#OR loses his infinity or six eyes but too late he died

[hirookouji]

jjk spoilers for manga leaks under the cut and in the tags .....

ik its too soon to speak but... im excited to see a post gojo jjk world... i think its too early to call it good or bad writing but me personally? i think gojo dying makes for more interesting possibilities for the rest of that cast and their growth and development as characters

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

Things Start Splitting At The Seams And Now It’s Tumbling Down

By @theherothechampiontheinquisitor for @cassiecasyl for the 2021 @friendly-neighborhood-exchange​

Rated: G Pairing: Mild Tony/Pepper, slight Peter/MJ, Happy/May Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Pepper Potts, May Parker Summary: Nothing has been right since Mysterio got into Peter's head and brought forth all of his worst fears and anxieties. The worst part of all was perhaps the solidification of the idea that if it hadn't been for him, his mentor wouldn't have taken that chance all those months ago and almost died when he snapped Thanos army out of existence. And that was something Peter was going to have to live with, especially now that he had to come face to face with the man himself.

OR READ ON AO3

It was just after nine am when the alarm clock on Peter’s phone started sounding. With a muffled groan he reached out from under his blanket and blindly slapped at where the phone was charging on his bedside table. One unfortunate slap however sent the phone careening off of the table and crashing into the floor below. Peter sat up in the bed, a muffled curse under his breath as he stretched his fingers out across the ground to pick up the still sounding device. It was a saturday, he didn’t even know why it would be sounding on the weekend and he’d had a long patrol last night. Maybe he had accidentally hit the wrong button before he passed out the night before. He flopped backwards into his pillows and silenced the alarm. As he did he noticed a notification that had already come through and clicked on it, his stomach flip flopping when he realized what the alarm was for.Mr. Stark’s Welcome Home Party - 12pm Peter had completely forgotten all about it. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes, feeling the first knot of dread begin to form. It had been nearly eight months since Bruce Banner had snapped and returned the lives of those lost in the Decimation, and eight months since Mr. Stark had handled the powers of the Infinity Stones, a feat that should have destroyed his very human body, but by some miracle he had survived. It had taken the will of Dr. Strange and the medical innovations of Wakanda and Helen Cho, but Peter thankfully did not lose his mentor on the battlefield that awful day. However, he had also only actually seen the man less than a handful of times since then, and none within the last six months. Part of that owed to the distance between them, Wakanda wasn’t exactly a few blocks away, but even now, Mr. Stark had technically been home for over a month at his new little lake house in upstate New York, but still Peter found ways to avoid the man. “Hey, kiddo, you waking up?” Aunt May called from the other side of the door as she lightly knocked against it and popped her head in. “Yeah, I’m up,” Peter sighed. Aunt May stepped fully into the room and gave Peter a cautious smile. “Good! I’m making pancakes if you’re hungry, but we’ve got to hurry if we’re going to make it upstate in time. You, uh, are going aren’t you? To Tony’s party?” Peter wondered if saying no would be worth the lecture he would no doubt end up receiving, however he had already promised himself that he would make an effort to be at the party, no matter how anxious the thought made him. “Of course,” he replies weakly. May sighed. “Good! I wasn’t sure, you’ve been kind of…moody lately when it comes to Tony. I think it will mean a lot to him if you go. ” “I’m not moody,” he mumbles and finally gets out of bed, stretching to his tip toes and every which way. “You guys talk often?” Sure, he had known that May kept up with Pepper at different points of Tony’s recovery, but for some reason it struck him as odd for her to talk with him directly. “Often enough. I think he really misses you, Pete.” Peter offers her a sad half smile. Truth be told, he misses Tony too, and for someone he had been so close with and he was beyond happy to still have in this world, he certainly ranaway from him at all costs. Peter was not without his reasons though which were only solidified after dealing with the likes of Quentin Beck last month. May seems to realize where his line of thinking has wandered as she steps forward and wraps him in a hug. “You really need to talk to him, Pete. I think it will help a lot.” Peter pulls away first. “I’m fine.” May looks like she wants to put up an argument, her face knitting into a frown, but likely she realizes that they are in fact on a time crunch and that arguing will only make them late. “Happy will be here in about an hour to get us, so get ready.” She presses a kiss to his cheek and then is gone. For two people who were supposedly not dating in Aunt May’s eyes, she and Happy actually did a lot of weird dating stuff, like him driving them everywhere. And going out to dinner at least once a week. Helping with her new charity. Saving her nephew’s ass when Beck had him so twisted and confused that he no longer knew what was real. Peter shook the thoughts from his head as he reached into his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and then eyed his shirts critically. What exactly did one wear to a party of this nature? He grabbed two different shirts, one was a red button down and the other was a light blue polo. He took a picture of each and sent out his cry for help to the only other person he knew that was up this early on a saturday, MJ. Which one? What’s the occasion? Mr. Stark’s welcome home party. Are you going on a date with him? Peter frowned. What’s that mean? Little formal, don’t you think? Maybe go a little less Forrest Gump and a little more Peter Parker. Peter snorted. Leave it to MJ to roast him so early in the morning. He went back into his closet and flipped through his selections, lingering only slightly on the shirt that said, ‘I Survived My Trip To NYC’, that Tony had bought him the day he’d taken back his first Spiderman suit. Instead he grabbed the next t-shirt off of the hanger, laid it on the bed and snapped another photo. Better? The t-shirt read, “Science. Just like magic but it’s real!” He thought that maybe Mr. Stark would appreciate that given how much he disliked Dr. Strange’s “wizard powers,” even if they had helped save his life. Classic Peter Parker. Feeling a bit more confident in himself, Peter grabbed the bundle of clothes in his arm and slipped out of his bedroom to the bathroom and started the shower. He undressed as he waited for the water to warm up, it always took forever and he’d had more than his share of rushed cold showers just so he wouldn’t be late for school. Glancing at his reflection in the mirror, Peter eyed himself critically for a moment. The cut he’d sustained the night before when a crook caught a lucky blow had already healed, barely noticeable at the corner of his eyebrow. Dark circles marred his face beneath his eyes, no amount of sleep or super healing able to make this go away. Peter barely noticed his grip tightening against the porcelain of the sink basin, his bloodshot eyes staring intently back in the mirror as he waited for the image to crack and crumble, for his surroundings to melt away and he’d be back in one of Beck’s illusions, another punch or another damn train around the corner ready catch him off guard. He released a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding when nothing happened except fog covering the glass where steam was finally rising from the shower stall and curling around him. He relaxed his grip on the sink and took a couple more deep breaths before turning to enter the shower, sighing in relief as the hot water fell against his skin, relieving some of the aches and tension that always seemed to be prevalent anymore. He would be lying if he didn’t admit to himself even a little bit that Quentin Beck had done a number on him. Not just mentally but on a personal level as well, going so far as to reveal his identity with video manipulation. Thankfully, the might and goodwill of the Stark Industries legal department had quashed the bulk of the backlash, revealing Beck as a disgruntled ex-employee that was trying to get back at an intern he had perceived as the reason for his dismissal. Most networks bought it hook, line and sinker, as they should as there was partial truth to the statement, and the ease of which the general public could dismiss the notion that a kid of all people could be Spiderman. Only rags like The Daily Bugle and a strange crop of Mysterio fanatics still believe the ravings of a dead man. It hadn’t made life any easier though, Peter felt like he was under a new microscope the way that Mr. Delmar’s eyes lingered on him longer as he made his favorite sandwich for him, the doubletakes and concealed murmurs as he shopped for groceries with Aunt May, or even in the strange way that Flash had tentatively offered a truce through Peter’s Instagram DM’s. Peter wished something else would happen so that the world would move on and forget about Peter Parker once again. A fleeting thought ran through Peter’s mind as he wondered if this was how Mr. Stark felt all the time as a public figure. Peter finished washing and shut off the hot stream, blindly reaching out for one of the fluffy white towels that May kept ready on a shelf beside the stall. He wiped the moisture from his face and ignored the pink hue of his skin from where the water had beat down on him and stepped out to begin dressing. Beck’s biggest assault had been on Peter’s mind and using his own fears and insecurities against him, especially when he had hit on the raw nerve that was Tony Stark and the guilt and shame that Peter kept hidden only to himself, that if only it hadn’t been for him, Mr. Stark would still be whole and healthy, free to continue the happy existence he had apparently been leading prior to the time heist. Back in the early days of Mr. Stark’s recovery when things were still touch and go, Peter inadvertently stumbled across a conversation between his Aunt May and Pepper when May was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened with the Decimation and how everyone was returned. “If it wasn’t for Peter, I don’t think that Tony would have pursued the time travel proposition, and then none of us would be here,” Pepper had said, Peter’s ears pricking up at the mention of his name. She had said it with a sad smile on her face and though he knew…or at least he thought he knew that she meant they wouldn’t be here as in those dusted, Peter couldn’t help but think what she really meant was that if it hadn’t been for him, her husband (because Mr. Stark had gotten married ) wouldn’t be clinging to life, his body mangled and scarred, a tube down his throat because he couldn’t breathe on his own yet. The few times he’d visited Tony after that had been marred by the echo of those words and so he’d stopped coming all together, unwilling to be reminded. How do I look? Peter asked, snapping a picture of himself after dressing and sending it off to MJ. He set his phone down on the dresser and had just picked up his comb when his phone immediately buzzed back. “That was quick,” he said to himself as he unlocked his screen, but froze when he realized it wasn’t MJ that had written him back. He had a new text from Mr. Stark. Peter used to get butterflies in the beginning when he would get random texts from Mr. Stark asking him to come to the tower for a lab day or questions about how the suit was holding up. Now as Peter stared at the notification he only felt a sinking sense of dread. He opened up the thread between him and Mr. Stark and scrolled through it a little bit, noting all of his mentor’s attempts at conversations with him and the one word or even no responses that Peter provided the man in return. It was almost a flip side of when Peter would ambush Happy’s cell phone at all hours of the day or night. Hey, kid. Please tell me you’re coming to this party today so I won’t be the only one bored to tears listening to Cap extol the virtues of never giving up the fight or whatever inspirational speech I’m sure he has planned. I’ll be there!!! Peter tapped out halfheartedly, hoping that the use of extra punctuation would make up for his lack of enthusiasm. It really wasn’t that he didn’t want to be there…he just didn’t know how he was going to be able to face Mr. Stark after everything that had happened. Tony waited nervously for Peter’s reply. He didn’t know how to explain it but communication between him and Peter had become terse and sporadic over the last few months of his recovery, nothing at all like how they used to talk pre-snap and even just an overall shift from the boy that Tony had hugged tightly on that battlefield. When Peter would respond it was usually short and to the point replies, no more half rambles or thousands of questions. In fact, Tony didn’t think that Peter had ever even initiated communication between them once, it was always Tony reaching out and checking in, and maybe part of that was now feeling the full effects of being a father, but he also wasn’t a stupid man and knew that their relationship was festering. Some of that Tony thought that he could pin on Quentin Beck and the disaster of the drones last month (and he still didn’t have the full report on what the hell had happened and how a damn skrull posing as Nick Fury was even able to get his hands on the Edith glasses), but even before then their brief interactions had been strained. Tony couldn’t quite blame the kid for losing interest in him though. Most days he felt next to useless, and he probably wouldn’t even have attended the party today had it not been held in his own home. That and for some reason Pepper was absolutely adamant about him not hiding away like “the phantom of the opera,” that was just her nature though, a glass half full disposition that had gotten him through the blackest of days. Finally after what felt like a lifetime his Stark phone buzzed on the end table beside him. He reached for it but nothing happened and it took longer than it should have for him to remember that he had been reaching out with his right arm, the one that he could still feel and his brain could still mentally move, that had been amputated months before, the infinity stones rendering it nothing more than a blackened husk. There honestly wasn’t a day that went by that Tony wished that he had put the gauntlet on his other arm. He had always been slightly ambidextrous in nature but there was no question that his right arm was his dominant in all ways, and his left arm was already weak, a decades worth of injuries as Iron Man leading to tremors and constant aching. Had he expected to survive the snap he might have had that foresight to switch, then again, perhaps the strength of that arm was what helped keep him alive. Tony huffed and adjusted to grab the phone with his left hand, popping open Peter’s message. I’ll be there!!! Relief coursed through Tony’s veins. Thank god. If he had to suffer through this party he at least wanted to be able to see Peter to remember that despite everything that he was now going through, it had all been worth it, because in the end he got his kid back. See ya there, Underoos! Alright that was one course of action that was completed, now just to conquer everything else on his mental list. “Hey, is everything alright?” “Shit!” Tony shouted, jumping back in shock from where Pepper had placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry!” she said, holding her hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” Tony shook his head and let out a deep breath. “It’s okay, just make some noise or something next time, you’re worse than Natasha.” He watched as Pepper’s face contorted, a furrow in her brow as she reflexively bit at the bottom of her lip like she always did when she had something she didn’t really want to tell him. “What is it?” “I called your name three times,” she replied simply. “Oh.” “That’s why I was checking on you.” Tony turned back to the bedside table and put his phone down, using his now empty hand to reach out for the hearing aid he’d placed there the night before. His arm wasn’t all that he had lost in the snap. The surge of power had done a number on his entire right side and though the Wakandan Doctors and Helen Cho were able to work a lot of miracles, there were some things that couldn’t be salvaged. His arm for one and his hearing for another. His ear had all but been burnt to a crisp, and though they were able to save it, he’d have to have the use of an aide on that side for the rest of his life. He had made a dry joke at the time that at least now he and Clint would have something in common. Pepper reached out to his palm and he released his grip, letting her take the hearing aid from him, her touch so gentle and soothing as she turned his head and helped fit the device. He reached up and fiddled with it to get it more comfortable but Pepper’s palms continued to rest against his marred face and he leaned into her touch. “You know Potts, we do have some time before the party…” “You’re ridiculous,” Pepper murmured fondly and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “You need to finish getting ready. Are you okay or…?” she trailed off but Tony knew what she meant. Did he need any help getting dressed or shaving or combing his hair? The things that he had taken for granted before and had suddenly become a pain in the ass when you’re down an appendage. Pepper was his wife and he loved her more than anything but he could still feel the heat of embarrassment tinge his cheeks and the back of his neck whenever he had to further admit his helplessness. “Could you grab me some clothes?” he asked quietly, averting his eyes. “Got kinda dizzy and off balance, that’s why I’m hanging out on the bed stil.” “Of course,” she said, running a hand through his hair, and god was he so thankful that he at least had that still. “Have you taken your medicine?” Tony sneered at the little blue pill box that held all of his medications, there were so many different kinds of pill shapes, sizes and colors that it reminded him of some ill spent parties he had attended in the nineties with bowls of pills set out like they were Skittles. “Yes, I took each and every unfortunate one, just waiting for them to kick in.” Pepper nodded approvingly and kissed him on the cheek again before heading towards their wardrobe to fish out something appropriate. “Long sleeve or short sleeve?” “Long sleeves in July?” Pepper shrugged. “You’re weird.” “What do you think would draw less attention?” “The team already knows everything, Tony…you don’t have to hide from anyone.” “Don’t need to give anyone a reason to gawk either.” Sure, the team had visited him, knew of his injuries, but that didn’t mean he wanted them to look at him with sympathy or even worse, pity. He could already see Cap’s stricken baby blues now welled full of tears. Yeah, no thanks. Pepper walked back over to him, jeans and a shirt folded over her arm. She lay them on the bed beside him but didn’t move away, instead she reached out with her small delicate hand and traced one of the white, lightning shaped scars across his chest and up his neck, her nail gently tickling him through the scruff until the scar faded into his hairline. Tony looked up at her then beneath long eyelashes and then she leaned down, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close to her. He inhaled the sweet smell of her perfume, something floral and sweet, jasmine and vanilla maybe and beneath it something undeniably Pepper that just reminded him of safety and comfort. Home. “We’re all just so glad that you’re still here with us, Tony. I’m so glad,” she amended, speaking softly into his ear. “For so long I didn’t know if we would ever get to this point, and now that we are I am just so damn grateful.” “I know…” “And if anyone gawks I’ll bust out the Rescue suit and kick their ass.” Tony snorted and pulled away. “I don’t doubt it. Thank you, Pep.” “Anytime,” she said and he knew that she meant it. Pepper had been an integral part to him retaining his sanity throughout recovery, keeping him grounded and pulling him out of his black moods whenever she could. She placed a soft kiss to his lips and he pressed his luck a little, opening his mouth to her and tracing her lips with his tongue, nibbling at the lower lip she had been worrying all day. She pulled away first with a sigh and tapped the tip of his nose with her finger. “Get ready.” “I am,” he winked and predictably she rolled her eyes. “I meant your clothes.” “I know,” he smiled. This bantering felt normal and familiar and Tony craved these little moments. “Are you going to help me take off my pants?” Pepper hummed and pretended to think hard on a response. “Maybe tonight if you stop being incorrigible.” “But it’s in my nature,” he chuckled and unfolded the red shirt he’d been presented with. It had been a gift from Rhodey while he was still recovering in the hospital which read, “I saved the universe and all I got was this lousy shirt,” with a little Iron Man helmet under the writing. A little on the nose for this event but he knew it would make Rhodey happy.  He reached his arm inside of the shirt and pulled the collar down around his head, then slid his arm through the sleeve without much issue. “Peter, is coming,” he said for a subject change. Pepper’s eyes lit up. “He is? It’s about time. Feels like forever since we’ve seen him. I really wish you could have convinced him to come hang out here after that Mysterio jackass.” “You and me both.” Especially, after Happy had told him how rough of shape Peter had been in when he picked him up in the Netherlands. Another example of how his past actions had a habit of coming back and hurting the people he loved most. “Maybe you guys can finally talk and clear the air.” “That’s definitely the plan.” He managed to get the new pair of boxer briefs and jeans on as they spoke, swaying only slightly as he stood up to pull them over his hips. He blushed only a little when Pepper had to button his jeans, his mind wanting to compensate with so many jokes that for once he kept clamped shut. “Hey,” Pepper said, grasping his shoulders and drawing his attention once more. “Everything is going to be okay.” It was hard to be negative in the face of his wife’s pure optimism so Tony just smiled slightly, so grateful that he had this amazing woman by his side for the rest of his days. “I believe you.” The party was in full swing by the time that Happy arrived with Peter and May in tow, despite his promptness in shuffling out the door, they hit major traffic just outside of the city and the man nearly popped a vein at the glacial crawl that they were subjected too. Peter wasn’t sure if he was thankful for the delay for giving him more time to compose himself or if it just made him even more anxious to fall behind. A lot of it could also have been attributed to the fact that The Daily Bugle still had a couple low grade reporters camping out outside his apartment and bombarding him with questions. It made Peter every bit appreciative for Happy’s imposing frame, cutting the reporter’s off from him and his Aunt and scaring them away, but they would be back. They always were. Peter had seen little snippets of what the lake house cabin looked like in texts that Mr. Stark would send him that featured pictures of Morgan (and holy crap, Mr. Stark with a kid was still mind blowing), or his farm animals (Three alpacas now that the snap is reversed, and six chickens. I’m trying to talk Pepper into pigs or a goat next. ), but seeing it now in person, it was even more gorgeous than the pictures did justice. It was still nowhere in the top ten list of places that he would have expected Mr. Stark to retire to but at the same time he got it. The sun was shining brightly today but all over they were protected from the rays by the canopy of the trees casting shade all around the lot. If Peter closed his eyes he could focus in on the gentle lap of the lake against the shore, the rustle of the leaves in the light breeze. It was peaceful. Cleansing. Almost enough for him to let go of some of his anxiety until May nudged him forward and brought him out of his trance as they both approached the side yard. Balloons and streamers were adorned everywhere like they were attending a child’s birthday party but Peter thought maybe that was the party decorating of a certain child and it suddenly made sense. A small banner hung from the wrap-around porch that said in bright red and gold lettering “Welcome Home Tony!!” Different groups of Avengers were littered around picnic tables that had been set up and truly Ms. Potts must have invited everyone that was on the battlefield that day, which was a lot more people than Peter had been expecting. He felt his skin begin to crawl as they wound their way in the thick of things, passing by a group of Wakandans, including their King, nudged around where Hawkeye was playing catch with his kids and sat down at what looked to be Tony’s table though the man was nowhere in sight Peter realized with relief. “I’m going to go say hi to Pepper, are you okay?” May asked. Peter just nodded and watched her go. He managed a wave to Colonel Rhodes where he was manning the grill and apparently attempting to hold off what could only be Gerald the alpaca from trying to steal scraps. There was a spread of appetizers and sides set up but just the thought of eating made Peter’s stomach churn, his blood pressure starting to rise as his senses tried to focus. And that is when he saw Mr. Stark for the first time. He was laughing when he finally noticed him approaching Rhodey. The sunlight that broke through the treetops shone down and made the gray in Mr. Stark’s hair stand out, something that when he had initially seen on the battlefield he thought was maybe the result of the soot and smoke, but it did seem like the man had traded in the box dye and embraced the telltale signs of aging. Of course though what stood out the most was what was no longer there to be noticed. Morgan clung to his left forearm, pulling on it and trying to bring him closer to her fort that was set up in the distance. Peter could see the subtle ways that he planted his feet and maintained his balance as they passed Rhodey. Rhodey said something smart as they went by and Mr. Stark turned his head back around, a smile filling his face as he made a comment back but all Peter could focus on were the scars. They weren’t as gruesome as they had been back on the battlefield or even in the hospital but in the warm afternoon sun they stood out against his normally tanned skin, marring him with red scar tissue and splintered off white scarring from where the infinity stones power had burned through his body. Suddenly, Peter heard Pepper’s voice saying, “If it wasn’t for Peter, Tony never would have done what he did,” before her voice broke off into a twisted laugh, Mysterio’s illusions working all around him, a zombie version of the Iron Man armor crawling towards him. “If it wasn’t for you, maybe Tony wouldn’t be wishing he had died.” “He looks good for someone who should be dead, doesn’t he?” a soft voice spoke beside Peter and pulled him out of his reverie. In all of his tangled up thinking, his spider sense had never once alerted him to the Black Widow creeping up beside him, her arms folded across her chest as she too watched Tony in the distance. “Oh, um, yeah, I guess so.” “Why do you look like he’s six feet under then?” “Huh? Oh, I don’t know, was just thinking of something else.” Natasha nodded. “That Mysterio asshole get in your head?” Peter wanted to lie but something told him that lying to Natasha Romanaoff wouldn’t go over very well. “A little,” he admitted instead. Natasha nodded again. “We’ve all been there before in some way. You should talk to Tony.” Peter shook his head no. “I’ll be okay.” “Yeah, that’s what we have all said before too, but if you’re not ready I get it. Sometimes there are things in your head too horrible to even speak of.” She was silent for a moment leaving Peter to ponder on what horrors exactly that she had been through before she spoke again. “You’ve been spotted. I can cut him off if you need a minute,” she indicated to where Mr. Stark was looking at him  and had started to make a beeline towards him, a smile tugging at the corner of his cheek. “It’s okay, I’m fine really,” he reassured. Natasha said nothing but did sit down at the other side of the table as he stood up to greet Mr. Stark. “Underoos! God you have no idea how good it is to see you again, kid.” Before Peter knew it he was clasped in a tight embrace from his mentor that was every bit as jarring as his first hug months ago was.Probably even more surprising was how comforting that single gesture was and even though he could only grip him with his left side, Peter could still feel the strength in the gesture as he awkwardly hugged him back. This version of Mr. Stark wasn’t anything like the one that haunted his dreams. He didn't smell like smoke and fire and blood, he smelled like what Peter could only describe as the inside cover of GQ magazine, some kind of rich cologne filling his nostrils as he focused in on the steady rhythm of the man’s heartbeat. He also wasn’t anything like Mysterio’s zombie creations. Peter could tell where his mentor had lost some muscle mass and definition in the last months, and his normally perfectly maintained goatee was overgrown and on the verge of turning into a full beard but there was no rotting flesh or bugs crawling out of his eyes. This was the real thing. Peter gripped him a little harder and Tony squeezed him in return, placing a kiss to the top of Peter’s head. “Sorry, parental reflex,” Tony joked and Peter laughed. “It’s okay. It’s really good to see you too, Mr. Stark.” Tony groaned. “Are we really still on the Mr. Stark thing? Please just call me Tony.” “Or Dad,” Rhodey joked, coming up behind them and placing some freshly grilled burgers down onto the table, drawing the attention of several other hungry Avengers. “Thank you for your impeccable timing, honeybear, as always. Now did you uh…” Rhodey produced another plate with his other hand, a juicy cheeseburger piled high with toppings and other sides.”Your welcome.” “This is why I love you,” Tony said, taking the plate and setting it on the table. “Yeah, yeah.” “If Ned is half as good a best friend as Rhodey or Happy are, then you are in good hands kid,” Tony said as he went to the other side of the table to be seated, Natasha scooted down a spot,  purposefully situating Tony at the end so no one sat on his bad side. It took Peter a moment to register what he said as he sat back down. “Wait what did you call him?” Tony frowned. “What Ned? That’s his name isn’t it? Your guy in a chair that can build a thousand piece Lego sets in a single sitting?” “Yeah that’s him, just normally you called him…well, it doesn’t matter.” Ted. Normally, Mr. Stark would call Ned, Ted and Peter was about 98% sure he only did that to drive Peter up a wall, sometimes quite literally given his abilities. It felt kinda nice that he actually really remembered. After that Peter was able to ease into the party a little more. His stomach was still a little tight so he picked at his food but other Avengers soon joined them all at the table to eat, like Thor and the space raccoon guy, Captain freakin’ America, and even Hawkeye sat down for a little bit to speak with Natasha. All throughout though Peter seemed to be the only one who noticed Mr. Stark--Tony’s mood change. Whereas in the past, or even arguably fifteen minutes before, Tony had been his usual boisterous self, always front and center in every conversation, or quick with a joke or a line, he was suddenly much more subdued as he hunched over his plate of food. Peter tried his best not to stare directly but he watched as Tony awkwardly maneuvered around as he tried to eat, his burger so large and topped with so many different things that it was hard to maintain a sure grip, and when he used a fork for what looked like potato salad his movements were slow and jerky, little flecks of food winding up in his beard until he’d quickly wipe it away with his napkin. The mounting frustration was becoming obvious on his face though again, he did everything he could to maintain a low profile as Thor regaled the table with tale after tale of the sights he had seen in space while he was travelling with the Guardians. Tony’s shoulders tensed up at the mention of Thanos’ name and Peter grit his teeth together thinking about meeting Thanos on Titan and battling him at the wreckage of the compound. He noticed a few others of the team begin to clam up as well, the battle thankfully won but clearly not gone from many of their minds, unless you were Thor, whose every victory battle was one to be regaled with others. “The way that Stark cut across the field and tackled that brute to the ground and stole the stones! I could feel the sheer energy of the stones crackling in the air when he activated them, I thought for sure that was going to be the end!! ” Thor bellowed, as he drank from an oversized tankard. Suddenly images filled Peter’s mind of just moments after the snap, the way that the air buzzed with electricity, the energy of the stones, as Peter sat begging at the maimed body of his mentor, the smell of burnt flesh seared into his mind forever as well as the glassy eyed stare that had been directed his way. All the stress and anxiety that he had managed to unravel came crawling back, and Peter wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans. Natasha’s eyes darted from Peter and then towards Tony but he didn’t seem to be paying them any mind. “Maybe we should change stories,” she said evenly, keeping her eyes on her friend. “But we were VICTORIOUS! It is something to celebrate!! Is that not what we are here today for? To revel in victory and the fact that our friend has managed to cheat death herself?” The table fell silent but all eyes turned to Tony who was jabbing his fork unenthusiastically at a baked potato, his knuckles white from the tightness with which he was gripping the utensil. It took another moment but he seemed to finally feel the eyes of the group on him and slowly turned his head, and Peter noticed the second that Tony donned one of his masks as his eyes widened and he looked at them all with a cartoonish expression. “What did I miss?” Thor groaned. “I forgot about the hearing device.” Nat shook her head and shared a small smile with Tony as she spoke. “No, that’s his other side, he heard you loud and clear.” “Yeah, this was just selective non-listening. Pepper said I have always been a pro at it,” Tony shrugged. He was doing that thing where he was pretending to act normal but Peter could see through the facade as the attention slowly diverted away from Tony once more, Natasha patting his back softly. “Well, what of you Spiderboy? I heard of you fighting with some sort of trickster or illusionist?” The combined reminder of Mysterio and Thanos mixed with the sights and sounds and smells that Peter had already come crashing back caught Peter off guard as he stared back at the Asgardian like a deer in the headlights. He glanced across the table and briefly made eye contact with Tony but it was enough for them to mentally be on the same page. Tony popped up from his seat at the table, steadying himself only slightly. “Well, actually it has been a blast swapping war tales but I actually need to steal Peter away for a little bit, to show him this thing I’ve been working on, you coming kid?” Peter immediately nodded and stood from his seat as well, the motion doing nothing to abate the queasiness in his stomach. “Yeah, that thing, I remember.” “Perfect, we’ll catch you guys in a few for cake,” Tony said, moving around the table to guide Peter, his palm pressed against the middle of his back as he directed him towards the workshop garage. With his enhanced hearing, Peter was able to make out Thor’s confusing murmurings. “Was it something I said?” Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the door to the workshop opened up and he was able to step inside, away from the people and the chatter. He loved his team and he loved his friends but he honestly would be happy never hearing the words Thanos or Infinity Stones ever again. DUM-E and U chirped happily and swarmed he and Peter at the door, Tony only indulging them in pats and rubs for a moment, still noticing how pale Peter looked out of the corner of his eye, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes staring at his feet. It was a look that Tony knew all too well. “Make yourself at home, kid,”he said tugging him further into the room. Peter gave a cursory glance at his surroundings, his eyes lingering every now and then on a half finished floating schematic or just some random tinkerings that Tony would disappear out here for when everything became too much and his brain needed a break, a task to focus on. Tony plopped down with a grown into his worn out black leather couch that had been following him from lab to lab since his MIT days. His muscles felt still and he could already begin to feel the ache forming in his right shoulder. Peter’s attention turned to him as he tried to massage some of the stiffness away. “Does it hurt?” Peter asked, so softly Tony could barely hear him, even with his aid turned all the way up. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.” “No, it’s okay Peter. Out there was different…” he referred to Thor and his stories. “It does hurt a little. Just stiff right now though.” Tony rotated his shoulder like he did in his physical therapy warm ups but the pain sharpened. That was just great. “Okay, it hurts a lot.” “I’m sorry…” “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Peter grimaced and looked away but said no more. “Are you okay?” Tony asked. “I noticed that I wasn’t the only one that didn’t want to relive any glory days.” “I’m fine,” came the automatic reply as Peter fiddled with a display of nanoparticles. “You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.” The room fell silent, only the sound of their breathing and the occasional beeps and whirrs from the bots filling the void. “I just don’t like talking about Beck” “Okay, fair enough. What do you know about the world of prosthetics?” “What?” “Prosthetics? For an arm specifically. I still have a couple more months of therapy before I can be officially fitted for anything, but I have had a ton of ideas, while I was cooped up. I was kinda thinking of something similar to Barnes’ metal arm but a little less brainwashed assassin-y, maybe more Terminator-ish as in the outside would be a perfect replica of my arm but beneath it has the metal skeleton frame work--” “Whoa, wait a minute, why would you want my help for something so important? It’s my fault that you’re even in this situation in the first place.” “Huh? None of this was your fault, kid. Is that what you really think?” Silence. Holy shit. This definitely went a long way into explaining why Peter was going out of his way to avoid him if he carried around some strange burden of guilt. This trauma ran much deeper than Tony originally expected. “What did Beck say to you?” he finally asked quietly as he came to stand beside Peter, leaning his body against his drafting table. Peter turned away from him and Tony knew that he had hit a nerve. “It’s not what he said…not really.” “An illusion then?” “I thought we weren’t going to talk about this?” “We weren’t…but that was until I realized that you had somehow gotten it into your mind that something very much out of your control was somehow your fault. Is this why you’ve been so distant?” “I’ve just been busy with school and Spiderman.” “That’s not the picture that the baby monitor protocol paints. In fact your Spiderman activities are at the lowest they have ever been…” “You’ve been checking up on me?” Peter asked, suddenly turning towards Tony with fire in his eyes. “Of course, you’re my kid. I was worried about you.” “I’ve just been doing what your lawyers have said and that’s keeping a low profile,” Peter shrugged. “That guy Jameson has people camping outside of the apartment still.” “Then that’s definitely something that we shall have to fix, but like I said Pete, you can’t bullshit a bullshitter, even before that you were barely making patrols with any sense of regularity…” “What do you want me to say to you? That yes, Mysterio put my head in a blender and showed me all of my worst nightmares? That he chased me with this rotting corpse in an Iron Man suit and told me that you wished you were dead?” Finally the dam broke…and it was so much worse than Tony could even imagine. “I don’t wish I were dead,” Tony responded, quietly, though he knew that at one point Peter or Beck wasn’t too far off the mark. “But you’re hurt…we’re talking about building you another arm and I can see how much everything has happened has changed you, even in front of your family and friends…” “I still fail to see how any of this could possibly be your fault, Pete.” Peter sighed and wandered over to the spot on the couch that Tony had been sitting on and collapsed down onto the leather, the couch creaking and crinkling beneath him. Tony approached him cautiously, noting how his eyes were red and welled with tears as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I heard Ms. Potts…Mrs. Stark telling my Aunt May, that if it hadn’t been for me, you would have never  been in this position if it hadn’t been for me. That you never would have pursued time travelling. You could have continued living your new life in peace.” With hesitation Tony leaned forward and with more strength than he should have had, he pulled the boy who had snuck into his heart and become like his own sun close to his chest and embraced him as tightly as he could. To his surprise, Peter clung back to him. “Pepper wasn’t wrong Pete, but I thing the real problem here is that you are missing a lot of context. She didn’t mean it in a bad way…after the Decimation…losing you and half the universe…I was a mess, kid. And for the longest time I did nothing but tried to find a way to bring you back. This room, my database is filled with hundreds, if not thousands of failed attempts to recreate the stones power, or time travel, or any idea that I had, even if it didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, to bring you all back…but between the guilt and the failure, eventually I gave up entirely. Tried to move on. But it never worked, because losing you Peter was like losing a son. “I tried to move on, but you were always in the back of my mind and in my nightmares, breaking apart into ash and I was helpless to stop it. For so long I wondered why the universe didn’t take me instead…and then Rogers came knocking on my door and for the first time I had hope again. All it took was a spark of inspiration and you know where that came from? A picture of us for your Stark Internship. You had the stupid paper upside down and it sparked an idea and that idea worked. So, very literally, Peter Parker, if it wasn’t for you, none of the Decimated would have ever been returned.” Peter listened along quietly, his eyes widening at key points as Tony told his tale. He couldn’t believe that the kid had gotten it all wrong. Hadn’t he shown the boy just how much that he meant? He would have to do a better job in the future. “Even with everything that happened…” Peter motioned awkwardly toward Tony’s missing arm, to the scars on his face. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant that you would be here to someday take my place,” Tony said, with all the sincerity in his heart. “Now we have a lot to talk about and to sort through…the anxiety…I’ve lived that,still am. We can help get you back on track But for now, this is my party and I could seriously use your help designing this arm. I tried to do it with Morgan but she wanted to add compartments that shoot out glitter and all kinds of crazy things. What do you say?” Peter smiled, his first genuine smile in a very long time. His fears and anxiety were not completely abated despite Tony’s speech and the sincerity that he had expressed, but for the first time, Peter felt like he could feel better. That he could stop carrying around some of these extra bags of guilt as long as he just let go and trusted those around him. It was the smallest of baby steps and he knew that he was in for a long road ahead, but it was worth it. “Only if I can convince you to add some web slingers in there instead. Give you a little dose of what I do for therapy,” Peter teased. “Are you trying to get Pepper to yell at me? Because this is how we get Pepper yelling at me…but I’m in.” For once, it finally felt like everything was going to be alright.

