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yuta-nakamots · 4 years ago

Text

santa tell me - l.yy

Pairing - Yangyang x Reader

Genre - Fluff, Angst

Warnings - None

Summary - Growing up, your wishes to Santa were always things like a doll set, a pretty outfit, or a Nintendo gaming system. You didn’t know if he would answer to a wish that was not tangible, like wishing for a person, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Word Count - 4.2k

Taglist - @danishmiilk @dearyongs

A/N - bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from the songs listed in the prompts. special appearance by @orange-nimon-cross.

Written for the Walking In A Winter Wonderland Collab hosted by @suh-insane and @neocitybynight.

Prompts:

“Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe” - Ariana Grande (Wit it This Christmas)

“Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year.” - Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me)

When you had first started off in university, one of your biggest worries was not being able to make new friends and fit in with them. Granted, you chose to stay home and go to one of your local schools meaning that some of your high school friends would still be with you but you also wanted to meet new people so you’re not stuck with the same idiots for the rest of your life.

Such idiots being Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno who had stuck with you all through high school. Both of them had told you that they too would be staying at home and would be going to school with you, which you were secretly extremely thankful for, though you knew they too were probably itching to make new friends.

Luckily, you three were all majoring in the STEM field so many of your classes coincided with each other. You stuck with Jaemin as biology majors on the pre-med track while Jeno majored in engineering. Somehow, Jeno, one of the most quiet and intimidating people at first glance, had managed to connect with the other freshmen, introducing you to Yangyang and Renjun, both of whom he met in his calculus class.

Yangyang was majoring in bioengineering, a quite daunting major to say the least, while Renjun was going into computer science. Much to your surprise, Yangyang was actually local. It's just that he had gone to one of your rival high schools which was why you hadn’t yet met him unlike Renjun who actually flew in from a different city.

Like this, your little friend group was complete for your first year of college. With all of you being in the STEM fields, group study sessions were a must, especially for Renjun who felt the need to be over prepared for every quiz or exam though he claimed that the rest of you were just ‘underprepared’.

“So who can tell me what the values of N(0) and N(9) are?” Renjun asked, standing in front of the whiteboard in the study room you all booked to prepare for your calculus exam the next day.

Everyone was silent as they analyzed the problem. “Oh, N(0) is 41 and N(9) is 325, right?” Yangyang answered.

“Correct, they’re simply the values given to us in the problem,” Renjun explained as he wrote the numbers on the board, “and so from here, what do we do if we want to find the unknown relative growth rate?”

“Is that the equation with all the letters and stuff?” Jaemin chimed in. “You know, the one with all the P and the t and the-”

“The exponential growth equation.” Jeno interrupted, playfully rolling his eyes at Jaemin who proceeded to throw his eraser at the former.

“Hey, we’re here to study, not for us to babysit you two,” Renjun scolded, “anyway, which values will we be plugging in?”

“9 for the t, 325 for the P(9), and 41 for P(0),” you stated, pretty much unphased by the antics of your friends, “then you divide the 325 by 41 and multiply both sides by the natural log to get rid of the e.”

“Very good-”

“Wait slow down-”

“I don’t get it-”

Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin all spoke at the same time, shooting each other looks as they fought to decide who should speak though Yangyang beat them all to it. “We’re trying to find the growth rate which is why we divide the final value by the starting value, it’s like finding the rate of change, you know?”

“God, at least I know three of us won’t fail the test,” Renjun muttered.

“Hey,” Jeno complained, “I understand it, I just need more time to write it all down, don’t be so mean.”

“Yeah okay, whatever, let’s just finish up this problem already because I’m hungry and I swear, if we don’t end before the cafeteria closes-”

“Multiply both sides by 1 over 9 to isolate the k constant and from there plug it into a calculator and solve to get the unknown relative growth rate,” you commented, your own stomach growling the tiniest bit at the mention of food.

“Oh my baby is so smart! I’m so proud of you,” Jaemin exclaimed as he reached over to try to squish your cheeks though you were quickly pulled out of his reach as someone moved your chair, “hey! Don’t take my baby away from me.”

“She’s not a baby, she’s already 18,” Yangyang reasoned.

A loud sigh came from the front of the room, effectively interrupting all conversation. “Jaemin, can you at least try to put in some effort?” Renjun whined.

“I did! Look, the k constant is equal to 0.23003 and I have everything written down here,” Jaemin defended, sliding his paper closer to Renjun who was struggling to see it from a distance.

Renjun made a noise of both content and confusion, “then why did you say that you didn’t get it?”

Jaemin shook his head, “oh no no no, I didn’t say that I didn’t get it, I was going to say that I don’t get how our y/n is so smart already. She’s going to be such a good doctor!”

“That’s your goal bro, not her’s.” Yangyang interjected.

There was a loud sound of a book shutting and everyone looked over at Jeno who was packing up his stuff. “What?” He questioned, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “Aren’t we going to get dinner?”

The rest of you started following suit after doing one last check that everyone was good on all of the material for the test tomorrow. “What score do you think you’ll get on the exam?” Yangyang asked as the group of you headed over to the cafeteria.

You let out a hum as you thought to yourself. “Maybe like an 85 or something around there.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ll hit at least a 90, or even a 90 exactly,” he responded with a cheeky giggle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Because I’m the 10 that you need.”

Sure enough, you scored 90 points on the exam, prompting Yangyang to excitedly treat you for lunch that following weekend. One small date became two and eventually three which was when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

When you told the rest of the guys that the two of you were together, Jaemin let out a whoop before turning to the others, “you both owe me twenty.”

You raised an eyebrow at them, asking for an explanation. “We made a bet on when Yangyang would finally get the guts to ask you out. Turns out it was a lot faster than we thought,” Renjun explained dryly as he opened his wallet to hand Jaemin the bill.

The rest of your first year in college went by in the blink of an eye jumping from spending Christmas with Yangyang, Jeno, and Jaemin, to submitting your registrations for the next school year, then to finals to wrap up the term.

If there was one thing about freshman year that you’d keep dear to your heart, it would be the little Christmas party the four of you had at Jeno’s house. You had each brought a gift as each other’s Secret Santa, yours was a cute pair of pink socks with strawberries on them for Jaemin who you knew hated strawberries though he’d wear them anyways because they’re from you.

Supporting your predictions, Jaemin changed his socks right then and there with a smile on his face because “they’re so cute, just like my baby” causing your boyfriend, who was in fact your Secret Santa, to jokingly make a gagging sound at Jaemin’s affection towards you.

The gift Yangyang gave you was a thin bracelet with a single little sheep charm dangling off of it. “In Korean, yang means sheep so I thought it would be cute to give you something that could be a reminder of me when I’m not with you.” Now it was Jaemin and Jeno’s turns to make the sounds of disgust as you kissed Yangyang’s cheek to thank him.

So I think you should give your love to me. Baby, let me know

Sophomore year was when things started to change starting with Yangyang leaving to continue his studies in China where he was accepted into one of his dream universities. He had told you about his plans beforehand and you celebrated every milestone with him like when he first submitted his application, when he got his acceptance letter, and then a scholarship. Here you were finally, sending your boyfriend off at the airport before the beginning of fall semester.

“I love you so much, stay safe and don’t get sick,” you told him as you held him in a tight hug, not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

Yangyang laughed as he felt you trying to nuzzle into his chest. “I’ll be back sooner than you know it. Just four months and I’ll be back for the holidays.”

Even as your tears began to fall, you still smiled, not wanting his last moments with you to be sad ones. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He locked pinkies with you, sealing the deal.

It was difficult to be in a long distance relationship, especially when it seems like the time zones are working against you. When you’re awake and going about your day, Yangyang is winding down and finishing up his work, about the head to sleep. There was never a good time for you to call each other, especially as the semester progressed and your workloads only increased.

“I really miss you, you know. I miss getting to hold you in my arms and mess up your hair only to have you hit me all the time.” You paused the voice recording he had sent you a few days ago, wanting so badly for time to go by faster and for Yangyang to return home sooner.

You sent him a voice recording back. “I passed that test I was talking about last week! I didn’t really do too well but it’s okay because apparently Jeno and Jaemin didn’t do all that great either. I miss having you here to help me study and tell me that I’m doing well. How did your ochem lab go? I’m sure you aced it.”

Sending each other voice recordings was the next best thing after calling because you could still hear each other’s voice while also still doing it at a time that was comfortable for you. It was like texting but with your voice instead of typing out words. Though sometimes it left you anxious because it wasn’t like a call where the other person is responding in real time. Yangyang would often leave you on read and would take a few days to respond so you inadvertently began doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until one weekend when both of you had free time that Yangyang finally snapped during a call. “It’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

“What? No, what do you mean?” You questioned.

“You don’t respond all the time and it’s like I’m not a top priority anymore,” he rambled.

“To be fair,” you began, “you don’t respond to me all the time either-”

“Yeah because I’m busy.” Yangyang interrupted.

You let out a sigh. “I’m busy too. We’re both college students majoring in some of the hardest fields, we know how hard we have to work for our education.”

“I know but like, you can still text me back. You don’t have to send voice recordings so often if you’re really that busy-”

“No, don’t make it sound like I’m exaggerating how busy I am. You are a top priority, but you’re not my number one and that should be common sense.” You tell him, feeling your own temper starting to go.

You could practically see Yangyang rolling his eyes at you. “I’m not trying to downplay your work at all. I’m just saying that it’s not that hard to put effort into our relationship.”

“Then how about you give me something to go off of first instead of making me change for you. You barely respond to me either so I can say just the same thing for you,” you argued.

“Look, I think we need some time away from each other to clear our heads and figure this out when we aren’t being weighed down by all our other problems,” he reasoned.

You let out a laugh. “You say that as if we haven’t already been separated from each other for two months already but okay.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You heard the line go dead. He didn’t even end with an ‘I love you’ or anything like that though you chose not to think too hard about it because he was probably just as tense as you.

When Yangyang came home in December it felt like everything was right once again. He got to be reunited with the original group along with meeting the two newest additions, Haechan and Shotaro who were both business majors and were roped in by Jeno who had a shared class with both of them.

Yangyang had gotten you a second charm, the number 10 to go on the bracelet he had bought you the year before which you still wore almost constantly. “Ten because I’m the ten you need, remember?” You nodded as you smiled up at him, glad to finally have him back in your arms.

He had to go back to school sooner than the rest of you so your time with him was short-lived and things went back to the way they used to be, except even more distant this time around. Normally Yangyang would be sure to call you back if he ever missed a call from you, but he didn’t. He’d go days without responding to you, opening your messages but never sending anything back.

But it’s hard to tell if this is just a fling or if it’s true love that he thinks of

That semester, the two of you decided to break things off after yet another fight in hopes to preserve the friendship that you had before things got any worse. It was like a breath of fresh air for a moment, getting to finally focus your energy on your work and not worry about having to respond to messages from a boyfriend who didn’t really seem like one. Only when you slowed down did things really start to hit you.

When Yangyang came back during summer, your group was torn on how to handle the situation, wanting to hang out with both of you but not wanting to make things uncomfortable knowing how rocky things were between the two of you. You ended up pulling yourself back and encouraging them to go out with Yangyang since they could see you during the school year whereas he was in a different country and it only seemed fair.

That was really the last you saw or heard of him as you chose to bury yourself in work for the next year, not wanting to let yourself fall behind in school because of your emotions. It was, by far, one of your most productive years. Not only did you take some of your grad school tests and applied for many scholarships, you also earned yourself a spot on the Dean’s list and took part in a notable marine biology study done on the effects of pollution on the local animals.

Between balancing all of your current works and goals along with things to prepare you for your potential future careers, the mere existence of Liu Yangyang slipped your mind for just that short time. It was only a year later, during the summer before your senior year, did you hear from Jaemin that Yangyang was planning to come back.

“Yeah he was asking Jeno what we’re planning on doing for housing next year and if he could join us.” Jaemin informed you as the two of you were running an experiment and working on tracking the carbon output of the little plants in front of you.

“So what did you say to him?” You asked as you placed the oxygen gauge inside the chamber of the first plant.

Jaemin paused to see if the gauge was sending data to the computer. “I told him that the six of us were looking into getting one of the campus apartments in the fall so we might not be able to accommodate him.”

“Wait, six? Aren’t there five of us?” You started listing the names of your friends in your head.

“Haechan is going off-campus and Jeno’s girlfriend is joining us,” Jaemin corrects, “so next semester it’s us, Jeno and Yunha, Renjun, and Shotaro. Six. We probably won’t have space for him unless someone backs out.” You stared at the rising and falling of the line on the computer graph, not really sure if you were happy or sad at this. “Would you have liked it if he were to join us?” He questioned after seeing your silence.

“I don’t know, it’s not that I’m ‘uncomfortable’ around him…” your voice trailed off as the computer finished collecting data and indicated for you to reset and move on to the next plant, “it’s just that we didn’t really have a clean end to our relationship, if you know what I mean.”

Jaemin nodded in understanding as you moved the gauge to the second plant. “Would you like to get back together with him if given the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah but not if we’re both as busy as we are right now.” You explained, looking over at the screen to see if the oxygen was tracking.

“Try inserting it a little further,” Jaemin instructed when you both saw that the line was running a bit low, “but anyway, you guys are both going into the medical field, there’s no escaping being busy.”

“Yeah that’s exactly wh-”

“No, listen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to both see each other all the time. Think about it. There’s tons of people out there who don’t even understand their partner’s job but they still make it work-” He rambled

“And who’s to say you can group me in with a majority?” You interject.

Jaemin looks away from the screen to roll his eyes at you. “That’s not the point. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about giving him another chance whether he lives with us or not.”

“I mean, I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I will.” You decide, wanting to get back to the experiment.

Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year

Truthfully, you hadn’t really gotten over Yangyang, you had merely forgotten about him for a while with all the stuff you were doing, which was what you had planned to do. A part of you wanted to see if things could still work out again but the other part of you didn’t want to put yourself in that same situation again, especially now that both you and him would probably be even more busy than before.

You didn’t know if he’d be coming back for good or if he’d be leaving again to go somewhere else and you didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him only to lose him shortly after. Thankfully the other guys didn’t ask too much about it seeing as how the housing situation was already settled.

It was just your luck and misfortune that you went in to work on a research assignment on the day you did. As you walked down the hallways of the lab building, you heard that one familiar voice ringing throughout the halls from an open door. You paused in your tracks, diverting from your course through the building to see if your suspicions were true as you peeked into one of the labs.

As you looked in, you saw his back towards you while he talked animatedly with one of your colleagues about how different it was to go to a university in China. You quickly ducked away when your colleague waved in your direction, not wanting to be seen by Yangyang.

“Who was that?” He asked, his voice getting fainter as you sped away from the room. You heard your name mentioned followed by an “oh” but that was about it as you got into the elevator to head to the archives.

And I’m trying to play it cool but it’s hard to focus when I see him walking around the room

Senior year progressed just like any other year, though you were glad that you got to live with your closest friends and at least see them for meals when you were all too busy to actually hang out. If anything, it was just the slightest bit more calm since there was no longer stress about passing general classes now that you were in more specialized biology courses that were actually enjoyable.

The annual Christmas party came up much faster than you expected but now that the six of you shared an apartment, it was only that much more convenient and because it would be your last year all together, Jaemin insisted that it be an actual get-together for your friends.

He invited Haechan and some of the guys he was now living with, though they were all older too. Renjun brought over some of the other computer science grad students that he had gotten close to recently, similar to Jeno in the engineering field.

As more people showed up and you worked on keeping all of your guests entertained, you hadn’t managed to keep track of everyone who set foot into the door, trusting Renjun to not let anyone in who had no business with you guys. It wasn’t until dinner started that you saw a face you hadn’t seen in a while.

“Hey,” Yangyang began as he almost ran into you exiting the kitchen with a plate full of food in his hands.

“Hey,” you said back, startled and unsure of how to actually react.

