#shangqi x reader angst

[blackbat05]

Sacrifices

Shang-Chi x Reader

A/N: I got greedy(?) and decided to participate in another piece for @wint3r-h3art celebration! I would also like to apologize in advance for me being annoying and doing another angst after my Steven one😛

Genre: PG-13, Undercover AU

Notes: Being a huge DC fan, I thought incorporating these characters would be great for this story😉 hope my lack of braincells did this fic justice.

‘Prepare for extraction.’

‘Copy.’ Shang-Chi signals to Marc, jet moving towards the drop-zone as agreed.

He couldn’t wait for this to be over, to finally have you by his side after a whole six months.

You were in deep cover at a meta human facility where runaways were kidnapped and experimented on to active their meta gene.

Retrieving enough evidence, Fury demanded that you were to be pulled out, not wanting one of his best agents to be at risk any further.

‘We don’t who else the League of Shadows are involved with.’ Fury tells you at a secret rendezvous point. ‘I’m sending a team to get you out.’

By team, you didn’t expect Shang-Chi running down the hallway to meet you and the other runaway kids.

‘Y/N!’ He crushes you in a massive hug. ‘I missed you.’

‘Missed you too.’ You couldn’t believe that this day would finally come. ‘We have to leave now. The league has probably been notified by the trigger alarm.’

He nods, leading the group down the same way he came. Only to be stopped by uniformed guards wielding ammunition.

‘Those weapons are alien tech.’ You whisper to Shang-Chi. ‘Ra’s Al Ghul is going to kill all of us if it means his secrets don’t get out.’ You refer to the immortal leader.

Maybe Shang-Chi can take the brunt of its power with his rings. But you couldn’t. And certainly not the kids.

‘I have an idea.’ You tell him. ‘Take the kids and move fast.’ The uneasy feeling in your stomach only grew bigger. You didn’t like it one bit.

Six painful months. You remembered at the end of each day where you crossed out the date on the calendar, awaiting your reunion.

But you saw what the immortal leader of the Shadows could do. If taking out one of his bases was a step in the right direction, you had to do it.

Slowly moving backwards as the tropes advanced in on the group, you find the red button that you were looking for.

Shang-Chi was going to hate you for this.

‘I’m sorry.’ You slammed your fist onto the button, activating the lockdown mode. A flicker of realisation passes by his face, and it is filled with pure terror at the thought of what you had thrown yourself into.

‘What are you doing?’ Shang-Chi denies reality, attempting to pry open the doors. ‘Hey, Y/N. If this is a joke, it’s not funny.’ He tries to reason with you as you watch his futile efforts.

‘Please, open the door and we can figure a way out of this.’ He begs. Perhaps he already knows your decision, as the scratches against the doors have turned into full-blown bangs.

‘Y/N YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS! YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!’

Shang-Chi doesn’t bother to hide his tears, screaming at you through the thick glass, as if it would break at his desperation.

‘Shang-Chi.’ You coaxed him to calm down. ‘I don’t have much time and you need to get out of here soon.’ Placing a hand on the window, Shang-Chi does the same.

‘There’s safe houses in Egypt and the outskirts of Mozambique. Marc and Nakia. They’ll know what to do. Tell Fury about Ra’s Al Ghul… he needs to know. The world must know about his evil deeds.’

As you instruct Shang-Chi on the intel you gathered, you could feel your heart rate slowing down. Like a fish out of water, you could only suck on the air.

The inhumane sounds were enough to make Shang-Chi loose his mind, but he needed to focus on you.

‘And…’ you had to choose your words wisely to conserve energy in your last moments.

‘I… will always… love… you… no matter… where… I am…’

Panting out the last few words, you smiled, not wanting Shang-Chi to see that your last few moments were excruciatingly painful. Your nerves started to shut down, allowing numbness to take over your body.

‘No… No please… don’t do this…’ Shang-Chi was crippled by the memories of his mother. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to get out of the time loop.

‘Go.’ You weakly mouthed. ‘The kids.’ You were about to loose your grip on the timer that would set the radiation bomb off.

