#natasha and clint sibling interaction

[marvelwitchergilmore]

Detecting Love

Summary: Loki x Fe!Reader -> You and Loki work together at a police precinct in NY, and you have had the biggest crush on him for ages. But when your life is put in danger, will he realise he feels the same way?

Disclaimer: Fluff, Angst, Pining, Taking care of the reader (not sexual), hurtful words shared, denial of feelings, acceptance of feelings. Violent crime cases mentioned. Slight inspiration taken from B99 (I couldn't find ACTUAL police sayings, so I used B99 - sorry for any inaccuracy).

If Loki had known that the minute you let your voice wash over the radio with those dreaded words, he would have told you his secret earlier. 

It had been a few years since the Asguardian God had come to Earth and been on such a mission that it led him to taking a job as a New York Detective which was one of the main reasons he decided to stay, even after his mission was over. 

This had been where he met you. 

At the time, you had just transferred from Boston. 

Boston in itself had been a big leap for you since you had planned staying home with your folks before getting your acceptance letter from Harvard and joining their police force as a Rookie. 

So, moving even further away was another leap. 

Yet, you didn’t regret it for a minute. 

Loki had been friendly, even in the beginning. 

You had been one of the very few female Detectives when you joined. And the only one with experience in solving and dealing with Homicide. 

Emily, the other female Lead Detective, although having experience in homicide, was more an expert in Narcotics and Fraud. 

That morning when you joined and were setting up your desk, he knocked on your office door and stood there in a freshly pressed suit, his hair away from his face and his shoes gleaming. All the while, a new case file was in his hand. 

He introduced himself and said he’d been assigned as your partner. 

You couldn’t have been more lucky after that. 

Over the years, you’d had a couple partners who were either too harsh with their title or not harsh enough. Some had tried to blame children for something that was completely out of their control. 

But never Loki. 

For all his moments of being “A God” - which came as a shock which you managed to downplay - he was kind. 

Genuine. 

One of your first cases dealt with a mother and child in danger. The moment the doors burst open, you made your arrest of the father before handing them over to a fellow cop and turning to the mother who was terrified, bloodied and crying on the sofa with the phone unhooked beside her. 

Meanwhile, you looked through one of the bedrooms and saw Loki put away weapon and kneel down. 

A girl, no older than 6, was cowering in the corner of her bedroom floor, already half-way under her bed. 

You watched as he lowered himself to her height, spoke softly and waited until she felt safe enough to come out on her own. Loki assured her she was safe and that she’d never be hurt by that man again. 

Once she finally did come out, she hugged Loki and he picked her up and carried her outside. 

He saw the look you gave him, questioning if everything was okay and he just nodded, putting his other hand onto the back of the child’s head as she cried her last few tears into his shoulder. 

That moment was almost three years ago, and things were still the same between the both of you. Though, perhaps, there was more of a deeper connection. 

Walking into the bullpen, you found Loki folded over one of the desks, fast asleep. 

Smiling a little, since it was rare to find him sleeping, you picked up a couple files and carried them over to his desk, piling the rest of his under yours. 

Placing a gentle hand on his back, you shook him away. 

“Loki? Hey, Loki. Go home. Get some rest.”

Slowly, he lifted himself from the desk and looked around, still half asleep. 

“I can finish up here. Go on, you head home. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He tried to protest until you told him once more that you were more than happy to finish up the rest of the paperwork and that if he didn’t leave, being a god or not, you’d personally drag him home if you had to. 

After that, he thanked you, grabbed his coat and left, but not before saying goodnight. 

It was at times like this that you were reminded of the harsh truth that Loki wasn’t with you. 

After a year into your friendship and partnership, you began feeling slightly differently towards him. You didn’t know what it was. There was no change in him, there was no change in you. But you began to develop feelings towards him. 

Feelings that left you mad at yourself for even feeling. Feelings that left you a little heartbroken at the end of every shift because it meant waiting more than 8 hours to see him again. And if it wasn’t 8 hours or more, that just meant something terrible had happened. 

Sure, you’d dated some guys over the last three years, but none had ever stuck around long enough. It was either your work hours, or it was Loki himself that they didn’t like. 

Either way, you returned home every evening to your Australian Shepherd, Zoey.

“Zoey! Zo! Where are you? There you are,” you smiled as Zoey came around the corner, clearly having been asleep on your bed…again. 

“Hey, girl. Hello. Oh, thank you.” Zoey gave you multiple licks across the face as she wagged her tail before running to the bathroom. 

“Just give me a minute. You can have a bath soon. I promise.”

 Feeding both yourself and Zoey, you put your plates into the dishwasher before grabbing the dog shampoo from under the cabinet and running a couple of inches of water into the tub just as Zoey jumped inside. 

Little did you know, in a week’s time, you’d hear a set of words which would send your heart into a thousand pieces. 

Everyone at the compound, apparently other than Loki himself, was convinced that you had feelings for the latter. 

Natasha had seen it when she happened to spot you and Loki together getting coffee. Tony, Steve and Bucky had seen it when they went down to the station to give a talk to the officers. Wanda, Peter, Sam and Maria had seen it when they met you in the park, one day, walking Zoey before she ran off only to jump up to Loki. And Thor had seen it every time he went to see Loki. 

Sometimes, he’d show up outside your door when he was looking for his brother because he knew, if he wasn’t at home, he would be at yours. 

That day, you both had been washing Zoey so when Loki answered the door, half soaked with water and you appeared moments later, seemingly in the same situation, Thor had gotten the wrong impression until Zoey then came running out of the front door. 

However, on this particular day, Clint, Natasha and Thor had appeared in Loki’s office. 

It had started out with the group sharing information and handing Loki a case for him to possibly investigate since, if he did it, it wouldn’t draw too much attention too soon. 

But it wasn’t long until the conversation turned towards you and the feelings they had told Loki you had for him, despite having no verbal confirmation from you. 

But this wasn’t the first time your “feelings” about Loki had been brought up to him. And, in all honesty, he was sick of it. 

So he put a stop on it, once and for all. 

Only, he seemed to mistime his rejection. 

“You don’t know for certain.” Loki told them.

“For certain? Jesus, Loki, the woman looks at you as if you’re her whole world! The last time I saw someone that smitten was Peter with MJ this afternoon - and those two are actually together.” Clint told him. 

“For the love of-!” Loki had to take a breath. “How many times do I have to tell you people? She doesn’t like me like that, and I don’t like her that way either! She’s just a friend! She means nothing to me. I don’t have, and never will have romantic feelings for her. She’s just a close colleague, nothing more.”

At the trio’s reactions to his comment, and Thor’s finger signalling to behind Loki, he turned and found you standing there and there was no denying you had heard him. 

She means nothing to me.

She’s just a close colleague, nothing more.

You could, and had accepted that he would probably never have romantic feelings for you. But that didn’t stop it from feeling like a stab to the heart which left a wound that would take a while to heal. 

But those words. 

She means nothing to me. 

She’s just a close colleague, nothing more.

They hurt the most. 

Because, even if you couldn’t have Loki’s acceptance in romance, you at least had him and knew him in a close friendship. 

But apparently that didn’t even exist. 

Something simply made up by your imagination, when it got caught up in avoiding romantic feelings. 

But rather than yelling, crying or fleeing the scene…you said nothing. 

Seemingly, you managed to hide your emotions from them all and mask them completely. 

Loki said your name, ready to apologise, but you just spoke over him, telling him what you had been ready to tell him when you walked to his office. 

“Rebecca called again. She’s got some new evidence for us at the hospital.” You handed him over the case file. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to ride down with me, but…I can see you’re busy.” 

You looked at the trio of Avengers and smiled. “Hi.”

They gave similar replies. 

“We were just consulting him on a case.”

Natasha elbowed Clint in his ribs to shut him up. 

“Oh, you’re really busy then. I can handle interviews this afternoon, you don’t have to worry.”

“Wait,” Loki called your name as you were about to leave. 

“No, it’s okay.” You told him with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later. Bye, guys.”

They all said goodbye to you, watching as you walked back down the hall and towards your office. Within a few moments, you had your coat, badge and bag and stood at the elevator. 

“Well…that was awkward.”

Natasha stamped on Clint’s foot this time.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“You know.”

Loki pressed his head into his hands and groaned. “I’ve really messed up.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

“Fuck you, Watson.” Clint replied before he could shut himself up, which earned a glare from Natasha. “Sorry.”

For the next week and half, Loki couldn’t stop feeling guilty. Yet, you acted as if nothing had changed…almost. 

Usually, you’d invite him to get food with you at lunch or grab him lunch, already knowing his order. Instead, you’d work through lunch, running on a coffee or two. You’d still finish off some of his paperwork, but you wouldn’t look at him when you gave it back. There was no longer a crumpled post-it note on top telling him to go home and get some rest. 

And when you’d leave for home, there was no bright goodbye or bright good morning. If Loki himself, or another colleague, hadn’t physically watched you leave, he wouldn’t have known you’d gone home. 

It was hell. 

But everytime he tried to talk to you about it, you’d change the subject or bring it straight back to work. 

And when he asked you about Zoey…you just said that she was good. There were no more funny stories about what she had done when you took her for a walk in the park. There were no more little anecdotes from you or funny quips that you made on the job. 

He was now working with…a colleague. 

You were no longer his friend. 

The conversations between you and himself on the weekends slowly trickled away, turning into simple questions of; “Are you coming into work today?” and, “Have you got the ME record yet?”

Before he knew it, just over a month of this had passed and it couldn’t have been more torturous. 

And then you went on a date. 

You had gotten changed at work since the case had wrapped up early and you could actually make the date this time. 

Stepping out of the bathroom, you were dressed in a floor length emerald green, satin gown. A slit came mid thigh and your heels - for once - were not uncomfortable. Meanwhile, your hair, which felt like it took forever to get right, curled around your face just the way you wanted it and Loki, unbeknownst to you, couldn’t take his eyes off you for a moment. 

All Loki wanted to do was to turn back the clock to over a month ago when he said what he said and slap himself before he could even think of those words. 

Because you had never been nothing to him. First, you had been a partner, then a friend, and then a woman he wished he could have to himself. But that third one, despite the amount of times Thor and the others would tell him that you felt such romantic feelings towards him, he had no other choice but to ignore them. 

For one, you worked together. 

For two…he wasn’t aware about how deep his feelings ran for you when he saw that split-second look on your face after you heard everything he said and how much he missed knowing you, for what you did after work, to what Zoey got up to and even to the notes you’d leave him - even when they were, 95% of the time, about work. 

He missed you, more than he ever knew he could. Even when you were standing directly beside him. 

“Wow.”

You looked up to find Loki paused halfway from one of the other detective’s empty desks. His jaw was hanging open for a moment before he closed it shut. Slowly, he walked over to you. 

“You…you look…incredible.”

You looked down to yourself before finding the first ounce of courage in weeks to look him in the eyes. “Really? Thank you.”

“I-I mean it.” Loki paused for a moment again, taking you in. “Wow.”

“I…I have a date so I better…” you signalled to the exit behind you and Loki tried his best to snap out of the trance you had him in. Stepping back, feeling his heart shatter even more, he forced a smile and bowed his head, letting you go. 

“Enjoy!”

Loki didn’t get a minute of sleep that night. His mind was too busy thinking about what you were doing and if your date was treating you how he would, and if he was complimenting you in the way he would. 

The next morning, you stood smiling with Emily. Loki only heard a couple of comments from you about your date. But he couldn’t help but smile when he heard you at the end of the conversation, when Emily asked if you’d see him again, you said; “No. Brad was great and all, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know. He talked about his ex quite a bit. And when he dropped me back home, he got a call and he seemed pretty happy about it.”

“Oh.” Emily sighed. “I’m sorry, hun.”

“No. Don’t be. Brad found his “one”. I’m just…I can wait a little longer to meet mine.”

“Well, in the meantime, I have a case for you.”

But, just as Emily was about to hand you the file, you heard your name being called into the Captain’s office, including a couple other officer’s names. 

“We have a hostage situation at the bank, downtown. I need you and these officers to go down there and get as many people as you can, out of there and to safety until SWAT arrives.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Once you left the Captain’s office, Loki made his way to Emily’s desk and asked if she knew what was happening. 

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, the Captain seems upset.”

But then they got their answers. 

“Listen up! We currently have a hostage situation downtown with live civilians inside. I have already assigned a team but I need everyone to be on call just in case.”

Before Loki or Emily could say goodbye and good luck, you were out of the building like a shot. 

Just over an hour later, the team returned, minus one. 

Loki called out your name until one of the officers came over. 

“Where is she?”

“She said she would walk back to the station.”

Both Loki and Emily knew it must have been a tough one if you had decided to walk back to the precinct. 

Only, after 15 minutes of Loki’s thumb hesitating over your phone contact, Emily’s radio came on. 

“All nearest available units and officers to 6th Avenue. We have an active shooter inside Jefferson Library.”

What followed were multiple badge numbers and officers names before those three, dreaded, words. 

Show me going. 

After the first five officers, with people tuning in and out, not really knowing the badge numbers, everyone recognised the sixth. 

“Y/L/N, 64952. Show me going.”

“That’s Y/N.” Emily said before turning to look at Loki who had been drained of colour. 

For the following two hours, Loki spent the whole time trying to distract himself from what could be happening to you. Every now and again, they would hear the sound of bullets flying and Loki had been restrained to remain at the precinct. 

He couldn’t double himself or transport himself to the library. He already had a case to work on and they couldn’t afford to possibly lose another officer, even if said officer was a God. 

When a third hour passed, Loki was ready to leave just as his Captain called him into the office, closing the door behind him. 

“Sir, with all due respect-”

“She’s in the hospital.”

Loki stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“From what they’ve told me, she’s okay. Just a little bruised. She took a bullet to the shoulder but the doctors have said she’ll heal up nicely.”

“Okay.” Loki didn’t fully know where to put himself. 

“They were going to call you, but one of the on-call officers alerted me first and I asked the hospital not to.”

“Why?!” 

Loki had been your emergency contact for three years, just as you had been his. They should have called him regardless. 

“Because you would have rushed down there and kicked up a storm that they didn’t need. Look, son, off the record, I know how you feel for our girl. We all do. It seems you two are the only ones not to know. But I need you to go down there now, and take her home. Stay with her all week if you have to. I don’t want her feet stepping anywhere near this building until she’s well enough to come back to work, at least at the desk.”

“She’ll still fight you on it.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it. But I need her to rest for this week. I’ll have Emily and a couple of the Rookies cover your cases in the meantime.”

“I can still come in to work, Sir.”

“Perhaps, but what happens the moment you leave her alone?”

Loki nodded. He should have thought. 

You’d do something that would probably tear open your wound again, leaving you out of work for longer than any of you want.

“You have a point, Sir. I’ll make sure she rests.”

“Thank you. You’re dismissed.”

By the time Loki arrived at the hospital, you were already sitting up in bed, trying to get dressed. 

“Need some help?”

Looking towards the door, you found Loki standing there. 

“No. It’s okay. I’ve got it.”

“I’m on strict orders from the Captain and the doctors, and Nurse Jenkins to make sure you don’t open up your wound.” Loki said as he walked towards you, watching you get frustrated at yourself. 

Reluctantly, you accepted his help and he pulled your jacket up over your shoulder before kneeling on the floor and helping you put on your shoes. 

“I can tie them myself, you know?”

“Without moving that arm?”

“Touche.”

Loki smiled, “Just stay still.”

A moment later, “There, all done.”

“Thank you.”

Loki watched as you went to pull your bag from the floor, but as you did, it slid away from you. 

“Loki!”

From the floor, where it now lay at his feet, he picked it up and placed the strap over his shoulder. 

“No. Like I told you, strict orders. I’d hate to break them.”

“You love to break them.”

“But somehow, this way is more fun.”

“Of course it is.”

Loki smiled, “Come on, I’m driving you home.”

By the time you both arrived at your house, Loki opened up the door and you walked in and kneeled down to pet Zoey who was taking extra caution when sniffing you and your new bandage. 

“I’ll make you some food, you must be starving.”

“I am, but, Loki. Please, you really don’t have-”

“What are friends for?”

“I wasn’t aware that we were.”

An awkward silence settled over the two of you. 

Speaking first, Loki said your name. “I’m sorry about what I said. I shouldn’t have said it. You have been my closest friend since I first met you. Know that I didn’t mean it. You mean a lot to me…more than you know.”

After a minute, you nodded. 

“Okay. But this doesn’t mean I forgive you for letting Zoey jump out of the tub that time.”

Loki smiled with a laugh. “Of course.”

“And I have some of those mini pepperoni slices you like in the fridge if you feel like pizza?”

“Sure.”

As you left to get into the shower, Loki busied himself with making fresh pizza. Though, his mind ran off with him as he thought back to the first time you taught him how to make it. It had been six months into knowing you and you had just  found out he was a “God”. But not only that, but that he was a God who had never made homemade pizza. 

So you taught him what to do. 

Perhaps that was where his feelings for you had started, without him realising. 

It had been the first time he’d seen you relaxed. You were both in your own clothes - not work attire. Your hair wasn’t in a bun, but rather a loose ponytail until after you finished your meal where you removed the bobble and let your hair down. 

However, just as he put the pizzas in the oven, he heard you call for him. 

“Everything okay?”

“I–” you huffed. “I need your help.”

“Okay.”

“Can you come inside?”

“A-Alright. Should I cover my eyes?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

Opening the door with one hand, Loki covered his eyes with the other. 

“I can’t get my top on.”

“O-Okay. What do you need me to do?”

“Just…here, hold onto this end.”

Helping him with the instructions, Loki held open your t-shirt for you and helped pull it down your arm and body until you said; 

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

Opening them, Loki gave you a small smile. “Everything okay? Wait, here.”

From down your back, Loki pulled your wet hair from out of your shirt. 

“I- I can help you dry it…if you’d like.”

“Sure. Only if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.”

“After food, though. I didn’t eat at the hospital.”

An hour and half later, you were sitting in front of your desk and mirror with Loki brushing his fingers over your hair as the hot air from the hair dryer blew it back and forth. 

Soon enough, all though too soon, your hair was dry and Loki turned off the hair dryer. 

“There, all done.”

“Thanks.”

From your desk, you remained seated whilst Loki walked backwards and sat on the very edge of your bed. 

“About what I said that day-”

“Loki, please…you don’t-”

“Yes, I do.”

“No. I-” you looked down at your hands for a moment before looking at him through the mirror. “I heard what you said and, you don’t have to say anything else.”

“But I do.”

“What else is there to say, Loki?”

