#in a way you could read that Mat as Nat which i didn’t mean to do

[ghoulbats]

omg can you handwrite 'mat has the most beautiful arse' thank u bestie

anything for Nat <3

[captains-simp]

hey! so i love wanda and i was wondering if you could write one kind of enemies to lovers or something like that where reader and wanda don't get along well, jealous scene or maybe a very suggestive fight. very angst but happy fluffy ending please

Enemies to lovers owns my whole gay heart and I CANNOT write it without there being sexual tension so xksksjsks smut alert

@g-cordelia hope it's okay to combine your request with this too so there's a healthy dose of angst and fluff with it

"Please don't go."

"Don't you fucking lie to me."

Warnings: choking, fingering, spanking, strap on sex, mentions of oral and hints at mild injury

6k words

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Your actions jeopardised the whole mission." Steve said sternly before raising his voice when he saw he received no reaction from you or the redhead. "Whatever is going on between you has to stop!"

"You say that like it's ever been any different." Natasha added.

The pair that usually felt like the protective big brother and sister of the team where acing the role of disappointed parents. Admittedly that did make you feel bad, but Wanda showed no signs of giving an apology and you would be damned if you did first.

Natasha and Steve waited for any kind of response from either of you and got nothing. You and Wanda continued to glare at each other from opposite sides of the table, your stubnorness stopping either of you from looking at the two standing at the head of the table.

"Just write up your reports." Steve sighed, giving into the tension of the room before anyone else. If it had been just you, Wanda and Natasha there was no telling how long you'd be in there.

You both got up from the table at the same time, still refusing to break eye contact.

"Y/n stay behind a minute." Oh so they're switching it up to disappointed teachers now. Your attention fell to Steve in a look of confusion although that didn't mean you missed the smirk that played on the corner of Wanda's lips. You cursed her like a sailor in your head and hoped she heard but her back was to you and she was strolling out the room.

"I thought you guys were getting better." Steve sighed as he leant against the table.

"We were when we didn't have to talk to each other." You said honestly. There had been a few weeks prior where you and Wanda had had no missions together and therefore had no reason to talk or train with one another.

"You can't resort to avoiding each other as a way to solve your problems. All that does is make things escalate even more when you're actually together which will inevitably happen. Because believe it or not you two are on the same side and have to act like it." Natasha said sternly. You stared down at the table and thought about how how her words were. But it wasn't like you had that warning before.

When the pair infront of you knew you weren't going to say anything in response Steve filled the silence once again. "You're both suspended from missions until you can learn to work together." He decided.

"What?!" You cried as you snapped your head towards them and stood up. "You can't be serious."

"Deadly." Natasha said. You looked frantically between the two in disbelief.

"Alright." You said finally and clenched your jaw. You turned around and left the room without objection from the two Avengers, heading straight towards Wanda's room.

You never really knew why you and Wanda never got on. Maybe it was because she reminded you so much of the popular girls in high school you always envied while wanting them in your bed...no, it definetly couldn't be that. You just didn't know what.

It didn't take long to get there when you were walking like you were out for blood, that wouldn't be an unexpected result of what you planned. You banged on her door several times in a closed fist so it didn't take her long to answer.

She looked concerned when she opened the door and as soon as she realised it was you that same smirk from the meeting room fell back into place.

"Did they ground you?" She asked as she leant against the doorframe.

"Suspended." You spat. A shit eating grin started to appear but you wiped that off her face instantly. "Both of us."

"What the fuck? I didn't-"

"Yes you fucking did and now I'm paying for it too. You wanna know the best part? We can't go back in the field until we can work together nicely." You said bitterly.

"Why don't they just keep us on separate missions?"

"You can go ask them that later. Right now we're training." You said simply and you grabbed her forearm and pulled her out of her room down the corridor.

"We just got back." Wanda argued but followed you anyway after slapping your hand off her.

"Not prepared to put the work in, witchy?" You mocked, not looking at her as you marched through the compound.

"Don't call me that?" Wanda warned as she kept your pace.

"What are you gonna do? Read my mind?" You continued to taunt as you arrived in the gym and made your way to the mats.

Wanda put her red jacket on the floor and stepped away to take up her position as she eyed you. "I could snap all your bones into pieces so small they could be mistaken for ash." Wanda said stoicly.

"I don't think that's gonna get you another mission." You replied calmly, knowing that while there was a truth to Wanda's words she would never give you more than a split lip or bloody nose in the worst training sessions.

"Don't be a smartass y/n, it doesn't suit you." Your jaw clenched at her words.

Without warning, the entirety of your right arm lit up in flames and was aimed at Wanda in an instant.

You sent a wave of fire her way that she swiftly engulfed in her powers and sent back towards you. She looked less than impressed from your warningless attack.

"That was tacky." She said.

"I know, seemed fitting for you." You grinned but stopped when the red mist surrounded your body and lifted you into the air before a larger wave of fire was sent hurtling down to the redhead. The wall of fire blocked her view of you and subsequently dropped you to the ground as she dealt with the flames.

As soon as you landed and the fire parted you sent another blast Wanda's way only for her to do the exact same thing. You both ducked at the same time, your powers hitting opposite walls and leaving marks Tony would be on your asses about when he found out.

Wanda was clearly thinking the same thing. "We can't use our powers in an enclosed space, especially not yours." She said, her accent thickly woven into her voice.

"Okay then, let's see if Natasha's lessons have paid off." You said as you raised your fists and got into your defensive stance. Wanda mirrored you the way she had been taught and narrowed her eyes.

"They definelty have." She insisted as her eyes flickered over your form to try and identify your weak points already in a very obvious way.

"Just try to keep up." You mocked and swiftly moved to swipe her legs out from under her but she was surprisingly prepared. She jumped up to avoid your attack and kicked her leg out mid air and landed it on the center of your chest. You stumbled back in shock while Wanda looked very proud of herself. The last time you saw Wanda train it was clear she wasn't familiar with close range hand to hand combat. You hadn't expected her to improve so significantly in such a short amount of time.

You gritted your teeth and went for her stomach this time which she easily avoided but wasn't expecting another attack to follow so quickly. She blocked the continuous blows from you until you saw your moments and kicked one of her legs out from under her. Your mistake was thinking you succeeded the moment she was down because she spun around and kicked both of your legs out. You caught yourself partly as Wanda stood up so you were on kneeling.

Wanda's smirk was quick to take place when she saw your position, not missing the opportunity. "You look good when you're on your knees." She quipped.

Your eyes widened at her boldness and a heat rose up your neck that you knew wasn't your powers. You rolled back on the balls of your feet and swiftly stood up to look anywhere but the smug redhead infront of you.

"No snarky remark for that?" She challenged and you charged at her again. Anger feuled your attacks making them miscordinated and all round bad.

"Shut the fuck up, Maximoff." You huffed and made her grin even more at the clear signs that she was getting to you.

One of your punches was pushed to the side and Wanda took the chance to show you just how much she had learnt from Nat. You weren't entirely sure how she even did it it was so quick. Your arm was outstretched behind your back painfully due to Wanda's unrelenting grip on it and made it that much easier to push one of your legs down onto the floor. She held you like that for longer than necessary, soaking up the view of you struggling in her grasp.

"Get off." You snapped and winced when she pulled your arm back more.

"What's the magic word?" She teased.

"Now." You demanded. She tutted and pulled harder. "Maximoff!" You ordered through the pain. She leaned down beside you as her voice dropped to a low whisper.

"Beg." It was one word but you couldn't deny the effect it had on you. It was as though her light breath on your ear shot throughout your body and settled in a place you really didn't want it to.

You were about to object and tell her to stop being a bitch but her grip tightened and she pulled to a point where you thought your arm might just snap off under any more pressure.

"Please." You cried through gritted teeth. She instantly let go all too quickly and you collapsed onto the mat on your front. You heard her chuckle menacingly but cut herself off when Nat appeared in the doorway.

"We told you to write up your reports, not train." Natasha scolded as she watched you massage your shoulder and glare at Wanda.

"Sorry, just got a bit carried away." Wanda smiled, her innocent and sweet act that she put up for everyone except you returning. "Y/n's had enough now anyway." She smirked to herself.

"Fucking psycho." You muttered loud enough for her to hear but not Nat. Her jaw visibly clenched from that making you revel in the small victory as you finally got up from the mat.

"Just get on with the reports." Nat sighed and turned to leave as Wanda called out.

"On it."

"Aww, you trying to be a good girl, Maximoff?" You mocked as the pain subsided and your need to overrule what had happened came through.

"I don't have the time to stress over that, not when I'm busy putting brats in their place." Wanda said as she advanced towards you with a look you had only ever seen aimed at those you were fighting against.

"What?" You whispered as you backed up and felt your back hit the wall. Wanda's hand came up suddenly and wrapped itself around your throat firmly and cut off your breathing. Your eyes widened as you grabbed at her hands but she didn't budge. She looked amused at your efforts as her head tilted slightly to the side.

"And you certainly need to learn your place." She took her hand away and left you gasping for air for a split second before grabbing your arm and pulling you out of the gym.

You stumbled a little as you tried to keep up with Wanda's long strides you could usually match. Your whole body was already trembling in anticipation, more so by the tension filled silence between you both as you travelled through the compound and ended up outside the redhead's room.

She opened her door and shoved you into her room swiftly. You didn't have much chance to take in your surroundings because the Sokovian gripped the back of your neck and forced you to lay on your stomach on her bed.

She made quick work of your clothes, discarding them to some soon forgotten about corner.

You turned your head to the side and gripped the sheets as you felt Wanda's slim fingers trialing up the back of your thighs before she gripped them roughly and forced them apart and lifted your lower half up. Her fingers returned and glided along your drippikg folds, collecting your arousal as she reveled in the effect she had on you.

"What was it that made you this wet, slut? Was it being on your knees for me? Begging me? Or did you enjoy the pain? I bet you enjoyed me choking you too." She chuckled darkly and didn't wait for you to respond.

She slipped two fingers inside your soaking cunt without warning making you gasp out in pleasure. Her fingers curled inside you beautifully, brushing some kind of nerve ending every second they were buried inside you. She had you a moaning, quivering mess in no time.

"Wanda...fuck! Right there, oh God!" She snickered against your skin as she worked her fingers expertly. Even then she wanted to test you. Well it was more that she was setting you up for failure.

"Shut the fuck up. I don't want to hear another sound from that whiny mouth." She ordered and you couldn't help but shiver from her dominant nature.

Of course it didn't last long. Her fingers felt so damn perfect inside you and you couldn't help but moan at the unspeakable pleasure.

She brought her hand down fast and landed it on your ass with a harsh smack that echoed through the room. She did it to both of your asscheeks until they were bright red and you were trembling. The sadistic redhead didn't stop there, she continued to rain down smacks that edged you further to your edge with the pleasurable pain.

Soon, you were moaning into the air as you came around Wanda's slim fingers, desperatly clenching around them in an attempt to prolong the pleasure. Thankfully, she kept pumping her fingers inside you, not caring when the overstimulation kicked in. She even started scissoring her fingers inside you, stretching your walls in a way that has you whimper loudly.

"Gotta stretch you a little to get you ready for my piece, sweetheart." She said in a sinister tone. "There's no way you'd be able to take it otherwise, it's already going to reck you with its size." She husked into your ear and withdrew her fingers, spanking you again when you whined.

Wanda got off the bed and disappeared into her closet, shortly returning with a large strap secured around her waist and pointed at you. You whimpered at the sight of it, not sure you could handle its size.

The Sokovian kneeled behind you and gripped your hips with both her hands as she lined up the strap with your entrance.

"I'm going to fill you up so nicely, Princess. Gonna have your cumming in no time." She husked, her voice dripping with lust.

A scream was ripped from your throat when Wanda thrust the entirety of the strap into your pussy. She set about her harsh, abusing pace instantly and preened at the sound of the pleasure filled cries that left you.

She grabbed a fistful of your hair and slammed your head down into the pillows on your side do she could still hear all of your desperate moans. The rough action earned the redhead a cry of her name.

Her pace was unrelenting, everytime she thrust back into you she somehow managed to hit deeper, pounding the toy against the most sensitive and pleasurable part of your cunt.

"Mommy!" You moaned loudly, not realising your slip up until the words left your lips. Your eyes widened and you feared Wanda's response, but what you got was a smack from the redhead that stung your ass in the best way. Her fucked you with increasing vigor too, wanting you title to spill from your lips again. And it did. Over and over, each time going straight to Wanda's pussy.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum." You whimpered as you gripped onto the sheets tighter to prepare yourself for your release. But Wanda pulled the strap out the the very tip and held it there as she leant over to whisper in your ear.

"Beg me." She ordered and you whimpered again. It wasn't like you hadn't already submitted to the red head you hated but begging would be something that would loom over you for a while.

Your thoughts clashed with the overwhelming need from your pussy as it desleratly tried to clamp down on the tip that didn't provide nearly enough pleasure.

"Please, Wanda." You whispered.

"Please who?" She asked sweetly, clearly testing you making you groan.

"Please, mommy just let me cum." You whined and Wanda smacked your ass hard. She edged the dildo in further ever so slowly and stopped again.

"Mommy, please! I need to cum." You tried again, desperation seeping into your voice. Wanda hummed.

"I can see that." She mused as she rubbed small circles on your throbbing and soaked clit. "I just don't see why I should, brat." She punctuated the name with a harsh slap to your ass again and you caught onto what she was hinting at.

"Please, I'll...I'll be so good for you, mommy."

"Yeah, baby?"

"Yes! Please mommy I'll be so so good for you. Just please please let me c-" You were abruptly cut off by your own whorish moan as Wanda snapped her hips forwards and filled you up entirely.

One of her hands tangled itself in your hair and forced your head down into the pillows, not stopping your incoherent babbles filling the room along with the sound of your pussy being fucked by Wanda and her thighs slapping against yours.

The Sokovian tugged on your hair again so your head was off the pillow.

"I'm gonna cum!" You cried out into the air.

"That's it, baby. Soak my fucking cock." And with that demand you came harder than you ever had around Wanda's strap and moaned continuously as the redhead prolonged your pleasure by continuing to pound into you.

But it soon became too much for your sensitive pussy. You squirmed away from Wanda but she placed one hand on the middle of your back to keep you flat against the bed.

"Too much." You managed to say, however the redhead didn't seem to care.

"I'm nowhere near done with you, Princess."

*

Laying panting and gripping onto Wanda's bedsheets like a lifeline wasn't exactly what you expected to be doing on a Thursday night. You were drenched in sweat and although Wanda had pulled out the toy minutes prior, you were sure you could still feel it filling you up, the faint throbbing a forewarning of what was to come.

It took you a while to gather the strength to get up. With anyone else you probably would have just stayed the night in their bed, but you weren't sure you could do that with Wanda. Although she wouldn't kick you out, you didn't like the thought of sleeping beside the redhead. It seemed far too...soft? Whatever it was, you were sure Wanda would agree.

You searched for your clothes while she took a most likely deliberately long shower, images of her naked figure covered in water invading your mind.

Once you cursed them away they were just replaced with flashes of what you had been doing for all those hours, remembering how she pulled on your hair as she praised you when you went down on her. Of course you did that while on your knees.

What happened between you and Wanda wasn't a one time thing. In fact it became increasingly common until you were in each other's beds almost every night. You would have been fuck buddies if you had considered each other a friend.

It worked. You and Wanda were able to work out your pent up frustration towards each other in a way that didn't hurt one another....well, if that didn't include the scratches along Wanda's back and the constant aching between your legs.

You didn't even make snide comments about each other in meetings or during training. You were able to keep everything in the bedroom.

The success of what you two had going forced you to ignore the noteable change in feelings you had towards Wanda. You saw her differently but couldn't quite tell how. Sometimes it was as though the unplaceable emotion you had towards her from from start spiked and other times you were purely confused.

It was always most prominent after she made you crash over the edge of bliss or when she came undone beneath you. Those moments when your bodies went limp and you were caught up in each other's embrace because you didn't have the energy to move. Hearing her exhausted breathing match her rising and falling chest and faint heartbeat if you had your head on her chest. Those tender moments were the ones that caught you off guard.

You refused to make a big deal out of it though. You refused to investigate your feelings or even acknowledge them. What you had with Wanda was the most efficient thing you could do. You didn't want to muck it up but you knew it couldn't go on forever. Another labelless feeling emerged at that thought.

Natasha was the only one who knew what you were doing. Neither of you told her, the spy was able to figure it all out on her own quickly and confronted you both about it once, only saying to be careful. That was the only time she addressed it verbally but you could always feel her watching you both carefully when you trained.

You thought it was going great. You and Wanda had finally been cleared for a mission that you would both be on, the team certainly needed the man power. That was until Nat told you otherwise.

"What do you mean I'm not going?!" You exclaimed across the room. You had seen Nat in the meeting room looking up something on her tablet and had gone in to enquire something about the mission that was long forgotten.

"I've thought about it and you and Wanda still aren't deemed the most reliable when put together for a mission, with this one being as important as it is we can't afford to make mistakes." Natasha sighed.

"So why don't you take Wanda off the mission? I have more experience."

"Her powers are perfectly fitted to this mission, we need her."

"And not me." You knew you came across as petty, but you had been dying to go back into the field.

"Y/n." Nat tried but you scoffed and glared at the screens with those assigned to the mission. Your eyes found Wanda's picture first and your jaw clenched at the sight of her ridiculously attractive face.

"What did she say to you?" You demanded as something clicked in your brain.

"She didn't say anything, this is my judgement." Natasha began but you didn't buy it.

"We both know if it was you you would have told me as soon as you decided it. You had no issue with me and Wanda being on this mission before. Hell, you cleared us both for the field." Nat glanced down at her tablet guiltily as she searched her brain for another hopeless lie.

"This is unbelievable." You scoffed and turned sharply on your heels to storm out of the room, ignoring your name being called by Nat.

You soon found Wanda in the kitchen making herself a coffee as she hummed softly. You willed your brain to ignore the warmth you got from seeing the redhead in her own, peaceful world.

"Do you have a problem with me?" You demanded, snapping her out of her trance. She visibly figited when she saw you approach her and lean on the edge of the kitchen island on you hands with an expectant look.

"No?" She said, seeming unsure.

"Don't you fucking lie to me." She seemed startled by your increasing aggression.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as she stirred her drink.

"Don't play dumb with me, Maximoff. You got me off the mission!" Wanda stopped her movements as she froze, clearly caught off guard by your discovery. Given how Nat had acted you guessed you weren't meant to find out it was Wanda who said something.

"It's for the best." She finally said but avoided your eye.

"It is not your place to decide what's best for me, you don't get to do that." You argued.

"There should only be a few people on the mission." She tried.

"I know that, I've seen the intel. But we already discussed that those people should be powered. Why am I being taken off?" You demanded again.

"It's dangerous." She muttered as she stared down at her drink.

"It's my fucking job. You think I don't know that."

"Of course you do, but there's a bigger risk than the usual missions we've been on. A bigger risk of you getting hurt." She muttered the last bit, like she wasn't entirely sure she wanted you to hear her. Granted, Wanda showing concern for your safety was new.

"Any one of us could get hurt." You said, lowering your voice marginally.

"But it's you I'm worried about." She insisted. It was your turn to become uncomfortable, shifting slightly under her gaze that held something new.

"I can take care of myself." You said as you crossed your arms, feeling a sudden defensive need to protect yourself.

"I know... but I care about you." You exhaled slowly, becoming increasingly uncomfortable at the tone of her voice. "If something happened to you..." She continued, "I don't know what I would do." Her voice was barely above a whisper, the softness laced in it undeniable. It sparked something in you. Something you didn't want to accept.

"Good luck on your mission, Maximoff." You said through gritted teeth and went to leave but Wanda was behind you instantly and took ahold of your hand to pull you back.

"Wait, I wasn't done-"

"Well I am." You snapped and yanked your hand out of her grip.

"What..?" She said slowly.

"If you don't want to work with me then we won't, no need to keep fucking anymore." You huffed and went to walk away.

"That wasn't what I-"

"Stop!" It wasn't a cry of anger. It was pure desperation. Your pleading look took Wanda by surprise and pained her to see. "Just stop before you say something you can't unsay." You said shakily. Your unspoken message was received. You didn't want to hear about Wanda's feelings towards you. She just didn't know it was because you were afraid that it would uncover what you had been feeling all along. You couldn't handle it. You were scared.

Wanda nodded, defeated, and let you go. You were filled with grief as you walked away, your footsteps feeling heavier than usual. You wanted to look back, to go back to her. But you couldn't.

*

You distracted yourself with a particularly ruthless training session the day of Wanda's mission. Carol showed you no mercy in sparring, weight lifting and boxing - even encouraging power use every now and then. But your mind still wandered to the redhead the way it usually did.

When you finally collapsed on the mat in defeat Carol chuckled and tossed you your waterbottle before encouraging an ice bath and strolling out of the gym for her evening flight.

You stayed on the floor for a while after you finished your water, only stopping staring up at the ceiling when Nat's outline blocked the lights. You sat up and looked at her hopefully, seeing that she was back from monitoring the mission and didn't seem distraught or upset.

"How did it go?" You asked as she sat down across from you.

"It was a success." She said but she didn't seem all that happy.

"And everyone's okay?" You asked cautiously. Nat gave a half shug and sighed lightly.

"There was ice - a lot if it and it was so cold. Dangerously cold." Nat started. You tried not to clench your jaw or show any signs of annoyance, knowing there was no need to point out that mission was fitted for you and your powers that would have guaranteed everyone's safety.

"Wanda got a little cut up, it was impossible to fight on that ground." You eyed the door and bit your lip, refraining from giving in to the urge to go see her.

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, but she needs seeing to the cut." Nat said as she placed a first aid kit down infront of you. She was back already? And why did you have the kit?

"She won't see anyone either." Nat said before you could verbally question her. It took a moment for you to understand what she was saying.

"I don't think she wants to see me, Nat." You said as you pushed it back her way only for her to toss it into your lap.

"Goddmit, y/n. Can you two stop dancing around each other and actually talk?!" She exclaimed.

"We tried that-"

"Talking, y/n, not shouting or arguing. Talking." She said firmly and got up before you could protest further.

You pondered over what Natasha said for a while. You knew she had a good point, that talking was exactly what you should have done from the start, but it was just another thing that frightened you.

"Your job is facing your fears." You muttered aloud to yourself.

You finally got up from the ground, first aid kit in hand, and trudged along the compound towards Wanda's room. You tried to figure out what you could say on the way. But it all came out a jumbled mess that made no sense. Multiple times you stopped in the hallways and considered turning back before convincing yourself to keep going.

You knocked softly on Wanda's door and was surprised that it opened for you. The redhead in question was sat on her bed with a pillow in her lap, fiddling with her hands the way she always did when she was anxious or deep in thought. That evening it was both.

She glanced up at you as you closed the door but turned back to her pillow quickly when you gave her a short smile that didn't quite meet your eyes.

Regardless, you cautiously walked towards her bed and sat down next to her with the small box between you. You brought one of your legs up under you so you could face Wanda and eyed the cut above her eyebrow in concern. She still didn't say anything, neither did you.

You opened up the small box and got out a pack of wound closure strips and carefully unwrapped one. Wanda didn't object to you gently holding the area around her cut as you placed the strip on and lightly smoothed over the edges until you were sure it would stay on.

"I let my emotions cloud my judgement." She mumbled as you prepped another strip.

"It happens to all of us." You said.

"But I didn't listen to you. I should have." You sighed and stopped unwrapping the strip to look up at the redhead and watch her closely. She looked back at you with a guilty and pained expression that was full of regret.

"Yeah." You nodded slowly as you went back to the medical tape and raised your hands to put it on but the Sokovian held your wrist to stop you. "What's done is done, so just let me put these on and we're good." You said but she still didn't let go.

"Just like that?" She questioned.

"The mission was a success. If I'd had been there you wouldn't have gotten hurt, that's all."

"You were really mad though." She continued and you put your hands down to rest them, not failing to notice that Wanda was still holding your wrist but with a much lighter grip.

"It's hard to stay mad at you." You admitted.

"You've always been mad at me."

"Well it wasn't exactly like you were the friendliest person to me." You pointed out. "I was never mad at you, Wanda. I just hated that... that you made me feel something I've never trusted, so I didn't trust you. It was never your fault, I was unfair." You admitted as you stared down at the tape the whole time, afraid to meet the redhead's eyes.

"What did you feel?" Wanda asked, her voice void of emotion making it more difficult for you to say. You gulped as you continued to stare at the tape, willing yourself to give Wanda the answer she needed. The answer she deserved.

"Love." You voice shook. "I loved... love you." You were shaking more as you finally looked up at Wanda. Her eyes were wide and her lips slightly parted like there was a million thoughts trying to be heard but without the ability to.

She didn't say anything for a while. A long while. She stared at you in disbelief then at her pillow as though it would give her all the answers.

Tears rushed to your eyes that you tried to blink away as your head swam with curses to yourself for admitting your feelings. You had opened up and been vulnerable to Wanda, and the result was the exact reason you had sworn to never do it again.

Once you were sure she wasn't going to say anything to you, you took it as your cue to leave. To leave so Wanda could prepare her rejection speech for you. However, as soon as you put your hand to the door she spoke out.

"Please don't go."

You turned around slowly and met her light brown eyes you had always found impossible not to get lost in when you had your fingers or tongue inside her. You timidly went back to the bed and paused before sitting down next to her, facing the wall instead of her this time.

"I thought it was one sided." She started and you felt yourself begin to shake with nerves again. "I thought you didn't love me back." You looked to Wanda quickly and searched her features for any signs of a lie, any signs that she was setting you up to push you down but she was gazing back at you longingly with tears glistening in her eyes.

"When you confronted me about the mission, I was going to say it then, you knew that." You squeezed your eyes shut and nodded, remembering the fear you felt in that moment.

"I wasn't ready, I thought I wouldn't ever be but," You took a deep breath "I want to try, for you." You took ahold of Wanda's hand to reiterate your point. "I care about you too Wanda, so much. More than I could ever express or even handle and I didn't know what to do about it. I mean we've tried a fair few things now," You both laughed a little, "but it I don't think any of them are going to work as well as accepting it and...and I don't know." You looked to her for guidance because fuck did you need it. You needed Wanda to guide you down whatever path you chose to take, as long as she was there with you.

"Maybe we could start with something small." She suggested with a small smile that made her eyes shine.

"Like a coffee date?" You tried.

"Exactly like that." She confirmed, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Then I'll pick you up around 2." You said cheesily making Wanda laugh. "But first, I have to finish tending to this cut." You declared as you turned around to face her entirely and crossed your legs under you, pausing for a moment to give Wanda a short and sweet kiss.

[ceterisparibus116]

Hi hello I am in love with your writing! I was wondering if you’d be willing to talk about your take on all of Matt’s ships? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Think they’re okay? Think they’d work long term? Think they’d sink fast? (Examples: Karen/Matt, Claire/Matt, Elektra/Matt, and even fan favs like Foggy/Matt, Frank/Matt, Nat/Matt, Jess/Matt, Maya/Matt) You don’t have to do all or even any, you can ignore me, I’m just interested in your personal opinion!

Aaaa, this is such a good question.

*disclaimer* these are just my opinions. Please don’t read if you aren’t prepared to read something potentially negative about your favorite ship. And please don’t start a ship war here. Art is subjective and we all find different meaning in it, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Okay, so first off: I ship Matt with therapy. That’s the OTP. Next up would be Matt with either a puppy or a kitten. Pairing Matt with another person is great for drama but not necessarily good for him (or the other person) unless therapy is involved. And it’s probably even better with a puppy or kitten involved. So that’s my threshold answer.

Now I’ll go ship by ship. I’ll be analyzing these primarily in terms of how I think they function as a ship, with less of a focus on chemistry. Chemistry, to me, is way too subjective. Besides, I’ve seen it said somewhere that Charlie Cox could romance a lamp or something, and that’s 100% true. I think he has chemistry with everyone. Different kinds of chemistry, sure, but chemistry nonetheless. So that’s not a terribly useful metric for analysis. My focus in the analysis is largely on what the characters have in common, with a secondary focus on how they complement one another. As my parents (two psychologists) say, “opposites attract, but commonality stays together.” Especially commonality on certain issues like core values, worldview, etc. So with that in mind, let’s dive in!

