#''no worries loki now take your iron tablets''

[worstloki]

Oh god I’m gonna be thinking about the avengers 1 au where Loki is 11 years old for weeks now

I’m not seeing a downside?

[deitysnips]

Regrettably Attached Pt. 1

Stark!Reader x Loki

Word Count: 2958

Authors Note: I wanna thank you guys in advance for reading this. I haven’t written anything in probably 6 years so it might be a little sloppy. I am open to suggestions and any fixes you guys can bring to my attention!

Summary:; You’re Tony Stark’s younger sister and you are somewhat part of the Avengers, but behind the scenes, not necessarily on the front lines unless you’re needed. This is an UA where Loki is living in the compound living under strict supervision and the reader slowly starts falling for the God of Mischief after hating him due to, yaknow, trying to kill her brother and some of her closest friends, but that quickly turns into lovers(obvi)

Growing up as Tony’s sister was and still is kind of terrifying. Tony has always been such a “smarty pants” for lack of a better phrase. Even with him being a child prodigy, you two have always been close and you would want it any other way. You grew up following in his and your fathers footsteps.

Years past and you have graduated with multiple engineering degrees and even though your mother and father weren’t here to see it, Tony always made sure you knew how proud they would be of you. No graduation, presentation or ceremony went unattended by the now Iron Man. So it was no surprise when Tony asked you to join him and the other Avengers at the compound to help with logistics and help Tony and Bruce create safer suits.

“Hey Kid! Get down here, we need your help!” 

It’s been 5 years that you’ve been living with Tony and still, nothing surprises you.

“Hold on! I just got out of the shower!” You shouted from your cracked bedroom door. You quickly put on some extremely worn jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt that you MIGHT have stolen from your older brother. You cracked open the door once more and yelled to Tony

“Is this a no shoes project?!” You sat with your head out the door tapping your fingers along the door frame when someone threw what seemed to be a wad of paper at the back of your head. You groaned and sucked air through your teeth. “I swear to the gods, Rogers, if you don’t stop throwing shit, I’m gonna curb stomp you” You said as you turned your head to send a glare towards Steve. To your unpleasant surprise, it was not Steve, but the annoying, somewhat attractive God Of Mischief, Loki

“Oh, my dear, Mr. America isn’t the only one who likes to get under your skin” Loki said very nonchalantly while leaning against his own door frame. “Now if you don’t mind. Stop that obnoxious yelling. Some of us are actually trying to work and not be babied by their dear brother.” Loki glared at you from where he stood with his arms crossed over his chest. 

You and the god have never been on good terms, even after the pleading Thor gave you when he brought him back from Asgard after its destruction. You wanted to believe him when he said that his brother had changed and was working towards being a better ‘person’, but it still left an unpleasant taste in your mouth since, you know, he tried to kill your brother.

“Get fucked, Loki.” You stepped out of your room, body completely turned towards the man in front of you. “I have told you multiple times to leave me alone. Tony might be okay with you being here, but I certainly don’t give a shit what happens to you.” You spat at him with venom and malice in your voice. Tony told you time and time again to try to be civil with Loki, but you never listened. You just couldn’t. 

You continued to stare at the slimy, yet oddly handsome man-god thing in front of you and if looks could kill, he wouldn’t be breathing.

“Hey, kid, did you not hear the urgency in my voice or do you enjoy giving me a heart attack?” You jumped when you felt your brother out his hand on your shoulder. “I told you that yes, you did need shoes. Bruce and I really need your help on the Mark VII suit- wait, sis, are you alright?” Tony studied your face after turning your shoulder towards him with a worried expression

“Yeah, I’m fine Tony. Let me just grab my shoes and I’ll be down” You pulled away from your brother and ran into your room, slamming the door behind you. You sit with your back against your door and hide your face in your hands, groaning loudly.

“Why can’t he just leave me alone?” You whisper softly to yourself. You’ve been at such a crossroads when it comes to the trickster god. You hate him for what he did to Tony and your friends, but at the same time, you can’t help but have this… attraction to him. The sharpness of his jawline, the softness in his bright blue eyes, or the way his lips curl up into a cheeky little smirk when he does something that riles you up. It’s been a year and a half since Thor brought Loki back, and you still haven’t adjusted.

You let out a long sigh of frustration as you stand up and walk to your closet pulling out a loved pair boots. After you pull your shoes on, you finally find the strength to walk out of your room and start heading towards the workshop to find Tony and Bruce. You make a pitstop to the kitchen to grab some coffee and a small snack

“Hey FRIDAY, can you ask if Tony and Bruce want anything?” You call out into the empty room while making a PB&J sandwich”

“They both say nothing at the moment other than your presence, Miss. Stark. Mr. Stark said it is very urgent and they need you down there quickly” 

You groan as you toss the butter knife into the sink and start walking down the stairs to the workshop. Once you enter you see Bruce leaning over one of the tablets with his hands running through his hair.

“Alright, what did I miss?” you say as you take a bite of your sandwich, causing the men to look up at you, seemingly irritated. “Whoa whoa boys, what the hell?” You raise an eyebrow at your brother who’s sitting across from Bruce, impatiently tapping his fingers on the desk. Tony sighs and stands up to walk over to his computer, pulling up the internals of the suit

“For whatever reason, the suit keeps overheating after about 10 minutes and we cannot for the life of us figure out why” Bruce says while Tony is flipping through all the internals for you. You can’t help but smile and giggle a little bit.

“Alright kid, what's so funny? Tony asks, slightly glaring in your direction.

“Oh no, nothing. Nothing at all. But, uh, unrelated, how long have you guys been working on this?”

“A couple h-” Tony goes to speak but is interrupted by the suit powering up, seemingly without issues.

“Big brother, you’re a terrible liar. When I woke up yesterday morning, you both had already been down here working on it. It was a simply missing variable and a loose connection.” Tony and Bruce both keep switching between the suit and their respective computers trying to figure out how they missed such a small thing.

“How the fu-” “LANGUAGE!” Steve yells out as he stares coming down the stairs. Tony rolls his eyes and starts going through the internals again before smacking his palm to his forehead. “Thanks kid”

“No problem old man, now go get some rest.” You say, patting Tony on the back.

“Hey, can I talk to you really quick, Squeak?” You groan loudly at the nickname that the team gave you when you first showed up. You were so nervous about making a good impression, that when you started to speak, all of your words got stuck in your chest and all that came out was a little squeak.

“Yeah Cap, maybe if you stop calling me that god awful nickname, like I've told you to do multiple times!” You both start walking up the stairs and you playfully push Rogers shoulder, knowing it won’t do much. 

Once you make it up the stairs, Steve leads you to the living room and sits at the couch across from your favorite chair

“Alright, if this is an intervention, I’m leaving. I get I shouldn’t be smoking bu-” You stop talking when Steve lifts his hand up and just stares at you with a dumbfounded look “This isn’t an intervention, but maybe it should be- yo- what?!” Steve gets a little loud at the end of his sentence, catching the attention of Tony and Thor who are in the kitchen making some lunch

“STEVE SHUT UP” You blush slightly and hide your face in your hands again.

“Conversation for another time, anyways” Steve pulls your hands away from your face and makes you look at him and quietly says your name “What was going on earlier when Tony came up stairs? I was in the bathroom down the hall and I heard you yelling at someone? Was it Loki again?” You avoid eye contact but nod slightly. Steve lets out a small sigh and sits back

“What he did wasn’t even terrible, Cap. He threw a ball of paper at me and basically told me to shut up. I just get so irrationally angry at him for what he tried to do to my family. Tony is all I have left. I know that everyone has told me to make nice and just fake it for the sake of all of us being here almost all the time, but I can’t. I'm just so confused and..” You stop yourself and look up at Steve who is intently listening.

“What are you confused about, doll?” He raises an eyebrow and you start blushing again.

“I- I don’t wanna talk about it..” You whisper softly and glance over to where Tony and Thor are at. As much as Tony begs you to be nice and try to be civil, he would not hesitate to beat your ass if he found out that you were harboring a crush for the trickster. Steve leans in and whispers

“I think I know. I may be from a different time, but I know a crush when I see it.” He pulls back and smiles at you and for whatever reason, this makes you angry.

“WHAT?! You think I have a little schoolgirl crush on that fucking murderer?! HE TRIED TO KILL TONY MULTIPLE TIMES!” You yelled at Steve as you stood up, tears stinging your eyes “I would NEVER mess with the likes of Loki, whether he's a God or a prince of whatever the hell he is!”

“Squeak, now hold on-”

“No, Rogers- Leave me alone!” You storm away from him and go up the stairs leading to your bedroom. Once you get to your door, another wad of paper is thrown in your direction, but this time you catch it. Turning towards where the paper had come from, was he himself.

“Hello, darling. I heard you and Rogers speaking about me” He smirks ever so slightly and starts slowly sauntering over to you. Once he gets close to you, you pull a dagger out of the sheath around your thigh and press the tip to his chest

“I suggest you leave me the hell alone, you psychopath.” You grit your teeth as you finish your sentence and Loki puts his hands up in defeat and takes a few steps back

“My my, little one. I didn’t know you could be so feisty.” He chuckles slightly and crosses his arms over his chest. “I just wanted to have a civil conversation and see if we can come to an understanding about where my loyalties lie and try to get your tiny Midgardian brain to understand that I’m not the same person I was.. Before” 

You sheath your dagger and pinch the bridge of your nose hopeful to fight off your frustration.

“Look, Loki. You may not realize the severity of what you did, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna accept that you’re some righteous person-god- whatever the hell you are.”

“Oh, good heavens, no. I’m not righteous whatsoever, darling. Never have been, never will be. But” He points a finger at the ceiling and smiles “I can promise you that I do not plan to murder anyone… in this building” 

You smirk softly at the humor in the tricksters voice and cross your arms over your chest. 

“So how about that conversation?” You gester to him to come in your room but when you look back at his face he has a rather dumbfounded look on his face

“What a minute, 45 seconds ago you had a bloody dagger to my chest, ready to skin me alive, but now you want me to come into your room with you?” Loki walks closer to you slowly still with that dumb look on his face.

You place your hand back on your dagger and laugh “Just because I’m inviting you into my room, doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to stab you if you give me a reason to.” You wink at him and walk into your room, where you kick off your shoes and lounge in the recliner at the far corner of your room. 

The rooms at the compound were not small by any means. Each room has a giant California king size bed, a double walk-in closet, its own little mini fridge, plus enough room to have 2 Hulks lay side by side on the floor.

You have yours decorated in your signature color, with white accents on the furniture as well as copious amount of liquor bottles on the top of your bookshelf.

Loki saunters in after a few seconds and takes a seat on your bed, directly in front of you. It seems like he’s… admiring you? He won’t look away and seems to be studying your face, how your wavy hair falls softly from the messy bun on the top of your head, how your eyes sparkle with the sun coming through the windows, how your lips are just a subtle rosy color, indicating that you either suck of chew on them when frustrated.

“Are you gonna say anything or are you just gonna sit here and stare at me all day?” You blush softly and stare right back at him

“My dear, if I may be rather brash, it just seems like something seems of worry to you, my apologies. But, yes, where would you like me to begin?”

You and Loki sat there for 3 or 4 hours talking about what really happened when Loki invaded New York, what happened to his mother and how Asgard was completely destroyed by his and Thor’s elder sister. Half way through the conversation, you had pulled down a rather nice bottle of Whiskey and two rocks glasses, pouring both of you a drink while Loki was reliving what he described to be the most painful part of his life. There you sat with the man you had sworn to hate until your last breath, actually feeling sorry for judging him so harshly. But who can blame you?

“Wow” You said after he had finally finished. You looked down at your glass and it was empty. While Loki was explaining everything to you, you had finished 4 or 5 full glasses of whiskey and were starting to feel a little tipsy

“Loki, I am so indecently sorry. All of the times Thor and I had talked about what happened, he never once told me how hard you took everything.”

Loki scoffed a little and looked at his glass “Well, my story really isn’t for my brother to tell, and he never really understood my feelings on the matter. I never really spoke to him about it. It was really only me on my own.” He shrugged softly and finished what liquor he still had in his glass “I really hope this changes your viewing of my, darling. I truly meant what I said. I have zero intentions of harming anyone in this compound.”

You shook your head a little and pushed the hair that had fallen into your face back “But why tell me all of this? Why tell the one person who probably hates you the most in the tower all of your worries and how at fault you feel?” You looked up from your glass when he chuckled.

“My dear, I know you don’t truly hate me. You hate what I did to your brother and the Avengers.” He leaned forward to be at eye level with you and spoke very softly “Do not forget, little one. I can read minds, you know” He winked at you and sat back in his chair

“I- you what now?!” You sat up straight and your face became very flushed. How could you have been so naive? Thor had mentioned it a couple of times that he believes his brother could read thoughts, but you never took it to heart.

“Miss. Stark, it seems as so Mr. Stark is worried about you. He has no idea where you are and I didn’t think to make him privy of your location.” FRIDAY interjected before you or Loki could say anything regarding the mind reading matter.

“Thanks, FRIDAY, can you tell him I’m up in my room? I don’t think I’ll be able to walk after the amount of alcohol I’ve drank” You chuckled slightly and rubbed your face with your hands.

“Right away Miss. Stark. Oh, it seems as if your brother is coming to see you.” 

You internally began slightly panicking because as much as Tony wanted you to be civil, I don’t think he would want you damn near wasted with the God Of Mischief in your room.

“I shall be on my way, darling” Loki stood up and walked over to you. He rests his hands on the back of your chair and soon your face to face.

“Conversation for another time” He quickly places a kiss to your cheek before disappearing in a green cloud.

What the fuck is happening?

[jadedxrealityw]

-Mind Stone- Peter Parker x Female Reader Part 2

    ☼-☪-☼

   Kody: Part 2 in this shit

  Movie/Show: After Endgame, but no one died because ignorance is bliss.

  Summary: In the attack of 2012, you were given powers that you couldn’t understand at such a young age.

  Possible Triggers / Warnings: Cursing, Mentions of blood and harm,

    ☼-☪-☼

   Tony handed you a bandaid. You took it from his hand and notice the cartoon picture of Iron Man on it. What a not surprised in the slightest. You peel off of the paper backing and stick it over the small wound caused by the needle. “Were done, but i want you to stay here until we can get Thor and antlers here”

   you exhale deeply. After already spending the night you thought you’d be back at the girls home by now. Not that you wanted to go back, you just didn’t want to hear Nancy’s bitching once you did return “I think my caretaker might worry about me if i’m gone again” 

   Tony placed the tablet he was holding on the counter and looked at you “Yeah she’s a real piece of work isn’t she. You have special permission now” he says. What in the vague. You hop off the chair and feel your phone buzz in your pocket.

   you stuck your hand into the dark grey sweatpants you wore. Wanda offered you clothes to sleep in so you wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. She gave you a matching slightly cropped tank and sweatpants. She was a sweetheart. Once you pull out your phone you tap the screen. 

   it was a text from Peter ‘Can you get away for a minute?’ you hold back the urge to smile and look up at Tony “Can i go?” you ask and he waves his hand, shooing you way “Yeah we’re good. Get some rest and make sure to hydrate. Now get out”

   you roll your eyes with a half smile before walking towards the door “Bye” you say before pushing it open and heading out.

    ☼-☪-☼

   you push open the door you were staying in and saw Peter sitting on the bed, picking at his nails. He looks up once he hears the noise and smiles upon seeing you “Hey” he says. You smile back and walk over to stand in front of him, looking down to meet his gaze “Hello”

   Peter looks at you then the bed. What is he a bed? You take a seat next to him, but end up laying back to look at the ceiling “You look tired” Peter says and lays back next to you. You chuckle quietly “Yeah. I got my blood drawn, but at least it’s over with”

   Peter hums in response. You notice he awkwardly folded his hands over his chest, not knowing what to do with them. You shuffle over and lay your head on his chest, feeling him instantly tense up. “Is this okay or are you going to implode?” 

   he shakes his head “No!-” he protests “i mean it’s okay, just uh- just stay there” he says in a more quiet tone. You stifle a bit of laughter and curl up next him, feeling a bit drowsy at this point. Peter wraps arm around your waist “Are you tired?”

   “Yeah a little” you respond, closing your eyes. Peter holds onto you as he moves to the top of the bed, laying his head on a pillow “You should sleep then, i’ll wake you up if something happens” he talked in a more hushed tone now. You smile  before dozing off. 

   “Y/n?” he says before he is interrupted by quiet snores. He smiles to himself, wishing he didn’t leave his phone in his bag so he could take a picture of you. Would that be weird? It’s not like he would made it his lockscreen. Nevermind that’s the exact reason he would take a photo.

   he raised his free arm to try and web his bag to him, but once he did you started to stir slightly “Not worth it not worth it” he mumbles before kissing your head. He stays still until you stop moving before exhaling. He had never cared about another person's nap so much.

   damn his arm was starting to fall asleep. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   an hour later

   Wanda opened the door to your room and was slightly surprised to see Peter playing with your hair while you slept on his chest “Uh- i knocked, why didn’t you say anything?” she asked. Peter looked down at you for a moment then Wanda “I didn’t want to wake her up. I also can’t feel my arm”

   she smiles brightly at the young love “Why didn't you just move her” she questions, folding her arms across her chest “I have never moved each time you fell asleep on me” Vision spoke from behind her. Wanda looks at him with a slightly shocked expression “You can move. I wouldn’t have been mad”

   “That’s not the point darling. I don’t want to move” Vision replies. Wanda sighs “Will talk more about this later’ she says to him before “Tony would like to see her in the main lobby. i’m assuming he doesn’t know your here?” she says with a small grin. 

   Peter smiles nervously “Yeah- i snuck in. I- i- can get her up. Just give me a few minutes” he said with a pleading look. Wanda smiles, nodding and grabs Visions arm “Bye Peter” she said and walked alongside her lover, closing the door shut. 

   Peter sighs, not really wanting to move at this point, but knew you had to be somewhere. He starts to softly shake your shoulder “Y/n- Y/n you have to get up. Mr. Stark needs you in the lobby” you mumble something incoherent to him before rolling over onto your other side. “No”

   he chuckles to himself and stretches his arm for a second “Come on- we can always sleep later” he tries to rationalize. You groan out before propping yourself up on your elbows “Fine, but i’m not going to enjoy whatever the hell is happening” you say in an attempt to be petty. 

   you hear Peter laugh at your response “I’ll come with you then” he suggests. You smile slightly at the thought and throw your legs over the bed. “Let’s go then” you say and let out yawn. You walk over to the side of the bed Peter was on nd slip your feet into the slippers on the floor. 

   Peter stands up and reaches up to fix his now bed head. You lift your hand and move a piece of hair from his face “Thank you” he says and you nod. Suddenly, he leans down and captures your lips in his, catching you a bit off guard but you weren’t complaining. 

   you went to pull away when one his hands was placed on the small of your back, pulling you flush against him. Well damn Peter Parker. He deepens the kiss more by placing his other hand on the nape of your neck. After a couple seconds you both pull away “What was that for?” you ask. 

   “I haven’t got to kiss you all day” he says with a brow raised like it was so obvious. “Oh okay” you hold back some laughter. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   you and Peter walk to the lobby. During your small walk he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kept you close to him while he talked about how he got his powers. A radioactive spider. That seemed much more awesome then being manipulated by a god at the age of six.

   “Well look at you two” you both look up too see Tony grinning at the both of you so close together. Peter’s face flushes, but he keeps his arm around you “Tony don’t tease them” Wanda comments. Peter hides his face behind your head until the redness went down. 

   “Nice one Spider-Boy” you comment, earning yourself a small growl under his breath, which was interesting to hear to be honest. Suddenly a yellow circle appeared in front of the glass doors. You instinctively take a step back, but Peter keeps you in place “It’s okay” he reassures. 

   you trust his word and stay put as the circle grew quite large. A man stepped out. He was wearing sort of medieval clothes with a maroon cape that seemed to move on its own- Dr. Strange? “Hello” he said to the room and steps to the side as....Thor the god of thunder steps  through the portal, hair cut short.

   at first you were slightly fangirling inside, but then it sunk in who would walk in next. In all his glory, Loki the god of mischief walks through and stands next to his brother. He was wearing an all black suit. You couldn’t tell if you wanted to throw up or run away- maybe both. 

   “Would anyone like to explain why we’re here?” Thor asks, shaking Tony’s hand. “I would also like to know that, considering no one here likes me” Loki adds, fixing the cuffs of his sleeves. “Yeah antlers shut it- 2012 attack. Remember talking to a little girl?”

   Loki gave Tony a strange look “May i remind you all that i was under the control of Thanos and barley remember a thing. Also, what little girl? I hate children” he says with a face of slight disgust. “I might be able to help you all with that” Strange cuts in.

   “Even if you don’t remember anything. Those memories are still locked away in your head. I could access them” he says, gesturing to one of his hands. Loki looks him up and down “I will not have anyone inside my head, that’s sort of my thing” he retorts. 

   Thor crosses his arms over his broad chest “Why is this important?” he directed his question to Tony. “Infinity Stone cleanup.” he says vaguely. Loki sighs and takes a deep breath after “Fine- make it quick and only look at what you need too.

   Strange steps forward “Trust me- i don’t want to look at anything else” he reassures amd steps behind Loki. He placed his hands on either sides of Loki’s head and began to mumble a few words. In an instant it was like Loki became a projector.

   his memory was played in a hologram like manner. Peter and you watch from behind so its inverted for the both of you- not like you haven’t lived through it or anything, but okay. All of you watched as Loki gave you the powers and your tiny body float up then faint. 

   once the memory was over Loki watched the tiny child disappear along with the memory and left standing behind the little girl was you. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together at this point. “Why did you show me this?” Loki snapped, pushing Strange’s hands away from his head. 

   “Because reindeer games. You under the raisins control only gave her a tad of the Mind Stone’s power- just the teleportation and portals. You gave her some of your powers” Tony says. The room collectively gasped “I- What?” Loki replied before looking at you. 

   you felt your body tense a bit. Peter felt his spidey sense flare up and kept his arm tightly wrapped around you, but for so long you wanted to confront this guy. Tell him off. Wish him dead, but you had just learned it wasn’t his fault. What were you to do now?

   you push away from Peter, despite his protest and confidently walked up to Loki, stopping a few feet away from him “Hey, i guess” you say, shrugging your shoulders. Loki gulps and nods at you “Hello. I uh- i apologize for what i did” he said, you can tell he was struggling to find the words. 

   you wave your hand “Don’t be. You can do one thing for me though” you say, a malicious grin making a way to your face. Loki narrows his eyes before answering “and that would be?” he asked. What could you possibly want from him?

   “Teach me how to use it”

    ☼-☪-☼

   a month later

   “You can do better” Loki scolded as he circled around you. You were both in the training room and had been at it for three hours. You were regretting asking him to teach you how to use these damned powers. “Go again!” he exclaims and you form to blades as he charges at you. 

   you push yourself left and watch as Loki stumbles a bit. You use this opportunity to drop down and kick him completely off balance. Loki falls to the floor and as you went to hit him, he kicked you in the chest, knocking the wind out of you “OH you slimy prick!” you coughed.

   Loki grins as he pushes himself off the floor “I’ll add it to the list of things you call me” he says before coming at you again. You stood there and waited until he was inches away before dropping to the floor and sliding across. You end up behind him and wrap your arm around his neck, holding the blade against it.

   you could Loki huffs to try and catch his breath “Much better. Now we’re done for the day” he declares. You exhale and let go of him “Thank god” you say and wave your hand, the blade fading away. “I’ll clean up, you leave. I’m sure your bug boy is waiting for you” Loki rolls his eyes. 

