#Natasha is always so worried about bringing him in her adventures

[jokey05]

Everybody worring Bucky will snap again meanwhile Clint has seven manic/depression episodes in a week and nobody bats an eye.

[mrs-barnes-rogers-writes]

The Dream (One Shot)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader x Bucky Barnes (a hint of Stucky x reader)

Summary: You return from a mission in the middle of the night, exhausted and a little beat up. In a bid to avoid Steve and Bucky you go the long way to your room, but you see Stark and Strange and decide they are 100% up to something.

Warnings: Mentions of readers death / being missing in action in another multiverse, multiverse travel (if that's a warning???)

Trope: Friends to lovers, idiots in love, brooding and not sharing how they really feel.

This is based around a dream I had so reader is British but you can use your imagination. I also apologise for the lengthy intro, but you know I love a back story.

"The multiverse is a complex thing Tony."

"I'm aware of that Strange and I also know we shouldn't tamper with it. Look what happened when Peter came to you instead of me!"

"You were still recovering Tony, and this is a piece of that. Things need to be put back. The consequences if we don't are bigger than anything we've faced."

You rolled your eyes as you walked passed one of the lower floor labs. You'd only used this entrance to avoid Steve and Bucky, and you certainly didn't want to get caught in whatever Strange and Stark were up to as an alternative. You thought after Thanos that things would calm down. Be a little normal. You were wrong. There's never a 'normal' where the Avengers are concerned. You huff and make your way to your room.

You were a super soldier of sorts, with the ability to control and read energy. People, objects, weapons, absolutely everything. A call from Natasha and you'd quickly found yourself on the battlefield between her and Bucky in Wakanda. When you joined MI5 as a clean up analyst, you'd never thought that would lead you to SHIELD. An incident at the London clean up after one of Thor's adventures had left you with powers. Being able to manipulate energy including your own, also meant you were fast and strong. Bucky was quick to discover how fast when you sprinted alongside him towards the fight in Wakanda, on the tail of T'challa and Steve. He was in awe of you from the start. A year later and he was smitten. Eighteen months and he struggled to hide it.

It had taken Steve a while to get to know you. Caught up with the clean ups, being pardoned, the New Accords and trying to rebuild the team and he'd watched you from a far to begin with. Starting on the day of the fight, you'd barely said hello when it started. The fight had got rougher and you'd ran to cover Wanda. You'd found Steve going hand to hand with who you now called the Rancid Raisin. Your powers pulsed and you knew you had to get the gauntlet off his hand. Thor, approaching at the same time as you, started to charge at Thanos. You'd screamed at both him and Steve as you'd joined the sprint.

"Take him down!!! Take his fucking head off."

Steve managed to get him to his knees and you brought him down further as you practically ran up his back and shoved him into the ground. You straddled the titans now outstretched arm and ripped the gauntlet from his hand as Thor took his head.

The next few months were hard. The clean up. Thor's grief. Bucky's therapy. Natasha always hovering, worried Bruce will disappear again. PTSD hits Tony hard and Sam is trying to keep everyone together and moving forward but it's slowly burning him out. Peter goes AWOL on a school trip and his identity gets exposed. Then Strange tampers with the multiverse. Wanda is suspicious of everyone and comes to blows with Stephen when he won't listen to her advice about the multiverse, not until Vision steps in, and that makes her even more infuriated.

Then in the background there's you, and Steve's embarrassed he didn't notice at first. He's not even sure when you official moved in. You were around, here and there and then you're there all the time. Your permanent arrival brings about a spring like change. Everything is somehow calmer. There's always fresh flowers and home-baked treats on the kitchen counter and fresh towels on their beds when they come home from missions. You're somehow always busy and yet have time for everything and everyone. Your soft at home and a machine on the battlefield. He's watching you more than he probably should.

Then he spots Bucky push your hair from your face as you're leaning over a dusty old map, his hand moves down to the small of your back and you smile softly at him. His stomach tightens when he watches Bucky smile sweetly back. The type of smile he's not seen since before the war.

Then Natasha seems to relax and her raised eyebrow and quips return. Thor showers and actually listens to Val when she visits him. Tony starts to jog with Sam, and you're alongside them. Pepper goes back to the office, and although it's now in the same compound, she's nervous of leaving Tony's side. He catches your reassuring whispers to her and the promise to make sure Tony takes a break and eats lunch, and he does everyday. Wanda and Vision start to build a house on the other side of the compound. The team grows and Scott and Hope visit often and so do the Guardians. Steve's still not sure what to make of the talking racoon who's always looking around their armoury and intent on stealing Bucky's arm. And then there's the tree that you, Natasha, Wanda and Pepper all seem to take a turn in mothering. The tree also seems to enjoy your awful playlist.

"He's not a tree Steven. He's Groot." You tell him.

"I am Groot!" Groot adds. Steve leaves the room as you start to teach Groot how to twerk.

It takes a while but realisation washes over Steve as he watches you and Bucky waltz after one of Tony's fundraisers. This ones for the VA and Steve thinks it might be a peace offering of sorts. The only people left are the team and a few of Sam's trusted friends from the VA. He hears your laughter as Bucky tells you that he doesn't believe you can waltz and you prove him wrong as he sweeps you around the floor. Bucky had been shaky all morning after a bad nightmare. You'd returned from a mission, swept him up in a fierce hug and Bucky had stopped shaking. You'd appeared a couple of hours later in a red dress and on Bucky's arm, and Steve feels his stomach tighten again. He watches his best friend's lips graze your head as you've moved into a normal slow dance and he knows then that Bucky is quite possibly in love with you. He also knows that he is too.

He pushes down his feelings and encourages Bucky to make a move.

"I will when you will punk." He replies, squeezing Steve's shoulder and throwing him a wink. Steve ignores it, along with the feeling in his stomach again.

Then you stagger off the jet and fall into Steve's arms. A solo mission gone wrong and he's never seen you so shaken or covered in so much blood. Thankfully, very little of it is yours. But as he helps you peel off your suit and he sees your body scattered in bruises, he realises how scared he is of losing you and he finally admits it to himself. He loves you, and if he's really honest he probably loves Bucky in a way that's passed regular friendship. He tucks you into bed and sits upright at the side of you. FRIDAY's already assured him you'll be fine in a few days, but he's concerned about the wheeze in your chest and now he knows this is how Bucky felt for all those years when he was always sick.

A few days later when the others filter back from their own missions, he speaks to Bucky and a few days after that, and after a chat with Natasha, they decide they want to talk to you, explain their feelings and see if whatever this is can work.

But out of nowhere you stop speaking to Steve. So does Natasha, then Wanda and Pepper. Val visits and sharpens her daggers whilst looking directly at Steve. Rocket shakes his head at him from afar and Groot throws some bread at him during dinner. Gamora scoops him up and leaves the table and Steve realises she's not talking to him either. The night after the bread throwing, the male members of the team are locked out of the Rec Room and there's a party seemingly going on. He doesn't know what's happening and Bucky mutters something about 'girls night' as he broods in the corner. Clint reminds him it's 'girls and Groot' and Steve realises he didn't even know Clint was there, so out of it and melancholy from not speaking to you.

Bucky stops talking to him next and it seems whatever he's done, the upset is spreading through the team. The night your due home from your latest mission Steve's on edge. He doesn't want to force you to speak to him but he might have to, to save whatever this is. He's goes to the gym to let off some steam and quickly finds Bucky there too. They don't speak, but they take their usual route around the equipment, spotting each other as they go. Bucky spots your hair scrunchie on the floor and picks it up. He chokes on a sob and asks Steve what he's done. Steve pulls Bucky into his arms, but he can't answer because he doesn't know. Their super soldier ears pick up as they hear the hum of the jet. They make their way to the hanger and they realise you've taken a different route, probably to avoid them. They turn back and go passed the lower labs. You're not there either but Strange and Stark are and Steve can't shake the feeling they're up to something.

Not long after the three of you are in your separate beds. None of you sleep well.

It's mid-morning the next day when you sweep into the kitchen still in your pyjamas and robe, hair thrown into a messy bun. You're flustered and you've clearly not had much sleep.

"What the fuck are Strange and Stark up to?" You say abruptly, as you make your morning tea. Steve stares for a moment. Slightly in shock that you're actually speaking to him. He's mid sip of his coffee, going over some old SHIELD files as he sits at the kitchen island.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said what are Stark and Strange up to? I heard them talking last night about the multiverse, and I've had the weirdest dream. They sent me to another multiverse, like ours but not, which I realise is obvious because that's how it works according to Vis but they sent me to.....hang on. It was 513, that's where they sent me, I think, only it wasn't me. It was 616 me. So I was dreaming about 616 me going to 513 me and they weren't meant to have a me but they did and she was dead."

"She wasn't dead she was missing in action."

You dropped the spoon onto the counter with a clatter. Steve suddenly realised what he'd said and frowned.

"How do I? Wait, hang on, how do I know that?"

"Did you have the same dream as me?"

Steve stayed quiet.

"Rogers, did you have the same dream as me?"

"She wasn't dead, she was missing in action and you told me off for not looking for you. The 513 you." He whispered. Steve looked up at you and you would later describe to the others that he looked broken. You take a step towards him but stop as the whooshing of the door from the stairs stops you. You know it's Bucky from his purposeful steps, making sure anyone that's around knows he's approaching, always concerned about startling anyone.

"Stevie I had the weirdest..." He paused midsentence as he sees the look on Steve's face and your startled expression. "What's going on?

"What were you going to say?" You asked.

"I asked you a question first." He replied firmly.

"Buck? What was it about? The dream?" Steve asked, his voice shaking.

"Who said I had a dream? Anyway, does it matter?"

"Yes." You replied in unison. He huffed.

"It was a dream."

"About?" Steve asked. Bucky huffed again and learned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed over his chest.

"The multiverse. Something those two said must have set it off."

"Strange and Stark?" You asked.

"Yeah, wait, how did you know that?" Bucky asked standing up straight.

You side-eyed Steve.

"We had the same dream bud."

"You and me?" He asked Steve.

"All of us. The three of us." You answered.

The elevator door opened and your heads all snapped to look at the culprits of whatever had happened. Strange and Stark.

"You!!!" You practically growled as you moved towards them. "You two!!! What the fuck did you do!!"

"Us? Nothing." Stark shrugged. You allowed your powers to check over their energy and the rhythm of their hearts and blood pressure told you they weren't lying but they weren't exactly telling the truth either.

"You've done something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Stark quipped, trying to side step you.

"That was a lie." You replied, through gritted teeth as you blocked his path. "You might not have done it but you know something."

The whooshing of the door again brought Natasha and Bruce's arrival, with Wanda, Vision and Sam entering moments after them. If Strange and Stark wouldn't tell you, you knew someone who would or would at least be more likely to slip up. You ignored Natasha as she asked what was going on?

"Bruce?" You asked, eyes trained on Stephen and Tony.

"Ermmm yeah."

"What are these two doing?"

"Right now, they're standing in front of you."

"Bruce, you know that's not what I mean. What are these two doing with the multiverse?"

There was snaps of 'what', 'again' and general disgust from the others.

"I told you two I wanted no part of it. I'm not going to lie for you." Bruce said, turning to Strange and Stark.

"You could at least try buddy." Tony quipped back.

"There'd be no point! Most of the people here would know I lied."

"They had a visitor. A couple of visitors actually and one of them was Loki. I'll let them tell you the rest."

There was another set of outbursts around the room. Steve stood from his seat at the counter and came to stand at your side.

"Stephen. Tony. Start talking."

"Her first." Strange replied.

"Why tell you when you probably already know."

"They need to hear it." He responded, nudging his head in the direction of the others.

"Fine. Last night, I dreamt about the multiverse. About all of us. Clint and Scott were there too."

"Go on." Urged Natasha.

"So, we're clear, you go into their compound. You tell 513 Stark and Strange to stop fucking around and to look for a sign. Wait for the sign. Then they'll know what to do." Hank told you.

"Got it." You'd replied.

"And it has to be her?" Steve asked, voice full of concern. Stephen and Tony's voice confirmed it.

"So, is that my role in the multiverse? Telling you two to stop messing with things you don't understand?"

"Yes." "Looks that way."

Hope and Scott fussed over your suit and the device on your wrist.

"We'll give you fifteen minutes total. A minute warning for extraction, then thirty seconds. Then a countdown from ten." Hope reminded you.

"And it has to be her?" Steve asked again.

"Steve! For godness sake, we've already established that. They don't have a me, so it has to be me. Plus there's the energy thing."

"Just throwing this out there again, I think we should still wait for Wanda and Vision to get here." Bucky threw in.

"No time, it' has to be now." Hank pushed. "And when I say now, I mean now, get your ass on the platform. Wong. Strange."

Hope and Scott guided you to the platform and you flicked over the helmet, as Wong and Stephen took their positions. Multiverse travel need them and the quantum fields to stay stable. Doing it with just their magic alone would cause another 'incident' according to the Van Dykes. Magic swirled around you and Hank counted down. There was a flash of light and you were gone. Floating through the quantum, you followed the pull of energy that came from 513 and directed yourself towards it. You landed in a heap in a grassy field.

"This can't be right. Please tell me we've not buggered this up." The device vibrated on your wrist to confirm the fifteen minutes had started and you looked around to figure out where you should be going. You pulled yourself up, turning you saw a hill behind you and decided to run up it.

Reaching the top you discovered you were in the right place. Kind of. There was a compound, sure it was smaller but it was a compound of sorts. In reminded you of the safe house you and Natasha had used once in Mexico. Dated but kind of fancy. On reaching a side door, you pushed energy into the electric lock and it slid open. You pulled at the door and went in.

"Please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me."

You followed the smell of the coffee to the kitchen and hoped to find someone there. A clattering of a spoon into a dish let you know you had. Scott Lang sat at the counter. Shocked expression on his face.

"Oh my god!!!"

"Sorry to walk in on you like this. Scott right? I'm Y/N. This is going to sound crazy but I'm from another universe."

"Y/N?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

"They thought you were dead."

"Wait what? You're not meant to have a me here."

"Y/N." A new voice and your eyes snapped towards it. Steve Rogers was looking at you eyes wide and full of emotion. He dashed towards you. "Sweetheart, oh my god, we've been looking. We never stopped looking."

He pulled you into a bone crushing hug and kissed the top of your head fiercely. You went ridged and Steve pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not who you think I am."

"Y/N?"

You pulled away from Steve to find Nat looking at you with tears in her eyes. She was quickly joined by Wanda and Vision, both of which watched you with caution. There was a flurry of voices and Sam, Clint and Bucky came into view. Bucky's eyes met yours.

"Y/N?!!" He called out, followed by a sob. He tripped over his feet in a bid to get to you, Clint and Sam grabbed at him to steady his approach as he made his way towards you.

"Wait, wait, wait." You said, holding your hands up for him to stop. "I'm not who you think I am. I was told you didn't have a me here."

"Because you're missing in action, presumed dead." Vision explained.

"Oh fuck. Wait hang on. I'm missing? Why the bloody hell are you here then? Why aren't you out looking for me?"

"We have. We've followed every lead. Every possible there is." Natasha told you.

"And yet here you are sitting on your arses."

"Hey now. This is the first time Buck's even been here in a year. There's always two of us looking. Danvers and Thor are out right now." Sam told you. "He needed to come home."

"It's the anniversary of your disappearance." Steve told you sadly.

"That's why." You whispered.

"Why what?" Natasha asked.

"I was told it had to be today. You must have all needed to be here."

"If you're not Y/N, who are you?" Clint asked.

"I'm Y/N, just not your Y/N. I'm from 616."

Wanda and Vision exchanged a knowing glance.

"Why are you here?" Wanda asked.

Before you had to chance to answer Stephen, Tony and Bruce, came into the kitchen, buzzing with chatter about time travel, the quantum and the multiverse.

"These two!!!" You snapped, pointing at Stark and Strange. There heads snapped up to look at you.

"Y/N?" Stark asked shocked by your presence.

"Not exactly."

"She's 616 Y/N." Vision explained. They both looked uneasy and side-eyed each other.

"What did you do?" Steve asked.

"Nothing......yet."

"Well don't." You told them firmly.

"Look, you can't come here from 616 and tell us what we can and can't do Y/N." Stephen told you, clearly annoyed by your presence.

"Actually, I can and that's exactly why I'm here. Our versions of you, as well as the Van Dykes. Have told me to come and tell you to stop. Whatever it is you're doing or thinking of doing stop it right now. You're going to cause a problem that none of us can fix."

"Look what we're working on can't be explained to everyone." Stephen told you.

"Don't speak to me like I'm stupid Strange. We've had the TVA at the door."

"TVA?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Time Variance Authority." You replied, before turning to Bruce. "Bruce, please don't get caught up in their messy bollocks. It'll only get you and the big guy into trouble."

"There's a Hulk in 616?"

"Yep and I'm sure in every universe it's best he avoids conspiring with these two."

Strange went to talk again but you were quick to cut him off.

"If you're going to belittle me, don't bother. You two stop whatever it is you're doing or trying to do. In a few days you'll get a sign. You'll know then what to do. DON'T, and I mean DON'T, do anything until then, and listen to these two." You said pointing at Wanda and Vision. "If you don't, well, it'll change everything. No good will come from it. Wait for the sign."

They both nodded at you, brows furrowed. You turned and went to leave.

"Wait!" Bucky called. "Can you stay?"

You turned to look at him and found he was now at Steve's side, both of them with tear-filled eyes. You shook your head.

"Sorry, I can't." You replied. Bucky sniffed and you took his metal hand softly in yours. "It'll cause a glitch. They only sent me because they didn't think there was a me here. It's best our paths don't cross if there's more than one of me."

"But there's not. I can't find you." Bucky told you as tears ran down his face. Steve threw his arm around his shoulder and pulled him into his side. You looked between them both. In 616 you were alone. There was a whole bunch of lingering touches, longing looks and missed moments between you, Steve and Bucky but nothing more than that.

"Wait. Are we? Am I with one of you here?"

They nodded.

"Both of them. The three of you are together. Took a while but you figured it out." Clint told you. This explained the upset. You thought for a moment and looked up at them both.

"Are we a like? We obviously look the same, but in personality? Is she an agent?"

They nodded.

"Your voice, the telling people off, the mannerisms, it's all the same." Steve told you.

You might not know 513 you, but you knew you, and that if you had Steve and Bucky you'd never let them go and wherever you were, whatever had happened you'd fight to get back to them.

"Don't stop looking."

"I won't. I never will." Bucky told you.

"Listen, if you can't find her. She'll find you. I know if I had you both, either one of you, I'd never stop fighting to get back. If you can't find her, she'll get here or somewhere so you can find her."

"We're not together in your timeline?" Steve asked. You shook your head and looked down at your feet. Steve reached out and cupped your face, tilting your head for you to look at him. "Tell them, tell them how you feel."

"I'm not sure they feel the same."

"I'm pretty sure I'd love you in every universe sweetheart. Tell them."

You felt a wave of emotion and tried to stay composed.

"Keep looking. If she's like me in anyway, she'll find her way. She won't stop. She'll keep trying to get back to you." You grew tearful as you told them again.

"Can you stay just a little longer? For them?" Natasha asked, nodding towards Steve and Bucky. Maybe you could. The buzz of the device on your wrist said you couldn't. One minute and you'd be pulled back. You shook you head and lifted your arm to show them the device.

"That's my cue." You turned back to Steve and Bucky. "I'm sorry I'm not her."

You took a chance and pulled them both into a hug, which they returned.

"How did you know?" You asked Steve. "You didn't question when I said I was from 616, why?"

"She never goes stiff when I hug her. Not even when we've fought. And your shampoo. Your hair smells different."

You hummed in understanding and hugged them both again. The device buzzed again warning you had thirty seconds before you were pulled back. You found yourself having to pull your hand from Bucky's.

"I'm sorry, I have to go, they'll pull me back and if I'm not outside I'll end up through that wall, which will really bloody hurt." You rushed down the hall and through the door as they followed.

"Don't stop looking." You called behind you. "She's bound to leave a biscuit wrapper or a half drank cuppa somewhere."

You sprinted out into the field. There was a flash and you were gone from 513. You landed back at 616 on the platform. Two super soldiers waiting for you.

"Then I woke up."

"OK, so just so I have this right. You dreamt that 616 you, went to 513 to tell these two off and you three were together but you were missing?" Asked Bruce.

"Yeah, I know that sounds absurd but they had the same dream." You replied, gesturing at Steve and Bucky.

"What did you do?" Bruce asked, turning to Tony and Stephen. Wanda approached them both, anger in her eyes.

"Yes, what did you do?" She asked.

"We." Stephen started.

"Not we." Tony interrupted. "You did it. You were the one that did it."

"You were there."

"But you did it."

"Stop it!!!" You shouted. "What did you do!"

"Strange connected your subconscious to some of the other versions of you."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because you needed to see something."

"Yeah, see that you two fuck around in every timeline." You snapped.

"Not exactly." Stephen replied.

"Stop talking in damn riddles Strange." Bucky ordered.

"She needed to see something." Stephen replied.

"Me???!!!" You exclaimed. "So why did they have it too? Why did they have the same dream? You shouldn't have done that to them!! You can't play with Bucky's mind like that."

You closed in on Strange and Steve slipped an arm around your waist to keep you back, as Bucky joined your side.

"That was unexpected."

"Because you don't know what you're dealing with Strange. What happened with Peter proves that." Wanda told him.

"It was unexpected but needed."

"Tony." Steve said. "If he's not going to explain, can you."

Tony sighed.

"Just so you know, I didn't do the whole connection thing. He did and as soon he said you two were connected too I told him to stop."

"And did he?" Steve asked. The lack of answer said it all.

"Everything that happened in the dream happened. The 616 version of you went to 513 with orders to warn their version of us to stop what they were doing and look for a sign."

"A sign of what? Another fight? Another finger snapper?" Sam asked.

Tony shook his head.

"Her coming back to 513."

"Me or 616 me or their me."

"513 you. You went to stop warn them and to tell them to stop what they were doing. Well, 616 did. You were the sign. 616 was."

"How do you know this?" Natasha asked.

"The T.V.A. Time Variance Authority. They paid us a visit."

"With Loki?" Natasha asked, side-eyeing Bruce, pissed off that he'd kept this from her.

"It seems another version of Loki is alive and has redeemed himself. He's working with them to keep the timelines as they should."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because he dies over and over again, and one of the other universes didn't fair so well against Thanos. He snapped those fingers, took out half of everyone in their universe." He paused as he walked over to the drinks cabinet, poured himself a drink and looked at you. "They didn't go for the head."

"What does this have to do with Y/N?" Natasha asked.

"There have been some misplacements. The T.V.A looks to put them right." Stephen answered.

"I am a misplacement?"

"No, you're where you should be sweetie," Tony assure "but the T.V.A made a slip up. An agent came in here as a copy of someone in our universe. Someone that's not meant to be here. Someone that I revoked clearance for."

"Sharon." Natasha whispered. You snapped your head to look at her.

"So Captain Rogers, wasn't intimate with Agent Carter in the upper lab bathroom?" Vision asked.

"What?" Steve snapped.

"Doll? Is that why you're not talking to Stevie?"

"I saw her. I saw Sharon go in to the bathroom. I waited to see what she was doing. We'd had the meeting that day."

"About Madipour?" Steve asked, his arm still around you. You nodded and glanced up at him.

"Tony was revoking her access, but I saw her. I waited to see what she was up to. She went in the bathroom but you came out."

"So to you it looked like Steve and Sharon were in there together." Sam pointed out.

"Pepper told me that you were upset and after girls night and thanks to Romanoff's cocktails, she told me why. I checked the footage. It was glitchy and then it was gone. I tried to recover it and then the T.V.A were in the room, Loki was with them. Strange arrived soon after. Our timeline was fine to begin with but their agent dropping in here and making you think that Carter and Capsicle were bumping uglies caused the glitch."

"Misplacement."

"Glitch, branch, whatever. The agent caused issues in 513 and 616, as well as here. The T.V.A wanted to resolve it in one go, snip the branch." Tony poured himself another drink.

"Tony it's not lunchtime yet. Maybe slowdown." Natasha told him.

You made eye contact with Wanda and she titled her head at you. You shrugged.

"I don't get it." You said.

"Me neither, this sounds like some Inception kinda shit." Sam added.

"I believe I can help" Vision added stepping forward. "It's the three of them isn't it?" Vision asked Strange. He nodded in reply.

"Us?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I believe so. Y/N, in your dream when you were connected to the others. 616 wasn't with her version of Steve and Bucky?"

You shook your head.

"No, it felt like there was something but they weren't together. They were both asking questions about 616 going to 513 and they were waiting for her next to the platform, but then I woke up."

"And 513, you were lost, missing in action, but you were together, with the Captain and Sergeant?"

You nodded.

"I asked them. Clint said something about it taking us a while but we go there."

"Something is coming isn't it?" Wanda asked, looking at Strange. He nodded.

"And the three of them have to be together." Vision said.

"Why?" You asked. Steve held you tighter, his chest to your back. Bucky placed his hand in yours.

"Sweetheart." "Doll." They said in unison looking down at you. You looked down at the floor.

"They said to tell you. Steve said, he ermmm, he said."

"I know, I was there remember." He ran his lips against your head. "And it's true. In every universe Y/N."

Bucky lifted your hand to his lift and kissed it softly, his actions speaking for him.

"But 513?" You asked

"She'll find her way." Wanda said.

"So, if they're together, we all get our happily ever after?" Sam asked.

"They'll be another threat. Bigger than Thanos, bigger than anything any of us have faced."

"But it won't be us that faces it will it?" Wanda asked knowingly.

"Who then?" Steve asked.

"Our children."

[delicatebarness]

The Barnes-Rogers Family Adventures | Auntie Nat to the rescue! #006

Summary: It's that time of the month, and it's only Auntie Nat that can help,

Warnings: This post and series are safe for work (SFW) regressions. Nothing explicit. However, please be aware that the rest of my blog is NOT. NSFW accounts are welcome to read and reblog, but please keep all comments SFW out of consideration for other littles.

