#Everleigh Maria Stark

[braveclementine]

What Do You Mean 'I Have To Stay?'

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Remember," Elizabeth listened as Bruce informed Steve, "You'll have to return the stones to the exact moment they were taken. Otherwise, we're still looking at a whole bunch of nasty alternative realities."

"Don't worry Bruce. Clip all the branches." Steve said, flipping the case down. Sam was standing beside him. Elizabeth and Bucky stood just a little further back.

"You know, if you want. I could come with you." Sam offered as the two walked away from Bruce.

Elizabeth felt irritated with the brace her arm was in. And also self conscious of the way the burns were on her face. Bruce had cleaned up much easier than she had. Her arm still hurt, but she was staying quiet about it.

"You're a good man Sam. This one's on me, though."

Bucky was holding Rose in his arms. Astrid and Halfdan were sitting on the benches nearby, holding the rest of the kids, though Sage and Delilah were in baby carriages. Bucky drew Steve aside, and Elizabeth pretended she wasn't listening. "Steve. . . are you. . . are you going back for Peg-"

"No." Steve murmured. "My family is here Buck. Not with Peggy."

Steve kissed Bucky's cheek and Elizabeth pretended that she hadn't heard. Steve smiled lovingly at her. "You gonna be a good girl till I get back Princess?"

"Don't tease." Elizabeth pouted up at him as he cupped her goo cheek. "I can't even have sex yet till the arm heals up."

Steve smirked, kissing her good cheek, and then the corner of her lips, then turned back to Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid till I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Bucky smirked, leaning forwards to kiss him on the lips, before lifting Rose a little higher on his hip. Then Steve stepped up onto the platform, which also contained Thor's hammer.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sam asked as Elizabeth watched Steve get into his white uniform.

"Still looks hot." She called out with a laugh. He glared at her.

"Don't tease. . . kitten. That ass'll be red when I get back." Steve smirked.

Bucky chuckled as she whimpered and pouted, "What have you done to that innocent cinnamon roll doll?"

"I think that's your fault." Elizabeth muttered. "He was like that when I bought him."

Steve glared at the both of them, "I can hear both of you."

"That's the point." They said together as Tony and Y/N walked up the hill, hand in hand. Everleigh and Morgan walked after them, Tony was holding Arlo in his arms.

Steve just shook his head, pointing a finger at them, "You're both trouble."

"Spank him first." Elizabeth pointed at Bucky. Bucky glanced at her. "Oh doll. . ."

Bruce sent Steve back before any more banter could happen.

"Hey." Tony said calmly and Elizabeth glanced over. "Let me check the arm."

"Now?" Elizabeth pouted again. She'd avoided the appointment for this reason.

"You skipped the appointment." Tony said. "Give."

Elizabeth sighed, turning and winced as Tony checked it. Tony gave her a knowing look, "Elizabeth. . ."

"More time." Elizabeth muttered, "Please?"

"The cells are not regenerating tissue." Tony said under his breath. "Elizabeth if you keep your arm like this, it's going to get infected and amputation will be necessary, perhaps higher up than it is now. I'm trying to keep you alive."

"I know." Elizabeth said sadly as Steve was returned by Bruce. She was also conscious that Bucky was listening in to everything she was saying. "I just wanted to keep my arm a little longer."

"I know. It's not like I'm looking forward to amputating you." Tony said. "Well, Shuri at any rate. T'Challa said they're creating a vibranium arm for you."

"Okay." Elizabeth nodded. "When?"

Steve walked down, the time travel version of his suit coming off. "This weekend." Tony murmured.

"Hey." Steve greeted them, touching the top of Elizabeth's head. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting things scheduled with Elizabeth on her arm." Tony said.

Steve glanced down at her and she went red, "Um, surgery."

"What-"

Suddenly, there was a strange noise behind them and they all turned to see something sort of. . . golden door being opened? Four strange looking guards in black came out. They looked almost like military personnel.

"Appears to be a standard sequence violation." The man in the front said, looking down at some sort of box while the rest just stared at him. "Branch is growing at a stable rate and slope. Variant identified."

"I beg your pardon?" Sam and Tony asked at the same time.

"On the behalf of variant authority I hereby arrest you for crimes against the sacred timeline. Hands up." The other three guards immediately charged their weapons in their hands.

Tony immediately stood in front of Y/N and his kids while Steve and Bucky closed in on Elizabeth. Sam went in front of the rest of the kids and Bruce slowly inched his way around to join them.

"Who?" Tony demanded.

The man looked at Steve. "Him."

"He didn't do anything." Elizabeth said, panicking.

"Last chance, variant."

"What did I do?" Steve asked, bewildered, slowly raising his hands.

"You have broken the time code by coming back to early from the past. You were supposed to stay in the past with Margaret Carter." The man said, approaching Steve.

"What do you mean 'I have to stay?' NO!." Steve said angrily, lowering his hands immediately for his shield. "You don't get to say where I go or who I'm with. I'm with my soulmate and wife and children. Nothing will change that."

The weapons buzzed then. Tony was now in his Iron Man suit, blasters off. Bucky had a knife in one hand, holding Rose in the other. Elizabeth called up a ball of turquoise energy. Y/N had a pistol in her hands as she body blocked her daughters- having been very taken with Morgan as well. 

They grabbed Steve's arms, trying to wrestle him to the ground.

"Leave him alone." Elizabeth snapped, twisting her body to the side, one leg up as she kicked him in the chin, sending him sprawling backwards. One of the guards grabbed her bad arm and she screamed, feeling her vision go black in pain. Next thing she knew she was on the ground, vision dotty.

"Leave her alone." Steve growled, tossing the guard that had gotten him pinned a little, shoving the guard that was on Elizabeth off. "Princess?"

"Doll?" Bucky asked in worry.

She was dazed though, black spots dancing across her vision. "Shit." She heard Tony said. "Her arm is bleeding." It felt like her arm was tearing. "Shit, some of the skins' torn! Guard me Cap."

She hissed in pain, feeling the ice freeze Tony put on it before hands were helping her sit up. She blinked several times, seeing Y/N holding Rose now. Bucky had one of the weapons in his hands, guarding her, Steve, and Tony.

Elizabeth struggled to her feet, leaning heavily into Steve as more guards poured out of the thing.

They started to surround everyone, or try too. Elizabeth couldn't see how they were fighting their way out of this one.

"Hold up!" A voice that shocked Elizabeth out of her magic rang out. She watched as Loki and a man in a brown suit came through. The man in the brown suit held up a hand. "This isn't a variant."

Elizabeth could feel her body shaking and she slowly took a few steps forward, "L-Loki?"

This wasn't like she had gone back in time. The Loki in front of her looked younger though. . . was he. . . she didn't understand.

"Hello pet." Loki smirked and the man in the brown suit nudged him, giving him a look.

"There was a miscalculation in the sacred time line. Mr. Rogers was meant to come back." The man in the brown suit said.

"But sir!" The man protested, looking confused. "The reason Margaret Carter doesn't have a soulmate is because Steve Rogers goes back in time to be with her. It's explicitly-"

"Listen, go back. Loki and I have this." Brown suit guy said. The four exchanged a look, but turned and went back in. "Sorry about that."

"I don't understand." Elizabeth said faintly.

"I'm a variant." Loki smirked, "As are you. Well, not you, you, another you."

"Loki." Another voice said sternly and Elizabeth's knees actually almost did collapse when she saw herself walk out of the portal behind. She smiled at herself. Elizabeth couldn't smile back. She felt Steve's hand on her waist.

Loki pursed his lips, "You know, only the fact that I've never technically been that Elizabeth's soulmate is the only thing stopping me from cutting your hand off for touching her Captain."

Elizabeth 2.0 nudged Loki in the ribs.

"I'm so confused." Y/N, Sam, and Tony said behind her. Bruce just gaped. Stephen looked extremely interested.

"Long story short." Brown suit guy said, tapping at something, "When you went back for the Tesseract, this Loki and Elizabeth escaped. So they're variants and they live at the TVA with me, which collects variants in a way. Works for the TVA, etc."

"So. . . you're not real?" Elizabeth asked, noticing Loki was looking over at her kids. Halfdan and Astrid stared at their father with wide eyes, slowly getting to their feet. For them, it was like losing their father less than a week rather than five years ago. They were probably wondering if he had faked his death again. 

"We have to get some of those." Loki said to her variant version of herself, who grinned. Then Loki said, "I am real, but I'm not your Loki. Your Loki is truly dead. You'd be surprised how many variants of me there are, really."

"So am I getting arrested or not?" Steve asked slowly.

"Not." Brown suit guy said. "Like I said. . . accident."

"Uh huh." Bucky said uncertainly, not lowering his defensive position.

"And Loki here really just wanted to let your Elizabeth know that they live happily ever after somewhere." Brown suit guy said. "You've got two minutes." Before that one walked into the portal. Her variant of herself went back too.

"Come here pet." Loki said quietly and Elizabeth stumbled forwards until she was standing in front of him. She felt one of his cool hands cup her face and he bent down to rest his forehead on hers. She closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. "I love you." He whispered, "But, I'm gone. And so I'm glad you have two. . . well for heroes they're pretty good men. I think I like the brown haired one better though."

Elizabeth actually let out a shaky laugh at that.

"Live a long and happy life with them." Loki whispered, "And when it's all over, your Loki is waiting for you in Valhalla. I know he is. And who knows? Maybe those two will go with you too."

"Loki." Elizabeth whispered softly.

Loki smiled a little as he pulled away, thumb wiping her tears away, "Don't waste anymore tears on me pet. You have your own life to live now."

"Dad?" Astrid asked uncertainly.

"Not quite." Loki smiled, looking a little sad as he looked at them. "But close enough." He held his arms out and Astrid and Halfdan ran into them. He hugged them tightly. "Be good for your mom, alright? I love you two."

"We love you too dad." Astrid cried into his chest.

Loki and Elizabeth looked down one more time and then Elizabeth turned her attention to. . . well herself. The other variant smiled, "I'll take care of him."

"I know." Elizabeth laughed shakily. "I'm not worried about that. You're me after all."

Elizabeth watched Loki slip his hand into her variant self. Watched the three of them walk into the portal. Elizabeth stepped back and felt Bucky wrap her arms around her waist. It was dead silent for a moment, before everything grew to be too much, and she fainted.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"How is she?" You asked as you laid naked in bed with Tony.

"Just got out of surgery." Tony yawned, having been woken up when Steve had called him. "She's got an arm to match Barnes. Shuri apparently tried to make it hot pink. Steve wouldn't let her. It's black and gold like Barnes now. Twinning. Really taking the soulmate thing to the next level. Do you want to get a matching arc reactor?"

You laughed, "No way. I love you Tony, but I do not want that on my chest."

Tony pouted at you, before rolling over to press you down into the bed. "Why not? It's so sexy."

"On you." You retorted, smiling up at him.

Tony softened, cupping your face. "I really missed you Y/N. I'm so sorry."

You laughed a little, "For what?"

Tony looked away a little. "Well Pepper I guess for starters. It was. . ."

You laughed again, louder this time, "You want to be sorry for moving on? Tony. . . if I had been in your shoes, never in a million years would I have thought you were coming back after that. I don't know how quickly I could have moved on and thanks to Elizabeth, I never have to know." Here you gave him a pointed look, "but eventually I would have. You could've come back too, maybe, and I could've had another kid. Honestly. . . I'm kind've just glad it was Pepper and not some stranger."

Tony smirked a little and then sighed, "I guess it's a good thing I wasn't snapped. I was the one who figured it out."

"Modest as always." You teased, pushing him off you so that you could snuggle into him. "Besides, after hearing what happened on Titan, I think Strange knew that you would win. Like he said, one in fourteen million. He traded your life for the stone and Thanos kept his word, keeping you alive after the snap as well. The one person needed to finish this."

Tony was quiet for a moment and you looked up to see him staring at the ceiling. "No. . ." He said quietly. "If they had never come to me. . .Scott, Steve, Natasha. . . I wouldn't have done it on my own. And even when they did come to me. . . I still didn't want to." He paused and added quickly. "Not because I didn't want you and Arlo back. But. . . I thought there could be a chance I might die. I even recorded a video. . . and I thought if I died and we didn't succeed, then I'd just leave Everleigh without both parents."

"You did almost die." You whispered, tears pricking your eyes. "You almost tried to snap the universe."

"I thought I had to do it then or now." Tony sighed. He laughed then, "And I never even had the stones. That tricky magic of hers. . . but I'm glad. We all made it out alive."

It was quiet for a long time, thinking of those who didn't make it the first time. Pietro, Vision. And then you said, "Are they staying in Wakanda or coming here?"

"Wakanda I think." Tony answered.

It was quiet for a longer time and then you asked, "How about a vacation?"

[braveclementine]

Reunions

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Stephen?" Sam called as he stepped into the building, quickly closing the door behind him. He looked around, seeing there were grand split stairs that led to an upstairs part of the Sanctorum. A set of stairs between the split stairs led downstairs to a basement.

It was quiet and Sam had no idea what to do. He had tossed his phone so he couldn't be tracked, and it wasn't like there was a bell he could ding to get Sorcerer's attention.

He decided he might as well start searching the place. His best bet would be to find a library if there was one. He knew there was one in Kamar-Taj- he had seen it. But he had no idea if there was one here.

Probably, right? Stephen ran the place.

"Sam?" Stephen's voice laced with surprise said at the top of the stairs. He floated down to him with the red cape and settled in front of him. "What's wrong? Your face." Stephen touched the bruise lightly with his fingers. "We have ice in the k-"

Sam fell forwards into Stephen, wrapping his arms around him tightly, and just breathing in his scent.

"What's wrong bubs?" Stephen asked softly, pulling Sam back so he could look him in the eyes. "What happened with the Avengers?"

"How much time do you have?" Sam asked wryly.

"For you I have all the time in the world." Stephen smiled a little.

Stephen led him to the bedroom, which was huge. Sam and him sat on the bed and he reiterated the entire story. He started with the mission in Lago with Rumlow, mostly because it ended with Rumlow. It seemed fitting that way, almost poetic.

He released a deep breath when he reached the end. "I couldn't. . . If Steve hadn't shown up she would have been. . . right in front of me and I couldn't do a damn thing. I felt so useless."

"It's okay." Stephen kissed the top of his head. "It all worked out in the end. Do you know if she's okay?"

"Steve took her to Wakanda." Sam sighed. "I hope she is okay."

"I can find out for you." Stephen said softly. "Stark is a very public person after all. I'm sure if anything happens one way or another it will be made public."

Sam sighed and nodded, "Thank you." After a moment he said, "I need to pack."

"Pack? Why?" Stephen asked, confused.

Sam chuckled, "You were listening, right photographic memory guy? I'm a criminal now. On the run. I can't stay here."

Stephen smirked, "You did forget I'm a Sorcerer right?"

"Wizard." Sam corrected and Stephen rolled his eyes.

"This building is protected. No one can get in. You're safe here. Well, safe from non-sorcerer's. Now if some bad sorcerer's attack that another story." Stephen sighed, "But I don't think there's many of those left."

Sam looked at him. "And I can stay?"

"Of course you can." Stephen said, pulling him completely into his arms. "I'll keep you safe."

Sam smiled, turning his head into Stephen's chest. "I love you Steph."

"I love you too bubs." Stephen said softly, kissing the top of his head again. "Get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"You sure about this?" Steve asked as he approached Bucky, who was sitting on the examination table. He was wearing a white tank top and white sweatpants, matching the white aesthetic of the room. His metal arm had been removed and capped with black cloth.

"I can't trust my own mind." Bucky answered. "So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, I think going back under is the best thing." Steve nodded, "For everybody."

Steve did his best not to cry. He'd promised he wouldn't do that so Bucky didn't feel any guilt or feel bad about going into cryo. But Steve had just gotten him back, he didn't want to lose him so soon. Who knew how long this was going to take?

Well, he had waited many years before. He could wait a few more years. And who knew? Wakanda was more advanced than anyone suspected. Perhaps it would be only months.

He stepped closer, leaning in and lightly kissing Bucky on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." Bucky said, then pulled Steve into a deeper kiss. "That's how you do it punk."

Steve smiled.

But his heart felt as heavy as a rock as he watched the glass shield rise up before him, air hissing as Bucky closed his eyes, turning to ice.

T'Challa found him staring out the windows onto the Wakandan plane. "Thank you for this." Steve spoke first, looking out at the beautiful forest. Y/N was even on her way home, in fact she might've even been hugging Tony at this moment. Steve smiled a little, thinking of the Princess of Asgard and how much she would have liked Wakanda too.

"Your soulmate and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace. . ."

"You know, if they find out he's here. . . they'll come for him." Steve fretted.

"Let them try."

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"Y/N" Tony hugged you as tightly as you stepped off of the Wakandan air ship. General Ross was waiting in the background, official paperwork in his hands. "Fuck I'm so glad that you're okay."

"Mommy!" Everleigh came toddling over the grass, a barbie doll in her hands. She was crying as you scooped her up into your arms. "Mommy you're home!"

"Hi sweetheart." You whispered, crying yourself, kissing her forehead over and over again, "Yeah, I'm home."

"You are aware that you left The Raft, where you were imprisoned." General Ross said, stepping forwards, clearing his throat.

"Not in front of my daughter." Tony hissed under his breath to the General. "We said we wouldn't do it in front of our daughter."

General Ross sighed and raised his eyebrows. You looked down at Everleigh, wiping her tears from her cheeks. "Where is your Uncle Rhodey?"

"He's inside." Everleigh answered.

"Can you go join him for a moment? Daddy and I will be inside in a moment. We just have to talk to Mr. Ross, okay?"

You put her down on the grass and she toddled back off to the Avengers Compound. General Ross opened up the paper.

"Are you aware," You started angrily. "That Brock Rumlow, who you declared deceased came into The Raft, broke open my cell, half beat me to death while trying to rape me? And that the only reason I'm okay is because Steve Rogers saved me?"

"He cut Rumlows' head off with a shield." General Ross bit off.

"Good." Tony snapped. "He deserved it."

"Stark has managed to persuade the judges to not put you back in. If you agree to a court date and sign these papers, you will stay out. You will be put under house arrest for five years."

Five years without stepping off the Avengers Compound? You sucked in breath and sighed, "Fine."

You were given the paperwork, which Tony immediately took from your hands, "We'll send it in." He hooked his arm over your shoulders, steering you away from the General.

"Next time I see Rogers I'll have to thank him." Tony said once you were inside the building, coming to a stop and pulling you into a tighter hug than before. "Fuck I was terrified when I heard."

"I'm okay." You smiled, "It. . . is kind've blurry if I'm going to be honest. Steve was there pretty quickly. And they took very good care of me. . . where we went." You said, knowing that the entire place was probably under surveillance now.

"Y/N! Hey!" Rhodey greeted you. He was wearing a leg brace on his left leg, though not on his right.

"Hey." You said, hugging him tightly and then checking him out. "How are the legs?"

"Fine." Rhodey waved it away. "Your friend is a good healer."

You smiled a little and then looked around. It seemed a lot quieter than before, emptier as well. "Who else is here?"

Rhodey hesitated and then answered, "Just us."

"Not even Vision? Or Nat?" You asked in shock, trying to remember who else had been on Tony's side of the war. The spider kid probably had his own family and he had never been in the Compound before anyways.

"Visions gone. We think he might've gone underground with Wanda." Tony sighed. "It makes sense considering they're soulmates. And um, Nat's on the run too. She turned on T'Challa to help Steve and Barnes escape."

You wanted to scream and rip your hair out at the same time. The Accords had torn you all apart. But you were still certain that you had been on the right side. The Avengers shouldn't have to give up their rights as heroes. General Ross had wanted to put Tony in jail just for not bringing them in. That was what you and the others had been trying to stop.

"I'm sorry." You sighed. You looked between the two of them. "I'm sorry you got hurt, both of you. I'm sorry I had to fight the two of you but. . . but I would fight it again. Because I feel that I fought for the right thing. I'm sorry we disagree."

Tony sighed, rubbing your shoulder, "I understand Pumpkin. I really do. And maybe. . . yeah maybe I saw some concerning things afterwards. Maybe I do see why you didn't want to sign. But I also think I'm still on the right side. We just have to live with that."

You smiled a little and then said, "Alright. That's settled. Now, how about we go and find Everleigh and just. . . be a family again? All of us?"

"That, sounds like an amazing idea." Tony said.

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"Where's Thor?" Elizabeth asked as she stepped into the library. She rolled her shoulders, feeling exhausted. She hoped that Bucky got the treatment that he needed from T'Challa and that he and Steve lived a happily ever after like they deserved.

"Is that really how you greet your master after being on Midgard for so long?" Loki purred, a smirk on his face to show he was- mostly- joking.

Elizabeth came over, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek, before looking over his shoulder at the scrolls he was reading. "What are these about?"

"The foreseeable downfall of Asgard." Loki sighed. "Odin is gone, Thor is off fighting Surtur, trying to gain what we need to stop the fall of our kingdom."

Elizabeth smoothed his black curls away from his face, "How long have you been up sweetheart?"

"I didn't want to sleep without you." Loki admitted softly. "You know I can't."

"I'm sorry." Elizabeth said, sitting down next to him.

"No." Loki shook his head. "You did what you needed to do. And I wasn't going to stop you. That man you went to help. . . James. You did it because of me."

Elizabeth looked up at him under her lashes and smiled a little. "Yeah, I did."

Loki rolled up the scroll and set it away, reaching for her hand, "And did you do what you needed to?"

"Yes. There is a new man there, his name is Vision. He's the robot that Thor created and he has the yellow stone- the mind stone- in his forehead. I can't see any way of removing it without killing him and Wanda, his soulmate, is to powerful to stop. Sam's soulmate, Stephen, has the time stone. But those are the only ones on Earth I believe." Elizabeth said calmly.

"We are fighting two battles pet." Loki sighed. "And we may lose one."

Elizabeth leaned into him, closing her eyes. "But, we have today. So let's go to bed and be together. This can wait a few more hours."

Loki picked the scroll up and then stood up. Elizabeth went with him. "Just for a little while then."

Elizabeth slipped her hand into his and the two of them left the library.

"Are the kids asleep?" She asked as they neared the bed chambers. Guards lined the doors, nodding to them- her- as they passed.

"Yes, do you want to see them?" Loki asked, pausing in front of their daughters door.

"I won't be but a moment." Elizabeth squeezed his hand. "I'll meet you in our chambers. . . master."

Loki smirked and strode down the hallway. Elizabeth slipped into her childrens room. They were both fast asleep and she kissed their foreheads. They stirred, but didn't wake, and she thought about Earth.

She missed the planet. It had been wonderful to be back down there again. She sighed, smoothing her daughters hair back from her forehead and leaving the room slowly.

Bucky.

Steve.

She paused in her tracks and sighed, looking out at the glorious moon through the glass windows.

Well, it didn't matter anyways. She was happy here. She loved Loki more than anything or anyone besides her children. Bucky and Steve were not meant for her anyways. If they were, she would have been soulmated to them in the first place.

She chuckled a little to herself and then hurried down to the bed chambers.

Besides, she loved Loki more.

And they had a long life together ahead of them.

[braveclementine]

The Winter Soldier

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

Insights launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a bit short here." Nat said from the backseat.

It was a very awkward arrangement. The car only fit four people. Sam was driving, Steve was in the passenger seat. Nat and Sitwell sat in the back. The only option for you was to sit on someones lap. Since Sam was driving and you hated Sitwell (Steve wouldn't have let you even if you wanted to anyways), you were sitting on Steves'.

It didn't really bother you to much, but you wondered if that fact should bother you.

It wasn't that you didn't love Tony or even that you wanted to cheat on Tony. You never wanted to cheat on Tony, he was the only one that you loved.

But there was an attraction to Steve- how could there not be? But it was more of what you'd said after you'd woken up. You kind've just wanted to know that there was someone out there, who wasn't designed to love or care about you, that did.

Steve just happened to be that person.

"I know." Steve said. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly."

"What? Are you crazy?" Sitwell asked. "That is a terrible, terrible idea."

Suddenly, there was a crash as something landed on the car. The glass on Sitwells side shattered and a long, familiar looking metal arm reached in, pulling him out.

Nat suddenly jumped into the front seat, smashing you between herself and Steve as you heard gunshots. You fought frantically, feeling the breath close up in your throat as your claustrophobia started to rise up.

Sam slammed the brakes and you finally managed to break free. Now there were two ladies in Steve's lap. You glanced out the window and saw a man standing there, the silver arm with the red star attached to his body. He had long brown hair and his eyes and mouth were covered by a mask.

Suddenly, something rammed into you from behind and you started going straight towards the man.

"NAT GET OFF ME!" You shouted, panic almost giving in.

The man did a fantastic flip, landing on top of the car. You tried to wiggle out between the two of them. A hand suddenly shot down and ripped the steering wheel right out of Sam's hands.

"SHIT!" He shouted.