   “His name is Peter and he’s scared of you” you say with narrowed eyes. His frown turns into a small grin “Good” he replies. You chuckle to yourself before walking towards the door “Bye Loki” you say before walking out the room. Time to hit the showers. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   after taking a shower, you sat down on your bed, looking out the window. You wished Loki was right about Peter waiting for you, but he had been busy all week with crime and patrolling. He was Spider-Man after all. You had just hadn’t expect to be so clingy. 

   it was late as much you wanted to stay up for him you decided to just get some rest. You had put on Peters midtown sweatshirt he left a couple weeks ago. It smelt like him so it’ll have to do until you could see your actual boyfriend ago- holy shit. He had never really asked you to be his girlfriend.

   how come you didn’t notice that before? You were just happy to be with him that you didn’t care about the labels and such. Strange. You climb into bed and pulled the comforter over you while grabbing a pillow to hug close to your chest. It helped you fall asleep sometimes. 

   you plug in your phone and place it on the empty space in the bed. Closing your eyes you force yourself to drift off to sleep so tomorrow could come quicker. It was child like logic, but hey- sometimes children logic is all you need. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   a couple hours later

   your eyes slowly open and your met with the sight of Peter in his suit, just outside your window. He was knocking on it and looking around outside. Not creepy at all. You get up out of bed, using one hand to rub your eyes while the other undid the latch of the window. 

   “Hey. Sorry for waking you” he says, climbing into the room and taking off his mask. You walk back to your bed and pick up your phone “Peter it’s two in the morning. Isn’t May going to worry where you are?” you question. YOu turn around just as his suit faded into the spider symbol. 

   Peter shakes his head and places the symbol down on the dresser “No. She knows i’m staying here tonight” he says. You narrow your eyes, walking over to him “You didn’t tell me you were staying over. I haven’t gotten any time with you this week” you say with a small pout. 

   he smiles and grabs your hands “That’s why i’m here- is that my sweatshirt?” he asked, looking down at the blue piece of clothing. You shrug “Maybe” he shakes his head “You look really good in it Might have to let you keep it” he says and leans down to give you a kiss, but you turn your head away.

   “I wasn’t planning on giving it back to you bug boy” you tease. Damn- you gotta stop hanging out with Loki for awhile. Peter’s face drops “I’m ignoring the bug comment for now. You rejected my kiss. I haven’t kissed you all week Y/n” his tone was whiney and made you want to laugh. 

   “I’m sorry” you say trying to hold back laughter. Peter smiles and finally plants his lips on yours, It was like every other kiss, sweet. Until Peter did his whole hand on the back of your neck thing to pull you in for deeper kiss. You reach up to wrap your arms loosely around his neck. 

   Peter lifts you off the ground and places you on the bed, breaking the kiss “Hm. I missed that” he whispers and leans his forehead against yours. You smile, looking up at him. You arms fall as you let out a yawn “and i missed my human pillow, now get under the covers”

   “Yes ma’am” he replies with a quiet laugh and lays on his back. You lay your head on his chest and tangle your legs with his. Peter pulls the blanket over the both of you “Night Y/n” he says and kisses your head sweetly before closing his eyes. You smile and close yours as well. 

   “Goodnight Peter”

    ☼-☪-☼

   Click here to join my Taglist

   ☼-☪-☼

   Kody: shitty end, but hey i thought it was decent. Request be open btw. Anyways, peace. 

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I A THIRSTY INTERLUDE

First time reader click here

Bun Bun at 2:30 AM posting: This is 110% pornography. I wrote that when I was feeling extra thirsty over Tony and his Nano suit so yeah... A bit of choking a bit of mild suit bondage. Daddy kink 👉🏻👈🏻🥺 BDSM themes. Humor & porn. Has minimal correlation with the story and can be read as standalone smut-shot. Inspired by this NSFW tik tok audio (headphones!).

"OH MY GOD, NO! NO, NO, SHIT, FUCK, NO!"

"Princess, what's wrong?" Steve's worried voice rang high in the kitchen, followed by an alarming clattering of the dishes against the sink. "Are you hurt?" He didn't even remark on my use of profanity, which meant I'd startled the Captain for sure. He appeared in the doorway ready to fight, run; his eyes immediately drawn to his shield in the corner.

"Only what's left of my dignity," I sighed.

"Oh, okay," He visibly sagged, tension leaving his voice and his body. "What happened?"

I inhaled several times, feeling heat creep up my neck and blossom on my cheeks. It took a lot, and I mean A LOT, to make me feel embarrassed enough to fumble my words and palm my face but that was exactly what I did. "Well, umm... Tony found a couple of thirst tweets. Mine, from my sophomore year. And uh, retweeted them." I thought I'd cleaned up my social media quite well, actually. My fingers twitched remembering manually sorting through thousands of posts. Apparently, my fingers weren't clever enough.

Steve snorted, evidently having had someone tell him what a thirst tweet was. He, however, did not understand the sheer mortification that I would be subjected to at the hands of Tony. And my classmates. And Peter, oh my God. Natasha and Wanda too, probably. And Loki.

I. Was. Toast.

"How bad was it?" Bucky piped up, finally having dealt with the mini laughter fit.

"Not worse than what you two get up to in the gym when you think nobody is home," I immediately retorted in hopes of avoiding teasing from the metal-armed man. He would take the chance, of course, he would.

"Oof, I'm sorry, doll," Bucky whistled sympathetically. And promptly pulled out his phone, to, what I assumed, see the offending social media posts for himself. I assumed correctly. Bucky was bent over laughing in no time - was it my doing or did Tony's own commentary on them that made the whole situation so hilarious to the gramps on steroids?

"I will light you on fire," I seethed but remained where I was standing. There was no point in doing anything about them now. Screenshots were probably already being saved on everybody's devices.

Steve peeped over his boyfriend's shoulder, chuckling. "You had a crush on Tony? That's embarrassing, doll." He had the audacity to give me an innocent smile before returning to his dishwashing.

"Punk, I don't know if - and I quote: Not to be That Girl™ - it's trademarked, by the way - but Tony Stark could hit it and quit it and I wouldn't even be mad - qualifies as a crush." Bucky pointed out, the sound of his voice being drowned out by Steve's guffaws. "And this one definitely does not qualify for it to be a romantic setting. Listen: I'm not a fucking bottom, okay?.. there are seventeen question marks. But, like, can Tony Stark choke me in one of his Iron Man suits - nine more question marks." Bucky joined his partner's laughter, unable to continue.

I was literally on fire. My face burned, my hands shook. I had the strongest urge to stick my index fingers in my ears and loudly yell "la-la-la" until both fossils ceased to roast me like I was some sort of holiday brisket. "I hate you. I will burn... The heart... Out of you," I seethed.

"O-oh, honey bu-un, da-arling..." I heard Tony's sing-song voice happily calling for me. Too happily. Not good.

I had literal seconds to get myself scarce out of this situation. I'd already avoided the dozen text messages, two calls in hopes the engineer would drop the topic and go back to his Big Bad Science Project. I had underestimated his persistent desire to cause chaos and his terrible, no-good sense of humor.

It was fun and games when we teamed up to prank our friends. I just never expected for the tables to be turned this way, y'know? Betrayal of the highest quality. The turntables had been turned - decidedly NOT in my favor.

In a brief moment of panicked clarity, I opened one of the empty bottom cabinets in the kitchen. It took some uncomfortable folding and maneuvering but I got myself inside and pressed the door shut seconds before his footsteps made the distinctive noise of sneakers on tile.

"Capsicle, Terminator," I heard Tony greet the two laughing supersoldiers. "Have you seen my Princess?"

I melted a little bit at the way Tony called me his, I won't lie.

"Nope," Bucky lied shamelessly.

"She's in the empty cabinet," Steve chuckled at the same time. Top 10 anime betrayals, right there.

"Wow - and I thought we were friends," Tony scoffed, I assumed at Bucky. My body tensed and I prepared to dial-up my puppy eyes to eleven. My hiding spot was wack.

The door was roughly tossed open, my eyes landing on Tony's oil-stained jeans. He crouched down, his brown eyes positively sparkling. The engineer's body radiated smug mischief, fingers twitching in anticipation.

"Sorry, Princess is unavailable right now. May I take a message?" I said, pulling on the cabinet door and fully prepared to slam it shut in his face. I was NOT ready for any more mortification.

Tony's chuckle shook me to the core, louder and ten times more expressive in the cramped, dark space of my temporary lair. "Come on out, baby girl. I didn't peg you for a wallflower."

"Duly noted," I said warily, having been expecting for him to drag me out and carry me to his bedroom, caveman style. I had noticed that my dorky self revved up his gears faster than any stereotypical seductive shit. It was no secret, at least not for us 'vengers, that Tony was a huge dork himself but I guess it takes one to know one.

"So, my suits, huh?" He smirked after a brief moment and just like that, I Did Not Like Where This Was Going. The receding footsteps and quiet snickering only confirmed my suspicions. Tony's form blocked the opening of the cabinet, crowding me even further into the already cramped space.

"Um," I found myself pretty much speechless. Part of me was excited and yearning - of fucking course I was curious if Tony Stark, genius and former playboy, had found a way to incorporate his suits of armor into the bedroom. Daresay, it was the question of the decade, according to Cosmopolitan, GQ, and a whole lot of other large media outlets.

The more sensible part of me screamed shame for that, playing with an essentially massive, powerful destruction machine. Something meant to protect millions of people from bad guys and aliens. It seemed blasphemous to waste such an important thing on scratching a curious itch.

I blinked owlishly, squirming.

"Okay, out you go." Tony's patience had run out and he withdrew himself, promptly standing up.

I heard the tapping of his fingers as I ungracefully stumbled out. He was occupied with his tablet so I turned around to adjust myself and the things on the countertop I had accidentally jostled in my rush to preserve some dignity.

An arm snaked around my waist, cold and unyielding, brushing against my exposed midriff with metal fingertips. Goosebumps followed the touch as I shivered involuntarily, stuttering in my breathing. "Fuck." The sound came out as if it was punched out of my throat with force, breathy.

"What's your safeword?" Tony's neatly groomed beard scratched against my ear. His voice was heavy and his lips were moist.

"Banana," I blurted the first thing that came into my mind. My body was hot and yet, I froze in place. The sheer power that the man behind me contained demanded unyielding obedience. I had no choice but to comply.

"Friday, lock the door. Nobody but me, in and out." Tony growled, pulling my hips into his metal-covered form.

Were we really doing this in the communal kitchen? With Steve and Bucky probably fully aware of what exactly was going on in here? Tony seemed to have zero reservations about that; in fact, I was almost sure he'd orchestrated the whole thing somehow. Steve owed like a dozen favors to the engineer.

The thick of Tony's leg firmly wedged itself between my thighs, spreading them open just enough so I was forced to put a slight arch in my back to keep still, my ass and shoulders firmly pressing against his Iron Man suit. I felt the coldness of the metal through my clothes, heard the hum of the nanobots in my ears.

My blood responded, heartbeat pulsing in my ears in sync with the electrical currents supplying the man behind me with the immense physical power to match his mental one. "Shit," The sound of my voice was faint. His other arm began creeping up my side to my shoulders, making an unmistakable beeline for my neck.

Tony applied firm pressure on it, wrapping the gauntlet carefully - not restricting the airflow, just steering me as he wished. And apparently, he had some very strong ideas about my current predicament: "Got me right where you wanted me?" He asked, low and breathy.

As I attempted to make noise, his hand tightened on my throat. Eyelids involuntarily sliding closed, my lips shook with the force it took me to muster up enough oxygen to hum a sloppy. "Mhm..."

"Can't hear you, baby girl," His cheek rested against mine, scratchy and hot and smelling like iron and gasoline and Tony.

Another shaky breath, I attempted to force the words out - for some reason, Tony's presence commanded me to obey him like never before. I nearly shivered from the sheer aura of power surrounding my man and it was his cue to lessen the careful pressure on my throat - just enough for blood to rapidly rush to my ears, making the world even hazier. "Yeah, Tony," It didn't take me much time to give him the enthusiastic consent he was looking for.

"Uh-uh," Tony tutted cheerfully. His other arm snaked around my waist, dipping lower to play with the hem of my skirt. God bless me for wearing a skirt! The rough pads of his fingertips scratched against the soft, sensitive flesh of my inner thighs. "I think we're past first name basis, baby," The suit retracted, mostly. The nanotech allowed for different parts of it to cover Tony's body in odd places: I felt the gauntlets and the arm braces, as well as part of a chest plate, but waist down my man was wearing simple jeans and tee.

"Uh," My brain supplied unhelpfully, feeling the bulge pressing against my ass. "Daddy?"

"That's my girl," I was rewarded with a groan, so sinful and delicious, falling from his lips straight into my ear. The hand that had gone down south cupped the mound of my pussy with a tender gesture. "Or Iron Man's?" He teased, grinding into me from behind.

"Yours," I keened obediently, my body seeming to find it impossible to decide between rubbing myself on his hand and his cock. It was a hard choice - pun absolutely intended. I was long uncomfortable in my panties and Tony's clever digits surely felt it, yet he made no further moves. "Daddy," I tried to put how much I ached for him into words.

Tony hummed, placing his wet mouth on the juncture of my neck for a moment. His hot breath seared my skin. The curious fingers finally, finally, reached the apex of my thighs. "Fuckin' shit, baby, you're..." He didn't bother finishing the sentence, speaking with his actions instead, scissoring his fingers between my labia, running the knuckles over my clit.

Just to feel me pant and shiver. I was sensitive and so aroused it was nearly unbearable. Tony always made me feel some type of way and, once again, my man had outdone himself. There was no shame left in me as I shifted my hips to the rhythm of his hand.

"Please?" I asked him prettily, knowingly that one little word would get me everything I wanted. A hard fucking, a new dress, a car, or, Hell, my own private island. My eyes were pretty when I begged, he had said. I would move the world for you, he had meant.

"Baby," The whisper was rushed as Tony turned me around and claimed my lips, hoisting my ass onto the marble countertop of the common kitchens. My legs wrapped around his hips, seeking the warmth and relief of his skin on mine. I wanted him inside of me, inconvenient location and two layers of clothing be damned. I wanted to bury myself in him until either of us couldn't tell who started and ended where.

"Daddy," I whispered into the thin line of his mouth, conveying my all-consuming need in a single word.

My skirt was hiked up in a second, the gauntlets of his suit still on his hands tearing my pants in a single clean motion. Eagerly, I scooted forward to pop the button on his jeans; grateful for the fact more often than not, Tony choose to forgo the belt whatsoever when working in the lab. Today was my lucky day.

His cock, red and thick and hard enough to pound nails with, weighed my hand down for barely a second beforehand Tony's gauntlets closed around both of my wrists, securing them to my chest. His other arm swiftly wrapped around me, pulling me close to him, as close as we could be together without sharing a single body. The blunt tip of his manhood stood at my entrance - not just teasing it but seeking permission.

One keen that seemed to come from deep insight my chest and I felt Tony's breath hitch as our sensitive flesh met; he filled me up at least as superbly as I hugged him. We shared a moan and a breath, just feeling each other, feeling the moment.

We were short on patience. Tony's hand slid onto the small of my back, urging our hips to meet each other, setting a punishing pace from the very start.

"Fuck, Daddy, oh God," I panted. I wasn't used to getting things started with so little prep.

"Baby," Tony rumbled, trying for stern, having it come out as breathless as I felt. "Shit, so fuckin' tight," His words garbled.

The sound of flesh slapping flesh was loud, perhaps, loud enough for certain enhanced folk to hear should they happen to pass the kitchen doors - and if that didn't make my insides clench in the most delectable ways.

Tony grunted in response, a lewd noise adding to the cacophony. "Gonna come?" His teeth caught my bottom lip, pulling it slightly. "For Daddy?" He asked, all traces of his usual cockiness gone, as he pulled away slightly to stare right in my wide eyes with his baby doe browns, equally blown with lust and longing.

Neither of us would last. "Yes, fuck, Daddy, please," I begged.

His hips angled just right, Tony continued mercilessly railing me, holding up my weak body between his arms. I felt the cold metal of the gauntlets through my shirt. The shivers ran across my skin in heaps, like busy little ants.

"Come for Daddy," Tony ordered, yanking me closer to hit that sweet spot deep inside of me. I couldn't resist the command, feeling the waves build up with every brutal stroke, clenching, muffling the screaming of my release in the crook of his neck, relishing in the growl that left his lips as he followed me, releasing my arms and folding his torso over mine. "Fuck," Was the only coherent word that left Tony's mouth, his seed creating a sticky mess between our legs.

"Yeah," I moaned, unwilling to part from him. It was intense. My world was spinning on its axis and my Tony was the center of it. He said something again, something soft and quiet, and my only concern was to rub my nose on his pulse point, to savor and remember the smell of our shared pleasure.

"Baby..." Tony sounded... Concerned. He withdrew slowly, frowning at my sleepy state. His frown only intensified when I absentmindedly rubbed my wrists - there were bound to be some marks left from the force of his grip. It was hot and it was... A surefire way to tell the suits weren't really adapted for bedroom games. Kitchen games.

"Daddy," I mumbled, sounding sad and pathetic to my own ears. I kind of wanted to cuddle and watch a movie but it seemed weird asking that from Tony since we've done crazier things and I had never felt like this, never got this greedy.

"Oh, baby, c'mere," He had come to some sort of conclusion. After re-doing his pants and picking up the scraps of fabric that used to be my panties, his arms made a comfortable nest. I was picked up without any troubles; the gauntlets had disappeared, too, into the thin golden bracelets around his wrists. I allowed myself to play with them, the shiny colors doing a good job of distracting me all throughout the brisk walk through the main living room and the swift elevator ride.

Tony's bed was messy, unmade and smelled like us - just the way I had left it that morning. Tony's hands were gentle as he stripped me and then swiftly chucked his own clothes.

"Watcha' doin'?" I asked as he wrapped his body around mine.

"Shh, we'll talk later," He murmured, looking slightly dazed himself. "Friday, put Stardust on the TV. 25% volume," As soon as the command was spoken, one of my comfort movies began playing on the large screen. Tony's hand kept stroking my hair and I didn't resist the temptation to close my eyes, settling into a peaceful lull atop the glowing white-blue of Tony's arc reactor.

My favorite color in the world, to be honest. It felt like I'd slept for ages when I opened my eyes to see the color again. "Um, hi," I supplied meekly, feeling way out of my depths from my own strange behavior.

"Mornin', Princess," Tony seemed joyful, the bags under his eyes a little less prominent than before.

I made moves to get out of the bed but he wrapped an arm around me, tugging me closer. "What do you know about sub drop?" He questioned me, in response to my vaguely confused noises.

That's what it was?!

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

[ijustwant2write]

Mischief In The Making-Loki x Reader

(GIF credit to @notetoself-justdont)

Summary: requested by @xxdragonagequeenxx : ’A fluffy fic where Reader is Tony's sister and best friends with Thor so when she develops feelings for Loki she's freaked out at first so she doesn't act. But then Loki does and so they're in a secret relationship. Somehow Thor and Tony find out, at first it's bad, because Tony isn't a fan if Loki and Thor is worried his brother will hurt his best friend but in the end it all works out and the reader and Loki get their happy ending.’

Characters: Loki x Reader, Tony Stark x Sister!Reader, Thor Odinson x Reader (Platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Swearing, arguing, fluff

(A/N: My first Loki imagine! I was actually quite nervous to write this, but here it is! AND SORRY IT’S LATE, I’M BACKED UP WITH REQUESTS)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(Y/N) knew that her life would become a whole lot more interesting as soon as her brother became Iron Man. Despite the excitement of it all, she never had any intention to follow in his footsteps, only to help behind the scenes. Both being brought up with a very clever father and surrounded by technology, the Stark siblings thrived throughout school, creating their own innovative designs along the way, though no one was surprised. Although she was offered many times by S.H.I.E.L.D and her brother, (Y/N) turned down any invitations to fight beside them, not knowing how they could be so brave and relentless, but respecting them nonetheless.

As the years went on, many battles ensued, bringing along new allies as well as enemies. She now had an even bigger family, an odd but loving one at that. She genuinely cared for cared for everyone in that building, especially her, who she now deemed as, best friend, Thor, the God of Thunder; who would have thought a thousands year old god would end up being friends with a thirty something, high tech genius from the twenty first century? They were both fascinated with each others worlds, and realised that they had the same aspirations; to keep their friends and families safe. Everyone would see them walking around the tower together, a huge, broad and burly man beside a smaller woman, usually carrying a tablet and/or phone with her. (Y/N) confided in him, trained with him, learnt from him and vice versa. Truly nothing could break their friendship.

That is, until his brother showed up.

Ah yes, Loki, the God of Mischief. The man who used the Tersseract to unleash an alien army on New York city, killing, injuring and ruining people’s lives in just one day; as well as this, he had betrayed his brother, many, many, many times, sometimes leaving Thor in life threatening situations. But nevertheless, he was still Thor’s brother, whom he loved very much. So when it was suggested that Loki lived with the rest of the heroes, there was a slight disagreement.

“Hell no!” Sam exclaimed, having made his decision.

“You can’t be serious? Are you really going to put everyone’s lives in danger again?” Tony said.

“My brother has changed. I can’t stand by and let him wander by himself. I feel that if Loki resides here, with the rest of us, then the good in him will come out. I know it’s in there, he just needs help.”

“So, we should help the psycho that tried to kill us and take over the whole world, just because he’s your brother?” Clint crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. 

“Thor, you’ve got to admit, you’re asking the impossible here.” (Y/N) piped up though tried to keep her voice kind.

“I’ve lost all of my family but you and him. I need to keep him close, know where he is and that he won’t disappear again.”

“Why not send him back to Asgard?” Nat asked.

“We believe that Midgard is a better option.”

“Urgh, Thor-”

The bickering had continued for what seemed like ages and they were getting no where. (Y/N) could see how desperate her friend was to have his brother beside him. Thor could never see the bad in his brother, which in a way was quite beautiful, but she constantly worried that Loki would play him again, causing more heartache than the god deserved. She sighed, standing up from the chair before raising her voice over the others.

“OK! We’ve all had our say. Look, I agree with you guys, Loki doesn’t deserve our shelter, but at the same time, when does Thor ever ask us for things? Never. Why don’t we give his brother a trial week?”

“You saw how much damage he did in one day, imagine what he could do in a week.” Tony argued with his sister.

“He’ll be on lock down. Come on, Loki is Thor’s brother, his only biological family that is left. Let’s give him a week, and if he causes any shit, we’ll kick him out. Does that sound fair?”

And thanks to (Y/N), that’s how Loki ended up living with the Avengers.

Tension was running high as soon as Loki stepped foot into the building. No one was sure how to act around him; everyone wanted to give him a piece of their mind, though obviously no fighting could ensue. Loki didn’t make the situation any easier, constantly teasing and using his magic to trick people. However, some members of the team were starting to find it funny, especially if the tricks weren’t on them, though no one would admit that. But (Y/N) found him more than a comedian.

“I never understand why you mortals spend your lives trying to work out the impossible, you waste your time.” Loki startled (Y/N) as he suddenly appeared in her lab.

She set down her tools, not taking offence to his statement.“There must be things that you don’t know about, perhaps one of them is how to be a hero instead of a villain.”

“Who is to say that I am a villain?”

(Y/N) raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face.

“Well, each to their own I suppose.”

(Y/N) let out a laugh, surprising the god. He had only ever made his brother laugh like that, and he hadn’t always meant to. But hearing it from her, the fact that he had caused such joy....what on Earth was he thinking? He was beginning to become as dull as the Midgardians. 

