#Also they were both awake. Clint was drinking coffee when Bucky called

[3twindragons]

It’s been a long dry spell for WinterHawk!

[nothinghcppens]

small talk- pietro maximoff

part 2

part 1 here

masterlist

pair: pietro maximoff x female!reader

summary: after being apart of the team of super soldiers that hydra experimented on, y/n was one of the successful experiments and had been released to the world. the winter soldier and the siren had become the most prolific assassin duo in the world. but what happens when they get taken in by the avengers? what happens when she meets a particularly fast superhero with an attitude?

warnings: swearing, mentions of trauma, alcohol, kissing but like only that, minor sexual jokes

a/n: hi !! i just wanted to say thank you so much for all the love and support of part 1 of small talk and bad liar omg <3 i also wanted to add a taglist to future fics so let me know if you want added it! make sure to specify if you want to be added to the marvel or the harry potter one bc i have a harry potter fic in the works rn! also i’m gonna write a part three that’s just cute bc i want to keep writing this character heheh

“wake up!” splash.

the feeling of cold water hitting your face shocked you awake and you sat up with a gasp. trails of blue flashed from beside your bed and out the door, the clang of a bucket hitting the floor. “pietro maximoff. i am going to kill your speedy ass!” you shouted, jumping out of bed. not even caring that you were only in a t-shirt and shorts, you chased after him, following the blue light.

the trails stopped eventually, and so did you. you glanced around, listening for any sign of him. you crept over to one of the couches and grabbed a pillow as a weapon. “where are you?” you called, i’m a sing-song voice.

you walked around the room, “come on, don’t hide from me now.” the faint sound of his breathing was heard along with the dripping water from your hair and t-shirt. you followed the sound of his shallow breaths to the island in the kitchen. you dropped the pillow, climbed up on the island and crawled across it before swung your head over the edge, in front of his. “hey there.

he gasped, “shit.” you flipped your hair back up and sat back on your knees. pietro stood up and turned to face you before bursting into fits of laughter.

“i don’t know what’s funny.” you mumbled, glaring up at him.

“yes you do, you look ridiculous.” he huffed between laughs.

“i won’t look ridiculous when i’m putting a bullet through your head.” you spat.

“calm down, love. it’s only a bit of fun.” he said.

“i was sleeping piet!” you protested. you moved your legs so that they were dangling off the edge.

“okay, i’m sorry. i’m sorry!”

“you better be. i’ll get you back though.”

he stepped forward and leaned his hands on the island, on either side of you. “will you, yeah?”

his head was an inch away from yours, you could feel his breath against your face. you saw his eyes drift from your eyes to your lips and back up again. he leaned in slightly and your breathing quickened. “what’re you doing?” you whispered.

“what do you think i’m doing?” he replied in the same hushed tone.

“something you should’ve done a long time ago.” you leaned in towards him, lips almost touching.

“good morning!” cap announced, walking into the kitchen, looking at his phone. you two broke apart quickly, pietro speeding and grabbing you a glass of orange juice and ten occupying himself by looking at something in the cupboard.

“hey cap.” you croaked, voice uneasy from the nerves coursing through your body. “morning steve.” pietro greeted, closing the cupboard and standing next to you on the counter. steve didn’t look up from his phone and didn’t notice your wet hair and clothes

“how’s our newest recruit?” he asked as he grabbed a mug from one of the shelves.

“steve, i’ve been here for like 6 months!” you complained.

he put the mug in the coffee machine and pressed a few buttons, “and? you’re still the newest.”

“might be the newest but i could still take you down old man.”

“don’t get too cocky kid, i think pietro’s rubbing off on you.”

“ew i’d rather go back to being tortured than be like him.” you joked.

“how dare you! you know you love being around me.”

you made fake gagging noise and steve let out a laugh. he finally turned around and looked at you two for the first time this morning.

“oh- uh y/n? what happened, why are you soaked?” he asked, averting his eyes from you. your eyes widened in realisation that you were wearing little-to-nothing in front of your captain and your t-shirt was clinging to your body.

“pietro is a dick is what happened.” you said, pushing yourself off the table. “if you’ll excuse me, i’ll go make myself decent.”

“you look decent all the time, love!” pietro called after you as you began to leave the kitchen. you swivelled round and flipped him off with both hands before leaving the room.

———

“do you remember when-“ you let out a giggle and pointed at bucky, “when we had to kill those french agents and you-“ another laugh, “you fell over a wall! god i mean because my brain was mush i couldn’t laugh but looking back on it that shit was hilarious!”

you and the team were recalling old missions gone wrong, with the assistance of alcohol obviously, and you were telling a story about you and bucky- much to his dismay.

“i didn’t fall.” he protested, taking a swig from the bottom of beer in his hand.

“so what happened then? did the sidewalk just crumble?” you questioned, laughing loudly. the rest of the team sat observing the interaction, large smiles across all their face. pietro sat to your left with his arm around your shoulder, a drink in his other hand.

“okay. maybe i did fall.” bucky mumbled causing a roar of laughter from everyone. “but, remember how we were running through a forest in, where was it again?-“

“bulgaria.” you said, already knowing where this was going.

“bulgaria! yes. and it was raining so it was super muddy and you got suck in the mud!” he laughed.

“you left me there! i had to drag myself out.” you complained.

“well we had a mission to complete! you would’ve done the same.”

you rolled your eyes, “you’re right. i would have.” you felt pietro laugh from beside you and you smiled at him. “time for a refill.” you announced, pushing yourself up off the sofa. you wandered to the kitchen and took the bottle of wine on the table and poured some into your glass. due to the alcohol already in your system you spilled a little on the counter, “shit.” you muttered.

“need some help there?” pietro asked.

“i can pour wine myself thank you very much.” you retorted.

“i think the table disagrees.” he chuckled.

“shut up.” you groaned. pietro sped from the door to grab a towel and stopped behind you. he reached over your shoulder and wiped the spilled wine up. his breath was hot against your neck. you turned around, wine glass in hand, and looked up into his eyes. his hands remained on either side of you.

“this is the second time we’ve ended up here.” he mumbled.

“good observation, captain obvious.” you teased. pietro rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh.

pietro took his right hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, staring into your eyes. he kept his hand on the side of your head and leant in slightly for the second time in the past week. your breathing deepened and your heart was thumping against your chest. you tilted your head up towards his head and your lips were almost touching, just as they were a few days ago

“y/n! can you get me a whiskey before you come back?!” tony called from the other room.

pietro groaned in frustration and pulled away from you, tilting his head up. “i’m going to kill those avengers.”

“good luck with that speedy.” you said, tapping his chest lightly.

he stepped away from you, letting you leave his embrace to get tony a drink. after pouring him a glass of whiskey and grabbing your glass of wine, you and pietro entered the room filled with your team. his hand was placed in the small of your back, guiding you back to the sofa.

you handed tony his drink and he smiled at you, “thanks kid.”

pietro sat on the couch and you flopped down beside him, his arm resuming its place of around your shoulder. you swung your legs up and across pietro’s legs, earning a few looks from nat and clint. they looked at each other and raised their eyebrows with a smirk.

steve and bucky were telling a story of a party they went to in the 40s and how bucky had to drag him to dance with these girls they met. you took a sip of your drink and noticed pietro’s eyes glancing at your lips, “want a sip?” you asked, smirking because you knew that’s not what he was looking at.

he pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and sighed, “watch it, y/l/n.”

“oooooooh we’re on last name terms now?” you teased, smiling.

“yeah if you keep pissing me off we will be.”

“don’t be so easy to piss off.” you replied.

he leaned over and whispered in your ear, “cant help it. i’m frustrated.”

you pushed out your bottom lip in an overdramatic pout, “boohoo.”

tony then shot forward in his seat and clapped his hands together, “tomorrow you two,” he said, pointing at you and bucky, “are gonna have a little fashion show, i’ve been working on some suits for you guys and i need your input.”

“wait really?” you asked.

“yup. i’m not having you two going on missions in your hydra gear.” he explained.

“shit, thanks tony.” bucky replied.

“where’s my suit?” pietro questioned.

“you’ll get on eventually. your girlfriend is just a little more improtant.”

“i was here first.” he protested.

“girlfriend?” you asked at the same time.

“wait your turn, turbo.” tony said.

pietro scoffed and everyone laughed at the interaction.

nat stretched her arms behind her head and yawned, “alright losers, i’m going to bed.”

“yeah, me too.” clint added.

eventually everyone had made their way upstairs and all that was left was you, tony and pietro.

“okay. what’s going on here?” tony asked, wagging his finger between you guys. pietro’s hand was now resting on your leg which was still across his.

“nothing.” you said.

“uh huh? yeah that bullshit doesn’t work on me kiddo.”

“piet, sure nothing has happened.” you glanced at him and a look of annoyance crossed his face.

“yeah stark. nothings happened.” he replied through gritted teeth.

“well if anything does happen, stay safe.” he winked at you two, “and if you hurt her, speedy, she’ll probably hurt you back worse.”

you laughed, “hell yeah i will.”

“oh i know you will.”

“goodnight .” tony said as he stood up from his chair and left the room.

you swung your legs off pietro and stood up, “well goodnight piet.” a smirk grew across your face as you began to walk away.

“nope.” he stated, grabbing your wrist and turning you back around. he pulled you onto his lap so you were straddling him, legs on either side of him. he placed his hand on the back of your neck and pulled your head towards his before crashing your lips onto his.

the kiss was heated, after being denied it twice before. your hands moved from his shoulders to the back of his neck and his moved to your waist. his fingers dug into your hips causing you to moan slightly, he took this opportunity to intertwine his tongue with yours.

eventually you broke apart, both gasping for air. you placed your forehead against his and closed your eyes.

“you don’t understand how long i’ve wanted to do that.” he muttered.

“worth it?” you asked, teasing him.

“nope.” he joked.

you leaned back and glared at him, “you bitch.” you leaned in and kissed him again, running your fingers through his hair and pulling it slightly. he groaned against your lips and you smiled through the kiss, enjoying the effect you had on him.

pulling away for the second time, you both had content smiles on your faces. you leaned your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes, “you’re comfortable.”

he let out a hearty laugh, “thank you?”

“it’s a compliment, i could sit here forever.”

suddenly you were no long sitting on top of him, you were being picked up and whisked through the building. your hair blew around until you stopped and were in your room. “what just happened?”

“i’m tired and the couch didn’t seem good to sleep on.” he explained.

“woah, woah, woah. who said you’re sleeping in my room?”

“i did.” he stated. using his powers he stripped himself down to his underwear and jumped on your bed, under the covers.

“i regret kissing you. you’re a pain in the ass.” you complained.

“and you called me a bitch?!” he exclaimed.

you rolled your eyes and grabbed your pyjamas that were at the foot of your bed and walked to your bathroom.

“where are you going?” he asked.

“getting changed, i don’t want you watching.”

you closed the door to block out his protests and quickly got ready for bed.

“hurry up.” pietro called.

“stop complaining or i’m going to sleep on the couch.” you replied, opening the door and leaning against the doorframe. pietro was sat with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes raked over your body and a small smirk grew on his face. “eyes up here pretty boy.”

he laughed and pulled back the cover before patting the spot next to him, signalling for you to join him. you shuffled over and slid into the bed. pietro wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close.

“so much for the whole tough super soldier act, you’re a softie at heart, aren’t you love?” he muttered in your ear.

“anymore of that and i’ll suffocate you in your sleep with this pillow.” you replied, closing your eyes and relaxed into his embrace.

“no you won’t. you’re too soft.” he teased.

“pietro. i’m warning you.” you yawned, “i don’t care how good looking you are i will kill you.”

“good looking huh?”

“fuck off and go to sleep.” you spat.

“sweet dreams, y/n.” he said with a small laugh.

“yep they won’t be about you.” you murmured, before dozing off to sleep.

———

“i knew it!” nat squealed. you squeezed your eyes close and then opened them, blinking rapidly. pietro lay behind you with his arm draped over your waist. he groaned against your neck and looked over his shoulder at the team standing at the door.

“piet what’s going on?” you grumbled, too tired to sit up and look for yourself.

“so when did this happen?” cap asked.

you finally turned over and sat up, seeing everyone stood in your room. “what the fuck? get out my room you creeps!” you shouted, grabbing the pillow behind your head and throwing it towards them.

“oh come on kid, when did it happen?” he repeated.

“none of your business steve.”

“we’re not leaving until we find out.” clint added.

“you’re awfully quiet little brother, nothing to add?” wanda said.

“i cant believe this.” you muttered, lying back down.

“last night, happy? but all we did was kiss okay, nothing else.” you explained.

“yet.” pietro stated. you elbowed him in the stomach and he winced at the impact.

“so are you two together now?” nat asked.

“well we haven’t had the chance to speak about it because you guys ruined our morning!” you exclaimed.

“what’s going on?” bucky asked, rubbing his eyes. he peered in over everyone and laughed, “nevermind.”

it seemed that pietro had had enough too so he sped out of bed and pushed everyone outside the room, closed the door and locked it. “much better.” he said.

you heard the murmurs of everyone outside, “use a condom!” clint shouted. footsteps retreated from your door as everyone left to go about their day.

“i’m moving out i can’t live here anymore.” you groaned.

“it’s not that bad, you’ve got me.” he said, crawling back onto the bed and lying on top of you. you wrapped your arms around his head and played with his hair.

“so are we like together now?” you asked, mocking natasha’s previously asked question.

“would you like that?” he asked.

“god no.” you joked, “obviously dumbass.”

he lifted his head up and leaned in to kiss you.

“nope. you’ve not brushed your teeth.”

[vdlest]

As long as we both shall live

Characters:

Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Summary:

Bucky didn't like the idea of you avoiding him. So during the mini-reunion party, he confronted you.

Warning:

None

⚠️ Read the first part here: 2AM Knock on my door⚠️

It's not a surprise for you to see Bucky lying down on your couch once in a while. Ever since that 2am surprise visit, the two of you has been closer.

There were night where he'll come by and stay for the night, and you don't mind at all. You asked him to use the spare room but insist on staying on the couch. When you asked him why, his answer was, "I prefer to sleep here on the couch to make sure no one will barge in and try to kidnap you."

That makes your sleep more nice and complete. You can finally enjoy your sleep, knowing that Bucky is downstairs, guarding and protecting you.

There were morning you'll wake up and smell his good and delicious cooking. You'll find him cooking breakfast for you in the kitchen and you find it adorable when he wears your strawberry-themed apron, which was a gift from Wanda. You find it adorable when he was wearing that with his vibranium arms.

There were times where you'll be the first one to wake up and you'll find him sleeping on his usual spot. You will prepare breakfast for both of you. Since your kitchen is adjacent in the living room, you always took a glance at him while you were cooking. One time, when you took a glance at him, you saw him awake and looking at you while there's a smile on your face.

Good morning, beautiful. He greeted you and he waved his hands on you.

Good morning, snoring machine.

Sometimes you will come home and see him in front of your door, waiting for you with a box of pizza on his hand and your favorite boba drink on his vibranium hand.

You became each other's company, each other's friend.

But you stopped wanting to be just his friend when he carried you from your couch and bring you straight to your bedroom. You were so tired reading all the reports given to you by Sam and you eventually fell asleep. He carried you all the way to your bedroom. You pretended to be asleep the whole time because you felt his strong arms around you. You felt his heart. You felt his concern and care for you.

That was the night of you realization that you are in love with him.

You are in love with Bucky.

You hid your feelings for him because you noticed that he's not just extra friendly to you. He is like that to everyone. When you were passing by the coffee shop to grab coffee before you head home, you saw Bucky having a conversation with one of the regular baristas there. You admit, you got jealous. You also caught him having that same kind of conversation with your neighbor, your neighbor even gave Bucky a flirty kind of slap on his arms.

Those scenarios made you afraid that he doesn't feel the same way for you, that he's just really friendly. So you decided to keep your feelings to yourself. You also start to avoid him to drift your feelings away and just move on. You thought that won't notice it since you're nothing but a friend to him.

When Wanda and Clint are in the area, they decided to have a mini-reunion party, just a quick catch-up. You offered to do it in your place since you haven't done a house warming party ever since you moved.

Everybody came up — Wanda, Clint, Bruce, Carol, Rhodes, Sam, and of course, Bucky.

The whole night, you were avoiding Bucky and his unpredictable stare. Why'd you call it unpredictable? Because you don't know what his stare mean. It looks angry, sad, blank and whatever. You chose to ignore it as you are trying to move on from your feelings for him.

"So, you and Bucky," Wanda came up to you when you are in the kitchen to get the glasses for the wine that Bruce brought for the party.

You chose to ignore Wanda's gaze and you just kept on whatever you're doing, "What's with me and Bucky?" you innocently asked her.

"That's the exact question I have for you," she shot back to you.

You haven't told anyone about your feelings for Bucky, but if there's one person you arevery comfortable to confide it with, it's Wanda. Well, it's supposed to be her and Nat, but since Nat is gona, you only have Wanda as your choice. But you chose not to tell her because you know she'll just encourage you to confess it to Bucky.

"There's nothing to talk about, okay? There's nothing going on," you denied.

Wanda chuckled, "And you expect me to believe that, silly girl?" she immediately asked you, knowing that you are just lying to her. When you took a glance at her, she was giving you a smile, "If Nat's here, she'll surely roll her eyes at you. I mean, whenever I call you, Bucky is always around you. He's here to accompany you all the time. One time, I facetimed you, he was behind you and I saw how he treats you. And that look in your eyes..."

You decided to cut her off and groan, "What look in my eyes?"

"Darling, that's the exact puppy-in-love eyes I had when I realized I am in love with Vis," hearing her mention Vision's name without stuttering made you feel proud of her. She totally moved on and you see in her eyes that she will always love Vision no matter what. She walked up to you and held your hand, "Y/n, Nat is not here to tell you that you should take your chance with Bucky. But I am here to tell you that you should do it. Don't waste your time. Don't waste the chance you have. Nat and I didn't have a choice. She didn't have a choice for her and Bruce, and I didn't have one too for Vis. So here I am, telling you to choose what will make you happy. Clearly, it's Bucky."

You weren't able to tell Wanda your reasons why you were hesitant to confide your feelings for Bucky. You just approached her and hug her. You let your action speak for yourself. After all, Wanda is aware of it already. She knows you love Bucky.

Aftet that talk with Wanda, you became quiet and you just listen to whatever they are saying and sharing. While listening to Carol's story about her going back here on Earth, you took a glance at Bucky and he was just staring at you. It seems like he was waiting for your eyes to land on his this whole time. But then you remembered that those were the exact eyes having conversation with the barista and your neighbor.

When you saw everyone was too busy talking with each other, you slowly went up to your room to gather your thoughts and have some time alone. Good thing no one noticed you when you went up to your room.

But you weren't alone the moment you heard your door opened.

"You really think I wouldn't noticed that you were avoiding me for quite some time now?"

Your heart skipped a beat when you heard his voice behind you.

You were sitting on your bed, facing the window, and your back was facing the door.

"And you really think I won't notice it when I received an invitation to this party from Sam and not from you?" you heard his footsteps coming towards your position, "I am not dumb, Y/N. I felt that you were avoiding me the moment you said no to me coming over to have pizza and boba time with you. I felt it and I want to know why." his voice is starting to build up but you don't give a damn about it.

"Bucky, please, not now," you calmly said.

You put your hands on your face and you felt your tears are starting to form in your eyes.

You are feeling emotional because you don't know what's gotten into you and you let yourself fall in love with Bucky. You didn't have the chance to release whatever you felt when you saw him flirting with the barista and your neighbor. But here you are now, you are crying your heart out.

You are confuse. You don't know what to feel.

When you felt that Bucky is still behind you, waiting for you to speak up, you decided to walk away, but when you walk past him, he grabbed your wrist, stopping you from walking away from him.

He gently pulled you towards him, making you face him.

"I can't, Bucky. I just can't," you said in a low voice and you are trying your best not to look at him because your eyes are red.

He held your chin, forcing you to look at him, "Can't you just tell it to me straight and let me fix it?" he asked you in a more calm voice. "I want to know what's happening to you. I want to know what I did for you to treat me like this. Just tell me, I am your friend."

Upon hearing the word "friend," you exploded like a timed-bomb.

You removed his grip on your wrist and looked him in his eyes, "You really want to know what's happening to me? What's happening to your friend?" you emphasized the word friend, "Well, that's the problem, Bucky! I am your friend. I am nothing but a friend to you! All this time, I'm just a friend! But I'm so stupid to think that I can be more than that! I am so stupid to think that I am the only woman you treat like a princess, that I am the only woman you look at like a piece of diamond!"

He was stunned when you exploded. He wasn't expecting to see this side of you. You've always been quiet, peaceful, warm, and happy-go-lucky, but this time? You're different. Your tears fell down your cheeks and it broke his heart to see you cry because of him.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand any of your words, y/n."

You scoffed and shook your head, "So, you're just gonna deny it?" you asked him.

"Deny, what? I don't unde--"

"I saw you with that barista in the coffee shop! I saw you talking to my neighbor last week! You think I don't see the way you and those girls talk? That's the way you talk to me! That's the way you treat me! And I'm so stupid to think that I am the only woman you treat that way! I am so stupid for thinking that I am special to you, that we have something special!" when you noticed that he is still puzzled, you furiously confessed your supressed feelings, "I am in love with you! I fell in love with you!"

It wasn't your intention to tell it to him, but your heart is so full that you can't contain it anymore. So you exploded and finally confessed to him what you truly feel for him.

Your jealousy pushed you to your limits, and it also pushed you to admit your love for Bucky.

When you saw Bucky was still frozen from where he is standing, you decided to turn your back to him and just leave. But when you were about to hold the door knob of your room, you heard him talk.

"Didn't I tell you not to think that you're just a sister to me?"

You stopped from grabbing the door knob and this time you were the one who froze.

"You know what? You're right. You're stupid. You're so stupid to think that I only see you as my sister, as my friend. You're so stupid for thinking that I treat all those girls just like how I treat you. And you're so stupid for thinking that I am not also in love with you," he said.

You slowly turn around to face him.

You didn't know what to feel when your eyes met his. He's meters away from you but you could feel him in your heart.

"It's not true that I treat those woman like I treat you, because you're different, y/n," he slowly walked towards you, "I am just being friendly to them because every girl deserves to be treated nicely. But with you? It's different. I am not treating you like a girl, I am treating you like my queen, because that's what you deserve. I've been hiding the way I feel for you because I have no idea how to put into words. I have no idea if you feel the same way to me, especially when you started to avoid me. And it made me insane when you were avoiding me. I didn't know what to do because I don't want to lose you. I lost everything. I lost my life. I lost my best friend. I lost my family. And I won't allow myself to lose you."

"Bucky," you can't find the right words to say after hearing his confession.

When he reached to where you are standing, he cupped your face, "I am sorry for confusing your feelings. I am sorry for not knowing that you were feeling this way. But y/n, I won't be sorry for loving you."

"I'm sorry," you broke down and your tears resume in falling from your eyes, "I'm sorry for not trusting you. I just..."

He stopped you, "I don't care about anything anymore, y/n. What's important to me is I could finally say what I truly feel for you." he said.

He looked into your eyes while his hands are still on your cheeks.

"I love you, y/n."

You smiled at him, "I love you too, Bucky."

[ifmywishescametrue]

WAIT I DIDNT KNOW YOU SHIPPED SAMTONY TOO!!! another oneeee #13 "I saw you looking at it last time we were in the store together, so I got it for you." for samtony

samtony is a very pure ship 😌 thank you for sending a prompt, and I hope you like it!

It starts on a perfectly average Tuesday morning.

“Why do I do this to myself?” Sam pants out, folding himself in half with his hands on his knees. “Every damn time I say it's the last time, and every damn time here we are again.”

Bucky claps a hand on his back and almost knocks him over with one touch. “Maybe you're a masochist, Sammy.”

Sam feebly flips him off, walking off the elevator on jelly legs. “I told you not to call me that.”

“You let Tony call you that,” Bucky points out, following him towards the kitchen.

"I actually like him. We're friends."

“That's offensive. I'm literally your best friend. Your favorite person. The Abbott to your Costello. The Tom to your Jerry. The Lucy to your Ethel.”

Sam snorts, “You're not even my favorite hundred year old man in this building. Also, if anyone’s the Lucy here, it’s me.”

Bucky scoffs, but whatever retort he had coming cuts off when they enter the kitchen. “Oh, damn, are those banana pancakes?”

He reaches for one on the top of the stack, and Tony slaps his hand away with the spatula. “Where are your manners, Barnes?”

“You’ve got like ten there,” Bucky whines. “Why can’t I have one?”

“You can have one when it’s your turn.”

Bucky gives him a dramatic pout that has no effect, and Sam laughs at the scene as he collapses into the stool next to Nat at the peninsula. She gives him a raised eyebrow and a quirked lip at the complete lack of grace.

Tony flits through the kitchen, exchanging lighthearted quips with Bucky as he goes. He has on an apron that Clint gave him at Christmas last year, covered in snowflakes and purple hearts with arrows through them in a mimicry of an ugly Christmas sweater pattern. Underneath it is a t-shirt dotted with Captain America shields, and the sweatpants have a cartoon version of the War Machine suit on the thigh. As usual, all of the colors clash.

A mug of coffee is placed in front of Sam with a small smile before Tony returns to the stove, and Sam is still drinking the first sip when he comes back with a plate of pancakes for him, topped with just the right amount of syrup and a dollop of whipped cream. Tony’s gone again before he can even finish saying thank you.

“Why is it his turn before me?” Bucky complains, and Sam laughs again through his first mouthful at how petulant he sounds.

“I like him the best,” Tony says, sending a wink Sam’s way. “And they’re for him, anyway. Your favorite, right?”

Sam’s eyes widen a bit in surprise. He doesn’t remember telling him that. “Uh, yeah, they are. How’d you know that?”

Tony shrugs, “I pay attention.”

He hands Bucky a plate of pancakes with another jab at his lack of patience, and the moment passes as quickly as it came, but it keeps happening after that.

Tony pays attention to him.

Maybe it was happening all along, before that morning with the pancakes, but just too subtle for Sam to take notice at first. Now that he has, though, he sees it all the time.

The next is just a few days later, when Tony knocks on his door holding a small, nondescript black box.

“What’s this for?” Sam asks, taking it from Tony’s hand. He doesn’t get an answer before he opens the lid to a simple, leather-banded watch. It’s nothing overtly expensive, nothing that screams ‘gift from a billionaire,’ but it is exactly something Sam would have chosen for himself.

“I saw you looking at it last time we were in the store together, so I got it for you,” Tony says simply. “Figured it would go well with that suit Pepper picked for you for the gala tomorrow night.”

Later, Sam will realize that Pepper had nothing to do with the suit choice that fit him perfectly, but for now he runs a thumb over the dark brown leather and says, “Yeah, it will. Thanks, Tony.”

“No problem,” Tony replies, and he lingers in the doorway for a while longer, lower lip between his teeth. Sam is about to ask if there was something else he came here for when Tony claps his hands together and says, “Well, I should get going. Workshop things to do and all that. I’ll see you at dinner.”

He disappears quickly, and that becomes part of it, too. Never dwelling on it when he does something just for Sam. Fleeing if he can, but sometimes staying when that’s what Sam needs instead.

“You look exhausted,” Tony says, and Sam manages a grumble from where he’s slumped on the living room couch, rubbing a hand over his bruised abdomen.

The mission took longer than either him or Bucky expected, and the fights were more intense. It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out type of deal. Infiltrate the base, take out the lower level minions, and apprehend the leaders. But the intel wasn’t as accurate as they were hoping, and there were nearly double the number of enemies than predicted. No major injuries for either of them, but he’ll be sore for at least a few days. Bucky’s cuts and bruises healed on the way home.

Sam doesn’t notice that Tony left until he comes back with ice wrapped in a kitchen towel. He places the ice right on the worst spot over his ribs, holding it there until Sam replaces his hand with his own.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Tony remarks. “You should probably head up to bed. You’ll feel even worse if you fall asleep here, trust me on that one.”

It’s somewhere past midnight, Sam knows, but even with how tired his body is, his mind is still wide awake. The mission replays in his mind. Every faulty move, every chance to do better, every little detail both good and bad.

Sam shakes his head, “Not ready for bed yet.”

Tony takes the seat next to him, leaving an inch of space between them. “J, turn on the Saints game from yesterday.”

Sam smiles a little and asks, “Do you even like football?”

“It’s not the worst sport,” Tony replies vaguely. He settles back into the cushions and pulls the blanket off the back of the couch to cover them both.

“Yeah, what’s the best?”

Completely serious, Tony says, “Ping pong.”

Sam laughs, “That’s not a real sport. Pick something else.”

“Of course it’s real. It’s in the Olympics and everything,” Tony grins. “Give me one good reason it’s not a sport.”

“Alright, fine, maybe it’s real, but there’s no way it’s your favorite.”

Tony shrugs, “It’s entertaining sometimes. The professionals get really into it. There’s an awful lot of grunting involved.”

They stay up for a while longer, talking about nothing of importance, and Tony slowly shifts closer to him until that bit of distance is gone. His arm presses up against him, and Sam starts to have a hard time keeping his eyes open, it seems only natural to rest his head against Tony’s shoulder.

“You can go to bed,” Sam murmurs. “You don’t have to stay here with me.”

“I don’t mind,” Tony whispers back.

Sam does regret it a bit when he wakes up on the couch in the morning with a sore back, but there’s a fresh mug of coffee already waiting for him on the table, still warm and exactly how he likes it, and he smiles to himself anyway. That night is a shift to something different, and he knows it right away.

He starts to pay more attention to Tony’s interactions with everyone else, just in case he’s part of the rule and not the exception. Generosity is one of Tony’s best traits, but even so it tends to extend even further to him. More personal and frequent.

“So there’s this place in Brooklyn that claims to have the most authentic cajun cuisine outside of New Orleans. Want to come with me? Tell me if it’s true?”

It isn’t true, and Tony comes to him the next day with another one, until they’re on a quest together to find one that doesn’t make Sam miss home after just one bite. It takes them all over the city and into Jersey once or twice, and Sam doesn’t point out that Tony doesn’t even seem to like crawfish, no matter where it comes from. He doesn’t want it to be over if he does.

“This is pretty close,” Sam says. He thinks it might be place number eleven, but he lost count a while back. “Could use a little more spice, but at least they didn’t try to add their own spin to it.”

Tony’s watery eyes widen. “This isn’t spicy enough for you?”

Sam grins and shakes his head. “Remind me to bring you with me the next time I go home. You won’t know what hit you.”

Tony’s face does something complicated at that, before it settles on a soft smile. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

Sam fully gets it then, what exactly it all means, but he doesn’t quite know what he wants to do about it yet. Tony has taken up residence in a place in his heart that he wasn’t sure was capable of opening up anymore. He did it so easily, sneaking in like a thief in the night and catching Sam unaware.

Now the sound of Tony’s laugh makes his stomach flip. He seeks it out, telling him stupid stories and jokes to make it happen more. He stares a little too much to catch glimpses of his smile, and now he can see just how often Tony looks back.

It isn’t subtle anymore, this thing between them. Lingering looks, too long touches, and every quiet gesture all build up. Bucky teases him and Natasha gives him knowing looks. Steve tells him that he hopes they make each other happy, and Sam doesn’t tell him that nothing has happened between them like that. They’re still just friends, and they don’t talk about what any of it means.

“Do you want to see a movie with me tonight? There’s that weird one with the killer robots playing downtown,” Sam suggests, and neither of them say anything when Tony slips his hand into his in the darkness of the theater. It goes unmentioned, too, when Sam holds tight after Tony almost lets go when they reach the sidewalk afterwards.

It’s another late night when the last piece finally falls into place.

Sam is nursing bruised ribs again after another mission that turned a little sideways through no one’s fault. He’s still sweaty, dirt under his fingernails and dried blood caked around a shallow cut on his cheek, but Sam still asks JARVIS in the elevator to take him to wherever Tony is. It isn’t as surprising as it should be that Tony is waiting for him on the edge of Sam’s bed.

He stands there patiently while Tony looks him over, and he looks his fill in return. It’s strange how days away from him feel longer now. His balance is off center until Tony is around to set him right again.

“I missed you,” Sam murmurs, and Tony smiles softly.

“You were only gone a couple of days,” he points out, but Sam knows now that it’s his way of saying that he missed him just as much.

Normally, Sam would let it move on from here. Tony would lead him into the bathroom, gently clean up his scrapes, and click his tongue at every bruise. It would end with them on the couch, Sam’s head in Tony’s lap or vice versa, depending on what mood it takes. Sometimes he wants to hold Tony and remember that he survived another fight so he could come home to this, and sometimes he needs to be held to forget about everything else that was lost along the way.

But tonight he reaches out to grasp Tony’s hip, and he draws him in a little closer. The room is dimly lit, and each shadow on Tony’s face is accentuated. Sam can’t remember quite the first time he looked at him and thought the word ‘beautiful,’ but it’s all he’s thinking now.

“You love me,” Sam says. “For a long time now, right?”

Tony nods, and he wraps his arms around Sam’s waist, careful not to hold too tight. “You caught up eventually. Didn’t take as long as I thought it would.”

Sam smiles, cupping Tony’s face in one palm and stroking his thumb across his cheekbone. “How long were you expecting?”

“Maybe never,” Tony admits. “I would’ve kept trying, though.”

“Stay with me tonight?” Sam asks, because nothing more needs to be said for now. They both already know.

“How about every night?”

Sam leans in slowly, murmuring against his lips, “Sounds like a plan.”