"Hang on!" Steve shouted as the car started to flip. You could feel his arm tightening around you, while he reached out to grab the back of Sam's jacket.

You were suddenly falling out of the car, landing harshly, though it didn't feel to bad since you were landing on Steve instead. But you started to panic, now noticing that it was both Sam and Nat on top of you.

'Breathe in'.

'Don't panic.'

Steve yanked you to your feet and you tried to pull yourself together.

"Y/N-" Steve said and then his arm was wrapped around you again. You didn't even know what happened, except that you went flying. You crashed through something. You heard screams. The thing you crashed into crashed.

"Y/N! Y/N!" Steve shouted and you groaned. You were bloody useless on this trip.

"Steve?" You asked uncertainly. "What-?"

"Are you alright?" Steve asked, blue eyes worried.

"Uh, I think so." You mumbled, checking your pockets for the guns. "What the hell just happened? Who is that?"

"The Winter Soldier." Steve said. "He killed Fury."

You wanted to shoot to your feet, but you suddenly realized that you were in a bus that was tipped sideways. People were crawling out windows and you looked around. You could hear gunshots.

"Let's get out of here." You suggested.

Steve helped you to your feet and the two of you started to run through the bus as bullets pinged in and out. Amazingly, Steve and you didn't get hit, although you think you might've gotten nicked along the back of your left calf, but through the adrenaline, you weren't sure.

Steve caught his shield outside of the bus and blocked the two of you from more bullets. You fired your gun at one of them, making him duck out of the way to avoid getting shot. You hit one of them, but you were pretty sure it was just in the armor.

Steve used the shield to bounce a bullet back at someone else. He started to walk forward slowly, leaving you exposed, but you took that moment to turn tail and start sprinting down the street.

You could see the Winter soldier walking calmly down the street. You sprinted, wanting to catch up. You'd jump on his back and hopefully incapacitate him with a sleeping agent that Tony had designed for you.

You watched him bend down, throw something under the car and then after it blew up, Natasha leapt on him. The two of them fought and you ran faster. She managed to incapacitate his arm and then the two of you veered away from him.

Now that you didn't have the element of surprise, you knew it would be useless. The two of you ran down the street. You ducked when you heard a gunshot, but Nat fell to her knees.

"Nat?" You asked, crouching down in front of her, seeing her hold her shoulder. "Move your hand, let me see."

"No, run." Nat demanded and the both of you looked up to see the Winter Soldier pointing his gun at you. You immediately lifted your handgun and shot at him, but he blocked it with his metal arm.

Steve was there suddenly, the metal fist landing into Steve's shield.

You froze, watching the two of them fight. They were basically equals, neither having the upper hand of the other once Steve's shield was gone. Watching Steve defend himself as the Winter Soldier attempted to stab him with a knife was amazing. And even the Soldier was smooth and fluid in his movements, tossing the knife with one hand, only to catch it in another to stab Steve.

Stab Steve.

You launched yourself back into action, running over to the van where Steve's shield was stuck, yanking it out with all your strength.

You stood there, waiting for an opportunity to pass it to Steve. You watched as they flipped each other over their backs. The Soldier's arm always made a weird buzzing noise before it shot forward, like it was powering up and then shooting. Finally, Steve was right in front of you and you handed over the shield easily.

Suddenly, Steve flipped him forward so that the soldier lost his mask.

You watched Steve freeze. "Bucky?"

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

But he had stopped fighting, the two of them staring at each other. Steve suddenly ripped his shirt from his chest, showing the golden retriever tattoo that was along his rib cage. He pointed to it and shouted, "You're my soulmate."

Your mouth dropped.

"Bucky, you're my soulmate!" Steve started running towards him. He even dropped the shield and then wrapped his arms around him.

You tensed and watched, until the man that Steve called Bucky put his arms around Steve.

He trembled for a second, blinking. He looked so broken and confused.

And then Bucky pushed Steve away, looking scared almost. Then he pushed Steve completely so Steve went flying back towards his shield, seconds later an explosion going off near Bucky.

You scrambled to your feet, grabbing Steve's shield and handing it to him. Sam had landed near you guys and Nat was kneeling on a car, the one who had bombed him. Steve went, probably to yell at Natasha, but then the cars suddenly started coming up.

You saw Rumlow right away, who pointed his gun at Steve. "Put the shield down. Get on your knees."

Rumlow roughly shoved your to your knees. He kicked the back of Steve's legs.

"Not here. But the gun down. Not here." Rumlow hissed to someone else who had a gun to Steve's head. And then, just for you to hear, he whispered in your ear, "We're going to have some fun when we get back."

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"It was him." Steve said, staring at his hands as the four of you sat in the back of the armored truck. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible? It was, like, 70 years ago." Sam responded.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and-"

"None of that's your fault, Steve." Nat mumbled.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve sighed.

"We need to get a doctor here." Sam said in a harsh voice. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."

One of them threatened him with the zapping stick. And then two seconds later, shoved the zapping stick into their partners' chest. He fell to the ground almost silently.

"Ow. That thing was squeezing my brain." Maria Hill said as she emerged from the helmet.

Maria.

Oh shit you'd forgotten about her. Coulson had died and had been her soulmate. Fury had been her secondary soulmate and now he was dead too. Fuck.

"Who is this guy?" Maria asked.

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Steve and Sam helped Natasha between the two of them, following Maria while you brought up the rear. You were starting to feel dejected and useless. You'd done jack shit during this entire trip except have Steve catch you, carry you, protect you, or throw you around like eighty gazillion times.

You were an Agent and a well trained one at that. Fury had wanted to send you out on missions. How the hell were you so useless when it came to the actual thing?

Because you knew, something had been holding you back. You hadn't wanted to shoot the Winter Soldier. You had wanted to protect him subconsciously and now you knew why. Because he was Steve's soulmate.

But how could you fight and help the other three, if you were unwillingly to protect them?

Maria led us down, shouting to someone and then she said something that you ignored. You had no idea where you were, but you were hoping there would be a phone around. You really wanted to talk to Tony.

Maria pulled plastic aside and you stopped short, seeing the man lying in the hospital bed.

"About damn time." Nick Fury said. 

[braveclementine]

Extra Bonus Chapter

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

*This is not part of the actual book. The book ended two chapters ago and that's the true ending. However. . . ever since I fell in love with. . . well a certain book theme. . . I feel like I sort've have to include it in every book I write. So you can think of this as the 'real' ending, but it's really more like. . . ending 2. You can choose depending on which you like better: Realistic or Non-realistic*

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The Stark house was full of laughter and talking. You, Tony, Steve, Bucky, and Elizabeth had a dinner together almost every Sunday night. So the five of you were sitting around the rectangular table.

It had been about five more years ever since things had ended with Thanos and such. Elizabeth and Bucky no longer wore jackets or gloves over their Vibranium arms. Everleigh was heading off to college the next school term. You'd had another son three years ago named Blyke.

Elizabeth had another set of twins, a boy from Steve, a girl from Bucky. She'd named them after Harry Potter characters, which she was able to get away from because they were both head over heels with her and neither had any idea where their names originated.

Luna and Remus.

Tony had to hide his laughs from the super soldiers whenever Remus' name was said.

At the moment, you had all just finished a fried chicken dinner that Elizabeth and you had worked on together. Your children were all playing in the room next door, shouting as they played some sort of card game.

You were eating a chocolate muffin while Elizabeth ate vanilla cake. The three men drank beers.

"Oh yeah." Elizabeth said excitedly, more to you than the other three, but they trailed off to hear her. "I'm expecting."

"Again." You snorted teasingly.

"Yeah how many are you going to have?" Tony asked, sounding exhausted just with the idea of more kids.

"As many as God wants to give us." Elizabeth grinned. "Besides, it's not that bad. You have only four."

"Only four." Tony muttered.

"My stomach hurts just thinking about carrying another child." You sighed, although you wouldn't be opposed to another kid in reality.

"Pretty sure that's the chocolate muffin speaking." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

You snickered. "Yes, that's probably true."

"So whose kid?" Tony asked, motioning between the two super soldiers.

"Neither." All three of them answered together. And then as though that wasn't enough, Bucky added, "He's Sams'. We're going to name him Heimdall if he's a boy or Frigga if she's a girl."

It took you a moment to realize what they were saying. You inhaled your soda, crying out as the bubbles rushed to your nose, making you flinch and your eyes start watering. Tony choked on his mouthful of beer.

Tony coughed, pointing wildly between Steve and Bucky, "How did- What? How? I don't-"

"It's very simple Stark." Bucky drawled, "Sam fucked our girl and got her pregnant."

Tony just gaped, but you were sort of wondering how neither Bucky nor Steve seemed upset about it.

"You're blushing." Elizabeth teased and your cheeks burned more.

"I-"

"How could you?" Tony asked, but more in a curious way. "How did it not burn when. . . I mean you know. . . cheating. . ."

"Oh," Elizabeth said brightly. "Well, you see, when both parties consent on all sides, the pain doesn't exist."

"Wait." You looked at Steve and Bucky, "So what you're saying is-"

"All five of us fucked?" Bucky finished for you.

"Language." Tony said.

Steve shot him a glare.

"Oh." You said, looking at Tony and then Elizabeth, "Well, um, congrats? I think."

Tony tossed his beer back, trying to drain it in one gulp.

"Want to join in?" Elizabeth asked.

Tony spit his beer upwards so that it sprayed all over his face and he choked on it again. When his throat cleared he near shouted, "You have terrible timing!"

"Y/N." Elizabeth and you knew you were burning as you looked over at her. "What would you think if I went ahead and sat on Tony's lap?"

You bit your bottom lip and Elizabeth didn't give you a chance to answer before she said, "And of course, Steve's lap is a possible seat along with Bucky's for you."

You saw Tony's eyes darken just a little bit and you decided to tease. "Well. . ." You said slowly, starting to smile. "We are sisters. We probably should share everything."

"Especially our toys." Elizabeth nodded seriously, getting up from her seat, sauntering around to stand in front of Tony. Tony's expression turned a little uncertain, but also curious. You slowly half rose from your seat, but couldn't muster the courage to actually approach Steve.

So you watched, lips twitching into an amused smile as Elizabeth ran a finger across Tony's cheek. He seemed stunned and suddenly Steve said in his Captain voice, "Y/N. Come here sweetheart."

You moved to stand in front of Steve, who was smirking, looking very relaxed in his chair.

"So," Elizabeth said, "May I?"

"Uh- Y/N?" Tony asked quickly. "I mean, I'm excited but it's up to you Pumpkin."

"We can try it out." Steve said, looking up at you. "If you hate it, we stop. We never talk about it again. This isn't something that if we don't do it, we're not still going to be friends. It's just a lifestyle we have and we're offering it."

You looked at Tony, "I would like to try it."

"Steve?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at him, biting her bottom lip.

"Go ahead doll." Bucky chuckled and held his flesh hand out for you. You smiled, crossing your arms over your chest.

"I think that's the wrong hand." You said.

Bucky blushed a little, slowly extending his metal hand. You hadn't touched it before, really. You placed your hand in the palm, finding it as cold as expected, but also warm. You slid your hand up his arm and loved as he closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.

Then slowly, you sat in his lap. His metal arm came around your hip and the two of you looked at each other for a moment, before you blushed. You busied yourself with looking at his arm, seeing that Stephen's name had been added right under Elizabeth's.

You touched it. "Wait, you're soulmated to them too?"

"Yeah." Steve nodded while Elizabeth rested her head on Tony's shoulder. "We've been together for about a year now. Just trying it out. We decided to be soulmates about two weeks ago. We've been waiting to see how you guys would react, but you both seem to be taking it well."

"We're not asking you two to soulmate to us." Bucky said quickly. "It was a choice on Sam's side that we do it and we thought it sounded good. But even if you guys just wanted to be with us occasionally, like we wouldn't expect you to soulmate with us as well."

"Wait. . ." You said slowly. "So would Tony and I interact with Stephen and Sam as well since you're all technically soulmated?"

"You could. But they would understand if not." Steve answered easily.

You looked at Tony and then grinned, "Well if Sam is involved, I'm in."

"Now wait a damn minute. . ." Bucky mumbled darkly. "What's so good about that little bird?"

Elizabeth laughed and Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah right." Tony smirked, "You're thinking of the wrong one Y/N. I think you were actually thinking of that sexy wizard being the reason you want to jump into this."

You laughed, the tension in the room that had been there while trying this out was gone now. It felt amazing, the air in the room now. "You're probably right. The sexy wizard does have good appeal."

Steve chuckled at that.

"I agree." Elizabeth said brightly, sitting up a little more on Tony's lap. "The sexy-"

"If one of you call me a wizard one more time, I'm portaling you to Mars." Stephen threatened, walking into the dining room right then and there, Sam next to him. Sam was grinning and Stephen was smiling just a little bit.

You blushed darkly as the two of them came to stand near the rest of you. Stephen smirked at your husband, "So. . . Stark? You think I'm sexy?"

You looked and saw that Tony was blushing darkly, looking extremely flustered. Elizabeth flounced off his lap to go over and hug Sam, who wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Tony cleared his throat, "Well, I mean. . . You are very um- good looking. I mean, anyone can see that-" Tony's words died as Stephen leaned over him, their lips inches apart. You could see Tony's adam apple bob hard. Then Stephen kissed him.

Your arousal spiked immediately and you rubbed your thighs together, forgetting where you were. But you remembered as Bucky chuckled, placing a hand on your thigh. "Oh doll. . ."

You blushed darkly, but couldn't tear your eyes away from where Tony was now clutching the front of Stephen's dress shirt, the two of them kissing deeply. Your heart actually skipped a beat, watching Stephen's tongue dip into Tony's mouth.

Suddenly, a completely different voice cleared their throat. You turned in Bucky's lap to see Everleigh standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. Her headphones were around her neck now and she raised her eyebrows.

"Everly!" Tony yelped, falling out of his chair, while you tensed on Bucky's lap. "Knock!"

Everleigh sighed, rolling her eyes, "Please take the kinky stuff to the bedroom. Preferably at someone elses house."

"Right." Tony said while Sam and Steve smirked. Stephen only put his thumb at his own lip.

"Sorry." Elizabeth apologized sincerely.

Everleigh sighed, walking out of the room, muttering darkly about her parents.

You put a hand over your face, remembering all of the kids were in the other room.

"Was that the first guy you've ever kissed?" Elizabeth teased Tony and you watched in amusement as Tony turned red again.

"Ah- well- um-" Tony stuttered, getting off the floor, grabbing the empty beer bottles. "More beer anyone?" And he nearly sprinted for the kitchen.

Elizabeth giggled, dancing over to where Stephen as still standing, kissing his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her now.

"Well?" Sam asked you. "Gonna join in?"

You waited a moment, thinking about all of it, before tilting your head up, catching Bucky by surprise as you kissed him on the lips. He responded quickly though and you loved the way his lips felt against yours.

"Oh yeah." Tony said, coming back into the room. "I'm liking this idea. Sweetheart?"

"Let's do it." You breathed as you pulled away.

And you did.

[braveclementine]

And Life Goes On

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

The song for the wedding ⬆️(Try not to cry) 🥹

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"I hereby declare the three of you, husbands and wife." The priest at the front of the altar said and you watched as Steve and then Bucky drew Elizabeth into a kiss. You smiled, biting your finger as you cried.

"Hey." Tony whispered in your ear as he clapped, "So, as her best friend, you need to draw all of the juicy little details of their sex life out of her, so I can tease Cap about it during work, okay?"

You giggled nervously, bouncing Arlo on your knee, while wiping away a tear. "I don't want to become magical shish kabob."

Tony held out his hand. "Come on, hand Arlo over to Natasha and give me a dance."

You did just that, letting Natasha hold Arlo where she was sitting with Clint, Laura, and the kids. Both women were on either side of Clint, the three of them just sort've snuggled up together.

Elizabeth was blushing as her two new husbands twirled her between them on the dance floor. She was wearing a pale pink dress that nearly looked white, but wasn't quite. It had long sleeves despite the warm summer, because she had been afraid that her arm would clash with the colouring.

You took Tony's hand and he led you out onto the dance floor. Both hands on your waist, and you put both of your arms around his neck. You were so glad you'd worn heels for this.

"I can't dance." You said after stepping around for a bit, cheeks fiery red. Tony was grinning from ear to ear.

"You're adorable."

"Shut up."

"What?" Tony asked, "You know bunnies are very graceful animals. Clearly, it's come over to you as a human."

You snorted, "You thought I was graceful as a rabbit?"

"Naturally."

"Okay you did see me on your paneled wood floors right? Every time I tried running on that surface I'd crash face first into your kitchen cabinets. And don't even get me started on the marble. You just didn't see it."

Tony grinned, "You know, I think I'm going to marry you again."

You raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Are you now?"

"Yep." Tony said. "There's people who get remarried for anniversary's, right? Nah, who cares, I'm doing it even if others don't."

You shook your head in amusement. "Ah, so you like what you see so much you'd marry it a second time."

Tony scoffed, "Is that even an actual question?"

"Also, for like, people's fiftieth anniversary." You laughed.

"We're getting close to that amount of time, right?" Tony asked, peering at you. "I think I can see some wrinkles."

You smacked his arm playfully. "Better than you, Mr. I got gray hair now."

"And I look dashing." He said in a pompous, almost British way of speaking.

"Well, hard to argue with that." You smiled.

After a few dances, the two of you grabbed some cake, sitting with Bucky and Sam who were playfully arguing. You watched as Steve and Elizabeth danced in their own world, their foreheads pressed against each other, both of them with their eyes closed. Some old song was playing, echoing around the venue.

[Play Song]

*Cue Steve and Peggy endgame scene but replace Peggy with Elizabeth obviously*

You smiled a little as Steve opened his eyes, looking down at her, before kissing her. But the spell was broken- for you at least- as Sam roared with laughter and you turned your attention back to the table.

Eventually, it went from being a large venue with people that Steve, Bucky, and Elizabeth knew, to mostly being just some of the Avengers.

Rhodey, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Steve, Bucky, Tony, Sam, yourself, Elizabeth, and Thor- who was looking a hell of a lot better.

You were all chatting sort've off handedly before Clint asked, "So um, has anyone heard from Wanda?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "No she's off radar."

You noticed Elizabeth was fiddling with her napkin. She probably knew and wasn't saying a word.

"Maybe she went home. . . or the closest she could get to home." Rhodey shrugged.

"Elizabeth?" You asked.

Elizabeth sighed, "She uh, she's in New Jersey."

Everyone looked at her, "Doing what?" Clint asked.

"Vision um was looking for houses and gave her an address there for where they were going to move and possibly have a family." Elizabeth muttered. "I think she really just wants to start over."

"Okay hold up, how do you know all of this. I couldn't even find her." Tony frowned.

"There is um, this Government-"

"Here we go." Steve muttered.

"-organization called S.W.O.R.D." Elizabeth finished, playing with her fingers. You immediately felt bad for putting the attention on her, on her wedding night. "I went with her to the building because apparently they took Visions' body after the snap."

"Wait, they did?" Tony asked sharply, angrily. "He's my property!"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Anyways, Wanda was a mess and when the two of us left, she said she was going to a house Vision left her."

It was silent for a moment and you saw Tony tapping on his tablet. "Tony." You groaned.

"Well that's interesting." Tony muttered.

"What?" Natasha asked.

Tony flicked the screen to show the video that he had pulled up. It showed Wanda going all Scarlet Witch style, stealing Visions body. Then Elizabeth- though it didn't show her face- running after her as though helping her.

"Oh hell no." Bucky growled.

"Well, this looks like a lot of fun." Rhodey said.

"Hey." Steve said, putting an arm around Elizabeth's shoulder, looking at the rest of them, "At least with this new problem, all of the Avengers will be together to solve it."

"Oh yeah." Tony smirked, "I did tell you guys the Accords are gone, right? No one wants them anymore. We're all free to be a team."

"Oh for sure." A new voice said, making you all jump. You turned to see Nick Fury there, with Carol on one side of him and Maria on the other.

"Hey Nick." Elizabeth called over casually.

"Congratulations Mrs. Barnes-Rogers." Fury greeted her, then looked around at the others. "So, you still want to be the Avengers?"

"Don't need your permission." Tony laughed, flipping the video off the table, tucking his tablet into his pocket.

"True." Fury smirked, "But it's given to you anyways. I trust you know what to do with that. And you don't have to worry about Maximoff. Although, Y/N, I'm actually here to talk to you."

"Yeah, sure." You said, getting up and heading outside of the venue with the Director. It felt like you'd known him forever. You'd met him as a rabbit, he'd given you somewhere to have your kids. He'd protected all of you, had even died for all of you. He was like the father of the Avengers in a weird way.

"So," Fury said, pulling out a small folder, giving it to you. "Your parents are out. You want me to put some injunctions against them seeing you?"

You were silent for a moment. You looked at him. "Fury. I have faced Obadiah Stane, Justin Hammer, a guy who had liquid fire in his veins, Chitauri, Loki, HYDRA, being on the run, an Avengers Civil War, being on the run again, almost being raped by a guy who looked like burnt chicken, Thanos, and Thanos again. I don't think two measly little sixty year olds who just got out of jail scare me anymore."

Fury nodded, looking like he was almost smiling. "Glad to hear it Agent Stark. For a moment, I almost thought you might've lost your training."

You punched his shoulder lightly. "Are you staying for dessert?"

"Nah. Carol is heading back to space tomorrow so Maria and I are going to be spending as much time with her as possible." Fury said with another small smile. "Or who knows. . . maybe I'll go to space too. You've all been after all."

You laughed at that and nodded, "Alright then. See you around Fury."

You headed back inside and sat down next to Tony. "There's something I want to do."

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You knocked on the door of the house that your parents lived in now. Tony and you had flown back to Nevada for a quick visit. There were some things you needed to say and do. Tony waited in the car on the street anxiously. The door was opened and you saw that it was your mother.

"Y/N." She said softly.

"Mom." You said sharply.

The two of you stared at each other, then you walked through the door. Your father was in the living room, watching TV and you snapped it off.

Your father looked up at you and then scowled. "So, you have the nerve to return here after I was so kind to let you-"

"Well," You interrupted him, "I'm glad you think you were kind. Because you weren't. And I'm not back here to stay. This is the last time I will be seeing you. But there are things I never got to say, and I'm going to say them now."

You looked at both of them, "Firstly, you were shit parents. I may never know why you hated me, why you favored my brother over me, but you were shit parents. And not even just from the beatings." You glared at your father, "Or the attempted rape."

Your mother looked at your father and you wondered if she hadn't known.

"You were just shit parents in general. Not a single crumb of love was ever given to me unless it was for show and that damaged me growing up. Made me insecure, made me pathetic. But I got what I was looking for and now I'm better than you ever thought I was going to be, aren't I? I'm married to Tony Stark now, I'm an Avenger, and guess what: I'm no longer scared of you."

"I'm no longer the little girl that cowered under the two of you. Hell, I even have a pretty cordial relationship with my brother." You looked at the both of them again. "I hope you two change. I hope you two stop being the terrible, horrible people that you are and maybe live out your last days in some semblance of happiness."

You headed for the door when your mother said, "I couldn't. . . I couldn't love you."

You stopped, looking at her.

She looked down at the ground, "You weren't mine. Aren't. . . mine." She glanced over, "Your father slept with one of the women down the street. Got her pregnant. Her husband agreed not to divorce her if she gave the baby away so we were landed with you."

You grew cold at that, realizing that someone had watched you grow up here, knowing you were actually theirs. "Who?"

You mother looked up and you looked at them, "Which mother?"

"Don't." Your father growled.

"No, it's fine." You said suddenly. "Tony can just run DNA tests."

Your mother sighed, "Sherry Lightwood."

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"Bleh." Elizabeth groaned as the two of you sat in the park, watching all of your kids running around. Well, most of your kids. Steve, Bucky, Sam, Stephen, and Tony sat off to the side, holding the little two year olds. "Yuck. My mother and your father? No wonder you're so ugly."

You punched her shoulder. Hard. She didn't wince and you cradled your fingers, forgetting her arm was now Vibranium. She flicked her fingers as you and your own fingers stopped hurting as turquoise swirled around them. "Stupid."

This time you tased her in the side with two fingers. And this time she yelped, falling over, clutching her side. "I've been stabbed! Stabbed I say." She cried out dramatically, the two of you starting to wrestle.

"Don't hurt her Y/N." Tony called out lazily.

Steve just snorted.

"Bucky save me." Elizabeth cried dramatically and the metal armed super soldier picked her up in his arms, sitting down with her in his lap. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at you. You narrowed her eyes at her, flipping her off.

"Children," Stephen chastised, which made Sam and Tony laugh.

Elizabeth just curled up into Bucky, eventually falling asleep. Steve took her from Bucky so he could hold her while she slept.

"How is she really doing?" Tony asked.

"She's good, really." Steve nodded a little. "Still getting used to the arm a little bit, but other than that, she's good."

Bucky chuckled about something that he didn't elaborate on and Sam shot him a glance with narrowed eyes, "What?"

