#Captain America x oc

[inlovewiththefictionalcharacters]

HEY CAPTAIN

Chapter - 5 : Rekindling

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Eva Stark (OC)

Warning(s): MCU Spoilers (potentially); Language(?); Angst; Brief mentions of abduction and false portrayal of circumstances; Slowburn; Physical abuse; Any other required and additional warnings will be added in the upcoming chapters; Not gonna beat around the bush, this would probably portray the OC as the opposite of the strong, independent woman of the 21st century in the beginning. All I could say is see how far her character will grow; Fluff; Of course smut (👀); Physical abuse; Angst.

A/N: Hello lovely readers! I know I have been MIA for a while now and this series has been on hold for a long time now, but I plan on resuming updating the series that I've got on hold, starting with this series. I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner, but I'll try my best to work on it. (Also, I have to beat my self mentally for a long time to get inspiration for writing again, so sorry about that!)

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Series masterlist

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Steve sat at Eva’s bedside, his eyes watching her breathing slowly return to a peaceful rhythm. The nightmares had subsided, thanks to Wanda, and for the first time since she woke, Eva was resting without tension lining her face. Steve’s hand was still clasped gently in hers, and though she was asleep, her fingers curled protectively around his. His heart felt a pull—a mix of relief and something deeper he couldn't quite place.

Meanwhile, Tony stood outside the medical room, pacing in frustration. He couldn't shake the image of Eva’s nightmare, her cries of "Papa" still echoing in his head. He felt utterly helpless, something he hadn’t felt in years. Watching Steve's closeness with Eva only made it worse. Tony had spent years believing his daughter was gone, and now that she was back, she seemed closer to Steve than to him. His mind buzzed with questions—What if he had lost the chance to be the father she needed? What if Steve, with his perfect, noble charm, was becoming the one she depended on?

Natasha approached Tony with a look of sympathy, though her words were blunt as ever. "You're pushing too hard, Tony. You can't expect her to be comfortable with everything right away. Give her time."

Tony clenched his fists. "She’s my daughter, Nat. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines while Captain Perfect waltzes in and… I don’t know, becomes her hero."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You might be projecting, Tony. It’s not a competition."

Inside the medical room, Eva stirred awake. Her eyes fluttered open, hazel orbs meeting Steve’s warm blue gaze. She felt the comfort of his hand in hers and didn’t want to let go. Steve smiled at her, softly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked in that gentle tone she had grown to trust.

Eva gave a small nod, her voice hoarse. "Better... Thanks to you."

Steve shifted slightly in his seat, feeling a strange warmth at her gratitude. He couldn’t deny how protective he felt of her—not just as the man who rescued her, but something more. Her vulnerability called to something deeper inside him.

“I’m just glad you’re safe now,” he replied.

Eva smiled at him and Steve swore he felt something tug at his heart. He was not sure what exactly he was feeling, but he decided that he liked it. And he more than liked seeing Eva smile. Seeing her smile, a genuine smile spread across his face.

Eva's smile slowly shifted to that of wariness when the memories of what happened before she fainted, resurfaced. Her shaky fingers twiddled with each other while she gulped.

Steve noticed the subtle change in Eva’s expression, the wariness that replaced her brief smile. He frowned slightly, his grip on her hand loosening but still gentle.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, his blue eyes searching hers for any hint of what had suddenly shifted in her mood.

Eva lowered her gaze, her fingers nervously twiddling with each other. “I… I remember my father being here before I fainted,” she whispered, her voice shaky.

"Can I please see him?" she requested, her voice getting shaky with all the emotions that she was feeling and Steve could only smile in response.

*****

A very apprehensive Tony Stark was seen walking in the medical wing, towards the room where his daughter was getting treated. As he neared the room, he can see Pepper, Rhodey and Happy waiting just outside the room.

Pepper and Happy gave him an encouraging smile whereas Rhodey gave him a Don't fuck this up! look.

Rubbing his clammy hands against his pants, Tony slowly entered the room and his eyes immediately landed on Eva.

Eva, who was slowly talking to Steve and Wanda, paused and turned her head towards the entrance to find her father standing there, looking quite awkward.

Eva's heart skipped a beat when her eyes met Tony's. The awkwardness radiating from her father was palpable, and she could feel her own nerves tightening in response. The room, which had been filled with soft conversation between her, Steve, and Wanda, now seemed to grow tense with unspoken emotions.

For a moment, neither of them said a word. Tony stood there, hands at his sides, his usual bravado nowhere to be found. His eyes flicked nervously between Steve, Wanda, and his daughter, unsure how to start.

"Hey kiddo," Tony finally said, his voice unusually soft, almost tentative.

Steve had to double check if it was indeed Tony Stark himself who was standing there, sans the unwanted sarcasm and unappreciated humor.

Eva swallowed, her fingers gripping the blanket that covered her. She had been rehearsing this moment in her head, but now that it was happening, she found herself at a loss for words. Her father, the man she had always idolized, all her life, looked so… uncertain.

"Papa," she whispered, the word carrying years of lost time and buried feelings. Her eyes immediately pooled with unshed tears.

Tony’s heart clenched at the sound of that word. It had been so long since she had called him that. For a moment, he just stood there, taking in the sight of her, sitting up and looking better than she had in days. He wanted to rush forward, hug her, hold her, but something about the tension in her posture made him pause.

"You're not gonna faint on me again, are you?" gulping the knot in his throat, Tony tried to joke, but everyone there knew that he really meant what he said.

Eva tried her best to not cry, while shaking her head slowly.

"Can I—" Tony cleared his throat, trying to find his voice again. "Can I sit with you?"

Eva glanced briefly at Steve, as if searching for some reassurance. Steve gave her a small, encouraging nod before rising from his seat next to her.

“I’ll give you both some time,” he said softly.

Wanda, sensing the need for space, also stood and gave Eva’s hand a quick squeeze before leaving the room with Steve.

Now, it was just her and Tony.

The silence stretched for a few beats longer than was comfortable, but Tony slowly made his way to the chair Steve had vacated. He sat down, looking at Eva with eyes that held so much emotion—guilt, worry, love—all things he had a hard time expressing.

"I’m glad you’re awake," Tony said quietly, his voice tight with emotion. "You gave us quite a scare."

Eva nodded, her gaze flickering down to her lap. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know it would be this hard,” she murmured. "Being back, seeing you again."

Tony’s heart ached at her words. He reached out slowly, tentatively placing a hand over hers. It was the first real touch they'd shared since she returned, and the warmth of it sent a shock through both of them.

"I know, kid," Tony said, his voice thick with regret. "I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I won’t pretend to understand how you’re feeling right now. But I want to… if you’ll let me. I want to be here for you."

Eva smiled at him gratefully. Despite of everything that has happened, Eva knew that she could always rely on Tony, but things aren't the same anymore. A lot has changed over the years.

But as she looked into his eyes, that familiar warmth began to dissolve the walls she had built up, and the memories of the last few years flooded back. She wanted to be open with him, to let him in, but fear still clung to her like a shadow.

“Things feel different now,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m… not the same person I was before.”

Tony leaned closer, his expression earnest. “Neither am I, Bubba. We both have a lot to figure out. But I’m here. We can navigate this together.”

Eva felt a swell of emotion at his words. It felt like a lifeline, something she desperately needed in that moment. Yet, doubt crept in. “What if you don’t like who I’ve become?” she asked, her voice trembling. “What if I’m not the daughter you remember?”

“Hey,” Tony said firmly, lifting her chin gently with his fingers so she had to meet his gaze. “You’re my daughter. I love you, no matter what. That doesn’t change. You are still you, and that’s what matters most.”

Tears welled in Eva’s eyes, and she fought to keep them at bay, but they slipped down her cheeks anyway.

Instinctively, like he always did years before, Tony immediately wrapped his arms around shoulders and hugged her as the girl broke down.

"Sh... Everything's going to be okay now. You're going to be safe. I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone, but I promise you, I'll not let anything bad ever happen to you again, bubba," Tony reassured her.

A few minutes later, Eva calmed down a bit.

“I’ve missed you so much, Papa,” she confessed, her voice breaking. “I thought I lost you forever. I thought you had forgotten about me.”

Tony shook his head vehemently, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Never. Not a single day went by without me thinking about you."

Tony slowly broke their hug and cupped her face, looking at her reassuringly.

"Papa can never forget his bubba. I'll never let anything happen to you again, okay? It is Papa and Bubba against the world, remember?"

Eva smiled at that and nodded, glad to have her father back.

[imagines--galore]

||Distraction||

Summary: You were just trying to finish up some work. The arrival of a certain Captain, only served to distract you from your purpose. Not that it was a bad distraction. But perhaps it did render you unproductive, on more the one occasion.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T. Romance. Just a bit of ogling at the readers part, but then again I mean who wouldn’t look at him and drool? Wait what? No? Just me? Also one curse word!

A/N: You guys voted, so here it is! Also lemme know if I should write a more NSFW companion piece to this ;)

You stared at the screen of the laptop in front of you, willing it to fill up by itself. Perhaps if you hadn’t blown up half the building during the mission. Fury wouldn’t have you writing up the report of the incident. In your defense it had been necessary, in Fury’s eyes eye it was a complete waste. As a form of punishment, you had been given the task of writing up the accounts of the mission.

And you were loathing every second of it.

Still it had to be done. Sitting in the living room of the Avenger’s Compound Common Room, you pushed your hair behind your ears, inhaled a deep breath and began to type.

For nearly half an hour you were zoned out from the world around you as you continued to type, determined to finish the damn thing within the hour so you could actually get some work done.

Like shopping. Or working out. Anything but this.

You were so engrossed in your task that you didn’t notice Steve entering the vicinity. He moved to stand behind you where you sat on the sofa, leaning over the headrest with his arms crossed over it as his blue eyes scanned the screen of your laptop.

“I barely ever see you up this early.” He commented. You barely glanced in his direction, knowing you would loose your train of thought as you simply hummed in reply.

Chuckling softly, Steve moved to grab a water bottle from the minibar/fridge that was on the opposite side of where you sat.

Despite your best efforts, you couldn’t help but allow your eyes to flicker up to look at him. You couldn’t help it. Clearly he had just come back from his morning jog, you judged by the shoes he was wearing. Though your eyes were nowhere near his shoes as the lingered on the shirt and workout pants he wore. A shirt that seemed to stretch quite nicely against his torso. And the pants seemed to be doing wonders for his-

The sound of a throat clearing had you blinking rapidly as you were brought back to reality. You looked to see Steve staring at you with a quizzical look on his face. Realizing he must’ve asked you something you shook your head. 

“Sorry. What?”

He smiled, making your stomach do a somersault. “I asked if you wanted some water.”

“Oh!” You quickly shook your head. “No thank you!” With that you turned your attention back to your work. It took every bit of strength you had to not look back at him and appreciate the way his biceps flexed against the fabric of his shirt.

It took you two hours to complete the damned report.

                                            ————————–

You were trying very hard not to stare. Doing your best to keep your attention on the young Sokovian in front of you as you helped her learn a few basic combat moves. Wanda may have powers but it didn’t mean she couldn’t learn a couple of moves to give herself extra protection.

It did not help that Steve was currently beating the hell out of a punching bag. His every move was precise and every blow that landed had you wandering just how much strength he packed in his powerful body.

Wanda asked you something, providing you with the distraction you needed to turn your thoughts away from Steve.

“I do hope you’ve been practicing your mental walls Wanda.” You said, as you helped improve her stance. “Wouldn’t want you to accidentally hearing things.” Hearing things like you main whispering to you to imagine just how amazing it would feel to have Steve’s attention on you rather then the punching bag.

Preferably with his hands on you in an entirely different context.

Shaking your head, you made Wanda move through a couple more sets of easy combat moves, and you were extremely proud of yourself for keeping your entire attention on her. But once the sound of punching fell away, you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander to the source.

Only to feel your mouth run completely dry and your eyes to widen almost comically.

He had taken off his shirt!

Repeat with an appropriate adjective.

He had removed his fucking shirt!

Your brain seemed to short circuit as your eyes swept over his bare torso. It was utterly ridiculous just how muscled her was. But then perhaps it was the effect of the serum. Not that you were complaining.

You weren’t complaining one bit.

And he was using a towel to dab away whatever sweat he had worked up. And though it was hardly sanitary, you briefly wandered just how it would feel to run your tongue along his skin in that moment.

Good God! You had gone mad!

“It’s not fair!” You suddenly blurted out, unable to stop yourself from doing so. Wanda looked a little taken aback by your sudden outburst while Steve frowned at you in confusion.

“What’s not fair?” He asked, hand dropping from the back of his head as he placed the towel around his shoulders and turning his full attention towards you.

But you didn’t reply, opting to glance at Wanda and dismiss her for the day. Still confused the young woman obediently walked out, leaving the two of you alone. Huffing under your breath, you moved to grab a water bottle to take a drink, in hopes of calming down your heated body.

“Whats not fair Y/n?” He asked again, this time the use of your name made you bite down on your lower lip and close your eyes as you started to gather your things. You suddenly felt his presence right next to you, as he reached out to grasp a hand around your wrist.

Your entire body froze, your eyes widening as you stared up at him. He raised an eyebrow in return, silently asking the question again.

You swallowed. “How am I supposed to get anything done when you’re distracting me?” You finally stated, allowing your frustration to show as your eyes dropped to his still bare torso, not at all holding back in your obvious ogling this time. You completely missed how the blue in his eyes darkened, and a sly smirk stole across his lips as he used his grip on your wrist to pull you closer.

“And how am I distracting you?” He asked, his voice low and deep as you finally met his gaze, only for a shuddering breath to leave your lips as you finally saw the raw desire that darkened his gaze.

You bit your lower lip before speaking, you voice just an octave lower then usual as you did. “You’re distracting me by being ridiculously good looking.” You said, body trembling with anticipation as he slowly began to lean down, just as he guided the hand he was still holding to rest on the warm skin of his torso.

“Not fair!” You breathed, just before your boyfriend finally met your lips in a heated kiss, drawing you ever closer as the two of you slowly got lost in each other.

[beyondspaceandstars]

Ivy

Relationship: Steve Rogers x Reader Warnings: Cheating/implied cheating, slight angst Summary: Although you're already happily married, you and your apartment neighbor Steve have started a bit of an affair. And it's growing. Rapidly. (Inspired by: "Ivy" by Taylor Swift) A/N: oh hello everyone :) this is an older fic I wrote right after evermore dropped (hence the title and lyrics) but I'm going through and publishing some of my old writing I've been holding onto (I think I published this one under a different account but I spruced it up a bit). Hopefully newer stuff will come soon :)

Masterlist

"Oh, I can't Stop you putting roots in my dreamland My house of stone, your ivy grows And now I'm covered in you"

It happened fast. It happened so fast that you didn’t know where the breaks were until it was too late. He was just… there. Always there. Standing in the hallway, walking on the sidewalk, shopping at the freaking grocery store. It was a kaleidoscope of instances with him from the bumping into and the lingering gazes to the knowing smiles. It was fast and… spreading.

It was spreading, yes.

He was spreading, from your heart to your brain. Every second of every dream was filled with the what ifs. What if you held his hand when he asked to walk with you to the store? What if he happened to fall asleep in your bed after you asked him for his help with something? What if, in the end, your marital hand was his to take instead? The scenarios played out time and time through the night, forcing you to wake up with a fluttering heart and a guilty conscience.

Your husband—the man you were actually involved with and supposed to be dedicated to—kindly made you coffee every morning, having no idea about your infidelity-filled dreamland. He could barely even remember Steve’s name while his entire being lived in your soul, day in and day out. It felt like a cruel punishment.

"Good morning," your husband greeted you as you padded into the living room. As expected, two mugs in hand, one outstretched towards your sleepy form. You hugged the coffee carefully, giving a smile back in greeting, but the action twisted your stomach. You couldn’t recall last night’s dream yet the feeling of it all lingered.

"I know today was supposed to be my day off but I gotta run to the office real quick," your husband explained as he sipped his coffee and collected his files. "You’ll be okay here, right?"

Your heart skipped. Nodding, you said, "Yeah, I think I’ll go to the coffee shop and catch up on reports."

"You have coffee right there, silly," your husband chuckled, motioning his mug towards yours. You looked down at the steaming, dark beverage. You could just make yourself out in the reflection, coming face-to-face with your tired eyes and frowning lips.

"Yeah," you shrugged. "I want one of those fancy blended drinks. They’re practically milkshakes."

Steve liked those drinks, you subconsciously noted, even though he pretended he didn’t. He was carrying one when you bumped into him on the street a few weeks after moving into the apartment building. When you asked what it was, he acted like he had no clue and claimed he was just holding it for a friend. You remember giggling at his frantic explanation but eventually, he confessed his deep, dark coffee secret. You were sworn to secrecy on the manner.

Maybe Steve would like to tag along with you today. The idea hit you like a train. You didn’t know where it came from. Well, you did but… Oh.

"Honey?" Your husband’s voice shook you out of your thoughts. "Are you okay?"

You coughed, "Yeah, I’m alright. Just a little sleepy."

"Hmm, okay," he nodded, still eyeing you suspiciously. "I’m gonna get ready and head out."

You nodded in acknowledgment as he gave you a quick peck and departed for your bedroom. Suddenly feeling sick, you dumped the mug’s contents in the sink and slammed the cup on the counter.

Running your hands through your hair, you stood in the kitchen. Mind screaming, heart-burning.

****

Your head was fuzzy as you got dressed for the day. You waited until your husband had left for the office as you had plans with your appearance. It came easily, you found, to put in a little effort. After getting married, both you and your husband found comfort in the natural and casual but now there was something shiny and new. There was maybe someone who appreciated you trying and it filled you with that schoolgirl anxiousness. It was wrong, though, so wildly wrong.

You could suppress it all, though. So easy, you thought. Nothing wrong with a married woman getting herself together to feel good. It was about you, of course. At least that was what you managed to convince your head to recite as you applied the lipgloss and curled your hair. It was partially true—you did like how you looked—but that background voice, that voice you heard in your dreamlands, reminded you of where your heart was.

Sighing, you forced yourself to step away from the mirror and collect your work. You actually did have plans to work on reports for your job but you wouldn’t mind a certain next-door soldier keeping you company.

You hadn’t exactly done this before, you realized as you stood at Steve’s apartment door. Your time spent with one another was always just…coincidental. At least, that’s what you perceived it as. You two happened to go to the grocery at the same time or walked up the stairs after work at similar hours. Fate was laying it out and you were stupidly taking the dive.

Swallowing your doubts, you knocked on the door.

For a few seconds, you thought about turning away and running. Purse gripped tightly, that felt like the only move, and just when your feet started inching towards the stairs, the door swung open.

He appeared in the doorway like a golden dream come true. Eyes bright and smile as big as the sky, Steve looked pleased to see who was on the other side of his door. He was fully dressed for the day. Shoes on and everything as if he was almost on his way out. You felt even more stupid now realizing of course the most important man in the city had somewhere to be.

"Good morning," Steve greeted you. "What a surprise."

"H-Hello," You let out a humorless laugh with your stupid response and looked down at your nail polished nails, picking away at the nude paint. Anxiety was bubbling up, forcing your words out straight to the point. "I was just… I don’t know. This is probably so stupid or whatever but I was gonna go to the coffee shop down the street to do some work. Do you want…some coffee?"

Gosh, your face must have been beet red as you felt the temperature in the hallway rise drastically. Steve, however, didn’t even flinch at your suggestion. He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame, his smile turning into a hinting smirk. He eyed your nervous stance carefully and you could feel it. Your feet started itching to flee, again.

Steve shrugged, "Are you asking me to come with you to the coffee shop?"

"Well, I mean-,"

"A coffee date, perhaps?"

You gasped, your heart plummeted. This wasn’t— You couldn’t— He was getting in your brain, putting thoughts there now. Everything felt so suggestive suddenly. You were insane for this. Your husband and the rings you still adored… What was becoming of you? No, what was becoming of him? It was his work, wasn’t it? But you were here? Brain on fire, you wanted to scream.

"Steve—,"

He chuckled, nearly completely unaware of the races in your mind. "I’m just joking. I think I would enjoy some coffee right now."

You gulped and reeled yourself back in. "Wonderful."

Steve was right by your side the entire walk. Your elbows brushed so casually yet flamingly. Your skin ignited with every step and God forbid if someone was coming up the sidewalk from the opposite direction. The way Steve pushed into you to make room felt like at any second he was going to pin you against one of the brick buildings lining the sidewalk.

There was the issue with his hand, too. His pockets were free to use yet he let his hands stay at his sides, brushing over yours ever so gingerly. Every time it did, his fingers hit your wedding band, operating as your not-so-subtle reminder.

It felt like a bad game. A bad, teasing game. The tension was rising and what originally started as light banter or silly laughs here and threatened to turn into stiff beats around the elephant in the room. But gosh, he was so kind and funny and just glowed throughout, so you would deal with it and let today go where it goes.

When you arrived at the coffee shop, Steve held the door open for you, motioning for you to enter. He gave a cheesy bow as if you were some kind of royal. You gave a silly curtsy in response which he lit up at.

See, you told yourself, go with the flow. There was still banter and fun with him.

At the cashier, Steve ordered for both of you and allowed himself to pay as well. While you tried to object, he was already done with the transaction and pushing you into the nearest booth. You frowned at his generosity but he chose to ignore your antics.

He went to retrieve your drinks as you set up your laptop and papers. Steve returned now with a faux frown on his lips as he noted your collection of items.

"So," he said, clearing his throat and sitting across from you. "I get to sit here while you do work?"

You shrugged, "I only asked if you wanted coffee. You invited yourself along."

Chuckling, he responded, "As if I would miss a chance for a day out with you."

Your heart plummeted for what felt like the umpteenth time today. Placing your pen down, you looked up at the smirking Steve. His eyes were staring you down, shamelessly roaming all over you. You could and couldn’t believe his boldness.

