#(t for aim and caps lock for shooting)

[neonraven28]

Do you think Logan and Hesh ever felt fear during the campaign? Ever felt lost?

Like, sure, throughout the campaign they've had multiple life threathening missions, but only after Elias' death was there truly an all or nothing mindset— where the smallest mistake could determine the outcome of everything.

When the Walker brothers decided that they'd die, just to take Rorke down... Did they feel they had nothing left to loose, so long as both were gone and so was Rorke?

Was that the reason they really gave it their all, pushing through their injuries? They were ready to die and they made sure that Rorke wouldn't survive no matter what (well, we know how that went...)

Just how much weight left their shoulders the moment they survived? The moment they sat on the beach, panting, watching bombs paint the sky?

And how fucking hard did reality sink in at the sight of Rorke, surviving just like them?

[k0mfort]

pls could I get mei dating hcs bless thank you 🙏

this is much much longer than what i expected, but i kinda got carried away because i love mei sm.. hope u enjoy anon ♡ please ask me more mei things..

♡ listen, if you want to date the narumiya mei — best pitcher of the generation, absolute ace of tokyo, blah blah blah — you have to be okay with not being his priority.

♡ mei has dreams, and so do you, but you have to admit that what he is aiming for is something that is too big even for you. but you believe in him, and you believe in the sort of process that it would take for him to get there. you are with him because you know how it would be and you are alright with it.

♡ and it gets hard, of course. you can never get used to the days where your messages would be left unread, or the way your study dates would end up with him snoring softly on your shoulders, tired at kunitomo's ruthless training regimens.

♡ mei knows that he is not perfect. and if there is any other way he can go about his life so that he can at least not be the source of your pain most times, he would take it. but this is a path that he chose. and he does not give up, nor does he not falter. he is narumiya mei. he will cease to be before willingly let go of his goal.

♡ but he loves you. dear god, he loves you. you don't know the amount of times he has sat in the dugout, peering under his battered cap, trying not to make it too obvious that he is hoping you are somewhere amongst the bustling crowd.

♡ he thinks that you are too good for him. for a bratty, overachieving jerk like him. you are too patient and kind, and he has done things that does not deserve your forgiveness. and yet, you stayed.

♡ you would visit him without a fail everyday — even on the days where you know that he won't be able to meet you. you would watch him from the sidelines, pride and endearment continuously bloom in your chest the more you see him. sometimes, you would even get him a drink from the vending machine, and you have to push him away so that he wouldn't hug you in his sweat-drenched, dirt-covered baseball uniform.

♡ so, on the dates you get to go to between his busy schedules, mei can't help but feel fidgety — even if he doesn't seem like it — and thinks over his words carefully. he threads on invisible ropes, not knowing what will be your last straw.

♡ but ignoring all of his anxiety, what mei loves doing on dates is taking photo booth pictures.

"Mei—" You whine as he practically drags you inside the building. Mirrors in funky shapes and sizes adorned the wall, and there are countless racks of sunglasses, headbands, and other fun accessories. "This is the second booth we see today. Can we not do this?"

"Don't be boring," he grins, already picking out headbands. He takes one with a crab claws coming out of it and scrunches his nose as he puts it on. "Do I look good?"

You purse your lips, holding in a titter before eventually bursting out in a series of laughter. "You look stupid."

"Ow," he pretends that something shoots him in the heart, clutching on his t-shirt with a pained expression on his face, eyes shut dramatically.

You push him away, still laughing, and he peeks through one eye just to savor the sight of your joy.

♡ he would put his arms around your shoulders as the sound of the camera shutter fill the room. he would let you kiss his cheek, or even pull you in to gently press his lips against yours — you are repeating washed up poses in every frame glued on his dorm walls, but he doesn't mind. he hopes that you don't either.

♡ but talking about the photo booth strips attached on his clear phone case, or in a key chain-frame on his baseball bag, or folded in his wallet, the way he just lets every single person he encounters that you are together is close to obnoxious.

♡ your face is obnoxiously his lock screen, your handwriting is obnoxiously on each one of his notebook, and every one of your call equals to a delighted, yet somehow obnoxious, grin on mei's face.

♡ he has given you one or two of his caps the same way he just keeps some of the lunchboxes you lend him, never really returning it back to you. the water bottle you are using is currently his, and the key chain on the keys to his dorm room is one he teasingly stole from your school bag.

♡ you gave him back cap once without a word. he wanted to push it back into your hands when he noticed the scribbled handwriting under it, with little doodles of hearts all over it. it's messy, and the ink was bleeding all over — you must have had a hard time with the marker. from that moment on, he kisses his knuckles only to press it against your handwriting before a fateful pitch. no one has to know. no one has to know except you and him.

♡ and of course the whole fucking baseball team.

♡ you've turned into a celebrity within the scope of inashiro's prestigious baseball team.

♡ all thanks to mei and his blabbering mouth, of course — you have to be kidding him if you give him, basically, all that a high school baseball player would ever want from their significant other and not expect him to show off.

♡ but they've known you for a while by now, and it's generally just amazing to them to see you so willingly and enthusiastically date mei the same way he is too to you.

♡ being jealous of him is, of course, a given.

"Someone get this man's phone away from him," Carlos groans rather loudly in the cafeteria as Mei laughs, kicking his shin softly under the table without even gazing up from his phone.

You are sending him a string of texts, telling Mei about your day, and sending selfies with the strange robot employee you met while upgrading your phone credit in town. When all that he can think about is to add the pictures that you just sent to his wallpaper carousel, Riku, from the far-end of the table, is feeding into Carlos' yaps.

"What's so funny, Mei?" His voice booms, asking a question that the answer to is just too obvious.

"Beat it," Mei shoots back, busy tapping away in his phone, letting his steaming rice grow cold. "Find some other jerk to annoy."

♡ you are dating superstar mei, though for some reason, he seems to be the one who would boast about you. everyone knows about him. but you? no one knows about the way you take care of stray cats you found on school grounds or how excellent you are at molding things into your own nature. and he would be damned if you end up living under his shadow.

♡ he shows absolutely no interest to a person if what they offer is no more than support for his baseball career. and while he is grateful for everyone on his side, some people take it too far. and one should know to never cross narumiya mei's line. he has no problem cutting someone off of his life once he realizes their disrespect of his relationship — of you.

♡ oh, but fights with mei are quiet, and tearful. never in public, and always in secret. while mei basks on the spotlight usually on him, neither of you enjoys negative attention. communication really is key — though he is aware of every single one of his actions and words, slips-up cannot be avoided. the same thing goes for you.

♡ and mei doesn't really know why, but he doesn't cry even if you do. even on the verge of separation, or in a heated debate. his mind goes numb as fire takes over his body. during times like this, all he wants to do is swing his bat at nothing in particular, and hope that the problem would die after his 50th. but that isn't how life works, and that isn't certainly not how relationship works. mei is realistic, above all else, and to not be a hypocrite, he tames the temper raging in his bones and sit himself down. in all the times he has swallowed his ego for you, he always wishes that you would do the same to him.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch30: Winter Is Here

Summary: In the wake of the UN Bombing, Steve, Katie and Sam (with help from Sharon) track Bucky to Bucharest and face a race against time to track him down before the CTU. But someone else is also following Bucky, someone who’s been one step ahead and the consequences are disastrous.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Elements of this have been reworked/rewritten…for reasons which will become apparent at some point!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 29 Part 2

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Bucky liked Bucharest. It was easy enough to blend in and he’d found work at a local Warehouse easily enough. It was no questions asked, cash in hand and no trail. Perfect. Physical labour didn’t bother him, neither did taking the nightshifts which no one else seemed to want. It meant he could sleep most of the days and emerge later at night meaning he had even less people to encounter and deal with. Not that it really mattered, no one really bothered him apart from the Old Lady that lived a few floors down. Bucky often did odd jobs for her, just like he had used to for the old couple that lived across from his parents in Brooklyn before the war.

Since arriving in Europe in September last year, his life had been pretty peaceful. His memories had started to flash back almost the instant he wasn’t re-wiped by HYDRA, but they were random, non-chronological, so he had started writing them in a notebook along with other snippets and facts he found along the way which helped him piece together the parts of the puzzle that was his life. He knew his name, his date of birth, who his parents were, his siblings, Steve- his brother-from-another-Mother, the Howling Commandos, Steve’s wife- Katie,  his ‘death’ and then… well, that bit he tried not to remember on purpose.

He felt better, like himself, and had on more than one occasion thought about reaching out to Steve. But the thing was, even though he’d now been out of HYDRA control for over two years, he knew that what they had done to him or put in his head was still there, and he didn’t want to give anyone the chance to find out the hard-way or give them chance to lock him up like some lab rat. So he had decided it was best to stay off radar.

Pulling his cap down a little, he headed over to his favourite fruit store for some plums. He remembered what a treat they had been back before the war, and he enjoyed the fact they were so readily available now. He reached out with his flesh hand to gently test one. 

“How are they? Are they good?” He asked the vendor in Romanian who nodded to him, smiling “Okay. Give me six, thank you”

With his bag of fruit he walked along, casually scanning around as he ate. And then, across the street, he spotted a vendor at a news-stand watching him. Bucky glanced away hastily then looked back at the man who was still watching him before he suddenly turned and ran from his kiosk. With a sick feeling in his stomach,  Bucky made his way over and picked up a paper reading the front page which contained a number of surveillance-photos and the head line: ‘Winter Soldier cautat pentru Bombardmentul din Viena’. 

A cold feeling washed all over him and he glanced around, swallowing thickly. 

He might have struggled with his memory in the past but he could categorically say this wasn’t one of those times. This wasn’t him, granted it looked like him, but it wasn’t.

Shit, he needed to hide.

Pulling his cap down further, jacket pulled up round his neck he set off home.

****** Having your own private plane certainly has its perks. Katie, Sam and Steve made their way to Vienna and from there, after being given a lead from Sharon, they headed to Bucharest. Steve and Sam had brought all their equipment whereas Katie had opted to simply pack her cat suit and utility belt as they weren’t anticipating any action.

A decision she was starting to regret now.

“Nice place.” Katie commented sarcastically, pulling at the neck of her leather cat-suit as they entered the old rundown apartment that Bucky Barnes now called home. Steve ignored the comment before he carefully closed the door behind them. The two of them ventured further into the small darkened apartment, the windows had been taped over with old newspapers keeping out most of the sunlight and prying eyes. Steve’s shield caught a few of the spots of light which were creeping through tears and gaps in the paper, sending reflections onto bits of the apartment walls. The bedroom and the living area were one, a tattered mattress placed just beneath the window a small desk and lamp next to it. Across from the bed near the entrance was a metal table with two chairs next to it, then there was the kitchen area and a door, which Katie headed through, gun at the ready, finding nothing but a small, grimy and empty bathroom.

She couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of sadness in her gut that the man who had saved her life, a war veteran, was living like this.

Steve took to looking around the kitchen and had found a notebook of sorts with tabs of varying colours sticking out from amongst the pages. As he flicked through he found a leaflet on the Smithsonian Captain America exhibit.

"Heads up guys, German Special Forces approaching from the South.” Sam’s voice came through the coms.

“Understood.” Steve replied gently, replacing the leaflet in the page he had found it, fingers lingering on the paper. He looked up at Katie as she re-entered the room.

“Nobody’s home.” She said softly. “What you got there?” “It’s a journal.” Steve said, “He’s been writing down memories and-“

He stopped dead as a movement crossed his peripheral and his head jerked up. Over his wife’s shoulder he locked eyes with Bucky for the first time since that day over the Potomac. Katie, noticing his demeanour, glanced over her shoulder and instantly spun round to see Bucky watching the pair of them with a cautious sort of curiosity.

“Do you know me?” Steve asked carefully, setting the book he was flipping through down on the cluttered counter. He moved in front of Katie slightly, keeping himself between her and his best friend who was stood stock still, eyeing them up.

“You’re Steve,” Bucky said roughly, “I read about you in a museum.”  He added immediately, nodding to himself. 

Play dumb, Bucky, play dumb…

“They’ve set the perimeter.” Sam spoke in their ears.

“I know you’re nervous, and you’ve got plenty of reason to be, but you’re lying.” Steve spoke calmly, not believing him for a second. He could always tell when Bucky was lying, even as kids he wouldn’t look you in the eye fully, and now wasn’t any different.

“I wasn’t in Vienna. I don’t do that anymore.”  Bucky’s voice wavered slightly, almost pleading with them to believe him. And instantly Katie did.

“They’re entering the building. “ Sam urged. 

“Well, the people who think you did are coming here now.” Katie took a small step forward so that she was slightly in front of Steve. “And they’re not planning on taking you alive.”

 “That’s smart. Good strategy.” He looked at her, cocking his head to one side as he studied her. She was oozing confidence, are far cry from the broken, shattered woman he had rescued last year, and she didn’t seem afraid of him. Which he liked but also didn’t because it meant they weren’t going to just let him slip away.

“They’re on the roof. I’m compromised!”

“This doesn’t have to end in a fight ,Buck.” Steve pleaded desperately while Bucky simply walked over to the table set down his plastic bag and pulled off his glove to reveal his metal hand.

��It always ends in a fight.” He said balling the metal into a fist, his voice lilted with sadness.

“Five seconds.”

“You pulled me from the river and you saved Katie’s life that day in La Ronde.” Steve’s voice took on an urgent tone, almost shouting. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Bucky replied in frustration finally looking up at Steve and locking eyes with him before he glanced to Katie. Truth be told he did know. That day on the Potomac something had broken his programming, and when Steve had plunged to the river he had known he had to save him, because he had been saving him all his punk-assed life. And then with Katie, well, even before he had recognised her he couldn’t leave a dame to the mercy of HYDRA, not after what they did to him. It was wrong…his ma taught him better.

“Three seconds.”

“Yes you do.” Steve responded,

“Breach, breach, breach!” Came the yell into their earpieces.

Both Steve and Katie looked towards the window prompting Bucky to do the same and in the next second a flash bomb was thrown through, Steve batted it right back out with his shield and then a second bomb came through the other window. Bucky booted it towards Steve who dropped and covered it with his shield, containing the blast. All three of them looked at one another for a split second before a loud bang sounded as the door rattled. Katie quickly kicked the edge of the table so that it wedged between the door and the wall blocking the German Forces entrance for now.

Whilst she was distracted with that, a final bomb was thrown and Bucky lifted up the dirty mattress using it as protection for them both. She nodded to him gently as he tossed it away and then came the soldiers on zip lines through the window. The first landed in the kitchen, training his gun first on Steve, then across towards Bucky, but before he could shoot Steve pulled the rug from beneath him and he ended up firing into the ceiling. The next came in through the window right next to Bucky but he punched him in the face, throwing him over to Katie who aimed a kick at his arm, knocking the gun out of it before kicking him again in the chest, sending him sprawling into the bathroom. Bucky picked the third soldier up easily and slammed him into the wall, letting him fall down.

“Buck, stop! You’re gonna kill someone.” Steve ran forward, but Bucky easily dodged him and slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

“I’m not gonna kill anyone!” He growled, punching a hole into the floor. He grabbed a backpack from under the floorboards and threw it across the room and out of the window. Then came more gun fire and Katie dropped to the floor, rolling to her right and firing a shot in the direction of the shooting hearing a yell as her bullet hit her target in the knee. Steve, again, flung his shield up and Bucky shoved him hard in the back sending him flying into another solider, taking him down. Katie scrambled to her feet again unable to do anything but watch as Bucky punched a hole through the wall next to the door before bashing it open and continuing to fight his way out.

“You alright?” Steve asked, as she dusted herself off.

“This isn’t exactly going to plan is it?” She shook her head as they ran out of the door just in time to see Bucky jump on a soldier who was descending from a zip wire and swinging down a level in the stairwell of the apartment block. One of the soldiers was screaming into his radio. Steve grabbed it from him, then smashed it with his foot before he jumped down a level after Bucky. Katie, took the sensible option and ran down the stairs, taking out anyone blocking her way.

Bucky was punching soldiers left and right until he ducked as he hit another accidentally sending him over the railing, but Steve was quick to catch him by his vest.

“Come on man,” He sighed wearily. Bucky’s only response was a shrug which he emphasized by elbowing a soldier that was behind him, while Steve pulled up the one he was holding onto and tossed him into a wall. Bucky jumped over the railing down several flights but by the time Steve caught up with him he had dodged into an apartment and jumped from the railings

“Damned it!” Steve cursed as he watched Bucky land on the lower roof of the neighbouring building with some force, but he simply rolled as if the fall hadn’t bothered him at all, picked up his backpack and ran.  But he didn’t get far, a muscular man clad entirely in black slammed into him from behind knocking him down.

“Sam southwest rooftop.” Steve suddenly reported to Sam as he watched the man in the black suit, which looked very much like a big cat moved with breath-taking agility and grace, slashing with sharp claws on each hand as he tackled Bucky.

“Who the hell’s the other guy?” Sam asked Steve on the coms.  

“I’m about to find out.” Steve backed up before he too launched himself from the balcony down onto the neighbouring building. Katie ran into the apartment just in time to see him land on the other roof-top and she frowned at the mystery man in some form of cat suit who was lunging at Bucky with his claws. Bucky grabbed his wrists holding him off but at that moment a helicopter that had appeared began to fire its machine gun. Both Katie from her vantage point, and Steve who was bolting towards the men, frowned as he saw the ammo ping back off the man’s suit just like it did off his shield.

“Sam…” Katie said as Steve continued to run towards Bucky, shield raised. Sam understood what she was implying instantly.  

“Got him.” He replied, flying down he spun under the chopper, grabbing the rails at the bottom, spinning it off course before swooping off. As Katie continued to watch Bucky leapt off the side of the roof to the floor, and the mystery cat man followed using his claws for traction down the side of the building. Steve was shortly behind, rolling along the floor before picking himself up and running after the pair of them, Sam flying behind. Then, the helicopter began to follow, gunfire tearing up the side walk.  

“Shit.” Katie ran down and emerging into the street, sprinting as fast as she could. Spotting an abandoned motorbike which had been ditched in the fracas she hopped on and sped after them, mentally thanking Natasha for the bike driving lessons.

It was chaos, absolute chaos. Bucky jumped down through a gap into the underpass, Steve and the mystery cat man following, as they themselves were being pursued by an armoured vehicle. Well, at least they were until Steve managed to pull the driver out and take the vehicle himself. He saw a motorbike coming up behind him in the mirrors and did a double take as he saw it was Katie. She pulled up alongside him and with one hand she grabbed the passenger door and yanked it open, before placing both her hands on the rim of the door and using it as leverage to swing herself feet first into the car.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Steve asked, open mouthed as she dropped into the seat next to him.

“Nat.” She shrugged, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do or be taught. Steve gave a small smirk and then turned to look back at the road, switching lanes and cruising past mystery cat man.  Then there was a thud and Katie glanced back over her shoulders. Mystery cat man had latched himself onto the back of the car.

“Hold on!” Steve yelled before swerving the car to the right then the left hoping to dislodge him but no such luck. He even rammed the side of the car into another Special Forces vehicle but nothing, he hung tight.

“Sam we can’t shake this guy.” Steve reported.

“Right behind you.”

In front of them Bucky jumped the barrier to the other side of the road so Steve dropped the car a gear and pressed harder on the gas, breaking straight through it. A quick glance through the mirrors told Katie that it was enough to slow down the Germans but not to dislodge their passenger.

“This guy is more of a pain in the ass than Tony.” Katie sighed, turning back to look out of the front. Just as she did, Bucky clearly decided he needed his own mode of transportation and grabbed the handle bars of a motorbike which was speeding towards him. He dislodged the driver in mid-air while the bike spun and threw his leg over the seat all in one fluid motion. He then landed and sped away.

“Holy shit!” Katie let out a small laugh of disbelief, her jaw dropping slightly as she smirked at Bucky’s unbelievable display of acrobatics. “Did you see that?”

Steve looked at her for a split second, taking in the smirk on her face as she admired Bucky’s agility, surprised to feel he was slightly jealous. With a sigh, more at himself than anything, he shook his head. That insecure little kid from Brooklyn really had picked the most inappropriate time to appear. It didn’t help when she spoke again, a cheeky lilt to her voice.

“Can you do that?”

Steve shot her a glare that would make anyone else shake in their boots but it made Katie do nothing but frown at the open display of hostility he very rarely used on her. Before she could respond, however, there was a thud on the roof as mystery cat man climbed on top of the car and then launched himself at Bucky. The soldier on the bike was prepared though, and grabbed him around the throat, flinging him over his head. But the mystery cat man was persistent, hanging on even as the bike tipped and Bucky was forced to use his metal hand so that he didn’t fall off the bike completely. He kicked the cat man away before straightening his bike and speeding ahead.

Steve swerved to avoid running mystery cat man over while he caught other means of transportation, meaning he grabbed onto Sam’s legs as he was flying by. Ahead of them Bucky threw a sticky bomb at the top of the overpass which immediately went off and began raining down debris.  

“Time to go.” Steve grabbed Katie as he slammed on the breaks turning the car sharply. He pulled her out of the door, using his shield to land on as the car began to tilt on its side. They dodged through the rubble, Steve’s shield over their heads and once they were clear, Steve sped off to where the cat man was mounted on top of Bucky ready to rip his throat out.

Sam emerged from the dust but seconds later there was loud clang and War Machine landed holding up his hand with repulsor beams at the ready in warning. More German Special Forces arrived and they knew the game was up. But Steve and Katie both looked at each other, chests heaving with exertion and dare they say it, relief. They had located Bucky after years of searching, he was still alive and could be questioned, which meant there was a chance they could clear all this up.

Steve felt Bucky step forward, and he instantly held his arm out to stop him. .

“Stand down now.” Rhodey spoke with authority and the Special Forces aimed their guns at them all. Steve relented placing his shield onto his back harness showing compliance as he held his hands up, palms outwards.

“Congratulations Cap, you’re a criminal.” Rhodey said sarcastically. As soldiers surrounded Bucky forcing him down to his knees so they could hand cuff him tightly.

Katie and Sam raised their hands in surrender as the soldiers approached them too. The mystery cat man was the last to comply retracting his claws and reaching up to his helmet.

“Call them off Rhodey.” Katie looked at him, nodding to the soldier who had his gun trained on her “We’ll come quietly.”

Rhodey turned to look at her and then nodded at the officer, who lowered his gun, but that didn’t stop them from handcuffing her. As she shot a look over her shoulder at the man who was slapping on the restraints she gave him a small smirk and then turned back to look at mystery cat man, just as he pulled off his mask.

“What the…” Katie frowned, recognising him instantly. It was T’Challa, the prince of Wakanda.

“Your highness.” Rhodey said.

There was a scuffle to Katie’s right and she turned to see that Bucky was being hauled to the floor.

“Don’t hurt him.” She turned to Rhodey, pleading with him. “Please. He saved my life, he’s still a human being!”

Rhodey hesitated slightly but then one of the soldiers shoved Katie in the back.

“Move.” he said in a thick accent.

“Say please.” She spun round, glaring at him. “Fucking asshole.”

“Katie.” Steve instructed gently as he walked towards her, being marched by two other soldiers. She turned to him and he gave a small shake of his head, warning her not to start another fight, before he nodded towards the black SUV.

“You know what the worse bit about all this is?” Katie sighed, as she fell into step beside Steve.

Steve looked at her, “No, what?”

“The lecture I’m going to get off Tony.”

One they had been stripped of their weapons and gear they were released from their handcuffs. Rubbing her wrists, Katie raised an eyebrow at Rhodey.

“Now what?” 

“You’ll be given chance to change and clean up before going to Berlin,” Rhodey said, as the side of the SUV they were by opened and they were instructed to climb in. “Where you’ll be put into the custody of the Anti-Terrorism Unit.”

“So we’re terrorists now?” Katie snorted.

“You knew what would happen if you went against the law.”

She gave a sarcastic, fake yawn and behind her Sam sniggered before he looked at Rhodey

“This make you feel good?” Sam asked.

“Okay, enough!” Steve loudly shut down the petty squabble that was about to erupt between the two men “Yes, Rhodey we knew what would happen, but we also knew what would happen if we didn’t.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“That you would never have taken him alive.” He nodded to where Bucky was being hauled into the back of a separate vehicle. “And you know that too.”

******

“So you like cats?”

“Sam.” Steve scolded as Katie snorted, looking out of the window of the SUV as they drove over a bridge that crossed the River Spree. T’Challa was on the front row of the SUV alone, then Steve and Katie had sat on the middle, Sam on the back row.

“What?” Sam asked innocently. “Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don’t wanna’ know more?”

Katie was inclined to agree, Steve however, was curious about something else.

“Your suit. It’s Vibranium?” He asked in interest.

“The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations.” T'Challa began slowly. “A mantle passed from warrior to warrior. And now because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So I ask you, as both warrior and king, how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?”

T'Challa turned his head to look Steve directly in the eye then turned back around without another word as Steve clenched his jaw.

They arrived at the CIA base in Berlin in record time thanks to the police convey that kept the streets clear. The base was crawling with heavily armed soldiers as they stepped out of the van and were led inside. Katie shrugged on her leather jacket, pausing as Bucky’s cage followed them being moved by a small forklift. Besides her Steve stiffened as he looked over at Bucky and Katie gently placed her hand on at the bottom of his back. Bucky looked at the pair of them before he turned away as he was taken off in a separate direction.

After an introduction of sorts to Thaddeus Ross (Sharon’s boss) they were informed their weapons would be placed in a lock up, prompting Sam to snarl angrily- “I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that.” They were then led over a walkway and Katie looked past Ross and saw a familiar redhead walking towards them. Natasha’s face was blank as she strode down the walkway.

“For the record.” She snapped as she looked at the three of them in turn before she focussed on Steve. “This is what making things worse looks like.”

“He’s alive.” Steve answered shortly, not looking at her as he walked past, his jacket flapping slightly, pulling Katie with him as his hand wrapped around hers.

Natasha just glared at him before she walked quicker, pulling ahead of the group as they reached a large security office. Natasha led the way in, and Katie instantly picked up as she could hear Tony’s voice from inside,

“The remaining of us are now at court-section.” He was saying. And as they entered she saw her brother standing in the centre of the office, talking into his phone with his back to the door as he added, “And, Colonel Ross is supervising the clean-up.”