"Oh. . ." Bucky said. "Steve just really-"

Steve clapped a hand over Bucky's mouth, glaring at him, "There are kids around. And Stark doesn't need that sort of fuel."

"Oh yes." Tony waggled his eyebrows, "Details please. What's the sex life like?"

You slapped a hand to your face, "Tony!"

You all continued to talk before you yourself was laying your head in Tony's lap, watching Everleigh and Astrid run across the green grass, flying kites together. It was such a peaceful day. Sure, there would be problems along the way.

They'd have to solve this new S.W.O.R.D. vs. Wanda problem. There would be problems all over the place with new super soldiers and other kinds of missions.

But this sort of peaceful life would continue as well to be navigated.

Because life goes on, no matter what.

[braveclementine]

Thanos

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

TWO YEARS LATER

"This is the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman. We are under assault. I repeat, we are under assault. The engines are dead, life support failing. Requesting aid from any vessel within range. We are twenty-two jump points out of Asgard. Our crew is made up of Asgardian families. We have very few soldiers here. This is not a warcraft. I repeat, this is not a warcraft."

Elizabeth didn't know what to do. She was hiding her children behind her, while also trying to hold one of them at the same time.

Halfdan and Astrid were behind her, only eight years old. They both looked so much like their father, though Astrid had straight black hair unlike Halfdan's curly hair. They both even had his blue eyes and Halfdan had the point to his chin and Astrid had his smile.

They were holding the two of the two-year-olds: Tove who was female and also had Loki's blue eyes though Elizabeth's brown hair and Hogun who she had named after her best friend on Asgard and had been Tove, Hogun, and Sages' god-father. And now, he was dead.

The entire ship was on fire and she was crouched down. She had tears in her eyes, looking across the ship to see the brave fighter, Heimdall, laying down on the wreck in pain, bleeding.

"Hear me and rejoice." A new voice said, a voice that belonged to one of the invaders. He walked past Heimdall and Elizabeth clutched Sage harder in her arms, the little two year old girl, her eyes wide open, but she didn't cry. "You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan."

Elizabeth often had trouble holding her tongue, especially when she was passionate about something or someone she loved. But she bit down hard, tasting blood, because now as not the time to get sassy.

"You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice."

There were more of the alien creatures, walking around, over dead bodies. She kept a hand on her sword and she knew her children were behind her, with knives in their hands. They would fight, but they would all die. And she didn't know how to protect them.

Loki was standing in the front, with Thanos in front of him. He was the only one standing, in fact, his back to her.

"For even in death, you have become children of Thanos."

Thanos was standing over Thor now, who was unconscious on the floor. "I know what it's like to lose." He addressed Loki, as the others moved around, stabbing the Asgardians that were still breathing on the floor. Elizabeth tightened her invisibility spell as much as she could like Loki had taught her, but she wouldn't be able to hold it much longer, not for six people, even if five of them were children.

"To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail, nonetheless." He bent down, picking up Thor with one hand. Thor choked and moaned in his grasp. Elizabeth could hear Astrid crying quietly. "It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same."

They were pointing a weapon at Loki's head now, all of them surrounding Elizabeth's husband and soulmate. She had to throw an arm out to stop Halfdan from rushing them with his knife, though she wanted to do the same.

"And now, it's here. Or should I say, I am." Elizabeth saw the purple gem that was already in his gauntlet. The first of six infinity stones for him to have.

"You talk to much." Thor grumbled, blood pouring out of his mouth. He'd lost an eye in their fight with Hela, they had lost so much in the fight with Hela. And now, they were losing everything. All of the people. Soon, the Asgardian population might be wiped out of existence completely.

"The Tesseract. Or your brothers and wifes' heads." Thanos said. Elizabeth's breath hitched when Thanos pointed at where Elizabeth was hiding the rest of her family. "I assume you have a preference."

"Oh, I do." Loki said. "Kill away."

Thanos pressed the gem to Thor's head and one of the lackeys immediately approached Elizabeth's corner. She wasn't sure if it was a lucky guess or if her shields were down, but she decided to act.

Thrusting Sage into Astrids' arms, she dropped the spell completely, lunging at the monster in front of her. The two of them immediately started combat, their swords clashing against one another. She was strong, far stronger than anyone Elizabeth had ever fought before, even T'Challa in his vibranium suit or Tony in his titanium one.

"ALL RIGHT, STOP!" Loki shouted.

"We don't have the Tesseract." Elizabeth could just barely hear Thor say as Thanos stopped what he was doing to him over the clashing of their swords. But she couldn't stop her fight with the woman in front of her- if you could even call her a woman. "It was destroyed on Asgard." There was a pause and then, "You really are the worst brother."

"I assure you, brother. . . the sun will shine on us again."

Elizabeth pushed away from the woman, retreating a few steps to come to Loki's side, holding a hand out at her kids so they would stay put.

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

Loki immediately retracted the glowing cube in his hand, "Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another. . . we have a Hulk."

Loki tackled Thor out of the way and Elizabeth shielded her kids as Hulk came through, bashing Thanos over and over. Loki came to her immediately, wasting no time in pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss.

"I love you." Loki whispered. "Forever."

"I love you forever." Elizabeth choked out, kissing him again.

Hulk was defeated far to easily for Elizabeth's liking. Thor attacked him when Hulk was down and was immediately captured in metal by the Squidward looking dude.

Elizabeth glanced over and Heimdall met her eyes. He nodded slightly to Hulk and she understood immediately.

"Get to Hulk." She whispered to her children and they went quietly, making their way to the Hulks' side.

"Allfathers." She heard Heimdall start to say. "let the dark magic flow through me one last time."

Elizabeth couldn't look at Heimdall as he started to activate the Bifrost. She met Thor's eye and knew he understood. But Loki was gone, scheming she was sure. She let out a pained cry, wanting to see him one last time. The rainbow light started to envelope her, "LOKI I LOVE YOU." She screamed as loudly as she could, before she was gone.

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"NO!" Loki heard Thor scream as Heimdall was killed. Loki breathed in, almost shakily. At least his wife and children were safe. And they would be able to alert Midgard of the doom coming to them. His wife and children were safe. That was all that mattered. "You're going to die for that."

Ebony Maw lazily swiped his hand so that the metal clamped over his brothers mouth. He lifted a finger to his mouth, "Shh."

"My humble personage." Ebony presented the Tesseract to him. He knelt, "bows before your grandeur." Loki watched as Thanos took off his armor. "No other being has ever had the might nay, the nobility to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones." Thanos plucked the glowing cube from Ebony Maw's hand.

"The universe lies within your grasp."

He crushed the cube in hand, blowing on it gently like it was hot, before lifting the blue stone between his fingers, glass tinkling to the ground. He placed it beside the purple one, a blast of blue energy going through the ship.

"There are two more stones on Earth. Find them, my children, and bring them to me on Titan."

"Father, we will not fail you." The womanly one said, as all of them bowed.

"If I might interject." Loki said quickly. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that area." He said with a smile, hoping this was all going to work. He was the master of lies and manipulation, but he had never done them on a Titan as powerful as this one. Nay, a Titan as powerful as this one that had controlled him.

"If you consider failure experience." Thanos said slowly.

"I consider experience, experience." Loki retorted. "Almighty Thanos, I, Loki, Prince of Asgard. . . Odinson. . ." He looked over at Thor, hoping he knew what he was doing, "the rightful kind of Jotunheim, god of mischief," He let the dagger form in his hand behind his back, "do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity."

He knelt, as though bowing, before thrusting upwards, his knife aimed for the throat. But blue energy stopped him, just inches away. Thanos didn't even look fazed.

"Undying?" Thanos questioned as he grabbed Loki's wrist, the blue fading as he lowered the stone, "You should choose your words more carefully." He twisted Loki's wrist so that he had to drop the weapon, before lifting him up by his throat.

It was a different sort of pain from dying before. Or coming close to death anyways. The air was gone completely from his lungs and he could already feel a sort of pressure against his forehead. And on top of that, he could suddenly feel Elizabeth's screaming pain through their bond. That she knew he was dying. And it was hurting her.

"You. . ." He choked out, kicking his legs a little. He struggled to get free, but he could not. "Will never be. . . a God."

And then Thanos snapped his neck.

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"Seriously, you don't have any money?" Stephen asked, dressing in a T-shirt and jeans as he and Sam walked down one side of the grand staircase, hand in hand. He was talking to Wong, a fellow sorcerer, as he walked down on the other side.

"Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual." Wong responded.

"I'll tell the guys at the deli." Stephen chuckled, "Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham on rye."

"Oh. Wait, wait, wait. I think I have two hundred."

"Dollars?" Stephen asked while Sam chuckled, used to the banter now between the two wizards.

"Rupees."

"Which is?"

"Uh, buck and a half."

Stephen sighed, "What do you want?"

"I wouldn't say no to a tuna melt."

Suddenly, they heard a huge crash behind them. They all covered their heads with their hands and then turned around. Stephen's cloak came around and Sam saw the Bifrost light not unlike that of which Thor and Elizabeth often had used to travel to and from Earth, but hadn't been seen in almost two years.

They all raced up the staircase, Wong already firing up his orange shields.

Sam looked down to see Elizabeth on her face and Bruce on his back, turning from green to normal. There were also two kids who looked like they could be anywhere between seven and ten, along with three babies.

"Thanos is coming." Bruce gasped.

"Bruce! Elizabeth!" Sam shouted, dropping down into the hole with them. He quickly checked that the babies were all breathing.

"He's coming." Bruce said again.

"Who?" Stephen asked.

"Elizabeth?" Sam asked, rolling her over now that he knew the kids were alright.

She rolled over and he saw that her face was tear stained and blotchy. "Sam." She sobbed.

"Hey, whoa, it's okay." He said, pulling her into a hug. "Elizabeth, whose Thanos? And why is he coming here?"

But she couldn't answer, to distraught. He looked over at the oldest boy. "What happened?"

"Sam, let's get them out of the hole." Stephen commanded. Sam quickly handed the babies up to Stephen and Wong and then helped Elizabeth out. Bruce got out himself and then Sam.

"Thanos attacked our ship." The boy, who said his name was Halfdan said. He was trembling, looking like he wanted to cry. He clutched a little girl in his arms. The elder girl hugged Elizabeth tightly as both of them cried. "He killed everyone, except us, Uncle Thor, dad, and Heimdall. Heimdall got us to safety but. . ." Halfdan rubbed his eyes. "Mom has been crying and. . . she screamed as we were falling. I think our dad. . ."

"It's okay kid." Sam said gently.

"And he's coming here, the man who did this?" Wong asked sharply.

The boy nodded.

"Okay."

"I'm going to kill him." Elizabeth said, staggering to her feet suddenly. "I'm going to kill Thanos."

Sam wrapped his arms around her, "Elizabeth wait. Just wait. You have your kids, we need to get them to safety first."

"They're safe here, aren't they?" Elizabeth hiccupped, but sank down on the steps, burying her face in her hands.

Stephen looked over at Sam, "Is there anyone on Earth?"

"Y/N, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, definitely Bucky Barnes. But the only ones I know you can get into contact with are Y/N and Tony."

"I can portal her straight to the Compound." Stephen nodded. "Um, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth looked at him, wiping her eyes. "Y-Yeah?"

"Is it okay if you take the kids to the Avengers Compound? Y/N Stark is there with her children and Tony should be there as well. Rhodey too."

"Um sure." She whispered, standing up.

"Alright." Stephen said, creating a portal onto the grounds of the Avengers Compound. Elizabeth picked up a child and left through the portal.

"Hey," Sam said suddenly. "I'm going to go with them. If there really is a fight here, Tony has the phone to call Steve and the others that are on the run. If I can get to the phone sooner-"

"Okay." Stephen said, pulling Sam into a kiss. "I love you."

"I'm staying with you guys." Bruce wiped his own eyes and Sam looked at him. "Thor. . . Thor is gone too, I think."

Sam squeezed Bruce's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

He nodded, "I'll. . . we'll kill this fucker."

Sam nodded and then hurried into the portal after her.

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Tony had gone on a run with Everleigh that morning. Y/N of course, had to stay on the Compound with their newly born son Arlo.

"How about we go and get some ice-cream, now that we've finished our run, huh?" Tony asked his nine-year old daughter, panting a little. "You know we have our favorite ice-cream spot down around the corner."

"Then it's just around the corner, not down around the corner." Everly laughed.

"Very true lovebug." Tony chuckled.

Suddenly, he heard a very loud, professional voice ask, "Tony Stark."

He started, turning and Everleigh stopped by his side. "I'm Doctor Stephen Strange." He saw a man wearing blue robes with a red cape standing there. A portal- he assumed that's what it was- was behind him. He could see a broken staircase behind him as well, "I need you to come with me." Tony just stared and Everleigh grabbed his hand, "Oh and uh, congratulations on the new baby, by the way."

"I'm sorry," Tony responded quickly. "I thought Stephen Strange was Sam's doctor soulmate, not. . . whatever you are."

"We need your help." The man didn't respond. "Look it's not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."

"And who's we?" Tony demanded. He then turned shocked when Bruce came to stand next to the wizard person.

"Hey, Tony."

"Bruce." Tony said, voice laced with surprise. Bruce came to stand in front of him, shaking his head. Tony could see his eyes were laced a little red and he asked, "You okay?" And then Bruce hugged him tightly.

Once he had settled down a little, wiping his eye with his thumb, Tony knelt near Everleigh, "You know how to get home to mommy, right?"

"Yes Daddy." Everleigh said solemnly.

"Good." Tony said firmly. "Then you run as fast as you can to her, understand?"

Everleigh nodded.

"I can portal her to the compound." The man said, opening a second portal which showed the Compound. Tony could already see Y/N far in the distance, talking to another woman.

"That's Elizabeth." Bruce explained, "Her and her kids. Long story short but Loki's dead. All the Asgardians are dead."

"Go." Tony said to Everleigh, who scampered through the portal and ran towards her mother. Then he followed the wizard and Bruce back inside.

He sat on a couch in what was known as the New York Sanctorum, watching another sorcerer show off some astral projections and tell a story about the infinity stones.

"At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, Boom. The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurtling across the virgin universe."

There were so many corrections Tony wanted to make in the speech, but he kept quiet.

"These infinity stones each control an essential aspect of existence."

Each one was highlighted as they named it.

Blue.

"Space." Strange said.

Red.

"Reality."

Purple.

"Power."

Orange.

"Soul."

Yellow.

"Mind."

The one inside of Vision, Tony made note.

"And time." Strange said, looking down at the necklace thing he was wearing, opening it up to reveal the green stone that was inside of it.

"Tell me his name again." Tony demanded. He hated seeing Bruce so broken like this.

"Thanos." Bruce said. "He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki, brainwashed him. The attack on New York, that was him."

"This is it." Tony whispered. "What's our timeline?"

"No telling. He has the Power and the Space Stone." Bruce said. "That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he get his hands on all six stones, Tony. . ."

"He could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Stephen finished.

Tony stretched against the banister, "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?" He asked.

"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Stephen retorted.

"Is that what that is?" Tony asked, letting go quickly as he felt something like fabric hit him. He gave Stephen a look and then said, "I'm going to allow that."

"If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?"

"No can do."

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives." Wong replied.

"And I swore off dairy but then Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me." Tony retorted. "So-"

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts." Stephen said in what almost sounded like an ashamed tone. . . but it couldn't possibly have been.

"Not bad." He responded.

"A bit chalky." Stephen said slowly.

"A Hunk of Hulk of Burning Fudge is our favorite." Wong informed Bruce, who looked utterly confused.

"That's a thing?" Bruce yelped.

"Whatever. Point is, things change." Tony responded.

"Our Oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change." Stephen said. "And this stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos."

Tony responded with, "Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us."

"Well, if we don't do our jobs."

"What is your job exactly? Besides making balloon animals?"

"Protecting your reality douchebag."

"Okay, guys. Could we table this discussion right now?" Bruce asked almost angrily. "Thor is dead. Loki is dead. Mine and Elizabeth's soulmates are gone. Forever. The fact is we have this stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind stone, and we have to find him now."

"Yeah, that's the thing." Tony said uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder." Tony replied. "He's offline."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Tony, you lost another super-bot?" Bruce sounded so disappointed in him.

"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving." Tony replied.

"Who could find Vision then?" Stephen asked.

"Shit." Tony hissed. "Probably Steve Rogers."

"Oh, great." Stephen muttered.

"Maybe. But. . ."

"Call him." Bruce demanded.

"It's not that easy." Tony said, looking at Bruce over his shoulder. "God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?"

"No."

"The Avengers broke up. We're toast."

"Broke up? Like What? Like the Beatles?"

"Cap and I fell out hard." Tony muttered. "Sort've."

"Not quite true." Stephen interjected. "The Government made them choose and they all fought each other in an Avengers Civil War. Half of them like Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson are on the run. The other half like Y/N Stark, Scott Lang, and Clint Barton are on House arrest."

"Either way, we're not on speaking terms." Tony grumbled.

"Tony." Bruce begged, near tears, "Listen to me. Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."

Tony sighed. He had always carried the phone on him, no matter where he went, just in case. Never thought he was actually going to need it. He flipped it open. "Flip phone." He muttered in disgust. He paused though, as he heard something.

He looked around, things slightly rattling. Stephens black hair was moving slightly in a wind. "Say Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would ya?"

"Not at the moment, no."

What kind of answer was that? When did he move his fucking hair then?

Car alarms started to beep outside, they could see people running past the doors of the Sanctorum, and could hear screams outside.

Tony was the first one out the door, opening it up, and then headed in the direction that people were running from. A woman and a man bumped into each other, both of them falling. He quickly helped the woman to her feet and she kept running without a word. A car crashed into a pole.

"Help him." He ordered.

"Wong!" Stephen shouted.

"Got it."

He put his glasses on. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. what am I looking at?"

"Not sure. I'm working on it."

"Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc." Tony said, before taking off into a run.

Tony saw what basically looked like a flying donut in the sky. Chocolate, maybe some orange sort of goop inside of it.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. evac anyone south of 43rd Street." Tony ordered. "Notify first responders."

Strange did some sort of spell, which stopped the wind. Tony looked over his shoulder at the wizard and he winked at him. Tony raised his eyebrows in acceptance and then looked to see where a blue light had beamed two creatures down from the sky. One was extremely tall and buff, with heavy armor. The other was thin and shorter, but looked a lot like a squid.

"Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing-"

"I'm sorry. Earth is closed today." Tony shouted, interrupting the monologue. "You better pack it up and get outta here."

"Stonekeeper. Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not. I speak for myself." Stephen said, stepping forwards, doing some really cool, dramatic, somewhat stupid hand motions to create shields, "You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Wong did the same shields on the other side of him.

"He means get lost Squidward!" Tony shouted.

"He exhausts me. Bring me the stone." Squidward said and the stomping brute creature started towards them.

"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony asked.

"Mmm, no, not really." Bruce responded. "But when do I ever get what I want?"

"That's right." Tony responded back. "I know it's been a while. It's gonna be good to have you, buddy."

"Okay. Shh. Let me just. . . I need to concentrate here for a second." Tony looked at him skeptically. He was green at the neck and knuckles, but nothing more. "Come on, come on man."

"Where's your guy?"

"I don't know. We've sorta been having a thing."

"It's no time for a thing."

"I know!"

"That's the thing right there. Let's go."

Stephen looked at him in expectation. "Dude you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards." Tony said.

"Either I can't or he won't." Bruce responded.

"It's okay. Hey, stand down. Keep an eye on him. Thank you." Tony said, realizing the emotional stress of losing his entire family on the soulmate side probably was a lot. He thought it would fuel the Hulks rage, but perhaps he was wrong.

He stepped forwards, pulling the strings of his jacket, then tapping the new arc reactor on his chest. He took his glasses off as the suit seemed to melt onto his skin, the helmet coming over his face. He lifted his shield in time to counter the attack with the brutes club, before bashing him with his fist. Light jets came from his back, shooting a beam of energy that sent the brute flying backwards, which Squidward flicked away easily. The beams went back into Tony's suit.

"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asked in excitement.

"It's nanotech, you like it?" Tony asked, "A little something I-"

Suddenly he was sent skyrocketing as the ground underneath him shot up. He swooped around through the wizards, blasting the car that was sent their way.

"Gotta get that stone out of here, now." Tony said.

"It stays with me." The angry wizard said.

"Exactly. Bye." Tony said, then flew towards the aliens. He dodged the concrete walls, but was hit by something metallic and powerful enough to send him all the way back to where he'd been running earlier with Everleigh.

"Tony, you okay?" Bruce's voice called out, footsteps pounding on the ground as he ran over. "How we doing? Good? Bad?"

"Really, really good." Tony said sarcastically from where he was laying seven inches down in the dirt, back against a tree. "Really good. Do you plan on helping out?"

"I'm trying. He won't come out." Bruce responded.

"Hammer." Tony pushed Bruce out of the way, then tried to beam the brute with his laser, but his shield blocked it, cutting down trees instead with backlash.

Tony was suddenly stopped by being crushed by a hammer, by a very slender figure in a red suit. "Hey man!" The kid greeted the alien cheerfully. "What's up Mr. Stark?"

"Kid, where'd you come from?"

"A field trip to MOMA." He responded as he was picked up and tossed across the park. It gave Tony a chance to fire a laser beam up his side.

"What's this guys problem Mr. Stark?"

"Uh, he's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard." Tony said and the two of them continued to fight the brute. Tony watched Stephen fly by, seemingly unconscious or something. "Kid that's the wizard. Get on it."

"On it." Peter said, taking off after Stephen.

After a few minutes, he heard Peters' voice, "Um, Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up."

"Hang on, kid." Tony said, extremely stressed out. He tried fighting the metal contraption around his body. The brute ran at him with a sword, leaping, but before he could come down on him, a portal opened up and the brute fell into a snowy tundra. Wong cut the portal off as he lunged upwards, the hand being cut off.

"Wong you're invited to my baby shower." Tony said, before blasting off the ground and taking off after the kid and wizard. "Give me a little juice F.R.I.D.A.Y." His feet melded together into one big booster to give him some extra speed. "Unlock 17-A."

"Pete you gotta let go, I'm gonna catch you." Tony instructed.

"But you said save the Wizard." Peter argued. "I can't breathe."

"We're to high up. You're running out of air."

"Yeah." the kid gasped, "That makes sense." And then suddenly, "Mr. Stark it smells like a new car in here!"

"Happy trails, kid." Tony hovered over him. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. send him home."

"Yep."

"Oh come on!"

[braveclementine]

General Ross

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Try to remember the kind of September When grass was green. . .

"Wake up dear, and say goodbye to your father." Tony's mothers voice stopped singing to say. Her fingers played flawlessly against the piano as Tony watched his white haired, much older father lift the blanket off of young Tony's face, who was sleeping on the couch.

"Whose the homeless person on the couch?" Howard Stark asked, buttoning his suit jacket. Tony smiled, watching young Tony sit up with a santa hat upon his head.

"This is why I love coming home for Christmas," Young Tony said. "right before you leave town."

"Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad."

"Really? Which broad? What's her name?"

"Candice." Young Tony said while Howard plucked the Santa hat off of his head.

"Do me a favour? Try not to burn the house down before Monday."

"Okay, so it's Monday? That is good to know. I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where you going?"

"Your father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little getaway."

"We might have to make a quick stop." Howard said.

"At the pentagon. Right." Young Tony replied. "Don't worry, you're going to love the holiday menu at the commissary." Young Tony replied to his mother.

"They say sarcasm is a metric for potential." Howard replied. "If that's true, you'll be a great man someday." And then to his wife, "I'll get the bags."

"He does miss you when you're not here." Mrs. Stark said as Howard left the room. "And frankly, you're going to miss us." She said, getting up off the bench. "Because this is the last time we're all going to be together. You know what's about to happen." She said, slinging her purse onto her shoulder.

Young Tony nodded as his mother ran her hand up his arm. "Say something." Howard entered the room. "If you don't, you'll regret it."

"I love you Dad." Young Tony said. "And I know you did the best you could." He said to his mother. She kissed his cheek and then Young Tony was left, watching his two parents walk off the set.

"That's how I wished it happened." Tony said, addressing the crowd that he was standing in front of now. A group of college students, all in the engineering field. "Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing or BARF. God, I gotta work on that acronym. An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories."

He pretended to blow out the candle, but that couldn't happen because it wasn't a reality and he let out a small laugh, "It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief, but,"

He took off the glasses and the entire, familiar home scene around him started to dissolve, "Plus, Six hundred and eleven million for my little therapeutic experiment? No one in their right mind would've ever funded it. Help me out, what's the MIT mission statement?"

"To generate, disseminate, and preserve knowledge." Tony said as the college students chanted it with him at the same time. "And work with others to bring it to bear on the world's great challenges. Well, you are the others. And, quiet as its kept the challenges facing you are the greatest mankinds ever known. Plus, most of you are broke."