After you had gotten your food and returned to the living room, you say that he had taken up a seat next to Jeno and Jaemin as some Christmas movie started playing and you opted to sit on the sofa next to Jeno’s girlfriend Yunha, who gladly scooted over to make room for you. “Who’s that?” She asked, nodding over to where her boyfriend was.

“That’s, uh, Yangyang. He was one of our close friends during our freshmen year but he left to study at a school in China,” you inform her, glad that she accepted the simple explanation.

You successfully avoided him for almost the rest of the night, not because you didn’t like him but because you were scared of talking to him after so long. It was nearing the end of the night when Renjun had yelled for everyone to “sit your asses down in a circle” with the present they brought for the white elephant game gift exchange game.

The apartment was filled with laughter and cheers as the game progressed and people opened the gifts they chose, finding things outrageous as a whisk or backscratcher or even a bag of clothespins. The best one was the gift Jeno, a cat lover opened, pulling out a box of dog treats.

“Aw, our big samoyed!” Jaemin cooed. “Do some tricks for us!” Jeno shot him a glare before allowing the game to continue on.

The gift you decided on keeping was a small red envelope sealed with a shiny golden sticker. When you opened it, you pulled out a postcard from Shanghai and you felt a wave of emotion hit you. You held it up to show the people around you what it was before quickly slipping it back into the envelope and placing it on the ground beneath your crossed legs.

Once everyone had opened their gifts and a few people were starting to leave, you decided to get a head start on cleaning up in the kitchen as your roommates bid everyone farewell and wished them a safe drive home.

“I think it’s kind of funny how you got my gift,” a voice said from behind as you transferred the leftover dumplings from the plate they were on into a tupperware container.

You shrugged your shoulders. “The minimum price requirement was $5 and I’m sure you couldn’t have spent more than $2 on that.”

“The envelope and the sticker made up for the other $3,” he stated, his playful attitude ever so present, “so how have you been lately?”

“Pretty good, I guess. Got accepted into grad school, finishing up my remaining courses, just normal college stuff, how about you?” You finally make eye contact with him as you have to nudge him out of the way for you to open the refrigerator. He looks nearly exactly the same as when he first left but somehow more handsome and less boyish.

“Oh, I’ve been doing just about the same I could say. I decided to stay home for this school year, though I suppose you already knew that seeing as how you were spying on me at the beginning of the semester.” He shot you a wink as you returned back to the counter to start working on another dish.

You let out a gasp, “I was not spying on you.”

“Then why did you just peek into the lab and leave before I got to see you?” He inquired.

“Because I had other things to do,” you respond quickly.

“Well what if I told you that I actually wanted to see you and was disappointed that you ran away?” He took a step closer to you.

You secured the lid on a container of fried rice. “Then I guess you’re not the only one.”

“Hm, so you really did miss me then,” Yangyang chuckles.

“Will the two of you stop talking and just kiss already?” Jaemin shouts from the hallway.

Yangyang lets out a laugh. “You heard the guy. Come here.”

You gave in to your heart as you closed the refrigerator again, turning to face him and taking only two steps until you were in his arms once again as his lips met yours.

Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe

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freebooter4ever · 3 years ago

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Hey! Some questions about Snaf in IRL Eugene's book to you and anyone who knows it: Is Snaf described as teasing? Is he hypochondriac/preoccupied with his health? Does he like sweets? Is he somewhat of a loner? Does he sit weirdly folded (maybe just a Rami thing tho) Was he in China for occupation duty? Or are these just fic canon tropes (maybe somewhat based on the tv show) that reoccur in fics?

Okay my disclaimer for this is that it's been a while since I've listened to the memoirs, like at least a year or six months, so apologies if I'm remembering something wrong. Here are links to previous posts about Snafu in the real memoir:

Snafu in With The Old Breed Snafu Singing Bout Wedding Bells Real Eugene Describes Snafu

Quick answers to your questions: No, Shelton isn't as teasing or a hypochondriac, E.B. Sledge doesn't mention him liking sweets particularly, Snafu is described more often as being friendly/around people than being a loner, E.B. Sledge doesn't describe how he sits, Shelton was in China for occupation duty.

Teasing: Snafu does joke about Eugene and smoking, and makes a bet that Eugene would start. He's much more boastful about being right than he is in the tv show, lol. Of course, Snafu never said the words 'taken' and never said anything about new boys and sweating. There was probably more teasing going on than Eugene mentions in the memoir, because Eugene is very sarcastic about Snafu - a lot of the descriptions seem to have a sort of irritated fondness about them. "Give it a rest, Snafu" is 100% believable as something Eugene might have said, even if he never wrote those words exactly. Though it probably would have been about Snafu getting military strategy wrong again.

About the sickness thing: he apparently was very easily seasick, lol! Eugene mentions that every time they go in one of the PT boats, Snafu has to lie down or he'll be sick. Which probably explains why in the tv show Snafu throws up before the landing craft is launched into the water (better to empty his stomach before the seasickness rather than wait). I posted about this on my blog somewhere I think but I don't have an easily accessible link.

Loner: personally, I think Snafu was the sort of "outgoing introvert" type - very gregarious and easily charming, but goes slightly insane when he doesn't get enough alone time. Just going off the descriptions of him from both EB Sledge and Burgin. He doesn't seem to have any trouble making friends, and he and Eugene "Sledgehammer" are close even before Peleliu, which means they became friends on Pavuvu when the rest of the veterans were still in 'hazing' mode. The impression I got was that Snafu was loud, and brash, and utterly without a filter. BUT ( and a very big but ) we know later in life he grew into a very quiet man who never talked much and kept to himself - hence why I'd guess he was pretty introverted deep down. In my fanfic though, I tend to write him as more of an extrovert, mostly because I like to contrast this with Eugene.

I'm pretty sure the physicality of Snafu was all Rami - I would be FASCINATED if Rami were to ever disclose the research he did for this role, but I imagine that info must be very private. He probably was able to talk to people in the real Shelton's life who never got the chance to record what Snafu was actually like. Personally, Snafu's gestures were one of my favorite parts of tv show Snafu - he's his own character purely based on movement alone. The animation geek in me nerds out.

China Occupation: I don't think Snafu is mentioned much other than that he was there. There's a number of nameless characters in stories and some of them I theorize are Snafu with his name omitted because they aren't the most flattering stories, but that's just my guess. Eugene starts hanging out with the intellectual elite of China during this time, and Snafu is most certainly one of the guys more interested in carousing than cultural sites and philosophical discussions over tea. Technically Snafu is one of the veterans with more 'points', so he should have been sent back to the states a few months before Eugene, but if my theory is correct, I think Snafu was one of the ones who kept getting docked points for being thrown in the brig lol. Either way, Eugene does not go home at the same time as either Snafu or Burgin (who would have gone home earlier because he also had more points).

One thing is for sure: Snafu never said anything about "bad germs", that was actually told to Eugene from a real doctor, which honestly kinda makes more sense than what the tv show did. Snafu also is never named as one of the guys who cuts gold teeth out of soldier's bodies. He also never asked Eugene to look into his eyes - the real Shelton actually got malaria or some kind of sickness and that was the only time he was pulled from the front lines for a few weeks. Shelton was never injured in battle. Even when he falls to the ground on the air field, and Eugene picks him back up, he is unscathed. And Shelton asks Eugene to pick up the shrapnel that hit him and Snafu keeps it as a souvenir lol! Oh, he also didn't grow up in New Orleans proper - he grew up in a rural town north of there - which we know because Eugene mentions Snafu getting sent a newspaper from his hometown where the front page has a blurb about Snafu and his deadly 'mortar gun' on Gloucester. A newspaper that all the men teased Snafu about mercilessly, but Snafu was VERY proud of. (I use this as one of my excuses for why I write him so extroverted - Snafu's very open and proud bragging even over something as embarrassing as civilians not understanding what a mortar is....versus Eugene's shy quiet embarrassment about getting sent baby food by his mother to the point of writing a letter home asking his father to ask his mom to stop, when obviously the only reason his mom was sending baby food was because it was easy to pack/store without spoiling)

Hope this helps! ^_^

#snafu #rami malek

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hitsuackerman · 4 years ago

Text

Unpredictable (Overhaul x Reader) pt.29

warnings: this cannot be read solo

Links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19, part 20, part 21, part 22, part 22, part 23, part 23.5, part 24, part 25, part 26, part 27, part 28, part 30

Masterlist to my other fics: here :) (that has not been updated for how many months now... proceed with caution~)

“And that's about it.” You clicked the send button and stretched your limbs.

You weren’t too sure how many hours had passed but after venting it all out to Tsukauchi, you felt much better. The weight you carried still lingered but your mind was much clearer now. Looking at the office window, the skies were now a shade of pink. Not in the mood for cheap coffee, you stood up and took a peak at Tsukauchi’s desk.

Papers scrawled and pens scattered, Tsukauchi’s head was resting on his arms as he too snoozed off. Finding his sticky notes, you left him a small message telling him where you would be going.

You could always head home and freshen up but with the small window of time, the chief might call you out for being tardy. He’d been leaving you alone for the past few weeks and you hoped it would last a bit longer.

Making your way towards the cafe, you marveled at the emptiness the streets had. Quite some time had passed since the last time you took an all nighter. Now that you think about it, ever since that injury, you have been able to get an adequate amount of rest. Every now and then, food would be delivered followed by a text complaining how you were annoying.

Entering the cafe, you walked towards the counter. Greeted by a rather huge smile, all you could give was a forced one.

“Do you h-”

“Someone already ordered for you.” The cashier said. Telling you to wait, you went to a vacant table and took your phone out. It barely took 3 minutes before she came back holding a paper bag. “Shinoda-san has already paid the bill so you’re good to go~”

“How kind of him…” You took the bag and exited the building. The streets slowly getting congested as the seconds ticked by. Dialling his number, he picked up after the 4th ring. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“I put it on a tab.” Overhaul replied. His voice was muffled by his mask. “Everything I bought for you has been recorded and will be sent to you monthly.”

“That’s just mean…”

“That’s what you get for working overtime and not going home as we had agreed.”

“It was last minute, you dumbass.” You huffed but knew he was teasing. “Are you waiting for me to say ‘I’ll make it up to you. What can I do for you, Chisaki?’ or something like that?”

“Perhaps. It is still quite early but I did come bearing news.” He paused and you could hear papers shuffling. “I feel as though you already know that the Fukuo Kai case will start in about a week or two. I was thinking perhaps we should have a private meeting.”

“With Tsukauchi?” You stopped walking.

“Are you that dense?”

“I’m kidding. What do you wanna do?” Finding a nearby bench, you took a seat and took the sandwich out.

“I recall someone saying that their definition of a good date was something along the lines of ‘You and Me against the world?’”

“Go on…” The smile building on your face couldn’t be kept hidden anymore.

“I’ve booked us tickets. If things go as planned then perhaps the day after the Fukuo Kai case would be a good end to all this.”

“A parting gift I presume?” The smile slowly faded when you remembered what came after. The sandwich now tasted horrible. You waited for him to speak up but there was nothing but silence. “Alright. The day after the case sounds good.”

“I’ll pick you up at 6. Wear something nice.”

Ending the call, you stared at your sandwich. A week or two then once that’s passed, it wouldn’t be long before Overhaul’s case would be pushed to your priority list. Looking back towards the direction of the precinct, you decided to save the sandwich for later.

Now that you were seated and facing your computer once more, you decided to recheck your schedule.

Sure enough, there really was less than 3 weeks left of the Fukuo Kai case before things would finally be handed over. A meeting with the chief was also in store a few days from now to go over the plans for the raid. Upon further scrolling, you noted how Tsukauchi had set up a date for a stake out. Clicking on the attached comment, you wondered as to why it had taken this amount of time for them to make their move.

“You awake yet, Nao?” You knocked on your cubicle.

“Barely.” He grumbled. “What’s up?”

“Regarding this stake out, do you think we can push it to 4 days from now?”

“I’m not really sure. It’ll depend on Overhaul since he will be your partner for that one.” He leaned to take a peek at your station.

“Overhaul? Why?”

“Dunno. I just thought that it’s been a while since you two teamed up.” He shrugged as he dragged his chair closer to yours. “But it’s mostly because my schedule doesn’t fit. I have to meet up with All Might for the whole week. I did ask a few others but you can guess they turned it all down out of fear.”

“Hmm. No surprise.” You tapped your index finger on the mouse. Reminding yourself to call him later regarding the sudden change of plans, you leaned on your chair. “Who’s going to be in this meeting with chief?”

“The two of you and Shinezu.”

“Poor guy.”

“It’ll do him good. Speaking of which, we have to go over the initial plan for the raid. Do you wanna do it today or save it for some other time?” Choosing the first option, Tsukauchi nodded and went back to his desk. Grabbing the necessary documents, he waited for you to prepare and led you towards a private meeting room.

“Now that we're at it,” You took the adjacent seat. “What are the updates? I haven’t really heard anything about them for quite some time now.”

“Heh. Things got a little more complicated during your sick leave.” Sliding one folder, he waited for your reaction. Seeing how your eyes widened, he let out an exhausted sigh. “As if one organization is enough, having to deal with an alliance means more trouble for us.”

“Tsk. Damn it. When did you gather this information? What source did you get this from?”

“Believe it or not, the chief actually did some work and gave us this as some sort of peace offering.”

Peace offering? What was the man planning?

“When did you receive this?” You carefully read the details.

“If I recall, it was the day before you came back to work.” He shyly scratched his nape. “It’s kinda my fault, though. I honestly forgot to inform you regarding this information.”

“It’s fine.” You assured him. “I’m thankful you didn’t relay the information right then and there. So, it says here that we infiltrate them at their headquarters. The information was true? Their headquarters are downtown?”

“That’s right. The intel we gathered showed us that movement around that certain street has picked up. Akuji was spotted as well. He’s been involved from the very start, I presume?”

“Well, he was at that gala and the head of the Fukuo Kai gave him a business card. It’s only logical he is. But to go there in person only means bad things. Any ideas?”

“If it were a higher ups meeting, Overhaul should’ve been there. Unless they know he’s involved with us?”

“He’s not.” Overhaul was shady but you trusted him enough that he would have told you if he were called to attend a gathering. For once, he was in the clear. Or so you hoped. You’d have to inquire about that once you call him later. “My guess is that they too are finalizing whatever plan they have in store. With that being said, have you any clue as to what their main agenda is now?”

“We suspect that their main agenda now is to take over at least 50 percent of the yakuza network. Overhaul’s connections are rather large so they must be feeling pretty confident to make a move now.” Tsukauchi rested his chin on his index finger. “Akuji was one person we saw. The other one was Tamisura.”

“Hmm. Any sighting of Nokusu?” It had been a while since you last mentioned their names. The last time you spoke of them was days before the gala. Tamisura, with the momentum like quirk, and Nokusu with his shadow manipulation quirk.

“None. I am not confident whether or not it is safe to assume that they have declined the invitation to take part with the Fukuo Kai.” He shrugged. “I just kinda wished it was Nokusu we were dealing with and not Tamisura. We barely know anything about her quirk.”

“I’ll ask chief about his encounter.” You answered. “Perhaps the other precincts can provide us with some information. Whether it be big or small, we’ll take it. I do agree with you, though. It just had to be her.”

“Try asking Overhaul too. Perhaps they know something about her.” He watched as you nodded. “As for the plan, there aren’t too many changes from before. Overhaul will have to carry our asses for the last part but I feel as though he can do his part well.”

“I hope so.”

With the minor details now explained, you found yourself walking towards the chief’s office. Closing your eyes and sending off as silent prayer, you only hoped things would be fine. Knocking on the door, he gave you the permission to enter.

“Chief.” You greeted him.

“Oh~ (Y/N).” He closed the folder and motioned for you to sit down. “How can I help my favorite star, hmm?”

“I just wanted to ask you about Tamisura. What exactly did you see regarding her quirk?”

