#RHODEY FOR PRESIDENT
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aurumacadicus · 1 year ago
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*phone rings* Tony: Hello? Steve: Yeah, hi, is this Tony? Tony: Rhodey? Steve: No, this is Captain America. Tony: Oh! It's Captain America! Yeah, you're hilarious, Rhodey, you're just a regular riot. Steve: No, this isn't Rhodey, this is Captain America. Tony: Oh! Well, I'm glad you called, because I forgot to tell you today what a nice ass you have. I'm also impressed you were able to get my phone number given the fact that I don't have a phone. Good night, Rhodey. Steve: Uh, this isn't Rhodey-- Tony: *hangs up* Steve: *sigh* This used to be easier.
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braveclementine · 7 days ago
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Chapter 13
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Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OCs: Ellie White along with her friends Allie, Abi, Malcolm, Reece, Anthony, Elijah, etc. I do not condone any copying of this
Ellie scrunched her face as she started to come around. Despite the sleep she was clearly waking up from, she felt a painful headache in her head. It felt like it was burning, but it felt like that everywhere. Like she was burning. . . burning. 
She opened her eyes, only to find that she was not laying down on a bed, but rather standing upright in some sort of metal contraption. Her thoughts jumped at first to Steve, wondering where he was and where she was, but then to her baby. Was she okay? Had she been hurt in the process? Granted, Ellie wasn't even certain that it was a girl, but she had a feeling. 
"Well look whose awake." Ellie found that she couldn't move her head, as it was to painful, so her eyes strained to take in the man in front of her. She didn't recognize him at first, as he was wearing a simple white button up shirt and brown khakis. But as he lifted his handkerchief from his pocket, she recognized him. 
"You're the man from the restaurant." She gasped out. 
"Aldrich Killian." The man introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ellie White." He sat down on a stool that was placed in front of her. Vague details started to stick out to her, like the fact that the walls were metal and she could swear she could hear ocean waves. Were they still in Japan? Perhaps on a boat? 
She couldn't remember how she had been taken. She remembered setting the ingredients out, figuring she wouldn't take long in the shower. Then nothing. 
"It was a pain you didn't come back to the states, would've made this whole thing easier." Killian said, wiping his hands with the handkerchief and Ellie noticed that there was red amongst the dirt. Was it blood? It had to be, right?
"Steve?" Ellie coughed out. 
"You know, if I could've trusted my crew could bring in a Super Soldier, he'd be right next to you." Killian said in an easygoing voice. "But I wasn't sure and I couldn't take any chances. Perhaps if he comes to rescue you. But you're not really bait for him in the first place. Really, you're not bait at all." He touched something in the air Ellie couldn't see and soon there was a red light upon her face, making her wince. "I just want to know how Stark reacts when he sees this." 
"What?" Ellie groaned, feeling like she was on fire. She closed her eyes, scrunching them tightly. "What did you do to me?" 
She felt a hand on the side of her face and she flinched away from it, opening her eyes. If she could've, she would've ran in horror, the man in front of her lighting up like a glowstick. She swore she could see everything under his skin and it made her nauseous. 
"It's quite fancy isn't it?" He asked. "Usually, it's used for those who need to regrow something, usually a limb. I used it to correct my legs, my back. I was a very different man many years ago, when your soulmate Tony Stark forgot a meeting with me on the rooftop of a hotel." 
Ellie stayed silent, her mind trying to turn everything over while at the same time, trying not to faint from the pain. Killian must've seen her through the glass windows of the restaurant as she had talked to Tony. She couldn't remember her exact words to him as she ran into him as she left, but she was pretty sure one of them mentioned something about soulmates. 
"Tony doesn't care about me." She finally replied, wishing she could look more directly at the man in front of her. "He rejected me." The words still hurt to say after all of these months. They were forbidden words between her and Steve, never spoken about. 
"Oh I figured." Killian said in that same, uncaring voice. "I don't think soulmates usually cry when they're accepted." He grinned, "No, I think this is more just a little teaser. We'll see. The same is happening to Pepper, his current girlfriend. He may not care about you, or he might. But he isn't going to save either of you. Not until the fire either takes over your entire body or it adapts to you." 
Ellie now understood about the burning. Whatever he had inside of him, he'd put inside of her. A burning fire that conjured up images of Edward and Bella from Twilight and she'd never liked either of those characters and felt quite put out she couldn't at least imagine Carlisle. And then her mind leapt to the more important matter. 
"I'm pregnant!" She gasped out, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop them. But it was a violent realization as she wrenched her neck, trying to look down at the baby bump, letting out a cry of pain when her neck attempted to respond and wouldn't move. 
"Yes, I know." Killian replied, standing from his stool, lifting his hand up to the grab the ball floating in midair. The red light stopped and she assumed that he had turned it off. "It will be fascinating to see if it can survive. I'll come check on you later." He left the room, the metal door slamming shut. 
Ellie wasn't sure if she was trembling from the pain or the hurting realization that she could do nothing now to protect her baby. Heat was never good for a baby. You weren't supposed to take hot baths or even showers. Women had miscarried by going into hot springs. It cooked the baby and she was pretty sure having literal fire flowing through her veins was even more powerful. 
Ellie's eyes pooled with fiery tears as she realized the truth. 
She had lost her and Steves' baby. 
And it was all her fault. 
。 ★ • * 。
Tony strained against the tight plastic zip ties that were keeping him to what seemed like a metal bed frame, looking at the spot where Mayas' body had fallen what seemed like only five minutes ago. He heard the door open and heard the footsteps of Killian was the man entered the room. Tony had nothing to say, watching the man prop up two balls, which Tony assumed contained recording devices. 
"I have to go." Killian said. "I'm sorry our time together was so short." 
Tony hoped his suit was almost rebooted so he could blow his face off. Save the world. Get back to Pepper and let her know he was alive. 
"But I thought I'd leave you with a little gift." Killian said, motioning to the balls, which immediately produced holograms. Tonys gut churned when he saw them. 
One was Pepper and the other was a young girl Tony had never seen before. Both of them were strapped to metal contraptions and liquid fire was running through their vines. 
"Do you recognize this girl?" Killian asked, motioning to the one Tony didn't know. She was a pretty thing, with long brown hair and one of those heart shaped faces that usually only existed in book characters and not real life girls. 
Tony wanted to say no, he'd never seen this girl before. He certainly couldn't coherently remember her. But he felt like he'd seen her before, not coherently, but as though she starred in a dream. Like a whisp of memory. 
"No." He answered, because he wasn't sure. But he was certain of one thing- he'd have remembered if he'd ever talked to this girl. 
His eyes switched to Pepper, who seemed to be in the same amount of pain, her teeth gritted, head tossed back. Her pretty strawberry blonde hair was sticky and staticky around her face. How was she in danger? Had it been Maya? 
"I find it quite amusing that I've had a conversation with your soulmate before you have then." Killian said, Pepper blinking out of existence as he shut off the recording device, diverting Tonys' attention back to the other woman. 
"What do you mean?" Tony snapped. How would this man know who his other soulmate was? He would have thought Steve would have kept his mouth shut. 
"You should have seen her face as she ran from whatever hurtful words you said to her." Killian didn't answer his question but Tony felt his heart start to pound like a child whose been caught stealing candy from a teacher. "The shock, the hurt, looking like she wanted to jump off a bridge. What was it Tony? What did you say to reject your soulmate?" 
"I don't know." Tony said, wishing his answer came out stronger than the whisper it did. But he could remember something of that night. He couldn't remember any of it before, just the arrival of the airport. Now, he dimly remembers sitting in a restaurant, a bar really. Rhodey is across from him, blurry even in the vision. There's a heat he can feel, something he dreads, but there are no words, no girl in his memory. 
"Your drunkenness is a problem Stark. In fact, I believe that's the exact reason we're here. Because of promises you made to a hopeful fool while you were drunk." Killian said. "You create your own enemies." 
Killian got up from where he'd been leaning on the desk, lifting a recording ball separate from the other. "I'd thought I'd show you this first. Contains a little surprise." 
"Tony doesn't care about me." the girl said to whatever Killian had asked her. "He rejected me." 
"Oh I figured." Killian answered, "I don't think soulmates usually cry when they're accepted." He grinned, "No, I think this is more just a little teaser. We'll see. The same is happening to Pepper, his current girlfriend. He may not care about you, or he might. But he isn't going to save either of you. Not until the fire either takes over your entire body or it adapts to you."
"I'm pregnant!" She gasped out, her eyes going wide with panic. Tony winced himself as he watched her wrench her neck to look at her own stomach. He could see now that she was, indeed, pregnant, though not very far along. 
"Yes, I know." Killian replied.
Tonys' heart dropped as the recording stopped, his eyes moving over to the live of the girl. He cursed himself now for not accepting Steve. Steve had been a man of principle that would melt Tonys heart, which was why he'd made himself ice cold. But this girl. . . she had been made for him. Her luscious brown curls that though they were sticking to her now would probably feel like silk between his fingers. He could only imagine the curves, the way her body would feel against his. Her short stature, meaning he'd envelop her in his arms. Her large brown eyes that would captivate him in everyway. She was his soulmate, he didn't have to feel anything to know that. She was made for him. She was perfect. 
He was an idiot. 
He couldn't take it back. Not now. 
And she was pregnant. With his child. 
Not literally of course, but the child of a soulmate was the child of all the soulmates, rejected, dead, or accepted. It didn't matter. Whatever baby boy or girl she produced was part of Tonys' family. Not that he thought he'd see him or her of course. 
His baby. If he hadn't rejected Steve he would be holding a baby in his arms in nine months. 
"What's wrong Stark?" Killian asked softly, turning the final ball off so that it was just the two of them in the room. "You look like someone stabbed you in the heart. . ." 
"I'm going to escape." Tony said firmly, glaring at the man in front of him, "And then I'm going to kill you." 
Killian chuckled, lurching up from where he'd been leaning against the desks. "Sure you will Stark, sure you will." He walked out of the room and Tony rolled his neck. Time to see if the suit was up and working. 
。 ★ • * 。
Steve crept around the oil rig that Fury had dropped him too, having located Ellies tracker. Steve was annoyed that Fury had put a tracker on his wife without telling him, but at the same time was glad for it in this case. He was going to have a talk with Fury about it later however. 
Steve listened to footsteps and voices as they moved around, his eyes darting around the space. He hunched down behind one of the metal shipping containers, pulling up the device Fury had called a 'beacon translator'. Ellies tracker was a turquoise colour on the screen, approximately 20 feet to his northeast. 
Steve looked up again, peering over the blue metal. There was a building of sorts built in that direction with stairs leading into a gray cubicle shaped structure. He assumed that had to be where she was, although it was at least five stories tall with a conveyer belt coming out of one of the floors. 
"Cap?" 
Steve had heard the footsteps but hadn't realized they were on the same floor as him. He spun around, shield lifted, his gun resting on the edge of the shield. He saw it was Colonel Rhodes from his wedding and. . . shit. 
"Colonel Rhodes." He greeted under his breath with a nod. "Stark." He deadpanned. Tony had a look of guilt on his face and couldn't meet his eyes. Colonel Rhodes looked behind him at Tony and then sighed, shaking his head a little. 
"What are you doing here Captain?" Colonel Rhodes asked. 
"I'm looking for my wife." Steve answered, refusing to look at Tony. "And to arrest the Mandarin." 
"We're ahead of you there." the colonel responded. 
"You got the Mandarin?" Steve asked with narrowed eyes. 
"Turned out he was just the face of the Mandarin. An actor so to speak." Colonel Rhodes said, checking his gun. "The real Mandarin is a guy by the name of Aldrich Killian." 
"What do you have to do with this?" Steve demanded. 
"For me?" Colonel Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "Well he's sort've got the President of the United States." 
"He what?" Steve asked sharply, his attention deviating for a moment. His whole purpose was to protect the nation and now the leader was in danger. He mentally slapped himself, his thoughts returning to Ellie. Presidents were replaceable. He slapped himself mentally again for the blasphemy of his thoughts, feeling guilty and torn. 
"Right." Steve said quickly. "Well you two got the President and this Killian guy, right?" 
"Sure." Rhodes said. "If you see Pepper in there, get her out too while you're at it." 
"Pepper?" Steve questioned. 
Rhodes looked behind him, frowning at Tony who hadn't said a single thing the entire conversation. Rhodes looked back at Steve. "Another woman captive." 
Steve understood then what that meant. Tonys' woman. Steve sighed, "Got it." 
He turned and ducked away from them, feeling better with every step he took from Tony. 
。 ★ • * 。
The pain had subsided as Ellie stayed contained in her metal container. She had been moved beside a woman that she recognized as Pepper Potts, aka the woman that Tony Stark had rejected Steve for. But she didn't feel any animosity towards the woman who was going through the same pain as her. It wasn't her fault. She was gorgeous. 
What had caused Ellie fear now was the shooting from outside and how things seemed to be collapsing around them. A large blast into the building they were in had knocked Pepper flat to the ground, trapped under debris. Ellie was still upright, but no longer placed against the wall. She held stood as best she could, afraid any movement would tip the container in the wrong direction. 
The door flew off the hinges, flying past her line of vision. A vague, large figure stood in the doorway, the blinding lights from outside making her wince. 
"Ellie!" She recognized Steve's voice immediately and gasped aloud. 
"Steve!" 
Steve lunged in front of her, his eyes traveling all across the metal container before he made a series of precise smashes with his shield. Ellie fell out of the container, her limbs not wanting to work. Steve caught her, dropping his shield, his hands trying to brace her. 
"Are you okay? What happened?" Steve demanded, cupping her face in his hands. "Ellie what did he do to you?" 
Ellies' bottom lip trembled, her hand drifting down to her stomach where her baby once had been. "I. . . he. . ." 