Marc runs into the crumbling building, spotting Shang-Chi from a distance. He doesn’t get why the two of you haven’t got out yet until he moves closer.

‘Marc… please we need help.’ Shang-Chi pleads with his team member. ‘We can get her out of here.’

A loyal comrade and a good friend, Marc Spector doesn’t want to leave you either. But he knows what you’re thinking. And he knows you’re right. You nod, as a favour to drag Shang-Chi out if he has to.

So he does. With miraculous strength, Marc pulls him back, not stopping despite the barrage of attacks on him. Marc knows that the rage isn’t directed towards him, but to himself.

The fact that he can’t do anything but just to stand by and watch you die.

Finally getting onto the jet, the aircraft speeds off, getting as far away as it can from the blast radius.

Thirty seconds later, orange flames burst into the skies.

Thirty seconds later, Shang-Chi’s world had ended.

***

The familiar sight greets Shang-Chi as he gets off the car together with his sister. Together, they walk towards their aunt Ying Nan who is solemnly dressed in black.

Ta Lo was more than beautiful. It was a part of Shang-Chi. He had always wanted to bring you here to escape the burdens of an Avenger.

How cruel fate was. Instead of holding your warm hands, he carries the frame of your photo. They couldn’t go back for your body.

The funeral went by in a haze. You were always a reserved person, only enjoying the company of those you truly cherished. It was only befitting to respect your wishes.

He feels a sympathetic pat from his sister and hears words of encouragement from his aunt. Shang-Chi waits until they leave, breaking down into choked sobs.

‘When I’m done with this mission. Promise you’ll take me to see Ta Lo.’

‘Alright, I promise.’ He offers a pinky swear. ‘No Avenger’s stuff. A whole week, you and me.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

***

A week later, Lazarus Island

‘Haa!!!’ You jerk forward violently, head throbbing.

Your memories were in bits and pieces. The last thing you could remember was doing research at the Mongolia base.

The kids and you running down the hall… a man… and then… orange fireballs the size of a butterfly.

‘Sorry about that. The experience in the pit can make one quite disoriented. Believe me, I tried.’ A low voice rumbles in the darkness, stepping into the view.

You find yourself looking at the whites of a red helmet. The mystery man removes his helmet, the white streak of hair visibly noticeable.

‘My name is Jason Todd, and I need your help with bringing down the League of Shadows.’

[tom-whore-dleston]

Until I Found You

Pairing: Xu Shangqi x !Avenger f. reader

Genre: angst + fluff + minimal smut

Warnings: questioning of the multiverse, mentions of death, crying, pillow talk, handjob, initial penetration

Summary: Shangqi questions how different his life would be in another universe, but realizes it’s not worth living in without you.  

Word Count: 1k

Notes: I went through the ‘if the multiverse was real’ trend on tik tok, hence why this is so feelsy 😅🥲 Huge thank you to @sparkledfirecracker for helping me with the angst and fluff aspects and to @geekygee01 for the finishing touches!! I greatly appreciate y’all 💖Remember to reblog and comment if you enjoyed what you read 😊

Read more from The Avengers Sweethearts AU

Shangqi enjoyed when you showered him with love and attention every now and then, but you noticed that he was more touchy feely than normal. It didn’t change the way you went about your day, nor did it change the way you love him. But you were curious as to what got him in this kind of mood. It got to the point where your signs of affection weren’t enough so after dinner, he dragged you into his room to passionately fuck you. An hour later, your lover spilled his taint inside you, pecking small kisses over your sweaty face.

Shangqi collapsed onto the bed next to you, lungs begging for fresh air as he came down from the blissful high that you brought him to. You giggled next to him, staring at the ceiling as if looking straight into the pearly gates of heaven. Your hands linked together in the middle of the bed, and then your eyes met like a magnet pulled you towards one another. 

“You still with me, Princess?” your super boyfriend asked, dragging his thumb over your hand. 

You smiled, “Yeah, just needed to catch my breath.”

“C’mere Princess, I wanna hold you.” You obligingly rolled over until your naked body was flush against Shangqi’s and he instantly wrapped his arms around you. 

