#magically bonded to both Loki and Bucky as her brothers

[firedrakegirl]

Angst warning:

Curse of the statue

I had been sitting for longer than i could remember. Eons had passed. My brothers would move me when they were still alive, or let me tag along in their minds. I had been cursed to be a statue for eternity, a fate I had welcomed in exchange for the lives of those I had cared about. Sadly, those people had long since died, even the gods. I could still feel the ache in my soul where my brother’s lives had once been. Bucky had died first, of course. He was a mortal, after all. Loki had brought me to the funeral, setting me next to his grave. I stayed there for over a century, watching over my brother’s remains.

Eventually, Loki collected me and moved me to Asgard, to his mother’s gardens. I could hear far happier things there, and Loki’s whole family would visit regularly. He and Sif had twin girls, and the day after they were born, I felt them in my stone arms as Loki introduced us. I loved them more than anything without even seeing them. I heard them grow up, felt them decorate my unmoving form with flowers. I listened to their woes as they grew.

I also heard Loki grow. He became king of Asgard eventually, after Thor was killed in battle. Though Thor had a child of his own, Loki was his heir, and Loki honored that. The god of mischief was a good king, though the kingdom didn’t always appreciate the pranks. And Loki got older. As a frost giant, he had a much longer lifespan than even the Aesir. He eventually passed the throne to Thor’s grandchild, who became known as the kind king.

Loki and I were the only ones left, and he took my statue with him as he explored beyond the nine realms. But he was getting older and slower. Eventually, he could no longer keep exploring, so we returned to Asgard. One day, laid in my lap for a nap, and just didn’t wake again.

With him went my heart. There was no one left who truly knew who I was. I was the statue that the old king would talk to but nothing more. Eventually I was moved from my place in the gardens to a storeroom.

[braveclementine]

Epilogue

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own a few OCs like Elizabeth, Katherine, Stacy, and Jessie. I do not condone any copying of this.

Optional Read: Some parts of this are going to be sad and might spoil the happy ending I had before. This doesn't really offer any plot and you won't miss anything if you simply end reading at the last chapter.

Also, in case you're concerned about the number of kids: It's over a course of over one thousand and more years so don't worry, the kids are pretty well spread out. 

You've been warned

Trigger warnings: Death

Your kids names by the time you died:

~ Lucy Sarah Marvel- Bucky

~Vincent Jack Marvel- Fury

~Marcel Yomaya Marvel- T'Challa

~James Rupert Marvel- Rhodey

~Temperance Hope Marvel- Tony

~Lloyd Heimdell Marvel- Thor

~Vera Shuri Marvel- T'Challa

~Rán Elizabeth Lokidottir- Loki

~Kiara Donna- Stephen

~Zia Maria Marvel- Fury

~Elijah Kai Marvel- Tony

~Arlo James Marvel- Steve

~Jörd Odinson- Thor

~Janelle Ruth Marvel- Bucky

~Nya Isabel Marvel- Clint

~Laura Rue Marvel- Clint

~Frederick Remus Marvel- Sam

~George Sirius Marvel- Sam

~Angela Natasha Marvel- Clint

~Cole Edward Marvel- Stephen

~Freyja Lokidottir- Loki

~Sebastian Paul Marvel- Bucky

~Claude John Marvel- Steve

~Kisa Wanda Marvel- Sam

~Cebisa Gugu Marvel- T'Challa

~Clementine Y/N Marvel- Tony

~Wendell Nick Marvel- Fury

~Damon Skye Marvel- Bucky

~Edward Jarvis Marvel- Tony

Order of which you died:

1. Rhodey: A year and a half after bonding ceremony Last thing he said to you: You didn't have to help me clean up, but thank you hot mama.

2. Clint: Twenty-seven years after bonding ceremony Last thing he said to you: Kind've ironic it's Cancer that's killing me, isn't it? Anyways, don't be sad birdie. I'll see you on the other side.

3. T'Challa: one hundred and forty-seven years after bonding ceremony Last thing he said to you: I'm just going to go and show Cebisa the boundary lines. She's the newest little royal so she's got to know her own country. I'll see you when we get back, my Nkosazana.

4. Sam: Two hundred and sixty-three years after bonding ceremony Last thing he said to you: Don't worry, the mission will be a breeze. I'll be back in time for Kisa's birthday, you know I wouldn't miss that for the world babe. Just keep a hold of that good luck charm I gave you for Christmas. Oh, and don't forget to take care of my boys, alright?

5. Thor: One thousand, one hundred, and thirty-seven years after bonding ceremony. Last thing he said to you: Don't cry my princesse. I'll be waiting in Vahalla for you.

6. Fury: One thousand, one hundred, and fifty-eight years after bonding ceremony. Last thing he said to you: It was just my time babydoll. I'm not a stupid man. But with all this magic in the world, it can't be possible that we won't see each other again in the afterlife. Besides, now I get to see my sons again.

7. Loki: One thousand, nine hundred, and eight-four years after bonding ceremony. Last thing he said to you: Honestly my Queen? I think this is the first time I've beaten my brother in a competition. I can't wait to gloat in his face. Save those tears pet. You don't need to cry over me. I want the last thing I see of you to be your smile.

8. You: Two thousand, fifty-four years after bonding ceremony. Last words to Steve and Bucky: I love you both so much, I hope you both know that. I'll tell Sam you guys said hi, okay? Last words to Tony: You know, finding out the Avengers were my soulmates was the scariest thing in the world. But I wouldn't have changed a damn thing. I love you Tony. Last words to Stephen: Please don't cry Stephen. We got so much more time together than anyone else ever will. I only want you to remember the good times, okay?

9. Bucky: Two thousand, two hundred, twenty-four years after bonding ceremony Last words to Steve: Here's the end of the line pal. Don't blame yourself, I'll haunt you from the other side. I love you baby.

10. Steve: Two thousand, two hundred, tweyty-five years after bonding ceremony Last words to Stephen and Tony: I can't do it anymore. I can't live without them. Guess you're the last two left. I'm sorry

11. Tony: Two thousand, three hundred, and five years after bonding ceremony Last words to Stephen: I know you're sad, but don't be. I'm actually kind've excited to see all of them again. We're all going to be a huge, happy family once more. Just don't join me to soon. Do all the things you wanted to do first, okay? Promise me that.

12. Stephen: Two thousand, three hundred, and ten years after bonding ceremony There was no one to say his last words to: I'm coming home

When you all meet again

You woke up in a dazzling field of purple flowers. You sat up slowly, breathing in the fresh air. The field was completely empty and you got to your feet. Looking around carefully, you confirmed that you were alone.

Your feet seemed to move of their own accord, as though a magnetic pull was leading you across this field.

Your feet made almost no noise as you walked across this path, you and you noticed that you weren't wearing any shoes. Your feet felt the grass prickling and tickling underneath your feet.

At the edge of the field, the forest opened up to show a single house down in a valley.

It was huge, stretching from side to side, extending far back. It had a whole farm with animals and fruits trees and vegetable plants. The sun shone down brightly on the entirety. A stream of water cut through the back end of the forest, a smaller, though good sized cottage sat there.

Kids played all out on the front lawn, before looking up at you. They were all around the age of ten to fourteen.

"Moms home!" Vincent shouted. "Look, moms home!"

The kids ran up the slope towards you, while you ran down the slope towards them. You had missed them so badly. They had died so early as they hadn't been passed along the immortality gene- unless they were Thor and Loki's children.

"I knew I felt something." A long time hearing, but hugely familiar voice said.

Your eyes pricked with tears, spinning to see Rhodey there.

"James!" You said, tears streaming down your face, throwing yourself into his arms. He kissed the top of your head.

"Hey there sweet mama." He grinned.

"Y/N!" Thor laughed, sweeping through to pull you into a huge hug. Loki, T'Challa, Fury, Clint, and Sam followed behind quickly.

"Steve and Bucky love you." You murmured as Sam gave you the last hug.

"I miss them." Sam mumbled.

"They miss you too." you whispered, cupping his face, before kissing him.

"Hey, we have one last person." Clint said, pointing. "Well I mean, you know, one more group."

You grinned, running over and pulling Elizabeth into a hug. "Oh my God I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too." Elizabeth said with a watery smile. "Thank you so much for everything. For taking care of Minerva and protecting her. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." You murmured. "Where is Minerva anyways?"

"She's with Hogun." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Good. I'm glad that he's here with you." You said softly.

Elizabeth's smiled was sad now. "I did get scared, when he killed himself. And I was angry at first, wanting him to stay for her, but I was glad for the company. Rhodey didn't show up until a little later."

"Is this. . . Heaven?" You asked.

Elizabeth paused and looked around. "Hmm, I don't really know. From what we've explored, it just seems like another world except. . . it's. . . brighter. It's happier. Although you can't have kids in this world. If you could, Hogun and I would have a thousand."

You giggled. "I'm glad that we're all here."

"As one family." Elizabeth finished.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

***

You woke up, feeling a tingly feeling in your stomach.

You quickly made your way out of the house, watching as Bucky walked over to the edge of the cliff. You sprinted up it, leaping into his arms. He hugged you tightly before laying kisses all over your face.

"I missed you doll."

"I missed you too Teddy bear." You mumbled.

You noticed that his metal arm was gone, a real flesh arm in place of it. You didn't feel disappointment this time. Here, you were all in your pure forms.

"Bucky!" Sam's voice was ecstatic behind you. The two of them collided in a fierce hug, teeth and tongue clashing as they tried to get as close as possible to each other. You were almost certain that they would rip each others' clothes off each other right then and there.

Now, you were only waiting on three more.

***

You were already with Sam and Bucky when the tingly feeling happened again, a year or so later. The three of you had been walking along the forest line and you raced back to the house.

"It's Steve, I can just feel it." Bucky panted. "I can feel him."

When you reached the top of the hill, you found that Bucky was correct, but both you and Sam did a double take.

While Bucky barreled in Steve's arms, you and Sam looked at his new body. He was about the same height as Bucky, instead of a few inches taller. He wasn't as muscular in the shoulders, more lean and thin. He didn't look sickly or scrawny, but he wasn't the wall of muscles that you had known.

"I know." Steve said, sounding almost apologetic as Bucky finally let him up off the grass. "It's different, isn't it? I've almost forgotten what Bucky looks like with a metal arm."

You sobbed, leaping into his arms. "Stevie you're home!"

"Yeah cookie, I'm home."

"Stevie." Sam mumbled, hugging him tightly, crying as well.

"Aww baby." Steve cooed, wrapping the both of us tightly in his arms. "Don't cry, everything's okay."

***

When Tony came, he came like everything was normal. His hands were in his pockets and he simply strolled along, not even pausing at the crest of the hill before sauntering down the hill like he owned the place. The only difference was there was no glowing arc reactor in his chest.

"Well don't you look a day over two thousand." He grinned, winking at you.

You giggled. "What a flirt."

"Guess I've still got it." He said, pulling you into a hug. "Fuck I missed you."

"I missed you too." you mumbled into his chest. "How's Stephen?"

"He's okay. He's grieving. I told him not to follow to soon after me. I didn't want him to kill himself like Steve did." Tony whispered. "But I'm afraid he will."

"Well, being in love for two thousand plus years is probably equivalent to when couples die a few months apart when they've been married for fifty plus years." You amended, "You know, the normal couples."

Tony chuckled. "Yes, but I do feel bad for the pain he's going through. I hope this gets easier."

"Once Stephen joins us, we're complete." You whispered. "There's no death in this world. You know I actually got to meet George Washington?"

"That's fascinating. I should call up Albert Einstein and Newton." Tony said, growing excited.

You giggled, "Call them up hmm?"

"Can we invent in this world? Gosh this is fascinating. Hmm, I wonder if the other world was a world for the dead as well, we just don't remember our previous lives. Wow, I wonder. . ." He immediately went off on a tangent that you quickly got lost in.

But that made everything feel like normal.

***

You and Tony were the ones to greet Stephen as he came striding out of the field. His hands were uncovered, and you noticed all of his scars were gone. He too was changed.

Part of you hated the changes. You hated that Bucky no longer had a metal arm. You hated that Steve wasn't the same. You hated the missing glow from Tony's chest. You hated Stephen's missing scars.

But this was the place for change. This was the new yous and the old yous put together. This was your new home.

"Stephen." A smile spread across your face in seconds, wrapping your arms around him. "Welcome home."

"Welcome home." Tony said, kissing Stephen passionately on his lips. "Did you do what I asked you to?"

"I did." Stephen nodded, wrapping one arm around you, holding Tony's hand.

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

"Every minute." Stephen promised and the three of you walked up to the house. "First I went parasailing. . ."

No, it wasn't actually perfect.

But that was what made it home.

~The End~ For Real This Time

[loveaurdeepression]

The Avenger and the Crow-3

A/n:- here’s chapter 3 <3

also, guys, if you want to request some kaz brekker fics. please do! 

Taglist- @aleksanderwh0r3 @cleverzonkwombatsludge @dark-night-sky-99 @nightlovesyou @fangirl-with-a-shippers-heart  @kazscrow​ @mrs-brekker15​ 

“ One week, It’s been ONE WEEk since they’ve disappeared, and the only piece of information we have is that it has something to do with the damned tesseract! I told you it was too early to send her, she was barely out of the infirmary and she had to go back to the people who ruined her life.” Tony downs another cup of his redbull+coffee.

“ Yeah, well we can’t stop. We know the Tesseract is the reason they’re missing, is there any CCTV footage of what happened? We can break into the base again. It won’t be easy, but we have to.” Steve replies.

“ There most likely will be, if you and Romanoff can get to the base, she’ll be able to access the CCTV footage, and possibly check for other information, just incase they haven’t been zapped by the Tesseract and are actually hostages somewhere else.” Tony explains.

Nodding, Steve pats Tony’s back, “ We’re all worried about her, Loki can take care of himself and her. But after what Hydra did to her, her mind isn’t the most stable. I agree with you, it wasn’t the best decision to send her after only a few weeks. That’s why we sent Loki with her, she only trusts him and Bucky. They know what it’s like to have your mind taken control of. She’ll be fine, wherever she is”

“ I know Rogers, poor Y/n, she’s probably out there, floating in nothingness, we have to get her back, and Loki too.

