#Ngl this works with every pretty series installment probably

[drumchook]

Did I put this here yet

[bitchassbucky]

.raw

Word count: 1.3k

Warning/s: this chapter is pretty tame ngl. very toxic relationship dynamics, bit spicy, references to sex, dark!bucky x dark! reader, obsessive/manipulative tendencies, cyber and irl stalking (usage of tracking device), food and eating were mentioned several times

A/N: thank you @unsaltedalmonds for the idea of IT!Bucky wearing this shirt lmfao

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The lunch rush is starting to pick up when you came into the restaurant Bucky had told you. The chitter-chatter of the patrons along with the live acoustic band drones on as you sit by the bar waiting for him.

It’s nice. The mood is casual and the atmosphere is light. Maybe if the al-fresco dining area isn’t too crowded, you’d pick a sunny spot.

Catching your reflection on a glassy surface, you fix your appearance, hoping that it isn’t too much or too little.

“You look great, don’t worry.” A voice behind you perks up and you turn—Bucky.

A genuine smile finds itself on your lips, “thanks, Bucky. How long have you been here?” You let your eyes gaze upon his form. Black bomber jacket, zipped up all the way, tight skinny jeans, and scruffy boots. He swapped his dress shirt with something casual and it’s somehow driving you nuts already.

He gestures backward to a free table a few feet away, “long enough to get a seat for us.”

Bucky then sees your eyes flick outside by the restaurant’s patio, “unless you wanna go al-fresco?”

“Oh my gosh,” you almost even give yourself an eye roll for that, “no—no, it’s okay. We can stay here.”

“C’mon, it’s okay. I’m sure someone would be willing to switch with us.”

Before you could protest further, Bucky already flagged down the hostess. Giving his best smile and a minuscule head tilt, he speaks, “Do you think we could get a seat out there? I think fresh air would do us good.”

Like any other woman—hell, even men—wouldn’t be able to resist Bucky and his charm, “yeah! Of course, anything for you and your girlfriend.” The hostess looks at you and beams, prompting you to smile back.

Do you even try to dismiss that claim when you caught how Bucky reacted?

—

Peals of laughter slip past your lips as Bucky unzips his jacket, revealing a tasteful shirt underneath, “Bucky, oh my god!”

He throws an apologetic look around as you keep laughing, your hands hitting the table repeatedly.

“Can you keep it down?” Even he was chuckling a bunch, “in my defense, I need to do my laundry.”

You calmed yourself down only to laugh again, happy tears springing to the sides of your eyes.

Bucky wants to relive this is forever. Making you laugh and cry from laughing too much.

Is this what love feels like?

Your presence to him is like ecstasy.

He never wants to leave your light.

Everything about you is addicting.

And the way you didn’t even try to dismiss when the hostess called you his girlfriend—you want him as much as he wants you.

—

Lunch turned into afternoon snacks and snacks turned to dinner.

You and Bucky almost went and turned every food place upside down, the waistbands of your pants getting snug as the sun sets by the avenue.

“I’m so full, oh my god.” You jokingly rubbed your tummy, sipping boba as you walked side by side.

“Says the person drinking boba tea?” Bucky smirks, his hair fashioned into a low bun, showing off his side profile, much to the delight of people passing by.

He’s a walking Greek statue and you’re with him.

Bucky makes you feel loved. Enough. Seen. Validated.

Is this what love feels like?

You in his presence feel like a warm hug.

Bucky changed you forever.

A rather rushing pedestrian knocked shoulders with Bucky, causing him to stumble back and you to hold him steady, “you good?”

He seemed pissed, the crease between his eyebrows prominent, “yeah. Sorry, I’m okay.”

And then there it was: the tug of something unknown yet strangely familiar. The sound of the traffic ceases as you and Bucky both gaze upon each other’s eyes, only drifting to the other’s lips.

The moment has never been this perfect. Fuck all your romantic comedies starring Kate Hudson, this is your story now.

“Can I kiss you?” Bucky asks tenderly. His hand brushing your hair away from your face.

