#pour one out for Tony Scott

[drurrito]

Are You The One? - Two

A/N: Little installment for this, all mistakes are mine--thanks! Edit: excuse my poor attempt at tagging people. It might be a tumblr thing or very, very much a me thing.

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, cursing, Jerk!Vision lol

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Your side of the bed is empty when Wanda wakes up.

Wanda sits up with a groan, rubbing at her burning eyes. She can hear the sounds of silverware clanking against dishes and conversations about "how drunk was I last night?" coming from the common areas. Wanda throws her hair into a messy bun before padding out to find you sitting next to an empty chair. You smile at her like she's the sun peeking out after a long stretch of gloom.

"Good morning," you greet her softly, pouring her a glass of water, "everyone just woke up, figured you wanted to rest a little longer."

"You were...you were going to wake me?," she asks, gingerly taking the glass.

"In about...20 minutes, yes," you turn off the timer you set on your watch while Wanda tries to process why you would even bother to do something like that for her. She gives you a tight-lipped smile before leaving to pour herself a cup of coffee.

The view from behind the carafe keeps Wanda entertained while her coffee brews. Eyes bouncing around the table, cautious touches, smiles finally reaching eyes, and scattered lips to ears -- there's a different air about the house after last night. The clock is almost through ticking and aside from the prize fund, people are determined to find their match.

"How was last night?" Steve snaps a finger in your direction with a mischievous grin. You roll your eyes.

"We talked a lot, I think we're on the same page about trying this out for the ceremony."

"For what it's worth," Sharon cuts in, leaning over Steve who just puts a meaty arm around her shoulders, "I think you two would be a cute couple. Plus, you can't argue with a genius like Shuri."

You hum in agreement, "thank you," you lean back and take a sip from your glass. You glance at Carol, she greets you with a wink that can wake the moon up at this point. You feel your cheeks radiate enough heat to fry eggs.

"I don't see it," Steve interrupts with a mouthful of food.

"You don't?"

"No, I mean-the chemistry is there for sure, but Carol can have chemistry with a toaster if she really wanted to," Steve rips into his other piece of toast, "personally, I have trouble seeing it between you and Wanda, but love is complicated, plus, I'm not going to argue with Shuri's logic."

Steve continues eating, ignoring the way your head tilts and your face does the perfect impression of a question mark. Wanda misses it too as she sits back down. Her eyes don't travel far around the room after almost catching Vision's pitiful look he's been wearing since last night.

"Game day!" Tony pops the top off a bottle of beer and cracks it over the mouth of Scott's beer, making an impromptu volcano. Tony only chugs half the beer before slamming it down to head outside, where the camera crew is waiting.

That's right, it's another game day. Wanda twists the fork in her hand idly above her food while everyone else begins to file out of the house.

"Hey," you watch Wanda's eyes soften a bit when they meet yours, "you ready for this?"

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Wanda was in fact, not ready for this.

Her hands ball into stiff fists, sitting at her sides as she watches you pick Carol's pickup line over hers. Wanda doesn't miss the twitch in your jaw the moment Carol stepped forward, maybe you were hoping for a date with Wanda too?

Wanda's eyes are locked onto the flight path of Carol's hands on your body when she feels someone nudge her side, "Val picked you," Maria whispers.

Shit.

Wanda makes sure she's smiling big enough for the cameras to see as she walks over to Valkyrie. She doesn't spare a glance at you as Val throws an arm over her shoulder to pull her in.

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Despite everything that's happened in the past 24 hours, the boat ride is a little fun, if only a little.

"So," Val drawls, "talk to me about y/n."

"We don't have to, I'm on this date with you," Wanda drums her fingers against the side of her champagne glass that's been full since she first boarded. Val gives Wanda a gentle smile and leans forward.

"For what it's worth, I think you and y/n make a cute pair. Something is there, I'm sorry you weren't able to chip away at it on a date today."

Wanda's head tilts as she chews on her lip for a moment, "thank you," she says, "we have a little bit of time, we talked for a while last night."

"Trying to feel for a connection within a week is probably not ideal, given you spent so much time with Vision up until now."

Wanda's shoulders begin to droop, she puts a little more space between her and Val, "I feel awful for only listening to my heart," she says to the floor of the boat.

"I mean, Vision didn't really give you a moment to breathe, let alone think. This might be the most we've spoken since we got here," Val flashes a crooked smile before taking a sip from her glass. Wanda lifts her head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Is that what everyone in the house thinks too?"

"Some more than others, we just got worried about the both of you never finding your match--and costing us the prize fund, but still," Wanda shakes her head with a giggle while Val refills her glass.

"You think Shuri is right?"

"I think Shuri is more tuned in to everything going on in the house than the lot of us," Val leans back against the seat, her limbs sailing across the leather of the seat into a more comfortable position.

"I spent too much time trying to play the field instead of fostering any type of connection," Val takes another sip, throwing her head back with a groan. Wanda cracks a small smile when she remembers the foursome facilitated by Val and Carol within the first week of being here. She remembers watching everyone eavesdropping by the door while she tried to listen to Vision's monologue about the many lives he's lived before now.

"Who did Shuri say your match was?"

"Carol," Val barks out a laugh.

"I can see that."

"What?" Val picks her head up, "we're both recovering playboys, that seems like a recipe for disaster."

"I think it will lead to change more than anything. Neither of you wants to keep doing the same things forever. You might even share a deep understanding of your ways because you're so similar," Wanda shrugs, finally taking a sip of her champagne.

Val hums with a cheeky smile on her face. She keeps Wanda under a watchful eye while she sips from her glass, "you know you're pretty wise when you look around for longer than a few seconds."

That gets a playful scoff from Wanda, there's no point in defending her behavior, "I wish it would have happened sooner, maybe we wouldn't be racing against the clock."

Val only nods once, "it's a hard game to play," they both share a look at the horizon for a few moments before realizing their date is about to end.

"Tell you what," Val sets her glass down and takes Wanda's too, "tonight, I'll find Carol and bare my soul to her and you try to deepen your connection with y/n, deal?"

The boat is being docked by the time Val finishes her sentence. She's holding her hand out to Wanda. Has she just made a friend? Is this what everyone else has been doing while she was too busy with Vision to care?

Wanda docks her worries and reservations by putting her hand in Val's. They both walk to the house with a new sense of determination, this game isn't over yet.

[thetorturedbuckydepartment]

chapter eight: twenty stitches in a hospital room

pairing: Bucky barnes x plus-sized!reader

summary: Six months ago, you were appointed to be Head Nurse to the Avengers by Tony Stark. Every day, you count your lucky stars, knowing the horrible past you quickly ditched back in England. It holds you back, restrains you, from getting close to anyone when on your new job.

That's until you met and fell in love with Bucky Barnes. The supposed assassin with a heart of gold, who seems to be eager to get to know you. To peel back your layers piece by piece, but could you trust him once you're laid before him raw and vulnerable?

masterlist

PREVIOUS PART -- CHAPTER SEVEN: LOOMING ON THE HORIZON

warnings: language, blood, mild gore, heavy angst, mentions of bullets, mentions of murder, lots of panic, mentions of anxiety

word count: 3.5k

Taglist: @scott-loki-barnes @cjand10 @blackwidownat2814 @blackbirdwitch22 @laughterafter  @blackhawkfanatic @mcira @bxckybxrnes24 @rachellovesloki @toffeacademia @bean-bean2000 @lana525 @selella

A/N: ah hope you guys like this chapter!! I'm off to my prom today -- my exams ended a week ago so am relieved, and this next week I'm gonna be starting revision for my driver's theory test so posting may be extremely inconsistent! hope u enjoy so far :)

The jet ride there is insanely quiet. Bucky is next to you after having put on his tact suit — highlighting his gorgeously thick thighs and wide shoulders, and you find yourself unable to breathe, watching him flip knives before stowing them away, and swinging a rifle over his shoulder.

Quite literally dressed to kill. You shouldn’t be attracted to a man steeped so seemly in violence like it’s his first love — you know the implications it can lead to in practise. But you just can’t look away, you’re too far gone. Maybe it’s the fact that you know he’s too pure — his heart is too set in its righteous ways for you to be scared of him, to doubt his purpose and intentions even as he wields deathly weapons.

But the thing that kills you the most are his eyes. So brilliantly, softly blue, watching you watch him. Why do you think he’s showing off so much? He could quite easily just shove all his weapons in his tact suit, but he chooses to flip the knives and play with the bullets to be loaded on his rifle, especially when it earns him that feral look in your eyes. Like if there wasn’t a mission he had to disappear on in a few minutes, you’d jump his bones and finally make the move he’s desperate for you to. 

You don’t even notice that he’s caught you, too lost in the nimbleness of his fingers and the confidence of his stance. And then you touch down, just outside the forest of Anastasia’s estate. It’s time to go.

You immediately jump up, out of your seat to stand near Bucky, while him and Nat recount the codes for danger and the plan of attack. You zone out, watching him command a team turning you on like never before. What is it about him? He’s firm, he makes sure everyone’s on the same page and all of a sudden your panties are in a bunch. You try to swallow it down, nodding along when he gestures to you as the standby team, ready in case of any scratches and bumps. And dear God, he almost loses his train of thought when your eyes meet, too lost in your beautiful face and staring at him like you’re starving for his affection. For…other things of his too. 

But he gets through it. And then, he rushes over to you, to say goodbye. You feel the tears welling in your eyes, scared at what the next few hours hold for the two of you. For the rest of the world. He grabs you by your hips, while your hands end up around his middle, resting your head on his chest. It isn’t enough, and the gnawing feeling in your stomach isn’t going away.

You decide to be a little selfish, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his cheek. He pulls you in tighter, pouring every ounce of unspoken love into the embrace. “Come back to me in one piece, will you?”

“I’ll always find my way back to you.” Your eyes close as you stifle a sob, but he knows. He always knows, somehow. He decodes you, no matter how intricate you make the key.

As you part, something changes. Maybe it’s the tears glistening in your eyes, maybe it’s knowing he might not come back. He can’t help himself, and you don’t have it in you to stop it.

His hand winds up on your cheek, caressing it. Your eyelids flutter at the warm touch, and then his lips fall onto yours.

It’s electric. It’s fire. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted, even as your hands weave into his hair, desperate to deepen the kiss but—

Nat coughs behind the both of you, and you realise everyone’s just watched this sacred, supposed to be private exchange. You move away, blushing and rushing to cover yourself as if you’ve been caught naked, muttering a quick “sorry” and unable to make eye contact with anyone. 

Well, there’s no point in denying the rumours now. 

“Nurse, you’ll have loads of time to do that when we get back, okay? We need the Sergeant here to stay focused.” She’s only teasing, but you stutter through an apology.

“Oh, sorry! That’s not—” The only person you can stand to look at is Bucky, and you don’t miss his pink cheeks, and the joyful sparkle in his eyes. He was right, he thinks, his heart beating just as hard as yours is. You do have feelings for him. The motion of your lips against his were enough confirmation.

He touches the tips of your fingers, a silent promise of a later discussion. A later progression. You smile at him, mouthing Good luck. 

I’m too skilled for luck, doll, he mouths back and you chuckle, finally feeling lighter. Why were you so scared? Like you could ever doubt his mercenary ability.

But even so, the hour he’s away from you burns in your chest, lead coating your diaphragm and pulls it down. You wonder what he’ll say about the kiss when he gets back. Maybe he’ll dismiss you, say it was something done in the heat of the moment, where he wasn’t sure if he was going to die. Maybe he’ll tell you how he feels the same for you, that the fire that’s turning your ribs to ash has spread to burn at his heart, and you’ll spend the rest of your days entangled. You lose yourself in the sweet daydream for a while, playing with the necklace he’d gotten you on your day out. It’s a simple gold one, that perfectly compliments the necklace you are already wearing, but this one has an emblem of a wolf on it. Bucky’s signature, resting just above your heart. 

And then everything goes to shit.

“Shit. There’s open fire. Romanoff’s vitals seem to be strong. We need to get ready to open the Quinjet hatch,” one of the SHIELD agents frantically calls out, spurring the other into action. You feel like your entire world is crashing down amidst distant booms and yelling. Your heart aches as it beats, slamming away like its hellbent on hurting your ribs. 

The SHIELD operatives move, pressing buttons as you and the other nurses on hand spring into action, laying out the stretchers and assembling the tables full of bandages. But nothing can prepare you for the sight that awaits.

Natasha stumbles on, covered in blood, and— Bucky. He’s leaning heavily on her shoulder, splatters of blood everywhere from head to toe, dripping off of him onto the pristine metal floor. You can hear his ragged breathing from across the Quinjet. 

You run to them, words barely leaving you. “Nat, Buck. What happened? I— Are you both hurt?” His head lifts just the slightest at the sound of your voice, feeling like he’s finally safe now. 

“I’m fine, just a few bruises Denise can take care of. Bucky’s taken the brunt of it, three—no, four?— shots to his stomach, he’s bleeding out like crazy, Nurse. You gotta take care of him.” You nod frantically, the ringing in your ears only increasing, and you let your body move on autopilot. If you get too caught up in your feelings, then he’ll die for sure. And the world can’t afford to lose him, let alone you. Oh God, it would absolutely—

“Hey Buck, it’s me.” You take him from Natasha’s hold, calling Denise to come tend to her as the Quinjet takes off, meaning you have an hour in the air to do any essential surgery on him. “Let’s get you on a gurney, okay?” He relaxes and lets his eyes close at your smell and touch, knowing more than ever that he’s in safe, capable hands.

“Hey, hey no. You gotta stay with me, Buck. Until I patch you up. Can you do that for me?” He nods, letting out a grunt. His head thuds back against the stretcher, which in reality is just a thin metal table, and you quickly whip off your thick cardigan to place under his head like a cushion. The last thing he needs right now is a concussion.

“Good boy. Now, just relax for me, that’s it.” You try and keep the tremor out of your voice, but you’re sure you fail. You gently run a quick hand through his hair to soothe him, grabbing the large scissors you’ve kept in the metal tray.

And you talk him through every step, from cutting open his tact suit to checking to see is any vital organs of his are hit. You ask him to describe the pain, seeing as the wounds aren’t closing and he seems to be in more and more pain with each passing second. His blood is warm, and incredibly sticky. Deep maroon, so much escaping it looks almost black on your hands and against the front of the both of your clothes. You’re trying your best to keep him together, to keep yourself together. You were so good at it, but something about seeing the man you might be falling in love with so close to death…all your learnt sympathy and calmness has gone down the drain.

“Burns like hell, doll. You gotta put me down I can’t—“ His face is pale like he’s deathly sick and it hits you. Bullets coated in acidic poison of some sort, maybe Hydromanias? You have the course for Up to Date Poisons: Symptoms and Signals scheduled for tomorrow, and so you can’t say for certain.

“No, no, we’re not putting you down Buck. You’re stronger than that. Luckily you’ve only hit flesh, all the vital organs are intact. But I suspect you’ve been poisoned Bucky, and I think I know what it is, based on your complexion, breathing, and heart rate, it seems to be Hydromanias, but strong enough to counteract the serum. It’s— it’s almost like they knew you would come… I need a quick sample of your blood just to narrow it down, is that okay?” He nods frantically.

“You’ve got a lot of spots to choose from, you—you won’t even need a needle.” He tries his best to smile as you take the sample and quickly plug it into the Sample Reader — one of the newest tech developments in Stark Tech. It’s supposed to take all the necessary readings for blood like platelet and white blood cell count, and for any abnormalities, then dispose an antidote to any detected foreign cells to it’s designated machine, which happens to be right next to the pilot’s seat. It’s a marvellous invention, seeming like it was conveniently designed for this exact moment. And your hunch was right, it is some sort of poison.

Then a loud ding from across the room, as you’re holding Bucky’s wounds closed. “Good to see you still have a sense of humour, love.” You yell at one of the nurses to bring the antidote over, while still making sure Bucky’s awake. 

“Well done, Bucky. You’re doing so well for me, just drink this, will you? It’s the Sample Reader’s antidote, it identified the poison as Hydromanias. Once you’ve done that, we can begin to patch you up, okay? That’s it, good boy. You’re doing so well for me.” You praise and coax him into doing as you need him to. 

His pupils dilate and lips part, breathing steadying as he lets out a sigh of relief, a few tears slipping down his face. “That feel a little better, baby? Yeah? Can I patch you up now?”

“Y-Yeah. Please.” His voice sounds so weak, you know you’re losing him to the dark side, the temptress of death poised with a blade kissing his throat, whispering in his ear to just give in. You have to goad him back to you, to keep his eyes open.

“Alright Buck, I’m not gonna lie this next part is going to hurt. I’ll have to sterilise the wound and then stitch you up, but the good news is, it won’t take me more than ten minutes. Can you put up with it, sweetheart? Ten minutes?” You nod, trying your best to keep calm.

“For you…an eternity.”

“Well lucky for you it’ll only be ten minutes, huh?”

“I can last longer than that.” He smirks at you, and you feel the catch in his breath when he tries to suppress a wince.

“Well, you can impress me with your stamina once you’re better, yeah? Just keep those pretty eyes on me for now, baby. I’ll get you a towel so you don’t break those teeth.” You gather the supplies, running over in your mind a million times how to tie a surgical knot. You look around, searching for a cloth to put in between his teeth. 

You’re the only nurse still tending to a patient, and you notice Denise, assistant Nurse to the Avengers Tower, sitting down, after having just patched Nat up, who’s currently clutching her head and wrapped in bandages.

“Denise, can you bring me a towel, please?” She doesn’t quite like you, seeing as you got the position she’s coveted for ages before you even set foot in the country.

“We don’t have one, boss. They’re all used.” Your eyes widen in panic, and Bucky catches on.

“Don’t need a towel, doll. I—I can take it.” 

“Darling, you know I don’t doubt you, but the poison’s done quite a lot of damage. You have about the same strength level as an average human right now. We need to get you a—Oh fuck it, just bite down on my hand.” You usher Denise over, trusting her the most to stitch up a gaping bullet wound. 

“W—What? I can’t, doll. Don’t wanna hurt you.” 

“Fuck it, Buck. I trust you, we don’t have a towel. Just bite down on my hand. I can deal with it later. You need something, or your teeth with shatter.” 

And you see his eyes, so desperate to close, so eager to just give in. You press the side of your non-dominant hand against his lips. “Bite down, baby. We’re about to start.” You nod at Denise, encouraging her to start. 

“Come on, open your mouth, Bucky. Be a good boy, and open your mouth.” Now that you’ve passed on the responsibility to patch him up to someone else, you focus your full attention on him, your other hand coming around to stroke his hair. He complies, teeth just resting ever so gently against your skin. 

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to start, bite down as hard as your need, okay? Nod for me if you understand.” He nods eagerly, pupils blown wide as he watches you. When the first swab of cotton drenched in disinfectant makes contact, a pained groan leaves him as his teeth dig in slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough to keep your hand firmly in place, in his warm, wet mouth…

And then he bites down hard, groaning even louder as Denise continues to tend to him. You try your best to keep your face straight offering more praise.

“That’s it, Buck. You’re doing so good, Denise is almost done with disinfecting your wounds, aren’t you.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m just about to start stitching.” 

And then the antidote kicks in — known famously to make any area of the body where the poison is present burn even worse than Hydromanias itself. Bucky’s teeth dig in deeper, staining his mouth red as his eyes screw shut. The pain is burning you, sharp as a knife and hot as a flame, and you feel yourself shaking, internally assessing your own damage as you stroke Bucky’s hair, his hand latched around your wrist and gripping tight. 

“Just a few more minutes, Buck. Just one more wound to go, hey, hey, I know it hurts, but just hold on, okay? You’re doing so well for me, come on Buck, open those pretty eyes.” At this point, you have no idea what you’re saying, the pain in your hand overtaking almost every single one of your senses, as blood begins to drip down the sides of his face as he can’t let you go, his eyes fluttering. 

He complies once again, bright blue eyes burning through you as you offer him a watery smile, and you feel his entire body shake. He’s definitely not going to last much longer. And then Denise ties up the last stitch, you counted fourteen. You estimate you might need six, but his teeth clench even tighter when he slumps in relief. 

Denise all but runs away, taking the bloodied needle and cotton balls away with her.

“Well done, Bucky. You did so well! You’re all done, I’m so proud of you, I know how painful that must’ve been, but you stuck through it. Good job.” You pat his forehead as he lets out a shaky exhale and releases your hand. You grab a cup and encourage him to spit out the blood and offering him some water. “Right now, when we touch down, we’ll put you in the infirmary under surveillance for 12 hours because of the poison, okay?” 

“Y-Your hand…I—“

“Don’t worry about me, pretty boy. You can rest now, everything’s okay.” His eyes close, and you see him fully relaxing, still gripping tight to you hand.

And then you collapse, letting yourself fall onto the floor, trying your best to not lose it. All of the feelings of the past hour or so resurge, the anxiety, the gnawing pain at the state of him, the uncertainty as you touched his wounded, broken body. You’re relieved he’ll live, but distraught that he might end up in a coma. 

You can’t even explain exactly how it feels, to have your heart severed at a harrowing sight, and then to have to keep it together in front of everyone. You're absolutely hysterical

You don’t even register being pulled off the floor and your hand disinfected, stitched and wrapped in copious bandages, too busy sobbing. 

It feels like every tragedy in your life has decided to present itself now. 

When the Quinjet lands, when they take him away, you follow. Somehow, you feel like it’s your fault he’s ended up like this. If you hadn’t distracted him by kissing him before he left, maybe the bullets wouldn’t have hit him. As you watch them hook him up to a monitor and take another blood sample to use as data collection for the efficacy of the Sample Reader, you can’t help but wish you could’ve kept to yourself and waited until after, and then maybe he would be okay, he wouldn’t—

“Nurse, you’re a hell of a woman, you know that?” Nat’s voice comes behind you, startling you out of your thoughts. You run to her, sniffling and wrapping her in a tight hug, careful of her bumps and bruises. “I’m so glad you’re both alive, and you’re okay, Nat. I love you,” you sob against her fiery hair.

“Hey, we’re okay. You healed Bucky, you got us here in one piece. And I love you too.” She pulls you away to wipe the tears off your face.

