doesn’t like that nickname, but it actually has always been her favorite one, at least when it came from the blonde sitting across from her.

Out of the corner of her eye the redhead sees Yelena reach out toward her and she instinctively flinches away.

Yelena quickly pulls her hand back, looking down at the ground. “Sorry.”

Natasha shakes her head and turns to her sister, leaning forward. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to flinch. It’s just a force of habit.”

The two lock eyes and Natasha gulps, feeling more vulnerable than she ever had in a very long time. She finds it annoyingly ironic how someone that made her feel safer than she had ever felt before also terrified her just as much.

Natasha can tell Yelena is still feeling skeptical and hesitant, so she decides to try to be brave for once for her sister.

“It’s okay. I trust you.” The black widow forces out the words into the space between them.

It’s the most honest and affectionate thing Yelena has heard from someone in 21 years considering how hard it is for widows to trust. The very thought makes the blonde’s throat tighten.

Yelena nods hesitantly and reaches out again, this time Natasha stays still and lets Yelena’s hand rest on her shoulder. It takes everything in her not to squirm under the touch. The contact from Yelena felt nice and instantly made her feel more relaxed, but her hand was also on a large bruise which was aching more under the touch.

“You have a huge bruise here.” Yelena runs her fingers gently over the bruise that goes all the way from the shoulder to the base of the spy’s neck. Natasha briefly wonders if Yelena could just heal it with her touch. She wouldn’t put it past her sister. The blonde seemed to be able to heal a lot of Natasha’s pains without even knowing.

“Yeah, I know,” is all the redhead ends up saying.

The blonde sighs and gets up, disappearing from the room for a second. She comes back a minute later with a large first aid kit, and Natasha recognizes it as one that Mason put together because the man knew how many injuries the widows got. Yelena sits on the coffee table in front of her sister and opens the kit.

“Yelena, you don’t have to take care of me.” Natasha shifts awkwardly. If she’s honest, she feels like shit and could definitely do with some medical assistance, but she wasn’t about to admit that. She also didn’t want Yelena to feel the need to take care of her, that wasn’t why she came here, and if anything, it was Natasha’s job to care for the blonde, not the other way around. “I’m fine.”

Yelena just rolls her eyes at the predictable words from the redhead’s mouth. “Natasha, I saw all the bruises on your back earlier and since then you’ve been in a car crash, fallen off a building, taken a beating from 15 widows, and fallen out of the sky with Taskmaster. So you definitely have a million more bruises since then. Not to mention the ones that probably formed right after I kicked your ass in Budapest.” Yelena smirks smugly.

Now Natasha rolls her eyes, having a feeling they’d been having this debate for a long time. Though she relishes the thought that they’d be spending enough time together in the future to continuously have this debate. “I was just trying not to hurt you.”

The blonde softens slightly at the words but scoffs, “Sure, keep telling yourself that Poser. You just don’t want to admit that the big bad Black Widow gotten beaten up by her baby sister.”

“You were literally suffocating at the end of that fight!” Natasha winces a bit at the words and how ridiculous they sound, but she isn’t one to back down from her sister’s teasing.

“You were the one that gave up and called a truce.”

The redhead shakes her head but can’t help but smile. She realizes she doesn’t care much if she loses the debate with Yelena, something that she never would have tolerated with anyone else.

The blonde smirks at the silent win and leans forward again. “Okay come on Poser, stop pushing this off. We just established you have a million bruises and I’m sure you have just as many cuts that need to be cleaned and bandaged.”

Natasha huffs, “Are you just going to call me Poser all the time now?”

“Yes.”

The two engage in a silent stare down, both getting that same look of determination on their face. We’re definitely sisters, Natasha thinks with a slight grin.

The redhead is the first to relent, realizing that if she didn’t, they would spend the rest of the night in the stare down. The sisters were the perfect example of the whole unstoppable force meets immoveable object scenario. She thinks Yelena is definitely the unstoppable force, and though Natasha is normally an immovable object, she’s quickly realizing Yelena had the redhead wrapped around her little finger.

“Fine.” Natasha grumbles, “But after this I’m patching you up too. I know you have a lot of cuts from smashing through that window.”

Yelena grins again at another silent victory. “Whatever. Glass sucks. Now come on, lean forward. Also, you’ll have to take off your jacket.” Yelena feels a bit embarrassed asking it even though Natasha had literally changed in front of her no less than 10 minutes after reuniting. She wasn’t uncomfortable with it, but she knew her request was asking Natasha to be vulnerable.

The redhead just sighs and struggles out of the leather jacket she’s wearing. It’s a painful process. She can’t remember the last time just taking off a jacket had hurt so much. Halfway through, Yelena senses her struggle and reaches out to help her. It comforts her a bit, even if it doesn’t really lessen the pain. Natasha then pulls off her shirt, saving Yelena the awkwardness of asking, and leaving her in only her bra.

“Turn around.” Yelena mutters, grabbing some bandages in anticipation of the wounds she’s going to see.

Natasha hesitates for a split second and Yelena swears she sees a flash of insecurity and anxiousness on her fearless older sister’s face before the redhead sighs and lays on the couch with her back facing up.

“Ебена мать.” Yelena curses as she sees the dozens of bruises and cuts on her sister’s back. It was even worse than she imagined.

“That bad huh?” Natasha jokes, trying to lift her own uneasiness.

“Let’s just say, I can’t believe you’re not dead.”

“Ha. Sometimes neither can I.”

Yelena frowns, again feeling sick at the thought of her sister being so carefree about whether she died or not. But she forces herself to focus on patching the millions of wounds on her sister’s back. She starts by pouring vodka all over it.

“AHHH WHAT THE FUCK!” Natasha all but screams as the alcohol hits every little cut on her skin. She hadn’t expected it at all.

“I’m sorry!” Yelena says wildly, wiping away the alcohol and trying to stop her hands from shaking from something that vaguely felt like panic. The blonde never panicked, but she felt like she was experiencing the pain with Natasha. Never had she hated hurting someone so much. And she had hurt a lot of people.

She was also greatly surprised at the display of pain her sister had just showed. She knows if Natasha knew it was coming that she wouldn’t have yelled out, but Yelena wanted to get it over with. Still, the scream once again made Yelena hyper aware of the fact that her sister was not a god or super solider, despite what some news stations rumored.

Natasha grits her teeth and curses a bit in Russian as Yelena finishes cleaning the wounds. She’s in too much pain to be mad for long about the suddenness of the vodka. It feels like her body is one giant cut and bruise mixed into one. She’s also slightly embarrassed by the scream of pain she let out, even years removed from the Red Room, Natasha still considered showing pain a weakness.

However, the pain is soon numbed considerably as Yelena rubs ointment all over her back. The redhead does her best to focus on how comforting and soothing her sister’s touch is. Sometimes she let Clint or Steve help patch her up, but she never trusted them to this extent. It felt nice to be taken care of by someone she trusted completely for once. She finds it almost ridiculous that she already trusted Yelena more than two of her best friends she had known for almost a decade after just one day of being with the blonde. Normally the feeling would set off alarms in her brain, but trusting Yelena just felt right.

Yelena takes her time applying the ointment and bandages to her sister. She is careful to cover every wound and relishes in being able to care for someone rather than hurt them. It’s even more special that it’s the person she cares for most in the world, the person who usually was taking care of her. The realization that Natasha is the most important person to her is confuses the blonde a bit. She hadn’t seen the redhead for 21 years and had only been reunited with her for a day. She had spent years with the same widows in the Red Room up until very recently, had fought in the trenches with them and watched many of them die. They were important to her, small bits of humanity she clung to in the Red Room. But they weren’t her sister. So maybe the realization isn’t confusing at all.

“Okay. That’s the best I can do for now.” Yelena pulls back and helps Natasha sit up. “But no more falling off things. Doctor’s orders.”

Natasha smirks and puts her shirt back on. “Yes Dr. Belova. Now come on, your turn to get patched up.”

Yelena rolls her eyes but hands over the kit and sits next to Natasha to let the older sister bandage her wounds. She doesn’t have nearly as many as the redhead, only a lot of cuts on her arm and side that had fallen through the window. But she relishes the attention Natasha puts into cleaning and wrapping every little wound. It makes Yelena feel cared for and safe for the first time in 21 years.

It occurs to her that the only times she’s ever felt truly safe in her life are with Natasha which honestly doesn’t surprise her. When she was little, she’d blindly follow Natasha everywhere, trusting that her sister would keep her safe. That clearly hadn’t changed considering she just followed Natasha to take down the Red Room after one day of being reunited. And, true to Yelena’s belief, Natasha kept her safe multiple times, culminating in saving her from a 30,000 foot fall in the process.

When the spy is done bandaging her baby sister up, she leans back heavily against the couch. Yelena can tell the redhead is exhausted. She’s exhausted too.

“There’s a bed through that door.” Yelena points to the bedroom. “Go sleep. I’ll sleep here.”

Natasha shakes her head, “No, this is your place. I’ll take the couch.”

Yelena huffs, “Seriously Poser? You have like a billion cuts and bruises, you need a good night’s sleep. Take the bed.”

Natasha sighs and gets up to go to the bedroom. Yelena raises her eyebrows, surprised but pleased that her sister relented so quickly.

“Yelena!”

The blonde bolts up in worry, wondering what her sister is calling about. When she walks through the bedroom door she’s hit in the face with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She sees Natasha has already changed into her own more comfortable sleepwear.

“Come on Rooskaya, the bed’s big enough for both of us.”

Yelena just stares back at her sister in shock. First at the nickname which she hadn’t heard in 21 years, then at the suggestion that they share a bed. It’s not that Yelena felt uncomfortable with it or didn’t want to, but she’s incredibly shocked that Natasha was suggesting it.

Natasha huffs, shifting nervously. “Unless you want to go and sleep on that uncomfortable couch.” The spy says it to cover up her own feelings of vulnerability.

The blonde shakes her head, “No, you’re right Poser. The bed’s big enough.” She then goes to the bathroom to change with a wide grin on her face.

When she gets back to the bedroom, Natasha is already lying under the covers, eyes closed. She wonders for a second if the redhead is already asleep, but then the spy opens one eye.

“Come on Rooskaya, I want to sleep.” She pats the side of the bed next to her.

Yelena rolls her eyes but there’s a grin plastered to her face. She slips under the covers and lies next to her sister, thinking back to how it was so much like those nights where they had sleepovers in Natasha’s room. Mainly because Yelena was afraid of the monsters under her bed and therefore always wanted to sleep with Natasha who would protect her. She still believes her sister protects her from monsters, even now.

Natasha frowns, “Ugh. My back hurts.”

Yelena huffs, knowing her sister is truly exhausted if she was admitting her discomfort so freely. “Can’t imagine why. Do you want some ibuprofen?”

“Ha. Ha.”

“I was being serious!”

“No. I’m okay.”

“Uh huh.” Yelena gets up for the medicine anyways. “Here.” She tosses the bottle at her sister who catches it at the last second, doing her best not to grimace at having to move her arm.

Natasha sighs but swallows two of the pills dry. She then turns to face Yelena who climbs back in the bed. The older sister can’t help but smile as the blonde grins dopily at her.

“Just like old times, huh Poser?”

Natasha chuckles, “Does that mean you’re going to hog the bed and steal all the blankets?”

Yelena looks at her with mock offense. “I never did that!”

“Uh huh.”

Yelena pouts and Natasha just laughs but then grabs her ribs that had been smashed on her fall off the building. “Ow. Don’t make me laugh.”

The blonde smirks, “Sorry that I’m irresistibly hilarious.”

“That statement was hilarious.”

“Hey!”

Natasha grins at the blonde and it hits her all at once. She loves Yelena. With every fiber of her being. She realizes then that she always had. Even after she defected from the Red Room, Yelena had always had a special place in her heart that no one could touch. And now being reunited with the blonde was causing those emotions to consume her. She bites back the words though, not thinking they were at that level of comfort yet.

Meanwhile Yelena is having a similar realization. Well, less of a realization and more of a reminder. Yelena wore more of her emotions on her sleeve than Natasha, and she had always known she loved her sister more than anyone, even when she was angry at the spy for leaving her. But being with Natasha now was reminding Yelena just how much she loved the redhead next to her. Yelena doesn’t say those thoughts either though.

Instead, the blonde tilts her head as takes in the bandages on the Avenger’s arms. “You know, when I was younger, I thought you were invincible.”

Natasha raises an eyebrow, not expecting that comment. “And let me guess, now that you’ve seen me get beaten to a pulp, you know that’s not true?”

That had been exactly what the blonde was thinking, but she suddenly shakes her head instead. “No. Quite the opposite in fact.”

It was a reasonable sentiment. Natasha had gone through things that should have killed any normal human multiple times in just the last day. So maybe her sister was invincible after all, Yelena thinks. Maybe that’s what happens when you’re a real-life superhero, you can’t die from falling from insane heights. The younger sister has no idea how wrong that final thought would end up being.

Natasha softens, sensing the slight awe in Yelena’s tone. She reaches out hesitantly and rests her hand on Yelena’s cheek, jerking the girl from her thoughts. The blonde immediately leans into the contact and closes her eyes and Natasha smiles.

“You asked me before why I came here.”

Yelena opens her eyes at that. She realizes she’s still curious to know the answer. She wonders if Natasha just couldn’t get another safe house from Mason.

“You were looking for Melina to help fix your olfactory nerve.” Yelena bluntly assumes.

The redhead’s eyes flash with surprise at the very accurate guess. “No. Well, yes, but that wasn’t the main reason.”

Yelena huffs, feeling like she knows the answer but not wanting to be wrong about it. “So are you gonna tell me the main reason Poser?”

Natasha sees the thoughts running through her baby sister’s mind and smiles fondly, stroking the blonde’s cheek with her thumb. “It’s a simple answer Lena. I came here because I wanted to see you.”

The blonde’s lips turn down in a frown at that as she tries not to cry. She tries to cover her emotions with teasing, “What, can’t even be without me for a few hours?”

Natasha rolls her eyes and pulls away, somewhat regretting showing her emotions. Yelena frowns at the slightly dejected look on her sister’s face and immediately misses the contact from the redhead. The blonde quickly moves after her older sister, surprising the spy. Yelena scoots closer and tentatively lies her head on Natasha’s shoulder and the black widow’s heart fills with love at the affection she didn’t feel she deserved from her perfect baby sister. Natasha quickly wraps her arm around Yelena, not caring that it hurt every muscle in her body to move.