“Ah.” He leaned on this squeaky chair’s back. “Fine woman, I might say. Her quirk made her move at insane speeds. Because of the momentum, it was rather hard to stop her. When she moves, a trail of yellow light follows her. If my memory serves me right, then, I believe it would take her awhile to fully use her quirk?”

“Like charging herself?”

“Don’t take my word for it.” He raised both his hands up. “During that particular instance, one of my men noticed how she kept distance before attacking. Perhaps that’s the downside to her quirk. As for the duration, I cannot give any information.”

“This is more than enough.” You stood up and bowed. “Thank you for the cooperation and I apologize for disturbing you.”

“Anything for you, my star~” He winked.

Suppressing a groan, you awkwardly smiled and hurriedly left the room. Your prayers had been heard and the interaction was clean. The given information wasn’t much but it was something. Taking your phone out, you dialed Overhaul.

Strangely enough, he didn’t answer. Then again, you were sure he was doing whatever he did at 9am in the morning. The mental image you had as to what his activities were were rather vague but you could only hope he wouldn’t indulge in them too much. Who were you kidding? He was messed up. You were too for harboring feelings.

Not wanting to stay any longer, you informed Tsukauchi that you would be heading home.

When you locked your car doors, your phone rang. Checking who it was, you immediately answered it.

“You called?”

“I know it’s sudden but you think you can clear your schedule for me?”

“What exactly do you need, Problem Child?”

“I just wanna ask you a few questions about the Fukuo Kai case.”

“Does it have to be in person?” His voice was rather teasing. Admittedly, you always loved it when he spoke with that tone. “Alright. I shall see you where?”

“My apartment is fine. I’ll arrive there in about 30 minutes, so just take your time.”

“See you then.” He paused at your silence of a few seconds. “What?”

“Bring food! Bye~!” You ended the call immediately. Giggling at the moment, you tossed your phone to the seat and began your drive back home.

- - - - -

Hello everyone! It's me!

I know I haven't updated the story in 3 months? And I apologize :( My family has well recovered from the COVID scare of last year. What took its place was my declining mental health due to my shitty work environment. I could barely write any of my fics and even when I did write a new one, I could only hold on to very little chapters before feeling down and useless T.T

As to the next upload, I am not sure when but I can promise you that the next chapter is currently being written as we speak :) I hope you guys liked the 2 new chapters! and if you enjoyed the whole story, feel free to buy me a ko-fi.. it'll greatly help me :')

See you all in the next update!

PS. I didn't mention the tag list cause maybe ya'll don't want to be tagged anymore hehehe if you do want to be tagged then please feel free to message me or comment :)

#mha overhaul #bnha overhaul #overhaul #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #overhaul x reader #overhaul x y/n

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beclynn-herondale · 4 years ago

Text

In Another Universe: Chapter 6 - The Bone City

Clar dreamed one of a place that seemed out of a fairy tale, there was apparently a ball, it wasn't a ball room them but it was beautiful, there was a fountain with a mermaid, and there were people dancing everywhere. he turned his head and saw Simone at his shoulder, she said. "Do you find someone else more interesting?." suddenly they were dancing, He looked at her closely and realized she was beautiful. There were Alec and Isidore, holding hands like hansel and gretel, both in royal blue. "Welcome, welcome to the Glass City," said a voice that was not Simone's. He realized she was gone and he was now dancing with Jayce, she was in a slim cut dress that was slit with a v in the front, it was a amber gold, it went perfectly with her short golden curls shining in the light, her deep tawny beige skin and golden eyes, she was so beautiful, he wanted to paint her, darker and lighter shades of gold. He took another moment and stared at her. and as they were dancing he realized she was short, he knew but her personality always made her seem bigger than she was, now as they were dancing he realized, he suddenly felt a strange urge to want to protect or hold her tight. But instead he said "Where's Simone?"

she looked at him and replied. "This place is for those who are alive." her hands were cold, and felt different on Clar than Simone's had. He was very aware of them.

He looked closely at her. "What do you mean?"

She stood up on her tiptoes, leaned in, her lips against his ear. "Wake up, Clar," she whispered. "Wake up. Wake up."

He bolted up right, he was sweating, and someone held his wrists in an iron grip, he was going to pull away, then he realized who it was. "Jayce?"

"Yes." she was there on the edge his bed looking half awake, her hair messy and she had sleepy eyes.

"Let go of me," he said

"Sorry," she said and let go. "You almost hit me the second I called your name."

"I'm jumpy, I guess."

He looked around the room, by the way the light was coming in it looked to be dawn, it lit the dark room slightly.

"What time is it?"

"Five."

"in the morning?" he said. "Why are you waking me up?"

"What were you having a great dream or something?"

He thought back to it. "I don't remember."

She got up. "One of the Silent Brothers is here. Hodge said to get you up. Actually, he was going to wake you himself but I figured since it's 5 in the morning you would want something lovely to stare at."

"You mean you?"

"What else would I mean?" she said with a smirk.

"I didn't agree to see them."

"Do you want to know where your mother is," she said. "Or no?"

He sighed

"Listen, all you have to do is meet brother Jeremiah," she said. "Besides, he's funny for a guy who never talks."

"Hey, Jayce," he said

"Yeah?"

"You're short," he told her

She looked stunned. "What!?"

"I said your short," he repeated. "Also get out I got to change."

She went out, he laughed to himself, she looked so surprised by that.

After he got changed, Jayce led him to where the Silent Brother was, surprisingly she was fairly silent, he hoped he hadn't made her to upset.

"Listen about what I said about you being short I was just teasing."

"Huh?," she said. "Please you don't think you actually bothered me?"

He supposed even if he had upset her she wouldn't admit to it.

"Yeah, I guess not," he said.

"How tall are you anyway?" he asked. "Isidore and Alec are both really tall."

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm 5'4, not that it matters my size has nothing to do with what I can do."

"I suppose that's true," he said. "Though it's kinda cute."

"What?"

"I said it's kinda cute."

"I am not cute."

She glared at him, he actually found that kinda cute itself, but wondered when he started to think Jayce was cute, when did she start to amuse him more than annoy him?, he gave her a sweet smile at her to add to it.

She turned away and led him to the library.

And when he went in, there was a man in parchment like robes, he assumed that was the Silent Brother, he saw that Church the cat was pacing in circles looking nervous and muttering to himself

"What's with the cat? Why is he pacing?"

"The Silent Brothers make him nervous."

"I think they make everyone nervous."

The library was dark, which only made it all more creepy, Hodge got up from the desk and walked up to the Silent Brother

"This," said Hodge. "Is Clarus Fray, the boy I told you about." then Hodge turned to Clar. "Clar this is Brother Jeremiah of the Bone City."

"Hello," was all Clar said, he looked closely at Brother Jeremiah as he approached, he had runes carved into his face, his lips were stiched up, his eyes looked permanently shut. No wonder Jayce called them creepy he thought, he felt chills down his spine.

"I decided that you were right, Jayce. and sent word to the Silent City," said Hodge

"I usually am right," said Jayce.

Hodge ignored her. "However the memories are Clar's only he can decide if he wants to do this."

Clar didn't say anything, Madame Dorothea said he had a block in his mind and he wanted to know why.

"This is Jocelyn's son?," said Jeremiah.

"Yes," said Hodge.

"You knew my mother?" he asked.

"The Clave keeps records.of all Shadowhunters, Dead and Alive," said Brother Jeremiah.

"Well maybe you should find a better way of keep record, cause my mom isn't dead, maybe you would actually know who I'd dead and who isn't," said Clar.

"My father died, I don't need any other way to know that," said Jayce.

"Clarus Fray," said the voice in his head, it was like telepathy. "I am here to help you retrieve the memories that are locked in your head, we can learn much if you agree."

After more talking and discussing, Clar agreed, when Jeremiah was digging through his head, it felt like it would burst, it was painful, just cold and snow.

"That's enough," called Jayce. "It's hurting him now."

"Jayce," said Hodge.

"Look at his hands," she said

Brother Jeremiah had stopped. "The block is too strong for me to do anything here he needs to come to the Silent City, there my brothers can help me figure out what is causing this block."

He looked down seeing what Jayce meant, he had dug his finger nails into his palms and they were bleeding. so more mind stuff he thought.

"I'll go," he said. "To the Silent City, I want to find out what this is."

Jayce stared at him for a long moment.

"ok, I'll go with you," she said.

——————

"I don't like this Clar," said Alec, her and Iz were training.

"You don't like anyone new."

"I don't like change."

"Yeah, I mean Jayce is totally following him around like a Cat."

"That too, what is it with her and wanting to help this boy," said Alec irritated

"I don't know, but the way she looks at him when he isn't looking... I've never seen Jayce look at someone like that," said Isidore.

Alec was not the type who liked new people in the institute, she preferred things to stay the way they are, and this boy was trouble and she knew it, why couldn't Jayce see this?

"Do you the Silent Brothers will actually find anything?" she asked her brother

"Maybe, but maybe not. I find it strange though, this memory block thing, if he's a Shadowhunter like us, than why does he have so much trouble and why can't he remember this stuff?"

"I have no idea, and I don't like it."

"Yeah, you said that."

Alec got lost in thought, and was snapped out of it by Iz using his whip to pull her off her feet.

"Isidore," she hissed

"Hahaha, that's what you get for not paying attention."

She untangled the whip from her feet and went over and jumped onto her brother, they whistled and she gentle pounded her fists in onto his head, they both started laughing.

——————

Joan had been here for a few months now, she was much stronger she had to admit but it was torture, punishment if she messed up, she started acknowledging Lilith as her mother, she would be punished if she didn't for that as well.

Joan already knew how to fight so well now too, some instructer her "Father" picked out drilled stuff into her head everyday, she trained till her body collapsed. Lilith was slowly getting her to use her demon blood more and she could swear her eyes go black every now and then, she wondered how she got here, how things could change so fast. Now she went through cruel and intense training everyday, she sometimes felt she wouldn't live but she always did.

She still didn't know where Clar was, her mom was having god knows what done to her, Valentine came to check on her once, and told her shit about their family and his Circle and about how it all went down, how her mother had fled and left him, couldn't blame her, he's insane.

Apparently her mother had used the help of a warlock to make it seem like Joan was there at home during the uprising, an illusion magic, and her father didn't know until after he had burned the bones of a father and his child, so that everyone thought they were dead. Sick is all she thought, but she saw her mother in a different way now, and though she loved her, she wished she had prepared her and Clar for this, maybe Joan wouldn't be suffering so much if she had.

Joan couldn't sleep so she opened her book about demons and read that, I have this blood in me, i am a monster she thought.

——————

So they headed out and waited for Brother Jeremiah to come and get them, Clar was already feeling the weight of today on him, why does this all have to be so exhausting

"Why do we have to wait for Brother Jeremiah? Does he not want to be seen with Shadowhunters?" He asked

"The Silent Brothers are Shadowhunters," said Jayce. Looking as cool as ever, he was annoyed by this.

"So is he getting his car or something?"

Jayce gave him a grin. "You could say that."

"I'd feel better if Hodge were coming."

"I can protect," She said.

"It's not that I need to be protected," he replied. "I need someone who can help me think through this all."

He realized he hadn't messaged Simone

"Oh! Simone," he said

"No, I'm Jayce," Jayce said. "Simone is the one with the bad fashion sense and kinda looks a chipmunk."

"Shut up, will you," he said. "I was going to call her before I went to bed."

Jayce held her arms up to the sky like it would spilt open and heaven would be there, she was awfully dramatic he thought. "With everything that's going on you are worried about Chipmunk?"

"Don't call her that, she doesn't look like that."

"You're right, I have seen some rather attractive chipmunks," she said. "She is more like a rat."

"She does not look—"

"She's probably at home mooning over Isidore. Just wait for him to get bored."

"Is he likely to get bored?"

"Yes," she said thoughtfully

Maybe Isidore wouldn't, maybe he would see how Simone was and they would start dating but the idea didn't feel right.

He realized he had zoned out while Jayce was talking to him and said "What?" Not so kindly

"If you want my attention so bad surely there are other ways," she said. "That are less embarrassing."

"Sarcasm is the last refuge of the imaginatively bankrupt," he said.

"I can't help it , I use my rapier wit to hide my inner pain."

"Your pain will be outward if you don't get out of traffic," he said

"And here's our ride," Jayce said.

Brother Jeremiah took them to the Silent City in a carriage, though to the mundane it would look like a black car.

"So when I get this block out of my mind, glamours won't hurt so much to see through?" He asked

"Yup," she said.

She quotes a Blake quote at him, she loved poetry, she always thought it could describe the way you feel. He said something about a band

"I suppose though, you don't know much about music."

"Not except the occasional cries of the dead."

He gave her a look as if to say are you serious? But he didn't know how serious she was, Jayce had always been able to see ghosts and the cries they made were musical but sad.

"But I thought you knew Piano?"

"Nah, that was just me messing around," she told him. "My father insisted I learn to play at least one instrument, so I decided on the Piano." she had felt strangely drawn to the Piano when she was picking an instrument to learn.

"Your father sounds harsh."

"No, he wasn't at all," she said more sharply than intended. "He taught me everything I know about weapons and fighting, about demons, he taught me ancient languages and lore. He gave anything I wanted. books, weapons, horses, even a hunting falcon at a point."

Clar look to be deep in thought after that, she didn't know why she had even told him this, but it did feel nice to say.

"So you aren't going to tell Hodge about the men?" asked Clar

"no," she replied

"Why not?"

"Cause he'll know I'll want to kill Valentine."

"You want revenge for your father?"

"Not revenge, I want justice, to make it right. Killing ones fellow Shadowhunter is one of the worst crimes."

Eventually she went into explaining why it's wrong. "Downworlders aren't like demons because they are half human, they belong here, where as demons suck the life out of a world and leave it dry, there are many other worlds that have been destroyed by demons."

"There are other worlds?" he asked

"Yeah, in each one something is slightly different, for all we know I could be more attractive in one or I could even be a boy in one. I could be dead in one."

"So these other worlds are dead? Is that what you meant when you said that demons suck the life out?"

"Probably not all, there are most likely some that are still alive, but we have no way to get to them or to really know."

At that moment they were at the Silent City, they followed Brother Jeremiah down the steps, Clar was going on about grave yards and asking if Silent Brothers sleep, which she could only laugh at, he was odd she thought, curious, she liked it.

They saw the statue with the Mortal Cup and the Nephilim motto on it.

"And that is the motto of the Nephilim," she said.

"What does it mean?"

She gave him a grin. "Shadowhunters looking better in black than the widows of our of enemies since 1234."

"Jayce—"

"What it means," said Jeremiah. "The descent into hell is easy."

"Wow, that's so cheerful," said Clar.

They headed to the room where all the Silent Brothers gather for meetings, Jayce stood back as they told Clar to stand on the star and started going through his head.

After a moment of them going through his head, he fell to the floor, for the first time since she could remember a real sense of fear went through her.

She ran to him, and saw his arm was bleeding, she pulled her Stele out and placed the tip against his skin and drew an Iratze. helped him sit up.

"Here, let me," she said.

"Is the part like in the movies and books where you start ripping your clothes up to bandage me up?" he asked

"Geez, if you want me to rip my clothes off just ask," she said with a smirk.

She helped him up and helped him steady himself

"So did you find anything?" she asked.

"I have a name, I guess someone signed my mind," he said.

"What's the name?"

"Magna Bane."

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ok, it's a start," she said.

"Let's go," she said. "I am sure we can find the way out on our own."

"No ," said Brother Jeremiah. "I will escort you out."

He led them out and after a bit they were outside, she looked up to the sky and said. "It's gonna rain."

"What?"

"I said it's gonna rain."

He looked up and frowned, it was cute, wait... Did she just say it was cute? No Jayce no, you aren't gonna think like this.

"Are we gonna take the carriage again," he asked looking at it tiredly.

"No," she said. "I hate them. let's get a cab."

Tag List: @khaleesiofalicante @chibi-tsukiko @spotsandclawsthings @magnus-the-maqnificent @replayfootsteps @simply-ellas-stuff @bookfast-at-tiffanys @my-archerboy @jazzkaurtheglorious

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lesbian-deadpool · 4 years ago

Text

Roses In A Storm

Part Two Of Three: One Last Mission.