“That what I said wasn’t true. Not even by a thousand miles.”

You were a little confused, but Loki continued to explain.

“The moment I saw your face…I knew what I had said and all I wanted to do was go back in time and stop myself from even thinking about saying it. And then when things changed afterwards, it made me realise that not only did I love you as a dear friend, but also as something more and I couldn’t put my finger on what that was until today.”

“Loki-”

“When I heard your badge number…I couldn’t even think. And when the Captain said you had been rushed into the hospital.”

You could see the tears in his eyes as he told you what was going through his mind. 

“Just the thought of losing you…of never being able to see you again or even just hear your voice…I…it terrified me.”

You turned around on your chair to look at him properly.

“I love you too much to lose you. Please, don’t let me lose you.”

“Then don’t let me go.”

Looking at you, Loki seemed a little surprised and you took a mental picture. There probably wouldn’t be many opportunities to surprise the God of Mischief. 

“What they told you…it’s true. I didn’t know until after a year of knowing you. I still don’t know why, but I do.”

Without saying a word, Loki slowly stood before taking your hand in his, allowing you to stand with him. 

“If I kiss you right now, will you punch me?”

“No.”

Loki leaned in before pulling back. “You promise?”

“Scouts honour.”

“Were you even a scout?”

You were silent for a moment. “No. But the honour still stands.”

Loki laughed a little and smiled before hooking a finger under your chin and pulling you closer and pressing his lips to yours. 

[lazydoodlesandfanfic]

Losing Almost Everything Pt 2 (Bucky Barnes X Barton!Fem!Reader

Characters: Bucky Barnes X Fem!Reader, Clint Barton x Daughter!Reader

Universe: Marvel, Avengers

Warnings: Spoilers to end game (though with major changes), pregnancy, children, mourning, mention of child birth

Request: A part 2 to almost losing everything. Reader finds out she is pregnant a month later, Learns her dad disappeared, has a daughter named brooklyn natasha, bucky meets her after the final battle with clint and laura siblings. She is also Tonys niece and takes her in while she is alone. Her daughter and morgan are best friends. A happy ending.

Part 1

The past 5 years of your life have been the opposite of easy. In the first month post snap, you had gone through every single emotion a person could feel. Grief- you’d lost your stepmom, 3 younger siblings, and the love of your life, Bucky. They you felt anger- anger that it had to be them to be gone, then you felt betrayal. Your father, Clint, had promised he’d be there for you, that you’d be there for each other through this, that he was going to do something urgent, and then you never heard from him again. Not even Natasha could find him. Then, near the end of the month, you felt nothing but dread. You’d been feeling awful since the snap- chalked up to grieving and barely looking after yourself, but after you started to heal to the best of your ability, able to go at least a few days without crying, you still felt off. Something was wrong and you knew it, and after much hesitation, you dragged yourself to the doctors to have it looked into. A few hours later, you walked out of the clinic with prescriptions of vitamins, a piece of paper of your blood results, and a sonogram. You were pregnant. 

The pregnancy itself brought a ton of emotions. You went through the entire grieving process over James all over again. Devastated that he’d never get to see your child grow up, to hold them close, to read them bedtime stories, to teach them to ride a bike, to threaten to deal with bullies and you have to tell him no, all of course as an act to cheer your baby up. You were terrified as well. Other than Natasha and the other Avengers (who for the most part since the snap had gone and done their own things, barely keeping regular contact with eachother, never mind you), you were doing this completely alone. You didn’t have a support system, no one to go to for help in the case of issues during your pregnancy or after. What if something happened to you during the birth and left your baby all alone? Just like how you’d been? So, after a few days to gather your thoughts and formulate at least some sort of plan, you started to act. 

The first thing you did was tell Natasha. Nat, being the absolute saint she was and had been since the beginning, was supportive, understanding your worries, but assured you that she was right there, more than happy to be auntie and Godmother (putting some ease on your fears of your child’s future) and also managing to actually get you a little excited, and at least happy to be pregnant. This baby was the result of yours and Bucky’s love, truly a part of him that you could actually love and hold and dote on, and that alone made you happy. 

The second thing you did was reach out to Tony. It was surprising to Natasha when you asked for his phone number since he’d basically gone little contact with everyone, buying a lakefront home for himself, and his new wife Pepper, who had also announced was pregnant just two weeks prior to you. However, she gave you his phone number, and you dropped a text to Tony explaining you were in a little predicament and wanted to speak to him and Pepper. Surprisingly, he responded quickly, setting up a meeting at their home the next day, and you went. 

When you arrived, Pepper was out front, ready to greet you with open arms. It was a little awkward- you’d barely interacted with Tony, nevermind Pepper, but she was lovely enough and quickly any awkwardness faded as she invited you in. Tony saw you as you came in, asking if you wanted a drink, before you sat down with them both in their dining room. “So, what is it you needed to talk to us about?” Tony asked. 

“Is it your brother?” Pepper fussed, but you shook your head. 

“No, um… I’m pregnant.” You explained to them. Immediately you saw the shock in their faces. 

“Bucky’s?” Tony asked. You remember then that him and your fiance at one point weren’t exactly on good terms… in fact he tried to kill him, and you bit your lip nervously and nodded. His shoulders deflated. “I’m… I’m sorry Y/N. I can’t imagine having to go through all this alone without him or your family.” He told you, which was a surprise, but a welcome one. 

“That’s why I contacted you. I don’t really have a support system other than Natasha, but… since me and Pepper are both due around the same time… I was hoping we could arrange it so our kids could grow up together? Play dates, sleepovers, I have them some nights, you have them on others, give advice to each other, tips, help each other… what I’m trying to ask is, will you please be apart of my support system? I don’t know who else to turn to for this.” You asked. Pepper smiled, reaching out and holding your hand. 

“I’d love that. It would be nice to have someone to go through this with, share ideas and plans, and an immediate friend for our kids.” She agreed. Tony grinned as well and nodded. 

“Does that make me an unofficial uncle?” He joked, making you smile. 

The following months progressively became easier. Any dread or fear slowly faded into excitement and anticipation to finally meet your baby and get to hold them. You and Pepper decided to find out what you were having and had each other open the results, and when you both found out you were having girls, you celebrated with a small dinner with you, Pepper, Tony and Natasha (She had invited Steve and Bruce, but Bruce was busy with a lecture across the country and Steve didn’t want to make things tense with Tony and ruin it for you, though he came around later with a letter, flowers, and a teddy bear and a baby onesie), and the conversation during dinner quickly turned into finally choosing a name. 

“Have you decided?” You asked the couple. 

“Morgan.” Tony answered, pointing to his side to his wife with his thumb. “After her uncle.” She explained, Pepper nodded. 

“That’s a lovely name.” Natasha complimented. “What about you, any name ideas?” She asked. You hummed, clearly not sure. 

“Are you thinking of naming her in same way after James and your siblings?” She questioned softly. You felt a pang in your chest, but didn’t cry, and nodded, smiling softly. 

“I’m thinking about Bucky, but… not in a traditional sense.” You explained. Tony leant on the table to listen, Pepper tilted her head, and Natasha who was beside you, turned further to look at you curiously. “I’m thinking Brooklyn.” 

“After where he was born and where he and Steve grew up?” Natasha smiled, and you nodded. “I think that’s lovely.” 

“Two girls, named Morgan and Brooklyn, best friends since birth… they’re gonna kick some ass and break hearts when they grow up.” Tony commented with a kind smile, Pepper smacking her husband’s shoulder lightly for his language, but Natasha laughed. 

With her name decided, it really solidified the fact that you were actually having a baby, a living breathing being, in just a few months, and you couldn’t wait, and the time passed quickly, before the one year anniversary, you had your little girl. Pepper had Morgan just two weeks later. 

Having your baby in your arms made the one year anniversary of the snap a little easier, even if you did cry a lot. She was starting to open her eyes, looking up at you. She had Bucky’s dark brown hair that you loved to stroke and play with. As you sat in your apartment that you used to share with James, holding your daughter to your chest as she slept after her feeding, there was one thing that made this day at least a little brighter. At least you had her.

Brooklyn grew up so quickly, you could barely keep track. But you tried, and you refused to let any achievement, milestone or silly little story be forgotten or a distant memory. You took at least one photo of her every day on a polaroid, noting on the back the date and why you took the photo, alongside keeping a journal purely based on her. You noted when she smiled the first time when she was 7 weeks old when Steve came around to drop off some groceries for you and another cuddly toy for Brooklyn, and she smiled at the sight of him with her new toy. You took a photo the next time she smiled. You jotted it down when she started to babble, and put down guesses of what you think her first word would be, and then went back and circled the correct one. Dada. She said it as you were showing her some of the photos you had of Bucky before the war, looking smart and handsome in his uniform when she was 13 months old. You also noted that you cried when she said it, and immediately called Steve to tell him. You kept track of every playdate she had with Morgan, when she took her first steps, when she started to make full sentences, when it became known that she was a hugger, hugging Morgan, Pepper, Tony, Nat, Steve, even Bruce and complete strangers at every given opportunity, and then when it became known that she was protective, often putting herself between Morgan and her dad when they were playing games where Tony pretended to be a dragon or a monster chasing them, and when she would come and hug you when you had your lapse in grief and cried, wiping away your tears and telling you it’s okay.

It didn’t seem long until she was doing the straps on her own shoes by herself, having you teach her how to apply a band-aid so she could do it herself or give one to Morgan when the girls would climb trees or take a tumble while playing at the lodge. She loved to play fighting with her auntie Natasha and Uncle Steve, both often holding onto her with one arm, her being upside down and giggling her little head off. Morgan and her were best friends, but she was also incredibly close with Steve, who stepped up to be as close to a father as he could be, while also making sure there was still room for Bucky’s presence in the form of photo’s videos, and stories. So many stories. Whenever Steve put Brooklyn to bed, she asked him to tell her about her daddy, and he always complied. You wish he was here, able to see her, able to be here to see her grow and see all her achievements and milestones. You wished for it every day. 

So when you came to do a playdate with Pepper at their lodge, and Tony told you that last night he had possibly found a way to reverse the snap and bring everyone back and he was going to go and work on it with the others, the only thing you could do was hug him tightly. You didn’t have to say anything, the hug said everything. He promised he’d do everything he can to get everyone back. 

You and Pepper talked about everything going on while you both watched the girls play outside. Morgan was pretending to be her dad, and Brooklyn was pretending to be her Uncle Steve, both of them fighting against invisible enemies, and at one point scaling a ‘tower’ that was actually one of the trees. “What are you going to do if this works? Would you like me to keep Brooklyn for a while so you can properly see him and tell him about her?” She offered. 

“I’m not sure… presumably when he comes back, he’ll immediately go straight back to our apartment, especially if he’s with Steve since he’ll want to see me, and if he walks right in he’ going to see all of Brooklyn’s things, her pictures, her toys and her blanket fortress in the livingroom… he’ll probably think I’ve moved out… I don’t know if it’s best I go and wait there alone or have her there with me, he’s already missed so much of her life, having him miss even a second more feels cruel.” 

“On the other hand, coming back after 5 years, rushing back to you and finding out that you had been pregnant and went through it all without him and have been raising your daughter alone without him, and now having a 4 year old daughter is gonna be extremely overwhelming to him, he might need a minute to process it all, and more importantly, he’ll just want to spend at least some time alone with you.” She pointed out. You guessed she was right, and agreed that if things went to plan, you would go home alone, and she would stay with the girls. However, that quickly went out the window when FRIDAY activated in the living room. “Mrs Stark, the Avengers have been able to gather the Infinity Stones and snap, bringing back the population it seems, but there was some sort of attack and explosion at the base. Mr Stark’s vitals are still there and I’m able to see that Thanos and his army have somehow come back and are attacking.” The AI explained. You and Pepper looked at each other alarmed, your heart immediately thumping against  your chest. You looked back out at the window, seeing the girls still playing, totally unaware of the danger, and you saw Morgan wearing her mom’s iron suit helmet. 

“Pepper, I’ll watch the girls. Get your suit and make sure your husband’s okay.” You told her, turning back to her. She looked at the girls as well, before coming to your side. 

“Are you sure?” She asked. You nodded. 

“There’s nothing else I can do. Just come back, okay?” You told her. She nodded, giving you a tight hug, calling the AI to call her suit, rushing out, grabbing her helmet from her daughter, promising to be back soon before she took off. You came outside, both girls rushing over to you. “It’s okay, she’ll be back soon, I promise.” You told them, putting a brave face on. “Tell you what, how about we make you girls your own helmet and shield?” You asked them, remembering the bag of cardboard waiting to be thrown out that you could do something for the girls with some tape, paint and scissors.

“Yeah!” Morgan immediately ran inside, and you took Brooklyn’s hand and walked her in as well. 

“Mommy?” She asked, and you hummed, looking down at her. “Can I be daddy? Can I have a super cool arm and a shooty thing?” She asked. You smiled and nodded, pushing her inside.

The girls had a great time. You found a small cube box that you cut a hole in that Morgan could fit her head in and you cut holes into it for the mouth and eyes, then she started painting it. You found a big water gun that Tony bought last summer to chase the girls with before they turned it on him, making that Brooklyn’s gun, changing her into a tank top so you could paint her arm silver and then draw on the lines, though you decided to change the star Bucky had to a heart, which she loved. With their new accessories, the girl ran back outside. You made yourself a hot drink and came and sat on the porch on the swinging chair just watching the girls, keeping your phone in your hand tightly, waiting for it to buzz with any sort of update. You also kept an eye on the landscape for any sign of danger. Eventually the girls declared victory on their invisible enemies, before running back to you. “Good job! You saved all of us!” You told them, making them grin. “How about a victory sandwich with whatever filling you want?” You asked. 

“Can we have some sweets too?” Morgan asked. 

“Of course you can! Sandwich first and then sweets and whatever movie you two want, how does that sound?” You asked the pair, and the nodded, rushing inside, and you followed after them, the girls helping themselves to juice boxes as you made them for lunch, grabbing a handful of their favourite candy and putting it in separate bowls, before bringing it to them where they were sat on the couch waiting for their movie. They thanked you for their snack, you put on their choice in movie, before you felt your phone vibrating in your pocket. “Okay, I’ll be right back, call if you need anything.” You told them before heading to a neighbouring room, and answering the call. “Hello?” 

“Y/N, it’s me.” Pepper answered. You could hear her shaking voice and your heart caught in your throat. 

“What happened?” You asked her, keeping your voice alone. 

“Tony used the Infinity Stones to… snap away Thanos and his army.” She told you. You covered your mouth in shock. You recalled Thor and Steve telling you how the snap nearly destroyed Thanos, so the idea of Tony doing it didn’t seem… optimistic. Are you going to have to tell Morgan her dad’s gone? Was the cost of Brook getting her dad back, Morgan losing hers? That would without a doubt cause tension and a rift between them… this wasn’t fair. “Dr Strange has rushed him to Wakanda where the technology is the best to try and help him to the best of their ability… hes’ stable somehow…” She said, and you breathed a sigh of relief. 

“That’s good at least. Go be with him, okay? I’ll watch Morgan.” You assured her. 

“What about Bucky? He’s here… so is your dad and… he’s found out that Clint left after the snap and left you alone and he’s furious with him.” She warned. You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. 

“Are we on the phone or in your helmet?” You asked. She knew what you were asking, and told you to wait. You heard her call Bucky, silence, and then you heard the phone being fumbled with. 

“Y/N? Is that you?” Bucky’s desperate voice reached out, and you were not as prepared to hear him, and immediately sobbed, having to try and quieten yourself to not disturb or alert the girls. “Hey- I’m okay, it’s okay- are you okay? Where are you?” He asked. 

“Bucky I missed you so much.” You told him, it was the first thing that came out of your mouth. “I thought about you and wished you were here with me every single day.” 

“I miss you too, now tell me where you are so I can come and kiss the woman I love. Also, screw the wedding, let’s just elope, I don’t want to wait a second longer to be your husband.” He told you. That made you smile a little. 

“That’s fine with me. I’m at Tony and Pepper’s lodge.” You told him. “Also, please don’t kill my dad- he’s been mourning my step-mom and my siblings.” You requested. 

“As you wish. I’ll be there soon, okay? Some of the others are coming as well.” He told you before he hung up the phone. You took a deep breath, took a moment to compose yourself, wiping away any tears, before coming back around the corner and approaching the girls. Brooklyn turned and looked at you, and frowned. 

“Mommy what’s wrong?” She asked, completely blanking the movie and going to get up. Morgan also noticed, and was following along. You walked over, telling the girls to sit down, before you sat on the floor. 

“I need to tell you girls some big news, some of it’s really good, some of it’s not good, but there’s no really bad news.” You told them, and they nodded. “Do you remember how we explained how before you girls were born, there was an event call the snap where half of everyone- including daddy and some of our friends?” You asked them, and they nodded. “Well, we found a way to bring everyone back, so everyone is now alive again.” 

“Including daddy?” Brooklyn asked and you smiled and nodded. 

“But.” You quickly added. “When they did that, the bad guy who did the snap in the first place, came back and tried to undo bringing everyone back. Morgan’s daddy, Uncle Steve, Auntie Nat and everyone else were fighting him. Morgan’s mommy went to go help, and I think everyone else went to go help as well.” You explained. 

“What happened? Did they win?” Morgan asked. You turned your attention right to her. 

“Sweetie, your daddy got rid of the bad guy and his entire army by himself, but in the process he got really, really hurt. He’s been taken to the very, very best hospital to be looked after, and your mommy’s gone to make sure he’s okay as well. But he’s okay, and when he’s feeling a little better, you can go see him, I promise, okay? In the meantime, I’m going to look after you until your mommy gets back, okay?” You explained. Morgan, looking a little solemn, nodded. “Some people are coming to the house soon, and they might look a little hurt, so I wanted to warn you both… that includes Brooklyn’s daddy.” You explained to them. 

“Do they need band aids?” She asked, and you smiled and nodded. “Okay, we can help them, right? They need a victory sandwich as well!” She said. 

“Yeah! And juice boxes and they deserve all the sweets! Oh! We can make one of those nice baskets with all the good stuff to send to your daddy, Morgan!” Brooklyn suggested, making Morgan perk up and nodded. 

You helped the girls made a ton of sandwiches, pouring all the candy in the house into separate bowls, and they even helped you make a batch of cupcakes, and by the time you heard two cars pulling up, the girls were putting icing on. You got up, looking at the door, seeing the big black cars through the window. “Okay, finish up your cupcakes, then do you want to come and show them to the team?” You told them, and they nodded, turning back to the treats, before you headed to the door, opening it and stepping outside, before rushing off the porch.