“Do you really want to stay here Loki? I mean, it doesn’t really seem your type of place.”

“It’s no palace. Though I’m surprised your brother doesn’t have one of those already.”

“I’ll let that one slide.” She said in a warning tone, but couldn’t help smiling again as she tried to hide herself behind her work. 

This became a regular occurrence. Loki was fascinated by the mortal woman, even if she was so enticed with the science of the world compared to his trickery. It was once every week that he would visit (Y/N) in her lab, then twice, then three times before it was practically every day. (Y/N) never knew what time he would arrive, but she anticipated it nonetheless. Then it became a normality that they would spend time together outside the lab, even if it was just them sitting in silence as Loki read whilst (Y/N) tinkered with a new design. The others took note of this, though when they saw that no other actions were being taken, they decided not to question it.

“(Y/N), you and Loki, you seem to be close-”

“Thor, I am just trying to make him feel welcome. I want you to be happy.”

It was such an easy excuse.

(Y/N) was clever, it was easy to lie to Thor, though she didn’t want to do it. However, she was scared, and when (Y/N) Stark was scared, that’s when you needed to panic. Her calm, clever mind was in overdrive, she could no longer think quickly, and this was all down to her feelings taking over. Loki was charming, handsome, it came with being a god, but she felt as if she was betraying her brother and friends just by thinking about Loki in a....dare she say, romantic way. Loki could see what was evolving between them. At first, he too had been apprehensive, these humans had been deemed unworthy before, except her; (Y/N) was somehow special, perhaps because she was so intellectual? Or perhaps she was so kind to him, despite their past.

(Y/N) could feel his presence behind her as she sat on the rooftop, admiring the bright stars the had spread across the sky. She then wondered about Asgard, and if they too had stars like Earth.

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” (Y/N) admitted, not bothering to look at him, though she knew he was beside her.

“And what would that be exactly?”

“You know what.”

“You’re scared, that’s what you mortals do when you’re unsure.”

“Loki, remember what you did. I shouldn’t be feeling these things.”

“And why not?” He leaned against the ledge, looking up at her.

“What would the others think?”

“What does it matter?”

“I want to, I just don’t know if-”

He held a finger up, standing up straight and standing even closer to her.“I’ve always said, you mortals are wasting your time trying to understand everything. Just because you don’t know something, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.”

“But...”

“You know I’m right.”

“I’m not used to other people being right.”

“Neither am I.”

“What are we doing?” (Y/N) felt breathless, especially when she realised that they were practically embracing each other.

“Stop questioning everything, you aren’t all knowing like some of us.” his smirk returned, taking the bold move to wrap his arms around her, kissing her before she could get another word in.

(Y/N) instantly reacted, gripping onto his arms as she kissed back. Yes, she was unsure about all of this, her mind was battling with itself over her recent actions. Here she was, kissing the man (well, god) who had brought destruction to Earth, the one who threatened her brother and almost killed her friends; and she wanted to not give a fuck, but unfortunately, the situation was a lot more serious then that.

(Y/N) soon realised that she had to stop this conflict going on in her mind. It was true, she had feelings for Loki, also meaning she had to hide it from everyone. Unlike her brother, who unfortunately hid his feelings very well, (Y/N) could never keep anything under wraps, making her the worst person to plan a surprise party, let alone hide the fact that she was in love with Loki. Of course the heroes had noticed the different behaviour in the youngest Stark, worried when they saw how she locked herself in her lab and/or room all day. She tried to make progress in her work, not wanting the others to become suspicious, failing at this too.

“It has been weeks, (Y/N).” Loki stated, trying to lock eyes with her as she took apart a small circuit board.“You can’t keep doing this, keep on hiding in here.”

“Loki, you know we can’t tell anyone.” She grabbed a screwdriver, focusing on the electronics in front of her.“We’ve been doing fine so far, why not keep doing it?”

“I will not argue with you like this. If you are ashamed of loving me then just state it, it wouldn’t be the first time someone said it.”

That made (Y/N) drop her work, rushing towards her lover. She held his hands, trying to nit stumble over her words.“Don’t say things like that! How many times have I told you that I could never be ashamed of you?” She waited for him to answer, but when he didn’t speak, she carried on.“Loki, I’m just scared what the others will do when they see us like this. They were against you even stepping foot in this place, what will happen when they know that  we’re...”

“We’re what? You can’t even say it out loud!” 

Loki pushed her hands away, before balling up his fists. (Y/N)’s eyes widened for a moment, frightened that he would harm her. She flinched, shielding her face as his arms swooped across her work station, the metal and tools making a horrible amount of noise as it hit the ground.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Thor’s deep voice shouted out as he saw his brother in a frenzy, thinking that he would hurt his best friend. Thor easily held his brother up by his shirt, looking back to (Y/N) to see if she was alright. 

“Thor! Put him down!” She protested, pulling at his arm.

Loki was wriggling around, only to be dropped to the floor. He groaned as the impact effected his body, welcoming the sight of (Y/N)’s worried expression.

“Why are you sympathising with him? He hurt you!”

“No, he didn’t.” (Y/N) helped Loki sit on a chair, kneeling in front of him.“He was just angry.”

“Angry? Brother, what is wrong?” Thor waited for an answer, his eyes darting to the sight of them holding hands. 

Loki and (Y/N) looked at each other, unsure how to answer.

“Brother, you cannot put people in danger when you are upset. What if someone else saw you? They would think-”

“He didn’t mean it!” (Y/N) unexpectedly snapped at her best friend, sighing when she saw his shocked face.“Look, I’m going o tell you something, but you have to keep it a secret? Promise?”

Thor nodded his head, keeping his eyes on her as she stood, one hand still holding onto Loki’s. His mind raced with thoughts, one protruding out of them all though he pushed it back. No, that wasn’t possible.

“Loki and I....we’re...we’re...in a relationship.”

They waited for Thor’s reaction, Loki couldn’t help but find it slightly amusing, seeing his brother like this. Thor never said anything, briskly turning on his heel before taking long strides out of the lab. (Y/N) glanced at Loki, dragging him out of the chair and after Thor, her heart rate accelerating as they tried to catch up.

“Thor! Thor, stop!” (Y/N) yelled as Thor started running, easily getting away from the two of them.

“Where is he even going?” Loki questioned.

“Shit, he’s going to tell my brother.”

After asking FRIDAY to locate Tony, the couple took a quick walk to where he was, one nervous whilst the other remained calm. Loki couldn’t give a shit if Thor and Tony were mad, it wouldn’t stop him from getting what he wanted. He could see that (Y/N) was stressing, she was overthinking everything; he had hoped that over time, he would be able to teach her that not everything needed analysing, not everything needed to be known or solved. She thought about things too much, soon her mind wouldn’t be able to do that anymore, and he wanted to see her carefree, especially by his side.

(Y/N) and Loki entered the common room where Thor, her brother, Rhodey, Steve and Sam were, all of them looking shocked. Thor had already told them, it was too late. Tony was furious, storming towards the couple, he had to get his sister away from that monster. (Y/N) marched forward, pushing him back as Tony tried to get past her.

“Tony! Tony, stop! Please don’t hurt him, please!” She shouted, feeling like she would burst into tears.

“He’s manipulated you! He did it to Clint, to Nat, he tried to do it to me!” Tony retaliated, holding his sister’s arms back.

“Loki has never done that-”

“You wouldn’t know-”

“If we could all stop shouting, I think we could resolve this a lot faster.” Loki’s voice rang out. 

(Y/N) closed her eyes as she groaned, not seeing the fire in Tony’s own eyes. She was grateful for Loki’s calm, and ‘go with the flow’ demeanour, but it didn’t always help at the best of times. Luckily, Steve pulled Tony back, seeing that they were indeed getting no where. 

“Thor, you promised not to tell anyone!” (Y/N) cried, suddenly letting all the emotions crash down on her.

“I did no such thing. They have a right to know.” Thor responded. 

“No, they don’t! I only told you because you saw us.”

“Saw what? What were they doing?” Tony interjected, ready to attack Loki again.

“We were doing nothing! Tony, I was going to tell you-”

“When?! And did you really think that I’d let this slide?”

“Can we please not do this here? In front of everyone?” 

“Why not? Everyone knows now. Actually, I would prefer that they were here, then you might be able to see that you have officially lost it.”

“Tony, I know that it seems crazy, I know you’re all doubtful of this relationship. But...” She shrugged,“it just happened. I was scared, but then I realised that I couldn’t deny my feelings-”

“You don’t have feelings for him-”

“Let me speak!” She sighed into her hands, taking a deep breath in before looking back to her brother.“Don’t you think I feel slightly guilty? I wanted to stop myself at first, thinking that I was betraying you all. I just can’t, I just can’t deny it.”

“(Y/N),” Steve spoke up, a stern look on his face,“Loki killed all those people, he wanted to stop us-”

“You think I don’t know that?! Guys, I understand your concerns, but you have to believe me when I say that he’s changed. Thor, you were the one wanting us to let him into our home, you were the one who told us that he was different now.”

“I know, I know I did. But I know my brother’s trickery, I worry for you because I value your friendship. Even though he’s my brother, I will ensure no harm comes to you, no matter the case.”

“That won’t be necessary, because this is ending right now!” Tony pointed his finger to the floor, staring at (Y/N). 

“Tony you don’t control me, you’ve always treated me like your equal, why change now?”

“Because you’re my family, and we’ve been through too much for me to lose you like this.”

(Y/N)’s tone of voice softened, knowing exactly what he meant.“Tony, I can’t deny how I feel.”

Tony was silent, a frown on his face as he shook his head.“No, you can’t. Which proves that he has power of you, meaning we need to keep you two apart.”

“Tony, no....stop, what are you doing?!”

Tony grabbed her by the arm, harshly dragging her away. Everyone started shouting over one another, wanting to stop Tony but also wanting to separate the ‘couple’. Loki could see that this was descending into madness, though that’s what he was used to. Having had enough of the mortals petty quarrels, he used his abilities to make multiple copies of himself, confusing everyone in the room. The real Loki used this opportunity to dash to (Y/N) making the others run too. However, he had ran only a few steps when he felt himself being tripped, a huge weight forcing him to stay on the ground.

“Thor you’re hurting him!” (Y/N) protested as she saw Mjolnir placed on Loki’s back, making it impossible for him to move.

“If you want him unharmed, start moving.” Tony said, relieved that his sister started walking.

Begrudgingly, (Y/N) let Tony take her away, ending up at her room. She walked in, expecting him to follow. She knew what was coming, the lectures she had endured before would be nothing like this.

“FRIDAY, lock the door, make sure she can’t override it.” Tony said before slamming it. (Y/N) kicked and punched the door, not caring how much it hurt.“(Y/N) you need to think about this, think about who he is. You don’t want to be with him.”

Tony ignored (Y/N)’s screams of protest. It was killing him, it really was, but he knew that this was better for everyone, especially her. It took all of his willpower to not turn around and let her out, hug her to stop her crying. (Y/N) was his only biological family now, he wasn’t about to have Loki as a brother-in-law. 

(Y/N)’s voice was hoarse as she called out to FRIDAY, begging her to unlock the door or trying to override her. It was no use, Tony was the top boss, what he said goes. She was sat against the door, the darkness of the room not bothering her. How had she got into this mess so quickly? And all for loving a man that had a bad past. She had thought she would detest him, wouldn’t be able to face him without a look of disgust; it seemed that it was definitely opposite. (Y/N) was tired, emotionally drained and for once she couldn’t think of a solution.

“You should get to bed.” Loki’s voice rang out, making her jump and hit her head against the door. She rubbed her head as she got to her feet.

“You’re not really here, are you?” 

“No.”

“Where are you now?”

“Locked up in my chambers, just as you are.”

“They can’t do this.”

“No, they can’t. And they won’t. I think my brother is coming round to the idea, he and Stark were arguing just as they forced me in my room.”

“Hopefully it’s just the initial shock.” She scoffed a laugh, shaking her head.“We’re just a pair of star crossed lovers, it’s sickening really.”

She walked towards him, instinctively reaching out to touch him, only to go through the hologram.

“Sorry, forgot for a moment.”

“Get some rest. We’ll fix this tomorrow.”

When morning broke, the pair found that their doors were open. They both strode confidently down the halls, not wanting to show how the events from the previous day effected them. When they spotted each other at opposite ends of the hall, they both rushed to meet in the middle, embracing before they kissed. It was one night, but the effect their relationship had on the others had upset them both, even Loki. 

“You two, in here.” Tony called, entering one of the many rooms of the building.

The pair shared a look, following Tony. Loki didn’t hold (Y/N)’s hand, thinking that she wouldn’t want to enrage her brother. Surprisingly, (Y/N) took his hand, smiling up at him as they began walking. Her brother wouldn’t make her decisions, Tony knew that would happen.

As they entered, Thor was also present. The four of them were silent, wondering who was going to speak first. It was tense, the fact that Loki and (Y/N) were close made it worse.

“I want to apologise for last night.” Tony started, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

“We both do. In all honesty, we were worried about you, we did not think this was a good idea.” Thor added.

“So you decided to drag us away from each other and lock us in our rooms? Not your greatest moment Tony.” (Y/N)’s croaky voice said, wanting to make amends but not before letting out her anger.

“You have to see it from my perspective-”

She held up her hand, stopping him from talking.“We already went through this yesterday, and I thought everything over again. I want to be with Loki, and nothing you can say will change my mind.”

“Tony, you need to know that I won’t hurt her.” Loki spoke, trying to use his words wisely.“I’d rather be banished from Midgard than do anything that would upset her.”

“That can be arranged.”

Loki ignored the comment.“We hid this to spare everyone’s feelings, and I can’t believe I just said that. Please don’t be angry with your sister, just me.”

Thor smiled, never seeing Loki so apologetic before.“I trust you for now brother. She is a close and very dear friend of mine, and although I believe you when you say no harm will come to her,” he lifted Mjolnir,“I won’t hesitate. Come Stark, let us leave before we descend into any further disagreement.”

Tony was still apprehensive about their relationship, not knowing what was real and what was fake. This could all be part of Loki’s big plan, perhaps he was trying to break the Avengers by using his sister! Did he want to rule again? What were his motives? Thor could see how deep in thought his friend was, giving him a friendly (though to Tony, a hard) slap on the back.

“You humans have such a need to know everything. Just let it be. Besides, we may end up becoming brother-in-laws.”

[crashdevlin]

Bottle-7: Nightmares

Bottle Masterlist

Author’s Note: Originally posted to ao3 (This is an edited and improved version), I work in info from the comics (Like Hawkeye was married to Mockingbird and Red Skull had a disappointing daughter) and I took a few liberties with what the scepter could do (but not really because the Mind Stone was used to create the Twins so what I did is not that far-fetched). This is a lot more angst than I realized when I wrote it, but it’s compelling angst.

Summary: Cassandra Campbell is a Stark Industries lab tech with dubious genetics and a history with the new Director of SHIELD. She’s been working in New York since right before the Chitauri invasion. What does she have to do with Loki, and what will happen when he returns? Starts post TDW and continues to the end of AoU.

Pairing(s): Phil Coulson x OFC (Past), Loki x OFC (Non-con), Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC

Word Count: 4004

Story Warnings: So many, worst (to me) are bolded. Younger woman/older man relationship,non-con, mutilation, torture, mind control, PTSD, depression, alcoholism, forced abortions, bad things (non-con) in a church, insomnia, memory manipulation, eventual consensual oral sex (female and male receiving),

Chapter Warnings: insomnia, nightmares, depression, alcoholism, general identity issues, bad German from Google Translate, mentions of suicidal thoughts

Cassie's dreams hadn't been what would be called 'pleasant' in a couple years, but her nightmares had steadily become more distressing. When she woke, she took a deep breath to steady her heart rate and it fell immediately. She rubbed at her eyes with the blanket and folded it, throwing it next to her jump seat.

"You okay?" Clint asked, from the pilot's seat. Natasha had traded for the seat beside him.

"I'm fine," Cassie said, her voice monotone as she stood to walk up between the two agents.

"Well, maybe this’ll cheer you up. Welcome home," Clint said, reaching over to flip several switches on the jet's console.

Cassie looked out at the New York skyline. Twinkling lights and skyscrapers greeted her as she looked out the front of the jet. Right in the middle of the picturesque landscape stood Stark Tower, the visual confirmation of Tony Stark's ego. She might have found it beautiful if it weren’t the building where Loki Laufeyson had turned her into a monster... twice. 'Home' was not the word she would use.

As they walked into the top of the Tower, Steve walked out of a door to their immediate left. "Romanoff, Barton, mission debrief."

The agents split off from her without a word. Cassie looked around, seeming a bit lost as she set her bag against the closest wall. "Lab tech!" She heard from her right. "Come talk to me."

Cassie nodded and headed over to Tony. He shut the door behind her and headed to a wet bar behind to his desk. He poured two glasses of scotch and set one on the opposite edge of his desk, right in front of her. He sat down and took a sip, eyeing her. "How was Austria?" he asked as she picked up the tumbler.

She looked down at the glass. "It was good. Nice." She took a sip. It was smooth and strong. Much better than the home-made vodka she'd been downing every night to help her sleep. "All I had to worry about was bratwurst and God."

"Well, that sounds... so boring. Boring like listening to Cap extol on the virtues of the 'good ol' days'."

"Well, it might not be saving the world, but I wasn't putting it in danger, either. And it was quiet. I thought it might help me to... deal." She whispered the last word.

"Yeah. Everybody has their coping methods. Me, I drink a lot," Tony said, lifting his glass. "Or, I make metal suits. Hawk shoots stuff, Romanoff kills things. You and Banner seem to be fans of the 'disappear into the middle of nowhere and get a taste of the simple life' method. Whatever. Diff'rint strokes. But what's important is you come back when you're needed. And here you are."

"I hope it doesn't diminish anything that I tried to run when... Barton showed up." She didn't feel quite up to 'first-naming' Hawkeye, yet.

"Not at all. Figured you would. Look, you're here and in not a whole lot worse condition than when you left. I had Pepper put you on a leave of absence when Loki grabbed you, so you have a job downstairs, if you want it. And you're still what Fury calls 'enhanced', so you have a job up here."

"I don't know. I mean... I haven't even considered coming back to the lab."

"You've got time to think about it, but I'd really like you on the team when we go searching for the sceptre. It's like an epic quest. It'll be fun," he encouraged.

"Maybe."

"Well, either way, why don't you head over to the lab, let Banner scan you? I'd like to make sure Austria didn't fuck you up."

Cassie nodded, finishing off her scotch and standing.

**********

She opened the sliding door to the lab and smiled, timidly. Banner wasn't a man she'd spoken with much before, but he seemed to be the only one who didn't have judgement in his eyes when he looked at her. "Oh, hello. Welcome back. Why don't you get a seat?" Bruce said, adjusting his glasses and tapping away at a tablet.

She jumped up on the exam table and looked around at all the equipment, most of it familiar, but some of it obviously specialized. "So, 'Red Queen', huh?"

"Well, it's just something I was tossing around. Everyone's got a superhero name, you know. The big guy's The Hulk, Tony is Iron Man. Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America. I thought you, you know, you ought to have one, too."

"Well, I like it. It's better than 'Red Skulletta'," she said, with a small smile. Bruce just continued looking down at his tablet. "That was a joke." She leaned forward. "Maybe I should try it in German. They got a kick out of me back in Hohenhems."

Bruce looked up from his tablet and gave a little smile as he took off his glasses. "Sorry. I get lost in the science sometimes. How was Hohenhems?"

Cassie smiled. "It was quiet. The people were really nice, worked with me, helped me learn German, well, relearn it. It was simple. I was... almost happy there. Working on happy, anyway. Until Loki found me, again. That always puts an end to 'happy'."

Bruce scanned her from head to toe. "Well, at least you're here now," he said, absentmindedly.

"Yeah." Everyone seemed to think that was a good thing. Who was she to argue?

"Let me just get some blood and you can head down to your apartment." Anxiety flooded her at the mention of her apartment and Banner’s tablet beeped. "Or, judging by that spike in your blood pressure, you might want to find one of Tony's couches to crash on."

She smiled, embarrassed. "Speaking of crashing, you got anything that would help me sleep?"

"Yeah. I have a couple sedatives around. Insomnia?" he asked, straightening her arm and wrapping a rubber band around her bicep.

"No... uh, nightmares," she whispered, as he gently pushed a needle into her vein.

Bruce nodded. He pulled out the vial of blood and labelled it, before walking over to a cabinet and grabbing a bottle. "This is Lorazapam. Take one about half an hour before you try to sleep. It'll relax you and your mind won't be so anxious. It should work on the nightmares better than Tony's scotch would."

She felt her cheeks heat up at that. How'd he know she was planning to steal her boss' amazing scotch? She jumped down and grabbed the bottle from his hand. She smiled and thanked him. She had her hand on the door when Banner turned his back to her. "Scrutiny sucks," he said, suddenly. The words sounded awkward from the quiet scientist.

Cassie turned back, pushing the pill bottle into her pocket. Bruce took off his glasses, setting them on the table next to him. "I mean... it's no one else's business what happened between you and Coulson. No one's business why you left that base in the Alps. But they will be watching, judging, because that's... human nature."

She sighed, sadly. "I left because I wanted to try to outrun the scrutiny. Guess that was wishful thinking."

"Well... I... I'm not the judging type. The other guy has done some horrible things, so I don't judge. If you need an ear... I'm in this lab, most of the time."

Cassie smiled a little, stepping forward, then jumping back onto the exam table, leaning back on it. "Can I hang in here with you, for a little while, then? I don't want to deal with Steve's cold looks, or the weirdness with Barton. Eventually, we're going to get a call from Phil, and I'll have those questions to answer. I'll take a judgement-free zone where I can get it."

"Why don't you have one of those Lorazapams, take a nap?"

She took the pills out of her pocket and placed five on her tongue. She took a deep breath and rolled over on her side, curling her arm under her head and closing her eyes.

********************

Cassie had read somewhere that dreams of running for your life, being hunted by something that you can instinctively tell is faster than you, were normal. She'd never been able to find anything about being the one on the hunter side. Her dream-self cornered its prey and pulled them to her. "Hail Hydra," she whispered in her prey's ear as she brought a knife to their neck. "Sie werden nie dein schicksal besiegen, [You will never defeat your fate.]" she whispered, before violently pulling the knife across her victim's throat. As the body fell to the concrete beneath her dream self, Cassie could see her own face on the victim.

Her eyes flew open, her whole body tense. "Sie werden nie dein schicksal besiegen," she whispered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She looked around and saw Tony and Bruce, standing outside the lab doors, looking at a tablet. She looked at her watch. She'd gotten six hours. She hadn't gotten that much sleep in one go since she left the Playground. "Thank you, Ativan," she said, grabbing the bottle from the table next to the exam table and jumping down. She opened the lab door and smiled at the scientists.

"How'd you sleep?" Bruce asked.

"Better than I have in months, actually. Made it past hour four, so..." Cassie cleared her throat. "Um, Tony... sir. I'm in a good... well, a rested mindset, so I wanted to tell you that I'm going to respectfully decline going back to work in the lab."

Tony shrugged. "No biggie. I'm sure we can-"

"I'd like to focus on Ops training. I'm excited to make sure Loki never lays hands on that scepter again. I'd like to go on that quest. But being strong and fast won't do me any good if I can't fight. And if I can't fight, then I'm useless here."

The men exchanged a look. "Okay. I'll tell Romanoff you need some ass-kicking lessons," Tony responded.

"Don't bother. I'll talk to Barton. That conversation's gotta happen sometime. Better now, when I've had an almost full round of sleep," she said, before walking away.