“And you just let him bite down on your hand like that? I would’ve let his teeth shatter and not even pay for his veneers, you’re a better woman than me.” She laughs, and you sit down next to her. She recounts exactly what happened, that the intel was fake and how the place was practically swarming with HYDRA scum, and they both fought valiant and killed several and several men before getting what they needed. But Nat holds up her necklace, telling you she did it. 

“Oh God, once the both of you are better we should go out for drinks, to celebrate. Who knows what valuable information you’ve gotten into our hands.” You smile, and for the first time in hours it reaches your eyes.

“You should try and sleep, Nurse. You look tired as hell, and so am I.” You shake your head.

“No, I want to be awake when Bucky gets up, he’s killed people today. God knows what kind of headspace he’s in. I need to be there for him. I’ll let you sleep, though. Good night, Nat. I’m glad you made it home.” She smiles in response, a yawn quickly taking over.

You drag a chair over to Bucky’s bedside, admiring his sleeping face. You’ve never seen him sleep before, always buried in his chest or his face hidden away against your heart. He looks so beautiful, face not looking bogged down by worries or past trauma. You miss his eyes, though. Ever brilliant, ever blue, and not looking at you, for once. 

You touch your hand, noticing spots of red through the bandage. You carefully refresh your own bandages, noticing you did indeed need six stitches yourself. And then it hits you, the way you acted in front of the other nurses, who you're supposed to command come tomorrow. You need to draft an apology, and are almost too lost in thought trying to construct what to say, when you hear Bucky’s strained voice, fogged over with sleep.

“Doll.” Your breath catches in your throat, yet again.

He’s safe. He’s finally safe, and it didn’t kill you. 

NEXT PART

[takenbypeter]

Truth or drink

Bucky Barnes x reader

Words: 664

Authors note: Requested by @tyoho8 ; Truth or dare with the avengers

“Out of all of us here…” said the multimillionaire, and your eyes drift around the room at the few faces left at the party, which consist of; Sam, Nat, Thor, Banner, Bucky, Steve, Scott, and Hope as well as Tony Stark of course.

“…f*%#, marry, kill.”

It was the most mundane, middle school question. And honestly if you weren’t already quite tipsy you could’ve played your reaction off at least a bit more smoothly. But of course with it being the near end of the party, and with you, already having downed more than a few drinks, your eyes already betrayed your brain as you looked at the metal armed man who sat a couple persons down from you.

“Ah, what was that?” Said Mr.Moneybags snapping you out of your own little world. You instantly shifted your gaze towards Tony and shook your head, “saw what? You didn’t see anything.”

“Okay now don’t say that,” joined Sam, “we did see…something. Whatever that was.”

The blonde god Thor chimed in, “what did we see? I missed it.”

Tony raised his hand silencing everyone, “it doesn’t matter, because you,” he pointed a finger in your direction, “still have to answer the question my friend. Or…drink.”

He grabbed a shot glass from the table and began pouring while you rolled your eyes, already knowing your choice. “Give me the glass.”

You held the cup up wincing a little at how much you’ve already drank and after taking a breath you downed the shot. You shook your head while an, “ah!” Escaped your mouth due to the burning sensation that stayed in the back of your throat.

“Yeah that’ll do it,” you muttered, your words slurring together slightly.

“Happy now Stark, you did this,” Sam muttered half jokingly while pointing a finger accusingly at Tony.

“Me, we all agreed to play, it’s not my fault little big brain can’t hold their liquor.”

“I’ll take care of this,” Bucky said, setting his drink down and pushing his body off the couch.

“You sure…? You want me to come with?” Steve asked knowing Bucky typically didn’t offer up his time to help others in this sort of aspect but Buck just waved him off, and looped your arms around his shoulder. “I can take care of myself,” you argued towards his movement and he nodded, “I know you can.” And with that being said he easily slipped one arm under both your thighs and the other arm behind your back, once secured in his arms he turned back to answer Steve. “Nah I got it, I was done with the game anyway.”

With that he turned his back to the group and walked off.

He walked to the elevator. Went down a few flights and began his journey down the long hallway.

“I’m sorry,” you let out, resting your head practically against his sturdy chest as he held you, “I wanted to say you so badly,” you muttered, eyelids heavy.

“I know doll,” he extended his neck, laying his lips on the top of your head for a quick moment.

It was both of your ideas to keep the new relationship a secret as of the moment. Not wanting to give the satisfaction of finally admitting your feelings towards each other to the other avengers who had known for a while now.

“I almost gave us up. I’m sorry,” you repeated.

It may have been your drunken state but you expected him to be at least a tiny bit upset, but all he said was, “‘s okay doll, it’s all gonna come out soon anyway.”

You smiled against his clothing before repeating, “I’m sorry.”

All he did was hold you close, “for now we can just enjoy ourselves while we’re alone, let’s not think about that.” You jutted your head out, eyes still closed but with puckered lips.

Catching your obvious drift he again stretches his neck chuckling a little as he goes to plant his lips against yours.

[mcubuckyxlokisbitch]

Out of all the Time Lines Chpt1: Avengers I need your help

Short Series !

Female Asgardian reader (now avenger) X TVA Loki

Chapter 1: Avengers I need your help (done)

Chapter 2: Interrogations and proclamations (done)

Chapter 3: Even Asgardians have myths (comming soon)

Chapter 4: -

Chapter 5: -

Chapter 6: -

Summary: After your Lokis death and have moved on and joined the Avengers. After the aftermath of Endgame you and the other remaining Avengers all seek shelter in the new Avengers Warehouse Pepper Potts bought as a temporary replacement while the Avengers mansion is being renovated. What happened after a very tired mission. Well, you're speechless, to say the least.

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

You entered the living room with the rest of the team all covered in dust, scratches and tired faces. All of you just saved another casual disaster but the aftermath was the annoying part, burning buildings, hurt people, without Tony stark it meant the clean up crew for the Avengers were the Avengers.

"Alright, what movie and what restaurant shall we engage in tonight." You say as you use your magic to teleport your sword to your room and grab the telephone on the coffee table, plopping on the couch.

"I don't know, but I am in the mood for some Mexican food," Sam said walking in and taking off his goggles.

"Yeah no we just had Mexican yesterday Sam there is no way I am eating another burrito, enchiladas, or taco for the 5th time this week." Bucky shouted as he stretched out on the loveseat next to the couch.

Scott, Thor, Wanda, Peter, Kate and Yelena walked in as they made their way to the kitchen and the living room to relax after a long day.

"Well I for one could actually go for some Phò." Wanda said while grabbing a glass of water. "Yes that actually sounds nice," you replied.

"Second it." Bucky Raised his hand and passed out on the loveseat.

"I will fiest on any of your choosing," Thor said while taking off his cape to wipe off the gunk from storm breaker.

"Phò sounds wonderful. Just make sure I get one of those spring roles. Oh and don't forget were running out of chilli sauce." Yelena shouted from the fridge.

"I just restocked." Scott threw his arms and groaned. "hah." Yelena mocked.

Peter took off his mask and rubbed his forehead combing his hair back, he had the worst migraine ever. Was this a spider sense? Why is it worse than ever?

You shouted for his attention, "Peter man of the hour, Mexican or Phò." Peter didn't answer, he was trying to hold himself on the table trying to compile himself.

"Peter?" You looked towards him. You started to get worried and walked towards him. "Peter. Did you hear me, Phò or Mexican?"

Peter looked at you and fell on his butt.

"Look kid we all are tired but at least try to make it to the couch I ain't carrying you." Same teased.

"Peter are you alright," Wanda said with a concerned face rushing towards him.

"Just tired... crazy migraine, feels like a spider sense but not ...it's the worst I've had." Peter looked at the concerned faces towards him, while he found support from your hand "Probably just tired." he chuckled.

"Well Phò it is, maybe next time Sam." You shook the phone and gave it to Scott to take the orders because he knew the team lie the back of his hand.

"Peter do you require help to get on the couch." You brought Peter back up as he tried to make his way onto the kitchen island.

"I'm fine just need water and a good meal. Imma lay by here." He groaned and slipped onto the table face on the surface.

You went to the sink to pour him a glass of water. Placed it on the counter making sure he drank every drop.

You grabbed a popcorn pack from a top shelf and brought it to the microwave as you set the time. You looked back at Peter who was getting a second refill.

You crossed your arms as you leaned back on the wall waiting for the timer on the microwave to go off. You closed you eyes resting your head as you looked up the ceiling.

"Teya what movie...Not silence of the lambs"

"Action or Comedy, Sam I don't mind..." You sighed not opening your eyes taking some shut eye before the alarm in the warehouse blares for the next emergency.

"Cassie said Gnomeo and Juliet was nice," Scott said looking through his phone.

"Bucky is scared of the Frog." You chuckled.

"In my Defense doll I only said it to make my move on you." he smirked kissing your cheek.

"Now thats a new level of low and pathetic." Sam groaned in disgust. You try reach for an aspirin on the top shelf but Bucky beat you to it.

"Here." he passed the bottle to you.

"I lift cars, I think can lift a shelf handle." you retorted to him

"We talked about this doll," he places both his arms on your shoulder.

"Right..." you breathed and dialouged dramatically " Why thank you, James, you're such a gentleman." flipping your hair.

"OH I call dibs on Robocop" Yelena raised her hand after laying out all the snacks.

"I'm letting the kid's pop culture spinner decide." Sam takes the remote from Scott and faces back to Peter. "Yo Pete what movie."

"Babylon," Peter replied from the kitchen island still rubbing his temple.

"As long as it's not Hamilton." You teased.

"Sams got it all memorized by now." Bucky continued.

"Not as much as you Buck, I heard him belting burn last night," Sam replied. The microwave beeped as you turned your back from the crowd and you grabbed a bowl to place the pack in.

"Heh well, you can say he's gonna be your right-hand man." you giggled at your cringe joke. "Get it." but no response was made, just silence from the crowd.

"Oh cmon that was fun-" you turn to see the reason of their response and froze "Ny......"

"Avengers I need your help."

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

The Ocean is She(One-Shot)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Warnings: Loki's POV summary till the Season 4 Midseason Finale.

Word Count: I just sort of poured out whatever I felt for this dude. Which all shades of sad mostly.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

"This is Y/N. She is here to complete her college degree. She will be living here for now." That was the first time Loki saw you.  You stood out like a lost firefly in that lounge among the crowd of broken people on Hero Syndrome. While everyone was giving him the stink eye, you passed a flat smile towards his direction before being pulled by the others into questioning. What is someone like her doing here? Loki was meant to have it as a passing thought. But that passing thought slowly percolated into his life in the form he never really thought he would meet again- a friend. "It's okay, I'll have another one." You smiled at him when he took your cup of green tea your first morning there. And Loki would never admit to his ego that the first act of unadulterated kindness had made his heart sink a little into an unnamed ocean before covering it up with 'this woman must have an ulterior motive'. Ulterior motive. Loki was 'on guard' since then, trying to figure you out. You knocking on his door to join the others for a movie night, making him those heavenly molten chocolate lava cakes on his birthday, buying rings and bracelets that reminded you of him, falling asleep in his presence in the library, asking him to help you study for your exams, sending him pictures of cats on the campus, sharing latest memes with him to keep him up to date; everything you did was seen as motive of some bigger game for the God who had once fallen and twice died. But seemingly, he killed a part himself the day he told you about your origins and you did not blame him for a single second. And nothing was the same for God afterwards.

He started paying more attention to you. His initial reason was that unlike the clowns infesting the building always high on either adrenaline or coffee, you were a specimen that he could study. Right. He was studying how you had a habit of cracking your neck every hour no matter what you did. How you would interact with inanimate objects with emotions, like looking at your assignment on the laptop and asking it with tears in your eyes, 'Why won't you conclude yourself in a way that's not gibberish?!'; or how you would gently pat the car and say thank you whenever you arrived at your destination. How your eyes would light up every time you saw a little spawn of the dogs or cats and your voice would go higher to greet them. He was amused by how your calm persona would do a one-eighty when your menstruation cycle was on the verge of bleeding days. That was the exciting part of his day during the cycle- sitting close to your sweatshirt and shorts-clad figure sprawled on the sofa in front of the TV, watching you threaten anyone who passed the hall. That's all you were to him- an amusing human who helped him pass his days on earth. At least that is what he had convinced himself of, never realising how his day would start by coming out of his room looking for you. How he would take a tour of the entire Avengers facility to find you and when he did, he would play himself off non-chalantly. He did not seem to let himself know how he would automatically come to stand by your side whenever he was to leave the facility and go out into the world. 

The narrator's heart often wonders how he could not see himself getting attached to you. Like that one time, he was the only one up beside Scott and Tony when you were out partying with your college friends; how he pretended to be drowned in a philosophy book while Tony worked on his robot babies and Scott watched the Kaichowa Maid Sama anime; how he intently listened to the phone call Scott got and he immediately recognised your voice even though he sat a bit far; how he heard your slurred words say 'Scottieeeeeee~ please take me home. I am drunkkkk and I kindaaaa don't want to stay heeeere'. "Of course, honey," Scott replied, "but it'll take me an hour to reach-" "Then send someone who'll be faaaaaasterrrrr~" you whined on the line.  Scott looked in the direction of the elevator, wondering whether to call Stark from his workshop when Loki slammed his book shut. "Turn on the sink tap," Loki commanded a confused Scott as he vanished with green and golden hues only to land on the campus grounds in a poorly lit park where you were sitting in the cold grass, your phone still to your ears. "Scott," you whispered into the phone, "you don't understand. I am drunk and I am feeling these waves of horny-ness but I do not want to do it with anyone here!!!" "Let's go home," Loki announced as he stood in front of you, waiting for you to take his hand. And boy did he feel his heart do another dip in that unknown ocean when you smiled at the God with a shade of relief and hugged him the moment you were up on your legs. "Thank you for coming for me." The wave of feeling his heart about to take another dunk into that ocean, he immediately teleported back with you, making sure both you and he landed right next to the sink to help you puke your wobbling guts right into the sink.

As time passed, Loki grew more used to your presence. From sitting together at breakfast and sharing one cup of tea to having reading sessions in his room on his bed. You were one of the rare ones who were allowed to enter his sacred space. No one knew but he thoroughly enjoyed the waves of emotions that would run over your features at different times when you became too engrossed in a manga. Sometimes it was your uncontrollable laughter where you read the same pages again and again; other times it was the repeated punches you threw either on your thigh or on the bed when you found yourself being impressed by something. But then there were the times when you would be in tears when one of your favourite characters died, and you could not stop yourself and Loki would look at you, with the intensity of the moon, wanting to stop time and do something...anything to stop you from crying. 

He did get tested for his belief of looking at you as a specimen. That one time when you and Hope fell into the other end of the universe. This God was ready to draw blood if it meant bringing you back in one piece. Once you were home safe, he could not help but overthink as to why did what he did for you. You were a mere human.  You were not supposed to mean much to him. You were just his amusement. Right? Just his amusement. The very amusement who stood in a barren alien land in front of the most delirious alien army, making Loki calculate in one point two seven seconds how he was about to lose his sleep for the next three months if he was to keep you alive while trying to find a way back home. Home.  Earth isn't my home, he would mentally slap himself back to reality whenever he caught himself thinking of the Avengers facility and the other clowns. But then he would turn to look at you.  Earth was your home. And going home would make you happy. He wanted to see you happy. Another mental slap to his head. You are losing your edge, Loki, he would bully himself to keep himself cold and calculating throughout that demanding journey of looking after you and the monster you had adopted on your way. And of course, Javi.

Any other day, any other life, any other universe, Loki would have punched the numbers as to how useful you were to him dead or alive and then be his way once you fulfilled your purpose of helping him survive. But here, he was doing the basing math of making sure to get you out of all the darkness of the universe unharmed. But life, as we know, has other plans. The music genre too changes when the playlist is on random and the heart is set on adventure for one and survival for another. Aellae came as the genre of dread and darkness. Being well aware of her obsession and abuse of power, Loki knew she would see you as a threat; for she knew the God of Mischief never travelled in a pack unless that pack had Loki's prey or something Loki wanted to keep close. So his first thought was to call in the seven Gods while 'ditching' you in the middle of a desert. Little did he know that you too were thinking from your heart in that space and time. As much as he hated to see you come for his rescue, he would never give up on the time when you two were stuck in that small space in Aellae's dungeons, trying to find a way through the room, bodies covered in sweat, your back and his front finding the angles to become one as you both pushed your way out. How synchronous were your bodies working together, how you readily trusted him with touching you in a way he would never want to witness you being touched by anyone. Why was he thinking that way? All those questions, all those confusions, all those hours of his inside voices bullying him to see you as nothing but a human ticket to a life of peace back on earth- all of them burst with the brittleness of the snow that fell on you as your lifeless figure lay in his arms. This time when his heart sank into the ocean, it did not want to come up. The God could not sense anything but fear crawling on his skin when his hand touched your face and it did not feel warm anymore. Your usually cheerful eyes did not open when he called out your name again and again. The fear he had felt when he first found himself dying when he wanted to live, was nothing in that moment when he was faced with the reality that you might be dead. And just as that little speck of possibility crossed his mind, the hell inside him broke loose, causing a wave originating from his magic destroying everything within a radius of two kilometers. Ever since he was born, Loki, son of Laufey, son of Odin, Prince of Asgard, the Silvertongue, took to his knees for the first time for a life that was not his. He begged for your survival at the cost of his own, no longer denying himself from the truth. His heart did not come up from that ocean that carried your name on every atom in its waves. You were his reason to laugh. You were his reason to be curious in this life. You were his reason to look forward to getting up the next morning.  You had been the reason he had not gone for Plan B of running away from Earth and ending in the bosom of some dying star that would end his misery.  You were the reason he was willing to live a little longer. You were the reason he was ready to love again. 

Even when back from the horrors of the universe, Loki did not stop looking after you. He let Peter in on the secret of your near-death experience because he trusted that boy and he knew how much he cared for you. Both he and the boy would discreetly look for signs of you experiencing any discomfort. Taking shifts in the night, they would help you get out of your nightmares- which were the after-effects of healing you back to life right from the arms of death herself. Loki grew more protective of you but would distance himself whenever found himself feeling whatever little ounces of happiness his heart felt in your company. He would walk the extra mile of punching a man in his face for disrespecting you but he found himself pretending to laugh at your heartfelt confession because his heart could not bear the truth of knowing that you loved him back. You loved him. You, the perfection that walked amongst mere peasants. Loved. Him. And he laughed. He laughed hard enough to hide his tears of happiness that hurt him to the point of no return. He could not let you do that. You were too precious. Too precious to be put in danger again. He was the danger. He brought death to you. He would rather die than do that to you ever again.  And so the God decided to walk away, let out his screams in the middle of the desert to kill his heart for finding love in this lifetime and then hating the fact that it loved him back. The God was no better than a human then. He was in love. But he could hold on to that love for the fear of breaking it with his ill fate.

[miscfandomwrites]

A/N: I needed a break from the mama series for a bit. This was an idea that I came up with while dealing with some chores, and my adhd brain would NOT stop pestering me to write this down before I forgot it. I might make this into its own series, but it’s honestly a drabble more than anything. I also just really wanted to write a fight scene. Oh, and I did edit it so the name of the character is Wolf, not dog. 

Pairing: Avengers x Werewolf! Reader

Location: Marvel > Avengers > Avengers Team > Oneshots

Warnings: Violence, language (?)

Words: 1.3k

Tagging: @tyler-t0t

~~

“You’re joking.” I asked the man in front of me.

“I am not. You are to meet them, and see if they like you.” He replied.

It was difficult not to roll my eyes at the situation. 

“Fury, having them like me is something I can live without. I’m back up, after all.” I told him. 

He sighed, before pushing the folder in front of him to me. “I know.”

He got up and left me in the conference room, wondering if it was too late to get on my motorcycle and ride out of the state completely. 

He’d close the building up before I stepped foot into that garage anyway. I told myself, opening the massive folder and flipping through the various papers in it.

Avengers Initiative. Steve Rodgers. Carol Danvers. Tony Stark. Natasha Romanoff. James Barnes. Bruce Banner. Thor. King T’Challa. Scott Lang. Clint Barton. Wanda Maximoff. All to protect the world from larger-than-them fights. Bullshit.

I skimmed through the rest of the file, only taking time to read through Barnes and Romanoff’s profiles.

I finished skimming through the folder before closing it and getting up from the table. Stretching my limbs and bending backwards to pop my back never seemed so good. I had sat in that chair for nearly an hour as Fury told me about the Avengers and my role to partake today. 

Shit, when was the meeting again? 

I checked my phone for the time and was relieved to see I had fifteen minutes until I was ‘needed’ at the meeting. 

Enough time for coffee, and maybe a bagel. 

I grabbed the file and donned my leather jacket, checking all my pockets and weapons in case they were loose or had moved since I had sat down. After clearing that, I headed out of the room towards the cafeteria. 

Bullshit. I’m back up-they never need backup. 

They were the Avengers for fuck’s sake, “Earth’s mightiest hero’s my ass” I grumbled to myself as I stalked down the hallway. 

It took a decent amount of self control not to throw open the cafeteria door, mostly because last time I had to pay for it.  Why the fuck are the doors so expenis-oh, pure steel. Enough to stop bullets. Right. 

I cut off the thought as it appeared, and I headed to the coffee station in the back of the room, ignoring the looks I got as I walked past the tables.

Being the person I am, having a reputation can be a dangerous thing, yet I tried to stay in good graces of everyone. The only time I wasn’t polite or made an effort not to snap at anyone is when I knew it would impact my life with S.H.I.E.L.D. 

While I was born into Hydra as an experiment, I became a part of S.H.I.E.L.D nearly seven years ago when my plane had crashed and I was captured. My abilities made me a prize possession of the agency, and once I proved myself useful it was only a matter of gaining trust from others.

I grabbed a disposable coffee cup and poured some (thankfully) hot coffee into it, before snapping on the lid. I checked the time and was really, really, disappointed that I did not in fact, have enough time to get a bagel.

I headed out of the cafeteria and out of view of the stares, and made my way upstairs and to the conference room. 

The one thing I did not like about the conference rooms were the pure glass walls-you could shade them, but no one even bothered to hide the fact that not just the original Avengers were there, but all of them. I lost track of all the faces I saw.

I took a large sip of my coffee before taking a deep breath and pushing open the door to the room. 

“I’m glad you could join us, Ms. (L/N).” Fury spoke with a tone of indifference. I did notice the gleam in his eye-surprise. He was surprised that I actually went through with this. 