“I missed you too Poser.” Yelena admits quietly into the redhead’s shoulder.

Natasha feels tears in her eyes so all she does in response is tighten her grip and place a gentle kiss on Yelena’s forehead. The blonde hums in satisfaction and closes her eyes.

As the black widow falls asleep, she does her best to memorize the feeling of having her sister again in her arms. She thinks that with Yelena by her side, maybe she really is invincible.

[1] It’s me

#natasha and yelena #yelena and natasha #yelena belova #natasha romanoff #black widow fanfiction #widow sisters

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milstrim · 3 years

Text

Home Is in My Arms

Tony Stark had had a daughter.

Her name had been Penelope.

She had had superpowers.

And he hadn't seen her in four years.

The ten year-old had last been seen on March thirty-first, 2012. The day of the Chitauri invasion. Tony had seen her that morning, and he guessed he could at least be grateful that their last interaction hadn't been like his own with his parents. Instead of a fight that was never resolved, the two had giggled on the couch of the newly furnished tower, him and Pepper with glasses of wine and Penny with her mint milkshake. Pepper had side-eyed them exasperatedly, as though their laughs and jokes had been the worst ruckus anyone had ever made.

And then Coulson. And then Steve. And then Natasha and Bruce and a God he had learned about in history when he was younger. And then Loki and the Helicarrier and explosions that had left Tony's head ringing--but nothing had hurt more than the loss of his friend.

Everything had gone by so quickly, so desperately, there had been no time to do anything about anything except gear up and go. The biggest reassurance he had given himself was that his homework had caused Pepper and Penny to leave the city for a couple of days while the girl was on Spring Break. It meant they were safe from everything was about to happen, and that he didn't have to worry past New York.

And they had won. The Avengers had been formed under desperate circumstances. They had saved the world.

And Penny had been gone.

Pepper had left on the plane, but Penny had managed to convince her godmother that she should stay at her friend's house for a sleepover. The aliens hadn't even been able to make it past the perimeter and into Queens, but the hectic of it had been enough. Or maybe she had run off to help. Even at ten she was braver than he was. Better. And equipped with superpowers from a field trip's rogue spider that made her stronger than even Captain America.

But it hadn't been enough.

No body was ever recovered. No trace of her was ever found. No footage or DNA or witnesses. There was nothing. Nothing for him to even try and grasp onto what had happened to her. How she had died. The best anyone could do was assume that a Chitauri weapon had vaporized her and to try to grieve from there.

And by God did he try.

After the Mandarin and almost losing Pepper, he'd put in more effort than he ever had. He visited the grave where no body was buried, leaving flowers and trinkets and books he knew she would have loved. He talked. To people who had known her like he had. Pepper and Rhodey and Happy and even Natasha.

The two had been so close when the woman had spied on him. Closer than he had been, still trying to change and learn to be a father better than his own after Afghanistan. He'd been dying and hadn't focused on anything but himself. About what he wanted to do before he was gone, instead of what would happen to his family afterwards.

So Tony tried. He tried a lot, but trying didn't always end in success. No, sometimes it ended in helicarriers made for HYDRA to control. Or a robot meant to protect only trying to destroy. Or in the fracturing of the Avengers, with Natasha and Steve on the run while the others sat in a max security prison that he spent every living moment trying to get them out of.

Except for now. Or maybe now too. Tony didn't know why Natasha had texted him. Only that she had betrayed him and texted only a couple of weeks later with a location out in Birmingham, England and nothing else but the message 'Get here quick.'

And he had. With nothing but a quick word to Pepper to keep Ross off of his aching back for a day, he'd stepped onto his plane and arrived in just over six hours. From there the billionaire had stepped into a waiting car and zoomed towards the address the spy had sent him, his heart racing just as fast as the vehicle's as he curved through city traffic.

Tony's thoughts strayed to Steve and Barnes and what had happened the last time he'd zoomed off to help his teammate. He swallowed down on his stuttering fear, reassured partly by the guantlet-watch sat snugly on his wrist and partly because he knew Natasha. Well, he knew her better than he ever had Steve anyway. Him and Natasha had fought, and there'd always been room for disagreements and anger, but at the end of the day they knew each other. And they were family.

The mechanic pulled up outside the run-down apartment complex, giving it a onceover before parking, pulling a baseball cap on low, and stepping out.

There was a drizzle, light and cold for the summer, even in England. He frowned, but only pulled his hood up with a shiver and stepped through the rusted metal gate, allowing him access to the first floor of apartments and a set of spindly stairs that he hoped didn't lead to any kind of locked door. He didn't exactly have a key, and Tony would prefer to not draw any attention to himself while here.

The man didn't need anymore grief from Ross. Not while he was desperate to pin something on Tony, and meeting with a violator of the Accords wouldn't exactly do much for his public image.

Biting on a sigh, Tony headed up the stairs towards the apartment number that Natasha had sent him. Thankfully, there was no locked door in his way, and the only person in the hallway that the stairs had led him to seemed to be much too out of it to pay him any mind. Quicker than he really would have liked, Tony was outside Apartment 9B, the number rusted and close to falling off of its hinges. Sucking in a breath, he knocked.

It only took a few seconds for the door to click! and then crack open just enough for him to catch familiar blue eyes and cropped platinum hair interrupted by a second lock's chain.

Natasha let out a short breath of relief, unlocking the door fully and opening the door just enough that he could slip inside. He glanced around the apartment once as she locked the door back up, surprised to see it was basically exactly what he had expected. It was small and old, orderly but not quite well-kempt, with evidence of past fights staining and fracturing the walls.

"Nice place," he commented. "Very runaway."

"Very last minute," Natasha responded. "It's not as easy as you think it is to get an apartment when everyone's trying to arrest you."

"You seem to slip away no matter what. By the way, how did you get away from Ross last week? I've got to know your trick on that, because I could use some pointers."

Natasha stopped beside him, a small smile tugging at her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite his forcefully loose and nonchalant posture, Tony felt himself freeze up looking at the Avenger. Her expression, no matter what it was, had always been hard for Tony to discern when she was practically the perfect spy. But now, this smile--it was sad and joyful and regretfully guilty.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice dropping to something softer. Rarely sincere.

Natasha glanced away from him to stare at a door for a moment before glancing back at him. Her lips twitched and her eyes threatened tears in a way that he hadn't thought she would express to him.

She swallowed. "Penny's alive. And I found her."

Tony--

Tony didn't react. Not for nearly a minute. Instead he stared, his entire body stilling--even his damaged heart--before he seemed to come back to life all at once like a broken wound-up toy.

The man stumbled back a step, falling into the nearest gray wall. One lonely breath coming in in a strangled gasp as he willed for something--anything--to make sense.

"She's alive?"

Natasha nodded.

"How?" he demanded. "How--in England? From New York? There's no way anybody could've just taken her while I was--"

The man cut himself off, dragging in another wheeze that rattled through his entire chest. His legs began to collapse under him, but his friend caught him, managing to maneuver him onto the floor slowly. Tony leaned against the wall as Natasha sat beside him, her head propped up against the wall beside him.

Neither said anything. Not for a few minutes at least at Tony's shaking and gasping ebbed. Not until he could force out images and nightmares of Penny his mind had tortured him with for years. He locked them in a box and dropped it in an ocean of useless thoughts, because his daughter was alive. Because she wasn't dead and none of it--a painful death full of fear and confusion while Tony was only blocks away that he had been tortured by for years--had ever happened.

Natasha spoke up when he'd finally managed to take in eight consistent breaths.

"I was raised in the Red Room," she started. "I was taken from my family and tortured for years. I tried to make a family there, and I did. For a little bit at least. But that family was taken too, replaced by the only world I had ever known. One based on pain and dictated structure. A cruel trick to play on a child, but it was normal for the Red Room. What wasn't normal was me not only succeeding more than they had ever dreamed, but succeeding past them. Escaping and deserting. Killing Dreykov was the last step of my defection to SHIELD. It was revenge and justice all at once. The others would be freed and I could clear out my ledger in a life I chose."

She swallowed, taking a moment.

"I failed. I failed and I didn't know." Natasha turned from staring ahead at the wall to stare at Tony. Suffering blue met broken brown, tired and guilty reflecting. In a whisper, she said, "Dreykov lived. He lived until a week ago. And the Red Room, and every Widow in it, lived under him."

Tony was touched to be trusted this much. To be trusted with even a sliver of what his friend had gone through in such a time of suspicion and betrayal. But he was scared. He was terrified, because Natasha never shared just to share. Everything she said had a point, a reason, a direction.

He tore his eyes away, shoving a hand over them and letting his head drop onto his knees. Unwillingly, he croaked, "No... Nat, please don't tell me--"

"Penny's a Widow."

Tony bit his lip, chewing on his cheek so harshly there was the tang of blood in his mouth. He took a moment, letting his head fall against the cracked and stained cement wall. Penny was alive. And she had been trained--no. Natasha's descriptions, however few and miniscule they had been, could not be described as simply training. Penny had been tortured. For four years. And what had he done but grieve and give up? If only he'd known. If only he'd found out sooner.

Natasha continued.

"The Red Room..." She took a breath and licked her lips. "After I escaped, they changed their whole system. Their method. How they hid and how they trained and--and how they controlled the women."

Something about the way Natasha said the last part sent a cold feeling down his throat.

"What did they do to her?" he croaked.

"They um...well, for lack of my understanding of it, they mind controlled her."

"They--Nat what? How would they even--"

"They controlled the brain’s neuropathways through external manipulation," came a new voice, their accent thick. Tony whipped his head around to stare at a woman he had never seen before. Like Natasha, she wore a regular hoodie and sweatpants but still looked as though she could take his life in less than a minute. There was an intensity about her, from her stance to her tied back hair to her ghostly blue eyes that stared at him suspiciously. "It was based off of blueprints for the Winter Soldier. Me and Natasha were part of the mission to retrieve them when we were young."

Despite the insanity of every new piece of information shot his way, he managed to piece it together in his head quickly enough that he opened his mouth to respond with a snapped remark, but Natasha managed to speak before he did.

"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be looking after Penny."

"I was, but then I heard how badly you were explaining everything and I came to help." Natasha glared. "Relax. I finished braiding her hair and now she's pretending to be asleep so she can listen to everyone talking."

The last part was said with a pointed look down the narrow apartment hall, but everything after Natasha had said "Penny" didn't seem to make sense anymore.

"She's here?" he asked, already scrambling to his feet. He glanced between Natasha and the woman desperately. "Penny's here right now?"

"We found her yesterday," Natasha answered cautiously. "Me and Yelena just started to free the Widows deployed around the world. We managed to give her the antidote during a shootout in Estonia. After that a friend of mine managed to get us here."

"A shoot--is she okay?"

"Just a couple of burns," Yelena said. "She may be enhanced, but she still has plenty to learn. She could still kick your ass, though."

"Thank you. Truly," Tony said, a bite of sarcasm to his voice, before turning back to Natasha, his desperation bubbling. "Which room?"

"Tony, I don't think you need to just go bursting in there. Let me--"

Tony stopped listening, every word his friend was saying dying out on his ears as he spotted a brunette and wide brown eyes poking around the corner over Natasha's shoulder. He felt his breath catch in his throat as their eyes clicked.

Penny had grown. She'd sprouted almost an entire foot from the short ten year old she had been, awkward and gangly limbs that the girl had always seemed to struggle with were replaced by obvious muscle and carefully controlled movement as she stepped out from behind the wall, their stare still holding. Despite the sharper angle of her chin and jaw, she still held baby fat in her cheeks that dwindled the look of her down by a couple of years, not helped at all by the familiar roundness of her deeply brown eyes.

He swallowed. His voice broke.

"Penny?"

—-

“Penny?"

It had been years since Penny had seen her dad. Since she'd heard him. Anything about her father not privy to missions had been carefully shielded away from the teenager for years. Sometimes on the few missions she had been sent on she would catch news clippings and pictures on TV channels before she had to move on or that terrible voice in her mind would force her to ignore him. But, despite the scarcity of which she was allowed to know about her father, she had always thought about him.

Penny had swam in her memories whenever she could. Whenever she needed. She'd think about the games she and her dad had used to play. About lessons he'd taught her and days they'd spent together. About hugs and braided hair and kisses to her head. The memories had felt faint and washed away underneath everything, but she'd clung to them like a lifeline.

That being said, she hadn't expected Dad's voice to sound like that. For him to look like this. He was always so put together in her mind--so strong--even when he was messy from the lab or tired from a long day of work, always accompanied by fond child-like adoration. But now he didn't look it.

There were bruises on his face, faint but still noticeably purple. His hair wasn't as dark or thick as she remembered, growing back just a little higher on his hairline, and more lines grabbed and pulled at his face. But that wasn't what ruined her memory of strength and warmth, people aged after all, that was just reality. It was the expression on his face and glossing over his eyes. It was the way he'd said her name, so unsure and weary.

Penny, finally, looked away from Dad, instead glancing over at Yelena and trying not to look like she was too desperate for help. Yelena stared back, raising her brows and gesturing to Tony with a slight nod of her head, as if telling her to not be a coward. But Penny didn't know how to do that. Not now.

Thankfully, Natasha took over.

"I'm going to go get us some dinner. Yelena?"

Okay, so not the kind of help she'd been looking for.

Yelena gave Penny one last glance, nodded, and then followed the Avenger out of the door.

The door clicked shut and then it was just father and daughter.

"Penny," he tried again.

She hid a flinch at how small and tired his voice was, how broken he felt standing only feet from her. She hid her shock and her fear and apprehension exactly how she'd been taught, schooling her features into something easy and bored. She let her shoulders drop and her posture loosen, but the hardest part was hardening her stare. That had always been the biggest complaint of her handlers. Her senses had been sharp but her expression always so readable by her eyes.

"Hi, Dad," she said, her voice cool and casual on default. The words felt terrible leaving her lips, so she crossed her arms in an attempt to feel more stable. "It's been a while."

He chuckled, short and sad. "Yeah. You could say that."

And then there was silence. It trickled in, slow, awkward, and tense between them. Penny tried not to let it get to her, but she couldn't deny that she wasn't tired and disappointed. When Yelena had smashed the antidote beside her, it was the first time the teenager had seen clearly in a long time, and her first thought had been of her Dad. There had been worries about if he missed her and if he'd been okay, but a fear had stabbed at her so strongly that she was still thinking about it.

Would he still love her? After all she'd done? She had hurt people. She had killed people. Not in defense. Not in good reason. But in fear and control.