"Baby please talk to me." Steve begged. 
"He injected me with some kind of fire." She whispered. "Our baby. . . Steve I'm so sorry-" Her voice cracked, tears spilling over her tired eyes. They made fresh tracks down her dirt stained face. 
Steves' heart broke at her words. He took a deep breath so he didn't start crying with her over the loss of their child. "Okay." He whispered. "It's going to be okay Ellie. We can mourn over them when we get out of here. I got to get you out of here alive okay?" 
Suddenly, another crash broke through the wall. Ellie flinched away and Steve stomped his foot down, his shield flying up to his hand, shielding the two of them. Tony didn't see them though as he bent over Pepper, trying to help her through the debris. 
"He's got her, come on." Steve mumbled, grabbing Ellies' hand, pulling her from the room. Ellie tripped over her feet in surprise, looking away from where Tony had been to Steve. 
"Wait what? We're not going to help him?" Ellie asked in surprise. 
Steve looked back at Ellie, "Tony can save his own girl." 
Ellie looked sadly at Steves' back, digging her heels into the metal the best she could. "Steven." 
Steve stopped completely, the two of them standing there as numerous iron man suits battled flaming people of fire. 
"Steve. . . you're Captain America." She whispered. "You help people, not just leave them to fend for themselves. I know Tony hurt both of us, but we can't just leave him to suffer. What if something happens to Pepper? I couldn't live with myself and I know you couldn't either." 
'Her selflessness is even greater than people claim mine is.' Steve thought. 'I suppose that is why Erskine chose me. . . she would've made an even better Super Soldier.' Steve sighed, letting go of Ellies' wrist. "You're right. I'll be right back." 
He hated leaving her side, feeling like it was the wrong move. He charged back up the stairs, bursting into the room to find Aldrich Killian (or so he assumed) on top of Tony, burning a hole through his armor. Steve threw his shield, taking the raised arm off the man, who howled in pain while Tony was able to escape. 
Killian looked up, meeting the eyes of Steve. "Oh Captain America. . . what a pleasure to meet you." 
Steve couldn't see any sign of Pepper, though there were several holes in the ground that certainly could've swallowed her up. 
"I'm surprised you left your girl out there alone." Killian said, standing up. "After all, Stark rigged all of his killer bots to eliminate anyone with a high heat signature." 
'He did what?' Steve thought dumbly. 
Killian was gone, leaping out the window after Tony. Steve, feeling frustrated with how things were going, retrieved his shield and hurried back to where he'd left Ellie. She was still there, hunkering down, watching with wide eyes at what was going on above her. 
"We need to go, now." Steve said, holding his hand out, which she took immediately. 
"Are they okay?" Ellie asked as they ran down the staircase, leaping over holes before they reached solid ground. 
"No idea, so far probably." Steve said. "But you're in dange-" He flung his shield at an iron man bot that was coming down towards Ellie. It didn't do as much as he'd hoped. He shoved Ellie out of the way, taking the brunt of the impact of the robot. He barely managed to grab the arm as it went for Ellie again, the laser beam shooting the building instead. Ellie scrabbled off the ground, throwing herself behind a metal container and the robot looked around in confusion. Steve punched its face in and then used his shield to go for the arc reactor in the middle before it was finally lights out for the animate technology. 
"Danger, right." Ellie said shakily, peering out from behind the shipping container. He could see how shaky and uncertain she looked as the two of them tried to find somewhere safe to go. Steve watched as the other fire people were taken down by multiple robots, but if it was one-on-one, they could usually melt the singular machine. 
"Steve!" Ellie grabbed his arm before he suggested that she try to heat up to defeat the robots that came near her. Steve looked over at her and then up towards where she was watching, just in time to see Pepper fall with Tony just barely missing her. She fell into the great blazing fire that they were to far away from to do anything. 
"Oh no. . ." Ellie whispered, the grip on his arm loosening. "Poor Tony. Steve we have to go help him!" She took off running, expecting him to follow. 
Steve watched her run towards their rejected soulmate, a pain in his heart. 
He wasn't enough for her. 
He couldn't really blame her. 
。 ★ • * 。
Ellie sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, which she had tucked up under her chin, watching everything unfold in front of her. Watching Tony embrace Pepper while Rhodey and the freaking President of the U.S. stood nearby. Steve was sitting next to her, quiet. She could tell she had upset him somehow, though he was saying nothing about himself, only being attentive over her. She still felt guilty. 
Steve stiffened next to her, but she didn't move as Tony walked hesitantly over to the two of them. 
"Stark." Steve said shortly. 
"Thanks for the rescue cap." Tony said in a strained voice. He didn't even look at Ellie, mostly looking at the empty space between the two of them. "It's going to take me some time but I can fix the fire problem. I almost did it before and I was drunk then. I have a place. . ." He hesitantly drifted off. "If you need somewhere to stay." He finished weakly. 
"Thanks Tony." Ellie said softly before Steve could interject coldly. "But I think we're okay." 
"Right." Tony said. "I'll, uh, let you know when we figure it out." 
Rhodey had his arms crossed over his chest as he observed the entire interaction, not to mention everything that had happened between them at this point. His suspicions were staring to become more clear cut. 
Steve suddenly perked up, looking over at Ellie. "I have an even better idea." 
Ellie looked over at Steve. "What?" 
Steve had already pulled out his phone, making the call. "We need to get to New York. Now." 
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bringbackavac · 13 days ago
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i just realized one reason why the idea of congressman!bucky x cap!sam intrigues me so much is because its basically just the same flavour of whatever the hell was president!rhodey x ironman!tony back then, but in a different font.
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glittercake · 2 months ago
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alright
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softgreengrass · 1 year ago
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I’ll Survive
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Natasha Romanoff x reader
Summary: happy then sad then happy, requested, supersoldier!r but it’s not relevant to plot
Word Count: 2.7K
Warnings: death, grief
A/N: thanks for the request!
You and Natasha are in the gym when FRIDAY calls a meeting.
“Come on, is that all you got?” she grins, leaning into the punching bag with all her weight.
You fire a few more jabs, and her feet slip back a little. Sweat rolls down your forehead.
“Attention, all,” FRIDAY’s voice rings out. “Mission briefing in the conference room. 10 minutes.”
You don’t stop your barrage of punches, your eyes locked onto the Avengers logo in the center of the bag.
“You sure you’re ready to get back into it?” Natasha asks.
You’ve been coming off of an injury for a few months now. Bad intel, a trap, a bullet straight through your femur — being on bedrest was your seventh circle of hell.
Instead of answering, you wind your fist back and hit the bag hard enough to send it flying across the room, taking Natasha with it. She slams against the wall and laughs.
You wipe your face with a towel before walking over and kicking the bag away from her. “Sorry.”
“Super soldiers,” she mutters, shaking her head.
You offer her a hand. She takes it, rising to her feet, and leans into your chest. Butterflies shoot through your stomach.
“You sure you’re ready?” she asks softly.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes flick down to your lips, and you pull her into a slow kiss. Her hands find the back of your neck, lace through your hair. It only lasts a few seconds before she swipes her foot behind your leg and shoves your shoulders hard.
You land flat on your back with a groan.
“10 minutes, killer,” she smirks. “And don’t ever do that again.”
You’re the last one in the conference room, and there are no seats left around the table. Cap shoots you a disapproving glance as you close the door behind you.
“Hope no one made any weekend plans,” Cap clears his throat. “Because we’re heading to Russia.”
Tony groans obnoxiously. “Come on, really?”
The holographic screen suspended above the table turns on, showing the floor plans of the Kremlin. Everyone falls silent.
“This isn’t a villain of the week, guys,” Steve sighs. “Hell, it’s not even HYDRA.”
You whistle, and Rhodey glares at you.
“As far as we can tell, the Russian government is doing this entirely of their own accord. The only one pulling the strings is Putin.”
“What are they doing?” Clint asks, leaning back in his chair.
“They want to put nukes in space.” Steve presses his clicker and the screen shows the earth and a dozen orbits around it. “That’s a one-way ticket to world war three.”
“And you want us to, what, eat the nukes?” Tony asks.
Cap clenches his jaw. “The Department of Defense wants us to make sure they don’t launch. My plan makes sure Putin won’t ever get the chance to.”
“You want to assassinate him?” Natasha asks quickly.
Steve faces her. “I want you to.”
Your eyes meet Natasha’s through the projection, and you swallow.
“He’s gotta be the most well-protected guy on the planet,” Bruce says.
“That’s a suicide mission!” Clint cries.
“Which is why we’re all going,” Steve says, in that authoritative old man tone that shuts everyone up. “Banner’s right. It’s going to take all of us just to get a chance.”
“Pretty sure assassinating the Russian president is an act of war,” you say. “Number two in command is just gonna send those nukes up and point them straight at the Pentagon.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment. Then they turn towards Steve.
“Which is why I have a plan,” he says firmly.
You don’t like it one bit. Not one bit. Natasha, undercover for two weeks without comms. Clint posing as a diplomat. The rest of you hunkered underground, waiting for the right moment to invade the Kremlin. It’s almost recklessly risky. And yet, Steve has his full faith in it, which means the rest of you do too.
That night, Natasha holds onto you tightly. She’s terrified to go back there, regardless of what she says. It’s worse than going after one cell, or even the Red Room itself. It’s the man behind the curtain who’s been controlling it all.
“It’s going to go fine,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms around your waist and pulling you further into her.
“It is,” you say. You take her hands and press them into your sternum. You’d only succeeded in being the big spoon a couple times — never when she was stressed. So you stare at the wall. “I mean it.”
“Me too,” her breath fans against the back of your neck. “We’ve done harder things before, haven’t we?”
“Oh, absolutely,” you exhale. “I mean, aliens? AI? Bruce when he’s hungry?”
She laughs, and that eases some of the pressure on your heart. “Worst case, I’ll survive.”
“You always do.”
“I always do,” she smiles. “And best case, I take care of him, you get rid of the cabinet, and Steve slides in his new leader. And we get out of there and go to… I don’t know. The Dominican Republic.”
“The Dominican Republic?”
“Why not?” she kisses your shoulder. “A vacation. Moscow’ll be a pretty intense way to get back into the action. You’ll deserve a break.”
“I’ve been on a break for three months,” you snort.
“Oh come on, you don’t want a piña colada? Palm trees? White sand beaches?”
“Well when you put it like that,” you say, turning around to face her. “I guess we could go to the Dominican Republic.”
She smiles, tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. “Promise?”
You could stare into the green of her eyes forever. “Promise.”
Not three weeks later, you sit staring at a computer screen in a bunker a hundred feet below Red Square. Tony sits to your left. There’s no point in watching the feed, since all of the cameras are outside of the Kremlin and Natasha walked in an hour ago, but you can’t help it. You feel powerless.
For ten days, Natasha has been Alina Konstantinovna Petrova, a middle-aged politician who just got back from a stint in Belarus. When she emerged wearing the nanotech mask for the first time, you genuinely didn’t recognize her. Her voice, her gait, her mannerisms — all changed. Sometimes you forget she’s the world’s greatest spy.
But with no comms and no tracker, all you have is your faith in that fact. Just your trust in her.
If she’s on schedule, she should be having tea with the Prime Minister, but really she could be anywhere, doing anything. There’s absolutely no way for you to know.
“You know,” Wanda sighs, tipping back in her office chair and tossing a tennis ball into the air. “I don’t think all of us had to be here.”
“Agreed,” Tony grumbles. “I was supposed to be at a gala right now.”
“Do you think-”
“Quiet!” Steve orders, narrowing his eyes at the screen. “Do you see that? Is that smoke?”
You lean closer. It is smoke, pouring out of a second-floor window, and it makes your stomach drop.
Steve taps into the emergency comms in Clint’s ear. “Is there a fire? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Clint’s voice replies, hushed. “I don’t know, they put us into a ballroom. I don’t know where she is.”
“Shit,” Steve mutters.
“What do we do?” you ask, rising to your feet.
Steve grimaces. “If… if we make contact now, she won’t have a shot. It’ll all be for nothing.”
“The Kremlin isn’t usually on fire,” you snap.
“I’m sure she can handle it,” he glares back. His voice is dangerously quiet when he speaks again. “She knows what’s on the line here.”
But five minutes later, the smoke hasn’t stopped. It’s spread. Clint and the other diplomats are being evacuated.
You keep your eyes glued to the feed, scanning for Alina Petrova’s face among the crowd. She never emerges, but neither do the Prime Minister or cabinet. Maybe there’s a hidden exit.
Just when it seems like the fire is coming under control and the chaos is cooling, the cameras cut out.
You rush for the exit immediately, Tony and Steve right on your heels. Your entire body goes numb as you climb the ladder.
It’s probably fine, you think, hands squeezing the rungs too tight. The fire burned a power line, or the government stopped the footage to protect their image. She’s fine. She’s fine.
You heave the manhole cover out of place with your shoulder, hoisting yourself onto the street and ignoring the pedestrians who stare at you.
It’s absolute pandemonium. There’s a crater where half of the Kremlin used to be, and the other half is engulfed in flames. You sprint towards it.
Steve immediately shouts after you, but all you can hear is the rush of blood in your ears.
Maybe there’s a hidden exit. She had to have noticed the fire, she would’ve escaped, she would’ve made it out. She would’ve.
The police that are always stationed around the Kremlin make a border around it, though no one except you is trying to go towards the burning building.
“Ostanavis’!” they yell, but you hurdle their makeshift barricade.
If she was on schedule, she would’ve been on the east side, top floor. The heat doesn’t even register in your mind.
You root through rubble as fast as you can, barely noticing when Wanda and Steve join you in your search. Smoke stings your eyes and fills your lungs until you can barely choke out a breath.
