#i love that he can finally talk and that bruce can control the hulk!!!!

[prettykittycastle]

Why Me?

Summary: The last thing Bruce expected to happen to him was getting a blowjob in the lab.

(The reader uses she/her pronouns and is 18+. The ethnicity/race is preferably black.)

(Content Warning: blowjob, oral sex, male receiving, slight dirty talk, slight sub-Bruce)

"You should relax, Dr. Banner."

"You're always so tense, doctor. I can help with that."

"Maybe the Hulk wants you to have some fun."

At the feel of your warm tongue running over the head of his cock, Bruce thought over the things you had said to him before this night. Of course at the time, he didn't realize you were constantly making suggestions to him, his focus always on his lab work. But now, lightly shuddering at feeling the tip of your tongue run against the slit in his tip, he felt incredibly stupid to not notice them sooner.

"Mmmm," you hummed, sliding his member into your mouth, instantly the salty taste of him on your tongue made your mouth water.

"Oh God," he moaned, closing his eyes and laying his head back against his lab chair, his legs shaking.

"How ya feeling, Doctor? Still tense?" you slipped him out of your mouth and asked him. You wrapped your hand around him and held him firmly, grinning up at the sight of the anxious scientist before you.

For a while you had been trying to get his attention, wanting so badly to have him writhing in pleasure and finally have him be able to relax. Tonight was gonna be your last night of trying to catch his attention and if he didn't catch on yet, you were planning on moving on, but it seems that the universe had finally decided to do you a favor, and Bruce finally noticed you.

Now looking at him, you just wanted to rip all his clothes off and ride the fuck out of him. His lab coat was spread open, the first couple buttons on his shirt were unbuttoned and some of the hair on his chest was showing, his glasses askew upon his face, and his pants were pulled down around his knees. Be patient, you told yourself, wanting so badly to hear him moan your name.

"Y-yeah,...n-no," he quickly changed his answer, trying to keep control of his mind and his urge to thrust into your hand. "Uh, (Y/N)-"

"Bruuuce," you cooed at him, beginning to slowly jerk him off, the saliva from your mouth making it easy. "Just relax for me, sweetie."

Easier said than done, he thought, closing his eyes tighter at the feel of your hand jerking him off. He knew that agreeing to this was risky, worrying that the big guy would appear at any moment, but he couldn't turn down the opportunity to have you, of all people, on your knees, ready to have his dick in your mouth.

"Please," he begged. He didn't have to say what he was begging for because you already knew and by the time, he opened his mouth, ready to say something else, your lips were wrapped around his member again.

"Mmm," you moaned around him, loving the salty taste of him on your tongue. Lowering your head, you relaxed your jaw and throat to take him deep into your mouth till your lips stopped halfway down his cock. When you felt that you couldn't fit anymore of him in, you let the saliva from your mouth run down his length before wrapping both of your hands around the rest of him. Bobbing your head and stroking him, you couldn't control the moans escaping your mouth and traveling to him. You had been fantasizing about this for so long and now you couldn't be happier to feel the heaviness of his cock on your tongue.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. Bruce tried to remind himself this as he tried and failed to keep his lower half from lifting itself up from the chair and attempting to fuck your sweet mouth. He could feel his heart rate picking up and he worried that the other guy might make an appearance at the worst time.

"Shit, (Y/N)," Bruce groaned, letting his head fall back onto his lab chair while clenching the armrests tightly. "S-Slow down, please."

Your response to this request from him was simply bobbing your head faster, swallowing as much of him as you could, letting drool run out of your mouth and down his cock, helping you stroke him faster.

You didn't need to look up to know that the skin on his knuckles were probably turning green by how tightly he was holding the armrests and you wondered how long they would last before they completely broke off from the chair.

It's been so long. I'm not gonna last. He realized. The last time he had any type of sexual interaction was years, before the appearance of Hulk. After him, he never thought he'd ever get a chance to touch another person this way again.

"Bruuuce," you said, pulling your mouth away from him, but still stroking him. You looked up at him and couldn't help the smirk that grew on your face at seeing his head laid all the way back, holding onto the armrests for dear life.

"(Y/N)," he moaned your name again, hearing you call his name and forcing his eyes to open, and when they finally did, he instantly regretted it. The sight below him almost made him cum right then and there, but thanks to his years of perfecting control over the big guy, he held himself back from cumming too early. Seeing your (E/C) eyes look up at him, hazy and full of lust, your mouth and chin shining from the saliva on his dick, and the string of it hanging loosely from your bottom lip and his tip was almost too much for the poor scientist who had thought he would be living a life of celibacy because of his condition.

"How ya feel, Dr. Banner? You relaxed yet?" Your smirk grew wider, feeling his dick grow harder in your hands at you taunting him.

"Y-yes, yes, I am," he replied back, his eyes barely open as he tried to hold himself off from cumming, but your words were too much. "Please, (Y/N)."

"What is it," you asked, your voice changing to a lighter, more innocent tone despite what you were currently doing. "Bruce, what is it?"

"Aah," He moaned loudly, straining to control himself, his mind almost completely lost to lust. "I'm-I'm close t-to-"

"Close to cumming," you finished his statement, slightly tightening your grip and quickening your strokes. You could practically feel the cum waiting to burst from him. "You wanna cum?"

He couldn't find it in himself to open his mouth to speak, and simply nodded his head.

"Tell me. You wanna bust a nut on my face or in my mouth?"

"Oh God," he whimpered, lifting his hips to fuck your hands, his desperation evident.

"I'm fine with either one," you told him before lowering your head down to swallow his dick again, moaning at his hardness, and wiggling your tongue against the underside of him.

At that moment, Bruce couldn't handle it anymore, and before he knew it, his cum came spurting out of him in long, white, salty ropes down your throat to which you gladly accepted swallowing as much of it as you could.

If seeing you on your knees for him was already too much, watching you through half open eyes, gobbling and swallowing his cum was too overwhelming and he had to force his hand to let go of his armrest and use it to lightly push your head away.

"Shit, shit. Stop." He could feel himself becoming overstimulated, and knew without a doubt that if he got anymore stimulated, the big guy would definitely show up.

You didn't move at first, happily slurping up everything he offered and more, before deciding he had enough. You lifted your head from him and took a breath, wiping some of the spit from your face and gathering any cum that escaped from your mouth onto your fingers.

"Why," he asked, trying to catch his breath, and attempt to lower his heart rate back down. "Why...me?"

"What do you mean 'why you'," you asked, putting your cum-covered fingers in your mouth and sucking it off.

Seeing you do this, he had to take a second to calm himself down, before responding. "I mean...why out of all the guys in this building, you chose me? Why not Tony, Steve, Sam, Thor? Why me?"

The way he asked that made your heart almost break and suddenly the urge to fuck him grew tremendously stronger, wanting to give this man as much pleasure as you could.

"I don't want Tony or Steve or any of the others. Just you, Bruce. I like you. I think you're hot."

"Yeah, but," he sat up in the chair and straightened himself, his usual shyness coming back over him. "But why me? Why do you like me? The guy that has a big green rage monster in him."

"Because I think it's hot how smart, sweet, caring, and shy you are, Bruce." As you told him this, you stood up from the lab floor, wincing at the small ache in your knees and climbed into his lap, wrapping your arms around his shoulder. "I've liked you for a while. And if you just want this to be a one time thing, I'm cool with that. But I also want us to be something." You knew that one of the reasons the scientist tended to distance himself from the others was not just because of his shy nature, but also because of his worry of how he, the team, and others viewed him and his second half. He saw his second half as a monstrous nuisance and thought that the team might as well, but you knew that was wrong and you want to show him that you view him as more than the Hulk, and as Bruce Banner.

"I can control him most times, but every now and then, he wants out and it's hard to put him back in," he warned you, placing his hands on your hips.

"That's fine. We'll handle it together." You laid a gentle kiss upon his lips, aware that he still has to calm his heart down from your blowjob. He didn't say anything else and kissed you back with a surprising amount of vigor that seemed to make the fire in between your legs burn stronger.

"You know we have to be careful in the future when it comes to...this," he pulled away and warned you.

"We will and we will have a lot of fun, too," you told him, going back to kissing him. Even though, you two had just made it official, you were already thinking of the many things you wanted to do to this man, and unbeknownst to you, Bruce was thinking of the many positions he could put you in by the end of the night, how to not risk the big guy coming out while doing so.

[meidui]

Hiii 👋

I hope you’re well, I wanted to thank you for all the content you provide. I’m able to satisfy that little monster inside while I gobble all the Steve, Tony and Marvel content you provide us.

I also didn’t know if you take request/ writing ideas?

I don’t know if there’s any fic out there like this or what to even use to search for this… if there’s not, then it’s okay I just saw it and was intrigued by it. Apparently I like to hurt when our boys are in pain.

Im soo sorry this is a bit of a long one… 🫂 please bear with me..

So I was reading this post a few days back (I don’t remember who posted it) about when Hulk/ Bruce Banner told some people that “Steve Rogers was not a virgin, he lost his virginity with a woman during the USO tour.” But they explained that it complicated the love story with Peggy and Steve since Steve had feelings for Peg and that she was the love that gotten away.

Then it goes into, how Steve was very impressionable - when that one woman that pulls him over to kiss him before he seen Howard and Peggy seen. And that technically Steve is property of the US government because he was part of the military AND the serum - after all, all he wanted to do was to serve his country, even if there was a price to pay for it. And that in ways like that, that Steve was abused by the government and goes along the same fan theory of Bucky getting sold to other officials during the time he was under Hydra’s control. That Steve was sold, or his body was to other powerful individuals in the government.

I just thought of this and it makes sense… and puts another layer of depth we don’t think about. That there are parallels to his story as it does with Bucky.. but I was thinking, that during Captain America: Civil War where they’re in the final fight ( Bucky & Steve against Tony ) they’re not just throwing punches but talking/ yelling at each other. And Tony goes “what so wrong with you that you won’t do this simple thing for me? It’s not like you’re selling your soul over to ‘the man’/government.”

And Steve, pour baby Stevie, stumbles when those words hit his ears. Stumbles and shatters. His ears echoing with the words and his mind flashed back to the times where he had been. And he breaks down, completely and utterly broken. Sobs, like he hasn’t before and both Tony and Bucky see this. Had never seen this pillar of America Values and “I can do this all day” attitude crying as he slumps to the ground and that’s when he tells them ( doesn’t have to be all but the bullet points of what happened ) what he went through while he was under the hands before he joined the Howling Commandos. And even can be when he got recalled after each infiltration of a Hydra base.

Can even have them still holding a grudge but Tony on some level understands. He’s seen what some government officials have done, has seen what some people in power will do. Hell what he let happen with the weapons until he was kidnapped in Afghanistan. So they work together to bring down Hydra, Shield, the US government that is backing the accords and while this happens, they are creating their own accords. Something that appeases the people & other governments but also doesn’t jeopardise all inhumans, super hero’s, etc. The people that don’t want the attention or the change in their normal lives as if they would if they had to register.

And Bucky, sweet, mind recovering Bucky, goes all mother hen. “I didn’t know this Stevie, if I had, we could have gotten you out. Went on the run and not let them hurt you again.” That he understands too because even though he is still trying to figure out what happened to him with the mind control, something in his core knows that he went through something of the same calibre.

Okay, so this is very specific (I kinda went full in 😬)… and there might not be something like this, but maybe along the lines 🤷‍♀️ ? But have you read anything like that? Or know how to search something like this…?

(If you like this idea and wanna write it, I’m okay with that. )

hello!! hehe thank you there's also a little monster in me that has to make stevetony content or else it'll throw a tantrum

omg i love this so much, this was the angstiest treat ever and it reminds me of finnick after he won the hunger games 😭 i don't know of any fics that are exactly like this, but here are some similar ones! thank you to steve fic connoisseur extraordinaire @bulkyphrase for finding them <3

America Thanks You by @lbibliophile

Captain America was born on the USO stage, but his duties went beyond that. Behind the stage lights, ‘Captain America’ does whatever is required to aid the war effort.

Natasha and Tony learn what didn’t make it to the history books.

put on that red light by Anonymous

Steve does what is asked of him.

For Sale, One Super Soldier, Slightly Used by valtyr

Movieverse hookerfic. Don't judge me. I guess maybe issues of consent in the social pressure kind of way?

Not a Perfect Soldier by @captaintoomanybattles

In a world where HYDRA was wiped out in the '40s, Steve is found by the Army rather than SHIELD. General Thaddeus Ross wants a perfectly obedient super-soldier at his command, and to that end, he sets out to break Steve to his will. As Steve struggles to come to terms with all he has lost, his life in captivity is only made bearable by the presence of another prisoner-- another super-soldier known only as "Soldat".

Then the Avengers strike a deal with Ross to "borrow" him for missions, and Steve is faced with a team who dislikes him, an organization he doesn't trust, and the question of what he's willing to do to escape Ross's clutches.

[tinybirbwrites]

Losing Control (batfam/reader)

this was part of that one idea i talked about a while ago. it’s unfinished, but i thought i’d share it anyway. small warning for language and mild violence, also attempted sexual assault but it’s not very detailed and doesn’t get very far.

tried keeping reader genderneutral, not sure if i missed anything.

hope you enjoy reading!

____________

The first time it happened, I got angry during training. 

Sparring with anyone from the batfamily would rarely lead to a victorious outcome—they were too experienced, too talented, too ambitious. I didn't expect to win, but a tie would be nice. And yet, I always ended up on the ground, or trapped in someone's hold. I rarely landed a hit myself, and barely managed to dodge. 

It was frustrating, and more often than not, I found myself getting angry at the guys for never giving me a chance, but mostly at myself for being so weak.

But never had I blacked out like this before.

One moment I was on the ground, pressed down by Jason's weight, the next I was standing upright and staring down at him, his chest beneath my foot. He was frantically tapping my leg, and I realized that I was pressing down on his ribs hard enough to break them.

I immediately stumbled backwards and sat down, trying to recall what had happened, while Jason groaned and sat up. He didn't seem hurt, thankfully, just out of breath and surprised.

“Well,” he said, “that one was new.”

We didn't get to talk about what happened afterwards.

It was getting late and I was on my way home when it happened again. I remember being followed and touched by three tall guys, terrified to the point of being unable to move, to defend myself. 

Next thing I knew, all three men were on the ground, knocked out with broken noses, covered in strange bite marks and scratches. I called the police and went home, scared and confused.

_

The third time it happened, Damian was yelling at me because I had made a mistake. It was on patrol, and I usually stayed back so I wouldn't get in the way, but Dick had told me I should get involved more, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to learn anything new. But of course I had made a mistake, and Damian thought it necessary to burn it into my brain. 

I loved Damian, but I hated being yelled at. The anger came easily, and next time I opened my eyes, I was being held against the wall by Bruce himself. 

“Calm down,” he said. He was using the Batman Voice, sending chills down my spine and making me go limp immediately, scared of having made him angry, and scared of what I had done this time. Was Damian okay?

Luckily, Damian was unharmed, but he looked a bit pale and kept staring at me with wide eyes. 

I told Bruce about my blackouts that night, so he took me back to the cave to run some tests.

_

“The causes are high surges of adrenaline,” Bruce stated calmly, “In other words; anger, or strong fear.”

“So I'm the Hulk now?” I scoffed, but it just turned into an exhausted sigh. Bruce had taken some of my blood and insisted on doing the tests now instead of waiting until tomorrow. I was about ready to pass out.

“I want to see the effects up close in a safe environment. Only that way will I be able to tell what's happening to your body.” Bruce was already walking towards a platform with a big cell made out of see-through, bulletproof glass. 

“Can this wait until tomorrow? Please?” He stopped and looked back at me with a frown. “I know this is important, but I really need some sleep, and I don't even know if I can make it happen on command.”

He considered me for a long moment, making me squirm under his piercing gaze, before he finally nodded. “Go.”

_

“Damian?” I whispered, lightly knocking on his door. He had been sent away to bed early, leaving before I could apologize for what had happened. “Are you awake?”

The door unlocked, so I slowly opened it. Damian was already back on his bed, lying down with his back leaning against the headrest, arms crossed. He avoided my gaze, stubbornly staring at his feet instead.

I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, unsure where I stood with him right now. Was he angry? Upset? Scared? 

“Damian,” I started cautiously, “I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.”

“Wasn't scared,” he mumbled. 

I couldn't help but smile. “Okay. But it's alright to be scared, you know that, right?”

He just gave a grunt. 

“You also know I love you, yes? And that I'd never want to hurt you?”

He pulled his legs closer to his chest, turning his head away more. I could see his embarrassed pout before he could hide it. 

“Damian?” I pushed gently. He let out a breath through his nose and mumbled something incoherent.

I slowly sat down on his bed near his feet. “What did you say? I didn't catch that.”

“I said,” he sighed, talking louder and more clearly, but still not looking at me, “that it's me who keeps hurting you. I knew that, but I didn't really see how much I hurt you until earlier today.”

He looked at me then, eyes full of shame, “I do not understand how you can still care about me.”

I was taken aback by his genuine words, as I was so used to his harsh shell. He rarely showed any softness or openness to anyone, aside maybe from Richard. I lifted a hand to gently cup his cheek, and he leaned into my touch like a cat.

“You're complicated to get along with, I'll give you that,” I said, “But I can see your heart, Damian. And I want to keep it safe. I know you don't always mean what you say, and no matter how much some things hurt, I will always care about you.”

He frowned, giving a thoughtful hum. “So you're just going to take the beating?”

I sighed. “Well, I don't want to, but what am I supposed to do? Yell at you? Besides, you don't always want me getting all emotional like right now. If I don't want to lose you, I'll just have to roll with the punches and deal with it and not take it personally.”

Damian gave a huff, then started shuffling around and pulling at my arm until I was lying down with him, letting him curl up in my arms and press his face against my collarbone.

“I will… try… to be less… harsh,” he muttered into my shirt. “I... don't want to lose you, either.”

_

“High adrenaline surge caused by anger is the initial trigger. It seems a part of their brain falls asleep, but the rest stays active, controlled by an unknown force that has yet to be understood. Physical changes are getting more apparent the longer they stay in that state. Increased length and sharpness of teeth, especially the canines. Aggressive behavior, borderline animalistic. No usage of vocabulary, only hissing, growling and snarling. The skin on both hands and arms starts turning dark black after one minute, and after three, the same happens to the eye whites, gums and tongue. It’s like tar slowly seeping out from every pore, covering what’s underneath.”

Bruce's notes were highly concerning, to say the least. He had kept a close eye on me the whole week, until, inevitably, I got angry during training yet again. He put me inside the cell and observed for twenty minutes, before getting me to calm down.