I nodded to him, before taking off my jacket and draping it across the chair at the foot of the table. 

Steve Rodgers, otherwise known as the defacto ‘Leader’ of the Avengers came around to me, holding out his hand.

“Steve Rodgers, but you can call me Steve” He told me, I stifly shook his hand.

“(F/N) (L/N), but you can call me Wolf.” I replied, before taking my hand away and tucking it into my pocket. He walked back around to his spot, and everyone took their seats besides Fury and I.

“Ms. (L/N), otherwise known as Wolf, is the new applicant for this position.” Fury told everyone, handing out a stack of folders to everyone.

“And her test?” Natasha Romanoff asked him as she got her folder.

Fury just nodded, finishing passing out the folders before standing at the head of the table again.

I heard the door open behind me, and sensed the four men before I saw them. 

All well built, no main identifying features other than a faint remembrance as the top of the fighter’s guild last year. All wore the same suits, all looked clean, and all looked nervous. One stood at my left, another at my right, and two behind me.

“Fury.” I spoke in a warning tone. I had no idea what the hell was about to happen, but I didn’t like it. 

“Worried?” He asked me, raising his eyebrow.

“Not for myself. You’ve seen me fight, are you sure you are willing to risk their lives to prove a point?” I asked him, with venom coating my final words.

He smiled at me, before nodding. The man at my left side shifted nervously.

“You could have let me go into a small battle with them, yet you decided that unleashing me in a closed room with four men would prove your point?” I told him as I set my coffee down.

“No weapons, no death” He replied.

I nodded, before widening my stance. I knew the men would only attack on his command, and I would honor that.

He nodded, and all at once the men leapt for me.

I ducked low and as one of the men behind me made to grab my shoulder, I grabbed his arm and threw him on the table. Everyone stood up in shock, papers scattering and chairs rollin gin every direction.

I twisted his arm and went left as the man on my right came at me. I twirled, ducking the left man’s fist as he swung at me.

The other man behind me grabbed my arm, and I turned and kicked him with all my force into the widow behind him. It spider-webbed, but didn’t break. Another man grabbed me around the stomach and I shook him off of me, before turning around and punching him square in the face.

He cursed at me and held his nose, his blood running through his fingers and staining his white undershirt. I snarled at him, before roundhousing him in the face.

Luckily I dodged the other man coming at me, and he shoulder-checked the other man at the window, borderline breaking it. 

I dragged him off of the other man, and slammed my head against his, breaking his nose. I then swung a right hook into his jaw, rendering him unconscious and only the man at the window to deal with.

I turned towards him, as he stood taller, both fists up, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“You’re just Fury’s lapdog, born to take orders!” He yelled at me. I stood still for a matter of three seconds as he started to realize that he truely, royally, fucked up.

I approached him with a deadly calm that made my head swim. 

“I belong to no one.” I snarled at him, before kicking him into the window, finally breaking it and sending him falling to his death thirty six stories below.

I turned towards Fury, wiping the blood off my hands, and growled

“Is this enough proof?”

[verxn]

Dad joke

Description: Thor tells a dad joke while you two are having a movie night.

Pairing: Thor Odinson x Black fem reader

It’s been a while don’t beat me up pls- I lowkey lost some inspiration + been caught up with hella work and papers to write but now we are back and better !!! - v!

-

I took the popcorn out of the microwave and poured it into the big silver bowl and threw the bag away, while I was walking to the living room I saw my boyfriend rushing down the steps with more pillows and blankets.

He does this everytime just to make sure that I’m comfortable, which I already am…I just don’t want to fall asleep on the movie….like how I usual do.

“honey that should be enough blankets and pillows” i said putting down the bowl of popcorn to help him. “You have to be more comfortable though” he said with a small smile “I seriously don’t think that’s necessary” i replied back in a demanding yet sweet tone

One thing i learned about my current boyfriend is that he doesn’t take no for a answer, I don’t know why I set myself up like this.

Thor snatched the covers from me and started to lay them down like I didn’t just say anything. I sighed in defeat because who wants to argue when we got movies to catch up on?

I picked up the popcorn from off the table and went back to the living room and sat down, he sits down next to you with the remote and a huge smile

“Let’s watch some movies!” He says in a childish tone

-

halfway through princess and the frog— I demanded for this to be watched, I had to get my get back someway somehow. I turned to Thor to see him interested in the movie like he’s hypnotized by it, I looked back at the screen and saw that a commercial had come on

At this moment I was about to get up and get some more beverages. I turned to Thor and asked “do you want anything to drink?” He had to think for a moment, he’s gotten pretty familiar with the brands of drinks etc only stuff that me and him like anyways

“Can I have soda?” He replied, I nodded and went to grab two sprites, when I came back the commercial was still playing, I mentally took note that I have to change my subscription plan. I sat down next to Thor while handing him the soda

He opened it and drunk a bit of it then sat it down on the coffee table, he turned to me and said “wanna hear a joke?” I should mention that he’s gained a bit of humor from Bruce, Steve, Tony and Scott

“Sure let’s hear it” I replied while turning my body towards him

“My wife asked me to stop by the grocery store after work so I did and she gave me a list of things, but here’s the catch she wanted six sprites and it wasn’t the usual six pack, it was all together so I grabbed six of them. when I got home I realized I picked 7up” he started laughing at his own joke

“Thor who told you that joke” I replied

“I think it was either Bruce or Steve I can’t remember” he said still laughing

“7up..” then it clicked “OH LIKE THE DRINK?” I said to him and he nodded chuckling

“I feel so dumb for it to not click right away” i said face palming myself and chuckling a bit “oh it’s fine sweet heart I was just like you when I first heard the joke too” Thor replied while kissing your forehead

-

This was….terrible don’t mind my dad joke I think it was kinda funny 😭 but how have y’all been? Hopefully it’s good. Anyway love you all bye!!

Also happy black history month 🤞🏾

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Winter Wolf: Part 15

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, angst

Word Count: 4,421

A/N: Finally got the muse to finish this story! YAY!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14

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

“I want it to look like a plantation house.” You said as you stood in front of what was left of your house between a general contractor, and Bucky as you bounced Ana on your hip, while you looked at another contractor that dealt with historic homes, specifically, and Tony, who was paying for the reconstruction. It had taken him a month of cutting red tape, but on the afternoon of your one year anniversary, he handed you the updated deed and a photo of the new metal arch across your driveway with the real name of your plantation and the real year it was established displayed proudly beneath it.

“I want the same wide wrap around porch, and the balcony on the second floor with all glass French doors. I want the white columns, and my stone fireplace in the parlor, and wood floors throughout. Oh, and I want to see my willow through my bedroom windows. Everything else, you can ask Bucky for. But the kitchen has to be in the back, left corner, and it has to have six bedrooms. Four up, and two down- one on either side of the first floor. Classic.” You finished as you switched Ana on your hip and turned to let her play in the willow tree. “Oh, and bathrooms. Lots of bathrooms. And air conditioning. And a swing in that oak tree over there.”

“Did you want to knock down that old workers house still, doll?” Bucky asked as you put your daughter down, and held on to her hands so she could stretch her legs.

“Yep! Get rid of it.” You called out with a nod. “That’s what we’ll do, Anastasia. When Daddy’s done, we’ll walk back and go look at the little river where you can sit and play in the water. You’d like that, huh? Better than being raised in a tower.” You sighed and sat down in the short grass with a small smile. “We’ve really come full circle here, baby girl.” You said as you shifted her grip on your fingers. “I really hope your mom would like us moving you here. I think she would. You’re gunna have a huge yard to play in, and your own room. And we can start a garden again, and we can plant some more apple and peach trees in the back. And I think I remember how to fish, but maybe Daddy does so he can teach us both. And maybe we can get you a little pool to play in on hot days…” You paused for a moment as you looked over at the distant sound of tires turning into your driveway. “James…”

“Yea…”

“That’s a government car.” You called out as you picked up your daughter, and walked out from under the willow tree to look over at the drive. You stopped half way to the small group as not one, but three black SUV’s with tinted windows and a massive armored car pulled up to stop in the parking lot area. “Shit… take her.”

“Babe…” Bucky said as you took the last few steps over to him and practically shoved your daughter into his arms.

“Take her.” You said as you stepped back away from him as men started to pour out of the vehicles and head toward you quickly.

“Doctor (Y/N) (Y/M/N) Barnes, AKA (Y/N) Scott, née (Y/L/N)…”

“Ross!” Tony yelled as you mentally battled the decision to run for your life or accept your fate.

“You are under arrest for the murders of Howard and Maria Stark, John F. Kennedy, Jasper Sitwell…”

“No, no!” Bucky shouted as you were nearly tackled to the ground by four guys nearly twice your size that were trying to get you into cuffs and shackles as quickly as possible even though you were not resisting what so ever in front of your child.

“Ross, you are making a huge mistake.” Tony said as Ana started to scream for you as some of the men kept your husband and daughter back at gun point.

“Babe, don’t you fucking listen to her!” Bucky roared over everyone as he watched your whole being shift into something he barely recognized when he saw you register the face of the man that had a gun pointing at your innocent one year old. “Don’t give in to her! Stay with Anastasia and me! Stay with us!” You met his eyes for a moment with a look he had only seen in old HYDRA photographs as you were lifted off the ground and unceremoniously thrown into a cube shaped jail cell.

“You’re all gunna fucking pay for that.” You said evenly with an evil smirk as you let them chain you to the chair before they all stepped out of the truck and shut you in with a single pair of heavily armed guards. A dark laugh you normally hated to hear, but that you absolutely welcomed in that moment started to echo in your head as you looked directly at the man who had no idea what was coming to him. “You have no fucking idea how much you’re gunna pay for pointing a gun at my daughter.”

——

You were locked in a room, a half mile below ground at least, in a bulletproof glass and metal box similar to the one you were held in the last time the American government had captured you, and left completely alone in a small room with multiple armed guards keeping watch outside the only door. For an entire month, you were given barely a meal twice a day, and allowed to use the “restroom”, which was really just a bed pan shoved under your ass after two guards held your hips up and yanked your pants down for you, twice daily as well, but you were given no other privileges other than those. You didn’t get to shower or get clean clothes; it was “too risky” to uncuff more than the lower part of your right arm for you to eat and wipe yourself. 

But you couldn’t complain. You didn’t say a word or move a muscle unless you were told to, because every time you did, they shocked you. Everyday for that entire month, you lost just a little more hope that this would one day come to an end, and the Wolf developed her plan of escape just a little bit louder in your head for when the part of you that made you ‘you’ finally gave up. But on the very last day of the month, the entire wall in front of you lifted up and a large group of armed men filed in ten bodies wide, and at least six bodies deep.

“Let’s move her!” The man in charge called out, which made the guards split down the center so a fork lift could be brought in to pick up the cage. You wanted to ask where you were going so badly, but you didn’t dare say a word as you were carted out of the room, on to a massive platform, and brought out of the pit of your own personal hell.

‘You can break out now!’ The Wolf said as you were transported to an armored truck. ‘It’d be easy. You know I can do it. We can go far, far away from here where no one will ever find us again…’

‘I’m not leaving my family.’ You told her as you slowly and carefully closed your eyes and leaned your head back on your chair, despite every other ounce of your being being poised and ready to attack at a moments notice like it had been for weeks. ‘I won’t leave my daughter or my husband.’

‘Weak.’ You mentally agreed with her as the truck stopped, and the back doors were opened so that the cage could be removed. You opened your eyes again and looked up at an impressive federal courthouse in Washington DC. Your guard led you inside and through the halls, and some how, it took you until were just outside the court room to realize what was happening. (Which was probably from lack of sleep, but you weren’t quite sure of that or anything anymore.)

“Oh, my God!” Bucky and Wanda screamed simultaneously as the pair of them, the rest of the Avengers, and a man you assumed had to be your lawyer jumped to their feet the second you were carted into the room.

“What are you doing to her?!” Tony screeched as he looked over at General Ross, who was sitting front and center behind the prosecution with a smug yet straight look on his face.

“Have you even let her change her clothes or shower at all?!” Bucky chimed in as tears welled in his eyes as he searched the dead look in yours.

“Is this the reason you’ve refused to let me see my client?!” A man said as he turned toward the other side and pointed back at you.

“This is inhumane!”

“She’s a mutant.” The prosecutor said with a shake of his head. “And she’s dangerous…”

“Get my wife out of that box…!”

“Alright, order! Order!!” The judge said as she slammed her gavel down and looked over at you. “OK, everybody hold on!” She yelled over your lawyer, and your large family as they all screamed at the government officials responsible for your mistreatment. “Has this been her living conditions since she was arrested?” She asked as she looked over at you, and the Wolf responded before you could stop her.

“I haven’t even used a toothbrush…” You shrieked and seized when the box shocked you once again, and Wanda and Steve instantly leapt over the partition.

“Get her out of that box!” The judge and your lawyer roared as Wanda ripped the front and the side of the box away so Steve could get your restraints off. Everyone in a thirty foot radius recoiled from the smell as Bucky pushed past Steve to pick you up out of the chair as gently as he could.

“She needs a medic!” Steve yelled as your lawyer told the other that he would be filing law suits against every single person responsible for your mistreatment as the judge scrambled to get the jury out of the room.

“I got the jet on the roof ready…” Tony said as he came over with a shake of his head. “Jesus, I didn’t know it was possible for her to be so thin.”

“Court officers…”

“If you so much as think of taking her out of my fucking arms right now, you will see what the Avengers are capable of for one of our own.” Bucky said evenly as he looked up at the woman on the stand.

“Can you please bring in a monitoring bracelet for Dr. Barnes so she can be confined to Sibley Memorial…”

“Can you make that the Four Seasons here in DC?” Tony asked as he tapped the ear piece in his ear to hang up his phone call while Steve ripped your dirty jeans away from your ankle so the monitor could be attached. “My personal physician is already on the way.”

“Fine.” The judge said with a nod as she sat up in her spot. “Dr. Barnes, you are not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave your hotel room once it has been established unless it is to come to court, do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes ma’am.” You nearly whispered as you looked up at her.

“OK then. We will reconvene in one week for trial.” The prosecutor and General Ross both shouted ‘what’ as Bucky hiked you up in his arms to carry you out, which made the judge whip toward them. “As for you? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Mutant or not, you just violated every single one of her civil liberties…”

“Bucky?” You breathed as you reached up with your metal hand and brushed your fingertips across the scruff on his cheek. “Anastasia?”

“She’s at the hotel with Pepper. We’re gunna go see her right now.”

“OK.” You said as you laid your head down on his shoulder where the Wolf finally let you fell asleep in the safety of his arms.

——

“Mama!” Ana screeched when you got out of the shower in your much nicer jail cell after your extensive check up with a doctor that worked for Stark Industries. You stumbled the slightest bit and looked over at your daughter, who toddled toward you all by herself on her impossibly more chunky legs. You stopped in the doorway and Bucky nearly ran over you from behind when you teared up and sat down on the carpet since you had missed her first steps.

“Oh, my baby girl!” You cried as tears filled your eyes when your little angel threw herself into your chest and hugged your throat tightly.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you two were showering.” Pepper said softly, but Bucky shook his head as he held his towel tightly around his waist and stepped past you.

“No, it’s OK.” He said with a glance back at the two halves of his heart. “We all just a little out of sorts right now.”

“I know what you mean.” Pepper said with a nod. “I’m gunna tell Tony to have Michael come and speak with her the day after tomorrow about the case. She needs you and Ana and she needs to eat something first.”

“And we all need some real rest.” He said as he turned a bit to watch you lay down right on the floor to play with the toys Bucky had brought with him to entertain Ana while he was in court. He could see the sheer exhaustion in your eyes as you watched Ana lay down just like you to put her hand on your cheek, and he startled the slightest when Pepper touched his shoulder.

“She’s gunna make it through this.” She said softly with a nod. “You both are. We’re all in this together, OK? And we will make it through this trial…”

“She won’t make it if she gets convicted…”

“She won’t.” Pepper reassured. “Especially after today. The jury saw her get shocked in that box, we can use that to our advantage…”

“Bucky?” You called out softly, which made him whip around toward you. You sighed heavily and looked up at him with a small shake of your head. “If I get convicted, I’m letting the Wolf out, and going to Wakanda. I won’t spend another minute of my life in a box like that again. Just get Anastasia there before I’m sentenced…”

“OK, we’ll worry about that later, doll.” He said as he walked away from Pepper and carefully laid down on Ana’s other side facing you. “Let’s just talk to the lawyer first. He has a pretty good plan for us. We’re all pretty confident anyways, OK?” You nodded your head against your arm and reached out to hold his hand as Pepper left your room for the night.

“I love you, Bucky. You and Ana are the only reasons I didn’t break out already.”

“Well you’re here now.” He said with a small smile. “I love you, (Y/N), and I will never stop doing so. No matter what happens.”

——

“Well you look much, much better than the last time I saw you, Dr. Barnes.” The judge, Stacy Benson said as she took a seat in her chair. “How are you feeling?” You glanced over at your lawyer, Michael Young, almost seeking permission to speak, before looking up at the judge with a small nod.

“Cleaner. But I’m a mother so I think I’ll forever be tired.”

“As the mother of three kids myself, I can tell you that never goes away.” She said with a small laugh as she organized the paperwork for your case. “Now, I assume you’ve had a chance to meet with your lawyer this past week?”

“Yes ma’am, I have. Thank you.”

“And you come to court today understanding all of the charges against you and are prepared for the trial against you to begin?”

“Yes ma’am, I am.” She looked up for the papers for a moment and nodded her head before glancing over at the bailiff.

“Let’s bring in the finalized jury.” You nodded your head, took a deep breath, and glanced back at Pepper, who was one of the only Avengers that wasn’t testifying which meant she was the only one allowed to hear the trial from beginning to end. She gave you a reassuring nod and reminded you to breathe and to sit up a bit more as the jury all took their seats. You turned back around and folded your hands in your lap the way your lawyer had told you so that your metal hand was ‘out of sight and out of mind’ until the ‘perfect moment’. You sat almost perfectly still and started singing the ‘Good Night Moon’ song on repeat in your head the way Bucky had suggested to try to drown out the Wolf as both lawyers started the trial with their opening arguments. 

The prosecution’s was almost stereotypical. Mr. Everett Ross kept his voice raised and his tone angry as he used big hand gestures to make his argument feel much larger than it was. But unfortunately, he was so convincing, hell, you yourself even believed for a moment that you- the normal, pre-brainwashing you was the one who committed the sixteen murders they had proof for out of the ninety-seven actual murders the Winter Wolf had done. When he was finished, even the Wolf sat back in your mind with an agitated huff.

‘Well we’re fucked.’

But then Mike stood up for his turn.

“Ladies and gentleman of the jury, this case is going to be one for the books. I have been practicing law for almost thirty years and I have never in my life seen one like this. Especially because what I am about to say is going to contradict itself completely. My client did commit these murders. She doesn’t deny it, there is plenty of evidence to support it, some of which, I’ll even be bringing up myself. But at the exact same time, my client is completely innocent. And I can prove it.

Over the next few days, you are going to hear plenty of eye witness testimony from witnesses that saw first hand what the Winter Wolf is capable of. You will see videos, and photographs the prosecution as procured to support the fact that the Wolf, which is what I will call the murderer from here on out, is the one that committed these crimes. But then it will be my turn to show you why Dr. Barnes, the woman sitting directly to my left here, is not the same person.

Please know in advance that the images, and testimony will be brutally graphic as we reveal the torture and agony Dr. Barnes went through at the hands of HYDRA from 1939 to 2014 when she was able to escape their control. And yes, my dates are correct because Dr. Barnes is a mutant, and one of her mutations is that she is not capable of dying. Which is also something else I will be able to prove as well. So while you sit here, and listen to the facts, I beg of you to keep an open mind through it all. Look at all of the facts and really see that the Winter Wolf and Dr. (Y/N) Barnes are two different entities in the same body. And prepare yourself now; like I said, this is not going to be pretty.” You looked up at him in awe as he nodded at the jury and came back around the table to sit down as Everett stood up and called his first witness. “Just remember what I said.” Mike said softly as he reached over and pat your back as an elderly man came in and sat down at the witness stand to be sworn in.

“Mr. Jones, how are you today?” Everett started with a smile.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Now Mr. Jones, can you tell me where you were on November 22nd, 1963?” Your mind instantly flashed to that day, and you knew exactly where this man was on that date.

“I was in Dallas, Texas at Dealey Plaza with my late wife to see President John F. Kennedy.”

“And where were you exactly, Mr. Jones?”

“We were sitting on the grassy knoll. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Now, refresh my memory.” Everett said almost sarcastically. “You were there, what happened, and what did you see?” You couldn’t stop your mind from following the man’s description as he led up to the moment the shots were fired, but from your point of view. You remembered getting off the way to advanced for its time jet, and heading through the packed streets to get to your mark. You remembered slipping into the shadows of a giant tree behind a picket fence and you could even feel the weight of your gun in your hand as you held it up and pulled the trigger. The faint hum of your daughter’s bed time song caught your attention though as it wasn’t part of the memory, and you shook your head and glanced behind you at Pepper, who simply smiled and nodded as she hummed a few more notes and stopped.

“So you saw the shooter?” Everett asked with a slight tilt of his head. “What can you tell me about her... or him.” He clarified, quickly before Mike could object.

“It was a woman.” Mr. Jones said with a small nod. “Caucasian, roughly five foot five like my wife, dark hair, wearing all black.”

“Anything else?” He asked as he oh so subtly adjusted his watch on his wrist, but Mike immediately jumped on it at the same moment you realized exactly why Tony and Bucky had insisted you wear the shirt you had on under your suit jacket.

“Objection! Leading!”

“Councilor, I will only warn you once.” Judge Benson said as she looked down at him as he raised his hands in innocence.

“Wasn’t leading...”

“She had a metal arm!” Mr. Jones said over him as if he had just remembered the award winning answer on a television game show.

“Your Honor, can you ask council to instruct his client to remove her jacket and roll up her sleeves.”

“Against my better judgement...” She started, but you had already stood up to take off your jacket anyways. The black metal stood out spectacularly against the light pink, sleeveless, backless, collared halter top button down you had on, and nearly the entire room gasped at the sight. You purposely turned around to hang your jacket on the back of your chair so that every single member of the jury could see your scars, and you went out of your way to use both hands to collect your loose hair to pull it over your right soldier so that the jury had no choice but to see what HYDRA did to you.

