#Actually Nat never gave it to her. She just stole it and Nat never asked for it back

[doeeyeslost]

She gets the girl

Chapter 1: Detention

Warning: swearing, lots of it, alcohol and drug abuse, verbal abuse, mention of smoking, implied sui*cide

Natalie

8am and Natalie was walking to school, hoping to get in earlier than everyone else, wearing the same clothes from yesterday, makeup smeared on her face and smelling like alcohol. As soon as she got to school, walked over to the looker room to take a shower and get some new clothes, hopefully no one will notice that she wasn’t home yesterday… or the day before… or the whole week.

After classes and skipping math class, she went to the back of the school just to smoke and drink a bit with the ones she called friends, they weren’t actually her friends, they were some guys that hanged out with her just because they were there, plus, she gave them free cigarettes and alcohol, yet it’s was the closest feeling to having a friend that she ever got.

“Now, look at this” said Kev “They say it’s the best in town” he pulled out a bag of weed out of his pocket

Natalie laughed.

“You always say that.” talked Nat

“But this time is the truth”

Before they could try it, a car full of jocks parked right next to them, ‘not again’ thought Natalie.

“Hey losers” one of the guys said. “They say if you take enough of it” he pointed at Nats alcohol ��you could die, but you already know that, don’t you Natalie?” he said while laughing.

“It wasn’t enough for you to get your girlfriend to leave you for her best friend?” said Nat, everyone laugh, except for Jeff

“You will pay for this, Scatorccio” answer Jeff, driving away

The only thing Natalie could think of at that moment was throwing the bottle of Vodka that she had in hand, and it hit the car, she couldn’t even run, when she got caught by the teacher.

Lottie

“Cut” said Misty. “You did it perfect, I think you’re good to go” Misty turned off the camera.

They were filming for the school yearbook, to remember great times, Lottie was class president, so she had to say a few words, Jackie and Shauna walked to her.

“Hey, are we still up for today?” asked Jackie while holding her girlfriend’s hand.

“Yes” said Lottie. “You got the stuff?”

Shauna pulled out some dye and a cutter that she stole from Van, Lottie smiled.

“What’s happening today?” asked Misty, Shauna hid the stuff.

“Oh, nothing Misty.” lied Shauna. “Just football things.”

“Oh.”

The trio walked over to the locker room where the other team will be staying, looked for the uniforms and threw dye on them, found the balls and cut holes onto them, before they were done, coach Ben entered the room with the other team.

“What the hell are you doing?” shouted coach.

“Fun bonding activities?” asked Shauna.

Lottie and Nat: Detention

“You all know why you are here, right?” asked coach Ben, they all nodded “well, do your homework or think about your life until the clock hits 5pm, I’ll be next door.”

Coach left the room and the teens never said a word until Jackie talked.

“So, why are you here?” she asked Nat

“Why do you care?” answered madly.

“Geez, I’m just trying to make some chitchat.” said while turning to face Jeff, but then to face Shauna, she smiled.

“Why are you here, Jeff?” asked Natalie in a mocking tone.

“Shut the fuck up, you dick” answered.

“Hey” said Lottie “Don’t talk to her like that, maybe if you weren’t such an asshole, you wouldn’t be here.”

“And if she didn’t steal my girlfriend, I wouldn’t be here either.” said Jeff while pointing at Shauna.

“Don’t be such a pussy.” the big brown eyed answered.

Jeff rolled his eyes while Nat smiled at Lottie.

Maybe Lottie wasn’t such a prick as she thought she was, only because she was popular didn’t mean she was like the rest of the popular kids, maybe they could get along. Coach Ben entered the room.

“They told me you guys have to do some work for the school, due to the damage you caused in the locker room” he said while looking at Lottie, Jackie and Shauna.” And we can’t leave you guys without doing anything.” now he was looking at Nat, Jeff and Kev. “so, pair up or not, and do your work.”

Lottie walked over to Nat.

“Do you want to be my partner?” she asked as Nat nodded her head yes.

“Sure, I don’t want to look at Jeff and I think Kevs got it all right.”

Lottie extended her hand to Natalie, and she took it, it felt so right, like a puzzle pice put together, and in that moment, Natalie knew she had a new crush, so did Lottie.

[betheflame]

Party Games

Fill for Team Marry @stevetonygames - square: Truth 

“Okay, two truths and a lie,” Steve said, a little tipsy, but not so tipsy that he’d lost vowels. God, he loved the All Star Break. He hadn’t gotten selected this year, which meant he got five entire days during the season to act like a human and not an athlete. Which is why he was at his boyfriend’s lake house with all of their favorite people, playing party games and eating food cooked over fires and not sweating his balls off in LA trying to play a team sport with strangers. 

“We all know each other too well for that bullshit,” Clint objected and then let out a belch. 

“Classy, Barton,” Nat said with an eye roll. He grinned at her. 

“I think we can dig deep,” Bucky said. “It’ll be even more fun since we know each other so well.” 

They all eventually agreed, and he patted the seat next to him around the campfire to signal to Tony for him to sit down. Tony shuffled on a his feet a little, gave Steve a strange look, and then ambled over.

“What’s with the face?” Steve asked. 

“No face,” Tony said, still definitely making a face. 

Before Steve could investigate further, Clint announced that he’d go first. 

“I’m going food themed,” Clint said. “My favorite Jelly Belly is juicy pear, I can’t stand water ice, and I know the secret ingredient in Nona’s sauce.” 

Eyes whipped to Tony, who shrugged. “She’s a loose canon, so I can’t offer a definite either way.” 

A vociferous debate ensued, before Nat remembered that Clint had once told her that his favorite flavor of Jelly Belly was actually the tutti frutti one, and then everyone wanted the story about how he got Nona’s recipe. 

“Oh, I don’t have the whole recipe,” Clint said. “I just know the secret ingredient.”

“I know the whole thing,” Bucky said smugly. 

The group groaned and Sam threw an empty beer can at him. “Fool, she gave you her book for graduation. We were all there when you cried like a child.”

“I will perfect her tiramisu or die trying,” Bucky swore. 

“I think you have to be soaked in Italian Catholic guilt the same way the ladyfingers are soaked in espresso to really nail that one,” Tony mused. 

Next went Nat (who told the lie that she hadn’t ever bought a pair of Manolo Blahniks, which Pepper guessed was a lie on a technicality because Nat had gotten them from an ex), then Pepper (who was forced to confess that she went to see the cast of Glee on their mall tour), and then Bruce (who shocked them all by telling a story about getting so drunk on absinthe in college that he actually turned green). 

Then it was Tony’s turn. He cleared his throat. “I accidentally bought a timeshare in Boca Raton.”

“That’s sadly true,” Pepper said and the group laughed. “I was there for that one.”

“Spoilers, Potts,” Tony admonished teasingly, but there was still something off in his tone. Steve made a note to check in with Tony later. 

“Start over,” Nat said, “and Pepper, don’t ruin anything.”

Pepper made a move of zipping her lips and Tony spoke again. 

He held up one finger. “Sometimes, when I miss Anna, I buy Toll House break-and-bake cookies and make them just so the house smells like it did when she lived with us.” He put up another finger. “I actually understand the rules of cricket, and three, I have a ring in my pocket and I’m ready to propose to Steve but I don’t know how.”

Steve’s entire body froze and he felt like he was in a black hole. He was aware of noise happening around him, but all he could focus on was Tony’s hand finding its way to his knee. 

“Are you fucking with me?” Steve said, his voice a broken whisper. 

“Never,” Tony said. 

Steve shifted, and reached into the pocket of his jeans to produce a ring of his own. “You stole my line.”

About an hour later, after they’d found some prosecco to toast to the newly engaged couple and taken about a thousand photos and Steve had called his mom, Bucky spoke up.

“So what’s the lie, Stark?”

“Are you kidding, no one fucking understands cricket.”

[atlasscrumpit]

Just an A.I - part 2

Part 1 here

You learnt that the man in Hydra with you was named Mr. Ray. You began training everyday with him and others in Hydra. Good memories of Tony were gone, all that existed was the bad memories. The hatred, the fights, the neglect, the pain it all boiled into your want to hurt him as much as you could. And destroy your replacement.

"Are you sure you're ready to see Tony again?" Ray asked as he brushed a piece of hair away from your face.

"Of course sir, I want nothing more than to destroy him." You replied making him smile with pride.

"Very good." He said before you grabbed your weapons and suited up.

This was going to be a solo mission, Ray would be seeing everything through a live camera but other than that you were alone.

You got onto your motorbike and headed into the city, it was an hours drive. But it gave you plenty of time to think, think about how much you would destroy Tony. He had destroyed you, he had replaced you, he had lied to you, he was your enemy.

You finally made it to the Avengers tower and smiled. Ray said you didn't need to go in quiet, Tony needed to know you were there. You smashed through the glass and got into the elevator smiling as you did so.

"Avengers! Code red! Someone has broken in!" Friday said as your replacement A.I looked up.

"Sir, I'm ready for any threat." She said as he summoned his suit.

"Good, Kara." He muttered as the rest of the team pointed their weapons at the elevator.

The doors opened to reveal you smiling leaning against the back wall.

"Well, isn't this lovely. You've all come to see me." You said knowing they wouldn't recognise you.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Steve said as you rolled your eyes and licked your lips.

"Hello captain, good to see your lovely face again. If I remember, you were the one who wanted to get rid of me." You said stepping out of the elevator.

"Answer the question." The new A.I, Kara said as you laughed.

"And there she is, my lovely replacement." You replied, they all looked at you in confusion.

"Perhaps I should jog your memories." You said as you stood up straight and put on a fake smile.

"Of course Mr. Stark, I'll do that right away sir, yes I follow your orders, I'm just a dumb replaceable robot." You said in a face voice as Tony's eyes widened.

"Y/N." He whispered while you laughed and looked at him.

"Bingo." You hissed pulling out your gun and quickly shooting Tony in the chest hitting his reactor as you laughed maniacally.

"Bulls-eye!" You shouted before Steve tackled you to the ground, you quickly threw him off you and punched him in the face.

"I'll make all of you pay for what you did to me!" You screamed grabbing your sword, you went for your replacement first.

You were both locked in a heated battle while you fought off the team at the same time.

"You think they actually care about you!? Once you've done everything you can they'll throw you away and replace you. They probably never even mentioned me did they!" You screamed grabbing her head and bringing it down on your knee roughly.

"You stole my heart!" You screamed stomping on her chest before Nat grabbed you and held you back.

"Y/N, please listen to reason." You heard a voice say looking up to see Vision flying in.

"Reason!? You shut me down and ripped my heart out to make this slut!" You shouted breaking free and running towards Vision, he suddenly stopped you and placed his hand on your forehead.

"Remember what you have forgotten." He said as images of the team flashed through your mind. Suddenly you saw an image of everyone gathered around a grave. It had your name on it.

"I know she didn't have a soul like all of us, but she was still a big part of out lives. She deserves a funeral. So we can all say goodbye." Tony said as they all gathered around and placed flowers on your grave. You gasped and stepped back with tears in your eyes.

"Don't believe what they are saying!" Ray shouted in your head as you fell to your knees.

"Let us help you." Vision said placing his hand on your shoulder as you shoved him off you.

"Get away from me." You growled catching your breath back.

"Y/N, we can help you." Steve said as you began to cry.

"N-No you can't. Hydra won't let me leave." You whispered grabbing your gun again.

"I have to kill Tony." You said pointing your gun at Tony on the ground fighting for life.

"No you don't Y/N." You heard Bucky say as you looked over at him.

"I've been there, trust me. You don't want to become like Hydra, you don't have to listen to them. Fight them." He continued as you cried and cocked your gun.

"He destroyed you to build something better, kill him Y/N." Ray growled as you screamed and threw your gun away dropping to your knees.

"I don't want to." You whispered as you felt a blinding pain in your head. You screamed in pain as Vision quickly grabbed your head and pushed Hydra out of your mind.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." You whispered over and over.

"Captain, go get Stephen and Bruce to help Tony. I'll stay here with Y/N and get her into a cell if I need." Vision said as everyone nodded and helped Steve with Tony who had passed out now. Bucky rushed over to you, if anyone knew what you were going through it was him.

"Hey, Y/N. It's ok, they're gone. Hydra isn't here." He whispered kneeling down to you placing his hand on your shoulder.

"I failed everyone." You whispered through your tears.

"No, you didn't doll. We all should have treated you better than we did, you've been gone for over a year now. I can't imagine what Hydra did to you in that time." He said as you grabbed onto his shirt tightly and buried your head on his chest.

"You all saw me as just a robot, but in Hydra I felt like I had a place. I felt like I had power." You whispered as he ran a hand through your hair.

"I know Y/N, we all just saw you as an object. But we shouldn't have, you're a person just like all of us. And Tony will be so happy to see you again, he loves you. It took him so long to just leave his room after you died." Bucky replied, you pulled away and looked at him and Vision.

"Hydra reprogrammed me, I'll always belong to them. I'll always be their puppet." You cried gripping onto Bucky's hand.

"No you won't, Tony can reprogram you. We will all help you." He said as you stood up on your shaky legs.

"Tony will never forgive me." You whispered wiping away your tears.

"He's going to die, and it's all because of me." You cried as Bucky still held onto your hand.

"Stephen and Bruce will help them Y/N. I know Tony will survive." Vision said as you nodded.

"Y-You need to put me in a cell, Hydra will take control again I know they will." You muttered, Bucky sighed but he knew it was the right thing to do.

"I think it's the best thing to do right now." Vision agreed as you nodded and followed them into the elevator.

"Will you let me know about Tony whenever you know how he is?" You asked quietly not looking up at either of them.

"Of course we will Y/N, we'll come visit you as much as we can." Bucky replied making you nod. The elevator doors opened and they led you to the cells as you sighed.

How did everything go so wrong?

—

You had fallen asleep on the bed in the cell. You suddenly awoke to a voice in your head.

"You little bitch. You really think you can escape Hydra? I built you, I programmed you to kill." Ray growled in your head as you chuckled.

"The one thing you did wrong, was give me emotions. Now I can see how fucked up you are, and that the Avengers are the good guys." You growled back.

"Vision showed me the truth." You said making him laugh.

"Such a dumb little thing aren't you? You really think they'll help you after what you did? They'll destroy you and strip you for parts." He hissed as you held your head in frustration.

"Get out of my head, I don't belong to you." You growled hitting your head a little.

"You know you can never make me leave, you belong to me Y/N!" He shouted as you groaned in annoyance.

"Y/N?" You heard a voice say as you looked up to see Bucky.

"B-Bucky, hey. How's Tony?" You asked shaking your head a little.

"He's stable now, Strange says he just need plenty of fluids and rest and he'll be fine." Bucky said as you smiled.

"I'm glad he's ok." You muttered in response, you still felt guilty for what you'd done.

"Is he talking to you?" Bucky asked, you nodded a little and looked away from him.

"Tony won't be able to work on you for a few months, he has too much recovering to do. Steve suggested we keep you in stasis until Tony is back, it's completely your choice Y/N. But we all think it's the safest thing to do." Bucky said as you sighed.

"They're just going to kill you the moment they switch you off, is that what you really want?" Ray asked in your head as you looked up at Bucky.

"Can you promise I'll wake up?" You whispered, Bucky smiled gently and nodded.

"Of course Y/N." He said as you nodded.

"I'll agree to it." You replied. Suddenly your body froze as your eyes widened. Ray was controlling your body, you knew it.

"B-Bucky, he's controlling me." You whispered grabbing your head as you screamed.

"Shit, Friday! Get Vision and Wanda down here!" Bucky shouted backing away as you cried in pain.

Suddenly you stopped and sat up straight smiling.

"The Winter Soldier, look at you now. Hydra's biggest failure." You growled standing up as he glared at you.

"I'm no longer your puppet, neither is Y/N." He said back standing confidently as you chuckled.

"You don't get that choice dear." You whispered staring at him. Vision and Wanda ran into the room as you smiled wickedly.

"Bucky, what's going on?" Wanda asked as they looked at you.

"Hydra is controlling Y/N." Bucky growled lowly not letting his eyes away from yours.

"Perhaps I can push them out again. But I would need to get inside the cell, Wanda be ready to pull me out if anything goes wrong." Vision said as he stood outside the glass and pushed through, fazing through the glass. You smiled and looked him up and down.

"I'm even more advanced then you, do yo really think you can beat me?" You said smirking at him as he tilted his head.

"I think what you lack is knowledge, you use brute force as a weapon. I use knowledge." He said as you leapt for him and he quickly spun you around wrapping his arm around your neck.

"Push them out Y/N." He whispered in your ear as you screamed.

"Get off me!" You shouted grabbing him and throwing him against the glass.

"Hydra is my home!" You shouted as Vision looked up at you.

"Hydra isn't your home Y/N, we are. And we need you to come back to us." Vision replied as you paused.

"Come back." He said again as you fell to your knees and screamed.

"Now Vision!" Wanda said as he ran at you and knocked you out powering your systems off. You fell to the floor unconscious as Vision sighed.

"It's done." He whispered picking up your limb body. Bucky let him out as he looked down at you sadly.

"We'll see you soon Y/N."

—

"Come on doll." You heard a voice say as you groaned and slowly opened your eyes to see Bucky and Tony above you.

Your eyes widened as you sat up and quickly wrapped your arms around Tony.

"Mr. Stark! You're ok." You said hugging him tightly as he chuckled and wrapped his arms around you in return.

"Yeah I am, and now you are. Hydra is officially gone." He said as you pulled away and looked down at your hands.

"I-I'm my own person." You whispered looking up at Bucky as he smiled.

"You're free Y/N."

After Tony had filled you in on everything that had happened while you were asleep you made your way down to the team and saw all of them again.

Many apologising to you for the way they'd treated you in the past. You felt equal for once. Tony had offered you a room and a place in the team but you knew that wasn't what you wanted.

"As much as I want to stay here and be with all of you, I think I'm going to go travel. On my own, find my place in this world, find myself." You said making Tony smile.

"Hey, I'm more then happy to get you a passport and plenty of money." He said a you chuckled.

"Thank you Tony."

—

It had been a week since you woke up, you had a small roller bag and backpack packed. It was time to say goodbye to the team, for now.

"So where to first Y/N?" Steve asked as you smiled.

"I'm thinking Malta, then maybe Paris from there. Then wherever it takes me after that. And Tony, if there's ever an alien invasion or some villain on the loose just call me and I'm here to help." You said hugging Tony tightly.

"Go out and enjoy yourself Y/N, make a life for yourself. And for god sake please send pictures." He said as you smiled and nodded.

"Expect a thousand post cards." You replied making him chuckle.

You said goodbye to the rest of the team before getting into a taxi.

"Bye Y/N!" Tony shouted as you chuckled, you told the taxi driver where you were going and sat back in the seat taking a deep breath in.

"I'm free." 

[natsfireflies]

random widow fam headcanons

• natasha is actually scared to death of spiders despite being nicknamed after one and so is alexei because the apple never falls too far from the tree

• yelena and melina aren't because they're curious instead of afraid and yelena gives nat so much shit for it

• melina had the time to teach natasha how to braid, but yelena was too young and to this day she hasn't learned how to, the braids she had at the beggining were made by a fellow widow and the ones she got when they went to release alexei from prison were braided by natasha

• yelena totally stole fanny from some rich asshole that didn't knew how to take care proper care of her (don't ask me how, i just know)

• alexei and melina would write back and forth while he was in the prison and that's how he knew exactly where she lived

• by extension, melina would've loved folklore because this while isolated cabin at the outskirts of saint petersburg shit just screams the lakes for me

• natasha was absolutely obsessed with nirvana since alexei blasted smells like teen spirit when they were riding back home from picking up some groceries

• yelena is a big time blanket hogger and she would totally dance around in her pj's before going to bed

• alexei is a completely useless cook, everytime he was in charge of any meal it would be take out or pb and jelly sandwiches (and nat secretly loved it)

• melina didn't had a job at first when they got to ohio because she was supposed to set the girls a steady routine, but then she gave up after six months because not only she couldn't trust a stranger to look after them but also because she didn't wanted them to be raised by nannies like she had been due to her parents being too busy with their jobs at KGB

• she also would've been a veterinarian or a botanist (or both because she's a badass that could totally do it)

• yelena used to call melina 'mama' until she started to see other kids on school calling their moms 'mommy' and started calling her that too, that's why at the start she yells "mommy!" at the start and melina says "yelena it's me, it's mama" when she talks on the comms

• melina explains everything to them in scientific terms because she sometimes can't find the right casual words to do so

feel free to add any of your own ;)

[afriendlyblackhottie]

Alone Together

Summary: After an awful breakup you were expecting to spend Christmas alone. You and Steve end up spending it together.

Pairings: tattoo artist!Steve Rogers x Sam Wilson sister!reader. Abusive ex boyfriend!Brock Rumlow x reader

Warning: mentions of abusive relationship, smut, swearing, daddy kink, squirting, creampie, unprotected sex

Tagging: @titty-teetee @blackmissfrizzle @olyvoyl @liquorlaughslove @harrysthiccthighss @mariahthelioness29 @whiskey-cokenfanfic @olyvoyl @hqneyyincc @queenoftheworldisdead @iam-laiya @donutloverxo @slytherinandoutasgard @zaddychris @brattycherubwrites @love-more122

(A/N: yay I made it! Merry Christmas guys! Reblog always �� ✌🏾)

——————————————————————————

Okay yeah so it was stupid. You should have known better when you’d done it. Well, you did you just... well you don’t really know what you were thinking.

Red flags just look like flags when you’re wearing rose colored glasses, yeah fuck off you stole that from Bojack. So when you were with your ex and doing all this dumb just you thought would make him happy it ended up being kind of awful in the end.

When they finally came off you noticed the things you dealt with. Scared to piss him off so you started treating okay times like they were really good. All the stupid things he had you do to prove yourself.

You were paying for this one right now. Right in another parlor. Covering up that mistake with something you actually liked. Not that most people could see it because it was on your underboob. Said he wanted it to be this hidden thing all for him that no one else was allowed to see.

The first time he asked you’d laughed and said no thinking it was a joke. The second time you it happened you tried to be a little more firm. Except that just meant you couldn’t prove your love for him. That you were devoted. That he’d get a tattoo for you on his arm that he never had time to get for some reason.

It was so fucking dumb you know. The cursive Brock tattooed right under your boob. You could see it every time you took your shirt off and it really bothered you. It always had, but you were trying to convince yourself that you loved him before. Now you looked at it and saw the new of a person you wished you’d never even met.

Steve was your older brother’s best friend. He ran this super popular tattoo shop. They’d met in the military and the friendship just stuck. It’s kind of why you ended up moving to New York. You were kind of the outcast of the family, but Sam never treated you any different. You were his baby sister.

So after a few weeks you asked him if he could cover it up. Except his only available day was Christmas Eve. You didn’t go home anyway and Sam was going to meet his girlfriend’s parents this year. Not that you weren’t invited, but you just wanted this thing covered up. Maybe that would make you forget.

You winced as the needle dug into your skin. Not like it wasn’t worth the pain. “Hey, relax, okay,” he said, softly rubbing your arm. He’d been so much help since the breakup. It was funny. Brock hated him. Was always ranting about what an asshole he is. You could tell he didn’t like your brother either. You really didn’t know what but you knew it was something over their friend Bucky or whatever.

Yeah it was a whole thing. Not that you really knew the details.

Normally you’d spend the holidays with his family. Though a little uncomfortable it was nice being with him. So this was your first year in three that you were alone. Hanging with Steve was nice.

“I’m fine,” you were trying to keep a brave face.

He was almost done. Just had to finish up the shading. Honestly you’d been expecting him being that close to you to feel weird, but it was actually nice. It’d just be nice if you didn’t date another tattoo artist.