Word Count: 732

Series Masterlist

A/N: I've had this idea for months and I finally got around to bringing this family back. - Please feel free to leave feedback or let me know where and how you want the story to continue, this is just as much yours as mine. - B

Tags: @sapphirebarnes | Let me know if you want to be tagged specifically for this series.

Everything: @hallecarey1 | @pattiemac1 | @uhmellamoanna | @scraftsku35 | @ozwriterchick | @sapphirebarnes | @rach2602

An uncomfortable, dull ache adorned your lower abdomen when you woke you. Stirring in your bed, curling up into a ball against the sheets, you realize that your period has started. You tried to ignore the discomfort and quietly approach the bathroom– you wanted to handle it yourself without drawing too much attention.

As the morning progressed, the cramps grew worse and made it difficult to hide the pain. Wincing, you tried to stay distracted with toys, but even Peter was noticing something wasn’t right.

“Are you okay?” Pete asked, he pointed to your arms clutching around your stomach, concern etched in his features. 

“I’m fine,” you mumbled.

Worried, Peter made it his mission to find either Steve or Bucky. “Papa? Daddy? I think something’s wrong with Tiny,” he said, taking Steve’s hand and leading him back to where you were sitting. 

Steve knelt beside you, a large hand reaching out to rub your back, his brow furrowed with concern. “Sweetie? Are you okay? Do you need anything?” 

Shaking your head, you didn’t want to explain. “I’m o-okay, Papa.” 

“Are you sure, baby?” Bucky asked, exchanging a worried glance with Steve. “You don’t look so good.” 

Tears began to fill your eyes, the pain becoming too much to bear. “My tummy hurts,” you finally admitted, quietly.

“Do we need to take you to the doctor?” Steve asked, his heart aching to see you in pain.

“No, it's just–” you sniffled, shaking your head. “It’s my period,” you whispered, heat rushing to your cheeks.

Bucky’s face dawned with understanding, and he gently brushed a strand of hair behind your ear, “It’s okay, Baby. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Should we call Auntie Nat? We can see if she’s free to come over.” 

Relieved at the thought of having Natasha here, you nodded. “Yes, please.” 

Within the hour, Natasha brought a comforting presence. She entered the living room to find you curled up on the couch, holding your stomach, and the two men looking on worriedly. 

“Hey there, sweets,” Nat softly said, sitting down beside you. “I hear you’re not feeling well.” 

The tears threatened to spill down your cheeks as you looked up at Nat, nodding toward her. “It hurts, Auntie Nat.” 

With a warm smile, Nat pulled a small bag out of her purse. “Don’t worry, I’ve got some things that will make it all better. Come on, let’s get you more comfortable.” 

Natasha held a heating pad against your stomach and helped you with some pain relief medication. In her bag, she also brought some snacks, sweet and salty. She gently stroked your hair while sitting beside you, and she spoke in a soothing voice– helping to distract you from the pain.

Watching gratefully from the kitchen, Steve and Bucky share a knowing look. You were in good hands, better hands than they could provide at this time. After preparing a light lunch, they brought it over to you and Nat.

“Thank you, Nat,” Steve said, his tone sincere as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“Anytime,” she replied, giving him a reassuring smile. “I’m always here for my favorite little.” 

“Hey!” Peter shouted from the floor, where he was lying while watching the television. He sent an exaggerated pout toward Nat, crossing his arms over his chest. “What about me?” 

Natasha’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “You know you’re my favorite big little,” she teased, giving him a playful wink, and taking a sip of coffee.

As the day went by, your cramps eased and you felt better knowing you had people around you who cared about you. Aunt Nat stayed for the majority of the day, keeping you company until you felt more like yourself again.

And, by the time you were tucked into bed, you felt much better. “Thank you, Papa. Thank you, Daddy.” you softly spoke, fighting back a yawn. “Thank you for calling Auntie Nat.” 

“Of course, Baby,” Bucky said, placing a gentle kiss against your forehead. “We’re always here for you, no matter what.” 

Nodding, Steve took your small hand in his, placing kisses against your knuckles. “And, you can always tell us anything, okay? We love you.” 

With a sleepy nod, you smiled. “I love you too.” 

You felt grateful for your family. And, as you drifted off to sleep, you knew no matter what they would always be there to support you.

--

Series Masterlist

[ynscrazylife]

Could I pls ask for a “being Peter parker’s younger sister / the youngest avenger would include...”, i know you’d do it so lovely :,)

Being Peter Parker’s Younger Sister and an Avenger Would Include . . .

Authors Note: Thank you for requesting!

Request to be on a taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

Main Masterlist | MCU Masterlist #1 | MCU Masterlist #2

PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

header c @/spidermangrr

The Snap both ruined your life and saved it.

After it, you were devastated, having lost both your older brother and aunt.

You were just a kid and were lost, so when Black Widow showed up at your door, having done some digging and finding out that Spider-Man was your brother, you were in shock, confused yet relieved.

Natasha was exceptionally kind, sitting down and talking with you. You were baffled to find out that Peter had been Spider-Man and accepted her offer to live in the tower.

Moving in, Natasha and Steve made you feel at home and comforted you.

You slowly began to heal and bonded with the Avengers team that Natasha led: Rhodey, Carol, Rocket, and Okoye. They quickly became like family to you.

They told you stories about the Avengers and other superheroes that you practically ate up. You were fascinated by Natasha’s stories on her and Clint’s S.H.I.E.L.D. missions and loved hearing about Carol’s adventurers in space.

During those five years, the Avengers trained you, wanting you to be ready in case of any danger. You got pretty good at combat and begged them to let you join the team, but since you were a kid, they denied.

However, when you heard that there was a chance to bring those who lost their lives back, you fought with the team to allow you to help. Eventually they gave in, seeing as you could bring back your family.

You went along with Natasha to recruit Clint and on the way back, he became very fond of you. You then went with all of them to recruit Tony, and seeing you as Peter’s sister convinced him to re-join the team.

He told you about your brothers’ superhero adventurers and you told him about your brother as a teen. You also met Pepper and Morgan, both of whom adored you. You’d end up babysitting Morgan sometimes.

Safe to say, you were extremely excited to become a superhero and an Avenger, along with bringing back everyone.

You were also happy to meet more superheroes: such as Hulk and Ant-Man.

(You were a big fan of Ant-Man, to Scott’s delight.)

The prospect of traveling through the Quantum Realm terrified you and excited you at the same time. You helped the Avengers get the stones. No one died.

In the battle against Thanos, all the Avengers kept an eye out on you on the field. They knew you were capable, but still worried for you for you were the youngest.

When Peter returned to see his little sister kicking ass, he was shocked. Very proud. Very worried. However he soon jumped into his own fight, not wanting to distract you.

After, though, Peter nearly tackled you to the ground with his hug. You laughed and hugged him tightly, the happiest teen on the planet. Although, you were still a year or two younger than him.

The entire him went back to the tower and explained the last five years to Peter, Sam, Bucky, and Wanda. Peter was fascinated to hear your stories, with all the Avengers praising you highly.

You quickly bonded with Sam, Bucky, and Wanda. Wanda became like an older sister to you and Sam and Bucky were your fun uncles. Coincidentally, they always competed against each other to be your favorite. You found it hilarious, though, and never favored one over the other.

When you and Peter reunited with Aunt May, she was honestly exasperated to have both of you being superheroes. But she lightened up, extremely happy to see both of you safe and thriving.

You continued to go on missions with the Avengers, even snuck off to help Bucky and Sam with their mission. You unexpectedly arrived and saved the man’s life that John Walker had just been about to take, but got hurt by him in the process.

Bucky and Sam were enraged to see you hurt. Sam quickly picked you up and got you out of danger while Bucky handled Walker. He treated your injuries the best he could and when Bucky returned, they took you back to the tower and called Natasha on the way. She was very worried, as was everyone else, and they scrambled to prepare the tower for your arrival, with the best doctors they could get.

Bucky and Sam arrived in hours. By that time, you were still unconscious, terrifying everyone. They got you into medical and all sat around waiting, no one leaving except for coffee runs. They practically hounded for doctors for updates on you, and when it was announced that you were stable, they let out a collective sigh of relief.

They all crowded in your room, Aunt May and Peter by your side. Everyone else, especially Natasha and Steve, were close by. While they waited for you to wake up, Bucky and Sam told the story of what had happened. When they got to the point of what Walker did, it effectively enraged everyone. They vowed to find and arrest Walker, getting revenge for what he did.

When you woke up, everyone went into overprotective, mother hen mode. They barely let you lift a finger. Wanda made sure you took your necessary medicine, someone always carried you to wherever you needed to go, and Steve made sure that you changed your bandages properly.

For the next couple weeks, they took care of you. You were happy and grateful for that, having missed your entire family being in one place together.

As you recovered, you slowly got back into being a superhero. You, Bruce, and Tony worked on a new suit for you and Steve and Natasha trained you. Meanwhile, you remote controlled Sam’s robots with Bucky, and begged Wanda to show you her powers.

You were the glue that held the team together, and being the youngest only added to it. They adored you and you adored them. They truly were family.

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[love-is-a-dagger]

What they’re like when you’re on your period

Steve, Tony, Bucky, Loki, Natasha, Wanda, Thor, Sam, Bruce. (I haven’t proof read this so there might be some mistakes)

•he was worried to begin with.

•he had woken up and you had bled on him, he thought he had hurt you from the night before.

•After 10 minutes of apologising, you managed to ran off to quickly sort yourself out, after promising to change the bed as soon as you get out.

•when you where finished to came back to see the bed remade, with a sheepish looking Steve, who had a blush nested on his cheeks.

•“I,uh, kinda did a little research”

•he had a few bars of chocolate on his hands.

•you settled together in bed, you were hesitant but Steve brushed of your worries.

•“it’s only a pair of short”

•he wasn’t used to them.

•he normally kicked the girl out as soon as the sun rised the next day.

•he made a very somewhat embarrassing call to his assistant pepper, asking what he should do after find a small puddle of blood on the bed.

•when you went to bed that night tony wasn’t there, your cramps were bad at the moment so you were planning to ride them out before adventuring around his pent house to find him.

•then he arrived with a small heat pad, he gave you a cheeky grin before handing it to you and snigggling behind you.

• “thank you ,Tony”

• he remembers learning about periods off his ma and sister.

• he always tried to listen but got embarrassed when they got a little to much into it.

•so when you came home holding your stomach, almost in tears from the pain, he knew it had to be your period.

•he cuddles with you, keeping you warm.

•he brings you all the treats you like.

•if you want some space is is more than willing to let you be, as long as you want it, and will be on you the second you give him the green flag.

•he doesn’t really understand it

•but when you almost yell at him after he held you a little to tight around the stomach, he felt like he needed to know more

•he couldn’t ask anyone so he decided to do some reading.

•he’s shocked, with all that happens, bleeding, pain, your hips widening…

•he’ll try his best and will ask you every time he’s doing something if it’s okay.

•he’ll practice some spells to help with cramps

•he’s trying his best

•she knew you were in your period before you did. She likes to plan head, she also tracks your cycle.

•she was be carful with everything she would do, gentler kisses on your head, playing with your hair while cuddling.

•she’d make you tea, coffee, you name it.

• “come on, honey. I’ll make you something to drink”

•you could probably get away with murder because she’d do anything you’d as. Well, she’s do that even when you’re not on your period.

•you’d be dating for a while, and your cycles would start to happen at the same time.

•but the first time it happened while dating you bled through your trousers, and you were freaking out.

•Wanda could hear your distressed thoughts, and helped you out, and you thanked her with a red face.

•but when you’re been dating awhile you’d stay in and watch movies and eat junk food.

•if one of you have cramps it’s a unofficial rule to get them some medicine to help the other.

•he freak med out when he saw blood on your pyjamas after you got out of bed.

•he rushed to you and frantically asked if your okay and immediately thought he hurt you the night before.

•you were confused asking what he was on about, and when he told you it felt like your face was one fire.

•you nearly died if embarrassment when you had to explain what a period was and why is happened.

• “ahh! A natural test for a pregnancy!” He all but yelled, making you push your hands into your face.

• he’s treat you like a queen when he was told by loki (who scary enough knew a lot about the human body) about how they effect you, cramps, mood swings.

• he’d try and find things that would help you, asking his mother if she possibly knew a spell that could help.

•he’d be scared to touch you but once you explain that the pain comes in waves and isn’t always there he’s quick to hug you, thankful he won’t hurt you

•he’s an overall underrated softie

•he’s had a bit of experience, with a few past girlfriends, so he keeps products you may need at his place.

•so when you said you had to cut date night short, after a very embarrassing explanation about getting your period, he was quick to shut you down, explaining how he had period product in his sink cupboard.

•after you had everything sorted he started a movie and you two snuggled up and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

•Sam makes sure your alright, getting you anything you fancy/crave and always has a heat pad at the ready

•Sam doesn’t really care that your on your period, it doesn’t gross him out or make him uncomfortable because it’s an natural body function.

•he’s a little shy about it.

•he’s not grossed out by it, not one bit, but he’s shy.

•you’d be holding your stomach while lying in bed with him and he’d ask why’s wrong, only for his ears to turn red with embarrassment.

•he would do small things for you, leaving chocolate on the side for you, always making sure there is some painkillers.

•when you’re in bed with him he’d stroke your stomach lightly, soothing you.

•Bruce would never admit it, but he secretly loves it when your on your period, he doesn’t know why, but he does.

[thisisarcanereverie]

Something ‘Bout You (Biker Natasha x Reader) Chapter 1

A/N: Hey this is a new series! I’ve been meaning to write something for her for a while now so here ya go enjoy! 

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REQUESTS ARE FREE AND ENCOURAGED 

SUMMARY: After Wanda announces her engagement a familiar face returns into your life. 

“(Y/n)!”

You heard the familiar chime of the doorbell and the familiar excited voice of your friend fill the relatively empty store. You whipped your head to her just in time to see her barrelling toward you and captured you in a bone crushing hug. 

“Whoa there Wands,” You said as you returned the hug, “did something happen or are you just that happy to see me?” 

Wanda quickly released you from her vice grip, “oh nothing much happened,” Wanda paused before holding up her left hand, “except this.” On her left hand on her ring finger sat a beautiful vintage ring. 

“Oh my god!” You exclaim smiling as you grab her hand to get a closer look at the ring, it was simple in design but it really suited Wanda. ‘When did this happen?!” 

“Last night,” Wanda reveals happily her smile never deterring, “Vis and I were watching reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show, I told him how Mary’s ring was beautiful and next thing I know he asks ‘is it as beautiful as this ring’ next thing I know he’s down on one knee with the ring in his hand asking me to marry him.” 

“I’m so happy for you and Vis.” You congrat Wanda as you and her continue to talk about her engagement for a few more minutes. 

“Actually Vis and I were planning on going to the city tonight to celebrate, are you busy?” Wanda asks. You take a quick look at your calendar finding nothing but closing the store on the agenda for tonight. 

“Nope,” You respond, “just have to close the store.” 

“Close early and Vis and I will pick you up,” Wanda said, “We’re bringing Pietro, Steve, Bucky, and Monica with us.” 

You hesitate for a bit, but you take one look into Wanda’s pleading eyes, the same eyes that have gotten you into more than your fair share of trouble since highschool, next thing you know you’re nodding your head in agreement.

Wanda lets out a small squeal before enveloping you once again in a small hug before saying goodbye and that Pietro will pick you up by seven. 

As you continue about your day, stacking books and working the register you start to wonder when the last time you actually had a date was. 

During the slow rush you decide to check your calendar again. You flip through each page until finally you land three months prior where you had plans to meet up with the local coffee barista at some bar you can’t remember the name of. What you do remember is that the date ended with you buying a half quart of ice cream and watching reruns of Gilmore Girls. 

You check the clock and check the store to find it empty. You decide now would probably be a good time to close and to start getting ready for the night in the city with Wanda and the rest. 

You turn the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and push all thoughts of dating to the back of your mind. 

---

You had just slipped your shoes on when you heard Pietro knock on your door in the familiar pattern he’s done since high-school. 

You answer the door to reveal Pietro. You always thought he had looked handsome in that mischievous way. But when he wears that white button up and slacks with his hair gelled back he is a special type of handsome. 

“Well damn don’t we look fancy tonight?” You say as Pietro noticeably checks you out in the same appreciation. You did a small turn in your black dress that fell just mid thigh. 

“And you don’t look too bad yourself Princeza,” Pietro said as he offered his arm in an overdramatic gentlemanly style. Which you responded in kind, laughing slightly as you made sure to lock the door behind you before finally heading out.  

---

You were back in your parents backyard, sitting in that hammock with a book in your hands. Nancy Drew had wormed her way into eleven year old you’s heart, with all of her adventures and detective skills. 

Just as you were about to reach the climax of the book you heard a familiar voice. 

“Whatcha reading today?” You look away from the book and spot a familiar blue haired girl the same age. She was the neighbor that moved in about three years ago, Natasha, who quickly became your best friend. 

“Nancy Drew,”

“Again?”

“There’s more than one Natty.” You responded, next thing you know the book is lifted from your hands and Natasha is hovering over you with the book in her hands. 

“Naaat.” You whine as you try to reach for the book only to have her expertly move it away from you. 

“C’mon,” Natasha says as she makes her way to the bushes separating your yard and hers, “adventure awaits.” 

You struggle a little as you make your way out of your hammock and through the lush bushes to Natasha who slips through the crack in between. 

“Nat,” you warn lightly. 

“I promise I’ll give you the book back,” Natasha promises, “but first we go on an adventure! Grab your bike and meet me out front!” 

“Where exactly is this adventure?” 

“Just grab your bike, chatty cathy!” 

You hear her footsteps rush over to her bike as you rush to yours. 

By the time you let your parents know you’ll be riding your bike and get to the front of your house Natasha is already waiting for you. 

Together you both rode your bikes until finally settling on a clearing near the local park. There was this big oak tree and in front of it a huge rock as well covered in green moss. 

For a while both you and Natasha played by either climbing on the rock and proclaiming yourselves rulers of the land, climbing the tree, playing pretend in the most kid way possible. 

However you would catch glimpses sometimes, you didn’t know what, but it made you worry for her. Like how sad she looked, or scared. 

Finally, after being worn out by playing you both lay on the grass beneath you and watch as the fireflies began to dance around the big oak looking like thousands of moving stars. 

You were enjoying the bit of peace and silence when you felt her hand hold yours. You look over and see the blue haired girl still staring at the millions of fireflies with a smile on her lips. 

“Thank you for being my best friend.” She said gently as you looked away from her and continued watching the fireflies dance, until the sun finally set and it was time to go home. 

She never did give that book back. 

---

“Princeza, we're here.” You hear the familiar accented voice say. You slowly open your groggy eyes to see the glittering lights of the city. 

“How long was I out?” 

“An hour.” 

“So the whole car ride,” You say, you could see Pietro nod from the driver's side, “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” 

“I was asleep the whole car ride, you were probably bored.” 

“No, I wasn’t bored,” Pietro said, “I know you haven’t been sleeping much because of the store.” 

Here it comes. 

“You need to start working less Princeza,” Pietro continued concerned, “you spend all your waking hours at the store, tending to your books, and life is going to pass you by.” 

“Pietro-” 

“I don’t mean to be harsh or rude,” Pietro quickly added, “it’s just I see you all the time at the store and nowhere else lately. I get that the store is demanding, but just try to make some time for yourself. Promise me?” 

You look at him and can’t refuse. 

“I promise.” 

You can start relaxing tonight. 

---

You came to quickly realize that clubbing really wasn’t your thing. 

A pile of random sweaty bodies ground on each other on the dance floor to music that hurt your eardrums. 

It wasn’t that you were judging anyone for liking this atmosphere, it just wasn’t your cup of tea, you preferred to stay on the sidelines and watch your friends dance. 

And the full bar proved that you weren’t the only one. 

You had looked away for a second to order a beer when you spotted someone familiar. 

It was dark save for the flickering lights that illuminated her every once in a while. You couldn’t place where you knew her but you knew that you knew her. It was in the way she walked with a certain grace and her eyes were sharp enough to cut through you and you imagined her tongue was the same way. 

She must have noticed you staring because the next thing you know she’s staring right at you. Your eyes lock and that’s when it hits you. 

You didn’t recognize her without her blue hair. 

Natasha. 

You panic and turn back to the bar to order that beer you were going to order about five minutes ago. You mentally beat yourself up, if you didn’t look like a creep before you definitely did now. 

You were so busy mentally assaulting yourself that you didn’t notice the redhead sauntering her way to you and sit on the empty barstool next to you. 

“Well if it isn’t Nancy Drew.” 

You turn your head and see Natasha there beside you. Her hair was shoulder length and no longer blue. Now her hair was it’s natural elegant red color, her blue eyes sharper than you remember as well as her cheekbones. You noticed hints of tattoos peeking out from the collar and sleeve of her leather coat. 

“You never did return that book.” 

You both couldn’t help the laugh that erupted. Even though it’s been years somehow it almost feels like no time has passed. 

Almost. 

“So what’ve you been up to?” Natasha asked, “still into books?”

“Uh yeah,” You confirm, “I actually own a bookshop back home.” 

You see Natasha smile from ear to ear before taking a sip of what was your beer now it seems to be adopted by Natasha. 

“That’s so you,” Natasha said before taking another sip from the beer bottle. 

“Well what about you?” You ask, “what have you been up to?” 

You could see the hesitancy in Natasha’s face, just as she was about to answer, however you see a light brown haired male come up beside her. 

“Hey Nat, I hate to interrupt but we got a Budapest situation over here.” Natasha swerved her attention to where he pointed at the blonde who was obviously drunk off her ass putting a six foot tall man into a choke hold. Which you had to admire and be impressed at. 

“I guess that’s my cue Nancy Drew,” Natasha said as she took one last sip from the beer bottle before abandoning it. As she was making her way through the crowd but before she got too far you saw her turn around. 

“What was the name of your bookstore again, Nancy Drew?!” She yelled over the crowd. 

“Oh-um- Summertime Stories!” You call out, you catch a glimpse of something in her eyes before it disappears. 

“I’ll see ya soon Nancy Drew!”  

Oh how right she was.

[aurumacadicus]

Oh! For the 5headcanon, have you done a Howls Moving Castle one? If you have my next thought is Spirited away! I would love your thoughts on these!

I have not done Howl’s Moving Castle! I’ll do that one because it’s closest to my heart from Ghibli because it was my first Ghibli film. 😊 It’s gonna be a mishmash of movie and book being I also love the book it was based off of! I’m gonna make Steve play Howl because I know everyone expects it to be Tony 👀 Bear with me here it’s gonna be great!

(I made it so long I am sorry)

((I had to end it here but guess what my next big project is going to be kill me))

Tony inherits his mother’s hat shop. It seems like he’s really the only one who wants it--his cousin Sharon already has an apprenticeship at the bakery, and his adopted sister Natasha wants to go on adventures. Tony tells himself it’s fine; it’s a fact that the eldest of three will never be successful, and just because they’re not siblings by blood, they are still three and he’s still the eldest. Sharon and Natasha deserve being successful, he thinks, frowning at a particularly plain hat he’s working on. They’re beautiful and clever and ambitious. Howard had always reminded him that he wasn’t any of those things, and that was why he wouldn’t take him to learn his trade. So his mother had taken him under her wing instead, told him that a plain life where he never struggled could be successful in its own way. He’s closing early today. Natasha is going on another great adventure, and he wants to meet Sharon to see her off. He had considered not going, because she never really seems to need him there, but he doesn’t want her or Sharon to think he’s jealous that they’ll be able to go off and be successful, because he’s not. Not really. Just a little bit sad. And they seem to know it, because Natasha always brings souvenirs for him, and Sharon brings him sweets. It’s not their fault he’s eldest, so he doesn’t want them to think he resents them. Still, there’s a hubbub when he goes to meet them at the bakery Sharon works at. There’s a festival for the king’s birthday soon, so he’s not entirely worried about it until he notices the larger guard presence on the streets. He overhears someone talking about the Wizard Steven and how he’s eaten another girl’s heart and can’t help an exasperated sigh. Of course he’d be the reason for the guards’ presence. He doubles back to take a side street that isn’t crowded at all, because he’s going to be late soon, and he doesn’t want to miss them. There are a couple of guards horsing around, but that’s all, so he figures he’s pretty safe. Not safe enough, he realizes when the fact that it’s just him and the guards really hits him. It’s about the same time the guards notice movement and swivel to face him and get these really concerning smirks on their faces. They’re both bigger than him, and Tony realizes it’s too late to turn around and run back to the crowd as they approach him. He was never taught self-defense, not like Natasha and Sharon--once they’d realized he was the eldest, Howard had said he didn’t need the training from Aunt Peggy anymore. He knows how to throw a punch and use a suitcase as a weapon, but these men are big and he’s pretty sure a punch would just anger them. “There you are, sweetheart,” someone says, and wraps their arm around his shoulders. “Huh,” Tony replies like an idiot, looking up, and nearly swallows his tongue when he sees the handsome man smiling down at him. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” the man continues, as if the guards hadn’t been just about to grab Tony and drag him into a bar or something. The guards glare at him. “Hey! We’re busy here!” The blond man looks at them, more amused than threatened. “Are you really? To me, it looked like the two of you were just leaving,” he says, lifting his hand to gesture at them with it. As Tony watches, the two guards turn on their heels and begin to march away, shouting at them and each other about how their bodies aren’t under their control. Tony finds himself allowing the man to use the arm around his shoulders to begin leading him down the alley, bewildered. “Um--” “Trust me,” the man murmurs quietly, and Tony finds that he does. “You’re late,” Natasha says bluntly when Tony finally gets to the bakery. “I was--” Tony begins, meaning to tell her about the man, and floating through the air, and the guards who had been leering at him. Then he stops, because they’d never believe him. He’s meant for an ordinary life, and just because something extraordinary had happened once didn’t change anything. “I’m sorry,” he says instead.