There are heaps of ash that might’ve once been people, might’ve once been Natasha.
You climb trembling supports to get to the second floor: there are bones there, even fragments of medals and jewelry. The farther you get from the crater the less charred the bodies become. But you can only get so close to the live blaze, and none of the bodies are hers. The skin on your hands begins to blister from red-hot ash and metal.
At some point Steve pulls you away, ignores the way you claw at him and scream that you won’t leave her. The three of you (Tony, Bruce, and Rhodey had been wise enough to run away from flaming wreckage) end up in a Russian prison, charged as enemies of the state responsible for the fire and ensuing blast.
By the time the Department of Defense negotiates you out, you’ve convinced yourself that Natasha must’ve escaped. There’s no other option. She couldn’t die. If you didn’t find her, she couldn’t have been there. She must’ve gotten out.
But when you walk into SHIELD’s Moscow base, she isn’t there. It’s only Fury and Clint.
“Where is she?” you ask, rushing towards them. Everyone else seems to slip out of the room.
Fury’s eyes stay trained on you, swimming with something you don’t want to decipher. Your heart pounds against your chest
“Where is she?”
“She’s dead,” Clint says, his voice raw.
“No,” you respond immediately. “No, she isn’t.”
He closes his eyes.
No. You see a flash of her smile, of the jacket she loved. You feel the ghost of her touch on your face.
“I thought she faked it,” Fury says after a moment. “But… we made a deal a few years ago. If one of us faked it again we’d leave something behind so the other would know. A ring.”
You’ve never heard his voice so weak before. Somehow it’s scarier than anything else.
“But there was no ring,” he clears his throat. “Just this.”
He holds out his hand, opens it. The necklace you gave Natasha last year is bunched up on his palm, dark with soot. Your knees almost give out. She never takes it off, not to sleep or train or go undercover. She would never leave it behind.
Reality dawns on you like an awful black wave. Natasha is dead.
“I’m sorry,” Fury says, resting a hand on your shoulder. You can’t feel it. Every breath, every blink is manual now, every movement an act of will.
Worst case, I’ll survive.
You just want to hug her again. Just see her face one more time, knowing it’ll be the last. Suddenly a deep red rage fills your vision, and your muscles twitch to strangle whoever set the fire, whoever planted the bomb.
“There was no body?” you ask hoarsely. You can’t tear your eyes from the necklace.
Fury shakes his head. “Ash.”
A lump forms in your throat that won’t leave for weeks. You feel like you’re looking at everything through frosted glass, frozen in the moments that you just held. It’s like you’ve been caught in a spiderweb.
You don’t cry until you set foot inside her room at the compound. Everything is just how she left it, like she just stepped out. Like she’ll come back any second now.
The covers on her bed are rumpled.
You can’t wrap your kind around the fact that she could be gone, vanished into thin air, reduced to dust. That she’ll never touch anything again. You sit down on the floor and hug your knees.
For a few days you don’t eat; you don’t speak for longer. The gaping hole in your chest churns and twists in an agonizing way. Every night you dream of refusing Steve’s plan, or going up as soon as you saw the smoke, or doing anything except sitting idly while she burned alive.
You’re at Steve’s throat often enough that Tony kicks you both out of the compound. It’s not like either of you are of use, anyways. The others manage to channel their sorrow into work. You don’t.
Clint takes time off, too. Laura manages to convince you it’ll be good.
But with nothing to distract you, you feel the pain of every passing moment. Every minute that you get older and she doesn’t. You don’t want to have to think of a life without her in it.
Weeks or months into your dull gray blur of a life, someone knocks on your door. You hope it’s not Steve. You don’t know if it’s the season, but you could spring for a box of Thin Mints.
It’s not a girl scout. It’s Natasha.
Your eyes go wide; your face pales. Nanotech mask? Clone? “A-Are you real?”
She wheezes out your name, keeps her hands clutched to her side.
“Is it really you?” you ask, your eyes welling with tears and your hands trembling as you reach out to touch her.
“I missed you,” she breathes, her eyes roaming your face.
She has a black eye and a split lip. It’s her. You drink in the green of her eyes and the red of her hair and the softness of her face and you can’t keep the sobs from escaping. She crashes into your arms, ignoring the throbbing pain in her ribs. She smells like sweat and home.
Natasha is crying too, shaking, her face hidden in your chest. You close your eyes and tilt your head down to rest your lips on her head.
“You’re hurt,” you say when you remember how to speak.
She pulls away and kisses you deeply. It feels like God blessing you, even if it tastes like blood. She’s real. You don’t let go of her until she gently pushes you away.
“We should go inside,” she whispers.
You’re in a daze for half an hour, while you wrap her ribs and bandage the gash on her arm. She doesn’t leave your gaze for one second. When you’re finally satisfied that she won’t drop dead, you collapse onto the couch next to her.
She climbs on top of you, pulls you close.
“They were onto me,” she murmurs into your hair. “I had to escape, I couldn’t let them think I was alive.”
Anger roars in your chest. “I’m not losing you again.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to kill them,” you growl, wrapping your arms around her securely.
“I’ll help,” she says, and you can hear the smile in her voice. “They’re probably coming here.”
“You were followed?”
“I wanted to see you,” she sighs. “I didn’t take all the precautions.”
You laugh and bury your face into the crook of her neck. “You think we can go to the Dominican Republic after?”
“I’ll break up with you if we don’t.”
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staying-elive · 2 months ago
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How I would've set up Sam and The Avengers in Phase 4 and 5.
An incredibly long, and self-indulgent collection of my headcanons. 😅🤣😂
After reading @likeol 's post here, here's how I would've gone about setting up Sam and the new Avengers. This is just my opinion. Long post ahead.
In my ideal but still trying to be realistic, alternative world, I would've done this:
Falcon and the Winter Soldier needed to be a movie. Having it be a show fractured the general audience, many of whom still don't bother to watch the shows. Hiding the first chapter of Sam's arc as Cap on show damages the potential new Cap trilogy macro arc.
This movie should've released end of 2019 like Spiderman Far From Home (TFATWS is set 6 months post blip, FFH is set 8 months). Release it Sept/Oct. (Unlikely they'd release this the same year as Endgame, but I'm saying this with the full knowledge that COVID shut down theatres in March 2020 soooo... go with it lol)
Easily could've filmed this the same time as Infinty War/Endgame/reshoots, since Anthony and Sebastian were blipped and only in the final battle.
Working title is TFATWS. Then post Endgame comic con, big reveal, boom we tricked you CAP 4 BABYYYY!
Call it something like Captain America: Legacy or False Flag something idk. Something that either ties to the passing mantle theme or government manipulation/covert operations i.e. Walker
Since this is pre covid, we can now keep the original Flagsmasher plot lol! or strip it down a little and make Walker more overtly the villain. (I just hate him)
*Side note: did you know Far From Home is considered Phase 3 and not 4? I guess this hypothetical makes my Cap 4 movie end of Phase 3.
On to Phase 4! References!
After cinemas reopen, Shang Chi releases Sep 2021. Could maybe have included Sam in the post credit? Have him at that hologram meeting. Beaming in or in person, dont care.
Eternals released Nov 2021. Don't let them ignore Sam. Remember that bs 'Who's going to lead them?' and Ikarus going maybe me? Nah!
Hawkeye ended Dec 2021. Include Sam (and Bucky in the post credit at that terrible musical. It's funny! It would've made sitting through it bearable.
Ms Marvel started June 2022. Sam Wilson as Cap should've been represented at that AvengersCon. He wasn't even visible as Falcon. But easily could've just in passing shown the costume competition. Get creative. Maybe one fan is half-Falcon half-Cap suit, split down the middle. (Bonus: Have a SamCap cosplayer dragging a friend along who's just wrapped his arm in foil like those french guys off tiktok 😆)
I wouldn't care so much about What if episodes if we had these other references. But come on! Sam definitely should've been in these at least as Falcon.
Speaking of 2022, looks like we're due for Sam's 2nd Cap film! (It's been 2.5 years. Totally doable.)
This would make 4 MCU films in 2022 but idk it's post COVID. Roll them out.
Move Doctor Strange 2 to earlier in the year Feb/March idk, I didn't like that film 😅
May 6 is now free for Captain America: New World Order (you could still have Brave New World, but i always thought NWO was a better title. And it's from the comics)
Instead of the Hulk sequel plot (I don't really like the Leader I'm sorry BNW 😔), this should be following our Cap4. Still make it political espionage, still begin the 'restart the Avengers' request from the president, follow up on Sharon as Powerbroker. Personally, I'd tie in Rhodey's Armor War ideas too, because I want a bigger supporting cast of familiar faces.
Joaquin still gets injured here, because it's his first big fight and I love their conversation after
Maybe include an Ant Man cameo. Show Scott and Sam are still connected. Maybe even have Scott ask Sam about writing the foreword to his book! Which we'll then see the following year in Quantamania. 🤯
The post credit for this Cap5 is a first baby Avengers assemble moment. (From the above changes, he's met Shang Chi, Wong, knows Bruce, Scott and Hope. Already has Joaquin and Bucky (?) and Rhodey. It's a start!!
On to Phase 5!
Honestly, there's not much to do here. Mention Sam in Ant-man 3. During Scott's book signing
Thunderbolts, which I now decide is set first in 2025. That's the film that's dumped in February. Because it's not a summer worthy movie. 🤷‍♀️
Can stay the same but for adding a Sam cameo and tweaking the end credit scene where we replace it with this idea here (or similar idc) but since we the audience already know the REAL Avengers are operating since Cap5, this makes sense.
Don't know how to fix Bucky's bs choice. You could always just entirely replace him in Thunderbolts with Everett Ross like we just did here 😆 But at the VERY least don't stab Sam in the back by staying quiet when people insult him 🙄
OF COURSE, this whole rewrite is based on respecting Sam and ergo the New Avengers reveal likely wouldn't happen anyway. BUT if it did, at least Sam's Cap and team are coming in to defend.
Now Captain America 6! (It's been 3 years, but Sam is established on the big screen, and i'm being realistic in accounting for the actors and writers strike 🤣😂)
This becomes our May summer release. Essentially, this would be Avengers 4.5 in the same way that Cap3 was Avengers 2.5 given all the supporting characters. BUT that's just cos we need a team up movie before Doomsday and we also need to squash the Thunderbolts nonsense. Resolve that here, or at least develop it somehow.
Still have some big Avengers style action. Show the team dynamic under Sam's leadership. Add in Shuri!
This a new film so I have zero plot ideas 😆 but whatever happens, the post credit scene for THIS is now the Fantastic Four ship coming into orbit.
Annnnnd.... yeah. That's how I would've weaved Sam in through Phases 4 and 5, setting up Phase 6 Avengers.
If you've read to the end of this... thank you ...and im sorry 🤣 😂 💞 🎖🏅
Would you have done anything differently? Have I forgotten anything?
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adrixivy · 8 months ago
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Steve has lived in ice for 70+ years. Due to that, he missed several generations of trends, news, references. Every time someone mentions a reference from a show or movie. he’s always confused. So imagine someone mentions something he knows or understands where the references came from. He’s immediately pointing it out that he does know. And the Avengers don’t know whether to adore the man or roll their eyes. (Tony is the one that mainly rolls his eyes)
The Avengers are in a mission. And suddenly a giant robot, nearly as tall as the Avengers tower is released onto them. And they’re hitting it with their weapons which does damage yet it’s not showing any indication that it’ll shut off. And Peter being Peter, realised this is something familiar that happened in a movie
Peter, swinging around the robot looking for something: Have you guys seen Despicable Me 3? It’s basically Minions 3 but anyway, you guys know it?!
Steve, having watched it with Peter, (Peter got up to get popcorn and let the movie run and Steve decided to just seat on the couch and watch. Peter did not realize Steve was there after he got his popcorn either. He jumped up onto the ceiling after Steve stood up and walked away after the end of the movie, absolutely startled) replied immediately enthusiastically: I know! I know that! The tiny yellow beings!
Tony sighs and the rest of the team chuckles or rolls their eyes. Peter giggles at the man’s excitement and he carries out the plan with reference from it.
Peter, who found what he’s looking for: Mr Rogers! Remember that one scene where Dru breaks into the robot and breaks its core? Well I found it! At the lower back of the bot, there’s a circular panel! Break into the robot and break the core please! I’ll get you up! Avengers, I need your help restraining its movements so Cap can do it easier!
Immediately, the Hulk and Thor is holding one of the bot’s legs and Tony and Rhodey is trying to hold down the other too. Peter swings by Steve and grabs his hand. He swings with one hand to the panel and throws Steve directly onto it. Steve sticks his shield into the back of the bot and punches the panel open till it makes an opening big enough for him to fit through.
Peter is immediately down at the legs, swinging around it a few times to wrap its legs with webs and help Tony and Rhodey with holding the legs back. The robot seem to be going straight to some destination, which Friday had concluded that it was the President’s home, the white house. So they’re all desperately trying to stop it but Peter’s webs was easily torn apart and the robot is able to walk smoothly again.
Tony, seriously annoyed of the robot and wants to go home, shouts sarcastically: Anytime now, Steve!
Steve who had to climb up all the way to the bright red square that seems like the same core in the movie and genuinely believes it is it as it stands out: God, I hope this is it.
He smashes the bright red square with his shield and it shatters. The robot sputtered and soon enough, shuts down and was falling over. Steve quickly jumped out and was caught by Tony and Rhodey, grabbing one of his arms. Peter is immediately cheering.
Then suddenly Friday finds out the whereabouts of the mastermind who released the huge robot and the Avengers teleport there thanks to Stephen. Peter is immediately cackling and Steve is trying to hold in his giggles before he gave up and laughed too at the sight of the mastermind. Who has obnoxiously big goggles and their entire theme is yellow. The Avengers are looking at them weirdly and the mastermind is confused and furious because why are they laughing?