"Steve—,"

"Don’t you have work to do?" He pointed his cup at the papers. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. God, it was all starting to get confusing again. He knew where the line was, right? Why was he pushing it? Why were you even allowing it? Because it fed some fantasies? Aided with some brief passings of loneliness? There was just always something in his words to you. A twinkle or so behind those looks and smirks. You don’t even remember feeling this way on dates with your husband. Oh, your husband…

"What are we doing?" You sighed.

"Hmm?" Steve sipped his drink. "I’m drinking coffee and you are supposed to be working. I think that’s what we’re doing."

"You know what I fucking mean."

Steve’s eyes widened at your outburst. You never swore around anyone, not even in your own home, so to do it here and out… Well, there was a new tone approaching the table.

Silently, he moved your drinks out of the way and leaned his elbows on the table. Shifting probably as close as the table would allow, he looked you dead in the eyes and asked, "Why did you knock on my door?"

"I… Well, I’m—,"

Words were tumbling in your brain like crazy as if that was any sort of shock. You couldn’t keep yourself together today. You could feel him all over you yet again.

"You feel it," Steve whispered.

"Steve—,"

"It’s exciting and you like it,"

"Steve, really—,"

"I like it, too,"

God, make his words stop. You wanted to scream. Everything was burning on you. From the words in your ears to his eyes on your figure. You felt the roots from his glances digging deeper and deeper and any hope of hiding it was flying out the window.

You took a deep breath and raised your hands in defeat. "Please."

What? What were you even asking—begging—for? A release? Someone to take your words away? Steve to ask you to run away or keep this in a secret rush?

"You do," He whispered and there was nothing that could confirm it like your hesitant silence. "But your husband—,"

"He can’t know," you shot back. If he ever caught wind there was no telling what could happen. He was a soft soul on the surface but it takes one spark to start a fire and fires can burn down a home.

Steve sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Calm down, we haven’t even done anything."

"But the feelings," you whispered. It was your turn to leave him bewildered. "The feels and falling consume everything. Don’t you think that’s worse than something physical? It’s soul and bones deep."

"I mean that much to you?"

"You’re everywhere."

You could tell that hit him. Heck, the admission even took you by surprise—and it was your admission.

Everything suddenly felt so much dirtier than one-night stands. This man hadn’t even properly touched you and yet, at the same time, he had touched so much.

"You mean this?"

"I wish I didn’t."

Steve scoffed, playing with the rim of his coffee cup. "You don’t know what you’re doing."

Sighing, you closed your laptop and said to hell with these reports. Your day was flowing and you promised to go with it.

Throwing everything back together in your bag, you looked back at him. "But I do, Steve."

At his name falling off your lips, his eyes abruptly met yours. After a beat, his hand reached for yours and you felt the weighted pain slowly drift away. It was as peaceful and forbidden as you had expected. You didn’t think you wanted to be anywhere else.

"You’re everywhere for me, too." You could cry at those words but he continued. "Like ivy growing everywhere, darling. I go out on limbs to see you."

"Ivy," you repeated. "Just like ivy."

Steve gripped your hand tighter, "And, baby, I’m covered in you."

Your jaw dropped. Pulling your hand away, you mumbled, "He’ll burn us to the ground if he ever finds out."

Steve shrugged, a suggestive smirk working on his lips—a wild yet dreamy contrast to the man you saw a few seconds ago. "I’ve been known to keep a few secrets."

[saiilorstars]

OC HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE 2024. Day twenty-two - TIME PROBLEMS. 

Let’s play with time for this challenge. Picture your story as if it has always taken place in a different time, throw your oc into a time loop, or have them somehow travel through time.

Taking place in the 40s rather than modern day, Steve Rogers has become Captain America and helped steer the war against HYDRA. Rescuing Bucky and the rest of the soldiers from HYDRA results in HYDRA releasing a prisoner that Steve was not aware of, not even the SSR for that matter. Seren of Celessia fell to Earth years ago in search of the Tesseract only to be captured by HYDRA. Poked and prodded for her abilities, endlessly experimented on, she now works for HYDRA as their one-woman army to help eliminate the Howling Commandos and most importantly Captain America himself.

 • Seren’s Masterlist

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​ @arrthurpendragon​@maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet​ @averyhotchner​ @gloryekaterina​ @lenonizi​ @foxesandmagic​ @kmc1989​​ @caplanbuckybarnes

[ashbrat488]

Happy Birthday, Captain...

Steve Rogers Drabble Steve Rogers x female oc TW: Over 18, sex, oral Word Count: 1,118.

Kailyn beamed up at Steve as he pulled her closer to him on the dance floor. She loved when Tony threw his parties because she could convince Steve to dress up for her. Today was extra special because it was his birthday and he had been away on a mission for a few weeks.

Steve dipped down to press a kiss to her lips just as she groaned, her hand gripping his shirt as he chuckled.

Kailyn pulled away, pulling her lip into her mouth, between her teeth as her body buzzed and Steve only grinned. While he was gone, he purchased her a new toy he could control with his phone for the next time he was away. She whimpered up at him as he only cocked his head to the side. "Steve," she begged softly, regretting agreeing to insert the toy before the party. The front buzzed against her clit as the inserted part slowly stroked into her.

He laughs, pausing the toy as she sighs, relieved, and he leads her toward the bar. He met Kailyn almost a year before when he saved her from a burglar as he was walking through Brooklyn with Bucky toward their apartment. They walked her home and Steve came to check on her the next morning and she offered him breakfast, that was it, he was hooked. He slides a glass toward her which she happily accepts, taking a large gulp just as he turns the toy back on.

She gasps, causing some of the amber liquid to spill on her chin. Kailyn groans, gripping Steve's arm as he leans toward her to lick the whiskey from her chin.

He paused beside her ear, his breath hot on her neck. "Are you going to come for me?"

She nods, finishing the rest of the drink as she looks back at Steve to find him smirking at her. "Yes," she breathes as Bucky walks up to them.

"Kailyn! Missed you!"

She groans softly as Steve keeps the buzzing going as Bucky pulls her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. "Mi—missed y-you too, Buck."

"Are you okay?" He chuckles, pulling away to find her pupils blown, her chest heaving slightly, flushed a dark pink as he chuckles, looking at Steve. "Now? Really?"

Steve shrugs, turning it off as he stands up beside them and Kailyn whimpers softly. "Why not? Needed to test it out. It's my birthday after all..."

"You told him?" Kailyn whines, her face flushing with embarrassment as Bucky winks at her before turning to walk away. "I can't believe you told him..."

Steve shrugs once more with a smirk, placing his hand on her back to haul her body flush to his. "We talk about everything." Before letting her respond, he grabs her chin in his hand, lifting her mouth up to his to press a hard kiss to her mouth. His tongue prods her mouth open as she moans.

She swallows hard as he pulls away abruptly, grabbing her hand to drag her away from the party. She giggles to herself at his urgency, pulling her into an empty office in the hallway.

He pushes her to her knees as she takes the hint to quickly undo his pants, pulling his cock out. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, setting the vibrations high as she whimpers, her hand around the base of his cock. He grinned, swatting her hands away. "Open wide..."

Kailyn opens her mouth, her hands on her thighs as Steve pushed his cock into her mouth, eliciting a moan from him. She opened wider, trying to take him as he continued to ease into her, slowly at first as her nails dug into her thighs. She groaned and whimpered around his cock as it pushed against the back of her throat.

Steve grunted as he felt her choke, her throat tightening around his cock. "Fuck..." He looked down, her eyes now watering, tears streaming her cheeks as drool trickled down her chin. "You love choking on my cock, don't you, princess?"

She can only whimper out a moan, her own pleasure beginning to reach a plateau as he points his phone down toward where her mouth wrapped around his cock.

He pulled up his camera, watching his cock disappear into her mouth with each thrust as he placed his free hand on the top of her head. He guided her onto him again and again as she moaned loudly around his cock. "You want to come... ask... beg."

She gasps as he pulls his cock back abruptly and she brings her hand up to wipe her mouth. "Please... Steve. I want to come."

He smiles as she preens under him, breathing heavily as he continued to record her. "I'm going to save this video for the next time I'm gone. Tell me where you want my cum..."

Steve moved his hand to her chin, dragging his thumb along her lower lip. She nipped at it as he grinned. "I..." she groans, bouncing on her knees as the orgasm approaches and Steve abruptly shoves his cock back into her mouth once more. She tries to focus on the feeling of the ridges of his cock on her tongue to prolong her orgasm to no avail.

He shoved his cock to the back of her throat, keeping it in place, cutting off her oxygen as she came hard, whimpering around his cock. He smiled, feeling the spark in the base of his spine. He pulls his cock back slightly, shooting his cum onto her tongue, into her mouth.

She fell back onto the ground, the toy still buzzing inside her as she whined. "Off... turn... it off," she begged as Steve chuckled.

He turned off the camera before turning off the toy and setting his phone on the desk. He knelt down in front of her as she panted, laying on her back. He smiled, dragging his thumb along her chin, wiping up a small drop of cum, and sticking his thumb into her mouth as she licked off the salty substance. "Good girl."

"Take me to bed," she breathes with a giggle as he nods.

"You want more?"

"After a small break..."

Steve laughs, standing up to pull her to her feet in front of him. He crushes his mouth against hers before pulling away to toss her over his shoulder. "Don't have time to make it all the way home. You're coming to my quarters here."

She giggles as he smacks her ass hard, carrying her down the hall toward the elevator. "We're just going to leave your birthday party?"

"It's my party... if I want to leave with my girlfriend, I can," he teases as the doors open and he carries her toward his room...

[peachymilkandcream]

Future Series Poll!

So I'm not sure when but, I think ahead as always because that's how I am, after Break Me Slowly ends (I'll still take oneshot and hc requests for them both dw). I'm thinking of doing either another x oc ( a different oc mind you) or x reader series. Vote on what you'd like to see once Break Me Slowly finishes! (PS. What finishes second will be my next series after the one voted most for)

[clairewritesandrambles]

─── Masterlist ───

❀ Denotes Smut/NSFW Content

↠ Fics ↞

↠ One-Shots ↞

↠ Drabbles ↞

─── WIPs ───

❀ Denotes Smut/NSFW Content

↠ Fics ↞

↠ One-Shots ↞

↳ Steve Rogers x Reader ❀ ↬ Sex Pollen, DubCon (Because of Sex Pollen, Friends to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Porn With Plot

↳ Steve Rogers x Reader ❀ ↬ Friends to Rivals to Lovers, Second Chance Romance

↳ Steve Rogers x Reader x Bucky Barnes ❀ ↬ Threesome, Porn With No Plot, No Pre-Established Relationships

↠ Drabbles ↞

[lilyevanstan1325]

Leave a comment if you'd like to join my taglist❤️

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC

A/N: I don't own any of the main characters mentioned in this story, except for Lily Strange, her children and Layla.

All other characters belong to Marvel Inc.

The stories do not follow the timeline of the Marvel films. Some characters, places or events do not correspond to the films, I am only granted some "licenses".

Be patient!

Warning: This story contains mature content, including :

Graphic scene, strong language, sex, kinks, death, violence, depression.

Summary: Steve Rogers and Lily Strange are living the life they had always dreamed of.

Together with their children they live their wonderful love story and surrounded by family and friends they face the joys that life continues to offer them.

But a new enemy is coming, ready to turn their lives upside down.

Love and friendships will be shattered, destroying any balance.

If years ago love was the solution, now will it be enough?

If your world was falling apart what would you be willing to do to survive?

🔥 Moodboards 🔥

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10 coming soon

[thesugarclubs-blog]

Take The Chance - Sam Wilson x OC

warnings: post-TFATWS Sam Wilson, strangers to lovers, first date vibes, pure fluff

word count: 8.8k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1305965217-take-the-chance-talia

authors note: every month for 2023 we've decided to give ourselves a challenge; this month being Sam Wilson. For many of us, this is our first time writing him, so please be kind! We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it! 💙

Masterlist

“We’re home!” Sarah called into the house, as AJ ran around her through the door and straight up the stairs. “Clean your room! Do not go bug your brother!” She called after him, closing the door. 

Sam laughed as he rounded the corner from the kitchen, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the archway. He had come back to stay with Sarah and the boys for a while on his downtime to help her out where he could. It was his favorite place to be aside from up in the sky. Being home, surrounded by his community and the ones he loved always reminded him what exactly it was that he was fighting for. 

“So, how much trouble is he in?” He quipped, smirking at his sister. 

Sarah shook her head and sighed, “Surprisingly none, his teacher said he’s doing great this year. Even read me one of his creative writing assignments, which sounded suspiciously like a story about Captain America” She laughed. 

Uncrossing his arms, Sam held his hands up in defense, “Whatever he told you, I didn’t help him write it - I just, you know, gave him some pointers! The rest was all him.” 

“Whatever you did earned him a B minus, so I guess I owe you a thank you,” Sarah rolled her eyes as she pushed past her brother. “I ran into Talia on our way out of the school…” 

“Don’t start this again, Sarah,” Sam warned. 

She spun around and crossed her arms over her chest, “And don’t you use your Captain America voice on me! I’m just saying, I’ve known her for years and I think you two would get along” 

Deep in his heart, Sam knew that his sister meant well, but after everything that had gone on with the flag smashers, he didn’t want to put someone else's life in danger just because they knew him. He wouldn’t risk it. 

Sam shook his head and sucked in a deep breath, “And I’m just saying, I’m good. I’m happy. Can we drop it now?” 

“You need a life outside of being Cap, Sam,” Sarah murmured softly as Sam wordlessly followed his sister back into the kitchen. They worked around each other, Sam prepping whatever Sarah passed him from the pantry ready for dinner as she made a grocery list, and he thought about how to respond.

“I have a life outside of that, here. With my family. And Bucky, when he’s up for being sociable.” 

Sarah side-eyed him, leaning against the counter with a look that screamed ‘you just said the wrong thing, big brother.’

“Spending your days fixin’ up my porch and playin’ catch with your nephews is all well and good, Sammy, but don’t you get lonely?” 

Sam sighed, trained his features not to give the truth away and instead turned to the fridge. 

“You want me to check what needs stocking up in here?”

“Deflection only works so long,” Sarah hummed. “Don’t you want to find love like mom and dad had?” 

“Sarah,” he leaned against the door of the fridge and dropped his gaze to the floor. Same conversation over and over, he’d rather be shot at than combat the emotional warfare Sarah waged on him. “I know you’re just trying to help and you know I want that, it’s just not the right time,” he turned to look at her, “you’re out of milk.” 

“Insufferable,” she groaned, scribbling more to her list. “You act more like dad every day.” 

“That’s not so bad. Qualifies me for one of those mid-afternoon snore naps he used to take in the living room,” Sam laughed.

Sarah let out one of the most ridiculous, almost condescending cackles that Sam had ever heard. It reminded him of their mother’s laugh and his sister emulated her almost perfectly when she chucked the keys to the truck at him with more sass than anyone in their family knew how to handle.

“The hell it does. Take your ass to the store or else nobody is eating tonight.” Sarah instructed, holding out the list she had written.

“So bossy, this is why you had no friends in school.” Sam joked, snatching the paper from her and grabbing the pen from where she dropped it on the counter to add milk to the list. 

“Add a girlfriend to that list as well.” Sarah shot back with a smile and they both laughed in a mocking manner toward each other in a way that only siblings could.

There was a distant crash from upstairs, followed by a series of grunts and thuds. The boys were definitely up to something. Sarah groaned, hanging her head down- but Sam could see a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “AJ! Cass! You aren’t Avengers!” 

The thuds stopped for a moment and were immediately followed by the pounding of footsteps. They echoed through the house and Sam couldn’t help but laugh. Memories of him and Sarah growing up in this house, doing the exact same thing, flooded his mind.

They heard the boys trip and tumble down the stairs, arguing over something to do with video games. Sam pocketed the grocery list and pen and snuck towards the stairs, staying out of view. Sarah laughed and shook her head. “I’m staying out of this,” Sam heard her mutter. 

As soon as he could see the top of AJ’s head, Sam lifted him up and swung him over his shoulder. “Now you’ve done it,” Sam said, purposely lowering his voice. He faked the sternest look he could as Cass roared with laughter.  “You’re making me use my Captain America voice!”

“Oh no! He got us!” AJ laughed hysterically, pretending to struggle in his uncle’s arms. Sam’s heart swelled as he continued to parade around the kitchen with AJ flung over his shoulder, a chorus of giggles and screams filling the room.

“Okay! Okay, boys, no roughhousing inside remember?” Sarah enunciated, including Sam in that. He rolled his eyes but set AJ down. “AJ, is your room clean?”

He wouldn’t look at his mom and Sam laughed. “Have fun with this, I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Cass asked. “Can I come?”

Sam hummed, glancing down at his nephew. “Hmm, I don’t know.” 

“Please!!” Cass whined, “I’ll help get the groceries!” 

Sarah leaned against the archway and glanced up at Sam. “Take him. Maybe I’ll give AJ a chance to focus on his room.” She offered throwing her youngest a pointed look. 

Sam chuckled and nodded clapping his hand on Cass’ shoulder. “Alright, kiddo let’s go,” 

Cass’ smile widened along with his eyes, “Can we—“ 

“No Wings!” Both Sarah and Sam said in unison. 

“But it’s so much faster!” 

“And I’m not letting my child fly through the air like a bird,” Sarah shook her head and stepped towards Cass, her hands cupping his face, “not until you're fifty and gray and I’m long gone. Then you can be reckless with your Uncle.”

"Hey!" Sam quipped, trying to bite back a smirk. 

He knew it was true realistically, but his sister didn't have to throw him completely under the bus. After taking Cass to school one time that way because he was late, suddenly it had become the only way he wanted to travel. One of the perks of having a superhero for an uncle. 

Sarah just cocked her eyebrow at him and shook her head, as she spouted off a few other things they needed from the store. 

"Cass, you listen to Uncle Sam, okay?" She said when she was finished, leaning her elbows on the counter and looking between the two of them. 

"Yeah yeah!" He mocked, slumping toward the door dramatically. 

Sam laughed, and went to follow his nephew, "If you think of anything else, just call" 

Moving from behind the counter, Sarah placed her hand on Sam's chest, stopping him for a moment, "You wrote down girlfriend, right?" She poked, her facial expression turning serious for a moment, "Even Captain America needs someone to take care of him."

Sam didn’t give her the satisfaction of a real answer. Just sighed and waved his hand about half heartedly before flashing her a toothy grin as he ushered Cass out the door. 

“You think you’re gonna find a girlfriend at the grocery store?” Cass asked as they climbed into the pickup, a skeptical eyebrow raised that was all Sarah Wilson. 

“You can shut your pie hole too, or I won’t let you pick dessert,” Sam countered, firing the truck to life and turning the radio all the way up.

The grocery store wasn’t too busy for a Saturday and Sam was grateful the fewer people he had to shake hands with the better. 

Not that it bothered him, the folks of the small town were so proud of him and they made sure he knew it. 

“Get a cart,” Sam pointed to his right as the glass doors slid open. “No rusty wheel like last time,” he reminded him. 

Nothing worse than trying to keep a low profile when the shopping cart sounds like a dying cat. 

Cass darted off to find one with good wheels and Sam waited for him inside, staring at the flowers neatly bundled on display. He picked up a small bouquet mixed with pink and yellow flowers. 

“Who are those for?” Cass slid up beside him, riding the cart like a scooter. 

“Your mom,” he said setting them inside. 

“Did we do something wrong?” Cass raised an eyebrow. 

“No,” Sam patted him on the shoulder, “you should always bring your mom flowers. She deserves them more often.” 

“For what?” The kid laughed. 

“For putting up with the three of us all the time,” Sam shook his head.

“I don’t know about you but I’m fantastic.” Cass declared, his mother’s sass dripping from his mouth, and Sam couldn’t help but chuckle.

They strolled through the supermarket, going aisle by aisle starting in the produce section and saving the frozen goods and dairy for last. Cass stayed close, reading the list from behind Sam and running down the aisle to grab things he saw they needed, always being the helpful young man Sarah had raised him to be. It was times like these, the times when he was alone with his nephews that Sam felt just the slightest hints of heartache thinking about how much time he had missed with them and his sister in the five years he had been snapped out of existence.

Sure, it was just a food run but Sam wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. He was making up for lost time, trying his best to be the responsible male role model that they needed. Everything he did was for them and Sarah, of course, she always thought he was just trying to be a patriot and the perfect All-American man but it wasn’t a sense of honor or duty at all. Sam just wanted to make sure his nephews grew up in a world that valued the lives of people who looked like them, and that the world was safe for Sarah, AJ, and Cass.

He tried not to think like that too much though, always making sure that he checked himself and was grateful for the things he had in life. A great family and great friends and yeah, that did include the grumpy cyborg who once ripped a steering wheel from his hands. Sam laughed at the memory of Bucky as he grabbed a can of tomato sauce off the shelf, tossing it into his cart nonchalantly before looking up and not seeing Cass anywhere.

"Shit," he hissed, his heart rate spiking instantly. It wasn't a huge grocery store, but it was big enough for a kid to get lost in... or wander out the front door. "Hey, Cass! Where'd you go?!"

He tried not to panic as he pushed his cart down the aisle and got to the end, his head whipping right and then left. No sign of Cass. Until he heard what sounded like an impression of him. 

"He's all, 'Cass, you can't do that! Cass, put that down! I'm Captain America and I make the rules!'"

It was terrible. He was trying to deepen his voice, but it was cracking. Honestly, it was worse than Bucky's impressions of him, and that was saying a lot. But it was definitely Cass's voice coming from the next aisle. Sam sighed and headed down the next aisle, spotting Cass talking to a woman with red hair and a soft, gorgeous smile. Her nose scrunched up when she laughed and Sam's stomach flipped.