[prettybuckybaby]

we lay here for years or for hours, so long we become the flowers; chapter four

the avengers babysit, part two

part seven of single parent peter parker

masterlist

read on ao3 here

“Hey, you wanna ditch this thing tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, babe. You’re telling me you don’t wanna attend a lecture from one of NYU’s most prestigious lecturers on the dramatic structure of Macbeth? Sounds like a real hoot to me,”

“You’re such a dick. Are we ditching or not?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

---------------

Most of the avengers are in the common area. Tony and Pepper are in a meeting and it’s Tuesday, so Natasha and Leia are having their secret dance lesson, but the rest of them are sprawled in various positions across the room. Peter is sitting on the floor in front of the table, attention split between the chemistry homework in front of him and his phone.

“Hey, Mr Barton?” He asks when he puts his phone down and picks his pen back up.

“Are we ever going to graduate to first names?” The archer asks him, frown on his face. “Nat lets you call her ‘Tasha’, and I’m still ‘Mr Barton’. I mean, even robo-cop gets ‘Buck’ every now and then,”

“May raised me to be respectful, Mr Barton. I’m just respecting my elders,” Peter grins up at him, eyes sparkling. “Plus, I called Tasha ‘Miss Romanoff’ once and I have never felt fear like it before,”

“And Barnes?”

“He asked me to call him Bucky,” Peter explains with a small shrug.

“Will you call me Clint?”

“Sure thing,” Peter smiles at him. Clint smiles back, thinking he’s gotten his way. “Hey, Mr Clint,”

“Oh my God,” Sam snorts from across the room, where he, Steve, and Bucky are throwing a ball between themselves. “You are the worst. You are my least favourite child. You should let Keener know that he’s overtaken you,”

“That’s rude, Mr Clint,” Peter pouts up at him. “I’m just respecting you. Let me respect you, Mr Clint,”

“For the love of all things holy, Peter, shut the hell up,” Clint glares at him. Peter tries his best to look innocent, but he can’t stop his lip from twitching. “What do you want?”

“Are you busy tomorrow?” He narrows his eyes at the teen.

“Why?”

“Well, Harley and I have got this lecture thing on at school. And it’s like, a mixed school event thing, and it’s an all-day thing. If it was just an hour or something, I’d take her with me, but it’s all day and I don’t want her to get bored, you know? Anyway, it’s Wednesday, and Leia doesn’t go to group on Wednesdays, so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with her?” He asks, words rushing out of his mouth. “I mean, it’s fine if you don’t, I can ask someone else, but she hasn’t seen you for a while and-”

“I’d love to see her,” Clint cuts him off, grinning brightly. “The whole day? Absolutely not an issue.”

“Thanks,” Peter smiles, before it falls into a small frown. “Please do not let her touch your arrows again. If there is any sign of blood on her, you’re never seeing her again.” The teen threatens.

“I’m not irresponsible, Parker,” Clint scowls as he defends himself. “How was I meant to know she could reach them? They were on the countertop. She’s tiny,”

“She’s three,” Peter says slowly, as if this explains everything. “Three-year-olds do that. Didn’t your kids do that when they were growing up?”

“Well,” Clint shifts. “Laura was abundantly clear that I was not allowed arrows around the house when they were in their grabbing stages. Or any time after that. So, no. They never managed to reach a quiver of arrows that were on a countertop taller than them and cut their hand.”

“Yeah,” Peter rolls his eyes, turning back to his chemistry work with a small smile on his face. “You should implement Mrs Barton’s philosophies everywhere that there are children running around. She’s really onto something, you know?”

“Yeah, alright, smartarse,” Clint rolls his eyes, throwing a ball of paper at Peter’s head without looking up. The teen bats it away without looking up. “What time are you dropping her off at?”

---------------

Peter’s at the tower at seven the next morning, just as Clint is waking up. He stumbles into the kitchen and is immediately tackled by a toddler.

“Ugh,” Clint groans as the little body crashes into his legs. One of his hands rest on the top of her head. “Where do you get your energy from. I’m still asleep,”

“The sun’s awake, Clint,” Leia smiles up at him, eyes bright. “So ‘m I,”

“Uh huh,” The archer mumbles, ignoring the small laugh coming from Peter.

“Am I okay to leave her with you?” The teen asks, handing Clint a cup of coffee, voice filled with amusement. “Should I-”

“I’m awake,” He insists, downing the entire cup before almost slamming it down on the counter. Peter raises his eyebrow at him. “I am. Aren’t you meant to be in school?”

“I’m waiting for Harley,” The teen tells him, taking his phone out when a text tone goes off. “He’s downstairs.” He puts his phone back away and bends down in front of his daughter. “Hey, you’ll be good for Mr Clint, yeah?”

“Uh huh, Daddy,”

“Good,” He kisses her cheek, ruffling her hair as he stands up. “I’ll be back around three?”

“Okay, kid,” Clint smiles as Leia comes back over to him, hugging his leg. “Have fun at your lecture…thing,”

“Oh, it’s going to be a blast,” Peter rolls his eyes as he walks over to the lift. “See you later. I love you!”

“Love you, Daddy,”

“Love you, Pete!” The teen steps into the open lift, sticking his finger up at the archer. “Wow. What happened to the respect, Parker?”

“Goodbye, Mr Hawkeye-Barton, Sir.” He calls as the doors shut, smirking lightly. “No arrows!”

----------------

Clint starts by himself breakfast, eating it while he lets Leia watch one of her shows. He asks Leia if she wants anything, but she tells him that she had breakfast with her father back in Queens, so he just hands her a pouch of juice while he eats. A few of the others come through the kitchen while they’re in there, all of them smiling and sitting down with Leia, asking her about the show that she’s watching.

“Right then,” He grins at Leia once she’s come to the end of an episode and he’s finished eating and clearing up. “Shall we get started?”

“What we doin’, Clint?” Leia asks, looking up at him with a smile.

“Well,” He starts as he stands them both up, walking towards the lift. “Daddy said no arrows because he’s boring. But also, Daddy’s quite smart, and I quite like hanging out with you. So, I got you something, so we can still play with arrows,”

“Will Daddy be mad?” She asks as the lift starts moving down towards the training room Clint has set up for them.

“No,” Clint comforts her easily, grinning down at her. “Because we’re going to use special arrows, ones that can’t hurt anyone,” The doors open straight into the training room, and Clint leads Leia over to the corner where his arrows are kept. He sits down next to them, grabbing one of his quivers and a smaller one. “Okay,” He takes an arrow out of each of them. “These are the arrows I normally use, yeah? See this tip?” He pokes the top of the arrow, moving it away when Leia goes to copy the movement.

“Sharp?”

“Very sharp.” He nods and puts the arrow away. He takes one out of the smaller quiver. “These are special arrows. See, instead of a point, they’ve got a flat end,” He holds this arrow out to her, letting her touch the end. He laughs lightly when she frowns.

“How’s it stick?” She asks, poking the arrow again.

“Watch this.” Clint tells her. He licks the sucker on the end of the arrow, making sure Leia’s eyes are on him, and then slams the arrow onto his forehead. It sticks when he moves his hand away.

“You look like a un’corn,” Leia giggles at him, lifting a hand to bat at the arrow. It sways until Clint pulls it off.

“Yeah,” Clint chuckles. “So, as well as using special arrows, we’ve got a special board to aim at,” He points over to the archery targets on the other side of the room, where there’s a smaller, plastic target along with the many full-sized ones. He stands up, picking up the quiver and a small bow, and takes one of Leia’s hands in his empty one. They stop when they’re standing opposite the small target, where he hands the bow to Leia. “Okay, so. First, put your left hand here,” He points to the grip. “And your other hand pulls the string back,” He kneels down behind her, putting his hands over hers after her loads an arrow onto the string. He moves their hands as he speaks. “And then we pull back, and we’re trying to hit that yellow circle in the middle.”

-----------------

By the time that Clint decides they should have lunch, Leia is at a stage where she can get an arrow on the target every time she shoots. A few of them end up in the centre of the target, but most of them land closer to the edge. Clint high fives her.

After they have lunch, where Steve and Sam join them, Clint takes her to his and Nat’s floor, away from the others.

“What’re we doin’ now, Clint?” Leia asks him when they sit down in their living area. Clint grins at her.

“I thought we could go on an adventure!”

“A’venture?” She asks, eyes going wide. Clint laughs as he nods.

“Yeah! But first, we need supplies.” He brings out Leia’s bag that Peter left with them this morning, and then moves towards the kitchen area. He comes back into the living room with a small box in his arms. “Okay. You need to pick some snacks and a couple of drinks, just in case you need a nibble,” Leia nods as she picks out a couple of pouches of her juice, along with a small bag of cookies and a banana. “Okay. You put them in your bag with this,” He reaches onto the couch and picks up a Leia-sized blanket.

“Okay, Clint,” She grins as she stuffs everything into the backpack and pulls the zips shut. “Can Bearbear come?”

“Of course he can,” The archer smiles. “Okay, last thing. Do you know what this is?” He asks as he pulls a roll of paper out of his back pocket and spreads it out over the floor.

“Um,” Leia thinks for a moment before peering up at the man. “Treasure map?”

“Yeah! Sort of,” He grins again. “But, there isn’t really any treasure, so it’s really just a map. You know what it’s a map for?” Leia frowns as she looks over the map before shaking her head. “Well, you know sometimes I go into the ceiling?” He laughs when her whole face lights up.

“We’re goin’ into the ceilin’?” She nearly bounces where she’s sat with excitement, making Clint laugh again.

“Yeah. We’re going to explore the whole tower. This is a map of all of the vents. See how they’re all connected?” She nods her head as he runs his finger along the printout before his finger stops. “We’re going to start here, which is right over there,” He points to the vent that is situated above the cupboards in their kitchen area. Leia giggles as Clint picks her and her backpack up, making sure she’s holding onto Bearbear and stands her up on the counter. He pushes himself up as well and lifts her up to the vent cover. “Okay, push up on that, and then move it forwards.”

“Wow,” Leia gasps as she climbs into the tunnel. She crawls forward, giving Clint enough space to climb in as well and put the cover back over the vent.

“Let’s go this way, first.” Clint tells her, pointing down the tunnel.

They explore the vents for about an hour before Leia starts to yawn, and they get another half hour before she’s slowing down her crawling and her eyes are drooping shut.

“Hey,” Clint pokes her side gently, voice nearing a whisper. “You ready for a nap?” Leia opens her mouth to answer, but the only thing that comes out is a yawn. Clint laughs softly. “Yeah, I think so. Let’s get you comfy, sweetie pie,” He takes the blanket out of the bag on his shoulder and spreads it out over her, before pulling his jumper off his body. He rolls it up and tucks it under her head. He smiles softly when her eyes flutter shut. “Have a nice nap, precious.”

---------------

Peter and Harley arrive back at the tower at ten past three and go up to the common room. Everyone is there, apart from Tony, Pepper, Clint, and Leia.

“Hey,” Bruce smiles at them as they come into the room, both of them laughing at something. Everyone else offers their welcome when they notice the teens.

“Hi, Dr Banner,” Peter smiles at him as he takes a seat on the only seat left, groaning when Harley forces himself next to him. “Jesus, Harley,”

“You’re the one who’s taking over the whole chair,”

“How was your lecture?” Steve asks them, interrupting their bickering. He laughs when Peter groans. “That bad, huh?”

“She talked about Shakespeare for six hours.” Harley tells them, scowling slightly. “I mean, who cares about Shakespeare that much to listen to some old woman talk about him for six. Hours.”

“You slept through most of it,” Harley scoffs when Peter shoves against him. “You missed the exciting stuff. I, personally, had a wonderful day,”

“Absolute bull-”

“Where’s Clint?” Peter asks, cutting Harley off and ignoring him. He frowns when most of them shrug.

“Steve and I saw them at lunch, but we haven’t seen them since,” Sam tells him.

“I haven’t seen them since breakfast,” Bruce says.

“Bucky and I haven’t been in the tower,” Natasha frowns. “He said something about exploring somewhere, though, last night,”

“Oh.” Peter frowns as he pulls his phone out and clicking on Clint’s contact. The phone barely rings before he answers.

“Good afternoon, Parker,” Clint answers, grin clear through his voice. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Where are you?”

“What?” Clint scoffs loudly. “No ‘Hello, Clint. Thanks ever so for babysitting for me today. You’re a real lifesaver. I hope you had fun!’?”

“I don’t sound like that. Where’s my kid?” Peter asks, scowling. He elbows Harley when he hears him snort out a ‘you definitely sound like that’ at Clint’s impression. “I’d quite like to know that she’s still alive.”

“She’s napping, at the moment,”

“Yeah, I figured. Stop avoiding the question. Where are you? I want to see her,” He frowns when he hears the hesitation.

“In my defence, I thought I had more time before she needed a nap. I lost track of time,” Peter sits up straight.

“Mr Barton, buddy, where are you?” His eyes narrow when he hears shifting above him. “Are you joking? Tell me you’re joking, please,” He ignores the way everyone in the room looks at him with concerned looks on their faces.

“Well, here’s the thing-”

“Why the hell did you let her fall asleep in the fucking vents?”

“She’s got a blanket and she’s got Bearbear. Everything is good, Peter,” The archer tries to sooth the teenager, but it doesn’t work.

“Everything is not ‘good’.” He almost growls down the line. “How long has she been asleep?”

“About-oh, hang on a second, she’s waking up.” Peter hears as Clint moves the phone away from his face. “Hey, sweetheart. You alright?”

“Where’s Daddy?” Peter smiles when he hears his daughter’s voice, heavy with sleep.

“Daddy’s downstairs. You wanna go and see him? Okay. We’ll be down in a second, Pete. Adios.” Peter rolls his eyes, forcing down a smile when Clint hangs up.

[wizardofrozz]

Put to the Test

Summary: Rosalia and Bucky meet at a famous Tony Stark party when Rosalia joins the Avenger, but something doesn��t quite feel right.

Warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, mention of implied smut

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

A/N: I’m a little nervous about this series; I love it but I’m anxious about anyone else liking it lol. Also, flashbacks are in italics.

Chapter 1: Well, hello

My eyes fluttered open as the sun peaked through my window across the room. I blinked, feeling unrested and groggy before rolling over check the time: 7:50. I rolled back over, groaning, praying I could fall back asleep for a little longer. I laid in bed for a few more minutes, but my chances of sleeping again were long gone. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes before swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, getting up to stretch. I shivered at the sudden chill in the air; apparently, no one thought to turn the heat on in the compound last night; I rolled my eyes, grabbed sweatpants and a hoodie before heading for the kitchen. I walked through the doorway, and the smell of brewing coffee greeted me, but I didn’t see anyone in the kitchen. I looked around for clues to who else could possibly be awake this early. I shrugged and made my way to a stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down, waiting for the coffee pot to beep, letting me know it was done. After a few minutes, I felt sparks explode across my shoulder and travel down my arm; I gasped, sitting up straighter, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. I knew exactly who was awake at this point and turned in time to see him sit on the stool next to me.

           “Morning, Bucky bear,” I smiled at him. A goofy, groggy grin spread across his face, and his eyes sparkled when he looked at me.

           “Morning doll, what are you doing up so early?” he stretched his arms over his head as he spoke, testing the strength of the tank top he had on as it struggled to keep his broad chest covered.

           “I couldn’t sleep anymore. I slept like shit anyway, so I guess I’ll be making it through the day of caffeine and willpower.” I glanced over at the coffee pot wishing it would brew faster.

           “Well, looks like we might need another pot of coffee. I slept like shit too, couldn’t stay asleep no matter how hard I tried,” he glared at the countertop before glancing up at me.

           “Phantom pain again?” I reached over to touch him but decided against it at the last minute, but he didn’t seem to notice. He answered with a grunt as he rubbed his left arm before sighing and putting his head down on the counter.

           “You’d think after all this time, it would stop hurting. I guess the cold nights don’t help,” he stood up suddenly and walked over to the coffee pot when it finally beeped. He grabbed a cup out of the cabinet, filled it with coffee, caramel sauce, a handful of ice cubes, and topped it off with milk before sliding it across the island to me.

           “Aw, Bucky, you remembered,” I smiled at him as I took a sip and sighed, thank god for caffeine. “Hey, aren’t you going to have some too? You made it.”

           “Yeah, but I’m going to jump in the shower quickly,” he made his way around the island, “don’t drink it all without me.” He smiled and reached out to touch my arm but stopped short, frowned, then cleared his throat and headed for the shower. Once he left the room, I sighed, cursing that damn compromise we made weeks ago. I think back on it periodically; it was over a month ago, my first night at the compound, which happened to be a famous Tony Stark party.

 ***

I was excited; I’d finally get the chance to meet the entire Avengers team after hearing about them from Nat endlessly. Knowing Nat for as long as I have meant that when she was welcomed to the Avengers, I heard all about them until I was asked to join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes too.

           “Hey, you ready?” Nat said from my doorway where she was leaning. “Woah, look at you, these guys are going to lose their mind,” she smiled as she walked in and continued to check out my outfit. I picked out a short sleeve, tight, floor-length, black dress speckled with glitter; I slid on the heels Nat let me borrow.

           “Well, I have to make an impression, don’t I?” I smirked at her before turning back to the mirror to finish putting my earring in.

           “Oh honey, you’re going to leave an impression those men will remember until the day they die.” I laughed as she wandered over to my bed and sat down.

           “Oh, come on, I doubt these guys will be that fixated,” I said as I turned away from the mirror and looked at her.

           “Well, I guess we’ll see then,” she smirked and stood.

           “Okay, so who else am I meeting tonight?” I asked, walking towards her.

           “You’ve met Rogers, Tony, Clint, and Wanda already, so that leaves Peter, Thor, Sam, Bruce, oh and Bucky,” she nodded when she was sure that was everyone.

           “Well, let’s go. I need a drink,” I looped my arm with hers, and we headed for the party. “Wait, who’s Bucky? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention him,” she didn’t answer; she just smiled and led me towards the steps. We walked down the steps, and the party was in full swing by the time we made it there. As we got closer to the bottom, something inside me forced me to look at the middle of the room, where a group of men stood talking; my eyes fell on one of them, at that exact moment he turned his head. His eyes darted around the room; I knew he felt me looking at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him no matter how hard I tried. Finally, he looked up at the steps, and our eyes met for a brief moment before Nat snapped in front of my face.

           “Hey, earth to Roz,” I shook my head and looked at her.

           “Sorry, I’m just captivated by all this,” I lied as I smiled at her.

           “Oh, I know, Stark never skimps on a party, but you’ll get used to it. The first party can be overwhelming,” she laughed as we reached the bottom of the steps. She stood on her toes to look over the crowd before grabbed my hand and pulling me with her. “Come on; I see the guys.”

           “Nat, you’re going to rip my arm off,” I laughed as I followed her. We made our way through the crowd before stopping short in front of the group of men I saw from the steps.

           “Hey guys, I want to introduce you to Rosalia, Roz for short. Stark finally managed to get her here.” She turned to me and smiled before introducing them. “This is Thor,” she pointed to a large man standing at the center of the semi-circle of men, he was huge, handsome, and he knew it.

           “Pleasure to meet you, Thor Odinson,” he reached for my hand, bending down and placed a kiss on the back of my hand without breaking eye contact. I assumed I was blushing, but my face never warmed, but I did smile at him.

           “This is Sam Wilson,” Nat pointed to a shorter, handsome man who looked tiny standing next to Thor.

           “Hi, nice to meet you; Natasha talks about you a lot,” he shot me a flirty smile and shook my hand.

           “Then we have Bruce,” this time, Nat touched his arm instead of just pointing. I made sure to make a mental note of that so I could bug her about it later.

           “Hello, Dr. Bruce Banner, Nat has told me a lot about you,” he had a friendly smile, but he seemed very jittery.

           “Then there’s Peter Parker,” I looked at where she pointed and saw a young boy, who could only be about 16, that looked like he just saw an angel.

           “H-Hi, nice to meet you, you’re beautiful,” his cheeks turned red when everyone else laughed, but I smiled at him.

           “That’s very sweet, thank you,” he smiled, and his face flushed a deeper pink before Nat grabbed my attention again.

           “And finally, this is Sergeant James Barnes,” I followed where she was pointing too, and my eyes fell on the man I saw from the steps. His beautiful blue eyes were what caught me off guard, along with how physically intimidating he was. He had broad shoulders, along with massive, muscular arms. I noticed he moved his left arm oddly as he switched his drink to his left hand to reach out and shake my hand.

           “Please, call me Bucky. I haven’t gone by Sergeant in a long time,” he smiled at me and grabbed my hand. The most intense feeling I’ve ever experienced came over me; time seemed to stand still. My whole body felt like it was on fire, but thankfully, not in a painful way, almost comforting. It felt like every nerve ending in my body was firing simultaneously, and the sensation took my breath away. I could tell by the awed look on his face he was feeling the same thing. Finally, we both let go, and reality came rushing back, and we were standing in the middle of the party surrounded by the rest of the Avengers. I quickly looked at Bruce, Sam, Peter, Thor, and Nat, but no one seemed to notice what just happened, but I didn’t have much time before Nat grabbed my arm and pulled me towards to bar.

           “I want a drink. I know you could use one too” luckily, she was facing away from me.

           “You can say that again,” I whispered as I followed her. We ordered our drinks, and I tried to shake off what just happened before Nat started asking questions.

           “So what do you think?” she said as she took a sip of her drink.

           “So do they only hire attractive men,” we giggled before turning our back on the bar. “So, what’s with you and Dr. Banner?” I raised an eyebrow and smirked at her.

           “When I figure that out, I’ll tell you,” she smiled then looked over at Bruce. I followed her gaze and noticed Bucky wasn’t standing there anymore, I started to scan the room, but I didn’t make it far when someone cleared their throat behind me.

           “Can I join you for a drink?” his deep voice sent chills down my spine, but I turned to find Bucky standing behind me. He towered over me by at least half a foot; I glanced back to where Nat was standing, but she was already walking away towards where Steve had walked into the room, throwing a shitty smile over her shoulder.

           “Yeah, I’d like that,” I threw back the rest of my drink. “I could use another if you do,” he smirked and nodded.

           “What’s your poison?” he asked as he leaned closer to hear me over the music.

           “Whiskey on the rocks, please,” I smiled as he pulled back.

           “Oh man, a woman after my heart,” he smirked again and ordered our drinks. We grabbed them off the bar then he motioned for me to follow him to the end of the bar. We stood there for what seemed like hours, drinking and talking until we realized that the party was starting to die down. I don’t know what came over me, but I leaned towards Bucky and stood on my toes to get closer to his ear.

           “Why don’t we continue this party upstairs, my room?” I moved back and winked; a smile spread across his face. He threw back the last of his drink and stretched his left arm out to let me go first. I noticed the odd movement of that arm again but shook it off and headed for the steps that led to my room; I felt him following close behind. We finally made it to the door of my room; I opened it and stepped aside so he could walk in; I noticed that somewhere along the way, he had loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. He caught me looking and winked as he made his way through the doorway; I looked up and down the hall to make sure no one saw us before slipping into the room, closing the door, and leaning against it. He stood in the middle of the room, and oddly enough, he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking around the room. Bucky must have felt me looking at him because he turned his attention back to me; he smirked and took a few steps closer.

           “You really blow my mind, you know that?” the smile had vanished from his face, but his pupils grew, trying to take in as much of me as he could.

           “No, I didn’t. Why don’t you tell me why Sergeant Barnes?” I moved my face closer as I talked. A low, almost growl came from his chest, causing me to shiver. Our faces were so close that if one of us even twitched, our lips would touch. For a moment, I thought I said something that upset him because he moved away a few inches, but then his lips crashed into mine. The force of his body moving forward pushed me up against the door; his whole body held me against the door. My fingers found the belt loops of his suit pants; his hands settled on either side of my head against the door. The only thing that was off was the insane sensation that tore through me the second our lips touched; it startled me so much I opened my eyes at the same time Bucky did too. I stared into his eyes for a few seconds before he moved back suddenly, and I stumbled forward. I caught myself trying to catch my breath and noticed that Bucky had stumbled back too and was sitting on my bed, with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath too.

           “What the fuck was that?” he said through deep breaths.

           “I was about to ask you the same thing,” I replied, panting. After a few more seconds, our breathing evened out, and I pushed away from the door, moving to the corner of the bed opposite Bucky. “I-I’ve never felt anything like that. Can I assume you’re feeling the same thing I am?”

           “What do you feel?” he turned his head towards me with a concerned look.

           “I-it’s like someone, I don’t know, released hundreds of thousands of butterflies loose inside me, but they are all on fire. Like every nerve ending is ready to explode,” I turned my face away from him, praying that I didn’t just embarrass myself.

           “Wow, that’s a pretty perfect explanation,” he let out a breath that he was holding in and relaxed some before scooting closer to me, just far enough that we weren’t touching.

           “What does this even mean??” my head was spinning; I had no idea what was going on. We sat in silence, stuck in our heads before we both turned and opened our mouths to talk at the same time. We both giggled and looked away before finally looking at each other again; something about him brought a weird feeling over me. He seemed so familiar. “Okay, so what are we supposed to do, Bucky?” I tried to keep my voice even.

           “I don’t know; this may sound weird, and please tell me if it does, but I don’t want this to stop. Something inside me keeps screaming for me to stay here, near you,” Bucky trailed off and looked at the floor. I almost reached out to him, but we needed to get through this conversation without getting sidetracked.

           “It’s not weird because I was thinking the same thing,” his head shot up, and our eyes met. The relief on his face squeezed my heart; he sat up some and turned his entire body towards me, and I did the same. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I don’t want to just shut the door on it either, but we have to try and figure out what it is because, don’t get me wrong, it’s the most amazing feeling, but it’s not normal. The world we live in, Bucky, it makes me worry it’s not innocent,” I sighed.

           “I agree. I want it to be innocent. A sign we are supposed to have met, but I’m not that native,” a frown grew on Bucky’s face, but when he turned his face towards me, he tried to hide how he felt. We both turned our bodies, so we were facing the door again, in hopes of hiding how we felt from the other. “What do we do? Stay away from each other?”

           “I was thinking about digging into S.H.I.E.L.D files and see if I can find anything. Maybe there is a record from our pasts that can shine some light on this,” I moved my hand back and forth between us.

           “Good idea, but does that mean we stay away from each other? Or can we continue where we left off,” he smirked, leaning closer.

           “Sadly, I think holding back until we have some more information would be best, just in case. But when do we just accept it and move on? When is it enough time? I don’t want to wait forever for something that we may never have an answer to,” I had started to wring my hands as I spoke.

           “I wish you weren’t right, part of me wants to argue, but with everything that I’ve seen and been through, I can’t help but worry. Let’s give it a few weeks; if we can’t find anything, maybe we can talk to Bruce and see if he can run any tests, see if anything weird shows up,” he looked hopefully.

           “Okay, deal, keep our distance, no touching or anything, and if we can’t find anything, we’ll go to Bruce. I do think we should keep it to ourselves until we either know something or have to tell someone,” I sighed and looked at the floor, trying to hide my disappointment.

           “Yeah, I think that’s for the best, but do we have to stay away until then? Can’t we meet a couple of times a week? No touching, but I’d like to get to know you,” he looked at me, but I didn’t meet his gaze. Every fiber in my being screamed to say yes, but something still made me feel like I should say no.

           “Fuck it, yeah, a couple of nights a week we can go for a walk or whatever we want and talk. If we find out that it's fine, we aren’t going to turn to dust or some other crazy shit, it would be helpful to know each other,” I smiled. He laughed, I mean really laughed, and nodded his head.

           “Deal,” he said through chuckles. I smiled at him; I yearned to run my hands through his shoulder-length hair, just touch him in some way. As if he read my mind, I felt fireworks explode up my back and down my leg when his hand found my thigh. I didn’t realize how close he was until I turned my head, and our noses almost touched. Every nerve ending in my body was alive, my entire body was on fire, and everything felt incredible. Bucky’s breath on my face felt like pure bliss, and I couldn’t stop myself from moving my hand up to the collar of his open shirt. I ran my hand over Bucky’s collar bone then back to the base of his neck before running my hand up to his neck to his hair. A sound came out of Bucky that was a mix of a gasp and moan; I didn’t realize his other hand was moving up my back until he roughly grabbed the back of my neck. “Sorry, but right now, I don’t care about what we agreed on,” the words came out as a growl. He pulled me to him at the same time as I grabbed a fistful of his hair to do the same. Our lips met, and I felt like I might burst; he kissed me like he might never get to again. I opened my mouth, and his tongue slid in, dancing with mine. I smacked his hand off my leg with my free hand, then pulled myself on top of him, straddling him. Bucky moaned into my mouth before releasing his grip on my neck, running his hands up my legs instead. My body felt like it was vibrating from the constant sparks exploding all over me until I noticed an odd sensation on my right leg. We finally pulled apart, but I touched my forehead to his; the only sound in the room was our heavy breathing.

           “Okay, we have to stop until we know what’s going on,” I weakly giggled as I played with his hair.

           “As much as I don’t want to, I have to say I agree,” he sighed through deep breaths. I opened my eyes and saw that he was already looking at me; I pulled my head back some to get a better look at him as I climbed off him to stand back and admire him. He moved his arms behind himself to hold his weight up; the sleeve on his left arm rode up, and I saw what looked like black metal; I turned my head slightly to try and get a better look.

           “Bucky, what’s wrong with your arm?” I said softly, not taking my eyes off it. For a split-second, fear flashed across his face, but when our eyes met, it disappeared. He stood up and started to unbutton his shirt, and thank god he has a tank top on under it to reveal metal that started at his shoulder.

           “Yeah, I should probably explain this,” he looked at the floor.

***

          “Damnit,” Bucky’s yell snapped me out of the memory. I turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen, rolling his left shoulder while rubbing his hair with a towel in his right hand.

           “Goddamn Bucky, you scared the shit out of me,” my breathing steadied again when he pulled out the stool next to me and heavily dropped onto it.

           “Sorry, doll, apparently multitasking isn’t one of my enhanced abilities,” he smiled over at me. I shook my head and finished my coffee just as he decided to shake his head like a dog.

           “Bucky!” I yelled, trying to shield my face from the cold drops of water. He doubled over laughing, holding his side; I punched him in the arm before starting to giggle myself.

           “Okay, shithead, very funny,” I stuck my tongue out at him, which only made him laugh harder.

           “I can’t say I’m sorry because I’m not,” he finally said through giggles. He stood up, still laughing, and went to get himself a cup of coffee, then brought the pot, caramel and milk over to me. “Hey, we haven’t had a chance to have any of our dates this week. Want to go sit outside and talk for a while before we have to get ready to head out for our mission?” he poured our coffee then set it back on the coffee maker.

           “Yeah, I’d like that, as long as you don’t fling water at me again,” I smirked before mixing my coffee.

           “No promises,” he winked. He had already changed into a t-shirt and dark cargo pants, so that was my cue to do the same.

           “I’m going to change quickly. Can take my coffee with you, and I’ll meet you out there?” I asked, handing him my coffee. He nodded and made his way to the front of the compound.

Series Masterlist | Chapter 2

Taglist:

@criminalyetminimal​ @kendallthesimp​ @marvelfansworld​ 

[aries-writingblog]

Stay With Me (10)

Summary: James Buchanan Barnes had never looked at himself as a family guy. He never even thought of it until she came around, flipping his world inside out. Bucky likes trouble and this girl? Well, she seems to invite chaos to dinner.

Pairing: Mob! Bucky Barnes x OC! Alex Grant

Chapter Word Count: 1937

Chapter Warnings: language, kidnapping, violence, gun usage, gunshot wounds, character death, blood

A/N: This is an OC story but I try to make them with the least amount of physical description as necessary. The pronouns used are feminine for the character. (GIF is not mine; credit to original owner)

Alex slammed her car door, making sure her gun was hidden in her waistband. She had taken a taxi to her house where she changed clothes quickly, grabbed her gun and sped all the way to the hotel. She had shown before Bucky and his boys, ahead of schedule for once. She slipped into the lobby of the hotel, managing to sneak by the desk clerk, as he was watching a movie on his phone.

She found the room easily, rapping her knuckles against the wooden door. It opened, revealing the one and only, sick bastard, John Walker. He stepped out, glancing down the hallway before shoving her into the room.

“Easy!” She snapped, looking around for the twins. “Where are they?” John shrugged, eyes roaming her body. Alex set her jaw, staring into his manic blue eyes. The dark circles under them weren’t very reassuring, neither was the unkempt hair or beard. “John, where are my kids?”

“Relax- they’re in the bathroom.” Alex stepped toward it but John pulled his gun, aiming it to her. “Not a chance. I’ll bring them out. You stay put.”

He pulled Wanda first, throwing her around wildly. He shoved her onto the bed, forcing her to sit. Alex took the moment to search her body. Nothing seemed too bad, bruising on her restrained arms and tears cut paths through her makeup but nothing was broken or bleeding. Tape kept her wrists bound and gagged. Then, Pietro was pulled through, shoved beside his sister. He was in the same state, restrained and bruised. His eyes were red, cheeks wet.

“They have nothing to do with this, John. I’m the one who hurt you- embarrassed you- I’m the one you have a grudge with. Not them.” Alex pleaded, showing her palms in an attempt to placate him. John only hummed, pouting slightly. His hand went to Wanda’s hair, combing through it. She winced, flinching away from him. Alex’s nostrils flared, wanting to cut his hand off for touching her.

“Dunno... I think it’s kinda their fault.” He answered, his eyes falling back to Alex. “After you left me, I couldn’t go anywhere without getting these looks of pity or embarrassment... my own parents could barely look at me.”