Despite everything Katie felt a rush of relief, it good to see him, alive and okay after Vienna.

“Try not to break anything while we fix this.” Natasha snapped and Katie’s attention then turned from her brother to her friend and she shook her head.

“Ass kissing doesn’t suit you, Nat.”  

Tony turned to face them all, his face set in a deep frown as he barked into his phone, pulling at his tie to loosen it off. "Consequences? You bet there will be consequences.”

Steve raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing at Katie who rolled her eyes before she looked at Tony as he continued to talk “Obviously you can quote me on that because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir.”

As he placed his phone back into his pocket, his eyes never left his sister. “You okay?” He asked and she nodded, stepping forwards into his arms, giving him a hug which he returned.

"Consequences?” Steve repeated with a smirk as Tony looked over Katie’s shoulder at him.

“Secretary Ross wants you three prosecuted.” Tony answered, stepping back and releasing Katie. “I had to give him something.” He added.

“I’m not getting that shield back, am I?” Steve asked in an almost monotone voice.

“Technically, it’s the government’s property.” Natasha replied cheerily. “Wings too.” She added.

“That’s cold.” Sam countered

“Warmer than jail.” Tony tossed over his shoulder, as he headed off somewhere.

“Stop being so melodramatic.” Katie rolled her eyes, and stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans as Natasha led them to an office, talking to them as she went, telling them about what had been going on. They walked in silence, none of them responding. Eventually they reached a glass walled office and stepped inside.

“You’re not in a very talkative mood I can see.” Natasha drawled as Katie dropped her jacket over the back of a chair.

“Hmmm what can we talk about? Let’s see.” Katie looked at her, her face angry. “Oh how about the Accords?” Natasha rolled her eyes as Katie continued with a tone of disdain. “You know, I never had you down as someone that would give in so easily to control.”

“Well sometimes we have to make some tough choices.”

“Why’d you really sign, Nat?“ Steve asked her.

She sighed leaning back on the door frame. “Loyalty. Loyalty to our team. Staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

Steve shook his head, giving a small snort of laughter. “I don’t agree, and deep down, I don’t think you do either.”

“Believe what you want.” She shrugged before leaving.

About half an hour later after the three of them had been brainstorming again who they thought was actually responsible for bombing the UN and trying to fit Bucky up (none of them having any sensible ideas whatsoever), Sam excused himself heading off in search of some food and drink and it wasn’t long before Tony walked into the office were Katie and Steve were sat, Katie’s feet resting in Steve’s lap, his hand sliding up the bottom of her jeans, stroking the smooth skin just above the line of her ankle boots.

“You wanna see something cool?” He asked. Katie and Steve both turned to look at him as he walked in, holding a small black case. “I pulled something from Dad’s archives.” He nodded, “Timely.”

Katie sat up as Tony tossed his suit jacket onto one of the empty seats before he opened the box and placed it down on the shiny, mahogany table in front of Steve.

"FDR signed the Land-Lease bills with these in 1941.” Tony explained what they were. “Provided support to the allies when they needed it the most.”

“Some would say it brought our country closer to war.” Steve countered, a humourless smile on his face as he looked back up at Tony.

Tony met Steve’s eyes evenly and countered with his own point, “See, if not for these, you wouldn’t be here.” Steve’s brow rose, while Tony continued, “I’m trying to, what do you call it? An olive branch. Is that what you call it?

He looked at Steve, leaning his face against his fist as he waited expectantly. Steve pursed his lips unhappily and Katie knew he was struggling and couldn’t tell Tony what he wanted to hear because he didn’t believe in it.

"Is Pepper here?” Katie asked, switching topics as she glanced around the office then added, “I didn’t see her.”

She looked back at Tony as a strange almost regretful look came over his face. Her brows furrowed in confusion as Tony said slowly, measured, “We are… kinda, well not kinda-”

“Pregnant?” Steve interrupted in surprise.

“No, definitely not.” Tony said immediately face souring slightly. He paused, before finally admitting the truth, “We’re taking a break. It’s nobody’s fault.”

“I’m so sorry, Tony.” Steve spoke softly as Katie looked at her brother, who took a seat at the table “I didn’t know.”

“What did you do this time?” Katie asked gently. She hated it when they rowed and broke up. It never lasted long but still…

Tony’s lips twitched like he was going to smile but didn’t, “Few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA. And then Ultron,” he tapped himself in the chest, “my fault.” He sighed again. “And then, and then, and then- I never stopped. Cause the truth is, I don’t wanna stop but I don’t want to lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference.”

“In her defence, you are a handful.” Katie said, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

Tony smiled without it reaching his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, pacing a little by the glass walls, before he reached up to adjust his tie as he continued bitterly.

“Yet, dad was a pain in the ass, but he and mom always made it work.”

“You know, I never expected Howard would get married.” Steve said, fondly remembering his friend with a smile “Mind you, I only knew him when he was young and single.”

“Oh really?” Tony asked sarcastically as he looked back at Steve. “You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times.”

Steve winced, dropping his head and while Tony picked up his suit jacket. “God, I hated you.” He spat pulling the jacket on.

“That’s a dick thing to say, Tone!” Katie frowned, narrowing her eyes at her brother.  

Steve sighed, and he looked back at Tony with sad eyes, “I don’t mean to make things difficult.”

“No, you just dropped into my life and married my sister.” Tony snorted “But you’re a very polite person. I mean you asked first.”

“That’s enough.” Katie chastised as Tony walked behind Steve, pacing a little. Steve turned to keep his eyes on him as he sighed

“If I see a situation pointed south, I can’t ignore it. Sometime I wish I could.”

“No, you don’t.” Tony challenged

Steve paused, before he admitted with a small, wry smile shaking his head a little, “No, I don’t.” He sighed, “Sometimes-”

“Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth.” Tony interrupted bitterly. He shrugged like it was a fact, before he added softly, “but I don’t wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap.”

Steve stared at Tony as he considered his words, Katie observing the two of them silently as Tony continued “So far, nothing’s happened that can’t be undone, if you just sign.” He gestured at the pens, “We can make the last twenty-four hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych centre instead of a Wakanda prison.”

Steve stared at the pens, weighing Tony’s words before he reached out, pulling one slowly from its holder. Tony folded his arms across his chest as Steve stood up playing with the pen in his hands.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible,” he took a deep breath, “but there would have to be safeguards, what do you think, Sweetheart?” He looked at Katie. He was trying here, after everything, to reach the middle ground. He didn’t want to see the Avengers split up and the opportunity of keeping Bucky out of jail and safe was one he couldn’t pass up.

Katie looked at him, searching his face. She hadn’t been completely opposed to some form of sanctions after all, what she had opposed vehemently was a set being force upon them which gave them no control. But maybe, as Steve pointed out, with some amendments, perhaps they could make this work.

“We need to be able to have some control Tony, a say in where we go, when we go and why we go.” Katie eventually looked at her brother. “We’re not to be used as some pawns in a political game, for anyone’s agenda.”

“Sure.” Tony was quick to assure. “Once we put out the PR fire, its documents, they can be amended.” Tony sat back down at the table “I’d file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated and-.“

"Wanda?” Katie cut him off and looked at him. “What about Wanda?”

“She’s fine.” Tony promised, although wariness leaked into his tone because he knew he had just put his foot in it. “She’s confined in the compound currently. Vision’s keeping her company.”

“Oh God, Tony!” Katie groaned and threw her head backwards in exasperation and disbelief.

At the same time Steve scoffed and shook his head. “Every time. Every time I think you’re seeing things the right way-”

"What?” Tony cut in, “It’s a hundred acres with a lap pool. It’s got a screening room. Trust me, there’s worse ways to protect people.”

“Protection?” Steve repeated, his temper rising. “Is that how you see this? This is protection? It’s internment.”

“She’s not a US citizen-” Tony spoke loudly while Steve and Katie groaned again

“Oh, come on, Tony!”  Katie shook her head, looking at him.

“- and they don’t grant visas to Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Tony finished taking a deep breath

“Wanda’s a kid!” Steve spat out.

“Give me a break!” Tony shouted back angrily.

Katie’s eyes narrowed furiously, but Tony took another deep breath as he visibly tried to calm himself down,

“I’m doing what has to be done,” He paused to look Steve in the eye before he turned to his sister and finished flatly. “To stave off something worse.”

She shook her head and grit her teeth, there was no discussing with him when he was like this, and if he couldn’t see that keeping Wanda on house arrest because she hadn’t signed was wrong then she didn’t really want to discuss it with him anyway.  "You keep telling yourself that.” She answered.

"Hate to break up the set.” Steve dropped the pen back down onto the desk before he left the office.

Katie groaned and banged her head on the desk.

“Kiddo…”

“Just don’t.” She replied, not looking up. “Don’t say a word Tony, you’ve already said enough.”

****

“The receipt for your gear.”  Sharon walked into the room, handing Sam a piece of paper.

Sam took the paper, glancing down at it. “'Bird costume’? Come on, girl.” He spat incredulously reading the receipt.

“I didn’t write it.” Sharon shot back and Katie raised a brow as she watched the woman, noticing her movements, before she reached past Sam and pressed a button in the middle of the conference table. Instantly the audio from the footage they were watching of Bucky’s questioning flooded the room and Steve looked at Sharon in surprise and she nodded back to him. Katie also gave her a look of appreciation as well and Sharon averted her eyes beyond the conference room. Katie followed her gaze and saw Natasha looking furtively over her shoulder. Katie nodded to Nat, understanding instantly she’d had a hand in this. Nat inclined her head slightly before she turned back around to watch her own set of screens.

“I’m not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James?” The man in the cage gave no response so the doctor tried again. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, James.”

“My name is Bucky.” Bucky answered voice rough, a hint of defiance in his tone.

Steve’s lips pursed, and he turned back to the table with a frown. He picked up the discarded file, pulling out the Vienna security camera photos that showed the man the task force identified as Bucky from near the bomb site.

“Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?” Steve asked handing the picture over to Katie, as she perched on the table beside him.

Sam frowned, while Sharon shrugged and answered the best way she could, “Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?”

“Right.” Steve said flatly nodding but it wasn’t enough for him. Katie cottoned on instantly.

“It’s a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken.” She shrugged and Sam’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward on his arms, while Steve continued for her.

“Suddenly you’ve got seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.”

“You’re saying someone framed him to find him.” Sharon asked slowly, summarizing their point.

“Steve, we looked for the guy for two years, and bar when he pulled your Missus out of that Hydra base, we found nothing.” Sam pointed out.

“We didn’t bomb the UN.” Katie answered. “That turns a lot of heads.”

“Yeah.” Sharon joined in quietly, “but that doesn’t guarantee that whoever framed him would get him, it guarantees that we would…”

She trailed off as all 4 of them shared an understanding glance.

Steve turned around sharply to look back at the screen showing Bucky and the UN psychiatrist, before he muttered "Yeah.” Someone had brought him here for a reason. Who, and why?

“Tell me Bucky.” The man interrogating Bucky continued on. “You’ve seen a great deal, haven’t you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Bucky answered flatly keeping his response short.

“You feel that, if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don’t worry.” He tapped at his screen “We only have to talk about one.”

The building suddenly went dark, the power going out leaving on the emergency red lights flashing ominously. Katie hopped off the table and Steve turned urgent eyes on Sharon.

“Sub-level five, east wing.” She answered the silent question quickly.

Steve looked at Sam and he nodded then the three of them ran out of the office, using the distraction of the power outage to their advantage as they raced down the stairs to get to the level Bucky was on.

They ran down two flights of stairs before they finally reached the hallway that led to Bucky’s holding room. Steve stopped when they reached the last corridor and spotted the guards lying on the ground. He glanced back to exchange looks with Katie and Sam as they both came to a stop behind him. Now wary of what they were walking into, and highly conscious that none of them had any weapons, they made their way cautiously down the corridor. Katie bent down to check the fallen soldiers. One had a strong pulse, the other…

“He’s dead.” She muttered looking up. Steve let out a sigh of frustration and moved into the security room besides the cell, Sam and Katie close behind.  

The further into the room they went the more dead soldiers they encountered when a sudden raspy voice came from in the room that held Bucky’s containment unit. “Help me.”

Steve looked ahead to see the man who had been interrogating Bucky, lying on his side by the empty cage, clutching his side as if in pain. Steve stomped into the room angrily, ignoring the man as he begged for help again.

“Get up.” He snapped reaching down to grab the man by the front of his jacket, hauling him to his feet. The man eyed him carefully as Steve glared shoving him into a wall and snarling. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The man met his gaze, his eyes becoming cold and dark as answered lowly, “To see an empire fall.”

A movement in the corner of the room caught Katie’s eye. Sam and her ducked just in time as the Winter Soldier leapt from where he had been lurking in the shadows, throwing a punch towards Katie. He missed, hitting the concrete doorway and punching a hole through the rock.

Sam acted quickly, punching at the Winter Soldier’s side, but it didn’t even faze the super-solider as he punched Sam straight in the stomach. Sam winced, and doubled over as the Winter Soldier grabbed his chin in his metal hand, throwing him across the room. He then turned his attention to Katie, and she knew that throwing punches wasn’t going to work so all she could do was duck, using her agility to keep out of his way. She bent backwards as he made to grab her but then Steve ran at him, ducking as the Winter Soldier swung his arm out. Once the metal arm passed over his head, Steve threw a punch of his own, hitting the Soldier right in the face, and the man snarled as he swung his fist back at Steve, who dodged it. The Winter Soldier suddenly kicked out, landing a solid kick right to Steve’s stomach and Steve grunted as he was thrown backwards, landing in the security room.

The Winter Soldier strode towards him but Steve was already back on his feet and blocked the next kick with his bare hands. Katie was powerless to help; she had nothing on her, no stingers, no guns no Supernova suit. She frantically searched the room for something she could use as a weapon as the pair of super soldiers continued to fight, throwing kicks and punches while parrying and blocking the other’s moves, heading back out into the corridor. As Steve fell through the doorway again, Katie grabbed the cable she was holding and launched herself at the Winter Soldier jumping onto his back and wrapping the cable around his neck. He spun round angrily, grabbing at the cable before he reached up with his metal arm and grabbed the back of her hair, flipping her up and over before flinging her across the room at Steve who had pulled himself up against the elevator doors. Steve grunted as he caught her but quickly set her on her feet before shoving her out of the way just in time, as the Winter Soldier threw his whole weight into a punch to Steve’s chest, blowing him straight through the metal doors and down the elevator shaft.

Katie kicked at the desk in front of her, sending it The Soldier’s way as he was now advancing on her, but he broke through it easily, not even slowing in the slightest. She dodged under his arm and aimed a kick at the side of his knee, catching him perfectly and he stumbled forward. She then went to kick him again but he raised his metal arm to take the brunt of it, catching her leg so it was trapped between his arm and chest.

“Bucky this isn’t you.” Her words meant nothing to him. He grabbed a handful of her shirt with his other hand lifting her and tossing her like a rag doll straight into the wall where she banged her head painfully, causing her to see stars. She lay still for a while, dazed but and then she heard Sam shout

“Hey. You alright?”

“I think so.” She blinked groggily as Sam gently helped her to her feet. Everything seemed to work.

“C'mon,” He urged, heading towards the stairs “That so called doctor just left.”

Before Katie could head up the steps after him, a grunt caught her attention, it was Steve, minus his jacket, climbing his way out of the elevator shaft covered in dirt and sweat and looking far more attractive than he had any right to be in the middle of a damned fight.

“You okay?” He questioned only slightly out of breath from the climb, his hand dropping to his wife’s neck

“Yeah.”

“Bucky?”

“He went that way.” She pointed to the corridor on the left. "Back out to the facility. The doctor, he went the other way, Sam’s gone after him”

Steve quickly nodded. “I’ll get Bucky. You go after Sam and I’ll meet you outside.”

No further discussion was had as they split up.  By the time Katie emerged into the lobby of the facility, it was utter chaos where employees were all crushed together rushing to get out the doors and get to safety.

“Sam, any sign?” She asked as she found him outside looking round.

“No, come on.” He grabbed her hand so that they didn’t lose each other in the crowd as they moved outside the building. Sam stopped to pick up a discarded jacket that he recognised as belonging to the Fake Doctor, and Katie glanced down at it before looking around the crowd. There was no sign of him. It was then that she heard a chopper and instantly glanced up to the top of the building where a helicopter was attempting to take off. But the two-hundred plus pounds of super-solider hanging onto the landing skids was not letting go that easy. He kept hold as the helicopter dragged him to the edge, his boots skidding on the Heli-pad before he reached the end. Gritting his teeth he clung onto the skids of the helicopter with one hand, the other onto the railing of the building.

“No way.” Sam shook his head as he and Katie stood looking up at Steve who was stopping the helicopter “No goddamned way.”

The blades of the helicopter spun rapidly but it was going nowhere as Steve switched his grip on the railing. His muscles bulged and felt like they were on fire but he didn’t let go and, with a pained grit of his teeth, he pulled even harder and felt it start to come back to him. Then, it did a sharp turn towards Steve and he dived out of the way as it came to a stop. He stood up, made his way to the door but before he could do anything Bucky’s metal fist smashed through the glass on the door and gripped him round his neck. Steve planted both his feet on the side of the chopper, trying to release himself from the grip but it was no use.

And then the helicopter began sliding.

Katie’s grip tightened around Sam’s hand as they spotted Steve’s figure still attached to the helicopter as it fell from the top of the building and into the lake below. She instantly rushed forwards, but Sam wrapped both arms around her waist to restrain her, stopping her from diving head first into the water after him. 

Not again, she kept thinking to herself, the scenes from the last time him and Bucky had entered the water flashing before her eyes.

She hadn’t realised she was yelling until Sam shouted loudly, and pointed across the water, where a head had broken the surface. Steve was dragging Bucky up beside him. They rushed to the edge of the lake where Steve made sure they got Bucky out first before he hauled himself up beside them, water dripping onto the concrete.

Sam turned his attention to Bucky making sure he was only unconscious and still breathing, while Katie’s focus turned to her husband. The anger at him being a stupid, reckless moron again boiled over.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” She screamed, before she reached back and slapped him hard across the face.  It was enough to make his head snap to the right.

“Ouch.” Sam muttered.

Steve looked at Katie, astonishment and maybe a hint of amusement on his face, before she threw herself into his arms, not caring that he was soaking wet, whilst as he wrapped his arms around her.

“You stupid…” Katie began to sob, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into his wet shirt and his hands tangled in her hair.

“I know, I know.” He muttered. “I’m sorry, Doll.” He dropped a soft kiss to her head before he gently moved her to the side and looked at Sam before nodding to the unconscious Bucky on the floor. “Let’s get out of here.”

**** Chapter 31

**Original Posting**

[hale-13]

Into the Atmosphere

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 13 - Sacrificed

The Infinity Gauntlet, lying harmlessly but ominously in his hands, pulsed with a preternatural warmth and feeling of power that seeped through the Iron Spider and his regular Spidey suit under it. It felt more like a siren’s call than Peter felt comfortable with and he could understand the inclination to slip it on and wield that power.

Words: 2674, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Teen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Pet er Parker, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Thanos

TW: Major Character Injury

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

As a native New Yorker, Peter was used to weird shit as a kid. Watching a wormhole open over the new Stark Industries building? Watching hoards of aliens and space whales filter through to invade Manhattan? No one was prepared for that, least of all a kid.

May and Ben, an ER nurse and a police officer respectively had both been held up at work and had not been home with Peter, leaving him completely alone. His heart had pounded in his chest, triggering multiple asthma attacks that were barely mitigated with his inhaler, as he watched and wondered if he would ever see his remaining family ever again. Seeing Iron Man fly a nuke launched by his over government into the wormhole and nearly die had probably affected him more than he cared to admit.

But that was then. Now, Peter had no problem throwing himself head first into danger at smallest provocation. But, that being said, even this was a bit much for him.

The Infinity Gauntlet, lying harmlessly but ominously in his hands, pulsed with a preternatural warmth and feeling of power that seeped through the Iron Spider and his regular Spidey suit under it. It felt more like a siren’s call than Peter felt comfortable with and he could understand the inclination to slip it on and wield that power.

He didn’t stop though. He didn’t give in a slip on the glove or let anything close enough to take it from him, dodging another blast from one of the dog-alien-things and letting his suit’s nanotech appendages (Instant Kill activated and Karen in partial control) stab the creature through its chest and fling it into the distance. Finally reaching a mostly unoccupied area of the battlefield, Peter paused to catch his breath and made an aborted move to rub away the blood he could feeling pooling from his nose onto his upper lip.

A pointless move really. He was wearing a mask after all.

The blond woman who had descended from space (actual space what the hell) in a fiery halo had tried to reach him but was held up by a veritable flood of aliens all vying for her attention. From Peter’s perspective it didn’t look like any of them were really much of a challenge for her but they made up for weakness in sheer numbers; keeping her overwhelmed and unable to break free.

Peter stumbled on tired and weak legs (it had apparently been five years after all, he reserved the right to be tired), doing his best to continue to dodge and disarm as many enemies as he could while still protecting the gauntlet. The rest of the extended Avengers, the Wakandans, the Asgardians were too busy with their own adversaries to help him. In the distance, Iron Man was blasting through the opposition unreservedly, clearly headed in Peter’s direction but vastly too slow to make a difference.

“Hello child,” Thanos deep voice said from behind him, making Peter’s Spidey sense explode. The titan was calm and quiet compared to the battle raging around them. Peter turned and tripped as he tried to back away as quickly as possible. “You have something there that doesn’t belong to you.”

“You can’t have it,” Peter said, surprising himself at the strength and steadiness of his voice compared to the thrum of fear and anxiety sparking through his nerves like lightning.

Thanos tilted his head, inquisitive and regarding Peter with a small, indulgent almost fatherly grin on his face and Peter felt a shiver course down his spine in warning. “You are brave little one. Perhaps to the point of foolishness but brave nonetheless,” he reached out with a weathered hand to grab the gauntlet but the spider legs attached to Peter’s suit lashed out in offense, Peter’s own free hand shooting up to knock Thanos’ aside.

“No means no asshole,” Peter grunted, scuttling up a mound of rocks behind him so he wasn’t at such a height deficit. “Fuck off.”

Thanos just tsk’d and looked at Peter with disappointment like he was a misbehaving puppy or a child throwing a temper tantrum. “I would rather not have to kill you boy. Hand it over.”

Before Peter could open up his mouth to retort, planning on stalling, the glowing woman (Captain Marvel his brain corrected) smacked into the titan’s side and knocked him away from Peter, her glowing fists more than enough to take him on. His expression had changed from benevolent to murderous as he pulled himself to his feet and threw a return punch, eyes never straying from the Infinity Gauntlet in Peter’s hands. “Uh guys?” Peter squeaked into his comms, turning and running away as quickly as his tired body could take him – aiming for the shitty van Ant-Man had been working to repair. “We’ve got to get ride of this thing – anyone free to help?”

“I’m coming Queens,” Captain America panted. “Hang in there,” he said with a grunt, wading his way across the ruins using both his broken shield and Mjolnir to mow down everyone in his way with extreme prejudice. Watching from the corner of his eye Peter’s stomach dropped: there was no way Cap would reach him in time as tired and injured as he was. Mr. Stark was stuck in a similar position, his nanotech suit morphing around him like high tech water to compensate for all of the damage it had taken.

A cold spike of fear went through Peter: they were going to lose. They were going to lose to Thanos again and this time they had pissed him off enough that he would probably forgo the random chance aspect of his plan and kill all of them. He was going to kill all of the Avengers and May and Peter’s friends. He was going to kill everyone who had just been brought back after five years. They would all be gone again.

Peter guzzled air that never quite seemed to reach his lungs, panicking but not stopping in his mad rush to get the gauntlet as far away as possible (hopefully back to the past where the stones belonged), the sounds of the battle muffled and silent around him. As if by fate, he glanced up and locked eyes with Dr. Strange, stuck holding back a spout of water that would otherwise flood the field, but with his attention solely focused on Peter.

His face was sad and sympathetic as he grimaced and held up a single, shaking finger mouthing ‘there was no other way’ and Peter skidded to an abrupt stop.

Oh.

Peter looked down at the oversized gauntlet resting in his hands and let his mask slide off his face to merge with the neck of his suit. Taking a quick look around him, Peter gave one final sniff and looked back at Dr. Strange, giving a firm and sure nod of understanding.

He knew what he had to do.

The stones glittered across the knuckles of the modified Iron Man gauntlet prettier than any precious gem Peter had ever seen and it took considerably more effort than he cared to admit to not allow himself to just be mystified by them. Peter adjusted his grip to hold the glove more firmly and began to slip it on, the armor automatically shifting to mold to his smaller hand.

“NO!” Peter huffed and felt a single tear leak from the corner of his eye, tickling his nostril as he ignored the agonized scream of his mentor. The gauntlet was half on. “PETER STOP!”

“I’m so sorry Mr. Stark,” he whispered as his fingers slid into place, the glove fully conforming and tightening around his hand.

The immediate pain was stunning and all encompassing and Peter threw his head back, eyes closed, with a grunt. He knees and muscles, already tired and overworked, turned into jelly and he just let himself drop, breath coming in short pants, hearing ringing and vision blurring and darkening around the edges. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end, his Spidey sense screaming its final death rattle and giving up under the untenable onslaught. His very atoms felt like they were being ripped apart, blowing him apart and remaking him in the Stones image. He wanted to scream but he didn’t have the lung capacity to do much more than endure.

Finally – a second, a minute, a year, an eternity later, everything stabilized just enough for sound to filter back into him: repulsers rushing toward him, angry and desperate yelling from Thanos – barreling toward Peter in a last ditch effort to take the gauntlet for himself – gasps and moans from his own team and silence. Silence as the battle around him stopped and everyone turned to look at him with bated breath.

Using more strength and effort than he ever had before, Peter lifted his shaking right hand up to show the glowing gauntlet to everyone and forced his numb mouth into a lopsided smile – his eyes focused on Tony and only Tony’s terrified face as he said “I’m sorry,” and snapped his fingers.