“Yes.”

Without a moment’s notice, your lips met.

—

Hand in hand, you walked the streets feeling like you’re on the clouds. Sweet smiles, bashful giggles. Normally, you would protest against stealing kisses but not when it’s him.

“This is my place,” Bucky says, pointing towards a mid-rise apartment complex. The neighborhood wasn’t new to you; you often find yourself walking these very streets early in the mornings.

You haven’t had the moment to appreciate his art pieces when Bucky suddenly pinned you against the door, shutting it roughly as soon as you stepped into his apartment threshold.

His lips finding yours, nibbling. The kiss was anything but sweet—all teeth and tongues.

“You have no idea how much I’ve waited to do that.”

“Like a month?” You quipped, tugging the collar of his tee. Your arms draping past his shoulders as his hands rest on your hips.

“Yeah, sure, let’s say a month.”

Having you in his studio apartment was meant to be. You in his space was written in the stars. He can almost see you waking up on his bed with him cooking you breakfast. Making you a cup of coffee now that he knows how you like it: with cream and two sugars.

You took a seat on his large office chair and a vision of you riding him suddenly floods his brain. Hey, now’s not the time.

Him shaking his head into resetting sent the wrong message, “oh. I can’t sit there, or…?” You pull yourself up, metaphorically hitting yourself in the head for making such a presumption.

Maybe he’s that kind of person who doesn’t like someone all up in their space. Then why would he take you here?

“No, no, it’s fine. I just—don’t you think it’s a bit late?” Bucky forces a smile, rubbing his palm across his nape. The warm feeling was suddenly pulled out of him. Now he’s just standing in his house with an acquaintance.

You suddenly felt small, minuscule, and very, very stupid. “Oh. Yeah, uh, I should probably get going.”

“What about a drink?” Bucky’s internally panicking now, he didn’t mean to insinuate the intent of leaving.

You shook your head, straightening your posture as you gathered your thoughts. “I can call a ride, it’s no worries. Got tons of stuff to do anyway.”

“I’m sorry.” Is all Bucky said. He wasn’t really sure why he’s apologizing or what it is for.

—

The door clicked closed and Bucky bolts to his workspace, closing down the applications that will implicate him.

He closes all applications but one, a tracking dot. He installed one on your work phone just in case you needed his help and can’t reach out. You’d never know who’s a sick fuck in these days.

Bucky shoots you a text but instead, he got a phone call.

Hey.

Hey.

The sound of the road was muffled on your end, but nonetheless, the car was moving in the right direction.

I’m so sorry for earlier. I didn’t mean to...intrude. I just—I really like you, Bucky. I’m sorry I was too forward.

I… Bucky tries to play with time as he chooses his next words carefully, I like you too but I think we’re going too fast.

Your end was quiet, save from the ambient noises.

I guess so. Let’s keep things professional and friendly first, okay?

Okay.

I gotta go, I’m at my place.

The line went dead without as much as a goodbye.

Liar. Why would you lie to him? You have at least fifteen minutes more to go.

Why would you lie to him? Didn't you just say that you liked him? The way you said it was so casual—like it didn’t bother you that you were lying to him. Raised like a liar, die like a thief.

[feliciamontagues]

My Ranking of Every Hercule Flambeau Episode (S01-S08)

There are some spoilers for S7 and S8, but they are fairly vague and pretty much the sort of thing that you might see on the official press release. So not true spoilers as such. Also this is totally subjective and the result of my own personal biases. It’s also behind the cut because it’s looooonnng. 

8. The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau (s06e10)--

So, this episode is *fine*. It’s hardly the worst episode of the show, but it’s easily the weakest of the Flamby eps, despite their being a few isolated moments I enjoy. (Hercule getting a long overdue bedroom scene for one :P)

My main gripe is with this episode is the uneven way Lisandra Flambeau is written. The script seems to flip-flop over whether we are supposed to find her sympathetic or not.  On one hand,  many scenes imply that she genuinely loves Hercule despite them having a shotgun marriage after only a few days of knowing each other. On the other hand, she does not hesitate for a minute before poisoning an innocent (Fr. B) for no other reason than to hurt Flamby, which makes her lose a lot of sympathy points.