“ We will Tony.”

~~~

“ I still can’t over how you stop a bullet in mid-air.” Inej said.

“ Thanks Inej, I still can’t get over the fact that you and Kaz don’t like each other, I mean, you’d be so cute together!” you reply

It had been one week since you and Loki had crashed into the Slat. Kaz offered free rooms and food in exchange for helping the Dregs. Happily obliging, you and Loki started spending more time in his office. Planning was your specialty. Tony loved having you around because you would always see things from a different perspective, so you’d help with planning the missions. You did the same here.

Kaz was surprised to find himself impressed.

The Crows loved you and Loki. It was common to see Loki and Jesper flirt shamelessly, the same way it had become common for you to flirt innocently with Kaz. Just to annoy him of course. No other reason

You explained the entirety of the Six of Crows to them leaving out the major spoilers, there’s no chapter 40. or exposing feelings or backstories. You respect their privacy.

Loki started teaching Nina  magic, letting her feel his powers flow through him, allowing some of it to be transported into her system. She was a good student and they became fast friends.

You on the other hand, were closer to Inej and Wylan. Inej reminded you of a friend you had back home, Arrow. She was calm and cool and always made you feel comfortable. Wylan took a little time to open up, but the both of you bonded of your love of creating things.

Matthias was closer to you then he was to Loki, you thought it because he was jealous of your best friend. Matthias the tulip with trust issues.

Kaz was just..there, the only time he acknowledged you over something that wasn’t work related, was when he nodded in reply to your good mornings, or when he rolled his eyes every time you made a flirty comment. 

What you didn’t notice was how his face turned a shade deeper whenever you complimented or flirted with him.

You and Loki had spent the past week studying the map of Ketterdam, working out good escape routes and helping Kaz plan the next heist. He needed Loki’s abilities and your skills.

You were trained by Hydra to be a spy since you were 13. They called you the Terror. Now at 20, you could say you were as good as the Black Widow, the only person she didn’t dare to fight. 

Bucky and you bonded over your shared life experience and he soon became your onofficial brother, while you were the one who approached Loki when he came to the tower. He opened up to you because he saw how you genuinely cared about his well being and he wasn’t used to being treated so well. 

These two special people helped you through the darkest times of your life. You owed your life to them.

~~

“ Guys, come to my office after breakfast. We’re pulling off a heist tomorrow night and I have to brief all of you about it.” Kaz announced one evening, bracing himself for the painful flights of steps up to his office.

“ Yes Boss.” you all said in unison.

You and Loki looked at each other, excited grins on your faces.

“ This is going to be fun.” you tell him.

~~

“ Okay, I have scheduled this meeting to brief you and Steve about the mission we’ll be having tomorrow night. We’re getting our sunshine back” Tony announced.

“ For our sunshine.” Bucky murmured.

[make-me-imagine]

Red Roses: “I Love You” - Wanda Maximoff Ending

Valentines Special: Day Nine

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

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

Pairing: Gen!Neutral Reader x Wanda Maximoff

Triggers: None        Words: 1,503

Requested Taglist: @aquariuslavenderhoney​, @thebookbakery​, @fablesrose​, @kitkatd7​, @thefallenbibliophilequote​, @beksib​, @destynelseclipsa​, @criminaly-supernatural​, @tammythompson-singslikea-muppet, @belloangelus​, @snarky--starky​, @saintbootlegloras​, @wecallhimbrowneyess​, @empath-bunny​, @okkulta​, @katinthemoon,  @ravennight41​, @youcancallme-rae , @radhumandragonclam, @unfortunateidiotinadilemma, @past3l-w1ngs ,  @goinggoinggonzo, @mxxnmocha,  @theofficialzivadavid​,  @lilix1989, @normanijauregui, @euphouriaszn2, @slut-for-nat , @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all (still couldn’t tag, sorry) , @supersourlemon13, @messhup

February 14th

You woke up late in the morning, having had a restless nights sleep most of the night. As you groggily opened up your eyes and stretched, you turned to look at your clock, seeing it was nearly 11am. You sighed before grabbing your phone, seeing a missed text from Steve a few hours prior asking if you wanted to go for a run with him and Bucky. Replying with an apology and that you slept in, you rolled back over, your eyes landing on the daffodils on the table. 

Remembering that you had woken up lying at the end of your bed before crawling back in, you reached over on your desk and grabbed the note you had set their last night. You read over it again before “New beginnings” you mumble to yourself before sighing and sitting up.

Eventually, you had gotten out of bed, brushed your teeth and got dressed before wondering out of your room, planning on going on a walk. You just wanted to get out of the tower honestly. You needed to think things over again. 

You managed to leave the tower without running into any of the others before you began wandering towards a nearby park, headphones in and favorite music playing. You began to think of the possibilities again. Over the last week, you found yourself watching the others more closely. The way Natasha and Bruce had been acting around each other, you figured it was neither of them leaving you the notes. And you doubted it was Tony or Clint, and it certainly wasn’t Loki. 

So that leaves Steve, Bucky, Vision, Thor and Wanda. Steve and Bucky had always been kind to you, you were definitely close to both of them. The more you thought about them, the less you could see yourself in a relationship with them. And Vision was nearly impossible to figure out entirely.

And then there was Wanda. Ever since you met her and Pietro in your fight against Ultron, you had a bond. She felt comfortable around you, and you had never been afraid of her. You made sure she knew she wasn’t alone, and helped her mourn her brother. You spent a lot of your time together, and you had recently become more confused about your feelings towards her.

You liked her much more than you did anyone else. If you were a teenager, you’d call it a crush. But could she ever feel the same for you? Just like Vision, she was good at hiding her emotions. And you were, you think, very good at hiding how you felt. And you trusted her to never use her abilities on you without your permission anyways, she had made a promise to you as well, though you did not ask her too. It was her own way of expressing you could trust her. 

Sitting down on a bench and staring out at the park, and the people wandering around, you thought more about Wanda and the way she was around you. Thinking of all the small interactions, some of which could be seen as a bit more intimate than others. You began to feel a small sense of hope towards who would admit their feelings to you tonight. 

- - -

You had spent most of your day wandering around the city before heading back to the tower a few hours before the party would begin. You had been avoiding talking to the others, rarely texting them throughout the day. So when you arrived back at the tower, you were not really surprised when Natasha and Clint found you before you made it all the way to your room. 

“Is something up? You don’t usually avoid us this much.” Natasha began as you were stopped in the hallway before the elevator. 

You sighed as you leaned against the wall “I’ve just been preoccupied, I’m fine I promise.” 

“This is about the flowers isn’t it?” Clint asked.

You nodded and Natasha smiled apologetically “Y/n, you really don’t need to be so concerned, I’m sure that if you really can’t see yourself being with whoever it is, they’ll understand. We are all way to close to hold that type of grudge, or let something like this stand between us.” 

“You haven’t read the notes Nat. There’s much more at stake than you understand. But, I do hope you’re right.” you said with a sense of unease. 

After they tried to console you a bit more, you left to go back to your room. Taking a long shower, and slowly getting ready, you sat around distracting yourself before the party. You had gone back and forth in your mind, part of you trying to convince yourself to not go down at all. Maybe they would come find you if they really wanted. But eventually deciding against this, you convinced yourself to go up to the party. 

The party was crowded and loud, made up of a cacophony of laughter, conversation, and music. You spent a while hanging out with Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Wanda before you snuck off when you all joined the others and groups of guests. 

You thought you had not been noticed, when you found a quiet separate room, closed off from guests. You had begun to feel a bit overwhelmed and needed to take a breather away from everyone. Staring out of the large window out at the bright city, as you began to relax.

Hearing the door creak open, you looked over to see Wanda peak her head in. Her eyes meeting yours as she gave you a cautious smile “Are you alright? I saw you sneak off.”

You smiled politely at her, with little emotion “I’m okay, just started to feel a bit overwhelmed.” 

“So, is this a bad time?” 

“For what?” you asked with a questioning face. 

Stepping fully into the room, she lifted up a small bouquet of red roses “To give you these?” she asked cautiously, cocking her head sideways slightly as she watched you. 

Your eyes whipped back and fourth from the roses to Wanda before you found your voice again “Uh, wh- did...uh, did someone give you those to give to me...Or..?” 

She smiled as she began walking towards you “No one gave them to me.”

You met her eyes “Then...you?” 

She nodded her head once “Yes. Me.” she smiled. Walking the rest of the way up to you she handed you the flowers, which you took cautiously as you looked between them and Wanda.  

“I....” you chuckled at your own speechlessness “I just...really thought that you uh, I mean, I thought I was the only one...”

Her smile widened at your stuttering admission before she reached out and placed her hands over yours sending a sense of ease over you. “I didn’t really mean too. But, a few weeks ago, I was feeling, overwhelmed myself, about how I found my feelings changing for you. And one day, when we were together, I couldn’t help but...search a bit, just to see.” she looked at you with guilt on her face “I’m sorry, I know I promised I wouldn’t-”

“It’s alright Wanda” you cut her off, assuring her “That actually makes it a lot easier” you chuckled, which made her smile with relief and amusement. “So, that whole, scavenger hunt you joked about a while ago, to find who was leaving the flowers was just a ploy to distract me from thinking it was you?”

She cocked her head to the side with a smile “Maybe.”

You realized that this now made sense, that day when you found no one in the hallway when you heard them, she had used her magic. “Did anybody else know?” you asked curiously. 

She shook her head “I mean, both Tony and Steve knew about how I felt about you, so maybe they figured it was me. But I never told anyone. But I did hear Bucky mentioning something to Steve about you..pressing the flowers?” her smile widened “Did you really?” 

You felt heat rise up the back of you neck as you smiled “Maybe.” 

She laughed before she took another step closer, pressing her forehead against yours as she stared into your eyes, “I’m very glad that you liked the flowers so much, and I hope you are alright with the things that I said.” 

“I’m more than alright with them Wanda. I loved them. And I...” you hesitated, wondering if you should say what you were truly feeling. But maybe it was too soon? Though, the roses. They were the first flowers you had received that you already knew the meaning of. So, was this Wanda’s own way of confessing...of telling you?

“I know.” she said “Me too.” she replied, answering your unspoken question.

You smiled widely at each other before leaning in together and meeting in a kiss. A feeling of ease and happiness ran through you as your mind was silenced. There was no more anxiety or busy thoughts, just peace, acceptance, and happiness. 

xx xx xx xx xx

This is the last ending being posted for this event. So I hope you all liked them!!

If you did like this, please consider reblogging it, and maybe check out the other endings as well!~

[swan-of-sunrise]

Spellbinding (Chapter Fourteen)

Summary: While dealing with a surprising new development in their relationship, Loki and (Y/N) are stuck in the middle of an explosive feud between Steve and Tony.

Pairing: Loki X Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I’d call this a filler chapter but I absolutely love writing about the Avengers as a whole! I also thought we needed a little break from the plot for some team bonding before things get too crazy lol I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen November 22nd, 2015 Avengers Tower, New York City (Previous Chapter)

“You read this book when you were how old?”

(Y/N) smiled mischievously and turned her attention back to reorganizing her closet. “I was seven. I checked it out from the library without telling my Aunt Evelyn and read it late at night; I couldn’t sleep without my nightlight on for months afterwards but I’m glad I read it, since it’s a literary classic and everything.”

Loki let out a half-laugh and turned the page of his book. “Well, if we’re ever blessed with children, I think we should wait until they’re at least twelve to introduce them to Dracula. Perhaps even fourteen.”

“Children?”

In an instant, Loki froze and it dawned on him what he’d accidentally said. (Y/N) was also frozen, her arm still extended to grab a hangar from inside the closet. “I-I…I just meant…I’d like to…” Loki cleared his unusually tight throat. “I, ah, wouldn’t mind having…you know, children. Someday. With…with you.” Dammit, I’ve made a mess of things again, Loki inwardly groaned.

They’d only been together for a little over four months and it was much, much too early in their relationship to bring about the subject of children. But after he acknowledged his love for (Y/N), it was challenging for Loki to envision a future without her in it and lately, the idea of a more permanent future with the woman he loved was all he could think about. He knew that his girlfriend liked children; back when she still worked at the New York Public Library, he’d fondly watch her helping them with their homework or reading to them and since officially becoming the Cosmic Sorceress, she’d visited the children’s ward at the nearby hospital once a week to cheer up the young patients. And despite what others might believe, Loki also liked children and the thought of being a father one day – while admittedly a little nerve-wracking – was not an unwelcome one.

Just as (Y/N), with her (Y/E/C) eyes widened in shock, opened her mouth to reply, there came the sounds of voices shouting angrily from the common room down the hall. In an instant, Loki and (Y/N) summoned their magic into the palms of their hands before sprinting out of her suite and down the hallway.

Steve and Tony stood on either sides of the common room and were fully engaged in a blazing argument by the time Loki and (Y/N) arrived. Skidding to a stop beside (Y/N), Loki’s first thought was that he’d never seen either man as angry as they were now, even during the Battle of New York.

“Because you flat-out refused to listen when I said to wait, three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are at the hospital in critical condition!” Tony yelled.

Steve stepped closer and shouted back, “And if I hadn’t acted when I did, an entire apartment complex would’ve been demolished anyway and dozens of people would be dead! Those agents would be fine right now if you hadn’t hesitated to use your scanners!”

“You mean, if I hadn’t stopped to think the situation through?!”

“You’re acting like a civilian, Stark, not a soldier! Our job is to make the tough decisions as quickly as we can for the benefit of the whole, we don’t have the luxury of holding committees for every choice we make!”

“Bullshit, it’s better to weigh options instead of barreling in without a plan; that’s what you’re best at, though, isn’t it? If you hadn’t made the dumb-ass decision to crash that plane in ‘45, you and Carter-”

Before Tony could finish his sentence, Steve landed a punch on his jaw that sent him staggering backwards. Tony quickly surged forward to retaliate, but Loki used his magic to halt his movement while (Y/N) used hers to stop Steve. “Enough!” They dissolved their magic and with matching looks of contempt, both Steve and Tony turned and stormed away, leaving Loki and (Y/N) to gape at each other in shock.

“Yeah, that was a continuation of what happened on the Quinjet.” They turned and watched Bruce step out of the elevator with a weary expression on his face. “I’ll explain everything to you both, but can we do it in private? The rest of the team’s at each other’s throats and I don’t want all the fighting to accidentally trigger the Big Guy…”

After leading the scientist into (Y/N)’s suite and subtly lighting one of her calming lavender-scented candles, Loki sat beside his girlfriend on the sofa and listened as Bruce talked. “This arms dealer was holding an entire apartment building in Luxembourg hostage, said he’d blow the place up if his demands for more guns weren’t met. Fury sent Steve, Tony, Bucky and Clint this morning; the plan was to surround the building and find a way in before going after the guy, but he decided he didn’t want to wait any longer and turned an automatic timer on for the explosives. Cap sent the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in to clear the building and Tony said to wait for the agents to give word before ordering Bucky to take the shot, but Steve didn’t listen. Bucky took the shot, got the guy, but the explosives still went off.” Loki and (Y/N) exchanged looks of confusion, and Bruce continued. “There was a pressure timer hidden in his hand, they call it a dead man’s switch; Tony scanned and saw it at the last second, but Steve was already giving the order to Bucky.” Bruce started pacing as he ran a hand through his hair. “It’s like a civil war; Clint and Nat are taking Tony’s side, they think Steve could’ve waited a little longer, and Sam and Bucky are on Cap’s side.” He snorted in derision. “Thanksgiving dinner should be a blast this year.”

(Y/N) nodded, a saddened expression on her face, but Loki furrowed his brow. “Thanksgiving? You host a dinner of thanks on Midgard?”

“I’ll explain it to you later.” She flashed him a brief smile before returning her concerned gaze to Bruce. “Is there anything we can do?”

“You both should probably just stay out of it; they might come around faster if they see that you’re neutral in all this.” The scientist walked to the door. “I’d better go down and talk to Fury, so I’ll see you guys later.”

Once Bruce closed the door behind him, (Y/N) threw herself back against the cushions of the couch and sighed. “How could something like this have even happened? We’ve been such a strong team these past few months and now…”

“They’re both strong-willed men and stubborn in their own right, you know that. Each holds steadfast to their beliefs no matter the consequences; this is a trait of theirs I’ve both admired and admonished in all the time I’ve known them.” Loki admitted. “But Banner is correct, any attempt of ours to help may only worsen the situation for everyone.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Taking in (Y/N)’s troubled frown, Loki decided to try distracting her from their fighting teammates, laying down and resting his head in her lap so that he was staring up at her. “So, a feast of thanks sounds…quaint.”

As he’d hoped, she relaxed as she gave him a look of amusement and began running her fingers through his hair. “It’s more than that, silly. In America, it’s a day where we give thanks for our lives and the people in them. We sit around a table for dinner and let our loved ones know just what they mean to us, that we cherish and appreciate them, no matter any differences…we might…we might have…” (Y/N) trailed off, pausing a moment before gasping in excitement. “Loki, I think I may have either a brilliant plan or an insane one!”

“I know just what you have in mind, darling. Let’s go!” They both hurried to the living room closet and tugged on their coats and scarves; they had a long, long day of shopping ahead of them.

Although he’d acclimated fairly well to Midgard in the months since his arrival, one of the things Loki still utterly despised about the realm were its ‘grocery stores.’ They were crowded, lit by horrendous fluorescent lights and stocked to the brim with inedible, overpriced food; whenever he’d been asked to accompany one of his fellow Avengers on their shopping trips, he would come up with every excuse under the sun to decline their invitation. But he decided to put aside his displeasure for the benefit of his girlfriend and teammates, resigning himself to pushing the rickety metal shopping cart up and down the aisles as (Y/N) read off her hastily-written list.

Their shopping trip had gone far better than he’d imagined and in no time, they were carrying their bags into the lobby of the Avengers Tower.

“You know, we’re going to need an extra pair of hands to help us with the cooking on Thursday.” (Y/N) pointed out as they stepped into their team’s private elevator. “I’m not very good in the kitchen, as you already know, but I’ve always been able to bake pretty decent pies.”

Loki nodded. “All right, so who did you have in mind to help?”

At that moment, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal the smiling face of his golden-haired brother. “Ah, there you are! The J.A.R.V.I.S. just informed me you had returned from your outing, was it productive?”

“…You could call it that.”

The tone of his girlfriend’s voice prompted Loki to glance over at her; she was looking from Thor to him, her eyebrows raised and a triumphant smile spreading across her face. Finally understanding her words, Loki’s smile morphed into a look of absolute horror. “Oh no, no, no, not him…!”

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

“Wait, you guys cooked all this? Without burning the kitchen down?”

Loki couldn’t help but give Bruce a pained look. “Believe me when I say that it was not for lack of trying, Doctor Banner.”

Since they wanted dinner to be a surprise, they’d prepared each dish in one of the kitchens used by the new S.H.I.E.L.D. organization; unfortunately, in their attempt to be secretive they were forced into cramped quarters with rather primitive kitchen appliances at their disposal. And to add to Loki’s growing list of responsibilities, he was forced to babysit the love of his life and his brother in order to prevent the dishes from being ruined by their absolute lack of culinary skills. More than once, he had to use his magic to protect the food he’d cooked from (Y/N)’s over-zealousness with the spices and at one point, he was forced to quickly talk Thor out of using his lightning to rapidly cook the turkey. Hopefully it’ll all have been worth it, Loki tiredly thought to himself.

As if in-tuned with Loki’s inner monologue, Bruce nervously adjusted the sleeves of his coat and replied, “Well, I hope this works and doesn’t just end up making everything worse.”

“You and I both, Doctor.” His eyes were drawn to the elevator as its doors opened, revealing (Y/N) and a cart filled with the feast they’d cooked, and he hurried over to meet her. “Everything’s going to plan so far, they think that it’s only the seven of us for dinner.”

With the help of Bruce, they went about setting the enormous table. “I just sent Thor to fetch Team Cap, so they should be here any minute.” Once they finished, (Y/N) removed her apron and smoothed out her skirt, her anxious expression softening a fraction as she turned to the two men. “Now we see if our brilliantly-insane plan will work.”

Loki had just enough time to lean down and press a reassuring kiss to his girlfriend’s forehead before the elevator doors once again slid open.

“Mmm, smells good in here!” Tony grinned, walking up to (Y/N) and handing her a bottle of wine. “I had Pepper ship one of my best labels over from Malibu for the occasion.”

Natasha did little to hide her amusement at his words. “You just couldn’t resist, could you? And you,” She turned to shoot Clint a glare. “If you don’t stop fidgeting, Barton, we’re going to have a problem.”

“I can’t help it, this stupid suit’s uncomfortable!” Clint grumbled; once Natasha returned her attention to the others, the archer rolled his eyes and whispered to Loki, “Damn straight jacket. (Y/N) forced you into one too, huh?”

“Yes, I-” The sight of Steve, Sam and Bucky entering the room behind Thor caused Loki’s words to die in his throat and as the others caught sight of them, he surreptitiously summoned his magic into his hands in case a fight broke out. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Thor and Bruce exchanging weary looks.

Steve’s face was a mask as he stepped forward. “Stark.”

“Asshat.”

All Hel broke loose; Steve and Tony lunged towards one another, their struggling forms barely held back by Bucky and Clint. A cacophony of shouting quickly filled the room as both sides began arguing with each other, but just as Loki raised his arms to use his magic, (Y/N) calmly stepped forward and walked in between the warring groups. The shouting and struggling instantly stopped as they gawked at (Y/N), but she merely smiled warmly at them as she spoke. “Thank you all for coming to our Thanksgiving dinner, Loki and I are glad you were able to make it. Bruce mentioned that you usually don’t celebrate together, but this is my first Thanksgiving with you all and I wanted to mark the occasion with my new family…all of it.” Her words seemed to have their desired intent, as both Steve and Tony relaxed their stances and the others backed away from them. “Now, we should start eating before everything gets cold!”