‘Getting me to calm down’ meant he sent Dick to make cooing noises at me until he got close enough to give me a hug. Miraculously, it worked wonders.

_

“You guys want me to listen to ASMR the whole day? So I won't get angry anymore? You do know that's not how it works, right?”

Bruce had invented a device that could comfortably be worn on my person, monitoring my vitals and sending a distress signal to the closest member of the batfamily in case my adrenaline got to critical levels again. Meanwhile, the boys had apparently unanimously agreed on a strategy on how to keep me calm, meaning they had put together a playlist with ASMR and calming ambience videos for me to listen to whenever I could feel my blood pressure starting to rise. 

It was really sweet, but whether it was actually going to work was a whole nother question entirely. 

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” Jason shrugged, then grimaced at his own words. “Fuck’s sake, I sound like Alfred.”

_

Dick and I were on an undercover mission. It was a small one, just for one night, in which we'd have to do our best to get some information out of Subject A, a thirty year old rich woman in a red dress and big red hat, and Subject B, the owner of a big company and the husband of Subject A. 

Both were insufferable, absolutely the worst. Dick was a natural at being charming and disarming, so he had no problems with talking to either subject, though I could tell by the way he would clench his jaw whenever he smiled that he was just as annoyed as I was.

Me, on the other hand, could not stand another minute in the same room as either of those two. So I told Dick I would be getting some fresh air.

And because I had the best luck in the world, some lonely rich guy followed me outside and kept talking to me, and kept creeping closer to me until he was fully in my personal bubble, completely unprompted. 

“Oh, you look cold,” he said, and because apparently he thought he had the right to touch me, wrapped an arm around my waist to press me closer to his side, “Maybe we should go back inside? Or maybe I could bring you home, hmm? You seem lonely, like me.”

Everything about this guy was creeping me out. He smelled so heavily of cologne that I wanted to gag, and he kept breathing into my face. 

“I would very much like to be alone, to be honest,” I pressed out between clenched teeth, already feeling the familiar pounding in my head. “I did not give you any permission to touch me like this, so please, kindly back off, sir—now.”

He was murmuring something about reading my body language and subtext and getting clear signals of sexual interest, but I could hardly even hear him anymore over the pounding in my ears, my vision already fading more and more into black, as my adrenaline started to rise. 

Then, suddenly, the man was being pulled away. Then I was being maneuvered to a more secluded part of the outside area, somewhere out of sight, and Dick was standing in front of me. He was holding me by the shoulders, gently squeezing and closely watching my eyes. 

He was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I could feel my teeth sharpen, a growl rising from my throat, hands clenching and nails slowly growing into claws. 

I wanted to find that disgusting piece of shit and rip his eyes out. I wanted to cut off his prick and feed it to him until he would choke to death—

Then Dick was holding my face with both hands, leaning closer until our noses were almost touching. I could hear him now, gently shushing me like a parent would to calm their crying baby. His familiar scent surrounded me, filling my senses, calming me. I relaxed a little. My anger was not directed at Dick. I knew I was safe with him.

Then he let go of me to search his pockets, quickly pulling out his phone and putting his earbuds in my ears. A few seconds later, the sounds of rain droned out the rising violence in my mind, making the back of my head tingle and the hot anger boiling in my chest die down until my physical transformation went away as well.

I sagged against Dick's chest, feeling tired all of a sudden. I waited a little longer, relinquishing the feel of relief and calm washing over me, while Dick wrapped his arms around me to stroke one hand over my back, the other holding me closer to his chest by my neck. 

Eventually, I pulled the earbuds out and gave them back to him. I sighed, “I hate that I'm a ticking time bomb. You can't always be there to make sure I don't go off.”

“I don’t mind,” Dick said, helping me stand up. “That’s what family’s for, right? We got your back. With B’s device, there will always be someone there to help you out. If not, you can always call, no matter what time it is or where you are. If all else fails, you know what to do to help yourself.”

I let myself lean against him for a few moments longer, enjoying the comfort he brought, before straightening myself up with a sigh. “Thanks, Dick. I guess… let’s finish up here, huh?”

He grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

[cloudinterlude]

ooooh I'd love to hear your thoughts about bruce & steve!!!! even if they're rambly lol i love how they're the unlikely introverts of the og6 and how they're somehow connected through the serum! i also really love their first meeting and how respectful steve is about not caring about the hulk!! (i LOVE tony but everytime someone is like "tony was the first one to be friendly to bruce" im like but what about steve!!!!)

AHHH! You have given me the gift of a lifetime. I will absolutely take this opportunity to ramble about Bruce and Steve and everything I think about them before I hit talk fatigue. Please walk with me slowly here because I'm afraid I'm not gonna make a lick of sense 😭 I almost feel like I should rewatch The Avengers and The Hulk movies before typing this...I might...LONG POST!

Ok so Bruce's whole life was consumed by the serum right? He must know every goddamn thing there is to know about Steve, physically at least. In fact, I'd go as far to say that Steve was little more than a subject, a project to him before they met (and maybe Bruce still secretly saw Steve as a something rather than a person before he took time to know him). And you can't fully blame him for seeing Steve that way cause Steve was dead when Bruce was trying to recreate the serum. All this to say that Bruce spent a lot of fucking time studying Steve Rogers and imagine his....awe and fascination when the main subject of his research was right before him. I could imagine Bruce staring at Steve, cataloging every shift he makes. The peak of his life's work - the only success story of the serum that ruined his life, finally reachable. Bruce might even feel...not bitter, but melancholy mixed with his fascination.

I actually took the time to rewatch The Incredible Hulk just now and poor Bruce omg :/ It makes what you said about Steve and Bruce's first meeting even more heartwarming. Steve immediately saying that he doesn't care about the fear surrounding Hulk and whatnot and he MEANS it.

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word about me?"

"Only word I care about."

FIRST meeting! And yknow one thing that gets me heated is how some fans will say "Oh but Steve was scared of the Hulk when Tony was poking him yadda yadda" - Nope! Or at least not really. At this point, Steve's only interactions with Tony were being needled and mocked by him. It seemed to me (even on my first watch!) that Steve genuinely thought Tony was bothering Bruce, being mean or - God forbid - being a BULLY. And you know that's Steve's trigger word. Of course he's finna say something. Not to mention he was already irritated with the whole Tesseract mess.

I think Bruce is mostly curious about Steve('s body) at first. About the blood running through his veins. About how the key to unlocking human invulnerability lies within him. Must be a heady feeling. Kind of erotic (but not necessarily sexual if that makes sense).

I can imagine that Steve would be uncomfortable with this knowledge at first, knowing that Bruce is a product of attempted recreation. I think Steve in general is just very upset with what the serum's legacy has produced since he went in the ice and so having an outcome right in front of him, as a teammate, is something that can be hard to face. Up till then, the only "failed" subject for the serum he's encountered was the Red Skull and we all know how that turned out. Overall, I think Steve wants people to stop messing with things beyond their control especially when they're trying to weaponize it. That's why he's so pissed with the Tesseract situation in AV1. Despite this, Steve clearly doesn't hold it against Bruce. He also knows the truth about what happened in Harlem (as opposed to what the WSC said), else he wouldn't be open to working with him. Steve, if anything, would want to grow closer to him, maybe. Knowing how the whole world shuts him out at first glance because they're terrified of the Hulk would drive Steve to do the exact opposite.

Also, let's get into Bruce's morality. Anti-military, wanted to avoid all use of the Hulk if necessary - but he knows its going to be necessary at some point. And he probably dreads the day that Steve calls him up to the plate to unleash the Hulk in combat. Steve got Hulk's cooperation on day ONE. Hulk trusts Steve from the get go which is kind of insane! But Bruce knows that on any given day, Steve is going to choose the lives of citizens over Bruce's desire to never use the Hulk. He doesn't resent Steve for it (maybe a little, but not a hateful resentment) but he knows.

Just now realizing this far in that I'm talking about a version of Bruce that isn't really present in the MCU tbh. I mostly take my Bruce characterization from The Incredible Hulk and Avengers 1 and that's it 🥴. I feel like they didn't really know what to do with his character...or didn't want to fully explore his psyche properly. But that's a different topic.

Anyways, some of my all time favorite Bruce characterization comes from an ao3 author named lettered. They wrote "Let's Stop The Time Warp (Again)" and "The Hollow Men" which are both stellar if you want to read Bruce and Steve in such real ways.

Whew...re-reading this post....just as I thought, barely coherent but this won't be the only time I talk about these two - hopefully next time I'll have proper words to say! Thanks for giving me a chance to spew my Bruce/Steve thoughts out like this! ♡

[measuringbliss]

Comics Read-Through: Romeo (1)

So I immediately fell in love with Romeo's appearance in Astonishing Ice-Man #1 (2023) and decided I'd better check out his entire list of appearances, which thankfully is very small.

Spoiler alert: This post ends on a depressing note.

We're going to be jumping around a lot.

The first issue is a X-Men run, and coincidentally, I've been listening to Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men for the past few days. I've only listened to the first 9 episodes, but I think I won't be lost too much. I definitely recommend giving it a listen if you're curious about the X-Men comics!

All-New X-Men (2016) #13

I was actually surprised to see Bobby's sexuality at the forefront of this issue. He's gay and out now. He came out in April 2015's issue, so as you can guess from the title, not long before this one.

The art is very pretty, quite colorful and easy on the eyes. Very interestingly, Bobby says his idea of a gay culture is very outdated (and actually offensive according to the Internet). After all, he IS a younger version of him from the first issues, and not older current-day Iceman. Which is sad when you think about it, because any meaningful connexion Bobby might make in this time will be rendered useless when he comes back to his time, in the past.

Does that come from Top Gun? Hahaha, I should really finish that movie. I think I still have an hour left or something...

So Bobby finally lets himself go, and their hands touch... and Bobby cries and becomes Iceman right in the middle of the bar. He's ashamed and leaves and barges on... Romeo, naturally. They proceed to flirt, and are interrupted by a beautiful creature.

Really great art!

This is actually a friend of Romeo's, who calms him down, and then Romeo's fellow Inhumans arrive. Later, Romeo explains that he's an empath and can manipulate emotions. So this is basically Mantis. Okay! I'm into that, as a concept, because it can lead to great stories (see: Buffy S6). Bobby feels awkward about that, but...

I squeed. They're adorable!

That's how the issue ends, with the last sentence promising "Next: More Horror for Cyclops" which sounds like a sadistic fanfic writer. Hell yeah. But we won't be reading that, because...

2. Spider-Woman (2016) #10

Spider-Woman! We're reading other Spider-people comics before even meeting our first alternate one. Well, I guess technically we met Peter's clone? Maybe? I don't know much about Ben Reilly, but given we just finished (re)reading the first Clone Saga...

Oh, and did I say this issue is in the middle of Civil War II? Which is ridiculous because I've only read Civil War I.

No matter! The art style is pretty different, but I oddly like it.

Jess is on a mission to basically confirm Ulysses's visions, because she doesn't trust them. Romeo appears to take care of a new, old lady Inhuman who doesn't control her newfound powers very well. I have to mention that he's pretty ugly in this issue.

It ends with national news that Clint Barton (Hawkeye) just killed Bruce Banner (Hulk), and Jess is pretty pissed at her girlfriend, Captain Marvel (they're very lesbiany in this issue and Jess acknowledges it, I wonder if it went farther than this).

Let's shift back to...

3. All-New X-Men (2016) #17

Sooo... Bobby and Romeo are boyfriends, and the Inhumans and X-Men are at war with each other. Oops.

The issue begins with their 4th date, and Bobby slaps himself, thinking he should have kissed Romeo. And I'm like. What. exactly. have you been doing those past dates. if you haven't even kissed?!

But the concept of dates is very alien to me, we were actually talking about that with my boyfriend this week-end. I considered us boyfriend our very first date, where he had the option to go back home and chose to actually follow me home. I was like, "okay, we're boyfriends then" and we definitely kissed, I'll tell ya. But in *his* head, we only became boyfriends weeks later when I realized he was missing me while I was away. What a goof. I love him.

So 4 dates without even kissing? Gay kids? This is completely absurd but okay. Gotta milk that teenage angst.

The whole team meanwhile has been waiting in Bobby's room to tell him that, uh, things were going to get complicated for him and his boyfriend.

Then we get a flashback to their first date! They held hands, how wonderful.

And in the present, Bobby takes part in the attack on New Attilan (Romeo's home). Date #2 recollection! They play Laser Tag and Romeo argues those things are a relic of the past, but at least in my country, they're still very popular so what gives?

Date #3! They splashed in a Water Park!

Bobby finds Romeo in a safe room with non-combattants, which I find sad because I'm sure Romeo's skills have battle applications... but reassuring other people is probably important as well.

Well. I guess that's a way to make it important!

Together, they leave the place because love is more important than a silly battle with dubious motivations.

It's only reading the comments on a certain website that I understand that Romeo's called like that because... it's a Romeo and Juliet story. Duh.

4. All-New X-Men (2016) #19

I assume the issue in-between shows what happens aside from them. This is all definitely slower pacing than what I'm used to, not that I'm complaining.

I thought it would be a grand war final issue, but the blurb says the war has ended. Oh. Uh. Okay. You know what? Let's skim through #18.

It... doesn't help much, though. There's parallel series where the crux happens. Oh well. I sure wouldn't be satisfied if I was only reading one magazine. At least, if you're wondering, Bobby went back to help his team.

So, #19!

Who are you and what did you do to Romeo?!

So Hank sends the OG 5 to their past... but they discover that their originals never left. So the OG5 who were transported to the future will stay in the future (so, the present). Okay, that's a good conclusion!

Gee, I wonder what we're reading n--

5. Iceman (2017) #1

Tuuuuuurns out... This comic series features TWO Icemen: current Iceman, and displaced Iceman. Huh! I didn't see that coming.

We get a nice Romeo cameo, and Current!Bobby is called because his father is in the hospital. He didn't come out to his family, that sucks.

His family sucks, by the way, dear Lord.

Intriguing series, not sure I'll ever read it though.

So... that's it. Romeo pretty much doesn't appear anymore between 2017 and 2021.

So here I was, thinking it was intriguing, that story about the displaced X-Men. I had to find out what happened to Displaced!Bobby!

Turns out he does have a storyline with his companions in X-Men Blue and it's more or less... harrowing.

What's in red brackets is what happens in All-New X-Men (2016) #19. After that, it's X-Men Blue. Dear Lord. That's a nasty retcon.

So I assume that the next part of the Bobby/Romeo storyline is with Current!Bobby then. Oof. We'll see that in the next post!

[winvterstan]

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 || 𝐛.𝐛.

pairing: bucky barnes x F!reader

request: So, what if like at the end of endgame, Steve and Bucky talk about how Steve isn’t coming back like how he does in the movie but when Steve is supposed to return, Steve sends back Bucky’s first love which is the Reader and it’s super cute and fluffy and maybe there could be a flashback from back in the 40s of reader and Bucky in love and maybe when reader found out about Buckys death and stuff. - @livbarnesx

summary: When Steve is supposed to return after putting back the stones, there is someone else with him and a certain soldier couldn’t be happier.

A/n: I LOVED THIS REQUEST AND I LOVED WRITING IT. I know it took me FOREVER to write it but school and exams kept me really busy during this summer, BUT I'M FINALLY BACK BABY!! I promise I’ll start writing all the requests I recived. I hope you like it! <3 The parts in italics are flashbacks

Divider by @firefly-graphics

warnings: mention of death, crying, a bit angst(?), fluff, google translate lol

word count: 2.9k

Please don’t repost, copy or translate any of my works on other platforms. Likes, comments and reblog are really appreciated<3

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 || 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 || 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Bucky asked as he and Steve started to walk in the wood near Tony Stark’s house. Or what used to be Tony Stark's house.

"Yeah, I need to put all the stones back to their places. And, who knows, maybe I'll get to see her again" Steve he answered with a dreamy look.

Bucky knew he was referring to Peggy, his first great love, that he could finally hug again after all this time, which was one of the things that the former winter soldier couldn't do with his.

They reached the platform where it was all going to happen. Bruce, or the Hulk, he still didn't know what to call him, had moved everything he needed in the woods after the explosion occurred at the compound. With Bruce there was Sam who had come to assist his friend.

“I’m going to miss you, buddy.” Bucky said welcoming Steve in a big hug.

“Don’t do anything stupid until I get back”

“How can I? You are taking all the stupid with you“

Steve stepped onto the platform, took Mjollnir in one hand and the box containing the gems in the other. He took one last look at his friends and waited for the countdown to finish. After five seconds the suit closed and he disappeared.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sam asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"For him, as long as he needs. For us five seconds." Bruce answered trying to make his voice sound confident. He was worried, it was plausible, the fate of humanity depended on this mission. "Returning in 5...4...3...2...1"

Nothing happened.

"Where is he?" Sam was starting to panic.

"I don't know he should be here." Bruce began fiddling with the various computers that controlled the machine.

“Bring him back”

“I’m trying”

Meanwhile, Bucky still had his eyes on the car. He knew Steve's plan had worked. He was living his life with Peggy, as he deserved. He thought he deserved it too. He deserved a happy life with his great love. But he couldn't have it.

While he kept thinking he found himself facing the lake. He looked up and saw it. A much older version of Steve sat on a bench while he scanned the horizon. After a while Bucky noticed a second figure rising from the ground. He was confused but the second person seemed familiar to him. It was a girl. He could tell by her small body. Then she turned and Bucky's heart skipped a beat. He rubbed his eyes. She could only have been a hallucination. He thought he was going mad. When her eyes met hers the world stopped. Maybe he was still in his bed and he was dreaming. It had already happened. When he didn't have nightmares he always dreamed of her. He dreamed of the life they could have had together and all their memories.

"Bucky? Is that really you?" he woke from that trance when she called him. Unbeknownst to him, tears began to fall from his eyes, but before he could say anything he was interrupted by a very confused Sam, who was now facing the lake too,

"Who is that? What happened?" from his voice you could hear all his confusion.

"That's my girl" Bucky replied without stopping crying. The girl approached him and Bucky waited to wake up any second from this dream that seemed so real when he felt a slap on his cheek.

He put his hand on his affected cheek and looked confused at his girl - yes cause that was his girl, his great love - waiting for an explanation. When he saw that she began to sob he held her in a strong hug that was worth a thousand words. God how much he had missed her.

"Y-you promised you would come back, why d-did you leave me alone?" her words were muffled by his chest, but they were still understandable.

“Y/N love, look at me. Doll look at me. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to leave you alone. I missed you so much, my love." Bucky said between tears and dissolving her embrace he cupped her face and kissed her.