I’ll start with Matt x Karen (aka Karedevil) because I think that’s the ship I’ve written the most for. My favorite thing about Karedevil in terms of writing it is that she, like Foggy, is more central to legal plotlines (which are obviously my faves) than characters like Claire, Frank, Elektra, etc. My second favorite thing is probably that their core values are so very close. I think Karen ultimately prioritizes Truth for Truth’s sake slightly above Helping People, whereas Matt prioritizes Helping People over Truth (which explains their different approaches to the Castle trial; she was most focused on figuring out what was going on, and he was most focused on helping Frank – and then on helping protect the city from the Hand). But both of them care about people broadly and without discrimination, and both are willing to lie down on the wire to save everyone from friends to strangers. So in many ways, they’re mirrors of each other. I also really like how the show committed to growing both of them through their relationship. Matt had more growing to do, but both of them needed to get better at communication and compromise, and both of them do get better. They also seem to genuinely have fun together—and I know some people think they didn’t have chemistry in Season 2, but I can’t get past the scene where they’re working on cross-examination questions in Matt’s apartment together. There are still lies and secrets hanging between them, but they’ve gotten past the first-date awkwardness by this point, and you see how they have so much fun problem-solving together. (And can I just say…as a lawyer, I desperately want someone I can trial prep with. So yeah, that scene has my heart.) Similarly, the scene where she whispers to Matt to strategize during the fight at the church in Season 3 shows how compatible they are, even though she can’t exactly fight alongside him. They’re similar, yet complementary.

Next up is probably the fandom’s most popular ship: Matt x Foggy (aka Mattfoggy). I love reading Mattfoggy fics, although I’ve only written one myself. Shipping Matt with Foggy tends to lead to more domesticity and fluff for Matt, which I 100% support, and that’s probably why Mattfoggy fics are more likely to be my comfort fics. And ultimately, that’s one of Foggy’s great strengths: he cares about people and is willing to put himself in danger, sure, but he also values comfort and security, and I think it’s really healthy for Matt to be exposed to that (and, at times, forced to accept it). I also love that Matt and Foggy are both lawyers. I have some lawyer friends who insist they’d never date another lawyer because they think they’d argue too much, but I personally would love to be with another lawyer (heyo single lawyers, hit me up���jk, jk) because: a) I wouldn’t have to explain as many of the things that I’m either worried or excited about, because the lawyer would already understand the concepts; and b) lawyers tend to enjoy having debates without getting their emotions involved. I love that Matt and Foggy could speak the same language, so to speak, and could use their logical reasoning skills to debate stupid, silly things for fun as well as important things to try to find common ground. Plus, the fact that they lived together for so many years (either college + law school or just law school; it’s unclear) shows that they genuinely enjoy each other’s company and get along well with the day-to-day stuff. All that said, my main gripe with Mattfoggy is that I’m still not sure Foggy actually understands how important Daredevil is to Matt. In Season 2, he showed that he still hasn’t understood everything Matt’s been saying since Nelson v. Murdock when he tried to insist that Matt and Daredevil haven’t always been the same person – which also is acting like he knows Matt better than Matt knows himself, which, y’know, yikes. Foggy redeemed himself a bit by bringing Matt the suit in Defenders, but that’s only after treating Daredevil like an addiction earlier in the season, and I’m pretty sure Foggy brought him the suit not because he approved of Daredevil but because he wanted Matt to be safe. Then in Season 3, Foggy’s priority is basically in bringing Matt back and, again, making sure Matt doesn’t hurt himself (e.g. by killing Fisk), but Season 3 doesn’t actually show Foggy acknowledging that Matt needs Daredevil. We don’t even see Foggy thank Matt for saving his life. (C’mon, writers. Did you deprive us of that scene on purpose???) So I’d love to see Season 4 Foggy really come to genuinely appreciate Daredevil (even while encouraging Matt to be more sensible about it), but until that happens, I think Foggy can never really understand and support all of who Matt is at his core. Then if that happens, the next issue will be compromising on how much injury/risk Matt can endure while Foggy takes responsibility for his own emotions. Yes, Matt needs to be more aware of how his choices affect those around him, but Foggy also needs to be mature enough to accept that Matt-as-Daredevil means Matt will get hurt and take risks. Foggy needs to figure out how to be okay with that rather than guilt-tripping Matt over it (e.g. “I’ve covered for you enough as it is” and “every time I come up those stairs, I’m afraid this is the day I find you dead in your living room” – those lines always upset me). If Matt and Foggy can get all that sorted, though, I think they could fall into the mutual trust, respect, and enjoyment that they had in their school years even with the complication of Daredevil.

Next up: Matt x Frank (aka Fratt), another popular ship. This one just – I’m sorry. No, not to me. Not in a romantic sense, anyway. They’re both hot, I’ll readily concede that, but their beliefs are so diametrically opposed on such a crucial issue—because, y’know, I think the value of human life is a pretty important issue. I don’t think they can work romantically until they come to the same page on that. Genuinely, by the way, not one of them just appeasing the other. However, if we assume they can get on the same page, then I think Fratt has a ton of potential. They can complement each other really well, and Frank will certainly call Matt out on his bad decisions, and I’m always hyped about Matt being paired with someone that Matt doesn’t feel he needs to protect. Matt will be protective, because that’s just who he is, but he can reasonably trust Frank to not die even if Frank goes after someone dangerous. The same just can’t be said of Foggy or even Karen (since having one gun and being a decent shot is nothing compared to what Frank has been shown to be capable of).

And that, of course, brings me to Matt x Elektra (aka Mattelektra). Aw, these two. Chaos. I kinda love how she can bring out Matt’s playful side and get him to loosen up; she’s similar to Foggy in that way, except even more mischievous. I love imagining them crashing, like, fancy politician parties and wreaking havoc, or engaging in wild malicious compliance sorta stuff to oppose bad laws. But in most ways, she’s similar to Frank, and I think the same is true of her as of him: she and Matt won’t work long-term until they get on the same page with the value of human life (except that’s an even bigger problem for them, because Frank respected Matt’s convictions insofar as he didn’t want Matt to change, whereas Elektra actively tried to push Matt into violating his own convictions), but if they agree there (willingly—neither of them pushing the other to conform to their own view of morality, because yeah, Matt’s guilty of that too), they have a lot of potential. And it’s awesome that they have such a similar upbringing because they can automatically understand each other so much better given that both of them were trained by Stick. That said, I have one other major issue with Mattelektra: the way that she shows so little respect for the other parts of Matt’s life. Now, she redeemed herself a little in trying to help the Castle case (I don’t believe she knew it would backfire), but she still expresses so much disdain for his legal profession and his friends. Their relationship can’t be healthy if she refuses to see Matt for all that he is.

We’ve also got Matt x Natasha (aka Mattasha, I think?) which I love. Nat can handle herself in a fight like Frank and Elektra, but her view of morality is much more similar to Matt’s. She seems okay with killing people if she thinks it’s the only way to protect others, but she isn’t as calloused about killing as Frank, and not as gleeful about killing as Elektra. At the same time, they can both appreciate losing their childhoods and being trained as child soldiers. Also, listen – they can spar, and it’s gorgeous. Their fighting styles are almost identical (check out these analyses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COFN_AMwLP4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOYbAEWb5E). I love it so much. I think Nat would appreciate settling down in Hell’s Kitchen and having a quieter life while still being able to help people when she goes out at night, and if she decided to work adjacent to Matt’s legal work, her experience as a spy would be a huge help. If she wanted to go another route, though, I’m sure Matt would support whatever calling she wants to pursue. Yeah, I’d love to see them heal together.

Anyway. Circling back to the Netflix shows, there’s also Matt x Claire (aka Clairedevil). I love how they have the core value of Help People At All Costs (he risking himself, she continually risking/losing her job), and I appreciate that Claire has, like, a normal job and isn’t just off in Vigilante World (because tbh I think if Matt’s partner is primarily a vigilante, that makes it way easier for him to segregate his life, and we all know how well that works out). I was so sad when Clairedevil wasn’t canon, but I was also proud of Claire for drawing lines. I just wish she’d communicated more clearly so she and Matt could’ve negotiated and found more common ground. See, I think the thing that really freaked her out was the fact that in S1, Matt said he was willing to do “whatever it takes.” That’s what led to their breakup, so to speak. And what kills me is, Matt won’t do “whatever it takes” since he won’t kill! *sigh* Anyway, if we assume that they reach agreement on how far Matt should go as Daredevil, they still need to work on communication styles. It kinda bothers me how bitingly sarcastic Claire can get at Matt, basically calling him an idiot and a disaster all the time. It’s unkind, and besides, it’s totally ineffective (since Matt never goes “Huh, you’re right, I’m totally being an idiot here”). Claire needs to be gentler with her words and express more appreciation for the ways Matt’s helping people, like she did in the first episodes of S1, and then I think Matt would be more likely to follow her advice instead of shutting her out. If they get that sorted, I think they’d be unstoppable. (Also, I said I wasn’t gonna talk about chemistry, but if I have to choose a ship based on chemistry, it would 100% be Clairedevil.)

Another popular Netflix ship: Matt x Jessica (aka Mess, appropriately). Aaaa, I love these two. One thing I really appreciate about this ship is that it usually involves Matt focused on helping the other party (which actually is another thing Mattelektra has in its favor, in my book), rather than the other person doing everything to help Matt. Matt demonstrates that he respects Jessica’s life, her privacy, and her agency, and he’ll basically punch anyone who says otherwise. The fact that he already knows about Kilgrave gives him additional understanding of why she is the way that she is, and I’m sure gives him even more respect for her. In the meantime, she’s great at punching through his broodiness and making him laugh. I mean, he laughs more with her in Defenders (when he’s at one of his bleakest points) in, like, a few days than he does with pretty much any character. They also have similar core values deep down, and I’d love to see Matt coax Jess into outwardly caring about people more, while she gets him to be a little less reckless.

Maya x Matt: somehow I’ve never actually read the comics with them together, and the age gap in their actors throws me a little. Theoretically, though, I can see how they could work. They have the martial arts in common, which I love; they’ve also both been hurt by Fisk. Also, to the extent that Maya becomes a hero, I think she’d be more of a street-level hero, which I believe is very important to Matt since he values Hell’s Kitchen so deeply. But I don’t have enough of a sense of Maya’s personality to know whether she and Matt would really be aligned in their values or anything.

Another incredibly obscure pairing is Matt x Malcolm Bright from the Prodigal Son show. Last I checked, I think I’m the only person who’s written that ship, lol. Let’s just say they also have a lot in common and I think they really inspire each other to be better people.

But y’all can’t be sleeping on the best ship ever: Matt x Kirsten. If you don’t know Kirsten, that’s probably because she currently only exists in the comics. (Which is such a shame, because she’s that good.) Kirsten is another lawyer, so she and Matt already have that in common. She also figures out pretty quickly that he’s Daredevil, but he refuses to admit it, and it becomes something of an adorable inside joke for them. When they finally do get together, she does an amazing job calling him on some of his issues and teasing him while still being supportive. He adores her, but doesn’t seem to put her on a pedestal the way he does with many other characters, and she adores him back. They’re both determined to help people, and at the same time, they just have fun together. It’s adorable and healthy and I love it.

Okay, so those are all the main fics I can think of atm (and some small ones too). If anyone else wants my opinion on any other fics, feel free to shoot an ask about it! Also please feel free to share your thoughts in replies and reblogs, as long as we all stay respectful of each other's opinions. Again, art is subjective, so it's not about arguing. Just discussing characters we all love. <3

Oh, and check out my fics (I have fics for Karedevil, Mattasha, Clairedevil, Mess, and Matt x Malcolm) if you wanna see how these opinions of mine are fleshed out in stories.

[lovelybarnes]

peter- p. parker

pairings: peter parker x reader, platonic!tony stark x peter parker, mom!natasha romanoff x reader, platonic!harley keener x reader

warnings: none?

about: based off of this (tiktok trend where you call your boyfriend/husband by their name)

a/n: i wanted to start a tiktok series for the longest time and this is a nice start right? i'm going to include all of the people i write for, i just need to find trends lmao. i hope y'all like this!

you pouted, glaring at tony as he ignored you, continuing to steal peter’s attention away from you. in his defense, you had done that to him before, dragging peter away by the hand the second he finishes in the lab. you could feel the smug look tony was sending your way as you gave up, and you kicked at dum-e in retaliation. “hey, bub? i’m gonna go train or something, please come get me when you’re done, i wanna spend time with you.”

peter nodded, looking over his shoulder for a second to pucker his lips at you and blow you a quick kiss, “okay, pretty girl, i promise i’ll be down in one or two hours- right?” he looked at tony, and the man responded with a distracted nod.

“promise?” you ask, too used to him saying the same thing and spending twice the amount of time. “of course, i can’t spend that much time away from you, angel.”

you blushed, muttering a “fine,” and heading down to the training room.

-

you were sprawled on the mat, chest heaving while natasha stared at you, “you good, y/n?”

“not great, mom, you really didn’t hold back today, did you?” you asked, eyes closed. you heard nat chuckle, poking you with her foot, “you did good, honey, i’m proud of you. i imagine peter is in your room sulking?”

you groaned at that, rolling over. “i doubt it. how long have we been sparring?”

“almost four hours, why?”

an hour or two, my ass, you thought, sighing. you stood, “nothing, just, he’s busy right now. is wanda around? loki? harley?”

natasha unwrapped her hands, asking for yours as she spoke, “wanda’s on a date with vision, loki is… probably being the god of mischief somewhere, and harley is in the common room doing something.”

you thanked her as she took the bands away, stretching your fingers.

“thank you, nat, i’m gonna go take a shower, thanks for letting me beat your ass,” she shoved you lightly as you walked past, and you giggled, walking to the elevator. pushing up against the glass that let you see into the lab, you spotted peter, slumped down on a bean bag chair tony had put in his lab for your boyfriend. his mouth was moving, hands in the air, and tony was in front of him, nodding along to whatever he was saying with a screwdriver uselessly in his hand. you managed to catch a sliver of their conversation,

“you know how i told you yesterday about ned? well, today, he…”

busy indeed, you thought with a scowl, watching as the elevator rose past the floor and up to yours. you grumbled as you walked to your room and resisted the desire to simply drop on your bed and call harley over, stepping into your bathroom instead.

ten minutes later, you were on the couch of the main room with harley, your head smushed against his shoulder, paying attention to the screen of your phone instead of the movie on the television. “so, you’re angry at peter?” harley asked, and you looked up at him, shaking your head.

“no, no, i’m just upset, i’ve barely seen him all week, and he promised he’d be out in an hour or two, but it’s been four-”

“maybe he’s busy?” harley offered, and you scoffed, “yes, gossipping about ned-”

harley bit his lip, “maybe it was a break?”

you shrugged at that, leaning on him again, “maybe. i still miss him, though.”

harley hummed as you scrolled past the videos on tiktok, coming across one of the couple videos that had been popping up on your for you page ever since you posted a video with peter.

harley swiped your phone in excitement, pointing at the video, “hey, you should do this! scare him a little.”

you tilted your head in confusion, taking your phone back apprehensively, “do what? you didn’t even let me watch, and what are you talking about?”

your eyes settled on your phone, mint letters reading calling my boyfriend by his name instead of his pet name. you laughed at it, realizing that harley was right.

as if reading your mind, harley smirked, “he would freak out, sometimes i think you forget each other’s real names.” you gave him a look, and he raised his arms in a sign of surrender. “i don’t know, it’s not a bad idea. people have been asking me to prank him for a while now.”

“see?” harley said, satisfied with himself. “i’ll do it, if i ever see him again, that is.”

“oh, you are so dramatic,” harley huffed. “you love me,” you scoff, and you feel him nod, “yes i do, now, go away, i haven’t been able to concentrate on my movie at all since you came here.”

you harrumph, and just as though on cue, you hear peter come through the door of the living room. you hum when you feel him press his lips on your forehead, “hi, beautiful,” he greets, shoving harley’s head away as his hello.

“hello to you too,” harley mutters, and you feel peter tug at you, “come on, let’s go to your room.” you laugh and pat harley’s thigh, “i’ll see you later, harls.” he waves you off, and you stand before letting peter drag you to your room. right when you’ve clicked the button to your floor, peter still outside of the elevator, you remember the video, stiffening up. “actually, can you get me some water, peter?” you ask, and you only catch a glimpse of peter’s face as his eyebrows furrow, voice saying a cut off “yeah,” the elevator doors closing on his face. you chuckle while the elevator lifts, scrambling to pull out your phone and setting it up to make a tiktok. you sprint to your room, closing the door quietly and sitting on your bed, pretending like you were on your phone as you waited for peter’s hurried steps to come closer.

three tentative knocks came from your door and you clicked record before telling peter to come in. “hey, princess,” he spoke softly, and you smiled, “hi peter.”

he winced, setting down the glass of water on your table. you gave an insincere frown, “what’s wrong?”

“i just- did i do something wrong?” peter asked, puppy eyes in full blow. “no?” you say, feigning confusion, “why?”

“it’s- you called me peter,” he whined, and you breathed out in a sort of laugh, “is that not your name?” you queried, and peter puffed out his cheeks, “you only call me that when you’re mad.”

you laugh fully now, “when have you ever seen me mad at you, peter?”

peter crosses his arms, huffing, “i don’t know a peter.”

your mouth falls open slightly, “peter!-” you don’t get to finish when peter turns his head away from you, bottom lip jutting out and eyes looking up at nothing, “peter isn’t here, i’m bubba, or handsome, or-”

“oh my god,” you snicker, “dude, it’s-”

peter turns to you, mouth open in indignation, “dude- y/n/n!” he cries, and you drop your phone on the bed, noticing the video is done.

you’re smiling, stretching your arms out to him as a peace offering, “it was just a tiktok, petey, and it was also all harley’s idea-”

“i thought you were mad!” he complains, accepting your arms and wrapping his own around your waist, head on your chest. you respond with a small snort, running your fingers through his curls, “i didn’t think it was this big of a deal, it’s just your name, bub.”

peter doesn’t respond, nuzzling his head further into your boobs, “mean.”

you just roll your eyes, grabbing your phone to post the tiktok (which amassed over three million likes after an hour).

(@lovelyrdjr )

[nothere-notthere-nowhere]

Long Nights

Word Count: 1883

Genre: Fluff I guess? A little angst if you squint?

Pairing: Wanda x Fem!Reader

Request:  Hi! How are you? I loved so much Oblivious and Your Wanda, they are both so amazing and I was wondering if I could request a fic? a romantic Wanda x femreader, something like Wanda recently joined the team and she doesn't like y/n because she thinks y/n goes clubbing too much with Bucky but the truth is that she was a winter soldier like him, so Bucky goes out with y/n at night to help her redeem herself and then Wanda finds out? Thank you so much and I love your writing!! - Anonymous

A/N: First request done! Thank you for reading and I hope this is what you wanted :)

“Long night?” Natasha smirked at your yawn, using two hands to hold her mug.

“Something like that,” you joked back, grabbing the freshly brewed coffee from her hand and taking a sip. You heard a light scoff and turned to see Wanda regarding you with an annoyed look in her eye.

“Sorry, did she make this for you?” You asked. You had a habit to just take things from the older redhead.

Instead of a response, Wanda rolled her eyes before making her way out of the kitchen.

“Did I do something?” You asked Natasha, who was still staring at the coffee you’d stolen from her. 

“I don’t know, she’s probably just filled with teen angst still.” Natasha grumbled, grabbing a new mug.

“C’mon, Tash, that’s not really fair.” You told her. “She just lost everything. And she’s not a teen.” 

“We’ve all lost everything, Y/N.” Natasha deadpans. “Twenty-two is basically a teenager, by the way.”

“Cut her some slack,” You laughed. “She’s probably still getting used to this place.”

“Whatever,” Natasha dismissed. “Steal my coffee again, and you’re gonna lose a finger.”

“You say that every time.” You laugh.

---------

“Buck, you ready to go?” You asked him, walking out to the common area. You were dressed in your signature black leather jacket and ripped up skinny jeans. Your staple, in a sense.

“Yeah, let me grab a jacket.” He clapped you on the back as he walked past.

“You’re going out again?” Wanda’s voice nearly startled you. She was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed.

“Uh, yeah?” Your response came out as more of a question.

“Figures.” She rolled her eyes, turning to head back in the direction of her room.

“Okay, why is she so upset with me?” You ask Bucky when after she leaves.

“How should I know?” He laughs. “Come on, we better go.”

It was a long night, trying to make amends for all of your crimes was difficult. Bucky understood, he’d been through pretty much the same thing. But that didn’t make it any easier for you to relive the awful things you’d done to people. 

Especially when you arrived at the house of a frail old woman, who’s only son you’d ruthlessly murdered. He was her caretaker. So, Bucky helped you to do small things for her, paying for a nurse and grocery shopping. But tonight, the nurse looked at you with sadness in her eyes. 

“She doesn’t have much time left.” She told you. “She keeps asking for him. I don’t know what to tell her anymore.”

The poor old woman had a multitude of illnesses, the most prominent being her dementia. So, hearing the old woman calling out for her dead son…. You weren’t exactly sure what to do with yourself.

“It’s my fault, Buck.” Your voice broke on the walk back home. “He’s the one thing she can remember and he’s fucking dead because of me.”

Bucky knew better than to interrupt. You didn’t see reason in times like these.

“I’m a monster.” You continued. “No matter how many people I help, it can’t erase the past!”

“No, you can’t.” He told you, knocking you out of your rant. “You can’t erase the past. That’s why you’re trying to make up for it. Paying for an old woman’s healthcare won’t bring back her son, you’re right. But it counts for something.”

“I feel awful.” You tell him. “I can’t get them out of my head, sometimes. Does it ever go away?”

“I don’t know.” His somber tone reminds you that he, too, is struggling with this. 

“You can go back,” you clear your throat, “I’m going to take a walk.”

“You sure? It’s late.”

“Yeah, I won’t be long.”

Bucky squeezes your shoulder comfortingly before walking off in the direction of the tower. 

You’re not sure how much longer you were out. But eventually, the crisp air was drying the tears on your cheeks and you knew it was time to get back to the tower. There was no point wallowing in guilt in the middle of the city.

“Back so soon?” Wanda’s bitter words stopped you in your tracks. She was standing by the sink, glass of water in hand.

“Not-” Your voice cracked. “Not tonight, okay?”

Wanda’s face falls briefly, her mouth opening like she wanted to ask what was wrong. But you were out of the kitchen before she could speak.

-------

You rolled out of bed late the next morning, cursing under your breath as you searched for some clothes to throw on.

“You’re late,” Natasha walked into your room, extra coffee in hand.

“I’m aware.” You threw your hair up into a ponytail, throwing on running shorts while Nat lounged on your bed.

“Clint’s already waiting for you.” She informed, picking up a book from your bedside table.

“Better not keep him waiting then, huh?” You mutter, taking the mug of coffee as you made your way out of the room. 

“Bucky said you were out later than normal last night.” She said, giving you a pointed look.

“Natasha,” you warned. 

“You know you can talk to me, right?” Her eyes are soft, face full of genuine concern.

“Yeah, Tash, I know.” You give her a small smile to soothe any worries.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Clint teased, tossing you a baton. Natasha squeezed your shoulder briefly before walking over to where Wanda was waiting for her on another mat. 

The morning passed slowly, Clint getting the better of you more than not. You were tired and slow. The older man teased you relentlessly, poking fun and putting you on your ass.

But, at some point, as you picked up your leg to kick Clint in the side, you forgot to hold back your strength, sending the blond man flying to the side.

“Oh my god!” You heard Wanda exclaim as you ran over to Clint.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry, Hawk,” you rushed out. “I wasn’t paying attention! I’ve just been so tired. Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay.” He chuckled, groaning a little as he moved to stand up. 

“Are you sure?” You asked, offering a hand to help him up.

“Yeah, kid, I’ve handled worse.” He limped off the mat, leaving you to roll your eyes at his term of endearment. You were easily fifty years older than the man, but you still looked to be in your early twenties, which Clint loved to call attention to.

You heard a light scoff and glanced over to see Wanda glaring in your direction.

“Okay, what’s up?” You ask her. The attitude was getting old.

“You’re lucky this was just training! What if this was a mission?” She all but exploded on you. “You value a night out at some shitty club with who knows how many girls more than the safety of your team!”

“Leave her alone, Maximoff.” Natasha cut in from nearby.

“Why should I?” Wanda spits. “She clearly doesn’t care about anyone but herself!”

Natasha steps between the two of you, the only thing stopping her from defending your honor being your hand on her shoulder and a gentle “Tasha” as you pull her away from the brunette.

“You’re right, Wanda.” You nod. “There’s no excuse for causing harm to a teammate. That’s on me.”

Wanda simply rolls her eyes bitterly and leaves, muttering something about checking on Clint.

“Why do you let her believe that?” Natasha asks, exasperated.

“She’s right, Tash, there’s no excuse for hurting a member of the team.” You tell her.

“There’s a reason you’re out so late most nights.” The shorter woman reminds you.

 “And Wanda doesn’t need to know.” You respond in the same tone. “Besides, she’s just being protective of Clint. You know how close they’ve gotten since Sokovia.”

Natasha just shook her head.

-------

“You’re seriously going out again?” Wanda’s jaw is clenched as she stands, arms crossed, by the door.

“Uh,” You stutter, “Yeah?”

“Unbelievable.” She storms off.

“She’s kinda cute when she's angry like that.” You joke with Bucky.

“You like her, don't you?” Bucky elbows you lightly.

“What?”

“That’s why you won’t tell her where you go.” He nods, putting it together in his head as he speaks. “You like her.”

“Hey, man, I don’t know about all that. She doesn’t like me though.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You grab his arm to stop him as you walk on the sidewalk.

“Why else would she care so much about you going ‘clubbing?’ She’s jealous.” He tells you like it was obvious.

“You think so?”

--------

When the two of you return to the tower, Wanda approaches you. She’s fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lip in that cute way she does when she gets nervous. Bucky claps you on the back, wishing you a good night, though the look on his face says ‘good luck.’

“Can I talk to you?” Wanda asks.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” You nod, expecting her attitude.

“Natasha told me.” She says.

“Fuck-” 

“I’m so sorry for judging you.” She cuts you off, her words rushed. “Even if you were out clubbing, it was none of my business. I just.. I was so angry that I was so drawn to this person who didn’t seem to care.” 

“You’re drawn to me?” You smirk at her.

 “Unfortunately.” She jokes. “Please tell me you got more out of that.”

“Yeah,” You laugh, “I’m sorry for not telling you. I just… If I’m honest, I didn’t want you to think badly of me.”

“Have you forgotten where I came from? I don’t think I have the right to think badly about anyone’s past.” 

“True,” you laugh again, “But I don’t want pity either, you know?” 

“I don’t pity you.” Wanda says, her hand resting on your arm. “I admire what you’re doing. The way you’re righting your wrongs.”

“It's the least I can do for the pain I caused these people.” You tell her, dropping the eye contact.

 “Well, it’s admirable.” 

“Back to this drawn to me thing-” you start.

“Absolutely not.” She pushes your shoulder gently, face burning as she does.

“You said it!” 

“And we’re not going to revisit it.” 

“I’m drawn to you too, if that helps.” Your hands find her waist, pulling her close to you. 

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about it.” She remarks.

“We don’t have to.” You shrug, savoring the feeling of her hands on your shoulders, her touch light, almost hesitant.

“So what?” 

“So, if you're drawn to me, I’m drawn to you… I think we both know what we should do now that doesn’t involve any talking.”

Wanda’s breath hitches at your words, her face mere inches from your own. 

“And what would that be?” Her voice is quiet, eyes glancing at your lips.

“Well,” You start to lean in. “This whole drawing metaphor, I’ll go get some paper. You grab the pens.”

“You’re infuriating.” She giggles at your response. 

“You like it though.” You tell her, finally leaning in. Your lips catch hers and she all but melts under your touch. Her lips are soft, plump. You can faintly taste her chapstick. She pulls back after a moment, resting your foreheads together.

“You’re right.” She giggles. “I do like it.”

