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silentsnowdrop · 3 years ago

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Rather the Devil You Know

(Warnings: Murder, Blood, Guns, Medical Experimentation, Violence Against Animals and technically Nudity.)

The Vault was a dingy little place on the outside, with off-white boards deliberately grey with grime. The front door was hung slightly off-kilter, and the neon sign outside flickered every few seconds. Nilo didn’t even blink as he swung the door open, letting it creak shut behind him and toeing off his shoes to put them in the shoe holder. The inner door was much sturdier, warm oak and brass, and he nodded to the hat drone that opened it as he stepped through.

The room inside was a strange, yet comfortable, combination of sleek modernity and rustic warmth. Various chairs and couches held teens and young adults playing video games or muttering over homework, but Nilo only had eyes for one head of spiked white hair, tinged faintly green by an internal glow.

“Hey, Kusanagi, you free tonight?”

Nilo gave his fellow villain a bright grin as Kusanagi looked up. Kusanagi, for his part, rolled his glowing green eyes, setting aside his phone and lounging back on the couch he was sitting on. “I suppose I can make myself free. Why?”

“Well, word on the street is that we’ve got ourselves a pair of out-of-town villains holed up in the supposedly about-to-be-demolished old printing plant.” Nilo frowned at his phone, searching through the information he’d been sent for the highlights. “Sounds like a lovely mixture of genetic manipulation and tech. Hyun Ki themselves isn’t available for backup tonight but they’re indicating that if we don’t take care of this soon, we might have to get,” Nilo shuddered dramatically, “actual heroes involved.”

“And we can’t have that.” Kusanagi tilted his head. “I do have to ask though—why me? Genetic manipulation is not my area of expertise, and it’s not as if we’re wanting for ways to shut down tech that even a brain-dead monkey could use.”

Nilo paused. When he spoke again, his voice was cold, even as he tried to keep it light. “Our new friends have an order list for new genetic monstrosities, and at the top are ones derived from Redshift, Quantum Break, and Timeskip.”

Kusanagi’s eyes flashed red. “Oh, so they think it’s a good idea to touch my family?” Nilo blinked, and Kusanagi was on his feet, teeth bared in a poor excuse for a smile. “Well, that won’t do at all; Machina has a reputation to uphold.” Nilo blinked again, and Kusanagi was at the door, dying nanomachines glittering in the air between them as they sank to the floor in a ghost of Kusanagi’s form. “I’ll meet you there at seven. Don’t be late.”

***

The sun was just setting as a hat drone deposited Coldsnap on the empty roof of the old office building across from the paper factory. The dying light painted the facade a warmer red than its dusty, faded brick truly was and reflected off of the few remaining glass shards in the windows in shades of yellow and orange too bright to look at. Coldsnap sighed as he waved the hat goodbye and tugged his helmet on. “Kinda sucks they’re tearing it down,” he muttered to himself. “It’s a cool old building.”

“And what, precisely, do you propose this mysterious ‘they’ do with it?” a soft voice asked in his ear with just the barest hint of mechanical buzz.

The only thing that kept Coldsnap from plummeting off of the roof was Machina’s hand hooked into one of the kevlar-and-plastic panels that made up his actual combat suit. Coldsnap let himself be hauled back, then aimed a swat that the cackling madman he called a friend just let phase through his head. “You are a grade A asshole. Please tell me I didn’t breathe any of you in!”

Machina rolled his eyes, which were still scarlet and now pulsing in time with the circuits that decorated his facsimile of a body suit. “I don’t let people breathe me in.” A sharp grin split his face, and he jerked his head at the plant. “I was shutting down cameras and checking their systems.” He waggled his eyebrows in a way that no human could. “They have a sprinkler system.”

Coldsnap snorted. “Okay, you’re forgiven.” He got to his feet, dusting his suit off, then stepped over to the edge of the building. There was a faint buzz behind him, and a second later, Machina was on the ground, smirking up at him. Coldsnap rolled his eyes, then scrambled down the fire escape after him.

They sauntered up to the building—or, rather, Coldsnap sauntered, while Machina gave up all pretense of human movement and glided beside him. A small swirl of nanomachines split off from one of Machina’s hands and sank into Coldsnap’s helmet, and the blueprints for the building appeared on his HUD in a translucent haze of red. Coldsnap squinted at them, then cut Machina a sideways glance. “So, what’s your plan?”

“For once, I think straightforward is our best choice.” Machina spread his arms, whirling to glide backwards so he could face Coldsnap. “You go in big, get their attention, and I give you backup while I bring down the computers. Simple, effective, and hopefully it will keep us in character.”

“And if it doesn’t, hopefully Silvertongue won’t ream us out too much.” Coldsnap leaned against the wall next to the door. At first glance, it looked like he could break the simple wood with an easy kick, but a closer look revealed metal glinting at the edges of the door, and a well-concealed keypad hidden in some sort of electrical monitor box. It was a decent job at hiding a lair, but not quite up to par for someone trained by Pain Management.

Machina’s hands hovered over the box, streams of nanomachines forming a red haze between his palms and the electronics within. “Frankly, I’m not too worried. Silvertongue knows he can’t control us, and Pain Management will be impressed.” There was a beep and a click, and the door slid open, revealing a well-lit, sterile-white hallway behind it. Machina leaned back slightly, and as Coldsnap watched, his hands began to slowly dissolve. “Ready?”

Coldsnap grinned behind the glass of his helmet and dropped into a sprinter’s crouch. “Set.”

Machina rolled his eyes, then vanished into a cloud of nanomachines that quickly dispersed into every piece of electronics Coldsnap could see. Silence reigned for a moment, broken only by the whispering of a trashbag bouncing on the wind like an urban tumbleweed.

Then the lights in the hallway went from white to red, and a soft waltz began to play over the speakers inside. The sprinklers erupted in a deluge of questionably-clean water, and Machina’s voice purred in his ear, “Go.”

Coldsnap shot forward. Before him, the water froze in an ever-expanding wave, and he tucked himself into an aerodynamic arch and skated forward over it, grinning like the madman he also was. “Swan Lake? Really? You had to go with Swan Lake?”

“It’s one of your favorites, and it’s perfectly unbefitting violence.” Machina’s voice was as even as if they were walking down the street. “Speaking of, they’ve let slip some of their creations. Sixty feet out.”

Coldsnap waved a hand, and some of the falling water coalesced into several marble-sized orbs. “Oh, good. I was worried they wouldn’t have noticed us.”

The first two monstrosities burst out of hidden panels right in front of Coldsnap—huge, vaguely doglike creations covered in bristling spikes that dripped with something oily and green. Coldsnap leapt as they snapped at him, water droplets freezing into tiny prisms as he arced through the air, then landed lightly and spun so he could send two of his orbs through their skulls while they wondered where their prey had gone.

“I’m not actually convinced they have noticed us,” Machina drawled. “I know we’ve technically gone domestic, but I thought we’d rate higher than a few mutated dogs.”

“What about a mutated fire-breathing snake?” Coldsnap ducked as said snake tried to melt his helmet to his face. His ice orbs sublimated into steam with the rest of the falling water around him, then coalesced into inch-long needles that skewered the snake and left it twitching on the ground. “I mean, I am an ice user, so—”

“You took that thing out in five point three seven seconds. No, it does not count. Cat.”

“Cat?”

Something that resembled a cat with tentacles slammed into his visor, clinging to his helmet with its suckers. With a cry of confused disgust, Coldsnap yanked the tentacat off of his head and flung it at the wall. It stuck there with a furious hiss, and Coldsnap prepared for it to spit acid or fling spines.

It started crawling down the wall. As it reached the water ponding on the floor, it put out one tentative tentacle, then hissed again and pulled the tentacle back with a wet slap.

Coldsnap blinked. “Uhhhh...so are you going to attack me or not?”

The tentacat meowed plaintively at him and crawled back up the wall until it was at head height. Two of the cat’s tentacles reached out to him, wiggling slightly, and it blinked at him with wide, frankly adorable eyes.

“I’m going to take that as a no?” Coldsnap stepped forward and gently pulled the tentacat off the wall to set it on his shoulder. It butted against his helmet, and he scratched behind its ears, then smiled a bit as it purred. “I’m keeping the tentacat, Machina.”

There was no response.

Coldsnap frowned uneasily. “Machina?”

There was nothing but the soft waltz and the falling water.

“Damn it. Coldsnap to Machina, do you copy?”

“Copy,” Machina finally responded in a flatly mechanical voice that sent a shiver through Coldsnap’s body. “I need you on the third level. Sending path now; all non-friendly non-recoverable monstrosities neutralized. Supervillains still unlocated.”

Coldsnap slowly started skating again. “What did you find?”

“What they wanted with my family’s DNA.” There was a soft crackle of static, the sound of Machina imitating a steadying breath. “Just...get down here.”

And with that terse order, Machina closed the line.

Coldsnap skated in silence, following the small map that Machina had made to guide him. Occasionally, he passed the bodies of various monstrosities, and after the first ones made the tentacat hiss and spit, he was careful to cover the poor thing’s eyes whenever he saw a new one.

(He couldn’t blame it. The bodies looked perfectly fine. No sign of struggle, no sign of illness. They had just dropped where they stood, leaving eerily still corpses behind like hyperrealistic statues.)

The winding path took him down two flights of stairs and dead-ended at a thick steel door labeled “Lab 1.” A fisheye lens stared down at him from above the door, and as he stared up at it, the door slid open. For a moment, he hesitated. Then he slowly stepped into the dry, red-lit room beyond. “Machina?”

“Over here.”

Coldsnap did not scream. He jumped, and a sound escaped from his throat, but it was not a scream–more of a breathless squeak, almost immediately swallowed up by the silence. His head snapped around to the source of the voice, and he let a little whimper of relief free when he saw Machina floating in front of a bank of monitors. “Don’t do that!”

Machina didn’t so much as blink. The only sign he hadn’t just frozen was the slow pulse of red light that ran through his circuits and the dying nanomachines that fell in a golden stream from his hands and feet. Coldsnap eyed the small mounds of electronic ash below his friend, then tentatively asked, “Are you okay?”

Machina vibrated slightly as his voice emanated from his entire being. “Fine. Go check on the kids.”

“The ki—?”

“They’re behind you. I’m searching for the assholes who hurt them.” Machina flicked a glance at Coldsnap without even twitching his head. “And your cat.”

Coldsnap blinked, then turned to find two plexiglass cells wedged into the other end of the room. One was blacked out, but through its shattered door Coldsnap could see that it was empty save for a cot with a thin blanket rumpled on the floor. Vague streaks of dust were smeared on the floor that were probably dead nanomachines, marring the red reflection from the doorway. Coldsnap traced the dust as it made its way out onto the concrete and into the other cell, then pulled up short.

The floor was covered in the remains of an IV pole and its contents, torn apart by Machina’s nanomachine blades. Another small cot was in the corner of the cell, the remains of medical restraints lying shredded around its feet, along with a discarded hospital gown. And huddled on the cot were two young adults, one unconscious and clad only in underwear and the other staring straight at him with unbridled terror. Coldsnap noted the end of a tube poking out of one nostril, the blood trailing down one arm despite the bandage wrapped around the elbow, the hollow cheeks and the greasy black hair and the dark circles around the wide green eyes, and felt his stomach drop like he’d missed a stair on a staircase.

Then the conscious man’s eyes clenched shut, and an exact copy of him flickered into being in the doorway, teeth bared despite the way he wavered on bare feet. “I don’t know who you are, but you’d better not come in here.”

“Whoa, hey, easy. I’m not here to hurt you.” Coldsnap carefully reached up and raised the visor on his helmet. “I’m Coldsnap. I’m here with my friend Machina back there, and we want to help you and your friend there.” He glanced at the pair again, and realized with a jolt of alarm that he wasn’t sure if the unconscious one was breathing. “What happened to her?”

The double on the bed opened his eyes and looked down at his friend. His eyes were glazed, barely focused, and when his standing double spoke, his voice shook around the disjointed words. “I—the men who—Bell. Their name is Bellami, and I’m Kostas, and the men who kidnapped us put them in that cell and blacked it out, and they’re dying. They need—light, even a flashlight—please—“

Coldsnap held up his hands. “Whoa, slow down.” The double’s mouth clicked shut, and Coldsnap continued in a gentler voice, “Your name is Kostas?” He nodded. “Your friend’s name is Bellami?” He nodded again. “They need light, and the overhead lights aren’t enough?”

Kostas shook his head, and Coldsnap twisted to look at Machina, who stood rigid beside the computers. When there was no response, he turned back, fishing a tactical flashlight from his belt. “Here. It’s like 90,000 lumens, so hopefully it’ll help. We’ll get you both out of here ASAP.”

Kostas fumbled the flashlight, and Coldsnap helped him close his shaking fingers around it. The tentacat on his shoulder gave a plaintive mew and transferred itself to Kostas, and Coldsnap couldn’t help a chuckle. “Looks like my new friend here wants to help you too.”

Kostas swallowed, staring at him. “Th-thank you. I–I think I have it now.”

“You sure?” When Kostas nodded, Coldsnap let go, and Kostas turned and made his slow way to the cot with movements that implied he’d forgotten how knees and ankles worked. When he got to the cot, he just let the flashlight fall into his double’s hand, flickering out of existence as the tentacat dropped to the cot with a wet thud. Kostas stared at the cat as it curled into Bell’s side and started purring, then looked at the flashlight in his hand.

Then he raised it and turned it on.

For a long moment, Bell didn’t react to the new wash of white light over their pale, freckly body. Then they turned their head, golden hair shimmering despite its oily state, and Coldsnap let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding when he saw the shadows of their breasts slowly rise with their breath. Coldsnap gave Kostas a smile as he looked up, then pulled his visor back down. “Hold tight, okay? We’ll get you out of here as soon as we find the guys who put you down here–”

The sound of a gun going off in a closed room was less a sound and more a full body experience, especially when you were the target. There was an explosion of sound, then an explosion of pain between his shoulderblades, and as he staggered forward, it continued, one shot after another.

On the fifth shot, one of the bullets made it past his damaged body armor.

On the sixth, the bullet hit his helmet, sending him pitching to the floor.

The world had gone black before he hit the ground.

***

Coldsnap woke up to pulsating agony in his back. The only reason he wasn’t sobbing was because he could barely breathe, and he was surprised that he couldn’t hear the no-doubt embarrassing whimpering noises that he had to be making. Then he realized his ears were ringing from the gunshots, and probably blood loss and a concussion as well if the way his head was spinning was any indicator. The fact that he was alive at all to hear it was something he could thank his well-armored helmet for, but right now he was kind of wishing it hadn’t worked so well.

Still, he should probably see who had tried to kill him. He laid on the floor until he could draw a deep enough breath to stop the black spots in front of his eyes from multiplying, then tried to decide which arm hurt less. Trying to move his left arm sent a jagged blade of pain up into his skull and turned the world white and glowing, and he could swear he felt the bullet grinding under his shoulderblade. The right arm hurt less, in that the jagged blade became more of a needle and there was no grinding sensation, but it was at least ten seconds before he was fully upright, swaying slightly as he looked around.

As it turned out, the world hadn’t been white and glowing only because of pain. Someone had turned on the full overhead lights, and he’d apparently shattered his visor in the fall, because he was getting the full force of the bright white lights bouncing off of the white walls and floor. He grimaced and clenched his eyes shut against the pain that spiked in his head. This is going to make finding the guy who shot me kind of hard…

The ringing in his ears became louder. He swallowed, pressing a gloved hand to his mouth in a desperate attempt to keep from vomiting. Then the ringing kicked up another notch, and he realized that it wasn’t just ringing.