“Where…?” Peter asked, looking around over the sunset covered lake and then down at his hands – whole and undamaged. He was dressed in his favorite science pun t-shirt, the one Uncle Ben had gotten him their last holiday together and he felt good. No aches and pain from the battle, his arms strong again. He made loose fists with both hands, clenching and relaxing his fingers in absolute wonder at just how good he felt – better than before he had ditched the bus to MOMA that morning (five years ago?) even.

“Hey Petey.”

At the sound of his voicePeter whipped around, already crying streams of silent tears, and wasted no time in rushing the short distance to fling himself into his Uncle’s open arms. “Ben,” he sobbed, embracing the man tightly, afraid he would disappear.

“I’m so proud of you buddy,” Ben whispered, his own tears mingling with Peter’s and returning the hug with equal force. “You’re the kindest, bravest person I’ve ever had the honor to know.”

“Am I dead?” Peter asked, resigned but not sad – he had accepted the possibility the second he put on the Gauntlet.

“Not really,” Ben answered, cryptic. “Somewhere in between would be the best way to describe it.” He stepped back, releasing his hold on Peter to hold him at arms length and grip his shoulders tightly the warm and comforting smile that Peter knew from his childhood on his face. “If you weren’t enhanced you definitely would be but you are so…” Peter just nodded in understanding, furiously wiping at the streams of tears still pouring down his face. “Regardless we don’t have much time.”

“I’m so sorry Ben,” Peter blurted, reaching up a hand to grip tightly onto Ben’s forearm. “I’m so sorry I didn’t stop it. I had my powers, I could have taken the bullet. I could have stopped it.”

Ben’s eyes were soft and his smile lines deepened as his lips twitched up into a sad smile, moving his hands from Peter’s shoulders to cup his face as gently as if he were made of glass. As if he were something precious. “Oh Pete its not your fault, it was never your fault. You were fourteen and staring down the barrel of a gun for the first time, I would have been more concerned if you didn’t freeze.” Ben told him, leaning forward to push their foreheads together, his hand cupping the back of Peter’s neck. “You’re my kid – it doesn’t matter about enhancements or powers – I’ll always put myself between you and danger. I don’t regret anything.”

Peter let out a hoarse sob that shook his frame and pulled Ben back in for another hug. “I love you,” he said fervently, trying to put as much force and emotion into it as he could. “I love you and I miss you and so does May.”

“I love you both so much,” Ben said, squeezing Peter one last time before releasing him and stepping away, water lapping at his ankles and rippling out to the horizon. “As nice as this visit as been Pete, I really hope I don’t see you again any time soon.”

Peter’s answering chuckle was watery will unshed tears, his vision already fading as Ben disappeared followed by the serene lake and sunset; the dusty battlefield snapping back into focus.

His body was numb in the way that promised pain if he could feel anything, his heartbeat stuttering and aching in his chest as Peter collapsed back against a pile of rocks and broken pieces of building. His body was limp and unable to support itself and his head lolled to rest on his undamaged left shoulder.

“Peter!” Tony’s devastated voice creeped in and Peter tried to smile but he couldn’t really tell if his muscles were responding, his eyesight was so dark. Gentle hands pulled him to rest against a warm body, lying his head in a more comfortable position and cupping to undamaged side of his face in a calloused palm. The grip was as careful as if he were made of glass and maybe he was. “Stay with me Pete, just stay with me okay?”

“Tony,” Peter rasped out, his voice broken and so so quiet, but it carried – the battlefield was a silent as a tomb beyond the heavy breathing of the surrounding Avengers. Peter had done it apparently.

His mentor let out a sob that he didn’t bother to disguise and ran his hands through Peter’s sweaty curls – it felt nice. “I’m so proud of you,” Tony said earnestly, echoing Ben and making Peter’s heart clench and skip a beat, his voice absolutely mangled with emotion. “You’re the absolute best of us and I’m so beyond proud of you buddy but I just need you to stay awake okay kiddo?”

“I’m tired,” Peter croaked, his eyes sinking closed against his will and only reopening due to Tony’s panicked jostling.

“I know kiddo, I know,” Tony choked out. “I’ll let you rest soon I promise but just humor me a little longer alright? A few more minutes for your old mentor huh?”

“Love you,” Peter said, forcing his voice to be as strong as possible even as his body sagged further and his heart rate slowed. “Tell May… Love her.” He was ready to rest. Peter’s left hand, barely gripping Tony’s with the very last of his strength, loosened and fell against his chest. His eyesight failed.

The last thing he heard was Tony, crying and begging him to stay.

————————————————

Part of Peter expected to be back in the lake or with Ben but instead he was met with only darkness.

It worked for him though to be honest. He could relax in the dark, let his mind wander and rest in equal measure, his worries gone and – for the first time in a long time – feeling no pain.

On occasion he thought he could hear voices whispering in the distance or see something bright far away but neither stayed long enough for him to investigate further. He still felt tired down to his bones and, as the time passed, his right side began to feel more and more like static and less numb, bright sparks of something like pain flaring through him like lightening and soon forgotten.

The light flickered – sometimes brighter sometimes nearly dimmed out – but seemed to get closer to more Peter looked at it and memories filtered in. Space, melting into dust, fighting with his childhood heroes, snapping, Ben… Tony… wanting to give up so bad but not doing it.

“Please wake up,” a broken voice whispered in the distance. “Please don’t die when I just got you back.”

Seconds, minutes, days, years later Peter opened eyelids that weighed a ton each to look around with blurry vision at the white room around him and the dark human-shaped spot next to him, his lips turning up just the smallest amount.

[s-trawberryv-eins]

A Poorly Kept Secret

NOT MY GIF

Prompt: Fake not dating for @lets-hargrooves writing challenge!

Summary: The plan was to keep it secret a little longer. Sam has other ideas.

Warnings: Violence, injury, angst.

A/N: My terrible and LATE entry for the Valentines Day Writing Challenge. My prompt was fake not dating. I kinda strayed but I think (?) it still counts! It’s absolute trash, it’s sh*t, don’t waste your time! Hasn’t been proofread, try not to throw up when you read it!

Bucky Barnes x reader

Avengers x reader

Word count: 2839

Masterlist

“Good evening Agent, Sergeant.” As Y/N and Bucky strolled into the empty common room hand in hand, the were immediately greeted by FRIDAY. “You’re both required upstairs straight away.”

Sharing a look of confusion, the pair headed straight to the elevator with a shrug. As they waited, Barnes realised he really didn’t want to let go of the girls hand. Tonight had been their third date, and his feelings for his teammate had grown quickly.

“I wish we coulda stayed out longer.” Y/N smiled at his confession, a faint blush staining her cheeks.

“Me too. But I’m gonna run the risk of assuming we’d both be up for another date, so I’m not gonna cry too hard about it.” The smile on her face made her cheeks ache, but she relished in the feeling. Taking a step closer to the soldier, she kept her eyes on his, staring up through thick black lashes.

“I would 100%, most definitely be up for another date, Miss Y/L/N. In fact, I insist upon it.” Barnes’ words had her blushing again, and she subconsciously scolded herself for falling for the man so quickly.

“I’ll make the reservations.” Bucky left no room for disagreement but found she didn’t mind so long as they were going out again.

“Where?”

“I’m not telling.” And then her lips were on his and she swore she’d never felt anything like it before. Soft and hot, seared into her brain for the rest of time and thank god because to forget this would be to commit a crime punishable by death. Bucky’s hand that held her own was pressed against her back, holding her ever closer. His other hand rested at the base of her neck as he ran his thumb over her flushed cheek.

It wasn’t their first kiss, but it was most definitely their first kiss. And as they separated, breathless and surprised by Y/N sudden initiation of the intimacy, they stayed close; foreheads resting against each other, hands still entwined. As if the universe had been looking down on them, the elevator doors opened not a second too soon, allowing them to have their moment in peace.

-

After no less than fifteen minutes in the board room, the team was fully briefed and boarding the Quinjet, headed for the Appalachian Mountains. Tasks and objectives had been delegated, and everybody knew their roles.

“Hey Y/N? Where were you tonight?” Natasha and Y/N had planned to train together, but the latter had bailed after making plans with Bucky.

“Oh. I was on a date, actually. Some loser I met on my run this morning. Definitely won’t be seeing him again.” Scrunching her nose up in faux disgust, Natasha laughed and went to sit with the girl to press for details. The lie came easily enough; she was rather gifted in the field of espionage after all.

Something in Bucky’s chest sank a little at her words. It’d been his idea to keep it between the two of them, but it wasn’t pleasant. When Sam approached, it only made matters worse.

“Why the sour face? You mad cos people here can actually get dates? Ha. I’ll set you up Barnes!” Trying his best to tune his friend out, Bucky made himself comfortable. It was going to be a long flight.

-

After three days, the Winter Solider was becoming increasingly frustrated with the current state of affairs. Barnes and Barton had been paired up and given the job of the eyes in the sky. The site they were aiming to infiltrate and take down was located on the east side of the mountain range. Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier were to keep an eye out, and slowly dispose of the guards who stood around the perimeter.

The facility was expecting two ‘specialists’ to arrive from England. After the team had located the expected, they grabbed them before they’d made their presence known. Upon learning that the facility did not know what they looked like, only their names, Y/N and Sam had volunteered to go under cover; Bucky wasn’t happy, but he was even more unhappy that he couldn’t really protest.

The rest of the team were to infiltrate the site and free the hostages being held there for human experimentation, before taking the whole thing to pieces.

The only problem was, this couldn’t be an in and out mission. It relied heavily on Falcon and Y/C/N disabling the surprisingly high-tech security system.  In order to stand a chance, they had to be trusted enough to be left alone - an unlikely feat.

“Romanoff,” Barnes’ watchful eye spotted two guards approaching from the right, a blind spot the redheaded assassin was working around. “3 ‘o’ clock.” With his eye trained perfectly on the scope of his weapon, he offered a countdown for Black Widow to position herself accordingly.

“In 3...2…” In the space of a second, Natasha had cleared the space, Bucky had fired, and his targets were down. Clockwork.

A thankyou from Natasha and she was back to work. 

“If everything’s gone to schedule, we should be clear for entry in 3 minutes. If not, we’ve got trouble and we need to get those two out of here.” 

An arrow fired, narrowly missing the Captain as it soared through the air and pierced the jugular of an approaching target. Steve’s eyes tracked the path of the arrow, scowling when they landed on the man who let it fly.

“Nearly had my eye out, Barton.”

But with a soft smirk and a tilt of the head, the marksman replied “no chance, Cap. I never miss!”

“If you’ve done flirting, shall we?” Tony’s voice rang out, summoning those on ground level to the rendezvous point. As they approached, Steve stood forward, waiting for Tony’s signal to attempt entrance. The blond reached for the door but jumped back into a defensive stance when the buzzer sounded, and the door seemed to open by itself.

Everyone readied for a fight, unsure of what they’d find waiting for them behind the large steel contraption when a voice crackled through.

“I’m sorry guys. We were made.”

-

The doors peeled open, loud and creaking, adding to the tension that stood in the moment. Two guards stepped into the light, one gripping Y/N by her neck and the other Sam. It was clear that they’d not lasted long in the facility by the way the bruising had coloured on their faces. Yellowing already, it was proof that their friends had been suffering several days.

Bucky stood breathless; unsure of how to respond to the threat in front of him, he did the only thing he felt he could. Shouldering his weapon once again, he trained it on the face of the man who held the girl he was falling for, unsure of whether she was even still breathing.

Upon watching Barnes take aim, Barton followed suit, waiting for instructions from his Captain.

“We’ve got a lock.”

“Negative! Y/L/N and Wilson could be dead before you’ve even released. Stand down.” Drawing a shaky breath, Bucky was set to follow orders when a gravelly feminine voice broke through the comms tech. 

“Do it, Bucky.” Panic bloomed in his chest, a feeling he’d never felt before.

“Do it or he will. You don’t really think they’ll let us leave alive, do you? We saw too much.” As the words left her mouth, the grip on her throat increased. Bucky couldn’t breathe. Her words were true, he knew that much. But was he really capable of shooting his teammate, of shooting Y/N?

“Stop talking or your friend dies.” Sam was hanging onto consciousness by a thread, but he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“South east wing has an elevator-“ Sam screwed his eyes shut as he felt the gun press into his back, and he readied himself for death.

“Bottom floor-“ the gunshots fired before anybody could blink. Y/Ns body crumpled to the ground, as did the men holding the two Avengers captive, but Sam stayed on his feet. Spinning around to assess the damage, the team snapped back into action immediately. Steve called for a medical evacuation whilst Sam located the shot the girl had suffered.

“GSW to the shoulder. She’s losing too much, she’s been...she’s been bleeding for-“ A hand came to sit on Wilson’s shoulder, gently prying him from the girl.

“Sam? Hey! You’re in shock. Let Tony take a look.” Natasha pulled Falcon along, barely flinching when he threw himself into her arms.

“Good shot, Barnes. In one side, out the other. And into that guys chest by the looks of things. You too, Hawkeye.” Tony assessed the damage before coating the bullet wound in an antibacterial spray.

The men simply nodded, but Bucky barely heard a thing for the sound of his blood thundering through his veins. 

-

“Sam, please. You’ve got to stop doing this to yourself. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I’m the one who shot her, for crying out loud.” Bucky tried to reason with his friend, who, since returning home from the mission, had buried himself in a ditch of guilt, shame, and helplessness as Y/N remained unconscious, hooked up to a range of machines in the med bay.

“You weren’t in there, Barnes! You weren’t…I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t make it.” Sam’s confession had Bucky’s heart jump up and land in his throat. He’d been gripping on to the hope the doctors had given them, and he’d been remaining laughably optimistic since they returned. But if she didn’t pull through? What would any of them do?

The Winter Soldier looked his friend up and down; Sam had been in bad shape when they wheeled him from the Quinjet, but the wounds were mostly superficial. After a round of antibiotics, a good nights sleep and a day of bed rest, he was feeling better – physically, at least. The same couldn’t be said for Y/N.

An angry infection had spread from a wound on her leg, poisoning her bloodstream and preventing her healing. Surprising, but much to Bucky’s relief, the gunshot wound had been the least of her problems when she’d returned. The infection had rendered her entirely out of action, consciousness only coming in fleeting moments before the girl slipped back into a sleepy state again.

“It’s been three days. She should be awake.” Sam’s words loomed over, hanging in the air like a threat. It had crossed Bucky’s mind, but he refused to allow himself to go there.

“Sam! Bucky! Tony wants us there; he’s got an update.” Wanda appeared out of nowhere, and vanished just as quickly, but the boys took no notice as they made their way to the med bay.

-

Upon arriving, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Tony were already there.

“Well?” Wilson took to demanding answers instantly. “Tony?”

Stark’s eyes were clouded over, seeming darker than they ever had before. “Y/N’s awake for now but-“ sucking in a breath before continuing, the team didn’t waste a second.

“I’m sorry.” Tony’s voice rang out after them, but they never heard it. Grief hit in a tidal wave, and every second felt more precious than the last.

Joining the rest of the team in Y/Ns room, Bucky felt sick to his stomach. A thousand ‘what if’s rang through his brain, a million questions that would never get answered. It seemed that the universe would never again smile down upon him, as if he’d been testing his luck even taking more than a glimpse at the girl.

“Why do you all look so miserable?” With a voice weak from dehydration, Y/N reached out to grab Sam’s hands, tugging him closer with the little strength she had. When nobody responded, she grew nervous.

“Seriously?”

“Y/N/N, we spoke to Tony…” Confusion crossed her face, brows furrowing as she tried to decipher why on earth the superheroes in front of her looked shaken to their cores. It was only after a second of thought that it clicked.

Pushing herself up into an upright position, the girl rolled her eyes before shouting the man guilty of the long faces in the room.

“TONY STOP TELLING PEOPLE I’M DYING!” A second later, it seemed to click. An exasperated sigh from Natasha and she and Clint left the room, promising to come back later on after they’d found and killed Tony. Steve pressed a kiss to the side of her head, and also took his leave to go and stop Nat from killing Tony.

“So you’re okay?” The look of shock on Wilson’s face never left, despite the sudden reassurance that she wasn’t in fact dying.

“Bucky, help me up a sec?” Pushing the covers away from her body, she used the super soldier as leverage to pull herself to her feet. Turning away from him, the girl leaned on him for support, her back pressed against his chest as if to reassure them both at the same time. Bucky sighed as she leaned into him, grateful to be close to her again, even if it wasn’t quite as close as he wanted to be.

Dressed only in cotton shorts and a hoodie, her legs were bare.

“Look, Sammy. It’s a little sore, but it’s better. See?” Gesturing to the hot pink jagged scar that trailed down her thigh, she waited for Sam to settle.

“And-…and the bullet wound?” A smile danced on her lips as he slowly started to believe her.

“Bucky’s a real good shot, Sam. Didn’t hit anything important, and it’s healing real good. Just a few bruises.” Sam stayed silent; arms unsettled at his sides, gaze stuck on the floor. Y/N sensed his unease, and after squeezing Bucky’s hand firmly, she let go of him. On wobbly legs, she made her way over to her shaken friend, and pulled him in for a firm hug.

“I’m okay. You’re okay. Tony did a mean thing and I’m sorry. You protected me, Sam. They’d have done so much worse if you hadn’t stopped them. You saved me, Sammy.” As if a light bulb came on, the hug was suddenly returned tenfold.

After almost a full minute, Wilson pulled away, a determined look in his eye.

“You’re okay. I’m gonna go kill Tony too. Just in case he isn’t dead enough already.” With a sad smile and a reassuring nod, Sam left the room, leaving Y/N and Bucky alone.

“You promise? You swear to me right now that you’re okay?” The soldiers resolve melted away entirely, and with too large strides forward the girl was in his arms again.

“Y/N? I mean it!” The fear in his voice was prominent, and it took Y/N by surprise. Nodding despite herself, she fought to reassure another one of her teammates that she was healing well.

“Bucky? Look at me, Buck.” Taking his face in her hands, the look in his eyes broke her heart completely. The icy blue was clouded with fear, with the sadness that he was struggling to let go of.

“Bucky, darling? I’m alright. I’m worn out, and I’m in a bit of pain, but I am okay. I swear to you-“

He was the one kissing her this time, and it frightened her how good it felt. Urgent and wanted for far too long, Bucky seemed to pour everything he had into the kiss. But then he pulled away frantically, as if something had burned him.

“I SHOT YOU! What the fuck?” The shock on Y/Ns face dissolved into a fit of giggles as the Winter Soldier stood wide eyed before her.

“We’ve been on three dates, and then I shot you. Oh God.” The giggling continued until a loud gasp sounded from the doorway. Spinning around, her jaw dropped open to see that Sam had returned midway through their conversation.

“YOU’VE BEEN ON THREE WHAT”

“Sam…” The warning tone in Bucky’s voice did nothing to still the obvious excitement ready to bubble over and out them both to the team.

“Sammy, we need you to keep it a secret okay? Please, please don’t tell anyone yet?” With a suspicious eye, Sam looked the pair up and down.

“Okay! I hate you! Fine!” Storming out of the room, Falcon marched off down the hallway, a string of curses leaving his mouth as he did so, earning a belly laugh from Barnes.

Grabbing Bucky’s hands in her own, Y/N looked up to meet his eyes. “Will you sit with me a while? It gets kinda-“

“EVERYONE! BARNES AND Y/N ARE DATING.”

Fear quickly filled the girls bones, she was entirely unsure of what this meant. Would Bucky run and hide? Would he want to call it quits? Was it over?

As if sensing her unease, Barnes raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“I guess that’s that then.”

Reaching forward, he grabbed her hips and pulled her forward with a gentle force. Lips collided, a warm passion wanting to be explored. The sergeant held the girl ever closer, but the kiss softened.

No urgency, now they had all the time in the world.

[whumphoarder]

You Still Got Us

Summary: Peter is having an off-day, which unfortunately coincides with an Avengers’ level mission. After watching the kid take a number of close calls, Tony has no choice but to bench Peter mid-fight.

Word count: 2,461

Genre: angst, emotional hurt/comfort

Link to read on Ao3

A/N: Written as part of @irondadsecretsanta 2019! Merry Christmas @garbotuesday! Hope you enjoy :D

Thanks to @xxx-cat-xxx and @sallyidss for beta reading and to @awesomesockes for the idea

It was pretty clear that Peter was having an off-day.

Tony first noticed the signs during Steve’s pre-mission briefing that morning when the kid repeatedly kept sneaking glances at his phone. That seemed a bit out of character given Peter’s usual reverence toward the captain, but Tony excused it on the basis that a) it was a pretty straightforward mission, b) they’d been over the exact specifications of the building they were going to be infiltrating four times already, and c) Cap could be boring as hell.

Peter seemed a bit preoccupied during their flight to the rural New Mexican town, but nothing too out of the ordinary. He nodded along to all of the team’s tactical discussions and appeared to understand his role in the plan. Later, when the kid tripped over his own feet while exiting the quinjet, Tony chalked it up to nerves.

But the final straw was when Peter misread Steve’s hand signal to hold his position as an order to strike. That mistake is what caused the kid to charge directly into a room full of six heavily-armed guards, completely by himself.

Cursing, Tony quickly scrambles out from behind the crate that’s been shielding him from view. The rest of the team is already mobilizing, thankfully used to improvisation. Natasha takes out one of the men with a roundhouse kick to the jaw while Steve and Clint converge on two more, quickly disarming them.

Another guard hurls a heavy metal table in Tony’s direction and takes off running toward the backdoor. Tony’s just started after him when he hears Sam’s urgent warning over the comms.

“Heads up, Spidey!”

Tony whirls around. Peter—who is staring down at his own wrist, frantically tapping the side of his webshooter mechanism—barely has time to look up before the fifth guard aims his gun directly at the kid’s head.

Instantly, Tony raises his hand and blasts the weapon right out of the guard's grip. The man gives a strangled cry of pain as he clutches his now burned hand to his chest. Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Tony switches his repulsor setting to stun and fires again. This time he blows the guard clear across the room. Under his faceplate, Tony grins.

(It’s the little things.)

Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to bask in the satisfaction for long. A split-second later, a burst of energy slams into Tony’s chest plate. The force sends him hurtling backwards into the wall. Tony grunts sharply as pain explodes in his ribcage.

Peter races over to him. “Oh god, Mr. Stark, are you okay?” he blurts out, his tone borderline hysterical. “I’m so sorry! My webshooter jammed and I—”

“Get down!” Clint shouts.

Tony swears sharply, yanking Peter down with him just as another photon blast shoots over their heads. This time it’s so close that Tony swears he can see smoke wafting up from the top of Peter’s mask.

“Shit, kid…” Tony gasps out, his chest heaving as he struggles to catch his breath. “You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Peter assures him, gulping hard. He’s sitting on the ground now, looking more dazed than anything else. “I just, uh, didn’t see him there.”

Over the comms, Tony hears Steve report that the two remaining guards have just escaped through the southwest exit. Sam and Natasha immediately take off after them. Peter starts scrambling to his feet like he intends to follow, but Tony grabs his wrist.

“Oh hell no. Don’t even think about it,” he snaps. “You’re staying right here.”

“What? No!” Peter protests, trying fruitlessly to twist his arm out of his mentor’s iron grip. “I’m fine—I’m not even hurt!”

“No, but you will be if you can’t get your head in the game,” Tony retorts, his gaze traveling around the room. Out of the team, Barton seems to be the only one left. The archer has an arrow trained threateningly at the pile of groaning men on the ground.

“Yo, Legolas!” Tony hollers, causing the man to glance back at him. “You got this?”

Clint smirks. “Absolutely. These guys aren’t going anywhere,” he says, nodding his head toward the incapacitated guards. “Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

Tony rolls his eyes at the archer. "Yeah, well let me know if it gets to be difficult, difficult, lemon difficult..." he mutters. Still holding Peter’s wrist, he pulls the kid with him behind a stack of crates in the back corner of the warehouse. He retracts his helmet to look directly at Peter. “Alright, start talking,” he orders. “What is going on with you today?”

“Nothing,” Peter says tightly. Even in the mask, he won’t meet Tony’s gaze. “’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine—you’re unfocused. You’re sloppy,” Tony argues. “Sloppy doesn’t fly in the big leagues, kid. Sloppy’s liable to get you killed.”

”Right, no, I know that. My webshooter is just clogged, but I can fix it!" Peter babbles. He resumes smacking the side of the mechanism. "I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I just—” With a final smack, the blockage is released and a string of web shoots out of the device, adhering Peter’s foot to the ground. He groans. “Aw, c’mon...”

Tony heaves out an exasperated sigh as the kid proceeds to clumsily spray his foot with web solvent. “Alright, that’s it, I’m benching you,” he declares. “Go back to the quinjet and wait for us to finish up.”

“Wh-What?” Peter stammers. He shakes his head frantically. “No, no I’m fine, Mr. Stark! I’ll focus! It was just—”

“Nope,” Tony cuts him off. “If you can’t take this mission seriously, then you shouldn’t be on it.” He’s starting to get heated now. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you constantly on your phone this morning. I don’t know what you think is so important on there, but you can crush candy and fire angry birds at green pigs another time.”

“I-I wasn’t,” Peter mumbles, still looking down.

"Then what were you doing?" Tony demands.

Peter bites his lower lip. His voice is very small when he answers, “Waiting for a text.”

“A text?” Tony balks. He’s in genuine disbelief. “You’ve been begging me and Cap to let you come along on the real missions for months now, and when we finally do, rather than following orders and keeping up, you spend your time, what? Texting your girlfriend?”

Peter’s hugging his arms around his middle now. He shakes his head slightly, his words coming out in barely a whisper. “No. May.”

Tony frowns in confusion. “Your aunt?”

Peter nods, his lower lip starting to quiver. “She… um, she found a lump a couple days ago? On her, uh…” He gestures vaguely in front of his chest.

Tony’s heart sinks with the realization. He exhales slowly. “Oh bud…”

Inhaling shakily, Peter starts to ramble. “Like, it might be nothing and I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions or anything before the tests come back because who knows if it’s cancer or just like, fatty tissue or something? She said it could be that and it might be no big deal so I shouldn’t get worried yet, but… but like...” He draws in another shuddery inhale. “May’s mom died of breast cancer when she was only like, forty. And I know that doesn’t mean that May has it or anything but it can run in families and so"—he sucks in a sharp breath—"I just, I mean...she’s all I have left, a-and…”

Peter breaks off into a choked sob, and Tony sets a hand heavily on his shoulder.