Needless to say, dinner was a tense affair. Where there was usually the sounds of deafening chatter and laughter, there was quiet murmuring and stoic looks. Loki watched (Y/N) with equal amounts of admiration and sympathy as she tried her hardest to engage their teammates in conversation with one another and with each failed attempt, he could see a little more of her heart breaking. After learning the difficult truth about her parents and having lived so long without a family, (Y/N) deserved to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with her friends. They all did, really. This has gone on long enough, Loki thought to himself as (Y/N) silently stared down at her plate; after a slight moment of hesitation, Loki got to his feet.

“I’ve done a fair amount of reading about this country’s Day of Thanks, and the custom of expressing what one is thankful for whilst surrounded by their loved ones piqued my interest. So, let’s begin.” Loki swallowed thickly, looking around the table at his teammates’ confused faces before settling on (Y/N)’s. “I’m thankful for you, darling. You came into my life at a time when I believed I could never be deserving of love and you showed me not only was I deserving, but that loving you would make me a better man. You’re the love of my life, and believe me when I say that all our lives have been blessed since meeting you.” Loki and (Y/N) shared a smile and as he turned back to address the others, he felt her take hold of his hand and squeeze. “And I know you may find this difficult to believe, but I am also thankful for all of you. When I first joined the Avengers, I was bitter and filled with resentment at the prospect of serving out my sentence on a planet I despised with people I despised even more. But after a short while, once we’d come to understand one another, you accepted me as your teammate and friend. Well, some of you more than others.” His eyes flicked to Tony, who hid his small smile behind his hand, and to Clint, who gave him a small shrug. “I value our kinship above all else and on this Day of Thanks, I implore you all to remember our bonds with one another. Severing those bonds on account of a petty disagreement is something you all will come to regret in the future; take it from me, I have firsthand experience in that particular department.” He and Thor shared a knowing look as he took a seat; although he wasn’t comfortable expressing his emotions so openly, the look of pride in his brother’s eyes had made it worth it.

The table was quiet for several moments, until Steve cleared his throat. “Well, I’m, ah…I’m thankful that after coming out of the ice to an unrecognizable world I was able to find such great friends and teammates in you all.” His azure eyes flicked hesitantly over to Tony. “We may not get along all the time or agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to become divided.”

Tony’s face remained unchanged throughout Steve’s speech and when he got to his feet, Loki could practically hear the others’ sharp intakes of breath. The billionaire held Steve’s gaze for a heartbeat before offering him his hand over the table with his trademark smirk on his face. “Couldn’t have said it better myself, ‘Roid Rage.” The two men shook hands and the room almost instantly relaxed; Loki exchanged looks of triumph with his co-conspirators as dinner continued, satisfied that their plan had been successfully implemented.

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

“Dinner was delicious, by the way.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, darling, though I’m not sure what the others thought of it.”

“Well, they were a little too distracted to hand out compliments on food, wouldn’t you say?”

The pair had decided to spend the night catching up on their reading but instead of utilizing the library, they had made themselves comfortable in Loki’s bed with their books and plenty of blankets. Loki sat up against the headboard, his legs stretched out across the mattress and his ankles crossed, and (Y/N) was leaning against his side, her head resting comfortable in the crook of his neck and her free arm holding Loki’s around her waist. They sat in comfortable silence as they read their own books, occasionally permeating the tranquil atmosphere with light conversation.

“Um, Loki?”

“Hmm?” Loki could feel (Y/N) shifting beside him, so he tore his eyes away from his book and watched as she marked her page and set her book down on the bedside table. Setting his own book aside, Loki adjusted himself so he could see her face better. “What is it?”

(Y/N) bit her lip and played with the sleeve of her sweatshirt before answering. “We’ve been so busy planning Thanksgiving dinner and trying to get the team back together that we haven’t had a chance to talk about what you said the other day.” Loki’s brow furrowed in confusion, and the corner of (Y/N)’s mouth twitched. “About wanting to, um, have children. With me.”

“Oh.” Loki felt himself pale; he’d completely forgotten about his slip-up and being reminded of it caused panic to flare in his chest. “I-It was stupid, (Y/N), I just…we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I only meant-”

His explanation was abruptly cut off by (Y/N), who had covered his mouth with her hand and was shaking with suppressed laughter. “I always love those rare moments when you’re the one to get flustered; a little line always forms in between your eyebrows.” She leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss on the spot before moving her hand from his mouth to cup his cheek. “I was surprised by what you said the other day because I didn’t realize that you’ve imagined the same future that I have.” (Y/N) shyly looked down but she reached for his free hand and intertwined their fingers together. “I may not have much experience with relationships, Loki, but I love you with all my heart and if there’s anyone I want to share that wonderful future with someday…well, it’s you.”

A grin slowly formed on Loki’s face; removing one of his hands from hers, he gently took hold of her chin and coaxed her to look at him. “Really?”

She nodded, her (Y/E/C) eyes sparkling with happiness. “Really.”

Surging forward, Loki held her face in his hands and smashed his lips against hers. (Y/N) made a sound of surprise before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing back with equal vigor; Loki eventually found himself lying flat on his back while (Y/N) straddled his waist, one hand clutching her hip while the other traveled up and down her spine as they kissed. (Y/N) pulled her lips away from his and just as his throat made a noise of protest, she began kissing along his jawline and down his neck; needless to say, his annoyance quickly morphed to groans of satisfaction. Only when her soft lips brushed against a particularly sensitive patch of skin near his collarbone did Loki lose all restraint; he flipped them over so that (Y/N) was pressed against the mattress and after grabbing her hands and threading their fingers together, he held them over her head and hungrily attacked her eager lips with his own until an unfortunate lack of air forced them to break apart.

“I said I’d like children with you someday, Loki, not today!” (Y/N) exclaimed breathlessly, a dazed sort of smile illuminating her face as she looked up at him.

Loki let out a laugh before kissing her forehead and rolling off to lay on his back beside her; try as he might, he couldn’t keep the broad grin off his face. “Apologies, my love, but you’re entirely irresistible. If I’d known there were kisses like that in store for me, I’d have told you all that ages ago…”

Later that evening, (Y/N) was fast asleep against his chest and the sounds of her quiet snores filled the room as he stretched out on the bed in contentment. I suppose there’s only one thing left to do, Loki thought tiredly, pulling (Y/N) closer and glancing over at the bedside table that hid the engagement ring before sleep finally claimed him.

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

A/N: Wow, that was a lot of fluff! Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wx8TZwpDN0l33tES3W3Nk

Chapter Fifteen

Spellbinding Masterlist

Tagging: @nexiva @ravenclawbitch426 @cminr @confusedfandomwriter @momc95 @nickkie1129 @austynparksandpizza @brooke0297 @destructivebliss @outoftheregular​ @itscomplicatedx​ @0-artemis​ @vivloki​

[dramatistvx]

Loki fic recs!

Hello there! Here are some of the Loki fics I’ve read that I thought were really good :) Enjoy! 

Some of the fics contain dark themes so please read the tags and be safe! :)

Time Travel -fix it- 

The Fun With Time Loops series by Infinite_Monkeys

Summery first work:

With One More Try (Can We Start Again) 

Loki's attempt to conquer Earth has, to his great dismay, succeeded spectacularly. When Thanos sends him to collect the Time Stone, he strikes a deal with the Stone's keeper: he'll be sent back to the beginning of the invasion, and this time, armed with knowledge about his opponents, he can lose properly.

Or: a time loop fic in which Loki does increasingly desperate things to try and get the Avengers to defeat him already. 

Words: 13,563 - chaptered

Series total; 4 works, words: 78,913

Pretty sure you’ve already heard about this one and for good reason. It’s so good! Loved the whole series. I liked the third work best, tho it’s quite a bit longer than the others -60 k- It has more depth and -wayyy more angst- you get to see more of Loki struggling and him generally being in pain oOp- but he’s trying! Also Thor just wants to help bc he cares hihi. Love love love.

those yesterdays bleeding through by wnnbdarklord

Loki dies on the desolate plains of Svartalfheim, Thor's howls of grief ringing in his ears. He wakes up on his bed in his cell, where there is no sign of destruction.

A time loop fic where Loki gets the chance to fix things on the day the Dark Elves attack Asgard. And another. And another.

Words: 9,508

Another great time travel fix-it fic! I actually read the Fun With Time Loops series because I liked this fic so much and needed more lmao. There’s also a twist in the end that I didn’t see coming ;) It has so much angst for 9k I love XD I’d say that it’s a bit more explicit in the angst so be aware! Overall great read if you want something short and angsty but with a hopeful ending. 

De aging

Amateur Theatrics by galaxysoup

In which Thor’s primary problem-solving method (a mighty blow from Mjolnir) fails to have the desired effect on a magical artifact, and his secondary method (a mightier blow from Mjolnir) proves to be actively disastrous.

Words: 26,586 - chaptered

Love love love this one! After a magical accident, Loki accidentally gets de aged and it’s the most adorable thing ever. There’s fluff and angst and kid Loki is just so precious. I also love how Loki and Clint bond in this. Literally go read this! xD

Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Ichor in Violet by tirsynni

When Thor learns that Loki can travel to other realms without Heimdall seeing, of course he convinces Loki to take them both to Jotunheim to hunt Frost Giants. There an accident unravels centuries of lies and threatens to unravel Loki, too.

Words: 14,574 - chaptered

Where Loki accidentally discovers who he really is and has trouble dealing. Thor is confused, he just loves his brother. The angsttttt. This is dark so be aware! 

The Tapestries series by Lise

Summary first work:

It turns out that even a god can't escape a beating by the Hulk unscathed. At the end of the Battle of New York, Loki doesn't get back up. This changes more than you'd think. 

Series total; 4 works, Words: 30,727

Oh the angst *wrings hands* 

This series is amazing! It’s Loki struggling to deal with centuries of unresolved anger and hurt while simultaneously trying to cope with more recent events, the Void..Thanos. 

Basically, Loki just wants to go home, wherever that may be. Everyone’s trying, genuinely trying. You just gotta know when -how- to stop fighting. It’s very well written and It really dives into the psychological aspects of his trauma. Also, Odin actually cares for once lmao. This one is also pretty dark so be aware! 

Mistakes Made (And Corrected) by ADreamer67

In a different universe, Hela rebelled sooner. In a different universe, Hela Odinsdottir seduced Laufey with promises of power and convinced him to attack Midgard. In a different universe, Hela got pregnant, and didn't want to be. In a different universe, Hela left her newborn son for dead and went to face her father.

In a different universe, Loki Helajarson is two hundred and fifty years older than Thor. Let's see what happens.

Words: 47,072

Woah, just- this is so good!! It’s a very different take on Loki’s character but it’s still really fitting. After Thor is banished and the Odin sleep is fast approaching, Loki is to be king. Things don’t go very well for him, to say the least. I loved how the characters were portrayed and absolutely adored the dynamic between Loki and Thor. There’s so much angst and turmoil and it’s pretty dark so read the tags and be safe! 

Just Close Your Eyes by ADreamer67

Ragnarok has come to pass, the Asgardians have reached a deal with the leaders of Midgard for territory of their own, Loki is allowed to stay (provided he doesn’t leave said territory), and Thor is settled on the throne. So all in all, things are going well, if you ignore the recent massacre and planetary annihilation.

Well, except for the fact that Loki is working himself into the ground. And Thor is having none of it.

Cue a not entirely legal brotherly field trip where Thor will make Loki relax, or die trying. Responsibilities? Pssh, who cares about those? (Hint - Loki. Very much so)

Words: 31,832 - chaptered, still going

So fun! It starts out pretty angsty but it gradually becomes a little more lighthearted. Then, it’s just Thor and Loki exploring Midgardian customs together -mostly Loki being mildly disgusted by them lmao- :) 

Birthright by ADreamer67

Four years ago, Odin told Loki his birthright was to die. If only he knew.

When the Laufeyson was born small, too small and frail to survive, the solution seemed obvious. Though it had been many a generation since it had been done, the child was brought forth to the Casket, to be bound to its' power in an ancient ceremony that would imbue the little one with all the strength of a typical Jotun. That ceremony was interrupted by battle, and the child was left with the unguarded casket, in the hopes that the casket could keep it alive until it was safe to finish the ceremony.

That ceremony was never finished.

Over a thousand years later, the Casket of Ancient Winters is destroyed during Ragnarok. No one thought this would be an issue, least of all Loki. Guess what.

Words: 76,599 - chaptered, still going

This is so good!!! It’s one of the first fics I read in the fandom and it has really set my standards high. There’s so much angst and turmoil and it’s so well written. I absolutely adored the dynamic between the crew and how much Thor loves his brother even though Loki thinks he doesn’t deserve it. I really like the way ADreamer67 portrays the characters. 

Soulmate/Soulbond, Relationships

Maybe You (and your sad blue eyes) by alby_mangroves

Loki had already come to accept being born without a bonded soul to cleave to, one more way in which he would always be the lesser brother. So of course it made sense that it would settle upon him when he least expected it.

(Set in the timeline of Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Avengers. Canon divergent just before Chitauri invasion.)

Words: 29,258 - chaptered

I don’t really ship Loki and Steve -bc stucky heheh- but I came across this fic in another rec list and I absolutely loved it, plus the art is stunning! Def a great read if you like angsty soulmate/soulbond fics but with a happy ending.

The sexual awakening of Steve Rogers by aLoggedInReader

Steve's life has always been complicated, but he did not know just how much of a rollercoaster it could become until Bucky came to stay with him.

Bucky is trying to be helpful and get Steve to live a little, but between being a hundred years old and having only lived a couple of those years, as an assassin for Hydra to boot, he tends to miss the mark now and then.

Adding an Asgardian prince in exile to the mix surprisingly does not make things easier.

Words: 47,333, still going

Sksjsksksk I don’t really ship Loki/Steve but this one is just so fun. features a lot of female Loki, flustered Steve, protective Bucky and overall wholesomeness and chaotic energy. Everyone just wants Steve to be happy. -mostly Steve centric-

The lines, here are written by dfotw

In a world where everyone has their soulmate's name written on their wrists, Steve Rogers has quite a lot more... and Loki, a lot less.

Words: 18,009 - chaptered

Lmao Imma just stop saying I don’t ship them XD This one is also really good. It’s angsty and tender with a hopeful ending. 

[marvels-writing-hoe]

Test of Time Part 3

Previous Chapter

A/N: Sorry this one took so long, I was almost done with it before someone shut my laptop without this having been saved and I lost all progress. 

Warnings: Cursing, fluff?, mention of death, almost nudity, Bucky’s PTSD(if you read between the lines)

Bucky Barnes x Y/n Odindottir

By the end of the battle with Tony and the others, you had managed to successfully avoid going head to head with your best friend several times before watching her run to the aid of Steve and Bucky. It pained you to watch him leave when you’d just found him, but you knew you had to in order for him to succeed. 

You scoffed at Tony’s attempt to put cuffs on you. 

“You Asgardians just don’t know how to stay out of trouble do you?” He asked, tightening the cuffs a little tighter than they should have been. He was pissed, and worried about Rhodes, understandably. 

“He’s innocent, Tony. He didn’t do anything.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you guys broke the rules. They were simple, Y/n. and you still ignored them,” 

“What would you have done, Stark?” He didn’t answer as you were shoved into the back of a high security transport vehicle, right next to Sam. 

“Don’t worry Y/n. I’m sure they’re half way there already. They’ll come out on top, just like they always do.” Sam reassured you, sending a glare in Tony’s direction. You held you’re head high, the way you’d seen Loki do when he stood trial for New York. An agent shut the doors, and you felt the vehicle begin moving. 

🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻

You spent three days in lock up before Steve showed up to free you and you all went your separate ways. 

“Tell me where he is.” You demanded of the super soldier. 

“He’s in Wakanda. T’challa agreed to help rid him of the winter soldier.” You didn’t stick around for any more explanation, instead calling on your most convenient form of travel. 

“Heimdall! Take me to Wakanda!” 

Appearing in the middle of a heavily shielded country in a blast of rainbow light didn’t exactly earn you subtlety, but it did gain you an audience with the king, just the man you needed to talk to. 

“I wish to see Bucky Barnes.” You gave a shallow bow to the king before speaking your request. 

“You’re friend awaits in my sister’s lab.” T’challa stood to lead the way. Upon reaching the lab, you instantly saw the gleam of a metal shoulder, the arm that should have been attached ripped away. 

“Y/n! You’re okay! I thought-” as soon as he saw you, Bucky was up, running to you. 

“I’m fine, Buck. Steve rescued us from the pit. Are you okay? What happened to you, your arm?” You fussed over him the same way you had in the 40′s when he’d come back from a battle cut up and bruised. 

“It’s a long story I’d rather not get into right now. But you, you’re a god? Why didn’t you tell us?” He put his hand on your shoulder, his thumb grazing the base of your neck. 

“I didn’t think you’d understand. besides, you guys had enough to deal with without your friend being a goddess. That’s why I was there. I’m-” He cut you off. 

“Still as beautiful as the day you left.” his voice grew soft, “God, I missed you so much, Doll.” There it was. That nickname that had made butterflies in your stomach since day one. He pulled you into another hug, as tight as he could make it with only one arm, and you knew you were home. 

🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻

Within a few days, T’challa had given the two of you a small two bedroom farm house and a few sheep to tend. The first day was great, you helped Bucky with the sheep before putting your room the way you wanted it, with pictures you’d taken over the last year hanging above your bed, and a painting done of Thor, Loki, and yourself when you were younger framed on your bedside table. 

That night, however was not as smooth. You’d gone to bed at a reasonable time, planning to wake early in the morning to prepare breakfast. Around midnight, you awoke to a scream and a thud. You threw yourself out of bed and rushed to Bucky’s room, knowing that the sound had come from there, not even bothering to put shorts on with the long, over sized, t-shirt and boy-shorts you’d worn to bed. 

“Bucky?” You knocked gently on the door, no answer. “Buck, is everything okay?” Still no answer. Growing ever more worried at the lack of response, you were about to knock again when the sound of shattering glass reverberated from the room. You shoved the door open and ran in to find that Bucky, who was laying in the floor, had become tangled in a lamp cord, pulled said lamp off the table, and was now struggling against the bonds of the tangled cord. 

You ran to the soldier, repeating his name to try to wake him

“Bucky, Bucky wake up, everything is okay, wake up,” you coaxed as you quickly realized he was having a nightmare. You said his name again, this time laying a gentle hand on his flesh shoulder. 

You squeaked when he suddenly sat up, bolt straight and his metal shoulder flexed as if trying to grab at something. 

“It’s me, everything is okay. We’re in Wakanda, they’re trying to help you,” you rambled trying to get him to calm down, even slightly. His eyes turned soft at the sound of your voice.  “Y/n, did I-” his voice fell in shame, “I didn’t hurt you did I?” 

“Oh, Bucky...” You rested your hand on his cheek, his growing stubble tickling a bit, “You didn’t hurt me. I’m okay.” You pulled back a bit to show him you hadn’t been hurt before starting to untangle the lamp cord from his body. As you pulled the cord away from the sling that mostly covered his left shoulder, you suddenly became very aware of what he was wearing, which was nothing aside from his boxer briefs. You’re face went cherry red as you continued your task, avoiding eye contact with the very tan, very muscled, super soldier before you. He shivered, you’re cold hands a far cry from his hot skin. 

“Why you so cold, Doll?” You guessed he was trying to start conversation to distract his mind from whatever nightmare had plagued him. 

“I like it cold when I sleep. Gives me an excuse to curl up with fuzzy blankets.” You went along with his attempt. You pulled your hands away when you’d finished untangling the cord, the last of it falling to the floor. “Plus, when we were younger, and Loki was first learning magic, he would play pranks on me and turn my room cold at random times. Eventually I got used to it.” You smiled at the fond memories of your brother. 

“Do you ever miss them? You’re brothers I mean?” He asked you, already visibly relaxing from his nightmare. 

“Sometimes. Thor’s off on one of his adventures right now though. And Loki’s been-” you’re voice stumbled over your words, “He’s been dead for a while.” 

“When Steve woke me up, made me... aware of who I was, it hurt so much more than forgetting. Rebecca, and my mom- they were both gone. And then I remembered you, and I thought you were gone too. I never- I thought-” He paused, rethinking his sentence, “I didn’t know what to do with myself. I still don’t.” 

“But I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.” You grabbed his hand, to prove to him that you were really there. He smiled, small, almost unnoticeable, but you saw it. 

You stifled a yawn, looking at the clock that sat in his bedside table. 12:33. 

“You must be exhausted, Doll. Get some sleep, I’ll be okay.” He pulled his hand away from yours to place it on your shoulder. 

“I’m not tired,” you yawned. He chuckled. 

“Go on. I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay... But you’ll wake me up if you need anything right?” 

“Of course, Doll.” 

“G’night, Bucky.” You kissed his cheek, standing to go to you’re room across the hall. 

“Night, Doll.” he coughed out, you thought it was odd, but you were also too tired to care, too tired to remember that the underwear you’d had on under your t-shirt had a not so PG message on them, and too tired to realize that previously mentioned t-shirt had ridden up and Bucky had a full view of your ass- and the message- as you left his room. 

Next Chapter

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Family - 2

The Tower: Family An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 2319

Warnings:  Sex talk and pregnancy, light angst

Synopsis: With new powers, Thor now living on Earth full time, a wedding to plan, and Natasha and Wanda expecting, a lot is changing for Elly and her large and rather unconventional family.  When Elise’s parents try to reestablish connections, Elly questions what being a family actually means.

Chapter 2: Envy and Guilt

“I’m sorry, but I’m what?”  Natasha asked, and all at once, it hit me exactly what Wanda and Natasha being pregnant meant, and I felt my heart sink.