“Someone’s extra cuddly and affectionate today,” you teased, smiling until your cheeks were sore. What Shangqi was about to say next made you regret poking fun at him.

“I’m sorry if I’m too much, baby. I just don’t want you to leave me.” He hid his face into the crook of your neck. Your heart hurt like a bee had stung it and the wound swelled against your chest. 

“Woah, now,” you frowned, worry and melancholy laced in your voice. “I love you and I would never leave you. Why would you ever think that?” Not a peep came from Shangqi as his face stayed buried there. You called out his name, almost like a whisper, causing him to peek his head out. His brown eyes glistened with tears that were aching to fall down his face.

“This is gonna sound silly.” As much as you wanted to retort and disagree with him, you allowed him to speak his mind. “Last night, I had a dream that you died while fighting the Scarlet Witch–well, Wanda–and I obviously didn’t take your death very well, so I joined her in helping her find her sons. And in turn, she promised to help me find a universe where we could be together again. The thing is, Wanda knew all along that there wouldn’t be a universe where you loved me because I followed the footsteps of my father. You only saw me as a killer.” Shangqi paused. Not because he was waiting for a response from you, but because he was fighting the urge to choke on his words. 

“You know something. I was always curious about the multiverse. After my father died, I wondered what my life would be like if both my mother and father were still alive. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to spend my whole childhood learning to become an assassin. Maybe my relationship with my sister wouldn't be so strained. Maybe my mom and dad would have grown old together like they wanted. We could’ve been happy. We could’ve been a real family. But then I realized other things. I would’ve never met Katy. I would’ve never taken the rings. I wouldn’t have met your dad and become an Avenger.” Shangqi’s voice began to crack as a tear finally trickled down his cheek. “Most of all, I would never have met you.” His head burrowed into your neck again, sobbing while squeezing you tenderly against him. Your fingers combed through his hair tossled from your previous activities. You allowed him to cry until he was ready to continue.

“I don’t know how many other universes there are—I’d actually rather not know—-but I don’t ever want to live in a universe without you in it. I can’t live without you, Princess.” His words struck a chord deep inside you. He plucked that chord inside you as his wet tears permeated your collarbone. It didn’t register that you had been crying until a salty tear dripped onto your lip and you struggled to breathe out of your nose. 

“Shangqi, look at me.” Your hand caressed his tear stained cheek, causing him to peer into your loving eyes. His vision was blurry due to his tearful eyes, but he still managed to find your gaze. “It was just a dream. I’m here and I’m safe with you. I didn’t have the privilege of jumping universes with Strange and America, but I doubt that you became your father in every universe. And I refuse to believe that I hated you in every universe.” You pressed your lips to his temple, leaving them there for a few seconds. He grinned slightly behind the sniffles. 

“Your mind is playing games with you and I don’t want you listening to them. I love you, Shangqi, and nothing will ever change that.” While you talked, Shangqi rested his hand over yours on his cheek, drawing circles over your hand with his thumb. He loved how you always knew the right words to say that would make him feel better. After the years of pain he went through, you and your love were exactly what he needed. 

Another tear trailed down your eye as your lips curled into a warm smile. “No matter how many universes there are in the multiverse, I hope every variant of me is lucky enough to be loved by you.”

Shangqi wasted no time in pulling you closer to him so he could kiss you. His lips molded against yours as if they were made to be sculpted together. He traced your bare skin with his taut hands, cherishing your ethereal curves. Without breaking the kiss, you threw your leg over his hips, hoisting yourself up so you can straddle him. Shangqi grinned against your lips at the sudden maneuver. 

“Let me prove to you that I love you and will never leave you.” As you moved down his legs, Shangqi watched you with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Grasping his cock, you stroked him until he was pulsing with desire in your hands. His raspy whimpers caused your core to slicken and throb with need. You were eager for him to fill you with his love.

“I love you, Princess. I love you so much.” You gazed into his brown eyes as you sunk on top of him, mouths falling ajar and eyebrows furrowed in the middle. Once you were connected at your groins, your lips crashed against his, drinking each other’s moans while your hips moved against one anothers to a beat that was made for the two of you.