Prelude | Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Words: 4,203

Warnings: Umm... ha ha... ha. Anger, sadness, crying, grief (duh), betrayal ig, alcoholism/alcohol addiction, talk of dead bodies, threats... think that’s it...

Request: All you fuckers lol.

Summary: Sent to somewhere new. You discover something shocking.

A/N: I’m sorry?? (Just bullshitting my way through this, if I’m honest lol)

Ko-Fi

(Not my GIF)

***

"Gah!" you panted while you glanced around.

You were in some sort of house. It looked old, vintage old. But hey, at least the chair you were sitting on was somewhat comfortable.

"Well... I'm glad you finally decided to hear me out."

You yelled out in shock again, snapping your attention in front of you. And there you saw, Steven Strange.

Then you remembered why you were here in the first place.

"You wanted to talk to me about Natasha?"

"I want to talk to you about many things," he replied.

"Don't be cryptic."

He looked to the side, then back to you.

"As you know I saw fourteen-million six-hundred and five different futures..."

"Yeah, and we only won one of them. Yada. Yada. Yada. You're like a broken fucking record, with that shit," you snapped, "Get to the point."

Strange watched you for a moment, his eyes squinting slightly.

"Do you want a drink?"

"I-!" You stopped yourself from yelling. "Fine. I'll have a whisky."

"I think you've had enough. There's tea, coffee, or water. "

"Fine, coffee! It doesn't matter!" you yelled, "Now, say what you know about Natasha."

"We're not done yet."

"Enough with this cryptic shit!"

You looked down to your hand, where you were suddenly holding a steaming cup of coffee, just how you liked it.

"How in the...?" you whispered, mostly to yourself.

"Y/N." Your attention was brought back to strange. "I would love to tell you. I don't like to see you like this-"

"You don't know me."

"But still..." he said, "It's not good."

"You have no-" taking a breath, you began again, "Why am I here? What did you want to say to me?"

"I can't tell you. Or it won't happen."

"Ha!" you laughed sarcastically, "Like you'd jinx it-?" A brightness caught your eye in that moment, drawing your eyes over to it. "Is that the sun?" you asked pointing at the long window.

When had the sun risen?

"Yes, it is. Pay attention," Stephen told you, bringing your attention back to him, "Anyway, I wouldn't really put it that way. But yes. I would, "jinx it"."

"God," you breathed, shaking your head, eyes locked onto the ceiling, "This is madness."

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

"So, what? You wanted to talk to me? But you can't talk to me?"

"Well, not necessarily. No."

You sighted out of frustration, "So, what is it then?"

He sighed, leaning back slightly in his chair, as he rubbed two of his fingers and his thumb together.

"It's hard, for me to explain," he uttered slowly.

"Then try," you grit out. Your free hand, making a fist, while you brought up the steaming mug, for a sip. Then placing it onto the table, by your side.

"When I saw the future's," he began, "When I saw this future. I didn't just see us winning the battle. I saw all of it... until the end."

"The end of what? Time? The world? What?"

He chuckled softly. Shaking his head, he began, "No. None of that. You think that the end is us winning the battle. Defeating Thanos and his army. But it's not," Stephen paused, a far-off look overtaking him, "That was only half of the journey. We paused for a while there. To grieve-" You inhaled deeply, fighting he tears from forming in your eyes, for your lost friends. Lost love that never got the chance to bloom.

"-Regain our senses. Just breathe-"

"Breathe?!" you yell, the tears you had been trying so hard to fight off, welling up in your eyes, causing your vision to blur. "You think I've been breathing?!"

The chair you sat on scraped harshly against the floor, as you stood abruptly. Hand's balling into fists, so hard that you could see the whites of your bones through them.

"Every waking moment feels like I'm suffocating!" You did nothing to wipe away your slowly falling tears. You just continued to yell. "Everything that I did and didn't do, everything I could have done. Every. Fucking. Moment. I lost one of my best friends." You took a shuddering breath. "But, worst of all, I lost someone I loved- Love!" You corrected yourself, "With my whole heart. And I never even got the chance to be with her."

Stephen stayed quiet, sensing that there was more for you to say.

And there was.

"Because I was fucking oblivious- And fucking blind to see what was right in front of me, before. And now, because she's at the bottom of a fucking cliff," you cried, "And no one will let me go back to when she- She... y'know." You gestured around, unable to say the word you were thinking. But you knew Stephen understood you. He'd have to be a fucking idiot not too. "To get her fucking body."

You stood there. Just staring into each other's eyes. The pity in Stephen's eyes almost made you sick. Because you knew. You knew you were bearing your soul to him. Showing him everything that you had been feeling. If you were in his position, you would be filled with pity for the other person, too.

But it still made you sick.

You didn't want his pity.

You knew what you wanted. But you were smart enough to know that you were never gonna get it.

Yet... you carried on speaking. Because now that you had started, you couldn't stop.

"We had to bury an empty casket because of it. And everybody just seemed fine-! They were a-o-fucking-k with it! They were perfectly fine with leaving her body at the bottom of a cliff, to rot!" you roared out the last couple of words.

"They did that because I told them too," Stephen confessed.

You paused where you stood. Mind going blank. Just left processing his words. You had more to say. You had multiple essays worth of words, to say. And yet, you were no longer able to utter them.

Slowly. You turned your head to face him.

"You what?"

You could see the fear quickly flash through his eyes, before it disappeared, as you took a step closer to him.

He speedily made you pause with his words, again.

"I did it because her body wasn't there anymore."

"What?" you asked breathless and confused, "Where did she go?!"

"The moment that her heart made its last beat was the same moment that Barton was transported somewhere else, and the stone was in his hand. Her body vanished. She was moved to the stone."

"Wait." You raised your hands up to pause the powered man. Feeling like the air was knocked out of you. "So. So, you're telling me that she was in the stone?!"

"Yes. I am."

"How are you coming up with this bullshit?!"

"I have a very reliable source."

"Who-? I swear if you say "God" or "Jesus", or some shit, I'll throw you through the fucking window!" you yell, pointing to the long window behind you.

"No," he scoffed, with a slight 'ugh', "I'm not a man of religion."

"Then who then?"

"They don't wish to be known."

"Is it you? I bet it's just you, and you're making all of this shit up!"

"No, it's not me." He shook his head. "And none of this is made up."

Putting your palms to your forehead, you laughed, feeling like you were losing your mind, as you dropped back down into your chair.

"This is fucking insane. This is unbelievable, Strange. This shit is not possible!"

"Y/N," Stephen started, crossing one leg over the other, as he leaned forward in his seat slightly, "You worked on a team with a man who could transform into a giant green beast. Who is now both that man and giant green beast. You also worked with a man who was frozen for seventy years, a man who invented a flying suit, and a God. Then, later on, were teammates- And friends with a witch. You helped stop an alien invasion and another God. You battled against a literal mad titan. And eventually won. You have recently made friends with a man who can regrow his limbs, and have met the X-Men. Also, you are sitting here, talking to me. That, amongst many other things, I have not even mentioned," he rattled off, making you fee stupider with each and every one. Almost like the blindfold had been removed from your eyes. "Do you really think that your lost love being transported into a stone is really that crazy?"

"Well, I guess when you put it that way. Not really, no."

"So," he said slowly, leaning back, and weaving his fingers together, "As I was saying before. We have had enough time, to breathe- Or in your case, suffocate- And drink." You flipped him off for that. "Now it's time to get back to work."

You scoffed, shaking your head, "I don't do that anymore. I don't work for SHIELD. I'm not an Avenger. I'm a fucking hitman."

"I don't work for SHIELD or The Avengers either." Strange raised his hands in some sort of a shrug. "I'm just helping them."

"Yeah, well, I don't "help" people, unless they pay me now," you said, putting 'help' into air-quotes.

"Fine." Stephen nodded once. Which surprised you, at how quickly he had given in. "I know that there's no way that I could change your mind. But I'm not saying that there isn't someone who can."

"Oh, yeah?" you scoffed again, "Who's that?"

"Why don't you see for yourself."

"What-?"

And then you were gone. Again.

Falling through another one of Strange's portals.

And to your next destination.

***

You landed, this time on your back. On the nature covered ground, not on a cushioned chair. Staring up at the pale blue sky, dappled with white clouds. Instead of the vintage filled room.

You didn't think you'd ever get used to those portals.

The previous ones you had experienced were instantaneous.

This one, however?

You were falling through the portal for around twenty minutes.

"That bastard," you muttered, still star-fished upon the ground, "Making me fall for twenty minutes, just because he couldn't convince me to go back to SHIELD." You took a deep breath of fresh air, exhaling it harshly, "I think I'll kick his ass."

Sighing, you pushed yourself to your feet, brushing the dirt off of yourself.

You looked at the scenery before you. Trees, that were slowly littering the ground with their dead leaves, surrounded you. A lake with a small pier to your left.

Fuck...

You knew where you were.

Bracing yourself with another deep breath, you turned to face the place you hadn't seen int the last few months.

The lake house.

Pepper and Morgan's, home.

No longer Tony’s.

Did Strange really think that they could convince you to go back to SHIELD?

Well... maybe Morgan could. With enough begging and puppy eyes... but you didn't plan on sticking around long enough for that.

"You've been standing there for almost five minutes," pepper said, opening the door, "Strange send you?"

"Yeah. He's a bastard."

She chuckled, moving her head to the side, indicating for you to come inside. Before disappearing into the home, herself. Leaving the door open for you.

You didn't know what made you walk inside. You could have easily walked away. But you didn't. It might have been Strange and the things he said. And the things he couldn't say. Whatever it was. You just had the feeling that you had to go inside of that house. For whatever reason.

The home was the same as the day you stormed out of it. The only real difference being that a few of Morgan's toys littered the living room.

Pepper smiled at you from the kitchen, cradling a cup of coffee, as you closed the door behind you. And Morgan was nowhere to be seen.

She seemed to be handling all this, a lot better than you were.

That. Or she was really good at hiding it.

Before you could start your awkward sentence, you heard someone walking up the basement stairs. They sounded way too heavy to be Morgan's.

Was Happy here?

He could be.

But when the man arrived at the top of the stairs, with little Morgan in his arms. You were proved wrong, in thinking it was Happy.

You store at the man before you. A cold, composed look on your face. Unable to say a thing. Just letting the knowledge of this resonate in your brain.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, suddenly filling up the cabin, Pepper quickly took Morgan from his arms and left the room.

Leaving you alone with the man.

Leaving you alone with Tony.

***

"So," the man spoke, raising his arms, one f them being flesh and the other made form the same metal as the Iron Man suits, "Ya gonna give me a hug?"

That made you snap from your cold state, just watching the billionaire. Filling your body with rage.

"You fucker," you hissed, stalking closer to him. But never close enough for him to even consider touching you.

"Woah there-"

"Don't "woah there" me! I'm not a fucking horse, that needs taming!"

"I never said that you were," Tony said, raising his hands in hopes of calming you down, at least somewhat.

His hopes were for nothing.

"How fucking dare you?" you spat through your teeth, "I thought you were dead!"

Tears began to fill his eyes, guilt at not telling you he was alive, welling up in his body. It made him feel like he was drowning in it.

"You died! You were dead!"

The anger, thundering inside of you like a wildfire, quickly diminishing. Now you were only filled with sadness and betrayal. Tears, tumbling down your cheeks in salty rivers.

"You were dead!" you sobbed, walking closer to the crying man, "And I needed you!"

It was like the dam had broke.

You had cried before.

Of course, you had.

For Natasha.

For Tony.

But never like this.

Sobs. Guttural and hard, raking pain throughout your chest and abdomen at the actions. Muffled only by Tony's shoulder, tears soaking into his shirt, as you gripped onto him tightly.

He held you as you cried, looking up, trying to stop his own tears from falling in the quick succession that they were. His chest, bouncing as he held in his own sobs.

"I needed you here, Tony. And you were gone." Was muffled against his shoulder. "But you were alive all along, you bastard!"

He chuckled wetly when you hit the shoulder of his now titanium-alloy arm, when the anger spiked in you randomly before it fell again.

Tony sniffled. "I know. And I'm so sorry, Y/N." He clutched you tighter against his body. "But if it makes you feel any better, no one but Fury and Strange know about me- Other than Pep and Morgan, that is."

Your laughs sounded so close to sobs that Tony had difficulty telling the difference. But when you pulled away from his shoulder after five straight minutes of crying rivers, with a small, wet -albeit quivering- smile on your face, he knew which one it had been.

"You're a fucking asshole, have I ever told you that before?" you asked, moving a step or two away from the close proximity of his body. As you wiped away your slowly stopping tears.

"Only around a thousand times before." Tony shrugged, with a cheeky smile on his face. Both of you beyond glad that your best friends could pull a chuckle from you, even in your darkest times.

Especially in your darkest times.

"So, you gonna explain to me what the fuck happened?" you asked, "You gonna tell me why that Strange guy sent me here?"

Shit.

Strange was right.

Tony was one of the only people in the world that could convince you to go back to work.

Fuck.

Tony shook his head, causing your eyebrows to furrow.

Before you could voice your question. Tony beat you to it.

"You're way too drunk," he told you, "It's better if you're sober and have a level head- Or as level, as it can be." He gave a half-smile. "Let's get some food into you, and get you some rest. Then when you wake up, we'll talk."

Yeah, he was right.

And you knew that. No matter how much you wanted to fight him on that.

Your emotions had left you worn. So, when you weren't blinded with anger and sadness, you finally remembered how drunk you had been before Fury had "sent" you to Strange.

Lightly swaying where you stood, you nodded to Tony. You could practically feel the way the whisky was fermenting inside of you. It dawned on you that you hadn't even been able to finish the coffee, Strange had magically given you.

Yeah, probably should have finished that.

Your billionaire best friend lead you away to the kitchen, pushing you onto one of the stools by the island, as he began preparing you a sandwich.

And for the first time n a long time. You felt, at least somewhat, content.

***

The sun had far past risen by the time you flopped onto the guest bed and passed out. What felt like the next second, you awoke. Almost twenty-four hours later, at eight A.M.. Sleepily wandering into the kitchen, while rubbing at your eyes.

"Hey, there's the sleepyhead!" Tony called out with a cheesy grin, which was wiped off of his face when you ploughed into him, bringing him into a suffocating hug.

With how intoxicated, worn-down, and sleep-deprived you had been the previous day, you assumed you had dreamed that Tony was, in fact, not dead.

And fuck were you thankful when you saw him standing there, alive and well.

Gently patting your back, Tony whispered to you, "It's okay, I'm here. I'm here."

"I'm sorry," you muttered, pulling away, "I thought it was a dream."

"It's okay."

Tony pat your shoulder, gesturing for you to take the seat beside Morgan, who was just finishing up here breakfast.

You wanted to ask him why you were there- Why Strange had sent you here.

And just generally what the entire fuck was going on.

But you knew that it wasn't the right time.

Not with the family Tony fought so hard for, in the same room.

So, it could wait.

You could eat the food, then ask him later.

After all, your stomach was rumbling for it.

"So, you ready to tell me what's going on?" you asked once you had finished eating your stack of pancakes. Thankful that Morgan was watching TV and Pepper was away taking a business call.

He sighed, placing both of his hands flat on the counter's surface, in front of you. Raising his head, looking into your eyes, he asked, "Basically?"

You said nothing. Just continued starring at him. To which Tony knew that he could continue.

"You've got to go back to work- Or at least work with everyone for a while."

"Why?"

"Well, cutting straight to the point. We can bring Natasha back. Strange hasn't told us how, but essentially that's what it is. He just can't tell us anything about it, or it won't happen. Which, if you ask me-"

"What?!"

Tony's words faded into the background noise, after he said, "we can bring Natasha back" causing you to retreat back into your mind. Before you suddenly snapped, cutting him off.