Someone was screaming. Someone he knew.

He spun around, panic making him ignore the way the world started to blur and waver, and found a scene right out of a nightmare.

In the middle of the room was a red cloud, writhing as it screeched in the mechanical, buzzing tones of a dying speaker. Sparks jumped through it as a steady rain of dying nanomachines piled on the floor–as Machina died by torturous inches as one of the men in front of him did something to him, hands outstretched and a smirk on his face. Coldsnap figured the man was a technopath, but he didn’t have much time to care, not when the red cloud of Machina’s scattered nanomachines was getting fainter and fainter.

The remains of the IV and the puddle of blood on the floor froze into four thick spikes with a resounding crack. Both men jumped, beginning to turn, and Coldsnap flung out his right hand in a desperate arc.

The spikes pierced their knees and stuck there. Coldsnap twisted his hand as the men fell, freezing the flesh and blood around the spikes as they took over the screaming.

He let the men descend into whimpers that he could only barely hear, panting and trying hard not to give into the fuzz at the edges of his vision. The men tried to free themselves from the ice, but Coldsnap just weakly clenched his fist, freezing the blood that was slowly trickling onto the floor. Behind them, the red cloud was slowly forming into Machina, translucent and still with wide, terrified red eyes in an otherwise blank face.

Machina didn’t do terror. He did snark, and condescension, and anger, but he didn’t do terror.

Suddenly, Coldsnap wasn’t panicking anymore. The pain and dizziness faded into the background, subsumed by the icy, thoughtful rage trickling through his veins like snowmelt as he forced himself to his feet.

“You know,” he said conversationally as he tore off his helmet and let it fall to the ground, “We were going to just come down here and talk.” The water still on his suit began to shed into a cloud of diamond dust that followed him as he sauntered forward. “Villain to villain. Give you two a chance to realize that coming here was a mistake, and to clear out.” He left bloody, frozen footprints behind him as he made his slow way to stand in front of the two men. “It’s a courtesy, really, but we’re fond of playing our roles to the hilt. And you know, I wasn’t too happy about the animal experimentation, but we could have worked something out.”

He stared down at the men in front of him, and he could see the crooked slash of a smile spreading across his face reflected in the man’s eyes. “But there are some things I really can’t forgive. Experimenting on unwilling innocents, for one. Hurting my friends, for another.” He reached down and put two fingers under the chin of the man who had been tormenting Machina, ignoring the agony running down his spine. “Do you know what I do to people who hurt my friends?”

The man’s eyes widened. “Y-you–you c-can’t–you’re r-reformed–”

“Now whatever gave you that idea?” Coldsnap’s smile grew wider. “My name change? My new job?” When the man tried to nod, Coldsnap laughed and patted his cheek. “I’ve gone straight, true. I like having people scream because they like me and want to see more. But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten what I learned as Frostbite–it just means I like to use it to help people. And sometimes that means getting rid of things like you.”

He ran a gentle thumb over the man’s cheekbone. “I could make it quick. My favorite way to assassinate someone was to freeze the blood in their brain, you know–you’d drop in a second, and not know what happened. But you two nearly killed those kids, you were torturing Machina here, and your friend,” he paused, eyes flicking to the revolver at the other man’s hip, “tried to kill me. Thankfully my boyfriend and datemate make very good armor, but I’m still bleeding, and that’s put me in a bad mood.”

Coldsnap let the man go and stepped back. “He’s all yours, Machina.”

Machina tilted his head, too slowly and smoothly to be anything close to flesh and blood. Then his form condensed and sharpened, quite literally.

The nanomachine blade shot forward, and Coldsnap turned his head slightly to avoid the blood spatter getting in his eyes.

When he turned back, there was something that could have been a human being if you squinted past the blood and played jigsaw in your head. Coldsnap looked at Machina, who had seemingly given up on maintaining any cohesive form and was flowing back to the computer bank in a sluggish stream, then at the remaining man, who was staring up at him, shock-white and trembling. Coldsnap gave him a smile dragged up from the center of a glacier, then looked up. “Hey, Kostas—“

He cut himself off so fast his teeth sank into his cheek. Kostas was staring at the remains of the man that Machina had killed, trembling and clinging to one of Bell’s hands. As Coldsnap watched, Bell shifted slightly and opened hazy golden eyes. They looked around, lips moving in something Coldsnap couldn’t make out, and Kostas placed a shaking hand over their eyes.

Don’t look, Bell, Coldsnap read from his lips. Kostas looked up and flinched from Coldsnap’s gaze. Please, Bell, just don’t look.

Sludgy self-disgust mixed with the icy rage in Coldsnap’s veins, and he turned back to the man in front of him with bile burning in the back of his throat. “...I’ll let Pain Management deal with you.” He reached out and clenched his right hand to freeze the blood still flowing sluggishly from the man’s knees, ignoring the grating whine of pain that escaped from between the man’s clenched teeth. “Who knows? They might even let you live. Easier to keep scum out when they know what might happen to them otherwise.”

With that, Coldsnap spun on his heel, taking slow breaths that did nothing to combat the urge to cry that was building behind his eyes as he walked over to the computers. “Machina, could you let Pain Management know where we are?” A tear worked its way free, and he scrubbed it away before it could freeze to his skin. “I think we need some damage control here.”

***

The strobing red lights of the ambulances cast dizzying shadows across the parking lot. Nilo leaned against the brick wall of the paper plant, watching the paramedics finish preparing Kostas and Bell for travel. For someone who had apparently been subsisting off of low-quality nasogastric feeding for a couple of weeks, Kostas was stubborn almost to the point of combativeness. Nilo could see a flickering, unsteady double trying to get into the ambulance that Bell was being loaded into, and when Eugen started to approach, Kostas gave him a look bordering on terrified.

“You should be in the car,” Kusanagi said from behind him. Nilo stubbornly stared at the ambulances, and Kusanagi sighed, gliding forward to stand beside him and watch too.

Nilo glanced at him, and let out a quick breath when he saw that Kusanagi was solid once again. “Ties bring you a new set of nanomachines?”

“Yes. Also, you’re deflecting.” Kusanagi raised an eyebrow. “You have a healing factor, sure. You still need to go to, if not the hospital, at least to a doctor.”

Nilo smiled slightly. “Thanks for getting the bullet out before I healed, by the way.” The smile fell, and he went back to watching the ambulance. “I’ll get in soon. I just…”

“You’re self flagellating.”

Nilo watched as Kostas hesitantly nodded to Eugen. Eugen crouched beside him and began to murmur in his ear, and the flickering double vanished as Kostas began to relax. “...That’s my fault. He doesn’t trust us because of me.”

“If I recall, I was the one who disincorporated that technopath.” Nilo saw Kusanagi shrug out of the corner out of his eye. “I will say that it was unfortunate that the kid saw, but if it was anyone’s fault, it was mine.”

“Was it?” Nilo clenched his hands into fists to hide his trembling fingers. “You saw the way they looked at us, Kusanagi. They weren’t just scared of you.”

Kusanagi gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Nilo, you’ve botched performances and scared people before. You’ve also killed to protect people before, and scared people that way. What’s different about this time?”

Nilo stared out at the parking lot. “...The last time an innocent person looked at me like that, I was still under Father’s thumb.” He gave a bitter twist of a smile. “I was still Frostbite.”

He still remembered what it felt like to kill that woman. Her face still featured in his nightmares, slowly icing over as she stared at him in terror.

To this day, he still didn’t know what she’d done to upset Father.

Kusanagi gave a frustrated sigh and stepped in front of Nilo to block his view. “Look. I’m probably not the best person for you to talk about this with, considering my congenital lack of empathy. But do you remember what you told me when I asked you why you weren’t going to play hero in the kayfabe?”

“...because villains aren’t scared of heroes,” Nilo said quietly. “Not the ones that need to be scared. But they’re scared of other villains.”

Kusanagi nodded. “And you wanted to be the villain they were scared of. But you know as well as I do that if you’re going to do that, you have to follow through.” He gestured over his shoulder at the ambulances. “And this is what happens when you do—people are alive at the end of it, even if they’re a little bit traumatized. I’d call that a win.”

Nilo stared at the ambulances for another moment. Then he sighed and let his shoulders slump. “I guess. I just…”

“Took all the empathy so I didn’t have to.” Kusanagi slung an arm over his shoulders, forcibly turning him toward the car. “Look. You’ve done everything anyone is going to let you do for them tonight. Maybe tomorrow you can apologize, but for now, let’s get you back to the car before Ties either steals your cat-octopus hybrid or leaves it with a small child.”

Nilo scowled. “That is my cat! He’s not allowed to do either of those things! Come on, so I don’t have to freeze your brother solid.”

He stalked off towards the car. Behind him, the sirens wailed to life, and he glanced over his shoulder at the sound to see cars pulling out of the way.

He glanced at the ambulances. For a moment, he thought he saw Kostas’ double flickering in the back window, mouthing Thank you through the tinted glass.

Then the ambulances turned the corner and were gone.

#Havenwood #HFY #Humanity Fuck Yeah #Superheroes #Long Post

13 notes · View notes

fiadorable · 2 years ago

Note

For the WIP game, I have questions about all of them! If I *have* to narrow it down to one, though, I'm gonna go with '5 times pike.' There are so many ways that one could go! (Also, I saw 'janeway naps on the beach' and my immediate thought was that 'good for her' meme 😂)

omg you would pick the one I have the least written for to ask about 😂

5 times pike's actual title is Five Times Captain Pike Accidentally Avoided His Fate and the One Time He Didn't (original, right?). I'm still trying to figure out how the multiverse is going to work so I don't even really have anything more to share, unfortunately.

However I do have a little something for Janeway naps on the beach, which you can find below 😊

ask me about my wip game

It was unseasonably cool that day. Not enough for the weather net to flag the temp and correct it, but enough that the sand was warm and the Gulf almost uncomfortably cold. Chakotay waded in from the open water, rubbing his hand back and forth across his head to fling the water from the regulation short strands, and gratefully accepted a towel and a cold drink from Gretchen Janeway.

"How's the tournament going?" he asked as he draped the towel across his shoulders. He gulped down the water as he turned to observe the beach volleyball game in progress a few meters down the beach from where Gretchen had set up her beach towel and chair.

"The Parises are up by one, but Annika hasn't served yet," Gretchen said.

Surprised, Chakotay turned back. "I though the agreement was for her to play on the Paris team since Hannes plays professionally."

"That was before Phoebe saw Julia's serve."

He watched as Julia Paris made a running dive to save an expertly spiked ball from Seven, allowing B'Elanna a chance to tip it over the net and trigger another few minutes of volleying. They were playing 3v3, Phoebe, her husband Hannes, and Seven against Julia, B'Elanna, and Tom. Several of the Paris and Janeway cousins gathered around the sidelines, cheering as control of the ball returned to the Janeways. Seven delivered a devastating serve to the Parises.

"And now they're tied again."

Chakotay turned back to look at Gretchen and saw that she hadn't even looked up from her PADD, and he smiled at the familiar amused but distracted look on her face. "Working vacation for you as well?" he asked.

"Quantum mechanics finals wait for no one," she said, making a few slashing marks with a stylus before looking up. "You didn't think Kathryn got all of her bad working habits from her father just because he was the admiral and I'm the professor, did you?"

Chakotay chuckled and said, "Even if I had been under that impression, it would have been corrected the moment I watched you two debating the nature of the Q as you polished off a carafe of coffee at 2300 last night." He turned his gaze back to the game and frowned. "Speaking of, where is Kathryn? Did she get called back to headquarters with Admiral Paris?"

"Oh, no. She's got the baby in the shade over yonder," Gretchen said, turning in her chair and pointing to the tree line behind her.

He followed her gaze until he found the erstwhile captain. She was stretched out on a lounging beach chair, carefully shaded by both the towering palm trees and an over-sized umbrella. Sunglasses obscured her eyes, but he could tell from the tilt of her head and the utter relaxation of her body that was out cold. A teenager sat next to her idly perusing a paper publication, also making notes on a PADD. "Don't any of you Janeways know how to take a vacation?" he teased.

"Hmm? Oh, that's Rebecca, Phoebe's eldest. She burns in the sun just like Kathryn." Gretchen's face softened as she watched her daughter sleep. "I haven't seen Katie sleep this much in a very long time," she said, softly.

"Spirits know I've done my fair share of napping since our return as well," he said, keeping his voice deliberately light. "In fact, a nap in the shade doesn't sound too bad. I think I'll join them."

"Mm," Gretchen said aloud, but he heard the other ten things she left unsaid. "You were a good first officer, Mr. Chakotay. I'm glad Kathryn had you to rely on our there. But this is your vacation, too. You are allowed to stand down your watch."

She didn't mean it in a bad way, he knew. "Mrs. Janeway, there's nowhere else I would rather be than right here, right now, in this moment." He pointed to the shade. "Except for maybe right there."

#wip meme #5 times pike #janeway takes a nap #janeway x chakotay #thank you so much for asking ❤️#my first jc story in over a decade 💀#st:voy #st:snw

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your-averagewriter · 3 years ago

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The time heist

Summary: This is a Marvel fanfic oneshot which I might make a part 2. It’s set in the time heist in Avengers: Endgame. (y/n) goes back in time with Tony, Steve, Hulk and Scott Lang to find one of the infinity stones but what happens when they finish their mission? Also (y/n) is Natasha’s sister and Loki’s wife (I know it sounds kinda cliche but take a look anyway)

Word count: 2.9K

Enjoy!

“Whatever it takes,” Barton says, voice wavering slightly.

“Whatever it takes,” Nat reassures him, smiling.

“I guess I’ll see you guys in a minute then.” (y/n) smirks at her sister.

“See you in a minute.”

Light engulfs the room, the metal above their heads twisting and turning as (y/n) glances across to Tony and Steve winking quickly before they all get sucked into the machine. Flying through the Quantum Realm to a mission that needs to be executed with precision or everything would be for nothing and Banner’s efforts would’ve been utterly pointless.

(y/n) stares in awe at all the colours, it’s like a sunset whirlwind where all the colours are mixed up in spirals and twirls.

Suddenly (y/n) was spat out of the machine thrown into 2012 New York along with four other Avengers.

She jumps up in the air in success with her fist in the air.

“It actually worked! Wow!” She shouts at the three men and the hulk watching her. “The Avenger’s first proper battle, it was awesome wasn’t it? Except for maybe Tony, sorry about that.” She chuckles looking around at the Chitauri flying around in the sky circling the buildings.

Steve clears his throat and (y/n) turns around.

“Right the mission. Go ahead Cap.” She walks towards them switching into professional mode concentrating on the mission.

“Okay, Tony and Scott, you two go to the main lounge room in the Tower to get the Tesseract whilst me and (y/n) will get Loki’s scepter. Hulk, you have to get the time stone off of Strange then go back. Except for Banner, we will all meet back here after. Remember we cannot fail this mission, no do-overs, no second chances, this is it.”

“And Banner, act like Hulk, smash stuff on your way”

The 2012 Hulk runs across the road and smashes a car throwing it around viciously as if on cue.

Bruce imitates the old Hulk pathetically, he drops his fists on the car looking around slowly and roaring like a lion cub.

