#Suddenly in my AouS feels again

[denimbex1986]

Paul Mescal (0.50), Andrew Scott (6.54)

[storiesforallfandoms]

fast ~ pietro maximoff;marvel

word count: 3083

request?: no

description: he's fast, she's intrigued. a little research and she's meeting up with the speedster that's supposed to be her enemy

pairing: pietro maximoff x female!reader

warnings: swearing, use of y/m, marvel type violence mentioned, clint's injury from the beginning of aou mentioned

masterlist (one, two, three)

"Barton's down," came Natasha's voice in my earpiece.

I turned to Clint, who was just across the clearing from me. He was on the ground with a hand over a wound that was steadily becoming bloodier. I had just finished dealing with the guards who were attacking me, so I started to run towards Clint. "I got him."

I had nearly reached him when something hit me, launching me back. I thought for a second that I had been shot and expected to feel the warming sensation of blood from a wound. Instead, I was just in pain from hitting the ground. I couldn't find any other visible wound. Weirder still, I couldn't see who attacked me. There was no one for as far as I could see.

I got to my feet and started for Clint again. A gust of wind caused me to stumble a little, and suddenly, there was someone stood in front of me.

He was young, like maybe mid 20s, with white-blonde hair, wearing a tracksuit and sneakers. He definitely didn't look like he belonged outside of a former Hydra site.

My gun was clenched in my hand, ready to fire if he tried anything. He must've been the one who attacked me earlier, and I had a feeling he would again. It was just a waiting game to see which of us would move first. My eyes flickered to Clint, still groaning in pain. I needed to get to him and start to get him to the jet.

"I just want to help my friend," I told the guy. "I don't want to hurt you, but you're standing between me and him, and if he dies because of that then I will have to hurt you."

"I'd like to see you try," he said with a smirk. He had an accent that I couldn't place.

I clenched my jaw. He was watching me closely, basically studying my every move. As I started to move my arm to shoot, he suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind me. I realized a second too late that he had super speed, as he was throwing my gun to the ground and wrapping his arms around me, trapping mine to my side. I tried to wriggle myself free, but it was useless. He had me in a tight grip, and he didn't seem like he was going to let me go.

I threw my head back and smashed it against his nose. He cried out in pain, but only loosened his grip slightly. I turned in his arms, ready for another head butt, but paused when he looked at me. His eyes were blue. I had nothing else to note besides that: they were blue. A very beautiful blue. I was so distracted by them that I didn't even notice his hold on me had loosened considerably. I don't think he noticed either. Every ounce of cockiness had suddenly evaporated from his face.

"(Y/L/N), do you copy?"

The sudden sound from my earpiece snapped me from my trance. Clearly it did the same to him, because suddenly he let me go and disappeared again. I was still dazed for a second until I heard a groan of pain.

I quickly rushed to Clint's side. He had lost a lot of blood, but he'd be okay. I took my jacket off and pressed it to Clint's wound. He sucked in a pained breath as I did.

"I'm sorry, but I have to," I told him.

"(Y/N)!" came Steve's voice again.

"I'm here," I responded. "I have Barton. I was...distracted."

"Stark as the scepter. We're getting to the jet and we'll get you both. Is Barton okay?"

I looked down at Clint. His face was pale, but he was still breathing.

"He'll need medical attention," I told Steve.

"We'll be there right away."

~~~~~~

Hours later, when we were back in the tower and Clint was taken care of, I was still thinking of the guy from the woods. Why did he let me go? He clearly was not on our side, and he definitely had the upper hand over me. But he let me go, let me save Clint.

I guess it also begged the question, why did I let him go?

I was walking through the tower when I noticed Steve and Maria talking. Steve noticed me and nodded for me to join them.

"How's Clint?" I asked.

"He's okay," Steve said. "Dr. Cho is working with Tony and Bruce to heal his wounds. He'll be fine."

I nodded. Good, my delay didn't cause too much damage.

"You said you were distracted while on your way to Clint," Steve said. It wasn't a question, but I still nodded. "Were you attacked?"

"Something like that," I responded.

Maria held out the tablet she was holding to me. "Was it by one of these two?"

I took the tablet and looked at the screen. My eyes immediately landed on a picture of the guy form the woods. Next to him was a young woman with long, dark hair and green eyes.

"Him," I said, gesturing to the speedster. "He's the one who...I had a run in with. Who are they?"

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff," Maria responded. "Twins who got powers from Strucker's experiments."

I felt a weird wave of relief wash over me at learning the woman was his twin.

"What's her power?" I asked.

"Neuro-electric interfacing, telekinesis, and mental manipulation."

I passed the tablet back to Maria. "Do we know anything else about them?"

"Nothing yet."

I tried not to visibly slump.

I said goodbye to Steve and Maria and continued my walk down the hallway. I started to realize I was walking in the direction of one of (yes one of) Tony's work rooms. I started to slow my walk, glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone else was coming. After checking that the work room was also empty, I quickly ducked in. The room lit up the second I had the door shut.

"JARVIS?" I said.

"Yes, Miss (Y//L/N)?" came the voice of Tony's AI assistant.

"Can you access information on the names Wanda and Pietro Maximoff?"

Within seconds, JARVIS had dozens of images projected around the room; a picture of two kids I recognized as young Pietro and Wanda on the back of an ambulance, an attached news headline reading "Sokovian Children Saved After Several Days Trapped Under Rubble"; videos of Pietro and Wanda at protests in Sokovia; profiles about them from Strucker's base.

"Jesus," I breathed. "No wonder they're on Strucker's side. Life dealt them with the shittiest hand."

"I believe they are the only ones who have survived the experimentation," JARVIS told me. "Mr. Stark was discussing their escape with Dr. Banner earlier."

"You can't tell Tony I was asking, okay JARVIS? This is between us?"

"Is everything alright, Miss (Y/L/N)?"

I sighed. "I don't know."

I looked at one of the pictures of Pietro. It was one taken during a protest against the Sokovian government. He was stood beside his sister, not joining in on the chants and yelling, but still with a look of anger on his face. I was brought back to our moment in the woods, thinking about his arms around me as I looked into his blue eyes. The thought alone took my breath away and made my heart rate pick up. I could still feel the warmth of his body against mine, his body temperature higher than anyone's I could remember. Probably from his powers.

I shook my head. No, I couldn't be thinking of this way. He was the enemy.

But was he really? I had plenty of evidence in front of me to justify why he and Wanda chose the path they did. Sure, it wasn't the "right" path - not to use anyways - but it was the only option they felt like they had. I couldn't blame them for that, or for trying to stop us when we were trying to infiltrate Strucker's base. Especially when one of the pictures JARVIS was showing me was a missile that resulted in the Maximoff's parents dying with Tony's last name plastered on the side.

After some consideration, I said, "JARVIS, we need to find a way to get a message to someone."

~~~~~~

I couldn't go all the way back to Sokovia without bringing attention to myself, and I didn't want any of my teammates to know what I was doing until I spoke to Pietro first. So, instead, I went to a trail that was a short walk from the tower. It was surrounded by trees enough that it somewhat recreated mine and Pietro's meeting spot, minus the snow.

With JARVIS' help, I put out a message that I hoped would reach Pietro, asking him to meet me on the trail. I was going to tell him what I knew about him, and hopefully I could convince him, and in turn Wanda, to join our team. I knew it would be a long shot to ask them to side with Tony, but it was worth a shot.

I was sat on the bench I told Pietro I'd meet him on. I kept my head down so no one on the trail would recognize me. As time ticked on, I started to worry he wouldn't show up. Maybe he didn't even get the message. JARVIS could do a lot, but he couldn't work miracles, which was what we needed to reach Pietro.

But suddenly, I wasn't alone. A quick gust of wind blew around me, and when I looked up, Pietro was sat next to me.

"You came," I said, immediately cringing at how stupid that sounded.

"I was intrigued," he said. "How did you reach me?"

"Technology can do incredible things," I replied.

He looked impressed. He leaned back against the bench, stretching an arm out behind me. He was so close again, it was making my heart race again.

"What is your plan?" he asked.

It took me a moment to remember why I had asked him to meet me. I stood from the bench. "Care for a walk? If you're even able to do that."

He smiled and stood with me. We started walking the trail, going further into the trees. The trail was basically empty, besides a couple that was walking towards us. I ducked my head, letting my hair fall in front of my face to disguise me. I heard the couple exchange a pleasant greeting with Pietro as they passed by.

"Must be tiring to always have to hide your face when you're out," he said once the couple had passed us by.

"Usually I don't have to hide it," I said. "Only when I don't want any attention brought to me."

"Like right now, while you're out with the enemy."

I stopped walking to face him. "You're not the enemy."

He scoffed. "That's not how it seemed in Sokovia."

"Well, I didn't know who you were in Sokovia."

"And you know now?"

I nodded. "I've been doing my research."

He crossed his arms, waiting for me to go on. So, I did. I told him everything JARVIS had shown me about him and Wanda; the missile, the protests, the experimentations from Strucker. He listened in silence, but I could see in his eyes that he was amazed that I really had done my research.

When I finished speaking, he waited a moment before saying, "I did research on you, too."

I raised an eyebrow and said, playfully, "Probably not as thorough."

He chuckled. "No. Whatever technology you have is leagues beyond what I have. Although, it wasn't too hard to do research when your face is on every TV screen and billboard in existence."

"Touché."

"One of the seven Avengers," Pietro went on. "One of the only members without any powers. Just some martial arts and weapons training."

"And a background as a SHIELD agent," I pointed out. "That definitely had a huge role in landing the gig."

"You came to our base to take that stick that Strucker had."

I nodded. "It's a scepter. It belonged to Thor's brother, and Thor says it has powers from one of the Infinity stones. In the wrong hands, it can be used to dangerous purposes. I mean...as you probably know given what Strucker was doing with it."

Pietro didn't speak, but I could tell what I said had gotten through to him. There was no way he could talk me into believing Strucker's experiments weren't a bad thing when so many of his test subjects had died. I saw the numbers from JARVIS, I knew it was a miracle that Pietro and Wanda survived.

"So what?" Pietro asked, suddenly seeming angry. "You called me out here to tell me you know all about me? To try and capture me? I can outrun whatever ambush you have set up for me."

I shook my head. "There's no ambush. It's just me. My team doesn't even know I'm here."

He stepped towards me. "That was a mistake."

I didn't flinch at his attempt of a threat. "I'm not scared of you, Pietro."

He seemed to hesitate at my words. He was standing near inches from me now. I had to remind myself to breathe, that I was there for a reason beyond these feelings of attraction that I was having. If I could convince Pietro to join our team, then I could deal with the fact that I had somehow developed feelings for a man who I had met once after he attacked me.

"I want you and Wanda to join us," I said, finally breaking the silence.

Pietro scoffed. "'Us'? You want us to join your ragtag team of superheroes? Led by the man who killed our parents?"

"That wasn't Tony. That was his father, and Tony Stark is leagues beyond his father. There's a reason be made the iron suit and became a hero - "

"Because he was kidnapped for the weaponry he made," Pietro cut me off.

"And then he realized the mistakes he was making by being a weapons company," I added. "Listen, I get it. I'm not saying what happened to you and Wanda should be placed aside. It shouldn't. You two should be fucking angry about the hands you've been dealt. But the way to fix things isn't by joining a terrorist group, because that's what Hydra is...was. Whatever, either way they are not the good guys."

"But you are?"

"We try to be! We don't manipulate vulnerable people into being test subjects of our insane experiments, like Strucker did!"

I didn't realize how close we had gotten until I heard more footsteps on the trail. A jogger was running towards us. I quickly buried my head against Pietro's chest without thinking, waiting for the jogger to pass us by. It wasn't until I heard their footsteps retreating that I realized what I had done. I pulled away slowly, trying to take in the short period of time I had allowed some physical contact between us.

"Sorry," I said, my voice so low I wasn't even sure if he had heard me.

He didn't respond. Instead, after a moment of hesitation, Pietro reached for my face and pulled it towards him. I was shocked by the feeling of his lips against mine. But it felt...good. It felt right. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting his white-blonde locks intertwine around my fingers. One of his hands stayed cupping my cheek while the other moved down my body to wrap around my lower back. He pulled me towards him till our bodies were pressed together.

For a moment, I think we both forgot everything else around us. We forgot that we were supposed to be "enemies", that I was a very well known face to the public, that we had been near shouting at each other just seconds ago. For a moment, we were two people attracted to one another, kissing in the middle of the woods.

Pietro was the one who pulled away first. He completely untangled himself from me and backed away a few steps. I felt an ache in my chest as I thought he was regretting what had happened.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I...I shouldn't have - "

"No, don't apologize," I said. "I...am more than okay with what we just did."

He raised an eyebrow at me, that cocky grin starting to tug at the corners of his lips. "Really?"

I rolled my eyes. "How inflated will it make your ego if I tell you that I think I've wanted to kiss you since our encounter in Sokovia?"

"Oh, it would greatly inflate my ego, but it would also make me think you're crazy considering I was attacking you then."

"I think 'attacking' is a pretty heavy term for the fact that you shoved me at super speed and then wrapped your arms around me."

"You don't know what I would've done if you hadn't tried to smash my nose in."

I didn't have a comeback for that, but part of me had a feeling that Pietro wouldn't have done anything too drastic then. If he wanted to, he would've before we had our little staring contest.

He stepped towards me, closing the small gap between us. I was hoping he was going to kiss me again, but he just reached for me to pull me to him.

"I can't promise Wanda will go for this idea," he told me. "Especially when she realizes that I'm even considering it because of a woman."

"You don't have to tell her about us."

"She'll know. Twins always know."

"Well, if you and her are so connected with your twin telepathy or whatever, she will give us the benefit of the doubt for your sake." I hope, anyways.

He kissed my forehead, leaving a tingling sensation. "I will try to talk to her. But whatever her response is, I would like to keep meeting with you."

I smiled. "That could definitely be arranged."

He smiled back at me. He gave me another quick peck on the lips before suddenly vanishing once again. I stumbled a little in his wake. I took a moment to collect myself before I started my walk back to the tower.

I was just leaving the trail when I realized I was still smiling.

[galaxythreads]

Hi, do you mind if I rant a little? Because I found one of your posts while browsing the Loki tag and I’ve since found several more. Then I found your WandaVision one and it reminded me all over again how annoyed that finale made me. I’m sorry, I know it’s been a couple years since it came out, but MY DAYS! What were they thinking in the writers room!? It could’ve all been resolved if Wanda didn’t know what she was doing and sincerely apologised after for it, but… SHE KNEW!? The whole time! And then felt justified for it! “They won’t know what you sacrificed” still being one of the worst lines to come from Marvel. What happened to Wanda crying her eyes out in Lagos because she caused casualties? What happened to Wanda having a panic attack in AOU because she realised what she’d accidentally caused to happen? I had my own opinions about her before, but now I can’t stand her. It would be alright if Marvel went down the villain route of Wanda grieving so much she can no longer care to do good, but they’re still trying to act like she’s a good person after this, as if they haven’t made all her casualties only POC, as if she had a right to enslave an entire town and gaslight her husband and kids. I’m sorry, I’ve gone on for longer than I meant to about something you’re probably not even bothered about anymore. I don’t even know if I’m making sense

rant away, you're good. I remember that i made that post after months (weeks?) of frustration about seeing people praising the ground that Wanda walks on when all I could see when I looked at her is one of the most selfish people in the entirety of MCU. Her character was so good until WandaVision and MoM. She and Loki were my favorite characters.

"It could’ve all been resolved if Wanda didn’t know what she was doing and sincerely apologized after for it, but… SHE KNEW!?"

EXACTLY. There is a massive difference between "i did this without meaning to, I am so sorry" vs "I know I am actively hurting these people and I DO NOT CARE" she comes across as so cold and so selfish because she doesn't. Wanda in WandaVision doesn't care about other people, just what she wants. I just can't help but think about the beginning of her arc vs the end and just feel massive disappointment. And I think it wouldn't be as annoying if it wasn't framed like she was a hero. If they intentionally took her on a dark path and let her be evil, it would have been fine and I would have enjoyed it because I would have been in awe of the clever writing.

But she's not. Wanda is not a hero in WandaVision for holding an entire town captive. she's not a hero for being aware of what she was doing and then doing it anyway. Like I guess the problem with WandaVision is that the finale and the rest of the series seem to disagree with each other, if that makes sense?

Wanda knows what she's doing in every episode until the end, where she's suddenly more sympathetic because she's not trying to hurt people?

like this scene:

this scene was clearly intended for her to BE the villain

but then you get to the end and the finale is like "NOPE! She was actually a good person the Whole Time :D"

look at her! Would I say she's in her right mind? no. but she is aware, she is responding, she is conscious, she KNOWS what she is doing because she understands that the wall can be exited and entered, she is aware these people are here to RESCUE the townspeople and she threatens them. She has what she wants, that's all that matters. WandaVision is an amazing villain origin story. but somehow after all of this she still doesn't have to face any repercussions???

gughsguhgusdghsdglihsdg. Yeah, it's been years and I'm still mad.

but this

are not this:

[utapri-translations-uuuu]

All yours - Lyrics + Translation

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission.

Kanji:

新しい夢の続きを

ずっと一緒に紡ぎたい･･･

降り積もる　白いメモリー

一歩踏みしめる度に　舞い上がる鼓動

“生きること” 喜びや悲しみのループ

お前とずっと感じたい

夜風に瞬いた　イルミネーション

奇跡はこんなにもすぐ近くに･･･

(Snow in special!)

心に住みついたんだ　美しい真っ直ぐな瞳

今日は許してほしい　もっと見つめたい

果てない夢の続きを ずっと一緒に叶えたい

そう　俺にとって　お前が奇跡なんだ

��んな日は　キスしたい

麗しく甘い言葉　聞いてほしい

想いがそろそろ溢れそう

愛を知り　弱さを知り強くなれた

頬に寄せた手が熱い

一人じゃ無理なこと　共に歩めば

不可能なんか無い　そう思える

(Snow in special!)

心に住みついたまま　二度と切り離せやしない

今日は許してほしい　抱きしめていたい

生まれてきて良かったと　愛を知れて気づいたんだ

純白の吐息　絡ませて未来への

キスで誓い合おう

(Snow in special!)

すべてが Precious!

(Snow in special!)

ふとそう思った

その笑顔、その声が

何よりもミラクル

(You are my Precious!)