She found him, with the help of Jarvis, several levels below the penthouse in a large open room with dozens of targets. "Stark made a shooting range? How thoughtful," Cassie said, walking in behind him.

"There's also some foam mats in a closet somewhere, in case Tash gets the urge to kick my ass," he said, throwing the knife that sat balanced on his fingers into a target behind him.

"Got a minute?"

He nodded and grabbed two folding chairs from the wall next to the door. She sat in one, turning it so that her chest was leaning on the back rest. "I was deluded, back at der... the Playground. To think I could carry a Jotun baby... it would have killed me. You saved me from myself. And I hated you for it."

She rested her chin on her hands, on the backrest of the chair. "I understand now. I can't win against destiny. Can't run or hide. I was created to be a super-soldier. I wasn't created to be a scientist or-or a mother. So, I may as well fulfill that."

"I thought you weren't Ops material?"

"Well, I must be. Joanna was pretty good at all that stuff. Sliding down elevator cables, jumping from fire escapes to windows... I did that stuff. Somewhere in me is the fortitude for Ops training. So, I'm coming to you, the one person who has known me longer than anyone except Phil and Fury. Teach me Ops."

Clint looked down. "Who told you?"

"I must've known. Realized I'd seen you trailing me. Joanna knew. Fury confirmed it for her...me... and then you admitted to watching me with a high power scope. Pretty easy there.” She sighed, heavily, a thickness filling her chest. “I don't mind, well, I do, but... I'm Red Skull's daughter. Phil was a level 8 agent. Fury had to keep his eye out."

Clint sighed, disappointed in himself. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. I just... didn't know how."

"It's fine, Clint. It's good to have someone around who knows me... because I don't think I know myself right now." Her eyes stung as she said the words.

Clint stood, before dropping to his knees next to her. "Cassie, you don't know who you are? I do. You are a scientist. You matched wits with some of the brightest minds in Stark Industries. You are a wonderful, intelligent, selfless woman who has faced so much in the last two years. To come out alive... I'm amazed by you. I've been amazed by you from the moment Fury put me on you." He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him.

"I thought it'd be boring. I thought I'd just have to wait a week or so to get evidence of you meeting with Hydra operatives or using Coulson somehow. What I saw was beauty. I saw confidence. I saw a woman deeply in love with a man who was never really around to return that love.” Clint smiled, slightly. “I remember Phil going on a mission once, and you sat around sewing the holes in his suits, while studying tissue histology in a microscope. You never made friends, because Phil was all you cared about. You based your entire life around a man who was gone for weeks at a time. You got your school work done in between making sure everything was perfect every day, just in case Coulson came home. And the day he came home, and wouldn't shut his fucking face about that cellist he saved... I remember the look on your face when you decided to leave everything you had behind and embark on a life by yourself with his kid, so that he could be happy. You didn't even cry, because you were happy letting him be happy. That is you. Selfless, loyal, never thinking about yourself."

She couldn't deny the tears rolling down her cheek this time. "I don't feel like that woman anymore. I lost... everything. I lost Phil. I lost Faye. I lost my humanity, my optimism. I lost my second chance at being happy. Loki killed me. So, who am I now, Clint?"

Clint’s heart ached at the sight of her tears, the way her voice broke as she talked of her loss. "You are the same woman. You're just a little beaten down, right now," Clint said, taking her hands.

Cassie laughed, sarcastically. She pulled her hands out of his grasp and wiped at her tears. "Beaten down was miles back. I'm broken down. I don't sleep. I can't think. I couldn't even tell that Loki had replaced Father Nathan back at the church. That's why Hohenhems was so good to me, nothing required effort. Warm up some sausage, put it on a plate, go back to church and pray for the will to end it all, cry myself to sleep, wake up in cold sweats and do it all over again."

She stood, suddenly, pushing the chair and the archer away, stepping away from him. "I thought I could do this. I thought I could come back and answer all the questions and it could go back to how it was before. But I can't. I'm not... I can't do this," she said, rushing out the door.

********************

Cassie sat in the dive bar Clint had taken her to all those months ago, her glass half-full of a 151 white rum. She'd already downed three and she was happily starting to feel drunk.

"So, what's a beautiful woman like you, doing drinking hard liquor in a dive bar?" a man asked, sitting on the barstool next to her.

"Move on," she said, not looking at him as she downed the rest of her drink and raised her hand for another.

"What's that?"

"I said, 'Move on'." She raised her head and turned slightly to the attractive dark-haired man beside her. "I'm a beautiful woman drinking hard liquor in a dive bar. Don't you think that probably translates into trouble?"

He smirked. "What if I'm a guy who likes trouble?"

She let out an exasperated breath."Mein Gott, werfen sie einen hinweis. [My God, take a hint.] I don't know how to simplify this for you. I want to be left alone. Move on."

"Es tut mir leid. Ich dachte, vielleicht haben sie eine schwester waren. [I’m so sorry. I thought, maybe, you were a sister.] Heil Hydra," he said, before standing.

She put her hand out and grabbed his wrist. "Heil Hydra?" she whispered, before turning to him. "What would make you say that? Looking at me from across the bar, you think I'm one of you?"

"I... thought maybe you were..." The man looked confused. "There was a legacy we lost. You look just like..."

"Your legacy is dead!" she whispered, furiously. "There is no heir. There should be no Hydra." She stood from her stool and wrapped her left hand around his throat. His eyes went wide as she flexed her fingers to dig them into his skin. "All you pretty young American boys pulled so effortlessly into the jaws of Nazism and you don't even recognise it." She tightened her fingers' grip further around his throat. "You, though... you recognise me. You were SHIELD. Must've seen my file."

He nodded, as best as he could. "Fury never put it on the books that you'd been let out of the Fridge,” he croaked. “Whitehall was very interested in getting you back. John Garret and I searched for an hour, in the middle of what was practically a war zone, in order to get you back where you belong."

Cassie smiled and let her hand go from around his neck, stepping toward the door. "Everyone seems to think they know where I should be. I don't belong with Hydra. They might have created me, but they lost ownership years ago. If you want to pick up the shambles of your organization, don't look at me," she said, before walking out the door.

She walked in silence to the subway and sat down in the far back corner of the car. It was quiet. She relished the quiet. Until the doors opened at the next station and several people got on. They all took places around the car, some standing, some sitting. Cassie could see a pattern to their placement. Someone had planned the movements so that she was in the middle and no one was in the others' crossbeams. The person standing closest to her had done a good job of hiding the gun strapped to the inside of her thigh, but a knife was sticking out of the back of her jogging suit.

No one moved as the subway started toward the next station. "I take it you guys wouldn't be inclined to let me off at the next station?" she asked. No one even looked at her. She nodded, then shook her head. Fucking agents, but whose agency?

When the next station came, the doors opened to reveal a tall blonde woman in all black. "Joanna Schmidt?"

Cassie looked up at the Amazonian-looking woman with as much boredom as she could manage. "Wrong chick. I'm Cassandra Campbell. You are?"

The blonde smiled brightly and held out her hand. "Bobbi Morse, Agent of SHIELD. Director Coulson sent us to retrieve you. We weren't sure you were, you know, yourself, hence the manpower."

Cassie took the hand and stood, shaking it. "You're Mockingbird," she said, looking the beautiful woman in the face.

Bobbie chuckled. "I haven't been called that codename in a while. How'd you hear that name?"

"There wasn't much to do in Austria so, I went through some of the SHIELD files Black Widow dumped to the web. I was mostly looking up stuff on the AVENGERS INITIATIVE. I followed a link from Cli- Agent Barton's file to yours..."

"Ah, ex-husband #1. That was a... crazy thing. Come on, let's get you to the director." Cassie followed the woman out of the station, to the SUV waiting on the street above. They sat next to each other in silence for a while before Bobbi cleared her throat. "Clint's a good guy. It just... didn't work."

"Things rarely do, Agent Morse."

*******************

Cassie followed Bobbi through the new secret SHIELD compound, walking through a maze of hallways that seemed intentionally confusing. As she walked, her eyes caught sight of the agents she recognized from Joanna's attack on the Playground staring at her from their offices and labs. Bobbi opened a large wooden door and led her in. Phil stood behind a large wooden desk.

"We're okay, Bobbi. Thank you," he said, sitting down in a large leather chair. Bobbi nodded and vacated the room. Phil looked up at Cassie, standing in front of his desk. "You left before I could talk to you."

"Yeah, well, you had an agency to... that's a lie." She cut herself off, dropping down into the chair on the other side of the desk. "I ran because I didn't want to deal with it." She sighed, sadly, looking at her lap.

"You were never supposed to know about Faye. You weren't gonna be on her birth certificate, I was never going to ask you for anything. As soon as I made the decision to leave, she stopped being ours. She was mine. Only mine. And then she wasn't." Her eyes moved from her lap to the ground in front of her. "I went a little nuts after. Losing her, becoming this, everything that Loki did… did to me. It took a while to even be okay, but eventually I dealt with it. I was fine. I was sleeping, no one knew what he had done. I was okay."

Cassie put her head in her hands, her voice breaking. "I'm not okay, now. I left, chased simplicity, tried to find fine again, but I can't. I can't be okay, not after everything. I ran so that no one would see me fall apart, but I can't help it now. Everyone knows how fucked I am, and I have no way to hide this time."

Phil stood, rounding his desk to kneel in front of her, trying to catch her eyes. "You don't have to be okay. No one is expecting that. And you weren't really okay before. I just couldn't remember well enough to put my finger on what was wrong. You can't find fine and you can't fall into it. You need support, guidance. You need to talk about it."

He took her hand in one of his as she shook her head. "If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. But you have to talk to someone. Do you remember me telling you about Andrew, May's ex-husband? He's an amazing psychologist and he's well versed in dealing with the Index."

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, my god. I'm on the Index, now, aren't I?" she whispered.

He nodded. "I put you on, myself. Listen, the Index isn't bad, Cassie. Remember, the Avengers came from that list."

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm on their list, too."

"You didn't expect Tony Stark to back off, did you?"

"Well, Rogers did. Steve backed off all the way to calling me 'Miss Campbell’ again."

"Yeah... sorry about that. I, uh, know you were looking forward to a second date with my hero," he said, bitterly.

She shrugged. "It wasn't something I wanted, Phil, until it suddenly was. I mean, you know him... he's a great man. But don't worry, he's cold shouldered me enough that I got the hint."

"I'm not worried. I don't have a right to be. I pushed you away, and if there was anyone I'd want you to... get over me with... Not him, come on!" he whined.

Cassie smiled, slightly. "Okay. So, Andrew."

KITCHEN SINK TAGS @heyitscam99 @wonderlandfandomkingdom @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt @mrs-meghan-winchester @henrymorganme @lonely-skys

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

War of Attrition: Chapter 14

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Per usual, trouble follows the Avengers around like ugly on ape. However, their timing presents an opportunity to you and Bucky, and the two of you use it to the fullest. Warnings: Swearing (always) Word Count: ~4,380 A/N: I apologize for the slow updates. I’m taking summer classes so it’s quite likely you won’t see updates from Monday to Thursday.

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

“Shit!” said a voice you recognized from countless interviews and reports. Anthony Edward Stark.

“Language!” said a voice you’d know anywhere. Steve Rogers. You nearly laughed at that. It seemed that Steve’s knee-jerk response of rebuking your and Bucky’s foul language had survived the ice.

Bucky paused the audio log and brought up a different one. “At long last is lasting a little long, boys.” Natalia.

“They’re here, (Y/N). Attacking the base.”

“No sign of War Machine or Falcon. I’m sending the drones in,” you told Bucky over your comm. There’s little to no video surveillance equipment in and around the base and you wouldn’t let Bucky go in blind, not with the Avengers and Hydra after you.

“Got it, Doll. I’m getting close,” he said quietly. Your drones flew over the thick canopy of trees and, though you knew he was somewhere below them, you couldn’t spot him with their video cameras until you set them to infrared.

You and Bucky had mobilized quickly after he told you about the Avengers’ attack. There was a perfect opportunity to sneak in and retrieve the data you needed after the Avengers vacated with whatever or whoever they were after but before law enforcement showed up. If they happened to take the data you needed... well, that’s a bridge you’d cross when the time came.

From your bird’s eye view you were able to survey the damage the Avengers were unleashing on the Hydra base and, though you appreciated the sight, you really hoped they’d leave the base in one piece. The Hulk was being particularly effective, smashing through entire guard houses like they were paper-mâché.

“Try to stay out of sight. I don’t think Steve or Natalia will let you escape if they-” you paused, eyes flicking to one of the other screens. You swore you saw something, but-

Your gaze was drawn to another screen. The same silver-white flash that had appeared in the first one was now occasionally flitting through the other ones. You saw it rush past Hawkeye and flip him onto his ass. Turned out it was a person, who stopped long enough to taunt the archer.

A boy, really, in his early 20′s at most. White-blond hair and a cocky grin that almost reminded you of the old Bucky.

“We have enhanced Hydra hostiles on the field, Buck,” you said quickly, trying to keep an eye on the speedster as he made his way around to the other Avengers.

“Understood,” Bucky said gravely, moving with even more caution than before. You watched as the fast kid tried to do the same thing to Steve that he did to Hawkeye, but he only half succeeded. Steve landed in a graceful crouch and immediately warned the others.

Iron Man was blasting away at the Hydra troops on the ground. If there was any doubt in your mind that Hydra had access to a Tesseract-level technology, it was eradicated by watching the Avengers fight the bastards.

A particularly loud blast sounded off near you and you knew from the way the room shook subtly that it wasn’t from the video/audio feeds.

“Town’s taking fire. If it gets any worse I’ll have to start evacuating the people,” you frowned. You didn’t want to leave your spot; this was the only way you could help Bucky at the moment. You both decided it was too dangerous to go in together. If either Hydra or the Avengers got a hold of you it’d be the job of the other to free them.

“Got it. Keep me updated. I’ll keep my distance until they clear off. See if you can’t get a drone inside the building; I’d like to know what Steve’s team is after.”

You watched as Iron Man- Tony Stark- fired an explosive from his suit. It buried itself in the ground and a second later the shielding faded, opening the way for him and the rest of the Avengers.

And, unknowingly, you.

“Shield’s down,” you said, already sending a few drones into the Hydra compound. They had cloaking so it was unlikely even Stark’s advanced sensors would pick them up. You didn’t know if Hydra’s technology would be able to, but you hoped they’d be too preoccupied to notice your snooping.

You watched the screens that had the live feed from the drones inside the base while also keeping a close eye on the status of the town. A few of Tony’s bots had flown in, but the townsfolk weren’t exactly appreciative of the gesture. You watched as someone chucked a bottle of something corrosive at the bot closest to the statue in the center of the city, wincing as it ate through the metal.

However, your attention was drawn back to the main screen when you caught sight of a flash of red and gold.

One of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits was standing in place, turning slowly with its hand raised. You knew immediately that Tony wasn’t inside it. The man didn’t seem able to sit still for even a second.

Your eyes narrowed as your drone slowly crept further into the room, just a few inches below the ceiling. You kept waiting for the suit to turn and blast your drone out of the sky, but it never happened. The camera panned, revealing the rest of the room to you.

Computer servers, research equipment, and a lot of dirt. You narrowed your eyes at a hole in the wall and it took you a second to realize it was a hidden doorway.

“Betcha anything Tony’s in there...” you mumbled distractedly.

“What’s that, Doll?” Bucky asked, though he sounded slightly preoccupied. You supposed he had a lot to pay attention to on his end.

“Drone Phoenix found the main information hub... and a secret door. Tony’s suit is on standby, and I’d bet Alfred that the man himself is in the secret room.”

“You gonna send the drone in?” Bucky asked quietly.

“Nah, hallway’s too narrow. If I time it wrong there’s no way Tony won’t hear it. Hell, it might even hit him in the head or something. I’m gonna set her down and let her watch. With any luck we can find out what Steve and the others are after.”

“Any sign of explosives? Plans to blow the place up?”

You frowned and flicked through the other screens, but didn’t see any sign of tampering from either Hydra or the Avengers. “None that I can see. They seemed pretty single-minded. Don’t think they plan to blow the place to kingdom come, though.”

Bucky let out a tiny sigh of relief. “Alright, keep me updated. Now that the shield’s down Hydra has better things to do than keep a lookout for me. I’m gonna get a little closer, keep an eye on Steve’s team.”

You bit your lip as you flicked back to Phoenix’s feed. “Alright. Drone Chicago is keeping an eye on you. Be careful, alright?” you asked, worry seeping into your voice.

“Always am, Doll,” he responded instantly.

You rolled your eyes at that, but bit back any snarky response because you watched something flash across the screen.

“The speedster’s in the secret room with Tony,” you said, panic setting in slightly. That was Howard’s kid down there and he didn’t even have his suit and- “Bucky, I-” your words died on your lips as the screen flashed again. You slowed the video down enough to confirm that, yes, the speedster had left the room, but this time he was carrying a young woman in his arms.

“Alfred, run facial recognition,” you said distractedly, eyes glued to the screen.

Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. You pleaded silently. You didn’t have any right to watch over and care about Howard’s kid, but you did anyway. You flinched as one of the gauntlets of the suit flew away from the rest and rocketed down into the room. That was a good sign, right?

“I’m afraid the footage is not of a high enough quality to get an accurate match, but I will do my best,” Alfred said dutifully.

“Thanks, buddy,” you mumbled, dread settling deep into the pit of your stomach. He still hadn’t come back out. If the speedster had gone in there to kill Tony, there was no way in hell you’d make it there in time to save him. He was long dead without his suit there to protect him. If by some miracle-

You watched, shocked, as Tony walked back out of the secret hallway, a glowing scepter in-hand.

“He’s alive. I know what they were after, too,” you breathed, relief and apprehension warring in your head in equal measure.

Bucky made a grunt of acknowledgement about Tony’s status. “What did they get? Data? Weapon? Artifact?” he murmured.

You leaned back in your chair, staring at the frozen image of Loki’s scepter in Tony’s armored hand. You ran a hand over your face and blew out a long sigh.

“All of the above.”

“So what is it?” Bucky asked, looking up from the tablet at you.

You didn’t even look up from the screen as you fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to find even a single scrap of data. Someone, presumably List, had thoroughly deleted nearly every piece of information on the servers and you were scrambling, trying to salvage anything you could. It didn’t help that a SHIELD or Avengers cleanup team was likely on its way, meaning you and Bucky had to be far, far away by the time they showed up.

“If you’re asking me exactly what it is and what it does, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. Not without more information, at least. What I do know is that it first appeared in the Battle of New York on May 4th, 2012, in the hands of Loki, brother of Thor. While in his possession it exhibited mind-altering powers along with the ability to fire energy blasts. From my own experience, I can say it definitely resembles the Tesseract in its power and abilities. It disappeared after Loki was defeated by Steve and the rest of the Avengers. I shouldn’t be too surprised SHIELD got its hands on it. Chances are it went to the Hydra operatives hiding in SHIELD and stayed there after... well, everything happened,” you said, wincing. You’d been part of “everything.”

Bucky frowned as he stared down at the tablet, which you knew had various images of the scepter on it, along with the video recording from Drone Phoenix. “If I had to guess I’d say they’re using information they obtained from the scepter to do experiments on people. It would explain why they took ‘volunteers’,“ Bucky said with a hard, angry edge to his voice. “It would also explain the speedster and the girl with the weird red energy hands.”

You sighed and slammed your hands down on the table in frustration, making Bucky jump and reach for his gun. He looked over at you and relaxed slightly, concern lining his features. “What’s wrong, Doll?” he asked quietly.

You growled and fought the urge to kick the table across the room. “Hydra was damn thorough and I don’t have the time to work my voodoo computer magic with the authorities on their way,” you spat, renewing your efforts despite your words.

You froze when you felt Bucky’s arms go around your waist, not having heard him walk over to you. “It’s gonna be okay, Doll. If we can’t get the intel before the authorities arrive we’ll just break in and steal whatever they get later,” he said soothingly.

You snorted and leaned back in his arms, though you resumed digging through the deepest recesses of the computer you were on. “I love you, you know that?” you asked, smiling softly.

You felt his smile against your skin as he placed a gentle kiss to the back of your neck. “I did, actually,” he said. His breath ghosted against your skin and you fought back a shiver. “But I still like hearin’ it.”

You huffed out a laugh. “Go look for any hard copy files? IS-003 was developed in the late 40′s so it’s possible the information about it was never transferred into the digital era.”

He placed one last kiss to your cheek before he let you go. “Now that I can do,” he said determinedly.

“Start with the secret room?” you said distractedly as lines of code flew across the computer screen. “And don’t touch the giant space whale monster!” you warned him as he disappeared around the corner.

“Yeah, yeah. I heard ya. Touch the giant space whale monster!” he called back.

You were so engrossed in your work it took a second for his words to sink in. Your head whipped up so quickly you almost gave yourself whiplash. “James!” you said, exasperated. You could hear his low rumble of a chuckle echoing up through the hallway. You rolled your eyes and returned to your work, hoping his curiosity wouldn’t get the better of him.

Alien contaminants weren’t your specialty, after all. If he wasn’t careful, he’d embody the phrase “curiosity killed the cat.”

You closed the door as Drones New York and Houston came in, toting the last of the boxes filled with files between them.

“In the spare room, Alfy,” you said distractedly. As you meandered after them you flicked through the meager files you managed to salvage from the Hydra base’s servers, looking for any mention of IS-003. So far, the only things you found were records of the human experimentation they’d been performing since they obtained the scepter. The information was grisly, which didn’t surprise you. Hydra cared little for most of its patients, and this experiment was no different. Only two out of the nearly one hundred test subjects had survived; Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, twins from Novi Grad. “Got the names of the speedster and the red one,” you called out into the apartment.

Bucky’s head popped around the corner from his spot in the kitchen. Now that you’d stopped long enough to take in some of your surroundings you noticed a sinfully delicious smell wafting from the kitchen. “Are they names we should know?” he asked distractedly.

You shook your head and flipped the tablet around so he could see the photos you’d found of them both in the data and online. “Nah, their names are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Twins. Locals. Orphaned at ten when a bomb collapsed their apartment,” you said, frowning.

Bucky’s expression went stormy. “They’re just kids...” he muttered bitterly.

You sighed. “Young adults, technically, but yeah... not that much younger than we were when we signed up to fight in the war...”

“They volunteered,” Bucky said, half-question, half-statement.

You nodded and let out a long sigh. “Yeah... doesn’t say why, or if they knew who they were signing their lives over to. Judging by their psych evals, though, they didn’t really care. Hydra offered them a chance for power and they took it. They stayed, even when everyone else around them started dying.”

Bucky frowned and leaned against the doorway, absently turning the spatula over slowly in his hand. ”Sounds like there’s a story there,” he said, lost in thought.

You bit your lip and nodded. “And I have a feeling we should look a little more closely at them... but for now, we have work to do. IS-003 first, freaky twins later.”

Bucky’s gaze focused on you and he tsked. “No, food first. When was the last time you ate?” he asked knowingly.

Your brow furrowed as you thought about it. You couldn’t remember.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That’s what I thought. Food’ll be ready in ten. Wash up,” he said waving you away with the spatula. You nodded and turned on your heel, nose already buried back in the tablet. “And no phones, experiments, or tablets at the table!” he called testily after you. You waved his protest away as you turned into the room.