And as a result, it seems to make Flambeau seem like more of arse than normal for betraying her, while somehow also absolving him of responsibility for doing so, because she turns around and does *THAT.*

And ngl, it does make me a little uncomfortable that while the character of Lisandra (as an Italian) is possibly not meant to be interpreted as a POC, the actress portraying her definitely is. (Sara Martins is of Afro-Portuguese descent).  Which makes the uneven characterization (and underwritten-ness) seem even more glaring, especially  when compared to that of the other (white) women in Flambeau’s life (his first love Rebecca and his daughter Marianne, arguably Lady Felicia as well). It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth even if  in all likelihood, the part wasn’t written with Sara Martins in mind.

I think a much more interesting approach to Lisandra would be to have intending to betray Flambeau all along. Maybe she had her own agenda for seducing Flamby, meanwhile he thinks he’s the one using her for his plan. Maybe she does develop some feelings for him along the way, but it only makes her hesitate for a moment before going ahead with her original plan. That way, she keeps her agency and isn’t reduced to the “woman scorned” stereotype while also leaving the writers free to ship Flamby with others in the future without seemingly endorsing guilt-free adultery .

Other random note: I can’t take  parts of this episode seriously because the “Crown of Lombardy” is very obviously Guinevere’s crown from BBC Merlin with no attempt to alter or disguise it. 

7. The Daughter of Autolycus (s04e05)--

Not gonna lie, I am not really a fan of “character has long lost relative that we’ve never heard of until now” plots. And that goes double when said long-lost relative is a child or sibling. As such my low ranking of this episode is partly due to unconscious personal biases against that trope.

That being said, if we had to get a long-lost relative that we’ve never heard of until now plot, I’m so glad we got Marianne--even if it takes her another episode to really live up to her potential. 

I have to knock off a few more points for Nero Hound as a villain. For one thing, he was played by Nancy Carroll’s real-life hubby, but they didn’t let let him interact with Lady F at all. Such a *waste.*  Also Nero Hound is far too similar a name to Nero Wolfe, and I’ve definitely confused them on more than one occasion). He’s also rather generic in my opinion, even compared to some of Flambeau’s other “generic mobster” rivals/associates like the ones in S8.

However, there are some moments in this episode I genuinely like--particularly the theft “imagine spot” and Flambeau’s bishop disguise in general. Plus, the scenes where Flambeau and Marianne appear together are excellent, as are the hints that Marianne will become a redemptive trigger in Flambeau’s life.

6. The Judgement of Man (s03e10)--

Again, the low ranking of this one may be due to personal biases.  In this case, I’m still low-key bitter--five years later-- at the BBC marketing department for baiting me with the idea of Flambeau actually interacting with the rest of the squad (esp romantic tiems with Lady F)  and then giving me the absolute minimum of Felicia/Flambeau flirting and no Flambeau/Sid and Flambeau/Mrs. M interaction.

But there are other reasons why this is in my bottom 3 Flambeau episodes. 

Honestly, I feel like an equally compelling episode about the Vatican’s complicity in Nazi art theft could’ve been made without having to insert Flambeau in it. I mean I suppose it does make sense to have the art thief character  in the art episode, but still I feel like both Flambeau backstory and important historical lesson about Nazis, the Church, and Jewish art suffer from being crammed into the same episode. 

That being said, Mrs. McCarthy’s duchess disguise in this episode cleared my skin, watered my crops, etc, which is why I’ve ranked it higher than the previous two. 

5. The Folly of Jephthah (s08e05)

It loses a few points because I got very exited about the idea of Marianne becoming Bunty’s thief gf cool new friend, and yet in the episode itself, they only shared one scene and didn’t really interact much in it. That being said, I did like like that Bunty and Mrs. M had a bigger role in this episode than the squad usually gets in Flambeau episodes. 