Peter, in the middle of laughing: HE-HE’S YELLOW-HAHAHA-LIKE THE MINIONS AND THE MINIONS LOVE TO-BAHAHA-BE DESPICABLE
Steve, trying to stop laughing with a hand on his mouth but can’t help it and looks away: S-stop it Peter *giggles right after*
Peter, can’t help but say one more joke: What’s your catchphrase? Oh, Despicable me?-HEHEHEAHAHAH
Peter is on the floor, clutching his stomach and Steve is hiding his face behind the shield, embarrassed that he can’t control his laughter. The avengers either have a grin on their face or are chuckling at the scene right now.
The mastermind is immediately yelling at them to ‘Stop it!’ and Peter laughs louder at the villain’s high pitched voice. He looks and sounds exactly like a minion that it’s incredibly more hilarious to Peter and Steve. Steve is embarrassed of himself for not being able to hold in his laughter. He’s literally a soldier but he can’t help it so he’s hiding his face behind the shield and giggling away. The two laughing Avengers are out of commission for the time being as the others take down the mastermind and bind him up.
The mastermind is brought along with them in the Quinjet and whenever Peter looks at him, he can’t help but laugh and whenever Peter laughs, Steve laughs too. And the Avengers are honestly tired of the villain screaming at them to tell the two to stop so they forced Peter and Steve to one side and not even allow them a glance at the yellow midget with the weirdest goggles.
The Avengers learnt that day that Peter and Steve knowing movie references makes them a dangerous duo
Peter and Steve start watching movies together more often after that day since Peter has made it his personal mission to make Steve know more movies when he found out that Steve barely knew any when they were forced to one corner together. Tony doesn’t know if he should be threatened that Peter’s spending more time with Steve than him or happy that Peter’s golden retriever energy is being spread everywhere or concern when the next mission comes up and they use a movie reference for the next mission.
Probably all three.
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fandomnerd9602 · 2 years ago
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Seven
Wanda Maximoff x Nerd!Reader (High School AU)
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You're not one to attend high school king Tony Stark's swanky house parties. But your best friend and popular magic user Wanda Maximoff personally invited you, batting her eyes, practically begging you to go with her.
Something about the atmosphere of the party just wasn’t your suit. Normally you’d prefer a night in, but Wanda wanted to be here and that’s all that mattered to you. You and Wanda make your way through the swarm of other party going students.
“Well who do we have here?” Tony smirks at seeing you with Wanda. “you finally got the turtle to come out of their shell, eh Maximoff?”
“Oh stop it, Stark” Wanda couldn’t help but laugh as she wraps an arm around you.
“It’s good to see you here, Y/N” Tony earnestly says. Despite all his showboating, Tony does care about his party guests and those he consider friends. He hands you a bottle of Coke. “Have fun” he gives a friendly wink before sending you and Wanda off into the crowd.
Wanda tries to bring you out of your shell, introducing you to some of the other popular students, taking you out on the little dance floor. The last one actually started to work. Something about dancing with Wanda just made you feel free.
“You’re a great dancer” she whispers in your ear, “you got some good moves”
“T-Thanks” you blush, “so do you”
The party was nearing its end. You happen to see Wanda whisper something in Stark’s ear. His eyes went wide with mischief. Wanda walks back over to you with a little blush on her face.
“Alright everyone” Tony calls out, “time for a little end of party game: seven minutes in heaven”
Everyone groans. “Not this again Tony” Natasha bemoans, “you always choose Pepper”
“Guilty” Tony smirks, “but don’t worry, it’s ladies choice tonight”
A few of the gals were shaking their heads laughing but Wanda was blushing. Carol was already taking Rhodey’s hand. Natasha was taking Bruce’s. You swear that Wanda was stealing little sideway glances at you.
“And first up” Tony gestures to Wanda, “Maximoff pick your partner”
Wanda takes your hand, blushing and batting her hazelnut eyes at you, “Mind joining me?”
Your mind couldn’t even process what was happening. You could only blush and nod your head. Wanda guides you towards a closet. Tony sets a chair down in the closet.
“Seven minutes” he says, “and only seven!” He shuts the door, leaving only you and Wanda in the close and intimate setting of a closet.
You turn and lock eyes with your best friend, her eyes hold only love and adoration for you. “Why me?” you ask her in a gentle whisper.
She guides you to sit down in the chair. She straddles your lap, wrapping her arms around your neck.
“You don’t even know how wonderful you really are” she answers back.
“But I’m a just nerd and you’re-” you stammer out, your heart practically beating out of your chest.
“You’re amazing, and intelligent and loving, and kind” she cuts you off, “everything I’ve ever wanted”
“You could have an athlete for a love”
“But I don’t want a jock. I want you and only you” her nimble finger massage your scalp. “Do you love me?”
Your eyes remain locked on hers, all the unsaid words come rushing out of your mouth, “I do. I love you so much Wanda Maximoff”
“Took you long enough” she giggles as she pulls you into a kiss. Your hands wrap around her waist, keeping her firmly in your lap. Wanda lets out gentle moans against your lips.
“A great dancer and kisser?” she giggles, “I may just have to keep you”
“I was always yours” you whisper back before kissing her again.
“Time’s up” Tony calls out as he reaches for the door. Wanda quickly locks it with her powers. She giggles against your lips, a little mischievous giggle.
“Oh come on!” Tony calls out, “how am I supposed to make out with Pepper?”
Pepper, the class president, smacks her boyfriend upside the head as you and Wanda remain lost in your own little world.
Wanda Maximoff, the most popular girl in school, but more importantly, your best friend and loving girlfriend. What more could you need?
Tags: @aloneodi @lifespectator @cole-el @scarletwitch-n7 @fromtimetoinf @abimess @ab1nsur
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seerofmike · 8 months ago
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pandagirl45 · 25 days ago
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My partner and I have came up with something hilarious. Zoltrais, aka Bucky who was summoned way to many times by Tony on accident, till Tony does it on purpose to have a fake boyfriend for a wedding. Between that and the beginning, Tony got Zoltaris to hang out with him a few times (much to other high beings lack of amusement). Strange is also stress out because Tony somehow keep summoning that notorius high being, thus making things even more dangerous somehow. It is mostly a rom-com with some spooky bits.
Tony absolutely falls first but Zoltrais falls harder and they come up with James Buchanan Barnes via Panicking.
Tony: His name is... um... BUCKY (Why the fuck did I come up with Bucky? What is a Bucky?)
Zoltrais:...Um... Yeah! Bucky er Barnes! Bucky Barnes
Rhodey: Bucky...? Your parents named you Bucky?
Zoltrais: UM
Tony: JAMES BUCHANAN! Haha! James, I call him Bucky because of his middle name...
Zoltrais: YEP, Yep, James Buchanan Barnes.
Rhodey: And you two met how?
Tony: On a trip.
Zoltrais: Yes
Tony: A trip that is super far from here... um... Romania!
Rhodey: Romania... really?
Zoltrais: YES, I am from there... well, my mom is Romanian and my dad is white!
Tony: WHITE SCOTTISH
Zoltaris: *mouths white scottish* *stares at Tony in confusion*
Tony: *panic sweating*
Rhodey:...*knows Tony is lying* right, enjoy the party then
Zoltaris:...Did you name me after a president?
Tony: I panicked! *blushing, covering his face*
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scoonsalicious · 1 year ago
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Reminder: I am on a posting break for new content until May 23rd so that I can focus on writing WFLT...
In the meantime, please enjoy this second installment of Unwanted: Unusables, or, chapters from the first draft that didn't make it into the final cut of the finished story! Today, I have an early version of Chapter 6: Unattached. A lot of the beginning is the same (the dinner itself), but there was a LOT I added, then removed, from the end of the chapter. Jade was going by Jewel at this point in the draft, and Tony had gifted Pocket a Ferrari Sergio as his post-Civil War apology.
Why did I scrap this section? Easy: I couldn't realistically convince myself that Nat didn't know how to drive stick shift, lol.
Since this is the whole chapter (as it was) in its entirety, it's long AF.
Enjoy!
You and Bucky arrived at the common room an hour or so later, the sound of laughter filtering out from inside.
"Sounds like it's going well," Bucky turned to you with a hopeful smile. "Try to play nice in there, okay?"
"I'm always nice," you pouted, but when Bucky gave you a pointed look, you sighed. "Fine. It goes against my better judgement," you said, adjusting the collar of Bucky's shirt, "but I'll do it for you."
The look he gave you was indiscernible. There was warmth and affection there, but also an undercurrent of sadness in it that left you unsettled. You swallowed, looking away from him. "Alright, let's get this over with," you said, putting more conviction in your voice than you felt.
He took your hand, and together you walked into the common room. It wasn't hard to spot Jewel-- she was presiding smack dab in the middle of the room, telling some story that had Sam, Steve, Rhodey, Thor, and even Bruce all at rapturous attention.
"I'm going to go introduce myself real quick, then be right back," said Bucky, letting go of your hand and heading over to where Jewel had was holding court. The temperature of the air seemed to drop ten degrees without the warmth of his presence by your side.
You watched as he made his way over to stand beside Steve. In seemingly no time at all, Steve was making the introductions. Bucky took Jewel's hand, and to your surprise, he bent over and kissed her knuckles. Your mind's eye took you back to the day you'd met him, when you'd pulled your own hand back after he'd refused to even shake it.
Jewel demurred and looked away from Bucky, bashfully, before putting a hand on his chest and saying something that made Bucky laugh and caused his cheeks to blush.
"Careful, you glare any harder, you're liable to bore a hole straight through him," Natasha said, coming up alongside of you.
"What if I aim for her, instead?" you asked, reaching for the tumbler of alcohol she offered you and taking a sip to distract yourself.
"What happened to no-strings-attached, friends who happen to fuck?" Nat asked with a smirk. "Don't tell me you've grown strings, Pocket."
You looked away from the scene in front of you. "There might be some growing of string, in theory," you mumbled to her. Nat was the only person you had confided in regarding your arrangement with Bucky. Of course, your friend had been thrilled that there had been something going on between the two of you, but she'd been more concerned about protecting your heart-- was this the safest thing for you to do? You assured her at the time you'd be fine, but now...?
"String Theory?" asked Tony, popping up behind you both with a glass of whiskey. "Seems like a heavy topic of conversation for a social gathering, ladies."
"How'd the interview go?" you asked, hoping to move the topic of conversation as far away from Bucky as possible, now that Tony was there.
"She's everything you said, and more," said Tony with a sad shake of his head. "She put on a good show, though. Cap was eating right out of her hand."
Disappointment coursed through you at his words. "Looks like he's not the only one," you murmured as you watched Jewel let out a coquettish giggle at something Bucky said.
You kept up your conversation with Tony to keep yourself from openly staring, but it was hard to concentrate on anything else. Your heart sank every time they shared a laugh or a joke, or Jewel leaned into Bucky ever so slightly. You found yourself tensing each time Bucky reached out and put a hand on Jewel's arm or shoulder in response to something she said-- all too familiar gestures that you'd grown accustomed to being on the receiving end of, not watching him impart on others from a distance. So much for his "be right back."
You hated yourself for feeling this way.
Eventually, Tony's personal chef, Raul, called everyone to the table for dinner and the little gathering around Jewel broke up. Normally, you would be excited-- you loved it when Raul cooked special dinners for the team, but tonight you were on edge. Following Nat and Tony to the table, you froze in your tracks while you watched Bucky pull back a chair-- your chair, the one you had sat in, next to Bucky, for every meal for the last year-- for Jewel, pushing it in for her as she sat down.
Your heart felt like it was being ripped in half. Your brain automatically began thinking up excuses you could make for leaving the room, but you knew that would only make things worse for you in the long run.
The air around you suddenly felt as though it had grown colder. Everyone around you had noticed Bucky pull out a chair for Jewel-- silently declaring to all that tonight, she was the one he wanted next to him, and not you, despite your unspoken ritual. Sam shot you a sympathetic look, and Steve, who had been getting ready to sit at Bucky's other side, moved to offer you his chair, instead, as if that would make up for Bucky's slight.
You grimaced and silently shook your head at Steve, not wanting to draw any more attention to the awkward situation you found yourself in. Instead, you made your way to the only remaining seat at the table next to Nat-- directly across from Jewel and Bucky.
As you sat down, Jewel looked up at you with a bright smile. "Hi," she said, voice like honey. "I don't think we had a chance to meet yet. I'm Jewel, but you can call me 'Vixen.'"
You looked at her, confusion leaking into your features.
"I thought the two of you met when you gave Vixen her tour earlier," Bucky said, apparently remembering that you did exist, after all.
"Oh, no," Jewel (you absolutely refused to refer to her as 'Vixen,' even in your own head) said with a dismissive laugh, "they had some little bitch of an intern give me my tour. I should actually complain to Stark about her, she had an attitude."
"No, that was definitely me," you said, fighting to keep the annoyance out of your tone, "attitude and all." You had literally wasted three and a half hours of your life escorting this woman around the Tower and she couldn't be bothered to remember you? Jewel didn't even have the decency to look chastised at calling you bitchy to your face.
"They let interns have dinner with the Avengers?" she asked in disbelief, instead. "Have to say, I thought it be a little more... elite."
"Pocket's not an intern," Steve said with a laugh, as though it were the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard, and you were grateful to him for coming to your defense. "She's an Avenger, just like the rest of us." You gave Steve a warm, appreciative smile.
"Thanks, Cap," you said, truly touched he had called you an Avenger.