[buckleyirondad]

No. 15. Into The Unknown “Magical Healing”

A 15-year-old Morgan saves Peter's life, and in doing so, Tony learns her secret.

AO3 Link

Tony remembered the moment that Peter’s life was claimed by Thanos’ lottery. Holding his terrified kid, in his arms, utterly speechless, was something he couldn’t shake.

Even, in the eleven years since Peter returned, alongside the rest of the fallen, the memory still nagged Tony’s mind and tugged on his heart. He struggled to look at Pete, for the first couple of months without his stomach leaping into his throat.

Losing someone and getting them back was a strange process.

Tony forgot, that despite having Peter back, the kid wasn’t invincible.

Looking back, Tony knew he should have tried harder.

Perhaps, he should have convinced Peter that the superhero life was not a path to be taken. Instructed him, or pushed him, to throw away the suit, and move on with his life.

It would have been rich, Iron Man telling Spider-Man to step down, after the biggest battle the universe had ever seen.

Tony didn’t care, he should have taken the chance, and claimed the title of a hypocrite, with pride.

If he’d done that, he wouldn’t have found himself, sitting on the floor on a balcony at the Headquarters, under the moonlight of New York City, cradling Peter, as he died.

It was slower than the first.

Peter was aware, of what was happening, and he seemed to be okay with it.

He didn’t scream plea after plea, to be saved.

He was quiet.

Tony couldn’t believe it, but the silence, was worse, than the pleading; Peter had accepted the fact that he was going to die, and the knot in Tony’s stomach tightened, at the thought.

Peter’s head was tucked up, against Tony’s chest, and his legs were sprawled across his lap.

Tony was holding onto him, as tight as he could without causing him any more harm.

Peter’s eyes were filled with tears, but his pupils were unfocused, staring up at the night sky, “Tony—”

Tony flinched, reaching up to comb a trembling hand through Peter’s curls, “Hey…” He scraped his teeth over his lower lip, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

There was nothing Tony could do.

It was too late to rush Peter over to the Infirmary, he wouldn’t make the trip.

Instead, all Tony could do, was hold him, comfort him, love him, knowing that after he drew his final breath, life would never be the same again.

Peter sunk against his side, “I—” He broke into a violent cough, tugging weakly on Tony’s jacket with his balled fists, he flickered his eyes up, “I’m sorry.”

Tony gently shushed him, “I’ve got you, kiddo, nothing bad is gonna happen,” He bent down, pressing a kiss, in the kid’s curls, “Not when I'm here.”

“I—” Peter stammered, “I-I got the flowers, MJ and I wanted—”

For the wedding.

Tony ducked his head, “I know, I know.”

The balcony doors were thrown open, by heavy hands.

Tony jumped out of his skin, instinctively pulling Peter closer to his chest.

Morgan’s scream followed, “Peter!”

Tony’s heart dropped, “M—”

“Oh—” Morgan collapsed beside them, her cheeks devoid of color, “Shit—” She cried, “Peter?”

Tony reached out, with a single hand, resting it on her arm, “Baby—"

Morgan’s sob tore through her, “Peter?”

“Morgan?” Peter blinked slowly, holding his hand up, “Hey—"

“What—” She locked her hand, around his, “What happened—”

Peter managed a weak smile, trying to soften the blow, “It’s too late.”

“No,” Morgan barked sternly, “No, we can fix this.” She snapped her head up, looking to Tony, “Dad’s here, we’re gonna fix this.”

Tony once carried all six infinity stones, he felt the power of the universe, rage through him, tearing him apart, atom by atom.

It made open-heart surgery in a cave, seem like a papercut.

Looking at his daughter, as his son died in his arms, was worse than both.

He shook his head.

Morgan’s face twisted as she sucked in a sharp breath, “What?”

Tony’s throat ran dry, “I can’t—"

“No,” She doubled over, “You can’t—” She cradled Peter’s bloodied hand to her chest, “You can’t go.”

Tony rubbed his hand, up and down her arm.

Morgan swung her head back, sitting straight, “Okay,” She wiped tears out of her eyes, with the back of her hand, “I—I can fix this.”

Tony frowned, “Honey?”

She rolled back her shoulders, knocking off his hand, “I can do this.”

Tony studied her, “Do what?”

She raised Peter’s hand, and clasped her other hand around it, “Come on..."

Tony had no idea what was going on, which was new for him, “What are you—”

Morgan closed her eyes, drew a shaken breathe, and started murmuring under her breath.

“M—”

Tony stopped, not understand what he was seeing.

A bright yellow light wrapped around Peter’s hand, and whatever it was, was radiating from Morgan.

The light swarmed, surrounding them, in long stripes.

It was like a scene straight out of a Disney movie.

It slowly disappeared, leaving them under the moonlight once more.

Morgan jerked forward, letting go of a pained breath as she opened her eyes.

Tony’s jaw dropped.

Her eyes were glowing an unfamiliar white, she blinked a few times, and they faded back to their usual brown.

Tony stalled his shock, turning to look at Peter.

His eyes were closed, but the gaps between each breath were frequent, and his pulse was stronger.

Friday spoke up, “Boss, my scan indicates that Peter has a 98.7% chance of surviving surgery. I have called for a medical team.”

Morgan dropped down, sitting on her heels, as a look of relief crossed her face.

Tony stared at her, unsure of what to say.

The medical team charged, onto the scene, with a gurney, at the ready.

Cho rushed over, kneeling beside them, “We can take it from here, Tony.”

Tony turned to her, with teary eyes, “Okay,” He nodded, “Be careful.”

The team lifted Peter, out of Tony’s arms, onto a gurney.

Morgan stood, letting her hand fall from her brother’s as they rolled him away, she seemed unsteady on her feet.

Tony cautiously reached out, locking an arm around her, making sure she didn’t take a nosedive.

She looked up, blurry-eyed, “I’m okay, Dad.”

“Sure,” He squeezed her close, “Let’s go and grab something to drink, he’s gonna be in surgery for a while.”

Tony wasn’t sure what happened, but it seemed his daughter could do with a glucose boost.

Morgan stepped away, walking in front of him as they headed down to one of the living areas.

Tony bought two cans of full-sugar cola from the vending machine, “Here,” He handed it over to her.

“Thanks,” She opened it, and downed it, without taking a second to breathe.

“You know what,” Tony leaned over, handing her the other, “Take this one.”

She nodded her gratitude, turning away to drink the other, a little slower than the first.

Tony perched, on the edge of an armchair.

Everybody else were on their way up, and it wouldn’t be long until he was met with a wall of questions about Peter.

Morgan saved him, and he wasn’t even sure how.

They were only at the Headquarters, to collect a few boxes from a Laboratory. Tony got the alert about Peter, while Morgan was getting coffee, and he hadn’t had the time to leave a note, Friday must have told her.

They were seriously in the right place, at the right time.

“Um...” Morgan rubbed the nape of her neck, “Is he gonna be okay?”

Tony nodded, putting his phone away, “It looks like it.”

She paced, back and forth, “Are you—” She pointed, “Are you gonna—"

“Gonna ask about the light show?” He scrunched his nose, “I’m processing it.”

Morgan wiped her clammy hands together, she hovered by the window, looking out, “Same.”

“Honey, I’ve seen everything,” He began, “Aliens, Gods - Your brother and I have been to space.” He held up his hand, “You know all this, and Pete having mutated gene still surprises me, but this—”

She turned, arms crossed, “Me having powers?”

He breathed, “It’s different.”

Terrifying was also another word.

Two superpowered kids were not something Tony had anticipated.

He slouched his shoulders, “What is this?”

“I’m inhuman…” She told him, “I think.”

He raised an eyebrow, “You think?”

“You know how there’s been an influx of mutated cases, since…” She stammered, “Thanos, Uncle Bruce, and you…used the stones?”

Tony nodded, “Yeah.”

“I think…one of those…changed me—”

“Of course,” He stood up, “How long—have you known—”

She answered, fast, “Two years.”

“Two years?” Tony squealed, “You've known since you were thirteen?”

“Yeah,” She confirmed, “I-I—I found an injured bird, and it kinda just happened, it was terrifying—”

Tony softened his tone, “You should have come to us, baby.”

“I didn’t wanna worry you,” She smiled, “I’ve done a few times, you know? With Peter mostly, whenever he’s sleeping off injuries.” She lifted her shoulder, in a half shrug, “Nobody noticed.”

Tony grinned, “Oh, we kinda did.”

“Huh?”

He walked over, pulling her into a side hug, “We were wondering why Peter’s healing gene was working faster than usual,” He pressed a kiss against her cheek, “Seems like he has a guardian angel.”