Overall, I feel this episode works a lot better than most of the other “backstory-heavy” Flambeau episodes, because we’ve already gotten the Marianne-related exposition out of the way and can focus more on allowing her character, Flambeau’s and their relationship with each other to develop.

I’m also a bit smug in that I predicted (or at least hoped for) this exact character arc for Marianne within a few weeks of “The Daughter of Autocylus” airing and that my hopes came to fruition so beautifully.

It doesn’t particularly impact the ranking too much, but I do feel like this episode deserves a special shout out, because it has established a (hopefully-continuing!) pattern of Father Brown calling Flamby  almost exclusively by his first name, which is a major significant step in their bromance and deserves recognition as such. 

4. The Blue Cross (s01e10)--

As someone who was first exposed to Father Brown through reading the stories for a college course, I always find it especially interesting to look at the episodes that were adapted from Chesterton. 

This episode is neither the most faithful book-to-show adaptation (which is probably “The Three Tools of Death”) nor is it the best (imo “The Sign of the Broken Sword’) , but it is arguably the most significant. “The Blue Cross” was the first ever Fr. Brown story and is probably the most well-known. It’s also the first real look we get at the character of Flambeau, who (in the stories and arguably the show as well) is probably the closest thing we get to a clear character arc.

The show keeps some of the important elements of the short  story: Flambeau’s clergyman disguise, the switching of the packages. But it also has the challenging task of upping the relatively low stakes of the story, as well as introducing a major recurring character that resembles his book counterpart but remains distinct enough to justify the fairly different direction show canon is taking him. 

The show does this reasonably well--if not particularly imaginatively. I do enjoy some of the touches (I’ve written an entire meta before about Flamby’s reading material on the train and how it relates to his character)--particularly the show’s choice to have Flambeau fixated on religious art specifically (RIP for Flambeau’s Dairy Company though. It will always live in my heart).

Unfortunately in the adaptation, loses a few points for not really using the show-original characters particularly effectively. It loses still more for Flambeau’s characterization in this episode . He comes across as much more  serious and menacing in this episode than in all the others. It works okay when we consider this as a standalone episode but provides some glaring Early Installment Weirdness when we compare it to other episodes. 

3. The Penitent Man (s05e15)--

So as the rest of this list  will testify, I have strong preference for the “fun” Flambeau episodes over the more series ones. This is the exception that proves the rule--the  serious, cerebral, melancholy episode that simply “works” for me in the way that some of the others have not.

A lot of it is due to the more-intense-than-usual Flambeau character focus that goes into this. Sure, we’ve met his (presumably ex-by-now) wife, his daughter, and his first love by this point, but all of those episodes focused primarily on Flambeau as an extension of the relationships with others. (”The Judgement of Man”  in particular is far more Rebecca’s story than Hercule’s.)

Whereas this episode is very definitively focused on Flambeau himself and allows more nuanced exploration of two of the most defining facets of Flambeau’s character:  (1) his fascination with religion--and spiritual salvation in particular--  as  something he seems to resist and crave in near equal measure  (2) his almost masochistic streak of recklessness.

Even though Flambeau’s supposed “piety” is revealed to be all part of his heist plan, there are strong hints that his desire for redemption and atonement are at least somewhat genuine, even if he is not  ready to pursue them just yet. 

Off topic, but a few random things of note in this episode: this episode all-but-confirms bi!Flambeau, wet!Flambeau at the end is extremely relevant to my interests, Father Brown attempts to smuggle Flamby a lock pick from the beginning and has the audacity to say “ I only use it when I get locked out of the presbytery.”

Also, it has this iconic exchange:

Goodfellow: What is that awful smell?

Father Brown (covered in sewage): It’s me

2. The Honorable Thief (S07e10)-- So nearly all of the Flambeau-centered episodes from S3 on  have been a little preoccupied with filling in some of the gaps in Flambeau’s backstory, which is *fine*, but honestly, I feel like in doing so, they’ve really lost sight of why we fell in love with the character in the first place. 