"Hey!" He called. "For one, Cass, that's a terrible impression. Two, you can't just wander off like that!"

The woman laughed, a gentle hand reaching out to touch Cass’ shoulder - Sam noticed the way her eyes crinkled as she smiled, small dimples adorning her cheeks. 

He felt something flutter in his stomach - Play it cool, Cap, he told himself. Probably because he skipped lunch today. Definitely not the beautiful woman standing in front of him. 

He stuck his hand out, a warm smile plastered to his face. “I’m Sam. Sorry if my nephew is bothering you.”

She took his hand softly but fully, not shying away from him. Before she could introduce herself, Cass was huffing. 

“She’s my teacher Uncle Sam, that’s Ms. Graham!”

Sam stared at his nephew for a moment, the name wracking through his brain. "Ms. Graham...as in.." 

"Cass' teacher..." She finished with a sly grin, "and Sarah's friend, Talia." 

His eyes went wide for a moment, another smile beaming across her face as the realization hit him. "Right! It's uh," He paused, realizing he was still holding her hand he glanced down at where they were linked, "you probably want this back..." 

She breathed a laugh as he let go of her. The sound struck something within him. "It's nice to finally meet you in person Sam. Cass talks a lot about his uncle Captain America" Talia whispered the last two words, with a wink.

“Whatever he’s told you, I swear it wasn’t my fault!” Sam protested with a grin, folding his arms across his chest.

He might have flexed, just a little.

“So Cass telling me he flew to school the other week had nothing to do with you?” Talia smirked.

He threw a quick, playful glare to the boy. Hearing him muffle a giggle behind his palm and trying to give his best innocent face while his uncle sweated out an answer.

"In my defense; I didn't want him to be late more than he already was and we did not cross any speed limits," Sam said with the best straight face he could muster, her lips widened in a breathtaking laugh, the corners of her eyes crinkling adorably and it only made his own smile grow at sight.

Talia's deep blue eyes flickered between Sam and Cass, as a sweet smile stayed on her plump pink lips, "Well, I guess getting him to school on time was top priority."

There was a strange fuzzy feeling deep in Sam's belly that he couldn't quite place. Maybe something he'd eaten that morning wasn't sitting right. But every time the girl in front of him flashed those eyes or her bright smile, it felt as if an eruption of fireworks was going off in his chest. 

"Always," Sam softly smiled and ruffled Cass' head, gently nudging him to the side.

Cass pulled a face but went quiet beside him and Talia met Sam’s gaze with fond eyes. 

“Well, I won’t keep you guys. Looks like you’ve got a long list there,” she said suddenly, hands already poised on her shopping cart.

Sam smiled, desperately trying to think of a way to keep the conversation going. There was usually a reason he didn’t listen to his sister but having now met Talia, he wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. 

“We’re almost done, actually. Cass here just needs to choose a dessert but maybe we could—“ 

Before Sam could finish his sentence, Cass waved the shopping list in his face.

“Wait! There’s still one more thing on the list, Uncle Sam!” He interrupted, “riiiight at the bottom there. Maybe Miss Graham could help us find it?”

Sam narrowed his eyes at Cass, “I’m not above stuffing you in a garbage can,” he whisper warned. “I got friends in high places kid,” he reached for the grocery list. 

“What is it?” She asked, looking between the two. 

“Uncle Sam was complaining earlier that mom buys gross coffee,” Cass started in and Sam thought about pinching him to shut him up. 

“I do not complain,” Sam defended himself but Cass waved the grocery list in the air. A silent threat. Sam instantly regretted teaching them the art of warfare.

Sam looked from the list in Cass’s hand to Talia and back. He had a feeling what he had written on there. He reached over and snatched it out of his hand. 

“I put girlfriend on the list. Since mum said so too. Maybe you could ask Ms. Graham to help you out with that” Cass grinned.

Sam merely glared at the kid, heat rising in his face and through his ears. Talia’s eyes had gone wide and she let out the cutest laugh, covering her mouth quickly as if trying to take it back. 

“That’s not on the list.” Sam insisted, shaking his head at the woman.

“Oh, it’s not?” She questioned, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Definitely not,” Sam repeated nervously, crumpling the list in his fist when Cass began protesting, trying the pry the paper from his uncle's hand to show his teacher that he was not a liar.

"Cass, stop."

"You stop!" Cass protested. "Gimme the list! I wrote it down!"

"Cass..." Sam warned.

"You're making me look bad in front of Ms. Graham, dude!" Cass yelped as Sam held the paper high above his head, his nephew desperately jumping to grab it. He bumped up against Sam in an effort to knock him over. Sam felt his face heating up with each passing second. This kid had no tact. He definitely got that from his mom.

"Hey!" Sam barked as Talia's shoulders shook with laughter, her face red, and one hand covering her mouth. "You don't call your uncle dude."

"Then ask Ms. Talia to be your girlfriend!" He grunted jumping to reach Sam's hand that was still too high for him to reach. 

Talia's brows knit together, her face still beet red and a grin to die for hiding behind her hand. Sam winced, glancing over at her as he stood firm against his nephew. 

I'm sorry. He mouthed to her before glaring at Cass, "Listen Kiddo, there's more than just asking someone that. You have to..." 

"Date," Talia interrupted earning a soft glance from Sam. 

"That's right, you have to date someone first," He finished, "it takes time, so why don't you go pick out the dessert for tonight?"

With a frustrated huff, Cass stopped his assault on his uncle and stomped off towards the dessert aisle. Sam shook his head with a wry smile and turned his full attention to Talia,

“He’s a bit…much, but I guess you already know that,” he said.

“It’s fine, honestly. He’s a cute kid,” Talia smiled back.

"Yeah, when he's not being a little shit." He embarrassingly turned away from her to watch the kid.

Sam kept an eye on Cass as he stood far from them doing his job of choosing dessert, the woman's warm presence next to him was a little distracting. Maybe even welcomed.

She didn't leave immediately which only served to power the butterflies taking residence in his belly.

"I'm really sorry about him," he turned his eyes back on her and she was already smiling up at him, "I hope we didn't bother you." 

He tried to subtly tuck the paper in his pocket but the crinkling noise it made had her letting out a soft chuckle.

"It's okay."

"Come on, Uncle Sam! Are you gonna ask her out or what?" Cass called down the aisle, as he waved a chocolate cake in the air. "Can't cross it off the list until you do" He snipped. 

Sam sucked in a deep breath and sucked his teeth, as he rubbed his hand against his forehead, willing himself not to kill his nephew in public. The idea bounced around in his head for a moment, as he watched Talia's eyes flicker to their shoes and back up again. Man, this girl was pretty. 

Clearing his throat, Sam swiped his tongue along his bottom lip, "Look, he's not going to stop bugging me if I let this pass by, so would you like to grab a coffee with me tomorrow?" He finally asked. 

She giggled once more, and nodded her head once, "I'd love to..." She softly smiled, looking up and meeting his dark eyes. "You know, to save your sanity," Talia commented, shooting him a wink.

“Did she say yes?!” Cass’ voice carried through the store so loudly that several people stopped what they were doing, curious and then disappointed when they realized they hadn’t actually just happened across a proposal in the middle of the dessert aisle. 

Sam wrangled Cass into a soft choke hold the moment he stopped beside them, “seriously, man. You gotta work on your inside voice.” 

“I’ll add that to Monday’s lesson plan,” Talia giggled, “what did you choose, Cass?” 

She gestured to the box in the boy’s hands and he held it up with a cheeky grin. 

“Key lime pie,” he replied, wiggling out of Sam’s hold. And then in a stage whisper, he leaned in and added, “it’s his favourite.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she nodded. 

“So tomorrow?” Sam looked from Cass to Talia with his eyebrow raised. “I promise to leave motor-mouth at home.” 

“Hey!” Cass groaned. 

“You have homework I’m sure isn’t done,” Taila turned her gaze to his nephew. 

Sam’s breath hitched as the last of the afternoon sun peered through the front windows of the store and reflected through Talia’s icy blue eyes. 

“I think getting you a boyfriend should earn me an A!” Cass laughed as both Talia and Sam groaned no simultaneously.

“Well… I guess that’s everything then. We better get going, otherwise, my sister will be mad that we’re late for dinner” Sam said as he began to push the cart to the checkout. Talia followed close behind. 

As they were standing in line Sam turned around. 

“Uhhh… did you want to give me your number? Or I could give you mine? So we could … you know, plan for tomorrow?” He asked nervously pulling out his phone and almost dropping it. Talia giggled as she pulled out her phone.

“Fire away Captain.” She teased, waiting for him to recite his number to her and he did, almost forgetting it in the process.

She seemed to sense his nervousness, contemplating something as she smiled, lips pressed tightly together as her fingers typed something out. 

His phone dinged immediately, her number now locked securely in and he flashed her as confident a smile as he could muster, not bothering to glance at what she had sent him.

“I’ll uh… message you later then.” He huffed, trying to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest as he handed the cashier his card.

"Great," she replied as she loaded her stuff onto the conveyor belt while Sam paid and Cass made a big show of grabbing all of the bags at once. Talia laughed as Cass tried to hold them up over his head and nearly toppled over.

"You need to do some more push-ups," Sam teased as the cashier handed him his receipt. He turned to Talia and winked, some of that charm flooding back instinctually. 

"See you later, Sam," she laughed. "Bye, Cass!"

"Bye, Ms. Graham!" Cass called as they headed out of the store, the boy struggling with the bags as he walked.

"Cass, give me some of those," Sam chuckled as he took two of the four bags and Cass heaved a sigh of relief. They loaded them into the car and Cass sprinted for the driver's side. 

"I call shotgun!"

Sam chuckled.

"Not in a million years. How're you gonna drive with no keys?"

Cass rolled his eyes but reluctantly walked to the passenger side door and opened it as Sam got in. His phone buzzed, but he ignored it as he started up the car. 

"Are you gonna get that?" Cass teased. "It might be your girlfriend."

Sam grinned and shook his head.

"It's probably your uncle Buck. I bet he broke the TV again."

Cass laughed, the sound filling the car. "Hopefully the remote isn't stuck in the tv screen like last time. Mom was so mad at him." 

Sam chuckled, shaking his head. "You tell the cyborg once to boot up Netflix and its like he's trying to crack some sort of ancient code." 

"Which should be easy for him since he is ancient," Cass giggled leaning against the car door. 

"Careful, he's got super hearing, you don't know what happens if he hears you call him that," Sam teased as continued the drive home. Cass froze in the seat next to him, wide-eyed and looking terrified. "Just sayin'..." Sam laughed.

“Don’t tell him I said that Uncle Sam. Pleeease!” Cass begged dramatically, gripping his Uncle’s arm.

“How ‘bout you stop trying to set me up with your teacher and I won’t tell your Uncle Buck you called him ancient, hmmm?” Sam teased.

“Aww but…” Cass began but was interrupted.

“I see how it is,” Sam nodded, reaching for his phone. “I’m just gonna give him a quick call right now…”

"No! I'm sorry! I was just doing what mom told me!" Cass shouted, looking terrified. Sam howled and nudged his nephew's head. 

Bucky was always a great threat to use against the boys. As much as they loved him, and Bucky had fun with them, both boys still seemed to be a little bit scared of him and Sam loved using that to his advantage. The super soldier had been a great addition to their little family and had slowly become another fun uncle to the boys. 

Throughout the rest of the evening, a soft smile stayed plastered on Sam's face as thoughts of the redhead's icy blue eyes and sweet laughter echoed through his head.

Sam liked Sundays in Delacroix more than anything. When he was younger, it meant family trips to church and cookouts. 

Today, however, he found himself rummaging through the one duffle bag he packed looking for something appropriate to wear for a coffee date. 

Not that he was nervous, Sam liked to think of himself as a natural dater when he didn’t have his 11-year-old nephew as a wingman. But he wanted to look good for Talia like he had his shit together. 

When he finally found something, he jogged downstairs to the smell of pancakes and bacon — and a double take from Sarah as he appeared in the kitchen. 

“And who are you dressed up all nice for?”

Sam opened his mouth to come up with an excuse but Cass slid in to answer for him, “he’s going to meet Ms. Graham for coffee.” 

Cass pointed his finger to his mouth and pretended to gag. 

“Snitch,” Sam tossed a piece of bacon into his mouth, his hand short of being slapped by Sarah. 

“Talia?” Sarah leaned over, flipping the pancakes. “I couldn’t have predicted that,” she laughed under her breath. 

“I got cornered,” he shot a look at Cass. 

“Well you look handsome,” she patted his chest with the palm of her hand as she turned to set the towering plate of pancakes on the table.

Sam took a seat and grabbed a plate and took some pancakes. Despite being nervous about the coffee date he was excited to see Talia again. 

“So… where are you taking Talia?” Sarah asked handing Cass the orange juice.

"We're just going for coffee. Figured I'd do something simple."

"Oh, so I guess that means more of this for me," Sara replied as she grabbed his empty mug. Sam put his hand over hers and shook his head, laughing.

"Hey, whoa. Let's not get crazy, okay? Fill that up." Sarah arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. He knew better than to piss off his sister, so he plastered on a big smile before adding, "Please, Sarah?"

She frowned at him as she poured him a cup and he sighed as he picked up his fork. Cass looked up at him.

"Are you scared of Talia?"

"Why're you asking?" Sam laughed as the question caught him off guard.

"You're sweating," Cass observed. His brother nodded beside him.

"Big time."

Sam's throat clenched a little. This job was lonely, and it was hard. Grueling. What if things went really well and they started seeing each other regularly? He'd be away a lot, on missions and assignments. Since he got the job, he'd been reluctant to branch out and start dating again. Sam just accepted that it was a part of his life that he wouldn't be able to fully embrace; that he wouldn't be able to be there for another person because he was trying to save the whole damn world all the time. He smiled at Cass despite the ache in his chest. Sarah stared at him from across the table, her eyes a little misty as she watched him. She always knew what he was thinking. They'd been in sync since they were kids.

"Just a little," Sam replied as he cleared his throat.

“You shouldn’t be,” Cass replied easily, having no clue what his uncle was thinking. “Ms. Graham is the coolest. She’s kinda tough sometimes but she almost always lets me line up first for recess because I finish my work first.”

Sam smiled, nudging his nephew lightly. “Thanks, kid, I needed that.”

With a deep breath, he glanced back over at Sarah. She smiled softly at him, the one she always did when he needed a little more reassurance and courage. 

“Just be you, don’t worry about five years from now, or even tomorrow Sam, just enjoy the day with her.” Sarah encouraged taking a sip of her coffee, “you can worry about the rest later.” 

Sam nodded his head. He could do that, focus just on her. And those eyes. And the freckles that speckled her cheeks like constellations.

The drive to the coffee shop wasn’t long but Sam’s mind whirled, filled with the voices of his nephews, who’d shouted advice at him even as he was walking out of the door.

”Just be yourself.”

”Make sure you smile.”

”Yeah, but a normal smile, not your weird smile.”

He managed to find a space close to the entrance, parked up and then sat in his car for a moment, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Ok, we can do this... It's just a date," He mumbled to himself, as he sucked in a shaky breath, catching the glimpse of Talia's fiery red hair glinting in the sunlight as she came to a stop outside the coffee shop and shot him that gorgeous smile of hers. 

Sam returned the smile, and hopped out of the truck, "Good timing," he commented, running his hand over the back of his neck. "You look... Wow, beautiful" He stammered as he came to stand in front of her. 

Talia chuckled, and grinned up at him, "Looking pretty good yourself there, Sam" 

The dark navy blue cardigan that hung around her shoulders made the blue in her eyes pop out even more, and Sam felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked at her. He cleared his throat, noticing that he'd been staring at her, and moved to open the coffee shop door, "Shall we?" he smirked.

“Such a gentleman,” Talia smiled, thanking him with a gentle touch to his arm as she passed by. 

Sam’s heart was pounding, rushing in his ears. He took a deep breath and followed her into the coffee shop, eyeing up a table in the corner where it would be quiet enough for them to actually talk.

“Did you wanna go take a seat over there and I’ll order us some drinks?” He asked, flashing her a smile. His usual smile because it’s damn charming, thank you very much. 

Talia beamed back at him, eyes bright and cheek dimpled adorably. 

“I’ll have a mocha, white chocolate… with vanilla, please.” She said bashfully, “major sweet tooth.”

Sam wasted no time ordering their drinks, and as he went to collect them the young girl behind the counter met him with a smile, “on the house.” She said sliding a chocolate croissant toward him. “She orders one every morning.” 

“Thank you,” he said picking up the plate as he juggled the coffees in his hands. 

Talia watched him with a sweet smile as he made his way carefully toward her.

She was so pretty, his hands were starting to sweat. Be cool, he told himself. He was usually so much better at this, but being snapped, taking up the mantle, and throwing himself into this job-- no, this life-- meant that he felt like a fish out of water a lot of the time. He flashed her a warm smile and tucked himself into the chair, handing her her coffee.

And then the awkward silence found them. She sipped at her drink and he did the same, not knowing what to say to her. Panic started to set in and he took a deep breath.

"So, what does Sam Wilson do on his days off? Aside from taking a broke teacher out for coffee? Thank you, by the way."

She winked at him and took another sip of her drink. She was charming, he had to admit that. It almost felt like she sensed how nervous he was. He chuckled, relief flooding his body. She didn't ask what Captain America did, she asked about Sam. He could have cried. He didn't, but he could have.

"The pleasure's all mine. And, uh, aside from Sunday breakfast with my sister and my nephews--"

"I believe you called them little shits."

He threw his head back and laughed. 

"Only sometimes. But I don't do much. Free time is a bit of a luxury I'm not often afforded. I'd say taking a pretty woman out for coffee has been a nice end to the week."

Talia looked up at him through her lashes, her chin tilted down and a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Home run, slugger,” she teased. Sam could feel a cold sweat immediately rise to the surface of his palms- she was good at banter and her eyes were entrancing. He was in trouble. 

They continued to stare into each other’s eyes- Talia’s hand lightly traced the edge of her mug and Sam’s eyes were immediately drawn to the movement. He noticed how slender and delicate her hands were, adorned with a few rings. He found himself wondering what it would feel like to walk hand in hand with her- 

“So,” he cleared his throat and immediately wiped his palms on his thighs under the table. God forbid they hold hands later and he’s as clammy as a teenager. “What do you do on your days off?”

“I spend it with my family and friends. My kids get my week, and everyone else gets my weekend. And sometimes, like now, I get to spend it on myself,” Talia winked at Sam, a warm smile on her face, and he felt a stirring in his chest, his heart beating faster than usual.

The conversation lulled a little as they sipped at their drinks and Talia shared the croissant and secret smiles with him across the table. 

Sam couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this, all warm and fluttery just from eye contact. At least his nerves had settled, soothed by easy conversation and good coffee. It was nice to just be Sam Wilson for a little while, and that helped too. 

“How long are you in town for?” Talia asked as they finish up the pastry. And just like that, Sam was reminded that his time back home was temporary, always would be for as long as he was Captain America.

His heart squeezed a little as the panic spread. It had been a long time since he felt that pang of fear and sadness. Almost a twist of regret, as he stared across the table at her, knowing she expected an answer. 

Leaving Sarah and the boys had become natural. Sad, sure but something that had turned routine for the four of them. Talia was a new variable, one he hadn’t planned for but now sat stunned because the fear of leaving her crept up on him without warning. 

“I'm never sure,” he nodded, “sometimes it’s weeks, months but someone always calls.” 

“That must be difficult,” she reached across the table and linked her fingers to his, steadying the tremor in his palm. “Leaving them I mean,” she said.

“Leaving is easy, it’s coming home to overworked Sarah and confused Cass and AJ that my heart doesn’t agree with,” Sam admitted uncomfortably. “Always feels like I’m making excuses for saving the world.”

"You shouldn't have to," Talia said softly.

He chuckled. and smiled at her, their fingers still linked. 

He wanted to unload the weight in his chest. He wanted to tell her to run, that what she wanted to dive into was bad for her. He was bad for her. She'd be alone a lot, missing him. They'd have to get by through texts and phone calls-- and that's if service was available and decent. He'd come home battered and bruised, and she'd want to take care of him. He couldn't burden another person with that. 

Instead, he just whispered, "that's sweet of you to say."

"I meant it," she replied.

Talia kept her blue eyes focused on his. Sam could feel the familiar sting of tears and furiously blinked. He wasn’t ashamed to cry, but damn, he did not want to cry on their first date. It seemed too vulnerable- like he would push her away even if he didn’t verbally warn her about the mess that was being an Avenger. He started to tug his hand away to grab a napkin, but Talia’s fingers wrapped tighter around his.

“Hey,” she cooed, sitting up in her chair. “I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to be you, to have your job…” Talia continued looking at him, her eyes soft and filled with kindness. “But you’re here right now. And that means everything to Sarah and the boys.”

Sam felt his heart clench, a lump in his throat and he nodded, gently squeezing her slender fingers. He placed an elbow on the table, covering and rubbing his jaw with his free hand, trying to get himself back together. 

Talia let him take his time, then quietly asked, “Would you like to take a walk? I always find that fresh air helps everything.”

Sam felt his heart trip again and nearly stuttered as he replied, “That sounds like a great idea.”

The two of them drank the last drops of their coffees and headed back out into the street, Sam once more opening the door and allowing Talia out first, like the gentleman he was raised to be. He moved around her, grazing his hand on her lower back as he passed and made sure she was walking on the inside away from the road. He wasn't sure anymore if it was his southern upbringing or his newly-formed hero self, but there was always that ting of protection mode in the back of his mind. 

"Okay tell me, what got you into teaching?" He questioned, their hands brushing together, allowing him to link his pinky gently with hers. 