The first person to come out the cars was Bucky, who came barreling over to you. You opened your arms to him as he collided with you, picking you up and spinning you around before holding onto you tightly. “I’m here, I’m okay Doll.” He whispered in your ear. You just clung to him tightly. You looked back at the cars, seeing Steve and Sam, Natasha and… your dad. He was looking very different from the last time you saw him, as well as very timid and nervous to approach. Natasha wasn’t having it, and shoved him forward, making him stumble. Bucky put you down, and let you walk over to your dad, and stand in front of him. 

“I’m sorry… I should have called. I should have come and seen you… you didn’t deserve to be alone after all that.” He apologised. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” You agreed, and he winced, but then you pulled him into a hug. “Don’t do it again. You’ve missed out of some pretty major things.” You told him, before pulling away. He breathed  a sigh of relief, before looking confused at your comment. 

“What do you mean I missed out on major things?” He asked as Bucky came, putting an arm around you and kissing your head. Before you could answer, you were interrupted. 

“Surprise!” Morgan called, holding the door open as Brooklyn walked out with the giant plate of cupcakes. Natasha and Steve grinned and walked over, Natasha kneeling down and taking the plate so they wouldn’t drop them. 

“You made these for us?” She asked. 

“And sandwiches! We also have juice boxes and sweets! Victory snacks!” Morgan explained. You glanced at everyone else, seeing them all shocked at the sight of the two girls. Brooklyn grinned, before looking at you, and then saw the man beside you, and her eyes widened, before she left the porch, rushing over and stopping in front of Bucky, looking up at him in awe, her eyes meeting his. You looked at your fiance’s face, and you saw the cogs turning in his head, as he carefully removed himself from you, and knelt down to her height and tried to smile warmly. 

“Hey, we’ve not met before.” He started with. You glanced at your dad, who was also staring, but he seemed to get it and look back at you shocked, before holding back from crying. You smiled sadly before turning back to the situation. Bucky had noticed her gray painted arm, and the heart on her shoulder. She showed it to him, before she took his metal arm, and compared the two. 

“Morgan likes to pretend to be her daddy, and I pretend to be you and sometimes Uncle Steve, but mostly you- and we fight bad guys!” She explained. 

“You pretend to be me?” He asked and she nodded. “I think Steve’s cooler.” He committed to her, but she frowned and shook your head. 

“You’re cooler. Uncle Steve told me so when he was telling me about you, like how you kicked people’s ass to save him all the time, even now that he’s big! And mommy loves you, and you’re my daddy so that makes you the coolest guy ever, and if anyone says you’re not, I’m going to kick their ass-” She insisted sternly. 

“Brooklyn, butt, not ass, please.” You asked, the request coming naturally even now, and she tried to hide her grin by biting her lip. You looked at Bucky, seeing he was reeling at her words. 

“I’m-” He turned to look at you. “I’m a dad? You were pregnant?” He asked. You nodded, smiling sadly. He tried to hold himself together, turning back to your girl, who was still holding his hand. “I’m sorry I took so long to come and meet you, I promise if I could have been there from the beginning, I would have been, sweetheart.” He told her. 

“I know daddy, mommy told me what happened… can I give you a hug?” She asked. He nodded, and she hugged his neck tightly, and he stood up, holding her close to him, turning to you. “You went through all this alone?” 

“Nat helped. Pepper was having Morgan around the same time, so we stuck together through it all, Brooklyn and Morgan are best friends.” You explained to him.

“I’ve missed so much.” He mourned, still holding her tightly. 

“I knew you’d come back eventually. So I kept a journal and took photos of everything she’s done, and videos too… when we get home, we can watch them all, okay?” You told him, making him nod. 

“I know I said we should elope now… but can we have a proper wedding? So she can be our flower girl?” He asked you, but before you could answer, Brook pulled away to look at him. 

“No, Morgan should be the flower girl- I want to be the ring girl! Can we walk together?” She asked him, making him grin through his happy tears.

“Of course you can sweetheart. Of course you can.” He told her. 

“Hurry up and come and get your fucking cupcakes!” Morgan yelled, your head snapping to her, and you saw Steve choke on his cupcake. 

“Morgan, what did your dad say about copying him? I’ll tell your mother!” You told her, but she just giggled, rushing inside, being chased playfully by Natasha. 

“Can I say fuck?” Brooklyn asked. 

“No you can not.” You corrected her. “How about you go help your grandpa with his sandwich, he’s a little old and needs help with it.” You suggested, pointing to your dad, who went from grinning to insulted at the comment, but Bucky had put her down, and she grabbed Clint’s hand and was already pulling him inside. 

“We’ll give you love birds a minute.” Sam commented with a wink, everyone heading inside. You turned to Bucky, him automatically pulling you into his arms, and you wrapped your arms around his neck, starting to slowly dance together, just happy to feel him so close to you. 

Everything was okay now. 

Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in!

*Not my gif

TAGS: @dailyteambucky @mxrvelsaos @klanceiscannon14 @marvelhoeingismyhobby @bellamyblakemorley @dummiesshort  @freyathehuntress@abbybills22-blog @mutantjediavenger @theoraekensnotsosecretlover @alicedanganh @sleutherclaw @sleepy-coffee-bean @stawwpp @courtneychicken  @graysonmalfoy @bellero @originalpottervengerlock @supernatural-pan @esoltis280 @lady-of-lies @lenaswritingandstuff @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980 @cdwmtjb8 @caswinchester2000 @determinedpines @huntheimpossible @automaticbakeryfreakshoe

[janeykath318]

Quicktaser

Fall Words: Hayride, costume

Blind dating

Fall words: Hayride, costume

“That’s your date in the Spider-Man costume Darcy. Good luck guessing.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and groaned. Why had she been so stupid to make a bet against Sharon Carter, of all people? The consequences of losing had been forced to attend her halloween party/hayride with a blind date of Sharon’s choosing. Natasha had refused to help, saying Darcy should have known better.

Traitors! she thought furiously, trying to get any hint of Spider-Man’s identity. He was wearing the mask so his face was concealed, but she could see He was tall and lean, but in a filled out grown man way, not a teenager at least. Sharon wouldn’t do that to her.

Spider Man must have recognized her elf costume, because he abruptly left his conversation with Steve and Clint (Superman and Robin Hood, respectively) to approach her.

“Darcy Lewis?” he asked. She didn’t recognize the voice, but it had an accent she thought she’d heard before…..

“Yes, I am. Nice costume, Spidey. May I ask who you are?”

He ripped off the mask, revealing silvery blonde hair and a very attractive, if slightly arrogant smirk.

“Pietro Maximoff, at your service.” He answered, giving a dramatic bow. “I must say, you make a magnificent elf.”

“Thank you,” she answered, slightly puzzled. “I honestly thought you were dead. I’ve heard stories……”

Pietro nodded.

“Yes, well…….it didn’t stick. Unfortunately for Wanda, I am still around to annoy her.”

He shot a fond look at his twin, who was busy dispensing drinks and joking with Bucky.

Darcy chuckled.

“I mean, what are siblings for, anyway?” she agreed, deciding to go with the flow. She’d heard rumors that he was a bit of a flirt, but, hey, might as well have a little fun, right?

“It’s really too bad she didn’t tell me how cute you were,” she went on, adding a touch of flirting as. “I might not have dreaded this so much.”

Pietro grinned at her.

“She did tell me you were very pretty, which is a gross underestimate, but she also told me if I misbehaved, I could expect to experience great pain in the lower regions.”

“Very true,” Darcy admitted gleefully, glad to hear her reputation preceded her. “I keep my trusty taser with me at all times. I really hope I won’t have to use it.”

“So do I,”Pietro agreed, favoring her with a heart-stoppingly beautiful smile. “So do I.”

Sharon and Natasha observed their interaction with decided satisfaction.

“She’s flirting right back. This is going better than I’d expected,” Sharon observed.

“Yes, our plan is off to a great start,” Natasha agreed, sharing a conspiratorial look with Sharon. “If we’d tried a couple years ago, he would probably be on the ground right now.”

“Timing is everything,” Sharon sighed, shooting a wistful look at a certain tall Avenger.

[parkerpenny]

piece of peace

ao3 link:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/45710020

Relationships: Penny Parker & Morgan Stark, Penny Parker & Tony Stark, Penny Parker & Pepper Potts, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: Penny and Morgan have an impromptu sleepover post-bad dream while spending Thanksgiving break at the Stark's cabin. Tony is just happy he gets to see Penny be the amazing big sister he knew she would be.

or,

Penny reflects on her little pieces of peace.

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

 The sweet sound of chirping birds woke Penny up from her light sleep, a peaceful sound she didn't get to hear in the noise of the city. On the other hand, maybe it was the soft snores of the five-year old that currently had her tiny hand curled around the teenager's well-worn Midtown t-shirt.

   Penny was spending her Thanksgiving break with the Stark's at their lakeside cabin, a "well-deserved, all-inclusive vacation," according to Mr. Stark after a successful month and a half at MIT. Of course, by "all-inclusive" he meant free food, which appealed heavily to the girl after experiencing the mediocrity of dining hall food and midnight ramen.

  She was overjoyed to spend more time with the people she grew to think of as her family, with May and Happy making their way to the cabin that afternoon along with some of the Avengers for Thanksgiving dinner. As far as she knew, Steve and Natasha were making an appearance, as well as Clint and his family, and Rhodey of course.

    Her attention was brought back to the present by a small yawn, stifled by a tiny fist. Morgan had had a bad dream during the night, and instead of seeking out her parents, she had knocked gently on Penny's door and asked to stay with her for the rest of the night. Penny was surprised that the girl had come to her first, and didn't hesitate to scoot over in her bed, patting the mattress for Morgan to climb up next to her.

     Penny had missed Morgan so much while she was away. It wasn't a huge amount of time to be separated from each other, but the young Stark had been insistent on calling her big sister every night to update her on every single detail of her day, right down to the intricate details of which stuffed animals and dolls attended her latest tea party.

   Penny grew up without siblings, so at first she had no clue how to deal with the fact that this innocent little human being wanted to look up to her and idolize her. It took all of two days for Penny to think of the girl as her very own little sister, and she knew in her heart that she would do anything to protect her, should anything ever happen.

     Tony had told Morgan bedtime stories about the adventures of Iron Man and Spidergirl after Penny had been dusted five years ago. He wanted the girl to grow up knowing about her big sister, the sister he never dared hope she would get to meet, but a man could dream. To keep Penny's memory alive, the memory of the girl he saw as his own daughter, in his youngest child. The day they first met, Morgan had immediately run up to her talking a mile a minute and asking her questions about her being a  "super secret superhero."

     After some hesitation on the teen's part, unsure of where she fit in after basically coming back from the dead and being desperately reassured by Mr. and Mrs. Stark that she was just as much a part of their family as Morgan, Penny looked forward to every second she got to spend with her new sibling. She felt honoured to be a part of a family, and adored being able to watch Morgan grow up, helping her with her Kindergarten homework and playing with her in the yard. The girl pretended, for Tony's sake, not to notice the way he got misty-eyed whenever he watched the two girls interact with each other. Penny knew the lengths he went to so that he could get Penny back from the Soul Stone, and she cherished every minute she got to spend with her father-figure after almost watching him die on the battlefield.

    "Penny? Are you up, Penny?" a soft voice grabs her attention from beside her. "Morning, Mo. Did you sleep okay?" Penny brushed the little girl's wild bed head out of her face, the toddler looking up at her with the same brown eyes as her dad. "Yeah, of course I did! You kept the monsters away." she whispered, and Penny's heart melted. She smiled and ruffled her hair, hearing footsteps outside her bedroom door.

    A soft knock came at the door, and after telling them to come in, Tony peeped his head in the door before opening it wide, revealing himself and Pepper. "Daddy!" Morgan wriggled out of Penny's bed and stumbled sleepily towards her parents. Penny just laughed and sat herself up.

   "I noticed a certain little monkey was missing from her room so I figured this would be the best place to check." Tony bent down to pick up his daughter. "Hey! I'm not a monkey, daddy!" Morgan faked a pout. "Well last time I checked, you are currently hanging off of me like a monkey, care to explain that one, Maguna?" The toddler giggled and reached out for her mother, Pepper taking her into her arms. "Good morning, sweetheart, and good morning to you too, little bug." Penny scrunched up her nose, but smiled at the nickname Pepper had given her ages ago, remembering the first time the woman had said it while she was sick and staying at the Tower before the Snap.

    "Morning, Mrs. Stark!" Penny said while rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Pepper sighed, clearly wanting to correct her to just call her by her first name, but recognizing a losing battle when she sees one. The teenager definitely shared the same sense of stubborness as her husband, and once again she finds herself wondering how they aren't actually related by blood.

   "I'm heading down to start breakfast, I'll see you two downstairs." She carries Morgan toward the kitchen, leaving behind Tony and Penny. "So, kiddo, should I be offended I didn't get invited to the surprise sleepover?" Tony ambles over towards his oldest daughter, sitting down at the foot of her bed. "Morgan had a bad dream, she came in and asked if she could sleep in my bed, so we had a little slumber party to keep the monsters away."

     The older man got that look in his eyes again, the soft one that she sees whenever he sees his two kids together, and really whenever he sees her or Morgan any time. There was a mix of joy, peace, disbelief, and so many other emotions that Penny didn't feel like putting a name to. He had changed a lot while she was gone, Penny guessed that having a kid would do that. At the same time, he hadn't changed one bit. He was more emotional than before, more willing to show how he was feeling and to express it outwardly. Penny was a very tactile person, so she would never turn down the more frequent hugs, the "I love you's" that were said out loud instead of being implied through gestures and actions over words. 

  It was the first thing he said to her, after she had come through the portal at the Compound. He had held her face in his hands, gently as if she might disappear again, and pulled her into a hug so tight it was almost crushing. "You're here, you're really here, you're real and you're here and it worked. I love you so much, you're my kid, and I love you so much, Penny." He had said as if he couldn't get the words out fast enough, voice barely above a whisper.

  "You're a great big sister, I always knew you would be." Penny looked at him, a smile on her face. "I'd do anything for Morgan. She's the best." Tony smiled back and patted the girl's shoulder. "Just like her sister, of course." He stood up, ruffling the teen's hair quickly. "Pep's making pancakes, better get up quick before Little Miss eats them all herself."

  Penny pushed the blankets away, standing up as Tony walked over and waited by the door. She slid her feet into a pair of slippers that May had knit for her before she went to MIT and met her father-figure in the doorway. He slid an arm around the girl and Penny curled into his side, relishing in the comfort of a hug of her childhood-hero-turned-almost-dad. He pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "Ready, Underoos?"

  She heard the telltale sign of a car pulling up in the driveway. Someone must have arrived early, she was guessing it must be either May and Happy or Rhodey. She smiled to herself, looking forward to spending the day with her family. Not a single person was related to her by blood, but that didn't matter. They loved her and she loved them all in return, and they looked out for each other. At the end of the day, that's what was important.

  She felt a pang of grief in her chest, thinking of everyone she's lost. Her parents, her uncle Ben. None of whom would be here to celebrate Thanksgiving with her. But she knew that they would be proud of her, and would want her to be happy with the family she found for herself. She knew they would always be with her, even if they weren't really there. So she turned her focus back to Mr. Stark, grinning at the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen and the sound of footsteps coming up the porch.

  "Ready, Mr. Stark."

[vvidowbite]

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about:

This is a sideblog, and I follow back from my main @grimmusings. Please direct IMs there, since it's easier for me to keep all my messages on one blog. It's also easier to start interactions with me there, where I regularly post open starters and meme prompts. For a full list of rules, see my main. Honesty hour questions will largely be answered IC and treated as anonymous unless signed by a muse.

All details vary based on verse, but in general I play Natasha based on an MCU timeline with 616 plots/connections added as needed. Specifically, I almost always include her history with Bucky in the Red Room, whether that relationship was romantic or platonic. I also re-write her Endgame death as either Tony/Bruce's snap brought her back, or Steve traded the soul stone to bring her back. If you prefer one of her faceclaims over the other, feel free to request!

wanted connections:

This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I can roll with most muses as far as basic interactions. I'm happy to ship Nat with other Marvel characters and OCs/fandom crossovers based on chemistry, but unless they're on my OTP list, they need plotting and interaction first. There is never any pressure to ship with me, even if they're on my list.

OTPs: Bucky Barnes (happy to write and rewrite every AU for them), Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Tony/Natasha Stark Possible Ships: Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, Maria Hill, Pepper Potts, Matt Murdock, probably most of the Avengers NOTPs: Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter, Howard Stark, Yelena Belova (they're not related by blood, but she still thinks of her as a sister), MCU Peter Parker (also more of a little sibling relationship) Family: YELENA PLEASE, I adore her. Always happy to write with Nat's canon (James, Mapone) or OC kids as well. Other: all Avengers, Gamora, Widows

default verses:

alt!postblip: A post-Endgame canon-divergent MCU verse where Thor's snap brings back Natasha, Tony lives, and Steve passes the shield on to Sam and stays in the current timeline.

mcu: A mashup MCU/616 verse that pulls Natasha's comics history in the Red Room, including her version of the super soldier serum and her connection with her former trainer, Bucky Barnes. It merges with the MCU timeline at the first Iron Man movie.

mom!verse: Any MCU/616 mashup AU where Natasha has canon or OC children.

multiverse!madness: Various comics universes collide, whether Marvel/DC/etc. have always existed on the same Earth, or other-dimension shenanigans are at work. Duplicate friendly!

verses by request only:

I'm happy to write these, but since they're more specific AUs, I don't default on them for asks/memes. Please feel free to request them.

college!verse: A modern/realistic AU where Natasha is a Criminal Justice/Forensic Sciences major. While this is a no-powers verse, she excels at reading people thanks to the abuse from her wealthy, crime connected father, and her primary goal is shielding her younger sister, Yelena, from the worst of him.

dark!winterverse: An MCU AU where Steve and Bucky both fall from the train and are captured and brainwashed as Winter Soldiers. They work together for decades until Steve starts to regain his memories, and he seeks out a Widow he once trained for help in freeing them.

super!mcu: A mash-up of the MCU and Supernatural and universes, where The Winchesters manage to stop the first apocalypse shortly before Thanos snaps away half the universe. Natasha discovers some of the freed Widows have been possessed by demons and joins the hunters.