“I think that’s mainly just you as a person.” Alex cut in, her eyes cutting back to the teens. John ignored her.

“Then- I tracked you down. To a nice house over in Brooklyn- a nice neighborhood. I was gonna ask you to talk- why you changed your mind about us. But then... then I saw these two coming down the steps and you behind them.” John raised his gun, using it to push Pietro’s hair from his forehead. The boy flinched, a muffled whimper breaking their silent shock. Alex’s heart shattered, trying to keep it together. “You’d replaced me with these... children. You could’ve told me you wanted a family- we could’ve done this together, made something better than street rats.”

“Those street rats are the best things that ever happened to me.” Alex’s voice cracked, her nose burning with unshed tears. “They deserved better than they had- just like I had in Rhode Island.” John turned his back to her, laughing and using the muzzle of his gun to scratch his head. Alex took the opportunity- pulling her gun out and aiming at his head. When he turned back, his eyes narrowed, a scowl etching onto his face. “Let. Them. Go.”

“I don’t think so.” John responded, pointing the gun to Pietro. Alex’s eyes met theirs, trying to keep them calm. Her heart was racing, skin sweaty. Her head no longer felt attached to her body, lightheaded from the adrenaline rush. “I think... I think I’ll start with this one-“

His gun fired, hers following immediately. Pietro’s body fell to the side- Wanda’s muffled scream rang in Alex’s ears as she rushed to him. John collapsed to the carpet. Pietro’s eyes were glued open, terrified. She pulled the tape from his mouth carefully.

“Alex-“ he rasped, voice cracking.

“Shh... I’ve got you- I swear, I do. It’s alright.” She moved his arms, seeing the seeping blood from his side. It was near his right hip. She moved quickly, ripping his shirt and finding the source. She could still hear Wanda’s violent sobbing behind her, making a decision to care for the immediate problem. “I need you to breathe, Piet.”

“I don’t wanna die- I don’t want to leave you!” He sobbed, tears rolling down his face. Alex’s eyes burned as she carefully dug into the entry wound, finding the bullet. He cried out again, Alex flinched.

“You won’t.” She replied, voice shaking. “You’re gonna be just fine- I swear it.” There was a groan and shuffling from the other side of the bed. She registered these noises, along with Wanda’s gasp. Her heart stalled as she realized: She missed. Alex looked back, seeing John’s hand come back up with a shaky grip on the gun. Pointed dead center at Wanda.

It happened so quickly, Alex had whiplash. She saw his finger go to the trigger and she threw herself around Wanda, hugging the girl to her chest. It fired- a searing pain rippling through Alex’s shoulder as they fell back onto the bed. Just as his gun fired, the door burst open- kicked off its hinges.

Bucky Barnes stormed in, his gun aimed at John. It was too late. John’s eyes had rolled back into his head- blood seeping out from his chest. He looked to a shell shocked Pietro, who was bleeding, to a hunched figure of Alex who cradled Wanda close to her chest, who was also bleeding from her shoulder. All three were sobbing. Steve and Sam raced into the room, seeing the exact scene Bucky was.

Bucky’s shock wore off, he raced to Wanda and Alex, pointing over to Pietro. Steve and Sam attended the boy while Bucky knelt down to see the damage. Alex’s eyes were wide as she stared at John’s lifeless body. Bucky intercepted the thousand yard stare, keeping himself in her line of sight.

“Alex, sugar, let’s get you off Wanda, alright?” He coaxed her, grasping her shoulders and rolling her over to the bed. She stayed frozen as Bucky gently removed the tape from Wanda’s mouth, using a pocket knife to carefully cut her wrists loose. As soon as she was free, Wanda launched herself into Bucky’s arms, pressing her small body into his. Bucky wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her head. “Shh, it’s alright... it’s okay...” He looked over to Steve. “Police are gonna be here soon- call Clint and Fury down at the station, tell him everything.” Steve nodded, dialing a new number.

“Paramedics are coming up now.” Steve reported, stepping to the side as two burst into the open door. They loaded Pietro’s shaking body onto the gurney, whisking him into an ambulance. Another pair wasn’t far behind, taking Alex’s stiff, shocked body with them. Wanda kept her grip on Bucky tight as the two were wheeled down.

~~~~~~

Bucky’s concern for Wanda lessened slightly as they sat together in the waiting room. She had a good enough grasp on reality now that she was able to tell an officer everything- from how John had jumped the three kids coming home from school, leaving Peter unconscious, to when Alex saved them. The two were still back- they had only heard that neither had surgery, just a removal and clean up. But they had both been dosed with morphine to calm them. So it would be a while until they came back around.

So, Bucky sat with the sixteen year old, watching YouTube videos on her phone together. It distracted her enough to stop crying so he didn’t question it. They sat for hours, watching makeup videos together. Not speaking, just... being. Together.

Eventually, Pietro‘s nurse came to the waiting room, telling them they could follow her. Wanda leapt from her chair, following the nurse. She looked back over her shoulder, seeing Bucky still sitting in his chair.

“Aren’t you coming?” She demanded. Bucky gave a smile as he followed her back. Pietro was just coming around, still groggy when they stepped into the room. He gave a sleepy smile when he saw his twin and Bucky.

“I don’t think this is heaven.” He muttered, rolling his head to face them. Wanda flicked his forehead, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Fucking idiot.” She scolded, her voice muffled by his shoulder. Pietro chuckled softly, looking over to Bucky.

“Is Alex...”

“No- no,” Bucky answered immediately, stepping up and taking a chair beside his bed. “She’s fine. She was hopped up like you and just hasn’t come around yet. Should be getting word any minute now.” Pietro let go a heavy, shaking breath.

“What the fuck?” He whispered. Wanda backed away and sat beside Bucky. “I sort of recognized that guy- he’s kinda fuzzy- but, what happened?” Bucky sighed, leaning his tattooed forearms on his knees.

“I think it’s time to explain everything to you two.”

~~~~~~

The twins had fallen asleep, leaving Bucky to stare out of the window for at least ten minutes before he left the room. It had been enough excitement for one day- one lifetime. And maybe he had overstepped earlier- explaining the whole situation to them, something Alex should’ve done. He felt that he owed them the truth, at the very least. So he did just that.

“Mr. Barnes?” A soft feminine voice called over his shoulder. Bucky put the coffee cup down on the table, turning from the waiting room window. “Miss Grant is awake, ready to see you.”

She showed him to the door and left him to it. Bucky walked in, keeping his eyes trained on her. She was staring out of the window. She turned her head, hearing Bucky walk in.

“Pietro?” She asked, her voice weak. Bucky poured a cup of water, helping her sit up and drink. He spoke as she did so.

“He fell asleep bout thirty minutes ago, left him with Wanda.” He explained, sitting on the bed with her. His calloused hand rolled over her knuckles, her palm turning up to meet his. “I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner- as soon as I heard the second shot...”

“Did I...” Alex swallowed hard, gripping his hand tightly. Her right shoulder was bandaged heavily, her left hand holding Bucky’s. “Did I kill him?” Bucky sighed, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

“It was filed under a domestic violence dispute. A self defense shot.” Bucky replied, avoiding the words she wanted to hear.

“Did I kill him?” She asked again, this time a slower cadence. His eyes met hers, they were swollen and red, bloodshot- but determination still glimmered in the irises.

“Yes...” Bucky responded quietly. “He’s dead.” Alex’s head fell back onto the pillow, biting down on her lip. “No one blames you. You did what you had to.” She didn’t respond, her watery eyes trained on the ceiling. Bucky ran a hand up her arm, his thumb rolling circles into her skin on the way down. “I promise... no one thinks any less of you for it.”

“But I do!” She sobbed, sniffling hard as her chest heaved. “I kill... I killed a man in front of my kids!” Bucky moved closer, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his neck, sobbing loudly.

“Shh... it’s okay...” Bucky murmured, brushing her hair back. He took a deep breath, looking up to the ceiling to hold back his own tears. “It’s all gonna be okay. I promise...”

[mariemarvelbear]

Hope-Lego Castle

Avengers x Reader

Warning: Angst.So much Heavy Angst.Slow burn angst.Abuse.Mention of rape.Brainwashed.ANGST.Blood.Torture. Swearing.Kidnap.Hostage.18+

Part 28: Lego Castle

You had regained consciousness during the flight but refused to speak to the people who claimed to be your family.  With the restraints still in place there was nothing you could do; you had tried to pull away from them when a pair of hands tried to touch you-Wanda’s. But you flinched, the redhead instantly retreating. Clint talking to her not to continue any of her plans, that she can do it once you’re all back home. Not now, with your state both mental and physical, no one knew what you were capable of doing. You only said one thing, which earned a glance from the team after finally hearing your voice-not rigged nor hoarse as a while back, your little squeak resurfacing, but still laced with your strong accent, one mimicking Korvac’s. “Where’s Sequioa?”

“Muma!I’m here!We’re flying, mama?Mama,okay?Mama, new friends?” His grasp loosened from Scott’s shirt, desperately wanting to be close to you as possible. His little hands trying to find yours as you lay flat on the gurney-grunting as he tipped his toes towards you. “Want mama.”

“My love.” You cooed, your eyes swelling once again as you observed his face. Your head throbbing in pain as glimpses of your labor with the child came back-wincing in pain, Tony and Steve was quick to react to assess your condition. “Are you alright?” Steve cautiously asked, but you didn’t answer and even placed a stoic reaction as you stared at the people staring back at you. It weirded you out, it confused you to your core as to why you were so calm around them,That you’re not even in panic when Sequioa leaped towards Scott’s embrace-even as his mother. Deep in your heart you knew, they wouldn’t do anything that would hurt you nor your child-and that, somehow, made you at ease.

“We’re not evil, Eve.” Wanda shot back, her eyes knowing as your emerald ones widen. She can read your mind? “You can too.”

“I’m not a witch. Not like you.” You bluntly said, offended towards her comment as you mask your disgust and confusion. “I am not Eve. I am Carina, Queen of Chandillar. Wife of The Great King Mic-Michael?!Where is he?!” You cried, eyes searching for the man you know you love and trust. “I demand you to free me from these entrapments! Show me my husband!” Shrieking, Tony and Steve couldn’t move an inch. It’s not your first time to throw a fit like this, but this is different. You’re like you’re a child who wanted something and is ruled by their Id; and they didn’t know how to handle you, mostly now where you don’t even know the truth .

 Your eyes fluttered open once again, rays of sunshine blinding you as you try to shield your eyes but was stopped by the restraints still strapped onto you- but there were less, yet new lines of tubing’s that was evidently filled with a few sorts of liquid was coursing its way through your veins, a beeping machine beside you which was the only noise that anyone can hear in your room. You were in a white gown and in a white room, the only light visible was from the natural sunlight that came from your window, above the ceiling.

“Good Morning, Eve.” Your train of thought was once interrupted when a young Asian woman entered the room, her attire was similar to yours-but had a different texture and cut. “How are you feeling?” You remained silent, still studying her quiet features-your mind, once again throbbing as you had a few glimpses of the past. “You alright? Your heart rate’s increasing.” She mumbled, quickly assessing your IV- “Is there pain?” You slightly nodded, pointing onto your temporal side of the head, earning a genuine smile from the Doctor. “I’m Doctor Cho. Do you remember me?” Frowning, you gestured a ‘no’ “Should I?” She was quick to compose herself- after hearing your soft voice for years of trying to accept that you’re gone, she smiled. “You’ll get there in time. Is there anything else you’re feeling?”

“Baby?Baby okay?” You asked, your hand quickly embracing your growing womb. Doctor Cho instantly frowned, her gaze not meeting yours anymore as you felt a big change in the atmosphere. “Are you mad?”

“Oh, don’t take it the wrong way.” The doctor reiterated, not wanting you to ask anymore onto why she suddenly felt angry. “Yes, your daughter is okay. You’re currently 34 weeks pregnant, you’re near your due date, so we have to be extra careful.” You slightly nodded, taking your eyes off the doctor, as your mind wandered again. “Do you…remember anything?” She mumbled, earning your attention.

 “Everyone keeps asking me that.” Your lips quivered “And I keep on saying, No. I don’t. I don’t know any of you. I don’t know why you took me away from my home,I don’t even know where my husband is-not even my child. I don’t remember any Avengers, any Avenging or whatever in this world you call that.” You were now full on crying, but unlike before-you’re calm. You wanted them to hear you, how hard it is to be asked from time to time a question you never knew you needed to hear. “ So that’s it. I don’t know you, or Natasha, nor Bucky or that spider guy- I don’t know Tony, nor that blonde guy-that keeps on pushing himself to me, as if-as if I know him?!.” You spat, your eyes widening as it landed onto an ocean of blue ones “I don’t know any of you.So please, Just bring me back home.”

 “Where is Lady Eve?” A loud grunt echoed throughout the vicinity, quickly waking up Steve and Clint who trashed themselves in the lounge area, Bucky and Sam in tow of Natasha who just entered the room. “What’s going on?Is everything alright Thor?”

“I want to see her.” Dropping Stormbreaker, the door creaked open-revealing a Tony with sunken dark under eyes- a coffee in hand. “Not good of a plan.She still hates us.” The billionaire started with as he sauntered his way to the kitchen, reheating his drink. “Anyone want some?”

“I’ll have.” Steve mumbled, hands smothering his face as he tried wiping the restlessness from it. “He’s right.Eve won’t accept any visitors.” Holding out his hand as he grabbed the warm mug from Tony’s reach, Steve drank the liquid that mortals like, some even love it to the extent of having at least a cup every day before their day-Saying that it makes you awake, energized even. Steve’s mind once again wandered to you. You’ve always had a liking with caffeine. But loathed black coffee, dark ones-No sugar nor Splenda. Just like Tony and Natasha liked it. Steve’s brows furrowed, trying to remember the drink you always have in your hand- one you’ll always ask Maria to pick you some-even forcing Nick to try it, the guy instantly loving it. It had something to do with Caramel…But he can’t just lay a finger on it.

“What’s wrong, pointbreak?” Tony interrupted Steve’s thoughts, bringing him back to the present. Sam snickered, remembering the funny nicknames all of the team already forgot after all these events. “Hold on.” Sam was quick to scan the room “Where’s TicTac?”

“Right here Y’fool.” Scott earned everyone’s gaze, after finally emerging from the upstairs lounge, A toddler on his hip. It’s been a week since you were back, nothing much has changed and you were still pissed at everyone trying to let you ‘remember’ things. It was when Tony decided to hire professional therapists and psychiatrist to try and let you do things on your own and help you piece the puzzle altogether. He paid shit ton of money to make sure no one leaks any information, after all-the world knows you’re dead. It was also that time that you got so angry at them, after all-again, you’re at least thirty-five weeks pregnant- and you were getting more irritated with all of them bugging you. One good thing that happened is that you’re not much pissed with them calling you Eve, sometimes though-you’d lash out at them and tell them they’re being annoying again and then they’ll stop. Steve though, He calls you Queen.

“Another bomb day?” Bruce mumbled, trying to hide his laugh as he saw the laughing Sequoia in his friend’s grasp as he held a full diaper. Originally, Sequoia was following Wanda and Nat, but the girls both assigned Scott to do it-well the latter threatening him to, showing her new knife from Tokyo, specifically made for her grip and liking-and that if he doesn’t take the task, she’d be sure to let Scott and her knife get to know each other well. Natasha didn’t hate the child, how can she? He’s your son, but it’s not only him-it’s any kid, it reminds her of her past-her future, one that she dreams of-yet can never attain. Also….How can she take care of a child she doesn’t even know how it was conceived?Natasha winced at the thought, remembering the exact words of Dr. Cho “We may not have any verbal confirmation onto what really happened …But, with the intensive procedures and measurements we’ve done to confirm what we’re all dreading..It shows us that there was a severe trauma or damage, to her vaginal wall, cervical area-“ which was abruptly stopped by Bucky and Tony’s hands smashing through a wall and their desks.

“Toni?Toni..Tonee?” Sequioa lisped, trying to get away from Scott’s grasp and wanting to be held by the billionaire. Tony was quick to catch the little guy, after all-He was yours, which makes every one of them promise to take care of Sequoia as long as you need to rest. “Hi little buddy.”

“Tonee!” Sequioa blew a bubble, and then laughed at himself-making everyone smile. “S’funny Tonee.” A yawn escaped the todddler’s lips, making another bubble-making him burst in laughter once again. “You’re so silly ‘Quioa!” Wanda laughed, patting the child’s head as it rested onto Tony’s shoulder,his eyes starting to droop. “Oof. I think you’re assigned to sleepy time,Tones.” Clint teased, earning a smirk from Tony who is already on his way towards the nursery they set up for the toddler. “At least not diaper duty.” Scott mumbled, earning a laugh from Natasha.

“Who let you in here?” All their eyes darted towards the room in the far-left corner, Your room. All eyes also-widened, quickly seeing Thor already inside. “I told Dr.Cho to not let anyone inside.” As every one of them step inside your suite, they all stopped in their tracks. You’re unbelievably calm.Not mad, nor angry-You’re not even throwing a fit! Thor, about to answer-was interrupted by a son, and then a squeal. “Iana!It’s true!You’re back!It’s you…” Peter gasped, fighting off Strange’s hands as he leaped towards his long lost friend. “You’re here….I was so worried. I was so sad!I even stopped building our lego castle!Because….Because, I really thought you were gone and Mr.Stark told me to try and move on, and I was mad at him! Well…We all somehow got into a fight…But that doesn’t matter anymore! Because you’re now here and you’re back and we’ve all missed you and you’re no impostor anymore!” The team tried their best to stop Peter, but for a child-he talked so fast. After a week of your appearance, they finally told everyone in SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers-after you showed a stable and good condition. And now, they told Peter. The last one to know.As you know…He’s a child. Clingy. Impulsive. Just like now.

“Impostor?” You muttered, your voice softening as you look at everyone’s wide eyes “Lego Castle?”

“Eve…We’re so sorry.Just don’t think of what he’s saying. This is-“ Bruce was quick to answer, assessing you-but was shocked as he saw that your heart rate is not even increasing with whatever Peter is saying.

“Peter?You’re Peter.Right?”

[feedmecookiesnow]

Can I Stay With You?

For @hopelessly-me who asked for a Winterhawk “Can I stay with you” from the prompt list:

Not NSFW, but we’ll say 18+ just to be safe.

***

At three am, there’s an unholy sound of someone pounding on his front door. Bucky stumbles out of bed, remembering at the last second to put pants on, and wrenches it open with a very irritated, “What?”

Clint is standing there, looking just as exhausted and annoyed as he is. “Hi,” he says. “Can I stay with you?”

Bucky rubs his eyes and tries to force his brain online. “What?”

“Can I stay with you?”

He stares at Clint for a moment, then opens the door a little more and gestures to the couch behind him. Then he turns and goes back to his own room. Behind him, he hears Clint close the door with a quiet, “Thank you.”

Bucky makes a sound that could maybe be described as “whatever” and is asleep again before his head hits the pillow.

It’s seven am the next time his eyes open,  He sits up fast, still covered in cold sweat from his last nightmare. Nothing unusual there.

What is unusual is the smell of pancakes drifting through the apartment. Burnt slightly, but still kind of appealing. Bucky rubs the grit from his eyes and gets up, tired and sore from sleeping wrong, and goes to investigate.

Clint is standing in his kitchen, wearing nothing but a black t-shirt and a pair of boxers with little purple things on them. Eggplants, maybe? His back is to Bucky, and he’s humming something quietly.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

Clint jumps a little, dropping one of the pancakes onto the floor. “Hi. Good morning. You let me in last night, remember?”

“Yes.” Bucky rubs his forehead. “No. Kind of.”

“There was a gas leak in my building,” Clint says. “The fire department dragged me out of bed and made me leave.”

Bucky sits at his little kitchen table and looks at the two plates set out. “Why?”

“Why did they make me leave?” Clint raises an eyebrow. “It’s a gas leak, Barnes. The building could have exploded.”

“Why are you here?” It’s not that he doesn’t like Clint, but it’s weird that he’s here. At the very least, he would’ve thought Clint would try Natasha or someone first.

“Oh.” He grabs one of the plates and starts putting pancakes on it. “Because you live closest to me, it was three in the morning, and I was standing outside in my underwear?”

Well. That’s probably fair.

“I’m sorry I woke you up,” Clint says. “I wouldn’t have if I could’ve avoided it.”

Bucky waves a hand. “Whatever.” He takes the plate from Clint and looks at it. “Pancakes?”

“Consider it an apology breakfast.” Clint pours him a mug of coffee. “We can eat, wake up a little bit, and then I’ll go back to my place and see if I can get in. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The pancakes are good, if not slightly burnt, and the coffee is perfect. It’s nice, actually, to sit and eat breakfast. He usually skips it---either too keyed up from his nightmares, or too busy to have real food. “These are good.”

“Thank you.”

Bucky drains the coffee and gets up for another mug. “So...gas leak?”

Clint shrugs. “Apparently. I don’t know much. All I know is that I was sleeping, and next thing I know, there was some super hot fireman standing over my bed, shaking me awake and telling me to come with him. I thought it was a dream until I got outside and saw everyone else.”

Bucky laughs. “What about your roommate?”

“Kate’s with her dad in California. She’s got Lucky too, so it was just me in there.” He looks at his legs with dismay. “They didn’t even let me get real pants. I had to walk twelve blocks like this.”

“You can borrow some of my stuff,” Bucky says before even realizing he’s made the offer. “I won’t make you walk back wearing just eggplants.”

Clint smiles slightly and nods. “I would appreciate that. Thank you.”

They finish breakfast. Clint insists on doing the dishes too, so Bucky goes back to his room and tries to find some clothes that’ll fit him. He finally settles on a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. “Here,” he says, handing them to Clint. “I think these’ll fit you? Might be a little short.”

“Curse of being tall,” Clint says with a grin. “Thanks, Barnes. Seriously.” He pulls the jeans on right there, almost tipping himself over while he hops around on one foot.

Bucky rolls his eyes and steadies him. “Are you capable of doing anything without injuring yourself?”

“Yes,” Clint says, sounding mildly offended. He buttons the jeans, then reaches up and pulls off his shirt, revealing a very muscular torso half-plastered with bandages and medical tape. He looks at himself for a moment, then adds, “This means nothing.”

“Uh-huh,” Bucky says, oddly disappointed when Clint puts the new shirt on. He takes the other one and tosses it in his laundry basket. “I’ll wash that and give it back.”

“You’re awesome,” Clint says. “Insults to my capabilities aside.”

Bucky grins. “Come on. Let’s go see if you can get into your place.”

They can’t. They can’t even get close to it. A main gas line has blown, apparently, and they’re not letting anyone in. The whole block is cordoned off. After an hour of fruitless negotiating, pleading, and begging, the best answer they get is “It’ll be about two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Clint throws his arms out. “But I don’t have any stuff! What am I supposed to do for two weeks, be homeless?”

“Sorry, sir,” the fire chief says. “Can’t help you.”

He walks away. Clint stares after him. “Great,” he finally says, and tilts his head up to the sky. “What did I do to deserve this, huh?”

“Sorry,” Bucky says, not sure what to follow it with.

Clint waves a hand and rubs his forehead. “It’s fine. I’ll figure out something.”

“You can stay with me again,” Bucky offers. “It’s only two weeks. We can buy you some clothes, and I’ve got an extra toothbrush.”

“No, I don’t want to be in the way---”

“It’s not,” Bucky says quickly, for some reason desperate for him to say yes. “It’s fine. It would be nice to have a roommate. For a bit.”

Clint studies him. “You sure?”

“Definitely.” Bucky nudges him with an elbow. “I expect breakfast every morning, though.”

Clint laughs. “Okay. I can do that.”

So that’s how Bucky ends up with a temporary roommate. It’s weird at first, if he’s being perfectly honest with himself. He hasn’t lived with anyone since joining the Avengers, not even a guest, and it takes him awhile to get used to sharing a space---particularly the bathroom. But other than a couple of arguments, they manage to make it work, settling into a comfortable rhythm.

Three weeks into this new arrangement, Bucky comes back from the grocery store to find Clint packing his clothes into a duffle bag. He’s wearing Bucky’s jeans again, and Bucky can’t help but notice how tight they are, riding low across his hips. “What’s going on?”

“I’m good to move back,” Clint says, grinning at him. “Building is safe for habitation again.” He hefts the bag. “I’m just using this for transport. I’ll bring it back.”

“You can keep it, I don’t care.” He tears his eyes off the jeans and looks up. “Well. Congrats on getting your apartment back.”

“Thank you,” Clint says, apparently oblivious to the disappointment in Bucky’s voice. Bucky swallows it down and helps him pack the rest of his things. When they’re done, Clint shoulders the bag and looks at him. “Well. This has been fun.”

“It has,” Bucky agrees. “Do you need help moving in?”

“Nah, I’ve interfered in your life enough.” Clint taps his fingers on his thigh for a moment, then says, “Seriously, though. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

“Anytime,” Bucky says, trying to imbue the words with all the subtext he can. “I liked having you here.”

Clint looks like he wants to say something, but after a moment, he shakes his head. “I’ll see you at work?”

“Sure.”

He leaves, then. Bucky doesn’t close the door until he disappears around the corner. Then he turns to look at his apartment. It seems smaller, somehow, which definitely doesn’t make sense. It should feel bigger now that there’s not two grown men taking up space.

Maybe smaller is the wrong word. It’s not smaller. It’s empty. There’s a distinct sense of something missing. Like losing a tooth, Bucky thinks, and all he can do is probe at the blank space where there used to be something better.

“Get over it,” he says to himself, and starts picking up blankets from the couch. “It didn’t mean anything. You were just being a good friend. That’s all you want from him. You’re just friends.”

He keeps telling himself this. He repeats it all day.

He doesn’t believe a word of it.

A week later, he’s watching TV. He misses Clint’s running commentary, which usually ended with both of them laughing their assess off. It’s just not the same on his own.

His phone rings, and he answers without looking. “Barnes.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

Bucky sits up straight and mutes the TV. “Clint? What’s up?”

“Kate’s back,” he says, “and she’s having a sleepover.” There’s a distinct shrieking of laughter in the background, and Bucky can almost hear Clint’s wince. “They’re loud and they’re very girly. Which is fine, but also they’re so loud. Did I mention they’re loud? We’re talking undiscovered decibels here.”

“I think you mentioned it, yeah.”

“Anyway. Can I stay with you?”

Bucky blinks. “What?”

“Just for tonight,” Clint rushes to add. “Not three weeks again. I just need a break. They’re loud. Have I said that yet?”

Can’t you just take your hearing aids out? is the first thing that comes to Bucky’s mind, and he almost says it.

Then he looks around at his empty apartment, and the newscaster on television, and instead says, “Bring something to drink.”

“Awesome,” Clint says. “I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up. Bucky stares at his phone for a moment, then looks around his apartment. It’s---well, it’s not a mess, but it’s not pretty. Not fit for company. He quickly gets up and does some frantic cleaning. He’s not sure why---Clint’s worse than he is, he makes Bucky look military neat---but he does it anyway.

He’s working on the dishes when the door opens. “Hey,” Clint calls. “Door’s unlocked, I’m coming in.”

“Hey,” Bucky calls back. He puts the last plate on the rack and dries his hands. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” Clint says, flashing a smile, and Bucky’s chest gets a little tighter at the sight. “I brought beer.” He raises a six-pack.

“Works for me.” Bucky sticks it in the fridge. “So how’s Kate?”

Clint winces. “I love her, but man, when she gets together with her girlfriends...” He shudders and drops his bag by the couch. “I don’t think they communicate with words. I think it’s just high pitched squealing noises. Seriously.” He shakes his head.

Bucky pulls two beers out and drops on the couch next to him. “Well, you’re welcome over here anytime.”

“It’s very appreciated.”

They drink beer and watch TV. It’s like how it was before, stepping back into their routine with barely a beat missed, and Bucky can’t stop himself from smiling.

Clint notices. “What’re you so happy about?”

“I like having you here,” Bucky says honestly. “It’s nice.”

Clint blinks, and then a smile spreads across his face. “Yeah?”

“I liked living with you too.” He’s already started, he might as well keep going. “I didn’t realize until you left, but it was really nice to have someone around.”

“It’s nice,” Clint agrees. “Roommates can be awesome.”

They’re quiet for a while after that. Bucky tries to think of something to say, but he can’t focus. Clint is wearing his jeans again, and they’re still too tight, and they’re still obscenely low across his hips, and the casual way he’s sitting---

“Eyes up, soldier,” Clint says, watching him, and Bucky blushes hard. Clint grins at him and sips his beer.

“Sorry,” Bucky says, face still burning. “I’m---that was rude, I shouldn’t do that.”

“I’m just teasing you,” Clint winks. “I don’t mind. I know these look good on me.”

“They’d look better on my bedroom floor,” Bucky says without thinking, and then nearly drops his beer from shock as the statement hits him a second later. “I mean---that’s not---”

Clint is suddenly very still, eyes fixed on the beer in his hand. After a moment, Bucky stops stammering out excuses, and resigns himself to dying of embarrassment. “Sorry,” he mutters again, and wishes he could just disappear into the couch.

“You mean that?” Clint asks after a moment, He turns and sets his beer down, then looks at Bucky. “Seriously?”

Bucky shrugs, trying for casual and definitely not making it. “Just a thought.”

“Just a thought,” Clint echoes. “Okay. And if I wanted it to be more than a thought?”

Bucky stares at him, barely daring to hope. “Wait. You do?”

“Uh, yeah.” He sounds a little breathless, a little excited. “Have you seen yourself? Of course I want that, you’re---”

He cuts off with a surprised noise, as Bucky leans forward and kisses him. Then he loses his balance and falls backwards, whacking his head on the arm of the couch with a soft, “Ow.”

Bucky chuckles. “Can’t do anything without hurting yourself, can you?”

“Your fault,” Clint pants, grabbing his shirt and pulling him down. “You knocked me over.”

“My bad.”

They kiss again, intense and hungry and heated. Part of Bucky feels like he should take it slow, make it a little softer. But then Clint’s leg hitches over him, pulling him closer, and all coherent thought flies out the window.

They break apart with a gasp, both panting. “Think we knocked your beer over,” Clint says.

“It’s empty,” Bucky says, kissing him again.

“Good.” Clint’s hand slips under his shirt. “Off.”

Bucky tugs his shirt off and tosses it somewhere. Clint puts a hand on his chest, skimming over his torso with an appreciative touch. “Your abs are unfair,” he says, poking them. “Seriously. Like, Greek god levels of unfair.”

“You’ve got abs.”

“Not like this.”

“Do more sit-ups, then.”

“I do sit-ups!”

“Not enough, apparently.”

“You---” Clint scowls up at him, and it’s honestly kind of adorable. “I don’t need your judgement. Shut up and kiss me.”

“Sure,” Bucky agrees, leaning back down. It’s a little slower this time, a little less frantic. Bucky hasn’t done this in a long time, but he’s missed it. He’d forgotten how nice it can be to get wrapped up in this, how easy it is to get lost in the taste of someone else---

They tip sideways and fall, Bucky twisting at the last second so he takes the impact instead of Clint. “Shit,” Clint says, flushing red. “Sorry, that was my fault.”

Bucky laughs. “It’s fine,” he says. “But why don’t we take this to my room before you really hurt yourself?”

“Works for me,” Clint says, standing up. He offers Bucky a hand, and pulls him to his feet. “I have been known to fall off beds, though. Fair warning.”

“That’s okay,” Bucky says. “I’m sure I can figure out a way to keep you in one place.” He winks. “For safety reasons, you know.”

“Looking forward to seeing your methods,” Clint says with a grin, and lets Bucky tug him down the hallway to the bedroom.

***

Charity Hawktion Self-Promo! If you like the things I write and would like me to write something specifically for you, you can bid on me here!  Winner will get a 5-10k word story of their choosing (possibly longer because I am a verbose motherfucker). If you can participate, I encourage you to do so, and if not, that’s okay too! Thank you for reading!

[1000-directions]

rbb because it gave me a heart attack #trauma and also ughhHhhHhhhh bc mood

lolllllll people in marvel fandom do NOT understand how some of us suffer when they abbreviate their reverse big bang as rbb!!!

this was the original draft of my winterhawk reverse big bang where clint is a musician and bucky is a trust fund kid who ends up joining the army or something and they’re boyfriends and then they break up and eventually get back together and it’s told partly in flashbacks and it was just getting TOO complicated to write and felt joyless and was making me completely miserable, so i threw it out after 2500 words and wrote winterhawk punks in love instead, which was the correct choice.

i will never finish it, but here is what i’ve got in case anyone is interested:

There are a lot of different things Clint could have done with his life.

Well, no. That’s a bit of an exaggeration.

But there are several things Clint could have done with his life. Multiple things. More than one thing.

But he doesn’t think any of those other things would have ever made him as happy and crazy and pissed-off and satisfied as singing does.

Whenever anyone asks, he’s very careful to call himself a writer. A composer. A creator. A musician. Like the making of the thing is the part that motivates him. Like performing is just an afterthought. Like singing is just something he has to do so the music makes sense. Because he knows he’s not a great singer. He’s passable. He can keep a beat and hit all the notes in his limited range, and he gets just enough inflection and passion into the words to make people feel a thing, sometimes.