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Hi! I saw that you might be interested in writing fics about Sigyn x Loki and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to do this because it is a little angsty and doesn’t really fit your description of what she was doing during Thor but could you maybe write something where Sigyn dies somehow a little before the events of Thor happened and Sigyn’d death was what lead Loki to do New York. And maybe he was pardoned and joined the avengers and they notice that Loki wears a ring and they start getting really curious. Maybe they ask him or Thor about the ring and find out about Sigyn. I know it doesn’t really fit what your version of Sigyn was doing during Thor but I would really like to see how you write this.

A/N: You’re right, this isn’t how I picture Sigyn in the MCU. I want her to be a more active character and really don’t like fridging my ladies if I can help it. That all being said, it’s a fun thought experiment.  Consider this just an AU where Sigyn dies.

Also, this kinda turned into a thing, so enjoy!

Word Count: 3.3K

The transition was gradual, to say the least. Nobody really trusted Loki, apart form Thor. But then again, Thor would trust a rabid dog not to bite him if it asked nicely enough.

He had vouched for his brother’s changed ways and Loki himself hadn’t done anything directly to contradict Thor’s word. Plus, it was hard for them to deny how he had come to the rescue on their behalf and the world at large.

Still, there was an unspoken understanding to stay out of each other’s way. Only occasionally did Loki interact with the rest of the team outside of missions and even then it was mildly antagonistic, like a little kid looking for attention from their siblings.

Eventually, it just got comfortable, for lack of a better word.  They’re weren’t friends, but they weren’t enemies either and that seemed to be enough.

So perhaps it wasn’t a surprise it took them almost six months to notice the ring.

Natasha was the first to catch it.

She stood on the edge of the mat, watching Loki spar with his brother. 

It was just a casual observation.  She spent most of the match counting how many times one of them missed a weak spot of the other. Finally, Loki took the advantage and managed to disarm his brother, but not before something fell out of his shirt; a silver chain with a solitary gold ring dangling from the end of it.

Natasha frowned, her eyes focusing on the tiny object. It was just a simple band, no jewels or markings from what she could see. The only thing which struck her as odd was the size.  It was much too small for the likes of Loki.

Her eyes darted to the man in question, who stared back at her with a guarded expression.

Without a word he helped his brother to his feet, and tucked the necklace away.

He wasn’t telling and she wasn’t asking.

The next was Steve.

He couldn’t sleep, which wasn’t so unusual.  Even before he went into the ice he wasn’t much of a sleeper.  The scientist who worked on him said it had something to do with the serum. He just didn’t require as much sleep as the average person.

On nights like these he found himself wandering, allowing his thoughts to shuffle lightly in and out as he feet carried him where they liked. It therefor came as a surprise when he noticed one of the lights in the kitchen turned on and a single figure sitting at the island.

Steve stayed in the shadows, watching with suspicion and curiosity.

Loki did not seem to know he was there.  A long forgotten mug of something sat on the surface beside him.  His eyes were only for the ring between his fingers.

Steve stiffened waiting for something, anything to happen.  Knowing Loki it was a magic ring of some kind.  Perhaps he was working out a kind of spell or curse.  But, the longer Steve waited, the more he realized nothing was going to happen.

His eyes then turned away from the ring at to the man holding them.  His heart twisted.

Sorrow permeated Loki’s features, and the resignation that it was all there would ever be.

Steve knew that look.  He had worn it often enough on sleepless nights.

“Do you require something, Captain?” Loki said, turning his head up to meet his gaze.

Steve immediately stiffened, automatically preparing himself for a fight.

“No, just getting some air. What are you doing up?”

“The same as you,” he said, smoothly.  “Just getting some air.”

It was obvious neither bought what the other was selling, but it was also obvious neither were in a position to ask any further questions.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” He turned to leave, but found himself pausing before he could stop himself.  The familiar ache was back in his gut.  It was what had woken him up and it was back with a vengeance, recognizing it’s own pain in another.

“I’m sorry,” he said, before he could stop himself.

Loki’s gaze darkened, but still his grip on the ring remained ever gentle.  “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

Steve shook his head. “No, I think you do.  And I’m sorry.”

The other man remained silence, but gave a small nod.

Steve took it as his leave to go and walked away.  It wasn’t his place to ask and so he wouldn’t.

It was Clint who finally got it out of him.

He never trusted Loki, for obvious reasons.  The rest of the team might have been able to buy the changed man act, but none of them had had their mind permanently screwed with like his had. He played nice while on missions, but was soon as they were off the Quinjet, he kept as far away from Loki as possible.

So, when Natasha told him about the ring, he was more than a little suspicious.

There had to be something about the ring.  It had to be a talisman Loki could use to trick them.  Maybe it turned him invisible or he used in for illusions or whatever magic crap he called it.

Clint started to keep his eye out.

Once he was looking for it, it was obvious Loki took it wherever they went.  It was always tucked away, buried under clothes and armor.  Even when they were back at the compound, Loki never let it leave his body.

Once in a while, he’d catch Loki running the metal between his fingers in thought, followed almost always by some sort of interjection about whatever mission was at hand and how to improve it.

He had to begrudgingly agree that most of Loki's suggestions were decent ones.  Maybe the ring gave him a type of insight; seeing into the future perhaps? 

Either way, his suspicion was growing stronger everyday.  There had to be someway to figure out what it was. 

It took about a month for him to get his chance.

Loki always kept the ring on while he was around other people; however, he wasn’t so careful while he was alone. Through some carefully place cameras, Clint discovered he did slip it off before going to sleep and whenever he went into the shower. 

Sneaking in when he was sleeping was out.  Clint observed easily enough the man was a light sleeper.  Even with all his training, he doubt he could come up with a decent excuse if he got caught, which only left one other option.

He waited until the end of a particularly grueling mission.  Everybody was exhausted and a hot shower seemed like heaven, just the opportunity he needed. 

Clint followed Loki to his room.  He didn’t enter until he heard the water running.  After that, it was easy enough.  In a flash he was in and out, holding the cool metal between his fingers and booking it to the lab.

A part of him felt childish. It was more like stealing a few bucks out of his brother’s wallet, rather than a high stake’s espionage to reveal a traitor.  Desperate times, he guessed. 

Just his luck, Tony and Bruce were already tinkering away when he burst in.

“How quickly can you guys analyze this,” he said through panting breath.

The two scientist looked up in confusion.

“Somebody sell you a knock off ring?” Tony said, dryly.

Clint shook his head, not having time for jokes.  “It’s Loki’s.”

That got their attention.

“What does it do?”

“How’d you get it?”

“I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.  We have maybe ten minutes before he realizes it’s gone.”

Bruce shot Tony a skeptical look, but Tony ignored it.

“Let’s see it.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Clint handed it over.

“I’ll get a sample and see what it’s made out of. If there’s anything not of Earth we’ll find it.  Bruce?”

Banner gave a reluctant sigh.  “I can check for energy readings.  If it’s anything like Thor’s hammer, something might turn up.  But, I honestly not sure what I’m looking for. You never said was Loki was using it for.”

Clint shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I just know he won’t go anywhere without it and he keeps it out of sight as best he can.  Nat only spotted it on accident and apparently he gave her this really weird look.”

“Weird how?”

“Just weird, like she saw something she shouldn’t.”

“Good enough for me,” Tony said, already placing the ring under a microscope. “Ten minutes you said?”

“Eight now.”

“Let’s get to work.”

Two minutes in Tony discovered the ring was mostly gold.  There were trace amounts copper and nickle, but only enough to keep the metal from being malleable.  Really, it wasn’t anything one wouldn’t find at a local jewelry store. 

Bruce meanwhile, found nothing.  No radiation, no magnetic field, no anything to indicate it wasn’t just a completely normal ring.

Clint ran his hand through his hair in agitation; they had three minutes at most.

“There has to be something!”

“I’m telling you there isn’t,” Bruce insisted.

“It can’t be, why else would he have it?”

“Sentimental reasons? Maybe it’s his mother’s.”

Clint scoffed, but a nagging sense of doubt crept into his gut. “No.  You missed something.  Tony?”

“Not much, just that it’s stronger than it should be.”

Clint perked up at this. “How do you mean?”

“I mean there isn’t a scratch on it. If it has the amount of gold the computer says it does it should have some kind of wear on it, but nothing.  It’s perfectly preserved.”

Clint turned to Bruce.  “See, that’s weird right?”

Bruce rubbed his hand behind his neck.  “It is a little weird, but let’s not forget Loki isn’t exactly a local.”

“You’re defending him?” Tony accused.

“I’m not saying that.  I’m just saying we have to look at all the options.”

Clint opened his mouth to protest, when the doors slammed open behind him. 

They were out of time.

“Stark,” Loki snapped. “I want a look at those cameras you–”

He stopped, physically halting in his place as he eyes quickly shot to the ring on the table.

His expression remained cool, but Clint was just able to catch look of panic flash across his features. 

“Ah, there it is,” he said, smoothly.  “I’ll take that back now, if you don’t mind.”

He made a move toward it, but Tony was faster.

“You were looking for this,” he questioned.

Loki’s eyes narrowed.  “Yes.  I had misplaced it, but now that it’s found, I would like it back.”

“This is yours then?”

“Of course it’s mine.”

Tony nodded, giving a “what do you know about that” expression.

Clint straightened.  He could feel the tension rising between the two men.  Something was going to happen, he just had to be ready for the signal.

He was so focused on the scene in front of him, he failed to notice Bruce sneak carefully out of the room.

“It’s an interesting ring,” Tony said.  “Sturdy.”

“Indeed,” Loki said.  His mask was slipping, the frustration slowly melting it off his skin.

“I’m curious," Tony continued, "what exactly is so special about it? I’ve been running every test I can think of and nothing’s wrong with it.  Absolutely nothing.  It’s literally, the most perfect ring I’ve ever seen.” He took a pause, casually glancing in Clint’s direction.  “Might want to step back from that Barton, highly corrosive.”

Clint looked behind him to see a full beaker of bubbling liquid behind him.  Holding back a smile, he instantly understood.

“That’s all very well,” Loki said. “But it does not stop it from being mine.” He held out his hand.  “Return it to me, now.”

Tony smirked.  “Think fast.”

In a second, the ring was in the air, not towards Loki, but right for Clint.

He caught it mid-air, just in time for Loki to pivot towards him with murder in his eyes.

Clint didn’t hesitate.  Spinning around, he held the ring over the beaker silently daring the so called “god” to move.

Loki stayed in place, even as he vibrated with rage.

“Careful with that,” he warned, his voice sharp and cold as a knife.

“What is it, then?” Clint challenged.

“It’s a ring. Nothing more.”

“Really? Then I don’t see what I can’t just…” The chain slipped between his fingers.

“Don’t!” Loki snapped.

Clint caught it.  The ring remained intact, swinging dangerously close to it's demise.

Loki visibly sighed in relief, but something in his eye gave Clint pause.  It wasn’t just anger or even fear, it was pain.

He pressed his lips together, his mind whirling with what it could possibly mean.

“Why do you care about this?” Clint asked, again.

Loki’s eyes never left the glinting metal, as he shook his head.  “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.  Clearly you’ve already convinced yourself it serves some nefarious purpose.  You will not accept anything short of that explanation.”

“Give me a better one then.”

Loki lip twisted.  “I think not.  You see Agent Barton, I believe it’s perfectly within my power to take my ring back from you. The only choice you have is whether you want to keep it or your hand.”

With a flick of his wrist, a knife appeared in each of his hands, glinting sharp and ready.

“What is going on?” Thor’s voice echoed in the small room.

On instinct Clint turned his eyes away from Loki.

It happened in an instant. The sting of the cut. The cool metal slipping between his fingers.  A blast from the corner of the room. A brush of air. And a knife embedded in the wall behind, with the small chain dangling from the hilt.

Clint turned to see Loki thrown across the room.  Tony’s now armored arm was still raised, and ready for another attack.

Looking down at his own hand, Clint could see a trail of blood sliced across the back.

“What the hell?!” he snapped.

Loki struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.  His brother was at his side in an instant.  Bruce stepped in the middle of it all, his arms spread wide.

“Everybody, calm down,” he said.  “Let’s not make this a bigger mess than it already is.”

“You’re seriously showing your belly, now?” Tony accused.

“Take it more like a warning growl,” Bruce countered. 

The threat was obvious, making Tony visibly shocked.  He backed down, lowering his arm.

Thor supported Loki, bringing him fully to his feet.

“I’ll ask again, what is going on?” Thor said, will all the authority a prince of Asgard could muster.

“Just a little disagreement over stolen property,” Loki said, smoothly. 

Thor’s eyes went to the necklace still swinging against the other wall. The anger on his features nearly matched Loki’s.

“Stark?”

“Me,” Barton interjected.  “I wanted to know what Loki was hiding.  From the length he’s willing to go to to get it back, it must be something.”

Thor shook his head.  “Do you have any idea what you might have done?”

“No, that’s kind of the point,” Tony said.  “What is it, the One Ring or something?”

“It’s a personal matter,” Loki said.

“No good enough.”

“Clint, drop it,” Bruce snapped.

“No! What is it? What the hell can be so important that you’re willing to finally drop your changed man act to get it back?!”

Thor let out a long sigh. “Barton, you can not–”

“Enough, brother,” Loki cut in. “You wanted a story Agent Barton? I’ll tell you one.

“Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a prince.  Second born of his family, he grew accustomed to being looked over by others; his subject, his friends, even his father would easily pass him over."

"Does this have a point?" Clint interrupted.

Loki said nothing. 

Clint's frown deepened, but it was obvious there was no other way he was going to get an answer out of the would be king.  So, he kept his mouth shut, until Loki started again.

"The prince grew resentful, turning deeper and deeper into himself. It came to the point where nothing else existed, except the darkness.  Until one day, he came upon a maiden practicing spells in a garden."

For the first time in Clint's memory, a soft smile came to Loki's lips.

“She was beautiful and intelligent, and the prince offered to teach the maiden what he knew.  She asked what he wanted in exchange, and the only answer he could give, was her company. And so they practiced and talked, and little by little the darkness around the prince began to fade. He was still second to many, but their opinions no longer mattered.  In the eyes of the maiden, he found light.”

He shook his head.  “The prince was never sure what the maiden saw in him, but it was enough for her to agree to marry him.  He then presented her with a ring.  An ordinary ring to some, far too simple for a soon to be princess, but in it held a spell.  The ring would never fade or tarnish, as long as his love for her survived.”

He blinked, his expression darkening.  “But love cannot protect one from death.  Long after they were married, but not nearly long enough, a plague tore through the kingdom.  It infested every corner from the lowest commoner to highest lord, until finally, it arrived at the palace gates.  The prince’s eldest brother, his mother, and wife all caught the disease. After weeks of uncertainty, it was determined they would pull through, save for one. The maiden, his light, died in his arms while they slept."

Loki paused, swallowing down the emotion clearly rising in his throat.

“The darkness returned with a vengeance, to which the prince succumbed.  He turned against his brother, his father, and everyone else he blamed for his failings. Slowly but surely, he pushed them all away until he found himself falling to an abyss, completely and utterly alone.

"But, that was not the end of the prince’s story.  For you see, the prince was not as alone was he thought.  Another found him, and offered him something he had no had in years; hope.

"He told the prince he sought six stones, that when combined would bend the universe to his will, including bringing back what was long dead."

Loki's eyes grew even more distant, his hand going to his chest, instinctively reaching for a familiar chain.

"He promised the prince he could bring back his light.  All the prince had to do was conquer a single planet. A simple task, the prince thought.  And so he went, ready to burn a world for the chance to see his love again.”

A sardonic smile spread across his face.  “But the prince failed and in his failure, he realized while he might be willing to pay such a price for his love, she would not feel the same.  And so he set to make amends, all the while keeping a symbol of their love close to his heart as a reminder of the light he must always remember is there.”

Loki paused, looking up to his captivated audience. In a room full of people compelled to give the have word, not a sound was uttered.

Maintaining the silence, he walked passed all of them to where his heart hung.  With a small tug, he pulled the knife from the wall, and lay the necklace gently in his open palm.

“Does that answer your questions, Agent Barton?” he asked, taking a moment to run his finger over the flawless gold.

Clint blinked, unsure of what to really say.  He really only had one question left to ask.

“What was her name?”

Loki glanced at him, and for the first time Clint saw him, not as a would be god, but as a man, tired and filled with regret.

“Sigyn.”

[regencyslxt]

Wrong Side of HYDRA (part two)

1630 words.

Part one is here

warning: the word pissed is used. also the doctor's name is random and the trigger words are also very random.

Imagine getting a surprising visitor while in custody at S.H.I.E.L.D. Is it Bucky's turn to save you?

*3 months later*

The feeling of someone’s shoulder digging into your stomach was enough to wake you from your sleep. Gun shots were ringing in your ears. Fighting in every direction. What is happening? The rumbling of voices breaking through the shots being fired.

“Sam! Come on we need to go.” Who’s Sam?

“Yeah, okay, Robocop I’m coming.”

You heard the man carrying you grunt. He pulled out his weapon and shot the men in front of him as he continued running towards the hole in the wall. When did that get there? Your head was jumbled, each thought colliding with another. You had no idea what was going on. You took in the sight of what looked like a jet in front of the building. You got closer and closer and as you both approached it a man with… metal wings…came down from the roof. Oh dear, they really did a number on me this time. You could feel your body grow tired despite being awake for only a few minutes. You were placed down on a row of chairs carefully.

“Go back to sleep Y/N. We’re a long way from the compound yet.”

How did they know your name? And what compound? Luckily for them, you were too tired to question them and you fell into a deep slumber once again.

…

S.H.I.E.L.D. have been holding you here for the past few weeks, waiting for a specialist doctor to come in and assess your injuries. You were growing bored, and fast.

“Come on Natalia, just let me out for a little bit.” You pleaded.

“I can’t do that as much as I want to.”

“I am sick of staring at the same walls Nat; how long does it take for a doctor to come and tell everyone I’m fine…” you huffed.

“I know this is hard Y/N but it’s for your own good.”

You scoffed, “My own good? Yeah right. I can handle myself.”

She stayed silent and looked towards her feet. She pulled over a chair and sat in front of the glass panels keeping you both apart.

“Look… Once doctor whatever his name is has been and cleared you,” she says pointedly, “then you’ll be let out. Fury said he’d be here in a few hours anyway. So, sit tight. Everything will be fine.” She stands up and puts her hand against the glass. You put yours against hers and gave her a defeated smile.

…

You’re sitting reading a book with your feet propped up on the desk in your cell when you hear the doors whoosh open. Two pairs of footsteps approach you.

“Miss Y/L/N. This is Doctor Ubel. He is here to check up on you.”

Ubel sits across the desk from you and Fury leaves, closing the door behind him. You look up from your book and your brows furrow. He looks familiar.

“Are you alright Miss Y/L/N?”

You close your book and fold your arms. Your head tilting slightly as you glance over him.

“Is that not your job to find out Doctor?”

“I suppose so.”

He grabs his bag and pulls out a red leather journal, a star pressed into the center. Your eyes widen slightly, and you look out to see if anybody is around. But there’s no one. Not Nat. Not Fury. Nobody. He chuckles darkly.

“You know Soldat, I thought the security here would be a lot better. I guess they just aren’t that worried about you.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, don’t be surprised. You didn’t really think we’d let you out unscathed, did you?”

This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. Your heart pounded against your ribs. Your hands grew clammy. You tried your best to not let your nerves show but it was futile.

“I see you still know when to be frightened, my dear. As you should be.”

He flips through the journal pages, landing on one in particular.

“Now, let’s see if this rings a bell.”

He locks eyes with you, and you adjust in your seat.

“Original. Time. Two...”

“Shut up!” you slam your hands on the desk, a loud screech in your ears causes you to grimace.

“Shock. Weapon. Russia…”

Your head is burning now. Your vision is blurry. You push yourself away from the desk, tripping over your feet. You crawl hastily to the furthest corner, pushing yourself against the glass panel. Maybe it will magically disappear you hope. The flashing of red lights and the shrill sound of sirens catch your attention. They know. You feel the vibrations through the floor as people storm the room around the cell. Your eyes squeeze shut, his words floating in your head.

“DONE! MISSION! STAR! TRAITOR!”

It’s silent as people watch, guns at the ready. The only sound is everyone’s heavy breathing. Snipers take their aim. Natasha rushes into the room, worried eyes focussing on you. She lets out a shaky breath and her fists involuntarily ball up. She has company too. The rest of the avengers stand behind her. And Bucky…he can’t look away from you. He steps forward cautiously.

“Buck,” Steve grasps his arm as a warning.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

He shakes off Steve’s hand and walks up to the glass cell separating you from what might as well be fifty armed agents, all aimed at you. Ubel wasn’t the threat anymore…you were.

“Y/N…come on.”

You look at him, eyes stormy.

“Who the hell is Y/N?”

“Doll it’s you. You’re Y/N.”

“I’m not. I’m I- I-“ Ubel interrupts.

“Ah Barnes…it has been too long since we’ve seen each other.”

“Not long enough, clearly,” he speaks through gritted teeth.

You stare at them both, confused by the conversation taking place. Who is Y/N? And how does Ubel know him?

“Doll…”

“There’s nothing you can do soldier, she’s gone.” Bucky ignores him and continuously tries.

“Y/N? Y/N please…” his voice cracks as he speaks and you feel your heart jump. You raise your sight to meet his.

“That’s it Y/N..” he encourages.

“Look at me doll. I mean really look at me, I cut my hair. It used to be long…”

Suddenly your heart aches. You clutch your chest and inhale deeply as your mind breaks down. You shut your eyes tightly as your mind swirls with different unknown memories.

…

She has short red hair and she was trained before coming here. That’s all you knew. Well, that and the fact she was undercover. It wasn’t hard to figure out, you weren’t as stupid as everyone else seemed to be. Her partner was nowhere to be found though, which meant one thing…He was dead, and she just lost her way out.

…

You had been blocking his attacks well, until he ran at your blind spot and slammed you onto the mat, pining your hands beside your head. His hair was tracing your skin.

“You know soldier if your hair wasn’t so long it wouldn’t tickle my face every time you pin me.”

It was quiet but unmistakable. He just laughed.

“Did you just laugh?”

“No.”

“I think you did.”

“I didn’t”

“Sure you didn’t.”

…

“It used to be long…” he reminded you.

“It tickled…” you whispered.

“Soldat, you know what you have to do.” Ubel stands in front of you. His tone demanding and quite frankly it pissed you off.

Your hand shot out before he could speak again and wrapped around his throat. He gasped for a breath, his feet struggling to touch the floor as you raised him against the wall.

“I was right.”

Ubel scrambles to try and pry your fingers from his throat.

“What?” he forces out. His voice is barely audible as his face grows red.

“I said I was right. You do look good with it short.” You smirk.

“It’s good to see you Bucky.”

“You too Y/N. How about you let him go and let the others take care of him for the day.”

You look at the man currently using every effort to let air into is lungs and frown. You let go of his neck and watch him fall helpless to the ground, gasping for oxygen. A shot is fired and the lock on the door fizzles allowing the doors to open slowly. Natasha runs in and grabs Ubel by the collar.

“He should have let her kill you,” she mutters.

Bucky snickered at her as he strides towards you.

“You know Y/N, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were flirting with me a little bit…”

“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t know better because I was very clearly flirting with Ubel. Like did you see the man, the absolute epitome of beauty he was. You could get some tips you know…”

He guffaws loudly.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping we could go for a drink as a umm…a thank you.” He admits.

“A thank you? For what?”

“Don’t act dumb, you know what for.”

You loop your arms through his and drag him towards the doors.

“No, I don’t think I do. Remind me Bucky, of how I single handedly managed to save your life from a villain organisation. Because I can’t quite remember.”

“Do you not? Oh well it must not have happened then…” he nudged you jokingly, a large smile sat upon his face.

As you both set off towards the closest bar, a separate conversation was taking place on the other side of the room. Natasha and Steve both looked upon you both fondly.

“There’s two of them now.”

“Yep.”

“I can only handle one.”

“How about a drink to calm your nerves Captain.” Nat blinks up at him.

“What the hell,” he shrugs.

They follow in your tacks, severely needing a drink after today’s fiasco.

“Oh, and Steve?” He hums.

“Language.”

[idontgiveaflyinggrayson69]

Dive

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69​

Requested: Yes – Anonymous

Tagging: @zuucc​ because you’re writing a Mat thing so here is my Mat thing

Fandom: NHL  

Relationship: Pre-Established; Mat Barzal x Reader

Song: Dive by Ed Sheeran  

Summary: Mat isn’t sure where you and he stand, so he shuts you out. Everything comes to a head when you confront him at his apartment.

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Alcohol

Relationships were not as black and white as Mat wanted them to be. They were a muddy grey and more times than not, he didn’t know where the two of you stood. Some days he was smiling brightly, pulling you to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around you. Other days he was clenching his jaw and wondering how any of this was happening.

Were the two of you together? Were you guys just ‘for fun’? Were you nothing more than friends pushing the boundaries of what it meant to be ‘just friends’? Mat didn’t know. And that not knowing absolutely killed him because he knew exactly what you were to him and exactly what he wanted the two of you to be.

The Isles eliminated the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs to advance to round two. And on home ice too. The whole team was just filled to the brim with adrenaline and excitement. Of course they ended up out on the town, at a club with a never ending supply of drinks. The girlfriends and wives without kids who wanted to be there were there, and you were tucked under Mat’s arm.

You, like the WAGs, were at the game. You had seen and cheered from the box as the Isles played and won, and when you saw Mat after the game, he pulled you into a tight hug.

But, you didn’t spend the whole night in Mat’s arms, much to his dismay. The drinks just kept coming. Mat did shots with Ross and Tito and you slipped away. He didn’t think anything of it. You were probably getting another drink or hanging with the girls.

Except, when Mat turned around to see where you were after Tito stepped away to go talk to Ebs, he saw that you were not getting another drink and you were not with the girls. Your ass was pressed into a guy who had his hands on your hips, one of your hands was up on his neck as you ground to the beat of the music.

Mat’s jaw clenched as he felt his stomach twist. He wanted to close his eyes, to look away, to take another shot and drink away whatever he was seeing in front of him, but all he could do was stare. His grip tightened on his beer glass and when he finally was able to pull his eyes off you, he ordered a pair of shots and downed both of them, ignoring the burn and taste with ease. Nothing could taste worse than looking at you grinding on another man.

“Are you okay?” Ross asked and Mat nodded, plastering a very fake smile on his lips.

“I’m fantastic. I love kicking Ranger ass.”

Ross spared him another look, but he let it go. Mat was right. They had just beat the Rangers, they were celebrating, there was no need to unpack feelings in the middle of a club in New York, especially when they were as drunk as they all were. That was something that could be handled at a later time.

The problem is is that Mat isn’t one to approach his feelings head on. So, he went full radio silent. You took an Uber home with Tito and Mat, which dropped you off at home before taking Tito and Mat to their apartment building. And then you didn’t hear from Mat again.

You would text Mat every day and you would hang out almost every day. Not to mention with the Isles advancing and the first round still being played, they had a couple days off. And Mat just didn’t answer your texts. Or your Snaps.

In the beginning you brushed it off. He was probably busy, be that with practice or the team off the ice, or maybe he was talking to his mom, maybe his family was going to fly in. Whatever it was, that was fine. Mat was busy, you didn’t need him to reply instantly. You just expected some sort of reply.

And you never got one.

You didn’t get a reply when you texted him asking how he felt about playing the Penguins in the second round and if he thought it would be more difficult since the Penguins would be out to avenge their first round sweep at the hands of the Isles the year before.

And he never texted you to ask if you wanted to go to the game like he normally did. You were never one to expect to be at a game, so you wouldn’t go if he didn’t ask. So, you watched the first game of the second round on your couch even though the game was happening not even fifteen minutes away from you.

But you drew the line at Mat not replying to you congratulating him on the game one victory. So, the next day you decided you were going to go over to his place and see what the hell was up with him and what exactly you had done to warrant radio silence from him.

You were calm all the way over to his apartment complex. You entered the code to the building and made your way to the elevator to go to his floor. As soon as you got to his floor, however, all the calm left your body and you were left with nothing but annoyance and rage.