[writing-the-end]

WS Chapter 40: A Home in Hell

Previous Chapter

Masterpost

A lotta lore coming your way! Thank you X for being the only one with a braincell in this group to explain world mechanics in a way that even I- the author- hardly understands. 

And sorry for yet another cliffhanger! I just love them too much! (wonder how many people caught the foreshadowing a few chapters back)

Ecto belongs to @cooler-cactus-block 

Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland​

Red picks up his head as he hears the sound of fireworks. The late afternoon sun blocks Red’s vision, whiting out the sky and making it impossible to see who is flying by. He feels like a castaway, trapped on this mound of sand with only an ominous nether portal and an unlit campfire. He doesn’t even have the ability to start a fire. 

Glimmers of white rain from the sky, forms slowly descending from the heavens. Well, most of them are. One dives straight for Red, wings tucked in like an arrow shot from a bow. The grey elytran wings only open at the last second, just enough to slow the descent and save the flyer from experiencing kinetic energy. Not enough to keep Ecto from barreling into Red, sending them both skidding across the sand. 

Red squeaks, gasping for air as Ecto hugs the breath out of her. Red feels something wet on his shoulder, and realizes that Ecto’s crying. She isn’t sure she’s ever seen Ecto cry, even when she was iced out of her own home. “We thought you were gone.” 

Red’s lips thin out. She should be gone. Out of everyone’s way. But even death didn’t want something as useless as her. Avon’s wings eclipse the sun a moment later, oscillating to lower her to the sand. She crosses the sandy island in a few strides, lifting off the ground to reach Red as fast as possible. Avon wraps her arms and wings tight around the other two wanderers, cocooning all three in the embrace. A weak chuckle escapes Avon’s lips.“We have got to stop losing each other in this world.” 

They only break up when Red has to push them apart. She needs to breathe, and Ecto’s vice grip is definitely not letting her do that. The hermits take slow circles to lower in altitude before landing on the short spit of land. Grian does the best landing, sliding across the sand and using the grains to skid to a stop. Stress’s landing is more of a stumble, coming in too hot for her liking. 

Ecto lets go, but stays close to Red. “I...I can’t believe you’re alive. How...how does…” 

“Our world has a few different rules than yours appears to have. Differences in the laws of nature, and all that.” Xisuma states, sitting down next to the wanderers. The other hermits crowd close. Even Mumbo, despite nearly being killed by sixty six percent of the trio. “Most deaths here aren’t permanent. You die, but you can come back.” 

“Is that what world magic can do?” Red questions. “How does that even work?” 

Iskall pulls out a pair of flint and steel, striking it to start the campfire. Keralis and Stress pull up logs for them all to sit on. And Grian reveals pockets full of food. He can’t help but notice Avon’s gaze never faltering from the potatoes in his hand. He starts cooking while Xisuma fills them in. “I don’t know how all it works, but I know my spells work and it eases the tension on all of us.” 

“You don’t want to know how many times I’ve died. I’ve kinda gotten used to the tingly feeling of reviving.” Scar chuckles, leaning back and watching as the sun sets on the world. That reminds Scar of something. He picks up a bag from behind the log, tossing it across the fire to Red. “Here you go, little fish. Keep that little guy close in your world, you hear?” 

Red looks down, seeing the gilded statue glinting in the sunset colors and fire flames. He notices that it has little wings on it’s back, like an angel with wings outspread. Cute little wings, smaller than his wide nose. He can’t tell if the nose was a mistake or intentional. It’s endearing, but Red isn’t sure why Fred is so important for Scar. Did he make it? 

As the cooked meals are being passed around, Avon looks across the fire to Tango. He reminds her so much of Blu, especially the way that the flames frame his face, his blonde hair and eyes the color of heated netherrack. Xisuma said something about Tango spending lots of time in the nether. She bites into her baked potato, swallowing it before she speaks. “You worked in the nether?” 

Tango perks up, noticing the quietest camper suddenly speak. He takes a bite of his steak, and leans back. “Yeah, a few worlds back I made this massive nether style base and humongous big farm-ificators in the dimension.” 

“Were there other people in the nether? What was it like working there so long?” Red adds, scooting closer to Tango. 

“I mean, it was a pretty long time ago. My mind starts to wander and mix things all up into a bunch of gobblty goop. It was really hot, for one. And yeah, there were other people. They didn’t really talk to me much, but they liked to watch my work. They were pretty chill people, the ones I met. Gave me lots of books and told me all sorts of things, like how they would just- pop!- appear in hell. Called themselves hellspawns because of that.” 

Xisuma hums, looking at the wanderers and Tango. “I think there’s a reason why hellspawns exist. Every world is a bit different. Different rules of nature, and different ways of keeping those rules. But as every world mage knows, each universe needs to keep its balance. I may have a theory as to why the person who attacked you may exist.” 

“Ohhh, if it’s an Xisuma idea it’s got to be all sorts of cool wizardy spells and potion things.” Tango is on the edge of his seat. He doesn’t exactly know why these people appeared and lived in the nether, but his time spent with them made him want to make the best of his own life. Live on his own terms. And he feels he has, here among the hermits. 

“There’s three dimensions. All in balance with one another. Too much of one thing can be bad, and too much of another isn’t good either. The nether and the Overworld are equals and opposites. Mirrors, counterweights. Keeping the universe in balance.” Xisuma picks up a handful of sand, watching the grains fall through his fingertips and return to the millions of others among the beach.

“But what about the End? Where is it in all this?” Avon questions, leaning against a propped up knee.

“If the overworld and the nether are the weights, then the End is the scale. Measuring, taking, adding. The liminal space between both, but just as integral as either side.” Xisuma looks around. Most of the people listening seem to be lost, but still listening

“So hellspawns….” Tango whispers.

“Probably appear to give the world balance. To be the counter to the universe. A hellspawn can’t exist without it’s overworld counter being born. And the overworld needs the nether to ease the weight of creation. Both are needed to keep balance.” 

“Why would Blu attack us then?” Ecto seems to understand the gist, tossing out all the weird theoretical stuff. “If both need to be balanced, why attack us? Why kill the ender dragon and freeze an entire desert?” 

“That...I can’t understand.” Xisuma shrugs, pulling off his helmet to finally dig into the mushroom stew he’s been preparing. Long, fluffy brown hair falls from his helmet, curling around his face. 

The wanderers look to Tango, but he shakes his head. “I don’t think any of my books or conversations can help, friends. It’s been ages since my nether base and those massive farms, leaving to join the other hermits in the new world. I really wish I could help more, but this is way out of my league man.” 

The wanderers look at each other, before looking back at the fire. It’s not the answer they were looking for, but it’s information they needed. Now they know, hellspawns are from the nether. Some way of their world balancing itself. Stress changes the subject to something lighter, and Scar adds on his own quirky stories until the air is filled with laughter. Calm respite after so long the wanderers struggled. Retreating into the hermit world, wounded and defeated. Quickly becoming lost in the jungle, only to find new friends willing to help them. In more ways than just getting back on course. And now, they can return to their world. Healed and with a new understanding of what they’re facing. 

With the dawn light, Scar guides the wanderers back to Larry. The giant snail still eeks over the infinity portal, guarding it with a fierce, lopsided gaze. Scar presses a crystal into each of the wanderer’s hands. “ The heart of the warrior for Avon, Luck for Ecto, and water breathing for Red.” 

Red looks at his crystal, then up to Scar. He doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he can already breathe underwater. He just clutches the crystal close, nodding as the rift warps and shifts between them. As much as Red loves being with the hermits, he’s ready to go home. Ready to face whatever is waiting for him. 

The wanderers step back through the portal, falling between worlds and back to their own. It’s dazing, and they can’t help but stumble back into their world. The portal disappears, leaving them in the forest. Ecto winces, rubbing her head after nearly cracking it against a tree. “Ugh, what’s that awful scent? It smells like dead fish.” 

Red looks around, breath catching in his throat. He recognizes where he is. He remembers the river, flowing through the forest towards the sea. The giant boulders tossed aside and trees growing from the fractures within them. And he smells the horrible scent, making him gag, his nose burning and eyes watering. The tide is turning.

Red scrabbles to his feet, leaving Ecto and Avon behind. Stumbling through the sand of the beach, only to collapse at the interface of the water. The water swirls with a rusted red color, waves brushing dead fish and seaweed against the pristine beaches. It’s already too late. 

Red was too late. The tide has turned.

[greetjk]

Ironfam Whump/Angst Fic Recs

Here is a masterlist of some of my all-time favorite whump/angst Spider-Man fics! If anyone is looking for some good reads while in quarantine, here you go! Be sure to read the tags and warnings associated with each story, because many of them have potentially triggering or sensitive subject matter. Read safe!!

CHAPTERED FICS

A Parent Apparent by happyaspie (446k+, ongoing)  

Where Tony and Peter’s relationship grows into more of a father/son relationship after an accident involving Aunt May (who lives).

Identity Theft by KitCat992 (244k+)

It's been months since the events of Civil War, and the Avengers are doing their best to remain a team, having promised to forgive and forget. Unfortunately for them, Tony Stark's latest invention has been stolen and recovering it causes tension to reappear.

Meanwhile, in Queens, Peter Parker has two main priorities on his plate — complete his midterm finals, and track down a fishbowl wearing criminal that may or may not lead him right into the hands of the Avengers.

Somehow between all of this, Spider-man's identity is revealed to the Avengers, Steve and Tony's friendship may permanently be damaged due to continued hidden secrets, and Happy struggles to buy a youth-sized casket for Peter's funeral.

Things were a lot easier when they were fighting over Bucky Barnes.

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle (200k+) 

Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.

So he leaves.

Simple.

Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.

And that’s when things get complicated.

ever in your favor by iron_spider (153k+)

Peter startles awake when someone shakes him.

“Sorry, honey,” May says. Peter blinks a couple times and she comes into focus, her hair pulled back from her face. She’s trying not to look a certain way, but he can see it in her eyes anyway. She clears her throat, keeps talking. “But it’s…” She glances away, wets her lips. “You gotta get ready.”

He remembers what day it is, and his heart beats like a drum at someone’s execution. But he tries to put on a mask, make it all seem normal. It’s everything but, despite the fact that he’s been dealing with reaping day since he was born, between himself, Ben and May. That fear that one of them could be taken away. Sent to surefire slaughter. But now Ben is gone, taken despite never having his name drawn from a bowl, and May’s finally safe. Now Peter’s name is in there alone. The last Parker sitting on the chopping block. He doesn’t know how to be. He doesn’t know what normal is, when the Hunger Games are looming on the horizon.

I Never Knew I was Broken by GotMyInkPen (111k+, ongoing) 

Peter Parker has been living in HYDRA ever since his parents died at age four. All he can remember are the lesson's HYDRA taught him and a series of words that strike fear into his heart. The only thing driving him forward are the memories of meeting his hero The Winter Soldier when he was seven and the goal to one day be as great an assassin as him.

At age sixteen Peter finds himself tangled in the lives of the Avengers and can't help but wonder if there's more to life than what he's been told.

Tony wants to help him, no matter what.

In the Home by aloneintherain (68k+)

The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.

“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room—”

Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes—

Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.

Promotions Aren't Always A Good Thing by Svn_f1ower (67k+) 

"When Peter was almost thirteen, May met Carter."

"Not too many months after Carter moved in, May got a promotion at work."

When May gets a new boyfriend, Peter's okay. When Carter moves in, he can deal. When May gets a promotion so she works days and Carter works nights, Peter finds it harder to deal. When Carter starts abusing him, he begins to feel crushed by the weight of it all.

Archetype by Bean_reads_fanfic (57k+)

Tony knows something is up when the research of ex-Hydra agents gets recycled in an underground Oscorp lab… what he doesn’t expect is the boy in a hospital gown sticking to the ceiling; or, how said boy proceeds to imprint on him like a baby duckling (a poor decision on his part, really). Did he mention he wasn’t intending on bringing home a kid that day?

Filling the Gaps by ironfamjam (53k+)

Tony looked at him, bold and true and utterly sincere, “Kid, I’m on your side, no matter what.”

Like most good things, it started with an accident.

Well, kinda.

This is a story about how a snarky, emotionally stunted genius became more than a mentor and how a just-trying-to-figure-it-out, doing his best superkid became the son he never had. No matter how empty our hearts are, love can always fill the gaps.

There’s a hole in my head and my words are falling out by wolfpuppypiles (30k+)

Tony’s stomach clenched into a knot at the sudden cut off of Peters' voice because he hadn’t trailed off, no his word had been strangled before a groan and crash sounded from the other side of the door.

Steve jumped in fright at the crash and Tony’s stomach curled tighter at the heavy thump of something hitting the carpet. Something like Peter.

let’s kick it by CivilBores (28k+)

Tony and Peter’s relationship becomes strained after the events of Infinity War. When a mysterious alien gas infects Peter with a strange disease, they realize they need to pull themselves together or risk losing everything.

For Pete’s Sake! by KitCat992 (26k+)

Maybe he’d feel better if he closed his eyes, just for a second. It was too dark to see anything clearly anyway, and he’d be able to concentrate better without seeing how fast the ground was coming up to meet him.

A rush of wind sent goosebumps across his skin before two strong hands gripped his shoulders tightly, keeping him upright and from nose-diving straight into the alleyway cement.

Peter snapped his eyes open, blinking a couple times to clear his vision. Everything was blurry. Was that…?

“...ice cream man!?”

how can the body die? (you tell me, everything) by madasthesea (8k+)

Tony felt panic creep up his spine. Something was occurring to him, slowly percolating in the back of his mind.

“You said the stinger got you. Is Scorpion’s stinger venomous?”

“I don’t—” Peter cut off as he groaned, the muscles in his jaw tight. “I don’t know. He upgraded—he was faster. Bigger. I—I thought I could beat him.”

beam me up, mr. chewbacca by iron_spider (6k)

“It’s 4:58 in the morning,” Karen says. “Your morning alarm is set to ring at seven. By the time you make it home, you will not have much time to sleep. Less than an hour, and that’s only if you fall asleep immediately.” Peter hums to himself, blinking blearily. “I’ll go to sleep, it’s fine.” “And you have the Macbeth report due tomorrow,” Karen says. “Two thousand words, of which you have written...six.” “Oh shit,” Peter gasps, his heart jumping in his chest. “Okay, I’m not gonna sleep.” “This is the type of event that Mr. Stark has told me to inform him about,” Karen says. “Because he is aware you wouldn’t share this type of thing with him on your own.” “Do not do that,” Peter says, shooting another web and cascading through an alleyway. “For real. For real for real. It’s fine, I got it, he doesn’t need to know, okay? He’s busy, this is—Spidey business, I got this, I’ll tell him when it’s all over. All the details. Cross my heart.”

Poison Apple by whumphoarder (5k)

“I-I think something’s wrong with me.”

Ned gives a short laugh. “Pretty sure we established that when you puked in a corn maze. You’ve got like, food poisoning or something.”

Peter shakes his head. “No, not that.” He takes a few short breaths. “Chest feels weird. Kinda hard to breathe.”

ONE-SHOTS

On sleepless roads the sleepless go by frostysunflowers (10k+)

Peter and sleep have been avoiding each other lately. Enter Tony Stark, the man with many plans.

you heal my like the light of day by searchingforstars (9k)

Peter tries to hide a stab wound and an infection-fuelled fever is never any fun. Also, it turns out that Beck is still lurking in Peter's mind much more than anyone realised.

a numb road forward by WhimsicalEthonographies (5k)

The light is bright, painfully so, but Peter can’t jerk away, he can’t do anything because his body is being crushed by something heavy but not entirely unpleasant.

“Hey, there he is,” Mr. Stark’s face appears in front of him, blocking the white light, thank God, then May’s face is next to his, blurry and hazy but it’s them and that’s nice.

“Hi, baby,” May smiles but she looks sad. So does Mr. Stark.

Cyanide? In My Shawarma? by losingmymindtonight (4k+)

Pepper convinces Tony to bring Peter along on his first dinner with the Rogue Avengers since their pardoning.

Poor Tony had thought the whole thing was a recipe for disaster before someone decided to shove some cyanide in his food.

stop, don’t start by iron_spider (3k)

“Shit shit shit.” Tony severely underestimated this guy, if this is on him, because Tony has a backup plan for every backup plan in his suit, has protocols for every misstep, every frayed wire, every glitch, and yet here he is, someone else’s weapon.

The true horror of it doesn’t set in until Tony sees Spider-Man swing by—Tony raises his own hand, aims and locks on.

“No, no!” Tony yells, panicking. “No!”

He shoots a repulsor blast, and knocks Peter out of the air.

Something the Soul Needs by blondsak (3k)

As he races closer, Tony winces at the knowledge that Peter had to have already hit the pavement-- that he was too late. But when Tony finally gets around the last corner, he sees that no-- Peter didn’t hit the pavement. Instead, the scene that greets him is somehow inconceivably worse.

Rather than landing on the cement - which would have been bad enough - Peter had landed on a fence. An old, rusting, wrought iron spiked fence.

[kathyprior4200]

FHE Alastor Glimpses At Our World

Before long after Alastor had his rest, it wasn’t just Pentagram City that fell into his hands.

 There were several other great cities in Hell, Thelema City and Levia City. In the former one, an indigo upside down cross glowed against the red sky, though the air was very polluted from nearby factories. Many of the residents of Thelema city had wings: dragons, hydras, bat demons, mosquito demons, among others. Still, there were plenty of animal-like demons, imps, and other sinners who lived there, too. The city was ruled by King Beezelbub, Lord of the Flies and a lower ruler. He had a black face, and many eyes that could see in every direction. Giant fly wings extended from his back, even as he wore a suit, top-hat and bow-tie. Once he heard of Lucifer’s defeat, he promptly surrendered after Alastor had burst into the palace with his army of shadow minions.

 The city of Levia was different. It lay close to a burning ocean of fire, where large fish, ancient sharks and sea monsters lurked beneath violent waves. The demon denizens used boats to catch fish, sell them at outrageously high prices and consume them. In this city, a teal symbol glowed against the red sky, an infinity symbol with two crosses on top of another…Leviathan’s symbol.

 Leviathan was another king, also lower than Lucifer but higher than Beezelbub. He had a wife, Abyzou and a prince son, Franz. This royal family had the appearance of sea monsters: sharp fangs, scaly skin of dark green, ocean blue, or black. He carried a pitchfork staff with an eel skeleton wrapped around it. Helsa, Seviathan and the rest of the Von Eldritch family were close associates with this family, rivals of the Magnes.

 Leviathan and Alastor engaged in battle, but alas, Leviathan lost as well. The smart demons took refuge in Leviathan’s palace, which was partly submerged under the fiery sea. All the cities and provinces fell under the Radio Demon. Both royal families and cities perished.

 It wasn’t long before Alastor was wearing a trophy necklace of several black Archangel heads. The holy harpoons and spears the Archangels were carrying were burned in a large pile, as they weren’t very effective against the angels.

 Unknown by most, there were other lower Circles of Hell; the current one was the first uppermost one, closest to Heaven and Earth. The second circle was a windy desert, the third, a gloomy rain-filled filthy realm, the fourth one, a haven for gamblers and property wars, the fifth, a trade site via the River Styx, the sixth, a gothic land of death, the seventh, a land of weapons, the eighth, a world of mining and disease and finally, the icy ninth circle, closest to the Void. This was where Satan, Lucifer’s dark counterpart resided.

At least until Alastor either recruited him or destroyed him.

 Sir Pentious’ hideout lay in ruins after the serpent lord’s defeat. His air ship lay in several charred pieces on the ground during their final battle. The remaining egg bois were running for their lives from hungry animated voodoo dolls with poison-tipped pins aiming toward the minions. Baxter’s labs were now covered with rocks, dirt and debris from the ground collapsing after more shadow demons and creatures burst free. The Hazbin Hotel, once grand in its haphazardly appearance was now in tatters from the Archangels and shadow spirits fighting earlier on. The stained glass windows with apples on it now lay in glass pieces of red and dark yellow. The circus tent that made up the roof was torn and no longer upright. The only thing recognizable was the lit up letters of “Hazbin” that were once on the roof.

 Once the demons of Pentagram City were freed and turned on him thanks to Charlie, the crazed Radio Demon didn’t want to risk anymore chances, thus sending the spirits to finish them off. There were times when Alastor would miss the crazy times he had with Charlie, Niffty, Mimzy, Rosie, Husk and even Angel Dust. But love of power tilted to paranoia of losing his position. As he had found a way to defeat Lucifer, he had to make sure that the same thing didn’t happen to him.

 Alastor had died once from dogs and a gunshot when he was human. Despite being powerful, he knew that Hell was filled with other kinds of dangers. He made sure he wouldn’t die again.

 Fortunately for him, all the souls that the shadows had consumed seemed to make them more powerful. They were able to fight off several more invading Archangels, even in Heaven where the sunlight could be harmful to them. Provided they evade the angel’s spears and not get too close to God, they were fulfilling their greedy desires to wreak havoc throughout the realms. For now, he appeared to be back pulling the strings of his dark demonic army. While the shadows invaded Heaven, a horde of imps traveled to the human world to kill off more humans for Alastor and the shadows to feast on. Most humans didn’t seem to notice…they were all too frantic trying to save lives during the COVID 19 virus outbreak. One of the portals opened…showing the modern city of New Orleans. Alastor peeked through one of the portals and saw nurses wearing masks rushing patients into hospitals. A group of kids and their parents were crying against the wall, all wearing face masks. Teachers and parents were chatting though their cellphones and computer screens, boarding in their homes.

One sign made Alastor gasp out loud: it read “Mardi Gras parade and festival postponed until next year due to outbreak. Please wash your hands, wear a mask and stay home.”

“Unbelievable…” he breathed, tuffs twitching.

Jazz band were no longer playing in clubs and outside. The only music that was played came from the tiny screens of iPhones from videos. Nothing like the filling all-encompassing live music that made New Orleans so well-known in the United States. The whole city looked dead, devoid of vivid purple, green and yellow colors like in the past.

Alastor stood, shocked, but then remembered all the suffering people and grinned wider.

The world of humanity was coming to an end.

Perhaps he could add newcomer sinners to his army without worrying about powerful royal families. Stolas, the pervert owl demon would not be lonely now, especially with Blitzo to play with and thousands of people entering Hell.

Alastor nodded in approval at a sign reading “Please keep six feet apart from others around you.”