At that moment everything disappeared. All those years they hadn't spent together, all the tears shed. There was only them and their love.

A few hours later they were in Bucky's apartment lying on the bed, Y/N with her head on Bucky's chest, who had his arms around her waist,

"So let me get this straight." Bucky repeated to confirm that he understood the explanation just made by his girlfriend "Steve brought another suit with him, to give it to you since he had already planned to bring you back here to me?"

“Yes, James, this is the second time I've told you. He told me that he would’ve felt too guilty leaving you while he was living his life with Peggy and you were here alone with Sam, who from what I understand you don't get along very well with." she said with a little laugh as she thought back to the discussion these two had had a few hours earlier when Sam tried to hug Y/N, to welcome her and Bucky was on the defensive,

"Yeah uh well here we-" he tried to explain but was immediately interrupted by her voice.

"Buck, you don't have to explain to me, it's normal not to get along with everyone," she said, starting to draw circles on his chest with her finger.

"God doll, you don’t know how much I missed you." he said and then planted a kiss on her head.

"Do you remember the day we met?" she asked after a few minutes passed in silence in each other's arms.

"How could I forget it doll, I was saved by the love of my life"

When Bucky woke up the first thing he felt was pain. On the right hip, precisely. He tried to figure out what caused him and slowly flashes came back to him.

The mission with the Howling Commandos to another Hydra base. Steve ordering them to split up to outrun the enemy soldiers. A squadron surrounding him and Dugan. There were gunshots and then only darkness.

As soon as he opened his eyes he looked around and realized he was in a sort of nursery. He noticed the figure of a girl not far from the cot on which he was lying. She was standing near a table where she was setting up ampoules, probably containing medicines. He was behind her so he couldn't see her face, but he understood that it was a nurse wearing her uniform. Bucky tried to sit up but while he was doing it he emitted a small moan, caused by the pain at his side, which immediately caught the attention of the nurse who turned to help him.

"Sergeant Barnes you’re finally awake." she said in a soft voice, showing him a smile and Bucky looked up in her direction.

When he paused to look at her he was petrified by her beauty. Her long Y/H/C hair was styled with big curls, just like those of all girls for at least five years, and her Y/E/C shone thanks to the dim light that was in the room. And her full lips were highlighted with a layer of red lipstick.

"I am agent Y/N Y/L/N. Tell me, how are you sergeant?" she asked, awakening him from her trance.

"W-what happened?" he asked still slightly confused as to why he was there.

“Well, Sergeant Barnes, you should be the one telling me that. I just helped you not to die. What do you remember?" as she talked he walked over to the table where he had been before and took out a patient health form that he would have to fill out.

"We were on a mission a-and Steve... wait, Steve where is he? He is alright? I have to see him now!" He said and then tried to get up in an attempt to go find his friend but was stopped by Y/N who began to reassure him.

“Don't worry, Captain Rogers and all of your companions are fine. You were the only one seriously injured" she said and then helped him sit comfortably on the bed.

“Have you known each other for a long time? You and the captain, I mean” she asked curiously. She was very intrigued by Bucky and she had decided she wanted to get to know him better - formally, of course. Or at least that’s what she kept repeating herself.

"First of all, let's stop with these formalities, start calling me Bucky, doll." he said, tired of being addressed like a gentleman, and then resume "to answer your question, we've known each other since we were little and I saved his ass from fighting in the back streets of Brooklyn."

She let out a little laugh. An angelic sound in his ears. Maybe it had been too much time away from women, but he couldn't approach her like the girls he'd dated before the war. She was different. He was also slightly intimidated by her charge, it was quite rare to see a female agent, and knowing one fascinated him, a lot. He would certainly mention it in his next letter directed home, to his sister Rebecca who always wanted to serve the country as her brother and Steve did.

He woke up from his thoughts when he saw that Y/N was heading towards the exit. He didn't want to miss such an opportunity and above all with a girl like that. They were at war after all. He could have died overnight. Driven by a sudden surge of courage, he recalls her attention by calling by her name, causing her to turn in his direction.

"Yes, James? Is there any problem?" she asked slightly worried. Deep down, though, she knew she wasn't just worried as a simple nurse cares for her patient.

“No, absolutely doll. I just wanted to ask you if you knew when we can go back to town." Y/N could see the hope in his eyes as he spoke.

After thinking about it for a while, the girl spoke the words the soldier had longed for. "In a couple of days, I think, why?"

“I was wondering if, uh, if you'd like to go dancing? Together with me, I mean. But you probably already understood this. Well, you seem very intelligent and you are also beautiful. If you don't want to come I understand perfectly well, don't worry- " he asked stammering. He had never stammered. Especially in front of a girl. God the effect this girl had on him.

"Bucky!!" she yells, laughing at him, to stop him before he starts with a meaningless monologue “I'd love to come and dance with you. And thank you for the compliments,” she continued and before starting to blush.

"Really?! That is, ahem cool. See you on Saturday then doll." he tried, in vain, to cover his surprise and happiness, but she did not miss the smirk on his face.

“See you on the dance floor, soldier. And please don't be late.” she said before approaching his bed and then printing a kiss on his cheek, smudging it lightly with her red lipstick, and walking away towards the exit, giggling after having a last glance at Bucky finding him intent on touching his just kissed cheek with a surprised look on his face.

After they were lying down for a while, Bucky felt the fabric of his shirt get wet where Y/N was resting with his head.

"Doll, what happened? Why are you crying?" he asked, worried, sitting up with his back to the head of the bed, to be able to hold her in a hug.

"It's just that- I can't belive you're actually here with me after I thought you were d-dead." she began to speak while continuing to cry as Bucky stroked her cheeks to stop her tears. "It was so hard when Steve told me you were gone."

Y/N was disinfecting a soldier's wound when her attention was drawn to a group of soldiers who had gathered at the entrance to the division, giving the impression that they were waiting for someone. It was at that moment that she remembered that at any moment the Howling Comandos would have to return from their mission in the Alps.

Bucky's last mission. If it had been successful the Hydra would have been defeated and consequently, the war would have come at the gates, which meant that there would be no need for the Howling Commandos and Y/N could have asked General Phillips to resign as there would be much more nurse than necessary.

She tried to hurry to medicate the soldier, still trying to do a good job, and then run out of the crowd that had now formed. She was so excited. She would see his Bucky again after many months apart from each other.

She still remembered their last conversation before he left to destroy various Hydra bases.

"Please be safe, don't do anything stupid, and always listen to Steve." she said with a few tears in her eyes, that were ready to fall on her rosed cheeks.

"You have no faith in me, doll." he said chuckling, bringing her closer to him by the hips.

"I'm sorry, I trust you really, just promise me you'll come back." she responded di lei tightening her arms around his neck di lei.

"I promise, doll. I'll come back to you. After all this we will retire, we're going to live in a beautiful house in the suburbs, we'll get married during summer in a small church and then we'll have a bunch of kids running around." he promised before gently kissing her lips.

That night a bunch of I love you and promises were whispered and a lot of kisses were shared.

As soon as she got out of the tent, Y/N stopped in front of the big crowd, noticing that many soldiers and some nurses turned to look at her with a dark look. Their relationship became common knowledge across the field very quickly when a group of soldiers caught them kissing while dancing on their first date. People were moving to make room for the soldiers to pass, and in no time she found herself face to face with Steve.

Her eyes wandered in search of Bucky, not finding him next to the captain, as usual for her.

"Y/N" Steve spoke her name in a voice so low that she had barely heard it.

"Steve, where is Bucky?" she asked not finding her boyfriend nearby with her eyes.

"Y/N come with me." he told her, and then took her gently by her arm, without giving her time to protest.

They arrived at one of the offices when Y/N spoke again, feeling her anxiety rise along with tears.

"Steve please tell me where Bucky is. He's coming, right? Is he okay?" unknowingly she began to cry while she talked.

"We were in the Alps, we got on the train to catch Zola when some kind of robot attacked us. He opened a hole in the train, B-Bucky tried to grab onto one of the railings but...the train was going too fast, he couldn't take my hand. He told me to-" Steve started crying too before being interrupted by a sobbing Y / N.

"Please Steve, I don't want to know what he told you to tell me. I don't want to know that he asked you to tell me that he loves me, or that I have to move on. Not when he can never tell me again. I can never go on, not without him. He promised me. He promised..."

Y/N was now drained by tears and she couldn't stop sobbing and thinking about Bucky and his promise. Home, marriage, children. Now they couldn't have any of that. Because he was gone.

"This is just a bad dream Y/N, wake up. You just have to wake up and you'll be in your bed with Bucky next to you, ready to hold you." Y/N repeated before her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Fortunately Steve, with his vision still clouded by her tears, managed to take her in her arms before she fell to the floor.

"It's okay Y/N, don't worry. Everything will be alright. We'll be alright." Steve tried to reassure her.

But she knew she wasn't alright. Not when Bucky wasn't going to be here with her comforting her. Not when he was gone.

And they stayed like this, for who knows how many hours, in each other's arms, crying and hugging each other, thinking that the most important person in their lives was gone and there was nothing they could do about it.

After hearing the story of how his girlfriend and best friend reacted to his "death", Bucky cupped Y/N's cheeks and then shed all her tears with his thumbs.

"Y/N, love look at me." he said in a low, sweet voice, then continued talking. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But, now I want to keep all the promises I made to you. We will buy that house in the suburbs, we will get married and we will have wonderful babies, just like you. I love you so much, doll."

"I love you too, my soldier." she told him showing him a small smile.

He slowly leaned in, before kissing her softly. Y/N couldn't believe it, after all this time they were together again.

"I promised I would come back to you."

---

Bucky Barnes taglist: @buendiabebeta @justreadingficsdontmindme @leyannrae @unedibledaisyduck

[lenissa]

You always meet twice (Wanda Maximoff x Romanoff!Reader)

(not my GIF)

Masterlist

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader, Pietro Maximoff x Reader (Past), Natasha Romanoff x Reader (Siblings)

Warnings: cursing, i think that‘s it?

Summary: When your sister Natasha asked you to be her representative at the Avengers, you immediately agreed. But then you meet Wanda Maximoff again and it seems like your shared past comes up as well as the then developed feelings.

Word Count: 3.1K

In bold are flashbacks.

A/N: This story is based on my POV i started some months ago, but the plot varies most of the time. Keep in mind that this is my first story and please be nice hahaha

Good reading!

——————————————————————————

You are walking through the halls of the Avenger‘s compound. Although your sister always talks about them, “her new family“, you have never met them before. At least not all of them. Some agents throw judgy glances at you, but you decide to ignore them - you are (Y/N) Romanoff, you’re not in need of being popular, being friendly, you’re a damn skilled agent, always ready to kick asses. That’s also why it didn‘t bother you when Natasha, your older sister, called and asked you for a favour - rather, you have always been curious what it is like to be an Avenger, so you didn‘t even think twice about accepting her offer of being her stand-in for some months.

Are you confident? Yes. Well... you try to be? Maybe- no definitely: it became a coping mechanism. But nobody could blame you… being Natasha Romanoff‘s sister sucks. Don‘t get it wrong, you love your sister with your whole heart, she is your one and only, your tower of strength. But constantly being overshadowed by her? Once people hear about your famous relative you were only seen as her sister, your own persona and personality weren‘t interesting anymore. As a result, you were working for S.H.I.E.L.D in an outpost in Europe, distant enough to start your own life, own career and only hearing about one Romanoff, (Y/N) Romanoff.

You stand before the door of the meeting room, aware of as soon as you go in there, there‘ll be no going back. Surprisingly calm you take one final breath before you knock and get invited in. There they are. The Avengers. Some of them you already know: Clint aka Hawkeye, your sister‘s best friend, Steve aka Captain America, your sister‘s ex-lover, Tony Stark aka Iron Man, sarcasm in person, and… the Maximoff Twins? Seeing them, seeing her, it literally took your breath away. You freeze, not able to breathe, to react nor to say anything.

„(Y/N),my god, have you grown?!“, Clint breaks the silence while coming near to hug you. In his arms you finally release the breath you unconsciously were holding in, and when you pull back you take a closer look at him.

„You‘re becoming grey, Legolas, are the kids that bad?“, you tease, matching his tone and patting his arm lightly.

„Oh dear, it just makes me nervous to see you again“, he jokes as he motions you to sit down.

„Speaking about that, it‘s nice to see you again, (Y/N).“ Steve nods at you and you force a smile - you think Steve is a nice guy, you really do, but you don‘t know the exact circumstances of his break-up with Nat, so you decide to keep distance in a friendly manner.

The remaining time of the meeting nothing special happens, though every time you look around the table you can‘t help but rest your eyes on a certain brunette. And it seems like she notices your gaze, meeting your eyes on and off. You try to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that sets in your stomach whenever her green eyes meet yours, and obviously you are not able to hold the eye contact, so you always look at the floor quickly.

After the meeting the heroes all pop off, only you stay to put away the new equipment and gear you got. But then suddenly a well-known voice speaks up and you startle.

„Already forgot me, (Y/N)?“ You turn around, your heart racing.

„How could I forget the Wanda Maximoff?“, you nervously chuckle.

„I must say I‘m disappointed, I at least expected a greeting.“

„Wanda I-„

„(Y/N)! How long has it been? I…“, Pietro speeds in the room and rubs his neck tense, „I missed you.“

Wanda wheezes and rolls her eyes. „I‘m gonna leave you lovebirds alone“. She walks out of the room before you can say anything more.

„Well that was… weird.“ you say as you turn completely to Pietro.

„She‘s going through a hard time, she will be gentler soon.“

„You think so?“, you laugh, „define soon.“

Pietro chuckles and doesn‘t answer, not even he sees through Wanda‘s feelings, especially when it‘s about you. „Come on, I will introduce you to the others.“

——————————————————————————

Pietro took you to the living room and you have to say, you never thought the Avengers, the world‘s mightiest heroes, would be so endearing. You can finally understand why Nat sees them as her family, even after only spending some hours with them you start to let them in your heart immediately. Until Bucky decided to bring up a sensitive topic.

„From where do you know the twins, (Y/N)?“

You choke on the soda you are drinking, completely caught off-guard with that question. But after clearing your throat your coping mechanism once again appears. „They didn‘t tell you, huh? Well, we had a past.“, you chuckle.

Tony rolls his eyes, annoyed by the childish behaviour, but it makes you smile even bigger. Pietro blushes at the sudden mention of him and tries to distract. „(Y/n), why don‘t you tell them about your powers?“.

„Ok, ok… I'm pretty good at Teleportation, mind manipulation and shape shifting objects.“

Bruce, who you learnt was the human version of the Hulk, was stunned. „Wow, that sounds like a nice substitute for Natasha.“ You smile at him appreciating.

„So Romanoff, since the only other mind stuffy person in this house seems to be pissed, you’ll start training with Rogers.“ Tony announced bugged.

„Can‘t wait.“ You and Steve get up to go to the gym and the rest starts talking about their new member.

„She seems like a faithful person. A true Romanoff.“, Bucky states.

„Ironically, she‘s really good at betrayal and hurting people.“, Wanda says snippy as she walks in to get a snack.

Pietro sighs, „Wanda, what the hell?“

„She‘s not as perfect as you think, Romeo.“

Tony claps to get their attention, „Concentration, guys! You better clear up, Wanda, I just got Information from Fury, you and y/n will be a team in tomorrow‘s mission.“ Wanda rolls her eyes in annoyance, but she knows that it‘s unnecessary to protest.

——————————————————————————

During training, all you thought of was Wanda. Then you tried to read, sleep, watch tv, but nothing could distract you from thinking about the Sokovian. It felt like all the feelings you tried to suppress this past year flood you now at the same time. You barely perceived that you got up, your feet carrying you to the kitchen. Standing in front of the kitchen door you finally wake up from your trance. Your hands are sweaty and shaky, your heart pounding. “What the hell am I doing here?“ You think and just before you turn around the door opens, hitting your shoulder lightly.

„Oh my god, I didn't see you, are you ok?“

„Don‘t worry, I‘m fine. I- I was about to leave anyway.“ 

„But you haven’t even been in there yet, (Y/N).“ The way she says your name releases a cluster of butterflies in your stomach, green eyes watching you amused. „I‘m sorry.“

„Really, it‘s fine. Wanda, list-“

„Don‘t, (Y/N). We don‘t have to do this.“, Wanda sighs.

You take a deep breath and continue, „No, I have to. I am sorry. For everything. I-...I miss you.“

„(Y/N), please, sto-“, she says almost whispering.

„As a friend. I miss my best friend.“

You notice slightly tears forming in her eyes. „You did this to me-“

„(Y/n)! We need you to show us your powers!“ Bucky shouts excitedly as he approaches you both.

„Bucky, now is really not the time to-“

„We need it. For the plan. You know, tomorrow‘s mission?“

You clench your fists and sigh, you know the private moment you just had was ruined. With one apologetic look to Wanda you follow Bucky to the meeting room.

This job will be your end.

——————————————————————————

You weren‘t wrong about this job being your end. Well at least the circumstances. Last night’s events were just... crazy.

After showing the team your powers you went straight to bed, exhausted from all the physical training and psychological stress. When you heard the knocking on the door, you‘re surprised to see Pietro standing there after opening it.

„(Y/N), I think we should talk.“

„Pietro, i-...“, you sigh, „today‘s really not my day. Can we wait until tomorrow?“

„I can‘t wait. Please. I need to get this out.“

„Oookay, go on then, i guess.“, you say, kinda annoyed by the pushiness of the Sokovian.

„I‘m glad that you are here and ok.“

„So am I...“ you laugh humorlessly, „it certainly feels nice to know someone here that doesn‘t completely hate me“ Pietro looks you in the eyes and slowly comes closer. Your breath hitches and you gulp hard when he takes your hand.

„Pietro, what are you doi-“ Before you can finish the sentence, lips are pressed on yours. You are shocked by the action, and you hesitate to kiss back. Yet you can’t resist the familiar feeling of his lips caressing your own, so you kiss back.

„(Y/N), we need to...“, Wanda says approaching your floor but when she sees you both, she immediately freezes„...talk.“

The second you hear her talking you pull back and step away from Pietro. The brunette looks at you incredulously and then walks away.

„Wanda. Wanda!“ you shout while running after her. „Wanda, would you please stop eloping!“ She stops and turns around, eyes burning red. She‘s furious, dangerous, not in control of herself.

