imhungaryproject-blog

[writeshite]

Thor showing you his bulge in his briefs please?🙈🙈

You stared down at Thor's bulge, disbelief and confusion on your face; you reached out, pulled the hem of the briefs out to peek in, and your eyes widened. You glanced back at a very proud, very smug Thor, "I—"

"Don't worry, dear heart, I'm no monster," he pecks your temple, promising to be gentle.

[escapingreality1992]

The Movie Queen and Her Captain

Luna and Steve Rogers have a Harry Potter marathon and things get steamy.

"How is it possible for you to not even flinch during a horror movie? I mean, seriously? Not one jump scare got you," Natasha asked while we walked into the front entrance of our home; the compound. We had just finished watching A Nightmare on Elm Street at the theater; they had a Halloween special going on where they'd show older movies to get people in the mood for spooky season.

"Call me the queen of horror movies. Or movies in general. But technically I've already seen that one. At least I'm not the one who jumped when he had the longest arms on the planet," I replied.

"First of all, it weirded me out and second it was really disturbing. If I saw someone walking down the street with arms long enough to circle my entire body, I'd run too,"

"Except you wouldn't escape because it's a dream. It's the whole point of the story line. He kills you in your dreams. You wouldn't get very far either. That's his ultimate power, trapping you in dreams. Though I bet you could take him. You are the Black Widow after all," I argued.

"Still, it's going to give me nightmares and not the ones I normally get," She stated. As we neared the lounge, the smell of buttered popcorn hit my nose, both of us sneaking in the lounge to see what the boys were watching while wearing sweats. Peeking around the corner, I recognized the movie as The Exorcist, suppressing a giggle before catching Natasha's gaze. Her lips twisted in a wicked smile, the same idea coming to mind. Crouching low, we slunk to the couches, each picking a specific target; Nat's favorite person to scare was Tony, she always squealed in delight when he shrieked like a girl. I switched my targets each time, today's choice being Sam. I got Steve last week while he had been getting a glass of water in the middle of the night and I decided to go easy on him this week.

As the scene played on - the one in which the main character levitated - you could feel the tension in the air creating the perfect timing for us to launch out attack. Once the priests reached the third part of their chant, we sprung up and shouted 'BOO!', our hands landing on the intended targets. Popcorn and bowls flew into the air, shrieks - not screams - sounded around the room, making Natasha and I cackle with laughter.

"Oh my god! You should see your faces," I stated after Tony asked FRIDAY to turn on the lights.

"Why? Why do you two feel the need to scare people?" he complained, shooting us a glare. We laughed again and at his huff, we attempted to contain ourselves.

"Sorry, sorry. It's fun to do and the expressions on you guys right now are worth it. Don't forget it's spooky season, which is by far the best time to terrify anyone. If anything, it's your fault for putting on a scary movie creating the perfect opportunity to scare y'all anyway," Natasha said. She sat down on the couch beside Bucky, kissing him on the cheek. He blushed, draping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. I smiled, loving their relationship with each other. They had been dating for six months, their chemistry undeniable. I settled in between Steve and Thor, rubbing their arms to calm them down.

"I take it you had fun at the theater?" Steve asked me.

"Of course. Natasha got scared during some of the movie though," I responded.

"No, I didn't," I raised my eyebrows at Nat as if to say 'sure you didn't'. "Maybe a little. Anyways, are we going to finish this movie or not?" she commented.

"You two aren't going to scare us anymore right?" Sam asked.

"No more scaring. We promise," Nat and I said at the same time; it sounded a bit reminiscent of the twins from The Shining. The horrified looks on the guys' faces made us laugh before apologizing and saying we wouldn't do it again. Tony resumed the movie, most falling asleep before the credits rolled; the only ones still awake were Steve, Loki, Vision, and me. Lights flooded the room when the DVD menu popped up, causing the sleepers to squint their eyes tighter against the brightness.

"I guess it's a good time to call it a night. Let's head to bed. There's nothing much to do tomorrow anyway," Tony stated, yawning and stretching as he stood up. Each Avenger went separate ways to their rooms, some like Wanda and Vision and Bucky and Nat went to the same room together; others to their individual chambers. I had the good fortune to be escorted by Steve to mine as we were adjacent to each other on the same hallway.

"Thank you for walking me to my room," I told him, opening my door and switching on the light.

"No problem. Good night Luna," he told me.

"Night, Steve," I said, turning to go inside and change into my pajamas.

"Hey, uh, Movie Queen?" I heard Steve ask. My lips quirked into a small smile at the nickname.

"Yes? What can I do for you Spangly Man?" Steve chuckled, leaning against the door frame.

"You have all of the Harry Potter films right?"

"All on blu ray too. Why?"

"Would you want to do a marathon with me?"

"Tonight? It's a little late don't you think?" His smile faded at that and he turned to return to his room.

"How about tomorrow? We can start at 7 a.m. All the movies back to back equate to 18 hours and 20 minutes without the credits. It'll be around 1 a.m. when we finish but we still have to account for bathroom breaks and food," I offered, my words freezing him mid-step. He spun around to face me.

"Tomorrow. I'll meet you in the lounge at 7," he agreed, walking backwards to his room, hands in the pockets of his gray sweatpants. I smiled, closing my door to turn in for the night.

My alarm woke me at 6:30, giving me plenty of time to freshen up and change into a tank top and sweatpants before meeting Steve in the lounge with the 8 Harry Potter movie in tow. I found him with a bunch of pillows and blanket in his arms and arched an eyebrow.

"What do you have there?" I asked, curious to know what he was planning.

"Supplies for our marathon. I thought we should be ultra comfortable if we're watching all of these movies. Question. Would it be too bold of me to ask if we could move downstairs to the theater room? I don't want to be interrupted if the others walk through the lounge," he answered me.

"No, not at all. It'll be fun when it's only the two of us and I want you to have the full experience. Head on down. I'll grab a few drinks and snacks," I told him. Steve nodded and walked down the steps while I went into the kitchen. I got a bag of popcorn going while I pulled out water and a few cans of soda, placing them in a separate bowl. Emptying the popcorn into the second bowl I set out and tucking the movies under my arm, I grabbed both bowls and joined Steve in the giant theater room; blankets and pillows gathered on the massive couch. I handed Steve the popcorn bowl, pulling out a water for him and one soda for me; I stored the other drinks in the mini fridge for later. I set up the screen and DVD player, hitting play when the menu came up. Joining Steve on the couch, I shifted under one of the blankets.

"Are you excited?" I whispered, grabbing some popcorn.

"Definitely. It's going to be a fantastic date," His response stunned me and before I could say something, the first scene started up, silencing me.