“A metal arm like that?” Everett asked as he turned back to the witness with a victorious smile, not realizing that every single thing he was doing was just setting himself up for failure.

“Yes, just like that.”

“No further questions.” He said with a nod as he walked back over to his table.

“Mr. Jones, you said you remember that day as if it was yesterday, correct?” Mike asked with a smile as he stood up from his spot.

“Yes, sir. I do.”

“Wonderful. So you can remember if the shooters metal arm was black or silver, correct?” You could see the subtle hesitation in Mr. Jones’ eyes as he glanced at you for a moment before looking back up at your attorney. 

“It was black. Matched her outfit.”

“And, how was the killer wearing her hair?” He continued as he leaned back against the table. “Down like it is now? Up in a pony tail? Do you recall?”

“It was...” He started as he glanced over at his lawyer, who no longer had a smile on his face. “It was pulled back. I’m not sure what the style was called back then.”

“And her outfit. I know you said it was all black, but could you describe it further?” You could see the slight panic in the witnesses eyes, before he jumped to the defensive.

“Are you calling me a liar, sir?!”

“Not at all, sir.” Mike said with a shake of his head as he turned around to grab something from the file he had sitting on the table. “Merely asking for more details. Defense exhibit one, your honor.” He said as he pulled out a stack of paper to give to the judge, to the jury, and to the witness since the prosecution had already been given the photographs. “Now Mr. Jones, would it surprise you in any way to know that up until 2018, Dr. Barnes had a silver metal arm with a giant red star on the shoulder as seen in photographs recovered from leaked HYDRA files from 1932, and 1967, photos from government files from 1974, ‘81, ‘91, ‘96... all the way to personal photos of her in Stark tower up until 2018 when it was exchanged for the current arm she has now?” He paused for a moment so that Mr. Jones had a chance to look through at least some of the photos, before continuing. “And would it also surprise you to know that the uniform she has on in those HYDRA and government photos was the official quote ‘uniform’ for the Winter Wolf, and that it never deviated?”

“Objection!” Everett snapped as he finally got to his feet. “How is he supposed to know that?”

“Just simple questions, that’s all.” Mike said as he took the photos back from the witness and walked back to the table. “No further questions.” As he sat back down at the table beside you, he put the photos back in their file before glancing over at you with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m just getting started.” A smile pulled at the corners of your lips as Everett got up and called his second of fifteen witnesses, realizing at that moment that your lawyer was going to win this case.

Part 16

[imagine-silk]

Masterlist (Old)

🍮 My Favorites

AtSV

Peter B staring down Jess while hugging Autistic!Younger!Spider

Peter B taking Autistic!Younger!Spider to a meeting

DRAGON AGE

Dragon Age Inquisition characters finding comfort with you

Yan!Sera headcannon

Josephine Montilyet headcannon

Cassandra Pentaghast headcannon

Varric with a Noir Detective 🍮

Dorian, Cassandra, and Cullen finding out a Scout has a crush on Varric🍮

What if Sten was Pining

Vegas AU ideas

Okay hear me out... Trian and Alistair

Origins Fake dating ideas(Commenter has a great one for Shale)

DAI Modern summer events (Sera, Josephine, Iron bull)

You're a dark elf (Solas, Dorian, Josephine)

How they show affection (Varric, Cullen, Morrigan)

Their child is sick (Cassandra, Josephine, Vivienne)

Pining over a scout (Varric, Cole, Josephine)🍮

Days Recovering; One, Four

FALLOUT

Fallout Yan!Dudes with a courser s/o who left the Institute

Yan!Cait w/ Institute scientist Darling

Sole turns into a supermutant

Preston reacting to Sole w/ Auditory processing disorder (APD)

Yan!Girls Meeting your Assaultron Girlfriend

Yan!Girls w/ a tourist Darling

Reactions to terrifying super-ghoul

Super-mutant wing-man

Sole's accidental trick-shot

Sole painting companions in a surreal art style

Missing Sole turns up as a glowing ghoul

Girl companions meeting your ghoul parents

Sole sobbing uncontrollably when they come back from the Intitute

Modern!Companions comforting reader after a pet death (Not dogmeat's)

Cartoon door beat-up thing

Sole high on painkillers confesses (Deacon, Preston, MacCready)

Yan!Danse and Haylen react to Sole being former Enclave

Yan!Girls react to you saying you want to have a baby w/ them

Yan!Girls react to Sole leaving to hunt down an item and returning months later

Insults between dumb and dumber

Sole having four arms

Peaceful!Sole finally snapping at an ungrateful settler

Telling Yan!Girls you were once in the Enclave

Shooting Yan!Girls w/ a bubble gun🍮

Pouring your heart out to Yan!Girls

Companions gaining fire abilities

Companions (+Proctor Igram) react to a ripper doc

Life w/ Codsworth after the bombs dropped

Reader giving love-nips (Hancock, Nick, MacCready)

Scribe Haylen headcannons

Piper Wright headcannons

React to a magical girl w/ guns

Hancock, Deacon, Nick, and MacCready react to M!SS who shaves too much and ends up with a babyface

Companions react to Pacifist!Lycanthrope!SS who is stuck in werewolf form🍮

MacCready, Deacon, and Danse after a gore-y fight with blood everywhere🍮

X6-88's guide to cure love sickness🍮

React to the song Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez

Chipper!SS breaking down after going to the institute

React to the song Glimpse of Us by Joji

Child giving them a friendship braclet (X6-88, Cait, Vadim and Yafim)🍮

Taking care of a Asian!Teen!SS(Travis Miles, Nick Valentine, Deacon)🍮

Deacon traveling with a Vampire SS(not romanced)

M!SS is protective over non-human companions (+Kent, Sturges)🍮

House husbands (Preston, Hancock, Deacon)

Favorite place to go for a date (X6-88, Preston, Hancock)

Yandere (Cait, Curie, Piper)

Having a trouble-making twin (Hancock, Nick, Piper, Deacon)

Yandere Preston, Gage, Danse

Relationship milestones (Deacon, Preston, Gage)🍮

Modern Companions

Modern Companions Love Interest/Ocs

You have a stutter (X6-88, Hancock, Piper)

When someone reacts negatively to them being a synth (With no interference)

What their kisses are like (Deacon, Hancock, Curie)

What are mornings like (MaCready, Cait, Preston)

Danse and Nate smut I wrote drunk

MARVEL🍮

Marvel characters being inebriated

Finding a portrait of them you painted

Secretary!Trilogy!Peter finding out he's in love with you

Natasha and sleepy kisses

Secretary!Spidermen; You doze off

Secretary!Spidermen; Winter dates i guess

Secretary!Spidermen (MCU, TASM, Trilogy, Peter B., Miles Morales)

Secretary!Spidermen; Getting you ready before a meeting

You're a Slime (Peter, Tony, Bruce)

Glass in my hands (Scott Lang/Fem!Reader)

DBH

Yandere husband!Hank + son!Connor x willing!Darling

Supernatural lore ideas

Gavin having a surgeon husband

"You're so cute." (Hank, Gavin, Chloe)

Hugging them out of the blue (Hank, Gavin, Chloe)🍮

You don't like androids (Simon, Luther, Markus and Carl)🍮

Meeting your parents (Hank, Markus, Gavin, Elijah)

Darling is very tactile (Yan Connor, Hank, Gavin)

Misc.

Please I need this Bagginshield ending

Yandere Elliott

Yandere Sam, Sebastian, Emily

Star Trek: Next Generation; Having a crush on Data (+Socially awkward)🍮

Overprotective!Yan!Parvati/Nyoka + trying to escape

Parvati romance headcanons (still ace)

[braveclementine]

Finding a Helper

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

Tony walked out of the lake house that he had, looking for his daughters. Everleigh, and his new daughter that he'd had with Pepper after he lost Y/N and she lost Happy: Morgan. There was a tent out in what he considered the front hard and he figured they were probably playing in there together.

He clapped his hands as he approached in a rhythmic way and called out, "Chow time!" He bent down as neither of them exited, "Everly. Maguna." He sat down in the wooden chair, holding one of the stuff toys. "Morgan H. Stark. Everleigh M. Stark you want some lunch?"

Morgan came out of the tent, wearing an Iron Man helmet he'd been making for Pepper, a blaster on her hand, "Define lunch or be disintegrated."

"Okay." Tony said quickly as Everleigh emerged from the tent as well, though luckily she wasn't wearing any Iron man gear. "You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift-"

Everleigh huffed and walked back up to the house and Tony sighed a little. His older daughter missed her mother and little brother and was angry that Tony had moved on with Pepper. He didn't blame her. Sometimes he wondered if he had moved on to fast as well.

After all Morgan had been conceived to recently after Thanos had snapped Y/N away. He and Pepper were both in anguish, both of them missing soulmates. In an alcohol fueled passion, they'd ended up in the same bed and poof, there was Morgan. They weren't married. Tony hadn't put a ring on it like Steve had with Elizabeth. But he had started moving on with her and she with him.

He just leaned in, kissing the Iron man helmet on the cheek. He did love Morgan. She was the most adorable child. He pulled the helmet off her head, smoothing back the brown hair that fell in front of her face, "There you go. Thinking about lunch? I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce."

"No." She whined.

"That's what you want." He held up the helmet, "How did you find this?"

"Garage."

"Really?" He said skeptically. "Were you looking for it?"

"No. I found it, though."

"Hmmm. You like going in the garage, huh? So does daddy." Tony said, grabbing her around the legs to pick her up to carry her back to the house. "It's fine, actually. Mom never wears anything I buy her." He headed close to the house saying, "So I'm gonna. . ."

He drifted off, looking over to see Steve Rogers getting out of a car with Natasha and Scott- someone he definitely hadn't seen in a while. He really hadn't seen any of them in a while. Elizabeth came over on Sundays because she would take Everleigh to church with her and then bring them something she'd make before that and they'd eat brunch together. But the other three. . . no.

He turned around, nodding his head to Nat. He took Morgan inside first and then came back out to talk to the others.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

"No. We know what it sounds like." Scott was speaking now while Tony poured the four of them glasses of some health beverage that he liked.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve's voice asked.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale." Tony said quickly. "which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

"Thank you." Steve mumbled as Tony handed him a drink.

"In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony finished.

"I did." Scott said.

"No. You accidentally survived." Tony corrected. "It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you want to pull a. . . what do you call it?"

Scott hesitated as Tony handed him a drink as well and then asked, "A time heist?"

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course." Tony chuckled. "Why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream."

"The stones are in the past." Steve said, always calm, always cool. God Tony hated him for it. And yet also somewhat admired him though he'd never admit that. "We could go back, we could get them."

"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back. You could get Y/N back." Natasha said.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony asked. The idea of bringing Y/N back was amazing. He loved it. But. . . the odds were against them. And if he died doing it and it didn't work, Y/N would kill him in the afterlife for leaving Everleigh without both her parents.

"I don't believe we would." Steve said. Nope. Never mind. No admiration.

"Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism." Tony said. He wondered if Elizabeth had been told of this yet. Yes, she'd get her kids back. But she'd lose Steve when Steve got Bucky back. At least with him and Pepper, he'd get Y/N back, she'd get Happy back, and they'd share custody of Morgan. But Elizabeth wouldn't get Loki back. But. . . maybe she'd be okay with that. "However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist."

Tony sat down and continued, "I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott protested. "All right? That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events."

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." Tony said, holding up a hand. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future? Is it?"

"No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horseshit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony." Nat said and he'd never heard her voice so shaky before. She no longer looked like the confident, vibrant red head that he'd met when Y/N was still a rabbit, back when he thought he'd die. Now, her hair was less red, fading to white and she was by far less confident as well. Shaky. "We have to take a stand."

"We did stand. And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line." Scott said slowly. "You got a new wife, two daughters, But I lost my soulmate. A lotta people did. You were one of them. And now, we have a chance to bring her back to bring everyone back." The at first friendly man was getting angry and passionate, "and you're telling me that you won't even-"

"That's right Scott." He interrupted quietly. "I won't even. I can't."

The door opened and Morgan came out, climbing up on his lap. "Mommy told me to come and save you."

"Good job. I'm saved." He said, hugging her close, hoping they saw that he couldn't lose this. Y/N would've understood. Like he had said before, Y/N would kill him if he left Everleigh if he died on this or got stuck in the past. "I wish you were coming here to ask me something else." He stood up, "Anything else. I'm honestly happy to see you guys, I just. . . Oh, look, the table's set for six. "

"Tony," Steve said, touching his elbow, "I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

"I got my second chance right here, Cap." Tony said. "And so did you. And quite frankly, so did Elizabeth and we brought everyone back you'd leave her for Bucky and I can't let her get hurt like that. Can't roll the dice on it. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." Tony added louder for everyone else to hear.

And he headed back into the house.

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"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here." Bruce said, sitting at the side of the table. Steve sat next to Natasha with Scott on the other side of the table. "Try some of that."

There was a huge baking bowl filled with scrambled eggs and a whole plate of sausage links. Steve had texted Elizabeth to let her know where they were, though he hadn't quite said what they were trying to do. It wasn't something he wanted to tell her over the phone and Tony's comment was still bothering him.

Of course he wouldn't leave Elizabeth if Bucky came back. She'd have their daughters plus five of her own kids. And Tony really thought he'd leave her? Just dump her like that? No way. He already knew Bucky was head over heels for her and Elizabeth had always liked Bucky. Polyamory was a thing. It would work out.

"Have some eggs." Bruce said.

"I'm so confused." Scott said, looking at Bruce with an equal look of confusion as his words.

"These are confusing times." Bruce said, although Steve knew what Scott meant. After knowing Bruce where he struggled to stop Hulk and also struggled to become Hulk, watching the two be merged with no problems was probably disorienting.

"Right, no no. That's not what I meant." Scott scoffed.

"Nah, I get it. I'm kidding." Bruce said. "I know, it's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."

"Yeah. What? How? Why?" Scott asked.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beat." Bruce said and Steve saw Elizabeth coming into the diner in the far corner, holding his daughters in her arms. Nat got up, moving around so she could sit next to Scott. "Except it was worse for me 'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost and then, we all lost."

"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat said as Elizabeth caught sight of them and started heading over.

"I did." Bruce answered. "For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then, I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together and now, look at me."

Elizabeth slid in next to Steve and he kissed her cheek, taking Rose into his arms.

"Best of both worlds."

"Hey sweetheart." Steve said as three kids came over and started to talk to Bruce.

"Hey dreamboat." Elizabeth teased and he felt his cock twitch in his pants. He gave her a warning glare. "So, we're. . . what?" Then she saw Scott and her mouth turned into a small 'o'. She gave Steve a quick look.

"He was stuck in this place called the Quantum realm." Steve explained quickly. "He wasn't snapped, but he has this idea now that since for him it was only five hours, maybe we can manipulate time."

"Like. . . time travel?" Elizabeth asked skeptically.

"Basically. If we could go back and get the stones, we could snap everyone who Thanos snapped, back."

He watched her expression. She still looked rather confused and not as hopeful as he had hoped. Scott joined in on the conversation with the kids.

"Steve. . ." She said slowly. "Even if we could invent time travel. . . getting these stones would require a lot. And what if it didn't work?"

"We're just seeing if it's possible." Steve said. "Tony says it isn't."

"Bruce." Nat said as the kids walked away, "About what we were saying?"

"Right." Bruce sighed. "The whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."

"Well, you pulled this off." Nat said. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too."

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Tony nearly sprayed himself with the water hose, trying to do the dishes. His mind wasn't on the right things and he struggled, nearly dropping the glass plate, luckily dropping the hose instead. He sighed.

He went to wipe water off the walls and upper counter. There was a picture of his father on the shelf and he stopped when he saw a picture that had gotten water on it. He pulled it out, wiping it off, seeing how excited the spider kid had looked when it was taken. The one next to it was a picture of him, Y/N, Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy.

Suddenly, he looked at the picture of his father again and remembered his eighteenth birthday, "Bet you'll invent time travel son."

He went down to his new workspace and muttered, "I've got a mild inspiration. I'd like to see if it checks out. So, I'd like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted, please."

"Processing." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

"Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle," Tony said, manipulating the holographic image. "factoring in spectral decomp. That'll take a second."

"Just a moment." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda. . . "

"Model rendered."

He collapsed hard in his chair when he saw the orange words, 'Model successful.' For the first time in a long time, he felt something like hope. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stop from screaming or maybe even crying.

"Shit!" He squeaked out.

"Shit!" A voice behind him repeated.

He turned to see Morgan Stark sitting on the stairs in her pajamas, smiling at him. He put a finger to his lips, shaking his head seriously. "What are you doing up, little miss?"

"Shit."

"Nope. We don't say that." Tony said sternly. "Only mommy says that word. She coined it. It belongs to her." He quickly threw Pepper under the bus.

"Why are you up?" Morgan asked.

"'Cause I've got some important shit going on here!" Tony said, jerking his thumb at the hologram. Morgan frowned at him. "No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind."

Would it be fair to Morgan? To bring Y/N and Happy back. For Tony to go back to his wife and Pepper to go back to her husband? Rip this current family unit apart?

But it wasn't just Y/N he was getting back, was it? No, he would get his baby boy back too. Arlo.

"Was it juice pops?" Morgan asked sweetly.

"Sure was." Tony smiled a little. "That's extortion. That's a word." Tony said, getting up. "What kind do you want?" He reached his hand out and she stood up to slip her little one into his. "Great minds think alike. Juice pops exactly. . .exactly. . ." He looked back at the hologram. "On my mind."

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Tony wiped Morgan's mouth as he put her to bed. "Good. That face," He pushed gently, teasingly against her little face to put her head back on the pillow. "Goes there."

"Tell me a story." She demanded.

"A story. Uh Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The End."

"That is a horrible story." Morgan smiled.

"Come on, that's your favorite story." Tony said. "Love you tons." He kissed her forehead.

"I love you three thousand." Morgan said.

Tony smiled, knowing this was the exact reason he was still hesitating, even with a successful model. This right here. What would the cost be?

"Wow." Tony said softly. He got up, turning off her light, "Three thousand? That's crazy. Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys." He said, closing the door behind him.

"Not that it's a competition." He said, coming down the stairs to see Pepper sitting on the couch, reading a magazine, "but she loves me three thousand."

"Does she, now?" Pepper asked

"You were somewhere in the low six to nine hundred range." Tony teased.

Pepper chuckled at that, turning back to the book. He sighed, looking at the hologram that was still up, "Watcha reading?"

"Just a book on composting." Pepper said. She had taken up gardening as a hobby, growing most of their vegetables and some of their fruits.

"What's new with composting?" Tony asked.

"Interesting science-"

"I figured it out." He interrupted, the popsicle stick still between his teeth. Pepper looked up, "By the way."

"And, you know, just so we're talking about the same thing. . ."

"Time travel." Tony breathed the two words out.

"What?" Pepper asked in disbelief. "Wow. That's. . . that's amazing and terrifying."

"That's right." Tony said softly. He sat down slowly on the couch next to her.

Pepper reached out, touching his hand, "We got really lucky."

"Yeah." Tony murmured. "I know."

"A lot of people didn't."

"Nope. And I can't help everybody." Tony said.

Pepper smiled a little, "Sorta seems like you can."

"Not if I stop." Tony looked at her and she gave him an understanding smile, "I can put a pin in it right now and stop."

"Tony. . . trying to get you to stop, has been one of the few failures of my entire life. Besides. . . " Pepper added, "You get Y/N and Arlo back. I get Happy back. It's not like it's a terrible thing, even if we love each other now."

"But. . ." Tony added softly. "What if. . . I fail? What if I don't come back? And I've left you here to raise two daughters, one going through a very rebellious phase?"

"I think," Pepper said, smiling, "If you tell Everly what you are going to try and do, then maybe she can rest a little easier."

Tony nodded and looked up the stairs. "Well, never a better time like the present."

He headed upstairs and knocked on her door. "Come in." His thirteen year old daughter called out, sounding just slightly annoyed.

He opened the door a little. Everleigh was sitting up in her bed, reading a book which Tony recognized was from Y/N's collection. It was also one that Y/N would read to Everleigh when she was a young girl.

"Hey." He said softly. "I just want to talk to you real quick."

She closed the book, which he took to be a good sign. He sat down on the edge of her bed. "So, the reason some of the Avengers were here is they are. . . looking for a way to bring the ones who were snapped back. And I think that I have found that way to do it."

Everleigh was giving him her undivided attention now.

"The things is, it's going to be dangerous." Tony sighed, "And quite frankly. . . it's possible I don't come back. Now, I don't have to do this. I can stay here, me, you, Pepper, Morgan we can be a family because if I don't make it back, you haven't just lost your mom, you'll lose me too. And I don't know if I can do that to you."

Everleigh reached over and took his hand. "Dad. . . if you're doing some to bring, not just mom and my little brother back, but my friends, the others. . . then even if you don't make it back, I'll know you did everything you could."

"And you would just be okay with staying with Pepper?" Tony chuckled.

Everleigh smiled a little, "It's not that I don't like her dad. I just really miss mom. And sometimes it feels like you don't."

Tony pulled her into a tight hug so she didn't see him cry. "I miss her ever day sweetheart. But I never thought I could bring her back and I'm just trying to move on. Everyone is."

"Please try and bring her back." Everleigh begged, tears in her eyes. "Please?"

"I will." Tony promised.

He would.

[middleearthpixie]

Wanted Man ~ Chapter Twenty-One

Summary: A price on his head, Loki of Asgard finds himself stranded on Earth and in need of one woman's help in order to free himself from the bounty and try to reclaim what he sees as his rightful throne in Asgard.

McKenna Carlin just wanted to put a horrible day behind her. She had no idea that things would get worse before they get better…

Pairings:  Loki Laufeyson x ofc McKenna Carlin

Characters:McKenna, Loki, Thor, Shannon, Tony, Agent Phil Coulson

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 5.1k

Tag List: @fizzyxcustard @court-jobi @guardianofrivendell @piggledy-higgledy @evenstaredits

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here! 

For McKenna, adjusting to life returning back to normal took some doing. Sleeping became a rarer and rarer occurrence, as she often found herself wide awake at three in the morning, staring up at the ceiling, Cinder curled in a ball beside her.