Wanda wouldn’t be so bad.  She’d worry about her powers, but she had always liked them, and I knew that one day she’d want to carry her own.  She loved being a mother.  She was a mother right down to her core, and while this was an accident, she would never think it was anything but a happy one.

Natasha was a whole other story.  The Red Room had messed with Natasha’s reproductive system.  She could get pregnant naturally; it was just improbable.  However, she could never carry a baby to term.  I could see the faint thread starting to form with the embryo growing inside her, letting me know what this little pseudo-life form would one day be part of our family.  I felt like that must mean something.  Those threads didn’t connect to everyone.  But if I was wrong, there was going to be a day in the next few months where we were all left grieving if there was no way to counteract what they’d done to her.

There was also the dumbfounded look of shock on everyone’s face.  I’d hoped and believed that we were in a different place now.  We had children.  We were parents.  We were good at it.  Having more children would be an exciting thing, and they all looked panicked.  I had visions of this playing out just like it did last time - everyone running and leaving Natasha to just deal with this alone.

I also had this selfish melancholy coming from this place of loss.  Tony had just asked if I’d have his baby, and now I wasn’t going to get that.  I couldn’t get pregnant now that we were expecting other babies.  I had let myself get excited about going through a pregnancy where everyone was there and onboard and taking care of me, and just like that, it was taken away.

“You and Wanda are both expecting,” Thor repeated.  “I’m sorry, did I ruin the surprise again?”

Clint got up and moved to Natasha’s side, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

“Thor?”  Steve asked gently.  “Was this you again?  I mean… did your powers slip?”

Thor shook his head.  “I swear, after the last time, I have been extra careful holding them at bay.  I had assumed you must have planned for this to happen.”

Wanda shook her head quickly and ran her hands over her stomach.  “I was taking the pill.”

“And we’ve all been using the injection,” Bruce added.  “Which with Natasha’s…”  he trailed off and furrowed his brow.  “...condition.  Should have meant no accidents.”

“I’m sorry,” Thor said.  “I didn’t mean to be the bearer of bad news.  I truly thought this was planned.”

“Maybe… maybe there was something about the bonding?”  Sam suggested.  “There were a lot of strange things that happened.  Perhaps there was some magic involving conceiving heirs?”

“Then why aren’t I pregnant too?” I asked in a small voice.

Clint took a seat and pulled Natasha down in his lap as Tony moved beside me and wrapped his arm around me.

“I don’t know,”  Thor said.  “Truly.  I can perhaps work out when it happened and who are the fathers?  If you’ll allow it?”

“Yes,” Natasha said quickly.  “Do that.  Because… because I can’t…  I can’t lose …”

Clint pulled her close, and Natasha melted into him, squeezing her eyes shut like she was trying really hard not to cry.  It broke my heart to see her so fragile.

“I’d like to know too.  Steve, are you alright with knowing who the biological parents are?”  Wanda asked.

Steve nodded.  “With Elise, I was worried it might create friction knowing.  We know now that’s not the case.  If knowing helps get to the bottom of this, then we should know.”

Thor put the kids down on the ground and approached Natasha first.  He knelt on the ground in front of her, putting his head on her stomach and his hand on her side.  There was a slight crackle of light, different to his lightning power but similar.  “It is new,” Thor said in a low rumble.  “Barely the size of a seed.  A month?” He paused and closed his eyes, tilting his head to the side.  “I believe this child was conceived after the bonding ceremony.  The father is Barnes.”

“Me?”  Bucky said softly.  “Really?”

“I’m sorry, James,” Natasha said quietly.  “I didn’t mean…”

Bucky moved quickly to her side and held up his hand like he was going to touch her before dropping his hands again.  “Don’t be sorry, Tasha.  I know we have things to worry about, but I’m here.  So we have a little super-soldier.  We already have a god.  We can handle it.”

Just then, I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.  I was jealous.  Natasha was going to get everything I hadn’t, and even if she did end up losing this baby, everyone was going to be here for her.  They were going to dote on her and reassure her and let her know how much they loved her, and despite the fact it was over four years ago since I had gone through my pregnancy, the trauma of it reared its head like an angry snake and bit me.  I felt guilty for it too.  Natasha had been one of three people who had been with me from the very start, and she deserved to have everyone there for her.  I just wanted to have had that too.

As Clint, Natasha, and Bucky sat cuddling on the couch, Thor moved to Wanda and crouched in front of her.  He put his forehead against her stomach and hand on her side, and that soft glow happened again.  “Yes.  At the same time.  After the bonding,” he said.

“So, it was something to do with that?”  Sam asked.

Thor pulled back and looked up at the sky.  “Heimdall, I require the assistance of my brother.”

“Maybe if it was Asgardian magic, you don’t have anything to worry about, Nat?”  Clint suggested, sounding a little hopeful.

“If it was Asgardian magic, why is Elise not pregnant?  She was the one that had sex with Thor,” Natasha asked, almost accusatorily.

“Well,” Bruce reasoned.  “You weren’t on birth control, and Wanda’s was hormonal only.  Elise has an IUD in.  Perhaps she did have an egg fertilized, and it just was unable to implant because of the obstruction.”

The theory added to that upset, guilty, jealous feeling I had.  The thought that I could be where Wanda and Natasha were now, getting the attention and love while expecting, just how Tony wanted, but instead, I was sitting on the outside looking in while the trauma of my past kept bubbling up, made me angry at myself.

“I can’t… I can’t go through another miscarriage,” Natasha said.  “It’ll kill me.”

“We’re all here, Tasha,” Bucky said.  “Last time, you were practically alone.  Now you have all of us.”

Loki shimmered into the room and looked around in distaste; his eyes lit up when he saw the twins, and they ran at him, going straight through the hologram of his body.  He crouched down, chuckling softly. “I’m sorry, my darlings,” he said.  “I’m not really here.  Just a projection.”

“Uncew Woki,” Pietro pouted.  “I wanna hug you.”

“I know,” he soothed.  “I want to hug you both very badly, but I’m needed on Asgard for now.  I promise I’ll visit properly as soon as I can.”

Pietro pouted and folded his arms over his chest, and Loki looked over at Thor.  “You requested my assistance, brother?”

“I was hoping if you could find out whether there was anything to do with the bonding that had to do with … fertility.  Or conceiving an heir,” Thor explained.

Loki turned and looked at me with his eyebrow raised.  “Another accident, Elise?”

“Not me,” I said, and gestured to Wanda and Natasha.

“Well, well, well,” Loki jeered.  “Even more children.  How exciting.  I will see what I can find.”  He crouched back down and looked at the twins.  “New brothers or sisters for you.  Aren’t you lucky?”

“Weely?”  Riley asked.

“Oh, yes.  You’ll be sure to be very kind to them, won’t you?”  Loki said.  “Even if they stab you.”

Pietro’s eyes went large, and Riley started giggling.  “We wiwl,” she said nodding.

“Then I shall see you two soon, my lovelies,” he said and gave them a wave before turning and promptly vanishing.

While they had been talking, I had noticed that while the threads to Natasha split into two, there now seemed to be three connecting me to Wanda.  “Thor?”  I said, quietly.

Thor looked over at me with concern etched on his features.  “Yes, my queen?”

“Is Wanda having twins?”  I asked.

He smiled and ran a large hand over Wand’s tiny waist.  “Oh, yes,” he said.  “Identical twins.”

Wanda blinked at us both.  “I’m having twins?”  She asked.  “Really?”

He smiled and nodded.  “Oh, yes.  Three new lives will be joining us.  It’s good news, isn’t it?”

There was almost a ripple through the room while people decided if they were allowed to be excited or not.  I could feel the mixed emotions.  Fear was there.  I didn’t know whether it was because of being worried about Natasha or just the idea of more kids.  Mostly though, they were excited.

“You never said who was the biological dad with Wanda,” Sam said, sounding a little hopeful.

Thor grinned and patted Sam’s thigh.  “Why, it is you, my bird.”

Sam wrapped his arms around Wanda and peppered kisses on her face.  “You hear that?”  He asked as Wanda started giggling.

“Wow,” Steve said, shaking his head.  “I guess we have some things we need to organize.”

Tony brought up a screen on the coffee table and started typing up a message.  “I’ll call in Doctor Schroeder again.  She’s an expert on the genetics stuff.  Maybe if you do still need help, she can do some kind of gene therapy, Red.  We’ll make sure it all goes okay.  And the new place has more rooms for kids.  I … well we… I had wanted… hoped…”

Steve smiled and rubbed Tony’s shoulder.  “I know what you mean,” he said.  “It’ll be nice having a few more of them around.”

It started to feel like I couldn’t breathe.  The jealousy I was feeling was starting to get oppressive.  The stronger that feeling of envy over not being able to get that from these people who were all so excited right now, the guiltier I felt because Natasha and Wanda had been there for me the whole time when I was pregnant. They deserved to have everyone be there for them.  I started feeling sick to my stomach and hating myself for these thoughts I  was having.

Wanda looked at me and tilted her head, and I knew she had seen it all, which only made it worse.

“Elly, sweetie. Come here,” she said gently.

I shook my head and got up.  “I just… I just need to use the bathroom. I’ll come back and snuggle with you both in a minute, okay?” I said, trying to make myself seem extra cheery.

I walked out of the room, trying not to rush, and as soon as I was in the hall, I ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind me and sinking to the floor sobbing.

A moment later, there was a gentle knock on the door.  “El, sweetheart.  Let me in,” Steve said quietly.

I got up slowly and opened the door, and he stepped inside.  “I just - I didn’t want Nat to feel worse,” I said, the tears streaming down my face.

He pulled me into a hug and held me against his chest. “It’s okay, honey.  You’re allowed to feel your feelings.”

“I want more kids.  I do.  And I’m happy.  I can see the threads to those babies, and I just… I think it’s going to be fine, Steve.  And they deserve that.  Nat deserves that,” I sobbed, burying my face in his chest.

“But you wanted that too,” he said softly.  “I know, sweetheart.  And if I could go back in time and do it all differently, I would.  You did nothing to deserve how we treated you back then.”

I started crying harder, and I clung to him.  “I thought I was over it.  I thought I’d moved past it.  We were happy.  But Bucky just moved to Natasha.  He was so happy.  And… he couldn’t even… look at me…”

“I know.  I know,” he soothed.  “I don’t know if it’s any consolation, but he wouldn’t have been able to do that if it wasn’t for the fact we’d already been through this.  And El, as strong as Nat is, if she were the one that got pregnant first, it probably would have killed her.  She couldn’t do it alone.  Not with everything else.”

“I know.  And that’s why I feel so bad right now,” I sobbed.  “And today… Tony asked me if I’d have another.”

He pulled back and looked down at me, cradling my jaw. “Oh, honey, maybe you still can?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head.  “I can’t take this from them.  And there’s three coming.  I can’t… I can’t.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead and pulled me back into a hug.  “It’s okay.  It’ll be okay.  You feel as sad as you need to.  We’ll be here for you with that too.  No one thinks you don’t want those babies.”

I relaxed against him and let myself cry myself out.  I knew I’d have to go back in there again, but at least I knew that I wasn’t alone when I did.

// NEXT

[kyber-crystal]

catch me under the mistletoe || s.r

summary: in which a certain bond is tightened during the magical holiday season

words: ~3.6k

warnings: none. some language i think,,, and rly shitty writing bc i wrote this over a year or so ago

a/n: we’re still days away from christmas lmao, but who cares

“MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE, LOSERS!” Bucky yelled out.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!” Thor boomed in reply, slamming his hand against a baking sheet.

“Shut the hell up!’ you hissed as you shuffled into the kitchen, a cranky look on your face. You grabbed the nearest pillow to you from the couch and chucked it at Bucky’s head. He winced and immediately stopped what he was doing. 

“Ow! What was that for?”

“For waking me up at nine-thirty in the morning on a Saturday, asshole,” you muttered, reaching over to pour yourself a cup of tea. “Do you ever shut up?’

“9:30 isn’t even that early. You’re just lazy,” he argued. “And why am I getting all the hate? Thor was in on this too?”

“Because Thor is a compassionate and kind being,” you explained, as the Norse god gave you an apologetic smile. 

“Merry Christmas Eve Eve, Lady Y/N,” he greeted politely. “I presume you slept well?”

“Yes, until Bucky started making noise…”

“I’m sorry!” Bucky exclaimed. “I’ll buy you more Cadbury tomorrow, okay? Is that enough?”

You nodded. “...Okay, fine.”

Steve hobbled into the kitchen, dressed in his Captain America pj pants (Tony got them for him last year as a gift) and wearing fluffy slippers. 

“Morning,” he yawned as he ran a hand through his hair to tame it, quickly kissing your forehead before sitting down in between you and Natasha. “How’d you guys sleep?”

“Got a solid six hours. Better than last week’s combined total of three, so I’d say not bad,” you replied. “You?”

“Managed to squeeze in five. So, anything new happen lately?”

“No, asides from the fact that the holidays are near and you two are acting like a couple,” Natasha rolled her eyes. You and Steve both averted your gazes and looked down. “Anyway. When are we gonna start getting decorations up?”

“After we finish eating, I guess,” Sam shrugged as he poured cereal into his bowl. “Ooh yes. I got more charms this time. Fuck the grains, Lucky Charms ain’t lucky if you got more grains than charms.”

“Shuri and T’Challa will be coming in approximately two hours. I advise you all get to work on decorating before they arrive,” FRIDAY’s voice came over the intercom.

Loki suddenly materialized in the middle of the lounge with a wide grin plastered on his face, as well as Pietro. “Did someone say decorate?”

“Have at it, brother, Sir Speedy,” Thor handed the several boxes of decorations over to him. “But please, don’t do anything stupid.”

...

You were all amazed and shell-shocked when a mere fifteen minutes later, the entire compound looked like a winter wonderland. The giant tree standing strong in the corner of the lounge was decorated from bottom to top with various stunning ornaments, garlands, and twinkling LED lights. 

Long story short, it seemed as if someone had punched Santa and made him throw up Christmas. Loki and Pietro nodded in approval at their work before exchanging a high-five.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this but,” Tony cleared his throat, “the jokesters really pulled it off this time. I’m proud of you both.”

The only thing left to do was hang the wreath up, and you decided to be the one to do so. You climbed up the ladder to hang up the wreath when you felt someone taser your sides. 

"Steven Grant Rogers!" you screeched, glaring at him as you wobbled and tried to regain your balance. "I could've fallen off, you bastard!"

"Oops," he shrugged, giving you an innocent look. "That was a complete accident, I'm so sorry."

"You suck," you stuck your tongue out at him before hanging the wreath up on the wall. 

"Told you the holidays were a magical season," Natasha whispered over to Wanda, and they both exchanged knowing looks. “Hey, Y/N, I still have some last-minute shopping to do. You willing to drive?”

“Sure, why not,” you shrugged. “But why can’t you take your own car?”

“I don’t feel like driving.”

“Alright,” you sighed, standing up and pushing your chair in. You leaned down to quickly kiss Steve’s cheek. “See you guys later.”

“Damn,” Sam wolf-whistled as you stepped into the elevator with her and Wanda, doors closing behind you. “She’s so oblivious.”

“To what?” Steve looked confused. 

“Y’all are so in love. Don’t try and go on with that ‘we kiss each other all the time’ bullshit because that’s not what people who are ‘just friends’ do.”

“But it is what just friends do. Y/N and I...we’ve known each other for a while...”

“Bullshit. I ain’t buyin’ that.”

… 

After you finished your last-minute shopping, you returned home with the gifts all wrapped up and ready to go and decided to whip up a batch of gingerbread cookies. The party was due to begin tomorrow evening, and you wanted a head start so you wouldn’t be cramming mere hours before.

Soon enough, the warm smell of cinnamon and other festive aromas drifted through the air.

"Mmm, is that gingerbread?" You turned around to find Steve sitting there, chin propped on his hand.

“Yeah. When I was little, I’d help my dad bake them because he’d often burn the cookies. As a SHIELD agent, he was always busy and didn’t have the time to improve his cooking skills.” You chuckled, and a nostalgic smile appeared on your face as you recalled the memory. “I started cooking at a young age...it really helped me prepare to be on my own. It kinda became a tradition of mine to keep baking even after he passed...feels like I still have a part of him with me when I do.” 

The timer went off and you grabbed your oven mitts, pulling the cookies out of the oven and placing them on the counter. You put the second batch in and reset the timer.

"You smell like cookies," Steve commented, wrapping his arms around your waist. 

Your cheeks turned bright pink from the physical contact. He didn't let go, and you let your arms slide up his back and stay there, as you stood in his tight embrace, breathing slowly and heart beating rapidly.

Tony broke it up by walking in and coughing loudly. 

"Don't distract her, Rogers," he said, sitting on the couch with a slight smirk on his face.

The two of you pulled away from each other, looking away quickly to avoid further embarrassment. 

"Speedy Gonzales, Parker, you better put those props away or no party or cookies for either of you," you scolded as Pietro and Peter were parading around the lounge.

"Darn. I look really attractive in this headband," Pietro whined. 

"Yeah, it really brings out the color of your eyes," you said sarcastically.

"Thanks, Y/N," he imitated your tone of voice. 

Shuri arrived soon enough, and immediately took to watching Vine compilations with Peter on the couch as they ate the few samples of the cookies you’d given them. The compound grew rather quiet, and you relished in the feeling of peace before someone could come along and screw it up again. 

… 

The next day quickly came and went. One by one, the rest of the guests began to arrive: Strange and Wong, the Guardians, Loki, even Fury and agents Coulson and Hill. How Tony managed to convince them to come, you had no idea. 

You were dragged away by Natasha to get ready upon her insistence that you were forbidden on seeing Steve before the party. Despite your protests (”The fuck? This isn’t even a wedding? Why are you treating it like one?), she didn’t budge. Knowing her unmovable determination, you allowed her to dress you up and do your makeup. 

“Wow, gold really is your color,” she propped a hand on her hip as she spun you around so you could look at yourself. 

“You’re a miracle worker, Romanoff,” you laughed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’d be so lost.”

“That’s why we’re friends, isn’t it?” Natasha gave you a little wink. “Dress to impress, love, dress to impress.”

...

The Christmas party was now in full swing - it was just after dinner and everyone was walking around, laughing and drinking at the bar or just casually conversing with one another. You were bored of wandering around and had already talked to pretty much everyone in the room, so you decided to look around for Clint and T’Challa  because you didn't know what else to do. 

"Hey, mind if I join you?" you asked, holding your simple glass of ginger ale (You hated alcohol). "Stark ditched me because he's busy working the music."

"Sure," T’Challa  nodded, motioning to the empty seat beside him, and you slid into the booth.  "How's it going for you so far, Miss Y/L/N?"

“Just Y/N is fine,” you laughed, setting your drink down on the table, “I’m doing alright. What about you? I forgot to ask how the flight here was.”

“We were able to get a couple hours of rest on the way here, so I’d say it was a nice flight.”

“That’s good,” you nodded. 

“Kinda off topic, but hey, why aren’t you talking to Capsicle? He was looking for you earlier,” Clint spoke up. “Go talk to him.”

“Clint…”

“Come on! Just talk to him. It’s not like you’re some teenage fangirl terrified out of your mind to even look in his direction.”

“Fine,” you huffed, standing up. “See you guys later?”

“See you,” the two men said in unison as you walked away.

Your eyes scanned the room for Steve’s familiar broad-shouldered figure. They finally land on him, standing in the corner with a crystalline champagne glass in his hand, standing next to Bucky with a faint smile on his face. 

You take one look at him and you swear your heart stops. He was literally the human form of perfection. The black suit he wore only further accentuated his lean, athletic build, with chiseled features and a sharp jawline that had to be sculpted by the gods themselves. Your mouth practically waters at the sight of him. The collar of his shirt is rolled down slightly, holy crap- and his eyes- they seemed to be shining even more brightly tonight, if that was even possible. They made you swoon, and you never swooned. The effect this man had on you… 

As soon as he met your gaze, he couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across his face. His eyes immediately brightened at the sight of you standing there in your shimmery, gold gown, his heartbeat picking up speed. 

He gave you a quick once-over before looking straight back into your eyes. “Hey, doll. You look...amazing.”

“Thanks,” you chuckled lightly, feeling your face flush, “you look great, too, Captain.”

Bucky cleared his throat. “So you’re not gonna make a comment on my appearance, huh Y/N?”

“Oh! Sorry,” you apologized, “Bucky! You look so...different!”

“Decided to go back to that old 40’s look. Tony insisted on it and I caved, so here we are,” he explained, gesturing to his clean-shaven face. “What do you think?”

“You look great,” you beamed. 

“Romanoff pick out your dress?” You nodded, and he made a little ‘ah’ in realization. “She has good taste.”

“I know. I never would’ve found this on my own. Hope Tony doesn’t mind losing 2 grand from his credit card.”

“He won’t. Uh, anyways...I’m gonna go join Clint over there for our pool rematch. We have at least fifty bucks on the line now that Strange and Quill are joining in,” he motioned behind him to show Dr. Strange and Peter Quill arguing over how much money should be put in. “Catch you guys later?”

“Sure,” you nodded. “See you later.”

You turned back to Steve to see his baby blue eyes still boring into you. Normally you’d feel like shrinking away underneath his gaze but instead, you hold your head high and maintain the friendly smile on your face. 

“So, how’s the party been going for you so far?”

“Other than Tony ditching me to DJ, I’m great,” you laughed, “and you?”

“Parties aren’t really my style, but I decided, why not just let loose for tonight?” he replied, “It’s Christmas. There’s no need to be in a foul mood.”

“I mean, you can’t possibly stay grumpy when you’re watching Peter and Shuri battle it out on the dance floor.” He glanced in the direction you were looking at to see in fact, Peter and Shuri, holding a dance-off as several people cheered them on.

“Staying on that topic…” he paused for a moment before speaking, holding his hand out to you, “may I have this dance?”

“Of course, Captain,” you give him a goofy grin as you took his hand and he leads you to the dance floor. Once the two of you arrive at the center, the crowd immediately parts to make room and the music immediately switches from a fast-paced pop tune to something much slower. 

Steve doesn’t hesitate to pull you into his arms, pressing you close to his body. Right away you’re hit with his fresh scent of berry aftershave and pine, and clean linen. You find yourself leaning into him as he gently places his hands on your waist and your arms loosely wrap around his neck, swaying gently to the beat of the music. 

“You’re pretty good, if I do say so myself,” you comment, sending him a flirty wink. He laughs in response, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he does so. 

“You’re not so bad at this, either,” he grins, the intensity of his gaze making your breath catch in your throat. He twirls you outward before bringing you back in, quickly catching you around the waist again. “You’re very light on your feet.”