You knocked on his door and waited. When he didn’t answer, you knocked again. You weren’t entirely sure he was even home, and if he wasn’t, you were going to camp out by his door until he showed up. Not that you needed to because a moment later Mat was opening his door.

His hair was a mess and he wore sweats with an Isles hoodie. But his jaw was clenched and if you were reading his eyes right, he wasn’t happy to see you. That made your anger even worse and you raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to let me in?”

He shrugged and stepped aside to let you in, closing the door behind you before walking back to the living room and plopping down on the couch. You followed him with your eyes and saw that he had Netflix on.

“It’s nice to see you too.” You said sarcastically, moving out of the entry into the kitchen to rest against the counter, keeping the island in between you and him. When Mat didn’t reply, you kept talking. “Are you going to talk to me? Like at all? At least tell me why you’re not talking to me?”

Mat shook his head with a shrug and turned to look at you. “I’ve just been busy.”

“Too busy to not answer any of my texts for the last five days?” You asked, trying your best to keep some of your bitterness out of your voice. You were mad but you also didn’t want to start a fight if you didn’t have too.

“Sorry.” Mat said with a shrug, but nothing about his tone said that he was sorry.

“What’s up with you?” You asked, shaking your head and uncrossing your arms. He shrugged again but didn’t say anything, so you continued. “Mat, you’re my friend. I’m here for you, talk to me. What’s going on?”

You’re my friend. Friend.

Mat rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Yeah, okay. Thanks for telling me what we are. I’ll do my best to keep things that way.” His tone was harsh and he turned away from you.

You jerked your head back and took a moment to process what he said and how you were going to answer him. You and Mat… You were close. Really close. More often than not you spent your time tucked under his arm or on his lap if there wasn’t room. And there had been a couple times when the two of you had kissed when you were both drunk.

But you were friends. You didn’t know that Mat thought differently or that he wanted things to be different. Honestly, it felt like the floor beneath you went from solid to shaky. You would be crazy to not think about Mat like that, but you had no idea that maybe, just maybe, Mat felt the same. Your heart skipped a beat at that possibility.

“What’s,” you started but your voice was a lot softer than you meant it to be so you cleared your throat before continuing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mat sighed and looked back at you. “It means I’m tired of the way things are with us. One night you’re in my arms and the next you’re grinding on the first guy you see. I just, I can’t keep doing this. So you have to tell me what you want from me because if we’re going to keep doing this, whatever this is, I can’t.” Mat paused before he added, his voice much softer. “I just can’t.”

If you thought your floor was shaky before, everything just got ripped out from beneath you. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” You whispered, stepping forwards, wanting to go to him.

“Don’t.” He warned, his voice more defeated than anything else.

“I honestly had no idea you felt that way.” You said again, stopping in your tracks at the edge of the kitchen.

He shook his head, turning away from you before he spoke with a crushed voice. “I don’t know how you couldn’t not know. It’s so fucking obvious. But I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“Matty…” You tried, but he cut you off.

“Don’t call me ‘Matty,’ and don’t take that pitiful tone with me. I get it loud and clear. You don’t feel the same. Note taken. You can leave now.”

“Who said I don’t feel the same?” You asked, sure in your voice and words for the first time since the carpet was ripped from under you.

It was Mat’s turn to be surprised and he looked at you, his face soft with surprise and hope. “Don’t give me hope if you don’t mean it.”

You took a brave step forwards and he didn’t stop you so you closed the distance between two of you until he was just an arm’s reach away from you. “Mat you are the most amazing guy I have ever met. You make me smile and laugh. Your heart is bigger than Manhattan. And you’re literally the hottest guy in the league. Everyone is crazy about you, myself included.”

Mat was quiet for a moment before he reached out to brush your hand with his. “You think I’m hot?”

Your lips twitched up into a smile and you sat down next to him on the couch. “I think you’re smoking hot. I mean your thighs…” You let your eyes run down his body to his thighs before returning them to his face where he was wearing a light blush.

“I think you’re really beautiful.” He said softly, taking your hand into his properly. “And I would really like to call you beautiful every day.”

“I would really like that, and I would really like to run my fingers through your hair and be in your arms. And kiss you properly.” You answered.

“I want all of that.” He whispered and shifted the way he was sitting so that he was able to face you properly and brush your hair back before cupping your jaw. “Can I kiss you?”

You didn’t answer him, instead you leaned forwards to kiss him. His lips were soft, just like the kiss, and you moved your hands up to cup his cheeks. You had kissed him a couple times before, but every time you had both of you were completely sloshed. Those kisses were messy, some too quick and some too long. But the kiss now was perfect. You pulled back after a moment and Mat chased your lips, kissing you deeper than before, moving his hand to your hair.

When Mat eventually pulled back, he kept his eyes closed for a moment before he opened them. You had seen Mat through a lot. He liked to keep up a confident exterior, but looking into his eyes at that moment you saw nothing but pure vulnerable Mat.

“Be mine?” You whispered, moving one of your hands to cover his on your cheek.

Mat’s lips twitched up into a smile. “I would love to.”

[the-winter-smoulder]

What The Hell...

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Series Word Count: 1,074

Warnings: Language! Mentions of Death, Panic Attack, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Angsty Goodness

Seriously... What the HELL?!

Since the defeat of Thanos, nothing has really been the same, especially not for Sam and Bucky.

Read Chapter 8 Here

Chapter 9: Where The Hell Did You Learn That?

Y/n woke up at 7am with a wall of muscle behind her and a heavy metal arm over her, realizing that Bucky stayed with her all night.

“Hey, there she is,” Bucky smiled. “How do you feel?”

Y/n turned to face him, “I’m okay. You stayed? Why?”

“Well, I told you I would stay. I never agreed to leave when you fell asleep. Plus, you were really shaken. I honestly couldn’t leave you.”

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Yeah. I slept. Really well, actually,” he replied, brushing the hair from her eyes, “You know, if you’re not up to it, we don’t have to train today. You could talk to Wanda...”

“I will talk to Wanda, after I eat something and kick your ass! Really, Bucky, I’m okay. Besides, I need to get all this anxious energy out. I need to do something, Bucky. Something physical or I'll lose my ever-loving mind.”

“Kick my ass? Hmm... this I gotta see.”

“Great! Let’s get some breakfast, and head to the damn gym!” Y/n said, flinging the covers off of them. Her eyes grew wide as she saw a mostly naked Bucky before her.

“Boxer-briefs, huh? I really pegged you for a tighty-whitey kinda guy.”

“Nope, these are way more comfortable. I'll... uh... I'll go get dressed. Meet you back here in 10?”

“Sounds good,” Y/n laughed, walking toward the bathroom.

     -----💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀-----

Y/n and Bucky walked down the hall together toward the training room in almost complete silence. They had little to say at breakfast, and now it was starting to feel awkward.

“Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you gonna be all weird about my nightmare and falling asleep with me?”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it quite yet.”

“Fair enough,” she said with a smile, “Maybe we can talk about it after I whoop you.”

“You really think you can, huh?”

Y/n shrugged, “Let’s find out!”

Sam was already in the room, stretching next to what looked like a wrestling mat set up.

“Good morning!” Sam smiled, “I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in you today, Y/n!”

“Hey Sam! I already promised Bucky an ass-kicking, so hopefully I can deliver!”

Bucky chuckled, “Alright... you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Y/n put her hands up in her fighting stance, and they began to circle around the mats. Bucky ducked down and went for her legs, but she jumped up, stepped between Bucky’s shoulders, spun mid-air and literally kicked him in the ass on her way down to the mat.

“Uh... Where the hell did you learn that?!” Bucky said, getting up cautiously.

“I told you I’d kick your ass. I keep my promises.”

Bucky smiled, growled, and launched himself toward Y/n again, this time toward her mid-section, tackling her to the ground. He sat up, straddling her hips, a cocky grin on his face.

Y/n winked at him, bucked her hips, and kicked her right leg across his chest, throwing him to the mat. She sat up, ankle by his right ear, ass on his left shoulder, and grabbed his neck with her right hand. Her left knee managed to land mere centimeters from his groin.

Bucky’s eyes grew wide, “So, you’re strong and flexible.” He tapped out on her calf.

“I have long legs,” she replied, flipping herself backward off of him.

Sam stood by, just as shocked as Bucky, “You wanna at least give the guy a chance?” he smirked.

“You want me to go easy on him?”

Bucky stood with a grunt, “Seriously! Who taught you to fight?” he asked.

“Natasha.”

“Ah. So, you knew the Black Widow? That makes sense. I’m gonna have to change tactics then,” Bucky replied.

“You mean you’re gonna start trying?” Y/n quipped.

“Oh... I’ll get you for that,” Bucky squinted at her, grabbing for her forearms, grappling with her for a few minutes before he finally had her pinned to the mat.

Y/n tapped out on his bicep as his metal arm let go of her shoulders.

“Nice take-down,” she said, getting up.

They fought each other for about an hour and a half before Sam stopped them. Since they weren’t tired yet, Sam wanted to see what Y/n could do with some weapons.

“How are you with knives?” Bucky asked, panting slightly.

“Well,” Y/n started, taking a drink from her water bottle, “I learned from Nat, so pretty damn good?”

“Fair enough. Let’s test that out.”

“What about batons or something?” she asked.

“Yeah, we can work with those too,” Bucky chuckled, “Then we’ll take you to the shooting range. I have a feeling this isn’t going to go very well for me.”

“Ha! You wanna put a time limit on it?”

“Let’s work for another hour. Sound good?” Bucky asked.

“Perfect.”

     -----💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀-----

Clint, Sam and Bucky were thoroughly impressed with Y/n’s shooting skills. Center mass, even blindfolded, every time. She didn’t tell them that Bucky was actually the one who taught her to shoot. Even at 70, the man never lost his sight, and was the best shot she’d ever seen. He’d also taught her the amazing knife skills she had, which she conveniently left out earlier.

On their way back to Y/n’s room, Bucky asked if it was, in fact, he who taught her.

“How’d you know?”

“Because you move like me. You even hold your gun like me.”

“Oh... yeah. You’re a great teacher. You taught a lot of recruits. You once told me I was your best student,” she said, a slight blush coming over her cheeks.

“Hmm... I have no doubt that’s true. You're amazing to watch.”

His eyes widened at what he just let slip, “Uh... I mean... ahh... You’re really talented. You’re good. Great! You're great!”

Y/n laughed at his awkward behavior, butterflies fluttering in her belly.

“Sorry. I just... I just meant that you’ve got really great instincts and you’re a real fighter. That’s all,” his cheeks slightly flushed.

“Thanks, Bucky. I had a great teacher,” she said, stopping in front of her door.

“So, uh, why don’t you get cleaned up and we can grab something to eat... if you want.”

“Sounds good, Bucky. I’ll grab a shower and meet you in the kitchen in 30.”

“Okay, yeah – that sounds good, Y/n,” he smiled.

“Ok,” she replied, smiling back as she closed the door.

“What the hell?” they both whispered, looking at opposite sides of the door.

Chapter 10

     -----💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀💥🌀-----

Tag List

@sebastiansqueen​

@katiekate23​

@chipilerendi

@juenenfeu

[stacy-randell]

Note: music and picture on My Wattpad 1~The Assignment

It's 8:00 in morning and you just arrived at Stark Tower

📷

As you walk into the building wearing (Pic Above) jamming to (song above) you see Steve and Clint making their way into the elevator.

You call out "Hey Babe ... can you hold the door" (Referring to Steve)

Clint just rolled his eyes putting his hand out to stop the door from closing. You wink at Clint and give them both a quick hug.

"Hey...I saw that Clint just because he accepts my nicknames doesn't mean that you get to roll your eyes at us, besides you could have been my honey or bunny but you said no so I gave it to Wanda and Vision and together they are honey-bunny" you say while crossing your arms like a five year old.

Clint exchanges a look with Steve and just laughs.

Steve asks "What song you listening to today"

You take your headphones out and let the music fill the elevator.

You look at the two men towering over you waiting to see if there is any recollection in their eyes or if they sing along.

Clint starts bobbing his head slightly to the music and Steve just looks at you with confusion written across his face.  You just roll your eyes and start singing along.

As you are about to reach the top floor the song ends and you quickly connect your phone to the floor and blast (song above) right when you exit the elevator.

You start dancing and singing along to to song and as you go through the doors you grab Natashas hand and start dancing. You point to Tony who is already bobbing his head along. The other SHIELD agents just look at you in bewilderment while everyone else either roles their eyes at you or joins in. When the song ends you slide on your knees, then get up and take a bow "thank you... thank you" you say as you blow kisses to everybody.

There is some slow clapping coming from one of the corners of the room. "You sure do know how to make an entrance". You spin around to find no other than Nick Fury slowly coming out of the corner. You immediately smile at him. "Hey Buddy, did't see you there. . . besides I don't know how else to enter a room" you say with a smirk. "Maybe I need someone to teach me. . . maybe my Love could teach me or my Stud Muffin" you say sweetly.

Fury just looked at you with confusion then looked at Bruce for some kind of explanation. Blushing he smiled at you then proceeded to explain "I'm her Love and Thor is her Stud muffin"

Fury just sighs and explains everybody's assignment "Okay well (child) anyways so... Team 1 is Thor and you are with Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Scott, Y/N, and along with some back up from the available and qualified SHIELD agents. Your team will go to London to search for Loki. Team 2 is Steve and you are with Clint, Sam, Wanda, Vision, and along with some back up from the available and qualified SHIELD agents. Your team will go to the 2nd HYDRA base on our list in Germany to search for James Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier"

As Fury continues to give everyone their assignment you look up at Steve who has a hard expression on his face. "hey babe. . . there's nothing to worry about you'll find him" you give him a reassuring squeeze of the hand. He just nods in response.

After some time Fury finally dismiss us and tells the teams that they are leaving tomorrow at 12:00, Steve tells us to get ready for training  at 10:30.

As I head to the elevator Natasha and Wanda follow you. You only see Nat because you are looking for the perfect playlist for training today.

"Well hello Cutie what have you got going on this morning?"

"Nothing much Cutie-pie" replied Nat.

"And what about me Cuddle-Bear?" asked Wanda. Your head snapped up to see Wanda there, with a somber expression on her face.

You immediately start apologizing saying "I am so so so so sorry honey I did't even hear or see you. I was trying to find the right song and playlist" you ramble

Wanda bursts out laughing as you stand there in disbelief and you look to Nat who is trying to hold in her laugh.

Wanda says between laughs" I'm joking cuddle bear. . . I was just messing with you. I know how the right playlist helps you focus and get in the zone"

You let out a sigh of relief as you came to Wanda's floor you joke "I'll just have to get back at you at 10:30 then". She exits knowing that you'll stay true to your word and smiles back at you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Training~

📷

Flashback to almost a year ago~

Its your first day and you're behind nervous. You try to calm your nerves with (song above). You approach the Tower wearing (pic above). You walk into the building telling yourself to calm down and just be yourself.

"Yourself... who is that " you thought . You never really fit in considering you can create forcefields, teleport, and read minds. You make eye contact with who you knew from the news as Captain America AKA Steve Rodgers. You are just so starstruck but you compose yourself, Take out an earbud and blurt out " Hey , hot stuff"

He just looks at you blushing and confused. " Ummm. . . can I help you"

"I hope so" you reply with a wink. "I'm the new recruit. . . Y/n" you hold your hand out so he can shake it.

He takes your hand and is about to reply but you beat him to it. "There's no need to introduce yourself, I know who you are, everybody does" you say with a smile.

Shocked he responded "Well um. . . I should take you to Fury then. Follow me"

You follow him into the elevator and are about to put your headphones in when Steve asked "So what kind of skills do you have?"

"Wouldn't you like to know " you say crossing your arms and glaring at him.

He is taken aback and starts to apologize but you just chuckle.

"I'm joking. . . wow is everybody this uptight? You'll know when I show everyone. Fair?"

Relief spreads across his face " You got me there for a second. . . I was really worried that we got off on the wrong foot and it would have been awkward between us."

"Its only awkward if you make it awkward Steve" you smile

"Hey, can I call you by a nickname? It just helps with the tension in the first few weeks before we get close, since we will be working together? "

"I don't know . . . the ones Tony call me I don't really like"

"Aww come on please!!! My nicknames are never mean or anything. They are always terms of endearment. I'll call you Babe and you can call me Baby. That's not so bad is it?" The elevator dings indicating that you are about to meet everyone.

He agrees and you both walk out the elevator and into a huge conference room.

*****************************************************************

📷

Present~

You arrive at the gym at 10:28 wearing (pic above) and right before you enter you put on (song above) and blast it in the gym.

You enter the gym walking, playing different invisible instruments to the song, straight towards the punching bags.

***********************************************************

Flashback~

You walk into the room filled with all of the people you admire. Fury introduces you to everybody and asks you to show everyone your powers.

"Well you see I can Teleport." You disappear and reappear behind everyone. "Create forcefields" you create one thats in-front of everybody and call out "shoot at it". Nat takes out her gun and shoots at it 3 times. The bullets hit it and tumble to the ground with clinks.

"And read minds" you wink at Steve who turns beet red. "But I don't do it without your permission. So there is no need to worry Babe" you smile.

Everyone just looks between you and Steve.

Tony speaks first "Well . . . I guess Rodgers and Y/N got to know each other real well on their way up" he says with a smirk.

You just laugh and say "Well . . . when am I going to get to show you my moves"

***********************************************************

Present ~

Right as you are about done and taking one last swing at the hanging bag Scott comes from the other side of the gym and once you guys make eye contact you both immediately run towards each other trying to pin the other down.

You pin Scott down easily without using your powers, since you want things to be fair and it really challenges you, he tries to get up but you put pressure on his hand thats behind his back.

"Say it Hubby"

"Fine. . . you're the best damn Wifey I have ever had" he struggles to say

"And...." you reply

"And i'll always be there to serve you ice cream for as as long as I live"

"Damn straight" you let him go, smiling as you help him up.

Just then Steves loud voice booms through the gym

"Okay everyone line up so we can pair you up"

You stand between Sam and Wanda waiting for further instructions you greet Sam "Hey Romeo. . . you ready?" wiggling your eyebrows at him.

*****************************************************************

3:00 Pm~

Training went by slow and terrible. . . . but not for me 😏

You kept your promise and gave Wanda a beating she'll remember. Nobody was able to keep you pinned down because of your amazing distraction skills.

When Clint pinned you down on the mat he held your hand above your head and was straddling your legs so you couldn't move them. All you had to say was "I bet your wife likes this position" with a wink and he loosened his grip on you. That was enough to pin him down.

He tapped out and just glared at you as he walked away.

Tony laughed "Thats why she's my Favorite "

"Clint what happened? I though you had her. She didn't even use her powers. . . as far as we know" Steve asked

"Yeah well you didn't hear what she said" Clint grumbled

You just smile at him and Steve dismisses everyone

You head up to your room to shower, change (pic below) and start to get dinner ready. But not before you put on the perfect song (song below)

📷

**************************************************************************

While getting lost in the song and waiting for the lasagna to be done your mind started to wander. [which is never a good thing] Thoughts and feeling of sadness, loneliness, and unworthiness overcame you. A minute ago you were fine but now after getting in your head. . . you just have this overwhelming feeling of sorrow. You didn't realize that the mask you wear to hide all of those bad thoughts fell, and you stood their with a tight and sad expression on your face.

Peter and Nat walk in and see you with a frown on your face. "Hey Princess are you ok? what's wrong?" Peter asked putting his hand on your back, startling you back to the world.

You immediately slap a smile on your face. "What . . . yeah. . . everything is fine, don't worry about it my Prince" as you give him a quick hug.

Nat just looks at you asking "Are you sure about that Y/N. . .you looked like you were thinking real hard there" and right before you were going to try to convince Nat that you were fine the oven beeped.

"Saved by the bell" you chuckle as you go to pull out the food from the oven. "FRIDAY can you tell everyone that dinner is ready and can you two set the table?"

***********************************************************************

After dinner you head to the roof blasting (one of the above) songs just walking back and forth letting the view and wind wash away your worries about the missions tomorrow. You finally decide to go to bed blasting some songs (one of the above), not caring if others hear before you drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of the first chapter 😊

I hope you like it and please feel free to leave suggestions and comments so I can improve.  If you have any song requests for moods or feelings just let me know any i'll incorporate them into the story. Also if its annoying then let me know

[midnighttmarauder]

Good Enough

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader 

Prompts: “I can take care of myself.” & “I’m never going to be good enough, am I?”

Warnings: wrist injury (fracture) and mentions of self-doubt

Tags: @evyiione @quokkatrash @accio-rogers

Based on #6 and #11 from my 3k celebration prompt list which can be found here! I’m still accepting requests from it, so send them in!

***

Training with Natasha was like volunteering to get beat up. You thought that you were a skilled fighter—maybe not skilled enough to beat Nat, but at least good enough to hold your own. But as your back hit the mat for the third time in ten minutes, you realized just how wrong you were.

“You keep leaving your left side open. You’re relying too much on attacking and forgetting about your defense. Try again,” Nat said, holding her hand out to help you up. You grabbed it with a huff and let her pull you to your feet. You tried not to wince as a sharp pain shot up your spine. That was definitely going to hurt in the morning.

“I’m going easy on you,” you panted.

“Oh, you’re letting me win, right?” Nat asked as you circled each other.

“Of course. My mom did teach me to be polite to the elderly. It’s only fair, after all,” you replied. You heard Sam laugh from where he was training with Bucky and Steve on the other side of the gym.

“I’m only like a few years older than you. Wait, how old are you again?” she asked. You didn’t answer as you used her moment of distraction. The look of surprise on Nat’s face almost made you laugh as you shoved her backwards and launched your attack.

You only had the upper hand for a few glorious seconds before Nat was jabbing your side and throwing you over her shoulder. You hadn’t expected her to recover so quickly, so you didn’t have time to flip onto your back before your chest slammed into the ground, knocking the air from your lungs. A crack echoed around the gym. Somebody swore as hot pain flared through your left wrist and up your arm.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you muttered under your breath as you rolled onto your side, cradling your wrist to your chest.

“Oh my God, Y/N, are you okay?” Nat asked. Her hands hovered over your body, unsure of where she could put them that wouldn’t hurt you. The boys rushed over to you, and Steve immediately kneeled by your side in full Captain mode. Bucky kneeled beside him, reaching to push your hair away from your face.

“Where are you hurt?” Steve asked.

“My wrist. I think it’s broken,” you replied.

“C’mon, sit up,” he said. He helped you, and you felt Bucky steady you as a wave of dizziness washed over you. “Lemme see.”

Steve reached for your wrist and took it gently, but even the slight pressure of his fingers caused a jolt of pain to shoot through your hand. You hissed and tried to pull your arm back, but Bucky put a soft hand on your elbow.

“It’s okay. Doing that will only make it worse,” he muttered.

“It doesn’t look broken to me, but we can’t be sure without some scans. Bucky, why don’t you take her up to see Dr. Cho?” Steve said.

“I can just go by myself. It’s not that bad,” you replied.

“I don’t know, Y/N. It sounded pretty bad,” Sam said. You hated the way they were looking at you. Like they pitied you. Like it was a stupid, rookie mistake that would mean at least a month off of missions if it was actually broken.

“Well, it wasn’t,” you snapped. “Nat just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“C’mon, Y/N-” Bucky began.

“I can take care of myself, okay?” you interrupted. Something flashed in his eyes, and he nodded.

“Okay. F.R.I.D.A.Y., can you please make sure that Y/N gets to Dr. Cho safely? If anything happens, alert me,” Bucky said.

“Of course, Mr. Barnes,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at them as you struggled to your feet and hurried out of the gym. Tears pricked the back of your eyes, but you didn’t know if they were from shame or guilt. You stumbled into the elevator and rested your back against the wall as the doors shut, closing your eyes with a sigh.

“Idiot,” you mumbled under your breath.

“Should I call Mr. Barnes to come assist you after all?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. asked. You thought about it for a moment, all the while cursing the AI’s perceptiveness.

“No thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y. I can take care of myself, remember?” you replied bitterly.

“Of course. But you don’t have to,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said. You cradled your wrist closer to your chest and sighed.

Yes, you did.

***

Dr. Cho said that you were lucky. If you had fallen from a greater distance, your wrist would have been shattered—the way you had landed had put all of the weight from the left side of your body onto your wrist. You thanked whoever was listening that Nat was as short as she was. Dr. Cho put you in a temporary cast and said that the healing would take a few weeks. It didn’t really matter though—you were off missions until the cast came off and she deemed you fit to return to the field. The way she had said it made you feel as though it was about more than a simple bone fracture, but you pushed the feeling aside. There was no way she could know about the doubts that kept you up at night.

Walking back to your room made you tired. You didn’t know what it was and chalked it up to the shock of fracturing your wrist. You didn’t know why tears were stinging your eyes or why there was so much pressure on the back of your head. You pushed the door to your room open and almost started at seeing Bucky already sitting on your bed. He looked up from the thread he had been picking at and smiled weakly at you. You struggled to return it as you turned your back to him, closing the door and wiping at your eyes.

“So, what did the doctor say?” Bucky asked. You cleared your throat and turned back to face him.

“Just a fracture. She said I was lucky though. If Nat was just a little bit taller, I would’ve been screwed,” you replied. You tried to laugh, but it sounded hollow.

“Are you doing okay? You don’t seem like yourself,” Bucky said. You nodded and busied yourself with arranging things on your vanity. You cursed how just the sound of his voice made you want to curl up in his arms and cry and tell him everything.

“Yeah. Just a little beat after today,” you replied.

“I get it. It’s scary when you get hurt…I mean I get scared when I get hurt, but even more when you do,” Bucky stammered. You met his gaze and tried to read the emotion behind it, but it was hard to understand.

“I’m sorry that I snapped at you. In the gym. I know that you were trying to help, and I shouldn’t have talked to you or Sam that way. It’s just, I’ve been feeling so-” You stopped and blew out a breath as your voice cracked. Bucky patted the bed and gestured for you to sit. You flopped down beside him and tried again. “I’ve been feeling useless lately. I dunno what it is. I just think that I don’t fit in here. That I’m not good enough to be an Avenger.”

“Y/N-”

“I’m never going to be good enough, am I?” you muttered. Bucky put his hand on top of yours and stroked the back of your palm soothingly with his thumb.

“When Steve first found me and we were working on getting rid of whatever HYDRA put in my brain, I felt the same way. I thought that I wasn’t worth all the trouble they were going through, and that it was my fault that the team was falling apart. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be on the team because I didn’t deserve to be part of it,” Bucky explained.

“But you are good enough,” you said as you squeezed his hand. “You’re more than good enough.”

“How come you’re so quick to assure me that I’m good enough, but you can’t see that you’re good enough too?” Bucky asked. Your lip wobbled as you looked down at the floor with a shrug.

“I dunno,” you mumbled. Bucky put a finger under your chin and lifted it, his gaze flickering between your eyes.

“You are good enough, Y/N. You have always been and will always be. So what if you didn’t beat Nat today? It’s hard for me and the guys to beat her sometimes. Having an off day or losing to someone who’s a little more skilled than you doesn’t reduce your worth. It’ll take time for you to realize it, but you will. Hell, I’m still working on it myself. But on the days where it’s a little bit harder to see, I’ll be there to tell you. I promise you, Y/N, everyone on this team thinks that you’re good enough to be a part of it. The only person who doesn’t is you,” Bucky said.

“Thank you. I…thank you,” you replied, throwing your arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. Bucky hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around you, squeezing you tight.

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s the truth,” Bucky said. He pulled back and saluted. “Sergeant’s honour.”

“Well, Sergeant Barnes, I want to thank you anyway. How about a movie night, your pick?” you asked.

“Oh, you won’t be thanking me after the movie I pick. Get ready to cry your eyes out,” Bucky replied.

“Please tell me it’s not a rom-com. Does it involve dogs?” you asked. Bucky only laughed in response, getting up and rushing out of your room. “Is it Marley and Me? You know I don’t like sad dog movies. Wait!”

[beepomeepo]

the only two people who despise celebrating their birthday: you and bucky

warnings: none really but kinda angst?

bucky barnes x reader

reader speaking is in italics

🥺🥺 mom, I love him. 🥺🥺

your birthday was march 9th and no one knew about it except fury and nat. you hoped it would stay that way. coincidentally, bucky’s was march 10th. you didn’t know about it but everyone else did. and since he’s been with the avengers, they have only had small celebrations forced by steve of course.

march 9th, 8:50 am.

you and nat had training. as you met her on the mats, she told you “happy birthday”, to which u shushed her while looking around the room for anyone listening in.