Talia took a deep breath of fresh air, and looked up to the sky for a moment, "My younger sister..." She spoke softly. "She's quite a bit younger than me, and I was always helping her with homework, teaching her how to ride a bike, you know stuff like that... I guess teaching for me was just the natural next step"

“You’re good at it,” Sam murmured softly and Talia glanced up at him with an adorably confused smile. 

“And how would you know that?” 

“I get to see the evidence of it in Cass. He speaks so highly of you, not to mention how much Sarah gushes over you. You’re shaping young minds, takes special people to do that.” 

Talia blushed and Sam tried to commit to memory the soft pink hue behind her freckles and the way her eyes creased at the corners as she grinned up at him. 

“Well thank you, I try my best. And I love those kids, they’ve all got something to bring to the table, y’know? Compassionate, smart…”

“Always running their mouth,” Sam laughed, “or is that just my nephew?”

She nudged him with her body as they walked down the street, “I wouldn’t be much of a teacher if I talked badly about my students,” she laughed. “But Cass is too clever for his own good.” 

“I won’t tell him if you don’t,” Sam encouraged. 

“Our little secret,” Talia cooed.

"Thanks, I don't need that kid's ego getting bigger." He smirked. "It's almost the size of mine."

Talia snorted with laughter and shook her head. They walked in silence for a little while and she bumped her shoulder against him. Sam couldn't stop thinking about how pretty she was, and how every time he looked over at her, he felt something pull at his chest. Something inside of him was trying to keep that door shut, but here she was, kicking it down over and over again.

Talia sighed and he glanced over to see her looking around as people strolled past them.

"Are you going to ask me what made me want to be Captain America?" He asked.

She smirked and shook her head.

"Nope," she replied. "I already know the answer to that."

He couldn't stop smiling as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you do, do you?" His tone was teasing, but the look in her eyes told him that she was serious.

"Yup. You're a good man with a good heart, standing up for what's right." She turned to him. "Call me crazy, but I'm more interested in you, not the shield you pick up to save the world."

Boom. Talia’s words broke the hinges right off the damn door that was holding him back. 

Sam stopped walking, feet planted firmly on the pavement. He could feel confidence coursing through his veins. As Talia went to take another step forward, he lightly tugged their linked pinkies back, twirling her around. The giggle that escaped her lips set a fire in the very center of his chest.

His other hand quickly found her waist and she stepped directly in front of him, their shoes almost touching. It was like a dance move. She linked all her fingers through his hand and giggled again, taking another step forward and pulling her body closer to his. 

“Is this okay?” he asked, his voice steady. “I don’t mean to be this forward, you’re just so… I think you’re-” He couldn’t find the right word. Wonderful? Incredible? Impossibly amazing?

Talia smiled, looking up at him through her lashes. “Yeah, I think you are too,” she whispered. 

She tilted her head up towards him, her eyes fixed on his lips. Sam couldn’t believe his luck. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers gently. She leaned into the kiss and Sam moved his hand from her waist to the small of her back. He pulled away, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him.

Talia looked up into his eyes, a twinkle in them that Sam immediately wanted to see again and again. 

Sam cupped her face gently, thumbs stroking her cheekbones, leaning down again, pausing just before they touched. Talia closed the gap easily, already moving, and Sam smiled into the kiss before focusing on the feel of her lips against his, soft but not afraid.

Every nerve in Sam's body ignited and in that moment all he wanted to do was keep kissing her. The feeling of her lips, the way her fingers curled into the fabric of his sweater. For a moment, his fears and sadness disappeared with the world around them. All that there was, was the two of them. 

Sam pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, brushing the tips of their noses together, "If I don't stop now, I'm just going to keep kissing you..." He whispered, pulling a giggle from her plump kiss bitten lips. 

"And is that such a bad thing?" She teased, moving to look up at him and pressing her body into his. 

There was no way Sam would admit to Sarah that she was right, or thank Cass for pushing him into this. But this girl really was great for him. Both of them different kinds of heroes; for once he was on a date where someone was interested in him and not just being on a date with Captain America.

He brushed a small lock of red hair back behind her ear and stole another small kiss from her soft lips. 

“You up for a walk?” Sam asked his lips hovering above hers. 

“Lead the way,” she smiled. 

He moved back from her, turning toward the pier he started to walk. Not noticing that she had stopped to tie her shoe until her hand linked into the crook of her elbow. 

“On your left,” she whispered as she slid into place, resting her head on his shoulder. 

He looked down at her, heart pounding harder than it ever had before and for the first time in a long time he felt relaxed.

It was still warm, the sun lingering on them for a little while longer. As they got to the pier, she leaned up against him and Sam spotted a couple of benches that faced the water. He felt a lump in his throat, remembering his parents. Every single Saturday night, his dad took his mom out for a nice dinner, and then they walked along the pier and made sure to get there before sunset. They'd sit for hours, just talking. They had the kind of relationship that Sam always wanted.

"You okay?" Talia asked.

"Yeah," he managed to choke out. "Just, uh... my parents used to sit on that bench, watch the sunset together. My dad took her out here for their very first date. I always think about them when I come here. Makes me feel closer to them to be here."

Keeping their hands in a warm embrace, Talia snaked her other hand around his forearm. She traced over the fabric of his sweater and looked up at him. His heart almost burst at the sight of this gorgeous woman, wrapped around his arm. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” she whispered. “Let’s go sit for a bit.”

He nodded and they made their way to the closest bench, still walking closely together. He should have been tripping over his own feet but something about her kept him calm, steady. “This one okay?” she asked, breaking their half-embrace to plop down on a bench.

“That one’s perfect,” Sam said, smiling fondly. He sat down beside her, arm resting along the back of the bench, behind Talia. She leaned into him, slightly into his side, resting her hand on his knee, drumming a simple rhythm.

Taking in a deep breath, the two of the gazed out at the water in front of them. Sam took the moment to reflect on the other dates he'd had in the past few months. It dawned on him that none of them were actually interested in him. They hadn't even asked any real questions about himself, but Talia right off the bat just treated him as him. As Sam Wilson. His dark eyes turned and took in every piece of her. The small curls along her hairline, every freckle that adorned her cheeks, the way sunlight reflected in the sunbursts around her pupils. 

"It really is beautiful isn't it?" Talia sighed, snuggling into him. 

A soft smile crept back onto Sam's lips, unable to turn his eyes away from her, "Yeah, it really is" He whispered back. 

Talia looked back up at him, and breathed out a small laugh when she realized he was looking at her, "You're just a big softy aren't you?" She asked, placing a kiss on his jawline. 

Sam laughed, and squeezed her shoulder, "I have to admit something to you.." 

"Oh no, you're not the real Sam Wilson, are you?" She teased. 

"No," he laughed with her, "I know Cass was the reason you and I are out right now, but that's why I asked you out. Truth is, I actually wanted to, but I didn't know how. Cass just pushed me to get there."

“I’m glad he did,” she smiled rubbing her hands together. 

“Are you cold?” He asked, unwrapping himself from her. 

He turned slightly, taking her small hands between his and rubbing them as he brought his mouth closer and breathed warm air between them. She watched him carefully through her thick lashes as he warmed her hands. 

“Thank you,” she leaned against his hold. “I see why your dad brought your mom out here,” she nodded toward the horizon.

Sam glanced at the water before returning his gaze to the blue sea in her eyes, sparkling in the sun. 

“Yeah, I can see why too,” he whispered and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers. Talia’s cheeks flushed and she grinned, freeing one hand to stroke just above his ear, leaning in and kissing him. 

Sam felt her melt into the kiss when his hands went to the back of her neck, supporting her head as he gently traced her lower lip before pulling away.

Every little kiss they shared and small giggle that left her lips engrained itself in Sam's memory and suddenly it was all he thought about. Sam could have sat there for hours tracing every feature of her beautiful face and taking in every little thing that she had to say. All the nerves in his body were on fire when the realization hit that it had been a long time since he'd felt this way for anyone. Bringing back that thought of what was going to happen when his duty called him back away. It was going to be something they would have to deal with together if she was up for it. 

"As much as I really don't want this day to end..." Talia sucked in a deep breath and peppered his jawline with kisses. "I really do have grading to get done for tomorrow, and I am sure your nephews are sitting at the window waiting for you to come home," she teased. 

Sam groaned, and pulled her tightly into his side, "I know you're right..." he whispered, turning to press his lips gently to her forehead, "I didn't realize how late it'd gotten" He chuckled. 

The two of them stood and made their way back to where their cars were parked. Sam hooked an arm around Talia's waist and pulled her flush into his body. "So, can I take you out again?" He smirked down at her. 

"Of your own volition, or is this Cass speaking again?" She smirked, curling a finger into the collar of his sweater. 

Sam laughed, and dipped his head to trace his lips along her neck, "Oh this is definitely me asking..."

Talia hummed, and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, "Then yes, I would absolutely love to see you again"

Bringing his face back up, and brushing their noses together, Sam smiled into her lips as his arms tightened around her. Finally, he let her go and the two of them said their goodbyes, with promises of another date. He watched her red hair swing over her shoulder as she walked away from him and rounded the corner to climb into her car. 

Sam leaned against the hood of his truck, and sucked in a deep breath, grinning up at the clouds. He was never going to hear the end of this, but there was no way he couldn't not thank Sarah and Cass for pushing him into this. Sure, there was going to be some job stuff to figure out when he no doubt got pulled away for a case, but for some reason the way his heart swelled and the happiness he was finally feeling made it all worth it.

[foreversecrets]

Their Girls Masterlist

Waking up from the ice, Steve manages to form a new pack with his found brothers Ari, Andy, Lloyd, and Ransom the tricky part is finding their omegas.

Uncompromising - Steve Rogers x OC (Emma Dotson)

Chapter 1: The Broken Healer

Chapter 2 Mending Prespective

Chapter 3 Determination

Whistleblower - Lloyd Hansen x OC (Rebecca Wilson)

Chapter 1: Home Invasion

Gerrymandering - Ransom Drysdale . OC (Alice)

Chapter 1: Hope

[moonchild-things]

Epilogue

Summary: Delphia Odinsdottir is the Goddess of Virtue. While stopping petty fights between her brothers, sparing with her friends, and practicing with her mother, Delphia has visions of the future. However, her once boring, uneventful life as Princess is disrupted by one of the most disturbing visions she had ever seen. Which leads her to run into a patriotic captain in red, white and blue.

Word Count: 1617

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter

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WHILE ASGARD STILL GLITTERED IN THE GOLDEN sun, Delphia hid away in her room. Even after Delphia came home, the kingdom knew that things were not right. Odin and Frigga could tell that she was depressed. Something had happened while she was on Midgard. She was welcomed back home with a grandiose celebration. Her family was over the moon to have her back home. Though after a little while, they knew that something was wrong. 

Their once vibrant princess was shutting them out for quite some time. Her family had a few different reactions to her self-isolation. It confused Thor the most since all he wanted was for his sister to be back to normal. She was home, so how could she be so depressed? Her mother and father wanted to understand what she had gone through. However, they knew to give her some space before they tried to talk to her about it. Loki was the same way, though he felt like Delphia shouldn’t be left to herself. He tried to be with her whenever he could. Whether it was to distract her or get her to smile, he was there.

Time had passed. Far too much time. Decades had gone by in the blink of an eye and nothing felt right. Delphia was a shell of who she used to be. All of Asgard knew it. Her family knew it. She knew it. Though how else was she supposed to react? The man that she had come to love had died, and she could barely do anything to stop it. 

Midgardians view her people as Gods, though how could she consider herself as such a high being if she could do little to nothing to save Steve? For decades, Delphia tormented herself over it. She could have done more, should have done more. Perhaps if she had gone with him, she could have saved him. Though she listened to him and stayed put. She had faith in him enough to come back to her… Despite her visions, what she saw, she wanted to think it wasn’t true. Though if she’s a Goddess of virtue and visions, then she should have been able to do something to save him.

Still what if she did? Disrupted the future that she had seen and disobeyed him. Gone with him to help him defeat Johann and go back home. What sort of consequences would she have faced? Delphia has never truly thought about what exactly would happen if she rewrote the visions she saw. There are theories about what would happen. Though her mother instilled in her that everything has its reasons, there was nothing that she could do to change what she witnessed. Sometimes Delphia believed that the whole of reality would cave in on itself if she changed time. Perhaps if she had tried to change it, something else would have happened, more catastrophic, something horrible. A cause and effect of sorts. Replace one terrible series of events with worse ones. There was no winning with this.

Not only that, but any visions that she had that might be in the far future did not have any sign of him. The horrible vision of the infinity stones being joined had no sign of Steve. So she knew that there was no way that she would be seeing him again. In some sort of miracle, there was no way that Steve would come back. The vision that she saw, there were other people, people that she had no doubt she’d come to know quite well. Though none of them were Steve.

She didn’t find solace in anything. Her life was turned upside down. Delphia knew that she shouldn’t be so upset about the death of a being who would never live as long as her, but she couldn’t help it. It was Steve. The sweetest, virtuous, most heroic man that she had ever come to know. She came to admire him. To adore him. To love him. Though she shouldn’t have. 

The princess shall live thousands of years longer than any Midgardian. It is not ideal to grow to love someone who would die sooner than her by a very long time. Asgardians are not immortal, but they still do not live the short lives that other beings do. It’s not a good situation.

Talking to her family about it was… a bit complicated. Eventually, she told them that she lost plenty of friends while on Midgard. Having those nearly familiar bonds with the likes of Bucky and Abraham was something that hurt her since they both were killed. She explained how the deaths of her good friends had caused her to be dragged into a depressive state. After all, they know that she’s never had to experience a close friend dying. She also told them about Steve. However, Loki was the only one who knew the extent of their relationship.

Due to his insistence on not wanting her to wallow in her own sadness, he had gotten more out of her. She told him stories about Steve. How wonderful he was. How brave. While Loki didn’t necessarily understand the idea of growing attachment to a human, he tried his best to see it from her point of view. His sister was in Midgard, tried to find a safe place to be while staying there, and found that in a few people. More specifically, in Steven Rogers.

Loki understood it a bit better and tried to be there with her to help in any way he could. Most of the time that consisted of just sitting with her in her vast room reading a book in silence. It seemed like all she needed was someone to just be there with her. No need for talking, just to sit and not be alone. Loki understood that she needed time to open up more and overcome this depression. After all, he knew that she had experienced the death of the man she loved.

Thor was the opposite. In the beginning, he tried to be understanding. He let her be by herself for some time. However, he grew restless. He wanted his little sister back. The same innocent, bright-eyed woman who likes to watch him spar against their friends. The woman who laughed at the stories of his battles and marveled at his strength. The woman who liked to tease him with her ability to see into the future. Where had she gone? 

He didn’t seem to truly understand just what had happened. Yes, he could understand that she may be upset about the deaths of her friends. However, he figured that she would move on. It surprised him that even after so long she was still depressed. It frustrated him quite a lot.

Still, they tried to go about life normally. Delphia did what she could to try and live her life like normal. After all, she felt like Steve would never want her to live her life like this. So she tried, just for him.

At this point, over seventy years had passed since Steve had died and Delphia left Midgard. She could never think that the death of one man would keep her so depressed for so long. Though perhaps she lives for so long, she just has a much longer time to regret his death. She sat on a chair as she gazed out of her large glass door to her balcony. The doors were open, allowing the nice warm wind to waft into the room. It ruffled her hair as she gazed out onto her glittering kingdom near expressionless.

She’s gotten better. She may not have completely overcome the fact that Steve had died, but she is moving on. Delphia has been trying to do that for years now. Her brothers have done their best to help her with it, and it’s worked. She no longer just locked herself away. The princess ventured out more with friends and family. Enjoyed the company of her people at some parties and royal duties.

Though while she was for once enjoying her time alone, she was suddenly dragged into a vision.

Her surroundings shifted and changed as skyscrapers appeared and Midgardian cars were zooming around her. It seemed familiar, extremely so. To Delphia, it seems like her vision was showing her New York. However, it wasn’t like she once knew it. Things appeared more modern, shinier, and desecrated. Horrible creatures ran around attacking people, destroying buildings, blowing up anything they could set their sights on. Rubble surrounded her as large monsters flew through the air screeching and wailing while running into buildings. The Chitari, she recognized them nearly instantly. Wretched creatures that worked for anyone who offered even the minimum of reward. Why they were in New York was unknown to her, but extremely concerning.

This vision was quick and filled with little to no information. She was pulled out of it just as quickly as she was dragged into it. It left far too much to be desired as Delphia was by far concerned by what that meant. She did her best to catch her breath once her consciousness was dragged back to her room. Gasps left her pale lips as she did her best to calm down from that vision. She recognized some of it. The Chitari were a part of her vision that she had before her first visit to Midgard. However, why was she shown this again? What could that mean? Whatever that was, it was by no means good. She just hoped that she could figure it out soon. She wouldn’t want to imagine what this could mean for Midgard.

Delphia Odindottir will return

---

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter 

:( Poor Delphia I almost feel bad about having to do this to her. Though I know in the long run things will turn out... okay. Or will they? We'll see her again when I finish up the Thor fic I'm working on. That one will most likely be quite short so, hopefully, quick to write. For Marvel, my next focus will be continuing to flesh out Bill as a character in the Iron Man fics. He's one that I haven't given all too much thought recently, so I'd have to get back into the headspace for him. 

Finally after so long this fic is finally done! It's taken quite some time to actually get it done but it's here! It feels nice to actually follow through with an entire fic and get it done lol Now to try and finish another! Well.. more like attempt to get another done. After all some of the fics that I have planned or currently still writing are lengthy. However, now that I have my new full time job I can keep myself on schedule and keep myself on track with a good routine. I definitely think it'll be better for me to keep me healthy and on track by doing so. It's always good to do that lmao So I'm thinking this weekend I'm gonna go on either a Harry Potter binge or Anime binge. Whichever pops up on my computer first will be what I watch I guess lmao After all, I haven't written for my hp fic, Ups and Downs, in quite a while. Perhaps it's time to step back into that one...

Anyway, I hope you liked this fic! Check out some of my other stuff if you would like, or join my discord where I give heads ups about my writing before it's posted! Let me know what you thought of this chapter/fic, until the next one, my friends~!

[saiilorstars]

ch.24: When it's Broken...

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd) OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​ ​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​ @gloryekaterina​​ @lenonizi​ @averyhotchner​​ @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes​​​​​​​​​​​​

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist​​

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When Steve found Seren in the morning, she was working on her new suit. It had become a little custom since they moved into the Tower. Seren either worked on the suit herself or sometimes had Tony around for consultation. Steve began to wonder if she was really working on it for the sake of working or if it was just to distract herself. He supposed it was the same as when he visited the training room.

"Did you even bother to sleep?" Steve asked despite already knowing the answer. They had laid together the previous night for some sleep but a couple hours later he woke up to find Seren gone.

"Course I did," Seren said much too quickly and she knew it. "I mean, for a bit…" She swiped left and right on the holographic plans of her suit. "No, actually, I didn't," she admitted a second later. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't. I was hoping Chloe would call or at least text me." But she hadn't done any of that.

"You just have to give her time," Steve said. He sounded like a broken record. Seren was just too kind to tell him that.

"At least if I get this suit finished, then I'll be able to start scouting areas for the scepter with Stark."

"Seren…"

"I'm good Steve," Seren assured him. "All I need right now is a hug...or two...or three…"

A fair request. Steve took the necessary strides to get to Seren quickly and hugged her. Seren was tired but every problem they had prevented her from realizing it until now.

"You want to take a nap?" Steve offered.

"Maybe," Seren nodded. "I did get something through with my suit this morning. I've added a touch of color. I always hated the sheer black suits of S.H.I.E.L.D. I felt like they never suited me like it did for Maria and Natasha."

Steve let out a low laugh. He swayed Seren a bit. "I thought you looked amazing in them."

"I didn't take you to be that kind of man." Seren smirked as soon as she felt Steve's body stiffening. She had to laugh.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it," he huffed.

"I know, lovey, I just like messing with you," Seren raised her head to meet his gaze. At least she was smiling now.

"How's about that nap?" Steve asked again, feeling like this time she would really end up falling asleep.

Seren nodded her head. Steve let her go and took her hand. He started leading her for the door when someone walked in, or rather sprinted in.

"Chloe…" Seren breathed at the sight of her best friend but not entirely over her mere presence but her appearance.

Steve did the same thing. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe's face was stained with tears, her eyes red and puffy from the tears still glistening around. "I did something bad…" She said and only barely for her voice was strained.

Seren pulled her hand from Steve and hurried up to Chloe. Chloe didn't give Seren an opportunity to ask anything else — she dove for a hug instead. Seren rocked back a couple steps but was able to claim some balance in the end. Chloe's body shook from her sobs. Seren had never seen Chloe like this, much less Steve.

"Chloe, what is it?" Seren insisted on an answer.

Chloe's eyes met Steve behind Seren. Steve felt a little out of place with such an intense gaze. It appeared like Chloe was frightened but it couldn't be of him, could it? That didn't make sense.

"Chloe—" Steve started when Chloe cut him off.

"I was with Bucky."

Silence fell over the room. The only noise was the constant beeps of the computers around them.

Seren froze. Steve's eyes widened.

Chloe's breathing became jagged. She wanted to explain everything — how she met Bucky, how it all got started and how it ended — but the words that came out of her mouth were a far cry from that detailed explanation. It was a garbled mess.

"I didn't plan on him sticking around and I definitely didn't think he would just get up and l-leave me!" Chloe's eyes fell shut as new tears rolled down her face. It was perhaps what hurt the most. Up until now, the arrangements, every deal she and Bucky had made were kept — whether it was something as small as 'I'll try to sleep' or something really important like him agreeing to stay with her until they figured something out. It didn't make sense why he would leave without her, but he did.