Date? I didn't think he liked me in that way, I thought. Some part of me always hoped he might; I had developed a huge crush on him over the years but never made a move to ask him out. Believe me, I wanted to but every time I tried, I backed away from the subject too afraid of rejection and then have our friendship ruined. I remained silent through the first two movies and we took our first bathroom break before starting the third. I hesitated in pressing play, wanting to talk about what he said before the first movie.

"Steve?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"Nevermind. Let's get this next one going," I stated, once again chickening out and pressed play. More silence ensued, the occasional glance from me over at him to see if he was enjoying the movies; he definitely was, no surprise there. Our hands accidentally touched during the scene with the dementors before they went back in time to save lives. Halfway through the fourth movie, we decided to order in some Italian food for dinner, resuming the movie after it arrived. Tears were shed from me at Cedric's death, Steve moving closer to console me by rubbing my shoulders. During the fifth, the air conditioning came on and I tried to refrain from shivering despite the blanket draped over my body.

"Are you cold?" he whispered. I shook my head and continued to silently suffer. My body betrayed me half an hour later, shivering more when it became unbearable.

"You're cold. Come here and snuggle with me," Steve whispered, moving the bowl of popcorn he made before starting the Order of the Phoenix. I slid into his side, letting him drape an arm over me. I melted into the warmth, burying myself closer to him.

"You're an icicle. Why didn't you say something earlier?" he asked, keeping his voice low so he didn't miss any important dialogue.

"I didn't want to bother you," I whispered. He hugged me tighter and released me when it was time to switch out the DVDs. We took another bathroom break before getting Half-Blood Prince started, this one wasn't a favorite of mine and I considered it slower paced than the others.

Coming back from the bathroom, I took up my original spot much to Steve's disappointment.

"I'd like to keep cuddling with you please," he told me. I had to admit I liked his arms around me and slid back into him; our bodies meshed together like two puzzle pieces. As the movie progressed, I noticed we were both a little restless, occasionally tracing small patterns on each other's legs.

"Luna?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I...Would it be alright if I kissed you?" Steve asked. I swiveled my head to look up at him, shocked at the question. Say yes. Tell him you want him to kiss you, I thought.

"Yes. You can kiss me. Please, kiss me," I answered. Steve leaned in, his lips brushing lightly over mine. They were soft, a bit salty from the popcorn but also warm like the rest of him. The movie seemed muted while we held the kiss for a few minutes, breaking away. He didn't waste any time after the first kiss to press his mouth back to mine, devouring me, his hands tangling in my hair, pulling me closer. My hands gripped his shirt tightly, the same urgency for him to do anything he pleased to me. Taking my movements as an invitation, he removed his hand from my hair and gripped my hips; he lifted me onto his lap, those callused hands moving to hold me buy shoulders. We kissed more fervently, our tongues tangling with each other. Soon he moved his heated lips to my neck, finding a spot to suck on, a soft moan escaping my lips. He brushed them over my collarbone, his fingers snaking down and under the hem of my tank top. Steve lifted it off my head, tossing it to the floor. He unclasped my bra next, exposing my breasts to the cold air. My nipples perked up, capturing his attention, the pads of his thumbs brushing lightly over them before he lowered his mouth to latch onto one.

I arched into him, the sensation of his tongue swirling around it, arousing me, wetness pooled at my center, my hips moving against him. The friction I caused as I did this made his length harden only making me want more of him. I slipped my hands under his shirt and lifted it up, pausing his actions to get the fabric off his body. Next, I got off him to  pull down his sweatpants and also removing mine. I straddled him again, dry humping him, my lips attaching to his neck, my hands in his soft hair.

Steve flipped me so I laid flat against the couch, his lips finding mine, his fingers sliding under the flimsy material of my underwear. He stroked my folds, my hips moving to ride his fingers; a low moan erupted when he inserted two of them inside me.

"Oh, god. Steve..." I whimpered, my hands gripping his back, nails digging in his skin. He grunted against the sharp pain, removing his fingers to rip off my underwear, deciding to the material was in the way. I moved my hands down to push down his boxers, freeing him completely. Taking him in my hands, I stroked his cock, groans of pleasure coming from his lips. He got up to remove them completely and used his knee to spread my legs wider, lining up at my entrance.

"I'm going to ask you this once. Are you positive you want to do this?" he asked, the bright blue of his irises darkening with lust.

"Yes. I want to. I'm sure," I replied, pulling his face down to kiss him. He sheathed himself deep inside me and I moaned into his mouth at the sensation. He pumped in and out slowly, our breath quickening, moans and groans echoing around the room. Something must've caught his attention because he paused, a confused look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Why is everyone crying and lighting the sky with their wands?" he answered. I turned my head to the movie screen and saw we had missed an important death.

"Oh, Dumbledore died. Snape killed him," I replied.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah, it's really sad," I told him, pulling his face back to kiss him.

"Right. Sorry. I'll continue," he said, his thrust hard and rough, something I had hoped I'd experience one day with him. I climaxed first, reaching another one when he climaxed. He pulled out, allowing me to switch to the next movie. I came back to him, his muscular arms pulling me into his lap. Steve secured me with one arm tight around my waist, the other spreading my legs to work me with his fingers until I reached a third orgasm.

"Steve..."

"Sh. You've seen these before. Let me play a little longer. You screaming my name is the sweetest thing I've heard all day," he told me, teasing my swollen clit with his thumb. My legs quaked each time he pushed me over the edge, throughout the first part of the Deathly Hallows. During the last movie, I had my turn playing with him, teasing him through important parts so he could pay attention. I paused the movie before the big battle and got on my knees in front of him, taking his cock in my mouth. He gasped, head thrown back as my tongue explored every inch, bringing him over the edge and swallowing when he exploded into my mouth. I sat beside him, his arms pulling me close to him.

"This has been a wonderful date, don't you agree?" he whispered, my lips curling into a smile.

"I agree. We should do this more often," I told him.

"Next week sound good?"

"That will be perfect," Once the final movie ended, we got dressed and returned to our rooms.

"Spend the night?" he asked. I nodded, entering his room. We climbed in, snuggled close and fell asleep, drifting off to a beautiful dream world.

[everythinggodofwar]

The Treasure of Koninsgard (part 5)

Their first stop was the dwarves’ shop on the realm travel bridge.

“You’re gonna love Brok and Sindri!” Atreus declared to Sigyn as they stepped out of the realm between realms. “They’re the best crafters in all the nine realms!”

“Ah, stop. I’ll blush!” Sindri exclaimed from where he was sitting and eating an apple.

“Quiet!” Brok yelled. “Can’t you see I’m focusing?”

“But you’re..” Atreus began with the intention of pointing out that Brok was just watching water boil, but decided against it. “Brok and Sindri, this is Sigyn!”

“Hello, Sigyn!” Sindri greeted.