“hey I was just tryna be nice but if you really want to pretend you aren’t a year older then I can’t stop you”

“sorry, just don’t want to celebrate it. i’m not into celebrating my birthday”

“i know that but you never told me why”

nat was the person you were closest to. you trusted her for obvious reasons, she was a world class spy. but more than that, she was the one only one that saw something in you when no one else did. she’s the one who took you into the avengers.

“It’s just- look, you know how it feels when you’re treated like nothing,” you said with a sigh. “that feeling is one of the worst feelings a person could feel, yet i had to feel it for basically my whole life. every birthday, I wished my life would change, that someone would treat me like I was worth something, but it never happened.”

“i’m sor-”

“my own mother didn’t even care enough to remember my birthday, so I decided from that point on i’d make my birthday mean nothing to me. if there’s nothing to look forward to, there’s nothing that can disappoint you.”

“y/n. i’m sorry. you didn’t deserve that to happen to you. but you have us. when I first started, i had nothing but now I have this. this job, this family.. you do too.”

“thank you nat I appreciate it, really i do, but it’s just better this way. that way, if anything were to happen, I wouldn’t have to feel the same feeling I felt all those years ago”

after that conversation, nat decided it was best not to argue with you because she understood, so you sparred. what you didn’t know was that bucky was listening in the whole time. he walked towards the gym til he heard your voice. he was intrigued by you, he couldn’t help but listen. after he heard that conversation, he went back to his room. he laid in his bed and thought. he thought about how you and him were quite similar, he thought about how he felt... bad for you? he didn’t like that you felt that way. he didn’t want you to feel that way. so he decided to do something about it.

7:30 pm

everyone was eating dinner. no one else acknowledged your birthday. that was a good sign. yet that feeling of disappoint lingered deep inside. you felt that way every birthday, because even though you say that you don’t want anyone to know about your birthday, a part of you always wanted people to know. to do something special for you, but you never got that. especially nowadays, how could anyone plan anything for you when you won’t even say that it’s your birthday!

11:55 pm

you were in your room listening to music. all the lights were off except for the rock salt lamps you had around your room and the lava lamp on your bedside. as you checked your phone for the time, you heard a knock. expecting natasha, you told friday to let her in. instead, stood one bucky barnes with a grocery bag.

“bucky?”

“um- hi”

“uh hi?... just in case, u do know this isnt ur room, right?”

“yea.. I wanted to um- I know it’s your birthday,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck.

“oh. nat told u?”

“no, i-i didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I heard u talking to her this morning in the gym”

“oh.”

“so happy birthday. here.” he walked to your bed and put the grocery bag down in front of you. you opened the bag and in it was a chocolate cake with purple frosting that read happy birthday.

a small chuckle left your lips, a slight tint of red forming on your cheeks. “purple is my favorite color”

“I know”

“thank you, you didn’t have to do this. i-i don’t even know when ur birthday is..”

12:00 am

“u don’t have to thank me, and it’s tomorrow,” he replied as he checked the time, “make that today.”

“oh. oh! happy birthday bucky. m’sorry I didn’t know.”

“it’s okay, I don’t really like my birthday either.”

he started to retreat from your room as he said, “again, happy bir-”

“birthday boy. u wanna join me? this cake isn’t meant for just one person”

“oh sure. thanks”

“you don’t have to thank me”

he walked back into your room and you patted the bed for him to sit.

he opened the cake as you grabbed a knife and two forks. after cutting the cake, you both ate in a comfortable silence.

“hey bucky, thank you. seriously. i know we both don’t like our birthdays but, this sorta kinda made my day.”

this time, he blushed.

“its nothin”

you continued eating the cake until suddenly you stood up and rummaged through a drawer. you pulled out a couple candles, stuck them into the half-eaten cake and lit them.

“happy birthday bucky. make a wish”

he closed his eyes for a couple seconds, then blew them out.

“watcha wish for?”

“i can’t say doll, or else it won’t come true.”

you looked down, that name bringing even more heat to your cheeks. when you looked up, buckys face was centimeters from yours.

then his lips were on yours. his soft, plump lips. you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. he wrapped his arms around your waist, the warmth engulfing the two of you. you could taste the peppermint chapstick on his lips. he could taste the vanilla on yours.

after what felt like forever, you broke away for air.

“and now my wish came true.”

[perpetuelledaydreaming]

BACK TO YOU (CHAPTER VIII)

Summary: Y/N Stark and Peter Parker are unconditionally and irrevocably in love with each other, being friends for years was just the step before making it official. BUT, just the weekend they did, Thanos and the snap happened, leaving Y/N broken: without friends, avengers family or Peter Parker. So, she has to move on, at least that’s what everyone’s telling her and she really tries to do it and who better to help her than Harry Osborn. But, has she really let Peter go? What if Tony Stark -genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist- knows how to bring Peter back? And what happens when he does? Is Y/N going to avenge again? Who’s going to lead the avengers now? Who is she going to choose? Harry or Peter? and who the hell is mysterio? *He doesn’t even go here

word count: 14k (sooooo long, i’m so sorry)

author’s note: It has been a while but I love this chapter so much and i’m so happyyyy how it turned out. It took a while but this helped me so much for my mood the past few weeks. My birthday wasn’t nice so ugh okay, this helped me. 

SERIES MASTERLIST

“So, are we not going to talk about this Mysterio guy?”, Harley asked as you watched the combat between Lila and Cassie.

It had been over a week from the attack and you had met with Mysterio and Fury a few of times, basically him explaining ways to attack the probable new appearances of an Elemental; apparently you were still missing two.

Peter and Quentin had been hitting it off just fine, a possible mentorship blossoming by the way Quentin placed his hand on Peter’s shoulders, patting him as if he was a puppy when Peter said anything mildly right. While you, you remained quiet a lot of the time, intervening when you thought it was necessary, trying to work with Beck -which now had been named Mysterio, making you want to gag at the sound of it- who didn’t seemed to like you either.

Instead for Peter, it had been a breath of fresh air.

Quentin Beck seemed like a Tony-like-figure for him, he was as enthusiast as Tony was with Peter once he had warmed up to him, but it seemed to be easier with Beck. He had a similar personality to Tony’s, a suave-like mood that could make you believe in yourself just by him saying it.

The only thing that was different from Tony, was the underlying twitchy and unstable look on his blue electric eyes. Peter imagined it could be because of the trauma of his planet being destroyed by the Elementals, he felt kind of bad for him and somehow related to. Peter knew that, although he had gotten a bit better since you guys came back to speaking terms, he still was struggling with his anxiety and the nightmares from the snap. And now you, who could usually ground him with your hands on his curls, your laugh or by simply holding his hand, didn’t do it anymore.

“What about him?” Peter asked as his gaze was still focused on Lila and Cassie, realizing that Lila clearly had the upper hand.

You didn’t really answer to Peter or Harley, simply glaring at Harley as you turned back and focused on the combat that would be over soon, you realized as Cassie’s back hit the mat.

It had been a long weekend of training with the new recruits, Sam and Bucky were the ones that would be usually directing these trainings but since they were on a mission in Europe, it fell on your hands, with the help of Wanda and Peter backing you up.

Wanda was excited by the prospect of being a teacher but you had asked her to just be a bit down since he usually trained with the hardcore ones that were Nat and Steve or Bucky, because of the advantage of magic. She huffed at your request but she was still useful as she helped Harley learned the basics, while you later helped him with some of the new suit’s tricks. Peter, although you hadn’t talked a bunch, was really helping you with Cassie and Lila, mostly Lila who already had experience thanks to Clint.

Nonetheless, it was still nerve-wracking thinking that you were responsible for this new generation of Avengers and if they didn’t really learn everything that you could teach them, they could be in great danger.

“I win!”, Lila screamed as she breathed heavily with a smirk on her face, shouting a victory cry while Cassie rolled his eyes and lay down in the mat.

You smiled lightly and walked over to Cassie, helping her stand up as Lila was still gloating on her victory. Lila and Cassie reminded you a bit of Peter and you when you would train together, always riling each other up but at the end still enjoying the other’s company. These were the trainings where you began learning how to be in sync with each other.

“It’s not fair! You have been trained by spies since you were born”, Cassie taunted as she stretched her back while glaring at Lila.

Lila turned around and smirked, “You know I’m going easy on you, right?”, she said as she bounced towards Cassie, while she smiled devilish.

Cassie simply gulped for a second but then she rolled her eyes and motion on her hand for Lila to keep going, while turning around to sit in the mat next to Wanda who was reading a book silently while she waited for them to finish.

“Don’t worry Cassie”, Wanda offered with a slight smirk. “Y/N felt the same way when Peter won their combats”, she laughed as you watched her with bulging eyes, extremely offended at what she said.

“Hey!”

Peter smirked as he heard Wanda, folding his arms over his chest remembering the times -not when he won- but when you wouldn’t complete a task because of your banter; which ended with Steve and Nat furious at you two.

“It’s true”, Peter muttered, while you turned around with a gaping jaw.

If this was back then, you would have totally made a move on Peter. You would’ve probably tripped him over and then climbed over him, ordering him to take it back before he would overpower you and then stamp a kiss in any part of your face.

But this was now and it didn’t work like that anymore.

“It’s totally not”, you cried as you held your head high “I’ve kicked your ass as well”, you bickered.

Peter laughed at your answer and you couldn’t avoid but to let go either, laughing at past memories who could feel like as if they had happened yesterday but at the same time, as if they had happened in another life. To a distant you who didn’t exist or fit anymore, still it didn’t change that your heart jumped as you heard Peter’s laugh.

It soon died down, your gazed linked together with a little glimpse of feelings of the past; and god, how you wanted for that glimpse to last a little longer but Peter quickly walked away towards Harley.

“It’s now you and me”, Peter said to Harley, lips a bit pressed together.

Although Peter understood that Harley was part of the Avengers, it didn’t mean that he simply liked it. Harley, as the lovely asshole he was, liked to rile Peter up and Peter for any reason whatsoever always gave Harley that power over him. It was so stupid for you but you thought that the root of the problem which was you and your dad didn’t exist anymore so there wouldn’t be any more trouble.

You were wrong.

“What!?”, Harley cried to you as he completely disregard Peter who was in front of him,

You rolled your eyes, thinking Harley was being a baby. “Now Harley, go ahead with Peter”

“He has superpowers!”, Harley complained once more as if he was a toddler, which made you give him a look while raising your eyebrows.

“I can take him and I don’t have superpowers”, you replied seriously.

“No, you can’t”, Wanda said quickly.

You simply huffed while Peter smiled softly and so did Lila and Cassie, completely entrance by the situation in front of them.

“You should prove it”, Harley chuckled, raising his eyebrows as he crossed his arms.

“I can’t believe you are in MIT, you are not as smart as you think you are”, you shrugged. “Plus, can’t you just shut up for a second?”

Harley and Wanda giggled at the same time as they heard you, Harley’s eyes quickly connecting to Wanda’s who gave Harley a toothy smile. Harley and Wanda had actually been getting along through the weekend, on your dinners and while you trained. It seemed as if Harley was constantly chasing Wanda like a lost puppy, but in the cool and suave way that only Harley had.

“Whatever, if this irritates you more than talking about Mysterio…”

You quickly snapped your neck towards Harley as your jaw clenched. You huffed, annoyed by Harley bringing up Mysterio once again who was your least favorite topic at the moment.

“Oh! I saw that he was trending this week on Twitter”, Cassie exclaimed as she quickly ran to her bag and grabbed her phone while you rolled your eyes as she tapped furiously on her phone.

You couldn’t believe that everyone seemed so blindsided by a man who was clearly a sketch ball and that was sure that he, only him, could save the earth. While you and Peter, seemed to be a collateral from this own personal mission to avenge his planet. It really did seem like a comic book that had been pulled from someone’s as-

“Yeah, I saw that everyone was talking about him. Like how did he do that?”, Lila screech, making you lose track of your thoughts as Wanda and Harley walked towards them to watch the video that Cassie had playing on her phone.

Peter simply smiled, as if some old friend was being recognized.  “We don’t really know but he was really helpful. He also said we were great”

“Did you got to know him?”, Cassie yelled as she watched Peter with puppy-like eyes.

“Well yeah…”, he hesitated. “We have been working with him, me and Y/N”

Cassie almost dropped her phone as she nipped over to where you and Peter were standing, “You should get a picture with him! Everyone saying his like a new avenger”

You could feel your eye twitching at Cassie’s comment.

“He isn’t”, you stated coldly.

It became really clear to you that you needed to get this over with regarding Beck, because by the way everyone was talking about him, he would believe he was an actual avenger. It simply didn’t feel right with you, the gut feeling you had simply intensified as you spend more time watching the guy. Being very quiet on the meetings gave you a chance to really analyzed him and he was clearly unhinged.

“Yeah, I’m not buying it”, Harley agreed with you which made you snap back to reality “He seems like an asshole the way he was flaunting himself in that green cloud”, he mocked.

You smiled at Harley, mentally thanking him for not following the crowd. But Peter? Peter felt offended as he glared at Harley.

“He wasn’t flaunting”, Peter replied as he walked towards the mat and gestured to Harley to come.

Harley sighed, as he seemed to accept his destiny but also a sudden and devilish smiled formed on his lips as he saw Peter’s attitude.

“Oh, come on, is so obvious he has a praise kink”, Harley continue as he quickly threw a right hook towards Peter who barely duck it, as he was a bit thrown off by Harley’s sudden move.

“I’m with Harley in that one”, you whispered to Wanda, but Peter was still able to hear you.

Peter huffed, quickly he threw a lower punch at Harley’s ribs making him hiss. Peter knew he had thrown it with a bit more strength that he usually used when fighting with ‘normal’ people, a flinch of guilt ran through his back of his mind; but Harley quickly recovered -which was new for a scrawny boy like him- and he blocked Peter’s uppercut.

“What happened Parker?”, Harley teased as he blocked Peter’s punch.

It seemed to be actually a good fight, Harley was really putting in the effort but Peter, on the other hand, was losing its patience. Soon, Peter threw another lower punch at Harley’s rib which this time released a small crack along with a howl from Harley’s part and soon Peter knocked him flat with one swing of his feet.

You gasped at the sound of Harley’s body on the floor, it made you stop breathing for a second. Harley groaned while Peter simply gaped at the sight of Harley on the mat. He knew he had maybe gotten a bit carried it away, Harley could rile him up without much but now he felt guilty. You soon came into the picture glaring at Peter, he winced at the thought of you being angry at him. But you didn’t give him more than two seconds as you kneeled down next to Harley whose eyes were closed, Cassie and Lila followed, Wanda was a bit behind but with an uneasy look on her face.

“Are you okay?”, you asked as you lifted his shirt and checked for any major injuries by touching the area, the only thing you could see was a bruise that was starting to form on Harley’s abdomen.  

“I’m okay”, Harley let out slowly, finally opening his eyes. “You are still so in love with me that you want to undress me?”, Harley muttered smugly. “Jeez, lady”

You sighed in relieve as you stood up. “He’s okay, he’s still making jokes”, you said as all of the others could finally let out a breath.

Peter quickly walked towards Harley and helped him stood up, shame colored his face as he watched down at Harley, touching the back of his neck, quickly muttering an ‘m sorry’ to Harley, who simply gave him a light smile.

“This was a stupid discussion”, you said as you stood up from your knees and glared at both boys, who had already fixed it apparently. “Nonetheless, I have a Cap moment here”

“You don’t say”, Wanda muttered which made Harley snickered.

You shook your head as you directed yourself to the others.

“Harley and Peter are a good example on how not to have a good relationship with your partners.”, you explained as you pointed at them, making Peter look down and Harley blush.

“You have to be sure about the person that is next to you on that field or in a moment of need”, your eyes connected with Peter’s and it made your heart twist inside of you.  “There’s no way this can work if there’s not a minimum of trust, I have to know that my partner will understand my choices and if he doesn’t, he will be there to catch me in case that I mess up”

Your voice died down as you finished, everyone remained silent and it seemed like they were actually trying to digest what you just had said because it was way too real. Especially if you thought about the job you were doing but you… you were thinking about your relationship with Peter, not as the superhero duo that people on the outside saw you as but the real way that you saw him and he saw you.

“Dismissed”, you then proceeded to say. “We are done for the weekend, you did a great job for your first training”, you sang proudly as you watched their faces light up with a smile.

“Thank you!”, Cassie giggled as she and Lila hugged each other.

It didn’t take long for everyone to start packing up their things from the gym and you giving calls for the Quinjet to take them to their respective homes. Cassie and Lila quickly said goodbye as they ran together to their respective room to grab their bags and then fly home, since they had school the next day. You could hear Lila saying to Cassie that she was going to help her and show her all her moves as they exited the gym.

On the other hand, Harley had decided he wanted to stay a few more days on Stark Tower to work on his suit, that it didn’t matter that he skipped a few classes if he mentioned his new position on Stark Industries but you silently saw how he was waiting for Wanda to finish stretching.

Just like clockwork, he threw his shot.

“Hey Wanda, do you maybe want to go for a snack?”, Harley asked her a bit timidly as Wanda picked up her book with a swift hand motion and placed it on her other hand, the red energy that emerged and surrounded her hands almost left Harley in awe.

Wanda blinked a few times as it dawned to her what Harley was actually saying, it was clearly that she wasn’t expecting it. Maybe it was too intrusive from your part to be watching them from a far, crossing your fingers and hoping for Wanda to actually say yes; you were also so sure that Harley was in the verge of his heart stopping by the way he was gazing at her.

“Only if you are buying”

Wanda gave Harley a light smile and it seemed like the tension had been popped, Harley seemed like he could breathe once again, he was trying so hard not to smile as brightly as he wanted.

“It was implied”, he said with cockiness dripping from his voice as they exited the gym without even saying goodbye.

“I’m glad”, Wanda simply said as she walked out, a little bit ahead of Harley who followed her swiftly without looking back.

You shook your head while you picked up your own stuff. You couldn’t even avoid smiling at the memories of Peter asking you for the first time to go get something to eat, just days after your first encounter in the lab where Tony was showing him around while you were working on your own suit. It felt like your stomach twisted at the thought of those first few moments of getting to know each other, just maybe if you closed your eyes you could remember the cold wind on those days.

“Hey, you did a great job today”, the voice of Peter startled you, as you turned around wide-eyed, you had almost assumed that he had left since he had been leaving trainings rather fast the last few days.

But there he was, the boy you were in love with for what you think was forever. The more you thought about it, it was simply stupid to assume and be upset that your love for Peter hadn’t faded away, it was stupid because you knew you would never feel the same way about anyone else and although it might have brought you more than one headache since he came back, you were somehow grateful.

Yes, you were grateful for Peter Parker, even though you weren’t really on talking terms, even though if he hated you even a little for your actions, even though he made you question every decision you ever made, even though it hurt to see him because you connected him with moments with your father who you had lost.

But how could you not be grateful when he was standing right there in his dark blue t-shirt that he used for training that framed his muscles perfectly and those grey sweatpants that hanged a bit low sometimes. How could you not be grateful for the caramel curls that fell on his forehead, pink lips that had a similar shade to the a small blush from the workout on his face, along with his freckles that seemed like a galaxy that decorated his cheeks and those chocolate milk eyes with gold specks that lingered a bit longer to yours and dripped adoration.

“Oh- uhm”, you stuttered as you stood up and looked down, wishing he didn’t see you blushing. He did. “Thank you”

Peter gave you a tight smile, his eyes still lingering on your colored rosy pink cheeks that were accompanied by your heartbeat that was stammering non-stop. It made him shake his head, as he felt like he could punch the air in success by your reaction.

“Yeah, well I got to get going”, Peter muttered as he walked backwards while you finally filled yourself with enough courage to look back at him.

“You got something?”, you stated. You couldn’t deny that you were a bit disappointed as you saw him leaving but also glad that this was his first approach to you, some compliments here and there that could maybe strengthen your relationship of partners in the future.

But Peter stopped abruptly and he blushed too. “No, not really”

The way he answered, his voice stretching at the end and you caught it right away. This was your chance to finally have a real talk that didn’t involve The Avengers, this time you could really discuss what was left unsaid at the funeral.

“Do you mind if we talk?”

It simply rolled out of your tongue but not as an unwelcoming guest but more as a shy guest. Peter knew it was coming, he did open the door for this and he knew you understood how his mind work -just like he knew yours too-.

It had been a couple of days where he had been entranced by your leadership skills, by your determination and resilience but also, just spending that much time with you made him recall past days where you guys spend every hour together without stopping. He saw everything that you once were but now in such a new light that it made him want to know you more. It was almost like a magnetic effect, he needed you close and by the way you were acting at the moment, you needed him too.

“No, it’s okay”, Peter answered with a tight smile.

Your wide eyes and a light smile gave you away. “Okay, then we could go to my room”, you said as you grabbed your things and got closer to Peter, who raised his brows. “Oh no, but not in that way, I…”

The words crashed against one another in your mouth and you wished your brain would just get it over with but being so close to Peter that you could feel the heat of his body, it made you dizzy.

“It’s okay, we can go”, Peter finally stated and it made you wince at the thought of how stupid you must have sound as you simply nodded and began walking out of the gym.

But Peter only thought it was cute.

The ride on the elevator to the penthouse was silent with some smiles being exchange but nothing more, Peter could hear your heart stammering and somehow, he even became worried about it because it sounded so loud, but then he realized his was beating as hard as yours.

Peter wasn’t really surprise to see the penthouse as he had already visit it when he talked to Pepper, but your room… everything had changed. The once blue paint that decorated your walls was gone to find a white and beige paint, the little traces of your childhood that hadn’t been burned by The Mandarin attack were nowhere to be seen, now your walls were decorated with elegant paintings and even a neon text from Tracey Emin. It was more elegant and grown up but it still had your essence. The pictures in the wall next to your bed hadn’t changed one bit, they were better organized and there he was in most of them but then next to him he saw Morgan and Tony, and there was a picture of Harry and you.

He tried not to think about the voice in the back of his mind telling him he was displeased with the picture.

“You want to sit down?”

Peter sighed and he nodded, his eyes studied you as you sat on your large bed and patted softly a spot next to you. He sat down without saying much while you simply hugged your knees to your chest. As if you were somehow protecting yourself from the possible damages that could come from this conversation.

You felt Peter’s weight on your bed and you looked down, your heart was stammering on your chest and there was an awkward shift in the air. You had never been alone with Peter since that faithful conversation -unless you took into account the fight with the water elemental- but this would be the most important conversation that you had to have.  Your eye lifted and met Peter’s first. Peter was staring at you in trepidation, you felt your cheeks flush and tears dangerously close to your eyes.

It came out as word vomit.

“I- I just wanted to say that… I don’t even know how to begin this but I’m so sorry”, you weren’t sure if it was even your voice, too brittle for just such a small piece of what you wanted to say. “I truly am sorry and I just-”, again your mind trying to fit the words into this small moment that Peter had gave you.

You didn’t know if it was right to say what you truly felt because of the situation you were in but looking at his chocolate eyes and there was this warmth for him that blossom from your chest as you watched him gazing at you. What was the worst thing that could actually happened if you were honest? If you weren’t it would be buried on your chest like a sharp glass and every time you spend time with Peter, it would hurt and, as you studied Peter, it would hurt him too.

“Peter I never forgot you”, you breathe out. “You were always in my mind and it was just so hard to get out of these walls without you and I truly believed I was never going to be the same and I’m truly not but… I just want to say that with everything that has happened, I love you”

Peter’s eyes opened like plates as he heard the words, tears threatening to run from your eyes and rosy cheeks; your appearance being as soft as it was, it was in complete juxtaposition to such a strong confession.  

“Y/N…”

Peter wasn’t sure if you were in your right mind but if he was being completely honest, there was nothing more he had wanted to hear since he came back.

“Listen to me”, you intervened, because you had to say it before he could shut you down again. “I love you but I also found someone who made me feel alive again when I thought you were completely gone. You were my everything and then Thanos erased you from my life, I didn’t even care to continue Peter and…”, you threaded slowly from the words, because as you close your eyes and the tears finally fell from your eyes, you remembered how cold and lonely those days were. How you felt like you were drowning and no one could help you.

“It was like… as if something had completely turned off inside of me. It was feeling numb or not even, just feeling nothing”

The word rang on Peter’s ears and caused a shiver to travel through his spine, it was so strong that he closed his eyes a bit, as if he had been taken back again when he was being taken apart piece by piece. But it went away quickly when he, out of instinct, grabbed your hand and you squeezed it in response. He opened his eyes and he watched you staring at him, tears and everything, He remembered Pepper’s words, how broken she told him that you were but he was still somehow apprehensive about everything, but staring at you with completely transparency… he knew that he could trust.

“I felt that too”, he whispered.

“What?”, you asked as you brushed tears from your own eyes that were still falling without any control.

“Yes, when I was being…”, Peter didn’t know how to exactly phrase what happened to him correctly, because not a word could describe how he felt, “Turn into dust? It felt like someone had been breaking me apart into nothingness”, he closed his eyes at the memory of the feeling, shuddering. “I just…” Peter wanted to cry as he began to shake. The memories of the torturing feeling of being turned into nothing began to fill his memory. “It was terrifying and overwhelming and…”

“As if you couldn’t breathe?”, you asked silently as you squeezed his hand harder and got closer to him.

Peter opened his eyes to see you studying him, a worry expression drawn on your face and he simply nodded, with a slight smile, just because you knew.

You remained silent for a few seconds, to let Peter digest your statement. You knew that it maybe wasn’t fair because he had been literally killed and brought back to live while you, you simply lost him. But deep down, you knew it really felt like you had been dragged to hell after he had left.

Peter simply, held your hand tighter, a part of him was glad that you could understand that feeling and it felt as a confirmation that you were together through everything -through thin and thick- like since you first met each other. But on the other hand, he knew it wasn’t true because Harry had been there when he wasn’t, because you had moved on and the more he thought about it, he was glad that Harry had helped you through the pain; the same way he would’ve helped you if he was there.

“So, Harry made you breathe again?”, Peter asked, sniffling a bit.

He stared at you and it seemed as if the air lightened up a bit as you shook your head.

“My dad”, you muttered with a smile as you remember Tony in silence. “He just told me that you wouldn’t want me to waste my life”

Peter stayed silent for a second as he stared at New York through your windows because if he really thought about it, if he really never came back, he would’ve wished exactly that: for you to live.

“He was right”

“He was mostly always right”, you answered back as you thought of Tony.

You giggled together.

“And then came Harry, he just…”, it was weird to not know how to really put into words what Harry made for you without making it sound so simple. But at the end, it really was that, your relationship with Harry was easy and it was great. “He was just there for me and made me laugh. I just didn’t need more, he made me feel some things that I had only experience with you but in a different way”

Peter winced at the thought of Harry and you, but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on the thought as you scooted towards him and continued.

“I need you to know that I still love you and that hasn’t change in the time that pass but now…this”, you said as you pointed to both you and him and towards Harry’s photo on your wall, “It’s not fair to any of us what happened but we have to deal and I just can’t throw away the last two years of my life and go back”

Peter nodded, although it hurt.

It hurt so much to know that you were right, it hurt so much to know that he couldn’t protest, that he couldn’t move when all he wanted to do is kiss you and pull you towards your bed, he wanted to touch you and spend the day lazily kissing each other as he drew lines on your skin. He wanted to laugh with you, he wanted to train with you and then pepper your face with kisses, he wanted to go back.

But he couldn’t and he couldn’t blame you or anyone really for it.

It just happened.

“I get it”, Peter turned towards you, so he could see you watching him, “It’s hard but I understand, Y/N”

“Thank you”, you breathed as you threw yourself towards him.

Peter thanks to his reflexes caught you, just like he always did. It was the first time you hugged like this since your final battle with Thanos and you couldn’t help to recall how you thought at one point during your relationship that you fitted perfectly into his arms. You were over Peter, straddling him while your arms were tightly wrapped over his shoulders, your face hidden on his neck while his arms were wrapped around your torso.

