#Guy responded to being asked how he's doing by shoving a grenade in his captain's face! XD

[taryn40k]

"Mornin lad, mmm... you look like its anything but good though... troubles of the personal kind or impersonal kind?"

"... I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I didn't mean for it to be threatening, it just... There's a lot happening this morning, and my nerves are a little fried right now!"

[jordluna]

You Meet Steve Rogers (Natasha x daughter!reader)

Summary: On a mission to rescue hostages, you end up meeting Captain America along the way. The daughter reader is 15. Since reader is in her teenage years she's pretty sassy and her and Nat have a kinda bitchy relationship but it's still sweet though.

"I have a mission with Steve to go on. I should be back in the morning so stay home, and don't do anything reckless while I'm gone." Natasha says while loading up guns on her cat suit as you sit on the couch of your apartment and binge the 100 on the T.V.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll stay here." You say while shoving a load full of popcorn in your mouth. You want her to leave badly so you can go onto the next season before the next day.

"Stay here and don't stay up late." She says firmly as you turn your back to face her to say one last remark.

"No mom, I'll go to the popular girl's party, get drunk, and hook up with the hottest dude I see." She rolls her eyes as she leaves the apartment, while you snicker to herself.

Just as your about to get up to make some more popcorn your phone rings from your hoodie. You pull it out,hoping one of your friends wants to chat with you so you won't be bored all night. Instead you see Director Fury's name on the screen.

You groan, as you swipe to answer it, knowing never to not answer Fury's calls.

"Was-sup Fury." You say while shutting off the T.V.

"Agent Romanoff, it's great to here from you again. Since you haven't showed up to Shield the past two weeks." Fury says not even trying to hid the annoyance in his voice.

"Two weeks already? Well I've been very busy with school work and all." You lie, as for the real reason you haven't shown up is because you were to busy binging The 100."Romanoff I think you must have forgotten you're on Spring break." You wince as you have totally forgotten.

"Shit." You mutter under your breathe. "Shit, indeed." Fury says back after a little bit of silence.

"So why'd you call me exactly?" You ask. "I need you as back up on your mother's and Steve's mission." He then explains their mission to you.

"So what do I have to do?" You ask annoyed that your all nighter is ruined, due to saving lives. "You, my least favorite Romanoff, have to collect Shield's intel on the ship. You can also kick some ass if needed." You sigh while putting on your cat suit and loading your weapons.

"Will do pirate dude." You say while leaving the apartment. "Also I'm so flattered to be your least favorite Romanoff."

"A car should be in the front of your house to escort you to the quinjet. You can jump off shortly after Natasha and Steve are already inside the ship."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Don't disappoint me y/n." You just sigh and end the call. You let your red hair down from the messy bun it was already in. Well time to do the dirty work.

*****

As you hide in the back of the ship you do what Fury instructed and waited for everyone to get off before you leave. Once you jump off you immediately start making your way to the to the control room to grab the data and go, hoping maybe just maybe you can finish one last episode before your mom comes home. Men immediately start running at you but you take out your dagger and slide towards them on your knees, slicing their thighs.

As they knell to the floor you stab them in the chest and make a break for the room. You think about using your guns tonight off the men in front of you but you know that's more of Natasha's thing than yours. Plus the guns would be to loud and you don't want to bump into anyone you know on the mission.

So instead you just do the simple hand to hand combat and leave without a single bruising or scratch as usual while the guys are wailing in pain on the ground.

"Sorry about that, but to be fair you did ruin my movie night." You say with a sinister smile.

*****

Steve moves around the ship looking for the rest of the hostages when he sees pirates injured on the ground. He immediately thinks it's Natasha since there is no there person that can fight without some sort of weapon as good as her. Let alone lave five men unconscious on the ground. As he walks closer he sees two more injured guys on the ground with what appear to be stab wounds.

"Nat, I didn't know you had an interest in knives." Steve says into his ear piece. Natasha is confused by his statement wondering what he is talking about. It then hits her. You were here.

"I'm not." She simply says as Steve is now also more confused.

*****

As you enter the control room you immediately put the hard drive in and start collecting whatever you can. Just then something comes crashing through the door with some unconscious guy underneath him.