[vvolfstare]

✪ main ✪ bio ✪ face ✪ muse ✪ wishlist ✪

about:

This is a sideblog, and I follow back from my main @grimmusings. Please direct IMs there, since it's easier for me to keep all my messages on one blog. It's also easier to start interactions with me there, where I regularly post open starters and meme prompts. For a full list of rules, see my main. Honesty hour questions will largely be answered IC and treated as anonymous unless signed by a muse.

All details vary based on verse, but in general I play Bucky based on an MCU timeline with 616 plots/connections added as needed. Specifically, I almost always include his history with Natasha in the Red Room, whether that relationship was romantic or platonic.

11/24: Unless we're already writing together, I'm currently only accepting canon Marvel/MCU connections for Bucky. This will not affect current threads or plots.

wanted connections:

This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I can roll with most muses as far as basic interactions. I’m happy to ship Bucky with other Marvel characters and OCs/fandom crossovers based on chemistry, but unless they’re on my OTP list, they need plotting and interaction first. There is never any pressure to ship with me, even if they’re on my list.

OTPs: Steve Rogers (happy to write and rewrite every AU for my favorite idiots), Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Brock Rumlow Possible Ships: Natasha Stark, Matt Murdock, Tony Stark, probably most of the Avengers NOTPs: Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter, Howard Stark, Alexander Pierce, MCU Peter Parker (he thinks of him more like a son or a little brother), most muses who are significantly younger (if he's calling them "kid," he's gone dad-mode, sorry) Family: I have a lot of love for Dad!Bucky and Brother!Bucky, so I'm always happy to play against his canon or OC kids and siblings Other: all Avengers, Kobik, Ian Rogers, Logan Howlett, Howling Commandos

default verses:

catfa: An MCU verse with any events that take place during or before Captain America: The First Avenger, before Bucky's fall from the train.

winterverse: An MCU/616 verse with Bucky's time as a captive, first with the Soviets and then with HYDRA. (winter!soldier)

catws: An MCU verse with any events that take place during Captain America: The Winter Soldier or relate to Project Insight. (winter!soldier)

cacw: An MCU verse with any events that include Bucky's time on the run, including the Avenger's Civil War and his time in Wakanda, leading up to the battle against Thanos.

alt!postblip: A post-Endgame canon-divergent MCU verse where Steve passes the shield on to Sam and stays in the current timeline like a character who didn’t just undo 3+ movies of development. He’s there to help Bucky and Sam re-adjust to the world post-blip and learn the ropes on being Cap.

tfatws: An MCU verse that takes place during or after the events of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier.

thunderbolts: An MCU post-TFATWS verse where Bucky continues trying to atone for the Winter's Soldier's actions by joining the Thunderbolts.

mcu: An MCU verse with any events taking place after Bucky breaks from HYDRA, usually divergent from the above timelines.

616: A mix of 616 and headcanons, typically written for comics muses who don't acknowledge things like the MCU Civil War or Thanos.

multiverse!madness: Various comics universes collide, whether Marvel/DC/etc. have always existed on the same Earth, or other-dimension shenanigans are at work. Duplicate friendly!

I'm happy to write these, but since they're more specific AUs, I don't default on them for asks/memes. Please feel free to request them.

mcu/comics aus:

captain!barnes: Any AU verse where Bucky takes the serum in Steve's place, or Steve falls from the train and Bucky picks up the shield.

dad!verse: Any MCU/616 mashup AU where Bucky has canon or OC children. While I'm happy to accept children from any muse, please do not assume Bucky is still with the other parent in the present timeline without prior discussion unless they're on the OTP list.

earth-3490: A blip comics universe where Steve is married to Natasha Stark (Iron Woman). When he discovers the Winter Soldier file, he takes it to his wife, she has time to adjust to the idea, and the Avengers’ Civil War never happens. Also open to a poly ship with Steve/Toni/Bucky in this verse.

hydra!world: A comics universe set in Earth-85826, where fascist dictator Arnim Zola rules the world with HYDRA. Bucky works deep undercover as a double agent within HYDRA while secretly helping the resistance. Few people know that, under Zola's orders, he assassinated Red Skull early in the regime change to cement his loyalty and take out the competition.

superhusbands: An MCU AU where Bucky doesn’t fall from the train in the Alps. Steve catches him, and they go after Red Skull together. They’re both on the Valkyrie when it crashes into the ocean and wake up together seventy years later.

welcome to westview: Roughly a month after Endgame, Natasha is dead and Steve has returned to the past. Devastated and struggling with rehabilitation, Bucky ventures into Westview with Wanda for a false happily ever after scenario.

fandom specific aus:

bodyguard: A no-powers AU where Bucky is an ex-Army Sergeant who now works in private security.

horror!verse: Bucky is infected with either lycanthropy or vampirism during his time as the Winter Soldier. (werewolf!bucky / vampire!bucky)

james dean daydream: A no-powers AU where Bucky and Steve are too young for the war, and he never becomes the Winter Soldier. He's a greaser in his 20s during the 1950s.

super!mcu: A mash-up of the Supernatural and Marvel Cinematic universes, where the Winchesters manage to stop the first apocalypse shortly before Thanos snaps away half the universe.

twd!verse: A zombie apocalypse AU that follows a Walking Dead timeline. Bucky may still be a prisoner of HYDRA or surviving on his own.

you jump, i jump: A Titanic AU set in 1912, where Bucky is being forced to marry a woman he barely knows to preserve his family's name and fortune, but he meets someone aboard the ship who has him dare to imagine a different life.

[authorred]

Avengers React

Preface: Avengers reactions to witnessing the reader use their OP powers for the first time

Disclaimer: Will involve the OG Avengers, the new gen, and side characters. If you've any suggestions for an Avengers React, do comment them! (pls do actually I'm utterly uncreative)

Warning(s): None

Characters: Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Sam, James, Wanda, Pietro, Fury, Steven (Strange), Peter, Vision, T'Challa, Carol

Tony Stark: Would stare. If anyone else was there, he'd look at them, then look back at you. "Did . . . anyone else see that tiny person create a wormhole, or was that just the caffeine and sleeping pills kicking in?" Would probably be warily curious of your powers and how you got them. If you didn't know how, when, or where you got them, Unknowing Adoptive Dad Powers activate.

Steve Rogers: Would gape at you for a solid two seconds before closing his mouth and nodding in quick acceptance. "That's not the strangest thing I've seen." Would probably offer to train with you--silently. He'd just show up in the Stark Tower training room whilst you're in there and give you a knowing look.

Natasha Romanoff: Would be both impressed and wary. With the evolving enemies coming after their necks, they don't need to deal with someone (or something) else that's crazy powerful. "Okay, we can deal with that. Probably." Would keep a safe distance from you at first but isn't hostile or closed off.

Bruce Banner: Absolutely fascinated. Star struck. Jaw-gaping. Him and his seven PhD's are buzzing with theories as to how you got your powers. The Hulk side of him wants to get thrown around to see if you're as strong as him. "That's--that's tearing my knowledge of physics apart. And I don't know if that makes me scared or fascinated."

Clint Barton: "I might need more arrows for that." Wouldn't surprise him that much. If you somehow demonstrate greater accuracy than him whilst shooting (some sort of projectile) he'll get a bit salty. Probably say, "Best two out of three". If you beat him consistently, he literally will not give up until the thousandth round at least.

Thor: Would laugh heartily. "That's the spirit!" Would probably be the most open and friendly to you, despite your monstrous power. Would make a passing comment that you're still not worthy (of Mjolnir), but maybe one day you will be. Doesn't seem to be intimidated by you and your power. Until you throw him through a few buildings (at his request).

Loki: Power is hot to this man. "Well, that . . . certainly is something." Would eyefuck you with a certain gaze. Is lowkey jealous of the power you wield, but also lowkey wants to be crushed by it, no matter how hard his superiority complex fights it. He's always trying to get under your skin to prove he's better than you in some way. You always seem to match him in most areas, though.

Bucky: Would stare in slight surprise. Brows raised. Then he'd shrug. "Damn." He's smart (unlike some), so he wouldn't actively try to get a fight out of you. Would be open to you and friendly enough. Sometimes you'll challenge him to arm wrestling. He wins sometimes, but he knows you probably let him. Treats you like a little sibling.

Sam Wilson: "Now, what in the hell do we do about that?" Is utterly perplexed and confused as to how another super-powered human landed on their doorstep. Is initially wary of you and your powers and often combats you with wit and sarcasm that you combat with some of your own. Whether you eventually gain his respect or not is hard to tell.

James Rhodes: ". . . what the hell am I looking at?" Essentially the same as Sam, but forget the wariness, the man is just confused. Doesn't interact with you much but does stay with the others if they're trying to find more about you, or during times where you're explaining to them what you can do and how.

Wanda Maximoff: At first, she's wary. Second, she'd be tempted to go into your mind to see what it is you are. If she sees it, she most likely tells Steve. If she can't, she tells Steve that's she's unable to see inside your mind. Meaning, you've some sort of immunity to her magic. She keeps a distance from you and speaks curtly with you at first. "A mind I can't see into is a dangerous one."

Pietro Maximoff: Due to his playful personality, he'd probably want to be thrown around gently to see if you can catch him. "What? You didn't see that coming? Gets thrown into wall a second later". Acts as an annoying older brother but will get firm/stern if you act stupid. Protective. Also tries to race with you a lot and brags like a bitch when he wins.

Nick Fury: "Motherf--". Is utterly tired of enhanced humans. Will probably never speak to you after an initial interrogation. Will keep a close eye on you, though. Sort of how they kept a close eye on the Avengers as well--exception is he knows nothing about you. Your powers are inexplainable and never-before seen or observed.

Steven Strange: Both intrigued and wary--much like Wanda. He'd be a bit more curious about you, though. He'd probably look into different universes, into your mind, into all books and knowledge he has access to, to understand even a fraction of who or what you are. "Are you sure you're not an interdimensional demonic entity?" He'd engage you in conversation often, asking you if you know anything about the mystic arts, Sorcerer Supreme, so on, so forth.

Peter Parker: Would think you were ultimately the coolest person on earth and in space (second to Tony). "Dude--! Did you see that?? That was awesome, dude!" Would be the most talkative and bubbly to you. An actual puppy whilst talking to you. Is super curious and doesn't seem afraid of you and your powers. Wants to know everything about you.

Vision: Is the calmest. The most curious since he doesn't know everything about you yet. "You're a human, but you exhibit powers far beyond human capabilities. It's fascinating." Asks you a lot of philosophical questions, and maybe some about your past. Sometimes the way he speaks about humanity confuses you, but you catch on pretty quickly after a few explanations.

T'Challa: Just kinda gives you an, 'Oh, okay, that happened' type of look. Probably would respect you as a fellow enhanced person. "You are not the strangest person I've met so far." Of course, as the king of the most powerful nation, he needs to make sure you're not a threat to him and his people--especially his family. He keeps it civil and lowkey playful with you. Often, he'll indulge you in physical sparring.

Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel): Somewhat threatened but feels respect as well. Only because she's used to be one of the strongest (humans) in the universe and isn't used to being challenged (aside from Scarlet Witch who she hasn't interacted with since Endgame). "Hm . . . I like you." She doesn't interact with you much and she's arrogantly playful with you.

[fortuositywritings]

I Said No (Wanda x R): Pt 4

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3

Summary: You try to be friends with Wanda. Frankly, you could try a little harder. (Ice cream date, but it’s not really a date, but like it is but it’s not)

PS: There are like three swear words, mentions of exercise, and you eat a lot of pancakes but that’s cause you’re hungry. It’s not a problem. Also, if you are actually athletic, are fit, or like to exercise, you aren’t and you don’t. Not in this house.

You wake up the next morning with a sore neck. As you sit up, you see Nat standing beside the couch looking at you over her coffee cup scaring the life out of you. 

“So, how’d you sleep?” she asks.

“Like a princess,” you sarcastically reply. Stretching, you hear your body popping in all different places. Maybe you will take Pietro up on his offer.

“I know what will help. Some exercise. Get ready. We’re going on a hike.”

You finally take in Nat’s appearance and see her sporting the attire for a hike. 

You groan. “You say hike, but I know you really mean running at an incline.”

“Come on. Don’t be a baby. Exercise is good for you. When’s the last time you got any?”

You want to make a joke because of how she worded it, but your mischievous smile gives you away.

“Exercise, Y/N. When’s the last time you got any exercise,” she clarifies.

“The last time you asked me that.”

“A year ago?” 

“And my body is still sore. Ask me again in a few months,” you go to lie down again but she throws a couch cushion at your head. “Okay, okay. Jeez, woman. I’m up.”

When you return from your hike, you are heaving. You don’t ever really think about how unfit you are, which makes sense when you don’t spare 5 minutes to do any kind of exercise, but a hike with Nat will surely remind you. You are sweating buckets and just want to pass out when you enter the house. Everyone is awake presumably having breakfast. You can smell the pancakes from the living room. Your stomach growls. You want to eat but even chewing sounds like too exhausting at the moment. You just want to knock out. You head over to your sleeping quarters for the week, but before you collapse on the couch, your cousin says, “I don’t want any sweat on my couch, Y/N.”

“Ugh,” you complain but comply and go to take a shower. There is no warm water. You assume all the guests had probably had their turn while you were out. You don’t mind it too much. The cold water wakes you up and you feel refreshed. Soon you are sitting with everyone else making plans for the day, but unlike everyone else at the table you are scarfing down pancake after pancake, hardly chewing between each swallow. The conversation dies down as everyone starts to look your way. You’d be embarrassed at your table manners but honestly you’re too famished to care. 

“Woah, slow your roll there, Y/N. Where was this energy on our hike?” You hear Nat’s voice come up behind you. You don’t bother looking at her, showing her the middle finger behind your back so the kids won’t see. She chuckles as she sits on the empty seat beside you. 

“You might be faster than me,” Pietro comments.

“You know it’s not gentleman-like commenting on the way a woman eats,” you answer, mouth full and all. 

“It’s also not lady-like to speak with your mouth full of food,” Laura reprimands you.

“Cooper doesn’t care. Right, Cooper?” you turn to the kid in question still chewing on your food.

He answers you with a mouth full of food as well, “Right!”

Your cousin sighs as you reach over to give Cooper a fist bump. Wanda laughs at the interaction from beside Cooper. You give her a quick wink before settling back in your seat. She just rolls her eyes.

They all go back to their conversation and you go back to eating your delicious pancakes in peace. Once you are satisfied, you sink back in your chair letting out a happy sigh.

“Are you sure you don’t want another one? You hardly ate anything, Y/N,” Nat sarcastically says.

You roll your eyes in good nature. “Honestly, I do want another one but my stomach might explode. I’m going to be dreaming of these pancakes tonight. I’d wed whoever made these bad boys but sorry, cousin,” you turn to Laura, “you’ve got a husband and kids, and I just can’t tear a family apart.”

“Also, she’s your cousin,” Nat emphasizes.

“Obviously that was implied, Natasha,” you say her full name obnoxiously.

“I’d love to take all the credit, but Wanda actually made breakfast. So if you’re marrying anyone for the pancakes, it’s Wanda,” Laura says. 

“You hear that, Wanda? I’m going to make an honest woman out of you.” You wiggled your eyebrows her way.

“If anything, it’s the other way around, Y/N,” your cousin teases.

“Don’t egg Y/N on, Laura,” Clint quips.

“But then who is going to make me pancakes like these, Barton?” You pout.

“I can,” Pietro pipes up. “I’ll even bring them to you for breakfast in bed.” He winks as Nat and Clint wrinkle their noses in distaste and Wanda stifles a laugh.

“What?” Pietro asks his sister.

“Pietro, you can’t boil an egg.”

“Yes, I can. I can make many things. I even helped you with this breakfast,” Pietro insists.

Everyone watches the siblings squabble in amusement, especially when Wanda turns to you to stage whisper, “He burnt two pancakes.”

“I did not!”

“Ask Peter. He had one,” Wanda says in turn. Peter shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“It was a little crunchy,” Peter says after much hesitation. Sam pats his shoulder, shaking his head. “Poor kid. No one should have to eat crunchy pancakes.”

After breakfast the kids decide they want to play basketball with the hoop Clint had placed over the barn doors. You break into teams of 3. It’s you, Lila, and Peter versus Sam, Cooper, and Pietro. Nat and Wanda sit on the sidelines watching and cheering. Your team is not doing so great. If it wasn’t for Peter pulling the team, you would cry in embarrassment. The guys on the opposing team start to get cocky. Sam rubbing the score in your team’s face, Cooper repeating whatever Sam says, and Pietro begins making flirty remarks about teaching you one on one and so on. You want to ignore his remarks but you kind of also want to wipe the smirk off his face. You do just that a few minutes later when you finally make a shot after Peter screens him allowing you to shoot. You look to see if Wanda saw but frown when you notice she’s not there anymore. You play for a few more minutes but you are quickly getting tired.

Laura comes up beside Nat and yells over to you, “Y/N, I need you to run to the store for me.”

“Oh, thank god.” You sigh in relief as you go over to your cousin and take the list she holds out to you. “Nat, sub me in?”

“Gladly.” She walks confidently over to take your place. You hear Sam and Pietro whine behind you when they realize Nat is playing in your place.

You chuckle as you read the list. “Are we having hamburgers tonight?”

“Gosh, you really were not paying attention while eating those pancakes. Clint wants to grill tonight.”

“Can you blame me? I’m getting that pancake recipe,” you say with complete determination. “Speaking of, have you seen Wanda?”

“Y/N.” Your cousin gives you a look.

“What?” You say innocently, knowing exactly what that look means.

“Clint told me about that little talk he and Nat had with you.”

“So, what now? I can’t be her friend?” you scoff.

“Friend. Mhmm, sure,” she laughs in disbelief and shakes her head. Why does no one in this damn house believe you?

“Mhmm,” you repeat as you are walking back to the house.

“Check the guest room,” Laura says last minute. Well, at least your cousin’s got your back. You give her a thumbs up in thanks.

Sure enough, Wanda is in the guest bedroom. She’s sitting in bed with a book in her hand. You softly knock on the door. She looks up, notices it’s you, frowns, and goes back to reading. You tilt your head wondering what has her in a mood. Is she back to thinking about her ex? Maybe you can help distract her as a good friend would do.

You walk over to the bed before deciding to sit in front of her cross-legged, elbows on knees, chin on the palm of one hand. “Whatcha got there?”

“A book. Ever heard of one?” she replies without bothering to look up.

