#in my mind hed bring it up and word it in a vague sort of way and theyd be like. what like to you? and hed go no... just like... in general

[termagax]

sighs. yk i dont think it was anything they were ever planning on but i do think they would at least have had a conversation like "do you ever think about getting married" and i wonder how that would go for them

[thatfanficstuff]

Battle Scars - Chapter Six

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

Warnings: um...nope

Enjoy!!

***

You pulled your hand from Bruce’s and curled it back into a fist. “I’ve had that scar forever. Don’t even remember how I got it now.”

He arched his brows and gave you a look that said he didn’t believe a word you were saying. “You did not have that scar yesterday. Or even today when you handed Tony his coffee. Don’t bullshit me, Y/N. I’m more observant than most people give me credit for.” He slid off his glasses and tossed them onto a nearby table before crossing his arms over his chest. His gaze never wavered from you as he waited for you to speak.

Finally, you sighed and paced away from him. “I’m not trying to bullshit you, Bruce. I just wasn’t intending on telling anyone. Not for a while, at least.”

“So, you are Tony’s soulmate then?” He dropped his arms and took a step toward you. 

Suddenly unable to speak, you nodded.

“Okay. And you’ve known since?”

“After he was missing. He was doing a press conference and I saw him on the television. Our bruises matched.”

He raked a hand through his already messy hair and huffed out a breath. “And you haven’t told him?”

“What do you think, Bruce?”

“All right, all right.” He gestured toward one of the chairs at his small kitchen table. You sat and he took the one across from you. “Are you planning to tell him?”

You debated for a moment whether to even the continue the conversation before deciding it was too much of a relief to have someone to talk to for you to stop now. If things got back to Tony, you’d just have to deal with it then. “That was my intention when I came here. I tried to get through to him by phone and I couldn’t so I just showed up. They assumed I was here for a job interview and here we are.”

“I don’t suppose you mentioned you were his soulmate when you tried to call?” he asked.

“It’s not like anyone would have believed me if I had. Besides, that’s the kind of news you need to deliver yourself don’t you think?” You leaned back in your seat.

He ran his fingers across the surface of the table as he thought. “All of that aside, why haven’t you told him since then? You’ve had time. He’s been looking for you for a long time.”

Hearing that Tony had wanted to find you made your heart a little lighter. It also made you feel a little guilty. “He has a girlfriend, Bruce. I’m not going to be what breaks them up.”

“Who? Pepper?”

You nodded.

He grimaced. “She’s not really his girlfriend.”

You pursed your lips thinking over everything you had seen the last few weeks. “Are they dating?”

He tilted his head from side to side. “Well, I mean, technically—”

You held up a hand to cut him off. “Technically is enough of a relationship for me. I’ll tell him when the time is right. This isn’t it.”

“How do you know that it isn’t? I won’t tell him if you don’t want me to, but you should. And the sooner the better.”

“That’s enough. I’m not going to let him drop his entire life because of me. That’s not fair to him, Bruce.”

“You dropped yours to come here for him. Shouldn’t he get the same choice?”

***

It took a while before you were convinced that Bruce wouldn’t spill your secret. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to tell Tony. You would love nothing more than to be with him but you didn’t want him to pick you just because you were his soulmate. You wanted him to get to know you as a person first and a soulmate second. Things like that took time.

You were still deep in thought when you left Bruce’s room to head back to your floor.

“Everything sorted?”

The unexpected voice startled you and you found yourself staring at Tony with wide eyes. “Huh?” Well, that was eloquent, Y/N.

Tony straightened from where he’d been leaning in the doorway of the lab. You wondered briefly how long he’d been standing there. His gaze darted past you to Bruce’s door before settling back on you. “Did you get Bruce squared away?”

“Yeah,” you answered feeling moderately guilty for misleading him. “It’s all good.”

He stepped forward as his tongue darted out to moisten his lips. “What did he need anyway? You two were in there for a while.”

You lifted one brow. “We got busy talking. You know how it is.”

He hummed in what you assumed was agreement. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it.” With that he turned and went back into the lab.

You stood there for a moment trying to process the strange scene you’d just been part of until your phone rang. “Hello,” you answered without paying attention to who was calling.