"Hey Rogers." You say with a small smirk on your face, recognizing the man as Captain America.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" He says sternly as he pushes you back into the wall, harshly, putting his shield up to your collar bone so you couldn't escape. However you showed no fear in your eyes as you weren't even scared, just irritated that you're still in this room.

"Damn, is this how people introduced themselves in the forties? I'm here on Director Fury's orders."

"To collect Shield intel?"

"Why are you asking if you obviously already know." You say.

"Who are you?" He says firmly looking for an answer.

"Name's y/n. I would ask for your name but I already know because of the whole being a popsicle in a freezer for 97 years."

"You knocked all those guards out there?" He says looking down at the bloody knife in your holster. You just nod quickly hoping to get out of here before your mother finds you and grounds you for life.

"Why would Fury send a 14 year old girl out here?" Ok, now your annoyed with the interrogation.

"I'm 15 Cap. Get your facts strait before spitting them out." He most likely annoyed to as he's pushing you a little more further against the wall. Just as your about to grab the knife and stab him the thigh a familiar voice fills the room.

"Let her go Steve." Natasha says as he releases the pressure on your collar bone. As he moves out of the way you see the one person you've been planning on avoiding this entire mission. Natasha gives you the deadliest glare you've ever seen her give you. You tense for a second but let your muscles relax knowing this isn't the time to be a wimp.

"Hey-" She immediately cuts you off."Я сказал тебе оставаться дома." She's yelling to you in Russian, that's not good. (I told you to stay home.)

"Я знаю, но Фьюри сказал, что тебе нужна помощь.There for here I am." You say trying to reason with her as Steve just watches you guys very confused. (I know, but Fury said you needed back up.) She takes the hard drive out and throws it to you. You catch it and immediately put it in your pocket."Фьюри твоя мать? Нет, я." (Is Fury your mother? No, I am.) You sigh in defeat.

"Can I say something?" Steve says loudly.

"Shut it star spangled capris." You say as he is clearly taken aback.  All of a sudden a grenade is thrown at you by the unconscious guy but Steve uses his shield to knock it away. He grabs the you and your mother and crash into a window. Smoke fills the air as you chuckle slightly at the look on Steve's face when you mocked him. However Steve and Natasha just look at you weirdly and your face goes back to its stern expression.

  ******

You, Natasha, and Steve stand in front Fury's desk in Shield's headquarters. As he stares at you three without saying anything you try to avoid eye contact and just tap the floor with your boot.

"Why would you send a child out on our mission without telling me?" Steve says interrupting the silence.

"Cap did you see the results of putting her on the field? Her mission was to collect Shield intel, and she did it with even getting a few of our foes hurt." Fury responds with and you look at your mother and see a smirk on her face, which makes you feel even more accomplished.

"People could have gotten killed and hurt." Steve says.

"I believe Fury sent the best assassins and super soldier to make sure that didn't happen." Natasha says as you nod your head agreeing.

"The kid could have gotten hurt!"

"Agent y/n Romanoff, is one of the best junior agents, Shield has ever seen. She doesn't get hurt easily." You see the shocked look on Steve's face, mixed with confusion. You, Fury, and Natasha try your best not to laugh as Steve's mouth is practically wide open.

"You better close your mouth before a fly goes in." You say as Steve moves his head looking at you, then Natasha, then back at you. He slowly starts to notice how similar you two are.

"Oh, yeah. I have a daughter." Natasha says as if she just accidentally forgot to mention it before.

"Oh hell no. I'm dreaming." Steve says raising his arms up and starts to leave the room.

"I can assure you that I'm very much real." You say laughing.

I enjoyed making this one a lot. I also just love writing sassy y/n. Sorry if Russian is wrong I'm so sorry I just used google translate. Also I might move to tumblr idk. Next story will be You're okay!