Sheesh. “Oh, my god. Is it real? Can I, like, touch it? I’ve always heard about books but I’ve never seen one in person,” you say sarcastically, hoping to get some positive reaction from her. You see a slight upturn on the corner of her lips before it disappears. Though it was miniscule, it was a step forward no less. You sit there for a minute staring at her and thinking of how to proceed. You don’t want to worsen her mood with one of your dumb jokes.

Wanda can feel your eyes searching for some kind of sign from her. She gives up trying to read her book, having been repeating the same paragraph over and over again. She puts the book down and huffs. “Can I help you?” 

“Actually, you can,” you say. “I’m going into town to get some stuff for the hamburgers and I was wondering if you wanted to come?”

Maybe you are simply confusing Wanda’s boredom for an unpleasant attitude. 

“Didn’t you ask Piet? There’s no way he refused going with you.”

 Or not. 

Her sardonic tone is not lost on you. So, it’s about the brother and not the ex. You want to scream. This is why you have the twin rule. Though you want to bang your head on a wall for not listening to your own rules, you keep your composure as you stand to leave the room. Before you go, you tell Wanda, “I haven’t asked Pietro. I thought of you first, but if you’re not feeling it, I’m sure he would say yes like you say.”

You turn and head out to the hallway dejectedly, but you perk up when you hear Wanda stop you. “Wait! Let me put on my shoes.”

You wait for her in the hallway, smiling to yourself in part because you would not have to spend hours with Pietro’s constant advances but mostly because you got to spend time with Wanda without supervision. You are a grown ass adult, eh, not really, but legally you were an adult. You don’t need to be supervised. It’s not like you needed someone to watch you else you throw yourself at Wanda. Sure, you like to tease here and there but it’s not bothersome. Is it? Oh, god, were you annoying Wanda?

Those thoughts are quickly dispelled when Wanda meets you with a smile. “Ready.”

No, Wanda wouldn’t have agreed to go with you if you were really a bother. You’re sure of it.

It’s a 20 minute ride into town. With Wanda’s mood having done a full 180, you find yourself enjoying your time with her as she recounts a slight hiccup on Steve’s behalf on a mission. Soon enough you are driving up the main street looking for a parking spot. Luckily you find a spot not too far from the store. You head inside and grab a cart. You and Wanda wander around the aisles looking for what you need. Wanda takes over cart duty when you keep bumping into things because you’re distracted with either looking over the list or looking over at her. You say a quick hello to a few people you recognize.

“Well aren’t you popular,” Wanda comments as you both turn into the frozen food aisle to look for hamburger patties. 

“Yeah, that’s not always a good thing,” you say when you spot a woman you know in the same aisle. You move to walk real close behind Wanda, trying to hide your face. 

“What are you doing?” Wanda asks when she feels your forehead resting between her shoulder blades.

“Shhh, just keep walking,” you command without any explanation. Your really sad attempt at hiding was all for naught when you hear your name.

“Y/N? Is that you?” 

You take a deep breath, plaster a fake smile, and leave Wanda’s space. “Hi, Mrs. Townsend. How’s it going?”

“I thought that was you. You can’t hide from me, you know. Not that you were ever any good at it,” she says knowingly. You cringe at the memory of her finding you in her daughter’s closet. This woman disliked you from start to finish, which made sense given that her daughter had broken up with her boyfriend for you only for you to break things off a few weeks later.

“Yeah, I know,” you smile sheepishly. She looks over your shoulder at Wanda. She looks curious but not in the best way.  “And who is this?”

Wanda introduces herself with a polite smile. “Hello, I’m Wanda. Pleasure to meet you.”

“You look familiar. Have we met before?” Mrs. Townsend asks.

“No, I guess I just have that face,” Wanda responds with no hesitation having practiced that line so many times on missions. Mrs. Townsend’s stare weighs heavy and Wanda begins to feel uncomfortable.

“A very pretty one at that. Y/N sure knows how to pick them. Is that an accent I hear? Where are you from, dear?” Mrs. Townsend asks, with faux intrigue. Now you’re uncomfortable too. 

You know you shouldn’t speak for Wanda but you don’t want to subject her to be in this woman’s presence any longer. “Actually, she’s just a friend visiting from New York. She and a few others are staying with Laura. And actually, she’s expecting us to return soon. So, have a good day, Mrs. Townsend. Come on, Wanda. Let’s go.”

You lead Wanda away by pulling the cart behind you. When you’re nearly clear of the aisle, Wanda stops and reminds you that you never got the patties. You tell her to go ahead and get in line to pay while you go back for the patties, them being the last thing to get from the list. Mrs. Townsend is still in the aisle now talking on the phone very displeased. “Yes, she was right here and with another girl-” she cuts herself off when you’re in her vision reaching to get what you need. 

You give her a sarcastic smile. As you pass by her for the last time, you smirk and lean in to say, “Tell Abby I say hi.” Then you wink, leaving Mrs. Townsend very angry, and head over to the checkout area where Wanda is waiting. Wanda doesn’t say anything other than “Well, she was lovely” to which you laughed. Apart from that, she stays quiet at the checkout and as you put the items in the car. Before she has a chance to open the door to get in the passenger seat, you stand in front of the door blocking the handle. 

“Hey,” you begin, but Wanda is looking at her shoes, her hands fiddling with the rings on her fingers. You take her hand to shake her arm in an attempt to get her to look up. “Look at me.” 

You wish you hadn’t asked that of her because when she does look at you, it tears you apart. If you did not think your presence was needed more here, you could storm right back into that store and give Mrs. Townsend a piece of your mind. 

“Mrs. Townsend is an asshole. You should never take what an asshole says to heart cause it’s all shit,” you say in all seriousness. Wanda giggles and raises her free hand to rub her face. You pull it away from her face. Holding both her hands you continue, “She’s just a grumpy lady holding a grudge over something I did like two years ago. It’s nothing to do with you and all to do with me. So don’t listen to anything she says, okay?”

It takes a moment but she finally nods. “There we are.” You pull her into a hug, one she accepts easily, hoping to give further comfort. You can’t help but think how nice it is to hold her, moreso, when she hugs you tighter. 

“So, she was lying when she said I was pretty?” Wanda tries to joke, adopting your method of lightening the mood.

“Oh, absolutely,” you answer. She quickly pulls back from your hold but you don’t let her go too far, holding onto her elbows. “Cause you are breathtakingly gorgeous,” you finish.

She smiles and a blush takes over her face. You decide to add, “In fact, I can’t even breathe right now standing so close to your beauty.” You dramatically gasp for air making Wanda laugh and smack you. 

“Ow, if this is how you Avenger women treat your adoring fans, I’d hate to see how you take down the bad guys.”

“Oh, so you’re a fan?” Wanda asks adorning a sly smile.

“Mhmm, since day one.”

“Is that so? Because from what I remember you called me Crimson Witch just yesterday,” she teases you.

“And I stand by what I said,” you respond. You cut her off when she opens her mouth to argue. “But if I have offended you, let me make it up to you.”

She narrows her eyes, looking at you skeptically as if you were up to no good making you want to laugh. “How?” She asks warily.

You lean into her space once more to say, “I know a place.” You wink and without allowing her to respond, you take her hand dragging her along behind you. “Come on.” 

Your destination is just two blocks away. Wanda speeds up to walk beside you but she never lets your hand go. Not that you mind it in the least. You stop her when you arrive and reluctantly let her hand go to make a grandiose gesture with your arms. “Ta-Da!”

“An ice-cream shop?” she asks you, clearly unimpressed.

“Not just any ice-cream shop. The Ice Cream Shop!” You can’t help but say enthusiastically. Wanda on the other hand does not look enthused. You can’t believe she’s not excited for ice cream. “Oh, come on, Wanda. Don’t tell me you don’t like ice cream. The only excuse I’ll take is that you’re lactose intolerant or vegan. Just don’t tell me you prefer frozen yogurt. Oh, god. You do, don’t you?” You gasp dramatically, your hand clutching your chest. 

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes in a light hearted manner at your antics. “You’ve made your point. Just open the door.”

“Bossy,” you laugh, but do as she wishes though you make a show out of opening the door. You bow and motion for her to enter as you hold the door open. “After you, m’lady.”

She sighs. Passing through the door, she mumbles, “I could be in bed reading right now.”

“Ah, but then you would’ve missed the opportunity to hang out with someone as cool as me,” you say as you and Wanda go to stand behind the group of teenage girls ordering their ice cream.

“Oh, are they meeting us after? Do you think they’ll buy me frozen yogurt?” she retorts, amusement shining through her eyes. You generally find quick witted remarks annoying. Mostly because you’ve always been surrounded by smart-alecks all your life. Your cousin is one. Then she married one who had one as a best friend. Somehow, you find the same quality in Wanda kind of attractive. Oh god. This can’t be happening.

“Quit being so grumpy. You’re gonna thank me when you try it. It’s only the best there is.”

“You should listen to her, but hey, I may be a little biased,” the woman working at the counter backs you up. The teenage girls are long gone.

“Thank you, Tanya,” you reply, stepping forward to the middle aged woman you know to be the owner of the shop. She was actually the one to give you your first job at this very same ice cream shop. Maybe you were also a little biased. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to be in town so early, Y/N.”

“Well, I just missed you so much, I couldn’t wait to get here,” you explain.

“Uh, huh. I’m sure that’s it.” Her voice is full of disbelief. You laugh.

“Actually, I got here yesterday. I wanted to come earlier to help out Laura now that she’s phwwt,” you whistle and make a belly bump gesture like it’s a scandalous secret.

“She’s married and this is baby number three, Y/N. You can say pregnant,” your old boss laughs.

“But that’s no fun,” you pout.

“And who is this little thing?” She turns to Wanda, who timidly smiles still two steps behind you.

“Come on, I don’t bite, hun.” Tanya gives her a sincere smile, one much different from Mrs. Townsend’s. Wanda slowly approaches after you wave her over encouragingly. When she is close enough, you hold her forearm to introduce her to Tanya, trying to ease her nerves. It seems to work. You feel her relax and lean into your side as she says, “Hi, I’m Wanda.” 

“Pleasure to meet you dear. I’m Tanya. See, no need to be shy.”

“She’s not usually like this as far as I can tell. She’s actually quite chatty. Sometimes I don’t know how to get her to stop talking,” you joke. Wanda scoffs and bumps your hip with hers.

“Whenever Y/N begins to annoy you, just put on some earphones and hide them with your hair. It works wonders. She can talk to herself for hours,” your old boss advises Wanda.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“Hey!” You interject. “Tanya, where is your loyalty? So quick to team up against me.”

Wanda giggles beside you. You turn your head to playfully glare at her, missing the way Tanya smiles at the interaction in front of her. 

“So how’d you two meet? I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before, Wanda.”

“She’s a friend and um, coworker of Clint and Natasha. She’s here for the week.” You hope Tanya didn’t catch your little hiccup there. However, you miss the implication of her question. Tanya tries to remember who Nat is.

“Natasha. Is she the intimidating red head always wearing tight jeans?” You and Wanda laugh. You affirm with a finger to your nose. “Didn’t you date her sister?”

You let go of Wanda’s arm to throw your head into your hands. “Ugh, how could you possibly know that?”

“Small town. Word gets around fast. People are probably already talking about you two, especially when you’ve got someone as beautiful as Wanda with you.”

Wanda blushes at the insinuation. “There’s nothing to talk about,” you tell Tanya. 

Tanya raises an eyebrow, “You mean, you’re not dating?”

“Please, Wanda here is way out of my league. I mean, funny, polite, pleasant, and gorgeous. Maybe even a little pretentious. I caught her reading a book… for fun. Who does that? Ow!” Wanda smacks your arm and Tanya laughs. “Did I mention violent?”

The bell above the entrance door chimes informing you three that other customers are coming in. “Okay, so what can I get you?” Tanya asks, moving this along.

“I’d like two scoops of rainbow sherbert on a cone, please.”

“And for you, hun?” Tanya asks Wanda after handing you your cone. 

“Um, may I have two scoops of strawberry, please?”

“Of course, you’d get red,” you taunt.

“Here you are.” Tanya hands Wanda her cone. You take out a ten dollar bill from your pocket to pay but Tanya won’t have it. “My treat, ladies.” 

“But this is sort of an apology cone I promised Wanda,” you try again.

“Y/N! Apologizing with a three dollar ice cream cone is not a real apology. You can do better.”

“It’s like you read my mind, Tanya,” Wanda says. You want to laugh at the irony.

“It wasn’t for anything serious,” you try to argue.

“Whatever it was, you can treat her to something nicer,” Tanya reprimands you.

“Well, what am I supposed to do?”

“The fair is in town. Take her to that. Now shoo, I’ve got customers waiting. Nice meeting you, Wanda,” she says.

“You too. Thanks.”

You exit first, holding the door open for Wanda without thinking about it. She smiles and loops her arm through yours as you both head back to the car at a leisurely pace. You look to see if Wanda likes her ice cream. There is no doubt about it as she begins to hum in happiness. You want to say something like “ I told you so” but she warns you before you have the chance to open your mouth. “Don’t.”

You smirk and turn to your ice cream. You try to savour it, but you demolish that ice cream. You pout when you see it all gone. Wanda still has half of hers.

“Quit being so grumpy,” she says, throwing your words from earlier back at your face. “Here, you can have some of mine.”

She lifts her cone to your mouth. You happily go to take a bite when Wanda shoves the rest of her cone in your face. It wasn’t much but you can smell the damn strawberry ice cream as it drips from your nose. You’re too shocked to move for a minute. She laughs as you try to process what just happened. You hear the shutter noise of a camera. You see Wanda holding her phone up. That snaps you out of your daze. Wanda takes off running the second she sees the look that settles on your face. She doesn’t have to be a telepath to know what that look means. You chase after her. 

She gets to the car before you but can’t open the door. She turns around, hands out in front of her body which is shaking from nervous laughter. “Wait, Y/N. I’m sor-”

You pull her into a hug and shove your ice cream riddled nose to her neck smearing the strawberry flavored dessert on her. “Stop, okay. I’m sorry. Stop, that tickles!” She bursts out laughing. You take pity and let her go, but your feet stay planted where they are. You both quickly sober up when you see how close you are. You feel the tension from yesterday return. You know what you want to do but you know you shouldn’t. Wanda is not making it easy looking at you the same way. Before either of you make a decision, your phone rings ruining whatever that was. You awkwardly clear your throat and back away. You give Wanda a smile before reaching for your phone. You answer it without looking at the name of whoever is calling. It’s Laura asking if you are on your way. You tell her you’ll be there soon. 

You unlock the car and open the passenger door for Wanda. She gives you a quiet thanks. The drive to the house is awkward to say the least, a total contrast to the ride into town. The music in the background does nothing to alleviate your discomfort. In fact, you think it might have made it worse. 

You let out a little sigh of relief once the barn enters your line of sight. Wanda on the other hand can’t take it anymore. She turns off the radio and turns to you expectantly. You take a deep breath knowing what was coming. Having a feeling this conversation could get loud, you slow down the car to a stop before you could pull up to the barn. You’d rather not let anyone overhear knowing how nosy they all are.

“What was that back there?”

“You started it, shoving the ice cream in my face.” You play naive.

“Don’t do that.”

You don’t know why you thought you could get away with lying to her when you know she can literally read minds.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to. I did. I do.”

“Well, I do too,” Wanda says.

“You do?” you ask. You don’t know why you sound so shocked. You had a gut feeling already, but it surprises you hearing her say it aloud anyway.

“You know I do. So what’s the problem?”

The problem is you can’t. The problem is you promised Nat, Clint, and yourself you wouldn’t. The problem is what Nat said at dinner struck a chord with you. Sure she could have been a little nicer about it and maybe not say it in front of everybody, but she was right nonetheless. The problem is your habit of touch and go, the one you never wanted to admit you had, only hurts people. You are the problem and you‘ve decided to fix it, starting with Wanda. You won’t allow yourself the chance to break Wanda’s heart. You don’t think she deserves that.

“You don’t get to decide what I deserve. Neither does Nat. Neither does Clint. I get to make that decision for myself. If I put it all on the line and end up heartbroken, then that’s on me. I make that choice.”

You nod, “You’re right. That is your choice and I can respect that. But it’s also my choice to decide I can’t be the one to break your heart. Can you respect that?”

A heavy silence settles in the car, but you have said all you needed to say so you wait for Wanda to respond. When she realizes your mind is set, she nods. After another minute of silence, she asks, “What now, then?”

“Cliché, but friends?” you suggest. When Wanda scoffs in disbelief, you have to ask, “What?”

“You and me?” Wanda asks as if for clarification.

“Well, I don’t see anyone else in the car. Yes, Wanda. You and me.”

“Have you ever been just friends with anyone before?” Wanda asks, placing no kind of faith in your ability to maintain platonic relationships.

“Are you asking if I can keep it in my pants? Not to bruise your ego, but I can be in a room with you without wanting to jump your bones, Maximoff. I have plenty of strictly platonic friends. Like... Nat.”

She laughs at the choice you made for an example. “That’s only because Natasha doesn’t want to sleep with you.”

“So, what you’re saying is this friendship won’t work because you can’t keep it in your pants?” you counter and watch with amusement Wanda’s face flush and her try to defend herself.

“N-no,” she stutters weakly.

“Great,” you say cheerily. “It’s settled then. We can be friends.”

“There are rules though,” Wanda warns you as you start driving toward the house again.

“Already? Had I known this friendship came with terms and conditions, I might have never suggested it. Fine, lay them on me.”

“No more flirting with my brother.”

“I have never flirted with your-” you start to deny, but when she gives you a knowing look you quickly agree. “Okay, but if he’s putting in all the work, who am I to keep him from living out his dreams?” You jest. She punches your arm.

“Alright, new rule! No more hitting me.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

You were beginning to see the rules to this friendship were not going to be in your favor.

_____________________________________________________________________

So, I lied when I said this was going to be most likely 5 chapters. It turns out I really like dialogue. I'm hoping max is 8 chapters.

Your assignment in preparation for the next chapter: pick a nice outfit cause you're going to the county fair.

Extra Credit: Name the county. (I'm prob going to pick one from the comments)

taglist: @madamevirgo @marvels-writings @gayarchnemessis @myperfectlovepoem @purplemeetsblue @magicallymaximoff @b0mbdotc0m @helloalycia @ironscarletwidowsoilder

[the-widow-sisters]

ooo i have a cute idea! i just watched hawkeye and i won’t say any spoilers, but i just fell back in love with clint’s adorable family. so could you write a fic where everyone lives after endgame and nat takes yelena to meet laura and the kids? with the kids falling in love with yelena and thinking she’s so cool, especially nate whose only 3 or 4, and yelena being such a softie with him. also laura totally loving her. thank u!