“We need to talk,” came Fury’s deep voice and you instantly forgot about anything else. Why was the director of SHIELD calling you?

***

As soon as you were off the phone with the director, you spent the next two hours making calls, placing orders and issuing instructions. Once you were certain everything you needed done would be completed by morning, you called a meeting in the Avengers conference room.

As the team shuffled in, they fell quiet as they found you waiting for them. Tony and Bruce were the last two to file in. Tony scowled as his gaze fell on you. “I thought this was a team meeting. What are you doing here, hot stuff?”

You arched a brow at the nickname. “It is a team meeting, Tony. Fury thought I could handle this one.”

Steve’s brows shot up. “Would you mind repeating that?”

“Just sit down,” you instructed the science bros. “It’s not that kind of meeting.” You passed a thin folder to everyone at the table. “Fury is expanding the team.”

“Sam Wilson, the Maximoff twins, and James Barnes have all been approved on a probationary basis.” From the corner of your eye you saw Steve sit straighter in his chair as a grin curled his lips. “Sam will maintain his own residence. The twins will be on the floor below Nat and Clint and Bucky will be on your floor, Steve.”

Not everyone looked particularly thrilled with the news you were giving them. “The information in the folders includes what they are required to do to maintain their status on the team. Steve, Bucky requires daily therapy for the time being, would you prefer I bring someone in?”

“Yes, please,” he responded with no hesitation.

You shifted your attention to Tony who just frowned at the folder in front of him. “Tony.” You’d said his name softly but it was enough to get his attention. He looked up with wide eyes.

“Yeah?”

“The twins need therapy, too. Three times a week. And then there are the after mission sessions. Should I see about getting one on staff?”

Natasha huffed a laugh. “I’m surprised Fury didn’t offer to move one in.”

You smiled at that. “Oh, he did. I didn’t think any of you would care for a SHIELD shrink when we can hire our own. Then you don’t have to worry about them reporting back to anyone.”

“See. This is why I like her,” Clint piped up. “Always thinking.”

Tony’s lips twitched for a second before he gave in and smiled. “Hire us a shrink, sweetheart.”

***

With Jarvis’ help it didn’t take you long at all to find the perfect candidate and he was quickly hired. Anxious to share the news with Tony you were talking before he could even acknowledge your presence in the lab. You read off the man’s qualifications and talked about his references and then realized Tony wasn’t commenting on anything you said.

You looked up from you tablet to find him smiling as he looked between the device in his hand and you. It was easy to see that you amused him. Your face heated. “Sorry, I ramble when I get excited.”

“I look forward to exploring that trait of yours in more detail later, but why are you so excited about hiring a team therapist? Or should I not ask? Is he handsome? Are you impressed by the size of his PHD?”

You blinked as your brain tried to catch up with your soulmate’s teasing. He was certainly in a flirtatious mood. As you looked him over, you realized that he had stripped down to a white tank. And coming from beneath it was a bright blue glow. “Um, Tony?”

“Yeah, Y/N?”

You gestured vaguely in his direction. “You’re glowing.” You tore your gaze from his chest to meet his eyes.

His brow furrowed and he glanced down. “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed before. It keeps me alive. Keeps shrapnel from going into my heart.”

That made your chest hurt. What if he wasn’t a genius? Would he already be dead? You sat your tablet down on the table and stepped around until you stood next to Tony, his eyes following you. “Can I see?”

He tilted his head and studied you for a long moment and you wondered what he was thinking. Finally, he emptied his hands and turned on his stool so he was facing you. In one swift movement, he took his tank off and tossed it on the table beside him. “Look all you want, sweetheart.”

You closed the small distance remaining between the two of you, your eyes glued to the device in his chest. No wonder your scar had never faded. This thing had to be inserted inside of him. It was a permanent wound. You reached your hand out to touch it before you caught yourself. “Sorry,” you said, snatching your fingers back just before you actually made contact.

Tony’s warm hand wrapped around yours and he tugged you closer. Your heart raced and you sucked in a deep breath as he laid your hand against his chest. He kept his over the top of it. “It’s called an arc reactor,” he explained. “It not only keeps me breathing, it powers the suit.”