[elisaphoenix13]

Trigger The Light (Ch.7)

Everyone stood around the gauntlet looking at it like it was going to suddenly jump up and bite them...or snap its own fingers. These were the Infinity Stones. Quill wouldn't be surprised if the gauntlet did snap its fingers by itself. That would definitely be better than having one of them do it and that's what they were trying to decide. Who would do it? If Quill had his powers, he might be willing to volunteer, but he didn't so he wasn't really going to offer. Thor volunteered because of his powers but Tony was quick to veto that with the reason that the god wasn't it the right state of mind to do it. Bruce was the one who said he had to be the one to do it as the Hulk. The stones were mostly gamma radiation and that was how the Hulk came to be so it made sense. Everyone agrees and suits up to prepare for...anything...and Quill subconsciously positions himself a little in front of Scott. He wasn't fully in front of the man but the idea that he possibly still had his powers meant he might still be immortal, which meant he could take a hit better than Scott if it ended up being true.

He didn't miss the way some of the other Avengers looked at him but he pretended not to notice. They had their suspicions, but now wasn't the time to question him about it and they all knew it. Assuming everything went well and this worked, Quill would no doubt be questioned later. Much later. If this worked, everyone would be reunited with friends and family, and the suspicions of Quill and Scott would be shoved far back into everyone's minds. Which was just fine with him since he wasn't quite sure what his relationship with Scott was anyway.

Quill shakes the thought away as Bruce once again turns into the Hulk and then picks up the gauntlet after some hesitation. The metal expands over his arm as he slowly slips his hand into it, and then Hulk falls to his knees in pain when the stones light up in reaction to organic matter. Trails of burnt skin quickly cover Hulk's arm as he groans in pain, but reassures Thor that he can keep going when the god starts demanding that he needs to take it off. With an extreme amount of effort, Hulk lifts up his arm with the help of his other hand and just before he snaps, Quill moves fully in front of Scott as a bright light temporarily blinds them. When the light fades, the gauntlet slips off of the Hulk's arm and he falls back, and Tony rushes to his side to apply a medical spray to burnt flash while Clint kicks the gauntlet away. As the team helps their comrade, Quill subconsciously takes note of Scott leaving the room once Tony's 'Barn Door Protocol' is lifted, and looks toward one of the nearby tables when a phone starts vibrating.

"Guys...I think it worked." Scott whispers from the other room as Clint answers his phone.

Quill looks back at the Hulk, following his gaze upward to the window above them when the monster's eyes widen, and he turns toward Scott when he sees a large spaceship shooting a missile at the building.

"Sc-" The pirate tries to warn, but the missile hits and he is knocked unconscious for a few minutes until he feels someone smacking his face.

"Come on big guy." Clint's voice cuts through the haze and Quill groans. "That's it."

Quill blinks his eyes open and winces at the feeling of rock and metal digging into his back, but thankfully not piercing skin, and finds Clint crouching in front of him. With a half smile and a firm pat on the pirate's shoulder, the archer looks to the side as Quill gets to his feet, and brushes away some rubble to pick up the gauntlet that had been buried with them. As Quill rubs dirt and grime off of his face, both he and Clint froze at the sound of low growling and then look down the darkened tunnel. Clint slowly pulls out an arrow and sends it flying through the tunnel to light it up and the brief light shows a group of snarling aliens on the walls of the tunnel.

"Shit. Run!" Clint yells, and the two take off in the opposite direction.

While the archer planted arrows through the tunnel, Quill looked for a way out and stopped when he reached a dead end. Clint waves for him to move into the bit of tunnel connected to the one their in, and when he does, Quill happens to look up and find a way up through a hole above him. Immediately he links his hands as Clint rounds the corner and the bomb arrows go off, and with only a bit of scepticism on the archer's face, he steps into the pirate's hands and Quill boosts him up the next level. It was no small distance, but he put faith into what the Ancient One said and that he would have his superhuman strength, and successfully got Clint through an escape. He still had to deal with the aliens that survived the blast though, so he pulls out his guns and shoots the aliens running up to him and unclips a grenade from his belt to throw at the remaining ones. As soon as he throws the grenade, he flies up through the hole and the blast radius throws him the rest of the way, where he lands heavily next to Clint with a loud groan.

"How are you so strong?" Clint asks through heavy breaths.

"It's a long story dude."

Clint wheezes through a chuckle until Nebula steps next to them. "Hey...we know you." He hands the gauntlet up to the woman who takes it and presses the comm in her ear.

"Father. I have the stones."

Clint and Quill look up in alarm. What the actual fuck? Was Nebula a double agent?

"What?!" Clint asks incredulously and Nebula points a gun at the archer.

"Stop."