You weren’t sure how long you stayed holding each other.

You felt the tears escaping your eyes once again, but they were the first happy tears that you had dropped in a while. Peter felt your small whimpers as you cried and he couldn’t help but to hold you tightly. He wanted to take you all in, he didn’t want to let go and he felt that you didn’t either.

“And with everything that’s happening with the avengers, I truly need you to be the Steve to my Tony”, you muttered while you held him a little bit tighter.

Peter laughed as he remembered Steve and Tony together. “So, friends?”

You laughed with him but it soon died down as you began to let go and Peter’s hands fell onto your hips. It was an involuntary move that was born many years ago, you simply didn’t let go so fast and your forehead simply fell against his as you closed your eyes. If this was another time, if this was another reality, your lips would’ve naturally chase each other’s, as hummingbirds chasing flowers. Peter closed his eyes as well, taking you in as one of his hands itched for cupping your face and pull you into a kiss.

But deep down, both of you knew that you couldn’t. You sighed and smoothly stood up from Peter’s legs as you watched him with a disappointed smile.

“The gang misses you too”, he finally muttered after a few moments.

You had thought about the gang a lot the past few weeks, you had wanted to see them more than anything in the world. The thing was, when you didn’t grow with many friends and then found those soulmates that you never thought you would find, you learned to really appreciate them. It had been so long, you missed Ned’s engulfing hugs, Betty’s sweetness and determination, Flash’s comments (when he wasn’t bullying anyone) and MJ’s calm and support. Your mind had wondered to the past in school so many times when they were gone and since they came back you really did want to see them, but the uneasy thought of everything changing scared you.

“I miss them too”.

Peter nodded as he watched you closely, he knew you well enough to notice how you were fiddling like you did whenever you were stressed. He was glad he could still pick-up on mannerisms from years ago. By the way you were pulling your sleeves over your hands, he knew that you had decided to stay away because you were scared. He just wasn’t sure what you were scared about, if these were the people you had called family at one point but he was determined to not let it fall.

“We are hanging out today, later we are going for pizza”, Peter commented, nonchalant.  He stood up and walked closer to you, causing you to breath him in. “Wanna come?”

The offer made you blink a couple of times. Your eyes opened as if you were about to tear up and you couldn’t help but to let out a smile. Deep inside you, you knew you might have not been ready to see the other’s, if you hadn’t made up with Peter.

“Yes, please”, you breathe out as a small smile etched its way to Peter’s face.

Peter right then and there realized how starved he was from you, from your presence, from your kind and loving nature. He was going through withdraw the last few weeks, having you again felt as if he could breathe. Even though, he couldn’t really have you.

“So, do you want me to pick you up or…”

You shook your head, “No, just text me the address and I’ll be there.”

Peter smiled as he got closer to you, he nudged you jokingly on your shoulders, causing you to laugh.

“I’ll see you there”, Peter sang as he left your room, with a smile that didn’t go away for him.

You, on the other hand, remained frozen for a few minutes in your room. In completely awe that Peter had actually invited you to go out with him and the others. You didn’t want to admit that the thought of Peter hating you forever had been eating you alive for the past month or so, you could still recall Peter’s glare when you had confessed at the funeral that you were with someone.

But now, it seemed as if you and him fell back together, as you usually did.

You spent the rest of the day on your lab, with a smile plastered on your face and with no distractions while you still tried to decode the USB that Tony had left for you. Most of the time that you had spent working on it, it had been festering resentful and angry feelings about Tony’s death but that day, it was the first day where you actually came to enjoy working on it. It was still frustrating that you hadn’t managed to crack it, but you were comforted by the feeling that Tony had actually thought about leaving something meaningful to you, something that was so meaningful that you had spent weeks trying to decipher it.

It was about 7:00pm when you realized you were late, HAPPY had the instruction to only bother you when Peter sent the address for the new pizza place that they were planning to go to. Otherwise, you were busy for anyone asking for you, unless it was an avenger emergency.

You hadn’t seen anyone since training and since you had silenced your phone, it was a surprise to see Wanda laying on your bed while you got out of the shower.

“So, how was your afternoon with Harley?”, you asked Wanda with a smile as she was watching the roof of your room. It was clear that she had spent the whole afternoon with the scrawny boy, she was still on her gym clothes.

“Yeah”, she muttered as she sat up while you began changing. “We went to some places he knew; he took me to this amazing bookstore that also had vinyl’s? I mean, we listen to a few records together”

You turned around and watched Wanda’s worried gaze, you picked up right away that this wasn’t a normal conversation. This wasn’t that Wanda had just wandered to your room by casualty, she needed to talk. In past times, it was natural for you to find your way to each other’s room, including Nat’s. There would be small places where you could talk about anything and everything, where you could laugh and cry. You hadn’t had that in a while, with Nat after the snap there had been a few conversations but nothing like before, it seemed like it was too painful to perform the ritual without Wanda.

“What’s wrong?”, you asked as you quickly put on the tennis skirt that you wanted to wear and ran towards Wanda that was begging to shake as sobs escaped her mouth.

“I just…”, Wanda struggled to form words as you wrapped your arms around her. “Vis and I used to spend so much time together and it came to the point that I realized that I don’t know where he began and I ended”

You sighed, because you had been in the same place for a while, you understood Wanda’s mistrust about her own feelings, about her own self. It was the exact same way you felt when you lost Peter, when the caramel curls disappear along with those chocolate milk eyes that you came to adore. You experience withdraw and it had taken months and a pep talk from Tony to get you back on your feet.

“And I don’t know how to be me anymore, it seemed like I gave it all my authenticity and my essence to what we had and then he died which is completely ridiculous because he wasn’t supposed to die!”, Wanda cried as she rolled her eyes with exasperation.

“Wanda…”

“I- I just was somehow happy that I died with him?”

The last sentence shock you and Wanda remained silent as well as she heard her own words slipping out of her lips. Your gazes linked together once again and it didn’t take long for Wanda to continue to spill tears on your shoulders as you tried to support her on the best way you could. The simple statement had touched a nerve, as you remember the nights that the thought of dying with Peter as he turned to ash seemed to be a relieve. A dream.

It lasted for a few minutes and you patiently waited for her tears to stop streaming from her eyes. When she finally stopped shaking, you continue to caress her hair, as you knew she had always liked Vis to do when she was feeling upset.

“It gets better”, you whispered.

Wanda sniffed, “I hope you are right”, she said and you could hear the smile on her face. “He has a crush on me, doesn’t he?”

You smiled and sighed. You wouldn’t lie to her, even if you loved Harley like a brother too and you knew he wanted to be as smooth as he could about this, you knew he cared for her and he understood the situation that Wanda was in. It had been all over the papers at some point, Wanda and Vis together in some part of Europe, even rumors about marriage -which people didn’t liked since she was so young and he was… well-.

“I don’t even read minds like you and I can see it”

Wanda giggled as she finally stood up from the bed, it seemed like she needed the crying session and now she felt better. She watched you on your tennis skirt, bra on and towel wrapping your hair. “So, you are going out with Peter?”

You shook your head with a smile that apparently no one seemed to be able to wipe from your face. “Well, with The Midtown gang”

Wanda gave you a knowing look as you began to look for the polo shirt that you wanted to wear under an oversize dark blue sweater you had already set apart. It was a spring day and you had decided that you would look cute and good, something less stressing that what you had been wearing through the last few years, which most of them were formal outfits.

“That comes with Peter”, Wanda said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Yes, it does, but today we finally had the talk and I think that we are actually going to be fine”, you replied with a smile as you finished dressing up and checked yourself in the mirror.

Wanda quickly gave a few steps and wrapped her arms around you, giving you one of those strong hugs that Wanda rarely gave. You smiled as you looked at her on the mirror and tighten your hand that was over her arm. It was comforting, having her again and you thanked Tony on your mind for getting her back.

“I’m glad that you are doing okay”, Wanda whispered as she let go and walked towards the door. “By the way, I saw your boyfriend this week on paparazzi photos when he came to wait for you and he really is nice to look at”

You laughed as you began to brush and dry your short hair, you shook your head as Wanda exited your room while you replied, “He is nice to look at, isn’t?”

Soon after Wanda left and you finished with your hair, Peter sent you another text telling you that they had already arrived as HAPPY told you while you placed some blush and mascara. You thought that you would get on time by car or by metro, but the more you thought about it, the idea became even more annoying to you. You gazed at your windows and gave a look at the bright city; it was quite a view from your room.

Deep down, you knew you wanted to fly everywhere you went. It was something that Pepper didn’t really approve but it was more like Tony to do stuff like that, it was like when he sometimes went to Parent-Teacher conferences on his suit. The more you thought about it, you concluded who were you to not do it like your father did? Without any lingering doubt on your body, you simply tapped your necklace and the nanobots began to surround your body and you smiled.

It didn’t take long for you to get there, basically only 4 minutes if you were counting but you weren’t. Your mind was way too busy thinking about how everyone would react about you. You stood outside the restaurant, mind grinding as you thought how your encounter would actually go. You wanted to somehow be prepared for possible comments or interactions you may had, but if you were completely honest, you didn’t really know what would come your way.

“You realize that you are not in a mission, right?”

MJ was the kind of person that made your entire day without doing much. When you turned around, she looked exactly like you remembered hair, she was lean and tall. Her brown curly hair fell perfectly on her shoulders, framing her face. You remembered how you envied her hair and how she wouldn’t have to work too much on it for it to look beautiful. She seemed like a piece of art, and you were sure she was made for modelling but she had decided she would focus more on physics than any other possibility of a different career.

“MJ!”

You know she wasn’t a hugger but you still threw yourself towards her without any thought. It seemed like it had been forever since you had seen your friend but at the same time, as if nothing had happened. It was as if you could still give each other certain looks and the other would know what they meant, that you could spend hours in silence studying or watching movies. Nothing had really happened and you could feel the relieve washing over you as you hugged her.

“You didn’t forget me!”, MJ exclaimed as she hugged you back.

“How could I ever forget you”, you whispered with a smile as you finally let go.

MJ was smiling as well but her face quickly became plain, she looked down and cleared her throat. You knew what was coming, MJ was not one for being sentimental but the heaviness of her moves made you realize what she wanted to say, you winced.

“I’m really sorry about your dad”

You looked away from her for a second, you thought about how your dad actually liked MJ and that you had finally had a girl friend who wasn’t an avenger. “Thank you”

She held her hand for you and you didn’t even think as you gave yours and squeezed hers as a small gratitude gesture. This was one of the things you loved about MJ, she was transparent and kind. She didn’t walk around eggshells and she always had the empathy that many lacked. MJ had become one of your best friends as soon as you met her, which made Peter crazy because it had taken years for her to warm up to him and Ned. But there you were, you understood the other so well that it didn’t required any time.

“We have to go in, you know?”, she said as both of you watched the Pizza Place from outside.

You could feel your heart on your chest, hammering away and you took a little breath. “Yeah, sure”, you whispered as MJ guided you to the door.

Ned, Betty and Flash were sitting on a table while Peter was grabbing a couple of more seats for MJ and you. The Pizza Place had a couple of people, but nothing out of the ordinary. They hadn’t notice that you arrived until MJ cleared her throat and then sat down, giving the others space to greet you as they wished.

“Y/N!”, Ned’s screamed rumbled through the whole place, making the few people on the place to turn around, worried about what could possibly be so important. But you couldn’t care a lot as Ned threw himself towards you and engulfed you into a big hug.

Ned had been a handful for you at the begging of your friendship, since you were rather on the silent type while Ned was anything but that, always leaving little crumbles of knowledge or ideas that were running around through his head, even if no one had asked. But as time passed, you warmed up to him until you became as loud as he was when around him sometimes and he came to understand your silence. Enjoying building things with you, tinker in some tech that you had showed to him and even do your homework together.

You had missed him even more that you thought.  

“Ned!”, you replied as you wrapped your arms tightly around him as well.

“Babe, it’s my turn!”, you could hear Betty’s harmonious voice as Ned finally let go.

You smiled widely as you wrapped your arms around Betty as well. She was now even shorter than you, but she still smelled like a brand-new book. Betty and you had always gotten along nicely, you had been partners in a couple of classes and you had similar styles for working, when she and Ned began to date it simply brought you closer. Betty was the kind of person that was always busy, but you loved that about her. She always had something to do, or somewhere to go, the determination that she had was admirable.

“I can’t believe it’s you”, Betty gushed as she let go. “I’ve missed you so much”

You smiled back. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve missed you, guys”

“Even me?” Flash asked as he came from behind Betty.

You shook your head; Flash was clearly still trying to grow a mustache and you couldn’t help to laugh as you quickly gave him a small hug.

“Even you”, you said as he let go, but his hand still lingered on your shoulder.

“Let’s seat”, Peter’s suggestion startled you, you could still he was still annoyed with Flash constant flirting with you. But you shook it off and walked towards him, quickly giving him a peck on his cheek.

“Thank you”, you whispered with a smile.

Peter was unsettled by your sudden kiss but he couldn’t lie about how much he had loved it. His heart was melting as he watched you closely. Peter felt a lingered sensation of your relationship, he loved your kisses and how you used to pepper his face with them. You never missed a chance to gave Peter a kiss, even tame ones like on his cheek -who at the end of the day, ended up being the majority of them-. Peter felt his cheeks get warmer, he simply tried to hide them as he took a seat.

Peter didn’t reply anything but you saw how bright and pink his cheeks turned, it made you smile as you sat down and began to chat. The conversation went smoothly without any hiccup and it seemed like your fear of them was now so stupid, but you tried to still dodge as many questions as you could, mostly focusing on school and work. It seemed like everyone except Peter had their plan laid out for the next stage of their lives, Ned was definitely going to MIT while Betty would go to Yale and MJ to Columbia, Flash still was deciding if he was going to go UCLA or stay close by in any university on the East Coast.

Nonetheless, Peter was surprised when he heard you saying that you had also applied to Harvard and Columbia and you were wishing for Columbia to accept you. Peter really though that you would go to MIT, as you had planned with Tony but he sensed that the same feeling of responsibility for New York that he felt, was also weighing on you.

But the conversation faded quickly on how Ned and Betty were planning their long-not that long- distance relationship for next fall.

“You two are so cute!”, you said as Betty leaned on Ned with a smile.

You had always had a weak spot for Betty’s and Ned’s relationship, it seemed so fragile but strong at the same time. Two people that you never thought would work out, where there making it.

But Flash’s laugh distracted you, “You know who would be cuter? Us”, he said as he wiggled his eyebrows and got closer to the table.

You rolled your eyes so back to your head that it seemed like they would get lost on your skull.

“Oh god Flash, just stop”, MJ rolls her eyes while you couldn’t help to burst into laugh as you watched everyone’s reaction. Everyone soon joined in on the laugh, even Peter with a small giggle.

“What?” Flash exclaimed annoyed as he tried to be heard over everyone’s laughter. “I’m serious”

Everyone began to laugh louder, except for Peter who deep down wanted to smack Flash across his face; even if you two weren’t together anymore, it still annoyed him.

“Not gonna happen”, you muttered as everyone’s laugh began to die down. Some giggles still escaped your lips as you saw Flash’s brows bumped together, clearly upset. “Sorry Flash”, you muttered sweetly, as you drink a bit of water.

“Parker here told us you two broke up”, Flash grumbled as he glared at Peter, who glared right back at him. “Thought we had a chance”

You choke a bit on the water as you heard Flash, you quickly gazed back at Peter who was looking down. Peter really didn’t want to touch on the topic, he had in fact told them about what was going on with you but he thought that it was a silent understanding that no one should bring that up. Peter now really wanted to punch Flash on the face. You turn back to see Flash again, with a quizzical smile.

You didn’t know if Flash was kidding or if he was throwing his real shot.

But you knew that if you didn’t bring it up, they would know. Harry had already been caught near the tower the last week, it was only a matter of time until people knew that you were together.

“I’m actually with someone else…”, you muttered as you then pressed your lips into a thin line waiting for everyone to react.

“WHAT!?”, you were sure everyone through New York had heard the shriek of MJ, Flash and Betty. You watched carefully how Ned hadn’t actually screamed along, you figured that Peter had already told him about Harry.

“Peter!” MJ growled.

“Why didn’t you tell us!?” Flash replied again while Peter sighed.

Peter felt the intense gaze of everyone looking at him, when he lifted his head his eyes met with yours, a glimpse of exhaustion and disappointment flashed on his eyes. He felt his stomach turning right away, he knew deep down he didn’t want anyone to know that you guys broke up because you were with someone else. If it was just a breakup, he guessed that people thought that you would get back together but if you were with someone it meant that his chances were lower, and although he knew that… he felt like it would feel so final if everyone knew.

The sting on his chest was bothering him more at the moment, his ears were drumming and he decided he needed a break.

“Well…”, Peter began but he quickly stood up from his seat. “I’m going to pay the bill”

All of you watched as he stood up and watched him going to the register. You examined him close by, you knew that look on his face and you were worried this was one thing that could worsen his mood. Deep down, you knew you were really worried that you would hurt him again, that bringing this up again would hurt the few steps that you had taken that very same day.

“Are you going to tell us who is it?”, Betty mumbled as you snapped out of your trance.

“Yeah, it’s -uhm- Harry Osborn?”, you answer startled as you began to play with the sleeves of your sweater.

“From Oscorp”, Ned stated.

You simply nodded, “Yeah, he was running it while his father snapped…”, you muttered as you remember the first time you saw Harry. “And for my non-profit I just contacted him and we started dating”

It was the simplest way you could put it, you looked around the table as everyone was somehow digesting the fact that you were with someone that wasn’t Peter Parker. You bite your lips as you watched them carefully, you knew that this was an adjustment and this was a topic you wanted to avoid, but as you saw them… you knew you couldn’t. This was a family you had made outside of the Avengers and you were so happy that they were again in your life.

“You should meet him someti-”

“Already paid for the bill”, Peter cut you as he arrived to the table with the bill. Peter spoke as if nothing had happened and he guessed it was the best thing he could do; he had heard how your heart was hammering and he watched your grimaced as he was returning.

This was a safe, and you knew it.

“Great!”, you exclaimed as you raised from the table, more than ready for this conversation to be over.

Everyone felt startled by your statement but no one doubt for a second to follow the lead of you and Peter. Soon, Betty began chatting about something regarding a homework and MJ and Peter followed the conversation as you exited the pizza place.

“Yeah, well this was nice”, MJ muttered as she felt the spring wind on her face as she put on her coat.

“It was great to see you Y/N, we’ve missed you”, Betty said as she gave you another hug and Ned followed.

Flash nodded as he placed a quick peck on your cheek, “We have to do this again, the pizza was great”

You smiled as MJ hugged you one last time.

“Don’t go MIA again, please”

“I won’t, I promise”, you whispered back.

You felt a warm on your chest, spreading across your body as you watched your friends say goodbye, it had been such a while since you had felt like this. Everyone left slowly, Flash gave MJ a ride since his driver was already waiting for him on a black car. MJ rolled her eyes but at the end she accepted the ride with a smile, while Ned and Betty decided to walk home since it wasn’t too far away from Betty’s place and Ned like to always leave her at her own door.

And soon, two were left.

Peter didn’t want to admit it, but he was still lingering at the front of the pizza place for you. And you, you were doing the exact same thing. It was silent, the noise of the street felt like a lullaby as the wind blew your shorter hair, while Peter fidget with his light blue sweater and played with his own feet.

You were the first one to break the silence.

“Are you doing something right now?”, you asked silently as you leaned against the building, watching Peter carefully. The way his eyes flashed as he looked at you with a broad grin.

“Not really, what about you?”, as he walked closer to you.

You smiled, maintaining eye contact as you gave another step closer towards Peter. A sneaky grin grew on your face and Peter felt like he wanted to melt right then and there, as he watched you watching him like that.

“What do you have underneath that sweater?”

Peter almost choke. He awkwardly looked at you but as he saw your eyes and how your brows raised, he understood what you really meant.

He looked around for the moment, so the people passing by didn’t saw as lowered the neck of his sweater so you could see the red fabric. He was wearing his first spider-man suit and it gave you a shiver as you recall old times when you began to Avenge together.  

“You want to go… patrolling?”, you whispered as you remembered a soft kiss on one of those nights.

“Are you sure?”

There was something in the back of your mind telling you that there actually was something that you had to do instead of go patrolling. But watching the moon lighting Peter’s skin, his chocolate eyes with golden specks, the little freckles that adorned his face and your mind couldn’t avoid going back to the nights you spent on roofs.

The memory felt like cold wind on your cheeks.

//

“Do you think your dad knows about us?”, Peter asked you as he swung through Manhattan from the tallest buildings you could think of while you flew besides him on your suit.

But you didn’t answer as you thought about how Tony was looking at both of you as you ate dinner. The memory of your father being cut and sharp was a new thing, he didn’t talk much through dinner but what he did do, was glare non-stop at Peter. He didn’t ask about school or training, which were always a must when you were at dinner. He didn’t even talk much to anyone at the table, Pepper called him out for not paying attention and he mumbled a “m’ sorry” that you could feel wasn’t very transparent.

On Peter’s part, he knew exactly that something was up. Tony was never cold towards him, he always called him a nickname or he could say his name but in a certain familiar way but the way that he had said his name tonight, it seemed as if he had spit poison. Moreover, he could feel Tony’s lingering glare on him, which caused Peter to look down all the time through dinner.

But what really tipped Peter off was when you guys were leaving, he usually didn’t ask where you were going or that your bedroom was out of limits, even after you told him that you were going patrolling he had establish a curfew with the excuse that you guys had to be ready for school tomorrow, big day or something like that -which wasn’t true at all-.  

“Should we tell him now? Or is it too late?”

Peter’s words sounded distant as you continue to navigate New York, your mind was going 3000 miles per hour.

You had been dating Peter for over five months, it was after your first kiss on the medical wing after The Scorpion attacked. It was like all your feelings that had been held down for so long, exploded and now Peter couldn’t keep his hands off you. He couldn’t believe you kissed him back, he couldn’t believe you had said yes as he had asked you if you wanted to be with him, he couldn’t even believe when you had begged for him to take you, to make you scream his name, on a late October night when everyone else was away for a mission.

As time had passed, you believed everyone actually knew about it but it seemed to be an unspoken thing to not tell Tony. You had only officially told Wanda, Nat and Pepper at different times, Peter hadn’t really told anyone but Aunt May officially but then May forgot to discuss about it when Happy was around -she made him promise not to tell anything to Tony-.

Then, Sam and Bucky had caught you kissing Peter on the medical wing after he got hurt on a petty crime, the day had ended up with threats to both of them if they told anyone about what they saw and a threat from them to Peter to never hurt you. Then there was Vis, who just passed through the wall of your room in a bad time, Wanda had bothered you non-stop about it. And that last week, Steve had asked you while he picked you two from school, he didn’t like the idea about not telling Tony but he had agreed reluctantly.

“¡Y/N!”, you heard Peter’s scream, which made you dodge the building one second before you would’ve crashed against it.

“Sorry”, you mumbled as you waved your hand to the couple of people working on it who were startled by your presence -or near crash experience-. “Jeez, HAPPY you are supposed to let me now before I crash against anything!”

“I did Miss Stark, apparently you were too busy inside your own head”

You rolled your eyes as you decided to stop at the top of one of the buildings around. Your own head was eating you alive thinking how could you even tell Tony about you and Peter.

“Babe, are you okay?”, Peter’s soft voice and the thump of his landing in the roof next to you made you turn around.

The nanobots of your suit fell from your body, they crawled back into your necklace, you were trying to breathe deeply and figuring out what you should do next. It felt as if there was a pressure on your chest while you thought about what Tony could possibly said about it, not because you hated the idea that he knew but because you knew how protective Tony was about you and your safety, as well as Peter’s.

What if Tony disapproved of your choices?

“What we are doing something wrong?”, you asked. Your voice sounded wobbly and tears began to blur your vision.

You knew it was a stupid statement and that as soon as the words got out of your mouth, they made Peter went cold. He quickly took of his mask without any thought so you could see his chocolate eyes as he grabbed your face softly.

“Hey, hey- we are not doing anything wrong, okay?”, Peter said with a strong tone, his brows furrowed as he watched you.  

It was one of those times when Peter’s natural born leader and confidence showed up. You knew that as he came to himself, as he grew, he could be a great leader and it made you smile just looking at his serious face.

“But-”

“Do you love me?”, Peter asked, pressing his lips together as he watched you closely.

“Obviously I do”, you answered right away, a slight tone of offense and you turn your whole body towards him. “I just I have the feeling that if my dad disapproves of this, he must have a good reason because there’s no other way he wouldn’t love the idea of us together”

Peter nodded as he took in your answer, his brows still together as he watched you. “Are you happy with me?”

You rolled your eyes as you took a hold of his hand, “Are you going to keep asking me obvious questions or are you going to help your girlfriend feel better?”,

Peter huffed with a smile as he pulled you to the edge of the building so you could seat there, facing the city. You obliged happily as you lean against his shoulder.

“Y/N, Tony loves you with his whole life and I believe that if this, what we have, makes you happy then I swear that there won’t be a problem”

You stayed silent as you ingested Peter’s words, the pressure on your chest dissipating as each moment pass while you imagine Peter and Tony together. They were so close, Tony even becoming like a father to Peter and it made you happy to have both of them, you loved them both. Now you imagine them talking about you and Tony sending you off to a very official first date or maybe even to Prom, then in a really long future dancing with both of you at a small wedding.

“He loves you too, you know?”, you stated as you watched Peter closely with a smile.

“What?”, Peter asked with a smile.

“He won’t have a problem because he cares about your happiness too”, you replied with a smile as bright as the one Peter had.

Peter simply swooped one arm around your waist, pulling you over him as you straddle his waist and wrapped your arms around his neck. He cupped your face and took a hold of your long hair, it made you whimper. He tasted like honey and the chamomile tea that you had before going out, his nose was cold as it bumped on your cheek and you smiled into the kiss as your lips played together. It was a sweet and tender kiss, it always surprised you how much love Peter could squeeze into a single kiss, a single touch; after every kiss it felt as if you were drunk on him and you loved it.

“Okay!”, you stated after a few minutes of kissing, you heard Peter’s whimper as you placed your hands against his chest so you could breath. “I’m done having a meltdown, are we patrolling or not?”

Peter huffed. “I was in the middle of kissing you”, he replied as he saw you stand up from his lap and walk on the roof of the building.

“We are on duty; we can’t be kissing”, you stated seriously, with a glimpse of malice on your eyes as Peter chased you on the roof.

“Oh okay, no more kissing then, ever”, he replied with a frown as he crossed his arm arounds his chest.

You gasped, “I was kidding!”, you said as you went towards him and place your hand on his arms, shaking him a bit like a little girl having a tantrum.

Peter laughed as he grabbed you by the waist and pulled you in, “I know”, he whispered to your lips and he chased your mouth.

He barely touched your lips before you stepped away from him, another whimper left his lips as you laughed.

“No, no, it isn’t that easy”, you beamed as you got closer to the edge.

Peter began to feel a bit eager as he saw you without your suit and near the edge, he loved how playful you were with him and only with him. You could be so mellow around people and introverted but with him you were just… you.

“What do you mean?”, he replied as he walked towards the edge in front of you, he watched in wonder as he saw you standing right in the edge.

“You have to earn it”, you whispered with a wink.

“Y/N?”

“Catch me if you can”, you giggled as you gave another step back and fell from the edge.  

You yelled as you fell from the skyscraper laughing, with your eyes closed. You trusted Peter so deeply, that the gut-feeling of falling didn’t make you want to cry like it once did when you had begun to play with your suit.

Peter, as you very well knew he would, followed you without any doubt. He quickly placed his mask over his head and jumped from the building. He saw you free falling and he corrected his position so he could catch you quicker, and soon he had you in his arms with your nanobots beginning to appear on your body. Without any warning, you quickly lifted his mask and placed a kiss, playfully laughing before the suit covered your mouth.

Before you knew it, you were already flying while Peter threw a web towards a building and begun swinging by your side.

//

“Catch me if you can?”, you muttered as you watched Peter carefully, his eyes widened as he heard the phrase and was taken back to the same memory.

You smiled as you backed into the alley, being sure that no of the people passing by saw and pressed your necklace, the suit began hugging your body and soon you were in the air.