心に住みついたんだ　俺の可愛い Best lover

今日はもう我慢しない　ギュッと離さない

果てない夢の続きを　ずっと一緒に叶えたい

そう　俺にとって　お前が奇跡なんだ

こんな日は　キスしたい

「キスしよう･･･」

Rōmaji:

Atarashī yume no tsudzuki o

Zutto isshoni tsumugitai…

Furitsumoru shiroi memorī

Ippo fumishimeru tabi ni maiagaru kodō

“Ikirukoto” yorokobi ya kanashimi no rūpu

Omae to zutto kanjitai

Yokaze ni matataita iruminēshon

Kiseki wa kon'nanimo sugu chikaku ni…

(Snow in special!)

Kokoro ni sumitsuita nda utsukushī massuguna hitomi

Kyō wa yurushite hoshī motto mitsumetai

Hatenai yume no tsudzuki o zutto isshoni kanaetai

Sō ore ni totte omae ga kisekina nda

Kon'na hi wa kisushitai

Uruwashiku amai kotoba kiite hoshī

Omoi ga sorosoro afure-sō

Ai o shiri yowa-sa o shiri tsuyoku nareta

Hoho ni yoseta te ga atsui

Hitori ja murina koto tomoni ayumeba

Fukanō nanka nai sō omoeru

(Snow in special!)

Kokoro ni sumitsuita mama nidoto kirihanaseyashinai

Kyō wa yurushite hoshī dakishimete itai

Umarete kite yokatta to ai o shirete kidzuita nda

Junpaku no toiki karama sete mirai e no

Kisu de chikai aou

(Snow in special!)

Subete ga pureshasu!

(Snow in special!)

Futo sō omotta

Sono egao, sono koe ga

Naniyori mo mirakuru

(You are my Precious!)

Kokoro ni sumitsuita nda ore no kawaii Best lover

Kyō wa mō gaman shinai gyutto hanasanai

Hatenai yume no tsudzuki o zutto isshoni kanaetai

Sō ore ni totte omae ga kisekina nda

Kon'na hi wa kisushitai

`Kisushiyō'

Translation:

I want to weave the continuation

Of this new dream along with you forever…

My heartbeat soars with each step I take

Through the white memory that falls and piles up

I want to experience the loop of joy and sorrow

That is “living” with you all of the time

The decorative lights twinkling in the night breeze

A miracle is this close to happening…

(Snow in special!)

Those honest eyes live in my heart

Please forgive me, for I want to gaze at them more today

I want to make the continuation of these endless dreams come true with you

That’s right, because you’re a miracle to me

On days like this, I want to kiss you

I want to hear your sweet heartwarming words

My feelings are about to overflow

I’ve become strong by knowing love and weakness

Your hand on my cheek feels hot

I believe that what you can’t do on your own

Is not impossible if we’re together

(Snow in special!)

You live in my heart and it’ll never be able to separate again

Please forgive me, for I want to hug you today

I’ve realized I was glad I was born and to have learned what love is

A future bound together by pure white breaths,

Let’s pledge to each other with a kiss

(Snow in special!)

Everything is precious!

(Snow in special!)

That’s what I suddenly realized

That smile and that voice

Are more miraculous than anything else

(You are my Precious!)

My adorable best lover, you live in my heart

Today I’m done holding myself back, I’ll hug you and never let go

I want to make the continuation of these endless dreams come true with you

That’s right, because you’re a miracle to me

On days like this, I want to kiss you

“Let’s kiss”

[missmonsters2]

Between the Lines || Part XVI

PAIRING: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader / Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader / WandaNat x Fem!Reader

Summary: Vampire AU. Life has changed drastically since the 1600s. Things are always on the move, and you’ve been very careful to not get on SHIELDs radar. Living on the down-low owning a café, you’re content to live out a quiet existence. That is until the Avengers enter your life.

[Set after the New York Invasion, in CAWS, and goes up to AoU. Canon divergent after.]

Warnings: 18+ content. Explicit Smut

You do NOT have permission to repost or translate my work on any other platforms (even with credit)

Note: I am on a roll pls do not let me crash and burn LOL hope you enjoy the chapter! Likes, Reblogs, & Comments are appreciated 🙏

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Library Blog

PART XVI of XX

Count: 7.6k

"You're dripping."

You look up and see Liam staring at the drop of blood dripping down David's chin. He reaches his thumb out, wiping the blood as David's instincts get the better of him, and he takes Liam's thumb into his mouth.

They stare at each other, and you aren't sure if it is because you're crazed with the need to feed, but you watch as Liam's eyes darken. 

You felt a careful hand land on your shoulder, and you turned back to see Natasha standing beside you and Wanda standing beside her.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asks quietly.

Your mouth was desperately latched onto the blood bag as you sucked in copious amounts, and you couldn't even break from it as you nodded in answer. It was your third bag, and only then did you start to feel stable again. Your wounds completely heal, and your broken bones mend as you finish the last drop of blood. 

Throwing the bag away, you sighed as you rubbed your face tiredly. You looked over at Wanda and Nat with their scraped knees and frowned. 

"Are you two okay?"

They look at each other, and Wanda is oddly shy as she turns away first while Natasha looks mildly amused.

"Feeling like a bruised banana, but I think we'll live," Natasha answers for the two of them. 

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary bursts open, and Steve is running through them. 

"Are you okay?" Steve asks worriedly as he quickly approaches and kneels in front of you, so you're eye to eye. He checks you over, and when nothing looks amiss, he sighs with relief. 

"Wow, this was not the reaction I got when I was shot in the shoulder being on the run with you," Natasha deadpans, but the two of you can tell she's kidding. 

"You get shot at all the time, Romanoff," Steve cocks his brow at her. "When you catch two people from a 700ft story building with your own body, then I'll worry about you."

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

There was somewhat of urgency when arriving back at the Compound. The Avengers are so used to debriefing immediately, but you and David find there's no rush.

"It's unlikely we are leaving again. Why not meet back after everyone has showered and slept a little," you suggest tiredly. Vampires do not need sleep, but you don't feel like there are enough blood bags in the world to help with the exhaustion you're feeling. Sleeping was a slow form of recovery, but you welcomed it. 

After a hot shower, you walk lazily to Wanda's room and find she has just finished showering too, brushing out her wet hair. 

"C'mere," you mumble, grabbing her hand and dragging her back towards Natasha's room.

"I don't have a room here," you tell Wanda. "Mostly because I have my own house which is too far to go to tonight and Natasha's bed is the biggest."

Natasha is still showering when you both enter. You decide now is a good time to help Wanda blow dry her hair before bed. Wanda is noticeably tired and fights to keep her eyes awake as you run your fingers through her hair. 

Once that's complete, you slide into bed, moaning when your face hits the pillow. Wanda slips in next to you on your right, cuddling up against you as she fastly falls asleep with her arms around you and her face pressed into your back. 

You keep your eyes closed, but your mind can't seem to fall asleep quite yet. When you feel the bed dip, you open your arms for Natasha to slip between. She smells fresh and crisp. It feels like home to you, and your eyes flutter open as you see the top of her head pressed into your chest.

Kissing the crown of her head, you adjust for her to look up at you. 

"She's sound asleep," Natasha mutters. Her arms are around you, stretching to stroke Wanda's arms.

"She's been through a lot, I imagine she's physically and mentally exhausted," you mutter back.

"I thought my heart stopped when I saw her leap over that edge," Natasha swallows. "I would have tried to save her regardless, but my feelings never hit me so clearly until that moment."

You sigh, stroking Natasha's back. "The important thing is that you're both safe and Wanda isn't under Tatyana's influence anymore."

Natasha hums. "It's almost strange, thinking about our feelings for each other. I can't help but wonder what we'd be like if Tatyana wasn't influencing Wanda. Would we have explored our feelings for each other further?"

"No use in thinking about it now," you pat her back softly. "What's important is that you both know how you feel about each other now. We're just one big mess and all we can do is take one step at a time. Wanda's delicate, and she clearly loves people very fiercely. As your girlfriend, I'm telling you to not hurt our other girlfriend."

"Ha-ha," Natasha dryly deadpans. "She's not my girlfriend."

You chuckle. "You're just going to kiss her and not even make her your girlfriend? Ice cold, Romanoff. Better put your big girl panties on and ask her before she starts to get the wrong idea about what kind of polygamous people we are."

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

The day starts late for you. When you wake up, you find that Wanda is still soundly sleeping with you. You woke earlier when Natasha tried to leave the bed, and you initially attempted to get her to stay longer, trapping her in your arms. You earned yourself a huff and 45 minutes more with her before she pinched your side to get you to let her leave. 

Still, she had kissed you sweetly on the lips and told you to rest some more before getting ready for her day. You turned around after and cuddled up against Wanda, kissing her exposed shoulder, and felt pleased by her snoring hum. 

"Wake up," you say too quietly to be taken seriously. You pepper kisses against Wanda's shoulder, and she scoots her backside into you. 

Wanda's breathing changes, and you know she's awake. A morning lust builds slowly in you, driving you to stroke Wanda's side. You're careful to not touch her bare skin with your hands, but Wanda turns to you sharply, eyes awake.

"Touch me," Wanda purses her lips. She doesn't want to be pouty about it, but there's only so much she can take. 

"You are so demanding," you brush your lips against hers before giving it a quick peck. "Do you even know what you're asking of me?"

Wanda quirks her brow at you. "Do you know what my power is?"

You grin. "Are you admitting you snoop into my mind?"

There was a beat of silence.

"I can't help it sometimes," Wanda replies instead. "I just want you to know me too."

You let out a huff of laughter. "You couldn't wait just a little longer like Natasha had?"

"You did say I'm demanding," Wanda brings back up, and you roll her eyes. 

You roll over top of her, careful of her hands, still not touching her skin with your hands. Wanda looks absolutely petulant, and you smile at it. You sigh, thinking about how you can rarely deny your girls anything. But you feel so happy about it. 

Natasha's patient and gentle love has taught you that you could love Wanda less cautiously. 

You lift your hand to delicately brush away a strand of hair from Wanda's face, your finger grazing her temple. It's so simple, but you start to see the flashes in your mind. You see her whole life and the pain, the misery, the happiness, the laughter, the pain, the desperation…all of it. 

You slide your hand to cup her jaw firmly, kissing Wanda heatedly. "So soft," you whisper against her lips. You feel that morning lust that was a gentle hum now becoming a throbbing roar. 

Just as you're about to resume kissing her and move for more, a voice loudly interrupts.

"Tony is requesting everyone to meet in the board room immediately," FRIDAY's polite tone comes through, and you sigh heavily while Wanda huffs with disappointment. 

"Let's get up," you suggest reluctantly. "I am mostly deathless but maybe there will be a new way for me to die if Tony accidentally walks in on us if we don't hurry."

Wanda merely makes a face.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

"So, let's debrief quickly now, shall we?" Tony gives you a long look of exasperation, but you can't be bothered since you feel well-rested, languidly sipping on a blood bag. 

"I got some of the logistics, but it'd be good to hear what happened from the beginning," Steve requests as he sits beside Sam with his arms crossed.

Pietro sits next to Wanda, checking in with her, but he's smiling softly at how his little sister looks so content.

Natasha launches into a quick abridged version of everything that occurred when Steve, Sam, & Pietro were gone. But at the end of it, everyone is in deep thought.

"I think the thing we need to figure out first is what does Tatyana want," Steve finally speaks up as he looks at you. "On the one hand, she doesn't seem to want to kill you. If that were the case, she had many opportunities to do so. What's her endgame?"

"I think I have an idea," Wanda speaks up reluctantly. "When I was falling down the building, and Natasha jumped after me, I had her locked in my mind. At that moment, I knew I didn't have the capacity to save Natasha and I while also mentally keeping Tatyana's consciousness in me."

Everyone listened intently. 

"When I chose to force and keep her out, she knew," Wanda surmises. "I think our subconsciousness overlapped for a moment and I was able to see in Tatyana's mind. I saw…an army of something." Wanda then looked at you. "I thought maybe vampires, but they didn't look like you or David, though. They looked hollow…I don't really know how to explain it. I saw her and another man with her. I think he was a vampire but the two of them were able to keep control of this savage army."

You felt your mind blanking as you heard Wanda's words. She really was—

"What did the vampire look like?" David asks.

"He had long black hair," Wanda gestured, her hands moving to demonstrate his features on herself. "Strong cheekbones and toned, but not muscular. He looked maybe in his 40s."

The description was familiar, but you could hardly recall if you bumped into any other vampires with that description, and David didn't seem to have recognized it either.

"I can't believe it," you mutter, drawing everyone's attention. David, Natasha, and Wanda knew the history of it all. "She's out to try it again."

"Try what again?" Tony asks.

You rub your face tiredly, wishing you could just return to bed.

"I had thought what we saw at Liam's was maybe a fluke. Tatyana believed that supernatural beings were treated unjustly, and she was right. But that resulted in her thinking we should fight to bring all supernatural kinds above humans. She wanted to suppress them as she believed that was the only way for her to live freely."

You swallowed. "Previously, she tried to create vampires through her magic instead of venom but the only thing that resulted in were mindless, feral beasts. They couldn't think, couldn't be reasoned with, it was like they couldn't think of anything outside of feeding. Tatyana was only able to control them through her magic," you explain, letting out a deep, miserable sigh.

"I think she and whoever she's working with are trying to do the same. They're tired of the prejudice from humans and having to hide from government bodies. They don't want to be regulated. So, they're creating some army for a war to come," you frown. "I don't exactly know what they've been capable of creating by collaborating. We don't even know how many they've created so far."

"Shit," Steve sighs under his breath, and Tony whips his head in Steve's direction.

"Great, your ex-lover has Steve cursing," Tony remarks with mirth, but it lacks its usual luster with the somber mood of the room. "So, what's the plan. Do we find her?"

Wanda shakes her head. "We can try but we've attempted before, and we only found her when she wanted to be found."

"So, what? We just sit here with our thumbs up our asses until she shows up with another army for us to fuck up our lives? We're still on probation for what happened in Sokovia," Tony rubs his temples to stifle the oncoming headache.

Wanda shakes her head again. "No, I mean just before she was forced out of my head, she left me a message. She's going to leave us a clue on how to find her. We just have to wait for this clue and it'll lead us right to her."

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Night falls quick, and you're left wondering what to do. Wanda had been tired earlier and retired to her room. You gave her a quick kiss before Wanda rigidly turned to Natasha. The older woman merely gives a warm smile before she leans in and pecks Wanda's lips chastely, then again at the corner of her lips. 

Wanda had been stunned, but the sight of her looking relaxed and content warmed your heart. She waved an awkward goodnight to the two of you before leaving.

David and Tony were pulling all the data in as tips, and strange surges popped up all over. You knew it was Tatyana's doing. Many would be a waste of time, but they wouldn't be able to tell until they checked. 

There was only going to be one true hint to where they could find her.

Steve and Natasha had run off together to start the search since they had been too antsy to stay in one place. 

"You need rest," Natasha insists as she brushes your cheek delicately with the back of her fingers.

"I really don't," you quirk your brow at her, and your girlfriend sighs. Natasha grabs both of your hands in hers and shakes her head at you.

"Stay home," Natasha tells you, and you frown. "No, listen," Natasha squeezes your hands softly.

"This is all I can ever do for you," the words are said so forlornly that you open your mouth to deny it, but Natasha continues on. "Every time there's a fight, you're afraid that my body can't endure what these monsters can do. I can't go against Tatyana and win; I know that. Wanda's not even sure if she could win. So, that always leaves you to fight for us."

You remain silent. You want to tell Natasha that you'd give anything and do anything to make sure she and Wanda were safe. Protecting them was ingrained into you at this point, and you know they'd do the same for you. It was proven over and over again. 

"This," Natasha looks around, and you follow her look, seeing her prepping to leave with all the information Tony and David gave her on hand. "This is what I can do for you. This is what I'm good at. So, please," Natasha breathes out her plea. "Please let me protect you in the way I can."

You surge forward and capture Natasha's lips, placing your hand over the back of her neck and pulling her closer. It's almost too desperate as your teeth gashes against her, and you suck on her bottom lip, maybe a little too hard.

"I love you," you breathe harshly out. You wish there were more words in the English language that could convey what you truly feel about Natasha. 

Love wasn't enough.

How do you tell someone that they're the ribs in your body, protecting your heart? That they're the air you breathe, and how desperately you want to be so close that the end of you was just the beginning of them?

Love? Love was so inadequate for someone like Natasha Romanoff.

"I know," Natasha smiles as she chastely kisses you, and it's so sweet and soft, hardly the passionate one you just gave her. Yet, it warms your soul just the same. "More than a lifetime?"

"Until I run out."

Natasha rests her forehead against yours for a second more, unable to resist kissing your cheek once more before she pulls away and lets go of your hands. She gives you a wink before walking off with Steve, who is giving you a shit-eating smirk.

"Keep her alive, Rogers!" You shout after them.

"Think she'll be keeping me alive, but will do!" Steve salutes you.

You shake your head at the two before walking around the Compound. Tony and David were incredibly busy, and you felt like you would only get in the way of them. 

Liam was nowhere to be found, and you assumed he was out grabbing food or doing his own research. 

You look at the time and see that it's nearing midnight. Your mind drifted to Wanda and how exhausted she was, and you decided to go check on her. You felt a little jittery because you're hoping she'll be open to some company. 

There's a craving to be close to Wanda, more so now than ever since Wanda could figure out Tatyana was attempting to possess her mind and stop it. 

Your vampire instinct was never wrong. It hadn't wanted you to leave Wanda, but you couldn't get closer to her with intimacy because it wouldn't have truly been the young brunette. The betrayal of it kept your instinct sharp.

But now?

Your body screamed to be closer. Your fingers constantly flexed with the need to feel Wanda—feel any part of her. You wanted to trace her soft skin and grab her suppleness. 

As you approached her room, you could hear the faint noses of Wanda groaning. 

"Wanda?" You call for her worriedly. You step quickly towards the door and knock, but only a pained whimper was your response.

You disregard everything, forcefully opening the door, and feel your heart stop at the sight.

Wanda was lying on her bed, face down but attempting to hold herself up. She was grasping at her chest furiously through her shirt, pulling at it with a ferocity that made you wince. 

"Shit, Wanda," You snap yourself out of your stupor and race towards her, leaning over the bed as you touch her shoulder gently. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts," she whimpers. "It hurts so bad."

You check all over her, but there don't seem to be more cuts and gaping wounds. You turn her on her back as gently as possible, and suddenly it hits you.

When was the last time you fed on Wanda?

You don't have time to worry about Wanda's modesty as you grip the front of her shirt with your hands and rip it open. She's wearing a rather sheer bralette, and you can see her nipples, but you can't even focus on that when you see what's causing the pain. 