Yeah Brock also tattooed. He’d met Steve because they’d worked at the same shop once. You remember how Brock was seething when he found out that Steve had opened his own.

You wish you could go back in time and tell Leila to never go into that damn shop. To never ask you to go with her because she was nervous for her first tattoo. Somehow it ended up with Brock promising you a discount if you let him tattoo you if you gave him your number. Being a cliche you got a butterfly on your shoulder.

Somehow it didn’t bother you as much. Maybe because it didn’t look like anything resembling him.

“You sure? We can take a break,” he offered.

You shook your head. “No. I’m okay.” You chuckled with a smile.

He chuckled before clicking his tongue. “Alright. Tell me if you want me to stop.”

“How’s your mom’s trip?” You asked. His mother had decided to vacation to Hawaii with his step-dad. Which is also why he was here. Not that he couldn’t have went with Nat and Bucky to his parent’s house. Except last time he’d done that, he ended up having to sleep next to Bucky’s incredibly touchy aunt. He was better off spending it alone.

“She’s great. Talked to her this morning.” He chuckled, “apparently she’s bringing me back a Hawaiian shirt.”

“You could pull it off.” You replied trying not to laugh too much.

“You think so?” He asked.

“Yeah just keep it unbuttoned and don’t wear a shirt under.”

He stopped to laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

“I dunno. Just doing a service for the girls,” you said. “Don’t act like you don’t know that you’re cute.”

He licked his lips, narrowing his eyes. “Why Miss. Wilson, you’re not flirting with me are you?”

You laughed and shook your head. “No. Just... stop. You know you’re hot.”

His jaw dropped as he grin. “Now you think I’m hot?”

You sighed dramatically. “Look, Steve. I’m just joking.”

He went back to work with this kind of goofy look on his face. You couldn’t deny it. Steve is hot. Anyone with eyes could see that. Your eyes traced along his tattooed forearms. The sleeves of his flannel pushed up to elbows. Until you were distracted by his broad shoulders.

Your mind finally started to relax. Kind of enjoying the buzzing of the gun. You kind of missed that sound you loved going to the shop with a Brock while he worked.

Your only days off were weekends and since he usually had shit to do on those days, you’d be there while he worked. Sometimes even helping out when their secretary was out.

“And, done,” he said taking a deep breath and smiling down at his work before turning off the machine. “How you feelin?’” He grabbed your hand to help you to your feet.

“Well, a little sore, but good.”

You turned to look at it. Smiling at the flowers that were there now. “It’s beautiful,” you said, looking at Steve before throwing your arms around his neck. “Thank you so much.”

“Hey,” he pulled away to rub your arms, “I got you.”

He was so close, eyes trained on your lips. So you started wondering maybe this was why Brock hated Steve. Saw how magnetic he was that he could definitely pull you in.

That couldn’t have been it, though. Brock never saw you with him alone. His dislike went much deeper than you. Today had kind of added insult to injury. Not only did you cover up that thing, but he was the one to do it. It’d be a slap in the face.

Maybe that’s why you did it. Except you’d always liked Steve’s work. You’d seen so many pieces he did or sketches he made and had wanted him to work on you for the longest. Maybe next time it would be something you didn’t need to cover up.

Your phone went off and you groaned softly pulling away. “Hey, Sam,” you greeted your brother. Of course it had to be him of all people.

Looking back over at his best friend who was cleaning up the station now. It was probably a good thing because your heart had started to thump in your chest. You didn’t need that.

You raised your shirt up so you could see it finally. “Just calling to check up on you. Steve’s lazy ass taking a break? I don’t hear buzzing in the back.”

“We just finished actually.” You laughed.

“How’d it come out?”

“Good,” you answered. “Tell Maya I said hi.”

You finished talking to Sam before finally hanging up. When you finally looked at your new tattoo, a smile grew on your face. It looked so much better than before. “Like it?” Steve asked.

“I love it,” you replied. You grabbed your bag so you could pay him.

“Um, excuse me, Miss,” he said. “Your money is no good here.”

“What? I’m not going to have you do all this work and not pay you, Stevie.”

He sighed. “Think of it as a Christmas present.”

You rolled your eyes still taking your money out. “I can’t-“

“I’m not taking it,” he pressed.

“Fine at least let me give you a tip.”

“I’m not taking that either.” He smirked.

You rolled your eyes. For such a nice boy he was always so stubborn. “Fine. Then... dinner. I’ll make dinner. If we’re spending Christmas alone then it might be fun to spend it together.”

He smiled softly. “Yeah... that sounds nice.”

“Great.” You looked into his eyes again. They were like the prettiest blue ever. Especially with those little specks of green.

After a trip to the store, he escorted you back to the apartment you shared with your brother. You could have moved out, but you were kind of afraid to live alone. That’s why Sam had been a little surprised that you’d declined the invitation to go with him. It was nice to have Steve there.

You’d decorated the apartment even though you hadn’t planned to do anything. You still wanted to be a little festive. Maybe it would pull you into a better mood. It worked a little.

You quickly started on dinner. Steve helped by cutting up vegetables. He’d taken off his sweater letting his incredibly muscular tattooed arms taunt you. Okay so yeah you had a little bit of a crush on him. Like a lot of other women, you just liked to look.

“Thanks for dinner,” Steve said, taking a sip of his wine. “I don’t get home cooked meals a lot.”

“Can’t cook?” You asked with a smirk.

“Yeah I’m pretty hopeless at it.” He shrugged.

“So do you want to watch Christmas movies after this?” You asked.

He laughed. “Yeah that’d be nice.”

The night was going by kind of quick as you settled down to watch A Christmas Story. You were a little tipsy honestly, but you and Steve were sharing a fluffy blanket. Which meant he was close.

You’d carefully showered so you didn’t get your tattoo wet and changed into a sweater shirt and s pair of matching shorts. Getting all bundled up so you could curl up beside him. “You look so warm.” He chuckled as he got a little closer.

“Do you need an extra blanket?” You asked.

“No I’m okay,” he replied.

“Can I ask you something?” You asked because the thought had crossed your mind again. This time you’d finally worked up the nerve to ask.

“Why don’t you and Brock like each other?” You asked.

He sighed. “You’re not the first person I’ve had to save from him. He and Bucky used to be close and I noticed him kind of spiraling. Rumlow was pumping him full of all of these drugs and I dunno I didn’t want to lose my friend.”

Your stomach started to turn. This was the first time you’d ever heard of any of this. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”

“I wanted to, but Sam said we needed to let you make your own mistakes. To not push you away. There were so many times that I thought about... look I just know that I’m never letting him hurt you again. Okay?”

You nodded, biting your lip. This glazed over look in your eyes. Steve noticed and pulled you closer pretty much placing you in his lap.

“Hey, it’s okay, Honey.” He rubbed your back. Trying to at least comfort you a little.

“No I’m fine,” you replied leaning into him. The soft fabric of his jeans rubbed against your bare legs. It was nice to have him comfort you like this. “You know I think the worst thing to me is that and I’m sorry if this is too much information, but he’d use Sam against me. Say that if I didn’t do what he wanted he’d tell Sam about the things we did in bed.”

Steve sighed. “You know he wouldn’t have cared.”

“I know, but it still felt embarrassing. He knew how secretive I was about it. None of my friends even know the kind of things I’m into.” You took a deep breath, trying to relax because you felt way more tense than you wanted to.

He chuckled. Trying to lighten the mood. “I get it. I used to be the same way until my last girlfriend put it all out there when we broke up.”

You laughed. “Oh yeah I remember that.”

“Yeah. She was something else.” He tossed his head back as he laughed. “One night she came to the shop, talking about how she’d let me tie her up one more time.”

“Brock used to say stuff like ‘come on, Babygirl, do what Daddy says or else I’ll tell your brother what you’re up to.’ It used to grate on my nerves.”

“God. What a fucking asshole,” he said, hoping you didn’t notice when he felt himself get suddenly hard at hearing you say that.

“Yeah, but I’m so glad this thing is covered.”

“Yeah. Glad I could help,” he said with smile. “Shit do you mind actually if I take a picture of it? For Instagram.”

You nodded. “Yeah that’s fine.”

He took his phone out of his pocket while you laid down across his lap, rolling your sweatshirt up so that it was exposed. “Perfect,” he said as he snapped the picture the flash making you close your eyes all tight, making you move your hand so you could rub your eye.

Making your entire breast become exposed. “Shit,” you said, pushing it back down as you sat back up. Your eyes connected to his again and that’s when he kissed you.

You didn’t hesitate to do it back. Your mouth moving against his ever so softly. Like the two of you were afraid to really do what you want, but also didn’t want to pull away. Until he finally started to deepen it.

You stroked his beard as he held onto you tightly. You came to straddle his lap as he cupped your ass. He started to lay you back.

Your phone interrupted you, making you jump away. You scrambled to pick it up. “Hello?”

“Hey. Just checking on you,” Sam’s voice came through.

“Oh. I’m fine, Sam.” You took looked over at Steve who closed his eyes and stood up.

“Is Steve with you?”

“Yeah he walked me home,” you said. “Actually I have to go I’m going to shower.”

“Okay. Text me before bed.”

“Okay.”

Steve was gathering up his things to leave by the time you got off your phone. You watched him move around. He shrugged his coat on. “I’m just gonna head out.”

“Yeah...” you pursed your lips.

He licked his lips. “I, um, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me... I-“

“No. It’s okay,” you replied taking a deep breath. “I’ll walk you out.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

You watched as he walked away heading towards the elevator. You still couldn’t believe that happened. Lips tingling from the way he kissed you. Apart of you was cursing Sam from ruining your moment.

Another part of you was kind of happy that he did because as much as you hated it, Brock still had this hold over you. It wasn’t that you felt guilty. It was more like you were afraid of what would happen if he found out.

God, you wish he didn’t have this hold on you. You were starting to close the door when Steve came back. This time he didn’t stop himself as he kissed you. Or picked you up, kicking the door shut behind him. Didn’t stop himself as he carried you to your room.

He laid you down on your bed, getting on top of you. You wrapped your legs around his waist. Trying to be as close to him as possible. Fuck he felt so good on top of you.

Scratching at his muscular shoulders. He pulled your top off first. Exposing your tits. His mouth went to them as he tried to avoid your tattoo. He swirled his tongue around your nipple.

You whimpered, biting your lip as you looked down at him. He’d switched to the other one to give it the same treatment. “So fucking beautiful.” He started kissing down your body so he could take off your shorts and panties. He kissed along your thighs, still looking into your eyes as he parted them.

Before he could put his mouth on your pussy, he went back up. Kissing you again. “Is this okay?” He asked resting his forehead to yours.

You nodded, reaching out so you could start undoing the buttons of his flannel. He helped you, pressing his lips to yours again. This time he put his tongue in your mouth.

Kissing him was different than Brock. Steve’s lips seemed to mold with yours better. There was this feeling in the pit of your stomach that felt like it was about to burst, but like you wanted it to. You really shouldn’t be comparing them, but Steve was making you feel so good and you were kicking yourself from having missed out on this as you wasted your time.

He pushed his shirt off his body then undid his pants. Sliding them down his legs along with his underwear. He got back on top for you, kissing your neck. Leaving little nibbles and sucking on your skin like he knew your body already. “Daddy,” you cried out, then sat up when you realized what you said opening your mouth to apologize.

“Oh yeah, Baby. You want me to be your daddy?” He asked, going back between your legs. “Want to be a dirty girl for me only?”

You nodded suddenly feeling drunk off of his words. Never did you think in a million years that Steve would be talking to you like this. He was getting you so wet just from that. He started licking your clit first.

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as he feasted on you. Pussy juices making a mess on his beard. “Yes,” you gasped out as he started to finger you at the same time.

That same bursting feeling in your stomach was getting intense. You cried out for him as you felt yourself reach your peek. You grabbed his hair, grinding your pussy against his face.

You took a deep breath as you tried to sit up, but he put a hand on your stomach to hold you still. “I’m not done.” He growled. “Hold still while Daddy makes you cum, Honey.”

You nodded bracing yourself as he went back to eating you out. It didn’t take long for him to bring you to another orgasm or another one after that. When he was done he kissed you, making you taste your juices on him.

As you made out again he went back to rubbing your cunt. “I’m gonna make you feel so good,” he said. “Gonna make you cum over and over again. Gonna take care of you.”

“Oh god yes,” you whimpered.

“Fuck I don’t have any condom,” he said, as he’d started to line himself up with your entrance.

“It’s okay,” you said. “I’m on birth control.”

He licked his lips. “Yeah?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I want you so bad, Daddy.”

He grinned as he kissed you softly. “I want to know your safe word first, Honey. Just in case.”

“Strawberry.”

He kissed your forehead, then your nose, and then your lips. He pushed into you as your tongues came into contact. Your tongues carassing against each other.

You stretched around him and you started to understand why he’d spent so much time eating you out. Fuck he was thick. You stretched around him looking into his eyes. “It’s okay,” he whispered into your lips. “I’ve got you.”

“It’s too much!” You cried.

“You can take it, Honey,” he kissed you again. “Be a good girl and take Daddy’s dick.”

He started fucking into you a little harder. You could feel yourself leaking around his dick. He’d really worked you up first even if he was still too damn thick for your pussy.

You scratched his back, biting his shoulder. He was thrusting so deep. You don’t think you’d ever been fucked this deep before. You’d definetly never been stretched open like this.

“Right there! Don’t stop!” You begged as he started fucking into your spot. “I’m fucking cumming!”

“That’s it, Honey. Cum for me.” He groaned because your pussy was so tight. Especially as you came. You were tightening around him and if he wasn’t so determined to give you a few more he would have let go inside of you.

“Oh, fuck, Daddy!” You cried. He didn’t let up. Fucking you through it.

“Nasty girl, squirting for me,” he said getting on his knees so he could watch you.

“Oh god!” You didn’t stop. Your pussy gushing around him. He bent your legs back with his hands on the back of your thighs. Watching his cock all slick anytime he’d pull out only to push back into you.

He chuckled as it happened again. Your eyes all clouded over as you came again just like that last time. More juices squirting out of you.

“Please,” you said, but didn’t know why.

“What do you want me to do, Baby?” He asked.

You couldn’t say anything back because you were to far gone. Thoughts had officially left your head. All you knew was him and the he was fucking you so damn good. Still pressing into your spot.

“Fuck you’re gonna make me cum,” he hissed, getting back on top of you with his bicep wrapped around your thigh so he could keep you spread open. He kissed you again this time deeper. Fucking your mouth with his tongue.

You moaned into him and thrusts became to falter as he started to pump you full of his cum. He thrusted into you deep as he gave you every bit of it. Wanting to completely fill you up with him.

He laid on top of you trying to catch his breath. You were panting underneath him. Not even wanting him to move because he was so warm. You buried your head into his neck.

It took you a minute to come down from your highs. He smiled down at you, kissing you softly. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You okay? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

You shook your head, already closing your eyes because you were so comfortable like this. “I’m great.”

He chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear.”

You smiled lazily as he finally rolled off of you. He brought you close to him, kissing your nose again. “Stay with me.”

“There’s literally no other place I’d rather be,” he said.

You’d spent all night messing around. Taking little cat naps in between. Right now he had you on your stomach as he fucked you from behind. You never expected to spend your holiday with him, but now you couldn’t picture spending it with anyone else.

You hadn’t even thought about your ex and the meltdown he’d have if he knew about this. It was nice feeling so free. Especially as Steve’s tattooed arms wrapped around you from behind.

Hints of daylight had started to break through the slits of your curtain. He chuckled. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered into your ear as he didn’t even let up the way he was fucking into you.

“Merry Christmas, Daddy,” you whimpered.

He kissed the back of your shoulder. “Gonna spend Christmas letting me make you my girl?”

You nodded trying to peek up at him over your shoulder with a smile. “Your girl?”

“After this I’m not letting you go,” he said, kissing your cheek from behind. “We might need to make this a tradition.”

“I like the sound of that.”

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 14

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 5,000ish

Summary: Just another day at the medical center, right? (Based off Grey’s Anatomy)

Heading back into the hospital, you went straight for Natasha’s room. The other interns were already in there, surrounding her bed.

“Hey,” you smiled, walking over to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” she responded. “I’m okay.”

You grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. She needed to know that you were there for her, but you weren’t going to push her into talking about something she wasn’t ready to talk about.

~~~

You slammed down a shot, needing to feel the alcohol rush down your throat. 

“How was Nat when you left, Scott?” Val asked, bringing more drinks over.

“She said she was okay, again,” he responded with a slight shrug.

“Nobody goes what she went through and is totally over it by now.”

“Natasha can.”

“She’s fine,” you added, taking another shot.

“Too fine,” Val said. “She’s cold.”

“No, she’s hardcore,” Clint said. “She’s got ice in her veins. She does what she has to do to get through it.”

“She lost a baby. She lost a fallopian tube and she’s acting like she doesn’t even care. She’s acting like she has no emotions or warmth, like she’s missing a soul.”

“She’s gonna make a great surgeon.”

“Clint!”

“It’s true. You show no weakness, you make it to the top.”

“Some people just keep their feelings to themselves,” you commented.

Your eyes were on the door, where Steve had just walked in. If he noticed you, he didn’t make it noticeable. You watched as he walked over to the bar and sat beside Gamora. Steve ordered a drink from Happy before talking to Gamora. Too bad you were too far away to hear them.

“Y/N kissed me,” Steve told Gamora. “Peggy kissed me… My wife and my girlfriend kissed me on the same day.”

“Happy, do I look friend to you?” Gamora asked.

“Oh, you’re a tiny little kitten of joy and love,” Happy responded, only for Gamora to make a face. “What? He saved my life.”

“His first mistake.” She took a sip of her drink. “Captain McDreamy, go sit by someone who cares.”

“Oh gee,” Steve mocks hurt, but doesn’t make a move to go. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Peggy will leave. Y/N and I will start over. Everything’s gonna be fine. Right?”

“You are so damn stupid.”

~~~

“With Natasha out, I need everyone focused today,” Gamora told her group of interns as you all headed off to rounds. “I have a feeling it’s gonna be be one of those days and since we’re short an intern, you do not want to get on my bad side.”

“When are we not on her bad side?” You whispered to Clint.

“Speak for yourself,” he replied with a scoff. “Scott and I are her favorites.”

The group walked into their first patients room. The woman was sitting on the bed, enthralling a group of hospital workers with a tell.

“So we're in the middle of the Belizean jungle and this jaguarondi jumps out and bites one of the guides,” the woman says. “They all look at me. They're yelling, "You're a doctor, help him!" This is one time a PhD does no good.” The people laugh.

“Sorry,” Gamora interrupted, “did I miss the memo about social hour?” Everyone quickly began leaving besides your group.

“Tales of missionary life,” the woman explained.

“You’re a missionary?” Val asked.

“No, my parents. We traveled a lot. Well, they still do.”

“Lang, tell me about our patient,” Gamora ordered.

“Okay, um, this is Dr. Banner’s patient, Talya,” Scott explained. “She, uh, presents with multiple syncopal episodes and ventricular arrhythmias.”

“So you’ve been passing out?” Gamora asked.

“Yeah,” Talya confirmed, “and having palpitations.”

“Talya has past medical history of rheumatic heart disease with mitral valve stenosis,” Scott added.

“They had to ship me from Zambia to the States for 3 months of treatment when I was 8,” Tayla said. “Rheumatic fever almost killed me.”

“Someone please tell me what the primary causes of ventricular arrhythmias are,” Gamora said.

Before anyone in the room could responded, Natasha appeared in the doorway. She leaned up against it in her hospital gown with her IV stand.

“Valvular disease, mitral valve prolapse, stimulants, drugs, and metabolic abnormalities,” Natasha answered.

“Out!” Gamora ordered.

“I’m fine.”

“Out! And you better be in your bed by the time we round on you!”

“And when will that be?”

“In 15 seconds. 14. 13. 13. 11.” 

Natasha turned around to head to her room, revealing her underwear through her nightgown. The group of interned laughed.

“Nice panties, Romanoff!” Peter laughed.

Natasha flips him the bird as she keeps waking. “In your dreams, Quill.”

They followed Natasha into the room, where she huffed as she got back into bed.

“L/N,” Gamora called.

“Right,” you responded. “Natasha Romanoff. Post-op day 3 from a unilateral salpingectomy.”

“And ready to get back to work,” Natasha said. “I'm taking solids and my pain is controlled with oral meds. I'm ready.”

“Well, it says here on your chart on you had a fever?”

“Y/N,” Nat growled.

“Natasha, did you have a fever?” Gamora questioned.

“Temp spiked to 101 last night. Big deal.”

“She worked 2 shifts last month with a 102 degree flu,” Clint added.

“Yes! Exactly, Clint. Thank you.”

“And we appreciate your dedication but you're staying in bed until it normalizes,” Gamora said. “You need to relax, shut up, and get better. You're a patient this week so you can be a doctor next week. Understand?”

“I understand,” Natasha grumbled.

~~~

Rounds had finished as you were heading to your assignment when you ran into Steve near the elevators.

“Skipping rounds?” He wondered.

“No,” you replied. “They just finished.” You kept walking, when Steve took your arm to stop you.

“Y/N…”

“You’ve got a wife.”

“Yes.”

“You’re life is complicated.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need more complicated. I have that all on my own.”

“Yes.”

“Stop saying yes.”

Steve smiled. “I’m trying not to make any sudden movements.”

“You think this is funny?”

“Peggy’s leaving. She doesn’t have any more patients. There’s no reason for her to be here.”

“No reason? Really?”

“No really whatsoever.”

Steve stepped closer, bringing his hand up to brush your cheek. You stood there, trying to not let it get to your head or, well, anywhere else. Suddenly, Peggy appeared.

“Well now, isn’t this cozy?” She said. “Can I join in or are you not into threesomes?”

“I have to go,” you said, rushing away. You didn’t go too far, interested to watch everything unfold.

“Y/N…” Steve called with a sign. He turned to Peggy. “You really are Satan. You realize that right? If Satan were to take physical form, he'd be you. Everywhere, all the time.”

“I am so not Satan,” Peggy responded.

“How come you haven't got on your broomstick and gone back to where you belong?”

“Stop being petty.”

“Stop being an adulterous bitch.”

“You know, you are going forgive me eventually, right? I mean you can't just ... I mean there was a time when you thought of me as your best friend.”

“There was a time where I thought you were the love of my life. Things change.”

Peggy sighed and pulled some papers out of her bag, handing them to Steve. Steve quickly flipped through them.

“Divorce papers,” he said.

“Your lawyer said they're ok. I haven't signed them yet. The ball's in your court. If you sign, I'll sign. I'll sign and be on the first plane out of here.”

“I'll sign them immediately. I want you out of here as soon as possible.”

“Steve, have you ever thought that, even if I am Satan and an adulterous bitch, that I still might be the love of your life?”

Not answering, Steve walks away, completely not noticing you listening in from behind a pillar.

“What are we looking at?” Tony asked, appearing out of nowhere.

“Ah!” You exclaimed, jumping slightly. “Don’t do that!” You playfully hit him. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I just saw you over here and I was interested in seeing what you were observing.”

“I think… I think Peggy just handed Steve divorce papers.��

“Really? That actually surprises me. I thought she would put in a little more of a fight.”

“Yeah…”

“I guess that’s good news for you, right?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I want him to choose me because of me, not because of a divorce.”

“In my ever humble opinion, I think it will always be you. Trust me. That man is whipped.”

~~~

Natasha snuck out of her room and stole her chart. She sat in her bed as she made changes to it. Walking by, Banner looked in and noticed that no one else was in there. He quickly took the chart of Nat.

“Hey! That’s my chart,” Natasha complained.