He got laughter from the crowd on that one. Didn't stop it from being true either.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Rather, you were. As of this moment, every student has been made an equal recipient of the inaugural September Foundation Grant." Students started to murmur, talking to each other in whispers, "As in, all of your projects have just been approved and funded."

The crowd broke into slight screams, cheering, and whispers.

"No strings, no taxes, just reframe the future! Starting now," He paused when he saw that he was supposed to introduce Pepper Hogan. His heart clenched because she hadn't been talking to him recently.

"Go break some eggs." He said quickly and then turned, dazedly walking off the stage. Fuck he'd forgotten all about the horrible fight with Pepper until that moment.

"Wow! Wow! That took my breath away." He was aware of one of the college head of departments touching him, trying to get his attention. "Oh, Tony! So generous. So much money! Wow!" He laughed awkwardly. "Out of curiosity, will any portion of that grant be made available to faculty? I know, 'Ooh gross,' but hear me out. I have got this killer idea for a self-cooking hot dog. Basically, chemical detonator embedded-"

"Restrooms this way, yeah?" Tony interrupted, pointing.

"Yeah. Embedded in the meat shaft."

A blond lady stepped in front of him, "Mr. Stark I am so sorry about the teleprompter. I didn't know Mrs. Hogan had canceled. They didn't have time to fix it."

He stopped walking as she was trying to walk backwards and talk to him face on at the same time. He gently touched her arm in reassurance and said, "It's fine. I'll be right back."

He walked out and into the hallway where the bathrooms and elevator were. He stood in front of the men's bathroom door for a moment, before checking behind him to make sure the weird faculty member hadn't followed him. He walked down to where the elevators were, the hallway empty except for one African American women who seemed to already be waiting on the elevator.

"That was nice, what you did for those young people." She said, speaking first. He had his back against the wall, feeling awkward again. The only people he was comfortable around anymore was Bruce, Y/N, and the rest of the Avengers although Wanda still scared him.

"Ah, they deserve it." He said nonchalantly. "Plus, it helps ease my conscience."

"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt." Well, she seemed like a smart woman. "But if you've got the money. . . break as many eggs as you like." Tony looked at her then, "Right?"

Tony turned to face the elevator, not wanting to look at her face on anymore, and noticed peculiarly, that the elevator button had never been pressed. He grew wary now. Was she going to pull out some Natasha like moves on him and try and slit his throat? Or was he just getting paranoid? But why would she stand here and not press the button? He reached forward slowly, pressing the up button.

"Are you going up?" He asked. Rumlow had tried to kill Steve and Y/N in an elevator. Maybe he should think about taking the stairs.

"I'm right where I want to be." She said.

Yep, she was totally going to kill him.

She reached into her bag and he said, "Okay. Hey!" He grabbed her wrist quickly. She glared at him. "Sorry, it's an occupational hazard."

"I work for the State Department. Human Resources. I know its boring but it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be." She slapped a picture right against his chest where his heart was. "His name was Charlie Spencer. You murdered him. In Sokovia. Not that that matters in the least to you. You think you fight for us? You just fight for yourself. Who's going to avenge my son, Stark? He's dead and I blame you."

She turned and marched away.

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"Eleven Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos, when the attack occurred."

"Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil, not only because of the actions of criminals, but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them." King T'Chaka said on the news channel now. "Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all."

You turned off the TV and Steve looked over his shoulder. "You need to stop watching that stuff Steve. The news isn't a healthy place."

Both of you heard more news coming from another room and the two of you went and found Wanda watching another news channel, which was bashing her. Steve was the one to turn the TV off this time.

"It's my fault." Wanda said softly. Pietro was on the bed next to her, rubbing her shoulders.

"That's not true." Steve said softly.

"Turn the TV back on." Wanda said. "They're being very specific."

"I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it." Steve countered. "Rumlow said 'Bucky' and all of a sudden I was a sixteen year old kid again, in Brooklyn." He walked over to sit next to her. You caught Pietro's eye and jerked your head, the two of you leaving the room.

"She'll be okay." You said as the two of you hit the kitchen. "It just. . . we all find something to blame ourselves on the missions. I don't know, maybe our team just wasn't ready."

"Steve is a good trainer." Pietro countered. "The circumstances were just. . . unfortunate."

"That they were." You sighed, checking the time for the MIT convention. You hoped Tony would be home soon.

Vision suddenly came in through the wall of the kitchen. Both you and Pietro jumped.

Vision was, naturally, Wanda's soulmate. However, Vision being a robot somehow defeated the physics of Wanda turning into any animal. She did however, now have a butterfly tattoo on her back. It was strange. You were sure if Bruce ever found out, he would want to research it. . . but Bruce hadn't been heard from in forever.

"Vision! Doors!" You shouted.

"My apologies." Vision replied. "Mr. Stark is back and he's brought the Secretary of State with him."

You and Pietro exchanged a look. "Secretary of State?" You repeated.

This could not be good.

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"Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing." General Ross said. He was standing at the front of the table, addressing the rest of you.

Wanda, Vision, Sam, and Pietro sat on one side of the long table. Rhodey, Natasha, and Steve sat on the other. You sat in the middle, right across from General Ross, frowning. Tony was sitting to the side in the corner, looking uncomfortable.

"Turned out it was the best round of my life because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives, but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some, who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

"And what word would you use, Mr Secretary?" Natasha asked.

"How about 'dangerous'? What would you call a group of US- based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders, and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

You opened your mouth to retort when he stepped to the side and a flat world of the map appeared.

"New York."

A video of one of the huge flying Centipede like Chitauri, with Hulk leaping from building to building.

"Washington D.C."

This one showed the helicarriers that were disappearing into the lake. The ones that you, Sam, and Steve took down.

"Sokovia."

Wanda and Pietro both shifted in their seats as a video of part of the land rising, buildings crumbling and crashing.

"Lagos."

Wanda looked away and Steve said, "Okay. That's enough."

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution."

The man that had come with General Ross handed him a large booklet, which Ross placed on the table, handing it straight to Wanda. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under supervision of a United States panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

You started to laugh and everyone looked at you. "Sorry," You chuckled, and then stopped because it wasn't funny. "The Government is going to control superheroes? You see, that's funny."

"Y/N." Tony muttered as you stood up angrily.

"Sorry but, does no one remember when the Vice President colluded with The Mandarin to kill the President of the United States? Does no one remember how Senators were bought off by HYDRA? You want the Government, which is corrupt as something can be, to tell the good people when they want something to be saved? What if we save the wrong thing? What if, a Senator who has been bought off by HYDRA, tells us to kill the good guys instead, making us think they're bad, huh?"

"Y/N" Tony said again.

"No!" You shouted, "The Avengers are guided by themselves because our leader, our Captain, has the best moral compass. So no. I don't accept these Sokovia accords. You think I would ever trust the Government after my past with them? In your fucking dreams. The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place and we've done that."

"Tell me, Mrs. Stark, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" General Ross asked you. You sucked in your lips. "If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences."

"Thor and Banner aren't weapons, General." You retorted. "And I think you've forgotten Thor is the King of another planet. And Bruce happens to be Thor's soulmate. They are both either on Asgard or traveling space together. Who knows what Thor's Kingly duties are."

"Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works." General Ross sighed. "Believe me, this is middle ground."

"So, there are contingences."

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords."

Steve turned in his chair to look at Tony. Tony looked up at him and then back down at his hands.

"Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" You and Natasha asked at the same time.

"Then you retire."

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"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor." Rhodey said to Sam while Steve sat on the chair in front of them, reading through the entire Accords. You were also reading the Accords. So far, it didn't look very promising. "Which is one more than you have."

"Means jack shit to me." You snapped.

Steve gave you the look and you ignored him. When you were in a bad mood, you just happened to cuss more. That's how it worked and Steve would just have to accept that.

"So let's say we agree to this thing." Sam said angrily. "How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this." Rhodey argued.

"So what?" You complained. "So what? If you look at the statistics, the factual numbers, we have a 93.764% approval rates as Avengers. Which means, that these one hundred and seventeen countries are rolling belly up and surrendering to make only 6.236% of the world's population happy. They're in the minority, the Government is only giving in because they're weak and want to be elected again. That's it."

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam asked.

"I have an equation." Vision said suddenly.

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam rolled his eyes.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And, during the same period of time, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying its our fault?" Steve asked, paused from turning the page he was on.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge inflicts conflict. And conflict. . . breeds catastrophe. Oversight- Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Right." You declared. "So, the next time we have someone like Loki using aliens to invade the world, we should just kick back and relax, drink some lemonade and hope the U.S. army can do better since they're already under a Government contract. Well I'm all fucking for that, we should move to Japan and live quiet lives."

"Tony." Natasha said in a warning voice. "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." You and Steve said together.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony retorted. He sat up from where he was laying down on the couch. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on Cap. It's just pain." He walked over to the kitchen, grabbing himself a cup. "It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

He placed a tablet down and a picture of a young African American boy popped up on a holograph. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world."

You closed your eyes, knowing where this was going, what this was leading up to. Charles face now burned in your mind.

"Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

"What should we have done?" You asked with a scoff, "Should we have. . . oh I don't know. . . not gone to Sokovia at all? Decided not to fight Ultron? Should we have let Ultron lift the island into the sky while we kicked back at Avengers Tower watching Vampire Diaries? I mean what were we supposed to do? Magically stop the buildings from falling over the side of the island while Thor and Steve are already trying to grab people as their cars are falling in mid-air? Tell me what we were supposed to do in that situation Tony?"

Tony slammed his coffee cup down on the table, "There's no decision making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, when someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said.

"Who said we're giving up?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."

"I'm sorry, Steve. That- That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas and agendas change."

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve argued. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? Y/N's right. What if someone gets blackmailed or gets an incentive and they send us to kill their enemies and not ours? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"Here, here." Pietro said unexpectedly.

"If we don't do this now, it's going to be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony said.

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said and Pietro shot to her side immediately to sit down next to her.

"We would protect you." Vision said softly.

"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said unexpectedly. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-"

"I prefer having both hands on the wheel, thanks." You retorted.

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked in amazement.

"I'm just reading the terrain." Natasha sighed. "We have made, some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you, or did you agree with me?"

"I want to take it back now." Nat muttered.

"No, no, no you can't retract it." Tony said. You and Pietro rolled your eyes. "Thank you. Unprecedented."

Steve's phone started to ring.

"Okay. Case Closed. I win." Tony said.

"I have to go." Steve said, getting to his feet.

Everyone watched him walk out and you stood up as well.

You looked at Tony. "I will not go against you Tony. But I will not sign this either. I'm an American and I always fight for my freedom. I don't surrender it. So," You tossed your handgun onto the table. "I retire. And I will see all of you later."

And with that, you left the room.

[braveclementine]

I'm Not Okay

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Hey." Sam said, when Stephen finally answered his call. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm just about to pull out of the garage." Stephen answered, slightly lying as he attached the watch to his wrist and looking at himself in the mirror. It was the watch that Sam had given him for his birthday and he treasured it, though he rarely told Sam that. "Do you want me to pick you up."

"I'm already here." Sam answered and now Stephen could hear the sounds of the party behind him. "You know you're the one receiving the award tonight, right? You should be on time to these things."

"I'm the one that tonights for." Stephen smirked as he grabbed his car keys and headed for the garage now. "They can afford to wait for me."

He heard Sam sigh on the other side of the phone and he said, "Cheer up. I'll be there before you know it."

"Drive safe." Sam said in that warning voice of his. Hanging with superheroes was definitely making him goody two shoes.

"I'll do my best." Stephen said. "See you soon."

"Yeah." Sam said and hung up.

Stephen jumped in the car and sped out onto the streets.

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When Stephen woke up, he felt a soft, warm hand on his shoulder. But that was the only warmth. Everything else was either numb or in pain. He could only open one eye and he opened it to see Sam sitting in the chair beside him.

"Hey." Sam's voice was rough and Stephen knew that he'd probably been crying. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

He looked at his arms, which were resting in slings. There were needles in his hands and what felt like a thousand stitches. "What d- What did they do?"

"They rushed you in a chopper. But it took a little while to find you." Sam's voice was shaky again. "From what little I understood, the golden hours for nerve damage went by while you were in the car."

"What did they do?" Stephen asked again, his voice croaky. It hurt to talk but he was horrified with how his hands looked. His once perfect hands.

"Eleven stainless steel pins in the bones." Sam finally answered him. "Multiple torn ligaments, severe nerve damage in both hands. You were on the table for e-eleven hours." Sam cleared his throat, looking down so Stephen didn't see the tears that were probably falling from his eyes.

"Look at these fixators."

"No one could have done better."

Stephen groaned in pain, looking over at his soulmate. "I could have done better."

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Sam paced outside the hospital doors, dreading going in. He could hear Stephen behind the door, telling the doctors that they had ruined him. Sam pushed his palms against his eyes. They saved his life. What more could he want?

Sam knew Stephen's career was over, but that was okay. Sam had plenty of money saved up. It wouldn't be enough to keep Stephen's multi-million apartment, but they could get a slightly bigger house than the one Sam was staying in right now. Especially if Sam took care of Stephen's hospital bills with Stephen's money and then took in the rest of Stephen's net worth.

He wished he had thought to control Stephen's money spending better. Watches he didn't need, expensive suits, expensive cars, money blown instead of saved.

And then, Stephen blew more money on an expensive surgery to try and fix his hands. Then money on physical therapy.

Sam felt useless. Stephen wouldn't let him help him. Sam walked in on Stephen trying to shave, before letting the Razor plop into the water, growling in frustration.

"You want me to help?" Sam asked.

"No." Stephen snapped, glaring at him and Sam swallowed thickly. He was done crying over his man every time he hurt him.

And then, Stephen was trying to contact doctors and that was how Sam found him one night. He walked into the loft and saw the computer smashed on the floor with the papers.

"He won't do it." Sam stated.

Stephen shook his head slowly and then stood up angrily. "He's a hack. But there is a new procedure in Tokyo. They culture donor stem cells and then harvesting them and then 3D printing a scaffold. If I could get a loan together-"

"Stephen." Sam said.

"A small loan, just two hundred thousand dollars-"

"Stephen you've always spent money as fast as you could make it." Sam said, trying to reason with him. This was a rabbit hole Stephen was going to drown in. "But now you're spending money you don't even have. I don't have. Maybe it's time to consider stopping."

"No," Stephen dropped the computer and raised his arms. His hands shaking violently and Sam just wanted to take him into his arms and kiss him. "Now is exactly the time not to stop, because, you see! I'm not getting any better." He got to his feet.

"But this isn't medicine anymore." Sam argued. "This is mania. Some things just can't be fixed."

"Life without my work-"

"Is still life. This isn't the end. There are other things that can give your life meaning." Sam protested.

"Like what?" Stephen turned, "Like you?"

Sam felt as though he had been slapped across the face. He wanted to retort. Wanted to demand an apology.

Instead, he turned and tossed his keys on the table, put his hands in the pockets and left, making sure to slam the apartment door behind him

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You were falling asleep at your desk at the new S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. You had been staying up late, working on one of the new training protocols, but you were slacking as you started to fall asleep.

A hand touched your shoulder and you jolted. Steve was there, holding Everleigh in his arms, who was whimpering, clutching Steve's hair tightly in a fist.

"I think she's hungry." Steve said apologetically. "And you should get some sleep."

"Yeah." You yawned. "Thanks Steve. I'm sorry if she was bothering you."

Steve chuckled. "I'll just lock my bedroom door next time."

You giggled and then said, "I don't suppose you want anything to eat as well, do you? I'm hungry and I'll probably make something large anyways cause Tony needs food too."

"Sure, why not." Steve shrugged.

The two of you walked towards the kitchen in silence. You set Everleigh down in her chair in the kitchen which had a booster seat tied down to it so she was at level with the table. She was five now and very nosy, going into every room she could. She also loved eating and she hated sleeping, as all kids seemed to.

"How about home made skyline?" You asked Everleigh in excitement.

"Yes!" She said happily and you looked at Steve. "Do you want yours in a form of spaghetti or hot dogs?"

He looked like a deer in headlights. "What's skyline?"

"It's a meat sauce and you either put it on spaghetti or hot dogs. I prefer spaghetti but she loves it with hot dogs and Tony. . . well he combines the two, the menace he is." You laughed. "Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Tony is still awake right? Ask him if he wants Skyline."

"Yes Mrs. Stark." F.R.I.D.A.Y.s voice replied.

"Um I guess the hot dogs." Steve said uncertainly.

You put six hot dogs in a pan to boil and then started boiling a pan of water for your spaghetti. You hummed as you worked, opening up a can of skyline meat sauce to put into another pan and heat that up.

"Mr. Stark says he would love Skyline, Mrs. Stark." F.R.I.D.A.Y.s voice came in. "Also, Mr. Wilson just entered the building, would you like me to let him know where you are?"

"Sure." You said, surprised. Steve looked just as surprised as you. Sam hadn't moved into the building yet, there was some trouble with his soulmate or something like that. A car crash, though he hadn't explained the details. But he had seemed rather upset lately and his training had taken a turn for the worse.

You grabbed hot dog buns for Steve and Everleigh, sliding their hot dogs into each one, before drizzling the sauce over them. You topped them with large amounts of thin shredded cheese and gave them to them.

You put spaghetti in the pan, now that the water was boiling and waited, grabbing a bowl for your own meal. You also grabbed oyster crackers from the cupboard and gave each of them a cup of them to dip into the sauce.

"Napkin Everleigh." You said to the small girl who was messily eating her hot dogs. You cut Tony's hot dogs into pieces to mix with the spaghetti after the noodles were done, dripping the sauce on it and then topping it with cheese. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. let Tony know his food is done."

Sam came into the kitchen as you finished making your bowl of spaghetti. "Hey Sam!" You called over your shoulder, grabbing cups for milk. "Are you hungry-" You cut off as you saw his face.

Steve turned and looked over his shoulder and got to his feet immediately. "Sam? What's wrong?"

You quickly put everything you had in your hands on the table. Everleigh, understanding something was serious, stayed quiet.

Sam sat down heavily in his chair, looking at the table. He cleared his throat. "Stephen. He um, I think. . . I think he rejected me."

You and Steve both froze and then you moved to Sam's side, putting a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "But. . . why? Why would he do that to you?"

"Because he values his work more than me." Sam said thickly. "Said it right to my face. I'm not worth it to him. Wasting money, chasing rabbit holes."

"Oh Sam." You whispered and wrapped your arms around him. Sam hugged you back tightly. "It's going to be okay."

You didn't let go until Sam relaxed against you and only then did you pull away slowly and ask, "Do you want something to eat?"

"Got anything chocolate?" Sam asked, clearing his throat.

You went to the cupboard and brought back chocolate covered pretzels, pouring him a bowl. "Here."

"Can I have some too?" Everleigh asked.

"After you finish your dinner." You said, even as Sam sneaked her one under the table with a smile. You pretended not to notice as she quickly shoved into her mouth and smiled broadly at Sam. Steve covered his own smile with a hand.

"Hey birdbrain." Tony said, walking in. "Hey angel." He kissed the top of Everleighs head. "Cap." He clapped him on the shoulder. "Pumpkin, thank you for the meal." He kissed the top of your head, grabbing his own bowl.

You smiled up at him.

"What are you doing here so late Sam?" Tony asked now.

Sam hesitated and Steve answered for him. "Moving in."

"Nice, I'll have a room ready for you in like, ten minutes." Tony said, pulling out a tablet.

"Thanks." Sam said thickly and Tony looked up to analyze him. Tony looked at you.

'Later' you mouthed at him and he nodded.

"Okay that was really good." Steve said when he finished off his hot dogs.

"The spaghetti is just as good, want some?" You asked, showing him your plate that you were only halfway done with.

"Um no." Tony said in a teasing voice. "No Lady and the Tramp here. Get your own plate ice cube."

You giggled and a small smile came over Steve's face.

"I'll get your plate." You said, getting up and making a bowl for Steve. You pointed to the untouched crackers, "Those are also very good if you dip them in the sauce or even just by themselves."

"I don't really like oysters. Not a huge seafood fan." Steve said, eyeing the crackers warily.

You giggled, Tony let out a guaff, and Sam actually let out a laugh. "Don't worry, they're just crackers. They're only called oyster crackers because of their shape. Go ahead."

Steve popped one in his mouth and then ate the rest of them, a faint blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

Everleigh was starting to fall asleep and Tony took her off to bed. Sam and Steve said they'd clean up the kitchen, so you wished them a good night, hugging Sam one more time, and then followed after your husband and daughter.

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Sam knocked on Steve's door around two in the morning. He wasn't even sure if the blond super soldier would be up, but he felt so alone. He almost never had to sleep alone, and even if he was sleeping alone, he had always had a conversation with Stephen where they knew they loved each other.

Steve opened the door, looking a little sleepy, but not to bad. "Hey Sam. You want to come in?"

Sam stepped into the bedroom. The room was a little sparse and the bed was completely made. He smiled a little, knowing Steve had probably been asleep on the floor.

He cleared his throat and asked, "I'm not here for like. . . like I. . ." He hesitated and said, "I just wanted to sleep next to each other. But I'm not asking for you to ch-"

"I know." Steve said softly, drawing the covers back. "Go ahead. I'm a pretty peaceful sleeper. I won't kick you in your sleep."

Sam smiled a little, his heart still heavy as he slipped into the bed. Steve's warmth radiated from him so that Sam didn't even have to be touching him to feel it. Sam closed his eyes, feeling the tears coming. He missed Stephen so much, already, it felt like he was being stabbed in the gut with a hot knife.

"I miss him." Sam sobbed.

Steve's strong arms wrapped around Sam's shoulders. Sam expected there to be some sort of sting, something to remind him that he was cheating, but there was nothing. Maybe Stephen really had rejected him completely.

"I know." Steve choked out. He cleared his throat. "I. . . I miss him too. We'll get through this together Sam. I will always be here for you."

Sam closed his eyes again, burying his face into Steve's chest and fell asleep.

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You were in the kitchen, trying to put together a dinner. Sam was attempting to help you. You called out the different spices that you needed and he would find them in the box and hand them to you.

Suddenly, his phone which he had put on the counter started to ring. He flinched when he heard the ring tone.

You looked over at him and saw him just staring at the phone. "You want me to answer that for you?"

Sam blinked and you swiped the phone, putting it on speaker. "Y/N Stark speaking."

"Where's Sam?" The hoarse voice of Sam's soulmate came through the phone. Stephen, his name you remembered.

"He's occupied in training." You lied smoothly.

There was silence on the other side of the phone. "I need to talk to him. I need. . . there are things I need to tell him."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest, his back to the phone. You had no idea if he was crying. You picked up the phone to speak into the phone. "Look. . . I'm pretty close with Sam and he's dang cut up. I know. . . I know we all say things in the heat of the moment. I know that you're going through a life changing moment. It cannot be easy for you to lose your work like that, especially being as successful as you are. But Sam loves you. And speaking as someone who is married to another egotistical, narcissist asshole genius husband, sometimes we- Sam and I- have to overlook some things. However, that being said, Sam loves you."

Sam's shoulders shook and you decided to speed up the conversation. "I'll tell Sam that you called. But I am not going to let him call you. I think both you and him need to work out some things for yourself before you try and be together again. Maybe you can't do everything on your own. I know you can't. But Sam deserves the best and I need you to become the best for him. Okay?"

There was silence and then he said, "There's this place called Kamar-Taj. It's in Tibet. I was. . . apparently they healed someone that had the same nerve damage there. But I have to set out right away. I was. . . I thought. . ." He cleared his throat. "I can make the journey on my own, I was just hoping Sam would come with me."

It was your turn to be silent. "That's not my choice, no matter what. I'll tell Sam after he's done with training and the two of you can work that on your own. Good-bye Stephen. I hope everything works out for the best."

You hung up first and handed the phone to Sam before turning back to the boiling Chili. "Like I said, it's up to you."

Sam hugged you from behind. "You're the best Y/N."

You smiled a little and then swatted at him with the wooden spoon. "I know. Now either help or scoot."

Sam chuckled, flipping the phone in his hand. "I think. . . I think I'll go with him. Maybe a trip together is something we need."

"Okay." You said softly and then gestured to the phone. "But I'd wait a few hours. You're training, remember?"

Sam nodded and then walked out of the kitchen.

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Sam left with Stephen for Kamar-Taj the next day.

"Is he going to be okay?" You asked with a frown as you, Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Pietro, and Clint sat down for dinner. Tony was in his lab and Vision didn't eat.

"I'm sure he will be." Natasha said. "Soulmate relationships are hard, especially when the people in the relationships are complete opposites."

Clint chuckled, "Know how the two of us met?"

"No." You said, looking between Clint and Natasha. "How did you meet?"

"She was still one of the black widows even though she was an animal." Clint explained. "A fox could easily slip in and out of small holes and steal information. And she actually still made a good darn assassin as a fox."

You looked at Nat in surprise who was blushing just a little bit. Then you asked, "What about the soulmate line? The one that would lead you to Clint?"