"Well, she's more like Avenger-adjacent," Bucky amended. The words shouldn't have stung-- it was how you had referred to yourself hundreds of times, but you tended to reserve it for your low moments, when you were feeling unequal to Earth's mightiest heroes. Hearing the words come out of Bucky's mouth, as if he, too, shared in your belief that you were inferior to the rest of them... well, that fucking hurt.
Steve let out a surprised laugh. "Pocket may not have enhanced physical abilities, but she's brilliant. She's an expert in strategy, she's got a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Computation, and she's got a black belt in Krav Maga. It's no exaggeration to say I'd be dead a couple dozen times over if I hadn't had her at my six. If anything, I think it makes her more important than the rest of us. We're here because of the physical things we can do; Pocket's essential to the team because of how she thinks. We're replaceable, Pocket's one-of-a-kind."
You were speechless at Steve's words, your throat tightening with the emotional lump that had formed there. That may have been the kindest, sweetest thing anyone had said about you, ever, especially on the heels of Bucky's comment. Catching his eye, you mouthed a silent thank you, wishing you could convey how much his words meant to you. He winked at you in acknowledgement.
"I just meant that we try to keep Pocket away from the dangerous stuff," Bucky backpedaled, weakly, in your opinion. "Can't risk her getting hurt." He smiled at you, but you just stared back, impassively, until he looked away, embarrassed. He knew you only called yourself 'Avenger-adjacent' when you were being hard on yourself. He fucking knew it, because he had told you to knock it off a hundred times.
"So, Pocket's an interesting name," Jewel said, and you were momentarily grateful to her for trying to move the conversation on to something less embarrassing for you. "Did your parents, like, hate you or something?" she continued with a giggle. Well, that was a short-lived respite.
"Yeah, they did, actually," you said, completely straight-faced, "but the feeling was mutual, so no love lost there."
Jewel's mouth dropped open in shock and you had the distinct impression you'd ruined whatever power play she'd been trying to pull on you.
Nat broke into laughter next to you, and soon everyone else around you was joining in. While only a select few at the table knew the full extent of what your parents had put you through, it was no secret that you had experienced abuse at their hands, and it was second nature for you to use dark humor to help you cope with it.
As the laughter died down, the small talk started up again. You were thankful for the distraction, but your appetite was gone, which was a shame, because Raul had done an excellent job. You pushed your food around your plate, occasionally nodding along as though you were paying attention to the conversations around you.
You tried to ignore the little glances and gestures that Jewel directed at Bucky, but your eyes kept flickering over to them. You couldn't help but notice the way his body leaned in slightly towards hers when they talked. Did he do that when he spoke to you? He hadn't even said a word to you since the horrible Avengers-adjacent comment.
"So, Bucky," Jewel said, her voice low and flirty, "handsome super hero like you, you got a girlfriend?" Your eyes snapped up, watching him, sure he was going to look to you, make eye contact. Something to acknowledge what was between you, that would make you feel like you were still in the same room, hell, on the same fucking planet, as him. But he didn't.
Bucky grinned, running a hand through his hair.
"Nah, no girlfriend," he said, glancing over at Jewel. "But I'm definitely open to the idea." You had been stabbed in the abdomen on a mission once, and that hurt less than hearing the words that came out of Bucky's mouth, and you had to resist the urge to get up and leave the room at that moment.
"Really, man?" Sam asked from where he sat on the other side of Natasha, his voice hard in disbelief. The atmosphere in your corner of the table had shifted. Natasha, Steve, and Sam all stared at Bucky with looks ranging from incredulity to flat out disgust. Maybe the two of you hadn't been as secretive as you'd thought.
You couldn't bring yourself to even look at Bucky anymore. It felt like a betrayal, the way his eyes had met Jewel's and not yours. You tried to focus on the conversation around you, but all you could hear were your own thoughts. How could he be so callous as to openly flirt with someone else in front of you? Had you meant nothing to him?
You took a deep breath, trying to steel yourself against the pain that was slowly building inside of you. You knew that the two of you were never anything official, but you had thought that there was something there between you.
As the dinner continued, you couldn't shake the misery that had settled in your chest. You excused yourself with no explanation, abruptly getting up from the table, and made your way back to your room. Once you were alone, you let out a shaky breath, tears streaming down your face.
How could you have been so stupid? You had let yourself believe that there could be something real between you and Bucky, but clearly, you had been wrong. He was interested in Jewel and you were just a convenient friend. Being kept in a holding pattern until something better came along.
You collapsed onto your bed, burying your face in your pillow as sobs wracked your body. How could you even face him now, knowing that he had no real interest in you beyond your friendship, after all the things you had done together? You didn't know if you could bear being in the same room with him, pretending like everything was okay between the two of you.
As you lay there, lost in your thoughts, you barely registered the sound of your phone buzzing from your bedside table. Picking it up, you saw you had a new message from Nat.
Do you want me to kill them?
You wiped away your tears, a small smile tugging at the corner of your lips. Leave it to Natasha to offer such a straightforward solution. Despite your heartache, you couldn't help but appreciate her loyalty and fierce protectiveness.
You typed back:
No, as tempting as it might be. Thank you for offering, but I don't want you sent away for double homicide.
Her response was almost instantaneous:
I'm insulted you assume I'd get caught :)
The smiley face at the end was too much, and you actually laughed. You were so grateful to have her as your friend.
Thanks for having my back, Natty.
Any and every time, Pocket. You know that <3
Other texts started trickling in from the rest of your family. Everyone checking in to make sure you were okay, since you had left the table so suddenly and without giving a reason.
But none came from Bucky.
Your suite suddenly felt too small and hot-- you needed to get out, go somewhere that wasn't covered in memories of Bucky so that you could breathe. There was only one thing you did that always helped clear your head. You needed to go dancing.
You changed your clothes for the third time today, opting for a pair of skintight, red leather pants and a black halter top. You did your hair and put on some makeup-- just enough to mask that you'd been crying, but still enough to turn a man's head.
Shoving your phone, ID, and credit card into your back pocket, you left your room and headed back to the common room. You could have just texted Nat to ask her if she wanted to come with you, but you wanted to see Bucky's reaction to how you looked, if he even had one at all.
You were surprised to find the common room far emptier than you'd left it a little over an hour ago. It seemed as though, once dinner had ended, the gathering had broken up and people had started going their own way. Glancing around, you saw Nat standing by a window, looking out over the Manhattan skyline, but Bucky and Jewel were nowhere to be seen. You tried to ignore the rock that had taken up residence in your stomach.
"Natty," you called, getting her attention. She met you halfway across the room, a large grin spread across her face.
"Damn, girl," she let out a low whistle as she assessed your outfit. "You trying to give Barnes a heart attack?" she asked.
"No," you said, "I want to go dancing. I need to get out of my head. You want to come?"
"Absolutely, if only to keep you from making any decisions you might regret in the morning." She paused, assessing you. "He's walking her out, by the way. In case you were wondering where they were."
You had, but your stomach soured at the knowledge, all the same.
Down in the lobby, you were just about to call an Uber for you and Nat when you spotted Bucky standing off to the side with Jewel. They were standing far too close together for your liking. You hoped you could sneak by without attracting their attention, but Jewel caught sight of the two of you and began waving you over.
"Natasha!" she called (okay, so maybe she wasn't waving you over). "Come join us!"
Nat gave you a questioning look, silently asking what you wanted to do.
"Might as well," you muttered. "Night's already gone mostly to hell."
You and Nat made your way over to where Jewel and Bucky were standing.
"Did you come to say goodbye?" Jewel asked Nat, the eagerness in her voice palpable.
"Uh, no," Nat replied, obviously confused. "Pocket and I are heading out. We're going dancing."
"Oh. My. God." Jewel practically started jumping up and down. "Bucky, we should go dancing with her!" It wasn't lost on either you or Natasha that Jewel seemed to be purposefully excluding you from the conversation. Bucky, unsurprisingly, didn't seem to notice.
"Sorry," you said, suddenly struck with inspiration, "but the car's only a two-seater. Maybe next time."
Nat raised a questioning eyebrow at you as you picked your phone out of your pocket and dialed the Tower's garage. "Hey, Carl, it's Pocket.... Good, thanks... you?... Listen, can you have someone bring my Sergio to the front entrance? I'll be taking it out tonight... I know ... Great... thanks!" You ended the call and looked to Nat. "They'll bring the car up in just a minute."
Nat couldn't hide the grin that had spread across her face. "Finally! I have been dying to get my ass into that car forever!
"What's a Sergio?" Jewel asked. "I've never heard of it before."
"I wouldn't have expected you to," Nat said, giving Jewel a tight, fake smile. "Seeing as how Ferrari only ever made six of them."
"Pocket," Bucky said, the first words he'd spoken to you since you and Nat had arrived, "can I talk to you for a minute?" He took your arm and led you away from Nat and Jewel to a more secluded section of the lobby.
"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low and with a hint of warning behind it.
"Going dancing with Nat," you said simply.
"Come on, you never drive that car. You're too scared of damaging it. So, how come the first time you decide to take it for a spin is right in front of Jewel?"
"What are you insinuating, Bucky?" you asked defensively. He looked at you as though you were a child lying about who broke Grandma's favorite vase.
"You're pissed about the intern comment, so you want to flaunt how much money you make. That's really not like you, Pocket. I'm disappointed."
You were physically taken aback by his words. "You honestly think I'd do something like that?" you asked, incredibly offended he could think such a thing of you.
"I didn't think so, but..." he let the rest of the statement hang in the air.
"I called for the fucking car because I didn't want her just inviting herself to join Nat and me," you snapped. "It has absolutely nothing to do with showing off how much money I have."
Bucky ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "God, Pocket, would it kill you to be nice to her for just a minute? I don't understand why you have it out for her so badly."
"That girl has been nothing but nasty to me all day," you said through gritted teeth. "And if you haven't noticed that by now, nothing I say is going to make you see it." God, you were so disappointed in him. The hurt and betrayal you'd felt earlier had subsided and now you just felt... sad. Deflated. "I don't want to argue with you, Buck. Especially not about her. So, can we just agree to disagree on this, and Nat and I can be on our way? I'm sure you have more important things you'd rather be doing than giving me the third degree, anyway."
He crossed his arms, giving you a hard stare. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tilting your head, you pursed your lips and gave him a look. "Really? Everyone noticed it, Bucky. Everyone."
"Pocket!" Nat called out to you, preventing Bucky from responding to your insinuation. "Car's here!"
With a heavy sigh, you began to make your way to the front doors. "See you later, Barnes," you called over your shoulder. You were more than ready to get out of there and lose yourself in the music.
*
Hours later, you were coated in a sheen of sweat from dancing and completely and utterly shitfaced. You hadn't intended to get drunk, let alone this drunk, but once the alcohol started numbing your feelings, all you wanted to do was drown your emotions in it. Now, you were sitting in a booth in the club, head pressed against the wall, fighting to keep your eyes open. Nat had taken your phone and was talking to someone.
"Hey, it's Natasha. Can you do me a solid and meet up with us? ... Pocket's plastered and I don't know how to drive stick. ... It means I can't get her car home. ... She already shares her location with you, right? So just take an Uber. ... You can drive her back to the Tower and I'll take the Uber home. ... Did you forget how she dragged your ass home when you were drunk on Thor's Asgardian shit? ... I'd say you owe her. ... Text her phone when you get here; I'm holding onto it. ... Good, see you in a bit." She hung up and bent down so she was at eye level with you.
"Sweetie," she said gently, "don't be mad at me, but I called Bucky to come get you and bring your car home."
You scrunched up your face in disgust. "Bucky? Ew. I'm mad at him. He sucks."
"I know, honey, but he's the only other person I know who can drive stick who's awake at this hour, and your car's too expensive to leave in valet parking overnight." She brushed your hair away from your face as you turned to look at her.
"What's wrong with me, Natty?" you asked her, your emotions fighting their way back up through the haze of the alcohol.
"Nothing, Pocket. Honey, nothing's wrong with you. Why would you ask me that?" Nat's voice was full of concern.
"Why doesn't he love me, then? Why am I good enough to fuck, but not good enough to love?" The last of the words came out in a choked sob.
Nat wrapped her arms around you, rubbing her hands up and down your back in a soothing pattern. "You'd have to ask him that, sweetie. I can't answer it for him."
"It's 'cause I'm just a gross, used up whore," you told her. "'s all I've ever been good for-- sticking dicks in. Nothing else."
Nat held you at arm's length so she could look you in the eye. "Pocket, stop. That's Darren talking, not you, honey. You know that's not true."
"Then why doesn't he want me?" you hiccuped. "Fuck, Natty. 'm so in love with him, it hurts." There. You finally admitted it, not just to Nat, but to yourself. You were in love with your best friend, and you had been for a while now. You'd been too afraid to acknowledge it, to open yourself up to the idea that maybe you could have a real relationship with him, and now it was too late. He'd found someone else, and you'd missed any chance you might have had.
"I know, sweetheart," she said, embracing you again. "Everyone knew and, for what it's worth, we were all sure he felt the same way."
"He doesn't, though," you sniveled into her shoulder. "And why'd it have to be her? Natty, she's so awful. He could have anyone he wanted, why did he have to pick her?"
Natasha sighed. "Because he's a guy, and he thinks with his dick," she told you. "And since dicks don't have eyes, it makes it hard for men to see what someone like Jewel's really like. Especially when Jewel doesn't want them to."
You snorted, imagining Bucky's dick with googly eyes attached to it. "His dick was the best, Nat," you bemoaned. "I'm going to miss it so much. So many times, when we were finished, I couldn't even walk after."
It was Nat's turn to snort. "That does sound like some good dick, Pocket," she admitted.
"And his tongue," you sighed. "'s so long, you wouldn't believe--"
"Okay, Pocket, I think that's enough sharing, don't you?" You pouted but didn't say anything else.