The curse has spread wildly. It was nearing the edge of her chest, and the veins affected by the curse were so dark that they looked deathly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" You hiss at Wanda, your heart thudding in your chest. Fear coursed through your veins, and you couldn't control the absolute panic you felt. 

"The pain...came so suddenly..." Wanda breathes harshly, sucking in the air as if she couldn't get enough of it. "Couldn't...call you."

You climb over her, straddling her body beneath you as you place a palm beside her head. Your other hand grasps the back of her neck as you lift her gently, her head tilting back naturally as you bare her neck. 

"It's gonna hurt a little," you tell her softly. You're trying to control the raging fear, but it's difficult when tears are dripping down the side of Wanda's eyes. 

Wanda opens her mouth to say it's okay, but nothing comes out. You don't waste any more time and drop your face to her neck and pierce the skin before your mouth encloses it. 

Blood rushes into your mouth as you exchange venom into her bloodstream. There's an initial hiss from Wanda as her fingers reach up to grab the edges of your jacket.

Something pulses through her, needy and desperate, as she pulls you down against her body. Inferno heat surges through both your bodies as the venom quickly works, receding the curse. The veins noticeably retract back, quietening and leaving only unbearable desire in Wanda. 

She moans, hips arching into you, and you groan against her neck. You pull away, licking at the puncture wounds and shutting them until perfection returns. 

Your inner lips have a palate of red as you stare down at Wanda. You're still holding her neck up, and Wanda's chest rises and falls, her nipples turning hard through her bralette. You thought her blood pumping into your mouth would calm you, but it only pulsates your desire stronger until you feel like you're in a frenzy. 

Wanda's eyes lock with yours, her mouth opens slightly as she pants, and you can feel the puffs of her breath on your face. 

Minty.

"How do you feel?" You ask, your voice husky, rasping with a desire that you can't even attempt to hide.

"...Horny," Wanda finally says when she decides she can't find a more elegant word for her feelings. 

Normally, the bluntness of Wanda would make you chuckle, but the deep need between your legs and the way your body aches only appreciates it. 

"I feel it this time..." you mumble. "Feels right. Feels like I won't be able to stop if I start."

"Me too," Wanda bites her bottom lip, and your pupils dilate at the sight.

You should blink away the longing. You really should get a grip. This wasn't what you came here to do. All you had wanted was to feel close to Wanda, maybe by holding her. 

But now?

All you could think of was taking her. Taking everything she was offering. You wanted to coax orgasm after orgasm, blood and cum mixing in your mouth because you could. 

Wanda was the one person you could bite and drink from. There was a level of closeness you could achieve with her. 

All you could smell around you was Wanda. Every little thing about her infiltrated your senses, sweeping you under a wave with little hope of letting you go.

Maximoffs were deadly. 

You lower her head, and your nose drags against the soft edges of her jaw. 

"I'm so happy," you whisper. "I'm so happy you're okay, that you're here and alive, and you're free to feel your feelings."

And the way Wanda lights up makes you feel something so overwhelming that all you can do is capture her lips in a needy, urgent kiss. 

You press your lips over and over.

"Perfect," you mutter in between kisses. "So perfect to me. Even when you drive me crazy, I can't help but love you."

Wanda tightens her hold on you, moving her hands to start taking off your jacket, pulling at the edge of your shirt to pull it up and over your head. She wants to say so much, but it's too difficult to make the words leave her mouth when she wants to kiss you. 

The words stay lodged in her mind. Wanda pulls the gloves off your hand and throws them on the ground, pulling your hand to cup her face. 

I love you.

I need you. 

I deserve you. 

You earned me.

We deserve it all.

It was a strange concept to earn something like love and people. But after all this grief, after doing things for the greater good so that other people would be safe at the cost of their own pain...they did earn it.

Natasha would tell them they didn't have to do anything to earn her, but they were both people who knew their suffering, their continued suffering...they deserved Natasha too. 

But right now, they earned this.

Their discarded clothes fall off the bed and onto the ground, and you grab Wanda everywhere greedily. 

*

The soft moans of Wanda stir you on, and the suppleness of her breast that shape in your hands feels heavenly. 

"So soft," you mumble, kissing down her body, your teeth dragging down her skin to leave marks but never pierce. She tasted sweet and spicy, different from Natasha, who tasted like wine and elegance. 

"Oh, fuck," Wanda curses, feeling your tongue flatten and drag up her slit slowly until you fasten your lips around her clit, coaxing her bud out. Her hips grind against your mouth.

Wanda's hands grip the bedsheet, rumpling them as she breathes deeply.

"So close," she pants. "Need more."

Your tongue licks and applies pressure against her, circling her clit. You move your two fingers to her wet entrance as you easily slide into her.

"God, yes," Wanda hisses at the stretch. 

You curl your fingers slightly, pumping as you pass over that perfect spot in her, coaxing her to a shuddering orgasm. 

Wanda's soundless. Her breath stops as she feels herself let go and rush over your fingers. When she comes back down, her heart thuds harshly in her chest, and she can feel it in her ears as she puffs. 

You lap up her slick, moaning at her taste. Your fingers remain in her as you kiss your way back up. Your pupils are blown and hazy as they begin to glow red with lust. 

The desire to see Wanda come undone overcomes you. You hover right before her face, your fingers slowly pumping as Wanda lets out a low groan, barely recovering from her climax. 

Quickly, you have a rhythm going that has Wanda panting. You hover so close you can feel the puffs of her breath on your lips. 

"You take it so good," you kiss her lips briefly. "I want to take you every way you'll let me. Like this, on your side, from behind..."

Wanda tries to turn her face away, eyes screwing shut as the coil in her stomach begins to get too tight. You grip her face back towards you.

"Don't look away, honey," you coo at her. "Take it just like that...keep me right here inside you."

"I'm going to come," Wanda whimpers. "Gonna come, gonna come. Fuck, bite me, bite me, bite me."

And just as Wanda comes with a loud groan, you do as she asks and bite her neck for the second time that night. You moan as the feeling of her blood pouring into your mouth with the taste of her come and everything smelling like sex makes you come. 

It takes long minutes for both you and Wanda to come down from the high and for your breath to return back to normal.

The two of you feel boneless, but it doesn't stop Wanda from pushing you onto the bed on your side as she turns, kissing you softly and slowly. 

The way she lazily drifts her hands down your side to your thigh before moving them between your legs has you moaning. 

"You don't have to if you're tired," You whisper.

"I want to feel you come around my fingers," she mumbles against your lips. "I can't sleep until I do."

You wrap your arms around Wanda before your hand drifts down to hers, and you move your leg over her thigh to give her more access. Your hand rests against hers as you guide them just the way you like it. 

Despite Natasha's kind offer to rest, you don't get as much as you probably should. 

*

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Your rest is short when you wake up, hearing noises within the Compound and footsteps approaching your room. You can tell who it is by the steps alone. 

"Hey," you turn to your side, speaking softly to the sleeping body pressed against you. You kissed Wanda's head. "Honey, wake up."

Wanda grumbled but did open her eyes. "What?" She whined. 

Your chuckle was raspy. "People are coming, we need to get dressed."

"Is it Natasha?" Wanda asked, and you hummed.

"Can't she just join us in bed?" Wanda grumbled.

"Because Steve's right behind her," you smiled as you cupped her cheek and stroked it gently with your thumb.

Wanda sighs deeply and unhappily, and you give her a chaste kiss. Just then, the door opens first, and when Natasha comes in first and sees the two of you, she turns to whisper something to Steve and shuts the door behind her first. 

"See?" Wanda turns her head to look at you. "Natasha can just tell Steve to go away and we can all go back to sleep."

Natasha purses her lip in a way that you can tell when she finds something adorable, but it isn't the moment to relish it. The redhead sits at the edge of the bed. At first, she hesitates to place her hand on Wanda, but the brunette puts her hand over Natasha's before lacing their fingers together. 

Things have been progressing slowly between the two of them. Wanda was sorting out her guilt for how she treated Natasha, even though the redhead hadn't blamed her at all. Still, Wanda wanted to show Natasha her genuine feelings and not rush to overcompensate. 

But when Natasha lifts their hands to kiss the back of Wanda's hand, things like this make Wanda want to do something completely stupid. 

"I would also love to sleep but I'm afraid this can't wait," Natasha softly spoke. "We found the clue Tatyana left for us."

The soft serenity of the room leaves, and in comes the rigid dread. You and Wanda move to get dressed, looking presentable, and Natasha opens the door for Steve to come in. 

Except, it's Steve, Tony, David, and Liam that pour in.

"Oh, nice!" David throws you a thumbs up that you roll your eyes at. 

"What?" Tony cocks his brow.

"What do you mean what? They clearly—" David starts to say and then pauses. "Oh, I guess you can't smell it."

"Smell wha—ohh." Tony stares at the three of you but is only more confused since he knows Natasha has only returned momentarily ago. But then he looks over at you and Wanda, and you can nearly physically see the lightbulb go off in his head. But Natasha doesn't look angry, standing close to Wanda. So, all he can say is, "Congrats?"

"Let's just move on," you groan, rubbing your hand over your face. "What did you guys find?"

Natasha pulls out something from her pocket for everyone to see.

"This was found hanging from The Queen's Giant," Natasha tells you as she hands over the capsule no bigger than 2 inches. Its encasing is in something hard that won't give way even if you crush it with all your might.

You feel your heart close up. You knew immediately why she had chosen that tree, and clearly, so did Natasha.

"I think she chose that tree because..."

"It's the oldest tree in the area..." You finish. "It was meant to represent the Methuselah."

"There's some kind of magic imbued in it. It wouldn't let anyone touch it except me," Natasha says, changing the subject. She turns her head to look at Steve. "Not even Steve could grab it."

You can tell that Natasha was holding something back from you, and you look at her while she stares at you straight on, unflinching. 

"What else?" You ask.

"What do you—"

"If Tatyana wanted only you to touch it, she would've left you a message saying so. I know her," you purse your lips together. "What did she say?"

Natasha sighs, obviously reluctant to tell you but knowing you won't let it drop.

"There was a carving in the bark. It said, 'For my lover's little human, who will only live one lifetime.'" Natasha mutters while Steve pinches the space between his brows. 

You feel something hit the back of your throat. There's an emotion that you can't quite describe. You feel nauseated because you hate that Tatyana can be so cruel. 

You once loved that about her because you could always see the sweet and wounded girl hiding behind the cruelty. You think you could even now, but you could no longer stand for it since that night.

You don't have the words to comfort Natasha, and you don't think Natasha would particularly want to hear it now. 

"How are we supposed to open it?" Wanda asks, redirecting the conversation as she stands closer to Natasha, softly stroking the older woman's pinky with her own subtly. 

"Venom," you say after a minute. 

In the past, when you were separated from Tatyana for various reasons, she would leave you messages to find that only you could read by breaking down her cases with venom. 

They all watch as you bring the capsule to your mouth, your fang hovering over it. They can see the venom secrete within seconds, and a drop drips onto the capsule. It begins to erode immediately, disintegrating until only a parchment paper tied neatly closed is left. 

Steve watches the entire thing with curious eyes. "I'm surprised the venom didn't catch the paper too."

"It does if more than one drop hits the case," you mumble, thinking back to previous experiences.

Everyone waits with bated breath, knowing that whatever is in the paper is the key to finding Tatyana. 

You pull the string holding the rolled note up and slowly unravel it. The familiar penmanship digs at your bones and aches your heart. There's even a faint smell of hydrangea, which Tatyana used to rub over her letters or notes like perfume. 

You let out a shaky breath as you read the note.

[img id: Roses are red, violets are blue. My love, you will only be able to find me where everything ended, so we can start anew./end img id]

You feel your stomach drop, the blood draining from your face. 

"Jesus Christ, she wants you—" Natasha starts, but Wanda interjects.

"She wants you to find her where you—" But even Wanda can't finish her sentence. 

But you swallow, almost painfully, as you gripped the note harder, crumpling the edges.

"We have to go back. We need to go where she slaughtered that village that night and where I killed her. She's waiting for me there."

"It's obviously a trap," Wanda argues.

"It's the only thing we have," you shake your head at her. 

"We should think about it more," Natasha gently suggests, with Steve agreeing with her, but you crumple the edges of the parchment further.

"And what? Wait until she gets tired of waiting for us to come? Do you guys not understand what Tatyana is like by now?" You try to not huff with disbelief. "If we don't take this clue now, she's not going to send another one."

"Well, it's not like she's just going to go away, right? Maybe we'll get more time to think." Tony rubs his brow. 

"No, she won't," you bite back. "She'll come right to us and along the way, she'll kill every person she encounters and bring their heads on a stick as a reminder of what happens when you don't do things her way."

"If we do things her way, we lose," Steve rejects, but you scoff. 

"I'm not trying to win or lose, Steve," you grit. "I'm trying to minimize how many innocent people Tatyana will fucking kill along the way. You might be willing to test her, but I'm not. Not when I'm the one who has seen her massacre an entire village—a village with children and newborn babies she didn't even know. If she's capable of that kind of genocide, you think she won't find people that you care about to bring their heads on a stick?"

It was a jab at Bucky, and everyone knew it. It was mean, but these people didn't understand how vindictive Tatyana could be. They didn't understand the kind of brutality she was capable of. 

And they probably never would. Not like you.

"We're a team, so if you want to test her because you think your technology can protect everything that matters to you against a true witch and her ancient magic, then I'll wait in my room." You drop the crumpled parchment. "But you better be prepared to pay her price because she'll take it—with interest."

You walk past everyone, leaving the room despite the calls of your name. 

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Natasha is exhausted. 

Dragging her fingers through her hair, she tiredly makes her way back to her room. You hadn't wanted to talk to Natasha after discovering the clue.

You hadn't wanted to talk to anyone, not even David. In the end, Natasha could only leave you to process what just happened alone. 

She's about to enter her room when she looks down the hall and finds that Wanda's door is still wide open, even though everyone has long left her room. 

Forgoing entering her own room, Natasha continues to walk until she's at the entrance of Wanda's. She can see Wanda standing out the window, leaning against the ledge as she stares. Without the lights turned on, the moon illuminates Wanda, and Natasha is taken in by the sight.

Wanda suddenly turns around, feeling someone behind her, and is surprised to see Natasha. The redhead makes her way in, slowly making her way to Wanda.

"Any luck?" Wanda asks, but Natasha shakes her head. 

"I'm surprised you haven't run after her," Natasha cocks her brow, and Wanda stares for a couple of seconds longer, only really being able to discern if Natasha was joking from how her lips moved. 

"She wouldn't listen to me even if I did," Wanda snorts, moving to pull her sleeves over her hands. "Not after what happened last time."

"I don't think she holds it against you," Natasha softly comforts, her body leaning more forward in Wanda's direction. "Anymore, at least."

Wanda merely shrugs. "Maybe not, but I don't think I can reason against her when it comes to Tatyana. When it comes to that woman, she becomes similar to Tony—paranoid and unreasonable."

"I know," Natasha merely sighs. "I think she just needs time to process on her own. I can be pretty bad about that," she closes her fist for a moment before opening it to stretch her fingers. "I see her hurting and immediately chase after her."

"She obviously ends up talking to you about it, and it seems to work for the better," Wanda comments as she thinks about the last couple of times you've spiraled and Natasha was there. 

Natasha gives Wanda a self-deprecating smile. "Because I force her to at times, even unknowingly for her. Sometimes, I manipulate the conversation or that part I know of her that only wants to treat me right to make her open up."

Wanda doesn't say anything. She watches Natasha move away from the window and sit on the edge of her bed. 

"I see she's hurting and think I can fix it," Natasha swallows as she leans onto her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "She's so worried that she's going to mess it up with me—that she's the one that's only going to hurt me and forgets that I can make mistakes too. I am also capable of making things worse."

Wanda is fascinated to see this side of Natasha. She has also thought of Natasha as someone perfect and without mistakes. Her attraction to Natasha has been intimidating. To like someone flawless and patient with your own misgivings was filled with admiration but also trepidation. 

Seeing Natasha like this? It somehow turned Wanda's attraction to something more tangible. 

"You make it better too," Wanda said softly as she carefully leaned onto the bed on her side, a few inches away from Natasha. "The most comforting thing is knowing you'll immediately chase after someone. To know that if they look behind, they would see you. I have experienced it."

Natasha feels anticipation rise in her chest. To think she could freely feel these emotions and know that Wanda welcomes them is something she wouldn't trade for anything. 

"Even if it's a trap, she'll be okay," Wanda mumbles, her head leaning closer. "She has us—we have us, right?"

The anticipation grows overwhelming until Natasha places her hand on the back of Wanda's neck underneath her hair, pulling the girl closer until her lips meet in a languid, lingering kiss. 

"You drive me crazy," Natasha whispers against Wanda's lips as they break apart for air.

Wanda smiles lightly, lips brushing against Natasha's. "Hopefully the good kind."

"In a way that I wouldn't want to be without," Natasha reassures. 

The feelings are new, and they can agree it's not quite love yet. But there's a gnawing in their bones, the kind that tells them about the inevitability of coming to love each other unlike any other. It will be fierce, and it will be welcomed. 

"I rarely got to see the outside when I was in Hydra," Wanda mumbles, eyes closing at how soft Natasha's lips feel. "When I slept outside for the first time in a long time, I saw the night sky, and all the stars I used to see was gone. But the moon was there. I could always find the moon if I looked. That was the only thing ever constant."

The inevitability gets closer and closer, Natasha feels. 

"But I think you're more constant than the moon," Wanda mutters. 

And Natasha pulls Wanda in for another kiss until they can't breathe.

And then another after that.

And then another after that. 

And another until the only constant thing is how their tongue slides against each other.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

"You are seriously the most melodramatic person I know."

You turn your head back and roll your eyes, though there's no malice behind them.

"Okay, mister 'Oh, I'm a man out of time, and I thought everyone I loved was dead, except my best friend is actually alive and playing tag with me, and my past lover is very, very old. As old as I should be...because I'm a man out of—'"

"Jesus, alright," Steve chuckles. "Ruthless, you are."

You chuckle back, tilting your head down. The breeze feels light as it caresses your face and creates gentle wisps of your hair. You don't say anything else as Steve sits beside you, his legs dangling over the edge like yours. 

"I just came up here to say I'm sorry," Steve gently nudges your shoulder. "I mean, you're being the hard-headed one but I'm sorry."

You actually let out a laugh as you lean your head against his broad shoulder. "That's the worst apology I've ever heard. Why even apologize?"

"I don't know," Steve shrugs lightly to not jostle your head. "Bucky said I always gotta apologize to a dame even if I don't think she's right."

"Good advice," you snort but then sigh. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't haven't said that." You were referring to your jab of Tatyana getting Bucky.