"Couldn't." Nat explained. "They kept a very good eye on us that were animals. But as Clint got closer, I knew he was getting closer."

"They sent me to assassinate her." Clint chuckled. "And I could tell she wanted out. She pretty much ran into my arms."

You let out a surprised laugh.

"Anyways," Nat smirked, "The point is, soulmate life is hard. Sam and Stephen are more than completely opposites. They're practically on different worlds. But they love each other. And Stephen went through something life-changing. That changes a person. It was natural to lash out, I just wish he hadn't been so harsh with his words."

"So don't worry." Steve said, sounding a little wistful. "Everything will work out."

And everything did.

[braveclementine]

Furious with Fury

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Lacerated Spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." Fury rambled off his injuries.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor who was treating Natasha's shoulder said. He was also making you sit in a chair with Steve pressing a wad of gauze against your hip wound. News flash! You actually had been shot in the bus and just hadn't noticed it. Apparently you were great at blocking out pain.

"Let's not forget that." Fury agreed sardonically. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Natasha whispered.

"Tetrodotoxin B." Fury explained and you nodded almost to yourself. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked angrily.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Maria answered for Fury.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury said, almost sounding cheerful about it. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

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"Speak to me Tony." You mumbled quietly on the private phone of Maria Hill. It couldn't be traced at all so you felt secure enough to use it.

"I traced this guy through the cameras. He's in some sort of church on the corner of Marx and 10th." Tony rambled into the phone. "I've hacked the cameras that I can. They've got some sort of underground base there, with a machine which he's in. They've said something about prepping him and wiping him. Y/N, I think they're taking his memories."

"That makes sense." You mumbled sadly. "Steve said it was as though he didn't recognize him."

"Howard used to talk about him too." Tony said, "I have a file here with all sorts of information. Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes. Part of the 107th Infantry Regiment during the war. Soulmated to Steve Rogers. He has a disciplinary charge in the army. Howard made a note about it. Apparently he and Steve got into a brawl when he found out that Steve and Peggy had fallen in love. Howard thought they might work out a poly relationship after Bucky calmed down. It looked promising too, except that Bucky fell off the train."

"Bloody hell." You muttered. "God Tony, I feel so bad for the both of them. Steve finding his soulmate but not being able to be with him. And Bucky. . . he doesn't want this, does he?"

Tony inhaled sharply. "He's screaming right now. He let them do it to him, he's being compliant, but he's in pain Y/N. I don't think that's something you should tell Steve though."

"No, probably not." You said, glancing over your shoulder. Fury was out of bed, talking to the others. "Tony, I-"

You stopped. You weren't sure if you wanted to tell him how useless you felt.

No secrets.

"I feel useless. I haven't done anything productive on this trip except be a body that Steve has to protect."

"You're not useless Y/N." Tony said. "If anything, I am. I can't be there, I can't be fighting."

"You're not S.H.I.E.L.D." You pointed out. "But Cap is and Nat is and even I am because I'm an Agent here. You're free. Be glad for that."

"None of you should be part of that." Tony said and you thought he sounded almost angry. "We were supposed to be the Avengers. Not, some of us are Avengers only at certain points of time while the other half get to save the life every single day!"

"I thought you wanted to retire." you joked half-heartedly.

Tony sighed, "Not when it comes to things like this. You're in danger and I can't do anything."

You were quiet for a moment, "Is the suit ready? We're going to need you."

"You are?"

You thought about it. "Maybe. There's these helicarriers that. . . well I don't know anything yet. I'm not planning right now, I had to talk to you. But if they're in the air. . . well I might need a lift."

"You can count on me sweetheart. The new suit is done."

"Good. I'll try and let you know. This is Maria's phone, so there's that." You laughed dejectedly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Tony said and then he hesitated and said, "I know you kissed someone. I could feel it through the bond. Was it Rogers?"

"CPR." You explained. "And then I woke up it was sort've like a relief kiss. I was going to tell you in person. Sorry."

"You're not. . . you know. . . you don't have."

"I love you Tony. No one else. I swear that on Everleigh."

"I love you too." And you could hear he sounded much happier. "Please stay safe."

"I will." You said, touching the stitches on your side in afterthought. "Bye."

". . . need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury said, glancing over at you as you came back up. You slid the phone across the table to Maria.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work." Maria said, "Because if even one of those ships remain operational, a whole lot of people are going to die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers are HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left-"

"We're not salvaging anything!" Steve said angrily. "We're not just taking down those carriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with this!"

"You gave me this mission! This is how it ends! S.H.I.E.L.D's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under you nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed.

"How many paid the price before you did?"

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA, it all goes."

"He's right." Maria said softly, putting a hand over Fury's.

Fury looked over at Nat who leaned back in her chair and then looked up at Sam, "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower."

Fury chuckled, "Well, It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

"One for each ship." You said to yourself, thinking everything over. They all looked at you and you pointed between yourself, Steve, and Maria in answer, but didn't say anything else.

"Whoa, wait, what about me?" Nat asked.

You looked at her, "Look, I'm not planning anything. It was just a suggestion."

You turned your back on them, sitting down at the steps again, biting on your thumb. You weren't going to be useless anymore. You were getting on one of those ships and you were going to help.

No matter the price.

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In the end, it was you, Steve, Maria, and Sam. Steve stole his uniform from the museum and wore that. Fury had extra Agent uniforms, so you were suited up in that.

Now that you were in training clothes, you felt more confident, like it had given you some sort of confidence boost. You felt stronger, more flexible, more combatant.

It was like a placebo. In plain clothes, you felt to much like yourself. To much like that little girl that cowered under her fathers belt and her mothers fists. But in your Agent uniform, you were someone who could take on the world, take on HYDRA, take on S.H.I.E.L.D., take on helicarriers that wanted to kill people. Take on the Winter Soldier.

You broke into the headquarters, finding your way to the broadcast room. Steve took the mic.

"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, so be it. But I'm willing to be I'm not."

"Ahem. Testing, testing, fabulous speech Capsicle. I'll drink to that and you're definitely welcome to our house later." Tony's voice came in, hacking the recordings from outside of the tower. "Let's kick some HYDRA butt, alright?"

Steve actually laughed.

"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asked with a smirk. You were beaming, now that Tony was here.

"They're opening the bay doors." Tony shouted in your com. "I'm going to try and close them, but I don't think I'll be able to."

"Okay." you said back, rushing out the door without waiting for Steve. You kept one gun in your hand, shooting anyone that was wearing black.

"Tony you got eyes on me?" You shouted as you started to run out of running room.

"I'm coming now." Tony said and you saw him run. You didn't even hesitate, jumping through the window and landing on his back.

"Hey Cap!" Sam shouted into your coms, "I found those bad guys you were talking about." You could see him spinning to avoid the gun shots.

"Low, Tony." You ordered, but he was already doing it.

"I'll drop you off and help Falcon with the engaging process. Anywhere in particular you want me to drop you?" Tony asked. You caught sight of Nat- well not Nat because she was in disguise- but technically Nat in the room with Pierce and the other guards.

"Yeah, over there."

Tony flew you over, blasting the glass and you rolled in, shooting one of the guards in face. Nat immediately leapt into action, kicking Pierce and helping you take down the other guards. She stood back up and the two of you pointed guns at Pierce.

"I'm sorry." Natasha said, unveiling herself from her mask and tugging the wig off. "Did I step on your moment?"

"All right, Cap. I'm in." Sam's voice said.

"Oh, well, it was nice meeting all of you." You said, backing up to the window again, giving them a short bow. "Probably never see any of you again." And then you fell backwards out the widow.

"Very dramatic." Tony said as he caught you in his arms, shooting off towards the Quinjet.

Tony dropped you off on the ship and then went racing after a jet that was chasing Sam. He blasted it to bits in no time.

"Alpha lock." Steve said into the coms.

You grunted, ducking another guy as he swung his arm out at you, before you popped up, kicking him the chest, leaping off him, and planting your feet into the chest of another guard.

"Stark?"

"What?" You and Tony asked at the same time.

"Y/N." Maria corrected herself. "you're going to need a new nickname."

"Yep, call me Pumpkin." You grunted, parrying blows from your next attacker. "Works as well as anything."

"Right, where are you with the lock?"

"Held up." And then you shouted out as you were kicked of the platform, landing harshly on the one below it. "Hey thanks!" you shouted up a the guard, opening up the container and replacing the cards. "Brave lock!" You shouted.

"Falcon they have tracking missiles on you." Tony shouted.

You suddenly felt the entire ship starting to shake around you and you grabbed the railing to hold on. A hole was blasted into the ship, near where you were. Falcon came zooming past and you jumped. You held onto his back and he flew out of there.

"Two down, one to go." Maria said.

"Um, Cap, bad news." Stark said. "Winter is here. He's blowing all the jets on the runway. And now he just shot someone through the head. I'm going down."

"Hey Sam, I'm gonna need a ride!" Steve shouted.

"Um, I'm on him." You pointed out lightly. "Tony, you're gonna have to catch me. I'm jumping now." You leapt off Sam's back as Sam said, "Let me know when."

"I just did." Steve said.

"Are you kidding me!" Tony practically screamed, rocketing skyward to catch you.

Sam dropped Steve off on the roof of the third helicarrier and Tony dropped you off right next to him.

The four of you started walking and Sam said, "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"I had a big breakfast."

You giggled.

"Watch out." Tony said, yanking you backwards just in time as Winter came barreling out, knocking Steve off the air ship.

"Steve!" You and Sam shouted together. Sam went to go get him, but Bucky caught his wing, tossing him backwards.

Tony immediately engaged with him, attempting to land hits on him, but Bucky was able to counter everything. You ran, leaping onto the railing to jump sideways, landing on Bucky's shoulders. You wrapped your cord around his neck, pulling tight.

You and Winter struggled on the top and you shouted to Sam, "Go!"

Sam attempted to go, but Winter stopped fighting you, shooting out a grappling hook that got one of his wings. You grunted, tightening the cord around his neck, trying to choke him out.

Winter caught hold of your leg, tossing you off of him. You crashed into some of the crates that were on the ship. You groaned in pain, hoping you didn't open your stitches up.

You saw Bucky kick Sam off the plane with only one wing and then started to stalk towards you. Tony slammed into him, the Iron Man suit sending Bucky flying.

You scrambled to your feet. You didn't have the third card, Steve did.

"Steve?" You shouted in your com, running for the door. Hopefully Tony would keep Bucky engaged long enough that you could find the control room. Maybe Tony would have a secret idea up his sleeve without the card. "Sam?"

"I'm still on the helicarrier." Steve said in your com as you burst through the door, running down a hallway.

"Sam, Rumlow is on his way to council." Maria said.

"Y/N, I'm disengaged with Barnes. He slipped through the door. I can't follow him unless I get out of the suit."

"Don't." You said quickly. "Join Sam and Natasha against Rumlow."

"Got it." Tony said.

You came to a stop, seeing that both Bucky and Steve had beaten you there. Bucky was standing in front of the cylindrical container that you needed to put the card in front of. Steve was standing on the walkway in front of him.

"People are gonna die Buck." Steve said softly. "I can't let that happen. Please don't make me do this. You're my soulmate. I love you."

Steve reacted first, throwing his shield which Bucky glanced off with his gun. Really, he was a fantastic fighter, but you were pretty sure that was because of HYDRA. It was a shame, really. He could've been useful with the Avengers. Maybe you guys could capture him and Tony could perform some sort of surgery on him to get his memories back. Then he could join.

You ducked as the bullets Steve was pinging off of his shield came towards you. You lifted your own gun, trying to aim for something non-lethal to shoot Bucky, but the two of them were fighting to furiously for you to get a good aim.

You could see Steve, between the fighting, trying to get the card into the slot. And then Bucky knocked the two of them off the side of the railing.

You ran forward, hurtling the railing, you slid past Steve and Bucky, grabbing the card with your finger. Steve ran at Bucky, engaging the two of them in battle so that you could run past the two of them. You leaped as high into the air as you could, the chip between your teeth, grabbing the railing and started to put yourself up.

"Y/N!" Steve shouted and you felt a hot pain race through your back. You almost slipped, but pulled yourself up over the railing. You fumbled for a moment, on your knees, trying to grab the knife out, but couldn't.

You huffed, getting back to your feet, stumbling over to the control console. Your hands were shaking, but you shoved the card in.

"Charlie Lock."

You looked over the railing in time to see that Steve and Bucky were much further down than you were. "STEVE!" You shouted as Bucky slammed a knife into his shoulder. Infuriated, you reached your arms back painfully, shouting in pain, and grabbed the knife handle, pulling it out.

You hurdled the railing once more, sliding down it, and then jumping to the same floor that they were on. You snapped your foot, catching Steve's shield, and threw it straight at Bucky's face. No more hesitation because he was Steve's soulmate. You had to act.

Shots rang out and you saw that Steve had been shot right through the stomach.

He fell to the ground, leaving you the only one to fight Bucky.

"Stop!" You shouted firmly, not in fear, but in hopes that you could get him to listen. "Your name. Your name is James Buchannan Barnes. You were born on March 10, 1917. You had a younger sister, her name was Rebecca Barnes. You lived with your mother."

Bucky paused for a moment, almost squinting at you.

"When you turned eighteen," From here you were doing a little guesswork, "You got a line on your arm with the name 'Captain.' And when Steve turned Eighteen two years later, he turned into a golden retriever puppy."

Bucky started walking towards you, almost snarling now. You swallowed hard, backing up, and continued, "It only took the two of you a month to have Stevie turn back human, before the two of you bonded. One month! You broke all of the records James." He paused again when you used his first name. You could see Steve now, a little behind Bucky, getting up.

You racked your brain for the next thing that you could say, "You joined the 107th Infantry Regiment during World War II. Your unit was captured in '43 by HYDRA. Zola experimented on you, but Steve saved you. You became part of the Howling Commandos. There was a train, you remember the train right?"

Bucky actually jerked a little and you felt yourself sigh in relief, "You fell off the train and Steve thought that his soulmate had died. So he crashed a plane to try and kill himself, to join you. If he knew what had actually happened, he would have searched the ends of the Earth for you. He loves you. He's your soulmate."

You were shaking because Bucky was standing toe to toe with you now, though he wasn't touching. Steve staggered to his feet.

"Bucky Barnes." You whispered. "HYDRA hasn't been kind to you. They've tortured you, I've heard your screams. They wipe your mind over and over. Do you know why they wiped you before you came here? Because you said, 'The man on the bridge. I knew him.' You repeated that you knew him and they wiped your memory. Because they don't want you to remember your soulmate."

Bucky was trembling, though you weren't sure with which emotion.

"Guys you have to get out of there." Maria said into the coms, "The guns are ready to fire."

"Bucky, come back with us." You whispered, being brave and sliding a hand gently up his chest. You showed him that your other hand was empty. "Come back with Steve at least."

"Y/N." Steve said, stumbling forwards and you looked at him. Taking your attention from the Soldier was the first mistake you made.

His hand shot out, grabbing you around the throat, lifting you inches off the floor. "James." You mumbled, trying not to fight. Trying to stay calm.

Steve rammed into him, gasping with pain. "Y/N. Jump. The ships are going down. I already told Maria to fire. I'm hurt and I can at least make sure that Bucky goes down with it and that I go down with Bucky."

Tears sparked your eyes. "Steve-"

"Take the shield."

The first shot hit the ship and you fell backwards.

Everyone got jolted around and you could hear Bucky crying out in pain. It sounded like a tortured cat or a dog.

"Y/N!" Tony shouted into your com, "Where are you."

"Tony." You gasped. "I'm okay. I need you to circle below the ships. I think I'm going to break the glass and fall. But you can't be to close okay?"

"Alright." Tony said, sounding worried.

You saw where Bucky was under a piece of metal and then looked for Steve. He was trying to make his way to Bucky and you rushed over to Bucky.

"Y/N I'm serious!" Steve shouted at you as he continued to fall towards Bucky. And seeing the Captain come for him, Bucky just tried harder to get out. "Get out of here!"

"SAM WHERE ARE YOU?" Natasha shouted.

"Northwest corner. 41st floor!"

"Stay where you are!"

"Not an option!"

There was silence for a moment before you heard Sam shout, "41st floor! 41st!"

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury replied.

"Hill! Where's Steve?" Nat shouted into the coms, "Where's Stark? Pumpkin?"

Steve and you lifted the metal together and Bucky rolled out.

"You know me." Steve growled while you lay on your side, panting. Your back was in pain and your head felt fuzzy.

"No, I don't!" Bucky roared, knocking Steve off course. He fell to his knees beside you, but you couldn't move.

"Bucky. You've known me your whole life."

Bucky backhanded him and you rolled out of the way to avoid getting stepped on.

"Your name is James Buchannan Barnes." Steve said, a lot slower than you had. Maybe he would also have more luck, considering it was Steve saying it.

"Shut up!"

Steve took his helmet off, tossing it to the side. You wondered now if he had grabbed the uniform from the museum exactly for this purpose. So that Bucky could see his face, in the uniform he would have last saw him as he fell from the train.

"I'm not gonna fight you."

Steve dropped his shield and it fell into the depths below.

"You're my soulmate."

Bucky roared, running at him, catching him around the waist. "You're my mission." He started to punch Steve across the face and you found that tears were streaming down your face, though you didn't know when they started or why. "You're. My. Mission!"

"Then finish it." Steve said and you let out a sob. "Because I'm with you to the end of the line."

That made Bucky freeze.

You trembled, coming closer to them, kneeling beside Steve, ignoring Bucky. "Steve?"

And then something crashed into the glass, sending the both of you pitching out of the ship. You stayed conscious, looking for Tony, but realized that he couldn't be anywhere around here because of all the debris falling from the sky. He had been waiting for you to give an order. He'd trusted you to give him an order.

"Tony." You choked out.

"Y/N, speak to me."

"Steve and I-" You whispered. "we're headed for the water."

"I can't see you!" He shouted. But it didn't matter, because the two of you had hit the water.

You grabbed Steve's arm, refusing to lose him in the water. The two of you sunk quickly, even as you tried to kick your feet towards surface.

And then an arm grabbed you in the back.

'Tony!' You thought excitedly, even as you felt the metal brush your back. You tightened your hold on Steve and when your head broke the surface, you turned with a smile, which you didn't let drop even at your surprise that it was Bucky.

He dragged the both of you to surface, dropping you both on the ground. He stared down at Steve for a moment- who was unconscious- but you staggered to your feet.

"Bucky?" You asked softly, touching his metal hand. It was cold under your touch, and not wet as though it repelled the water. "Stay."

Bucky did not look away from Steve, but shook his head.

"Then, Promise me, for Steve, that you won't go back to HYDRA. Don't let them get you Bucky. Don't let them take these memories from you. You are good. You saved your soulmate. Don't let HYDRA take the good from you."

You didn't know if your words worked, because he simply turned and walked away.

You looked around and saw why Tony hadn't seen you. You were on the river bank on the complete opposite side of the headquarters.

"Tony? Tony?" You tried to ask, but realized the com was dead. The water had killed it.

You turned to Steve, seeing water trickle from the corner of his mouth and you fell to your knees. You smiled ironically, knowing that it was your turn to administer the CPR. You started with chest comprehension, before tipping his head back and blowing air into his lungs.

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You sat quietly with Sam and Tony in Steve's sick bed. Tony was half asleep with Everleigh sitting in his lap. Sam was flipping through a magazine. You were going through every file imaginable on Tony's top secret, non hackable laptop to find any trace of Bucky.

But there was a reason he had never been caught.

You and Tony had gone home after he'd found you on the riverbank with Steve. You'd told him the entire story start to finish, including that his parents accident wasn't really an accident. You told him you think HYDRA caused it somehow, but you didn't know how or why.

He had nodded, looking hurt and angry, but thanked you that you could tell him that.

You had gone to the hospital yourself for some time, getting stitches for your knife wound and a few other cuts, scrapes, and wounds that hadn't been taken care of while you had been on the run.

"I never want to go on the run again." You joked with him.

"On your left." Steve's quiet voice broke the silence. You looked up at him with a smile, but didn't say anything.

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You went with Steve and Sam to Fury's grave, holding a huge file with everything you could possibly find on the Winter Soldier. Tony had helped you, mostly with hacking HYDRA secrets and such.

It had helped that Natasha had leaked all sorts of confidential information to the public, lots of it HYDRA. And so the documents in there about the Winter Soldier were the most useful to your cause.

"Here." You said, handing it over to Steve who took it quickly.

"What is all of that?" Sam asked.

"Everything I could find on Bucky." You had opted to say his name instead of his alias, to show Steve that you thought he was a real person worth fighting for. Worth finding.

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before," A friendly, familiar voice said from behind the three of you. "

"You get used to it." Steve replied lightly, with a small smile on his face.

"We've been data mining HYDRA's files." Fury said. "Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm headed to Europe tonight. Wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I gotta do first." Steve said.

"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." Sam replied.

Fury nodded and looked at you. "I'd ask you, except you'd bring Stark along and I don't need that kind of publicity. Besides, you should lay low. Rumlow will be looking for you."

"I know." You said, wanting to laugh at the Tony thing and slightly scared of the Rumlow thing. "Nat said Barton is coming back soon. He'll kick up my training."

Fury shook the three of your guys hands and then said, "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me, right here."

"You should be honored. That's about as close as he gets to saying thank you." Nat called out, walking up with a file under her arm. Nowhere near as big as the one you'd brought. You wondered what was inside.

"Not going with him?" Steve asked.

"No."

He walked to join her and you looked at Sam, "Your soulmate okay?"

"Stephen? Yeah. Freaked out completely though about what happened."

"He sounds like a handful. Want any tips? I swear he sounds just like Tony." You said with a grin.

"How do you get him to stop being mad at you for risking your life?" Sam asked.

You grinned. "Well, for me, I put our daughter down to sleep, and then I suck his cock."

Sam laughed, "Might have to try that then."

Once Nat left, you and Sam joined him and you saw that the folder contained Bucky. Attached to the inside was a picture that you had seen, but hadn't put in the folder first. It was a picture of Bucky behind frozen glass, clearly in cryo.

"You're going after him." Sam stated.

"You don't have to come with me." Steve said.

"I know. When do we start?"

You smiled, kissing Sam's cheek and then Steve's. "Good luck Steve. I hope you find him. If you need inside help, call me. But I have to stay here and become a better Agent. I froze to many times on this trip and that can't happen again."

"Y/N!" Steve protested.

You smiled and said, "Steve, count the amount of times you had to save my life or protect me. And then name the amount of times I did anything useful. It's about a count of 95- 4. I don't want you to regret me coming on a mission again. Besides, you're technically my boss now and I would never want to disappoint a boss."

"You're not a disappointment." Steve smiled, "But I understand. Clint better up your training."

You smirked and then walked off and then ran home.

Ran home to Tony. 

[braveclementine]

Party

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

You smiled, wearing a blue dress and holding Everleigh, hanging out at the pool table, watching Steve and Sam play.

Sam whooped as he pocketed a ball and Steve grinned, biting his bottom lip.

Thor was talking with a bunch of soldiers while Bruce awkwardly darted around, avoiding everyone. Nat and Rhodey were talking on the couch and Clint was talking to Cho in the corner of the room, the two of them holding drinks.

The two of them finished their game and walked off together.

You were mostly avoiding everyone as well, like Bruce. At these sorts of things, Tony had to entertain everyone, though he tried to get as much time with you as possible. You didn't really mind.

At the moment, he was talking with Rhodey, Thor, and a woman in a red dress. Thor and Tony seemed unimpressed as Rhodey was talking.

Thor corralled you eventually and you found yourself standing with an old man and Steve, along with Thor.

"I gotta have some of that." The old man said, pointing to the liquor that Thor was pouring.

"No, no no." Thor chuckled, "See this, This was aged for one thousand years." Thor said impressively, handing it over to Steve. "in the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's fleet. It is not meant for mortal men."

"Neither was Omaha beach, blondie." The old man said as Thor poured himself a cup. Steve smelt his with skepticism. "Stop trying to scare us. C'mon."

"All right." Thor said and not only did he pour the man one, but he poured you one as well.

You took it, knowing you didn't really like alcohol, but figured you might as well try a small sip. It probably couldn't hurt.

Steve immediately took the shot from you. "Absolutely not."

You pouted at him, hoisting Everleigh on your hip because she wanted down.

Steve just shook his head and it was probably a good thing too, because the older gentlemen were absolutely shell shocked after having it. One of them stood so still, like a mannequin, the other was asleep at the table, and the one that had asked for it was being led out gently by two men.

You decided to leave the party a little, going out to the balcony. The weather was nice tonight, the wind flowing along your skin. You sighed in a bit of relief, realizing how much you hated crowds. Not that this necessarily constituted as a crowd, but it was a small space with a lot of people in it.

You wondered where the Maximoff twins were. Had they gone back to what remained of HYDRA? Or were they one their own?