Peter blinked a couple of times as he saw you disappear into the dark and then he heard the very characteristic clicking sounds from your suit. For a moment, Peter didn’t know if this was right but his heart was dying to follow you. Was this in the deal for being friends? Partners? And clearly not a couple? He didn’t know, you hadn’t set limits and although you were the queen of limits it seemed like right now there weren’t any as you discovered this new territory.

Peter quickly followed you into the alley, he quickly took off his clothes as he packed them in his bag which he quickly webbed on the wall. Maybe it was right, there weren’t any limits and he was going to be thankful and take advantage of that grey zones in your new relationship.

Soon he was jumping to find you waiting for him on the roof.

You were waiting for him, sitting on the small building roof as you watched Queens, you heard the familiar twhip!  sound and smiled as you turned around, the nanobots disappearing from your face, “Thought you would never come”

Peter smiled with a giggle and soon you were off.

The rest of the night passed right through your eyes, it felt like an eternity but you felt like you still needed more time to be with Peter, you felt like the day was missing more hours and minutes. Going patrolling with him felt even better that what you already remembered and you were sure your cheeks were going to be sore because of your smile. Peter, on the other hand, hadn’t stopped laughing and for one second he managed to forget that you weren’t together as you flew through New York. Both of you realizing how your lives didn’t really felt complete without the other.

It was like both of you had been starving and savoring these moments, that once had been something from every day, gave your life.

And you weren’t the only ones mesmerized with your return. People didn’t stop taking photos as they saw you and Spiderman together again, through the different neighborhoods of New York, from the tallest skyscrapers to the smaller buildings.  It ended up being a very productive night, you managed to stop a crime in a supermarket and had carried the guys to the police station even, and old lady from the supermarket gifted you some cashews for your help. Also, you help a couple of young girls who were waiting for a bus late at night. Peter carried one and you carried the other so they could get home safe and sound.

But also, you had the quiet moments of quality you missed the most with Peter, you had come to forget how good those nights out felt and how good it was to be side by side with Peter. In the quiet moments of the night, you talked about past memories on Midtown and also with the avengers, you laughed and even cried a bit with them.

Harry’s name didn’t come up once.

And it felt the same, it clearly felt as if you could tell Peter anything. So, you didn’t really give a second thought about telling Peter about the USB.

“What do you mean?”, Peter replied and felt somber as he looked at you while sitting on the edge of a building in Williamsburg.

“He left me something and I don’t”, you breathe out in order to not panic or cry as you remembered Strange giving you the USB, “I think that I’m figuring it out but it’s taking a lot of time and…”

“What did he leave?”, Peter grumbled as you turned around, his eyes move as such speed. You knew he was thinking already how could he help.

“A USB?”, you replied with the same confusion Peter had drawn on his face when he turned around to face you.

Peter stood up rather quickly and he placed his mask over his head. He already made up his mind and he was more than convinced that you could manage to decipher whatever Tony had left for you, and in a weird way he felt deep in his heart that it was something for him too.

“We should be working on it right now”, Peter stated, already placing his mask.

“Peter it’s literally 2:00 am”, you replied as you stood up next to him.

Peter was startled by your answer as he lowered his glove and confirmed the hour with his watch.

“oH”, he grumbled still looking at the watch, a hand scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “I have school tomorrow”

You suddenly felt the weight of coming back to reality, it was dawning on you that this wasn’t your normal life like it had once been.

Fuck, you thought to yourself as you began to feel the urgency of something that you had forgotten. It had been pushed back so hard because of your night with Peter that you couldn’t really put a pin on it.

“I have to go to Boston tomorrow, fuck”, you grumbled as you took a hold of your phone and deactivated the “no disturb” setting you had placed it in all day.

“Boston?”

“Yeah, you know MIT and all”

“oH”, Peter said again as he cleared his throat.

“Yeah, I have to go with…”, you stopped dead on your tracks as your phone began beeping around, all the notifications coming in at once and the sudden realization of what you had forgotten. “FUCK”

“Y/N?”

You felt out of breath as you ran towards Peter, quickly giving him a quick kiss on his cheek over his mask as your suit began to appear. “I have to go, but thank you for a great night”, you said sincerely. Your touch lingering a bit more than it should on his body.

“Hey what about the USB?”

“I’ll text you soon”, you said as you jumped from the building and flew as fast as you could to Stark Tower.

It felt like forever to arrive and the more you thought about it, the more you knew Harry was going to kill you. He had left over a million calls on your phones, texts, everything as you checked them while you arrived. There were also a couple of calls from Pepper and even there were Instagram notifications of people you didn’t even know. More messages from Pepper and Wanda, even Harley.

You cursed to yourself as you quickly landed on the terrace of the penthouse, the suit quickly dematerialized as you entered the living room where Harry was clearly waiting for you.

The whole place was dark, it was clear that everyone had gone to sleep except for him. You felt your stomach turning as you saw him sitting on the large sofa, the only light in the room was the one on his computer as he typed angrily. His bags were around him and you cringe at the thought of Pepper telling him to wait for you there and him being respectful and not going to your room right when he noticed that you weren’t answering.

He raised his head as soon as he heard your steps. His brows bumped together and you could see his sharp glare as you walked towards him.

“I’m so sorry”, you muttered as you sat in the sofa next to him.

“I’ve been waiting for you since 9:00 pm, Y/N”, he snarled as he watched you cautiously.

“I know, I know. I messed up but I was…”, you groaned as you placed your hands over your face in an effort to explain but he quickly cut you off.

“Avenging?”, he asked sharply. “Heard all about it from twitter”, he said as he took out his phone from his pocket.

You could see the irritation on him, with his frown and downturned lips. You had seen Harry like this a few times, but never to this level and you realized that you hadn’t had a real fight during your relationship. This was going to be a first and oh boy, you weren’t prepared.

“Harry…”

“It seemed as if you were on a date with Spiderman”, he spat as he passed you the phone.

You had never told Harry about Peter being Spiderman, you had kept his secret well even after he snapped but by the gleam of jealousy in Harry’s eyes, it seemed like he knew more than what he was letting on. You watched the phone as you saw the various articles and pictures of you and Peter flying through New York, your heart thumped on your chest as you remember the last few moments of your night.

You stood up as you watched away from the phone, “I was working”, you hissed.

Harry huffed as he rolled his eyes, which your served to make you give you a pinch of annoyance as you saw his behavior.

“Patrolling is part of my work as head avenger and I will not stand here as you question me regarding a job that you clearly don’t have any idea about because you don’t even care to ask about it”

You felt like your whole body was on fire as you tried to defend yourself to your boyfriend. There was a time when both of you passed a lot of time together, working on the same thing and there was nothing to disagree about, but this was different.

“I was worried for you! You never did this to me and then I go on twitter and see these he said as he showed a photo of you and Spider-man through Manhattan”, he growled as he stood up, “You can’t even call me and let me know so I can at least book a hotel?”

You exhale in annoyance at his statement. “I know I messed up but Harry, these things will keep happening because I don’t know if any threat will come and I don’t have a schedule for that. I’ll have to go on missions and maybe not even say goodbye”

“That’s not you”, Harry barked as he maintained your eye contact.

It startled you, “What?”

“I’m your boyfriend, I know you and I know that Y/N would not just runaway and leave everything for…”, he refrained himself from continuing and you watched him closely, a part of you thankful that he didn’t finish the phrase. “It’s … you are just being selfish”

“Selfish? Are you kidding me?”, you snapped as a satiric smile was drawn on your face.

You could feel the blood boiling on your veins and you felt like your body had been covered in flames. There were a few things that would make you feel like that, pure rage, it was hard. The few times you had felt them… it hadn’t been good for anyone involve. You didn’t even want to think about how you and Harry would end up after this. But selfish? After everything that Tony had taught you… it was more than an insult. It felt like someone had pinch your heart with a needle and the pain was amplified as each second passed.

“You have to think about me too”, he explained.

You felt your cheeks getting hotter and hotter as you watched the tall boy with dark hair and almond eyes. You watched him closely as you somehow expect him to take it back, but he didn’t. And you weren’t going to stay quiet, the pangs of physical hurt on your chest getting stronger as the seconds passed.

“I told you that I know and I’m sorry but don’t ever call me selfish for following my father’s legacy”, you yelled like you had never yelled at Harry before, your cheeks bright red and your face was pinched. “And if you don’t want a girlfriend that avenges, then go ahead. Be my guest to find someone new”

It was so final that Harry seemed startled, a hurt expression drawn on his face.

“Y/N that’s not what I meant”, he mumbled slowly, tiredly. “I just want my girlfriend”

You almost didn’t give him time to finish the sentence.

“I am your girlfriend Harry, I just decided to do something that I have the responsibility to do and I need someone that can support my choice”, you spat as you gave a step back. “If you don’t want to then we can finish this right here”

Harry remained silent as he watched you closely, tears were definitely building up on your eyes. You hated it, you hated that it seemed like these days’ tears would be so easily drawn from your eyes but your heart stung by what he had said.

You watched him closely, but with a disapproving gleamed and frown. It seemed like you didn’t recognize him anymore, this wasn’t someone that you would be with.

You quickly began walking away from him, into the terrace, not really thinking where to go next but surely you knew you didn’t want to be there. As you exited the living room, you pressed your necklace and your suit began to surround your body.

But quickly Harry grabbed your hand as the suit finished it’s placing on your body. You turned around startled as he was holding your wrist, the touch -even being over your suit- made you feel like he was burning you.  

“I’m sorry, I love you”, he promised as he looked at you, tears of remorse flooding his eyes.

You watched him carefully. Your felt your heart being squeezed as you watched him, as you remember all your moments together and how he made you laugh, you were so thankful for him. Harry wasn’t the enemy, he wasn’t bad at all and you hated it even more. If he was really bad, you could’ve been able to simply leave but nothing was that simple. Harry was still the kind and elegant, smooth and intelligent boy you had met before, this was simply a new time in an already established and loving relationship.

But in the back of your brain, you knew that what had just happened, was bad. It was really bad, but you didn’t want to acknowledge it just yet, you weren’t ready to be wrong just yet.

“I know, it’s okay”, you replied as your suit began to contract again as Harry pushed you into a hug.

But it didn’t sit well to say I love you, so you stayed quiet.

______

TAGLIST:  @SPIDEYLOVIN @ERINDANUS @SPIDEYLOVIN @ZLAMANESERCA @BETHANYSTAN @CEDRICISNOTONFIRE @ERIDANUSWAVE @LYZALOVEALK @BABEBENHARDY

[marvels-writings]

Hey, can you write a oneshot/series with Carol & reader. R and carol was dating and love eachother very much, until one day they argued in front of the other avengers and broke up. After the break up, R actually really misses Carol and is a bit jealous that carol doesnt look sad and acts like nothing happened, but Carol actually really misses R and still loves her. The avengers notice and set them up to confess, please make a soft ending. Thanks 😊😊(it's OK if you dont wanna do it tho).

A/N: i changed it up a bit I hope that’s okay

They say the best way to release anger is to do something you love, you’d tried that, it didn’t work. You’d tried everything to release your anger, it didn’t work. Training and punching bags was the closest thing you could get to releasing it, so it became something you loved, even though it barely helped.

Every word Carol said during your argument last week ran in your head after every punch, they didn’t stop repeating no matter what you did. Your loose t shirt and leggings were soaked from sweat and burning for rest, but you didn’t want to stop.

“What did the punching bag ever do to you?” Natasha joked, entering the training room to see you hyper focused on killing the punching bag.

“Existed.” You muttered, trying not to pay attention to Carol and Wanda walking in behind her, chatting and laughing like nothing happened, like you and Carol hadn’t just broken up.

Nat frowned slightly but let it go, she knew how the breakup was affecting you, you didn’t hide it, but Carol did.

“So any dates for the Gala tonight?” Wanda asked, setting her things down in the corner of the room before following Nat to the mat.

“Nope.” Nat said, you followed suit, trying not to look at Carol who just wore a sports bra and leggings. Wanda and Carol said the same, both raised their eyebrows at Carol.

“Wow that’s surprising.” Wanda muttered, Carol forced a fake smile on her face, glancing your way as you sipped your water bottle before answering.

“I’ll just get one at the party.” Carol winked at Natasha as they laughed, you walked out, not looking back, missing the way Carol’s features washed over with guilt, hazel eyes losing their spark as you walked out of the room.

“Y/n! We need to train!” Wanda shouted, you poked your head back into the room, completely avoiding eye contact with Carol.

“I already trained,” You stated, still avoiding Carol. “I’m going to go get ready.”

They nodded briefly at you as you left, Nat wishing you to have fun, you stalked off in the direction of your room.

You spent the next hour preparing a modest yet slightly revealing outfit which might just help you win Carol back, even though the breakup was her fault in the first place. It was a fav/color dress going down to your knees with a small leg slit, thick shoulder straps and a low cut back with a modest front. You sat down on your bed as some random music blasted out from your speaker, memories still running in your head as you half paid attention to the song, flashbacks vivid in your mind.

 -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

(Flashback)

“Y/n, what’s wrong?” Carol asked, sitting down on the couch, you got up instantly when she tried to hold your hand, she frowned up at you in concern.

“Nothing.” You muttered when you noticed some of the Avengers walk in for movie night.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Carol probed, you turned to look at her, jaw clenching before you burst.

“I’m the one avoiding you?” You asked, voice bordering on shouting.

“I’m not the one that’s been going on missions for weeks on end without even telling my girlfriend.” You seethed, seeing Carol’s face turn into one of anger and guilt before you continued. 

“I’m not the one who disappears in the middle of the night not leaving so much as a note why she’s gone, I’m not the one who’s GONE ALL THE DAMN TIME!” You screamed, throwing up your hands exasperatedly, wincing when you saw all the Avengers standing with stunned faces in the kitchen.

None of them had ever seen you this angry, they knew Carol was gone most of the time, but this was the first time they were seeing how badly it was affecting you.

“Y/n, you knew what you signed up for when you went on that first date with me.” Carol said calmly, hoping to calm you down a little.

“I didn’t sign up for a one sided relationship.” You seethed, Carol continued arguing with you about why she was gone, you were just hurt.

“You’re gone half the time and now you’re justifying it?” You demanded, voice sore from shouting, it felt like you were downing shots whenever you yelled at Carol.

“Yes, I mean, no, I don’t know.” Carol shouted, running her hands through her short hair. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“This isn’t what either of us wanted.” You thought aloud, Carol’s face turned into one of surprise and shock, eyes starting to water up as she realized what you meant.

“Maybe this isn’t working out for us.” You said, Carol was too stunned to respond, you couldn’t read her face, or bring yourself to even look up at Carol. “We aren’t working Carol.”

“Maybe we aren’t.” Carol muttered, meaning to follow it up with a ‘but’, but you were already walking to your room, heart freshly broken.

 -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The memory was still fresh in your mind after a week as you put on your makeup and dress for the Gala Tony was throwing. You sighed, practicing a fake smile in the mirror before taking a deep breath and heading out.

 -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

You made fake smiles everywhere you could, you and Carol chatted with others on opposite sides of the room, acting like nothing ever happened. Of the entire breakup, this hurt you the most. Eventually, you got sick of it and went out on the balcony for some fresh air, a glass of fav/drink in your hand.

“Someone hasn’t changed.” A familiar voice said behind you, you whipped your head around to find Carol standing there, wearing a suit which complimented your dress perfectly, it still looked like you were a couple.

“Other things have.” You answered, turning around to face the road, watching the cars go by from the compound.

“Don’t be like that.” Carol said, standing next to you, you clenched your jaw and moved to leave the balcony.

“Hope you enjoy your date and the rest of the party.” You said before trying to open the door to the balcony.

It was locked.

“It’s locked.” You stated, Carol turned around and tried to open it, spotting Natasha wink at her before turning back to her drink, she groaned.

“Guess we’re stuck out here for awhile.” Carol said, moving back to the railing, you followed her, keeping your distance.

“Y/n, I need to talk to you about something.” Carol sighed softly, you could hear her breathing next to you but you turned to face her, moonlight glinting over her guilt ridden features.

“I don’t have any other option but to listen.” You stated, Carol chuckled but there was no humor in it before she continued.

“What you said, you were right,” She sighed, looking in front instead of at you. 

“I wasn’t, god, you deserve so much more than I can give you, and if you want to find someone who can give you that, I’ll stay by your side through that. But I still love you, and I don’t think I can stop that.” Carol said, turning to look at you. 

“I don’t want to stop loving you either.” You whispered to her softly, watching her face light up in the same grin you fell in love with.

“Then let’s keep going,” Carol whispered, gaze slipping to your lips for about the 10th time in the past few minutes, watching you do the same.

Carol watched your eyes for some sign of hesitation, any sign that you didn’t want this, that you didn’t want her. When she saw nothing, she rested one hand just below your cheekbone and kissed you softly, pulling away with a soft smile on her face, you smiled up at her, eyes a little watery.

“We’re wearing matching outfits anyway.” Carol joked, offering you her arm, you laughed and Carol swore she never wanted to stop hearing that laugh as she walked you back into the party, your arm on hers, together again.

A/N: Ngl I’m really bad at endings, feedback is amazing, thanks!

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver, @versdan, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught, @lovebotlarson, @dhengkt, @5aftermidnight, @hstoria, @natasha-danvers, @veryfunnyal, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx , @ophelias-heart  , @never-didbefore , @justarandomhumanhere, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn , @lesbian-x-blackwidow , @marvelbbyx , @wlw-imaginesss let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

[multiverseofmiracleshq]

1/3 of the Reality Stone fragments remained with its host, Ripley Ryan, in the hospital. Determined to finish what they started, the Black Widow and Winter Soldier headed to the Intensive Care Unit along with a team of mutants who were sent by Wanda Maximoff to cast a reality binding spell. Once their goal was achieved, there was nothing standing between them and Zemo at the Town Hall.

These events come AFTER the INN and MUSEUM and before the TOWN HALL.

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL CHAT LOG COVERAGE OF THE IC

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky pushed through the hospital doors with both hands, metal clinking against the acrylic outer shell and double paned panels. He was hot on Natasha's heels, having made a pitstop for the both of them at the museum before the rest of the crew could cause too much of an issue. When he caught up to her just before she hit the stairwell, he slid her a twin set of guns and then readjusted the strap to his AR. "Sure we can't just shoot first and ask questions later?"

NATASHA ROMANOFF: Although not in her suit, Natasha had clicked on the two Widow’s Bites that Barnes had taken from the Museum. The two guns were a gift from a poor S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was now weaponless, but Natasha accepted them from James all the same. “You want to risk shooting the wrong person?” Checking how much ammo she had, the Widow shook her head. “Personal mission. Maybe bad form, but family first.” Knowing that Taskmaster was in the building - and still sore from their last run in  - Natasha quietly pushed the door open and raised her gun while she rounded the corner, coming face to face with a crying girl in scrubs. “Too easy.”

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky clicked his tongue at that. "Fuck form. I would've taken more, but I know how much Barton is attached to his bow." he was only mildly joking, using it as a way to fill the space so he didn't spiral into his own mind. "Think we should've accepted back up?" And now he really was joking, mirroring Nat with his own weapon. He stopped short when they came around the corner and he instinctively tightened his grip on his gun. "It's never that easy."

NATASHA ROMANOFF: Eyes rolling, Natasha quickly checked over her shoulder. “Easy to say when it fits the situation,” she hummed. “We do have back-up. Bobbi’s here and changing. She’s got the codes. Psylocke is somewhere looking for her friends. Apparently, Wanda is helping the mutants.” Whatever helped them through. Lowering her gun slightly, Natasha glanced from the sniffling young adult to the name tag she wore. “Hey, Astrid. Sad day at the hospital?”

YELENA BELOVA: Caught up in her own moping, ‘Astrid’ started at the sound of the woman’s voice and sat up as she quickly wiped at her eyes. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. No. I mean -- yes. It’s a hospital. But our patients usually are cured. Just bad dating experiences. Dumb, I know.” She nudged her magazine closed. “Are you here to visit someone?”

BUCKY BARNES: "Bad dating experiences?" he couldn't keep the question out of his tone, the laughable disbelief. He cocked the gun single handedly before dropping it back in his grip. "In fact we are. Wanna tell me who it is you're crying over?"

YELENA BELOVA: Although his tone was a little snide, the brunette didn’t notice. It was lonely at the front desk if she wasn’t making rounds and her friends were fine but the recent dumping had taken a toll. “His name is Jim. He’s a nice guy. Was a nice guy. We went on a few dates and he went all two-faced. Completely ghosted me. That was three days ago.”

NATASHA ROMANOFF: Natasha wracked her brain. “Helmut,” she swore under her breath. “Astrid, have you talked to ‘Jim’ since?”

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky just...blinked at her. Then, all of a sudden he barked a laugh, shaking his head. "How mad would you be if I took out all of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he asked, voice lower, only for Nat to hear. "Yeah, 'Strid, we just wanna talk to him. He's like family, you get it."

YELENA BELOVA: Finally really taking the guns in consideration, Astrid slowly stood and reached around her scrubs for her buzzer. “I should call Chris. He’s head of Hospital security and he can help you figure out where you’re headed.”

BUCKY BARNES: That wasn’t really part of the plan. “Yel-Astrid, Jim’s a little more important right now.” With a sigh, Bucky aimed the AR, barrel directed at ‘Astrid’. “We don’t need head of security.” A red dot appeared at the center of her scrubs, the buzz of the scope a sound only he could hear. “Just give Jim a call, yeah?”

YELENA BELOVA: “He’s not gonna answer,” she huffed as her eyes welled up again. “I just told you -- he’s not interested in me. I think it’s my thighs. It has to be.” Nearly crosseyed, she stared at the light on her scrubs and the demanding man. Fumbling for her phone, Astrid dialed with shaking fingers. Ring. Ring. Voicemail. “See? Thighs.”

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky clicked off the scope, the red light disappearing before he lowered his gun. ”I’m just gonna hit her. You good with that?” he asked Natasha.

NATASHA ROMANOFF: Watching the entire exchange, Natasha had shouldered past Yelena at one point to rummage through the cabinets behind the desk. They needed as much info about the Database as possible, and there a possibility some of Ripley’s medical records were there. At Bucky’s question, she glanced up. Yelena would be pissed, but the two of them had come for a reason. “Only if you’re done hearing about Jim.”

BUCKY BARNES: “Ha ha.” Bucky came over, keeping Astrid’s eyes on him as he came around the desk. “Hey, ‘Strid-“ he employed the same method he had used on the Wyngarde sister, slamming the side of his gun into her temple just hard enough to shake around some loose change. “You have great thighs.”

NATASHA ROMANOFF: “Oof.” Natasha exhaled as the gun connected with her sisters temple. Deftly moving to catch Yelena and ease her to the ground, the spy crouched down and inspected the welt that was already growing. It still didn’t look like Yelena, but she had stopped crying. “You could have been a little bit more graceful, but I’ll take it. Grab her.” Natasha rose. “We’re not leaving her for Taskmaster to find.” Best to let him think ‘Astrid’ had just abandoned her post or was doing her rounds. The S.H.I.EL.D. pager Bobbi had given her buzzed in her hand and Natasha pocketed it. “We’ve got a room. Intensive care unit, Room 8-1. You know, I always said Clint married up.” Grabbing Astrid’s badge for good measure, Natasha clicked the safety off on her gun. “Let’s go.”

KWANNON: Elsewhere, Psylocke and Laura had waited quietly in the shade of the building. The telepathic signal being emitted led the newly arrived X-Men to the hospital. Raven head tipped to the side, Psylocke held a hand out to gesture that Magik, Synch and Nico should enter the hospital. The door swung closed between them, faces flushing from recycled air. “Intensive Care Unit is the top floor. You know what to do?”

BUCKY BARNES: "Graceful?" it came out more as a scoff and Bucky crouched down, adjusting the AR to lay flat against his back again so he could sling Yelena's fake body over his shoulder. She hung limply, swaying back and forth when he stood. "When have you ever known me to be graceful." he said just as he twisted around, narrowly clipping Yelena's head on the edge of the counter. "ICU? What are the chances he'll be in a coma and I can just smother him."

EVERETT THOMAS: Synch followed Magik and the other witch into the hospital, trying his best not to let himself get too wrapped up in everything around him. This whole thing was pretty messed up of SHIELD, but his main focus was Laura. Even if she didn’t remember any of it, he still felt bonded to her in ways he could barely describe. And making sure she was safe was definitely high on his priorities. “Yeah, we’ve got it.” He responded to Kwannon, making sure to keep on high alert as he scanned their surroundings.

NATASHA ROMANOFF: The sneakers that she had worn as Lulu Gordon were more for show than actual practical use, and the treads were nearly nonexistent. Nat couldn’t actually remember working out in Pleasant Hill, just posing on her yoga mat for selfies instead. It was hard not to slide around with no traction but she pushed open a door to another stairwell and held it open for Bucky, watching to make sure he didn’t smack Yelena’s head into the wall. “You would have failed the Red Room,” she hummed. Presentation begets perfection, after all. Natasha had been the best. Yelena had been better. “Zemo’s at Town Hall. That’s not why we’re here. Ripley’s intubated upstairs. They’re making a play for the Infinity Stone. Did you read your file?” Stopping abruptly, Natasha flattened herself against the wall by the doorway of the next level. She could hear footsteps in the hall, and that felt deliberate in the quiet hospital. Gesturing with her chin towards the door, Nat pushed it open and raised her gun. She moved quickly to turn but still found her face connecting with a fist.

BUCKY BARNES: "I didn't care to read pages and pages of documents beyond who was who and what they were capable of." Which was a delicate way of saying, 'did you really think I would?'. Somewhere along the way of climbing flights, Bucky stashed Yelena's unconscious body in a medical supplies closet, knowing that she wouldn't wake up for a while and that he needed both hands. As soon as they both went into alert, hands moved too fast for Nat to dodge and him to barely skid to a stop and back up, gun immediately raising. He fired off a few rounds, the spray of bullets disoriented in the ambush.

NATASHA ROMANOFF: Wiping blood off her nose, Natasha dropped her gun and kicked it to the side. Bullets never tended to work with Taskmaster. She’d keep it for backup. He had his shield and a collapsed bow. Claws in his gloves. Basically, he was as tricked out as ever. “Still sore about last time?” The ( former ) redhead squared her shoulders back. “Zemo can’t be offering you enough for this.” But he was silent, like always, and a moment later the two were locked in hand to hand combat.

ILLYANA RASPUTINA: Sword pulled off of her back, Illyana cast a wary look around the hall. “I hate hospitals,” she muttered. Wanda’s spell was complicated but she had drilled it into the sorceress and witch. “It would be easier if we could teleport out after, but apparently we have to walk. No mutant left behind.” Lorna, Gabby, Rogue.

LAURA KINNEY: As the mutants made their way through the hospital, Laura paused and narrowed her eyes. There were more people in the hospital than their should have been. “Take the back.” She instructed Kwannon. “James Barnes is moving to the southern wing.”

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky dropped the gun, the strap catching on his shoulder before it banged against his hip. It was only Taskmaster, the asshole with the psuedo copycat style and a piss poor attitude. "Less talking-" he kicked at Taskmaster, just hard enough to diverge his attention and have him focused on both of them. "Glad I dropped our nice office secretary off, huh."

NATASHA ROMANOFF: He had got in three good hits but Natasha was at four. “Nursing student,” she huffed as she dodged a kick. “This is a dead end. He won’t quit. It’s called a distraction.”

EVERETT THOMAS: Everett followed closely behind, trying his best to keep close to Laura without making her feel like he was suffocating her. He didn’t want to make things weird in any way, but God was it hard. “Hey uh, are you okay?”

BUCKY BARNES: "So in all those times you've fought him, you never figured out a way to beat him?" They parried some more, moving this way and that. "I'm not going to leave you here to get your pretty yoga instructor face punched in."

BOBBI MORSE: One of the doctor’s personal offices had always been stocked for agents -- as a safety precaution. It was working well in their favor. Her locker held a spare uniform and set of staves that she gratefully hooked into their holsters before grabbing three disruptors. One went onto her own neck and her body shuddered in relief as her appearance twisted back to its regular self. She broke out in a sprint until she found Barnes and Romanoff, and Bobbi tossed them each a chip before kicking off the wall to strike Taskmaster with a baton. As she should have predicted, his bow separated into staves of his own. “What’re you guys still doing down here?”