 He’s vibrant and clever and funny and over-the-top. But most importantly, Flambeau is a lot of fun. Therefore, it follows that episodes that feature him should be a lot of fun too. 

And well... they are all fun in some way,  but they aren’t as fun as they really could be. John Light is insanely charismatic, but charisma can only go so far when the episode in question is a downer.

Fortunately, this episode is the furthest thing from a downer imaginable. It’s absolutely delightful from start to finish. The plot is serious enough to keep things engaging, but also light enough to keep us from getting too distracted by angst. 

I’m also incredibly biased in favor of this episode, because it finally gave me the Felicia/Flambeau ship tease I’d been passionately hoping for (if not really expecting to get after “The Judgement of Man” disappointed me). But it was so much and so good, and I wasn’t ready for it.

In a broader sense though, this episode really delivered with Flambeau/squad interaction in general--which was a key component that has been missing from most of the other episodes. And the Father Brown & Flambeau interactions were also has heartwarming and funny as they always are.

If I have one tiny little gripe with the episode, it’s that Daniel is not Sid. He has enough broad similarities with Sid that I can’t help but wonder if the episode was originally written with Sid and then hastily re-written when Alex Price couldn’t return. That being said, he was a likable enough guest character in his own right, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

1.  The Mysteries of the Rosary (S02e05)-- Perfection. Not only is this THE definitive Flambeau episode, but is also one of the best episodes of the show overall. It has everything: the birth of bearded Flamby, bromantic road trips, a treasure hunt, great guest turns from Anton Lesser and Sylvestra Le Touzel.

I think part of the reason this episode resonates so strongly with me is that it’s really the first proper sense that we get of Show!Flambeau as a character. Sure we officially met him in “The Blue Cross,” but considering he didn’t show up until halfway through the episode and was in disguise for most of it, we didn’t really get much of a sense of who he is.

This episode changes all that and sets Flambeau up as the character we will know and love for the rest of the series--charming, urbane, funny, passionate, a carefree carpe diem exterior masking (or overcompensating for?) a sense of uncertainty and conflictedness.

Somewhat off topic, but as great an episode as this is for Flambeau’s character, it is nearly as wonderful for both Sid and Father Brown’s characters. We get to see Sid’s  ease with Father Brown, the casual camraderie that the two of them have--as well as Sid’s protectiveness (and jealousy) when Flambeau decides to gatecrash their bromantic road trip. 

Honestly, there are so many things that are great about this episode that I don’t think I could possibly list them--but one little detail that really struck my the last time I watched was that the first proper glimpse we see of Flambeau in this episode (we see him in shadow in a flashback before) involves him  saving Father Brown’s life.  Whereas the last proper glimpse we see of Flambeau is after Father Brown has saved Flambeau’s life.  Thematic reversals. Cinematic parallels. We love to see it. 

[capsicletho]

I Can’t Make You Love Me

…if you don’t. You can’t make your heart feel something that it won’t.

a Tony Stark series; author: @stvrktony | chapter 11

trigger: -

warning: civil war spoilers if you haven’t watched any (but if you haven’t watched it, wHAT HAVE U BEEN DOING MAN?) and um, reader is on Team Iron Man (obvi because she’s dating him)

word count: 2.8k

summary: Reader and Tony found comfort in each other while they were trying to mend their own broken hearts.

a/n: here we go with another installment! this one is exciting and a tiny bit boring at the same time ngl hahaha. i would love any feedback you all have on this or the previous chapters (which you can find below if you’ve missed some!). you can comment them on the posts, send me an ask, or even an instant message!

masterlist | ICMYLM masterlist | previous chapter

(Y/L/N): your last name (Y/F/N): your dad’s name

You and Tony were moving so fast into things that the two of you didn’t even bother stopping or slowing down anymore. The next day after you woke up, the two of you went on an official date, spending more time talking about deep things and as the night grows, it gets deeper and deeper.