Your phone buzzed then, and you looked all around for it before you watched Nat pull it from her pocket and look at the text you'd just received."
"Alright, Magic Dick's here," she said, taking your hands in hers and hoisting you up. "Up you go."
With her help, you stumbled out of the club, only tripping over your own feet twice, which you thought was fairly impressive, given the circumstances.
Outside, Bucky was waiting for you, a stony expression on his beautiful face. God, he looked so handsome. "Magic Dick," you whispered to Nat, then burst into a fit of drunken giggles that had you tripping over yourself all over again.
Bucky was immediately at your side, taking your weight off of Nat and putting it on him.
"Well, hey there, Magic Dick," you giggled. Bucky shot Nat a look over your head.
"How much has she had to drink?" he asked her.
Nat handed the valet the claim ticket for your car. "More than she should have, that's for sure."
While you waited for the valet to bring your Sergio around, Nat leaned down to look at you. "I'm going to get in the Uber now, Pocket. Bucky's gonna take you home, alright?"
You nodded and reached out to drunkenly stroke her face. "Okay, Natty-Nat. Love you."
"Love you, too, sweetheart." She kissed your forehead and headed for the waiting Uber. Before she got in, she turned to Bucky. "Don't give her any shit tonight, okay?" she ordered before closing the door, leaving you and Bucky to wait for the car alone.
"What's going on with you tonight, Pocket?" he asked. "You haven't been acting like yourself." The car pulled up and the valet held the door open for Bucky as he slid you into the passenger seat.
"Just wanted to dance," you murmured, tilting your head sideways to look at him as he fastened your seat belt. "Makes me feel better. And then there was alcohol. Oops."
Bucky let out a sigh as he closed the passenger door and made his way around to the driver's side. He had a point; you seldom got drunk. It reminded you too much of your mother, so you only ever let yourself get a little buzzed. But tonight was a special occasion.
Bucky pulled out of the lot and onto the street. Even at the late hour, New York was still alive with activity. You leaned your head on the windowsill and watched the lights as they passed by.
"You're supposed to be on my side, you know." The words were a whisper, and you'd spoken them into the night. If he had been anyone else, he wouldn't have heard you.
But he wasn't anyone else. He was Bucky. "I am on your side, Pocket. Always."
Though it felt incredibly heavy, you turned your head to face him. He looked so beautiful driving your convertible, the lights of the city reflecting off the lines of his face, the warm night breeze tickling his hair.
"You weren't tonight." Your voice was small, reflecting every bit of the self-doubt you'd felt over the course of the evening, every ounce of the pain.
Bucky sighed, his flesh hand gripping the steering wheel of the Sergio so tightly his knuckles were white. "I don't know what you want from me, Pocket."
You let out an exhausted sigh, the beautiful drunken haze fading from your system and leaving an ache in its wake. You're stomach growled and you remembered you hadn't eaten much dinner. "Can we get something to eat," you asked him, "and go somewhere to talk?" He nodded and changed course, heading away from the Tower.
A few minutes later, he pulled the Sergio into the well-lit parking lot of a 24-hour diner. Like lightning, he was out of the car and coming around to open your door before you'd even finished fumbling with your seat belt. He reached his flesh hand down to help you step out of the car, and to your surprise, didn't let go, hold your hand as you walked into diner together. Most likely making sure you didn't drunkenly fall on your ass and embarrass him, you thought.
Inside, the perky blonde hostess gave Bucky a long, appraising look while he asked for a table in the back. Even at this time of night, the diner was bustling with patrons. The sound of chatter and clinking cutlery filled the air, competing with the soft buzz of fluorescent lights overhead. Waitstaff hurriedly made their rounds, taking orders and carrying plates with a clatter of dishes.
When you reached the back, you slid into the booth the hostess directed you to, and instead of sitting across from you, Bucky slid in next to you. The hostess handed you your menus before casting a final, lingering glance at Bucky and walked off, leaving you alone with the super soldier and not sure what exactly you were going to say to him.
You unwrapped your silverware and began playing absentmindedly with the band that had been holding your napkin in place. You could feel Bucky's eyes on you, but you didn't turn to meet his gaze until you felt the fingers of his metal hand gently reach over and brush a strand of hair away from your face.
"You wanted to talk, doll," he said, softly, "so let's talk."
You bit your lip and turned to meet his eyes, the blue of them so soft and gentle as he looked at you. "I'm not saying this to attack you, Buck," you began, gathering your thoughts, "or to try and make you feel bad, but you really made me feel like shit tonight."
He swallowed thickly, but before he could answer you, your waitress approached the booth to take your order. You ordered a chicken Caesar wrap and a glass of chocolate milk for yourself; Bucky ordered a coffee and a large basket of waffle fries.
Once the waitress had left, Bucky turned back to you, taking your hand in his metal one and lacing your fingers together. "The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you," he told you. He brought your hand to his mouth, placing a tender kiss on your knuckle. "I'm sorry. I was a dick tonight. Finding out that Jewel has the same kind of abilities as I do... it made me feel less alone, like maybe I'm not just a fucked up science experiment that went horribly wrong."
"Buck..." you began, but he continued talking.
"It doesn't excuse how I treated you tonight, but I was so eager to get to know to her, to see how she copes with it. I've only ever had Steve to talk to about it, and Steve's... well..."
"Steve's fucking Captain America," you provided, understanding now where Bucky was coming from. "The perpetual boy scout. You don't want to open up to him about the darker stuff, because you're afraid it will change how he sees you."
Bucky closed his eyes and nodded. "He's already done so much to save me from the worst parts of myself; I don't want to burden him with any more than I already have."
You cupped his jaw with your hand. "Steve loves you, Buck. He will never see you as a burden. I promise you that."
He smiled at you, but it was sad. "I already cost him so much. More than you realize, Pocket. It just felt like, with Jewel, maybe I could have someone else to discuss those parts of myself with, someone I wasn't afraid of letting down."
Your first instinct was to be hurt that he felt he couldn't share those parts of himself with you, but you realized why he wasn't able to.
As if reading your thoughts, he said: "Please don't think it means that I want to share things with her instead of you, though. That will never be the case."
"But there are things that I'll just never be able to fully understand," you supplied, "because I'm not a super soldier. I understand."
He nodded, leaning his head down until his forehead was pressed against yours. "But I don't need to be friends with her," he said. "You said she was horrible to you, and I believe you. That's not the kind of person I want in my life. You're the most important thing in the world to me. I need you to know that."
You would have sworn you felt your heart momentarily stop. More important to him than Steve? Your cheeks grew warm at the implication.
"Bucky, I never want to be the kind of person who tells you who you can or can't be friends with. If talking to her helps you process whatever you need to process, then please, do it." You nuzzled your nose against his. "Just, you know, never flirt with her in front of me again."
He pulled his head back and looked at you, a knowing smirk plastered across his face. "Doll, are you telling me you're jealous?" You made a scoffing sound and playfully pushed him away from you. You were treading dangerously close to feelings territory, and you'd only just gotten back to a good place with him; you weren't about to risk it, but you weren't going to lie to him, either.
You ran a hand through his hair, leaning closer until your lips were pressed against the shell of his ear. "You know I've never been a good girl when it comes to sharing, Bucky," you breathed before taking his earlobe into your mouth and sucking on it.
Bucky let out a low groan and shot his metal hand over to possessively grasp your upper thigh, sending a shiver through you. "Be careful, doll," he growled in the way that had you clenching your legs together, "otherwise I'm liable to bend you over this table and fuck you so hard, you won't remember your own name."
You pulled away from him. "Promises, promises," you teased.
Before Bucky could follow through on his threat, the waitress returned with your orders. Without thinking, you handed Bucky half of your wrap at the same time he deposited a generous handful of waffle fries onto your plate. Catching your eye, he gave you an amused grin, and you both burst into laughter. The tension between you two seemed to dissipate, replaced by the comfortable banter you were used to.
The conversation throughout the meal was light, ranging from random anecdotes to plans for the next day. Occasionally, Bucky would say something that made you giggle uncontrollably, causing a few patrons to give you curious glances. But he just flashed them his charming smile, making most of them blush and turn away.
After finishing your meals, you scooted closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder as you watched the diner's activity. His arm automatically wrapped around you, pulling you closer into his side. You could hear his heart beating steadily in his chest, a soothing rhythm that made your eyes droop sleepily.
"You alright there?" Bucky asked softly, noticing your languidness. You hummed in response, too comfortable to move or open your eyes properly.
"Gettin' sleepy," you admitted as you tried to stifle a yawn. "'s been a long night."
"Then let's get you home before you turn into a pumpkin, princess." Bucky helped you out of the booth, then tucked you into his side so you could lean against him as you walked toward the counter to pay your bill. You tried to hand Bucky your Amex card, but he shooed your hand away. "I got it, doll. Least I can do after everything I put you through tonight."
You didn't argue with him, not because you didn't have the energy to, but because you knew it was his way of making amends. He settled the bill quickly, leaving a generous tip, then led you back out of the diner into the cool night air. You leaned against his sturdy form as he walked you both back to the Sergio, opening the door for you and helping you with your seat belt, despite your protests.
"I'm not that drunk anymore, Buck," you laughed as he leaned over you to click the belt into place.
"Damn it, woman, be quiet and let me take care of you!" He pressed a quick kiss to your lips before closing the door and making his way around to the driver's side.
Though the drive to the Tower wasn't very long, you quickly found yourself lulled into a comfortable stupor, your mind at peace for the first time in what what felt like weeks. You barely registered when Bucky pulled into the Tower's underground garage, or stopped to give the Sergio's keys to the night parking attendant. You were vaguely aware of him picking you up and cradling you in his arms as he carried you back to his room.
Once inside, he carefully helped you strip out of your pants and halter top and into one of his shirts. Once you'd changed, he tucked you both into his bed, curling his body against yours until you didn't know where his body ended and yours began.
"Better?" he asked, softness threading his voice. You hummed in response, half asleep as your body molded into his welcoming warmth.
A soft chuckle rumbled through his chest, "Sweet dreams, doll," he murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to your temple as he adjusted the sheets around you both. His metal arm wound under your pillow comfortably while the other rested on your waist, giving you a sense of protection that no fortress could offer.
You curled closer into him, snuggling into his broad chest like a kitten seeking warmth. His steady heartbeat and slow breathing became your lullaby, luring you closer to sleep with every second.
He stroked your hair gently as you fell off into sleep, whispering words of affection and apology into the quietness of the night.
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sjsmith56 · 8 months ago
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Sanctuary - A Private Man, Chapter 19
Summary: Bucky’s text message alerts Sam to what he secretly feared. The Avengers are officially recalled to duty. Tracey and Nebula arrive in Wakanda.
Length: 4.3 K
Characters: Sam, Rebecca, Janice, Wong, Tracey, Nebula, Shuri.
Warnings: Feelings of betrayal, concern about a character’s motives.
Author notes: at the end as I had a bit of a rant about how I wrote this chapter originally.
<<Chapter 18
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The text message chimed on Sam's phone, and he raised his head as he reached out for it. Brooklyn was all it said, and it was from Bucky's phone.
"Shit," he muttered, then he jumped out of their bed, quickly getting dressed as he phoned Rhodey. His sleepy voice answered. "They attacked. I'm getting Rebecca and Janice up then texting Wong for a portal. I haven't phoned Bucky's phone, but I have to assume it's compromised."
"I'll alert the President," replied Rhodey, all sleepiness gone. "Then I'll alert everyone else. Never thought I would be the one to say this, but Avengers assemble."
"I'll be there as soon as I get these two to safety," answered Sam.
Quickly he ran down the stairs to where Janice was sleeping. "Hey, it's happening. Time to go."
"Be right there," she said, pulling the covers back. "Any word of Tracey?"
"No, but I haven't phoned back, yet. Have to get you two to safety first."
He headed back upstairs and was met by Rebecca, heading for the bathroom.
"I heard you get up. Did they make their move?"
He nodded and she continued to the bathroom. Texts from others started appearing on his phone and he swore when one of the texts, from Peter Parker, said John Walker left his home at 10 pm the previous night and boarded a private jet at LaGuardia at 11. Peter hacked the FAA for the flight plan learning the jet was flown to Nassau. They always suspected Walker was part of it. Matt Murdock was sure Walker was lying to him when he asked for help getting out of his contract. Sam forwarded that text to Rhodey, suggesting Olivia Walker be taken into custody. Next, he phoned Clint.
"You still have that quinjet in your barn?" he asked.
"Yeah," was the terse answer.
"Head to the Kamalame Cay Resort in the Bahamas. Confirm that Bucky was taken. We don't know if Tracey was also taken but there was a contingency to get her out. It was Nebula's idea, but we didn't tell Bucky exactly. Wanted them to enjoy their honeymoon."
"On it," replied Clint. "All hands?"
"Yeah, you should be getting the alert any moment. Meet you at the rendezvous."
A portal opened and Wong came through.
"You're not in your wings."
"I'm doing it right now," replied Sam, heading to the bedroom. "The ladies are getting ready."
Janice came up the stairs with Alley Cat in his cat carrier, and a bag slung over her shoulder, dropping them on the kitchen table, the cat meowing loudly. She knocked on Rebecca's door and entered to help her get ready. As Wong fidgeted, he could hear Sam taking more calls. Rebecca and Janice came out of the bedroom. The older woman smiled at Wong.
"I have to phone my personal aide to cancel for the week, then I'm good to go," she said to him.
"Okay," he replied.
She phoned Amina and asked her to make sure to cancel everyone, aides, physiotherapist and nurse visit due to an emergency. After some questions from Amina, she assured her that they were all fine as it was an Avengers thing. Wong scowled at her after she hung up.
"Was that wise?" he asked.
"Probably not but the other side already knows you'll respond, right?"