You continued to dance and twirl around the floor, onlookers thinking to themselves that this most certainly wasn’t the first time you’d done something like this before. The lights overhead twinkled with each step you took as you spun around in delicate circles, the gold of your dress glittering brightly. With the feeling of Steve’s warm hand on your back and your feet gliding smoothly across the floor, it felt as if the only people in the world at that moment was just you and him, no one else. You’re too busy to realize everyone’s stopped what they were doing to watch you two. Like Cinderella and her Prince Charming, Hercules and Megara, Beauty and the Beast - you had everyone believing you were a match made in heaven.

You’re not sure how long you stay wrapped up in each others’ arms for. Maybe it’s about half an hour later when the music switches again that you finally snap out of your trances.

“That was nice. Thank you,” you gave Steve a single nod. “I had fun.”

“Likewise, Y/N,” he looks you square in the eye as he gives you yet another million-dollar smile. Oh my god, his smile-

You make your way over together, his hand still on the small of your back, to where the rest of the OG Avengers were seated around the couches.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the lovebirds themselves,” Sam smirked as you sat down, Steve putting his arm around the couch right behind your head. “Saw your romantic little moment back there.”

You rolled your eyes. “Lovebirds, my ass.”

“Language,” Steve teased, nudging you in the side. You shot him a ‘look.’

“Well, you’ve been quite the eye-catcher tonight,” Natasha folded her hands in her lap, nodding in approval as she observed your appearance. “If I were Rogers, I’d take you out on a date right away. Or if I were a man in general, I’d just straight up marry you.”

“Nat, with the way we act around one another, some people think we’re already married.”

“Touche.”

“Ooh, damn,” Clint let out a low wolf-whistle, twirling his drumsticks around his fingers. “Sounds like someone’s hot property.”

“Shut it, Barton,” you gave him a death glare. 

 “Okay, anyone against Y/N and Cap being a couple, please raise your hand,” Pietro announced, and when nobody raised their hands, he pointed at you. “See! No one’s objecting. You’d make an amazing couple.”

"No."

"Yes."

"Why are you guys so determined?"

"This ship has to happen. It is not going to die. Not on my watch," Sam declared. 

“What even is a ship-” Steve began, but was unable to finish his sentence as Maria Hill was approaching your group. 

"Merry Christmas! So I've heard this is the new power couple," she said  as she made her way over and sat down as well. "How's it going?"

“Ooh, another ship member!" Clint pumped his fist up in the air. 

"Damn right," Sam gave Hill a thumbs-up.

"Of course I'm on board," she smiled. "I'm all for it."

You let out an exasperated sigh. "Seriously. What is it with you guys and shipping people together?"

"It's 'cause y'all cute," Sam wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Y'all really gotta be cute like that. My heart can’t take it."

"Y/N," Steve noticed that you were looking uncomfortable and jerked his thumb behind the two of you, "want to go get some soda or something to eat?"

"Uh, yeah," you let out a sigh, brushing out your dress, "yeah. That'd be great."

"Don't have too much fun!" Tony called after you.

"Remember to stay safe and use protection, guys!" Clint cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted.

… 

“Well, that was chaotic,” you breathed out as you took a sip of your champagne before setting it down on the counter. “I’m honestly not even surprised by the team, anymore...kinda got used to it.”

“Yeah, you grow immune to the jokes after a while,” he shrugged. 

“You know…” you thought for a moment, a wistful yet sad smile appearing on your face as you looked out ahead, "Mom always got so excited around Christmas Eve. She wasn’t a huge alcohol lover, but made an exception for champagne. And hot chocolate. No matter how cold or warm it got during the month, she had one mug of it every day-" 

You stopped for a moment to compose yourself again. "And Dad---he would make us sing along to every single Christmas track that came on the radio."

"Hey, are you alright?" Steve's brow furrowed in concern as he placed a hand on your forearm. 

"I'm okay," you smiled sadly. "I just really miss them."

“I know. I miss my parents, too. My mother...she’d love you, you know. Ma always talked about having another daughter, but was unable to. Loved hot chocolate, like your mother…and never missed the chance to catch the sunrise or sunset, no matter the occasion.”

“She sounds like an amazing person,” you looked up at him. 

“She was.”

You spent another hour or so talking together, feeling the tension lift from your shoulders with each passing minute. Talking to Steve came so naturally so often- that was why, when you couldn’t fall asleep at night, would go out to the balcony with him and talk until the sun rose. You just continued your conversation, until giggles and whispers interrupted your chatter.

"What do you want, guys," you rolled your eyes at the team, arms crossed and smirking at you and Steve. Shuri especially, had a rather evil grin on her face, and so did Clint, Bucky, and Sam. 

"No...what they're trying to say is...uh..." Steve scratched the back of his neck and with an awkward chuckle, pointed to the mistletoe hanging above your heads. 

"Mistletoe," you said softly, feeling your face heat up. 

"Yeah," he spoke in a quiet voice, a light pink shade dusting his cheeks. 

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" the entire room began to chant.

"Rules are rules! You're not leaving until you two kiss!" Clint sing-songed.

The air around you had suddenly grown thick with anticipation and suspense as everyone fell silent, waiting for what was to come next, your heart beating so fast that it was making it difficult for you to catch a breath. Your gaze slipped down to his lips so he took this as a cue to let his arms slowly snake around your waist and you placed your hands on his shoulders, feeling as if everything was all going in slow motion. 

Although the kiss didn't last very long, you made sure to take in every detail. His lips were so soft and warm, you could feel one of his hands on the small of your back as he pulled your closer, the other resting just below your shoulder blades, and you could feel the butterflies going wild in your stomach. Your heart was beating a million miles per hour, it seemed, and the sparks.

It could've been hours, or weeks, or even months until you finally broke apart but when you did, you were both grinning like fools and the team was trying their hardest to hold back their excited squeals.

"Merry Christmas," you whispered.

"Merry Christmas," he breathed out, before wrapping his arms around your waist again to bring you in a second time.

“Clint! Get up!” Sam lightly tapped the archer’s cheek. “Get up!”

“I think he’s dead.” Peter whispered. 

“No, he just passed out from shock,” Shuri shrugged, but then gave him a high five. “Anyway, good job, Pete! You did a pretty amazing job of hanging that up there in time.”

[carynsilver]

Favorite Fics: Darcy Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Things started going on that hurt my soul, and I just felt like, who cares about some fic recs when people are getting hurt? But… I don’t know. I still find solace and comfort in reading stories, even when things are hard—especially when things are hard. So, I finally felt like maybe it was time for another. If the fic writers out there are giving me escape, warm fuzzies, and enjoyment during these weird times, then they deserve some love directed back at them.

So far, I’ve listed my top 10 favorite Stucky, Drarry, and Stony fics. I love them all, but… that is a lot of dudes. I decided it was time for a little girl power in my fanfic recs. One of my favorite BAMF female characters is Darcy Lewis—one of the best and most under-rated, under-explored characters in the MCU.

I love Darcy as the every-girl who has the moxie and chutzpa to hold her own in a life full of superheroes. The girl tased the God of Thunder because he was freaking her out, for goodness sake! I love her being BFFs with Jane, being Thor’s lightening sister, and creating a found family. I love her living in the tower and caring for all the superheroes and science geniuses like they won’t care for themselves. There’s enough leeway in her backstory for fun twists, too, like being Jewish, or—one of my absolute faves—secretly being the daughter of Tony Stark.

There are a ton of good Darcy fics out there, but these are my top 10. Thank you, writers, for sharing these amazing stories with us!

Casa de Island Avengers by @inkbert

I clicked on this story because of WinterShock (Darcy/Bucky), which is a favorite ship of mine (I feel my love of Bucky has been previously discussed at length, lol), but it has become one of my favorite fics of all time. Not even just in the MCU—if I were listed my top five fanfics ever read, this one is on the list.

The concept is simple—post-Ultron, the Avengers started falling apart as a team, so Steve spearheads the effort to get them all on a two-week vacation to Tony’s private island in a last-ditch bonding effort. Every character (except Thor, but he does get some good screen time) has his or her own point of view for at least a chapter or two. Sometimes, this leads to characters sounding the same, but @inkbert really grounds each character in their own backstory and makes their inner monologues sound unique. Then, so many wacky hijinks ensue—camping, drinking, movie nights, girl bonding, sailing, pranks, and the most competitive game nights and challenges you’ve ever seen.

The ships included are Darcy/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, Pepper/Tony, and Clint/Wanda, but this story isn’t only about the ships. It’s about all these crazy characters bonding—found family at its finest. This is probably my favorite Darcy/Jane BFFs story ever, and the Bruce/Tony science bro connection is classic. The story is fully seated in cannon (up through Ultron and moving to the ccmpound), except no Clint/secret family and Pietro lives. Read it. Read it now! And if you enjoy it, there are several one-shots that follow, including a Wanda-centric one that shouldn’t be missed.

Best Supporting Soulmate by Valeris

I love a good soulmate fic, and this is an excellent one. The first thing your soulmate says to you is written on your skin, and there are both romantic and platonic soulmates. Darcy has Jane as a platonic soulmate, but it’s her other soulmate who made her life crazy before she even met them. What are you supposed to do when your soulmate’s first words to you are to let them die? 

The two primary ships in this fic are Wintershock and Stony, which work well together, but the story delves into a lot more relationships. I don’t love the whole amnesia trope in a Stucky fic because losing all that history and friendship hurts so much, but in a WinterShock fic, I have a real soft spot for Darcy being able to help post-HYDRA Bucky learn how to person again, and she does that in spades in this one. She also cultivates friendships with just about everyone in Avengers Tower and beyond. Darcy/Johnny Storm BFFs are amazing, and the deep friendship Darcy develops with Tony in this story gives me all the feels. This is a great version of BAMF Darcy who can see what the tortured characters need and is able to help them get there. And there is some interesting conflict with the Fantastic Four, as well.

This was one of the first, if not the first, WinterShock stories I ever read. I had been trying TaserHawk, but it wasn’t really my cuppa, and then somehow found this one and got hooked.

Road Trip of Champions by @leftennant

Natasha and Steve are going on a road trip. Steve wants Bucky to come with, but they feel like they need a fourth to make things even. Natasha bribes Darcy into coming with, and over the course of the trip, we get a lovely WinterShock romance. The road trip concept is fun, and Darcy and Bucky have a light enemies to friends to lovers vibe going on. Bucky is recovering, Darcy isn’t going to take anyone’s crap, and Natasha and Steve really just want a little private time along the way. And the bit at the end of the main story when they play paintball—classic and a scene that has stuck in my mind long after reading many other fics. The protective vibe Bucky has for Darcy after all this and how it even affects paintball is adorable. There are other one-shots in this ’verse as well that should not be missed. You might never think of lemons the same again.

Daybreak by @anogete

Anogete has a really good touch with snarky, caretaker Darcy. I love all her WinterShock stories, but this is the one that’s stuck with me the most. The concept of Darcy trying to help dismantle Bucky’s trigger words by creating new memories for each one was so compelling. The therapy aspect did give me pause (a personal thing; it is dealt with as respectfully as possible in the story), but it all works out in the end. The fact that I loved it so much despite a mild personal ping with the concept speaks to how well it’s written, honestly. :-) And, if this one isn’t to your taste, Anogete has plenty of great WinterShock to read, so definitely try one of them instead!

The Run ’Verse by themonkeycabal

Though it eventually becomes a WinterShock story, my favorite thing about this universe is the Tony-Stark-is-Darcy’s-father trope. This is probably my absolute favorite version of that relationship. There is also time travel, and BAMF Peggy Carter. And even though I don’t love the Darcy-becomes-a-Shield-agent thing as much as Darcy the Scientist Wrangler, this story has a great, cannon-compliant reason for why Tony, Clint, etc., weren’t able to come help Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Maria in CA:tWS. There are a ton of stories in this ’verse, and I enjoyed every single one. My favorite, though, is the one where Darcy and Tony go visit Howard’s forgotten secret bunker and have three generation’s-worth of overdue conversations.

A Morbid Taste for Ice by sitehound

This is probably my favorite TaserTricks story, though I haven’t read nearly as much Darcy/Loki as I have other Darcy ships. I think it’s because writing Loki in character and making it believable to me that Darcy would fall in love with him, especially post-Avengers 1, is a fine line. If the fic apologizes too much for Loki’s wrongdoing without enough repentance/reformation, I don’t buy that she would legit be able to fall for him, but, go too far on the redemption and Loki gets OOC.

This story hits all those beats pretty perfectly and combines them with the whole Darcy/Jane/Thor (and now Loki) found family thing, Thor/Loki brother angst, Jane/Darcy BFFs, and a really compelling murder mystery to boot. There is also an interesting subplot with Loki being what basically amounts to a magical mechanic that I found really interesting amidst the snark, romance, and mystery solving. I’m sad this writer only has the one story up because it is so good!

Bygone by @inkbert

This story is Shieldshock (Steve/Darcy), not WinterShock, so even though I do try to only choose one fic per author (mostly), I’m totally fine having two by @inkbert on this list. Besides, this fic is amazing, and it’s not like there are anyone’s rules to follow on these fic rec lists but my own, lol! This is hands down my favorite ShieldShock story ever. 

Jane’s experiment goes awry and sends Darcy into the past—specifically after Bucky left for basic but before he shipped out and Steve got tapped for Project Rebirth. Darcy ends up living with Rebecca and Mrs. Barnes, and she falls head over heels in love with tiny Steve, so much so that they get married despite not knowing what the future holds for her. Then, the night before Steve is going to report to basic, Darcy blips out again, and when she blips back in, Steve is dead. The rest of the story has Darcy blipping her way through time, making friends with Howard, Peggy, and the Howling Commandos. Ultimately, though, it’s her brother/sister relationship with Tony that is the most poignant, especially by the time they catch up to the present again. And Darcy is a complete BAMF the whole time—going on missions, learning to fly anything with wings, doing anything and everything to keep her found family together. This story also gave me a plan for what I would do if I were ever shot back into a timeline like this where I couldn’t sew or cook or make a living—become a typist… genius, Darce!

Their Hearts Said by @anogete

Another Anogete story because I just can’t resist. All her stories are really good, be they WinterShock, ShieldShock, or even her really good Loki/OC fic. I would definitely suggest giving all of them a try.

This ShieldShock story is my favorite post-Infinity War tale. It picks up a few weeks after the snap, with everyone grieving and trying to figure out what to do next. Steve is barely holding it together while the remaining Avengers try to figure out what they can do. After Jane and her family disappear, Darcy heads to Avengers Tower, hoping against hope that maybe Thor knows what’s going on. Darcy and Steve start sleeping together as more of an escape from the awfulness around them than anything else, but as the team works on a plan to save the day and bring everyone back, they develop real feelings for each other. There is also time travel and I really loved the minimalist way she wrote how the day was saved in this. It balanced well with the character stuff. This story is much preferable to End Game—too bad cannon didn’t go like this!

Good Madness by Em_Jaye

Normally, I prefer my Darcy embedded within the MCU cannon. I adore that every girl keeping up with superheroes thing. But, I do enjoy a good AU on occasion, and this is one of my faves. It’s ShieldShock and kid!fic. Darcy runs a bakery that was left to her by her mother (real You’ve Got Mail tones there, but no creepy identity porn), and Steve comes in for treats on occasion. One day, he brings his daughter, and the rest is history. I love the Steve/Darcy romance in this one, and Steve’s daughter is a sweet character. I love the Full House thing Steve has going on co-raising his daughter with Bucky and Sam. And there is a nice Bucky/Natasha subplot and some really good Tony, which I would say more about except that I don’t want to spoil the surprise. My favorite story in the series is the five rules one at the end, so definitely keep going long enough for that. And if you like Em_Jaye’s writing, you should check out The Long Way Around—a Shieldshock, time travel, Endgame fix-it WIP that is excellent, as well.

One Year by @steeleholtingon

This story is WinterShieldShock. OT3s aren’t my favorite trope, but somehow with Bucky/Darcy/Steve, it works. Maybe it’s something about the boys’ history and Darcy dragging them into the future. Kind of what she does for each of them individually in WinterShock and ShieldShock, but with even more oomph. I haven’t read the whole tag, but One Year is my favorite.

Bucky’s Winter Soldier recovery has pushed both Steve and Bucky to the edge. Steve ends up leaving (at Bucky’s demand, but also because the team is afraid he’s going to do some kind of suicide via superhero duty if he doesn’t get his head on straight). The wrinkle—the night before he left, Darcy and Steve had a comforting one-night stand that resulted in two pinks lines on the test. The resulting story takes place one month at a time. Steve tries to piece himself back together and put his feelings for Bucky in the past whilst falling for Darcy over text messages. Bucky, on the other hand, realizes how he fucked it all up and vows to be there for Darcy and Steve’s baby while Steve is gone. Darcy navigates the waters of an unplanned (but wanted) pregnancy while balancing her feelings for both of them. And all the rest of the Avengers, science crew, and other Avengers-adjacent peeps support all three of them through it all. Angst, recovery, and a happy ending. So good!

So, after all that, what are you guys waiting for? Get to reading all this Darcy goodness! :-)

And now I need to figure out what fic rec list to work on next. I have a Stranger Things one (Harringrove and Mileven) almost ready to go, and then I need to decide what to do with the ships and characters that I don’t have a full top ten for. Group them together, perhaps? Bughead and LoVe might be a good combination, lol. And WinterHawk and WinterIron.

[huaanonigiri]

guys I'll say this one and I don't take criticism, or anything bc I won't change my mind. But Wanda Maximoff is the most powerful being in the MCU that I know of. Let me expalin: like many other heroes in Marvel, she's got a lot, and seriously, A LOT of trauma that have characterized her and made her who she is,we know that right? so, my argument is: Wanda, even after all she's been through, after losing everything she held close to her heart was taken away from her, has managed not to only stay strong, but to show just how strong and how much she can do even at her worst. For example, after loosing Pietro, we can see how, when she had her breakdown while fighting, she kinda like, activated some type of power wave that destroyed all the robots around her (rrwatch that scene if you don't get what I mean). Then we have Inifnity war. My girl literally managed not only to stop/greatly slow Thanos from advancing while breaking a FUCKING INFINITY STONE while ALSO killing her love (and the last person that she held close to her heart), which caused her to literally have an emotional breakdown literally in the middle of all of this scene, and she managed to achieve that goal of sacrificing her love and break the Mind Stone before Thanos could get to it. and not to add that she had to Watch Visión die by both hers and Tganos' hands, since Tahnos sued the Time Stone to reverse time and all that (which FOEDNT INVALIDATE and all the fact that Wanda managed to successfully stop him and destroying the mind stone while having an emotional breakdown and experienced a traumatic event). Not only that, but, because of her emotional state, she managed to create her own fake/desired reality of a whole ass town (BEING FUCKING UNCONSCIOUS THAT SHE HERSELF DID IT, SHE HONESTLY DIDN'T KNOW WTF WAS GOING ON UNTILL LIKE, MID SEASON1). She also managed to fight an idk-how-old-but-surely-really-old witch that held a lot of knowledge about witchcraft (or well, the magic they possessed), more than heldef, who didn't even consider herself a witch, and come out victorious (and is currently learning from a surely-dangerous-that-contains-dark-spells spells book). what I mean to say is, Wanda, inher average, controlled emotional state, is very powerful itself, but when mixed with intense emotions she becomes a being so fesrfulling yet amazingly powerful.

Now, I'm sure many of you will come at me with soemthing about Thor or some other avenger. But let me argue with this: Wanda managed to unbalance Thor in AoU with her mind manipulation. Also, clearly has lost as much things as Wanda has, and I'm not trying to invalidate him, bc it's not about that, but he has something that she doesn't have: he has a new family, if I remember well after End Game he kinda joined (or went with) the Guardians of the Galaxy (but correct me if I'm wrong please). What I mean to say (regardless of who he ended up with), Thor was not left alone and found a place and people to be with. Meanwhile Wanda was all by herself: Steve: Dead. Natasha: Dead. Clint: unknown but surely being with his family and mourning Nat. Sam and Bucky (who were part of the CAP. Team so surely they must e bonded one way or another): not as close as the first three (I like to think she had a closer relationship with Nat and Clint, but still, even if that's not the case Clint had his own struggling and Idk why or how, but they separated paths, so that's that). She practically lost everyone who she held closest to her heart: Parents, Pietro, Vission, HER SONS! She was left to grief on her own with no one to reach to her, and while Thor has indeed lost the same things as her, he either already mourned them or (specifically in Loki's case) already knows how to deal with. But Wanda? no, she lost loved one after loved one. When she lost her parents, she only had her brother, and when she lost her brother she found love in Vision, died twice in a row (literally) in front of he, and after her fake/desired reality was broken because she unintentionally was hurting other and knew she had to stop, meanignt hat she didn't only had to let go of Vision, AGAIN, but also of her twin sons, of her PERFECT, HAPPY LIFE. Also, Thor is a God, so he obviously will be more powerful than mere humans, but that's the thing. For a simple human such as Wanda to be so fucking powerful, especially when her emotions are out of control (or even being aware of what she does), clesrly tells ME (and I enphasise in ME bc it's my opinion) that she is one of the lost powerful beings in the whole MCU (also, Thor missed killing Thanos the first time just bc he wanted to have some quick revenge talk, which was a mistake, and when he DID kill Thanos, it was never a real fight like in the end of Infinity War and End Game, so I wouldn't really count that. Meanwhile, I'm sure that Wanda wouldn't have hesitated even a bit, fuck revenge talk, decapitate the grape the moment the opportunity presents itself).

Also, if someone is going to mention Captain Marvel, my argument fort hat debate is that, as far as I know, CAP hasn't gone through the same thing as Wanda (unlike Thor), and her powers are always like, under control, because honestly, when you see when someone has true, strong power is when hey loose control of it (like when Wanda created her own fucking reality and mad eit what she wanted, which I really relate it with the Reality stone, but that's a talk for another day). What I mean to say is, Captain Marvel is strong, but when it comes to power, I honestly think Wanda has the upper hand 6and same with Thor, she's got the upper hand on both)