Tony talked about his past; the fantastic life he lived where he was once the most notorious ladies’ man, when he used to gamble and splurge with no care in the world (although he still does that sometimes), when he used to care only about himself to the time he was kidnapped in Afghanistan and how he was still getting nightmares about that and how he felt like he failed for not being able to save Yin Sen and about Ultron, and about New York, and about every single mistake he made in the past. He told you about his  parents; how his father treated him and how much he loved his mother and how their death left a deep scar that seemed impossible to fill; he even talked about his relationship with Pepper, and even told you about how much he truly loved Pepper––but after everything, it turns out that they were not as compatible as he thought.

After Pepper, the only thing he thought he should do was go back to his old ways. But then you were there; your heartbreak was what somewhat saved him from going back to being the old Playboy Tony. So he focused all his attention on you, and that was when he found out––in such a short time––that although he loved Pepper once, he knew what being so compatible and in tune with someone feels like when he met you. It was like you fit into the puzzle pieces of his life so seamlessly and effortlessly.

In turn, you told him about your life. About why you chose to be a lawyer; it was to defend those who were defenseless and so that was why you preferred representing those who had weaker power like the wife who was tricked by her ex-husband and almost lose all of her asset, or the ex-secretary that was sexually assaulted by her boss, or whoever was facing injustice against stronger power. That was the kind of case you always worked hard for.

You also talked about your family; how your father was the United States’ Permanent Representative for the United Nations. You talked about what a happy childhood you had with your parents, even if your parents were both busy people––they still made time to make sure you didn’t grow up with any of them missing out. Your family was a stark contrast to Tony’s, and that was why you couldn’t help but also feel hurt knowing how he was always treated the way he doesn’t deserve.

(time jump, pretend new years party have already happened and this is a few months after)

“I made a code for you,” he said.

“Huh?”

“A code. Gives you unlimited access to everything; well, maybe for a few things, but you probably have the next highest authorization around here next to me and FRIDAY. And Rhodey,” he shrugged.

“You don’t think it’s too soon for that?” You asked as you leaned on the workbench, opposite to where he was.

“We’re moving in lightning speed anyway,” he smiled. You smiled back and then leaned forward a little bit, and Tony knew quickly what you want. He leaned in too, giving you a light kiss.

“Breakfast?” You asked.

“Yeah.” But he didn’t move, maybe he thought you were gonna bring it to him. So you rounded the table and pulled him to his feet.

“No, no, no, no” he said. “I need to make sure this is ready for the MIT speech,” he said.

“It is ready. It’s been ready for weeks now,” you assured him. He smirked a little and then gave in and got up to have breakfast with you.

You were slicing up your pancake when Tony asked. “Come with me?”

“Are you sure?” You stopped instantly and asked.

“Yeah, why not?” He asked.

“Alright,” you agreed.

After breakfast the two of you got ready and then went to MIT, unsurprisingly greeted by many paparazzi and met with a lot of stares from people as Tony placed a hand on your back to guide you into the building. The liaison officer from MIT greeted the two of you, and already you raised an eyebrow at his enthusiasm, chattering away to Tony who had already rolled his eyes, while you can only hold back your laugh.

The two of you stayed backstage as the setup on stage turned into real-life looking living room when the BARF technology was turned on. In front of you, a woman played a piano as she sang. She was absolutely beautiful and elegant. Blonde hair and a string of pearl necklace decorated her neckline. The scene continue to unfold in front of you until you saw Tony, but he was way younger than the Tony standing next to you right now.

Tony disappeared from beside you to the stage, starting his speech. The scene with his parents you just saw seem to touch you deeper than it does anyone in the auditorium, because you knew how painful all of that actually was to Tony. Your thoughts were disturbed by the loud cheer coming from the audience after they found out that their projects would be approved and funded by Tony Stark himself. You shook your head in awe and clapped as well as your gaze was directed to Tony, having no idea that it was a generous donation he was going to make. Suddenly you saw him froze as he stared ahead to the teleprompter and you tilted your head towards him as well and saw Pepper’s name there. You turned your eyes back to Tony to see his expression, but it seemed as though he collected himself pretty quickly and ended his speech.