„Wanda, use your words. Calm do-“

——————————————————————————

She did not calm down. In fact, she threw you against the closest wall. Even though you don’t have any serious injuries, you are mad. If you were trying to find the courage to talk to her, she could use her words too, right? The morning was quiet, too quiet if you are honest. Each time the door to the gym opened you startled, expecting to get yelled at. But it never happened. Once the twins walked in, they ignored you. Both of them, though Pietro occasionally glanced confused at you. After debating whether you should talk to her or not, you decided to walk up to her and confront her. „What the hell was that yesterday, Wanda?!“

She just huffs and continues to hit the punching bag, but you are determined to talk about it before going on a mission with her, you couldn‘t risk being distracted.

„You‘re acting like a bitch, I don‘t even recognize you anymore“, you say incredulously.

She aggressively turns around. „I am the bitch? You‘re the one that throws herself at anyone, not being here for even a whole day!“

„He“, you point at Pietro, „ he fucking kissed me! I never wanted it to happen. He caught me off-guard!“

„Oh and of course you couldn‘t defend yourself, poor (Y/N).“ Wanda ironically retorts, pushing you against your shoulder.

„Guys-“

„You literally came in one second after he kissed me-“

„GUYS!“ Pietro shouts and both of you turn to him, not noticing that he’s still in the same room. „What the hell is going on with you two?“

„You know what? What the hell Pietro, too! You can‘t just kiss me after not seeing me for a year! What if I don‘t like you anymore?“

„You don‘t like me anymore?“

„You don‘t like him anymore?“

You sigh. „Yes. No. I mean…. I don't like you anymore like that. I- I like you as a friend, Pietro. After you flew from Hydra-“

„-alone-“, Wanda interjects.

„After you flew from Hydra alone, it broke my heart! You freaking left us there!“

Wanda scowls. „And then you did the same to me some time later.“

„Wanda I-... You think it was easy for me to just leave you behind? Fuck, Wanda, do you really think that low of me? When Nat rescued me I tried to convince her to take you with us but she… we… you...“

„Say it, (Y/N). I was the enemy. You were the poor agent, kidnapped by Hydra and experimented on and I was the maniac that volunteered for a dangerous organization.“

„I tried to come back and get you!“

„Don't lie to me, (Y/N).“

„Oh my god“, you huff, „believe me for once!“

„Why should i?!“

„Because I love you!“

O oh.

You both tense, green eyes filled with rage, jealousy, confusion, probably every emotion there is, staring wide at you. You all stand there in silence, all shocked by your outburst, and the only thing that can be heard is your shaky breathing. „Shit. I- I need to go“, you mumble as you storm out of the room embarrassed.

——————————————————————————

This was not going well. Your relationship with Wanda was already complicated enough and your dumb, unplanned love confession didn’t really help. However, you needed to suck it up, ignore all the overthinking in your mind. You are here for a reason. A job. Not a witch.

You are here for the missions. For Nat.

That’s what you tell yourself all the time. But your brain and your heart don‘t really agree, especially while being on a mission with Wanda. You have never been more thankful for your powers that were blocking her out from reading your mind, you were sure your thoughts were literally screaming at her. And gee, you know her too well, she was trying to read your mind - Wanda always has that certain concentrated cute gaze and slight wrinkles between her eyebrows when she does it. Studying her so precisely was a mistake, it made the whole thing even more uncomfortable.

She didn’t react to what you said earlier (not that you gave her that much chance), she acted like you never said anything important like that. But when she caught you staring at her she raised her eyebrows challengingly and broke the silence.

“Are you nervous?”

“Hmm? Oh well, no. I- I guess we had more difficult missions.”, you give her a shy smile and start playing with your fingers nervously.

“Sure.. That’s why you’re currently doing one of your habits when you’re nervous.`` Wanda teases.

You blushed, your cheeks turning faint red. “Let’s just do this'', you say, stepping out of the jet and putting in the comm - earpiece.

Your task wasn’t hard. Go in, kill the enemies, destroy the data, walk out. It was going well until you saw Wanda getting attacked from behind. But before the agent could point his gun at her and hurt her you shut your eyes close and focused on turning his gun into a flower.

“Romantic!”

“You’re welcome”, you playfully roll your eyes. You curse yourself for having no other - less with love connected - idea to use. You scream just before a grenade goes up next to you, throwing you through a glass door. You can’t use your teleportation in time and the impact is pretty hard, causing you to pass out.

Wanda turns after hearing your scream. “Shit, shit, shit Romanoff!”, she activates her comms, “Guys, pick us up, (Y/N) is down!” She stands protectively next to your unconscious body, defending you from getting attacked or worse.

— — —

You wake up in the medical wing of the Avengers. The first thing you notice is that you’re still wearing your suit, so the injury couldn‘t be that bad. At least you thought. Only seconds later you feel the banging in your head, ringing sounds in your ears. You bury your face in the pillow, frustrated of being new and your first mission already gone wrong. You could hear them teasing you for being the “weaker” Romanoff and start rethinking the choice to even get on this team.

And then Wanda walks in and all thoughts are gone. No more noises, no hammering - all senses preoccupied with her. She seems tired, still wearing her suit as well, and exhausted.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” You look at her curious. “You look tired.”

She chuckles lightly. “You pass out and the first thing you comment is how I look? Wow.”

“What can I say, you really make me concentrate on other things than my condition.” She looks confused at your statement, though an amused smile on her lips. “Because you’re a known face- family- and that reminds me of my sister and gives me comfort.”, you stutter complete nonsense.

Did i really just say that?!

You wished she wasn’t standing there, then you would have been able to facepalm yourself as hard as you could.

“Oh, eh, sure. I’m tired, you were right. You were unconscious the whole night. I stayed, I thought it would be nice for you to not wake up alone.” She tries to overplay your weird comment.

“The whole night? Holy shit. I was unconscious for that long i-”, you feel your whole body tingling as you just now realize her purpose, “that’s very nice of you. Thank you.”

“No, no (Y/N). I owed you that. You saved me...thank you.”

“Wanda Maximoff, you do have manners after all.“ She playfully rolls her eyes on your comment and glances at the floor in embarrassment. „You’re welcome. You would have done the same - I hope?”

She giggles and you can’t help but smile like an idiot at that adorable sound. Then you just stare at each other, both too shy to break the comfortable silence. But then Wanda speaks up again.

“You know I’m-”, she starts fidgeting with her rings, “I’m sorry. For being such a bitch. I.. appreciate what you said… earlier. I guess I was just hurt and frustrated.“

“I know Wanda. Don’t be sorry. You have every right to be mad. It was wrong to expect that we could pretend like nothing happened back there in Sokovia.”

After a short silence Wanda asks, almost in a whisper: “Do- do you regret it?”

“What?! No! Loving you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. As a friend. But also more.”, you shake your head as if to underline your sentence and the last part of the sentence coming out almost inaudible, but she still hears it.

Wanda says nothing, she just nodds. But then she slowly moves her hand to your own and takes it. Ignoring the butterflies spreading all over your body, you squeeze her hand, happy you both stopped fighting. You shuffle to the edge of the sickbed and pat to the free place next to you. The Sokovian hesitantly moves next to you, but as soon as she feels your warm body next to her, she gives in and relaxes. You both lie there, just enjoying each other’s presence, until Wanda’s eyes start to get heavier and heavier and she eventually drives off to sleep. And seeing her, the girl you love, in this peaceful state relaxes you as well and you can’t fight falling asleep with the calming sound of her steady breathing next to you.

——————————————————————————

Part 2

[homosexuality-at-its-finest]

yooo sending in a request for a bruce banner x male reader fic where reader basically has telekinesis and it's powerful enough to hold back hulk and he's just gotten these powers but he's known bruce for awhile so he goes to him freaking out but bruce helps him control his powers and uh maybe after one night of intense, tiring training the two are lying on the floor of the training room lol and bruce just asks him out ;)

Plot: Requested

Pairing: Bruce Banner x Male Reader

Y/n: Your name

L/n: Last name

E/c: Eye color

N/n: Nickname

H/c: Hair color

Warnings: Cussing, angst with fluffy ending, crying

Word count:1028

Y/n L/n and Bruce Banner went far back, having met in freshman year of college. Both of them were geniuses who were trying to make the world a better place. Bruce’s specialty was in biology while Y/n’s was in medical chemistry.

During college the two were two peas in a pod, always attached at the hip, bouncing ideas off each other. The two obviously were in love with one another, but each was oblivious to the other’s affections.

After college they went their separate ways but kept in touch. They regularly met up, always texting and wanting to be around each other, they were best friends to put it simply. After Bruce’s accident he stopped contacting his best friend, breaking the other man’s heart into pieces.

They didn’t talk for four years, not until the Avengers Intuitive was created and Bruce was no longer as scared of himself. The day after the Battle of New York he contacted his long-lost best friend, feeling heart wrenching guilt as he heard the other man sobbing.

It took quite some time but eventually Bruce had earned Y/n’s trust once more, and they had the same relationship once more, but this time with more ‘sexual tension’ as Tony had oh so gracefully said.

Bruce was happy to have his best friend back, he felt complete again. Y/n would come over regularly to work in the lab together, keeping Bruce up to date about what projects he was working on. (That weren’t confidential.)

The blissfulness he was living in was shattered on a late evening in early December when JARVIS alerted him to a distressed Y/n arriving at the tower. Immediately the doctor’s mind was on overdrive, wondering what was wrong and what he could do to fix it.

Bruce met Y/n at the elevator, the usually confident man hunched over himself, quivering and twitching ever so slightly. Bruce reached out to touch him but was pushed back by an invisible force.

Y/n looked up at him, his beautiful E/c eyes red and glossy with tears, stealing Bruce’s breath away. “Bruce, I don’t know what’s happening to me.” The man choked out, arms wrapping protectively around his stomach. “I’m scared.” With those heartbreaking words came a sob, and then another.

Bruce forced himself up, pushing past whatever invisible barrier there was, wrapping his arms around the other man. He tucked Y/n’s head against his shoulder, gently shushing and soothing him as he rubbed his back with his free hand.

Admittedly Bruce was slightly terrified, he had no idea what was going on, and had a feeling that invisible force earlier was Y/n.

“N/n, start from the beginning. What’s going on?” Bruce questioned, fingers never stopping their soothing motions.

The quivering man began his explanation of the new experiment they were beginning at his work. Even he wasn’t high enough to know exactly what they were making, but all he knew was the government was involved and whatever they had been making had exploded and he had been covered in it. The pain had been excruciating and he’d passed out, once he’d woken up the lab was completely trashed, and he was in the middle of it.

He kept hearing voices, people’s thoughts he assumed, and was able to move things without touching them. The scientist was terrified and it broke Bruce’s heart to bits. He’d do anything to help, he knew the exact situation Y/n was in.

After the explanation Y/n seemed to calm down, sagging against Bruce with a small huff. “Can I stay with you?” His voice was still so heartbreakingly small, and Bruce would give up the world to see him smile again.

“Of course, N/n, cmon.” Bruce kept a hand on his lower back, leading the other man to his room and grabbed some clothes for him to sleep in. Y/n changed on instinct, before crashing on Bruce’s bed, passing out almost immediately.

That had been two months ago, and since then the two had been experimenting and practicing with Y/n’s powers. It seemed the other man had control of them unless he became too emotional, then it was harder to do so.

The E/c eyed scientists’ powers consisted of mind reading and telekinesis, both of which proved to be a bit of a pain in the ass at times, but he took it all in stride and worked his ass off to control them.

It was another night of grueling training, the two laying on the mat in the training room, Y/n panting heavily, his eyes closed but a proud smile on his lips. He’d been able to hold back the Hulk Buster suit, which meant he could do so with the Hulk as well.

Pride and love swelled together in Bruce’s chest as he watched the other man, eyes full of admiration as he scanned over his features. He took a moment to think, before finally speaking up.

“N/n.” He nudged the other male, gaining his attention, E/c eyes turning to look at him. “Do you wanna go on a date?” He questioned, surprised that his voice held so even as he asked the question after 20 years of being in love with this man.

Y/n let out an almost hysterical laugh, rolling on his side to face Bruce. “Jesus Christ, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask that.”

Bruce’s cheeks burned bright red at the other man’s words, fingers running through his damp curls. “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for 20 years.” The older man admitted, looking at the H/c haired man from under his eyelashes.

Y/n let out another laugh, bringing a hand up to cup the side of Bruce’s neck, thumb brushing over his pulse. “Took you long enough.” He teased, leaning forward to brush their noses together.

Bruce smiled boyishly, cheeks warm with embarrassment, eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of Y/n’s hand against his neck. 20 years was well worth the wait.

[imagine-loki]

My Sweet Rose, Chapter 3 (Final Chapter)

TITLE: My Sweet Rose CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 3 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you are secretly a little but no one knows, one day you decide to check out a local BDSM club to try and get a feel of the community. You meet a handsome stranger that, over the next few months, shows you all about the lifestyle. However, one day… he vanishes without a word. 

RATING: M

It took Loki a few days before he was able to get a chance to speak to Rosie again. She kept running from him whenever she saw him, not giving him a chance at all.

In the end, he got fed up of her running from him. So he teleported into her room when he knew she was there, to sort it out.

She looked a bit fearful when he suddenly appeared in her room.

Loki put his hands out to the side. ‘Please, Rose… Rosie. I just want to talk, that’s all.’ He said softly.

Rosie slipped off her bed and moved to the side, a little further away from him.

‘I want, no, I need you to know that I never meant to hurt you. Truly. And you were not just a play toy, I give you my word. You meant, and still do mean, the world to me. It broke my heart every single day that I didn’t return to you.’ Loki said honestly.

Rosie wrapped her arms around herself, she couldn’t look at Loki properly. So kept her eyes on the floor on front of him while she listened.

‘I thought it would be for the best, not coming back to you.’

‘Why… Why didn’t you come back or tell me?’ Rosie asked, being brave and raising her eyes up to look into his for a moment, tears in her eyes again. But she was a little confused to see his eyes looked a little bit teary too.

Perhaps he really wasn’t lying.

‘I found out on that trip back to Asgard that I am… that I am a frost giant, a monster. I was told I was adopted, that I had no idea about previously. I suddenly felt myself spiralling out of control, there was no way I was going to put you in danger. I thought it was best, safest for you that I didn’t return… I see now that it was a mistake, that I should have spoken to you about the situation. Told you who I was. I thought I was doing the right thing by you, Rosie. I truly thought I was.’

Rosie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

‘Why… Why should I believe you? I was… I was in love with you, I trusted you. And you broke that.’ Her lower lip was quivering as she spoke.

Loki nodded and looked down. ‘I am truly sorry. It is breaking me to see you so upset, knowing what I did to you. I never meant to…’ He turned to the door, to leave her alone. ‘I want you to know, there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of you… Rose.’ He said softly before leaving.

Rosie felt her heart breaking all over again.

-

Later that day, Rosie bumped into Thor on her way to the lab.

‘Rosie… If I may have a word, I only need a minute of your time.’ He said politely.

She nodded and stopped in her tracks to see what he wanted to say. Thor could see how upset she was, it was evident on her face that she had barely slept since Loki appeared at the tower.

‘Loki spoke about you so fondly, he was madly in love with you… He still does love you. He never stopped. He really did think he was saving you, from himself. He went down a dark path, one that I didn’t think we could pull him from.’ Thor said regretfully.

Rosie shifted nervously on her feet.

‘He isn’t lying to you now, I promise you that. He is beating himself up about it, knowing what pain and harm he caused you for not just speaking to you. He thought it was best to stay away, but he realises now how wrong that was.’

She looked down with a sigh, she knew Thor wouldn’t lie. It wasn’t in his nature. But realising that Loki was telling the truth, she wasn’t really sure what to make of that information.

Thor let her carry on to the lab to do her work, she didn’t bump into Loki at all that day. Which she was rather glad of, because it gave her time to think.

The following day, she went to the kitchen in the morning to find Loki.

His face lit up a little when she approached him, actually seeking him out.

‘I… I believe you. I believe that you thought you were doing what you thought was best for me… Like you always did, you always looked out for me and did what was best. But you did get it wrong this time.’ She looked down and she nervously fiddled with her hands. ‘I don’t know if I will be able to forgive you for it, but I don’t… I don’t hate you. I never could. I understand why, though it doesn’t make it any less hurtful.’

Loki nodded and he wanted nothing more than to grab her hands in his, but he refrained from touching her. Knowing it probably wasn’t the best thing to do.

‘Thank you, Rose. That’s all I can ask for, I know. Though I do hope we can maybe be friends, in time? But I don’t want you to be uncomfortable here, it’s your home and work. I can leave, if that’s what you would prefer.’ Loki offered, surprising her slightly.

‘No… No, it’s ok… I did think I would need to leave, but I… I think it will be ok.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll see you around… Loki.’ She gave him a very small smile, which made Loki smile a bit too.

It was a step in the right direction.

-

Over the following weeks, Rosie felt a bit better about everything. Herself included. Learning that a God had truly been in love with her was quite the confidence boost, even if it had gone wrong in the end. She understood now though.

She was still a bit nervous and anxious around him, but she wasn’t sure why really. Though their interactions were brief at first. Just hello’s or good morning’s. Then Loki started making her hot chocolate in the mornings, just the way she used to like it. With a marshmallow on top.

‘Thanks.’ She said shyly when he handed her a mug in the morning with a smile.

‘You’re welcome, darling.’ He smiled at her brightly.

He was glad to see she was looking better too, not tired or as scared of him. Though he could tell she was tired in another way, tired of being an adult and looking after herself. He had seen it before, when she was busy with work and hadn’t been able to go into little space for a while…

He wished he could allow her that relief, to go into little space with him. But he knew that would likely never happen again. Which broke his heart.

Over time, he couldn’t help himself from getting a bit protective over her. Old habits appearing.

She was cooking dinner one night, had offered to for everyone. She was using a sharp knife to cut up some vegetables when Loki walked in and saw her.

‘Let me do that for you.’ He said swiftly and rushed over to take the knife from her before she could argue. She tried to ignore the tingling she felt when his fingers had brushed against hers.

Another time, it was almost midnight and Loki had gone to get a snack from the kitchen when he spotted a light on in one of the offices. Popping his head round the door, he saw Rosie was still up doing some work.

He walked in and with a firm voice started telling her off. ‘You should be in bed, it’s way past your…’ He trailed off, eyes widening as he realised he had no right to be telling her what to do.  

She looked surprised and a little sheepish. Part of her wanted him to finish, to put her to bed. But she tried to push that feeling way down.

‘Sorry…’ Loki shook his head and rushed out of the room quickly.

-

One afternoon, there was a mad rush in the tower when Bruce had turned into the Hulk by accident, causing destruction and chaos as everyone ran around screaming trying to get out of the way, while Natasha tried to calm him down.

Rosie had gotten caught up with some SHIELD officers charging past her, knocking her to the floor.

‘ROSE!’ Loki shouted and rushed over to her, he had been looking for her during the panic to make sure she was safe. Seeing her being knocked to the floor panicked him.