A/N: Something nice and warm and fuzzy and family-oriented just in time for Thanksgiving! 🥰💖 I’ve actually been keeping up with the Hawkeye show so far and I’m so excited for Yelena to show up! The anticipation has been killing me 😂 I’ve also fallen in love with Clint’s sweet kids and his little family 🥺 

But I hope you enjoy this one! Thank you for the wonderful request, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Word Count: 4252

  “Are you sure about this? These kids don’t know me, and I doubt being Aunt Nat’s sister is going to make them automatically love me or whatever,” Yelena spoke as they approached the little country house, the nervousness building inside of her with every step they took.

  The Barton’s had invited the both of them to stay for a weekend since Clint’s wife had apparently been dying to meet Yelena since she first heard about her. Yelena was extremely uncomfortable and not ready to face this scary encounter, whereas Natasha was excited as could be about the visit.

  “What?! They’re going to love you.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “You’re fun, goofy, and you like to annoy people. And it seems that annoying seems to grow on most people,” Natasha teased, bumping her shoulder into Yelena’s. Yelena just rolled her eyes heavily, groaning unappreciatively. However, she did appreciate Natasha’s attempts to make her feel better.

  “I’m sure they’re going to adore you. Just let yourself be cool. Y’know, like you did with the rest of the Avengers when you first met them,” Natasha pointed out, and Yelena nodded a bit, noticing with dread how the house was growing even closer.

  “Yeah. But they were adults,” Yelena expressed, and Natasha stopped to look Yelena in the eyes, her light greens piercing Yelena’s own honey-greens.

  “Maybe so. But you know, I’ve found that getting kids to like you is a lot easier than getting adults to like you. I mean… Nate’s four and he’ll love you forever if you just smile at him and talk to him. Lila’s just the sweetest and all you have to do is just talk to her like you talk to me. And good grief, Yelena… Cooper still gets a kick out of bathroom humor and other crude, inappropriate stuff,” Natasha explained, and Yelena nodded, trying to memorize all of the information.

  “You and Cooper will practically be soulmates,” Natasha joked, a grin spreading across her face, and Yelena just glared at her playfully, shifting her bags into the same hand so she could shove Natasha’s shoulder. Natasha laughed heartily.

  “Jerk.”

  Before Natasha could reply, they were quickly interrupted by a loud noise at the house.

  “Aunt Nat!!!” a girl’s voice yelled excitedly, and Natasha shifted her gaze from Yelena to the front door where multiple people were spilling out. Yelena watched with surprise as Natasha’s eyes lit up with an expression that Yelena had only ever seen Natasha have when she was speaking to Yelena herself. It was that one with awe and pure adoration that almost seemed to communicate Natasha’s mental question of how she could be so lucky to have earned such love in her life.

  “My kids!!!” Natasha excitedly greeted, immediately dropping her bags and running the rest of the way to the house as a teenage girl and a tiny boy crashed into her. And older boy came running out as well, reaching out to hug Natasha with his siblings.

  Yelena walked a bit nearer, her own bags still clutched in her hands, and she stopped a small distance away from them, uncomfortably watching the exchange and not sure how to interact since it was all so out of her element.

  “Hey, sweetheart, how have you been?” Natasha asked, her voice communicating nothing but softness and warmth as she pulled away just enough to cup the girl’s cheek. She leaned into Natasha’s hand, a giant grin on her face.

  “I’ve been good,” she replied, her eyes sparkling so much that she was obviously not too focused on what she was saying as much as she was on who she was looking at. Natasha nodded with one of the biggest smiles that Yelena had ever seen on her face. She then bent down to address the small boy that was currently latched onto her leg with his whole body.

  “And what are you doing, you little leech?” Natasha playfully questioned before bending down to hoist the boy up into her arms, tugging him off of her leg. She peppered his face with playful kisses, and he squealed joyfully.

  Yelena could not help her slight smile that was building as she watched Natasha interact with the kids. This was a side of Natasha that she had never witnessed before.

  “And Cooper, you’re taller than me now, buddy,” Natasha grinned up at the boy, putting down the little kid before reaching out to the teen and squeezing his shoulder fondly. He just smiled at her happily, and Yelena looked around somewhat awkwardly, working up her nerve to add into the conversation.

  “That is not too great of a feat. After all, it does not take much to get taller than her,” Yelena spoke up, a slight smirk on her face. However, her smile dropped, and she immediately found herself strangely nervous when all of the kids truly paid attention to her for the first time.

  Natasha turned to look at her, something that could only be described as pure joy in her eyes as she grinned ridiculously widely.

  “Kids, this is Yelena. She’s my little sister,” Natasha introduced, and Yelena offered a slight smile, not sure how to handle this situation. She would have been much more at ease if the children were adults, but since they actually were kids, she found herself strangely uncomfortable and uneasy.

  “And Yelena, I already told you about them, but this is Cooper, Lila, and Nate,” Natasha introduced, gesturing to each, and Yelena nodded a bit, looking at all of them nervously as they stared at her.

  “Hi,” Yelena spoke, unsure of what else to say. Lila replied with a quiet hi and Cooper nodded to her.

  However, to her complete shock, Nate came running up to her quickly and latched onto her leg tightly, hugging her as tightly as he could. Yelena froze, looking up at Natasha helplessly, and Natasha had a much too large grin on her face as she moved her head down in the kid’s direction, signaling to Yelena to respond somehow.

  Yelena reached down, patting the kid’s head. To her surprise, he looked up at her from his position holding onto her, a big smile on his face.

  Yelena tentatively responded with a smile of her own, and she felt just a little of her nervousness dissipate. She glanced back at Natasha, silently asking for help, and Natasha laughed before heading over and scooping up the boy in her arms.

  “Come on, my big man. You think you could help me with my bags?” Natasha asked him, a big smile on her face.

  “Yeah!”

  “Yeah?” Natasha playfully asked, her voice warm as she leaned forward to nuzzle her nose against his with a laugh. She then headed back with him to where she had dropped her bags on the ground.

  Yelena then realized that she had been left with the two oldest kids. She was honestly not sure if that made her less or more uncomfortable.

  “So you’re Aunt Nat’s sister?” Lila questioned curiously, stepping closer, and Cooper moved forward, his hands extended as he reached for Yelena’s bags. Yelena hesitantly let him take the bags, closely watching him as he started to head inside with the luggage.

  “The one and only,” Yelena replied, allowing a bit of confidence to slip into her voice as she returned her eyes to the girl’s. Natasha was a topic that Yelena could navigate comfortably since she knew everything there was to know about her sister.

  “That’s so cool! I always thought Aunt Nat needed a sister or somebody. She used to seem kind of lonely,” Lila admitted, and Yelena quirked an eyebrow slightly.

  “Huh…”

  “So… I’ve heard a lot about you! I sometimes hear her and Dad talking on video calls, and I always hear her talking about you,” Lila expressed with a slight smile, and Yelena could not help the grin that spread across her face at the thought. She turned her head, looking back at Natasha as she praised Nate for his hard work carrying one of the much smaller bags.

  “Sounds like her. She’s such a softie,” Yelena expressed much too happily with a slight roll of her eyes but tried to hold back most of her sarcasm as she headed up the steps to enter the front door. She was not sure how the kid would take it since Lila seemed to think Natasha walked on water or something.

  “I know, right? For a tough agent and all, she’s really soft,” Lila joked with a smile, and Yelena huffed, her smile growing as Cooper passed them by to go meet Natasha and help her and Nate with the remaining bags.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Yelena expressed with a slight chuckle, and Lila’s eyes lit up as she looked at Yelena, eagerly awaiting Yelena’s next words. Yelena looked over at her with a slightly conspiratorial smirk.

  “You know she’s a poser, too, right?”

  “No…?” the girl questioned, tilting her head slightly as she listened to Yelena. Yelena headed through the front door, Lila hot on her heels.

  “Well, she has this thing where every time she lands, she has to strike some kind of fancy pose,” Yelena explained, and Lila laughed a little, nodding as she leaned in a bit nearer to Yelena as Natasha headed up the steps not too far from them.

  “I’ve seen her do that on TV. It’s a little over the top but I think it’s pretty cool,” Lila confessed, and Yelena shrugged, actually conceding to the words since she knew Natasha had no idea what they were talking about.

  “What are you two conspiring about?” Natasha questioned playfully, and Yelena could see the happiness and excitement in Natasha’s eyes as she looked between the two. Yelena knew that her sister was really excited for Yelena to get along with the kids.

  Lila laughed a bit, smiling as she looked over at Yelena. Yelena just tilted her head slightly at Natasha.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know, poser?” Yelena replied, and Natasha just huffed, grabbing Yelena in an affectionate headlock before looking at Lila questioningly. Lila was still laughing about Yelena’s nickname for Natasha, and Natasha just glared at her playfully.

  “Okay, then, you traitor. Do you know where I can find your old man?” Natasha asked as Cooper approached them.

  “Oh, he’s out back with Mom. They told us to keep on the lookout for you,” Cooper answered, and Natasha looked at him quizzically.

  “What are they doing back there?” Natasha questioned curiously, and Yelena did not miss how Lila glanced at Cooper with mirth in her gaze. Yelena raised an eyebrow wordlessly.

  “Well… Let me show you,” Lila spoke, and they all followed the girl to the backyard.

  As soon as they stepped out the back door, Yelena heard Natasha chuckle underneath her breath, looking out at Clint and his wife.

  “Barton, what’re you doing?!” Natasha called loudly as she stepped out into the backyard and headed for the barn. Everyone followed along behind her.

  Clint turned quickly from his position on the ladder, and he grinned somewhat sheepishly. Laura was at the base of the ladder trying to keep it steady for him.

  “Well… It’s not what it looks like.”

  “So you’re not trying to get chickens off the barn roof?” Natasha called with a laugh as she approached Laura. Laura released the ladder for a moment to hug Natasha tightly. Yelena remained near Lila since that was the only kid that she had really managed to bond with very much so far.

  “Okay… Well, then it is what it looks like,” Clint replied, his voice strained as he lunged forward and grabbed a chicken by the legs. It squawked madly, and he grabbed onto her as he tucked her gently against his chest.

  “Alright, alright, calm down,” he told the chicken before starting his descent down the ladder. Laura turned to hold onto the ladder as he went down, and he finally got to the bottom, landing in the grass. He then let the hen go, and she went running to go and meet the rest of her flock.

  Natasha laughed a little as she looked at him. He grinned at her, opening his arms for a hug. However, she just reached out and plucked a feather from his hair where it had gotten stuck in the middle of his chicken adventures.

  “Sprouting feathers, Barton? I always knew you were chicken under all that bluster,” Natasha expressed with a smirk, and he just rolled his eyes. She laughed before finally hugging him tightly, patting him on the back.

  As soon as she was through greeting him, he looked over at Yelena and a smile came onto his face. Yelena could not help her own grin as she headed over to stand next to Natasha.

  “Hey, pancake,” he greeted and Yelena narrowed her eyes just a bit at the nickname. However, her smile grew as she thought of the perfect response.

  “Nice to see you, Clinton,” Yelena replied, and he lost a bit of the smile in response to the name. She just chuckled in reply, and he reached out to hug her. She somewhat stiffly hugged him back, not entirely comfortable with it but more comfortable with him than his family.

  “You must be Yelena,” the woman spoke as soon as Yelena and Clint separated. She looked at Laura, feeling a bit of trepidation. The woman immediately came forward to hug her and she very hesitantly returned the hug, her body stiffened with the contact. She was not sure how to handle this since a stranger had never hugged her as a greeting.

  Laura finally pulled away, and Yelena found herself endlessly thankful. Laura just smiled at her with that strange affection, and Yelena smiled slightly in return.

  “It is so nice to finally meet you,” Laura expressed, and Yelena nodded.

  “It is good to meet you, too,” Yelena expressed somewhat stiffly, and she could feel Natasha’s reassuring hand on her back. Yelena leaned into the hand gratefully, and Clint suddenly spoke up.

  “So you guys must be hungry from the drive. Whaddya say we go inside and order some pizza while we catch up?” Clint offered, and the kids all excitedly agreed. Natasha nodded happily, and Yelena grinned at the prospect of one of her favorite foods.

  They then all headed inside, and Yelena sat down on the couch. Natasha sat down to one side of her, and Lila plopped down next to Natasha. Cooper and Laura situated themselves in the other parts of the living room as Clint headed into the other room to order the pizza.

  Nate, however, immediately came up to Yelena, looking at her with a big grin. Yelena felt her heart slightly melt with his expression. It was so strangely trusting and unguarded as he happily watched her. Natasha, Lila, Cooper, and Laura were all busy talking, and so Yelena focused her attentions a bit more on the little boy that seemed so insistent upon interacting with her.

  “What’s up, kid?” Yelena asked quietly, raising an eyebrow, and he just laughed as he reached out and started climbing up and onto her lap. Yelena froze immediately, her entire body stiffening as she moved against Natasha a bit. Natasha looked over at the two, a slight grin on her face as she took in the sight.

  “Nate, honey, don’t—” Laura started, but Yelena quickly shook her head as she very hesitantly placed a hand on the boy’s back.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry,” Yelena told her, not missing how happy it made Natasha to see Yelena getting along with the kids. Yelena was really uncomfortable with the prospect of interacting with small children, but she would try for Natasha. Plus, a small part of her felt that this was somehow strangely nice in a really weird way.

  She held the kid, and he leaned against her, looking at her with a wide smile. Just looking into his eyes, she somehow found herself softening. He did not seem to be afraid in the least, and she could not help but wonder if this was how normal people would be treated.

  “Okay, so pizza should be here in about forty-five minutes to an hour. Nat, you wanna help me with the rest of the chickens while we’re waiting the pizza to get here?” Clint offered, and Natasha immediately looked at Yelena, slight concern in her eyes as she silently questioned Yelena. Yelena nodded her answer, bumping her forehead into Natasha’s shoulder. Natasha smiled slightly, reaching out and tugging Yelena’s head against her lips as she kissed the spot just between Yelena’s eyebrows.

  “Be back in a little bit,” Natasha told her quietly, and Yelena just nodded. She watched carefully as Natasha and Clint headed out the door, and she then was forced to turn her attentions to a group of people that she knew hardly at all.

  And she could not help but feel at least a little nervous.

     ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       About thirty minutes later, Natasha very hesitantly approached the doorway she had left from earlier, peering in behind Yelena as she somewhat nervously looked in on the scene unfolding inside the room.

  She had left Clint outside with the chickens to come and check on the people inside, and she was very much afraid of what state things were in since she had left Yelena completely alone with a group of people she did not know. She knew that Yelena had said she was just fine, but she was not sure how much of Yelena’s “fine” was just trying to be tough.

  To her complete shock, Yelena was sitting on the couch with Nate snuggled in her lap. Cooper and Lila were throwing grapes at Yelena’s face as Yelena demonstrated her ability to catch them in her mouth. Laura was just laughing at the group, and they were all getting way too invested in throwing the grapes.

  “If you guys are impressed with this, remind me to show you guys how to burp on command later,” Yelena commented, and Natasha felt a huge smile coming onto her face.

  “I can burp my ABCs,” Cooper told her with a grin, and Laura shot him a warning glance.

  “Cooper!” Lila disgustedly cried, but she looked quite surprised as she took in the sight of Yelena cackling gleefully at the very prospect of the idea. Yelena repositioned her hold on the little boy in her arms as she looked at Cooper challengingly.

  “Do it,” Yelena challenged, and he started burping them. He got to the letter F, and he had to stop since he was running out of gusto to do the trick.

  Yelena then immediately picked up where he left off, and Laura groaned a bit at the both of them. She glanced up at Natasha, looking as if she were about to say something to her, but Natasha raised her finger to her lips with a smile. She honestly wanted to see how the interactions would keep going without her interference.

  Yelena was only able to hold out until the letter P because Nate was laughing way too much at her, and Yelena could not help but laugh with him.

  “You like that, do you, myshonok?” Yelena questioned with a laugh, and Lila leaned in a little as she heard the Russian word, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.

  “Ooh, Yelena, can you teach me some Russian while you’re here? I’d love to learn,” Lila expressed, and Yelena furrowed her brow as she looked over at the girl.

  “Sure. Has our favorite poser never taught you any?” Yelena asked, and Natasha could not help the warmth in her chest as she listened to her sister’s warmth as she talked about her even if it was in a playfully sarcastic manner. Lila nodded.

  “Yeah, Aunt Nat’s taught me some. I’d actually love to learn from both of you,” Lila told her, and Yelena huffed slightly, a bit of a grin on her face as she looked at the girl and nodded to her.

  “I’m sure we could convince her to help teach. Just make sure you pull out the puppy-dog eyes, though. She’s a sucker for those,” Yelena told her with a wicked smirk, and Lila giggled in response to Yelena’s words.

  “Revealing all my secrets, are we, malen'kaya sestra?” Natasha chose that moment to speak up, and all of the kids and Yelena turned to look at her. Laura smiled fondly at Yelena, her eyes twinkling with affection, and Natasha could not help the overwhelming feeling of love overcoming her every sense as she very happily realized that so many people that she loved with all of her heart seemed to be getting along so wonderfully.

  “I’m trying to help these kids out. It’s like they didn’t get a crash course in how to properly connive you,” Yelena informed her, and Lila smiled happily at Natasha.

  “Could you and Yelena teach me some Russian?” Lila questioned, and Natasha caught Yelena’s pointed glance between Lila and Natasha. Lila almost laughed, but she experimentally poked out her lip just a bit.

  Natasha approached the back of the couch, reaching a hand out to touch the underside of Lila’s chin fondly.

  “Sweetheart, you know you don’t have to use puppy-dog eyes to get what you want from me.”

  “Wait… Why do I have to then?”

  “Because usually what you want is a lot of trouble and takes a lot of convincing,” Natasha replied immediately, a smirk on her face, and Yelena just haughtily huffed in response to Natasha. Natasha smirked as she came around the side of the couch. Lila moved away from Yelena to give Natasha a spot next to Yelena, and Natasha sat down quickly.

  Before Yelena could react, Natasha immediately started tickling Yelena relentlessly. Yelena yelped, trying to cover herself while also keeping a hold on Nate. Everyone around them started to laugh, finding it hilarious how the tough yet goofy Yelena fell apart at their Aunt Natasha’s hands.

  “Argh! Kids, help me!” Yelena cried out, and Natasha just laughed wickedly.

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree! They’re on my side, Rooskaya!” Natasha happily announced, but she slowed in her assault as she watched Nate clamber up so that he was standing up next to Yelena from where she had crumpled into the couch.