“Hello..” Sigyn kind of hung towards the back, allowing Kratos and Atreus to go ahead and, once again, subconsciously playing with her hair.

“The girl needs a weapon.” Kratos told Sindri as they both came up to the wooden table where they usually made their exchanges. “What do you have?”

“Well! We have a fine selection of bows!” He reached in his bag and pulled out a simple wooden bow and a quiver full of arrows. “And by ‘fine selection’ I mean.. one bow.. that I can upgrade for you.”

“I already have a weapon!” Sigyn interjected; she pulled her dagger out and held it to where Kratos could see it. “See?”

“A dagger requires you to get close enough to your enemies to hit them..” He set some hacksilver down on the counter and grabbed the bow and quiver. He turned to Sigyn. “Keep your distance. And only fire.. if I tell you to fire.”

“Okay..” With a frown, she took the bow and quiver. She told herself she should be grateful, but she had no idea how to shoot.

“I can show you.” Atreus offered, almost if he had read her mind.

She gazed at him in surprise. After a moment she nodded. “Okay.”

“Well look who’s up and around!” Brok finally acknowledged Sigyn.

She just smiled, both of her hands having been occupied with strapping the quiver on.

“This is Sigyn.” Atreus said.

“I heard ya the first time!”

“Oh..”

“So you’re that ‘treasure of Koninsgard’ Huh? Not what I expected.. but we’re - uh- glad to have ya!”

Sigyn gave him a questioning look. “What’s Koninsgard?”

Brok gave Kratos a surprised glance, then looked back at Sigyn. She didn’t know about Koninsgard? “King Motsognir?”

“Who?”

“Where’d you come from?”

She froze for a moment and turned her head away ever so slightly to avoid looking at Brok. “No- Nowhere important.”

“Huh.” He studied her for a moment- he, like everybody else, had no idea what to make of her- then grabbed a box from under a table. “Here. I got something for ya.”

Sigyn glanced nervously at Atreus, then Kratos, who nodded as to say go ahead. She cautiously approached the table where the dwarf dug around in an old crate.

“Gah- I know it’s here somewh- aha!” He pulled out a small set of simple armor and dropped it on the table. “Oughta help keep ya safe from any stray arrows and such.”

“Hm.” Sigyn studied the armor carefully. “My coat is warm; this looks cold.”

“Then put the coat on over it! Yeesh.”

“Okay.” With a shrug, she took her coat that she’d technically been wearing for at least few centuries off, uncovering her tattered, long sleeved shirt underneath and revealing a few blue colored tattoos peeking out from beneath her sleeve. Atreus could see a few runes but he didn’t have enough time to make anything out of it. Sigyn put the flexible, lightly metal plated vest on and tied the red rope around her waist to keep it in place. It was a little long on her -actually it was very long- as it nearly reached the middle of her thighs, but at least it would help protect her more. Not that it mattered, she didn’t plan on needing it for much longer.

“So?”

She threw her coat back on over it and shrugged. “Adequate for now.”

Mimir laughed louder than he meant to. Kratos almost smiled.

“‘Adequate?!’” Brok exclaimed and turned to glare at Kratos. “You sure she ain’t yours?”

Atreus laughed. “I think I’d know if I had a sister!”

Kratos gave the boy a questioning glance, then turned to leave, now done with the conversation. “Come. We are leaving.”

“In any case she’ll fit right in!” With that, Brok marched back to finish whatever he was cooking.

Atreus and Sigyn followed after Kratos. Atreus was a excited that he got to hunt with a new friend; Kratos, however, found it rather inconvenient that he now had to make sure the girl didn’t get herself killed. He could guarantee that they would be attacked by one thing or another on their trip; though he knew Atreus could handle himself to some extent, it it didn’t look like the girl had had much experience in combat if any at all.

Kratos forced the large stone door open and held it for the children to go through, then allowed it to slam shut behind them once they were all outside on the bridge.

Sigyn’s eyes grew wide as she took everything in. “Wow,” was all she could say as she looked around at the bridge and the lake surrounding them. When she turned around to face the building they were just in her attention was grabbed by the massive statue and the overall grandeur of the temple. “What is this place?”

“It’s the realm travel bridge; this is the lake of nine that we’re in the middle of.” Atreus explained as he gestured to the lake and then to the temple. “In the middle of that temple there’s a room that lets people travel to different realms!”

“Different realms?” She grew thoughtful. “Like Asgard?”

He gave her a slightly confused look. “Well, Yeah.. but why would you want to go to Asgard?”

“I don’t. I’m just curious.”

“I’m afraid travel to any realm without the proper travel rune is impossible, and Odin made sure that no one could go to and from Asgard unless he wants them too; so, Asgard is off limits to us.” Mimir pointed out. “.. Not that I would suggest it either way.”

“I don’t want to go to Asgard.”

“Good. Let us go then.” Kratos rushed, growing weary of standing around. He made his way down the stair case as Atreus and Sigyn followed.

Once they reached the boat dock, Kratos handed the head to Atreus, and the two climbed in just like they always did. Atreus frowned when he saw Sigyn still standing on the boat dock awkwardly waiting and realized there was no seat for her on the boat.

“Here.” He swiflty moved to sit on the floor of the boat and sat Mimir on the side opposite to him. “You can sit there!”

“Oh that’s-”

“Its okay! Trust me!”

Sigyn hesitated at first, but she agreed and carefully climbed into the boat and sat in the spot Atreus usually was.

Once everyone was situated, Atreus sitting in what small space their was on the floor with Mimir and Sigyn sitting across from Kratos, Kratos pushed off from the pier and began to row towards a dock he knew led a to a decent hunting area near the foot of the mountain.

Atreus noticed Sigyn playing with her hair again. She seemed to do that whenever she was nervous. Maybe he could do something to make her feel better? “Mimir!”

“Aye lad?”

“Do you have a story? Maybe Sigyn would like to hear one?”

“I just might! How about it, lass?”

Sigyn let go of her hair, but her hands still fidgeted in her lap. “Sure.”

“Very well! How about a familiar one? It begins with a father and son on a journey to scatter the ashes of the woman they both loved.”

Kratos groaned, but he did not object to Mimir telling her their story.

“Before she died, the boy’s mother and his father’s beloved wife had made the very specific request that her ashes be taken to the highest peak in all the realms and scattered there.”

“This sounds familiar.” Atreus pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.

“Their journey was long and grueling, but alas they made it to the highest peak! ... in Midgard.. Once they fought their way to the very top of the mountain they met a clever, rather dashing, gentleman who informed them that they, though they had worked so hard to get there, were sadly not at the highest peak in all the realms. For the highest peak in all the realms was not here in Midgard, but Jotunheim.”

“Jotunheim?”