And this, people, is my analysis and explanation on why Wanda is the most powerful Avenger and character in the whole MCU (of what I've seen, since I havent like, watched or read ALL of what Marvel has). As I said, I take no criticism and I will not change my mind, also, this is MY PERSONAL OPINION, and I'm saying this bc I already see some ppl coming at me as I said the most insulting thing (everyone has opinions, and this is mine). So, all THAT being said, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[diaryofabeautyfiend]

Small Time Witch (14)

Yours and Steve’s relationship was blissfully uncomplicated. You actually had a lot in common as far as movies and music you both enjoyed. You liked a lot of the same foods but he was also adventurous when it came to trying things. You loved all of his friends of course so it was never an issue when he wanted to hang out with them. You had your own relationships with each of them. It was especially a relief to Steve when you and Bucky bonded. He often found you two passed out on the couch surrounded by junk food wrappers. He secretly loved your relationship with Bucky.

It was a little contentious at first. He didn’t enjoy the fact that you wore the bracelet Loki gave you all the damn time. But he was gone so he got over it. Tony suggested he buy you something you wouldn’t take off. Being ever practical he bought you a watch for your birthday. The face of the watch was the same shade of blue as his eyes. This is very possibly the most expensive thing Steve had ever purchased. It was well worth it when your face lit up when you opened the box. You wore it every day.

You were a little jealous of his relationship with Sharon. She was his last link to Peggy. Of course you understood his reasoning for keeping her in his life. It didn’t mean she had to be invited to every event. He also wasn’t in charge of entertaining her either. Once you introduced her to Agent Gregory she was no longer an issue.

You fell into an easy routine where you worked and he worked. You ate dinner together. You went on dates. You spent time with friends. You were both very happy.

He said he loved you for the first time when he came home from a particularly long mission in Prague. The team got back very late and you were already asleep. Everyone was exhausted and retreated to their rooms. Steve’s room had a large window that bathed the entire place in silvery blue light. He normally had the blackout curtains drawn but you liked the windows open.

You had kicked off the blanket at some point leaving your body exposed to the moonlight. His heart melted when he saw you sleeping so peacefully. He noticed your wrist was also naked. The bracelet and a screwdriver were sitting on the bedside table. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He stripped down and crawled into bed. When you felt the mattress sag under his weight you rolled over to snuggle up to him. “Sorry I woke you.”

“S’okay, baby. Everyone make it back ok?”

“Yep. All good.” He rubbed your back and stared at your wrist. He didn’t want to bring it up. Taking it off had to be up to you. As long as you had it on there was always something in the air that he couldn’t quite figure out. Now that it was off it was like a fog was lifted. You felt more like his than ever before.

Without thinking he rolled you to your back and situated himself between your legs. “May I help you, Sir?” You smiled and ran your hands through his chest hair. He did not look like he was in a very playful mood. He bent down to kiss you. This one felt different than any other kiss. It was the kind of kiss that made your heart beat faster and your whole body feel warm.

“What was that?

“What do you mean?”

“That felt different.” He was quietly studying your face. He noticed every freckle every line every highlight and shadow. For the first time he realized your upper lip line was a little crooked and you had a faded scar on your forehead. He traced over it with his fingertip. Your eyes fluttered closed under his touch and your lips parted sightly.

“I love you” he whispered. His eyes were still roaming your face like he was seeing it for the first time.

“What did you say?” You were in shock.

“I said I love you.” You weren’t sure if you were physically capable of saying it back. He looked at you anticipating your words.

“I love you too.” He kissed you again. Each touch was gentle every movement felt new. Sex any other time was explosive but a means to and end for sure. The way he was touching you now was foreign to him. It felt special. He had never been with anyone like this before and will never be again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was a few months since you last heard from Loki. He never said he would keep in touch. Somehow, it always felt like he was around. The only people you could talk to about this were Thor and Wanda.

Wanda felt like you just missed him and wearing the bracelet (which was basically a handcuff) kept him around. “I’m sure the spell wasn’t just to protect the metal from the elements. He wants you to be able to feel him. He is a wedge in your relationship with Steve. You have to take it off to break the bond.”

That was all very true. Thor was a bit more practical. “If he’s back on Asgard he is no doubt asking Heimdall to watch you. If he’s still here on Midgard he probably is always around. He’s a shapeshifter. Weird black cat following you home? Probably Loki. Gnarled tree outside of your window? Probably Loki. I’d be surprised if he didn’t glamour your make up mirror so that he could see you anytime you used it. If I know my brother he probably linked himself to that bracelet. Take it off and he’ll magically be gone.”

All of this was likely true as well. The bracelet started feeling heavy on your wrist. The longer Steve was away the more aware you were that it was hanging there. By the tenth night you were alone in your bed you decided to have a chat with Loki. You weren’t sure he could hear you. He said if you needed him he would know. So you spoke out loud feeling less than confident. “Lok, I don’t know if you can hear me but, I have to take this off for a little while. I miss you so much but I have to move on.”

You grabbed the screw driver and fit it into the groove where the little gold one would fit. At first it wouldn’t budge. You thought you might have to have Tony melt it off or at least try some bolt cutters. You sighed in frustration. “Come on, Lok. I have to. Please.” You weren’t sure whether you were talking to him or the bracelet. You tried it one more time and it worked. Like magic. You slipped it off and tenderly touched each emerald before you set it down.

As soon as Steve hit the door you knew. The air was different when he walked in. You felt different. When he said he loved you you wanted to cry. Steve would be only the third man you had ever really loved. You felt guilty for even feeling how you felt. You knew the two of you were alone now. You certainly didn’t mean to fall in love with him. Yet, you did. You said it back and meant every syllable.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Loki searched high and low for a way to make you immortal. He found a few promising leads from a mystic in Niflheim that lead him to the elves in Alfheim. They gained immortality from the Yggdrasil. Speaking to one of the elders there Loki was asked to consider two possibilities.

“You can grant her immortality by binding her to your life force. A snippet of the Yggdrasil forged with part of yourself will let her live as you do. The problem with that is if either of you dies the other will follow. You are not impervious to death and neither is she. You also cannot force her to take the gift. She must choose to live forever. The alternative, dear boy, is to make yourself mortal.”

The thought made Loki queasy. “How do I do that?”

“There is a tree on Midgard called manzanilla de muerte. Apple of death. Highly poisonous for humans. For you, it makes you mortal. You just need a bit of the sap. Once ingested you will age as she does and die as she will.”

“Will I lose my abilities?”

“No. But you will be far more fragile. Do not make this decision lightly or in haste. Be sure that whatever you choose it is the right choice.” Loki took the snippet of tree and headed back to Asgard.

Yes, Heimdall was watching you. Loki did not always appreciate his honesty especially when you and Steve were in the throes of passion. On this day Heimdall said you looked perplexed. “She’s talking to you.”

“What does she say?” He listened closer.

“She’s taking off her bracelet.”

Loki felt like he was being kicked in the stomach. He wrapped his hand around the tiny screwdriver he wore around his neck. The spell he cast on the bracelet did keep you connected to him. He could feel your pulse your warmth. At times he smelled the spice of your perfume. When he removed the leather cord from around his neck he released you. “Heimdall I need to go to Midgard.”

“It doesn’t seem like she wants you there.”

“I’m not going to New York. I need to go to Florida. I’m looking for a tree.” Heimdall set him in a remote part of Florida. He had an idea where the tree was but before he could be on his way his phone rang.

“Mr. Laufeyson this is Alan. The house is ready. When can I hand over the keys?”

“I can be there in an hour if that’s alright.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be here finishing a few things. Look forward to showing you around. She’s a beaut.”

Loki got to the tree and carefully collected its milky white sap in a vile. Soon after he was navigating his way through the woods near your new home.

The light hit the house just as you saw in your vision. Alan saw him and waved him over.

“Alan you exceeded my expectations” he said as he handed him a bag of cash. “It’s all there. You can count it.”

“All of your payments have been correct to the penny. No reason for me to mistrust you now. Come on. Have a look around. The gardener finished this morning. Everything is to your specifications. The decorator had a hard time finding the table but we got it.”

Loki marveled at the craftsmanship. Every nook and cranny was exactly how you wanted it. Four perfect bedrooms. The master was large but still felt very cozy. A shower and a large soaker tub set on gryphons feet. Soon the ivy would overtake the window casting the most interesting shadows. He imagined laying in the bath with you washing your hair belly heavy with his child. It took his breath away.

“Alan you are a master at your craft. I so appreciate your attention to detail. We’ll be in touch when we’re ready to expand.”

“Yes, sir. Looking forward to working with you again.” He handed Loki the keys and showed himself out.

Loki decided to stay in the house for a while. He stowed the Yggdrasil cutting in the herb cabinet he had built into the wall of the kitchen and the sap in another drawer. He spent the better part of the day warding the house. Had you been there it would have made for lighter work. No matter. It was done and you could feel safe. When he went to bed he took off the tiny screwdriver from around his neck and set it on the bedside table. He couldn’t feel you anymore.

The next morning, when the light was just right, he took a picture of the perfect cottage set in the glen. He went down to the drugstore and had the picture printed onto a postcard. Next he went to the locksmith where he had the ornate key to the front door fabricated. Last was the post office where he sent off the package and a copy of the deed. “Until we meet again, Pet” he said as he dropped it into the box. He went back home to have tea in the garden across from the empty chair where he hoped one day soon he would see you worrying over a book.

[penpatronuswhump]

WHUMPTOBER 2020

No. 25

Fandom: Avengers

Whumpees: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton

Title: The One Where Tony, Steve, and Clint are Tortured 

By: PenPatronus // PenPatronusAooO 

It was a lovely dinner. Tony had it catered by the best restaurant in the city and hired waiters and waitresses to serve everyone. He invited the whole gang to the Tower: Steve, Bruce, Clint, Vision, Wanda, Natasha, Peter, Scott, Sam, Rhodey, Bucky, and Doctor Strange. Tony took a moment to look at everyone seated around the table and admire each of them. He was grateful for them. He’d never had so many friends in his life – friends who knew his sins and accepted him anyway. Friends he was proud to have at his table. Friends he was grateful to for coming to his table. For Thanksgiving he’d have to get a table twice the size so that everyone could bring their significant others and their kids.

 “Mr. Stark?” Peter caught Tony staring. “Mr. Stark, are you ok?”

 Tony grinned. He put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Never better,” he said, and he was surprised to find that he meant that. What was better than a great dinner with your best friends?

 “Mr. Stark, I was thinking… Every organization has a hierarchy, right? I’m probably at the bottom of this one—”

 “The very bottom, kid,” Stark confirmed with a smile.

 “Well, what can I do about that? I mean, what’s a guy gotta do around here to get promoted to, uh, sergeant or something?”

 “Well first,” Tony held up his empty glass, “you can get me more wine.”

 The blue-skinned, black-haired man who appeared in a spiral of red sparkles in front of the bar had sigils in his face that Tony recognized as Norse. His eyes were red, and he held a knife that was stained red. Steve and Clint instantly moved to Tony’s side at the head of the table as the being approached. Everyone else spread out behind them – if they had to use their weapons and powers on the intruder, they didn’t want to hit each other.

 “Where’s my brother?” the man asked with a baritone voice. “Where is Loki?”

 Everyone looked at Steve and Tony.

 “I traced his steps across the universe to this very room. Where is he?”

 It was Tony who took a step forward. “You know, you could introduce yourself. It’s just nice manners when you break into someone’s home. We’re the Avengers. It’s nice to meet you. And you are…?”

 “Helblindi, son of Laufey and Farbauti.”

 “Well I’m Tony, son of Howard and Maria, and I don’t remember inviting you to this dinner. So how about you throw some of that red confetti and zip on out of here.”

 “Until recently I didn’t know I had a brother. Now I can sense him – him and that Asgardian Thor.” Helblindi raised his knife. “Where are they?”

 “They’re not here,” said Steve. “It’s been years since Loki was here. You won’t find them, not on this planet.”

 “They didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address,” Clint chimed in.

 “Then summon them,” the frost being insisted.

 “We don’t know how to do that,” said Natasha from Clint’s right. She wasn’t lying. “We don’t know anything.”

 Helblindi pointed his knife at Nat. “Find Loki or Thor for me, or I’ll kill you.”

 Wanda summoned red magic around her hands. Strange encircled his wrists with golden cuffs. Rhodey, Natasha, Sam, and Clint took out the guns they had in their pockets. Peter and Scott bent at their knees, ready to pounce. Vision floated into the air and raised his palms.

 Helblindi held his red knife high. “I’ll return here in 72 of your hours. If you don’t have Thor or Loki, then these three men die.” Suddenly, he dropped the knife to the floor, and red light exploded across the room, knocking everyone over. Helblindi marched forward and pulled Clint to his feet by his throat. He did the same thing to Tony, holding the two of them above his head like trophies. Steve, disoriented, dove into tackle him, and that was when all four of them disappeared in a shower of red sparks.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter cried.

 “Clint!” Nat gasped.

 Sam ran to where Steve had been standing. “What happened? Where did he take them?”

 “It this creature is able to cross the universe, then he could be anywhere,” Strange pointed out.

 Nat turned to face the group. “Does anyone know where Thor is or how to contact him? Because, seriously, I don’t.”

 Nobody raised their hands.

 “Crap.”

 ---------

 Steve woke up in a cell the size of a queen-sized bed. He hung from the center of it by cuffs and chains that had all but cut off the circulation in his hands. He stood on shaky feet, fought past the dizziness, and looked around. Clint and Tony were also in bed-sized cages – Clint on Steve’s left and Tony on Steve’s right. Both men were unmoving. Across the room, a SHIELD symbol hung on the wall. Old, abandoned equipment sat everywhere – computers and carts of metal supplies and piles of unopened rations. An abandoned SHIELD base – but where? Steve wrestled with his cuffs and got nowhere.

 Helblindi was sitting on an empty crate, watching Cap come to. He flipped his red knife over and over in his hand. “Where is Loki?” he asked, frustration apparent. “Where is Thor?”

 Steve looked at his teammates. “Are my friends alive?”

 Helblindi stood up, still twirling his knife. “At the moment. Would you like to keep them that way?”

 Steve snorted. “What do you even want with Loki? Why are you looking for that monster?”

 The red knife was aimed at Steve’s throat. “Watch your mouth, mortal. That’s my brother you’re talking about. Don’t you have any brothers?”

 Steve almost said “no,” but then he thought of Bucky, of Sam and Tony and Bruce and Clint, and he said, “Yes.”

 “And you wouldn’t go searching across the universe for them?”

 “I wouldn’t kidnap and threaten to kill people to find them.”

 Helblindi smiled and shrugged in a very Loki-like manner. “To each their own.”

 Steve rolled his eyes. “How about this: the next time Thor stops by, we’ll tell him you’re looking for him and let him know what planet you’re on… As long as it’s not ours.”

 “I appreciate your attempt at compromise. And I might even consider it if I didn’t believe that you’re lying to me.”

 “We’re not lying. We really, truly do not know where Thor and Loki are. And holding my teammates and me here isn’t going to change that.”

 “Desperate people do desperate things,” said Helblindi. “Your teammates back at your base, knowing your lives are at stake, will suddenly find themselves thinking outside the box. They’ll figure out how to summon Thor or Loki and if they don’t, they’ll die, too.”

 ----------

 It was absurdly early in the morning when Jane Foster’s phone rang. Her phone only ever rang that early because of emergencies, so Jane answered it instantly. “Hello?”

 “Dr. Foster? This is Natasha Romanoff.”

 “Natasha—Oh! Yes, oh, yes. Miss Romanoff. Your, uh, reputation precedes you.”

 “As does yours, Doctor.” Nat was talking at breakneck speed. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Dr. Foster—”

 “Jane.”

 “Jane. I’m sorry to disturb you, Jane, but we need your help. Have you heard from Thor lately?”

 The speed of Jane’s heartbeat doubled. “No – no, I’m afraid not… Not for a long time.”

 “Did he leave any way to contact him? Some way to summon him if you needed him?”

 “Like his phone number?” Jane half-laughed. “No, sorry, no.”

 “Dammit.” Natasha sighed. “Jane, there’s something else. Has Thor ever been to your home?”

 “Yeah…? Why? What’s going on?”

 “Well, it turns out that Loki has a brother, and this brother of his is able to… sense, somehow, where Thor and Loki have been. This means that he might show up in your kitchen asking for Thor at any second. You have to get out of there.”

 Jane’s blood froze. “I’ll start packing.”

 “Ok. And while you’re packing – no longer than five minutes, Jane – while you’re packing, I need you to think up a list of anywhere else on earth Thor or Loki may have gone. We need to evac people from those places as soon as possible.”

 “I’m on it.”

 ----------

 Clint recognized where they were immediately when he woke up. He reported to Steve, who was hanging in the cage on his right, “When Loki did his mind control on me and a bunch of SHIELD operatives and scientists, this was sort of our headquarters. We took over this base.”

 Steve perked up a bit. “Where are we?”

 “Near the Jersey border. This place used to be a small airport.”

 Helblindi strutted over to Clint. “My brother can control minds? Fascinating.”

 Clint spat so hard that he hit Helblindi’s boots. “Your brother is an asshole who tried taking over this planet. We kicked his ass.”

 Helblindi’s eyes narrowed. “Did you, now…” He approached the bars to Clint’s cell and waved the knife at him. “Well, maybe I should get a little revenge for him…”

 “Then you’ll want to take it out on me,” Tony suddenly said. Steve and Clint pivoted right and saw Stark on his feet, swaying, but holding his ground. “Since I’m the one who blew up his ship and destroyed his entire army.”

 “Tony,” Steve cautioned.

 Tony ignored him. “You know that Tower you snatched us from? That was where he surrendered – such a loser.”

 Helblindi ignored Clint and went to Tony. He dragged the knife across the cell bars as he walked.

 “Tony.” Steve’s chains rattled as he tried to get out of them.

 Helblindi opened Tony’s cell and entered it, knife first. “What did you say about my brother?”

 “Well,” Tony sneered, “he lost, so he’s a loser, so I called him a loser. Your brother is a loser.”

 “I know you’re just saying these things to draw my attention away from your friend,” Helblindi said. He circled Tony like a hungry vulture. “It’s admirable, honestly. But you’ll still have to pay for those words.”

 “No!” Steve and Clint cried when Helblindi raised the knife and swung it at Tony. He slashed the inventor across his cheekbone, leaving a deep, bleeding cut. Tony didn’t make a sound. Blood rolled down to his chin.

 Helblindi grabbed Stark by the throat and glared at him with those red eyes. “What do you have to say now?”

 Tony glared back. “Give me a category.”

 Helblindi chuckled and let Tony go, sending him dropping backwards in his bonds. “Do you have a hobby, Tony?”

 Tony got back up on his feet. “Several. You want to learn how to crochet?”

 Helblindi sneered. The knife slashed again, this time from the corner of Tony’s mouth straight to his ear. “I have a hobby. It’s been a passion of mind. Family business, you might say. I wonder if my brother loves it as much as I do…”

 “You weren’t kidding when you said you crocheted that winter cap for Lila?” Clint asked Tony.

 “I wasn’t kidding,” Tony confirmed. “Well, I sort of did it. I designed a new type of knitting machine that—” Helblindi stopped Tony short when he whipped the knife for a third time, this time slicing Tony across the shoulder. “Ouch,” Tony growled, more annoyed than in pain.

 “Stop it,” Steve ordered in his most “captain” of voices.

 Helblindi turned his attention away from Tony. The moment his back was turned, Tony leapt up and wrapped his knees around his neck. He squeezed with all his might, pulling the frost being’s body closer so that he could smack that black-haired head with his own. To Tony’s dismay – and Steve and Clint’s – the being just chuckled. Slowly, as if he enjoyed the tension, he reached up, wrapped a hand around Tony’s left ankle, and twisted. They all heard the cracking sound as the ankle broke. Tony yelped and let go. Helblindi pivoted and smacked Tony across the mouth, punched him in the stomach, and clobbered him across the chin. Stark spat blood.

 “Stop!” Steve shouted. “He gets the point!”

 Helblindi locked Tony’s cell and moved into Steve’s. “What’s your name?”

 “Steve Rogers.”

 “Steve Rogers. Strong name, for a Teran. You’re the leader. I could tell by your posture back at the Tower. And by the way everyone looked at you. I respect leaders.” Helblindi cocked his blue head to the side. “Do you have a hobby, Steve?”

 “How about we skip to the part where you tell us what yours is?”

 Helblindi laughed. “Very well. Should I tell you or show you?”

 “Show—?” Steve was cut off when Helblindi sliced him down his arm from the inside of his elbow to his shoulder. He went right, then, and sliced a similar length down Cap’s ribs from his armpit down to his hipbone. Right when Helblindi went in to slice up Cap’s stomach was when Steve yanked down hard on the chains above him. The chains separated from the ceiling and fell straight down. Steve stepped backwards and they piled right down on Helblindi’s head, knocking him out. “CLINT!”

 Barton was already on it. He flipped his body upside down, raising his feet to his hands. He found the lockpick in his shoe and got out of his cuffs in record time. After getting out of his cell, he raced into Steve’s and freed him, then the pair moved to Tony. “About damn time,” Stark muttered, annoyed. “LOOK OUT!”

 The real Helblindi – not the faux version he’d cloned with his magic, as Loki liked to do – emerged from the shadows and kicked Steve in the back, sending both him and Barton into the cage with Tony. Then the frost being, having, unlike Loki, grown up being schooled on magic, used his to slam the three Avengers against the back wall of the cave and hold them there, surrounded by red sparkles. “Well, that was fun,” Helblindi said, smoothing back his black hair. He cracked his knuckles, walked into the cave, and kicked Barton in the stomach so hard that Clint nearly retched. He punched, then, giving Barton an instant black eye. Punch number two split open his lip. Punch number three busted his nose.

 Helblindi stepped back then and massaged his hand. “We have 70 more hours of this fun,” he said, grinning. “You three better get used to it.” Then, with a flair of his fingers that released the Avengers from being held against the wall, Helblindi locked the cage door and disappeared down the hall.

 ---------

 Dr. Erik Selvig answered his cell phone without looking to see who was calling. “Yes?” It was Natasha. They chatted. Selvig had no clue where Thor was, or how to find him. “Try praying,” he recommended.

 “Sir, we need to know every place that Loki and Thor may have been on this planet. It’s our only help to find them.”

 “What about that SHIELD base Loki had Barton and I in right before the attack on New York? The base where we perfected the tech and planned the attack on the Helicarrier?”

 “WHERE IS IT?”

 ----------