"What...?" Tony asked hesitantly.

"We can bring Natasha back?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't anyone tell me this before?!"

"We've been trying," Tony told you, "Hasn't Strange been trying to talk to you for months now?"

"Well, yes but- Why didn't Fury tell me this?! No! Instead, he had to go and, basically, send me on a wild goose chase!"

"It's Fury." He shrugged. "Technically I wasn't even allowed to tell you that. But hey, I figured it out. Strange never told me, so that's free game in my eyes."

"So, Fury doesn't even know?" you asked sceptically.

"He's probably figured it out. But no one's told him."

You sighed, slumping back into your stool. You already knew that this whole thing was going to exhaust you. Feeling it already seeping into your bones.

"Who else knows? Knows about Strange's "We're not done yet"?" you mimicked the wizard's words sarcastically, putting them in air-quotes.

He chuckled lightly. "No one. Just you, me, Fury, and Strange himself- Well, Fury's probably told Maria too, now that I think about it."

You hummed.

"So..." Tony said slowly, a knowing smirk on his face, "You gonna work with us, again?"

"Fine," you muttered, slightly grumpy that you had to do this. But you just kept reminding yourself that this was to get Natasha back. You could do this. And the fact that it made your best friend happy was just a bonus, "So. How do we get her back?"

"I don't know. We just have to do what Strange tells us."

You flung your head back in annoyance, "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Yeah, I know. I feel the same way." Tony rolled his eyes, thinking of the cryptic wizard. "But he did say, "we're almost at the end of the journey"."

"God, that guy is like Dumbledore," you mumbled, a smile overtaking your face when your friend began to laugh.

Things were quiet for a short while after that.

That is until Tony broke it.

"Y/N?" Tony asked slowly, gaining your attention, "I need to talk to you about something serious."

"Okay..."

The worst thing began to fill your mind. Was Tony sick? Were you about to lose your best friend just when you had gotten him back? Or was it Pepper? Morgan? Was it something to do with the mission you were now a part of? Something about Natasha-?

"They told me." Fury and Strange.

"Told you what?"

"How bad you got."

You looked away, hoping that if you didn't look at Tony then maybe you wouldn't have to talk to him about it.

But that was not the case.

This was happening.

And it was happening now.

"When was the last time you were sober?"

"I'm sober now," you pointed out, before adding quietly, but not quite enough that you would stop Tony from hearing you, "Well, mostly."

"Y/N," he said firmly. Which he had only done a handful of times with you.

"I don't know," you said, looking him straight in the eyes now, "Before your funeral probably."

"Y/N, it's been six months. You're really telling me that you've been drunk throughout them?"

"I guess I am." You shrugged, lifting your hands up as you did.

"You've got a problem, Y/N."

"I know I do," you breathed, no longer able to look at him.

"You helped me," Tony spoke, and when you finally managed to peer back up at him, you could see the grateful tears in his eyes. So fucking thankful that you had helped him with his drinking problem in the past, "Now it's my turn to help you."

"Does that mean I have to go to rehab?" you groaned.

"Yes. Here." At your questioning look, Tony continued, raising his arms, in that true Tony Stark fashion. "This will be your rehab. And Pep, Morgan and I will be here to help you every step of the way."

"Do I even need to do this?" you sighed.

"Yes," he said firmly, before his voice softened, "We're just trying to get you back on your feet. You can't really get Nat back while drunk off your ass, can you? And I know that you wouldn't want Natasha to see you like this, would you?"

Shaking your head with a contorted face at his words, you realised just how much you wanted to get better. For yourself. For Natasha. And for everyone else in your life.

You want to get better.

You just needed that push.

That manipulation tactic that Tony would no doubt use.

"C'mon, Y/N." He knew you were expecting it. That much you could tell by the smile on his face. "Do it for me."

And there it was!

"Okay, fine! But you're not allowed to use that again, for like another- Three years!"

"Okay!"

Just as you were making your way off of the stool, you hastily pulled yourself back, to tell him one last thing.

"And if this is all for nothing. If Strange is just using us to help him with something. And we never get Natasha back, at "the end of the journey"," you said sarcastically, "I'm killing him, Fury, and I'm ripping that metal arm of yours off, and beating you with it."

"Okay, that's reasonable!"

And with that, you walked from the room. Intending to sleep off your fast approaching headache. With Tony shouting after you, "It's titanium-alloy, by the way!"

Fighting off the hope of getting Natasha back. Just in case all of this was bullshit.

But none the less, even if you hated the fact that you were doing it.

You thought about the first thing you would say to Natasha.

'I love you, too.'

***

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anika-ann · 4 years ago

Text

Attached: Words Lost in Translation Pt.2

Type: (mini)-series, Modern-college-professor AU… aka the wrong attachment AU ;)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 4110

Summary: There’s a new handsome guy in your history class – a foreign student from Milan, Italy. Somehow Bucky knew from the start that he would be a problem.

And now it looks like your substitute professor - no other than Steve Rogers, your boyfriend - will have to save you from having to go on a date with Daniel. Perfetto.

A/N: Attached: Words Lost in Translation is a 3-part addition to the Attached series.

A/N: Many thanks to my lord and saviour @chase-your-dreams-away for her help with Italian bits which you’ll find in the fic :-* Based on a post sent to me by lovely @wxstedhexrt ♥

Warnings: smug insistent jerk, mentions of harassment, brief panic, threat of violence if you squint, swearing (a lot), and some possessive bf SR

Story masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Had your brain had been working, you would have been able to appreciate how fine the man at the professor stand was looking – wearing a perfectly-fitting dress pants, cream-coloured shirt and a dark suit jacket.

Had the situation been even a tiny bit different, you would have been thrilled to see him, instantly comforted by his mere presence, insanely grateful to have him distract you after you dealt with the menace of a guy claiming the seat next to you.

But the circumstances were what they were and you were positively mortified, because your unwanted suitor was about to challenge your beloved boyfriend to a duel without visibly throwing in a gauntlet; without Steve’s knowledge.

Then again, Steve might know all about your escapades with Daniel as far you were concerned, because him being here, while it could have been caused by many different things, was most definitely Bucky’s doing. He had probably told Steve everything.

For a brief moment, Steve’s gaze caught yours, lingering for just a moment, long enough to let you see the uncharacteristic cold of his beautiful cerulean irises, causing you to gulp in fright.

You were sure you were going to be sick, your stomach somersaulting when you imagined how this could turn out.

Oh Steve was mad, okay. He was very mad, at you – and you were so completely screwed-

A small smile graced his lips, a simple minute shift that allowed you breathe again. Well, if anything, he was about to be civil about it.

Or not. His brows furrowed as his gaze moved a little bit to the right to your companion, the gentle barely-there curve of his mouth straightening instantly. Oh, he absolutely knew who Daniel was.

“Good morning, almost afternoon, class. For those who don’t know me, I’m Professor Rogers and for today, I’ll be taking over Professor Barnes’ lecture,” Steve introduced himself simply and despite the situation at hand, you felt butterflies erupt in your stomach at his ‘professor voice’ – and yes, that was a thing, you had found yourself on the receiving end of it multiple times…always pleasant ones. “He had to leave because of an urgent personal matter-“

I bet he fucking had to-

“-and he sends his apologies for not letting you know sooner, not that he let me know particularly on time.”

A few chuckles sounded around the class as Steve’s eyes roamed over it with a quirk to his brow.

You practically feel Daniel radiate smugness next to you as he leaned closer, whispering in your ear conspiratorially, sensing an easy win.

“I hope you like Italian cuisine, bellezza,” he hummed self-assuredly and you gave him ana annoyed side-eye as he already bragged, thinking himself a winner of your bet.

And then it dawned to you, through the fog of unexpected events.

There was an upside in Steve being in the class after all; if Daniel had been tasked to catch Steve off guard… well. Even with Steve apparently being informed late about the substitute situation, your problem was solved; no dinner with the jackass sitting next to you.

You just hoped that he would leave you alone after failing to earn today’s date.

And that Steve wouldn’t see much of your ‘normal’ interaction with Daniel, because otherwise you’d be in even bigger trouble than you already were. Or Daniel would. Or Steve would. Probably all of you now that you thought about it.

You mentally prayed Steve had more restraint than your Italian classmate; seeing as Professor Rogers’ shoulders seemed even broader than usual, tense and intimidating, just like the strange glint in his eyes despite his easy smiles, you assumed your prayers should be very much needed.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

About thirty minutes into the lesson, it appeared that the big guy up there took mercy on you, because Daniel had been surprisingly well-behaved, at least when it came to you and kept his hands to himself. Not that you felt like celebrating that, not with Steve probably knowing all about the previous advances anyway.

Otherwise, he had been acting like himself; he had already tried to correct Steve twice and failed, just like with three attempts to ask a question in order to find a gap in Steve’s knowledge. Every time Steve cooled him down, growing visibly less patient with him, caused you to bite into your cheek to supress a smile, because you might have been in deep shit, but you could at least enjoy the show.

And Daniel getting his ass handed to him in a duel that Steve might and might not know about (oh, he knew, we was well-aware that he had the chance to show his dominance, alright, and yes, somewhere in the back of your mind, you thought it was maybe a tiny bit stupid, the stroking of his ego, and that it was also ultimately hot) – was certainly a sight to behold.

Out of blue, a finger poked your thigh, making you nearly jump out of your skin, your head automatically whirling to Daniel in irritation at his intrusion.

The angry ‘WHAT’ got stuck in your throat when he winked at you, his whole expression lit up as a kid’s on Christmas Day.

Shit, you could practically see the metaphorical lightbulb above his head as he made a show of pointedly raising his hand to catch professor’s attention.

You held your breath as Steve noticed him, mild annoyance creeping into his voice as he stopped explaining his thing and encouraged Daniel to speak.

“Yes, Mr. Gallo?” Steve sighed, apparently torn between trying hard not to show his irritation and not caring at all if it was on display.

To your utter horror, your classmate smiled brightly, lowering his hand—and visibly pointing at you.

“Will she go to dinner with me tonight?”

Your vision turned black for a second and it seemed that the whole world just stopped moving. Every shuffle of paper, every faint whisper, absolutely everything went silent in the class. Hell, your heart probably gave out too, pointedly quiet.

The silence sounded so ominous with the anticipation of a storm that even dropping a pin would be a deafening noise in the frozen space. You would swear that everyone sans Daniel and Steve held their breaths… because despite Daniel’s obvious ignorance, the whole damn year – if not the whole damn school – was aware that you were with Steve.

Your gaze reluctantly refocused on the man in question, terrified of what you would see – and you met with the sight of Steve’s eyebrows practically disappearing in his hairline as a sign of surprise; but his eyes, oh his eyes definitely darkened, that much you could tell even from a distance. And his shoulders squared, seemingly enormous in the dark suit.

Oh God, please don’t let him snap at Daniel. Or me. But now mostly Daniel, because we so don’t need another scandal-

Your eyes registered what he was saying before your ears did; a single syllable spoken on an even volume, in fact spoken softly even… and somehow carrying more menace than if shouted.

“No.”

Daniel grew fucking radiant next to you, completely unaware of what was happening as the whole class released a breath, because no one lost an arm or got their neck broken in the purely verbal exchange. Seriously, you didn’t understand how could Daniel be so completely oblivious to the fact that the question he had asked was much more severe and daring than he could ever imagine.

He thought he won and you, honestly, were torn, because Daniel created an amazing paradox that made your brain, already numb from the emotion in Steve’s voice – or the lack of it –, switch off altogether. After all, if you didn’t want to go out with Daniel, then Steve was correct thus you didn’t have to go on the date. However, in a way, you had promised to Daniel to go.

You couldn’t wrap your damn mind around it and Steve kept glaring at Daniel as the guy basked in his supposed victory, until he noticed the professor still staring and actually had the decency to shrink into his seat for a bit.

Steve’s gaze flickered to you – sending you into a cardiac arrest with the intensity of his glare, speaking thousands of words and yet remaining scarily silent – before he averted it in favour of staring down the main culprit.

“And I’ll have to ask both of you to come talk to me after the class is finished.”

Oh yes. You were totally screwed and all three of you were in trouble.

Daniel didn’t seem to realize such though, spinning to you on his chair openly the moment Steve dismissed the class as if he hadn’t been scolded by the professor.

He actually had the audacity to grin at you so cockily that you considered punching his face, saving Steve the trouble of doing it himself (he did look like that could be what he was about to do and you’d rather if he didn’t). If you socked Daniel in his jaw, you’d get the satisfaction and Steve would keep his record without staining it with lost his temper while on the job. Fucking win-win. Let’s do this.

“So. What time am I picking you up?” Daniel hummed confidently, arching an eyebrow in challenge.

Yep, punching it was. You couldn’t believe this guy-

Refraining from violence for few more moments, before the urge truly turned unbearable, you took a deep breath and nodded in Steve’s direction, taking care to refer to him properly: “Professor Rogers wanted to talk to us.”

Daniel rolled his eyes at your poor attempt at deflection and clicked his tongue. “Come on, he can wait five more seconds.”

“Rude to keep him waiting,” you opposed, irked by his attitude… again. Your mind was made. “Plus, he was right, you know. I’m not going out with you.”

Daniel’s eyebrows jumped, one corner of his lips quirking. “Bet’s a bet-“

“Mr. Gallo?” Steve’s impatient voice interrupted the bragger, who turned to him in acknowledgement, not wanting to make him too mad, apparently. As long he was concerned, he had you in his pocket, after all. But did he? “I don’t have all day. And if you could bring the poor girl you’re apparently pursuing with you.”

At that, even you shot Steve a look; his tone was speaking volumes, but you had a hard time reading it anyway.

Poor girl? Really? Was that a promise of what you’d be once he was done with you?

You swallowed your fear, ignoring the pounding of your heart and swiftly stood up, stalking to the stand with Daniel at your heels.

Steve’s strict gaze flickered between the two of you as he crossed his arms on his chest expectantly.

“So. You two want to tell me what that was about? Are we back to high school or what?”

“I’m sorry about hi-“

“There was a bet,” Daniel exclaimed matter-of-factly, causing you to whirl around to shot him an incredulous look.

Really? Straight to the point? He truly had no shame, did he?

But then again, you learned that a while ago.

“A bet,” Steve parroted sceptically. “You chose academic soil for betting… Professor Barnes’s class, no less?”

Daniel ignored the fact that Steve was looking down at him as if he was a low-life and gave you a side eye.

“Yes, Professor, we did-“

“And you think that it’s appropriate? Letting it interrupt a class on top of that, dragging a professor into it?”

You squirmed, wrapping your arms around yourself. Steve spared you a brief glance before he continued glaring murder at your classmate.

You knew that what you had done was probably wrong, but you had expected Bucky, who was pretty easy-going for a scholar; and it had seemed like a better option than punching Daniel.

It had got enormously out of hand, you were aware, but more than having a prof involved, you regretted having involved Steve.

You guessed it was time to face the music.

“I truly apologize, Professor Rogers,” you whispered guiltily, lowering your gaze so you didn’t have to face him, his expression no doubt screaming disappointment.

Something told you that he had been hoping that Daniel was to blame – which he was, but not entirely – and now you were telling him that nope, you were the culprit… sorta. You felt your body shiver as you sensed Steve’s attention shift to you. You also heard the desk creak slightly under his weight – he must have leaned onto it.

“The bet was your idea?”

You squeezed your eyes shut, actually feeling tears pricking your eyes. You nodded and Steve’s reaction was immediate; it was impossible to miss the way his voice softened a fraction when he asked the next question and it made you feel even worse—but goddammit, if Daniel just had left you in peace-

“Why don’t you tell me what it was about?”

“We’ve been flirting-“ Daniel started off, only to get interrupted by a harsh voice.

“I asked her, Mr. Gallo! And mind your tone, please.”

The coldness toward Daniel curiously warmed your heart, a tiny relief spreading in your tense shoulders.

You could do this – this was Steve. He was on your side – at least as long as your suitor, as he had so elaborately put it, was around. Then it might be another story, but you had to deal with one problem at a time.