The Witch of the Waste comes to his shop that night. She calls him plain, and ordinary, and then she asks where Steven is. “I don’t know any Steven,” Tony says, and then frowns. “Do you mean the Wizard?” “I can smell his magic all over you,” the Witch sneers at him. “Ew,” Tony answers, and then, “Wait, what? What does it sm--I’ve never met anyone named Steven in my--” He stops suddenly. The man who had helped him earlier that day. He’d done magic, but that hadn’t been unusual, not in Market Chipping. He hadn’t introduced himself. Tony hadn’t, either, mostly because he figured he’d probably never see him again--the man was handsome and clearly powerful, and Tony was destined to be unsuccessful, so there just hadn’t seemed a point. Whenever he thought about the Wizard Steven, who ate girls’ hearts and left them empty husks, he didn’t imagine a handsome man with a charming smile and a boyish laugh as he flew them through the air. That couldn’t have been the Wizard Steven. Could it? “Tell me where Steven is,” the Witch growls. “I don’t know,” Tony tells her helplessly, because he doesn’t. Seeing Wizard Steven, if that’s who it even was, had obviously been a fluke, because Tony wasn’t meant for bigger things. So she curses him, and Tony can’t help but think that his mother had been wrong, that he was never meant to be successful even at a plain life. Well, Tony sighs, staring at his wrinkled face and silver hair in the mirror. At least he has the knowledge that he ages well, even if it is a cold comfort. Maybe he should go to Sharon, or send word to Natasha. As soon as he thinks it, he chides himself for being selfish--Sharon has been tasked with baking a cake for the king, and Natasha had gone off on a very important adventure to find the threatening kingdom’s prince who had gone missing. He’d never been meant for success anyway. This was basically par for the course. “If I hadn’t met Steven,” Tony mutters to himself petulantly. Then he pauses, blinking slowly. “This is Steven’s fault,” he says, just to try it out. Yes, that sounds correct. If Steven hadn’t gotten all of his magic on him, the Witch of the Waste wouldn’t have found Tony and cursed him; if Steven hadn’t eaten a girl’s heart, the guard presence wouldn’t have been so high that they’d have free time to harass him; if Steven had stayed away, this wouldn’t have happened. “This is Steven’s fault,” he repeats, firmer, and decides then and there that it will be Steven’s responsibility to fix it. After all. He has a hat shop he needs to run, and he can’t do that if his joints ache too much to hold a needle.

A scarecrow helps Tony find Steven’s moving castle. It’s a very polite scarecrow. It’s different from most he’s ever seen, with a pumpkin for a head instead of a turnip. He tells the scarecrow it’s very becoming before he enters Steven’s castle. There he meets a fire demon who calls himself ‘Bucky,’ because humans can’t actually say his name, and they strike up a deal where Bucky will break Tony’s curse if Tony will break the curse binding him and Steven. Tony looks around the room he’d stepped into, wrinkling his nose. What a mess. He wants to clean, but he’s very tired from the journey. Bucky seems to notice, and he reaches over to drag a stool to the hearth, and doesn’t say anything when Tony holds his aching hands to his flames. “Who are you?” someone asks, and it’s a testament to how tired he is that he just turns, blinking slowly. There’s a boy on the stairs, blinking back at him with wide, startled eyes. “Bucky, you let in a stranger?” “I’m tired of Steve’s mess,” Bucky sulks. “Tony is going to be our new housekeeper. If Steve tries to sack him, you kick him as hard as you can in the balls.” “No,” the boy says, and then looks at Tony. “A new housekeeper? I’m Peter, Steve’s apprentice. Nice to meet you, Tony. I hope you can handle Steve’s moods! The last time we had someone hired on, he scared them off for moving his potions.” “Maybe he should clean up his own potions then,” Tony says, because you can’t run an orderly shop if things are haphazard. “Oh, he’s going to loathe you,” Peter breathes, but he also looks delighted. “I’ll make breakfast.” “I’ll clean us a spot to eat breakfast,” Tony replies, and begins cleaning off a wooden table piled high with papers and used, filthy dishware. By the time Steven (Steve?) arrives, the table is washed, oiled, and dried, and Peter is setting platters of bacon, toast, and eggs on it while Tony finishes drying three plates. “Who are you?” he asks Tony in surprise. “I’ve piled your paperwork over on your desk. Please go through it at your earliest convenience. After breakfast is fine,” Tony tells him firmly. “Um, what,” Steven says, but no one else acts surprised that Tony’s there, so he just awkwardly sits at the table for breakfast.

Steve isn’t so bad, Tony realizes. He seems to genuinely want the best for people, but he can’t stand the idea of supporting either of the kingdoms he sells to in war. “I’ve seen war and what it does,” Steve says grimly, and Bucky and Peter glance at the magical knob that serves to show which land their door will open to. It has a sign on it that says ‘Brooklyn,’ but Tony has never heard of such a place. He doesn’t really care, either. There’s too much to do. Not only is he keeping his eyes peeled for hints to help break the spell between Bucky and Steve, but the castle (more like a large house on the inside) is absolutely filthy. One time he asked when the last time Steve oiled his furniture was and Steve had looked surprised and replied, “Wooden furniture needs to be oiled?” This grown-ass man doesn’t even know how to care for his things beyond a quick spell to fix something broken, Tony doesn’t know why women are so taken with him if he can’t pull his own weight around a home. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s actually terrible with the ladies,” Bucky assures him. “Huh? But--doesn’t he eat girls’ hearts?” Tony asks, confused. It makes Peter laugh. “That’s just something he encourages so that he doesn’t get chased after so much. If women are afraid of him, they won’t approach him, right?” “I wouldn’t know,” Tony answers shortly, because as the eldest of three, he hadn’t really been chased after. There was one woman he’d thought might--but then, she’d gone on to bigger and better things, and while she’d said she’d still marry him, Tony had seen that being married to a milliner would just hold her back. He’d planned on waiting until he was thirty-five to go to a matchmaker, like most eldest did, and find a partner there, but now... Tony frowns down at his reflection in the sink. Now he’ll probably never marry. Never have a family that carefully ends with two children so none of them have to suffer being eldest like him. Never get to enjoy a successful, full life like other people. “Tony?” Peter asks hesitantly. “You okay?” Tony lifts his hands up a little and sighs. “Just a little sore,” he says, which isn’t really a lie. Just because it’s his heart that’s sore and not his hands doesn’t make it untrue. Bucky grabs another piece of wood so he can make the water warmer for him when he refills the sink. Tony suspects that he also scolds Steve for “letting” Tony work as hard as he does, because Steve shoulders him out of the way at tea time to boil the tea and set some scones and jams on a tray before he takes Tony’s arm and leads him up onto a balcony to soak in some sun and rest. Tony doesn’t want to accept the charity, but the sun feels nice on his skin, and he can’t help dozing a little, hands curled around a cup of tea. He doesn’t understand why old people are always so cold. He moves enough he should be warm, after all. “Why are you here?” Steve asks softly, though luckily without any judgment. “Not that we don’t love having you here, Tony, but... what do you hope to gain? Won’t your family worry?” To his credit, Tony takes time to think about it, and finally says, “If I’m not going to be successful, I might as well be useful. I’m not dragging anyone else down while I’m here.” Steve, to his surprise, looks hurt by his answer. “Why would you think you’d drag anyone down?” Tony blinks up at him, frowning. “I don’t have any special talents. My sister and cousin are destined to do great things, and whenever they have to stop and help me, it takes time away from their own talents. They’re probably glad I’m not there to cause trouble anymore,” he adds, mostly to himself. “I know they felt obligated to try and take care of me to make up for me being eldest. Now they don’t have to worry.” Steve says nothing, just reaches out and carefully takes one of his hands, looking so, so sad.

“He’s powerful,” Steve says, poking at Bucky with a twig morosely. “More powerful than either of us can manage.” “Cut it out,” Bucky hisses, and then swallows the entire stick whole. “Give me more wood then?” Steve can’t help a sad smile as he puts a log on Bucky’s fire, then turns to look at Tony, quietly sleeping under the stairs. “I don’t think stoking your powers will be enough, Buck.” Bucky peers around him at Tony as well, frowning. “How do you know he’s that powerful?” “I asked him why he was here, and if his family wouldn’t worry,” Steve answers quietly. “And as he told me that it was better this way and they were probably glad he was gone, I could actually feel the curse growing stronger. If we were going to be able to break the curse on him, it would have been before he even left his home.” “If you gave me your eyes, I could probably do it,” Bucky muses. “Or your liver maybe.” “Nice try, but I’m finished with giving you organs, Buck,” Steve scoffs. He looks back at Tony, then carefully gets to his feet, moving toward the little nook he sleeps in as quietly as possible. He leans on the edge of the stairs so he can peer at Tony without fear of falling on him in the case of the castle’s gait stumbling, unable to help a sad smile. Tony looks so young, now. His wrinkles are smoothed out, his previously cracked lips soft and parted for each inhale. His hands are curled up near his face, and Steve delicately takes one in his fingers, noticing how different they are from during the day when they were gnarled and needed to be warmed through. His hair is still grey, but it looks becoming on him in the dim light, like moonlight spilling across the pillow. “What about true love’s kiss?” Bucky asks idly, grabbing another log to set on the grate he was resting in. “Even true love can’t break a curse someone has put on themselves,” Steve sighs, gently putting Tony’s hand down and then carding his fingers through his silvery hair. “For true love’s kiss to work, you’d have to believe you were loved. And Tony doesn’t.”

[helpinghanikan]

Sleeping arrangements

Avengers (and Matt Murdock x Reader)

Sum:  It's late and the bed is so nice. It's time to sleep and to bring your heroes along with you. (Fluffy little snippets of sleepy time with the Avengers)

Steve Rogers:

It’s the last train home and only one thing in this world is warm. The wall of Steve Rogers your head rested against was beating softly through the jacket and shirt he wore. Keeping your arms around his center to keep any of the heat from getting away. His own arm protects around your shoulders, keeping you in and gibing his hand something to do instead.

He could’ve driven, he should’ve driven, instead he wanted to take the train. He wanted to walk around like he did years and years before, but this time with your hands intertwined.

Although far away the train has started to shake the earth. Taking you out of the almost sleeping world and back into this cold one. The change in worlds brings out a yawn and lets the cold back in. It’s been a long day. With your eyes closed and clothes heavier than they could ever be Steve was the only thing keeping you up. His chin rests on your head after a while, thumb rubbing over your shoulder as the train finally pulled to a stop.

Inside it was the same story but in a seated position. Guided into his lap and landing with a groan as it was just so much work. The practically empty strain allowed your legs to stretched straight out over the seats.

Steve could stay awake longer than most, but he was tired. He was cold and annoyed and really wished he had driven instead of taking this stupid train. He took his frustration out on squeezing you tight, holding on as if you were liable to fall right out of the seat if he let go. At least it was warmer inside the train.

Tony Stark:

Someone staying up late, not getting enough sleep, and making exhaustion their personality trait is funny for maybe week. But After days of trying to coax him to come to bed, to try something other than just giving up on sleep or even talking to a doctor it gets concerning. After weeks of these same issues, it becomes frustrating.

Everyone, from Pepper to Peter have done their fair share of lecturing. Happy has gone out of his way in helping you get the dumbass to appointments. All of which he has walked right out because, unfortunately, he was still an adult who could make his own decisions.

It’s only after using the nuclear word that he pays attention.

“Anthony,” You say just before he leaves the room.

Although speaking to his back he does stop. His shoulders have tensed under the t-shirt and he’s listening in.

There’s an audio book’s worth of things you could say about this issue. But it would all be a repeat that he’s heard before, from many different mouths. Instead, you kept it simple, not even bothering to turn on the light.

“You didn’t even try.” It comes out from a tired partner just wanting the best for him. Yet Tony walks away from the advice, again.

Thor:

Power doesn’t stop for sleep. It’s still in the air when he’s laying sideways towards the window. Because of the whole nighttime thing it’s hard to tell if clouds are actually coming in or darkening. Maybe you’re just insane but Mr. Weatherman didn’t say anything about rain tonight, right?

It was a jolt that really woke you up. Looking over your shoulder at the expanse of muscular back. Thor movements were always a bit too…loud for this world. Whether running through a fight or moving in his sleep it calls attention to everyone. He doesn’t mean to, but it does wake you up enough to see your glass is dryer as a bone.

As if reading your mind, the rain has come down. It could almost be described as torrential how hard it was all coming down. Matching the dramatics of rain, a lightning strike coming straight down into some poor tree.

This wasn’t the first time Thor had a nightmare. Asgardians just seemed to be humans 2.0, making Thor just as a victim to horror as we humans are. At the same time, he was still another worldly being, translating to giving him a few feet when waking him up.

Another strike of lightening and another tree is taken out of this world. Without the lights on that blast was your only moment of lightening. The rest of the journey made to Thor’s side of the bed was done in darkness and pounding rain. Following the outlined Asgardian until reaching his shoulder. A gentle hand on his should does nothing. A little shake and a whispered “Thor,” finally does the trick.

The two strikes of lightening outside somehow reached his eyes. For the briefest of seconds blue, cracking energy is directed right at you. Stopping just as quickly as they appeared, replaced with Thor’s regular blue eyes that blink a few times.

“What is it?” he asks.

There’s no point in telling him the truth about his nightmares and their effect. Then again, there’s no point in lying either. Instead, it’s better to distract. “It’s still super early. Back to bed.” You say instead, kissing with until he takes the hit and holds you.

Bucky Barnes:

Sleep is a luxury that isn’t worth chasing. With the pillows and sheets there were nightmares and enemies that could sense his weakness. Trying to get at least six hours and all that guarantees is waking up sweaty and a call to doc, making sure to get everything back in order before you could ever notice.

Instead, he takes walks. Maps out the city at night, the changes and differences that happened without him. He recognizes the buildings, the structures and bricks that were too strong to be a victim to time.

Most of the time he does this alone. Watching a show about nothing until you were asleep before starting his walk. But there were times you catch him, calling out to him like the neighborhood cat trying to get away. Getting on your own shoes and jacket quickly. Then enforcing the handholding during the little adventure.

It’s only when passing by something important that words are shared. “One of my buddies worked here when this place was a mechanic. Broke his leg just before the draft, I still think it was on purpose.” He’d say then never bring it up again.

These walks are always shorter than most. After two times Bucky learned when to make the loop back home with you. When your building comes back into view the handholding has gotten sweaty. The walking had slowed to a crawl and you were dragging him down by the arm. Even less talking was done after getting through the door; just landing face down onto the bed without bothering about the shoes.

These kind of walks were Bucky’ favorite.

Natasha Romanoff:

The bed was used almost exclusively for sleeping. As the couch was both comfy and expensive. And, as Nat puts it, “Should we do it with the lights off too? Under the covers like grandparents?” Although it was probably another reason to use the overpriced couch more often.

Like any good, and overworked, soldier Nat could sleep anywhere. When a mission is done, and there’s nothing to worry about, a shower and a nap is the best in the world.

“I smell nice,” She says walking into the living after the shower. Steam still behind her, hair wrapped up and a sweater purposefully bought to be several sizes too big.

She stretches and lays over you like a cat. Resting as close as possible so you, too, can smell the expensive shampoo she uses. Making sure that the body wash isn’t ignored either as that, too, was expensive.

“Might as well spend this pay on something,” She says when asked about the prices.

Although she asks what you’re up to she won’t be awake for the answer. Already teetering into sleep land when you answer.

Natasha was as athletic as she was heavy. Only sometimes managing to carry her bridal style and most of the time having to walk/guide her into the bedroom. Either letting her drop onto the bed with the same weight you had carried in, or she holds fast and takes you down with her.

Just like a cat, Natasha gets to decide cuddle time.

T’challa:

Although the mattress was new, the bed’s size was traditional, and passed on through generations of rulers. Forget California king bed, A Wakanda king bed was that and a half. Ten feet length, twelve feet tall. Combined with blankets, pillows and more it was easy to disappear into the thing. But it was also easy to get lost in it all.

In the middle of the night, in the very center of this ocean of bed, you can reach out forever. Finding pillows (both the decorative and the usable kind), smaller blankets or stuffed animals that have managed to be added. But it’s a tiresome journey, one that doesn’t seem to have an end even as you stretched to pointed toes and fingers.

It’s only after touching body heat that you can relax. Finally finding your king that turns to your touch. Making his own journey through sheets and bedding. Using you as the trail into his love. Neither of you thinking about the absolute nightmare it will be to make this bed tomorrow.

Pietro Maximoff:

For most of his life Pietro is moving. Be it running or just running his mouth, he’s not the kind of guy to sit still. Unfortunately, this also applies to sleeping.

“He’s been sleep walking since we were children,” Wanda once said. “Our father once found him crying in a puddle. He had slipped and woken up in the street. He’ll deny crying, though.”

As an adult Pietro doesn’t actively get up and walk around anymore. The man made up of strong and lean muscle still moves quite a bit. Waking up from freezing feet finding yours or because he’s sat upright in bed again. Using soft, but firm, pressure to get him to lay back down or to guide him back to his side of the bed. If you weren’t careful his arms would find you, almost dragging you back to his side of the bed.

He'd deny it in the morning. Smiling with barely open eyes as you’re still pressed against him. No matter how much you’re going to insist this was his fault he’d still mock you. Nuzzling in since you insist on cuddling so much.

Peter Parker:

There’s a time limit next when sitting next to Peter. You have ten minutes before his head finds your shoulder. If you don’t shrug or lean away he’ll stay there, slowly leaning in until he’s all settled.

Although not completely asleep he does rest. If your hands are held in those moments you could probably feel his pulse slow down as his breathing slows. Maybe his eyes manage to stay open, but his eyes do get heavy. Someone could say his name, and he’d respond, but it be from his throat. An annoyed groan directed to whoever was ruining this moment. Even if it was usually a teacher or adult.

It’s only when traveling, and you’re sitting for a while, that he completely falls asleep. Progressing past just leaning his head and adding his arms. If you allow him, putting an arm around your back and the other over your center. With your own arm over his back, he sleeps in a position that, although sweet, always left a pain in his neck. Something he’d complain about until you ask if he want’s you to rub his shoulders.

Stephen Strange:

During aura projection Stephen’s body is dead weight. No muscles or bone working with the individual trying to help them. It’s just taken over by gravity and his entire weight wants to be on the floor. Sleep does the same thing.

Short of a bucket of water to his face he won’t wake up. Part of his experience in med school was taking every bit of use sleep could give him. Which leads to sleeping fast, and sleeping hard, usually opened mouth. No snoring yet, but the moment he does there’s an open target for shutting him up.

Matt Murdock:

It’s a mixture of meditation and caffeine that he is still functioning. Too busy, much too busy, as a lawyer for the two of you to share a bed most of the time. Making any comments you have about his sleep schedule mute.

Watching him doesn’t change give any information either. Coffee in the morning, some deep breathing and self-centering in the between moments at work, and sleep ins on days off were all you could gather. Between that it’s easier to just assume he’s fine.

Just laugh at his “not like I need to rest my eyes,” jokes and move on.

Carol Danvers:

After going through every time change known to man, alien and beyond Carol has developed a very specific still. Carol Danvers, woman with the power of a star and to sleep literally anywhere at any time. Be it a cleared-out corner of some ship, an open floor that keeps her hidden from passersby or on your lap. The latter being her personal favorite.

Like a massive golden retriever, she wants to be in the middle of your lap. Close as possible with a arm holding around your shoulder and the other on her toy, or phone.  A being of wiry muscle and heat keeping you pinned to the couch. Most of the time she’s out ten minutes into the movie, most of the time the remotes’ out of reach, and most of the time you gotta go pee.

[ad1thi]

2020 fic recs!! [Part 2]

part 2 of my 2020 fic recs!! as before, ive limited this to five fics per month; and fics are ordered by the month they were published. This spans fandoms and ships, and hopefully you find something you like!! credit for the idea goes to @iam93percentstardust

***

July

this is the start: @capnwinghead

Clark and Bruce continue raising the Wayne children and encounter a number of challenges along the way.

great minds (love alike): @starklysteve

Steve’s eyes flicks down to Tony’s knees on the floor.

“Are you – are you proposing to me with my ring for you?” Steve asks incredulously, eyes wide and confused.

---

Or, Steve finds Tony’s ring for him, Tony finds Steve’s ring for him. Panic happens.

Marvels Unsolved: @iam93percentstardust

Marvels Unsolved was never supposed to be this popular. It started off as a novelty web-series about Tony trying to convince Bucky about the existence of the supernatural—he firmly believed that if science could turn Uncle Steve from an actual shrimp to the god of muscles, then magic had to be out there—and then they’d started talking about an unsolved crime from the early 20th century after filming an episode one day, forgetting that the camera was still rolling, and had ended up with enough footage to make a second episode about real crimes. They had stayed pretty unknown throughout that first season but then true crime podcasts had exploded in popularity and Unsolved along with them.

it’s a small world after all: @maguna-stxrk

“Great speech.”

Smiling at the compliment, Tony turns around. “Thank y—”

And nearly drops his champagne flute.

His world comes to a stop.

They had only spent a night together, but Tony would recognize those baby blues anywhere.

It’s Steve.

Steve from Tony’s London business trip. Or, as Rhodey has become accustomed to calling him—The Soulmate That Got Away.

you’re in my blood, you’re in my veins: @nethandrake

Tony always figured that if they ever were to break up, it would be like a blaze. Scorching and hot and all-too blinding. Intense like the two of them have always been.

Instead, they break up on a Tuesday, with the rain pelting the windowpane and the midnight silence stifling.

August

Five Times Danny said he’d marry Steve (plus one): @five-wow

Danny humphs. “Look, all I’m saying is, I think I’d probably have married you by now.”

“I’d marry you, too,” Steve says.

Or: An experiment in how many times you can say something before you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Family (You’ve Always Had It): @/SunnyQueen

A black Camaro and a scowling blond was not what Junior had been expecting.

“Hi, sir. You didn’t have to pick me up.”

The blond looked up from the screen on his phone and groaned, completely ignoring Junior's statement. “You are right, I didn't have to."

Ode To Yoga Pants: @riotfalling

OR the continued terrible mating dance of Bucky and Tony, AKA when betting on your friends stops being fun

Through The Years: @hawkbucks

Tony brings home Natasha one day, proclaiming her to be his new sister.

Natasha takes this all in stride.

The broken road that led me home to you: @just-fandomthings

A documented list of conversations between Steve and Danny via text and phone call following the events of 10x22 "Aloha." (Where, even thousands of miles apart, Steve and Danny can't go without talking to each other.)

September

someday, we’ll pass it on to you: @starklysteve

Steve smiles.

Reaching up, he flattens his hand against his son’s far smaller one, curling gently around it. “You wanna be like him?”

“Da!” Peter agrees again.

One year old, and you already know who’s the best of us, Steve pauses to reflect, all his fears chased away by a fierce pride. “Your Dad’s coming home real soon,” he promises, “you should tell him that.”

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

Or, five times Peter did the repulsor pose as a toddler

+ one time he used the repulsors as an adult

Classic Sci Fi: @notdoingsohot

Bucky wakes up to Steve telling him he's lost his memory, but not to panic, it'll only last a few days. Easier said than done when the last thing Bucky remembers is fighting Hydra with the Howlies in WWII.

He tries to make the most of it however, and there's this guy... Tony Stark. It's pretty clear the guy hates Bucky's guts, which is unfortunate because god damn is he a sight.

He tries to figure out what he did to wrong Stark, but everyone just tells him he doesn't want to know.

They were right.

Blooms in Frost: @/Diomedes

Tony coughs up his first petal on the sixth of July. He has been married to the love of his life for two years.

Bury a Hanahaki corpse in earth and it will beget the most beautiful garden. All that love, it is said, must go somewhere.

Hanahaki AU: Established relationship

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

A Single Thread of Gold: @lovelyirony

Rhodey doesn't believe in love at first sight or any of that cheesy shit. He just wants someone who is nice, dependable, and safe.

Tony Stark is Housing Service's little problem for the school year, and now he's stuck in Rhodey's room because he's exploded the last two dorm rooms he's been in and won't live off-campus.

high roller, place your bet: @machi-kun

“Would you kiss Stark for a hundred bucks?”

“I would pay a hundred bucks to kiss him.”

October

press my luck: @omg-just-peachy

But... Steve is almost ten years his junior, and he could be with just about anyone, looking and acting like he does. And then there’s the not so small fact of Tony’s name and net worth and the fact that, okay, Tony had paid for Steve’s grad school tuition, and now he’s worried Steve feels obligated to stay. Or something.

Or, Tony is a billionaire, Steve is a grad student, and they learn to let themselves be taken care of.

see it with the lights out: @starklysteve

Tony goes on a business trip, and he does not - not at all - get jealous of Dodger hogging his husband's chest, a territory otherwise known as Tony's pillow.

(or, Steve goes on an Instagram spree and Tony misses home)

adulthood is looking both ways before you cross the street and getting hit by an airplane: @starkslovemail

It was a perfect plan, if Peter did say so himself.

The Buy In: @dracusfyre

For the ImagineTonyandBucky prompt: Mafia AU with Tony as the Boss (except he's a really good one, making the streets safe, keeping drugs away from kids etc) and Bucky as the detective sent to go undercover to catch him out but ends up realizing he's actually doing more good than harm and they end up falling in love

trinkets of your affection: @starklysteve

Kissed him once for every year I loved him, Steve had written.

By that count, Steve owes him five more kisses now.

Tony traces the words, hands trembling, and tips back a shot of Howard's ancient whiskey. None of it burns anymore.

One day, he'll have lived more days without Steve than there are words in the diary.

For the first time since he'd woken with shrapnel in his chest, Tony fears the future.

----------

Or, five things Tony keeps to remember Steve by, and one thing Steve gives him to remember.

November

“Hey Tony”: @riotfalling

Steve points out that Bucky never calls Tony by his actual name. Bucky doesn’t believe him, until he does.