“Oh come on Bruce, you can do better than that!” (y/n) hollars at him, he smashes things marginally more as (y/n) rolls her eyes and starts running.

The two groups split up, (y/n) and Steve start running towards the Tower.

“Steve, slow down a little! I’m not a super soldier like you!” He slows down a bit.

“Damn, Agent Romanoff is out of shape, is she?”

“Piss off Steve.” He chuckles without a remark about her language.

They get to the Tower pretty quickly without any more conversation.

“So where were you with Loki’s scepter? ‘Cause, personally I was fighting and shit.”

“I was sorting out the scepter. We need to get it off those Hydra agents, they’re undercover, let me do the talking.”

“Fine by me.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Just lead the way.”

He walks towards the elevator, (y/n) following right behind him.

“Walk in and say nothing.” She nods.

The first person speaks.

“Captain.” He pauses, “I thought you were coordinating search and rescue?”

“Change of plans.” He says flatly.

“Hey Cap.”

“Rumlow.”

Some of the agents reach ‘discreetly’ for their guns as (y/n) watches each of them carefully monitoring their movements till Cap continues.

“I just got a call from the secretary, I’m gonna be running point on the scepter.”

Many of the men’s heads turn at his statement.

“Sir? I don’t understand.” The main guy says.

Many of the men reach for their guns ready at a moment's notice but so is (y/n).

“We got word that there may be an attempt to steal it,” Steve says, looking around at the men.

“Sorry Cap, I can’t give you the scepter.” Rumlow states bluntly.

“I’m gonna have to call them.”

“That’s okay, trust me.” He starts leaning over towards him before whispering to him. “Hail Hydra.” and nodding.

Rumlow hands him the case just before the elevator doors open and both Cap and (y/n) walk out smirking at each other. As soon as the doors close (y/n) turns to him.

“Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.” She says as they both walk around the corner till (y/n) stops in her path Steve not even noticing.

“Shit.” She mutters under her breath.

“Tony, what’s going on?” He looks around. “Tell me you’ve found that cube.” She points towards the Captain America in front of him. “Uh, you’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Language Cap!” She scolds mockingly.

“I’ve got eyes on Loki.” 2012 Cap said through comms.

“I’m just gonna take this and leave you two to it.” (y/n) whispers, taking the scepter and slipping away.

She heads straight to the elevator, only to see the avengers getting in and leaving the Hulk out. She also sees Loki waving as the doors close so she waves to him winking knowing that he doesn’t even know her but relishing in the borrowed time.

She follows the Hulk down the stairs watching the Avengers pile out of the elevator, and she sees Loki again. She waves at him again but this time he winks in response reminding her of all the time they spend together in the future.

She then sees Tony stumbling around in a security helmet and decides to just go back to the meetup spot. She wanders through the streets holding the scepter until she gets to the rusty car where they’re meant to meet up but no one else is there yet.

(y/n) sits in the doorless car putting her feet up on the dashboard thinking about what could be taking them so long. She waits for a good while before Tony turns up with Scott.

“Hey guys, did you get the tesseract?”

“No, Loki stole it then disappeared.”

“Well shit.” She says more cheerful than she should be smiling. She chuckles to herself.

“How could you have interpreted this as good news in any way whatsoever?” The billionaire says frustrated.

“I’ll explain when Cap gets here.” She says smiling eagerly.

As if on cue Steve appears from around a building covered in dirt with a scratched up suit.

“Did everyone get the stones?” He says slightly out of breath.

“No, me Scott failed.” Emphasised pause. “We didn’t get it, Loki stole it and poofed away.”

“Great, well I guess the other half of everything in the universe is never coming back then.” He says completely deflated.

“Actually,” (y/n) steps out of the car smiling. “I have a suggestion.” She puts her hands together like praying hands.

“Go ahead, we haven’t got much to lose now have we.”

“Because I’ve done extensive research about all of you, including Cap I know where we could get the Tesseract and more Pym Particles.” She smirks with her arms crossed.

“Please do enlighten us.”

“Yes sir.” She laughs. “Isn’t it obvious now? No? Okay, well Howard Stark did research with the Tesseract back in New Jersey 1970 along with the research Hank Pym was doing. Are you boys catching on now? Also, Cap, you’ve been there before, I believe someone special to you also works there” She leans against the rusty car.

“You, Agent Romanoff, are a genius.” Steve smiles at her gratitude laced in his tone.

“Oh, I know.” She smirks. “Now let’s just hope Banner does his job better than Stark did his.”

“Okay, we can figure out a plan when we get there, Stark, Romanoff you two are coming with me. Scott, you can go back.”

“What, why? What if it goes wrong? What if you can’t find any more Pym Particles?”

“Scott, I’m never wrong when it comes to my research. Trust me, I’ll bring ‘em back. Just take the scepter with you.”

“F-fine.” He reluctantly goes back and finishes his job in the time heist.

“Love that guy, he's like an ant like, how cool is that?” (y/n) noticeably switches out of professional mode and into fan mode jumping up and down.

"Let's get on with it then," Tony says sighing not overjoyed about possibly seeing his dad.

"Hey Tony, you don't have to come if you're worried about your dad." He nods

"I know sweetcheeks, let's just go. On the count of three?" Everyone nods. "1 2 3."

On three, everyone uses their Pym particles and enters the Quantum Realm. Blinded by the colours and lights inside it's a shock when they're dropped off in 1970.

"Cap, you're on for Pym particles whilst me and (y/n) find the tesseract."

"I think we should all change our outfits, Cap you're meant to be dead right now and Tony and I look like modern time travellers compared to everyone else." Steve nods and goes to find a soldier's outfit whilst Tony and I try to find a lost and found box or locker room.

Walking around dodging people I finally see the locker room.

"There's sure to be a couple of changes of clothes in here even if I have to wear a men's shirt." Tony chuckles.

"I'm sure you'll manage Romanoff." He says walking towards the first few lockers and breaking the locks with his iron man gauntlet discreetly tucked in his sleeve.

"New model Stark?" I smirk at him.

"Yeah, it is, I started tinkering again."

"Ah, finally, Tony Stark is back ladies and gentlemen!"

He throws a pair of trousers and a dull shirt at me whilst he picks someone expensive-looking watch and classy suit.

"Is there a spare suit jacket in there?"

He throws a crisp black jacket at me. Nice, I think to myself as I walk towards one of the cubicles whilst Tony just dresses where he is.

I unzip my uniform, a leather black suit like all the female SHIELD agents wear and tug it off. I shrug on the trousers having to use my uniform belt as the trouser are too big. I put on the shirt with the top two buttons undone then I put on the suit coat which hugs my figure perfectly. I pat down the sides of it then grabs my uniform and leave.

"Hey Tony, lookin' sharp with your new suit." I wink at him.

"You're not looking too bad yourself."

He stuffs his old clothing in a briefcase.

"See you found yourself a new watch."

"Yeah just reaping the benefits of being on a mission back in time." Evident in his voice that he's rolling his eyes.

"Let's go before we miss our opportunity. We have to get in the elevator, the one we used earlier and take it down 6 more floors then we should be in the room with the Tesseract." I say looking at a digital hologram with the map on.

"Well, we better get going then before Cap gets back."

He pulls his suit down a little and we make our way towards the elevator. We step in and I push the button for floor - 8.

Some 70s music starts playing.

“Is this the music of your time, Stark? ‘Cus it’s certainly not mine.” He scoffs.

“Not exactly my preferred genre of music, Romanoff”

The elevator comes to a halt abruptly and the doors open accompanied by the sound of metal scratching against other metal.

Tony steps out first, double-tapping the side of his glasses then (y/n) follows after him stepping over the tools left on the floor. They walk through the messy workshop a few more feet before reaching their goal.

“Gotcha.” He whispers under his breath.

He walks towards the metal box pulling out his gauntlet again, he tucks his head down covering his eyes as he uses the beam from his glove to break the lock pulling the box apart. He lifts his head again staring at the blue glowing cube in relief.

“Back in the game, Romanoff.”

He reaches for the tesseract and grabs it using his Ironman hand and carefully puts it in the briefcase that (y/n)’s holding open. It slots perfectly into the cube imprint in the case.

She pulls down the lid and clips the locks on making sure it doesn’t open.

“Arnold? Arnold you in here?” Howard looks down the room towards (y/n) and Tony. Tony immediately turns around and starts walking (y/n) just next to him. “Hey, the door’s this way.”

The pair turn back around thankful they wore disguises and walk towards him.

“I’m a visitor from MIT and this.” He pauses thinking of an alias. “This is my wife.”

“You two got names?” Howard asks the two masqueradings as a couple.

“Howard.”

“Well, that’ll be easy to remember.”

“Howard Potts.”

“And I’m Elaine Potts.” She smiles at him and he offers his hand out to Tony.

“Well, I’m a, Howard Stark.” Tony reaches for his hand but pulls his finger instead. “Shake that, don’t pull it.”

“Yeah, huh.” Tony stutters out.

-Time skip to when they’re talking about Tony being born because I can’t find the clip for the elevator-

“Can you hold these for a second pal.” Howard hands him a bouquet of flowers.

“Yeah sure, got somewhere special to be.”

“Nah not really, my misses is expecting and I have been at work all week.”

“How far along is she?”

He tries gesturing with his hands how big her stomach is then gives up.

“At the point where she can’t stand the sound of me eating anymore.” He chuckles.

The elevator finally reaches the ground floor and the doors open with the familiar screeching. Tony and Howard speak together more before Tony hands the flowers back. (y/n) sits on a bench outside the office watching them together waiting to go.

As Howard’s car door is opened Tony hugs him taking him by surprise. Probably some sort of apology or good luck speech, Howard looks really awkward but it’ll probably be good for Tony.

Finally, Howard leaves and Tony retreats back towards the office where (y/n) is seated, he leans against the wall as Cap opens the door, 6 vials shoved in his pockets. He walks over letting out a sigh of relief when he sees the large silver case.

“I told Scott it’d work, now we can go back and show him it worked.” (y/n) exclaims.

Steve hands the other two the Pym Particles and they carefully load them into the suits ready to enter the Quantum Realm again.

“Okay, save the party for when we get back, we don’t know if the others got all the stones.” Cap chimes in. “On three again?”

The other two avengers nod in agreement.

“See you guys back there.” She smiles.

“1 2 3.”

And with that, they all enter the Quantum Realm gain overwhelmed with colours and light. Most likely the last time it will happen to them. (y/n)’s body is overrun with excitement and energy as they speed through the tiny universe.

They’re thrown back out into Avenger’s Compound along with the other Avengers, they’re all in the same circle as before with various Avengers holding Infinity stones.

“Nat! Guess what Loki is alive! He’s not actually dead, he did some of his magic shit! He’s alive Nat!” She pauses for a second getting no reply. “Nat? Nat? Bruce, where is she? Why isn’t she here? Where is she?”

Barton drops to the floor on his knees.

“Clint?” Banner asks.

“Nat’s gone.” He whimpers out.

The Hulk falls to his knees sending small tremors through the ground. His hands fly up to his face covering his eyes.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” The previous excitement in her voice had been drained and replaced with worry. “No, she not gone. There’s no way.” She marches off the podium and walks towards the panel covered in buttons and various switches. She absentmindedly starts pressing buttons whilst the Avengers stare at her with pity.

“(y/n).” Scott trails off.

“Banner, what does this do?” She pushes it before getting an answer. “I just need to get her back.”

“She’s not coming back,” Hawkeye says still on his knees. “She’s never coming back and it’s my fault!”

“No! I don’t believe you, I just need to find the right button, it’s gotta be here somewhere.”

She’s likely to have pushed every button and switch on the panel but that doesn’t stop her.

“(y/n), stop it.” Cap scolds gently.

“Maybe it’s this one?” She pushes it but with no result. “Or this one?” Every button has been pushed at least three times each when she finally moves towards Scott’s old van. She pulls out the tube and plugs it back in.

“(y/n), you need to stop.” Steve starts walking towards her.

“No, she can’t be gone, you’re lying or is this some stupid prank? Nat, you can come out now! You’ve had your fun.” She shouts with her hands by her mouth with her voice cracking.

“This is messed up.” Rocket mutters hand rubbing his face.

“Lady (y/n), I think you should stop.”

She lets go of the wires attached to Scott’s van and falls to the floor on her knees then falls further with her head on the ground.

She lays on the floor sobbing before anger kicks in.

“Barton. What did you do?” (y/n) screams at him.

“It should have been me!” He shouts at her.

No one moves for minutes until (y/n) starts whispering to herself.

“It should have been me.” She bangs her fists on the floor twice before repeating the phrase again and again.

Hope you enjoyed!

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quantumscalarlounge · 1 year ago

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falcor-thee-luck-dragon · 4 years ago

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Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 12- Whatever It Takes

Summary: This is it, you’re finally going to help save the world and if all goes to plan, bring Bucky back in the process.

Warning: bit o angst

Masterlist

It’s been a solid month since Tony and Rocket have been crafting tirelessly on the construction of the giant time portal machine type deal, or whatever he’s calling it nowadays. And to your great surprise, as well as everyone else’s, the first test run with Clint was an undeniable success.

Compared to the first one with Scott, things have come a long way.

Clint was able to wander around in that alternate universe for a couple minutes without returning with so much as a single scratch. Thus boosting the teams confidence and excitement for the inevitable time heist that’s in the works. So as of now, everyone’s currently brainstorming as to how this will go about for the most successful mission possible.

“Okay, so the how works.” Begins Steve as everyone sits around the large meeting room, glass screens projecting info about the stones displayed in the background, “Now, we gotta figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones...”

Tony cuts in with his spout of knowledge, “Or substitute the word “encounter” for “damn near been killed” by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Damn straight, your ass got launched into a Wakandian tree last you saw those goddamn stones.

“Well I haven’t..” Interjects Scott with a puzzled look, confusion clear in his voice, “..but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.” Oh right, he missed out on all the fun while he was fucking around in the quantum realm.

Sitting on the table you shrug, “Be glad you’ve never seen them, those fucking space rocks will kick your ass if used less then kindly, but it doesn’t matter now. From my understanding we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each.” You explain as they all listen intently, “And clearly these fucking stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

Tony nods, “Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

“Which means we have to pick out targets.” Adds Clint as Tony points in his direction, “Correct.”

Steve soon gains everyone’s attention once again, “So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Asks the blonde, all eyes turn towards the back corner of the room to find Thor slouched in an armchair, beer can in hand while the other one keeps partially hidden in his pajama pants.

A dark pair of sunglasses conceals whether he’s currently awake or not. “Is he asleep?” Wonders Natasha as Rodney humorously adds, “No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

A few soft chuckles are heard as you listen intently to the god of thunder, “He’s alive, and most definitely sleeping off that last beer.” You muse as they all give a collective curious brow while you simply shrug, “I can hear his heartbeat, and it’s low enough to tell me he’s not dead.....Well, at least not yet.” You mutter, eyeing up the sleeping giant as an idea sparks into your head.

A second later you pick up a discarded empty beer can sitting right next to you on the table before throwing it at the snoozing god, the thin metal smacks against his forehead with that familiar pop of the can sound, falling to the ground with a crackly ting as Thor jolts awake. And back to the land of the living.

“Nordic Santa you’re up.” His head snaps in your direction as he gives a semi-awkward half grin.

“Ah right, right, thank you angry one.” Points Thor with a genuine smile now as he quickly gets up before walking over to the screen depicting the red swirly like stone substance. Although soon he delves into the finding of the red mass, what it did to his former flame, that he took her to Asgard seeking help for her sickness, how he showed Jane to his mother, and then he immediately got sad and lost all motivation and train of thought on anything related to that stone.