“I just… I ca-can’t lose her too, Mr. Stark!” he cries.

“It’s okay,” Tony whispers, rubbing his hand up and down over Peter’s arm. “It’s alright, kid…”

Through his earpiece, he hears Nat report that she’s just taken down the final guard. Sam cracks a quick joke about Black Widow’s head-locking skills before Steve reports that he’s discovered the weapons distribution area. It all sounds pretty well under control.

Lowering his hand, Tony steps backwards and taps his earpiece with two fingers. “Hey, I need to take the kid back to the jet,” he says quietly. “I’ll be back in ten or so to finish up.”

“Roger that,” Steve replies. “Is he injured?”

Tony hesitates. Peter has tugged his mask halfway up over his face now and is scrubbing at his cheeks roughly with the back of his hand. “Not physically," he replies after a pause. "But he’s… he’s done for today.”

X

The walk back to the quinjet is brief and silent, the only sounds being Peter’s occasional sniffs. He’s clearly trying his best to pull it together, so Tony just lets him be.

Once back onboard, Peter immediately sinks down into his seat, removing the mask entirely. Tony grabs a bottle of water and a protein bar from their supplies and holds them out to him, but the kid just shakes his head.

“I’m good,” he whispers.

“Doubtful,” Tony replies. He sets the items down on Peter’s lap anyway.

Peter bends down to reach into his backpack, which is stowed under the seat, and fishes his phone out with trembling fingers. He scrolls through to check his notifications, and then sighs.

“Anything?” Tony asks.

Peter shakes his head. “Not yet.” He lowers the phone back down and looks up at his mentor. “I’m really sorry about the mission,” he says quietly. “I shouldn’t have come today. That was really stupid and I just put everybody in danger. I was just so worried and I thought it might take my mind off it, but...” A stray tear runs down from the corner of his eye.

With a sigh, Tony presses the button to fully retract his armor. He then plops down on the closest seat, wincing as pain shoots through his now unsupported ribs. “Look. I’m not going to say what you did was okay, because it really wasn't"—Peter bites his lip and gives a solemn nod—“But at the same time, I'd be lying if I told you I’ve never done anything similar.” Tony pauses for a beat. “Emotions suck.”

At that, Peter huffs out a short, empty laugh. “Yeah. Agreed.”

They sit there for a moment, before Peter asks hesitantly, “Uh, are you going to head back now?”

Originally, Tony was only intending to stay until the kid was situated and then get back to the warehouse to help confiscate the weapons, but the quiver in Peter’s lip is giving him pause. The team probably doesn’t need him, per se—the hard part is basically over.

Tony shrugs. “I think Cap’s got it handled. Plus”—he presses his hand gingerly to the bruise on his ribcage—“this could probably do with some ice. Do you think you could…?” He flaps his hand in the direction of the ship’s medical supplies.

Peter’s eyes widen. “Oh! Yeah, of course.” He hops up from his seat and retrieves the first aid kit. He locates a single-use ice pack which he snaps and shakes to activate the chemicals.

“Here,” Peter says, handing it over. “Uh, how bad is it?” he asks nervously. “Do you want some painkillers or anything?”

Tony takes the ice pack with a nod of thanks. He’s had enough broken ribs in his life to know that these are likely just bruised—at worst, cracked. The injury is only ranking about a three or four on the pain scale, which is far below his usual threshold for sitting things out. But if the kid needs something else to focus on, he figures a break won’t kill him.

“Sure, if you’ve got any,” Tony says, keeping his tone casual.

Peter locates and doses out three Tylenol for Tony, shaking them into his mentor’s palm before grabbing him a fresh bottle of water.

“Thanks,” Tony says. He swallows them down and then adjusts his position in his seat, considering for a moment the best way to keep Peter's mind occupied while they wait. “Hey," he begins, "have I ever told you about the time Clint tried to free climb the outside surface of a three-story building?”

Peter shakes his head.

“Oh, it’s a doozy,” Tony remarks with a chuckle, settling deeper into his chair. “Alright, so it was Valentine’s day, which I only happen to remember because Cap insisted on making these heart-shaped pancakes for everyone, which set off the fire alarm...”

Over the next ten minutes, Tony recounts the story with as much embellishment and vivid imagery as he can muster. Peter gives the occasional single breathy laugh or nod as appropriate, which satisfies his mentor that his less-than-subtle distraction tactics are at least partially working.

“...luckily, Thor caught him before he hit the ground,” Tony concludes. “You know those viral videos where the firefighter catches the baby being dropped out of an apartment window? Same concept, except the firefighter was an alien god and the baby was a grown man in cargo shorts. Still screamed about the same amount though.”

With a short laugh, Peter checks his phone once more. He then sighs and shakes his head slightly before setting the device back facedown on his thigh.

Tony takes that as his cue to continue. “...Speaking of screaming, have you heard the one about how he once posed as a camel trainer in Australia, and led a group of—”

Just then, Peter’s phone buzzes.

Eyes going wide, his hand shoots out for the device so fast that his fumbling fingers send it clattering to the floor. He drops to his knees and picks it up, quickly turning it over to see the text.

For a few seconds, Peter just stares at the message, unblinking, and Tony waits for a response with bated breath.

Then suddenly, Tony’s watching tears well up in the kid’s eyes. His own heart drops to his stomach and all at once it's 1991 again and Jarvis is knocking on his bedroom door, informing him that a state trooper is here, that something terrible has occurred, that his parents are—

A choked sob from Peter knocks Tony back to the present. The kid is still knelt on the floor, pressing a fist to his lips, shoulders shaking from the effort of keeping quiet.

“N-Negative,” Peter manages to say through the tears. “The bi-biopsy was... it was negative. No cancer.”

Ignoring the protests from his ribs, Tony slides out of his own seat to join him on the floor. He pulls the boy in to his chest for a tight hug. “It’s okay, Pete,” he says quietly. “It’s okay. I got you.”

Peter’s sobs are wracking his entire frame, but Tony only holds him tighter as he cries.

“It’s alright, kid,” Tony breathes, rubbing one hand up and down Peter’s back. “You still got her. You still got us.”

Link to all my fics!

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D is for Diploma

Viral Wisdom

[chilling-seavey]

Passchendaele - VIII

A/N Honestly did the British army know what they were doing at all during this war? Did anyone? Probably not.

T/W Descriptions of war related violence, blood, physical trauma, and death

Daniel adjusted his cap on his head, standing up straight in their formation, shifting his weight from foot to foot impatiently in the moonlight. He had actually slept well the remainder of the day after the German gas attack, the exhaustion of the battle and from not sleeping well for almost a week before finally catching up to him. And because he had Christian sitting next to him while he slept against the tree, the silent comfort of his big brother easing him into a well needed slumber.

When he woke around 10pm, Christian was gone and Zach and Jack were leaning on each other, both still fast asleep. They were hurriedly awoken by Lieutenant Marais, ushering them into formation for a briefing. Their battalion was to perform a counterattack on the Germans, orders from the General himself to aim to reclaim Kitchener’s Wood that was a bit of a way’s northwest of their location.

The officers took a while to discuss plans, leaving the soldiers stood in silent formation for a bit longer than anticipated. Zach haphazardly clipped and unclipped the buckle on his pack enough times until the man next to him elbowed him to stop. Daniel sighed, hiking his rifle to a more comfortable position on his shoulder, eyeing the group of officers that stood a couple yards away.

Lieutenant Colonel Seavey led them to the front of the formation, standing tall with his one good hand resting behind his back. Lieutenant Marais and the other Lieutenants stood to his left, eyeing their men seriously.

“Defence is important in battle, gentlemen.” Lieutenant Colonel Seavey spoke strongly, “If we lose what was once ours, we must work twice as hard to earn it back. Speed is crucial and this counterattack is key in regaining ground, essential to push back the enemy from Ypres. The General has sent orders to not only halt the German advance but now to aim to clear the woods northwest of our location here in St. Julien. If we can hold the woods from German control, it would be a great win for us. The Canadians will be joining us to march into the woods by 11:45.”

Christian checked his watch before looking back to the battalion, “That’s 15 minutes from now. Everyone should be stocked with bayonets in position. The Germans shouldn’t currently be aware of our plans, but we also don’t know what we’re walking into. Prepare for anything. Stay with your company, four by four rows, led by your Lieutenants. That’s all for now.”

The soldiers offered a stiff salute to their Lieutenant Colonel in understanding, dropping their hands to the side of their uniforms before they were pulling their bayonet blades from the sheathes on their belts. Daniel carefully clipped the blade into position on the end of his rifle, trying to push down the feeling of uneasiness as to why they needed them.

Zach and Daniel made their way over to where Lieutenant Marais was organizing D Company into their rows, staggered evenly behind C Company. Jack fell into step beside Daniel, another young man finishing their row of four with Sergeant Besson’s absence to their far right.

“Think we’re going to have to stab someone?” Zach asked, admiring how the moonlight glinted off of his unused bayonet blade.

“Hopefully not.” Jack glared at the sixteen-year-old with distaste at his seemingly excited question.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Lieutenant Marais said loudly, taking control of his group of one hundred men who stood at attention in even rows of four, “It’s critical that you stay in this order as we make our way through the woods, even if God forbid the Germans attack first. At least we aren’t the first ones walking in…they would have to get through one hundred fifty men before us.”

Daniel frowned at the bluntness of their Lieutenant, glancing to Zach who was biting hard at his bottom lip. How small he looked with his pink cheeks and wide brown eyes. Daniel turned his attention forward again.

“Walk quietly and cautiously.” Lieutenant Marais continued. “Our goal is to surprise attack, coming in from the sides of their camp. If you can reach their artillery, that would be most beneficial but focus on staying alive. That is your first priority. The gunners are bringing along two of our artillery, but our goal is to be as quiet as possible so on foot is the only option. Everyone has their bayonets secured?”

A chorus of, “Yessir” filled their group.

“Good. At Lieutenant Colonel’s command we will commence.”

At exactly 11:45, the Canadians joined alongside the British to make their way towards Kitchener’s Wood a mere thousand yards northwest. The large group walked slowly into the opening of the dark woods, only lit by the moonlight leaking through the tops of the trees high above them. Their rifles were held tightly in their arms, pointed forward in case of any sudden attack, eyes scanning the area nervously with each cautious step. The uneven tramp of their boots against the rough soil and the soft swinging of empty bayonet sheaths against their uniforms was the only sound heard for miles. Daniel wasn’t even sure if he was breathing in order to avoid making any noise at all.

“Bloody hell, this does not sit well with me.” Zach whispered. He startled at the snap of a twig under his own foot. No one answered him as they continued on in silence.

The woods were hard to navigate in formation, hedges and ditches breaking their organization more often than not and many men found themselves falling out of step and adding onto a different row. It felt like they had been walking for hours, Daniel’s legs getting tired from crouching as he walked through the thick woods, his heartbeat loud in his hears with adrenaline. He could only hope that the Germans had already pulled back from their woodland trenches.

It all happened so fast, the rush of men contrasting their slow movements being the first warning before the blue uniformed Germans were rushing right at them. The charge made the British and Canadian soldiers break their order almost right away, despite the Lieutenants’ desperate shouts for them to keep pushing.

Of course, Jack took off at a run right into the action and Daniel couldn’t help but force himself right after him, Zach stumbling at his heels. The loud shots of rifles echoed through the trees, sending a flock of birds flying out of the foliage, shouts of orders from both sides barely heard over the gunfire. Men fell left and right, Daniel ducking behind a tree for protection before he was aiming around it to shoot any blue coated man he could pick out in the dark. Zach fell next to him, panting hard, his arms flailing uncoordinated over his equipment.

“Get out of here!” Daniel hissed.

“I’ll be shot!” Zach protested.

“So shoot first!” Daniel snapped, giving him a shove away. Zach’s hurt expression almost broke Daniel’s heart but he knew if he let the boy stay they would both be killed. Zach rushed off into the chaos.

Now completely alone and left to his own devices, Daniel took a quick moment to reload his rifle, trying to steady his breathing. He shifted on his side, shooting blindly in the dark woods around the side of the large tree he hid behind. The screams of agony were chilling, men dropping all around him as the enemies fought hand to hand, the bayonets put to good use that night.

The sound of someone rushing behind him had Daniel turning around quickly only to be met with the face of another young man no older than himself. He seemed just as surprised to see Daniel hiding there too as they both stared at each other for a brief moment with mirrored wide blue eyes. His blonde hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat under his blue cap. 

Blue. A German.

The German boy got to him first, jumping on top of Daniel and holding his hands around his neck against the cold ground. Daniel’s eyes went wide as it got harder to breathe, the young man pressing his hands tighter around his neck, his arms straight and tight, his light eyes filled with nothing but panic and Daniel didn’t doubt that his looked the same. He grabbed chaotically at the German’s uniform, kicking as hard as he could to try and break himself free before he was suffocated on the ground of the forest. He was starting to choke, whimpering quietly with fear, his eyes locked on the ones of the young man over top of him.

In a fit of desperation, Daniel blindly searched for his rifle with one hand patting over the grass, the other gripping tightly to the German’s collar. His mouth was hung open, as if his body was trying to find air for itself but the hands around his throat were skillfully placed to the point where Daniel’s vision was starting to black out.

The sound of the blade piercing through the chest of the young man was a sound Daniel would never forget.

The German loosened his grip, allowing Daniel to finally gasp for breath, panting hard as he pulled his bayonet from the boy’s chest and let it fall silently against the soil beside them. The boy sat back to press his hands to his chest, looking down to see the dark red blood trickling down his uniform and coating his hands thickly before looking back up to Daniel. He was still over top of him, his blood starting to drip onto Daniel’s jacket as they simply stared at each other, eyes wide and jagged breaths shared between them. It felt as if the noise of the battle going on behind them had faded away as Daniel watched the colour drain from the German boy’s face and the life melt away from his blue eyes before he fell limply off him and onto the ground seconds later.

Daniel scrambled a couple feet away from him across the grass, panting hard, and he set a gentle hand to his throat that was incredibly sore from the attack. Now partially in the open, he narrowly missed a bullet and he scurried back behind the tree, grabbing his rifle and blood coated bayonet. Daniel’s hands trembled as he tried to fit the blade back onto the end of his rifle, finally getting to his feet and took one last glance at the German boy dead at his feet before he took off into the battle.

Daniel fought hard, firing ruthlessly into the German’s strong line, his vision tainted with red after being on the brink of death by their one of their men’s hands. It wasn’t long before a flare was sent up from behind German lines and the enemy started to retreat, running back to where they came from without a look back. The British shot a few more as they ran out, Daniel included, letting out a heavy breath as he watched the final German in sight fall to the ground in the distance.

As silence fell, Daniel looked around him, blood-soaked bodies littering the grass both from his side as well as the enemy. Plenty of British soldiers were still standing, a lot moaning for help on the ground from serious injuries and those who were still standing were desperately trying to gather them to help them head to the nurses’ station far out of the woods.

Daniel didn’t know where to go, he staggered in a circle for who knows how long, his mind fuzzy and body numb, until his brain locked in on someone calling his name.

Zach’s panicked voice finally became clearer and he spotted him a bit of a ways away in the middle of a clearing. He was holding someone. Daniel rushed over, tossing his rifle to the ground when he saw Lieutenant Marais limp in Zach’s arms against the cold ground and fell to his knees with them.

“He told me to cover him! I tried, Daniel, I tried my hardest but, Christ, it’s dark and I missed one and…and they shot him! They shot him and I don’t know what to do!” Zach sobbed, tears pouring down his pink cheeks that were smudged with blood, most likely from his hands that were desperately pressed to the wound on Lieutenant Marais’ stomach. “It won’t stop!” Zach cried, looking down to his hands, lifting them slightly to show how the dark red coated his hands up to his forearms as if he had been sitting there for a while trying to lessen the bleeding.

“Okay.” Daniel sighed, shuffling onto their officer’s other side as he pulled out his small first aid kit from his belt. He left it opened on his lap as he leaned over him, pressing a hand to his cheek, “Lieutenant, can you hear me?”

Zach hiccupped softly from his other side, watching Daniel press his ear to his chest.

“He’ll be okay, right?” Zach whimpered.

Daniel sat back slowly, looking down at Lieutenant Marais’ pale face and empty hazel eyes. He definitely wasn’t freshly shot which meant Zach had been sitting there with him for a while, clinging desperately onto his lifeless body. Daniel didn’t speak as he reached into his Lieutenant’s uniform and took out any of his personal belongings from the pockets followed by his wedding ring from his finger and finally pulled the dog tags from around his neck. He looked down at the photograph of his pregnant wife stained with his blood on the corner, an unsent letter stacked underneath it, signed with love from Jonah.

Daniel couldn’t hold back his small sob, holding his sleeve to his mouth to try and smother it, his head spinning. Who was the one who was going to tell his wife? Daniel took a shaking breath, his vision getting patchy and he held his hand to his head as the woods seemed to spin around him.

“Daniel?” Zach spoke shakily, his voice echoed. “What happened?”

Daniel could barely process Zach pointing to his leg. He looked down to be met with a gunshot to his calf, the blood soaking down through his pants and into his boots. His adrenaline was working so hard overtime that he didn’t even feel it when he was hit.

“Daniel.” Zach reached over Jonah to grab a hold of Daniel’s cross body belt as he swayed dangerously, his vision fading to black as Zach lunged for him, “Seavey, stay with me!”

[katymacsupernatural]

In Your Mind Part 4

Dean Winchester x Reader

Story Summary: During a witch hunt, you and Dean become spelled together in a way you had never imagined. You just hoped that he wouldn’t figure out the secret you were hiding from him. 

Catch Up Here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

You didn’t care what thoughts raced through your mind. It didn’t matter that Dean could probably hear everything loud and clear. What mattered was getting away from the witch with all three of you alive and back where you belonged.

The witch slapped you again, your head jolting back at the motion. Cackling, she crouched over you, her breath stinking of garlic and other disgusting herbs. “Damn it, where is Sam?” Dean exclaimed in your head, his pounding footsteps echoing the ache from the witch’s slap. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go down!”

With stooped shoulders, the witch moved over to the counter, her steps full of excitement. She had you right where she wanted you. Just another playtoy to keep her occupied. “It gets rather lonely out here in the woods,” she spoke with her back turned, her body swaying as she stirred something in a handmade pottery bowl. “By myself with just animals for company. Sure, they aren’t as wicked or horrible as humans, but they also don’t talk back, or run from me because I’m different.”

“What’s your point?” You asked. You could see movement in the corner of your eye. Sam was hiding in the shadows, barely seen in your peripheral vision. He held the gun tightly in his hand, aiming it right at the witches back.

“Does there have to be a point?” She asked, turning on her heel. “Hello Sam,” she sighed dramatically. “I should have expected you would join us eventually.”

“Of course I would come to the aid of my brother and friend,” Sam exclaimed as he stepped further into the tiny room of the cabin. “Now fix them.”

“Why should I?” She challenged, continuing to stir whatever was in the bowl, acting casually as if a gun wasn’t currently being pointed at her heart. “If it wasn’t for hunters I wouldn’t have to live in this run down cabin, afraid at every turn.”

“You’re the one killing people. The one shoving other people into their minds. How can you think you’re the innocent party in this?” You exclaimed, Dean, giving you an agreeing humph in your mind. “Y/N, what’s in the bowl?” He asked the same question you had been wondering.

From your vantage point, you could only see the bowl, not what was inside. But she continued to mix it, holding it close to her body.

“I’m not calling myself innocent. Just annoyed at hunters in general. And as much as I enjoy inflicting pain on you, I think it’s time to call a truce.”

Reaching into the bowl, she pulled out a handful of a green slimy mixture. It oozed between her fingers, slowly sinking back down into the bowl. Smiling gleefully, she took a step towards you, but Sam cocked the gun back, stopping her. “Oh, Sammy, why don’t you just take a nap?” Quietly she spoke in Latin and before Sam could get a shot off he was slipping to the floor, the gun falling from his hand. Within seconds he was laying on the floor, sound asleep, leaving you once again at the mercy of the witch.

“There, that’s better. Now I can get down to business.” Standing over you, she held the green slimy mixture over your head, letting it drip all over your hair. “As much as I want you and Dean to suffer, I now realize this is not the way.”

You could feel the mixture coating your hair, tingling at your scalp. It turned warm, the smell a cross between algae water and sulfur. It was disgusting, and you sneezed, almost knocking the witch over. “This shall do the trick.”

Your head pounded, feeling as if it was going to split open. Squeezing your eyes shut, you struggled against her hold, the warmth quickly turning to pain. “Y/N!” Dean exclaimed, fading in and out of your head.

“Dean, what’s happening?” You exclaimed, screaming as the pounding became too much. Lights flashed in your mind when suddenly everything calmed. The ache, the lights, everything went back to normal. Even Dean was gone, which scared you immensely.

“Dean?” You thought out loud, but your thoughts were your own. No one else was in your mind. It felt weird. Even though Dean hadn’t been in your mind very long, he had been a somewhat comforting presence.

Opening your eyes, you watched just as the witch’s eyes opened in surprise. Dean stood beside her, the gun still smoking from the bullet he had placed directly in her heart. “No,” she muttered, taking a step back. “This is not how I had this planned! You were supposed to be locked over there!”

She pointed to the cabinet in the corner as she fell to the ground. “How did….,”

“Just fools luck,” Dean answered, shooting once again. This time it landed right between her eyes, killing her instantly. You watched in horror as she faded to dust.

“Y/N!” Dean came rushing over, as you realized you were no longer being held against your will. Standing up, you threw your arms around him, crushing yourself tight against him. “How are you?”

“Well, I’m covered in disgusting slime, and you probably know every thought in my mind, but we’re alive and that’s what matters,” You muttered into his t-shirt.

“Yeah, you stink,” he agreed. “But Y/N? I’m strangely grateful for this freaking witch and her spell.”

“Yeah?”

Reaching down, he tilted your chin up so he could catch your gaze. “Yeah. Because you were horrible at hiding all of your feelings. And it gave me the chance to realize how stupid I’ve been?”

“You’ve been stupid?” You repeated as a blob of green slime dropped down your cheek.

“Can we have this talk after you’ve showered?” He suggested, but you shook your head no. “Fine. I was stupid enough to think that a girl like you could never be interested in a wreck like me. And now I’ve wasted so much time.”

You grasped his neck, pulling him down until his lips were a breath away from yours. “Well, let’s not waste anymore.”

“But first...shower,” he insisted just as Sam started waking up.

You took a towel from the cupboard as Dean helped his brother up. Quickly they took all of the witch's belongings, throwing them in a pile and lighting them on fire while you got the worse of the sludge from your head. With only a pile of ash left as evidence, you let Sam lead the way away from the cabin as you walked beside Dean. “Y/N, I actually am a little disappointed.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” You asked, smiling as he pulled you against his side.

Leaning down, he wrinkled his nose at the smell leftover from the slime. “A woman’s mind is never easy to understand. And when I was in there, I had first-hand knowledge of your feelings, and...well, what man wouldn’t want that type of glimpse into how to interact with a woman? Now I’m back to square one.”

You shook your head. “You know, you could always just talk to me.”

“Yeah, because that’s always worked with a woman,” he muttered.

“We will make it work. After all, as much as I’m glad that you being in my mind led to this, I still don’t want you knowing my every single thought.”

Winking at you, he leaned down, whispering in your ear. “Why? Are they going to be that dirty?”

Slapping your hand on his chest, you strode forward, even though you couldn’t help but smile. Having Dean in your mind had seemed like such a problem at the time, but it had turned out to be a blessing.

THANKS FOR READING!!! 

Dean/Jensen Tags: @acortez82 @acreativelydifferentlove @adoptdontshoppets @a-girl-who-loves-disney @akshi8278  @bebravekeeponfighting  @bi-danvers0 @brindz30 @burningcoffeetimetravel @cap-just-said-language @colette2537   @deansgirl215  @flamencodiva @hamiltrash1411 @its-not-a-tulpa @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @just-another-winchester @karouwinchester @keikoraventeller  @krys198478 @librarygeekery @magssteenkamp @misspygmypie @mlovesstories @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk  @mrspeacem1nusone @nothinbuttrouble2 @ria132love @ruprecht0420     @sortaathief @superseejay721517 @squirrelnotsam @team-free-will-you-idjiot @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @torn-and-frayed @tricksterdean @wonderfulworldofwinchester @woodworthti666

In Your Mind Tags: @maddiepants @lilulo-12 @deans-baby-momma @jensensammy @beachy2014 @rh-girlonfire

Forever Tags: @aditimukul @alexwinchester23 @algud @amanda-teaches @andreaaalove   @artisticpoet @atc74 @be-amaziing @camelotandastronauts @caswinchester2000 @chelsea072498  @closetspngirl   @docharleythegeekqueen @emoryhemsworth @ericaprice2008  @esoltis280   @foxyjwls007 @gh0stgurl @goldenolaf25 @growningupgeek  @heyitscam99 @hobby27 @horsegirly99 @internationalmusicteacher @iwriteaboutdean  @jayankles @jensen-gal @just-another-busyfangirl @karlee-fay-my-wayward-son @lifelovelaughangell123 @li-ssu @linki-locks11 @littleblue5mcdork  @lowlyapprentice   @maui137 @mogaruke @monkeymcpoopoo @musiclovinchic93  @nanie5   @percussiongirl2017 @plaid-lover-bay25   @roonyxx @ronja-uebrick @roxyspearing @samanthaharper2018 @samanddeanmyheroes @sandlee44 @shamelesslydean​ @simonsbluee​ @sillesworldofwriting @sgarrett49 @spnbaby-67 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester​ @spnwoman​   @superbadassnatural​ @thatcrazybookwormgeek​   @thewinchesterchronicles​ @vvinch3st3r​ @wecantgiggleitsafandom​ @whimsicalrobots​ @winchester-writes​ @zombiewerewolfqueen​

[jappudiyafreedem]

[Ja] The End

After 2 months of Military training, they reached Jedron, the hiding place of The Blackhawk. Juan raised his head to know where they are. A shot flew past his head."It's the damn sniper! We can't get to The Blackhawk without getting him!" Saying this he took his pistol, reloaded it, raised his gun and shot in his direction but the bullet rebounded. He shot again, and again,and again, till his ammo was over. He wanted to see if the sniper was still there.He looked at the place.What he saw was not a sniper aiming.He saw the sniper in sleep that knows no waking. They moved forward to the Great Ja Building, took the stairs one floor down.They saw an inscription engraved on a stone that read, 'The Basement is under maintenance work and will not be used.'  Juan grinned at this engraving and motioned to the others to follow him. He found the place they were looking for.He kicked the door open and pointed his gun-At nothing. He scanned the basement and saw all the technologies The Blackhawk made. Single Tracers, more ham radios, Directioners, and more of it. Someone sneezed.He turned and saw which direction they were in.Moreover, they were looking at him.With guns. "None of you will get out of this mess alive." said a voice which Juan understood to be the Creator. The final battle started.If one shot another, another will shoot him. This process continued until The Creator and Juan were left. Juan threw whatever sharp objects he could find; meanwhile The Creator kept on firing bullets from whatever gun he had.Meanwhile, someone reported to the police of the nearby state of the gunshots he heard inside his basement. Juan took a gun, raised his head, aimed the barrel to The Creator, and pulled the trigger. The Creator knew that his end was very near, and small as a bullet.He fell, feeling life slipping out of him within each second.Juan almost went out the door, before he turned around to see The Creator laughing, holding a gun, pointed at Juan. The Creator said in a low but audible voice,"Welcome to death." He shot Juan. The police, who always came late, came in huge numbers. They found the door open, which they thought to be locked. They went in and saw all the damage in the basement. The Inspector took his walkie-talkie and said, "Superintendent, you need to see this. We were late." After the Superintendent came, the inspector showed him the scene. The Superintendent took off his cap, surprised."Wait," said the Inspector. "Aren't you Elmer, the leader of the Ja?"

