#THERE ARE SO MANY MORE SUBTLE ROUTES. DEAN WHAT IS YOUR PLAN. IS THIS EVEN ABT CAS OR ARE YOU HUNTING SOMETHING

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

so he's really gonna take the greek route out huh? straight through, main entrance, going out through the "in" door? does he think he's going to be carrying Cas with him? the madman...

[yet-another-fan-girl9]

Different Worlds (4)

Summary: You’re the youngest Winchester, a girl who needs to show her big brothers that she doesn’t need help. Then one day, on a totally normal vampire hunt that you had all under control, three meddling Avengers come barging in.

Warnings: language, violence, canon divergence, slow burn, me making stuff up

Word Count: 2125

A/N: Four chapters in 24 hours? 👀 I also made a playlist!

~*~

Chapter 4: I Love Luci

The alarms woke everyone in the compound. Bucky quickly pulled on his nearest clothes and grabbed his nearest gun. Steve was already out in the hallway with his shield glinting in the blinking red light. Sam stumbled out of his room using the wall as support.

“Wassgoin’on?” he slurred and looked at the two awake and alert supersoldiers.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Steve addressed the AI. “What’s going on?”

“There is an intruder,” she reported. “They are here to steal the book you recovered from the Hydra base thirty-seven hours ago.”

“Do you think it’s Hydra?” Bucky asked Steve as they ran to the stairwell.

“I still don’t think they have the strength or numbers.”

The two men turned the corner to find themselves face to face with a woman they had never seen before. She wore a dark blue, long-sleeved dress and had long, red, curly hair with bangs. In her hands was the book held close to her chest.

“Oh, hello, boys,” the woman cooed in a Scottish accent.

Then she muttered softly under her breath and flicked her wrist. The supersoldiers were suddenly pinned up to the wall by an invisible force. The woman walked by quickly, heels clicking under her dress. Bucky watched as she disappeared around the corner. Where was everyone else? The sounds of her heels grew fainter until finally, Bucky and Steve fell to the ground. At the same time, the red lights stopped flashing and the alarm shut off. The intruder was gone.

“Mr. Stark requires everyone in the briefing room immediately,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice echoed through the halls.

“What the fuck—who the fuck was that?” Bucky asked as he stormed into the briefing room.

“I don’t know.” Tony’s head was resting in his hand. “I need to know how she got in and out.”

“Magic, obviously,” Clint mumbled. Everyone was still in their nightclothes. “She used goddamned magic to pin us to the walls or somethin’.”

“Even I couldn’t get out of it,” Wanda spoke up. Her hair was up in a messy knot on the top of her head.

“I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. go through cameras and shit. Just…how did she get in?”

~*~

“How did you get in?” you asked the red-haired witch as she proudly displayed the Magicae Libro. “I mean doesn’t the Stark fucker have the best state of the art security system? That he made himself?”

“Darling, I think I’ve made my views on technology clear by now. Do not rely on it.”

“Now what do we do?” Dean looked at the old book. Everyone was gathered around the table, slightly groggy due to it being three-thirty AM.

“We gotta trap Lucifer again,” Cas stated. “Especially before he rallies more monsters.”

“We can always lure him out.” All eyes turned to Sam. “He wants so many things. Maybe me, as a vessel. Maybe the book, or maybe Jack.”

“Once again, Jack is not going anywhere,” Cas cut in. “He will definitely not be bait for his father.”

“I can do it,” Jack insisted but was met with sharp glares from Dean and Cas.

“Sammy, you’re sure as fuck not gonna be bait either,” ordered Dean. Sam opened his mouth in protest but shut it when Dean crossed his arms.

“Then the book is bait,” you summarized. “Lucifer probably knows that it was Rowena who got her hands on it.”

“And if he doesn’t outright know, I will be suspect number one,” she agreed. “I can protect the book well enough.”

“(Y/N) and I will go with you,” Dean offered.

“Yeah, we can pretend that you’re giving it to us.” The plan was forming in your mind. “We’ll ‘meet,’” you motioned air quotations, “somewhere public. Lucifer will find us and then…”

“Then Rowena will leave with the book and I will show up with angel backup,” Cas decided. “We’ll be watching for the right moment.”

~*~

“We found her!” Tony shouted. All of the Avengers lounging in the living room in their uniform jumped to their feet. “Let’s go! She could vanish at any moment!”

They all raced down to the hanger where the quinjet was already going. Tony wasn’t the only one desperate to get the thief, they were all embarrassed for underestimating the well-dressed woman.