Ah yes, personal trauma. It’ll do that to you.

Later that day when everyone was feasting on some Chinese takeout, Rocket began an in-depth explanation into where the Power Stone was found; by some guy named Quill who stole it from a planet called Morag. After some time later, Nebula revealed that the Soul Stone was retrieved from Vormir, the place where Thanos murdered her sister Gamora.

It’s been an interesting day to day the least.

Now here you are, slouched comfortably in a lounge chair you stole from the other room, flipping around a pocketknife as Natasha and Tony lay on the nearby table with Bruce sprawled out on the floor in all his Banner-Hulkness. Books scattered everywhere as the two Avengers keep comfortable on some decorative couch pillows as you listen to them brainstorm about the stones whereabouts.

Flipping the knife skillfully between your fingers an idea suddenly pops into your head, “Hey what about that time stone guy you were talking about earlier.”

Banner hums, “Doctor Strange.”

“Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?” Wonders Natasha as you mentally question the same proposition when Tony gives his quick witted answer. “Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat.”

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Adds Bruce, Tony agreeing in an instant. “Yeah, on Sullivan Street?”

“Mmm....Bleecker Street.” Mutters Banner as Natasha interrupts, face shifting to realization. “Wait, he lived in New York?”

“No, he lived in Toronto.” Sasses Tony as Banner reveals the truth. “Uh, yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.”

Tony coming back with more playful sarcasm, “Have you been listening to anything?”

Suddenly it feels like a lights been switched on in your brain, “Guys.” You quickly implore as they keep silent to listen, “If you pick the right year, wouldn’t there be three stones in New York?” Their faces all collectively shift to astonished realization when Bruce quickly sits up to look at you. “Shut the front door.”

“Well at least someone is paying attention.” Quips Tony as Natasha smacks him with a book.

——

“All right.” Begins Steve as the whole team gathers in the meeting room, “We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot.”

You nod, smirking with excitement, “Let’s get these fuckers and maybe end up saving the world while we’re at it.” He sends you a proud grin and within the next half an hour are the eleven of you suited up and standing in a large circle atop the glass of the giant time portal.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us....we lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes....no do-overs.”

“Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives...and we’re gonna win.” Affirms Steve with a mutual nod, “Whatever it takes.” He gives one last look around the circle of familiar faces before nodding, “Good luck.”

Nudging the muscular blonde, he shares a small smile with you as you quickly return it, “You practice that last night?” Steve chuckles at your amusing comment while Rocket and Scott gush over his admittedly incredible motivational speech skills.

“Just thought the team could use the confidence boost.” Admits Steve as Bruce flicks the motherboards switches to get the time portal up and running. The machine whirs to life while everyone begins putting on their helmets.

Your slightly apprehensive gaze trails to your left where Natasha is standing, she gives a playful smirk as you force a true smile, “See you in a minute.” Chides the red head as you break out into a smirk.

“будь осторожен там Romanoff.” You add, shifting into your natural dialect that she’s all to familiar with, your actual words translating to “be careful out there” as you give her one last flash of a grin.

A hot second later, your body shrinks to the size of an atom as you feel like you’re entire body is free falling out of an airplane in some strange rainbow colored portal that shifts to shimmering diamonds and then finally a blue coral type texture as you find your teams designed route down some swirling tube of blues and bright white lights until at last you land in...

“Holy shit look at this place.” You mutter in absolute awe at the large golden pillars of Asgard, there was no fucking way you were missing out on traveling to this realm. And anyways, Steve kinda made it your task to keep the potbellied god of thunder in check as yourself and Rocket attempt to locate the Reality Stone with Lebowski as your generous tour guide.

Thor smiles fondly, proudly beaming at you with a rare form of happiness as he points towards the large cavernous halls of the royal palace, “Oh this? Yeah, it’s neat isn’t it, I grew up here....played games down this very hallway actually. Me and some friends used to spar one another as children down here with wooden sticks that looked like swor...”

“Thor.” Interrupts Rocket with an annoyed huff, “Remember why we’re actually here.”

You nod in agreement, quickly remembering the current mission, “He’s right. No time to dwell on fond memories, we need to find that stone before anyone sees us. And going by the logic of literally every time traveling movie I’ve ever seen, which admittedly isn’t a lot, but it’s enough that I know no one can see us. Especially you Thor, that would be a big problem for this timeline, so lead the way.”

“Yes, right on that, good point Y/N....okay um...” He looks around for a moment before pointing in the direction of choice, which is down a long spacious hallway, “This way, no ones gonna see us if we go by the dungeons.” Explains Thor as he quickly leads the way down the obnoxiously long hallway that thankfully is decently vacant.

After about five minutes of trekking around the castles interior, Thor guides you and Rocket down a long stairwell of dark grey stone until you reach the bottom floor. There are large basins of fire lighting the way down the lengthy hallway pass, he jogs past a couple golden tinged cells holding a few odd looking prisoners on your way out.

No doubt these fuckers look like they deserve it.

You pay them no mind as Thor hustles silently across the flooring to a door on the far end, though as you’re shuffling past another cell, your eyes land on the green and black clad slender body of a dark haired man laying atop his bed. Face focused towards the white ceiling as he tosses a cylindrical piece of metal in a repeated rhythm only done by that of an incredibly bored individual.

That must be his brother Loki, you draw into conclusion while racing out of sight of the trickster god while Rocket makes haste by your side. Kind of handsome, you think as an unknowing smile finds itself onto your face. God Y/N you truly are a desperate woman. No, just no.

Eventually, Thor leads your little team of three upstairs to some large balcony type area with a grand view of Asgard, the three of you keeping hidden behind one of the multitude of intricately decorated pillars as he eyes up a woman halfway out of a giant door while she accepts some clothing from a maid.

His bearded face lights up in joy as he points a finger towards the brunette woman, “Oh, there’s Jane.” Whispers Thor as she closes the door, the Asgardian maiden leaving and walking elsewhere down another yawning chamber.

“All right.” Starts Rocket as he stands on some ancient rock covered in unknown hieroglyphics before jumping down to face the two of you once the coast is clear, “Here’s the deal tubby. You’re gonna charm her, Y/N’s gonna keep watch, and I’m gonna poke her with this thing..” He shows some strange metal device with three silver prongs sticking out of it, “...and extract the Reality Stone, and get gone lickety-split.”

The optimism off of this creature never fails to astound you.

“Yeah, what he said.” You add with a shrug in Rocket’s direction as Thor sniffs before raising up a finger. “I’ll be right back, okay? The wine cellar is just down here...” Interjects Thor as he slowly begins walking away, clearly ready to abandon his part in the mission, “My father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I’ll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups.”

“Hey. Hey!” You whisper yell, causing him to stop for the moment, “Aren’t you drunk enough already? Fuck that fancy wine we got better things to do.” You urgently vouch just as some doors loudly open nearby, immediately the three of you hide behind the stone of hieroglyphics and watch as a long haired woman leads the way, a multitude of servants in her wake as she says something about giving books to Loki from the library.

“Who’s the fancy broad?” Wonders Rocket as you raise an intrigued brow at Thor, his eyes never once leave the woman’s as he takes a steady breath, “That’s my mother.” Reveals the disheartened god, a sudden sadness lacing his very words that does not go unnoticed by you, “She dies today.”

Your breath catches in your throat at this sudden tragic news of great loss, you remember when you lost your own mother by the filthy hands of Hydra and how they helped you quickly forget about her. You didn’t have anytime to grieve or even question her sudden disappearance for that matter, “Oh, shit...that’s today.”

You share a nervous look with Rocket as Thor begins taking some deep almost panicked breaths, his emotions all rising together like a swelling storm as his face shifts to an afflicted pain, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this....” Rambles Thor with a shake of his blonde mane, eyes displaying panic, “..I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. It’s a bad idea!” Whisper yells Thor as he anxiously shifts from one foot to the other.

“Come here.” Beacons Rocket from his perch on the rock.

“No, no, no...” Deviates Thor as he waves his hands nervously in the air like he’s trying to flick some mud off of them, “I think I’m having a panic attack.” Worries the flushed faced god.

“Come here. Right here.” Says Rocket as he points to the rock, an increase in irritation shifting the tone of his voice while Thor breaths heavily, clearly not on board with whatever Rocket’s going to tell him.

“No, no, no, guys I can’t...I can’t do this, I’m sorry but I’m not ready, I can’t...” Thwack, Thor yelps in surprise at your intentionally weak assault on his large bicep, “Y/N what was that for?” He half-offendedly demands, brows furrowed in confusion at the flash of anger racing across your sour glare.

“You think you’re the only one who lost people?” You snap as he lowers his head like a beaten dog, “What the fuck do you think we’re doing here? I lost the only person I ever loved, Rocket lost his whole family, gone, just like that.” You affirm with a snap of your fingers.

His face grows conflicted as you suddenly lose your heated aurora, face falling into a frown as you place a comforting hand upon his shoulder, “Thor, I know it hurts that you lost your mom...believe me I get it, but she’s gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone, and you can help them.”

Thor nods apprehensively as you share a small smile with him, “So if it’s not too much to ask, can you get your shit together for the next however long this is going to take so we can save the world?”

Rocket chuckles before gaining the both of yours attentions. “Agreed. Now all you gotta do is make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants and when she’s not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help us get our family back. Aight?”

Thor nods once more, face twisting into a saddened pain a he looks down to the floor, “Okay.” Mumbles the god of thunder weakly, face reddening as his eyes get glossy. You let him take a breath as he avoids your gaze at all costs, eyes beginning to water while he tries to play it off.

Giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze, your brows furrow in puzzlement, “Are you crying?”

He shakes his head, some tears slipping despite his verbal protest, “No.” Mutters Thor weakly as his tearful gaze finally picks up to meet you, “Yes..” Squeaks out the teary eyed god while his eyes flicker from the far wall to your face once more, “...Y/N, I feel like I’m losing it. I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing...I just feel so...shit I don’t know anymore.” Admits the fearful Asgardian as he avoids your softening yet slightly annoyed gaze.

oh, Thor you sad motherfucker. I’ve been there.

Rolling your eyes you gently shake his shoulder for emphasis, “Listen to me you big lion, get your shit together! You can do this. You’re the god of thunder for fucks sake, you can do this Thor.” His face turns into a surprisingly more confident expression as he huffs with a self-assured nod. “I can do this.”

“Yeah...I can do this.” Repeats the Asgardian with a sniffle.

Smirking, you give his arm a friendly smack, “Good. Now let’s do this and get the fuck out of here.” You add before swiftly turning on your heel as you and Rocket lead the way to the door, reaching it, the talking raccoon tugs on your leg before you get a chance to open it. “What is it now?”

“Y/N, we lost him.”

“What?!” Realizing Thor has indeed slipped away and out of sight, you clench your fists in irritation, “Goddammit.” You seethe before looking down at Rocket, “Whatever, we’ll find marshmallow fluff later, let’s just get this stupid rock.”

——

Racing down the palaces golden hallways, your boots thud against the stony ground as Rocket runs on all fours right behind you, “I almost hope they catch you!” You shout in between the yelling of the royal guards as they hastily pursue the two of you down the hallway.

“We got the stone didn’t we!” Snaps Rocket as you pick up your pace.

“We gotta make it back first you dumbfuck!”

He grumbles something unintelligible before you follow the beer tinged scent of Thor into another room, he’s speaking with his mother when they quickly turn around, “Oh, uh, hello...uh, queen something.” You mutter before Rocket practically smacks into the back of your legs. “I got the thing. Come on. We gotta move.”

Thor nods, speaking some last final heartfelt goodbyes to his mother before abruptly stopping the countdown to three just so he can summon his hammer. After a couple lengthy seconds, Mjolnir falls right into his strong grasp causing Thor to laugh and smile in excitement. “I’m still worthy! I’m still worthy.”

Rocket shares a look with you, “Oh, boy.” Mumbles the raccoon as you simply roll your eyes at the bearded Asgardian prince. A moment later the three of you are sucked into the time portal once again before landing on the glass of the time portal machine.

“Did we get them all?” You hear Steve ask in wonder as you hold your stomach from the jostling ride back.

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” You mutter as Rodney smiles in excitement at everyone around him and the stones in their proximity. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

Taking a deep breath to steady your turning stomach, all eyes turn to Clint as he suddenly falls to his knees, face a mask of saddened grief that sparks panic in your heart. “Clint, where’s Nat?” Questions Bruce as your face falls.

Not her, not Natasha too.

Standing solemnly on the Facility’s large dock with the teams main Avengers in various places close by, you lean against one of the thin steel beams, a deep frown on your lips while your fingers anxiously play with Bucky’s dog tags around your neck.

“Do we know if she had family?” Questions Tony to no on in particular.

Steve swallows thickly, a couple free tear stains falling down the side of his cheeks, “Yeah. Us.” Mutters the blonde gloomily as you bite your bottom lip to keep from crying again.

“What?” Wonders Thor almost in disbelief as Tony gives him a quizzical look, “Yeah, no, you guys are acting like she’s dead. Why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones Cap, we can bring her back. Isn’t that right?” Adds Thor, glancing between all of you before facing Tony again, “So, stop this shit. We’re the Avengers. Get it together...”

“Can’t get her back.” Interrupts Clint dismally, eyes still set on the open water beyond the compound.

Thor’s brows furrow in befuddlement, “Wh-what...”

“It can’t be undone. It can’t.” Insists Clint, voice slightly wavering in despair; Thor then starts chuckling at the absurdity of the whole shitty situation before rambling about space magic and that there must be another way. Clint on the other hand quickly gets heated about this and promptly snaps at Thor about some red floaty guy he met who revealed once the Soul Stone is taken, the one sacrificed can never come back. Ever.

Soon things calmed down again, though still a rather gloomy atmosphere still lingers like a persistent hazy fog even after they all left, leaving no one but yourself and Steve on the dock. He keeps a steady gaze on the rippling water as he lets his sadness take its course, this is indeed a heavy blow to bear.

Letting out a shaky breath, you move from the leaning against the beam to instead find a spot next to him on the wooden bench. Dog tags still clutched in your fist as you steal a glance at the tearful man. You’ve admittedly never seen him so upset, well, you both may have shared a good cry when Bucky was whipped from existence five years ago. That was the first time you ever truly bonded with anyone from the team, the first time Steve and Natasha showed you their vulnerability.

And for that, you’ve formed a stronger bond with them that you’d never thought possible. They welcomed you into the compound like an old friend, always treated you with respect and gave you room when you needed it. And even when you didn’t want to be around anyone, they still forced you into playing cards with them anyways, among other dumb games. Which annoyingly so, is what your sad little self needed back then.

But without Natasha, without her beaming heart and fierce attitude to keep fighting through the unknown and murky waters, you’re not even sure if this would all still be conceivable. Or if you’d even still be here with all of them for that matter, you might have gone on an angry warpath just as Clint did when everyone he ever loved was snatched from him forever.

So why, after all this time and pain, is she the one who had to go? It’s not fare. And your heart feels broken all over again; sniffling, you swallow thickly before turning your head a little in Steve’s direction, “I didn’t know her for as long as you guys did.....but she was, really the best of us..” You laugh dismally.