You cleared your throat and minded to straighten your back, raising your gaze to meet Steve’s. You could feel the encouragement he was giving you, but you could also feel the anger bubbling under the surface rolling off of him.

“Eh, you see, Professor Rogers, it’s just like you said. Daniel was—uhm, he-“ you stumbled over your words nervously as you caught the glint of fury in Steve’s eyes, distracting yourself by pointing at the guy as if it was wasn’t painfully obvious who you were talking about.

“He has been… pursuing me for a while now-“ Steve’s jaw clenched at the admission and even though you supposed he already knew that, it wasn’t any more pleasant to hear that you’d been keeping it from him for a while now. “I-I suppose I wasn’t sending clear enough signals that—ugh, that I wasn’t- wasn’t interested,” your low voice picked up volume as you emphasized that you were not flirting back, pleading Steve to understand… but at the same time, you couldn’t mask the guilt you were feeling and you wanted him to know that you were sorry.

Steve didn’t avert your gaze for a second, listening intently, body rigid.

You quickly hurried to explain the rest, your pulse dangerously high, your face burning.

“Anyway, he was getting-- rather daring and annoying. So, I thought I’d end it once for all. I agreed to go to dinner with him if he managed to ask the professor a question he would answer incorrectly. He apparently thought that this was the most brilliant approach... I’m sorry for- I’m sorry.”

The silence that followed was heavy, sneaking into your lungs and making it hard to breathe, Steve’s unwavering gaze at you causing you to feel like you shrunk several feet. To anyone else, he might appear calm and collected – but you knew him. You could see the unspoken rage, boiling behind the unnaturally cold blue of his irises; what you couldn’t decode was whom it was aimed at… more.

And you couldn’t take it anymore, looking away from him, fighting the tears of anger, humiliation and shame.

“I see,” Steve stated evenly, rising to his full height. “You’ve got anything to add, Mr. Gallo?”

That asshole had the audacity to keep his stupid smug smile on his stupidly handsome face as he shrugged.

“Not much. I would probably disagree on the signals-“ he echoed your words sarcastically, earning an unimpressed glare from Steve; upon that, he cleared his throat and lost about 2% of his arrogance. “While I am sorry for interrupting your class, I am not. Thank you, Professor Rogers, you’ve been very helpful.”

You breathed in shakily when you saw Steve’s hand clench into a fist, a minute jerk of his muscles as he probably felt fresh surge of anger at Daniel’s audacity; the air shifted in a matter of seconds, Steve’s aura changing instantly.

You held your breath in dismay. Surely Steve wouldn’t-

“Oh was I?” Steve challenged the younger man wryly, scanning him head to toe. And that you didn’t expect, because… because it looked like Steve was about to bring the pissing contest that had been going on during the class to another level. His next words left no room for discussion. “To her certainly. I answered correctly, so she is free.”

You blinked in shock, not following. Was he about to argue for the ‘she doesn’t want to go, so she won’t go’ point you had considered pulling before?

Daniel chuckled nervously as he sensed the air change as well. The strangest thing was, Steve didn’t seem angry. He looked almost… smug.

…why?

“Eeeeh, no, you didn’t-“

“Yes I did,” Steve said resolutely, easing his posture in order to tower slightly above your classmate. “She won’t be having dinner with you tonight.”

“Yes, she will,” Daniel chuckled derisively as if it was far too obvious and Steve was being stupid. “She said that if-“

“I heard her. I heard you too. And I’m telling that she won’t be having dinner with you tonight.”

Daniel’s confusion was almost palpable, but then again, so was yours.

“She’ll be having dinner with me.”

The shriek coming out of your mouth-- you only imagined that, right? You did not release that sound even if Steve just--- he- did he just tell Daniel that-?

You felt yourself turn into a statue, eyes probably tragicomically wide when Steve’s tension vanished, his lips spreading in a positively sweet smile, sending it your direction. There was no malice in it – for now. However, you could tell he was enjoying the way he rendered both you and Daniel speechless immensely.

There was no mistaking the sparks of mischief and possession, barely covered by the genuine affection shining in his gaze.

“Like most of the nights,” he added for a good measure and you were ready to pass out. And then he made it all better: “You liked the lecture, sweetheart? I know Bucky’s hard to live up to.”

The petname snapped you from the trance; you swallowed the fear of consequences – the fight-in-making with Steve and a fit from Daniel –, and returned the smile, taking the two steps to Steve’s side.

He tenderly grasped your forearm and slipped two fingers under your ¾ sleeve to caress the sensitive skin, sending pleasant shivers up your spine.

Alright… in for a penny, in for a pound it was. You threw caution out of the window, along with the worries about the upcoming dealing with Steve; like you said, one problem at a time. If Steve had decided to show Daniel hat you were, well, you could as well join.

“Well, uhm, if anything, I think you certainly left an impression, Steve.”

One corner of Steve’s lips lifted in a lop-sided smile as he must have remembered that he had doubted doing exactly that when he had entered Bucky’s class the first time and unwittingly become your muse.

Also, he probably appreciated you not saying a word about the boys’ night, which was bound to get in the way of you two in fact having the aforementioned dinner.

“That’s all I can ask for, sweetheart,” he murmured, arm snaking around your waist and gently pulling you to his side, sending a clear message.

She’s mine. Fuck off.

“No.”

Safe in Steve’s arms, you almost had to laugh at the incredulous sound Daniel made.

Steve’s smile slipped, on the other hand, his demeanour hard and uncompromising.

“Yes,” came his reply, scarily calm as his shoulders squared.

And yet, despite his stern posture, the kiss he dropped to your hairline was soft and had you automatically melting into him no matter how taken aback you were at the turn of events.

Comfort and safety. He had you.

Protectiveness melting into possessiveness. He’d never let this filthy guy touch you again-

“No way. You- you’re not-“ Daniel stuttered, actually taking a step back as a doubtful chuckle left his lips. It made your blood boil that he suddenly thought so little of you, that you could never – because Steve was clearly out of your league. Well, you certainly thought so sometimes, but that wasn’t the point. It was insulting, really, how shocked he seemed. “You’re not dating a-”

“Professor? This specimen?” you tried to finish his sentence, making a point of laying a palm on Steve’s chest. His warm one covered your hand in an instant and you couldn’t but look up at him and smile gratefully, suddenly feeling much stronger. “Why? Because he’s too good for me? Maybe. But maybe he thinks I’m principessa too.”

Due to the close proximity, you could feel every muscle tense in Steve’s body, his fingers digging into your flesh, and only then it occurred to you that trying to sass Daniel by throwing his special petname for you back at him was not the best idea, seeing as it was a new and very much unwelcomed information for Steve.

Welp, too late.

“It’s—that’s not the--- dating professors is against the-“

“Rules?” Steve interrupted, raising a challenging eyebrow. He stepped forward, slipping from the embrace, your hand limply sliding down his chest and falling to your side as he stood between you and Daniel as a human shield. It was comforting, to be honest. And kinda hot. “It’s not. Educate yourself better at the university policy if you feel the need. Then maybe you’d realize that harassing women is against the rules and good morality. From what I heard, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing.”

Your stomach clenched and you weren’t sure how to feel about that. Was that what Bucky told him? That Daniel had been harassing you? Not that it wasn’t the truth you guessed, but you expected Bucky to paint you in worse light. That was… unexpected to say at least.

What did it mean for you though? Did that mean that Steve wasn’t angry with you at all then? But—

Or was this an act for Daniel? You didn’t think so… mostly because you had never heard Steve so cold and calculating and honestly, he was scaring you a bit as he towered over Daniel – even if it was to protect you.

Daniel’s throat worked visibly as he faced Steve, having to look up not only because Steve was taller, but also because his mere presence, as always, felt enormous.

“So, Mr.Gallo, I’d truly appreciate if you left my girlfriend alone before this grows into a bigger problem.”

Fuck, if you weren’t worried about how Steve would react when you were alone – he... he wouldn’t break up with you over this asshole, would he? – you’d actually be very proud of your boyfriend and his choice of words. That was the best indirect threat you could actually think of.

Before I lose my patience.

Before you regret it.

Before we take this outside.

Anything like that could be considered dangerous for Steve’s position, giving Daniel ammunition – he could complain that Steve was threatening him. But not this.

“Do we have an understanding?” Steve practically growled, causing Daniel to wince and take another minor step back.

“Yes,” he shrieked, quickly swallowing to even his high-pitched voice. He didn’t dare to as much as peek around Steve’s form to look at you. “Crystal clear, Professor Rogers.”

“Glad to hear that.”

You could imagine the wolfish smile Steve gave him as Daniel hurried to pick up his stuff and swiftly walked out of the auditorium without sparing you a glance or a single word.

Though you would swear you heard him muttering under his breath; it sounded a lot like…. troia? But you couldn’t be sure, because you still couldn’t speak Italian and the only thing it reminded you of was the Troy War and something told you that was not it. In fact, you were pretty sure it was some sort of an insult – just giving another reason for Steve’s glare to follow him and remaining fixed on the door long moments after he was gone.

Steve sighed heavily and as you saw his torso expand with an inhale, you felt like he sucked out all the air from the room. Somehow, even with Daniel gone, the atmosphere tasted ominous – if not worse than before.

Steve didn’t look at you as he grabbed his things, beckoning you to gather yours. He didn’t meet your gaze when he was waiting for you.

“Come on. Let’s get out of this damn room before I lose my mind and do something I’ll regret later.”

Yeah. It was definitely worse than before.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Part 3 (final for A:WLiT)

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Vocabulary: Belleza - pretty chick... (really, I just simply assured that it’s something a smug jackass like Daniel would call a woman) Troia - bitch

Thank you for reading!

Also, thank you for your reactions to the previous chapter, they seemed to vary from calling her a dumbass and feeling sorry for her, mostly calling Daniel a jerk and other names...

I hope you enjoyed this one too. Buckle up for the last part, people, and don’t forget to read the warnings before diving in 😉

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bearseokie · 4 years ago

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oneus as ghost hunters

oneus m.list | navi

Ravn:

the calm one sat at the monitors almost the entire night.

“can you go fix the X camera?” “sure.” takes an hour to fix said camera because he got distracted by some shadows and went to investigate. forgot the camera is down and comes back with zero evidence and a story to tell.

knows what every device does and how it works even if it was just released.

will stop a session to take a selfie in the ‘aesthetic looking place’.

most confident about doing solos until he actually gets alone, then every little noise freaks him out.

“i am here.” “so am i. what now, buddy?”

bobbing his head in complete silence to confuse the ghosts into thinking he’s busy

always has gum

can find his way around anywhere at any time, even in the pitch dark.

whistles when leaving, gets into the vehicle, shuts the door, screams his lungs out.

Seoho:

blunt head trauma warning to any and all humans and spirits, he will throw his flashlight at you.

“what was that?” “the wind.” “no it wasn’t. something’s in here with us!” “no.”

can be so quiet out of fear that he vanishes and ends up halfway across the location with no clue how he actually got there or what happened.

super focused that the entire crew can clear out and leave him to do a solo and he’ll still capture the best evidence of the night.

“can’t we have one normal night?” “no.” “i wasn’t asking you!”

wearing heelies to get sick shots of the place. rolls away if something scary happens.

well known for running into glass, spider webs, and apparitions

reads everything word for word on the devices instead of making out a full sentence because ‘that’s just creepy’.

is shaking both because he’s cold and horrified.

“and now for my next trick, i will disappear very quickly.” runs away while yelling.

Leedo:

chugs water like it’s spirit repellent. has to have someone follow him to the bathroom because he’s too scared to go alone.

*itc word: demon* “as expected. i am now leaving.”

flexes his muscles when he’s intimidated but it’s under his shirt so no one knows but him.

hugs himself to get through the investigations.

if something runs up on him, he’ll storm back at it and it’ll be like a wild west standoff.

screams once every session and that’s it.

will lock himself into a dark space just to regain his dignity.

“whatever’s in here, leave!” the spirit leaves because leedo raising his voice is scary to anyone.

is really educated on the subject of ghost hunting and works on investigations systematically and by his own-made rules. very cautious but stern, hates hiccups in the technology, little patience for silly tricks. takes everything seriously until he sees one ghost up close, then he’s screaming his lungs out.

thinks ghost hunting is just a reality-based video game.

Keonhee:

loud crackling when he walks only because he’s hoarding snacks in his pockets. “what if a ghost locks me in somewhere and i get hungry?”

has a gnarly crystal collection he carries with him to haunted places for protection. hands them out before every investigation.

falls asleep on a teammates shoulder halfway through the session.

“can we be friends?” “i don’t see why not!”

punching the air to gain confidence but accidentally hits someone and feels bad.

“i didn’t ask to be here.” “oh, we are in the same boat right now, pal.”

has to take a break in the middle of every session to eat a full meal and regroup.

vulnerable to possession and knows it, he’s on constant alert.

flails his arms when he runs to exempt himself from any surrounding spirits trying to grab him.

always tells the spirits “if i could take you all with me, i would.” before he leaves.

Hwanwoong:

has to talk to himself during the entire experience or else he will lose his sanity.

his favorite part about being a ghost hunter is when they find nothing and just get to enjoy the space for the night.

“wow, this is really peaceful.” “hey.” “just my luck.”

has the best photography of every location. insane selfie game. ghost in the background. viral videos. overall legend to the ghost hunting community.

has at least ten portable chargers on him at all times so if anything goes out then he’s got backup.

pirouettes instead of running.

convinced he’s tough but hides behind everyone seconds into the investigation.

“help.” “the phone number you are trying to reach is currently out of service.”

genuinely feels bad that he can’t do more to help the spirits so he calls in backup to clear the space.

swears he’ll never go back but he always does.

Xion:

is just excited to be part of a ghost hunting team until he realizes he’s in the middle of the haunted location doing an investigation, then true terror sets in.

drinks loads of energy drinks so he can stay awake all night and ends up making himself way too hyper-aware of everything.

“if i said i was ready for this occupation, i lied.”

thinks he sees shadow people. it’s usually his own shadow on the wall reflecting from the white lights behind the cameras.

“i don’t want to go in there.” immediately gets sent in there.

always has his camera recording his feet and not what’s in front of him. it’s also the first thing he drops when he jumps and runs away.

zero sense of a personal bubble. anyone around him is an immediate emotional support teddy bear.

catches the best evps when he’s the most scared, so he deals with everything he gets put through for the evidence.

“can we go now?” once every hour.

will cha cha slide the hell out.

#oneus #oneus headcanon #oneus headcanons #oneus imagines #oneus scenarios #kim youngjo #ravn #lee gunmin #seoho #kim geonhak #leedo #lee keonhee #keonhee #yeo hwanwoong #hwanwoong #son dongju #xion #kim gunhak #oneus.headcanon

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cchellacat · 4 years ago

Text

I Will Be Waiting

Darcy Lewis Bingo

Y1: Soulmate AU

Bucky/Darcy

18+ for some smutterfluff

Darcy never wanted to meet her soulmate, fate has other plans.

Thank you @hawksmagnolia for all your support and help and for the absolutely beautiful cover art/mood board!

Darcy had been coming to New York since she was a kid. She loved the hustle and bustle, the people, the sounds, and the vibrance of the city. When Jane had taken up a teaching position at Columbia she’d been excited, with Jane as a guaranteed roommate she could finally afford to live in the city of her dreams.

It took her a month, applying for jobs to find one but she lucked out and got a great foot in the door at Stark Industries. It only took a year before some wise guy sent her up to act as Stark's assistant for the day; no doubt thinking she’d crash and burn or walk out as every other person had for the last ten years. Not Darcy Lewis, no siree, Darcy Lewis was not a quitter and Tony Stark was an overgrown man child, accustomed to pushing people's buttons till they cracked. Darcy didn’t crack. She pushed back. In less than a month she had Stark’s schedule running like clockwork and Pepper had given her the stamp of approval, promising that she’d be canonised as a saint when she died. Darcy had been walking on cloud nine ever since. Her job was a bit of everything, but surprisingly similar to a lot of what she'd done for Jane, everything from paperwork and coffee to experimental engineering. Her salary rivaled most department heads and she had been able to move into an apartment in the Tower. When Jane had visited Darcy she’d crossed paths with Tony and the two had hit it off. Jane’s funding went from meager to unlimited and she was offered science space at the Tower. All in all, life was good.