An hour later you sat back-to-back on the floor in the spare room, buried in files and blueprints and tech. Holograms flashed as Alfred cycled through information, bathing you and Bucky in shifting blue, orange, and green lights. You worked silently with 40′s swing jazz playing softly from the speakers in the living room. You didn’t have to speak to communicate with Bucky. Working together for the better part of 70 years meant that you could practically read each other’s mind. Occasionally your thoughts floated over to the bottom shelf of your refrigerator, which was now full of biological samples. Bucky had been less than thrilled with putting scientific samples right above the food, but you didn’t have anywhere else to store them on such short notice and they’d have to stay there until you ordered or made the machinery you’d need to analyze all of them.

It was possible IS-003 was one of them; the labels on some were faded or lacking them altogether (while that specific practice was appalling to you as a scientist you weren’t all that surprised by it. Hydra was paranoid at best). Until then, your best bet was searching through every piece of information you’d stolen from the base. The authorities had arrived not long after you’d left and they’d quickly cleared it of nearly everything you and Bucky hadn’t taken yourself. Only the heavy machinery that couldn’t be removed easily had been left but you wouldn’t be surprised if that was gone by the end of the week, too.

So it was a surprise when, in the middle of the night, the lights of the base turned back on. You and Bucky both looked over the largest screen on which Alfred had already plastered the video feed.

“What the hell?” you asked quietly. “How did someone get inside without the other sensors going off? I calibrated those myself,” you said, glaring at the screen.

“The sensors you placed at the perimeter have not been activated since the authorities left over eight hours ago, Mistress Barnes. I have been monitoring them closely as you requested and can confirm there was no mistake. No one has entered or exited the building,” Alfred informed you, which only caused you to frown harder.

“So the base just turned itself on?” Bucky asked quietly, looking up at the screen in disbelief.

“It would appear so,” Alfred said dubiously.

You frowned and turned your head so you could look over your shoulder at Bucky, who was peering at you with a single grey-blue eye. “Secret entrance?” you asked.

Bucky shook his head. “Alfred and I both checked. I don’t think there’s a way in hell both of us missed a hidden entrance.”

“Remote activation?” you guessed, turning back to stare up at the screen. Even more lights had come on in the last minute or two and the power usage was spiking. Someone was doing something down there and they were using a lot of energy for whatever it was.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at the screen. “Who else do you think has that kinda access to that base? From what information we have, all of the Heads of Hydra should be dead or locked up now.”

You harrumphed and leaned heavily into Bucky’s back. “We’re gonna have to check it out, aren’t we?” you asked, resigned.

Bucky turned and pulled you into his lap, and you grumbled as papers fell a few inches to the ground or were messed up as you moved. “Well, we don’t hafta do anything we don’t wanna do... but I think that’d be best, yeah. If it’s Hydra we shut ‘em down, and if it’s not...”

You buried your face in his neck and wrapped your arms around his waist, taking comfort in his familiar smell and warm embrace. “We see what they’re after... and go from there.”

“I don’t like you goin’ alone,” Bucky’s voice said in your ear, slightly digitized over the comm.

“I heard you the first fifteen times you said that, Buck. But someone has to stay with the research and keep an eye on the other sensors and video feeds. You bein’ here won’t do us much good if we both walk into a trap we coulda otherwise seen comin’,” you murmured as you passed over the edge of the property.

“Well your sensors are workin’. They just lit up like a Christmas tree... Gotta say, that’s a nice angle,” Bucky said somewhat filthily.

You rolled your eyes. “Focus, Buck.”

“I am focused,” he said, all suggestive and flirty.

“James,” you hissed as you crept closer to the base.

“Relax, Doll. I’m keepin’ my eyes peeled. Just get in and out fast, alright?” he appeased.

“I’m getting close. Keep communication limited to vital updates only. Talk to you on the other side,” you told him, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Alright, Doll. Good luck,” Bucky said quietly, his dislike of this entire situation evident in his tone.

You couldn’t help yourself from saying one last thing. “Don’t need luck, Buck. I have you.”

You could hear him huff out a laugh and could picture his exasperated smile in your head, but you had to focus.

You pushed open the door, thankful for the sound of heavy machinery that covered the high-pitched squeak of the rusty hinges. The machines on the first floor had been moved around. In fact, every single one of them was missing. The sounds were coming from the next floor up, along with a high-tinny voice that took you a second to place.

“There are no strings on me!” it sang over the loudspeakers, barely audible above the din of metal on metal.

Pinocchio? you mouthed, confused. Why was a movie that came out circa 1940 being blasted out in the speakers? And why only that one line, over and over?

Something odd was happening.

You followed the loudest sounds, moving slowly and carefully through the hallways. When you finally turned the corner and found the source of all the noise, you froze, dumbstruck.

The machines had been automated by someone, churning out humanoid robots at an unholy speed. You looked a little more closely, frowning as you saw bits and pieces you recognized.

It reminded you of Tony Stark’s bots- the Iron Legion- but something was different. These were sleeker, darker, all hard lines and angles. They lacked Tony’s bright colors that were so signature for all of his suits and robots up until this point.

You stayed in the shadows, not wanting to risk getting closer. If they had even a sliver of the sensory tech that Tony’s bots did, they’d notice you the second you got too close. In fact, you shouldn’t stay here any longer than you had to.

What struck you as odd, though, was that you hadn’t seen a single human. you thought you’d spotted one earlier, but it was simply a taller, more advanced bot than the rest.

It had sent a shiver down your spine, just the wrong side of the uncanny valley. It was dangerous.

Satisfied by your recon, you quickly retreated the way you came, fighting the urge to break into a run, to put as much distance between you and the robots as possible.

The moment you were outside and far enough away, you were talking. “Something big’s goin’ on, Buck. The base is churnin’ out robots kinda like Tony Stark’s, but meaner lookin’, packed with more weapons. Didn’t see a single human being.”

Bucky’s voice immediately set you slightly at ease, even as you broke into a run and began sprinting through the woods towards town. “’Like’ Tony Stark’s? You don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked.

“I’ve studied Tony’s tech pretty closely. I know his style, and this isn’t it. Some’a the parts are his, though. I recognize the method of construction as well, so it’s definitely based on his tech.”

“But you still don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked as you reached the edge of town.

You frowned. “I dunno for sure, Buck. It always could be, but I’ve kept an eye on Stark Technologies. He’s going legit. Clean energy, alternative fuel, tech to save the world. As soon as his weapon contracts ended he didn’t renew them. I don’t think he’s suddenly gone rogue. This feels like somethin’ else.”

Bucky grunted as he chewed on the new information. “Balcony door’s open,” Bucky said, probably watching your progress on his screen.

You rounded the corner and glanced up at your apartment’s balcony; three floors up and the third one from the left. Sure enough, the door was left ever so slightly ajar. “Shouldn’t leave the door open, Buck,” you chastised.

“I have your drones poised to shoot anyone who ain’t you or me,” he retorted.

You sighed and gathered energy in your legs, leaping at the last second. You made it as far as the second floor before you had to jump again, hands digging into the wrought iron as you gathered strength again. You jumped up and over the railing of your balcony with ease, metal feet clanking ever so softly against the ground.

Sure enough, three of your drones were facing the doorway, energy guns pointed directly at you.

“Welcome back, Mistress Barnes,” Alfred’s voice chirped out from the closest one, Drone San Diego.

“Thanks, Alfred,” you said, giving it an affectionate pat as you closed the balcony door then closed the shutters that’d stop anything but the largest missiles. Bucky was standing in the doorway of the spare room which was filled to the brim with tech and Hydra intel. He stared expectantly at you, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“So, we stayin’ or runnin’, Doll?” he asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

You thought about the residents of Novi Grad, how Hydra had destroyed their lives. How yet another threat loomed on their doorstep and not a single one of them knew.

And how you could help them.

Your jaw clenched as you looked Bucky dead in the eyes. “We’re stayin’. And fightin’.”

Bucky’s eyes were alight with amusement, even as he let out a long-suffering sigh. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.”

Next Chapter

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[beefybuffybucky]

Ladybug

Pairing: Tony Stark x daughter!Reader - Avengers x Reader

Request: Okay Could you do a Tony Stark x Daughter reader , takes place during avengers 2012 reader is tonys shy little 10 year daughter she has his brains but is really shy but sweet to everyone during the scene were all the avengers meet on the shield jet reader runs in and hugs her daddy and all of the avengers are shocked that he actually has a kid and takes care of her, after meeting the avengers she wonders around and finds loki locked in a cell but she is not afraid of him u can make the restup😊 (~ @lovely-wagner )

Warnings: little bit of language - mention of death - little bit of angst

Word Count: 1.5K

A/N: y’all, it’s spring break, and i just slept for 12 hours last night, so, uh, we’re thriving

Groups of people scurry through the narrow hall as you're led down the hall by a man dressed in a black suit. You can’t remember his name, but he seems really nice - he did give you a piece of candy that looked like a strawberry, after all. As the faces and busybodies blur around you, you start to get progressively more and more nervous with every step you take. You wish you could just go home with your dad and spend alone time with him, especially since he’s been so busy lately, but you know his work is important. A few days ago, he had told you that he had to leave for a while to help the Avengers and that you would stay home and your nanny would take good care of you, but after the first day, you started to miss him beyond belief.

But now, you had wished you had stayed home with your nanny. Being around a lot of people made you incredibly uncomfortable, and right now, as you pass more and more people, you want nothing more than to just curl up into a ball in an empty room and wait for your dad to come and get you.

“This way, sweetie, C'mon,” the man says as he opens a door for you to walk through. You’re greeted with the glare of six different pairs of eyes, all from people who you immediately recognize - they’re the heroes that save the world, and your dad’s coworkers. You scan each face in search of your dad, but instead meet the eyes of Captain America, a red-haired lady whose name you couldn’t remember, another man who your dad has called Banner, a man with an eyepatch (who looks kinda scary, if you’re being honest), a tall blonde man wearing a cape and some type of armour, and finally, the man you were looking for, Tony Stark - your father.

“Dad!” You squeal and sprint towards them, happiness flooding through your veins as you launch yourself at him, and he catches you in a warm embrace, laughter rumbling gently through his chest. Your smile spreads from ear to ear as your dad hugs you tighter, gently rocking from foot to foot in some sort of small, fun dance.

“What are you doing here, Ladybug?” Your dad pulls back and gently cups your face, a wide, happy smile plastered on his face.

“I missed you,” you mumble sheepishly as a blush rises in your cheeks. You wrap your arms around him again, burying your face in his shoulder.

“Tony, who…?” A gentle, low voice mutters from somewhere in the room.

“She’s uh…,” your dad clears his throat. “She’s my daughter, Y/N.”

A heavy silence falls over the room as the people around you process the information, but you try to only focus on the single most important person in your life.

“Hey, Ladybug,” your dad sighs as he pulls away again. “How about you and Happy go track down something to do, huh?” He smiles, but a glimmer in his eyes tells you something else is going on, something you shouldn’t have walked in on. “I’ll find you in a little bit, okay?”

“Okay,” you try to stifle the disappointment in your voice as best as you can manage. “Promise you’ll find me later?”

“I promise, Ladybug,” your dad smiles widely again and presses a soft kiss to your forehead, the scruff on his face tickling your skin. “Try not to get into any trouble.”

After finding a small meeting room, Happy had left you with a tablet to keep you entertained, but once he had left, you were hit by a train of boredom, even though it’s not like Happy is the most fun person to be around.

You decided to explore the massive airship a bit, in search of something entertaining to do. The hallways were empty now, and as you slowly close the door behind you, the only sounds in the hall were the click of the door closing and the dull hum of whatever is propelling the ship through the air.

You glide down the hallway like a ghost, the air cold and stale as you head further down the long, dim hall. After what seems like an eternity of wandering and floating around, you find an unlabeled door, and curiosity gets the better of you. You push it open and walk into a large, round room with some sort of tinier, round room secured in the middle of it. A tall, lanky man with long, black wavy hair sits against the glass, one leg bent, his arm resting on it, as he appears to be sleeping. You carefully walk towards him, a thick layer of protective glass prevents you from touching his shoulder, and you’re not even sure if he can hear you.

As you stop in front of the glass, his eyes open slowly, and his piercing, bright green stare slices right through you.

“Well, hello,” his sly, mischievous voice slithers from his lips.

“Hi,” you shyly reply. “Why are you in there?”

“What, this cage?” The man gestures to the space around him with a hand. “I’m not too sure.”

“Well,” you mutter, sitting down cross-legged on the cold cement floor beneath you. “You must’ve done something bad to be put in there.”

“I suppose you’re not wrong,” he sighs, pushing himself up from the ground. He takes long, calculated strides across the cage, stopping right in front of you and sitting, crossing his legs just like yours. “What’s your name, child?”

“Y/N,” you state calmly.

“Where are your parents?”

“My dad is working with the Avengers.”

“The Avengers?” This information obviously intrigues him, one of his eyebrows shooting nearly halfway up his forehead. A soft, gentle black curl falls into his face, and he brushes it slowly behind his ear. “What does your father do?”

“He fights the bad guys,” you tell him. “He’s Iron Man.”

“Is he really?” His thin lips curl into a devilish smirk.

“Mhm,” you nod your head. “Why are you in there?”

“Persistent,” he chuckles. “I guess I did something bad.”

“What did you do?”

“You don’t know?” You shake your head in response. “Do you want to know?” You nod in response. “I killed people.” He pauses as he waits for your response. You blink back. “Well?”

“People kill people all the time,” you reply flatly.

“You’re not afraid?”

“Nope,” you sigh, pressing a finger against the cool glass. “You’re in there, and I’m out here.”

“Do you know how I can get out of here?” He presses a finger to yours through the glass.

“You never even told me your name.”

“Loki,” he states quietly, yet powerfully. “Now,” he leans his face closer to the glass. “Can you get me out of here? We could play a fun little game together if you can,” he tempts.

“I don’t know,” you drop your hand back into your lap.

“Ah, well,” Loki sighs, his hand dropping into his own lap. “It was worth a try.” He lets out a long, deep exhale. “Where’s your mother?”

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “It’s always just been me and my dad.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“No,” you shake your head. “Do you?”

“Unfortunately,” he sighs. “He’s quite the pain in my ass.”

“Sometimes dad says Steve is a pain in his ass,” you cock your head. “When you killed those people, did you -”

The door flying open cuts your question short.

“Y/N?” Your father’s voice thunders through the room. “What are you doing in here?” Your head whips around as he jogs over to where you sit and pulls you up, a quiet gasp slipping between your lips. “Where’s Happy?”

“I-I don’t know, I -”

“This,” he throws a hand towards Loki. “Isn’t safe for you. We’re leaving, now.”

“But he’s nice,” you grumble, being led away from by your shoulders, strong, unidentifiable emotions radiating from your father’s form. He slams the door forcefully behind you both and grabs your shoulders, squatting down to meet your gaze, his gentle puffs of minty breath warm your cheeks.

“Are you okay?” He does a once-over, looking for some sort of damage.

“Y-Yeah, dad, I’m fine,” you blink back.

“Good,” he chokes a little on the word. “I just...I was worried about you, Ladybug.”

“I’m sorry, dad,” your voice becomes quiet and soft.

“It’s okay, Y/N,” he sighs. His eyes slightly well with tears as he pulls you into a tight, loving hug. “I can’t lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me, dad,” you assure him, hugging him closer to you.

“I love you, Ladybug.”

“I love you more, dad.”

[downeysgirl94]

Meeting the God of Thunder and Its Effects

(Chapter 4 of Not Alone Anymore)

Peter had met practically all the Avengers at this point. He loved seeing Aunt Tasha, Uncle Clint, and uncle Rhodey regularly. Got to see Uncle Bruce and Steve on occasions when his dad had and the Avengers had missions. But he had yet to meet Thor. His dad had told him stories of him which made him want to meet him more and more. He felt like a broken record coming home from school if he saw his dad was talking to another avenger.

“Did Thor come today?” peter asked hopefully looking at Tony.

“No Pete, he still in Asgard” tony answered “once he decides to grace us with his presence you’ll be the first to know” tony said while smirking obviously use to hearing peter ask.

“Why hasn’t he visited us since the battle against the aliens?” peter asked

“I don’t know kid I’ve never been to Asgard, but he’s probably too busy being a prince or king dealing with his brother who sent those aliens” Tony said nonchalantly.

“Thor is a king?” peter looked dumbfounded

“Well I think he’s a prince but I didn’t pay attention to half what he said when he was here, was kind of busy fighting aliens.” Tony said

“Dad I want to meet him please can you call him please???” peter begged

Tony put down his tablet and gave his son full focus

“Pete I have no way of contacting Point Break unfortunately, not like cell phones can connect through space I’m sorry kiddo.” Tony said sincerely

Peter pouted and stomped to his room. Tony just shook his head.

He thought any time you want to pop in point break that be great. I rather not have to deal with an angry tween for long.

Luckily for Tony he didn’t have to wait long.

About 3 days later was in his office working on Paperwork Pepper demanded was important for Stark industries. Tony tried his best to push it off but couldn’t so was lost in thought when he heard crash of thunder up above him. He looked out his window and saw no cloud in the sky. Tony instantly grinned and walked out of the room pulling out his phone dialing Happy’s Number.

“Hey Hap go pick the kid up from school now” tony stated

“Now? Boss is Peter ok? School isn’t over yet?”  Happy asked

“Yeah he’s fine we just got an unexpected visitor and I know the kid will bite my head off if I make him wait to see him.” tony said laughing

“Alight on my way boss” Happy said with a smirk

Tony placed his phone in his pocket as his got to the common area and saw Thor Talking with Steve. Tony laughed

“I see Point Break finally deemed of us worthy of his presence” tony quipped making Steve smirk slightly

Thor walked over and shook Tony’s hand “Man of Iron Have you been well? I apologize for being away long fixing the Bifrost took longer than we expected even with the tesseract.” Thor replied

“Things take time I understand, but my god my kid wouldn’t stop asking when you coming to visit” tony said with a smile.

“Oh yes the little one where is the little Stark now? I’ll say hello to calm your nerves” Thor said with a grin

“He’s on his way home for school should be home any minute” tony answered as he heard the elevator doors open peter walked in throwing his backpack off his shoulder.

“Dad? Why did I leave school early happy wouldn’t tell me any-“peter stopped midsentence when he saw Thor on the couch next to his dad.

“I told you I tell you fist kiddo, I wasn’t waiting for you to get out of school then have to deal with you throwing a hissy fit over why I didn’t tell you sooner so I got you out of school, thank me later” tony said with a grin walking into the kitchen with Steve

“Should you really trust Thor alone with Peter?” Steve joked

“God no, I’ll keep a safe distance plus J alert me if anything happens?”

“Right away, Sir” Jarvis Responded

Steve shook his head and laughed.

Peter hadn’t said a word since Tony left the room he was too shocked he was in a room alone with the god of thunder.  He’s seen glimpses of him from when he helped his dad stop the aliens but he didn’t physically get to meet him until now.  Thor spoke first.

“Little one the man of iron tells me you were driving him crazy by asking when you get to meet me? Now you meeting me and you cannot speak?”

Peter spoke very quietly “my dad told me some stories about you I wanted to know more, you’re cool” peter felt embarrassed

“Well that’s nice to know the man of iron tells his child bed times stories about me” Thor said with a smirk “I’ll tell you whatever stories you like to know”

Peter smiled “my name is Peter by the way you don’t have to call me little one.”

Thor gave a small chuckle “alight peter, what would you like to know”

Peter gave big smile “Are you a king?”

“I was one of two princes under my father Odin he offered the title of king to Asgard to me but I turned it down.” Thor answered

“Why?” peter replied shocked

“I rather be a good man than a great king, there’s too much hate that goes into being a king so I rather protect Asgard from outside the throne.” Thor replied simply “this way I can also be a part of other groups as well like the Avengers visit more often” this made peter smile

“I get your reasoning for why you turned your dad down, but at least we get to see you more.” Peter said with a smirk

“You are very bright definitely stark’s kid.” Thor said grinning “the man of Iron has offered me a room her so when I’m on Midgard or earth as you would know I’ll be very close.”

“That’s awesome to know” peter said

Tony had been overhearing there conversation and finally felt like peter was in safe hands and walked to his lab. Peter noticed his exit.

“Anything else you would like to know peter?” Thor asked

“lots but hmm I guess what’s on my mind now is the aliens my dad only has told me bits and pieces about the battle I don’t know why he won’t tell me more” peter asked nervously.

“Well I can tell you some but some is a story for the man of iron to tell it’s not my place alright?” Thor said rubbing his neck.

“Ok”

Thor described Loki and the aliens. Described the tesseract to him described fighting with the hulk fighting iron man,(what dad never told me he fought you), fighting with the avengers in new York against the aliens, the portal, hulk beating up Loki. Then the aliens being defeated

“How were they defeated?” peter asked

“Uhm” Thor said nervously

Tony was down in his lab currently working on his newest porotype suit when he heard Jarvis call for him over his music “Sir it appears Mr.Odinson is telling Peter about the battle of New York” tony face palmed then dropped his tools and ran out of his lab to stop it.

“Point Break the moment I leave the room you start going off the walls about the aliens” tony said a bit too harshly

Peter can tell that the mentioning the aliens make his dad uncomfortable but doesn’t know why

“Stark I just told him the events I knew like meeting you all and the beginning of the battle I did not go into much detail relax.”  Thor reassured

Peter asked again “How were the aliens defeated?” this time looking directly at tony.

Tony gulped and Thor just looked at him and walked silently out of the room.

“A nuke” Tony said silently

“How did a nuke kill Thousands of aliens without killing people here?”

“Someone flew it threw the portal and killed their mother ship” tony whispered looking away

“Dad? Are you telling me you sacrificed your life by flying into space?” peter asked his eyes were glued to tony.

“Yes, but also saved the world so there’s that” tony said with a fake smile.

Peter was hugging him before he knew it and he was hugging back.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why keep this hidden from me?” peter had tears in his eyes

“I didn’t want you to worry I’m all you got now if you lost me I don’t want you to think you could lose me and the effect that sacrifice has had on me.” tony choked out

“I always worry with my dad being iron man but I’m not alone I have pepper and the rest of the avengers too. What effect?”

“I can’t sleep if I try I get nightmares I keep experiencing the sensation of being there slowly dying alone so I refuse to sleep. When I’m with you or pepper I can function normally but when I’m alone I just can’t. I do whatever I can not to sleep so I tinker.” Tony was on the brink of tears.

“Dad you have to let people in otherwise things like this will destroy you. talk to Pepper, uncle Rhodey, Uncle Bruce or an actual therapist talking about your issues are better that bottling them up” peter said still holding hold to tony for dear life.

“Thanks Pete, I’ll try but it’s hard to break a cycle but I promise no more keeping secrets from you ok?” tony said as he dried his tears and smiled

“That’s a great place to start dad” peter said letting go

They sat in silence for a minute until tony regained his composure and then walked into the kitchen and saw Thor eating a box of Pop tarts.

“Hey those were mine” peter said to Thor

Thor chuckled and finished the box

“Pete I’m a billionaire I can get you more pop tarts lets go” and they let Thor to enjoy himself.

[todokori-kun]

The

 queen is back and I’m so freaking happy <3

‘annoyed’ nothing you say is annoying ok, I’m actually just really relieved and happy that I’m helping in any way at all. Also you listen to my rambling all the time and you supported me with my anxiety (you have no idea how much our convos helped after I first saw a doctor about it and was feeling really confused about what to do) so ‘what did I do to deserve you’ is probably what I should be saying to you.

Tbh when things are as serious as you’ve described then you’re definitely not overreacting. Like I said before, I’m always ready to listen/talk when you need to. And you don’t have to stress about replies; I honestly don’t mind at all as long as you’re ok.

Thank you Queen Luna you’re the best ;-;

Also, good news and bad news:

Bad news- A bit after I sent the last message mom apparently found out about Tumblr and decided that I probably shouldn’t get an account here because of all the NSFW content. I get why she’s worried so I guess I won’t be getting an account here for a while.