“Okay,” Tony said once they were up in the air. The man was still slightly winded. “She was spotted in Lebanon, Kansas.” A street photo of the woman popped up onto the quinjet’s screen.

“How did she get there so fast? It’s gonna take us ‘bout an hour and a half to get there.” Clint walked in from the cockpit with Natasha behind him.

“We’ll have constant updates on her whereabouts,” Tony assured the team.

Everyone was fidgety. Who knew what could happen if the book ended up in the wrong hands. What if it was already in the wrong hands? Bucky bounced his knee as he stared at the street photos that updated every two minutes. Thirty minutes into the flight, things got interesting.

The woman had settled into a cafe. The photo of her at 10:27 showed her sitting alone, sipping her coffee. When the photos updated at 10:29, two people had joined her. Bucky’s eyes had glazed over, but Sam’s sharp intake of breath and sharp elbow brought him back to his senses. Now (Y/N) and a man who Bucky recognized as her brother Dean sat across from the red-haired intruder.

“What’s (Y/N) doing with the thief?” Steve voiced Bucky’s thoughts.

“Who’s (Y/N)?” Wanda asked and looked at the photo which had updated, although the situation hadn’t changed. “Is it the girl?”

“Yeah.” Sam nodded. “Bucky’s super obsessed with her.”

“Oh?” Natasha raised her eyebrow at the supersoldier in question and gave him her signature smirk.

“No, I’m not.”

“Right, because staring at her file while desperately trying to track her down isn’t an obsession,” Sam retaliated.

Steve then proceeded to explain the whole Winchester situation to the team. From the first encounter to the explanation of the supernatural.

“Ghosts and vampires?”

“Tony, aliens have invaded New York. Bucky and I are from the forties. Wanda is sitting across from you. We are literally tracking someone who used magic against us and you’re still questioning the possibility of this?”

Thank God, or whoever was looking out for them, for the quinjet’s amazing speed and tailwinds because they were able to shave off half an hour from their travel time. Based on the photos, the three people in the cafe haven’t moved. They were actually finishing up their breakfast.

When they landed and were about to leave, the photos updated to reveal a fourth person had joined them. The redhead, (Y/N), and her brother were visibly tense at the man’s arrival. Bucky was the first out of the plane.

~*~

You and Dean had been sitting across from Rowena in an empty cafe for almost thirty minutes. The Devil was still a no-show. At least you got a nice breakfast out of it. Rowena sighed dramatically and opened her mouth to speak when someone stopped at your table.

“Well if it isn’t some of the people who are always a fucking thorn in my side,” Lucifer greeted politely. About goddamn time.

“Well if it isn’t the literal fucking Devil,” you replied.

“Well if it isn’t the archangel who murdered me twice,” Rowena continued.

“Well if it is—”

“Enough!” Lucifer shouted. The lone waiter behind the counter looked up and you made a subtle motion to tell him to leave. “You have something that belongs to me.”

He reached over Rowena for the book, but she took him by surprise and was able to throw him back far enough that you all managed to stand up and go on the defensive. Dean had his demon-killing knife and you held an angel blade. The kitchen doors opened and the two cooks walked out. They joined the waiter who was still behind the counter.

You were about to yell at them to get the fuck out, but when three pairs of eyes flashed black the only word that slipped out was, “Shit.”

As if your plan hadn’t already gone sideways, backward, and every direction except the one you wanted, the cafe’s bell above the door signaled the arrival of… the goddamn fucking Avengers. All of them, this time. You couldn’t stop yourself from letting out an obvious groan of annoyance.

“Everybody, stand down.” Of course, Captain America would try to take the diplomatic route with Satan. In his defense, he didn’t know.

“They have something of mine,” Lucifer snarled. “And I have every intention of killing everyone to get it back.”

“Is it the book?” Iron Man stepped forward. Man, this cafe was starting to feel kinda small. “Because she,” he pointed at Rowena, “stole it from us.”

“And where did you get it?” Lucifer’s eyes flashed red. You saw Bucky look at you. He knew this was something supernatural.

“We took it from an evil organization.”

“And where did they get it?”

“Rowena,” you interrupt. “Go. Cas won’t come until the book is gone.”

“Stay and play a bit, Red,” Lucifer smirked as the cook demons lunged at you.