“You're the patient. Not the doctor. Act like one,” Bruce reprimands as he studies her chart. “It's been tough finding you alone.”

“Yeah? Well…”

“How are you doing?”

“Well, you have my chart, you tell me.”

He sighed. “Natasha, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Perfectly okay.”

“I had a right to know.”

“Well, now you do.”

“Natasha—“

“Look. Now you know. It’s over. There’ soothing for you to deal with. So I don’t know what else there really is left to say.”

“Plenty. For starters you could've come to me—“

“And what? We could have raised it together? Or you could have held my hand when I got the abortion? I did not need any of that. I’m an intern.”

“Nat—“

“Can you just go? I need to rest. Doctor’s orders.”

~~~

Gamora called you to help her with a patient. You two walked into the patient room together, revealing a younger man on the bed.

“I thought I told you I never want to see you again,” Gamora said to the patient.

“That's only cause you're too lazy to learn anything more,” the man responded.

“Dr. Y/N L/N, this is Nick Tate. He thinks he knows so much cause he was one of my first patient's as an intern.”

“I knew as much as she did. She was clueless about how to treat cystic fibrosis. A simple cholecystectomy turned into a month-long stay.”

“Better not be alleging malpractice. Guy raises about a 100 grand a year for cystic fibrosis, running triathlons. Thinks he's a big shot.”

“Wait, you run triathlons?” You questioned, confused how it could as a patient with cystic fibrosis.

“Yeah, why not?” He responded.

“It’s a pain for one,” Gamora replied, flipping through the chart. “Says here you're finally admitting to feeling a little unwell?”

“A little.”

“How little? Truth.”

“Oh, enough to keep me awake at night. Had some seizures. Um, too weak to work out.”

“Anyone been through here with your CT results?”

“No. It's probably just my pancreatitis kicking up again.”

“All right then. We'll be back. With your results and a plan.” Gamora walked to the door, with you following. She glanced back at Nick. “Huh, where do your parents think you are this time?”

He smiled. “Hmm, San Diego.”

Gamora shakes her head as you follow her the rest of the way out of the room.

“What about his parents?” You asked. “Shouldn’t he, or we, tell them?”

“No, he doesn't like to bother them until he's well or about to get discharged. He understands his reality. He just chooses to ignore it. Denial works for him, L/N.”

~~~

After Bruce had left, it only took Natasha two minutes to have found blue scrubs and change into them. She took out her IV and snuck out to the nurses station. She began looking through patient charts. The head nurse, Phil Coulson, found her like that.

“Where’s your IV?” He asked, looking at her with a disappointed father face.

“I've taken solids. I HEP-locked it,” Natasha replied.

“On whose orders?”

“Mine.”

“Okay.” Phil quickly found her chart and began reading it. “Romanoff. How about this order: best rest, out of bed to chair, bathroom privileges. Nothing about stealing charts at the nurses station.”

“Okay, you know what….” She quickly looked around to find a nearby empty wheelchair. She brought it over and sat down in it. “There, satisfied? I’m out of bed to chair.”

“I’m telling your intent on you.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah.”

“Oooh, I’m so scared.”

She wheeled off with a patient chart, heading to Tayla’s room. When she arrived, she witnessed Tayla, by herself, taking a pill.

“I saw that!” Natasha exclaimed from her wheelchair in the doorway. “I saw you take that pill.”

“Oh it's, it's my pill,” Tayla excused. “You know... the pill.”

Natasha quickly looked over the chart. “It’s not at all in your chart and you are supposed to tell us the meds you are on.”

“You’re not my doctor. You shouldn't even be here.”

“She’s right,” Val said, appearing from behind. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I saw her take unauthorized medication!” Natasha continued.

“Well, you’re unauthorized to be here.”

“I’m on the pill and I had grapefruit juice this morning,” Tayla explained. “Since the juice inhibits enzymes involved in the metabolism of OCPs, I thought I'd avoid the interaction by taking it two hours after my meal.”

“She's has a doctorate in neuropharmacology, Natasha.”

Natasha huffed, “Well, Val, I don’t see any place where oral contra—“

“Okay so now you will. Will you just go back to bed and stop bothering the other patients?”

Tayla’s heart monitor suddenly started racing, bringing the other women attentions to her. She fell to the floor, unconscious, and Val rushed to her.

“She’s in V-FIB!” Natasha said. 

“Call the code,” Val ordered as she began compressions.

Natasha practically jumped out of her chair to call a code, which didn’t feel good. Val got Tayla back as the code team arrived.

“No code?” The nurse questioned.

“Not anymore,” Val answered. “Can you help get her back into bed.

“I’ll—I’ll help,” Natasha breathed got, struggling to get back to her wheelchair. “Just give me a minute.”

“Would you just go back to bed? Seriously, please just go.”

Natasha nodded as she finally made it to the wheelchair. “Just… if she’s on OCP’s, mark it down. Okay, Val?”

“Yeah.”

~~~

You had gotten Nick’s x-ray’s back and were currently putting them up to view them with Gamora by your side.

“Nick’s got a mass in his midepigastrium,” you explained. “Diffused enlargement of the pancreas. That, with his hypoglycemic seizures—“

“He's going to need an exploratory laparotomy. But, despite his triathlons, his lungs still make me hesitant to cut,” Gamora added.

“What are we going to do?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Doctors,” Peggy greeted.

“Dr. Carter-Rogers.”

“How old is he?” Peggy asked, studying the x-rays.

“26.”

“Survivor, huh?”

“And them some. My patient for at least 5 years. I'm not gonna lose him now.”

“You planning a laparotomy?”

“Hmm. You know, I think I could help you with this. I've seen one case like this before in a 9 year old. We ended up having to do a total pancreotectomy.”

“I'd be honored to take any help you can give me.”

“You’re a neonatal specialist,” you said. “What, uh… this isn’t your area.” Gamora looked at you, annoyed, as she shock her head. “I’m just saying that—“

“I did 2 years genetic research in cystic fibrosis,” Peggy told you. “I've pretty much seen it all, Dr. L/N.”

“Oh.”

~~~

Walking down the hall, Steve found you. Always trying his best to make a conversation with you. This time it was easy.

“Are you sure your wife is leaving?” You questioned. “She offered to help on the case Gamora has me working on.”

“Just because she offered her services doesn't mean she intends to stay,” Steve responded.

“Well, what does it mean? Because it seems to me—“

“It means that she's a good doctor.”

“Huh… why are you suddenly defending her?”

“I’m not. Y/N, she gave me divorce papers. She filed.”

“Good for you.”

“All I have to do is sign, and I’m free… We’re free.”

“Is there anything to think about?”

“No,” he shook his head, “of course not. I have to read through them, sign, then Peggy’s on the next plane out of here.” He grabbed your hands. “This is going to work.”

~~~

After the conversation he had with you, Steve immediately went searching for Gamora.

“Of all the fine doctors in the city, you accept a consult from Peggy Carter,” Steve said, angrily.

“Carter-Rogers, isn’t it?” Gamora retorted.

“The point is she should be on her way home. Are you purposefully trying to drive me crazy?”

“You think this has something to do with you?” Gamora’s voice was loud and upset. “You think I’m even thinking about you and your romantic problems? I’m trying to help a patient very near and dear to my heart. And if consulting with your wife—your ex—your mistress, what ever it is that she becomes! If that’s the thing I have to do to save my patient, them I’m damn well gonna do it.”

“I understand… and I totally deserve the yelling. It’s just that—“

“Just, you look! You have put yourself between two very fine women and you looking for an easy way out and you wanna use me, and the hospital and... somebody to make the decision for you, and it's not gonna happen!”

“Could I just… could I just say a couple of things?”

“No.” Gamora stormed off.

~~~

You found Natasha sitting in her bed, in her room. Thankfully. Though she was looking through another patient’s chart. You pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat down in it with a sigh.

“What’s your problem?” Natasha asked.

“Peggy gave Steve divorce papers, which is good. I mean she’s still here, being Peggy, but it’s not like I’m jealous or anything.”

“That’s odd.”

“It’s odd I’m not jealous?”

“No, you have every right to be jealous. It's your territory and she's peeing all over it.” Natasha went back to focusing on the chart in her hands. “What’s odd is Banner’s patient.”

“Tayla?”

“Yeah. She’s been in 4 other hospitals this year. You know something’s not right.”

“You seem awfully interested in Banner’s patient.”

“This has nothing to do with Bruce.”

“Natasha, you lost a fallopian tube, a baby and a boyfriend all in one day. You have the right to be upset.”

“And you’re losing Captain McDreamy to his perfect wife. You have the right to be jealous.”

“I did not lose Captain McDreamy. Divorce papers, remember? And I’m not jealous.”

“And I’m not upset. I really need to get out of here.”

“You’re on bedrest, remember?”

“Okay, if the situation was reversed, would you wanna spend time with your mother in a confined room with one window?”

“No. I guess not. But still. You need to stay put.” 

Before Natasha could respond, your pager beeped. You looked down at it and groaned.

“I got to go,” you muttered, leaving.

“Good luck!”

~~~

Peggy and Gamora met you in Nick’s room. There you began explaining the surgery to him.

“We won't know for sure until we go in there, but it looks like that I'm going to have to take out your pancreas and re-route your intestines,” Peggy said.

Nick looked at Gamora. “Did you tell her that my lungs don't do well with anesthesia?”

“Don’t I always have your back?” Gamora retorted.

“Your kidney function is decreasing rapidly and I'm afraid you're gonna go into multi-system organ failure if we don't operate,” Peggy continued.

“If I say no?” Nick wondered.

“There’s no guarantees, Nick. You know that,” Gamora answered. “It's gonna be a long, hard surgery and put a lot of stress on your body.”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “but I’m me.”

She smiled back. “But you’re you.”

“So if we don’t operate, I die. And if… we do operate, I may die.”

“Basically, yes,” Peggy responded.

“Well, I like those odds. And 26 years with this disease is awesome. And that's the reality. So if I get lucky ... great. And if I don’t…” Nick grabbed Gamora’s hand, “it’s been sweet.”

“It’s gonna stay sweet,” she replied.

~~~

Natasha was laying on her bed with her harm over her eyes when Clint walked into the room. Tayla’s chart was laid out on top of her.

“Why do you have that?” He asked.

“I’m working,” Nat answered. “Trying to figure out what’s going on with the crazy woman on four.”

“You are the crazy woman on four. Though, I have to say, you have a better patina than me and you don’t even really have a patient.” Clint plopped down in the chair next to her bed. “Y/N’s got a CF case. Peter has a gunshot wound. Val’s got the mystery arrhythmias. I have babysitting a crazy old lady! I’d rather do scut with Scott than this! I’m a surgeon. A cutter. I don’t want to be a fake surgeon! I want to be a real one!”

“She’s faking it,” Nat repeated to herself. She quickly got off the bed. “The missionary. Talya… Thank you!” 

She patted Clint’s head as she walked by. Natasha headed straight for the nurses station, where she saw Val looking around for something.

“Val!” Natasha called. “How how Talya’s studies been?”

“Hey!” Val responded, not pleasantly as she took the chart from Nat. “I’ve been looking everywhere for that!”

“Negative, right?”

“Oh! The echo tests showed mild mitral stenosis, the tilt test was negative. We're doing EP studies.”

“I can tell you what's wrong with her without sticking electrodes in her heart.”

“Really. Just by the chart?”

“No, from the pill she took.”

“They were contraceptives, Natasha! Why are you so obsessed with this? Just go back to bed!”

“I think she’s doing this to herself.”

“You think she's inducing ventricular arrhythmias? She'd have to be crazy to do—“

“No, no, no. She'd have to have Munchausen’s.”

“Okay wait. You think she's secretly ingesting something to produce real symptoms? Seriously?”

“Yes. Run it by Banner and tell me what he thinks.”

“Why don’t you tell him yourself. He is standing right behind you.” Val made eye contact with the man. “Dr. Banner.” 

Then Val left. Leaving Natasha will Bruce. She sighed as Bruce guided her into the small office nearby before listening to her.

“I mean, she obviously loves the patient role. She practically lives in hospitals. And... and, and we're like an imaginary family to her because her really family blows her off to go take care of other people.... And, and I saw her take something.”

“It's not enough,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “We have to rule out everything else. Everything physical.”

“She even lied about her job. She's a pharmacy tech, not a PhD.”

“So she's a liar. I've been lied to before.”

“Hey, we're not talking about us here.”

“Maybe we should be.”

“I didn’t lie!”

“You withheld the truth from me. How was00”

“Okay, you know what? I distinctly remember you breaking things off with me. And you didn't seem so upset about it. And this?” She motioned between herself and Bruce. “This is, this is not a relationship. This is not real.”

“Natasha…”

“Okay, and, and so what's with the big display of fake hurt and drama?” She began walking out of the room.

“Natasha!”

“I’m supposed to be in bed.”

~~~

You absolutely did not want to be in surgery with Peggy. Yet there you were.

“I need more traction,” Peggy stated. “Dr. Y/N?” You quickly did as you were told.

“Here,” Gamora called, “give me some suction there.” So you did. “Now L/N, retract the duodenum. Good. How’s he doing Vis?”

Vis was keeping watch over Nick’s vitals and such. “Harder to ventilate and no urine output since we started,” Vis informed.

Peggy shook her head, “he’s shutting down.”

“Did you increase his peak pressures?” Gamora asked.

“Any higher, I blow his lungs,” Vis responded before the monitor beeped. “Bradycardia. Pushing 1 of atropine.”

“Try ventilating him manually,” Peggy ordered, “see if he starts coming back up.” Vis began pushing on a bag.

“Did we miss any bleeders?” Gamora wondered.

“The surgical field is clear.”

The monitor began beeping faster. “Agonal rhythm,” you said.

“Any pulse with that?” Gamora asked.

“No carotid,” Vis answered.

“Okay, starting CPR.” Gamora handed over her tools and begun CPR. “Push one of EPI.”

“No extraordinary measures, Gamora,” Peggy warned. “He’s DNR.”

“No this is just good medicine.” Sh continued CPR, almost frantically. “Come on! Come on! Don’t give up. Come on.”

“You’re getting tired,” you noted. “Let me take over, Dr. Gamora.” She nodded, letting you quickly switch her places.

“Gamora, his intestines are cyanotic,” Peggy stated. “There’s no blood circulating.”

“It’s been shunted to his brain where he needs it,” Gamora responded as she studied your CPR form. “You call those compressions.” She shoved you to the side and took over CPR. You and Peggy made eye contact, worried. “Fight it. Come on.” Peggy looked around, shaking her head, and everyone stopped what they were doing. All but Gamora. “Why isn’t anyone moving? Whose recording?”

“It's been ten minutes since we've had a perfusing rhythm.” Peggy goes to stop Gamora but is shrugged off. The monitor flat lines. “It’s your call, Gamora.”

Taking a shaky inhale, Gamora stopped. She pulled off her mask as the monitor continues to flat line. “Asystole.” She looked up at the clock. “Time of death: 19:35.”

Gamora rushed out of the OR, trying not to cry. She went straight to the sinks and began cleaning her hands furiously. She paused when she noticed people covering up Nick’s body. Peggy walked in and started washing her hands as well, with you following. You both eyed Gamora a few times, worried. Soon, she left.

Peggy sighed. “It’s hard to accept the end when you’re too close.” She looked down as she slipped her wedding ring back onto her finger. She noticed you watching. “Look, I don't want someone who doesn't want me, Y/N. But if there's the slightest chance that he does, I'm not leaving New York.”

~~~

Val walked into Natasha’s room, not excited for the news she was about to tell her.

“Well?” Natasha asked.

“You were right,” Val sighed. “Talya definitely suffers from Munchausen’s.”

“See I was right…. I was right…” She closed her eyes. “I was right…” Nat began to cry. “I was right. I was… I was right. Oh… I’m—I’m—“ She let out a sob. “I’m right. I’m—I’m right.”

Val looked out of the room to see Clint walking by. “Clint! Page Y/N!”

Clint hurried in. “Why? What—what’s happening? What did you do to her?”

“She just started crying and I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll get one of the nurses to page, Y/N.” Clint rushed out.

“Natasha,” Val tried, slowly coming closer. “Natasha, calm down.”

“The nurses paged her!” Clint came rushing back in.

“It’s okay, Nat.” Val went in for a hug, only for Nat to shrink away and cry harder. “Okay, okay. I won’t hug you.”

“What’s going on?” You came running in, panicked.

“I can’t stop!” Nat cried. “I can’t—-I can’t stop…”

“Crying,” Val finished for her. “She can’t stop crying.”

“I can’t see that!” You replied. “What did you guys do to her?”

“Nothing!”

“She’s going to dehydrate,” Clint said. “Nat, do you want some water?”

Nat shook her head, “no, no…” You tried to go in for a hug, only to be pulled away.

“NO!” Clint and Val exclaimed.

“I already tried that,” Val said. “It just made it worse.” Clint tentatively handed Nat a tissue.

“Natasha,” you tried again.

“Make—make it stop,” Natasha sobbed. “Make it stop… Somebody sedate me!”

“What’s going on in here?” Bruce asked, walking in. He was dressed like he was about to leave. There was clear concern etched on his face. 

“We can’t get her to stop crying,” you replied.

“Y/N, get everyone else out of here.” Bruce was taking off his jacket. “Watch the door.”

You nodded, quickly ushering Clint and Val out. They voiced protests, but willing left. You shut the door behind you and watched. Peeking through the window, you watched as Bruce got in the bed beside Nat. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Natasha willingly curled into him, welcoming his comfort. You sighed and turned away, leaning against the door to keep watch. Steve noticed you and came up.

“Hey,” he smiled.”

“Hey.”

“When are you off?”

“Uh,” you glanced at your watch, “in about an hour. Why?”