"I, uh..." Penny blinked at her dad's voice, beating away her thoughts and instead focusing back on the bruised and stuttering man in front of her. "Sorry. I would've thought of something better to say if I'd known I was going to see you again. Maybe some presents too. Do you still like those peanut butter cookies?"

"The ones we used to make?" she asked. "With the Hershey Kisses?"

"Those are the ones."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had them since I was with you."

"Oh. Yeah. I guess you wouldn't have..." he trailed off, glancing down for a moment. She stared at him, watching his expression carefully as he loosened and looked back up at her. "Well, we can't make them again? At home?"

"Sure. Sounds fun."

Penny couldn't stand how dull her voice sounds, like she couldn't care less about something that really made her want to cry in happiness. But...she didn't know what else to do. What to say. The Red Room had made sure she always knew what to do and what to say, but that had been for politicians and businessmen and people she was supposed to trick. She didn't want to trick her dad. She just--she wanted to--

Dad stepped closer, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down in a deep and concerned frown. She kept a wary eye on him as he approached, trying to force down feelings of apprehension and fear that she had become familiar with whenever anybody was in her space. But he stopped about a foot short, his reached out hand halting just away from her face as he whispered, "Oh, piccolina. It's okay." His voice broke. "It's okay. I'm gonna make sure it is... I promise."

And finally she broke.

And it hurt. It really, really hurt.

Penny leaned her cheek into his open hand as hot beads of tears caught on her eyelashes, allowing for Dad to cup his other hand around the back of her head and tentatively pull her in. It took the teenager a moment to adjust, so wired on the need to fight and never let her guard down, but then she just--crumpled.

Like a switch had been flicked, Penny buried her nose into his neck and wrapped her arms around him in a tight squeeze, swallowing down tears. Dad pulled her in tighter, his nose pressed into her tightly braided crown.

And then he sobbed.

It was a strangled, inhuman kind of sound that rumbled from his chest to escape the back of his throat. He cleared his throat, as if embarrassed, but Penny wasn't an idiot. She could still hear his heart thumping and feel a tear slip from his chin onto the back of her neck. It all shocked her, but the sound found itself ringing in her ears painfully more than anything.

She flinched in his hug.

"Oh, Penny. I'm so sorry," he apologized, his voice sore with tears. "So, so sorry."

"For what?" she asked. "Not finding me? You wouldn't have been able to, Dad, even being you. Draykov made sure of it."

"I don't care. I should've done something! I should've--I should've--"

"Dad." He fell silent as she pulled away from him, crossing her arms back over her chest as she came back to her training. Dad stared at her, his dark copper eyes as guilty as she felt. "Please, just... Don't be sorry. Because I'm sorry, and if you're sorry then we're both sorry and we can't both be sorry it's--"

"What on Earth do you have to be sorry for?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Penny--"

"I'm not ten anymore, Dad. I don't think I'm even a kid anymore... I've--I've done too much harm. I have a lot to be sorry for."

Dad stared at her, a familiar sadness in his eyes. He chewed his cheek, brows furrowed in thought, and she was brought back to a time when she would watch him solve problems in the lab, or try to answer one of her inane questions that she never seemed to be able to stop asking.

"Let me ask you something," he started. "Do you think I'm a bad person? That I'm at fault for losing you?"

"No," she answered immediately, because her dad had always tried, no matter what. She'd known he wasn't perfect, and that a lot of people hated him for the mistakes he'd made, but she'd always known how much he really cared. How much he really cared and tried for the world. For the Avengers. For her.

"Well, then what makes you a bad person? What makes you not a kid anymore?"

Penny could only stare. She could only answer, "I've hurt people."

"I know. And I have too. But you don't think I'm a bad person, so you're not a bad person either. And what about Nat? Or your new very scary friend?"

"I forgot how much I hated arguing with you," she deadpanned.

"'Trying' to argue with me," he corrected, a smile pulling at his face. Surprisingly, she managed to smile back. Even more surprisingly, it didn't feel fake. Sure, it was small and tired, but Penny couldn't remember the last time she'd actually smiled. "See? Everything's going to be okay."

"How do you know?" she asked. "I'm a violator of the Accords. If it ever gets out that I was part of the Red Room--what I did for the Red Room--almost nothing could keep me out of prison. You'll have to explain how you found me and it would make you a violator--"

"I'll handle it," Dad said. "I always handle it. And just because you don't feel like a kid doesn't mean you aren't one. There are protections for you. And we found protections for Nat. Wanda too, if she would've taken them." He muttered the last part under his breath, the words emotionless but regret and guilt clear in his eyes. He cleared his throat and looked back at her with a raised brow. "And how do you know about the Accords? Do they have a current events class in the Red Room?"

"We do actually have to keep up with some events for missions. But, no. I've been reading old newspapers. Did you know you were on the front page for almost two weeks in June?"

"No. Nobody reads the paper anymore. Unless you're a dinosaur anyway."

"Uncle Rhodey likes the paper," she said with that still small but still real smile. "For the crossword puzzles."

"Yeah. Like I said: Dinosaur." With that, the jokes seemed to slide away as he took on a more serious tone. "But I'll handle it. I've already been trying to handle the Accords. You'll be safe, and free, at home, Penny. I promise."

"I can really come home?"

Dad paused. "Did you think you wouldn't?"

Penny shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to. I want to. But I just... I didn't know how safe it would be, and I know how to live by myself. How to avoid suspicion. I was...I was prepared for other options."

"If you were planning on running, why did you meet with me?"

"I don't know," she said. But truthfully, there had been a hole in her heart. A knot in her stomach. She'd just--she'd needed to see her dad. To apologize and let him know she was okay. She'd missed her family for so long, she had to imagine they'd missed her too. In fact, Penny had wanted nothing more to know they'd missed her. That those years in the Red Room wondering where her family was hadn't been because they didn't care.

Realistically, Penny knew Dad had missed her. Had loved her enough to grieve and look for her, but being there for so long--so terribly long--had been enough for seeds of doubt to sprout and root itself in her mind. But the teenager didn't tell her dad that. That would make him upset, and Penny was tired of being upset. Instead, she said, "Just missed you. Wanted to know that you're okay."

"Well, now you're gonna know every day," he said. "And you're going to know that Pepper is okay. And Rhodey and Happy. And you're never going to miss us again."

"Never?"

"Nope. Well, maybe when you go to school. But we can homeschool if you would prefer that. Would you?"

"Oh, uh, I don't--"

"Yeah, never mind. You don't have to know right now," he said with a wave. Then he smiled at her again, that genuine smile that squinted his eyes and pulled at his wrinkled laugh lines. "Right now, why don't we just go home?"

"Yeah," she said. And suddenly no other thought occupied her mind. Home was all she could think of. Of tall New York skyscrapers and the bustling city. Or maybe they'd go back to Malibu, even if his house was gone. Either way she'd see her uncle again. And Pepper. And Happy, who were all family to her. Family she hadn't seen in so long. "Let's go home."

Dad smiled, his eyes misty. Penny smiled back, taking his hand and leaning against him in another hug. He readily accepted, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a light kiss to the crown of her head.

The best part: Nothing about him whispered danger. Or discomfort or uneasiness. There was just...comfort.

Just home.

It was the best feeling in the entire world.

—-

“Should we tell Uncle Rhodey we're on the way?"

"Nah. He loves surprises."

"He hates surprises."

"Exactly!"

Penny laughed. And the sound, the feeling, was just like home.

#peter parker #tony stark #female peter parker #irondad #irondad and spiderson #iron man fanfiction #spiderman fanfiction #marvel fanfiction

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avengerscompound · 3 years

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Moving On - Chapter 5

Moving On: A Falcon & Captain Marvel Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Sam Wilson x F!Reader, Carol Danvers x F! Reader

Word Count: 2486

Rating: E

Warnings: Pregnancy, death of major character(s), canon typical violence

Synopsis: You thought Sam Wilson was the love of your life. You had planned to do it all with him - marriage, kids, see the world. Even when you’re life gets turned upside down, and you both end up international fugitives, he’s there by your side.

Then Thanos comes.

When Sam is one of the many turned to dust, leaving you alone and pregnant, you don’t think you’ll ever stop grieving. Yet, everyone tells you that Sam would want you to move on and live your life - that he’d want you to be happy. Gradually you open your heart up to another. Carol Danvers has lost people too. First her daughter, then her wife. As the two of you lean on each other, feelings grow and you move on together.

So what happens when Sam is returned to you?

Chapter 5: When the Dust Settles

Steve had gotten the call from Bruce late at night. It had come in on his emergency burner phone - the one that only Tony Stark had the number for. You’d seen him answer it with shaking hands, and the different possibilities of why Tony might be calling had all seemed to run through your head simultaneously. Had they overturned the Accords? Had they dropped the charges against all of you? Was he just calling to say sorry or that he missed Steve? Had something bad happened? Was there an attack and the Accords didn’t matter now, because they needed everyone on board? Had something happened to Rhodey?

While one of those was right, the last thing you’d expected to hear was for Steve to say the words; ‘Bruce calm down, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say’.

You’d watched the news on the flight to Scotland to retrieve Vision and Wanda. You’d been told Vision was at risk of attack and your group had arrived not a second too soon. Wanda and Vision were being attacked by two aliens that had to be at least six-foot-six.

Your group had managed to protect them, though Vision had been injured and Steve decided that with this attack, it was time to go home.

Despite what was happening, you couldn’t help but be excited to go back to the compound. Maybe if you could all deal with this, it would show everyone how the Avengers were needed and you could all go home for good. You wondered if Tony had kept your things and if not where they would be. You were excited to just be somewhere familiar even if it was just for a minute.

“Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Sam said, practically reading your mind. “This is bad, babe.”

“I know,” you said with a sigh. “I know but… we don’t lose.”

“Don’t do that!” He yelped. “You’re gonna jinx us.”

“Sorry,” you sighed, shaking your head. “It’s just been so long.”

He rubbed your back. “And everything is a mess. We’ll just do the right thing.”

“Hope for the best, expect the worst,” you said.

“That’s right,” Sam said.

You had stayed at the compound for even less time than you had expected. A greeting from a holographic Secretary Ross that involved an order to have you arrested, an awkward greeting between Bruce and Natasha, and debate about how this whole thing was going to be faced. This ‘whole thing’ being an alien megalomaniac who seemed to have a philosophy degree but thought he was an expert on ecology. He believed that the way to solve overpopulation and limited resources was to destroy half of all life and was now collecting some stones that would allow him to do it. One of the stones currently resided in Vision’s head.

So it was back on the Quinn for a return trip to Wakanda in the hopes that Shuri might be able to remove the stone from Vision’s head so that it could be destroyed before another attack took place.

While Shuri worked on Vision the rest of you prepared for battle. You went to have a quick medical once over before this got started. The nerves you’d been feeling were making you a little lightheaded and you wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything that would get you into trouble during a fight.

“You are a little anemic,” the medic said. “I’d say that is from the slight malnutrition. All of your teammates are a little undernourished. But the pregnancy won’t help.”

You blinked at her and shook your head. “Sorry - the what?”

“You didn’t know you were pregnant?” She asked. “It’s very new? Five weeks? No signs of nausea yet?”

“No… no. I… but… we’re… we use protection!”

“These things can happen, and with the current lifestyle you’re leading, it would be no surprise if you missed a dosage or there was a breakage,” she said. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want this we can talk about what you want to do at a more opportune moment.”

You shook your head, not sure what to think. You laughed… or at least you tried to. It was more of a hysterical sounding screech. “Right. Let’s wait until the world isn’t ending.”

“I’m sorry, this is a lot to take in today, isn’t it?” The medic said, going to a cabinet of medication. She shook a couple of pills out of a bottle and brought them over to you with a small cup of water. “Here, take these. It will help with any lightheadedness and nausea you might experience. We don’t want that in the midst of what’s to come.”

You quickly swallowed the pills and started to redress in your armor. “Thank you, doc,” you said. “Sorry for bringing this fight to your door.”

“If it is as serious as they say and you can’t stop it, then we won’t be protected just because we’re in Wakanda,” she said with a shrug. “Not this time.” She sighed and looked at you. “Take care of yourself. When you’ve saved the world, talk to the father and the two of you can come back to see me, and I’ll help you with the next step, whatever that is.”

“Thank you,” you said sincerely. “That’s really kind.”

You went outside to where Sam, Rhodey, and Bucky were all waiting by the ships. “All good?” Sam asked, looking back at you.

Before you could answer there was a loud rumble in the sky. You looked up to see a huge ship that resembled some kind of tower entering the atmosphere.

Sam pressed his finger to his comms device. “Hey, Cap, we’ve got a situation here.”

It crashed into the dome above and exploded on impact, completely disintegrating in the air above you.

“God, I love this place,” Bucky said, as he looked up at it.

“Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome,” Rhodey added as more of the ships landed around the perimeter of the dome that protected Wakanda from the rest of the world.

Sam approached you. “Guess it's the end of the world time,” he said as alarms started sounding and people began to scramble.

You briefly and tenderly kissed him, the secret that you had burning inside you. “Sam,” you said, taking his hand.

He looked at you and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up.”

You wanted to tell him but now was not the time. He needed his head in the game, and so did you. “Don’t do anything dumb.”

He laughed. “You sound like Steve just before he jumps off the side of a building. I’ve got wings, I’ll be fine.”

“See you when the dust settles,” you said.

“Yeah, you too,” he agreed and pecked your cheek. The two of you then ran off in different directions. You gathered with Bucky and Natasha, while he went to speak to Rhodey.

Steve, T’Challa, the Dora Milaje all arrived not long after, and your team and the armies of Wakanda were all marched onto carriers as Bruce messed around with a set of Kimoyo Beads with the help of Okoye. As you were settling onto the carrier, a hole opened in the dome above your head and the Veronica Unit crashed down to earth nearby. Natasha sighed and vaulted off the carrier going to help Bruce get a handle of the Hulk Buster armor.

By the time you were all flying your way down to the borders of Wakanda, you were in the blank zone that you hid in when you needed to rely on your instincts alone.

Sam and Rhodey flew overhead as the carriers took the armies to their positions and you all formed a large wall facing the dome that held the aliens out.

Steve, T’Challa, and Natasha went to the barrier to talk to the two aliens you had fought in Scotland. You watched on, knowing it wasn’t going to amount to anything. The female raised her spear and the ships began to open up.