“I need to enforce that rule in Hell. If only Angel has listened.”

 Alastor stepped back and the portal closed.

“This virus outbreak…what pandemonium…pure entertainment!” Alastor laughed with delight. “So many delusional protestors! Orphans, homeless folk, sick patients waiting for death to bring them home. Mortals dying right and left. Gullible humans don’t know what hits them until it’s far too late.” He never thought such an event could top the drama of the 1929 Stock Market Crash…but here it was.

 The crisis briefly brought back memories of the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. Back then, his mother had gotten gravely ill and passed away. At the same time, his father had molested him a second time and left him to fend for himself. He had spiraled into a period of depression, cutting, and fasting…he had snapped and later killed his father in the most painful ways possible. This was when his killing sprees began…during the Roaring Twenties.

 How ironic that history has a way of repeating itself after a hundred years. Now, the 2020s age had begun. Alastor had, indeed, snapped once again, though he did not feel helpless nor sad this time.

 A second life. A second chance. A second opportunity to make all his enemies perish for good.

Like the virus, Alastor was a nondiscriminatory bringer of death and destruction…

…and humanity was about to enter an even Greater Depression.

[sciencelings-writes]

Endgame Fix-it Prompt

@iron-man-bingo

For once in his life, Tony didn’t want to die. He had spent so much time wishing that he could just stop existing until he found something to live for. After the first snap and seeing the kid he thought of like his own disappear in his arms, all he wanted to do was follow him in the same billion pieces. But he didn’t. He stayed on the barren planet far from his home. Even before that, there were dozens of times he wanted to give up but at the last second, the universe threw in something for him to live for into his life. 

He had just gotten everyone back. He could introduce Peter to Morgan and Harley, He could finally retire with his family. He could go home. But that wasn’t going to happen. The battle wasn’t over. In fact, they were losing. Until Tony got a hold of the infinity stones. He had the chance to save them all but he had to confront the certainty of the sacrifice.  

If Tony used the stones, there was no going back. But if Thanos got the stones back, the entire universe would be destroyed. Tony knew what he was going to do and he took a selfish moment to think about them. To think about his beautiful, wonderful wife, his best friends, his kids… and he realized that he would do anything to stay with them. He couldn’t leave them. Not just for his own sake, but for the people that loved him. 

He had spent so long trying not to let anyone get near him that it was only then, when he was about to die, that he realized who he would leave behind. If he died, Pepper would have to raise Morgan alone, Morgan would grow up without her father, Peter would’ve lost his third father figure and judging by how close he was to the scene, the second father figure who would die in front of his eyes, Rhodey and Happy would probably feel pretty bad, no matter how much Tony wished they shouldn’t. 

For some reason, he didn’t want to die. But he still needed to end it. Someone did, and it was too late to make another plan, one that would keep him alive. It was too late. All he could do was take the shot and hope that there was a chance that he could survive. For his family if not for the simple reason that he finally had hope. He had finally gotten his family whole again and he so desperately wanted to experience everything with them, he wanted to see Peter graduate and buy way too many gifts for Christmas and feel like a buttery mess after movie nights. He wanted to help Morgan with her homework and teach Harley how to fly a suit. He just wanted to live. 

So while he had the most powerful reality warping tool within his grasp, he didn’t just use them to completely decimate Thanos and his army, he added a little selfish request. He wanted to survive. He didn’t care how painful it would be, how horrible his quality of life would be, he just needed to stay. He needed to stay with them. 

He looked straight into the purple assholes eyes, with extreme power coursing through him, and he snapped. After that was a painful blur, and then darkness. His last thought was the dim hope that this wasn’t the end and the blurry sight of his wife and her muffled voice. 

“You can rest now.” 

No, he doesn’t think he will.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony died. But not for long. Only for a moment. A long moment. Long enough to be pronounced dead at the hospital. Long enough for everyone to think he was dead. Pepper was crying over his body when he took his first breath.

He expected the pain, but this was kind of annoying. His right side felt like it was submerged in lava and his arm was completely gone. But pain was nothing new. He wrapped his remaining arm around his wife and swore that he wasn’t a zombie. She still had her cool-toned iron suit on, mildly damaged from battle. His side, neck, and part of his face were heavily bandaged. He had technically felt worse in his life but this was pretty shitty. 

Tony unapologetically took several long moments just being held by his wife, trying not to think of the world around them. Just thanking every single god from every single religion he could think of that he was still alive. That he didn’t have to leave his family yet. 

“Oh my god… Tony… Do you want me to bring everyone in? We all thought you were dead, Peter was.. Jesus poor kid…” Pepper stumbled over her words like she did only when shit was really fucked up. 

“Some… only your favorites… I can’t… It’s a little fucked up but… I kind of want to stay dead. I’ve been in the public eye since Howard revealed that mom was pregnant. I just… I think I’m done…” His voice was weak and only came out in a soft grumbling whisper. 

“I think we can work that out…” Pepper said gently as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I am going to let the spider-kid in though. You know, if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have gotten you here to check if you weren’t dead. Your heart had stopped and the arc reactor shut off. Everyone thought you were gone but he convinced us to patch you up and wait. He said he knew what death felt like and that you were still there. I’m glad that we held on to that speck of hope.” Her voice wavered a bit. Looking at Tony like he was a ghost and that she still wasn’t sure that he was there. 

“Yeah… I want to see him. I really want to see the kid.” He said weakly. 

“I’ll get him then. Are you sure you want to… ‘Stay dead’?” She used her fingers for air quotes. 

“Yeah. I think… I think I’m done. Maybe the Avengers will stop bothering me if they think I’m six feet under.” He gave her a little smile. The only person that would be able to figure it out was dead too. None of the other Avengers were very bright. Except for Bruce, but he also tended to mind his own business. 

Pepper left the room after glancing at him again and was only gone for a moment. Tony took a few steady breaths and closed his eyes for a second. It turned out dying was exhausting. His eyes snapped open when he heard a timid familiar voice. 

“Mr. Stark?” 

“Hey, Kiddo. You glad to be back in the land of the living?” 

“I-I could ask you the same thing…” Peter’s eyes were red around the edges like he had been crying tears made of acid. He looked like he really wanted to see if Tony was really there and alive but didn’t want to hurt him. The look was pretty specific but Peter was usually pretty easy to read. 

“Come on.” Tony opened his remaining arm, offering a hug. It looked kind of odd with only one arm but it was still pretty obvious the intentions. 

“You’re hurt, I don’t want to-” 

“Kid I literally don’t give a shit.” This seemed to be all the permission Peter needed to practically launch himself over to Tony’s side and wrap him in an obviously much-needed hug. Tony’s heart clenched when he heard Peter’s muffled sob into his shoulder. Tony automatically combed his fingers through his kid's hair and he assumed that helping raise Morgan made his affectionate actions more natural. He blamed that when he kissed Peter’s forehead like he would his own biological kid. Thankfully if Peter didn’t feel weird about it, he didn’t say anything. 

In fact, they didn’t say anything for a while. Tony just held onto his kid with his one weak arm with Peter curled up around him on the hospital bed looking unbelievably small for someone who could throw a bus. After a minute of listening to steady breathing and comfortable silence, Tony realized that Peter had fallen asleep. 

For some strange reason, this caused Tony’s old scarred heart to swell in pure admiration for the kid. Getting the kid back had been one of the most wonderful surreal moments in his life. At first, he didn’t believe it. He had spent so much time feeling guilty and mourning that getting him back felt too good to be true. He could only hug the kid close and fondly listen to all his rambling. Now, they were both alive and Tony was overwhelmingly relieved. 

He didn’t care that he lost an arm, people like Bucky and Nebula had missing arms and he could figure out a cool prosthetic pretty easily. He didn’t care about the pain. He was alive to raise his daughter and to just… live. All he wanted to do was live. Live without the burden of knowing the next world ending event was on the horizon.  Without being the only hero to prepare for it. But now, there were plenty of heroes, a few of which he even trusted to take his place. 

They didn’t need him anymore. He had done enough. This didn’t make him feel sad, it made him feel relief. He was done. He had always strived to be done. That’s why he fought, to be done. To go home. To be with his family. But for so long he had always been pulled back in. This had been the last time. He was done. No more. Over. He could rest. Thankfully for him, his rest wasn’t death and it didn’t have to be. It seemed like stories of heroes who couldn’t stop being heroes always ended up dying and that was the only way they could rest. But not him. He was all for breaking stereotypes. 

His train of thought paused when the door squeaked open a few inches. He smiled when he caught sight of his best friends. Happy and Rhodey snuck in, after noticing Peter fast asleep in Tony’s arm. They both looked relieved to see him and Tony swore that he saw tears in his oldest friends eyes. 

“If you ever do that kind of shit again I’m gonna-” Happy whisper threatened, as not to wake the baby. 

“I know… I won’t. I’m… I’m done.” Tony promised

“Like Done done?” Rhodey raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“My beautiful, perfect, intelligent wife is making sure that I’ll be legally dead. So yeah. I’m done.” Rhodey and Happy shared a look. 

“Are you sure? I didn’t think we could take the hero out of you…” Rhodey confirmed. 

“I’m done. I mean I don’t think I can completely stop, but I can do what I did with this kid. I can help the baby superheroes. I even have an idea of who can replace me as Iron Man…” 

“What are we gonna do about the funeral?” 

“I’ve got an idea... But that’s for later. I’m happy that you’re both here.” He smiled a little. 

“I think we’re both pretty glad that you’re not dead too.” Happy shrugged. 

“Yeah, I can see that…” 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony’s funeral might’ve been a small private affair but he could’ve never expected to be mourned as much as he was. It almost made him feel bad that it wasn’t real. There was a gigantic statue of Iron Man in New York where the old Avengers compound used to be, along with a well-funded museum of heroes dedicated to the ones lost. Including Nat and the Vision. Tony had never been there but Peter told him about it. He took pictures of everything Iron Man related and texted him a picture of his own gravestone. That was kind of weird but he ended up making a joke about it, so now they joke about leaving flowers on his tombstone and his ghost haunting the kid. 

Morgan, Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey had to do quite a lot of acting at the private funeral to keep up the story that Tony was dead. But Peter didn’t have to act too much. He knew what it felt like to go to a father figures funeral. Even though he knew Tony was alive and even had an earpiece connected to him directly, it was still kind of jarring to pretend that he was dead. 

Once he had to get away from all the people and hid in the bathroom for a while with Tony asking through the earpiece if he was okay. Peter would reply that it was just weirdly familiar and he didn’t like talking about him in the past tense. He also didn’t like being around people who believed it. He desperately wanted to tell someone, but it wasn’t his place and he managed to keep his mouth closed. Even when the shreky Bruce Banner looked really sad, Peter managed not to spill. It was kind of hard. 

Morgan was surprisingly good at keeping her mouth shut. She was a drama queen just like her father. She was mostly confused at the situation and thankfully was not aware of the concept of death so she just whined about wearing a boring dress and getting hungry for cheeseburgers. 

A bunch of people that ‘were’ close to him talked about him a little, Peter was informed that if they had enough time, they would let him say a few words and evidently, there was plenty of time. So Peter was a little nervous, it wasn’t like he was talking about his dad figure to a bunch of super-people… So, Peter was a lot nervous but he ultimately decided to do this because he had things he wanted to say to Tony that he was too cowardly to say in front of him. 

So he stood up from his place at the head picnic table and looked at the darkly dressed superheroes all around him. He took a shaking breath and decided to introduce himself. 

“Hi, uh, I’m Peter Parker. Spider-Man, but don’t go blabbing about that, some of us want to keep that kind of thing a secret.” There was a small ripple of polite laughter. “Tony is… Tony was like a father to me. When no one believed in me, he did. When I was alone, I had him. When my aunt found out about my secret vigilantism, he confronted her and managed to not get slapped.” He looked at May who had a sad look on her face but still smiled a little. She still wasn’t in the light about the reality with Tony but Peter was sure that he would tell her eventually. 

“Tony was my hero before he surprised me at my apartment. He was the type of hero I wanted to be before I got powers. He didn’t need super strength or a magic hammer to be a superhero. He didn’t need a gamma radiation accident or years of training as a Russian spy. He didn’t need an infinity stone or magic or vibranium. He was a hero because of his brain. He was a hero because he made himself one. He was a hero because he was doing anything he could to fix his mistakes and the mistakes of the people around him. He was a hero because while I was a nerdy middle schooler, with nothing but my above average brain, he was someone I could see myself in.”

“He became a hero when he was broke and kidnapped with a battery in his chest. When his brain was the only thing he had left, he rose from the ashes and became Iron Man. He made me realize that no matter how broken I was and was going to end up being, I am not worthless or unfixable. Tony Stark still saved the world while the world never believed he could.” 

“There are a lot of heroes out there,” Peter looked around the dozens of superheroes around him and smiled, “but no one like Tony Stark. No one can ever be like Tony Stark.” 

‘Aw, Spider-kid, you’re making me tear up…’ Tony’s voice echoed quietly through the earpiece. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be used to him being gone, sometimes I can still hear his voice…” Peter smiled a little, hoping that it came across as reminiscent instead of knowing. 

‘No you can’t’ 

“Anyway, sorry I ended up rambling didn’t I… I just want to finish with the fact that I think Tony was my hero. Not Iron Man. He will always be my hero.” 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Stark household was like a domestic heaven. Both Peter and Tony had never expected to have a family again, yet here they were, at the dinner table with a handful of other people laughing along to a joke one of them had made. 

Peter had been living there while May figured out the apartment situation as she had been dusted too and their apartment had someone else living there. But it was fine, apparently Tony had prepared a room for him, filled with Star Wars themed things and even a poster for a few Star Wars movies that he had missed while he was all dusty. 

Living there had been kind of weird for Peter but he welcomed it. He wasn’t used to being around a little kid but being around Morgan was a lot of fun. Apparently, Tony had told her all about him and insisted that he was her brother and Peter didn’t have the heart to tell her that wasn’t the case. Even if he did have the heart to, he wouldn’t. He always got a little smile on his face when Morgan said ‘Petey’ instead of ‘Peter’ because she couldn’t quite pronounce her ‘r’s very well yet. 

Harley was a different sort of weird but just as welcome. He was more extroverted and confident than Peter was but just as nerdy. Half of their conversations were about the logistics of sci-fi weapons and the other half were about dumb things like the memes Peter had missed. It struck an easy balance and Peter didn’t think he could become friends with someone so fast. Peter could ramble almost incoherently at the speed of light and Harley could still follow along. Peter was pretty happy to have more than one friend now. 

So, sitting at the dinner table, with a bunch of people Peter could imagine thinking about as a family, was a little bit overwhelming. He had always kind of envied people with siblings, parents and all that, with no offense to the aunt and uncle that raised him, he loved them more than he could say, but he knew from a pretty young age that his family was a little odd. It was even worse after his uncle was killed but now, he had more family than he had ever thought he’d ever have.

“You zoning out fart-face?” Harley’s voice broke Peter’s focus of staring at nothing. 

“I guess you were that boring asshole,” Peter said with no maliciousness in his voice. 

“Language! What will the good captain think!” 

“Carol wouldn’t care…”

“No, she’s the great captain, I mean Steve.” 

“Oh! I don’t care.” 

“Don’t swear in front of my kid though.” Tony interrupted before taking an unsteady bite of a cheeseburger with his nondominant hand as his dominant arm had yet to be replaced with a prosthetic. He was still working on living without his most useful limb. Usually, Pepper had to help him with simple tasks but lately, DUM-E had been happy finally being useful. He was almost competent.  

“Fine dad…” Peter rolled his eyes over dramatically. 

“Am I hearing sass from you, Spider-boy?” 

“Come on, Harley sasses you all the time!” 

“I’m not saying that it’s bad, I just never expect it to come from you…” 

“I guess when I died, the last bits of hero worship died too…” 

“Please don’t talk about dying… I’m not in the mood. It’s cheeseburger time.” 

Dinner continued like that, with casual conversation and Tony complaining about having to take breaks from eating because his body was still too annoyingly weak to do such hard tasks as chewing and holding something in his hand for several seconds. May was planning on coming down to the cabin in a couple of hours after her shift at the snaps rehabilitation center, Happy would fly her over and they were bringing back some things from the storage facility that Tony had put all the Parkers things into. 

Even though everything hurt and he could barely move, Tony was very happy to be alive. He loved being with his family and was already planning on making a joke about trading his right arm for them. Which was much truer than they knew. It had only taken several decades of absolute torture, but Tony was finally happy to be alive. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a few months since the big battle, since the final snap, since Tony lost his arm. By now they had made mark one or the Iron Arm, it wasn’t too bulky and moved when Tony wanted it too but he was still getting used to it. 

Thanks to the jolly green giant, Tony knew that today was the day that the stones were being returned. It took a little while for the time machine to be rebuilt and made smaller, and more Pym particle to be made but the time had come and everything was ready. He was taking a stroll near his little pond and without his usual paranoia, didn’t notice someone behind him until they spoke up. 

“Tony?” Tony turned around without urgency to see who had caught him not being dead. He was actually kind of surprised to see who it was. 

“Hey Cap. You’re looking… a little more elderly than I last saw you…” Tony raised his graying eyebrow at the wrinkly version of his teammate. 

“You’re alive?” 

“Apparently, I knew none of you would leave me alone if I told you before.” 

“Well, I am pretty glad about that. I have about a half hour until my younger self takes the most powerful weapons in the universe back. Would you like to sit with me?” 

“I don’t have much else to do. Being dead gives me way too much free time…” Tony sat on the bench facing the pond and Steve sat down next to him. Tony noticed the strangely shaped circular bag at Steve’s side and realized what it was for pretty quick. Not many things were that size that Mr. Rogers would bring back from his timeline. “So, Barnes or Wilson. Who’s gonna be the next Cap?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Steve chuckled, “Bucky… he deserves a break. Sam is more than worthy to inherit the shield. Captain America was always more than a World War two science experiment.”

“So, is he going to be the eagle now? Uncle Sam?” Tony joked. 

“Americas Angel? Well, I’m not quite sure. He might even decide to keep being Captain America. Just younger and fewer steroids.” 

“You know, It’s kind of weird getting old. Passing the superhero mantle. I didn’t know if I could ever leave it behind.” 

“And what changed your mind?” 

“The kid. Spider-Man. There are so many heroes out there now, I remember being the only one. But now, there are plenty to go around. But the kid? I wouldn’t trust anyone with my legacy more. I mean sure, there are a few other choices that I would totally support being the next Iron Man, but Pete’s already in the game. He followed in my footsteps the moment he used being a superhero to cope with world-shattering trauma.” 

“That is very you isn’t it. I think the world is going to be in good hands.” 

“Probably better hands than before.” There was a moment of silence. “You don’t seem too surprised to see me alive…” 

“You forget that I know you, Tony, if you were to retire, you’d have no choice but to be as dramatic as possible and faking your death while saving the universe is pretty damn dramatic.” 

“Faking my death was a little last minute… I didn’t mean to be that dramatic.” 

“It’s just part of you.”

“I don’t know whether that was offensive or not…” 

“It wasn’t meant to be. You’re a showman. Life is much more fun with you around.” 

“I’m flattered but you must remember that I am married and not in my prune phase yet.” Steve laughed weakly. 

“Not in every timeline…” 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean-” 

“Maybe I’ll tell you later, you should probably get going, they’re starting to set up the device.” 

“I’ll set up an extra plate for dinner tonight, don’t skip out on me.” Tony stood up and took a moment to stretch. 

“I don’t plan on it. I had to wait several decades for people to start putting spices in food and I started to regret going back.” 

“Maybe I’ll boil some potatoes for your old man tastebuds,” Tony smirked as he walked away.

“Tony I swear to god-” 

“See you then Grandpa.” 

“I’ll look forward to it.” Steve smiled as he looked out into the shimmering water. Maybe it was cheap to call Tony dramatic when he traveled through his original timeline to give his friend a large sheet of metal. Well, if he had to learn something from the smartest avenger…

[castielgurl]

What Is And What Should Never Be Chapter 6

fan art by: luccia chan

you can read in AO3 here:https://archiveofourown.org/works/18920308/chapters/45542353

Soul World was a mysterious world. But according to a fairy tale. Souls that have been exchanged with Soul stone cannot be taken back. The dead soul will die forever. No other power is able to restore it. Even though the combination of six Infinity Stone will not change anything. But according to the ancient story, souls taken by Soul Stone can be returned only with creatures that have a pure soul. And the creature must have a blood relationship with the dead soul in the Soul world. Only pure souls can master Soul Stone's power. But the person with a pure soul is very hard to find.

"How did you come here?” Natasha talks with her son

"I don`t know, I`m not sure as the Soul Stone is in my hands, I wake up in this place” James explained.

"I am alone in this place. Sometimes there are some spirits that come and go here” Natasha explains to James. She stroked the hair of her son. Natasha saw little James playing alone. James always in his own world. Sometimes she will see James communicate with his imaginary friend. James lay on his mother's lap. They are both felt comfortable with each other. "Could you be that person?" Natasha remembered something

"What are you talking about? James asked

"There's a spirit here talking about The Master of the soul stone, they say that they can free the spirits of this world, and they can replace the spirits here, they say the masters must be those who have a pure heart." Natasha looked at James

"I don`t know, I’m not sure, I've been rude to my dad, I'm mad because he left you, he's so quick to forget you. He returned to the Second World War and married Peggy. I`m angry, I never talk like that to him "James was not sure he was a saintly man

"He deserves the happiness he is looking for, he has made a lot of sacrifices for others, and I understand why he's acting like that, why would he waiting for me?” Natasha tries to calm James "After I gave birth to you, I never saw a person so pure like you. You are a kind-hearted child, patient, and less trouble, not crying much. It still doesn`t explain why and how did you come here" Natasha said.

"I don`t think I'm special, I just want to save my mom and dad and save many people. But anyway what happened to you here? And why Dad doesn`t know about me?" James wanted to know

Natasha recalls the memory in 2018

Nat undergoes a health examination in a secret place to prevent the government from knowing where she was. She was told she was pregnant two months. Natasha thought the doctor was joking. Steve and Natasha spent the night when they had a mission in Qatar. Sam was back in America for personal matters. So only she and Steve stay at the hotel. They sleep together, and Steve certainly wants more than what Natasha can give. She was convinced that Steve had fallen in love with her. But Natasha and Steve knew it was not the right time. Natasha tried to avoid talking about it.