Navigation | Main Masterlist | Xu Shang-Chi/Shangqi Masterlist

[crazycookiecrumbles]

Scream For Me

A/N: The product of me brainstorming with @stargazingcarol​ because I couldn’t settle on one idea.

Also, references to a certain popular TV show on Netflix...cough. cough.

Pairings: Shang-Chi x Avenger!Reader (Shaun x Reader, takes place before events of Shang-Chi movie)

Warnings: cursing, violence, angst, fighting

Summary:  He went from your Xbox buddy to the love of your life until the end.

Song Rec: Heaven’s Gate, Fall Out Boy

Masterlist

WC: 4,564

You came out of the blue and changed his life.

Shaun met you a few years ago, but the meeting wasn’t in person. You were playing Call of Duty and he happened to be in your party along with some other people that you were clearly friends with. Shaun was the odd-man out, but you guys didn’t grief him too badly, unless, of course, he had a really terrible game.

The two of you playing online together became a habit. You both lived in different time zones, so he knew that sometimes he just couldn’t have the chance to play with you. Whether you were busy with work, already asleep, or he himself had plans of his own. Although, sometimes, he’d leave his plans early after checking the app to see if you were still online. What could he say, really? He had fun gaming with you and your friends.

Well, that’s what he’d tell Katy and everyone else that asked. People insisted that you were something. They insisted that Shaun had a crush on you but he always denied it. You were friends. You gamed with him! He had his cringe phase where, admittedly, he thought there weren’t really girl gamers, much less ones that could be as good as him. His opinion changed very quickly when you destroyed him one day in a sniper contest.

And, again, when you went off on a tangent on how sexist and disgusting that sort of mindset was and talked about how soft men could be and feeble-minded they were.

And, again, when Katy caught some of this conversation and you two tag-teamed him. Really, he should’ve known better, given his friendship with Katy. The woman had apologized to you over the headset and said that she didn’t know where she failed along the way. She blamed it on his old online friends from high school, and you offered Shaun a chance to redeem himself and prove he was, at least, semi-decent for a guy.

Somewhere down the line, things changed, and it wasn’t just in the dynamic between the two of you. You went quiet for a little while, and Shaun figured you were busy — this happened, he was used to it. Your work took you away, but you always came back.

This time when you came back there was something distant about you. It was right after the Snap, and Shaun didn’t need to ask million questions to know that the reason must have been that you lost someone. You confessed that you lost several important people in your life — he knew that you had no biological family left. Your parents were gone, you had no siblings, and your work family became your found family, and with those people gone? It was hard.

You two would play a little less after that. Not at all, at first, then a little bit, and eventually it seemed like things were back to normal. You were absent again for awhile, a week or two, maybe more. He lost count. You told him that you had work obligations that took over and that you’d get back to him as soon as you could. To be honest, you weren’t even sure if you could get back to him.

When he hadn’t heard from you he was nervous. Suddenly people were coming back in the world after being gone for five years, and he found himself just a little suspicious of what you did for a living. It seemed that every time that you were gone, something astronomical happened in the world. Then again, how could you have time for gaming like you did and saving the world? There was no way Avengers and superheroes out there were playing video games in their downtime. Weren’t they too busy saving the world all of the time? There was no way.

Besides, it wasn’t like he’d ever know. He’d never seen what you looked like, nor had you seen what he looked like. Somehow, the two of you kept it strictly to online games. Of course, he did manage to hear some of your roommates, or whoever they were, in the background, whether they were playing with you or just in the room. 

For example, he learned that someone over there really, really liked pop tarts.

Then one day you sent him a message over Xbox Live, and he couldn’t believe it.

Hey, Shaun. I know I haven’t been online. Work’s been crazy. But I’ve got news! I’m changing coasts. Coworker of mine is heading back home to San Francisco, and I’ve decided I wanted to try living out there for awhile. Maybe we can meet up? If not, that’s totally cool, I’ll just see you online some time.

His heart did flip flops in his chest. He offered to pick you up from the airport the second you had landed, but you said you needed time to get settled in, first. Besides, you had come to San Francisco with a friend of yours, who let you stay with him until your apartment had been ready to live in.