And there were times when she thought she was going crazy. She’d swear she saw Loki from the corner of her eye, only to find that when she whipped around, he was never there. 

The nights were the worst. Not only was she not sleeping well, but when she did manage to doze off, she would dream of Loki and when she woke, her pillow would be wet with tears she hadn’t realized she shed and her head would ache and she’d lie awake until the sun streamed in through her windows.

“Where are you?” Scott asked one Friday night, about two months after her return, when she inadvertently poured peppermint schnapps instead of apple schnapps into what was supposed to be an apple martini.

“I’m sorry, Scott. I just… I don’t know. I’m not feeling so well.”

“Well then go home. I can’t afford to have you ruining any more drinks.”

“I know… I just…” Her throat squeezed shut and her eyes filled with tears. Damn it, she cried so easily now, and all the time. Why, just last night, she burst out bawling over some stupid commercial about back to school shopping.

“Look, I get it, Kenna,” Scott’s hands cupped her shoulders and he bent to meet her eye level. “Shay told me about the boyfriend. It sucks, but you have to let it go. He’s in jail and you can do a lot better than some guy in jail, right? Maybe it’s time to cut your losses and move on.”

Move on. In theory, perhaps, but in reality, it was not quite that simple. She absently ran her thumb along the band of the diamond ring still on her hand. “That’s much easier said than done, Scott.” She drew in a shaky breath and reached up to rub her forehead. “I’ll be all right.”

“You know, why don't you go home? Take a few days because I need you come Friday. Labor Day weekend? We’re gonna be packed.”

“Well, I’ve already missed—”

He waved off her protest. “I know. And maybe I’m going soft in my old age, but go home and get yourself sorted out, Kenna. Take a couple days and hopefully it’ll help.”

She nodded and dumped the ruined appletini and grabbed her purse from under the bar. Then, she pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to Scott. “For the drink.”

He waved it away, but she tossed it onto the bar and made her way around it to leave. Shannon stopped her just short of the door. “Go home and get some rest, Kenna. You look kinda green.”

“I know. I am and I’ll call you in the morning.” She kissed Shannon’s cheek and stepped out into a godawful, hot, steamy August night. 

Her car was parked down the street from a CVS and after a quick peek over her shoulder to make sure Shannon didn’t follow her, she ducked into it. It only took her a few minutes to find what she wanted and paid for it, and then hurried back to her car.

Cinder did his best to trip her as she came into the apartment, yowling for food. “Okay, okay,” she said, tossing her purse and bag on the counter and hurryied into the kitchen before the cat attacked her.

He dove into his food, his yowl becoming a contented purr, and she crouched to scratch him behind the ears before stretching across the counter to grab her phone and the bag.

She locked the bathroom door, although she didn’t know why, and her hands shook as she opened the box. It took three tries before she got the instructions unfolded, and on the third try, she ripped it along a fold. 

Five minutes later she was staring down at the counter, her stomach threatening to reverse itself even as a sense of budding excitement swelled through her.

The word was so small, but still unmistakable, all in capital letters spelling out one word:

PREGNANT

She didn’t know how long she sat there staring at that stupid little stick. The box came with a second one, so she took it as well. Now she had two sticks with the same tiny little word on it.

“Holy shit…” she breathed, rubbing her forehead with one hand. How the hell was she supposed to let Loki know he was going to be a father? Somehow, she didn’t think S.H.I.E.L.D. still had their little shop at the boardwalk up and running.

But, she did have Coulson’s number, or at least she hoped it was still his number. The crumpled business card was long gone, but she kept his number. Just in case. 

Her legs wobbled as she went back out to the kitchen and dug her phone from her purse, found Coulson’s number and hit send, her hands shaking the entire time.

“Agent Coulson.”

“Agent Coulson, it’s McKenna Carlin. I need to get a message to Thor. Can you do that for me?”

“Miss Carlin, I’m not an Asgardian answering service.”

“This is very, very important. Please.” She switched the phone to her other ear. “And I don’t mean like I have a hangnail important, but really, really important.”

“Is everything all right, Miss Carlin?”

“No. No, it isn’t and I need to see Thor. Soon.”

“Okay, Miss Carlin. I’ll do my best.”

“Do you have my number?”

“We do.” He clicked off and she dropped the phone as the enormity of those two sticks lounging on the bathroom counter hit her like a ton of bricks. 

But at the same time, perhaps this was what could change Odin's mind about keeping Loki in the dungeon? 

Or would she and the baby be in danger now instead?

She walked back into the living room, where she promptly began pacing, since her nerves would not let her be still. Thor would have a better grasp on what Odin's reaction might be, should he learn about the baby. Now all she had to do was wait. And that was the worst part.

But she didn’t have to wait long. Not more than half an hour after her phone call to Coulson, there came a knock at her door. Damn… that little man worked fast. 

She opened it to find Thor standing in the hallway, his red cape dusty and Mjölnir in his hand. She almost laughed at the absurdity of the scene, especially when he came inside and hung the hammer on the doorknob.

“Son of Coul said you needed to speak with me? What is it?”

“I really don’t think I should tell you first, but I need you get a message to Loki. Or better yet, if you could maybe sneak me in to see him? I need to talk to him and it’s very important.” 

He arched one golden brow. “I cannot smuggle you into the prison. How would I? Never mind if something happened and someone got out.”

“Then you need to find some way for me to talk to him. Please. I cannot even tell you how much I need to see him.”

Thor pulled back before she could touch him and shook his head. “It is out of my hands, Miss Carlin. I cannot—”

“Please! You must—” Her voice broke and hot tears stung her eyes. She tilted her head back, squeezing her eyes shut to try to hold them back. How could she make Thor see how important it was without actually telling him? “You don't get it and I know that, but I have to talk to him. It really is that important. Really. I promise you, it is.”

“So, why not just tell me then?”

Her head snapped up at the low, familiar pull of Loki's voice and her tears became those of joy as she snapped her head back to see Thor vanish in a veil of green mist and to find staring into Loki's beautiful blue eyes. “Ohhh… oh… God…” she stammered, her hand clapping over her mouth. “What… how…?”

“What did you have to tell me, love? Or can it wait a moment?” A slow smile pulled at his lips as he caught her by the hands.

At his first touch, she all but fell into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing with everything she had. “Oh my God… how is this even possible? Please, please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

“It’s no dream,” he whispered, lifting her up to meet his eyes. “And I will explain everything—”

She cut him off with a kiss that let loose every single emotion she’d experienced since seeing him dragged off in chains. His arms tightened about her as his lips parted and as her tongue met his, he groaned in the back of his throat.

He staggered back, thudding dully against the door, but never loosened his hold on her any more than she loosened hers on him. She slid her fingers into the cool length of his dark hair, tears sliding over her cheeks as she broke the kiss with a laugh that came out of nowhere and just hugged him. 

“I know it’s been a while, love,” he chuckled, his lips against her ear. “But I am fairly certain you aren’t supposed to be laughing at my kisses.”

“It was my kiss and I’m laughing because I can’t believe you’re here. How the hell did Coulson do this?”

“Son of Coul?” Loki pulled back with a puzzled look. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“I just talked to him a little while ago. Didn’t… I asked him to get word to Thor that I needed to see him. Or you.” She caught his face between her hands, just wanting to look at him. He was a bit thinner than the last time she saw him, and he looked tired, but other than that, he was every bit the handsome god she loved so much. Her eyes teared up again and she shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Believe it, love. I’m here and I’m not leaving.” Holding her easily in one arm, he smoothed her hair away from her face, his fingers lingering against her cheek. “I’ve missed you, McKenna. More than you could ever possibly know.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea, Loki.” 

He smiled and kissed her again. This time, his kiss was hungry, and he scorched her with the passion behind it. He pushed away from the door and shifted to scoop her into his arms. Cinder meowed and between kisses, Loki whispered, “Not now, cat,” as he carried McKenna down the narrow hallway to her bedroom.

Loki gently pressed her down into her bed, covering her body with his. His lips moved gently along the curve of her neck, down over her collarbone, while he slid one hand beneath her black Scott’s Tavern tee shirt. His fingers were cool as they swept along her ribs, slid beneath her to run up along her. She shivered at the touch, so light and gentle, and yet powerful enough that she bit down hard on her bottom lip. 

His fingers just grazed the lower curve of her left breast and then he moved down, his kisses soft on her ribs, and a breathless laugh bubbled to her lips as he swept a kiss down the center of her stomach. Without thinking, she reached down, slid her fingers into his dark hair and her eyes remained on him as he spread those teasing kisses over and down, stopping at the waistband of her jeans.

He lifted his head to gaze at her with passion-smoked blue-green eyes. “I have never had the pleasure of undressing you, my love,” he murmured, hooking one finger over the button of her jeans. “And I shall rectify that at once.”

She smiled as he pressed a hot kiss into her lower belly. He shifted, brushing the tip of his tongue along her left hipbone as he slid the button through its hole. The zipper slid down, and he folded back the two sides, his breath warm against her skin as he murmured, “I do so love the lacy bits you wear,” in a husky voice.

She held her breath as he rose to tug the Levis from her hips. The velvety denim was like a caress as he slid it her legs, and she bit down on her bottom lip as he just let his gaze wander over her and a sinful smile curved his lips. 

“So beautiful,” he whispered, letting his fingers sweep gently up over her shins, over her knees, along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. She sighed at the tingles rushing through her with each touch, at the way his eyes seemed to darken from blue to green as they moved along her.

He eased a finger beneath the scalloped lace edge of her thong and she sucked in a sharp breath. Then, he bent forward and there was nothing cold about his lips as they teased her left inner thigh. His tongue caressed the crease of her hip and thigh and her fingers twisted in his hair.

She realized how tightly she held the thick lock of black hair she held, and she released it immediately, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

Loki shook his head. “Don’t apologize,” he said as he hooked his forefinger in that delicate black lace to gently tug. “You didn’t hurt me, you know. Actually, I rather like knowing how strongly you react to my touch.”

“Loki, you have no idea.”

He tugged the lace from her hips and his smile turned feral. “Much as I like the lacy bits, I far prefer you like this, love.”

She shivered—a full body shiver as he dipped back down and at the first sensual stroke of his tongue against her most sensitive flesh, she didn’t care how hard she grabbed him. He left her breathless and on fire, her fingers twisting against in his hair to press him harder into her. Her hips rose to meet him, his name rose to her lips and her back bowed sharply as he pushed her over the edge.

“Loki!”

He held her there, suspended in time, her entire body humming with pleasure, and then, when she thought she’d go mad from it all, he gently brought her back to earth. She was breathless and fighting for air, tugging him to bring him up so she could wrap herself around him.

He obliged, but slowly, kissing his way up, just as he kissed his way down. He was leisurely and teasing, no matter how she pulled at his hair and, when that didn’t work, gripped the shoulders of his green and gold leather tunic. Tunic? Damn it, she had to get him out of his clothes and now!

He knelt between her knees and caught her hips with both hands, his thumbs pressing into her, and pushed her shirt over her ribs, and she bit back a breathless sigh at the cool brush of his lips against her skin. The tip of his tongue swept out against her, and then came the gentle nip, followed by a soft kiss.

This was his pattern as he moved upward, the soft tee shirt skimming over her breasts. She gave up tugging on him. There was no point. He was in no hurry and honestly? She didn’t care, it was far better to just lie back and enjoy those delicious sensations as they rippled through her, to savor them as they swelled and build off one another to create a fiery desire she hadn’t felt in a very long time. She wanted him with a fury that bordered on the maniacal, but if he was in no hurry, why on earth should she rush him? 

“Loki…”

“Mmmm?” he murmured, his lips teasing the right side of her ribs. 

“Oh, that feels so nice…”

He came up to whisk her tee shirt over her head. “More lacy bits,” he whispered, tracing the lacy edge of her left bra cup. “I am a fortunate man, indeed.”

“I hate to disappoint you,” she whispered back, “but pretty much all women wear bras.”

“But I doubt any of them look as ravishing as you, love,” he replied, his finger slipping beneath the bra cup to brush her breast. Her eyelids grew heavy as he inched further beneath it, easing her breast from it entirely.

He kneaded her breast gently, his thumb brushing her nipple, and when he bent to kiss her, she wrapped her arms about his neck. The air rushed from her as he rolled to pull her atop him. A moment later, he had her bra unhooked, his voice heavy with seductive triumph as he murmured, “On the first attempt, no less.”

“Very smooth. Now, how do I get you out of this?” she breathed into his ear as she tugged at the front of his tunic. “Because it definitely needs to go.”

He pulled away to grin wolfishly at her. “But I’m not finished with you yet.”

“Loki.” She tried to scowl at him, but couldn’t quite manage it. “I’ve missed you just as much, you know.”

He rocked back. “It would take me far too long to allow you to undress me, McKenna. But, I promise you, when I’m in your Midgardian clothes, you may indulge in undressing me as slowly as you wish.”

With that, he twitched his fingers and her jaw almost dropped as his clothes simply disappeared. She reached down to let her fingers slide down over his chiseled, smooth belly. His skin was so cool to the touch, the muscles like slabs of marble beneath it. 

She bent to brush a kiss over his chest. Then another. And another still as she inched her way down. His hands came to rest on her back, his fingers stroking her gently as he whispered, “Oh, love… what you do to me. You bring the most wicked of thoughts to my mind.”

“Do I?” She moved over the ridge of his hip. “Then I’m doing something right.”

“Oh, Midgardian,” the air rushed from him as she moved and his voice grew throatier as he added, “you most definitely are.”

She smiled as she continued teasing him, using his sighs and groans as an indicator of how he enjoyed her attentions. Then, he caught her, tugging her back up into his arms. His lips seized hers, hot and hungry, and he flipped her onto her back, then surged up between her thighs to fill her with one sensually long stroke.

Her back bowed with his first powerful thrust and that was all it took. She melted around him, legs about his waist, arms about his neck, fingernails sinking deep into his back. She met his rhythm, his name a breathless cry on her lips as he surged hard inside her. 

He drew back just enough to capture her lips in a long, deep kiss. She clung to him as he thrust faster and when they went over that glorious summit, Loki broke that kiss to growl, “McKenna!”

He sank against her, his body trembling and as she slid her arms about him, she whispered, “Oh, Loki… Oh, God…that… oh, that was amazing…”

He nodded, still fighting for his breath, which came across her skin as short, hard blasts.  His head came to rest on her breast, which he kissed gently and murmured, “I do so love you.”

She smiled up at into the darkness, tears stinging her eyes. But for the first time in two months, they were happy tears and they slid back into her hair as she brokenly whispered, “I love you, too.”

He lifted his head, his eyes tender as he murmured, “Are you crying, Midgardian?”

“Tears of happiness this time, I promise,” she replied, reaching up to stroke his hair away from his face. “I thought I was never going to see you again.”

“I wouldn’t allow that.”

“You didn’t have much of a choice.”

“True. But I was not about to let a little thing like a dungeon prevent it, either. Not even Odin’s prison could keep me from you in the end.” He kissed her forehead. “And now I am here and we have much lost time to make up for. Tell me, how much hot water does your shower offer?”

She smiled. “Not nearly as much as the Winchester, I’m afraid.”

“We’ll make do.” 

As he settled back against her, his head cradled by her breast, she drew her fingers along the black sheen of his hair. Her thoughts whirled with the magnitude of what she had to tell him, but the words were a jumble in her mind. 

She took a deep breath. “Loki?”

“Yes, love?” he murmured, not lifting his head.

“There’s something we need to talk about. Now that you’re here and all.”

“Is something wrong?” His voice held a hint of suspicion.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Do you like children?”

Now he lifted his head. “I beg your pardon?”

“I asked if you like children.”

“I don’t know any, but I don’t think I’d dislike them.” His eyes glittered in the glow of the bathroom nightlight. “Why?”

“Well, that’s kind of why I needed Thor to come here.” She curved her hand against his cool, smooth cheek. “You’re going to be a father.”

Confusion clouded his eyes. “What?”

She nodded. “I’m going to have a baby, Loki.” She traced her fingertip along his bottom lip. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“You mean to say that you… and I… A child, McKenna?” He waited for her to nod, and then he hurriedly slid off her to stretch out beside her. “How—when—you—”

She laughed as his eyes cleared of all confusion and filled with something that looked very much like wonder. He slid his hand over her hip, letting it come to rest between both hipbones. “Are you certain?”

“I’m positive, Loki. I was late, so I bought a pregnancy test. Two, actually. And both came back positive.” She covered her hand with his. “They’re still in the bathroom, if you want to see them for yourself.”

He shook his head, his gaze going to his hand on her belly, whispering, “A child,” in a disbelief-laden voice.

Her stomach fluttered as the next words came to her lips. “How do you feel about that, Loki? I know it has to be a bit of a shock, but—”

“How do I feel about it?” He turned to look at her, but his expression was unreadable. “It’s the last thing I expected you to say, to be honest.”

Her heart sank and a hint of nausea rose in the back of her throat. “I know. It was a surprise to me as well.”

“But, as to how I feel about it—” To her surprise, he lifted their hands from her belly, and bent to press a gentle kiss where his hand had been. Then, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed that. 

Finally, he came back up to her and whispered, “I love you.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “And I look forward to this new life we’ve created, be it a boy or a girl.”

“Do you, really? Like I said, I know you weren’t expecting this but—”

“Hush, McKenna, and worry not about how I feel. I think it amazing. A surprise, yes, but a very welcome one.” He pressed his hand against hers, palm to palm, and entwined their fingers. “Tell me, though, would you have told Thor to pass the word along or would you have told me yourself?”

“I wanted to tell you, before I told anyone else. I would have only told him if there had been no other option.”

His thumb swept along hers. “You do realize, if this child is a girl, I will kill any boy who comes near her.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” She squeezed his hand. “Will you teach him or her your magic?”

“Absolutely.” He grinned. “You may come to fear what tricks may be played on you, though.”

“Wonderful.” She sank back against the pillows and smiled at him. “Try not to make me too crazy, okay?”

He bent and swept a kiss over her belly again and then came up to stretch out beside her again. “I promise nothing. I am the God of Mischief, remember.”

 As he spoke, he pulled her into his arms and she sank into him, snuggling her head against his chest. “So, how are you here, then? I mean, if Coulson didn’t tell Thor?”

He kissed the top of her head. “Thor helped me escape. Again.”

“How?”

“How do you think?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Captain America again?”

“No. But as an Asgardian guard.”

“Try saying that five times.” When he gave her a puzzled look, she added, “It’s a joke. Your tongue will twist trying to say it five times.”

“Oh, I assure you, love, my tongue never twists.” He gave her a seductive smile. “Unless I want it to, that is.”

She shivered at the promise in his voice. “Is that so?”

“Absolutely.” He gently eased her onto her back again, and covered her body with his. He leaned in until his lips just brushed hers, and whispered, “Do you have to work in the morning?”

She shook her head. “No. Not until Friday. Why?”

“Because I’m planning on keeping you up far too late this evening.” His voice lowered to a whisper and he kissed her lightly. “As I said, we’ve much lost time to make up for.”

“We can sleep until noon if we wish,” she replied.

“Oh, I wish.” He kissed along her temple, and she shivered as his breath came lightly along her ear and he whispered, “I wish to hear you cry out my name again as I love you from here,” he kissed along her jaw line and down her neck, “to here,” his lips moved over her breast and down her ribs, “to here…”

Here made her suck in a sharp breath and her back bowed sharply again. Her god most definitely had a silver tongue and left her aching for him. For all of him.

He obliged and as he slid inside her, he caught her hands in his, pinned them to the bed on either side of her head, and laced his fingers with hers. His eyes held hers, soft and tender, as he began moving inside her again, with slow, carefully controlled thrusts. 

Her eyelids grew so heavy, but she refused to yield to them. She didn’t want to miss one moment of this, didn’t want to miss the slightest flicker of pleasure that crossed his face, or the way the muscle in his jaw bulged from the effort it must have taken for him to thrust so slowly. 

“I love you,” he growled, squeezing her hands.

“I—” She gasped as they neared that amazing edge—“I love you, too…”

Whereas the last time, he crushed her close and surged hard into her, this time, he was every bit as tender as he promised he’d be. He moaned softly, shuddered, and as he peaked with her, his forehead pressed into hers, his eyes locked with hers, and she felt him all the way to the center of her soul. This was love—love like she never dreamed could really exist, but was only dreamed up by poets and writers to appeal to the dreamers in everyone.

He arched hard, and then sank against her, burying his face in the slope of her neck to kiss her softly. Only then did he let show how much effort it took for him to remain so controlled as his breathing was ragged about the edges. She stroked his hair with a trembling hand as she whispered, “Hmm… so hard to believe you are the same man who demanded a thousand people kneel before you.” She traced her fingernails lightly down over his nape and along his left shoulder, laughing softly as he shivered. “Especially when you tremble at my touch. Perhaps you should kneel before me?”

“No one else will ever see this side of me,” he replied sleepily, lifting his head to smile at her. “Although, if I were you, I wouldn’t be gloating quite so, since I do intend to have you on your knees at some point this night.”

“Is that so?”

“Darling girl, I certainly hope so.” He eased one hand from hers and shifted off her. As she yawned, he tugged her up against him, nestling her back against his chest. “But if not tonight, definitely another. It will happen.”

She rubbed one eye, her post-coital drowsiness becoming full-blown exhaustion. It was one of the longest days she could remember and although it ended more wonderfully than she ever would have hoped, she was still wiped out. 

But on the other hand, she was still apprehensive of going to sleep, afraid that she would awake to find that this had all been yet another dream and she would be alone. Loki wrapped his arms about her, smoothing her hair away from her left ear as he murmured, “Are you asleep?”

“No,” she murmured drowsily, peering up at him. “I’m just… it’s silly…”

“What is?”

“I think I’m dreaming and when I open my eyes, you’ll be back on Asgard again.”

“I won’t be, love. I promise you, I will be right here when you awake. And I promise not to try to cook any more bacon.”

She laughed softly. “I still have to replace that stupid smoke detector.”

He lifted his left arm and swished his fingers. “Done.”

As that hand slid back over her belly, she sighed and snuggled back into his chest. “I could get spoiled by this.”

His palm skimmed gently over her stomach. “I look forward to being able to spoil you, McKenna. I’ve the feeling not many men have.”

“Some. But not many.”