Remembering You is Hard to Do: @lovelyirony

“The future’s crazy, honey-bear.”

Jim looks up.

“Why do you call me that?”

“Call you what?”

“Honey-bear. It’s weird.”

“Inside joke we have,” Tony says, chest tightening. “We thought those couples that have the lovey-dovey nicknames were ridiculous.”

overheard your heartbeat (calling me yours): @starklysteve

"Tony - "

"I wish I could promise to come home this time," he feels the armor crawl back down his arm, continuing unnoticed over Steve's red gloves, then up the blue uniform as Tony fights to keep Steve's gaze firmly fixed on him.

The last eyes Tony might get to see, and he wants to be lost in them.

In the end, his entire life boils down a few simple things: "JARVIS, take care of him for me."

----------

Or, Tony overhears a phonecall where Steve proposes, a battle happens, and a paper ring settles some misunderstandings.

i (really, really, really, really, really, really) like you.: @nethandrake

For as long as Steve can remember, he's been crushing on Tony Stark. The thing is, he's pretty sure Tony doesn't know Steve exists. And how could he? Steve's scrawny and little. He's a nobody compared to Tony who's Mr Popular and the son of a billionaire.

Or at least he thought so until Tony swings by the bakery Steve's mother happens to own to enlist Steve's help in finding the perfect Valentine's Day card.

The perfect Valentine's Day card for someone who isn't Steve.

One Song (My Heart Keeps Singing): @iam93percentstardust

When Thor is old enough to understand what a Heartsong is, he goes to his mother to ask her why he can’t understand the language his is in. He listens as she tells him about the first soulmates who couldn't understand their Heartsong until the day they meet, excited by the thought of a grand adventure, one that will take him across the cosmos in search of his One.

He’ll search all the Nine Realms if he has to.

December

Swiping Right: @s-horne

“Ouch. Definitely a hard pass for that one?”

Steve startled at the sudden comment from the row of chairs behind him and turned around. He’d been passing the time in the airport lounge by swiping through Tinder and had gotten lost in his own world. It was almost jarring to be pulled away from the screen of hot men and back into reality where the PA was screeching and there was noise everywhere.

Adjusting to the difference, Steve frowned. Wait, he knew that face. Oh, shit… he knew that face.

“No, no, it’s fine,” the man said before Steve could get out anything other than an embarrassed sort of yelp. Waving his hand through the air, the stranger smiled ruefully. “I get it. It’s the beard, isn’t it? True be told, it was a weird winter choice that year and I knew it would come back to hurt me.”

Steve didn’t know what to say. He knew it must have shown on his face and could feel himself flushing, panicked and embarrassed all at once. What were the odds of swiping left on someone literally sat behind him?

set your flight path home (to me): @starklysteve 

Tony puts down his welding torch. “I’m building you a plane.”

Stepping carefully over the gears and tools scattered about, Rhodey slowly makes his way to him.

“And when did you become an expert on how to build a plane?”

“Last night,” Tony grins.

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

Tony builds a plane, and Rhodey teaches Tony how to fly it. Or he would be teaching Tony, if Tony didn't distract him so much.

I Want A Man With A Slow Hand: @thefourofswords

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked on their way to a crime scene, because no time like the present, and Danny believed in ripping off band-aids.

“Why not?” Steve replied, eyes on the road. “You’re gonna even if I say no.”

“What do you like in bed?”

*

Danny undertakes a very important mission to get Steve laid. For his health. Ahem.

same time next year: @omg-just-peachy

“I forgot to ask. When’s your flight home?” Steve asks, draping his arm over Tony’s shoulder and settling in against him.

Tony ignores the knot that forms in his chest at the idea of it, leaving Steve again for his own impersonal apartment, his piles of books and projects and the nights without sleep.

“Day after tomorrow.”

Steve huffs a little sigh, then brings his lips to Tony’s neck. “Well, we’ll have to make the most of it, won’t we?”

Or, four (4) Christmases with two (2) idiots who can't admit they're in love.

rearrange my heart (to fit your smile): @starklysteve

"You dare," Howard's chair makes an ugly noise as it scrapes against the stone floors, the chatter of the room shifting into hushed whispers and stolen glances. "I am your father and your King!"

"My King is my husband," Tony tips his chin up, defiant. "And I refuse to hear you suggest that my husband has been anything other than good to me."

Next to him, he feels Steve's shoulders stiffen in surprise.

Howard's fist slams loud on the table. "Your husband does not even love you!"

Tony jerks back, burned. He knows that. Knows that Steve did not marry him for love – does not need any reminder of the cold truth, of what he desperately yearns for and can't even hope to have – but the harshness of Howard's words was scalding, and Tony can't afford for this to go any further.

----------

Or, King Steven marries Prince Tony, Tony is pretty sure he shouldn't panic when he falls in love with his own husband, and Steve tries his very best not to cause diplomatic crises.

Keyword: try

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

Saved

Summary- 2.6k Bucky x You. Based on a ASK from anon-Hella Bi Bitch. Hydra tramautized you and you go to Bucky for comfort. Angst/Fluff. Also written for @jtargaryen18​ 4k Challenge. 

“Sweetheart. They are not coming.” Brock leered over your face, his hot breath washing over you, and it was almost impossible to miss the leer in his brown eyes as he cupped your face. If you had the capabilities, you would jerk away, but you were strapped down. All over, even your head was strapped flush to the hard metal table. The only thing you would do that would be satisfactory was work your mouth, draw up that last bit of spittle you had left and spat at him, making him curse while jerking back. 

It would be worth the pain he would cause next, knowing that at least he couldn't break you, just tie you down. Captain would be here soon, Iron Man, Natasha, Bucky… someone, someone would come for you. 

Brock retaliated by slamming an open palm across your face, biting back a cry, a burst of blood interrupted from your nose, racing down your face. 

As parched as you were, you welcomed the hot iron taste swarming your mouth, even through the pain. 

“Rumlow! You will step away from the girl. We need her.” 

Dread filled you as his face went from rage, to a cold smirk, pulling away from you. “Don't worry sweetheart, once they are done breaking you, you and I are going to do great things.” 

Your eyes flickered to the Hydra Agent, laying out his supplies, tools of pain and vials of poison to flood your system. Nauseated, you looked back up to the ceiling, and squeezed your eyes shut, clamping your mouth shut. Tears welled up, you would probably be gone, dead before the team would find you. It was what you hoped for now. 

You would rather die then let them turn you evil. Wasn't there a saying? You either die a hero or turn into a villian. You prayed, prayed for death instead. 

A year you were tested on, preyed on until you became a shell. Moved from base to base, handled by various people. None had a shred of kindness, and Brock especially took joy in your torture. 

He was able to use the various instruments, had access to your cell whenever he wanted. Your personal bodyguard, your personal hell. In these times you sink away from yourself, your body started to work on their command, your mind an empty shell of your former self. Intelligent? Yes, but yourself, no. 

It wasn't complete yet, there was still a shred of you left. Holding on, barely. 

Your rescue happened one sunny afternoon, but you weren't to ever know this. You were deep underground, away from air and light. They had just dumped you in your cell when there coms went off. To weak to pay attention to the Hydra agents fear as they hurriedly locked you in, you crawled to your cot and folded yourself onto it. Another day of survived hell. Squeezing your eyes shut, you really just wished for it to end. At this point in any manner. So much pain. To much.

Alone for a while, you start to drift off into nothingness when metal on metal jolted you awake with a terrified whimper. You heard the clang on your bars and lifted your head up to see Bucky trying to see who was curled up on the cot. 

“B-b-bucky?” You eased up slowly to make sure you weren't seeing things, and then right next to him Steve stepped up, flipping his shield to hang on his back. 

“Doll, we finally found you.” Bucky exclaimed with relief, grasping the bars and wrenching them as hard as he could, the metal whining in protest, but it wasn't strong enough to hold him back from what he wanted. 

Steve kept a watch of Bucky's six, speaking into the com at his ear. “We got her, Bucky is collecting Y/N now, have the jet ready Clint. Nat, you just about done? Sam, cover us when we come up."

“Five more seconds and data is secure, Tony can blow this hell hole to dust.” 

Bucky's arm went around you for support as you went to stand, sore from earlier, he saw you hobble forward and he swept you up. 

“Just faster this way Doll, come on Steve. Before Stark gets trigger happy.” Bolting for the nearest set of stairs, everything became a blur as Bucky and Steve bolted from the building. Hiding your face in Buckys shoulder, you never did see that sunny afternoon. 

A shadow passed over Bucky and Steve bolting across the ground, and when you glanced up, lifting your head off Buckys shoulder, the flash of red and silver covered out the blue sky above, and you smiled to yourself, between Sam, Steve and Bucky, you were safe. Exhaustion dipped your head back to Buckys shoulder.

It wasn't long till you were back at Stark Towers, which hadn't been your home in a year. Bucky carried you down into the medic bay with Sam close by. The rest of the team went to debrief on the mission, knowing you were taken cared of. Bucky easily set you down on the table, hovering nearby, he seemed hesitant to leave you, you who were so quiet, so shut down. Sam hovered close by, his jaw clenched. Quiet at well. Not knowing what to say or do, You just stared at the floor till Bruce came in. 

“Give us some privacy Bucky? I need to give her a full examination.” Bruce said softly, and your eyes welled up with tears, hiding away from them both. Bucky shook his head in refusal. “I'm not leaving her alone.” 

“Okay, but on the other side of the curtain, if Y/N needs you, she will call you.” Bruce looked over at you to confirm that was okay, and you nodded, still unable to look at any of them. Your shame and fear pounding at you. Sam clasped Buckys forearm, nodding his head to the door. "We will just be on the other side." When Bucky stepped on the other side, you could see the worried look flashing across his face, somewhat in recgonition to your pain. Sam gave you a slight nod, and a smile of encouragement.

Why couldnt you be stronger? 

The start of your recovery was rough, locked in your room a lot. It took some time for you to open back up to the team. Bring a sense of normalcy to you again. Your normal for the past year has been to be tortured. Everyday life was a lot. Things so simple, like going to get a glass of water, took all your willpower to do. The team, they did everything they could to make it easier.  Natasha and Clint immediately made you a part of their movie nights. At first you would sit stiffly away from them, not wanting to be touched by anyone. But soon you loosened up. Curling up against Clint while his arm draped over you, your feet in Natasha’s lap while she painted your nails. “How are the nightmares Y/N?” Natasha would ask, and you could feel Clint tighten his arm around you slightly, listening. It was no secret, your nightmares were a nightly occurrence, often waking up screaming and trying to hide somewhere in the room. 

“They are fine, fewer and fewer every day.” You lied, covering your shame. 

Steve, you often went with Steve out for walks where he would find some subject to draw. You would lay in the sun, while your friend sketched away at some piece of nearby building, sometimes a landscape. Once he even did you while you were sitting a bit away, catching your profile watching the clouds above. Often you two would sit in easy silence, not needing to have long intense conversations, you were just happy to be with your friend. Once in a while you would ask him. “Steve, you think I can join the team soon?” 

The blonde man would hum, and his blue eyes would shift over towards you a moment before going back to his paper. “Y/N, don't rush it. You were there for a year. I'm not putting you in the field before you're ready. Here, what do you think?” He would flip his pad around and of course it was his way of saying, No. Not Now. Maybe not ever.

Sam often had you over to his apartment to help with meals. You figured it was to make sure you were eating properly. At least one square meal. When you asked him, he scoffed. "Actually taking these cooking classes, I make enough for two. Lets face it, your better company then I could ask for. Besides Steve and Bucky are not adventurous like you. They wanna boil everything." Sam snorted, stiring his jambalaya. "Chop this up." He said quickly, handing you a knife. You always felt safer with something, Sam noticed this the first time you joined him, and you flinched when he drew out a butchers blade. From then on, you were set on chopping duties. You began to really look forward to cooking nights with Sam.

"No girlfriends to have cooking dates with?" You would tease when you set to chopping and Sam would give you that grin of his.

"Sure, I just test them on you first Precious. Gotts make sure they are decent enough to feed to others."

"Yea, I'm real Precious if your using me as a gineau pig." You stick your tongue out st your friend, but secretly you don't mind.

Tony, he was more energetic. Often you would be sitting down in his workshop, laughing at his attempts to improve the Ironman suit. It became a habit to keep a fire extinguisher nearby. “Tony, I don't think you should try this.” You said warily as he put on his new thruster boots. “Aww come on, what's the worst that can happen?” He grinned, and winked. 

He ended up shooting around the room like a balloon just untied, crashing into walls and bouncing off the floor. When he finally came to a stop, his feet were on fire. 

Jumping down with the extinguisher, you yelled “Tony!” and covered him with the foam, once it ended and the billionaire blinked it away, swiping the foam off his face. 

“I had it under control Y/N.” 

“Sure you did.” You squirted him one last time to retaliate before putting it away, and holding your hand out to him, helping him up. 

“Payback Y/N, payback.” Tony glared before pulling you into a hug, getting you covered to. At first it was fine, until you didnt feel Tony anymore and you struggled. Tony immediately let go, and you covered your face in shame. “Im sorry, I'm so sorry Tony.” He shook his head and gently grasped your wrist just enough to uncover your face. “Y/N, it's okay to feel like that. I should have asked first.” You gave an apologetic smile and he winked. The good thing with Tony was that he moved on from your attacks like they never happened, and for that you were forever grateful to your friend.

Bucky, he was the only one that you would find wandering late at night, like you were. When everyone else was fast asleep, you would be pacing the tower, afraid of sleep. It would happen, eventually. Your body would give into its demands, and you would go under into your nightmares. But until that happened though, you found ways to distract yourself. Sometimes it was video games on mute, you would bake muffins for the teams breakfast, get lost in Tony's library he allowed you access to. It was in these wanderings you found Bucky, bumping into him in random places. 

Eventually you two started to really get to know each other. Your late nights would be spent together. You opened up more and more, talking about what Hydra and Brock did to you during that year, Bucky making similar confessions while you two sat outside, away from the confines of the building. Quite a few times you both watched the sun start to come up far off to the east, and Bucky's arm would settle over you while your head tipped onto his shoulder. 

“Buck, I don't know if I will ever just be okay. Steve doesn't seem to think so.” 

“Doll, I came back from it.” He simply said, and you looked up at him, giving a half smile. 

“Your stronger than me.” 

His brow arched as he looked down at you. “That's not true. I had help, Steve, Shuri. I could have never done it alone. Why I know you will come back from this. Your not alone.” 

It gave you something to think about the rest of that day. 

You were so tired after two days going, you couldn't help but pass out, exhausted. You fell into bed in your sleep shorts and a tank, curling up while the world faded away. 

The nightmares though, flashbacks of all those times you were helpless, unable to fight back and could do nothing more than hold back your screams. It never helped, they still fell from you till you were horse from it, rolling from your bed as visions of various doctors plagued you, Hydra Agents beating on you, and Brock he was always in the darkness, watching with anticipation. When he would finally step from the shadows, you knew it wasn't just a nightmare anymore. It was hell. It was what sent you hiding while you were still sleeping. 

This night the jarring motion falling from your bed woke you, before Brock could get to you. Covering your head, you sobbed into your knees, so completely at a loss of how to fix yourself. Your shoulders shook, and you huddled there on the floor for a moment till your legs and back started to ache from being hunched over. Sniffling, you grasp the side of your bed and pull yourself to sit on the edge, wiping the tears from your face. The room felt cold. Reminiscent of your time with Hydra. No warmth, dark shadows stretching like they were reaching to claim you, in which you withdraw your feet off the floor, trying to talk yourself through what you felt was another oncoming panic attack. You had to get out of there, there was no way you could sleep in here tonight. 

Grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around your shoulders, you edge around your bed, trying not to let yourself get psyched out that Brock might be hiding in your room, he wasn't. He couldn't. It was impossible to break into Stark Towers, right? Into the living room you went, looking over your shoulder at what was your bedroom. Even your couch felt too close to the memories. 

It wasn't even a thought, you eased into the hallway and started down familiar doors. Steve, Natasha, Wanda… when you paused in front of one. It had no special markings, nothing to signify to any other that it was a special door, but for you it was. Hesitating for a second, you reached out and gave a quick rap of the knuckles, waiting. 

Bucky heard it, that quick knock knock. He never slept deeply, always aware of his surroundings, years of training and his own deep rooted fears that something was going to happen. When he opened his door to you, the blanket you had on you just about swallowed you, and your face peeked out, red rimmed eyes and ruddy cheeks. He knew you had been crying, were about to start crying as you were standing there. Bucky stepped back to let you in. 

“Sorry Bucky, I just… don't want to be in my apartment tonight.” Your head dropped as you stepped in, and he softly shut the door behind you. 

Standing there for a moment, you didn't know where to go from there, and he stepped in closer, encircling his arms around your cocooned blanket and you could feel the rush of a sob squeaking from you, pressing in against his t shirt. Bucky tucked you in close, feeling his own eyes prick with tears feeling you break in his arms, your shoulders shaking and even the blanket couldn't seem to keep you feeling safe now. But his arms did. They were strong and hard, encircling you. “Come on Doll, your exhausted I can feel it.” 

You didn't struggle as he led you down the small hallway to the back bedrooms, and  expected him to put you in a guest room that you knew all these apartments had. But he didn't. 

He brought you right into his room, and sat you on the edge of his bed. 

“Are you okay unwrapping from this?” He questioned, his hands resting on the blanket where you clutched it around you like a protective shield. You sniffled and dried your face on it momentarily before nodding, letting your grip go. He eased it off, and folded it. Resting at the end should you want it back. 

“Give me two seconds Doll.” He disappeared into his closet and with the door half shut, pulled on a pair of sweats over his boxers, and switched out his tear wet shirt for a dry one. When he came back out, you were right where he left you, feet dangling over the edge of the bed, and your fingers clasped in your lap. When he came around and stretched out, half propped up on pillows, you looked over your shoulder at him. “Can you leave the light on Buck? Just a little bit?” 

“Of course Y/N. '' Reaching to the lamp, he turned it on a softer setting and saw you visibly relax your shoulders as you looked around, and could still see all the corners of the room. Pushing back to get in the bed, you tucked yourself in against your friend's side, letting your head fall to his shoulder. 

“They must have been pretty bad this time.” Bucky said as he lifted a blanket over the two of you, and you nodded. “I kept seeing Him in the dark, coming for me.” Bucky was well aware who you were talking about, having shared with him before some that had happened to you. You lifted Bucky's arm and placed it around your shoulder, his palm pressing against your arm and tucking you in closer, dropping the softest of kisses on top of your head. “Even when I was awake, it was like he was just out of sight, waiting for me to drop my guard.” 

“We won't let him get to you Doll, not again.” 

There was a soft shuffle of blankets as you got comfier against him, and your arm locked around his middle, your voice muffled against his shirt. 

“I know Buck, that's why I came to you.” 

[wsaaimagines]

Memories and Illusions

A/N: The last chapter was a blast to write and did pretty well, seeing as we've been inactive for a while. It's the weekend now, and that means the next chapter of your life as Loki Laufeyson's wife.

Chapter 2

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

"Have you heard the news? There's a new guy." Natasha told you while you grabbed your books from your locker. You checked your hair in the mirror hanging on the inside of your door, ensuring your butterfly clips were still in place.

"I've heard he's really hot. I call dibs if he is!" "Grow up, Nat. Anyways, if you're talking about Buck- I mean, James Barnes, forget about it. He's bad news." "You know him?! Tell me everything! Was he good in bed?" She giggled as you began to make your way towards class. "I know him, but not like that. We grew up together." "Wowee!" "Get a hold of yourself, Nat. It's not like-" You were interrupted with a thud as you walked straight into someone.

"Gee, thought you woulda noticed me at least," a familiar voice said. "I've missed seeing you, doll." "James. Hi." "James?" He began to laugh. "You haven't called me James in years!" "What have you been calling him, (y/n)?" Natasha teased with a smirk. "I'll leave you two alone, sounds like you have a lot of catching up to do. See you in Calc, (y/n)." Behind him, Natasha made a clawing motion with her hand before heading to class.

The both of you stood quietly in awkwardness for a moment before he finally cleared his throat. "So, Pops and I moved back to town. He was done in L.A. and wanted to come back home before he gets flown out to who-knows-where again." "How, uh, is he? Your dad." "Oh he's great. You know, the usual: business and distractions." "Oh, that's good," you replied awkwardly, desperately seeking out a way to get out of this conversation. "Look, Bucky, it was nice catching up, but I should be getting to class now." "Oh yeah, no worries! Hey, um, Pops is letting me have the place this weekend. I was hoping to have a return-to-home party. You should come." "Yeah, totally, um, I'm sure Nat would kill to go to a party." "Sweet. I'll, uh, send you the deets."

It was hard to focus for the rest of the day. In class, you daydreamt about growing up with Bucky as kids. Going on adventures in the woods and playing hide and seek in his house. And when you weren't in class, you found yourself watching him sit by himself in the cafeteria. You were sure he noticed you watching, and part of you felt like going over to sit with him, but you just couldn't bring yourself to do it.

By the end of the day, you were walking home with Natasha when she finally asked you what your story was with Bucky. "I, uh... it's a weird one. We grew up together and I, well, I started to get feelings for him. Then his mom died and he and his dad moved to L.A. He started hooking up with all these girls and partying all the time and I just couldn't take it. I told him he had changed and become someone who I didn't know and we sorta just stopped talking. It's weird seeing him again, and for him to act like nothing's happened is just so frustrating."

After arriving home, your butler informed you that your parents weren't going to be home for dinner. You were used to hearing this by now. Mom and dad were always caught up at work, leaving you to have dinner alone with Mr. Pym.

After some homework, the phone started ringing, and you raced downstairs to answer a welcome distraction from calculus. "Hello, (l/n) residence, this is (y/n) speaking." "Oh! Young (y/n)! How are you my dear?!" "Mr. Barnes! It's, uh, it's great to hear from you again. I'm well thanks. I hope the moved down wasn't too tiresome." "Thank you, my dear. Are your parents home by any chance?" "They're at work currently. Would you like me to leave a message for them?" "Oh no, thank you. I was hoping to speak to you, actually. James told me he saw you at school today. I was hoping maybe I could invite you over for tea with James and I. It's been a while and I thought it'd be a nice chance for you two to catch up." "Thank you, Mr. Barnes, but-" "It's settled then. I'll call your father at work and let him know. I'll send James to pick you up at 7. Goodbye, Ms. (l/n)." "Mr. Barnes-" The phone hung up before you had a chance to object.

7 o'clock eventually arrived, and there was a firm knock at the door. "Oh! Mr. Barnes! What a please to be seeing you," you could hear Mr. Pym greeting James. "Ms. (l/n)! Mr. James Barnes is here to pick you up for tea!" "I'm on my way!"

You quickly grabbed a cardigan and made your way down the stairs. James was waiting at the door, and for a second, you thought you saw his face light up when he saw you.

"You ready to go, (y/n)?" James asked as you reached the door. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

~ Emma

[natrogersfics]

After All - Chapter 3/5

Cover art by @faith2nyc​  Read on AO3​​

The hustle and bustle of the aquarium is magnified in the underwater tunnel as locals and tourists alike take in the scenery. But as Steve watches Isabel stare at the glass panels above them with fascination thick on her face and an exclamation of  wow! slipping from her lips every now and then, he notes that the ruckus is not nearly enough to drown out his daughter’s infectious excitement. She’d been intrigued the second they walked into the first exhibit and saw a school of colorful fish swim by, all but demanding to be let out of her stroller, and ever since, getting her to walk in stride with him and Natasha instead of an entire full step ahead has been a lost cause.  

As Isabel stops by one of the windows to admire an idling turtle, he steals a glance at Natasha to see a smile on her face as she watches Isabel wave at her newfound friend. To say that he was surprised when she offered him a beer last night would be an understatement. While they’ve certainly warmed up to each other in the last few days, Isabel's always been there to serve as a buffer between them, making sure that their conversations never progress longer than the time it takes for her to knock something over or cry for attention. Which is why, when Natasha had been so candid and open about her recent struggles at work with him last night, he was downright stunned. Still, the way they had smoothly transitioned into talking about life and their newfound perspective on it was reminiscent of the times they’d meet up after work to shoot the breeze at Dalton’s. Regardless of what he was going through then, he always left their self-designated booth those nights feeling better, and last night was no different. It’s something he has dearly missed.

It was that camaraderie that made him act on the impulse of asking her to tag along today. And though he’d all but goaded her into saying yes, he was still a bit nervous on his way to her flat this morning. It had been ages since the three of them had gone out together, and most of those instances had been to Christine’s office for Isabel’s checkups. But thus far, he’s glad that their rapport picked up right where it left last night, slipping effortlessly into conversation, catching each other up on mundane things like what their friends back at The Daily are up to and how Natasha’s yet to find a Thai restaurant that compares to their favorite one in the East Village. Further, while he’s certainly had fun discovering new aspects of Isabel’s personality these last few days, he has to admit that it’s nice having someone who shares his amusement to her reactions. 

“Did you know that she loved fish this much?” he asks, keeping his eyes on Isabel as she begins to move once again.

“I had an inkling,” Natasha says, pushing the empty stroller. “You know those illustrations of sea creatures you made for her? I had them bound into a book before we moved so they wouldn’t get destroyed, and added it to the rotation when she started showing interest in picture books.” She nods towards Isabel, whose head keeps moving from side to side as she decides which exhibit to focus on next. She chuckles. “But I didn’t think she’d be beside herself like this.” 

The corners of his mouth twitch into a smile. “She likes those?”

“They’re her favorite,” Natasha says, nodding in confirmation when he turns to look at her, surprised. “Of course, I try to mix it up every now and then, so her knowledge isn’t just limited to sea animals” – she pauses as they both laugh – “but given a choice? She’d pick that book in a heartbeat, every single time.”

“When we were at the Gardens the other day, the first urn she picked out on the fountain was the dolphin,” he says, slipping his hands into his pockets and no longer trying to contain his smile.

“Well, I did have the dolphin placed on the cover,” she says.