“Aye. Jotunheim.. Though they were disappointed, they were in luck! For that gentleman they met was none other than the smartest man alive! And he knew just how to get them to where they needed to go. All they had to do was free him from his binds to a tree where his former Master had trapped him.. by cutting off his head and bringing it to a witch that could reanimate him, who turned out to be none other than the goddess Freya herself.”

“Mmhmm.” Sigyn has caught on that the story was about them at that point, and she was interested.

“The journey was even longer and more grueling after that. First, to carve the rune they needed to open the gate to Jotunheim, convieniently placed on top of the very mountain they had originally gone to, they needed a piece of a magic chisel wielded by Thamur the stonemason giant.”

As Kratos neared the boat dock, Mimir realized he would not finish his story this time, so he decided to start wrapping this bit up.

“After ever-so-subtly breaking through a thick layer of ice to get to the chisel by knocking Thamur’s old hammer over, the pair had to fight off the sons of Thor themselves! Magni and Modi.. The battle was difficult, but the father managed to overcome Magni and kill him, overcoming his coward brother Modi with fear and causing him to flee - which would later on cause trouble.”

Just as he finished his sentence, Kratos pulled up on the dock and stopped the boat next to it.

“And we’ll finish this later!”

Atreus handed his father the head and followed him in jumping out of the boat. Once, the others were off, Sigyn stood up and jumped off too. “Are stories only for the boat?”

“Strictly.”

“Okay.”

“Draugr!” Atreus yelled as a couple draugr jumped out from behind the rocks.

“Ready yourself!”

Sigyn pulled out her bow, but took a few steps back and let the other two do the fighting. She pulled an arrow out and placed it on the string like she ready to shoot, even though she knew she wouldn’t. She remembered Kratos’ command to not fire unless he told her to.. and she knew he wouldn’t tell her too.. so she obeyed. She just watched as Kratos mercilessly struck the enemies down one by one with his axe and Atreus shot his arrows from a small distance, yelling to warn Kratos about incoming fire and occasionally running to whack or choke one of the enemies.

Finally, they finished off the last draugr. Sigyn relaxed and put the bow away and stuck the arrow back in the quiver. Kratos just hung his axe back on its hook on his back, grabbed whatever the enemies had dropped, and continued on like it was nothing. Atreus followed, looking back to make sure Sigyn was coming; she hurried along after them when Atreus waved her on.

“What are we hunting?” Atreus asked his father.

“That is for you to decide.”

“Oh.. deer?”

“Is that a question?”

“Deer.” He looked back at Sigyn, who was following a little ways behind. “Do you hunt, Sigyn?”

She shook her head.

“Oh.. well.. maybe I can show you a little!” His attention was grabbed by a set of tracks in a mud puddle he was about to step in. “Look!” He waved Sigyn over; hesitantly, she came over and examined the tracks with him. “They’re from a deer. See how the tips come to a point? If the tips were a little wider that would mean they might have come from a mountain goat.”

“You can really tell that by their feet?”

“Yeah! And look; see how the mud hasn’t had time to move around them yet? That means their fresh, so it must be close!” He stood up and started off in the direction of the deer.

Sigyn followed close behind; Kratos kept a bit of a distance, but stayed close enough to keep an eye on them.

Atreus stopped to examine some more tracks. “They’re fresh too, but.. they’re not deer. Looks like a boar.”

“Good.” Kratos said as he bent down to look at the tracks with him. Sigyn stood to the side and watched.

“Should I keep looking for the deer? Or go after the boar?”

“I trust you to decide that.”

“Oh! Well.. the deer is bigger. And easier to-”

“Easier?”

“Well.. Yeah. I think they’re easier to kill than boars.”

“Hmph.” Kratos stood up. “Then you will hunt the boar.”

“But you said-”

“I know what I said. Hunt the boar.”

“Rrrnnn.” Atreus groaned. He stood up and started to head in the direction of the boar’s tracks. He was disappointed to have to start over, but at least he knew the animal was close.

As she followed along quietly, Sigyn noticed a certain bush with a purple petal flower her mother had showed her how to crush into a fine powder that could be used for a multitude of different things. Quickly, she plucked all the flowers off the plant and gently placed them in an empty pouch she had tied to her belt. When she was done, she glanced up to see Kratos glaring down at her -not necessarily angrily but grimly enough that Sigyn worried she had done something wrong.

After a moment of awkwardly staring at him, Sigyn held out one of the flowers for him and smiled.

He looked down at the delicate little flower in her hand with narrowed eyes. He would never say it, but she reminded him so much of Calliope. That sweet, soft tempered spirit paired with a strong will and a big heart.. He imagined that if Calliope had been a little older she would have been just like this girl. Perhaps that’s why he had pretty much already decided she could not stay.

“Rrn.” He broke his gaze at the girl’s offering and turned to continue on with Atreus, who was now studying a new set of tracks, completely oblivious to the exchange between Sigyn and his father.

“I think the boar went this way.”

“Good.”

Atreus pulled his bow out and placed an arrow on the string when he heard the sound of a boar’s snorting nearby. “I hear it!”

“Careful, boy.”

“I know.”

Atreus crept up a flight of ruined stone steps and peaked over the top to see the animal grazing obliviously. He drew the bow back and steadied his breaths.

Feet firm.

Hand steady.

Exhale.

Release.

He loosed the arrow, hitting it directly between its ribs and striking it in the heart. The boar jumped a little, fell over on its side, took a few strained breaths, and died. Atreus sighed, relieved that it had died almost instantly and that he wouldn’t have to finish it off with his dagger.

“I did good. Yeah?”

“Be more silent next time. It is easy to frighten an animal. You must not let it get it’s guard up.”

“Yes sir... I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Mm.” Fully aware that the boy wasn’t strong enough to lift it, Kratos made his way over to pick the animal up and carry it home.

Sigyn watched with intrigue as Kratos casually picked up the rather large animal and just threw it over his shoulder. She was impressed -though not surprised- but she didn’t know the half of it.

They began to make their way back to the boat. Unfortunately there were no world tree gates nearby to use to get back home faster, but Kratos at least was perfectly content with walking.

As they made their way down the convenient path that led by an ancient looking circle of pillars, Sigyn’s attention was once again pulled away by a familiar plant growing next to one of the pillars. Hurrying to keep Kratos from noticing, she quickly ran over and plucked some of the leaves off and stuck them in her satchel. As she studied the contents of the bag she considered what kinds of things she could do with these ingredients; the two that she had already collected would be enough to make a few strength enhancing potions. Certainly the others would appreciate that.

She found herself losing herself in thought as she considered what other ingredients she would have to find to do a tracking spell on her mother.

“Girl..” Kratos pulled Sigyn out of her daze.