Steve lifted his arm to wrap it around you, rubbing your arm comfortingly. "It's okay," he forgives easily. "I know you didn't mean it and I guess it made me more wary of the situation. Still," Steve sighed. "This doesn't change that rushing is probably a trap."

You nod. "I know."

"Then why—"

"Think of the alternative, Steve," you cut him off, lifting your head to look at him seriously. "We walk into her trap, or she comes here dragging bodies of innocent people. Do you truly think you know her better than me? Do you think there's people who aren't capable of doing horrible things?"

Steve is silent, and you continue on. "I know it's a trap, Steve. I know that whatever is waiting for us there is probably going to end in some tragedy. But the odds of us beating her are always going to remain the same. Whether we go there with what we have or she comes here with what she has. We're not going to suddenly get an army to take her on. So, doesn't it make sense to save as many lives as we can whether we win or lose?"

It feels like forever passes as Steve stares at you before sighing.

"The sad part is Tony said you sounded boneheaded like me before we went to fight Ultron. I bet he's laughing right now," Steve grumbles, and you laugh, although a little self-deprecatingly.

"I wish I could tell you we'll lose together but I think we'd be just lucky to die at the same time," you mutter.

Steve just laughs, but you can tell he's wary about the situation at hand. "I feel like I need to do one for you too."

"One what?"

"Hm, let's see," Steve hums. "Oh! How about Miss 'Oh, I'm an eternal supernatural being. My past lover has come back to seek revenge because I had to kill her. I will be haunted forever...because I live forever as a supernat—"

"Oh my god, please shut up before I throw us both off this roof."

"It's fine, I think we'll both live. Enhanced beings and all."

"You're so annoying."

Steve just laughs, and you follow along after a beat.

Still, you can't help but feel the dread deep in the pit of your stomach, gnawing at your bones, that something very, very bad will occur.

CHAPTER 17

[frostedfaves]

Naive (1)

Masterlist

Pairing: demon!Wanda Maximoff x fem!reader

Summary: Of all the humans Wanda has met, you’re suddenly her favorite.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY, dark!fic, demon things™️ (be warned that this shit will get much darker in the future), subtle hand kink (don’t @ me)

A/N: special shoutout to the anon that inspired this fic series, I hope you enjoy this weird combo of AOU x IW Wanda. also if you have any previous knowledge of demons, throw it out the window before you read this because I guarantee that things will not add up here lmao

-

Wanda’s favorite thing about interacting with humans is her effect on them.

Walking through a crowd is fine. She’ll brush a few shoulders and rattle a few unsuspecting adults, flash solid black eyes at kids that either stare or scream. It’s temporary and brings a bit of fun to an otherwise dull day.

The real joy comes from direct contact. Wanda travels miles away from her apartment building, choosing different stores, restaurants and cafés just to keep things interesting. A new cashier each time. She’ll have an air of friendliness about her that isn’t exactly fake; she finds most humans to be charming, despite their fragile minds.

“Will that be all?” Roy--according to his name tag--asks with a grin and Wanda nods in response. “Okay, your total is $21.14. You can just swipe or insert your card in the machine there.”

Wanda inserts her card carefully, complimenting the decor as she waits for the transaction to be completed. After returning it to her wallet, she flashes a soft smile at Roy as he hands her the receipt, purposefully brushing her fingers with his. As his skin makes contact with one of her rings, she notices the goosebumps rising along his arm and hears his breathing pattern change.

“Roy? Everything alright?”

She hears the concerned voice of a coworker as she makes her way to a table to wait for her meal, already seated by the time Roy coughs in an effort to collect himself.

“Yeah, just feeling off I guess. I’ll be fine.”

A chuckle falls from her lips as she watches the poor cashier attempt to return to his previous state of mind, finding the urge to smile and wave when his eyes cut over to her. His voice trembles when he calls her name and he stands as far away as possible when she approaches the counter to grab her order.

“Thanks for everything, Roy.”

Sensing that he’s startled enough without it, she keeps her other tricks hidden in her sleeves and simply walks away, holding her laughter until the doors close behind her. A good meal with a side of human interaction, her absolute favorite.

-

The next day brings Wanda to a bookstore around lunchtime. She takes a minute to browse the aisles, taking an exceptionally long time lingering in the section harboring books on angels and demons. The stereotypes amuse more than upset her like they used to in the beginning.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

Wanda turns to make eye contact with the employee behind her, about to ask a question for the fun of it when a laugh catches her attention. Her gaze redirects to the café counter straight ahead, and a warm feeling washes over her when she hears the laugh again.

You’re genuinely entertained by the elderly woman purchasing a bagel with exact change, and Wanda manages to catch the end of the conversation as she draws near.

“Safe to say, I haven’t worn the blouse since that day.” She bids you farewell with her bagel and receipt in hand, eyes twinkling as she observes Wanda on her way past. “You have such bright and beautiful hair, dear.”

“Thank you,” Wanda responds with sincerity, attention locked on you while approaching the counter. “Hi.”

“Hey,” you greet her with a voice much calmer than the one you use with most of your other customers. “What can I get you today?”

You watch the orange haired woman turn her head to study the items behind the glass, taking the time to do your own inspection. You admire the dark red jacket that covers most of her torso, gaze lingering on the multiple rings hugging her fingers that seem to be smoothing nonexistent wrinkles in her dress, almost in a nervous fashion. It brought you a bit of comfort, assuming that she was affected in the same way.

“What do you recommend?”

“Oh, well…” You walk over to open the glass case from your side of the counter, naming each item as you grab it. “I usually have this pretzel that’s stuffed with spinach and cheese and this brownie. I can heat both of them for you, if you’d like.”

“I would love that,” Wanda responds in a grateful tone, placing a bottle of water on the counter after taking it from the fridge. “And I’ll also have one of these incredibly overpriced waters.”

You begin her order with a laugh, and she watches you ring everything up with the speed and expertise of a seasoned employee, wondering how she’d gone this long without running into you. The total price is brought to the digital screen just before her card is inserted, and she takes the time to quickly slip her rings into her pockets while you’re taking the pretzel and brownie over to the miniature oven. The last thing she wants to do is scramble your brain before she even gets the chance to explore it.

“Here’s your receipt,” you announce while giving Wanda the slip of paper, your eyes lingering on her hand for a moment before looking at her again. “Your food should be ready soon.”

“Okay, thank you…” Her sentence trails off as she searches for your name, the letters rolling off her tongue with ease when she finally locates it on the apron covering your chest.

“You’re welcome…” You trail off in the same fashion and she catches on quickly.

“Wanda.”

“You’re welcome, Wanda,” you repeat as you hand her the water bottle before she can walk away.

Less than two minutes later, you approach the table she’s taken over with two small ceramic plates and a sheepish grin.

“I should’ve asked if you were going to stay a while, but I can grab some bags if you need to go.”

Wanda shakes her head with a laugh as she takes them from you, startling you when she doesn’t react to the excessive heat radiating from the dishes.

“This is perfect.”

She takes her time with eating, and your attention is drawn to her between customers, grateful that she’s too busy with her phone to notice your stares. On the other hand, Wanda’s mind is filled with thoughts of you. What you look like when you think she can’t see you glancing over, what you smelled like when you were close. The nerves, the kindness, the desire to learn her name despite her being just another customer to you. She knows that you noticed her missing rings, but she’s already prepared with a cover story. A two minute conversation has her dying to pick your brain more, learn your habits and become more familiar with your body, beyond a simple brush of your fingertips. She already wants you to herself, just the way you came, without her interference for now; that’ll come later.

A good meal with a side of human interaction, her absolute favorite.

-

Despite Wanda leaving an hour before your shift ended, she lingers in your thoughts on the bus ride and walk home. You find yourself recalling her kind smile, fidgeting fingers and the scent of her perfume when she passed you on her way out, and you’re so deep in your memories that you end up colliding with your apartment door.

“That’s not going to get you inside any faster, dear.”

Your cheeks burn as you face Ruth for the second time today, the first time being earlier when you sold her a bagel.

“I know, Ruthie,” you respond sheepishly as you pull your keys from your pocket. “Is everything okay? You’re usually in bed watching a cowboy show by now.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come home so I could talk to you.” She checks to see if the hallway is empty before opening her door and waving you over. “Come on, quickly.”

You scurry into the apartment behind her, taking in the scene before you while she locks the door. Having visited her before, you know she keeps the television at a higher volume, but it seems louder than normal.

“I know I might seem like I’ve lost my marbles, but I wanted to warn you about that woman you saw today....The one with the bright hair.”

“You mean Wanda?” you question, eyes widening when she nods. “Warn me about what?”

“There’s something off about that Wanda, if that even is her real name.” She snatches her arm out of her robe and brings it closer for you to see. “I’ve had these chills since I brushed against her earlier. Something’s not right with her. How do you even know her name? I’ve never seen her before.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” you assure her as you help her slip her arm back in the sleeve. “I only know her name because we were having a friendly conversation and she used mine. I was just being polite to someone I’ll probably never even see again.”

“Just be careful,” she pleads as you head toward her door again, and you offer your best attempt at a relaxed smile.

“I’ll be fine, Ruthie. Get some rest, okay?”

You hear her lock the door behind you as you make your way back to your own apartment, rushing through the process of unlocking the door and securing it once you’re inside. As much as you don’t want to let Ruth get you worked up over a stranger, you can’t help thinking about the odd little things you noticed earlier. 

It isn’t unusual for someone to linger after buying food or drinks from your counter, whether they have homework or even just a phone to keep them busy. Wanda seemed to be waiting for someone the entire time, and you remember hoping that she wasn’t on a date, despite not wanting her to be stood up. But she simply slid her phone in her pocket and departed with a friendly wave as if nothing had happened.

You especially remember her waving at you with those ringless fingers, and wondering silently where the intricate jewelry had disappeared to. Obviously you just assumed that the rings were tucked away on her person and not dumped in the trash, but she doesn’t seem like the type of person to give up on her accessories in the middle of the day. Part of you--a part that you didn’t dare to address--wondered if she’d emptied her hands to send you a subtle sign. No, that can’t possibly be it.

Sleeping proves to be difficult with so many unanswered questions floating about, but you eventually give into the act. A few hours later, you peel open your eyes when you think you hear something in the room. The digital clock that sits on your bedside and serves as an alarm and occasional radio reads 3:34am, and you’re just about to close your eyes again when you hear another sound. You raise your head to turn toward your closet, and a scream is trapped in your throat as you catch sight of a figure in the shadows.

The next time you wake, the sun is out and your alarm is blaring on the nightstand beside you. Your gaze flickers over to the closet as you reach out to silence it, your heartbeat dropping slightly when you don’t see anything other than clothes. Deciding that you must’ve been dreaming, you shake away the fearful thoughts and head to the bathroom to start getting ready for another day of work.

The only thing you haven’t decided on yet is whether you want to see Wanda again.

[saifahname]

Potential couples in the no braincells extended friend group and how I see each specific dynamic:

FuseKita - best friends since god knows when, Kita knows his feels but Fuse is obvious until Kita is courted by a man, “am I homophobic if I’m not comfortable with my best friend being touchy with another man?” -> “turns out I’m fine with it, as long as I am that man”

UpAou - best friends to lovers in the purest form, falling slowly for a person that you know like the back of your hand and knows you just the same, working together for the same goal, knowing the parts that the other doesn’t show to the world

KitaAou - bonding over being the “normal one”, talking for hours while Talay and Puen do their thing and Fuse and Up are being themselves somewhere, hitting it off since moment 0, the excitement of being understood

FuseAou - enemies to lovers, “I can’t stand your guts” but like “You are the person I base my satire on”, “Why must you be like this?”, Fuse trying to win Aou over with everything he has including money just because -but he actually has a crush on him

UpKita - this guy is hilarious oh wait why is he suddenly serious and why is he a totally different person and why do I want to spend so much time with him // this guy is so pretty have you heard him laugh here let me tell you another joke so you can laugh again not only you are so pretty you’re also nice???

FuseUp - the couple that somehow got together and now it’s everyone’s problem

[thiscrimsonsoul]

in WV, didn't Agatha call Wanda cruel? (as if she didn't kill a puppy?? Agatha plz) it was before Wanda started reading the Darkhold. and now I think abt the scene with the Illuminati... it makes me feel sick (and it's not because of the nature of the deaths, since I love horror movies) because Wanda displays extreme cruelty. she taunts Mr Fantastic about his kids having someone left to raise them, she cuts captain Carter in half with her shield... was it all the Darkhold, or can Wanda be cruel?

{out of paprikash} Here comes a rant, haha...

I think the cruelty was all the Darkhold, yes, as was threatening and attempting to kill a child. In my personal opinion, Wanda would defend, fight back, hurt, and even kill to protect herself and her family, especially after the events of WandaVision, but even before that. She would have killed Tony Stark if she could have way back in AoU before she understood more of the truth. But would she have tortured him? Gone after his children if he'd had any at the time? Gone after his girlfriend? No. Wanda will resort to violence to protect herself and those she loves, and she does believe in revenge, but she was never excessively cruel, never reveled in the pain of others, and would absolutely never harm or kill a child. If anything, Wanda was always protective of children because she knows how vulnerable they are, after what happened to her at Pietro when they were ten. The extreme nasty sass and snark, the excessive cruelty, and the literal overkill on violence, I believe, was the result of her being corrupted by the Darkhold.

I think the Darkhold magnifies your worst pain, biggest regret, deepest desire, etc. into an obsession and amplifies your response to it in an immoral manner. So for example, if before the Darkhold Wanda was thinking, "I'd give anything to see my boys again." It's a hypothetical phrase that a lot of us think or say when we lose loved ones. However the vast majority of us know that isn't possible, and we aren't willing to harm other people to bring back our own loved ones. What the Darkhold did was show Wanda (or lie to her, essentially) that, as she said in DSMoM, "everything I lost can me mine again." So suddenly that hypothetical painful wish of wanting to see them again is no longer hypothetical. Then what it did was take her innocent wish and turn it into an immoral, violent ambition. her thinking went from "I'd give anything if I could only see them again" to "I will do anything and I will have them again." It amplifies the bad, evil, immoral, violent, and cruel, and suppresses things like empathy, kindness, rational thinking, and restraint.

A very telling thing to me was when Wanda said to her boys near the end of the movie, "I would never hurt you. I wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm not a monster." How can Wanda say she wouldn't hurt anyone after she just murdered a bunch of sorcerers and the Illuminati? I've seen lots of posts where people say Wanda is a liar and a hypocrite, that she's lying to her sons to get them to go with her, turning it into some insidious thing. I don't think that's true at all. I think what we were seeing there was a window into Wanda's true self. The fact that she's saying she'd never hurt anyone is chilling to me because I think it illustrates Wanda's level of understanding or perhaps cognitive awareness (or the lack thereof) of the things that she had done.

It makes me wonder whether the majority of what we saw of Wanda in the movie was actually a version of her personality constructed by the Darkhold, and her true personality was suppressed. Almost like a possession type situation. If that's true, it would make sense that something like seeing her boys so scared of her would be the thing that would shake the Darkhold's, no pun intended, hold on her, because it would be so jarring to Wanda's core personality that it might help it to come through. But also, it would make sense that she may not even fully understand or remember what she was doing while in the throes of Darkhold possession.

There is another option here, and given Wanda's very damaged mental state I think it is a possibility, and that is that Wanda is in complete denial about what she's done. Not an active denial, like someone choosing not to talk about or acknowledge something they've done, but a clinical denial where the person suppresses the memories, resulting in a lost time, blackout, or memory gap situation. In that case, the memories may come back to Wanda over time, especially now that she's destroyed the physical Darkhold (I say physical because Stephen over there with his photographic memory may have memorized parts of it that can still be used for spell casting). That could be incredibly traumatizing for her to process free of the Darkhold's influence. It would be like Nigeria all over again but this time so much worse and she did it on purpose. Wanda would have a very hard time coping with that level of guilt.

My version of Wanda incorporates both: a possession-style grip on her by the Darkhold that suppressed her core personality and amplified her worst thoughts, desires, etc. (like 838-Wanda being buried under rubble in her own mind to illustrate suppression, I view 616-Wanda's core personality being held in a similar way inside herself), AND a trauma response whereby she represses the things the Darkhold influenced her to do. So recovering from this after the events of DSMoM are slow, agonizing, heartbreaking, traumatizing, and guilt-producing for Wanda. I treat the Darkhold's influence as both a type of demonic possession and much like how drug addiction works, both in the mindset of the addicted and how the recovery process would proceed physically and mentally.

I want to add here that this doesn't absolve Wanda of what she did, because it was still her choice to pick up that Darkhold and begin studying it even after she was told what it was and what it does AND she saw the effects it had on Agatha. Also, she had just come off of WandaVision, having screwed over an entire town full of people, and I feel her mindset should have been to lay low and stop her shit, not start studying an evil book. So Wanda definitely has culpability here, I just don't necessary blame her fully for everything she did in DSMoM because I believe she legit was extremely influence by the Darkhold, which is an incredibly powerful, ancient, evil artifact. So yes she is at fault for the situation, but I just can't bring myself to blame her for all the violence because it just so wasn't her, character-wise. It was so out of character for her that to me, the only way it makes sense is if it was the result of the Darkhold's influence.

And remember, supposed two years went by between WandaVision and DSMoM, during which we are supposed to believe that Wanda was alone and not checked up on by anyone. So the Darkhold had her all to itself for two years. That's a long time to be inside your own head and under the influence of an evil compulsive artifact, just saying. Given that, I think the level of violence does make sense, because it's the culmination of her being alone with this thing and it slowly taking her over and driving her towards this obsessive objective that was so emotional and deeply traumatic for her. All of that is a lotta mental and emotional force being exerted on someone who was already very fragile and damaged mentally in the first place.

When put into that perspective, I guess that's why I don't have a problem with how Wanda was portrayed in DSMoM and I don't see it as a destruction of her character or a deviance from her core character up until this point. I see it more as the result of her being a victim of this evil artifact combined with her damaged mental state going unchecked and not helped for too long. For anyone who's seen demonic possession movies and such, if the person who is possessed violently kills someone, are they blamed for it? Or is the demon blamed? I mean I haven't seen too many movies where someone get a demon exorcised from them and then it's like, okay now you're going to be charged with murder. No, they're helped to recover and they start to build trust with the people around them again while removing themselves from the influence of the demon (a location, a book, an artifact, etc.). So I feel the same way about Wanda and I handle her in that way in any threads I have post-DSMoM.