One of Darcy’s favourite places in New York was in Central Park. There was a small plaza, in a quiet area of the park, perfect for some sun and picnicking at lunchtime. On a plinth at the far end was a statue. The real mystery though was that no one knew where it had come from. The statue of the man was just over six feet, he appeared to be a soldier, in full uniform from around the second World War. He stood, with one arm reaching out, as though waiting for someone to take his hand. There was no record of it being commissioned, no artist had claimed it. Eventually, the city had simply installed the wide plinth with room for the invisible stranger to stand on and constructed the small plaza since it had become somewhat of a tourist attraction. Many people visited just to get a photograph with the handsome soldier.

As with any good urban legend, a fairly ridiculous story built up around the statue. The most prevalent story was that he’d been a real man, frozen in time and only his soulmate could break the curse and bring him back to life. This was completely absurd, but romance sells and so it was in every tourist book and even had its own following on social media.

Touching the soldier was seen as good luck; people said if you did you’d meet your soulmate within a year. It had such cultural belief that many people ended up saying their first words to each other in this very spot. It was rumoured that Pepper Pots had met Tony Stark here ten years ago while she was on her lunch break and the man had spoken to her for the first time when he was passing through on a date with another woman. Darcy doesn't know if that's true, but she's about ninety-nine percent convinced it’s pretty damn accurate. Her boss has a picture of himself and Pepper in front of the soldier on his desk that he often looked at smugly.

The Searching Soldier was deemed as the perfect place for romantic proposals, first dates, and even the occasional wedding. Darcy had seen her fair share of men and women getting on one knee and popping the question in the last two years since she’d made it her regular lunch spot and she couldn’t help but love this place for that alone. The Searching Soldier had become an icon and a symbol of true love and Darcy’s escape from the constant buzz of the building she worked and lived in.

She crumples up her napkin and grabs her coffee cup and ambles over, throwing the waste in the bin before coming to a stop in front of the statue. She’s been inclined more than once to just climb up the steps and touch him, but she’d never been particularly superstitious or even very desperate to meet the man who will give her his first words. In spite of that, every time she stands here, part of her is really tempted to do it anyway. She’s looked at his face every day for two years, trying to figure out the expression. It doesn’t look hopeful or happy. His eyes are slightly wide, his mouth caught mid-smile, or perhaps on the cusp of speaking a name. He looks, Darcy thinks, both resigned and startled. Some days she thinks he’s saying goodbye instead of hello. Her phone beeps, disturbing her a little from her contemplation and she realises she's going to be late back to work if she doesn't hustle. Throwing one last look at the soldier and his out-stretched hand she hurried off.

Stark’s experimental lab was a perfect example of finely organised chaos. Darcy both hated and loved it. There was certainly never a dull moment with Tony as her boss, but the number of clean up requirements every time an experiment went wrong meant overtime as well as exacting and specially vetted clean up crews to ensure no proprietary research left the building.

It’s getting late but Tony is in the final stages of construction of what he says will be a time machine. Darcy doesn’t want to think about the possible ramifications of such a breakthrough and has already discreetly informed Pepper and the Legal department.

“Hey, pass me the sonic wrench will you?”

Darcy glares at the tools in front of her. She’s half-convinced he makes this stuff up just to mess with her. She randomly grabs an oddly shaped tool and passes it over.

When it happens, Darcy is caught off guard. The machine hums to life in almost the same second that the lab doors are forced open. Tony grabs her and hauls her up onto the pad behind him, his watch enveloping his hand as the repulsor glove activates. There is shouting going on and a gun fires. She’s not afraid to admit that at the moment, panic sets in and she’s hardly coherent of anything other than the feel of Tony's hand in hers before he wrenches it free and then slides something onto her wrist. The next thing she knows, the machine whirs to life, there's a sharp noise like metal on glass and then she's falling.

Silence envelopes her as she hits the ground. The bright light of the lab was gone, replaced with almost total darkness and the scent of damp. She groans, pushing herself up and is thankful when Tony’s twin moan of pain reaches her ears through the dark.

“Tony?”

“You ok, Short Stack?”

“I’m fine, what the hell was that?”

“Time travel without a capsule. A little bumpy, but we managed.”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?”

“No, why would I?”

“Are you insane? We can’t go experimenting on ourselves.”

“Would you rather we stayed where we were and got shot or kidnapped?”

Darcy glares as Tony’s suit deploys and an ethereal glow emanates from the nanotech.

“How are we meant to get back?”

Tony grins.

“I’m glad you asked. I put a recall device on us both before I launched us out of time.”

“The wristband?”

He nods and moves to check her over.

“You seem alright. How are you feeling? Dizzy?, headache?... how many fingers am I holding up?”

“Ugh, you are not a doctor, Tony. I’m fine. Just jittery.”

“Hmmm, shock, probably. Good, that means they work.”

“Means what works?”

“The wristband isn’t just a tracker, it’s like a bubble of real-time from our timeline, one that travels with us and keeps us from what I theorised could be temporal sickness caused by the jump.”

“So what now?”

“We lay low for a few days, in forty-eight to ninety-six hours the tracker engages and we’re pulled back to our own time. Easy.”

“Sure it is, but what are we meant to do while we wait? Do you know when we are? We don’t have any money and I refuse to stay trapped in this mouldy basement for the next two days.”

Tony looks mildly chagrined before shrugging a little and muttering about him figuring it out. Darcy sighs and follows him. She was putting in for danger pay when she got back. This was above and beyond.

They make their way up through some abandoned tunnels, the air turning colder and colder the higher they climb. When they finally make it to the top Darcy realises they are in a railway tunnel and there is a train coming straight at them. Tony manhandles her for the second time that day and pulls her out of the way. Only his suit saved them from a steep snowy drop into the ravine below.

They’re barely back on their feet when an explosion rips through the air and the side of the train car that almost hit them rips open. Even with the speed it’s going, the unmistakable form of a man falling has Darcy crying in horror. Tony doesn’t hesitate. At that moment he forgets where he is, all that matters is saving a life. He takes off, leaving Darcy safely on the embankment, and flies after the man as the train speeds out of sight.

A shaking and cursing soldier drops in front of her as Tony lands and his suit retracts back into its casing. Darcy is barely processing it all as she stares at the stranger, he looks so familiar. He’s tall, dark-haired with the bluest eyes she’s ever seen. He shouts angrily, accusations flying back and forth as Tony explains who they are. Darcy doesn’t blame him, she wouldn’t believe them either. He does tell them the date though, 1945. She has traveled back in time seventy-five years, they are apparently somewhere in Austria. When he finally gives them a name, Tony winces and Darcy’s ears perk up. She knows that name. She knows it because the man in front of her died a hero, falling to his death from a train just before the end of the war. If they weren’t already white with the cold she’s pretty sure Tony would be turning transparent. How the hell do you tell someone they’re dead and have been for seventy-five years? Yeah, it goes down about as well as you’d think. Darcy suddenly sneezes and the sound of her teeth chattering stops both of the men mid-argument. It’s the first time the guy finally looks at her, his eyes seem to widen and then he’s whipped off his coat and swept it around her.

“We can’t stay out here, we have to get off this mountain and back to base.” He addresses Tony. Darcy almost wants to punch him for the rudeness of ignoring her even as she pulls the warm coat around her tightly, savouring the comforting warmth.

“What do you not get about you’re dead? You can’t go back, you can never go back!” Tony punctuates each point with a finger jab at Sergeant Barnes, she grabs his hand to stop him. Barnes looks about one more jab away from knocking Tony out.

“Tony, we still have to get out of here and somewhere sheltered. We don’t know how long we have before we go back and we can’t just leave the Sergeant without any help either. Maybe he can’t go back, but there must be something we can do to help him, right?”

Tony looks at her grudgingly and nods.

“Okay, I’ve got a plan. We get back to the base, I go in alone and talk to Howard. We fly to New York and I’ll make sure Barnes here gets set up with a new identity and a job.”

Darcy smiles as brightly as possible at Barnes.

“See? A whole new start, it’ll be great!”

Barnes's eyes widen for a moment before he bites out the words she had been dreading to hear her whole life.

“I won’t leave Steve!”

To be fair, he looks almost apologetic the second after they came out of his mouth but Darcy closes up and Tony growls.

“What did you just say?”

Barnes raises his hands shaking his head, looking beseechingly at Darcy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”

“Have you got any idea the damage those words have done to her you selfish neanderthal?”

Tony had seen her words once, completely by accident. They’d had to go through decontamination after a spill in the lab, the showers hadn’t left much room for modesty. Her words crawled up the small of her back, just below the rise of her jeans. After that, the older man had been stupidly attentive and protective of her. She’d honestly never expected to encounter her soulmate like this, and especially not with Tony in tow. Tony who knew more of her secrets than anyone other than Jane.

Barnes' face at Tony’s accusation was bitterly remorseful. His eyes flashed to Darcy, boring into her own deeply, seeing the hurt and rejection she’d lived with her whole life. He stepped towards her, his lips parted, she wanted to say something, but any words she could have said were swiftly cut as Tony pushed him back and away from Darcy.

“I said I’m sorry!” his voice is harsh and Darcy thinks she can almost see the threads as he unravels. “But I can’t leave Steve, he needs my help, he’ll get himself killed if I’m not there-”

Tony gabs Barnes and shakes him.

“Rogers lives. You died and Captain America carried on, did just fine without you. You going back, being alive? That could change all of history and just might get your friend killed. Do you want to do that? Risk the future just to butt in where you’re no longer needed?”

Tony’s words were scathing and sharp but no less true for the content.

“Tony! That’s enough….” she turns to Barnes. “Look, I’m sorry this happened, but you were meant to die, it must feel like your life has been turned upside down, I know. But it’s better than actually being dead, right?”

His eyes settle on her and he shakes his head, she suddenly wants to be anywhere but here. He looks lost and afraid and she can’t help but feel this is her fault.

“Better than being dead? I can’t see my best friend ever again and my soul mate is going back to the future. I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life, I’m over the fuckin moon.”

She recoils like a blow has been struck. He’s angry, of course, he is. She is too. This should never have happened. It’s not fair, but if there is one thing she’d learned in life it’s that it is never fair. She’s toe to toe with him, shaking from anger or cold, she’s not sure which.

“How do you think I feel? I’ve been shot at, fell through time, nearly got hit by a train and now my soulmate wants nothing to do with me and even if he did I’m never going to see him again! You’re not the only one with a sucky life Barnes but I’m not having a tantrum over it. Suck it up soldier and deal with it. This is life.”

Twin blue eyes blaze at each other before Tony comes between them again and then she ignores Barnes, letting Tony guide her as they get off the mountainside.

It takes six hours to get back to the base. Tony somehow manages to carry them both, flying low and slow until the dark green tents and the wooden barracks appear. They drop down a few miles out, Tony leaving them both sneak in and find Howard. He doesn’t think it will take much to convince his dad of who he is and tells them to stay safe until he gets back.

Barnes stalkes about the clearing they’re in like an angry bear while Darcy does her best to push away the strange grief she feels welling up in her heart. It doesn’t make much sense, really, it’s not like she knows him or is going to get the chance. The wristbands are their only way home, not equipped to carry an extra passenger. Tony had already put the full stop in her unspoken question about her staying. It was a huge no-no, she didn’t belong in this time, he was almost certain the time-stream would rearrange itself around her if she stayed but that it would most likely try to erase her the longer she stayed. He’d made too good an argument for the universe trying to Final Destination her ass to be comfortable with taking the risk.

“I don't even know your name” She jerks a little at the abrupt statement, suddenly aware of how close he'd come to her.

Bucky feels like his world just ended and nothing is ever going to feel right again. When he’d fallen from the train he was certain he was going to die. It was a long way down and in those few moments where he fell he’d almost made peace with his end. The words inked on his arm the only regret he had. He’d wondered his whole life about the girl that would one day try to reasure him.

See? A whole new start, it’ll be great!

Wondered what he’d say to her, how he’d greet her. Instead of one of the many things he’d hoped he might say he’d pretty much rejected her for someone else. He cringes at the thought that she had spent her life wondering who Steve was to him that he’d refuse her. Now here he was, with the one girl he was made for, who was made for him and he was furious at himself for the cock-up he’d made of it. He runs a shaking hand through his hair, feeling the small ice crystals melt when they come in contact with his hand. It’s freezing out here but he hardly feels the cold. It’s been that way for a while now, not just the immunity to the cold, but the strength and the speed and his senses all sharper and better than they’d ever been. He can see her shivering, even with the long blue coat of his wrapped around her tiny frame.

God, they haven’t even been introduced properly. He feels like a fool.

“I don’t even know your name.”

She looks up at him, seeming surprised at his closeness.

“Darcy Lewis.” she doesn’t give him more than that, a brief snippet of knowledge.

“James Barnes, but my friends call me Bucky.” she raises a brow, “I’m sorry for how I reacted back there, for what I said. You didn’t deserve those words. I was just worried about my friend. You gotta understand, I’ve known him since we were kids, he’s like family to me.”

Darcy sighs. “I get it, I do. Consider it forgiven.” she shivers again and hugs herself tighter.

Bucky feels a twinge of guilt.

“Don’t know how long your friend’s going to be, we could..” he trails off, his hand, held towards her hesitantly, gesturing for something.

Darcy looks at the outstretched hand, it's like a bell in the back of her mind, like deja vu.

“Look, you’re obviously freezing, come here and we can huddle, share warmth. I know it's a little unconventional, but I promise I’m not trying to make a move.”

Darcy snorted.

“Like I couldn’t take you if I needed to.”

The way she side-eyes him and the little twist of her lips as she delivers the words induce a sudden chuckle. It’s been a while since a dame smacked him down so dismissively. Part of him admires her moxie while a deeper part finds a bittersweet understanding of why the universe paired them. He could see it. How they could be. If life had given them a different path.

Darcy throws a half-hearted glare his way.

“What, you don’t think I could?”

“Oh, I’m certain you would if I got fresh, Doll. Come here, you’re freezing, no use refusing just to make a point.”

“And if I said no?”

“You could, '' he nods his head. “ But you won’t, you’re too practical and smart to be the kinda girl that’d cut her own nose off just to spite her face.”

“James Barnes, is that a compliment for little old me?”

Bucky rolls his eyes. Of course, she would be full of sass to match his.

“Tellin’ you you’re beautiful would be a compliment. I’m just calling a spade a spade.”

Darcy presses her lips together, refusing to smile and lets him take her hand, he pulls her in close and wraps his arms around her as she tucks her head into his chest. When she realises he really is like her own personal space heater she unashamedly clings to him like a limpet.

“Getting comfortable, Doll?”

“Digging in, like the spade I am.”

She replies dryly then lets out a tiny giggle and feels an answering rumble of amusement from his chest. His arms tighten around her a little and she sighs, some of the tension bleeding from her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she tells him quietly.

“Least I could do.” He responds equally quiet. A silence lapses between them but it lacks the jagged edges that it had held before. Darcy breathes him in. It would be so easy, she thinks a little sadly, to get used to this.

It’s dawn when Tony gets back to them, Howard in tow. In less time than she’d expected they were in the air and flying over the Atlantic. Tony and Howard are upfront, conspiring away while she’s stuck in the cabin with Bucky. It’s strange watching the man, her soulmate, the little voice in her head whispers, as he sleeps.