Then the battle took place. Natasha has planned to tell Steve. For the first time Natasha believed in family life, the baby gave her hope. Natasha needs to tell Steve after the war. But Natasha never prepares what the snap causes them. She saw people turning into dust and she starts to panic and finding the most important person in her life is Steve. She was relieved Steve was thereby holding the dead body of Vision. Natasha was disappointed because she knew they had lost. But suddenly felt something cold in the abdomen. As something has been pulled out of her body. Natasha continued to stroke her stomach and then she realized Thanos had taken it. The baby was gone, and the doctor also confirmed it. No one knows about the baby except her and the doctor. Natasha did not even tell Steve that their son was dead. Steve has lost a lot of people in his life. Losing their unborn child only makes the situation worse.

"Why did you not tell him afterward?" James looked at his mother

"It's no use anymore, the baby is gone, and if they are able to reverse the snap, it's not possible the baby can come back. When the sacrifice was needed, I knew my life was over. But it doesn`t mean that other people's lives will end. Clint owns his family, I do not have anyone. " Natasha said and she knew she was doing the right thing

"If you tell him, maybe he will not leaving, and he will not let you go to that place."

"I know. If he knew there was a baby he would have felt very disappointed and cannot concentrate on his duties as Captain. It would be difficult for him to accept that I've died. I cannot do that to him”

James now understands how great it is to have a mother like her she is selfless. Although she and his biological mother are different people, yet their hearts are still the same people.

"I don`t know what's going on, I'm sitting alone here, and suddenly I know I'm still pregnant, maybe it's a mother's instinct, at least I'm not alone here, I know we've won. When you're born, it's a hard-to-describe the feeling, I love you since the first time I'm holding you. You look just like him”

"And you love him," James revealed

"I thought Steve was crazy, I didn’t` deserve it, but he did tell me he loved me, but now I understand that I loved him, a long time ago. I'm aware of it after you were born, but I'm going to be here forever "Natasha is aware of the fact

"You said only the master of the soul stone that was able to set you free from this. So you think I'm The Soul stone master?"

"You were born here, technically no one was born in the soul world, and no one who still alive ever came to this soul world. And the stone you still got it?” Natasha got up

"It’s with me" James hands out the stone in his pocket.

Meanwhile Avengers HQ 2025

"What happened? Where did he go?" Morgan was very desperate because James suddenly disappeared

Dr. Banner and Dr. Jane try to find where James goes. They use the tracker to search James around the world.

Suddenly, there was sound coming from the Quantum Tunnel. All Avengers gather to the tunnel

James and Natasha stood on a platform with a child.

Cassie and Morgan were relieved. But everyone was shocked to see Natasha.

"Nat?" Wanda wants to make sure what she sees is real

"Hi everyone, I know this may be very weird." Natasha didn`t know how to explain. Wanda, Sam, Hulk, and Rodney, are all very happy and come to hugs Natasha. Some of them were in tears

"But who is this little child?" Sam leans against Nat's hug.

All eyes focused on the boy. The boy was hiding behind his mother.

"Oh, he is mine, his name is James." Natasha hesitated to tell his last name. "James .. Rogers"

Everyone was shocked by the disclosure. Especially, Bruce, he looks a bit disappointed.

Natasha promised to explain everything. There are some individuals she doesn`t know. And see someone is not here.

"Where is Tony?" It is obvious that Nat doesn`t know what was happening to Stark.

Natasha learned that Tony had been killed for doing that snap. Thor had traveled elsewhere, and Clint brought his family away from the city. Natasha wept over Tony's grave. Natasha also managed to track Clint; she was united with the family. All of them are happy that Auntie Nat has returned. Little James played with Nathaniel.

James, Cassie, and Morgan go home to their universe. Carol should have to do snap to bring everyone back. They call the other Captain Marvel from their universe. They believe she is the strongest person to do the snap. Particle machines created by Shuri, Jane and Bruce managed to close the time vortex to separate the two universes. Now they will be separated forever. No one can come from another universe. It is best to avoid Beck or anyone else to do the same.

All Avengers and gather to bid farewell to Next Avengers. Including James and his mother. James advises little James.

"I need you to take care of your mum and remember buddy, you are very strong." James hugged little James.

Apparently, little James can only communicate with James. He was just two and a half years old.

"Thank you, Mum. Well, what going to happen to you and Dad?” James hoped they would meet again

"No thanks, he has found the happiness he deserves. He's got a family of his own. I can take care of myself. Don`t worry about me. Besides I got my family back and thank you for everything James" Natasha said before holding face James and kissed his forehead.

"But you have to tell him about little James, at least he needs to know." James tried to persuade his mother

"I'll think about it later," Natasha thought if by telling Steve it would change anything?

Next Avengers say goodbye to everyone. They return to their world. And bring Beck together. He will be punished in their world.

**************************************************************************************

Natasha was reunited with old Steve. He cried when he saw Natasha in front of him.

"Nat, you're back, I'm sorry I've tried to bring you back, but I didn`t succeed, I should not let you go to that place." Steve is sobbing

"Steve you know it was destined to happen and I came here to tell you that I understand why you went to the past to live with Peggy." Natasha holds Steve's hand

"I'm supposed to live with you, I really want to invite you to live together, that's true Nat, but your loss is very painful." Steve shed tears.

"It's not your fault I know you really want to do that, I know you love me, and I love you too, and this little boy is a symbol of my love for you." Natasha showed his little boy to Steve.

"Forgive me, son, I wish we will have time together,” Steve said and hugged the little boy. Little James holds Steve's face.

**************************************************************************************

Cassie and Morgan return to their universe. But James is not yet there. Cassie and Morgan start to wonder if James might be lost. James then appears after a few minutes.

"James, why are you late? What has happened?" Cassie asked

"I've been to somewhere," James told

"Where?"

"I went to fix something"

"What have you done?

"It's a secret but I know I have to do that"

*******************************************************************************************

Natasha took James for a walk in the mall. Nat wanted to find clothes for James. Nat holds James's hand and goes up the escalator. Natasha smiled as she remembered the memories of the escalator that she and Steve kissed for the first time as they ran away from the STRIKE team. When Natasha came to the children's clothing section, Nat was busy find clothes for James. Natasha looked back and found that James was not there. She looks for James, she looks left and right. She finally found him. He's in the toy section.

"James! Here you are!” Natasha hurried toward her son

Natasha finds James holding a Captain America action figure and next to him a grown man. The man was tall, brown-haired, and bearded. James giggles and was very comfortable with the man. When the man carried James and Natasha could see clearly the man's face.

"Steve?" Natasha mouths gaping in disbelief at what she saw.

"Nat, you're late, you promise to meet again in a few minutes, but you didn`t come back” Steve recounts the sad moments of his life

"Steve forgives me. You say whatever it takes.” Natasha came to Steve and saw James hugging his father. As if he knew that it was his father. He`s a smart kid, of course, he will know.

"I didn`t think you took seriously my words until you choose to sacrifice your own life, Natasha it was not supposed to end like that, I'm angry and blame myself because I let you go to that place, why did you do it, Natasha?" Steve said emotionally.

"Steve, Clint has a family, I don`t know how to deal with his family to tell that their father is dead, and I have a lot of bad records in the past, you know what I've done before," Natasha explains

"Do not go there Natasha, you are a hero, everything that happened in the past doesn`t describe who you are, I told you, I didn`t care whatever you were, I love you who are caring, loving and selfless. That's why I love you, Nat. "Steve confessed.

"Steve .." Natasha stunned she didn`t know how to respond.

"And you hide James from me, why didn`t you tell me about him, he's my son too, he's our son, I go to the hospital and find your medical records, and I know that you were pregnant. Why Natasha?" Steve was a little angry because she keeps a big secret from him

"Because you bring the compass everywhere you go, everything you do you will look at it. I think I have no place in your heart, and you are still trapped in your past. When I lost James, it would not give any difference." Natasha replied

Steve finally admitted his mistake. Natasha did say the truth.

"Nat, I`m sorry, I think our relationship is just a casual relationship, after that night, you avoiding me, you made me think I`m just one of your one-night stand and its hurt." Steve felt guilty

"Steve both of us both made a mistake, and I love you too." Natasha hugged Steve

"Nat, don`t leave me again.” Steve hugged Natasha. He really misses Natasha. Steve kissed Natasha's hair, and then kissed his son's cheek.

Steve and Natasha walked in the Mall with James. James refused to part from his father. Apparently, the toddler fell asleep on his father shoulder.

"What about Peggy? She is waiting for you is it?”

"Peggy? She's pass away in 2016" Steve felt weird why she ask about that

"But you are married to her right? You have two children with her." Natasha was shocked why Steve did not know anything about it?

"I'm not married to her. She's married to Danial Sousa." Steve doesn`t understand

Natasha then thinks. Has the future changed?

"But James told me you went into the past to meet Peggy and then get married"

"James? You mean Bucky?"

"No, James, an adult he is in his 20's, he's our son who comes from the future, and he’s tall like you, red-haired, he saved me from soul realm”

"I met Peggy when I returned to Tesseract in 1970. I talked to her and said goodbye and that`s it. But I think I met the same young man you described earlier and he told me you will be back in 2025. And he asked me to look up for your medical information, he told me that you were pregnant with my child. At first, I thought he was crazy, but he said if what he said was true, I had to wait until 2025 to see you again and I did. James came to me and I know right away he is my child. "Steve explained everything

"So you really are waiting for me and you are not married to anyone?" Natasha stopped and stood in front of Steve

"Nat, if I want to get married, you're the one."

"Really, what if I did not come back and he lied about everything?"

"Nat, I'll wait for you even a thousand years. You are worth it"

Natasha chuckled with Steve's cheesy words. She likes it despite cheesy. Anything he said was he really meant it. That's why Natasha falls in love with Steve. Natasha then held Steve's face with her palm and kissed him. Steve return her kiss. The kiss is very sweet and romantic. And it happens on the same escalator.

Natasha smiled, for the first time in her life she was very happy.

"You have not answered my question yet" Steve wants to ask the big question

"What was the question?"

"Do you want to marry me?"

"If you keep that beard, I will think about it,” Natasha said as she teasing him

Notes:  Carol Danvers is the strongest character in the MCU, she succeeds to do the snap and bring everyone back. Well, she is the badass! James reunited with his parents and his friends. The second snap brings everyone back including the one who disappears in 2018. So the new Avengers are back, Tony is alive and Cassie managed to take out her father from the Quantum Realm. Happy ending for everyone yay!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Chapter 11; Operation Time Heist is a go

*Author’s note*

And so it begins. The epic rising action of our fic so buckle up everyone because here’s where things get a little funky, wacky, emotional feels and of course ANGSTY. So for all you Marvel fans out there who knows what’s to come, BE PREPARED WITH YOUR TISSUES. 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@platawnic​

@waddles03​

___________________________________________________________

NEW YORK. 2012

It was during the Chitauri invasion when Loki first came to Earth in search of the Tesseract.  The battle that first brought the Avengers together.  As the six main Avengers at the time were preparing for the battle of their lives, Steve, Scott, Bruce, Tony and I appeared out of an alleyway in our disguise for this mission.

Scott, Steve and Tony would grab the Space stone while Bruce and I went to the New York Sanctum to retrieve the Time Stone.

“Alright we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone down. Stay low, Keep an eye on the clock.” Said Steve.  It was then we saw 2012 Hulk come into sight and began to overkill a few Chitauri aliens by smashing a taxicab on one of them, then bouncing up and down on the cab, going way overboard with the killing.

Before going after the second Chitauri that fled after seeing the Hulk kill it’s comrade. We all turned to Bruce who looked away shamefully and embarrassedly, not even believing that he once acted like that.

“Maybe smash a few things along the way.” Steve continued as he turned towards Bruce.

“I think it’s a little gratuitous, but whatever.” Bruce said as he ripped his shirt off and tried to go full Hulk.  But he only softly growling and hardly put in any effort as he lightly slammed his hand against a car, then picked up a motorcycle and tossing it aside weakly roaring.

“Alright c’mon big guy. The Sanctum’s this way.” I said. He then leaped on ahead and I followed behind using my magic to help my fly.

We finally landed at the roof of the sanctum and thankfully it was cleared by now.  Just before I could open the door a voice said.

“I’d be careful going that way we just had the floor’s waxed.” At that point my heart stopped.  I looked up and there she was, The Ancient One.  My eyes widened and I can’t believe I was seeing her again. Unfortunately I wasn’t there when she died, in fact the last time I saw her was here during this battle.

I had come for some counseling with her since she had heard of my ‘Jaguar’ persona and she asked me to come to the New York Sanctum for all that I had done by using my magic against mortals instead of the interdimensional threats.

But then when the Chitauri came down, I assisted her before at this point she sent me to try and keep the army away from the hospital where Stephen Strange was performing surgery.  She had asked me to protect him because he was to be important in five years to come at this time.

“Ancient One.” I muttered in awe.

“Morowa. But then again, not my Morowa.” I slowly walked up to her and she cupped both sides of my face. “You’ve grown weary my child.”

“You have no idea.” I choked out.  She smiled and leaned her forehead against mine.  I must’ve been crying because she wiped away a tear that had fallen down my face and that’s when Bruce said.

“Sorry to interrupt the reunion but uhh—we’re looking for Stephen Strange.”

“We’re five years too early Bruce.” I said to him as both I and the Ancient One turned to face him.

“She is correct. Her past self is currently protect Stephen Strange who is currently performing surgery about 20 blocks that way.” She said as she walked a bit away from me before pointing to the direction I went to in the past. “What do you want from him?” she asked turning to Bruce.

“That actually.” Bruce said pointing to the Eye of Agamotto that the Ancient One was wearing around her neck.

“Ahh! I’m afraid not. And you know that Morowa.”

“I know, but please Ancient One this is an emergency.” I said.

“Plus we weren’t really asking.” Bruce said as he walked towards her.

“You don’t wanna do this.” She warned him.

“Ah, you’re right I don’t. But I need that stone….”

“Bruce no!” But it was too late.  The Ancient one took Bruce’s hulk hand and immediately palm strike his chest sending his astral form out of his physical.  Bruce now appeared human while his Hulk body collapsed unconscious to the floor.

I looked at him with a ‘told you’ look as he turned back towards the Ancient One and she said.

“Let’s start over, shall we?”

ASGARD. 2013 *Rauri’s POV*

Thor, Rocket and I arrived in the prison cells of Asgard and we snuck by Loki’s cell who was throwing what looked like a cup up in the air before catching it in his hand.

Finally we arrived at the upper levels of the palace where Jane Foster was being kept.  The three of us watched as a servant handed her a dress and when Jane asked if they had any pants, of course the servant girl was confused.  

But Jane told her it was fine before she finally bowed to Jane and took her leave.

“There’s Jane.” Thor whispered as the servant left and Jane went back into her room.

“Alright. Here’s the deal, tubby.” Rocket said as he hopped off the pillar. “You’re gonna charm her, while big bad wolf here holds her down and I’m gonna poke her with this thing and extract the Reality stone and get gone lickety-split.” Rocket explained to the Thor and me the plan.

“Why must I be the one to hold her down?” I asked.

“Because you’re the intimidating one out of us. Next to that wife of yours of course. Hell you might be more frightening than her.”

“Don’t speak about my wife like that!” I snarled down at the raccoon. It was then I heard a sniff and I knew it was Thor as he just merely watched our argument before saying.

“I’ll be right back, okay? There’s uhh—the wine cellar is just down here. My father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I’ll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups.” Un-fucking-believable.

“Hey! Hey! Aren’t you drunk enough already!?” hissed Rocket.  Suddenly there was a sound of a door opening.  We all ducked down and as I peeked over, I saw an older woman with long blonde hair wearing a blue dress with armor plates mixed in.  

She was surrounded by younger woman, probably her servants or something, and just by getting a quick sniff of her, she smelled of authority.  Much like my (y/n).

“If you could send Loki some soup?”

“Yes Milady.”

“And ask our librarians to pull some volumes out of the astronomy shelf.” I looked towards Thor and he was just in shock as he stared at this woman.  As Rocket came up on top of my shoulders he asked.

“Who’s the fancy broad?”

“That’s my mother. She dies today.”

“Wait, as in today-today?” I asked.  At that point Thor exhaled heavily and began to shake his head.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. It’s a bad idea!” he began to panic. Alright that’s it.

“Come here.” I said as I gestured him to come closer with my finger.

“No, no, no. I think-I think- I think I’m having a panic attack.”

“Just—just come here. Right here.” I said pointing in front of me.  As he kept babbling nonsense, I slapped him across the face.

“You think you’re the only one whose lost people? What the hell do you think we’re doing here?! I lost my wife of only 24 hours five years ago because of that purple wanker! And Rocket he’s lost his entire family. All my remaining friends they’ve lost people they’ve loved. Everyone in the entire world, no galaxy has lost people they’ve loved. Now Thor I get you miss your mum. But she’s gone. Really gone. And there are billions of people who are only kinda gone, and it’s up to you to save them. So is it too much to ask that you suck in those tears, brush the crumbs off that damn beard of yours, smooth talk your ex-girlfriend and when she’s not looking, suck out the Infinity stone and help us get our families back?”

“Okay.” He choked out.

“Are you crying?” asked Rocket.

“No…..yes! I feel like I’m losing it.” He sobbed out.

“Hey listen to me. Pull yourself together.” I said as I gripped his shoulders. “You can do this.” He exhaled as I told him again, “This is your moment God of Thunder.” He took a deep breath as we both stared at each other.

“We good now?” asked Rocket.

“Yes I can.” Thor said.

“Good boy.” I patted his cheek before walking away from him with Rocket walking beside me.

“Okay heartbreaker she’s alone. This is our shot.” Rocket said but as we turned around, Thor was gone. “Thor? Thor!? Gah!” Rocket growled.

“Damn that god! Now what do we do?” I snarled.

“Well we could go to Plan B. And have you flirt with pretty pants. I mean at this point between the two of you, you’re the more attractive one.”

“I’m a married man, I won’t betray my wife’s trust with a woman of the past!”

“Okay, okay fine. We’ll have to improvise then. Follow me.” He walked on ahead and I followed behind.

NEW YORK 2012 MOROWA’S POV

‘Please, please.’ Bruce pleaded in his astral form.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you Bruce. If I give up the Time Stone to help your reality, I’m dooming my own.” The Ancient One said as the three of us walked along the balcony.

‘With all due respect, alright…I’m-I’m-I’m not sure the science really supports that.’ Ahh Bruce, thinking like a scientist and not believing there is an alternate way.  It was then the Ancient One created a magic stream that stretched out far and wide from either side.  The six infinity stones soon came in front of us spinning around in a circle as she explained.

“The infinity stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one of the stones…and that flow splits.” She took the Time stone out of the equation which allowed a black time stream to form another way. “Now, this may benefit your reality. But my new one, not so much. In this new branch reality….without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, Doctor. Can your science prevent all that?” At that point Bruce didn’t know what to say, but I did.

“It won’t. But we can erase it.” She turned to look at me. “You once taught me that alternate realities can be prevented if an object taken from a certain timeline is returned to its original place. Once we’re done with the stones, we can return them to the exact time point in which they were taken. So chronologically, in that reality” I grabbed the illusioned Time Stone and put it back into the circle with the other five stones which made the black stream disappear. “It never left.”

“Yes, but you’re leaving out the most important part Morowa.” She said as she walked away from us.  She walked to the edge of the balcony before turning back towards us. “In order to return the stones, you have to survive.”

“We will. I will. I will see to it that the stones get returned myself if I have to.” I assured her as I walked up to her.

“I can’t risk this reality on a vow. Even if it’s from one of my own. It’s the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.”

“Then why the hell would Strange give it away?!” I yelled.  She looked at me stunned.

“What did you say?”

“Strange he gave it away. He gave it to Thanos!” Bruce pipped in as he walked up and stood beside me.

“Willingly?” she asked more as a demand than a question.

“Yes.” I answered.  She went silent before snapping.

“Why?”

“I have no idea. Maybe he made a mistake.” At that point she grew quiet.  She then walked right up to me, her face just inches away from mine as she whispered.

“Or I did.” She lifted her hand and made a twisting motion which sent Bruce’s hulk body back towards us and Bruce’s astral form returned to his body.  After that she stepped away and opened the Eye of Agamotto which revealed the Time Stone. She took it out and had it levitating between her index and thumb. “Strange was meant to be the best of us.”

“So he must’ve done it for a reason.” Both Bruce and I said.

“I fear you both might be right.” She then handed me the stone.  I held it in my right hand and clenched my fist over it.  I felt her hands cup my face and she said to me in a desperate tone, “I’m counting on you Morowa. We all are.” I nodded and she wrapped her arms around me.

I took in the hug for as long as I could knowing that this would be the last time I would ever see her.

“Alright come on Morowa. Let’s link up. Hopefully Tony, Steve and Scott got the Mind and Space stone.” I separated from her and I tried to tell her something about what was to come but she told me.

“No Morowa. I know of what my future is to be. Just continue being the woman I know you are. I can tell you’ve achieved great things in your time. Keep fighting, and know that I will always be with you.” I smiled sadly and as Bruce and I revealed our time suits, we linked up and Bruce counted down from three and soon we were gone.

ASGARD 2013. RAURI’S POV

Jane Foster was sound asleep in the bed and as she awoke from her sleep, Rocket peeked out the head of her bed and activate the extraction and snuck up behind her.  He hopped up onto her back which made her scream.

“Wolf boy now!” he exclaimed.  I came out and pinned her arms down and covered her mouth with my free hand.

“Shh! If you know what’s good for you you’ll stay quiet. We��re just going to extract the stone inside you.” She muffled from my hand and that’s when Rocket poked her arm with the device and soon the Reality stone went out of her body and into the device.  Once it was all out of her, she passed out and we left the room.

“Alright we got it. Now to find drunkard and—you gotta be kidding me.” Rocket said as we exited her room.  At first I don’t know what his second statement was about but that wasn’t until I looked up and saw an army of guards standing before us.

“Bugger.” I cursed.

“Get them! They’ve attacked Lady Jane!” one of them cried out.

“Run for it!” I phased into my wolf form and Rocket and I took off running.  As we ran down the corridor Rocket kept screaming out to Thor that we got it. Bloody hell at this rate, we’re not getting anywhere.