“Did they surrender?” Bucky asked.

“Not exactly,” Steve replied as he resumed his position.

Hoards of huge beasts ran through the treeline towards the barrier. “Looks like we pissed her off,” Natasha said.

You watched on as swarms of the beasts began attacking the barrier, throwing themselves on it, not caring that it was skinning them and tearing them apart too. “They’re killing themselves,” Okoye said, horrified.

Some began to breach the barrier and charge towards the waiting army. Bucky, Bruce, and the Wakandan Army began attacking them with long-range weapons, felling them as they broke past Rhodey and Sam who attacked them at the wall.

“Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us... there's nothing between them and Vision,” Bruce said through the comms.

“Then we better keep 'em in front of us,” Steve said gravely.

“How do we do that?” Okoye asked T’Challa.

“We open the barrier,” T’Challa said, and touched his comms device. “On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen. On my signal.”

“This will be the end of Wakanda,” M’Baku said to Okoye.

“Then it will be the noblest ending in history,” Okoye said.

Everyone readied themselves while T’Challa shouted his commands in Xhosa to the army around him. The border tribesmen let down their shields and T’Challa walked out in front of them. “Wakanda forever!” He shouted and everyone charged.

As you ran down towards the border, pulling out your batons and hoping to god that you had the strength to get through this battle, the barrier opened and the beasts flooded through.

You were back from the frontlines when you encountered your first one, and you battled it, back to back with one of the river tribesman, the two of you taking it down together. Two more attacked immediately, separating you from the man and you did your best to take the one you were facing down. You could already see that this was not going to go as planned. There were so many of them and they were so strong. You managed to take down two others when you saw Bruce getting overwhelmed in the hulkbuster armor. It felt hopeless, but you needed to win this. You needed to go home with Sam and start your life together. This couldn’t be how it ended.

There was a large crack and then something flew through the sky, taking out dozens of the beasts in one go, freeing up both yourself and several of your teammates. When the air cleared what you realized was a large ax flew into the hand of Thor, who stood with what appeared to be a humanoid tree and a raccoon holding a gun that was at least as big as it was.

Bruce retracted his helmet and laughed loudly. “Ah-hahaha! You guys are so screwed now!”

“Bring me Thanos!” Thor roared, charging towards the leaders of the beasts. He jumped into the air and slammed back down to the ground, his lightning taking out a huge swarm of them.

Thor turned the tide of the battle. The hoard was being kept back and Thor seemed to be getting closer and closer to their leader. The hopefulness began to return and you got a new surge of energy. You were going to win this. You and Sam were going to go home and retire. He was going to run his business with his sister.

There was a deep rumble and the earth itself began to quake. A huge wave ran out underground, sending trees flying and bursting out from under the walls of the dome were huge weaponized wheels that began to churn up everything, people included.

“Fall back! Fall back now!” T’Challa yelled and you began to run back away from the combat, trying to get away from the machines.

Wanda flew out from the window and threw one of them, taking it completely out of play. Your relief at the next of your biggest hitters joining the field was short-lived as you saw Vision tumble out of the window of the palace and down the face of Mount Bashenga.

“Guys, we got a Vision situation here,” Sam said through the comms.

“Somebody get to Vision!” Steve shouted.

“I got him,” Bruce said, taking off in the direction of the synthoid.

“On my way,” Wanda echoed.

You kept fighting. Everything became more and more chaotic around you, and your battle turned away from actually trying to stop them, to just trying to survive long enough that you could get to the end of the battle. The rest of your teammates seemed to head toward a copse of trees while you were still stuck in the open. You wanted to be with them if this all went south. You didn’t want to die in a field surrounded by strangers, but with each step forward you made you were pushed back two more by the invaders.

Thor had begun to destroy the alien ships, bolstering your hope again despite the fact your energy was waning. You could hear the battle cries of the Jabari as they began to take control of the battle and slowly you began to start gaining on the treeline.

An eerie silence fell on the battlefield and you picked up your speed running to where your friends were.

“Everyone, on my position. We have incoming,” Steve said over comms. You looked around for some sign of more ships or something, but you had no idea what he was talking about.

You arrived in time to see Sam being hurled aside by a huge purple man that you could only assume was Thanos. You charged at the titan, knowing it was no use, but knowing also that it was death either way. He batted you aside like you were nothing, you hit your head, and lost consciousness.

When you came too, you thought for a second you were hallucinating. There were people on the battlefield turning to dust. You scrambled to your feet and looked around, blinking your eyes. This couldn’t be happening. People couldn’t just be disintegrating.

“Sam?!” You called turning around and running in the direction where you last saw him.

Rhodey was looking around with the same look of confusion everyone else seemed to share. “Sam?” He called as he gazed around the forest floor.

“Sam!” You screamed. “Sam! Answer me!”

“We’ll find him,” Rhodey assured you. “He’s gotta be here.”

“He was right here. I saw him here,” you said, and dropped to your knees, running your hands over the ground where you were sure he’d been. Your hands came back covered in the dust you’d seen other people disintegrating into. It was him. You’d lost him. You had expected the worst but even your worst hadn’t been you left here alone. You sunk back on your knees and wailed.

// NEXT

#sam wilson #carol danvers #sam wilson x reader #carol danvers x reader #falcon #captain marvel #falcon fanfic #captain marvel fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #pregnancy #moving on

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daydreamerdrew · 2 years

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Comics read this past week:

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #142-160 and Marvel Feature (1971) #1-3 and The Avengers (1963) #100 and The Defenders (1972) #1-4

In this batch of issues I went from June 1971 to October 1972. I left off last week dissatisfied, enjoying the issues until the last issue, which seemed to be taking the series in a new direction I was dissatisfied with- Bruce choosing to become the Hulk again after being cured due to jealousy and Betty leaving Bruce for Doc Samson- but in this batch Bruce choosing to become the Hulk again hasn’t been mentioned once, it seems that they’re really just pretending that didn’t happen, and Betty wasn’t dating Samson as the ending of The Incredible Hulk #141 implied. Though in this batch Betty did discover that Bruce had some complicated feelings towards Jarella, who the Hulk is very solidly in love with, so she kissed Talbot, effectively ending their relationship and giving Bruce free reign to pursue Jarella, and while Betty later had doubts about her assumption that Bruce was surely in love with this Jarella person, it was too late to change her mind as everyone then thought that Bruce was dead (he wasn’t actually dead, he was just made microscopic) so she married Talbot (their relationship developed very quickly, though in Talbot’s defense he’s been pining over her since he was first introduced as a character years ago) and then Bruce is revealed to actually still be alive when he’s made normal size again, but Talbot doesn’t want to risk Betty potentially leaving him when she finds out and General Ross vastly prefers Talbot as a husband for his daughter, so they’re currently working together to have Ross kill Bruce without Betty ever finding out that he was still alive. I don’t fully like the way Betty has been written throughout all of this, but I am liking the overall plot. It will work for me as long as she’s genuinely very angry angry when she finds out that Bruce is alive and her new husband and father kept that from her. If her character isn’t allowed a proper reaction to that, I’ll be very annoyed. Issue #142 is the first appearance of Samatha Parrington, who becomes the Valkyrie and attacks Hulk under the manipulations on the Enchantress, who is always fun to see cause I enjoyed her in my childhood Marvel cartoon A:EMH. The Enchantress is also responsible for the creation of the second Valkyrie, in The Defenders #4, from Barbara Denton, who we last saw in The Incredible Hulk #126. I believe that issue #148 is the first time the Hulk kills someone knowingly and intentionally, which he does when he believes that they killed his love Jarella. I believe that Marvel Feature #2 is the first time that Namor properly met Bruce, and didn’t just see his unconscious body. I like that their relationship is immediately amicable and we don’t see any conflict between them. The Defenders team across Marvel Feature and The Defenders originally consisted of just Dr. Strange, Namor, and the Hulk, but the Silver Surfer teamed-up with them for one issue and the Valkyrie joined them later. My understanding is that this team is the team for the sort of recluse characters, and isn’t publicly known like the Avengers or X-Men are. I’m enjoying the Hulk’s time on this team. He likes Namor, “Fish-Man”, most of the time. He doesn’t like Dr. Strange, “(Stupid) Magician”, who he feels bosses him around. Valkyrie joined in the last issue, I suspect that the Hulk will get along well with her simply because he’s a girl and he tends to like girls, but we shall see. The Incredible Hulk #152-153 is an interesting storyline in which the Hulk is captured and put on trial with Matt Murdock defending him against the death penalty. Bruce was unable to speak in his defense because they were unable to make the Hulk turn back into him, and when the case was about to be lost Reed Richards shows up with a device that he says will turn the Hulk back into Bruce, but actually makes him briefly strong enough to escape. It’s implied that Reed did this intentionally out of pity for the Hulk and/or Bruce. I didn’t like as a reader that the witnesses that were called to speak in the Hulk’s defense were all Avengers cameos, as I felt that Betty, Rick, or Jim, would have provided better testimony that actually speaks to what’s good about him and argue that he’s misunderstood, whereas the Avengers, and even Reed, was mostly taking the approach that the Hulk shouldn’t be killed because that would also kill Bruce which would be wrong because he’s such a brilliant man and also cause he’s innocent. But I think it could be argued that it makes sense that that’s who Matt would know to call, it’s not like the Hulk was telling him much. Also the Defenders couldn’t testify cause no one knew to ask them cause their team isn’t publicly known. Writing credits for sort of all over the place in this batch, not as simple as saying all the main Hulk issue were written by Roy Thomas like last time, but the most notable names are Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, and Archie Goodwin.

the Captain Marvel Jr. stories in Master Comics #25-31

I’ve just gone from April 1942 to October 1942. In this little batch there was one instance in which Captain Marvel Jr. accidentally turned back into Freddy Freeman when he unthinkingly said “Captain Marvel” and multiple instances of him saying it in the middle of dialogue and not transforming. Oops. I’ve seen a similar amount of this mistake with Billy saying “Shazam” without transforming across many more issues than this. It seems that it is still early on in Junior’s career, and they are still working out the kinks. The stories are really different from Billy’s- darker tone, more serious villains, more realistic art, and the stories are largely war-focused. There is still some humor, often at the expense of Nazis. I will need to read a considerable amount more to truly understand his Golden Age character, which I’m committed to doing.

are you listening? by Tillie Walden, published in 2019

I’d actually read this before years ago, as I am a big fan of Tillie Walden’s work, but since it had been some time I wanted to revisit it. Very different than the superhero comics that I’ve mainly been reading lately. The story is based around two characters, Bea and Lou, who are 18 and 27 respectively, slowly learning more about each other on a road trip. Not a tightly plotted, action-based adventure. Just people sort of falling into each other’s lives and then trying to figure out what they’re doing and how to move past things that have happened to them. Trigger warning for discussion of CSA and incest. Walden’s style is well-suited for magical realism, when the story smoothly moves from the mundane to the unrealistic, the atmosphere that has been built remains the same. Her inks make everything look soft, with the lack of harsh straight lines, and her coloring makes everything look magical- a gas station, a busy tunnel, a diner- which adds to the magical realism feeling natural to the book, though it only becomes apparent halfway through. And her handwritten lettering makes everything seem personal, which works well with the focus on learning to open up. Walden doesn’t use narration boxes, so there are parts where there’s little to no words at all and it’s just the art carrying the story, which works because her dialogue sounds plausible and natural when it’s there and because she’s so good at using art to convey a mood. It’s interesting to see in some of the process material at the end of the book, how the first attempt at pencils portrayed the world as a lot more solid, and then the second attempt gave it a more more floaty feel with fewer far-back shots that showed a lot of information and instead more specific close ups. There’s certainly lovely scenery throughout the book, but we’re not given full access to it constantly. I borrowed a copy of this from the library.

Dr. Fate (1987) #1-4

This was surprisingly accessible to me as someone new to Dr. Fate comics. At first it seemed daunting to get into, but there were useful explanations of characters’ histories within the story. This mini elicited a ‘wow, this is really messed up’ response in me. It’s not that there’s really graphic content depicted on the page, but that the subject matter of the story is so dark. This book treated this particular superhero and the consequences of his actions very seriously. It’s not something that relies on genre conventions to portray something without how immoral that act would be if it happened in real life, it just goes all the way there. Haunting. And visually the art worked very well to convey the unique magic of the book and the intense themes of the book. I intend to reread this when start reading over Dr. Fate comics.

Shade, the Changing Girl (2016) #1-12

This was a reread so that I could read the follow-up comic for the first time. I absolutely love the ‘magical realism’ in this book, as Loma Shade is affected by the madness, it warps not just her perspective but her reality, distorting the world that she in inhabiting. The story begins with Loma possessing the body of Megan Boyer, a comatose teenage bully, whose life she then has to learn to live in. I really enjoy the character’s journey of adjusting to a new body, as her precious one was avian. A highlight for me was how we’re originally presented with Loma Shade as a character that has issues- patterns of running away and such- as well as some hints about her upbringing being messed up, all of which works on its own, but then halfway through we suddenly get a lot more detail into the world that she comes from, which makes it clear that her personal issues stem from systemic issues on her home planet and didn’t just form in a bubble. Also, woven throughout the narration is excerpts of poetry from her favorite poet, Mac Shade, which had a lovely affect. The first half of the book follows Loma trying to survive the high school environment, and then the second half is her on the run, traveling the country. And throughout the whole book is the other plot line about what’s going on back on Loma’s home planet and what the affects of her traveling to earth are. I think that the second half of the book is probably my favorite. The art, the story, all of it is just lovely and very well done.

Paper Girls (2016) #1-30

I decided to reread this series after watching the trailer for the live action adaptation and being really disappointed with it. I’ll write more on that elsewhere. When I first read the series I waited for each trade to come out and didn’t reread the previous ones when I finally got the next, and it was a really great experience to reread the series over the course of a week. Paper Girls is just so incredibly well-constructed as an overall story. We mainly follow these four 12 year old girls who accidentally get wrapped up in this time travel conflict that so much bigger than them, and they’re just trying to figure out what’s going on and how they can get back home. They start off knowing nothing, as the audience does, and for the most part we’re all piecing it together with them, but we also get some scenes from other parties in the time travel conflict and get so gets some bits of information before they do. But the way that the time travel is using in the plotting, were things are explained or start to make sense often many issues down the line, and even things that weren’t questioned are suddenly given a explanation as everything is demonstrated to be connected, is what impresses me most of all. I like that while you might think that the other parties in the time travel conflict would know a lot more than the girls, by the end we see where they have their blind spots, what they don’t understand about their own conflict that they’re involved in, and the girls by not knowing anything and therefore not thinking that they knows more than they do are actually able to understand it better. Primarily, that they understand that the bloodshed isn’t worth it. There’s a lot of themes in the series that time travel was used really well to explore- generation conflict, can children trust adults, growing up, fate, ect. I also love the main characters, who I don’t feel have exaggerated personalities and instead come across more like real kids. Also Cliff Chiang’s art and Matt Wilson’s colors were just lovely.