Side note... I don't even think Agatha's cruelty (killing Sparky, choking the twins, making Wanda relive her trauma, etc.) was her normal core self either. Again, just like Wanda, she made the choice to start studying the book, so there is some culpability there, but given the similarities in their speech, their demeanors, and their actions, it seems to me that both Wanda and Agatha were under the Darkhold's influence in a way that amplified their cruelty. I mean... even Agatha's makeup in WandaVision, albeit on a purple scale instead of a red one, resembled Wanda's in DSMoM. The gaunt cheeks, the dark lips, the excessive eyeshadow, the dark rings around her eyes. That to me was a visual representation of the Darkhold's corruption.

I hope I actually answered your questions somewhere in all of that, haha. I just felt like ranting about all of this, so I hope you don't mind. XD

[kaiparker-avengerssmut]

Our Doll 14// Here we Go Again

B.Barnes x S.Rogers, B.Barnes x Stark!Reader, S.Rogers x Stark!Reader

Series Synopsis | After the events of the horrific past, y/n Stark, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes have finally admitted their feelings for each other. But is life as an avenger whilst dating two super soldiers any easier than anything y/n’s experienced in the past?

sequel Series to Their Doll

Series Warnings | smut, violence, torture, swearing, threesomes, drug usage/substance abuse

Chapter Summary | y/n and Bucky get closer again

Warnings | blood, implied violence

A/n | This is a sequel book/series to my fic Their Doll! This book loosely follows the mcu timeline, starting in CAWS in book one and starting just before AOU in this book. Bucky had been recovered and is safe, and Peter was taken under Tony's wing when he was much younger.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

"My scar." Y/n mumbled, looking up at Bucky suddenly. The man hummed, placing his book on his lap to look back at his girl.

"What about it?" Bucky mumbled back with curiosity.

"You said those...dreams were what you would've done if we'd been together before the war, but I still had my scar. You could've gotten rid of it, but you didn't." Y/n explained, a confused frown dancing over her brow when he smiled.

"It's because I love you, all of you. That scar, it tells a story that you shouldn't have to tell, but shouldn't ever forget. It's part of you, like this," Bucky lifted his metal arm, waving the plated hand slightly, "is part of me."

Y/n smiled light from where she sat across the couch; she still didn't feel comfortable being too close to Bucky after the whole locking her up thing, but she was getting closer.

"I'm sorry." He abruptly blurted and y/n frowned. Bucky took a deep sigh before continuing. "I really can't tell you how sorry I am about...about, well, everything?" Bucky proposed and y/n shifted in her seat slightly.

"Oh." Was all she managed, placing her own book on the flimsy coffee table that sat parallel to the torn up sofa in the motel room they were staying in. "Thanks, I guess?" She supplied and Bucky blinked at her. "I'm sorry, I'm just not good at this stuff, I guess. I'm so confused as to how I should feel right now." Y/n vented and Bucky smiled.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm just happy you can bare me enough to talk to me, I was terrified that I may have lost your trust forever." He mumbled, tentatively reaching to take y/n's hand. When she didn't flinch or pull away, he held it in his own.

"I just don't know what to feel; on the one hand, you let them lock me up, but on the other, well, you did everything you could to keep me comfortable and you got me out." Y/n admitted and Bucky nodded, understanding. "And I still love you." She added quietly and Bucky grinned, before wiping the expression from his face.

They'd been on the run for a couple of weeks now, skipping between dingy motels and safe houses that had been long forgotten. Using a code, Bucky and Peter had kept in contact. Apparently, Tony and Sharon were furious.

"I love you too. Do you want some food yet?" Bucky asked and y/n nodded. He got up and crossed the room to gather some money and the room key. "I'll be back in half an hour tops, okay?" Bucky checked and y/n nodded.

"See you later." She murmured as the door slammed shut.

Alone with her thoughts again.

Y/n would rather be in Bucky's company than alone still. Even after the stuff he'd done, she couldn't stop herself from loving him. And it's not like she hadn't done her own fair share of bad things, too.

The girl sighed, rubbing her eyes as she felt the drowsiness of sleep overcome her. Maybe she could get a nap in before Bucky got back.

...

Bucky kept his head down. His hair had grown longer; he hadn't bothered cutting it since they left. His hood was drawn tightly over his face and his steps were quick as he paced to the closest store that sold food.

Once he reached the shop, Bucky rigged a hand - the flesh one - from his pocket and pulled open the door. When inside, he hastily went in search of some decent food.

Although, he instantaneously discovered one of the down sides to shopping at night - drunk people. The boisterous laughed filled his ears like water as Bucky hunted through the shelves, slurred insults thrown back and forth within the group of men.

"Hey, you!" Shit. Bucky looked up. "Yeah, you with the long hair!" One of them boomed and Bucky scoffed, shaking his head as he turned back to the section of ready-made sandwiches.

"Hey, look at me." The man persisted and Bucky rolled his eyes. They boy looked back to his friends, all clearly amused with the situation before the guy was swinging a punch in Bucky's direction.

On instinct, the super soldier caught the guy's fist in his hand. His metal hand. The guy looked so aghast that Bucky had to stop himself from laughing.

...

"This may hurt a little." Y/n sighs, eyes squinted as she threads the needle in front of her. Bucky swallows his groan of pain, giving her a stiff nod before letting his head knock back into the wall behind him. Y/n steps between her boyfriend's legs, pulling his arm forwards and letting a small apology slip from her lips when he hissed.

"Fuck!" Bucky cursed, metal fist slamming into the counter that he was sat on, the dent large and lined with splintered wood. Y/n winced a little but continued, her voice twisting around whisper sweet nothings to calm him down.

Bucky's breathing was heavy, laboured, as y/n continued to sew up the gash, lip pulled between her teeth in concentration.

"Almost there...just a little more..." Her small voice mumbled as Bucky's metal a whirred.

"Fuck me, please remind to never piss off a group of drunk guys again." Bucky groans, but y/n could only find herself biting her lip harder at the thought of fucking him again.

Clearly, this intimate moment had helped her see past his mistakes.

Huh.

"I'm so sorry, y/n. I'll be more careful next time." Bucky promises, flesh hand reaching to cup her cheek when he pulls back - remembering her hesitance.

"It's not your fault. I'll still patch you up each and every time it happens." Y/n smiled tightly, almost with pity when she eyes his retracted hand.

Bucky nods solemnly before moving to hop off the crappy bathroom counter in their motel room, only to cut himself short with a groan.

"Easy, soldier." Y/n jokes, placing her hands onto her boyfriend's hips to help him down.

"Thanks." He mumbled low before hobbling off, eyes biting back tears as he limped through the room to flop on the creaky bed.

Y/n sighs heavily, watching him go with a sad expression. Bucky flicked the TV on - blue light sliding over his features in a haunting highlight; the structure of his bones protruding with the flashing colour of people moving across the screen.

"Y/n." Bucky hissed as she wrung out the little towel - now full of blood and stained a deep crimson.

Her her snapped up, the wet fabric falling into the sink with a soggy slap before she was stumbling across the room to perch on the edge of the bed.

"Oh my god." She exclaimed, hand tight over her mouth I shock at the screen.

"Suspect in the bombing is none other than James Buchan Barnes and Y/n Stark. We'll be back with more information when we have it." The presenter finished, accompanied by pictures of both y/n and Bucky stealthily away from the building, which was now laying in ruins.

"Oh my god." She repeated, horrified at the sight of King T'Chaka and all the victims.

Bucky Barnes Series/mini Series | @buckysgirl101 @quxxnxfhxll @marvelhoesworld @macylawz @Zaphdekota @theoldermanswhore @addriaenne @thegirlwiththeimpala @turkish276 @lilpopizzle @gooseyhouse @ohmy-fandoms @harrysthiccthighss @partiesandblurrypolaroids @prettysbliss @the-surviving-revolutionist @white-wolf1940 @dpaccione @tenaciousperfectionunknown @loveyou5everr @vallerydevora @multihoee @supraveng @cap-n-ce @sebbyxlover @jeremyrennermakesmesmile @veronicapaula @ravenmoore14 @frickin-bats @itstaylorcale @sunflowerbunny2 @spookyparadisesheep

[ynscrazylife]

Hi again! I don't really know if you want to write this request (most people don't like brutasha) but could you write (only if you want to) after AoU (Bruce didn't disappear) he decides to introduce Natasha (his gf) to his teen daughter (reader)? Idk, some platonic! Nat x reader and they trying to bond.

Honestly I don’t really ship Brutasha but I’m cool with this!

Step-Mom

Summary: After Avengers: Age of Ultron, Bruce Banner (Hulk) and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) are dating. Bruce decides to introduce Natasha to his daughter, Y/N, and the woman and the teenager start to bond. By the end, Y/B is begging Bruce to make Natasha her step-mom.

Y/N Banner was the teenage daughter of Bruce Banner and his ex-girlfriend (before he became Hulk). Her parents had shared custody of her - Y/N living with her father for a week every other week. While Y/N did know her father was the Hulk and was an Avenger, she hadn’t known her father was in a relationship. Safe to say, when she found out, she was excited, and even more excited as in this very moment, her father was bringing over his girlfriend to introduce the two.

She was sitting in her room now, thinking about who the woman would be. A doctor like her dad? Maybe she was a SHIELD Agents - or maybe she was a completely ordinary woman. Well, Y/N’s wonderings were cut off when she heard the noise of the key turning and the door opening.

Immediately, Y/N leapt up and ran to meet her father and -

Black Widow??

Holy crap. Y/N stared in awe. Her father was dating Natasha Romanoff, another Avenger, and Y/N’s favorite superhero (don’t tell her dad).

“Hi Y/N,” Bruce greeted with a chuckle, seeing his daughter’s flabbergasted face. Natasha joined in with his laugh.

“How the - you’re dating Black Widow?” Y/N asked her dad, looking back-and-forth between the redhead and the brunette.

Bruce glanced at Natasha. “Yes, I am . . . You say that with such an overwhelming amount of shock,” he joked, feigning hurt.

Y/N blinked and composed herself, walking towards the two adults until she tripped over mid-air.

“She’s adorable,” Natasha whispered to Bruce before speaking louder to Y/N. “I’m Natasha, but you can just call me Nat.”

Y/N nodded. “O-okay. I’m Y/N,” she said, and then promptly stuck her hand out.

Natasha chuckled before shaking her hand.

“Why don’t you two get to know each other while I make lunch?” Bruce suggested, looking first at his girlfriend and then at his daughter.

“Sounds great!” Natasha said, before her attention focused on Y/N. “Can you show me your room?”

Y/N nodded and marched off, her heart racing. She led the spy into her room, which was covered with Avengers posters, most notably her dad, and other bands and pop-stars.

“I love your room,” Natasha observed, making Y/N smile as she closed her bedroom door.

“Don’t tell my dad, but you’re my favorite Avenger,” Y/N whispered, making the other woman laugh.

“I’m flattered,” Natasha said, before placing herself on the teenager’s bed. “Tell me about yourself.”

Y/N thought a bit before sitting next to Natasha. “Well, if my dad asks, I’m not dating. He’s always on me about that stuff. Ummmm, I love cats and dogs! Can’t choose between them. Oh, and I want to help people, like my dad, but I’m not that good with science. I’ve actually been wanting to maybe become involved with SHIELD . . . Until it sorta fell,” she said, not really sure how to explain herself.

“Sometimes I get . . . Worried about my dad. He’s hard on himself, and I worry that he’s going to get hurt or something. I know I have my mom, but she’s not too fond of him being an Avenger either, and she can be a little cold,” Y/N admitted.

“I’m-I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t be unloading this stuff. It’s just that . . . You’re the first adult I can really talk to about this stuff. My friends help but they usually want autographs from the Avengers, and I had one friend only friends with me because of that.” Y/N stopped, realizing she was rambling on.

“Oh, no, honey, it’s fine!” Natasha quickly assured, and placed an arm around Y/N. “I know telling you not to worry about dad doesn’t really help, yeah? But honestly, he rarely gets injured injured, you know? He usually patches up the rest of us.”

Y/N nodded with a slight smile, feeling a little better.

“And that friend who was only friends with you for the autograph? They suck. You deserve so much better than that,” Natasha added, hugging her.

“Thanks,” Y/N said a little quietly.

“Well, I have a best friend named Clint, and I used to be a SHIELD agent. I’ve had a rough past, but your dad has really helped me turn it around and recognize self-love,” Natasha said.

The two continued to laugh and talk for the next fifteen minutes. Y/N told her what was going on in her life (insert whatever’s going on in your life here), and Natasha was able to comfort her, give her advice, and talk to her. In turn, Y/N inquired about Natasha’s life and about her dad, as it was sometimes hard to talk to him or know things about him with him being an Avenger.

It was then that Y/N got the idea to play a board game. They continued to play that until Y/N won, and suddenly she excused herself from the room.

“Dad,” she said, running into the kitchen. Her dad turned around from the kitchen counter. “You need to marry Natasha! Like, seriously. She’s AWESOME and she would be a great step-mom! Please, please, please.”

Bruce laughed, and then looked over his shoulder, spotting Natasha. Y/N turned around. She was grinning.

“Yeah, Banner,” she agreed with a smirk. “When are you gonna propose?”

Y/N squealed.

“You know, little Banner,” Natasha said, looking down at Y/N. “You make me laugh. Not too many people can do that. You’re great.”

Y/N had the biggest grin throughout the day, where she spent it eating with her dad and Natasha and talking until sunset.

[feeling-weirdy]

An Accidental Moment

@jackdoe​ You asked for pre-CW scarletvision a couple days ago and I finally delivered.  Not going to lie, I had a hard time figure out how to do this at first.  That seemed...way too soon for their first kiss to me, but once I had the idea I actually fell in love with this.  My brain kind of saw it as a reason why they were so awkward together DURING the events of CW.  There’s just this intense moment that never really got resolved.  Forever hopeless idiots.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this from your secret anon.

I am absolutely trying to fill in the gaps between AoU and IW, so if you have something else you want to see just throw it my way.

Vision chuckled, leaning back against the couch as he watched the television in front of him.  Catching himself smiling again, he cleared his throat.  His eyes peered over to the girl sitting beside him who was quite obviously having a good time just watching his reactions.  While he was pretty sure an android couldn’t be self-conscious, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it felt like.

“Sorry…”  His voice was hushed, trying to keep himself quiet.  He didn’t like disturbing Wanda while she was watching her shows.  She had clearly been going through a lot the past couple of months and while he had enjoyed spending time with her, he tried to keep to himself.

“You don’t have to apologize every time you laugh; you know?”  Wanda smiled over at him.  “I told you before…you’re supposed to laugh.  It’s funny.”  

Vision nodded, focusing his eyes back on the screen in front of him.  Watching Wanda’s television programs, he discovered, had become the easiest way to learn about humans. While he sometimes had difficulty completely understanding the plots or the reasoning behind actions, Wanda had a plethora of DVDs to choose from and she seemed more than happy to try to fill him in.

This time the two were watching a show called Friends.  A sitcom that much reminded him of the interactions of his fellow teammates.  He was interested in learning more purely based on that fact alone and had become completely absorbed in it.  Or he had been anyway.

“I do not wish to disturb you.”

“You’re not bothering me at all.  Just watch the show and have fun with it, mkay?”  Wanda patted him on the shoulder, leaning against her hand as she looked back at the screen.

Vision instead kept his focus on her.  He couldn’t help but worry for her.  It had been several months since her brother had died and while she certainly seemed to be feeling better, the loss was still heavy on her heart.  Their walks and television “binges” had become a daily occurrence that seemed to be helping, but he could never be sure.

“While perhaps these have not been the perfect teaching tool to learn the ways of man, I have been thoroughly enjoying our time together.”

“It’s been a lot of fun.”  Wanda turned back to him, leaning against the back of the couch with a lazy smile.  He could still see the sadness within her even through her attempts to hide it.  Her head fell along the back of the sofa, her eyes trailing downward as she used her finger to trace the design on the arms of his sweater.  “I know I’m not the most fun to be around, but...I’m glad you’re able to bear it…”

He could almost hear the rest of her sentence despite the fact that it never left her lips.   No one else seems to be able to.  

Vision shook his head, keeping his body stiff.  He still hadn’t quite gotten used to the small physical contact that she offered him.  “Quite the contrary.  I could think of nothing more entertaining.”

Wanda hummed in approval, sighing happily as she glanced back over to the T.V.  Vision’s eyes followed, but he suddenly wished he hadn’t.  The characters Ross and Rachel were sharing their first kiss, which had been the climax of the entirety of what they had watched so far.  It was intense and passionate and something he had not been expecting.  He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it.  The silence between them grew more awkward as the scene went on.  They chuckled nervously as they caught each other’s eye.

“You know...I never have thanked you.”  Wanda finally broke the silence.

“What for?”

“I just know what you’ve been doing for me and wanted to thank you.  It’s been…nice having someone around.”  Wanda scooted closer to him on the couch, now leaning her head on his shoulder with a soft sigh.  “I’m not sure how long I would have made it without you.”

Vision looked down at her, doing everything in his power to will away her sadness to no avail.  He wished there were something more he could do to comfort her.  He wouldn’t dare ask again after the heartbreaking answer he had received a month or so prior.  

“I am here for you whenever you desire me to be.”  He found his fingers tangled in Wanda’s hair, rubbing against the back of her head.  “Whatever I can do to help you heal, just name it.”

“Mmm staying like this is nice.”  Humming happily, her striking blue eyes meeting his once again.  Without warning, he felt her fingers reach up to trace the lines on his face.  He was deathly still as he was not entirely sure how to react.  The warmth flowed from her hands and spread through his cheeks causing the corners of his lips to twist at the sensation.

“Then here I’ll stay.”  His voice was soft, feeling himself getting lost in her actions.  His chest tightened. Wanda had touched him multiple times before, but this time seemed different somehow.

Vision closed his eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of her hand resting against the cool vibranium of his face.  He could feel Wanda shifting before him but made sure to keep himself still.  His eyes finally opened when he felt the soft press of skin against his lips.  Before he had even come to realize what was happening, Wanda had trailed her hands behind his neck to pull him into the kiss.  For a moment, he could feel himself give in.  His hands having moved to her back as if he had done this action a million times.  While he certainly hadn’t, his body reacted as if it knew exactly how to proceed.

After a moment, he pulled back.  “Wanda, I’m not sure this is the best time…”  The thought of kissing her had crossed his mind multiple times by now, but this wasn’t exactly how he envisioned it.

“Just shut up, will you?”  Wanda chuckled as she pulled him back to her.  He nodded, closing the remaining distance between them.

Everything moved incredibly fast, the world spun around him as he kept his focus on her.  She kissed him hungrily, pushing him back into the couch as she climbed on his lap.  Vision’s hands settled on her hips as she moaned into his lips.