“Meet me at Happy’s when you get off.” He started walking backwards, sly smirk on his lips. “Don’t be late.”

~~~

Steve and you arrived at Happy’s bar at the same time. He gave you a smile as he held the door open for you. You walked over to an empty table, Steve close behind.

“I’m glad we’re doing this,” you said.

“Me too,” Steve replied. He set it briefcase on his chair. “Want a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

Turning around, Steve knocked his briefcase onto the ground. A stack of papers slipped out.

“I’ve got it,” Steve quickly said, bending down.

“I’ll get it,” you said, picking up the papers.

You glance at the papers as you stand back up. There his divorce papers, that he has yet to sign.

next chapter >

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[avengersassemble-fics]

Stark’s Girl

part 014/015 “one more time, captain”

previous part // next part

masterlist

word count 3.9k

an: this part does include dialogue from avengers endgame, which is not my work nor do i claim it to be!

It’s been five years since the Blip. You had been back by Natasha’s side for almost six months now, and she was grateful for every moment. There were days where she would break down (which until recently was unheard of) and you would be there by her side. And she had done what she could to help you out with your trauma. Before you accepted her offer of coming back, she had put two and two together when she recognized the faces on the news to the faces that had adorned a spare room in that house of yours in Ransdorp. Natasha had a past of her own, no doubt about that, so she could relate to how you had felt when you admitted on your own time what you had been up to those few years after Siberia. 

It wasn’t an easy conversation, at one point you had broken down into sobs and reminded her a lot of herself when she had taken some time after a mission gone wrong years back. She mostly understood the shame that coursed through you, but one thing she made you understand was what HYDRA had done, the things you did because of them, wasn’t your fault. Natasha also made sure to tell you the blackouts weren’t your fault either, and she understood why you did what you had done. Although it was trauma you would have to live with, she knew the feeling better than most of losing your years to programs like that.

All of this was to say that both women had a newfound respect and understanding of one another. It became easier to work alongside one another, being able to almost anticipate one’s actions and decisions as they occurred. No one had seemed to really get Nat like that since Barton.. Which was why she was so hell bent on tracking him down.

Natasha had come to the realization about a year ago that Barton had gone off the radar because his family was among those they lost. When bodies started piling up (not due to your hands) and some of the known details were faint signatures of Barton’s handiwork.. Nat made it her mission to find him. Because this was not him. And although he was taking down some questionable people, they weren’t responsible for Thanos.

“Listen fur-face,” Carol Danvers threw out that regained Nat’s attention. “I’m covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth are happening everywhere, on thousands of planets.”

“All right all right, that’s a good point,” Rocket remarked. Nat stole a glance your way to which you only offered a shrug as Carol continued.

“So.. You might not see me for a long time,” she redirected towards Nat. Natasha nodded her head and leaned forward on the desk she sat behind. 

“Alright.. Well this channel is always active. If anything goes sideways, anyone’s making trouble where they shouldn’t, it comes through me.”

Everyone agreed and one by one the holograms disappeared. You took a seat in front of the desk, and Nat redirected her attention to Rhodes. “Where are you?

“Mexico,” Rhodes answered. “The Federales found a room full of bodies, looks like a bunch of cartel guys. They never even had a chance to get their guns off.”

Nat shrugged her shoulders and sat back in her seat. “Probably a rival gang.”

“Except it isn’t,” Rhodes countered. Natasha’s eyes shift, and your gaze shoots up at her. “It’s definitely Barton.. What he’s done here, what he’s been doing the last few years.. Nat, the scene he left?.. I gotta tell you, a part of me doesn’t want to find him.”

Natasha grabbed the sand which she had prepared just earlier and bit a piece off. She just needed to focus on something other than what Rhodes was telling her, she didn’t need anyone to see her cry right now. “Will you find out where he’s going next?”

“Nat,” Rhodes tried to warn.

“Please,” Natasha pleaded. You glanced Rhodey’s way and he met your eyes. You offered a grim look, and he sighed.

“Okay.”

And with that Rhodey’s comm broke off too. You watched as Nat placed the sandwich back down and sighed deeply, all before her face began to scrunch up into a sob. You were quick out of your seat and moved around the desk and kneeled by her side. “Nat.. Nat we’re gonna find him.”

“I just don’t know why he couldn’t come to me,” she sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. “I know this must be hard for him, losing Laura and the kids, but he could’ve come to me.”

You reached your hand out to rub her shoulder and let out a small sigh. “Sometimes it’s hard to let those you care about see in you in those dark places.”

Nat finished rubbing under her eyes and grabbed the sandwich off her plate again with her other hand. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding the talk with Steve?”

You bit back the smile and stood. She had done what she did best, diverted the conversation from herself to something else. “You’re still on about that?”

“Oh come on, I’ve seen the way you look at one another,” Natasha prodded as you went to gather your things. “How much longer are you going to wait to be happy?”

The question made you pause, and before you could respond Nat perked up at something behind you. You glanced over your shoulder and was met with none other than Steve Rogers, hands in his pockets, and with a small smile on his face. 

“Speak of the devil,” Natasha joked. Your gaze immediately went back to her and you gave her your best glare, while Steve raised his brow at her. They were so easy to mess with, she thought. “Here to do your laundry?”

“And to see some friends,” Steve replied. You held your things closer to your chest as Steve came further into the room.

“I’m actually getting ready to leave for Tony’s,” you threw out there. “I promised to go see my favorite niece.”

“Are you going to be okay making the drive this late at night?” Steve asked. Natasha rolled her eyes to herself and took a hefty bite of her sandwich. If she had to watch another pining episode she was going to make sure you two never heard the end of it. You, on the other hand, smiled at his sentiment.

“Oh I think I can manage,” you told him. You offered your farewells, and started back to your room to grab your bag and head out. Steve watched you leave before looking back at Nat who was waving him off.

“Meet me in the kitchen, I need a drink,” she told him, and took her sandwich with her towards the kitchen area. Steve chuckled lightly, and followed in your steps to the residence area. He was just catching you outside your room, and he took a deep breath and pulled something out of his pocket, clutching it in his fist. You heard him approach and looked his way, shutting your door and offering a smile.

“Hey,” you managed before Steve got up to you, and his serious expression made your smile fall. “Are you okay..?”

“Seven years ago I asked you if one day you’d want to get away from all of this,” Steve started. You remembered the conversation far too well, and immediately shut your mouth in a tight expression. A heaviness filled your chest, but you tried your best to ignore it. “From this life where we were needing to be more than just us… Do you remember?”

“Yes-”

“I told you that I would wait for you, no matter how long it took, no matter what happened, because.. Because you have been the best thing to happen to me since I came out of the ice. You taught me how to live again,” Steve continued.

“Steve,” you whispered, but he kept going.

“I love you,” he admitted, finally looking into your eyes. They were darker than usual, and you could see he meant it. “I couldn’t go another day without telling you. Because.. You feel like home.”

Steve grabbed a hold of your hands, and you watched as he placed something into your palms. He retracted his hold on you and your fingers curled over the soft velvety box in your hand. You looked up at him with curious eyes, and slowly used your thumb to open the box and let out a small gasp.

“Steve,” you whispered, staring down at the contents.

“It was my moms.. SHIELD saved it when I went into the ice,” Steve explained. You carefully ran your finger over the gold banded ring that practically shined up at you. You hadn’t seen a more beautiful piece of jewelry, and did your best to fight back the tears. “I’m not expecting an answer.. But I just wanted you to see that I meant it. It was always meant for you anyway.. Maybe we still have a shot at that normal life.”

Your gaze went back up to his, and he smiled softly at you. You were speechless as one of his hands grabbed onto your arm and he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to your forehead. And then you watched him take a couple steps back, before he turned around and went back the direction you both had just come. 

You were shocked, which even then felt like an understatement. Steve just.. Proposed. Inadvertently? Well it was purposeful, and if Natasha knew about it you were going to kill her for not saying anything. It took you a while to reclose the box and carefully place it into a pocket in your bag, it was delicate and you wanted to take care of it.

And well.. It certainly kept your mind occupied on your drive to Tony’s cabin.

Tony had left your room untouched for the most part, which was a welcomed thing to come into. You weren’t up for too long, forcing Tony to go to bed, but you did spend some time scrolling through your phone. Steve was right when he had said he wasn’t expecting an answer right away, you half expected a message of some sort but things seemed relatively quiet from his end. It was harder to fall asleep that night, you found yourself drifting off to what would happen if you said yes.

You’d want to move somewhere quiet, like what Tony did. That would give you a chance to refocus yourself.. Would that even be something Steve would be open to doing?.. Could he get you the same help he had gotten Barnes (Natasha said he felt at peace for once)? Hell, if they could just wipe out any lingering thoughts of Hydra you’d never have another problem in your life.

What’s more.. If you said no would this be what you life is like? Alone, and longing for the maybe’s that could have been? Which was better? Risk getting involved again, or risk never having that connection to someone again? It wasn’t the ideal question to fall asleep to.

When morning broke and sunlight peeked through the blinds, you woke up and found yourself sitting among the sheets and staring at the open box in your hands. The diamond that sat in the middle and gleamed in the sunlight made you sigh, it felt as if it was screaming at you that you knew what you wanted to tell him.

Did you?

You snapped the box closed and hid it in a drawer beside the bed and decided to change into something other than sweatpants for the day. After finishing and bounding down the stairs you ended up behind your favorite little niece, and scooped her up into a bear hug from behind. “There’s my little sleeping beauty!”

“She couldn’t wait to see her favorite aunt today,” Pepper remarked from the kitchen amongst the giggles that erupted from her daughter. You peppered kisses on Morgan’s head, and Pepper turned around as she was drying what you assumed was breakfast dishes. “Tony barely had to tuck her in before she was out.”

You set Morgan back down on the ground and she went back to messing with a toy on the breakfast table. You ruffled her hair and went to grab a cup of coffee before resting your hip against the counter besides Pepper. “How has he been?”

“A little stir crazy,” Pepper admitted to which you nodded lightly and sipped at your warm mug. “He put up this picture of the kid and I catch him getting lost looking at it.”

“And how have you been?” You asked. Pepper glanced your way and smiled.

“Hoping one day he’ll finally rest his mind.”

Eventually, you brought Morgan outside who immediately ran towards her tent and disappeared inside. You went towards the shed with an open door, and leaned against the frame, taking in the sight of Tony wielding what you could make out was a helmet. “Work never stops for you, does it?”

Tony glanced over his shoulder and waved you in, which you accepted. You came up behind him and gripped his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “You’re supposed to be retired, old man.”

“It’s just a little project,” Tony tried to assure you. You couldn’t help but scoff, and pointed your thumb to a corner of the room.

“Says the one who built me a new suit last year,” you teased. Tony used one hand to back hand your side playfully and you laughed. You stood beside him now, and grabbed a picture frame sitting on the shelf over where he worked. It was a picture of the two of you when you were younger, barely big enough to fit the frame, and slightly discolored. You ran your hand over the front before putting the frame back and rubbing your hands together. “Can I talk to you about something..?”

“Anything, kid,” Tony said, overly engrossed in the task in front of him. You took a deep breath and shrugged your shoulders, not that he could even see you.

“When did you know that.. Well that you didn’t want to wait anymore? To start a family?” 

Tony immediately stopped what he was working on, taking off a pair of clear protective glasses and setting his tool down. When he turned to face you and rest his elbow on the table, he tilted his head and scrunched his brows. “Excuse me?”

“Come on Tony, I’m being serious,” you told him.

“Yeah well so am I!” Tony exclaimed and stood. You watched as he stood from his stool and started to pace back and forth. You crossed your arms and huffed. He was acting like such a child! As if he could read your thoughts he stopped and pointed a finger at you. “It’s Steve isn’t it? Is he pressuring you or something?”

“What? No! Why would you even think that-”

“Because he’s hard headed and doesn’t know when to stop,” Tony said, cutting you off. You shook your head and scoffed.

“Tony please, this isn’t about you two-”

“I told him if he messes with your feelings again.. I swear when I get a hold of him,” Tony started pacing again and you rolled your eyes and started towards him. “He has some nerve-”

“Tony,” you stopped him dead in his tracks and made him face you, finally getting a hold of his gaze. “He didn’t do anything to me, okay? If anything.. He’s been trying to make up to me what happened.”

Tony sighed and his expression softened, but you shrugged. “I know he lied to us about knowing what happened to mom and dad… But you always told me that I wasn’t what Hydra made me, that what I did wasn’t me but them… Tony, why is Barnes so different?”

“Steve lied to us,” Tony said in a low tone. “He lied to protect his friend but what about us, huh? We weren’t his friends? We didn’t deserve to know the truth?”

“He handled it wrong Tony, I know. I’m just saying does that outweigh all the good he did for us,” you offered. Tony sighed and looked away for a moment as if annoyed. You grabbed a hold of his hand and it forced him to look back at you. “He’s trying.. And you told me that sometimes just trying was a good start.”

Tony sighed and raised a brow at you. “I hate it when you throw things back in my face like that.”

You chuckled and Tony  used his free hand to cover the hand holding his. “Look I’m still iffy on the idea but.. If Rogers is who you want to be with then who am I to stop it? I’m a family man now anyway, I have bigger fish to fry.”

And with that his phone buzzed in his pocket, and while he fished it out you laughed little. “She’s turning out too much like you.”

“Scares me to death everyday,” Tony replied while checking the message from Pepper. “Time to feed the munchkin anyway, we can continue this talk later when I’ve had a couple drinks.”

Tony and you walked side by side to Morgan’s play tent, and after finally getting her out. Tony whisked her up when you felt your phone buzz, and you pulled it out to see a notification from Natasha. It was weird, she normally didn’t bother you when you were with Tony, she always said to focus on family time. You fell back a few steps and read her message.

Nat: Heads up, you got incoming.

“Incoming?” You muttered to yourself as you came up the steps behind Tony. You nearly knocked into him. You followed his gaze to the car coming to a stop in front of his cabin, and watched Steve, Natasha, and someone else get out. Steve’s expression was serious, hell all of theirs were and Tony didn’t look amused. Natasha offered a nod to Tony and he turned to you, and you took Morgan from him with a smile. “Let’s go see mom, hm?”

You quietly walked inside and set Morgan at the table and met Pepper’s look before she returned to watching out the window. You ruffled Morgan’s hair and returned back outside, the screen door thumping closed behind you. The three visitors started up the stairs as you rejoined Tony’s side.

“Sorry for dropping in unannounced,” Steve offered. Tony glanced your way with a look. You could only shrug. What? You didn’t know they were coming. But if they did then.. Something was up.

“We have something though that we think might work.. To get everyone back,” Natasha said. Your breath hitched, and when you looked over at Tony there was a hint of something in his eyes. The third person stepped forward and nodded at the both of you.

“Have you two heard of the Quantum Realm?”

It was.. A long explanation. Everyone was gathered in a circle at this point, and in all honesty you had a hard time following along. There were stolen glances between you and Steve, and each time a feeling grew in the pit of your stomach. But you forced yourself to pay attention because this was big.. Could it work though?

“Now, we know what this sounds like,” Scott had finished up before Steve cut in.

“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?” He asked. Tony was looking out to the lake near his home but when addressed he looked back at the group and gripped onto the railing.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?” Tony asked. You glanced at everyone else and cleared your throat.

“Maybe for those of us not fluent in quantum mechanics, Tony?” You asked. Tony sighed and tapped his fingers on the wood.

“In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home,” was all he offered.

“But I did,” Scott offered. Tony shook his head at that.

“No, you accidentally survived,” Tony corrected. “It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?”

Scott cleared his throat. “A time heist..?”

Tony scoffed in a joking manner and rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before?”

“The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them,” Scott tried to reason.

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back,” Natasha chimed in.

“Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?” Tony asked. Steve shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t believe we would,” Steve said.

“Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism,” Tony said in a sarcastic tone. Everyone went back and forth for a while. Tony shot down every claim, and the rest tried to tell him there’s always a chance. The back and forth didn’t stop until the screen door was pushed open and Morgan came up to Tony’s side.

“Mommy told me to come and save you,” she said. You couldn’t help but smile and cross your arms. Tony picked her up and pat her back.

“Good job, I’m saved,” he reassured her. He refocused on the group and offered a shrug. “I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was... Oh, and table's set for seven.”

.”Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance,” Steve tried again, but Tony shook his head.

“I got my second chance right here,” Tony told him. You could see Steve accept his denial and then met Tony’s gaze. “I can’t roll the dice again.”

Tony excused himself and the porch fell silent. You watched him disappear into the house and looked back at the group in front of you. No one knew what to say, but Natasha was the first to speak. “Sorry for interrupting your weekend.”

“Well when you have a hell of a plan like that I don’t expect you to wait normal business hours,” you replied. Natasha sadly smiled and you sighed. “Tony has everything he’s ever wanted.. I don’t know if I can sweet talk him into helping.”

“We know,” Steve offered and gave a sad smile. “We just wanna do it right.”

“Tony may not be on board but.. If there’s a chance? I’m in,” you offered. Nat reached out and pat your shoulder and as if knowingly, she turned around and pulled Scott with her. You took a couple steps towards Steve and he straightened up a bit. “Nice to see you back, Cap.”

“One last mission,” Steve whispered. You smiled and looked behind him at the car he had come in and Natasha smirked at you. You met Steve’s gaze again and slowly lifted her young to rest on his cheek. On your tiptoes and with the sun basking in the sky, you leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Steve had leaned into your touch, his lips pressing against yours as if it would be the last. After a couple seconds you pulled away and you both lingered close.

“Go save the world one more time, Captain.”

- - - - - - - - - -

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[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 3

Let’s Split Up and Look for Clues! 

Welcome back to the Seven and the Museum of Adventuring. My previous pronouncement of combat was a little premature but hold tight, we’ll get there. For now, we’re back with Antiope who just saw a glimpse of the Ending of Things (aka, Ending) and is freaking out a bit. She tells the others and they all do various checks to see what they can find out.

Ostentatia casts Commune With City and clocks that there is some kind of abjuration shield magic on the government buildings in town, stopping them from being spied on. She also clocks some lingering undead-ish magic and a weird divination effect on Antiope, specifically on the Aguefort logo of her jacket, like someone scryed on her and just got that she had something to do with Aguefort. At this, Penny reminds her that the only true piece of info they gave Ending when they broke her out is that they were from Aguefort.

Sam with a 19 Insight still feels the connection she and Ant have with Ending because of their spells turned against them in the initial encounter. Yelle does a Perception check (27) and once again doesn’t really get bad, dreadful, menacing vibes. But also, she recognizes that she’s chill with a lot of things most people don’t love. 

Antiope reiterates that she texted Charity that she’s interested in the internship so she can learn more info--even better now that they know the buildings are safe from scrying. Yelle remembers Aguefort’s warning about people watching them and Sam asks Zelda if her “weird boyfriend” (“he’s actually really cool”) is friends with the elven oracle. Zelda says yeah, they’re both friends with Adaine, she can ask about any weird divination stuff. Sam makes sure to specify she should look into TK but NOT Ending, no doubt remembering what happened when she tried to do a spell on her. 

It’s been a big day as Zelda says so they all go to the TGIF-esque Slappy McFinnigans to celebrate (which Sam has problems with--the fact that they’re celebrating I mean, but she’s mainly ignored). They’re quickly kicked out because Katja can’t help herself from trying to brush the mane of their centaur server and they reconvene at the more their speed SlamBurger, where a horse can fully destroy a soda machine to absolutely zero reaction.  Zelda says that Ostentatia was right in that they should all do the quest because it doesn’t close any doors and they have the 2 weeks to figure things out. They all seem a bit more on the same page (though Sam is still pretty frosty towards Ant) and start making plans.

Before they leave, Yelle pulls aside Ant and Sam and says hey, first of all, you two are still linked to Ending from before. Second of all, I know y’all are Going Through It right now and you don’t have to talk about it or make up right away but you need to get your heads in the game and you need to know that you’re both loved and still family. 

Penny, Zelda, Katja, and Ostentatia go back to the museum to try and get more information for their quest. Katja goes to the information desk (horse in tow, of course) and just starts asking information about TK. She’s told that she’s one of the museum’s benefactors and has been missing for years, and hey, do you understand that a museum’s info desk is about where the water fountains and exhibits are, not just random information about the world?

Ostentatia bails her out by calling her over so she can do her plan which is just to walk into the back area like she owns the place. Now, Aguefort students do have a certain level of clearance to be back there and she does have her school ID. But instead of explaining that, she tried to use her Earrings of Diamond Charm to charm the employee she runs into which fails. And then she does a pretty good tag-team lie with Katja about how they NEED to pass a class but that doesn’t fly. Then Ostentatia tries flirting which ALSO doesn’t work. Zelda at this point steps in and just headbuts the dude so they can book it away. I personally would have gone with, “Do you know who we are? We killed the dragon that’s your current main exhibit,” but you know. No backseat adventuring. 

While this is happening, Penny is stealthing like a pro, looking for anything Arcana related. Ostentatia and Katja also did checks (O getting a nat 20) and we’ll go through all their info gathered now. 

Katja basically gets info on TK we kind of already knew. She was a benefactor of the museum. She’s centuries old like Aguefort. She was concerned with consciousness and divinity and specifically how will and divine will manifested, as well as elemental magic.  

Ostentatia gets a lot of info with her Nat 20. She gets a full map to the temple where TK went which is called the Temple of Earth Defiant. The point of the temple is that it’s up in the open air and harsh winds--wind being a symbol of chaos and unpredictability to dwarves--but they still use it as a place to honor their heroes and they rebuild and upkeep it despite the erosion and how hard it is to get there. It’s hallowed from evil and lots of stories about it involve heroes racing there for sanctuary. It was made by dwarves but it’s a pilgrimage site for other primordial beings like goliaths and earth genasi (which is what TK is). There are 3 heroes who have big statues here: Asha Hammerheart (a SUPER dope name I must say), Yvonna of the Sundering Hills , and Kora Ironbrow.

Penny finds that, amongst Kalvaxus’s hoard there were 7 unrecovered artifacts--the Mirrors of the Eidolons (which are the smashed mirrors they found it seems). Eidelons are kind of like the elemental plane version of angels/celestials. They’re primordial (remember Katja saw primordial language on the wall of the dragon cave) and kind of aligned with things like titans and genies. Raw element with no agenda (unlike celestials and demons and such which have a clear alignment which makes up the D&D religious system). It is said by wizards--who look at these things in more of a nuts and bolts way than say clerics who take the fuzzier religions view--that Eidolons are the hands of the gods because gods are beings of spirit--how could they form the physical world. Will of the divine manifested by elemental beings? Sounds right up TK’s alley.

Sam decides she’s desperate enough for information that she calls her mom who she is understandably snippy with. Her mom gives her a contact to talk to when she asks about TK but Sam stonewalls her on show business talk. She tries to play the “mother knows best, you’ll thank me later,” in a kind of Gothel-y way while acting like anything in the past never happened and says Sam is attacking her but when Sam accuses her of neglect, she proves her right by hanging up the phone.

Sam then calls the number and it turns out to be Lola Embers (Fig’s agent) who has been waiting for Sam’s call for ages and wants to talk to her, even though she’s currently chasing her dog across the park. She says she met TK once at a genasi woman networking thing and also says she once saw Charity get into an argument with TK over government funding or not getting a grant or something similar. She then says she’s in a lake trying to get her dog and Sam, being a water genasi who can breathe underwater and also a fundamentally good person even though she’s currently being aggro as hell, goes to the park to help her. Lola assures her that if she’s ready, she’ll help her get new acting gigs and that the world is ready for the new her. 

Yelle meanwhile casts Speak With Plants on some trees near TK’s office and, after a super stoner to stoner conversation, gets a magical footprint trail of where she ran off to when she absconded 12 years ago. 