#this is objectively factually a more varied selection than the previous week but I am still not satisfied #as I didn't hit a lot of my goals #comics read this past week #my posts

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

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Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Aftermath)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is about 17 or 18; i cried while writing this. sorry this is really long!!! pls forgive me 🥺

prompt: takes place from a3 to smffh

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Intense Years (3) Continued (5)

let’s start on a happy note! ahahah

so for a while, earth was calm

you, pepper, and tony got to be a family for a while

wedding planning!

of course you got to try the ben&jerry’s ice cream named after your dad: Stark Raving Hazelnuts

“it’s not fair that you got ice cream named after you and i didn’t”

“well, when you grow up to be as awesome as me, maybe you’ll get your own ice cream flavor”

developing nanotech suits together for a Bonding Experience(tm)

speechless after the first test

“dad, this is...”

“the coolest thing to ever exist?”

“yes!!”

yall ready for some shit?

the day that ebony maw invaded was pretty—what’s the word? interesting? no. well, yes, but...HORRIBLE.

it all started when you got the call from your dad

“y/n, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“god, i really have to change that. okay, JOSHIE, answer it. hey, dad? what’s up?”

“hey, kid! you know that weird ass building on bleecker street? how fast can you get here?”

“JOSH can you track FRIDAY really quick? lets see how far dad is...uh, okay, be there in five, see ya”

taking your suit for a spin and realizing how GREAT it was to be able to basically fold up your suit and put it in your back pocket

knocking on the door and it opened on its own, it was kinda cool

“is this a museum? cool.”

bruce turning around to see you after about three years and giving you an awkward smile and a wave while you stood frozen around the wizard-guys

“y/n, god, you’ve grown up!”

charging into him for a long overdue hug

“you don’t know how much i missed you. it’s been chaotic without you”

“i can...i can only imagine”

a debriefing on the situation you were about to face, and bonus! having to play the catch-up game with bruce

“just call him, dad. we need as much help as we can. steve will understand”

rushing outside to face off with some ugly-ass aliens

“oh nooo, it’s roger smith from american dad”

bruce: 👀, stephen: 👀, wong: 👀, tony: 👏👏🥰 that’s my girl

simultaneous nanosuit unveiling

“you ready for this one, pops?”

“of course! ive waited years to kick some more alien ass”

montage of you and tony getting your asses beat together (as a family <3)

peter showing up

“give me one good reason why i shouldn’t send you back to that school bus”

“because i’m good company?”

“whatever, just listen to whatever dad has to say, i forfeit my responsibilities over you”

pew pew, repulsors, pew, tiny rockets! fun! action! destroying new york again and again. good times...

until JOSHUA gave you notice that your dad was flying high

“call him. now.”

“hey! how’s it going down there?”

“dad, you know how i feel about you and space”

“i know, i know. i just...i gotta take care of this. keep pepper safe for your old man, okay?”

“i lo—l—ve y—”

“y/n? y/n?! i love you! shit!”

“we lost connection with her, sir”

trying to call peter

“call failed, y/n. should i try again?”

“i’m gonna kill them...”

walking through the rubble to find bruce, the only sensible man you know

taking him to the avengers compound asap to get to rhodey and figure out what comes next

meanwhile, tony was dealing with space and another teenager

and worrying a lot about leaving you on earth

“i mean, mr. stark, y/n’s one of the most capable people i know. she’s probably trying to fix this whole mess as we speak”

“i didn’t get to tell her i love her”

“oh...”

having a lovely meeting with thaddeus ross with rhodey, having a lovely time watching them passive-aggresively argue until your former teammates arrived

having to patiently (and professionally) wait for ross to hang up before running into them for a hug

“holy shit, you guys have no idea how bad i’ve wanted to see you. it sucks not being all together anymore”

“i know, y/n. we’ve all missed you.” -cap

“a lot” -nat added

bruce’s little entrance that was sure to bring some awkwardness

you, secretly freaking out about your dad

sam was the one that found you crying after you “stepped out” for a few minutes too long

“oh, y/n,” he was contemplating grabbing someone else to step in, but decided to sit next to you in the hallway, “i’m sorry, kiddo. i can’t promise you anything, but your dad is a fighter. a big pain in the ass. i think your odds are good”

laughing through your tears

“yeah, you’re right. thanks, sammy”

he gave you a little hug while you calmed down

getting to business, the ass-kicking kind

as the wise natasha romanoff once said to your father, you were being “uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal”

your mind did this funny thing...wandered into places it really should not go

the talk about sacrificing vision led to wakanda, where you had a swell time patrolling

“guys! we’ve got incoming. a lot of incoming”

well-deserved uncle/niece team up. who wouldve thought?

you would have nightmares about these aliens for years to come

“you get to die, and you get to die! everybody gets to die!”

“y/n, what did we talk about?” -rhodey

“using humor as a defense mechanism makes the team uncomfortable...”

covering the girls 😌 because we gotta have those all-girl teamups, uh-huh?

some more blasting

thor made his comeback and you just could not miss it

“hi, thor!”

you landed next to him and your helmet receded

“well, hello, miss y/n! good to see you again! my, you got taller...oh! meet my friends: rabbit and tree”

having a “what the actual fuck” moment upon seeing thanos for the first time

and flying at him from behind with a massive nanotech blade ready to kill this purple bastard

but he grabbed your arm and flung you into the dirt, that was gonna leave a mark

“i just had to make a suit when i was ten...no one stopped me, huh? i couldn’t be elon’s kid, he was a nice guy”

watching thanos snap his fingers and looking around to see dust floating through the air and thanos retreat

“rhodey? uncle rhodey?!”

“i’m right here, kid, don’t worry”

he grabbed your hand while you were dusting

“tell my dad i love him, promise?”

fading away and leaving rhodey with your last words

he was mad before anything else

all he could think about was a promise your dad made him take years back

“rhodey, you keep my daughter safe no matter what, promise?”

the avengers recooperating at the compound, waiting to figure out whether any of the space-crew survived

they had to let pepper know that you didn’t make it, she was a mess upon hearing that news

tony finally making his way back to earth

and stumbling out of that ship

“where’s y/n? where is she?!”

“tony, tony, calm down”

“dont tell me to calm down! where is my daughter?!”

“she made me promise to tell you thay she loves you”

tony knew the answer by now, he lost his mind over your death

it didn’t feel right not having you by his side, for the past 18 years you’ve been with him

after a long period of recovery, tony and pepper moved on, got married, built a home, had a new daughter...

tony made sure there was a spare room for you

he put all the things you left behind in it

there were so many photos of you in the house

and he’d show your sister, morgan, all of them. he wanted morgan to know her sister

“that’s y/n when she built her first robot. it snuck up on me a few times. it went ‘boo!’”

morgan loved the stories about you, but she didn’t understand why she couldn’t see you

“when do i get to meet her?”

“uh...maybe someday, sweetie”

after being unbothered for almost 5 years, the remaining avengers came back with a plan that was so tempting, he just wanted his little girl back

cracking under pressure and telling pepper that he couldn’t ignore this mission because it was his chance to get you back

“get her back, tony”

“you think so?”

“i miss her, too.”

and so it began, he made it his mission to get you back

peeking at the wallet picture of you on his shoulders when you were so little

tony travelling to 2012; loki’s invasion

and there you were, the sassy genius 12 year old that he missed so much

“we’ve got this, tony, we’ll bring her home” -scott

and then things went badly and also 2012 tony went into cardiac arrest and 2012 y/n dove onto the floor to tend to him

“dad? give us some room, would you?!”

2023 tony smiling at how much he missed you worrying about him and how reckless he was

but also...the mission kinda went bad so that sucked

push it a bit farther back and now tony was with grandpa stark! asking how to be a dad and all that!

he could barely stand still waiting for you to come back to him, god he missed you more than he thought

and after a bit of hard work, it was time to snap

just like that, you were back in wakanda, puzzled by the gap in time before one of dr. strange’s portals opened in front of you

and then you were in the ruins of the avengers compound

“JOSHUA, can you locate my dad?”

“i think you’ll be able to see him”

“wow, i cant believe i programmed your cocky artificial ass”

“i think you can”

seeing your dad flying high and patching into the comms

“miss me, old man?”

and then he hit the gas to get to you and when this man hugged you, you almost couldn’t let go

“i’m so sorry, y/n. god, i’m sorry. these last five years...i was so lost without you”

“it’s okay, dad, i’m here now”

getting shot at during your reunion

“son of a bitch...we’re having a family moment here, asshole!”

yes, im gonna say it again. of course i am! and.........father/daugher team-up

the last one

“peter, is that you? you asshole! i cant believe you went to space without me!”

“missed you too!”

rhodey!! cant forget about uncle rhodey!!

“you gave my dad the message, right?”

“it was your dying wish, of course i did!”

“great. don’t forget i love you, too, rhodey!”

“couldn’t let me forget it”

lest we forget that pepper joined the fight?

plot twist: (step)mother/daughter team-up

mother/father/daugher team up!!!! ultimate stark machine!!!!!!!

and then you left him alone for 5 minutes and he’s got the infinity stones and you know it’s the last time you’re going to see him and you cant decide what your next move is and you’re just frozen and you cant catch your breath and he snaps and your heart plummets

you have to rush to his side, the last time you can sit beside his tired body and let him know that its going to be okay

“hey dad, it’s okay, we’re gonna be fine. thank you for everything”

peter grabbing your hand as you both sobbed next to your dad, feeling robbed of your time with him

pepper brought you home where she told you all about the five years you missed

both of you just cried harder than you’ve ever cried before

“so i have a sister?”

morgan was so happy to meet you, she couldn’t contain herself, practically latched onto you

and she didn’t fully understand what happened to tony

you saw your new room for the first time and didn’t leave it for a while, occasionally pepper or morgan would pop in

morgan actually crawled into bed with you a few times

the funeral was one of the worst days of your life

the remnants of your young life pulled back together for one day

then you hid back in your room before you heard a knock

“who is it?”

“it’s happy”

“come in”

“hey, kiddo. me and morgan are gonna get some cheeseburgers, you wanna come?”

she really was a stark

after a long hibernation, you started to get back into the groove of your old life

but the press was brutal and harsh, you were bombarded with questions regarding your dad

it took everything not to explode on camera

you stayed in contact with the rest of the avengers, mourning your dead, keeping the support system, staying a family

it was all you could get...for now

#tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark imagine #tony stark x reader #tony stark #iron man x daughter!reader #iron man imagine #iron man x reader #iron man #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #marvel #avengers x reader #avengers imagine #avengers

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i-drink-and-i-write-fics · 3 years

Text

Omega

Chapter 7: Earning Trust

Summary: Reader spends more and more time with Everett, much to Tony’s dismay.

“There is no way that actually happened!”

“I have the video! Jarvis was so kind as to download it to my phone during one of my visits to Tony’s home in Malibu before it was blown up. I had never laughed so hard in my life!” You couldn’t stop chuckling at the memory.

Everett stopped walking to face you. “Are you saying the great Tony Stark, Mr Iron Man himself, once flew face first into a concrete wall?!”

“Swear by all the gods! Though I will admit it was before he even had finished building MARK 2, so in his defense he still wasn’t used to flying.” You took a bite of your ice cream and kept walking.

“I got to admit, I would love to see that.” He fell back into step with you and took your free hand. “And who’s Jarvis? I thought his A.I. was FRIDAY?”

“One day I’ll have to pull it up for you. I have a lot of his test footage. Like how DUM-E kept blasting him with the fire extinguisher even when he wasn’t on fire. And Jarvis was his A.I., until his programming was uploaded into Vision.”

“Ah, ok. But wait, isn’t DUM-E the robot in your greenhouse?”

“Yeah, Tony’s way of putting him in time-out. DUM-E dropped one too many of Bruce’s beakers. I use him to move bags of fertilizer around, which he can mostly do without dropping them.”

You continued to walk around the city as you told Everett more stories about Iron Man’s early days. For the past four months the two of you had managed to find ways to spend time together between his crazy CIA job and you now being an Avenger. Everett still didn’t know your secret and you had no idea how to break it to him.

“So what was it like living with Howard Stark?”

You frowned at this question. It always popped up once people found out who you were, but it never got easier to answer. “The man was not warm or affectionate at all. I’m still really baffled that Maria even married him.”

“Wasn’t he your blood uncle?” Concern was etched in Everett’s face and he wondered if he had opened up a can of worms.

“Yeah, but…. have you ever wondered why he never mentioned his sister? His extended family? It’s because my mom…. was a mutant.”

Everett’s eyes went wide at this. “A mutant?”

“Yeah. Not a high level one or anything. She could control animals. We had the most well behaved pets on the block, or at least that’s what Tony told me. But Howard hated it. The X-Gene is passed through the father and he despised the idea his father having dormant abilities.” You were so close to saying the words, but they remained stuck in your throat.

“And your father?”

“Just your everyday typical human. But he loved mom with all his heart, that I do remember.” You threw away the wrapper of your treat, but wouldn’t turn back to face Everett. “Sometimes I wonder if he would still be alive if he never married her.”

“What?! Why?”

“They were leaving on vacation when they were killed by the Brotherhood. It… it was eerily similar to how Howard and Marie died, except the product the Brotherhood wanted was my mom.” You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, “and I was with them when it happened. I was going to be dropped off with Howard and Maria while they were gone. The only reason I’m not dead as well is because the X-Men happened to be hunting the Brotherhood down at the time. It was Jean and Storm – er, Ororo, who saved me. Two of the three omegas Secretary Ross is trying to monitor in the X Mansion.”

“Were you scared?”

You opened your eyes and looked into his. “Oddly enough, I wasn’t. Of course I was devastated at the loss of my parents, but I could see that the X-Men just wanted to protect me. And as for the Brotherhood, I never saw any of them so there was nothing to be afraid of at the time.”