[wolf-555-writer]

Target On My Back

Hope you guys like this!  

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow x Reader

Summary: Takes place before Natasha joined SHIELD and Avengers, hence the name Natalia Romanova instead of Natasha Romanoff. Reader is an Agent at SHIELD.

Word Count: 2,676

Casually walking on the sturdy pavement with a relaxed pace like there’s no worry in the world. A strand of her red hair playfully swings back due to a man in a cheap suit rushing by her, probably too late for his boring appointment. She simply continues her path with a calm and friendly look in her beautiful, sparkling green eyes. A ray of sunlight manages to break through the tall skyscrapers and shines on her face, causing her to close her eyes for a moment while a subtle smile of enjoyment emerges. Reaching the end of the block, she makes a sharp turn around the corner, passing a hipster coffee place that’s likely filled with freelancers and their laptops. She’s in casual attire, wearing skinny denim jeans and a black leather jacket that’s unfastened with a basic black t-shirt underneath. Losing sight of her for only a second as a large garbage truck drove by. It has become quiet on this part of the street, no other persons or cars around, it’s just her, Natalia Romanova.  

“I’ve got a clear shot. Permission to take out the target, Coulson?”, you affirm, staring through the riflescope, fully concentrated and locked on. How can this woman be so deadly? You wonder, considering you followed her for a while, patiently waiting on this rooftop for the perfect opportunity to arise. You’ve taken a good look at her. She seems so innocent and doesn’t look like a cold-blooded killer at all. You’ve read and studied the files, seen her pictures- well, the limited amount thereof, because there’s not much information about the Russian spy. It’s mostly a lot of speculation about her involvement in a significant amount of cases, but has never been proven.

“Confirmed Agent (Y/L/N). Take the shot”, you receive back. Seeing her in real life makes it different though. It shouldn’t, you know that, but you can’t help it. Doubts have flooded your mind, is this really the Black Widow? However, you got your orders and cannot ignore them. Actually, you never would, ‘cause there’s nothing and no one else you’re more loyal to than SHIELD.

Quickly snapping out of your thoughts, can’t get distracted now. Your finger is on the trigger, ready to pull and you squint your eye a little more to get a better visual through the scope.

“Wait… What the hell!?”, you shout out unwittingly. Shocked, yet still actively in shooting position with your fingertip fairly pressed against the trigger. “H-how did she-”. 

A pair of green eyes are staring right at you from afar and a provoking wink with a matching grin shows up on her face. But only for a brief moment since Natalia already started running towards a more crowded area on the sidewalk, where she skillfully evades innocent pedestrians. You almost had her, almost…

“My position is compromised, I’m going in pursuit!”, you state while jumping up from the stake-out post. In a moment of not clear thinking and haste, you leave the sniper rifle behind and sprint towards the fire escape at the corner of the rooftop.

“No Agent (Y/L/N)! Stand down!”, Agent Coulson orders through the comm with a loud and authoritative tone. You ignore him blindly, ‘cause you are the closest one and probably SHIELD’s last chance of catching her this time. ...Right? Well, that’s what you told yourself anyway.

Sliding down the rusty staircase as fast as you can so that you won’t lose her. Once back on solid ground, you hop on your bike parked nearby and put on the helmet. Okay, once in a while you do ignore a direct order, but it’s for the greater good, for SHIELD, for… um, yeah, the exact reason is not that important at the moment. You tighten your grip on the handlebars and accelerate as you speed out of the narrow alley. Beating yourself up for getting distracted back there, you can’t fail this assignment, because you never fail. So this sure as hell ain’t gonna be the first slip-up of yours. Gotta keep your head in the game. 

Turning a sharp right, you end up on the road and immediately notice a covert SHIELD SUV in your side view mirror. I guess not so covert after all. Your attention is quickly shifted towards a woman up ahead, also on a bike, passing an intersection and driving through a red light at full speed.

The results of her little stunt are the least of your problems right now, however the situation could have been better… Multiple collisions, smoke formation under the hoods and honking cars with angry drivers inside, loudly cursing while making offending gestures to one another. The road is blocked and a traffic jam is preventing you from continuing the chase. It’s a total mess and Black Widow got away. There's no other option. You rapidly steer to the right and bulldoze over the sidewalk tiles, almost hitting an innocent bystander who dove aside just in time. The adrenaline is now rushing through your veins, it's a feeling you haven’t felt in a while. Though it has become so addictive that you're always craving more. Back on the road again, you proceed with the hunt and enter the busy highway. The black, armored SUV is gone now that you don't notice your fellow agents anymore, probably forced to take another route. 

Highly focused on safely passing the cars, you use dangerous maneuvers, switching your weight from left to right. You're on her tail, but it takes a lot of effort to keep up. She's fast… really fast. And she knows that too, because there hasn't been a single moment she looked back over her shoulder. Or is she always looking over her shoulder? Anyways, you can't keep this up for long, so you have to find a way to stop her. Grabbing the Glock from the holster on your upper leg, you aim precisely and fire. The bullet pierces through the thick rubber back tire. Natalia doesn't even flinch and immediately reacts when hearing the gunshot. 

She hits the brakes powerfully, a trail of smoke behind her, and pushes herself off of the leather bike seat. She shoots high up in the air, only to make a perfect backflip and lands on both feet right after. Meanwhile the motorcycle has tilted on its side and the metal body scrapes over the asphalt, making an awful, high-pitched sound while leaving dark paint marks on the road. 

After putting the handgun back fast, sight partially blinded by the smoke, you instantly hit the brakes too and stop. Opening the helmet cap and using your left foot to push down the kickstand. “Coulson, I've captured the target. My position-”. Before you could even finish that sentence Natalia already ran towards the concrete edge, slid over the hood of a stopped car first, and jumped from the bridge. “What the fu- Again!?”.

“Copy. What is your position Agent (Y/L/N)?”, you hear back, a voice much calmer and not as loud as before. “Um… 4 kilometers south of the primary location”, you reply a bit unsettled, not sure about the state Romanova’s in, because -let’s be realistic- she just flew off a bridge...

“We’re 8 minutes out. Suspect is secure? In custody?”

“... No, um, not really… But I'm close. Well, kind of”, you mumble as you dashed to the edge and watch her on the road below, apparently all alive and well. “I still got a visual”, you declare, starting the engine again and closing the helmet visor as you’d run back to your motorcycle. First, you need to exit the highway. The closest one was a couple of hundred meters back, so you make a 180 with skidding tires and go against traffic. Always choose the shortest route, which is possibly also the most dangerous one. You gotta hand it to her, she has got a serious amount of determination and doesn’t get caught easily. Something you weirdly start to admire about her. She’s also not getting rid of you that easily though, 'cause you’re not done yet either.  

“Can I expect a report back? Hello?!”. Judging by the tone in your ear, you apparently missed his question the first time, or the second time? Maybe even the third, you don’t know. She's seriously messing with your head, in more ways than you dare to admit. “I’ll report back when I have her detained”, you assert while driving head-on towards oncoming traffic that you bypass with ease.

Once you safely exited the highway, you race towards a dark alleyway between some abandoned and degraded buildings where you last saw Black Widow. The headlight on your bike makes it possible to spot Natalia fleeing in the distance. She’s still on foot, which is a disadvantage for her as she’s way more slower than you are. Eventually you have her boxed in. A high fence with barbed wire on top is preventing her from continuing her course. You give a short update about your current location to Coulson as a precaution before coming to a halt with screeching tires. Rapidly jumping off the vehicle while you grab your gun.

“Stop! There’s nowhere else to run!” 

She slowly puts her hands up at the sound of a click, knowing the Glock’s safety is off. Knowing that you’re ready to pull the trigger. 

She turned around, now face to face, and you stare into her eyes, still with the gun pointed at her. “The previous SHIELD Agents would have already given up by now”, she says with a calm voice, “but not you”, while she checks you out from head to toe.

“Aw, I'm not your first?”, you taunt back, in a more relaxed state since you've finally completed your assignment. Third time’s a charm, right? A grin appears on her face. “You're cute”. Without breaking eye contact you reach for the handcuffs on your belt, you can’t let her distract you. Not again. 

In a flash of a second she kicks something your way. Don’t know what it is but it gets you startled as it grazes your forehead. Before you even know it she’s in front of you and slams the gun out of your hand. Trying to follow its trajectory with your eyes to see where the gun drops, but your field of vision doesn’t let you because Natalia has grabbed your extended arm and throws you over her shoulder onto the dirty ground. It’s an unpleasant landing but you quickly push yourself off and stand up again, only to catch her leg mid-air with both hands since she wanted to land a brutal kick to your left side. This doesn’t stop her though. She hooks onto your shoulders with her hands and pushes herself off to swing her other leg around your head. Both her legs are wrapped around your neck tightly, her thighs are choking you now that you can’t breathe anymore. You want to free yourself from her strong grip and swing your arms about but lose balance. Due to the weight, you fall backwards and touch down on the hard ground again. The restriction around your neck disappears. Gasping for air you get up once more and your jaw meets with Natalia’s fist. You luckily counteract the next punch and slip and block while retaliating with a fast, but powerful left hook. Directly after you pivot and want to do a roundhouse kick, but she smoothly ducks down and sweeps you off your feet instead.

“You ready to give up?”. She’s even letting her guard down. Now she’s just drawing you out and taunting with you. You look up at her and scoff. “I got this completely under control, okay”, wiping the blood from the corner of your mouth. There are drops of sweat on your forehead and your breathing frequency is faster than usual. Natalia is a worthy opponent. It’s a challenge, something you haven’t had in a while as most of your missions are routine jobs and have become boring. You’ve missed this, it feels so good. Your heart rate is rising and you get that surge of adrenaline once more.       

Natalia blows a strand of red hair away. “Oh, okay. You sure about that?”, she answers with a light chuckle and moves one eyebrow up. 

You get up from the ground, once again. Sensing some painful, nagging spots scattered all over your body, but you suppress it, ignore the aching parts, and defensively put your hands up high to protect your upper body and face.  

“Yeah, I’m totally sure about th-”. Barely able to finish that sentence, you get floored again by Natalia. She has used her legs to grab your neck and moves you downwards. With a great impact you end up on the asphalt, head first and flat on your stomach. Natalia has got you pinned down while she’s forcing you in this position with her knees buried in your back. Not the most comfortable situation you’ve been in... 

You move your head to the side and let out a deep groan. A bit disoriented due to the smack on your head, but suddenly, hidden in between some pieces of trash nearby, you notice your handgun. Without hesitation you grab it and roll onto your back with all the strength left to hold her at gunpoint. Natalia backs away and puts her hands behind her head. 

“I've got her Coulson”, you state, speaking through your comm while you painfully stand up. “Coulson?”. Still pointing your gun at Natalia. “Are you there?”

“You lost this?”, she taunts, now opening her left hand which she’s moved from behind her head. It's your earpiece. “Wait, how did you-”. With a puzzled look you glare at her. How did she do that? You have to admit, you’re kind of amazed by her skills. The way she fights and moves, it’s impressive. She’s impressive. 

Although, it pisses you off that you keep losing.

“So…”, she drops the communication device on the ground and crushes it with the ball of her foot, “it's just you and me now”  

“Yeah, I guess so…”. You’re out of words since you don’t know what to say next and deeply stare into her intense, fiery green eyes. There's something holding you back. She could have killed you, several times already to be fair, but she didn’t. It’s like a game. A game you seem to enjoy very much. Still aiming the handgun at her, yet it’s like you’re in a frozen state. What should you do? Take her in and complete the assignment, keeping a spotless record, which actually doesn’t seem that important anymore. 

...Or let her go. So that there will be a chance of seeing her again, hopefully in the near future. No, I can’t… My loyalty is with SHIELD, you keep repeating in your mind. Convincing yourself. Or better said, trying to convince yourself. Is it working?

Slowly lowering the gun and turning your head away as you gaze at the ground. “You don’t have much time before the other Agents are here. Go. Now”, you suggest with a low, hoarse voice. Natalia doesn’t need to think twice and takes this opportunity for granted as she jumps on your motorcycle. It feels as if you’re not in control of your own actions anymore. What are you doing?! Realizing you let your target escape, willingly, and on top of that, on your bike. How will you explain this? 

There’s something about her… something that makes her special, that makes this all worth it somehow. No regrets at all. She’ll still have a target on her back though, because SHIELD will not stop. But as of now you got one too. You watch her put your helmet on and she winks at you again, with that same signature grin too. Before closing the visor and driving away full throttle, she locks eyes with you one last time and softly speaks:

“Till next time, Agent (Y/L/N)”   

PART 2

[bowieandqueen11]

Birthday Surprise

Request: Hello love! So, my birthday is in the next week and it would be absolutely wonderful if you could write a birthday imagine with Queen, Elton John and David Bowie all celebrating with the reader? 

For my love @crzy-lilthing, happy birthday my very dear darling, I hope you have an incredible day because you my dear deserve it! <3

Knowing your birthday was coming up in a few days, Freddie knew he had to gear up into action to pull of the best surprise party ever thrown in history.

‘Bri, darling, I’m putting you and Roger in charge of cake baking and decorating.’

‘That’s a recipe for disaster, Freddie, I’m telling you’, Bri replies from his position on the sofa, his legs sprawled over the side and his arms stretched over his head, his soft little tummy on show as he curls into the cushions, before receiving a throw pillow to the face from Roger for the terrible pun.

‘John, love, seeing as you’re the only one I can trust, I’m leaving you in charge of decorations.’

‘Did you say... decorations? Or dalmations? Sorry, I lost focus there for a second,’ John says, leaning over the tartan corduroy rest of the armchair, his tongue sticking out a little like a puppy’s as he aims his throw, his arms punching up into the air in victory as yet another marshmallow from the packet lying spilt at his hip slides, half-melted, down the back of Roger’s shirt, much to his annoyance.

Freddie furrows his eyebrows, thumping his head down into the palm of his hands with a defeated sigh. Murmuring to himself, he comes up with a plan. ‘I’m going to need more help,’ he whispers, ‘and who else to ask but them two?’

~

As the key jingles in the lock, the beaming rays of the spring afternoon shining delicately on your face and warming your cheeks with a gentle blush, you smile softly as the front door creaks open, ready to spend your birthday with your favourite boys. As your feet patter onto the soft cream carpet of the hallway and you shrug off your heavy coat, you chuckle slightly as you hear the fire alarm beep, tufts of white smoke like little clouds tufting out of the closed kitchen door as you hear manic footsteps and what sounds like the dropping of the tray.

As you walk forwards, shaking your head in amusement as you hear the loud ‘ow’ of Roger, along with what sounds like Freddie flapping the bright red tea towel whilst running around the kitchen tabletop, you begin to laugh as you open the door. Thick chuckles erupt from the pit of your stomach as Roger turns towards you, his blonde hair whipping around his flushed face as his fingers nearly drop the wooden spoon and bowl he’s mixing in his hands. His blue t shirt ruffles slightly as he stops, turning to grin at you anxiously as he puts the icing down and turns to walk towards you, being pushed out of the way as Freddie drops the towel in his hands, his mouth opening in a big toothy smile as he runs barefoot past the smoking oven and opens his arms, enveloping you in a strong hug.

‘Happy Birthday, my darling’, he whispers into your neck, kissing your forehead gently before Roger strolls over, wrapping his slender arms around you both and saying, ‘yeah love, Happy Birthday! Sorry about the mess, but we did manage to finish your main cake.’ You raise your eyebrows as you take in the kitchen counter, a large chocolate layered cake dripping onto the cool tile in fat droplets in the slight heat, sprinkles tossed over the top and marshmallows spelling out your name, as if done by Picasso himself. Your eyes take in the splashes of icing that lay spread along the tabletop, some streaked and you chuckle as you see Roger dip his finger towards the stained sleeve of his shirt and lick some off with a satisfied and curious hum, chocolate chips laying haphazardly over the floor, in what you can only assume was the remnants of a food fight.

Someone whirls you around in surprise, grabbing your hand softly, and your shocked to see David standing there in a bright green suit with a cheeky grin on his face, ‘that will come later, love. First, you’ll have to come and see what Deaky and I managed to do with the decorations!’ He tugs you forwards towards the open patio doors of the kitchen, but not without picking up an open bag of marshmallows and throwing a handful at Roger’s face, who manages to thwack the little white missiles away with the palm of his hand. Freddie laughs at the shocked look on his face, jumping in the air as David manages to hit him dead in the eye.

Your head bumps into a multitude of rainbow streamers that hang down from the ceiling like delicate fairy lights, twisting over the top of your forehead like fireworks as David smiles widely, winking at you as he whispers, ‘the best is still to come, my dear.’ As you step out the door, your arm falls dead to your side as you gaze out into the garden, mouth agape and small breathless giggles erupting from your mouth as the small chirps of song thrushes leaping from the garden fence and flying into the azure sky make you feel like you’ve stepped back into your childhood, the blades of emerald grass flattened under the wind in beautiful shimmering waves, reflecting the dazzling red and blue hues that bounce off the massive bouncy castle plopped right in the middle of the grass. Your distracted from your thoughts, turning your head slightly when you hear high pitched giggles warble out into the air like the gentle chimes of bells rung by fairies, accompanied by a varying pitch hearty laugh as a brown perm and bouncing black curls rise up and through your vision, your head following them, entranced. John falls onto the bouncy castle floor, the sunlight bouncing off his bright childish smile as Brian butt bounces next to him, his white cotton shirt waving with each step as John begins to shout, his cries for mercy mixing with his uncontrollable laughter as the corner turrets of the castle shake. Elton stands by the side, his glasses slipping slowly down the tip of his nose, his cap slightly crooked from where Brian managed to thwack it with his lanky arm when chasing after John, a slightly dismayed look on his face as he stares at them, shaking his head.

However, both men turn slightly, Brian’s face falling into one of shock and amused despair, his lanky legs stumbling backwards, nearly falling as his legs drop down underneath the cushion floor as he sees Roger run past you in a blur, a determined look set on his face, biting his tongue that protrudes at of his mouth slightly as he leaps off the floor, arms by his side as he jumps straight into Brian, knocking the both of them to the floor with a defeated thud. They bounce slightly, their legs becoming entangled as Brian rolls around the yellow and red plastic, before Roger shoves him gently and his face contorts into one of fear as he falls, sliding down the small slide and landing onto the grass with an over dramatic thud. Freddie chuckles, grabbing your hand and pulling the both of you into the mess, both of you jumping over a groaning Brian who begins to get up, his curls whipped over his face after the effort, before laughing and falling back onto the ground, his arms spread wide and clutching the dirt. Elton tries to hobble forwards towards you to envelope you in a massive bear hug, but finally gives into the manic mess when Roger comes bounding down into a massive jump, tossing Elton backwards onto his bottom.

John bounces towards you, his knees up high by his chest as he leans forward, the light blue collar of his shirt hitting the side of his jaw every so often as he comes straggling into you, shouting a loud ‘Happy Birthday, ‘y/n, thanks for a great party’, before flashing you an evil grin. Straining, he lifts his arms up, raising himself high into the air, Roger’s face glancing up in amazed awe as he falls back down to the earth like a ton of bricks, landing on his butt and making you shoot up into the air, squealing, like a rocket travelling at the speed of light. Freddie’s arms reach out to catch you, but as you land, chuckling to yourself like a naughty schoolgirl, your feet trip awkwardly over themselves and you end up pulling a wide eyed Freddie down to the floor with you, nudging your face into his vest to try and control your manic laughter, your heart thumping and fizzing as wide as the fire would flicker on your birthday candles that night. But as you gaze up into the dawning sky, the sky is dazzling orange hue, making the balloons tied to the bouncy castle turrets shine like little stars, your heart falling giddily in time to the pace of Roger and Brian’s jumps, you look forward to every other birthday you’d be able to spend in the company of these big children.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch22: I Don’t Like People Touching My Stuff

Summary: The Avenger’s search for the sceptre reaches a dramatic conclusion meaning Katie and Steve finally get the breathing place to start planning their future. But when another girl takes a rather obvious shine to Steve, Katie is not particularly pleased…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW) No Under 18.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: And so we head into Part 4 which covers the Age Of Ultron and surrounding time period for Katie and Steve- HENCE THE NEW BANNER!!! And this edit has to be my favourite to date. @angrybirdcr​ you are a genius!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 21

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 April 2015.

It was apparent when The Avengers landed in the snow-covered forest that this was the heaviest guarded base they had hit in the 6 months they had been searching for Loki’s Sceptre. The guards were positioned a mile out, complete with barbed wire fences and road blocks and the minute Thor, Tony and Katie took off from the back of the jet all hell had broken loose. This was instantly a Code Green, and Banner transformed into the huge Hulk and with his help the group managed to commandeer a jeep and a motorcycle, Natasha driving the jeep supported by Clint and Steve was on the bike, obviously.

One of the HYDRA agents managed to leap up at the side of Steve and he swerved sharply to the left, landing a kick to his chest, knocking him away. The Captain surged the bike forward as another Soldier ran towards him and he leant over and grabbed his leg, dragging him along before tossing him into another approaching hostile, knocking them both unconscious. As he continued he flung his shield forward where it bounced off a tree along with a few more Hydra soldiers before he caught it again and secured it on his back, swerving the bike to avoid another oncoming jeep. The Hulk caught said offending jeep and tossed it aside easily, before continuing on his own rampage

Ahead of Steve, Katie shot downwards so she was 3 feet at most off the snow covered forest floor and spiralled straight into a group of soldiers like a bowling bowl into a set of pins, scattering them across the ground.

“STRRRRIIIKKKEEE!” she heard Tony quip and she laughed as The Avengers began to advance on the barricade that was the only defence left from keeping them out of the base. Steve sped his bike up, propelling himself over the barbed wire after Tony and Katie, Natasha swerved the truck behind him hard to the left and her and Clint jumped out, legs extended, kicking anyone they came into contact with.

“Up high Kiddo…” Tony called and the siblings sped forward, taking out a few more in their path before climbing up towards the base. Katie closed in, but suddenly hit a force field, which reverberated and sent her spiralling off to the side.

“Shit!” She exclaimed, righting herself whilst she looked round

“Language,” Steve reprimanded, the familiar joke telling-off slipping past his lips without him really thinking about it. “JARVIS what’s the view from upstairs?”

“The central building is protected by some kind of, energy shield.” JARVIS responded easily through the communication devices. “Strucker’s technology is well beyond anything of a HYDRA base we’ve taken.”

“Loki’s sceptre must be here,” Thor said as Steve saw him swing his hammer, fighting off more Hydra soldiers. “Strucker couldn’t mount this defence without it. At long last.”

 “At long last is lasting a little long, guys.” Katie’s voice echoed along with the sound of her beams as she aimed them at another bunch of soldiers who were shooting at her and Tony from the top of the fortress.

"Yeah,” Clint scoffed “I think we lost the element of surprise.”

“Wait a second,” Tony interrupted, “Is no one going to deal with the fact that Cap just said ‘language’?”

“I know,” Steve sighed speeding head on in the direction of one of the trucks. He pulled the brakes on the bike, launching himself forwards, his hands on the handlebars throwing the bike over his head watching it crash into the truck. “It just slipped out.” He finished with a sigh. It had been a joke, but he knew full well the joke was going to be on him now.

“Sir, the city is taking fire.” JARVIS informed them as Katie dodged the fire that was being aimed at them from the top of the fortress

“Well we know Strucker isn’t going to worry about civilian casualties,” Tony responded, “Send in the Iron Legion.”

“How do we get this force field down?” Katie asked

“There has to be a source.” Tony mused, as they circled the fortress again. “JARVIS…” “Working on it, Sir.”

“Clint!” Natasha’s frantic shout made both Tony and Katie pause, and that pause cost her as a flash hit the side of her suit and sent her ricocheting to the side, colliding heavily with one of the walls of the fortress. Her suit clanged heavily with the force-field and she once more dinged off the side.

“We have an enhanced in the field.” Steve reported, as Katie shook her head, flying back up after Tony. 

“Clint’s hit.” Natasha spoke again “Somebody wanna’ deal with that bunker?”

Katie looked down, scanning to find where Natasha was referring to but before she could do anything the Hulk gave a mighty roar and she turned to see him crash through it.

“Thank you.” Nat spoke again.