Why would two young kids, who were only sixteen and could barely drive here in the states, volunteer for HYDRA test trials? What were they hoping to do? Or change? Sokovia was a mess. Were they really hoping that HYDRA would help them save it?

After all, visiting the base, Tony's robots had gone to help the civilians so they didn't get hurt and the robots had come back in pretty bad shape. Voice recordings heard they had been shouting for the Avengers to go home.

Maybe in these parts, HYDRA was friend and not foe.

"Hey." Sam's voice interrupted your thoughts.

"Oh hey." You said, startled. You'd thought he'd left. "I thought you were leaving?"

"I am in a minute." Sam admitted, "But I saw you come up here. Tony do you wrong? I can punch him for you."

You laughed, "No, everythings fine. I get a little claustrophobic in crowds. I just came out here for some air. Tony's fine."

Sam nodded, "Well that's good."

"How's your soulmate? The doctor?" You asked.

Sam sighed, looking less cheerful now, "He's. . . I mean I love him, you know? But he can be such a dick. And I mean, he's perfectly loving towards me. I just. . . he thinks he's better than other people since he's ranked number one in the country. And yeah, sure, he is. Fuck, I mean, he's amazing, you know? But the way he treats the nurses and the guys at work and the people around him. . . it's unflattering, you know?"

"Gosh Sam, I'm sorry." You apologized. "I guess it's an ego thing with being successful, right? Tony's still sort've got that, although he's toned it down just a little bit."

Sam shrugged, sitting down next to you. "Nah, I mean, it's fine. He's wonderful to me at least. I just don't know what it'll take for him to realize he's wrong for treating these people like they're less than him, that they're. . . less important? Do I bring it up? Or do I wait?"

You squeezed his hand gently. "That's up to you. But, I would think, that if you can't bring it up because you're afraid of how he'll react, maybe rethink the relationship. That's all I suggest."

"Thanks." Sam sighed and then changed the subject, "You got anything new for me?"

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

Steve was walking through the upstairs, and caught sight of Sam and Y/N talking on the balcony. He paused, seeing Y/N take Sam's hand into hers and looked around for Tony, hoping he didn't see the two of them and assume anything bad.

"That's up to you. But, I would think, that if you can't bring it up because you're afraid of how he'll react, maybe rethink the relationship. That's all I suggest." Y/N said, letting go of his hand now.

"Thanks." Sam sighed and then changed the subject, "You got anything new for me?"

"I have a few new locations." Y/N said, and then said, "Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey. He did quite a few missions in Romania, so I feel like it would be familiar territory for him. I just feel that it would be a risky move since HYDRA would know that. Not to mention, we don't even have proof he left the country. No IDs, no fake IDs, no airport scans, no boats, nothing. I don't know how he got out of the country, if he did."

"Maybe a hidden HYDRA warehouse." Sam suggested as Steve held onto every word. "This is so frustrating. He's a literal ghost."

"I was thinking of talking to Thor." Y/N said slowly. "He's got a guardian in Asgard, by the name of Heimdall. Apparently he can see the future, which is why he's the guardian- so that they are never attacked without warning. I want to see if he can see Earth future and maybe can tell us where Bucky is. Or at least, tell us if we ever find him."

"Why are you so invested in this?" Sam asked suddenly. "Like, I understand Steve is your friend but the way you are. . . I mean do you love him?"

Steve jolted. That was illegal. There was no way you could be with another person's soulmate. And there was no way that he would ever betray Tony like that.

"I mean. . ." Y/N said hesitantly. "I love him, but not in the sense of like. . . I would leave Tony for him, you know? Like, it's not romantic love, but it's not quite like 'I love him like a brother' love. I don't know how to describe it. I guess I just. . ."

Y/N sighed and said, "When I was growing up, everyone hated me. Like my parents always abused me and my brother ignored me. I only had about one friend. I mean, fuck, even the dog hated me. So being here, and everyone loves me or at least likes me. . ."

"Do you feel like you have to repay that kindness?" Sam asked, kicking into therapist mode.

"I don't know." Y/N said uncertainly. "I mean, I feel that I would be helping him anyways, even if I hadn't had that background. And I know he would do the same for me. But I could really ask you the same question Sam. You've got a soulmate. Why aren't you spending every waking hour with him? Why are you helping Steve find Bucky?"

Sam sighed, putting his face in his hands, "Don't think to badly of me when I say this but. . . I look at Steve and I go, 'That's how my soulmate should be.' And for Steve, I would do just about anything so if he wants help finding his soulmate, I'll help him because this Bucky dude really deserves Steve. And even better, Steve deserves Bucky. He deserves that love. Because if there's one person who doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life alone, it's Steve."

Steve felt warm inside and slowly backed away from the doorway, heading back into the building, feeling lucky that he had two wonderful friends.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"But it's a trick." Clint complained, twirling a pair of random drumsticks that he found somewhere. He was lounging on the couch across from Thor who was sitting next to Steve, laughing and pouring more of his Asgardian liquor.

"No, no, it's much more than that." Thor said with a chuckle, handing Steve the shot of Asgardian liquor to go with his bottle of beer.

Bruce was sitting on the other side of Clint, leaning over the arm of the couch to talk to Natasha. Maria sat on the other side of Clint.

You were sitting on the floor by Steve's feet, your back against the couch. You were mostly minding your own business, playing with dolls with Everleigh.

"Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint declared in a random, deep dramatic voice, before saying in his normal voice, "Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Please, be my guest." Thor said, gesturing towards the hammer that was sitting on the coffee table. It even looked inviting, just waiting to be picked up. The metal square hammer resting on the table, the leather bound handle sticking straight up into the air.

Rhodey and Tony were sitting on the couch that was almost between the two others, talking, but immediately stopped when Thor offered.

"Really?" Clint asked and even you looked up to see how it was going.

"Yeah." Thor said nonchalantly.

Clint clinked the drumsticks together with a thud as he put both of them in one hand, getting to his feet.

"Oh this is gonne be beautiful." Rhodey said with a bit of a smirk in his voice.

"Clint, you've had a tough week." Tony said. "We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

You rolled your eyes at Tony's joke, half-tempted to cover Everleighs ears, but it wasn't like she understood what was going on anyways. She wasn't even paying attention, undressing the barbie doll from her day clothes into pajamas.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint asked in a condescending tone to Thor. He wrapped his hand around the hammer and pulled, grunted, and then grumbled, "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Smell the silent judgement?" Tony asked.

"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint said, gesturing to Tony.

You held in your laughter as Tony stood up, dramatically flicking open the button on his suit.

"Okay."

"Uh huh."

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony said, swaggering over to the hammer.

"Get after it."

"It's physics." Tony declared.

"Physics?"

Tony wrapped his hand through the loop and grasped the hammer before asking, "Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course." Thor said. You watched as Thor rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

"I will be reinstating prima notca." Tony declared. You rolled your eyes again and tried not to laugh as you heard Steve's small scoff behind you. Rhodey also rolled his eyes.

Tony placed his hand against the coffee table, attempting to lift the hammer. Then he let go of it. "I'll be right back."

Things escalated to the point where Tony got his Iron man gauntlet. And when that worked, Rhodey also put on his war machine gauntlet.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked.

"Are you on my team?" Tony retorted.

"Just represent. Pull!" Rhodey retorted right back.

"Daddy being weird." Everleigh finally laughed, but no one but you heard her as the boosters on the gauntlets fired. You laughed.

Bruce then got on the table, pulling with all his might, roaring. He continued to roar, perhaps trying to get laughs. You kept your head down in second hand embarrassment. Thor however, looked at Bruce with a loving expression on his face and Steve hid a smile behind his hand.

"Go ahead, Steve, no pressure." Clint muttered and Steve got up off the couch.

You smirked as Dr. Cho, who was leaning on her arm, curled up in a chair, admired the way that Steve rolled up the sleeves of his blue button down shirt. He did look really good tonight- if you could admire him that way. Tony, of course, topped the handsome chart. But Steve's muscles were hard to compete with.

"Come on Cap." Tony said, cheering him on.

You watched as it looked like the hammer almost moved. You didn't think anyone else saw it, so you looked over at Thor, whose smile had fallen off his face. You smiled to yourself.

Yes. If there was someone worthy enough to lift the hammer and rule Asgard, it would be Steve.

You could tell that Steve knew as well. You watched his arms. His muscles didn't go taunt and even though he looked like he was pulling, his grip was to loose. He wasn't trying at all.

He didn't want to rule.

That was what made him worthy.

Steve pulled his hands off, sighing. Thor's smile came back, though he quickly swallowed liquor, the both of them laughing if off. You could tell it was nervous laughter on both sides though.

"And, Widow?" Thor asked.

"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha said.

"Lady Stark?"

"Nope. I'm with Nat on this." You said softly, watching as Everleigh tottered to her feet, clutching a doll in her hand. She showed it to Steve, who bent over in his seat to talk to her under his breath.

"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't be King, but it's rigged." Tony said nonchalantly.

"You bet chur ass." Clint drawled.

"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria pointed to Clint who was standing with Tony and Rhodey.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve groaned.

"The handles imprinted, right?" Tony asked, but you continued to look over at Thor who was looking at the hammer with almost a look of sadness. "Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' I think, the literal translation."

"Yes. It's a very, very interesting theory." Thor said, getting to his feet. "I have a simpler one, you're all not worthy." He went to reach for his hammer at the same time Everleigh toddled past him. He waited for her to pass by, but she reached up, grabbing the hammer in her tiny hand. She wobbled around from its weight, but she was still holding it.

The room was dead silent, until she giggled, pointed the hammer at you. Before you knew it, white lightning had hit you and you went flying.

"Y/N!" Several voices shouted and then Everleigh started screaming and crying.

You blinked and when you could actually see, Bruce, Tony, and Steve were all kneeling over you.

You hadn't actually flown that far, having landed right by the end of the couch. You gingerly sat up, looking over to see that Natasha was comforting the little girl and Thor had his hammer in his hand, looking troubled.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked for the second time.

"Yeah. Ow." You winced, grabbing onto both Tony and Steve, standing up. "What? No jokes about how our daughter is worthy?" You asked Tony.

"Well, I'm more worried about you." Tony admitted, brushing your hair down.

Suddenly, a high pitched noise broke through the air. You clapped your hands to both ears, crouching down. At first, you thought it was just you, being hurt by the noise, but you saw Rhodey wince as well, putting his bottle of beer down.

"Worthy. . . " A growl that sounded like something in a horror movie said. You immediately stumbled over, picking Everleigh up in your arms, holding her tightly to your chest.

There, standing in the dark was some sort of robot thing. "No." It growled. "How could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark." Steve said.

"Jarvis." Tony commanded.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a d-dream."

"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit." Tony muttered.

"There was this terrible noise." The robot was moving around, its arms and head mostly, as though it was human, trying to ward something off. "And I was tangled in. . . in. . . strings." It looked down at its body. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

You quickly scanned where everyone was. Tony was on the outside of the group on your left, with Rhodey next and then Steve. You were next to Steve and on your immediate right was a large space before Thor, with Dr. Cho standing slightly behind him. Bruce and Natasha stood in front of the two of them. Maria and Clint were sitting on the couch, looking at the robot over their shoulders.

"Who sent you?" Thor demanded.

Suddenly, Tony's voice emitted from the robot. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Ultron." Bruce was the one to answer.

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready."

Chrysalis. Not yet.

It wanted a human body? But how was it going to manage that?

You watched Maria stand from where she was sitting on the couch.

"I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

"Peace in our time." It said, before robots exploded through the wall.

Steve kicked up the coffee table, crashing into the robot, but it was just sent flying back, knocking both you and Steve off your feet. You wrapped your body around Everleigh as you crashed to the floor, crying out in pain.

You could hear shooting and you got to your feet, looking for somewhere to hide Everleigh, something to be used as a weapon.

You watched a robot approach Dr. Cho, who was crouching behind the grand piano, but suddenly it turned dark and was going to turn away from her when Steve jumped on it, sending it sliding to Thor who smashed it with his hammer.

Suddenly, metallic arms grabbed you from behind and you found yourself skyrocketing towards the ceiling. You tightened your arms around your daughter as you flew higher into the air. One arm around your waist, the other around your neck.

You couldn't struggled, watching. "Thor!" You called out and as he looked up, you let yourself believe and dropped Everleigh. You watched with relief as Thor caught your daughter, protecting her from the glass as he rolled.

You slid your hands under the arm that was choking you, trying to push the arm away. You could see Tony on the back of another flying robot, trying to kill it with some sort of tool.

"Steve!" You heard Clint shout and watched the beautiful American decal shield go flying through the air. Steve caught the shield, spun, and tossed it straight at you. You caught the shield, lowering your head, and shoved the shield backwards. You felt the satisfying release as the head was disconnected from the body.

You started to free fall back to the ground and braced, before Steve caught you, putting you back on your feet.

"You alright?" Steve asked, taking his shield back.

"Fine." You said, massaging your throat and holding your arms out for Everleigh, who was crying again.

"That was dramatic." Ultron hissed. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve?"

It bent down, grabbing the head of one of the robots. "With these? These puppets." It crushed the metallic skull in his hand before tossing it forward, "There's only one path to peace. The Avenger's extinction."

Thor tossed his hammer, crushing the robot into pieces. They clattered to the ground and were still, as the hammer returned to his hand.

"I had strings. But now I'm free."

[braveclementine]

The Twins

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

You hopped onto an enemy car, kicking the shooter off the roof, before leaping into the air. As practiced, Thor caught you around the waist with one arm, before dropping you onto another enemy car while he himself flew on top of a watch tower.

Tony soared over your head and Natasha and Clint drove in front of you. Nat was only driving, but Clint was letting loose all of his arrows.

Steve drove past on his motorcycle, which you leapt upon, steadying your feet on the back as you raised your gun and shot everyone that Steve didn't run over with the motorbike.

You held onto his shoulder, kneeling now as he threw his shield and let the motorcycle go up and off several hills.

For one moment, all of you were in sync as you ran forward, for Clint and Natasha had both leapt out of the car. You were still on the back of Steve's motorcycle, but was just jumping off to join Clint and Nat on the ground. Hulk was there with Tony on the other side and Thor above him.

And then you were all running- or in some cases flying- towards the wall in front of you.

"Shit!" You heard Tony shout.

"Language!" Steve retorted. "Jarvis what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be there." Thor shouted. You leapt onto the shoulders of another enemy, snapping his neck with your thighs, and leapt off of him, shooting another two through the forehead. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last." He muttered almost to himself.

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys." Natasha replied.

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint said.

"Wait a second." Tony said on the other side, "NO one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said, 'Language'?"

"Tony." You groaned.

"I know." Steve said, and you turned and watched him fling his motorbike into the middle of another car. "Just slipped out"

"Steve." You whined. "That was a beautiful bike." You'd even helped him pick it out.

"Sorry, we'll go shopping for a new one after this." He groaned.

"Clint!" You heard Nat shout.

You looked away, towards her voice to see Cap go flying into the air by seemingly nothing.

Suddenly, you were sent flying off your feet and you landed face first into the snow.

"We have an Enhanced in the field." Cap said, helping you to your feet and the two of you went running.

"Clint's hit!" Nat shouted.

"Somebody want to deal with the bunker?" Nat asked.

"On it." You shouted, veering away from Steve.

Bruce beat you to it, roaring and basically crushing the bunker as he jumped and ran through it.

"Or not." You said.

"Thank you." Nat muttered.

"Stark, we really need to get inside." Steve shouted as you rejoined him. You jumped and kicked one of the guards in the face, stabbing another under the ribs.

"I'm closing in." Tony said. "Jarvis, am I closing in?"

Only a few minutes later he said, "The drawbridge is down people."

"The Enhanced?" Thor asked, leaping down and electrocuting everyone but you and Steve.

"He's a blur. All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."

"I can get Barton to the jet." Thor said. "The sooner we're gone, the better. You, Stark, and Lady Stark secure the scepter."

"Copy that." Cap said.

"Looks like they're lining up." Thor said with a slight frown.

"Well, they're excited." Steve said, lifting his shield and bracing it. You quickly backed up as Thor rang his hammer off Steve's shield, the blast sending the enemies off their feet and overturning the truck.

"Find the scepter!"

"And for gosh sakes, watch your language!" Tony said.

You laughed.

"That's not going away any time soon." Steve sighed.

"Nope." You laughed again and started to run.

As you and Steve reached the building, you heard Nat say, "We're locked down out here."

"Then get to Banner. Time for a lullaby." Steve said.

You and Steve fought your way through and then Steve kicked a man through a doorway and you lifted your gun as you came face to face with a familiar, though not met yet, face.

"Baron Strucker. HYDRA's number one thug." Steve said, almost in a tone of glee.

"Technically, I'm a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D."

The two circled each other, which just left you pressing a gun into Strucker's back while Steve stood in front of him. "Well, then technically, you're unemployed. Where's Loki's scepter?"

"Don't worry. I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."

"I'll put it right under 'illegal human experimentation'." Steve said, cheerfully.

"Steve watch out!" You shouted, shooting at the woman who had just appeared, before ramming Steve so that the both of you fell down the stairs.

You watched as the woman stepped back through the doors. "We have a second enhanced." You gasped.

"Female. Do not engage." Steve copied.

"You'll have to be faster than that-"

Steve stomped on his shield which hit Strucker in the eye and face, knocking him to the ground and his stupid glass monocle fell out.

"Guys, I got Strucker." Steve reported.

"Yeah, I got something bigger." Tony said and you frowned, lifting a hand to your com.

"Tony are you out of your suit?"

"Maybe. Just listen. Thor, I got eyes on the prize."

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Tony blinked, jumping out of the way as the huge Chitauri centipede moved. It went past him in a blaze of blue light. He suddenly saw a hill made of black rock, with dead people lying upon it. Hulk was at the very top, with four or five speaks sticking out of his back. Nat was below him, her face turned towards him and her eyes open. Clint was next, propped up as though he had been sitting when he had been killed.

Maria laid next to him and then Thor laid at their feet, hammer out of his hand, his face turned and bloody.

Below him was a shattered shield, broken in two, jagged edges down the middle. Steve was closest to his feet, dead, an arm thrown out as though he was protecting someone.

That someone was Y/N, beautiful eyes open and dead. Everleigh was in her arms and though Everleigh was pressed into Y/N so Tony couldn't see her face, but he knew she was dead too.

He bent down, going to move Steve's arm away from Y/N's body, but Steve grabbed his arm. In a voice that was almost Steve's, but slightly weirder, he said, "You. Could have saved. Us." And then he fell still once more, accusing eyes staring into Tony's soul. Though his lips didn't move, a voice spoke in his head, "Why didn't you do more?"

Tony looked up and saw his worst nightmare. More and more centipedes, flying towards a ship. Flying towards Earth.

He stood up and it was all gone. He turned, seeing the centipede was still there. He stuck a hand out, moving quickly towards the scepter. He needed to hold Y/N. He grabbed the scepter. And was out of there.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"Thor, report on the Hulk." Natasha called over.

You looked up from where you had been reading, to hear Thor said, "The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims."

You started to giggle quietly into your book. You knew that was the last thing that Bruce had wanted to hear.

Bruce put his head in his hands and Nat shot him a glare, "But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, uh, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

You stuffed your fist into your mouth to keep from laughing to loudly, but Steve's amused face sent you spiraling into giggles. Steve just shook his head at you.

"Hey Banner! Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony called from the front.

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce called back.

"Thanks." Tony said.

Tony put everything in auto pilot and then joined the rest of you. "Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but-"

"No but this- This brings it to a close." Thor replied.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." Tony said quickly. You looked over at him. He seemed a little different than before. "Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honoured with revels."

"Yeah, who doesn't love a few revels. Captain?" Tony asked.

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA." Was Steve's reply. "So, yes, revels."

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Maria came up onto the ship, holding a squirming, four- year old Everleigh. "Lab's all set up boss." She said, putting Everleigh down. She ran into your arms and you picked her up, pecking her face with kisses.

"Oh, actually, he's the boss." Tony said, motioning to Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler." You giggled.

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked, standing up. Of course, he couldn't walk past Everleigh without her making grabby hands at him so you passed her over to him and then walked up to Tony.

"How are you feeling?" You asked softly, running your hands up his chest to place them lightly on his shoulders. "You seem tense. What's wrong?"

Tony looked down at you and then said, "Just want to go to bed with you really soon."

You smiled. "Alright, that can definitely be managed."

"Can't. Actually." He grumbled. "Promised Thor I had to look over the scepter."

"Oh alright." You said, trying not to let the disappointment show. "You're smart, you can figure it out. I'll check in on Clint then, give you a little peace of mind. I'm sure he'll be fine though."

"And Everleigh?"

You looked over at where she was asleep contently in Steve's arms.

You smiled a little. "We found ourselves a babysitter."

Tony chuckled, "And I don't even have to pay him for it."

You went with Tony as far as the med-bay which really happened to be right next to where Tony was working. But then you realized this was Bruce's office, so it really wasn't much more than a makeshift med bay.

"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" Nat asked, frowning at the weird machine that was doing weird things to Clint's body. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."

You laughed at that and Clint smiled.

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano- molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra."

"She's creating tissue." Bruce said in a fascinated voice. Thor opened up the door at the moment, coming in quietly for once to wrap his arms around Bruce.

"If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes." Dr. Cho boasted.

"Oh, he's flat lining." Tony said, coming in with drinks, "Call it. Time?"

"No, no, no. I'm gonna live forever." Clint laughed. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."

"Here's your drink." Tony handed it to him.

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton." Dr. Cho corrected.

You looked out the glass doors to see Steve bouncing Everleigh on his hip, cooing at her and laughing. It really was sweet. "Your own soulmate won't be able to tell the difference. Here's the next thing Tony. Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust."

"That is exactly the plan." Tony said. "And, Helen, I expect to see you at the party this Saturday."

"Unlike you, I don't have time for parties." Dr. Cho said. She paused and then asked Thor, "Will you be there?"

Bruce coughed a laugh. 

[braveclementine]

Falcon

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

Steve grunted, pushing against the rubble and looked over to him. Both Natasha and Y/N were unconscious. He quickly pushed everything out of the way, trying to figure out how best to get both of them back to the truck, and quickly.

Y/N was lighter and smaller of the two. He hesitated, and then picked her up, carrying her over his shoulder, before carefully bending down, picking up Nat, trying to cradle her in both arms, while also holding the shield in his other arm.

He saw lights coming from the direction opposite the truck. He quickly turned, running as fast as he could. It was awkward running and he could already feel that the jolting was causing Y/N's body to slip down his shoulder. But he could stop. He couldn't abandon either of them.

His luck came when he felt Natasha struggling in his arms. He immediately put her down, letting her run with him, though she still looked disoriented. He moved Y/N into his arms, cradling her the same way, shoving his shield into Nat's hands instead.

"Start the truck and drive." Steve shouted, yanking open the backseat of the truck and Nat leaped into the front.

Once Nat was on the road, he checked out Y/N. Her breathing seemed nonexistent and he checked for a pulse. Fear lit in him when she didn't respond.

He listened again, this time, hearing her breath hitch in her throat like she was choking.

Choking on what? There had been no water.

How did he save her?

Hesitantly, he went for CPR. Lowering his mouth to hers, he started the drill. He closed his mind against the fact that her lips were softer than Natasha's, pulling back quickly to pump her chest.

Her lips, soft as they were, were almost familiar. They reminded him of his own soulmates lips, although his soulmate had had slightly thicker ones. But they were just as soft.

Suddenly, there was a sharp inhale, and Steve relaxed as Y/N's eyes fluttered open. He held her carefully as she tilted her head, hawking and spitting, until there was a small rock that came up out of her throat. Then she collapsed into a coughing fit, tears streaming down her face.

When she finally came to, she looked up at him from where her head was laying in his lap and mumbled, "When I said I wanted to kiss you, that wasn't exactly how I imagined it."

He smiled just a little.

"I'm curious." Nat said from the front as though Y/N hadn't just recovered from the brink of death. "Tony is your soulmate. You love him, but you want to kiss Steve. Why?"

Y/N blushed a little, coughing again. "I never um- you know- got to practice when I was young. Boys just- weren't interested in me like that. And my parents- I mean you know what they're like Nat. I guess I kind've just wanted to see what it would be like, to have someone that wasn't your soulmate, that wasn't someone who was designed to love you, interested in you. That was all. Sorry if I made it awkward Steve." She sat up, rubbing her throat.

"It's alright." He told her, and he was truthful in that. He felt the same way. No girls or guys ever looked his way. His soulmate was the only person that he ever kissed before he became a super soldier. After he became something spectacular, there was that blond and then there had been Peggy. But he knew how Y/N felt.

Suddenly, feeling bold, Steve touched his fingers under her chin and leaned in to kiss her once more. It was a soft kiss, something Steve had missed very much. Y/N responded easily, before pulling away shyly. "No Steve, you're not a bad kisser at all. But, that will also be the last time I kiss you."

"Understood." He said with a secret smile. Y/N smiled at him, and then soon feel asleep in the back of the car. And he didn't complain when she fell sideways, landing in his lap once more.