He hadn’t ever experienced anything like this before.  The softness of her lips was beyond comprehension and the feeling of her tongue slipping past his lips was euphoric.  Wanda pressed her body against him, gripping onto his neck.  Vision could do nothing but enjoy the fact that it felt like his circuits were overheating.  He gripped onto her waist, desperate for something to hold on to.

While he had no breath to steal, she had certainly run away with it.  

As Vision was about to move on to what he assumed was the next step, the voices heading toward them snapped them back to reality.  Natasha and Stark were heading in their direction.  They had to stop.  He couldn't deny it was relief that had settled in his mind.  While he wasn’t against what was happening between them, he hadn’t quite expected this to be how it unfolded.

She pressed another kiss to him, her eyes piercing through his very being.  

“Wanda…”  He whispered against her lips, releasing his grip on her.

She nodded, taking one last moment to enjoy their closeness before pulling herself off him.  Wanda took a few staggered breaths before lying down on her side, making herself comfortable as she rested her head on his leg.  She let out a heavy sigh as she glanced back at the T.V.

While he tried to put the thought out of his mind, he could still feel the heat of her lips against him.  The warm sensation sent his stomach into knots now that he was finally able to process what had just happened.

Gently placing a hand upon her head, he watched her get her breathing under control.  He ran his hand along her head, petting her slowly.  Her bright eyes flickered up at him for a quick moment, an embarrassed smile crossing her features as she grabbed hold of his other hand.

Vision forced himself to focus on the show still playing in front of them, having completely lost what was going on.  Regardless of what happened following the kiss that happened on screen, Stark and Natasha walked in none the wiser, which was for the best for the time being.  

Check out my other drabbles here or feel free to request some!

[visionsofus]

Wanda and Vision's Mixtape Masterlist (updating now)

cover by the wonderful @jjlover01​

Note: my inbox is currently open for prompt/ song submissions 🥰 (1-2wk turn around)

AoU to CW

#10 Death Stranding by CHVRCHES

what will become of us if we dare to dream? Wanda and Vision spend the night at a glitzy party for a mission and get jealous when they see each other with other people. read on AO3

# 11 Happy Together by the Turtles

the only one for me is you. In which Wanda and Vision try to deliver on a promise to cook breakfast for the rest of the team but end up goofing off together instead. read on Tumblr // AO3

#12 Where the Shadow Ends by BANNERS

put your trust in the light you cannot see. Wanda falls ill at the compound and Vision panics. Surprisingly, her illness gives them an opportunity to talk about their feelings. Wanda comes to terms with putting faith in her feelings and in Vision. read on AO3

#15 Flares by The Script

did you see the sparks filled with hope? Mere days after the battle in Sokovia Wanda is still coming to terms with Pietro's absence and the new life she is faced with in upstate New York. Waking from a nightmare she leaves sleep behind and takes solace in Vision as an unexpected comfort. Read on Tumblr // AO3

#19 Feel Something by Jaymes Young

you could be the one to make me feel. Movie night at the compound isn’t going well for Vision, and that’s even before he decides to try and be a bit more human and eat food. He manages to drunkenly confess his deepest insecurities about his own existence before the night is out. Ft. angsty Vision, jealous Vision, pining Vision and basically Vision feeling a whole array of emotions he doesn’t know how to deal with. read on Tumblr // AO3

#21 Start a Riot by BANNERS

I will tear down every wall just to bring you home. Wanda has a breakdown shortly into arriving at the compound and Vision is the only one who can get through to her. read on Tumblr // AO3

#25 Remedy by Adele

I will be your remedy. Wanda comes back injured from a mission and Vision has to come to terms with her mortality, and the limits of their relationship. Tender touching and the intimacy of tending to wounds. AO3

CW to IW

#3 Rescue my Heart by Liz Longley

Rescue my heart (I'll drown without you). In which Vision arrives to help break the Cap’s team out of Raft prison post-Civil War. Wanda recalls fond memories of the compound and comes to terms with the idea of living on the run. read on Tumblr // AO3

#5 The Best by Tina Turner

a lifetime of promises, a world of dreams. In which Wanda searches Edinburgh for Vision after she arrives late at their safehouse. When she discovers his energy signature floating around the city, she decides to follow the threads to their source. Along the journey she recalls the complications of their long-distance, secretive relationship but by the end recalls exactly why they sacrifice so much to be together. read on AO3

#6 Somewhere only we know

In which nobody died in Endgame and Vision gets the opportunity to pick up where he and Wanda left off before they were interrupted in Edinburgh. read on AO3

#7 Clarity by Foxes

don't speak as I try to leave (I'll fall right back to you). A distressed Vision shows up at Wanda’s door after a particularly bad situation goes down at the compound. She comforts him as they both try to reconcile with the very different lives they are now living. read on AO3.

#8 Our Corner of the Universe by K.S. Rhoads

Our little corner of the universe. In which Wanda and Vision are coming to the end of a few weeks together in Paris pre-IW and Wanda dreams a life for them where they no longer have to run and hide. Unknowingly, she draws Vision into her dream and they both must contend with the idea that this reality isn't something that will be easy for them. read on Tumblr // AO3

#9 If You Ever Come Back by The Script

just like you were never gone. Wanda and Vision recall an argument that forced them to go their separate ways in the early days of their relationship post-CW. Upon finding out Wanda is near the Compound Vision can't help himself and seeks her out to apologise. Read on Tumblr // AO3

#13 I Know Places by Taylor Swift

just grab my hand and don't ever drop it. Wanda and Vision try to spend a peaceful evening out for dinner in Paris when they are suddenly attacked. To keep each other safe they split up, forced to make the harrowing journey to the next safe house separately. Vision is faced with Wanda's mortality. read on AO3

#14 Me and My Husband by Mitski

when he walks in, I am loved. Vision is reminded that it is Valentine's Day and decides to show up at Wanda's safehouse to surprise her. Fluff ensues and Wanda's fugitive teammates realise exactly how close the pair have become. read on AO3

#17 Can You Feel My Heart by Bring Me the Horizon

can you feel my heart. One year into being a fugitive Wanda gets cornered, Vision sees the news in real time and runs to her aid. Aka Vision going apeshit when he thinks Wanda is dead. read on Tumblr // AO3

#18 That's All by Michael Bublé

All I have are these arms to enfold you and a love time can never destroy. Wanda and Vision share a perfect morning in Paris, snuggled up together watching the rain stream past the windows. aka 1000 words of fluff. Read on Tumblr // AO3

#20 The Scientist by Coldplay

you don't know how lovely you are. Wanda surprises Vision by breaking into the compound shortly after the fight in Germany. read on Tumblr // AO3

#23 Bury This by RVRB

I should bury this. Immediately after Wanda leaves in Civil War, Vision reflects on his feelings surrounding her departure. AO3

Post-IW

#16 Through the Fire by Jake Etheridge

I was lost (now I'm found again). The Battle of Wakanda is over. Vision knows he's gone and that there is no coming back. Taking pity on Vision, the mind stone lets him see some of his most treasured memories once more, to ease his passing. read on Tumblr // AO3

Canon Divergence

#1 Last Dance by Camera Can't Lie

If this was our last chance (I'd ask you to say). In which Civil War never happened and they all lived happily ever after. Wanda and Vision dance at one of Tony’s fancy galas and are forced to address the feelings that have become apparent to themselves, and the rest of the team. Yearning included with a happy resolution after a lil bit of angsty longing. read on Tumblr // AO3

#2 Infinity by Jaymes Young

Darling my soul, it aches for yours. In which Wanda and Vision sneak out of the compound and go on a date and just revel in the act of being together in public. The rest of the team doesn't know yet so they're working had on keeping everything a secret. When they arrive back Vision is so enamoured with Wanda that he trips the Compound alarms, waking everyone up with the fear of a break in at the front of their mind only to find the pair in a compromised position. Read on AO3

#4 Light Me Up by Ingrid Michaelson

we are tonight, we are forever. Wanda and Vision spend a domestic evening together free from the rest of the team. read on Tumblr // AO3

#22 Only Us by Ben Platt

it can be us, and only us. The Sokovia Accords are renegotiated so that the team are never divided. Following the successful signing of the document a press event is held at the compound. Wanda and Vision take a moment to breath away from the crowds, both have been holding back from each other for months, worried about risking their friendship. A simple miscommunication leads to a brief moment of angst as they realise their months of pining over each other has been mutual. read on Tumblr // AO3

#24 I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys

I wanna be yours. Things get racy between Wanda and Vision in the compound kitchen. Vision tries to come to terms with the intensity of his feelings for Wanda. AO3

[missmonsters2]

Between the Lines || II

PAIRING: Steve Rogers & Fem!Reader (Platonic) / Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader / Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader / Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader x Wanda Maximoff

Summary: Vampire AU. Life has changed drastically since the 1600s. Things are always on the move, and you’ve been very careful to not get on SHIELDs radar. Living on the down-low owning a café, you’re content to live out a quiet existence. That is until the Avengers enter your life.

[Set after the New York Invasion, in CAWS, and goes up to AoU. Canon divergent after.]

Warnings: This series will contain smut(**), poly-relationship, and dark themes.

Note: Enter stage left; Natasha. I’m excite guys. Please let me know if you want to be on the taglist for this fic :)!

PART I

PART II of XX

Count: 2842

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"This is really good, how'd you know about this place?"    

You grinned as you watched Steve take a massive bite from his steak, groaning slightly in delight as he did. You had ordered yourself a steak and was in the process of cutting up, eating it slowly.   

"Sarah, the employee at my shop, recommended it. She says her boyfriend loves it here, so I thought it might be a great place to try. I'm glad you like it. The steak just melts, hey?"   

Steve nodded as he swallowed. You thought it was funny as he was a little confused, and maybe even a little grossed out when you had gotten your steak blue rare. But if you were going to eat a steak, you might as well get it as rare as possible. The food itself tasted great, but you knew that even if you felt full, you couldn't get any of the nutrients from the meal. The venom would break down the food completely, taking nothing, and you would have to feed later on tonight.  

You had also picked this restaurant because it was further from the Stark Tower. You were right that David was entirely pissed you were taking it as far as you were, but when you're alone for centuries, being around someone felt amazing.  

The 'friend date' was going well. They could talk and laugh, ask questions that allowed them to get to know each other more without revealing anything too deep.   

Still, something was missing, and you couldn't put your finger on it. Maybe it's been too long since you've had a human friend? Was it because everything about you guys was fake since you were both hiding things from each other?   

They walked through Central Park, enjoying the beautiful weather. They were currently debating who was more iconic; Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Daniel Armstrong.   

"Oh man, I might have to ban you from the café if you insist on Armstrong."   

Steve laughed as he shook his head. "C'mon, he has so many classics!"   

"Shh, Steve. I will hear no more of this nonsense from you," you said with a wag of your finger at him. Steve laughed softly once more, his eyes softening as they continued to walk.   

Miraculously, the rest of the night continued on as normal. Steve was dropping you back at the café so you could get your car and then go relieve the babysitter you had gotten for Allison. Like a gentleman, Steve walked you to your vehicle to ensure you would get in safely.    

You turned on your engine with the car starter, turning back to Steve. You did, you really did like Steve as a friend. He was funny, gentlemanly, and definitely not hard on the eyes. Yet, for some reason, you felt like you there was something off. It wasn't like you hadn't been in contact with humans before while keeping your secret. You couldn't understand.   

"Thanks for coming out with me tonight," Steve said, almost too politely, and it made you chuckle.   

"It was lovely," you replied, watching as Steve's eyes crinkled at the corners from smiling. You sighed wistfully. Stepping forward, you put your hand gently on Steve's cheek, tippy-toeing to kiss him softly on his cheek. His face immediately flushed red, traveling all the way up to the tips of his ears.   

"Goodnight, Steve, see you later." With that, you got into your car, driving off.   

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"Thanks again," you said as you handed the money to the babysitter. The young lady waved it off and left. Allison was thankfully already put to the bed by the sitter, and you quietly checked on the young girl to make sure everything was fine. Once you were satisfied, you shut the door and made your way to the basement.    

Down there, there was a fridge that had an electronic passcode lock on it. Once unlocked, you grabbed a bag filled with blood in it out. You used your teeth to tear the corner and tipped the bag into your mouth. After the long swig, you lowered the bag, sighing as you sat down and leaned against the freezer.

Suddenly, there was vibrating in your pocket, and you pulled the phone out, answering it without even looking.   

"Hey, David."   

"How'd the hangout go?" He immediately asked, a slightly disapproving tone in his voice. You didn't even dignify it with an answer. Instead, you took another mouthful of the blood bag.   

"Do you have enough supply over there, David? If not, I'll send another shipment over from the hospital to you."    

David makes a noncommittal sound, indicating he's fine, so you move on. "Any updates then? Not like you to call me to check on my personal life."   

David snorts, "Only when I think it'll put you at risk. But, you're right. I do have something."   

You sat up, readjusting yourself to sit straighter. You quickly finished your bag of blood, wiping your lips slightly.

"Got two things for you. First, I've got some intel that HYDRA has an escapee. They call him The Winter Soldier, a man with a metal arm," David says as you switch the phone to your other ear.   

"Where was he last seen?"   

"Europe, but it looks like he's heading towards America."    

You hum. You had heard about HYDRA over the years, it was another organization that you needed to keep an eye on, lest you wanted to be caught by them. You never had to deal with them directly as to when they became a problem, Captain America came to be and 'handled' it.    

Maybe that was the problem. It was difficult to be friends with Steve, knowing you couldn't talk to him about anything when you had more in common than just the average person. Was it guilt that was stopping you?   

"Keep me updated on that situation. Let me know if you catch sight of him," you said, getting up to throw out the empty bag before making your way to your private bar to pour yourself a drink.   

"Already surveilling. Second thing...I think I've found the descendants of Tatyana."   

Your grip slipped slightly, spilling the liqueur out of your glass slightly.   

"What?" You breathe out shakily.   

"They're in Sokovia. I'm waiting for a little more intel to come in."   

"Send me everything you have, and the second you get more," you breathe steadily, wiping the spilled liqueur and resumed your pouring.   

With nothing left, David hangs up.    

Tatyana...   

Flashes of silk and a peal of feminine laughter passed through you. You quickly shut it out and downed your drink.   

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

"Everyone clear on what their duties are?"   

With a collective yes, Fury had ended the meeting. The aftermath of the invasion was still affecting many people. Tony had set up a foundation for families who were directly affected by the invasion and donated millions. Bruce had a side research assignment for SHIELD while helping with the cleanup when he could. Thor had left immediately with Loki, and they were unsure when he would return. Steve was doing a lot of interviews and press reviews to help the Avengers look better in the public's eye. As Nat and Clint were spies, they needed to keep unknown to the public, so Nat went back to being Pepper's PA, and Clint, well Clint left.   

Steve was already leaving, thinking about heading over to the Café to see you. He didn't have anything scheduled until tomorrow, and he had a feeling after that, he would be tied up for a while. As he was walking down the hall, Natasha came up next to him and fell in step.   

"Where are you heading to?" She asks casually.

"Just out."

"To the place you've been mysteriously disappearing to every day for the last two weeks?"   

Steve looked surprised. "Not every day..."   

He looked around to make sure no one else is there. A part of him was still wary about Natasha, but he was resolved to place his faith in her and trusted her, and she trusted him.    

"I met a girl at a café two weeks ago, you know, when Bruce recommended me that book?" He says as he turned his attention back to her.   

"Dating?" She says as if almost impressed by it.

Steve shook his head. "No, she doesn't know I'm Captain America. We're just friends."

"Because she doesn't see you like that?" Natasha asked.   

Steve rubbed the back of his head.

"Both of us don't see each other like that."   

Natasha raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed, but Steve waved it off. "It's fine. I'm not looking to date anyways."   

She looked like she wanted to say more, but before Natasha could ask anything else, an intern interrupts them, saying she needed Steve.   

Natasha stopped walking, clicked her tongue as she tapped her foot and looked at Steve walking off with the intern.    

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Steve wasn't able to visit You for a few days due to all the PR he had to do, but now that he was back, he planned and seeing you right away. The moment he entered, he noticed a familiar redhead sitting with you.   

There Natasha was, sitting at a table with you, drink in her hand as they chatted away. He furrowed his brows and frowned as he walked over to them, grabbing their attention.

Natasha smirked at him, and he gave her a look. You called out to him, and he nodded his head at you but turned to Natasha.   

"What are you doing here?"   

You looked surprised as you looked between the two of them. "Oh, you know Miss Rushman here?"   

"Natalie," Natasha corrected. Steve gave her another look that she shrugged off.   

"We're acquaintances," she explains easily, keeping Steve's secret. You hum a small 'o,' and it's silent again. It seems almost tense for a second before Natasha gets up, stating she's got to go back to work.   

"It was great meeting you, Natalie. Come by again for life-changing coffee," You bid her goodbye, getting a brief smile from the redhead.    

Once Natasha is gone, you turn back to Steve, "Your acquaintance is nice."   

Steve only laughed awkwardly.   

He had his peaceful hour with you before leaving. When he got back to the tower, he found that it was only him, Tony, and Bruce in the building.   

It wasn't until late evening that Natasha returned.   

"What the hell was that today?" Steve immediately asked, catching Natasha in the common area kitchen while no one else was around. It looked like Natasha had freshly showered and changed, coming in to get a late-night snack.   

Natasha sighed as she faced Steve and uncrossed her arms. "Look, I'm sorry, Steve, but I just want to make sure she's safe for you, okay?"   

Steve's face softened, and he was pacified by Natasha's underlying words that she cared about him, and this came from a place of concern.    

"So," he says after a moment. "What did you think?"   

He watched as Natasha shifted, hesitating to tell him what she honestly thought, but with the look on his face, she knew better than to lie to him about it.   

"There's something off about her," Natasha finally says, shifting her weight onto one foot and crossing her arms.    

"Off about her?" Steve questions with a raise of his eyebrow. "Like...secretly..."

He had heard of Tony talking about his own past experiences before he had met Pepper. Something about aborting if it's a stage 5 clinger.   

"No," Natasha replied, rolling her eyes slightly.    

"I mean, she's hiding something."   

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

There was a degree of surprise for you when Black Widow had shown up at your café. Though, you supposed it was bound to happen with Steve showing up as often as he was. You just expected it to be another Avenger.    

When you heard about the Avengers Initiative starting up from David's intel, he had sent you files on the candidates. Natasha Romanoff's file, as expected, had nearly nothing in it. You got her birth name, occupation, and a really shoddy photo from a street camera.   