He shrugged then nodded as Sam came out in his winged suit, carrying his case. Noticing the two women he hugged them.
"I'll contact you when I can," he said. "Buck knows what he's doing. If our contingency plan worked Tracey will join you and you'll all be safe."
He stepped back as Wong opened a portal. The women went through, and he looked through it to see an acknowledgment from Ayo on the other side. Wong closed the portal then looked at Sam.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Florida, anywhere near Miami. Take care of my case."
"Be careful," said Wong. "Big money means corruption. Trust no one."
Sam nodded and went through the portal that closed behind him. Then Wong opened another portal back to the Sanctum to wait for when his services were needed again.
Nearing the coast of Africa
A light touch on her shoulder awakened Tracey. Nebula was standing over her.
"We're approaching the coast," she said. "There's something I have to tell you."
Rubbing her eyes Tracey sat up. "What is it?"
"I was sent to make sure you got away and that Bucky gave up his arm," she said. "He didn't know I was coming but he knew there was a contingency to get you to safety. He was sure they would attack and thought they would take him."
"No, he wouldn't do that, not deliberately," said Tracey. "He would have told me."
"He planned for this before you found out you were pregnant. He hoped to get away with us but knew if he was on the inside then the Wakandans could still track him."
"How?"
"Quantum entanglement," said Nebula. "His arm and his shoulder have a connection that can be tracked over long distances."
"But you said you wanted to go to your home before I convinced you to go to Wakanda," replied Tracey. "Were you lying about being there to help us?"
"Not exactly," said the blue cyborg. "I volunteered because he would believe I was going to Knowhere and that's what he would tell them, so they would know the arm was out of reach. Wakanda might be facing attack, but they can track Bucky, and they can still protect you better. You can probably get a signal now. On your phone."
Looking at the signal Tracey saw one bar. She wasn't sure about Nebula's incomplete answer but decided calling Sam was worth a try. Dialling him, she waited for what seemed like forever to hear the call connect.
"Bucky?" said Sam's voice.
"No, it's Tracey," she replied. "They have him, Sam. Nebula was there to take his arm and she helped me get away. We're just over Africa."
"With the arm?" he asked, as if not believing they had it.
"Yeah, with his arm," said Tracey. "Is it true? Did he know this would happen?"
There was silence for several moments and she felt a knot of dread beginning in her stomach. "We all suspected they would try when you were away from help. It's why he took his gear. We sent Nebula ourselves, a contingency to make sure you got away, although he didn't know it would be her. If they knew you were pregnant, there's no telling what they would do to you."
"What will they do to him?" she asked, not wanting to hear an answer.
"I'm not going to speculate on that," he replied. "I do know that he's going to disrupt them as much as he can. There's one more thing. It's looking like John Walker was part of it all along."
"All Bucky ever wanted was to live his life without anyone interfering," said Tracey, trying to keep from breaking down. "Why couldn't they just leave him alone?"
"I know," said Sam. "When he found you, he had hope for that life. He still does, if we can stop these people from completing their plans."
His voice began to break up while Tracey said his name, but Sam didn't answer, and she realized the call had been dropped. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Nebula's face. As impassive as that face was, she thought she saw empathy in the cyborg's artificial eyes.
"We're almost to the border," Nebula said quietly. "I have to wait to be recognized before they'll let us in. I could drop you off just outside."
"What about the arm?" asked Tracey, realizing something. "You want it for yourself, don't you?"
"I want to give it to Rocket," she admitted. "He's wanted it for a long time and he's family to me."
"But it's not yours to give him," explained Tracey. "You would have stolen it from Bucky. That's why you were really there, wasn't it? Not as a contingency but to get the arm while he was vulnerable."
"I wouldn't have hurt him," said Nebula. "After I got the arm, I would have helped you both get away, but they got there faster than I thought and when he asked me to take care of you, I couldn't say no."
"Now you want to leave me, unprotected, outside the border, so you can take the arm and go." The blue cyborg lowered her eyes and nodded, showing shame in her posture. From what the woman, and Tracey saw her as a woman, had told her and what she had observed, it was obvious that Nebula had suffered greatly in her past. This Rocket was someone that meant something to her. To give the arm to Rocket was her way of showing him how much she cared about him. It was still wrong, but it was understandable. "Then stay with me, help with what is happening, and I'll ask the Wakandans to make an arm for you to take to Rocket. You can give it to him for Christmas."
"You would do that for me?"
"Yeah, I would," replied Tracey. "You helped me, even though you really didn't want to. Nebula, we all do things we regret at one time or another, even deliberately hurting someone to make us feel better. But what's important is what you do from now on. If you stay and help, I won't tell anyone about what your real plans were. We'll keep it between us, as friends."
"Friends? You want to be my friend?”
There was disbelief in Nebula's voice plus what sounded like a little bit of hope. "Yes, I would like to be your friend," declared Tracey.
A message appeared on the display of the mining pod drawing their attention away from each other. It was giving Nebula a code to enter in order to open the shield that surrounded Wakanda. It also said there would be a couple of fighters to escort them to the capital, Birnin Zana. With Tracey smiling her encouragement Nebula entered the code and flew the pod through the gap in the shield. As it closed behind them two fighters appeared on either side and matched their speed to hers. They took over control of the pod and guided it between them, while the two women inside watched. As they flew to the capital, they went through another shield and it was there in front of them, a beautiful city like nothing either of them had ever seen.
"It's beautiful," said the cyborg woman before turning to the other. "That Ross and Fontaine want to destroy this, don't they?"
"They want to control it all," replied Tracey. "They want the vibranium and if they have to destroy the city to get it they will."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For wanting to steal the arm. It's vibranium but I really just wanted to give Rocket something that he's wanted for a long time. During the Snap we only had each other as the others were dust. He's ... important to me."
Tracey looked with compassion at the blue woman. "Tell me more about quantum entanglement. Does it just occur between inanimate objects or is it between biological beings as well?"
"Both," replied Nebula. "I have memories from before Thanos took me of knowing my mother was safe, even though we were apart. I was told then it was the connection that living beings with an emotional relationship have. It's fragile and strong at the same time. Your child would be the connection of the quantum entanglement between you and Bucky. The connection between Bucky's arm and shoulder comes from the vibranium in both as they were created at the same time."
"Did you want the arm to give to Rocket so you had a quantum entanglement connecting you?" asked Tracey, looking intently at the other woman.
If metal skin could blush Tracey thought she read that reaction on the cyborg's face. "I don't feel love like humans or biological beings do. I remember what it felt like, but Thanos took so much from me and replaced it with cybernetic parts that I'm incapable of feeling it that way anymore."
"But you feel something," pressed Tracey. She took her necklace off and looked at it then placed it around Nebula's neck. "I want to give you this so that there is a connection between us, as friends. How do you feel about that?"
The jet black eyes seemed to glisten for a moment. "I feel something ... I'm unsure what it is. If I could cry I think I would."
"Then I guess we have a quantum entanglement connection between us," said the dark-haired human. "We will always be friends, even if we never see each other again. You saved me, Nebula. I will always be in your debt."
She looked past the blue metallic head of the woman in front of her to see they were almost at ground level outside of an incredibly beautiful building, tall and full of windows letting in the natural light. A slight thud confirmed they had landed and Tracey picked up the bag containing Bucky's arm, noticing how Nebula watched her closely. The latter pressed the control to open the sliding door and Tracey stepped out into the heat of the open space, followed by the cyborg woman. A contingent of incredibly beautiful but stern looking women with shaved heads waited for them. One of them came forward.
"Mrs. Barnes? My name is Ayo. Please come with me. You too, Nebula."
Although it was said politely it was not a request and the two women followed the tall warrior, noting several others stepped in place behind them. They entered the building which was just as spectacular inside as it was outside. Considering they were in a country located on the equator Tracey expected the sun streaming in would have heated the inside of the building to a very warm temperature but it was instead very comfortable. They walked towards an elevator and entered it. The guards behind them stayed out of the passenger space but when it opened at its destination there were others waiting to take their place. Finally they came close to what appeared to be a lab. Tracey could hear the sound of voices and her heart leaped when she recognized her mother's and Rebecca's voices.
"Mom!" she called and began to run.
Ayo let her pass as Janice came into view. She stepped forward with her arms open and embraced Tracey, running her hands through her daughter's hair. Another woman, who Tracey recognized as Shuri waved her hand and Ayo motioned for the guards to leave.
"You're okay?" asked Janice. "They didn't hurt you?"
"No, Nebula got me out of there before they arrived," she replied. "They got Bucky. He was just a few feet from us and they tasered him. He told us to leave without him. That Walker was in on it. I talked to Sam briefly and he told me."
"He'll be alright," said Rebecca, who appeared in front of Tracey. The two women hugged. "He can handle himself. Keeping you safe was his priority."
"You knew?" asked Tracey. "Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he didn't want them to drag the information out of you if you were caught," said Shuri, who stepped forward and took Tracey by the hand. "Sergeant Barnes has been through the worst torture imaginable in his past and he would face it again to keep you and your child safe." She noticed the bag that Tracey carried. "His arm?"
"Yes, Nebula said you can track him through quantum entanglement," replied the pregnant woman. "Is that true?"
"It is," she replied. "May I?"
Tracey handed Shuri the bag and she placed it on a table, opening it and removing the arm from it. Taking it to another table she hooked it up to several leads then turned on a virtual display as the other women crowded around her. Using a virtual keyboard, she began entering codes to access the arm's computer system then found what she was looking for and with a wave of her hands transferred the image to the large space in front of them. Together they all watched and waited as the arm sought out its connection with Bucky's shoulder. It took time before the system found it and zeroed in on it, giving a GPS position of latitude and longitude.
"Send the coordinates to the Avengers," Shuri ordered then she looked specifically at Ayo and nodded. She turned on her heel and left. "Ayo will also provide the coordinates to our War Dogs that will head to that location. They will assist the Avengers in locating Sergeant Barnes and taking his captors into custody. All we can do is wait."
"What if they attack here while your War Dogs are there?" asked Tracey. "Won't that put your country in danger?"
Shuri smiled confidently. "That's the thing," she said. "They won't be able to breach our defences and if they do they won't be able to handle our warriors. If they do come here we even have a contingency plan to get you all to safety." She looked past Tracey and smiled at the man approaching them. "Ladies, meet our favourite colonizer. Former CIA agent Everett Ross."
"Mrs. Barnes," he said, holding his hand out to shake hers, then turning to Rebecca and Janice. "Mrs. Proctor, Mrs. Harris. My ex-wife Val de Fontaine and Thaddeus Ross, have aligned themselves with some very ruthless corporate interests but Val also has something of mine, that has our own quantum entanglement." They looked blankly at him. "My kimoyo bead bracelet was confiscated by her. In her zeal to explore their workings she exposed herself to the Wakandans. Queen Shuri has used the beads to spy on them. We'll know when they're coming. They have mostly mercenaries and a few enhanced or highly skilled individuals that were taken as Sergeant Barnes was, against their will. Your husband will disrupt them as much as he can and win over the other captives to help him. If they do manage to break through Wakandan defences then I will pilot you all out of here."
"What about me and my pod?" asked Nebula. "I didn't have to come here."
"No, but it is good you did," replied Shuri. "Mrs. Barnes would have been exposed to all forms of radiation if you took her to Knowhere. It wouldn't have killed her but it would affect her child's development. If evacuation is necessary you may take your pod and make your own way, if that is your choice."
"No one will stop me?"
Shuri tilted her head slightly, appearing puzzled by the question as it was obvious that if they had to leave the Wakandans would not hold her back. "No one will stop you. Now, perhaps this is a good time for you to go to your quarters and freshen up. Mrs. Barnes, I assume you left without the time to pack a bag. We can provide comfortable clothing for you."
Nebula's eyes flickered to the arm before looking back at Shuri and bowing her head. A Dora Milaje warrior appeared and the other women were asked to accompany her to their quarters with a promise to call them if there was anything to report. Everett Ross went with them. Tracey stopped and looked at Shuri for a moment.
"Could I speak to you privately?" she asked.
Shuri nodded at the guard to continue and Tracey approached her, waiting until the others left. She looked at the young queen for several moments before putting her question to her.
"Are you able to build another prosthetic arm?" she asked.
Shuri smiled at first, thinking it was a joke. When she saw that Tracey was serious she pulled a stool out for her to sit on.
"There already is another arm," she said. "It has been under construction for several weeks; an upgrade for your husband in anticipation of him joining the Avengers. May I ask why you need to know this?"
"I want you to give this arm to Nebula," said Tracey. "It's important for her to have it."
"I'm well aware that her associate, Rocket Raccoon, has expressed interest in acquiring the arm," said Shuri, her face sterner than it had been previously. "Vibranium is not something we give away normally. How can I be sure that they won't try to use it to build a weapon? Rocket is known for his ability to create devastating weapons out of innocuous materials."
Tracey sighed, unsure how to put it. "How much do you know about Nebula?" she asked.
"She is almost a complete cybernetic being," replied Shuri. "What does that have to do with it?"
"Before Thanos took her she was more organic, less machine," began Tracey. "He replaced much of her biological nature as punishment or torture. She still remembers how it felt to love, and to care about things, but it's like they are echoes of what she once was."
"Go on," said Shuri.
"During the Snap, only her and Rocket survived during those five years and they became close. He is the closest thing to family for her but with him being more organic and her being more artificial that connection between them isn't fully evident to her and she feels the lack of that. Even though Bucky and I are apart I still feel the connection which I always assumed was some sort of emotional construct that my mind used to convince me of his wellbeing. But when she explained quantum entanglement I realized it is tangible, that there can be a connection between two inanimate or living objects. It just makes sense that it can be extended to a deep friendship between an organic being and an artificial being if the method of entanglement, a gift from her to him, connects them. That's what the arm means to her."