Everett pulled you close and put a hand on your cheek. You leaned into the touch and smiled softly. As you had gotten to know Everett, you had discovered this other side to him. Before you had only seen the agent: the man dedicated to his bureau and who wanted to do what was right for his country. He was sarcastic and wasn’t easily impressed by the super heros you saw daily. There had been an edge to him, no doubt built from years of not being able to easily trust people due to his career choice. Being a mutant that had been hidden you’re whole life, you completely understood the lack of readily available trust.

But over the past four months, between stolen moments in the compound and the covert nights out on the town, you had slowly chipped away at each other’s walls. Everett had a sweeter side to him, a side that genuinely cared for his country and the welfare of the agents in his charge. He was funny beyond the sarcasm and was even a gentleman, which threw you for a loop. You had never had a guy try in any way to be a gentleman or romantic around you, so at first you were a bit awkward when he held the door for you or presented a single flower to you. It didn’t take long, though, for the two of you to fall into a pattern of trust and comfort.

“____, you are a remarkable woman. You were 5 years old when you were caught in the middle of a mutant battle and you weren’t even scared. I don’t know many full grown adults that would have kept their cool.” He took another step closer to you. “I know you have to head back soon so you won’t turn into a pumpkin, but I’ve really enjoyed these nights out.”

You laughed at the Cinderella joke. “Yeah, can’t have Tony know I’ve been flirty with the enemy. I’ve really enjoyed these nights out as well and hopefully, once Secretary Stick-Up-His-Ass calms down, we can do this more openly.”

“He’s really not that bad, he just needs to realize he can’t control everything.”

You wrapped your right hand around his wrist as he continued to cradle your face, slowly stroking the back of his hand with your thumb. “That’s an understatement.”

He chuckled, “why are we talking about my boss?”

“Good question.” You both leaned in to close the gap for your first kiss together. It was sweet, but barely lasted a few seconds before your phone started blowing up. “I’m going to murder my cousin.”

“Just ignore him,” he mumbled against your lips.

You were planning to do just that, until your watch - programmed with FRIDAY - began to go off.

“Dr ____,” FRIDAY began, “Mr Stark requires your attention.”

You let out an exasperated sigh and frown down at the watch. “Isn’t that Pepper’s job?”

Tony’s voice came out next. “This isn’t some Targaryen-esque request! Where are you?!”

“First of all: ew. You really need to stop making jokes about Coulson’s misunderstanding. Second of all: out. It’s my night off!”

“From?”

“You.” Everett pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “I’ll be back soon enough.”

“But that’s not soon enough!” You rolled your eyes.

“Stark, you big baby, what’s so important it can’t wait?”

“Cap and I were going to watch some movies and we wanted you to join us.”

You squinted at the watch. You had a pretty good idea what Tony was up to, so you called his bluff. “Well get started, I’ll be there in 30. And get the rest of the crew. We did miss team night last night thanks to you.”

“Hey, it was my anniversary!”

“Glad you at least remembered this time without FRIDAY’s help. I’ll text the others and I will be home soon.”

There was silence on his end and you knew you had trapped him. Clearly he had planned to ‘disappear’ after the first movie so you would have been alone with Steve. If you couldn’t go public about Everett yet, you at least had to find a way to let Steve down gently.

“Tony?”

“Uh yeah, sure. I’ll find Bruce, also.”

“Alright, bye.” You smirked down at the watch and then spoke to the AI. “FRIDAY, text the Avengers and tell them team night is being held in the media room. And send one to Hawkeye saying this is what he misses out on by not living with us.”

Shortly after, your watch pinged and there was a voice message from Clint.

“Very funny, ____. But no way in hell I’m making my family live in that zoo. I’ll catch you guys on the next one.”

You turned back to Everett. “I guess I better get going or my cousin will keep calling and crying.”

“What was that whole squinting and smirking at your watch about?”

“Mainly because Tony can’t see my face so I can plot without worrying about my expressions.”

“Plot for what?”

“More like plot against what. Tony has been trying for the past year - well, since we fixed that whole snapture thing, really, so a year and a half?” You shook your head. “Anyway, he’s been trying to fix me up with Steve and becoming less and less subtle about it.”

“Oh,” he was quiet as he reflected on that. “You know…” he cleared his throat, “if you prefer Captain America, I would completely understand.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Prefer Steve over you? If I had that preference, would I be here tonight? If anything, I know for a fact I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

He shook his head and smiled shyly. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m just having a hard time picturing someone choosing me over Rogers.”

You smiled at him and put your arms around his neck. “When I first met Cap, I had already been at the compound for two years. I got there right after that whole fiasco with the Accords. And as a result of the team fighting, I had absolutely no romantic feelings towards Steve and that hasn’t changed. Now I really should get going before my cousin has a heart attack.”

“Alright, but let me walk you to your car.” Once there, you shared a longer kiss goodnight before you headed back to the compound.

Chapter 8

#fanfic #fan fic #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #omega #everett ross #everett ross x fem!reader #fem!reader #stark!reader #mutant!reader

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jahdalli · 3 years

Text

GOD loves you <3

Okay I haven't posted a fanfic for a long time and I've never done it on Tumblr, but hey, the inspiration came and I said “why not?” for my dear Betty Ross ... but for an angst fanfic so ... xd I hope you like it, (I am sorry if there are errors, this is not my first language) but I would like to know what you think and if it would be good to give a continuation, I have some ideas but they are not yet clear. Anyway, the fic.

“Look where you are”

Everything continues, time passes, the world turns

But you, where are you now?

What is this place? How did you end up here?

“How is my little girl?” Her father entered the room

He used to visit his daughter often, General Ross finally felt that he was finally making up for so much that he had spent away from her, now he could see her again, since banner left his life again he would have taken care of her, as he always should be

“Now she is safe” he thought "Thanks to me" he said "You are a good father"

“Betty, won't you answer me?”

“Sorry senator, it doesn't have much that she took her medication, she's a little ...”

“I'm perfectly ok” Betty answered “I just don't want to talk”

The tone of her voice was different from what she used to be

She was different from who she used to be ...

“My dearest Betty” her father caressed her head with care of her while she watched him with recel “Every time I come are you going to get like this?”

“You locked me up”

“Betty… “

"In a dammit madhouse, General!"

“It was for your sake, understand it once”

“For mine or for yours?”

“You could end up worse”

The severe look that had always characterized him, there was Thunderbolt Ross

“You could end up in prison”

“For helping an innocent man? for that reason?!”

“Ah ... your innocent man, are you talking about the man who abandoned you?”

“You made him do it, you made him a fugitive”

“Yes, I certainly did, but now where is he? Or is it true ...”

Ross showed on his cell phone a lot of videos, news, interviews with Dr. Banner also known as Hulk.

“Now everyone loves him, he is no longer a fugitive Betty” He held her face with his right hand Let him continue watching

“Now he is an avenger, he forgot you, everyone did it, except me”

Betty's sight began to blur

The anger, the pain, the rage, the drugs were all colliding

“Let me out of here

Let me out of here!

LET ME GET OUT OF HERE!”

A fit of hysteria and despair. She got up to her father, she wanted to slap him, the doctors, nurses and everyone who crossed her path, cross the door and flee from that place.

But the doctors, as in every visit from her father, were always by her side to hold her, sedate her and put a straitjacket on her if she did not control herself.

“Here you are safe Betty, I am the only one who cares about you, believe me when I tell you that this is for your own good, here you are safe” her father kissed her head when the injection had already taken effect “Now sleep” he gave them an authoritative look at those who held her “Take her, and give her this” he said handing them a couple of books

Betty loves to read

I am the only one who cares about you

The only one who has not forgotten you

I do this for your good

"I love you"

That last word she heard was not said by her father on that visit, or on a recent one, perhaps the first few times, but that "I love you" that she heard also seemed to be Bruce's voice, it was difficult to know, anyway. She hadn't heard an "I love you" in a long time, but her mind insisted on remembering it.

She blamed the human need to feel loved.

However, it was a combination of voices, a bad joke from her unconscious towards her, after all she could barely remember his voice.

The words kept reverberating inside her as she sobbed without tears, long ago she had stopped crying, somehow she tried to find comfort in those words, to feel important in them, she knew it was a lie but she had no more to hold on to, she was there , locked up against her will after helping Bruce escape. The giant monster who saved Harlem, but he was still a fugitive at that time and she had helped him

"Don´t ever speak to me as your daughter again"

"It´s only because you´re my daughter that you´re bot in handcuffs too"

And He was right, the doctor's face was everywhere, she had been looked for, they had seen her with the monster, many thought that she controlled it, many thought that she was behind everything, the work doors for Dr. Ross were closed , she was fired from the university, no one was hiring her, she started taking small jobs, the pay was getting lower and lower, she had a hard time, the calls to court kept coming, Ross knew they would want to question her and arrest her, he knew that Betty would not would testify against Banner, she would not deny that she would have helped him, that she would continue to advocate for him, It was only a matter of time before he fled, his daughter was going to become a fugitive like him

The daughter of a general could not be a fugitive

"Dr. Elizabeth Ross was declared with a mental disorder, so that all of her actions were not in a conscious way, the trial is postponed and she will automatically be sent to a psychiatric hospital"

Here you will be safe

It's for your good

I love you

Lies, they were all lies

"I am the only one who does not forget you"

But this

"He forgot you Betty"

And this ... maybe not or they were at all ...

Her eyes were opened

Her father was gone

The tv was on

“Betty, how are you feeling?”

“... I'm Dr. Ross”

“Okay Dr. Ross, I'm a doctor too, I'm Dr. Palmer, how do you feel?”

Stop talking to me like I'm not understanding

The television was heard in the background

“... Bad ...”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

Get me out of here

Give me back from my life

“No...”

"Okay," she got up. "I'll see you again in the morning. Do you want me to turn up the volume on the TV?"

<<The avengers saved the day again in New York City, Captain America along with his team, Iron man, Black widow, Thor Hawk eye and the hulk ...>>

And still despite everything

She couldn't stop reproaching herself

That something inside her made her happy that he was a hero

But at what cost?

Who did she have to leave behind?

-Turn it off-

#Betty Ross #bruce banner #General Ross #hulk #Avengers #marvel #MCU #bruce x betty #bretty #angst #mark ruffalo #Liv Tyler #The Incredible Hulk #what if

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irondadfics · 4 years

Note

Do you have any long irondad fics you'd recommend? I really want to settle down with a good muti-chapter fic, I'd love to know your favourites!

LONG FIC REC LIST PART 2

I know some of you are stuck inside due to be quarantined right now, and I really hope each and every one of you are doing alright. Please stay inside if you can and be safe!

To help pass the time, here’s a continuation of one of our older lists (be sure to also check out part 1 for more recs). During hard times such as this, we often turn to different forms of art for entertainment and to help us cope. BE SURE TO LET THESE WONDERFUL AUTHORS KNOW THEY ARE APPRECIATED!

This list is organized by word count. Most of the fics listed below are complete but some are not. For example if the word count is encompassed by two asterisks it means the fic is not complete and is subject to change, but the word count is correct as of the day this list was posted.

ENJOY LOVELIES!!

The Guardian by Emily_F6 @justme–emily (234k+)

Guardian: a person who guards, protects, or preserves. When a terrible accident claims the life of May Parker, Tony Stark steps up as Peter’s guaridan. But it’s not just a traumatized super-teen he’ll have to worry about when he recieves a transmission from Thor.

If They Knew All About You by MsHermia (*224k+*)

Tony Stark had lost his son when he was only 2 years old, stolen away in broad daylight with nobody the wiser of what exactly happened. Years later, Tony has just made it through the disaster with Ultron. He is trying to keep himself and the team together but relationships are strained and tempers are running high.Then a random turn of events leads to his path crossing with that of a particular vigilante. They are strangers to each other, or so they think.Peter Parker is on top of the world. After a few shitty years, losing his parents and then losing his Uncle, things are finally looking up. Sure he lives in a crappy little apartment with his Aunt but he might have just found his mission in life.——This is an AU story obvious by some of the tags. I’m starting out a few weeks after Age of Ultron took place. Civil War will be a thing. Other than that I’m not too concerned about sticking to every canon detail and storyline.

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle (220k+)

Homecoming A/U. Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.So he leaves.Simple.Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.And that’s when things get complicated.

Lights To Guide You Home (series) by JolinarJackson @jolinarjackson (185k+)

Tony becomes Peter’s guardian after May dies unexpectedly and over the course of a year, they learn to become a family.

hydra’s not a home (series) by tempestaurora @tempestaurora (139k+)

At 6 years old, the son of Tony and Pepper Stark, Peter, is kidnapped, never to be seen again. Or, so they thought. Ten years later, while raiding a HYDRA base, the Avengers come across a new, enhanced individual, working for the enemy: in black spandex, with a tendency to stick to walls and shoot webs from his wrists, the Black Spider is a pain in the ass in more ways than one.

built from scraps by peterstank @peter-stank (138k+)

“Everybody needs someone. That’s what you said, right?” Pepper meets his eyes and he’s struck by the way she’s almost pleading. “We both lost. We can help each other.”Her hand, palm up and open, stretches into the space between them.Peter hesitates.Then he takes it.or: the one where tony was dusted instead of peter, so he and pepper try to figure out the whole ‘family’ thing together.(oh, and it turns out that the man who died in peter’s arms on an alien planet is his biological father. who knew, right?)

rescue me from the waves (series) by homebuilding @marveal (*125k+*)

“Richard Parker was studying Cross-Species Genetics, but struggled with the ethics of it, because it required he use human DNA, which no ethics board would agree with. So he used his own. His work was successful based off of his own DNA, and every human has a unique DNA,” Bruce explains. “So, naturally, when HYDRA wanted his research, they knew they would never get his support, so they took the next best thing they could to his own DNA. His son.“Or, Tony finds a tortured and experimented-on Peter Parker in a HYDRA base and decides to help him because who else will?

more peril in thine eye by iron_spider @iron–spider (119k+)

Tony sits in relative darkness, the TV on mute, Friday running searches like she has been every day for the past month. A month, since Quentin Beck’s grand plan crumpled underneath him on that bridge. A month, since a flash of light was able to distract Peter just as he was about to bring Beck down. A month, since Beck snatched him, since both of them disappeared. An entire. Month.I’ll keep you updated. I promise.I love you, kid. Rhodey’s on his way, alright? He’s coming. He’s gonna go as fast as he can.I love you too. I’ll be okay. I promise. I can do this.The last thing Tony heard Peter say. Rhodey, Happy and Fury traversed the London landscape immediately afterwards. They found the glasses, but not Spider-Man. There was footage enough to incriminate Beck for what he was, but somehow, nobody was able to get a shot of when he grabbed Peter. Peter was knocking him around, looked like he was getting the upper hand, and then that flash of light. Gone. Gone.