This was going to be a problem, you thought. David really would want you to disappear if Black Widow was going to be involved. You would have to convince David that disappearing would be even more suspicious and warrant the spy to look more deeply into you if you left without a trace. You just needed to be normal because even if she tried to look you up, nothing out of the ordinary would come up anyway.   

You put on a friendly face as Natasha came up to the counter. "Hello, how what can I get you today?"   

"Just looking for a little pick me up, but not something that will have my hands shaking." Her voice was husky, and you licked your lips.   

"Sounds like a long day," you said, starting to make the drink. You had a lot of customers who came through asking for something different like it was a bar, but you didn't mind.     

There was a delicate but husky chuckle in return, "And it's not even halfway through."    

"Name for the drink?"   

"Natalie."   

You hummed quietly, writing on the cup in a cursive font.    

There wasn't much more chatting after that as you focused on making the drink. Natasha noticed right away walking in that you were beautiful, there were no physical imperfections about you. Even the way your hair fell seemed to fall perfectly in place. It was hard to place your age, but there was something youthful about you. Natasha had also noticed the strip of flour on your cheek.   

"Guessing hectic day for yourself?" Natasha said, breaking the silence. She watched as your brows furrowed with your lip slightly jutted out in a pout as you looked at the redhead.    

When Natasha pointed to her own cheek to mirror where it would be on you, and you quickly swiped the area with your gloved fingertip and then checked with a small laugh.   

"Oh, yeah. My one and only employee has called in sick today. I'm starting to think I should hire another one."   

Natasha tilted her head, "Oh, you own this place?"   

"Sure do! I'm Elaine. Nice little shindig I got here, right?" You grinned, and Natasha smirked in return.   

"I'll reserve my thoughts until I try the drink."   

You lightly laughed, putting the finished drink in front of the redhead. "Fair enough, and not to toot my own horn, but this drink is going to give you a happiness you'll never be able to achieve anywhere else. If that's the case, this tip jar could use some friends."   

Natasha gave a friendly snort, not replying as she took a sip and immediately moaned involuntarily.   

"Oh shit, is there crack in this?"   

You let out a burst of full laughter, the kind that reminded Natasha of a warm day in a meadow—whatever that means.   

"No crack, unfortunately, but it will get you through the day without your heart going 100 miles a minute."   

Natasha smiled slightly, pulling out a Benjamin and throwing it in the tip jar, clearly overpaying for the drink, but you didn't say anything and grinned.

The redhead looked around, finding a lot of shelves with books on them on the other side of the café.   

"Bookstore as well? Busy, busy, I see."   

You hummed, "Sort of. I don't really make people buy books here. There's a college nearby, and I have a lot of students come here. I get a lot of textbooks and then let students rent them out. They put a security deposit on the book, which is 100% refundable provided the book isn't damaged."   

"Quite the lucrative business you've got going on," Natasha said, mildly impressed, and you shrugged.   

"Well, I'm not too sure what an accounting major would do with an Intro to Anthropology textbook if they had to keep it, so I guess everyone wins in this situation."   

Somehow after that, they had moved over to the table to continue talking, most of it being light banter.   

Still, Natasha found you odd. As a master conversationalist, she recognized that you had the same skill, which meant that while you were incredibly talkative, there was nothing personal about their conversations. There was no asking where Natalie worked, or what she was doing around this neighborhood since she wasn't a regular. She could see this was not your goal to pry for information.

There was the thing with the gloves as well, but Natasha did not ask, and you did not explain even if you found Natasha staring.    

After she left when Steve showed up, Natasha looked back at the café on the corner of the street.   

She had to admit, she did not mind you; she was curious if anything. She could see why Steve would like hanging around you, but you did not give any vibes that indicated to Natasha that you cared all that much.    

Still, Steve liked you, and Steve was family.   

And she would always protect her family.

PART III

[pla-teau]

WANDAVISION EPISODE SEVEN THOUGHTS

GIF NOT MINE

SPOILERS AHEAD YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL MORE LIKE BREAKING MY BRAIN AND HEART

wanda’s mood | as she talks to the camera, she treats her expanding the false world she’s created to having a bad night out. we’re seeing how tired she is from expanding westview - it damn near drained her it seems. the last episode was a lot to take in, keeping up with her torn emotions with pietro, her relationship with vision crumbling, worrying about her kids, expanding the hex — it’s enough to fry out your nerves. wanda also categorizes what happened in the last episode as reckless and decides to stay in to punish herself. even her kids notice that she’s out of it because she doesn’t stop them from fighting and doesn’t say a word as she heads to the kitchen. she’s drained, she’s tired - she doesn’t want to deal with anything today. wanda’s not being the doting mom she’s been since the birth of the twins as when billy talks about his head being too noisy, she ignores his complaints and lounges in bed a little longer. she’s drained and is acting out of character throughout the whole episode.

wanda’s reality is starting to break | right off the bat, we see how the reality in westview is going haywire. the boys mention their game freaking out. it switches to games from different eras. then we see it with wanda’s milk - switching from black and white to color and even changing shape to fit the style of a past era like 50s with the milk being in glass bottle or a milk carton with the ‘missing’ label on the side. we’ve seen the trailer/promo footage of different objects/furniture in the house glitching in this same manner and it seems that wanda’s power is not strong enough to keep everything together - physically or mentally so it seems in this episode.

“thanks for tuning in to W.N.D.A.” | as wanda is in the kitchen making herself some cereal, you can hear the tv from the living room say this. this sets up the opening credits for the show as everything is about wanda. if you turn on the subtitles, you can read exactly what the anchor is saying on the television. he says “not a thing weighing heavily on your conscience. i hope your little ghosts arrived home safe last night. it’s always such a treat to see those creepy kiddos out and about once a year.” it seems as though it’s wanda’s mind we’re hearing. nothing’s weighing heavily on her conscience - kinda is with expanding the hex. the little ghosts is in reference to all the kids that we finally saw come out for halloween in westview. calling them creepy kiddos could mean nothing but i thought about tommy and billy? since the two gained their abilities on halloween and weren’t doing much to conceal their powers (at least tommy wasn’t). i also say it’s wanda’s mind we’re gaining insight to cause when it goes on to the bit about giving tips about resisting temptation of the leftover candy or just eating it all - wanda is skeptical of what’s happening with the milk but still takes a big spoonful of cereal.

opening credits | we don’t have some super catchy lyrics this time around for the opening credits of the show - making me think that this is a nod to the office. but we do get ‘wanda’ splattered in every frame of the credits. the one that stands out to me is the ‘i know what u are doing wanda’ since everything else it seems to be replacing random words on signs like restaurants and other shops. comes off as a tad bit scary/creepy since it’s written with cut out letters from different new articles/magazines. could be a hint to vision knowing that it is all wanda’s doing. or as we later find out, it can be a set up to agnes’ reveal since she plays a more sinister role in all of this. this is the first we’re seeing any sort of credits in the opening sequence. created by wanda maximoff - again driving home the fact that the hex and everything we’ve seen so far has all been wanda’s creation or so we’re forced to believe...

SWORD retreat | we learn that the broadcast has been taken down - all they get is dead air supposedly. maybe that’s just a result of wanda’s expansion of the hex but i think it’s too weak given how har out they are and since they are farther from wanda as she doesn’t live right at the edge of town. we also learn that haydick hayward is planning to launch a missile or some kind of powerful weapon on/in to the hex to stop wanda. let’s hope it fails or if it goes through, wanda can point the missile/weapon back at SWORD and let it go.

“if he doesn’t wanna be here, there’s nothing i can do about it.” | wanda’s comment about vision not being home and response to billy asking if they should go looking for him. this clearly speaks to wanda not having any control over vision anymore. this is the first time we’ve seen the couple apart for the entirety of the episode. he’s gained enough sentience within the hex to not be controlled by wanda as other residents are. she knows she can’t rewrite or edit the scene for him to suddenly come through the door and have everyone be a happy family.

“he is not your uncle.” | wanda confirms to us that the pietro we’ve seen so far is a stranger and not some multiverse version of her dead brother. this to me also shoots down the theory of the multiverse existing at this point and wanda being responsible for it even though evan peters does play pietro in the x-men universe. i think it was a wink to fans about marvel gaining rights to the x-men franchise. i could be wrong but until then, ‘uncle p’ is sus to me.

“i don’t have all the answers” | wanda going on about how despite being their mother, she doesn’t have all the answers. this is the third time wanda’s been asked about the truth and she doesn’t have an answer. first with vision when he asks how all this happened. second with ‘pietro’ also asking how she created westview. now, it’s the twins seeking answers about their not-uncle if she’s claiming he’s an imposter and a liar. if anything, wanda has been consistent in this claim of not knowing anything. she knows she created westview but she doesn’t know how it got to be this way. i still believe she was offered something or was taken advantage of from the get go by someone else to get to her and observe how powerful she is. i personally love the twins’ reaction to her speaking on not having all the answers. hello yes i love them.

hayward’s interest in vision | we learn that project cataract is/was hayward’s plan to bring vision back to life. this man was trying to make vision into a weapon for SWORD and that’s why he’s so focused on vision inside the hex. wanda somehow brought him back to life despite hayward’s various attempts. i hate this man and i’m sorry but i hope monica and/or wanda beat the shit out of him. obviously, hayward was using SWORD’s resources to try and bring vision back to life but it’s a question of whether or not other people within SWORD knew this was happening and what the intentions were. because we also have monica’s contact be another agent working in SWORD. so why do i get the feeling that we’re gonna be dealing with a SHIELD 2.0 in which bad guys operate within the agency and it’s going to eventually fall like 2014?

“do you think maybe this is what you deserve?” | the interviewer asking wanda this question after we see her house starting to glitch like there’s no tomorrow. while later we do find out agnes is behind the mic, it made me think that this was mephisto finally coming out a bit since the question is very pointed at wanda. the interviewer wants to see wanda suffer because why would anyone ask such a thing let alone say that? they’re taking joy in wanda losing touch with her reality. this is the lowest we’ve seen wanda throughout the series. she’s usually put together - has a slight moment of crisis - but gets back on her feet for tomorrow to enjoy her life with her family. slowly it’s been building up to this point in which wanda just...crashes. she’s lost control in this reality so for the interviewer to pose that question, it’s a signal that someone else is in charge and going to come for wanda at her weakest.

the nexus commercial | this commercial is definitely referencing wanda during infinity war/endgame. the world goes on without you? could be talking about how the world keeps spinning after wanda lost the only family she had left or how everyone moved on in endgame despite losing the person she wanted to spend her life with. wanting to be left alone? all wanda wanted was to be with vision and now to be left alone as she lives out her life with vision in westview. i know the word nexus itself has a double meaning in marvel. nexus was first name dropped in aou, with it being the center of the internet located in oslo. in the comics, i know wanda is referred to as a nexus being in which this could definitely set up the multiverse as the commercial does state that the medication ‘anchors you back to your reality. or the reality of your choice.’ i’m guessing this is on purpose since we’re conditioned to see everything marvel puts out or puts emphasis on to have a double meaning. maybe wanda discovering that she is a nexus being in multiverse of madness could be what the side effects are talking about. if she’s confirmed to be this being, she’d feel a lot of feelings, confront her truth (maybe her role in westview and hopefully her trauma), seizing her destiny (taking control of her life and bigger role in the world), and possibly more depression (i don’t think she needs more of it but with her, it’s almost inevitable especially given where these next two weeks might be heading). given that it does hold two meanings for marvel, it could explain the scenes we’ve seen in promo footage of her time in sokovia with the mind stone. we were told that the show would explore more of wanda’s past from aou so maybe it is going to give nexus a double meaning in the mcu: the largest internet hub and wanda’s confirmation as a nexus being.

the twins with agnes | this scene had me anxious. billy commenting about it being quiet heavily hinted at how agnes isn’t like anyone else in westview. again, we’ve never seen her husband ralph and we still don’t see him in this episode. we get another glimpse of señor scratchy with billy holding him but that’s about it. the house is also a big contrast to wanda’s house and westview’s scenery overall. there’s usually a lot of light and warmth in westview but agnes’ interior is toned down and has darker tones throughout our time in it. clearly, a set up for the big reveal that everyone’s been echoing since the show started. this is also the last time we see the twins in the episode.

monica | after the SWORD rover failed to get through, monica goes right in and clearly her passing through a third time has a permanent effect. she’s finally got her powers and is more badass than before. i loved how we got bits and pieces from her, maria, carol and fury in captain marvel. monica has been one of the best characters in this series and i can’t wait to see what happens next with her.

it’s all about vision | monica’s explanation to wanda about hayward. i said this before about the end credits in the show always zooming in on vision’s eye to segway into the crystal sequence. we’ve learned that hayward was trying to bring vision back and somehow wanda managed to do this once she took his body. i wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the season we see vision being the key to saving everyone in westview since hayward just wants what he believes is his and is willing to blow up a whole town to get it or cover his tracks. while this whole series has been focusing on wanda, this all boils down to vision.

agatha all along | of course the big reveal is agnes being agatha harkness and the mastermind behind a lot of the weird occurrences in westview. what is interesting is that she’s choosing to reveal herself to wanda in this way. it doesn’t seem like it was her plan to do it at the time she did but seeing that monica could’ve swayed wanda to go off script in agatha’s plans, better sooner than later. i think señor scratchy is none other than mephisto and maybe in the next episode we’ll see the other big bad reveal himself to wanda and us. when’s that bop dropping on spotify

snooper’s gonna snoop | finally, we get a post credits scene with uncle p and monica. we’ve learned that agatha was behind the ‘recasting’ of pietro but who is he?! he could be a multiverse!quicksilver we’ve never seen before - which could explain his skewed memories with wanda. right when the camera comes to view with monica, it cuts to the credits. i believe that maybe this pietro shapeshifts into who he really is - who this might be? i don’t think mephisto but possibly agatha’s son nicholas scratch since he seems to be an accomplice of hers?

ugh god so much to unpack and we have another two episodes before shit really hits the fan.

[operation-619]

Her

Chapter two: crimson

UD- 24th June 2021

Big Thank yo to my translator, @primavera-allegoria​ this story wouldn’t be completed or written if it wasn’t for you. So thank you.

Summary: AU series were Bucky is safe and sound after AOU, (Y/N) (L/N) is a troubled woman with a haunting past, and its coming back to enslave her. But she doesn’t care, her interest is in a certain Captain America lead to a night that set off a series of unfortunate twists and turns. Can she come out on the other side, with her past a secret and a family to come home to. Or will she burn and take everyone down with her.

Warning!! this chapter contains scenes some may find upsetting and disturbing read at your own risk.

Word Count- 4K+

If you have any question please ask, reviews are welcome let me know what I can approve on and what you like.

 [Masterlist]

 Chapter I-Forest : Chapter III-Hiraeth

 __

The rebuilding of stark Tower 2012

“You know Tony, I would love to find an apartment in New York, but I can’t leave a child by itself for more than an hour, legally” (E/C) eyes cast downwards at the plans of the new compound, (Y/N) refused to wipe the smirk off her face as she heard the dramatic intake of breath behind her.

“Are you calling me a child.” She could picture the look of disdain on his face, his mouth wide open in mock shock and hand on his Arc Reactor. (H/C) textured hair bounced around her shoulders as she shook her head in disbelief. She walked over to the large window that overlooked the rubble that once was New York.

Heaving a sigh, she wrapped her arms around her torso and clenched tightly, her eyes became glassy as she withheld the tears threatening to come down her face. Her mind was running too fast for her to keep up with, the thought of what she could have done circled her head in a taunting manner. ‘I could’ve saved people, children.’ The guilt was evident in her eyes but not on her face, no she hid that well.

“You knew it had to be done,” obviously not too well, “there would’ve been more damaged with you and Banner out there, chaos. And we can really only just about control Banner. I did it to keep you safe.” The remorse was clear on his tongue she just refused to listen.

“So, knocking me out with that heavy duty sedative was your best option? I felt like a piece of shit when you did that with no explanation Tony! And to mention the fact that you left me in my room without so much of a note, do you have any idea how scary it was to wake up to you falling out the fucking hole in the sky!” her face was contorted into a painful twist as she grew closer and closer to Tony, her index finger jutted out and repeatedly jab his arc reactor. The strength behind it surprised him and led to him placing his hand onto her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

The veins in her body started to hum a soft crimson, her eyes filled with tears as she gasped for air. She could feel her body starting to change, the heat building up begging to be released was a sign she needed to breathe.

“You and I both know that the consequence would’ve been too much for everyone to face given our current situation.” His voice was soft as if he were talking to a wounded animal; he caressed her elbow and brought her head to lay on his chest. The soft humming of his reactor brought comfort to her. (Y/N) thought back to the moment she locked eyes upon the figure of a falling Iron Man, she couldn’t put into words the emotions that coursed through her body as she watched him fall. The scream that left her mouth shook the whole room, yet it was unheard with all the chaos flying around the city.

“I know, I am just pissed off that’s all. You promised not to do that again,” her voice was petite, the vulnerability flowing off her in waves.

She pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him, a smirk slowly making its way to her face; “And fuck you for not taking me to get some Shawarma.” She pulled herself away from him and punched him in the arm playfully. She laughed as she watches his mouth form an ‘O’ as he rubbed the pain away.

“That looked like it hurt Tony,” (Y/N) whipped her head around at the new voice and immediately relaxed once she saw it was Pepper, the strawberry blonde gave the other lady a hug on her way to Tony. They exchanged a few words before Pepper came back to (Y/N).

“I’m going back to Malibu for a few weeks, wanted to know if you wanted to come?” The woman held a look in her eyes that (Y/N) had seen before; pity, the fact that Pepper was the one to find (Y/N) in her room with the window smashed, the furniture broken and all over the place with her sat, stark naked in the middle of it all. Pepper saw the struggle clear on (Y/N)’s face when she stepped into the room. The pain. The horror. The ongoing battle within her as she tried to claw her way out of the disorientated state, she was in.

“I don’t know, I still have to do clean up here- “

“Don’t worry about it I’ve got it, go you deserve it Foss,” (Y/N) winced at the nickname and walked out the office. The two adults watched the head of (H/C) curls disappear into the mass of construction and working bodies.

“JARVIS pull up surveillance please, from her room.” Pepper’s voice was filled with an emotion that Tony couldn’t place. It didn’t matter the moment the wall in front of them filled up with an image of (Y/N)’s form sleeping in the bed.

His face showed the confusion on his face as he looked at the surveillance footage- “why am I watching (Y/N) sleep Pep?”- his eyebrows screwed together as he looked from her freckle covered face to the video.

“Just watch.” Her voice held authority that Stark did not question.