‘I’m ok.’ She said as she sat up. But before she could get herself up, Loki had already put his arms around her and lifted her up to her feet.

‘You’re bleeding.’ He commented as he picked up her hand, she had a cut on the side of her wrist.

‘It’s just a scratch, it’s ok.’ She said quietly.

Loki put his arm around her waist and led her into the nearest room, away from the hustle and bustle. He sat her down on a chair and knelt on front of her, inspecting her wrist.

‘Honestly, it’s fine. Just a scratch.’ She said again, trying to pull her hand away, but Loki wouldn’t let her.

He conjured up a plaster and some soothing cream. Her heart started beating a little faster when he applied the cream gently and then put the plaster on.

‘Any other injuries? Are you sore anywhere else, that was quite a fall?’ He asked, concern etched all over his face as he inspected her arms and hands closely, then looked into her eyes.

‘I’m… I’m fine… Thank you… Loki.’ She stammered out, her skittish eyes never quite landing on his.

Once he was sure she was ok, he let her go and walked her back to her room safely. She was shaking when she got inside, not because of Hulk or being knocked over, but because of how close she felt to falling into little space with Loki.

There was the deep longing within her, just wanting him to look after her again, like he used to. His natural Daddy instincts was bursting out, though she could tell he was trying to contain it.

Though she was terrified of being left again.

-

That night, Loki was sitting up in bed reading. It was getting late, but he just couldn’t sleep. He was really antsy because there was thunder and lightning outside, he knew how scared Rosie was of thunderstorms. And this was a particularly bad one.

He wanted nothing more than to go to her room and comfort her, or just make sure she was ok. But he knew he had no right to do that anymore.

Though he was confused when there was a timid knock on his door.

Slipping out of bed, he had some leather trousers materialise onto him as he crossed the room, so he wasn’t answering naked. When he opened the door, his heart utterly collapsed at the sight.

It was Rosie. Rose. His sweet Rose. She was wearing cute kitten pyjamas that he had gifted her before, and she was clutching a stuffed toy dog to her chest tightly. She looked scared, and he knew instantly that she was in little space. Her eyes were watery, she had been crying.

‘I… I’m… scared…’ She said shakily.

Loki had barely opened his arms to her when she rushed forward into him. He put his arms around her and held her tightly to his body, then he lifted her up and squeezed her even harder as he pressed his face into her hair, breathing in deeply.

She wrapped her legs around him and hid her face into the crook of his neck. She was trembling a bit, but it was slowly easing as he carried her over to his bed.

‘It’s ok, my little one. You’re safe with me, I promise.’ He said softly and got into bed, curling her up on his lap safely.

She kept hugging into him, jumping whenever there was a rumble of thunder.

‘Shhh, shhh. It’s ok, my sweet Rose.’ He hummed gently and slid his hand under her top to stroke her back soothingly, making her melt and feel safe.

‘You’re safe with Daddy. And I promise, I am never going to let you down again.’

[aimmyarrowshigh]

Hi, Aim! 😊 I'm not sure if you've seen the finale of She-Hulk yet, but I'd love to ask about your thoughts and feelings about it if you have, because, man, do I have mixed feelings about it and I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

Ooh... wow. Marvel literally admitted that they have no idea how to write women's stories, didn't they. Like, "we SO don't know how to write women's stories that we're going to do a weird meta thing about not knowing how to write women's stories and hope that you think it's charming." Like, "we're going to get out of having to write an actual finale because we always flub those AND we're going to get out of writing a woman's story" in one fell swoop. Whoo. Wow. That was a choice.

Also the meta level of the MCU existing within a universe where the characters are real casts like, Hydra, in a REALLY weird space. And like, Steve. Like, are we supposed to go back and rewatch all of the MCU movies through a lens of them being reality shows that the characters know they're being filmed for but have no control over their actions within?? Is Tony dying in Endgame the equivalent of an in-universe snuff film?? Did a film crew sit there and watch Bucky get tortured and young Natasha and Yelena get human trafficked and do nothing?? THIS IS A WEIRD MOVE, MARVEL. IT'S A WEIRD MOVE THAT WAS NOT THOUGHT OUT.

(Also isn't the blood LITERALLY supersoldier serum, Jen? Like that's what Bruce was trying to make when he Hulked?? It's all supersoldier serum. Green Goblin, Hulk, Abomination, it's all supersoldier serum. It's the literal lifeblood of the Marvel Universe. That's why supersoldier serum stories keep showing up??)

I liked Jen/Matt at the cookout at the end. Marvel does like ending their shows with cookouts, apparently.

And I DO like that they didn't go a "the stealing the blood was the real villainy" route and did go the "the act of trespass into her life was the real villainy" thing instead because it's true, but the way they played it is just going to make the real Intelligencias/Reddits/Chans of the world even more pissed off about women and women's stories (and about the direction of Phase 4/5/6).

I liked Nikki and Pug being such good and genuine friends to Jen, because we don't get to see very many Marvel characters have friends. Pretty much just Scott, and his Wombats aren't going to be in Ant-Man 3 and I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT :(

Kevin Feige self-inserting as an omnipotent, all-powerful brain was... a lot. May I direct you to my most recent guest spot on @idontgettechnology's podcast "I Ship It," which was titled "We Have To Talk About Kevin"? Because I think it's time we talked about Kevin. The man thinks he's FRIDAY.

Also I hope we DO see Jen on the big screen because I love Tatiana Maslany and I have so little interest in a Planet Hulk storyline that doesn't involve Gladiators!Steve/Bucky that it's hard for me to put it into words. Like, Bruce is... fine. But I have no attachment to Bruce. He's the Avenger I always forget about. And no Hulkling for Billy??? What is the POINT?

UNLESS it's a hint that they're doing a BATTLEWORLD storyline, hence Jane being alive in Valhalla and we're going to get a BATTLEWORLD: Thors series, which might be fun because more Natalie Portman and also a noir crime story vibe, but also, I'm very tired.

Just mush Jen in with Scott, Cassie, Hope, Shang-Chi, Katy, and Eddie Brock and do a West Coast Avengers thing. Give them A Villain that they need to stop, and then have them stop That Villain. Matt can come, too. But the nested plotlines within plotlines that never end up coming to fruition are too much. There's too much stuff! Too many things!!!

I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHEN STEVE IS COMING BACK FROM THE MOON AND I WANT WANDA TO BE ALIVE, I'M A SIMPLE WOMAN! I want simple things from my Marvel consumption! I want my blorbos and plotlines that make sense! And I want Steve and Bucky to kiss on the mouth!

Also, but Tatiana's legs tho

[stuckybarton]

One Punch One Kiss

Summary: You find a different option to relieve your stress and the fact that you might just be in love with Bruce Banner. Warning: Profanities. Mild Violence. Slight Angst, Self-Depreciation.  Grammar Errors. Not Beta’d. Characters: Unnamed Female Character x Bruce Banner Words: 3,092 A/N: So this happened. Lol. Masterlist

It been well over months now since you've found yourself in care of the so-called Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers. It was far from the life you once lived.

The poverty of the slums, where fighting was always the way to survive another day. It was always survival of the fittest for someone like you. One of the many reasons why it took so long for you to intergrade with the team. Your "power" wasn't that much special compared to the rest of the bunch.

You were a mixed martial artist, finally getting out of the bottom of the barrel but a freak accident left your hands, your tool for survival, barely able close into a fist anymore--you can barely even open them back then too. You find yourself mixed with the wrong crowd and after one too many experiments, you've gain this so-called mutation that lets you punch anything effortlessly. But it doesn't come without a price.

When the adrenaline dies down, you are left with an indestructible fist, but the pain was never far behind. Hands that would last the rest of time, but the pain, the burning torturous pain was something you can never get used to. It was better to dip your hands in lava than the excruciating pain. The insistent throbbing on each finger made it hard for you to open your hands, as much as you were capable of opening them. There there are nights were you want nothing more than to end things, end your suffering once and for all.

But out comes one Bruce Banner.

A man that has known about the demons pestering your life. Having to fight his own every single day as he tries to control the big green monster he calls his other self.

He had helped you so much. From physically helping you maintain the pain you had to endure post-mission, helping Tony Stark with designing the perfect gloves that could potentially lessen the pain you had to experience after each mission. Then there was psychological and mental help.

You were never one for meditating. Always using your fist to forget about your problems as much as possible. But without that stress relief, you were left to Bruce's method.

One hour every single day. Whether it was Bruce having a big research or in the middle of a debriefing. They would take time out of their own schedules just for the one hour to bring semblance to their frail state of minds.

Somehow it does work.

In either your room or in Bruce's room. An hour long meditation with nothing but the sound of white noise brings a momentary peace in your mind, while also making you realize something you try so hard to ignore.

You were in love with Bruce.

Madly, deeply, and crazily enough to be in love with the first man to have every taken care of you. You're fucked, that much you have known for yourself since the realization had occurred.

Now you're left with making sure to make as many excuses as you possibly could to avoid Bruce and your daily meditation. Everyone in the compound knew what you were trying to do, but knowing you and knowing how the aloof Bruce Banner could be, they try to mediate the situation without getting themselves too involved.

"What's up, One-Punch Woman." Tony's usual nicknames annoyed you when you first started out, but as time goes by, you just find yourself getting used to it. You got to talk to Peter about letting Tony watch anime. He gets more material from those.

"Today's not the day to piss me off Tony." You muttered.

You had enjoyed the momentary peace inside the training room. With only the resounding echoes of your first against the punching bag, the rapid breathing escaping your lips, and the low hum of the air conditioner. This was your compromise for not joining Bruce with meditating.

"Come on, Rocky." Tony's hand resting on your shoulder angered you. You hated anyone, aside from Bruce, from touching you.

"Get your hands off, Stark."

Your fist continued to collide with the punching bag, but every single time Tony would try to intervene. Either trying to pull you away from the punching bag or pulling the punching bag away from you.

It took all the control out of you to stop yourself from using Tony as your punching bag instead. Every deep breath you took, the resolve was slowly fading away and your hands were now screaming at you to stop pain finally coming in full waves.

"Stark, I am warning you."

"I'd stop if you tell me why you're avoiding Dr. Banner. It's affecting his productivity if I'm being honest."

And that was the straw the finally broke the camel's back. Punching Stark right in the jaw, but his nano-tech was quick to protect him from punch, but the impact left him stuck right through the walls and everything was now on high alert as F.R.I.D.A.Y placed the training room on lockdown.

"I told you to stay the hell away from me, Stark." You spat, now thinking of a way to get the hell out of the training room without anyone, especially the particular man, coming to see that you were falling apart all because of your god damn feelings. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. open the doors." You demand but the AI refused only wanting Tony to give the command.

"The hell is wrong with you Y/N?"

Now coming face to face with an Iron Man suit of Tony, the last thing you would want was to ruin the reputation you have made with the team. The unproblematic one. The one that would rather keep to yourself than argue with anyone on the team.

"You! Get the hell away me." Your voice grew hoarse as the genuine anger begins to manifest.

One punch, that was all it would take to shut the hell out of the man and you could escape the confinements of the training room.

"Open the doors, Tony. I'm not really in the mood to deal with you and the rest of your fucked up group."

"Well, you're part of this group whether you like it or not. So doesn't that make you just as fucked up as we are?" Tony was actually pointing his beam at you and it made it more evident that you didn't belong here in this group as much as Bruce had assured you were.

There would always be this power dynamic that you will never escape from. May it be the slums, the laboratory, or this compound. You will be nothing more than a tool for them to use and to exploit.

"Stand down, Y/N. You're being hysterical."

That was when you finally snapped, running towards him, clenched fist swung but it never met his face, instead a green being came quick to block your hit.

"It's okay, Y/N." Hulk assured--or was it Bruce. You weren't certain anymore.

Eyes trained towards where you fist has landed. Landing right onto his ribs, had he been in his normal body, you were sure you've fracture a few ribs or worse, punctured his lungs or heart in the process.

When your eyes trailed upward, the gentle look on the Hulk's face scared you. Even he was worried about and everything you had been doing for the past few days as you avoided Bruce.

You didn't flinch when his larger hand tried cupping your cheeks, instead nestling more into his touch. You had it bad. But it was enough to calm you down for the moment. Bruce was your peace.

"Breath, Y/N."

Slowly, you see him turn back to his normal self. Never once did his hand leave your own. Both hands now cupping your cheeks as he stared at you.

"Can you do that for me?"

You nodded, never breaking eye contact. You breath, you tried you best to calm the heart you never noticed was beating to fast as you slowed your breathing.

"You got me..."

Indeed you do. He was here, even after the days you've tried ignoring him, avoiding him, and downright pushing him away. You still got him.

"That's all that matters..."

You nod, eyes now stinging with the unshed tears. You were afraid of losing him. You feeling for him that presented itself to you now, you didn't want to lose it. You couldn't depend on anyone else in this compound but him. Your only sanctuary in your state of mind. Your Survival of the Fittest mentality scrambling at this man that would give you the world even if you so much as ask it from him.

The Strongest Avenger, but was the most vulnerable in your presence.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. open the door." Bruce requested as he pulled you to his chest.

With the AI following, you caught glimpse of the mess the Hulk had made through the wall just to get it. Wincing at what Tony would have them to just to pay for the damage of it.

Their journey has been silent. The only sound you could hear, or at least tried to focus on was his heart. The rhythmic calm beats against your ear made you focus on your own breathing until you arrived in his room.

Bare as Bruce's room was, it brought you a calmness of the familiarity it had with you. Not much decorations aside from the diplomas and achievements, one picture still stuck out the most to you in his array of achievements. It was a picture of you and Bruce. It was post-mission in the Quintjet, one bud on each of your ear and you still remembered the two of you were listening to Lofi music at the time. What made the picture so memorable was the sight of the two of you grinning ear to ear while icing your aching hand after going head to head with a colossus from who-knows what planet.

You still remember why the two of your were smiling. There was a bet between Tony and Rhodey that you wouldn't be able to take on the giant and had waged a hundred dollars each because they were just that confident. Yet a minute later, you've just punched the alien once before it run as far away from you as possible. Being owed two hundred dollar and just the bragging right you were having had a smile on your face and Bruce was quick to join along in the merriment of the moment.

"What's wrong, Y/N?"

Returning back to the present, the worry in Bruce's face was still evident but you pulled away, cheeks warm at the realization that the man had been shirtless this entire time and you were leaning on his chest all throughout.

"Nothing." You muttered, now unable to meet his eyes now.

"The hole you've punched Tony into isn't much of a nothing." His words, as agitated as you knew he was being at the moment, was calm.

"Tony is just being annoying." You tried to reason. "He was getting on my nerves and deserves it." You added knowing very well that if it wasn't for Bruce, Tony would more than likely be enduring a concussion or even brain damage at this point.

Just the thought of that happening brought a knot right into your throat making you incapable of swallowing. Had it not been for Bruce, you were sure you would need to pack your backs yet again and leave the compound. God know what the rest of the team would think of you if that happened, or what what they would do to you as retaliation.

"But it's not just because of that." It was as if Bruce can read your thoughts. All he wants now is just confirmation.

"It has nothing to do with you." Lie.

"Then what is it? You've been acting weird for the last few days. You're blowing me off and using every excuse in the book to get away from our meditation and away from me. So this definitely has something to do with me."

You didn't have an answer to him. Fear overcame telling him the truth, making him understand your worries.

"Just say it. Say that the other guy is scaring you and be done with it."

You blinked confused with what he was saying.

"That's not it." You assured, finding the right words was hard.

"THEN WHAT?" As the green tint quickly appeared on his skin just as quick as it disappeared, your adrenaline was still high from the incident in the training room, fist already already ready to defend yourself if he loses control.

Never once did you raise you hand at Bruce. Never once did you face with in your attack stance. But never once did Bruce raise his voice at you. This was affecting him just as much as it did you.

"I'm a monster, Y/N. I know that more than anyone else. All you had to do was say so and be done with it."

"You're not a monster, Bruce. You never were in my eyes."

"Yeah, avoiding me makes it so convincing." he snorts turning his back at you, a shirt already in his grasp. "Just say it, Y/N. I can take it. I'm not a child anymore that can't handle the truth."

Biting your lips, this was worse than you have actually anticipated. You watched Bruce ramble on and on about why he was a monster and why you have every right to avoid him. But that wasn't what truly had you speechless. It was this, this man that was aloof as he was had done nothing but bare his heart of to you. Show he was just pained as you were with this situation you've placed yourself in--placed the two of you in.

Was it still the adrenaline or your stupidity, you really didn't know as you surged towards him, lips mashing against his own. His lips was soft against your own. The taste of coffee and hint of mint. And just like that, the words in Bruce's mouth stopped and he was left just as stunned as your were for what you've done.

"I, I don't--I...I don't hate you, Bruce." you stutter, eyes refusing to meet his own yet again. "It's opposite really."

"Say it, Y/N."

"I love you, Banner." You muttered finally looking at him. "I love you and I know for a fact that you wouldn't want to be seen anywhere near me."

"What?"

"You're you. Smart, Got a good sense of humour. You care about me more than my parents ever did. You're the first person here in the compound that treated me more like a human instead of this asset or experiment."

It was now your turn to ramble on about why you don't deserve him. You knew very well why and whatever reason that would try to oppose those beliefs were quick to be stomped away. That was how your mind works, you don't deserve things, you work hard for anything and everything.

"Y/N close your eyes."

You blinked at  the sudden request, but the smile that now rested on Bruce's face assured you slightly. But knowing him, knowing he would be the last person to hurt you, your eyes finally closed.

In the darkness, you tried to calm you mind. As much as your trusted Bruce, the unknown scared you, the reason behind this situation worried you. to be this vulnerable in front of him, to be this defenceless.

The last thing you would have expected to happen was his lips against you own. Breathless, you open your eyes to see Bruce's own closed as the kiss continued. The gentle hands that had calmed you down in the training room were once again there to calm you don't. Gently you find yourself pulling more into the kiss, aching hands rested on his chest. The calm heart now coming alive against your fingertips.

Pulling away, Bruce opened his eyes, breathless just as you were and the uncertainty of just what happened finally becoming more an more evident. It was just how you would accept it at this point.

"Hope that's clear enough for you." Bruce muttered, now his own eyes refusing to meet your own. "Why you think so low of yourself? You're part of this team because you value civilian's safety more than our safety, more than your own safety that it's sometimes so annoying because I worry about you and your lack of safety."

You blinked, how the hell did this happen. One minute you were both self-deprecating yourselves, then the next minute it was lips and cheesy lines of admiration for one another.