Voice shaky as you hold Bucky’s tags close to your chest, “..If not better. She was the first Avenger I ever met you know, the only piece of my past that didn’t try to murder me on sight, actually. I liked her. She was who I needed to get me through my grief, among other things huh...and uh...I will miss her.....a lot.”

Nothing is heard except for the low rustling of the nearby trees as a soft wind blows into your faces, Steve clasps his hands together, turning to you, “Funnily enough, it took me some time to completely trust her, but now....there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” Mutters Steve with the flash of a genuine smile as he thinks fondly on Natasha, who you wish more then anything could still be here to celebrate the hard work of finding those goddamn stones.

It’s not fucking fare.

Swallowing thickly, you nod in agreement as more hot tears trail down your somber face, “The world will owe her their lives and never even know it.....but I will, we all will. Her memory will live on if I can help it, we owe her that much.”

Steve slowly nods, thumbs fiddling together anxiously as he mutters a raspy, “Yeah.”

You rest a comforting hand atop his broad shoulder as he shares a mutually dismal look with you, “We’ve already lost so much already and she fought for this like no once else did, we will avenge her Steve. I don’t doubt she knows it.”

Tagged: @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @bizarrebibitch @atomicpersonacheesecake @jmstz @staygoldsquatchling02 @marvelbros-oneshots @shawnartmendes @mischiefmanaged71 @jckie94 @iamasimpingh0e @mjaudrey @thescarlettvvitch

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x you #marvel imagine #marvel x y/n #marvel x you #marvel x reader #the winter soldier #fanfic #fanfiction #the avengers imagine

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alectoperdita · 4 years ago

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Fictober - Day 31

prompt: “I trust you” fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters pairing: Jounouchi Katsuya/Kaiba Seto rating: explicit warnings: sexual content, dirty talk, barebacking, dom/sub undertones a/n: Kaiba continues to find new ways to surprise Jounouchi. | happy halloween! enjoy this treat that’s both sweet and spicy from the Comfortable in our skin universe (another coda on a coda). timeline-wise, this takes place the following April after the confession made in day 16. (@elexica, it took them a while longer than you’d probably would have liked but they got there.)

"Is your passport valid?"

Jounouchi paused in the middle of bending over to pick up his discarded jeans. Throwing said jeans over one shoulder, he straightened and turned to face his lover, who was still lounging naked on his bed. Kaiba asked some of the strangest non sequiturs after sex.

"You know it's valid. I was in Taiwan two weeks ago," he reminded Kaiba.

For the first time in years, Jounouchi was working a steady gig on the crew of a locally filming drama series. The latest set of episodes had the main characters taking a trip to Taiwan, and he had gone as part of the crew for the location shoot.

Kaiba screwed his face in almost confusion. "Was it that recently?"

With a sigh, he dropped his pants, ambled back toward the bed, and flopped down next to the other man. Jounouchi rested his cheek against Kaiba's bare shoulder and pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw. "Yeah, it was. I'm not surprised you don't remember. We've barely seen each other these last few weeks. You were super buried under work."

Kaiba dragged a hand down his face before throwing his arms over Jounouchi's waist and rolling onto his side to tuck the other man against his chest. "The end of the fiscal year's been especially messy this year. It being sandwiched between two separate product releases before and afterward didn't help," he grumbled.

Kaiba must actually be worn out from overworking. He so rarely complained like that.

Wiggling closer, Jounouchi slung an arm around Kaiba's back. "So, why were you asking about my passport?"

Kaiba's fingers drew meandering patterns across the small of his back. In typical Kaiba fashion, he didn't directly answer the question. "Keep the last two weeks of April open."

He peered up at Kaiba but couldn't see more than his chin and the curve of his lips from the current angle. "What for?" he pressed.

Kaiba's arm tightened around him. "So we can go somewhere, deadbeat."

Jounouchi opened his mouth to ask where before he remembered last April and Kaiba's "annual sabbatical." While the space station was still operational, there was no longer a Quantum Cube there. No longer a way to reach the afterlife. Was Kaiba asking him to go back with him? Swallowing his trepidation, Jounouchi hid his face in the crook of Kaiba's neck before agreeing.

-x-x-x-

Like a rosy blush, pink dusted the gray-blue sky on that early morning they headed to the airport. This time, Jounouchi and Kaiba boarded the same private charter flight. The overly attractive stewardess helped them settle into the cabin, but Jounouchi waved her off as she tried to ply him with tea and breakfast. As he nestled against Kaiba's side with his face buried in a shoulder, Kaiba summarily dismissed her as Jounouchi drifted off into sleep.

He woke some untold hours later, still pillowed against Kaiba's shoulder. The cabin lights were dimmed. Curiously, Kaiba had opted to read a book instead of working on his laptop or tablet. Stifling a yawn, he cast a bleary gaze out of the window and saw nothing but clouds. When he returned his attention back inside the plane, Kaiba was waiting for him, his book already closed and tucked away in a seat pocket.

Clasping Jounouchi's face with both hands, Kaiba pressed him against the leather seat and kissed him deeply. As time passed, the slow nips and licks grew hotter and sharper until Jounouchi was panting into Kaiba's mouth and clawing at his shoulders. He bit back a desperate whine as Kaiba cupped him between his legs and began fondling him through his pants.

"Can't you control yourself for like a few more hours? What if she hears us?" Jounouchi asked even as his willpower dissolved. He was maybe two more touches away from begging Kaiba to fuck him until he screamed.

Teeth nipped at his earlobe as Kaiba worked his jeans open and flipped him over. With a swift pull, he yanked both Jounouchi's pants and underwear down to expose his ass to the cabin's cold air. Jounouchi steadied himself by using one hand to grip the armrest and the other to grab hold of the seat's headrest, but he couldn't contain the moan that tore from his throat when Kaiba's long fingers teased his ass open. God, they were slick with lube and pushed into him with a delicious burn. Panting, he ground back against the invading digits, already desperate to get to the main course and have Kaiba's cock split him open.

"It seems to me that you're the one who can't wait," growled Kaiba in his ear.

"C'mon, let's join the mile-high club," murmured Jounouchi, words slurred like he was drunk. Fuck, sex with Kaiba should be classified as an addictive substance.

"Jounouchi, I've fucked you in space," his lover laughed. "Would have thought that counted for more."

"Don't care. That was then. This is now. And right now, I want you to fuck me with your big, hard cock," he whined quietly.

Kaiba hummed and resumed fingering him, using practiced and methodical motions to massage his inner walls and scissor him loose.

Jounouchi pressed his forehead against the cold window, arching his back and rocking back in need and desperation. "Kaiba," he whined louder.

A hand covered his mouth, and fingers squeezed his jaws in a warning.

"Careful, Jounouchi." Kaiba pressed his mouth to the nape of his neck. "I thought you were worried about being overheard. You want my cock? Then you're going to have to come from my fingers first."

Kaiba always played a cruel game, and this was no exception. He fingerfucked Jounouchi until he felt like he was going insane from lust and frustration. Not only did he refuse to touch Jounouchi's leaking cock, but he also edged him mercilessly, continually pushing him to the precipice only to ease back and do it all over again. Jounouchi panted his swears and pleas against Kaiba's palm, which never left his mouth.

Suddenly, Jounouchi collapsed against his seat, his mouth uncovered, and his hole clenching around empty air. He could feel how sticky and slick his cleft and inner thighs were with lube. The next time Kaiba laid hands on him, it was to pull his clothing back on and do up the button and zipper over his engorged arousal.

"Wait. What? Kaiba," he moaned pathetically and twisted toward the man. He kissed him, peppered his lips across his face and jaw as he begged, "Don't stop. Please. I want you. I want you so bad I could die."

"Shh," hushed Kaiba. His eyes glowed with a wicked light that invited Jounouchi to drown in that sea of blue. "We're about to land. Now buckle up and be good if you want your reward later."

Squirming, Jounouchi wiggled in his seat. He shuddered at the uncomfortably wet boxers that now stuck to his ass cheeks. He should wring Kaiba's swan neck for toying with him. The bastard probably never had any intention of fucking Jounouchi on the plane. He just wanted to get him riled up. And damn him that it worked so well.

By the time the plane landed, though, Jounouchi had got himself under some semblance of control. There wasn't going to be any privacy until they got up to the space station. But when that time came, he'd do his best to get his revenge. Let's see how Kaiba liked being blue-balled.

All plans of revenge abandoned him when he stepped onto the tarmac, though. What greeted him was not the endless blue expanse at the end of a featureless runway under the foreboding shadow cast by the space elevator's base, but the familiar red, cross-gabled roof of Roman Tmetuchl International Airport. He looked up and down the runway and spotted several other planes of various sizes.

He spun and gaped at Kaiba, who was just disembarking from the plane. "Palau?" he cried.

His lover descended the stairs and approached with a faint smirk. "You should know better than me. You're the one who comes here every year."

Unable to stop the smile creeping across his face, Jounouchi beamed with a mixture of glee and disbelief. "Kaiba Seto, is this a fuckin' vacation?"

Kaiba leaned forward and kissed him. Afterward, he whispered, "The vacation wasn't expressly reserved for fucking, but I could be convinced otherwise."

Still grinning like crazy, Jounouchi slugged his arm. On second thought, Kaiba deserved another kiss for this surprise.

-x-x-x-

As soon as the door unlocked and pushed open, Jounouchi bolted inside. Kaiba and the resort host brought up the rear with the luggage. While Kaiba lingered to talk to the staff in the entryway, Jounouchi kicked off his sneakers and went ahead to check out the room. He rounded the corner and was greeted by a large king-sized bed with the headboard flush against the warm wood wall. Not that far away from the bed was a set of wicker sofa and loveseat aimed at the television and toward the back deck. As he ventured farther into the room, he spotted two open doors, one leading into a bathroom and another appeared to be a large closet. There was even a writing desk tucked in one corner, facing out the window.

But most importantly, his gaze was drawn to the brilliant emerald waters shimmering in the sun outside. He crossed the room to slide open the deck door, inviting a cool sea breeze into the villa. Stepping out onto the shaded deck space, the smell of the ocean assaulted him. The water beyond the edge was pristine and shallow enough to see the lagoon's sandy bottom. If Jounouchi had to guess, it would probably come up to his mid-chest.

With a deep inhale, he slid his eyelids shut and stretched his arms overhead. Even a private flight could only alleviate so much of the discomfort of flying. He held the pose as he exhaled, enjoying the wind tousling his hair and the faint sound of birds from the surrounding landscape.

Behind him, footsteps padded across the wood, and a familiar presence hovered nearby for several beats before a set of arms wound around his midsection. He hummed and leaned back into Kaiba's embrace. He only opened his eyes when he felt a faint pressure of a nose and lips behind one ear.

"Thoughts?" Kaiba's words tickled against his hair and skin.

Squirming but not breaking out of Kaiba's arms, Jounouchi turned to face his lover and beamed, "It's awesome! Although I wish you would have said something, I didn't pack any swim trunks."

"You could have asked."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes and threw his arms around Kaiba's neck. "Yeah, like you would have given me a straight answer. Gotta say. This is kinda modest and low-key for you."

"I initially considered something more remote and private, but then I remembered how antsy you got after two days on the space station."

Jounouchi's heart skipped a beat as it always did when Kaiba did something unexpectedly sweet. Kaiba had planned this. And what was more, he'd taken Jounouchi's preferences into consideration. This really was a couple's vacation.

Kaiba glanced down as his smirk transformed into a leer. A hand drifted from Jounouchi's waist to grasp his buttock. "But if you prefer, it's not too late to change our accommodations."

"So, you can tie me to the bed and have your dirty way with me 24/7?" Jounouchi joked, but he too remembered the sex marathon from last April. "I'm not falling for that."

"There's nothing to stop me from doing that here." Kaiba's eyes glowed with a wicked promise.

The hand on his butt squeezed harder, wrenching a gasp from Jounouchi. Sweat trickled down his face and neck. His ass was still sticky from when Kaiba toyed with him earlier. Driving his hips forward so Kaiba could feel his growing erection, he met him with a panting, passionate kiss. When they separated, Jounouchi growled, "If anyone's tying anyone down, it's me paying you back for that stunt on the plane."

Kaiba laughed as he shoved him back inside. Their discarded clothing paved the trail to the large bed on the other side of the room. Everything about where they were and how they got there went straight to his head. Even if they spent most of the time having sex, it didn't change the fact that Kaiba had made time for this—had planned for them to come here and be together.

With the deck still thrown open to the green lagoon, he rode Kaiba until his head swam and his thighs burned from the exertion. After Jounouchi came in across his chiseled chest and abs with shuddering gasps and moans, Kaiba continued to fuck into him with long, punishing strokes. Kaiba's possessive grasp on his hips held him astride while he bounced up and down on the hard cock. Every thrust into his stretched and oversensitive hole gave pleasure so intense that it bordered on pain.

"Shit, you feel amazing. So big. So hot. So fucking hard," he cried, shaking from the intensity of their lovemaking.

Kaiba groaned beneath him, "A greedy ass for a greedy cock slut. Next time, I won't give you a choice. I'll lock you up and fuck you until you can't remember anything besides my name."

He moaned in agreement. "Kaiba, yes. Fuck me raw. Stuff me with your cock and cum. Kaiba, oh, God. Fill me up. Lemme be your cum slut. All yours. Make me drip and gush with it. I love it. I love—"

Kaiba slammed him down on his cock as it pulsed and painted Jounouchi's insides with hot cum. They moaned in unison, their bodies shaking through the force of the orgasm cascading through them. Fuck, it felt like Kaiba was pumping liters into him, and he was hungry for all of it.

Afterward, as they laid tangled with the ocean breeze drying their sweat-drenched skin, Jounouchi nuzzled the underside of his lover's jaw. "Love you," he whispered so quietly even he wasn't sure if he actually said the words out loud.

Kaiba heard him, though. The shoulder pillowing Jounouchi's head tensed, and the fingers combing through his hair faltered ever so slightly. Jounouchi didn't expect him to respond, much less reciprocate. Most of the time, he knew better than to toe that line, but he felt so unbearably light and giddy. His impossible affections bubbled inside him and demanded an outlet. Right now, he wanted to remind Kaiba that the feelings he'd foolishly confessed to months ago had never left.

Kaiba clasped him closer and buried his face in his hair. "I—I trust you, Jounouchi. I trust very few people on this earth, but you're one of them. Don't forget that."

Jounouchi's heart clenched painfully. For Kaiba, that was basically a love confession, right? Unable to form any words, he laced his fingers with Kaiba's and squeezed lightly. Kaiba returned the gesture without hesitation.

-x-x-x-

Kaiba's grip left handprint bruises on his hips after that first time. The top edges of which peeked out of the waistband of Jounouchi's swim trunks, which were newly purchased during a trip into town. They often drew Kaiba's attention whenever they dipped into the water beyond the deck. More often than not, that led them back to bed so that Kaiba could renew the prints regularly.

They made love at least twice a day. In bed. In the tub. Bent over the wicker furniture. Even out on the open deck once after night had fallen. Jounouchi went through most days with a dull ache in his backside, occasionally accompanied by a sore throat and a cramped arm, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He wouldn't be surprised if they were having more sex than the average honeymoon couple.

When they weren't fucking, they actually did vacation things together. It was not Jounouchi's first time in Palau. It wasn't even his second or third time. But when he came for work, he was lucky to squeeze in any amount of time to sunbathe and buy souvenirs. Now with Kaiba at his side, though, he got to experience all the leisure the islands had to offer. Jounouchi dragged them to his favorite haunts he'd discovered on previous work trips, and Kaiba talked him into sailing. Together, they both tried snorkeling, which Jounouchi liked a lot more than his partner. Most surprisingly of all, Kaiba barely worked at all, even when they were settled on the couch watching some movie of Jounouchi's choosing.