Antiope (who is in a sports bra because she destroyed her top with the Aguefort logo since that’s what was pinged, revealing in a wild, nat-1 fueled retcon that she got a tramp stamp reading “Leader” in the Red Waste) goes to see Charity to fill out some paperwork, ingratiate herself, and perhaps get some info. Charity has her hot, young, assistant (who Antiope is instantly crushing on) give Ant his shirt (and Charity’s lack of surprise at seeing his 4 horses pulling a chariot tattoo makes the group think they’re def banging). She kind of explains what the Ministry does and Antiope boils it down a bit to snitching on other adventurers. Charity says it’s more of a who watches the watchmen situation and visibly twitches when she has to say the word “snitch”. 

When she takes a second to call Antiope’s dad, she accidentally leaves a tab open on her computer which has TK’s file open (probably up from when the Maidens asked about her earlier). Antiope sneaks a peek and learns that the artifact that TK stole is called the Legendarium Extrodia and it tracks quests. It seems that at some point TK must have had top level access to get her hands on it. It also shows that TK was marked for assassination (which seems like a pretty good reason to get the heck out of dodge). Brennan also says she’s learned enough that she can use the L.E. if she finds it. 

At this point, Yelle tells everyone to come back ASAP so they can follow the magic footsteps. Antiope wants to come but doesn’t want to burn bridges with Charity (or chances with Preston--equally important) so she, at Katja’s suggestion--pretends to have diarrhea and is Nat 20 convincing. Interesting choice for the end of the first meeting with a person you’re crushing on. But Preston is actually pretty supportive as she races out the door as fast as possible.

The Seven follow the footsteps out of Solace and it becomes clear that TK was headed to the dwarven temple Ostentatia learned about. This is a multi-day journey so Cinnamon sings a glorious, magical, horse song and summons mounts for everyone which I will now name because this is obviously the most important part of the episode:

Snowfire - Danielle

Taffodill - Sam

Alagonia - Antiope

Candyheart - Penny

Starforge - Ostentatia 

Strawberry Dancer - Zelda 

Crucial info. 

As they travel, Antiope casts Primeval Awareness and gets that there is something ancient in the mountain. They travel through Pilgrim’s Pass (a village area most travelers to the temple pass through) but find it completely razed to the ground. They investigate. 

With an 18 Survival check, Antiope finds tracks that seem halfway between dog and cat. There are more than 4 legs and it’s hard to tell how old they are because there’s not a lot of rain in the area. They could have been left long ago and been undisturbed. Regardless, these are clearly from monstrosities. On a 26 History Check, Katja knows that this area used to be protected by Blink Dogs (teleporting dogs) but they seem to be all gone now. On a 22 Nature check, Yelle sees a weird feather made out of plant material. It seems like fae stuff but bad vibes. On an 18 Insight check, Sam knows this was a purposeful slaughter.

And on Penny’s 30 Arcana check, oh boy. Penny finds broken common scrawled on the wall in human blood talking about a queen of the mountain who rules the skies. That only the queen may see and none may see themselves. And that the people were told to destroy the seeing glass and did not obey. In from of that message is a bear hide covering something magic. Penny lifts it with reckless abandon and sees tons of mirror shards.

Friendship bracelets! She thinks.

Gotcha bitch, the thing in the mirror says.

Uh-oh.   

Penny calls over her friends to let them knows she may have made a tiny mistake. The group is pretty split between, “Understandable,” and “Girl, WHAT?” In her defense, she did try to cast Friends on the person on the other side of the mirror shards but that’s not enough to stop an entire pack of 50-60 Displacer Beast (magic tentacle cats)/Blink Dog hybrid monstrosities along with the Harpy Queen (voice from the mirror) and her plant feathered harpy minions to start rapidly making their way to their location. 

It is at this point that Ostentatia remembers that abominations and monstrosities cannot step into the temple which means it’s time to RUN. 

And NOW it’s combat time. 

The premise of this fight is that the girls are on their horses, moving towards the center of the temple as fast as they can while fending off the closest enemies. I won’t give an exact play by play but the two highlights are as follows:

Yelle conjures up a bunch of geese with raptor stats (...so normal geese) to swarm the head cat/dog abomination and has to do a truly stunning amount of math for which she is rewarded with SEVENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE. 

Antiope does some insane arrow trickery and gets the Queen Harpy in the wing (which Ostentatia helpfully gets on video so she can show Preston later) and then forces her to take damage as she falls. If not for an extremely lucky Box of Doom nat 20, she may have been down for the count. Antiope still comes away with more than FIFTY points of damage on her though. 

And we end the episode mid-combat! We will catch up on our girls next time!

Superlatives 

Penny: Most Likely to Make Friends During a Hostage Situation 

As a companion to Danielle’s superlative last episode, Penny gets this award for reading or misreading every situation as an opportunity to make friends or make friendship bracelets for the ones she already has. 

Random Thoughts

Did you guys notice that with Katja having Cinnamon and Charity’s assistant being Preston, that’s two of the main pet NPCs from A Crown of Candy?

Antiope’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Rail against the dying of the light! Why are you OK with this?

Penny’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Entropy is TERRIBLE! Everything needs order!

The greasy cashier’s response to Ostentatia’s flirty, “Come here often?” is “To my job? Honestly no.” Brennan? Chef’s kiss. 

My other fave line this episode is from Sam. “I believe Cinnamon fucks.”

It’s very cute that Penny is like, “I gotta text Riz about this Eidelon stuff!” Not because she wants help. Just so they can geek out together. 

The joke that Brennan didn’t think about the birds is so funny considering all the bird facts in Misfits.

Also re Birds attacking: “They made a movie about this Brennan!” 

Good on Ant for refusing an Aguefort sweatshirt from Charity when offered after the little scrying incident before. Remembering things like this saves lives. 

It has been brought up several times that Ending isn’t necessarily Bad just Ancient and Powerful and I trust Yelle’s vibe check but also, like, a forest fire doesn’t have malice behind it but it can still devastate a city while it clears out dead trees that need to be cleared, you know? Not ready to start wild speculation yet but I am curious. And am similarly curious about the sisters Ending has mentioned. Oh and the parallels of 7 Maidens, 7 mirrors. It’s all there, we just need a little more info. 

Honestly, get you a man who will see you rushing out of a building, loudly claiming to have diarrhea, and instead of being grosses out will just supportively confess his own stomach issues. I wish he was just a little younger cause I want that for Ant. 

I do like that D20 has been playing a little more fast and loose with the RP ep/combat ep format. I think it really helps with story flow. 

In this episode Antiope and Brennan as various non-Zelda NPCs rolled 2 Nat 20s. O rolled one. Ant rolled 1 Nat 1--which was on a self imposed roll to see how she responded to Sephie’s tramp stamp improv. And O may have rolled one for initiative also but I wasn’t sure. 

[wolfish-trickster]

Liar

final part (I like number 7, let's end it at number 7)

Loki x female!reader

Word count: 2,9K

Warnings: angst, typos (not when drunk gods are talking, those are intentional), drunk god bros™, hangover

Tag list:@gaitwae @lucywrites02 @hard-to-be-the-bard @birdgirl90 @laramoonworld @belovedadam @mascaracoffee @serebrum @myworldgoesboomz @lokis-leah @nickkie1129 @getyoutmoon @forevernthensome

A/N: thank you so much for reading this unexpected mini series❤️

Loki swayed from one side to another. His question still hanging in the air. Thor was struggling to get back up on his feet. When it looked like he's making progress, he fell down on his knees again and had to start over.

"Has any of you ever seen them like that?" Steve whispered.

Everyone shook their heads. Your eyes remained glued to Loki. He never drank. Well, if he had to he drank fine wine or some other 'fancy' alcohol from Tony's stash, but he never drank to the point of being drunk. Only slightly tipsy.

You remember the first time you saw him drink. It was a long time ago. Tony made him. He said it will make him 'turn that frown upside down'. You saw him drain the whole bottle that day and it did nothing to him. Only tainted his pale cheeks with slight pink. You've seen him drink more than a bottle since then, but it was never enough to make him stumble through his words, or sway around like Jack Sparrow. How much did he had?

Anxiety gnawed on you again. 'He drank because of you. Because of what you told him. Your words pushed a literal god to drink his sadness away.'

"Weeeell?" Loki asked again. When Thor fell down with a thud on the floor again Loki rolled his eyes and was at least pretending to help him stand up. You swear you heard him whisper something along the lines of 'get up you outgrown lightning mouse, don't embarass me in front of her', but that could've been just your imagination.

"For god's sake, how much did you guys have?" Sam asked and Bucky stole Rex from his lap while he was distracted.

Thor while leaning on the back of the couch was counting his fingers. After a while he gave up. "A lot. We made our anescesterors proud," he bared his teeth in a proud grin.

"You mean ancestors, right?"

Thor's head turned to Nat. "Yes! We had a whoooole barrel. One for me," he hugged his brooding brother around shoulders (more like leaned on him with his entire weight) "and one for Kiki," the childish nickname earned Thor a massive shove to the side. "Do not call me dat!"

Bruce facepalmed. "Guys, what are we gonna do with them?"

Clint pulled out his phone, recording everything. "Enjoy while it lasts."

You smacked his phone away, a sudden need to protect your (hopefully still) friend's dignity roused inside of you. "You can't!" you said louder than you wanted.

Clint just shook his head. "You're no fun Y/N," and put his phone away.

You frowned at them. "I know. I know I'm no fun, and I am annoying sometimes, and weak and dumb compared to all of you. I know all of that! I don't care!"

Bucky stared up at you. "What has gotten into you doll?"

"I'll tell you what. I was a bitch, okay? I was overthinking everything ever since I had that argument with Loki. His words started something inside of my head. I started to think they were true, that when my best friend thought those things what must all of you think. And even when I knew they were lies those thoughts stayed up here," you pointed at your head, "and I hate myself for still keeping them there. And just when I thought I'll finally make up with Loki and everything will be good again I fuck up!" you wiped an escaped tear, took a breath and continued.

"It's my fault he's like this. He was drinking because of what I said. All of this is because of me," you hugged your arms to comfort yourself a little. Everyone stared at you, including the drunk brothers.

What you were letting out of your mouth probably didn't make sense as a whole. They were just your anxious thoughts getting free, they didn't care in which order. All of that stress, everything that has been rotting inside of your chest is out now. You feel a little better.

"Daaaarlin', 's not your fault," Loki interrupted your train of thoughts, reminding you that just because you talked your heart out, it didn't fix your mistake of hurting him.

"Yeah, and whose then?" you said calmly.

Loki stood up straighter while still swaying a little. "The univers! She won't let us be toge'er, thas why I haf to make up with 'er," his british accent got deeper.

You slowly walked towards him. "No Loki, this is my fault. And I'll fix it too," you took him by his arm and slowly lead him away. To his bedroom. However, he protested.

"Wait! We have to give 'er flowerz," he leaned down to Thor and yanked some of the flowers along with his golden hair from Thor's head. "Y'kno, to makup."

You shook your head and walked with him a little faster. "You don't have to. All you have to do is go to sleep now."

When the Avengers finally came to their senses Bruce shouted after you. "Hey what about Thor?"

"He's all yours," you shouted back from the elevators and pressed button leading to Loki's floor.

*

'He's heavier than he looks,' you think as you get closer to his bedroom door.

He's been leaning on you for support the whole silent (mildly uncomfortably silent) way to his bedroom. He groaned and mumbled something undecipherable here and there. You wished to be already in his room, put him in his bed and dissappear for few hours. You felt so awkward helping your friend who can barely stand after he drank because of you.

"Can you lean on the wall please?" you asked him when you both stood infront of his locked door. He unhooked his arm from around your shoulders and practically threw himself onto the nearest wall.

"Lean, not fall!"

He chuckled. "Sorrey, is the gravity," he mumbled.

You rolled your eyes and fished out a key from his bedroom door from your sweatpant pocket. When the thin metal slid into keayhole Loki threw his arms around you and gently squeezed you. "Are ya real?"

"Eeeh, yes? Why are you asking?"

"Because," he squished your cheeks together, "you're nice to me. And you're cute," he giggled.

You chuckled and removed his hands from your cheeks. "Thanks, but this isn't you. You need to sleep."

"Not me?" he asked, confusion all over his face. He ran his hand across his torso and settled on his face. "But this is my body and my face! It has to be me!"

"Yes, it is, but the acting isn't. Now come," you took his hand and gently lead him through his open door.

You pushed him to sit on his bed and wanted to walk out, but he won't let go of your hands. He studied them like a little child, turning them, looking at them from every angle. You blushed. He hasn't been this tender for a long time.

You cleared your throat. "You need to sleep. You're gonna have a massive hangover tomorrow."

His eyes left your hands resting in his and bore into yours. But they weren't as clear as usual, they were clouded and lost. "Why?"

"Eeeh, because you're drunk?"

"Why?"

"Because you drank?"

"Why?"

"Because-" no, you can't tell him. "It doesn't matter. Just sleep now," you tried to push him to his bed, but even in this state he was strong and unmovable.

"I don't wanna sleep. I need to find Univers!"

"Well, you can find your universe after you sober up."

"Noooo," he shook his head dramatically, his hair whiping around him. "I can't find my universe. YOU are MY universe," he held your hands close to his chest.

"But I need to find THE Universe! With the T'n'H'n'E infront of it," he started to ramble about Universe conspiring against him and you, but you didn't listen.

You stopped listening after he said 'you are my universe'. Did he mean it?

" 'Your' universe?" you asked and finally pushed him to lie down on his bed.

"Yea," he yawned, his eyelids became too heavy for him to keep open. "I know you hate me, but I.... I...," and he was gone. Off to the dreamland.

You stayed there for few more minutes in case he woke up and finished what he wanted to say, but no such thing happened. You could play on drumms next to him and he wouldn't move.

You softly brushed his hair from his face and covered him with his soft black blanket. "I don't hate you Loki. I never did. I just hope you'll be just as nice and calm when you sober up as you were right now," you caressed his cheek for the last time and walked to his door.

Before you closed, you looked back at him and softly whispered. "You are my universe too Loki."

*

Loki's head pulsed with pain. That's what woke him up, actually. Blindly, he felt around him with his hands, trying to find out where he was. Warm blanket, soft bed, his Asgardian armour still on. It was dirty from clay and smelled weird. Almost like.... alcohol?

'Oh,' he thought, 'that happened.'

He groaned and opened his eyes, only to instantly cover them with his palm. Light from the nearby window was stabbing his eyeballs causing him even bigger headache. All he wanted to do was get a big- no, giant cup of cold water and down it just as fast as he was doing with the alcohol yesterday.

But whenever he tried to use his magic only green and gold sparkles flew from his fingers and when he tried to stand up he got dizy and the whole room started to spin. He fell down onto his bed again. He felt as if his brother hit him with Mjolnir, his famous hammer.

If he wanted a cup of water, he will have to suffer through those few steps to his bathroom.

He reluctantly and slowly stood up and walking very close to wall he made his way for a drink. Or three, just in case.

After a long and unpleasant journey he fell onto his bed again, but not before he pulled blinds over the horribly bright window and rid himself of any dirty and uncomfortable clothes, leaving him only in his underwear.

With his head underneath his blanket, to block out any more light, he tried to remember as much of his actions from yesterday as he could.

From your room he went to gym to punch his frustration out. That's where Thor found him, interrogated him and then dragged him to Asgard to have a drink. Or a whole pub apparently. The rest is a blur. Something about garden, flowers and him and his brother crashing down to Midgard to look for someone. Who? He doesn't remember. Maybe you, since he remembered something about flowers. Maybe his drunk self thought it would be best to make up with you.

But that didn't make any sense, he had nothing to apologize for anymore. You were the one who told him those word. Where even were you anyways?

Just as he finished that thought he heard his doorknob move and his door creaked open.he slowly peaked out from underneath the blanket and in the dimness saw a familiar silhouette. You.

Carefully you put one foot infront of the other and walked straight towards him. You must think he's still asleep, that's why you're so careful. Oh, how he longed to pretend to be asleep and then jump at you and scare you. But he can't. He can't let his mischievious nature do that yet. Not when things between you two aren't like they used to be.

Instead he kept his eyes open and when you got close enough, he slightly moved. "Well look who showed up," he said.

You flinched a little. "Thank god you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Horrible, to be honest," he rubbed his temples. "Why did you say 'finally awake'?"

You completely ignored his question. "Do you need anything? Water? Painkillers?"

"How about you give me an answer?"

You sighed. "You were out for two days Loki. I was starting to think you had alcohol poisoning and died in your sleep. I was checking up on you every few hours to make sure you're still with us," you confessed.

"Oh, alright. Thank you. And I don't need anything. I already obtained it," he pointed at his bedside table with three glasses of water.

"Still, your head must be torturing you. I'll bring you some painkillers," you ran outside before he could stop you.

You returned after few minutes with a small box of pills on one hand and a jar of water in the other. "So you don't have to stand up and go to the bathroom after you drink those three cups," you said and put the jar on his bedside table.

"Thank you. You are oddly kind to me," Loki pointed out.

You hummed and awkwardly stood infront of his bed, trying not to look at his naked torso. You fidgeted with the box for a while. "Just take one when you want," you said finally and put it next to the jar.

"Hey, can you tell me what happened yester- I mean two days ago? Was I and Thor a big disaster?" he asked, wanting you to stay with him.

"Well," you chuckled and scratched the back of your head. "It was a bit awkward and confusing. You and Thor appeared on the balcony and you were looking for universe for some reason."

Loki facepalmed. The pain from embarrassment was bigger than the pain his head was causing. "And let me guess, The Earth's Mightiest Heroes recorded everything, didn't they?"

You shook your head. "No, I didn't let them."

"Thank you," he smiled kindly.

You returned the smile. "Hey, can I sit here?" you pointed at the corner of his bed.

"Sure," he moved a little to give you more space. The bed dipped under your weight a little.

"I want to tell you few things," you said, your eyes watched how you fidgeted with your fingers.

"I'm listening."

"First I want to apologize for what I said. I was tetchy and I know it doesn't excuse what I said," you raised your eyes to his. "I just want you to know I didn't mean them. And I'm sorry. I would like to be your friend again. Please."

Loki bit his tongue from teasingly telling you 'no' and took a deep breath. "I would like to be your friend as well. I don't want us to argue anymore. So," he extended his arm towards you, "friends?"

You beamed at him. To him your smile shone brighter than the sun outside. You took his hand and shook it. "Friends."

"I'm glad," he squeezed your hand gently. He didn't want to let go yet. "And what about the rest of what you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, right," you looked to the side. "You said something yesterday."

"Something offensive? If so, I apologize-"

"No! Not at all! It just..." you bit your lower lip and tilted your head, something you subconsciously did when you blushed. "Y-you said that... I am your universe," you said carefully.

Loki froze. Did he really say that? You didn't look like you were lying. Why did he tell you that? Why were you bringing that up? Did you possibly feel the same and want to be sure he wasn't kidding when he said it?

Loki must've took too long to respond, because you were trying to pull your hand from his and leave. This time Loki was fast to stop you. "I really said that?"

You gulped. "Yes, ehm did you mean it? Wait, you don't remember. Sorry," you chuckled awkwardly.

"If I said that while drunk, I meant it."

"Really?"

"Yes. I once heard 'alcohol reveals, who a person truly is', in that case I am a romantic," he winked and you giggled. He liked the fact you still giggle at his stupid jokes.

"For real now. You are my universe. My best friend. My partner in crime. And if you allow then I would like to add another title: my paramour. If you feel the same way, that is."

You smiled softly and intertwined your fingers with his. "You are my universe as well, Loki."

"Great," he lifted your joined hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to the back of your hand. "When I sober up and feel better I'm officially asking you out on a date."

"How long does it usually take for you to sober up?"

"A day or two," Loki shrugged and fell back onto his bed. His head started spinning again.

"That's too long," you said and layed next to him. "Can I watch over you while you sleep?"

"Sure thing love," he hugged you to him and kissed the crown of your head.

Bonus

"Darling, it's 2pm."

"Yes, so?"

"Aren't you supposed to take Rex out?"

"Bucky is training him."

"Oh, okay."

"You're so sweet to think of him."

"Hmmm."

*meanwhile*

Steve: hey, aren't you supposed to train him?

Bucky: *lying on the floor, Rex napping on his chest*

Bucky: uuuh, I gave him a break.

Steve: *raises one eyebrow*

Bucky: please don't tell her

Steve: only if I can join in

A/N: I was this close to write the angstiest ending, but I have a good mood today

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Remedy – Howlin’ For You – One Shot

Description: Bucky finds out some news regarding his baby sister. 

Word Count: 2,500

Howlin’ For You - Masterlist

Read the series or you will not know what the fuck is happening.

Bucky awoke to the sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand.

He unwrapped his arms from Y/N’s body, which unfortunately caused her to slightly wake up as well.

Bucky was used to receiving phone calls in the middle of the night. It was one of the side effects of being the leader of a biker gang that often enforced acts of vigilantism.

But it wasn’t a Howlie whose named flashed on his screen brightly.

“Buck?” Y/N mumbled, still half asleep.

“Everything’s fine, doll. Go back to sleep,” he whispered to her and gave her cheek a kiss for good measure before shifting out of bed with his cell.

He quietly closed Y/N’s bedroom door and made his way downstairs to talk privately in her living room.

“What is it Agent Stark?” Bucky nearly growled.

“That’s Director Stark now, actually.”

Bucky’s eyes narrowed into a glare, despite Tony not being able to see it. “Yeah, I heard you got a promotion after nearly getting Y/N killed.”

“Yep...almost got you killed, too.”

“What do you want?”

“Listen, I’m breaking a lot of protocols calling you right now…”

“Do you remember the part where you called me? I didn’t call asking for any favors. But I have a feeling you’re about to ask me for one…”

“No. No favors this time. This…uhh…this is family business.”

Bucky stopped pacing and waited.

“I figured you deserved to know.” Tony hesitated. “Heinz Kruger – friends called him Hank.”

Bucky’s blood went cold and all his movements froze. He hadn’t heard that name in years. And he hoped he never would.

It was the name of Rebecca’s ex-boyfriend. To be precise, the one Bucky almost murdered with his bare hands once he found out he was abusing his baby sister.

Tony cleared his throat, knowing he had Bucky’s full attention now. “He was found dead in his apartment this morning. They’re declaring it a homicide.”

“Am I on the list of possible suspects?” That was his first question. 

It would make sense. Becca had a restraining order against Hank. Bucky had a reputation for hurting people. It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together and suspect that the big, scary, older brother wanted revenge.

“Well, that’s the thing. I asked around, and you’ve already been crossed off the list. You were at a diner with Y/N last night, weren’t you?”

Bucky hated that he knew that. “Yeah.”

“On top of that, they’ve traced your presence through multiple security cameras. You were almost a hundred miles away from the scene of the crime. On top of that, the rest of your crew seems to be spotted at their usual bar…all accounted for.”

“Why do you sound so surprised, Stark?”

“I’m not surprised that it wasn’t the doing of the Howling Commandos. I’m surprised because it seems like whoever did to it wanted to make sure none of you could be framed for the job.”

Bucky was now just as perturbed as Tony.

“I know you’ve wanted the asshole dead for years. I figured – I don’t know – she would get some kind of relief knowing that he could never hurt her again.”

Then Bucky felt guilty for giving Tony such a hard time. Yes, he was bitter still about what happened. But at the end of the day, he knew Tony was a good man and always had the right intentions. He didn’t have to reach out and give him this news. But he thought he was doing Bucky a favor…and he owed him a lot.

“Thanks for calling, Stark.” Bucky finally put his pride aside.

Tony was silent for a moment. “How’s that girl of yours doing?”  

“She’s…umm…she’s doing alright,” Bucky could at least give him that, couldn’t he?

“I’m glad. Tell her I said hi…but I have a feeling you won’t do that.”

“Bye, Tony.”

Bucky looked around the dark house after he hung up. Only one lamp was turned on in his rush to pick up the phone call.

He didn’t think he could go to back to bed. There wasn’t sleep in the cards for him tonight. If he went back now, Y/N would sense his tension and wouldn’t sleep until she figured out what had upset him.

He’d let her sleep.

The rest of his night consisted of him drinking whiskey and trying to wrap his mind around the information Stark had just given him.

—————

The next morning, Bucky marched into the shop on a mission. 

Usually everyone messed around first thing in the morning, just trying to wake up before their days really started. But everyone saw that Bucky was a little off and all watched him carefully as he made his entrance.

“Nat, can I see you in the office?”

She looked around at the rest of the crew, but nodded and followed Bucky up the metal stairs to his private office.

“What’s going on?” She asked after she closed the door.

“I need you to track someone down for me. No following. Just get me a location and I’ll handle the rest.”

She shrugged. Easy enough. “Sure, Buck. Just give me the name.”

Bucky finally looked at her as he hesitated to give the only information she needed.

He quickly aborted her gaze and sat down. “Grant Ward.”

She opened her mouth.

“Nat, please…no questions,” Bucky quickly cut off her opportunity. “Just get me his location. Got it?”

“Of course.”

—————

Bucky was working on a bike in the garage behind his house when he heard her footsteps.

She didn’t bother to wait for a greeting. She knew that he knew she was there. And so, she plopped herself down on the couch in the garage.

“Bad day?” She asked.

He finally looked up at her, but kept working on the bike. “Not exactly.”