"I'm not perfect. Far from it, but just seeing you avoid me. It makes it so hard for me to ignore my own thoughts. Maybe they were right." Bruce shrugged.

You shook your head, as much as you knew he wouldn't see. He really didn't know his worth, the irony that you yourself couldn't do the same. The smile just couldn't help but finally escape your lips before you head find solitude in his chest. The sound of his beating heart could do nothing but give you a calmness you didn't think you would need in your life.

"Can we start over." You whispered, the dysfunction that was the two of you wasn't ideal and you knew whatever this might end up becoming, it wouldn't be easy. Nothing was ever easy when it comes to the life they were living. But you knew you could make it work.

"What?"

Pulling away from him. You gentle punched his cheek seeing his lack of effort to block it. He knew just as much as you did that you will never hurt him intentionally.

"My name is Y/N Y/L/N and I love you, Dr. Bruce Robert Banner."

Shaking the man's shaking hand, you smiled as his hands held onto your own tighter and accepting the shake of hand.

"Nice meeting you, Y/N." he started, voice shaky. "My name is Bruce Banner, and I love you too."

With the smile only growing you both of your faces, you leaned once again for a kiss. Things will be alright between the two of you. A few bumps in the road would be a certainty. But you'll work on it. You both will.

"Who do you think Tony would start hounding first about the trashed Training room?" You asked after a second of silence between them.

"My guess is me. Might take a while to live down what just happened."

[make-me-imagine]

Red Roses: “I Love You” - Bruce Banner Ending

Valentines Special: Day Nine

Day One: Morning Glories  //  Day Two: Blue Salvias Day Three: Sunflowers  //  Day Four: Pink Camellias Day Five: Yellow Tulips   // Day Six: Violets Day Seven: Lisianthus  //  Day Eight: Daffodils (Post with rest of the character endings)

Plot: It’s finally Valentines Day, the day the reader will finally learn who it is that had been leaving them flowers and notes expressing their secret feelings.

Pairing: Gen!Neutral Reader x Bruce Banner

Note: Thank you @trashywritestrash​ for helping me out with this ending when I ran out of ideas! <3 Also, since this technically takes place after End Game and such, in this, Bruce is still Bruce, and is not combined with the Hulk.

Triggers: None        Words: 1,573

Requested Taglist: @aquariuslavenderhoney​, @thebookbakery​, @fablesrose​, @kitkatd7​, @thefallenbibliophilequote​, @beksib​, @destynelseclipsa​, @criminaly-supernatural​, @tammythompson-singslikea-muppet, @belloangelus​, @snarky--starky​, @saintbootlegloras​, @wecallhimbrowneyess​, @empath-bunny​, @okkulta​, @katinthemoon,  @ravennight41​, @youcancallme-rae , @radhumandragonclam, @unfortunateidiotinadilemma, @past3l-w1ngs​ ,  @goinggoinggonzo​, @mxxnmocha​, @hulkswitch​, @groovyfluxie​

February 14th

As you walked through the tower, you watched as various decorators and caterers bustled around working to finish for the party this evening. Your anxiety grew as you thought more about what was to come. 

You knew that today was the day you would learn who it was leaving you the beautiful messages and flowers. But you still didn’t know when exactly they would do it. You only assumed it would be during the party but it really could be at any moment. 

Because of this exact reason, any time one of the others spoke to you, or even approached you, your heart about burst out of your chest, waiting for the moment they might say “Its me.” But it didn’t happen. Not when you saw Natasha and Clint. Not when you passed Bucky in the hall. Not when Thor showed up, copious amount of coffee and pastries in hand. 

And each time you found that you were relieved in a way. You only felt real disappointment, when you went and saw Bruce in his lab. 

You greeted him with coffee and a danish courtesy of Thor, offered to help him with any work, and even sat and talked to him for about an hour as you helped him run some tests. And the entire time, you were hoping that he might hint, or just admit that it was him behind the flowers and the notes. But after two hours of nothing but idle conversation, you gave up. Maybe it wasn’t him. No matter how much you wanted it to be.

Finally leaving him and going about your day, you found yourself avoiding the others. And now you sat in your room, thinking of who it could be and what you would do. You convinced yourself that, no matter who it was, you already knew them and loved them in some way. So maybe, you could fall for them the same way they fell for you. 

- - -

You had managed to avoid the others the rest of the day, staying in your room most of the time. You distracted yourself as much as you could by doing some work on your computer. When you glanced at the clock and saw that it was an hour until the party, you felt confident, that no matter who it would turn out to be, you would give them and yourself a chance.

You gradually got ready over the next hour, psyching yourself up the entire time. And as you made your way down to the party, you felt your confidence slowly diminish as it was replaced with the now familiar anxiety. 

Walking into the main room, you looked over the crowd that had arrived early or just on time, seeing various Avengers littered throughout the room. Seeing Sam and Rhodey talking in the corner you approached them. Two people you knew weren’t involved in the flowers. At least you could have a conversation with them without panicking the whole time. 

As the night went on, you seemed to develop a sense of excitement as you began to accept the inevitable and thought more about the positives. Now, whenever someone spoke to you, you were waiting impatiently for the moment when it would happen. 

But then an hour passed, and then another, and nothing happened. And you feared that maybe they changed their mind all together. Or maybe the whole thing was a joke? You leaned against the wall at the back of the crown, wondering if it was all for nothing. 

Your eye caught on someone walking around the crowd Bruce. You watched him closely, seeing that he seemed overwhelmed. You straightened up a bit as you watched him fiddling with his hands. Did something happened? Was this all to stressful? Was hulk getting restless?

Seeing him exit the room, you followed. You needed to make sure he was okay, that he wasn’t losing control. Following into the hallway, you saw that he was gone. You walked down the hallway checking the doors, and finding them all locked. Finally, when you walked a little further, you saw that he had went out onto and empty balcony. 

You cautiously opened the door, gaining his attention. “Bruce? Are you alright?”

When he saw that you had followed him, that you were checking on him, Bruce felt a sense of relief and comfort wash over him followed closely by anxiety. Out of all the others, you knew best how to calm him down. But at this moment, you were the exact reason he was feeling overwhelmed. But he knew you didn’t know that.

“Hey Y/n.” he greeted as you slowly approached him “I’m alright, uh, it’s just, there’s a lot of people in there, asking questions, I don’t even know any of them.” he chuckled, though those were not helping with his emotions, it was mostly a lie. 

You smiled at him as you stopped beside him “I get it. And I’m sure Tony would understand if you wanted to leave.”

Bruce nodded but remained silent, he couldn’t leave. He needed to tell you. he could have earlier, when you were alone in his lab. God why didn’t he? He couldn’t stop overthinking it, he did earlier and he was now. He brought his hand to his chest, feeling the rose he had placed in his jacket pocket. 

“Do you want me to get you anything?”

He smiled at you, you were always so caring towards him. “No, no I think I just need a minute, you can stay, how are you? Are you alright?” 

You leaned against the railing “I’m...fine.” you smiled at him. 

“That didn’t seem very confident.”

You opened your mouth to talk but closed it, unsure of what to say “I just...tonight, whoever it was leaving me the notes and the flowers said they would tell me who they were today. But...the night’s almost gone, and...nothing’s happened. I just, I think they may have changed their mind.” 

As Bruce was listening he felt a pang of guilt. All this time he was thinking about his own anxiety tonight, he forgot to think how you must feel. And now you were thinking that he wasn’t going to tell you at all. “No.” 

You looked over at him “No?” 

He took a breath before he reached into his pocket “I didn’t change my mind.” you watched as he pulled out a red rose and turned fully towards you “I was just lost in my thoughts, and couldn’t find the courage to tell you, that, it’s me.” You stood and turned towards him as he started to talk again “I just, I felt more confident with the note and the flowers, and I thought it would be easier to to, uh, tell you how I felt, but I just, I got scared the more I thought about talking to you about it face to face, thinking that maybe you, wouldn’t want it to be me, and I-”

Bruce was caught off guard as you threw your arms around him in a hug “It’s alright Bruce.” he began to prepare himself for your rejection “I did want it to be you, more than anyone.”

He felt his breath hitch in his throat for a moment “Y-you did?”.

You pulled away from him and smiled at him, letting out a small chuckle “Yes, I did.”

He felt a grin spread across his face as he stared at you, his hear hammering in his chest. “Oh, here” he handed you the rose, which you took with a smile that made his heart almost stop. 

“I loved all of the flowers, and the notes. I uh, I began pressing them, so I could save them.” you admitted, suddenly feeling much more bashful. 

Bruce let out a small chuckle “You’ve always been a sentimental person.”

You shrugged and smiled “I can’t help it.”

“I’m glad. It’s one of the many things I..love about you.” 

You stared at each other for a moment before you cleared your throat “Uh, out of curiosity. Was it Vision that delivered the flowers that day I received the Camellias? I went in and asked him and he denied it.” 

“Uh, yeah, I asked him to since you were staying in your room for so long. He felt bad about lying but understood why I asked him too.”

You nodded before smiling at him, moving just a bit closer to him “You know, your a much better liar than I gave you credit. Or at least, much better at hiding things.” 

He chuckled “Well, it was really hard. I uh, really hate lying to you.” 

“Well it was definitely the best and most creative...confession, I’ve ever received.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled again “Yeah, I uh, I always wanted to be a romantic.” 

“It was definitely that.” 

He met your eyes for a few moments before taking a deep breath “Can I kiss you? I really want to kiss you.” he blurted out.

You laughed at this before you nodded your head “Yes Bruce, you can kiss me.”

Almost immediately he took a step closer to you, wrapping one arm around your waist, and bringing one hand to the back of your head as he met you in a slow kiss. Both of your hearts were beating heavily in your chest, your mutual anxiety about tonight being replaced by simple and pure happiness. 

xx xx xx xx xx

Hope you liked this ending! I always like writing for Bruce, he is so cute lol. I know he doesn’t straight up say “I love you” but I like the way this came out it seemed a bit more “him” 

If you liked it please consider reblogging, and checking out the other endings!~ :)

[madnessinwrighting]

When They Know (You're the One)

(Summary: There's a moment, one distinct moment, when you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone. This is the Avengers (plus Loki and Bucky) having those moments.

Reader Insert, inspired by an imagine I have long since lost the link too. Open to writing a part two for the other characters.

Notes:  Hey all! This is something I've pretty much sat on for a year, but the convincing of two best friends has pushed me to post it. Basically, it's just a quick bite of little moments with each Avenger, with a reader insert. Yes, it was slightly self indulgent. Hope y'all enjoy.

Read on AO3

Steve

It was how you welcomed him home.

He comes back to your shared floor in the tower after a day of meetings. He was tired, and wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and wait for you to come back from your training with Wanda. He paused when he heard music softly playing. Glenn Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade" drifted around the corner, pulling Steve into the living room. His guard dropped when he saw you curled up on the couch in one of his sweatshirts, book in hand. Regina, your cat, and Doger, his dog, were laying at your feet.

Steve was always captivated by your beauty, but in this moment, with your attention completely held by the book in your hand, thinking no one is watching you, is when he found you the most stunning. Before he could clear his throat to let you know he was here, you glance up at him. A breathtaking smile broke out across your face as you got up to welcome Steve home. It was in that moment, he knew that he would never let you go.

Tony

It was in your careless beauty after an event.The two of you were in his room, lounging on his bed, after the monthly Avengers Gala that Stark Industries held. Every month, the Avengers and Stark Industries held a fundraising Gala to help different organizations in need. It had been your idea; being the Avengers PR person, you had proposed the idea after seeing the growing interest the public had in seeing the “real life superheroes” more, but still being unsure of the Avengers after New York and Sokovia. The galas let the general public mingle with the elite, all while the Avengers mingled with both. (You had started to notice how much the heroes spent less and less time with the elite and more with the general public (especially Steve and Bucky)).

You were wearing one of Tony’s button ups and a pair of pajama shorts. A champagne bottle rested against your leg as you grabbed for another slice of pizza. Tony laughed at you; you were always hungry after the galas. He reached for a slice too. He glanced up at you as you took a bite, just staring for a moment. Your hair was in an imperfect bun, wet strands falling around your face from where you missed a few pieces after your shower. There was a smudge of black under each eye from leftover makeup. As you wiped some sauce from the side of your mouth, Tony could see where your fingernail polish had started to chip. You noticed his staring. “What, playboy? Do I have something on my face?” He laughed at the nickname. Any other time, he would have sassed back. But the whiskey that had been coursing through his veins finally reached his head. Or maybe it was your beauty. Maybe it was a combination of the two that made him say, “No. I just realized I’m going to marry you someday.” You rolled your eyes at him, laughing. You thought he was joking. But Tony knew the truth, and that’s all that mattered; for now.

Clint

It was how you interacted with his kids, and how you could read him.

He had just come back from a mission. He and Nat had gotten banged around, nothing serious, but he knew his ribs were going to be hurting for a few days. He heard laughter the moment he stepped off the elevator to your shared floor. His smile grew when he saw you and his kids in the process of building a blanket fort, you standing carefully on a leaning chair to get the blanket on a high hook. Lila hid her face behind her hands as you made a show of “almost” falling, before doing a flip and landing perfectly. Little Nathaniel clapped his hands as the three cheered. The four of you took a step back to admire your work. The three kids all come in close to you, Nate hugging your leg. Your hand came down to play with his hair. You all talk quietly about what to add. Clint’s heart clinches at the sight. While his and Laura’s split was mutual, and they still cared for one another, it had been hard, for both them and the kids. To see you interact well with the three people that made up a big portion of his world, and them to do the same with you… Clint really couldn’t ask for more.

He caught the repetitive tapping of your fingers on your leg. “Take your time. Love you.”

Natasha

You learned Russian for her.

Any time she came into the room when it was just you and Bucky, the two of you would stop talking and a red hue would cover your cheeks. It didn’t take a spy to know you were hiding something. At first, Nat had a fleeting thought that you might be cheating on her, but she knew you, and knew Buck, and knew that that wasn’t the case. So she let the secret go for the time being; well, that’s a lie. She actually decided to turn it into a game and see if she could find out what it was that you were keeping from her. But sneaking up on the Winter Soldier proved to be difficult, considering most of her skills she had learned were from him.

She thought she had figured out a way to catch you. She was thinking through her plan while making her coffee that morning when your arms snaked around her waist. She smiled as you rested your head on her shoulder, placing a kiss on the bare skin. “Доброе утро Любовь. Спать хорошо?” you asked.

“конечно, ты был следующим -” Natasha froze as she processed what just happened. She spun in your arms to face you. “That’s what you and Barnes have been doing?”

“Yes. Were you going to say because I was next to you?”

“Yes. Why are you learning Russian?”

You rolled your eyes. “Because of you, silly. Your Russian, are you not? And while most of your Russian adventures are in your past and not really you anymore, they and Russia are still a part of you. I love every part of you and want to know every part of you, so I asked Bucky it he would be willing to--”

Natasha cut off the rest of your explanation by placing a kiss on your lips. If there were tears on her checks, neither of you mentioned it.

(Translation:  Доброе утро Любовь. Спать хорошо? - Good morning, love. Sleep well?конечно, ты был следующим. - Of course, you were next -- Done with Google. I'm sorry if they are incorrect. Please let me know if they are so I can fix it.)

Thor

You didn’t treat his brother like a villain.

None of the team was thrilled when Thor announced that Loki would be coming to live with him on Earth. But considering the alternative was for Loki to be executed, Thor convinced them to allow Loki to stay in the tower. But of course there were rules. Loki and Thor accepted these; Loki just wanted to leave the place that never felt like a home to him, and felt even less so now, no matter what his mother did to try and help. Thor was excited to see you once again, to be able to be with you once again, but he worried about how you would react to Loki. You had been badly injured when the Chatiri attacked. Thor loved both you and his brother; he wanted, no, needed you two to get along.

When the time came for Loki to move in, all the Avengers were waiting in the teleportation room. The alarm alerted you to the brothers incoming arrival. You all shielded your eyes as the Bifrost opened. The blinding light cleared, leaving the polar opposite sons of Odin in its place. Everyone stayed still for a moment. You rolled your eyes at all of them before throwing yourself at Thor. He caught you with a laugh, spinning you around.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Maybe I should have chosen execution.”

You sensed the movement of the team tensing and gripping their weapons. Placing a kiss on Thor’s cheek, you walked over to Loki. You knew he recognized you from when he fought against you during the Chatiri invasion; you also knew it wasn’t his fault. Hardly any of the New York Attack was Loki’s fault, directly. Knowing that, you placed your hands over both of the bracelets on his wrist, said a small incantation, and melted them away. You felt and saw Loki’s magic return to him. His eyes were swirling with questions. All you said to him was, “No one, not a single being, deserve to be cut off from something that makes them whole.”

Thor had tears in his eyes. He had been trying to convince others that his brother wasn’t the enemy, and here was the woman that he loved, showing that she believed that too.

Bruce

You loved him despite his inner demon.

Bruce Banner had felt ever since his… accident, that he was very much two different people. You once joked he was a modern day Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tony thought it was hysterical, Bruce not so much). Despite his green friend always being just under Bruce’s skin, you never once feared him. The Hulk and Bruce were one person, and that was something you accepted very early on; Bruce knew he loved you then.

But the moment he knew he would spend forever with you was when you didn’t shy away from his true inner demon. Not the green one, but the one that was very human. The self doubt that he was nothing and only ever became something because of a gamma radiation explosion. The anxiety that he would one day lose control and destroy everything that he held dear. The depression that came from every so-called mistake he thought he had made in his scientific career. The depression that manifests in self isolation so no other mistake could be made, or at least no one was there to be hurt when they were made. He was certain that these monsters would be the ones to push you away from him; they would be the ones that would make you run away screaming.

You never once left his side, though. You calmed the anxiety attacks; you silenced the dark thoughts in his mind. You were his voice in every moment that he needed you. You were his protector, and he would do everything in his power to keep you.

Loki

You saw through the illusion.

Loki moved into the tower not long after everything that happened with the Battle of Sokovia, which was when you joined the team. He was brought to Earth to atone for his sins; Odin thought it poetic to banish his son to the place where he caused destruction.

Besides Bucky (shared trauma in brainwashing and all), you were the first one to accept Loki as he was. A connection flowed easily between you, bonding over books and similar battle styles; you both favored knives and daggers. One night, you two were in the living room of the comunal floor. Loki and you had only been dating for a few months, but your friendship led to a strong bond already. You were reading; Loki had been too, though he was now asleep, head resting in your lap. Your hand stilled in his hair as he started to fidget. Twitching and moaning, you recognized the signs of his nightmares immediately. Your gentle coasting to awake still startled him. A moment on the couch, the next on the floor staring into red eyes surrounded by a blue tinged face. As quickly as it was there, Loki was his blue-eyed, pale skinned self, helping you from the ground.