Between having fun in the sun and having sex on every available surface, two weeks flew by in seemingly the blink of an eye.

On the eve of their last night in Palau, Jounouchi sat on the deck with his feet dangling in the water as he privately bade farewell to this slice of paradise. Tomorrow, they'd return to Japan, back to their jobs, their separate beds, and their respective homes. When Jounouchi next returned here, it probably wouldn't be with Kaiba. Instead, he would likely rotate through numerous shoots headlined by snooty models and diva performers. It'd be a month of being away from Kaiba and missing him sorely.

"Dinner's here."

Jounouchi rose to his feet and joined his lover at the table. Kaiba uncorked a bottle of wine and poured them each a glass. Jounouchi raised the glass, admiring how twilight pooled along the curve with the white wine.

Kaiba arched an eyebrow. "Did you want to make a toast?"

Snickering, Jounouchi said, "Sure, to dirty, raunchy sex."

Despite rolling his eyes, Kaiba still clinked his glass to Jounouchi's. Together, they took a sip before digging into their food.

Partway through the meal, Kaiba nudged his ankle under the table. "You're unusually quiet this evening."

"Just soaking in the atmosphere, I guess."

Kaiba observed him from across the table. "You don't want to leave."

"Actually, I kinda do," Jounouchi laughed softly. "This has been great, but this isn't real life. I miss Domino, our friends and family, and my job."

"We can come back next year. Or go somewhere else if you'd like," offered Kaiba.

He flashed a smile at his lover. "Ain't you being a thoughtful sugar daddy?"

The face Kaiba made in response to his joke was priceless. Jounouchi wished he had a picture of it to frame it and hang it in his apartment. With an indignant scoff, Kaiba took hold of his wine and turned his attention toward the sun setting on the horizon.

Jounouchi reached over and took Kaiba's hand. "Seriously, though, thanks for this. I had a freaking blast."

Kaiba automatically adjusted his grip to thread their fingers together. "It's been my pleasure," he admitted. Given his slightly startled expression, he was caught off-guard by his own feelings.

Jounouchi found himself reciprocating the honest vulnerability. "It's gonna be strange not to see you all the time after we go home, but I'll get used to it."

Kaiba fixed his gaze on their hands for long moments before he set his wine glass down. Without releasing Jounouchi from his other hand, he pulled something out of his pocket and slid it across the table. Jounouchi stared at the small object that frighteningly resembled a ring box. Meanwhile, Kaiba picked up his wine again to take a large gulp.

The box felt like a challenge directed at Jounouchi. Taking a deep breath, he pried it open with one hand. A keyring with a silver key and a fob rested inside.

Kaiba finally spoke again. "Your lease, it's up at the end of May. Don't renew it."

Jounouchi turned the box over and dumped the keyring out onto the table. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like a house key and a fob that gave security access. Lifting his gaze, he locked eyes with Kaiba. "Where am I supposed to live then?" he asked, his heart pounding in anticipation of the answer he knew was coming.

As was typical of Kaiba, he didn't answer the question directly. "Those will allow you to come and go from the mansion as you please. I don't think I can make myself any clearer than that."

Pulling free of Kaiba's hand, Jounouchi picked up the keyring and rounded the table. He lowered himself onto Kaiba's lap and cupped his cheeks. The silver key was pressed between his palm and Kaiba's face. "You're asking me to move in with you."

After a beat, Kaiba encircled his arms around his waist and confirmed, "I am."

"Have you talked to Mokuba about this? I mean, he lives there too."

"I have. He didn't object. There's more than enough room for the three of us."

"There's enough room for an entire football team," snarked Jounouchi, still reeling from Kaiba's invitation.

"I won't force you. Those are yours to keep even if you refuse."

Gazing into Kaiba's blue eyes, deeper than the Pacific Ocean, Jounouchi found no traces of lying, but he thought he recognized a touch of nervousness in the crinkle. Should he agree? Was this a disaster waiting to happen? They had been together for almost two years. Living together was pretty par the course at this point in most relationships. But they weren't most relationships or most people.

Yet Jounouchi had hope for their future. The thought of coming home to share the same bed when their schedules allowed was too enticing to pass up. He wanted that more badly than he would have guessed.

"Okay, I'll do it. You better not regret it afterward."

"I don't think I will."

Smiling, Kaiba grasped the back of his neck and reeling him in for a languid kiss as the last light of the dying day washed over them. Whatever may become of them in the end, Jounouchi would remember this moment for the rest of his life.

Check out other puppy/violetshipping ficlets I’m writing all #fictober20 long

#fictober20 #violetshipping #puppyshipping #kaijou #my fanfiction #fic: Comfortable in our skin #for those curious yes Jou does get to join the Mile High Club on the flight back #and we're done!#thank you for reading along #hope you've enjoyed these as much as i tried to have writing them #post-mortem to follow tomorrow #yugioh

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wonderlandmind4 · 4 years ago

Text

Delicate Stages of Life: 27

Time Heist

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC Ana Rios

Summary: Life in Wakanda is filled with love, laughs, some tears, all emotions, lazy days, goats, hot springs, a soul connection, and something dark that looms over Bucky’s and Ana’s domestic bliss…

Warnings: Language. Angst.

Words: 8005 k

A/N: (Do not read unless you’ve read Delicate Stages first) beautiful moodboard by @afewmarvelousthoughts and thank you for all your help and tears and yelling at me. (gif not mine) Sorry for the wait!

Fingers glide over a slick flat surface, ripples cascading outward. Eyes flutter open, vision filled with the hue of a dusty orange haze; a setting sun. Slowly, Ana sits up, hands stroking through the water that never dampens her skin. Pushing herself up, she turns, immediately spotting the little girl. As she walks towards her, footsteps silent in the pond, the girl meets her gaze. She doesn’t speak, just takes a step sideways, placing her small hands against her own chest. Curiosity propels Ana forward, moving closer to the girl, searching her brain to recall her name.

“Gamora,” Ana speaks with a hushed tone.

She stretches out her hand for the child to take. Ana has so many questions to ask her, sitting on the tip of her tongue. Gamora shakes her head, a rueful tilt to her mouth, eyes glossy. She keeps her hands over her chest, a faint glow emitting between her fingers.

“How can I help you?” Ana begs. What was her purpose of being here? Of her constantly waking up in the same spot, in the same world, for years now? “I want to help you.”

“You’re not here for me,” She whispers ominously.

Eyebrows knit together. “What do you mean?”

The child’s tiny smile falls from her lips. She moves one hand to press against the door behind her, holds out the other for Ana. When their fingers connect, a rush shoots through Ana’s body, suddenly she’s standing on the other side of the door. She blinks, the sensation rolling through her chest when she touched Gamora remains as she stares ahead.

Bucky, as in every dream, stands before her, the same little grin on his lips. “Annie.”

Ana immediately goes to him, her hands hovering over his face. She refrains from touching him just yet, not sure if he’ll fade away the second she does. The only time they were able to solidly feel each other was the night their daughter was born; she hasn’t been able to touch him since. She hasn’t been back in this world for months.

“Bucky,” His name spills on a choked sob, relief warming her body at the sight of his beautiful face. “Hi.”

Bucky raises his hand, barely brushing his fingers through her hair, light enough to send a shiver down her spine. Her heart sings with the ghost of his touch.

“I wish I could stay here with you,” Ana mumbles, copying his own gesture, her fingers grazing over his beard, hovering down to his chest. “I wish I could feel you.”

A solemn smile crooks his mouth. “I’m always with you. With Alex. She is so beautiful, Ana.”

Bucky saying their daughter’s name fills a part of her soul. It’s the same sensation she had when she first held their baby girl. Ana can’t resist any longer, pressing her hand firmly against his chest. She longs for him. She needs him, just needs to feel his body beneath her palm, if only briefly. Bucky tilts his head down, forehead resting against hers.

“I love you,” Ana weeps softly, beginning to feel him dematerialize.

Bucky cups her cheeks, thumbs wiping away the tears staining her face. “Just because I’m not here, doesn’t mean my love for you has faded.”

She grips his vest desperately, praying, yearning to keep him together in front of her. With every passing second, his fingers become lighter, feathers dancing over her skin, her hand sinking into his chest. Ana quickly grabs his right wrist, turning her face to kiss his palm, dust settling on her tongue, grains caught in the imprints of her lips.

“Be careful, Annie Doll.” Bucky’s warning echoes distantly. His form dematerializing into the air.

She can’t question what he means, too focused on attempting to breathe as ash fills her lungs. Bucky’s hand crumbles away. Her soul once again ripped from her body as her hand closes around nothing.

Waking with a shuddering gasp, Ana jerks upward, gripping the nearest thing with one hand, clutching at her chest with the other. Awareness comes quickly; her lashes and cheeks are wet, chest heaving, her fingers dig into the textured fabric of the couch. She takes her hand away before she can burn through another piece of furniture. Calming herself, she wipes her face dry, taking several deep breaths.

“Ana?” A concerned Steve hovers over her. His solid grip on her shoulder grounding her. “You alright? You with us?”

It takes her a second to answer him with a jerky nod. Keenly aware of all electronics flickering and buzzing around her, energy stinging her skin, she presses her hand to her chest, ceasing her powers. The air weighs heavily with loss, anxious anticipation, the fragile underline of hope. Emotional energy radiates from every person in the room. Tony doesn’t take his eyes off of her, brows furrowed, his eyes intensely attentive.

“I-I-” She stutters through pants.

“Sad mama?” Alex’s little voice pipes up, a question she’s been asking much too frequently. As if the toddler can sense the emotions around her. She’s sliding off Natasha’s lap, hurrying over to Ana. “Don’t be sad.”

Gathering her daughter into her own lap, Ana gently reassures her, hugging her close, reveling in the feeling of serenity only her daughter can give. Alex seems to accept this, lounging back against her chest and fiddling with her wedding rings. Ana lifts her gaze to Steve’s, his own keen on her every expression.

“This has to work,” She stresses, not caring of the desperation in her tone. “It has too.”

Steve leans forward, eyes intense on hers. “It will.” Then his jaw shifts, muscles clenching. “Because I don’t know what to do if it doesn’t. But it will work.” He puts enough conviction in his voice to make Ana want to believe him. Believe in the possibility.

“Well,” Bruce chirps after a stretch of heavy silence. He claps his large hands together, the sound echoing through the living room. Alex startles slightly. “Let’s get started then!”

All but Ana exit the living room. Hiding her face in her daughter’s hair briefly, another hand squeezes her shoulder firmly. When she lifts her head, Tony peers down at her, silent question in his dark eyes. Ana reaches up to pat the back of his hand, reassuring him.

While Tony tinkers with making Quantum suits and Bruce and Scott pour over their research notes on anything to do with Quantum Physics, Ana heads to the hangar several floors up. Alex skips happily behind her, softly singing Bucky’s lullaby.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone going with you? Steve at least?” Ana frowns once she’s sitting in the pilots seat of the Quinjet. She notices her daughter reaching for something on the control board. “Jamie Alexandra, what did I say about touching that?”

Alex snatches her hand back, sending her mother a cheesy smile, widening her blue eyes. God, she looks so much like Bucky when Ana would catch him eating out of the Nutella jar. Natasha locks her bag in a cupboard, then fondly ruffles the toddler's hair.

“This is something I have to do myself,” She replies, voice resigned. “I’m the only one who has any chance of convincing him.”

“Just...be careful.”

They lock eyes. Ana isn’t talking about Natasha protecting herself from physical harm, rather than protecting her heart and what she may find. Ana sees recognition dawn in her eyes. She dips her head in response.

“He’s never judged me on my worst mistakes...or non mistakes. I’m not one to judge him either. He gave me a chance despite my past, this is his.”

Pushing her hand through her hair, Ana sighs, accepting her answer. “Let me know when you get back home. If it’s really bad, I can try to help.”

“Thanks, I will.” Natasha turns to Alex, picking her up from the copilot seat. “You little miss monster, stay out of trouble.” She pokes her belly making the little girl laugh.

“I go too?” Alex asks with her innocent voice.

“Next time,” Natasha promises, kissing her cheek.

Following Natasha’s departure, the week brings moments Ana wasn’t quite prepared for. Though watching Alex run around in the grass, squealing and laughing as she chases after Nebula just minutes after she lands, fills her heart with joy. Rhodey and Tony have their own little reunion as Ana hangs back, relishing in a rare content moment.

Natasha successfully arrives back three days later with Clint in tow. Darkened, angry energy thickens the air, the sensation shoots through Ana’s bones the second she walks in the living room. It makes her knees weak, nearly giving out beneath her and when she meets Clint’s gaze, he dips his head in shame. When she recovers, Ana offers her help with the lift of her hands. The emotions rolling off him stings her fingertips.

“I don’t deserve your help,” Clint mutters brokenly.

“That’s what Bucky told me once,” Ana counters softly.

“That was different.”

“Is it?”

Clint huffs. “Don’t need to waste your powers on me, Feisty Cuffs.”

The old nickname makes her crack a smile. “Fine, will you allow a hug then?”

He relents. It results in Ana attempting to at least calm him, which makes him scoff before he playfully pushes her back onto the couch. When Clint officially meets Alex, his mood lifts significantly. When the little curious toddler begins to trace her fingers over the tattoos covering his entire left arm, Clint’s eyes soften with an all too familiar haunted gaze Ana recognizes.

Just one day later brings Bruce and Rocket back with Thor. His aura is worse than Clint’s, worse than anyone Ana has ever worked with; including Bucky. The god’s chaotic storm of energy and emotions leaves her breathless, overcomes her, and she frantically grabs Steve’s shirt to keep her upright as she falls. He’s quick to catch her, quick to take her from the room as she gasps.

Only an hour passes before she tries again with her rings on, greeting Thor with a spontaneous hug. He smells of sweat and stale beer, his long stringy hair and beard are unkempt, but Ana hugs him as tight as she can. When she pulls back, she cups her hands along his cheeks. His eyes- one blue, one gold- fill with tears, every ounce of his aura black, broken, guilt-ridden. Ana tentatively uses her ability, a slow morph of transmutation.

“They hate me,” Thor mumbles nearly inaudible. Ana is inches away from him and she has to strain her ears.

She offers him a gentle smile. “No one hates you, Thor.”

“You hate me.”

“Never.”

His bottom lip trembles before he tilts forward, face pressed against her shoulder. Ana hugs him like she did Clint, patting his back. A giggle echoes down the hallway, Alex appearing seconds later with Tony, her bunny clutched in her little hands. Smiling, Ana taps Thor harder.

“Would you like to meet my daughter?”

Without fail, Alex brightens Thor’s face with a genuine grin. She introduces her BunBun to him, chattering away and asking to braid his hair like her mama does with hers. Ana swells with adoration and pride, realizing that anyone who has the honor of being in her daughter’s presence always seems to cheer up, their energies turn lighter whether they’re sad or not. Vaguely she wonders if it’s just Alex and her cute happy demeanor, or if she had passed some of her own powers down to her child.

When Thor pretends to fall back from a fake self-inflicted punch from the bunny, Alex laughs uncontrollably, little crinkles forming by her bright blue eyes. Ana doesn’t focus on the possibility of what her daughter may have inherited from her or Bucky, just enjoys the sight of her little girl doing more for this makeshift family than she will ever know.