“Restroom’s this way?” Tony asked the same liaison officer who was still pestering him. He guided you towards the exit of the auditorium; you knew well Tony didn’t have to ask that, after all he was a student at MIT, and it would be unlike Tony to forget where to go.

“Actually, I’m really going to go to the restroom,” you told him with a small chuckle as soon as you saw the restroom a few feet away from the elevator where the two of you are headed.

“Alright,” he said, letting your hand go.

After you used the restroom, you went to the sink to wash your hand and ran your fingers through your hair and finally exited to see Tony conversing with a woman. From the woman’s facial expression, you could see that it was a tense conversation. The woman took a glance at you, gave a last look to Tony and left.

You approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey,” you said. “Who was that?” You asked.

He blinked out of it and shook his head, “Huge fan,” he shrugged and then the elevator arrived. The two of you exited the elevator and walked towards the lobby where Happy is already waiting with the car. That’s when Tony received the phone call.

"Do you mind if we go to the facility for a bit?” He asked soon after the call ended.

“Not at all,” you replied. “Everything alright?” You asked.

Instead of answering, Tony handed his StarkPhone to you and there, you read a news about how the Avengers was just in Nigeria trying to catch a group of mercenaries when Wanda blew up a hotel unintentionally after losing control of her own power.

“Oh my God,” you muttered, reading on.

Secretary Ross was already at the facility when the two of you arrived; so that’s who Tony was calling.

“Stark,” he greeted him, and then turned his gaze towards you. You felt Tony grip your hand a bit tighter; he was trying to send a little gesture as if to brace you for any snide comment Ross was going to have.

“Ah, Ms. (Y/L/N). (Y/F/N)’s little girl, right?” he offered his hand for you to shake.

“Secretary Ross,” you shook his hand. You looked him in the eye as he looked to you, Tony, and back. Meanwhile Tony just raised an eyebrow as he looked at you and Ross, a bit surprised that the two of you already knew each other when he was just about to introduce the two of you.

All of you walked in and immediately headed for the meeting room where the Avengers had already gathered. They all took a seat as Secretary Ross took center stage, you caught Steve looking at you and the way Tony’s hand was casually holding yours.

Steve was actively wondering why is it that you were with Tony on weekdays instead of going to work, when all the time you were dating Steve, you had to go to work every morning and coming home late to work on a case, and it even takes up your weekends sometimes.

The answer to that would be because when you were with Steve, he had always went away to find Bucky and so you used all those times while Steve was away for lengthy periods of time to do work so that you wouldn’t come home just doing nothing and waiting for him. And now, Tony had decided to hire you as his personal lawyer; and although you were hesitant at first, because you were set on your previous goal on defending the defenseless, you decided to take it anyway. Being the head of legal to the entire Stark Industry.

You and Tony sat at the back of the room while the entire Avengers sat around the meeting room. As Secretary Ross began his speech and showed the team what they have done to several cities––highlighting the damages they’ve caused including the recent one in Lagos, you began to understand.

“Is this about the accords?” You whispered to Tony. Of course you knew about the accords; you have for a while now. Your dad––who knew about your relationship with Tony––had warned you about it, and Tony had finally told you about it too.

Tony nodded in reply, and instead of paying attention to what Ross said, he was looking at his hands. He knew this was a hard subject to bring up to the Avengers, and that’s why he had been holding it off for weeks.

You continued to watch as the Avengers exchanged their thoughts on it. After Secretary Ross, it seems as though the entire room was still unmoved.

Tony start to stand up, and so did you.

“Leaving?” Steve asked.

“I need coffee,” Tony muttered and he went to the kitchen, followed by you, and then Rhodey and slowly the rest of the Avengers started to follow the two of you to the kitchen.

All of you sat, but instead of making his coffee Tony was sitting down on the chaise lounge with his hand covering his eyes. You picked a seat near him, next to Natasha.