I Never Knew I Was Broken by GotMyInkPen @gotmyinkpen (*111k+*)

Peter Parker has been living in HYDRA ever since his parents died at age four. All he can remember are the lesson’s HYDRA taught him and a series of words that strike fear into his heart. The only thing driving him forward are the memories of meeting his hero The Winter Soldier when he was seven and the goal to one day be as great an assassin as him.At age sixteen Peter finds himself tangled in the lives of the Avengers and can’t help but wonder if there’s more to life than what he’s been told.Tony wants to help him, no matter what.

Reviving Peter Parker by YellowDistress @yellowdistress (100k+)

Spider-Man was murdered five years ago, on a beach, at the hands of Adrian Toomes. Peter Parker never came home.Spider-Man was murdered five years ago. Today Peter Parker took his first breath.

It’s a Secret to Everybody by StarPrince_Punk @starprincepunk (97k+)

“I have kids,“ Clint said. “I know dad behavior when I see it.”Tony blinked multiple consecutive times, processing the statement. “Excuse me?”“Tony,” Steve said now, “how long have you had a son? And how come we’ve never known about him?”“Yeah,” Clint spoke again, “I thought I was the only one with a secret family. Turns out you’ve had one longer than me!”——-Peter gets to spend all summer living in Avengers Tower with Tony. When the Rogue Avengers get pardoned and come back to live at the Tower too, they’re confused as to who Peter is. However, once they see how Tony acts around Peter, that confusion goes away, as they know for certain who Peter must be - Tony’s secret son.Tony and Peter decide to make the most of the situation, and play along. They hope they can keep up the act all summer. But they soon learn that they barely have to act at all.

Peter and the Jailbirds by beautifullights @beautifullights1 (86k+)

NOW COMPLETE “If you did play chess,” Ross said, “you’d remember that a pawn can become a queen. The most powerful piece on the board, Parker, remember that? But—” Ross smiled— “only if it obeys.”He adjusted his tie, stood, and looked down at Peter. “I’ll ask you again,” he said. “Eventually. You may feel differently after you’ve been living in a six-by-six cube without sunlight or fresh air for a few years.” “What pawns do,” Peter said, voice shaking slightly, “is sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I have no regrets.”He had a lot of regrets.Like, a lot. A crapton. A shitload. An overloaded dumpsterful.“When I visit you on the Raft,” Ross said, “you’ll be old enough to grow a beard.” The cell door clicked shut behind him. [Rated mature for graphic violence.]

Hardest Lessons (Softest Results) (series) by mainstreamelectricalparade @riseuplikeglitterandgold (*76k+*)

The MCU if Peter was Tony’s biological child.

In the Home by aloneintherain (68k+)

The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room—”Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes—Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.

From Fraud to Father by TonyStarkissist @tonystarkissist (67k+)

“Tony,” she placated, “all you have to do is read a couple children’s books to them and answer a few of their questions. You’ll be fine.” “Will you come with me? You’re so good with kids,” he pleaded as she finished up with his collar and awkwardly patted the lapels of his suit down, forcing a smile onto her face when she looked up at him.“No. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Phil’s going with you, though, and so is Happy. You shouldn’t have a problem. They’ll make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”Theres a long pause before Tony finally voices his true concern.“But what if one of them sneezes on me?”

Archetype by Bean_reads_fanfic @the-reverse-mermaid (57k+)

Tony knows something is up when the research of ex-Hydra agents gets recycled in an underground Oscorp lab… what he doesn’t expect is the boy in a hospital gown sticking to the ceiling; or, how said boy proceeds to imprint on him like a baby duckling (a poor decision on his part, really). Did he mention he wasn’t intending on bringing home a kid that day?

Taking Leaps (and the falls that come with them) by Kamomile_Tea (*45k+*)

All across New York City the boroughs are crying out with one voice, asking a question everyone wants the answer to.Where is Spiderman?But no one is asking about Peter Parker.So, he sits alone. Contemplating how his life could have gone so downhill. Grief and nausea well up in his chest and the boy quickly shoves it back down. A shiver courses through him as the cold November air seeps into the building and through his thin clothing. And on the back of his navy blue overshirt, in blocky, white letters, reads the words:CROSSROADS JUVENILE CENTERBROOKLYN NYINMATE 3042 ========== The world seems content with ignoring this young teen. That is, until Tony Stark shows up and asks him if he wants to go to Germany.

Runaway by Spectra @iridescent-spectra (42k+)

Tony and his adopted son Peter get into a huge spat over his late night spiderman escapades, in which case Peter takes the term ‘Not while you’re under my roof’ way too seriously. After all, how hard could it be to run away from a multi billion dollar genius?Chaos ensues as the whole city becomes a metaphorical chessboard for the two equally stubborn masterminds.

#fic rec list #Favorite

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kyber-crystal · 4 years

Text

Whatever it Takes

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~4.1k

Summary: In which Steve is always there for you through thick and thin. And in return, even when everything seems like it’s going wrong, you give him hope for a better future.

Warnings: angst (I mean this is Endgame, what do you expect), soft steve, mentions of death, violence

A/N: CRINGEY AF BC THIS IS AN OLD ONESHOT. I’m currently working on something else so I’m just putting this up as a filler oops

Tags: @pies-writes-and-more as always :)

Steve sat outside the compound staring at the floor, deep in thought. With the only possibility of victory no longer an opportunity, he didn't know what else to do.

Then, a deafening noise broke the silence in the distance and he glanced up, seeing a familiar Audi R8 speeding towards the entrance. The car pulled over to him but went a bit too far, then reversed. Tony rolled down the window as he stopped.

"Why the long face? Let me guess, he turned into a baby."

"Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?"

Tony got out of the car and walked around to the back, ignoring his question. "That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it."

"You did."

"Oh, did I? Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it," He held up his right hand with a device on it, "A fully-functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

"Me too."

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And...maybe not die trying will be nice."

"Sounds like a deal," Steve nodded, reaching out to shake his hand.

Tony reached back into his trunk to pull something else out, Steve's shield. He handed it over to him but he hesitated for a moment.

"Tony..."

"Why? He made it for you," he referred to his father, "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Y/N sneaks over and takes it sledding. I wouldn't give up just yet."

He finally took the shield from him and fit his arm into it.

"Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team....We are getting the whole team, yeah?"

"We're working on that right now."

"Steve."

The super-soldier looked up, confused at the sudden seriousness in his tone. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there for Y/N...when I failed to do that, you were there to take my place," he explained. "Being a single parent was the toughest job I was ever faced with. Her mother disappeared without another word as soon as she gave birth, and I was left to handle Y/N all on my own. I was only 18. I'd made a shit ton of reckless decisions before and now, I was stuck and didn't know what to do. So for her entire life, before Pepper came along, she had to grow up with only one parent. She became defensive and cold-hearted and I couldn't do anything about it. I try to push her, she pushes back, or she shuts herself out altogether. I try to understand why, she sinks deeper. Sometimes I don't know just what's going on with her and as much as I try to be understanding, I can't. But you saved her, Rogers. I don't know what you've been doing to make her change but it's working, and I want to thank you for that."

"Tony, you did a good job raising her. But you have the rest of the team to thank as well."

"I think she's softened up because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen her look at a man the way she looks at you," the billionaire pointed out.

"With hatred and a burning passion to kill me if I ever stepped onto her bad side?"

"No, her eyes get all sparkly and shit. She's in love with you. But I swear, if you do anything to hurt her and break her heart, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Steve's eyes widened slightly, and he put his hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, I won't."

"One more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"If all of this, what we're doing somehow goes south, something goes wrong, I need you to promise me one thing. Take care of Y/N. I need someone to watch over her when I'm gone, and I don't think there's anyone more qualified for that job than you."

"I promise."

...

"And I...am...Iron Man."

You looked over in horror to see Tony snap his fingers with a loud 'CLANG' and a blinding flash of white. Rocket fired at a Leviathan and before it devoured him, it crumbled into ash. The Black Order started crumbling to ash as well. T'Challa and Quill looked around in surprise; Steve looked on in exhaustion, knowing that they had won. Thanos, in horror, looked around and saw his entire army disintegrate. He looked at Steve, who just stared blankly at him. Thanos sat down, mourning before slowly being erased from existence himself.

The raw power of the gauntlet's energy left Tony's entire right side fatally injured. He stumbled for a bit before his body collapsed besides a pile of debris. Rhodey soon swooped in and went up to see his long time colleague and friend slowly fading away before his eyes and not long after, Peter did the same as well.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter ran up to his fallen mentor, tears forming at the edges of his eyes. "Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it. I'm sorry—Tony—"

He barely had any energy left to respond as Peter choked on a sob, wrapping his arms around him before gently being led aside by Wanda as she put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

Pepper sat down in front of him, "Hey."

Tony was barely able to move his head, but managed to look her in the eyes. "Hey, Pep..."

She placed her hand on his arc reactor, and he rested his hand on hers as she took a good look at his injuries.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

"Life functions critical."

Tony smiled with tears in his eyes.

"Dad? Hey, you're okay," you said softly as you approached him, "You did it. We're gonna be okay."

"Hey, angel," he said weakly as he took your hand in his. You tried to ignore how deathly cold it felt. "You did so well. I'm so proud of you."

"Tony. Look at me," Pepper moved closer to you as she made sure Tony got a long look at her smiling face. You involuntarily leaned into her, as you felt the familiar sting of tears to your eyes. "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."

With that acknowledgement, the light in his arc reactor flickered off for good. Unable to contain your grief, you let out a tortured cry, sobbing into Pepper's chest as she started to cry on his shoulder.

Earth's best defender was dead.

Dead.

Your father, your everything, the light of your life. Dead.

You flinched when you felt someone's hand on your shoulder all of a sudden as you stood up, jolting you from your thoughts. Steve stood there with glassy, red-rimmed eyes, which was a rare sight because he never displayed any emotions other than confidence and complete control—and it was beginning to take a toll on your already broken heart. He was always strategizing and planning things out, charging headfirst into battle without a second thought and now he was on the verge of breaking down, tucking you close into his side.

So you let yourself collapse into his touch, a sob escaping your lips as you clung on to him like you did to Tony when you were a little girl.

You're not quite sure how long you stand there like that, tightly clutching America's war hero like you'll slip away if you let go. He was a life raft, and you were stranded at sea, hopelessly lost with the stormy waves violently crashing over you and choking you as you struggled to escape.

Eleven years. Eleven years had passed since you first met Steve Rogers, and his unwavering promise to you that he'd stay by your side no matter the circumstance still stood. Since the day you first joined the Avengers Initiative he'd been a major figure in your life, always sticking by and supporting you when no one else was around to do so. He picked you up when you fell; he didn't judge you on your rough past nor your worst mistakes.

Now you found that you were needing him more than ever.

And in that moment, Steve knew, he had to keep his promise. Not just for your sake, but for Tony's as well.

So he swore to himself on his life that he’d never leave your side.

...

With a heavy heart, you dragged yourself out of bed to get ready for Tony's funeral. Alongside Pepper, you carried a wreath out of the house with his first arc reactor framed with the words 'Proof that Tony Stark Has a Heart' and laid it on the lake, watching as it slowly drifted away.

Everyone was finally gathered together as one, although it wasn't in the way you'd imagined it to be. Happy, Rhodey, Pepper, you, Peter and May. Thor. Bruce, Strange, Steve, Wong, Scott, Hope, Janet, Hank, Quill, and the rest of the Guardians. T'Challa, Okoye, and Shuri. Clint and his family. Wanda. Bucky. Sam, Harley Keener, Secretary Ross, Maria Hill, Carol, and even Fury, who was silently watching in the back.

After it ended you stood at the edge of the lake, hands stuffed in your leather jacket's pockets as you stared blankly out at the water. It was hard for you to think about how you were supposed to move on after losing one of the most important people in life, hard to imagine who you'd turn to now that the one man who gave you better advice than anyone you knew was gone.

"You know, I wish there was a way—that I could let him know," you said without looking behind to see Steve, who'd been watching you for a bit, "how much I loved him. Because I didn't get to tell him before he—you know."

"He knows," he said as you turned around to meet his gaze, "and he loved you more than anything." Almost as much as I do.

"I never got to tell him," your voice broke, lashes brimming heavy with unshed tears, "I just—I just wish I could turn back time and tell him that. But I didn't, and—"

Before you had the chance to finish your sentence, he circled his arms around your waist and pulled you close. At that moment you broke down into heaving sobs that ripped through your chest and your throat and your heart, unable to contain your grief for any longer, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. And he just held you there in silence, rocking you back and forth slowly as your tears soaked his suit.

Steve wonders exactly how much more heartbreak he can take because to see you in a condition such as this one wasn't doing him any good, making his heart feel as if it was being shattered into a thousand pieces, then put back together only to be broken again into a million more smaller parts. He hated seeing the woman he cared about so much in pain and found himself wishing there was just some way he could just take it all away from you.

"I just really miss him," you choked out, "I...I don't know what Pepper and I are gonna do without him."

"I know. I miss him too," he murmured, pressing his lips to your forehead and pulling you closer, rubbing soothing circles onto your back. "We all do."

"You're not going to leave, are you?" you mumbled into his chest, "Please don't leave me."

"I won't, I promise," he reassured you, smoothing your hair back, "Whenever you need me, I'll be here."

"Okay," you let out a shuddering sigh, "okay."

...

You headed back inside, as Steve led you to the living room with a hand on the small of your back as you sat down on the couch, taking the letter that Happy gave to you.

"He hated writing letters. Always insisted on typing everything up, but he hand wrote this for your sake," Happy explained quietly. "I've never seen someone love their kid as much as he loved you."

"I loved him, too," you smiled sadly. "Thank you, Happy. For everything."

"No worries, sweetheart," he nodded solemnly. "Anything for his little girl."

The super-soldier gripped your hand encouragingly, lacing your fingers together and squeezing tightly as you unfolded the paper.

To my sweet Y/N.

If you're reading this, it means I've been faced with my untimely death. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow...it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. But what am I tripping for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to.