He’s good at the writing. He’s good at the deceptively simple arrangements. His voice is the least he has to offer, and he knows it, and it feels kind of foolish and indulgent to especially savor the part that he’s objectively the worst at. But Christ, he loves doing it, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

*

The two of them had ditched work early, saving up all their smoke breaks until it was suddenly 2:40, and the manager had no choice but to cut them loose. And even though they had permission, it felt like getting away with something, and Clint twisted his fingers into Bucky’s grasp as they ran down the sidewalk together. Clint darted recklessly into the intersection, and Bucky jerked him back at the last second as a truck came barrelling past, honking furiously at the two of them. And it was so close to being bad, but it was fine, fine, fine, and Clint laughed as Bucky shook his head, and Clint linked his arms around Bucky’s neck and kissed him right there in the middle of the street.

They were twenty, and they were in love. And nothing was serious but that.

It was a hot summer at the shore, and they were living in a shitty beach house with three other friends. They spent their mornings and afternoons scooping ice cream at a popular local shop that was more famous than good. And then at night, they’d go drinking at the scummier bars that were a little more lax on carding, or they’d build a bonfire on the beach and drink Yuenglings purchased with Clint’s really good fake ID. And inevitably, someone would have an acoustic guitar, and someone would start shouting out requests, and they’d get drunker and noisier as the night went on.

And then Clint would grab Bucky’s hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and they’d strip down to nothing and run into the ocean in the dark, screaming down the moon. And then they’d huddle together in one towel, letting the fire dry their hair until it was curly and crispy. And then they’d all stomp out the fire and gather up the red Solo cups, and Bucky and Clint would push their two futons together into one rickety big bed, and they would fall asleep in each others’ arms, salty and sandy and worn out.

Bucky woke up early most days to go for a run. He was in the Army Reserves, and he had to stay in shape, and Clint certainly wasn’t complaining about what the workouts did for his boyfriend’s physique. Clint was starting at technical school in the fall, studying to be an audio mixer. Things would be changing soon, but not just then.

That summer, time was lazy and endless. Bucky would come back from his run and lay his sweaty body down on top of Clint’s, kissing him awake, and they’d rub off against each other until they both came. Or they’d dart away from their friends in the middle of dinner, running up to their room and barely getting the door locked before Clint was shoving down Bucky’s pants to get his mouth on his cock.

And some nights, they were painstakingly tender, just kissing for what felt like hours before they even took their clothes off. Bucky liked things a little rough, and Clint liked things a little sweet, and they’d found something in the middle that was perfect for both of them.

“Just fucking hold me down and make me feel it, Clint,” Bucky would say sometimes, and Clint would kiss his jaw and tug his hair a little and fuck into him harder until Bucky was crying out beneath him.

It was their first summer, and everything was perfect.

*

At thirty, Clint is starting to fall into the sorts of routines that a younger version of himself would have detested.

Even worse...he kinda likes it.

But there’s just something soothing and comforting about knowing what’s ahead. Sure, it’s romantic to think about being a starving artist, but the reality of it wasn’t so sexy. Turns out that if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. And sometimes in the music industry, you don’t get paid even when you do work. So Clint works his ass off. All the time. He’s still riding a bubble, and he’s gonna ride the hell out of it until it breaks.

He wakes up, and he makes coffee. He fills his travel mug, and he and Lucky take a lazy walk through the park. Clint listens to the birds chirp, and he slurps his coffee, and he hides behind his sunglasses and doesn’t make eye contact with any of his well-meaning neighbors. Too early for that shit.

He goes back home, and Lucky inevitably fucks off somewhere to nap while Clint stretches. He’d tried meditation, but he can’t bear being quite that alone with his own thoughts. He can be alone with his body, though. He runs through his muscle groups, mindfully and thoughtfully working out the best way to stretch his sternocleidomastoid or his serratus anterior. He likes how he feels afterwards, all loose and wiggly, and it puts him in a good frame of mind for a morning listening session.

He has a second cup of coffee in his sunroom while he listens to the playback from the previous day. He combs through voicenotes and reads old journals, idly recalling stories about himself. He doesn’t create anything just yet. He listens with an open mind. And then he listens a second time, and he absorbs, and he makes notes about what he likes or how something could be different.

And then he sets a timer for forty minutes while he has lunch in front of the TV, and he fucks around on his email for a bit, and sometimes if he eats real fast he jerks off. And sometimes if he’s been seeing someone, he texts them, catches up, makes plans for later. Sometimes he plays video games. Sometimes he remembers to water his plants.

(Mostly, he jerks off.)

And then it’s back to work in the afternoon. More coffee. More listening, but this time with editing, rerecording, rewriting. He creates new voicenotes. He jots down new lyrics. He thinks about things he wants to talk about someday that he’s not ready to talk about now.

And then in the late afternoon, he ventures out of the house again. He goes to a cafe, or he grabs some more coffee, or he goes to the bank or the grocery store or the mall. And he exists among people, the way his therapist told him to. And he smiles at three strangers, and he overhears people’s conversations, and he reminds himself that there is an entire universe outside his head, just like there’s an entire universe inside of it.

And then he goes home, makes dinner, jerks off, swaps his coffee for whiskey, waits until he gets really, really tired, and then…

Then he fucking sings.

*

They got the band name from one of the weird, macabre love poems that Clint was always painstakingly copying down into his notebooks, trying to record the bits of weird beauty he saw in the world that mirrored the strangeness he sensed inside of himself. He felt less alone to see strangeness in others.

My darling, I will love you until the winter hawk cleans my bones And in her desperation, she will discover that my flesh only tastes of you

“It’s so gross,” Bucky had said with a curious sort of awe, and Clint felt so vulnerable in the silence that followed, because it was gross, but it was important to him.

Clint wanted to be so fucking in love that it chewed him up. He wanted love to shred him with her talons. And he could imagine himself getting there with Bucky. He thought they could be epic. He was still holding back some secret parts of himself, but if he let those go, he thought he could love Bucky so hard that it consumed him and he finally, finally lost himself.

And Bucky kept staring at the words scrawled in Clint’s notebook, traced his fingertip over the blue ink, following the same pattern Clint’s pen had taken as he’d lovingly copied down the words. And there was a furrow in his brow as he read and reread, and just as Clint thought he might explode from the anticipation, Bucky looked up at him with a small smile.

“I get it, I think,” he said slowly. “The desperation, I mean.”

“Yeah?” Clint wasn’t sure he was even breathing anymore, he was so close to losing it.

“The way a predator becomes a scavenger,” Bucky said thoughtfully, and there it was, that nerdy side of Bucky that Clint loved so fiercely. “Taking the scraps if that’s the only choice you have. Being just...so hungry.” He ran his thumb over Clint’s wrist, and Clint shivered.

“Hungry how?” he managed to croak out.

“Feel like I could just eat you up sometimes,” Bucky murmured. “When I first met you, I didn’t think you even liked me at all.”

“I did, though,” Clint protested weakly. “I was crazy about you from that first time I saw you.”

“I didn’t know it,” Bucky said. “Didn’t even know if I really liked boys or not, but I wanted you, and it felt like….” He frowned and looked at his thumb slowing arcing over Clint’s skin. “Felt like it didn’t even matter if you liked me back. Just me liking you was so much. And I would have eaten any scrap of anything you gave me, baby.”

“And now?” Clint asked, and his heart was an out-of-control metronome.

“Same thing now,” Bucky said, chewing on his lip. “Any bit of you I could have. I’d eat up all you gave me and I’d starve for more before I wanted a single damn bite of anyone else.”

“I love you,” Clint had whispered then, the first time he’d said those words out loud to anyone.

“I love you, too,” Bucky had replied, a hopeful smile breaking across his face and scrunching up his eyes, and Clint was so terrified and relieved and happy that he could barely stand it.

They pushed their mouths together and tried to kiss, but neither of them could stop grinning long enough to make it work.

*

Clint goes to therapy once a month. He takes his Lexapro every night. He has a notebook full of therapy homework, and he makes lists of his accomplishments and his failures, and when he goes to therapy, he shows up with an agenda. He is working to fix multiple parts of his life. He makes progress in different areas, a step on one path, a leap on another, a little stumble here. He’s an amoeba, and his pseudopods creep towards his goals, engulfing and consuming one after the other, slow and steady.

Get a dog? Check.

Learn how to cook healthy(ish) meals? Check.

Spend more time outside? Check.

Stop being so hateful towards myself? Check(ish).

Learn how to have sex with someone without falling in love with him? Check.

Learn how to have sex with someone without immediately thinking of Bucky afterwards?

Well.

It’s a work in progress.

*

Something flashbacky about being deaf

*

Clint’s newest album is called Mono Songs for a Stereo World, and all he’s finished so far is the title and the concept.

He connected with Tony Stark at SxSW last year and drunkenly talked his ear off about his idea to create songs for people with hearing conditions, mixed specifically to accommodate their abilities. He’d woken up the next morning with a raging hangover and a three minute voicemail from Tony describing the prototype software he’d slapped together. And now they’re...not exactly partners, but Clint comes up with ideas, and Tony turns them into reality.

And now Clint has all the technology he needs to create a fully customizable digital album. Fans will be directed to a website that tests their hearing, determines what wavelengths they can detect at which volumes, and then Tony’s tech will generate a downloadable version of Clint’s album that sits perfectly within their range of hearing. It works flawlessly. They’re probably not going to make much money off of it, but Clint’s been working his whole life towards something like this, and he can’t believe how close he finally is.

So all he needs to do is, like. Find some inspiration somewhere and write ten to twelve songs and then record all of them and mix them once and then feed them into Tony’s algorithm and re-mix the songs and then do maybe 40 test mixes on each one.

Simple, really.

*

It was easy for the two of them to form a band. Clint was always writing his weird poetry, and Bucky loved it. Loved the sound of his voice wrapping around the shapes of his words. And Bucky was good enough with a guitar, and it was just one more way for them to be together. It just made sense.

They called the band Winterhawk, and sure, Clint probably always took it a little more seriously than Bucky did, but that was Clint. He threw himself into everything like that back then, reckless and headstrong and passionate and unafraid. He loved Bucky so much, and he loved the band so much, and Bucky loved him and the band, too. Maybe just a little less, but still plenty enough for Clint.

Summer ended, and they found a reasonably priced studio apartment in the city. Bucky paid most of the rent, but he had a trust fund he was still working his way through before his parents disinherited him, plus he made great tips bartending.

wip title game

[dontcare77ghj]

Movement

Natasha x reader x Bucky

Masterlist

Dating two ex-assassins came with a couple of downsides. For one, you couldn’t keep anything a surprise from them.  Trying to plan a surprise date? They’d know long before the date. Trying to make a lovely dinner for them? They’d already have bought the perfect wine.

Some of the worst downsides pertained to when you were all in bed together. You rolled over too fast and someone would wake. Someone let out a particularly loud snore and it was as if you were under attack. The worst downside was that fact none of you could get out of bed without waking someone.

Non-reader POV

Bucky shot awake with a gasp. His head snapped to the side, checking to see if his girlfriends were still peacefully sleeping next to him. He let out a sigh at the sight of them both curled into each other and ran his metals fingers through his hair.

He’d been out of HYDRA’s grasp for a couple of years now and even though they’d reversed the brainwashing process, the years he’d spent with the could still creep up on him. Nights were always particularly rough for him, not that they’ve haven’t gotten slightly better in recent years.

He’d been with Y/N and Natasha for nearly three years at this point and they’d been the main reason for the lessening of his nighttime troubles. They’d helped him a lot over the years with a lot of his issues, but sometimes there was nothing anyone could do to help with his issues.

Since getting with Y/N and Natasha, his nightmares had become more centric around the two of them. His fear of losing them, his fear of hurting them and his fear of them realizing he wasn’t worth their time.  Of course, he had other nightmares too. Sometimes they involved Steve, his old life in the 40’s and the monster he’d become under HYDRA’s control.

His girls had assured him multiple times he was safe here. HYDRA couldn’t get to them. He wasn’t going to lose them in any case. They assured him constantly that he was safe here. He was safe with them.

Bucky knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep tonight. His mind was racing too fast for that. He needed something to drink, but he’d have to be subtle to get out of bed. Slowly, Bucky began to maneuver his way out of Y/N’s arms, at least she was the easiest to not wake, and tried to make his way out of the room.

“Nightmare?” Natasha asked just as Bucky made it to the door. Bucky jumped slightly before turning around to look at Natasha. The woman was sitting upright, hair a mess and Bucky’s shirt falling off her shoulder.

“Yeah, just going to get a drink.” He said, running a hand through his hair. “Just go back to sleep, Tash. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“James, you seem to be forgetting I was trained to recognize body language. If you go now, you won’t be coming back to bed, will you?” She questioned, tilting her head to the side.

“No.” He sighed, leaning against the door. “No, I won’t.”

“Are you going to talk to us about it?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

“I was kinda hoping I’d get out without you noticing.” He said, giving her a small smile.

“Nice try.” Natasha commented, giving him a soft smile in response. “Come back to bed, James.” She added, reaching a hand out for the brunette.

“In a minute, Tash, I promise. I just want to get a drink.” He assured. Natasha only stared at him for a second before nodding.

“Just know if you aren’t back in a minute, I’m dragging you back to bed.” She warned, laying back down. Bucky didn’t say anything as he left the room, just quickly made his way down to the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle out of the fridge Bucky leaned against the counter and mulled over his thoughts.

“I told you, you had a minute.” Natasha said as she entered the room, breaking him out of his thoughts. “I’m not letting you sit out here after a nightmare alone. So, you either come back to bed or, I’m going to sit out here with you. So, what’ll it be?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Bucky said, placing his water down. Natasha grabbed his hand and led him back to the bedroom.

“What’s going on?” Y/N slurred as the two walked in. She was sitting up in the bed, braid hanging over her shoulder and another of Bucky’s shirts falling off her small frame.

“Nothing, dorogoy.” Natasha cooed, gently pushing her back down. “Just go back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Y/N murmured, already half asleep. “Love you.” Natasha pushed Bucky back into the bed, him behind Y/N, and curled up behind him.

“Go back to sleep, Buck.” Natasha said, resting her head on his back. “You’ll be okay.”

“Love you.” Bucky mumbled, closing his eyes and beginning to drift off.

“Love you too.”

Reader POV

It was very late. Natasha and Bucky had gone to bed hours ago, but you still had things you needed to do. Pages upon pages that were in dire need of editing, but the longer you sat working on it the more the words were beginning to blur and distort.

Perhaps stopping now and getting some sleep was a good idea. Or at least taking a break from the never-ending pile of work you had. But Natasha and Bucky had been asleep for hours now, and they hadn’t been able to properly sleep in the last few weeks, and you didn’t want to wake them. After all, they only got back from a two-week mission about a week ago.

Maybe you should just sleep out here. The couch was rather large and spacious, so comfort wouldn’t be an issue, and there were plenty of blankets littering the couch. After making the decision to sleep n the living room you, as quietly as you could, walked into the bathroom. After doing your nightly routine and stripping down to your underwear you snuck back into the living room.

Laying down on the couch your mind suddenly began to race. You couldn’t turn your brain off. You kept thinking about anything and everything. From pleasant thoughts about your girlfriend and boyfriend, to panic inducing thoughts about your work and their line of work. Letting out a sigh you climbed off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

You grabbed an iced coffee and walked back into the living room, prepared to just set the computer back up and continue working.

“If you drink that coffee, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.” Natasha said causing you to jump. Both she and Bucky were sat on the couch, her giving you a look and Bucky smiling gently at you. “And Thor knows you need to sleep more.”

“Fuck.” You swore, hand over your heart. “Give a girl a little warning.” You said, shaking your head at the two. “What are you two doing up?” You asked, sitting down on the couch.

“You were walking around the apartment.” Bucky said, taking your hand in his. “We could both hear it.”

“Sorry. I thought I was being quiet. I was trying not to wake you.” You explained, shaking your head slightly. “I swear I’d gotten better at not waking either of you.”

“Doll, Natasha had the gun ready once because the air conditioner turned on too loudly.” Bucky said, getting a smack to the ribs from Natasha. “I meant that with love.”

“Come to bed, Y/N.” Natasha said, coming to a stand. “It’s late and you need to sleep.” She added, reaching a hand out for you.

“I’m not really tired and I’ve got things to do anyway.” You mentioned, looking between the two of them. “Go back to sleep, I’m just going to sit out here and try to finish up.”  

“No, you’re not.” Bucky said, grabbing your hand and pulling you to a stand. “It’s nearly three am and you have work in a few hours.”

“You’re right.” You sighed as Bucky led you back into the bedroom. Natasha pushed you into the middle of the bed and curled into your left side.

“Get some sleep, med.” Natasha said, wrapping herself further around you. Bucky laid on your other side and pulled you both into his chest.

“I will.” You promised, relaxing into the embrace. The three of you quickly fell asleep, only for you to wake up an hour later. You let out a sigh not wanting to go back to sleep yet. Looking at both your sleeping lovers, you took note of how deeply they appeared to be sleeping. Maybe if you just grabbed your phone you could do some work and let them sleep.

Slowly you pulled your arm out of Natasha’s grasp and reached your arm over Bucky to attempt to grab the object.

“Don’t even think about it.” Natasha warned, causing you to flinch. “I thought you said you’d get some sleep.” She added as you turned your head to look at her.

“I did sleep for a little.” You said sheepishly, Natasha raised an eyebrow at your statement.

“An hour is not sleep, an hour is a nap.” Natasha told you with a frown. “Go back to sleep, dorogoy.” She said, pressing her face into your back and rubbing circles on your arm. The relaxing action lulled you back to sleep. The next time you woke up, it was noon and you found that Bucky and Natasha had called in sick for you. You should’ve been annoyed but some part of you found it endearing and it also allowed you to sleep.

Non-reader POV

Out of the three of you, Natasha was the best at sneaking out of the bed. It was a rare night when you actually woke up to someone moving and for most part Bucky could be quite a deep sleeper, so she rarely ever had to worry about waking someone.

It’d been a long day for the three of you, Natasha in particular. She’d been forced to deal with Tony and Steve’s bickering, Clint in general and a threat from HYDRA to Y/N. The threat had shaken Natasha despite the other woman’s reassurance she was safe.

She couldn’t sleep in fear that HYDRA was going to steal one of her loves out of her arms. From twelve to three, she sat awake in bed, watching the two of you and the door. With a sigh she came to a stand and walked to the door.

“I take it you haven’t slept either.” Bucky stated, causing her to stop. She smiled slightly, not even turning back to look at her boyfriend.

“I should’ve known you would be awake.” She murmured, shaking her head before turning around. Bucky sat upright in the bed, hair mussed and shirtless, staring at her as he pulled his hair off his neck. “I haven’t slept all night.” She confessed, answering his question.

“Nothing’s going to touch her while she’s inside the Tower.” Bucky said, gazing at Y/N’s sleeping form. “Tony promised the Tower is safe.”

“I know he did.” Natasha sighed, leaning on the door frame. “But you know me, I worry. I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”

“Where were you going?” Bucky asked, looking back at the red head. “Before I stopped you.”

“I was going to sit up in the living room.” She admitted. “Just for a couple of hours, to keep an eye on things.” She explained.

“Okay then. Let’s go.” Bucky said, getting out of bed and tucking the covers around you before moving over the other woman.

“What?” She questioned as Bucky took her hand and led her into the living room.

“We’ve been together a long time now, Tash. I know you far too well. Even if I got you back in bed, you wouldn’t go back to sleep.” He said matter of factly and sat her down on the couch.

“I’m not that predictable.” She argued as Bucky sat next to her.

“Not predictable, just, stubborn. One thing you and Y/N have in common is just how stubborn you are.” He said, getting a swift smack to the shoulder in response.

“Nice one, James.” She said, shaking her head. Natasha turned her head to watch the entrance to their floor over Bucky’s shoulder.

“Tash, she’s safe.” Bucky told her, catching where she gazed.

“HYDRA’s already hurt the two of us, I don’t want them to hurt her.” She admitted, turning to look at Bucky.

“And they won’t.” Y/N said, walking into the living room. She was rubbing her eyes with Bucky’s shirt hanging off one of her shoulder’s as she made her way towards them. “How could they? I’ve got the worlds best assassins here to protect me.” She said with a smirk, sitting next to Natasha.

“Did we wake you?” Natasha asked, smiling softly as you curled into her side.

“I felt you get out of bed.” Y/N admitted, smiling at her lovers. “I knew you’d both rub off on me.”

“That sounds suggestive.” Bucky smirked, again, being hit in the shoulder once more.

“Why are you two out here?” Y/N asked, ignoring Bucky’s comment. “Are you both still worrying about that threat?”

“They threatened you, med.” Natasha pointed out. “You know just the kind of people they and we don’t want you to get hurt.”

“They’re not going to get me.” Y/N said, sitting up slightly. “Because I’m safe with you two. I love you two.” She added, smiling sweetly at the two.

“Love you too, doll.”

“Love you, med.” The two chorused, Natasha leaning down to kiss her and Bucky leaning over.

“Now,” Y/N started, standing up from the couch. “It’s three a.m. and it’s cold out here. So, no more worrying tonight, we are going back to bed.” Y/N said, grabbing both their hands and pulling them off the couch.

“But Y/N.” Natasha attempted to argue. Turning her head the woman narrowed her eyes at the red head until she held her hands up in surrender. “Never mind. Getting back into bed sounds good.”

“Whipped.” Bucky coughed, getting another knock to the shoulder.

“You’re lucky I want you both in bed tonight.” Y/N said, shaking her head as she led them into the bedroom. “Otherwise you’d be on the couch.”

“You love me too much to do that.” Bucky said as they all got into bed.

“Whatever it takes to get you to sleep.” Y/N said, laying next to him and kissing his chest. The three of them curled into each other and whispered assurances of safety as they all drifted off.

Sometimes the fact you couldn’t get out of bed without waking another could be a good thing. Sometimes the movements that woke the other people helped you all in the long run. It was the little movements that allowed you to know the people you shared a bed, and your love with, were safe.

Leave your feedback. Give it a like. Give it a comment. Message me. Reblog. Buy me a KO-FI. Go to my masterlist check out some of my other works.

New series coming soon: Date Night!

Coming soon;

Natasha x reader x Wanda

Natasha x reader x Tony

Steve x reader x Bucky x Sam

Steve x reader x Natasha

Previous work; Nightmare

[fanficsaremylifeline]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Ned Leeds & Peter Parker Characters: Peter Parker, Harley Keener, May Parker (Spider-Man), Happy Hogan, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff, Ned Leeds, J. Jonah Jameson Summary:

Things really couldn't be better: Harley, who Peter met at MIT, was finally his boyfriend and, just like Peter, he also got a place for his practical semester in NYC. Things are a little weird, when that place just happens to be at SI as well, because apparently Harley and Tony are similarly close as Peter is with his Irondad. To keep things from getting too mixed up, they decide to keep their relationship to themselves. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

***

“Come on Pete, get up!”, Harley called and almost immediately a pillow hit Peter in the head.

“I'm up”, he groaned, but before he could open his eyes, another pillow hit him right in the face. “What the fuck, dude?”

“Good, you're awake”, Harley grinned, that damn shit-eating grin. “Come on, get dressed I'd like to get going.”

“What's your rush?” Begrudgingly, Peter rolled over, just enough so his feet would dangle out of the bed. “We're on holiday, you... you...” Damnit, Peter couldn't even think of an insult.

“Wow, your intelligence is really sexy”, Harley deadpanned and, with the shake of his head he tossed a bundle of clothes on the bed. “You're not getting into my car naked”, he made clear.

“You wish, Keener”, he grinned back, before he got himself dressed.

The last few weeks have been pretty fun. Peter had seen Harley in a few lectures; with them both majoring in engineering, it was natural that they had to sit through a few of the same profs. It wasn't until a house party that they properly met, though. Even though he did not want to go, Ned somehow convinced Peter to come along. College parties were however quite annoying, since Peter couldn't get drunk. Thank you, spider-metabolism... So, as usually when Ned dragged him somewhere people were drinking, Peter ended up on the couch in the corner, earplugs in so the noise and music wouldn't hurt his brain too much, all that with his homework.

“You're seriously doing homework? At a party?”

Peter looked up to find Harley standing in front of him.

“Didn't want to come in the first place if I'm being honest”, he just shrugged and, as Harley sat himself down besides Peter it seemed as if their conversation was gonna be a little more than just small talk, so he closed his book.

“Anyway I can lighten up your night then?”, he grinned over and Peter couldn't help the flush and the awkward smile spreading over his face.

“I think it already has.”

Oh fuck, that was cheesy. Thankfully, Harley didn't seem to think so, as his cheeks blushed ever so slightly.

Shit, was Peter supposed to continue flirting with that quite gorgeous guy? As good as he might be at saving the world or engineering, he was downright horrible at flirting. But, thanks to his lucky star or guardian angel, Peter didn't have to.

“It's not really my thing, either. But there's this really nice bar just around the corner.”

That was Peter being asked out, right? “Sounds good”, he grinned.

“Great”, Harley smiled back and got up. “Come on, then. My treat.”

And ever since then they were... Peter wasn't sure. Yes, they went out a lot, but Peter wasn't certain if it were actually dates. They haven't had the talk yet, so for now Peter was gonna go with the step between friends with benefits and actual boyfriends. They probably should talk about it...

“Come on, you can have breakfast in the car, traffic's gonna be a bitch and I would like to reach New York today.”

“Yes sir”, Peter grumbled and pulled his shirt over his head.

“That you could have left off”, Harley smirked.

“Tough”, Peter shot back and grabbed his bag. “We going or what?”

Not that Peter or Harley knew too much about the other, but Peter had found out that Harley moved to New York. Which was pretty nice. It meant on the one hand that Peter had a a lift back home. But what was even better, was that they both had an internship for their practical semester there. Apparently, Harley's boss was an old friend who had offered him a job. Great for Harley and great for Peter, giving him more than enough chances to hang out. Or were they more than that? They had barely left Massachusetts, when Peter couldn't hold the curiosity in any longer.

“Are we dating?”, he blurted out, turning to Harley with wide eyes.

“Uhm, I think so”, he answered. “Are we?”

“I mean...” By now Peter was blushing redder than his spider-suit. “I kinda hope so”, he eventually got out and couldn't help the awkward grin.

“Well, Peter, I gotta say, your timing is horrible.”

“What? Why?” Damnit, Peter thought Harley felt the same way!

“Because I would have liked to seal you officially being my boyfriend by kissing you which is a little hard to do, while we're on the fucking highway and I have to focus on the road.”

“Awww!”, Peter squealed and leaned over just enough to put a peck on Harley's cheek. “You think that's enough for now?”

“For now”, Harley smiled. “I still might pull over at the next motorway station, just to make sure...”

.

“My house is that one over there”, Peter gestured at the Parker's apartment building.

“Right then.” As they came to a hold in front of the door, Harley smiled over.

“Thank you so very much for the lift.”

“Anything for my boyfriend”, Harley beamed.

“I kinda feel compelled to ask you to come upstairs with me, join me for a cup of coffee. It would include meeting my aunt, though.”

“Next time, ok?”

“Sure thing.” Peter was honestly a little glad. Aunt May will like Harley, there was not a doubt in his mind, but Aunt May wasn't the only one Harley had to meet. How in the hell was Peter gonna break him being family with the Starks and the Avengers? Hell, how is Peter going to break to Harley, his boyfriend, that he's Spider-Man? “It's not like we need to hurry, is it? We've got our entire semester here in NY together, there's no need to rush into anything.”

“Yeah”, Harley smiled, and what a beautiful smile that was. “Oh hey, since I'm pretty new in town, you perhaps know any nice places this city has to offer?” And like that, the sweet, beautiful smile turned into a flirty grin.

“Depends, what'd you want to do?”

“Well you know, there's this guy... We've been going out for a while, but now we made it official and a native New Yorker like you might have an idea where I could take him.”

“Oh really?”, Peter grinned back, “well he surely is a lucky guy.”

“Tell me about it, he really hit the jackpot.” And there was that damn shit-eating grin again.

Well, there was only one way to get rid of it. Peter cupped Harley's face and pulled him in for a kiss. A fantastic, time-stopping, world-ending, hair-raising kiss.

“Message me when you got to your place, ok?”, Peter mumbled.

“Promise”, he nodded and, after one, maybe two (ok, four) more pecks, Peter got out and waved after the car, until it disappeared in traffic.

That was his boyfriend. HIS BOYFRIEND! Peter skipped up the stairs and almost ripped their apartment door out of its hinges in excitement.

“Pete, honey!” May gracefully played over the almost needed reparations and welcomed him with open arms and Peter flung himself right into his aunt's embrace, thusly starting quite the amalgamation of I-love-yous, I-missed-you, I-missed-you-more, and oh so many hugs. All that only ended, when a harrumph interrupted them.

“Happy”, Peter grinned, when he identified the voice behind him and turned to hug him right away.

“Pete, it's great to see you”, he laughed. “Had a good drive?”

“Oh, yes”, Peter nodded, trying his hardest not to grin like the love-sick idiot he was. It as the absolutely perfect drive, and damn, he was so smitten and infatuated, he just wanted to call Harley right away, even if he only had seen him like ten minutes ago.

“Seems like it. I'm really happy your friend could give you a lift”, May smiled. “Didn't he want to come upstairs?”

“He still has a bit to drive. Don't worry, you'll meet him soon enough.” Mostly, because I can't wait to see him again...

“Right. Before you tell us some more, you might want to call Tony”, Happy suggested. “He's still a little pissed he didn't get to pick you up.”

“Well, I won't want to let him wait then”, Peter grinned and made for the privacy of his room, before opening up facetime and calling his favourite Stark.

“PETEY!”, Morgan squealed as she answered his call. “Are you in New York again?”

“Hi Mo”, he beamed back, “yeah, I just arrived and wanted to check in with my favourite Avenger.”

“But Daddy says I can't be an Avenger”, she moped.

“We just don't tell Dad.”

“What won't you tell Dad?” Tony's voice came from the off somewhere. Leaving Morgan no chance to explain and talk her and Peter's way out of it, he continued right away: “would you please tell Mr Parker that if he doesn't even bother to call his boss, he can kiss his internship goodbye.”

“You got that?”, she asked, her eyebrow raised in all the Stark-fashion.

“Yeah”, he snorted, “please tell Mr Stark that I love him too, but if he's that difficult before I've even started, I might just call up Reed Richards. Or maybe I'll just send an application to... OsCorp”, he added with a chirp.

“Oh, you little sh...” Tony jumped in front of the camera, ready to disinherit and cuss Peter out, when he remembered his daughter next to him. “You are a horrible person.”

“Mo, didn't he get his hot chocolate today?”, Peter asked her, completely ignoring the fake-angry Ironman. “You know that he gets cranky when he doesn't get his hot choc.”

“I'm not responsible for him”, Morgan made clear.

“We both know he can't look after himself”, Peter sighed. “Don't worry, darling, I'm back for the next half year, so you're not alone with him any more.”

“Thank you, you're the best!”

“You know I can hear you”, Tony deadpanned, looking from one to the other.

“Good, so you remembered your aids”, Peter snorted, before he could stop himself.

Morgan burst out laughing and Tony's face just dropped.

“Right then, sweetie, I think I'd better go”, Peter gulped. “So Mr Stark, let me just say beforehand that I am so honoured that you accepted my application and I cannot wait to start my internship in two weeks. Mo, our plans for tomorrow are still on?”

“Sure are”, she giggled, while Tony was still caught in his dumbfounded shock. “Can't wait!”

“Me neither. Alright, get our old man to bed, alright?”

“See you tomorrow! Love you!” With that she shot some kissy-faces towards the camera, and Peter parroted.

“Love you, too.”

And, before Tony could react, Peter waved and hung up on the call.

.

Tony: You're a little shit, Parker.

Peter: Yeah...

Tony: At least you know...

Tony: Glad to have you back in reach though. See you tomorrow?

Peter: I'll come over after breakfast

Tony: Good. I love you, kiddo

Peter: I love you, too <3

.

Harley: Hey Peter :) So, driving through New York is a nightmare!!! I'm finally at my place, though and everything's alright :)

Peter: then I'm happy :D

Harley: things at home good?

Peter: yeah, my aunt's happy to have me home again and I am, too

Peter: how're things at your new place?

Harley: it's all good

Harley: my friend's a bit overeager, there was probably no need for me to pack anything...

Peter: so you rushing me out of bed this morning... that WASN'T overeager?

Harley: That was a 4/10

Peter: 4? Dude, what's your scale like?

Harley: dude? That how you talk to your boyfriend?

Peter: yeah ;)

Peter: Dude, but like romantically :)

Harley: aww! * heart eyes *

*

What a lovely day for a swing towards the compound. The sun was shining, the March air was cool, but thankfully, there was this nice heater installed.

Since the door was for losers, Peter happily scaled the compound's wall and, instead of climbing onto the balcony and make at least a bit of a proper entrance, he knocked on Morgan's window.

“HIIII!”, she squealed as she let him inside. Peter had barely made it in, when she already tackle-hugged him, all but pushing Peter back out of the window.

“Hey Mo”, he laughed, once he found his balance. “I missed you so much.” He leaned down, just enough to put a kiss on her head.

“I missed you more. Come on, Daddy will be really happy to see you!” She grabbed Peter's hand and pulled him out into the living room. “DAAAAADDYYYY!” Wow. That cry could wake the dead.

“Honey, what have we said about the indoor voi... Oh, would you look at that.” Tony walked up to them and, as soon as he saw Peter, he stopped in his movements, crossed his arms in front of his chest. All that of course with the signature raised eyebrow.

“Good morning, sir”, Peter smiled, trying his all to sound nice and proper. “There is no need to worry, there was only a masked man climbing into your eight-year-old daughter's bedroom.”