Good news- HOWEVER, I was chatting with someone on ao3 and they asked if we could move our convo somewhere else. They recommended something called Discord so I got an account there. If you’ve never heard of Discord it’s basically a voice and text chat system usually used by gamers, but it seems to be pretty popular among non-gamers too. PMing is possible there :D (The only flaw is that you can’t send very long messages, so you have to send multiple short ones, which is a bit annoying…but otherwise it’s pretty neat so maybe we can try it if you’re ok with that?)

XD yeah that’s actually pretty accurate.

*reads Luna’s message*

*inhale*

UM. DO YOU HAvE ANY IDEA HOW AMAZING YOU ARE. LET ME TRY TO BE A GOOD, SUPPORTIVE FRIEND AND TELL YOU

Yep it was one of the grossest things that ever happened to me OTL I’m still swimming but I’m taking a long break right now- a break that started because my little sister broke her toe and we were basically stuck at home taking care of her (the pool is a bit far for me to go on my own so if mom’s stuck at home so am I), and then got longer because the pool’s old and some things had to be ‘fixed’, and then got even longer because my coach is getting married (just reread that and realized that I sound super annoyed, I’m actually not, I have no problem with my coach getting married XD). I’ll probably start again around next month, though :)

Thanks ^^

Oooh are you a comic fan??? I haven’t read any superhero comics because there seem to be so many AUs(?)/different timelines so trying to figure out where to start is really confusing, plus I actually sorta prefer manga/manhwa art styles (not that wester comics are bad- a lot of them have really good art too, I just personally prefer the manga/manhwa styles (especially for the panels). Also the ecchi-ish costumes/anatomy for almost every single female superhero gets a bit ridiculous sometimes lol). Some of them seem really fun, though, and I’d like to try them out someday…

It’s really cool that you’ve been a fan of T'challa for so long, it must’ve been even more exciting to see him in the movie :D

Imagine everyone watching The Winter Soldier together. Then the  'brainwashed bucky’ scenes start.

Illumi: *stares intently at the screen*

Illumi: I see no problem with this.

Watching Civil War and Leorio goes Dad Mode and covers Gon’s and Killua’s eyes when Hisoka starts making…innappropriate…noises during the fight scenes

(Hisoka low-key writing reader insert lemons about various MCU heroes. Most likely Natasha (because she’s a lot like Machi, his only female crush so far), Bruce (how Hisoka would love to unleash the beast), Thor (he’s a literal GOD imagine how badly he could mess Hisoka up *schwing*), Wanda, and Vision (he probably liked Loki too before Loki got beat up by the Hulk and Hisoka was like ‘oh I have a new senpai’)

Then Illumi gets Milluki (his tech genius little brother) to hack into Hisoka’s computer for info and is like 'what is this Hisoka I do not understand why you derive pleasure from this trash’)

Everyone thinks Gon should relate to Tony on a personal level but he doesn’t, because despite being a sunshine angel he’s also a freaking weird kid who doesn’t hate Ging. At all. (Though that might have something to do with the fact that he doesn’t even consider Ging his parent in the first place; he never even calls him 'dad’ or 'my father’)

Killua, on the other hand, relates to Bucky a bit too much and thinks HYDRA is basically the Zoldyck family.

Everybody’s Team Cap except for Illumi, who’s Team Iron Man (“Why would you want to break the rules?”), and then Hisoka randomly shows up like 'Team Hulk ;)’

Every time Howard Stark is mentioned everyone just stares at Ging, who shifts uncomfortably

(Yeah did I tell you about the time Leorio punched Ging for being a trash dad?)

OMG. Thank you for that. I’ve seen a lot of 'Hisoka as the clown from the 'It’ movie’ posts on tumblr but never any fanart for that idea. Run, Gon. Run.

I’m considering teaching myself to animate just to make those animatics XD

(Also, random thing: it’s Chuseok over here (basically like the Korean version of Thanksgiving, I guess?) and usually, people recieve money from older relatives during holidays like this in Korea. I got about 80 dollars (50 from my maternal grandparents, 10 from my paternal grandfather and 20 from my uncle) so I’m debating on what to spend it on: It’s either a tablet so I can learn how to do digital art (I’m thinking about polishing my drawing skills for a while and then making a webcomic. My parents support this so they’re willing to pay a little extra for a tablet) or a ukulele (I like the piano but I realized a while ago that it’d be great to have an instrument that I can carry around, so I did some research and the ukulele seems good. I really like the sound so I’m willing to put some effort into learning it). Idk which one I should choose, though. Technically the tablet should be my priority but I also like the ukulele…

(and idek why I mentioned this either, guess the talk about animating reminded me of the tablet lol))

I thrive on angst. Tragedy fuels me. (But tbh HxH is a LOT darker than I was prepared for. I’m currently shipping an ant king with a genius human girl and I know from spoilers that they’re both going to die)

Yeah, she’s alive :D but apparently Kaneki is now 'dead’ (though I don’t think he is really, if Ishida kills him off now (after all the stuff with Hide? All the character development Ken hasn’t gotten yet? When he still hasn’t talked about anything with Shuu or Hinami or even Akira?) and gives us a new protagonist or something I might finally rage-quit this series.

Or not, since with all the Touken stuff and Kaneki being sorta insensitive ever since he became the OEK…maybe a new protagonist is what we need?). I was liking all the parallels with Arima in the first series until this, because it was just…um. I think my main problem with the whole thing is the freakng PACING because it just feels so clunky and awkward. This is probably one of those chapters that will be really good if Ishida somehow manages to connect it with the next chapters and has everything make sense later, but if he doesn’t do it well it’s going to suck forever OTL

At least TG finally confirmed Naki’s death, though. I mean, the ideal situation for me is if he never died in the first place, but at least a confirmed death is better than Ishida suddenly bringing him back to life after that panel with Yamori. And his death scene was handled well. (Now please just tell me that he, Kanae and Hairu aren’t coming back as Kanou-Furuta zombies and I will be semi-satisfied)

Also AOT if you haven’t read the new chapter yet spoilers but

(The-Reiner-Eren reunion I HAVE WAITED SO. LONG FOR THIS

Also Eren’s grandad ;-;

And maybe we’ll finally be seeing Annie again soon since she’s been appearing in so many flashbacks and Reiner’s probably going to ask about her if he and Eren get to actually talk

Love those hints about something finally starting to change

ANOTHER PERSON FROM MIKASA’S CLAN? I hope we see this lady again, she’s lovely

I can’t believe how much the art has improved, it actually looks GOOD now 0.0)

Aw, that’s ok! I’ll be looking forward to seeing it when you get a new skirt :D

Yeah, I’m really excited for OC’s name too…must be something important if they’re keeping it hidden for this long. I guess it’s French (or a word from some other non-English language) since 'Ciel’ is French for 'Sky’…and it probably has a meaning related to the sky since they’re twins. Idk. Maybe it’s the word for 'star’ ('etoile’) since stars are also a big thing in this arc?

Looking forward to your reaction! I haven’t read the novel yet but from what I know it sounds great :D (also I cannot resist the L + Naomi duo even if they never actually interacted in manga/anime canon)

Btw, is it ok if I ask how far you’ve gotten with the DN anime?

(Also fun fact: Ryuk was originally designed to look like a handsome young man (an 'attractive rock star’, in the words of DN’s creators. You can find a pic of his original design on google). His design was changed because the creators felt like he was overshadowing Light XD

But also, I just found a post on tumblr that said Takeshi Obata (DN’s artist) mentioned that Ryuk’s face in canon could just be a mask to hide his true appearance…which means that he could technically still look like that in canon. Wow. I actually think I have the book where it says Obata mentioned that, I have to go and check it now lol)

Watch it if you dare and prepare to weep over all the wasted potential, because now that I read/watch more about it I guess the saddest thing is that it COULD have been great. I mean, like I said, the visuals are REALLY good, L’s actor could have been a good L if not for the bad script, Ryuk’s actor/design were also super great (it’s just his role in the movie and his motivations they messed up ;-;)…

I don’t watch Avatar (I’d like to when I have the time, though, because it seems like a great show) but I’ve heard of that movie and tbh I can’t even.

Ty :D (Ayy the queen said I’d make a cute Peridot *fangirls*

You’re also my closest friend right now and I love talking to you so much <3 thank you for everything Luna.)

See this is why you’re awesome. Thank you so much ;-; (and what, did Queen Luna mention me to her parents. Did I make a good impression. Omg. (jk, jk lol))

Also: I’d like to rec a song to you, it’s called 'Lovely’ by Twenty One Pilots :D

Oh look I actually replied within a week :’)

OK ILL START W DISORD BC IM EXCITE. I already have one, from a while ago, my # is 5773! So add me whenever you want ^^ ((But please just send me a short message here, cause I turned notifs off for it, so i can turn them on again ^^)) Well, uh, here’s the thing about short messages.  If a site/app has an instant message feature, you can bet I’ll be the one to split a sentence into 10 separate messages for dramatic effect… So, uh, prepare to have 42 new messages instead of like 4 waiting when you open the app ^^

I never ever ever have any problems with listening to you. I just appreciate you’re comfortable enough with me to be able to come to me. Honestly, I truly appreciate you in my life, especially considering that you can always reassure me with your words ^^ Truly a writer’s talent :p

Well, I’m going to a psychologist soon, so we’ll see what they’ll say. Idk tho, I dont think I even care anymore. I just want this stomach thing to pass as soon as possible.

Ouch, I hope your sister is better now… I’ve never broken anything so I wouldn’t know the feeling. Aww, coaches getting married is actually the cutest thing ever XD My archery coach got married a few years back and she was practically glowing.  Ah, if you don’t mind me asking, do you have a particular stroke you specialise in or do you just swim everything? 

I could say the same about comic/manga styles. Tbh, I don’t really consider myself a comic fan? When I was a kid, I used to buy the children’s comics to ward off boredom, but never really continued after I got into reading actual books. Black Panther happened to be among those comics and I remembered him when they mentioned T’Challa in CW. I wonder if i still have those old comics somewhere… But yeah, i was pretty excited when they mentioned him XD

That viewing actually sounds amazing… I get the feeling they’d all want to do an in depth analyzation of the characters? (But idk i don’t really know the characters that well) except for Hisoka, who’s probably just schwinging around being creepy per usual. I’m torn between wanting to read those lemons and just backing the fuck away…. Probably read like a paragraph and then set everything on fire. Yeah, that sounds good. 

I presume you’re not gonna watch IT? Random, but i thought of it bc of the fanart… Tbh I won’t watch it either. I’ve never watched a single horror movie in my life and i intend to keep it that way. Unless you count Coraline as horror, which I actually would in some ways? Idk tho, that movie traumatised me. Not even joking when I say I occasionally have nightmares related to it. Advice; if you haven’t, DO NOT WATCH CORALINE. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s a cartoon. I mean 9 is a cartoon, but it’s also freaking dark. HAPPY TREE FRIENDS IS A CARTOON AND I WOULDNT TOUCH THE VIDEOS WITH A 9 FOOT POLE.  Long story short, cartoons are not a joke.

For some reason I confused the Ukulele with a Lute and was like ‘I’m not gonna judge, but… why?’ then i actually googled it and realised I’m an idiot.  But, um, I can’t say anything other than it’s your choice and you should do whatever would make you happier? There’s that trick of throwing a penny in the air and if you’re disappointed when it lands heads/tails, you know you want the other one. Idk, tho, both options sound equally nice!

… HxH gets weirder every time you tell me about it

KANEKI IS WHAT NOW Um, okay then.... alrighty...

guess who dropped TG again

WELL FUCK IM SCREAMING ABOUT THE NEW CHAPTER WHOAH EREN’T GRAMPA WHOAH THE REUNION However, the best part is Reiner acting like a dad during the festival

Oooh Etoile would be interesting!

I’m still at the ep where L dies ;-; I haven’t had the time to move forward, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to watch some during this weekend

Well, uh. My mom came into my room while I was writing this and had to ask me why i was crying (I’m pretty sure she thought I was having one of my all-time-lows again). The reason why I was actually crying? The song. Words can’t express my gratitude. I’d download it, but tbh I feel like I’ll start ugly sobbing again every time I listen to it...

random note, i started going to school by train! It’s actually a lot nicer than the bus and cheaper XD Idk why i put this here but yay

[magpiewords]

Code Name: Confession

Universe: 616

Title: Truth In Your Eyes

Rating: G

Word Count: 2566

A/N: Based on my loose knowledge of the comics. I may have taken some liberties with the intention of the art, but I really love the concept of “Steve doesn’t know Tony Stark = Iron Man” so I ran with secret identities.

“I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables, that’s what you said.” Steve threw Tony’s own words in his face.

“It was just a debrief, Rogers, he misses them all the time.”

Tony had been sitting in the living room when Steve had stormed in. Yesterday’s battle had been anything but smooth. Natasha had her arm in a cast, Bruce was requesting a two-week sabbatical to who knows where in India, and Thor was so emotionally entangled with their villain that he had personally taken the spoils of their fight back to Asgard. If Tony was being honest, he actually didn’t hate Loki that much – the guy could actually be fun when he wasn’t be a megalomaniac – but he really hated magic.

“Stark, he was injured. I understand that he has a job to do, but he should have gone to medical. He may be your bodyguard but he’s also his own person.”

“I needed him.”

“You can’t actually be that heartless, can you?”

Tony let out a bitter laugh, but didn’t look up from the tablet in his lap. “Is that a challenge?”

Steve sighed and took a seat in the armchair to Mr. Stark’s left. “I don’t need to know everything about him, I don’t even need his name. But I deserve to know who I’m fighting with, need to know if he has anything we have to work around.”

“Like Barton and the snake thing?”

“Yes like Barton and the snake thing. If I had known he would – how did Iron Man phrase it, pull an Indiana Jones? – I wouldn’t have let Shield send him on that mission alone. The point is,” Steve leaned forward. His voice was so earnest, Tony actually glanced away from his screen to meet his eyes. “I would like to meet Iron Man outside of a mission. Call me old fashion, but I’d like to look into the eyes of my teammates when the world is crashing down around us.”

Tony knew it wasn’t Steve’s fault. The solider was made of curiosity and stubbornness. Great qualities for truth and justice, but not so great when trying to keep a secret. The rest of the world was already in a frenzy over who Iron Man was, especially after theories of an automated suit were dispelled after one of the early battle of the newly formed Avengers just half a year ago. The armor had taken a pretty nasty beating from whatever the hell those space whale nightmares had been, and one of the gauntlets had been ripped clean off to expose not wires and gears, but very human flesh and bone. Steve’s reaction was probably worse than any of the crazed press. Now every time Iron Man went down, he wanted the helmet off, wanted to “know if you’re okay in there, Shellhead.”

Every time the Captain asked, Iron Man’s excuse got a little less coherent. “Yeah Cap, I’m okay, Mr. Stark has to repair the armor.” “Yes Cap, I’m okay, gotta report back to my day job.” “Tis but a scratch, but my paint job’ll really need work.” Iron Man figured if his one liners weren’t as polished, it was surely because of his injury, and not the way the arc reactor spit out a few extra gigawatts at the nickname Steve had given him.

“Look into his eyes.” Tony broke their shared gaze, typing something quickly on his StarkPad. “Didn’t know you were a poet on top of being an artist, Rogers.”

“Mr. Stark, at least let him join us for movie night or something. You don’t own him.”

The tablet screen clicked off and Tony stood. “If I’m so heartless, maybe I do.”

“That’s not what I meant –“

“Iron Man’s identity is above your pay grad, Spangles.” The elevator doors opened long before Tony had crossed the room, but the closed behind him the moment he stepped in. Steve could almost mouth the words along with the billionaire – this conversation ended the same way every time.

None of the Avengers saw their wealthy patron or the armored teammate for several days until Shield called in for a mission. Something about an abandoned college building and a magical energy signature. Steve probably should have read the report more carefully, but any planning was hard to focus on seeing who was being sent on the mission with him.

It made sense, they didn’t actually need the whole team for what seemed like a recon mission, but Steve was almost never alone on missions with Iron Man. Maybe Shield didn’t want the two lead Avengers out of the tower at the same time unless the fight was big enough, but Steve was pretty sure Mr. Stark had his way into the servers and changed mission assignments. The both knew what would happen if Steve had free time with Iron Man.

“This building is really incredible.” Steve started as they started on the thirteenth floor. “You know, when I came up from the ice, Mr. Stark told me all about New York’s improved school system. Are all NYU buildings like this?”

“What makes you think I’m from New York?”

“You’re not?”

“I’m afraid that answer is above your pay grade.” Even with the mechanical suit’s voice filter, Steve could hear the smile hidden behind the mask.

“He doesn’t make you say that, does he?”

Iron Man’s laughter was strange, robotic yet so so human. “He might program the suit, but he doesn’t program me.”

“It is your decision though, right?” Steve pushed, “To keep your identity a secret from us?”

“Keeping my identity a secret is for the best.” Iron Man opened one of the classroom doors, doing a scan and shutting it. “This room’s secure.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“We’re on a mission, Cap. You’re the one always telling me to cut the chatter.” His tone was light, but the words ended the discussion the same way as always. If they were on a mission, Iron Man didn’t reveal any personal details.

“What if you joined us outside of a mission? Maybe for movie night?”

“Is Captain America asking me out? Must be my lucky day.” Iron Man stopped, turning to look at Steve. “A blush looks good on you, Stevie.”

The glowing blue ‘eyes’ of the suit weren’t really eyes to make proper contact with, but Steve kept his vision on the floor just in case. “Is that a yes?”

“Well I’ll have to ask my heartless boss and see what he thinks.”

Steve grinned, daring to look up. Even if he never saw underneath the Iron Man armor, he knew who Iron Man was. It’d be strange, but the team would make room for the metal suit on the couch. Before his mind could wonder further down imagining movie night together, the building shook. “What was that?”

“Epicenter is coming from a floor above us.” The teasing tone was gone, replaced with the cold steel Iron Man brought to battle. He engaged the suit’s thrusters, speeding to the stairwell as Captain American ran to follow. The armor HUD gave a layout of the building, which Iron Man pinged to the holo-shield bracer on Steve’s arm, tracking the power surge to a bathroom.

“You see anything?” Cap asked, activating the bracer, shield at the ready.

“Negative. But Shield told us the incident seemed magic related and Mr. Stark can’t seem to figure out scanners to pick up on that stuff.” The thrusters deactivated, landing with a thud yet keeping the tile floor intact. “So much for my boss being a genius. I hate magic.”

Steve laughed even as he scoped out the small room. “That is one thing I know about you.”

“That’s one thing you know about everyone. Come on, any sensible person hates magic. That doesn’t count.”

“Don’t worry, I wont tell Mr. Stark.” The shaking had stopped and the room seemed secure, but the mirror on the wall caught Steve’s attention.

The reflected image appeared normal at first, Iron Man gleaming in the florescent lights as Captain America stood behind him. Then, the surface of the glass seemed to ripple. The lights in the bathroom flickered. Steve had taken his cowl off somewhere around the fourth floor, pleasantly surprised to think that this might be one recon mission that wouldn’t turn into a fight. Now he wished he kept it on, watching as blonde hair turned gray and wrinkles bloomed around his face.

“Iron Man, are you seeing this?”

“See what – oh.” He turned, finally looking in the mirror. “Cap, it’s not real, I can see you and –” The sound of servos straining echoed in small room. “What the hell? Mirror mirror on the wall, I already know I’m the fairest of all?”

“I got that reference.” Steve chuckled, but his voice was all wrong. He lifted a hand to his face, feeling that the aged texture of his skin to prove it wasn’t just a reflective illusion. It was as though time had it’s hooks in him and was finally dragging him through the years he missed under the ice.

“Fuck, okay I can’t move but you can.” The servos continued to whine, and under the frantic tone of Iron Man’s voice, Steve could practically hear the gears whirling in his mind. “Look at me! Steve, don’t look in the mirror, look at me!”

The servos stopped moving. The sudden silence was deafening for a second, before a hissing noise filled the room.

“Okay, maybe don’t look at me.”

Steve turned his head anyway, the bones protesting as they aged. The armor was melting off, solid metal turning to liquid mesh of silver and gold components. Brown eyes were the first thing to come through.

“Steve please.” Iron Man’s voice wasn’t modulated anymore. “I know I’m sort of sending mixed signals here, but please don’t look. You want to know who I am but –“

“Okay.”

“What?”

“Iron Man, I know who you are.”

“You do?” The voice squeaked. Steve almost thought he could place it, but he’d need to hear the armored Avenger say something not in a panic.

“You’re my friend. And if you need this secret, I wont take it from you.”

Iron Man seemed to visibly relax, shoulders sagging as the metal pooled off him to reveal a glowing blue light in his chest. The arc reactor was in him? Steve just thought it powered the suit. He had a thousand more questions, but forced himself to turn his back to the cursed mirror.

“I need to apologize to your boss.” Steve said, the non sequitur making Iron Man tense up again.

“Why?”

“He suggested Alien for movie night last month and this would be a lot stranger if he didn’t.”

The last of the armor fell off of him and the person behind Iron Man collapsed to the floor, twisting to see the source of a strange clicking sound that had grown louder behind them. “Oh, yeah that’s a pretty good comparison.” He sounded shell shocked – still too abnormal for Steve to properly compare with. Even if he could compare, his brain was a little distracted by the metal reptilian that had grown in front of them. It growled, voice modulated with the pieces of the armor, still clicking as the waxy metal forged teeth where an elongated mouth was being built.

“I’m calling the team.”

“No!” Iron Man shouted and Steve had to fight the urge to turn around, just to finally have a face.

“I know you don’t want anyone to see you, but this really isn’t the time!” The creature roared behind them, newly solidified exo-armor scraping agains the floor. “Aged and no armor? We can’t fight this thing.”

“Yes, we can.” There was the cock of a gun and a round of bullets were fired into the creature. It reeled back, it’s shriek more terrible than the echo of the close range gunshots. Holes cut through the thin parts of the exo-skeleton, still dripping before they had solidified. So Iron Man was a great shot without the armor. Did he always carry an extra weapon under the suit? For every answer Steve got about Iron Man’s identity, he found ten more questions. But there was no time to ponder them, the liquid metal filled the cracks, healing the creature.

“Well, you can. I built a back up armor in your holo-shield bracer. It’s not perfect, but if you fight with it, it’ll buy me enough time to kill this thing.”

“Hold on, if you build the armor, why do you always run back to Mr. Stark after a fight?”

“Did I say build? I meant, uh, help build – watched? Whatever, I don’t have time to lie to you right now.”

“You’ve been lying to me?”

“Not the time, Rogers!” Iron Man snapped as the creature swiped a still forming claw at them. “Hit the two side buttons on the bracer, open the panel and press the blue button. You don’t need to be an engineer to know how it works.”

Steve clicked the buttons as the creature roared again. Plates of metal rolled out of the bracer, covering his body. Despite the ache in his bones, Steve felt strong. The holo-shield followed his arm as he bashed down into the creature’s skull. It roared as the metal dented, taking another swipe at the Captain. The American armor was knocked down, but Steve hardly felt the fall.

“And don’t turn around!”

“Not the time to worry about your secrets, Shellhead.” Cap threw back as he activated the boot thrusters, flying about the creature.

“No, the mirror. That’s how the creature took my armor and your serum. If you look again it’ll – Well it’s magic I don’t really know what it’ll do. Just keep distracting it.”

Every hit Steve managed to land, the creature healed. The holo-shield flickered, a warning about power levels flickered over the HUD. “How much longer, Iron Man?”