“You’ve been off all day,” Y/N pointed out. “Seems to have started with that mysterious phone call you got last night.”

Bucky looked up at her and gave her a stern look. “Y/N…” He warned.

This was her cue. The cue that she was close to getting too involved in Howlie business. Bucky had this talk with her awhile ago. There were just some things he couldn’t tell her. It was to keep her safe, keep her conscious clean.

“I know,” she replied. “I can just tell when things are heavier.”

He tilted his head. “Heavier?”

She nodded. “It’s like there’s this invisible weight on your shoulders.” Then she sighed. “Listen, I know there are things you can’t tell me. But I also know that you can’t carry it all alone all the time.”

Bucky gave her a shy grin after her little tangent.

“What?” She asked with pure innocence.

He got up from his kneeling position next to the bike and slowly walked to her as he cleaned the grease off his hands.

Then he leaned down to kiss Y/N, which she happily accepted.

“I love you, you know that?” He asked her.

“Mhmm,” she hummed as she smiled up at him. She stole another kiss.

He sat down on the couch and maneuvered her body so she was sitting in his lap.

“I gotta go out of town tomorrow night,” he told her.

Y/N tried to read his face, but nodded reluctantly. “Who’s going with you?”

“No one. Just me.”

“Well, what about Steve? He always at least–”

“Can’t. It’s just gotta be me, doll.”

She opened her mouth to argue further.

“I know you don’t like the idea of me going anywhere alone. I know it worries you. But it’s just something I gotta do, OK?”

Y/N was quiet for a moment, thinking it all over.

“Is it dangerous?” She finally asked.

“I don’t think so.” He wanted to say ‘no,’ but he learned the hard way that he couldn’t always promise safety in this life. He didn’t want to lie to her, even by accident.

———————

Bucky had been driving his motorcycle for hours. He’d have to drive through the night to make it back home before tomorrow started. But he was willing to do it, knowing that Y/N would be worrying for less time.

He was coming up to his location soon.

The bar was lined with dozens of motorcycles, already telling him what type of place this was and who it was meant for.

Bucky took of his helmet and shook out his hair. He knew it was probably a mess from being stuck under such restrictions for such a long time. So he threw it in a messy bun low on his neck.

When he walked in, he was immediately eyed by the patrons. It was expected. The Howlies do the same thing at their places, weary of strangers and newcomers.

Bucky knew he would find him here. Nat assured him that he had been seen at this exact bar 3 days in a row.

Bucky’s gaze went across the room, looking for the familiar face.

He didn’t find the face, but did find the back of his head.

The seats on either side of him at the bar were wide open, giving Bucky a perfect opportunity to slide right on in.

From the way he reacted to Bucky sitting next to him, it was almost like he expected him to come.

“Barnes,” he greeted lowly without taking his eyes off of his drink.

“Ward,” Bucky replied cooly before ordering a whiskey from the bartender.

“Figured you’d find me eventually,” Ward sighed.

“Yeah, well, Nat could find could probably work for the CIA if she wanted to…”

Ward finally turned to face him. “You here to turn me in or something?”

Bucky chuckled and thanked the bartender as she handed him his drink. He took a sip before he said, “No. I’m not here to do that.”

“Then why the hell are you here, Barnes?”

Bucky rubbed his face. A part of him didn’t want to do this still. But he had to silence that part before it could control him.

“I came here to thank you.”

Ward scoffed and shook his head. “You think I did it for you?”

“No, I know I had nothing to do with it.”

“Does…” Ward cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “Does she know yet?”

“No, I didn’t tell her. Steve said he…it’s better that he tells her than me. He’s going over there tonight to talk to her.”

Ward nodded.

“I’m mostly just wondering why…” Bucky thought aloud.

“Why?” Ward challenged.

“Yeah, why did you do it?”

Ward was silent for a moment.

“I know I broke her heart. But the worst part was what I drove her toward after I did that.” He shook his head. “You should’ve killed him when you had the chance. After what he did to Becs…” His words died out.

It was then that Bucky realized tears had formed in Grant’s eyes. But the biker managed to control his emotions. 

“After all the shit went down with Hydra, all I was left with was each of my mistakes and regrets. And…she’s the biggest one.” He rubbed the scruff around his mouth. “I just wanted to do something good for once in my life. And if I was gonna do that… I was gonna do it for her.”

Ward turned his head to Bucky. “How did you manage it? How did you manage to have it all? You got the Howlies, your family, your girl.. you got it all.”

Bucky sighed and took a sip of his drink. “I don’t know, man. I ask myself that fucking question every damn day.” Then he looked at Ward with a frown. “But I do know that I put them before myself. I choose them over me. And we both know that’s not what you did.”

Ward nodded, knowing he deserved that. “I envy you. I didn’t want to admit that.” He shrugged. “But fuck it. I do envy you.”

Bucky downed the rest of his drink and stood up.

Ward turned to fully face him. “I’m not going back to her... you know, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I know you’re not,” Bucky answered.

Because they both knew that Grant wasn’t good enough for Rebecca. There was a time where he could’ve been. But he threw that chance away when he joined Hydra and broke Rebecca’s heart.

“You’ll look after her, won’t you? Like you always do?” Grant didn’t know why he had to ask. Maybe he just needed Bucky to know that he still cared about her.

Bucky looked at him before nodding his head.

Then he tipped his head, “Ward.”

He did the same, “Barnes.”

————-

Steve watched Rebecca’s face as she processed the news.

She blinked a few times before her eyes glazed over in tears.

What was she meant to feel?

Happiness?

Relief?

Sadness?

Guilt?

Steve reached over and gripped her hand, reminding her that he was there for her.

“What are you thinking?” He asked gently.

She opened her mouth to answer, but then changed her mind and quickly closed it.

“Rebecca, there’s no right answer.”

“I’m…There’s a part of me that’s relieved. Despite knowing Bucky and you and the rest of the Howlies would never let him near me again, there was always a voice in the back of my head that was telling me he was still going to find a way to hurt me.”

She swallowed, realizing her throat was dry. “But I’m also sad because I know that even now that he’s dead…that voice isn’t going to go away. It’s always going to be there.”

Then her tears started falling. “And I’m mad…I’m mad because he turned me into a person who’s happy that someone is dead, that someone was murdered. I don’t want to be that person, Steve.”

He pulled her into him then, wrapping his arms around her protectively. “You���re not a bad person, Rebecca. You’re so much more than what he did to you. It’s barely even a tiny piece of you.”

Steve let her cry it out. Meanwhile he rubbed her back and let her know she was going to be OK.

When she finally freed herself from his grasp, she got caught in his eyes.

Those baby blue eyes that she’s known her whole life.

Before they could mesmerize her like they did when they were younger, she moved further away from him on the couch.

If Steve noticed, he pretended not to.

They weren’t those innocent teenagers anymore. They’d both lived multiple lives since then.

When they were younger, Rebecca could never figure out if she had a crush on Steve or she just didn’t know what it felt like for a boy to treat her kindly.

But none of that mattered anyway, Steve had never looked at Rebecca in any way other than the little sister he never had. That didn’t mean he loved her any less. Because he did love her.

She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “Thank you, Steve…for telling me.”

“I know it doesn’t fix everything, but I told Bucky you deserved to know.”

Rebecca nodded. “Things are never going to go back to how they used to be, I know that.” She gave him a shy smile. “But maybe it’s a start.”

-------

Maybe all of you will hate this since Y/N really isn’t in it that much. But whatever. I wrote what I wanted to write. 

[avengerscompound]

The Surrogate - Chapter 14

The Surrogate:  A Clintasha Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Clint Barton x Natasha Romanoff x F!Reader

Word Count:  1774

Rating:  E

Warnings:  Pregnancy

Synopsis: A freak end of the world incident leads to meeting your two best friends, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.  While your friendship with the two Avengers is anything but conventional, they are your all-time favorite people.  When you find out that Clint and Natasha want to start a family but have exhausted all their options, you realize your powerset might allow you to give them what they want.  Having your best friends’ baby might seem like a good idea on paper, but when you are as close as you, Clint, and Natasha are, will doing something so intimate mean feelings get a little mixed up?

Chapter 14

“What about Yelena?”  Natasha suggested.  You and Clint looked around from your spots around what was becoming the baby’s nursery.  Clint was painting the walls in a shade of lavender that the paint chart called ‘Instigate’.  You had been working on the trims while Natasha prepped one wall for the mural that Steve had agreed to paint.  You weren’t sure if she was just particularly active today or the paint fumes were bothering her, but the baby was kicking you a lot and you were starting to consider taking a break.

“What about Yelena for what?”   Clint asked.  “You’re not inviting her here are you?”

Natasha started laughing.  “You love Yelena, stop pretending.”

“She’s terrifying, Nat,” Clint argued.

“I’m terrifying - you love me,” Natasha teased.

Clint put down his paint roller and approached her slowly, he circled his arms around her waist and pulled her in close.  “Yeah I do,” he said and brought his lips to hers.

There were moments like this that made you a little jealous.  Not because of the affection.  That you got from them fine.  Clint was a human koala while Natasha tended to be a little touch adverse, so you usually had Clint clinging to you.  It was the history you were jealous of.  They knew so much about each other.  There were in-jokes you weren’t privy to and stories you’d never heard.  Even though you’d known them for so long, there were still things to learn and you wondered how you were ever really going to catch up with the level they were already at.

“Who’s Yelena?”  You asked when Natasha pulled back from the kiss.

“She’s my sister,” she replied, pulling away from Clint completely and going back to painting the undercoat on the wall.

“Sister?  But I thought… the Red Room…”

“Yes,” Natasha said without looking up from her work.  “The girls I was raised with, we were raised as sisters.”

“Not in a healthy loving family way,” Clint clarifies.  “But you take what you can get, right, Nat?”

“Yes, you do,” Natasha confirmed.  “Not too many of us survived it.  Yelena did.  We were close.”

“You might get to meet her sometime if you’re lucky,” Clint said. “Just be glad you’ve got that healing thing.  She can be a little stabby.  And shooty.  And bitey.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you said.  “How come I never heard about her before?”

“Probably for the same reason I’ve never told you that my brother has tried to kill me before,” Clint explained.  “Don’t like to go over the complicated relationship that is the sibling who might as soon kill you as hug you.”

Natasha gave a little shrug.  “I only bring her up now because it might be a nice name for the baby.”

It felt like you’d been winded.  Here you were planning to have a life with these people and you realized you barely knew them.  You knew all about their lives now of course -  but before SHIELD?  There were just odd things here and there in the middle of a sea of nothing.  Yet they seemed to know everything about each other.  How could you ever fit in with them if you never knew them and you were always the third?

“I’m just going to grab a drink,” you said, putting your brush down.  “Do either of you want anything?”

Both Clint and Natasha turned and looked at you.  It was that look that told you they knew exactly what your mind had just done and you weren’t fooling anyone.

“Okay, dorogáya,” Natasha said, putting her hands on her hips.  “We’re going to let you go get your drink and put your mind in order, and then you’re gonna tell us what just happened in your head.”

You huffed and nodded.  “Fine.”

As you left the room Clint started laughing.  You hadn’t planned to keep your thought processes from them.  Being in a polyamorous and open relationship meant that trust and communication were the only way any of it would to work.  Like Natasha had said, you just needed to step away from them to process the jealous/unworthy feeling you had.

You made yourself a lemonade and when you came back out to the living room, Clint and Natasha were waiting on the couch.  Clint had purple paint on his clothes, arms, and a little on his face, while Natasha was perfectly clean.  With Clint’s big goofy grin and Natasha’s serious scowl, they were so perfectly them.

“Okay, babe, what did we do?”  Clint asked.

“Nothing,” you huffed, collapsing into the recliner.

“It wasn’t nothing,” Natasha reasoned.  “I said about naming the baby Yelena and you looked like I slapped you in the face.  Was it the name?  Did you have a name you haven’t told us?”

You shook your head.  “No.  It’s not that at all.  You could go; Katherine Yelena; Yelena Katherine - you could name her Number 16 Bus Station if you wanted,” you said.

Clint snorted.  “What the hell?”

“It was a kid’s name, look it up,” you said.  “Later.  The problem is, you guys… you know everything about me, and everything about each other.  But you literally just told me you both told me a big secret about your siblings.  What else don’t I know?  I just worry that I’m going to be playing catch up and that I’m never going to be as close as you are.”

“Dorogáya,” Natasha said, patting the couch between her and Clint.  “Come here.”  You moved between them and Clint wrapped his arm around you while Natasha took your hand.  “Darling, our pasts are dark.  We don’t talk about them not because we don’t love you or we don’t want you to know about us, but because it’s painful and we don’t like thinking about it.  Think about the things we have told you, they can be very dark, no?”

You thought back to the stories of the Red Room and their training program, the crime at the circus, the small amounts about both their physical and mental abuse that they both endured growing up - it was dark and it made your heart break and you wanted to wrap them both in blankets and protect them from the world that had hurt them so much.  So if they hadn’t told you something, it was likely very dark.  “Right, of course,” you said, feeling slightly ashamed.

“Babe,” Clint soothed, rubbing your back.  “We aren’t keeping things from you, we just haven’t brought all that up.  We probably don’t know everything about each other yet.  If you want to know, you can ask, right, Nat?”

Natasha nodded.  “Of course.  I want you to know me.”

“Part of the fun is learning though, don’t you think?”  Clint asked.  “We’ve got plenty of stories to tell you.  You wanna hear one of the ones where my brother tried to kill me?  He’s done that a bunch of times.  One time it was in a funhouse with a mirror maze.  That was fun.”

You leaned against him.  “Just tell me one thing each.”

“Okay, what do you want to know?”  He asked.

“Why did he try to kill you?”  You asked.

Clint shrugged.  “He got a shit hand in life.  I mean we both did, but I was at least given a chance to be good at something other than crime.  He wasn’t.  There came a time where the people that raised us wanted us to rob a bank.  I turned them in.  He never really forgave me for it,”  Clint explained.  “So even though he’s tried to kill me and he stole a whole fuck load of money from me, I do actually love him.”

“Damn,” you said, patting his thigh.

“And what was your question for me?”  Natasha asked.

“If Yelena is so ‘stabby’ why would you want to name your daughter after her?”  You asked.

“Because she deserved to have a life with a family that loved her and protected her,” Natasha answered.  “And maybe I can give that to her niece.”

You smiled, though tears pricked your eyes.  “I can understand that.”

“Now is that it?”  Natasha asked.  “Do you still doubt that we love you?”

You shook your head.  “No, I know you do.”

“You gotta say it back,” Clint said.

You laughed softly and took each of their hands.  “I love you.  Both of you.”

“Good, now can we go back to being all happy and in love?  I like that part best,” Natasha asked.

You nodded and leaned into her, your lips slightly parted.  She bridged the distance and her tongue traced over the corner of your mouth before her lips pressed against yours.  It was soft but deep and you hummed gently.  Clint ran his hands around your waist and over your stomach.  The baby was still kicking and as his palms pressed against the swell of your belly he gasped.

“Woah, was that… is she kicking?”  He asked.

Natasha pulled back quickly and looked down at your stomach.  “You felt her?”

“I think… did I?”  Clint said.

“She’s kicking,” you confirmed.  “I just… figured you still wouldn’t be able to feel.”

You moved his hand and pressed to your side.  “Here?”

It was another moment before she kicked again. Clint’s eyes went wide.  “That?  That was her?”

“Yes!”  You squealed.  “I can’t believe you can feel her.”

“Let me,” Natasha said, pushing Clint’s hand away.  You held her hand in place waiting for the little flutter against your side you’d gotten so used to.  When she kicked a huge smile spread over Natasha’s face and she crouched down so her face was closer to your belly.  “Hey there, lisichka,” she cooed.  “Are you a busy girl?”

You hummed as you watched her, and played with a loose strand of her hair.  Clint moved to the floor next to her and the two of them spoke to the baby like it was already here.  It was funny how quickly the mood could change, where a moment ago you felt so outside and now you felt like the center of things.  Maybe that’s just how it was when you shared your heart with two other people.  Focus shifted, but it didn’t, things happened at varying speeds, the bonds between each other were different, it didn’t mean that anyone was loved less.  It just meant they were loved differently.  That was okay.  There was a lot of it to go around.  Clint and Natasha had been starved of it and now they had chosen to share it with you.  You were lucky really, not many people could say they had that.

// NEXT

[mshermia]

A Dream Or A Nightmare

By @mshermia for @blackchessknight

Rating: Teen & Up

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Natasha Romanoff, Helen Cho, Steve Rogers, Ned Leeds

Summary: Peter gets hurt during a mission. When he wakes up, it dawns on Tony that Peter doesn't remember a few things; he didn’t just forget about Tony but also being Spider-Man. While Peter thinks he's living his teenage dream spending time with the freaking Avengers, Tony is petrified he might never get the kid back who remembered being his son.

Many thanks to @friendly-neighborhood-exchange for all their work on this! This story is part of the Friendly Neighborhood Exchange #4.

AO3 Link

There were post-mission problems - like when Tony had to iron out the kinks in his suit - no pun intended-and had to pick up the bill for the remodel of a skyscraper - but then there were post-mission problems - like when his kid was passed out in a hospital bed, both his legs and one arm in a full cast.

Like right now.

It had been a few hours since they had patched him up, but so far, there was no sign of consciousness in Peter. Cho had reiterated once or twice that his body simply needed the rest and Tony would just have to be a little patient for his healing factor to pick up the pieces. It would take a little time and a lot of energy and Tony would just have to sit there and let Peter's body do its job.

Which was just great. Really. Just awesome, because patience, well, patience was one of Tony's core qualities. He was great at it. Top tier.

With a groan, he buried his face in both of his hands. They were at 8 hours and 47 minutes now. 8 hours and 47 minutes since Cho had rolled Peter out of the treatment room, her face solemn but not unkind.

"Just go lie down, Tony," she had said. "It'll be a few hours before he wakes up. Just get some rest."

Like that line had ever worked on him. Like he had ever left Peter's side after a mission before. No, even if the thought of May's ghost coming back and haunting his ass for leaving Peter would have had its perks, he'd made a promise and meant to keep it. The kid was it for him. His responsibility. His job. Out of all of them, by far Tony's favorite job. His life, really.

There was no version of this where he would move from Peter's side.

The idea of sleep at this point was a farce. Whenever Tony even attempted to close his eyes, the memories of that afternoon washed back up. No matter how deep he tried to bury them, they just wouldn't stay covered. He could still see it, the force with which Peter had been smashed into the building. Could still hear the white noise of his racing heart as he had desperately tried to move the debris under which Peter had been buried. He didn't need the nightmares that were waiting for him to just give in, to rest and sleep. No, when Peter would wake up that was when he'd even start to think about getting some rest.

With all his determination - and the frequency that Tony had spent time next to Peter in the med wing over the last year or so - you'd think he might have invested in a few more comfortable chairs but there was something about him being in discomfort that made waiting for his kid to wake up a little more bearable. Only this time, it took a little too long. This time it wasn't just Tony's back that was strained and his legs that were cramping. His nerves were on edge. 8 hours and - now - 48 minutes. 

It felt like it was a little too long. He couldn't remember Peter ever being out cold this long before.

It took another 2 hours and 21 minutes until - thank the gods, all of them - Peter's eyelids fluttered. Slowly at first, confused and dazed until he squinted to the side, looking right at Tony.

"Good morning, sunshine," Tony greeted him, the smile on his lips entirely genuine.

For what felt like an unusually long moment, Peter simply looked at him like he didn't really see him. Like Tony was part of the wallpaper rather than sitting there, leaning in closer. The poor little buddy was still all punch-drunk, a little lost even.

"How's your head, kid?"

Peter blinked a couple of times, his eyes growing a little rounder, definitely wider, but his gaze never left Tony's face. "You... You're Tony Stark."

Panic flashed through Tony faster than lightning, goosebumps rising on his arm. Was he... did he not remember?

Peter's eyes on the other hand grew a little wider if that was even possible. "OMG, Iron Man... you're Iron Man." The corners of his mouth pulled into a wide smile.

That little prankster... Tony huffed out a breath, one hand clutching his heart. "Jeezes kid, you almost had me." Adrenaline was still pulsed through him but he couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't often, that Peter's pranks worked on him.

"H-had you?" The smile on Peter's lips faltered just as his brow furrowed. "Oh... oh, what the..." He pressed his eyes shut. Fingers and thumb of his right hand - the one left cast-free - rubbed across his temples. 

As fast as Tony's cramping legs allowed, he rushed forward, one hand on the back of Peter's head, the other on the side of his face. "It's okay..." With practiced ease, his fingers ran through Peter's hair, tracing back and forth across his skull with just enough pressure that it should help ease the pain.

Little by little, Peter's heavy breathing slowed, the tension on his face slowly ebbing away. 

"FRI, let's tilt up that headrest a bit." As the bed was moving Peter into more of an upright position, Tony tried to catch his eye. "That better?" 

When their eyes met, he couldn't help but flinch at the look of utter confusion on Peter's face. "Y-yeah," he mumbled, never looking away from Tony.

"Where else does it hurt?" Tony's fingers were still rubbing back and forth through Peter's soft locks, the pressure low just like Tony knew May used to do for him. Like he had done so many times ever since it had been just the two of them.

"I... I'm not..." He couldn't seem to find the words. "What happened?"

Tony tried to swallow the rising panic attack that was brewing just below his skin. "You don't remember?"

Just then, the door edged open. Natasha stuck her head into the room. "Well, look who's back amongst the living!" She smiled warmly as she stepped in.

Peter's face on the other hand went a little paler. "It's... it's the Widow," he mumbled to himself, then sucked in a shaky breath. "Black Widow and Iron Man. Black Widow and Iron Man. This is... this is... wow."

Nat glanced over at Tony, her eyebrows slowly rising. "Uh-oh... that doesn't sound good."

Tony swallowed hard. "FRI, can you get Helen for us? Fast."

 "Right away, boss."  

Peter's eyes blinked up to the ceiling. "Shit, that's so cool."

"Hey, buddy..." Tony's hand on the back of his head gave it a soft squeeze, just enough to get his attention back. "Pain level? On a scale of 1 to 10, where're we at?"

"Erm..." He wasn't even blinking, just staring at Tony.

"1 is stubbing your toe, 10 is Toomes dropping a building on you." His heart was racing but this was absolutely not the time for Tony to have a panic attack.

"A... a building," Peter asked, dumbfounded.

"Fuck." Tony's hands were starting to sweat.

A glance at Natasha didn't help his nerves at all. A deep frown and an unambiguous sense of worry had replaced the cool facade she usually displayed.

Once again, the door to the room was pushed open. Helen Cho was on the other side of Peter's bed before Tony had even blown out a deep sigh of relief. With Helen, Peter was in good hands, the best hands.

"Hi there, Peter." Helen smiled down at him before her eyes moved back to the monitor displaying his vitals. "It's good to see you up."

"Er... hello."

"His memory," Tony spluttered. "Please, do something!"

"Alright, relax..." Natasha stepped up next to him, her hands on his arms pulling him away from Peter. "Give her some room to work."

"It's okay. I got him, Tony." Helen gave him a smile that was surely meant to look encouraging. It was everything but that though. It resembled the one that she had given him right after the last time Tony had needed a long-ass session in the cradle, resembled it a little too closely for Tony's liking. Her smile turned a little warmer when she looked back at Peter. "Do you know who I am, dear?"

"You..." Peter blinked a few times, his cheeks turning pink. "You're the doctor? M-my doctor?"

"My name is Helen."

"Oh, right..." Peter gave a swift smile. "He-hello Doctor Helen."

"Do you know who this is?" She pointed at Tony.

The nervous little laugh that bubbled out of Peter would have been cute in any other circumstance. "That... that's Tony Stark," he whispered, repeatedly glancing at Tony, then added "Iron Man" just as quietly and with just as much awe.

Helen's smile didn't falter though. "Do you remember when you met Tony for the first time?"

"Er... well, yeah actually, it..." He rubbed a hand through his hair, eyes now on the sheets. "When I was... er... when I was 8. He..." The color on Peter's cheeks turned a little darker. "well, we didn't like meet-meet but kind of... met at the Expo. He... he helped me. Erm... blasted one of those Hammer drones away that... that was right in front of me."

Helen stole a glance in his direction but Tony could only shake his head. He had no idea what Peter was talking about. 

"Okay, what is the last thing you remember doing?"

Peter opened his mouth, then frowned. "I... er..." For a moment he just sat there, blinking at her, mouth still open. "I... I don't know."

"Alright. That's okay. Look at me for a moment." She leaned towards him, a little flashlight in her hand. "Do you know what day it is?"

"Er..." He struggled to keep his eyes open as Helen moved the light from one eye to the other.

She studied him closely, her frown deepening. "What year?" 

Peter didn't even try for an answer this time. His face fell a little with every passing moment, panic steadily replacing the awestruck expression on his face. "I don't... I don't know. I don't know!"

"It's alright," Helen soothed, patting his shoulder.

With wide eyes, Peter turned to Tony like he had all the answers but he was completely useless, struggling to even think of how to start fixing this. "What's happening, Helen? What... what do I need to do? Talk to me!"

"Okay, let's just... let's just stay calm." Natasha took another step forward, positioning herself between Tony and Peter's bed. "Tony, I'm looking at you."

His eyes shot up at her but the loud drum of his heart thundering in his ears made his head hurt.

"Right," he breathed.