The waiter flicked his wrist and most of the Avengers went flying. You watched Lucifer who stalked towards Rowena as you fought off your demon. Every time your angel blade cut its skin, the wound momentarily glowed. Rowena was using her powers to push Lucifer back, but the Devil was still gaining on her in a perfect display of ‘two steps forward, one step back.’ She was leading him outside, away from the crowded cafe.

The Avengers were doing horribly. It was seven against one. ‘Earth’s mightiest heroes’ your ass. The demon held them up to the wall. You noticed that the Scarlet Witch was doing the most with her red mist.

Finally, your angle blade found its rightful place in the heart of a demon. It glowed brightly before it collapsed. Dean was able to off his own demon at the same time. You didn’t hesitate to put your blade through the back of the waiter’s skull. The Avengers were released from the demon’s grip and they fell to the floor. Wasting no time, you ran out the door screaming the Devil’s name.

“Lucifer!” He ignored you. “Lucifer, you son of a bitch!”

A red mist suddenly surrounded Satan and pulled him back toward you. Rowena and the book disappeared before the Scarlet Witch could grab her too. Someone walked up next to you and you turned to see Bucky watching Lucifer struggling against the red mist.

“Is that really Lucifer?” he looked at you with his beautiful blue eyes. Hot damn, you could stare into his eyes forever.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Your brain finally caught up. “Yep. That’s our good frenemy, Satan.”

“The Devil?” came Capt—Steve’s voice behind you.

“‘Frenemy?’” another voice asked. You turned and made eye contact with Hawkeye. In response, you smiled and nodded.

“You have an on-again, off-again relationship with Lucifer?” Iron Man asked.

“We have an on-again, off-again relationship with Lucifer,” Dean confirmed.

“Isn’t that right, Luci?” you jokingly asked the Devil who was now floating a couple of feet away from you.

“I honestly thought we were friends now, (Y/N),” Lucifer deadpanned.

“You tried to kill us,” Dean pointed out. “Multiple times. Most recent being one fucking minute ago!”

“That’s what friends do!” Lucifer smiled. “Wow, lookie, the Avengers! What are they doing here? This is crazy! I’m a big fan.”

“What were you planning?” you speak before the Avengers could react to the Devil’s comments. You could feel Bucky’s gaze on you as Lucifer became serious.

“(Y/N), Dean, I’m not the bad guy here.” You rolled your eyes and could tell a couple of Avengers did the same. “Something is happening. You need to see the big picture.”

The sound of fluttering wings signaled the arrival of four angels and Cas. They appeared and surrounded Lucifer.

“Thank you, guys,” Cas said looking at you and Dean. “They’ll take care of him now.” He looked back at the four angels and nodded his head.

“The big picture, (Y/N),” Lucifer said one last time before he vanished.

“Ready to go home?” Cas still paid no mind to the group of heroes. “Everyone is waiting back at the bunker.”

“Um, I think I want some answers,” Iron Man cut in.

“We all want answers,” agreed the red-haired woman. The Black Widow.

“What,” Dean looked at you, “are we just going to invite the Avengers over for coffee?”

“Yes,” you and Cas said at the same time.

Dean sighed, “All right. Let’s go.”

~*~

~*~

~*~

~*~

~*~

Tag List (strike though means tag didn’t work):

@grav3dollie-666

[itsworn]

Modernizing C3 Corvette Gauges

After many years of walking car shows we have seen it all, ranging from incredible builds with amazing attention to detail to the ragged originals, and everything in between. Through the years we have noticed several key areas many enthusiasts ignore and it often reflects poorly on the whole car. One such area is the gauges. We’ve seen flawlessly painted cars with completely refurbished interiors still using worn and tired (not to mention non-functioning) gauges in the dash. Few things are more important inside a car than the gauges; after all, you will be looking at them every time you drive the car. Fresh gauge faces and accurate readings make a world of difference to the overall driving experience.

As faithful readers know, we are in the midst of bringing a ’71 Corvette back to life. The car spent most of its life in sunny Arizona and the interior had plenty of sun damage to prove it. We recently freshened the seats with brand-new leather (from Corvette America) over at Hot Rod Interiors by Glenn. While the seats went a long way to freshening the interior, they looked so good the instrument panels appeared that much worse for wear.

Happily, the solution is as simple as visiting the Classic Instruments website and perusing their offerings. Since they also do custom work, the actual finished product is limited only by your imagination. Choosing custom colors, fonts and pointers is a great way to personalize your Corvette. This is also one of those projects that should be started early in the restoration process since you must allow time for a busy shop like Classic Instruments to complete the renewal of all your gauges. By planning ahead, the gauges will be on the shelf waiting to be installed with the rest of the dash components (Corvette Central) and wiring (American Autowire).