Tony, Rocket, Nebula and Bruce work tirelessly on building a Quantum Tunnel during the next few days. It’s a time machine and Ana insists on calling it an advanced dolorian much to Tony’s annoyance and Steve’s amusement. Halfway through the building process, Alex wonders in, her childish curiosity taking over as she plops down right next to Tony. Ana finally catches up with her daughter, halting in her steps.

Tony hands Alex a wrench, helping the little girl lift the heavy tool. He proceeds to teach her how to tighten a few bolts, chatting with her as if she’s a grown adult, the toddler nodding along as if she understands. Steve watches the scene a few feet in front of him, meeting Ana’s gaze before he makes his way over to her.

“Ya know, Bucky loved science and technology,” Steve states, a distant gleam in his blue eyes. He suddenly chuckles. “He was kind of a nerd.”

A pang clenches through her heart, but Ana chooses to make this moment a happy one. “Yes he was,” She laughs. “It’s one of the main reasons he loved living in Wakanda.”

“She’s smart, Alex is. Really smart for her age.”

“I think she has more Bucky in her than me.”

Steve must pick up on the slight waver in her tone, for he wraps a comforting arm around her shoulders. “You ready for this?”

Sighing, Ana briefly rests her head against his chest. “I’m trying really hard not to get my hopes up, but yes. I am so ready for this.”

Clint offers to be the time traveling guinea pig after Scott nearly panics about doing it himself. The test run goes smoothly and the utter disbelief yet joyous expression on Clint’s face leaves every single one of them more optimistic than before. Ana feels the collective energy pick up, the grueling heartbreak, guilt, loneliness, the darkness that had a gravity which weighed them down is beginning to dissipate. It’s fragile, hope is fragile and one wrong move could snatch it all away, destroying any chance of bringing their loved ones back.

It’s what brings on a six hour brainstorming session the next day. Ana sits back against the wall of the conference room after she put Alex down for a nap. Being one of the only people, besides Scott, not to have some encounter with any of the stones, she decides to stay out of the conversation. Bruce reminds them of the limited Pym particles and how crucial each roundtrip is.

Nebula makes brief eye contact with her. Ana frowns at the meaningful look, until she abruptly remembers her fingers grazing over one of the stones on that damn gauntlet. Shaking her head subtly, Nebula looks away, focusing on Thor’s sorrowful rambling about the Reality Stone, or the Aether as Steve called it.

Tuning them out, Ana bites her lip, nervously tracing her collarbones with her fingers. She still has trouble recalling which stone she touched, if she did in fact touch it at all. Maybe it was her imagination and she has just been trying to justify where her dreams are coming from.

After Thor’s wobbly retelling of the Aether, and Rocket’s entire story of the Power stone on Morag and how he and the Guardians saved the galaxy from potentially being destroyed, Ana offers to order lunch. Really, she just needed a break from the stories and her own jumbled thoughts.

Once they finish eating, FRIDAY alerts Ana of a stirring toddler beginning to wake, when Nebula states her knowledge of the Soul stone. She mentions the planet named Vormir, just as Ana pushes herself off the chair she was lounging in.

“What is Vormir?” Natasha inquires, writing furiously in the notebook she hasn’t put down since they started.

“A dominion death,” Nebula answers ominously. “At the very center of celestial existence...it’s where Thanos murdered my sister, Gamora.”

Ana freezes midstep. That name, why does that name sound so familiar? A brief image of a little girl with beautiful green skin and markings around her cheeks abruptly flashes through her mind. Gamora. Gamora . Slowly she turns, facing Nebula.

“What?” Her voice comes out hushed. Nebula has never mentioned her sister before by name. “What was her name?”

“Gamora.”

“Oh my god,” Ana exhales, reaching out to grab the door frame for support. “Oh, my god, holy fuck.”

“What? What is it?” Clint sits up, eyes darting between the two women. “Did you know her?”

She fish mouths several times, trying to make sense of the connection she just put together. It couldn’t be. How is that possible? Ana shakes her head in disbelief, remembering that horrid day in Wakanda once more.

“My-my dreams…” Ana begins breathlessly, her heart racing. “I-I touched a stone. Nebula, the stone I touched...I think it was- oh my god . I think it was the Soul Stone.”

Nebulas tenses. “Are you positive it was-”

“Wait,” Steve interrupts. “You touched a stone!? When did you touch a stone?”

Ana glances at him. “In Wakanda...after you got hit. I tried attacking Thanos. I tried pulling his life energy out but he was about to use the stones on me. I-I grabbed the gauntlet, attempted to take the energy from the stones instead and my hand slipped. I stole energy from the Soul Stone !”

“Pause, think about this,” Tony cuts in, rubbing his temple. “How can you be sure?”

“My dreams!” Ana explains exasperated. Tony raises his eyebrows, confusion coloring his face. Right, he doesn’t know about her dreams. She sighs heavily, moving to sit in the same chair again.

“I’ve been having these dreams for the past three years,” She informs him. “They’re not normal dreams, it feels real, always feels so real, as if I’m actually there. Usually it’s the same with an orange sky, like a sunset. I wake up in a pond of water but I’m never wet. I always see this little girl before I-” Ana clears her throat, pressing her hand to her chest. “Before I see Bucky. I see him every time and every time I try to touch him he just...he fades into ash.”

Ana’s hands are trembling and she’s grateful she’s sitting down, for her legs feel like jello. “But, I see this little girl, this child right before then. I kept asking who she was, where we were. All she told me was that she was trapped. Until the night Alex was born.”

“You nearly died,” Natasha whispers, eyes wide as she remembers. “Your heart stopped.”

“I think that’s when it happened,” Ana continues. “When I passed out, I was back in that world. Like I was physically there! I spoke with her again, she said her name was Gamora. And Bucky. I- I could touch him. I was able to touch him without him instantly crumbling. That hadn’t happened before. He told me-”

She tilts her head, mind falling back into the memory, the feel of Bucky’s cool touch lingering on her cheek. The warmth of his lips pressing against hers. She shakes her head. “He told me it wasn’t my world, and he knew Alex was a girl before I did. I touched Gamora, I touched Bucky. He knew...they both knew.”

Blinking herself back, Ana meets Nebula’s shocked face. “Oh, my god, it’s real. That place, that world. It’s real. I think it’s some sort of Soul World. Call me fucking crazy, but I think maybe their souls are trapped .”

“You’re right,” Rocket pipes up after a long stretch of stunned silence. “It does sound fucking crazy. But, not impossible?”

“I’m with build-a-bear on this one,” Tony inputs. He’s been staring intently at her since she started talking. “You have to be absolutely sure about this, kid.”

“I am, Tony! Hear me out,” Ana urges. “Before Bucky and I got married, I connected our energies. Basically, I connected our soul energies. I touched the Soul stone, which I’m assuming I contracted some amount of that energy as well. Nebula, you said Thanos-

“He killed my sister there.”

She dips her head in sympathy for Nebula. “It makes sense...her soul being trapped within it. It makes sense why I keep seeing Bucky there, because to do what he did, Thanos would need to take away souls as well with the stone. Every stone had its own purpose.”

“Call me crazy too, but what you’re saying makes sense,” Clint shrugs. He looks up at Steve, who nods in confirmation.

“So, what does it all mean?” Scott questions, scratching his head.

“Mrs. Barnes,” FRIDAY’s voice cuts through the room. “Your daughter is now wide awake. As I have sensed the importance of your meeting, I have opted to play her favorite movie for now. She is currently content to view it safely on your bed.”

“Thank you, FRIDAY, I’ll be right there,” Ana responds, rubbing her eyes. She stands up, steadying herself to make sure her legs have stopped shaking. “It means, Scott, I think you’re right about this time heist. I think this might actually, truly work. Their souls are trapped and if we can reserve it-”

“You can’t just bring a body back, it’s soul needs to be brought back too,” Bruce adds on, excitement in his voice.

“Exactly! I hope...but yes,” Ana says. “We can talk about this later. I have to get Alex before she decides to get into the nutella jar by herself.”

Ana makes it to her room before she allows herself a moment to breathe. Resting her forehead against her door, she counts her breathing, attempting to settle her heart, attempting to tamper down her building hope. Because if she hopes too much and reversing what Thanos did doesn’t work, it will crush her. She doesn’t think she’ll survive a second round of failure.

The brainstorming session finally comes to an end, everyone exhausted by dinner time. Too tired to cook, Tony orders pizza. Alex is giggling uncontrollably as she tries stealing one of Thor’s pieces while he dramatically catches her doing it. Ana has barely touched her food, her mind reeling over the revelation she had earlier.

Had she been dreaming of a Soul World this whole time? Was that what the door was for? The entrance of said world, but then why was Gamroa not on the other side? Did Ana truly die for a few moments the night of her daughter’s birth? Had she entered that world, and that’s why she could physically touch Bucky? Was that why Bucky was so adamant about her leaving?

“I fear you may be here permanently if you don’t leave soon.”

Did he mean the longer she stayed, the closer to death she really was? Her soul has been reaching out to his for the past three years. Bucky had been calling her name from that world for three years. Bucky’s soul has been watching over her from that world.

“You upset about my choice of pizza? I’m offended.” Tony’s voice pulls Ana out of her head. He sits next to her, purposely pressing the side of his body to hers.

“Hmm?”

“You haven’t touched your food.”

“Oh. I’m not very hungry,” She shrugs.

Tony appraises her, peering over the top of his glasses. “You’ve always been more powerful than you let on.”

“Pulling energy from an Infinity Stone doesn’t mean I’m powerful to begin with.”

“The fact that you were able to touch a stone without it killing you says the opposite. But I was talking about soul connecting.”

Picking the label off her beer bottle, Ana shrugs. “Bucky and I were connected long before that.”

“You’re downplaying your abilities, you have been for years, Ana. You don’t think I kept tabs on your energy readings since your brother’s funeral? The power knocked out within a ten mile radius. FRIDAY alerted me three years ago of an incident, your readings were off the charts, nearly reaching Thor’s level. Scarred the lawn I see.”

A sickening curl wraps around her stomach at the mention of her brother. Ana pushes her plate away further. Tony keeping up on her ability levels wasn’t a secret, the fact that he knew about her outburst was though; Pepper or Steve must have told him how it happened. Tearing off the beer label, she crumbles it, dropping it on the table.

“I don’t believe that,” Ana scoffs. She takes a long swig of her beer just to avoid the intensity in his eyes.

Tony hums, picking up her discarding pizza. “Regardless, I think you always had connections with soul energy, being an Empathic Energy Alchemist and all. Touching an Infinity Stone amped it up by thousands, connected you to a world on a different existential plane. It’s solid proof, and I gotta tell you, hearing that makes me feel better.”

“What?” She blinks at him as he takes a big bite. “Tony-”

He holds a finger up while he finishes chewing. Ana glares until he’s done, then steals her beer to take a drink. “I know the time heist will work, your confession only solidified it.”

“Glad to be a help, I guess.” She deadpans, snatching the bottle back.

His expression abruptly turns serious, lowering his head closer to hers. “You listen to me, kid. I know exactly how powerful you are. I’ve known you for 14 years. I know, I’ve seen how deeply emotions and energy affects you, it either debilitates you or you dangerously absorb it. When this happens, if this works and we bring everyone we lost back, it will affect you. I need you to be prepared. I need you to be ready to feel the world. You have to be prepared to, not just feel Barnes coming back, but everyone.”

The severity of Tony’s tone, the way his gaze vehemently holds hers, causes Ana to read between his lines.

“Tony,” Ana begins gravely. “Are you implying I could get hurt?”

“I’m simply warning you to be careful. I can’t predict if something bad will happen or not, but if it does, I’m asking you to prepare yourself. Don’t hold anything back, but please don’t take on that energy if it’s too much for us to handle.”

“Too much to handle?”

“According to the Jolly Green Giant over there, the stones have enough gamma radiation to light up a continent. I’m more worried about what that could potentially do to you. Reversing what Thanos did won’t be a success if I lose you in the process.”

His words mull over her brain for several seconds. “Are you asking me not to help?”

He hesitates. Tony takes off his glasses with a forlorn sigh. It’s in that moment Ana sees how the stress of the past weeks affected him, how exhausted he truly is. How his anxiety is barely rolling off him, tampering his own emotions down for her sake. Ana places her hand on his shoulder.

Tony sighs again before he answers, cupping her cheek. “Yes, I am. Just worry about yourself, for your daughter’s sake.”

Ana moves her attention away from his face, spotting Alex sitting next to Steve at the table. The two year old is attempting to eat a full slice, holding the pizza up and making a mess of herself, tomato sauce staining her little cheeks. Alex rips off a bite, chewing triumphantly and allows Steve to help her put the slice back on her plate. He’s trying not to laugh, due to the fighting grin on his face as he hands over her sippy cup. Ana’s whole world is in the bright blue eyes of her little girl.

“Okay,” She agrees belatedly, eyes sliding back to Tony. “Okay. I promise I won’t actively try to help.”

“And there is it, that stubbornness I’ve missed so much” He quips, dropping his hand and knocking hers off his shoulder. “And don’t think I didn’t know what you were doing just now either. That’s what I’m talking about.”

Laughing, Ana defends herself. “I honestly wasn’t trying to. You don’t hide your anxiety from me as well as you think you do. I can’t help it if I try to calm you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Eat your dinner, pain in my ass.” He ruffles her hair as he stands.

“Favorite pain in your ass, you mean.”

Tony steals her beer in retaliation.

It’s a Friday morning when the team walks in the hangar wearing the Quantum suits Tony made. Ana had been fussing with Alex’s hair the entire time everyone else got dressed, trying to quell her anxiety. Today is the day the Time Heist will be executed, hopefully without flaw. Keeping her fingers busy as she braids her daughter’s hair helped, just barely.

Upon agreement not to help where she didn’t have to, much to Ana’s displeasure, she’s chosen to stay behind. Bruce went over the panel system for the portal with her the day before, and runs through it one more time. The system is synced up to their time travel watches; all Ana has to do is press a button to activate it. She’s connected to their coms in case of an emergency and has to pull anyone back before their two minutes are up.

Natasha comes over to pick Alex up, complimenting her hair. “Look at this pretty braid! Did you do that to match your Auntie Nat?”

Alex nods enthusiastically. “Mommy did it!”

“Your mother did mine too,” Natasha pulls her French braid over her shoulder, touching the tail end of it to Alex’s braid.

“Yeah, after you couldn’t make up your mind,” Ana laughs. “I was halfway through pigtails.”

“When have I ever worn pigtails?” She scoffs.

“You asked for them!”

Natasha winks in good measure, hip checking Ana. She fondly rolls her eyes, handing Nat the time watch from the case Tony kept them in.

“I wanna go.” Alex pouts, pulling Nat’s face and attention back on her.

“You gotta stay here this time, little monster. But I’ll be right back and I promise I’ll play with you.”

“Otay,” The little girl sighs sadly. Natasha boops her on the nose then kisses her cheek. “Auntie Nebla!”

Alex launches herself into Nebula’s arm as she passes by, the woman with reflexes quicker than Steve’s catches her. Ana breathes a sigh of relief, shaking her head as she looks up. Your daughter, Bucky , she thinks. She swears she hears a phantom chuckle.

“I wish she’d stop doing that,” Ana groans.

“Takes after her father. I hear super soldiers like jumping off things,” Natasha teases.