"Listen, this, er..." Peter's voice was quiet, close to shaking. "Thank you, you know, but I... I should really call my aunt and uncle. They... they're probably worried and I don't want them to have to worry because if they worry then I worry and I—"

"Alright, just..." Tony's heart was racing. "We'll... we'll figure that out, okay?"

It took all the strength he had not to go running from that room. If his nerves had been rising before it was no contest to the adrenaline that was now pumping through Tony's veins. 

Peter didn't remember. Ben and May Parker were dead and the kid didn't remember.

Instead, he was staring at Tony, eyes wide in starstruck wonder. "Oh, okay," he nodded, cheeks burning. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Before Tony could even think about how he was supposed to deal with telling Peter the truth, once again, the door to his room was pushed open. This time it was Rogers, positively humming with his never-fading good spirits.

"Hi there, Peter." Steve cringed as he took in the casts on both his legs and arms, then winked. "You look a little tied up there."

"Captain America... Captain America knows my name," Peter mumbled as if to himself, eyes wide in awe. 

Eyebrows raised, Steve's glance shifted to Helen, then Tony. "Yikes."

The room was getting too crowded, giving Tony a fresh vibe of claustrophobia. Like she could smell it on him, Natasha grabbed him by the arm. 

"Maybe you should discuss the details of the situation with Helen in her office, hm?" 'Or anywhere but in this room' - was what her eyes were saying instead. 

"No," Tony mumbled. "I can't— I won't—"

"Nat and I will keep Peter here some company," Steve chimed in before flashing a toothy smile at Peter. "Sound good, kid?"

Mouth a little gaping, Peter nodded slowly. 

"Nat can tell you about the time she went to Kalkutta and tried to outsmart Bruce Banner," he smiled even wider. "That sound good to you?"

"Really... er... really good," Peter mumbled.

The idea of leaving Peter had Tony's anxiety spike but not as much as the thought of having to tell him about his uncle's murder and his aunt's illness. He didn't resist, letting his feet fall in front of each other one step at a time as Helen tugged him by the arm.

"We'll figure this out, Tony," she said after she closed the door behind them. "Just take a breath."

"I'll take a breath when I know he'll be okay," Tony hissed through his teeth. "What is going on? You said you did a scan! You said he'd be fine!"

She held up her hands like it was going to calm him. Like he was a fucking horse that got a little spooked.

"I'll have to run some more tests but with how you described his crash, it is likely that he suffered a traumatic brain injury which affects the memory-storage areas of his brain, which is why we originally did the first scan when you brought him in."

Goosebumps erupted on his skin and had him shiver in reaction. "He's got amnesia."

"Right," Helen nodded. "We'll have to monitor him to figure out how much of his memory he has lost and if it's limited to a retrograde amnesia or also impairs his ability to form new memories."

"Jeezes." His face buried in both his hands, Tony had trouble focusing on one coherent thought himself. He swallowed hard, eyes back on Helen. "Well, when are his memories going to be back?"

Helen's face was somber. "It's something we will have to reevaluate step by step."

"But..." Panic, worse than before, was making his heart race. "But he is going to get his memories back, right?"

"I don't know, Tony." Her sympathetic frown was not helping with his panic at all. 

"Well, what do you know?!" 

"Hey..." The door to Peter's room had opened and closed. Steve was next to him in a matter of moments. "You need to keep it down out here." One of his hands was on Tony's shoulder and led him further down the hallway as his head bowed towards him. "We'll figure this out, Tony. Just breathe, okay?"

It was easier said than done. Tony's lungs were reluctant to work. With every frantic beat of his heart, panic seemed to vibe in his core a little stronger. 

His focus was still on Helen. "There has to be something we can do, just... just tell me what I have to do!"

"I'm sorry, Tony, there is just too little that we know. With his healing factor, the injury to his brain might have been more severe than we could detect by the time you brought him to the Compound. It's possible that his body had already started the healing process and what we see now are the lingering symptoms from the injury." 

"He can't... he can't even remember his aunt and uncle dying! What..." Tony tangled both hands in his hair, pulling hard like the pain of it would ease the agony of his racing mind. "What am I supposed to tell him?"

"It's a difficult situation," Helen said, entirely unhelpful.

No longer able to keep his feet still, Tony moved away from her, back towards the door of Peter's room only to remember that behind lay his kid that didn't remember ever really meeting him. Didn't remember the months of agony after May's death they had overcome together. Tony couldn't do that again. He wouldn't be able to bear it, to see the kid hurting like that again, not now when Peter had finally managed to brave the heartache of his loss.

Tony turned away from the door to stalk down the corridor, running as far away as his trembling legs would let him, only to be stopped by Steve.

"Just sit down for a moment, okay?"

Tony shook his head. He couldn't sit. He couldn't keep the panic at bay any longer. He was going to combust.

But instead, two strong hands pressed down on his shoulders and he found himself sat in one of the chairs that lined the med wing's hallway. As fast as his knees gave way, so did his emotions finally bubble out of him. His face hidden behind both his hands, Tony tried to cover up the tears, his unsteady breathing as his anxiety got the better of him. Steve's hand that lay heavy around his shoulders actually didn't hurt. It grounded him just enough to cling to some of his composure.

"You should get some sleep," Steve mumbled. "He's not gonna be awake for long anyway with his body still healing. Just... lie down and rest and—"

"No," Tony croaked. Steve's arm slid away as Tony sat up straight again. "I'm not going anywhere." Repeatedly, he rubbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt across his face. "I'm all the family he has left. Just me and—" 

Right, there was one more person that was like family to Peter, like a brother.

"FRI!" Tony's eyes flickered up to the ceiling. "Get Happy to pick up Ned Leeds. Tell him to hurry."

 #

 For an hour and a half, Tony allowed Steve to distract him in the communal kitchen. He ate some of Sam's lasagne, snuck about 4 cups of espresso until FRIDAY finally announced the arrival of Ned and Happy.

It wasn't Ned's first visit to the Compound. Even though Tony and Peter usually lived at the Tower, he had taken the boys out to the Avengers complex upstate for a number of weekend trips. It got Peter's mind off his worries and the awestruck look on Ned's face was always a picture.

This was likely the first time that Ned refrained from gawking at the high ceiling of the lobby, his eyes on Tony.

"Let's go," Tony mumbled, dipping his head toward the med wing.

Ned didn't hesitate, his tension visible in his clenched fists. "What happened?"

Tony gritted his teeth, pushing the memory back down that wanted to send him spiraling once again. "He got thrown against a building and that hard skull of his brought down the whole thing on top of him."

Ned blew out a shaky breath. "But he's awake?"

"Yeah, only can't remember m-much." Tony had just about stopped himself from a 'remember me' slipping off his tongue.

Ned glanced at him. "And you think me being here will help?"

"He doesn't remember that May and Ben are dead. I think maybe... maybe a friendly face will help. Even if it doesn't trigger anything. Just to..." Tony sucked in a sharp breath, "to soften the blow."

Ned cursed then his head turned back to Tony. "Wait, but..." He shook his head. "He still knows who you are, right?"

Avoiding Ned's face, he tried really hard to keep the emotion out of his voice. "He remembers Iron Man."

Before Ned could say another word, Tony pushed open the door to Peter's room. Natasha was still sitting next to his bed but quickly receded to the back wall as Peter's enthusiastic voice echoed through the room!

"Ned! You're here!" Awkwardly with his legs and one arm a little elevated in their casts, Peter waved at him with his good hand. "Hi there, Mr. Stark," he added, his cheeks once again blushing profusely.

"Shit, dude, your legs!" 

A little hesitant, Ned moved closer to the bed. But when Peter stretched out his hand, ready to greet him with their signature handshake, the tension in Ned's shoulders lifted.

"I know right? It's sick!" Then he shrugged. "At least it should get me out of PE."

"For a little while at least." 

Helen had made her way back into the room right after them. She placed a hand on Tony's upped arm, squeezing it reassuringly. This is where they were supposed to start. Talk about Peter's physical recovery before they headed down the dark winding road of his amnesia.

"When you've eaten, we'll have to get a couple more scans in but right now," she continued. "But right now I see no reason why it should take you longer than the normal ten days for multiple broken limbs until the casts can come off."

"Ten days? What," Peter snorted. "What kind of doctor are you?"

"Dude..." Ned's eyes were wide, as he glanced over at Helen.

"I... I'm sorry! So sorry," Peter's face turned beet-root-red. "I just... last time I broke my arm it... it took like seven months till the cast came off. Re-remember, Ned? I...I couldn't even play with your new playstation all summer!"

It didn't come as a real surprise to Tony, not at this point. He didn't remember being Spider-Man. Tony had feared as much since Ben Parker had died a few weeks after Peter's bite.

"Yeah, but..." Ned looked right at Peter. "But that was before."

"Before?" Peter frowned at him, then shook his head. "Before what?"

Both Ned and Helen turned to Tony, waiting expectantly for him to say something but Tony couldn't find the words. He didn't know where to begin. Before panic could take hold of his body and soul once more, it was Natasha who stepped up.

"Before you got your powers," she said like she was talking about yesterday's weather.

Slowly, Peter's eyes shifted from person to person before he glanced back at Nat. "My powers?"

"Yes, that was before you were bitten by a radioactive spider and developed superhuman strength and healing abilities." She tilted her head a little, studying him like this was the key that would bring back the kid's memory. "You also stick to things. Like walls."

"Radioactive spider?" Peter's eyebrows slowly rose closer and closer to his hairline. "And I stick to things." After another glance at Ned who nodded enthusiastically, Peter bit his lip. "So, I have superpowers. And I guess... I guess being here with you..." there was another pause while he gnawed at his lip a little harder. "I guess that means I use those powers to like help you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Correct." 

The corners of Peter's mouth twitched. It was painfully obvious how he tried to suppress a wide smirk. "Can you imagine?" He turned to Ned. "May finding out I'm a superhero? She'd lose her mind."

"Er... Peter..." Ned's face was long and a little spooked.

"What?" Peter mumbled, the smile falling off his lips. He looked from one person to the next waiting for someone to offer up more information.

Tony's chest was tight but there was no way around it. This was his responsibility. He would have to be the one and he'd catch Peter once again when he would crumble under the news.

"Peter, I'm afraid your aunt and your uncle, they are no longer with us." Tony did his best to keep his voice clear, his tone sincere. He edged a little closer to Peter's bed then sat done at the foot end of it, ready to pull him close. "Ben died a little more than 2 years ago. May a year later."

"Oh." For a moment, Peter's face was blank, then he grimaced. "Damn, that's a little harsh, killing off the family to hang out with the freaking Avengers. Your brain's messed up, Parker," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm gonna have to bake them a cake."

"Pete..." Tony frowned and reached his hand out, not quite finding the confidence to take Peter's hand, he awkwardly squeezed the side of his bed instead. "I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, no, right..." Quickly, Peter nodded, his eyes on the hand Tony had edged towards him. "Me too. Me too. That's... that's not cool. I mean like... like bad."

Dread was crawling up Tony's spine. 

"So then," Peter cleared his throat. "I guess I'm not staying in the apartment anymore or did I..." He squinted at Natasha like she was the best source of good information. "Did I get a job?"

"No," Ned shook his head, a subtle sense of irritation swinging in his voice. "You live with Tony."

"With Tony?" Peter followed Ned's finger that was pointing straight at Tony's chest. "I'm living with Tony." His hand flew up to cover his mouth a little too late to cover the snort he hadn't been able to hold back. "Sorry, of course I do..." Peter mumbled through his hand as Ned turned around looking right at Tony, his face full of shock. 

All Tony could do was sit there. This was worse than he would have thought. This was a whole different level of denial.

"I'm sorry," Peter mumbled again then pointed at Ned, "you'll get such a kick out of this." The hand now rubbing across his face, he shook his head and mumbled, "God, I hope, I'll remember this when I wake up."

Tony's heart sank. It sank all the way to his stomach where it lay like a heavy undigestible piece of useless flesh. Which was worse, Peter's refusal to believe the painful truth or that the idea of him living with Tony was such a joke? A sense of bottomless sorrow washed over him unbroken as Natasha pulled him out of the room by his arm.

"He'll get there," she mumbled, squeezing both his shoulders. "It's a lot to take in all at once but there is no way around it."

"I... I don't know how to do this," Tony whispered.

"We're here with you." One of her hands forced his chin up, forced him to look at her through his tears. "We're right here with you. Every step of the way, okay?"

###

Of course, I couldn't resist making this a longer story, so there'll be a second chapter (probably) tomorrow ;)

[luvskywalker]

a long time: bucky barnes x reader

word count- 1.5k

warnings- described grief/depression, emotional hurt/sort of comfort, post endgame

a/n- HI EVERYONE!! so after this i am probably going to try and resume prideful piloting, i love the series so much and i want to see it go somewhere, i’ve just been really coming up empty when trying to write it. now, i have some more ideas for the series so hopefully ill have a new part out soon. also, i am so so soft for bucky and i just want to see him happy so i wrote this while i was crying last night LMAO

-

healing hearts always took time, anyone knew that. you never thought you would hurt this bad, you never thought that one day you wouldn’t be an avenger anymore. things change, though, especially after losing three of your closest friends. in just a year you had gone from having everything to losing it all, and in 2023, after saving the universe, you decided you couldn’t do it anymore- not now. with a little help from pepper you found a work at stark industries, and with that, bought yourself a small apartment. you had grown sick of the painful memories the compound brought, sick of the anguish brought on by seeing your suit tony made, or the dress natasha let you borrow, or steve’s old jacket you stole from him. you tried to erase it, to leave and go back to the city, to try to retire from hero work, but it was like you could never have peace. no matter what you did, it was still so hard, especially living alone, because sometimes it was like all you could do was grieve for what you’d lost. on those days, you’d barely move around your apartment and if you had to work, pepper noticed. your mind wasn’t as sharp and your shoulders were droopy so she would just send you home with a pat on your shoulder and a look of understanding. she knew. then, you’d spend the night with thoughts eating you alive, why did steve leave us, why couldn’t it have been me instead of nat, why didn’t tony let someone else snap, why can’t i be as strong as everyone else? how come they’re not hurting still?

it just hurt, so damn much, but you had to tell yourself it was okay. it was okay to hurt, okay to grieve. you got to be human now, not having to save the world, and you could focus on saving yourself.

and now, well, it was long past 2 am and you were still wide awake.

the city outside your window never slept, and it seemed that you didn’t either because each night, when you let yourself rest, all you saw was nat letting go of your hand and falling into the rocky floor of vormir.

so when someone knocked on your door, you weren’t startled awake, you just shuffled over to open it. this time, bucky was at your door.

“cant sleep?” you asked him, worry in your eyes.

he had taken to showing up at your apartment, and though you truly didn’t know why, you appreciated the company. loved it, even.

“didn’t bother to try.”

bucky was not a man of many words.

“wanna talk about it?” you asked, testing the waters, because sometimes he would but sometimes it would get too much for him and he would break down.

he just shook his head and sat down on your couch.

when he did that, you tried to change the subject.

“you know,” you started,

“i heard that you really liked to dance back in the day.” you said with a small grin.

he looked up at you, a glisten in his eyes you couldn’t quite decipher- nostalgia? excitement? sadness?

“i was the best dancer in brooklyn, doll.”

he gave you a look that put the ache in your heart on pause briefly.

“teach me.” you spoke softly, and held your hand out to him.

“i don’t know how much has changed,” he said while taking your hand and rising from the couch, “but we used to dance to music.”

he wore a sarcastic smirk as his eyes looked into your own.

“really? i had no idea.” you replied with a roll of your eyes, before pulling your hand out of his.

“give me a second then.”

you turned and walked to the corner of the room, where an old fashioned record player lie.

you put the first record you saw in and dropped the needle, the sound of a trumpet resounding softly from the speaker.

he held his hand out to you this time, and your stomach gave a little flip at the contact.

kitty kallen’s voice emerged as you danced hand in hand with bucky in your kitchen, and when you looked at him you swore there were tears in his eyes.

“this song..” he began, voice thick with emotion.

“it reminds me so much of him, caught him listening to it a lot.”

he spun you around, and you listened to bucky as the music swelled in the backround.

you risked another glance to his face, and noticed a tear trickle down his face as his jaw clenched.

“i miss him a lot,” he choked out, “he was all i had.”

you looked into his blue eyes full of hurt and you wished you could take both his and your pain and throw it out the window.

“you’ve got me now, buck.” you whispered, a sad smile present on your face.

“yeah, i guess i do.”

you lay a hand on his cheek, and brushed away a tear.

the song continued, haven’t felt like this my dear, since can’t remember when.

you kept your hand on his cheek, now barely swaying to the song.

“you know, i bought this record for him,” you explained, “i read it was one they used at the end of the war, to welcome someone home,” your voice started to waver, and your eyes welled up with tears. but, they weren’t the tears of pain. it was odd, because usually you wanted to keep the memories locked away- keep the grief hidden- but now the memories didn’t cause misery, and you looked back at this one with a bit of joy.

bucky nodded for you to continue, looking so deeply at you, making your heart pick up a little in speed.

“it seemed like he was always fighting some war, and when i played this song for him, he had peace just for a moment.”

a teardrop leaked from your eye, but a smile graced your face.

“neither of us knew how to dance, we stepped on each other’s feet so much”

bucky laughed then, unshed tears making his eyes glisten in the moonlight shining through your window.

“sounds just like steve.”

you laughed too, and continued.

“he was my best friend, yours too. why did he go?”

bucky just shook his head. you both really knew why he went back for her, but it didn’t mean it made sense. your tears stopped falling and so did his, in time with kitty kallen singing out the final line of the song.

“you said they played this when the soldiers came home?” bucky asked you, brows slightly furrowed.

“yeah, why?” you gave a tilt of your head in question.

“it’s nothing.”

you shook your head with a smile, knowing it wasn’t nothing like he had said.

your hand had since moved from his cheek to lay back on his shoulder, and he shifted a little, moving his from your hips to around your neck. the cold vibranium sent a chill through your bones, but you didn’t mind it.

“never got that welcome home like everyone else did.” he said, a solemn smile gracing his face.

“consider this your welcome home then.” you responded, and the band crescendoed, meaning the song would end soon.

you both resumed dancing, bucky giving you one more twirl, and just as the song started to end, you pulled him in toward you more.

“gotta give you a proper welcoming, sargeant.” you breathed out, and bucky caught on, leaning in toward you.

the song began to fade out, just as your lips met his, but a symphony roared in your mind.

his lips were soft against yours, and it seemed to be a perfect fit.

you felt bucky smile into the kiss, and when the song finished, he reluctantly pulled away.

your forehead rested against his, and you couldn’t stop smiling for the first time in five years.

and bucky, he felt like he might actually be happy for the first time since 1945, if he got to dance with you around your apartment and kiss you like he just did.

he pulled away more, so he could look at you, and look at you he did. he looked at you like you had hung the moon and the stars in the sky.

“i think we should dance again, doll.” he mused, eyes lingering on your own.

you agreed, and went to replay the record.

the trumpet echoed in the room, and you spun around the room, no tears, just soft smiles and breathy laughs as he guided you through simple steps.

it’s been a long, long time, the voice sang, and bucky dipped you as you laughed airily.

“can i kiss you again?” bucky asked, as the song continued, kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again.

you took the initiative once again, bringing his lips to meet your own for another time.

you both were wrapped up in eachother, relishing in the joy of being able to really live again, for the first time in.. a long, long time.

so yeah, everyone knew healing hearts took a long time, but they do always end up healing, especially when you have someone to help patch the wounds.

[sylvie-writes]

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

pairing: steve rogers x reader. avengers x reader (platonic) 

request: Could you imagine the avengers having an ugly Christmas sweater contest? Because holy cow I need that in my life.

warnings: a few curse words and that’s about it.

word count: 1459

author’s note: pardon any mistakes! I’m also trying to complete my Christmas/winter requests first since December has already started. 

PART OF MY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION (check the tag for the masterlist)

(gif below is not mine, nor do i take credit for it

The Morning Of December 24th

“Natasha, for the love of all that is good, why are we out at 10 am shopping? On Christmas Eve might I add!”

Tiny snowflakes danced across the sky, some making home in your hair and on the planes of your face. Cold wind gushed towards you, making your skin feel as delicate and fragile as porcelain. Having lived in New York for a few years, one would have assumed that you knew how to handle the harsh weather by now, but apparently not. Even though you were wrapped in a very warming trench coat, your neck encased in a fur collar, you wrapped yourself into Natasha’s side for even more warmth. 

The woman squeezed your arm that was wrapped around her own and kept walking all while ignoring your pleas to stop at the coffee house that looked oh-so inviting.

“Oh hush. You act like you are going to turn into Jack Frost!” 

She chided you for a minute more and then pulled your body into a clothing store that seemed a bit too up-class for your liking. 

“As for your second question, this is the answer. Tony is hosting an ugly Christmas sweater party tonight!”

Natasha unlatched from your arm and went into the center of the store. A sea of red and green blinded you and your friend was now practically swimming through the hundreds of racks all filled with ugly Christmas sweaters. 

“Seriously, Nat! I could have just ordered one on Amazon or something.”

You frowned and decided to jump into the unknown and search for your friend who was seemingly lost at the moment. Standing on tippy toes, you tried to peer over and find her. It was all in vain until you saw a head of red hair excitedly pop up, almost like a groundhog exiting from its home. Natasha smiled widely at you with two ugly Christmas sweaters in hand. As you walked closer to her, you found that the sweaters in question weren’t actually separated yet they were actually one large conjoined sweater, presumably for two people. 

“No,” before she could even speak, you had cut her off. 

“C’mon (y/n)! Even you were thinking about it. I didn't even have to say anything to influence you.” 

You shook your head and attempted to walk away when she grabbed your hand. 

“Call him.”

Natasha stared into your eyes and you did the same, almost squinting back at her now. 

With the slowest movements of your lips, you replied, “N-O, Natasha!” 

Just as you thought this argument had been put to rest, Natasha sneakily snatched your cell phone from your back pocket and immediately FaceTimed your boyfriend, Steve.

“WHAT?!” At this point you were grabbing for the phone and waiting for Steve to ultimately pick up at any given moment.

“HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW MY PASSWORD?” Natasha kept waving around your phone in the air as it was nothing, some bystanders even shamelessly watching at this point. 

“I’m a spy, sweetheart. It’s simple. Also, your first mistake was to make your password your birthday.”

She pursed her lips and looked at you with a knowing look and you grumbled. Suddenly, the sound of the call being picked sounded and your blood froze. If it wasn’t already frozen from the frigid weather that is.

“Hey dol—Nat?”

“Hiya Cap! Your girlfriend is being a pain in my ass and we need you to settle this argument.”

You piped up and scurried over to get in the view of the camera.

“There is no argument! It’s a stupid sweater that’s all.”

Natasha looked at you once more and you did the same, this time snatching the phone from her. 

“Well I guess you two don’t need me then?”

You could see Steve was visibly confused and clearly in the middle of something as Bucky and Sam were in the background attempting to hang some garland. 

As you were about to tell Steve goodbye, you heard him suddenly chuckle. Confused, your eyes scanned the screen and that is where you spotted Natasha in the background of your own camera feed, jumping up and down while pointing to the sweater. 

“Honey, why is Nat jumping around behind you. Did she have some caffeine or something? I’ve never seen her this hyper before.”

You started laughing as Steve didn’t know Natasha exactly like you did. She was your best friend and the two of you got on each other’s nerves, but never seriously of course. Natasha was a different person with you and quite frankly it was a lot more fun than her usual persona with the team. 

“No Stevie, she stole my phone to try and get you to wear this sweater with me, but I know there’s no way you’d ever wear it.” Towards the end of your statement you were winking, and very noticeably at this point, hoping he would play along. 

But alas, he didn’t catch on.

“Huh? You know me, angel. I’ll do anything for you!”

He was so sweet and innocent that it was hard to stay mad at him. At this point, Nat had stopped jumping and was now at your side, a proud smirk on her face. On the screen, Bucky had joined and Sam partially paid some attention to the conversation as he was now working with Wanda and her powers on the garland. 

“Oh hey, Tasha! You gotta get us one of those, babe! Can’t let Rogers and (y/l/n) beat us this year, ya know?”

Natasha nodded vigorously and walked away to go and find said sweater. You just watched the two boys on the phone playfully nudge each other and drop a few “insults.” 

“I’m going to leave you two to whatever that is. Good luck Sam, you too Wanda!”

The young woman looked towards the camera and you could hear her irritated grumble all the way from across the room. 

“Should’ve gone with you guys!”

—

The Night of December 24th

You and Steve are standing shoulder to shoulder. Literally. 

Minus the white camisole you are wearing beneath this thing, all you feel is Steve’s warm body and skin touching yours. 

The two of you, after some time, finally managed to get the damn thing on. 