When I first found out I was getting a daughter, I was sure I'd never be able to handle the responsibility of having a child. I didn't plan on becoming a parent so early and I was afraid, terrified I'd fail you as a father. And I feared that I did, many times. I was afraid you'd grow to resent me for what I'd done. But I persisted, because I wanted to give you the best possible life I could despite that raising you alone was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done. But it was all worth it in the end, because I got to see you grow up and become this beautiful, accomplished and talented young woman who would do anything for those she loves.

Look, I don't want you to make the same mistakes as I did. When the time comes, I want you to find a man that's willing to settle down with you and give you his whole heart- that's how you know he's the one. Hell, if you're going to go and get with Rogers, I wouldn't mind that either. Over this past decade, I've never seen someone as dedicated to protecting you and staying loyal to you as him and if you decide to get together, I'd be more than happy to give you my blessing. Honestly, I think the entire team's been shipping you two since the day you first met (Don't tell Sam I exposed him as a softie, though, he's going to kill me if I do. Or Clint). Seriously, though. Capsicle loves you, more than you'll ever know. And much more than he's willing to admit himself.

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to let your guard down, to be vulnerable and let the ones you love in. I know you're afraid of getting hurt, I know you believe that by building up those mile-high walls around your heart you think you're saving yourself, but it's really only going to hurt you in the long run. Love is messy. Sometimes you gotta suck it up and deal with the pain; that's just how it is. You get hurt, you get heartbroken, and there's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. It's a messy process.

If you ever feel like giving up, like you just can't go on any further, just know that there's always someone out there who's rooting for you. You got me, the team. SHIELD's got your back, so does Happy, and even Peter. Know that there's always hope.

Remember that your past does not define who you are. Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.

You are not what has happened to you. You are what you choose to become.

Thank you for being born and coming into my life, becoming the best thing that's ever happened to a guy like me. Remember I'll always be with you no matter what, angel. I love you 3,000.

From, the arm-wrestling champion, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, your dad, and #1 fan. I love you so much. -T.S

A tear slipped down your cheek and dripped onto the paper, staining the corner with a dark spot as you folded it back up and set it on the table. You rested your head against Steve's broad shoulder as he wrapped an around your waist in a protective manner, pressing a lingering kiss to the side of your forehead.

...

Several days passed and Steve knew it was growing closer to the time he would be forced to make the most difficult decision of his life. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew what he was about to do was absolutely necessary to restore the universe to normal once again.

Night after night for the next three weeks, you woke up screaming with sweat streaming down your face, a shiver running down your spine and images of Tony dying in front of your eyes with you not being able to do anything about it flashing in your brain. He'd come into your room without question, climb into bed next to you, and hold you close, rocking you back and forth and humming old lullabies his mother used to sing to him as a child until you fell asleep, your breathing and rapid heartbeat finally steadying.

Everyone could tell something was going on between the two of you, but because you were so heavily weighed down by your grief that you didn't think before you did anything, they didn't question why you were suddenly so close to the super-soldier. He was your anchor, your safe haven you so desperately needed and were convinced would sink below your endless stream of thoughts without.

The dreaded day finally came and with a heavy heart, Steve got up and watched your peacefully sleeping figure in bed for a moment before leaving and heading outside.

Bucky, Bruce, and Sam were already waiting by the time he met them by the time machine.

He then walked over to Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

"How could I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

The two men both exchanged a quick hug with each other.

"Stay safe, buddy."

"It's gonna be okay, Buck. If this somehow—takes longer than it's supposed to—or I don't come back at all—promise me you'll watch out for her, alright?"

"I will," Bucky nodded.

Steve went over to the Quantum portal, donning the red and white suit.

"How long is this going to take?" you asked.

"For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds," Bruce replied.

The super-soldier picked up Mjolnir 2013.

"Ready, Cap? Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet."

"Going quantum. Three, two, one—"

With that, he disappeared into the quantum tunnel.

"And returning in five, four, three, two, one—"

Steve didn't appear on the pad right away, and Bruce looked around the equipment in confusion.

"Where is he?" Sam questioned.

"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here."

"Well, get him back."

"I'm trying."

"Get him the hell back!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

"Sam," Bucky cut in.

Sam walked towards him, and him, Bucky, and Bruce saw his familiar broad-shouldered figure in the distance, so they went near him.

"Go ahead," Bucky gestured over to him with a small smile.

Sam went over to Steve, who was silently staring out at the water ahead with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He still looked the same, with his signature leather jacket and khakis. If it weren't for the subtle lines etched in his face from years of enduring hard battles against both himself and other enemies, from his newfound grief, one would think he was barely over thirty years old.

"Cap?"

"Hey, Sam."

"So did something go wrong, or did something go right?"

"Well, after I put the stones back, I thought, maybe I'll try some of that life Tony was telling me to get."

"How'd that work out for you?"

"It was beautiful."

"I'm happy for you. Truly."

"But when I saw how happy she looked living her life...I didn't want to take that away from her," the super-soldier explained. "Seeing that she was able to move on made me realize I could do the same. I can't stay in a relationship when I know my heart belongs to someone else. I made Stark a promise to look after her....I can't do that if I'm not here."

"Is that why you didn’t stay?"

"Yeah," Steve smiled faintly, "I couldn't leave her behind."

"Well, uh...she's inside, if you're looking for her—"

"Steve?"

"Uhhhhh....never mind, there she is," Sam gestured to you as you were stepping down the porch and making your way across the lawn to him. "You want me to give you two a moment?"

"Yeah. That'd be nice."

You picked up your pace, sprinting towards him as fast as you possibly could into his embrace.

"Y/N—"

"Why'd you come back? I thought you were going to, you know—stay with Peggy—"

"I couldn't, Y/N, and you know that."

"Why not?"

He pulled away, letting his gaze linger on your face for a bit before brushing a stray hair behind your ear. "I made a promise I couldn't break. I'd never be able to forgive myself for it if I did."

"What promise?"

"Tony made me swear on my life that I'd stay no matter what happened."

"Steve..." your voice wavered as you forced yourself to look straight up at him, those icy-blue eyes that never seemed to fail to give you chills and make butterflies flutter around in your stomach, "Why did you throw away your one chance of having a happy ending? Now I'm the reason why your last chance of living the life you always wanted was taken away from you. I can't—I don't want to stop you from being with whom you love. You came back, even when you had the chance to live out the future that you'd been looking forward to for so long. And you didn't take it. Why?"

"I don't need to stay, when my entire future is standing right in front of me. Y/N, you are my future."

"Oh my god—"

"Shut up," Bucky hissed, elbowing Sam in the side, "let them be!"

"So he's been in love with her this entire time and I had no clue?! He's been in love with her for five whole years? Took them long enough."

"Ten. Catch up, birdbrain."

"Look, I'm sorry—"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Steve reassured you in a soft voice, "I made my decision, and I'm staying here, whether you're in favor of that or not."

You let out something that was a mix of a choked sob and a laugh. "I can't get rid of you?"

"Unfortunately not," he chuckled, "as far as I know, you're sticking with me, because I love you too much to let you go."

"I hate to break the sentimental mood you've created here, you mumbled into his chest, "but...do you mean like...you're actually in love? Because that's what Dad would always say. If a man doesn't leave your side he either just wants to annoy the hell out of you, or is hopelessly in love with you."

"He's not wrong."

"Okay, then I—"

Steve quickly silenced you by leaning down and placing his lips lightly on yours, which took you completely by surprise. It was as if the entire world stopped when your lips met, your body warming up under his touch - a feeling that you'd never really get used to although you'd been working with him for as long as you could remember. You felt as if you were going to explode from the sheer amount of passion and adrenaline coursing through your body.

"I was going to say I love you too," you let out a sound that was a mix between a choked sob and a laugh. "before you—uh—cut me off like that."

"Oh," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as his cheeks flushed a bright pink, "sorry."

"I'm gonna say it! You two. Have taken. Too damn long! To admit! You're in love! With each other!" Bucky clapped with every few words he said. "That’s all you say in response to her telling you she lo—"

"Man, shut the hell up," Sam grumbled. "as if you're dating anyone right now."

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angerissue · 3 years

Photo

@swagvoidengineer asked... 26. Name a time your muse has felt proud of themselves and their accomplishments. From this headcanon meme. Open to everyone.

Bruce hasn't experienced many of these occasions. However, the most recent one was during his interaction with Tony Stark outside of the New York Sanctum, when they were preparing to fight Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian in the streets. Bruce was going to use the Hulk, and Tony decided to equip his new nanotech armour. This was the first time that Bruce had seen the armour, but while someone else might've been fascinated and impressed by it, Bruce's reaction was more lukewarm and sedate. He was indeed curious about its smaller workings, but he wasn't profoundly impressed or boggled out of his mind, because he already understood how Tony had created many of the armour’s features.

Bruce could understand Tony’s armour because he’d already been using nanotech for some time. He began experimenting with it in 2013, after he gained employment with S.H.I.E.L.D. and learned that his transformations into the Hulk were now frequent and requisite. Nanotech became a means to reinforce his pants during the episodes and not worry about them breaking all the time, and since then, he has implemented this technology in all of his pants, and he's tweaked the formula for use in numerous other inventions.

Moreover... This was a validating and proud moment for Bruce because, when Tony revealed the new armour, he noticed just how little mystery there was in it. His own tech had become so advanced that in the process, he'd solved many problems that Tony had only just uncovered and addressed. By extension, Bruce's nanotech must have been on the same level as Tony's own, if not on a higher level, at least in some sense.

At this time, Bruce was giving himself such a pat on the back that he even allowed himself to feel a bit lofty toward Tony. He doesn't usually feel this way because he has a very pronounced sense of humbleness, but it was one of those rare occasions, and he let himself relish it.

Even if, like a gentleman, he didn’t openly show it.

But this wasn't just about Bruce and Tony in a vacuum. In a manner of speaking, it was also a poignant bookend for the hardships and tribulations in Bruce's rearview mirror. Back when Gamma Pulse went to hell in a handbasket, Bruce didn't have the opportunity to flex his scientific muscles for seven years afterward; his work needed to be put on indeterminate hold because he was desperate to cure himself and avoid Ross, and because he didn't have access to resources or funding anyhow. This was a huge impediment to the plans, and overall road map, he’d envisioned for himself and his career.

Only after gaining control of the Hulk did he finally resume his work, and since then, he’d been trying to make up for lost time. At this point, Tony came into the picture in a big way because he was a stationary, constant target for Bruce to measure himself against, and to see how much progress he'd made in relation to someone of a similar acumen as himself. Surprisingly, this was not a new thing for the doctor — Tony had actually been a litmus test and source of comparison for decades, ever since Bruce entered high school and learned about Tony in the newspaper. Back then, he'd seen Tony's potential for achievements and used it to motivate himself, and push himself to do as much as possible. He continued to draw comparisons once he resumed his work at S.H.I.E.L.D..

This extensive, if not one-sided, history between Bruce and Tony made his realization about the armour all the more tangible. It made it all the more rewarding. It made him feel like he’d truly overcome his earlier setbacks, and like he’d finally realigned himself in a way that bore real results. Because when one thinks about it, a moment like this had been decades in the making.

The occasion becomes even more profound when we remember that Bruce's father was Brian, who was abusive and always claimed he would turn out to be a worthless monster. As a consequence of this, Bruce learned to pin his self-worth on something he believed could eventually garner Brian's approval, by means of proving him wrong somehow. For Bruce, this was academic and career success. So it was a massive and soul-sucking blow when the accident happened and cut his career short. He did have some successes before the accident, certainly, including his research on positrons — but this didn't lessen the blow at all. In fact, it was arguably worse than if Banner had never earned those accolades in the first place, because he retained the perspective of how good everything used to be for him. If he'd never earned those accolades, he would've lacked the perspective to know what he'd lost. Needless to say, regressing like this was difficult for him. What he perceived to be his entire purpose and source of worth had been snuffed out and invalidated. If he couldn’t work or achieve things, he couldn’t impress Brian, and he would essentially be worthless.

This was how he felt after the accident. In his eyes, he had failed, and he had nothing going for himself.

(This may also explain why he was so feverish about ridding himself of his condition for years after the accident happened — just like how maintaining a steady course in his career was important to him, returning to that course once he was kicked out was also tantamount.)

So when Bruce felt satisfied with his tech after seeing Tony's own, his existence was validated again. He genuinely felt like he could hold his own regarding his scientific prowess, and more poignantly, like he could waltz up to Brian and tell him just how wrong his predictions were.

I’ll also address, as a side note... This moment does seem frivolous in comparison to other moments in Bruce's life, like the times he defeated prominent enemies such as Ultron and Thanos. However, while Bruce did experience some amount of pride and gratification during these events, it was overshadowed by the notion that defeating these foes was, simply put, the right thing to do. In his eyes, he wasn't going above and beyond by responding to these threats, because it was something that anyone with his capabilities had a moral responsibility to do. It wasn’t something he could boast about.

Not only this, but it was the Avengers teams that had shit the bed and caused the messes with Ultron and Thanos in the first place — or at the very least, allowed the messes to get worse. This limited the amount of pride and gratification Bruce could feel too. For instance, Bruce felt guilty during the last battle with Thanos because he believed there must've been a way to stop Thanos in the previous battle, but he was too inept to see it. And when it comes to Ultron, Bruce had been on board with the project, so it was partially his fault that Ultron hurt so many people. He is painfully aware of that.

#( answered. )#( meme response. )#( headcanon. )#swagvoidengineer #bruce banner #thanks for the submission - i hope this was worth the wait!#full disclosure... i always laugh at how bruce decided to actually hulk out instead of just using his shield.#because his shield alone was more than enough to protect him and smack around the bad guys.#his decision to hulk out instead was 100% a 'fuck you' to strange and an attempt to make him feel awkward lmao.#as in... hey strange remember how you shot me into space and i came back?#see how scary and strong i am? consider yourself lucky i spared you last time.#and let this be a warning not to try that again.#salty eye contact was definitely exchanged i'm sure of it.#also... i find it kinda awesome how bruce actually killed cull obsidian.#he was the hulk but he was still getting overwhelmed at one point #but instead of using the shield to defend himself as he'd always done #he made the split second decision to use it as a weapon #turning it into a spear and sending it straight through cull.#maybe he only got this idea because he was the hulk at the time #ie. he was thinking less conservatively and more offensively #but whatever the reason i just love it.#and... lastly...#1) yes i made a subtle jab at canon in the first paragraph and i'm not sorry.#2) no this bruce has never been inside the hulkbuster because there's never been a reason for it.#and 3) just like his magic pants bruce's secret identity is still intact and will forever be intact thank you.

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