“Ha, ha, funny,” Steve shoots at her as he makes his way over.

“Be careful, both you of,” Ana pleads, pulling Nat in for a hug. “You and Clint watch each other’s backs, got it?”

“We always do,” Natasha squeezes her tightly before letting go. “It’ll be the quickest two minutes ever.”

“Tash, lets sync up,” Clint says, pulling her away, not before handing the pot of coffee from the kitchen to Ana and winks.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with an empty pot, Barton!?” She calls after them.

“Fill it for when I get back!”

“I swear, this group of people.”

Steve shrugs, a smile teasing his lips briefly. “Hey, I know you’re nervous, but it’ll be quick on this side. We know what to do.”

“I know you do,” Ana responds, reaching out for his hand and squeezing. “Doesn't mean you can’t be extra cautious.”

He nods, returning a tight grip before taking his own watch from her. Ana passes the rest out to the team, each bidding a short “see ya later”. Nebula reluctantly hands Alex back, tenderly smoothing back any frizzled hair.

“We’ll be back shortly,” Nebula states, her eyes gleaming with guilt. “Then we can undo what my father has done. I hope assisting in this will be the greatest achievement I’ve done.”

“I have no doubts.” Ana expresses firmly.

“Alright, chop chop, we’re literally on a time crunch,” Tony snarks, pushing Nebula along.

“Rude,” Ana snips, knocking his hand away when he tries to ruffle her head.

Tony smirks then beckons her onto the platform with them. Taking Alex with her, Ana climbs the few steps, standing between Thor and Scott. The antsy, nervousness of their mission settles over her, making Ana roll her shoulders to release the tension in her muscles. Alex gently pats her hand on her mother’s cheeks.

Meeting his eyes across the circle, Tony nods at Ana. He puts his hand forward, curling his fingers into a fist, shrugs one shoulder. Steve follows, as does the rest of the team, watches all matching up to their jump points. Thor nudges Ana, shooting her a goofy smile as he grabs her arm. Taking the hint, she puts her own fist in front of her. Alex suddenly leans forward, trying to mimic them, causing a round of soft chuckles. All at once, they drop their arms back to their sides.

“Three years ago we lost,” Steve speaks up, determination laced in his tone. “All of us. We lost friends, we lost family, loved ones. We lost a part of ourselves. Today we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each, no mistakes no do overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, that doesn’t mean you should know what to expect. Be careful, look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives and we’re going to win.” He suddenly meets Ana’s gaze, tilts his head down slightly, before looking over at Tony. “Whatever it takes. Good luck.”

Ana has to take a deep breath to settle her nerves, her palms sweating and she has to readjust Alex in her arms. The toddler waves, earning ones in return, even cracking a few smiles on otherwise stern faces. Rocket offers his fist to the little girl, who eagerly bumps her fist against his. Ana steps off and in front of the control panel. This is happening.

“Ready?” She checks, scanning the dials for the fifth time in front of her. “On my count. In three, two-” She swears a collective steady inhale happens right before.

“See ya in a minute,” Natasha quips with her charming smile.

“One.”

Ana nearly slams her hand on the button. The machine moves and shifts panels into place, helmets of everyone’s suits coming up to protect them. The panels rotate before spanning out and with a quick flash, they’re gone.

“Magic!” Alex giggles, clapping her hands.

If it weren’t for her excitable daughter, Ana would be crippled with worry. Instead, she claps with her, keeping her eye on the timer. Longest two minutes of her entire life.

She puts Alex down, shaking out her arms and wiping her hands on her jeans. No words come through her ear piece, which Ana takes as a good sign. She keeps her daughter entertained for the next minute and a half by pretending to search for her stuffed bunny, checking under the panel desk and her own shoe. Finally, only thirty seconds remain.

“Hey, little Bean, want to see your aunties and uncles come back?” Ana questions airily, keeping her tone happy.

“Yes!” Alex shouts, almost running up to the platform. Ana halts her.

“Wait! You have to stay right here, okay? Where it’s safe.”

She nods, moving back to the spot Ana points to, right next to the control panel. Alex bounces on her toes, eagerly anticipating the return of the team by her form of “magic”. Moving back to the panel, Ana hovers her hand over the return button, eyes keen as the seconds tick down. When five seconds hit, she inhales deeply, hoping everyone succeeds.

3...2...1.

The moment she hits the button, everyone reappears, some staggering behind a split second behind. The panels rotate with their arrival, relief weighing in Ana’s bones. Alex holds up her arms, a silent plea to be picked up and brought to the platform. Ana is about to do just that, when an ominous energy makes her tense. This new feeling, it’s foreign, dangerous, threatening. She quickly scans the platform, her eyes halting on Nebula.

Then, a heart wrenching grief twists sharply throughout her body, punching through her gut. Ana presses her hands against her chest. Shivers run her blood cold, the feeling eerily familiar to the day everyone vanished.

“Mama?” Alex whines softly, tilting her head. Ana clumsily pats her little cheek, her eyes moving from Nebula to the empty space next to Clint. Her heart skips a beat.

“Did we get them all?” Bruce questions hurriedly.

Rhodes holds up a silver orb. “Are you telling me this actually worked?” He sounds ecstatic.

Clint drops to his knees, head tucked to his chest, fists clenched and shaking. Ana cautiously moves forward, hands trembling. The air of loss stings her skin, and she understands, she figured it out, but she can’t voice it just yet. She needs confirmation; maybe, just maybe Natasha is running behind.

“Clint,” Ana chokes outs. “W-where’s Nat?”

The haunted, broken look in his eyes as he slowly meets her gaze, the tears staining his face, is all the answer needed. He looks to Steve then, failure pouring from his body despite the stone clutched in his hand.

Clear blue skies mock the heaviness in the air. A gentle breeze brushes over Ana’s skin though she hardly feels it. Her mind is oddly blank while she peers over the lake, sitting on the edge of the dock, fingers digging into the wood. The numbness beginning at her fingertip snakes its way deep into her chest.

Natasha is gone. Her best friend is gone. Her friend who always felt more like her sister, gone. Natasha had just been standing on that platform. Her trademark little smirk and excitement in her green eyes, and two minutes later, she was gone. The spot where she should have returned empty, cold. She had just been there .

“Do we know if she had any family?” Tony inquires solemnly.

Steve clears his throat. “Yeah,” his voice cracks. “Us.”

It didn’t take long for Ana to gently coax Clint off the platform, leading him back through the compound. He hadn’t said a word since returning, not after they changed out of their tactile clothes, not when Ana attempted to offer him a glass of water. Didn’t acknowledge a single one of them until he stood and made his way to the docks in the back. Bruce went after him, quickly followed by Steve, Ana, Tony and Thor. Now, she swallows thickly at Steve’s answer, gritting her teeth as her eyes begin to prickle. Her body still feels numb.

“What was that?” Thor demands behind her.

“I just asked him a question.” Tony replies, a hard edge to his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re acting like she’s dead,” Thor rambles. “Why are you acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones we can get her back, right Cap? So stop this shit! We’re the fucking Avengers, get it together!”

Ana dips her head as the voices grow louder behind her.

“We can’t get her back,” Clint finally breaks his grieving silence. “It can’t be undone. It can’t.”

Thor chuckles humorlessly. “No offense, but you are a very earthly being. This is space magic we’re talking about.”

“I know I’m out way outside of my pay grade here, but she’s still not here is she!?”

“That’s my point!”

“It can’t be undone.” Clint reiterates. “Or, that’s at least what the red floating guy had to say. Okay, so maybe you should go talk to him! Go grab your hammer and you go fly and talk to him!”

The painful guttural in his voice makes Ana flinch, a tear escaping as she looks over her shoulder. Clint catches her gaze, his own eyes dry now, but the guilt, the heartbreak shines through.

“It was supposed to me.” He chokes out, turning away. “She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone, she bet her life on it!”

Bruce suddenly rips a bench from it’s bolts off the dock, aggressively throwing it across the lake. Ana watches land on the other side of the bank. Her fingers curled around the dock glow dimly, the wood singes for a moment before she reels in her powers. Flexing her fingers, the glow fades.

“She’s not coming back,” Bruce states. “We have to make it worth it. We have too.”

“We will.” Steve promises.

The quiet that stretches between them is long, heavy, fragile. Ana finally stands at one point, finally gathering Clint against her for a hug. He reluctantly returns it, face hidden in her hair. She reaches her hand out to Thor, transferring a bit of her own energy to him, whatever positivity she can scrape from the bottom of her own metaphorical barrel despite her own heart shattering with the death of Natasha.

“You know,” She tentatively speaks up. “Alex has been wanting to play with your hair.” She tells Thor. “I bet if you go back in and ask she’d be delighted.”

Sniffing, he offers a watery smile. “I shall do that then.”

Clint detangles himself from Ana’s arms, cupping both sides of her face. He tenderly kisses her forehead, lingering for a split second; conveying his brokenness, his grief, his guilt, his gratitude in knowing what she was subtly attempting to do.

“Don’t go wasting your energy on me now, you hear me?” He murmurs, his green-blue eyes boring into hers. “Take care of yourself, don’t worry about us.”

Frowning, Ana remains silent. Arguing against it would result in defeat. “Okay. I’ll try.”

Another tear catches in his eyelashes before escaping. Clint drops his hand and follows behind Thor without another word. Tony silently checks on her, Ana falling into a tight hug against his chest when he opens his arms. They hold onto each other longer than necessary, silent tears soak into his shirt as her body trembles.

“Steve?” Ana whispers, after she and Tony broke apart.

Immediately he shakes his head, dropping his face in his hands, a broken sob muffled in his palms. Ana rubs his back in soothing circles, the only comfort she can offer him for now. A big, warm hand settles carefully on her shoulder, her hand lifting to rest against Bruce’s knuckles. When she peers up at him, he jerks his head toward the compound, a nonverbal sign to allow Steve some alone time.

She agrees, but not before affectionately brushing back a stray piece of Steve’s hair, and gently patting the top of his head. He catches her elbow in a soft squeeze and turns. Ana opens her arms before he leans into her briefly, giving her a quick sort of hug. The bruise on his cheek has darkened, standing stark against his tears. She releases him, offering a rueful half smile before she walks away.

They’re back in the conference room two hours later, everyone minus Thor, Clint and Nebula. Heads are either hidden in folded arms on the desks or tilting back against the chairs. Ana has opted to wear her rings to stabilize the turmoil of energy surrounding her, especially after Alex kept asking where her auntie Nat was.

Having to explain to the toddler that her favorite person had died nearly broke Ana. Her daughter is a curious little thing, oddly attentive and smart for her age. Alex began asking where Bucky was not too long ago, leaving her mother to say that her father had always been watching over her, gone but never forgotten. In a place they couldn’t reach. Ana tried going along those lines of explaining Natasha’s absence, and how she wouldn’t be coming back.

“But, she pwomised to play with me,” Her little sad voice with her pouting lips made Ana tear up.

“I know, baby girl,” Ana had consoled, gently kissing her forehead. “I know, Jamie. I’m so sorry, love.”

Not even twenty minutes later, Alex asked again. Tony had stepped in to help Ana, breaking it down in a simpler manner. Later he told her he had to explain to Morgan when she was three why the little field mouse she always fed had suddenly died. Ana was grateful for the help and another parental experience.

True to her word earlier, Alex had been distracted by Thor offering his hair up for play. The odd thing was right before that, when the little girl ran past Nebula, she flinched, backed away and ran to Rhodes. Another strange incident occurred before they gathered in the conference room; Alex had refused to be held by the other woman.

The weird moments she mulls over get interrupted in her mind when she abruptly recalls what Steve had said on the dock in response to Bruce.

“How?” Ana whispers.

“How what?” Tony counters picking his head up. His eyes are bloodshot.

Whoops. She didn’t mean to say that out loud, but since she did she continues.

“How are we going to make it worth it?” She clarifies. “You guys lost the tesseract. You just said that earlier, and your trip to the 70’s was a bust. How do we make sure Nat didn’t die for nothing if we can’t even figure out another place to get the Space Stone?”

The quick look shared between Steve and Tony does not go unnoticed by her.

“I grabbed enough Pym particles for a roundtrip for two, but that’s it. Wherever it is would be the final chance to retrieve it. Absolutely no room for mistakes.”

The snark of Steve saying that the first time and failing dies on her tongue. Instead, Ana huffs, narrowing her eyes. She stands, moving closer to the screen projecting where the stones have been spotted in their timeline.

“Well, anyone have any ideas then?”

Steve heaves a weighted sigh behind her. “Italy.”

The second the word reluctantly leaves his mouth is when it clicks in her brain. Italy. Italy. Azzano, Italy.

“194-”

“I’m going.” Ana demands, spinning around just as Steve finishes the year.

“-Three. No.”

“I. Am. Going.”

“Absolutely not.” Both Steve and Tony refuse.

She shoots Tony a heated glare before focusing back on Steve. “Funny, because the way I see it, you both failed at getting the Space Stone, twice. I have yet to give it a try-”

“It’s too dangerous!” Steve snaps, slicing his hand through the air as he stands. “This is World War Two territory, Ana. Not some-”

“Choose your words very carefully, Cap .” Ana seethes, stepping closer. “You don’t think I know the possibility of what might happen, of who I might run into? I know the risks. Fuck dangerous. This is bigger than that!”

The flaring of his nostrils, the clench of his jaw, the hands on his hips, Steve is livid. The energy of his emotions radiates off his skin, a turmoil of fear, logic and anger. He exhales slowly.

“Think about Alex,” Steve attempts, his tone forcibly calm.

“I am !” Ana retaliates fiercely. “I always am. This is too big of an opportunity. We have the chance to bring him- to bring everyone back, and cowering in fear from that time frame isn’t going to do that. Now-” She stabs a finger in his chest. “ You aren’t going alone. You need help. I am going.”

Silence settles with tension between them. Steve looks helpless, but admits defeat by hanging his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“She’s got a point,” Rocket supplies. “Fresh pair of eyes. Powers would be useful in a tight situation.”

Ana preens with a saccharine smile.

“Fine.” Steve grumbles. “Tony, how quickly can you make her a suit?”

Tony puckers his lips like he’s sucking on something sour. This was probably exactly what he meant when he was asking Ana not to help or put herself in a situation she shouldn’t. He narrows his eyes at her before breaking his stern expression and huffing a laugh.

“Already made.”

“Perfect!” Ana claps her hands once. “It’s settled. Italy, 1943.”

*******************************************************************************************

AN: Again, sorry for the wait. I struggled so hard writing this chapter, but i am very excited for the next chapter, which I promise will be updated much sooner. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for reading and thank you for your patience! Sorry I suck. Also, if you’re American.... VOTE ON NOVEMBER 3RD. Vote. Vote. Vote. Drabbles: Twenty-Six Drabbles: Twenty-Eight

Tags: @thecreatiivecorner @buckyland @stressedasalways @watchoutforfrostbite @justreadingfics @keldachick @eurynome827 @elatedmarvel @shesalatesh @paintedgreywriting @buckaroo-blue @afewmarvelousthoughtsadmin @crushedbyhyperbole @jaxthebookworm @gamorazenn @happinessisaloadedgun @je-suis-prest-rachel @thiccstuxky

#delicate stages drabbles #delicate stages of life #bucky barnes x ana rios #bucky barnes x ofc #steve rogers x platonic!ofc #bucky barnes x original female character #bucky barnes fanfiction

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