“Peter. Stop creeping me out and get over here.” Tony rolled his eyes and held his arms out. Letting go of Morgan's hand, Peter was in his arms in two big strides. “Missed you, kiddo.”

“I better enjoy it as long as that feeling lasts, because that might sound a little differently in like four months.”

“I don't think it'll take that long”, Tony scoffed and put his arm around Peter, giving Morgan another free arm to hold on to.

“Daddy's only kidding”, Morgan made clear as she looked up with big eyes. “We'll never ever get tired of you.”

“Aww!” Peter had known it as soon as he met her, but in moments like these it was even more clear: there was nothing he wouldn't do for that girl. “I love you too, honey.”

“Good. Now, there's a lot to do. You need to tell us all about MIT and oh! I gotta show you!” Before Peter really knew it, she pulled him out of Tony's hold and into the kitchen. “LOOK!”

Excitedly, she pointed at the fridge, where right next to the picture of Peter at his graduation her current report card was pinned on. Since she was the daughter of Tony and Pepper it wasn't all that surprising to see her acing everything, Peter was still so incredibly proud.

“Oh wow! Straight As, that's amazing!” He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her up and spun her around, getting out all the squeals, just lighting up his everything. Thanks to Peter's super-strength, he actually could still properly spin her and throw her around and Morgan loved it to no end.

“Please don't kill my daughter”, Tony called over from the living room.

“You never let me do anything fun”, Peter moaned, walking back over with Morgan giggling as he dangled her off his back.

“I know, I'm such a monster.”

“Dad, can we go and say hi to Mummy?”

“You can go and say hi, if Pete wants to. Just don't make too much drama, and kiddo, you gotta change first.”

Yeah, Tony might have a point there. Wouldn't want to let all of SI know about that secret identity...

So, a few minutes later, Peter and Morgan skipped towards the SI offices, as Morgan caught him up on all the gossip in the building. At least all the gossip a third-grader could gather up. That was mostly limited to the ongoing cookie-war between Bucky and Thor. It didn't seem like the decision who was truly the best baking Avenger was made any time soon. Nobody in the building was complaining though, there were more than enough delicious baked goods for everybody.

“And promise you won't tell Daddy, but Uncle Rhodey let me fly a bit with him.”

“No.” With wide eyes, he turned to her. “Really? You got to fly with Uncle Rhodey?”

“It was sooo cool!”, she beamed up, “we did two rounds around the compound and we even flew a loop!”

“Omigod, I want to do that, too! I never flew with Uncle Rhodey.”

“But you can almost fly yourself”, she shrugged and pulled him along the corridor.

“I guess... I can't do loops though.”

“You'll have to negotiate with Uncle Rhodey.” And with that she burst into her Mum's office, pulling Peter behind her. “Hi Mum! Look who's here!”

“Pete, so good to see you”, she smiled and got up to greet him properly with a hug. “You good?”

“Very much so. And you?”

“Me too. I'm actually working on your paperwork right now”, Pepper grinned.

“Huh... Getting serious.”

“It is. But for now enjoy that bit of break you have. I assume that you'll spend that time either with the little Miss here or in the lab with Tony.”

“Yes he is”, Morgan answered instead of him.

“You heard her Highness”, Peter chuckled.

“And we wanted to come say hello to you, and I already told him about the cookie war, so we'll go to the Avengers now and get cookies, and then Peter can say hello to them.”

“Sounds good, but Dad said he's gonna cook dinner, so we might wanna go easy on the cookies”, Peter threw in.

“You're boring”, Morgan decided.

“But he's right”, Pepper made clear. “You can go and say hi to Uncle Thor and them, but leave the cookies for dessert.”

“Fine”, the girl moaned.

“Bring some for the rest of us, too, ok?”

“Sure thing”, Peter grinned, held his hand out and together they skipped through the compound, enjoying plenty of hugs, and maybe one too many cookies, before making their way back to the penthouse.

“You're just in time”, Tony greeted them.

“We got dessert.” Proudly, Morgan held the baggie of cookies out to Tony, as they made their way into the dining room.

“That is amazing”, Tony goggled and shot his daughter the widest smile. “You're the best.”

“I know”, she grinned.

“Yep, that's my girl alright”, he chuckled and handed Peter a stack of plates.

“Five plates? I know Happy's on a date, but is Rhodey eating with us?”

“No, there's someone else you got to meet. Remember, I told you about the kid with the potatogun?”

“Yeah”, Peter nodded.

“Well, he's here for an internship as well. 'bout your age, also at MIT and well, it's high-time you two met”, Tony explained, as he put the forks and knives down.

“Cool”, Peter nodded. He was always down to meet nerds like himself. And, if Tony liked the guy enough to invite him to eat together, he was probably a cool guy Peter could get along with.

“Ah, speak of the devil”, Tony smiled, as the elevator door pinged.

Who walked into the room was not anybody Peter had expected though. “Pete, meet Harley. Harley, that's Peter”, Tony introduced them and Peter caught his face falling a little too late. It wasn't just any Harley, it was Peter's Harley. His boyfriend. Who Tony didn't know about.

“Uhm hi”, he grinned awkwardly at Harley, who clearly fought hard against the blush.

“Hi Peter.” He bit down a grin as he held his hand out. “It's so nice to meet you.”

“Likewise”, Peter all but giggled as he shook the outstretched hand.

“Guys, can we eat? I'm hungry!”, Morgan moaned, thankfully interrupting the awkwardness.

“How? You just had cookies.”

“Seriously? You go and eat all the cookies, while I'm slaving in the kitchen for you kids?” With the most dramatic expression he could muster up, Tony clutched his chest. “That is how you thank me?”

“I will always be hungry enough for your food”, she beamed up at him and, when Peter finally managed to break eye contact with Harley, he could see Tony melting right there in front of them. It was delightful.

Or well, it would be, if he didn't feel Harley's eyes on him, especially once they got themselves seated, with his boyfriend right opposite Peter. Thankfully, Morgan was giddy enough to pull all the attention toward herself and away from the boyfriends, looking everywhere but the other.

This was so weird. In the initial surprise of finding out that the potatogunkid, Peter had heart so much about, was his boyfriend, it didn't even occur to either one to tell the truth. But the longer that it lasted, the more Peter's insecurity grew.. Weren't they going to tell the truth? Peter was not sure if it was something he wanted right now, given that their relationship was really new. Like 24 hours new.

“I gotta say, I'm surprised you two haven't met yet”, Tony commented when he eventually got a word in.

Neither seemed to be sure how to continue with that, as they both just looked at Tony with wide eyes.

“What?”, Tony shot back. “If you two knew each other it would have come up; Peter's told me so much about his group of friends, I feel like I know everything about Tommy and Jacob and Brianna and the oh so pretty and intelligent Allison...” He shot Peter some eyebrow-wiggles, leaving him to turn beet-red and looking everywhere except for Harley.

“Oh, Allison Lopez?”, Harley grinned, “that's your taste?”

Shit, couldn't Peter just turn invisible? Yes, he might have had a bit of a crush on her, but that was two semesters ago and as good of friends they were, there wasn't anything going on between him and Allison.

Tony however didn't seem to understand that. “I still don't get what keeps you from going out with her.”

“Neither can I”, Harley continued with that infuriating smirk. “I mean she is so nice and smart and yeah, she's really beautiful.”

“Please Keener, what do you know, you're gay”, Tony scoffed.

“Oh you are?”, Peter shot over and Harley just rolled his eyes. Whether at Tony or Peter, he wasn't sure.

“I can still appreciate beautiful women”, he ignored Peter as he addressed Tony. “For example I can tell that your wife is so out of your league.”

Oh damn. Yup, Peter definitely knew why he was into that guy. “Harley, I like you”, he grinned over.

In return he got the most exasperated of all the deadpans: “Gee, thanks.” Knowing him like he did, Peter was pretty damn sure that Harley fought tooth and nail to keep from retorting something along the lines of 'yeah, you made that clear the other night'. Thankfully, to a) keep from scarring Morgan for life and b) keep Tony from having a heart attack, Harley bit any remarks back.

“Yeah, he's really funny”, Morgan giggled, earning her Tony's signature move: the pointing at her with his eyebrows raised.

“Young lady, he is not. Harley Keener is nothing but a scullion, a rampallian, a fustilarian!”

“What's that?”

While Pepper explained Shakespearean insults to Morgan, Peter excused himself with a nod and made straight for the bathroom. He was just one enhanced man, how the hell was he supposed to deal with all this by himself?

.

Peter: SOS!!!

Ned: what's going on? bombthreat? Doc Ock? alien invasion?

Peter: it's so much worse...

Ned: WHAT IS IT?

Peter: so, last night me and Harley... we made it official

Ned: finally! I'm really happy for you but in what world is that a SOS-situation?

Peter: that friend he told us about, who he got an internship with and stuff?

Ned: yeah?

Peter: Tony. Stark.

Ned: Uff... that couldn't have been fun to explain

Peter: Yeah... we kinda didn't?

Peter: And now I maybe might be hiding in the bathroom because it's so weird

.

Harley: Are you hiding from me right now?

Peter: And why would I do that?

.

Peter: And of course, Harley knows I'm hiding from him

Ned: I know this sucks dude but I'm not sure how to help you

Peter: I don't either!!!

.

Harley: Because you didn't want to tell me that you're family with freaking Ironman?

Peter: Well, neither did you

Harley: Fair enough

Harley: Still no need to hide though, is there?

.

Ned: kay, listen man: you're gonna go in there, pretend everything's cool and as soon as you got the chance you and Harley talk about how you wanna play this

Ned: got it?

Peter: yes sir

Peter: thanks, you're the best guy in a chair any superhero can have! <3 <3 <3

.

When he got back into the dining room, Harley greeted Peter with the damnedest smirk, though that was to be expected. What wasn't to be expected, was that there didn't seem to be a single cookie left for him.

“Morgan Hope Stark. Where is my cookie?” He turned to the girl who just did not have a poker face. A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth and her eyes went wide, when she answered: “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Oh, is this how you want to play it?”, he shot back and glared at her with narrowed eyes. “Pepper, do I have permission to execute 'Operation Truthserum'?”

“No, no, Mummy no!”, she squealed, already shying back, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

“You do have my permission”, Pepper nodded and within seconds, Peter grabbed her by the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder and made for the couch, all that accompanied by a steady high-pitched squeal. The worst – for Morgan – was yet to come though. Once she landed on the cushions, the tickle attack started.

“STOP IT PETEY!”, she giggled.

“Will you tell me what happened to my cookie?”

“It wasn't me!”, she made clear looking up with wide eyes.

“Then who was it?”

“I can't say”, she admitted, “I promised!”

“Well, we should always keep the promises we make”, Peter admitted and dropped next to her on the couch. “Then I guess I just have to go to bed without another cookie, because someone over there”, he gestured towards the general direction of the table, “doesn't like me.”

“Oh no!” Morgan seemed to be truly perturbed by the idea that someone might not like Peter, especially since they were all a family. “I think you being sad is worse than breaking a promise”, she eventually decided. “It was Harley. He took your cookie, saying that he was gonna be the better intern anyways.”

“No.” With all the dramatics he could muster up, Peter feigned surprised shock. In reality, he had expected it to be Harley, his revenge for Peter hiding himself away. “How mean! Dad was right, he really is a scullion!”

“Maybe now you can prank him too?”, Morgan suggested, grinning somehow devilishly and adorably at the same time.

“Oh definitely. You gonna help me?”

“Yes!”

“Awesome. Means we already know what we'll do tomorrow.”

“Great, you're still alive”, Tony chuckled, as he made his way over to the couch. “The tortured screams of my beloved offspring suddenly stopped; thought I should make sure that you didn't take down my house or killed each other.” He dropped down between the two, putting an arm around each. “Happy to see you didn't.”

“Not on my first day back”, Peter shrugged and leaned into the hug.

“Thanks, I really appreciate that”, Tony deadpanned. “If you want to, though, we can get more cookies.”

“That's alright”, Peter grinned and winked at Morgan. “I've got something better.”

Looking from Morgan to Peter, Tony remarked: “I don't like that look on your faces one bit.”

“It's ok, daddy”, Morgan assured him, “since you didn't take his cookie, you're not in danger.”

“Oh for the love of Peggy Carter, please tell me you and Harley aren't gonna start a whole rivalry.”

“Because you would never do something like that, would you?”, Peter grinned. “Mr America told me what went on in the early days of the Avengers.”

“Of course he did.” With a scoff, Tony rolled his eyes.

“Why?”, Morgan asked looking from Tony to Peter, “what happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Don't worry”, Peter hissed over Tony's lap to the girl, “I'll tell you later.”

“You will do no such thing”, he made clear, “you're not here to be some irresponsible idiot terrorizing me, my family or my company.”

“You're right, Mr Stark, I'm a responsible young adult, here to do an responsible job and be responsible doing so.”

“Say responsible one more time and I might actually believe you”, came the deadpan response.

Well, then Peter'd give Tony exactly what he asked for. “I will be responsible, conscientious, reliable, dependable, unfailing, trustwor...”

“Yeah, yeah, you proofed your point”, Tony waved him off. “You need a lift home or are you sleeping over?”

“He's sleeping here”, Morgan decided.

“Works for me”, Peter shrugged, “May and Happy are having a date night, I don't need to be a part of that.”

“I know, right?”, Morgan rolled her eyes, “date nights are so gross.”

“I'll remind you of that exact sentence in about 8 years”, Tony made clear and turned to Peter before Mo could argue some more. “Your room's like you left it, at least it should be, I asked Dum-E to clean and I've honestly been too scared to check what he's done to it.”

“That's ok, Pete can sleep in my room.”

“Did you ask your Mum if that's okay?”

“I'm asking you now”, she beamed up.

“Yeah, but you know that Mum is the boss in this house.”

“Fine”, she moaned, jumped off the couch and trotted over to the dinning room.

“I know you don't really have a choice, but you cool with sleeping crammed into a children's princess bed?”

“Two words”, he grinned back. “Makeshift bunk-beds.”

“Oh fuck no”, Tony groaned, “the last time you made beds for you two, it ended with a crash and you dislocating your shoulder.”

Right, Tony might have a point in opposing this idea. Peter making webbing-hammocks was super fun, until one of the supporting webs dissolved too quickly and down they fell. Morgan landed on top of Peter, thusly landing soft enough to break the fall and not getting hurt. Peter wasn't so lucky, but once his shoulder was popped back into place, everything was alright again. And the 'no creating bunk-beds-rule' was put into place.

“Besides”, Tony continued, “I will ground you, no hesitation.”

Yeah, Peter did not doubt that for a second. No matter he was a twenty-one year old fifth-semester student, being grounded was definitely a possibility.

“Mummy said yes!” Squealing loudly and excitedly, Morgan skipped back towards them, followed by Pepper and Harley, albeit a little slower. “You can stay in my room!”

“If it keeps either one from sleeping, that will have been the last time though”, Tony made clear and Harley looked like he had to bite down hard to keep from bursting out laughing as did Pepper.

“Promise, daddy”, Morgan nodded.

“Yeah, dad”, Peter grinned, “we promise.”

“I'll hold you to that”, Tony made clear and waved at the two. “Right then, go and get ready. It's bedtime soon.”

“Sure thing. I'll just go to my room, get my PJs and brush my teeth and I'll be right back up”, he promised the girl and made for the elevator. The doors were just about to close, when a hand stopped it from doing so. Harley's hand. With a grin he walked in and leaned against the wall right opposite Peter.

“So, Peter was it?”, he grinned and, as soon as the doors were closed, he leaned in.

“Wait”, Peter just about managed to get out and looked up at the camera. “FRI, please don't tell anybody what you're about to witness and delete any and all footage of what's about to happen.”

“Of course, Peter.”

He turned back to his wide-eyed boyfriend, who clearly was not yet used to FRIDAY. But that could matter another time. With his hands on Harley's shoulders, Peter leaned in and pressed their lips together.

“Man, I've been wanting to do this all evening...”

“Me too”, Peter nodded, once they broke apart. And just in time at that, with a ding the elevator doors opened.

“Oh would you look at that, your room is right next to mine, what a good thing to know”, Harley smirked and Peter couldn't help his cheeks blushing. Since unfortunately (or in all honesty not very much so) Harley followed Peter into his room, the blush did not die down. “Nice”, he whistled appreciatively, as he took in the pictures of Peter's friends and family, the posters of StarWars and funny science puns. “Kinda looks like your dorm room.”

“I know. Guess that's what you'd call my own personal style”, Peter shrugged, before diving into his closet in search of PJs.

“So”, Harley cleared his throat as he made himself comfortable on Peter's bed. “You're close with Tony. As am I. Something we both decided to keep from each other but well, guess we're even.”

“Fair enough.”

“Why'd you never tell him about me, though?”, he moped. “You told him about Allison...”

“Because”, Peter scoffed as he turned back around to him, “that one date me and Allison have been on was about nine months ago and he still keeps on pestering me about her.”

“Ok yeah, I'll give you that.”

“Another question though: Why are we keeping us from Tony now?” Peter sat himself on the bed just opposite Harley, who scooted close enough for their feet to touch.

“I don't know.”

“I mean, I don't wanna go up to him and say: oh by the way, me and Harley have been doing it for the last month or so and as of yesterday we're actually a couple”, Peter summarized their relationship.

“Yeah, me neither. The mechanic can get intense.”

“As can the Avengers.”

“Besides, since we're working together, things should be kinda professional, right?”

“So you think we should keep this to ourselves?”

“Maybe yes, at least for now”, Harley nodded. “Just until we've figured all this out, you know with working and even kinda living together.”

“Right then. Dating in secret.” Thusly keeping it from Peter's entire extended family. But Harley was right, it was the best thing to do for the time being. Navigating a new relationship was always hard, having Ironman and the Avengers watching your every move while doing so would just make everything so much more challenging.

“If you're not comfortable with that, I get it. We can come clean.” Harley offered him a smile, a beautiful smile and grabbed Peter's hand.

“No, I agree, for now we have enough to figure out on our own. I appreciate it though.”

“Anything for my boyfriend”, Harley grinned and leaned in and Peter was more than happy to close the last bit of distance. And then an arm wrapped itself around his waist and pulled him closer. And before Peter knew it, he and Harley were tangled up on the bed, his hand in Harley's hair, Harley's arms holding him close. It was wonderful and perfect. Until Harley's hand made it's way under Peter's shirt.

“No”, he mumbled, “that's a bad idea.”

“Feels definitely too nice to be a bad idea”, Harley chuckled.

“Amazing is the word I'd have gone with”, Peter grinned leaning back. “That's the issue though. It's kind of like...”

“Like doing it at your dad's”, Harley finished the train of thought.

“Yeah. And I think it wouldn't be as bad, if I didn't have Morgan waiting up there.”

“I do get that”, Harley nodded, “laying in bed with your innocent pseudo-kid-sister after mind-blowing sex with your boyfriend...”

“Someone's having a high opinion of himself”, Peter scoffed as he untangled himself from Harley.

“Oh, but that's not my opinion”, he smirked, rolling onto his stomach and watching every little move of Peter's as he changed into his PJs. “That is something I will forever remember being whispered into my ear.”

Fine, Harley might have a point. Peter wasn't going to give him the satisfaction though and remained as stoic as he could.

“Mhm, gotta say, I do love this show”, Harley commented just before Peter pulled the sleep-shirt over his head. “Who'd've thought that a nerd like you'd be so fit?”

“Well thanks. Not sure what has gone wrong though that you only get that now.” His eyebrow raised, Peter turned back to Harley.

That damn smirk just wouldn't disappear, ever; Peter probably had to resign himself to the fact that his boyfriend would look at him like that all the time from now on until... Well, time would tell. All he had to do now was to find a way to keep from blushing like an idiot every time Harley shot him that infuriatingly sexy grin. “You know, some people have a painting, a movie or something they enjoy so much, they can watch it over and over and over again.” He walked all the way up to Peter and brushed his hands over the now dressed chest and Peter cursed himself for jumping under his boyfriend's touch. “I too have a work of art I like to admire.”

“Shut up”, Peter mumbled, not sure what else to say to that.

“Make me.”

That Peter would. “Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow”, he mumbled between kisses.

“Yeah, you too.”

*

“Maybe you could web him to the ceiling?”, Morgan suggested, as they sat over a nice cheerio-breakfast.

“But he doesn't know I'm Spider-Man”, Peter shrugged and with one big sip finished the rest of his hot chocolate.

“It would be such a funny way to tell him, though.”

She might have a point there, if only because Peter should probably tell Harley about his alter ego. As long as they had only been fooling around, it wasn't really anything he even considered. Now that they were dating though... There were already so many secrets surrounding their relationship, they probably shouldn't have any secrets between the two of them.

“How about for now we find a revenge plan that doesn't involve superpowers?”

“You're boring.” With Tony-levels of dramatics, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Ok, I promise we can do your idea once Harley found out about it.”

“Found out about what?” Harley walked into the kitchen, eyeing him curiously. A bit of a flirty glint in his eyes mixed with plenty of curiosity, he sat himself opposite Peter.

Fuck. With the heat, the blush rose in Peter's face and he just locked eyes with Morgan, who just shrugged.

“Idagit idagis idaga sidigedigret.”

“Idagi knodogow”, Morgan answered, “whaddagat doddogo yagidou wagidant toddogo tagitell hidagim?”

“You guys seriously have a secret language?”

“Are you actually surprised?”, Peter shot over before turning back to Morgan. “Widage cadagan juddugust pragitend nodogothidaging hadagappidagened adigand stadigay quidagiet. Thadigat coddogool?”

“Toddogotagidally.”

With a self-satisfied grin, Peter and Morgan nodded at each other before turning to Harley. “So, what's up?”, Peter beamed at his boyfriend, who looked like he wasn't sure he really wanted to be here and witness whatever was happening between the pseudo-siblings. “You doing alright?”

“Yeah. Not sure you are, but from what I've seen it doesn't seem too unusual.”

“No, not really”, Peter nodded in agreement. “Well, me and Morgan were just gonna head over and get some more cookies, since for some unexplainable reasons I never got one last night.”

Harley met Peter's challenging stare head-on as he smirked: “yeah, that is indeed weird.”

“Whoever did that will have to pay dearly”, Peter made clear, blushing ever so slightly, when Harley bit his lip. “Oh that poor soul.” And here Peter was, caught and losing himself in Harley's eyes, shining brighter than the biggest arc reactor.

“Can we go get cookies now?”, Morgan, who Peter might have momentarily forgotten was sitting right beside them, interrupted them making eyes at each other.

“Yes, definitely”, he nodded, happy to be interrupted just in time before things would become uncomfortably heated.

“Can I come too?”

Morgan just skipped over, grabbed Harley's hand and held her free one out to Peter. “Let's get ready to cookie!”

*

“Peter, can you come here for a moment?”

Oh, that couldn't be good. For about two weeks Peter and Harley's prank war had been going on and there was everything from cling wrap on the toilet to pink colour in the shampoo; from changing ringtones and contact names to putting all of Harley's furniture on the roof (thank you spider-strength!) there wasn't a prank they didn't go through with. And now Harley calling him into the common room? Peter's spider-sense didn't tingle, but that didn't mean anything.

“What's up?” Carefully, Peter put his head through the door, but Harley was doing was sitting on the couch.

“I need your brain”, he sighed, barely looking up. “As much as I hate to admit it, you're smarter than me.”

“Huh...” Something was up, Peter didn't need spider-senses to tell him that. “Why are you being nice?”

“You don't trust me?” With the fakest pained expression, Harley clutched his chest. “I am a nice person that currently needs your help!”

“Alright...” With every careful step, Peter took a good look around the room again. Nat and Wanda were sitting in the corner, biting down their grins at the scene in front of them. Well, those two weren't going to be any help... With as much distance between him and Harley as possible, Peter sat himself opposite on the couch. “What's up then?”

“This damn thing here.” What he held out to Peter looked like a remote. Spider-senses didn't pick anything up, so he carefully reached out for it and took it in his hand. At first glance nothing seemed to be wrong with it.

“What's broken about it then?”

“No idea”, Harley shrugged. “I can't figure it out...”

“Did you forget to change the batteries?”, Peter rolled his eyes.

“I'm not that dumb”, Harley made clear.

“You sure?” Peter was only riling him up and, extra slowly and showy, he checked the batteries. Well, wanted to.

Behind him loud cries and screams that could wake the dead had him jump; as he turned all he made out was a distinctly goblin-shaped figure. Without thinking about it, his instincts took over and within moments he jumped up on the ceiling and shot webs at everything that moved.

“Oh, for fucks sake, Pete, it's just me”, Clint groaned in a weird green get up with fake muscles, a purple unitard-thingy and hat; all that covered in webs.

“What the fuck, Clint?”, Peter yelled, “how do you get the idea to walk around dressed like THAT and not get webbed? Seriously, you're lucky I didn't punch you.”

“Wasn't my idea”, Clint defended himself and with his stuck arms he gestured vaguely towards the couch, where Peter only now remembered his boyfriend sitting. His boyfriend, who didn't know Peter was Spider-Man. His boyfriend who looked up at Peter, whiter than a sheet of paper and his jaw somewhere on the ground.

Oh fuck.

“Uhm, Harley? You alright?” Since there was clearly no greater threat than Harley breaking up with Peter for lying to him, Peter lowered himself on a web, until he and his hopefully still boyfriend were eye to eye.

“You... You... You're Spider-Man.”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Ok...”, he nodded, though clearly it was anything but ok. “Ok”, he repeated shaking his head and got up off the couch.

“Harley?”

“Ok.” With a smile, that looked almost manic, he looked around the room, where not only Peter but also Nat, Wanda and the Clint Goblin were quite worried. “Ok!” And out the door he went.

“Right, this is not what I thought would happen when I agreed to prank you”, Clint made clear. “You can still unstick me, though.”

“Nah”, Peter, Nat and Wanda agreed. “You deserve this.”

“Someone should check on Harley, though...”

“I'm on it”, Peter nodded and, after shooting Clint one more middle finger for this fucking idiotic idea of dressing up as his arch-nemesis (Well, one of them. But thanks to Harry there was more than enough emotional baggage attached and Clint quite frankly should know so much fucking better), he headed out and for Harley's room.

“You wanna talk about it?” Peter put his head through the ajar door to Harley's room, where his boyfriend was currently sitting on the bed, staring at the blank wall.

“I don't know”, he shrugged, still focusing on the wall in front of him. “I mean...”

“I'm really sorry.” With his apology, Peter slipped into the room and leaned against the now closed door. “I just... I've been planning the perfect way to tell you for these last two weeks, but I guess that didn't really work out...”

“Oh really?” Dripping with sarcasm, Harley rolled his eyes before finally turning to Peter. “You didn't plan on telling me by screaming bloody murder before jumping up and sticking yourself to the ceiling and webbing Hawkeye?”

“Believe it or not, but no I didn't...”

“I guess it explains, why none of my pranks really worked against you.”

“Sorry, super-hearing, strength and spider-senses do not really make for a levelled playing field.”

“No kidding”, Harley snorted.

Peter shuffled over and kneeled on the foot of the bed. “Can I somehow make this better or up to you?”

“Dude, I'm not mad”, Harley made clear, “not really at least. We've been dating for what, two weeks? It's not like I was about to propose to you. I'm just... surprised, that's all.”

“I get that. Anything you need to let out or ask or anything like that, just...” Peter held his arms out, “let it out.”

“I've seen Spider-Man naked.” As realization hit with Harley, Peter just burst out with laughter. “That's your take-away?”

“I feel like that's a big deal”, he nodded as the grin spread over his own face. “I mean, who can say that? I'm also the only one who gets to kiss Spider-Man, anytime I want to.”

“That is in fact a pretty big deal”, Peter smirked, “from what I've heard Spidey's an amazing kisser and incredible in bed.”

“As much as I'd love to argue that, they're true facts.” And with that, Harley leaned closer and pressed their lips together. “Omigod, I'm kissing Spider-Man”, he mumbled without breaking away.

“Seriously?”, Peter deadpanned, “do I have to expect that every time we kiss from now on? Because I don't know if...”

“Shut up, Spider-Man and let me kiss you.”

*

“WHERE IS HE?” Yelling at the top of his lungs, Peter stormed through the compound. Oh, he's done it, Harley's gone too far.

In the common room, he was only met with five pairs of eyes on him. “Who's he?”

“Harley”, Peter hissed, “where is he?”

“Last I heard he was in the lab with Stark”, Nat answered, eyeing him curiously. “And I'd assume that your prank war has reached its inevitable climax?”

“Let's just say, he's gonna pay.” Without an explanation or gracing the Avengers with another glance, Peter turned on his heel and stormed off towards the lab.

How the fuck did that damn idiot think it would be ok to mess with Peter's suit?

“HARLEY KEENER!”, he cried out, before he got even through the lab doors.

Just in time, he saw him diving behind Tony for safety, which was quite futile; not even Ironman could save Harley from Peter's wrath.

“Pete, please, I thought we agreed to keep your stupid rivalry out of my workshop”, Tony groaned.

Peter completely ignored Tony and stared right at where his boyfriend peeked out from behind him. “You've gone to far.”

“What did you do?” Peter was pretty sure, Tony didn't really want to know or even cared what Harley had done, but was that type of tired Dad, who just wanted some peace and quiet.

“He did THIS!” Ever since Peter had noticed the writing on the back of his spider-suit, he had worn a hoodie to hide it. Now he unzipped it and turned to Tony, so he too could read what all of New York now knew.

“Jar Jar Binks wasn't so bad”, Tony read and Peter heard Harley's failed attempt at hiding his giggles. “Pete, I'm with you on this one, a hundred percent, but please”, he pleaded, “even though he would deserve it, don't toss Harley to the Sinister Six.”

“You just wait, Keener”, Peter growled, “you'll regret the day, you decided to turn Spider-Man into the menace The Daily Bugle always said he was.” Not giving Harley the chance to ridicule him any more, Peter turned on his heel and stomped out.

“Please don't talk about yourself in the third person”, was the last thing he heard Tony groan, before the elevator doors closed.

There really was only one thing he could do. And, as much as Tony would hate it, Harley turning Peter into a fucking Jar Jar Binks stan was so much worse than anything Peter could come up with. But he'd need help for that, since Harley wasn't dumb enough to be alone with Peter.

Thankfully, there was the world's best sidekick.

“Hi Pepper”, he greeted her, when the elevator door to the penthouse opened, “is Morgan back from school yet?”

“Not yet, she has soccer training.”

“Right, it's Tuesday”, Peter remembered. Given that he was a currently employed worker at one of this country's most prestigious companies, he really was as clueless as they come.

“Can I help you out with what I'm assuming is your revenge plan to get back at Harley for what he pulled earlier? It's on twitter”, Pepper explained, before Peter could ask how she knew about it.

“Of fucking course it is.” With a groan, Peter fell on the couch.

“I'm sorry, kid.” Sitting next to him, she patted his shoulder. “This really must suck. Now, I usually don't condone these kind of things, but this whole prank war just has to end. So I'm gonna help you with one last stint and then it's all over, alright?”

“You'd really do that?”, he beamed over. Him and Pepper co-planning a prank? Screw intern at SI, that's what needed to be put on Peter's curriculum vitae!

“I guess you already know what you want to do, but need somebody to lure Harley wherever you need him to be.”

“Exactly.”

“Right then. What do you need from me?”

*

After Peter had stormed out of the lab, Tony decided it probably be best to just ignore the whole thing. As horrible as what Harley had done to Peter was, they were both adults and Tony was not gonna do that to himself and meddle with them. So back to work they went, until FRIDAY's voice ripped them away from it. “Harley, Pepper asks that you please come up to the penthouse, there is a form she needs you to sign.”

“Like right now?”

“Yes please, it'll only take a moment.”

“Fine”, he shrugged, put the screwdriver down and made for upstairs.

Three minutes passed, then five, then ten, but Harley didn't come back down. Damnit. This just screamed revenge. Did Tony really want to know what was going on? No, not really. Then why the fuck did he put down his tools and go up to the penthouse?

`

“Pep? Harley?”, he called out when he got into the empty living room.

“MHMMHM!” Those muffled cries came from just above him. And even though Tony knew exactly what he would see there, he still jumped a bit in surprise to find Harley, webbed to the ceiling, including a web covering up his mouth.

“Oh for fuck's sake”, Tony grumbled. “Where's Pete or my wife?”

“Over here”, Pepper called, as she and Peter carried a mattress over to put right under Harley.

“Just in case”, Peter explained, “I do plan on catching him once the webs dissolve.” Once they placed the mattress, Peter climbed up, hovering right by Harley's face. “Ok, this is a bit of a dick move, so I'll just take this off.” With careful movements, Peter dissolved the web over Harley's face.

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you absolute fucker”, Harley eventually groaned, once he could speak again.

“I hate to say this, but you do deserve it”, Tony shrugged. “And how the hell did Pete rope you in, darling?”

“I didn't have to”, Peter chirped from his place on the ceiling, “she offered her help.”

“My, my”, he grinned and put his arm around Pepper, who smiled right back.

“Look, I found some more pillows!”, Morgan giggled, as she skipped over. She literally could not have been home longer than maybe ten minutes, she still was in full soccer gear. Looks like they practised outside today, judging from the grass and dirt stains all over the light blue uniform. “Hi daddy!”, she beamed, as she went straight for the safety cushion on the ground. “Look, Pete, finally did my idea!”

“That was your idea? Wow, the women in my life are really a lot more devious than I previously though...”

“Yes”, she grinned proudly. “And now Harley has to promise that the pranking is over.”