“(y/n)! Step to the side and then let me slip my arm through. 

Growing you did as he asked, when you immediately jumped back at Steve crushing your foot. The simple action throwing you both back. 

“Steve, you were stepping on me!”

and then your favorite part of the whole fiasco, “Steven Rogers get your arm off of my waist.” 

You turned and gave the man a side eye to which he shrugged with his own wide eyes. “What! I’m not doing anything and even if I was—”

Steve noticed your look, one that you don’t mess around with. “Care to finish that sentence, Cap?”

He made a motion as if he was zipping his lips and the two of you found it difficult to walk out of the door. 

At the party, you eyed the room for the team. They were a mere few feet away, but you and Steve were already struggling to walk as it is. 

Tony and Pepper were wearing some lighted tinsel sweaters while Bucky and Nat wore a conjoined reindeer sweater. Sam was sporting a literal Christmas tree sweater while Wanda wore a fruit cake themed ugly Christmas sweater. 

Soon Bruce and Thor joined you all. Bruce had an avengers themed ugly sweater on, making you giggle a bit while Thor was just wearing a casual sweater. 

“What is this nonsense that you are all wearing?”

Thor motioned to everyone’s different and most of all, ugly, sweaters, then prompting Bruce to explain the whole thing to him.

Eventually the festivities came to an end and you and Steve by now, had become experts at wearing this giant nap sack of a sweater. 

Rhodey, who decided not to participate, instead became the judge of the contest. By now, everyone was tired and blissed out from the drinks and such. There was silence as you all sat around on the couch and chairs, but it was comfortable and enjoyable, not deafening. The team was your family and there was no other way you’d have it. 

Sleepy, you leaned onto Steve who was still sitting beside you of course, because it’s not like he can run off. 

He smiled when you finally gave in and placed a kiss on your head. The whole team saw you and Steve all snuggled up and napping away. From that, it was decided that you both had won the ugly sweater competition. Not because of your sweaters, but because of your PDA. 

taglist: @memissbee @tricereads @buckybarnesthehotshot @bval-1 @tonystankschild @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @turtoix @kelbabyblue @jakiki94 @aubreeskailynn @calirindo @lady-elena-adeline​ @siriuslyslyslytherin 

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Bucky Barnes x Reader: Shall We Dance?

(Author’s Note: Hey all, I’m back but this time with a Bucky fic!  I just thought this was an adorable idea, and I even found a soundtrack for it.  You could play some 1940′s instrumental jazz in the background while reading this fic to enhance the experience, or not.  Up to you!

Also, this is sort of an AU that takes place after Civil War, but where the Avengers don’t separate yet.  So yeah I’m jumping on the bandwagon of Avengers still living in the tower with Bucky joining them XD)

   “Are you sure about this?” you asked, poking your head around the corner.  Taking note of what the guests were wearing, you immediately felt out of place.  Despite the party having a 1940’s theme, most of the ladies were wearing rather modern dresses that were long and elegant and touched the floor.  Some did go as far as pinning their hair in updos that were fitting for the time period, but even so, you glanced down at your old-fashioned evening gown and perfectly matched shoes with doubt.  It was a beautiful deep blue dress that went almost to your ankles.  The sleeves were a tad puffy at the shoulders before tightening into long sleeves the rest of the way to your wrists.  The outfit was very lovely, but it was most definitely out-dated compared to what the guests were wearing.

   It was a birthday celebration for Steve Rogers- a surprise one at that.  Stark had volunteered a floor of the Avengers tower for the venue, and Natasha and you had the neat idea of making it an old-fashioned party complete with music from the 1940’s to make things feel more like home.  You and Nat had fun researching the sort of clothes worn back then, but apparently not everyone had taken the theme so literally.

   “You kidding me?” Natasha responded in a low voice, brows furrowing slightly.  “You look great.  Now, let’s get out there and own it.”  A smile crept on your face, and you were glad to have a friend go into the party with, especially someone as confident as Romanoff.  She was dressed in a 1940’s gown too, though hers was a pretty dark green which complemented the red lipstick she wore.  “We were pretty specific about the theme of the party,” she continued.  “Technically, most of these people are the ones out of place, not us.”

   “Good point.”

   “This is for Steve anyway.  I’m sure he’ll appreciate the gesture.”

   It wasn’t necessarily the guests that concerned you.  Or Steve.  A certain someone would be in attendance, and you strived to be cool as a cucumber.

   “Alright, here goes nothing.”  You stepped out from the hallway and couldn’t help but smile.  The music was jazzy, and the lights made the scene even more charming as couples danced on the floor while others conversed at little tables or the bar.  Natasha walked beside you, eyes scanning the room.  They rested on Bruce, who was talking to Tony with a drink in his hand.

   “You going to say ‘hi’?” you asked, giving her a playful nudge.  She played it off as if she couldn’t care less, but you knew there was something going on between her and the scientist.

   “Maybe later.”

   A waiter approached with a tray, and Natasha gratefully accepted a shrimp cocktail while you decided to take a chance on a pastry.  As you bit into your snack, you looked to your friend.   

   “You look beautiful,” you complimented. 

   She flashed a warm smile, a rare but lovely sight from the secret agent.  “You look beautiful too,” she said.  Then, her eyes seemed to dart to something behind you.  “It looks like someone else thinks so.”

   Your mouth fell open.  “What?”  You snuck a glance over your shoulder in the most subtle way you could before quickly turning away when a pair of dark blue eyes gazed in your direction.  Your heartbeat quickened as Natasha raised a brow.  “It’s Bucky.”

   “Yes, it is,” she nodded, though her probing gaze didn’t leave your face as she took in your expression.  “Something wrong?”

   “No,” you said quickly.  A little too quickly.

   Her eyes traveled to the former Winter Soldier before a hint of a smirk appeared on her lips.  “Oh, so you still have a thing for him?”

   “What?  I never told you that.”

   “Didn’t need to.”  Her smirk grew.  “I sort of read people for a living, and it’s written all over your face whenever he walks in the room.”

   “Well, glad I was being subtle,” you remarked with an eye roll.  “I just get so nervous.  He’s a good friend, and…”

   “And he’s coming over here.”

   “He’s- what?”

   “He’s walking this way,” she mumbled under her breath.

   You followed her eyes to see those eyes fixed on you as he approached.  Though his dark hair was still somewhat long and unkempt, he wore a nice suit and shoes.  His lips pressed together in an awkward smile as he entered the space where you and Natasha stood.

   “Hey,” he greeted with a small wave.

   “Hi,” you said, smiling.  Natasha didn’t speak.  She only observed the interaction as your eyes wandered the room in desperate search for something else to talk about.  “This turned out to be a nice party,” you commented.  “You think Steve is having a good time?”

   “Yeah,” Bucky agreed, looking over to see the Captain having a dance with Sharon.  “It is nice.  I think he’s having fun.  Sure looked happy to see everyone when he walked in.”

   You laughed as you remembered his reaction- your friend and teammate’s look of pleasant surprise and then a big smile as everyone shouted “surprise!”  You even asked that Tony get a picture from the security footage.

   “Definitely loved the look on his face,” you said.  The conversation between the two of you quieted for a minute as both of you looked at your surroundings until Bucky spoke up again.

   “You like the music?” he asked, gesturing with a metal hand to your feet.  You hadn’t even noticed yourself swaying in place to the tune.  The realization caused you to give a sheepish smile and shrug.

   “I think I do.”

   Bucky’s little awkward smile widened, and his eyes held warmth as he asked, “do you wanna’ dance with me?”  Your eyes travelled to that inviting gaze of his, and it was like your heart was doing flips.  You nodded, and he extended his other hand to take yours.  Then, he looked to Natasha.  “Mind if I steal her for a dance or two?”

   Natasha smirked again.  “Not at all.  Have fun, you two.”

   Bucky glanced your way again before leading you toward the dance floor.  You shot a look at Natasha over your shoulder, mouth falling open in shock that this was happening.  She gave a nod of approval.

   Bucky stopped before going too far into the crowded space, turning to put the metal hand at your waist while you put your arm around the back of his neck.  He exhaled sharply in a silent chuckle, glancing down at his feet.  “Sorry,” he said, eyes darting back up to yours.  “It’s been a while.  I haven’t danced with a woman in….well, about seventy years.”

   “Oh,” you said quietly.  An ache grew in your heart at the thought.  He’d spent a lot of time brainwashed and forced to do awful things for Hydra.  Before you could dwell on it much further, you remembered where you were and tried to keep the conversation light-hearted.  “Well I hope I don’t disappoint you.  I haven’t had much experience dancing to this kind of music.”

   “_________,” he said, starting to sway to the music.  You let him lead you in the beginnings of the dance.  “You are far from disappointing me.”  He stepped back to give you a twirl, and you followed through with a smile on your face.  “And since I’m out of practice, we won’t do anything fancy.”

   “Sounds good to me.”

   A warm feeling gathered in your chest, and you were absolutely elated as you and Bucky let the tune carry you both.  The grin never left your expression.  He seemed to be smiling even wider as he got more comfortable.  Hearing this kind of music on the radio used to feel so strange to you.  You’d breeze past it to the next station in search of something more to your taste, something more modern.  But being there in that moment, dancing with Bucky, it felt so real.  So alive.  You could see why people enjoyed it.  From then on, you’d never think of it the same way.

   “You look gorgeous, doll,” Bucky said over the music, drawing your attention from the live band and back to his gaze.  The lights reflected as a splash of glowing color amongst the beautiful blue of his eyes.  “Where’d you find a dress like that?”

   You ducked your head slightly from the compliment.  “Oh, I got it online.  It was Natasha’s idea.  We were hoping everyone would dress up, but turns out it was just us.”

   “Well, I like it.  Love it, actually.”

   “Thank you.”  He gave you another twirl just as the song ended, and both of you pulled away to applaud the band along with the other couples.  Then, the band took a short pause to turn pages and take a breather before playing a slower song.  As the other couples drew closer to dance slowly, you stole a glance at your dance partner, wondering if he’d want to dance this song with you or take a break.  Before you could ask, he offered his hand.  You smiled, uncertainty vanishing, as he gently pulled you forward and put an arm around you.  Your face was inches from his shoulder, and you decided to just go along with it by wrapping your arms around him.  You took your first few steps of the dance carefully, adjusting to the slower tune.  Despite the hair raised on the back of your neck and the way your breath caught in your throat at the sweet moment you had dreamed of many times, it felt so safe there.  So secure.  You didn’t want to leave anytime soon.

   “So I’m impressed,” you said.  “No feet have been stepped on yet.”

   He pulled away ever so slightly to give you a humorous look.  “It’s been some time, but I have danced before, _________.”

   You laughed.  “Actually I was talking more about myself.”

   “Ah.  See, that makes more sense.”

   “Oh, please,” you joked.  “I’m not that bad.”

   He chuckled softly and rested his cheek against yours, like you’d seen in old-timey movies, as he swayed with you.  “No, no that bad indeed.”

   You were stunned into silence again at the contact.  Your steps weren’t a concern anymore because it felt like you were floating across the dancefloor.

   “Is this okay?” he asked.  The question was so quiet considering how close his voice was.  

   It felt wrong to nod and break the contact, so you just uttered a hushed, “yeah.  It’s more than okay actually.”

   How long had you been dancing?  You weren’t sure.  All you knew was eventually the band announced that they’d be taking a break, a well-earned one in your mind.  Everyone at the party applauded, and you and Bucky hesitantly pulled away.

   “Hey, Buck,” a new voice greeted.  “Hey there, _________.”

   “Happy birthday, Steve,” Bucky said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.  “You’re in pretty good shape for being, what, ninety-eight?  What’s your secret?”

   Steve gave a chuckle.  “I already heard that one a few times today.  But thanks, my secret is that I go for a run every day.” 

   “Happy birthday,” you chimed in with a grin, giving him a hug.  “Do you like the party?”

   “Yeah, I really do.  I heard you had something to do with the theme?”

   “Me and Nat both did.”

   That Steve Rogers smile appeared on his face, softening his features even more.  It was the kind of smile that made anyone feel like a million bucks because it was always so genuine.  “Well, thank you.  It was very sweet of you both.”

   “There he is!” Thor called, and the three of you looked over to see him holding up a glass.  “The birthday boy!  Come hither and tell us one of your tales of victory!” 

   Steve hesitated, looking at you and Bucky.  “Ah, guess I’ll be right back, then?”

   “Go see your other guests,” Bucky told him, giving him a nudge.  “We’ll catch up with you later.”  Steve gave one last wave and approached the group, causing them to erupt in cheers.  You and Bucky exchanged looks, laughing.

   “How long do you think they’ll keep him?” Bucky asked.

   “A while, for sure.”  Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Natasha and Bruce conversing casually.  Wanda and Vision walked past, both glancing your way and waving.  They looked so cute together.  With the music gone, all you could hear was quiet chatter and the clinking of glasses and silverware.  It was such a peaceful atmosphere.

   “Want something to eat?”

   You nodded.  “Yeah, I do.”  He stopped a waiter so that the two of you could grab a few appetizers and go find a seat.  You found a few lounge chairs near the window where you could look out at the city lights in the dark.  There was some playful banter, as usual, and some brief talk of superhero work before you settled on a game of truth or dare.  So far, Bucky had dared you to try a new food that you weren’t so sure about, and you had dared him to throw a straw wrapper at Sam just to get his attention.  It was your turn to pick again, and you chose “dare.”

   “I dare you,” Bucky began, narrowing his eyes as he leaned back in the chair in thought.  “I dare you to save me the next dance, and the one after that.”

   Your smile faded at his words while you played with the hem of your dress.  “Hm, okay.”  You paused.  “Truth or dare?”

   “Truth,” he said.

   “Alright, here’s my question: Is there a reason you want all these dances with me?”

   His gaze was fixed on you sincerely as he opened his mouth to reply.  Unfortunately, this happened to be the moment that Steve returned.

   “I’m back,” he announced.  “Sorry about that.”  He halted to observe the way you and Bucky looked at each other so intently.  “Oh, am I interrupting?”

   “Um, no, we were just…”

   “Playing a game.”  Bucky said quickly.  “Truth or dare.”

   Steve nodded.  “Gotcha’.  Hey, was that why you threw straw wrappers at Sam?”

   “It was only one straw wrapper,” Bucky corrected.  “And yes, it was the reason.  If you talk to him again, you should tell him that it was ___________ who put me up to it.  I was just following the rules of the game.”  He feigned innocence with the casual shrug of his shoulders.

   “I bet,” Steve chuckled.

   Just then, you noticed the band heading back to their instruments.  It appeared that their break was over and they were beginning to play again.  Immediately, Bucky looked at you and then his friend.  

   “Speaking of rules of the game,” he said.  “__________ here owes me a dance.  Are you up for it?”

   You smiled, rising from the lounge chair.  “Sure.  It was a dare, after all.”  In reality, you both knew that it was a joke and you didn’t have to comply with the dare if you didn’t want to, but the thing was, you did want to.  You wanted to save all your dances for him.  As he led you to the dance floor again, you didn’t see Natasha walk over to Steve with her arms folded.

   “You think they’re going to get together?” she asked.

   “It’s their business,” Steve pointed out.  “Not our place to get involved”.  Natasha glanced his way with a raised brow, and he sighed in defeat.  “Okay yeah, I think it’s going to happen soon.  Back home, Bucky was never this hesitant when it came to dates.  He’s really taking his time with her. I think it’s because he really cares about her.”

   “That’s sweet, but how do you know he feels that way?”

   “He told me.  We’re best buds, remember?”

   “I thought you and I were best friends,” she deadpanned.  They shared a humorous look as they watched the two of you moving to the rhythm of the jazzy music, big smiles across your faces.  “I just hope it happens soon.”

   “I hear that.”

[dnvrsmedia]

You Feel Safe?

Carol Danvers x reader

summary: You and Carol are sent on a mission together for the first time.

warnings: none! good ole fluff! mutual pinning & my fav troupe the “only one bed” :)

AN: IM BACK! I am SO sorry i’ve been gone for like 2 weeks, but I had the WORST writers block omg! Hopefully this gets me back in the time of everything & I hope y’all enjoy! as always requests are open!

part 2

You were called to be on a mission yesterday. If it were any other day you wouldn’t have minded so much, but it was supposed to be your first weekend off in almost a month. You could almost taste the short lived freedom as you stepped into your room that friday evening, but of course, the world had other plans for you. The literal moment you set your bags down,friday informs you that steve needs you in the debrief room.

Obviously pissed off that you were robbed of your planned relaxing weekend, you trot to the debrief room with heavy steps and a frown. You’re known as the cheerful one around the compound. You’re always worried about others safety and health. So, when you passed Nat on the way to meet Steve without saying hello, she immediately knew something was off. Not wanting to interrupt you, she shrugs it off and makes sure to make a mental note to ask you what’s wrong later on.

You finally reach the debrief room and see a familiar tall blonde talking to Steve. You’ve only met Carol about two times, but you wouldn’t really call that a formal meeting. The two of you were too busy trying to save the world from thanos to really indulge in a conversation. But that doesn’t matter right now.

“Stevie, you know I love you, but why the ever loving fuck are you calling me on my weekend off. You know I haven’t gotten one in a while!” You exclaim as you go in to hug him. Steve has also been away on a mission for a while, so you haven’t seen your older brother figure in a while.

He gives out a hardy chuckle and gives you a tight squeeze before letting go. “I know y/n and I feel horrible doing so, but you’re the only gal for the job. Plus, you haven’t properly met Captain Danvers over here yet!” He points to Carol as she sticks out her hand to shake.

“Please, call me Carol.” She winks. You shake her hand as your face burns bright red. God y/n keep it together! You can’t help but to stare at her beautiful being. Everything about her is absolutely gorgeous and you can’t seem to get enough. Your eyes trail down to her strong biceps. All all you can think about is how much you wouldn’t mind if she put you in a choke hold i mean-

Steve clears his throat and asks you if you heard a word he just said. Now you start to blush profusely. She had to notice you staring, because she’s sporting a wicked smirk on her face.

“S-sorry I got a little uh...distracted.” You clear your throat. You notice Steve rolling his eyes and continues to debrief the mission. The both of you were to go undercover as girlfriends to a ball. This wasn’t any ordinary ball though. At the ball, there is an underground auction on alien tech. The reason you were picked and not Nat is because you can turn invisible. Once invisible, you were to sneak into the auction and take back that very valuable piece of tech. Carol is tagging along because of her extensive knowledge on alien tech. This mission was clearly meant for the two of you.

Soon after, you were dismissed to your quarters and packing for the three day long mission in Tuscany, Italy. Luckily for you since you don’t own many dresses, Nat popped by to let you borrow a few. She originally came by to see why you were so upset, but as soon as she saw you packing your bags she already knew.

“So, are you excited to play girlfriend with miss twinkle hands? Last time you two met you could barely take your eyes off oh her.” She slyly smirks as she folds your shirt. You immediately scoff as your face starts to heat up.

“I was just making sure she didn’t die! I do that every time with everyone when we’re saving the world!” You squeak. Nat could definitely tell that you were lying. I mean come on, she’s a highly skilled spy. She just mutters a ‘yeah sure’ and rolls her eyes. You shoo her away so you could ‘get your beauty sleep’ before you leave for the mission. Moments after you finally get settled in bed, you hear a knock at your door. Too tired to get up, you ask friday to let whoever is at the door in. Soon later, you’re eye to eye with Carol herself.

“Oh were you about to sleep? I’m sorry I can go if you want.” She shyly smiles and starts to walk away. You’ve never seen Carol like this before, and you wish you could see more of her.

“No,” you sit up and pat the space next to you on the bed. “It’s okay I promise. Come sit.” You gently smile. Soon after your smile is taken over by a big yawn. You hear Carol chuckle and sit next to you.

“You sure you aren’t gonna fall alseep on me, y/n?” She teased.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You lazily smiled. “Now, why did you want to see me?” you questioned.

“I just uh wanted to get to know you better. I mean if you’re gonna be my girlfriend, then I should actually know you, right?” she answered. You blushed majorly at her calling you her girlfriend. Yes, you know it’s only for the mission, but you can’t help but feel giddy.

“Well, what do you want to know? I’m an open book.” you replied while looking into her eyes. You could get lost in her perfect chestnut eyes. You can tell that she is a strong and loving person, but she also has been hurt. You wish you could take her pain away, but sadly that’s not how it always works.

From then on, the two of you spent your last hours before the flight to Tuscany talking about anything and everything. You told her things you don’t even think you’ve told Nat or Steve yet. Just something about Carol makes you want to pour your deepest darkest feelings and thoughts out. She’s just so welcoming and warm. You do end up falling asleep due to the day of hard work you endured. Carol soon notices and covers you in your blanket before leaving. The two of you have about four hours before the flight and she still hadn’t packed. She leaves your room with the widest smile on her face.

You wake up two hours later to your alarm. You always set your alarms according to, so you don’t get behind schedule. Before missions, you like to get a light workout and combat in. You groggily get up from your bed and change into your workout clothes.

You get down to the gym and immediately notice Carol at the punching bag. She was wearing a black sports bra with matching athletic leggings and hair was in a pony tail. You are completely in awe. Of course you’ve seen her fight before, but that was in a life or death matter. You didn’t have time to gawk at the way her back muscles contracted every time she moves. Or hear the little grunts she huffs out as her fist collides with the punching bag.

She must’ve felt someone staring at her, because she turns around in the middle of punching the bag and smirks. Your face seems to permanently be red because of her, but you couldn’t really complain could you?

You shake your head and get straight into your workout routine. You turn on your favorite playlist and get straight to work. You get in light stretching before you do your 2 miles on the treadmill. You hit the weights right after. Throughout your whole workout, the both of you share stole glances. You catch her looking at your ass through the mirror as you back squat and chuckle. You’re just about to bench press as she walks up to your station.

“Here, lemme spot you. I don’t need the bar falling on your pretty face.” She smirks and steps behind the you.

“How nice of you, Captain. You know, I’m a lot stronger than I look. Trust me, I’m a big girl.” Now it’s your time to watch as her face gets red.

“Oh trust me I know. You can never be too cautious.” She winks and you playfully roll your eyes.

About an hour after, you finally finish your work out. You thank Carol once again and go on your way to your room to take a quick shower before meeting her at the quinjet. You say bye to your fellow avengers (well who’s not on a mission), and go on your marry way to Tuscany. The both of you arrive in Tuscany at 8pm. You were visibly tired, so you couldn’t wait to eat something and curl up in your own bed.

Carol helps you with you bag, although you said you can cary it, and takes the both of you to the room. The view from the room is astounding. Your eyes pan all over the room, then you see it. To your surprise, there is only one bed and a very uncomfortable looking couch. You can tell Carol notices as well as she starts to put her things by the couch.

“You can take the bed, trust me I don’t mind.” She smiles her adorable smile.

“Are you kidding me? We’re both adults here, Captain. We can share the bed and I’m not letting you say no! That couch looks so uncomfortable!” You rant as you move your things over to the bed. “Now, what do you want for dinner?” You turn your head to see he smiling at you.

The pair of you decided on some authentic Italian food for take out. So here you are, currently eating fancy Italian food with a beautiful girl in romantic Italy. Seriously what could get better than this. You guys talk for hours until it’s time to go to bed.

You’re the first one to freshen up in the bathroom before bed. You step out in only your towel, and Carols face heats up so quick.

“I-I’ll just go uh go in there uh I uh- yeah.” She mutters out as she grabs her things and rushes herself into the bathroom. You laugh to yourself then get dressed. You snuggle up in the bed with one of your books and start reading. You finish a chapter when you hear Carol get out the bathroom. You’ve never seen her look so casual before. You can’t help but smile at her Captain america pj pants.

“Steve gave em to me as a gag gift for my birthday last year.” she chuckled and gets into bed with you.

You put your book down and turn on the TV to entertain the two of you. The TV was nearly there for background noise, since you weren’t paying attention at all. You say there thinking about how happy you’ve felt around Carol for the past two days, and hoped she felt the same. A loud lawn broke your trace. You realized it’s getting late, so you turned off the TV and got comfy in the bed.

“Sleep well, Y/n.” You hear Carol say as you’re about to drift into sleep.

“Goodnight, Carol.” You day softly as you nod off into the dream state.

beep! beep! beep!

Your overly loud, yet useful, alarm wakes you up. You go to reach to turn it off but you can’t reach it. You look down and see a sleeping Carol lying on top of you. Her arm is wrapped around your waist as hair is strewn across her face. You smile down at her and admire how soft she looks. You take your free hand and move her fly aways from her face. She stirs awake and looks into your eyes. She throws herself back and starts to apologize profusely.

“Hey, hey, look it’s okay I uh actually enjoyed it. If we’re being honest I haven’t slept that well in a long time.” You blush as you look down at your hands. Carol soon takes your hands and gently caresses them with her own.

“I haven’t slept that well in a while either actually. I normally get nightmares, but with you...” She whispers.

“You feel safe?” You ask as she nods her head with a smile. “That’s exactly how I feel too.” You beam.

Carol scoots closer to you and places her palm on your cheek. You heart begins to race as she slowly inches forward to kiss you. Just as your lips are about to touch, your alarm blares once more and the two of you bump heads.

“I should probably turn that off.” You groan.

“Yeah,” She chuckles “You should.”