You were silent as everyone bickered about the accords, but you weren’t actively paying attention to them but you did as soon as Vision spoke up. He was incredibly intelligent, and you couldn’t help but to agree with him.

“Tony, you’re being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal,” Nat said.

“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve butted in.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony groaned as he sat up. He went on to finally make his coffee when he placed his phone on the bowl and tapped the screen, pulling up a photo of a smiling young man. You looked at Tony in confusion, and apparently so did the rest of the Avengers.

“Oh, that’s Charles Spencer, by the way. He’s a great kid. Computer Engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk; see the world, maybe be of service. Charles didn’t wanna go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale––which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam––which sounds fun,” Tony paused.

“He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor, guess where? Sokovia.” Tony emphasized as he open the bottle full of aspirin. He paused again and you sucked in a breath.

“He wanted to make a difference, I suppose, we won’t know because we dropped a building on him while we’re kicking ass.”

Everyone was silent. Tony continued on, saying that the Avengers would be no better than the bad guys if they are boundary-less.

“Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up,” Steve said.

“Who says we’re giving up?” Tony retaliated.

“We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame,” he said.

You scoffed at the same time Rhodey said, “I’m sorry, Steve, but that is dangerously arrogant.”

“Steve, you can’t just say that,” you began. “This is not a matter of doing what’s good for people anymore, this is a matter between states. The majority of you guys are U.S. citizens. Even governments aren’t allowed to directly disturb another government’s actions, what makes you think you’re allowed to do that? We have no jurisdiction past the U.S. borders. I’m sorry, but most of you are forgetting who you really are; you’re American citizens––you’re not part of the government, you don’t get diplomatic immunity, you don’t have that special right. Every normal citizen needs a visa and a passport when they leave the borders, and you guys have been aboard the Quinjet all this time carrying destructive weapons. What makes you think that is okay?”

“You’re saying we need permission to save people?” Steve asked, his eyes sharp and but a tinge of disappointment was there. Never in a million years that he thought the two of you were going to be on opposing sides.

“Yes!” You emphasized. “I get that you guys want to do good and help people; I really get it. If a mission is proved to be successful with minimal destruction people would adore you––but that is only the people. Their feelings are subjective––because they automatically change when you make a mistake––and so is your view on what’s good for a country, moreover a country that is not your own. The problem right now, is not about what good you want to do for people, but it’s about winning their trust back. You’re not seen as heroes right now, not even as vigilantes, but you’re seen as the bad guys. At the end of the day, after you finished saving people from some bad guys, you are not going to feel the full impact of the aftermath.” You feel bad for saying this especially because of what just happened to Wanda, but it is a truth they need to hear.

“Maybe you’ll feel remorse and regret, but you are not going to know what it’s like to rebuild your house from nothing. You’re not going to know what it feels like when you lose someone you love in the fire. You’re not the ones experiencing new job hunting and trips to therapy to help with your nightmares. What form of responsibility is going to help that, Steve? Damage Control might help with rebuilding and funding, but what about those people you say you care about? What form of responsibility will solve that?”

“This is the United Nations we’re talking about. It’s not World Security Council, it’s not SHIELD, it’s not HYDRA...” as Rhodey spoke, your phone chimed and you stood up, moving to the corner of the room to take the phone call.

When you turned around, you saw Steve leaving. Instead of returning back to your seat, you quietly followed Steve only to see him stop on the stairs, ducking his head. You took a few steps down and stood one step above where he was.

“What is it?” You asked, noticing how his other hand was holding onto his phone. You took it from him and read the text message. You felt a pang in your heart––although not quite certain what that feeling was about. “I’m sorry,” you whispered.

Steve didn’t respond. Instead he just ducked his head even deeper as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey,” you whispered, touching his shoulder and then pulling him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around you tight as he began to sob. This was definitely a first time; you have never seen him cry like this before, and it was strange to you, but you did your best to comfort him as the two of you stood there on the steps of the facility.

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