You glanced up at the sound of his voice and swallowed past the lump in your throat as you realized just how close you were to him. “Does it hurt?”

He shrugged. “Hurt like hell at the time. Now, not so much.” His thumb rubbed against the hand he was holding making a tremor shoot through you.

You reached your other hand up and traced one of the many scars that decorated his skin. He hissed in a breath. Your first instinct was to apologize but you resisted the urge and looked up to meet Tony’s gaze. His eyes studied your face as the corner of his mouth kicked up in a grin. “If you’re planning on checking out all my scars, it’s going to take a while. Not that I mind. I just think you should be prepared.”

The two of you leaned toward each other and your eyelids closed as you prepared for the kiss.

“Ms. Potts is requesting that you meet her in your apartment, Mr. Stark.” Jarvis’ voice cut through the silence in the room and you took a giant step away from Tony as you were reminded of his girlfriend.

Your face was warm and you suddenly found yourself unable to meet his gaze.

“Thank you, Jarvis. Impeccable timing,” Tony bit out.

“Of course, sir.”

You couldn’t keep yourself from glancing up. Tony gave you a smile as he put his shirt back on. His eyes stayed locked on yours as he gave instructions to the AI. “Tell Pepper I’ll meet her in her office.”

He stepped toward you, stopping when you took a step back to maintain the distance. He held up his hands and leaned against the table behind him so you knew he was giving you the space you needed right now. “Pepper is not my girlfriend.”

You bit your lip. “It’s not really my business.”

“I think it is.”

You glanced down briefly before looking back up. “Then does she know she’s not your girlfriend? Because I’m not so sure she does.”

His dark eyes studied you but he said nothing.

You cleared your throat and gestured toward the door. “I should go.”

He nodded once. “Just remember, sweetheart, we’re not even close to done here.”

Battle Scars: @i-dontwikeit @thevanishedillusion @amandamartinez3568 @clumsy-hailles @little-nonny @tonystarkismyboy @redfoxwritesstuff @lowkeyofsassguard @sherlocked-whovian-1969 @tori24rose @a--1--1--3 @youclickedthislink @beckastark @confusedhada @nuggeteater-dot-com @bluehuskey2099 @kit-kat-katie99 @sexysamsungl @staringmoony

All the Things: @swanky-batman @rissyrapp20 @startrekkingaroundasgard @spooookyscary @taylordrunkonwhiskey @thewolf-and-thesheep @laneygthememequeen @collette04 @shatteredabby 

[skepsys]

Hi, nice ask headline! Aand even finer gallery might I add. My favourite is your oc assassin pair Saint and Maverick, you have really picked my interest with them. I'm pretty curious about their history (their origins, how they met, their dynamics, relationship). If you have a detailed story about them and you are willing to share, would you treat us with it? :)

thank you i had to make my askbox title that when i said an anime character was transgender and some people went rabid and dumped radioactive waste into my inbox for like 3 days straight for some reason 

(ALSO TY FOR THE KIND WORDS!!!)

im gonna link THIS ASK i answered a while ago cause tbh its still pretty accurate despite being 2 months old!! shocking since i have a chronic habit of retconing and rewriting stuff ALLL the damn time

THEIR INDIVIDUAL ORIGINS IS SOMETHING I HAVENT TALKED ABT THO I JUST REALIZED.....! besides vague stuff on toyhouse, preemptive readmore because i can and will go off the shits when asked abt my ocs

SAINT was originally part of a project called Titan which had the goal of creating EXTREMELY high-efficiency, cutting edge combat AI.  Titan was built out of the failure of a different project called Attica which was supposed to be an advanced learning medical AI to be installed in poorer and more dangerous districts across Novus (the city-world the story takes place on).  Attica went under from lack of funding and it was found by the project’s overseers that a combat AI would be more profitable, so.  yeah, Titan.  

over the course of a year after gaining proper consciousness, SAINT observed and learned a lot from his creators, even more than they really though he was.  ultimately, he decided that he didn’t want to be a tool, nor did he want to be mass-produced; it didnt help that he also learned, through his snooping, that he himself was probably gonna be disassembled/deleted once Titan was properly market-ready, since he was deemed to be a little TOO smart and observant.  the copies made to be sold would be dumbed down a bit, and hed just be done away with.  