“Well I’m more of a rocket science guys, so this chemistry is sort of new for me.”

“You know chemistry?”

A soap dispenser flew past the corner of Steve’s vision, glass shattering on the creature and a dark orange liquid spilling over it. It howled, metal fizzing and melting. It lacked the wax like grace from when it had fallen from Iron Man, now it fell like twisted stained glass from a burned church.

“I do now.”

The last of the metal fizzled against the tile, burning through that and falling down another floor. The emergency armor gave one last warning before retracting from Steve. His hand seemed sturdy once again, and his face felt free of wrinkles. Before he could celebrate, another crash of glass came from behind him and he turned around before he could think twice. “Iron Man, are you okay?”

The short man held a broken off piece faucet, with the shattered remains of the mirror scattered about his feet. He turned, familiar brown eyes meeting Steve’s own blue ones. It was his first time seeing Iron Man’s face, and yet they’d done this a thousand time before. None other than Tony Stark was looking back at him. He looked nothing like the ‘Mr. Stark’ Steve had grown used to, dressed in ripped jeans and a faded t-shirt instead of a suit and tie. But the eyes, the eyes were unmistakable. “Yeah Steve, I’m okay. Surprise?”

Steve chuckled. “Not really. Only Mr. Stark calls me Rogers. Iron Man usually calls me Cap.”

Tony gave a small smile. Now that was a face Steve had never seen before. He could get used to that smile. “How about we meet in the middle and I call you Steve?”

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (144/159)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

@findmeinthestarss

Masterpost

Chapter One Hundred Forty Three

They had one stone. Steve almost couldn’t believe that their plan was working. They had gone into the past and brought back one of the Infinity Stones and although they’d run into a spot of trouble, they had managed to get the stone and get back to the future so all in all it had gone well. They had five more to get, but having just the one made him feel like they might actually manage to win.

After they got back, they all felt a little bit odd. It wasn’t as bad as when Tony had first arrived back during the test run, but it was clear that time travel wasn’t entirely easy on them but the suits had definitely made a difference. Tony got Friday to order them food and then they all just sat down in the living room and Steve could tell that everyone was tired. The reality of it was that only a few minutes had passed since they went back in time -- but they had been in the past for over twenty four hours.

“We’re going to need at least a day before we go looking for another stone,” Tony said.

When the food arrived, Thor, Nebula, and Rocket joined them.

“How did it go?” Thor asked.

“It went well. We have the tesseract now,” Bruce said.

They filled everyone in while they ate and Nebula at least seemed to find the whole thing funny. Thor less so, but then that probably had to do with Loki.

“He said to say hi to you for him,” Steve told Thor afterwards. “Tony let it slip he’s--”

“He pretended to be dead a lot. I’m sure he didn’t believe you.”

Afterwards, Steve just wanted to nap. He was too tired to get up and try and head to his and Tony’s room, though, so he stayed where he was seated with Tony leaning into his side, probably just as tired.

“It seems this plan is going to work,” Rocket said. “I’ve made progress on the Benatar and started doing some work on one of the jets as well. I was thinking that some of these stones will require travel into space in the past.”

Steve hadn’t even really thought about that aspect of getting those particular stones. Tony had always said that it was the Time Stone that would be difficult to take from Doctor Strange, but Steve thought that the ones in outer space would probably be harder. At least the Time Stone was on Earth.

“We can deal with all of that later,” Tony said eventually. “For now I think we need to get some rest. Yeah, I know, weird having that come from me.”

Tony was used to not keeping normal hours so when he woke up around 2am, it didn’t really bother him. Steve was still fast asleep and Tony had been using his chest as a pillow, Steve’s arm resting loosely over his shoulder and their legs intertwined. He felt warm and comfortable and a part of him wanted to just stay there and try to fall back asleep, but his mind was awake and he knew he wouldn’t be able to lay still for very long.

Tony kissed a spot on Steve’s chest and slowly untangled himself. Steve twitched when Tony had made it out of his grasp, but he stayed asleep and Tony just watched him for a moment and then Steve turned, grabbing Tony’s pillow and hiding his face in it.

“Don’t know how I got so lucky,” Tony whispered. He pressed a kiss to Steve’s head and then grabbed his silk robe and put it on over his pajamas.

A part of Tony still couldn’t believe that despite that small hiccup with the other Tony showing up, that they had actually managed to get a stone. They were that much closer to getting everyone back. Getting Peter back.

Everyone else still seemed to be in bed, so Tony went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee before walking to the workshop. There were a couple of things that he wanted to look at -- that he’d wanted to look at since being in 2012.

“Friday, open Peter’s folder,” Tony said and grabbed his tablet.

Peter’s folder had everything. To start off there were baby pictures, but those soon turned into toddler pictures and more and more for every single year of Peter’s life. Mary and May had sent them all to Pepper and him and Tony hadn’t looked at them in years. Peter’s chubby cheeks and his big brown eyes. His boy. Tony missed him terribly.

Mixed in were school pictures, odd little things like the first place ribbon from a science fair and his report cards with every single comment from his teachers about how much of a pleasure he was to teach. Then, there were the letters. The first few that had been physical and scanned by Jarvis and then the emails later on. Tony read through every word and he could still remember when they had been his only form of contact with Peter. It was hard not getting emotional the more stuff he looked at. He missed his son.

He was wiping away tears when he heard the door open, but he didn’t turn.

“Hey. Woke up and you were gone. What are you looking at?” Steve asked, coming up behind him.

“Peter’s folder. I read his first letter after the battle of New York. I just -- I felt like revisiting it after earlier.”

Steve nodded.

“I remember that,” Steve said. “It was knowing you were willing to sacrifice yourself that day even though you had a son -- you had family. It was -- it changed everything about how I saw you. At that point I had nothing -- no one and if anyone was going to die to save the world it should have been me but that you were willing to sacrifice yourself even though you had a reason to live…”

Tony reached for Steve’s hand, pulling him closer. “It’s a good thing neither of us, died, then. Come and look at these. I don’t think  you’ve ever seen him as a baby. Granted -- I never did get to see him in person that way myself. One of my many youthful regrets. I suppose -- well, me back then I probably wouldn’t have been any good for him anyway.”

Tony sighed and he pulled up the pictures, ready to hand the tablet to Steve but Steve was staring at him with a weird look on his face.

“What?”  

“You could now,” Steve said.

Tony’s hand paused in mid air.

“What do you--”

“You can go back and see him. We have a time machine,” Steve said.

It hadn’t occurred to him. No, it had but not like this. In a moment when everything had started to come together Tony had thought about going back to see Peter back to right before everything with Thanos began. He hadn’t considered to go back as far as when Peter was still a baby. It was crazy to think of it as a real possibility and yet it was. He could do it. Tony could go back in time to see Peter when he was just a baby. He imagined that the whole thing would be amazing and horrible all at once because there would be a trip back and Peter would be left in his own time.

“Tony?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know,” Tony said. “I -- can I do that and then walk away? Steve, I -- I lost him once and I don’t know if I could do it again.”

But he wanted to. He desperately and truly wanted to.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I know it’s hard. I know -- but I just thought maybe it might help.”

“We can’t change anything. I’d have to leave him. I do want to -- I never met him that young and I always kind of wondered what he looked like -- what he smelled like. So much that I never got to experience.”

Steve took the tablet and set it down and then he faced Tony again, reaching to place a hand on his jaw and neck, thumb sweeping over Tony’s cheek.

“If you want to do this, we’ll do it. I’ll be with you every step of the way. And if you don’t want to go then we don’t and we can look at pictures and plan our next heist -- what is Scott calling it again?”

“Time heist,” Tony said and he shook his head a little. “I -- I want to. We should go.”

“Okay.”

He would regret it if he didn’t and Tony had no idea if they would have time to do this at all once they started getting the rest of the stones. He had Friday find him information on where Mary and Richard had been living back in 2001. Peter had been born at New York Presbyterian in Queens on August 10 2001 but Tony didn’t think visiting the hospital was a good idea. He was still Tony Stark and in 2001 appearing in more tabloids for his antics than anything else.

“The hospital is too public even if we sneak in,” he told Steve. “They’ll have cameras so we’ll have to avoid all that. But I think Mary would let us see him. She wouldn’t give us away if we asked her not to. I don’t know if she would buy that I’m -- that I haven’t aged seventeen years.”

Steve laughed and he ran a hand through Tony’s hair. “I like the grey in your hair.”

“Excuse me, there is not a lot of grey in my hair.”

Steve laughed. “Some. Didn’t really notice it until we saw Tony from 2012.”

Tony gaped at him. “I don’t know who you’re calling old -- you’re over a hundred, mister. Hey, maybe I’ll strand you in 2001 with the younger model.”

He walked away from Steve, then, feeling a little lighter and less worried about going back to 2001. Steve caught up to him, spinning him around.

“I could probably love every version of you -- but you’re my Tony. And you getting older while I’m at your side is absolutely everything I want and more. Now, come on, let’s go meet your son.”

“Our,” Tony said, smiling up at Steve. “Didn’t we decide that he’s ours?”

Steve gulped and he nodded. “Yeah. We did.”

Tony leaned up and kissed him quick and soft. “Love you. Anyway, I’m thinking that having a newborn probably means Mary hasn’t had much sleep so she might not even notice.”

To be safe, Tony sent Steve to wake up Scott. Once Scott figured out what they wanted to do, he understood without asking too many questions and Tony was reminded that Scott was also a father. They got everything underway fairly quickly.

It was Tony’s third time using the quantum tunnel, but it still felt weird to be in the quantum realm and then to be thrown back in time. In 2001, the warehouse looked just like it had in 2012 -- it had sat unused for so long.

The portal opened exactly where the last one had and Tony had a worrying thought: if they continued to use that same spot would it affect reality somehow? Would the time vortex leave a trace forever? He made a note to speak to Bruce about it just in case when they got back.

“It’s lucky they live in New York,” Tony said as they got into the car they had brought along for the trip.

Mary and Richard Parker lived in Queens not too far from where Peter had grown up with May and Ben Parker. The drive there felt like it went on for forever and Tony felt excited and nervous and worried about what this would be like. Peter as a baby. His son. His Peter.

Steve held his hand, the closer they got and Tony shot him a grateful smile.

It was after he parked the car that it all started to feel like a mistake. His very presence was bound to create a new timeline and since Tony was directly interacting with Peter and Mary would that somehow change how Peter grew up? Peter had had a good childhood. He’d grown up well in spite of losing his parents and his uncle.

“Hey, hey,” Steve said and Tony looked at him. “You don’t have to do this if you think it’s too hard.”

“I want to,” Tony said. “I want to. We came all this way. He’s -- he’s just there and I--”

“There is nothing like the first time you hold your kid,” Scott said, speaking up for the first time. “I know that you already have...sort of -- your grown kid. It’s different when they’re a baby and it’s going to be even more different for you but worth it, I think.”

In the present Peter was gone -- he’d turned to dust in his arms and Tony hadn’t seen him or heard him or been able to touch him in so long and it was this deep pain and longing that never went away. It was only the hope of returning Peter from the dust that was keeping Tony from truly falling apart. But he could see him now -- this baby version of his son.

“I can do this. I want to do this,” Tony said. He shot a grateful smile in Scott’s direction.

They got out of the car and Tony took a deep breath. He was going to do this -- he was going to see Peter. He was going to do what the Tony from 2001 should have done when Pepper told him that Mary had given birth to his son. Today Peter was twenty five days old and he wouldn’t know a difference or remember anything, but when he came back -- because he would -- Tony would tell him all about it.

“Ready?” Steve asked as they got out of the car.

“Yes,” Tony said and he reached for Steve’s hand because he needed that support.

“I’ll just wait for you guys here,” Scott said, poking his head out of the window. He gave Scott a nod and then they headed towards the apartment building.

He was going to see Peter.

Chapter One Hundred Forty Five

[yumekuimono]

[WinterFrost] Everyone But Yourself Pt. 3/5

A/N:  warnings for blood/violence & PTSD flashback. you know, Winter Soldier issues

August brought more storms, although they didn’t scare Loki as badly as the first one had after James showed him how to access the weather forecast on the tablet. Still, they spent them curled up together, James holding him tightly, regardless of whether or not he was a cat. Loki was spending less time in that form when he was in the apartment, now. He wanted to actually talk to James. It was strange to do so without a layer of duplicity, of subtle manipulation to get the result that his audience wouldn’t have otherwise entertained. He loved it.

And then, on a day when the clouds were mere scattered wisps, the sky opened with a thunderous crack, and Loki knew without a doubt that his fear had come to pass. He cut himself off in the middle of his sentence, gaze dropping to his knees where he was curled comfortably in the corner of the couch, his toes tucked under James’ thigh. He pulled anxiously at his cuffs.

“Loki?”

He grimaced, and when he spoke his voice was horribly dull. “Thor has returned.”

“Oh. That’s not very good for you, is it?”

He shook his head. “It was bound to happen eventually.”

“Are you…” James sounded worried, and when Loki glanced up he was chewing on his bottom lip. “Are you going to leave the Tower?”

“It…would be the best way for me to remain hidden.” He twisted the fabric of his sleeve. “I do not want to,” he confessed to his fingers.

“Is there a way to hide from him?”

“Thor has never cared for much that he could not hit with his hammer. So long as he only sees me as a cat, he should not suspect. However, the Watcher of Worlds is sure to be looking now that he is here, and it is his attention that I do not want. I have been relying upon the belief of my death and my transformation to avoid notice, but that will no longer suffice.”

“Can you do anything?”

Loki considered. “There are ways to conceal myself from his view, but if he were watching, he would see the use of my magic to weave such a spell. I would have to go to a Realm he would not think to pay attention to in order to remain undetected. It would take me several days.”

“Okay.” Loki jerked his gaze up to find James looking at him steadily. “Go, and do what you need to. And I’ll see you when you get back.”

Loki lunged forward to hug him, only a little surprised at himself.

He went to Jotunheim, as the other least likely place where he would be looked for, finding himself a small cave where he would not be found by either beasts or Jotnar. Sealing himself in, he settled into the meditation required to weave the complex layers of spellwork he would need. His magic was vibrant and eager after so long, and it leaped easily to his touch. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to have power singing through his veins, and he worked quickly, but with care. When at last he had finished, and slept off his exhaustion, he emerged into the biting glare unsure of how much time had passed.

Loki stood on the edge of the great crater that had been left by the Bifrost. It stretched for thousands of kilometers ahead of him, a broken, jumbled landscape of cliffs and fault lines. In the middle of it would have been the ruins of the once-great city of Jotunheim, no trace left now to mark where it had stood. Loki wondered if Laufey had had other children, if they had died. He belonged on that throne now as much as he had on the throne of Asgard once, and would be as welcome. He wanted it as much too. Perhaps it was time for this Realm to be released from Asgard’s yoke, to determine its own way. It would be one more thing that Odin couldn’t have. The Casket of Ancient Winters had been lost in the void when he fell. He would see if he couldn’t retrieve it, and restore it to its rightful owners.

The image of the crater was still in his mind when Loki returned to Midgard cloaked in layers of concealing spells yet perfectly visible to the naked eye as he soared through the spires of Manhattan. He found the energy barrier missing from around Avengers Tower, likely shorted out by the Bifrost, and slipped easily inside. He hoped Stark would find some other way to address the problem if he was so intent on his illusion of security. He padded through James’ apartment, tracing familiar paths with sight and smell. On the coffee table in front of the couch was a card with his name on it.

Hopping up on the table, Loki sniffed at the card and the folded green shirt it was sitting on top of. There were traces of James, but nothing else that was distinct. The card read simply, ‘For Loki.’ He couldn’t help reaching out to check his spells just one more time, and then he shifted, sitting cross-legged on the floor between couch and table. He picked up the shirt, shaking it out. It didn’t have the loose collar he preferred, which he understood was not so much a Midgardian fashion, but the sleeves were long and it was his color.

“Hey! You’re back.” Loki glanced up to find James grinning as he entered the room. His hair was pulled up into a bun, and Loki didn’t remember when he’d started wearing tank tops that left the scarring at his shoulder visible, but he looked good. “That’s, uh, that’s for you. Steve dragged me out to go shopping, and I thought, maybe you’d like it.” He scratched sheepishly at the back of his head.

Turning back to his present, Loki pulled off his own shirt to try it on. It was an off-the-rack item, but it fit him well enough, and when he pulled the sleeves down he found that they were designed to cover his palms, with holes for his thumbs. He smiled down at his hands, and then turned it up at James. “I do like it.”

“Oh, good.” James sat on the couch next to him, reaching out to pull a strand of Loki’s hair out from under the collar. He moved to sit on the couch as well, twisting his hair into a braid over one shoulder. He hadn’t bothered to cut it yet, although perhaps he should. He pulled up his legs to cross them, one knee resting comfortably against James’ hip.

“How long was I gone for?”

“About four days. Thor seemed pretty upset about your ‘death,’ and everyone else has been telling him stories about you as a cat to help cheer him up. He was disappointed he didn’t get to meet you.”

Loki made a face. “Thor misses the loyal little brother I played for him.”

“I told him his arrival scared you away, so you’ve got an excuse to avoid him now, if you still wanna come with me to team gatherings.”

Loki blinked. “Thank you.”

James smiled lopsidedly at him. “Thor’s rather…loud.”

“That he is,” Loki sighed.

“So I take it you being here and like this means everything worked out? You’re not gonna be found out?”

“Indeed.”

“Good. That’s— Good.”

Then he asked, “You went out?”

James rolled his eyes, exasperated and fond. “Uh-huh. Steve is still such a stubborn little punk, I swear.”

Smiling, Loki settled in to listen to what had happened in the last four days and how James’ shopping trip had gone.

 -

Bucky couldn’t really say he’d liked going shopping with Steve. There were too many hiding places and too many exits in the big box stores, and anyway he could probably get the exact same clothing from the internet. But Steve liked being able to try things on and physically compare them, not to mention chat with the salespeople because he was overly friendly like that. At least they both agreed that they might never get over the sticker-shock of future prices. And he had found Loki’s present.

He’d had a mild panic attack in the store while Steve was off in the changing rooms, scanning the place for targets, his adrenaline ratcheting up as he expected enemy combatants to charge in at any moment. He’d dealt with it fairly quickly though, breathing the way he was supposed to and taking stock of the things that were there in the present. Dr. Nabavi had said he’d done well, and that if he wanted, he might start to think about returning to combat. With Thor back to add another heavy hitter to the team, the Avengers were going to be a lot busier as they started to take out the remaining major HYDRA bases. Bucky wanted in on that, beyond what intel he might be able to provide from memory.

Tony was done with his arm, so he started using that time to go down to the shooting range below the gym. Handguns were okay, but rifles were harder. It was better with Clint down there to complain about the irony of a deaf person having to wear earmuffs and razz him about his aim until they got into shooting contests. He started sparring again too, when people were available. He was reluctant to fight Steve at first, but eventually had to admit that he was really the only one who could match him. Thor was stronger than them both, but not that great when he couldn’t rely on his hammer, which he refused to do in a fight against his Midgardian friends. All Bucky really had to do was get low and hamstring him. Natasha was fun to fight, and a challenge to do so non-lethally. Loki showed him a trick with his daggers to surprise her, but once he could wear her down, she was done too.

It turned out that the Avengers were also looking for Loki’s scepter. Loki rolled his eyes when Bucky told him, complaining, “It is not my scepter. It was given to me.” But he did point out, “If it truly has fallen into the hands of HYDRA, they will likely have used it. The Mind Stone can do much more than impose upon someone’s will.” Bucky quietly brought it up in the next meeting.

It was early October when he joined his first Avengers mission. HYDRA had a base built into the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains, and there was only one access road. Iron Man, Falcon, and Thor acted as the advance guard and cleared out the sentry towers before the rest of the team proceeded towards the main base. Bucky was dropped on top of the right-hand tower with a Stark-special M24 to act as sniper. Falcon was on perimeter, but while the base was sure to have escape hatches they weren’t aware of, the road was the only way down the mountain. He set up his nest, lying on the roof listening as the sounds of combat began to echo between the forest and the comm unit in his ear.

He took out several armored vehicles that came his way, sending them careening into the trees. No one got out of them. A tank stuttered into his view and he was about to snap down his comm that he hadn’t got an anti-tank rifle when the Hulk crashed down upon it, flinging it away and bounding after. The Avengers pressed forward, almost into the base itself. And then a motorcycle skidded onto the road in front of him, dirt and snow spraying from its tires as the rider revved for the gate.

Bucky didn’t go for the head shot, but he saw it anyway, the rider’s neck snapping back as blood and bone and worse stained the snow. The motorcycle went out from under him, tires spinning as it slid heavily on its side. The gunshot seemed to ring out forever. There was snow, and blood, and gunpowder, and Bucky could smell it—the chemicals, the fire, the fear. His throat burned and he couldn’t breathe. The body on the ground became all of the bodies on the ground. He’d pulled the trigger, watched the effects, and then he’d done it again. And again. Because he had to, because they were HYDRA, because he wasn’t, he wasn’t HYDRA, and then—

Sharp teeth closed gently around his fingers and his back hit something. He dropped down, unaware of having stood. Blood and snow and death played out in front of him, forcing him to watch, and watch again. He needed to go away, get away from it somehow, and there was fur against his hands. There was fur against his hands, and that hadn’t been there before, that hadn’t happened. He didn’t think that had happened. He latched on to it, clinging to different in the hopes of gleaning some comfort.

Bucky heaved in a deep breath, only now realizing that his breathing had become shallow and his heartbeat fast. The fur was against his face and arms, and there was something large and solid against his body. He couldn’t see, not really, and there were no chemicals to smell. He smelled musk, and pine, and thyme. He breathed it deeply, inhaled it into his lungs in time with the body in his arms, and then slower. Bucky lifted his head.

He was sitting a few feet back from his rifle against one of the radar antenna, his knees drawn up. In the space between and over them sat a huge black dog, leaning into his chest. Its head had been dislodged from on top of Bucky’s when he looked up, and now its nose whuffed at his hair. When he loosed his arms to run his fingers through the shaggy fur, it pulled back to look at him. The wolf’s eyes were bright green. Bucky took the comm unit out of his ear, closing it in his fist so the others wouldn’t hear.

“Loki?”

Loki’s tail wagged, thumping twice against the roof before he shifted into the cat.

Bucky cradled him close against his chest, letting out a laugh, or maybe it was a sob. “Hi, kotyenok. Thanks for helping out again.”

Loki rubbed his face against Bucky’s chin.

He pushed himself up, moving back towards his gun and sitting cross-legged next to it. He took two deep breaths and then put his comm back in. Instantly, there were calls for him, his teammates asking the Soldier to respond.

“I’m here, I’m fine. Sorry. What’s the status?”

He stretched out again, and Loki fit himself in the crook of his left shoulder, his ears flattening against the sound of the gun. And for the rest of the battle, he stayed.

When it was over, and the rest of the Avengers were heading back out with files and confiscated items, Bucky hugged Loki once again and then let him leap from his arms into the sky, changing fur for feathers. Loki flapped higher, wheeling once above the trees before blinking out of sight entirely.