It was then I picked Rocket up by the scruff of his neck and carried him onward.

“No! No damnit not again! Put me down! First your broad and now you! I’m not a damn chew toy!”

“Get the rabbit and wolf!” I heard one of the guards proclaim.  I ran faster which left the guards in the dust.  It was then I caught Thor’s scent and I took a sharp left then a right and raced onward towards the door and slammed right through them.

“Damnit black wolf, give me warning next thing before you bust through the door like that.”

‘Be thankful I carried you when I did, otherwise you’d be a hat right about now!’ I growled through my collar.  It was then we stood before Thor and his mother. “Oh hi.” I said phasing back into my human form.  She waved at me, “You must be Queen Frigga.”

“We got the thing. Come on, we gotta move.” Rocket said as he held the device.

“Oh, I wish we had more time.” Thor said to his mum.

“No. This was a gift.” His mother said as she took his hands in his. “Now you go and be the man you’re meant to be.”

“I love you mom.”

“I love you.” The two of them hugged each other. As he stepped back his mother advised him to eat a salad.

“C’mon we gotta go.” I urged. I looked down at my time watch and counted down from three. But before I could get to one, Thor exclaimed.

“No wait!” he then held out his left hand but nothing happened.

“Wait what are—what are we looking at?” asked Rocket.

“Oh sometimes it takes a second.” It was then appearing in his hand was the famed Mjolnir hammer.  Thor laughed ecstatically and said as he held it in his hand. “I’m still worthy.”

“Oh boy.” Rocket rolled his eyes. “C’mon you two.” Our time suits reactivated and as Thor said one final farewell to his mum, Rocket finished punching in the coordinates and soon we left Asgard.

We traveled through the quantum realm before finally reaching back home to our present timeline along with everyone else. As the time suits faded away Stark asked.

“Did we get them all?”

“Are you telling me this actually worked?” asked Rhodey happily.  But it was then I notice Clint fall to his knees, his face grim and his body was soaked in water.

“Clint where’s Nat?” asked Bruce.  He didn’t respond.  Oh no. When Nebula had said that Thanos murdered her sister on Vormir, I had believed that it was an actual murder but—now I’m thinking he actually used her to get the Soul Stone, and now…..Clint had done the same thing with Natasha.

But I could tell he didn’t want to do it, Nat must’ve sacrificed herself knowing that Clint would be the one to probably do it.

Everyone was heartbroken as Bruce fell to his knees and punched the floor.

[soyforramen]

They all wanted her to be something she wasn’t.

It wasn’t hard to see, not when the entire institute was in the national spotlight, and her thrust into the middle of it.  After the bad publicity surrounding The Brotherhood and Apocalypse, Ororo needed some way to show the world that mutants weren’t a threat on their own.  She needed to prove that not all mutants wanted to take over the world.

But with Scott and Jean gone, she was left standing in the spotlight alone.  She needed someone to show how normal mutants could be.  And who was more wholesome than a couple who stayed together, who loved each other without being able to communicate it through touch?

Rogue and Bobby were the natural successors to Scott and Jean’s public image.  From all outward appearances they were deeply in love, partners in public and private.  They’d found love in a hopeless world.  And it wasn’t long before they were being groomed for leadership, him in the field, her in a public-facing role. 

After all, his mutation was useful in a fight and in recon.  Hers was defensive, plain and simple.  And who had a need for a mutation such as hers with all the side effects that came with it?

Ororo had done the math and discovered that Rogue was better suited to stand strong against the public onslaught.  They’d gain more sympathy for the cause if Rogue was at the front.  A girl with a mutation no one want for themselves or their children.  She was a girl who couldn’t touch.  A girl who could kill just by touching someone.  A tragedy that would break Shakespeare’s heart.

That was why after she’d graduated high school along with her peers, she’d been the one ushered into an administrative role.  Enrollment, contact with donors, invitations to private fundraisers.  She was no longer allowed into the field, her training sessions ending with Logan’s disappearance. It was expected that she juggle this full time job along with her class load at NYU, her major chosen for her in furtherance of the school’s mission.

Meanwhile, Bobby was traveling the world to put out fires in the name of mutant equality.  The only expectation put upon him was to be Ororo’s second in command in the field.

It was enough to make a girl scream.  She’d dreamed of more than this.  More than being a secretary, more than being someone else’s mouthpiece, more than being someone’s girlfriend, more than having to force a smile when all she wanted to do was scream.

She still hadn’t seen the Grand Canyon, or the Eiffel Tower, or the Rocky Mountains.  

Everyday she played her part.  She stood in front of cameras, microphones, and plead for peace and equality.  She kept up her grades, joined extracurriculars, and stood by Bobby’s side.  Because despite their mutations, they were still able to live a semi-normal life.  They’d stood together against homicidal maniacs, narcissists, and politicians.  He was willing to stay together despite her mutation and she… well that was the problem, wasn’t it?

Why was she even still here?  Together, with him?  

There’d always been rumors.  She’d ignored them at first, ignored John’s warnings, ignored Jubilee’s pointed looks.  He’d been discreet enough the rumors dissolved on their own.  Hangouts, and hugging, and talking, and long glances had been dismissed as paranoia, jealousy.  And besides, they’d said under their breath when they thought they were alone, could you blame him if he had?

It was all swept under the rug as easily as her own feelings about it.  Even when he and Kitty stopped speaking one day.  Even when he’d go out late at night and come home two days later.  Even when…

Before he at least loved her enough to hide it.  Now he didn’t seem to care.  And the longer they were together, neither did she.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.  To be thrown over so easy hurt her pride.  Her ego.  Her sense of self.  He’d done what she’d always feared, sought solace and comfort in someone else because she couldn’t give him what he wanted.  Because he was too afraid to try.

Behind closed doors he didn’t try to act like her boyfriend anymore.  They were still friends, but only that.

The flame between them had long ago died out between his cold lips and her cold heart.

It would have been easy enough to have kept on like this forever.  Bobby chasing other girls while she lied to herself.  It was a contented life, even if it wasn’t a happy one.

Then he had to destroy it all by proposing to her in front of the whole institute.

He knew she hated this type of public confrontation.  They’d never talked about marriage.  They’d never broached the subject of the future.  

And yet.  Perhaps she should have seen this coming.  They’d been together six, almost seven years now.

It was silent in the foyer as they watched for her response.  No one blinked an eye when Kitty stormed out of the room.

It wasn’t the first time Rogue wished they could switch places.

She’d said the only thing she could with that many people watching.  And now Bobby was pushing for a spring wedding.  He wanted the symbolic renewal of hope, a tribute to those who’d died.  The wedding was supposed to stand for everything but their relationship.  He and Ororo had already begun the planning long before he’d asked.  

The only input she was asked for was what type of flowers should be on the alter.  When her response didn’t come quick enough, they’d chosen peace lilies and irises.  Peace and hope for the future.

Rogue had always wanted oleander and magnolias.

That day wasn’t the first time she’d wanted to up and run from this ‘perfect’ life.  And it wasn’t the first time she’d run away.  Because that was what she did when she was unsettled.  Anxious.  Lonely.  It was what she was good at.

Running.

Just like she had when Bobby wanted to take a ‘break’ from their relationship.  He’d found Betsy, she’d found Montana.  Just like when Logan disappeared and nobody could speak his name, she disappeared to Mexico and spoke the name of everyone she’d met.  Just like when Bobby had asked for her hand in marriage, she’d run to the boot of Italy,

And when it became public knowledge that Bobby was stepping out on her with a teacher from a sister institute, Rogue ran to Escape.

For the first time she ran towards the problem.  To find Bobby.  She knew he was here.  He’d left his phone on the bed while he went to work out, unlocked and open to her message.  All it took was a glance for Rogue to see who, when and where he was supposed to be that night.

Maybe Bobby wanted to escape too.

It didn’t take long to pack what little she owned.  Her mother’s ring, Logan’s dog tags, and the clothes she’d brought to the institute where barely enough to fill her purse.  Everything else she’d left behind.  The rest of it wasn’t hers anyway.  Not really.  It was either a gift from someone now dead or gone, or purchased with the institute’s money.  

She’d left a note and Bobby’s ring behind.  He wouldn’t need a reason, but Ororo would.  She owed her that much at least.

No one noticed as she left through the front door.  Everyone knew her by name, but no one cared to know her.  Those who did were long gone, graduated and out living their own lives away from this place.  

On the way to the club, she keyed in John’s number, desperate to hear from him.  An apology was on the tip of her tongue, a need to tell him how badly she’d missed him.  He’d never pick up, though.  Not with her number attached to the call.  She wondered for the thousandth time whether she’d made the right choice with Bobby.

When she arrived, she found Escape to be a club like any other.  Loud music, bright strobe light, dark corners, and free-flowing liquor.  It’s only distinguishing feature was a sign on the door that said ‘Mutants Welcome.’  Money was still money in places like this, no matter who spent it.

A couple jostled her on their way to the dance floor, and she moved around the edges of the room.  Her eyes scanned the floor, sweat beaded between her shoulders.  

She used to love clubbing.  The driving bass, the churn of strangers, the limbo where life outside meant nothing.  It was so easy to lose herself to the music.  

Bobby never wanted to go.  He claimed to hate the crowds and the loud music.

Turned out he just hated going to clubs with her.

There, on the dance floor.  Strong, sweet, tender, cheating Bobby.  His arms were wrapped around a lithe blonde woman who barely wore much besides snow white stilettos.  Hands on bare skin, arms pulled her tights, lips traced the curve of her collarbone. 

His movements held all the unspoken promises he’d never given Rogue.  

Her heart broke and mended all over again.

A man suddenly at her side broke her reverie.  She ignored his proffered drink.

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m Benny.  What’s you name?”

“Not interested,” she snapped, her eyes never leaving Bobby and the woman he was wound around.

The man cursed at her and wandered off to his next target.  

The sound must have caught Bobby’s attention because he turned and caught her eye.  It took a moment for his confusion to turn to panic.  He whispered something to the blonde and fought against the crowd to reach her.  

Rogue shook her head, a signal that he shouldn’t bother, and left through a side door.

She should be feeling pain, betrayal, heartbreak.  Something to show she cared.  Instead, she felt light enough to fly.  The future, her future, without Bobby, without the institute, without the X-Men lay ahead of her. 

Nerves drove her to run towards the street, exuberance kept her from standing still.

“Lookin’ for somethin’, cher?”

She turned to find a man smoking at the entrance of the club, leaned up against the brick wall.  He looked like something out of a bad 80’s film.  Long tousled hair that draped his face, held back by a knitted cap.  Dark shades and a leather jacket.

‘Freedom,’ she thought.

“I’m a mutant,” she said.  It was the first thing she’d learned would fend off any unwanted attention.  And if that didn’t, an explanation of her mutation would.

The man only tipped his head forward to look at her over his glass.  Coals of ember against infinity.  

“S’funny.  So am I.”

“Rogue,” Bobby’s voice echoed through the alley behind her.  “Rogue!”

“Do you want to get out of her?” she asked, breathless and wound up and ready to run.  

She’d taken a cab here, and there was none to be found.  By the time she ran to the end of the street, Bobby would find her.  She chewed on her lip and silently begged him to answer.

The man raised an eyebrow as Bobby’s voice grew closer.  

Just when she was ready to turn tail and run, the man reached towards her, a snake quick enough to bite, and tucker her under his arm.  The world went black around her and she reached up to find he’d tugged his cap over her hair.

She ducked her head into his jacket when Bobby came around the corner.  He passed them, still calling her name.  Whether the ruse worked or whether Bobby ignored her didn’t matter.  What mattered now was that she was free for the first time in her life.

Gravity couldn’t hold her down, not with this bubble rising in her chest ready to burst her into a million pieces.  Giddiness brought with it it’s own high, one that even that reality of her situation couldn’t touch.  All that could be sorted out later, for now she was her own woman for the first time in years.

Wrapped up in her own joy, she’d forgotten the man next to her.  

“Guessin’ you changed your mind,” the man asked.

She turned, expecting to find disappointment that she’d asked as a cover, anger she didn’t really want him.  Instead she only found a smile.  Laughter danced at the edge of his lips.

It was contagious, his smile, so she returned it ten-fold.  She shook her head.  Tonight, she didn’t want to go anywhere with anyone.  Tonight was hers and hers alone.  

Rogue handed him his cap back and slipped back into the club.  The music threaded through her blood, thrummed through her veins. She’d didn’t know where she’d go from here, but tonight she’d keep dancing on her own.

[kreeborn]

                          ❝ FOR THE GOOD OF ALL KREE ! ❞

KREE COMMANDER AND LEADER OF STARFORCE

Crowned the hero of the Kree-Skrull war, Yon-Rogg had it all - the fame, the respect and the authority to command the entirety of the Kree military if he wished it. He, however, chose to remain a faithful Commander of the Kree Empire, a tutor for young generations to come, sharing his knowledge with those willing to learn, and those not willing as well. The peak of his career perhaps was being appointed the leader of Starforce, an elite Kree military force tasked with executing high risk tasks and missions around the Empire and beyond. Among one of the many Yon-Rogg was tasked with was the locating and execution of Mar-Vell, a Kree scientist gone rogue in her attempt of creating the so-called Core and helping the Skrulls escape the complete annihilation they were facing from the Kree.

FINDING CAROL

For that task, Yon-Rogg decided to take Minn-Erva with him, his star student and perhaps the best sniper the Kree military forces had. After chasing down Mar-Vell and the pilot navigating the terran spacecraft, he discovered Mar-Vell had died, but the girl piloting the spacecraft didn’t. It was a stand, one against one, him against her, all until she decided to shoot the core instead of him. The explosion emitted a something that, to him, felt like a heat wave mixed with the wave of breaking the sound barrier. Once on the ground, Yon-Rogg was able to turn in time to see the girl absorb the Core’s powers when it should have killed her instead. In awe and slightly fascinated, his feet carried him over to the girl, amber eyes spotting half of what appeared to be dog tags. Were they the girl’s? He picked them up, the remaining half reading out ‘ V E R S ’. It had to be her name.

6 YEARS OF WAR AND LIES

Against Minn-Erva’s protests and desire to kill Carol, to Yon-Rogg known as Vers, the Kree Commander decided to take her with them instead. On the way back to Hala, however, they were starting to lose her. She was slipping away. The medic on board the Helion suggested immediate blood transfusion in order to save her, and once again, against Minn-Erva’s protests, Yon-Rogg offered his own blood, knowing that the Supreme Intelligence wanted the Core’s powers, one way or another. They didn’t even reach the outside of the Halan orbit when Vers was back on her feet again, though very confused and, what she would never admit, scared, as she didn’t know where she was or what had happened in the first place. Right then, Yon-Rogg told his very first lie to her, saying how she was attacked by Skrulls, their mortal enemy, and that they were lucky to get her out alive. 

To his surprise, Vers believed that story, mostly because she was uncertain about everything. She had no memories, no recollection of who she was, and there was question after question during their flight back to the capital planet of the Kree Empire, and even after arriving. Yon-Rogg took Vers under his wing, teaching her all he knew, learning more about her in the process, not just her personality but also how she handled her powers. It didn’t take her long to become his new star student, at that time Minn-Erva completely tossed aside and forgotten. 

Over the course of 6 years, Yon-Rogg watched Vers grow into a a highly competent fighter, with a stubborn and determined mind to end the Kree-Skrull war and be crowned a hero of the war just like her mentor. The two of them by then had a very strong relationship, that went beyond the mentor-mentee one - Vers was a friend, something Yon-Rogg usually didn’t have, and something he cherished greatly. She was also like a daughter to him, one that would always come to him during early morning hours, waking him up and seeking advice and comfort in him after her nightmares. While Yon offered both to her, he worried at the same time. Her past was catching up to her.

As the Supreme Intelligence deemed Vers fit enough to go on her very first mission as a member of Starforce to get the Kree scout Soh-Larr back from being in Skrull captivity. Little did they know that it was in fact a Skrull ambush so they could get Vers. With the communications on Torfa going downhill, it was easy for the Skrulls to get their hands on Vers, and that was only the start of the reveal of lies Yon-Rogg spun around Vers for six long years.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END & YON-ROGG’S DOWNFALL

It took him communication calls, so many more lies to Ronan the Accuser, and even more convincing to keep Vers in the state of mind she had to be - she was Kree and the Skrulls were her enemies. Yon-Rogg, however, wasn’t an idiot. He could see her slip from those beliefs, suspected that she was doubting it all, and truly, soon enough Vers knew it all. She was Carol, was suspected dead after the plane crash, and once Yon-Rogg, after arriving on Terra, learned what had happened, he was left with no choice. The Supreme Intelligence tasked with an order he had to fulfill. Carol had to stay alive and be brought back to Hala. It meant a fight, one that he, after so much struggle, lost. Fearing for his life, he begged her, pleaded her to not send him back. Yon-Rogg knew what would happen. Failure was not a word known to the Kree. It wasn’t tolerated nor was it practiced. He couldn’t go back empty handed. And yet, Carol sent him back to Hala, without her, without the Cube. It would be his end.

The Supreme Intelligence was, needless to say, enraged. Their poster boy of the Kree propaganda and star soldier failed. Yon-Rogg was deranked immediately, the fine apartment in the city center taken away as well, with him tossed into the torture chambers deep beneath the headquarters of the Supreme Intelligence. He went through countless hours of torture, as a reminder that failure was never an option, especially not for him. During that time, Ronan, who had previously witnessed the range of Carol’s powers, forged a strong alliance with Thanos, the mad titan. He was to keep the Kree safe from Carol and in return, the Kree would be at his disposal for anything the titan needed, which later turned out to be the search for the Infinity Stones.

After his release, Yon-Rogg was appointed Ronan’s right hand man, practically a lap dog to do his bidding - a way to get his rank back quicker than usual and a way of redeeming himself for what he had done and for allowing Carol to slip out of his grasp right before he completely had her converted against the Skrulls. And yet, things didn’t stop there.

MEETING VALEERA (MVSPELHEIM)

Apart from being Ronan’s right hand man in the alliance with Thanos, Yon, after obtaining his rank back as well as the living quarters he had beforehand, continued doing what he did best when not on mission - teaching. He taught children, little recruits who were eager to learn. It was, in many ways, something to help him cope with what he had been through the past years. Children were innocent, such bright little spirits that even brought a smile to his face. He worked in a much more relaxed environment, training kids and occasionally telling a story or two about his missions, tending to leave the bloody and gore parts out of them, finding that the kids deserved to have a happy childhood before joining the military.

He was interrupted during one of those training sessions, his superiors requesting him to meet with a new trainee, and the moment she walked in, Yon-Rogg had bad flashbacks. Blonde hair, slender but fit figure, powers she couldn’t control - Carol. Except she was Valeera Surturdőttir, the daughter of the ruler of Muspelheim himself, a princess, royalty, somebody who reminded him of his last trainee too much for his own comfort. He hated it, despised it, went to his superiors to appoint somebody else to train the princess. They wouldn’t hear it. He was to train her and nobody else.

It was painful. Despite being a good student, Valeera was just as stubborn and determined like he was, not letting up on things despite doing them wrong at times. It drew Yon up the wall, always having disliked not having things under his control when they should have been. And then, one late night, as both of them were awake, sparks flew. He had been denying his feelings for her for the longest time, going by the good old ‘feelings are a distraction’, but what was the point? They couldn’t show their relationship in public, the laws didn’t allow it. Any Kree in a relationship with a non Kree would be sentenced to death. Did that ever stop them? Never.

KREE-XANDARIAN WAR AND INFINITY WAR

Not long after the, should anybody know, scandalous relationship between Yon-Rogg and the princess, there was a riot on Hala. People were standing up against the Supreme Intelligence, slowly realizing that the tyranny, manipulation and abuse had to stop. It was a long battle, those loyal to the Intelligence going against their own kin - sibling against sibling, parents against children and vice versa. In the end, the rioters came out victorious and chose an Emperor to rule like it was supposed to be ruled. The Emperor, in some ways wanting to continue what the Supreme had done for centuries on end - the expansion of the Empire.

With Xandar as the bordering planet, they were their first target, and the Kree-Xandarian war went on for decades. When not in battle, Yon-Rogg was at Ronan’s side, the Accuser now on the search of a purple orb, as he described it, a task given to him by Thanos, and when not doing that, he was with Valeera, though their time together was becoming scarce. Being the devout soldier her was, Yon-Rogg put his duties in front of everything else, even his own personal life. By the end of the war, when the leader of the two Empires signed a truce, there were many victims on both sides, one of them being Valeera’s mother. Unknown to him, Yon was there to even witness it as Ronan killed the woman.

There was so much death. Death of loved ones, of colleagues, comrades and people who were his superiors. By the time Ronan died by the hands of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Yon-Rogg had discovered that the Empire was flawed, the alliance between the Kree and Thanos only leading to more destruction. His suspicions were correct, as a few years later, Thanos had managed to gather all of the Infinity Stones needed. Yon-Rogg was there, the majority of the Kree military joining in the battle of Wakanda, when it happened. THE SNAP. Half of the universe gone like that. Half of the Kree gone like that. Kree, who had promised to help, who had hopes that Thanos would protect them. He never did. From anything. Not even when Ego, the celestial, threatened the entirety of the Empire with his expansion. He didn’t protect them from the Snap. Nobody was spared. That was it for the Kree Commander. That was the one thing that spilled the cup over.

ENDGAME AND BEYOND

The return to Hala was painful. Half of the population was gone. Returning to his family home, he discovered his parents gone, his two younger sisters remaining. He moved them to his place, took care of them, trying to do anything to make them distracted from thoughts of their parents gone. While Yon himself never was connected too much with them, he knew that Mart-Enna and Rhia-Non were, especially Rhia, the younger of the two. Five painful years passed with the only good news that came to Hala being how Thanos died. Still, it was little consolation. People had to learn to move on and cope with the situation. And then, the unexpected happened.

Thanos called to arms.

While confused, Yon-Rogg, like most of the reminder of the military, answered the call. Terra again. Complete destruction everywhere. Avangers against Thanos. Surely they could take down 6 people and their companions. They were fighting for the gauntlet, Yon and his battalion trying to keep things at bay. It was pointless. The big green guy got it, snapped his fingers. More people appeared. Portals opened, revealing even more. And then, an unstoppable force. The battle stopped as an unrelenting force destroyed the Sanctuary II. Carol. After so many years, not having seen her once, she was there. She was there and landed right next to him. It felt like their last encounter. One versus one, his gun pointed at her while a pleading look was seen on hers. 