Our Corvette is a non–numbers-matching car so it is being built as a hot rod. While we didn’t want to stray far from the factory look, we were not bound to exactly replicating the factory original gauges. To that end, we decided to go the custom route with the final objective of testing people memories. We wanted people to look inside the car and think at first glance it was all stock, but then to scratch their head wondering, “Hmm, did the ’71 Corvette have chrome bezels on the console gauges?” Well of course they didn’t, but the look is so period perfect it should leave a lot of folks guessing.

One other major change is the transmission. The car was originally equipped with a TH400 automatic. We decided mixing gears is more fun, so to that end we added a TREMEC five-speed transmission that was custom built by American Powertrain so the shifter will be in the stock location. It all worked out beautifully.

Once we had a good idea of how we wanted the instrument panel to look we placed a call to Classic Instruments to discuss the project. The speedometer and tachometer would be refinished in the factory design but with modified ranges, the tachometer would go to an optimistic 8,000 rpm, while the speedometer would add some visual performance potential by pegging out at 200 mph. Will Editor Brennan be “burying the needle” on these instruments? Not hardly, but we must admit the big numbers add a performance vibe to the interior. Speaking of the speedometer, while we could have used a speed signal from the American Powertrain TREMEC five-speed transmission we opted for the instantly accurate GPS-based (SkyDrive) speedometer. It should be mentioned that the redline on the tach is marked at a realistic 6,500 rpm while the final top speed will be controlled by the final gear ratio, driving conditions, and good old common sense.

The gauge cluster in a ’71 Corvette is made primarily of plastics. The combination of 47 years and the high temperatures of the Arizona desert will fade the faces, make the plastic brittle and fog the lenses. After some discussion, Editor Brennan (who also suffers from being brittle, has foggy lenses, and a faded face) decided to go with factory appearance, big gauges. He then decided to add a splash of chrome plating on the bezels of the small gauges. The chrome rings are vintage enough to almost convince people it was a factory option. By using black faces with red pointers, the traditional look continues.

The process on our end was really quite simple. We removed the original gauges and carefully boxed them up and shipped them off to Classic Instruments. Upon arrival, the gauges were carefully examined by the craftsman at Classic Instruments and after a phone conversation we agreed on the estimated price. We discussed the desired work one last time before design work began. Classic Instruments provided us with printed “proofs” of what the actual gauges would look like. We reviewed the design and signed off on the work. After that it was a simple waiting game and soon enough the big brown truck backed up to the door at Hot Rods by Dean with a box full of very fresh gauges.

Of course things weren’t quite that simple on the other end. The team at Classic Instruments employ a lot of very high-tech equipment to produce great looking, incredibly accurate gauges. Fitting the modern gauge movements in the stock location is their specialty and when we received the new gauges they fit like a glove; looked better than new (because we really like our subtle design changes) and came complete with senders, instructions, a custom wiring diagram just for our installation, and they even returned our old unused pieces.

We thought it would be interesting to get an inside look at exactly what goes into restoring and/or modifying a set of Corvette gauges. With that thought in mind we followed along as our gauges were dismantled and replaced with new units. You may be surprised to see this very technical process and to see how few parts of the original gauges are actually reused.

Installation in our dashboard proved to be even easier than a factory installation since the Classic Instruments center console panel came prewired. It was a simple matter of wiring to the panel and plugging in the gauges. In no time we had a factory fresh appearing dashboard. In combination with our fresh upholstery the car truly looks brand new. Few things can compare to sliding behind the wheel of a vintage Corvette where everything has been brought back to this high a level. The fresh interior will make driving a pleasure and that new American Powertrain five-speed will keep the needles moving on our new Classic Instrument package. Vette

1. Few things add to the joy of driving like gazing at a set of fresh gauges. At first glance you may think these gauges are original, but look closer and you will see subtle yet effective modifications by Classic Instruments.

2. The first step is to remove the gauges from the car. In this case, we sent the entire center gauge cluster along with the two large gauges: the speedometer and tachometer.

3. We also sent the center console gauge panel so Classic Instruments could custom fit the gauges, replace warning lights with LED lights and pre-wire the whole panel.