 Clint and Steve could only watch – and also try not to watch – as Helblindi surrounded Tony with red sparks and lifted his body up into the air. Lightning flashed beneath Stark’s clothes. Blood dripped from his fingernails. His limbs shook with pain.

 Steve couldn’t stand it. “Me!” he shouted. “Take me!”

 Helblindi grinned as Tony squirmed. “Are you begging?” he asked Cap. “Are you begging me?”

 Steve didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Yes, I’m begging you to take me instead. I’m begging.”

 Tony dropped to the floor of the cell. His eyes were open and twitching. His hands trembled and his legs stretched, retracted, then stretched again as he fought through cramps, bruises, and fire. Helblindi approached the cage. “You know what most people don’t understand about torture, Steve Rogers? It’s the psychological torture that’s most enjoyable. Watching leaders like you, men responsible for other men, look so helpless…” Helblindi rolled his eyes back and smiled wider. “Delicious.” Before Steve could comment, Helblindi pointed his knife at Clint. The unleashed magic lifted Barton from the cell floor just like Tony.

 Clint screamed.

 ----------

 Sam landed the Quinjet a hundred yards away from the target. The team had worked together so much that they no longer needed words. They just started running the minute they left the ship, pairing up, going up and left and right, ready to attack the compound from every angle. Vision, Wanda, Peter, Scott, Sam, Rhodey, Bucky, Bruce, and Strange waited for Natasha’s signal.

 --------

 Helblindi my have knocked him out, Steve decided, because he certainly didn’t remember lying on his side to take a nap. But he woke up from a restless sleep in one corner of the cage. Tony was on his right and Barton was on his left, both lying on their backs. Both bleeding from a hundred different places. Both looking at Steve with lifeless eyes.

 Lifeless.

 The noise that came out of Steve’s chest was part-sob, part roar. He crawled on his hands and knees over to Tony’s prone body and shook Stark by the shoulders. “Tony? Tony! Oh, God, no…” He crawled to Clint and shook him, too. Again, nothing. Barton was dead. Eyes dry, but still sobbing, Steve went back to Tony and put his hands on either side of his friend’s face. “Dammit, no, wake up, WAKE UP!”

 Steve collapsed back on his butt and put his face in his hands. He’d failed his team. Clint and Tony were dead. He didn’t save them. Steve fell over to the right, directly onto Tony’s lifeless chest, and that’s where the tears poured.

 “Cap,” someone whispered. Steve looked up. As soon as he did, the fake bodies beside him disappeared. Tony and Clint – though they looked like corpses – were perfectly alive and sitting side by side at the rear of the cage. “Cap, it’s not real. He’s making you see things,” Tony told him.

 “Oh, God…” Steve gasped. He crawled over to his friends, put a knee between them and wrapped his left arm around Clint and his right around Tony. “Oh, thank God…” Barton and Stark hugged him back.

 A cackle. Helblindi was watching from outside the cell. The son of a bitch was eating popcorn. “You three are adorable,” he mocked. “Honestly. I’ve tortured people to death before and you three are just the most fun I’ve ever had.”

 Steve wiped his eyes dry. He stood, then turned to face the frost being. “Our team’s coming for us,” he told Helblindi. “And when they see the shape you’ve left us in, they’re going to be pissed.”

 Helblindi approached the cage door and so did Cap. “I hope so,” the frost being said, “because it would be nice to have a fair fight.”

 “Oh, there’s going to be a fight,” Steve assured him. “And that fight will end when I snap your neck.”

 Helblindi raised his knife again. “We’ll see about that.”

 All three of them – Tony, Clint, and Steve were lifted into the air by the red magic. Their bodies sizzled, cracked, and burned.

 None of them could resist screaming.

 It was then, right when Helblindi was enjoying his hobby the most, that two legs kicked in the door at the end of the hallway. Vision and Wanda entered and hit Helblindi with an absolute tidal wave of red and yellow energy. The frost being was knocked off guard. His magic broke and Steve, Clint, and Tony fell to the floor. None of them moved.

 Strange came through the door on the opposite side of the hall. He hit Helblindi with blasts of golden light. Simultaneously, Sam and Rhodey aimed their guns down from the rafters and unloaded them into the frost being. On the floor, dropping in from the vents, Bucky and Natasha aimed and fired their weapons, too. And then fingers pried open the roof like a can of tuna and tossed it aside like a frisbee. Scott waited a second for the others to get clear, and then he slammed his foot down directly on Helblindi.

 Peter and Bruce busted into the cage. “Oh, God,” Bruce exhaled when he saw the state that Steve, Clint, and Tony were in. “Are… Are they even alive?”

 Peter rushed to Tony and knelt beside him. “M-Mr. Stark?” He touched his mentor’s shoulder, rolling him onto his back. “Mr. Stark, can you hear me? TONY?”

 The place exploded in red sparks. Peter and Bruce ended up in a dogpile with Clint, Steve, and Tony. Scott was thrown up and out of the building. The others were knocked back against doors and walls. Only half of them got back up on their feet.

 Helblindi wiped imaginary dirt off his shoulder. “Is that the best you’ve got?” he laughed from the middle of a tornado of sparks. He marched into the cage and pulled Tony out of it by his neck. Once he was sure that every eye in the room was on him, he held his red knife to Tony’s throat. Tony was conscious, but barely. He was only on his feet because the frost being held him there. Helblindi shouted, “Last chance! Where is Loki? Where is Thor?”

 A flash of light outside. A roar of color suddenly descended into the room. Even Helblindi needed to shield his eyes. The light retreated into the shape of a person and there, hovering in the center of the base, was a very, very pissed off Carol Danvers. She pointed her fists at Helblindi. “Let him go.”

 “What in Hel are you?” the frost being asked, shocked. He let go of Tony. Stark collapsed to his knees. Unable to find the strength to catch himself, Tony fell forward and landed facedown, spreadeagled. Helblindi kicked him aside on his approach to Captain Marvel. “You’re nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

 “I’m the last thing you’re going to see,” she threatened, “if you don’t leave this planet right now, and never return again.”

 “You’re a goddess,” Helblindi exhaled, in awe. He walked gradually forward as if approaching an altar in a church. “You should be worshipped.”

 Carol landed on the floor and put her arms at her side. “Leave,” she ordered again. “Now.”

 Helblindi spread his palms out and bowed. “A queen,” he decided. “I’ll call you a queen—!” Red sparks exploded from his hands.

 Carol was ready. She reflected the magic right back at Helblindi. The frost being screamed and melted from his own magic.

 It was over.

 “Thanks Carol,” Nat said, breathless, as she rushed by to get to Clint. She practically fell on top of him, and he groaned in pain. “Sorry,” Nat said, flushed and frantic. Her fingers fluttered all over his body, but she found nowhere to touch him that wasn’t bleeding or bruised. “Barton, I’m so sorry… We tried to find you, we tried so hard.”

 “It’s all right, Nat,” Clint said between swollen lips. “It’s all right.”

 Bruce helped Steve sit up. “We gotta get you to a hospital,” Banner concluded.

 Steve wiped his face. “Is T – Is Tony ok?”

 Peter got to Stark first. “Sir?”

 A disoriented Tony opened bruised eyelids. “Hey, kid.”

 Peter’s hands shook. “Hey, Mr. Stark. Are you ok, Sir?”

 Tony looked at him. He didn’t even try to move – or couldn’t. “You know I’m proud of you, right, Pete?”

 Peter didn’t like the sound of that, and neither did any of the Avengers who were crowding around the pair. “Mr. Stark…”

 Tony looked up at his teammates – at Steve and Bruce, Clint and Nat, Sam and Rhodey… “Thanks for coming to my table,” he whispered. And then Tony’s eyes rolled backwards into his skull and he went silent.

 ----------

 Tony woke up alone. He resented that. No one should wake up in a hospital alone.

 A toilet flushed nearby. Steve exited the bathroom. “Oh,” Tony said. “There you are.”

 “Here I am,” said Steve. “How’s that kidney feel?”

 “What’s that?” Tony sat up in bed and poked his body all over. “Kidney?”

 “Here.” Steve gently pulled up Tony’s shirt and revealed a bandage on his left side. “Some of our organs got a little fried. Clint has part of Sam’s liver and you have one of Parker’s kidneys.”

 “The kid gave me an organ?” Tony bellowed. He turned to the door where he was sure, now, that his friends were waiting, out in the hallway. “PARKER!”

 Peter entered with a guilty face. He was in a hospital gown, bandaged up in the same place as Tony. “Yes, Mr. Stark?”

 “YOU…” Tony shook his fist at his young protégé. Then a forefinger pointed out from the fist. “You… Are promoted.”

 Peter beamed.

 The End

[swan-of-sunrise]

Spellbinding (Chapter Five)

Summary: After a flirtatious sparring session with Loki and a troubling encounter with Peter Parker, (Y/N) confronts Tony and struggles to control her magic around the billionaire.

Pairing: Loki X Reader

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter Five June 10th, 2015 Avengers Tower, New York City (Previous Chapter)

The sound of the arrow hitting the edge of the bullseye was overshadowed by the loud applause filling the cavernous weapons training room. Grinning triumphantly, (Y/N) lowered her bow and headed over to the two figures standing near the doorway.

“Nice job, (Y/L/N)! You’re comin’ along pretty good!” Clint patted her on the back, a playful smirk on his face. “Not as good as me, obviously, but pretty good.”

Natasha gave him a small shove. “Clint, be nice!” He only giggled to himself and she gave (Y/N) a kind smile. “You’re doing really well, (Y/N). Maybe you could replace this idiot as the team’s resident archer someday.” Over the past couple of months, the two women had slowly gotten to know one another; Natasha was almost always away on missions but whenever she was free, they bonded over their training sessions and their statuses as the only female Avengers on the team.

(Y/N) chuckled. “That’s okay, I’ll let Hawkeye here keep his job; besides, I have a feeling I’ll be even more comfortable with a sword than a bow.” She set her bow back on the weapons rack and picked up a familiar blade. The hilt was decorated with intricately designed etchings, and it felt perfectly balanced in her hand; Loki, with Bruce’s help, had created it for her in the lab, explaining that it would be better to learn swordsmanship with a well-matched blade and that it would be easier to create one rather than search for the perfect fit. It really does feel natural, she thought with a smile, easily twirling the sword around in her hand. “Do either of you know when Loki’s coming down for practice?”

“Nope, haven’t seen him since breakfast.” Checking his watch, Clint’s eyes widened almost comically. “Shit, we’re late for that meeting, Tasha, Fury’s gonna kick our asses! We’ll see you later, (Y/L/N)!” He grabbed Natasha’s arm and began dragging her out of the room.

“Good luck with your first sword fighting lesson, (Y/N)!” Natasha called over her shoulder as she and Clint left and sprinted down the hall, desperate not to be reprimanded by Director Fury yet again. “Ow, quit trying to pull my arm out of its socket, asshat!”

Giggling, (Y/N) wandered around the room and occasionally swung her sword, silently enjoying the sounds it made as it cut through the air. She was excited when Loki and Steve told her she’d begin training with a bow and sword; she’d never told anyone before, but guns made her nervous and she was glad she’d never have to use one. And she couldn’t help but feel that learning to use the weapons of her mother’s culture would bring her closer to her somehow, but she was too embarrassed to say it aloud. The others might scoff at her sentimentality, but she knew that Loki would never do that.

At the thought of her best friend, she sighed in frustration and began pacing around the room with more purpose. It was becoming harder and harder to suppress her feelings for him, especially after he helped her through that horrible day two weeks prior, but she was determined not to lose the fight for their friendship. Shifting his focus from romantic literature to mystery novels certainly helped; it was easier to set her feelings aside as he read aloud from novels such as The Hound of Baskerville than when he read aloud from ones like Sense and Sensibility. Maybe I should have him read Mary Shelly next, she thought with an amused smile, that’ll really calm the romantic thoughts.

But just as she reached the opposite side of the room, an unsettling feeling put her senses on high alert. Quickly spinning around, she brought her sword up just in time to meet her attacker’s blade with a reverberating clang.

“Your senses are improving, Lady (Y/N),” Loki grinned, pushing her blade away with his own and stepping back. “I’m impressed.”

Before she could reply, he swung his sword at her abdomen and she was quick to clumsily swipe the attack away and block his next from clipping her shoulder. “I thought we were having a formal lesson today?”

Her best friend shrugged as they started to circle one another. “We were, but I concluded that unlike magic, swordplay doesn’t need to be taught formally. You have generations of Light Elf blood flowing through your veins, which means that you already possess a natural skill with swords; besides, I feel that using weapons takes considerably less concentration and caution that using magic.”

“Oh, I don’t know, if I wasn’t concentrating right now I’d never realize that you’re only trying to distract me.” She suddenly raised her sword and swung, but Loki disappeared as soon as the blade made contact with his; a heartbeat later, the cool edge of a training knife was at her throat and a sword-wielding arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her securely against a strong form. “Clever, Loki…”

“My brother isn’t the only Asgardian-trained warrior in this tower, you know.” His warm breath tickled the side of her neck, and (Y/N) swore she could feel his nose nuzzle into her hair while her heart fluttered in her chest. “Now, try and break free of-”

Before he could finish his sentence, she elbowed him hard in the stomach and used his surprise to duck under his loosened arm, quickly straightening and parring away his fast sword strike. “You mean like that?”

“Precisely,” Loki sheathed the dagger and twirled his sword in his hand, an amused gleam in his green eyes. “Now, let’s see what else you can do.”

For the next half hour, they were at a stalemate; neither of them had been able to disarm or knock the other down, no matter how hard they tried, but (Y/N) knew she was tiring. Her strikes were becoming slower, it was becoming much harder to dodge his attacks, and she had a nasty feeling that Loki would quickly take advantage of her weakness at any minute. In desperation, she parried his sword away and swung hers at his head, but she immediately regretted her action; Loki easily blocked the strike and used his sword to twist hers out of her hand. It landed on the ground with a loud clang, and before she could reach for it, he kicked her leg out from under her and she landed harshly on her back. A moment later, he was hovering above her, one hand pinning both of hers above her head and the other holding his sword to her throat. The sounds of their heavy breathing filled the silence of the room, and (Y/N) couldn’t help but giggle in equal amounts of amusement and embarrassment.

“Well, it looks as though you’ve won fair and square, Loki. I’d shake your hand, but they’re a little preoccupied at the moment.”

Loki’s triumphant grin widened at her joke. “Your apology is accepted, Lady (Y/N), though I personally prefer your hands right where they are.” When she gave him a questioning look, he continued. “Now I can finally enact my revenge upon you for your heinous crime. You know which one, of course.”

(Y/N)’s eyes widened and she began struggling against him. “L-Loki, I told you, it was a complete accident, Steve and Bucky were there, they’ll tell you the exact same thing…!”

“I’m not quite sure that I believe your story; you’re telling me that the other day at dinner, you accidentally tripped over Steve’s foot, you accidentally fell on me and you accidentally began tickling me? You have to admit, it doesn’t sound very convincing.”

She tried in vain not to smile guiltily as he spoke. The truth was that she was curious whether the Asgardian was ticklish or not, so when she noticed Steve’s foot sticking out from under the table she decided to test out her theory. It turned out that the Asgardian did make the same sounds as the Pillsbury Dough-Boy when tickled, just as she suspected. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, Loki!”

“Lady (Y/N), you should know by now not to lie to the God of Mischief.”

In one quick movement, he tossed his sword to the side and attacked her stomach with his free hand. She shrieked with laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks as she squirmed under him. She felt his hold on her wrists loosening, so she hurriedly tugged a hand free and began tickling him back. As expected, he laughed loudly, the cheerful sound mingling with hers and echoing off the walls as they rolled across the floor.

“Miss (Y/L/N), is something-? Oh man…”

They immediately stopped, Loki quickly rolling off her and helping her back on her feet when they noticed a familiar figure standing in the doorway. “Hello Peter, um, Loki and I were just…practicing our sword fighting.” (Y/N) blushed scarlet, embarrassed at having been caught in such a compromising position by the fifteen-year-old.

“Yeah, um…sorry if I interrupted you guys, I’ll…just…come back later, I guess.” Peter Parker’s eyes were flicking nervously between her and his black Converse sneakers, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans and a light blush spreading over his ears.

“Actually, I need to…I need to speak to my brother about our, um, mission tomorrow. I’ll see you later, Lady (Y/N).” After she murmured her goodbye, he gave Peter a nod as he brushed past him and left, his usually pale face turning more and more crimson by the minute.

(Y/N) picked up their swords and placed them back on the weapons rack. “So, what can I do for you, Peter?” During her two months in the tower, she’d only spoken to the teenager once and that was when Tony briefly introduced them; the billionaire had infuriatingly introduced her as ‘Galadriel, but if Galadriel was a total book nerd,’ something he was extremely lucky he said when Loki wasn’t around to hear. The teenager was in awe of her magic and heritage, and she was equally impressed with his incredible knowledge of math and science and how he applied his skills to his intriguing powers.

Peter shuffled from foot to foot and briefly made eye contact with her. “Well, I-I was just talkin’ with Doctor Banner and he mentioned you used to be a librarian before joining the Avengers, and…I was wondering if you could help me write my final paper for my English class?”

“Of course, I’d love to!” She led him out of the weapons room and down the hall to the elevator. “What’s the topic of the paper?”

They stepped into the elevator. “That’s actually what I’m having trouble with. We were supposed to read The Great Gatsby, but I never got a chance to, and now we have to come up with our own topic and finish the essay by Friday, and I’ve got absolutely nothin’.” He sighed and slumped against the wall of the elevator as it rose. “I understand if you’re too busy training for a mission or something, I know it’s a lot to ask but it’s worth like twenty-five percent of my final grade…”

“It’s okay, Peter, I said I’d help you; I haven’t been assigned a mission yet, so my schedule’s wide open.” The doors opened and she led him down the hall to the dining room table next to the kitchen. “Besides, I loved helping people with papers when I was a librarian, and it’ll be nice to continue using that college degree I paid a lot of money for.” Peter laughed and sat down next to her. “All right, since you haven’t read the book and you only have two days to write this essay, I’ll start by giving you a short summary…”

(Y/N) had absolutely no idea how long she spoke for; explaining the plot of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous novel reminded her of how much she missed being a librarian. Not that she regretted joining the Avengers, of course, she just missed being able to use her extensive knowledge of literature to help people. She was glad to see Peter listening with rapt attention, and he even pulled a notebook out of his backpack and began taking notes while she continued. By the time she was finished, he was looking more relaxed than ever.

“Thank you so much, Miss (Y/L/N), that really helped!” He flicked through his notes one last time before turning to a blank page. “I think I’ll write about Daisy; she sounds like a pretty interesting character.”

“You’re welcome, Peter, but promise me you’ll try not to procrastinate next semester? It’s just that it’s so much easier to finish assignments well before the due date…”

Peter grinned. “I know, I know, Aunt May always tells me that! And I didn’t mean to procrastinate this much, it’s just that I suck at English and me and Mister Stark have been workin’ on my new suit a lot and, well, I guess I just got distracted.”

She smiled, but the wheels in her head began turning. “It’s okay, everyone has that one subject they struggle with and everyone gets distracted from time to time. I’m going to go get cleaned up and change, and I expect to see an introduction written by the time I get back, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am!” He chuckled and turned his attention back to his notebook.

(Y/N) took a quick shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a green blouse, quickly toweling off her damp hair before hurrying down to the lab. Just as she suspected, Tony was there, snacking and chatting away with Bruce as the doctor peered into a microscope. Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) opened the door and entered.

“Hello Bruce, Tony.”

“Oh, hi (Y/N),” Bruce looked up and smiled, whereas Tony only rolled his eyes and continued eating his blueberries. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m actually here to speak with Tony, if that’s all right,” Both men looked at each other in surprise and she turned her attention to the billionaire as Bruce quietly excused himself. “Tony, I know that we got off on the wrong foot when we met and I’m not going to apologize for turning you down when you asked me out, but I am sorry if I’ve been rude to you ever since.”

Tony sighed, popping another blueberry into his mouth before answering. “Well, I’d be an asshat if I didn’t try and follow that up, so I’m sorry for being rude too. Now that that’s over, can we get back to work?”

(Y/N) gritted her teeth but remained calm. “That’s not all I came down here for; I just spent over an hour helping Peter write a final paper for school that’s due in two days. He told me that the reason he didn’t write it sooner was because he’s been too busy working on his new suit down here with you. Is that true?”

“Yeah, so what’s your point?”

“My point is that since Peter listens to you, you should remind him that his education is very important. If he continues putting Spider-Man before his schoolwork, he’s not going to have a future.”

The older man only sighed. “Of course he will; when he decides he doesn’t wanna be Spider-Man, he can always have a job at Stark Enterprises.”

“And what if he doesn’t want a job with your company? What if he decided down the road that he wants to be a lawyer or a firefighter or a photographer? Without an education, he’d never be able to live the life he wants!” Realizing that she was speaking loudly, she took another deep breath and adjusted her glasses. “Tony, all I’m asking you to do is help him be a normal high schooler for as long as possible. I’m not saying you should take his suit away and forbid him from being Spider-Man next semester, just…let him be able to study for tests or hang out with his friends or go out on dates. Just try to help him find the balance his duties between being a high schooler and being Spider-Man.”

Tony only raised his brow and smirked. “Why’re you being so pushy about this, Hermione Granger? Is it ‘cause you’re trying to live vicariously through him? Let him experience the things that you never did?”

(Y/N) felt her anger beginning to build up inside her. “This has absolutely nothing to do with me, Tony, this is about making sure you don’t ruin his life in the long run. Need I remind you that not everyone is as privileged as you are and can make mistakes in life without there being consequences?”

“And need I remind you that if not for my ‘privileges,’ there’d be no Avengers and you’d be stuck in a Hydra lab somewhere being experimented on?”

“Are you going to talk to him or not?”

Tony shook his head, an unusually serious look on his face. “Parker can do whatever he wants to do. It’s his life.”

She nodded, her jaw clenched tightly. “Fine, then, I’ll go and speak to Steve about it.” Giving the man one last glare, she turned on her heel and headed for the door.

“You know, you’re starting to sound exactly like your boyfriend did when he tried to take over the world. Must be an alien thing…”

Without a moment of thought, (Y/N) turned around and thrust out her hands, her anger finally boiling over. A familiar purple aura surrounded Tony as she used her powers to swiftly lift him into the air and slam him into the wall behind him. Her unfiltered fury kept him in place, and she was sure to keep his mouth magically shut so he was unable to call out to J.A.R.V.I.S. for his suit. “Don’t you dare speak about Loki! He’s doing everything he can to make up for what he did, and maybe if you started caring about other people besides yourself you’d realize that!”