He looks at her, raising an eyebrow at the smile she seems to be biting back. “Because… dolphins are your favorite?”

“Not particularly,” she says. “But I do distinctly remember catching you doodling it during a section meeting.” She smirks at the sheepish expression that makes it onto his face. “Consider it a pre-emptive strike for when there’s a question about who she got her short attention span from.”

“She’s barely two,” he says emphatically, “of course her attention span is short!” When Natasha only shrugs, he scoffs in disbelief. “And excuse me, you’re the one who pretends to take notes on your iPad when really you’re playing Scrabble with Darcy.”

She gasps at his retort, but it’s quickly replaced by a chuckle. “Only when Sitwell’s talking!”  

“That’s still an indictment of your attention span,” he counters, causing her to raise an eyebrow in challenge. “I’m just saying-”

“Dada!”

Isabel’s distressed voice interrupts him, but before he and Natasha can search for her, Isabel already has her arms around his leg and her face in the material of his jeans. “Izzie?” he says, scooping her into his arms just as Natasha comes around to them. “What’s wrong?”  

“Are you hurt?” Natasha asks, checking Isabel’s arms and legs.

Isabel shakes her head, pointing towards the window to the right. “Shark!”

He and Natasha look over, and sure enough, a large tiger shark looms by the panel, its teeth bared. “Oh, fig,” he says, making sure to keep his amusement out of his tone even as he and Natasha trade yet another fascinated look. “You don’t have to be afraid. We’re inside, it can’t get to you.”  

“No,” Isabel says, “home!”

The way Isabel’s arms tighten around his neck causes him to freeze, and he tries to rack his brain for a solution to calm her down. But then Natasha reaches over, patting Isabel’s hair gently. “But fig,” she chimes in, “we haven’t seen the penguins like in Happy Feet, yet.”

Isabel lifts her head from his shoulder, looking to him and then to Natasha. “Pen-gins?”

“Yeah!” Natasha says with a level of excitement he’s only ever heard her use when speaking to their daughter. “How ‘bout it, huh? Can you let Daddy put you down so we can go visit the penguins?”

Isabel smiles, nodding her head. “Okay.”

“Nice save,” he tells Natasha as he takes the stroller from her and she takes Isabel’s hand, leading them towards the hall labeled Polar Adventure.

“You pick up a thing or two after a while,” Natasha says, winking. “You’ll see.”

While he’s gone to see the penguins at Central Park before, he has to admit that the Penguin Point experience really is something special. From the simulated North Pole ambiance, complete with manufactured ice shelves and snowflakes, to the plexiglass bubble that allows visitors to come practically nose-to-beak with the Gentoos, it’s no wonder that Isabel’s been propelled over the moon. Her freight over the shark long forgotten as she and Natasha sit on the ledge of the enclosure to see the penguins wobble by. To the side, their guide dutifully informs them about the speed at which these flightless birds can swim, though he can’t say he’s paying much attention. Ever since he had seen the way Natasha had expertly diverted Isabel’s worries, he can’t seem to peel his eyes away from them, observing their interactions carefully and smiling at the unquestionable love and affection between them.

There’s never been a doubt in his mind about what a great mother Natasha is. He’s seen it firsthand, witnessed how easily she had tackled motherhood from the moment Isabel was born like it was something she was always meant to do. In many ways, he knows that she’s attuned to their daughter in a manner only she can be, instead it’s not something he feels a shred of envy over. He couldn’t be happier or more thankful that she happens to be the mother of his child, and from where he stands, that sentiment is only fortified when he sees Natasha point at the penguins jumping into the water, and Isabel, who’s sitting in her lap, claps her hands in elation.

The sight brings a warmth to his chest, and as he begins to make his way over to them, Natasha looks up, grinning softly, and he smiles back without so much as a second thought as she alerts Isabel of his presence. Isabel turns towards him, her eyes alight. “Having fun?” he asks, bending down. 

“Pen-gins, Dada!” Isabel all but shrieks, pointing to the enclosure behind them.

“I’ve never seen her this excited,” Natasha whispers over Isabel’s head as she continues to babble on. “I think she might actually pass out.”

“Good thing I thought to bring the stroller,” he deadpans, chuckling at the way her eyes narrow at him. “Izzie, can we take a picture for grandma?”

Isabel nods, and as he reaches for his phone, Natasha begins to move. “Mama, no!” Isabel says, latching onto Natasha’s arm before she can stand.

“Daddy’s going to take your picture, babe,” Natasha explains.

“You don’t have to move,” he says. “Let’s get a couple shots of the both of you.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, her tone skeptical as she tilts her head to the side. “It’s for your mom...”

“I’m sure she won’t mind,” he says, taking a step back to widen the angle when Natasha goes to sit back with Isabel, pulling her into her lap once more. “Okay, in three, two, one… say cheese!”

“Cheese!” Natasha and Isabel say in unison, the both of them beaming from ear to ear, and he mirrors their expressions as he snaps a few shots of them.

“Why don’t I take some of you two?” Natasha suggests, and with a nod, he switches places with her, handing her his phone as he goes. “Look at momma, Iz! Good girl, now smile!” She moves to the left to shift the angle, and he and Isabel pivot accordingly to get the penguins behind them into the frame. “Okay, now funny face! Perfect!” She giggles from behind the screen. “Sarah’s going to love these.”   

He chuckles, accepting his phone back from her to see a picture of Isabel with her tongue out and him cross-eyed. “They’ll be on her fridge in no time.”

“Excuse me?” They look up at the question to see their guide standing before them, a genial smile on his face. “Would you like me to take a photo of the three of you?”

His head whips from their guide to Natasha. “If that’s okay with you?”  

“That would be great, actually,” Natasha says, stealing a glance at the nametag on the left side of the man’s vest. “Thank you, Heimdall.” She turns back to him and Isabel, smiling as he moves to make space for her on the ledge. “Let’s make sure she’s looking at the camera. I don’t want to hear it from Nick and Melinda.” 

“Nor do I want to hear it from my ma,” he volleys back as she sits down, laughing as she shakes her head. 

“Okay,” Heimdall says, holding up the camera before gesturing to them with his free hand. “Move a little closer, yeah?” He and Natasha do as they’re told, scooting closer to one another until their legs are touching, and he shifts Isabel to sit on both of them. “Brilliant! Now everybody lean in… and say penguin!”

“Penguin!” he and Natasha say at the same time Isabel yells cheese, sending them both into a fit of laughter.  

When Heimdall gives them a thumbs up, Natasha turns to Isabel, shaking her head fondly. “Such a little rebel.”

“And whom does she take after?” Heimdall asks, only to chuckle when he and Natasha point fingers at one another. “In any case, you lot make a beautiful family.”

He smiles politely as Heimdall passes his phone back. “Thank you.” 

“Think she has enough penguin things?” Natasha asks hours later as they sit at a café across the aquarium.

He chuckles over the lip of his coffee mug, setting it down on the table as he looks to the highchair where Isabel is working on her penguin activity book with a penguin scarf around her neck. “Oh, I don’t know,” he says, “maybe ask me again later when she puts on her penguin pajamas.”

“Hey, consider yourself lucky that I was able to negotiate the pajamas in exchange for the stuffed, jumbo penguin,” she says. “We’d probably have to get it its own Oyster card just to get it home.”  

“Gift shops or death traps for the wallets of desperate parents?” he muses. “You decide.”

She smirks in agreement. “So…” she trails, propping an elbow on the table to rest her chin on a closed fist. “Christmas Eve. What’re you up to?”  

“Not much, really,” he admits. “The hotel I’m staying at said they have something going on in the lounge for a bit, but I’m probably just going to turn in since I promised everyone that I’d wrap their gifts for” – he nods silently towards Isabel – “you know who in time for Christmas morning at yours.”

“They do know she’s coming home with you, right?” she asks. “They could’ve just given it to her there.”

“Believe me, if they listened to me at all, I wouldn’t be so worried about getting sauce on one of the few shirts I have for this trip,” he says, eliciting a laugh from her.

“Point taken,” she says. “But I ask because when I realized Izzie and I weren’t going to make it back for Christmas, I decided to invite some people over to my place for Christmas Eve.” She shrugs. “If you don’t have anything set in stone, you’re welcome to join us.”

“Natasha,” he says, averting his gaze to his hands. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to intrude on you and your friends.”

“Hard to be an intruder when you’re being invited,” she counters, sighing when he remains silent. “Steve.” He looks up at her at that, catching her disarming smile. “Look, I know in the past we’ve made a mess of things-”

“Natasha,” he repeats, shaking his head. “Consider that water over the dam.”

“Okay, yeah,” she says. “But now that we’ve put that out there, maybe we can look forward? I mean, I wish I could say that this is the only time a monkey wrench is going to get thrown into our perfectly planned schedules, but I sincerely doubt it. We’re going to be in each other’s lives, Steve. Might as well get used to it.” She eyes Isabel before looking back at him. “Besides, I think she’d really like having her Dad there.”

He scoffs. “When nine out of ten times her answer is no, I’d say the odds aren’t great.” 

“Only one way to find out,” she says, tapping Isabel’s arm. “Izzie, you want Daddy to come to Christmas Eve, right?”

Isabel moves her arm out of Natasha’s reach as she continues to color over a penguin with a purple crayon. “M’busy!”

He and Natasha scoff, and she turns to him with a sheepish expression. “Technically that isn’t a no.”  

He rolls his eyes at that before letting out a sigh when Natasha raises a brow in challenge. Immediately, his mind conjures a million different reasons to refuse. Spending a day together is one thing, and while he had been the first one to color outside the lines of their custody agreement by asking to spend Christmas with them in the first place, something about this invitation feels different. Meeting the new people in Natasha’s life, when these relationships have no bearing on how well the two of them function as co-parents, seems like a weightier, riskier choice. But then his mother’s words come to mind: like it or not, you and Natasha are forever bonded by the beautiful baby girl you two brought into this world. That makes you family, and families spend Christmas together. 

When it comes down to it, with their family being as unorthodox as it is, it was always going to be more complicated to navigate than the average unit. But if Natasha, one of the most pragmatic people he knows and who he trusts to make difficult decisions, is willing to extend an olive branch, who is he to turn it down.

“Okay,” he says, smiling at the way Natasha’s eyes light up when she gets her way. “But then you’re coming cookie decorating with us in Soho tomorrow.”

“Do we get to take the cookies home?” she asks, to which he nods. “Fine, but since you’re keeping me from laundry, we’re dropping by Selfridges after this.”

He smirks. “Deal.” 

Christmas carols play softly in the background in Hela’s Cookie Boutique, but Natasha’s only half listening, too distracted by watching Steve and Isabel decorate sugar cookies with the exact same focused expression on their faces. Isabel turns to Steve, bringing a finger up to his face and giggling when he licks the red icing off, and as she catches the exchange, she smiles. Seeing Steve and Isabel interact up close now that their daughter is more engaging has been an experience she didn’t think she’d find so endearing. Of course, she knew Isabel adored him and that the feeling was absolutely and unabashedly mutual, but to see that affection unfold before her very eyes has made her heart unexpectedly expand in her chest.

Perhaps adding to her giddiness is the fact that this sight is also quite comical. With the class geared toward families, miniature workstations had been set up for the children, and as soon as Isabel had seen them, talking her into sitting elsewhere became downright impossible. Despite the smaller than usual seats, though, she notes that she fits just fine. The same could not be said, however, for Steve right next to her. She lets her gaze fall to him, taking her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from smiling. Hunched in his seat, Steve sticks out like a sore thumb, his broad frame looking even more immense as they’re surrounded by other children. Though she had offered to move stations, he’d refused – too willingly beholden to Isabel’s whims to care about his own comfort.

“I should be mad at you for unleashing our daughter in what is essentially a sugar factory,” she says, prompting Steve to turn to her as she snaps a picture of Isabel. “But I have to admit, she does look darn cute in a baker’s hat!”

He chuckles. “Doesn’t the little shoulder shimmy she does along to the music just kill you?”

“So much so I almost forget how hard it’s going to be to give her a bath later,” she says a little too sweetly, eyeing the sticky mess caked onto their daughter’s arms as Isabel puts more icing than her cookie could possibly hold and finding herself infinitely thankful for the aprons they were provided with.

“Tell you what,” he says. “I’ll give her a bath tonight if you promise that my mother will never see those pictures.”

“Not that I would ever let Sarah know that her son is a traitor who took her granddaughter to another bakery for cookie decorating,” she says, putting her phone away. “But since you offered, feel free to take over bath duty anytime you want.” 

He narrows his eyes at her, shaking his head when she does not even bother to hide her smile. “That’s fine,” he says, nodding towards the cookie she’s working on. “When she starts to yell at me, I’ll just show her a picture of your lumpy cookie to distract her.”

“We’re not all aiming to make art out of cookies, Michelangelo,” she teases, making him roll his eyes when she points to his immaculately decorated Santa cookie. “Plus, it’s a lot harder to smooth out this icing than it looks!”   

“That’s why you never go for the snowflake. There’s not enough surface area,” he says, reaching over for a fresh cookie, this time shaped like a stocking, before scooping out some blue icing with his spatula. “Here, look. All you have to do is lay the icing down and glide the spatula back and forth like so. It’s all in the wrist.”

“Like this?” she asks, trying to mimic his actions, only to glare at him when he fails miserably at holding back his chuckle when the icing still does not lay smoothly on her cookie. “Excuse me for not being raised in a bakery like some people, okay?”

“I’m sorry,” he says through a wide smile. “Grab a new cookie and some icing and I’ll show you.” She does as instructed, barely hiding her surprise when he crouches down behind her seat, his arms all but wrapping around her as he puts a hand over the one she has clutching the spatula. “Just lay the icing” – he begins to guide her hand, first adding some pressure to flatten the blob of icing before gently moving their hands down the cookie – “and glide.” By the time the spatula reaches the edge of the Christmas tree, there’s not a single peak on the icing, and he turns to her, smirking. “Now was that so hard?”

“Guess not,” she says, craning her neck to look at him. “Thanks.” 

He grins. “No problem.” 

With their proximity, she feels his words just as much as she hears them, but the thought is fleeting, fading as quickly as it had come when she finds herself caught in his smile and the way his eyes look impossibly brighter in this moment. How long they stay staring at each other, she does not know – seconds, maybe a minute. It’s when they hear a squeal from across the table that he looks away, and when she follows his line of sight, her eyes widen when she sees that Isabel’s gotten hold of a piping bag.

“Izzie, no!” Steve says as they both rush out of their seats. 

In spite of Steve’s warning, Isabel squeezes down, and she watches in horror as icing bursts out of the bag and onto Isabel’s face. She cringes as Isabel turns to look at her, icing flowing from her chin and down to her neck. “Uh oh.”  

With a shake of her head, she laughs. “Uh oh is right, Little Miss.” She steps forward to reach for the baby bag, sighing in relief when she sees it already in Steve’s grip as he hands her a bunch of wet wipes. “Thank you,” she says, before looking at Isabel. “Say, thank you, Daddy.”

“Thank you, Dada?” Isabel says, smiling through the mess on her face as they all burst into laughter. 

“Okay, new plan,” Steve says after they work in tandem to get as much icing off Isabel as they can without soap and water. He points to the tray of bare cookies before turning to her. “You lay down the base icing, I will smooth it out, and Miss Sticky over there can be on sprinkles duty.”

She laughs. “You do know she’s just going to throw too many sprinkles on it, right?”  

“Ah, but that’s the beauty of giving her already iced cookies,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows. “There’s only so many sprinkles that can stick before the rest just falls off.”  

When his expression turns smug, she can only roll her eyes.

The sun’s only begun to sink low into the horizon, casting a halo of warm light across the city, when a chilly breeze blows by, prompting Steve to adjust his scarf to rest more snuggly around his neck. While stopping at a park seems like a ridiculous idea in late December, the decision was strategic. As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a toddler hyped on sugar, and he and Natasha weren’t about to tempt fate by not providing Isabel with an opportunity to expend all the energy provided by an afternoon spent consuming ludicrous amounts of icing.   While Isabel explores the surroundings on the patch of grass before them, he and Natasha sit on the nearby bench, a pile of rocks and weeds that their daughter has discovered and given to them for safe keeping only growing by the minute between them. He looks at Natasha, who’s busy admiring the scenery, to see the box of their leftover cookies resting on her lap, and instantly, the sight brings a smile to his face. Growing up in his mother’s bakery, the smell of butter and sugar in the air always had a way of evoking good feelings in him – a clear sign that wonderful things, usually in the form of a sweet treat, were to come. Today, though, as the three of them laughed and decorated cookies, he finds that those good feelings are akin to glee.    The sound of Isabel’s laughter ringing melodiously in the air catches their attention, and when they turn, they can only chuckle when they see her begin to follow a hapless duck a few feet away. He shakes his head. “Why do I feel like we should be helping that duck?”   “Because you know what your daughter is like when she’s only running on sugar and no afternoon nap,” Natasha says matter-of-factly, shooting him a knowing look. “Also, that duck’s never gonna see her again anyway. We, on the other hand, have to take her home and deal with the inevitable crash from her sugar high.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Believe me, the duck can take one for the team right now.”   “She was a bit of a menace the other night when I let her have a cupcake after dinner,” he says, nodding in concession. “But, hell, if she isn’t so easy to love.”   “Confusing, isn’t it?” she asks, to which he hums in agreement. “One minute, you want to pull your hair out because she’s acting like you’re torturing her when really you’re just trying to put her shoes on-”   “But then the next she’s hugging you and telling you she loves you?” he finishes with a smirk.   “Exactly!” she says, throwing her head back in laughter. “But like you said, she’s just the sweetest thing ever. Really intuitive, too. You’d think at her age, she wouldn’t understand when you’re having a bad day, but then just when you’re feeling really down, you get a random hug from her…” She sighs, looking off to where Isabel is. “And suddenly everything doesn’t seem so bad.”   He follows Natasha’s line of sight, smiling when he sees that Isabel’s turned her attention to some flowers, before turning back to her. “We made a pretty good kid, didn’t we?”   Her green eyes are brimming with pride as she looks at him. “Yeah,” she says, “we did.”   He does not respond with words. Instead, he just holds her gaze as they share a smile, because truly, what else is there to say. If there’s anything these last few days have proven, it’s that when it comes down to it, Isabel is a reminder that despite everything that’s gone on between them in the last few years, all the hurt that they’ve unintentionally caused one another and the distance they’ve placed between them – physically or otherwise – they’ve always made a great team. And though the thought comes unbidden in his mind, he finds himself wondering how different things could have been if he had worked up the courage to tell her how he felt back then. But more importantly, for the first time in so long, he allows himself to question whether or not he was wrong to hold back.    Before he can give the thought any more consideration, though, Isabel makes their way to them, climbing into Natasha’s lap. “Hey, you,” Natasha says, looking away from him to wrap her arms around Isabel and kiss the top of her head. “Tired?”   Isabel shakes her head, resting her cheek against Natasha’s chest. “No.”   “If you say so,” Natasha says, chuckling under her breath.   “Do you want to grab dinner?” he asks. “I saw a Thai restaurant across the street. We could see if their Pad Thai compares to the one in the Village.”   “I would love to, but despite what this one says, she’s probably going to pass out soon,” Natasha says, and as if to prove her point, Isabel’s eyelids begin to flutter. “But how about you just come over to mine?” she then adds, her smile almost shy. “I don’t have Pad Thai, but I can whip us up some pasta.”   “You cook now?” he says, his brows all but shooting into his hairline.   The glare she sends his way is sharp, but it lasts only a second as she begins to laugh. “I’m not sure I appreciate the disbelief on your face.”   “No, I believe you…” he trails, grinning when she raises a brow at him. “I just remember having to put out a bacon-related fire in your apartment once upon a time.”   “You accidentally leave the burner on while you go to answer the door one time and some people never let you forget it,” she says, rolling her eyes before she joins him in snickering. When their laughter tapers, she tilts her head to the side. “So, what do you say?”   “I say to see is to believe,” he says, dissolving into laughter once more when she picks up one of the stones in the pile between them and chucks it at him. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! I’d be honored to taste your cooking… and not have to put it out afterwards.”    She scoffs, but he can only really beam at the expression of mock hurt she makes. “You know what, Rogers.”     With Isabel slumbering peacefully in her car seat, their cab ride back to Natasha’s flat is steeped in comfortable silence. London after dark is breathtaking, but even as the stunning view passes him by, he finds that he can only focus on how felicitous this – the three of them coming back from a day well spent – all feels. He steals a glance at Natasha on the other side, her face lit only by the streetlights, but even so, the little smile on her lips as she looks out her window brings a smile to his own.    As if sensing his stare, she turns, her smile only widening when she catches him looking, and he can’t help but wonder if today has felt as good for her as it has for him. His lips part to ask the question, but before he can, the cab rattles as the driver runs over a bump. Like a reflex, he reaches out to make sure Isabel stays in place, his hand colliding with Natasha’s as she, too, does the same. They both nod at the cabbie’s subsequent apology, and the rest of the way, he does not bother to utter a word about how their hands remain atop of one another’s, nor does he ask questions when their fingers somehow wind up intertwined – but, and perhaps more saliently, neither does she. 

When they arrive back at Natasha’s flat, he lifts Isabel to him, paying the driver as Natasha collects the car seat and Isabel’s bag and they walk up the stairs to her front door. It’s only when they’ve made their way inside her foyer and she’s taking her keys out of the lock that he realizes her lights were already on when they entered.   “Were you expecting someone?” he asks, turning to her.   “Not that I remember,” she says, mirroring his concerned expression as she takes in her already lit foyer. As if on cue, they hear the sound of her cupboard being pushed shut, and hurriedly, she begins to make her way towards the sound.   “Natasha, wait!” he says, his voice thick with worry as he follows her with lengthened strides. “There might be a-”   “What are you doing here?” he hears Natasha ask as she enters her kitchen. Confused, he follows her, stopping by the doorway when he sees her arms around a man, his hair dark as night and his frame towering over hers. “I haven’t seen you in days!”   “Had to pull another double shift,” the man says, his voice smooth as silk. “Luckily, my colleague was nice enough to relieve me a couple hours early, so I stopped by the supermarket and did some food shopping.”   “You’re a lifesaver,” Natasha says, and he catches himself looking towards her kitchen island where an array of fruits and vegetables are sitting along with a six-pack of Stella and a bottle of Beluga – her favorite vodka.  “Oh, Loki, this is Steve.”   At the sound of his name, he looks up just as Natasha and the man – Loki, he reminds himself – turns to him. Loki smiles, moving around the island to extend a hand to him. “Pleasure to meet you, Steve.”   “Likewise,” he says, shifting Isabel to free his other hand before shaking Loki’s. “I’m sorry, I-” His words are cut off when Isabel stirs, letting out a little whine. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. We’re back home.” Isabel lifts her head off his shoulder, her forehead wrinkling as she grimaces, and quickly, he rubs her back soothingly. She turns in his arms, and when her eyes land on Loki, it’s almost on instinct that he holds her closer to him. “It’s okay, fig. It’s just momma’s-”   “Yo-ki?” Isabel says, her eyes lighting up with recognition. Before he knows it, she’s squirming in his arms, signaling to be let down. He obliges, staring dumbfoundedly as Loki bends down and Isabel runs into his open arms. “Yo-ki!”   “Hello, love,” Loki says, laughing and picking Isabel up as he stands. “I missed you! Did you have a marvelous time today?”   “Indeed she did,” Natasha says, and his head whips towards her to see her walk towards Isabel and Loki to tap Isabel’s nose. “I was actually about to make some-”   “Actually, Natasha,” he interrupts, his eyes going from Loki, to Isabel, and then to her. And though he does not remember reaching for it, he holds up his phone. “Something just came up with the gallery. I’m going to have to pass on dinner.”   “Oh, okay…” she says, blinking in surprise. “Something major?”   “No, um… just a misunderstanding,” he says before shaking his head. “You have that thing tomorrow at three, right? I’ll be back before then to pick up Izzie.”   “Right, yeah…” she looks at Isabel, lifting her out of Loki’s arms to place her down. “Say bye to Daddy, Iz.”   As Isabel walks towards him, he bends down to give her a hug. “Bye, fig. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”   “Dada, no!” Isabel says, stepping away from him. “Stay.”     “But it’s almost your bedtime, sweetheart,” he says, rubbing his hands up and down her arms consolingly. “Daddy will be back tomorrow, okay? I promise.”   Isabel’s bottom lip begins to quiver, but before the waterworks can begin, Natasha bends down next to them. “Izzie, baby, why don’t you show Loki the cookies you decorated, huh?”     “My goodness, you decorated some cookies?” he hears Loki say, and he’s relieved when Isabel turns towards Loki, a smile forming on her face as she nods.   The second Isabel begins to walk towards Loki, he gets up, turning away from the kitchen and making his way towards the front door. It’s only when he has one hand already on the knob that he hears Natasha call out to him, and he turns back to see her standing a few feet away, her eyes wide as she stares at him.   “Steve…” she says, her eyebrows furrowing. “Is everything okay?”   “Yeah,” he says, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “You have nothing to worry about.” He nods curtly. “I’ll be back for Izzie tomorrow.” 

He does not wait for her reply as he twists the knob and walks out, shutting the door behind him before all but running down the stairs. His footfalls are heavy on the concrete, but he does not dare look back as he makes his way down the block, ferociously trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut and the ache slowly but surely burning through his chest.  

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 18:  Told You I’d Say Yes

Summary: Steve, Katie and Sam begin their search for Bucky and they uncover something that makes Steve start to question where their priorities as a team should lie. Decision made, the two of them head back to the Tower in New York to join up with the other adventures, and when Katie’s 30th birthday arrives, Steve asks a very differen question…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language words, smut (NSFW), no under 18s. And a whole lotta teeth rotting fluff…

A/N: I think this is my favourite edit yet, @angrybirdcr​

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 17

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 Steve had no real leads and as such he, Katie and Sam spent weeks combing through the information that Natasha had provided, using JARVIS to translate the Russian which none of them spoke of course. It was hard work, stressful and gave them nothing of real use either, other than give them a bit more of an understanding of who the Winter Soldier was, so to speak, and then Sam had a brainwave. If Bucky was starting to get his memories back and pieced together that he had been working for Hydra under duress, he might go looking for answers, possibly even revenge.