NATASHA ROMANOFF: If she hadn’t been focused on not getting slashed in half with a sword, Natasha would have rolled her eyes. “It keeps evolving. More new heroes, more moves. We haven’t killed each other yet.” The elastic she had tied her hair up with was falling out, but then Bobbi was there. Nat caught the small chip and quickly fastened it on the back of her neck. There was a second before her body was her own once more, clothed in the uniform she had entered the town with. Even though she was lacking any of her weapons other than the Widow’s Bite, it felt good to see her own hands again. “How about my normal face getting punched in?”

BUCKY BARNES: "That isn't obvious?" Bucky said, arms coming up to cover his face when Taskmaster slammed a fist down. Jumping back, he caught the chip, using what he knew from the file to revert his appearance back into something a little bulkier, steadier, familiar. "It's not exactly easy to get to the reality stone harboring mad woman when there's 600 tons of body armor in the way."

LAURA KINNEY: Lips twitching, Laura pivoted on one heel. “I look like a cheerleader.” She had gone to pep rallies with pom-poms and enthusiasm. The whole nine yards. The worst part was that she had fun, on some level. That pretty much summed up how she was. “I want them to cast the spell so we can get out of here. No more Vaults, no more Pleasant Hill’s.”

BOBBI MORSE: “I have complete and total faith in this woman.” Bobbi held a hand to her temple to  stop her vision from swimming after a hit. “But we need to keep moving. Nat, you said you’re old friends. I don’t want to ruin the reunion.” When the redhead nodded, Bobbi arched a brow at Bucky before running into the nearest stairwell and taking the stairs two at a time.

EVERETT THOMAS: Everett couldn’t help his soft chuckle at the cheerleader comment as he nodded at her. “I mean, it’s not a bad look. Definitely not you, though.” He pointed out, nodding solemnly at her next words. But unfortunately, they were X-Men and this was probably not going to be the last Pleasant Hill. Or Vault. Before he could say much else, a scalpel flew through the air and stuck onto the wall next to them, revealing Bullseye standing down the hall. “Shit..”

VIVIAN VISION: Vivian followed alongside the mutants as they made their way through the hospital, careful to be attentive to their surroundings. As they all rounded the corner, a scalpel was flung through the air, nearly hitting Viv in the face as it struck the wall and they were face to face with Bullseye. “We need to divide. We can’t let him keep us from the stone. Magik, Nico, I can phase us into her room? I think we’re close.”

BUCKY BARNES: "Shitty reunion." he looked over at Nat, only falling back from Taskmaster when he saw the confirmation in her steady gaze. Breaking off, he followed Bobbi up the stairs, finding no other obstacles before hitting a floor with double doors that read: Authorized Personnel Only: Intensive Care Unit. He slowed, weapon coming back around to rest in his grip. "They powered a whole town by putting a girl into a coma." he said it with a mix of disbelief and frustration. "S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't exactly convincing me they shouldn't become a government section lost to time." The room was empty when they entered, the doors clattering behind them. He wasn't sure keeping quiet had any point anymore. Gun poised, he scanned the empty beds, not even noticing the low beep of the monitor and the occupied bed because his eyes landed on Yelena, seated and scanning through...something. "Didn't I leave you in a broom closet?" he said a little breathlessly, grip tightening on the weapon.

YELENA BELOVA: Was she mad? Yes. At Bucky and Natasha? No. At S.H.I.EL.D.? Of course. At Zemo, at the situation. Yelena had been pissed when she came to in a broom closet, tossed to the side like a basic cleaning supply. She remembered Astrid Massey, but her face wasn’t her own. Bullseye had met her in the hallway. He had given her the device Zemo was passing around to his teammates, the disrupter returning her to her former form. As Benjamin headed down the  hallway to meet the ‘heroes’, Yelena moved to the ICU and found the Database. The codes were already unlocked from whatever doctor had run away mid scan from the intruders, and when the door opened Yelena glanced back over her shoulder. “Seemed more fun out here. I saw Taskmaster downstairs, but this was a better opportunity. They never let me up here. Now I know why.”

BUCKY BARNES: “Natasha is handling it.” Bucky remarked, lowering his weapon just a little bit. “I know what you’re doing, and it sucks to say this, but it isn’t helping. We can handle the database later, we need to deal with Ripley now.” he spoke pointedly at her, knowing that any form of coddling or soft spoken words didn’t apply here. Not that it ever did. Bucky could never imagine babying Yelena in any situation. “Just trust me on this.”

VIVIAN VISION: Vivian quickly grabbed onto Magik and Nico, not wasting any time as she phased the three of them past Bullseye and through to Ripley’s hospital room.

LAURA KINNEY: At his comment, the arch of a brow broke Laura’s deadpan. “Debatable taste.” She commented offhandedly. At the sight of Bullseye she crouched, lunging towards him without claws. Kwannon could follow Viv and the spellcasters. Laura had no problem being a distraction.

YELENA BELOVA: “Natasha is getting her ass handed to her. Again.” The sisters had a messy history with Taskmaster. She hit a key and the code flashed red, the page turning to a simple box for an access code. “We have to shut down the Database.” Yelena straightened up to look at him, her own gun holstered. “We can’t let them do this anymore.”

BUCKY BARNES: Bucky worked through the tic in his jaw, leveling his voice. By now, his nerves were frayed. “Do you Yelena?” he lowered the gun even more until the barrel was pointed at the floor. “Do you trust me?”

YELENA BELOVA: For a long moment, she just stared. Did she? It wasn’t easily answered. “I want to.” Yelena replied honestly. A finger hovered above the key before she moved, body tightening and constricting as she fell.

BOBBI MORSE: Running behind due to having to disable to alarms on the floor, Bobbi skidded to a stop as she lowered her stun gun. “--She was going to hit the key, right?”

YELENA BELOVA: “Fuck. You.” Yelena hissed from the ground, fingers digging into the tile as she tried to pull herself up. She wasn’t going to hit the key.

BUCKY BARNES: “Seriously?” he hissed, the metal plates clamping into place audibly as he tightened his grip. “Seriously, Bobbi?” he was pissed, clearly. “No wonder you’re a fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.” Bucky snatched the stun gun from Bobbi’s grip on his way past her, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it until it was in a bunch of little pieces before he finished his walk to Yelena. “She wasn’t going to hit the fucking key.” he crouched down, helping Yelena back to her feet. “What’s next? You want to hit Ripley too? Do you more good.”

BOBBI MORSE: “Oh, c’mon.” Bobbi muttered as she had the stun gun ripped away and trampled. It wasn’t like that would have been helpful for defense or anything. “Tell me she’s not a flight risk.” Dark eyes narrowed. “I’d love to hit Ripley. Hopefully wake her up. That goddamn stone is fragmenting and destabilizing the town. If it collapses we all may be written out off reality. No happy reunion with your girlfriend then, huh?”

YELENA BELOVA: Yelena just spit towards Bobbi’s feet as James help her up, holding on to his arm even when she was upright.

BUCKY BARNES: “You think you’re the one to call that?” he shot over his shoulder, fully standing now. “Being written out of reality wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me this year.” he turned his attention to Yelena, looking her over but he didn’t ask her if she were okay. “You make an awful nurse, you know that?”

ILLYANA RASPUTINA: Phasing in along with Viv and Nico, Illyana stepped around the broken black shards of a weapon. “Now this is where the party is.” She laughed slightly. Making her way to the bed, dark lined eyes narrowed at the woman. Tugging the hospital gown to the side, the red glow of the Stone was flickering under the white bandages. “They said you would have another fragment. We need two.”

BOBBI MORSE: “I think I’m deepest in the shit and have used the Database before, so I made a snap judgement call. It’s not like I shot her. We talked it out.” Bobbi didn’t flinch at the spit. “Maybe not for you, but there’s a lot of other people here.”

YELENA BELOVA: “Nursing student.” Yelena muttered. “The scrubs were ugly.”

RIRI WILLIAMS: She had smashed in the window of the wrong room during her entry, but Riri found the right one after checking for heat signatures. “You have a second fragment now.” The suit’s chamber opened to expose the Reality Stone shard. “Zemo’s got the third.”

BUCKY BARNES: “They were pretty ugly.” he agreed quietly, face pinched lightly at the edges. His head whipped sharply around at Riri’s entrance, completely ignoring Bobbi at this point. “So we go get Zemo.” he took a breath. “Finally.”

ILLYANA RASPUTIN: As the armored teen guided the Stone back to its host, Magik looked to Nico. “Are you ready?” It wasn’t really a question. With eyes glowing blue, she held a hand out over the chest of Ripley. “I’m going to be very unhappy if she chooses to smite us.”

NICO MINORU: Nico looked down at the incubated woman, trying her best not to be intimidated by the thought of all that could go wrong as she adjusted her grip on her staff and nodded. She looked towards Riri as she entered the room and smiled in relief at the sight of another stone. “Okay, yeah. Ready.” She agreed as she gripped her staff and held her other hand over Ripley to follow Magik. “Stabilize.” The staff emitted a glow as she focused herself onto the spell.

YELENA BELOVA: “Jim. What a nice young man.” Yelena scoffed. She paused, softening slightly as she turned to face Bucky fully. “Thank you.” Her tone was composed of genuine relief. Rising up to reach his face, Yelena pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “I do trust you.”

BOBBI MORSE: Determined to focus on the spell, Bobbi’s face twitched at Yelena and Bucky. Worse than high schoolers.

ILLYANA RASPUTIN: Drawing on Limbo, Illyana closed her eyes when she heard Nico’s staff and began chanting. Confirma. Stabiliendum. Solidatur. Est una tribus, tribus fit unum. Dormammu limbo ex angulis eminebant de profundis et frugibus suis circum nos, ut tecum una. As she repeated Wanda’s words, the red began to glow and overtake the room. It burned so brightly that it overtook the space and ate everything else out entirely.

BUCKY BARNES: With his ungloved hand, bucky cupped the side of Yelena’s face. “I know.” he heard Illyana and Nico behind him but he didn’t look. He had a gut feeling where this was going and he was just…relieved to see Yelena again. It tugged somewhere deep in his chest, making him oddly angry all over again. He was exhausted, frustrated, but relieved. “Also, please don’t ever mention Jim again.” he said on what sounded like a breathy laugh. “C’mere.” Even though they didn’t do this, Bucky pulled Yelena in close, arms wrapping around her small frame.

NICO MINORU: Confirma. Stabiliendum. Solidatur. Est una tribus, tribus fit unum. Dormanmu limbo ex angulis emine ant de profundis et frugibus suis circum nos, ut tecum una. Nico repeated alongside Magik, closing her eyes as the red glow overtook the entire room. Based on that, she hoped it was working. And she also hoped that they wouldn’t kill Ripley in the process.

YELENA BELOVA: Folding into him, Yelena stared at the two spellcasters. She hated magic. She hated how small it made her feel. She didn’t like Ripley either, but they all deserved better than this. “He was a victim too, at first.” The light was too bright then and Yelena had no choice but to avert her eyes.

RIPLEY RYAN: Every memory. Every life. Every backstory. The Town Database was comprehensive and the woman whose energy fueled it remembered every detail. For the first time since they had managed to restrain her, the stirrings of magic gave way to an elevated form of consciousness. Eyes and mouth open, red poured from them until reality was rattled by a burst of energy. Across the town, those left reverted to how they had looked before being changed. Faces returned and scarlet gave way to familiar bodies and clothes. When the wave washed over the hospital, it faded to reveal a blonde in a hospital gown standing in front of the mangled computer system. “I’m going to kill someone.”

LAURA KINNEY: The fight with Bullseye had ended, but Laura followed the scent of blood towards where the Black Widow and Taskmaster had fought. Natasha was fine, her adversary fleeing towards Zemo and the Town hall. When the redhead said she would follow him, Laura had left her to get to the ICU. Without her claws the fight had been a little different than she preferred, but not all of the blood on her was her own. By the time she got there, the room was awash in red. The force of the energy impact threw Laura against the wall, but when she straightened and came to, her cheerleading uniform was gone. The yellow and blue of her Wolverine suit had returned and when she flexed her hands she felt the adamantium.

BOBBI MORSE: Ripley looked mad, but Bobbi couldn’t blame her. She had every right to be. “That’s valid.” She limbed to her feet. “But can we raincheck? Your Stone -- it fractured. From what was being done. We got you a piece on it, but Zemo has a shard at Town Hall. Do I need to tell you how badly this could go?”

RIPLEY RYAN: Of course she didn’t need to. Ripley could feel Pleasant Hill destabilizing and reality growing thin. It Zemo accomplished his goals, he’d be taking her down. It was hard to live with a stone in your chest. it would be impossible to be fragmented. Even then, she could feel the other part calling out. Raising a hand, Ripley looked at the group. TOWN HALL. With that, the hospital was empty as they vanished in a flash of crimson.

[lifeofclonewars]

Time to Fix Some Hives

Also available on AO3. Link on my page so this still shows up in tags.

I’m not sure how this got as long as it did. Part 3 of the Pun Wars, but can be read alone.

Summary: “Hey, was Prime allergic to anything?” Fives asked casually.

“I don’t think so," Kix replied, swiping through a datapad. "But if so, the Kaminoans probably engineered it away. Why?”

“Uh, I think I might’ve gotten it.”

“Fives! Vod!" Kix looked like his blood pressure just skyrocketed. He let out a sound that didn’t quite sound human.

-

In which Fives gets some hives and Kix has to fix it.

-----

Food in the GAR was something to be discussed. Or maybe not. Ration sticks were varying degrees of bland and dry. The mess hall meals had some flavor but, after weeks in hyperspace or in orbit, had the same monotony as ration bars. If someone wanted good food, they’d have to wait for leave. Unless, of course, they took the method that involved not-quite regulations breaking.

Somehow, though, every once in a while, a shipment of supplies would bring in something to liven up meals. A small bundle of juicemelons here, some shuuras there. Once, somehow, some varos, which had led to a large celebration and special dessert. Whenever command was able to get some brightness to the meals in shipments, it was a cause to rejoice. However they managed to sort it out, they received eternal thanks for it. 

The latest shipment had included such a treat, if breakfast was anything to go by.  Fives grinned when he saw the options for the day. Stacks of space waffles and various toppings were available. Sitting neatly labeled, easy to grab, was muja sauce. They hadn’t had muja fruit before, so it would be exciting to see how this tasted. 

With a tray full of food, Fives plopped himself down next to Tup. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Tup responded, already digging into his food.

Fives spared a peep at his brother’s plate. “How’s the muja sauce?”

“Pretty good. A tad sweeter than I expected.” 

Fives nodded and set to eating, first eating the bland porridge that was required for vitamins or whatever. He and Tup chatted amicably, recounting the pandemonium that had come from a training game Rex had attempted the previous afternoon. It went well until Focus had— unlike his name suggested— gotten sidetracked and blew up a dummy droid; it was all downhill from there. 

Porridge gone, Fives moved onto the space waffles. Tup hadn’t been kidding: the mujas were the sweetest fruit he’d tasted. 

He must have made a face, as Tup laughed. “See? I wasn’t exaggerating.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Fives said. The waffle itself must’ve been dry; his throat was suddenly a shade scratchy. Eh, so maybe the waffles suffered in favor of the sauce. It wasn’t too big of a deal. A sip of water solved it, anyway. 

He continued his conversation, irritated when the waffles continued to make his throat scratchy. Try as he might, it was hard to ignore. 

“Hey, vod,” he asked in a lull, “are your waffles making your throat scratchy?”

Tup’s eyebrows furrowed. “No. Are yours?”

Grimacing, he answered, “Yeah. I somehow managed to get the one dry one they made. The sauce and some water helped, though.” 

“That sucks.” 

“I’ll live. You know what does suck?” With that, Fives launched into an explanation of what was rumored to be the Captain’s next training exercise. While it was a rumor, you could never be too careful in preparing for them. The less you could avoid feeling like dying while doing them, the better. 

-----

The rumor turned out to be just a rumor. But, that was because the training exercises ended up even more strenuous than the rumor stated. 

Fives took a breather, leaning against a wall. He watched while some shinies seemed to have mental breakdowns, struggling to keep up to pace but still fighting through. 

Faintly, he realized his arms were itchy. Huh, that was odd. Looking down, his arms appeared slightly red. That hit to the mat he'd taken earlier must've given him a burn. It wasn't anything he couldn't fight through; he was an ARC trooper, after all.

"Doing good, Fives?" Rex called over to him.

He straightened off the wall. "Never better, sir."

"Good. You're next." 

A fast-paced but by no means short spar later, Fives found himself admiring the ceiling lights, the Captain standing over him. Exhausted and beginning to catch his breath, the itch in his arms made itself present once again. 

“Still good, Fives?” Rex offered his hand and Fives took it, standing up. 

“Uh, yeah. I think I got a floor burn and definitely some bruises, but it’s nothing I can’t deal with.”

Rex patted him on the back, taking a glance at Fives’ forearms. “Hmm, make sure a medic looks over it when you can, just in case.”

“Yessir.” With that, Rex dismissed him to the cycle of training and called up the next trooper to spar. 

As he made his way over to the next station, which was sure to increase in intensity, Fives checked out his arms himself. The redness appeared to be a scattering of small bumps across his arms. Some of the bumps were larger than the others. But the fact that there were bumps... maybe it wasn’t floor burn after all. That would explain why it was itching more than stinging. But what else could it be? 

He reached the station. The redness-debacle could be solved later. He’d tell Kix later; there was stuff to be done. 

-----

Sometime after lunch, Fives found himself on a patrol shift in the lower levels of the star destroyer. A gaggle of mechanics, squabbling over something or another, were nearby, seemingly working and not working simultaneously. All he had to do was walk the halls. 

With the time available and no obvious threats around, Fives allowed himself to reflect on what was up with his arms. His blaster slung carefully across his back, he took off his left vambrace, gauntlet, and glove then rolled up his blacks to his elbow. 

The bumps stood out brightly against his skin. A floor burn could not have produced them. The ARC trooper had had many before and none of them had ever looked like this. In fact, it almost looked like… a rash. 

Fives thought back to the bit of medical training ARC training had given him. A potential rash with bumps that were itching. And if he counted the scratchy throat he’d had at breakfast as something other than dry space waffles— well, it all added up. 

It looked like Fives had an allergy to muja fruit. 

Interesting. He put his armor back on and continued along with his patrol. That’d be something to tell Kix later. A crash sounded around the corner and Fives pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. Finally, something marginally exciting was happening. Slinging his blaster around, he took off down the corridor. 

-----

Once off patrol, he headed to the medical bay to talk to Kix. That one crash had led to an action-packed end of patrol involving helping some shinies and forgetting about everything else he’d been thinking about. He remembered he needed to talk to the medic but hadn’t the slightest why. Shrugging to himself, he made his way inside.

Kix was stationed at the front desk for the moment, busy with something Fives couldn’t see over the top of the desk. He paused and looked up as the doors closed behind Fives. “Hey, vod,” he greeted.

“Hey, Kix.”

“You’re not here because you sprained something else, are you?” 

Fives smiled at that. “Not this time. No promises for the future, though.” 

His brother rolled his eyes. “Well, since that’s not the case, feel free to talk about anything. I’m trying to avoid paperwork and also answering Jesse’s comm about how many people a hypothetical stunt he might hypothetically pull he will land in here.”

Fives hummed. Soon enough, the brothers were talking about anything and everything that came to mind. Kix began to flick through some of the datapads stacked high next to him. They talked about the craziest reasons for injuries Kix had encountered recently, what they expected from their upcoming campaign, and more. 

Activity around the bay was low. Out in hyperspace for a few weeks between campaigns had let the majority of the injured to heal. The handful of medics on shift shuffled around between beds, chatting and joking with their patients. One or two visitors sat next to their brother’s beds. For once, the atmosphere was light and easy and not clouded with stress and worry. Fives had no problem leaning against the front desk while talking to his brother. 

With the light conversation and calm, Fives’ thoughts drifted back to what he had discovered on patrol.

“Hey, was Prime allergic to anything?” Fives asked casually.

“I don’t think so," Kix replied, swiping through a datapad. "But if so, the Kaminoans probably engineered it away. Why?”

“Uh, I think I might’ve gotten it.”

“Fives! Vod!" Kix looked like his blood pressure just skyrocketed. He let out a sound that didn’t quite sound human.

“Chill, it only made my throat scratchy for a bit. Plus, I got these little bumps but they’re not that bad. I can deal with it.”

The sound came out again, this time even longer and even less human. Kix shot out of his chair and dove for a nearby container, ruffling through the contents, datapad forgotten. Fives stood and watched idly as his brother began to have a breakdown. “Where are the epi-pens for the nat-born officers? Those are kriffing hives, di’kut!”

Oh. Oops.

Kix found what looked like two hypos. “Finally!” he exclaimed and rushed over to Fives, pushing him by the shoulder to the nearest bed. The few people on the other end of the medbay who had looked over when Kix shouted made themselves look busy when Fives sent them an apprehensive glance. Once seated, the medic set the hypos aside and began removing the cuisse on Fives’ leg. 

Fives jerked away. “What are you doing?!”

His brother scowled. “Stay still! I’m treating your allergic reaction, what do you think I’m doing?” 

Once Fives stilled, Kix finished removing the armor and took one of the hypos. Uncapping it, he took it and shoved it into his thigh. He looked up and scowled at Fives before moving to dispose of the hypo properly and grab a new datapad from a shelf. 

“Now we wait for five minutes to see if you need a second one or not.”

“A second one?”

His response made Kix’s eyebrows somehow furrow even closer. “Yes, a second one. You’re lucky that the reaction didn’t get any worse than that. When you ignore a reaction, the mild symptoms can suddenly spiral and can turn into anaphylaxis. And that can kill you, Fives.” 

Fives grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t know it could get worse. At least it didn’t…?” he attempted to reconcile. 

The medic took a deep breath. He then took off Fives’ vambrace, gauntlet, and glove. Inspecting his forearm while pushing the sleeve up, Kix took another breath. “See here, Fives? These are one hundred percent hives. You really thought hives weren’t a big deal?”

“I thought it was floor burn at first,” he admitted. “I didn’t realize they were bumps until I was busy and then things happened and it wasn’t my top priority.”

Kix inclined his head towards the arm he was still grasping. “If this ever happens again, this is your top priority.” He released Fives’ arm, grabbing the hypo that was still sitting on the bed. “This is an EpiPen, and it’ll help you with any future allergic reactions, tayli'bac? Keep this in your utility belt. And when I say keep it there, I mean always, always have it there. Since you have this allergy, you might have others. We’ll need to do a test sometime soon to check since Kamino didn’t test for them because they normally don’t need to. We’ll have to teach you how to use the EpiPen then as well. You’re going to take this more seriously now, right?”

“Right.” Fives took the hypo and placed it into his utility belt promptly. 

“Okay, so I have to update your health file to reflect your allergy. Hold on a minute.” Fives nodded and Kix started to flick through the datapad in his hands. 

After a minute or so, a little beep sounded. “Alright,” Kix said, placing the datapad down on the bed. “That was the five-minute timer. Arm.” Fives obediently held his arm out. Kix took it, gently twisting it back and forth. “The hives are already swelling down. You won’t need a second one.” 

“Great,” Fives stated tentatively.

“Great,” Kix repeated. “Now either sit here quietly or help me figure out if Prime had an allergy to mujas you somehow got.” He handed Fives a datapad he materialized out of nowhere. 

“Shouldn’t you be watching the front desk?” Fives reminded. 

“Shh,” Kix said. “Coric got it when I went for the EpiPens, anyway.” A quick look over Kix’s shoulder confirmed that, yes, Coric had indeed taken the front desk while Kix treated the ARC. “Now get to work.”

-----

“What’s up, vode?” Fives announced his presence, plopping down first his tray and then himself at the table. “Turns out, I have a mutation.”

“WHAT?!” came from three of the four people gathered around. The only one who didn’t react vocally was Kix, who just rolled his eyes from where he sat next to Jesse. If Fives had credits, he would bet that Kix had been waiting for him to say that since they concluded their research earlier.

“What do you mean you have a mutation?!” Tup asked, fork halted halfway to his mouth. “And how did you just find out?!”

“You know how I had a dry waffle this morning?” Tup nodded and Kix snorted. “Turns out, my waffle wasn’t dry. I was having an allergic reaction.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen you scarf down space waffles before. What changed?”

Fives smirked and waited a beat to see if his brothers would figure it out on their own. When no one said anything, he continued, "There was muja sauce today."

Another beat. "Oh!" came the three reactions.

Jesse began to laugh. "Your mutation is a muja fruit allergy? That's gotta suck, dude." 

A shrug. "Eh, now that I know, not too much. The mujas were a bit sweet for my taste, anyway." 

Focus grimaced. "You still suck at lying, Fives." Fives scrunched his nose at the scout but otherwise didn't acknowledge his words, taking a tentative bite of what looked suspiciously like something’s liver.

"Yes, an untreated allergy is something to laugh about," Kix groused. When Jesse laughed at his attitude, Kix shot a glare his way. The lieutenant only laughed harder. 

"What happened?" Jesse prompted, evidently sensing a story to be told.

“I can tell you what happened,” Kix grumbled, stabbing a piece of lettuce. “Kaysh mirsh solus, Jess. I can’t emphasize that enough.”

Jesse doubled over cackling, clutching his stomach. He set his other arm on the table and buried his face in it. He struggled to form words for a moment, then finally spit out, “The allergic reaction must’ve killed the rest of them.”

“Wow, thanks,” Fives deadpanned. “To both of you.”

“Anytime.” Kix stabbed another piece of lettuce, giving Fives an unbreakable glare. “If you pull anything like this again, I will check if you really do only have one brain cell left.”

“I expected nothing less.” 

Jesse composed himself and rested his elbows on the table and his head on his hands— he was by far the most amused by this. He was going to get stuff out of this for weeks if he played his cards right. His grin was quite possibly one of the biggest ones Fives had ever seen on a brother. His food, which he hadn’t touched since Fives sat down, sat ignored in front of him still. 

“Okay, but seriously,” Focus cut in, “how did you not know you had an allergy to muja fruit?”

Fives swiveled towards the scout. “How did you manage to blow up a training dummy when your name implies that shouldn’t have happened?” he quipped back. “It’s not like I had muja fruit before, and it’s not like that’s something that they tested for on Kamino. None of us are supposed to have allergies!”

“It’s not like we’ve seen anyone have an allergic reaction before,” Tup pointed out. 

“Fine. Fair point,” Focus conceded. 

Fives pointed at Tup. "Actually, he's right. I first thought I had a floor burn from sparring with the Captain."

"I still don't get how you thought hives were a floor burn," Kix griped.

"At first, Kix. I said at first. Once I got a closer look, I noticed otherwise. I just got busy."

The medic shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly and taking a sip from his water. 

"Anyway," Fives continued, avoiding the meat and picking at a blob next to it, "our little bit of research told us Prime wasn't allergic to muja fruit so it really is a random mutation."

"Maybe someone in Prime's biological family had it?" Tup offered.

"Just because allergies can be genetic doesn't always mean they are," Kix supplied. "I wouldn't be surprised either way." 

"Either way, I don't care," Fives said. "What I do care about is that now I have to suffer through an allergy test just to be safe."

“K'atini. You’re an ARC trooper, you’ve suffered worse.”

Fives scoffed. “Just because I have doesn’t mean I wanted to suffer. Or suffer more, especially because of you.”

The group descended into bickering the way only siblings could. Little did they know, a new and improved version of their conversation would take place a mere two days later when it was revealed that Fives was also allergic to yot beans and chando peppers and severely so to zherries after Kix ran the allergy test. 

--

Mando’a Translations:

Vod: Brother

Di’kut: Idiot

Tayli'bac: Got it? Okay? Understand? (Often very aggressive.) Basically, the Mando'a version of Capisce

Vode: Brothers. Can refer to the clones as a whole or just a group of them

Kaysh mirsh solus: He’s an idiot. Lit. “His brain cell is lonely”

K'atini: Suck it up! Or: It’s only pain! 

Thanks for reading!