Seren's lack of sleeping made it a bit difficult to follow everything Chloe was saying. It sounded like she was saying that...she and…

"Are you actually saying that this whole time, Bucky's been with you?" Steve's question was sharp and demanding, nothing that Seren had ever heard from him. He had heard Chloe perfectly and followed as such.

The same went for Chloe which was why she retreated a step from the couple. "Y-yes," she swallowed hard.

Seren looked between the two, suddenly feeling a lot smaller than what she typically felt when she was around them.

"Chloe, I — why didn't you tell me that!?" Steve openly demanded for the answer, expecting it to be a damn good one which was quite impossible. There was nothing that would justify Chloe keeping Bucky a secret.

And Chloe saw it. It was all in his face. His eyes were narrowing on her. His lips had thinned and were soon to be forming a scowl. "Steve, I couldn't say anything. Bucky didn't want that."

Wrong answer.

Seren's eyes flickered at Steve. That answer was brutal. Bucky didn't want to be found.

"He needs help, Chloe," Steve snapped harshly, ignoring Chloe's flinch, "You were supposed to tell me!"

"It wasn't up to me!" Chloe reiterated. "I couldn't make decisions for Bucky! We could only make decisions for ourselves."

"But it sounded like you two came to the same decision…" Seren cut in quietly and quite cautious. She studied Chloe's expressions. "That's what you were saying, wasn't it?"

Chloe nodded slowly. "Yes, but Bucky left me. He betrayed me. I thought...I thought we were allies but…" Her eyes brought fresh tears to her face. Something hurt inside like it never had before and she didn't know how to handle it so it came out as tears.

Seren's face softened.

Steve's did not.

"We were going to run today in the morning," Chloe said. It didn't matter anymore if their plan came out. "I-I reached out to someone to get us to Europe without being spotted."

"You were going to take Bucky to Europe?" Steve's eyes widened again, although they quickly settled into a glare. He was outraged! "Chloe, what the hell!? You were seriously going to leave without telling any of us and with Bucky!?"

"Steve…" Seren motioned him to calm down or at least for him to try and calm down.

"Bucky was going to Europe regardless of whether or not I would!" Chloe exclaimed. "I just couldn't take all this Animinds stuff and—"

"You were going to run away," Steve spat.

Seren helplessly looked between Steve and Chloe. She tried getting a word in but they were both talking over her.

"I was scared, Steve!"

"We are all here for you, Chloe! And I wanted to be there for Bucky but you didn't let me!"

"He didn't want anyone to find him! Hydra's still out there and they're looking for him...and me!"

"Chloe, nobody's touching you again," Seren managed to cut in for a second. "Running away is nowhere near the answer. That's what you did the first time!"

Chloe nodded. "I know, but I did what I did and somehow I got burned by the person I never suspected."

"Walk me through it," Seren pleaded before Steve started snapping again, "What physically happened last night?"

Chloe swallowed hard, took a deep breath and began explaining the plan she and Bucky meticulously came up with. They were to meet Chloe's contact at the docks and travel under secret then take refuge somewhere in Europe. "But then I woke up, saw my old stuff from Malibu and a letter from my mom and Bucky. He left me."

Seren's eyebrows raised. "I brought that stuff over, Chloe."

Chloe did a double-take at Seren. "What? You met Bucky?"

"No," Seren shook her head, "I visited your mother, Chloe. I brought back a box full of your stuff so you could go through it. I...I guess I must have been talking to Bucky on the other side of the door. He must have grabbed the box and left it for you." It also sounded like Bucky realized she was right. Chloe did have hope to reclaim her old life and he wanted to make sure that she did. So, he left.

"Do you have any idea where Bucky can be right now?" Steve's question was no question at all but a demand instead. Chloe shook her head for half a second before Steve demanded to know the contact that was supposed to help them.

"Chloe, you need to tell us," Seren said gently. The secret was out anyways.

"It's Citlalli," Chloe answered quietly.

Steve's eyes fell on Seren who didn't appear to be surprised nor confused with the name. She knew who that woman was. "Seren, who is it?"

Seren let out a long sigh. "A CIA agent and our friend, more so Chloe's than mine."

"No one is more connected than her," Chloe said. "But I've been trying to call her and she's not answering."

"We need to talk to that agent," Steve muttered, taking a headset for the doors.

"No, wait!" Chloe panicked and rushed to catch up to him and blocked his way. "You can't out Citlalli — she'll be in huge trouble!"

"That's not my problem!" Steve said.

"Steve!" called Seren sharply, making him look back at her. "You don't understand. Citlalli's deep into this network stuff and not all of it is legal, persay. I don't even know how deep it is and personally, I don't feel like making an enemy out of her because we didn't think things through."

"We need to get in contact with her," Steve reiterated, and Seren nodded.

"And we will. But let me do it, please. You can trust me."

"Yes, I can," Steve nodded at her, giving Chloe a brief glance before storming out of the room.

Chloe sank down on the nearest stool. "He's so mad at me…"

"Well, Chloe, what did you expect, honestly?" Seren crossed her arms at Chloe. "That was his best friend you hid from him."

"Bucky really didn't want to be found," Chloe insisted. "You think I wouldn't have loved to bring him here? To call Sam or Steve—"

"Yeah, but would you have?" Seren cut her off. "You haven't taken any of our calls in ages."

Chloe's shoulders slumped down. "Okay, so I haven't been the best of friends…but you didn't talk to him, Seren. You didn't live with him. Steve has told me so much about Bucky Barnes, the charming sergeant, the confident, sweet man…but the man I met was not him. He's a shell, Seren. Forcing him — if I could miraculously match his strength — wasn't something I would've been able to do. And I understood him."

"Because you didn't want to be found either," Seren nodded. She lived through something similar in Hudson. Getting away from everything was essential to her healing. It just made things harder with Chloe, though. She wanted to be as mad as Steve but that was out of the question. In the end, Chloe was her best friend and she empathized with everything that had happened so far.

"You just need to give Steve some space," she told Chloe. "This is his best friend we're talking about. He's been devising plans with Sam about where to look. It's hurtful to know that all this time Bucky was right here and...that he didn't want to be found." Seren grabbed another stool and brought it over to sit in front of Chloe. "How did this get started? Tony's been working with you nonstop."

"Bucky surprised me," Chloe said, feeling like that was an understatement now. "He was in my apartment one night and I thought he was going to go all Winter Soldier on me but it turned out he was returning that second piece of the tech that, um, Tony's working on now."

"He brought it back to you?" Seren blinked. Of course now it made sense how Chloe managed to deliver Tony the second piece.

"Yeah, sort of," Chloe half smiled. "Scared the shit out of me that first night. He wanted to barter with it."

"What did he want?".

Chloe's smile widened a bit. "He wanted to know who he was. He wanted to know anything that I knew about him. Of course I told him everything without bartering. And I swear I told him that Steve was looking for him, that he had nothing to be guilty over. He was a victim like me, only far worse. He didn't want to be found and he still doesn't."

Seren could understand where Bucky was coming from. He had gone decades masking as someone Hydra created and now that it was all out there along with his real identity — someone reigned as a hero — it was hard to come back. For a lack of a better word, he needed space.

That was contradicting the story Chloe was telling Seren.

"And, so, he stayed with you? This whole time you guys were, what, roommates?" The redhead asked, tilting her head at Chloe. "Why?"

"We were passing each other information that we both wanted to hear. He wanted to know who he was and I wanted to know more about Hydra. There's a couple of things that I knew for a fact and I needed locations."

"Again, walk me through it," Seren motioned with wiggling fingers to gear the story.

"My time with Hydra taught me that they try not to make any mistakes and just in case that they do make mistakes, they always have a fail safe. It's like with Bucky, he was a Winter Soldier and their failsafe was a mind wipe and cryogenic stasis. If he ever fell out of line, they would just stick him back in there and start a mind wipe or something. Me being another pawn meant that Hydra had to have a failsafe for me. And I figured it out, or rather Bucky did."

Seren's eyebrows knitted together. "And what would that be?"

Chloe leaned forwards, holding her breath as if the secret she was about to reveal was her most guarded one yet. "Hydra has enhanced people all over the world. According to Bucky, some of them are active and others aren't. My guess is that those enhanced people, one of them, could be a fail safe for me."

"Oh God, and they have the scepter," Seren said, her expression all horrified.

Chloe nodded. "Yes. Bucky said they were particularly interested in unlocking the powers from that thing. They went through countless 'subjects' to help tap into those powers."

"Who would want to tap into those powers?" Just remembering what that scepter did to her head made Seren shudder with genuine fright. It was all dark and cold, hopeless.

Chloe shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well then we need to stop them," Seren declared. "This is what Tony brought Steve and I in for. I'm already trying to figure out how to get Thor to come back to Earth. I'm calling Jane Foster a lot these days. And then there's Natasha...and my suit. Did I tell you Tony made plans for my suit?"

Chloe nodded her head. Tony did talk about it a lot. "Yeah…"

"I'm working on it," Seren said proudly. "This is going to be my suit. It's going to be designed just by me."

"You deserve that, Seren," Chloe said. Her gaze began to lower again. "You deserve a lot more than what I've been giving you."

"Nu-uh," Seren snapped her fingers to get Chloe's full attention. "None of that. You're my best friend and I'm going to be here for you. It's why I went to Malibu and got you your stuff. Your family's waiting for you, Chloe. I'm waiting too. There's no reason for you to feel like you have to run away from us."

"I'm scared," Chloe confessed in a light whisper. "I'm scared of the Animinds taking full control of me after the surgery. I'm scared that I won't be anymore. I'll be a version of what Hydra wanted."

"That's not happening," Seren said in a matter of fact tone. "Because if you've been paying attention, these aliens are benign, first of all, and they've been trying to help. They're the ones who told Tony that we needed to help you connect with your family again. It's overwhelming, of course it is, but I think the key to really owning these powers of yours is to actually want to work with them. You can't go in there with, well, twinkle toes," Seren rolled her eyes. If Tony was listening through the comms, he was having a good laugh for sure. "You need to be assertive. It's something you've always done in the past."

"But it's different, Seren," Chloe sniffed. "I've been starting to see the future sometimes and I don't want that. There's so many things that I don't want and the Animinds don't precisely listen to me."

"With the surgery, that could become easier," Seren said, "But you'll never know if you don't try it. If you don't do the surgery then nothing will get easier. That's a fact. You won't have control at all."

"I understand that," Chloe said, sighing, "But the alternative is becoming one with the Animinds and that's scary enough. They're aliens."

"Well, I'm an alien too and we get along," Seren shrugged lightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

Seren raised a hand to stop Chloe. "I know what you meant. It's fair to be scared but these Animinds have been trying to work with you. If they had wanted to be against you, they would've done it by now."

"They've been quiet all day," Chloe remarked quietly.

"Well, have you wanted to talk to them?" Seren posed the question like a mother challenging her child.

Chloe shook her head. "Not really, no."

"Mm, the problem. You need to want it too. It's a Hivemind. You're connected, yes, but when it comes to accessing it...that has to be on you." Seren stood up from her stool, thinking it was best to give Chloe some time to think about things. "Don't you dare leave the Tower — Jarvis will tell us."

Chloe had no desire to go anywhere anymore. Her pain was enough to keep her sitting for hours. The only reason she made it to the tower was to find a way to reach Bucky. "I won't go anywhere," she promised.

She had nowhere to go, no more desire anyways. She felt like she was back where she started, only this time things just hurt too much. She had yet to figure out why that was.

"And listen, about the last time we saw each other…" Seren swallowed hard, her eyes falling over the scar on Chloe's palm. "I am so sorry…I would have never done that if—"

"I wasn't trying to kill you?" Chloe finished for her. Seren lowered her head guiltily. "I have nothing to forgive you for. You defended yourself and you made sure that I couldn't hurt anyone. I can always trust that Stardust will protect the innocent."

"But I don't want it to be at the cost of hurting someone who's like my sister. I never want that to happen."

Chloe nodded. "I feel the same. You have no idea how bad I felt knowing that I hurt you — that I continuously tried hurting you."

"But that wasn't you," Seren said. "You were brainwashed. I know a thing or two about that. And look at Steve and I right now."

Chloe smiled lightly. "I'm glad you two are going strong. I don't want to ruin it with my problems so…I'll go back to my apartment—"

"Nope!" Seren cut her off immediately. "I'm not letting you out of my sight! We have a lot of work to do and we need to start working like a team. SHIELD may be gone but the Avengers are on the brink of formal creation. I want you to be part of this new team, Chloe."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Steve hates my guts right now. I didn't even think he could hate someone like that besides HYDRA."

"He's angry, there's a difference. Please, Chloe. Don't leave again," Seren stepped forwards, "I really missed you. SHIELD is gone, Natasha's off somewhere and who knows where the hell Clint is…you and I are all that's left of the only place I've known my whole life. Please don't leave."

Chloe's lips pulled into another smile. "I think we're pretty much glued to each other…ever since you pulled me out of that god awful building when I was a teenager. You had no idea what you were getting into."

"Pretty sure it's the other way around…" Seren said, sharing a small chuckle with her.

Chloe then hugged her tightly. How she had missed her best friend — her sister. Seren felt the same exact way because in the end, however different they were, life had given them similar challenges that led them down a more lonesome road.

~ 0 ~

It was like mayhem in the Tower after Chloe's revelation. Knowing what they knew about Bucky Barnes had Steve and Sam going through their plans and files to fit with what Chloe said. The enhanced subjects and the usage of the scepter had Tony and Seren working together. Tony, however, would split his time between the search for the scepter and the surgery Chloe was now opting for, if only to give herself one more chance. Dr. Helen Cho was arriving in New York shortly to finalize the surgery.

Meanwhile, Seren also worked fervently on her suit, intending on finishing it quicker than planned to be able to head out in the field in search of the remaining Hydra locations. Bearing that mission, Natasha was scheduled to return to New York sometime next week after she finished with her own side missions. They were in the middle of getting in contact with Banner as well, and Seren had finally gotten through to Jane Foster.

"According to Jane, Thor's gone off world but he's coming back in a couple of days," Seren walked alongside Maria Hill who, at the request of Tony, was taking charge of the details of the soon-to-be team's soon-to-be missions. They had various possible locations they would check out soon.

"That'll be interesting," Maria said after jotting it down on her tablet, "Seeing as the last time he was around, he wasn't too keen with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Jane says he doesn't know what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. yet," Seren shrugged. "She'll explain it and then he'll be right over."

"And he'll be staying here?" Maria asked.

"Well, it's not like the Tower isn't big enough," Seren gestured to the long hallway. It was one of many. "Even Natasha's contemplating on staying here as well. At least for the time being."

"Mm, and Steve?"

Seren came to a slow stop beside an open door. Her awkward smile told Maria enough. Seren thanked Maria for understanding and led the woman through the door.

Chloe and Tony were in the lab, the former bearing several sticky nods against her forehead.

"Ah, Twinkle Toes, great that you're here," Tony made a gesture for Seren to come to his side by the computers. Seren's glare as she walked over to him meant nothing to him. "Can you please tell Chloe that I'm not lying when I say that her signals are just fine? Better than they have been in recent times."

Seren wasn't one for dramatics, especially Tony Stark's, but when she saw the screens for herself and realized Tony was right, she did as he wanted. "They do look good, Chloe. Everything's pretty much in normal range."

"I've been meditating more," Chloe said quietly, not showing very much excitement at the news. One would say that she was also talking more, per say. She was saying more than she had been before. She didn't want to admit it but letting out everything that she'd been holding in was helping her far more than the meditations.

"Good, keep that going," Seren said with her encouraging smile quite present.

"Helen's going to be here in two days," Tony shared, "It'll be a couple more days before we do the surgery but no later than next week."

Chloe visibly gulped.

Seren left the computers and rushed to Chloe's side. "Everything will be fine," she promised. "You're in the best hands. And I'll be here. We all will be."

"Is Steve going to be around?" Chloe dared to ask. It wasn't very fair to put Seren in that place, Chloe knew that, but Seren was also the only person that Steve would be truly honest with.

Seren bit on her bottom lip. "Um, he's...he and Sam are building up their search so...he's not really here. Either of them, actually."

"Oh." Chloe's gaze fell. Seren was too nice to tell her that Steve was still beyond angry with her for keeping Bucky's presence a secret.

Seren didn't like seeing Chloe like that and she wished she could do something to help. It seemed like this time, even she couldn't convince Steve to come around.

"Hey Megamind," called Tony, if only to pull Chloe out of her trance and earn an emotion besides pity from her, "Why don't we go test those psionic blasts? Things might be getting stronger with these new advances."

Chloe nodded and with Seren's help, she got the nodules off her face. She followed Tony, and Maria, out the room but not before glancing back at Seren. She could've passed off as a frightened child the way she looked.

Seren kept her encouraging smile and nodded Chloe to go on. She always showed up a little into the training sessions.

As soon as Chloe was gone, Seren left the room and headed in the opposite direction. She headed for her — their — floor, more specifically to the small living room where Steve and Sam currently worked together. The two were huddled over papers sprawled over the table.

"How's it going?" she asked, not really startling either of them.

"Well enough." Sam looked up to greet Seren with a typical warm smile that she would return. He had not taken Chloe's secret as Steve had. He had talked privately to Seren previously and admitted that he saw Chloe as a young girl who'd made a mistake. He couldn't hold that against Chloe, so he didn't.

"That's good…" Seren stopped by Steve's side, hand coming to rest over his shoulder.

Steve stiffened very briefly and then went back to looking over the papers. "Did you get a hold of the CIA agent?" he asked without making any eye contact.

"Umm…" Seren felt like she should be more apt at answering the question that Steve had taken custom of asking every time he saw her. Apparently, she just wouldn't get it. "Not quite."

Steve's 'subtle' movement forced Seren's hand off his shoulder. She curled her hand and drew it back to her side. For sympathy, Sam acted like he hadn't seen that at all.

"If she's Chloe's friend, she should be answering, right?" Steve kept going as he switched papers. "What was her name again?"

"Citlalli," Seren said with a sigh. "She's a very busy woman."

"Oh, there's no denying that," Steve retorted.

Seren wasn't used to being on the receiving end of his snips. It was actually hurtful, more than a punch to be exact.

"Is there any idea where this woman would lead Bucky to?" Steve kept going as if he couldn't feel Seren's dejected gaze on him.

Seren tucked some of her short strands of hair behind her ear. "It's not that easy, Steve," she said, regretting her words as soon they left her mouth. It wasn't what Steve wanted to hear.

"Why not?" He demanded.

Once again, Seren had to give herself a moment to get over the sharpness of his voice. It genuinely felt like someone was stabbing her. "Citlalli's been in the CIA for a long time. Like Chloe, she's built networks for her personal reasons and she's not going to give it up just because we asked."

"Like a code amongst her and her network," Sam concluded. Half of his intentions to speak was to cut the palpable tension in the air.

Seren nodded at him. "Yes, exactly."

"She's technically hiding a fugitive," Steve spoke as if nothing had been said between Seren and Sam. "That would terminate her job and most likely put her under arrest."

"Well, that's exactly what would happen to you if you actually found Bucky," Seren pointed out and for that, she earned Steve's apprehensive gaze.

"What are you trying to say?" His accusation startled Seren.

Did he honestly think that she would—

Seren swallowed hard. "I think I'll just leave you two to work," she whispered and quickly turned to leave.

Steve went back to the papers, though he listened to Seren's footsteps getting farther. She wasn't coming back for a while, if she even decided to.

"You cannot keep doing that," came Sam's comment a few minutes later.

"Do what?" Steve was aware that he had read the same line on the paper three times now.

"You're being cold towards Seren and she hasn't done anything wrong." Sam pretended to over a mental checklist of the recent happenings then reiterated his stance. "Yeah, she's done nothing wrong."

"I'm not mad at her," Steve clarified, although it didn't really do much and they both knew it.

"Then why the hell are you acting like it? If you have a problem with Chloe, figure it out with her. Last time I checked, wasn't Seren your, I don't know what you used to call it—sweetheart?" Sam smirked at Steve's deadpanning response. "Well?"

Steve swallowed down his snap at the comment in favor of talking about the real point of the conversation. He put the papers down on the table, finishing the facade of reading them. "It's hard to ignore the fact Seren's coddling Chloe when she...she lied to us for a long time. Bucky was right here, Sam. He was here the whole time and Chloe didn't say anything. She made plans to run away with him and Seren's just acting like it's nothing."

"I'm pretty sure that's not the case but even then, go talk it out with Seren," Sam insisted. "The way you're acting is going to push her away for good. No woman likes the cold shoulder."

That was a truth that even Steve knew. With a sigh, he relented and agreed that he would have a word with Seren. But first, they really needed to sort through these papers.

~ 0 ~

Seren had taken to working on her suit through the nights. It was when Chloe slept — at least Seren hoped that Chloe slept — and it was also the only way she could technically avoid Steve without it being blatantly obvious. Their shared bedroom wasn't such an advantage during these days.

"Jarvis, is it possible to run a simulation testing whether or not the suit would withstand my strongest attack yet?" She managed to smirk for a few seconds just at how confident she was that her strongest attack would one day be second best.

"Of course, Miss Soul," answered the computerized voice.

"Thank you." Seren pulled herself out of her stool and decided it was best to take a stroll out of the lab. Truth be told, the all-nighters she pulled on stools were making her back hurt.

Not wanting to make small talk with anyone, she took the elevator up to the rooftop. She crossed the entire top until she was resting her arms on the rails overlooking the city. It would be raining soon. Seren felt the chill of the air and could hear the warning cracks of thunder in the sky — either that or Thor was making his grand entrance.

The sound of the elevator dinging wasn't enough to pull Seren's gaze off the city. It wouldn't be the first time Tony interrupted her quiet time, or Chloe came in search of her for support. Even Maria sometimes found her accidentally and took the opportunity to go over some details about their potential missions.

All three options were dismissed once Seren felt a jacket come rest over her shoulders. Her body instinctively froze but after a moment, she was able to turn her head slightly.