Out there in the snow and ice, he’d been all hard edges and furrowed lines. In sleep the angles of his face softened, he looked younger. She’s not blind, the man has the sort of face you’d expect to see in some lookbook for a model agency. Maybe if he’d been born in her time he’d have found himself doing exactly that or perhaps acting on some cable tv show. He was almost pretty but with just enough dangerous charm to describe him as strikingly handsome. More man than boy, despite the big blue eyes and soft lips. If she had to admit to a type, he was exactly hers. Not surprising considering the words curling up her spine. It doesn’t seem to be something she can entirely dismiss, even when she knows there's no future here for them. Her heart sees him and she feels like the breath is knocked out of her. But even the knowledge that he hadn’t been rejecting her is now more of a burden than a relief. A burden because she can’t help but wonder what could have been. It’s like being given water in a desert and then having someone take it away to pour into the sand. In his sleep, he curls an arm around her and pulls her in close. Darcy lets him, selfishly allowing herself to pretend that this isn’t just a temporary stop along the road. She closes her eyes and rests her head against his chest and cuddles in. Deep inside she thinks they really could have been something.

The change in air pressure, subtle though it is, is what wakes him. He finds Darcy wedged into his side, fast asleep. He can feel the plane descending. She’s a soft warm, sweet-smelling refuge of hope amidst the raging storm of his emotions. He’s torn. He thinks he should be pushing her away, this is just prolonging and making matters worse. He doesn’t want to get attached. She's going to leave and he’s never going to see her again. His heart, soul? Whatever they want to call it, this connection the universe gave them is pushing him to keep her close and never let her go. It seems the longer they spend in close proximity the stronger the pull is between them. He has no idea where he’s going to go from here. What sort of future he’s going to have, but the unsettling feeling that there isn’t one without her leaves him numb.

“Hey…”

His eyes flick down to meet hers, gazing up at him, sleep heavy and soft. This is what he was meant to wake up to every morning, he thinks, somewhat bitterly before a fond smile, curls around his lips at the cute scrunch of her nose.

“Morning, sweetheart.”

Darcy huffs and reluctantly pushes away from him.

“Please don’t…” she trails off. The way he was looking at her made her heart swell, she could feel herself softening to him with every second. “This wasn’t what I expected…” she pauses and shakes her head. God that was a stupid thing to say, neither of them could have predicted anything like this.

Bucky purses his lips but keeps quiet. He can see her struggle to put her thoughts in order and his Ma raised him to be polite. He let her gather them, seeing the little wheels turning behind her eyes.

“When I was a kid I used to pretend I didn’t have words. I figured it was easier to say I was blank than admit my soulmate didn’t want me… wouldn’t want me. I told it to myself so much it felt true.” It had felt like that. She had cut herself off from any sort of longing to protect herself from the pain of being rejected. It wasn’t something that happened very often, but it did happen. People refused their soulmate, denied the bond and it would fade into nothing, Meeting your soulmate wasn’t a guarantee of happiness, it was just a chance, an opportunity to find the person best suited to you, but it didn’t guarantee love. “I thought if we ever crossed paths we’d both walk away content with the decision. Me happy to let you have what you wanted, you happy not to have some overly emotional drama queen stalking you.”

He could feel her sadness, her eyes were wet and her voice wavered. He gently cupped her face and caught the tear as it trailed over her pale skin.

“But now…. Now it feels like, -”

“Like we’ve been cheated. Like you were given a chance but the choice has been taken away. It was your choice before, to walk away from me when you thought I wouldn't want you.”

“But I didn’t have all the facts. If we’d met in my time… God, everything would be different, we’d still have a choice, an opportunity to ... I can feel it, you know? You feel it too right?”

His thumb stroked over her lip.

“Yeah, I feel it too, s’like magnets pulling together. Never wanted to know someone the way I want to know you.”

The sincerity in his voice struck a chord deep in her soul. She felt the same echo in her own.

“But we can’t. And this… the way you’re looking at me and touching me… I want it so badly but it’s just going to hurt so much more when I leave... if we keep doing this. I can’t afford to get this comfortable with you, I don’t want to... I’ve been hurting my whole life but now it's real and in front of me and I…” Darcy crumples. Maybe she’d convinced herself she’d never have a great love, but it didn't mean she’d ever really stopped wanting it. She feels like every moment in her life leads here, an inexorable inevitable point, fixed and immovable and she doesn’t want it to end.

He gathers her close, feels her tears soaking into his shirt as she cries. She’s breaking his heart. Every bit of him wants to protect her, comfort her; seeing her like this and knowing there is nothing he can do makes him furious at the world, at whatever god consigned them to this tragedy.

“It’s not fair...it’s not.”

“I know it’s not, princess. But we’re going to hurt either way. Why not make a few memories to hold onto?” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them, his mind changed. Maybe this wasn't going to be a forever, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least hold onto whatever he could get.

Darcy breathes and considers his idea. Maybe he’s right, isn’t this going to hurt no matter what?

“We might only get hours, a few days at most.” she’s not sure if she's trying to discourage him or begging him to tell her it doesn’t matter, that he’ll take whatever he can get. He doesn’t disappoint her.

“Then we make them count. Enough for the life-time, we could have had.”

Bucky places two fingers under her chin, bringing her gaze to his. Darcy blinks then lets it all go, lets her guard down, and sinks into his eyes. She thinks for a moment she forgets to breathe. His eyes are soft, a warmth in the deep blue. He smiles gently, encouraging an answering smile from her lips.

“Okay.” She finally lets go of the fear, embraces the chance to snatch a few small moments of beauty amid the chaos of their inevitable defeat. How, after all, could you win against time?

“Okay?”

Her smile grows wider at the happiness in his eyes and he hums a little tune. It’s a small thing but it brings a tiny snort of laughter from her, an old song so ironically apt.

“They can’t take that away from me.”

“What?” Her brows rise, was he serenading her?

“The way your smile just beams.” He sang softly, grinning down at her. She giggles.

“The way I sing off-key?” She answers back in kind.

“The way you’ll haunt my dreams… no no they can’t take that away from me.” He presses a kiss to her forehead. “Seventy-five years and people still know that song?”

“I like the Fred and Ginger movies, that one was a favourite.”

“I’d have liked that, taking you to a movie, on a date. Take you dancing somewhere so I could hold you close.”

“You don’t have to dance with me to do that” Darcy wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and Bucky thinks he’s never felt so charmed in his life.

When they finally get off the plane Darcy pulls Tony off to one side.

“I need time,” she tells him.

“Lewis, I swear if I could fix this…” He looks pained, but Darcy just shakes her head.

“No, that's not what I meant. I need time on my own with him, it’s the only chance we’ll ever have and I want to make the most of it, you understand, right?”

Tony sighs. She’s stubborn and fierce and he’s done his best to ignore the way the two had gravitated towards each other once their words were spoken. He knew from his own match that trying to keep them apart would have been pointless so he hadn’t tried, maybe even encouraged it by staying with Howard and letting the man talk his ear off. He gets it, he really does and just once, he can give her this.

“Think you can keep out of trouble till we get pulled back?” at her nod he continues. “Fine. When the recall alert goes off make your way to Central Park. We’ll meet at the little plaza, it should be deserted enough and open enough for our return back. You’ll have about half an hour to get there so don’t stray too far.”

She surprises him with a quick hug and a whispered thanks in his ear and then he watches as she drags Barnes off by the hand.

Forty-three hours later her wrist device beeps. Darcy looks at it mournfully and cuddles into Bucky’s arms. He’s spooning her, her body snugly tucked against his. It all feels so monumentally right, the feel of his skin against her, the rhythm of his heartbeat in time with hers, the way each breath between them works in harmony. His arms are wrapped tightly around, holding her fast, she wishes she could stay here forever, in this one perfect moment, suspended like a dragonfly in amber.

“Bucky, baby, we’ve got to go.” His body tenses and he mutters into her shoulder.

“It’s not fair Darcy… it’s not right.”

“I know. But we’ve had this.”

“S’not enough, doll. It could never be enough.”

He growled, tugging her under him as he rolled on top of her. His mouth met hers swiftly, kissing her till she was breathless and clutching him to her as her body sang for his.

It’s quick and desperate. Two bodies trying to merge deeper than imaginable, both of them attempting to leave their mark on the other. When they peak she cries, even as her body shudders in pleasure. It’s the sweetest torture. To have this and know it will soon be over. She feels his tears on her skin, falling to mingle with her own against her cheeks as he kisses her deeply. She never thought a kiss could feel like this, like hello and goodbye and forever.

They make their way to the park with a few minutes to spare.

When she enters the clearing where the little plaza is usually found, all that's there is a wide grassy space with a few benches and a path. It’s a little jarring to see it like this, without the presence of the Searching Soldier the place felt empty, haunted. Before she can think about it anymore there’s the sound of shouting and the retort of a gun. It’s like the lab all over again, only this time it’s Bucky that grabs her and forces her behind him.

“Put the fucking gun away Howard, it’s not going to help!” That's Tony's voice carrying through the trees.

Tony and Howard burst into the clearing, running, and made a beeline for Darcy and Bucky.

“Three minutes till we get delorean’d back to the future, Lewis and we’ve got a sorcerer on our ass.”

“What? Like Strange?” A blast of golden light cuts through the trees and they’re thrown off their feet.

“More Voldemort than Dumbledore, but sure.”

“What the hell do they want?” Bucky hisses at Tony.

Tony shoots him his patented “Am I the only smart person in the room” expression and Darcy elbows him in the ribs.

“What do you think? They want to know the future!”

“You’re telling me you managed to get Nazi wizards on our asses in less than two days?”

“Like it’s my fault!”

Darcy glares like she could set him on fire.

“Fine, it’s about 12% my fault, the rest is his,” he tells her, nodding at his shamefaced father.

“Oh god, there’s two of you. Now I can tell Pepper where you get it from!”

Tony scowls as they dodge another blast, running and throwing themselves behind a low wall beside the path.

“What are we meant to do?”

“We just need to stay in one piece till we get yanked back.”

“What about Bucky, and Howard?”

A sudden flash of light behind them as a portal opens sends them scrambling, but instead of danger, the serene face of a woman looks down on them as she emerges from the rip in reality. Her head is bald, her porcelain skin seems to shimmer, and about her neck is the faint green glow of the eye. Darcy recognises it as the Time Stone.

“Dr. Stark.” she nods.

“Ancient One.”

Darcy is taken aback at the seriousness of his tone and the respect he gives the woman without question. It’s disconcerting, to say the least.

Four sorcerers follow behind her and scatter quickly, facing off against the enemy as spellfire bathes the clearing in an eerie light.

The Ancient One moves her hands in a complicated pattern, a golden dome engulfs them in a protective bubble.

“You are safe now and there is not much time.” She regards Bucky with a sharp eye and traces some unseen line back to Darcy. Her gaze softens as he takes Darcy’s hand in his, moving protectively in front of her.

“You have nothing to fear for your soulmate, Sergeant Barnes, I mean neither her nor yourself any harm.”

“All due respect Ma'am, but I don’t know you and I don’t trust you.”

She nods to him and returns her gaze to Darcy.

“The timeline of this universe has been irreparably altered. I can see why now and perhaps this way is better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your Sergeant had another path he should have followed, one that still would have ensured you crossed paths here in your future. That way is now lost, since it cannot be recovered, perhaps there is a way to resolve your current predicament.”

“Can you send Bucky back to the future with us?” she asks her hopefully.

The Ancient One smiles mysteriously.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. But I am afraid your soulmate will have to take the slow path.”

Darcy’s face fell. She had hoped… The watch beeped again, Tony gave her an apologetic look as he held his hand out to her.

“It’s time, Short Stack.”

She doesn’t let Bucky's hand go even as she is reluctantly pulled away by Tony. Bucky seems about to speak, the smallest regretful smile turning his lips and then the Ancient one taps his shoulder just as Darcy's hand leaves his. Bucky freezes, caught in a moment, utterly still as his whole body seemingly turns to stone. Darcy tries to lunge back, a cry of horror ringing out.

“He will be here, waiting, Miss Lewis. And like any good fairy tale, true love's kiss will break the spell.” The Ancient One imparts softly.

Darcy doesn’t have time to react to the words before she feels caught up in a whirlwind of motion and the world jerks sharply to the left.

They come awake together in the lab they left from. Tony tripping over himself to check the machine. The place looks fine, nothing seems out of the ordinary. It’s like the firefight in here never happened.

“Tony?”

He sweeps his desk for his phone and checks the date.

“Just as I thought. The same day we left from, it’s lunchtime. We’ve come back before we left. Come on, we better get out of here before we run into ourselves.”

They take the secret elevator out and Darcy follows Tony without question, still half in shock and trying to wrap her mind around the events she’d just experienced.

Before she knows it, they’re back at Central Park. Tony shepherding her along in a daze.

“It all makes sense now, this is crazy. I mean, you’ve spent every lunchtime here for the last two years... Darcy..., Double D! Snap out of it.”

“He’s been there, all that time?” she finally says, shock and disbelief colouring her tone.

“From the moment we left. He’s been there. Waiting for you.” Tony puts his hands on her shoulders and she doesn’t know whether to sob or laugh.

“I didn’t lose him?”

“Look, “ he tells her, nodding over her shoulder. She turns her head, as though seeing the statue for the first time. It’s him, it’s really, him.

She looks back at Tony, shaking her head.

“What do I do? What if it doesn’t work… what if-”

“Lewis! Breathe.”

Darcy curls her hands into fists and sucks in a deep lungful of New York air. She is a well of mixed emotion, confused and hopeful and terrified. It’s almost too painful to believe this is real. That he’s been here, all this time, trapped in a single moment, waiting for her to free him.

“This is unbelievable.”

“I know.” he agrees soothingly.

“He’s the Searching Soldier”

“Patron Saint of true love and all-around good luck charm. New York may never recover the loss. Pretty sure, lover boy over there accounts for about a quarter of tourist revenue.”

Darcy snorts, a hysterical giggle forcing its way out. Tony only manages to keep a straight face for about a half-second longer than her before they're both howling with laughter. Passers-by stare at them as they walk past. Eventually, breathless and shaking but far calmer, Darcy stops.

An exasperated cough to their right has both turning sharply.

Stephen Strange is dressed casually, a grey jacket with a matching scarf wrapped around his neck, hands stuffed in the pockets.

“I don’t have all day you know.”

“Strange.” Tony gives the wizard a distrustful frown. He dislikes Strange on principle. The man tacks an inordinate amount of pleasure in needling him.

“Stark, Miss Lewis.”

“What are you doing here?”

Strange rolls his eyes, a look eerily similar to Tony’s own” How do I deal with these idiots” sneer crossing his face before he dispels it at the look Darcy throws at him. She is so clearly done with all the shit today.

“Well, we can’t just let the rest of New York know that a man has been trapped in stone for seventy-five years, can we? Besides, the sudden disappearance of a national treasure would be impossible to hide and the economic impact… what, what? Stop laughing, honestly, Stark, can’t you take this seriously for five minutes?”

“So, you’re here to cover it up.”

“Indeed. Miss Lewis will break the spell, I’ll cast an illusion and Wong will bring the duplicate statue through from the Sanctum.”

“How…”

“Did I know? Well, the Ancient One left a reminder on Wong’s phone. Got the alert this morning and crafted a replacement...”

Darcy shakes her head, tuning Strange out, and faces the statue. She’s put it off long enough. She takes off, leaving Strange and Tony bickering behind her, and crosses the plaza. She only pauses for a moment at the bottom of the plinth before determinedly taking the steps and standing beside him.

She knows the answer to the question now. The expression on his face had been both I love you and goodbye. She takes his hand in hers and steps closer before pressing her lips to cold stone. For the tiniest instant, she thinks it didn’t work, but then it’s like the world suddenly found its breath and cold marble becomes warm flesh, unyielding stone transmutes to living motion and she faintly hears a gasp before strong arms crush her close. Bucky’s voice, whispering her name, fills her ears and then he’s kissing her as if he’ll never stop and she revels in every second of it. A Million possibilities open before them. Infinity beckons.

#wintershock #darcy/bucky #dlbingo2020 #dlbingo #my writing

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