The tape speed forward for a moment, the images past quickly from her getting up and looking around the room in confusion, to her trying to open the door, to then turning around and seeing the Chitauri flying around outside her large window. She tries the door handle one last time before slowly walking to the window. Hands on it as she surveys the scene unravelling in front of her.

“Pepper?” Tony’s voice is full of question as he watches the tape pick up speed again to the moment (Y/N) catches him falling out of the sky. The veins in her body starts to pulse a deep crimson as she slams her fist against the window in anguish.

It happens to quickly that Tony orders Jarvis to rewind and slow down the tape. Pepper takes a seat on the raised platform surrounding them and places her head in her hands.

But he doesn’t notice; he’s got his eyes focused on the image of (Y/N) hunched over in pain as her body starts to become overwhelmed in light as she screams in fear, the room starts to shake. A crack forms on the window, then one crack turns into five and then five turn into hundreds of spider webs turning the triple-glazed-Tony-Stark proof window into shards that fly across the room and fall onto the people outside. The clothes burn off as her body becomes too hot, all the pent-up energy finally being released. Crimson ribbons start to flutter around her body creating a circle that envelopes her trembling body as she hunched over in pain, the furniture in the room starts to shake as it lifted off the ground and hovers in the air.

All of a sudden, the ribbons that were once dancing around her erupted outwards as her upper body was flung upwards and a silent scream left her body. Everything broke; the bed, the table, the desk, and the walls dented.

She falls to the floor quickly, her head bounces from the immediate impact. The tape fast forwards again, and throughout her body doesn’t stop glowing, humming softly as it heals itself of self-inflicted injuries. The tapes stops suddenly to (Y/N) waking up; she arches of the ground and whips her head back and forth trying to grasp onto the perplexing situation at hand. But the confusion plastered on her face is clear as glass. A shard of bright light appears in the corner of the video before slowly becoming wider, drowning the dark and bleak room in artificial light.

(Y/N)’s face turns slowly to the figure in the doorway, a series of emotions flash across her face as she tries to understand everything, anything at all.

“Tony?” The plead fell on death ears as the 176 second clip was rewound and replayed over and over again; the already clenched jaw became slack before tensing again. His forehead creased in anguish as the image of the vulnerable woman stained is mind.

“Tony?” He exhaled violently through his nostrils before hanging is head low, he screwed his eyes shut and counted to ten in his head.

‘You fucked up’

‘Again’

“I…I promised her, I’d protect her and let nothing happen to her again Pep. I promised.” His voice meagre as he inhaled deeply trying to ignore the quaking of his lungs. He looked up at the paused video, millions of thoughts swarming his already distressed head. Taking a step back he cleared his throat.

“Jarvis.”

“Yes Sir?”

“Delete the footage, erase it.”

“Permanently sir?”

“Yes”

“And what of the Bedroom Sir?”

“What bedroom Jarvis?”

“Of course, sir.”

He looked to his left at the strawberry blonde, sat calmly watching his body, waiting for it to crumple. She was reading him like always but this time she couldn’t quite understand the writing on the pages, it kept shifting from one thing to another.

“We don’t speak of this Pepper, she doesn’t remember the surge, she just remembers waking up and seeing me fall, and that is as good as it gets,” his voice was low, a whisper of a whisper. His dark brown eyes met her blue in a silent agreement.

An agreement to protect what could destroy everything. And nothing at the same time.

“Jarvis?” He raised his eyebrows at nothing waiting patiently for the response.

“You were never here sir.”

With a nod he turned and left, never looking back as he marched to find something to preoccupy his mind from combustion.

Silence met Pepper’s ears for a few minutes before the silence was filled with a small sniffle, wiping her hand underneath her nose she looked up to the ceiling blinking a few times to calm herself. She needs to control herself for her sake. Before she screams.

Nodding to no one she gets up.

Smooths out her skirt.

And leaves.

March 14th, 2015

Medical bay, New Avengers Compound, Upstate New York.

“We had to heavily sedate her so there would be no chance of a surge of any kind like you suggested Tony, her body is damaged though. He put some kind of poison in her system that is unnatural.”

His heart stuttered as he listened to the Doctor speak, ‘unnatural, what does she mean?’.

“I tested it and I couldn’t find any kind of natural compound in the substance I extracted from her blood, I don’t think it was her body trying to decompose it if that is what you’re thinking because whatever they put in her, it’s. I’m so sorry Tony,”

His heart became erratic the sound became claustrophobic, ‘what does she mean she’s sorry?’.

“It’s aim was to halt her reaction, the deadly kind so they could do something, but it did more than that Tony, it’s made her weak. She’s broken and I don’t know how to fix her.”

His heart burst, the pain was so great it became numb, it was so great he saw black spots as his vision swam, it was so great he forgot that the team was down the hall.

It was so great that he screamed.

His heart and lungs felt heavy as he forced in air to stop him from falling, he looked up at Cho and grabbed her by the shoulders, he looked into her fear painted eyes and begged, pleaded with her to stop lying.

“Tony, there is nothing I can do, it’s all up to her biology now. My machines can’t fix her, they’d kill her or make it worse. I’m sorry.” She placed a consoling hand on his cheek, a mockery to him as the apology felt empty, scares of emotion.

His eye landed on the shell of a human, his (Y/N) laid there motionless, mindless, and uncomfortably beautiful. Her dark complexion paling and lifeless.

His stomach felt twisted as he dragged in a broken breath, it settled uncomfortably within him as he continued to stare at the woman he has known since 23, he could remember the way the dimly lit dinner made her eyes shine so brightly with pain. He felt at peace for a moment when he saw the conflict flitter across her face as he drunkenly plonked down opposite her in the sticky leather booth.

They related to each other on so many levels without a word spoken, the loss and torment they both endured was what helped them come together. But their undying love and friendship was what kept them together.

The beeping became unbearable, it mocked him with the intensity of it obnoxiously loud beep. He gritted his teeth and looked down at the monitor, it looked clean and untouched, beautifully innocent for a machine.

Unlike her, lying in that bed covered in swells, darkened colours and bumps, a majestic art-piece for the psychopaths of the world.

The rhythm of the beeping was fast, it sounded like the machine was running out of breath to keep up with her heart rate. He spent years trying to keep up with her, yet this was the closet he’d been to see her so…peaceful.

“Heal for me,” he gasped out as the tears finally dripped down his face. Placing a delicate kiss on her forehead he turned and walked out the room – if he started any longer at her he would do something; he didn’t know what yet, but it wouldn’t be good.

His footsteps echoed viscously in the hallway as he marched down towards the group of heroes sat in the living room; waiting, begging, pleading that she would be okay. They better pray some more.

Natasha was the first to see Tony enter the room, she kept quiet and just watched him, standing there- catatonic. Her eyes followed the figure as it went towards the island that separated the living room from the kitchen. Those eyes were swimming in tears as they watched Tony hunch over the island, his shoulders wide and stiff as he started hard at the marble countertop.

“Tony?” Eyes snapped to the red head that asked the question, then followed her line of sight to the billionaire that looked too quiet. No one moved as the man in question looked up to meet the questioning gaze of his teammate. No one moved as he turned his back towards everyone.

But everyone flinched when the figure lurched forward and grabbed the flowerpot off the stand and throw it across the room, next were the plates and decorations on the island, they flew across the room and landed in a million pieces.

Chairs, books, spoons, and pots danced in the air and crashed onto the floor.

It went on for minutes, the display of vulnerability became too much for Tony as he stopped and looked at the mess he made, back facing the team, he looked down the corridor he came from minutes ago. It was littered with piece of broken porcelain and china.

His face remained stoic as an image of (Y/N) appeared in front of him, broken and shattered in a million pieces, too many for him to put back together.

He couldn’t fix her. No one could.

He turned to the team, “I want background on the man that did this, everything. I want no place let untouched you hear me?” the silence answered his question. He looked at his team- “Where the fuck is Rogers?”

Bucky looked at Sam and then at Natasha. They exchanged a conversation that Tony was too tired to pick up on.

“He left with K-” Nat shot the solider a look before standing up and placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“He left with her, before any of this went down. He doesn’t know.” Her perfectly arched eyebrows came together as she observed the conflict smothering Tony’s face.

With a nod the billionaire rubbed Natasha’s hand and walked away to his room not uttering another word.

But everyone felt the pressure he left behind, the severity of the situation weighed heavily on their shoulders as they all, one by one, slowly got up and put their plan into action.

But their eyes were all focused on the corridor Tony had come from, because at the end of it lay their friend and teammate fighting for her life.

March 15th 13:41pm, Downtown New York

 Steve Rogers is a man of many things, loyalty and honesty is just some of them. But ever since he woke up in a different century his views have changed, not drastically but the influence of a few certain men and women can do a lot to a man.

But it wasn’t just those people that caused his views to change slightly, it was the way the world changed, the way the people changed and their views on the world. How women walked around covered in tattoos and piercing, some women walking around in barley anything.

How men no longer seemed to show women respect, grabbing them when they see fit, how the world had forgotten about all the lives lost during the war.

All his friends.

Within the first month of him awakening from the ice he had hopes that some of his past was able to hold out, anything and within minutes of that thought crossing his mind reality slapped him hard in his perfect face. Everything he knew was either changed or gone and that was that, no bullshit. And he was kind of glad about that, he knew he had to figure out what to do and he need that distraction, any distraction would be welcomed with opened arms.

After the attack of New York, he made it a priority to learn about what he missed and gain new skills, cooking being one of them. And he did, he prided himself on that, all the new skills he learnt being able to use the tablets and phone that are interactive and portable, learning that things taste so much better when there not boiled. And that he really, really feels out of place.

Although Stark offered to house him in his tower after the attack of New York, he declined. He found comfort in the separation between work and, and he didn’t really have a life outside of being Captain America. He didn’t have anything because everything in that apartment was already there when he moved in, including the food.

He worked his frustration out in the gym not far from where he lived. The same place Nick Fury asked for his helped, where he found his purpose again. But he still felt empty. So, he did what any sane person would do.

He talked to Natasha.

Now Steve Rogers is a man of simple things, he finds happiness in other people’s happiness, find love in the fact that the world is safe from the biggest threat from his time.

“You need to get laid Rogers. Simple.”

What does a man like Steve Rogers say to that, he wasn’t exactly what you would call experienced or a natural in that area of ‘expertise’, Hell he’s never seen a woman naked before let alone touch a woman with that intent. But the more Natasha explained it the more it made sense to him, the feeling of not knowing what he needs, feeling empty.

So, he tried it.

A lot.

Steve Rogers is a man of many things, honesty, sexual prowess, and loyalty are just a some of those things that have made him the man he is today, the very same man who is waking up in a bed coated in the scent of apples and cinnamon and a sprinkling of sweat covering his back.  

“Turn it off,” the scent was intoxicating, so homely and warm. It reminded him of his mother’s apple pie. The way she sang as she made one once they got home from church, the love that went into a single slice made his heart grow with warmth. The scent was accompanied by the beeping that was increasingly getting louder and quicker not to mention slightly irritating.

“Turn it off,” a hand slapped him haphazardly on the shoulder as he cracked open an eye to look at the flashing red numbers that read 13:42. The numbers kept flashing in a sequence, they mean nothing to him just random flashing numbers. He wondered if he kept staring at them then maybe they’d start to say something to him.

Suddenly a hand came slithering past his head to push a button on top of the cubed alarm-clock. Bright red nail-polish was decorating the long nails perfectly, the manicured hands attached to the slender arm wrapped around his shoulders and a hot kiss was placed on his left shoulder.

He lost himself in the tingle that covered his back; the goosebumps that enveloped him in a warm embrace, he was happy this morning in his own little world. The nails gently ran down his abdomen and danced around his belly button. The chills sent a smile to his face.

Turning around his eyes swept across the face of the woman that lay beside him with her leg draped carelessly over his hip. The storm in her eyes became more apparent as the sun draped its warm caresses over their laying figures. The (E/C) was like liquid heaven, whispering to him to come take a swim.

“You want pancakes or something else?” Emerald green. Her eyes were emerald green not (E/C).

‘What are you doing?’

“Steve? Are you awake in there?” his eye flickered up to meet hers; a smile was plastered over her face, her lips looked dry from the amount of alcohol she consumed last night. She giggled and rolled over, so she was sat on the edge of the bed, stretching she reached forward to grab his shirt that was hanging off the edge of the bedside table. Slipping it on she pranced out of the door and disappeared.

“Fuck.”

Sitting up he looked over the bedroom that was covered in personal effects including the lace violent panties she wore last night. The room smelled of sex and a fruity perfume that hurt his head, last night it made his head flutter but right now it burnt his nostrils with how pungent it was. He grabbed his boxers lying next to his feet and pulled them on before walking out of the bedroom and into the open-planned living, kitchen area.

His eyes were drawn to the blue fabric swishing back and forth on the small figure at the island, her hair was up in a messy bun, strands sticking out everywhere as she bopped her head back and forth. Flour was smudge on her thigh and on the back of her neck; she looked over her shoulder at the sound of him sitting down at the island. He smiled back and just watched her. He felt calm this morning, he didn’t know what it was, but he felt oddly calm.

 “You want a smoothie with it as well baby?” He just hummed, too busy watching his hands fiddle with the small Vibranium bracelet that always adorned his wrist. It was given to him on Christmas three years ago when the team did secret Santa, it took a small amount of explaining for him to understand what it was.

It was a small navy-blue plush box wearing a black ribbon tie, the letter just said ‘I noticed the ones you buy keep breaking, this unbreakable like my bond with you x’ he had a hunch about who it was from and the look of surprise on (Y/N)’s face told him, it had been on his left wrist ever since.

His thumb and forefinger rubbed the links subconsciously as he thought about (Y/N)’s words last night, how the emotion on her face looked raw and deep, he was perplexed by her to say the least. He knew about her, but he didn’t know her, and god did he want to. It seemed that she kept him at an arms distance compared to everyone else, at first, he thought it was Tony’s influence but then he saw that she had Stark wrapped around her finger. He then concluded that it was him, he was the reason she didn’t trust Steven Grant Rogers.

She trusted Captain America, when they were both on the field, she trusted him. But the moment he put the persona away and the shield down, she was back to keeping him at a distance.

“Your phones ringing.” He looked up at the sound of her voice and watched as she pointed to his phone charging on the coffee table on the side of the couch.

He numbly walked over and unplugged the phone but was a second too late to accept the call. She never called him, she never really said anything to him outside of work except a goodbye and a hello. His mind was racing as he selected redial and placed his phone to his ear as he turned around and walked back over to the island.

“It was Buck,” his husky voice drifted through the air, he nodded his head as the red smoothie was placed in front of him. Placing a kiss on the top her head he muttered a thank you as she walked past heading to sit down to eat her food.

“Thank fuck Rogers, I’ve been trying to call you all night.” He scoffed at the tone he was greeted with.

“Good morning to you to sunshine, I was a bit busy last night punk.” He smiled over his glass as he heard the clattering of a fork behind him.

“I need you in here right now Steve.” He chugged down the rest of his smoothie and sucked in a breath. He booked the weekend off, if it was an emergency, they knew the protocol.

“I’m off all weekend punk, you know this. If this is about the unfinished paperwork hand it to (Y/N), she knows the detail, she can finish them for me.” He heard silence on the other end of the phone, he called out Bucky’s name thinking the line went dead but him clearing his throat told him that he was silent for another reason.

“She can’t do that right now Steve, she’s down. Someone got to her.”

The thick glass in his hands shattered, breaking into tiny shards. Cutting his hands and his heart.

______

Taglist;

@vicmc624

[lokigodofaces]

I feel like Thor: The Dark World would have been better if it was originally written as a Loki movie. Obviously, not all the same events would have happened (you can't have your protagonist dead in the climax), but I feel like it would have been better (possibly), just looking at the movie we got.

When I watch the movie, I only watch the parts with Loki and maybe a few with Jane and Darcy. Unless I'm doing a full MCU rewatch or need to watch the movie for something else (analysis, fanfiction), I only watch the Loki parts. Why should I watch anything else? The parts with Loki were the best parts of the movie. And I know plenty others that watch the movie the same way I do.

It's still not the best writing with Loki. And I really do not trust the TDW writers with much. But they were able to write Loki better than any other character. I mean, he actually gets some development general audiences can see. Yes, Thor does change by refusing the throne and disobeying Odin (in a different way than he did in Thor 1), but it wasn't well articulated. You only really notice it if you're looking for it. Jane only has the development of going from sad-because-my-bf-left me to happy-because-I'm-with-my-bf (that you can see without analysis, I love Jane's character and would argue she doesn't have much development overall but it's there). Darcy gets a boyfriend we never hear about again, that's it. Selvig is there for like five minutes, but now he's crazy because of past mind control (but he's not crazy in AoU, and neither is Clint, so this is entirely forgotten). Ian is...there...to give Darcy a meaningless romance...I guess. Malekith is an awful villain, like I honestly don't remember what his motivations were, but I remember thinking it was stupid when I first saw it. Stupid in that Marvel has no idea what his motivations are. Frigga is supposedly a loving mother, but she dies to make Thor and Loki sad. Odin just proves to be more of a jerk. So Loki's the only one with noticeable development.

People say stuff all the time about Loki being an anti-hero, and that's because of TDW. Because he actually made a change. Since the confirmation of Loki being influenced by the scepter was post-TDW, I will speak as if we don't know if he was or not. But he was in the dungeons after a trial (key time for Odin being an a-hole) for something he may or may not have been under duress to commit. The only one that visited him was Frigga. Frigga is killed, Loki takes it hard. He is a mess when Thor comes to see him. He helps Thor and Jane, seeking revenge for Frigga. He dies, except not really, but he thought that was what was happening. He sacrificed himself for Thor and Jane. Then he wasn't dead, and he went back to Asgard. We don't know exactly what happened, but by the end, Loki is posing as Odin. Making Loki not a straight up evil person (he helped Thor, he protected Jane, he died for them, he fought the dark elves when he could have fled them and Thor, he mourned Frigga's death), but still not a goody two shoes. Again, not amazing writing, but it's better than everyone elses.

And when Loki is with Thor, suddenly it's bearable to watch Thor. Same with Frigga, Odin, Sif, the Warriors 3, and Jane. Gosh, if he was with Darcy or Selvig for any time, maybe they would have had better scenes. Obviously he doesn't redeem their arcs or anything, but they're fun scenes or serious scenes or sad scenes or anything we need. The dialogue gets better, the tone is better, the thematic elements are better, overall it's just better.

So it wouldn't necessarily be a good movie for every character. There's still a lot to redeem everything else. But I feel like there was a chance of there being a much better movie if Marvel wanted to not just shove Loki under a rug.