  “I’ll help you, Lena!” he cried, unable to get out her full name but going with the quickest nickname he could as he launched himself at Natasha. Natasha immediately raised her arms to catch him.

  To Natasha’s surprise, Cooper laughed at them and hurried over to sit down on Natasha and squish her legs. Natasha could hardly pull herself out from under Cooper since she was so occupied with Nate who was perched on her torso trying to jab his hands under her arms.

  After this struggle, she was laying down on the couch now with her head in Lila’s lap as the boys held her down. Lila was looking down at her, her face lit up in a huge smile.

  “Attack her, Lila! Show no mercy!” Yelena cried from her position squished just behind Cooper.

  “Lila?” Natasha questioned, looking up at Lila helplessly and hoping the girl would not listen. However, Lila was just looking down at her apologetically.

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Nat. I love you, but the people have spoken,” Lila expressed before digging her fingers into Natasha’s sides. Natasha could not help her laughs as she squirmed underneath her favorite kids in the world.

  If this was the way she had to go, she would gladly accept her fate.

  However, everything was brought to a halt as the doorbell rang, signifying the pizza arriving.

  “Pizza’s here!” Clint called loudly, hurrying through the house and heading for the front door.

  “Of course you show up as soon as food gets involved, Barton,” Natasha commented, and he just turned his head to smirk at her before opening the door and dealing with the pizza person outside.

  All of the kids got up to go call dibs on their pieces of pizza, following their father into the kitchen, and Natasha sat up, slumping against the couch with a light laugh as she looked at Yelena.

  Yelena just grinned wickedly at her and Natasha reached out, shoving Yelena’s shoulder playfully. Yelena moved way too dramatically with the push, and Natasha grabbed the collar of Yelena’s shirt and tugged her over against her. Yelena leaned into her side, her head resting on Natasha’s shoulder heavily. Natasha then happened to look up at Laura.

  Laura was just sitting there gazing at the two with the happiest and most fond expression on her face, and she sighed contentedly. Natasha raised an eyebrow, wordlessly questioning the woman.

  “It’s really good to see you so happy, Nat. You’re really lucky to have someone as special as Yelena,” Laura complimented, and Natasha opened her mouth to speak, but Yelena quickly interrupted.

  “I’m the lucky one because I get the best poser in the world,” Yelena expressed, looking up at Natasha with adoration despite her teasing, and Natasha felt a ridiculously happy smile overtaking her as she looked down at the younger woman.

  And as Clint and the kids came swarming back in, the former bringing pizza and the latter begging Yelena to tell a story about something or another, Natasha felt something she had not felt in a really long time.

�� She felt almost whole again.

[shieldagentnatasharomanoff]

The verses of Natasha Romanoff

This has been long overdue and now with my muse being involved in like fivehundred different things I think it’s time to update my tags and verses so New followers as well as all of you who are still around get an idea or could also tell me in which verse you’d like to keep this.

______________________________________________________________

House of Magic - Magic fam verse

This is my current main verse (just because the amount of interactions I have with the people currently part of it.) 

It’s a year after the Ultron incident when Natasha meets a rather unusual  and unsetteling individual in her living room who later reveals himself to be a variant of Doctor Stephen Strange (Supreme Strange). While interactions are awkward at first, the two go on several adventures through the multiverse together and form a rather unusual friendship that has developed into a strong bond of mutual trust. Because of her continued exposure to astral energies and Strange tutoring her in the ways of magic she developes the power to syphon magic that ultimately gives her the ability to use the mystic arts. Strange takes his friend on as an apprentice. During their travels Natasha and Strange meet a different universes version of Wong and Stephen Strange together with their companion (and Wongs obvious crush) Cherry. Who immediately adopts Natasha and Strange. Wong becomes a trusted friend to both Natasha and Strange as well as the assassines second teacher. While their universes Strange isn’t too fond of his other, eldritch, self, he and Natasha form a budding friendship as well, even working a case together and him starting to open up to her. Tags: The sorcerer and the assassine - A world less lonely @supremestrangeness Matchmaker siblings- Cherry and Wong @cherryfinolahobbes Loyalty through time and space - The sane sorcerer @strxngemxgick (tbc - names may change down the line - tags will be added)

The lines between us  - Natalie 

It’s New York of the 1940′s war is brewing and somewhere between the New York night life and the busy streets of the big apple Natasha Romanoff is sent there as a russian spy posing as a nurse. She makes friends, likes her job and even falls in love. (there are variations of this verse but this is the gist of it) 

Tags: Nothing can tear us apart - James and Natalie @thehollowsoldat Let’s take a chance - @sxrgeantbarnes

Leaving the past behind - Days as an Agent and Avenger 

This is my default verse. If we’re not specifically crossing into the other ones this will be where we find Nat. It takes us up and down the time line from Natasha’s past in the Red Room all the way to and past her death. While working her two day jobs she also has a life, relationships and shenanigans to endure. (MCU AND Comics based)

Tags: Soulmates - Clint and Natasha @prplhawk You found me in the shadows - Clint and Natasha @pizzadogssidekick Future belongs to us - Clint and Natasha @xlegendsxneverxdiex Learning how to live again - Bucky and Natasha @smertzimy Meet us in the light - James and Natasha @thehollowsoldat Taking flight @redwingandaprayer A genius for a sister @hxrbingxr We need to live on @agentsterling _________________________________________________________ This is by far not all the people I write with regularly. I have a list, I’m still thinking on names for tags or different verses. This list will be updated along the way

[dakt37]

AA!Tony and MCU!Tony playing paper football makes me think of that scene in Endgame where Tony and Nebula are playing 😭

It's so cute, maybe you did or maybe you didnt draw it because of that scene but this makes me so happy because I love the whole MCU!Tony being all the universes Tonies dads and this being his way of bonding with his other versions.

We've had interaction between him and AA!Tony and EMH!Tony,will we get other interactions like AvAc!Tony or Natasha or the other Tonies? Hell he even got a moment with Clint's cat who wears a mini IronMan suit. 😭

Thank you! It was meant to reference the Nebula scene, yeah. :) I added it mostly to give the non-speaking attendees something more interesting to do than just sitting there with their hands meekly in their laps (I kind of played myself by not giving them armrests, tbh), but I'm also just really fond of AA Tony and MCU Tony having a sibling-like relationship. MCU is older and veers into Dad Mode sometimes, but they also goof off or antagonize each other on purpose like petty children.

Also I figure Tonys/Tashas are all pretty fidgety in general, which is why Tasha is engaging in my personal meeting tic of hair braiding.

I have a couple vague ideas for MCU Tony + others but honestly almost every art post in this AU falls under "this isn't what I planned on drawing, whoops." So I really can't promise anything specific. 😅

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Family - 29

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: 1858

Warnings:  Pregnancy, labor, delivery, medical proceedures

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 29: Becca

When Natasha went into labor it was about as dramatic as what you’d expect it to be for her.

It was a week before her due date, but well into the zone the doctor’s call full term.  She was uncomfortable and hating it but she still insisted that she be the one that walked the kids to and from school every day so that she could cloak them.  Because it was getting so close to her due date, Clint and Bucky had started to shadow her again.  That meant, rather than a random changing of the guard for the people doing the drop-off and pick-up, it was always Clint, Bucky, and Natasha.

They had been out for around half an hour when they returned.  I was sitting in the living room with Sam and Wanda while she nursed the babies.

Wanda had been such a star with breastfeeding.  With Riley and Pietro I’d ended up needing a bottle supplement which had turned to complete formula diets when they realized the bottle was a much easier way to get lots of milk.  I also remember struggling to feed them both at the same time.

Wanda had no such trouble.  I don’t know if it was just her and she would have been fine no matter what, or if it was the fact her powers pretty much allowed for anything - or a combination of the both - but she could feed both twins at once, never complained, and the babies were steadily gaining weight.

If there was a way for a person to burst through elevator doors, Natasha did it.  All three of us looked over startled as Nat hurried inside, beelining straight to the stairs.  There was a shadow of wetness on her maternity pants and a look of frustration on her face.  

“What’s going on?”  Sam asked his eyes flicking from Natasha who was already halfway up the stairs to Bucky and Clint who were following after her.

“Nat’s water broke while we were dropping the kids off at school.  She started getting contractions on the way back,” Clint explained.

Wanda gave an excited squeak that made Rose give her the dirtiest look a newborn can muster.

“Wow, alright,” Sam said.  “El, you go with them.  FRIDAY, let the others know it’s happening.  And tell Happy, Travis, and Amber that I need to see them.”

“Yes, sir,” FRIDAY replied.

I gave Sam a curious look.  “Well, the kids are going to need to be picked up, I figure if Happy drives one either Travis or Amber. And they’re both going to need to be extra hands-on, because I’m pretty sure Wanda’s going to want to come down and be with Nat too, right, honey?”

“Oh yes,” Wanda agreed.  “I’ll come up to feed these two, but I don’t want to miss that.”

“Alright, I’ll go check on Nat,” I said getting up.  “I’m sure we’re still many, many hours away.  She probably won’t come until tomorrow morning.”

“Wanna bet on the time?”  Sam asked. 

I smirked at him.  “Yeah, alright.  I think 3.30 am.”

“I’m gonna say 11 am.  Rebecca’s going to sleep in,” Sam said.

“Closest to it wins?  If it’s exactly in the middle it can be you,” I suggested.

“Sounds good,” he said, holding out his hand for me to shake.

“What’s the prize?” I asked.

Sam smirked at me.  “I’m sure we can think of something.”

I giggled and headed upstairs to check on Natasha.  I found her in the shower with Bucky, while Clint lazed on the bed.  “How are you doing there, Nat?” I asked.

“Completely mortified,” she said.  “I was talking to one of the other mothers and I just … exploded all over them.  Amniotic fluid went everywhere.  All over her pants legs.  And the floor.  The worst part was that I think the labor started this morning, but I thought it was those Braxton Hicks contractions so I ignored them.”

“That is very dramatic, Tasha,” I teased.  “Perfectly you.”

“I am really glad I have those powers, I tell you,” Natasha said.  “I would have to murder half the population of the planet if pap photos came out with me looking like I wet my pants.”

I smothered a laugh.  “No, we wouldn’t want that.”

“Careful, El,” Natasha warned.

“Yeah, El, don’t anger the assassin that’s in labor,” Bucky teased.

Natasha got out of the shower and I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her as Bucky turned off the water.

“What no towel for me?”  Bucky asked, stepping out onto the bath mat.

I grabbed another towel and threw it at him.  He caught it laughing and I giggled and turned my attention back to Natasha.  “Have you called the medbay?”

“Yes,” Natasha said.  “I called them on the way home.  They said to wait until five minutes apart and then come down.  I only had -” she looked at Bucky. “-two? Since my water broke, so I think we are a ways off yet.”

She wasn’t kidding.  Most of the rest of the day was spent just as normal.  Only every half hour, give-or-take, Natasha would have a contraction.  Happy and Travis went and collected the kids from school.  By dinner time Natasha was beginning to feel it and opted out of eating anything but she sat at the table with us.  She only winced once during the meal but tried not to let the kids see her discomfort.  Bruce even had time to read Riley and Pietro their bedtime stories before things started to get serious.

At around 11.30 Natasha was in serious pain and not able to hide it anymore.  Given her background and the super-serum her pain tolerance was higher than most, so it was difficult to see her struggling so much with it.

We took turns pacing with her, rubbing her back, and feeding her ice chips.  At around one I ran a bath for her and Steve sat on the edge of the tub and held the nozzle against her back.

By two she couldn’t take it anymore.  We went down to the medbay and Clint supported her while they put in an epidural.  When that kicked in, it was like Nat was a completely different person. She just kicked back in the hospital bed dozed through her contractions and we all spread out around the room doing the same.

We all awkwardly slept where we could, only waking when the nurses came in to check her progress.  At a little after three, they told us it was nearly time for Natasha to push.  They turned off the epidural and the pain of childbirth returned to her in full.  She hunched forward grabbing her knees and bared down.  Sweat clung to her skin and her face flush red.

“That’s it, Natasha,” Doctor Shroeder coached.  “Push.”

There was nothing beautiful or romantic about the way Natasha gave birth.  It wasn’t a magical moment where life miraculously entered the world.  It was messy and bloody and loud.  After half an hour of pushing, Rebecca began to crown, and right away we could see she was going to take after her biological mom more than her biological dad.  She had a little cap of pale red hair that was just visible.

“We can see her, Nat,” Sam said, excitedly.

“Not long now, Tasha,” Bucky added.

“It’s gotten to that freaky horror movie part, Nat,” Clint said.  “You want a mirror so you can see?”

Natasha nodded and Doctor Schroeder grabbed a mirror and held it up for her to see.  “There she is.  Your little redhead girl.”

Natasha smiled and started to sob.  She had gone past the point where she could speak it seemed and everything had gotten too much.  Bucky patted her forehead with a damp cloth.

“Alright, Natasha, next time you feel the urge again, push,” the doctor said.

Natasha bared down.  “I hate you so much, James Barnes,” she moaned as she pushed.

“I know, Tasha,” he said.  “I don’t blame you.”

“You’re doing so well, sweetheart,” Steve praised.

She shot him a look that screamed bloody murder.  “Shut your stupid, positive mouth.”

Tony tried to stifle a laugh as Steve’s cheeks flushed.

It was another two pushes until Rebecca’s head was clear, and only two more after that before she joined us screaming her head off.  “Here she is.  Your daughter has a lot to say.”

Natasha lay back exhausted but looking very pleased with herself.  I was ushered forward and cut the cord and the little squawling baby was put onto Natasha’s chest.  “Hey, Becca,” she croaked.  “You made it.”

Her cries began to settle and she lay staring up at all the faces peering down at her. “You did so well, Natasha,” Wanda praised.  “Look at that perfect little girl.”

“I can’t believe you did this with two and no drugs,” Natasha sighed, caressing Rebecca’s back.

“What time is it?”  Sam asked, reaching over and playing with Rebecca’s hand.

“Her official birth time is 4.23 in the morning,” Doctor Shroeder answered.

“Ha! I win,” I teased.

Sam smirked at me.  “Seems to me, we both win, princess.”

“Okay, okay, enough of that talk in front of the baby,” Bruce joked.

The medical staff fussed around Natasha, giving Rebecca her shots and a shot to Nat to help her deliver the placenta.  We were all too caught up in Rebecca’s presence to pay that much attention.  Though Bruce and I both looked over the placenta fascinated when it was out.

Eventually, the nurses took Rebecca off Natasha to clean her up a little and check her over.  Thor rubbed my back.  “Only one more to go,” he said.

“He can stay put for a little longer,” I said.  “Let him get fully cooked.”

Once Natasha had been taken to her room with Rebecca and she’d showered and changed into her pajamas it was just past breakfast time and Amber and Travis brought Riley, Pietro, Sarah, and Rose down.  It was funny, even though Sarah and Rose were almost three weeks older than Rebecca they were still a little smaller than her.  We once again got Riley and Pietro gifts from the newborn and they were much more interested in opening those than interacting with their new sibling.

“Alright kiddos, you better say goodbye to everyone, it’s time to get to school,” Amber said.

“Do we hafta?”  Riley asked.

Steve shrugged.  “You can stay if you want, but we’re all very tired and everyone will most likely be sleeping.”

Riley seemed to ponder the predicament for a moment and then nodded.  “Otay, we go.”

“Sounds good, bug,” I said and kissed them both goodbye.  “Are you going to say goodbye to all your sisters?”

“Otay,” Pietro said and the two went around kissing first all their parents and then the babies goodbye.

“Bye-bye!” They called as Amber led them from the room.

“Okay but that was really cute,” Clint said.

“Yeah,” I agreed.  “I have to say I am really glad we have FRIDAY recording things because I definitely want framed pictures of them kissing the babies goodbye.”

// NEXT

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

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

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

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

Word Count: 3.3K

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

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

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

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

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

Natasha was the first to catch it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The next was Steve.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steve immediately stiffened, automatically preparing himself for a fight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was Clint who finally got it out of him.

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

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

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

Clint started to keep his eye out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The two scientist looked up in confusion.

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

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

That got their attention.

“What does it do?”

“How’d you get it?”

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

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

“Let’s see it.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Clint handed it over.

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

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

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

“Weird how?”

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

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

“Eight now.”

“Let’s get to work.”

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

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

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

“There has to be something!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re defending him?” Tony accused.

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

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

They were out of time.

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

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

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

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

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

“You were looking for this,” he questioned.

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

“This is yours then?”

“Of course it’s mine.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tony smirked.  “Think fast.”

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

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

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

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

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

“What is it, then?” Clint challenged.

“It’s a ring. Nothing more.”

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

“Don’t!” Loki snapped.

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh yeah?”

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

“Give me a better one then.”

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

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

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

On instinct Clint turned his eyes away from Loki.

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

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

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

“What the hell?!” he snapped.

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

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

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

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

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

Thor supported Loki, bringing him fully to his feet.

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

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

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

“Stark?”

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

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

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

“It’s a personal matter,” Loki said.

“No good enough.”

“Clint, drop it,” Bruce snapped.

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

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

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

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

"Does this have a point?" Clint interrupted.

Loki said nothing. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What was her name?”

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

“Sigyn.”

[captainpikeachu]

SPOILERS FOR BLACK WIDOW

ok so now that we know that Yelena has been working with Val for a while and we know Yelena also left with Taskmaster/Antonia Dreykov and we saw Val recruit John in TFATWS.........

PLS PLS GIMME THE THUNDERBOLTS???

I mean we have 3 members right there????

THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR CHAOS AND DRAMA AND ANGST AND MORE CHAOS AND FRIENDSHIP DAMMIT

Yelena, Antonia, and John are all broken and damaged people and I’d love them to find a different kind of family with each other that would help them all heal.

also since Val lied about Clint killing Natasha, I wonder how long before Yelena finds out the truth and maybe become a double agent against the Thunderbolts? will she think others like John may also be lied to and tell him or any other future recruits the truth to see if they can go up against Val together? 

it seems only logical that Yelena would eventually realize she’s been lied to since we now know she’s gonna be going after Clint in the Hawkeye show and he’s likely going to explain what happened. And John’s story seems perfectly lined up for him to realize he needs to be his own man instead of taking orders from other people who will continue to let him down just like the government/military did, that was kind of the epiphany he reached in the comics after all. Speaking of comics, we also know that John and Clint had a rather contentious frenemies kind of relationship so John might even show up in the Hawkeye series to back up Yelena and as a nod to the comics lore.