SOOOO he goes rogue, kills everyone working on the project, destroys all the copies of Titan that he can find, pretty much everything else relating that he can find in the facility where he was created just so that theres NO chance of any pieces of Titan being recovered. he then steals a protoype body from a neighboring project, called a Black-Sabre, and escapes out into the world.  takes up the name SAINT, modifies his new body extensively to try and avoid any possibility of being recognized, eventually picks up the assassin thing bc...well, despite everything he IS still a combat AI and its what he know how to do.  

and Maverick..... oo boy . growing up hes a pretty normal kid, pretty rowdy, but yknow, thats normal.  he’s got his older sister, Jamie, and two parents who are scientists, his father being into hydroponics and biology, and his mother being a mechanical engineer.  stuff is good.  UNTILLLL his parents “disappear” and their research is “misplaced”.  Maverick and Jamie are left with pretty much nothing in the wake of everything bc somehow, everyone they go to to try and get any help or justice or ANYTHING shuts them out.  

theyre forced to stick it out with what little they can scrounge up on their own.  when hes about 16-17, however, Maverick has decided hes had ENOUGH; he wants answers, he wants revenge, he wants reparations, everything.  though its tough at first bc hes just some punk who doesnt know exactly what hes doing, hes still extremely smart and he gets an in with lots of different, less than savory groups and people, all for the sake of finding answers.  he knows at this point he cant go through official channels or rely on proper authorities to help him, so he does what he has to.

this leads him to two paths: augmenting his mind and body to perform all these things hes doing that much better, and becoming an assassin.  turns out hes pretty good at it even without augments, with a natural talent for stealth and subterfuge, and the more heavily augmented he becomes, he just gets better and better.  

it takes a few very frustrating years before he starts to get any proper leads, but once he does, he sticks to it like nothing else, and by the current point of the story, he’s already finished up and got his ‘revenge’.  he learns that his parents arent just ‘disappeared’ but they were killed, which he already knew in a way but finding it out for sure it.  oof.  he learns it was so hard to even GET here bc the people responsible has a lot of money to throw around to block any official investigations and destroy any evidence.  everyone responsible is dead now tho so he takes like...a modicum of solace in that, but mostly he just bottles it up tightly and throws it to the back of his skull (uh oh, classic smarmy confident dickhead act covering up the trauma and how terrified he is of losing ppl he cares about AGAIN....almost like thats also why hell so gladly almost get himself killed just to help ppl he likes)

Maverick keeps on with the assassin thing after the fact just cuz hes good at it and hes long since learned that sometimes you gotta take things into your own hands, and some people are better off ham-stringed if not dead before they can bring harm to all sorts of innocents

i detailed how they met in that ask i linked but also worth mentioning it think is that a lot of the story honestly is about how SAINT is acclimating to being a person.  its not exactly a “robot identity crisis” type thing but like, he took his freedom, his sentience into his own hands and he doesnt know what exactly to do with it.  its a lot of his grappling with “life is meaningless, i was created for no purpose other than to destroy, why did i even do this?”.  eventually he learns that YEA life is meaningless but that just means its yours to do what you want with.  you can do what you want, for better or worse, which is very scary! with no outlines or instructions theres a very wide margin for mistakes, but thats just what makes succeeding that much more fulfilling; even more so if you open yourself up to people that you care about and who care about you.  

in a way SAINT kind of starts to look up to Maverick because he’s just living his life and doing what he wants, no holds barred, unapologetically.  he follows his own code of morals and justice and doesnt let what other people tell him what he should or shouldnt be bother him.  this sort of admiration? i guess? just gets turned up to 11 when Maverick nearly kills himself trying to save him.  he believed so strongly that despite, quote, “being a pain in the ass,” SAINT didn’t deserve to be dissected and tortured, that he put his own life on the line to get him free, even though to that point theyd done little more than insult and try to kill each other... needless to say SAINT is vry confused for a vry long time lmao