"Don't fall in love with her Rogers." Nat warned him from the front, looking at him in the rearview mirror. "Stark will make you eat Iron Man lasers."

"I know." Steve said. "I won't."

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Steve led you and Nat to a random house in a quiet suburb, knocking on the door of said house.

The door was slid open by a dark skinned African American man. He was taller than you with not a lot of hair and kind brown eyes. He looked worried though, as he looked at the three of you. "Hey, man."

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Nat mumbled.

The mans eyes shifted from her, to Steve, to me, and then back to Steve. Your throat was still killing you from where you'd inhaled rock and almost almost died. Natasha's face was dirty and you could tell by the grit in your hair that you weren't looking much better.

"Not everyone." He said.

You got to see Steve almost naked as he wore a white tank top underneath all of the rest of the clothes. And you supposed he got to see you almost naked since you'd stripped down to your sports bra. You couldn't stay in the clothes that you had since they were ripped and bloody.

Turns out, one of the reason you felt so tired was because you'd never taken care of a piece of glass in your side since the fall. Steve pulled it out now and you winced, but didn't make a noise.

"I'm sorry." Steve mumbled to you.

"You saved my life. Three or four times now. I'm still deep in debt to you." You muttered back, before looking in the mirror, seeing the dirt streaked down your arms. You reached behind you awkwardly, trying to wipe it away.

Steve took it from you, finishing cleaning up the streaks. You did the same for him.

"I should've listened to you." He said suddenly.

"We." Nat said from the other room and you stepped out of the bathroom to look at her.

"When?" You asked, both being cheeky, yet also truly curious.

"In the room. When you were telling us we had to go." Nat muttered. "I guess. . . I figured if I felt there was no danger, then there was none. And it was narcissistic of me, to assume that since I was the better agent, I knew better. Sorry for thinking you're just a kid."

"Oh." You said and then shrugged, "It's a rabbit thing. I've always been good at feeling out whose good or bad and then when to run. I just don't know why I didn't get a bad feeling about Pierce."

Nat looked up at Steve and said, "I owe you."

You snorted. "Join the club."

"It's okay." Steve smiled a little.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me: would you trust me to do it?"

"I would now. And I'm always honest."

Nat nodded, "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

"I made breakfast," The man named Sam said, walking in. You wondered what it looked like to him, two girls in their sports bras and a guy in his tank top. "If you guys eat that sort of thing."

You giggled, hopping up. "I do for sure. Lead the way."

You followed Sam out to the kitchen, still slightly aware that you were still in a sports bra and leggings.

"Um, here." Sam muttered, darting into a room and coming back out with a black shirt. "Might be a little big. Sorry."

You smiled, putting it over your head. "It's fine. So where's the food I've been promised."

He laughed and I felt that I was slowly warming him up. "Over here."

"So the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" Nat asked.

"Pierce." You and Steve said at the same time and Steve added, "I'm listening to Y/N from now on, just in case you're wondering."

You laughed and continued to eat the toast that Sam had buttered for you.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Nat sighed.

"But he's not working alone." Steve said thoughtfully. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"Okay, so who is high up that was on that boat?" You asked. You had heard of the mission, but you hadn't gone on it. And really, all that you heard was that Steve had jumped out of the plane without a parachute on his back. "Oh and if what I heard is true, wear a parachute next time."

"Jasper Sitwell." Nat answered in realization while Steve smirked.

"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked.

"The answer is, you don't." Sam said. He slapped a file down in front of Steve.

You reached for another piece of toast, buttering it yourself this time, and started to nibble on it. You wondered if you should risk calling Tony from Sam's house phone. But it definitely wasn't secure enough. You wished the two of you had another method to talk to each other with. But unless you wanted to train carrier pigeons, you were out of luck.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Call it a resume." Sam said.

"Is this Bakhmala?" Nat asked, picking up the picture that had been on top of the file. You leaned your chair back to see the picture. It was two people, one of them being Sam. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?"

You wished you knew more about the missions and operations you kept hearing about.

"You didn't say he was a pararescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"I heard they couldn't bring in choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?"

"No." Sam said, picking up the folder and handing it to Steve, "These."

Steve looked down at whatever contents were in the file as you reached for a third piece of toast and finished off your orange juice.

"I thought you said you were a pilot."

"I never said pilot." Sam said with a smile.

"I can't ask you to do this Sam." Steve said, shaking his head. "You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

Steve nodded and said, "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade." Sam replied. "Behind three guarded gates and a 12- inch steel wall."

Steve looked at Nat who shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem."

You snorted.

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You waited, bored, on the roof. To keep yourself occupied, you pictured your moment with Tony when all of this was over. You'd run into his arms and kiss him, that was for sure. You'd sit him down, you'd tell him about Steve because you didn't want a single secret between the two of you. You'd tell him he was giving you CPR, you woke up, boom it was then a kiss.

And you'd also tell him what Zola said about his father. It was only fair that he knew, considering it was his own father and his mother. Maybe Tony would start to dig and find out what happened.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and you saw Sitwell slide across the concrete. Steve came following right after, "Tell me about Zola's algorithm." You pulled out your gun, crossing your legs, and rested the handgun across your top one.

"Never heard of it." Sitwell said, getting to his feet hastily.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve asked.

"I was throwing up. I get seasick."

Sitwell continued to back up, not even noticing that you were there, so when you stood up, putting the gun into his back, he jolted, nearly sending you toppling over the edge except Steve's hand reached out, grabbing your wrist, pulling you forwards.

Steve grabbed the front of Sitwell's clothes and he was smiling, "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style Rogers."

"You're right." Steve said, letting go and actually smoothing his clothes out. "It's hers." And then Natasha stepped forward and gave such a satisfying kick to his chest that you grinned, feeling satisfied.

"Wait. What about that girl from Accounting, Laura. . . "

"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?" Steve said.

"Yeah, she's cute. Soulmate less."

"Yeah. I'm not ready for that. Lip piercings really aren't my thing." Steve said. "To weird."

"Trashy." You piped up.

And then Sam zoomed upwards, dropping Sitwell. You watched his wings in amazement and wondered if you could get Tony to build you something like them.

The four of you approached him and he put his hand out, still on the ground. He was nearly sobbing as he said, "Zola's alogirithim is a program- for choosing- insight's targets."

"What targets?" Steve demanded.

"You! Stark! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school Valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA."

"What?" And you were surprised that Sam was snarling.

"Now, or in the future." Sitwell finished, gasping for breath.

"In the future? How could it know?"

Sitwell laughed and Sam drew closer, looking mutinous even still. "How could it not?" He got to his feet. "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores!"

"Oh good, I took the ACT." You muttered.

"Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And what then?"

"Oh My God. Pierce is going to kill me." Sitwell muttered.

"What then?" Sam demanded at the same time as Steve.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

Sam grabbed Sitwell around the throat, "When is this happening?"

Sitwell scratched at Sam's hand and Steve nudged him. Sam let go and drew out a phone, immediately lifting it to his hand and started to pace. You watched him, wondering.

"Stephen?" Sam finally gasped, "Thank God."

Huh. So he'd freaked out because he was soulmated to Stephen Strange.

Whoever that was.

"No, listen-"

Sam looked annoyed and gritted his teeth as he was interrupted. "I know you're at work, but you also know I wouldn't call unless this is impo-"

Sam's nostrils flared. "GOD DAMN IT STEPHEN LISTEN TO ME! I need you to get somewhere safe! Do you understand me? I will explain everything after I see you. And I may have to cancel dinner plans tonight, we'll see."

Another pause, this one quieter.

"I can't tell you. You'll be in to much danger if I do. This is. . . different. I love you." Sam hung up on him, looking worried.

You raised an eyebrow. Sam looked at you. "He's an arrogant, rich, narcissistic, handsome, egotistical, eloquent, workaholic, loyal jackass who I happen to love. I don't know why Zola's algorithm thinks he's dangerous."

You nodded for a moment and then said, "Yeah, he sounds a lot like Tony."

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Tony picked up the ringing phone, holding a sleeping Everleigh on his hip. "Y/N, what's wrong?"

"Hey." She sounded exhausted, tired, and hurt. He could hear that she was in the car because he could hear the sounds of cars around her. There were also the sounds of people talking around her. "I have to say this quickly."

He stayed quiet.

"There's this program called Zola's algorithm. Basically, it can find find any threats to HYDRA."

"HYDRA, what do they have to do with this?" Tony asked in surprise.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is HYDRA." She answered. "Pierce, Sitwell, they're all part of HYDRA. But the algorithm said Stark was a threat. It didn't give first names though so it could be me or you or it could even be Everleigh. But it also mentioned Bruce. Is he still at the tower?"

"I think so." Tony said, trying to remember. "I think he's down in the lab."

"Good. Please Tony." She whispered. "Stay safe."

"You too." He whispered, and then hung up. 

[braveclementine]

Finding a Helper

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

Tony walked out of the lake house that he had, looking for his daughters. Everleigh, and his new daughter that he'd had with Pepper after he lost Y/N and she lost Happy: Morgan. There was a tent out in what he considered the front hard and he figured they were probably playing in there together.

He clapped his hands as he approached in a rhythmic way and called out, "Chow time!" He bent down as neither of them exited, "Everly. Maguna." He sat down in the wooden chair, holding one of the stuff toys. "Morgan H. Stark. Everleigh M. Stark you want some lunch?"

Morgan came out of the tent, wearing an Iron Man helmet he'd been making for Pepper, a blaster on her hand, "Define lunch or be disintegrated."

"Okay." Tony said quickly as Everleigh emerged from the tent as well, though luckily she wasn't wearing any Iron man gear. "You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift-"

Everleigh huffed and walked back up to the house and Tony sighed a little. His older daughter missed her mother and little brother and was angry that Tony had moved on with Pepper. He didn't blame her. Sometimes he wondered if he had moved on to fast as well.

After all Morgan had been conceived to recently after Thanos had snapped Y/N away. He and Pepper were both in anguish, both of them missing soulmates. In an alcohol fueled passion, they'd ended up in the same bed and poof, there was Morgan. They weren't married. Tony hadn't put a ring on it like Steve had with Elizabeth. But he had started moving on with her and she with him.

He just leaned in, kissing the Iron man helmet on the cheek. He did love Morgan. She was the most adorable child. He pulled the helmet off her head, smoothing back the brown hair that fell in front of her face, "There you go. Thinking about lunch? I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce."

"No." She whined.

"That's what you want." He held up the helmet, "How did you find this?"

"Garage."

"Really?" He said skeptically. "Were you looking for it?"

"No. I found it, though."

"Hmmm. You like going in the garage, huh? So does daddy." Tony said, grabbing her around the legs to pick her up to carry her back to the house. "It's fine, actually. Mom never wears anything I buy her." He headed close to the house saying, "So I'm gonna. . ."

He drifted off, looking over to see Steve Rogers getting out of a car with Natasha and Scott- someone he definitely hadn't seen in a while. He really hadn't seen any of them in a while. Elizabeth came over on Sundays because she would take Everleigh to church with her and then bring them something she'd make before that and they'd eat brunch together. But the other three. . . no.

He turned around, nodding his head to Nat. He took Morgan inside first and then came back out to talk to the others.

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"No. We know what it sounds like." Scott was speaking now while Tony poured the four of them glasses of some health beverage that he liked.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve's voice asked.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale." Tony said quickly. "which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

"Thank you." Steve mumbled as Tony handed him a drink.

"In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony finished.

"I did." Scott said.

"No. You accidentally survived." Tony corrected. "It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you want to pull a. . . what do you call it?"

Scott hesitated as Tony handed him a drink as well and then asked, "A time heist?"

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course." Tony chuckled. "Why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream."

"The stones are in the past." Steve said, always calm, always cool. God Tony hated him for it. And yet also somewhat admired him though he'd never admit that. "We could go back, we could get them."

"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back. You could get Y/N back." Natasha said.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony asked. The idea of bringing Y/N back was amazing. He loved it. But. . . the odds were against them. And if he died doing it and it didn't work, Y/N would kill him in the afterlife for leaving Everleigh without both her parents.

"I don't believe we would." Steve said. Nope. Never mind. No admiration.

"Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism." Tony said. He wondered if Elizabeth had been told of this yet. Yes, she'd get her kids back. But she'd lose Steve when Steve got Bucky back. At least with him and Pepper, he'd get Y/N back, she'd get Happy back, and they'd share custody of Morgan. But Elizabeth wouldn't get Loki back. But. . . maybe she'd be okay with that. "However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist."

Tony sat down and continued, "I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott protested. "All right? That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events."

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." Tony said, holding up a hand. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future? Is it?"

"No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horseshit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony." Nat said and he'd never heard her voice so shaky before. She no longer looked like the confident, vibrant red head that he'd met when Y/N was still a rabbit, back when he thought he'd die. Now, her hair was less red, fading to white and she was by far less confident as well. Shaky. "We have to take a stand."

"We did stand. And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line." Scott said slowly. "You got a new wife, two daughters, But I lost my soulmate. A lotta people did. You were one of them. And now, we have a chance to bring her back to bring everyone back." The at first friendly man was getting angry and passionate, "and you're telling me that you won't even-"

"That's right Scott." He interrupted quietly. "I won't even. I can't."

The door opened and Morgan came out, climbing up on his lap. "Mommy told me to come and save you."

"Good job. I'm saved." He said, hugging her close, hoping they saw that he couldn't lose this. Y/N would've understood. Like he had said before, Y/N would kill him if he left Everleigh if he died on this or got stuck in the past. "I wish you were coming here to ask me something else." He stood up, "Anything else. I'm honestly happy to see you guys, I just. . . Oh, look, the table's set for six. "

"Tony," Steve said, touching his elbow, "I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

"I got my second chance right here, Cap." Tony said. "And so did you. And quite frankly, so did Elizabeth and we brought everyone back you'd leave her for Bucky and I can't let her get hurt like that. Can't roll the dice on it. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." Tony added louder for everyone else to hear.

And he headed back into the house.

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"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here." Bruce said, sitting at the side of the table. Steve sat next to Natasha with Scott on the other side of the table. "Try some of that."

There was a huge baking bowl filled with scrambled eggs and a whole plate of sausage links. Steve had texted Elizabeth to let her know where they were, though he hadn't quite said what they were trying to do. It wasn't something he wanted to tell her over the phone and Tony's comment was still bothering him.

Of course he wouldn't leave Elizabeth if Bucky came back. She'd have their daughters plus five of her own kids. And Tony really thought he'd leave her? Just dump her like that? No way. He already knew Bucky was head over heels for her and Elizabeth had always liked Bucky. Polyamory was a thing. It would work out.

"Have some eggs." Bruce said.

"I'm so confused." Scott said, looking at Bruce with an equal look of confusion as his words.

"These are confusing times." Bruce said, although Steve knew what Scott meant. After knowing Bruce where he struggled to stop Hulk and also struggled to become Hulk, watching the two be merged with no problems was probably disorienting.

"Right, no no. That's not what I meant." Scott scoffed.

"Nah, I get it. I'm kidding." Bruce said. "I know, it's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."

"Yeah. What? How? Why?" Scott asked.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beat." Bruce said and Steve saw Elizabeth coming into the diner in the far corner, holding his daughters in her arms. Nat got up, moving around so she could sit next to Scott. "Except it was worse for me 'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost and then, we all lost."

"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat said as Elizabeth caught sight of them and started heading over.

"I did." Bruce answered. "For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then, I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together and now, look at me."

Elizabeth slid in next to Steve and he kissed her cheek, taking Rose into his arms.

"Best of both worlds."

"Hey sweetheart." Steve said as three kids came over and started to talk to Bruce.

"Hey dreamboat." Elizabeth teased and he felt his cock twitch in his pants. He gave her a warning glare. "So, we're. . . what?" Then she saw Scott and her mouth turned into a small 'o'. She gave Steve a quick look.

"He was stuck in this place called the Quantum realm." Steve explained quickly. "He wasn't snapped, but he has this idea now that since for him it was only five hours, maybe we can manipulate time."

"Like. . . time travel?" Elizabeth asked skeptically.

"Basically. If we could go back and get the stones, we could snap everyone who Thanos snapped, back."

He watched her expression. She still looked rather confused and not as hopeful as he had hoped. Scott joined in on the conversation with the kids.

"Steve. . ." She said slowly. "Even if we could invent time travel. . . getting these stones would require a lot. And what if it didn't work?"

"We're just seeing if it's possible." Steve said. "Tony says it isn't."

"Bruce." Nat said as the kids walked away, "About what we were saying?"

"Right." Bruce sighed. "The whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."

"Well, you pulled this off." Nat said. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too."

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Tony nearly sprayed himself with the water hose, trying to do the dishes. His mind wasn't on the right things and he struggled, nearly dropping the glass plate, luckily dropping the hose instead. He sighed.

He went to wipe water off the walls and upper counter. There was a picture of his father on the shelf and he stopped when he saw a picture that had gotten water on it. He pulled it out, wiping it off, seeing how excited the spider kid had looked when it was taken. The one next to it was a picture of him, Y/N, Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy.

Suddenly, he looked at the picture of his father again and remembered his eighteenth birthday, "Bet you'll invent time travel son."

He went down to his new workspace and muttered, "I've got a mild inspiration. I'd like to see if it checks out. So, I'd like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted, please."

"Processing." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

"Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle," Tony said, manipulating the holographic image. "factoring in spectral decomp. That'll take a second."

"Just a moment." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda. . . "

"Model rendered."

He collapsed hard in his chair when he saw the orange words, 'Model successful.' For the first time in a long time, he felt something like hope. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stop from screaming or maybe even crying.

"Shit!" He squeaked out.

"Shit!" A voice behind him repeated.

He turned to see Morgan Stark sitting on the stairs in her pajamas, smiling at him. He put a finger to his lips, shaking his head seriously. "What are you doing up, little miss?"

"Shit."

"Nope. We don't say that." Tony said sternly. "Only mommy says that word. She coined it. It belongs to her." He quickly threw Pepper under the bus.

"Why are you up?" Morgan asked.

"'Cause I've got some important shit going on here!" Tony said, jerking his thumb at the hologram. Morgan frowned at him. "No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind."

Would it be fair to Morgan? To bring Y/N and Happy back. For Tony to go back to his wife and Pepper to go back to her husband? Rip this current family unit apart?

But it wasn't just Y/N he was getting back, was it? No, he would get his baby boy back too. Arlo.

"Was it juice pops?" Morgan asked sweetly.

"Sure was." Tony smiled a little. "That's extortion. That's a word." Tony said, getting up. "What kind do you want?" He reached his hand out and she stood up to slip her little one into his. "Great minds think alike. Juice pops exactly. . .exactly. . ." He looked back at the hologram. "On my mind."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

Tony wiped Morgan's mouth as he put her to bed. "Good. That face," He pushed gently, teasingly against her little face to put her head back on the pillow. "Goes there."

"Tell me a story." She demanded.

"A story. Uh Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The End."

"That is a horrible story." Morgan smiled.

"Come on, that's your favorite story." Tony said. "Love you tons." He kissed her forehead.

"I love you three thousand." Morgan said.

Tony smiled, knowing this was the exact reason he was still hesitating, even with a successful model. This right here. What would the cost be?

"Wow." Tony said softly. He got up, turning off her light, "Three thousand? That's crazy. Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys." He said, closing the door behind him.

"Not that it's a competition." He said, coming down the stairs to see Pepper sitting on the couch, reading a magazine, "but she loves me three thousand."

"Does she, now?" Pepper asked

"You were somewhere in the low six to nine hundred range." Tony teased.

Pepper chuckled at that, turning back to the book. He sighed, looking at the hologram that was still up, "Watcha reading?"

"Just a book on composting." Pepper said. She had taken up gardening as a hobby, growing most of their vegetables and some of their fruits.

"What's new with composting?" Tony asked.

"Interesting science-"

"I figured it out." He interrupted, the popsicle stick still between his teeth. Pepper looked up, "By the way."

"And, you know, just so we're talking about the same thing. . ."

"Time travel." Tony breathed the two words out.

"What?" Pepper asked in disbelief. "Wow. That's. . . that's amazing and terrifying."

"That's right." Tony said softly. He sat down slowly on the couch next to her.

Pepper reached out, touching his hand, "We got really lucky."

"Yeah." Tony murmured. "I know."

"A lot of people didn't."

"Nope. And I can't help everybody." Tony said.

Pepper smiled a little, "Sorta seems like you can."

"Not if I stop." Tony looked at her and she gave him an understanding smile, "I can put a pin in it right now and stop."

"Tony. . . trying to get you to stop, has been one of the few failures of my entire life. Besides. . . " Pepper added, "You get Y/N and Arlo back. I get Happy back. It's not like it's a terrible thing, even if we love each other now."

"But. . ." Tony added softly. "What if. . . I fail? What if I don't come back? And I've left you here to raise two daughters, one going through a very rebellious phase?"

"I think," Pepper said, smiling, "If you tell Everly what you are going to try and do, then maybe she can rest a little easier."

Tony nodded and looked up the stairs. "Well, never a better time like the present."

He headed upstairs and knocked on her door. "Come in." His thirteen year old daughter called out, sounding just slightly annoyed.

He opened the door a little. Everleigh was sitting up in her bed, reading a book which Tony recognized was from Y/N's collection. It was also one that Y/N would read to Everleigh when she was a young girl.

"Hey." He said softly. "I just want to talk to you real quick."

She closed the book, which he took to be a good sign. He sat down on the edge of her bed. "So, the reason some of the Avengers were here is they are. . . looking for a way to bring the ones who were snapped back. And I think that I have found that way to do it."

Everleigh was giving him her undivided attention now.

"The things is, it's going to be dangerous." Tony sighed, "And quite frankly. . . it's possible I don't come back. Now, I don't have to do this. I can stay here, me, you, Pepper, Morgan we can be a family because if I don't make it back, you haven't just lost your mom, you'll lose me too. And I don't know if I can do that to you."

Everleigh reached over and took his hand. "Dad. . . if you're doing some to bring, not just mom and my little brother back, but my friends, the others. . . then even if you don't make it back, I'll know you did everything you could."

"And you would just be okay with staying with Pepper?" Tony chuckled.

Everleigh smiled a little, "It's not that I don't like her dad. I just really miss mom. And sometimes it feels like you don't."

Tony pulled her into a tight hug so she didn't see him cry. "I miss her ever day sweetheart. But I never thought I could bring her back and I'm just trying to move on. Everyone is."

"Please try and bring her back." Everleigh begged, tears in her eyes. "Please?"

"I will." Tony promised.

He would.

[braveclementine]

Flight To Wakanda

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"Drop to twenty-six hundred, heading 0-3-0." Steve ordered Sam as he flew the ship.

"I hope you're right about this." Sam said in a warning voice. "Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."

Steve headed back to the passenger part of the Quinjet. Vision, Wanda, and Pietro were sitting in one corner. Bruce and Nat were sort've sitting together. Y/N was sitting there, chin in her hand, seemingly thinking.

Elizabeth was in the back corner, curled up in a ball. All of her kids, along with Y/N's kids- were left at the Avengers Compound under the watchful eyes of Rhodeys' new soulmate, who wasn't an Avenger at all.

Steve hesitated, and then went and sat down next to Elizabeth.

"Hey." He said softly.

She looked over at him and he saw she hadn't been crying. But she looked rather dead in the eyes. She met his though and smiled a little, "You look so different." She whispered.

"Is it a good thing?" He asked.

"I don't really like change." Elizabeth whispered. "It makes me uncomfortable and my OCD hates it, especially in rooms. If posters get moved and whatnot but. . . I don't know. It's kind've like you changed as the world made you change. Before when you were free you had the gold hair like the sunny side. And now you've got darker hair, like the darkness as you run."

He smiled a little. She breathed in deeply and then asked, "How is Bucky? Is he doing okay?"

"He's been doing good the few times I've been able to check up on him. He went into cryo and didn't get out to long ago, just a couple of months. His trigger words are gone, which is good. He doesn't have another arm though. . . but he's been living on the farm. A peaceful life."

"Good." Elizabeth said softly, resting her chin on her knees. "He deserved it."

Steve reached out, gently sliding his fingers along the back of her hand. He squeezed her hand gently. "I'm so sorry for your loss Elizabeth. I'm so so sorry."

She nodded, sucking in breath, straightening her back a little. Her eyes locked onto Steve's. "I'm going to kill him. He's mine."

Steve felt a bit of fear go through him on that. The idea of her going up against this massive Titan. . . he didn't like it one bit. He would make sure to stay by her side throughout the fight. And if she did go after Thanos. . . he would help her.

As the Quinjet lowered in front of the palace, she went ahead and stood up and Steve finally got to see what she was wearing. It was all green, gold, and black colours, wrapping around her body, showing off the right parts of her skin. Tight in the right places, curvy in the right places. Her hair braided back and put up in an intricate bun.

Swords, knives, bow, arrows, shurikens, even a sniper rifle that she picked up from underneath her chair. She was set with all of it.