GOD IM SO PSYCHED

what is Val up to? now that we see her interacting with Yelena, she doesn’t seem to be Hydra or something too nefarious or else I wouldn’t think Yelena would trust her enough to work on missions for her? I think she is more of a mix of the comics Valentina and comics Val Cooper who was the head of this superhero control committee thing that John worked for years with.

so will Yelena and John end up helping to recruit any other characters in other shows or movies? will we see Antonia again? is this the Thunderbolts or Dark Avengers or something else entirely? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES

also just a fun side note, Yelena and John are actually about the same age, the movie showed Yelena was 6 in 1995, making her year of birth in 1989, and John’s birth year is either 1987 or 1988 😆 pls let them be chaotic siblings

[unmaskedagain]

Marinette: Iron Man’s Minion

Marinette: Tony’s Stark new Minion.

I have this random story idea of Marinette meeting Tony Stark. It creates fun dynamic with the avengers who begin to questions just how many children Tony has. This story might not go anywhere apart from a few headcannons so be warned.

Most people meet Tony Stark at the Stark Expo. Some are unfortunate enough to meet Tony when he’s rescuing them in the Iron Man suit.

However, when Stark Industries decide that after the events of Slovakia, thankfully Loki had been there to stop the worst of Ultron’s plan thus saving nearly everyone’s life, a little good press wouldn’t hurt.

Stark Industries quietly announced a competition to young inventors of the world: whoever designs the best new Iron Man suit wins a replica Iron man. When one little French girl wins, however it’s the stuff of her dreams.

Or at least Marinette thought so at first.

When the Parisian hero learned of the competition, she decided to pull out her old sketches of the iron man suit. She had always admired the sleekness of it but thousands ideas always hit her on how it could improve appearance wise. Marinette decided to submit her favorite design, never think it was ever a possibility that she’d win.

In fact Marinette was so sure she’d lose, that she didn’t pay attention when the winner was announced. She didn’t find out until her phone rang and Pepper Potts was on the other side of the videotime.

Tony Stark loved her suit design and instead of a shoddy helmet, the real prize was for the Winner to come to New York, meet the avengers, and work with The Tony Stark for the entire summer as an intern.

Marinette had never screamed so loud in her life. Her parents were thrilled at the idea of Marinette getting away from the dangers of all the Akumas and the drama of her class.

Honestly, Marinette thought it was her lucky break. She hadn’t made a single plan for the summer. All of her so called friends had taken to giving her the cold shoulder thanks to Lila and her lies. Marinette hadn’t even been invited to the class’s annual end of the year party. Whenever she tried to make plans with them. They were always too busy or just plain ignored her but then they go right ahead and make plans in front of her.

Marinette had been in tears by the end of term.

She tried to tell Alya she was leaving to New York but was met with contempt. Alya and Marinette’s friendship was non-existent at that point. And whatever childhood friendship she once had with Nino, died with it. Right or wrong, he always took the side of his girlfriend.

Kim trailed behind Lila like a lost puppy, further cementing he had terrible taste in women.

The most interaction Marinette had with Alix was when the pink-haired girl when out of her way to trip Marinette.

Rose said quietly whispered to Marinette that she didn’t want to cause problems with her other friends so they couldn’t talk much anymore. Juleka follow suit.

Adrien watched it all with a passive expression on his face like he didn’t know the truth. It was then that Marinette realized the boy didn’t care what the truth was as long as he didn’t have to deal with conflict.

As far as Marinette was concerned she didn’t have a single friend left in class. Just like Lila threatened. The only good thing that came from it was that Marinette that she wouldn’t care what people thought. Marinette decided to always say whats on her mind no matter what.

           Jagged said it made her very sassy, and so very ROCK AND ROLL.

Marinette arrived at Stark Tower three days after school ended. She had jumped twenty feet when she stepped into the elevator and a voice greeted her.

“Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng,” A voice said.

“Uh, bonjour?” Marinette said. “Please call me Marinette. And you are, sir?”

“I am Jarvis.”

           Marinette nodded. She had heard about the AI that help run Tony Stark’s world. “How are you doing today, Jarvis?” She asked it.

           There was a moment of silence. Most people, a part of his creator, had never asked Jarvis how he was.

“Less chaotic than usual,” Jarvis said with a dry amused tone that left Marinette wondering if A.I could be amused.

           Marinette straightened up and her blue eyes narrowed, “You are not being worked too hard, right? You get time to yourself?”

           Jarvis assured her that he did and that he liked his job. They went onto have a pleasant conversation about their most exciting experiences and Marinette’s future dreams.

Marinette didn’t know that currently Tony was watching the interaction from his workshop with a grin on her face. He had wanted to know just who he’d be working with. So far, Frenchy looked like a keeper.

When the elevator doors opened, Marinette followed Jarvis’s instructions on where to go. And that she was to wait in the living room until Tony came for her. It was then she discovered something about the A.I.

“You’re a bit of a jerk, Jarvis,” Marinette whispered when she walked into the living room where nearly all of the Avengers were hanging out and watching… Spongebob?

           Unfortunately, Tony had been drinking coffee at the time and ended up doing a spit take all over dummy.

           It took all of two second for the avengers to notice the fourteen-year-old girl standing there.

           The bluenette’s face turned bright red. It took everything in her not to start screaming and jumping up and down.

“Oh god, cap” Clint said, “One of your fangirls

“Fangirl? Oh please,” Marinette scoffed. “Have you seen the disaster of a costume he wears into battle? Not in this lifetime!”

           Unfortunately, again, for Tony and Dummy, Tony had taken another drink from his coffee at the moment.

“She’s trying to kill me,” Tony coughed. “Worth it.” He said with his eyes still glued the screen.

           The avengers just stared for a moment. Steve Rogers blinked hard, “What?”

“No offense,” Marinette quickly said. “I’m just really into fashion. And I cannot and will not be seen as fan of man who dresses like America’s drunk prom date.”

           Clint fell off the couch laughing.

“She’s not wrong,” Natasha shrugged as she eyed the girl with a smirk.

           Steve cast the spider a look, and turned frown to Marinette, “I wore that uniform to war.”

“Like World War 2 wasn’t tragic enough,” Marinette said dryly.

“Jarvis!” Tony yelled as he ran from the workshop still trying to watch his new favorite. “Get me some adoption papers.”

“Sir, she has parents,” Jarvis tried to reason.

“Didn’t anyone teach ya to respect your elders? A voice said behind her.

           Unfortunately for the newcomer, Marinette flight or fight instincts had been firmly in fight mode for quite some time. As she quickly spun around and kicked the guy in the face. And that was how Marinette met the Winter Soldier. She broke his nose.

           Bucky crashed into the wall with a force that left his head spinning.

“Peter always wanted a sibling,” Tony told Jarvis with a joyful look.

“And May Parker still hasn’t given you permission to adopt him either.”

“Sorry!” Marinette yelled frantically as she moved to help the man. “I didn’t mean to, I promise. Are you alright? Can I get you anything?”

“Besides your dignity back,” Sam added with the biggest grin on his face. “Because that’s gone, man. Like forever.”

           Marinette shot him a glare, and turned her the disheveled man. She noticed the bloody nose and her panic increased tenfold. “Oh god. Oh god.” She pulled a cloth napkin from her purse and held it up to Bucky’s face. She looked around the room, hysterically, and spotted Bruce Banner, “Dr. Banner, help please.”

“I’m not that type of doctor,” Banner quickly said.

           Marinette narrowed her eyes at him, “Today you are.”

           Bruce blinked. He felt the big guy rumble in amusement. He quickly got up to help.

“I’m fine,” Bucky said as he tried to wave her off and move towards the others. “Nice kick by the way.”

“You,” She pointed at Bucky. “Be quiet. You hit your head and might have a concussion.”

           Bruce instructed Marinette to remove the napkin as he examine his patient.

“Tis merely a flesh wound,” Thor boomed as he strutted over to look. “Nothing to worry about.” He moved to place his hand on the girl’s shoulder but before he could…

“Touch me and I will break that hand,” The girl suddenly said, her back to the blond god.

           Thor’s hand froze in midair. Marinette turned and looked at him. “Go sit back on the couch.” She ordered in such a way that Thor was reminded of his longtime friend Sif.

“I-” Thor started but was cut off.

“Now!”

           Thor flinched back. The blue eyes watched him sternly as he slowly went back to the couch like a puppy with his tail between his legs. Far from the scary small girl.

“Pepper would love her!”

“Yes, but she’d be furious about a kidnapping.”

“How is he, Dr. Banner?” Marinette asked.

           Banner decided right then shrugging would get him killed. “He’s fine. It’s just small break. He’ll be fine in an hour.” He got a skeptical look. “Super soldier, he heals fast.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Marinette said brightly.

“Come on,” Marinette told Bucky soothingly. “Let get you on the couch.”

           Bucky just let himself be led with a sigh. Why did the small, tiny ones always give him the most trouble?

           The other avengers moved out of their way.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked again when sat the wounded man on the couch. “Do you need anything? Do you want the remote control? I can get you the remote control.”

           Said current owner of the remote control, Scott, looked up like a deer in the headlights. He froze when the French girl’s blue eyes found him and they narrowed in challenge. Scott barely noticed Sam slowly inch himself away from his teammate.

“Asshole,” Scott hissed to Falcon.

“What did you just say?” Marinette raised an eyebrow.

“I said: Here’s the remote,” He tossed it prized possession the Winter Solider who had a smirk on his face. He knew just how hard it was to maintain control of the TV in a home of superheroes.

           Marinette caught it in midair. She passed it to Bucky.

“Thanks!” Bucky smirked at Scott as he said it. “I’m good now. I swear.”

           Marinette nodded contently.

“Ahh Marinette,” Tony said as he entered the room. The smug expression on his face and in his tone didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the avengers. “Sorry I’m late. Come on, I’ll show you where we’ll be working.”

           Marinette grinned and ran over to the Tony Stark.

“Wait, who are you, tiny vicious girl?” Clint suddenly yelled.

“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” She introduced herself brightly, looking very much like the sweet school girl they originally thought she was.

“My new intern,” Tony smirked. Then within seconds the genius pulled Marinette out of the room and disappeared from sight as Jarvis slammed the doors behind them

           Natasha hummed, “Tony always managed find the most interesting kids. First the spiderling and now…”

“The Devil,” Sam finished. “I have older sisters. Fear the wrath of a teenager girl.”

“She’s here all summer,” Steve remember feeling oddly self-conscious.

           Bucky chuckled and propped his feet of the coffee table, “Aww, don’t worry punk, I won’t let the mean powderpuff bully you.”

“So Dominator,” Tony said as the stepped into the elevator. “You really know how to make an entrance. I like that in a minion.”

“Minion?” Marinette squeaked. “Mr. Stark?”

           What exactly had she signed up for?

           The elevator doors opened. “Call me Tony,” He said spread his arms wide as he showed of the workshop. “So this is where the magic happens.”

           For the next few hours, Marinette toured the workshop and the tower. Tony really did love the suit she had drawn but had been a bit dismayed that Marinette didn’t have too much experience in the science. Marinette was a quick learned though, and Tony was impressed about how quickly she picked up information.

Happy, the driver who had picked Marinette up from the airport and who grumbled about always being stuck with teenagers, had brought up her bags as he had said he would and left it in her room.

Marinette didn’t run into any of the other avengers again until the next day. She got up bright and early, the sun still rising, as she was still used to waking up and helping her baker parents. Plus jetlag.

With Jarvis help, she easily found the kitchen. To her dismay, the fridge was full of junk food, take out boxes, and protein shakes. And coffee. Lots of clearly expensive coffee.

She sighed and got to baking. There was plenty of ingredients to work with as the kitchen was well stocked up unused. Within the next few hours, the kitchen and thus the entire tower was filled with the sweets smells usually only found in the bakery.

Marinette had made chocolate croissants, a variety of muffins, Berries and Cream Cheese Breakfast Pastries that her father swore by, and spinach, bacon, mushroom, and cheese quiches. She even made a pot of coffee. All spread out on the dining room table before eight am.

The first to make their way up to see what smelled so good was Natasha.

“Good morning,” Natasha said. “Been busy?”

“Morning,” Marinette beamed. “Daughter of bakers. Hungry?”

           Bucky came next. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he had on dark sweatpants. He look half asleep as He grunted a hello as he sat down to eat.

           A lovely girl named Wanda and a man Vision, who was apparently Jarvis’ son, came up next. Marinette hadn’t met either of them yesterday but they had heard of her.

           The next person to show was Clint but he took one look at Marinette and made a hasty retreat.

“Baby!” Natasha and with a grumble, Clint came back into the room.

“Hawkeye, right?” Marinette asked.

           Clint eyed her. “Yes,” he answered as he sat down next to the Black Widow. “And if you kill me, Nat will avenge me.”

“No, I won’t.”

“What!” He cried. “I’m your best friend.”

           The redhead looked at him and then at the berry, cream cheese goodness in her hands, then at Marinette. She looked back at Clint, “You’ve been replaced.” When he went to protest some more, Natasha shoved a chocolate scone in his mouth.

           His green eyes widened as the flavor exploded. He looked at the scone, then at Marinette, then at all the food on the table. Clint nodded solemnly, “I understand.” And made himself a plate.

           Marinette giggled at the antics.

           Tony entered the room, hair on ends, greasy t-shirt on and blinked hard at the feast at the table.

“I made breakfast,” Marinette handed him a cup of coffee cheerfully when he sat down. “Sweet and savory. I didn’t know what everyone liked.”

           He nodded tiredly but perked up as soon as he took a bite of spinach bacon quiche. He swallowed it quickly, “Jarvis?” Tony called.

“You cannot adopt her, sir.”

           Thor was next and thanked Marinette loudly for the splendid feast. Scott, Sam, and Bruce arrived next.

           Steve came next, apparently just having finished up a run.

           The two stared at each other, like a pair of cowboys doing a standoff.

“Listen… about what I said yesterday,” Marinette started. “I, one hundred percent meant it. Your fashion sense is appalling. But please consider this a peace offering.”

“My style was very popular in the forties!” Steve defended.

           Bucky snorted, “Liar.”

           That sounded off around of laughter.

           Marinette spent the next few weeks help Tony design his new suit, got trained with Natasha, Bucky and Steve, and went frequently to Stark Industries with Pepper Potts. (Though Steve had quite liked it when Marinette point at Pepper and said, “See that’s fashion. Gold standard right there. You, no.”

           She met Peter Parker not long after she arrived. He was a nice boy with glasses that reminded her a bit of herself. Tony had guardianship of Peter while his aunt was overseas on business.

“Minion three,” He greeted her. Peter sat down across from her work table and started on his own project.

“Four?” She asked, with a chuckle. “And you are?”

           Peter grinned, “Minion two.” He shrugged. “Riri’s three. Harley’s one. And is the union leader. They’ll be here tonight.”

           Marinette laid down her screwdriver, “There’s a union.”

“No there’s not!” Tony yelled.

           Peter leaned over the table and whispered, “We revolt at dawn.”

“God dammit, Peter!”

           Marinette cackled.

           It wasn’t long before the paparazzi got wind of Marinette. Then suddenly the magazines were filled with Marinette: Stark’s secret FOURTH love child. Marinette literally fell down laughing when War Machine stomped in the workshop and three a magazine at Tony’s head. “Another one, Tony? Didn’t even tell me!”

She was photographed frequently as whenever she left the company an overprotective avenger was sure to join her. She was teen vogue’s best dressed list. In tiger beat’s, things Marinette just can’t live without.

           That was when her phone started ringing and texts started pouring in from Paris. Unfortunately, for her ex friends, Marinette had promised that for the rest of summer the only people from France she’d talk to were her parents. And Marinette keeps her promises.

           So she never bother to look at the texts. The only time she interacted was when she had to use the horse miraculous to portal to home to stop an Akuma. Which was hard to hide from a group of nosy superheroes.

           Everything was going fine until the Kwami was let out of the bag in the middle of a family/team dinner.

           Loki poofed in one day, walked straight up to Marinette, and demanded to speak with Plagg.

“The Kwami of Destruction owes me money,” Loki said easily.

           Said Kwami flew out from where he was hiding, “Do not! You cheated.”

           And that was that.

           Marinette had no choice but to transform into Ladybug.

           To which Happy groaned, “Another teen bug themed hero,” He glared at Tony. “You did this on purpose.”

           None of the avengers had been happy about a teen superhero battle a terrorist on her own. Peter, Spiderman, just high-fived her.

[eddiemoonson]

When it first came out, I thought the events of the Black Widow movie had happened way back in her past. That would, imo, explain why she didn't have anyone and never talk about ppl in her life before the Shield/Avengers era.

But the movie takes place during Civil War, apparently, so the encounter with her family happened not long before she died. It sucks that they tried to make her a "lone wolf that no one would miss" and have her sacrifice herself when a few months before she was on a mission with her sister and parents! All the time, Natasha acted like she never had anyone and I understand that those years in Ohio were a little part of her life in comparison to her life as Widow, but in the movie, she acted as an Older Sister™️ since her first interaction with Yelena (I mean as adults). She asks her to stop fighting back and ultimately just follows her without knowing much about what's going on and they go on a mission together. She bickers with Alexei and shows Melina that the advice she gave her all those years ago still ring true and is what stopped her of becoming heartless. It was real for her, she says as much. If she was truly a lone wolf, would she be so comfortable around them again?

Anyways, this movie just doesn't fit within the main MCU storyline and it's perfect because I love to pick and choose canon and form my own universe. Now, I can add the Widow Family to my "Natasha didn't die AU" and live with the knowledge that she's getting exasperated at Alexei and Melina endless flirting and choosing nice vests for Yelena (more pockets the better).

Also, since their family was still present in her mind/heart, it would be amazing to see her mentioning little things in passing like, to Steve: "I met a guy like you before (meaning a super soldier), but he wore mostly red" and Steve would be like ????? Or she mention something science-y and explains that she learned that from a wise woman, many years ago (and the other avengers think she's talking about some other spy she knew but she actually means her mom!) Thor mentions some old fight with Loki and she just nods because "siblings, right?" and everyone else is "You don't have siblings?????" and she replies, sipping a beer, "Don't I?".

It would be so cool! 😌 Obviously I understand that they didn't plan ahead but it feels weird that she was with them and then went back to being the loner just so she could have been killed. And, to add salt to injury, they brought it back like Clint was the one that killed her and set Yelena up to hunt him. 🤦🏽‍♀️ This would be the last thing Natasha would want.