“I will make you forget any other man ever touched you, love. That any other man ever hurt you. That any other man ever made you feel unworthy of being loved.” He whispered these words, but there was no denying the ferocity behind them. 

His arms tightened about her and he pressed a gentle kiss into her temple. “Sleep now, darling. I promise you I will be here when you wake.”

She nodded, her eyes closing as sleep crept over her like a stealthy cat. For the first time in eight weeks, she slept without dreaming and in utter peace.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Australia Is A Wealthy Nation Raising Little Tax Revenue

We measure ourselves against our peers. Australia is a wealthy nation raising little tax revenue, which is revealed by OECD economic research. It is important to state we are not talking about income tax exclusively here but all revenue raising taxation. Considering Australia is in the top 10 wealthiest countries globally it is surprising that we trail our peers like Canada and New Zealand in raising tax revenue annually. Taxes pay for our public services like Medicare, education, our military, and law and order to name a few important of these essential services.

High Rates Of Poverty For Over 50s In Australia

Digging down a bit deeper into the figures, we, according to economic data sourced from the OECD and highlighted by Greg Jericho from the Australia Institute, trail Canada by some $140 billion a year. This directly feeds into the fact that Australia has one of the highest rates of over 50 YO poverty among the advanced economies of the world. Obviously, the wealth of the nation is not shared equally among our citizens. In fact, we pay among the lowest rates of welfare as a replacement for wages in the OECD. Whether you are on the pension or receiving JobSeeker you are getting less that 30% of a replacement wage equivalent. Really, unless you have savings you are heading for poverty and folks on the pension would not have substantial savings or they wouldn’t be on the pension in the first place.  Australians put up with this and seemingly don’t much care about how the other half lives, as long as it is not them.

Photo by David Peterson on Pexels.com

Mean Spirited Australians & F*ck All Welfare For The Needy

Robodebt was a clear illustration of this, as the LNP Coalition federal government illegally went after half a million Australians doing it tough. This was an ideological attack on so called ‘dole bludgers’ and had plenty of support among working Australians and the media. The fact that PwC, who did reviews into Robodebt, found that there was not a plethora of welfare cheats operating in Australia did not phase Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott, Alan Tudge, and Stuart Robert. In the greatest betrayal ever enacted on the Australian people by government vulnerable people killed themselves in despair and many thousands later sued the federal government in a settled class action costing tax payers $1.8 billion. Incredibly, no one has been prosecuted for this illegal and immoral travesty some 7 years later. White collar crime attracts get out of gaol free cards downunder in stark contrast to blue collar unsubstantiated accusation levelled at the CMFEU for instance. Bureaucrats and politicians look out for each other if you look at the historical evidence. Think about all those Royal Commissions into banking, aged care and disability – nobody ever pays the price for the rorting and deaths ultimately caused. The Economic Carve Up In Oz OK, so who is getting the biggest slices of the pie in OZ? The top 10% are stashing away over 90% of the wealth growth in Australia over the last decade and a half. John Howard, the PM from the 1990’s accelerated this shift via the economic policies his government brought in. Capital gains tax (CGT), negative gearing (NG), and the emphasis on investors over workers since the Howard era. CGT and NG have turbo charged the property market in Australia making it now unaffordable for most younger Aussies to get into the market without the bank of mum and dad. In concert with this, Australia has some of the weakest money laundering laws in the developed world, which sees overseas investors of dubious provenance pouring money into top end residential property in Australian cities. Despots, organised criminals, and the like can stash funds downunder and watch them appreciate. This pushes up property prices and makes homes more unaffordable for Aussie first home buyers and the rest of us. “Wealth inequality: Nearly half of all wealth is held by the top 10% of households, worth an average $5.2 million each. They hold 15 times the wealth of the lowest 60% ($343,000 per household). Over half of the wealth (53%) of older households was owned by one-sixth of older people. They had an average wealth of $5.6 million, comprise 4% of all households but hold 18% of all wealth. “ ( https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/04/wealth-gap-widening-new-report-acoss#:~:text=Wealthinequality,onesixthofolderpeople.)

The Gas Industry Pays Little Or No Tax Australia is a low tax paying country for multinational corporations, especially those mining LPG gas and selling our resource around the world. Indeed, half of them don’t even pay royalties on the gas they extract from Australia. WTF? How can this be true? Our politicians, our resource ministers are so inept and/or corrupt, that they agree to deals which see Australia missing out on the kind of tax revenue nations like Qatar and Norway derive from their mining sector. These industries do not employ a whole lot of Australians either, so that is no excuse. We are a soft touch for these foreign owned gas companies and our governments let us down. These facts are hidden and PR campaigns distract ignorant Aussies from the real state of affairs. Australians wrongly believe that mining is the economic backbone of the Oz economy but again this is not true. School teachers collectively pay more tax than BHP. The gas companies manage to not pay company tax in Australia, thanks to their clever accountants. Nor do they pay the Petroleum Resource Rent tax. They make billion dollar profits and don’t pay tax! Why is that? Write to the Prime Minister and ask him why. Write to your local MP and ask her or him. Why are we being ripped off by the gas sector? These companies donate money to both the two main political parties in Australia.

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com Our Democratic Politicians Are Weak Australia is a wealthy nation raising little tax revenue. When we say that we cannot afford to pay welfare rates above the poverty line. When our governments say this, we need to ask why they fail to raise the required tax revenue from sectors like the gas industry, the mining industry, the fossil fuel industry. Why are Canada and New Zealand capable of raising much more tax revenue than Australia? The OECD report tells us that we are a low taxing country for the multinational corporations doing business here. Is this because we are stupid or historically have had low self-esteem? Or is it basic corruption because many of our resource ministers end up working for these foreign owned companies on highly paid packages following their departure from public office. This stuff has been going for ages and apathetic Aussies seem to just suck it up. Are our politicians gutless and too afraid to rock the boat? Yes, I think that this plays into the equation as well. The business councils representing these multinational corporations have deep pockets to purchase advertorial and editorial to attack governments afraid of push back at the polls. Democracy is weak in the face of oligarchic self-interest. Our newspapers and networks are controlled by Rupert Murdoch, a right wing media proprietor who sells his soul for greenbacks every day. Corporate media like Nine Fairfax and Seven West run the narratives paid for by their biggest advertisers. The only objective media organisation in Australia is the ABC and this has been cowed by conservative forces over recent years to its detriment. Economic Choices Made By Governments Budgets of governments are lists of what these particular governments value. What they spend money on are as much political decisions as economic decisions. The failure to raise enough revenue has been a result of neoliberalism running its small government narrative. Lowering company tax rates sees less tax revenue being raised. This has been pushed by business groups as an economic panacea promising the trickledown effect. This has never been realised anywhere but they go on promoting this just the same. The extra money goes into the pockets of investors and CEOs. Teams of accountants at multinationals ensure that these giants pay less and less tax. The evidence is there for all to see in government revenue records over the last couple of decades. Australian governments have overwhelmingly listened to these business councils to the detriment of ordinary working Australians. We have one of the worst poverty rates for over 50 YO’s among advanced OECD countries. At the same time, we are one of the wealthiest nations globally but the wealth has not been shared. Instead of lifting up all of us, we have been misled onto a regressive path where a smaller group of winners take the lion’s share and the rest of us get bugger all. This is the American way, where a wealthy superpower contains a select group of multibillionaires whilst tens of millions of citizens live in extreme poverty. At the same time, the wealthy class run a PR campaign blaming the poor for their own poverty, despite locking them out of economic opportunities via exclusion from elite colleges, universal healthcare, and decent basic wages. America offers no leg up for those from the wrong side of the tracks but plenty for the sons and daughters of the wealthy. They then run this BS narrative about merit and self-made men. It is a sham, a scam, a long running con perpetuated upon the country. America is a republic of elites looking out for their own interests at the expense of workers, immigrants, and other marginalised denizens. The Hollywood factory has always promoted the myth of American opportunity for all. Have you noticed how often in American movies groups of ordinary Americans gather around and cheer the hero of the movie. This BS is thick on the ground in the USA.

Corporations employ communications firms to promote the stories they want to tell the world. They spend millions on advertising, PR and marketing. In addition, these huge companies employ lobbyists to sweeten their relationships with legislators. Democratic governments are beleaguered by the sustained requests of these corporations. Of course, large campaign donations are factored into the equation by these companies and business groups. What hope do ordinary voters and citizens have up against this well-funded machinery? Whose voice is going to be effectively heard in the halls of power? Not yours or mine but the much louder corporate voices. Australia is not dependent upon multinational mining corporations for its wealth. This is a furphy, a misnomer, deliberately purported by the communication specialists employed by these industry groups and companies. The figures do not add up for miners, as school teachers collectively pay more tax than BHP. Governments dependent upon the goodwill of its voters are loath to upset organisations with deep pockets and influence. This is why we the people go on taking it up the arse economically whilst wealthy interests feather their nests at our expense. We lack the intention, whereas a senior mining executive or his lobbyist are hell bent on achieving their aims from government. They get to sit down with ministers, we do not. Their job security is dependent upon getting what the company wants from government. We are focused on other stuff in our lives and let this go on screwing us from afar. However, we the people need to wake up to the truth of the matter. “Taxes and royalties paid by the mining industry make up just 5 cents in every dollar of state and federal government revenue in Australia. 95% of Australia’s public services are paid for by other industries. Mining is also heavily subsidised in Australia, receiving the vast bulk of the $11 billion fuel tax credit scheme. “Relative to its size, the mining industry pays nowhere near enough tax in Australia and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they are keen for that to remain the case,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.” (https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/analysis-95-of-government-revenue-not-from-mining-industry/) Whilst we, the Australian people, allow our governments to go on subsidising the mining sector and not taxing it adequately, we will continue to deprive our own vulnerable citizens, the elderly and unemployed, from economic assistance and watch them being driven into poverty. It is wrong that we are a wealthy nation but continue to push older Australians into poverty. Simultaneously, young Australians are being locked out of the property market and being hit by a prolonged cost of living crisis fuelled by corporate profit gouging. More crime and civil insurrection is on the cards for countries that economically support growing inequality. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb Read the full article

[wordtowords]

A Review: The Great Gatsby: The Musical

public domain - noun - the state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole, therefore not subject to copyright.

On January 1, 2021, F. Scott Fitzgerald's comparatively brief, literary masterpiece, The Great Gatsby entered the public domain after 95 years of copyright protection. With it, the doors to Jay's mansion were opened up to permit party crashers (present writers) to enter and reek anarchic havoc indefinitely on a flawless classic that deserves to be preserved since perfection needs no improvement.

The other night, a close friend of mine invited me to see the premiere of the new musical The Great Gatsby at the Tony-winning regional theater, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. As a Gatsby connoisseur, I gratefully accepted, hoping for the best.

On the plus side, the show's cast list reads like the Broadway version of Who's Who, and the production values are excellent, completely comparable to that of any present-day Broadway musical. The music is pretty much Disney-esque (think "Frozen" here). Surely, the producers must have high hopes to realize a continuation of the show on the Great White Way after the limited engagement at the Paper Mill ends in December. The entire run, apparently, is sold out, which is most unusual for a local New Jersey theater. For The Great Gatsby: The Musical, the buzz is loud and boisterous. But is the reality? Sadly, no.

Considering what it is, a musical loosely based on Gatsby, the title is all wrong. It should have been called, "Jay and Daisy, Nick and Jordan." Why? Perhaps ignorant of the original, yet conscious of the contemporary trend to erase the ugliness of history in favor of "woke" ideology, the updated version pays little attention to Fitzgerald's organization of events, realigning key moments and lines of dialogue so that they just do not make any sense contextually. It also reimagines the main characters (a buffoonish Jay; a manipulative, vengeful Daisy) as well as relatively insignificant secondary characters, changing them to significant ones by reconceptualizing their personalities, and adding contemporary dialogue to make all of them scarcely credible given the setting of the 1920s. Forget about Nick's first person narration as well. Meyer Wolfsheim enters on occasion from stage left as somewhat of a stage manager–for what reason, I have no idea. Further plot complications are also included (Myrtle Wilson winds up pregnant with Tom's baby, which makes Daisy guilty of double manslaughter), but definitely not needed. The jostling, rearranging, reimagining and adding amount to chaos. Yet apparently, the audiences are eating it all up, awarding the piece with standing ovations night after night. Do they not see that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes? "Ignorance is bliss." I'll say so. 

No doubt, the money from the box office receipts will continue to pour in, bolstering this parody of the original. If Fitzgerald were still alive and seated in the audience, he might have enjoyed it, but don't forget that he had a sense of humor (he married Zelda), needed the money desperately, and most likely would have been roaringly drunk at the performance. My guess is that the masterminds of The Great Gatsby: The Musical might be fans, not of Scott but of Mark Twain, embracing his idea that it is "easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." 

My hope is that the laws of public domain will be edited so that classic literature will be protected from slanderous imitation indefinitely. Tip for writers: Be original. Come up with your own ideas for musicals. Don't borrow from the greats just for the sake of the all-mighty dollar. You'll most definitely come up short, maybe not in this climate, but in the long run when people finally wake up to see that the Emperor is actually naked, recognizing what they might have thought was ingenious is actually rubbish. 

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

@yakichoufd Ahhhh! Thank you so much for reccing my fic! ("These are the days it never rains but pours" by Wolfsheart - Wolfsheart is me!) I'm so glad that you enjoyed that one, as it was such a treasure to write and explore teen awakenings into crushes and sexuality. Though I think as more comes out about their experience in the Scott/Tony series, you'd be very upset and even angry at Charles for the part he played in why they never were a relationship.

I think you had a post that linked to fanfic rec so I’m not totally sure if you’ve read this one by grayjay or not - but just in case, I’m leaving it here ✨

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7227142

yes, I read it and it was quite beautiful and painful at the same time! I also enjoyed this story from the same author. I think they portrayed Scott and Alex's siblings energy super well. It is super sweet to see how excited they are to connect with each other again! I guess I could make a very small fic rec. It is only about the o5 or awkward young early x-men time (so no scogan, sorry!). The main character or focus is Scotty (cause that's what I enjoy reading :P) Ringer by Crewe (no ship) it is a sweet story where Scott clearly has OCD and the o5 are freaking out haha!

Tradition by Cerylid (no ship) the first christmas celebration with the o5. Quite angsty for Scott but it is over all sweet. We read everyone POV and it is really interesting to read everyone's interpretation! These are the days it never rains but it pours by Wolfsheart (Bobby/Scott) it is sweet, a bit awkward, but mostly cute! They're sweet bean who are discovering who they are and are comfy around each other! I like there is no pressure of a relationship and they can calmly discuss about it. Scott give big protector vibes, for once he is not completely clueless. I Never (The But Just This Once Remix) by TheSecondBatgirl (Warren/Scott) Warren gives Scott his first kiss. Vertical Garden and Angels by GammaGaze (Warren/Scott) I guess they're adult here. Scott is a bit clueless, good christmas vibes and everyone are sweet and give Scott a little kiss.

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

It’s The Avengers (04x06)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 4 Episode 06: Someone’s Acting Sus

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline   Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of the housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: that there is no fluff content...just an ominous sound of some mystery

Word Count: it’s all fun and games to do a solo road trip in your car till your body starts suffering from migrane because it ain’t used to you driving for three hours. Still fun tho.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

Natasha sat on the bar top, her legs resting on either side of the marble top as she sipped her morning kale smoothie and eyed Loki suspiciously. The God sat at the corner table on the rooftop bar, scribbling something in his little pocket notebook.

Natasha's voice: I know something's up...

The shot cut to Loki being handed a note from Peter as they crossed each other at the poolside, the camera automatically turning to the small crowd lounging in the background and panning in for a moment to find a familiar redhead buried in a book that eyed the God till he was out of sight. 

I know Loki has been hiding something ever since he and y/n got back from their space trip.

The frame was cut to older footage of you and Loki returning home. Everyone was celebrating your return home with you standing in the middle of the lounge, your hand suddenly reaching for your forehead. Your fingertips tried to press on this one spot repeatedly while you smiled at everyone and heard how they had been watching you throughout your journey.  Loki saw you. And the camera was catching Natasha seeing Loki seeing you with some hint of concern. The God reached into his coat pocket and took out a little pouch. Not realising he was being watched by the world's most dangerous spy, he reached for a glass behind the counter of the kitchenette and poured the powdered contents of the pouch before filling it with water. The water was clear within five stirs and Loki practically ordered you to drink it.  Natasha was disappointed more than surprised when no one noticed it when she exchanged a look with the camera.

Natasha: *swivels her chair and turns her pen in her fingers* Ever since their trip, Loki has grown more cautious. *tilts her head a little* he was cautious before, of course, but this time he is cautious with intentions that do not seem docile. 

Another footage from a few weeks ago came up. Natasha, Scott, Steve and Sam were debating about a good bagel place on their way to the training hall. "I still think Bagels Bagels Bagels is on the t-" All three stopped in their tracks, a little surprised, a little confused and a little impressed.  The camera following the three shifted past them to watch Loki doing push-ups with three-hundred-kilo dumbbells. One round of chest pumps, one of the glutes, and the last round of cable fly before repeating the sets again. “Did one of you say something to him?” Sam whispered to his counterparts, his eyes not moving off the God. Scott shook his head before furrowing his brows. “Then why is he suddenly into bodybuilding?” “Maybe he watched the Bachelorette?” “He must have been inspired by one of those animated series you guys watch. One of those Dragon Balls.” “Somebody must’ve spiked his drink this morning with some pro-anxiety pills.” Scott was about to say something when all three men and the camera turned to look at Natasha. The Blackwidow looked straight ahead; no leakage of pretence or doubt.  “Very specific turn of events,” Scott mumbled, still not getting any reaction from her.  “Hey Loki,” Natasha shouted, taking her workout partners by surprise, “what’s up with all the workout.” The dumbbells hit the ground with a reverberating thud. “Not strong enough,” he growled between long breaths before moving on to another machine. 

Natasha: He had defeated almost all threats wherever he'd been on his space trip. And yet he was thinking he wasn't strong enough. He was telling the truth with those anxiety pills. *camera pans in to her resting bitch face* Or...whatever he was high on. I'm just guessing. *slowly blinks and looks at the camera with a smooth warning stare*

He is alert most of the time like a lost kitten The footage of the lounge showed Loki sitting on the couch, seriously watching the feed of the space events, while Scott snored right next to him. You and Steve were sitting in the back corner at the dining table going through your assignment when a thud on the lounge window made the God stand up and turn around with his fists blazing in green and golden light.  Steve half stood up from his seat to find out Peter had miscalculated the inertia of the new web material and landed on the window while experimenting with his suit on the facility grounds in Bruce and Hope's company. Even Steve was surprised to see the God in a fighting stance. "It's just Peter." You strained your neck to watch Loki from where you sat, equally surprised. Scott still snored, unaware of his surroundings.

And then there was the one time with Y/N Another footage of the nighttime in the lounge. You sat with your laptop on the couch, doing your assignment. Loki sat next to you, watching the feed on the big screen with the same seriousness as before. The big screen showed you sleeping on the ship while Loki flew the vessel away from Knowhere. The God got up and went to the kitchenette to get himself some water.  As he took a step to come back to his seat, you did a big stretch and let out the eeriest growl-cum-scream before going back to work. The God stood there frozen, the water still in his mouth, a layer of fear covering his features that relaxed only when you told him to get you water too.

He has watched Y/N do worse things.  Footages run one by one of the times you have yawned in front of him; burped worse than a boomer while he sat next to you unfazed. The time you farted in his direction while watching a movie on the couch as he took the nearest cushion and fanned the air away from him, his eyes still glued to the screen. The time you worked all day to make your signature lava cakes for Pepper's cravings; and then you had walked into Loki's room in a sleepy daze and fallen on his bed without a word while he sat on the other side reading. No words had been spoken till the God realised you snored worse than Thor. He threw a duvet over you to cancel out the noise.

Natasha: *sipping on her boba tea* He is either scared of Y/N or is having some sort of mild panic attacks. *shrugs* I mean, given his history that is something he would definitely suffer from but what does that have to do with Y/N. And why is Peter involved in this?

The camera cut to the footage of the night when everyone was packing for vacation. One could hear Scott shouting in the hallway asking if anyone had seen his travel-sized bag of toiletries. You were looking for Wanda to ask if she wanted you to keep the curling iron or if her magic will do the hair for them. One camera was standing on the floor above, following Natasha towards the room at the other end of the facility. The door marked security was opened without much effort and the Blackwidow put a bag full of memory cards on the table in the middle.  "Do not say a word about this to Javier," she ordered the person behind the camera, "I know he too has not told you much." Sitting down, she turned on the table holograms and scattered the memory cards on the table before picking them up one by one according to the days marked on them. "Hey, Friday, I have a request to make. Do not tell a word about this to Tony." Friday blimped up in the room. "You do realise I am not allowed to keep anything from Mr Stark, Miss Romanoff." "Then think of it as a piece of information that could induce a panic attack for our beloved Mr Stark." There was a second of silence. "I wonder if anyone's told you how dangerously conniving you are, Miss Romanoff." Natasha smiled. "All the time. Now read up on these memory cards and tell me what's missing." Friday blimped again. "Already finished reading them. All of them have footage of Mr Loki, Miss Y/N and Mr Javier's adventure in space." Natasha waited a few moments before raising her hands in question.  "Anything missing? Any cuts, deleted scenes, overwritten feed?" "No. Everything is in place from Day zero to Day One hundred and twenty-three." Natasha slumped back in her chair, visibly disappointed for a second.  But not for long.  "That can't be right." "And why is that, Miss Romanoff?" Natasha got up from her seat and opened up the facility files on the table hologram under "Project Slice of Life". Scrolling through the camera cuts gathered there, she opened up the video for the day you arrived home from space. In the footage, Javier was sitting next to Peter by the kitchen island, showing him all the features of the alien tech.  "It doesn't seem like some regular alien stuff, Javi. This thing looks expensive." Peter beamed at the camera in his hand. Javier nodded. "I was scared at the thought of not having any devices to record," Javier signed, sighing with a big smile, "it would have been the longest one hundred and thirty-five days of my life." "Oh," Friday blimped in the background while Natasha's face glowed with a smirk, "looks like somebody forgot to turn in twelve days' worth of footage."