Oh...Quill knew that voice. There was no way…

He looks over at the exit and watches Gamora walk in pointing her own gun at Nebula.

"What the hell? Gamora?!" He questions but she ignores him.

"You're betraying us." Nebula says and then suddenly points her gun from Clint to...another Nebula? That was when Quill realized that there must have been some sort of switch during the heist.

"You don't have to do this." Present Nebula says with her hands up.

Quill elbows Clint and motions toward a wall and they both slip out of the way and behind it to watch whatever this was play out. Present Nebula and Past Gamora (Quill was relatively certain she was not the friend he knew) tried to talk Past Nebula down, but in the end she was killed for attempting to kill Gamora. As Clint went back to retrieve the gauntlet, Gamora paused long enough to look at Quill, but he saw no recognition in her eyes. It truly was her past self, and he really did lose his friend...someone he thought he had feelings for but after meeting Scott, he realized he and Gamora just had a close friendship. It was love, but not romantic love. Not like he had with Scott.

Oh.

Well this was an inopportune time to realize that. Especially when he didn't know if the younger thief survived the attack on the compound. That thought alone was heartbreaking. He knew he should have said something.

"Thanos is here...with an army." Nebula informs them.

"Of course he is." Quill gripes angrily. "Nothing can ever be easy."

He brushes past the women to join their own growing army that file out from multiple portals, and they follow until Quill stops by Tony. Just when he thought that everyone had arrived, the earth rumbles and a building breaks apart as Scott breaks through in giant form and holds out his hand so Rhodey, Rocket, and the Hulk can jump off.

Quill had never been so relieved in his life. Scott survived the direct attack. They all did...and he was a freaking giant. He knew Scott could shrink, but this was new.

"Avengers!"

Quill rolls his shoulders as he grabs his guns and Steve summons Mjolnir to him before looking toward Thanos and his army with a glare.

"Assemble."

War cries travel across the battlefield as everyone charges and Quill flies forward until he reaches some aliens and lands on top of one. With that alien stomped into the ground, he punches the closest one before shooting more oncoming aliens. The battle was long and harsh with a seemingly never-ending amount of aliens to fight, and Clint was evading attacks while running around with the gauntlet asking what to do with it. Steve told him to get it as far away as possible, but Bruce immediately told him they needed to return them to which Tony replied that Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.

"Hold on!" Scott says and shrinks down to normal size. "That wasn't our only time machine."

'La Cucaracha' belts out from somewhere on the battlefield and Quill has to keep himself from laughing as he shoots a few more aliens, and kicks another away. When they first tested out the quantum tunnel without Tony's equipment, he had heard that and questioned Scott about it, and the thief said the van belonged to a friend of his. It was amusing at the time, but in the middle of a battle that their universe depended on? It was inappropriately hilarious.

"Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?" Steve asks.

"Yes!" Valkyrie responds. "But you're not going or like where it's parked!"

That made Quill think of the Milano for a brief moment and was upset that after Rocket and Nebula had taken the time to repair and return it to him, that it was once again destroyed. This time beyond repair. It was nice while it lasted he supposed.

"Scott, how long you need that thing to get working?"

"Uh...maybe ten minutes."

"Get it started. We'll get the stones to you." The captain commands.

The gauntlet was tossed around between them during that time until Wanda got to Thanos and started ripping his armor apart with her magic. The titan commanded to have the ship rain fire on the battlefield, and Quill caught a glimpse of Peter with the gauntlet and getting thrown to the ground when a blast of rocks knocks him out of the air. A nearby sorcerer had cast a shield above Quill and other allies until the attack suddenly directed toward the atmosphere. A bright light flashes through the sky and through Thanos' ship and destroys it, and a woman lands in front of Peter and takes the gauntlet. With help from some of the women they cut a path for Carol to the now activated quantum tunnel in the van, and Quill watches in horror (after shooting more aliens) as Thanos throws his weapon and it beats Carol to the van, and destroys it.

Quill saw red when the van exploded. Scott had been in the van and he never saw the thief leave and he was pissed. Not only that, but he was devastated. Now he really couldn't tell Scott how he felt because the fucking titan killed him. Quill yells out in despair as he flies toward Thanos and tackles the titan away from the gauntlet that had been tossed away, and to the ground in his fury. The pirate gets thrown off, but only charges at Thanos again when he gets up and catches the fist the alien throws at him with one hand. Thanos looks at him with some surprise as Quill growls at him, and understanding dawns in his eyes when the pirate starts glowing white.