They decided to start in the nearest Hydra base they knew about from the leaks on the internet, and as such they were now ransacking an old abandoned bank in the financial district in the middle of the night.

What they found wasn’t great- a dozen bodies of dead Hydra agents. Most looked as if they had had their throats crushed apart from one who was sat in a chair, a bullet between his eyes.  From the look, and smell, they’d been there a while.

“That’s an execution.” Sam muttered, nodding at the man who had been shot and Katie looked at him as Steve simply turned and walked from the smaller room, back into the larger corridor. He made his way down, pulling open a thick door into the main vault and stopped dead as he saw some form of chair in the middle, surrounded by restraints and a device that looked like some kind of macabre halo. Steve felt his mouth go dry as he looked at it. I was some perverted form of the chamber he’d been in when they’d administered the serum…

“Looks like they were deleting data when they were interrupted…” Sam bent over to get a closer look at the computer to the side. Katie passed him the device she had brought and he plugged it in and started the data mining. As Steve made his way towards the two of them, Sam frowned and clicked on something that caught his attention and immediately the sounds of tortured screams filled the room. Katie jolted slightly as Sam took a step back, the three of them glancing at the screen which was sat on the desk. And all 3 wished they hadn’t. As there, on the screen Bucky was strapped down the halo-like contraption lowered onto his head.

“Turn it off!” Katie instructed to Sam, who moved to cut the footage immediately but Steve grabbed his arm.

“No…” he said firmly, his eyes fixated on the grim footage in front of him, his chest heaving with anger.

Finally the screams stopped and someone was saying words as they were in Russian but when they finished Bucky slumped down in the chair staring blankly ahead, as he spoke a single sentence, his face and voice completely void of expression and emotion. 

There was a moment of silence when Steve suddenly snapped grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it over with a loud crash, all of the equipment and computers meeting a rather abrupt end along with it. He felt sick, upset, angry…and he couldn’t help but feel this was his fault for leaving his friend behind.

“Steve?” Katie asked anxiously, whilst she watched his shoulders heave with anger.

“Let’s go.” He instructed sternly, already making his way to the exit.

“Steve?” She called again.

“Now.” He bit back.

Steve didn’t speak a word whilst they drove home. Once they were in the apartment he stormed straight through the hall and up the stairs to the bed room. Katie turned to Sam who was hovering in the hall.

“That went well.” he quipped.

Katie sighed, walking into the kitchen and handed Sam a water which he thankfully took, draining it in one go.

“The thing is, Sam…” she ran a hand over her face “It’s gonna get worse, the more we dig, the more we’re going to find.”

“Yeah well, on that note I’m going to go back to the bank, do a bit more digging of my own tonight.” Sam sighed “See if I can find something that would give us an indication as to when exactly Bucky hit the base, might help us piece together a timeline of sorts.”

“Alright, but be careful, yeah?”

“I’m always careful, sugar!” Sam grinned, and Katie rolled her eyes. “Listen, you gonna be ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll give him some time. He’ll come round, he’s just…” she paused searching for the right word before she concluded “sad.”

Sam nodded “Call you tomorrow then, I’m at the VA in the morning but my afternoon is free”

“Will do…oh, and Sam?”

He turned around and Katie threw him the keys to the Q5 as he still hadn’t replaced his car. “Take this, but bring it back in once piece.”

“Cheers dude!” He beamed, catching the keys expertly before he headed out of the door.

Once he was gone, Katie walked over to the sofa and dropped down onto it, pulling out her phone. She knew it was late, but Tony answered straight away.

“Did it work?” She asked instantly.

“Did it work…” Tony snorted “I made the damned device, of course it did. JARVIS took everything off their system…he’s already sifting through and cross referencing… any mention of Barnes in any form he’ll find it.”

“Thanks Tony.”

“There is something he has found thought, that’s kinda interesting, but also very worrying.”

“What?”

“He found an encoded list of locations, locations for HYDRA bases across the globe. Curiosity got the better of me, and I ran a couple of cross checks on the bases that were already captured or infiltrated, and it matches 80%…”

“Yeah, there’s bases out there that didn’t fall… that’s what Fury’s doing, you know this.”

“Well here’s the thing…” Tony sighed “That 80% rallies to around 10 bases. One-Eye-Willy knew about 6, which he is currently working on with SHIELD or whatever they’re called now. The other 4 were unknown, until now.”

“Shit.” Katie sighed. If they had gone unknown, unchallenged, then it was possible that more of Hydra remained than they thought.

“Pretty much what Fury said when I called him.” Tony replied “Anyway, I think it’s time we put the band back together Kiddo…”

She groaned. “Steve already turned Fury down to find Bucky first.”

“Well, for once I’m inclined to agree with the Goth Pirate.”  Tony continued “I think rounding the last of these bastards up is slightly more pressing than Spangles chasing his old school buddy.”

“Don’t call him that…” She sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. 

“Fury says he’ll make contact with Natasha and Clint, no idea how to reach Point Break though. I called his girlfriend, or paramour, whatever, who said he was off chasing something, no idea what, but when he comes back she’s gonna tell him we’re looking for him.”

“I’ll talk to Steve…but I can’t promise anything.”

“If anyone can talk him round it’s you.” He said, his voice adopting a more sympathetic tone “You know, there’s no reason why we can’t look for Barnes along the way. I mean it’s all Hydra, right?”

“Yeah, good point. Let me talk to him. I’ll call you tomorrow, or later today, whatever.”

“No sweat, take care. Love you kiddo.”

“You too Tones”

Katie dropped her phone onto the couch and sighed. Time to tackle Steve. She unzipped her combat boots, shucked them off and headed up the stairs. She gently opened the bedroom door and saw Steve, hair damp from the shower, led on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“Hey.” She crawled onto the bed next to him and propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at him.

“Hi.” He rolled his head to accept the kiss she offered as she reached a hand up to twine in the hair at the top of his head. “I’m sorry.” He leaned into her hand like a dog seeking attention. Katie opened her arms to let Steve snuggle into them, like a child, as she rolled onto her back, his head laying on her chest as her hand continued to tangle in his hair.

“Do you think we’re wasting our time? Looking for him?” Steve asked after a moment.

Katie hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “Bucky has been brainwashed and tortured by HYDRA for longer than I’ve been alive. It’s going to take more than saving you from the river to bring back the man you knew” she took a deep breath “I think we’re going to struggle chasing someone as resourceful as he is when he doesn’t want to be found. And we may have another problem…”

“Like what?” He asked, frowning at her.

“I just spoke to Tony. J has been going through the info that we pulled from the servers. Apparently there’s a list of 4 secret Hydra bases that no one knew about, not even Fury, that didn’t go down when we took out SHIELD.”

Steve let out a groan “So now I have to choose, between Bucky and taking down what remains of Hydra…”

Katie kissed his head sympathetically as the turmoil raged within his brain. They couldn’t let Hydra get a foothold again. But he didn’t want to let Bucky down either.

“You know, going after Hydra might help.” Katie spoke softly “I mean, we have nothing other than vague ideas and supposition about where Bucky is or what he has planned next. We might find something along the way. In the meantime, Sam can keep working our current angle and line of thought.”

“You’re right.” he said after a pause “I’ve tried twice to bring these bastards down. I can’t let them slip through my fingers a third time.”

*****

“Gotta say Cap, you’re looking better than last time I saw you.” Tony grnned as they entered the lab in the tower.

“I feel it!” Steve smiled, shaking Tony’s hand.

“What you looking at?” Katie asked, nodding to the screen, taking in the map.

“Got JARVIS running a bit of an analysis on the bases we found out about. Terrain surrounding them, best places to land the jet, potential areas of weakness that kinda thing.” He said, “Could take a while but, best to be prepared with some form of plan I suppose.”

Katie turned to Steve, grinning, about to launch into a rendition of “Star Spangled Man with a Plan” but Steve gave her a filthy look, knowing full well what was going through her mind. She grinned at him innocently and he turned his attention back to Tony.

“Any news on the others?”

“Banner is due back at some point tomorrow. He’s at some kind of Scientist band camp…” Tony waved his hand. “Barton is on his way, but you already know that. As for Nat…well she said she’ll be here when she can…which just leaves Point Break to show, whenever he’s back from riding the rainbow road that is.”

“He’ll turn up.” Katie shrugged “If all else fails I’ll do what he told me to when we needed him.”

“Which was what?” Steve asked, looking at Katie, frowning. As if she knew how to contact him and hadn’t said anything…

“Stand on top of a tall building a shout.” she said, grinning. Steve gave a roll of his eyes as Tony snorted. “Although I think he may have been joking.”

“Maybe we should get him some kind of Bat Signal” Tony mused “but with a hammer instead of a bat.”

“No.” Katie shook her head and Tony pouted at her.

“Why do you always piss on my parade?”

“Because your parade is usually dumb. Look we’re gonna go upstairs and unpack a few things.”

“Sure.” Tony nodded. “Oh, happy said he’ll get your apartment in DC cleared over the next week, and I thought we could go for something to eat tonight. Do the whole…” he waved his hand in a circle motion as he looked back at the screen, “fmily thing.

“Sounds great.” Katie smiled, looking at Steve who nodded, thankful of something ‘normal’ to look forward to, and the pair of them made to leave.

“By the way, I renovated the living floors so your Penthouse has had a bit of a facelift.” Tony said. Katie stopped and turned to face him.

“What do you mean facelift?” She frowned “I liked my floor…”

“Yeah but when I did the rooms for everyone else they got new furniture so I ordered you some too. If you don’t like it you can change it, no big deal. I didn’t change the décor to much…I know how much of a princess you are about people touching your stuff”

“Princess here technically owns forty percent of this tower so…” She flicked him the finger and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah…there’s a spare suite for you anyway Spangles opposite Thor’s, you know, just in case you get pissed off with her. No one would blame you if you did…”

“You’re a dick.” She rolled her eyes at her brother and turned back towards the elevator.

In all fairness Katie did actually quite like the changes Tony had made. Her penthouse spanned the entire floor below Tony’s whilst everyone else shared a floor a couple of levels down with another Avenger. Perks of ownership, after all. There was a new coffee and cream coloured L shaped sofa in the room, a walnut coffee table replaced the glass one that had been there, and a brand new HD OLED TV adorned the wall opposite, along with a media system. A state of the art sound system was installed and the kitchen was completely new and had been knocked through to the dining area giving them a huge open plan space similar to the layout of the apartment in DC. There was frankly the biggest bed Steve had ever seen in the bedroom and the furniture was sleek, with a slightly smaller TV adorning the wall opposite the bed. The en-suite now sported his and hers sinks along with a double shower, a corner spa tub and there was a smaller bathroom just off the hallway along with another bedroom, a study and a balcony spanned the entire length of the floor, which was accessible from the main bedroom and the kitchen-diner. It overlooked the New York skyline and contained a small patio area and a hot-tub along with some outside furniture.  But true to his word, Tony had kept the colour scheme. Different shades of blue throughout the bedroom, steel grey in the kitchen and warm coffee and walnut colours in the lounge.

Steve loved it.

As promised, late that evening, the two of them accompanied Pepper and Tony out for dinner. They had gone to Anatolia’s, an Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Brooklyn much to Steve’s delight. It had been a really nice evening, the 4 drinking and eating far too much but as Tony had pointed out, things were about to get a little bit crazy so who knew when the next time they would get chance to relax and socialise was.

“Other than your 30th that is.” he said, looking at Katie over his wine.

“So there is something planned…” she grinned.

“Maybe.” Steve shrugged. Oh, he had something planned alright. He’d spoken to Tony about it a week or so ago, the Inventor gleefully agreeing with his idea.

“Man, my little sis is turning 30 in 3 weeks…I feel so old.” Tony continued to grumble.

 “You are!” she teased.

“Yeah but not as old as your boyfriend…”

“Well done, you almost went a full evening without mentioning it.” Steve dead panned, folding his arms.

“You know he’s technically younger than me, Tones.” Katie said “

“What?” Steve looked at her, “How do you work that out.”

“You were born in July 1918 right, went into the ice in, what, March 1945?”

“Yeah…”

“Woke up in May 2012. So when you count how many years you spent actually awake and living, and not taking a cold nap, you’re really only 29 this time round.”

“So Captain America is your toy-boy?” Pepper giggled. Katie shrugged and took a sip of her wine as Tony and Steve looked at one another, both of them wearing expressions of bewilderment.

“Wait, does this mean we can throw a Happy 97 minus 67 party for Spangles next year?” Tony grinned and Steve let out a groan.

“See what you’ve done?” he looked at Katie with exasperation, and she just shrugged.

The night ended with a few drinks in a bar before a car picked them up and the couples both bid each other goodnight before going their separate ways

“That was proper pizza.” Steve said as they walked out of the elevator into their living area, the panel sliding in place leaving the door hidden.

Katie laughed as JARVIS gently flipped on the ambient lighting.  “Well you certainly enjoyed it…getting through 2”

“Yeah, think the last 3 slices were a mistake” he mumbled as she headed into the kitchen. “They’re sitting in me like a brick.”

“Awwww poor baby!” she mocked thickly. “Getting so old you can’t even have a few slices without indigestion.”

“Hey, I’m younger than you, remember?” He laughed as Katie pulled 2 beers out of the fridge handing him one as she glided past him to flop onto the couch.

“I’m gonna regret pointing that out, aint i?” She laughed as Steve nodded.

*****

Katie had a meeting with her Editors and New Business department the next morning and Steve had a job of his own, a different mission that he was fucking nervous as hell about. He asked JARVIS where Tony was, who located him in the large, open plan main common room area of the tower, the one Loki and the Hulk had decimated 2 years previously.

“Tony you got a minute?”

“S'up Cap?”

Steve took a deep breath “I err…” his palms suddenly felt sweaty. “You know I love Katie and…" He cleared his throat before he looked Tony square in the eye, surprised to find the man watching him, warmth across his features.  “She’s the most important thing in my life, and I…well, I wanted to ask for your permission, to ask her to marry me.”

“My permission?” Tony quipped.

“Well I’d normally ask her dad but…”

Tony smiled and glanced down at hands before he looked back at the blonde haired man stood besides him. “You gonna do better than a ‘we can get married if you want’ outside your apartment door?”

Steve let out a sigh and shook his head “she told you about that?”

“In the hospital” Tony smiled.

“Not my finest moment” Steve rubbed at his temple.

“Oh I dunno.” Tony said pushing off the front of the Bar area where he had been leaning. “Given the fact you were inches from death she was pretty upset at the fact she told you to come back with a Tiffany special…”

Steve smiled.

“You got one yet?” Tony asked. “A ring I mean.”

“No.” Steve shook his head.

“Well it just so happens I know one of the consultants at Tiffany.” Tony smiled, and Steve looked at him, his face creeping into a smile as he knew that this was Tony’s confirmation he was giving him his blessing. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll make a call.“

The two men looked at one another, sharing a silent moment of respect before Tony reached out with his hand and Steve shook it, a shit-eating-grin spreading across his handsome features.

“Oh fuck this, come on Spangles, bring it in. I’m secure enough in my sexuality to hug another man.” Tony sniffed, and Steve stood up off the bar stool with a chuckle, the men exchanging a quick embrace, punctuated by a lot of back slapping.

“For what it’s worth…” Tony smiled as he stepped back, his eyes shining with emotion. “You make her happy, you treat her right, you put her first and I’ve never seen anyone metaphorically slap her back into place as well as you do….sorry, lot of dust in here…” he wiped at his suddenly watering eyes, water that may or may not have been tears before he took a breath and looked at Steve again “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather grant permission to.”

Steve smiled, his own eyes shining with emotion.

“And I’m pretty sure you’d have gotten it off dad too.” Tony nodded at him and Steve looked at the floor for a second before he glanced back up at him, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you Tony.”

*****

“What is this?” Thor’s voice was loud. “I can’t see them…”

“No you turn it…hang on”  The 4 Avengers in the lab looked at one another, Tony grinning from ear to ear as Jane was trying to explain how to use the video call facility on her phone.

“He’s worse than you!” He grinned up at Steve who merely rolled his eyes as Bruce stifled a grin.

Eventually Thor’s face, or rather his left nostril filled their screen and all of them urged him to move the phone away. Finally he did so, and his handsome face beamed down at us all.

“Greetings!” he smiled “It is good to see you all again, Little Stark you look as radiant as ever.” “Thanks Thor!” Katie laughed as besides her Steve bristled a little bit. 

“Jane says you need my help.”

“Yeah, we got a job Point Break.” Tony said.

“Is this to do with SHIELD and Hydra?” the God’s deep voice rumbled.

“You know about that?” Katie asked.

“Of course, it was all over the news. I watch that now, with Jane” he said, a glint in his eyes, “But that reminds me, I have a bone to pick with both you and the Captain…”

Steve frowned and looked at Katie, the pair of them sharing a glance before they looked back at the screen.

 “I saw you both on the television fighting SHIELD alongside the Birdman…” Thor continued, ignoring Katie and Steve’s laughter as they both thought of Sam’s face if he could hear that nickname, “Why didn’t you call me? You know how much I love fighting.”

“They didn’t send for me either…” Tony said, putting his hand up.

“Call you, do you have a cell phone?” Katie looked at Thor.

“No, what for?”

She didn’t reply, instead she looked away trying not to laugh at the perplexed look on the God’s face

“We have a lot of loose ends to tie up.” Steve spoke, steering the conversation back to the purpose in hand. “Not all of Hydra went down when we took SHIELD out.”

Thor’s face split into a grin. “More fighting?”

“More fighting.” Tony said, as Banner let out a small sigh.

“Why is there always fighting?”

They explained the basics of what was going on to Thor, before he promised to join them as soon as he could and then Banner headed off to shower and to unpack following his trip.

“I’m going to head to the office for a few hours.” Katie said. Steve nodded.

“Tony and I have stuff to do.” he said simply, but met her gaze with a passive one of his own as she glanced at him, arching her eyebrow.

“Ohh…I get it…” she grinned, “You’re sorting my birthday surprise. Cute.” As she turned to go she walked straight into the desk behind her, jabbing the corner harshly into her thigh.

“You alright?” Steve asked, trying but failing to hide the chuckle in his voice at her clumsiness.

“Thanks for your genuine concern.” She grumbled, instantly rubbing where the sharp corner had dug into her. “Shit, that hurt…Jesus fucking Christ…”

"Ooooh, hey. You kiss Spangles with that mouth?” Tony raised an eyebrow at her

“Yes, Tony, I kiss him all over with that mouth.” She glared at him as she rubbed her thigh. “Every inch of –”

Tony clapped his hands over his ears. “Lalalalalalalalala! I can’t hear you!”

Once Katie was out of earshot, Tony turned to Steve “You get it?”

He nodded, holding up his mother’s ring that he had managed to slip of when Katie was sleeping.

“Alright, let’s go.”

They drove the short distance into Manhatten, and Tony parked his car up in a private space behind the department store they were visiting. Steve followed him into the store where they were greeted by a small, grey haired mousy looking man dressed in an immaculate 3 piece suit.

“Mr Stark, Captain Rogers.”

“Hi Robert.” Tony smiled at him, clapping Steve on the shoulder “Take good care of him, he’s shitting himself.”

Steve sighed and shook his head but the inventor had already wandered off to the other side of the store, examining something in one of the glass cases.

“It’s perfectly understandable to be nervous, it’s a big thing.” Robert smiled, gesturing for Steve to follow him. He did, as they walked across the store to a small room at the back. Steve walked in and dropped into a seat. “So, do you have anything specific in mind?” 

Steve took a deep breath, “Something elegant, but flashy enough to be special, I’ve no idea really, other than she prefers white gold to yellow.”

Robert smiled at him, “White gold or platinum. Ok. Any idea on the cut of diamond?”

“Princess.” Steve said, smiling. That he did know, from way before they were even dating.

“Oh my god!” Katie said, looking at the gossip magazine Natasha was reading, as Steve peered up at them from the seat behind his desk. “That’s fucking hideous.”

Natasha snorted “20 carat apparently.”

“Who the fuck needs a 20 carat ring?” Katie shook her head.

“I dunno, not something Tony would buy for Pepper?”

“Nah he isn’t that tacky.” she shook her head “And I’d kick his ass, it’s so…garish.”

“I don’t think the cut helps” Nat said, holding the magazine up “It’s a Brilliant, so looks a bit..”

“Shit?” Katie offered and the girls laughed “Seriously, if I ever have a man who’s ready to propose you better tell him it’s Princess or bust…”

He and Robert chatted for a few moments, Steve assuring him that the budget was healthy, whilst the man headed off into the store and came back with a few options set on a blue velvet tray of sorts. Steve’s eyes were instantly drawn to one in the middle. It was held a large diamond and was set into an elaborate clasp which melted into the band which was studded with smaller diamonds.

“Ahh yes.” Robert smiled as Steve picked it up “That’s one of my favourites. It’s a Tiffany Novo…”

“Sorry, did you say Nova?” Steve’s head jerked up, a smile on his face.

“Novo, Captain.”

Close enough Steve thought as he grinned.

“Princess cut with a Pave set Diamond band in platinum. That one’s a 2.05 carat, but we can do it smaller.”

“No, this one is perfect.” Steve smiled, looking at him.

“Well, that was easy…” Robert quipped and Steve nodded, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah…” he let out a chortle of a laugh, “you had me at Novo.”

Robert frowned, but didn’t ask for an explanation. “That one there is Sixty-Six thou…”

“Holy shit.” Steve exclaimed, before hastily apologising for his outburst. He knew he had said he had a decent budget but…

“However, Captain, seeing as it’s you, I can shave twenty percent off that, leave my commission.” he man smiled as Steve began to protest “And offer you a further ten percent for Tony being a regular customer.”

“I couldn’t…”

“You guys saved my daughter’s life in New York.” Robert looked at him, smiling softly “She was in the bank.”

Steve took a deep breath and shrugged, a faint flush on his cheeks. “Just doing my job.”

“So am I. So we’ll call it forty, and I’ll throw in an extra eighteen months care package. So she can bring it in to be cleaned, repaired should anything happen to it over the next three years.”

Steve hesitated, it was a lot of money. He knew he had enough, more than enough. His wages from SHIELD had been generous, plus his Army back pay that Katie and Fury had secured for him had been piling up and earning interest, but he still wasn’t used to being able to just flash it around. Plus now he wasn’t technically earning either…but the more he looked at it, the more he just knew it was right. 

And she was worth far more to him than anything money could buy.

“I’ll take it.” He nodded, decision made.

He handed Robert his Ma’s ring, which Katie had had resized to fit properly and Robert nodded, smiling as he slid it onto a measuring cone.

“You’re in luck Captain. We have one that size in stock so you can take it away today. Whilst we’re here, would you like me to give this one a polish?”

“Oh, err, yeah, great.”

He shook hands with the man and headed back into the store where Tony was now leaning over a cabinet, talking to a blonde haired assistant. He pointed at a necklace with an obscene price tag, and she nodded, picking it up and turning around.

“Something for Pep.” he said, gesturing to the gift as he nodded at Steve. “You know, just because.” he frowned “That was fast.”

“Found the perfect one.” Steve smiled “It’s called a Novo”

“Nova?” Tony looked at him, eyebrow raising as he smirked.

“No, Novo…although that’s what I heard too at first.” Steve laughed.

“Huh.” Tony said, as Robert approached them. He opened the box he was holding and reached in for the ring, setting it down on a velvet tray again to show to the men. It was even brighter in the store lights than in the room. Steve heard Tony whistle at the side of him.

“That’s a rock and a half Cap.”

“She’s worth it.” he shrugged, simply. “I just hope she likes it.”

“If she doesn’t we can exchange.” Robert said, as he finished his inspection and after making himself happy the ring was perfect he boxed it up and handed it to Steve in a Tiffany bag.

“Cap, you could propose with a ring pull and she’d say it was perfect.” Tony smiled.

“Now you tell me.” Steve said, handing over his credit card.

*******

“Shit, shit, shit…” Katie was panicking. Her ring was gone. Steve’s Ma’s ring. The one he had given to her at Christmas. The only real thing he had of his mom left. She’d ransacked the bedroom, living room, her office. “No,no…”

She made her way back into the kitchen, looking everywhere, before she headed into the bathroom. Nothing. She collapsed onto the closed toilet seat, her head in her hands as she began to cry when she heard the elevator door open.

Steve stopped as he walked into the living room, frowning at the utter chaos that greeted him. Cushions were all over the place, drawers in the large unit were flung open. Immediately he went on the defensive, knowing it was ridiculous as there was no way anyone could have gotten in here, but still…

“Katie?” he called. Katie’s head jerked up and she wiped her eyes

“Bathroom.” she said back, and he could tell from her tone something was wrong.

“Doll, what’s going on?” He strode into the bedroom and then stepped into the large en-suite. She’d been crying. “Baby?” he crouched in front of her.

“I…I’m so sorry…” Her voice cracked. “But your mom’s ring… I can’t…”

Steve felt a sudden pang of guilt, she was distraught, thinking she had lost it. He hadn’t thought of that.

“No, sweetheart, it’s ok, I’ve got it.”

“You do?” she frowned.

“Yeah.” he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled it out. “I was looking at it when you were asleep last night and thought it could do with a bit of a clean-up so I took it off and Tony took me to a place Pepper takes hers…”

Katie looked at the ring, before she felt her anger simmer over.

“You complete ass Steven Grant Rogers!” she yelled, hitting him in the chest “I’ve spent the last 3 hours out of my mind with worry…”

“I know, I should have told you but I wanted it to be a surprise.” Steve lied, hoping to god for once she wouldn’t see through it “I’m so sorry!”

She snatched it off him, returning it to its home and she glared at him, before looking down at it.