“Peter did just as many pranks as me”, Harley protested, “so he should have to promise too.”

“Fine”, Peter shrugged, “I hereby promise that this was my last prank of this war.”

“Right, I promise not to avenge my being used as a candelabra.”

“Great”, Pepper smiled, “my work here is done. Honey, how about we let the kids be and get a cup of coffee?” She held her hand out and there was nothing in the world that could be nicer than to take it and let her pull him away from all this chaos and the wonderfulness that was a date with his wife.

*

What the fuck was Professor Smythe's problem? Seriously, he and Jameson's obsession with building robots that could end Peter was ridiculous. The current Spider-Slayer (oh, how much he HATED that name) was naturally too slick for Peter or his webs to stick, but he hadn't expected anything less. It also had some damn web-shooters, could climb up walls and some kind of energy beam or pulse gun, that could knock a statue off its pedestal. Peter definitely was not in the mood to find out what it could do to him.

Maybe he could fry the system? He had never tried it with any of the Slayers before, but that seemed to be the best thing to do to a) have a chance of defeating it and b) get it away from civilians. So that's what he did. Bungee-jumping off Brooklyn Bridge, the bot followed him right away. Coming out of the water again, Peter perched himself on the balustrade, waiting whether his hunch proofed right.

And of course it didn't. Well then, let the cat-and-mouse-games continue. Peter had to admit, his manoeuvrers did grow more and more dangerous, but there just had to be a twist or turn too fast for the damn thing, so it'd crash and hopefully break on the concrete.

“Mr Stark is calling”, KAREN announced just as Peter landed a quite formidable hit, if he dare say so himself.

“I'm kinda busy”, he hissed, ducking just in time to get one of these metallic legs to the stomach and webbed himself up a skyscraper; which exactly it was he didn't really have the chance to make out and besides, he really didn't care at the moment.

“I know”, came Tony's voice. “You need support?”

“Thanks”, he shot back, rolling his eyes that of course Tony had his tracker, location and what not pulled up. “I can handle it.”

“No doubts there. Just offering that you don't have to.”

“Appreciate it.” Perching himself on the roof's edge, he had just enough time for a short breather, when that Slayer crawled right up there. Fan-fucking-tastic.

“Jameson or Smythe, whoever is in charge of this right now: Really? Another Slayer? Haven't you learned your lessons the last umpteen times?”

“Kiddo, don't engage with the villains, just beat them.” Peter could practically hear Tony rolling his eyes, but he wasn't going to let Ironman tell him how to fight his rogues and was happy to ignore him.

Since the Spider-Slayer didn't answer, Peter concluded that it couldn't hear, or speak. Because Jameson would not let himself get taunted like this without shooting back.

With one quite impressive jump, Peter landed right behind the thing and, before it could turn and defend itself, landed a wonderful hit, that almost send it flying off the roof. “Take that!”

“Seriously?”

“Shut up, Mr Stark, I have to concentrate.”

“Oh, so it's Mr Stark again?”

“Yes”, Peter just made clear, and jumped up just in time to avoid getting hit by one robotic arm, and landing right in the next one. And shit, that hurt. “Fuck!”, he cried out. “Don't do that, you dumb slayer, that's how people get hurt!”

“Who got hurt?” Great, now Harley got in the mix as well. Tony must have their conversation on speaker in the lab.

“Apparently Peter is. What the hell is going on?”

“I got it handled, damnit!”, he groaned and in all the frustration of being punched in front of an audience, he even got a few good hits in, leaving wonderful dents in the admittedly quite hard metal. “BAM!”

Peter's cocky joy about hitting that thing didn't last too long though. The bot turned, set up for a punch, but not fast enough for Peter's spider-senses. Turns out, his early warning system wasn't really alerting him to the punch though; in avoiding getting hit, Peter jumped right into that fucking energy beam, and before he really knew it happened, he found himself blasted off the roof and falling towards the busy streets with an unfortunately not all that manly scream.

“Kid, what the fuck?”

“What's going on?”

Somehow in his deathly panic, he could make out Tony and Harley's concerned voices over the speakers, but him saving his own life was more important right now. Shooting webs and swinging to the safety of a few rooftops over wasn't that difficult, though saying it wasn't a scaring shock would be a lie.

“FUCKING ANSWER ME!”, Tony cried out, and only now Peter remembered to maybe console his father figure and his boyfriend.

“I'm alright”, he assured them.

“Good, cause if you die, I'm gonna kill you”, Harley made clear.

No, Peter had other things to deal with right now; his distraught boyfriend could wait. “FRIDAY, please take care of Tony and Harley, but I'd much rather deal with this armed-to-the-teeth killer-robot that was especially designed to kill me, than with them being hysteric.”

“What do you mean, especially designed to kill you?”

“Talk to you later, bye!”, he chirped. “KAREN, hang up please and keep either from calling me.”

“Call ended.”

“Thanks, K, you're the best. Now. The Slayer. If we go to The Daily Bugle HQ, we could baseball that sonofabitch with the Jameson statue they have out front. Do you think that'd piss him sufficiently off?”

“I assume yes”, she answered, “but it would also aggravate Jameson a lot more.”

“K, I've literally done nothing to the man, and he's paying a mad scientist to build killer-robots. I don't think there's much more aggravation possible.”

“You might have a point”, she admitted.

“Thanks. Right then, let's flatten this thing!”

The hardest part about swinging to The Bugle was avoiding that damn impulse beam. It almost blasted Peter out of the sky twice, and thanks to that fucking gun, his landing in front of The Bugle was unfortunately not as much of a landing, as him being smacked against the building. Ouch. That was gonna be beautifully blue and purple.

“Jameson, now you might hear me”, Peter cried out, circling that damn thing. “I honestly believe in nothing less than doing what's right, which is helping out the people of New York. And if all I do for the rest of my days is stop car thieves or pick pockets, help elderly people over the street or help some poor tourists, that got lost in the city then I'm happy to do just that. I don't understand your hatred of me, but well, if you so clearly need to loathe me, let me at least give you a proper reason to do so.”

With all his strength, he ripped the statue of his nemesis out of its plinth and brought it down on the robot.

“You think that did it?”, he whispered, as he waited for that thing to move again.

“My scanners show no signs of any activity”, she reported. “It seems you have successfully destroyed the Spider-Slayer and given Jameson more than enough reasons to hate you.”

“Yeah, I'm already looking forward to tomorrows Bugle”, he scoffed and, after making sure that none of the civilians standing around were hurt, he took off again.

“I suggest that you make your way back to the compound. You have taken a few bad hits and even with your enhanced healing you'll take a while to completely recuperate.”

Sure, KAREN had a point, a very good point, since everything, really everything hurt like hell. But if he went back there now, he'd have Tony and Harley to deal with and that was nothing he was really in the mood for. Then again... “I assume if I don't do so, Tony will come and pick me up.”

“According to FRIDAY, he gives you thirty seconds to make your way to the compound or he will do exactly that.”

“Well, whoop-de-fucking-do”, he groaned. “The compound it is, then.”

“Oh, I'm gonna kill you!” Peter was barely through the doors, when both Tony and Harley stormed towards him.

“Back off”, he made clear. “I am not in the mood.”

Funnily enough, both shied back a bit. “But you will go to the medbay now, that is an order”, Tony made clear.

“Gladly”, Peter sighed and pulled his mask off. Judging from the way Harley gasped and Tony's face fell, he had quite the bruise there. In all honesty, Peter wasn't sure what was injured and what wasn't, everything just hurt. Not just physically, but... Smythe and JJJ really hated Peter. No, hate was probably not strong enough a word for it. Besides the point that Peter couldn't imagine hating anybody to that much a degree that you actually wanted them dead and did everything in your power to actually kill them, it was them hating Peter for no real reason. They didn't even know Spider-Man, all they knew was that he had superpowers. And it scared them so much that it didn't matter what he did; it didn't matter how often he saved New York or the world, they were gonna hate him.

“Impressive speech, kiddo”, Bruce praised him, as he gave Peter the once-over.

“Thanks”, he mumbled, but didn't manage more than a half-hearted smile.

“You know why you are so much more amazing than Jameson will ever be?”, Bruce remarked, as he got some lotion out of a cupboard. He didn't wait for Peter to ask why, he continued right away: “you let love lead your every move, your every decision. And that is so damn hard to do. Letting fear be your motivator, well, do that and you end up like Jameson, or Smythe... or me. Don't look so shocked”, he chuckled, “me and Hulk went through a lot of emotional turmoil, we hated each other like JJJ hates you. And for the longest time I ran from that exact fear. It took the idiots in this building to help me see that fear isn't the way to go and it was a damn long process. But you... You didn't need to learn that, did you? I know you went through so much shit in your quite short life, but still, you have the biggest heart, you fight for the little guy. And that's why Spider-Man is New York's favourite superhero.”

Peter was honestly floored. All he could do was look at Bruce Banner, the amazing scientist, his idol he looked up to so much, wide eyed and mouth gaping open. Thankfully, the doctor played over it, put a last bit of the lotion on Peter's shoulder, before motioning for him to put his shirt on again.

“Right then. Take it easy, alright? It unfortunately shows that that robot was designed to purposely hurt you. There are no severe injuries, but you're skin's more blue than white.”

“Yeah, I feel that.”

“I bet. So, doctor's orders are to be pampered for the next two days.”

“That I can do”, Peter grinned, probably somewhat crookedly since his face was kinda messed up.

“Good. And as usual, if Tony gets too much, I can always put you in a calm and quiet quarantine.”

“Thanks, you're the best.” It was more limping than walking, but Peter made his way out of the medbay. But, just before the door closed behind him, he turned one more time. “Oh, and Bruce?”

“Yes, Peter?”

“Thanks. For the talk. Means the world.”

“Anytime, kid”, he smiled and waved after Peter, as he made his way to the penthouse, where he was already awaited by Tony, Pepper, Harley, Morgan and by now also May and Happy had arrived. Yup, Peter was definitely going to need Bruce's offer of quarantining him if he wanted only five minutes by himself.

“I'll live”, he greeted his distraught family. “Doctor's orders are to be pampered for the next two days”, he explained as he made his way to the couch and got to get off his feet.

And then the circus started. Immediately everybody crowded him, offered tea, hot chocolate, sweets and so much more. The only time they left his side was when he had to go to the bathroom and even then he had to argue for five minutes that he was able to make it there by himself. Eventually, he just got to lay on the couch with his head on May's lap. And, while his aunt's fingers brushed through his hair, Morgan read him some pirate story. The decision to sleep over at the compound was seconded by everybody present and, while everybody offered to stay with him in his room, Peter was not so much convinced by that. “I am 21 years old, I think I can spend the night. It's not like I've never been hurt before and I've already weathered much worse injuries with a lot less care.”

Not that anybody was happy about the statement, but they at least let him be. After three extra good-night-kisses from Morgan, May insisted on walking him to his room at least.

“I'm sorry”, she remarked as they walked along the corridor in silence.

“What for?”

“That there are people out there trying to harm you”, May sighed and pulled him a bit closer. “And I'm so incredibly proud how you're dealing with this.” When he looked over, he saw her smiling at him, albeit teary-eyed. “You don't vow revenge, you don't go after Jameson and fine, you did destroy his statue earlier, but you don't let the hatred consume you like it consumes him. That is pure Ben, right there. I just know he is sitting up there on a cloud and is so damn proud of the man you're turning out to be.”

“That's thanks to you both”, Peter made clear and leaned into the embrace. “I larb you.”

“Oh honey”, she laughed and put a kiss on his cheek. “I larb you, too.”

.

Harley: You already sleeping?

Peter: come over

.

“Hey.” Almost quietly, Harley slipped into Peter's room. “I'm not gonna ask how you're feeling, because I do not want to be shot the death glare to end all death glares”, he made clear as he made himself comfortable just beside Peter.

“Thanks”, he laughed, “I appreciate that. I do feel the need to ask you how you're doing, though. You've been suspiciously quiet and withdrawn ever since I've come out of the medbay.”

“Yeah... It's just... Until today I didn't get what you being Spider-Man actually means. Up until this afternoon it was just the fact that you've got superpowers and run around the city in spandex. It never occurred to me that you're actually putting yourself in harm's way, fighting supervillains and actually getting hurt.” Gently he stroked Peter's cheek, careful not to touch the bruise. “And the feeling to sit here, listening to you getting beaten up, thrown of a building all the while there's nothing I can do... It's just horrible.”

Peter scooted a little closer and grabbed Harley's hand. “I would love to say I understand, but I don't; I only know the other side. It's like... Being able to do things like that, I have the responsibility to use these powers, you know? Because if there's something happening that I could have stopped, but I didn't...”

“I get that”, Harley nodded and squeezed Peter's hand. The fact that that hurt like hell, Peter didn't try to let on, there was a more urgent matter to be dealt with. “It's so noble and one of the things that are really so damn amazing about you. It's just so horrible to helplessly sit back and have to watch while the guy you love does stuff like this.”

“The guy you what now?” All bruises, injuries and contusions were forgotten as Peter stared at his boyfriend with wide eyes. Did he mishear him or did Harley actually use the L-word?

The way Harley blushed, he probably heard the right thing. “Uhm yeah. The guy I love”, he repeated. “That's you, by the way”, he eventually remarked, when Peter just silently stared at him.

“That's me”, Peter parroted, as his stupidly slow brain tried to compute what was currently happening right in front of him.

“I'm happy to draw you a picture”, Harley snorted. “Yeah, so I have been thinking this for a while now, but today kinda made it clear for me. And if you don't feel like that or don't want to say anything that's cool, we can just...”

“Shut up, Keener.” Peter just cupped Harley's face and pulled him in for a kiss. A fantastic kiss; not even the pain in Peter's everything mattered. “I love you, too”, he smiled, once he broke away.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

How much longer they were lost in their embrace and kisses, Peter had no idea. He didn't care, either, because it was just too damn perfect.

“Stay here, please”, he eventually whispered, when the tiredness was close to take over.

“I wasn't planning on going anywhere”, Harley chuckled and safely enveloped in his boyfriend's arms who he loved and who loved him too, Peter fell asleep with the widest smile.

*

“So, Pete and Harley are awfully close”, Nat remarked and, if you didn't know her like Clint did, you'd easily miss the smirk she tried to hide as she took a sip from her coffee.

“Wait, they are?”, Steve asked.

“Oh, you sweet summer child”, Clint giggled, “yes, they are. Either their boning or they really, really want to.”

“Seriously, Cap, how you managed to land Barnes is really a mystery to me, given your perception of human emotions.”

“Hey”, he defended himself, “that's not fair.”

“Clint has a point, though”, Bucky snorted, “took you what, ninety years to ask me out?”

With Steve blushing in slight embarrassment, the rest of the Avengers started laughing. “Better late than never, right?”, Rogers eventually shrugged, and leaned over to press a kiss on Bucky's cheek.

“Good for you. Doubt Peter and Harley have a century to figure this out though”, Nat brought the conversation back to the topic at hand.

“So you think we should interfere?”

“Not interfere”, she made clear. “But how about a nudge in the right direction?”

*

“Ok, I need to ask you something.” Pepper had made it barely into bed, when Tony blurted out.

“What's up?”

“Is it my imagination or is there something going on between Harley and Peter?” Tony has had this thought for a while now, he'd almost call what they did flirting. And it freaked him out to no end.

“Welcome to the party”, Pepper chuckled as she settled into her pillows. “The Avengers have been gossiping about it for weeks. And so has half of SI.”

“Oh.” That was only slightly embarrassing. But then again, those two were his mentees, in this weird fatherly relationship romantic entanglements it wasn't exactly what he focused on when spending time with his pseudo-sons.

“But, before you go into action mode”, Pepper threw in, putting her hand over his, “let those two work through it themselves. If something really is there, they need to recognize it on their own and not because you or the Avengers told them about it.”

“Yeah, you're right.”

“I always am”, she smiled and, after a good-night-kiss, she snuggled to his side.

“Sleep well, honey.”

*

“Pete, just hear me out”, Clint tried to appease him, “Tasha says that this guy is really nice and definitely good enough for you.”

“Good for him”, Peter shot back, “but I don't need you to set me up on a surprise blind date!”

“Well, yeah, because if it weren't surprise you wouldn't have come”, he shrugged and pushed Peter onto a barstool. “Please, just give it a try. You can web my bow and arrow to the roof of the compound if it's a bust, alright?”

“Fine”, Peter groaned, if only to get this over with and to tell whoever was apparently perfect for Peter that unfortunately he was not interested; he just loved his boyfriend too much. At least Peter wouldn't have to worry about his boyfriend getting jealous or come to any false conclusions; Harley was so going to laugh at Peter, when he'd message him later.

“Great”, Clint chirped, “I'll leave you be then. He should be here any moment, and you can thank me later.” With a damn infuriating grin, Hawkeye all but skipped out of the bar, leaving Peter by himself. Awesome.

What was he supposed to tell this dude? He couldn't tell him that Peter already had a boyfriend, because then Nat'd know, then Clint'd know and then all the Avengers would know.

And the excuse that Peter just wasn't interested in dating at the moment wouldn't really count either, would it?

Well, if that stranger was as cool as Tasha had made him out to be, at least Peter'd have a fun evening, and maybe even make a new friend.

“Uhm, hey Peter.” Harley was the last person Peter expected to hear and the last person he wanted to see five minutes before he was supposed to be on a date.

Beet-red he turned to his boyfriend. “Harley, hey. What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, so funny story”, he harrumphed as he sat next to Peter. “A beer, please”, he ordered before turning to Peter, who already had a coke in front of him. (Why drink alcohol, when it didn't really do anything?) “So, please don't freak, but I kinda am supposed to be on a date right now...”

Oh fuck no.

“Did Nat by any chance set you up for that?”

“Oh what the fuck”, Harley's face fell. “Please don't tell me you're that friend of Clint's who would be just perfect for me?”

They stared at each other for a few moments, processing what was currently going on, before bursting into laughter.

“This is such a mess”, Peter eventually got out. “Against my will I'm being set up on a blind date. With my boyfriend.”

“How weird, I'm in the exact same situation”, Harley grinned and after thanking the bartender, took a generous sip from his beer. “At least I can get drunk to deal with it...”

“Yeah, stomaching that we're apparently the epitome of gossip and in dire need to be set up would be a lot easier with alcohol... Begs the question though: where do we go from here? Do we come out?”

“Honestly, when they're already being that... I don't know, intrusive when they think we're not even together, how you think they're gonna react when we actually are an official couple?”

Harley had a damn point. “Keeping things professional would get a lot harder, too.”

“Yeah. So what, tell them that their genius plan failed?”

“Maybe we should put it one step further”, Peter grinned, when THE idea hit him. “We just tell them that we were stood up, but thankfully had the other's company, making it clear that we didn't even think of each other romantically, you know?”

“Mhm, I gotta be honest though”, Harley grinned, “it's gonna be pretty hard spending tonight, not keeping on replaying what you look like underneath that nice shirt.”

“Dude”, Peter hissed and felt the blush get more and more intense.

“I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”

“I can just get up and go, tell Clint that this was a disaster”, Peter made clear.

“It admittedly kinda is”, Harley shrugged. “Or at least it will be once we run back to them, tears streaming down about the horrible people that treated us so damn...”

“Atrocious? Grieveous? Heinous? Evil?”, Peter suggested with a smirk.

“Damnit, why you gotta be so smart”, he groaned, taking another sip. “It's seriously hot.”

“Well, thank you”, Peter grinned, “I do my best.”

*

“Well, hi there Peter. Harley. How was your evening?”

When walking into the common room the next day, they were met with way too many smug grins directed at them.

“Clint, you'll find your bow and quiver webbed to the roof”, Peter fake-smiled.

“What?” His face fell.

“Didn't you like him?”, Nat inquired.

“How should I know?”, Harley shot back, “he never showed up!”

“Yes, you two really picked some winners”, Peter scoffed, trying his all to stay in character. “At least Harley was there, so I didn't sit around all by myself.”

“WHAT?”, Clint cried out.

“Omigod, you're more clueless than Steve”, Bucky groaned, earning him a 'HEY!” and a box to the arm from his boyfriend.

“You literally went home together”, Nat recapped what she and Clint witnessed them doing. Of course they were camped out in front of the bar and followed them home.

“Harley and me? Yeah, once it was clear that nobody was gonna show up, Harley came by my place to play Mario Kart. At which, might I add, I sufficiently kicked his ass”, he added with the triumphant smirk, he's been wearing ever since last night. Admittedly, it wasn't the only thing they did; once May sent them to bed, there was a lot of making-out involved. That was nothing the Avengers needed to know, though.

“Pete, Harley. They set the two of you up”, Tony made clear, walking in behind the couple.

“Wait, what?” Wide-eyed they both turned to Tony and Peter just hoped to whoever was listening that they could manage to keep up the charade.

“You tried to set me and Peter up?” If he didn't know the ploy, Harley's weirded out tone would be downright insulting.

“Yeah”, Clint nodded, “is that so far-fetched?”

No, not at all, since they were actually in love.

“I honestly never considered it”, Peter lied, hopefully good enough that a bunch of super spies would believe him.

“Seriously?”, Wanda questioned him, “you two've been flirting pretty much ever since you arrived.”

“Oh, ok”, Harley shrugged, seemingly pulling off this whole indifference-towards-the-other-thing a lot easier than Peter. Huh. Interesting...

“You can't tell me you didn't notice.” Tasha didn't buy a word of it, Peter could see it in the way she glinted over at him.

“Guys, we're co-workers, literally. There's this thing called professionalism and I know most of you have never heard of it, but it does matter, especially, when our degrees are on the line, so no, we didn't consider anything.”

“Who the hell sits at MIT, worrying about their interns getting together? Besides, Tony and Pepper? Steve and Barnes? Wanda and Vision?”

“The only person in that group of people I'd call responsible is Pepper”, Peter made clear.

“Fair enough”, Steve shrugged, “but you see, it can work out.” He gestured between himself and Bucky, who was sprawled out over Steve's lap, shooting them two thumbs up.

“Ok, I'm really over this conversation”, Peter decided, since he could feel himself breaking any moment now. “Harley. Would you just go on a damn date with me so they all shut the fuck up?”

“Language!”

“I'm an adult and Morgan's not around, so I can fucking swear however the fuck much I fucking want to”, Peter shot back at his mentor, before turning to his boyfriend. “So, what do you say?”

“Fine, let's get this over with”, Harley rolled his eyes.

“And they say romance is dead”, Tony cooed, then shook his head. “You are both ridiculous.”

*

“I gotta admit, this is pretty nice”, Peter smiled, as Harley pulled back the chair for him. “Thanks.”

“You're absolutely welcome”, he beamed and sat himself right opposite him. “To be honest, the nicest part about this is the Avengers offering to pay, to make up for their meddling.”

“Definitely. I never would have come here otherwise, too scared of the pricetag and the fanciness.”

“So, this isn't a place you'd take your boyfriend to?”, Harley smirked.

“Definitely not”, Peter made clear. “I'll show you another time what I understand under the perfect date.”

“Can't wait.”

As they waited for their seriously overpriced food, Peter took the place in. He and Harley took down the average age by at least twenty years; there was only one more couple that looked to be around their age. How the fuck did Tony get the idea to send them here? With his metabolism, they were definitely going to have to stop by a taco truck or a burger place later, no way he could eat all he needed to here. He also couldn't wait to get out of this damn shirt. May forced it on him, since they obviously needed to look the part, but that tie felt like it was strangling Peter and he was in all honesty scared to move, so the shirt wouldn't crinkle.

“Do you want to get out of here?”, Harley whispered over, as Peter picked around in his salad.

“That would be totally impolite, though”, he hissed back.

“We could fake an emergency”, Harley shrugged. “Can't your spider-senses make something up?”

“That's not how this works”, Peter deadpanned. “Come on, we're doing this for the Avengers, remember?”

“Yeah, you're right. But just looking at you, I want to rip that damn shirt off you, and not for sexy reasons. You look seriously uncomfortable.”

“Lived through worse”, he shrugged. “Other note. Are we publicly dating as of tomorrow?”

“Now, I know the Avengers not as well as you do, but I think that if we were, there'd be an endless tirade of 'we told you so' and a constant need to be involved.”

“Apt assessment”, Peter nodded. “How do we keep that from happening, though?”

“Hm.” They sat in silence while pondering their options. “How about we tell them it went horribly, can't stand each other from now on and they might feel bad enough to leave us alone?”

That could actually work. Only issue... “Will you be able to pretend you can't stand me, even though you perpetually undress me in your mind?”, Peter smirked and got the expected deadpan in return. “Ha, ha.”

“I'm serious”, he continued, “you'll have to constantly suppress your yearning for my body, the admiration for me, my mind and that can't be easy.”

“Trust me, Peter darling, it's getting easier by the second.”

.

Harley: Made it home alright?

Peter: Yup, only had two burgers along the way

Peter: Seriously, that restaurant is nothing for people who are actually hungry

Harley: True that

Harley: I raided the entire snack cabinet here and am now sprawled out on the bed, surrounded by chocolate and cookies *heart eyes*

Peter: Nice!

Harley: Oh yeah. Different note, though. I was obviously anxiously awaited once I got back to the compound

Peter: And?

Harley: I told them that they suck, that you suck, that everything sucks and they very quickly left me alone

Peter: Meaning I can expect Tony to check in any moment now?

Harley: Probably, yeah

.

But there was nobody checking in. No message from Tony, nothing from Tasha, Clint or any of the Avengers. Which meant that they probably bought Harley's attitude, thinking that they somehow really messed up. Good, that's what they wanted to achieve.

There was absolutely no reason to feel so weird about it now. No need to feel weird about lying to his super family. No need to feel weird about going that much out of their way to keep their relationship a secret.

Why did the Avengers push all this so much? Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone, things were wonderful the way they had been! They all knew Peter well enough to be aware that he didn't really care for being the centre of attention, especially vis-a-vis his romantic life. It had been the same damn thing when he came out as bisexual. All of a sudden the Avengers ran around with rainbow-pins and love is love is love-shirts. They showed up at every pride parade, everything that was even slightly LGBTQIA+ themed, the Avengers got involved. Maybe it was a generational thing that they had to show their support in that intense a degree? Because Ned, MJ, Gwen, all the friends his age were a lot more chill about it.

So damn the Avengers' aggressive support, for forcing Peter to keep the guy he loved a secret. And damn the Avengers for making Peter dread seeing his boyfriend again.

*

“Heya kiddo”, Tony greeted Peter when he walked into the compound the next day.

“Morning”, he smiled back, dreadfully nervous what Tony was about to talk about.

“So, how you doing?”

“Freaking fantastic”, he deadpanned. “But I assume you already guessed such a thing.”

“Guilty as charged. You can still talk to me, if you want to.”

“Not really”, Peter shrugged. Tony's arm around his shoulder felt just wrong. Yes, he tried to be reassuring and shit, but he was currently here for Peter, for an issue that was non-existent. Because Peter currently lied to his father figure and boss. So much for keeping it professional...

“If that changes, you can always come to me.”

“Thanks”, he forced a smile, “means the world.”

“Anytime, bud. Only question remaining: can you two be civil?”

“Well, we are talking about the guy, who destroyed a statue out of spite”, Harley remarked, coming up behind them.

“Oh for reals? You're taking JJJ's side?”

“I ain't saying that.” In mock-defence, Harley raised his hands. “Just saying that that wasn't exactly civil, was it?”

“Don't worry”, Peter turned to Tony, “we got this handled.”

“Looks like it”, he gulped, probably making a mental note to get them to different departments.

Not just a mental note, as it turned out, but after lunch break, Harley didn't seem to be working in the chemical engineer's department. That was probably a good thing, given that it was becoming increasingly hard to voice all his snide remarks as if he meant them, and not as the flirty banter that it actually was. Fortunately, Harley seemed to feel the same way; Peter prided himself in knowing his boyfriend well enough to recognize the fights to keep the blush and grins down. Yes, them being separated was definitely a good call.

.

Peter: So, you left me.

Harley: I wouldn't exactly call it leaving, more like being forcibly removed from your general vicinity

Peter: good, it was getting hard to pretend I'm not really into you

Harley: awwww! <3

.

“Hi Pete!” Hunched over his work, Peter didn't notice Morgan until she stood right by his chair, squealing at him.

“Hey Mo”, he grinned back. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Daddy said you're not really well, so now I want to cheer you up.”

And Peter just melted. “That is so sweet of you! I've got a lot of work to do, though.”

“Can you show me?” There truly was nothing more powerful than Morgan Stark's puppy eyes. How anyone could ever say no to her was a mystery Peter'd probably never solve. “You know, then I can also be an intern.”

“Well, I can't argue with that logic.” While the co-workers he shared an office with were in the lab or on break, there was no reason why Morgan shouldn't be able to join Peter for a while. Besides, even though he wasn't as unwell as everyone thought he was, he could still do with a little distraction. So he motioned for the chair in the corner, and before he knew it, Morgan wheeled it over and sat next to him, looking all expectantly. “Alright, so my big topic is genetics, especially genes that have been changed.”

“You mean like yours?”, Morgan whispered after making sure that nobody was around to hear her.

“For example”, he nodded, “but there are so many reasons why genes are changing and sometimes that's really good, because it helps us to make medicine, but sometimes it's also really bad, because people change things so much that they're no longer what they used to be.”

“You mean like the Green Goblin?”

“Yeah.” Peter hoped to everything that Morgan didn't notice Peter flinching at the memory of his friend becoming his enemy. His friend, that Peter had put behind bars. His life really was fucked up.

“So what are you doing now?”

“All of that”, he gestured at the unholy amount of papers on his desk, “that's all results from tests. And now I get to compare all these numbers and hopefully find a pattern that shows me how certain types of influences change DNA.”

“Wow.” With big eyes she looked over all the data. “That's really a lot of stuff.”

“Yeah, I know. But I luckily got FRIDAY, she's helping me out with the math.”

“That's so nice of you, FRI!”, she beamed.

“Thank you, Morgan. I am happy to help in any way I can”, FRI answered.

“Me too”, Morgan made clear. “So can I help you?”

Well, Peter doubted they taught chemical engineering in primary school. Then again... “You actually can. Look here.” He held a piece of paper out to her. “You see some of the numbers FRI found are already marked. Can you read them out to me, so I can put them in the system?”

“You got it!”

Yes, FRIDAY could just automatically put the numbers down, but Peter couldn't say no to Morgan. Besides, Peter was more than happy about the company and that girl just took Peter's mind off his fucked up romantic life. With them working together, the afternoon just flew by and it was definitely more fun than asking FRI to take care of the numbers.

“Mr Parker, since Ms Stark is not yet eighteen, all employment must be signed off by her legal guardians. I don't remember doing that and since Pepper is in LA at the moment, I think she didn't either.”

The two hard-working engineers turned to find Tony leaning against the door-frame.

“Is that bad?”, Morgan asked, looking up at Peter, who just shrugged.

“Means that he won't pay you for your work. And that he could technically sue me for employing a minor. But I don't think he'll do that”, he smiled at Tony, the sweetest and fakest smile he had in him.

“Don't push your luck, Parker”, Tony grumbled. “Just wanted to know how much longer you're gonna work over-time for.” He nodded towards the clock and only now Peter realized the time.

“Well, me and my associate are on such a roll”, he just grinned back, “in our high of productivity we have forgotten the time.”

“And I'm reminding you of it. I assume you're staying here then?”

Peter just nodded.

“Alright then. Finish up, then wash up and get your butts upstairs. Dinner's ready.”

“We'll be right there”, Morgan promised.

“So, I assume her help was a little limited”, Tony remarked, once Morgan was in bed.

“A bit scared to say this to my boss, but redundant's the word I'd use.”

“Figured”, Tony scoffed. “She's so over the moon though for having been engineering genes, I guess, I might be able to play over it and maybe even appreciate it.”

“Appreciate?” Peter grinned over, “might just make it a regular thing then. It's definitely more fun.”

“Again Parker, might not want to push it.” Putting his arm around Peter, Tony looked down. “Slight change of topic, though. You do not have a choice, we're gonna talk this out now, because today was a nightmare.”

Ugh. Right, get the lying-extravaganza going. “What do you want me to say?”

“I just don't get how it could have gone that disastrous. You two hit it off from the day you met, and it's just...”

“And you're just blaming yourself because you pushed all this?” Peter regretted it the moment he said it. Not because it was a risky thing to say, because yes, Tony and the Avengers definitely regretted it. But because there was nothing to regret; all of this was just a fucking farce. “Ok, fine, it started of sucky, because that restaurant you guys sent us to? Who the fuck had the brilliant idea to invite us to a overly fancy restaurant where I'd never ever could eat enough to feel full? I got two burgers on the way home, because I was so damn hungry.”

“Right, that's on Cap”, Tony made clear, “he said he knew this really nice place, perfect for a first date.”

“How the hell does Steve of all people think he's the authority on date-spots?”

“Yeah, we probably shouldn't have let him take care of that”, Tony admitted.

He didn't push any more questions, but Peter felt the look Tony shot him and the almost desperate need to know what went so wrong.

“It was just awkward, because we didn't really know what to talk about. And then... I don't know. Engineering and you guys connect us, but take that away...”

“So what, now you don't like each other any more?”

Peter just shrugged. What the hell was he supposed to answer to that? Of course he liked Harley, he fucking loved him! “I don't know”, he eventually mumbled. “It's just all so weird.”

“You know, me and Pepper were broken up for a while. And it was so weird, because, well, she's the CEO of my company. Happy all of a sudden was her employee, not mine any more. That was so fucked-up, but we got it in the end. And I'm not saying you and Harley need to end up together and married with a wonderful daughter. But it's gonna go back to normal, I promise that.”