The celestial had awoken.

"Congratulations." Quill snarls. "You've succeeded in taking away the universe." He grabs Thanos' arm and throws him into some ruins as pillars of light surround the celestial and his eyes fill with galaxy colors. "MY UNIVERSE!"

Quill and Thanos throws hands one on one, and at one point the titan manages to get a hold of the gauntlet and put it on when he knocks Quill away. Carol steps in to keep Thanos from snapping as the celestial shakes away his daze and he watches for just a split moment as his pillars of light skewers aliens all around the battlefield. He really did have his powers, but to his despair, his trigger was Scott's death. Quill wouldn't let his death be in vain though. The moment Thanos used the power stone to knock Carol away, Quill jumped back in and got a grip on the gauntlet before kicking the titan away and causing the gauntlet to slip off Thanos' arm.

He happened to look in Stephen's direction at the same time, and watches as the sorcerer looks over at him and pulls one of his hands away from his spell to keep the water at bay to hold up a single finger. Quill understood immediately and put the gauntlet on without a second thought, but instead of excruciating pain like he expected, the stones seemed to accept him. Or rather his Celestial genes. Celestial's were creators of the universe, so maybe they recognized his power and didn't want to destroy him (especially since he was the last remaining one). In fact, he felt a change in him since the gauntlet shrunk down to fit his arm and the Infinity Stones activated.

That didn't matter though because Thanos looked ready to charge at him, and Quill held his arm up with a smirk.

"What are you?" The titan asks as he falters.

"The last remaining Celestial, bitch."

Quill snaps and a bright light covers the battlefield for a few seconds, and he breathes heavily as the alien army turns to dust all around them. The god didn't feel like celebrating though. The love of his life was taken away from him, and now he would spend eternity alone. No more binge watching movies and falling asleep, no more teasing, no more idiotic dancing...no more Scott.

"Don't get close! He doesn't look like he's in control and he might lash out with those pillars!" Someone's yell temporarily breaks through his despair, but he just stood there.

Maybe he would lash out. If anyone tried to get too close right now, he wouldn't be able to handle it. He didn't want to hurt anyone...but he wasn't really in the mood to care. Quill wanted one thing and he was never getting--

"Quill?" A familiar voice asks carefully, and Quill's galaxy filled eyes snap toward the approaching man.

It was Scott. He looked a little scratched up but he was alive. Quill wanted to get with relief, but a bigger part of him didn't want to believe that the man slowly walking closer to him was actually Scott. He didn't believe it. Not until the younger thief touched his face anyway.

"Hey Spaceman. It's over now. You can calm down now."

That was all it took for the pillars of light to disappear, for the power humming around his body to fade, and for his eyes to recede back to normal green irises. The celestial allows the gauntlet to slip off and land on the ground with a clatter, wraps his arms tightly around Scott, and the younger steps even closer until their chests are flush against each other.

"There you are." Scott mumbles and Quill tightens the embrace.

"Scott?"

Scott hums in curiosity, and Quill knew he had to tell him now. Tell him how he felt before something else happened and he really didn't get a chance to.

"I want this. Us."

"I have a daughter." The younger half heartedly argues.

"She means the world to me too." Quill answers easily.

Scott grips the lapels of the pirate's jacket and bites his lip nervously as he looks up at Quill. "Are you sure?"

Quill smiles, gently grips the back of Scott's neck, and leans down to kiss him, completely uncaring of their audience. When he pulls away after a few seconds, he gently rests his forehead against Scott's and whispers:

"What I have with you...I don't want with anyone else."

[lookatypingbear]

Nearest and Dearest

Duke didn’t have a family outside of their mother--until the Normandy.

i. for the warrior in them: a father

“Rachni!” the driver shouts.

“I see them!” the krogan in the turret replies. The truck is already rocking from the force of the turret blasts. It’s only a few moments before the krogan yells, “There’s too many of them!”

“I know; I’m driving through them!” the one at the wheel answers.