“Well, it does look nice and shiny” she said, admiring it and Steve let out a sigh of relief “Don’t touch my stuff.”

“Your stuff?” he looked at her as she wiped at her face.

“Yes, my stuff.” she repeated petulantly. “You gave it to me, remember. It’s mine.”

He was about to laugh and call her a brat, when there was a loud clap of thunder and a flashing of bright white light, punctuated by various rainbow colours, outside the bedroom window and they both turned their heads to look at it.

“Thor!” Katie said, jumping up and beaming.

“Am I forgiven?” Steve asked, rising to his feet. She turned and looked at him, rolling her eyes at the injured puppy dog eyes he was giving her.

“Pull another stunt like that again and I’m imposing a sex ban for a week.”

“Yes Ma’am.” he grinned, giving her a peck on the lips.

****

Thor’s arrival spurred the Avengers into getting down to some real planning, and when Clint arrived that day too, bringing with him the news that Natasha would be with them by the middle of June- she was on some kind of trip with Fury-those of them present began to take all the information they had, planning their first raid on one of the uncovered Hydra bases, this one being on the outskirts of Seattle.

“Your call Cap.”  Tony looked at Steve, his jaw was twitching as he turned over the pros and cons of hitting the base whilst they were still one down on the team. Eventually he made his decision and looked around the team.

 Suit up…” he said, straightening up “Wheels up in 20”

Behind him Banner groaned.

He needn’t have worried though, there was no need for a code green. In fact, it was a bit of a damp squib. There were minimum guards to take out and all in all it was relatively easy. There were also no computers, just a truck load of paper files which they meticulously boxed up and loaded onto the jet.

Over the next two weeks they hit the remaining unknown basis that they had discovered, and every one of them was the same. They were clearly never used as main strongholds, more like storage facilities if anything. Steve was frustrated, Katie knew that. But as she and Tony pointed out to him, they had a hell of a lot of information to comb through. They liaised with Fury, who had nothing new to add, other than that he would be in touch if his team needed help about the remaining bases in Europe.

As such they spent most of their time filtering through the information they had gotten from the bases, along with the boxes of files that Fury and Hill had pulled from SHIELD. Banner and Katie (when she wasn’t working) set up a simple filing system as they went along, cataloguing each bit of paper information so they knew where to find it in future, and could add to it as they went along.

There wasn’t much to go on, they didn’t find any new information, and nothing on Bucky, but there was one name that continued to crop up time and time again.

“Baron Von Strucker…” Katie said to the team which was congregated in the lab. “I’ve gone through the information available, including what was dumped on the internet when we released all the files…it isn’t pretty reading.”

Clint lounged with his feet up on the desk munching some popcorn. He offered it round and Tony took a hand full.

“Not likely to be where Hydra is involved.” he said, leaning against a desk, chucking the popcorn in his mouth.

Steve who had been flicking through a file clucked slightly with his tongue and shook his head “Says here he trained with Jasper Sitwell at the Preparatory Academy.”

Tony began choking and at first Katie thought it was reaction to the fact that Hydra had an academy but she soon realised, as he was pointing at Clint with a disgusted expression on his face that it was the popcorn. She grinned- Clint like his popcorn laced with cayenne pepper.

“What is wrong with butter and salt?” Tony gasped as Clint explained what was on the corn through his laughter. Thor reached over curiously and took a handful before declaring, much to Clint’s annoyance, that he enjoyed the spicy snack.

“He had his fingers in a lot of SHIELD pies” Katie continued “He was running the SHIELD STATION, which is the Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network, an R&D facility which was established to conduct investigations on the material retrieved from the ground during the battle of New York, you know, the shit Fury said he had destroyed?”

“Alright.” Steve nodded “Dig up what you can on it and then we’ll go from there. From the sounds of it he seems like the one we should be focussing on.”

Katie nodded.

“But not tonight.” Tony said, looking at Steve “I think we deserve a break, especially seeing as it’s someone’s 30th tomorrow.”

The room cheered and Katie rolled her eyes “Yeah yeah…don’t remind me.”

*****

Katie woke the next morning to soft kisses peppering the side of her neck and a deep burn growing at her centre as she was slowly pulled to consciousness. She let out a low moan and felt the lips at her throat spread into a sly smile

“You dreaming about me?” her Soldier whispered.

She bit her lip, arching her back and leaned into him as his hand splayed on her stomach, pulling her closer before she felt his fingers sliding down gently to the space between her legs. She didn’t say a word, she couldn’t. It was all she could do to simply groan as he gently pushed two fingers inside her, before he moved to massaging her spot. She pulled her legs together suddenly, thighs tightening as the muscles in her core clenched.

“You want more?” he asked, voice slow and deep.

She nodded eagerly, moving so that she was lay on her back and finally opened her eyes.

Steve gently moved, so his knee was positioned between her legs, sliding his T-shirt over her head before one hands moved up her body, tracing her ribs before he started to caress her breast, the other fingers continued to stroke inside, making her groan more and more. He placed a soft kiss on her jawline and smiled at her.

“Happy birthday, Gorgeous.”

His words undid her, and she let out a sound that was halfway between a gasp and a squeal, feeling for him under the sheets “Steve…” Every inch of her was on fire and he wanted him. “Please…” she begged, her voice catching as he moved over on top of her fully, shoving his boxers down and she let out a long shaky moan as he entered her.

“Good?” he asked, his breath a whisper and she nodded eagerly as he began to move. His thrusts were slow but deep and powerful, every roll of his hips sent his pelvis rocking up against her spot.

It didn’t take long at all, she was so close already and Steve watched her face, not wanting to miss the moment.

“Fuck…” Her head completely dropped backwards as her core spasmed again and then she came, hard, her orgasm rolling over her in such a way it had her clinging to Steve, crying out a strangled cry as he too reached his peak, her name tumbling from his lips.

The minutes passed as they lay curled in silence, completely blissed out and relaxed, hearing only each other’s gradually steadying breaths.

Steve’s hand gently stroked the arm that was draped over his abdomen before he gently moved her to one side, sitting up. He had things to do.

“Hey…” she began to protest before he smiled.

“I’m going to make you breakfast”

“You are?”

“Of course, it’s your birthday” He chuckled, from the edge of the bed where he was pulling on a pair of sweats.

"Pancakes,” she muttered hopefully.

He laughed. “Yup,” he said before lowering his lips onto hers. They shared a long, deep kiss that left them grinning like idiots as he pulled away, hopping off the bed and pulling on a t-shirt before leaving the room.

Katie stretched out and glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. It was half 9. A perfectly reasonable time to wake up on her birthday. And the best bit was, she had an entire day of being a spoilt birthday brat ahead of her! Steve was taking her to Coney Island in the afternoon, he had been dying to take her back to Brooklyn for ages and they’d picked today to go after the team had decided to take a break from the non-stop research and missions. Then later in the evening there was some form of meal booked, although where she had absolutely no idea. She’d been trying to catch everyone out about it for weeks but failed, miserably.

She was just about to get out of bed and into the shower when she heard her phone vibrating on the nightstand beside her bed. She reached over for it, and rolled her eyes. It was Tony.

“Happy birthday kiddo! How does it feel to be officially old?”

“You still got fourteen years on me, you dick!” she said, grinning before she yawned slightly “Why are you ringing me when you’re, what? A floor away?”

“Wasn’t sure if you’d be up or not.”

“Well there’s no worries on that account as for my birthday Steve got me a new alarm clock.”

“An alarm clock?” Tony said, his tone flat

“Yeah.” she said, biting her lip as she fought to keep myself from laughing “His penis.”

There was a pause “That’s gross.” Tony groaned and Katie laughed as he continued to complain “I mean it’s bad enough knowing that you two…you know, without being given some form of mental image like that…”

“Oh quit your whining!” she grinned “When you bringing me my present?”

“Ah well, you’ll have to come get it, it’s a bit big.”

“Big?” I said “It’s not a 16 foot teddy bear is it?”

It was his turn to laugh “No, although, speaking of big, stuffed animals, what did Cap actually get you?”

“You’re hilarious, and I’ve no idea. He’s making me breakfast at the moment.”

 “More sausage?” he said sardonically.

“Pancakes, actually” she replied “Which is why I need to go and have a shower before he eats them all himself…”

“Alright, come up when you’re ready…” he said. “Not going anywhere…”

By the time she made her way into the large open plan living area, Steve had already completed 2 stacks of pancakes (his miles bigger than hers), a plate of bacon and was just setting 2 glasses of orange juice down on the breakfast bar in front of the 2 plates. He looked up and smiled, she was dressed casually for a day at the fair, tight jeans, boots and long white top, over which she wore an open beige half-sleeved cardigan, and her hair was pulled up into a high, messy pony tail. She looked beautiful as ever.

“You look lovely.” He said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she sat down. “So, how does it feel to be old?” He could barely get the words out without laughing, and she simply shook her head at his poor attempt at a joke

“You’re such a jerk!” She rolled her eyes, as he grinned.

They ate breakfast, and then like the big child she was she demanded to know where her presents were so Steve took her hand and led her into the living room where they were laid out on the coffee table.

She opened her gifts one by one, a few items of clothing, a pair of earrings, a new set of wireless earphones that she had mused over buying and then decided not to, a gorgeous white and rose gold diamond bracelet and a leather bound edition of the Wizard of Oz book to replace the one she had lost in Malibu.

“I saw that and couldn’t resist.” He grinned, as she grinned back “oh and here…”

This was the big one. He held out the envelope and Katie looked at him, gently taking it before she slid a finger under the top to rip it open. Steve watched as she pulled out the piece of paper and for the second time that morning her mouth dropped open in surprise. It was a print out of an itinerary leaving the 30th November and returning on the 14th December, with the locations being cities in Europe- Munich, Paris, Venice, Bruges, Dublin and London.

“2 nights in each…3 in London” Steve said as she glanced up at him, unable to speak “I didn’t know what else to do and I know you’ve wanted to go back to Europe for ages, and how much you love Christmas and the markets and stuff…”

“Oh my god, Steve… ” She glanced down at the paper, finally finding her voice. “This is amazing! I don’t know what to say.” Steve felt the familiar pink tinge growing around his cheeks before she threw her arms around him, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He smiled and then kissed her head before he pulled away. “Shall we go and see what outrageously flashy present Tony has for you?”

“Do you know what is is?” she asked.

“I might do…” he smiled as she stood up. There was no might about it. He knew what it was. And he knew she was going to lose her shit about it.

The two of them made their way up to Tony’s main living floor, her hand in his.

“You now I’m excited to finally take you to Coney Island.” He smiled as the door to the elevator shut.

“Excited?”

"Yeah, it’s just I watched Bucky take so many dates around there and I spent most of my time wondering when I was gonna’ get to take my own gal.” He admitted, bashfully.

"God, you’re adorable,” she smiled at him as the doors opened.

“Happy birthday!” Both Tony and Pepper chimed and she grinned, stepping out and into Pepper’s arms before Tony swept her into a hug.

“Well I don’t see any huge stuffed toys so…” she looked around and Pepper snorted.

“I talked him out of it.”

Tony handed her a small box and Katie looked at him.

“This isn’t big.”

“Brat.” Tony rolled his eyes and she smirked. She pulled the ribbon of the box, took the lid off and stared at the content inside. And as it dawned on her what it was she looked up at him, then to Steve, who was watching her, an amused expression on her face, then back at the box her eyes wide.

“You didn’t?” she looked up at her brother, her mouth dropping open.

Tony shrugged “Well you buried your Range Rover and gave away the Audi so…”

She looked at him for a split second before she squealed, threw herself at her brother and then turned on her heels, running.

Steve and Tony both watched her go before they turned to one another and followed her.

“You ready?” Tony asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Steve nodded.

“Huh.” Tony nodded.

“Ready for what?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, they’re going to Coney Island.” Tony said as they headed down in the elevator, waving away her question.

Way ahead of them Katie burst into the parking lot and skidded to a halt. There, in all its glory was her own brand new Chevrolet Camero Exorcist, the car she had dreamed of since she was a teenager. It was gorgeous. Deep blue with cream leather interior. She unlocked it and sat in the driver’s seat, taking in the smell. The head rests were stitched with the Stark Industries logo and the dash was awash with every single button and function you could imagine.

“Fire it up.” a voice said, and Tony looked at her through the open driver’s side door. She did as she was told and grinned at the beautiful growling noise it made and squealed, feeling the leather of the steering wheel.

She turned to Steve who was stood leaning slightly on the door watching her.

“Hop in soldier!” she grinned, and he smirked, walking to the passenger side.

“Have fun…” Tony said, before he turned to Steve and looked at him, giving him a significant nod and a clap on the shoulder. Steve smiled back and then sank into the leather seat. He had to admit the car was nice. Katie pulled out of the space and gave a groan that was far too arousing than it should have been.

“Oh my god…” she murmured, as she pulled onto the street. The car purred and handled like a dream. As she put her foot down it sped forward, throwing them both back in the seat.

“Easy baby!” Steve chuckled as she laughed, speeding over Brooklyn Bridge. “You’re gonna get a ticket…”

She shrugged, not actually caring at that point.

*****

Steve wound up, pitching the ball which sliced through the bottles on the stall diagonally, knocking them completely off their pedestal and sending the ball through the back of the canvas booth as it ripped a hole clean through it. Steve bit his lip, not realising how hard he had thrown it and turned to look at Katie. She was doubled over, laughing at the look on his face, and then laughed even harder at the expression on the attendants face as he glanced from Steve to the bottles on the floor, to the hole in the canvas and back again.

“Which one do you want?” Steve asked, placing his arm around her as the attendant indicated for her to pick a toy.

“I think I’ll have that one…” she said, pointing to a brown bear that was dressed in a Captain America outfit, complete with helmet and shield.

Steve shot her a look and she held out her hands, protesting her innocence. “What?”

“Good choice ma’am” the attendant said, handing over the bear “He’s an all American hero is our Captain.”

“That he is.” She grinned “He’s incredibly handsome too I believe.” 

Steve cut her off as he thanked the man before steering her away as he checked his watch. They had about an hour before they needed to get back. 

“Come on, let’s take a walk.”

He led them both down to the sea front, pausing to get a hot dog each, and they walked, eating in comfortable silence. The sun was still warm in the sky, the sea was by their side and Katie was lost in her own little world until she realised Steve wasn’t besides her. She turned to look for him, wondering where he was and then spotted him a few yards behind her, crouched on one knee on the well-worn wooden slats of the boardwalk.

“I told you I was gonna ask you properly one day.” He cleared his throat, looking up at her with those blue eyes she loved so much as he held out his hand, opening the small box that was inside. The sun bounced off the surface of the ring and she couldn’t see it fully but she clamped her hands over her mouth. “I know we were a little too late to be each other’s firsts, well in some ways anyway…” he said, and Katie let out a choked giggle. “But I want all my lasts to be with you. Will you marry me, sweetheart?”

“And I told you I’d say yes one day!” She said, her voice cracking with emotion as she removed her hands shakily from her mouth and nodded. “Yes. Yes of course I’ll marry you.”

A few of the by-standers who had been watching started cheering as Steve jumped up, everything around him bar his girl faded to nothing as she threw herself into his arms. He picked her up, laughing like an idiot, his strong arms round her as he twirled her round, the pair of them sharing fast, rapid dizzying pecks on the lips as he held her off the floor. Eventually he set her on her feet, an utterly stupid grin plastered on his face as he looked at her, a grin that wasn’t going to fade any time soon.

“Do I errr have to put it on myself?” She spluttered a laugh, raising an eyebrow.

“What, oh, yeah, right…” he said, stepping back and removing the ring from its home, fumbling slightly before he managed to get it out, holding it in his right hand, but before he could do anything else she grabbed his left hand which contained the box before he could slip it back into his pocket.

“You bought me a Tiffany?” She almost shrieked as she looked at the distinctive blue-green box in her hand.

“Yeah, and if you give me a second you can see it.” Steve chuckled at her. Biting her lip she held out her left hand and he slid the ring onto her finger and she let out a loud gasp.

“Stevie, it’s beautiful.” She whispered, looking at it before she took his face in both her hands. “I love it.”

“I love you.” he murmured into their kiss. He grinned and dropped and arm round her shoulder as they made their way back down the boardwalk, back to the car, Katie’s eyes almost permanently transfixed on her ring.

“You definitely like it?” Steve asked, suddenly feeling nervous as he nodded to her hand

“It’s perfect, but how did you know?” she looked up at him as they reached the other side of the road

“Do the words, ‘big, fuck off Tiffany diamond’ ring any bells?” he looked at her, referencing their conversation outside his flat a few months ago.

“Not about the tiffany.” she shook her head “But the cut. It’s a princess one, the one I’ve always wanted.

“I have a good memory” he smiled, “And I picked that particular one because its a design called a Novo. I thought he said Nova at first.”

Katie laughed as she snaked her arms round his neck. “For the record, this was much a much better proposal than we can get married if you want….”

“Are you ever gonna let me forget that?” he sighed as he leaned down.

“I think you’ve redeemed yourself…” she said as her lips met his.

****

“Tony suggested we have a drink before we meet everyone.” Steve stepped into the elevator and Katie looked at him before she smoothed down her white dress.

“So where are we meeting everyone?”

“It’s a surprise, stop being so impatient.”

“Errr. You can’t tell me off, it’s my birthday.”

“Well stop asking so many questions and just enjoy your night!”

She didn’t get chance to reply as then the elevator doors opened onto the main party floor and there was a loud eruption of noise, making Katie jump.

“SURPRISE!”

Her mouth dropped open as she looked around the room. It was decorated in banners, balloons, and now paper streamers from the party poppers that had just been exploded by their friends. Clint, Thor, Bruce, Rhodey, Sam, Maria Hill, Tony, Pepper, Lawson, Evans, a whole host of people that worked in the offices and a familiar copper haired assassin stepped forward to greet her.

“Miss me?” Nat quipped.

 “I can’t…” Katie began to speak, as she hugged her friend back “Oh my God…”

“JARVIS can you record this?” she heard Tony speak. “For this is a monumental occasion. She’s actually speechless…”

Katie turned to look at Steve who had been watching her reaction with a smile on his face. He loved seeing her happy, and he was pretty sure he’d managed to achieve that several times over during the day.

“Did you organise this?” she asked

“Why do you sound so surprised?” he chuckled, stepping forward to kiss her cheek “I had a little help but yeah, it was my idea. Happy Birthday baby.”

Before she could reply Natasha suddenly spoke very loudly. 

“What is that?”

“What?” Katie asked, although she knew full well what Natasha was talking about.

“Errrr that?” She grabbed at Katie’s left hand.

The room fell silent.

“What does it look like?” Katie grinned at her

“Holy fucking shit.” Steve heard Clint chuckle as he slid his arm round his fiancées waist and the two of them exchanged a smile.

“We’re getting married” Steve grinned, finally tearing his eyes from Katie to look round the room. There was a pause and he locked eyes with Tony who winked at him before there was a flurry of noise and activity as everyone surged forward to congratulate them.

Tony reached them first and the two men shared a manly hug, which included lots of back slapping before he dropped a kiss to his sister’s cheek as Katie felt a hand grab hers. Natasha scrutinised her newest piece of jewellery before she looked up at Steve.

“You picked that all by yourself?” she looked up at Steve.

“I’m not completely useless” he rolled his eyes.

“I’m impressed Rogers,”

Sam clapped Steve on his back and as the two men began to banter, Tony pulled his sister into his side.

“Congratulations Kiddo.” He said, looking down at her hand “Looks even better on.”

“You’ve seen it?” She frowned.

“I may or may not have taken him to Tiffany’s…” Tony shrugged. “But I promise he picked it all by himself”

“So you knew he was gonna ask me?”

“He asked my permission.” Tony sniffed. “Well I might not be Dad but…”

Katie noticed his eyes were shining and she smiled at him as he continued.

“I want you to know,” Tony’s voice cracked slightly “I couldn’t be prouder of you, or love you more if you were my own.”

 “Stop it, you’re making me cry!” Katie exclaimed, the tears in her own eyes gently spilling out as he pulled her into huge hug and she pressed her face into his chest. Eventually she stepped back, the pair of them wiping their eyes and Tony took the opportunity of a distraction, turning to a waiter.

Steve, who had been watching the two siblings saw the emotional exchanged and he stepped forward, as Tony was yelling about champagne for a toast.

“You alright?” Steve asked, gently wiping a tear off her cheek before he slipped his arms around her waist.

“Never been happier.” she beamed, honestly, her hands winding round his neck “ I know I said last year was the best birthday ever but this has smacked it straight out of the park.”

“Glad to hear it.” he smiled, leaning down to kiss her “I love you.”

“God job, seeing as I’m gonna be your wife.” she teased, her hand tangling in the back of his hair.

“Yeah…” he said, the shit eating grin spreading across his face again as he contemplated the words. His wife. “Yeah, you are”

Chapter 19

**Original Posting**

[hello-yue-here]

About your atla ship songs, I have a couple of questions (sorry if my phrasing comes out wrong, english isn't my first language and I worry it might across as accidentally defensive): how did you end up with the choices for zukka, jetko and yuekka (note: I haven't seen the great comet, so feel free to obsess over it, I'm intrigued now and the hype is appreciated!)? Sidenote: I think the mailee choice is HILARIOUS and the tokka one just make me sad, I didn't expect to be attacked like this😭

kdjfha;s i love you im gonna obsess SO HARD over great comet now. you may regret this

this is gonna be so long so the rest is under the cut whoops

yuekka: no one else from great comet

where do i even begin. WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

okay so background information on this show: it's based off of a 76 oages excerpt from war and peace and its centered around a woman named natasha (and this guy pierre but he's irrelevant to this song so we wont worry about him) and natasha's bethrothed is off fighting in the war right now. she hasn't seen him in a while but she is in love with him.

every single lyrics of this song SCREAMS yuekka to me. the innocence and purity of their love. the love at first sight. and even the melancholy ending just- i go apeshit for this song. i love this song so much. and denee benton's voice??? kljsdhflwksugf please listen to this song if you haven't already. listen to the whole show. your life will be changed forever.

onto the lyrics (i stg this is ab to be the whole song whoops)

"the moon"

THOSE ARE THE FIRST WORDS ON THE SONG. natasha and andre (her bethrothed) met underneath the moonlight. Sokka and Yue first spoke to eachother at night and always met each other for their most intimate moments under the moonlight. also yue is LITERALLY the moon so like: right of the bat with those two words it's yuekka.

"and i saw your eyes / and i saw your smile / and the world opened wide"

sokka fell in love with yue the moment he saw her in the canal. she literally enchanted this motherfucker. everything about her made his heart go crazy. and 'the world opened wide' to me is from yue's perspective. Yue had never left the north pole and sokka had seen a good chuck of the world at the point. He took her on appa, he told her about his adventures. he saw the world yue wished to see and you know damn well that Sokka would have done anything to give it to her.

"oh the moon /oh the snow in the moonlight / and your childlike eyes and your distant smile / ill never be this happy again / you and i and no one else"

natasha sings fondly about the moon and the snow, seeing as it was where she fell in love with andre. yue and sokka LITERALLY fell in love in the same place: in the snowy nothern water tribe under the light of the moon. childlike eyes: THEYRE CHILDREN!!! distant smile: this is where it gets a little sad. theyre both children with way too many duties during a world that has known nothing but war for the past century. they want to be happy but yeah, theyre smiles are distant and far away because happiness seems out of reach for them most of the time. i'll never be this happy again: the moments yue and sokka shared together were probably the happiest either of them ever were. they were able to ignore the war and the world in the moments they shared together. and with no one else. no one else would be able to give each other this sense of peace and happiness and love.

"joy and life inside our souls / and no body knows just you and me / it's our secret"

Yue and Sokka had to sneak out in secret at night to go and see each other. Yue and Sokka couldn't be together for real because Yue was already engaged, but they were literally in love so she decided to see him anyways in secret. kasdjfhklasjd im losing my mind over them at this point.

"this winer sky / how can anyone sleep / there was never such a night before / i feel like putting my arms around my knees / and squeezing tight as possible / and flying away"

these are my FAVORITE lines in the entire song. yue and sokka had never felt this strongly about anyone before and that's why they are so drawn to each other. they had never experienced love before and they wanted to hold onto it for as long as they could even though they knew they couldnt. Sokka takes yue up on appa and she is wistful and wishes she could live like he does every day: ie flying away. oh my god these two deserved so much better. so much fucking better.

now for the saddes part. the saddest fucking part.

"maybe he'll come today / maybe he came already / and he's sitting in the drawing room / and i simply forgot"

natasha misses andre so intensely at this point. when i first listened to this show and heard this song i was like "wait a min... is andre like... dead?" and im sure i wasnt the only person who assumed that this was why natasha felt so sad by the end of such a beautiful song. (spoiler alert andre is fine)

but this line really exemplifies how sad natasha is, and hints at the fact that andre may never come back. it implies that their relationship is doomed (at least in my opinion) and that's all yuekka. Sokka misses yue intensely when shes gone. Yue accepted her fate almost immediately but sokka was in denial. he thought there had to be another way. but in the end it wasn't meant to be. and sokka will go on, loving yue, wishing for her back, even though it's not possible.

fuck im gonna cry.

zukka: all i've ever known- hadestown

"i was alone so long / i didn't even know that i was lonely / out in the cold so long / i didnt even know that i was cold"

sokka is from the swt so theres where the cold comes in. also in the gaang (initially) it was just him katara and aang. and katara and aang were much closer to each other than sokka was with aang and the two of them were benders so sokka was kind of an outsider with the two of them. He also represses a lot of his emotions and feels the need to do everything himself so i do see a lot of loneliness in sokka. and the fact that so many people in his life have left him (his mom, yue, his dad, suki briefly, etc...) he is known to keep people at an arms length. i see a lot of loneliness in sokka.

zuko's loneliness is a lot more obvious: he has literally been cast out and abandoned by everyone except iroh. and even then he still feels the need to be alone (remember zuko alone? thought so) these boys look after themselves and push others away and revel in their loneliness in order to keep themselves from getting hurt. at least in my opinion on canon and also some fanon because id be a liar if i said fanon didnt influence how i view ALL my ships (not just zukka)

"all ive ever known is how to hold my own / but now I wanna hold you too"

COME ONE MANNNN, they just wanna hold each other. theyre both very big protectors as well and kljhflkasdhg they wanna protect eachother like kljdhfl im gonna lose it rn.