“(Y/N)!” Bruce appeared in front of her after running in from the hall, his hands raised in a submissive gesture. “(Y/N), you need to listen to me!” When she made no move to attack him, he slowly inched forward. “I need you to breathe, can you do that for me, (Y/N)? Take a deep breath and just relax, find control over your powers!”

(Y/N) struggled to control her breathing as she listened to his words, but just when she felt her muscles and powers begin to relax, Tony stretched his fingers and pressed a button on the metal bracelet he wore. One of his security suits burst through its storage container and aimed its repulsor beams at her; without a second thought, she allowed Tony to fall to the ground in a heap and thrust her hands towards the suit, effectively knocking it into the opposite wall with a swirling cloud of purple magic before it could fire. The suit immediately got up and just as Bruce shouted “No!” it shot its repulsor beams directly at her. Acting on instinct, she pushed Bruce out of the way and crossed her forearms in front of her, deflecting the beams and making them ricochet off her magic and back towards the suit, causing it to explode in a ball of fire.

The entire room shook violently with tremors and the ceiling began to tremble; panicking, (Y/N) thrust her hands upwards and concentrated on stabilizing the concrete with her magic. After a tense moment, the ceiling tremors began to calm down and stop altogether, which was when she realized that the emergency sprinklers were on and the lab was filling up with dark smoke as the fire alarms blared. Where’s Tony and Bruce, she thought, coughing as she stumbled through the wrecked lab in search of the two men.

“Bruce! Tony!” She called out, her voice shaking with worry. “Bruce! To-!” A hand on her arm caused her to turn and gasp; standing before her was a soaked and worried but unharmed Bruce Banner. “Bruce, thank goodness you’re all right!”

“C’mon, I already got Tony, we need to get out of here!” Bruce grabbed her hand and quickly led her through the smoke and smoldering remains of Tony’s suit to the exit. When they finally got out of the lab, the doctor slammed the door behind them and leaned heavily against the wall. It was then when (Y/N) noticed that Tony was laying on the ground, his chest heaving as his eyes stayed focused on the ceiling, and that there was a distinct green tinge to Bruce’s jugular that was slowly fading away.

“Thank you, Bruce.”

“…Fury’s gonna be pissed, isn’t he?”

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

Director Fury looked up from the security footage on his computer monitor with a disapproving frown on his face. After rushing up to the lab and having them thoroughly checked for injuries, Director Fury ‘requested’ (Y/N), Bruce and Tony join him in his office several floors below; (Y/N), who had only ever spoken to the director once before when she first joined the Avengers, was scared out of her mind, something she was sure Bruce knew when he gave her hand a comforting squeeze. She felt guilty that she lost control over her powers and scared of what her punishment would be; she didn’t want to be kicked off the Avengers team all because she’d risen to Tony’s childish bait. I wish Loki were here, she thought as she pulled the blanket the firemen had given her tighter around her shoulders for comfort.

“So, you’re telling me that several S.H.I.E.L.D experiments were compromised, thousands of dollars’ worth of our equipment was destroyed, the Hulk was nearly unleashed and an entire floor of your tower is temporarily condemned all because you couldn’t put a sock in it, Stark?”

Tony smirked. “Sounds about right.”

Deciding she needed to speak up for the billionaire, (Y/N) quietly said, “It’s not all his fault, Director. I went to the lab and asked Tony to speak to Peter about how important his schoolwork is when I should’ve spoken directly to Steve instead. And it was me who lost control and destroyed the lab in the first place, not him.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Miss (Y/L/N), but I’m not pissed off about you losing your cool or even about you two destroying the lab; I’m pissed off because your guys’ petty arguing’s keeping you all from functioning as the team I believe you can be.” Director Fury stood and leaned against his desk. “Now, Doctor Banner and I are gonna leave to check in with the clean-up, and if this stupid-ass fighting isn’t resolved by the time we come back…well, let’s just say that you’re not gonna like the consequences.” The director gave them one last glare and gestured for Bruce to follow him into the hall; the doctor flashed them a sympathetic look before leaving, and (Y/N) flinched as the door slammed shut.

The billionaire lounged casually in his chair, twirling a small screwdriver around his fingers over and over as he made fleeting eye contact with her; he looked sincerer than she’d ever seen him before. “I, ah, guess I should apologize…I’ve been treating you kind of unfairly over the past few months and saying some harsh things, and I’m really sorry about that…”

“Then why say them in the first place?”

His fingers stilled as he looked down at them, remaining silent for several moments before answering. “I guess it’s ‘cause I didn’t like the fact that you’re such good friends with Reindeer G – I mean – Loki.”

His answer took her by surprise. “Why not?”

The older man looked out the window and smiled humorlessly. “Well, for starters, the guy tried to take over the world with a hostile alien army and is responsible for the deaths of at least eighty people over two days, not to mention he threw me out a window and I…well, my heart stopped when I came out of that wormhole and I would’ve been a goner of not for the enormous green rage monster out there. Can you really blame me for not wanting to become best buddies with him or anyone who actually likes him?”

“Yes, I can, at least a little bit.” She ignored the confused look on his face and continued. “Loki’s here on Earth to make up for everything he did; he joined the Avengers, the people he was once sworn enemies with, of his own free will to do good. Loki’s my best friend and I believe wholeheartedly that he deserves a chance to redeem himself for what he’s done, just like Natasha and Bucky. Everyone else in this tower has put the past behind them and accepted him as their teammate except you, Tony. I’m sorry about what happened to you during the battle, I really am, but you can’t change what happened in the past so it’s pointless to keep hyper-focusing in it.”

“I think Capsicle’s been rubbing off on you, (Y/L/N); that was some speech,” Tony chuckled, then grew serious. “But you’re right; I haven’t given either of you a fair chance.”

(Y/N) nodded. “And I’m really sorry I lost control and said those things earlier, it was wrong of me to say them. You’re not a selfish person, Tony, and it’s unfair to degrade you because you happen to be more well-off than most, it’s not your-”

“It’s okay; seriously, I was definitely asking to be talked to like that. And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Peter about balancing being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and a high schooler; Banner’s been bugging me about it, too.” His usual grin returned. “So, can we agree to start over and maybe be friends from now on? ‘Cause you actually seem like a pretty cool person to be around, (Y/L/N).”

“I think I can agree to that, Tony.” She accepted his outstretched hand and shook it, a cheerful smile finally making its way across her face. Not the way I expected this day to go, she thought to herself, but I’m glad we’ve finally made up.

Just then, the door opened to reveal Director Fury and Bruce. “Great, now we all can get back to work. Except for you, Miss (Y/L/N), I want a private word.” Without wasting a moment, Tony and Bruce left the two of them alone. (Y/N)’s hands began to shake, so she started tugging at the sides of her blanket again to keep them occupied. “I believe congratulations are in order, Miss (Y/L/N).”

“C-congratulations?”

Director Fury made his way over to his chair and sat. “You showed real control over your powers today.”

Frowning, (Y/N) stopped fiddling with the edge of her blanket. “But Director, I almost killed Tony, a-and what about almost unleashing the Hulk and all the damage…?”

“The key word there is ‘almost’. Sure, your emotions clouded your judgement, but you were able to reign in your powers and stop yourself from doing anything too serious.” The director’s eye twinkled slightly. “In my book, that’s something that deserves a congratulation and not guilt, Miss (Y/L/N). Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I suppose so, Director.”

Director Fury nodded. “Good. And as for the damages, Stark has more than enough money to fix them within a day, this time with even stronger fortifications. Now, you’d better go change clothes before you catch a cold; we wouldn’t want one of our newest Avengers getting sick, would we?”

Blushing, (Y/N) stood and smiled shyly at the director. “O-of course not, Director. Thank you.” She quickly left the office as he returned to the paperwork on his desk, hardly believing what had just happened; she’d been absolutely convinced that she’d be kicked off the team for her actions. It was kind of Director Fury to give me another chance, and I don’t intend on throwing it away, she thought with determination, hurrying down the hall to the elevator.

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

“To make a long story short, you lost control over your magic, regained control with the help of Doctor Banner before you could kill Stark, destroyed one of Stark’s suits in self-defense and stopped the ceiling from collapsing on all three of you, correct?” Loki asked, his lips already curving into a proud smile. Only minutes before, (Y/N) had found her best friend in a fit of rage and the only thing keeping him from confronting Tony himself was Mjolnir resting on his lap; the moment she entered his suite, however, he ceased arguing with Thor and immediately asked her if she was all right.

Despite her best efforts not to see too far into his actions, his obvious concern over her well-being caused her heart to flutter and her cheeks to redden, but she was quick to hide her feelings by giving him and Thor the full story of what happened; all they knew of the incident was that her and Tony’s argument led to an explosion in the lab, so Loki had immediately assumed Tony was at fault and went into a rage. Luckily Thor had enough foresight to prevent him from doing anything too serious, she thought to herself.

Nodding, (Y/N) relaxed her aching muscles against the cushions of the couch. “Correct, and Tony and I had a good talk. I think we’re going to get along from now on.”

Loki nodded, directing his attention to his brother and gesturing to the hammer. “Now, can you please remove this infernal thing from my lap? I promise I won’t go after Stark.” Although his face was relaxed, she could see a glint of anger return to his emerald-green eyes so she quickly laced her fingers through his slightly colder ones. He looked at her in surprise and the anger seemed to melt away the longer he stared into her eyes. “I swear on our friendship, Lady (Y/N), that I won’t harm Stark in any way.” He glanced back at Thor with a brow raised in expectation. “Now will you move it?”

“All right, all right, don’t get your cape in a twist, brother,” Thor chuckled, standing from his armchair and easily picking up Mjolnir. “I’ll go and see if Banner and Stark require assistance in cleaning up the laboratory. Again, I’m relieved you’re unharmed, Lady (Y/N).” He gave her what he apparently thought was a gentle pat on the shoulder and left before he could see her nearly topple off the sofa.

Rolling his eyes, Loki helped her right herself. “Such a brute, honestly.” He glanced down at their intertwined fingers as his face once again grew serious. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Well, it would be a lie if I said I didn’t feel guilty about losing control…”

To her surprise, Loki’s face broke out into a bemused grin. “You Midgardians are so odd; you pen sayings such as ‘to err is human’, and yet you always blame yourselves for your mistakes. It’s perfectly acceptable to make errors, Lady (Y/N), and you should be extremely proud of the fact that you managed to rectify yours so easily. Trust me, as someone who has fought against and alongside Doctor Banner, regaining control over oneself is no easy feat.”

“You sound exactly like Director Fury, you know, but you’re right.” (Y/N) elbowed him playfully in the side and grinned when he suppressed a giggle.

“Is it really wise of you to begin this again, Lady (Y/N)?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re brave enough to do anything ab-” She was cut off when she was struck on the side of the head by a throw pillow.

Loki burst into laughter, clutching his sides and his pillow tightly as he looked at her. “You should see your face!” He choked out between breaths. “You look like-!”

At that moment, (Y/N) grabbed another pillow and smacked it against his face, giggling at his stunned expression and mussed hair as she adjusted her crooked glasses. “You were saying?”

“Um, Miss (Y/L/N)?” They both hastily lowered their raised pillows and looked at the doorway where Peter Parker stood, once again as red as a tomato, holding his notebook. “I-I, um, need some help on my body paragraphs…”

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

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wx8TZwpDN0l33tES3W3Nk

Chapter Six

Spellbinding Masterlist

Tagging: @nexiva @ravenclawbitch426 @cminr @confusedfandomwriter @momc95 @nickkie1129 @austynparksandpizza @brooke0297 @destructivebliss @outoftheregular​ @itscomplicatedx​ @0-artemis​ @vivloki​

[wereallydobevibing]

If the Avengers and HOO/BOO characters came together

Clint Barton would immediately make a fatherly connection with all. of. them. Especially Percy, who’s dealt with a lot of abuse for a majority of life because of Smelly Gabe. Clint is kinda just the man that Percy needs in his life.

Percy would also grow close with Tony and Natasha; seeing as they all have a similar sense of humor and have a habit of pissing off the wrong people. The three of them understand each other in ways other people never possibly could. And the three of them all on the same team? That’s one hell of a sass team.

You might think Percy, Nat and Tony together are too much to handle; but just wait when Leo gets in the mix.

Percy also seems to really like being around Sam Wilson as well—but they definately have a “dude/bro” kinda relationship rather than a father/son relationship. They share a lot of inside jokes, and have similar personalities.

Percy and Bucky definately have some kind of friendship/father/son going also; they’ve both experienced things that no one ever should. They’ve both been traumatized and tortured in ways others couldn’t ever imagine. Bucky, who had managed to overcome most of his trauma, teaches Percy how to come to terms with his own and vise/versa. They also tend to share their own stories when the time is right. These two really understand each other.

In the end, Percy has a really good relationship with all of the Avengers. He’s just too easy to get along with if your vibe matches. Percy’s loyal and (sometimes) reasonable, which is why he’s so widely trusted and easily considered reliable among the team.

Natasha would absolutely become like a mentor to Piper. She would teach Piper how to be a badass and fly asf all at the same time when needed—they’d either become like sister or mother & daughter, I still can’t decide which.

“You are strong, beautiful, and powerful.” Natasha reminded Piper, who was mervous for her first mission with the team, “nothing can beat you. Remember that.”

Also, Peter P. definately as a huge crush on Piper.

Don’t tell Jason.

Leo and Pietro are hella troublesome, like, they’re both so hyper and fast paced that everyone has a hard time keeping up with them. But they can keep up with each other just fine, which makes them the perfect fit, ya know? They’re basically the best brother/brother duo to ever exist.

Leo would also get along hella good with Thor—they both have the same kind of cocky behavior on the outside, but on the inside they’re both really unsure of themselves and they can bond over that

Leo also gains a father/son connection with Tony. They’re both really in tune with engineering and creating things, they can teach each other. Best of all, Leo helps Tony improve his products to help build up his industry even more.

And Leo loves helping Tony create the best suits for the rest of the team—when they work together on these londs of things, you can expect it to be hella advanced.

“You’re going places, kid,” Tony oftened praised, which was a big change for Leo. No one ever really noticed his talent. “I’m sure of it.”

Just like with Pietro, Leo and Peter P. have a good relationship also. They’re both really smart and quick in similar ways, but also very differently.

Steve is the kinda guy Nico needs in his life—Cap is lighthearted, understanding, and trustworthy. Because Hades isn’t always so dependable, Steve is the man Nico turns to for actual good advice because he knows Steve can be trusted.

But because Nico can really appreciate comfortable silence, he and Bucky vibe pretty well. They aren’t awkward around each other, and both have experienced similar trauma. That being said, they all understand what it’s like to be thrown into a completely different time period. It’s something that Nico, Steve and Bucky can relate to.

But unlike Nico, Hazel and Wanda finds themselves drawn to each other. Like sisters, mostly. They know what it’s like to be treated like their weird; with Hazel’s mortal mother being a ‘witch’ and Wanda pretty much being a witch herself, it kinda just pulls them to each other.

Jason and Thor would be pretty tense—with Thor being the god of thunder and Zeus the god of lightning, they just have an unspoken mindset that wants to prove which is better than the other. BUT there are times when the two work together very well; they have a very strange love/hate relationship, kind of like an older brother and a younger brother. In the end, they DO care for and appreciate one another.

Jason would also probably look up to Steve, hoping that one day he could be as 'righteous’ and as good of a leader. The Roger’s man is strong and intimidating when he has to be, but friendly and laid back on the regular.

Jason and Nat would both probably have a pretty big brother/sister relationship. They had both been trained young to fight and show no merch, both their parents sucked. It was like they had lived the same lives with the same parents, despite not ever knowing the other had existed.

“We’ve lived rough lives,” Natasha once said, “but only so that we can provide better ones, safer ones, for the people who can’t do it themselves. It had to be us.”

Just like Percy, Jason and Sam have a “dude/bro” kind of relationship. And the three of them often hang out in Sam’s apartment making stupid jokes and messing around. It’s nice to have some mortal friends that can introduce them to normal human things, and Sam does just that.

Frank and Clint definately hit it off pretty good. Sooner or later, the two of them become like father/son like Clint does with all of them. But they’re different. The two of them fight back-to-back with their bow and arrows and together, they’re basically unstoppable. On missions, the rest of the team usually like to say things like, “we’re gonna need our favorite archers for this one”

Frank, for the most part, tried to avoid Tony. The Stark man just gets on his nerves sometimes with his cocky attitude. But, Frank’s a pretty reasonable person. He pushes aside his channeling resentment when it’s time to get serious.

Much like Hazel, Frank gets along well with Wanda. They have pretty strange powers, and when the time is right, like to show off to each other what they can do. It’s not a competition; they’re just genuinely interested in the things one another can do.

Thor and the Stoll brothers would drfinately welcome each other with wide open arms. They have similar humors and personalities, and after losing his chance to truly make Loki his brother, he finds that Connor and Travis Stoll are the younger brothers he needed all along. In a way, they’re just Loki—but kind of a better version of him. Thor doesn’t doubt for a second that Loki and the Stoll’s would’ve appreciated each other’s company.

Also, these kids would def love Stephen Strange, and Stephen Strange would def love them, too. They each have abilities they’ve never even imagined having, and Strange has no problem helping them reach their full potential.

But most importantly, Stephen would see HUGE potential in Annabeth. So he would take her under his wing and teach her to do the things he knows how to do; it just fits so well.

And overtime, he begins to father her more than he mentors her. Because Stephen knows that Annabeth could never really come to terms with her mortal father—he was just too misunderstanding toward her, it was toxic. At this point, he’s like her emotional support.

And Annabeth is so smart and strategic, Stephen is just so frickin proud of how far she’s come as she really begins to understand the concept of his magic. And just like with Chiron, Annabeth looks up to Strange. She just wishes she had run into him earlier. Maybe then she and Percy wouldn’t have had to suffer through Tartarus and all that. Maybe she could’ve protected Thalia all those years ago.

And Stephen may not ever have his own kids, but having Annabeth often refer to him as her father makes his nose tingle emotionally. Her biological father had really given up something that could’ve been a truly amazing aspect in his life.

“I’m proud of you, Annabeth. I really am.”

And Annabeth almost cried, thankful that someone other than Percy really appreciated her talents.

That’s what really needed in the end—recognition, support, and for people like Leo or Nico, all they needed was some sort of family that could see not their flaws, but their potential.

[that-yandere-life]

Loki with an S/O that can shapeshift?

At first you hid your ability from him, using it to spy on him expertly.

Sure he claimed that he only had eyes for you, but you knew that before you had gotten together he was quite the provocative sort.

Having a different person in his chambers every other night, sometimes not even taking them back to his chambers.

However he swore that changed when he met you, and that he loved you with the heat of a thousand suns.

Being hurt before you wanted to make sure that he was being truthful towards you.

He was after all the God of Lies and Mischief.

So you would pretend to be a random person in the background, just wandering doing your own thing trying not to gain his attention.

That was until one day you decided to pretend to be Thor, just messing around doing what he usually would.

Loki came up and casually stabbed you with his dagger in the side like he would his brother.

Incredibly confused when you dropped to the floor a colorful mist revealing who you truly were.

The shocked look on his face only lasted a moment when you cried out in pain, blood covering your hands.

Quickly he used his magic to heal you instantly, very glad in that moment that his mother had taught him well.

Carrying you to the bedroom to have you rest he didn’t say a word.

Laying you down he sat at the end of the bed not even gazing at you biting your lower lip fully intending him to be mad.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could shapeshift?”

Of course you explained how when you were younger you were bullied for it, not many liking mutants even still.

So you were just using it for a little fun, not expecting anyone to get hurt (especially you).

Waiting for him to yell instead he just turned to you with a mischievous look on his features.  

“Do you know how much chaos we can create side by side? How much we could have doing all this time?!”

The glint in his eyes exciting you beyond belief.

That started the prank war you decided to inflict on the rest of the tower.

The best part being they had no idea who really started as every time you appeared as someone different, throwing them off your trail.

Especially as no one there knew of your abilities, only Loki now.

Painting silly faces on all and I mean all of Tony’s suits.

Putting bubblegum pink hair dye in Steve’s shampoo bottle.

Stealing and eating all of Thor’s poptarts replacing them with playdoh replicas he would inevitably eat.

Hiding Clint’s bow, leaving a Fisher Price kids bow in its place.

Taking all of Bruce’s coffee mugs, placing Hulk themed ones in their stead.

Gluing magnets to Bucky’s arm as he sleeps, definitely all childish ones like the block letters.

Placing black goo in Sam’s goggles so when he takes them off he looks like Bucky in Winter Soldier unintentionally.

You both knew better than to fuck with Natasha however, you both were having fun but you didn’t have a death wish.

With Wanda you took her favorite red leather jacket, replacing it with one that had the likeness of Steve’s hair.

Then Pietro you attached his running shoes to the floor so when he put them on he would immediately be stuck in place.

Everyone was blaming everyone else and retaliating while you both got to sit back and watch it all unfold.

Loki was suspected at one point but you explained how he couldn’t have done it alone, and no evidence existed of him doing it.

Together you would reign supreme over them all, using just a little of your power to bond with your love

[Thank you so much for your request! I apologize that it took a while to get to! I really hope you enjoy it, and that it was what you were looking for!