“Apologies, my love. I do not know what came over me.” He ran his hands through his hair.

You rolled your eyes. “Bullshit. Are you okay?” You reached out for him.

He smiled softly before turning away from you. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, love.”

“Loki, you are not--”

“I said I’m fine, Y/N,” he interrupted. He started to walk away.

“Wha- No, wait.” He didn’t stop. “Loki of Asgard, you stop right now and look at me, damnit!” He stopped, but didn’t turn. “Loki. Please. You can pretend with the team, with your brother even. But don’t lie to me. You’re not fine, not have you been for a long time. Look at me.” While you spoke, you walked closed to him. You reached out to place a hand on the back of his shoulder.

He caught your wrist, half turning to look at you. “You see through the illusions.”

It wasn’t a question. You still answered. “Yes, I do.” You used your captured hand to turn his face to you. “You may be the God of Mischief, but your lies have never worked on me.” You whipped a tear from his cheek.

He’d never admit it to you, but his heart clenched and he was at a momentary loss for words. All he could think to say, as he pulled you into his arms, was, “I know not how I got so fortunate to have you in my life, but I thank whoever it was that allowed it.” You just hugged him tighter.

Bucky

It was how you celebrated his 37th birthday.

Bucky had a doopy smile on his face as he read one of the texts from you; he and Steve were disembarking from one of Stark’s planes. Bucky brought his head up at the sound of laughter. “What, punk?” Bucky shoved Steve’s shoulder.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Nothing. Tell y/n hi from me, jerk.”

Bucky shot back that he would as he headed straight to the garage.

When he did get home, a wonderful aruma tickled his nose while Janet Blair’s “You’d be so Nice to Come Home To” floated to his ears. Dropping his bag by the door, he rounded the island. All of his weariness from the mission vanished once he saw you. Your hair was pinned up and you wore a y/f/c swing dress. He caught the reflection of your makeup; simple, with eyeliner your top lids, just a kiss of it on the lower, massacre gracing your lashes, and a red perfetingly complementing your skin coating your lips. When you faced Bucky, he had to grip the island slightly for support. You looked just like the dames he knew growing up. But unlike all of them, you were his, and you took his breath away.

“Buck! I didn’t hear you come in,” you exclaimed.

He reached out to you; you willingly stepped into his arms. Bucky placed a kiss on your lips, humming as he pulled away. “You look stunning, doll. What’s the occasion?” He started swaying you to the music.

You laughed. “You are, you dork. Or did you forget you turned a whole century while you are on this mission?”

“Ouch, doll. You really know how to make a man feel loved. I’m only 37,” he tried reasoning as he dipped you.

“Is that so? Then why does your birth certificate say you were born in 1917?” Bucky raised an eyebrow at you. “Fine, happy 37th birthday, even though you were born 100 years ago. Do you want some cake? I made this one special.” You began biting the side of your lip.

“Sure, babe. I’d love some.” Bucky gave you once last peck before letting you go.

You went to the cake, cutting two slices. Bucky saw you fidget slightly as you set them pieces down on the island. Not sure as to why you’d be so nervous (you’d made him chocolate cake before, it was his favorite), he picked up his fork and took a big bite. The explosion of flavor in his mouth caused him to pause for a moment before he kept chewing. Unsure if his senses were playing tricks on him, he took another small bite. Nope, that tasted exactly like-- “Is this my mother’s recipe?” Disbelief clouded his voice. You nodded your head. “And her icing?” You nodded again.

“It wasn’t easy to replicate, or even find the recipe, but this birthday is a big deal so I thought--” you were cut off by Bucky pulling you to him and crashing his lips to yours. You could taste the chocolate on his lips.

[marvel-preferences]

How they react when they find out you’re pregnant:

Requested by @ohantonia

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Captain America/Steve Rogers:

Once you found out Steve had never heard of lottery tickets, you knew exactly how you were going to tell him. You had set everything up and gotten the lottery tickets for him. You explain to him how they work and he was so excited to try one. He ran around the house frantically looking for a quarter or something to use on the ticket. Once he finally found a quarter, he was jumping up and down with so much excitement. He  scratched the ticket to reveal a secret.

He looked at you shocked, you bit your lip nervous on how he would react. “Really?” He asked so quietly, you could barely hear him. You nod your head slowly, unsure how he felt about the idea. After a while of thinking, he finally looked up at you and smiled. “I can’t believe I going to be a father!” You smiled and kissed him, “You’re going to be the best father ever.” He smiled and leaned down kissing your stomach. “Hey kiddo, it’s your dad. I know you probably can’t hear me but I just had to tell you how much I love you already. Me and mommy can’t wait to meet you!” You smiled at him, knowing he truly would be the best dad.

Iron man/Tony Stark:

You knew how much Tony loved alcohol so you knew that you wanted to involve wine when telling him. So you went online and searched for a wine label pregnancy one that work for yours and Tony’s relationship. You settled on the one that said, “You’re going to be a great father…Assuming your the father” You thought it was hilarious and you knew Tony would find it funny too. You brought him the wine bottle and waited anxiously for him to get home. Once he got home, you told him you had a gift. He was confused because usually he was the one who randomly brought gifts for you. You gave him the wine bottle with your hands shaking because you were so scared of his react. You both had talked about wanting kids but you also hadn’t been planning on getting pregnant so soon.

He looked at you. “Are you serious?” You couldn’t tell if he was mad or not. “��.yeah”. You look at him to see his react to your words but he has none. He just sat that staring at the wine bottle without saying anything. You tried to get his attention multiple times but he wouldn’t even look at you. He finally snapped out of it when he heard you crying. He looked at you, “hey beautiful what’s wrong?” You cried more, “We don’t have to keep the baby if you don’t want to. I know we weren’t planning for one. And I know you have a lot going on with the avengers and-“ Tony wiped your tears, “it’s not that. Of course I want to have a kid with you. I’m just scared….what if I’m not a good father” You laughed, “are you being serious Tony? You are going to be an incredible father. I know what you’re thinking but you’re not your dad. This kid is so lucky to have you as it’s father, okay?” Tony nodded and smiled at you, putting his hand on your stomach.

Hulk/Bruce Banner:

Since Bruce was the best husband ever, he would always do the house chores if you were busy, so one day you asked him to do the dishes while you finished up work. While doing the dishes, he found an interesting surprise. You were trying to finish your work for the day but you couldn’t focus knowing he was about to find out. You were extremely nervous because you knew he didn’t want children. He was scared that his child would get the hulk gene so he told you that if you ever wanted children, you guys should adopt so you were horrified when you found out your birth control didn’t work. You heard the door open and you took a deep breath knowing he found the ‘I’m pregnant’ dish.

“Y/n? What is this?” He said trying to be calm so he wouldn’t hunk out. You looked at him, “surprise….” He took a couple deep breaths. You didn’t want to say something to make him more mad so you just mumbled, “sorry” He looked at you and sighed, “It’s okay. If they get the hulk gene, we’ll deal with it and if not, then we’ll get a cute baby out of it”

Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes:

You had thought about how to tell Bucky that you were pregnant but you had came up with nothing so you just left a note with the pregnancy test. Bucky came home and called your name, “Y/n?? Y/n where are you?” He saw a note on the counter and walked over. He read it and yelled excitedly. You came out of hiding and hugged him from behind. “Oh my god, we’re going to be parents!”

Later that night, Bucky was thinking about being a dad. Of course he was excited but he would also scared. It scared him that he could always easily be minded controlled with just a couple words. He never wanted to hurt you or your child. You rubbed his back, “what’s up baby?” Bucky looked at you and sighed, “I’m scared that my past will finally catch up to me one day.” You looked at him confused, “What do you mean?” He played with your hair, “What if I become mind controlled again? Or what if one of the people who I hurt come after us? I’m always going to be putting you guys at risk.” You looked at him, “ohhh so you don’t think I can protect myself? Do I have to remind you that I have beat you in training multiple times?” Bucky smiled, “yeah you are pretty badass.” You kissed his cheek, “everything is going to work out and you are going to be an amazing dad”

God of Lightning/Thor Odinson:

You knew how much Thor loved pizza so you decided that was definitely the way you wanted to tell him. You called the pizza place and told them exactly what you wanted. Once the pizza got there, the only left to do was wait. Thor wasn’t going to be home for another 5 minutes and you were dying. You knew it wasn’t long but you were so impatient and wanted to tell him now. Once Thor got home, you told him that you left him a few pieces of the pizza in the kitchen. He went downstairs to go get a piece.

Thor came running upstairs. “LADY Y/N” You looked at him when he burst through the door, ���yes?” He picked you up and spun you around, “I love you so much!” You giggled as he spun you around. “I love you too my king”

Hawkeye/Clint Barton:

You didn’t know how to tell Clint that you were pregnant but you knew you wanted to tell him immediately. You weren’t nervous because you both had been planning on getting pregnant.

You had to go get his cake for his birthday and that’s when the idea came to you. You could get him a cake to tell him. You brought him the pregnancy cake and left it out for him when he got home. You were so tired from being pregnant so you fell asleep before he got home.

You were woken up by a frantic Clint. “Y/n! Y/n! Y/n!” He said shaking you. You woke up, “What? What’s happening? Is everything okay?” Clint smiled, “are we pregnant” You nod, about to fall back asleep. Clint kissed your forehead, “I’m so excited baby.” You tried to keep your eyes open, “same baby but I’m tired” you whine. Clint laughs and takes off his shoes getting into bed with you.

God of mischief/Loki “Odinson”:

Loki had never understood why you morals loved getting a stupid fake message with your dry cookies about your future but he always got the  Fortune cookies because he knew how happy they made you. But little did he know, this fortune cookie was about to change his life forever. “These are always so dumb. I don’t know why you love these so much. The fortunes are always wrong and the cookie doesn’t even taste good.” You rolled your eyes, “Just try one more, please. This one will be good, I promise.” He rolled his eyes but grabbed the last one and opened it.

His eyes widened, “Ummm Y/n…..what is this?” You looked at him, “You’re having a baby with a moral. Surprise.” He looked at you, “How?” You sighed, “I think my anxiety meds threw off my birth control….” Loki rolled his eyes, “you morals get pregnant so easily” You looked at him, “Wow I’m so sorry Loki. Next time I’ll just deal with my anxiety on my own.” You said annoyed, getting up. Loki sighed, “That’s not what I meant. It’s just, I’m the god of mischief, how am I supposed to be a dad?” You looked at him, “How about the same way you’re the god of mischief but still find a way to be an amazing boyfriend.” Loki smiled slightly, “I hope you’re right. I want to be a great dad.” You kissed him, “you will be”

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS | CHAPTER 2

Rating: Explicit. 18+

‼️TW: Reader is EIGHTEEN! Recreational drug use, smoking and alcohol consumption, deeply internalised self-loathing, very questionable moral standards. Daddy kink taken half-seriously. BDSM themes in later chapters - explicit content will come with it’s own TWs. FIRST PERSON POV.

Summary: You’re Peter’s classmate, a child of rich and famous but uncaring parents. Getting paired up for a lengthy project with the boy was an interesting turn of events and you don’t know whether to feel blessed or cursed when you develop, seemingly, a perfectly normal, harmless crush on Tony Stark. Fueled by feelings of inadequacy and boredom, your life spirals out of control - and you’re lucky your newfound friends are there to pick up the pieces even if you cannot find it in yourself to believe these amazing human (and not so human) beings voluntarily give you more than a fleeting glance and an offhanded thought. And they brought cake!

A/N: Bad girls are sad girls! Always wondered what goes through the mind of a spoiled, rich but intelligent and perceptive teenager? Have you found yourself craving that adrenaline rush, the danger of a forbidden fruit? Okay. That was cheesy as hell. Gross.

Let’s try again. Sarcasm? Check. Vine references? Hell yes! Crude humour? Check. Blunt honesty? Double check. We’re living in a Lana del Rey song, ladies.

The author doesn’t actually condone codependent relationships in real life. This is a filthy little fantasy. Enjoy, deviants.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @vozit​ @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings​

Beta read by the lovely and patient @miscmarvelwritings  ! She deserves all the love 💙

Peter woke me up at eight AM the next morning like the little shit that he was, demanding I make him pancakes. It wasn’t the first time I’ve had the joy to experience him in the morning and he knew exactly how to antagonise me enough to make him the special pancakes he liked so much. They had become kind of a ritual whenever he stayed over at my house, which was quite often - teachers liked me enough to pair me up with one of the most sensible kids for any projects that couldn’t be done alone by yours truly on her own.

I put on my yesterday’s dress, applied moisturizer and obediently trotted behind an excitedly mumbling Peter. The kitchen was large, beautiful and delightfully empty of any resident superheroes. I’ve indirectly crossed paths with all of the tower’s residents hanging around Tony, but I’ve yet had to speak more than polite niceties to any of them. 

Spying a bowl of boiled eggs and some sort of weird salad alongside half burned toast on the counter, I suddenly understood why Peter demanded his pancakes. I strictly instructed the disaster child to stay away from my cooking process and set to work with one ear listening to his ramblings and a headphone in the other. 

A set of thumping footsteps appeared behind me as I was pouring the batter for the first pancake. Their owner loudly sat down next to Peter, sighing, groaning, generally making “I’m not a morning person” sounds.

“Good morning, Mr. Barnes,” Peter’s tone was way, way too chipper.

“‘mrng,” The Sergeant grumbled. “Who’s this and why is she making pancakes?”

I turned around, spatula at the ready. “It’s me,” We’ve actually met before, but Barnes had left before I could even come over from my side of the work bench to say hello.

He nodded in acknowledgement after giving me a suspicious once-over. “One of Stark’s science children. I’m James but you can call me Bucky,” His voice sounded rough and gravely, and he clutched a coffee cup half the size of my head.

I snorted. “Science child, sure,” It wasn’t half-bad actually. I wisely choose to ignore the part of being Tony’s. No matter how hot the man was, I wasn’t anybody’s but my own, thank you very much. “Go get the bananas, Nutella and maple syrup, fellow science child.”

Peter scrambled to follow instructions as I plated the pancakes and cut the bananas into neat little rings to fill the sweet circles with. A tablespoon of Nutella, half a sliced banana, wrap, garnish with powdered sugar and pour maple syrup generously on top. I really didn’t see how this could be difficult but any and all attempts to teach Peter how to recreate my masterpiece always ended up in an absolute mess. I turned around to ask Bucky if he wanted any. The look of a man starved answered all my questions.

“You’re a goddess,” Peter moaned around his mouthful, nose smudged white with the powdered sugar.

“Gross, chew first then talk, you neanderthal,” I scoffed, prepping more batter for the second batch of pancakes. I wasn’t sure if everybody would show up but figured it would be rude to exclude them from the sheer magnificence that were my pancakes. I was just that good.

The music in my ear drowned most of Peter’s disgusting chewing noises, thankfully. My second batch vanished into thin air, inhaled by the two males like the garbage disposals that they were. Peter, in particular, ate an alarming quantity of food and I was surprised how he managed to stay so skinny. His daily eating schedule resembled the Hobbits.

More people appeared, this time acting less surprised regarding me standing at the stove. Hawkeye, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and her brother, all of them wandered in wearing sleep attire with various amusing prints. Thankfully, they mostly kept quiet or chatted with Peter - I would have definitely grumbled if someone tried to talk to me. As far as my body was concerned it was still the middle of the night.

“PANCAKES,” A booming voice announced and I shuddered at the sheer intensity and devotion contained in that one word. Thor.

“Please use your indoor voice,” I snapped reflectively. My brain caught up with what I just did so I hastily backtracked. “Sorry, I’m a bitch in the mornings.”

The blonde man chuckled, coming over to poke his nose into my flurry of pour-flip-fill sequence. Then, with all the grace and manners of a prince, he dipped one (1) large finger into the jar of Nutella and wandered off with it stuck in his mouth. With this turn of events the Nutella was bound to run out sooner than expected.

I turned around, annoyed confusion in plain sight. “The fuck?.. That’s gross, don’t do that,” Finding his brother (adopted!) sitting next to Thor, wearing a haughty smirk, finger still in his mouth. So Loki turned into his brother to steal Nutella from a jar. I sighed. Nobody even batted an eye. “Your alien germs are in there now, double ew.”

“Alien germs? Where?” Bruce entered the kitchen with a tablet under his arm, wearing Hulk themed pajamas, Captain America in tow. I was honestly on the verge of breaking down into hysterical laughter. Domestic Avengers wasn’t something I’d expected to see or experience, ever, much less be a part of. It took a moment for me to remind myself that they were people, too, and each of them was entitled to their own quirks. 

“America, egg-splain,” Peter muttered under his breath, giggling. “Loki stuck his hand in the Nutella jar,” He pointed at said jar. “She got grumpy,” Peter pointed at me. “Don’t make her grumpy, please, I want more pancakes,” And turned his pleading puppy eyes in my direction again.

“This is indentured servitude,” I pointed my spatula at the little shit. “You just had, like, ten.” But I made more batter nonetheless. I must admit it was kind of cool, seeing the earth’s mightiest defenders so relaxed. And Pete being happy, that was just… The best. I don’t know how to explain it. His eternal cheerfulness was highly contagious.

Chuckles filled up the room, the adults chatting and bickering amongst themselves while they patiently waited for their own breakfast. 

“Do you need some help?” Bruce approached me after stopping to fetch himself a cup of tea. It smelled strongly of tangy herbs and honey.

“I need more Nutella and bananas,” I admitted, surveying the sheer amount of people I had to feed. I didn’t doubt the Captain and two Asgardians had an appetite to match Peter’s which meant a literal extra set of condiments was required. Thankfully, Bruce fetched them for me, coming to a stop next to me. “Anything else?”

“You know, I tried making these with Peter and he just ended up with powdered sugar and chocolate all over himself,” I mused, noting the way Banner was carefully observing the assembly of a pancake. “You think Doctor seven-phds can manage to add a few toppings to a pancake without causing a disaster?“ 

Bruce rolled his eyes fondly, bumping me with his hip. "I’m no Clint Barton when it comes to cooking but at least I don’t burn my toast like Steve,” True to his word, his hands made swift motions of filling, wrapping and plating each individual pancake. They were almost as good as mine albeit more messy. I had lots of practice though. We finished off a batch in companionable silence, sounds of the team and my music playing in the background. 

I didn’t notice when I started swaying to the rhythm, catching a confused look from Bruce. I brushed back my hair, revealing a wireless headphone in my ear and he chuckled in understanding. “What are you listening to?”