“Stark,” Steve grunted, and Katie turned her head to see he was fighting half a dozen or so agents. She shot towards them, taking two down with her repulsors as Steve’s shield flew from his arm in an arc and connected with another two. “We really need to get inside.”

“I’m closing in.” Tony responded as Katie landed by Steve, shooting at another soldier. More were approaching and as she shot and flew at them, she heard Tony’s triumphant voice in her ear. “Drawbridge is down people.”

Thor landed nearby with a flourish of lightening that took down the last set of soldiers for now. “The enhanced?” He questioned as Katie slid back her face plate.

“He’s a blur,” Steve said as he jogged towards them. “With all the new players we’ve faced I’ve never seen this. In fact, I still haven’t.”

“Clint’s hit pretty back guys,” Natasha’s concerned voice came through coms again, “We’re gonna need evac.”

“I can get Barton to the jet, the sooner we’re gone the better.” Thor glanced around. “You two and Stark secure the sceptre”

“Copy that.” Steve responded.

Katie looked around and suddenly noticed that a line of soldiers were approaching, with a tank directly behind them.

“Errrr boys…”

Thor and Steve both looked around and Thor titled his head to one side, curiously.

“Hmmm looks like they’re lining up.” He said,

“Well they’re excited.” Steve huffed holding up his shield and bracing himself while Katie took a step back and ducked. Thor brought his hammer down on the shield where the force reverberated off and hit the soldiers knocking them all down. A perfectly executed move, fresh from the training room.

“Find the sceptre.” Thor instructed, taking off.

“And for gosh sake’s watch your language.” Tony exclaimed sarcastically into the coms.

“That’s not going away anytime soon.” Steve sighed, looking at Katie. Even though half his face was obscured by his helmet she could see the look of exasperation on his face and grinned.

“Yeah, Tony is gonna bring that up at every opportunity he gets” she shrugged as they began to make their way to the entrance of the building.

**** Katie looked at her brother who was staring at the console of the jet, a faraway look in his eyes.

“You sure you’re alright Tone?” she asked him

“Yeah just you know, little bit relieved it’s done…finally” he said, flicking some more switches. Whilst Katie wasn’t sure she believed him, she knew she wasn’t going to get anything else out of him at the moment so she stood up and made her way over to her fiancée who was now stood with Thor, the pair of them looking at the Sceptre.

“So you think what powers this is a similar force to the tesseract?” Steve asked, breaking the silence between the two men who had, up until that point simply been staring at the thing, unable to believe they had it. He moved his arm gently, as Katie slid comfortably underneath it, dropping a kiss to the side of her head but other than that his attention was fully on Thor.

“Yes.” Thor pondered, his fingers skating over the glass it was encased in. “The power they both give off is immeasurable…”  

“Thor!” came Nat’s voice loudly, and all 3 of them turned to face her “Report on the Hulk.”

“Oh, err the gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims.” Thor smiled, raising his fist triumphantly but dropped it when Nat turned to look at him in disbelief as Katie hit him on the arm. Steve supressed a smile, looking upwards whilst shaking his head, both his hands dropping to his buckle.

“But not the screams of the dead,” Thor spoke again, quickly trying to correct himself as Bruce put his head in his hands and groaned as Nat shot the God another filthy look “Of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and errr gout.”

 “Gout?”  Katie looked at him as Steve shook besides her with supressed mirth. 

“What?” Thor shrugged and was about to open his mouth again but thankfully he was interrupted by Tony.

“Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul.” He cut in from the cockpit. “Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?”

“Yeah, she knows her way around.” Bruce responded quickly.

“Thanks.” Tony told him shortly before going back to the controls on the jet.  He muttered something, before he spoke a bit louder instructing JARVIS to take the wheel.

“Yes sir, approach vector is locked.” The disembodied voice responded as Tony moved to join Katie, Steve and Thor around the sceptre.

“It feels good, yeah?” Tony began placing his hand comfortably in his pockets as he looked at Thor “I mean, you’ve been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven’t enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…” he trailed off.

“But this, this brings it to a close.” Thor finished for him staring proudly down at the sceptre.

“As soon as we find out what else this has been used for.” Steve looked at the sceptre curiously. “I don’t just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?”

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard.” Tony assured glancing at the item then back at Thor “Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You’re staying, right?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Thor looked back to the sceptre, placing one of his hands on the box with a smile “A victory should be honoured with revels.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love revels?” Tony spoke lightly. “You guys?” He asked looking at Katie and Steve as Steve slid his arm round his girl’s waist. Seeing as they lived at the tower, it was kind of a given they would be there anyway, but Tony had aimed the question at Steve more than his sister, still giving him the chance to avoid a hectic social gathering if he so wished but on this occasion he didn’t. Despite the fact he enjoyed a quiet life on the whole, he also quite enjoyed socialising on occasions too. And Thor was right, this called for a good party.

 "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so…yes, revels.” Steve replied smiling slightly as he used the arm around Katie’s waist to squeeze her hip as Tony turned to speak to Thor, outlining his plans for the Sceptre.

Katie spun her body so she was facing Steve, both his hands locking at the base of her back. “Sooo, Captain America going to let his hair down?” She grinned.

“No, Steve Rogers is.”

“Steve is definitely my favourite.” She nodded, running her hands up his chest, feeling the solid material of his Uniform. “Cap’s an asshole. And a bossy bastard.”

“I know, you tell me this a lot” He quipped, leaning down to give her a peck on the lips.

A few hours later they arrived home. Natasha and Bruce wheeled Clint out first, passing Maria Hill as she walked onto the jet, addressing Tony, moving out of the way as Thor also left, the sceptre tucked under his arm.

“Lab’s all set up, boss” Hill spoke.

Tony pointed at Steve who was crouching down putting a few things back in one of the equipment crates. “Uh, actually, he’s the boss… I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler.”

Katie smiled to herself as Steve sighed; pretending to be irritated, but the shine in his eyes told a different story. He thrived in his role as leader.

“What’s the word on Strucker?” He asked Maria, straightening up.

“NATO’s got him.” She said, pressing something on her tablet.

“What about the two enhanced?” Katie asked, “Anything on them?”

“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins.” She said handing Steve the tablet. He swiped across the screen and the image sprang to life. Katie watched the tablet in Steve’s hands as the two kids were partaking in some kind of demonstration.

“Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia’s had a rough history. It’s nowhere special but it’s on the way to everywhere special.”

Together the three of them strode across the landing pad, leaving Tony behind on the jet doing his usual post flight shut down controls. 

“Their abilities?” Steve quizzed as they headed through the locker area heading towards the elevator at the end.

“He’s got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.”

Steve looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

“He’s fast and she’s weird.” Katie said, rephrasing it for him. Maria let out a small smirk.

“Well, they’re going to show up again.” He said, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker’s experiments. Its nuts” Maria said as Katie and Steve stepped in to the elevator and turned to face her. Katie looked down at her feet, smiling before she glanced sideways at Steve who was looking at Maria.

“Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?” His voice was ladled with sarcasm. He knew Hill hadn’t meant it like that but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jibe her.

Maria realised what she had said and looked at him, taking a deep breath. “We’re not at war, Captain” she responded.

“They are.” He said, and then the lift door shut.

“Turns out Cap is Bossy and sarcastic…” Katie raised an eyebrow, not looking at him.

He paused for a second, smirking, before he turned to her, gently pushing her shoulders to back her into the wall of the elevator as his lips crashed onto hers, body pinning her into place. He kissed her, hard and his hand slid up to grasp her chin, holding her head in position as his tongue tangled easily with hers. It took Katie a second to catch up with what was going on, he’d surprised her slightly, but once she did she kissed him back, hungrily.  The elevator stopped and he stepped back, leaving her breathless and hanging as he exited the lift wearing a huge smirk, tablet still in his hand.

Whilst Steve headed off to find a quiet corner in which to study the tablet some more, Katie, once she had managed to calm her spiking libido, walked into the lab area. Tony was coming down the steps, out of the room Clint was in. Bruce was stood just outside, looking through the window.

“How is he?” Katie asked.

“Well he’s still Barton so…”

“That’s terrible.” Banner shook his head.

“He’s good, he’s thirsty so…” Tony shrugged. Banner smiled and headed into the lab as Katie held back, looking at Tony.

“And you, are you sure you’re alright?” She asked. “You looked a bit peaky before.”

“Just the amount of stuff that was in Strucker’s lab.” Her brother murmured “There was a tonne of it Kiddo, a fuck tonne. We didn’t do as good a job of cleaning up after the battle here as we thought.”

“We did the best we could.” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah maybe, anyway I’m going to go fix a drink so…”

He wandered off and Katie watched him go. Something was telling her that her brother wasn’t being completely honest with what was bothering him, but she knew better than to press him. He’d tell her when he wanted to.

As she walked into the room where Clint was led, Natasha was stood beside him, Dr Cho’s machine working on the wound in his side.

 “So is he going to be okay Doc because pretending to need this guy really keeps the team together” Natasha teased. Clint muttered back a response that Katie didn’t quite catch whilst Banner bent over the kit that was currently mending his wound together, his nose centimetres away from Barton’s side as he studied it, a look of astonishment and awe on his face.

“She’s creating tissue.” He spoke incredulously, looking at Natasha then to Katie.

Helen Cho smiled, and checked the wound and the machine before looking at Banner “If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes.”

“Oh he’s flatlining.” Tony returned to the lab with 7 plastic cups full of his power green smoothie that had become a bit of a post mission ritual. Katie took one from him as he continued to pass them around whilst teasing Clint. “Call it. Time?”

“No, no, no. I’m going to live forever. I’m gonna be made of plastic.” Clint glanced up.

“Here’s your beverage” Tony handed him a cup.

“You’ll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won’t be able to tell the difference.” Dr Cho assured him. 

“Well, I don’t have a girlfriend.” Clint swallowed the mouthful of drink he had taken, sharing a glance with Katie and she smirked.

No, just a wife.

“That I can’t fix.” Helen Cho smiled, before looking at my brother “This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust”.

“Well, that is exactly the plan. And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday.”

“Unlike you, I don’t have a lot of time for parties.” She paused, looking down at her clip board “Will Thor be there?”

“Oh yes…” Katie placed the empty cup on the tray and picking up the remaining two. “He’s a big fan of revels.”

She headed out of the lab and down the steps into the living area to find Thor and Steve, smiling when she spotted them both stood looking out at the City below.

“You would hardly know a battle had occurred at all” Thor was saying as he accepting the cup Katie held out to him as she moved to stand between them both. Thor dropped a large arm round her shoulder in a friendly manner, the two having grown even closer over the last six months as she’d taken it upon herself to help him get to grips with living on Earth as much as she could. “It never ceases to amaze me how you people just carry on.”

“We’re a resilient species.” Steve took the drink Katie offered him, his eyes straying to Thor’s arm. He didn’t mind the God’s protective nature over his girl, he knew there was nothing more to friendship, but he wasn’t overly keen on his tactile nature with her. 

“Yes, just like Ramularts.” Thor’s arm moved from Katie as she looked round at him and he noticed her blank faces “Big, grey animals, huge horns, purple eyes. You don’t have those on Earth?”

“Err no.” Katie shook her head, as this time it was Steve’s arm which curled round her shoulders. “No we don’t.”

“Oh.” Thor said, before shrugging “Well they are hideous. A bit like this green concoction your brother insists we drink”

“It’s good for you…” Katie grinned “Contains Two of your Five a day. I should know, I drank enough of it after my little vacation in Canada”

“Don’t.” Steve sighed, his arm pulling her a little closer. He hated it when she made jokes about her kidnapping.

Thor raised his eyebrow. “Five a day of what?”

“Never mind.” Katie chuckled “If you don’t like it, tip it into the plant pot. He’ll never know.

*****

It was a bit strange the following few days, waking up and knowing there was nothing that needed to be done. Whilst not every single day of the last Six months had been spent running around on or planning missions, even when she was at work in SIP, there had always been that part of Katie’s mind that would not switch off, knowing they had a job to do, not to mention Steve had been like a coiled spring constantly waiting and searching for the next lead.

With SHIELD all but gone to the public and off doing God knows what, the Avengers were more important than ever, and Katie knew that Tony and Steve had been discussing expanding, recruiting a whole team of support staff and scientists. However, that was all to come and for the time being it was pushed to the back of her mind, and Steve’s it appeared. Katie didn’t think she had ever seen him so relaxed. He slept in, lazed around the apartment, was happy to have duvet days. It was, frankly, great and she couldn’t help but hope that this could be the start of a relatively ‘normal’ life for the pair of them.

That particular morning, Thursday, the clock on her bedside table informed her that it was gone 10 am when she woke. Steve wasn’t in the bed besides her, but that wasn’t surprising. She stretched and turned over onto her side, instructing Jarvis to retract the blinds in the bedroom to reveal the large ceiling to floor windows that looked out over the New York Skyline. In her opinion their floor really did have the best view the building could offer, something which made her Super Soldier very happy, as he loved to spend his down time drawing the skyline from the art room she had gotten Tony to convert one of their spare rooms into for him at Christmas.

She also had another surprise for him up her sleeve. Steve had recently been researching into getting a place in Brooklyn for the pair of them, suggesting it would be nice for them to have their own place when they got married. So as a surprise she had made an appointment for later today in the afternoon with a Realtor Tony had recommended to look at a house they had both really liked on the internet. She hadn’t told Steve that yet, it was a surprise and something she was strangely excited about.

Steve heard Jarvis respond to Katie’s request and smiling he got up from where he had been watching the news on the TV, made her a coffee out and headed into the bedroom. He immediately noticed her eyes scan him up and down, grinning to himself as he raised an eyebrow as she took in the fact he was in nothing but a grey pair of sweats that hung off his hips casually as he crossed the grey carpet towards her.

“You know if I looked a woman up and down like that in the street I’d be called a pervert.”

“Yeah well…” She said, pulling herself into a sitting position “We’re not in the street, and you’re my fiancée so I can perve as much as I want.”

He snorted as he set the mug of coffee down on the bedside table and she moved over so he could sit on the edge of the bed.

“Morning, Gorgeous.” He grinned, dropping a kiss gently onto her lips. 

“Been in the gym?” She asked, taking in his hair which was still damp from the shower.

“Running. I popped in to see Tony and Banner on my way back up.”

“They still running tests on the Sceptre?” Katie took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, I think they’ve been there all night!” he said, running a hand through his damp, tousled hair

“Wouldn’t surprise me. Tony’s relentless once he gets the bit between his teeth”

“So, what do you want to do today?” Steve’s nose buried into her hair. “Fancy heading down to the Pier?”

“Well…” Katie said, setting her mug down and taking his hand in hers, lacing her fingers with his “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” He asked, raising his eyebrow, a grin spreading across his face.

“mnmmmhmmmm” she said, nodding.

He tried his best to get her to tell him where they were going but Katie didn’t. She had a suspicion he would guess as they made their way there however. But still, it was fun. They set off just after midday and cruised over Brooklyn Bridge, the sun bouncing off the Hudson as they left Manhattan. Katie drove her Camero through the various neighbourhoods, occasionally Steve would point things out from his past, as they came to him, enjoying his little nostalgia trip. And then when she turned left at one particular junction he immediately figured out where they were going.

“You are unbelievable.” He chuckled.

“What?”

“We’re going to see that house, the one in Clinton Hill…” Steve’s eyebrow raised as he shot a glance at her.

“Might be.” Katie smirked.

They carried through the neighbourhood and Katie eventually pulled into a pair of open metal gates which led to a large, red brick three storey with an immaculate garden area to the front and stopped behind a gold, BMW convertible.  To the left of the front door the drive way sloped down under an arch to a large garage and the sprawling grounds at the back. Steve had liked it immediately when he saw it. The architecture inside and outside was quirky enough to appeal to the artist in him, it was in a quiet enough neighbourhood and the location and plot meant they could easily up the security. It all came at a hefty price tag though, not that it mattered to Katie.

“You do know this was the poshest place to live in Brooklyn.” He turned to look at Katie as she undid her seat belt.

“Still is. But then, I’m a very posh kinda woman.” Katie grinned, climbing out of the car. Steve did the same and made his way round to her side, dropping an arm round her shoulders.

 “What do you think?”

“Looks even better in real life.” Steve looked up at the huge, elegant mansion. As they stood looking at the façade of the building, the large oak door opened and outstepped a tall, thin, very good looking woman dressed in an extremely tight grey dress, high Manolas with her blonde hair pulled up into an immaculate bun. 

“Hi.” She was crisp, and business like. “You must be Miss Stark and Captain Rogers?”

“Yeah, sorry, Danny?” Katie frowned. When Tony had set her up with his Real Estator friend Danny, She had assumed it was a man.

“Danni with an I!” She held out her hand, clearly clocking the look of confusion. “I get that a lot.”

She turned to Steve, and looked at him appreciatively, her whole body language changing from one of business to friendship as she shook his hand. Katie rolled her eyes. Steve, as ever, was utterly clueless as he beamed at the woman.

“So the way I normally do this, is I’ll walk you in, show you round, give you a bit of history, then we can have a chat after…” She said, as they followed her up the steps, Steve stopping to allow Katie to go first, his hand gently in the small of her back. They entered into large, wooden floored hall way, which was cool but welcoming. To the right was a huge staircase which swept up and round in a dog leg.

“So the house was impeccably restored in 2007 by the present owners with close attention given to the preservation of historic details.” Dani spoke the sales patter as the pair of them looked up and round. “There are five floors, seven bedrooms, three full baths, three half baths in 3 of the bedrooms, including the master, front and rear gardens, parking, double garage and a pool house.”

She turned round and looked at Katie “And if you’re anything like your brother you’ll appreciate one of the 5 floors is a wine cellar-slash-party room. We all know Tony likes his parties, lord knows I’ve been to enough.”  she winked at Steve and besides him he felt Katie bristle.

Uh-oh.

Katie frowned slightly, unable to decide if she was making a joke or referring to the fact this woman and her brother had once, well, you know. Fixing the woman with her best passive face she smiled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”  Katie’s voice was thickly sweet “I’m normally pretty good with faces.”

The two women looked at one another, Dani-with-an-I’s face slipped slightly but she recovered and turned to Steve.

“So if you want to follow me…” She beamed, a mouthful of perfect, white teeth.

“Please, lead the way.” Steve smiled at her, ever the gentleman and Katie gave another roll of her eyes as she led them from the room, hips swinging exaggeratedly.

As they walked round, despite the fact she was openly flirting with Steve and completely ignoring the fact Katie was there, it was clear the woman really did know her stuff. She’d obviously researched this house down to the ground as no detail was missed.

Frankly the house was stunning, and as they moved from room to room, taking it all in, Steve noticed the way Katie’s smile grew wider the more they saw. He could tell she’d fallen in love with it already.

“All of the electrical and plumbing was updated and central air-con and heating was installed throughout the house” Dani-with-an-I said as they made their way back down the stairs “And the facade was redone as well as the roof.”

“I’m not going to lie…” Steve nodded as they made their way into the huge kitchen again, “It’s every bit as stunning in real life as it looks on the internet.”

“It’s gorgeous isn’t it Steve.” She flashed those pearly whites at him again as her hand dropped to his forearm, giving it a small squeeze. Katie took a deep breath and grit her teeth. Steve didn’t so much as bat an eyelid although Katie could have sworn he shot her a sideways glance, the glimmer of a smirk playing across his handsome face. But when she looked back his face was utterly passive.

“How big is the land span?” He asked, striding to the back door

“Couple of hundred feet. The pool is roughly 20 by 40 so you can gage it from that.”

 “May I?” He asked, gesturing to the door which led out of the kitchen to the rear.

“Please, go right ahead.” Sh smiled, stepping forward to unlock the rear door. Steve stepped out and strode down the lawn area of the property to inspect the gardens looking for what security improvements they would need to make. They weren’t overlooked either which he really liked. No, he could definitely see them here together, maybe raising a family in a few years…a dog… a smile crossed his face as he looked around. Yeah, he liked it.

Katie watched as Steve looked around the garden, and Dani-with-an-I excused herself and pottered off to answer a phone call. Katie turned her head, nosily listening in and caught one line which instantly pissed her right off.

“Yes, I think he likes it. It’s a good sign… he might yes. I know, right? Captain America…who knew!? And he’s even more gorgeous in real life! Yeah, tell me about it…”

Whoever she was on the call to was clearly speaking back and Dani laughed before saying she needed to go and Katie heard her heels clicking as she walked back to the large kitchen. Katie glanced at Steve who was walking back towards the house, and figuring she had enough time she decided to pull the daft bint up on her attitude.

“And do you think I like it?” Katie asked as Dani walked into the room.

“I’m sorry?” Dani frowned.

“Do you think I like the house?” Katie shrugged “I mean you seem overly concerned about whether Captain America does just curious if my opinion counts?”

Dani floundered for her answer, as Katie continued. “I’ve watched you for the last hour or so eyeing him up.” Katie glared at her.  

“Katie…I didn’t…” “Miss Stark, thank you.” Katie interrupted, not once breaking the eye contract. “And if you touch my fiancee again, I will snap your hand off.”

Dani swallowed nervously and looked away for a split second. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any offence.”

“Everything ok?” Steve asked, stepping back into the kitchen. You could cut the tension between the women with a knife. He couldn’t help but feel slightly sorry for Dani as Katie was utterly frightening when she wanted to be.

“Yes, absolutely, me and Dani were just discussing the price and maybe how she’s going to broker us a good deal with the vendor…” Katie said sweetly, before she turned to Dani, raising an eyebrow. Steve had to bite back his laughter.

“Yes.” Dani cleared her throat, “Absolutely. So it’s currently on the market for offers in the region of 3.3 million, but I think with some good negotiation I’ll get them down to around the flat 3 mark.” 

“Try again.” Katie smiled at her and Dani swallowed again, her smile slipping slightly.

“Miss Stark, this is a very good price for this area…” “I’m not disputing that.” Katie shook her head, her eyes never once leaving the woman in front of her “But we would be cash buyers, with no chain…obviously if you don’t think you can get it any lower I would be happy to handle the negotiations myself.”

Steve bit his lip and became very focussed on examining the ceiling. “I’ll see what I can do.” Dani-with-an-I said after a short pause.

“Thank you.” Katie smiled.

They all exchanged pleasantries, Katie’s handshake was especially firm, and then Steve and her left, exiting down the steps.

“You’re scary when you’re angry” he said into her ear.

“I’m not angry, merely slightly irritated.” Katie snorted “Her attitude left something to be desired. Here, wanna drive home?” she tossed him the keys.

He didn’t say anything else, just expertly caught the keys in his left hand, but the smug look on his face was enough to let Katie know she had been busted. As they drove back down the tree lined avenue towards the main road, their conversation turned to how beautiful the location was and Steve pointing out how far away the area was from where he grew up. As he spoke, however, something in his stomach tightened. It was a really far cry from the life he had known before the war, when he had been lucky just to be able to afford the rent every month in the small four roomed apartment. He’d always dreamed of being able to afford a nice place in his future, keep a roof over his family’s head, but here well it would be a joint effort. And he was surprised to find that he felt a little bit inadequate about that.

 “Do we really need 7 bedrooms?” he asked suddenly.

“Does Tony really need 6 cars?”  Katie shrugged “They don’t all have to be bedrooms. The smaller rooms on the top floor could be an art studio and a cinema room…”

Steve fell completely quiet. Katie glanced sideways at him. There was a solemn look on his face. A look she knew meant he was brooding over something.

“Soldier, what is it?”

“Nothing…”

“You can’t lie for shit. Try again.”

He shifted and looked straight out of the window ahead, biting his bottom lip gently. He took a deep breath and as they stopped at a traffic light he turned to face her.

“It’s a lot of money, I’m just not sure I can afford it…”

“Maybe you can’t, but we can.” Katie waved his comment away. “Plus you’re on the Stark payroll now…”

“That’s not the point…” he sighed

“Then what is?” “I know this sounds old fashioned but I always wanted to provide for my girl, you know.”

Katie watched as he shrugged gently eyes not straying from the road.

“Yeah you’re right…it is old fashioned.” She rolled her eyes. Normally she had a lot of time for his ways but not when it came to things like this. “Does me having a lot of money bother you that much?”

“Of course not…” he said.

“So why are we even having this discussion? We’re going to be married at some point, it doesn’t matter who has what. It’s not an issue.” she took a breath “You know, considering you’re not all that bothered about me taking your name when we get married this seems like an odd thing to get caught up on.” “Hang on, I never said I wasn’t bothered about you not taking my name.” He corrected, shaking his head. “I’d love nothing more than for you to be Mrs Rogers. What I said was that I understand your reasons for being a little bit…hesitant about it, with the business and all.”

“I’m not hesitant.” She shot back, and he looked at her, raising an eyebrow snorting.

“What was it you said?” He looked at her briefly “You can’t imagine not being a Stark especially when your business is called Stark Independent Publishers?”

She stayed silent, looking out of the window.

“I got news for you, Sweetheart, you’ll always be a Stark. Name or not. You’re too much of a pain in my ass not to be.” Steve concluded, shooting her a look. She gave a small smile as he pulled the car up 5th towards the tower.

“And you’ll always be my Soldier. My safe-place, regardless of whether you solely provide for me or not, which by the way is a fucking stupid notion anyway, didn’t your Ma bringing you up alone teach you anything?”

“Wow.” Steve raised both his eyebrows “That’s harsh.”

“But fair.” she countered “Are we arguing now?” He looked at her, the corner of his mouth twitching as he pulled up and waited for the entrance to the underground car park open as it recognised the plate.

“No, I’m just pointing out that you’re being an old fashioned dork about something that really isn’t that big a deal. I want to share my life with you, Steve and that means everything that comes with it.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re right.” He shook his head. “You’re absolutely right, I’m sorry.” he took a deep breath “I suppose since coming out of the ice this is the first time I’ve really had to think about where I’m gonna live and not had it all planned out for me.” He cut the car engine and Katie looked at him, softening slightly as he turned to her, his blue eyes locking onto hers.

“Baby, there’s no rush.” She looked at him, fully understanding what he was saying. “There’s plenty of other property to look at.”

“Yeah, perhaps I should give Danni-with-an-I a call, see what else she has on her books. I mean she did give us a good tour.” Steve nodded, a small smile playing on his face.