 -

He waited impatiently the hours it took for the Avengers to return, wanting nothing more than to curl up with James and make sure he was alright. Loki wondered if he should put a monitoring spell on him. It was considered rude to do so without another’s permission, although he’d never had qualms about such things before. But with James’ history, he might not want Loki to have access to even his general mental state, and he was sure to become suspicious if Loki continued to show up when James had a flashback in the field. He didn’t want James to be angry with him. But he also didn’t want James to have to suffer alone. Loki’s thoughts followed his feet around in circles. He was halfway through wearing a path in the carpet when it occurred to him that this was unusual behavior for him at all.When the Avengers finally arrived back at the Tower, Loki shifted into his cat form and bounded for the elevator. Unfortunately, when he emerged on the common floor, it was Thor who spotted him first. Loki hissed and spit as Thor picked him up by the shoulders, holding him aloft with a ridiculous grin. Static electricity crackled through his fur, making it stand further on end. Thor, as ever, paid him no mind

“My friends, might this be the feline I have heard such tales of?”

Loki willed him to just bring his face within reach of his claws.

“Uh, Thor, I don’t think he likes that.” James appeared beside him. “Maybe I should take him.”

Thor handed him over, and Loki took the opportunity to snag the back of his hand, drawing blood. He glared at Thor from the safety of James’ arms.Thor glanced at the cuts in surprise, the only wound he had taken that day, and then he laughed, declaring, “He is a feisty creature. A fitting namesake for my brother.”

“Sure,” James agreed.

Divested of their gear, the Avengers sprawled out over the common lounge, the usual tired argument about what sort of food to order in starting up. James curled nearly sideways in an armchair, Loki half in his lap and half on his chest, his eyes slitting as James started petting him. Across from them, Stark was tucked underneath Sam’s arm, waving half-heartedly as he tried to argue his point about cheeseburgers. Thor and Steve somehow managed to both fit on one couch, and the Widow and Barton took up most of the other, her feet in his lap. Banner was still mostly secluded from the world, wrapped under a blanket in another armchair. Eventually the choice of food was given to James, as it was his first Avengers mission.

“Um… I dunno. I liked the pizza last time.”

There was some grumbling but general acquiescence, and Barton raised his fist limply towards them. “Woot. Snipers unite. Man, we could make the weirdest club.”

The conversation turned to other things then, but Loki ignored it. He checked his spells once and then deliberately did not look at Thor, happy-purring as James’ thumb started rubbing circles behind his ear. When the food came he stole pepperoni off of James’ pizza until James gave in and fed them to him. He let James have the ham, though. The pineapple it came with made it taste strange. He licked at the grease on James’ fingers, thoughts of what it might be like were he in his more usual form flitting across his mind.

“You’re going to spoil that cat, Barnes,” Natasha commented.

“Mm, he deserves it.”

Loki glanced up abruptly to find James smiling warmly at him. He started rubbing behind Loki’s ears again, and Loki closed his eyes, going contentedly boneless on James’ chest as he purred loudly.

In the end he put a tracking spell on the Avengers’ quinjet.

-

Bucky went on more missions, working his way closer to the heavy fighting by degrees. He learned what it was like to be on a battlefield by choice, to face his triggers by choice. He was no longer a soldier, and he was no longer a weapon. It was different now; he had skills that few other people did and he was consciously making the choice to use them in the best way he knew how. Walking onto a battlefield, he expected the horror. And as a brief pre-battle search became a ritual for him, he also came to expect to see Loki watching over him. On most missions now, he only had to glance up from his scope to find a familiar kite perched nearby or hovering above as a silent support. Loki was there when he needed the small weight of a cat wedged into his shoulder to keep him grounded, modifying his shooting just enough to be distinctive of his present. And when things were really bad, Loki’s wolf was solid and warm even through Bucky’s body armor.

He was learning to deal with his PTSD in situations where the threat really was there, and learning to separate battle from down time. He had fewer episodes now when he went out, and they were less intense. But still, returning to combat took its toll. They were hitting HYDRA hard and fast, and he didn’t have enough time to fully reorient himself before the next mission forced him to his feet.

They’d had two weeks since the latest battle, and Bucky still felt tired. He went through his daily routine as always, but the motions were rote muscle memory. He talked to as few people as possible, unable to muster the energy required for interaction. He felt dull inside, his emotions far away. He would sleep if he wasn’t so awake. He didn’t lose time, but some days he found himself doing nothing more than watch the hands on the clock move. Loki had spent most of the last two weeks as a cat, doing his best to help. He’d left Bucky’s shoulder to insinuate himself into his arms instead, and would bother Bucky into giving him head scratches whenever he’d been staring off into space for too long. Bucky was grateful for him.

He sighed as he dropped onto the couch, letting Loki down onto his lap. “JARVIS, what’s on my movie list that’s funny?”

“If I may, I would recommend this, Sergeant Barnes.” The title card for Ghostbusters came up on his TV screen.

“Sure, play it.”

Bucky propped his elbow on the arm of the couch, leaning his head sideways on his hand as a woman re-shelved books in a haunted library, and then a man conducted a clearly biased ESP test. Bucky watched the movie with a detached interest, the cheesy jokes eliciting no more than a huff of recognition.

-

Loki followed along with the movie from where he was lying comfortably in James’ lap. However, when they came to Egon explaining that crossing the energy streams of the proton packs would have dire consequences, he stood.  Stretching, he stepped off of James’ lap, then carefully turned around to make sure he had James’ attention before he shifted back.

“I hope you realize that this is absolutely ridiculous.”

-

Bucky blinked at Loki suddenly sitting right next to him, fixing him with a dubious look as he passed judgement on the film. It was stupid, he realized, because Loki had been there the entire time, but Bucky had missed him. And after two weeks, this was what he transformed back to say? Suddenly, more than anything in the movie, Bucky found the whole thing ridiculously funny. Once he’d started laughing, he couldn’t seem to stop.

-

Loki watched as James began to laugh, smiling in relief. He’d been worried. He knew why James needed to fight, but he truly was beautiful when he laughed. Loki wished he could keep him only this happy all of the time. He found himself leaning in, sliding his arms over James’ shoulders.

-

Loki’s arms came over his shoulders and then his mouth was on Bucky’s and his laughter cut off into a startled, half muffled noise. Loki was pulling away even before it had ended and Bucky had had a chance to get his brain in gear, and Bucky grabbed hastily for him, hauling him back in. He kissed Loki properly this time, getting his arms around Loki’s back, and Loki melted right into him, kissing him back languorously.

Even before Loki’s lips had fully left his, Bucky was asking, “Will you go out with me?”

Loki smiled, and said, “Yes.”

Bucky found himself smiling stupidly back, just staring at Loki’s face, framed by the dark strands of his hair. He’d cut it, recently, so that it just skimmed his shoulders. It suited him. He looked really good, actually, and Bucky wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed before. Loki’s eyes were such a pretty shade of green, with tiny golden flecks in them. Then Bucky’s brain caught up to him again and he said, “You know, I’m pretty sure movies are still considered good first dates.”

They resettled themselves on the couch so that they were stretched out sideways, one of Loki’s arms wedged comfortably between the couch arm and the small of Bucky’s back, his head pillowed on Bucky’s chest. Bucky propped his chin on Loki’s head, one thumb idly stroking over the fabric of the shirt Bucky had gifted him, just below a shoulder blade. They rewound the movie to catch what they’d missed, and this time it was better, with both of them snorting at the dumb jokes and occasionally providing each other with color commentary.

When the credits rolled up the screen, Bucky sighed happily into Loki’s hair. “We shoulda done this ages ago. Cuddling’s so much nicer when neither of us is crying.”

-

“Mm,” Loki agreed, enjoying the rumble of James’ voice under his ear. He turned his face further into James’ chest. “I know what would make it better.”

“Yeah?”

Loki shifted up, sliding one hand into James’ hair to cup the base of his skull. James smiled, anticipating what was coming next, and Loki closed the distance between them to kiss him again. They spent a long time at it, the press of their lips warm and unhurried, James’ stubble scratching deliciously right, until both of them were dizzy. Loki drew back only far enough to see James’ eyes, a handsome slate grey at such short distance. If he moved away to let the light fall on them, they’d turn into the blue of the sky he flew in.

“Don’t go on the next mission.”

James looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “Okay.” He smiled. “I’ll just have to take you on another date, then, won’t I?”

[cheatgamesonlineblog]

MARVEL Strike Force Hack Cheat - MARVEL Strike Force Power Cores and Gold

https://cheatgamesonline.com/marvel-strike-force-hack/

MARVEL Strike Force Hack Cheat - MARVEL Strike Force Power Cores and Gold

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[malasado]

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Enjoy your free Gold and Power Cores

About Marvel Strike Force:

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Credits To The Owner Of The Game

  source https://malasado.com/2019/05/06/marvel-strike-force-hack-how-to-get-gold-and-power-cores-resources-for-free-2019-android-ios/

[cuthian]

In Hell, We Stand By You Chapter Six

Hi!

Last chapter before I take a week or two off to work on the last two chapters and the sequel, so I can begin uploading that as soon as possible too!

Thank you so much for your support so far, guys, you've been awesome!

I'll see you soon!

Love, Annaelle

Thank you to my lovely Juuls for beta-ing and helping me wrestle this little thing into something remotely worth posting :D

Chapter Six

—————

The future has arrived!

Earlier today, Stark Tower was taken entirely off the grid and hooked up to a reactor invented by none other than Tony Stark, 41, himself. Stark, when he announced his plans for the Tower, said, “I’m going to make my tower a beacon of clean, self-sustaining energy.”

It certainly looks like he has succeeded!

… The Tower is powered 100 percent by renewable, clean energy and includes seventy-five floors reserved solely for employees of Stark Industries, now led by Virginia Potts, 38, while the twenty floors above will be reserved for Stark’s research and development and personal use. It is also one of the largest clean energy sites on the globe, though its spot at the top of the list is still threatened by Apple’s construction of a fully functional, green energy-powered campus for its employees.

… While there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Tony Stark throughout the years, from his image as the Merchant of Death to Iron Man, we can most definitely say we are excited to see where he will be able to lead us with renewable energy!

—M. Chapo, The Guardian, ‘Stark Tower Goes Off the Grid’, 2011

—————

S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet, International Airspace Steve

The soft press of Bucky’s dog tags into his skin was more soothing than Steve liked to admit, even to himself, as he stood in the middle of a jet S.H.I.E.L.D. had arranged to bring him and Becca to the location of the mission’s debrief. He reached up and pressed his fingers to the grooves that spelled out Bucky’s name discreetly, through the soft fabric of the shirt he wore at Becca’s behest.

Barnes, James B. 32557038         T42      A                                   P

He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath and holding it for a few heartbeats before releasing it again. He’d been pushed far beyond the comfort zone he had created for himself in the last twenty-four hours, and though he was well-equipped to deal with it, it was still overwhelming.

He plucked at the dark jeans Becca had insisted he wear because “you don’t have to dress like you’re actually ninety, Steve, God.” He’d only allowed her to guide him in what to wear a little, because his own fashion sense was hardly something to be spoken of, and he figured someone who’d actually been on S.H.I.E.L.D. mission briefings before might actually know what was appropriate.

The entire ensemble was much tighter than he preferred his clothes—he’d developed a healthy aversion after the goddamned tights they’d made him wear during the war—but they fit well and moved with his body comfortably, and Steve had to admit he cared very little about what he was supposed to wear as long as no one tried to take his dog tags, boots and his leather jacket from him.

He listened vaguely as the agent standing beside him—an eager fellow, who’d shaken his hand for a tad too long and grinned so wide Steve was worried he’d break his face—prattled on about the file Fury had left for him and Becca and the people featured in it.

He and Becca had split the packet evenly after Fury had left, switching out the respective files when they’d finished going through it. He’d been as surprised as Becca when her elusive friend Tony—Stark, apparently, Howard’s only child—had shown up in the pile, along with a detailed report of his past exploits and S.H.I.E.L.D. recommendations.

Of course, Steve winced a little, the recommendation had said something along the lines of “Iron Man, yes. Tony Stark, not recommended.”

Steve had to admit that he was wary of the younger Stark. He hadn’t been all too fond of Howard either, and from what he had read in the S.H.I.E.L.D. file, it sure seemed like Tony was a carbon copy of his father with absolutely zero tendency to practice any measure of discretion.

Of course, there was the fact that Becca clearly adored the man and that it had, apparently, been Stark who helped halt the Smithsonian showing of his personal drawings.

Steve had told himself, very firmly, to withhold judgement until he met the man.  

He sighed and turned his attention back to the screen Agent Coulson was showing him, silently wondering if he had done the right thing by accepting the mission and dragging Becca along.

The people featured in the files all had certain capabilities that would definitely aid them in the fight against this… Loki, but there were those that made Steve feel incredibly on edge, even before he had laid eyes on them. There was, for instance, Dr. Banner, who was likely the sanest person represented in the files, but who still managed to both horrify and fascinate Steve with what he’d tried to do.

“So,” he interrupted when Coulson fell silent for a moment. “This Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum Erskine used on me?”

Coulson shrugged and smiled at him, nodding a little. “A lot of people were. You were the world’s first superhero.” Steve fidgeted uncomfortably at the praise and the way the man looked at him, attempting valiantly to ignore the way Becca was in silent stitches behind Coulson, tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks. Steve hardly thought he deserved the moniker of ‘superhero’, especially considering there had been people during the war who had risked life and limbs to save others—who had hidden people affected by Hitler’s hate-campaign and paid for their kindness and bravery with their own lives.

All he’d done was punch—and occasionally shoot—people in the face.

“Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine’s original formula,” Coulson continued, unperturbed and likely unobservant of Steve’s inner turmoil.

“Didn’t really go his way there, did it?” Becca cut in sarcastically, leaning back against the quinjet’s hull, smirking in amusement when Coulson jumped a little when she spoke, as if he’d forgotten she was there too. Steve wouldn’t be surprised if the man actually had forgotten, with how excited he seemed to be to be talking to him.

“Not so much,” Coulson allowed, nodding towards Becca. “He’s a regular Stephen Hawking when you take away that little issue though.”

Steve frowned, trying to recall the name—he knew he’d heard it on the news before—before Coulson cut in with a sympathetic smile. “He’s like a really smart person.”

Steve narrowly managed not to wince at the unintentional taunt and nodded silently, glaring at Becca when she didn’t do anything to help him.

How was this his life?

“I’d hardly say it’s a little issue,” Steve remarked drily, ignoring Coulson’s last remark and eyeing the footage of the Hulk warily. “It seems more of the big, angry green variety.”

Becca snorted an undignified laugh while Coulson gaped, and Steve couldn’t quite suppress a grin. The pilot, a tall, pretty woman who had introduced herself as Agent Johnson, chuckled sardonically and offered Steve her fist to bump—a gesture Becca had taught him early on—winking at him when he did so. He grinned, and the tension that had coiled in his entire body loosened a little.

Becca winked at him, and Steve managed to smile back, before Agent Coulson started talking again, eyeing Steve from the corner of his eye. “It is an honor to meet you, officially.”

Steve stared at him, slightly bewildered, because he was fairly certain they had met officially, before Becca and Steve boarded the Quinjet. Enthusiastic as the man had been, would he not have mentioned this then?

“I sort of met you,” Coulson admitted, evidently reading Steve’s confusion. “I mean… I watched you when you were sleeping.”

Becca and the pilot guffawed in unison and Steve bit his lip hard to keep from laughing as Coulson stammered, somewhat abashed, “I mean, I was… I was present while you were unconscious from the ice, I didn’t—”

“Oh my God,” Becca laughed, clutching at her stomach. “Phil, please, just stop while you’re ahead.”

Steve chuckled at the slightly constipated look on Agent Coulson’s face as he leveled a glare at Becca—who gleefully ignored him and swiped Steve’s tablet from his hands before sitting down on one of the benches—and patted the man on the shoulder lightly.

While he definitely appreciated the sentiment, he still didn’t really think his presence or actions in the war warranted this kind of reverence from anyone. He had been a glorified showgirl for months before he got the chance to prove himself, and he had only done so then because it had been Bucky. He’d have done it even if he had still been 90 pounds soaking wet.

He’d probably have failed, but he still would have tried.

“Well,” he finally said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. “I hope I’m the man for the job.”

He did worry where he’d fit in between the spies, scientists and superheroes—as Stark had dubbed himself, in public, repeatedly. He’d felt entirely out of his depth as he read the files Fury had given them, unsure what value he could bring to the table.

“Of course you are,” Becca snorted, tossing an empty candy bar wrapper at him. “Fury wouldn’t have asked you if he didn’t think you were exactly right for the job.”

“Absolutely,” Coulson piped in enthusiastically. “And uh… We’ve made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.” He sounded incredibly proud and Steve had no idea how he was supposed to tell the man that he hated that goddamned uniform with a burning passion.

He’d only stuck with it in the war because Bucky had been very… persuasive.

“The uniform,” he repeated warily. “Aren’t the stars and stripes a little… old fashioned?”

They’d been horrible back in the forties, and Steve couldn’t imagine people would like them any better today—although he supposed they might develop Bucky’s appreciation for it, no matter how the thought made his cheeks burn and his stomach twist uncomfortably.

Becca remained silent this time, though Steve could tell she was paying close attention to the conversation by the way her head was tilted their way, her slender fingers unmoving where they were pressed against the tablet’s glass screen. They had spoken about the war, sometimes, when they were both up in the middle of the night because of nightmares and their respective demons, and Steve recalled voicing his intense dislikes of the tights several times.

He’d hated the stars and stripes even more, because they weighed on him, with the many expectations and perceptions that came along with it. Sometimes, Steve wasn’t sure anyone would ever even care to know about who Steve Rogers really was anymore.

Coulson shrugged and said, “With everything that’s happening… the things that are about to come to light… People might just need a little old fashioned.”

Before he was forced to think of an awkward reply to that, the pilot called Agent Coulson over and left Steve standing in the middle of the plane. He heaved a sigh and joined Becca on her bench, thumping his head back against the metal wall softly. “You could have warned me,” he said in the most reproachful tone he could manage—which, admittedly, wasn’t very reproachful at all.

“But where’s the fun in that?” She drawled, knocking their shoulders together playfully as she tapped the tablet’s screen a couple of times. “Besides, Coulson’s harmless. He’s a great agent and an even better leader—you’ll like him. Once he gets over his crush, that is.”

Steve snorted, but didn’t comment further—he’d learned to trust Becca’s opinion on people a little in the weeks he’d been living with her.

If she said Coulson was a good man, he likely was.

“What are you looking at?” He quizzed, leaning in so he could see what Becca was looking at on the tablet. He recognized the file and photo immediately, and had to actively fight the urge to pull the tablet from Becca’s hands and toss it across the plane.

Natasha Romanoff.

Black Widow, highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and future S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison for the Avengers team, and Becca’s onenightstand.

“Ah, Agent Romanoff,” Fury said, looking at someone coming up behind Steve. “Excellent. Consider your current mission aborted. Report back to Agent Coulson, he has a new assignment for you.”

“Romanoff?” Becca said, confusion and horror blending together in her voice. “You said your name was Rushman. Natalie Rushman.”

His lips parted to speak—to say anything, because the expression on Becca’s face when she’d realized her date was actually a highly trained spy that had been sent in to infiltrate her life by her own boss broke his heart, even if she’d covered it up with amusement and forced laughter a second later—but before he could say something, Becca cut him off with a fierce glare.

“Don’t.”

The look in her eye was determined and somewhat exasperated, but he noted the way her knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on the tablet. “Don’t say anything, Steve.”

“Becca,” he sighed, reaching out to gently pry the tablet from her grip.

“No,” Becca hissed, pulling on the tablet even as it slid from her grasp. “Steve, I don’t want to talk about this again. We’ve already discussed this enough.”

“But we haven’t,” Steve insisted, lifting the hand he held the tablet in out of Becca’s reach, even as she leaned across his lap to get it back. “We haven’t talked about it at all, and we should! Becca, this was a huge violation of our privacy—”

“I work with spies, Steve,” Becca exclaimed exasperatedly, slapping her hand down on his chest. “I took a very valuable asset from them, and I refused to let them near you. I was more surprised they hadn’t done something like this before. I didn’t expect yesterday, but it’s not…” she sighed and dropped back down next to Steve, sagging against him tiredly. “It’s not surprising at all.”

Steve shifted uncomfortably, but moved so he could slip his arm around Becca, squeezing her tightly until he could feel her tense frame relaxing and her fingers unclench against his chest.

He didn’t understand this… this world of spies and agents, where it was apparently more than okay to toy with someone’s life to get information, to get access to him of all people. He felt more insulted than Becca did, apparently, and though she’d brushed off his concern like it had been nothing, he cared.

He didn’t like the idea of people taking advantage of her to get to him.

He didn’t say anything though, taking her former words to heart. The discussion was not done, and he was not okay with what Fury had done, but he knew how to pick his battles. However much Bucky had liked to joke Steve liked to pick all the battles, he did actually know when to back down.

He just didn’t do it very often.

“If you two would strap in,” Coulson interjected, and Steve froze, arm still slung around Becca’s shoulders with her face pressed against his collar bone, unsure what the Agent would make of their apparent closeness.

We’re about to land,” Coulson said succulently, eyes trailing over Steve and Becca’s entangled forms before he turned and settled in the cockpit alongside the pilot.

Steve’s cheeks flushed as he realized what Coulson must have made of their position and quickly detangled himself from Becca. “They’re going to think we’re—”

“—sleeping together?” Becca finished, raising an eyebrow at him. “Steve, honey, I hate to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure they already do. Me breaking you out of HQ and then letting you move into my spare bedroom has to be the most exciting thing that’s happened all year.”

“But you’re—” Steve hesitated and glanced towards the cockpit, unsure of whether or not Becca’s preferences were known to S.H.I.E.L.D., despite how much she had claimed it wasn’t illegal anymore and no one would punish her for preferring those of her own gender over Steve’s.

“Gay?” She chuckled, patting his head. “Relax, Steve, I’m not in the closet. You think they would have sent a female Agent to seduce me if it was a secret? Haven’t been since I was twelve. It’s never been a secret, but people…” she sighed heavily and shrugged. “It’s a pretty heteronormative world out there. Unless they see proof, they’re going to assume you’re straight, and even then there are those who think you just ‘haven’t met the right one’.”

Steve huffed, frowning fiercely as he considered that; after talking about it with Becca and Karen-the-therapist, he’d done some research and concluded that he felt most at ease with the term ‘bisexual’ for himself, but he couldn’t even imagine being as blasé and open about it as she was.

If the world wasn’t even ready to accept someone like Becca was gay—or, as she had put it, preferred women ninety-nine percent of the time—how the hell were they going to take Captain America liking men just that little bit more than he liked women?

Becca shook her head and smiled sadly. “It’s stupid, but I don’t let it bother me. I have better things to do than to spend my entire day trying to correct people who assume you and I are sleeping together just because we’re a man and  a woman who are not related and who happen to live in the same house. Plus you used to sleep with my… great-uncle. I think. Whatever. It’d be weird to sleep with you.”

Steve snorted, but nodded. He didn’t like it, but it did make sense. “Not to mention we’re both queer as fuck,” he added, finally managing to latch the complicated seatbelt.

Becca snorted a laugh and dug her elbow between his ribs. “Yeah,” she chuckled. “That too.”

They remained quiet while the quinjet landed, though Steve briefly shut his eyes and squeezed Becca’s hand as tightly as he dared before they touched down, because he might have been dealing with his issues, but this was the first time he’d been on a plane since he had crashed the Valkyrie, and his mind was doing its very best to remind him of the moment he crashed into the icy water over and over again.

Becca kept up a steady stream of nonsensical whispering as the quinjet touched down, and Steve had never been more grateful for her friendship—she didn’t even mention the way he’d flinched when the landing gear had made contact with the ground.

“We’re gonna be fine, Steve,” she whispered to him as Coulson gestured towards the opened ramp, squeezing her slender fingers around his briefly one more time before she let go to unbuckle herself.

He hoped she was right.

Then again…

How bad could it possibly be?