"I don't want you to get sick." Steve's voice was quiet and plainly filled with caution as he stepped up beside Seren.

"You know I don't really get sick," Seren mumbled, and yet she held the jacket a little closer to her body.

Silence stretched between them in the following seconds. Steve didn't really know what to say and he'd been thinking about things long before he got the courage to come find Seren. From her side, Seren wasn't sure where the conversation was going to go. The jacket on her shoulders gave her some hope that this wouldn't end with displeasure.

"I called Citlalli again," she said, and Steve once again looked at her albeit trying to put up a front that he wasn't urgent for the information. "I finally got through to her. She admits that Bucky met her where Chloe and she had agreed and that she helped him."

"She helped him?" A dozen questions swarmed Steve's head at that moment. "But she barely knows him. Why wouldn't she—?"

"Turn him in?" Seren half smiled. "Trust me, there's a reason Chloe called her out of everyone else she knew."

"Look, I guess I'm grateful that she didn't turn Bucky over but why would she help him escape? He needs help, not isolation."

"Neither of us know what conditions Bucky was in during these days," Seren said and felt awful for the look on Steve's face. As much as he loved his best friend, he had no idea what Bucky was thinking/going through at the moment. "I'm grateful Citlalli helped him."

"Well, where'd she send him to?"

"I don't' know," Seren said.

"What? Did she not tell you?"

"It's more complicated than that, Steve. Citlalli helped him escape, but by that she really only helped him get to the first stop of his journey. She doesn't know where he is after she dropped him off."

"I'm not understanding…"

"It's complicated and confusing, trust me I'm very much feeling that last one too. Citlalli doesn't know where he is."

Steve's knuckles turned white from how hard he was gripping the rail again. Seren watched him go through the many stages of fury all over again.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" he muttered with gritted teeth.

"I don't know…" Seren's faint voice is what broke Steve out of his ire-filled trance. He looked at her and found she had taken a step back from him.

Suddenly, Sam's words were running through his head again. The way you're acting is going to push her away for good.

Seren took his silence as her cue to leave. She would much rather the silence than the arguing but it didn't do anything good for her heart. She started to leave but halfway, she turned back around. "I know you're angry with Chloe and you have every right to be, but this wasn't just on her and you know it. Bucky was thinking lucid enough to know who to go to and honestly, with the way Chloe's talked about him, he sounded like a guarded man. He was never going to stick around."

"How long was he here?" Steve asked. Whether or not the answer would give him peace was left unclear but Steve still wanted to know.

"About two weeks."

"They got close," Seren said quietly. "They were both pawns for Hydra, each twisted and broken in their own ways for what Hydra required. They had things to be close about. I think by the end of it, Chloe didn't choose to run from us but more so to stick with the only other person who could understand some of the things she went through."

Steve thought well and hard about this. It was true that he had already considered how he would talk to Bucky if he had found him earlier, and the truth that Steve wasn't sure of how he would do it was disappointing. The Bucky he knew wasn't around. Steve didn't know what he would've done and the act of not knowing and the fact that Chloe had found a way to talk to Bucky was…

"He shouldn't have left," Steve said. Seren presumed it was still the same feelings of indignation and hurt that anyone else in Steve's place would feel...until Steve spoke again. "Chloe did something to make him think clearly after decades of thinking like the Winter Soldier he was programmed to be. He listened to you that night, he went through Chloe's old things and thought she had a better chance to fix things. That's not even what the Bucky I knew, before the war, would typically think about."

Seren's eyebrows raised, almost indignant on Chloe's behalf.

Steve pulled away from the balcony and faced Seren. "The Bucky I knew before the war was a gentleman, no one could argue against that, but to say that he actually took his time to talk and be around a woman the way he did with Chloe. It was different back then but even then…"

Seren afforded him a little smile once she understood the point he was trying to make. "I thought something along the same lines in regards to Chloe. But still, I'm sorry about everything and Chloe is too. You should know that we've managed to convince her to do the surgery she needs to finally stabilize her connection with the Animinds."

"So in the end you going to Malibu was the right decision," Steve said, and she smiled lightly. "Still saving lives outside of SHIELD."

Seren's faltered for a moment. "But it seems like I'm unable to save what's most important to me…"

Confusion settled on Steve's face until Seren gestured at him. "Me?"

"Miss Soul," Jarvis' suddenly cut in, "your simulation has finished. Would you like to hear the results?"

"Thank you, Jarvis, I'll go down to the lab myself," Seren said, dismissing the computer. She looked over at Steve. Awkwardness fell now that the conversation was pretty much done. It was the only thing they had talked about in days and about the only direct conversation they had that lasted for more than a few seconds.

"Seren, what did you mean by that?" Steve asked, seeing she had all the intentions of leaving the room.

"Seriously?" she raised a brow at him. "You hardly speak to me and when you do, you're angry at me. And it's not fair. We had such lovely moments together and it crashed down so easily."

"We haven't...crashed…" Steve said slowly. This was all his fault. Seren thought they were practically over because of one disagreement and it was all his fault.

"This is the first real conversation we've had in days," Seren said shortly. It was hard to act like she wasn't upset at all. She was…and rightfully so. "And it wasn't even about us."

"I know, I know…" Steve sighed, bringing a hand to the back of his neck, "And it's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you." Sam was right. Out of everyone, Seren was the least at fault. "I'm really sorry, Seren."

"I get why you're upset…you have a right to be mad at Chloe, not talk to her, I guess. I can't do the same. I've known Chloe for so long, we've seen each other at our worst, that cutting her out of my life isn't even a question for me. You want to save Bucky — well, I want to save Chloe."

"I get that, I do, but I also think you shouldn't be coddling her. She's not a child, Seren. She's 25 years old. She needs to take some responsibility for what she did, almost did."

Seren nodded. "Yeah, I should work on that. Truth is, sometimes I'm just so used to thinking about Chloe as the teenager I found all those years ago. Scared, alone...but she's not anymore. I'm sorry about that."

Steve walked over to her and reached out to brush a ginger strand of hair from Seren's forehead. "I'm really sorry, sweetheart. I hate that I made you feel bad but I promise you that we have not crashed down."

"Well, it certainly feels like we have. Then again, I've never really been in a relationship where I am fully head over heels in love with someone. Maybe I'm being a tad dramatic."

Steve smiled at her softly. "You can feel however you want when I'm being the world's biggest jerk." His fingers dropped under Seren's chin, raising her head. "And you can expect that I will be putting all my efforts into making this up to you in every way possible."

"Every way possible?" Seren repeated, raising one skeptical brow at him.

Steve nodded fervently. "Every way possible." He gave her a preview of what he meant with a kiss.

Seren wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping his jacket around her shoulders in the process. She would gladly exchange the piece of clothing for the real thing any day.

~0~

It was bright and early when Chloe got started on her exams again. Tony wanted everything to go by smoothly for the upcoming surgery. Dr. Helen Cho was finally coming in today as well, hence the early start of today's exams. The last thing Chloe expected was for Steve to appear in the lab.

"It's only me in here," she said quietly, assuming he was searching for someone else. She turned for another table.

"I was looking for you, actually," Steve surprised her.

Chloe's head flipped back towards the entrance. "Me?" Steve nodded. "Me-me?"

"Yes, I think we need to talk."

"Right, but, if there's anyone you need to talk with it's Seren." And for her best friend whom she hadn't been the kindest to lately, Chloe hurried towards Steve. "All of this is my fault, not Seren's. She had no idea what I was doing. Please go talk to her."

Steve smiled down at Chloe. At least that was the same. Chloe would do as much for Seren as Seren would do for her. "We've, uh, already reconciled our differences…well, my differences. We're okay."

"Really?"

"Yes, so now I think we need to talk."

"Yeah, guess we do…" She knew that sooner or later Steve would move past his initial anger and could shoulder bit to get to the questionnaire, the more in depth one. She owed him that too.

"How did you and Bucky…? I mean, did he just...did he just drop in on you?" To this day, that first meeting still didn't make sense for Steve. The whole reason he started planning for Europe is because he assumed Bucky would leave the country as soon as he could.

Chloe shrugged meekly. "He sort of did, honestly. He was inside the apartment one night and I thought he was there to finish the job but it turned out he just wanted to know what I knew about him."

"About the Winter Soldier?"

"No, about Bucky Barnes."

That made less sense. And it hurt more. It showed on Steve's face. "I'm his best friend," he said, "Does he not remember me at all?"

"He does," Chloe said, "It's all in pieces but he knows who you are and what you were to him in the 40s. Steve, you can't take all of this so black and white. Bucky's head is as messed up as mine save for the aliens in my mind. He wanted to know who he was but he obviously can't go out in public that much and I don't think he's ready to see a familiar face. Don't take it personally."

"Believe me, I'm trying," Steve said with a long sigh to follow. "If you had known us back in the 40s — well, you probably wouldn't have talked to me so much as Bucky"— Chloe laughed softly, "—but you would see why I'm so upset. We were brothers."

"I get it, I do," Chloe assured Steve. "Because I just did the same thing to Seren. Not talking to her really messed me up. And I know Seren took it personally even when it wasn't her fault. It's exactly what's going on with you and Bucky now."

Steve smiled wryly. "Well, you certainly became like a little expert on us, huh?"

Chloe flushed slightly at the comment. Her head ducked on instinct. "Bucky and I talked, that's all."

Steve hummed. He was sure that definitely happened.

"Steve, I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I know it really hurt you. It wasn't my intention but it happened and I'm sorry."

Chloe's sincerity is what had Steve making the effort to let it go. It would take time, but he could do it.

"Steve, when I get my stuff together," Chloe tapped the side of her head, "I would really like to join you and Sam to search for Bucky."

That was the most startling thing she had said to him so far. Steve did a double-take at her, this time the effort to be cool wasn't quite successful. "Um, are you...you want to?"

Chloe nodded. She knew what he was thinking. 'Why would you want to go looking for him when he left you?' It was a fair question that deserved to be answered, at least to make things clear. "Bucky promised me that we would look out for one another. We made plans and I had every intention of following through, but he left. He picked up his things and just...left."

Steve winced at the sharpness in that one word. For a second, he genuinely feared for Bucky's fate if Chloe found him. That almost made him reject her request to join them...almost. At the same time, Bucky owed Chloe that explanation. Plus, Steve got the feeling that whether or not he agreed to let her in, Chloe would still conduct her own search for Bucky. It was better to unify all efforts.

They were a team, after all. They were broken, perhaps heartbroken in their own ways, but at the end of the day their goals were the same. They were aligned.

A/N:

Next is the epilogue which means this fic is technically all done! *sniffs, I think this is probably my favorite fic so far in the storylines but I'm also excited for the future ones like Civil War when I finally get to include all 3 OCs and just start the crossovers!

I'll probably post the epilogue of this story and the new fic this weekend!

[keepsdeathhiscourt]

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Original Female Character

Rating: Mature (18+ Only)

Summary: Journalist Andy Elliot’s life takes an unexpected turn when a chance encounter with Steve Rogers pulls her into the orbit of the Avengers. As she begins investigating a seemingly straightforward story, she uncovers threads of a deeper conspiracy that hint at something far more dangerous. Meanwhile, a growing connection with Steve adds an emotional complexity neither of them anticipated. But as the stakes rise, Andy realizes that her curiosity may have placed her in the crosshairs of powerful enemies—and that her bond with Steve might be the only thing keeping her alive.

Series Masterlist

Read on A03

Warnings: Violence, Language

Additional Tags: Tags: Canon Divergence, Also Canon Compliant (in a roundabout way), Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Eventual Romance, Suspense, Strong Female Protagonist, Political Intrigue, Canon Typical Violence, Language

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Somewhere in the Colorado Rockies - Summer, 2014

Captain Steve Rogers surveys the horizon with a keen eye as the Quinjet shifts into stealth mode, vanishing from view with a shudder. The sun dips lower toward the horizon, casting long shadows across the forest, transforming the trees into dark, exaggerated silhouettes. The warehouse nestled between them is unassuming—steel beams and concrete, with warped glass peeking out from behind boarded-up windows. He takes a grounding breath, filling his lungs with the crisp scent of pine. The woods are silent, a near-perfect picture of peace. Too quiet, too still. It sets his teeth on edge.

There’s still no sign of life as he stalks the perimeter, keeping the abandoned structure in his periphery. Overgrowth grabs at his ankles, and climbs its way up the dilapidated walls; the ideal front for someone who doesn’t want to be found.

A faint rustling to his left catches his attention and he glances over just in time to see Romanoff fall into step beside him, silent as a wild cat. He doesn’t flinch—a testament to how well they know each other now, though he still wonders how she does it.

“How are we looking?” he murmurs with a sidelong look.

She shakes her head, a flash of red in the fading light. “Circled twice. All quiet out here.”

He nods, pressing his fingers against his earpiece. “Barton?”

“We’ve got some company.” Barton’s voice crackles through the comm, louder than he’s expecting. Steve winces—still not fully accustomed to Stark’s gadgets. “A couple of heat signatures inside.”

“Define ‘a couple’.”

“I’m counting half a dozen on the ground floor, another three on the upper level,” Clint whispers. “Should I move in for a closer look, Cap?”

“No,” Steve shakes his head, despite knowing Clint can’t see it. “The front entrance is locked up tight. We wouldn’t be able to back you up fast enough if you run into trouble. Just hang tight until I give the order.”

He hears Barton’s level voice give him an affirmative before the line goes quiet. The tall blades of grass fold beneath his boots as he moves toward the east side of the building. All the while, he sticks to the long shadows cast by the ancient conifers, careful to stay out of view.

A breeze kicks up, rustling the branches of skinny aspens, divesting them of their fading leaves. Somewhere within the stand of trees, Wilson and Stark are combing the woods. It’s been a while since he’s heard from either of them, but that doesn’t worry him. If they’d found something, Stark would have been the first to broadcast it.

“Rogers, what are you doing?” Natasha’s voice cuts through his thoughts.

“Looking for a way in,” he says, stepping over a rotting log. There’s no need to look back, he feels the disapproval rolling off her in waves.

“This is supposed to be a fact-finding mission. No contact. Fury—“

Steve stops, turning to face her. He knew the mission as well as she did and had sat next to her as Fury gave the the rundown. Suspicious activity in an abandoned mining town in the Colorado Rockies, linked back to some names on SHIELD’s radar, back when SHIELD still existed; notable amongst them were a few high-profile chemists.

 “If Fury wanted it done his way, maybe he’d get his ass out here himself for once,” he interjects, a rare note of irritation in his voice. “I’m not about to leave with an unknown chemical agent at play.”

“I gotta agree with Capisicle on this one, Nat,” Stark chimes in over the comm. “Not sure what they’ve got, but I know I don’t want them to have it.”

Sam quickly voices his assent while Clint diplomatically refrains from weighing in, likely too focused on his own task. Outvoted, Natasha sighs, but doesn’t argue further, only gives Steve a long, unhappy look before trudging after him through the foliage. They’re halfway around the building when they finally hear from Barton.

“Looks like things just got a helluva lot more complicated,” he murmurs, voice clipped. 

“What’s going on Clint?” Natasha’s brow furrows, underlining her concern.

“Civilians.” And they both freeze.

“How many?” Steve asks.

“Two so far. First floor, near the back office."

“Shit,” Sam’s voice comes clips through the earbud, articulating Steve’s exact thought.

His eyes drift to Natasha, exchanging a loaded look. She answers his silent question with a determined nod.

Meanwhile, Stark asks, impatiently, “What’s the move, Cap?”

The gears in his brain turn furiously, sifting through strategies as he surveys the flattened grass, the gray lines of the warehouse.

“Sam, Tony,” he starts. “You two take the top floor. See if you can get in through one of the open windows. Your focus is the civilians. And be careful, we might have hostages on our hands.” He adds the last part for Stark’s benefit more than anything. He doesn’t doubt Tony’s commitment to the mission, but he understands his propensity for rash action. “Clint, stay put and be ready to cover us. Nat and I are going to come in at the ground floor as a distraction.”

“On it,” Wilson says, and though he can’t make out Tony’s exact response, he knows he’s agreed.

“Rogers,” Barton cuts in some time after they break to find an entrance. “Looks like there’s a door on the west side. Boarded up from the interior, but once you’re in, it’s a straight shot to the guards.”

“Thanks, Clint,” Natasha replies. The comms go quiet and she turns to him. “Looks like we found our way in.”

In theory, it should be a short journey to the west exterior. But the stretch between, loaded with a minefield of dead branches and brambles, makes for difficult ground, even for a super soldier and an expert martial artist. They make slower progress than he’d like, taking up the lead with his shield raised to level the largest of obstacles and paving a path forward for Natasha. Still, stray branches scrape at any exposed skin and more than once, only one of them stops to pluck an offending cocklebur from their suits.

Finally, they reach their destination—a dented side-door, rusted to a muddy shade of brown and covered in dead vines. It’s so well obscured that Steve nearly misses it. Nat stops him with a hand on his shoulder, pointing it out with a toss of her head. It takes a few passes, but they clear enough of the vines to find the latch. All it takes is one experimental turn to confirm his suspicion; not only is it boarded from the inside, but the lock is rusted shut.

He glances back at Natasha, who takes a step back as he winds up. The shield slams into the door with the shriek of metal on metal, his shoulder leaning in to support the blow. The boards burst in an explosion of splintered wood, the hinges following after as the door gives up the ghost, collapsing inward with a resounding bang.

The debris crunches underfoot. He steps through first, on high alert, Natasha close behind. The vibranium shield hovers over his midsection and he emerges into the center of the room. Several pairs of wide, startled eyes green him, and for a split second, the warehouse is eerily silent—the calm before the storm.

Then, chaos erupts. 

Armed men spring from behind cargo crates and support columns, guns aimed at the intruders. A flash of blue light and shattered glass signal Tony’s arrival through a second-floor wind, followed closely by Sam. Nat takes position and one of Barton’s arrows whistles through the air, embedding itself into the shoulder of the man edging towards Steve’s unprotected flank. The man cries out, staggering to the side, and the rest of the guards open fire.

Steve raises his shield just in time, the gunfire ricocheting off its surface. The onslaught is relentless, and trapped behind his shield, it’s impossible to gain the advantage. Wordlessly, Natasha angles herself behind the shelter of the shield and his shoulders. They’ll have to wait until the guards run out of ammunition.

The barrage slows, followed by the telltale clank of reloading. Seizing the opportunity, Steve shifts onto the offense and surges forward. The shield arcs down, slamming mercilessly into a man’s abdomen, sending him crumpling to the ground. He follows up with a punch to the jaw, knocking the man out cold before kicking his gun away.

“Rogers, behind you!” Natasha’s voice rings out.

Steve spins around, finding himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Before he can react, the assailant staggers to the side, rifle waving precariously. Natasha's legs are wrapped around his torso, an elbow hooked around his throat. Her jaw clenches and Steve winces as she snaps his neck with a grim determination, letting him drop as she lands gracefully on the floor.

There’s no time for words. More guards are coming. Steve and Natasha fall into a sort of rhythm,  moving in tandem like two separate parts of the same well-oiled machine. They fight back-to-back, Nat ducking under his arm to land a blow when he goes high with his shield.

Steve allows instinct to take over. There’s a familiarity to fighting, one he dawns like an old sweater; a neat order he’s accustomed to that could almost be considered comforting. The repetition of muscle memory underpins the thrum of adrenaline. He’s never sure if it’s the serum or the years of combat under his belt, but there’s a simplicity to sinking into habit and letting his body take over.

The warehouse exists in its own world. He isn’t sure how much time passes, only that his shoulders grow heavy and sloppiness creeps into his movements that tell him it’s been a while. If he’s tiring, then their enemies must be exhausted—what’s left of them.

Two guards remain on the bottom floor. From the fleeting glances he can spare, things seem to be grinding to a close above as well. He grits his teeth, felling another opponent with his shield just as Natasha takes down the other.

Chest heaving, he wipes his glove against his forehead, dabbing away some of the sweat stinging his eyes. A red and gold blur arcs overhead. Stark sweeps over the balcony and into wide open space with an armed guard in each hand. One minute they’re thrashing against his grip on their collars, and the next, they’re sailing down, down, down where they meet the unforgiving pavement. 

He and Steve exchange a terse nod as Sam emerges from behind a cargo crate, guiding a woman in a lab coat.

“She’s alright,” Sam assures him, though the woman’s trembling hands and wide eyes tell a different story. On his other side, Steve spots a man with cracked glasses, looking nervous but steady.

“Looks like Wilson found our civilians,” Tony says, landing a few paces behind him. “Good work, birdman.”

“Where’s Barton?” Natasha asks, scanning the area.

“Making sure the back office is clear,” Sam says as he guides the woman to a seated position. “You’re safe now, ma’am. Can you take a few deep breaths for me?”

The man with the broken glasses hovers nearby, but before Steve can ask after him, a shout erupts from the backroom. Barton crashes through the wall in a shower of drywall. Stark is there in a split second, catching him before he can collide with the ground.

But there’s no time to check on them. A hulking figure emerges from the wreckage, a man with a scarred, expressionless face that oozes experience. Steve’s heart rate kicks into overdrive as the man levels an AR at him.

“Get down!” Steve roars, hitting the deck as a fresh round of gunfire explodes above him. The air fills with the acrid smell of gunpowder, it burns his eyes as he takes stock of his companions. Natasha has taken cover behind a metal beam, Stark and Barton behind broken cargo panels, and Sam is shielding the civilians under an overturned desk.

Steve’s jaw clenches as he prepares to move. The clearest path to the threat was his. He surges forward, shield raised—half-battering ram and half bullet-repellent. It covers him as he charges headlong into the onslaught. 

He reaches the man in seconds and channels the momentum into a powerful downward swing. The shield cuts the air at the same moment his opponent raises the heavy artillery to meet him. Metal meets metal, the impact sending Steve skidding backward. 