Instantly, he was sent back into the past. All those restless and sleepless nights where he would comfort her and give her advice, all the fun moments they share together. She was like a daughter to him, a daughter he never had. And now here she was, pleading with him to stop it all, begging him to choose her over anything else. It was that moment when Yon-Rogg had remembered why he hated Thanos, why he so vigorously protested against him ever since the Snap happened. All they were doing was wrong, all of it. Among the people watching them, the battle still at halt, he spotted Valeera as well. He never told her about the alliance with Thanos, or that he sided with him out of obligation more than out of want. He couldn’t do that anymore. He had to change sides.

Code 57-TK8. Switching sides on the battlefield. 

The moment he issued the command, every Kree spacecraft was aimed at Thanos and his still loyal followers. The end of the battle, however, couldn’t have been avoided. Tony Stark had sacrificed himself for the welfare of the entire universe. It was such a selfless act, one life in exchange for trillions of others. He attended the funeral, a small and quiet one, reserved for family and friends, yet Yon felt the need to be there. He owed the man that much, even if he never knew him. The fact that he saved the universe was enough to pay his respects. 

After the funeral, Yon lingered a bit longer on Terra, for the first time feeling conflicted about everything. A major part of him didn’t want to go back. Going back would mean being a military lap dog, having no future with Valeera, the woman he loved more than anything else, their lives always at risk should they be discovered. It would have also meant that making amends with Carol would be impossible. Perhaps... perhaps it was time to change and turn a new page in his life. A new life on Terra, far from the cruel and imperialistic grasp of the Empire. 

Where Yon-Rogg’s journey will take him? That’s yet to be seen.

[bornfcrthis]

          THE SUIT’S TAKEN HEAVY DAMAGE !    comes friday’s voice in daisy’s ear. her suit had a helmet like her dad’s, it helped her focus on her targets until it just became cumbersome and impractical. her suit powered less like his did, and more on her inhuman abilities. they helped her focus her powers into stronger quake blasts and the like than before, and she had added gadgets of course like her dad’s to help with that. it also helps that she is incredibly physically durable herself, so the suit just adds an extra layer of protection to that. however, when friday tells her the suit’s taken heavy damage, daisy sighs as if it were a minor inconvenience. but it’s fine, she can fight without it and it’s not like she entirely relies on it. she uses it more because her dad wants her to so he knows she’s safe.

          within seconds, her suit was off save for the glove part on each hand and she continued fighting. thanos’ forces just kept coming, and where one may expect her not to notice anything in the chaos she noticed everything. with daisy’s powers being based on vibrations, she could feel everyone out there. she would know if someone died, if someone got fatally injured, whatever. and daisy kept an eye out on her father’s vibrations, his certain frequency that tells her it’s him and no one else.

          in the chaos, daisy was diligent. she fought. she fought and she fought and she fought until she had nothing else left in her. but that’s when the fighting was almost over. thanos destroyed the other quantum tunnel forcing carol to not be able to take the gauntlet through, thanos was fixing to have it... and then he did have it. and she noticed that.     ❝   dad... DAD HE’S GOT THE GAUNTLET !   ❞     daisy yelled into her comms as she raced towards thanos, thor and cap.

          no. no, he wasn’t going to do it again. past thanos was NOT going to ruin this ! SHE WOULDN’T LET HIM ! tony gets to him before she does, and it’s like daisy knows what he’s about to do. and she can’t let him do it. using quake blasts to very quickly propel herself forward, daisy grabs the stones from tony’s hand when he’s down and blasts him away from her. she falls, skidding and bumping a little on the ground, and she feels the mad titan’s eyes on her when he realizes the stones aren’t in the gauntlet.

          fourteen million, six hundred and five. that’s how many outcomes her dad told her that dr. strange saw when he came back. and only one of those they won. she had a feeling it was with her dad sacrificing his life, and daisy just... she couldn’t do it. she couldn’t let him do that and then her lose someone else that’s important to her. she can’t. it’s been years since she lost lincoln but she still feels guilty for it. that was supposed to be HER destiny—NOT his ! that was supposed to be HER time to die—NOT his !

          daisy sits up on her knees, the stones moving with the nanites to turn her right gloved hand into its own infinity gauntlet fit to her body shape. she screams, power coursing through her veins along with a burning sensation up her arm. she settles, mostly, and daisy’s eyes look to her father who was on all fours probably attempting to get up to stop her. her eyes look to thanos as she stands, teeth clenched and she’s fighting through the pain.

          ❝   you won’t hurt anyone... in this timeline, or your own... ever. again.   ❞     daisy says, then she snaps her fingers and she’s on the ground again. her breathing is labored, the suit she wore under the one her father made for her burned away on her right arm and shoulder. burns even go up to slightly above the collar. it’s hard to stay awake, and she knows the damage done to her body is extensive. she knows she may not survive.

                         but it’s not like she cares.

          daisy saved her dad, she saved everyone that was dusted from it happening again and she saved the avengers and earth and the universe. thanos was no more, as she watched with hazy eyes as dust filled the sky and the battlefield around them. rolling over onto her front, moving up to her hands and knees shakily, daisy hears the clinging of her father’s footsteps running towards her behind her and that’s when she falls backwards.

          her healing factor is working overtime to try and repair the damage, but many of her organs have already just shut down.     why did you do that, daisy ? why... it was supposed to be me, it should’ve been me !     vague words that she hears as glossy eyes lay, unfocused, on her dad as he’s above her. she’s being surrounded by pepper, too, and cap and others. she can vaguely see them.     ❝   i.. h-h-ha-... t-t-   ❞     it’s hard to speak, and daisy can’t even finish her words.

                         maybe i’ll see lincoln again...

          she’s drifting in and out. too many organs have shut down, her healing factor can’t keep up, and daisy is almost gone. she hears words being spoken around her but they fall on deft ears as her hand, shaky as it is, raises to rest on the arc reactor still in her dad’s chest, keeping him alive while powering his suit. it’s the hand that still holds the stones in the glove, but it’s not like it’s gonna hurt him. daisy feels like she should be crying, but... she’s not sad. she’s not sad to be leaving him behind. to be leaving pepper, and her new little sister morgan, behind. it’s what she’s wanted since lincoln’s death, isn’t it ?

          eventually, the light finally leaves daisy’s eyes. she vaguely heard a voice, shuri or t’challa’s maybe ?, say they could help her but it’s too late. they got to her too late, and that much is clear when her hand just... falls. it falls like a rock, hitting her lifeless body before rolling off it and going to rest at her side. there’s a smile on daisy’s face. she did something good. she finally did something good and not destructive in her life.

          when she wakes up, everything is orange. but there are two people waiting for her. one is a familiar face, while the other... ? an unfamiliar one, but a face she noticed on the battlefield nonetheless. that must be gamora, nebula’s sister, but the one that got sacrificed by thanos and not the one that she saw on the battlefield.

          they both turn to her, nat with tears in her eyes and gamora with a solemn look. and together, they walk over to daisy as she’s standing. nat embraces her, and gamora shakes her hand, and in which the two of them say one phrase:

                                               WELCOME HOME, DAISY.

 ending number fourteen million, six hundred and six. a timeline created out of sheer willpower.

[bevioletskies]

Starmora movie verse Prompt: Peter proposing marriage to Gamora with a ring?

spoiler warning for avengers: infinity war and one quick mention of avengers 4 speculation.word count: 1.5k | ao3

It had been six months since…that moment in their lives, and still, it never quite felt like there was enough distance between then and now. Peter still woke every other morning half-expecting the mattress to be too cold from absence and his chest to burn too hot with longing, only to find himself pinned to the bed by the welcome weight of another body, only it wasn’t just another body, it was hers. She was warm, she was steady, she was here.

Things were the same, and they weren’t. The others were as rambunctious as ever, squabbling over nothing and everything at the same time, only now, they fell silent whenever she entered the room, staring at her with big, liquid eyes and a nervous, half-hearted smile. Rocket was the worst of them, being the only one who never “died”, aside from Nebula, who was oddly fidgety, avoiding her sister as much as one could on a ship as cramped as theirs.

Gamora supposed it couldn’t be helped; she was the only Guardian to have actually died. It still stung something fierce, however, to be woken by the sound of Peter pacing outside their bedroom door. “I’m here, Peter,” she would say every time, reaching out for him.

“You are,” he would reply with a watery chuckle, following her back inside.

Lately, though, Peter seemed worried over something of a different nature. A fog had lifted over his head, only to be replaced by a storm. If anything, it was the complete opposite of before - instead of hovering, he would vanish, slipping into the supply closet with nothing but a tablet and a nervous passing hello for hours at a time. He came to bed late and rose to wake early, had private conversations with the others far more often than he usually did. Gamora wanted to pry, she really did, but she respected him as a person - and them as a partnership - too much to ask.

It was only when he didn’t come to bed at all one night that she finally decided to investigate, shrugging on one of his hoodies, the kind where the hem grazed her mid-thigh and swallowed her up like one of his hugs, and tiptoed up the ladder to the cockpit without so much as a creak. It was early-late, her eyes were tired and her brain was pleasantly fuzzy, and she just wanted them both to get a good night’s sleep. “Peter.”

He swung around in the pilot’s seat rather comically, eyes bugged out of his head. “Gamora! What’re you - go back to bed, I’ll be right there.”

“I’ve entertained you long enough. You can’t hide from me,” Gamora said accusingly. “I’m not mad, I promise. I just want to know that you’re okay. That there isn’t someone after you, or us, or - ”

“What makes you say that?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, yeah, I’ve been a little…all over the place lately. I was, um…I was having trouble. Finding the words that I wanted to say. And how I wanted to say them.”

“I never thought of you as the type to struggle for words.” She smiled wryly, sitting opposite him. “Try me.”

“It’s meant for you, it’s…it’s why I haven’t been the most attentive boyfriend these past couple weeks,” Peter said apologetically. “I didn’t wanna give up the ghost. Though I guess you figured me out anyways, so really, I was just delaying the inevitable.”

“As you continue to do. You’re stalling,��� Gamora observed, though not unkindly. “Peter, refined orator you are not. Tell me what’s on your mind, as it is.”

“Uncensored, hey?” Peter chuckled, his eyes softening, crinkling at the corners as they were oft to do. He took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together and bringing them to rest in his lap. The other hand went into the pocket of his sweatpants, and slid out with a small, nondescript box. Gamora let out a soft noise of surprise. “So…I guess you know what this is.”

“Peter,” she breathed.

“I know we had this conversation when we were two years in, and you told me we could talk about it again in five. So I’m a little early,” he admitted. “But…I love you. And I lost you. And I dunno about you, but I’m done losing people before I get the chance to do and say everything that I need to.” His eyes grew suspiciously glossy. “Sometimes, I…I think of my life as being split into three parts. The eight years with Mom. Twenty-four years with Yondu. And now…four years with the team. With you. I just…I don’t know if losing the people that I love most is…is my fault, or…or if it’s just the universe’s way of screwin’ with me. But somehow, you’re here again, and I don’t wanna waste that. I want more time. All the time I can get. I want to marry you.”

“Show me.” Gamora nodded towards the box. Wordlessly, Peter flicked it open with his thumb, revealing a simple silver band, not unlike the silver of the rings she already wore every day, only this one was embedded with small, pale gold stars. “Oh, Peter.”

“It’s not for ‘Star-Lord’, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not that much of a self-obsessed a-hole,” Peter laughed. “It’s for you. As cheesy as it sounds, you guide me. You light the way back. You were the one who made the Guardians happen, you were the one who figured out how to escape the Soul Dimension, you…you are the most incredible woman in the entire galaxy. And I would be the happiest man in the universe, whether you want to marry me or not.” At Gamora’s surprised expression, he chuckled again. “Marrying you is…yeah, it’s something I wanna do, but if marriage isn’t your thing, if we spend the rest of our lives as partners, I would be just as happy. I spent so long looking for the family that I’d lost or could never find, and I found it with you. Even if you aren’t my wife, I always want you to be my girl.”

Gamora let out a shaky breath. She felt rather lightheaded, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the exhaustion, or the unfamiliar words making a home in her brain. Her other hand came to rest on top of his, her knuckles grazing the side of the box, though she didn’t want to touch it quite yet. “Before the Guardians, but after my parents, love was just a word to me, not a feeling. And now I hear it, I see it, I feel it in everything, and it…it changed me. It’s in your music, your words, the way you hold me and kiss me. You are full of so much love, Peter, and it’s one of my favorite things about you. And there are so many things about you that just make me so happy. I can’t speak to exactly what it is…I don’t have the eloquence for it. But what I can say is…your loss, it’s not your fault. None of them were. And…I love you. More than anything. And yes, I will marry you.”

There was a pause, then - Peter smiled at her, something wide and gentle and a little crooked, the smile he reserved especially for her. His hands trembled with nerves as he eased the ring onto her outstretched finger, brushing a kiss into her knuckles before bringing their joined hands to rest on his lap once more, tears streaking down his cheeks in silent joy, unable to say or do much more than observe her and savor her presence. Gamora used her other hand to gently wipe them away, only to realize she, too, was starting to cry. “We don’t have to do anything big, by the way,” Peter sniffled as they both got to their feet, moving to leave the cockpit. “But I do have one request.”

“What’s that?” Gamora asked.

He let out a wet laugh. “To have a first dance as husband and wife.”

“Of course,” she snorted, shaking her head amusedly. “Do you have a song in mind?”

“Oh, about fifty. But we might be thinkin’ of the same one.” Peter gently swung her around to his front, taking her other hand in his and swaying back and forth, stepping to the beat of the song that was playing in both of their heads. Gamora, happily overwhelmed with pure, unadulterated bliss, stood on her toes to kiss him, pleased as he chased her lips to meet her halfway. Her hands slid into his hair, his around her waist, tangling themselves together until their shadow was one. They continued to take small, measured steps as they kissed, when Peter suddenly stumbled over his own feet, breaking the kiss.

Gamora tilted his chin upward with her thumb, concerned. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just…I’m really tired. Spent way too long looking for places that could make that ring, and comin’ up with everything I wanted to say…” He interrupted himself with a well-deserved, albeit ill-timed yawn. “Dunno if I can make it all the way back to bed.”

“That’s okay,” Gamora replied, patting him sympathetically on the chest. She, too, was beginning to lose her balance from deliriously happy exhaustion. “I’m here.”

Peter smiled. “You are.”

[confinesofpersonalknowledge]

dark on me

So, @sandersstudies​ made a post yesterday, and I lowkey ran with it. It turned out different that what I think she had in mind, but I’m really happy with this. Oh, I wrote this with Starset’s Dark on Me on repeat, and it’s actually quite late here, so I’m going to post this and I hope you like it. For those of you who’ve seen Infinity War, it’s that scene. You know the one. 

Summary: Virgil Sanders had lived a normal life until he got bit by a radioactive spider. Flash-forward a few years, and he finds himself stranded on an alien planet, with Patton Stark by his side, and a giant purple man to defeat. But when Thanos wins, what comes next for Virgil?

Pairings: Platonic Moxiety, platonic Analogical. Both are parental.

Word Count: 1757

Warnings: dissolving, angst, death, grief. Please tell me if I need to tag anything else.

It happens far too quickly for Virgil to understand what is happening. Mantis and Drax disappear between blinks of Virgil’s eyes, and his gaze pulls to Peter Quill, who reaches a half-hearted hand out before dissolving as well. That’s about when Virgil realizes that he is dying.  

The realization is like a wave of coolness that washes over Virgil - for all that he has worried about dying, it is not a concept Virgil has grasped in its entirety. It’s the emptiness that his parents disappeared into, and Uncle Roman after them; it’s the people he cannot save. Virgil has never considered what it would mean for him. Not until there’s a strange tingling that travels up his legs to his spin, and Virgil is left unable to breath, his heart racing.

On shaky legs, he takes a step towards Mr. Stark, words slipping past his lips unbidden, “I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark.”

He collapses forward, a pantomime of a hug surrounding him when Mr. Stark’s arms come up to support Virgil in surprise. He can’t help the desperation that leaks into his arms as he clutches at the broken remains of the Mark VII suit around Patton’s shoulders. Mr. Stark’s arms feel like the only thing left holding Virgil together.

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The day before the field trip, Virgil remembers the dread that was written in the creases of eyebrows in Uncle Logan’s forehead. Fondness hides behind black-rimmed glasses, but Logan holds Virgil’s shoulders tightly, and simply tells him to not do anything stupid.

Some part of Virgil is relieved when Uncle Logan had caught him, that night, even if he’d been grounded for what had felt like forever. It was a weight lifted off his shoulders, a burden taken away because he had hated keeping secrets from his uncle. Some part of him, not-so-distant and not-so-small, had always regarded his uncles as his first heroes.

Part of it came from their taking in Virgil in his youth, providing him with a home, a family, and a life Virgil hadn’t known he could have had after his parents’ death. But because he’d watched, and seen, as Uncle Logan pieced himself together after Uncle Roman died, piece after broken piece slotting in as he refused to let himself be drawn into his sorrow.

And he’d understood Virgil better that Virgil had ever thought possible, when he hadn’t stopped Virgil from being Spider-man, from demanding that Virgil return the suit into Patton Stark’s arms. Instead, he’d yelled for a few hours at both of them, grounded Virgil for a few months, and worked harder than ever with Patton to make sure that beyond everything, Virgil was safe when he went out to patrol.

He’d understood what Virgil hadn’t then - that Virgil had some need inside that pulled at him to protect, that Virgil couldn’t step aside when bad things happened without losing some part of himself.

All Logan had asked of Virgil was that Virgil not do anything stupid. That Virgil be careful in what he does. That Virgil comes home each night.

Virgil doesn’t know if he can do that anymore. Doesn’t know if it’s possible anymore, not when he still wakes up with the feeling of a collapsed building on his back, and the knowledge that it was a sheer stroke of luck that had saved him that night. He wonders when that luck will run out.

Virgil wonders how many promises he has broken, when he throws himself into fights with reckless abandon because some part of him still sings a broken song about blood and revenge. He wonders how many phone calls happen between the two people more important to him than anyone, what Patton Stark says about him when Virgil is not around to hear, not around to read the fondness that belies every denial of hugs, every new suit upgrade and every “science weekend extravaganza.”

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“I don’t want to go,” Virgil whispers, fingers clinging to Patton with a burst of energy he cannot muster. He’s terrified, clinging to the only hope he has - because even six years old, faced with unimaginable loss and screaming chaos, Virgil has trusted in Patton Stark to keep him safe - and unable to hold himself up on a world that will remain unchanged with Virgil’s loss. He can’t help the begging, “Please,” either.

Virgil knows there is nothing he can do, nothing Patton can do, except to clutch him tightly and whisper reassurances that they both know are false. Virgil can feel himself fading, the process slower to his mind than he can truly understand. They say spiders are resilient, able to bear more injuries than what is usually thought. Virgil doubts that, not when he can feel his chest shaking and his body unravelling even as he clings as tightly as he can to one of his oldest heroes.

He’s still babbling, voice cracking and breaking because Virgil is only 17 years old, still awaiting the life that once stretched ahead of him like a road untravelled, only to find that it had crumbled away when he wasn’t looking. There is nothing either of them can do, and some part of Virgil distantly begs him to stop, begs him to stop talking before he breaks apart what little there is left of Mr. Stark after Siberia, but Virgil is afraid, desperately so, and he cannot help the words that spill from his lips as he closes his eyes.

But he finds that the darkness is all the more terrifying, more reminiscent of what Virgil knows awaits him in a few moments’ time. When his eyes open, it’s to the strangely emotional ones of Patton Stark, to fake reassurances and half-panicked calls of “kid” and Virgil cannot help the apology that breathes past his lips even as he nods his head reassuringly.

Eventually, what feels like a lifetime later, Virgil finds that he cannot hold onto Patton’s steady shoulders anymore, and he allows himself to let go. Behind them, the graveyard of Thanos’ planet awaits, a blue-coloured alien woman watching in well-disguised horror, and ghosts call to Virgil even as he clings to the broken remains of Thanos’ first massacre.

The first tremors pass through Mr. Stark’s shoulders when Virgil drags his eyes away, staring into an unforgiving sky as if he can look back to wherever Earth is, wherever Uncle Logan and Remy await Virgil, who will never return. Somewhere, he hears Patton whisper a broken, “Don’t go,” and wishes he doesn’t have to.

Virgil closes his eyes and feels Patton Stark break, and he remembers the moments that brought Virgil to this moment.

It’s Uncle Roman, calling Virgil’s name in dark alleyways the night after their fight. It’s Uncle Roman, face alight with the glow of candles and a happy smile as he bounds into the living room even as his husband asks him to slow down. It’s Uncle Logan, and the rare nights when the New York skyline cleared enough for them to see the stars, and the long fingers that pointed out constellations that ran across the skies - Orion and Draco and Cassiopeia. It’s Remy, and the forgotten cup of Starbucks as he touches a trembling hand to Virgil’s split lip, Remy and long nights spent talking on the phone while Virgil tries to forget the feeling of concrete and dust that weigh on his shoulders. It’s Patton Stark, and fond ruffles of his hair, soft voice calling him ‘kiddo’ in the middle of the night, and an AI gifted special to Virgil, outfitted with every precaution possible. It’s the people he loves, the ones he hopes won’t forget him.

In the last moments before Virgil leaves, a part of him absurdly thinks that Thanos’ mercy belongs to those he steals away. The true pain is left behind on the graveyards of planets, meant to be shouldered by those left behind in lands cold and empty, where ghosts whisper and memories sing sorrowful tones. It’s in dark nights spent staring up at shared shelters and wondering what, why, who there was reason left to live for when the person that mattered the most was taken away so quickly, without a chance, an opportunity, to prepare.

And then, blissfully, emptily, Virgil is gone.

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Patton Stark is left behind in the broken remains of a suit, a half-insane assassin, and a ship he does not know how to fly. Around him lie the remains of a graveyard, a reminder of what it means to have lost to Thanos. There isn’t enough ash left of Virgil for him to return to Logan. If Logan survived. Patton finds he cannot know anymore, cannot tell anything for all the praise that his mind had once gathered.