She looked up to see that Kratos and Atreus were waiting for her a little ways ahead. “Sorry..” A little embarrassed, she held her head down and carefully closed the satchel. She internally kicked herself for getting distracted again.

“It’s-” Atreus’ eyes went wide and he pointed at something behind Sigyn. “Watch out!!”

Before she could react, a massive hand grabbed Sigyn from behind and tossed her tiny, limp body to the side like nothing.

Sigyn scrambled to get back up, but the furious troll pounded the ground with the huge totem in his hand, sending a surge of energy that knocked her back to the ground.

Atreus rushed at the troll in a yelling rage while Kratos yelled for him to calm himself. Kratos’ warning seemed to fall on deaf ears as Atreus furiously charged in and fired electrified arrows at the monster.

“Calm down, boy!”

“Die damn it!” Atreus screamed at the monster, not hearing -or just ignoring- his father’s commands.

“Atreus!”

The arrows mostly seemed to aggravate the unusually large troll. With each arrow that struck him, it grew more and more angry until it let out a roar and swung its totem furiously at the boy.

Since Atreus was letting himself become so overcome by emotion and therefore wasn’t being attentive enough, the swing hit him head on and knocked him on his back.

Kratos charged at the monster as it raised its weapon high up in the air with the intention of bringing it down on Atreus -who was on the ground and trying to scoot out of the way but was a bit too dazed from being hit so hard. Kratos jumped in front of Atreus and braced himself to stop that totem from hitting his son.

With all its might, the monster swung its weapon.

Before it could even touch Kratos or Atreus a huge ball of fire flew through the air and struck the troll, causing him to stumble to the side and have to regain his composure.

Kratos’ first instinct was to check on Atreus. He turned and knelt down to make make sure he was not injured; he was not, but his eyes were wide with both amazement and terror as he stared past Kratos. “Father..”

Kratos stood up and spun around, ready to destroy whatever it was Atreus was staring at.

Much to his surprise, instead of another enemy, he saw Sigyn, now standing in the middle of a circle of white fire swirling around the ground, the same surreal flames engulfing her clenched fists and her eyes now bright yellow rather than the usual green. Almost as if she were in a trance, she turned her head to Kratos and Atreus and just stared for a moment.

Kratos held his arm out in front of Atreus in an instinct to protect him.. but Sigyn did not come towards them. She didn’t even move. After a moment of her just looking at them, her attention was pulled away by the troll getting back up and charging at her.

“Father!” Atreus jumped up and tried to push past his father to go help Sigyn, but Kratos grabbed his arm and held him back.

“No, boy!”

“We have to help!”

Suddenly Sigyn seemed to break out of her motionless trance and summoned another massive ball of fire around her fist and threw it at the troll. It seemed to work; the attack seemed to stun the monster as it knelt down on the ground and breathed heavily... Kratos saw the opportunity and took it; he jumped up and charged the beast. He jumped on its head and pulled it back by its horns, and, as it tried to take a swing at him, he grabbed the extremely heavy weapon and used it to smash the trolls head once he had knocked it on the ground.

After the troll was good and dead, he turned around to see Sigyn lying unconscious on the ground, blood dripping from her nose and her skin even paler than usual. Atreus sat next to her with his hand on her shoulder gently but urgently shaking her to wake her up.

“Father!” He called out desperately. “Father, she’s sick. She’s-” Kratos came over and knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her forehead.

“She has a fever.”

“Is it what I had?”

“No..” Kratos observed her bleeding nose; Atreus had never had that. “This is something else.”

“Did.. did you know?”

“.. no. I did not know.”

“Mimir?”

“Sorry, little brother.. I’m afraid not.”

“She’s..” Atreus shook his head, still trying to fully comprehend what he had just seen. “She’s a god?”

[theinsideoutmermaid]

Chapter 2: Nakia

Marvel high school AU

Words: 2467

***

The second hand of the clock had never moved slower, and Nakia’s foot had never tapped faster. She stared at the offending hand, willing it to throw off the soporific influence of 8th period AP Spanish. It wasn’t that Mr. Coulson was a bad teacher, exactly; he was just kind of bland and anyway, getting through any eighth period class when you had something exciting after school was like trying to swim through molasses. A lifetime ago, there had been two minutes left in class. Now there were thirty seconds. Nakia tuned out Coulson’s re-explanation of cláusulas con si and bounced her leg ever faster.

“Now remember, everyone: hubiera goes with habr—” Thankfully, the blaring end-of-school bell drowned out the rest of his sentence. Nakia sprang up, throwing her bag over her shoulder. She was the first student out the door of X108.

Weaving skillfully through the hordes of students filling the halls, Nakia forced herself to take several deep breaths. Her fingers still tapped a swift rhythm on the strap of her bag, but her mind felt a little less cluttered. It’s going to be okay, she told herself. Nakia paused in front of one of the hall bulletin boards while the sea of students continued to surge around her. There it was: her flyer.

She had put them up a week and a half ago, and she knew every word by heart, but she reread it anyway. Yep, all the right information. Today was supposed to be the easy part, the part where everything was out of her hands and she just had to wait and see who showed up. The hard part, technically, was planning out initial activities and asking the notoriously intimidating Ms. Carter to be the staff sponsor. Nakia had been only a little scared to approach Ms. Carter. She had had her for AP US History last year, and the teacher liked her and was also a fierce advocate for human rights. So, no, that actually wasn’t too hard. The real nerves came from awaiting the student response. LHS students were generally nice kids but also shockingly ignorant and complacent. They were good about supporting local charities and food pantries, and pretty much nothing beyond that. And that’s what I’m going to change, thought Nakia as she arrived at the door of Q124. She straightened her colorful skirt and headwrap and then marched inside.

So far the only inhabitants of the room were Ms. Carter, impeccably dressed as ever in a pantsuit, and Pepper Potts, president of the Student Council and Nakia’s best friend. Pep turned at the sound of the door opening, ginger ponytail swishing with the motion, and she grinned when she saw Nakia.

“Thanks for coming, Pep,” said Nakia, slinging her bag onto a nearby desk.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” In one look, Pepper seemed to discern everything that was going on in Nakia’s head. “And I’m positive that it won’t just be me. I heard Steve Rogers convincing the rest of the Boy Scout Bunch to come during lunch. And where Steve goes, Bucky Barnes follows, so you’re guaranteed at least two other members.”

“Rogers, huh? I guess this is the sort of upstanding thing that he would do,” Nakia said, feeling a little bit pleased.

“I always thought Steve was like a cartoon,” mused Ms. Carter, a smile playing on her ruby-red lips. “Not in a bad way, of course, he’s a wonderful kid. It’s just that he’s so all-American that you almost think he’s made up. Top it off with that hair and those eyes—”

“--And you’ve got a boy straight from a World War Two recruitment poster. I know exactly what you mean,” said Pepper, laughing. “I went to elementary school with him, and he was like eighty years old even then. He called all the teachers ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ and always looked so solemn.”