Duke looks across the truck, to where Noel is damn near curled up on his seat and Eve is glancing at him every few seconds. Right. Thresher maw. Can’t be fun after Akuze. They bang on the ceiling of the truck with their fist. “Need any help up there?”

“Stay down, human! You’re too small to be any use!”

Noel’s head snaps up, finally distracted from the fact that they are being chased by the mother of all thresher maws, in time to see Duke’s face change from surprise to that spiteful determination that always followed a dig at their height.

“Yo, Wrex,” Duke says, impossibly calm. “I’m gonna peek out that trapdoor and help out that lunkhead in the turret. Can you hold my legs?”

Wrex gives the krogan equivalent of a feral grin. “Sure thing.”

Duke hops onto the step Wrex makes for them with his hands and, not even bothering with the latch, blows the trapdoor off with a quick biotic blast. The Duchess is loaded and ready in their hands as Wrex hoists them up to see the area around them. “Sup, fucker,” they mutter, catching a glimpse of the krogan in the turret in the corner of their eye. “You said there’s too many of them; that means you’re an incompetent jackass, and you need help, even if it’s from a tiny human.” They sight one rachni’s bloated, membranous sac, and they fire. The creature explodes in a gush of fluid that splatters the side of the truck, and two more take its place.

“Okay, Duchess, no hard feelings,” Duke says, putting their shotgun back in its slot on their back, “but I need something more…widespread than a thermal clip right now.” Their arms glow blue, and two of the rachni freeze, the same blue aura around them as they’re dragged along with the truck, barreling into other rachni, disorganizing them until Duke’s biotics blast outward with their war cry, throwing the mess of rachni out of the truck’s way and leaving only the scent of ozone for the krogan at the wheel to worry about.

“All clear!” Duke hollers to the others in the truck.

“Quads, Wrex,” the driver says admiringly as Noel hears the distinct sounds of his upgrades to the Duchess powering up and of Duke’s wild laughter. “That one would make a good krogan.”

Wrex’s grin never left, and now it grows wider as, above him, Duke shouts, “Come and get me, you fucking pyjaks! Target practice, let’s go!”

“Yeah,” Wrex says, nearly bursting with pride. “They would.”

—

ii. for the explorer in them: sisters

“What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from where you were born?”

“Ilos,” Ashley and Duke answer in unison. “You?” Duke continues.

“I don’t know,” Tali admits. “I was born on the Flotilla, so I don’t know where exactly we were when I was born. I remember thinking I was going so far when I started my Pilgrimage… I had no idea that Shepard would take me so much farther.”

“And keep us all alive while he does it,” Ashley adds.

“And still find time to break fraternization rules.” Duke grins at Ashley’s playful scowl. “Man. You know what? This is why I joined up. The exploration. The going somewhere and the coming back. I wanted to see those stars I watched when I was a kid. But I always wanted to come back too. I always needed a family.”

“Aw, you’ve got one.” Ashley loops an arm around Duke, tugging them to her side and ruffling their hair with her other hand.

“Let go!” Duke says, mock-indignant. “You can’t treat me like one of your little sisters, Ash; I’m two years older than you!”

“Four inches taller trumps that!” Ash responds, delightedly putting Duke in a gentle chokehold.

“Would you quit it? Tali, help me!”

“I’m not getting in between that,” Tali says with a snicker in her voice.

“Fuck you!”

“Whoa, you kiss Admiral Wilder with that mouth?” But Ash loosens her hold into a hug, reaching an arm out for Tali. “Sure I can treat you guys like siblings. You practically are.”

“Aw, Ash,” Tali coos as she lets Ashley hug her. “Are you going soft?”

“Nah, treating you like siblings means I can punch you in the shoulder if you start making fun of me,” Ashley replies with no real warning in her voice.

“I’m still at the perfect height to kick you in the shins,” Duke mumbles with a smile.

—

iii. for the competitor in them: brothers

“Well, your aim’s as bad as I remember,” Garrus drawls as he lowers his binoculars and Duke lowers the rifle, scowling at the target that they both know has only three holes in it for the seven shots Duke fired.

“That’s cause I get along fine with just the Duchess,” Duke snaps. “I don’t need a big-ass sniper rifle to compensate for anything.”