4. After the gauges arrived at Classic Instruments they inventoried all the parts and began disassembly. Here you can see the speedometer and the gauge itself was in reasonably good condition. The speedometer is showing 41,895 miles. Sadly, the actual mileage just flipped 292,000 miles, which may be a record for C3 Corvettes.

5. After some discussion and a few changes we finally arrived at the perfect look for our gauges. A computer generated image is created and we had to approve that before final work began. This ensures everyone is “on the same page” (pun intended) for the final product.

6. Classic Instruments utilizes the latest technology to construct gauge clusters, like this Buck Rogers’ XZ-38 Disintegrator Ray Gun. Well, okay, it is actually a 3-D scanner that plots the location of virtually everything on the panel, but we still think Buck Rogers would love it, too.

7. From the CAD information harvested by the 3D scanner, this backside sheet was cut out by a water jet cutter and attached to the original gauge cluster. It is held in place by the original bolts, and the gauge openings are precisely located.

8. Classic Instruments uses the very latest electrical and electronic gauge movements housed in plastic gauge cups. This provides unmatched accuracy and durability.

9. Headlamps, Door Ajar and seatbelts lights are all housed in the center console on the C3 Corvette. The housing is custom fit to hold LED lamps in place of the original bulbs. First the light housing is marked for cutting.

10. The plastic housing is then cut flush with the back of the gauge cluster. This enables the new rear panel to fit flush. The new LED bulbs will be held in place in the proper hole in the new panel.

11. After being painted in satin black, all the gauges and lights are installed in the panel. Then everything is prewired with color-coded and tagged wires. The plugs permit the console to be removed later by simply unplugging the wires.

12. And here are the new, stylish Classic Instruments gauges. The chrome bezel is so traditional that unless you are a Corvette guru it could easily be mistaken for original.

13. The two large gauges will involve blending the old and the new. The reproduction bezels and new Plexiglas lenses were sourced through Corvette Central while Classic Instruments handled the rest of the gauge work.

14. Forty-seven-year-old plastic is brittle, particularly after baking in the Arizona heat. This small tab broke off during disassembly. Classic Instrument will use a small bolt and special cup washer to replace the broken tab.

15. The original tachometer and speedometer cups are CMM 3D scanned for measurements and then the hole is cut using computer controlled water jet technology.

16. The new tachometer fits inside the original cup with room to spare. The dark red box on top is the parking brake indicator light, and yes, Classic Instruments upgrades that too, with long lasting LED backlighting.

17. The original speedometer cup receives a similar treatment. Here we see the faceplate being test fit prior to having the graphics painted on the plate. The gauge faces are cut using CAD design that operates a water jet cutter for incredibly clean cuts.

18. Here is the speedometer face fully printed. Editor Brennan chose the fonts for the numbers and also opted for a rather optimistic 200-mph gauge. The black face, white numerals and red pointer are similar to the original design.

19. Here we can see the original tachometer/speedometer bezel and the scratched and hazed Plexiglas lens. While Classic Instruments can refinish such items, it was easier to simply order reproduction pieces from Corvette Central.

20. Classic Instruments takes the time to coat the metal cup in a gray finish and the green plastic is as clean as new, it’s a class act. Rather than trust the 47-year-old plastic threads, the top cup screw has been replaced with a small bolt.

21. Looking from the backside, the speedometer is completely prewired. Inside the plastic bag you will find pins and plugs so you can wire to the plug. All wires are clearly marked. We opted for Classic Instruments GPS-based (SkyDrive) speedometer.

22. The backside of the tachometer is also prewired. The row of dip switches are set for accuracy. Adjusting the switches is simple and is explained in the directions with the custom wiring diagram Classic Instruments supplies with the refurbished gauges.

23. All we can say is “WOW,” they look so cool. Flawless craftsmanship combined with modern movements and accuracy, it just doesn’t get any better. This is the tachometer, with built-in parking brake indicator light.

24. Fresh face graphics, crystal clear lens and perfect bezels all add up to one great looking speedometer.

25. We just had to zoom in close so you could see the attention to detail. We really like the clean and simple font for the numbers. The 200-mph marker adds a nice performance vibe to the cockpit.

26. While our engine will never approach the 8,000 point we do like the full sweep design as the pointer position is very intuitive and somewhat proportional to the movement of the speedometer.

   Sources

American Powertrain

(931) 646-4836

www.americanpowertrain.com

Classic Instruments

(844) 342-8437

www.classicinstruments.com

Corvette Central

(800) 345-4122

www.corvettecentral.com

Photography by Classic Instruments, Taylor Kempkes

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