Shuri took in a deep breath and let it out audibly as she realized what Tracey was saying.
"Do you know this for a fact?" she asked.
"I'm a nurse and I visit old, lonely people every week to check on their health, take their blood pressure, question them about their mental state in a way that isn't too obvious, determining if they are living a life with meaning. I try to do it with kindness so that they feel like their existence matters and it does." She stopped, trying to choose her words carefully. "Nebula is the first cybernetic being I have ever met but she has a soul, of that I am certain. Despite all the torture inflicted on her by her father figure, all while believing her sister wanted to kill her, then reconciling and losing her sister, the only constant that I've been able to glean from her has been that friendship with a sentient raccoon who was also subject to a comparable regime of torture to make him that way. She has a bond with him and giving him the arm is a visible expression of how much he means to her. She helped defeat Thanos, and despite her motives now she helped me get away and still tried to help Bucky until he demanded that she go. She's as complex emotionally as any human. I would say that's a fact."
"There is a way I could render the vibranium in the arm inert, so that it is unable to be used as a weapon," mused Shuri. "It would change the appearance slightly, making it more blue in colour than its normal black."
"Can you do that soon?" asked Tracey. "I worry that she might try to steal it again before we get Bucky back." She shrugged at Shuri's look of concern. "I know but she's not perfect. The temptation might be too much."
"Very well," said Shuri. "I will do as you ask and will have our technicians speed up the completion of the replacement arm. Nebula must have left quite the impression on you in your journey here."
"I just know what it's like to have a terrible father and to feel like you're all alone in the universe," replied Tracey. "No one deserves to feel that way."
Another Dora Milaje came to escort Tracey to her room and Shuri thought over what she had said. She also thought over what wasn't said. Nebula had probably agreed to go to their honeymoon spot with the intent of taking the arm but still tried to rescue the couple when the attack began. She did feel obligations but her emotional state was so underdeveloped that she likely would shift those obligations without warning. Shuri turned back to the arm. It had already been decided that rendering the vibranium inert shouldn't interfere with the tracking system.  If the cyborg did steal the arm while it was here then she might have to use the connection between Tracey, the baby, and Bucky to find him again. She hoped that Nebula wouldn't as it would be harder, given that it was still early in the pregnancy and the baby was just a cluster of cells that had yet to implant in the uterine wall. At least, it would be if it was a normal pregnancy. Given the symptoms that Tracey had reported it was possible the development of the baby was accelerated. There was also the likelihood that Barnes would need to use the arm one last time. Shuri let out her breath. She had a lot of work to do, the arm to modify, a country to govern, and the preparation for a possible invasion. It was a good thing that she liked challenges. Of course, all of it was moot if Bucky had to implement his backup plan. Only the raccoon would come out ahead if that happened.
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Author's note:  Buckle up, this is a long note with the first part being a bit of a rant.  First, I am not a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special.  It cheapened Nebula as a character and without explaining exactly how she got Bucky’s arm, the implication was that she used violence on him, exposing him to trauma for a “feel good” Christmas moment. I didn’t buy it.  Don't @ me to debate it, as I won't change my mind. 
Until Nebula appeared in the bedroom of their beach villa I was having a hard time determining how Bucky would get Tracey to safety.  He made it clear that she is everything to him and that he would die to keep her safe.  So, I made the decision to bring Nebula in as a willing volunteer to provide an escape route for the couple.  You may recall that Rebecca already suggested Bucky get rid of the arm to reduce his value to Ross and Fontaine.  It's been percolating in his mind ever since and when he realizes Nebula has a pod he makes the decision to give it up, and have them take it with them, knowing it will piss off his captors that they have him but not all of him.  We know that Bucky is just as capable without it.  That's why the Wakandans had him live and work on a farm, one armed, so that he would believe that the arm does not define him.  His inner character does.
Second, Tracey is a nurse, a profession that many empathetic people work in.  Even though Nebula is almost entirely cybernetic, Tracey was still able to read her emotionally.  She felt the turmoil Nebula was in but used her empathy to tease out what the woman really wanted and why.  Tracey found common ground with Nebula (abusive father) and understands her need for connection to feel love (even if it is artificially created by her cybernetic parts).  Knowing that Bucky has a replacement arm in progress she saw an opportunity to help a traumatized individual grow emotionally by asking Shuri to give Nebula the arm.  Will it happen?  Keep reading to find out.
Third, Quantum entanglement: This is a quote from an article written by Paul Sutter, May 26, 2021 for the online science website LiveScience. It was one of the easier definitions for a lay person to understand that I found.
"Quantum entanglement is one of the uber-bizarre phenomena seen when things get itty-bitty, or inside the quantum realm. When two or more particles link up in a certain way, no matter how far apart they are in space, their states remain linked. That means they share a common, unified quantum state. So observations of one of the particles can automatically provide information about the other entangled particles, regardless of the distance between them. And any action to one of these particles will invariably impact the others in the entangled system."
It's heady scientific stuff that I don't even begin to understand.  Just days before I began writing this chapter (in spring, 2023) I was blindsided by a factoid on some tv show (which I can't find because it wasn't something I was paying attention to until they said quantum entanglement) that scientists are trying to determine if the different phenomena of sympathetic twins (twins which feel pain between them even if they were separated at birth), or other similar occurrences of things felt by the connection of two people separated by distance, are a result of quantum entanglement between their organic sub-atomic particles, or perhaps even the sub-atomic particles generated by their emotional connection.  Does this blow your mind?  Because it blew mine. Even if quantum entanglement can't be used how I've used it in the story it seemed a good plot point to introduce an interesting scientific concept.
Chapter 20>>
Series Masterlist
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slayerchick303 · 2 years ago
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*SECRET INVASION FINALE SPOILERS*
I just finished Home, and I have some thoughts:
Rhodey was in a hospital gown when he got out of the pod! I swear to all that is holy, if they have him been replaced by a skrull after his injury in Civil War, I will march on Disney headquarters! That would cheapen Tony's death, funeral, and Rhodey's amazing conversation with Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I said I'd freak out if they made the swap previous to FATWS, and I meant it!
Gravik's human face was a man he killed, so I'm assuming the same is true for G'iah. If she is indeed going to be Abigail Brand as leaks have suggested (meaning Abigail Brand is dead), I'm going to be mad! Like legitimately disappointed. Brand is one of my favorite parts of the Astonishing X-Men comics run. I ship her and Beast so hard.
When was Everett Ross swapped? It has to have been after Black Panther because he would've reverted to his skrull form after being shot and/or Shuri would've noticed while healing him. Has a skrull infiltrated Wakandan leadership?! How many? For how long? Because that's BAD. Imagine the havoc skrulls could wreak with Wakanda's resources.
The CGI in this was pretty good. Especially compared to other recent Disney+ titles. That being said, I hate a lot of how they used it. Giving G'iah a huge Drax arm?! Bad choices in multiple ways: A.) the big Drax arm looked so weird as did other things. B.) do they think Marvel fans are too stupid to get what they were doing if they didn't make her arm huge? They should've kept Emilia's arm the same size, only given her Drax's tattoos and skin color at most. We would've understood. C.) the clothing changed too! How does that make sense?
Is Gravik really dead, though? Is Raava? We don't know if Raava has super skrull powers, but Gravik had like EVERYTHING. That seems like it should make him pretty invincible.
How did people not clock how off Rhodey was? There was like an enormous change in his personality. Raava was a jerk!
So, Fury and Sonya only tranqed those secret service members at the hospital. That wouldn't automatically make them revert, right, or every skrull would be outed when they fell asleep. If all those guards were humans, they were legitimately the worst security detail ever. That one guy literally listened to SkrullRhodey pretty much out herself and did nothing. He didn't even warn the president Rhodey was acting uncharacteristically. Every member of White House personale will have to be tested somehow. Maybe check for purple blood?
I really thought Ritson would die at the end. I guess he's just awful (which is unsurprising). I'm glad he won't be president much longer, as Harrison Ford is taking over the role of President Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Brave New World. That being said, part of me worries that President Ross might be even worse than Ritson.
I kind of loved Varra and Fury's ending. It redeemed the awful, "I guess we'll never know moment."
****EDIT:**** I didn't think about this at the time, but I saw someone else bring it up. G'iah has Captain Marvel powers now! Doesn't that mean she should be caught up in the entanglement mess Captain Marvel, Photon, and Miss Marvel are dealing with in The Marvels?! That's an ENORMOUS plot hole. Not to mention, G'iah is ridiculously overpowered now. People complain about how powerful Superman is, and G'iah is so much worse.
I enjoyed Secret Invasion, even if it wasn't the best Disney+ show. The comics are still WAY better. Regardless, I'm looking forward to The Marvels even more now.
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httpwintersoldier · 5 months ago
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My HONEST Review of Captain America: Brave New World
[SPOILER FREE SECTION]
Overall score: 5/10
It's an okay movie. Captain America movies have always been political but this one had a dubious inclination (more on this under the cut). It falls back on a lot of stuff we've already seen (and something we've seen done in better ways) and feels quite repetitive on that end.
Overall they want you to be rooting for many characters that you don't know much about/don't have much of a connection to (aside from the Cap itself) which also makes the movie a bit stale - the stakes aren't high because you know they're not killing off Sam Wilson and if they kill or hurt anyone else you don't really care.
The villains were kind of weak (not in strength, but as characters overall) and as a whole the plot is solid but throughout the movie it seems scattered.
I didn't hate it, but I won't be watching it again.
[SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT]
I will now delve further and explain what I've said above.
I want to start off with the political comment. I find it weird that Captain America would team up with the government with such ease especially given the Avenger's and Sam's previous episodes with the government - eventually and very quickly there's a falling out though and I started thinking "ah, this is more like a Cap storyline, disagreeing with the government and all". But oh was I wrong. He then starts feeling for the President and saying "he's not that bad" when he locked up Isaiah and kept him there after knowing that the shooting was not his fault, and then tricked a man into doing work for him with the promise of letting him go and then kept him locked up still doing his dirty work. That is not a good man, Sam Wilson, what the fuck lol. He's definitely not the main villain, but damn he's sure as Hell not the hero either and I don't like how the movie paints him as a victim or whatever.
Moving on, the villain. HATED him. Absolutely despised him, he wasn't a good villain, he was so goofy. "My calculations...", "There was a percentage here...", "There was a percentage there...". We've had smart villains and heroes before, we've had literal machines villains and heroes, we've had He Who Remains which is quite literally omnipotent, if I'm not mistaken, there are good ways to make an incredibly intelligent villain, that was not one. He was just annoying.
As for the Red Hulk, I would've liked it if he was more animalistic, like the Hulk before Banner got him under control, especially because that was his first time being "out", and he behaved like a very strong and angry person instead of a wild animal, which kind of sucked to me.
The cherry blossom scene... Yikes, is all I have to say. Very greenscreen-ish, and the whole "this is where you wanted to come with your daughter" thing made it seem very "look at me!!! this isn't you!!!". I understand that at the end of the day Sam Wilson is just a guy, and so far we haven't had a lot of "just a guy" things in the MCU, but it has been done, the punisher is a great example of that. Giving Sam Wilson such a strong opponent as the Red Hulk wasn't a great idea, I don't think, because that made him seem weaker than he is. He won the fight by basically saying "this isn't you", which I thought was a terrible way to end it all, it felt like I was blue balled the whole movie and then it was an unsatisfying climax.
As for the paralels... Mind-controlling stuff? We've seen that at least in two other Cap movies. Flying guy very close to main character is hit in the sky and comes crashing down and is badly injured? Rhodey in Civil War. Them trying to be the good guys and then being taken away by government officials? Civil War. The "brooding spy girl that is badass", "Cap main character" and "funny sidekick" trio? Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The supersoldier that is very close to the main character is unjustly taken away by government? Captain America: Civil War.
I expected somethin new and instead they blended together what they already had and served it to us, it's like they said "let's do another Cap movie and change nothing even though the main character is different".
Bucky shows up and he's trying to become a government official?... I'm sorry?... That has to be the most random and senseless thing I have ever heard in my life, Marvel, have you kept up with his story recently? They keep giving Bucky these side missions and weird storylines.
Also, I love Giancarlo Esposito and I was excited to see him but his appearance seems random and it just seemed like they're just setting his character and organization up for stuff that happens later on.
POSITIVE POINTS:
You have an amazing cast, genius actors that all do a great job - the problem is the writing here, because all of them do really well.
BUCKYYY BUCKY BUCKYY!! HE SHOWS UP! I KNEW IT!
The red Hulk is nice, I like him.
I'm excited to see what the Serpent Society and Giancarlo's character will do.
I enjoyed that they brought in Sam's sister, I like her as a character.
Overall this movie just seemed like a set-up for all the things that will happen in the future, unfortunately. I saw a review that said "A movie for anyone who watched The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and thought, 'I wish this were longer, and worse and also somehow a direct sequel to The Incredible Hulk.'"
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justdealingwithsomeissues · 1 month ago
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So technically the president is protected by SHIELD. but one of their own, a lady named Sheva Joseph, basically ends her entire career to take this guy down... except he still pulls a gun before he can be arrested and so Rhodey blows him away... meaning he basically executed the president of a SHIELD protected foreign power.
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staying-elive · 2 years ago
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Okay Fury, I respect your whole "Only superpower I have was given to me by my single mum" thing. But seriously, phone a friend.
Light the beacons.
Call for aid.
Something!
And yes, I'm totally biased because I'm a Sam girlie, but SAM WOULD ANSWER!
The US president was nearly killed, Rhodey's a Skrull (still no hint when that happened), potential global war is imminent. Where is my Captain America to do the right thing!?
I love Fury, but this should've been an Avengers movie.
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