“Compensate?” Garrus repeats blankly. “What is it compensating—”

“Don’t ask,” Kaidan says shortly. “Seriously, though, Duke, you should practice more. What if you can’t get in close quarters with an enemy? Are you going to take a brute head-on with an empty shotgun?”

“That’s what my biotics are for,” Duke answers.

“He said you can’t get in close quarters,” Garrus says.

“I’m not Cade,” Duke scoffs. “I don’t need to charge everything.”

“You need to get close enough to use your biotics,” Garrus insists.

Duke gives him the most withering look they can muster. “I am close enough to use my biotics.” They shove the rifle into his arms. “Keep your eyes on that target, Vakarian.”

Garrus’s mandibles flick skeptically before he turns to face the faraway target once more. He’s looked at it for barely a second before it’s consumed in an instant of blue.

Garrus’s mandibles flare. “What the—”

“Kaidan. Got a grenade?”

Kaidan apprehensively surrenders a grenade from his arsenal, and Duke snatches it up, yanking the pin out with their teeth and lifting it out of their hand with their biotics, the blue aura keeping the handle pressed down. The grenade darts away toward the smoking crater that was once a target until it is identifiable only by the same blue that surrounds Duke’s hand.

Duke grins.

The blue in the distance disappears.

And another explosion rocks their eardrums.

Duke turns to consider their handiwork, twirling the pin around their finger, as dark grey smoke rises from the crater and Garrus and Kaidan gape at it. “I was pretty on-target with that, wasn’t I?” They cock their head at Garrus. “So, tell me again how I have to get in close quarters to use my biotics?”

Garrus mutters a curse and turns away. “You’re hopeless, Wilder.”

“You love me, Vakarian,” Duke counters sweetly before Kaidan throws an arm around their shoulders, laughing.

“Duke Wilder, showing turians up since 2168,” Kaidan crows as Garrus’s subvocals growl at them.

Duke grabs Garrus’s arm, dragging him back to stay with them and Kaidan. “Don’t worry, Garrus,” they say, tucking an arm around his waist. “You’re still the best with a sniper rifle. Can’t hold a candle to you there.”

Garrus scoffs, but squeezes Duke’s arm in his three fingers. “Just promise you’ll practice some more. I worry about you, Duke.”

“Aww, Kaidan, you hear that? He does love me!”

“No, I just think you’re a dumb tiny human with no impulse control and no sense of self-preservation. And I’d miss you if you were gone.”

Duke hugs him with a grin. “I love you too, Garrus.”

—

iv. for when they finally come home: a mother

“The Hong Kong limped out alive,” Hackett says, arms folded across his chest, “but it was in the minority. The Cape Town and the Shenyang distracted a Reaper to let the Seoul, the Madrid, and the Jakarta circle around it and find a weak spot, but…”

“I know, Steven,” Hannah says, not unkindly. “I was there.”

“Captain,” a clipped voice says through the comm. “A Lieutenant Vega and a…another person, requesting permission to see you in the CIC.”

“Send them up, Taylorson,” Hannah responds without thinking. She notices Hackett frown. “Steven?”

“Vega. The name’s familiar.”

“It’s a star?” Hannah offers tiredly, earning half a smile from Hackett.

“No, I’m sure I’ve heard of him from someone…”

Something clicks. “Vega,” Hannah breathes. She knows that name. She knows him. Is he with…

The elevator slides open, and Hannah and Steven turn at the sound of a voice so familiar it makes tears spring to her eyes.

“I’m fine, James, quit babying me—”

“You are not fine; you literally just got outta the medbay, and then you insist on going to another ship—” Lieutenant Vega sees who’s waiting for them and salutes. “Admirals.”

Hackett salutes back, but Hannah can only see the person at Vega’s side, leaning heavily on a cane from their omnitool.

A relieved, helpless smile breaks out across Duke Wilder’s face. “Hey, Mom.”

Hannah is running before she knows what she is doing, and she grabs her child and hugs them with her breath shuddering. “Duke.”

Duke grips the back of Hannah’s uniform, already crying themself. “I’m back, Mom,” they whisper. “I made it home.”

Hannah pulled away to hold Duke’s face in her hands. “Of course you did,” she says with a watery smile. “You’re my kid, after all.”