“He sat next to me in English sophomore year. He’s nice,” said Nakia. And cute, mouthed Pep. Nakia rolled her eyes.

Changing the subject, Nakia said, “I made a Powerpoint for today. Is it okay if I pull it up on your computer, Ms. Carter?” As Nakia logged into her account, the door banged open, letting in a small stream of students led by — Thor Odinson? No way. There was no way that Thor Odinson, the blond giant, the boisterous partygoer, He of the Bajillion Varsity Letters, was joining her Human Rights Club. And yet, there he was, dwarfing the tiny desk chair he had chosen as a perch. Following him were Steve and Bucky, plus Sam Wilson and Rhodey, rounding out the Boy Scout Bunch. Pepper chatted them up immediately, because she was a master of small talk that didn’t feel like small talk, and Nakia was left to her thoughts. Her thoughts were as such: Wild. Maybe she should have brought snacks.

She glanced at the clock. It was 3:25, ten minutes after school ended, so it was probably about time to start the presentation.

“Hi everyone,” she yelled, which was necessary because Thor spoke at volume level 30 at all times. They quieted and turned to look at her. “Hi. Um. I’d like to thank you all for coming to the first meeting of Human Rights Club. I wanted to start off today’s meeting with a presentation showing some of what we’re—”

But the door flew open again, and Nakia stopped her speech to look.

“Hi. . .” Standing in the doorway was T’Challa. He was smiling at her in a weird frozen way, and he hadn’t moved out of the doorway.

“Hi?”

“Oh!” He blinked and seemed to realize what he was doing. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I had to tell my coach that I was going to be late to practice, but I guess that made me late coming here, so. . . my bad.”

Nakia reassured him that he was fine. “We hadn’t really started yet. Please, take a seat,” she said, gesturing to the assembled desks and trying to ignore Pep, who was clearly trying to communicate something through intense eye contact.

“So anyway, I made this presentation to show some of what we’re up against as a Human Rights Club, and what we are obliged to do as citizens of the world.” She clicked the remote. “This is a picture of a mother and her child. The woman is crying because her husband, a fourteen-year resident of the US and well-respected employee at the local grocery store, has just been deported to Mexico. He was the breadwinner in her family, and with no other relatives in America, she has no way to either support her son or take care of him during the day while she works. Her name is Maria. There are hundreds, thousands of other Marias, dreamers in America who work hard and yet have their dreams stripped away.” Nakia could feel the power building in her voice. This was what she knew. This was what she was passionate about. This was her mission. By the end of the Powerpoint, her small audience was looking subdued and concerned.

“Well. I can see that I’ve made an impact on you. I need you guys to take that energy that you’re feeling and put it to good use. The world may look bleak, but there are so many good people in it, and so much we can do to help. I want Human Rights Club to have three main tasks: education, fundraising, and volunteering. Educating others is just as important as taking action ourselves.Yeah, Pep?”

Pepper, who had been raising her hand, cleared her throat. “I thought we might include one or two foreign or global organizations when we vote for The Drive this year. We’ve always chosen local ones before, and that seems so. . . small-minded now.”

“That’s really great, Pep!” The Drive was the school’s massive annual charity fundraiser, led by Student Council — and therefore, by Pepper, the president. The whole community got involved. Last year they had raised upwards of $200,000. “That kind of support for one of our charities would be. . . incredible.The only problem would be getting the student body to vote for it.”

“You need a good video,” said Rhodey, speaking up for the first time. “I’m pretty good at editing. Sam’s in my film class, too.”

“Show it in homeroom before the vote,” suggested Sam.

“I would vote for it,” said Thor.

Nakia smiled. “Thank you, Thor.”

“I think all you’d have to do is say you voted for it, and then we’ve got the rest of the football team in the bag,” said T’Challa, grinning. “Those people listen to you.”

“And you,” muttered Bucky. “What? It’s true. People like you. And Pepper. They’ll do it if you do.”

“Well, as StuCo president I can’t exactly show any bias, but I’m sure you boys can work some magic,” Pepper said.

“Do people even vote for these things?” interjected Sam. “I mean, I’ve never done those stupid surveys — sorry, I guess,” he said, shrugging at Pepper. “Kinda didn’t care because we’d be end up doing something nice or good or whatever no matter what I voted. Lotta people feel the same way, I’m pretty sure. Sorry. Again.” Pepper continued to look a little crestfallen.

“Well, that’s not right, is it?” said Steve, speaking up for the first time. “The Drive is supposed to be democratic. It’s supposed to represent a cause that we, as a school, feel passionate about. It just doesn’t work— it’s not authentic if people don’t put in their due effort.”

“Chill out, bro, this isn’t the United Nations.”

Ms. Carter, until this point, had been observing the proceedings with a small smile. “No, indeed, Sam, but I think Steve has a point. Let me just say this, at the risk of sounding pretentious or overly dramatic: At this point in time, our country is suffering from negligent and honestly rather lazy citizens. People say they don’t like the direction our country is headed, they don’t like the immigration policy or the trickle-down policies or what have you, but they refuse to do anything about it. I was shocked at how many of my own colleagues didn’t even vote in the last election. The students here do have opinions about causes, but are content to let that be it. There’s a general belief that regular people are powerless. It’s important to teach them — you — that your actions can be impactful. So Steve is right: we need teach students to contribute now in order for them to continue contributing in the future,” finished Ms. Carter.

“Why not do it on paper instead of on the computers?�� suggested Thor. “Homeroom teachers can pass out slips to everyone and collect them at the end.”

Pepper chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I think that’s a good idea, actually. It’s easier to hold people accountable.”

“I guess I would feel bad handing in a blank slip,” admitted Sam. “It could work.”

“Well,” said Nakia. It was now 4:12, and she had planned to only go until 4:15. “This has been a really great first meeting. I want to thank you all again for coming. Honestly, this was a much better turnout than I could have hoped for, and you guys have some great ideas that make me really excited for the rest of the year! Pep, when’s the vote scheduled?”

“In two weeks.”

“That might cut it a little tight, but I think we can do it. We’ll choose our organizations next week, and then Rhodey and Sam — can I count on you for the video?” They nodded assent. “Awesome. Thor and T’Challa will be our promoters. Okay! See you next week everyone, and thanks again.”

Pepper stayed behind with Nakia while the boys filed out of the room. “Nice job, babe,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks,” replied Nakia, feeling a matching grin tugging at her lips, “and thank you Ms. Carter for sponsoring us.”