"Elizabeth," He said softly, standing as well to lead the rest of them out. "I will not stop you. . . but you remember you have five kids waiting for you at home. Please?"

Elizabeth trembled a little and then nodded a bit jerkily. "I know."

He led the group out, shaking hands with T'Challa as he reached him, "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something."

Bruce started to bow and T'Challa waved his hands, "We don't do that here." Steve saw Rhodey smirk out of the corner of his eye.

"So how big of an assault should we expect?" T'Challa asked, leading the way.

"Uh, sir," Bruce interjected, "Sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault."

"How we looking?" Y/N asked on the other side of Natasha.

"You have my Kings guard, the border tribe, The Dora Milaje, and-"

"A semi stable hundred year old man." Bucky said, coming over to where Steve and the rest of the crew were. Steve pulled Bucky into a kiss right there, but made it quick when he remembered both Bruce and Elizabeth were there. He gave Bucky an apologetic, but meaningful look and Bucky nodded just slightly.

"How you been Buck?"

"Uh, not bad, for being out in the world." He grinned.

He looked more like himself than usual. He'd grown his own beard too, as well as growing out his hair. He was wearing blue leather and his new black and gold arm blended in well, looking more like just a sleeve of the jacket than anything else.

They took Vision up with Wanda and Pietro to get him into the lab.

Y/N went off with Natasha, Rhodey, and Sam. Elizabeth just stood where she was, looking out at Wakanda.

"She lost her soulmate." Steve whispered in undertone to Bucky when they were far enough away. "Loki. . . Thanos killed him. Left her with five kids. She. . . she wants him. To kill him. I'm afraid she's not going to make it out alive."

Bucky was quiet for a long time and then said, "She's maternal. She's got kids. She'll do the right thing Stevie."

He approached her slowly and said, "Hey doll."

Elizabeth titled her head and looked up at Bucky. She smiled then, a close to genuine smile. "Hey Bucky. How are you feeling? Is the arm okay? It doesn't hurt to badly, right? I mean, they just put it on today. If it's hurting I can use some magic-"

Bucky pulled her into a tight hug and Elizabeth went from talking rapidly, to bursting into tears. "That's it doll. Let it all out. Get all of it out of your system. Then you can keep your head on the priorities of this fight."

When Y/N had told him, Tony, and Sam that Elizabeth had been able to connect with Bucky on a level that no one else seemed to be able to, was able to understand everything Bucky needed to hear and know. . . well it seemed to go the other way too.

"How about you tell me about your kids?" Bucky asked softly, rocking her in his arms. "How many do you have? What do they look like? What are their names? How old are they? What gender are they?"

Elizabeth sniffed and said, "My oldest are Astrid and Halfdan. They're both eight years old and they both look like Loki. Long black hair and crystal blue eyes. Tove, Hogun, and Sage are all two years old. Tove and Sage are girls. Hogun is a little boy. Hogun also looks like Loki and so does Sage but she has green eyes instead. Tove has Loki's hair too, but she has my eyes."

"They sound very cute." Bucky said softly. "When this fight is over, you're going to have to introduce me to them, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Okay."

"I see you got all of these weapons." Bucky chuckled, "I didn't know you could use a sniper rifle."

Elizabeth nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm okay with it. I prefer my sword though but. . . someone has to stay with Vision during the surgery. And the window is high up. I was thinking I'd be a good person to guard Vision, and also get kills off."

"That's a fantastic idea." Bucky said enthusiastically and Steve felt immediately relieved. Wanda would be with Vision as well and she would be one of the best guards for Elizabeth too.

Bucky stood up, bringing Elizabeth to her feet as well. Bucky looked over at Steve, "How about I show you guys where I've been staying. You like goats?"

A small smile came over Elizabeth's face, "You have goats?"

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You readied yourself in the Wakandan Palace. You would be on the front lines with the other Avengers and you were both nervous, but also strangely calm.

You hadn't heard from Tony and the ship that he was on hadn't been seen on Earth since it had left. You had asked Pepper or Happy to keep you updated, but neither of them had seen or heard anything.

Wanda and Pietro would be staying with Vision in Shuri's lab, along with several other Wakandan warriors. The rest of you would be heading down towards the outskirts of the city to fight.

You didn't exactly feel confident. There was clearly something very different about this fight. You hadn't been able to see them fight in real life, but they clearly were good fighters based on what you had been able to see on the holographic recording.

And those were just the followers or 'children' as they liked to call themselves. You weren't entirely sure you wanted to go up against the 'father'.

Thanos. You'd heard the name before over the course of time. Elizabeth had mentioned him offhandedly when talking about Loki being taken over and brainwashed. That Loki hadn't been the one to really attack New York.

Thanos had seemed like some sort of mythical person. Like hearing about the Winter Soldier before you really knew who he was. A ghost, someone you would never actually meet, never actually be affected by.

Until you were.

Bruce had been very quiet, now that everything that he could possibly have done was done. You knew he was grieving for Thor and the last of his family. It seemed all of the Asgardians were gone. Or at least half, apparently there was another ship.

Elizabeth and her children were his last bit of family. And you were worried that Elizabeth was going to get herself killed in this fight. That Bruce might even try and get himself killed in this fight. But the Hulk wasn't appearing, so would he even try and fight?

You checked your phone again, but there was nothing.

Well, they probably didn't have radio or WIFI signals wherever Tony was.

You sighed, going to tuck your phone into your back pocket and then laughed at yourself. You put the phone on the table with the rest of your stuff that you wouldn't be using in the battle.

You loaded your AR-12 and made sure that you had plenty of extra ammo on you. Then you made sure you had plenty of knives as well.

"Do you think you're ready?" Nat asked quietly as she entered the room. Her and Bruce were being extremely awkward with each other. You knew that she had been the last person to see him, to interact with him, before he took off in the Quinjet. How he got to space, no one would ever know. And whatever had happened between the two of them, they would both take to their graves.

"No. But none of us are." You responded, looking over at her, "Clint isn't going to fight?"

"I haven't seen him in two years." Nat chuckled humorlessly. "Didn't really want our first interaction together after that much time to be that we need him to fight in another war that the Government isn't letting us fight in. Accords or not."

You nodded in understanding.

"No word from Tony?"

"No." You shook your head. "He's probably in space with Stephen. They'll be okay. They're probably the two smartest people I know."

"Also the most egotistical." Sam added from the background where he was making sure his wings and everything else he needed was in order. "And narcissistic. They'll probably butt heads a lot."

You chuckled. "Yes, that's probably true."

Steve came into the room at that moment. He had a small smile on his face, which he dropped as he entered the room. Like he hadn't just been snogging Bucky probably. You just smirked at the ground, trying to hide it.

"We're heading out now." Steve said in a commanding voice. "Make sure you're prepared. . . physically and mentally. This isn't going to be an easy fight."

"We know." Nat nodded.

She looked at you as the Avengers started to file out of the room. Even Bruce went and you had to return back to the problem at hand. You had to just take down as many enemies as possible. Trying to protect Bruce or Elizabeth would not bode well for anyone. You'd probably just end up getting yourself killed.

"Alright then." You said, hoisting your AR-12 onto your shoulder, sliding your handgun into your holster. "Let's go then."

[braveclementine]

Safe House

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

The Quinjet landed on the lawn of a farm. There was a somewhat large, nice farm house, with a shed to the side. There was a blue truck parked in front of it. There was a bit of clutter around as well.

Clint led the way up the path, helping Natasha along. Thor followed with you and Tony behind him. Steve was behind the two of you, Bruce behind him. Steve was so close, you could feel his body heat from behind you. You felt rather annoyed, leaning into Tony.

"What is this place?" Thor asked as you all stepped up onto the porch.

"Safe house." Tony replied skeptically, to which Clint then said, "Let's hope," and opened the door.

"Honey?" Clint suddenly shouted and you raised a confused eyebrow. "We're home."

Suddenly, a woman came around the corner. She was plain beautiful with brown hair, wearing a pink shirt. She was pregnant as well, holding papers in her hands.

"Hi. Company. Sorry, didn't call ahead." Clint said.

You looked around, noticing picture frames of Clint and Natasha with this woman and two kids. There was a girl and a boy.

"Hey." She responded, kissing Clint on the lips.

"This is an agent of some kind." Tony explained out loud.

"Gentlemen, Y/N, this is Laura." Clint explained.

"I know all your names." Laura said awkwardly.

Suddenly, pounding feet came running down the hallways and in came a little girl and a boy. "Dad!"

"Hi, sweetheart." Clint said, lifting the girl onto his hip and hugging the boy. "Hey buddy. How are you guys doing?"

Steve was trying to comprehend what was going on and Tony said, "These are. . . smaller agents."

"Did you bring Momma Nat?" The little girl asked.

"Why don't you hug her and find out." Nat said, stepping out of the shadows where she had been withdrawn, smiling now for the little girl.

"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve said in his professional voice.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed." Tony said.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined." Clint explained, "Laura here is my second soulmate. He kept it off of S.H.I.E.L.D'S files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low."

Second soulmates were rare but it also explained to you why Natasha had been the animal in the relationship. Because Clint had to be human. So even if Natasha was usually more dominant, since Laura was a softer looking person, she would have been an animal, which would have caused Natasha to be an animal as well.

You heard a sudden crunch and looked over to see that Thor had stepped on some sort of lego building. You watched with a bit of a smirk as he swept it under the chair quickly. Then you watched as Natasha approached Laura and said, "Ah I missed you. How's little Natasha, huh?"

"She's. . ." Laura winced, "Nathaniel."

You watched Natasha bend over and mutter, "Traitor."

Thor suddenly left the room and Steve went after him.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"Thor?"

Thor turned and faced Steve, "I saw something in that dream. I need answers. I won't find them here." Without waiting for Steve to say anything, he swung his hammer around rapidly in his hand and shot straight up into the sky.

Steve looked around the farm for a moment. This had been Bucky's dream. Living on a farm. Milking goats.

He turned to walk back into the house.

"We can go home." Peggy's voice whispered in his ear and he felt a heart wrenching pain. He caught Y/N's eyes on the other side, looking after him in worry.

He turned away and headed quickly away from the house.

"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Tony asked as he joined Steve for chopping wood sometime later. Steve had changed out of his uniform by this point, wearing a tight fitting T-shirt that felt neat against his skin.

"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things." Steve said, staring up at where Clint was with his two kids. "I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception."

"Yeah, give him time." Tony grunted. "We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."

Steve brought the axe down harshly on the wood. "'Earth's mightiest heroes'. Pulled us apart like cotton candy."

"Seems like you walked away alright." Tony said, getting on Steve's nerves as he put another piece of wood down.

"Is that a problem?" Steve asked.

"I don't trust a guy without a dark side." Tony replied. "Call me old-fashioned."

"Well, let's just say you haven't seen it yet." Steve said. He didn't growl, but it was a near thing.

"You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?" Tony asked.

"Well, I guess you'd know." Steve retorted. "Whether you'd tell us is a bit of a question." He brought his axe down on another piece of wood.

"Banner and I were doing research."

"That would affect the team."

"That would end the team! Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'why we fight'? So we can end the fight, so we can go home?"

Steve ripped the log apart on those last words, hearing them in Peggy's voice and not Tony's.

"Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die." Steve said, trying to keep calm, trying not to show emotion. He was to be the cool, collected one. He had already felt the judgement of even being taken over by Wanda, even though he knew Y/N felt bad for the judgement. It was an irrational emotion based on the scepter, but he knew he needed to keep it together. "Every time."

Laura came up behind Tony, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. . . Clint said you wouldn't mind, but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might. . ."

"Yeah, I'll give her a kick." Tony said.

Steve watched as Y/N exited the house. She'd brushed her H/C hair out and it seemed to shine in the sun. She was wearing a white flowy skirt, with a beautiful pink blouse tucked into it. Steve could almost picture her with a white bonnet added and a basket on her arm to go and pick wildflowers.

"Hey." Tony voice brought him back and Steve looked over at him. Tony had his arms crossed over his chest. "My wife is beautiful and I'm glad you're a good friend to her. But stop ogling her."

"She was in my vision." Steve muttered, finally talking about it. Tony softened just a little. "There were several. . ." He looked up at Tony and sighed, "When I turned into an animal, the line was almost instantaneous. To find my soulmate. I was hoping it was one of the neighborhood girls. I had always hoped. . . I had always wanted my soulmate to be a dame."

He blew air out of the side of his mouth. "When I found out it was Bucky, I wasn't disappointed and it was quick because I already loved him really. But I've still always sort've hoped. . ." He cleared his throat, "Anyways. There was Peggy and after Bucky died." Steve went silent, not finishing and then looked up at Tony, "I like Y/N. But more in the sense that you're just lucky. And then there was a girl I'd never seen before. She was the one that brought me back. Not Y/N, not Peggy. I just don't know who she is."

Tony didn't say anything, just nodding. He turned to head to the barn and then turned back, "Don't take from my pile."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

Tony stepped into the barn, seeing how musty it was. It was tidy though, and the tractor sat up on a wooden part of the barn, just waiting for him.

"Hello Dear." He turned her on. "Tell me everything. What ails you?"

"Do me a favor. Try not to bring it to life." Nick Fury's voice cut through the barn.

"Why, Mrs. Barton, you little minx." Tony muttered. "I get it. Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you? Oh, wait, that's right. Soulmates."

"Artificial Intelligence. You never even hesitated." Fury replied.

"Look, it's been a really long day, like Eugene O'Neil long, so how's about we skip to the part where you're useful."

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down."

"You're not the director of me."

"I'm not the director of anybody. I'm just an old man who cares very much about you."

"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers." Tony said in a heartfelt way. "I saw it. I didn't tell the team. How could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. The whole world, too. Because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

"Maximoff girl, she's working you, Stark. Playing on your fear."

Ah. So it wasn't Hill. Y/N had contacted Fury.

"I wasn't tricked. I was shown. Wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on."

"You come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony." Fury said, rising from the hay bale that he had sat upon previously. "War isn't one of them."

"I watched my friends die. My wife. My daughter. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right?" Tony scoffed, absentmindedly cleaning a wrench with a cloth, "Nope. It wasn't the worst part."

"The worst part is that you didn't." Fury finished for him, hands in his pockets.

And Stark knew then, that Fury completely understood.

[braveclementine]

A Pain Like No Other

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

A fiery pain ripped through him and he looked at Killian with pure hate.

"A shame. I would have caught her." Killian goaded.

It was more than enough for Tony. He ran straight for Killian and Killian ran straight for him. As much as Tony wanted nothing more than to take his fists and ram them straight into Killian's face, he knew he also had to play smart.

He slid as Killian jumped, and then launched himself off the edge. Half of him hoped to miss a suit and join Y/N in the fiery abyss, but he also knew two things. One, he had to finish this job. And Two, he could never leave his daughter while there was still a chance for him to live.

He immediately went after Killian, punching him and trying to kick him. He was aware of Natasha fighting her way up the scaffold, trying to join the two of them. He couldn't see Steve or Clint. There was nothing from Rhodey either.

Killian went to punch him in the chest and he ejected, immediately jumping into another suit and continuing the fight. He backhanded Killian and then attempted to blast him several times. Killian was able to weave in and out of his blast, ducking, and punching Tony in the chest.

He kept trying to melt his suits, the only danger for them. Tony knew that if his suits were all melted, he had nothing to fight Killian with. He thought even Steve's shield would melt.

Tony went and kicked Killian, but when he went to do it again, Killian pulled the entire leg off. The two of them continued to fight, before Killian flipped him around and Tony landed harshly on his stomach.

Tony tried to get up, lifting his hand to blast him, but Killian jerked his arm to point it all the way to the sky, and so it missed.

"Well, here we are on the roof." Killian said with a smirk. Two matching dragon tattoos were across his chest, the fire making them seem to glow and breathe fire.

Tony grunted, falling backwards out of the suit before Killian's hand came down, cutting the suit in two. Tony still landed harshly, falling a good six or seven feet onto the platform below the one they'd been standing on previously. The air was knocked out of him and he grunted for breath.

"Mark 42 inbound." Jarvis told him.

"I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns." Tony said, though the jest with heavy with heartbreak. He stuck his arm out to receive it, but just as it got closer, it hit the edge of the railing and all fell into pieces. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"You really didn't deserve her, Tony." Killian sighed. "It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect. I didn't really know her, of course, but from what I did know of her. . . she could have been mine."

He leapt down from the roof where he had been standing above Tony. Even through Tony's rage, hurt, and need for revenge, he had to think of something. "Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait. Slow down! Slow down! You're right. I don't deserve her. Here's where you're wrong. She was already perfect."

Tears fell from his eyes as he pointed the Mark 42 to capture every body part of Killian. "Jarvis." He said with a shaking voice. "Do me a favor and blow Mark 42."

He didn't stay to look, even though he wanted to. He jumped down the blue railing. Natasha was on the ledge nearby, knocking out some of the last. Tony reached out, grabbing Nats' arm, yanking her onto the makeshift slide with him as the suit blew up, raining shrapnel down on where she had been standing.

The whole bridge started to collapse and Tony threw her and himself off the bridge. Nat actually screamed and Tony landed in his suit, and then caught her around the waist.

"YOU'RE SO DEAD WHEN WE LAND STARK!" Nat screamed at him, but also clutched at him with her hands.

The two of them landed harshly on the ground as the suit was not at full capacity. He covered Nat's body with his own as more crap came raining down on them and he heard footsteps coming fast.

Steve covered them as well, until everything stopped falling and the three of them watched the Mark 42 head roll to a stop. Tony stared at it, until a flame was lit in the eye and the face plate fell off.

"Where-" Nat started as Clint joined them and Tony was overjoyed for just a moment to see Everleigh, before they heard a grunting noise.

Nat got to her feet, wincing in pain, but Tony stayed laying on the ground. He was in both mental and physical pain and wasn't sure when he could move. He watched with wide eyes as Killian got to his feet.

Tony tried to his feet too now as Killian started to stagger towards them. Clint hesitated, and then switched out all of his arrows to put Everleigh in his sling. Nat pointed her gun at him and Steve readied his shield.

Tony had nothing. He couldn't even get to his feet, his ankle seemed broken from the landing. Or at least strained. He couldn't put pressure on it and Steve didn't dare bend down to help pick him up.

"No more false faces." Killian hissed, his ruined eyes only on Tony as though he was the only one there. "You said you wanted the Mandarin. You're looking right at him. It was always me Tony. Right from the start. I am the Mandarin!" He shouted before he was flung to the side by something hitting him.

Tony looked over and felt his heart stop when he saw Y/N standing there, holding a metal pipe in her hands. Her eyes and skin were glowing orange, but her breathing was soft and she calmed down, staring at Tony.

"I got nothing." He said.

Suddenly, a suit came flying out of nowhere and he realized he was heading for Y/N. "Jarvis, subject at my twelve o'clock is not a target. Disengage."

But his com was not in his ear, but rather lying a few feet away from him. Y/N ducked out of the way as it shot at her.

"Stark!" Steve bellowed, running towards Y/N, but Y/N glowed orange and Steve stopped. Y/N spun on Tony and he grew a little frightened.

"What? Oh, what, are you mad at me?" She ran straight at him and he wondered if she was going to kill him. Clint even stepped out, but thought better about it. Tony was kind've more glad that Everleigh was in Natasha's arms now and Clint's arrows were back where they belonged.

Y/N used Tony's knee as a launching pad, hitting the Iron Man suit out of midair. She punched it straight into the ground and all Tony could do was gape as she punched it again, getting the glove onto her arm, before she ripped it off, spinning and backhanding Killian across the dock.

She kicked something at him- it was to fast for Tony to see what it was- and then she shot it and it exploded in Killian's face.

"Honey?" Tony asked uncertainly as the fire settled down to see that Killian was no more.

Y/N spun, running towards Tony. He got to say not a word before their lips were meshed together and he responded back eagerly. "Whose the hot mess now?" She asked with a soft giggle when she pulled away.

"You scared me. I thought-"

"That I was dead?" She finished softly, carefully cupping his face with her non- metal arm. "I'm okay though. I'm right here. We're okay."

"Yeah?" Tony asked awkwardly, before getting to his feet and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Just so you know, I think I can fix this. I almost did it twenty years ago when I was drunk, so I'm pretty sure I can do it now."

"Am I gonna be okay?" Y/N asked softly.

"You're married to me. You're never going to be okay again." He joked.

She giggled. "What about all those distractions anyways?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Jarvis, you know what to do."

"The Clean Slate Protocol sir?" Jarvis asked uncertainly.

Y/N frowned. "No, I don't like the sound of that. Don't give up your suits Tony. They're a part of you. Hell, I can see why you want them. I don't want to take this arm off ever again. Don't get rid of the suits Tony."

"Okay." Tony whispered. "Change of plans Jarvis. Just. . . how about do the Protocol on the ones that are badly damaged. It's Christmas after all and I'm pretty sure I promised fireworks at some point."

Suddenly, Y/N jerked out of his arms. "Everleigh!"

"Right here." Steve said. He was holding the little girl now, his shield on his back. The three of them had walked some distance to give the two of them privacy, which Tony appreciated.

Y/N rushed over to Steve, looking at the little girl in his arms and then at Tony. "I'm afraid to touch her. You, you can jerk away immediately but-"

Tony nodded, taking his daughter into his arms. He was never going to put her down again.

"Thank you!" Y/N sighed, wrapping her arms around Steve tightly, before kissing his cheek. Tony didn't feel the jealousy this time. Especially as she ran over and did the same to Clint and Natasha. In fact, her kissing Natasha's cheek might've even turned him on a little.

"Well, we're going to head back up to Colorado, finish off our vacation. Don't get kidnapped again." Clint teased Y/N.

Y/N smiled, burrowing into Tony's side.

"I'll be going with them. I'm heading back to New York." Steve said.

Y/N looked up at Tony and then over at Steve, "Actually. . . we don't want you to be alone for Christmas Steve. Just stay tomorrow at least."

Steve blinked in surprise, and then looked over at Tony. Tony was only slightly disappointed, having wanted to spend the time with Y/N, but realized she probably wasn't going to want to be to passionate while she was hot.

He nodded, "You're welcome too Barton, Romanoff."

"Thanks, but I think we'll like privater company." Barton grinned.

He smiled and then they all went their individual ways.

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"I forgot we don't have a house." You said, cheeks burning in embarrassment as you glanced over at Steve. "I should have let you go home like you'd planned."

"It's alright." Steve smiled gently while the two of you watched Tony take it all in. "I'm just glad the three of you are okay."

"Thank you. For coming and helping Tony." You said, glancing over at him. "I think he needed it. The support."

Steve just smiled.

Rhodey had told you guys that the Vice President had been arrested. Apparently, the reason for him being so interested, was that his own daughter was in a wheel chair. She was missing part of her leg from the knee down. You felt bad, knowing that parents would do anything for their children.

You clutched Everleigh tighter to your chest and said, "On the plus side, I think the two of us are going to see each other a lot more. We're going to move back to New York, living in the new Stark Tower. I'll be going back to S.H.I.E.L.D. training."

"I'll make sure to say hi in the hallways." Steve said awkwardly, looking like he thought really hard about that sentence. You smiled.

"By the way, I was reading and watching and listening to a lot of the stuff you gave me." Steve said pulling out his black notebook. "I really liked The Starless Sea. Harry Potter seemed a little young for me, but I did enjoy it. I like the message behind Tom Macdonald, but I don't think rap is my genre, but I do like working out to Imagine Dragons."

You beamed. "I think you would like the book 'Wonderstruck.' It's definitely a lower level reading book, very easy in fact. But it's super interesting, the way it tells two stories at once, one story with pictures and the second with words. And then at the end, the two stories come together."

"I'll check it out." Steve promised as Tony came back over.

"I've been thinking," Tony said to you. "Since I'm helping you get this fire stuff out of your body, I'm thinking I want to undergo surgery as well."

"For what?" You asked in astonishment.

"I think I'm going to get the shrapnel out of my chest. Remove the arc reactor." Tony explained. "I destroyed all of the suits too. It's not armor Y/N. It's a cocoon and now I'm free."

Tears pricked your eyes and you slammed your face into his chest as you embraced him. "Tony!"

He smiled, clearly pleased with himself and you quickly got yourself together, wiping your eyes.

"Anyways," Tony said, looking at Steve now, "We're headed over to Rhodey's house."

You smiled and followed your husband to the car, Steve tagging along beside you.

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Tony followed through with everything. He got the fire out of your veins. He got the shrapnel out of his chest.

You did move back to Stark Tower, which was kind've empty and sad if Tony wasn't with you. Everleigh even had her own room on her own floor- which you didn't like until she got older so she still stayed on your floor, though still in her own room.

Bruce still lived in the tower, using Tony's lab and it was funny to walk in and see Tony try and talk to Bruce about everything. Watch Bruce fall asleep and then tell Tony that he wasn't a therapist.

You were happy.

He was happy.

That was all that mattered.