It’s his worst nightmare come to life, everything he’d hoped to work to prevent brought to fruition, every desperate night Patton spent awake left useless.

Useless. Like Patton. And gosh, if he can’t hear the kid now, playful and shy and earnest and sincere, as he tries to reassure Patton that he had a use, even if it was to be Virgil’s hero (and the red tint to Virgil’s face that he pushed beyond because Patton needed to know even if meant that Virgil himself be embarrassed).

He wonders, quietly, in the middle of the night, staring at unfamiliar stars in an unknowingly echoed search for home, if it was all for nothing. If Virgil’s death, if Strange’s sacrifice of the Time Stone, was all for nothing. Because he isn’t special, not worth more than the life of a kid who had a bright future awaiting him. Because he’s Patton Stark, so worn down by the world and by his life that he barely has the energy to get up, let alone save the world. How will he save the universe knowing that they’ve already lost?

But he remembers Logan Sanders, and the long nights they have spent worrying over Virgil Sanders. He remembers Logan Sanders, alone on Earth, wondering if his nephew will return to him, wondering if there is anyone left for him to lose. He remembers Thanos’ over-large purple face, and the small streak of purple-tinged blood that had run down his cheek. He remembers Strange’s last words, fearful repetitions of probabilities and reassurances that it was the only way. He remembers Virgil, and the look on his face before he, too, left Patton.

Patton Stark pushes himself up, fingers finding a screwdriver. He will not let some oversized, purple megalomaniac takeaway the closest thing he has to a son.

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Any feedback would be appreciated! I really like this, but IDK how good it is, lol. Thanks for reading!

[bowandarrowgirl]

You’re Not As Lonely As You Think You Are (I’m Trying to Tell You) - Chapter 11: Home is Whenever I’m With You

(read on ao3)

Title from “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Enjoy! :)

"WHAT Y'ALL DID WAS RECKLESS, DANGEROUS, AND STUPID!" Fury yells at the newly renowned Guardians of the Galaxy.

So, here's the gist of what the hell happened...after they defeated Ronan, and parted ways with the Ravangers, Peter immediately handed the real orb over to Nova Prime, who in exchange, sent them to the finest medical center on Xandar to be treated of their wounds.

As soon as everyone was patched up, they headed to Nova Headquarters for a debriefing, where Nova Prime told Peter the truth about his heritage - he was only half Terran. The news didn't surprise him, however, due to the fact that he was able to hold an infinity stone without, well, dying...It wasn't long after that Nova Prime contacted Fury, notifying him that the group of teens were safe in her custody.

Fury arrived two days later, only staying long enough to give Nova Prime his gratitude. Now, here they are - back on Earth, in his office, receiving another lecture.

"Fury, we-"

"SAVE IT, QUILL!" Peter immediately backs down, leaning further back in his chair. Fury takes a deep breath and sits at his desk. "With that being said, y'all did save an entire planet, not to mention, possibly the entire damn universe." The group of teens look at Fury with a hint of hope in their eyes. "Y'all are off the hook this time," The kids let out a sigh of relief. "But! I see any of you taking on a mission this dangerous without permission again, I will not hesitate to give any of y'all the punishment you deserve. Now, get outta my damn office."

As the teens begin to exit Fury's office, Gamora notices the one-eyed man pulling Peter aside and whispering something in his ear. Peter rips out of the man's grasp and meets up with Gamora in the doorway. As soon as the door shuts behind them and they begin to walk, Gamora grabs Peter's arm and pulls him into a nearby supply closet, locking the door behind them.

"Woah, what-"

"What did Fury tell you?" The Zen-Whoberian asks with her arms crossed against her chest and a expression on her face that the half-Terran couldn't seem to read.

Peter is speechless and begins to stutter a bit. "I-I...It was nothing important." Gamora raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "G, I promise, it's nothing to worry about." The boy places his hands on the girl's shoulders, looking into the souls of her eyes.

Gamora pushes his arms out of her way and turns her back to him. "It didn't seem unimportant. It seemed to piss you off, if anything." Peter lets out an exasperated sigh. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because, I-I-I can't, Gam."

Red and black tresses whip around to face Peter once again as Gamora stomps the few feet over to him and stands beneath his chin. "Don't start this with me, Peter. Why don't you trust me with whatever Fury told you?"

"It's not about trust, Gamora. Fury just-"

"He just what?"

The hazel color of Peter's eyes shift anywhere in the room besides her. He lets out a frustrated sigh and places his hands on his hips. "He just said some shitty things." This time it's Gamora who lets out a frustrated sigh. Peter finally relaxes and pulls Gamora into his embrace. She slowly returns it and digs her head into his chest. "Listen Babe, I promise, I promise you, it's nothing you need to worry about. It was just a shitty comment he made, that's all."

Even though Peter said it was nothing, Gamora is still bothered by the fact he won't tell her what Fury said. However, at the moment, she's in Peter's arms and that's all that matters to her.

"Now, listen to these words: Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier. Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter. Then, you gotta bring it down hard!" Peter begins to do the running man as Ronan lowers his war hammer.

"What are you doing?" Peter smirks a little. It's working.

"Dance off, Bro. Me and you!" He continues to dance before reaching out to his girlfriend. "Gamora-" She thinks about it, but she doesn't know how to dance besides the slow dances Peter has taught her. The ex-assassin shakes her head quickly. "Subtle, take it back."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ronan's nerves get the best of him as the Terran doesn't stop.

Peter chuckles a little. "I'm distracting ya', you big turd blossom."

Their plan works. Rocket fixes the Hadron Enforcer and blasts the infinity stone out of Ronan's weapon. After that, time seems to slow down. "Peter, no!" Gamora cries out, reaching for her boyfriend as he recklessly catches the stone in his hand.

The boy falls to the ground and shakes violently as the power of the stone rips him apart from the inside out. Tears stream down Gamora's face as the power from the stone creates a powerful wind storm. She grasps onto a piece of the destroyed ship, feeling useless as Peter's painful cries break her heart. The girl squints in his direction, noticing that he levitated into the air. She pushes through the storm, trying to reach him again. "PETER!" She cries. "TAKE MY HAND!"

Peter looks at her with tears in his eyes and reaches out to grab her hand...but it's too late. As soon as his hand makes contact with Gamora's, he begins to slowly deteriorate from his hand to his arm to his entire body. "I'm sorry, Babe. I love you." It's the last six words he says before the stone completely consumes him.

Gamora's eyes shoot open as she begins to hyperventilate. Shifting her eyes to look at her surroundings, she notices she's back in her room at the academy. The heavy breathing subsides as she lifts a hand to her face, feeling the trail of tears streaming down her cheeks combined with the perspiration caused from the nightmare...at least she thinks that's what it was. Oh, God. She hopes to God it was just a dream.

Her eyes shift to the top of Nat's bunk, noticing that not only was she still sleeping, but Steve had snuck into their room in the middle of the night and fell asleep right next to her. As carefully as she can, Gamora pulls her sweat-filled blanket off of her and swings her bare feet to the cold floor. Like the assassin she is, she soundlessly creeps to the door and quietly pulls it open, wincing at the loud creak it makes. She glances back at Nat and Steve to make sure she hasn't woken them up. A sigh of relief escapes her lips as she continues to exit the room, believing it was best to keep the door cracked to prevent waking the couple.

Just as cautiously, she creeps over to the door of Peter's room and slowly opens the door, wincing once again as it creaks and almost hits the side of Peter's dresser. The fact that none of the students awoke at the noise of the door surprises her. She approaches Peter's bed and carefully sits on the edge of it. Her eyes shift up as she notices the white Freddy Mercury poster beside her. After staring at it for a moment, she shifts her gaze back to Peter, watching as his abdomen rises and falls with each breath. Lying on his back, his left arm is draped across his abdomen, while his right is being used as a pillow and his legs are making the shape of a backwards P.

The Zen-Whoberian shifts closer to the sleeping boy. She brushes back one of the curls covering his forehead and plants a lingering kiss in it's place. The gesture wakes Peter up, but he doesn't seem mad about it. "Gamora?" He asks sleepily, sitting up just enough to be able to see her as he squints. "What's wrong?" A stifled sob escapes the girl's green lips as she throws her arms around Peter and buries her head into his shoulder. Peter slowly wraps his arms around her and rubs his hands around her back. "It's okay, Babe, I'm here. I've got you."

It's Peter's idea to spend the rest of the night in the lounge area: a fairly small room filled with retro arcade games, a large mounted TV, and a long, Lawson couch that sits underneath the windows that separates the rest of the room from the kitchen. The boy opens the wooden, glass door for Gamora, carrying a large blanket in one hand.

As Gamora approaches the TV to turn it on, Peter sets the blanket across the back of the couch and plops down onto it. After Gamora finds the remote, she turns around to her boyfriend laying across the entire couch. His signature smirk is tugging at his lips as she walks over to him. "Where do you suppose I will sit?" The smirk only grows on his face as he lays on his side and scoots as far back as he can. Gamora playfully rolls her eyes and lays beside him, her back comfortably pressing up against his front.

Peter takes the remote out of her hand and begins to channel surf. He lets out an exasperated sigh when he's unable to find anything to watch. "I forgot...there's nothing good on this early...or this late?" It comes out more of a question. Gamora chuckles a little and retrieves the remote back from him, turning off the TV.

"Why don't we just turn it off then." The Zen-Whoberian sets the remote on the floor and shifts her position to face him. They stay like that for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes. Finally, Gamora decides to press her lips to his. It's gentle and quick, but Peter loves it all the same. She chooses to turn things up a notch and continues to kiss him more passionately. Peter wraps his arms around her and rolls them onto his back. Gamora lets out a yelp in surprise, causing her and Peter to break apart and start laughing.

As their laughter dies down, Gamora sets her chin on top of her crossed arms. Peter's smile fades as he tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "What was it about?"

"My nightmare?" Her smile fades as well when Peter mouths a 'yeah'. "We were back on Xandar...fighting Ronan. Everything seemed the same at first, except-" Tears start to well up in her eyes.

"Except what, G?"

"It-it killed you."

Peter swipes the tear that escapes from her eye and pulls her as close to him as she could get. "That's in the past. You'll never lose me, G." He presses a kiss to her temple, before grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and draping it over them. It isn't long until they both fall asleep in the comfort of each other's arms.

[roxashighwind]

Cassie’s Fake It ‘til You Make It Playlist

Cassie Lang knows death. She knows it in her father, in herself, in friends and grandparents, on the news, and as an inevitability of the universe. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect her, though she does her best to put on a happy face and try not to think about it too hard. 

A little background: Cassandra Eleanor Lang is the daughter of a superhero. She loves her father and takes his side even at the tender age of six: through her parents’ divorce, as he fights a bad guy in her bedroom, and in the time after when he’s trying his hardest to make amends and be a bigger part of her life. She wants to grow up to be a hero just like him, to protect people and save the world. 

She isn’t there when he dies. It hurts. She moves on, deals with it in her own way, and grows into a young woman even more determined to become a hero than before. 

That... doesn’t go well for her overall. In the beginning, maybe it’s okay, and she makes a name for herself with a group of friends. She fights and protects and takes care of small and big time bad guys. She even manages to get her father back in a strange turn of events: magic, time travel, Infinity Stones are involved. 

After she’s back, Cassie finds it harder to pretend to be normal than back when she was just dealing with her father being gone. She starts seeing a therapist to deal with the disconnect she sometimes feels. Music is brought up as a way to help handle things, to boost her mood and keep her in the moment. 

She’s got a playlist for the rough days when she remembers being dead, not existing, and trying to be a person again after she got brought back. It’s broken into four parts to fit whatever she’s feeling, and she’s got it on every device that can play music.

[My first fill for my second MCU Bingo card! Character: Cassie Lang ; Prompt: Character Death. Below is each playlist (with a link to the playlist on Spotify), broken down into the 4 parts and with relevant lyrics from each song!]

Part One: The Darker Beats

Numb - Linkin Park

I've become so numb, I can't feel you there / Become so tired, so much more aware

Never Too Late - Three Days Grace

No one will ever see / This side reflected / And if there's something wrong / Who would have guessed it? / And I have left alone / Everything that I own / To make you feel like / It's not too late / It's never too late

Dead Hearts - Stars

Oh please tell me what they looked like / Did they seem afraid of you? / They were kids that I once knew

I could say it but you wont believe me / You say you do but you don't deceive me / It's hard to know they're out there / It's hard to know that you still care

Sacrifice - Casey Williams, Jeff Williams (RWBY)

Close your eyes now time for dreams, / Death is never what it seems. / Did the things you thought you should, / All the things they said were good.

You can't have my life, / I'm not your sacrifice. / You can try, but I'm free, / And you won't conquer me.

Weight of Living, Pt. II - Bastille

Under the weight of living / You're under the weight of living / Under the weight of living / You are under the weight of living / The weight of living, the weight of living

i can’t breathe - Bea Miller

Somebody get me a hammer / Wanna break all the clocks and the mirrors / And go back to a time that was different / A time when I / Didn't feel like there was something missing / Now my body and mind are so distant / Don't know how to escape from this prison

How can I / Free my mind?

Cause I can't breathe

How can I live in the moment / When my thoughts never feel like my own and / Don't know how to admit that I'm broken

How can I / Be alright?

Titanium - Chase Holfelder

You shout it out / But I can't hear a word you say / I'm talking loud not saying much / I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet / You shoot me down, but I get up

I'm bulletproof nothing to lose / Fire away, fire away / Ricochet, you take your aim / Fire away, fire away / You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium

Lying From You - Linkin Park

When I pretend / Everything is what I want it to be / I look exactly like what you had always wanted to see

I remember what they taught to me / Remember condescending talk of who I ought to be / Remember listening to all of that and this again / So I pretended up a person who was fitting in / And now you think this person really is me and I'm / (trying to bend the truth) / But the more I push / The more I'm pulling away

Part Two: Those Melancholy Beats

Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright

Maybe I've been here before / I know this room, I've walked this floor / I used to live alone before I knew you / I've seen your flag on the marble arch / Love is not a victory march / It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah / Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Is There Anybody Here? - The Dear Hunter

I lay my body down / To rest my weary head / I think I left Someone there; / I left myself for dead

Is there anybody here who can tell me where I am / Or at least where I have been? / Because I fear I’m lost / And I cannot be found / Again

Wait for It - Hamilton

Death doesn't discriminate / Between the sinners and the saints / It takes and it takes and it takes / And we keep living anyway / We rise and we fall / And we break / And we make our mistakes / And if there's a reason I'm still alive / When everyone who loves me has died / I'm willing to wait for it (wait for it) / I'm willing to wait for it

How Far I’ll Go - Chase Holfelder

I've been staring at the edge of the water / 'Long as I can remember, never really knowing why / I wish I could be the perfect daughter / But I come back to the water, no matter how hard I try / Every turn I take, every trail I track / Every path I make, every road leads back / To the place I know, where I can not go, where I long to be

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father / Run for your children for your sisters and brothers / Leave all your love and your longing behind you / Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

Wake Me Up - Avicii

Feeling my way through the darkness / Guided by a beating heart / I can't tell where the journey will end / But I know where to start / They tell me I'm too young to understand / They say I'm caught up in a dream / Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes / Well that's fine by me

So wake me up when it's all over / When I'm wiser and I'm older / All this time I was finding myself / And I didn't know I was lost

Here Comes a Thought - VGR (Steven Universe Cover)

And, oh, you're losing sight, you're losing touch / All these little things seem to matter so much / That they confuse you / That I might lose you

Take a moment, remind yourself / To take a moment and find yourself / Take a moment and ask yourself / If this is how we fall apart / But it's not

Here comes a thought that might alarm me / What someone said and how it harmed me / Something I did that failed to be charming / Things that I said are suddenly swarming

And, oh, I'm losing sight, I'm losing touch / All these little things seem to matter so much / That they confuse me

Let’s Just Live - Casey Williams, Jeff Williams (RWBY)

Let's just live! / Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows / The past can't hold us down / We must break free / Inside we're torn apart / But time will mend our hearts / Move onward not there yet / So let's just live!

When it feels like there's nothing  / Worth living for / Everything is broken / The light's not there anymore / And the story / Takes an unexpected turn / A friend is suddenly gone / We can cry our lives away / But if they were here they'd say / Go forward you must keep moving on

Go the Distance - Roger Bart (Hercules)

I have often dreamed / Of a far of place / Where a great, warm, welcome / Will be waiting for me

Where the crowds will cheer / When they see my face / And a voice keeps saying / This is where I'm meant to be

I will find my way / I can go the distance / I'll be there someday / If I can be strong

I know every mile / Will be worth my while / I would go most anywhere / To feel like I belong

Glitter & Gold - Barns Courtney

I am flesh and I am bone / Rise up, ting ting, like glitter and gold / I've got fire in my soul / Rise up, ting ting, like glitter / Like glitter and gold / Like glitter

Part Three: The Bops

I’m Good - The Mowgli’s

Trying to figure out who I am / Or who I’m supposed to be / Feel good about where I stand / So I can make the most of me-I’m

I’m good, I’m good, I’m good, I’m good / Living life just like I should / Wouldn’t change it if I could / I’m good, I’m good, I’m good

Red Balloon - Charli XCX (Home)

Ah-ooh! / If you got troubles let 'em go / Let 'em soar so high, high into the sky / Just like a red balloon

Ah-ooh! / Don't let your worries get to you / Let 'em float on by, high into the sky / Just like a red balloon

Today, I opened my eyes / And now I'm so happy and free / I've got my friends by my side / And that's all that matters to me / So, come on, get up and join in / 'Cause this is just what you need / Let's do it all day long

Sit Still, Look Pretty - Daya

Could wake up / And make up / And play dumb

Oh, I don't know what you've been told / But this gal right here's gonna rule the world / Yeah, that is where I'm gonna be because I wanna be / No, I don't wanna sit still, look pretty

Go Big or Go Home - American Authors

I'm thinking life's too short it's passing by / So if I'm gonna go at all / Go big or go / go big or go home

Fire N Gold - Bea Miller

When you're stuck in a moment / And your spark has been stolen / This is our time to own it / So own it

Baby, we were born with / Fire & gold in our eyes, eyes / With fire & gold in our eyes, eyes / Got lightning in a bottle / Hands on the throttle / Even in the dust we shine / With fire & gold in our eyes

I Won’t Back Down - Tom Petty

Well, I won't back down / No, I won't back down / You can stand me up at the gates of hell / But I won't back down No, I'll stand my ground / Won't be turned around / And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down / Gonna stand my ground / And I won't back down

Some Nights - fun.

This is it, boys, this is war - what are we waiting for? / Why don't we break the rules already?

Well, some nights I wish that this all would end / 'Cause I could use some friends for a change. / And some nights I'm scared you'll forget me again / Some nights I always win, I always win...

Life in Color - OneRepublic

I do my best / To find some kind of glow / I'm givin' it some heart and soul, now / From the darkest grays / The sun bursts, clouds break / Yeah, we see that fire / From the streets of Babylon / To the road that we've been on now / The kaleidoscope claims another

Whoa oh oh oh / Well this is life in color (color) / Today feels like no other (other) / And the darkest grays / The sun bursts, clouds break

Back Home - Andy Grammer

And no matter where we go / We always find our way back home

When ties loosen / We're losing touch / And fading away / We'll still be raising our cups / To the same damn things

Sunshine Riptide - Fall Out Boy, Burna Boy

The world tried to burn all the mercy out of me / But you know I wouldn't let it / It tried to teach me the hard way / I can't forget it

What the Hell - Avril Lavigne

All my life I've been good, / But now whoa, I'm thinking what the hell / All I want is to mess around / And I don't really care about / If you love me / If you hate me / You can't save me

Part Four: The Sunshine Beats

Be Ok - Ingrid Michaelson

I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay / I just want to be okay today

I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today / I just want to feel something today

Be Okay - Oh Honey

Fresh cut grass, one cold beer / Thank the Lord I am here and now, here and now / Summer dress, favorite park / Bless your soul, we are here and now, here and now

I'm wide awake, so what's the point of dreaming when your life is great? / Celebrate the feeling, celebrate the feeling / Can't complain about much these days, I believe we'll be okay

Odds Are - Barenaked Ladies

The odds are that we will probably be alright / Odds are we gonna be alright, odds are we gonna be alright tonight / The odds are that we will probably be alright / Odds are we gonna be alright, odds are we gonna be alright for another night

Fight Song - Rachel Platten

This is my fight song / Take back my life song / Prove I'm alright song / My power's turned on / Starting right now I'll be strong / I'll play my fight song / And I don't really care if nobody else believes / 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

Heroes (We Could Be) - Alesso, Tove Lo

Everyday people do / Everyday things but I / Can’t be one of them / I know you hear me now / We are a different kind / We can do anything

We could be heroes

Happy - Pharrell Williams

It might seem crazy what I'm about to say / Sunshine she's here, you can take a break / I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space / With the air, like I don't care, baby, by the way

Brave - Sara Bareilles

Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down / By the enemy / Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing / Bow down to the mighty / Don’t run, stop holding your tongue / Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live / Maybe one of these days you can let the light in / Show me how big your brave is

King of Anything - Sara Bareilles

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table / While I look outside / So many things I'd say if only I were able / But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You've got opinions, man / We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked / So let me thank you for your time, / And try not to waste anymore of mine / And get out of here fast

Who cares if you disagree? / You are not me / Who made you king of anything? / So you dare tell me who to be? / Who died and made you king of anything?

Begin Again - Colbie Caillat

Oh this is not the way that it should end / It's the way it should begin / It's the way it should begin, again / No, I never wanna fall apart, / Never wanna break your heart / Never wanna let you break my own / Yes, I know we've said a lot of things / That we probably didn't mean

Live it Up - Colbie Caillat

I don't know why I'm still afraid / It's not like it was yesterday / I'm the one stopping me / From all the I want to be

It's ridiculous / The stars are inconspicuous / I told myself this can't be how I think / It's irrational / It seems so supernatural / I'm happy every after all I've seen

Who Says - Selena Gomez & The Scene

I'm sure you got some things / You'd like to change about yourself / But when it comes to me / I wouldn't want to be anybody else

Who says / Who says you're not perfect / Who says you're not worth it / Who says you're the only one that's hurting

{if you’ve made it this far, thank you! ♥ if you enjoyed this, please consider throwing a coffee my way; if you do, please feel free to ask for a bit of writing or a mini playlist!}