“It was my pleasure, Nakia,” said Ms. Carter, as she slid her purse onto her shoulder. “I think you have something amazing in the works.”

It was with a new spring in her step that Nakia followed Pepper to the parking lot. On the way, they discussed possible organizations, the logistics of a paper ballot — Nakia was also on Student Council — and the surreality of having Thor Odinson in her humble club. Pepper glanced up and stopped suddenly. Laying a hand on Nakia’s arm, she said, “You know what, I just realized I forgot something in my locker.”

“Do you want me to wait for you?”

“No, go on ahead. See you tomorrow, love you!” Her voice was suspiciously bright.

“Bye,” Nakia called after her, watching the perfectly curled ponytail shrink into the distance. There has to be something up with h— oh, there we go. On one of the benches next to the front door was T’Challa, and he was staring right at her. There was no way to pretend she hadn’t seen him, so Nakia hitched an awkward smile of greeting onto her face and continued on her way to the parking lot.

“Nakia!” he said, standing up at her approach. She took a deep breath and stopped, wheeling around to face him. He’s really handsome, said the voice in her head that belonged to Pepper. Dammit, said the voice in her head that was her own. T’Challa had started to speak: “I, um, I just wanted to say that your presentation today was really. . . impressive. I had no idea you know so much about all that stuff, and it’s really cool how much you care. It shows.   And. . . it makes you. . . I think you looked really strong up there.” His face softened into a charmingly shy smile. Flustered, Nakia’s fingers flew to tug the edge of her headwrap. Her face was too hot.

“Thanks. . . um. . . I really have to go do, uh, homework now, so ummmm. . . see you next week, I guess,” she stuttered, and she fled from the lobby into the parking lot. Safely in her car, Nakia buried her face in her hands for a moment, then scrounged in her backpack for her phone. She pulled up her text thread with Pep.

Nakia: PEP CALL ASAP WHEN YOU GET HOME I AM THE MOST EMBARRASSING HUMAN BEING ALIVE

Pepper: ;) ;) ;)

Nakia: dont wink at me you witch

Nakia: I just ruined my life

Pepper: :D

Pepper: babe he liiiikes youuuuu

Pepper: but ok we’ll save it for facetime. u gotta tell me Everything tho.

Nakia: there isnt that much to tell but ok i promise. God im so pathetic.

Pepper: not too pathetic for TCHALLA the KING to have a CRUSH ON YOU

Nakia: stOP!!

[crashdevlin]

Bottle- 11: Mission, the First

Bottle Masterlist

Author’s Note: Originally posted to ao3 (This is an edited and improved version), I work in info from the comics (Like Hawkeye was married to Mockingbird and Red Skull had a disappointing daughter) and I took a few liberties with what the scepter could do (but not really because the Mind Stone was used to create the Twins so what I did is not that far-fetched). This is a lot more angst than I realized when I wrote it, but it’s compelling angst.

Summary: Cassandra Campbell is a Stark Industries lab tech with dubious genetics and a history with the new Director of SHIELD. She’s been working in New York since right before the Chitauri invasion. What does she have to do with Loki, and what will happen when he returns? Starts post TDW and continues to the end of AoU.

Pairing(s): Phil Coulson x OFC (Past), Loki x OFC (Non-con), Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC

Word Count: 2133

Story Warnings: So many, worst (to me) are bolded. Younger woman/older man relationship,non-con, mutilation, torture, mind control, PTSD, depression, alcoholism, forced abortions, bad things (non-con) in a church, insomnia, memory manipulation, eventual consensual oral sex (female and male receiving),

Chapter Warnings: none

Tony dropped her near the back side of the compound and she started pushing toward the back. As she rounded the side of a brick wall, Cassie heard boots crunch behind her.

"Who are you? Turn around," the guard ordered.

Cassie resisted the urge to put her hands up, instead putting an indignant look on her features as she turned. The two guards had their machine guns raised and were noticeably confused by the blond girl in the T-shirt and jeans, creeping through the snow. "Zat's a bad idea." She inflected a German accent to her words. "I'm here to see Herr Strucker. Put zee guns down, take me to him and you probably von't be disemboweled for your insolence."

"Who are you?" the taller of the guards demanded.

"If you don't know, zen you von't know. Get on your little radio and tell Strucker 'Junior has come home'. Zose exact vords, no defiation. Strucker vill know vat it means."

They stared at her for a moment before the shorter one lower his gun and pulled out a radio. "Herr Strucker?"

"What?" came from the little speaker.

"We found a woman by the wall. She says she's here for you. She said to tell you 'Junior has come home'?"

The silence on the other end dragged on for several moments before static came through the radio. "Bring her inside."

Cassie walked between the two guards and was brought into the compound. As she walked through the compound, she noticed a young woman and a man standing together, off to the side near several computers. She was placed in a room with a desk and left alone. An overhead speaker came on in the office, and an alert went out. "Report to your stations immediately. This is not a drill. We are under attack. We are under attack."

Over the comm in her ear, which Tony had set so she could hear, but no one could hear her, she heard Tony exclaim "Shit!" and Steve respond with "Language!". As the action heated up outside the compound, Cassie took the comm out of her ear and dropped it in her pocket. Strucker opened the door and locked it behind him.

"452. You've grown into a beautiful young woman. Where have you been?"

"Vell, after you abandoned me at Der Speilplatz, Fury took me to zee Fridge. You know about zee Fridge, yes? It vas a prison. I spent 10 years in a SHIELD prison. I, eventually, von the love of a high-level agent who had Fury's ear and he arranged for my release. I convinced zem all zat I vas... normal, zat I'd fallen for zeir brainvashing. I'd have come to find you earlier, but Fury vasn't entirely convinced. He had an agent tailing me. After zee Battle of New York, I had a chance. I vas vorking to find you, specifically, but you idiots sought it vould be a great time to unveil yourselves, so zat Captain America could dismantle everysing ve spent 70 years creating in secret. You must be so proud."

"Well, we tried to find you, to bring you home."

"You didn't try hard enough. Ten years, Volfgang, and two more whoring myself to a man almost shree times my age so zat I could keep zee act going. And here I find you vis SHIELD artifacts, doing experiments to make people half as strong as me. Vhy didn't you just come find me?"

A nervous look came over Strucker's face. "I didn't know you'd developed abilities. Listen, you need... this building is under attack. We need to get you out of here. You are more important than anything in this compound."

"Even your little projects?" She feigned a mild jealousy. "Go rally zee men, Volfgang. I'm not going anyvere."

"All right, 452. Stay out of sight. Stay safe."

"It's Joanna, Baron."

"Joanna, then," Strucker said, walking out the door.

Cassie watched as the man walked away. She grabbed her ear piece from her pocket and placed it back into her ear. "Stark, we need to get inside." Steve's voice came through the comm.