"You take me in your arms / And suddenly there's sunlight all around me / Everything bright and warm / And shining like it never did before / And for a moment I forget / Just how dark and cold it gets"

SUNLIGHT SYMBOLISM. zuko is literally powered by the sun. i don't think i even NEED to elaborate on this one anymore lol. They find comfort in each other away from all of their trauma. when they're together nothing else matters and i personally love that for them. they both deserve love.

"I knew you before we met / And I don't even know you yet / All I know is your someone I have always known"

these two are extremely similar in canon. many parallels. older brothers overshadowed by their prodigy little sisters. longing to make their fathers proud (granted one dad is good and one is fuckin evil), both are pretty bad with emotions. both are seen protecting others before themselves (sokka protecting suki during the serpant's pass, sokka protecting toph on like multiple occassions, zuko protecting katara in the final agni kai), the list goes on. they know who the other is because they see themselves in the other person. they already know each other because they are each other (in a way, not entirely, but the similarities are strong in my opinion)

"I'm gonna hold you forever / The wind will never change on us / Long as we stay with each other / Then it will always be like this"

i just think this line is so cute and sweet (ignoring all the symbolism and foreshadowing that comes with the last line in the musical itself. im gonna pretend this is nothing but happy) and i think these boys deserve happiness so yeah. this song is zukka to me lol.

jetko: thrill of first love- falsettoes

if you've never listened to this song go an do it now. you will know INSTANTLY that it is jetko because of the dynamics alone. marvin and whizzer are pure jetko and i take no crticisms.

marvin and whizzer are both extremely stubborn, and they don't always get along, and they fight a lot, and they get mad at each other a lot, and they are both passionate as hell, and they will bring this passion into everything. they love each other that is without a doubt, but they arent perfect and they are once again stubborn and determined as fuck.

sound familiar? it's literally jetko.

the lyrics aren't what remind me of jetko, but the dynamic itself. the lyrics are too on the nose for a gay couple in 1970's america so that rlly cant apply to jetko all that much. but the way these two characters bounce off of each other and get annoyed with each other and argue with eachother reminds me of jetko. because let's be honest: these two are the most stubborn characters in the whole show. they will fight for what they believe and it will take literally everything to change their minds.

i love jetko but i think they would have petty arguments all the time and get aggravated by one another so easily. and this is even seen in canon: they work so fucking well together but they did not even HESITATE to fight one another after neither of them would give in and let the fight about whether jet was right or wrong about zuko being a firebender. like i cannot say it enough they are stubborn as fuck.

but underneath all that stubborn pettiness and bickering: marvin and whizzer still love each other. and jet and zuko would still love each other. because even though they are stubborn when it comes to arguments, they are even more stubborn and determined when it comes to each other. these two passionate motherfuckers are in love.

(now when i chose this song i decided to ignore the fact that this song literally spells out the fact that marvin and whizzer's relatinoship is doomed because they literally say passion dies. thats the difference between jetko and whizzer and marvin because i dont think passion dies. i chose this song strictly for the bickering lmao)

and i know you didnt ask about tokka but,,,,

i rlly wanna talk about the tokka one

so im going to

tokka: on my own- les mis

look. i KNOW this song is about unrequited love and i love tokka as a couple but,,, the unrequited love in this song just SCREAMS unrequited tokka to me so thats what i went with.

eponine is a girl who has neglectful parents who lives life by her own rules: toph. eponine is shown to be tough and confident and spunky to others but behind all of that she has emotions, she feels love, she hides her vulnerability so much: toph. she is in love with a guy she cant be with because he loves someone else: TOPH

eponine is toph to a t and toph is eponine to a t. this is not up for debate lmao

"without him i feel his arms around me"

toph is always seen grabbing onto someone (and its almost ALWAYS sokka) when she's somewhere where she can't use her feet to see. FEEL and ARMS cmon. look at it.

"and i know / i know that he is blind"

COME ON. IMAGINE TOPH SINGING THIS LINE. this line is already powerful enough in les mis but having toph, a blind character, sing it just makes the symbolism even deeper. toph sees the potential relationship they could have together. toph sees that sokka is oblivious to this. toph is not blind to the truth or the potention, but sokka is blind to her feelings. im about to lose my mind over this line.

"I love him / But every day I'm learning / All my life / I've only been pretending / Without me / His world will go on turning / A world that's full of happiness / That I have never known"

i need to sit down for a moment. toph grew up in a household where her parents did not understand her. she has learned to hide her true emotions and vulnerabilities from everyone. and its the fact that toph knows that she and sokka will never be together and the fact that she still loves him in spite of that is what makes this even more heartbreaking.

"but only on my own"

TOPH AND EPONINE SWEETIES I LOVE YOU

thank you for indulging my theatre kid nonsense. you are very sweet and kind and lovely and awesome and i hope you have a lovely day bestie :) <3

ask me why i think these songs go with these ships

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Friends to Lovers with Tony Stark

Tony Stark x reader

warnings:

a/n: i make bad decisions and then write immediately after, hope this didn’t absolutely suck

prompt: anonymous: “Headcanons going from best friends to lovers with Tony Stark”

meeting one another way back in the day, children on wildly weathly businessmen

actually forced to play together while your parents were in business meetings

you ended up resenting each other

mostly because every time you had to see each other, it got boring really fast

and your parents shit talked his parents constantly so you accepted that it should just be that way

YEARS later you and him reconnected when you attended MIT

“son of a bitch, what are the odds? tony goddamn stark”

“the odds aren’t in our favor, i guess”

not only were the two of you in assigned seats for the semester, you were also lab partners

but then you realized that you two were feuding for no reason and you actually enjoyed each others company

in this setting, your friendship thrived

“dude, i cant believe that we spent our entire childhood despising each other”

“yeah, y/n, you really missed out. i’m a motherfucking pleasure”

“oh, shut up, tony!”

pulling all nighters because the two of you get distracted by each others presence often

“y/n, try and catch the popcorn in your mouth. say ‘aaaahh’”

“oh, shit. wait, okay. ahhhhh” *throws popcorn and hits your eye* “wait, one more time!”

some wild nights on the town, occasionally stumbling back to your dorms after a few too many drinks

sometimes tony goes out on his own and calls you when he can’t make it home

“hh-ey se—” *burps* “sexy. could you maybeee, i dunno, i need some. some help getting home”

“same place as last time?”

“yeahh, that’s the place.” *hic* “im gonna throw up”

“i have the bucket in my backseat”

and yeah, he calls you sexy when he’s drunk, you just deal with it

he also forgets his keys a lot so thats a whole other mission for you

being bored as hell on school breaks because you have to go back to your families and hear them complain about one another (and ofc report back and make fun of your dramatic ass parents)

but one day you got a call from tony over winter holiday and you were excited to hear his voice until it seemed a little shaky

“hey? everything alright?”

“not...not really. i’ve got some bad news. really bad news...”

he could barely get his words out after that, but he told you his parents had been in an accident

you immediately left your house and drove hours to go see tony, this was his moment of need

mysteriously not long after that, your parents suffered a similar fate

the two of you took over your companies and had much more reasonable meetings, a wonderful partnership, indeed

but you were still two childish idiots at times

you’d bring each other to parties and shit

“you guys have met y/n, right? my date?”

“yep, this is tony, my date”

ongoing joke

ofc you two have done some shit on dares

i firmly believe tons of ppl have dared you guys to make out and who are y/n l/n and tony stark to turn down a good dare?

“what’s he taste like?”

“those goddamn blueberries he’s always eating”

he always has snacks always

several headlines have been speculation on whether or not you two are dating

tony drives you around tons

wants to “show you a good time”

blasting music while speeding down the road

honestly? sharing hotel rooms just bc you feel safer together

especially after he disappeared for so long

“oh my god, tony, i was worried sick abouy you”

“have you written my obituary yet? i gotta read it before i do anything else. how will i be remembered?”

“shut up and give me a hug, you asshole”

playfully making fun of each other

him showing you his “greatest creation” which was a battle suit (which was actually pretty badass)

“i want one”

“no way, this is my baby. you cant have my baby. unless you wanna have my baby” *wink wink*

ah, pepper likes when you’re around bc you distract tony from her and get him back on his work

and happy likes you because tony’s less paranoid around you

you’re like his second bodyguard but you dont get paid

CANT forget rhodey he cant stand you only bc you remind him of tony

but overall you’re alright

you CANNOT HELP but laugh at tony when he does something unfathomably stupid!!!!

even if hes in immediate danger you sometimes cant stop laughing (but that might just be panic.)

as the avengers came up, you weren’t invited on that “business trip” >:(

instead you got to accompany pepper on some stark/l/n business and ended up seeing tony nearly die on live tv

the second you saw him again, you couldn’t tell if you were happy or furious to see him

“you son of a bitch, stark! you had me so worried that you weren’t gonna make it, i might as well kill you myself! don’t ever do something so stup—”

tony kissed you

but like, for real

not as a joke

it seemed right, so you kissed back

“yeah, i missed you, too. can we go get some dinner and catch up?”

“wait, that was..?”

“long overdue, i know”

wasn’t long before the tabloids got ahold of some more “tony x y/n” content

and the lovely rumor was confirmed at a press conference!

“mr. stark, is it true that you and y/n l/n have an official relationship?”

“hell yeah, it’s true! you heard here first, folks! y/n and i are an item! and i fuckin’ love them!”

you made the cover of 5 different magazines 😌

you supported tony on his adventures but you wanted in

“really, after what happened in new york? well, i guess you saving my life on the battlefield would be kind of hot...sure. we’ll give it a shot”

“nuh-uh, tony. i’m in whether you like it or not!”

“that’s why i love you, you do it all. even when i don’t want you to”

engineering your own tech for yourself and others to help on missions

you did surprisingly well

tony had some issues that needed resolving though...like flirting during fights

“wow, y/n, you look great from this angle” *gets hit by some projectile*

“hah! serves you right!”

seriously, you guys were an iconic couple

and it helped that you guys were already so comfortable with each other, the two of you knew exactly what the other was thinking, it was baffling that you guys didn’t actually have powers

but tony was still tony and he had a problem putting you in danger, he was most comfortable with his arm around you

avengers parties and other dealings kept you busy busy busy

but you always made time for one another

and had tons of fun wherever you could

one might even say you and tony were...endgame (im so sorry)

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @allthecreativeonesaretaken // @frostedgiant // @praellee // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs //

[polaroid15]

Febuwhump day 28 - “You have to let me go”

Summary: Peter is no stranger to mourning. He'll do anything to keep his family safe.

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138196/chapters/73219281

Okay. My little love note/ramble will be at the end of this chapter, but I just wanted to say before you read this- thank you. So much. Sincerely. This has been quite the adventure. But like all adventures, they have their end. I hope you like this one.

-----

Peter lands messily on the pavement, pain shooting spikes up his ankles and his heart beating a million miles a minute. Choosing to ignore the discomfort, he runs the rest of the way to where Rhodey, Natasha, and Steve are standing in a tense semi circle in front of an old warehouse.

He skids up beside them, barely breathing. “I- I came- agh. I came as soon as I heard.”

Steve places a strong hand on his shoulder to steady him and Peter can’t help but lean into the touch. They all stop what they’re doing to look at him and their eyes tell Peter enough for his stomach to plummet down to his toes.

Pity, guilt.

Fear.

“Where’s Tony?” he asks, his voice sounding far away to his own ears.

None of them answer, averting their eyes to the ground.

“Guys. Where is he?”

Rhodey looks torn. He looks from the ground to the warehouse, his mouth hanging open in indecision. “He’s in there. He’s okay.”

“For now,” Natasha says.

Peter nods, though his anxiety doesn’t lessen any. “Okay. Why haven’t you gotten him out yet? What’s the plan?”

He looks to Rhodey for his answer but the hero merely bites his lip. Sighing, Natasha interjects for him. “Tony’s cuffed to one of the center support columns. There’s a bomb strapped to the column beside him. The perimeter is rigged so that if crossed, the detonation time will shrink dramatically. It might even cause the bomb to go off immediately.”

Mouth dry, Peter tries his best to keep his breathing even. “How much time do we have?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Oh God,” Peter whispers. Steve’s hand on him tightens as he sways. “So what- what’s the plan?”

“Still working on it,” Rhodey says, his confidence slowly returning. “We’re trying to see if we can disarm the bomb from here. It’s too dangerous to trigger it by trying to cross the perimeter and grab him before it goes off.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry Peter. We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

He nods shakily, glancing over to the warehouse. So close, he thinks with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“You should call him,” Steve says. “He still has his com connected.”

“Right. Okay.”

Released, Peter steps away from the small group of heroes as they work furiously with tech Peter has never seen before. Despite their words, Peter can see how worried they are in their tight stances and clenched knuckles. It rips a hole through him. “Karen. Call Tony please.”

“Of course. Calling Tony Stark.”

For a moment Peter is afraid he isn’t going to answer. On the last ring, however, it connects. Tony’s strained voice replaces his anxiety with temporary relief. “Peter?”

“Tony,” he gasps, knees weak. “I- I just got here. Are you okay?”

A short silence. “You’re here?”

“Yeah. Everyone close enough got the distress signal. I came as soon as I could but I was in English. Mrs. Fletcher doesn’t usually let kids leave in the middle of class but you know me. I found a way.”

Tony doesn’t laugh like Peter had hoped he would. The weight in his stomach triples. Instead, when he speaks, his mentor’s voice shakes. “You- you really shouldn’t be here, kid.”

“You’re in trouble. Of course I’m here. I’m always here.”

“It’s not looking- Christ. It’s not looking good Pete.”

Everything freezes. His chest stills for one breath, two. The ground seems to drop out underneath his feet. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

No. No, he refuses to believe it. “How much time is left?”

“Just under six minutes.”

“Oh man.” Peter glances over to the Avengers. “Uh, guys?” he calls. “How’s it looking?”

Rhodey’s pinched expression tells him enough.

He can’t breathe.

“Pete?” Tony’s voice filters back in, his tone warmer. “It’s okay bud. Just breathe. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Peter forces air into his lungs, because this isn’t about him. This is about Tony. “We’re going to get you out,” he promises.

He can imagine Tony wincing, and it brings tears into his eyes.

“Kid?” Tony’s voice is soft in a way he’s never heard it before.

“Yeah?”

“I just- I’m really proud of you, alright? I want you to know that.”

“Tony stop-”

“No,” he interupts. “I need this Pete. So zip it while the adult talks.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m so proud of you. Getting- getting to know you has been one of the greatest privileges I’ve had in my damn screwed up life. I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.”

His heart beats ferociously against his ribs, warranting a physical pain. He can hear it in his ears.

“Stop saying goodbye,” Peter pleads.

“You’re a good kid, Pete. And you know I don’t go around saying this kind of stuff lightly so you sure as hell better remember it. You’re ten times the hero I ever was and I know- I know that the world is in safe hands.”

“But what about me?” Peter gasps out, eyes trained on the warehouse as the world spins. He knows it’s selfish. God he knows it’s selfish. “What about me, Tony?”

“Three minutes!” Natasha calls out, her voice cracking.

Silence.

“Tony!”

“Don’t blame yourself for this, okay? Don’t you dare. You don’t deserve this kiddo. I know this is unfair. You- you deserve to be happy.”

“Tony-”

“I love you Peter,” he says.

And then the line goes dead.

Peter’s insides vaporize. “Karen,” he says numbly, “call him back.”

It doesn’t even ring. “I’m sorry Peter. The call has been declined.”

“Damn it!” he screams while turning hurriedly back to the group. They’re pale. Rhodey’s hands are shaking. “We have to get him out right now!”

“Nothing’s working,” Natasha stammers, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

“Something has to work! Make it work! It always works!”

“We’re trying the best we can!”

On the screen, he sees the detonation time at 2:11.

He’s not losing Tony.

He can’t survive another loss.

He can’t.

The world dissolves down to a single thought.

Then he’s sprinting.

Sprinting with all his might towards the warehouse. The other three scream out his name, ordering him to stop but he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t dare. He pushes onward, nearly stumbling against the liquid panic coursing through every vein. By some miracle he stays on both feet.

He launches himself right through the front door, a loud beep signalling the perimeter breach. Rhodey’s voice enters his ears then, forced through. “You triggered the bomb to fall down to a minute. You have 60 seconds to get him out of there.”

It has to be enough.

Tony isn’t hard to find. He’s in the center of the warehouse, chained around his torso. Peter is at his side in lightning speed, wrapping his hands around the restraints and straining with all his might. At first they don’t budge.

No, no. He has to be strong enough.

“Peter-” Tony gasps. He’s livid. Shaking like an addict on withdrawal. “What the hell are you doing here? The bomb-”

“We still have time,” Peter pants, blinking tears out of his eyes.

“Peter!” Everything they’ve been through together, good and bad, bleeds into Tony’s voice. It shakes under the weight. “You have to let me go bud. This whole place is going to explode-”

“No.”

“I’m not letting you die for me. I’m not losing you.”

“And I’m not losing you! I’ll get you out. I’m not giving up.”

The electronic beep of the timer is constant, merciless. Tony jerks against the chains, his eyes wide and blown with panic. 35 seconds. 34. 33. Peter can tell his mentor is trying to connect with him, trying to use these last seconds to make him fold. To sacrifice his own life for Peter’s safety.

But Peter can’t.

He won’t.

“You have to let me go,” Tony whispers.

Peter sobs. It’s dry and panicked and desperate. A prayer. Something deep and foreign clicks inside his chest and in the next second, the chains snap and fall away. Tony slumps forward in surprise, catching himself on his elbows. Peter wastes no time in pulling him up to his feet, too scared to count it as a victory.

“We’re in this together,” Peter hisses, unable to believe that in what could very well be their final moments, he’s angry.

At Tony, at himself. At the world.

“Fifteen seconds,” Rhodey says in his ears.

The world narrows to an impossible size. He’s aware of every beat of his heart. Of every breath. Him and Tony race for the exit, the daylight beyond its doors acting as a promise. For a moment Peter thinks they’re going to make it, that everything will be fine.

Then they cross the perimeter line.

His spider sense flares right before the bomb detonates. He barely has time to realize that obviously the failsafe would work both ways, but it’s too late to correct the mistake.

There’s a deafening explosion. The ground shakes violently and Peter is reminded horribly of the warehouse. Searing heat reaches his back and he uses his lost conscious thought to tackle Tony to the ground.

He isn’t awake long enough to see if he was able to save him.

----

He wakes up in the ambulance. Everything blurs as if it’s underwater.

There’s hands on his arms, on his face, holding him down. The pain is all-consuming, tearing him apart limb by limb.

Something pressed over his mouth makes it difficult to speak. He coughs in his fight for air and it feels like his body rips in half.

“He’s waking up!” someone yells frantically.

“T-T-”

The voice must have belonged to Steve because his face appears above him in a messy streak. Through the delirium Peter can still identify the sharp glare of worry in his eyes. “Don’t try and talk, Peter. You’re going to be okay.”

“T-Tony-”

He doesn’t know if he’s alive. He needs to know-

Something sharp pricks his arm before the thought can finish. It’s welcoming at first, but he can’t help being afraid.

Everything fades like it never quite existed in the first place.

And if Tony is dead, if it’s his fault, he wants it to stay that way.

----

The next time Peter wakes up he’s in medbay.

It’s familiar. Too familiar, he would argue. The cotton sheets, the sharp smell of antiseptic. The pressure of needles poking into him and oxygen in his nose.

He’s laying on his stomach, so there must be something wrong with his back. Whatever it is he doesn’t feel the pain yet, which is nice.

Every thought is murky and distant. With eyes still closed he searches desperately for them. Steve was there, he thinks. Rhodey and Natasha too. He had been scared. Had run for something. Or from something?

A bomb.

Tony.

The fear returns in a fatal swoop. Somewhere in the distance he hears his heart rate monitor spike. He squeezes his eyes closed further, not wanting to wake, not wanting to face a reality without Tony in it.

Tears pool in his eyes.

He’s no stranger to mourning.

“Peter?”

The voice is muted in his panic, almost unreachable, though he knows in all reality it must be close. It stops his hyperventilating short, his chest burning as he refuses to draw in air.

Then he hears it. Another heartbeat.

“Peter. Open your eyes bud.”

Bud.

For once in his life Peter listens, his landscape blurring with tears. Sure enough, Tony is there, laying beside him on his own bed, so close that they could reach out and touch if they wanted. His mentor looks terrible, the skin on his arms and neck bandaged to cover what could only be burns. But he’s awake and sitting up.

Alive.

“Is this real?” Peter whispers. He doesn’t move an inch. If it’s a trick, or some drug-induced vision, he wants it to be permanent.

The world pauses on its axis.

Tony wipes a tear off Peter’s cheek.

“This is real.”

And Peter knows it’s true.

“Tony,” he gasps, unable to manage anything else through the thick knot in his throat. His heart monitor goes crazy again. More tears escape him and he shoves his face into the mattress to stifle a sob.

A heavy weight falls off his back. The relief is dizzying.

“Don’t cry kiddo. You’ll make me cry.”

“I’m- I’m sorry. I’m not trying too-”

Tony shakes his head with a soft expression on his face. “You’re pumped full of painkillers. I don’t blame you.”

“You’re alive.”

It almost sounds like a question.

Tony’s face melts into something dark for a moment before turning into a small smile. It looks like regret, Peter thinks. Or guilt. “Yeah kiddo. I’m alive. So are you.”

“What happened?”

Tony straightens his posture and tilts up his chin as if to dramatize the story. “Well, firstly you decided to disobey three high level Avengers to run into a building that was about to explode.”

“Sounds like me,” Peter agrees weakly.

“You got me out but as soon as we crossed the warehouse boundary it triggered the bomb to detonate. We got caught in the blast.”

Peter swallows thickly. “Are you okay? I thought. I thought-” but he can’t finish. Can’t even imagine vocalizing it.

I thought you were dead.

“I’m okay,” Tony says too quickly. There’s pain in his eyes. Raw, unresolved. “You took most of the damage when you covered me with your own body. You managed to push us far enough away to escape most of the explosion. A couple steps back and we wouldn’t have made it.”

Peter knows Tony well enough to know what he’s thinking. “Is this where you yell at me about self-preservation?”

The sound Tony makes is almost a laugh. Almost. He shakes his head. “I thought for sure it was over,” he murmurs. “It’s not fair you had to make that choice.”

“We’re family.”

A pause and Tony has to wipe at his own eyes. He looks away, puts up a shield. “I know, kiddo. But your life is more important than mine. Always.”

Peter shakes his head sadly. “Tony-”

“Always.”

“No, no. That’s- that’s not true.” He tries to prop himself up on his elbows and winces when it hurts. “We accept the love we think we deserve, you know.”

Tony stills at this. “What?”

Peter furrows his eyebrows, afraid he said it wrong in his drugged state. “We accept the love we think we deserve.”

Bottom lip trembling, Tony looks away. When he speaks, his voice is barely audible. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Mmm. English class. It’s from a book we’re studying.”

“It’s nice.”

Peter nods his agreement, letting his eyes droop for a second. But no, this is important, so he forces them back open. “I think you deserve a whole lot of love,” Peter says quietly. “In fact we all think that. So just let us give it to you, okay? Believe it too.”

Tony leans back on his pillows and digs his hands into his eyes. “Wow, kiddo. Anyone tell you that you’re getting wise lately?”

“I’ve always been wise.”

“Mhm. Whatever you say.”

Peter smiles, something reconstructing inside of him. “Thank you for what you said over the com,” he says. “Before everything went crazy.”

“I meant every word, kid. You’re family, no doubt about it. And that’s- that’s why I was so scared. It’s why I’m always scared. You mean too much to me to lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me.”

“Pete-”

“I’m wise, remember? Would I lie?”

Tony huffs out a smile. “I suppose not.”

Peter feels the drugs hold over him, wanting to drag him back under. He reaches his arm out to Tony who accepts it in his own. “We’re okay,” he mumbles. Finally, his eyes slip closed. “It’s over now.”

Time passes and Peter drifts on the surface. He feels Tony rubbing small circles against his knuckles.

“Love you, kiddo,” he hears Tony say after a while. His mentor’s voice is more gentle than he’s ever heard it before. He must think Peter is asleep.

Good thing he’s always full of surprises.

“Love you too,” he murmurs without hesitation. It drains the last of his energy and this time, he’s not afraid to let go. He falls asleep to the sound of Tony’s soft laugh.

It’s healing. A fresh start. A future. A family.

It’s been a long journey, Peter thinks.

And he wouldn’t change a thing.

-----

I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE!! Okay... maybe it is me who's crying haha.

Where do I even begin?? It's funny how after writing nearly 40,000 words for this fic I can't seem to articulate the ones to say how grateful I am. I've loved posting on here every day. I've loved interacting with you all and making so many new friends. Your comments and support and love have seriously made this month so much brighter. You've made me a better writer, you've made me smile and cry (in a good way lol). Just, wow. THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart thank you. This ending is bitter sweet for me, but there's good things ahead I promise :)

I've never been good at goodbyes, so lets not make it a goodbye!! You're all so amazing. I truly, truly mean it. I couldn't have done this without you. This is just as much my story as it is yours. I hope you enjoyed this conclusion. Please lets stay friends!!! Please!! Come talk with me on tumblr: @polaroid15 if you want <3

Alright friends. There's so much more I could say but I don't want to keep you forever haha. I LOVE YOU. SO SO SO SO MUCH. I AM GRATEFUL FOR YOU. And as always, I hope you're having an amazing day <3

It's been a long journey, but I wouldn't change a thing :) <3

Love, Polaroid15