“Yeah?”

“Pete, if the mess that is me can get it sorted, then you can too. And now off to bed you go.”

“Yes dad”, he moaned and couldn't help but grin at the eye-roll.

“Just shut up and get out of here”, Tony made clear and, after a good-night-kiss on the forehead, he motioned for the elevator doors.

“Right then, sleep well.” And with a last wave, Peter disappeared in the elevator

.

Peter: Can you come over?

.

“As if you'd ever have to ask that”, Harley giggled as he slipped into Peter's room.

“Well, since you apparently don't like me anymore...”

“Shut up”, he rolled his eyes, kneeled on the bed and leaned over for a kiss.

“So, I just talked to Tony”, Peter explained once they broke away.

“Uh, that couldn't have been fun...”

“It really wasn't.” He recapped their talk, before sinking back into the cushions. “This sucks so much. I really don't want to lie to them any more, but this has gone so damn far...”

“I know. We don't need to figure it out tonight though, right?”

“We do not”, Peter agreed, and pulled Harley down into the cushions with him and wrapped his arms around his waist. “Now we just get to sleep.” And, with his head resting on Harley's chest, he drifted off into sleep in no time at all.

*

“PETER!”

“NED!”

Peter could have sworn that as he and Ned ran towards each other for the hug that reunited them after almost three months apart, time went into slow motion. Around them everything blurred away; they were no longer on the street but floating somewhere on cloud nine.

“I missed you so much”, Ned sighed, once they were enveloped in a tight hug.

“I missed you, too! And I'm so happy that you're home for a few days.”

“How come you never hug me like that?”, came Harley's grumbled question from somewhere behind Peter.

“Guess he loves me more than you”, Ned giggled as he let go off Peter.

“I shall neither confirm nor deny these accusations”, Peter made clear, held his now free hand out to Harley though.

“I guess that's alright”, Harley shrugged. “I mean, I did know that before we started dating.”

“That's a good boyfriend.” With a giggle, Peter pressed a kiss on Harley's cheek before turning to Ned again. “So, I'd say we'll go and get a coffee and you catch us up on all the MIT gossip.”

“Sounds good to me. So, first things first, Allison and Matt are officially a thing now”, Ned told as they went on their way.

“We gotta tell Tony, maybe he'll finally back off...”

“Back off what?”

“Tony thinks that I'm still sweet on Ali”, Peter explained with a shrug and an eye-roll.

“Aw, come on, that was like what, a year ago?”

“Tried telling him that... But he's capable of moving on, did try to set the two of us up after all.”

“I still don't get why you're not just telling them you're dating”, Ned shook his head. “I mean, clearly neither is embarrassed by being with the other and none of the Avengers are homophobic, they've made that abundantly clear... So what then?”

In all honesty, Peter wasn't so sure any more. All their fights started to gnaw on him, even though none of them were real. Started to feel real, though. Especially since it became easier and easier for them to slip into that animosity. Thanks to which their relationship felt more and more like a chore.

“We got it handled”, Harley eventually made clear.

Right, Harley seemed to had no such worries. Which in turn made Peter really insecure. Was he just too sensible? Was it all just a game for Harley? It couldn't be though, they were in love after all! They were, weren't they?

As hard as he tried, Peter just couldn't enjoy the day with Ned. His and Harley's relationship just hung over every talk, joke or story. And it sucked, majorly. Ned was his best friends for so many years; they had been through High School, the Vulture, Mysterio... And now Peter's bullshit relationship issues stood in the way of their reunion.

“Alright, Dudes, I'm gonna head out, I promised my Nan to come by for tea time.” What? Ned's gran had died two years ago. And the other one lived in Kentucky. “You can swing by tomorrow though, right?”

“Yeah, I can get it arranged”, Peter rolled his eyes as he went for the hug.

“You need to talk. Now”, Ned whispered his reasoning for leaving them be. “Don't fuck it up.”

“Alright”, Peter nodded. “Love you, dude.”

“Love you, too.”

With plenty of waving, Ned walked away and left Harley and Peter sit in the booth by themselves. Boy, this just had all the makings for a disaster. If that's where it headed, though, Peter was not gonna make a scene in a coffee shop. “What do you say, my place?”

“Sounds good to me”, Harley nodded, and before long they were sitting in the car, driving towards Peter's place. The entire ride was uncomfortably quiet, mostly the radio made any sounds. At least until they arrived in front of Peter's apartment building.

“So, you wanna tell me what's bothering you?”

No need to talk around it, Peter just had to get it out. “We kinda are”, he shrugged.

“That sounds... bad”, Harley gulped, glancing over. “What about us is wrong?”

“I feel like I don't really remember why we're not telling anybody about us.”

“Because the Avengers are a bunch of intense meddlers?”

“Yeah, but... I don't know, all that fighting and shit is getting way too easy but that damn pretending is still way to hard and it fucking sucks.”

“Wait, so let me get this straight: It's easier and harder to pretend at the same time?”

How the fuck could Peter make Harley understand his dilemma? “Well, should it be easy to fight with your boyfriend, when you're supposed to be in love?”

“Wait.” Harley turned to Peter. “Are you not in love with me any more?” Along with all the colour, his face dropped and it broke Peter's heart a little bit.

“Of course I am! Do you still love me?”

“How can you even ask me that?” If he didn't look hurt before, he did now.

“Because of what I've just said! If we love each other, do you really think we should keep this from everybody who is like a family to me? To you? If we do love each other, why do we act like we hate one another?”

“Well, I thought that us loving each other was only something to do with the two of us, not with everybody else”, Harley shot back.

“But us loving each other means us fighting, all the time?”

“Yeah, but we don't mean those fights.”

“Then why is it so damn easy for us to slip into that fucking belligerent shit?”, Peter cried out. Shit, he felt himself getting close to tears as all his emotions bubbled to the surface. “And why the absolute fuck doesn't it seem to bother you?”

It was silent in the car, as Harley worked through Peter's issues. “Are you saying what I think you're saying?”, he eventually asked.

“I'm saying that with all that bullshit we're doing, seeing you feels like a fucking chore.” The moment he said it, Peter regretted it. “No wait, that came out so wrong.”

“Oh no, you were perfectly clear”, Harley pressed out between gritted teeth. “And I don't want to overwhelm you with too many duties, Spider-Man, so if you'd please get out of my car right now, you can go and recuperate from me.”

“No, Harley, please, I didn't mean it like...”

“Peter. Get out.” Staring straight out of the window, Harley grabbed the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white.

Without another word, Peter complied. He had barely closed the car door, when Harley drove off. The further Harley drove away, the more the knife stuck inside his chest seemed to turn. Even long after the car vanished in traffic Peter still stood in front of the door, staring in the direction in which the car had disappeared.

Was that it? Did their relationship just end?

As if in trance, Peter walked upstairs into their empty apartment. Right, not even May was here to tell Peter everything was going to be ok and talk him through all these fucking bullshit feelings. He couldn't go to the compound either, since the person he had issues with was living there. And Ned... Well, he had messaged.

.

Ned: Did you talk it out?

Peter: I think we just broke up

.

The moment he hit send, Peter switched off his phone. He wasn't gonna deal with this right now, he was just gonna take his mind of things. Because if he didn't, he was going to break down right here and now and bawl his eyes out until judgement day. Maybe there were a few robbers or such out on the prowl today, letting Peter get rid of all these emotions another way.

So, after barely arriving at home, Peter already climbed back out the window, and swung through the streets of Queens.

“SPIDER-MAN!”

Oh fucking hell. JJJ really was the last person Peter wanted to see or hear right now. He turned to face him, but was instead faced with another Spider-Slayer. And here Peter was, thinking his day couldn't go any worse. The bot that looked positively humanoid wore JJJ's face, probably another one of the mind-controlled ones. Sure, it was only a matter of time until he came for revenge for Peter's destruction of the Jameson statue. But did it have to be now?

“Dude, I'm not in the mood. Can we postpone this? How does next week sound to you?”

“I deserve my revenge, and you will face me”, JJJ made clear, and shot a web at Peter, who dodged it just in time.

“Great”, he rolled his eyes, “here we go then.” And the fight began. The Slayer was, once again, non-stick, shot webs, managed to climb every wall Peter did and had some weird gun out front. Peter had not yet figured out what that thing did, but probably wouldn't have to wait too long to find out. Hopefully he wouldn't feel the effects on himself.

“You can run all you want, Spider-Man”, JJJ yelled, “I will get you and finally rid the city of the horror that you are.”

“If we're talking horrors, might I remind you that only one of us has spent millions of dollars to build a killer machine?”

“Oh believe me”, he made clear, shooting a web that just missed Peter, “the public will be so grateful for this service.”

“Well, I do know a few that would disagree”, Peter shrugged, before jumping over another web coming at him and scaled the walls of the nearest skyscraper. Of course the Slayer was right on his heel.

Once on the roof, Peter and JJJ just circled themselves. “Just to make clear, you can't electrocute that, and dropping a statue on this very robot won't do too much either. You can't stick to it, web it, and sure, go ahead and punch until the metal warps, but it's not gonna do the trick.”

Peter didn't doubt it for a second. What kind of metal Smythe built this thing from was almost as hard as vibranium. To destroy this particular slayer, Peter'd need a lot more force. Well, they always could throw themselves off this roof. It would probably kill both, though. And then JJJ would have what he wanted. So focused on how to best throw the robot off a skyscraper without killing himself in the process, he didn't notice that gun-thingy directed right at him. Unfortunately his way of finding out that this particular gun launched a weird yellowy-greenish goo, was by it hitting Peter in the head. Ugh, it was disgusting! It didn't seem to do too much, though. Which couldn't be right, there was probably a lot of bullshit about to happen, but for now, he had more urgent matters to attend to.

“Dude, this is fucking disgusting! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Oh you'll see, Spider-Man”, JJJ laughed, momentarily a bit distracted and with all the rage Peter had to offer, he threw himself at the robot, leaving both of them falling towards the ground. All the rage about what happened with Harley, all the rage about lying, and all the rage he had towards JJJ and his fucking slaying robots provided more than enough strength to properly beat up on that thing as they pummelled towards their death.

“YOU'LL NEVER BREAK ME!”, he cried and let go; webbing himself to the next best wall and that just in time. The slayer didn't get that chance, with a loud crash it landed on the pavement and burst into a million little pieces. There was no need to go down there and check if it was still functioning; the parts were spread out all over the street. “KAREN, tell an ambulance to get here, I don't think anybody's hurt, but just to make sure.”

Peter pulled himself back up on that rooftop, where he just dropped to the ground. He didn't seem to be too hurt; there were probably a bunch of contusions, but not as bad as the last time he came face to face with a Slayer. Peter was pretty sure his head didn't take a hit. But why was he so dizzy now? And why was it getting so damn hard to breathe? Only when Peter reached up to pull off his mask, he remembered the damn glibber.

“K”, he choked, “what is that?”

“It seems to be a gel made mostly of citrus and mint. Get to the compound right away”, she advised and Peter was not gonna argue that. By the time he got to the compound, Peter had about four more bruises; with the world around him blurring more and more it was quite difficult to manoeuvrer the antennas, walls and lamp posts. Hopefully nobody noticed too much of his embarrassing himself. It took the last bit of strength he had left to pull himself up to the penthouse balcony. He was suffocating, Peter was sure he was gonna be dead by the time he got up there. Oh god, this was how he was gonna die. Killed by a fucking mint? The, thanks to the rising panic, adrenaline was the only thing getting Peter to move these last few steps into the penthouse and, more out of it than anything else, Peter stumbled into the living room.

“Pete?” Looking up, Peter saw Harley stand in front of him.

Peter just pulled off his mask, maybe then he could breath, and at least tell Harley that he was sorry, that they could figure all of this out and that he really loved him. All he however got out was a breathy sigh: “Harley, I...”, before he tumbled to the ground and everything went dark.

“Peter? PETER!”, Harley cried out, as he dropped just in front of him. “TONY, HELP!”

Harley had barely called out, when Tony was already by his side. “Shit.” He all but pushed Harley out of the way and heaved Peter up into his arms. “FRI, check KAREN's log. What happened?”

“He fought a Spider-Slayer”, FRI reported as Tony hurried for the medbay, Harley on his heel. “This particular bot sprayed him with a goo that contains citrus and mint gels.”

“Oh fuck”, Tony hissed and picked up the pace.

“What the hell is going on?” Harley gritted his teeth, hard. It was the only thing to keep him from bawling his eyes out. Fuck, what was it with Peter making him cry today? First they sorta kinda break up and now he's gone ahead and killed himself?

“Spiders do not take kindly to citrus fruit or mint. Ever since the bite, making Peter's DNA part that of a spider, he too has a deathly allergy against these.”

“He's gonna be fine”, Tony shot over, though by now he was basically running. “Who's in?”

“Both Dr Cho and Dr Banner are ready to take care of Peter.”

As they hurried through the corridors, Tony and FRIDAY discussed some more logistics, but Harley couldn't concentrate. Damnit, here Peter was, fighting for his life, not even sure about Harley, about their relationship and about how much Harley loved him. Screw the tears, he wasn't gonna fight it any longer, he just needed to come along and make sure that Peter was gonna be alright, so he could tell him how much he loved him.

Then Tony and Peter disappeared through a door, but he was held back from by Bruce. “Harley, I'm sorry, but me and Helen got this sorted, please just wait for now.” With that also Bruce went into the forbidden room, and moments later Tony came back out.

“I can't stay either”, he shrugged, trying to bite down his tears. “Come on.” With his arm around Harley's shoulder, he all but pushed him to the nearest bench.

“Why didn't he just call you, you'd have gotten him help faster! Or why doesn't he have an epipen?”

“Because of his metabolism. He burns through any kind of medication faster than fire through a barrel of petrol.”

“What happened?” Nat and Clint ran into the waiting room.

“Wow, gossip spreads fast in here”, Tony remarked a lot more deadpan than he currently was. “Allergic reaction, thanks to JJJ.”

“Shit.”

They all dropped into various corners of the waiting room and soon enough the room was chuck full with Avengers.

And it all killed Harley; it felt like he was being torn apart. He couldn't sit still, there had to be something that he could do, just something, anything!

“Harley, kid, it's gonna be ok”, Tony assured him.

“You don't know that!”, he hissed back, not pulling his eyes away from the door separating him from Peter. “You don't know if he'll ever be ok, and the last thing we ever did was fight and break up and I don't... I can't...”

“Break up? Did you two start dating after all?”

“Please”, Harley scoffed, “we've been dating before we've come to New York in the first place.”

“Excuse me, what now?”

Oh for fuck's sake, Harley really had bigger issues right now. “We've been sleeping with each other for months and now drop it, or I'll go into details.” And that shut them up. Being affronting like that probably wasn't a good idea, but Harley couldn't give two fucks about them right now.

Well, now they knew. Might as well now that they were broken up. But Harley didn't want to be broken up with Peter! He was so in love with that guy, it was almost ridiculous. And every time Peter said that he loved Harley, it just did indescribably things to his heart and his soul (if he had one of those). And yes, maybe Peter was right, they got so lost in keeping everything secret that they forgot what their relationship was supposed to be about.

Peter was going to wake up again, he just had to. And then they'd get this sorted and be a couple and really in love again and everything was going to be alright.

*

The first thing Peter realized was some people talking. It was all very foggy, and the little he could make out did not make a lot of sense. There were probably quite a few people around, judging from the number of voices and the unbearable noise level.

“...Needs sleep... out of his system... swelling is down...” Peter wasn't even sure if it was all the same person talking.

As he came to a little more, he realized his hand being held. Unlike the talking, that was actually really nice. The calloused fingers that stroked his hands definitely were not May's. Maybe Tony? Or Harley?

“Can you please be quiet?” That was definitely Harley's voice and he sounded very pissed off. “You're gonna wake him.” Yeah, Peter was more and more convinced it was Harley's hand that now moved to brush some hair out of his face. Oh, that felt just wonderful.

“Sorry, kid.” That was Tony.

Peter was dying to find out who was in that room, but if he opened his eyes now, which by now felt like a doable possibility, everyone would crowd him, and Peter didn't even remember why they all were here. So, until he was sure what exactly had happened that had put him in what was probably the medbay, he was gonna keep his eyes closed and pretend he was asleep.

There was a lot of talk about lemon and mint and allergic reaction and many not kind words towards JJJ. Piece by piece it started to come back to Peter: him and Harley fighting; going on patrol and fighting the fucking Slayer; the weird goo, the bot doused him with; fighting to make it to the compound; Harley's face falling into pure horror before everything around Peter went dark as even the last bit of air was sucked from his lungs.

“Boss, May Parker is calling”, FRI interrupted the last round of cursing out JJJ.

“Oh shit”, Tony sighed. “Put her through, please.”

Oh no, Peter didn't want to hear that. “Tony, what happened?”

“Hello May”, Bruce answered, “Peter's in the medbay, allergic reaction, but it's alright now. He's asleep and all vital signs are as they should be.”

“How did this happen?” Shit, May sounded really tense, like she was close to tears.

“Spider-Slayer”, Tony admitted.

“ANOTHER? Tony, I can't believe that this keeps on happening over and over and there's nothing you can do about it? How in the hell can you...”

“For fuck's sake”, Harley yelled, “take these damn fights elsewhere, 'cause it's the last thing Peter needs when he wakes up.”

Peter could just swoon, it was incredible how Harley looked out for him.

“Maybe we should just leave you two alone”, Happy suggested.

“Maybe you should”, Harley shot back and Peter didn't want to be on the receiving end of that icy voice.

“FRI, put the call through to my phone”, Tony asked and everybody present walked out and with them the exhausting tension that even Peter felt.

“Ugh”, Harley sighed.

“Tell me about it”, Peter chuckled and glanced through half-open eyes.

“What the...”, Harley startled and all but jumped out of his chair. “How long have you been awake them?”

“Quite a while”, he admitted, fighting to open his eyes, which was quite the challenge, especially since every light in the room seemed to be on full brightness. “Didn't want to deal with all them.”

“I get that. How are you feeling? You need anything?”

“I need to tell you that I love you”, he smiled, “and that I don't want to break up with you.”

“I love you too”, Harley beamed and leaned over to kiss him. “And we're not breaking up, no, definitely not.”

“Good”, Peter sighed once Harley leaned back. “And now please, turn down the lights and any chance I could get a glass of water?”

“You idiot”, Harley groaned, “don't you think you being uncomfortable tops us having a fight?” Of course he complied, not without shaking his head, of course not. After helping Peter to sit up, he handed him a glass of water. “Pretty sure there's a bunch of jell-o somewhere.”

“You really know how to treat a guy”, Peter giggled.

“I know my man”, Harley just shrugged back, before grinning. “I should probably tell you that I might have told all them”, he gestured towards the door, “about us.”

“Oh.” Peter wasn't exactly sure what to do with that.

“Yeah, wasn't exactly planned, I might have been a little stressed with you passing out right in front of me and may have blurted out something along the lines of us having been doing it for months or so”, he admitted as a contrite blush spread over his face.

“This is so you”, Peter giggled, once Harley's confession sunk in. “Well, guess then there's no danger in asking you to come and make yourself comfortable.” He scooted over just enough so Harley could get up on the bed next to Peter. “But no shoes in my bed.”

“Yes sir”, he grinned and soon enough, they were snuggled on the bed and Peter was safely enveloped in Harley's arms.

“Oh, uhm, by the way, please FRI, could you send a message to Ned, telling him that everything's alright again and that me and Harley are very much in love.”

“Message is sent.”

“Thanks”, Peter smiled and fell back against Harley.

“What was that about?”

“Ned asked if we talked it out, told him that we might have kinda broken up instead and well, you know the rest...”

“Oh. Well, then I'm happy we are very much in love”, he beamed and kissed Peter's cheek.

“Yeah, me too.” Even if he wanted to, Peter could do nothing against the dopey, lovestruck grin.

A soft knock interrupted the dopey eye-making and lovestruck smiles. “Can I come in?”, Tony asked.

“Sure thing”, Peter answered.

“Pete! You're up!”, he exclaimed as he burst inside, stopping immediately dead in his tracks as he saw the two cuddling on the bed. “You weren't kidding about you being...”

“A couple?”

“In love?”

“Yeah, those things...” A lot more careful, Tony walked over and sat himself next to Peter. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I'll live.”

“Good. Your aunt made very clear that she'll first kill you and then me if you were to end up dead.”

“She didn't sound too happy on the phone”, Peter shrugged, before he thought it through.

It was pure exasperation the way Tony's face fell when he realized Peter had been awake a for a longer while than anyone had known. “She is on her way here”, he explained, playing over the other rest.

“Figured. You can tell everybody who's out there that they can come on in, too. Wait, let me guess first: it's Nat, Clint, Happy, Bruce, Steve, Bucky and Wanda.”

“How the absolute fuck do you know that?”, Harley asked in astonishment.

“Fucking spider-hearing”, Tony shook his head. “FRI, tell 'em to come on in.”

Thank the heavens for Harley. Being in his arms seemed to equal wearing full armour with guards all around – everybody kept a shocked and slightly amused distance.

“So, wanna tell us about how all that”, Bucky gestured between Harley and Peter, “came to being?”

As well as he was feeling, the sedatives and shit Bruce pumped through Peter's veins still had him feel foggy enough that he was happy to let Harley handle that. “Well, we met at MIT, I asked Peter out and we've had quite a lot of fun”, he grinned and from the corner of his eyes, Peter just saw Tony shuddering. “Anyways, since we weren't serious or anything, neither seemed to find it too important to shock the other with the family-like relationship we have with Ironman or, in some cases, about some spider-themed enhancements. Imagine our surprise, when invited to Stark dinner, because there's this other intern I just have to meet, and it's my boyfriend. Right, because by then we had made it official. Actually on our drive here to New York”, he added, and Peter couldn't help but smile at their story.

“And why didn't you just say that you two were a couple?”

“Because you guys are seriously exhausting”, Peter threw in. “We had just gotten together, still hadn't figured shit out and that distance just was necessary.”

“And it went great”, Harley continued the story. “Until you guys decided to set us up.”

“Again”, Nat threw in, “perfect opportunity to tell us about all this here.”

“And listen to 'we told you so' for the next fifty years? No thank you.”

“One thing wasn't a lie. Steve, that restaurant was horrible and made this whole thing so uncomfortable...”

“Sorry, kids”, he apologized as he turned beet-red.

“In summary, as you can see, whenever you guys got involved, things kinda went a little mixed up. But we know that lying wasn't the way to go either, so we're really sorry.”

“Don't sweat it”, Wanda smiled and patted Peter's leg, “there are enough spies in this room to get the whole secrecy thing. And we're sorry for pushing something we should have left alone.”

“Worked out pretty nicely in the end, didn't it?” Peter looked up to find Harley grinning down on him.

“Yeah, I'd say so”, he grinned back and stretched just enough for their lips to meet.

“Aw, you're so adorable”, Clint cooed, when Peter broke away, and snuggled himself back against Harley.

“Oh, you got no idea...”

The afternoon went by with plenty of visits, cooing, doting over Peter and more 'how are you's' than he could count, especially once May arrived. Thankfully, he had Harley beside him the entire time.

It was early evening, when the door flew open. “Mummy said I can come visit now!”, Morgan squealed and, without making sure she wouldn't squash Peter or Harley, she climbed on the bed, ending up somewhere on both their laps. “Harley, you can go, I can cuddle him now”, she made clear and expectantly looked at him.

“But I was here first”, he shot back, making no move to leave. He instead held a little tighter onto Peter.

“Yeah, because I wasn't allowed to come!”

“Honey, how about you...”

“No”, she interrupted Peter, “you only get healthy, I'll deal with the rest.”

“Alright then”, he nodded, biting down hard not to do like the assembled Avengers and Aunt May and burst out laughing.

“I love him more than you do”, Harley made clear, and if you had shot Gerald the Alpaca (yes, that was indeed his proper name and Morgan made sure that everybody always addressed him as such) Morgan could not have looked more enraged.

“You don't”, she made clear, “because I love him the most.”

“No, you don't!”

“Yes, I do!”

As Morgan and Harley continued their bickering Peter just turned to Pepper. “Hi.”

“Hey Pete. I can have either of them forcibly removed, if you need them to.”

“You know, as long as they argue about me and not with me, I can deal with it.”

“Right then”, she laughed. “I'm happy for you and Harley though. And, seeing you two like this explains why Tony is sitting upstairs, staring at the wall, repeating “not my innocent little Pete!” over and over again.”

It was true, Tony had kept his distance ever since Peter had woken up and had disappeared quite a while ago.

“He does know I'm no longer sixteen, right?”, Peter rolled his eyes.

“Not so sure”, Pepper admitted. “I think he's gonna learn that lesson one way or another now.”

“It's his fault, though”, Peter made clear, nudging Harley in the side. He was way to occupied to discuss with Morgan who was allowed to cuddle Peter now and barely nudged him back. “He apparently broke the news to everybody by telling them we've been... You know... for the last few months.” Sure, Morgan wasn't paying attention to what Peter was saying, but still. He wasn't going to talk about sex in front of his little sister.

“At least that doesn't leave any room for misunderstandings.”

“Good point”, he grinned.

“Right, this is leading nowhere.” With an exasperated sigh, Harley turned to Peter. “So. Which of us do you love more?”

If he got doused by another ounce of that lemony-glibber-shit, he wouldn't have to deal with this right now... But nobody in here was going to let him shock himself into anaphylaxis again, so he had no choice but to settle this. “I love you both. And, oh! Would you look at that, I've got two arms. One for Harley and one for Morgan. How does that sound?”

“Fine”, they agreed, albeit begrudgingly, and with a very uncomfortable and hurtful process, Morgan climbed over Peter and on his free side. “You still love me more than him, right?”, she whispered into his ear, once comfortably settled.

“Of course, but I can't tell him that. You know what Harley's like when he feels offended.”

“Yeah, he's such a drama queen...”

“He can hear you, you know?”, Harley deadpanned. “And there is a definite reason why Peter loves me more than you, because there's one thing he does with me he cannot do with you.”

What the FUCK? Trying to shoot Harley his best death glare, Peter turned to his boyfriend. He wasn't really going to cite them making out or sleeping together as the reason he was more loved, was he? Not to an eight-year-old!

“Because Peter likes to go on date-nights with me”, he grinned victoriously, and all the anxiety about having to explain his sex-life to a third-grader evaporated, as he sank against Harley's chest. “What did you think I was gonna talk about?”, he murmured into Peter's ear, leaving him unfortunately quite flushed.

“Ew!”, Morgan pulled a face, “date-night is so gross, though!”

“Harley is the one person date-night is really nice with, actually”, Peter shrugged.

“Really? Can I go on date-night with Harley, too then?”

“Nuh-uh-uh”, Peter made clear. “Only I can go on date-night with Harley.”

“That's ok”, Morgan shrugged, “boys are stupid anyways.”

“Believe me, I know”, Harley rolled his eyes.

“Hey!”, Peter moaned, whether at Morgan or Harley, he wasn't quite sure. Probably both of them.

“Sorry”, they answered in unison. “Here, let me make it up to you.” Harley reached for some place next to the bed and fished out a container of jell-o. “You forgive me now?”

“Not so sure...” Critically, Peter inspected the label of this lemon-flavoured jelly, before shoving it in Harley's face. “Didn't really think this one through, did ya?” He didn't even give Harley the chance to react, he put the cup back into Harley's hand, untangled his arm from behind his back and put it around Morgan. “I think you really do love me more.”

“Told you”, she chirped.

“I love you, too”, Harley tried to make it up to Peter.

As much as his entire being lit up at the sound of these fantastic words, he did his all to play it cool. “You did also just try to kill me.”

“That was an honest mistake”, he defended himself.

Morgan and Peter just exchanged a few looks. “Nah, I still love Petey more than you do”, she eventually made clear.

This was so incredible. Only a few years ago, Peter couldn't have imagined the running gag being people fighting over who loved him more! Being literally hunted down by a glorified asshole like JJJ didn't even bother Peter anymore; here wrapped up in Harley and Morgan's arms, there was no safer place on this planet. Safe enough to eventually close his eyes and let sleep take him.

When Peter opened his eyes again, everything around him was dark. It had to be late at night, the moon did shine through the window, illuminating what was quite the adorable scene: On his left was Harley, mouth wide open as he snored and there might even be a bit of drool there. On his other side was Morgan, snuggled and clinging against Peter's side as if she were a spider monkey.

“We tried to get her to bed”, came Tony's voice from the corner, “wouldn't let go though.”

“What the fuck, you can't just scare me like this”, Peter made clear.

“Says the guy who staggered into my house and collapsed in the living room.”

“Fair enough”, he grinned. “So what, making sure nothing fishy's going on when me and Harley share a bed?”

“I wasn't. And until now I wasn't even thinking that”, Tony groaned.

“I'm sorry we didn't tell you.”

“In a weird, fucked-up way I get it. Still gonna take me a while to get used to it.”

“Well, lucky for you, me and Harley are going to be around for another two months, granting more than enough chances for you to witness our adorableness and get used to us.”

“That I fear”, Tony grumbled. “I still can't believe that you're seriously growing up... At least from what Harley mentioned yesterday, I figure I don't need to have the birds and bees talk with you.”

“Pepper might have mentioned something about your crisis about your 'innocent little Pete' growing up... You do realize I'm not sixteen any more, right?”

“Yes, I am painfully aware of that. But I don't need to worry about you sleeping with your boyfriend, I need to worry about you getting better. And no matter how old you are, I'll still tell you when to go to bed, and oh, would you look at that? It's 2am. Sleep now.”

“You need sleep too.”

“I'll sleep as soon as you're sleeping again. So, close your eyes so I can get some sleep.” “Yes, sir”, Peter chuckled and snuggled a little more into his cushions. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, kid.”

[themagicinwords]

Here is my gift for @starkeristheendgame (who I absolutely ADORE) as part of the @starker-valentines exchange!

The prompt was: “ Peter asks Steve or all of the Avengers to help him find the perfect gift for Tony. Super fluffy and/or super cracky.”

And um.. I think I went over the 2k just a wee bit??

You can read it here on AO3!

*** ***

Steve took off his sunglasses and tucked them into the collar of his shirt as he stepped into the coffee shop. He had never been to this particular place before, preferring to stick to spots closer to the tower, or even just the expensive machine on his own floor that Tony had bought for each of them. But Peter had sent him a text this morning, asking if Steve could meet him for coffee in between his classes at NYU, needing to talk to him about something that couldn’t be discussed at the tower. The need for secrecy had Steve a little concerned, but assumed that if it was something really serious, Peter would have expressed more urgency.

He spotted the kid in a back corner booth pretty easily, textbooks spread out on the table in front of him. Steve stopped at the counter to order a coffee for himself and refill for Peter before making his way over to the younger Avenger, smiling when the brunette spotted him before he could reach the table and waved. When Steve handed over the steaming mug, he couldn’t help but laugh at the happy sound Peter made as he snagged it from the older man’s hand. “Oh god, thank you. You’re my hero.” That made Steve snort. “All in a day’s work.”

Peter laughed, then gestured at the empty seat across from him. “Sit down. Thanks for coming out this way. I know it’s kind of a trek from your usual sphere of influence.” Steve shrugged, not really feeling guilty at Peter calling him out. After everything they had gone through, losing each other and fixing the world and just trying to survive in the aftermath, Steve wasn’t ashamed that he and the others who lived at the tower liked to stick close to each other. There were still times, even several years later, that one or more of them would wake up with nightmares about being the only one left.

Steve started in on his coffee as he watched Peter carefully put away his notes and set his books off to the side. Then the younger man folded his hands on the table and met Steve’s eyes. “So.. I need your help.” The blonde nodded, taking another sip of his drink before setting it aside. “Figured that was why you called me out here. And I assume it has something to do with Tony, since we’re so far from home?”

Peter nodding, scrubbing a hand over his face. Steve suddenly had the feeling that the stress he had spotted on Peter’s face when he walked in had nothing to do with whatever class he had been studying for, and everything to do with whatever he was about to ask. “It’s our first Valentine’s Day, as a couple. And I want to do something special, because Tony deserves it. And buying him something just seems like.. not enough, you know?” Steve nodded, and gestured for Peter to continue. “I know I could have gone to Rhodey, or Miss Potts, or probably even Happy but.. I trust your opinion the most.”

That made something warm and fond bloom in Steve’s chest, and he reached across the table to ruffle Peter’s hair, making the kid groan while trying to hide his smile. Steve sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Tony’s smart and also a giant kid most days, and he loves puzzles. I’m always finding him and Buck stashed around the tower somewhere working on these crazy brain teasers.” Across from him, Peter perked up, eyes widening like he had thought of an idea.

“What about a scavenger hunt?”

Steve nodded, tapping a finger against his chin as the wheels in his brain started turning. “That’s good, I think he’d love that. And what if.. what if we got everybody involved? Tony spends so much time hiding inside, he could use a few small adventures with each of us. To remind him how important he is to everybody.” They both knew how self conscious Tony still was about the scarring on his face and neck, and the metal arm that was a gold and red twin to Bucky’s.

Peter’s excited grin softened into something fond and warm. “That’s a really awesome idea, Steve. I knew coming to you was the right way to go!” The blonde laughed, and the two Avengers spent the rest of the afternoon brainstorming ideas and coming up with fun, silly clues for each person to give Tony after their “date.” Each clue would lead him to his next date, a different one each day that would end in a cozy, private dinner with Peter on Valentine’s Day. And Peter was sure it would take very little convincing to get the other Avengers involved.