"I'm closing in. Jarvis, am I... closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?" Tony responded. Cassie felt that was a question more for her, than for Jarvis, so she ran around to the other side of the desk and pulled out the drawers, looking for a clue of where to start. After finding nothing, she slipped out the door and headed to the right. She followed a staircase up to find a large glowing column.

"There's a pathway below the North tower," Jarvis said in her ear.

"Great. I wanna poke it with something," Stark said.

"Good idea," Cassie said to herself, picking up a piece of pipe leaning against the wall and jamming it into the middle of the generator. It sparked, then exploded, tossing her into the wall.

"Drawbridge is down, people," Tony said.

"The enhanced?" Thor asked.

"He's a blur. All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this," Steve answered. "In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac," Romanoff came over the comm, causing Cassie to sit up. Clint was hurt and she wasn't out there where she could help. She wasn't where she should be.

"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone, the better. You and Stark secure the scepter." Thor seemed to answer Cassie's concerns. She slowly stood, content that Tony and Steve would be inside soon and the situation would diffuse, now that she'd done her part.

"Copy that."

"It looks like they're lining up," Thor mused.

"Well, they're excited," Cap responded, before a sound of explosion came through.

"Find the scepter," Thor ordered.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Stark teased.

Steve sighed. "That's not going away anytime soon."

Cassie slowly found her way back down the stairs. She went to the opposite side of the hall when she came to the bottom of the stairs, quickly catching up to Steve as he found Strucker. She was down the stairs from where Steve emerged.  "Baron Strucker. HYDRA's number one thug."

"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," Strucker quipped.

"Well, then technically, you're unemployed. Where's Loki's scepter?"

"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."

"I'll put it under illegal human experimentation. How many are there?" Steve asked as the brunette in the red coat came up behind Steve and blasted him with some sort of energy. He flew down the stairs, where Cassie grabbed him, helping him up. Steve gave her a confused look, before saying, "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage."

"You'll have to be faster than-" Strucker began before Steve bashed him with his shield.

"Guys, I got Strucker," He said.

"Yeah. I got... something bigger," Tony said, over the comms as Steve picked Strucker up, turning to Cassie.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the jet."

"Tony had another idea. I jumped at it. You wouldn't have wanted to wait at the damn jet, either. Just like you didn't want to wait at the base while Bucky and hundreds of Americans were rotting in a Hydra camp."

"Yeah? What was Tony's idea?"

"I got us in. I brought the shields down, not Iron Man. That man, there, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, he knows me. Knew me. I used that to get inside, used the distraction of the battle in the woods to get to the generator in the North tower and I blew that shit up. Pardon my language," she said, with a small smirk.

"Not you, too."

"Of course, me too. Now, you want some help with Strucker, or are you gonna muscle that mound of meat out of here yourself?"

"I got him. Get back to the jet. Please, be careful. Watch out for the enhanced," he said, a concerned tone in his voice.

"Yes, sir."

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

Cassie sat next to Clint on the jet, not leaving his side to join the conversation around the jet. She'd heard Banner lamenting his change and the HYDRA agents he'd killed, but no one had said anything about the fact that she was the third-to-last person to get on the jet. Natasha had glared at her several times, but she'd focused on Clint and the massive hole in his side. At some point in the flight, Clint had reached over, weakly, and grabbed her hand.

As Clint was pulled off the quinjet to be operated on, Cassie was told to stay back. Tony grabbed her and pulled her to the lab. She stared at the scepter as Tony scanned it. "You did good. I'm impressed."

"Well, impressing you is always at the forefront of my mind, Tony."

"No, it's good. I can trust you. And by that, I mean I can convince you to go behind the backs of our teammates and take credit for your work."

Cassie laughed. "I just really wanted that scepter in Asgardian hands. Where it'll be safe. Any means necessary."

"And that had nothing to do with you being offended that Cap told you to wait in the car while the rest of us played exterminator for a giant serpent?"

"Well, that won't happen again, right? I've proven myself. I spent more time in that compound than anyone else."

"Sure," Tony said, succinctly, before continuing. "Unless the reason he wanted you to hang back was less about your capabilities and more about him worrying for your safety."

"Well, he shouldn't be worrying about me. I'm perfectly capable of-"

"What you're capable of doesn't matter. This isn't about your training or your track record. I put you in that compound because you survived a week in the Alps in a hospital gown and then blended in with a small Austrian town. You were born for this shit. Maybe not meant to be on this side of it, but... Cap's issue is not your ability to do this. This is about how upset he is on the idea of you dying without him having a chance to be modestly immodest with you."

Cassie scoffed. "I thought he got the memo. I'm not doing the dating thing. Shit's complicated enough without that mess."

"He didn't get that memo. And you know, he's the boss, really, so... we can keep sneaking behind the boss' back or..."

"If the next words out of your mouth are anything akin to 'take one for the team', I'll walk."

Tony shrugged. "I'm good with things as is."

Cassie sighed. "I'll talk to Steve. Make sure we're good. But I'm not fucking him just because I'm the first one he's wanted since he lost Agent Carter."

"No one said..."

Cassie shook her head. "I'll deal with this. You... concentrate on the scepter."

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

Cassie walked the halls of the upper levels of Stark tower, rehearsing what she would say to Steve, for forty-five minutes before she ran into him. "Hi, Steve."

"Hey. What are you doing?"

"Nothing. I've got nothing. I'm trying to not think too much. I don't wanna say I'm floundering... but I'm floundering. I mean, yeah, the scepter's safe, but Loki's still MIA, and the Avengers are about to break apart until the next time the Earth needs it's mightiest heroes and I don't know what to do with that downtime. Then, there's the awkward elephant in the room."

"You wanna know if we're okay?" Steve asked, succinctly.

"Yeah. I mean... I followed Tony's orders instead of yours. I know that was a slap in the-"

"Cassie, it's fine. I understand. I shouldn't have tried to keep you out of the fight. Never tell him I said this, but Stark was right. There was better use of your time."

She smiled. "I'm glad."

"Look, I understand how downtime can be a bit disconcerting. I know it's not Austria but I'm sure you can find something peaceful to do."

"Austria wasn't peaceful. It was mind numbing, which is what I wanted at the time. I prefer the city, though. Look, I... Pepper wants me to go back to work in the lab, but... I think that would be more boring than working a grill. Please, tell me that you have something useful for me to-"

"Actually, I don't. The only thing I have is tracking those two enhanced. Why don't you check on Barton? I think Doc's finished patching him up. After that, we'll discuss ways that we can put your skills and enhancements to good use. Even if the Avengers aren't assembled, we have use for you. Stick around. Oh, and there's the party."

"I will stick around for that. Definitely. I mean, I live right downstairs," Cassie said, walking away.

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