Katie narrowed her eyes at him. That’s not all she wanted to give you. She was flirting with you.”

“She probably flirts with everyone”

“She wanted you.”

“Well, she can’t have me.” Steve grinned, raising an eyebrow at her, that annoying smug grin spreading across his face.

“Damned right.” She pushed on his shoulders gently as she clambered over onto his lap. “I don’t take kindly to people touching my stuff…” “Yeah, you really didn’t you learn to share as a child did you?” He teased, his hands sliding up each of her bare thighs, underneath the hem of her jersey dress

“Not when it comes to the important things, no…” She murmured, pressing her lips to his. Her tongue slid into his mouth, tangling easily with his as he flexed his hips up groaning as the growing bulge in his trousers pressed against her spot as she pushed down hard against him, a moan brewing in her throat.

“Baby we’re in the garage.” he said softly, more of a reminder than a protest. 

“I know…” She kissed him again as she began to undo his buckle and then the buttons on his jeans. He tilted his hips slightly so she could manoeuvre his trousers down and he shifted so he was in the right position as she leaned forward again to kiss him, his lips gently trailing down to pepper her neck with soft, warm kisses, as he pushed up against her again and again, his erection pressing at the thin barrier of her underwear. Her hands moved from his chest and she slid the garment to the side and his hands rested on her hips as she pushed down, taking him in. Both of them let out a groan and Katie began to work up and down, rocking her hips.

The darker side of Steve found the risk of someone coming and finding them, all be it pretty minimal, a fucking big turn on and his hands pulled Katie further down as he thrust upwards, fucking her like a greedy, horny teenager. Her head banged against the roof of the car, but Katie didn’t care as his hands crept up the front of her dress, sliding under the cups of her bra. His hands tweaked at her nipples and she groaned louder, the familiar pull in her stomach getting more and more prominent. As she pushed down again he let out a groan and sat up slightly, so his lips were on her neck nipping her skin with his teeth as he thrust upwards, and she let out a cry, tilting her head backwards.

“Stevie, I’m gonna…” she stuttered and as he thrust upwards again, she was gone. Her cries loud as he too let out a loud groan as he shuddered, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her to him as she rode out wave, after wave, and he emptied himself inside her, laying his head back against the seat, eyes closed in bliss. She fell forward and lay her forehead against his, both of them breathing deeply as their noses began their familiar dance.

“You know…” He chuckled, cracking an eye open as she grinned cheekily. “I’m glad you weren’t taught how to share…”

***** Chapter 23 Part 1

**Original Posting**

[lithugraph]

Glory Days

Fandom: Hetalia

Characters: APH Lithuania, APH Prussia, APH Russia

Rating: T

Summary:  Amid a dying empire, nearing the end of the Cold War, Toris and Gilbert listen to Bruce Springsteen on a stolen radio and re-live their own “glory days.”

Written for Pruliet Week 2019, prompt: regret.

This is a work in progress.  I didn’t get it all finished by the deadline, but I figured I’d go ahead and post what I’ve got so far.  I will post the whole fic once it’s done.

April 1986

Toris hated dinner parties.   

He could remember a time when that wasn’t always true.  Could remember a time when he found them enjoyable.  Surrounded by men in furs with swords at their hips, ladies in richly embroidered robes.  Amber light cast by the fire roaring in the castle’s great hall warmed the cold stone and the guests as they conversed, intimate and raucous.  Of course they hadn’t been called dinner parties then.  Banquet or feast would have been more appropriate.  If he closed his eyes, he could sometimes still smell the roasted boar.

As the world lurched ever closer to modernity, these dinners became less celebratory and more formal.  Crystal and porcelain replaced wood and pewter.  Tables grew in length, not to seat more people, but to accommodate the sudden swelling of place settings.  Who decided forks and glassware should come in threes?  What was wrong with a simple knife and fork? Toris sighed, looking around at the feting guests.  That was the thing with being immortal – the catch.  You could always remember a time that was far simpler than the current one.   

But even memories were subject to fault.

Toris’ eyes swept the dining room once more.  At the head of the table sat Secretary Honecker, East German head of state.  To his right, Secretary Gorbachev.  Next to him, of course, sat Ivan.  Other East German Politburo members and their wives rounded out the gathering.  Ivan had gone over their names during their flight from Moscow to East Berlin, but Toris was too preoccupied with not throwing up as the plane dipped and climbed during its turbulent trip.  

 They were there for the eleventh congress of the Socialist Unity Party.  Well, Ivan was.  And Gorbachev.  Toris was brought along to act as Ivan’s security detail.  As always.  

Even at the dinner party.  He kept to the room’s perimeter. Occasionally stealing a moment to check the rest of the house for “threats.”  Really it was a chance to sneak a shot of vodka or a quick smoke.  There was no need for additional security.  The Waldsiedlung compound, which housed the most senior state leaders, had that covered. Nicknamed Wandlitz after the nearby town, the compound existed as its own walled utopia in the lush forests north of East Berlin.  In addition to the wall that, Toris thought, greatly mimicked the much larger one surrounding West Berlin, troops from the Stasi’s paramilitary wing kept the grounds under tight guard.  Didn’t want ordinary East German citizens discovering what luxuries their leaders indulged in.  Even Toris managed to relax a little as he and Ivan secretly enjoyed the amenities of the elite – tennis courts and a shooting range, a cinema and department store that only sold Western goods.  Ivan was bound to denounce it all the moment the dinner ended and they were on their way back to the guest house, but Toris saw the smile spreading across his lips as he did backstrokes in the pool that afternoon.

“Join me for a smoke?” a voice said from behind, making Toris jump.

“Dammit, Gilbert.”  

The Prussian’s face appeared in his periphery.  Toris could practically feel the grin radiating off him.

“Is that a yes?”

Toris feigned disinterest.  “We’re supposed to be on duty.”

Gilbert clicked his tongue.  “Like that’s stopped you.”

Toris watched him from the corner of his eye.  

“C’mon, Liet.  Two of my guys can cover for us.  ‘Sides, I got something I know you’ll like.”

“And what might that be?”

 “You’ll have to come with me, to find out,” Gilbert teased.

Toris took another look at the guests.  Everyone was deep in conversation – talking, smiling, enjoying their drinks.  Even Ivan.

Gilbert nudged his shoulder.

“All right,” Toris whispered.

The Prussian’s grin widened. He signaled behind him.  Two guards appeared, as if condensing from the surrounding air.  Toris shuddered, glad the light was dim, and followed Gilbert out.  

Wispy clouds streaked the evening sky, pulling their veil over the setting sun, its ember glow softening in pale oranges and purples.  The black pavement shimmered beneath in bronze and silver.  A rainstorm had passed while they’d been inside. A damp chill hung in the air.  

Gilbert lit a cigarette the moment his foot was outside.  He handed Toris his pack and lighter.

“Marlboros.”

“Only the best Western tobacco for our glorious Eastern leaders,” Gilbert said sardonically.  “Let’s go for a walk.”

Gilbert shoved his hands in his pockets, only to pull them out moments later to return a salute from a couple of passing guards.

“Fuck,” he muttered, shoulders rounding.  The spark that lit his face the dining room had noticeably dimmed. And Toris knew why.

Gilbert had been put in charge of his government’s secret police.  A role he never much relished but one he carried out as only his duty-bound nature would allow.  And it was the only way to ensure his cooperation.  Gilbert was not like the other satellite states.  Whereas Erzsebet and Feliks were content to live the proletarian life among their citizens, Gilbert was the perpetual soldier.  He needed structure, command, discipline, or else his misdirected energy would have erupted in chaos. Therefore, the only way to keep him in check was to grant him some measure of power, perverse as it was.  

They walked on a few silent moments.  The streets were deserted, save for them.  Everyone was at the dinner party.

The street ended at an intersection, beyond which stood a small forest.  A path was just visible through the opening in the trees. Gilbert made his way toward it. Toris followed, tossing away his cigarette, drawing a deep breath the moment he was under tree cover.  A wistful smile crossed his face as he gazed up at the canopy above.  A cathedral of wood and greenery.  The branches like rib vaulting.  The leaves like stained glass.  

An even light lit the forest as twilight fell.  The shadows of night had yet to emerge as they traipsed through the undergrowth.  All evidence of suburban paradise faded away.  No streets, no lights, no houses.  Toris felt himself grow taller with each stride.  His stretched, back straightening with another slow inhale. He removed his cap, scratching his fingers over his scalp as locks of brown hair, free from their binding, tumbled down around his face.

Gilbert came to a halt and turned.  A dark green wall stood in front of them, nearly camouflaged by the undergrowth. It stretched in either direction, running the perimeter of the forest.  

“I’m surprised Ivan didn’t have you cut it,” Gilbert said, gesturing at the Lithuanian’s hair.

“He’s mentioned it.  Several times.”

Gilbert smirked.  “He likes it too much.”

Toris glanced away.  Suddenly the forest canopy seemed a whole lot closer.  The tall feeling he’d had moments before was fading.

“If all you wanted was a smoke and to talk about my hair, we could have stayed at the house.”

Gilbert dropped his cigarette.  It hissed out on the wet ground.

“Why’d you drag me out here?” Toris pressed.

“I thought you’d like the walk.”  Gilbert shrugged.  “Or maybe I’m just…sick of walls.”  He aimed a petulant glare at the one in front of them. “You and I — we’re not made to be kept inside.  We need this.”  Eyes lifted heavenward, to the cathedral of leaves. “You felt it, didn’t you?”  An earnest look, almost pleading.  “It feels right.  Being out here.”

“Yes,” Toris said softly.  “But things are different now.”

Gilbert sniffed, wiping the back of his hand across his nose.  The curve of his cheek glistened.

A gentle wind tugged at their uniform sleeves.  A subtle reminder.  They really ought to return.

Toris tucked his hair back under his cap.  Gilbert kicked the wall with the toe of his boot.  Above them, the leaves twisted and swayed like hands, inviting.

They left the woods in silence. Toris felt himself catapulted back to the present the moment they emerged.  Houses and cars – all of suburbia – screamed at him under the electric glare of streetlights.

Gilbert fished his last cigarette out of his pocket.  They shared it as they walked along the empty street, their booted heels scuffing the pavement.  Neither was in any hury to get back.  

“I got a new radio,” Gilbert said.

“Oh?  And what did that cost you?” Toris asked, thinking of the Western store in the village 

Lips unwound in a mischievous grin – one that revealed he had not paid a cent for his new radio.

“You’re despicable.”

Gilbert waved the comment away.  “They were a couple of Wessies.  Students. Tryin’ to sneak stuff in for black market sales.”  

“Hm.  I’ll bet they shit themselves silly.”

“You have no idea.  I swear, border patrol beats the hell out of this state dinner crap any day.”

Gilbert finished the cigarette as they reached the house.  “You should come over.  We could listen to it.  That is, if you can ditch dear old Vanya.”

Toris glanced at the door.  The sound of a piano and singing could be heard.

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”  

Ivan was most likely a few drinks in by this point, Toris thought.  He would be useless in the morning.

“Tomorrow, then?”

Gilbert grinned.  “Tomorrow.”

.

 .

 . 

Toris paced in front of the guest house gates, half expecting to be summoned back any moment.  A part of him hoped it would happen.  Except Secretary Gorbachev was not likely to need him for anything.  Besides, the Secretary preferred to use his own men.  Toris was only there because of Ivan.

He looked back over his shoulder, back at the guest house.  Did anyone even care he wasn’t there?  Ivan hardly noticed his extended absence last night.  And the Russian was deep asleep when Toris checked that morning.  He knew from past experiences that Ivan would keep to his room the day after any celebration.  But that knowledge did nothing to allay the twisting in the pit of his stomach.    

Toris drank a cup of coffee before leaving.  The serving staff paid him no mind as they bustled about their morning routines.  He learned long ago to move with a sense of purpose and power to negate suspicion.  Back straight.  Eyes forward. Head level.  People were less likely to bother you if you looked like you couldn’t be bothered with them.  It granted a certain degree of anonymity, a freedom to come and go as he pleased.  It was a power Toris knew not to abuse.  And he was all too aware of how suspicious he might look, standing outside the guest residence, if Gilbert didn’t hurry the fuck up and show soon.

At that moment, the hammering sound of an engine could be heard echoing in the still morning air.  Toris glanced back at the house, sure the racket was bound to bring someone outside.  None emerged.

A car appeared at the end of Tschaikowskistrasse.  The yellowing color of spoiled milk, it rattled toward the guest house gate.

Gilbert pulled up, grinning from the driver’s side window.

“What took so long?” Toris hissed.

“I had to make a pit stop,” Gilbert said, motioning at the back seat.  On it rested a case of beer.  “I doubt Ivan let you bring anything.”

Toris shook his head.  “It wouldn’t have been good anyway.”

“Trust me, this is not my best work either.  Are you gettin’ in or what?”

The engine gave a loud clank.

“Is it…safe?”

“Only the GDR’s very best,” Gilbert smirked, thumping a hand on the side of the car.

Toris opened the door and slid in, wincing as his knees knocked into the dashboard.  He and Gilbert sat shoulder to shoulder in the tiny, two door coupe.

Again Toris looked at the house, his gut churning with excitement and nerves.  

“Everything okay?” Gilbert asked.

“Yeah – no.  Fine.  It’s fine. Could we just go already?”

Gilbert shifted the car into gear. “You didn’t clear it with him, did you?”

“I shouldn’t have to,” Toris muttered.

“You want a beer?”

Toris reached in the back, popping the top off a pilsner as the car drove from the guest house.

“I miss that farmhouse ale you used to make,” Gilbert said.

“…So do I.”

.

.

.

Notes:

The title is in reference to the Bruce Springsteen song “Glory Days”

Waldsiedlung was the secure housing zone for leaders of the GDR.  Nicknamed Wandlitz for the village nearby, the people of East Germany had no idea it existed or what luxuries their leaders lived in.  It was surrounded by a fence proclaiming it to be a wildlife research facility.  There was an interior wall beyond that.  The community had, among other things, a cinema, restaurant, and department store that specialized in selling western goods.  It was guarded by the paramilitary unit of the Stasi (East German secret police).

The official guest house of the GDR was called Niederschoenhausen.  Located in the Pankow district of East Berlin, it was the former Baroque palace of Schoenhausen.

Gil’s car is of course a Trabi (Trabant)

Lithuanian farm house ale - there’s a great beer brewing tradition in Lithuania that, until recently, has largely gone unnoticed by the rest of the world.  During Soviet occupation, beer, like everything else, was heavily relegated and home brewing was outlawed.  

[wardennews]

IronStrange Bingo 2019 - Whump

Alternative Title: Battle Scars

Rated - T

The doors to the Medical Wing slammed open with a resounding ‘thud’ as James and Minowa burst through them carrying Stephen and Tony respectively. The unconscious duo was gently set down on a bed together, and the assassin pulled his lover into his arms as Bridget surged into movement, slinging Restoration spells left and right. “What happened?” The mage barked in an authoritative tone as the rest of the team came through the doors as well.

Aria hissed as her husbands helped her sit in a nearby chair, propping her ankle up on another. “The guy we were fighting-- The Controller-- he hit them with some kind of magical mumbo jumbo, dunno what it was supposed to do-- don’t even think about it, Bridget Ivorsen!” She snapped in a loud, sharp voice as the woman moved to approach her at the sight of her swollen ankle and foot. “My foot will keep, but if you don’t concentrate your full effort on figuring out how to wake them up, I will pop a cap in your knee!” Her husbands quickly hushed and comforted her as the blond got back to work, Ulysses moving to rub and massage her shoulders as Craig retrieved an ice pack.

A soft whistle escaped Dorian as he passed his husband a low-grade pain reliever potion for the abrasion down his arm. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Aria threaten to shoot any of us before! Must be the pain talking.”

“Or the worry,” Zevrael added as he knocked the potion back, a sigh of relief escaping him as the scrape healed completely within the course of several seconds.

Logan approached them all at that moment, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Just got off the phone with Lokes. He needs to let Laura know what’s going on, but he’ll be over as soon as possible. Also told Wade what’s happening, he’ll pull Rem, Pete, Slei, and Jör aside to talk to them and reassure them. Holly thinks it would be best to not let the younger kids know quite yet.”

A sudden cry of “Antonio!!” drew everyone’s attention, Emma flying into the room with a distraught look on her face. “Is he alright??”

Bruce approached the beds with two IV bags, a grim look on his face and a flicker of green in his eyes. “Tony and Stephen got hit by some kind of spell-- we don’t know what kind, and we’re not sure what the effect was. They’ve both been knocked unconscious, though, we can’t seem to get through to them.”

“Let me try! My telepathy-- I might be able to reach him!”

“Don’t.” The sudden thundering voice stopped everyone in their tracks as they turned to stare at James. The assassin slowly released Alduin, who turned to face the brunette woman with a stern look in his black and crimson eyes. “We have no idea as to the nature of the spell he used-- if it is affecting them both in the same way simultaneously, there is a chance you could be sucked into the influence as well. Zeymahu would send us to the Soul Cairn if we allowed any harm to come to you.” Icy-blue eyes filled with tears, even as the woman nodded her agreement.

After a moment, several voices called in unison, “Uncle Al?” The Stepford Cuckoos crept forward from where they’d slunk in through the door, standing behind their mother and looking up at the male. “Uncle Tony and Uncle Stephen are going to be okay, right?”

The dovah blinked for a moment at the title the girls had given him before a deep, rumbling sigh escaped him, and he gestured the blonds forward. Once they were close enough, he hugged each one individually, kissing their foreheads in a comforting gesture. “Rest assured, Diibriinahkine, we will do everything in our power to make sure they come back to us. I would ask that you follow the same instructions I just gave your mother, however. I will not risk your health and safety in an effort to bring them back.” The Cuckoos sniffed and nodded, gathering around the male to huddle against him. Slit-pupiled eyes raised to Emma, who was still tearful but now smiling with gratitude towards him. Alduin gestured her towards them as well, and the brunette joined in on the group hug without hesitation.

Bridget shot them a smile before the sound of Loki’s voice drew her eyes to the side. “Alright, what’s going on?” The ebony-haired god rolled up the sleeves of his emerald green turtleneck in preparation. After receiving a quick overview of the situation, Loki began casting spells of his own, and after a few minutes, he hissed with a small flinch. “I’ve identified the spell, but the implications…” He pulled his magic away, running his fingers through his own hair. “It’s mental magic, meant to take two people closely connected to each other in some way and force them to relive the other’s worst memory, or memories if it revolves around multiple.”

A choked noise escaped James, who closed his eyes at the news. “Bozhe moy, after what they both have been through? How do you even pick?? I would imagine Stephen’s would involve his car accident... ”

Emma had a hand covering her mouth, a look of utter horror and fear on her face. “I was there for Antonio after certain things-- Afghanistan, Stane, Whiplash, AIM… New York… Ultron…” She closed her eyes, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as Alduin took the chance to pull her close to comfort her. “And they have to relive it…? God help them and keep them both strong.”

The group all looked at each other, grim expressions on their faces. They all knew there would be a fallout of absolutely massive proportions from this event… but none of them were looking forward to finding out exactly how deep the hurt ran in the soulmates.

---

The entire group was quiet as cups of tea and coffee were passed around in the early hours of the next morning. Most of them had gotten no sleep, Aria only getting a few hours for the sake of letting the skele-gro do its’ work on her fractured ankle without causing her more discomfort. The mood in the room was somber, everyone glancing over towards the bed with Stephen and Tony intermittently.

Finally, a sharp gasp from Stephen caught everyone’s attention at once. The sorcerer sat up straight in the bed with a look on his face that was anguished and heartbroken in a way they’d never seen. Bridget and Loki shot each other a quick look before slowly approaching him, drawing his tear-filled blue-green eyes to them. “What the fuck was that?” He finally croaked, throat tight and voice cracking.

Bridget swallowed before slowly replying, “You and Tony… you were hit with some kind of magic that forced you to relive Tony’s worst experience… or experiences, depending on what they were.”

To their surprise, Stephen went deathly pale as his eyes snapped to where the genius was still lying prone next to him. “Tell me he isn’t reliving mine!” Getting stunned nods from the duo, he made a horrified, desperate noise before he was repositioning them both in a flurry of movement so they were face-to-face. Before they could ask what he was doing, he pressed his forehead to Tony’s, the Eye of Agamotto around his neck opening and beginning to glow and pulse a bit. The genius’ body suddenly lit up with a brilliant orange glow for a second before it shattered outwards, Tony coming to in the same moment with a cry that chilled the blood of everyone in the room.

Stephen sighed with relief as he pulled Tony into his arms, the brunette man collapsing into him and curling up in a ball as he began to sob uncontrollably. “I know, I know babe, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” The sorcerer choked out with tears of his own rolling down his face as he tried to comfort the distraught man.

“H-He killed you!” Tony wailed in a broken voice, prompting sharp inhales from everyone in the room. His was clinging so tightly to Stephen’s robes that the knuckles of his fingers were white. “He killed you again and again, and you just kept going back, and I couldn’t make it stop, couldn’t save you--!”

“It’s over, love, I’m still here, I’m still alive,” Stephen reassured him, maneuvering them both so Tony’s ear was pressed to his chest right over his heart, hoping the beat would help ground the man he loved so dearly. He ran his fingers through the brown locks under his chin as the genius continued to sob and babble a little, though it was beginning to slow now that he had something else to focus on.

The others in the room looked at each other in complete and utter silence, tears in more than a few eyes. Though none of them were willing to ask, the same question was running around in every single one of their minds:

What had Stephen gone through to warrant a reaction like this?

---

“What memory did you see?”

Stephen looked away from his mug of tea to glance down at Tony, who was curled up in his lap with a mug of his own, whiskey-brown eyes slightly distant as he asked the question. Levi was draped over both of them like a blanket, wrapping around them in a makeshift hug. The sorcerer had sling-ringed them both to their bedroom as soon as the genius was able to express the desire to be alone, and they’d been sitting in quiet for several hours at least. The question was the first he’d spoken in all that time, having been content to simply remain curled up and grounded by the solidity of Stephen’s physical presence. After a moment of quiet, Stephen sighed and put his cup to one side. “Tony, do you know the idea of ‘big T’ traumas versus ‘little t’ traumas?” Getting a negative shake of the genius’ head, he continued. “So, ‘big T’ traumas are distinguished as an extraordinary, unexpected event that leaves the victim feeling helpless, or like they have no control over their life or current situation. That includes things like natural disasters, car accidents, sexual assault, or being in an active combat zone.” He began to run his fingers through Tony’s hair as he continued. “What you went through in Afghanistan, Siberia, Bucharest, the events with Stane, AIM, and whiplash, they would all count. But I didn’t see those.” He pressed a kiss to Tony’s hair. “Instead… I got countless memories of ‘little T’ traumas. I…” He took a deep breath to center himself. “I had to watch Rogers, Maximoff-- your whole team-- berate, belittle, and demean you over and over and over again, and I felt how every time it was like a knife to your gut and another sliver shaved off of your self-esteem.” The sorcerer wrapped his arms around his genius, burying his nose in his hair as he trembled a bit. “Vishanti, what they said and did to you-- don’t you dare believe a word of it, Anthony Edward Stark, you are a brilliant, kind, compassionate man, and you deserve the world! I wish I’d been here back then, I would never have let them say that shit--!”

Tony floated his own mug to the bedside table before turning to bury his face in his soulmate’s shoulder, feeling wetness on the top of his head as tears of frustration and shared pain began falling from Stephen’s eyes. Of all the things for Stephen to have experienced… he hadn’t realized that what the Rogues had said and done had inflicted so much emotional damage to him. Thinking back, though, it made sense. Between his father being an outright abusive asshole, Obadiah building him up for the purpose of using him, being used over and over again… Yep, definitely made sense now. He let Stephen hold him for a while before he pulled away a bit to gently press a kiss to the man’s lips. “I’m not okay… but I will be.” He admitted to his soulmate, whiskey brown eyes filled with tears even as a spark of hope flickered in them.

“I know you will be. You’re so strong, Tony, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Stephen pulled him forward to rest their foreheads together, remaining quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. “I don’t need to ask what you saw.”

The hitch in Tony’s breath was audible, especially loud in the relative quiet of the room. “You pulled me out in the middle of it…” His voice cracked towards the end, beginning to tremble as the memory surfaced again. “How many times, Stephen?”

“Tony--”

“How many times did Dormammu kill you, Stephen?”

Absolute silence filled the room for several seconds as whiskey brown bore into blue-green. Finally, the sorcerer swallowed and closed his eyes. “I don’t know the exact number… I stopped counting after 1000,” He whispered.

The genius’ breath caught, agony lancing through his being. “I just saw a few hundred-- He killed you--?!”

Stephen’s eyes snapped to Tony, horror filling his eyes. “You felt that many?! No, baby, you should never have-- Vishanti,” He pulled Tony against his chest again, tears beginning anew in both men, “I was going to tell you eventually, but I never wanted you to experience any of it!”

“--I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t save you--”

Neither man got any sleep that night, the tears not stopping long enough to allow for such.

Neither man was okay in that moment… but deep down, they knew they would be.

[kakosindustries]

in which you get some wiser words to ponder over, you consider the nature of texture issues, you think about beastly appendages, you step in a puddle of Dana, and Red Renton “wins” the Ruin-A-Life Drawing. Do Evil Better.

Transcription:

Kakos Industries is ad-free. To help keep it that way, please visit KakosIndustries.com/Patreon, that’s p-a-t-r-e-o-n, and consider a pledge of a dollar or more a month.

Intro: What you are about to hear may inspire you to create your own new political party.