(I know this isn't your usual chapter content but we sorta needed this for the direction where the story is going and I didn't feel like the extra shots would've done it justice. )

[eviesaurusrex]

ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇꜱ, ᴘᴛ. 2 | ꜱ. ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ

GIF not mine!

Stephen Strange x Avenger!Reader

ask: Could you write a Stephen Strange x reader one shot (or longer if you feel it haha) where the reader is an avenger and she’s secretly dating Stephen? Like they’re sneaking around and staying at each other’s places (sanctum and tower/compound) and use portals in the mornings to get back where they’re supposed to be. Maybe a close call where Stephen literally kicks her off the bed and into a portal back to her own bed to avoid getting caught. Then later they’re found out somehow by tony/the team?

word count: 9.8k (send some help, please)

warnings: even more fluff, a bit of angst, nightmare, some good ol’ nightmare aftercare proudly presented you by Stephen Strange, more sneaking around the team, the team gets suspicious, cursing, curse words, Stephen being… Stephen, injuries

author’s note: pt. 2 is here!!!! Gosh, I’m still so excited about this ask and have to pour my entire heart into it. Thanks again for the request @clockblobber <3 This one is proofread but ignore mistakes if you stumble upon them – my brain is mush today, and I’m gonna go over it again tomorrow

»pt. 1 is here«

Typing away on her phone – Stephen had been at Kamar-Taj for quite some time now to deal with the new students of the mystic arts, and she had insisted that he saved all his energy for teaching them instead of visiting her every night – YN entered the living area of the compound after arriving from an intel mission only minutes ago. Scott followed close behind because his adjustable size had been crucial for the success of the mission, and with a deep sigh, he dropped into one of the armchairs unoccupied by the other present Avengers who had gathered for movie night.

YN didn’t even notice, too enthralled by the device between her fingers, and ran straightly into a walking Peter, who almost lost his balance. “Woah, hey there, Peter.” She grabbed his arm to prevent him from meeting the floor on a more intimate level and pushed the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. “Sorry, didn’t see you,” YN apologized while patting his shoulder softly. She always had gotten a soft spot for the young man and always looked out for him during missions, even though he could handle himself pretty darn good.

The brunette shook his head in protest. “It was my–…” But YN didn’t let him finish. “Nah-uh, I don’t wanna hear a single word.” She turned her head to be greeted by seven pairs of staring eyes, curiosity filled their irises completely – and she didn’t like one second of it. “Nevermind. You people prepared some decent snacks, or do I have to do the work again?” Because that had been the case during the last couple of movie nights which ended in ordering pizza and bickering about the choice of film.

They never really managed to watch more than one before it’s gotten worse and worse until Tony demanded the remote control sovereignty because he had paid for everything they used, while Nat and herself booed loudly because the Widows never were a fan of another Star Wars-filled night. Peter was always on Tony’s side – naturally – while Bucky and Steve kept themselves out of the discussion, still not really used to the “new” pop culture they had to face nowadays. At least Wanda, Clint, and Scott counted themselves as a constant part of Team Widow, and Thor, as well as Bruce, loved to hop between camps, always depending on the movie in question. Only Vision was indifferent, but everyone had gotten used to it by now.

It was utter chaos, sometimes even on the brink of anarchy, but YN loved it. She never had something like that in her life – at least, she couldn’t remember having a family – because she was never as lucky as Nat and never had a pretending family. Even though she wasn’t sure if she would’ve liked it very much. She always had lived her life within the confinements of the Red Room, always under the watchful eye of high-ranking generals and officers, always under the influence of a drug she didn’t want to remember. She had killed not only for Dreykov but also Hydra. She had met the Winter Soldier long before he had escaped his cruel purpose. And then, Nat had found her during one of her missions, months after the attack on New York, and Bruce and Tony had managed to get the drug out of her system. They had saved her and given her a life with a purpose, with a moral compass. YN had gotten another chance. And with that chance, a certain master of the mystic arts came into the picture – and the rest was history.

Blinking rapidly, YN escaped her thoughts and turned her attention back to the group. “The food is on its way, but we could use some more snacks,” Wanda told her, an apologetic smile on her face, but YN only rolled her eyes with a grin. “Sure y’all do. I’m gonna get you covered – but don’t you dare start the movie without me!” She made eye contact with Tony, who already held the remote in hand, and cocked not only an eyebrow but her head as well. “Try me, Stark,” she warned, and the man raised both hands in surrender. “We will behave perfectly.” Nodding, YN turned around, phone already in hand again, and trotted through the corridor into the kitchen.

Arriving there, the device started to vibrate, but it wasn’t an incoming text. With a soft smile, she accepted the call and settled the phone between ear and shoulder. “To what do I owe the honor of your call?” A greeting wasn’t necessary between these two anymore. Calling one another was as simple as taking Wilson down in combat training, unlike during the beginning of their relationship. Calls had been an utter nightmare.

A chuckle echoed through the speaker. “Do I need a reason to call the woman to whom I’ve pledged my love and devotion?” Softly laughing, YN grabbed a stack of bowls out of one of the many cupboards and spread them over the counter. “I see, you’ve read a lot of Shakespearian-sounding literature. Anything interesting?” She could hear Stephen’s grin from the other end of the world. “A few works weren’t that bad. I found spells I have never heard of before, and I think they could be useful if mastered properly. What are you up to, darling?”

In the meantime, YN had grabbed an assortment of snacks, and after ripping every package open, she dumped them in the waiting bowls, one by one. “Oh, nothing. It’s Friday, so we have movie night at the compound, and it will be a nightmare after film one. Just the usual.” She almost felt his sympathy physically. “I suppose Stark won’t give up the remote?” Scoffing, the Widow rounded the kitchen island to take a closer look into the freezer. “You can bet your sexy ass on it, love. Oh, yes. Come to me, ice cream!” She hadn’t planned for the outburst to leave her lips, but well.

With an evil chuckle, YN grabbed the last package of ice cream from behind a mountain of frosted vegetables – Nice try, Tony – and opened the foil to start eating it before returning to the living room. “Remind me never to hide any ice cream from you, my evil darling,” he laughed, and YN grinned happily. “It’s his ice cream. I would never dare to steal your ice cream because I love you dearly, my dear.”

Softly humming while eating the sweet substance, the woman leaned against the counter, totally unaware of the young man who stood just around the corner and heard every single word. She and Stephen talked for a few minutes more before they ended the call with the promise of a cozy weekend after she came back from her scheduled mission in Prague.

Meanwhile, Peter stood almost frozen in the middle of the living room, eyes wide and unsure where to start – and if he should say a word about the discovery he just had made anyway. But his mouth was faster than his brain. “Uhm… You always complain that YN is… is vanishing so often?” Instantly, Peter had gathered the attention of every single soul within this room. Steve furrowed his forehead, and even Bucky looked a bit worried while Tony straightened up on his spot on the couch. “Yeah? Talk, kiddo.” Peter scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “I think she has a boyfriend – or girlfriend! I’m totally open for both if she likes women more than men and if her partner in crime is a woman, that’s super cool because rainbows and love and–…” Scott patted his shoulder to silence the young superhero. “Think, that’s enough, Peter.”

The team exchanged glances before a bubbling laugh escaped from Tony’s mouth and let them look in his direction. Tears gathered in his eyes while his body shook with every laughter erupted from him. “YN and… and a boyfriend! Best joke ever!” Still laughing, Tony wiped the tears off his cheeks and shook his head. “Keep believing that, kiddo, but we know her a bit longer than you do. She would never have something like that because love isn’t her thing.” Nat cocked a copper eyebrow. “Love is her thing, but only on paper within books because men exhaust her – and she is only interested in them.” Steve seemed not to be convinced fully, but the creases on his forehead slowly erased themselves and Bucky leaned back on the two-seater they shared. “Not everyone needs love in their lives. Some only need certain needs satisfied, and…–“ Wanda threw a pillow against the former Winter Soldier’s head. “Bucky! He is still a teenager!” He raised both hands before crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“But…” Peter tried, but now it was Clint who patted his other shoulder. “Drop it, kid. She disappears to have time to herself. It gets crowded here, and sometimes, her thoughts run in the wrong direction. Can’t blame her. Everyone needs some peace and quietness from time to time.”

Unconvinced, Peter plopped down onto one of the two beanbags, the other entirely reserved for YN herself, and just a second later, three bowls floated through the doorframe into the living room. Before they could settle down on the coffee table between the seating area and flatscreen, Vision and Wanda took them out of the air and placed them down themselves. YN entered right after that, the other three bowls in her arms and a thankful expression in her eyes. “Thanks, V, Wanda. Wasn’t sure if I could master the landing.”

The red-haired witch smiled at her while the Widow rounded the couch and dropped her body onto the dark blue beanbag. “I told you it would get better with some more practice.” She sounded more than a bit pleased. YN grinned up at her. “Yup, totally.” She didn’t need to know that a certain sorcerer had helped her with the powers she mostly could only use with blunt force because no one in the Red Room had bothered to tame her. Years might have been passed since her escape, but those powers were gone for a while after her mind had reached the surface of consciousness. Probably a self-protection mechanism if Stephen was right with his educated guess. At least she could control them to a certain extent now. It would get better over time.

Another text from Stephen shifted her mood for the better after it had tried to take a detour back to the dark place it loved to sit and sulk. The movie was secondary, and even after the food arrived – sushi and pizza – YN barely looked up from her phone and was awfully quiet as soon as the bickering started anew.

Steve watched her closely and shock settled in his chest at the sight of a smile he had never seen on the face of one of his best friends before. Happy. Full of contentment. Her eyes twinkling and sparkling. She never was unhappy, of course not, but the soldier from another time knew the feeling she had always felt – the feeling of not fitting in. And suddenly, a realization crept up on him: Maybe that feeling had vanished somewhere along the road.

;

It was quiet in the compound. The world’s mightiest heroes had ended the day a few hours prior, soon after the Quinjet with YN and Sam had landed on the tarmac. It had become a ritual to wait upon arriving team members and to drink a soothing cup of tea to unwind from the previous mission and catch up on the gossip inside the compound.

Now, YN slept in the warm and loving embrace of a pair of strong arms, her head laying on a softly rising and falling chest, the sounds of Stephen’s deep slumber always the best method to lull her into sleep. But she started to move, softly at first, barely palpable. She rolled off his chest, and naturally, the tight embrace loosened around her body. Nails dragged over the comforter, ripped loose threads off the fabric while YN’s face contorted in confusion and fear, in agony and horror. Her breathing quickened, the heart within her rib cage started to race, and sweat dampened her forehead and back.

The dreams always hunted the Widow, but oh boy. The horrors of other nights were nothing in comparison.

The first escaping moan didn’t wake Stephen, not even the second one, the man too tired from long hours inside the Sanctum’s library to find one specific spell he had needed.

It was the scream that woke him with a startle.

“NO!”

Stephen didn’t need to turn on the light to see exactly where she was after tearing open his eyes. He pushed the traitorous blankets off his legs to scoot over to the moving and trashing woman. His hands almost didn’t grasp her arms because it scared the man how cold and damp her skin was. She had those dreams not as often as they used to come, but they were never this bad.

The next scream, so full of agony and blank horror, ripped his already bleeding heart to shreds. Stephen grabbed her upper arms softly, stroked them, caressed her face while pleading with her barely conscious mind to let her escape her own personal hell.

“YN, please. Please, wake up. I am here, nothing is going to happen. Everything is alright. It’s just a dream, only a dream. I am here, love. God damn it, let her wake up!” His voice sounded helpless, angry about the universe and himself, and with horror in his own eyes, he could see the light of the corridor suddenly shining through the slit between door and floor. Shaking her gently but urgently, Stephen tried it again while multiple hurried steps came closer to her door. “YN. YN! Wake up, love!”

With a violent gasp, her eyes finally teared open, tears staining her reddened cheeks, beads of sweat tracing her temples and contracting throat. Her eyes immediately found his face, but Stephen couldn’t mutter a single word. Instead, he left the bed in a hurry and hid in the bathroom – not his best move, but he didn’t care at the moment – and just in time, he closed the door only for another door to be opened. Hurried voices echoed through the room, and the sorcerer pushed both hands into his hair, running them through it over and over to calm himself and his rapid heartbeat.

He hated how helpless he had felt and still felt while others comforted his girl. He hated every single second of it and counted the moments until they left and closed the door again.

“Stephen…?”

Her small, shaking, and questioning voice pulled the sorcerer out of his spiraling thoughts, and without wasting another second, he ripped open the door. With a few long strides, he was back at her side, settling into their bed and pulling her flush against his chest. Stephen could feel the tears wetting his shirt, but he didn’t care. She could ruin every single piece of clothing he owned, and he would hold her anyway.

“I am here,” he whispered between kisses on her head. “Nothing is going to happen to you.” He could feel her short but stiff nod, almost as if she was a robot and didn’t learn how to move like a human. Both his hands stroked over her back - up and down, in a never-ending motion. Her body still trembled, and YN dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, clung to the man like a drowning woman clinging to a piece of driftwood. “I love you. I love you more than anything in this universe. I will always love you. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. They can’t hurt you.” He didn’t make any sense, but it didn’t matter.

After what felt like a never-ending eternity, YN stopped shaking like a leaf, her breathing slowed down again, and her hold on him was not that crushing anymore. “Sorry,” she mumbled, but Stephen was quick to brush through her hair and soothe the rising anxiety within her tormented mind. “Stop apologizing. There is nothing to apologize for.” He needed her to understand that, but his girl was smarter than anyone else – maybe except him.

She tried to find a more comfortable position but gave up because every single piece of fabric clung to her still damp skin. “Where did you hide?” Her voice was only a whisper, but the silence had settled back over the compound, so Stephen heard every single word and every single breath. “The bathroom,” he mumbled and pressed a soft kiss to her neck. YN’s soft chuckle was a good sign, and it put the beginning of a smile on his face. “Not your best move, love. Imagine one of them would’ve gone in there to get a cool cloth or something. What a sight that would be…”

He may roll his eyes, but Stephen was glad that YN could already joke around. That had always been a good sign.

The sorcerer pressed another kiss to her neck before looking into her barely lit face. “Do you want to talk about it?” Slowly, she shook her head. He knew she would decline just now, but he had to ask nonetheless. “Can’t. Need the sun to be up.” Her illogical fear of getting dragged back into the hell that was the Red Room still present in her overworking mind, and she knew how stupid it was. But Stephen never had judged her, not one single second. “Of course,” he said, caressing her face. “How about a shower?” She nodded against his neck, where she buried her face now, and Stephen picked her up with ease to carry her into his former hiding spot.

And that’s where they spent almost an hour under the warm water jet, her eyes closed, while Stephen softly washed her hair and did her entire hair and skincare routine. It always amazed YN how much attention this man granted her alone and how much he seemed to adore her. It was mind-blowing, really, and she desperately wished that this would be something lasting an entire lifetime.

;

Holding hands like lovestruck teenagers, YN and Stephen walked through Greenwich Village to enjoy one of the loveliest golden fall days they had encountered in a long time. She loved seeing the man next to her in casual clothes – a long dark jeans, grey shirt, and a dark green cardigan – though she wasn’t sure what about it made him look so irresistible. Maybe it was the domesticity of it, the warm feeling of home, and the comforting knowledge that one was deeply loved and valued. Or perhaps it was just his good looks and the eyes full of envy thrown her way by nearly every woman they’d passed so far.

Stephen gingerly pulled her closer to his side and put her hand around his bicep, wanting her as close as possible. Everyone should know that this woman wasn’t just an acquaintance, a mere friend who just happened to walk with him in the same direction. He could see the looks full of longing and the visible drool on some male’s chins. It was only natural that he did something about it, so he bent down and pressed a lingering kiss on YN’s temple to show the world what they needed to know. He was glad that reporters didn’t try to bother them anymore.

At least one thing Tony’s existence is good for, Stephen thought cynical, but different from his thoughts, his mood shone as bright as the fall sun over their heads.

“What are you up for today?” YN beat him to this crucial question. “Lazy walks around the block? A trip to Belvedere Castle? Exploring the new exhibition at the Louvre?” Her eyes looked as bright as the sky above them, and if the world paid close attention to the sorcerer now, they would’ve bared witness to the softest of smiles they’d have ever seen. But the world was blind, so the smile full of adoration and utter wonder over how his life had turned only visible for the one woman in his life.

Humming deep in thought, Stephen pulled one of her hands, which were both settled around his arm and in the crook between bicep and elbow, up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “I’ve heard there is a new patisserie only two blocks further which happens to sell chocolate strawberries,” the man suggested, and pride and satisfaction filled his chest and body at the sight of her round eyes and the radiant smile stretching across her lips.

His past self wouldn’t believe his eyes. During some days, even he had difficulties comprehending the change he went through in order to become as worthy as possible for the woman next to him. Still, he didn’t believe to be worthy enough and was convinced that better men were waiting for her, but he couldn’t let her go. He was, again, too selfish, but she seemingly didn’t mind.

Maybe the universe granted him the happy ending after all.

“Can we go there? Like… now? Immediately?” Grinning, Stephen nodded but didn’t think of using a portal. He needed to savor every single second he could get with her – just as she did with him. So they walked the two blocks, side by side, softly telling each other about their respective days and just basking in each other’s presence.

The idyll got suddenly destroyed as YN stopped dead in her tracks and stared over the busy street to her right. She needed to bent around Stephen because the stubborn man never let her walk next to the road if he was with her, but she was sure her peripheral vision hadn’t tricked her. And the Widow was right: on the other side were Clint and Nat, talking about something which made the archer laugh.

“Fuck,” was all she hissed for now, and even Stephen caught up to her observation. But he couldn’t form a single word because the woman had already grabbed his hand and pulled him to continue their route for now. Her eyes were trained on the opposite side of the road while she gracefully avoided collisions with every approaching passerby. The sorcerer didn’t know how exactly she did that, but maybe it was her own little magic trick. He only followed her, always alternating between looking to the other pair of Avengers and straight ahead to nudge YN in a different direction if necessary.

“We need to turn the next one,” YN decided at the sight of Nat and Clint waiting for the streetlight to turn green. “And we need to be faster.” As soon as the words had left her lips, Nat turned slightly and looked in their vague direction. “Stephen, now.” They dived behind a group of tourists and sneaked into an alleyway but didn’t stop. Instead, their steps increased in speed, and YN guided them through a labyrinth of hidden shortcuts, backyards, and a tremendous amount of turns and corners. “You definitely have Google Maps in that pretty head of yours,” the sorcerer decided after another complicated combination of turning and shortcutting, and YN chuckled cheerfully while he had lost track after the second corner. “The first premise is always to know your neighborhoods better than the content of your backpack. And since I’m spending almost more time here than at the compound, I believed it was time to know my way around – just in case.” Grinning, YN guided them through another alleyway, but now, they stepped onto one of the main streets of Greenwich Village, the Sanctum Sanctorum already in sight.

Stephen turned towards her and cocked an eyebrow. “But what’s with the chocolate strawberries?” YN softly shrugged and circled both arms around his neck; his hands almost immediately settled upon her jeans-clad hips, pushed underneath the long cardigan she had thrown over the old band shirt she wore and which was her pride and joy. She rubbed the tip of their noses against each other and kissed him quickly. “We can get them later. What about that trip to the Louvre? I’m tempted to bet that we won’t see any of their faces in Paris,” the Widow whispered temptingly against his lips, and if Stephen weren’t already sold, he would be now.

But before he released her out of his grasp, he bent his head lower to kiss her properly – one hand tangled in her soft hair while the other pulled her smaller body against his. Their lips moved in complete sync, eyes closed at the blissful feeling of warmth and butterflies, breathing labored, hearts beating rapidly against one another.

Smirking, Stephen ended the kiss with one last sweet peck. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the last two and a half years ever since that woman entered his life and turned everything upside down, but he never would want it any other way.

“Now, we can go,” he spoke with a raspy but tender voice, and the portal opened just behind him to lead the couple into the heart of the city of love. He held his hand open, so YN could take it what she did with a bright smile on her gorgeous face. “Madame.” She curtsied with a soft grin. “Merci beaucoup, monsieur.” The reply escaped her in flawless French as she stepped over the golden glittering threshold, and she pulled Stephen with her before the portal closed itself and released the couple into a carefree Parisian afternoon.

;

“Sometimes you have the greatest ideas,” YN sighed, stomach full and on an endorphin high with all the sugar and love in her system. Stephen stretched his long, toned body over the comforter laying atop his four-poster bed, head propped up on one hand, eyes locked on the woman on the other side of the mattress, the remnants of their small indoor picnic between them. “Only sometimes, hm?” He teased her, and YN laughed wholeheartedly while taking one of the napkins and throwing it in the vague direction of his smirking face. “Oh, stop it,” she grinned before stealing the last chocolate strawberry and plopping the sweet fruit between her lips. Moaning, she chewed with closed eyes and let herself fall back into the pillows. “Best thing there is on this planet.”

His hand moved softly through the air, from left to right, his scarred pointer and ring finger sticking out while the rest was balled to a half-fist, and suddenly, the picnic disappeared. The sorcerer knew it would find its way onto the kitchen counter left from the sink. But he didn’t concern himself with the whereabouts of the dishes because as soon as the magic was executed, Stephen rolled himself on top of YN, arms resting next to her face so he wouldn’t crush her under his weight.

“You’re really trying to insult me even more?” It was only a rumble against her lips, and now it was her to smirk up to the sorcerer. “Yes, because I know what those tiny hits do to you – and what it will bring me,” she whispered back before kissing him softly, the sound of heavy raindrops loud on the windows of the Sanctum.

They had planned for a picnic in Central Park, far away from the privacy-invading eyes of nosy New Yorkers and tourists as soon as they lay eyes on the two Avengers. The forecast had been perfect all week long, but then, just after they had gotten ready and opened the doors of the grand building in Greenwich Village, the sky opened its gates, and the heaviest fall downpour in the history of New York made its appearance. Other people would’ve been crushed – other people as in YN – but Stephen didn’t graduate with honors when he would own nothing but simple-mindedness. He had wrapped YN in his arm, brought her back inside, and with a few flicks of his hands, the master bedroom was prepared for a cozy day indoors. They had watched numerous episodes of Golden Girls – YN loved the sitcom ever since encountering it during her post-Red Room recovery under the watchful eye of SHIELD – and she had even etched Stephen to play one of his old interviews for the prestigious Medical Journal. He didn’t like to dive into his old life, but he loved to watch the evident fascination on his girl’s face at the sight of his accomplishments. Stephen was nothing but a sucker for praise coming from this woman.