The Saturday before Valentine’s Day, Peter put his plan into action. He snuck out of bed before Tony, not that that’s really all that hard, and made him breakfast. Then he carried it into their bedroom on a tray, setting it gently on Tony’s bedside table before leaning over to press a kiss to the older man’s forehead. One dark brown eye glassy from sleep blinked up at him, and Peter grinned at the way Tony’s nose scrunched up in confusion. “Pete.. it’s Saturday. Why am I awake before noon?”

Peter chuckled, and prodded Tony until he was sitting up in the bed so he could place the tray over his lap. “Because I made you breakfast. With two cups of coffee. So be nice.” The promise of food and extra coffee worked like a charm, and it only took a couple sips from one of the mugs for Tony to notice the envelope tucked under the plate of food.

“Hey Pete, what’s this?”

Peter shrugged, and stole a piece of bacon off of the plate. “Guess you better open it and find out.” He could see the suspicious look Tony gave him out of the corner of his eye, and pretended to scroll through his phone so it didn’t seem like he was holding his breath for Tony’s reaction. After a few minutes, he couldn’t take the silence anymore and looked up. It looked like Tony was rereading the card inside, and relief flashed through him when he noticed the small smile on the older man’s lips. A smile that got bigger when he noticed Peter staring. “You gonna explain this to me, kid?”

The younger man rolled his eyes at the use of the word “kid,” but there was no heat behind it. Then he shook his head. “Nope. Kind of defeats the purpose of the riddle if I explain it.” Next to him, Tony grumbled and flicked the card at his boyfriend. Peter laughed, and stared down at the familiar (terrible) handwriting in purple ink. “This sounds like an invitation, Tony. You should probably think about getting dressed and going out to meet your secret admirer.” He got a sigh in response, and he could see Tony starting to withdraw, just a little.

“Peter, you know I don’t really like to-”

Peter picked up the breakfast tray and set it aside, then shifted so he took its place in Tony’s lap. He took Tony’s face between his palms, rubbing the thumb of his left hand over the bumps and ridges of the long healed scars. “Tony. I know you don’t like the attention you get when you’re out. And that’s ok. Just trust me, ok?” After another few moments of hesitation, Tony nodded and Peter pressed their foreheads together. When Tony hesitated again just before leaving, Peter just kissed him and promised that it would be ok.

Your FAVORITE Avenger will be waiting at his favorite place  for walkies with lots of furry friends

And when, a few hours later, he received a video from Clint of Tony smiling and laughing in a literal puppy pile of wriggling rescue puppies, he knew that he was right. The picture he got of Tony walking a giant mutt instantly became his phone background. Tony came home that day with another envelope, the card inside written in an elegant hand with red ink, and the same smile still on his face as he pressed a kiss full of joy to Peter’s lips.

Join the spider in her web And you will create beautiful things together

On Sunday, Peter let Tony sleep later, knowing his activity with Nat wouldn’t start until later in the day. So they snuggled in bed until eleven, warm and cozy and kissing until they were both awake. Then Peter made them lunch while Tony showered, hot sandwiches and soup for a chilly February afternoon. At two, he sent Tony off to meet up with Natasha with a kiss on the cheek and a promise from the older man to have a good time. He still looked a little hesitant to go back out in public two days in a row, but Peter could tell that the fun he had had with Clint the day before made him less nervous.

And sure enough, later than evening, he got paint-covered selfies from a clearly wine drunk Tony and Nat. The redhead looked looser and happier than Peter had ever seen her, and the matching splashes of paint high up on the two Avengers cheeks made him giggle. When he got home, Tony was so excited to tell Peter all about how much he loved the painting glass, that the younger man didn’t care how late he went to bed, despite having class the next morning.

The painting was definitely getting a special place on the wall in their bedroom.

Big Green and the professor Request your company To make things go BOOM

Monday meant Peter was back in classes all day at NYU, and he had to leave Tony with a sleepy kiss goodbye before his boyfriend’s eyes were even open. Because he knew if he let Tony wake up before leaving, he would never leave and would end up missing class and Tony would miss his adventures with Bruce. So he zipped out quick, passing Bruce on his way and shouting Take care of him for me, Dr Banner! over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, there were no pictures throughout the day, but he had expected that. Tony and Bruce were spending their day together out at some remote property Tony owned upstate, no doubt creating spectacular explosions that would definitely not be safe in a populated area. And Peter also knew Bruce would become the Hulk at some point during their fun, because the big guy was just as fond of Tony as the rest of the team and wanted his own time with their resident genius. And the Hulk wasn’t really known for his talent with phones. But he did get to hear a detailed play by play from two very giggly, very exhausted scientists at the end of the day. And that was just as good.

Metal arm besties Courtside ruckus at MSG

On Tuesday, Peter only had a half day of classes, so he was able to get back to the tower before Tony left for the Knicks game with Bucky. He had seen the excitement on his boyfriend’s face the night before when he read the card Bruce handed over, and the older man had practically vibrated out of his seat when he pulled out the courtside seats for the basketball game. Peter knew that NBA games weren’t usually their go to, knew that Tony and Bucky had gravitated more towards a quiet game in the billionaire’s private box at Yankee Stadium over the much louder atmosphere of Madison Square Garden in the years since Thanos, but Tony’s outings with the other Avengers seemed to be bringing more and more of the old Tony Stark back to life. It was almost like Tony was forgetting about the scars and the metal arm, even for a few hours a day.

The rest of the team watched the game on the huge screen on the common floor, and every time the camera panned to the two smiling, laughing, rowdy Avengers sitting courtside, Peter’s heart swelled. On the couch next to him, Steve nudged him with his elbow, and they shared a smile. By the time the game ended, the two of them were passed out on the couch, and the others left them to doze until Bucky and Tony returned. And that’s how their boyfriends found them when they spilled out of the elevator, still arguing over some play. Bucky woke Steve with a kiss, and Tony easily picked up Peter to carry him up to bed.

Life may have gifted us the greatest works of art But we can still enjoy the inferior pieces On display

Steve’s note had made both Tony and Peter snort, no one would ever accuse Captain America of not being sappy. But the sappiness was worth the sweet kiss and the He’s not wrong, you know that he got from Tony before the older man left to meet up with Steve on Wednesday. Peter went to class, and spent the day giggling at the ridiculous pictures he received from the two men. Some days he knew Tony regretted showing Steve how to use Snapchat, but today Peter was glad for it. Because the pictures and filters just got funnier as the day went by. At one point, he even had to sneak out of class before the tears of laughter could spill over.

When he got home from class that night, Tony had cooked dinner and while they ate, Peter listened as his boyfriend laughed through the story of him and Steve nearly getting kicked out of the Met. Truthfully, Peter only heard about half of the story, too distracted by the bright smile on Tony’s face through the teling. A smile that bright was so rare, and he had probably seen it more times this week than he had in the last year. Just watching him smile made all of the work and setup he had put into this worth it.

Let us spend this final day as the Gods intended Drunk!

Thursday brought Peter another half day of classe, but Tony was already off with Thor by the time he got home. He wasn’t quite sure how many pubs and breweries the blonde would be dragging his boyfriend through, just knew to expect them at some point later in the day. The rest of his day was spent sparring with Clint, then at dinner with the rest of the team. He shared the pictures from Thor with the others, pictures that got progressively blurrier and more hilarious the more alcohol the two men consumed. Thor obviously had a higher tolerance than Tony, being an Asgardian, but they did seem to be keeping a steady pace with each other.

The two Avengers returned just as Peter and Nat were finishing the dinner dishes, laughing and stumbling and leaning on each other. Peter exchanged an eye roll with the redhead, who wasn’t even trying to hide her laughter. There were two drunk shouts of Peter! before he was being squished between Tony and Thor, and even though he wanted to grumble, Peter couldn’t help the smile on his face as he said goodnight to Thor and tugged Tony off to tuck him into bed.

Join me for dinner Where all of the stars can see us

Peter left the final note for Tony where his boyfriend would easily find it, then snuck out of bed to prepare. Everything that Tony had been doing that week was leading up to this, and he had been practicing the dinner recipe for weeks with Nat. She was the best cook in the tower, and she had helped him perfect it. He spent most of the day locked on the roof, setting up the space while he dodged Tony’s messages. Peter wanted everything to be absolutely perfect before Tony could see.

When it was finally time for Tony to join him, Peter stood beside the little table he had set up for their dinner. Fairy lights hung all around him, and the table was covered in a dark red tablecloth and two fancy table settings that he had borrowed from May. And when Tony finally came through the door leading out onto the roof, the look on his face was more than worth every minute of effort.

“Pete, this is.. wow this is unbelievable.” Smiling, Peter pulled out a chair for Tony, kissing him on the cheek as he sat. One by one, each of the Avengers came out to assist in their dinner date: Thor poured wine, Clint brought out bread, Steve and Bucky each brought a bowl of soup, Bruce cleared away the bowls when they were finished. And Nat served their entrees, winking at Peter before leaving again. Peter couldn’t even take a bite of his own meal before Tony tried it, needing to see the older man’s reaction. And he wasn’t disappointed.

“Jesus, what the hell is this, crack? I’ve never tasted something so good.”

Across from him, Peter blushed and shrugged. “I found it online. Nat helped me make sure it came out perfect.” Eyes wide, Tony set down his fork and leaned forward a little. “Peter, you.. you made this?” The younger man nodded, staring shyly down at his plate.

Tony pushed his chair away from the table, and came around to kneel at Peter’s side. He shook his head before Peter could comment on the wince, and took both of the younger man’s hands in his own, one flesh and one metal. “Peter. I don’t even have the word to describe what this week has meant to me. I know you set everything up, organized all these little outings with the team. How in the hell did I get so lucky to have someone that cares about me like you do?”

Peter shifted in his chair so he was facing Tony, and leaned down until he could press their foreheads together. “You deserve it. You deserve to know how much we all love you, how important you are. We all care about you.” They shared a soft kiss, then Tony stood and tapped his knuckle under Peter’s chin.

“You’re something special, you know that, Parker?”

“Learned it from watching you, Stark.”

[imagine-avengers]

Biker Part Three- Bucky Barnes Series

3/10 This is part three of my Biker Bucky series. The part one and two can be found on my masterlist, as will the other parts once they come out!

The next few days had flown by. As promised Bucky sent over Scott Lang, their new Security guy, or new to Elizabeth at least and her security system was hooked up. Scott had given Elizabeth the code and a key to the new locks he had made and mentioned that Bucky requested a key and the code which Elizabeth waved him off knowing Bucky would end up with it either way. Elizabeth spent time around her house getting everything set up and finally finished unpacking with the help of Peggy, Wanda, and Natasha on Wednesday night, along with three bottles of wine between the four of them, luckily Steve was able to walk and get Peggy and Natasha and Wanda ended up spending the night in the guest bedroom as the third room was now Elizabeth’s office space, where she could work on the book she had been writing. It wasn’t until Saturday that Elizabeth had ventured anywhere, having to go get groceries seemed to be a hassle. Her car refused to start while trying to leave for the store. With a groan she decided her best bet was to call Bucky or Steve, or maybe Clint as he owned the mechanic shop that the Howling Commandos frequented. Elizabeth picked up her phone and dialed Clint’s work number. The phone rang and rang and finally a voice answered.

“Barton’s Mechanics, this is Peter.”  A voice spoke into the phone that Elizabeth hadn’t recognized.

“Is Clint there?” Elizabeth asked pacing in front of the car.

“He’s not can I take a message?” The man asked as Elizabeth groaned.

“Who’s there?” She asked. “Who’s working today?”

“Uh,” The kid paused.

“Kid, Peter, come on.” She groaned.

“Sam and Mr. Barnes.” He stated timidly.

“Put Barnes on, tell him it’s Liz.” There was a pause before the phone was picked up.

“What’s going on?” Bucky’s voice came through the phone.

“Car won’t start, been having issues with the starter for a while now.” She stated rubbing her head as she leaned against her driver side door. “You think you could take a look at it for me?” She asked.

“Yeah, give me ten and Sam and I will be on our way to come get it. You good?” He asked.

“Yeah thanks Buck.” Her voice was soft. “Anyway, I could come too? I’m getting stir crazy here, and I kinda need food.”

“Sweets, you think I’d leave you carless?” Bucky chuckled. “I got you, I’ll be there in ten. Peter, get Wilson tell him we need the truck.” Elizabeth headed back towards her front yard. “I’ll be there soon okay.” He stated.

“Alright, thanks Buck, see you soon.” Elizabeth hung up and moved through the house grabbing her things. After ten minutes she heard the truck and Bucky’s motorcycle come down the street. Walking out of the house she locked the doors and set the alarm and tossed the keys towards Bucky.

“I told you years ago to scrap this piece of shit.” Bucky mentioned as Elizabeth laughed.

“Yeah I know, sentimental value Buck.” She mentioned with a small smile. “You know damn well how I feel about this car.” She stated noticing Sam hooking the car up to the truck.

-

“Who’s been working on it the past five years?” Bucky asked an hour later as they stood inside the garage, his body leaning over the car.

“Some mechanic in DC.” She shrugged. “It broke down a few times, nothing major.” She knew Bucky hadn’t liked anyone but himself, Clint, or Steve working on her cars.

“Well your starters shot, you need new spark plugs, and your engine is on its last leg.” Bucky stated looking at her as he wiped his hands on a rag. “Not worth fixing to be honest.” Elizabeth sighed.

“I don’t have the money to buy a new car Buck.” Elizabeth groaned. “Hell, I don’t even have a fucking job, my savings is dwindling,”

“Elizabeth.” Buck said touching her shoulders to stop her pacing. “Breathe.” He told her. “I never said you had to buy a new car.” He stated. “I can fix it if you really want me to, but it isn’t worth it.” He stated. “But I have the truck you can use.”

“James.” She said sighing and running a hand through her hair. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Lizzie, I’m not letting you go without a car. I don’t want to fix this one because who knows how long it’ll run; it’ll give me peace of mind if you’re driving a vehicle, I know is safe for you.” He stated as Elizabeth bit her lip before nodding slightly.

“Fine.” She mumbled. “But only until I can afford a car.” She told him sternly as she glanced at the car that she had had since she was sixteen. “How much do I owe you for the tow?” She asked as they headed back towards the office so Bucky could find the keys to the truck that sat in the back-parking lot.

“Don’t worry about it Liz.” Clint’s voice came from standing by the young boy, maybe sixteen, at the reception desk.

“Clint.” Elizabeth’s voice was stern. “I’m paying for the tow.”

“You’re family Liz.” Clint stated pulling the keys to the truck off the hook and tossing them to Bucky. “Needs an oil change and breaks.” He stated looking back at Liz. “This is Peter, Tony and Peppers kid.” Clint nodded towards the boy whom was adopted by Tony Stark and his wife Pepper years ago after his parents, their best friends, passed away.

“Little Peter? You were like ten last time I saw you.” She asked with a laugh. “How’s Tony and Pep?” She asked as Bucky went to check on the truck.

“They’re alright.” Peter stated.

“Elizabeth Smith.” She shook the boy’s hand. “Heard you’re a big brother now, Morgan, right?” She asked as Peter nodded. “Ran into Happy a few months back.” Elizabeth mentioned. “Said you’re wicked smart.” Peter blushed and nodded. “Well it’s nice to see you again.” Elizabeth stated looking towards Clint. “How’s the wife and kids Barton?” She asked leaning against the counter and scrolling through her phone to order lunch for everyone at the shop.

“Good, good, just had Nathaniel.” He stated.

“After Nat?” She teased mentioning how he named his son after his best friend. “When am I gonna get a kid named after me?” She asked pouting as she heard Steve’s bike coming in. “Rogers I want a baby named after me; better tell Peggy you’re having another!” Steve’s bike turned off and he took his helmet off.

“You better tell her yourself. If I mention a baby to that woman, I swear she’ll cut my dick off.” He stated tossing the helmet towards Peter. Elizabeth laughed at the man and shook her head.

“Well someone better name a baby after me.” She mumbled.

“Name your own kid after yourself.” Sam stated heading over to the front desk and pulling out paperwork for a woman who was walking in after he fixed her car.

“And who the hell am I having a kid with?” She asked smiling over at the woman.

“Well I’m available.” Sam smirked as he handed the woman the papers to sign.

“Watch yourself Wilson!” Bucky called from under the truck. “If anyone is having kids with her it’s me!” Elizabeth groaned and hid her face.

“I vote to have kids with neither of you.” She mumbled as Steve chuckled heading over to the coffee pot and pouring a cup.

“Come on Lizzie, you’re not getting any younger.” He teased as Elizabeth picked up a pen and tossed it at his head.

“Shut the fuck up. Pour me a cup of that please.” She said as the women began reading over the papers. Steve poured a second cup of coffee for Elizabeth before he started a new pot. “Thanks Stevie. Also, fat chance of me ever having kids.” She mentioned before the group stood around talking for a bit and eventually five boxes of pizza arrived paid for by Elizabeth. After a half hour Bucky had ended up coming back over towards her and taking her cup of coffee. “I was drinking that.” She stated as Bucky reached for the pizza on her plate. “And eating that.” She mumbled watching Bucky eat her pizza.

“Eh you can share.” Bucky smirked at her before hearing Steve’s phone ring.

“Rogers.” Steve answered before glancing at Bucky. “No, no leave it Nat. We’re on our way. Natasha.” Steve growled. “Bucky and I will be there in five.” He stated hanging up. “We gotta go, Sam take Lizzie and Peter to my place, Clint you’re with us. We’re closing up.” Steve stated moving towards his bike as Bucky moved towards Steve, the two mumbling together before Bucky turned towards Elizabeth.

“I’ll pick you up, stay with Peggy, for the love of god Elizabeth, do not leave Steve’s.” Bucky stated as Elizabeth sighed.

“Buck, I live four houses down.” She whined.

“Elizabeth.” His voice hardened as he gave her a look that she knew meant not to argue with him.

“Fine.” She sighed and nodded. “I’ll wait with Peggy.” She stated. Bucky and Steve left leaving Elizabeth with Clint, Sam, and Peter. Sam drove both Peter and Elizabeth over to Peggy’s where the three waited for hours, Peggy had long since put the kids to bed and Peter had fallen asleep on the couch, and Sam took the liberty of calling Peter’s Aunt May to let her know he’d be staying with Steve. Meanwhile Elizabeth had been pacing for the last three hours.

“Elizabeth stop with the pacing.” Peggy stated from her spot on the chair with her book.

“You know I don’t like being out of the loop Peg.” She stated turning to Peggy. “You know that look Steve gives when shit is going down and he normally tells you to go to the cabin?” She asked as Peggy nodded. “That’s the look I got from Bucky.” She told her best friend with a sigh. Peggy closed her book as Sam looked up from his phone.

“Love, you know that’s the look that Bucky gives you no matter what.” Peggy stated as Elizabeth shook her head. “I’m teasing love, everything’ll be fine.”

“Don’t worry Liz, they got this.” Sam stated as Elizabeth fell to the chair with a sigh. Another few hours passed and by then it was three in the morning. Elizabeth was wide awake, while Peggy had gone to bed around one and Sam was knocked out sitting in the chair with his arms crossed. Sam phone had begun ringing causing Elizabeth to groan.

“Sam.” She stated nudging him with her foot. “Sammy.” She whined causing him to groan and mumble a small ‘what’. “Your phone is ringing, answer it.” Sam’s eyes opened and he answered the phone.

“Wilson.” He was quiet for a minute. “Mhh, got it.” He glanced at Elizabeth a moment. “Nah she’s still here.” Sam rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Man, she ain’t gonna sleep until you get here.” At that point Elizabeth had known that Sam was talking to Bucky.

“Let me talk to him.” Elizabeth held her hand towards Sam, who ignored her.

“Man, you serious?” Sam sat up straighter. “No, I got it.” He stated. “No no, Peter passed out and Peggy is upstairs with the kids sleeping.” Sam hummed a few times. “Yep, bye.” Hanging up without giving Elizabeth the phone causing her to glare at him. “There’s been a complication, nothing bad, just not gonna be back until early in the afternoon, said you should sleep.” Sam stated as Elizabeth huffed crossing her arms.

It wasn’t until around two that afternoon that Steve and Bucky arrive at Steve and Peggy’s. Elizabeth had been in the kitchen with Peter and Emma teaching them how to bake her famous butterscotch brownies while Sam was playing with JJ and Peggy was doing housework. Steve and Bucky walked in as if they hadn’t been out all night, Emma ran towards her dad whilst JJ ran towards his namesake, both men immediately picking up the kids.

“Pete, Tony got you a ticket home, Sam’s gonna drive you to the airport.” Steve stated. “He needs your help at home. Thanks for the intel.” Steve stated motioning Sam to do as he said, both guys left leaving Elizabeth glaring slightly at Bucky as Steve took the kids to find Peggy.

“Hey.” Bucky said softly causing Elizabeth to roll her eyes.

“Hey? That’s all you have to say James? I’ve been stuck in this house for almost twenty- four hours.” She huffed crossing her arms. “I hate not being in the know, you know this.” She stated as Bucky leaned against the counter.

“I know.” He spoke as Elizabeth looked him over. “Come on, lets go talk at your place.” He stated but Elizabeth shook her head.

“No.” Running a hand through her hair. “Just reassure me you’re not hurt, and I can go home.” Bucky did just as she said and proceeded to walk her home, promising to come and drop the truck off the next day.

[teaandbookz]

A random drabble about you wearing Steve’s clothes and how people start to notice. You’re just friends when this starts out. Again, I’m still sad about endgame okay? 😂 also don’t want this to come across as hate towards Sharon but didn’t know who else to use!

The first time Steve saw you in his clothes, it was a rainy Wednesday and you’d just come home from the shop. When you’d left, it had been overcast and stupidly you thought you’d be fine. You weren’t. So by the time you got home, sighing as you got in, looking like a drenched rat, Steve was laughing on your sofa. But he had made you a hot chocolate, so all was (mostly) forgiven. Except for the fact it was laundry day and due to being a tough month, everything was in the wash and there was nothing dry to put on. So along came Steve’s jumper; warm and soft and safe, just like him. He ignored the way his heart swelled and the sight of you in his clothes or the way his stomach fluttered as you stepped out of the kitchen, the arms making sweater paws, asking if he wanted whipped cream.

The second time was in the hospital, just after the time travel incident. It was his favourite jumper you were wearing, hadn’t been washed since he’d gone off to fight. Still smelt like him, you’d all spent days and days in the hospital, waiting. None more than you though, the only times you’d left was to grab a shower and a couple hours kip when you knew he was in safe hands and you could feel yourself flagging. Nat had asked you as a joke ‘don’t you have your own jumper y/l/n?’ but her smirk faded when she saw your face. You’d tried to laugh but it was more of a grimace. “You know y/n, you’ve spent more time here than anybody. Sure you’re just friends?” You’d swallowed and nodded.

“I don’t know how to live my life without him. He’s my person.” She’d merely nodded in response.

The third time someone had commented on you wearing Steve’s clothes was Steve himself. You were busy getting ready for a nightshift and had half heartedly put your face on. Steve had been out the hospital a couple months and everyone was slowly starting to return to normal, getting used to having everyone back again. Unknowingly you nearly always had something of Steve’s on, due to trouble sleeping and what not he’d left quite the wardrobe at your house. As you had with his. So you’d put on one of his t shirts and was about to leave when you turned around and saw him leaning in the doorway, soft smile on his face. “Morning.” You stuck your tongue out at him and made to move past him but he stopped you, holding onto your arms slightly. “Is that my t shirt?”

“Do you mind? Just it’s really comfy for a nightshift!” He shook his head.

“Not at all doll. See you in the morning?”

“If you’re not in the gym, yeah? You staying here tonight?”

“I’ll wait for you. If you don’t mind? Sharons got a kitchen being fitted.” With that you kissed him on the cheek and left, throwing a ‘bye’ over your shoulder. Leaving him watching your retreating form, wondering when exactly you’d gone from the initial hello to practically living together.

The fourth time, might have been the most awkward. Four or five times a year, you’d all make the journey to Clints and have a family bbq. You weren’t sure when exactly you’d been classed as family but you were grateful all the same. Steve always offered to drive and you guys would make a day off it; leaving when it was still dark to watch the sunrise and you’d get him a coffee to say thanks for driving. Music would play and you’d both sing together, making a musical production out of the best ballads. This time however, Steve had asked if you’d be okay to go with Sam and Bucky, he was going to be arriving late. Although odd, you’d agreed and you guys had a blast on the first night. Sharing drinks and stories before calling it a night and getting some sleep. The following morning you came down in shorts, t shirt and Steve’s plaid shirt over the top. The team had stopped commenting on how you nearly always wore something of Steve’s, instead opting to joke about your height and other superficial matters. However today was different, as you were washing the breakfast dishes, Bucky came along to help. You joked and laughed and was about to splash him with some water when you heard a light giggle behind you. “Is that Steve’s?” Your stomach dropped and Buckys face went from happy go lucky to we’re at war in an instant. “What?” You stalled, wiping your hands on your, no, Steve’s shirt. Sharon. Why was Sharon here? Before she could ask again, Steve walked through the door and stood next to Sharon. Bucky sent him a questioning look and Steve sort of shrugged in response. Sharon, not missing a beat, wrapped Steve’s arm around her shoulders and giggled into his chest again. “This is, well, you know Sharon. I’ve taken Bucks advice and gone into the dating world.” There was silence and more giggling Sharon before you spoke. “Right.” Bucky however was stunned and opened his mouth slightly. “Y/N do you mind taking Steve’s shirt off? It’s just I find it a bit weird now that we’re dating that another girl is wearing his clothes.” She sent you a sarcastic smile and Bucky audibly growled. “Yeah. I do mind.” You throw Steve a look before shoving the cloth back in the sink with a splash and stalking out the room. You hear Bucky say something to Steve but you’re too far away to hear what it was before you hear him run up behind you. “Y/N! Y/N!” You stop and turn, surprised that there’s tears in your eyes. “Do you want me to take you home?” You shake your head and send Bucky a soft smile. “No thankyou. I don’t know what came over me. I’m just going up to my room.” You didn’t wear any of Steve’s clothes for the rest of the weekend, trying to ignore how oddly hurt Steve looked at this fact.

In the couple months he dated Sharon, something seemed to happen. You guys were still close but normal things that you guys used to do didn’t happen anymore. He didn’t stay at your house anymore and vice versa. To say it was affecting your sleep was an understatement, you were lucky to get three or four hours a night. When you were in a room together, you had to think about not touching the other. When it came to group things, more planning went into your outfits, making sure that you had nothing of Steve’s on. Sharon had even claimed back your favourite jumper, the very first one he’d given you on that rainy day. It was three am when you heard the knocking, at first you thought might be kids or drunks but you lived in too nice of an area for that really. When the knocking continued, you stood sleepily and stumbled to the front door. Becoming awake and alert when you saw Steve stood there, it was raining again. “Steve?” You mumbled and he sent you a lopsided smile.

“Hey.”

“What’s up? Is everyone okay?” Immediately on fight mode. He chuckled and nodded. “Everyone’s fine.” You stood dazed for a moment, realised he was getting wet and stepped back to let him in. “What can I do for you?” You busied yourself in the kitchen making tea, aware that you were only in a t shirt and you were freezing. This wouldn’t have normally been an issue before but since Sharon, everything seemed to be a problem. “I broke up with Sharon.”

“Oh Steve.” You place the steaming cup in front of him and he takes a seat, smiling gratefully at the cup. “It was for the best. She didn’t get me. Well what I should say is, she didn’t get why I needed you in my life. It’s been killing me, this not touching, not talking, you not walking around in my clothes.” Unsure what to say, you just took a sip of your own tea and swirled the thoughts around in your head before opening your mouth to talk. “I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who does understand though Steve. It’s not exactly like we have a normal friendship is it?” You cocked your head at him and he laughed lightly. The lightest he’d looked in weeks. “Here.” He passes you the jumper, the very first jumper and you quickly put it on, hoping he doesn’t notice the tears that spring to your eyes or hear the lump in your throat. “Bed?” You ask, he locks eyes with you and you both know this is different now, that tomorrow and in the days to come you’ll have to have a conversation about the two of you. But for now you have him, his jumper, a three am magical moment and he smiles and nods. “Bed.”

[littlemsstark3000]

Can you write a story where the avengers find out tony and natasha are secretly married?

A response to this ask and the other three in my inbox with the same prompt.

In my head, this takes place fourteen months after CA:CW. Natasha was on Tony's side and never left. Steve did not hurt Tony terribly in Siberia but found a way to escape with Bucky. Clint was also on Tony's side with Nat, and went back to break after Steve broke into his team's prison to let everyone go. Thor and Bruce were off-world. Rogue Avengers surrendered Bucky to T'Challa in Wakanda; went back to the compound and apologized to Tony. Pre-Infinity War. Sequel to the secret wedding fic I posted before this.

Timeline also known as... COMPLETELY AU. Lol. 😊

*****

"Happy anniversary."

Tony looked up from arranging the food on the table to Natasha who spoke, approaching him. She was in his maroon silk pyjamas, the pair he discarded last night and probably the first thing she was able to grab after deciding to get up.

"Oh... You're awake," he welcomed her into his waiting arms. "Happy anniversary, darling."

The redhead nuzzled on his chest as she also wrapped her arms around his torso, then paid attention to the breakfast platter he prepared.

"What do we have here?"

Effortlessly, Tony lifted her by the waist to sit on the table, facing him. "Since this is a special day, I made French toasts."

"Nice. Coming from our staple pancakes huh?"

"At least, I didn't make just waffles. This is still... different."

"At least." Natasha repeated with a smirk, which he wiped out of her face with a kiss. She automatically placed her hands on his nape and shoulder, forgetting about her sarcastic remarks. They were never this touchy-feely outside the confines of their bedroom, but both subconsciously thought that it was because of the occasion - a milestone in their relationship.

When they pulled apart, he tucked stray hairs behind her ears as they slightly catch their breaths. "We have a reservation for later."

"You had a restaurant closed again for just the two of us?"

On one of their dates, Tony had Randy's closed for 3 hours just because he wanted to eat donuts with her. She found that over-the-top but he just shrugged.

"Not this time around."

She raised an eyebrow, not believing that it was a simple reservation. "Spill it."

"Okay, okay!" he chuckled. "How do you find having dinner in space?"

"Love, you know that I can't -"

He cut what she had to say, gripping on her waist. Of course, they have tried flying through short distances, but he would not risk her safety by experimenting further. He himself had many accidents before he could flawlessly operate with his suits.

"Yes. That's why I just made arrangements for the Planetarium."

He stared straight to her eyes shining a little brighter, just what he wanted to see.

"That's... Wow."

He brushed their nose while he smiled cheekily. "Glad that after a year, I can still surprise you, dear wife."

"Excuse me?!"

They turned their heads and saw their teammates flocked by the kitchen's entrance.

Thor was smiling with hands on his either side. It seemed like he was the only one who approved of the scene they spotted.

Steve's mouth opened and closed as he swallowed in surprise. It didn't help that he was still a mess coming from morning jog and a quick trip to the gym, his daily routine.

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed; either he was confused how that happened or he found their pairing weird.

Clint's accusing look and tone did not even get them to separate.

"Barton -" Natasha started.

"Did you just call Nat your wife?" The archer stressed on the last word towards the genius mechanic.

"I did." Tony coolly replied as he helped her move down from the table, but gently tugged her to his side again to leave no space between them. An arm snaked around her small waist and their hands clasped on her tummy.

His eyes narrowed as he asked again. "And why the hell do I not know this?"

"Because you're far away and busy being a family man," she sighed and answered straightforward.

"That's not an excuse, Romanoff."

"Uh, legally, she's also Stark for a year now."

Clint huffed.

"For the record," Tony explained. "I tried to call you once to inform you but your didn't pick up."

"Twice. I did try, too. You were unreachable." Natasha added.

It was Steve who asked next. "Why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

"You went rogue, Cap." Tony barred no holds.

"But we've been back for a few months now..."

"Still kinda hate you."

They both knew that they just made their way through the conversation, but actually, they just didn't want many people to know about their marriage from the on-set; didn't want even their friends to comment on what they feel and to judge their decisions. What mattered most to them was the love and security they have for and got from each other. All the worlds be damned.

"What about Thor and I?" Bruce inquired.

"You two just got back, Brucie bear. If Birdman here did not come up with this little interrogation scene, I would have told you peacefully over dinner or coffee."

Natasha released herself from her husband to continue the two breakfast sets he was making. "Can we not overreact, everyone? I don't get why this is so big of a deal."

"Right." Tony also walked to the coffemaker, pouring hot drinks into their couple mugs.

"The last time I saw you two, you were far from being a couple and now you're telling us you are married? Plus the fact that you were the first one in this team who knew about Laura and the kids, Nat. Of course, I'm not allowed to overreact." Clint still dragged the subject, unable to move on.

"Wait..." Tony's forehead creased. "The last time you saw us together? You mean the little airport scene?"

"We were already engaged." Natasha bluntly continued.

"Engaged?!" Steve and Clint simultaneously blurted.

"Well, it is rightfully then that we celebrate this union of our friends!" Thor's voice boomed in the kitchen.

"I agree. Congratulations, Tony, Nat." Bruce smiled at them.

"Thanks guys. Now, you two wrap your head around the fact and be our guests. I'll order pizza for lunch."

Tony and Natasha walked out of the common area together with their food on hand and were off to spend the lazy Saturday morning on their room's couch, tuned in to MTV.