Hello and welcome to the Kakos Industries corporate shareholder announcements. At Kakos Industries, we help our clients and every single living thing down to the microscoping level to Do Evil Better. I am Corin Deeth III, and I am CEO of Kakos Industries. I am now back at my full capabilities, and I have returned to all of my job tasks. This includes testing the monster meat, determining which naked photographs will do the most harm when put on the Internet, stepping on employees that can only be motivated to work when their submissive fantasies are fulfilled, and looking at an enormous number of reports and formulating where the company should go to maximize both profits, and general nastiness throughout the world. I am also, for whatever reason, consulted any time the carpet needs to be replaced, which is relatively often. And not just when that carpet is in my recording studio and stained with my blood after my closest ally shoots me. After seeing how capable Junior is, we gave him a few new responsibilities. We put him on certain divisions as a consultant. He does have good ideas and he does know Evil, even if he is a bit strange at times. He has helped the Division of Automata to create a new android servant, that, by my estimation, is just a fancy sex toy. He helped the Division of Hygiene to invent a hose attachment that, when the hose is turned on, will pretty much clean anyone or anything that water hits. He also helped the Division of Tactile Textiles to make an even smoother fabric. He has some texture issues. And most recently, he has locked himself in his cave because he hates working. He wanted responsibility, but then it was too much effort, I guess.

Soundman Steven is back to his former stature. You see, new shareholders out there, when we built this fine facility where we record and transmit my voice to you via whatever strange and high concept device you have received, he was so impressed with the gear that his heart grew three sizes, and he became quite erect. This erection was first viewed as a nuisance by anyone   who had to work with him or otherwise accidentally bumped into it. But once we all learned that it meant us no harm, we became inspired by it. It became a mascot. Look, people would say, at what Evil has produced. An unyielding, ever present icon of what Evil can do. People would work harder after seeing it. Posters of it were created by adoring fans and posted around the building to inspire all of us to be at our best. And then, I shot it. I needed some quick Evil, and I was desperate and perhaps a bit myopic, and my aim isn’t very good, so I shot it. We gave him a new one, but it seemed that the bond of trust he and I had developed was broken, and without it, the erection could not return. Until Soundman shot me. Not in the dick, just in the leg, but I’m told I could have died. The memory of that violence has been keeping him strong and proud, and most importantly erect. No, Soundman, I’m not going to mention the shame that you feel. I have forgiven you. So we have him back. And that is quite possibly the most important thing.

Today’s broadcast is coming to you from the particularly pungent aroma from a permanent marker we mailed you. No, we didn’t expect you to inhale it on purpose. It is strong enough that when you opened it to see what was inside or how it might write, you caught a sufficient whiff to let us get into your head. This chemicals are very sensitive to radio frequencies, and by modulation them very carefully, we can change what your mind is perceiving as far as sound goes. You are almost certainly completely blind at the moment, but that should pass, assuming you were sighted before. I would recommend not trying to get up to do anything, and I do apologize if you were driving. The Internet tells me that this might be a decent time for your to try to beat Punch Out. This product comes to us from a collaboration between our Division of The Cheapest Thrills, and Marker Island, a company that only makes markers, and never pens. If you are not a shareholder, then it is possible that your mind is not fully calibrated to resist the allure of smelling even more of this marker. The broadcast will then grow much louder inside your head, ultimately resulting in serious damage to your brain. Shareholders will of course know their limits by now and cap up the marker for the time being.

The Division of Figuring Out What All of These Keys Go To has unlocked another Kakos Industries rule book. Well, I shouldn’t call it a rule book. It say The Kakos Industries Book of Proverbs, and is then followed by two diamonds. I have no idea if these diamonds are just a decoration, or maybe an indication that this is volume two. According to Grace Rule, our contracts master, this book tastes quite official, and we must take it seriously. The trouble is that the proverbs have been encrypted. Or they are in a character set we do not understand just yet. It is taking us some time to translate the proverbs, but I have the first completed on here. It reads “It is better to be a two-headed bear feasting on wolves than to be a coyote eating a cottontail rabbit.” Grace was unable to tell me exactly what this meant and what we should do about it, but it gives us something to think about. I will be sure to give you updates as I get them.

The Shareholders’ Ball, as always, was a blast. It was a great way to celebrate having been CEO here at Kakos Industries for the past five years. There was one snag, though. When it came time for the blood orgy, I found myself surrounded by interesting and beautiful people. That’s not a bad start at all. I was ready. But I have a bit of trouble just diving in without getting to know people a little bit. It’s far more interesting to be romantically involved with someone you know and perhaps care a little about. It adds something extra to what can otherwise seem kind of mechanical. And the issue was, they all had the same name. Or similar names, I suppose. If you’ve been following along with my personal stories during these broadcasts, then you probably know what I’m about to say. There was Tabitha, Tabitha, Tabbs, Tabbi, Tabby, Tubs, Tiber, and maybe a few others. Now, it seemed to me as though the basement ballroom started to run away from me, bringing the exit door ever closer, but I think in hindsight I have to admit that I was probably just fleeing on foot. Once I found a place to hide and catch my breath, I had some time to clear my head and think. This has been too many coincidences. This has been too strange. But it can’t be something big and scary. I thought back to the people that Bernice Largo, the head of my support staff, must have hired to see to my sexual needs. What if they have all taken on a name to signify their goals? But I have to say that, if this is true, Bernice has made a terrible mistake. I have missed out on more opportunities due to this fear and frustration than I would have for any other reason. Unless that is actually the point. Perhaps I was supposed to be freaked out. Perhaps it has nothing to do with my sexual needs, but instead what makes me the most Evil. I will need to do some looking into this. It may be true that this makes me more Evil than anything else. But it may also be true that knowing this has ruined the experiment. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Bernice. It seems that she has been out of the office. For a while. Like, a really long time.

The Chili Cook Off didn’t go according to plan. There was some sort of hang up and most regular attendees were late. Something to do with our transit network. Junior was not late, and he had finished almost all of the Chili by the time anybody else got there. On the plus side, we did get to enjoy the remaining aroma in each of the pots. Some were quite spicy, and definitely Evil.

We are now making preparations for the Celebration of Affirmation, which is ordinarily the celebration where we say nice and reaffirming things to one another. While this is fine, I gave the Division of Dionysia a challenge. I said, what if we affirm ourselves through actions instead of words? The head of the division scratched his chin and thought for a moment before going off to start working on some ideas. We shall see what comes of this.

We are also preparing for the Big Black Hole celebration. It is usually a good time to remind ourselves what Evil can do when we don’t apply it carefully and thoughtfully. It reminds us that an experiment can go wrong, destroy a whole branch of the company, and create a wormhole to Costa Rica. Or wherever the hole goes now. The dirt was grape flavored, but it is now strawberry flavored. And, you know, dirt flavored.

I have just received word that they have translated and/or decrypted another proverb. “The wind is best when it dries your enemy’s skin. Best to invest in emollients.” Huh. That one seems pretty straightforward, but perhaps I am missing something.

Last time, Junior discussed Dana Govern in great detail. She is the woman who was given a staggering number of genetic modifications, and we have just sort of been waiting to see what would happen. Most of the time, she just seems to be a woman. Late thirties. Average figure. Generally attractive, but not in an unusual way. We have had some strange reports. One person claims they saw her grab her lunch from the fridge using one of her many tentacles. She does not have any tentacles. Another person reported seeing her cook a meal by setting her hand on fire. She has no severe burns. Another person claims to have stepped in a puddle, but then there was only Dana on the ground. This is all very exciting, though we have yet to catch any of it on video. So far, our most reliable way of finding her at any given moment is using Junior’s nose. I’m not sure how he finds her, but he always finds her.

Kimzzzzzzzzzzz has eased up on the dyed hair thing. I think she just got bored of it, because we’ve been refusing to pay her off. Now, the only thing that matters about you is how glamorous your nails are. Your face doesn’t matter, your hair doesn’t matter, your hygiene doesn’t matter. It’s only your nails. Long nails with fine decorations and intricate artwork are the best. I do not like having anything on my nails. It’s a texture thing. So I’m really unappealing right now. Except to people named Tabitha, apparently.

We now know that Meredith Gorgoro is alive. For those of you who are new, Meredith Gorgoro was in charge of the labor camp we built in a huge cavern we dug once looking for the biblical Hell. We caught her on camera again. But where she lost her left arm, she has now replaced it through some sort of field surgery with the arm of one of the monsters she has slain. It is an enormous and powerful arm, covered in white fur, and the skin underneath appears to be green. And from what we caught on the drone footage, it would appear that she can control it incredibly precisely. I probably don’t have to tell you this, shareholders, but an attachment like that would require meticulous and excruciating work attaching all of the nerves to their new destinations. But there she is. With a monster arm. I’m a little jealous, but I don’t know exactly why. It looks really cool. It would be hard to type with it, but I think I would get my way in meetings a lot more often if I would just whip that baby out any time someone questions me. Oh, you don’t think lemon skin is inedible, well, fuck you. Monster arm. Wait, maybe we should market monster arms. That would be sick.

I walked in on a heated argument between Jasmine Aashna and Dr. Dunkelwissen, head of the Division of Erotic Experiences and rogue scientist respectfully. I got the impression what they were arguing about wasn’t what they were really arguing about. They are still trying to answer the question “What is most sex?” but it doesn’t seem to be going very well. From what I could gather, they are having a hard time narrowing down any physical activities that can be said to always be sex, or super sexy sex. Yet the mental and emotional stuff lacks a certain edge necessary to be the most sex of all sex. They turned to look at me. I gently waved and saw myself out. For what it’s worth, on their whiteboard, they had the phrase “really long nails?” written and underlined several times. I can’t know for certain what that means out of context, but I felt like passing it along anyway.

They say that Evil once released a hundred thousand balloons, each destroying the drive and ambition in someone nearby when it fell to the Earth. This is Things We’re Taking Credit for Now. Today, we are taking credit for social media celebrities, an undying desire to be adored, and butt bleach. Now, you might be thinking, that seems a little unreasonable. With the exception of butt bleach, those other two things seem like they probably come about on their own. Well, you should stop right there. Stop thinking like that. Because thinking like that gets your butt extra bleached. And nobody needs that. We did these things. We made them. They’re ours. And extra butt bleaching kills.

Red Renton has won today’s Ruin-A-Life Drawing. As a result, Raz Razelton, the selected target of Red Renton, will have his life ruined. We gave the Wheel of Misery a nice pep talk, and then a mean spin. It landed on the space for Undecipherable. From this day forward, or as soon as the Damnation and Ruination Squad can get it done, Raz Razelton will be 97% more undecipherable, feeling the need to speak in ways where his meaning cannot be easily detected or understood. This will get annoying fast. For Evil measure, Red Renton will speak 22% more plainly, losing a little bit of tact in the process. Congratulations on the win and best of luck.

This brings us to the end of our broadcast. In a few minutes you will be permitted to destroy this marker. I will say it is excellent for writing your handle on toilet seats or bathroom mirrors, but you might go blind again in the process. Kind of hard to get away when that happens. Anyone who wasn’t a shareholder is almost certainly dead by now. The numbers are next.

18

22

23

44

56

73

122

199

337

338

449

567

3

Don’t cut the feed yet, Soundman. I just got another proverb. It says when the star Burgeron is closest to the Dark Planet, and the moon is at its highest point near Fuffeni, and a cool mist sweeps across the land, it shall be time to party hard. Let me just take a peek out of the window here. Wait, that one must be Burgeron, and… yes, Fuffeni, the dark planet, and the moon is so close! Call the Division of Dionysia! There’s not much time! We need to party! We have to party! It has been foretold. Or proverbed. There is no time to waste!

Credits: Kakos Industries is written and produced by Conrad Miszuk, who is also the voice of Corin Deeth, and the composer of the music. The introduction is read by Kim Aiello, and the credits are read by Kelsey Kemmer, know detangler extraordinaire. Please visit KakosIndustries.com for news, extras, and more episodes. There are also transcriptions on the website if you’d like to read along with the Kakos Industries announcements. That’s K-A-K-O-S-I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-E-S dot com. Please visit store.KakosIndustries.com for merchandise and special offers and get wonderful benefits by becoming a subscription donor at kakosindustries.com/patreon. Questions, comments, or a strong desire to collaborate? Drop us a line at inquiries@kakosindustries.com. If you like Kakos Industries, be sure to rate and review us on your favorite podcasting service, and connect with us on YouTube (YouTube.com/KakosIndustries), Facebook (facebook.com/kakosindustries), Tumblr (kakosindustries.tumblr.com), and Twitter (@KakosIndustries). We encourage fan art and listener participation on all our social media platforms. Please visit our website for cast details and the credits for all of our social media contributors.

Special thanks to our esteemed shareholders Iain Croall, Dan Shumway, William Brandon, Floyd Singh Power, and Jack Attack. Also thanks to honored employee Dorkpool Dorkuss, who made sure to distribute valentines to everyone who wasn’t going to get one otherwise, and Chris Leclerc, who reorganized the DVD collection after they all catastrophically fell from the shelves. And thanks to our division heads Britney Garcia, head of The Division of Beanies, Booties, and Construction Projects That Are Probably Too Large for Yarn, Valerie Koop, Director of the Division of Inappropriate Games to Play in Public, Patrick Green, head of The Division of Oceanic Micro-Cryptozoology, Carl H, Director of the Division of Unanswered Messages, Xavier Jarman, Director of The Division of We Know Magic Doesn’t Exist But We’re Going to Keep on Trying, and Craig Czyz, director of the Division of Obscure Vintage Technology. The Division of Beanies, Booties, and Construction Projects That Are Probably Too Large for Yarn has begun designing a ferris wheel. It sounds even scarier than normal ferris wheels.  The Division of Inappropriate Games to Play in Public has introduced The Real Life Drinking Game. Whenever your boss says something passive aggressive, take a shot! The Division of Oceanic Micro-Cryptozoology has lost the puddle-cabra, and are now much more focused on the unicorn actinopod. It uses its horn to gather food. The Division of Unanswered Messages has ignored their morning alarm for sixteen months. In that time, they’ve gotten up and went to work, but the whole time, their alarm has been going off, annoying many. The Division of We Know Magic Doesn’t Exist But We’re Going to Keep on Trying has begun using a Divining Rod to look for wells all around Kakos Industries. So far, there are no new wells, but many new holes. The Division of Obscure Vintage Technology has dragged out the old crate of 78s. The crate is only the finest pressings of people’s last words. They are truly haunting. Our esteemed shareholders, honored employees, division heads, and other Patreon patrons are the best. If you want a thank you in the credits, your own division, or other great rewards that help to keep this show running, please head to Kakosindustries.com/patreon. That’s Patreon: p-a-t-r-e-o-n.

Kakos Industries can be heavy sometimes. Try flipping off a wild animal to bring about catharsis.

[dracusfyre]

Square K3: Abberant Outcomes

Rating: Explicit

Warning: Rape/Non-Con

Relationship: Tony/Bucky

Tags:  Steve and Bucky are Not Friends; no actual rape but definitely non-consensual activity, Bucky Barnes’s Trigger Words

For @tonystarkbingo  Square K3: Non-Con

Summary: James inadvertently followed Captain Rogers into the jaws of a trap and has his own body turned against him. This is a continuation of the Operant Conditioning series, which starts with Positive Reinforcement and Rewards for Good Behavior, but can be read as a standalone.

After hours of waiting, hidden from sight by the digital camouflage screen Tony had given him, James finally heard the rumbling arrival of the personnel carrier, only a few minutes off from the arrival time that Tony had predicted.

“We’re a go,” he said almost voicelessly to Tony, who was listening in to the operation through the communicator in James’ ear. He crawled backwards from the road and started to lope towards the base, intercepting the truck as it slowed down to navigate the barricades leading into the entrance of the base. He dug his metal hand into the underside of the truck and braced himself in the chassis, holding himself stiffy away from the axle until the truck finally came to a stop.  The truck shook as the men climbed out and as he watched their feet hit the gravel, James frowned as one set of boots didn’t match the rest.

“Where are we?” A familiar voice said, suspicion clear in his voice as he slammed the door to the cab of the truck.

“You know we can’t tell you that, Cap.  But we’re not going to get anywhere without a little bit of trust, are we?”  ‘Cap’ grunted but didn’t argue as he followed the speaker, gravel crunching under boots.  James risked a glance sideways from under the truck and sure enough, there was a distinctive metal target on Cap’s back as he went inside the facility.

“We’ve got a problem,” James said over the comms as soon as everyone was out of earshot. “Captain Rogers is here.”

beware the read more 

“Really?” James could hear Tony’s frown in his voice.  “Kind of slumming it, isn’t he?”

“Enemy of my enemy?” James rolled out from under the truck, stepping carefully on the noisy gravel, and took a look around the base.  He spotted  two guards per tower, moonlight glinting off nightvision goggles, and quickly moved around to the other side of the truck.

“Yeah, I guess.  Must be pretty desperate.  Be careful,” Tony warned.  “I don’t like this, something feels off.”

James took a moment in the dark shadows of the personnel carrier to consider his captain’s warning.  Behind him, the vehicle’s engine was still ticking and giving off heat; far away, he could hear the footsteps and hushed discussions of the men that had climbed out of the vehicle but couldn’t distinguish Rogers’ voice from the rest.  This was supposed to be a recon mission – discover the alignment of the facility Tony had discovered in the barren wilds of the Arizona desert and report back.  Rogers’ presence made the mission far more risky, but also more valuable.  “If we disengage now, they may move somewhere else,” he said finally.  “We need to know why Rogers is here.”

There was a long exhale over the comms and Tony finally said, “You’re right.  Fine.  Do what you do best, Terminator.”

“Roger that.  Comms going dark.”

“Yep.  If I don’t hear from you in six hours, there’s going to be a loud and flashy exfiltration whether you are finished or not, got it?”

“Understood.”  James powered down the comms and took the battery out to avoid being picked up by any counterintel measures Hydra had around the base.  He checked the placement and ease of access for all of the weapons he was carrying and combat crouched to the next piece of concealment, working his way deeper into the facility, all senses alert for the sound of guards. He found one as he cleared his throat and crushed his larynx before he could sound the alarm.  The next one he smelled before anything else; the guard was well hidden, still and silent, but stank of his last cigarette break.   A knife between the cervical vertebrae neutralized him noiselessly.  James circled the building, noting that the doors were secured with keypads as well as the electronic door locks, so in the end, he ended up scaling the building, slowly and laboriously digging out hand and foot holds using his metal hand.  In the back of his mind he was acutely aware of the passage of time; an hour and a half wasted already and he wasn’t even inside the facility.  The original plan, the pre-Captain Rogers plan, had been to be less covert – the senses of the Hydra agents were far less acute than a fellow super-soldier – but he had no desire to provoke a confrontation with Rogers tonight, so here he was.  Crawling up the side of the building and feeling like a sitting duck, tense for some sharp-eyed sniper to shoot him in the back.

But he made it to the top intact and the security on the roof was far less robust than the ground floor.  Two hours thirteen minutes into the mission and he was finally inside, moving silently from room to room and searching for relevant intel along the way.  Two floors down he remembered Tony’s recently developed, supposedly undetectable eavesdropping devices, so with a mental curse he backtracked and started placing the bugs at regular intervals.

He was exiting a stairwell when the light and sound of a flashbang grenade blinded him, sending him stumbling backwards. A bolt of electricity to the nape of his neck brought him to his knees and then a savage kick to his chest landed him on his back, gasping for breath.

A flashlight shone in his eyes, ruining his vision. “Looks like you were right, Cap.  We did have an intruder. Friend of yours?”

James rolled and kicked out, aiming for the speaker, but a stun stick got him in the temple and left him dazed.  A kick to his ribs left him struggling for air again, and then there was a foot on his metal wrist and another on his opposite shoulder, pinning him to the floor.

The last thing he heard, in Rogers’ voice, was, “Not anymore,” and then there was the high pitched whine of electricity and everything went dark.

                                                             ***

Cold water in his face woke him up and he inhaled sharply, blinking against the flood light aimed at him, creating stark shadows in the room.  He tried to stand but was brought up short by the rattle of chains; his flesh arm was cuffed to metal piping on the floor while his metal arm was a terrifyingly dead weight, dragging the left side of his body down.

“Hello again, princess,” a voice said from the darkness on the other side of the light.  Footsteps approached, but the person was too shadowed by the bright light for James to get a look at him.  “Thanks for joining us.”

James tightened his jaw, wondering how long he’d been out and angry at himself for being ambushed.  Now Tony was going to have to rescue him and that was wrong; James was supposed to protect his captain, not the other way around.

A man stooped next to James, features hidden behind a mask and goggles. “I’m surprised to see you without your BFF,” the man said, voice distorted by the mask. “Where is your precious Iron Man now?  What do you think, Mack, think Stark’ll even come for our friend here or just write him off as a pet that ran away from home?  Cap says he’s not the sentimental type.”

James gritted his teeth and refused to respond to their taunts.  The man was just far enough away that James knew he couldn’t reach him, so he curled his legs up to his chest, trying to draw the man closer.

"On the other hand, Tony Stark is rather possessive, isn’t he? Doesn’t like people touching his stuff,” ‘Mack’ said from across the room.

“That’s true,” the man close to him said. “Do think he will still want you when we break you?  Nobody likes broken toys."

James sneered at that.  “It will take a stronger man than you to break me,” he growled.  “Better men have tried.  Especially before Tony Stark finds you.”

“Yeah, ok,” the man allowed.  “But we’re really just gonna dirty you up a little to drive a wedge between you and Stark.”  James jerked hard when a hand patted him on the cheek, a mockery of kindness.  “Jumpy one, ain’t he?”

“Almost like a virgin,” another one said, amused.  James made his face stay blank as their meaning sank in, a sharp stab of fear making him feel cold inside. Would his captain still want him if these men followed through on their threats, if they put their hands on him, if they used him-

“Aww, yeah.  Like a blushing virgin.” The gloved hand caressed his face one more time before the soldier knelt and started tugging at James’ belt. He kicked out at the guard and earned the zap of a stun baton to his inner thigh, making the entire leg go numb.  “We all know that’s not true, don’t we?  You give it up for Stark all the time.  Now don’t fight it, I’m just gonna make you feel good,” the soldier said as he opened James’ pants and pulled out his cock, kneeling on his other leg to keep it immobilized.  “Let’s see what Stark thinks about finding you with come all over yourself, looking like a good time.”

James closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, recoiling as far as possible from the man’s touch.  His gloved hand was nothing like Tony’s rough callouses, making it easier to will his body not to respond. The room smelled of wet cement and piss and the man of leather and gun oil, where his captain smelled of coffee and cologne and metal.  He bit the inside of his cheek, focusing on the pain to distract from the gentle touch at his groin.

“Use your mouth,” the other guard goaded, the smirk clear from his tone.

“Fuck off, I’m not doing that,” the guy groping him said.  “Intel says he gets off on pain, maybe I’m being too nice.”  The hand on his cock tightened and James jerked, rattling the chains on his wrist.  He tried to headbutt the man next to him but the man was fast enough to dodge and clocked him in the jaw for his efforts.

“Stubborn bastard, isn’t he? Should we try the things now?” Across the room James could see a phone screen light up as the watcher pulled out a phone and waved it at the man kneeling over James.  “The commands or whatever?”

Commands? An trickle uneasy dread made James’ stomach sink even as the man sat back on his heels, hand leaving James’ cock limp against his thigh.  

“Shit, yeah, I forgot about those.” He gestured for the watcher to come closer so he could see what was on the phone’s screen. “Did he say anything about how they work or what they do?”

“He didn’t know, something about making him more compliant.” The watcher shrugged and went back to leaning against the wall.  “It will be interesting to find out.”                              

“Alright, let’s give it a shot.” The man cleared his throat and said, “Reign,” and James swallowed a noise of distress as the effect of the word cut through the fear and anxiety, making him sag weakly against the wall.  He could feel the men’s eyes on him, watching him with interest, but he felt drugged by his own body. “Kinetic,” the man continued after a moment, and James tried to suppress a shiver as his skin became sensitive, heart speeding up even as his limbs felt languid.  This was normally where he’d be rubbing against Tony like a cat, craving physical contact; here, he was just acutely aware of the rough clothes against his skin, the cool concrete walls against his back and legs.  He’d never tried to fight the feeling before, but when the man said “twilight” he slammed his head back against the wall, trying to fight the thick, honeyed warmth as it spread through his veins, but he was far gone enough that the pain felt good. “No,” he said, before he could stop himself, feeling his cock respond to the sudden rush of endorphins flooding his system.

“That kinky fuck,” the man said, his laugh low and mean as he watched James turn into a shuddering mess.  “Stark programmed a Viagra trigger into his pet, like an on-call boner.”

No, James wanted to protest, it’s not like that, but his breath was catching on moans in his throat as he tried not to make any noise.  They were taking something beautiful, something meant to be just between him and his captain, and they were making it ugly and cruel. “Stop,” he croaked, panting shallowly, flesh hand balled into a tight fist.

“No, this is fun. What’s next?” The man checked the phone screen again.  “Oh, yeah. Forty-two,” and that’s when James lost all sense of time, brain sliding sideways with a slow surge of pleasure.  He distantly felt hands on him again and he thought he tried to struggle, tried to protest, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Please,” he gasped, and at this point he was ashamed that he couldn’t have said what he was pleading for, for them to keep going or to stop.

Suddenly he registered the distant sound of gunfire and explosions, and the relief James felt made tears come to his eyes. The words stopped, the hands stilled, and James was thankfully left alone in the cold and harsh white light.  After a few minutes he heard the door to the room being wrenched open and thrown down the hallway, but pulling himself up from his daze was like swimming against the tide.

“James?” James opened his eyes with difficulty and saw his captain staring down at him in concern, suit standing guard over his shoulder.  “Are you ok? What did they do to you?”

“They knew – they knew the reward,” James said, trying to touch Tony but brought up short by the chain still on his wrist.  Tony scowled and went to find something to break the chain, making James protest as his captain moved out of his sight. “They knew reign and kinetic and-”

That made Tony stop in his tracks and come back to James’ side, face pale but eyes bright with fury.  “Do you know how?” he said, voice hard.

James shook his head and tried to cover himself, but his captain was already there, tucking him back into his pants and shifting so he could cradle James’ head in his lap.  One hand carded through James’ hair while the other trailed down the metal arm to the device that was disabling it.  He could have sobbed with relief when he felt the arm go live again, snapping the chain on his other wrist and curling around Tony as close as he could.

“I’ll fix this,” Tony promised, wrapping his arms around James as he shivered and came down from the hormone high.  He rested his forehead against James’ temple, surrounding his senses with his smell and the sound of his breathing and the arc reactor and blocking out everything else. “I don’t know how it happened, but no one will ever be able to do this to you again, I promise.”