The feeling of her soft hands on the nape of his neck and her fingernails gently carding through the short hair there was everything Stephen needed or wanted in his life. It reminded him of his childhood, which barely happens anymore, but with her, everything felt light and bright, just as it did back then. Her chuckle at the feeling of his goatee tickling her lips was the sound he almost loved the most. It ranked somewhere between the tiredly mumbled I love you, Stephen when she was on the brink of sleep and the nicknames she used to call him. Nobody had believed that Stephen was a softy, he at the very least. But he was, and he didn’t want to change a thing about it.

“Thank you,” YN whispered between pecks of his lips and rubbed their noses against each other. She loved doing that. It always gave her a heart attack, for sure, especially when Stephen looked at her like he did now – as if she was the most important and gorgeous being on this planet – but it reminded her that her life was a different one now, filled with soft touches and warmth. There was still violence in it, definitely, but it was the good kind of violence. A violence born in the attempts to make earth a safer place, which was the entire opposite of her upbringing and early adulthood. And the man atop of her was a crucial part of it, and she loved every second. “For what?” His question almost got lost in the kiss they shared, lips moving more heated against one another while the tip of YN's tongue teased his soft bottom lip. YN shrugged and let Stephen roll over the mattress and, simultaneously, pull her on top of him. She propped her arms on his broad, strong chest - one of her preferred places on earth - and peppered his chin with soft kisses while searching for the right words. “For showing me love and how it is to be loved, and for always reminding me that this is my life now and not a dream I will wake up from one day and find myself back at square one. You’re completing me, love.” Her last words were barely a whisper, still too shy and insecure about expressing the depths of her feelings for this man, even though they had enough reasons to already know about them.

She was always scared of pushing him away with the intensity of her emotions as if her soul tried to compensate her for all those years without them, and YN probably would be scared for the rest of her life, even though no one had left her so far. Quiet the contrary. She had gained friends and an unexpected family, lifelong companions, and a relationship meant to be until her last day on earth, whenever that might be.

Smiling up to her, Stephen kissed her a second and a third time right after that, his fingers pushing soft strands of her hair out of her face with the beautifully blushed cheeks and behind her ear. "No, darling," he said lovingly and tenderly caressed the side of her face. Instantly, YN leaned into his touch, and Stephen thought his heart might explode right in this instant. "Don't thank me for that. You deserve every ounce of love I, and everyone else, can give you. And don't try to deny it. I know it's true." He looked up to her with seriousness in his bright blue eyes, capturing YN instantly like they always did. The couple just laid there, gazing into each other's eyes, before the woman on top of him cracked a small, shy smile and gently caressed his cheekbone with the pad of her thumb. "You are a wonder, Stephen Vincent Strange," she whispered, blunt wonder and amazement evident in her soft voice. "I will thank the universe for the rest of my life for the path it had put me on." Now it was Stephen who felt the blood rushing swiftly into his cheeks, and clearing his throat, he chuckled awkwardly, not sure how to handle the emotions now rushing through his consciousness.

Whatever she is doing to us, don't let it stop, and don't you dare ruin it, a warning voice spoke somewhere in his head, and the sorcerer almost snorted audibly. As if he would ever destroy the safe haven these two had created together in a world where peace was sometimes hard to find and even harder to hold onto and preserve. He would be quite the idiot if he'd pushed or scared YN away. But to his very luck, this woman was as fearless as an amazon, born out of the stories of ancient times when gods walked the earth and granted individuals the power to conquer anything.

She owned that force of nature within her delicate body.

The fingertips of one hand had started to slowly stroke over the length of her spine, while his other hand had found its home on her right cheek, cupping the soft skin and smiling as YN turned her head to kiss his palm. "I'm not good with words, you know that, but the feeling is mutual, darling. I never had luck with relationships of any kind and nature, never knowing what to do and what was expected from me. But finding you was the greatest gift life could ever grant me because we're learning this together, experiencing everything together, without judgment and accusations if something goes wrong. This-," Stephen placed a gentle peck on the tip of her nose, "-us, is my safe haven. You are my safe haven. I don't need more." A grin formed on her face, and she cocked an eyebrow, doubtingly, and the sorcerer sighed and chuckled. "Well, plus some space for my books," he added, and YN laughed as well. "And for all of your suits and ties. Not to mention the space Cloaky demands in your closet over there."

Pulling her even closer to him - if that was even possible - Stephen growled lowly in his chest before pulling YN's face closer to his to steal another heated kiss. "I'm trying to express my feelings for you, woman, and all you do is continue to insult me. It's not the proper response." Now it was her to steal a kiss from him, and he felt the grin on his lips. "When did you ever care for properness and social expectations, Mr. Strange?" Stephen grinned a devilish smile before he moved his head to start nipping at the soft skin of her exposed neck. "No one had ever spoken truer words, but it still is Doctor Strange, my darling love, even for you."

YN couldn't fight the urgent need to let her eyes fall shut at the tingling feeling that Stephen's lips and teeth on her skin created in the pit of her stomach, and a deep sigh, suspiciously resembling an excited moan, escaped her.

But the mood was ruined faster than hurricane Katrina had reached the North American shore.

The sound of hurried steps, loud voices, and an overall hectic group of intruders let the couple look up and straight to the massive wooden door of the bedroom. YN didn't even have the time to roll off Stephen to find the perfect hiding spot - she already had a few spots in mind - because the familiar sound of voices let her freeze for a moment too long.

What is Tony doing here?! And is that... Steve's voice?

Her mind screamed question after question, and just as the steps reached the floor of their shared bedroom, Stephen did something she would never have expected to be on his mind, or he even dared to think of: He opened a portal right at the edge of the four poster bed and threw her an apologetic look. Her own eyes went wide, and YN shook her head - slowly at first until it became faster and harder with every passing heartbeat. "No. Don't you fucking da-...!" But it was too late because just as the Widow tried to finish the threat laying on the tip of her tongue, Stephen pushed her off his body, off the bed, and straight into the portal.

YN hated the feeling of falling - he knew that fucking well! - and a shriek fought its way out of her throat until she hit the edge of her own bed in her room at the compound. She felt and heard a crack as her back hit the edge of the mattress because this obnoxious, massive, and idiotic specimen of a moron had miscalculated everything, and she hung upside down on the furniture. Her arms were stretched over her head, hands resting on the carpet laying in front of her bed to prevent icy feet in the morning, and a groan escaped her as soon as her back started to protest vehemently.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

The portal was long closed, but YN felt the urge to scream her frustration out in the open before another groan left her.

"Fuck."

-

Stephen knew very well that he had a lot of making up to do after what he had just done, but they had never been this close to getting caught by the remaining team, who was still painfully unaware of the couple underneath them.

"Why do you barge into my home on a Saturday afternoon? Are you feeling lonely, Stark? Sorry to break it to you, but I'm neither your wife nor your boyfriend, which you brought here as well, what a surprise. Rogers." The two men, plus Wong and Wanda, almost stumbled over themselves as they pushed open the door and entered his bedroom, just as the portal had closed itself after one movement of his hand. Too close, reminded the voice in his head, and Stephen knew that YN and he had to discuss this very prominent issue in their lives.

The arriving Avengers composed themselves again before Tony spoke up. "If you would have been so kind and answered the thirty-six calls and messages, we wouldn't have to come all the way here, Gandalf. But as you obviously fucked up your phone, because I can't think of another reason for not answering, we had to come to pick you up like a damn lost kid at the information counter in a mall." His gaze didn't even flicker to the phone resting atop the bedside table. The sorcerer had put it in flight mode to have some uninterrupted hours with his girl, but that little habit of his bit them both in the ass. They really needed to talk about the whole ordeal. "So, swing your lazy ass out of this bed and do your job. Earth called to get rescued again."

And with that, Tony left, leaving a sighing Steve behind, while Wanda observed Stephen too closely for his liking. The sorcerer raised an eyebrow, challenging her with a glare to keep doing that, and the witch started to smile a small smile before following Tony down the grand staircase. After a "We should get going" from America's Golden Boy, he left as well, leaving only Wong and Stephen in his room. The other sorcerer shrugged with an expression almost describable as apologizing, and he shook his head before changing into his blue robes with a looping motion of his hand and a snap of his fingers.

Cloaky was right at his side and put itself on his shoulders but pushed the sorcerer to a sudden halt as it motioned into the direction where the portal to YN's bedroom had closed a few moments ago. "We'll check on her, I promise." The ancient artifact seemed pleased for the moment, but Stephen dreaded the future encounter with his girlfriend because he could already imagine her words and could vividly picture the scene unfolding in front of him a few hours later.

And he was right.

-

After a successful mission filled with otherworldly beings - the reason why 80% of the attending team had been able to handle magic - Stephen returned with the others to the compound and delivered his report before slipping away. He needed to find YN to evaluate the damage he had caused with his little stunt, and he obviously wasn't the only one with that thought because the red fabric around his shoulders parted from his master to fly a few steps ahead, even though it didn't know where they should head.

Looking up toward the corridor's ceiling, Stephen contemplated if it was a thoughtful idea to ask Tony's AI. The Stark was nothing but thorough, so it wouldn't surprise the sorcerer if the douchebag made notes after each and every day about what each team member had asked. But he had to take the risk if he didn't want to waste countless hours searching the vast compound by foot.

"FRIDAY? It's FRIDAY, isn't it?" He had never used the AI, not a single time, even though he had been part of this circus for longer than he liked to admit. "How can I be of assistance, Doctor Strange?" At least she doesn't sound like Tony himself, was all Stephen could think at that moment because it would be so typical for this self-loving prick. "Are you able to locate people inside the building?"

Meanwhile, he continued walking without a destination yet. "That is indeed part of my abilities. Who do you wish to locate?" He turned a corner and found himself in front of an elevator, Cloaky already levitating in front of it. "YN," it was almost a mumble, but the AI still understood him. Thinking about it in more detail, Stephen really didn't want to know what FRIDAY could hear inside the personal rooms of the Avengers.

Maybe Tony never took notes because if he would, there was not even the slight possibility that he didn't know about them - and Stephen would be long strangled in a random corner of the compound.

"Miss LN is currently on the second floor, gym 03." The elevator immediately opened its door and Cloaky floated inside, beckoning Stephen to follow it with an almost annoyingly raise of its fabric's edge. Sometimes the sorcerer wasn't sure if the Cloak of Levitation still saw him as its master or if he preferred YN over him. Sometimes it even felt like it was their child and had decided to be a mama's kid after hanging long enough at its father's heels.

Maybe he felt a bit betrayed, yes.

"Thank you, FRIDAY." Stephen could be polite if he wanted. "A pleasure, Doctor Strange."

And with that, the elevator closed and brought him to the second floor to face the mess he had made.

He only had sat one foot on the floor, and the distinct sound of metal rushing through the air reached his ears. Swallowing thickly, Stephen followed the artifact, now knowing where it had to rush in order to check on its favorite person, while the sorcerer dreaded to enter the gym, where YN clearly handled pointy and sharp objects.

Probably with a picture of your face pinned against the bull's eye.

A throwing knife hit the target with a dull sound at the moment Stephen entered the gym, and he could see that YN had already drawn the next one out of the holster at her thigh. She flipped it gracefully in her hand, without even sparing one glance at it. He couldn't tell if she looked particularly angry or just tired, but at the sight of her next throw, he knew that something was off - and he would bet the last bits of his former fortune that it had to do with him. But Cloaky cleared the field for now and saved him from being punctured as it wrapped itself around her shoulders and almost lovingly nuzzled itself against her cheeks.

YN turned to him, cocking an eyebrow and casually playing with the delicate knife between her skillful fingers. "Look who's man enough to show up," the Widow smirked while patting the red fabric around her shoulders. Stephen stepped in her direction but stopped abruptly as the former assassin swiftly spun around and threw the last knife. She was already turned back to face him as the weapon was still mid-air and Stephen stared in utmost wonder as it hit the bull's eye nonetheless.

"You wanted to say something, darling?"

Her sweet smile couldn't fool the sorcerer, and the blunt show of her skill was nothing that scared him because he was certain of one fact: They would both never hurt the other, not even in their furriest rage.

But this game could be played by two.

With a barely visual flick of his right hand, Stephen gained a hold of her body without touching her and pulled her the last couple of steps to him until their bodies stood pressed against each other in the room. He wrapped an arm around her waist and started to play with her braided hair with the other hand.

"I came to apologize."

YN lifted the other brow. Even though they were in a pretty healthy relationship, it didn't happen every week that Stephen Strange uttered those words or even the magical sentence I am sorry which automatically implied that he admitted he did something wrong. That's why she waited patiently, hands resting on his upper abdomen.

A sigh left him. “I only had your best intentions in mind, primarily because we never talked about how to approach the topic in front of the others, and I figured you would preferrer to crack it to them in a more… neutral environment than our bedroom.” She hummed in agreement but still waited. Stephen eyed her face and let go of her braid to cup her cheek softly. “I am sorry, darling,” he whispered now, and after a deep breath, YN nodded. “Okay. But don’t you dare do that ever again, especially if your mind isn’t fully focused because I don’t feel the need to hit the edge of my bed a second time. My back still hurts, you moron.” And with that, she raised one arm to hit the back of his head softly with an open palm, but it was enough to convey the message.

Instantly, a worried expression settled on his handsome face, and the hand resting on her lower back started to trace her spine underneath the red fabric of the cloak that now clumsily caressed her other cheek. Stephen put pressure on his touch, feeling every vertebra pressing unyieldingly against his fingertips, and Stephen observed her face almost painfully close. She didn’t move a muscle, but he witnessed the slight furrow of her forehead and brows as his fingertips reached the middle of her back, where her spine gently curved.

Right at the lumbar curve, between L2 and L3, he thought while his fingertips continued the pressure in various places. It’s probably the ligament between.

“Does it hurt when I release the pressure?” His question was softly spoken, and YN still looked up to him, eyeing his face attentively. She cocked her head from one side to the other. “Kind of? It’s probably just the bruise, nothing to worry about. But hey, now we know that the bed frame is exceptionally sturdy.” YN grinned up at him, but Stephen only shook his head before taking her hand in his. “We’re going to the med bay to check you out, right now,” he decided, and the sorcerer’s mind was made up.

When it came to her, he needed to be 100% sure that everything was okay.

But they didn’t come far. Instead, they stopped dead in their tracks as the couple faced Peter and Scott, both staring at them with wide eyes after they had processed the meaning of interlaced fingers. Peter started to grin while Scott’s expression didn’t resemble joy over the newly found love. YN knew that mischievous look in his eyes, the glimmer of a stupid idea developing in his mind. “Scott…,” the Widow spoke warningly, but this son of an ant chuckled before spinning around and starting to run. “I will revel in your embarrassment, YNN!” He shouted over his shoulder, but YN couldn’t let that happen. She stopped holding Stephen’s hand, and the sorcerer couldn’t utter a single word before his girlfriend bolted right after the other Avenger. “And I will revel in your screams filled with pain and agony after I broke your flat ass, Lang!” Her angry words traveled over the corridor, and now it was only Peter and Stephen facing each other.

The young man started to grin again after the confusion and surprise had vanished from his face. “I am really happy for-…” But Stephen only needed to shake his head to one side to let him fall silent again. “Don’t, Parker,” was all he said before following the path YN and Scott had taken, the young hero hot on his heels.

This was certainly not how he had thought everyone would find out about them, and he had already played with images of Scott dangling over a cliff or freezing his ass off at the foot of Mount Everest within his mind. It wasn’t himself who the sorcerer was concerned – he couldn’t give less shit on the other’s opinion about him. But he knew how much it meant to YN because this bunch of mostly idiots was her family. Not by blood but by choice, and Stephen had never intended to overshadow anything about that. Now he feared that everyone would give her a hard time and what that would mean for her mental health.

Stephen was nothing but an over-worryingly boyfriend.

With a sigh, he followed the sound of steps and canceled Peter’s voice out entirely because he couldn’t handle all these questions now or ever. He liked the kid, he was a decent human after all, but his rambling nature wasn’t something Stephen particularly enjoyed. Instead, he focused on the shouting and watched after rounding the last corner as the catastrophe unfolded in front of his eyes.

First-row seats for your own downfall, wonderful.

YN panted heavily while hanging on Scott’s back to try and hold his gossiping mouth shut, but he was too used to it with a daughter at home. So, the inevitable happened only seconds later.

“YNN and Harry Potter are a thing!”

Immediately, the entire living area was silent as a grave, every movement ceased, and every single pair of eyes turned to Scott and the other arriving parties.

YN slowly slid off his back and threw Ant-Man a death glare – she would definitely try and step on him during one of their next missions – but she swallowed thickly at the stares moving between her and a certain someone somewhere behind her. The Widow knew that Stephen was here because she could feel his body temperature in her back only a heartbeat later, before his hands settled on her shoulders, softly stroking them with his thumbs.

Nat was the first to speak. “Well, that’s a surprise.” Clint cocked an eyebrow and threw Peter an approving nod. “You were right. Good ears, kid.”

Stephen felt as if he could touch her boiling anxiety under his fingertips and bent down to press a tender kiss to her temple while Steve marched a few steps in their direction before stopping again. His eyes searched her face, tried to read her mind, and settled on the sorcerer to evaluate the situation. But he spoke to YN. “Is he treating you right?” The woman didn’t need to think for even a second. “Better than the Queen of England,” she answered without hesitation, and Steve could see the tender expression in her worrying eyes. So he gave one nod of approval and settled back into the armchair.

Tony, on the other hand, seemed not pleased at all. He marched to the couple and weaseled his way past YN to shove Stephen a few inches back. “First, you insult her at every given occasion, and then you have the audacity to fuck her and play happy family?! Is your ego this massive?!” The Widow had spun around the second he had reached Stephen and had touched him, but instead of relying on violence, she grasped his wrist in a soft hold. She urged him with a pull to turn to her, to look at her and not to Stephen, but her face wasn’t as sweet as her touch. The Stark could clearly see the burning fire behind those irises who once had looked up to him with a terrified expression, unsure of what to expect after being finally her own person and having her very own life.

“You know I love you like the brother I never had, Tons, but if you touch him again, I have to kick your ass, and not even your precious suits will safe you then.”

YN didn’t have to raise her voice to convey the meaning to everyone, but especially Tony, because the Stark swallowed dryly. He had never thought to once be on the other side of the situation – not standing next to her and listening with utmost joy and pride as she threatened others but being the target of said threat. It was an unpleasant feeling, and he didn’t want to imagine how unpleasant it must be to feel her full wrath.

Meanwhile, Stephen stood there, a tender expression settling on his face – an expression never seen before by the others which threw them almost off their feet – and a pleased smile on his lips. “That’s my girl,” he told no one in particular in a mumble. YN heard it, though, and started to smile before throwing Tony one last warning glare and leaving him to stand next to her sorcerer again. “To make it official,” she raised her voice and gestured to Stephen, who already had his arm wrapped around her waist again. “May I introduce you to my boyfriend of one and a half years, Stephen Strange?”

The team’s eyes almost popped out of their holes at the mention of how long this had been going on behind all their backs, and Sam chuckled. “Never accept missions again which require detective skills. We suck at it,” he stated the obvious, while Steve almost choked on his coffee. “And I once called her my best friend.” YN grinned at him and shrugged softly. “I know what a gossip you can be with the right people around you, so… sorry, sweets,” she apologized, and Steve looked at her with a tender expression nonetheless. “I’m just happy that you’re happy. It always was the one thing I wished for you to find.”

Looking up to Stephen, who battled Tony in a glaring contest, a small but loving smile tucked on her lips, she nodded before turning back to Steve, who seemed more than content at the view of his best friend. “I am, Stevie. I really am.” Those words almost got swallowed by Tony’s exaggerated scoff, but Steve had the advantage of super soldier hearing, so he only smiled and didn’t stop observing the new couple while Bucky settled next to him. “She still will be your best friend, punk. Don’t go all brotherly tears now because your baby sister is grown up and finds her own life,” he chuckled while patting his best friend’s shoulder.

Meanwhile, Tony stared YN dead in the eye. “If he ever hurts you, I will end him personally. He only has to raise his voice in front of you, and I’m on my way. If his ego tries some bullshit, give me a call.” And turned to Stephen, he told sternly: “She has my number saved in her favorites.”

YN rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and I can remove said number out of my favorites. Plus, he is on this list, too.” And with that, she pointed to Stephen right next to her. Tony scrunched up his face. “Urgh, then please, I beg you, put me off that list if he is on there.”

“You are an absolute ass without reason.”

“Born like that.”

“It’s a shitty character trait. Do I need to call Pepper?”

Now, Tony stared down at her challenging face and gulped. “No…?” He morphed the one syllable into a question before raising both hands in surrender. “Okay, fine. I approve of this relationship.” The sorcerer scoffed. “We don’t need your stamp of approval,” he clarified, and YN warningly rubbed over his back. “We only told you because YN considers all of you family and didn’t want to lose you. So, toughen up, Stark, and swallow the bitter pill so we can move on from here because this woman deserves a dinner in the comfort of our bed and some episodes of Golden Girls after this day.”

She couldn’t comprehend his words because suddenly, Nat stood in front of her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She wrapped both arms around the fellow Widow and felt the redhead’s lips pressing soft kisses over her head. They may be close in age, but YN had always been the little sister in this relationship. “Thank you for choosing us as your family, Солнышко 1,” (1: little sun) Nat spoke in the soft tone entirely reserved for her most favorite people. “Thank you for accepting me, сестра 2.” (2: sister)

Nat squeezed her shoulder before letting go of her, and the Widow turned back to Stephen, one brow raised. “You said something about Golden Girls?” The sorcerer showed his signature smirk, and while a portal started to open in his back, he grabbed YN around her hips and threw her over his shoulder. A squeal escaped the surprised woman, but a laugh followed close, and grinning, she waved the other Avengers while Stephen carried her over the threshold of the portal right into the foyer of the Sanctum.

“Don’t you dare call or text us in the next 48 hours, Stark!”

This was a wild ride, wow. pt. 2 is finally here! I hope you enjoyed reading it :3 I really loved writing those two parts. As usual: comments, reblogs, and likes are much appreciated!

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