This wasn’t an ordinary soldier—they were dealing with an enhanced being.

In seconds, the man seizes his opportunity and is bearing down on him. His teeth grit together so hard they seem likely to break. He cedes another inch, boots squealing against the ground. His knees threaten to buckle beneath the pressure, but he pushes back. Almost…there…With a grunt of frustration, the enemy leans in.

It’s what Steve’s been waiting for. The man leverages his weight onto the shield. The second he’s beyond the tipping point of equilibrium, Steve rolls out from underneath. Left with nothing beneath him but air, the soldier stumbles forward. In a fluid motion, Steve finds his feet and delivers a well-aimed right hook to the man’s jaw.

The man wavers, disoriented as Steve presses his advantage. Behind him, he hears the telltale noise of Stark’s suit powering up, catches a glimpse of Romanoff and Barton sneaking up on his flank.

They’re moving into position. It’s all a matter of playing for time now. Luckily, Steve’s always been good at causing a distraction.

“So, you get a little serum in you and think you can play major league?” he taunts, circling the man. “Why don’t you tell me who you’re working with and maybe I’ll take it easy on you?”

Righting himself, the soldier lunges with a growl, but Steve dances out of reach, slamming his shield into the man’s ribs. He staggers, then pulls himself up, but Steve doesn’t miss the new limp in his gait.

Romanoff and Barton were nearly in place—

“Enough!” A new voice cuts through the fray.

The warehouse stills as everyone turns toward the source. The man with broken glasses stands at the center of it all, a syringe filled with a glowing blue liquid held to the neck of the trembling woman. “I would think very carefully about your next move if I were you.”

Steve’s eyes narrow. Sam’s hands are up, backing away slowly. The woman’s eyes squeeze shut, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Easy now,” Sam says, his voice calm. “No one wants anyone to get hurt.”

The scientist laughs, wrenching the woman’s head back. His eyes lock on Tony. “You’re a smart man, Stark. Why don’t you guess what’s in here? Or better yet—let’s find out together.”

“Tony,” Steve warns, his voice low even as Stark’s suit powers up with a whirr.

“Even think about pulling that stopper, and I’ll blast you to kingdom come.”

“Alright,” Steve says, trying to de-escalate the situation. “You have our attention. Now, what do you want?”

The scientist smirks. “What I want is beyond your comprehension. But I’ll settle for safe passage for me and my…escort.”

His eyes flick to the hulking soldier, who has staggered to his feet.

“Give us the hostage and the vial, and you have a deal,” Steve counters.

“You strike a hard bargain, Captain.” The scientist’s smirk widens. “But negotiation is all about compromise.”

In a flash, he releases the woman, shoving her forward with brutal force. Sam catches her just in time, pulling her to safety. The soldier moves with inhuman speed, grabbing the scientist and bolting up the stairs.

Steve is off in an instant, vaulting over the railing and chasing after them at breakneck speed. Natasha and Barton are right behind him.

They burst onto the roof just as the helicopter’s propellers began to spin. Steve hurls his shield with all his might. It strikes the blades with a screech, wedging itself between them in a shower of sparks.

The scientist stumbles backward, narrowly avoiding the sparks as his bodyguard levels a gun at Steve’s chest.

Before Steve can react, backup arrives. Natasha and Barton flank the soldier as Tony swoops in overhead.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” Stark taunts.

The blades beat relentlessly against the shield, their progress slowing but not stopping. Time is running out.

The scientist seems to realize it too. His grin widens as he holds the vial aloft.

“Barton!” Steve barks as the shield flies free, ricocheting off the brick wall. The soldier hauls the scientist into the helicopter, but not before the vial slips from his grasp, tumbling into the emptiness below.

Stark hesitates for only a moment before diving after it. Steve catches Clint around the waist just as the helicopter breaks free, the cable snapping.

They topple backward as the helicopter becomes a shrinking dot on the horizon. Moments later, Stark reappears, landing a few feet away, holding the vial aloft with a triumphant grin.

“I’ll take my payment in the form of compliments and a really greasy pizza.”

[aqua-v3nus]

— CHAPTER ONE: FORGED IN RIVALRY

word count: 1058

summary: astra and her brother zenith train under thanos’s strict supervision, with thanos favoring astra for her talent while zenith struggles to meet expectations, creating tension between them.

annotation: hi! like other stories this is first gonna tell the childhood and the events that happen before astra meet carol. so please bare with me i promise it will be worth it <3!

content warning: fem!oc, emotional abuse, sibling rivalry, physical strain, parental favoritism.

HEARTS AT WAR MASTERLIST & HEARTS AT WAR TAGLIST

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“Come on, Astra, faster!” Thanos’s voice resonated with a mix of authority and disdain as he watched Astra execute a complex set of moves in the training room.

“Zenith, don’t take this lightly,” Thanos said without looking in his direction. “If you can’t surpass your sister, how do you expect to be a true weapon for our cause?”

“It’s not your fault. Thanos… has his own standards, but that doesn’t define who you are.” Astra said, her heart heavy with understanding.

“You’re doing your best,” Astra assured him, trying to be a pillar of support. “And that’s what matters.”

“What we do here doesn’t define who we are. There are things beyond these walls.” Astra said sincerely, offering comfort to her brother.

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Steve rogers has to go out on a looong mission and as he's fucking your brains out the thought of leaving a part of himself inside you, drives him mad and now he needs to fill you up to the brim, the thought of you all soft and big and round with his baby is all he can think about and umm😩🥵

oh my goodness I might pass out

smut warning!!

“Gonna leave you with a parting gift.”

He rasps it into your ear, sweat slick bodies melded together effortlessly. He’s got you folded in half, his weight pressing you down into the mattress as he licks up your neck, trailing open mouthed kisses across any skin he can reach.

All you can do is whine in response. In this moment, you’d let him do whatever he wanted. Anything.

“If I knock you up now, you should be showing by the time I get back.”

Oh.

Your head lols into the pillow, fingernails drawing blood from Steve’s back as they rake downwards. You want him to stop. You want more. You can’t think.

His hips are relentless, gliding into yours with no signs of stopping. He shoves a hand between your bodies, simultaneously circling your clit with his fingers and using it to anchor you to the bed. Every time your back arches up, he shoves you back down, right where he wants you.

“Gonna come as many times as I physically can,” he grunts into your jaw. “Gives us the best chance.”

He sucks a bruise into your throat as you whimper, hands scrambling for purchase on his broad shoulders.

“Steve.”

“I know, baby. S’good, huh? You’ll make such a perfect mom. Fuck, you’re gonna look so pretty all pregnant and glowing.”

The image throws you over the edge, tightening around him as you both groan.

“That’s it, atta girl. Just keep coming, baby. We’re gonna be here a while.”

[lilyevanstan1325]

🥀 Falling Apart 🥀

Chapter 1

Steve POV

"How are you, honey?" I ask closing my eyes.

"I'm fine"

"The girls?Jay?"

I sigh full of frustration.

"They're fine" she replies while I hear a cry, "Sorry Steve but I have to leave you, Jay has woken up.See you later"

"Yeah, sure.Bye"

"Bye" Lily whispers back and then hangs up.

I remain motionless staring at the phone clutched in my hand.

She didn't even give me time to tell her I'd be back sooner than expected.

I feel a bundle of nerves.

I feel that I could explode at any moment.

"Are you all right, hunk?" Nat asks watching me carefully.

I think about it for a moment.

I could continue lying as I have done for the last month.

I could continue to stick my head in the sand and carefully avoid addressing the problem.

But not today.

Today I feel particularly tired and on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Natasha continues to watch me without saying a word.

Her eyes as green as absinthe continue to bounce between me and the jet controls.

I put my phone in my pocket and then run my hands through my hair, ruffling it over and over.

"No, nothing is all right.I feel like everything is falling apart" I admit with a sigh.

I lean forward placing my elbows on my knees and lowering my head.

I find myself staring at my feet unable to hold the gaze of my friend, my best friend after Bucky.

Natasha and I had a wonderful friendship right from the start.

She helped me a lot.

She has always been able to understand me.

She was my whole world when I thought I no longer had anyone.

After a few more seconds I feel her hand squeeze my shoulder tightly.

"What's going on, Steve?" she asks me softly.

I squeeze my eyes tightly looking for the most suitable words to explain the situation I am experiencing, that Lily and I are experiencing.

I struggle to find the words because I am sure that once I have spoken openly with someone else the problem will become even more real.

We tried to ignore it, hoping it would disappear but over time it is only getting bigger and bigger.

I lift my head up to meet Nat's worried eyes.

"It's a mess at home.Things aren't going well with Lily" I admit feeling both light and defeated as a man.

Natasha sits down again in her place turning completely towards me, her posture is rigid.

My words struck her more than I imagined.

"What happens?Lily hasn't talked to me about anything"

"I think...I think she's ashamed of it.She thinks it's her fault"

The former Russian spy's gaze becomes more and more confused.

"What are you talking about, Steve?" she asks, changing posture and leaning forward, she places her hand on my knee.

His blond bob sways for a few seconds.

"You know you can trust me.Everything you tell me will stay between us"

I move my gaze from her hand to her face.

Her eyes are sweet and they contain all her concern for me.

I swallow empty feeling my chest tighten in a grip of pain.

"I really don't know where to start" I reply nervously, "Lily and I barely talk to each other, mostly we only talk about the children.In the past two weeks, things have gotten worse.By now on the phone she answers in monosyllables"

"Since I have been away on this mission she has never said I love you to me and I know it will sound stupid to you but we did nothing but repeat it and now it's five fucking days that she hasn't told me anymore.I told her but she just answered me with a simple yeah" I add in one breath.

Natasha looks at me sadly.

"How is this possible, Steve?Lily loves you, you have raised four wonderful children togheter.I can't believe that all your love has disappeared"

I stand up.

I feel nervous and I need to move.

I take a few steps back and forth trying to collect my thoughts.

"It'ss not gone.I love her even more than my own life and she too, I'm sure she loves me..."

"But?"

"But she has changed, Nat.Lily is no longer the same.She is so nervous.She...she is convinced that I don't want her like I used to.She is obsessed with the thought that in my eyes she is no longer attractive"

Natasha smiles.

"Why she would ever think that?"

I quickly look away from her eyes and this certainly doesn't go unnoticed.

"Steve, what aren't you telling me?"

Her question makes my heart beat faster.

But now that I have started this conversation I think it is useless to lie further.

"The problem is sex.The lack of sex"

Natasha's gaze hardens at my words.

She looks at me as if she is ready to tear my heart out of my chest and then dance on my corpse.

"Everything I could have thought Steve but not that you were that kind of man!Honestly what exactly do you expect from me?Comfort?Understanding?Jesus Christ, Rogers!What the hell is wrong with you?"

I look at her, blinking totally numb.

"Natasha I don't know what you're thinking but I think you don't understand" I stammer totally taken aback by her aggression.

"Oh no, I understand perfectly well.Listen to me!That woman has only given birth three months ago and if she doesn't feel ready for sex yet, that's okay!You can't..."

"Woah, woah!Slow down, Romanoff!You have completely misunderstood!" I interrupt her sitting down again in front of her and raising my hands in defense.

Her gaze tapers as she looks at me suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" she asks me crossing her arms to her chest.

I scratch the back of my neck feeling completely embarrassed.

Feeling like a complete idiot.

My gaze bounces from one point of the jet to the other.

For my part, I am confused by her question.

"Wait!" Natasha exclaims, "Please Steve, tell me that's not what I think" she adds, placing a hand in front of her mouth as if she is trying to hold back a nervous laugh.

I shrug feeling helpless.

"Steve!Oh, Steve!You can't turn down your fiancee like that.She has recently given birth, her hormones are in turmoil.You know how sensitive she is right now"

She sighs resignedly shaking her head.

We remain silent.

With my gaze lost in the blue of the sky I can feel her eyes burn on my skin.

"Why did you do that?And above all, did you try to explain to her why you did it?"

I shake my head, smiling briefly.

"A month ago Lily went to her gynecologist to check on how postpartum was going.She returned home happy, telling me that she was fine and the doctor told her that she could safely get back to doing...yeah...you know..."

"Sex.Rogers is called sex" Natasha interrupts me, giggling, making fun of me.

I roll my eyes.

"And what happened then?" my friend asks, in her eyes there is no malice but only a real interest for my problems.

"That evening, once we put all the children to bed, she started kissing me with the clear intention of having sex but I stopped her.I told her there was no rush, we could wait.Since that time it has been the decline.She accused me of no longer being attracted to her, that I rejected her because I find her fat" I spit angrily.

I hated every single word that came out of her mouth that night.

The accusations she made against me, besides being ridiculous, have offended me.

Does she really think I'm so superficial?

"But for you it's not like that"

"Of course it's not like that, Nat!I am crazy about her.Her body is perfect for me.She is perfect"

I don't think I could ever think otherwise.

It's true that her body has become softer, her hips are more generous and her breasts more florid but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing for me.

"And did you explain this to her?" Natasha continues with her questions.

A corner of my lips rises in a bitter smile.

"Obviously...but she has heard no reason.She kept yelling at me and coming up with inappropriate arguments"

Maybe that's what hurt me the most.

Her lack of faith in my feelings.

After four children and a marriage proposal she can't really think what she told me.

"Inappropriate?" repeats Nat.

"Yes, inappropriate.She came up with nonsense about Peggy"

"Peggy Carter?"

"Mmh mmh.She said that I am not satisfied with her and that she is just a replacement.It's just absurd that Lily could have thought such a thing" I mutter feeling the anger build up inside me.

Peggy was a very important person to me.

She believed in me when I didn't even believe in me yet.

It's true, there was a time when I thought she was the love of my life but all that before I met Lily.

After catching her gaze on that New York sidewalk, I realized how much I overestimated my feelings for Peggy.

"Peggy was my first love it's true.But Lily is the love of my life.She is the only one I want.And I can swear it on my kids that if Peggy were here I would still choose Lily, I will always choose her" I whisper with a lump in my throat.

I love Lily with every fiber of my being and I feel dying at the idea that she is slipping away through my fingers.

Natasha looks into my eyes intensely, from her gaze I understand that there is something she is not telling me.

"What?" I ask suspiciously.

Natasha continues to hold my gaze as she speaks.

"This has always been her biggest fear.Do you remember the first Christmas you spent together?That evening as we were getting ready, she confided something to me?"

I nod.

I remember that evening.

I remember it perfectly.

That night we made love for the first time.

That night I felt the most beautiful emotions of my life.

"That night she confided to me that she was afraid you didn't love her as much as Peggy.That she would always come second in your life.I was convinced you solved it, that she told you about it but she apparently never did" Natasha continues.

"Yeah...she didn't do it" I reply disconsolately.

We both sigh.

"I know it's my fault.Since James was born I have almost always been away for work.I abandoned her, I left her alone to deal with three girls and a newborn..."

"My priority should be my family.My woman.My children" I interrupt her abruptly but she smiles.

"Steve" Natasha stops me immediately placing her hand on my knee again, "Steve you haven't abandoned her.This is your job and she has always been proud of your being Captain America.Your priority..."

"But they are Steve, doing your job you make the world a safer place.Your priority is to make the world a better place for your family to live.You do it for them, don't forget it"

I know.

And that's why I haven't given up on everything yet.

Doing my job I try to make this world a better place, because I want my family to be safe.

"Listen to me, I don't question your good intentions Rogers.I know perfectly well that you are a good man.I know how much you love that woman and that you would do anything for her but you have to try to understand her...in six years she has had three pregnancies and four children.Her nerves are in pieces.Even though you have always been a wonderful father and a present fiance, she is the one under the most stress.The children are little and mostly depend on her and even though we have always been close to her, it doesn't have to be easy for her"

Natasha is right.

Her life was turned upside down by many events.

A man who took her mother away from her forever.

She lived for ten years in submission at the mercy of a mad man whom she believed to be her father, a father that almost destroyed her, who almost killed her.

A smile appears on my lips.

But Lily has always been stronger than she could ever imagine.

She defied space and time for me, she defied death to save me.

She defied death to give Sarah her life.

Lily gave me everything I ever wanted in life.

And how am I repaying her?

I am the first to die of desire for her and yet that evening of a month ago I rejected her because I naively thought I was doing her good.

Instead I didn't understand that she was just looking for confirmation and certainties from me.

I shake my head embittered.

"Damn, Nat!What if I ruined everything?"

Natasha next to me laughs throwing her head back.

"Don't bullshit, Rogers" she replies, continuing to laugh and turning to the jet control panel.

"Listen to me, tomorrow James and I will take the kids with us so you and Lily can have a nice evening together and maybe even a good night of wild sex"

I watch her as she disengages the autopilot and resumes the controls of it.

Nat winks in my direction making me blush slightly.

"I'm serious, Steve.You need some time for yourselves to find yourselves.To rediscover why you fell in love" she adds softly.

"Thanks, Nat" I murmur grabbing her hand and squeezing it hard.

Natasha smiles at me and then makes the jet land very gently on the Compound landing strip.

Now I just have to make a stop before returning to my house and groped to be forgiven by my fiancée.

When I reach the porch of our house the sun is about to set.

The white facade of the house is illuminated by the last rays of the sun and the sky shines with that wonderful orange-red hue.

I open the front door and the first thing that strikes me is the silence.

In our house, silence is a rare thing.

Especially since the twins were born.

I walk straight towards the kitchen but the room is empty.

I feel the panic rising up my gut.

Where are the girls?

And Jay?

Where is Lily?

For a moment, just for a moment, a terrible thought comes into my mind.

What if Lily decided to leave me and take our children with her?

I shake my head trying to push these absurd thoughts away.

Lily would never do that to me.

I feel like an idiot just for thinking about it.

I take off my jacket leaving it on the kitchen counter and with a brisk pace I go upstairs to Sarah's room.

It's empty.

I step into that of the twins.

This is also empty.

With my heart pounding furiously in my chest I approach our bedroom, the door is open and the image that appears in front of me warms my heart.

Lily is sitting on the wicker rocking chair in front of the large window.

Squeezed in her arms there is my little James.

Lily gently rocks herself, humming a tender lullaby.

Jay looks at her almost entranced.

The sunset light hits them, creating bewitching plays of light, giving the scene an ethereal beauty.

The sweetness enclosed in this image only reminds me how special this woman is.

Fantastic.

Lily is a wonderful mother, a caring and loving fiancee.

She still hasn't noticed my presence, too intent on pouring all her attention on Jay.

I leans against the threshold to observe her, totally enraptured.

After a few minutes her eyes lift up and she finally becomes aware of my presence.

"Hi" she whispers smiling softly.

God, how much I have missed her!

Her gaze lingers on what I hold in my hands and her cheeks are colored with a delicious shade of red.

I still love having the power to embarrass her after all these years.

"Are those for me?" she asks, returning her gaze to mine.

I rock in place slightly embarrassed.

The weight of the words we said to each other, that we shouted at each other, weighs on my heart.

"Yeah.I know how much you like sunflowers" I whisper as I approach her and place the large bunch of sunflowers in the vase on the dresser next to me.

Lily turns her head to the sunflowers.

"Thank you.They're beautiful" she murmurs.

"Where are the girls?" I ask as I get closer to her.

Lily smiles.

"They are at the Compound with Pepper.They're having their first sleepover tonight.Morgan and Peter were so excited I couldn't say no to them"

I reach down to her and pull Jay from her arms.

She lays him gently in my arms and sits watching me.

I shift my gaze to my baby's.

His eyes, blue just like mine, are watching me.

I lean towards him kissing his mop of black curls.

I take a deep breath of his sublime perfume, that perfume that only newborns have.

I sit on the edge of the bed and turn my attention back to my fiancée.

I observe her carefully.

She is wearing black leggings and one of my old t-shirts.

Her hair is pulled back into a messy bun and deep dark circles surround her gorgeous black eyes.

"I'm sorry" I whisper feeling small and insignificant.

Only now I am realizing how exhausting her days are.

Lily looks down without saying anything.

I rock Jay gently for another couple of minutes until his eyelids begin to flicker and after an adorable yawn he falls asleep.

I get up from bed continuing to rock him and paying the utmost attention I place him in his crib.

I cover him with a sheet and kiss his forehead.

"I love you, my little one" I whisper, stroking his little head.

I take a deep breath and walk up to Lily.

I kneel at her feet, grabbing her hands in mine.

"Sorry.Sorry if I wasn't here with you, here to help you"

Lily shakes her head.

"It's your job, Steve"

"That doesn't mean I don't feel guilty for often leaving you alone with four children" I whisper to her and then kiss the back of her hand.

Very slowly I approach her and rest my head on her lap.

After a few moments of hesitation, Lily begins to stroke my hair.

"I love you, Steve"

And at her words I return to breathe.

I lift my head bringing my gaze into hers, her little hand from my hair moves to my cheek and I rock in her touch.

Lily smiles leaning towards me until her lips are on mine.

It's a short kiss.

Full of whispered apologies.

Sweet but full of unspoken words.

"I love you too, honey" I reply.

I stand up and offer her my hand.

She looks at me curiously but without asking questions she grabs my hand and I help her to get up.

Once on her feet I draw her towards me locking her in my embrace.

My arms wrap her shoulders and she with a great sigh buries her face in my chest while her hands cling tightly to the fabric of my shirt.

We remain embraced wrapped in silence but after a few moments a small sob escapes from Lily's lips, immediately followed by another.

"Don't cry my babygirl.What happens?" I whisper in her ear.

I feel so helpless in front of her pain that I want to scream.

"I took my last shower three days ago" she whimpers against my chest.

I continue to hold her tight while I massage her back with one of my hands.

It sounds like an insignificant statement but to my ears it rings like a cry for help.

"It's alright Lily, it's alright" I try to reassure her.

I feel her sniff.