“Right now? Kings of Leon,” I said, leaning towards him so he could hear the chorus “Use Somebody” currently occupying my right ear. 

“I like them, too,” He said, his cheek gently touching mine. His hands slowed on the pancake, a soft hum vaguely reminding me of the song’s melody emanating from his throat. “What else do you usually listen to?”

“Mostly heavier stuff, but I have a whole separate playlist dedicated to mid-2000s bops,” I answered. “I’ve heard I’m quite old school when it comes to music.”

“Well, I am an old man, so…” Bruce grinned mischievously. “But my guilty pleasure is Lady Gaga,” He admitted with a laugh.

I laughed, too. The image of his dancing in his lab to Born This Way was too much for my brain and I hung my head, fighting giggles. Bruce bumped me with his hip again, faking a pout. “Okay, okay, that was a fucking hilarious image, you go dude,” I finally powered through my struggle to contain laughter. “My own guilty pleasure would be… Umm… Lana Del Rey, I guess.”

Bruce made a vague noise of confusion. I took a brief break from mixing the batter to dig out my second headphone, presenting it to him and switching to a song. “This is what makes us girls”. Despite the fact I have never stolen a car or had a close female friend, the nostalgia was real. “Carmen” followed after the first song and I silently thanked whatever deity that “You can be the boss” was taken out of Spotify - I don’t think I was prepared to share that kind of information with a lab partner. An older, handsome lab partner. Wait… Where did that come from?

“I like it,” He said after the song ended and my more usual stuff began playing. “It suits you, I think.”

I groaned. “Really? I think it’s edgy,” Hiding away the embarrassment, I passed him a tray of freshly baked pancakes, occupying his immediate attention.

“You’re an old soul,” He gave me a lopsided smile. I saw a very faint blush tinting his cheeks, the kind of blush that had me wondering about the meaning behind his words. 

I gave an attempt at a smile in response, the left corner of my mouth barely tilting up. We talked some more about the rock music we shared in our earphones. I had a lot of 80s hair metal and 90s grunge in my playlist. Bruce was not a Curt Cobain man but enjoyed the works of his legacy, Marcy Playground. 

A tan hand wormed its way between me and Bruce, snatching a handful of banana slices and disappeared just as swiftly. “Tonyyy,” Bruce groaned, picking up another banana to replace the stolen pieces.

The spatula in my hand became a weapon as I blindly aimed at the target behind my back. A loud “ow” indicated I hit it. When I turned around, Tony was clutching the side of his face, a hurt look in his eyes and cheeks stuffed full of stolen goods. I stared him square in the face, absolutely refusing to acknowledge the fact that he was shirtless - the arc reactor glowed brightly in the middle of his toned chest. Fuck.

His chest was honestly what I was aiming for. I constantly kept forgetting how short he actually was. There was this one time when Tony had to put his arms around me to steady a piece of tech - he felt huge, hard and enormous around me. 

“What’s that for, Princess?” He finally chewed through his food and found his voice.

“For being a Tony,” I retorted. “Stay away from my workspace and wait for your breakfast like everybody else.”

“Hey! This is my kitchen,” He whined immediately, like the adult man that he was. I nearly cried from how adorable his face became, eyebrows scrunched up. “I don’t want to wait! And why does he,” Tony’s finger accusingly pointed at Bruce, “Get the bananas?!”

“Because he’s Brucie-bear,” I stuck my nose up in the air when Bruce’s arm wrapped around my waist. “He’s my science father,” I stuck my tongue out at Tony, seeing Bruce’s triumphant smile. Banner used every opportunity to get back at Tony’s incessant sass. 

The gleaming in Tony’s eyes should have alarmed me. “But he’s not your science daddy,” Tony’s flirting was accompanied by a salacious eyebrow wiggle and Peter’s screech of “OH MY GOD!" 

It took me every ounce of willpower to not flush. It was one of those rare times that I was at a complete loss of words. Thinking on the spot, I gave a very meaningful look to Bruce - thankfully, he got the gist and returned an equally filthy smirk back. Tony gaped.

"Is this how they are in the lab?” The Captain’s quiet voice leaked horrified amusement.

“All.The.Time.” Peter’s resonating groan was followed by Romanoff’s laughter.

We went up to the lab after breakfast. Thankfully Tony stopped his dramatic bitching when I served him my pancakes, scarfing them down much like everybody else. So me and Pete were accompanied by one (1) happy engineer, all three of us tinkering away on a robot that we were supposed to present in our science class in a month. The focus that was required to solder was immense and our usual banter was missing, replaced by an occasional request for a specific tool or a water bottle.

It took a few hours to get the dirty job done even with Tony’s help (technically he wasn’t supposed to but neither me nor Pete had the heart to forbid him from it when the man looked so content and happy soldering away). By the time I uncurled from my spot on the bench, my back was in knots and my dress had oil stains and holes all over it. I immediately went to the nearest water bottle, finishing half of it in seconds, picking up my phone to see if I had any important messages from my mother.

None.

Just a message from Bruce.

I tapped on my phone, idly scrolling through the Instagram app, liking some pictures of people I barely knew and keeping up a general appearance of being very busy. When the ringtone started playing, it took me a whole five seconds to understand it was, in fact, coming from my phone - I certainly wouldn’t put something so… Outrageous as my main tone.

Banner had discovered the power of the internet. You Can Be The Boss played loudly, and it played from my phone and Bruce was calling me. I picked it up, turning around, fighting the incoming laughter. “Yes, Brucie?" 

To say that Tony’s and Peter’s faces were scandalised was nothing. The boy’s face was such a deep shade of red, I started worrying about his blood pressure and Tony’s mouth hung open limply, like he was witnessing the second coming of Christ. 

"Is Tony sufficiently traumatized?” Judging by the breathless tone of his voice, Banner was resisting a mighty laughing fit of his own.

“Oh, absolutely,” I happily chirped.

“Good, keep it up. Come to my lab before you leave,” Banner snorted and then, realising what he’d done, promptly hung up, the tell-tale beginning of a giggle fit abruptly interrupted by a dial tone.

I put the phone in my bag, gathering the rest of my things with a look somewhere between innocence and indifference. At least, I hoped it was - my mind kept jumping between the engineer’s ridiculously scandalised face and the way his mouth went slack, lips moist and soft and plush. That’s a very dangerous trail.

A very dangerous trail I couldn’t resist exploring in the solitude and privacy of my own bedroom, at home.

[winterbanner]

Mercy (Bruce Banner/OFC)

Summary: Bruce is upset after a mission goes awry. Can Catherine's words help him to see himself in the way that she does? Takes place six months after the first avengers film. 

Tags: Angst, Emotional Hurt/ Comfort

Word Count: 2687

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Rated PG-13

Pairing: Bruce Banner x OFC (Catherine King, former SHIELD agent gone rogue, now a member of the Avengers.) Her name is only mentioned twice, so just ignore it of you’re looking for a self-insert) 

It wasn’t easy being an Avenger, but today felt especially taxing. The battle wasn’t necessarily harder than others, it was the civilians that made the experience all the more horrific. They were everywhere, scattered throughout the streets, sprinting in a panic to find cover, to save themselves from the cataclysmic destruction. We tried to direct them all to safety, and for the most part we were successful, but there were only seven of us and hundreds upon hundreds of them.

When it’s your job to save lives it becomes difficult to focus on the positives, to think about the ones you saved, to consider how many lives would have been lost if you were not present. It is impossible to celebrate a victory, when the dead bodies of innocent civilians, bloodied and lying under the rubble, products of a conflict in which you were involved, are imprinted in your mind. It haunts all of us, but perhaps no one more than Dr. Banner.

I saw it happen, a young couple, was attempting to run into a department store for cover. Hand in hand they attempted to dodge the flying debris, while avoiding the menacing robotic soldiers that flooded the streets. 

Hulk was there, doing his duty smashingly, taking cars, and large chunks of metal, and throwing them at our adversaries, leaving them as nothing more than a pile of wires. The decision had been made to keep Hulk off the field as much as possible, for Bruce’s sake mostly, but also in the hopes of lessening the inevitable damage. There were times, however, when his strength was needed. For those occasions we taught him to avoid civilians, and the effort was made. Oftentimes you could find him gently careening around a group of huddled innocents, stepping between them and whatever destructive chaos we found ourselves faced with. This time however, he made a mistake, and when Hulk makes a mistake, the consequences can be gruesome. 

He heaved a car, vaulting it over his head at a group of enemy soldiers, but in the midst of our enemies stood the young couple, and as the car came crashing down, they were crushed. The young woman was left barely alive, screaming for her partner, who could be found a few feet away, his head crushed under the fender. Her outcries of pain and grief echoed through the streets, and over the sounds of metal clanging and weapon blasting, piercing our ears, with guilt and shame.

It wasn’t Bruce’s fault. He had no control over what precautions the Hulk did or didn't take, but despite his genius, that concept was something he couldn’t seem to comprehend. Bruce can see what happens during the time he spends as the other guy, he can see the destruction and death, just as much as any of us can, the only difference is that he can’t choose to run away, to duck for cover, to defend rather than attack. He has no control.

It was getting late, our wounds had been tended to, and we were beginning to settle down for the night. For many of us that didn’t necessarily mean sleep, it meant going onto our prospective floors to process the day's events. I, however, wasn’t planning on heading up to my quarters just yet, I wanted to check in on Bruce. I knew for a fact he hadn’t eaten, and I could also guess the toll that the day’s events must’ve taken on his mental state.

As I stepped out of the sleek silver elevator, I could see Bruce out on his balcony, staring down at the destruction from hours before. It was cold outside, and he still hadn’t changed out of the ripped up clothes he scrounged up from the battlefield. His curls were still dirty and his hands were shaky as they clung to his opposing forearms, squeezing himself tightly. He had been crying, the evidence found in the redness of his eyes and the wetness of his cheeks. I grabbed a blanket that laid haphazardly on a nearby chair, and approached the terrace, food in hand.

“Hey,” I whispered, in an attempt not to startle him.

He jumped, before turning around to see who exactly the voice was coming from. When he saw that it was me, I saw the tension in his body release. “Hey Catherine,” he croaked. He was sitting on a patio sofa, staring out over the mangled concrete, flashing police lights and Stark Industry construction workers, that littered the streets of Manhattan.

I gently sat down next to him, before placing the steaming plate of pasta on the nearby coffee table. I took the blanket, and began to wrap it around his shoulders. He winced at my actions, afraid for me to touch him.

“It’s okay” I whispered, as I slowly placed a hand on his, in an attempt to show that I trusted him. I took the blanket and draped it over his broad shoulders before sitting back down again and turning my body towards his. It broke my heart to know that he was afraid to let me touch him, that he thought of himself to be that dangerous.

“Thank you.” he said, finally looking me in the eye.

I grabbed his hand and gave it a loving squeeze, a nonverbal you’re welcome.

He then turned his gaze back to the streets, his expression immediately hardening, holding within it a plethora of sorrowful emotion.

I looked over and saw that the plate of food had stopped steaming, growing colder from the chilly New York air.

“I brought you some pasta, Clint made it so it might taste like shit.” I joked gesturing the plate and fork towards him.

He smiled briefly at my comment. “You didn’t need to do that,'' he said. Before taking the serving of pasta. “You didn’t need to come all the way up here for that.”

Bruce always had a way of deflecting your kind gestures, of making himself feel like he didn’t deserve them. “You haven’t eaten in hours Bruce and even if you had, I still wanted to come up here and check on you anyway.”

He looked up at me, his brown eyes filled with gratitude. “Thank you, really thank you.” he said before twisting some pasta onto the fork and bringing it to his mouth.

“And surprisingly it doesn’t taste like shit.” He joked causing me to chuckle.

We both sat and watched the policeman directing traffic as he ate, all within a state of silence. From an outside perspective Bruce wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but when you took the time to get to know him, it wasn’t long before you realized that the man could talk your ear off. When he was passionate or excited about something, he could talk for hours, patiently explaining every particle, and every computation. Watching his face light up when I would ask a question, or when he realized that I was understanding, had become an occurrence I adored. Tonight, however, he didn’t utter a word. Probably in the fear that he may break down in front of me.

He finished up his meal quickly, he must’ve been starving, before placing his empty plate down on the table, and looking back to the street. It was honestly nice to see the city being picked up, to remind ourselves that the damage done can be fixed. There are certain types of destruction, however, that cannot me mended.

Two EMTs approached a pile of rubble. We witnessed their struggling to retrieve something, and to our horror they emerged with the body of a woman. They checked her vitals, and by the looks of dismay, it became apparent to us that she was dead. The emergency workers retrieved a body bag, and gently zipped up her carcass, thus sealing her fate. My heart ached as I thought of her family. That innocent woman could have been a wife, a parent, a child. Now remembered as a life cut short, lost to those they loved forevermore. I felt the pang of guilt press down on my chest, my mind overcome with the thought that that we could’ve somehow prevented the gruesome scene sprawled out before my eyes.

I looked over to Bruce, his eyes wide as he gazed upon the tragic scene that lay before us. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it, I swear he didn’t even blink. He felt as though he deserved to watch this scene, to wallow in the pain that he may have caused.The screams of that young woman probably still echoing in his mind. I reached over and put a hand on his back, before rubbing small circles.

“Bruce let’s go inside okay. We don’t have to watch this” I said softly, as I gently gripped his chin pulling his gaze away from the street below to look at me.

He nodded in agreement, more concerned for my well-being that his. We both stood up and walked back inside to his sitting area, my hand still resting softly on the curvature of his back, as we took our seats on his familiar sofa. I had spent many nights sitting in this same spot, whether that be drinking and laughing with him and Tony, or after a mission in a similar situation as this one, I felt at home here, with Bruce. There were even some mornings where I had accidentally fallen asleep on that very cushion, only to awaken and find myself perfectly tucked in, with the smell of maple pancakes wafting from the kitchen.

After watching what had just happened, Bruce was trying even harder to hold back his emotions. He sat there, his hands shaking as they clasped together, his head hung in shame staring at his feet, his eyes glistening with tears. I scooted closer to him, before wrapping an arm around his feeble frame, my thumb gently rubbing his shoulder. He leaned into my touch, his weight shifting so his body pressed into my side.  

“What happened today wasn’t your fault.” I whispered, rubbing my hand up and down his back, in an attempt to bring him back to reality, away from whatever thoughts plagued his mind.

He pulled away, recoiling at the sound of my words that were telling him the exact opposite of what he had been telling himself. “I-I saw it happen, If I had just taken control, if I had just…”, he looked down once more, placing his head in his hands in an act of frustration. He wasn’t angry at me, he was angry at the Hulk for not being more careful, and mostly he was angry at himself. Angry that he couldn’t save them from the giant he was forcibly given the responsibility to manage.

I will never know what it is like to be plagued with something like the Hulk. The risk of danger and violence forever living just under the skin, unable to be fully contained or controlled. I will never know exactly what Bruce suffers through, but in this situation I unfortunately had some expertise.

I sighed, causing Bruce to look up from his sorrowful stance, as I adjusted my sitting position in the effort to make myself more comfortable.

“Ten years ago, I got a call from Fury telling me I was needed in Chicago for a negotiation. Some prick wanted access to SHIELDS weapon blueprints, in exchange for what I was told was “highly classified cargo”. I was instructed to give the contact false intel, it was risky, but nothing I wasn’t used to. “

“I had guessed that this special cargo would have been some sort of weapon, or at the worst maybe a high profile hostage, but when I arrived on location it turned out to be so much worse. These masked bastards had children, I’m talking little kids, lined up execution style. They looked so scared…”

At this point my breaths had become more shaky, causing me to take a moment to gather my senses. Bruce had scooted himself closer in an attempt to comfort me.

“I was so fucking pissed at Fury for not telling me, I just- I wasn’t prepared ya know?”

Bruce nodded and rested his hand on mine as if to let me know that I had his full attention.

“I proceeded with the negotiation, and at first it seemed like it had gone off without a hitch. My partner sweeped the place, and I was told that every child was safe and accounted for. Things, however, went to shit when he insisted the calculations on the blueprints were off. He pointed his gun at me, and without hesitation I blasted him. What I didn't see was the little boy who had been standing behind him.”

My eyes were now filled with tears, and my emotions made it so it was harder to speak.

“I- I killed him. He must’ve been hiding, and they didn’t count him. He was so scared, but there was nothing I could do. I-”

Bruce’s arm had now been gently wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me against his side.

“He was perfectly innocent. So, I guess that makes me a killer.” I whispered.

“No,” Bruce softly uttered. “Catherine, no you’re not-”

I pulled away from his grasp. “I should’ve looked closer, I should’ve double checked I-I”

“Stop, that wasn't your fault.”

I paused for a moment to regain my senses, before turning to look Bruce in the eye.

“Bruce, I killed that little boy, me myself and I. I was in control of my decision making, I did that. So, if that poor boy’s death wasn’t my fault, then how is what happened out there today your’s?”

“Catherine it’s not the same.”

“Your damn right it’s not the same. If anything, I'm at more fault than you are. I, Catherine King, am a killer.”

He looked at me saddened by the words I said, “Don’t associate yourself with that, you’re not that, not you. I’m the monster.” 

I took his face in my hands, forcing him to look me directly in the eye. “Why can't you grant yourself the same mercy you’ve given me?” He looked down, at a loss for words. 

“Bruce Banner, you are no killer, you are no monster. I know what evil looks like, and you aren’t it. Everyday I go out there and find myself met with the absolute worst shit that the world can offer. So, when I get back, I go see you. I go up to the lab, or come find you here because Bruce, you remind me that there’s still good left. You make me feel safe. I couldn’t feel that way about you if you were a monster.”

At first he sat there in awe, at a loss for words. The last few years of Bruce’s life had been ones of fear, isolation, and self-deprecation. His kind nature and mild-mannered disposition, met with violence, scorn and pain. He didn’t deserve to have gone through all that he did, but he didn’t realize that. His experiences were those fit for the monster that he and the world had so convinced himself he was. So, at the sound of my words, he began to tear up, not because of sadness or fear, but out of gratitude. Ever since the accident no one one had ever told Bruce that they felt safe in his presence. That they didn’t see him as a potential threat, a ticking time bomb.

After a moment, I noticed the look on his face grow soft, as he pulled me into an embrace. His chin resting on my head, as his arms wrapped around me. His hold was gentle, but all encompassing. It was as if he was afraid he’d hurt me if he squeezed too tight, but everything within him was telling him to never let go. I tightly hugged him back, carding my fingers through his hair, as I guided his head to rest in the curvature of my neck, all in the hopes of making him feel the truth behind my words, to make him feel human.

“Thank you.” he whispered.

And in that moment, with the two of us intertwined in the others embrace, we felt safe.