"I'm sorry to react like this, it's just that I feel a bit stressed"

"I know honey but now you don't have to worry anymore.I asked Fury for some free time.I promise you I'll be more present now" I whisper to her.

At my words Lily moves away from my chest showing me her red and shiny eyes.

I shak my head with a smile.

"But you love your job" she replies, almost shocked by the idea that I might want to take a break from it, "You love being Captain America, Steve"

"But I love you more.And our children" I reply simply by shrugging my shoulders.

Lily stands on tiptoe and kisses me, this time with a little more audacity.

Her tongue slides over my lips, a sweet invitation that I am unable to resist.

My hands wrap her face while giving more strength to our kiss I push her to tilt her head back.

A soft moan escapes her lips.

And for me it is heaven.

"How about we take this shower together?" I whisper sensually, sliding my lips along her neck and sucking her soft skin.

Lily just moans.

"Jay?"

"Jay is sleeping.And we'll be in the room next door" I keep murmuring with my lips on her skin.

She seems to hesitate a moment but then her hands sink into my hair and another moan escapes from her lips.

This is definitely a sign of surrender.

So continuing to kiss her I lift her into my arms making her legs wrap around my waist.

We resume kissing like two lovebirds and with a sure-footed step I walk towards the bathroom door in our room.

It is a small bathroom, equipped only with the necessary and a small shower.

Exactly everything I need right now.

Before crossing the threshold of the door Lily breaks away from my lips reaching out her arm towards my shoulders.

"Get the baby monitor" she whispers softly to avoid waking the baby.

I giggle rolling my eyes.

"Lily is not needed, we are a few steps from him"

"Please.Just for safety"

"Ok ok.You win" I mumble going back and grabbing the baby monitor with one hand, then I head back to the bathroom.

I put the little monitor on the sink and without even bothering to take off our clothes, with Lily still in my arms, I sling under the shower opening the water.

Lily giggles in amusement.

I put her down making sure she's steady on her feet and then go hungry on her lips.

Lily POV

Steve grabs the edges of my now soaked t-shirt and making me lift my arms he pulls it from my head.

I'm not wearing anything under it and his gaze lights up as if he had seen a mirror of water after days without drinking.

His eyes sparkle with hunger.

A hunger that I hadn't seen in him for a while.

The same hunger that grips my bowels.

He throws himself with arrogance on my sensitive breasts due to breastfeeding, making me jump with a sweet pleasure mixed with pain.

His soft lips wrap around a nipple and his sweet tongue licks it slowly.

I automatically arch my back, digging my hands into his soaked hair.

I moan trying to keep my voice low.

I don't want the baby to wake up.

But I don't want it for a completely selfish reason...

I don't want to interrupt this moment.

I don't want Steve to stop.

I know we have to talk and face what has happened in the last month but now I don't want to.

Now I just want to enjoy the feeling of his hands on my body.

Of his tongue on my body.

A shiver runs through me when his hands move on my hips and with a single movement he takes off my leggings and panties.

Leaving me totally naked under his eager and hungry gaze.

On the contrary, he is still fully dressed.

"You have a little too many clothes on for my tastes, Captain" I whisper sensually with a hint of disappointment in my voice.

I watch him as he kneels at my feet and very slowly grabs my right thigh and places it on his shoulder.

His crystalline gaze burns in mine.

"There will be time for that too.Now let your daddy take care of you.I've neglected you for so long that I can't forgive myself.Let me make amends" he whispers, moving his face closer and closer to my core.

I can feel his warm breath between my thighs and this is enough for me to go into ecstasy.

Steve sinks his face into my body and his tongue freaks me out.

He licks me slowly, long hot laps that make my legs tremble.

Then his mouth lingers on my clit, he gently squeezes it between his lips and then begins to sucks.

I gasp desperately in pleasure, my hands wander everywhere.

In his hair, on his shoulders, looking for a foothold to remain standing.

"I missed you so much" I gasp in spasms of pure pleasure.

Steve brings a hand between my legs and while his tongue takes care of the clit worshiping it, his fingers explore.

I feel them slide easily inside me and then move it in that way that I love so much.

My breathing quickens and the moans become more and more uncontrolled.

My hips move to meet the thrust of Steve's hand.

"Cum for me, my babygirl" Steve gasps on my sex giving me goosebumps.

I grab his hair between my closed fists and pulling them lightly I cum murmuring his name like a sweet litany.

Steve remains on his knees continuing to stimulate me until I feel my legs give way.

At that point he stands up and pressing his hard and firm body against mine he pushes me impetuously against the shower tiles, kissing me almost angrily.

His tongue enters my mouth overwhelmingly grabbing and plundering everything in its path.

Everything around us is a cloud of steam, the hot water continues to flow over our heads, washing away the last residues of anxieties and worries.

My impatient hands grab his shirt now soaked in water and with fingers trembling with pleasure they unbutton the first buttons but Steve seems impatient so without caring about anything he grabs the two ends and pulls them making the buttons pop.

"You know I will not mend it" I tease him while with my fingers I trace the sensual lines of his abdominal muscles where the drops of water chase each other eager to travel every inch of that body that seems to be carved in marble.

A hiss escapes Steve's lips as my fingers travel through that wonderful and sensual V and plunge into his pants, brushing his rock-hard erection that throbs anxiously to rejoin my body.

"I don't give a shit!" he whispers as he unbuttons his pants with impatient hands, lowering them down his muscular thighs.

"Language" I scold him, snatching a smile from him.

"In these cases I'm not a bigoted, my babygirl" he murmurs while with a last gesture he takes off his boxers, letting them fall at his feet.

"Oh in that case...why you don't fuck me right now, daddy?" I murmur blinking languidly as I wrap my fingers around his warm erection.

A cavernous growl resounds in his chest and grabbing my arms he spins me around until my back is facing him.

"Anything you want" he whispers in my ear grabbing my buttocks in his hands and penetrating me.

And despite the passion and the heat of the moment he does it softly, aware that it is the first time we have had sex since I gave birth to Jay.

My hands try to find a grip on the tiles made slippery by the water.

I moan slightly in pain trying to relax as much as possible to allow my body to get used to his sweet intrusion again.

"Are you okay, honey?" Steve asks me wrapping an arm around my waist while with the other hand he pushes my wet hair away from my face.

I nod unable to speak.

Everything is so painfully perfect that words struggle to find the way.

Steve kisses me leaning my head back and slowly begins to move inside my body.

His full length slides in and out of my pussy as his arm around my waist continues to help keep me on my feet.

His free hand goes down and teases my clit.

Steve panting nonstop in my ear sending bursts of pure pleasure all over my body.

My hands cling to the sides of his thighs, clawing at the flesh with my nails.

The hand that was immersed between my thighs goes up my stomach, touches my breasts as he passes by and then rests on my neck.

His strong, calloused fingers wrap perfectly around it, squeezing just enough to make another disarming orgasm overwhelm me, shaking every particle of my body.

Steve's grunts become more intense and stiffening from the pleasure I feel him cum inside me.

We stay still so letting our hearts resume beating at a normal pace.

I turn around in his arms, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

"I missed you" I whisper on his lips.

"I missed you too"

We smile at each other but then a thought hits me with all the weight of it.

"Jay!" I exclaim in fear, poking my head out of the shower stall, looking at the baby monitor.

I was so taken with pleasure that I completely forgot about my little baby.

"Don't worry, Lily.He is sleeping.Look" Steve whispers reaching out and grabbing the baby monitor to bring it closer to my face.

On the small screen I see my little one sleeping blissfully.

I take a breath and relax, my heart begins to slow its furious rush.

Steve smiles at me and grabbing the shampoo he starts washing my hair.

We soap each other while continuing to steal kisses and caresses.

Words of love and moans are lost in the air evaporating around us.

Once we are dry and dressed, we go back to the bedroom.

The room is now plunged into darkness, the sun has set, and the only light on the room comes from a lamp.

Steve lies down on the bed but before I can reach him a little cry attracts the attention of both of us.

"I think someone is hungry" Steve chuckles as he leans his back against the headboard and crosses his arms across his chest.

His usually always perfectly combed blonde hair falls softly around his face.

His gaze seems much more relaxed than he has been in the last month.

And now I feel much better too.

I smile and approaching the crib I grab Jay and then go and sit on the bed next to Steve.

I lift my shirt allowing Jay to position himself comfortably in my arms and he eagerly latches onto my breasts.

Jay begins to feed from my breast while with his beautiful eyes he continues to observe me and his father who has moved and placed himself right next to us.

I shake my head, sighing in amusement.

"What's up?" Steve asks with a half smile.

"I was thinking that out of four children all four have your eyes.I find it unfair" I complain pretending to pout.

Pout that Steve never misses an opportunity to kiss making me laugh.

"Maybe the next one will have your eyes" he shrugs with indifference.

I glare at him with my gaze making him burst out laughing.

"I can't find anything funny in it, Captain Asshole!" I answer seriously and then let myself be infected by his joy.

I smile too, rolling my eyes.

We remain silent until Steve's voice brings me back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Lily.I'm sorry my actions led you to think those things" he murmurs.

I shake my head at his words.

"What?"

"You don't have to apologize, Steve.It's my fault.I'm sorry I accused you of those things"

We remain silent again.

Steve speaks again but this time he does it looking straight ahead.

"You're sorry but deep down you really think so, don't you?"

I think about it and wonder if I should continue lying or finally face my fears.

"Yes"

Steve sighs and then turns to me.

"I love you, Lily.Not Peggy.It's you the woman I want"

I feel comforted by his words but something inside of me hesitates in fear and this is not unnoticed to Steve.

"Listen to me" he whispers, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"Peggy was the first person I loved in a romantic way.You are the first and the only one I can say that I have truly fallen in love with.The moment my gaze landed on you for the first time, I knew I would never have a chance.I told myself that if I didn't try to get to know you, I would regret it for all my life.You are the only one.And you will always be" he adds, placing his lips on my forehead.

I close my eyes and let out a shaking sigh.

"I love you, Steve" I whisper, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I love you too" he answers me softly.

Jay has meanwhile finished and yawning snuggles against my chest falling asleep almost immediately.

Steve offers to put him back in his crib and once he's done he come back to bed.

And wrapped in his arms I spend the next few hours chatting about everything and nothing.

As we have not done for some time.

We chat until sleep envelops us in his sweet mantle.

An annoying noise awakens me from my state of bliss.

The sun rushes into the room illuminating the crib where Jay is still sleeping.

I try to sit up and blink frantically to get used to the daylight.

That annoying noise continues to vibrate in my ears and apparently also in Jay's as he nervously turns his little head from side to side as if he were trying to chase this ugly noise away.

I turn to the night stand and realize that that unpleasant sound is coming from there.

It's my phone ringing.

"What happens?" asks Steve's sleepy voice behind me.

I turn to him, checking my phone's display.

"It's my father" I yawned in confusion as I accepted the call.

"Hello?" I ask trying to get up because Jay has started to cry.

But Steve is faster than me, he gets up and with two big strides approaches the crib taking the baby in his arms.

Then he comes and sits next to me.

"Lily, you must come to the Sanctuary.Immediately"

My father's voice sounds alarmed.

"What's going on dad?"

"Is Steve with you?" he asks me without answering my question.

"Yes, he is here.Dad, you're scaring me.What happens?The girls?" my voice dies in my throat.

Maybe something has happened to the girls and my father doesn't know how to tell me?

At my question Steve stiffens.

His body is a bundle of nerves even though his grip on Jay continues to be as delicate as the wings of a butterfly.

"The girls are with Pepper but you and Steve need to come here right away!Move!"

So saying he hangs up without giving me the opportunity to ask further questions.

I stand up almost dazed, I feel confused.

Steve watches me closely.

"What's going on, honey?" he asks me while I'm already with my head in the closet looking for something to wear.

I pull out jeans and a simple white shirt.

"I...I don't know.My father looked really scared.I don't know!It's not like him...he just told me he wants both of us to be at the Sanctuary.Immediately" I exclaim while in the meantime I have already dressed.

I run to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I look in the mirror and a shiver runs down my spine.

There is something wrong.

Something horrible is about to happen.

I feel that.

I quickly get out of the bathroom and grabbing a bag I fill it with everything Jay needs, then I take the baby from Steve's arms and place him on the bed I begin to change him.

"Hurry up, Steve!Get dressed!I will open a portal to the Sanctuary" I exclaim without looking at him as I dress my child with automatic gestures and my heart swollen with fear.

I feel the tears rise to my eyes but I push them back strongly.

After all, I should have expected it.

I am a Guardian.

And now something is coming to threaten our peace.

I have decided to share my life with Captain America.

With the Avangers.

I should be ready but I'm not really.

"Lily?Lily, honey can you hear me?" Steve's voice brings me back to reality.

I shake my head trying to get all my cool back.

"Hold the baby" I murmur and then open a portal right in front of our eyes.

Blue sparks crackle all around us as we cross it and in a moment we are in front of the large wooden staircase of the Sanctuary.

Staircase that is currently destroyed, as if something had rained down from above and had shattered it.

I look up and realize that much of the ceiling is also destroyed.

What the hell is going on?

The portal closes behind me and the first thing I notice is Tony's shocked face.

What the hell is Tony Stark doing in my father's house at 10 on Sunday morning?

"What happens?" I ask, looking around in search of my father.

I find him next to Steve, he's taking his grandson in his arms.

And in that moment I notice them.

Two men in front of the staircase.

They are both very tall but have two completely different physicalities.

One of them is blond with long hair that falls over his shoulders and two eyes as blue as the sea.

His body is made up of a mass of muscle and strength.

His gaze looks good but there is something in his eyes that leaves me breathless.

A pain so palpable that it leaves me stunned.

The man next to him has a much slimmer build, has long black hair and eyes so green that they seem unnatural.

His austere and haughty gaze only observes me from the moment I set foot in the Sanctuary.

I think I know who they are.

Steve and the others told me about them.

"Thor!" Steve exclaims turning to the blond man and approaching him, the two men hugs.

Then Steve's gaze moves for a moment to the other man, looking at him with suspicion.

Everything lasts a few moments then his attention is completely refocused on Thor.

"My friend.I bring horrible news.I'm sorry"

And with that Thor sets his gaze on me.

I honestly feel totally unprepared for this.

I cross my arms across my chest, preventing panic from taking hold of me.

"What the hell is going on?"

My father looks at me continuing to hold Jay to his chest but doesn't answer me, it is Thor who does it.

"A lethal threat is upon your world.Thanos is coming here to get hold of the last three Infinity Stones" he murmurs in his dark voice.

My arms drop lifeless along my body.

"What are you saying, Thor?" Steve asks.

In his eyes I can see all the despair that Thor's words imply.

Someone is coming to get the Stones.

This means that my life and my father's are in danger.

"He's saying Thanos is a fool.And he will exterminate all your people to take possession of the Stones" replies the man with the emerald eyes.

I feel the chill invade my heart.

"Loki is right" adds Thor with his big teary eyes, "He exterminated all my people, Captain.Asgard no longer exists.My brother Loki and I are all that's left of it"

"What Stones do he owns?" I ask in a cold tone.

"He is in possession of the Soul Stone, Reality Stone and Power Stone.Already like this he is the most powerful creature in the universe" my father replies, turning to me for the first time since I arrived.

In his eyes there is all the pain of a father.

"If he could get his hands on all six Stones he could destroy life to an extent unimaginable to date" adds Loki.

Tony gets up nervously from his chair and starts pacing back and forth nervously.

He looks like he's about to say something but his phone rings.

He grabs it by responding promptly.

"Rhodey?What happens?" asks the millionaire in a worried voice.

He nods a couple of times while remaining silent.

"Ok ok.Hold on" he exclaims, hanging up.

"What happens?" I ask.

God today I seem to be a broken record.

"Barton just showed up at the Compound, with him are Wanda and Vision.Vision is seriously injured.Apparently Thanos' men found him but they managed to escape"

I try to listen to what Tony says but in my head only his first words ring out.

Barton just showed up at the compound.

At the Compound where my girls are at the moment.

"Steve!" I whimper agitatedly.

He immediately approaches my side, the curious gazes of the two Asgardian brothers follow his every movement.

Steve wraps his big hands around my face.

"The girls are at the Compound" I whisper full of terror.

This Thanos and his men seem cruel and unstoppable.

What if they break into the Avengers headquarters?

Steve's anguished gaze is the mirror of mine, he too is thinking the same thing.

He bends down to kiss my forehead.

Tony approaches us.

"Captain, you better go to the Compound.Natasha and the others need you.Take Jay with you, once you get there Pepper will take all the children to a safe place" murmurs Tony equally terrified.

His children are also there.

Paul, the son of Sam and Layla, is also there.

Steve shakes his head letting go of my face.

"I will not leave you!" he exclaims with conviction.

I smile sadly as I approach him who in the meantime has moved away from me reaching Thor's side.

"Listen to me, babe!Here, there is nothing you can do"

"Here I have you to protect" he interrupts me.

I smile with my heart swollen with love for this wonderful man.

"I can take care of myself Rogers, have you forgotten that?" I tease him but he doesn't let himself be provoked.

He doesn't smile.

Infinite emotions pass on his face.

Anger, fear, torment, wrath.

I get a little closer and grab his hands.

"Take Jay with you.Keep the children safe.I will arrive as soon as possible.I promise you" I whisper, hating me with all of myself.

I'm making him a promise that I know is going to be really hard to keep.

And he knows it too.

"Take care of our children.Tell them mama loves them" I murmur in a tearful voice.

Steve wraps me in his arms, squeezing me against his body.

His trembling hands caress every part of my face.

"This is not a goodbye" he hisses in anger and then kisses me wildly, ignoring all eyes on us.

When he lets me go, I reach my father.

"Give me the baby, dad" I whisper.

My dad hugs Jay and kisses his head.

"See you soon, my sweet boy" he whispers, laying him in my arms.

I take a moment to impress the scent of my baby in my memory.

I feel the tears push against my eyes at the thought that I may never see him again.

At the thought that I can't hug Sarah, Sophia and Natalia to say them goodbye.

"I love you, James.I love you so much.I do it for you and your sisters.I hope someday you'll understand me, my choices" I whisper in his ear as I approach Steve.

Steve takes the baby from my arms and my father opens a portal for him.

I thank him with a sad look, at the moment I'm so out of my mind that I don't know if I would have succeeded.

"I love you, Elisabeth.Come back to us" my wonderful fiance pleads me.

I nod.

"I love you too, Captain" I whisper.

The portal closes again, depriving me of their sight.

A trembling sigh leaves my lips.

"It's going to be okay, little Strange" Tony whispers at my side.

"I hope so" I reply devoid of any emotion.

Thor continues to observe me, his undeterred gaze begins to tire me so I begin to stare at him in turn raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know that Captain Rogers had a family with the Guardian of the Space Stone.How many children do you have?" he asks me.

I think back to my beautiful family and a big smile spreads on my lips.

"Four" I murmur feeling a lump tighten my throat.

But now is not the time to bask in pain.

Now we need to find a plan to follow.

I turn to my father who has already regained all his composure.

His gaze is serious and lucid now.

"How long do we have?" I ask him.

Thor seems to want to answer but Loki silences him with a wave of his hand.

All our eyes are now on him.

Loki ignores us and approaches the large entrance door.

From its glass we see people running in despair, screams of pure panic echo in the street.

My feet seem to move on their own, I pass by Loki opening the door in front of me.

I go out into the street and the scene that appears in front of me is surreal.

There are people who scream and run away.

At a brisk pace I head towards the point from which all these citizens are fleeing.

It's panic out here.

A woman falls at my feet, I bend down to help her and while I help her to get back on her feet a car swerves and crashes into a light pole just a few steps away from us.

The screams of people are getting louder and more frightening.

"You better hide your Stones" Stark yells behind me.

"Or maybe we will have to use them" murmurs my father who joined me.

We both prepare for the fight.

Thor and Loki are behind us.

They too seem ready to fight.

Turning the corner, we all stop suddenly and remain speechless.

Up in the sky, a kind of spaceship is approaching, remaining suspended a few hundred meters above the ground.

All five of us approach cautiously when suddenly a ray of blue light hits the ground and two strange figures appear from it.

One is more than 7 feet, is huge and he holds a kind of extremely creepy ax in its hands.

The other is much lower.

He doesn't look as scary as his friend but something makes me say that he is much more powerful.

They look humanoid but they're face have something that reminds me of mollusks.

Their skin is gray and their black eyes seem devoid of any depth.

"Hear me and rejoice.You are about to die at the hands of Thanos' children.Be grateful that your insignificant lives now contribute to the balance..."

"I'm sorry but the Earth is closed today!You better pack your bags and leave" exclaims Tony interrupting the ranting of this strange being.

The monster looks at Tony with a sort of contempt in his gaze and ignoring his words turns his attention to me and my father.

"Guardians of Stones.Does this talkative animal speak for you?" he asks almost annoyed that he has been interrupted.

I take a few steps forward sliding my power through my hands.

Blue sparks wrap around them going up my arms.

"You have boundless both in this city and in this planet!" I scream.

"It means go away, Squiddy!" Stark adds disgusted.

Behind me my father projects his magic into his hands as he prepares for the fight.

Thor holds a large hammer in his hands while Loki whirls some knives in the air.

Tony by my side gives me a wink and after a moment the Iron Man armor is all around his body.

The disgusting aliens in front of us doesn't seem to be making a move.

He just sighs and turning to the monster to his right murmurs "All this wears me out.Bring me the Stones"

And at his words that monster of more than 7 feet begins to inexorably advance towards us.

But if until a few minutes ago I felt scared and unprepared now it is no longer the case.

I feel charged with a new strength.

If I want to keep the people I love safe, I have to fight with all my strength and abilities.

And now here we are.

The fight is about to begin and I will not allow anyone to harm my children, my Captain, my friends, my family.

I will fight.

Thanos will regret attacking Earth.

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