But, fuck, he’d be lying if he didn’t finally admit how excited he was. He’d known so much, but so little about you. He knew your name, knew your job was important but you couldn’t discuss it, knew you didn’t have the best family life, but he knew your favorite movies, your favorite music, all the things you’d like to do, the quirks you had, the types of jokes and humor you enjoyed.

Ugh, Shaun had fallen in love with someone he’d never met before and it seemed pathetic to him. You were on the other side of the country and he was simping over someone who, for all he knew, used a voice changer and was messing with him in the long run. Katy was right, maybe he should’ve sent this to those people at Catfish. But, again, if this was his chance…he had to take it.

Finally, finally, finally, Shaun got a message saying you were ready to meet. You gave him an address to a place called Lux, and you told him to meet you there and tell you what he was wearing that day so you could spot him.

When Shaun arrived at Lux, with Katy in tow just in case things went sour —

“Dude, what if it’s some old pervert that wants to molest you or harvest your organs? I gotta keep my lil’ nerd safe,” Katy said as she squeezed his shoulders and shook him a bit.

Ah, how little she knew.

“Fine, fine, but it’s just — don’t be weird, okay? It’s casual.”

“Right, so casual,” Katy hummed. “That’s why you bought ten shirts tonight.”

Shaun shuffled in his seat, “Well, I obviously can’t afford to keep them all and I’m going to return them when you help me pick out what to wear tonight.”

Katy rolled her eyes, “That black one. It’s tight on your arms, if she likes men, she’ll be all over you.”

Shaun had never considered that.

Katy stared at him, “You fucking idiot. You’ve been talking to her for how long and don’t know what she’s interested in?!”

“I—I don’t know! I just assumed — “

“That is so dumb.”

“She barely talked about guys, or girls! Actually, not true, one time we were talking about how hot that lady from Stick It is.”

“You know what. I hope she doesn’t like men. I’m taking her from you. She deserves better.”

~*~

Shaun arrived at Lux during a musical performance. Katy immediately went to the bar to get drinks, and Shaun found himself leaning against the railing and watching the woman performing on stage. She was swaying from side to side and holding the microphone in both of her hands as she shut her eyes and let the music take over.

“Go out in the world to start over again and again

As many times as you can

And in the end if I don't make it on the list

Would you sneak me a wristband?

Woah, would you give me, give me, give me

Give me a boost

A boost over heaven's gate, yeah

Give me a boost over heaven's gate

I'm gonna need a boost

'Cause everything else is a substitute for your love

Give me a boost over heaven's gate”

Shaun was enamored with whoever was singing. There was something faintly familiar about this, the inflection on certain vowels, but he couldn’t quite place it. But he locked eyes with the singer, who shamelessly looked at him from the top of his head down to the tips of his shoes, and even Shaun felt a heat rising through his chest, his neck, and to the tips of his ears.

The song finished to an eruption of applause as the woman on stage thanked them for listening to her ‘cheesy, emo choice of the night’, and that was when Shaun realized that the singer was, in fact, you, and you picked him out of the crowd immediately.

Shaun frantically smoothed down his hair, fluffed it up, then turned to Katy for help. She gave him two thumbs up after quickly miming what he had to do. Shaun did as told, nodded to her, and turned around just in time to see you come face to face with him.

“Hi,” he breathed, “Hi, uh, (Y/N), right?”

You beamed, “That’s me. Hi, Shaun. It’s, it’s really nice to finally meet you in person.”

“Yeah, likewise,” he was breathing hard his nerves getting the best of him. “Wow, I didn’t know you could sing. You’re amazing.”

“It’s just something I do sometimes. Needed a job when I came out here and, well, they were hiring. Owner’s, like, suspiciously super nice.”

“Huh, good to know. Uh, can I buy you a drink, (Y/N)?” He asked, the combo of saying your name out loud and finally putting a face to the name making his heart dance in his chest.

Your eyes bright and beaming at him, “Definitely, Shaun. I’d love that.”

By the end of the night when the club was closing and people were going home, you and Shaun walked Katy home before he started to walk you, that way you two had even more time alone with one another.

“Shaun, I have something to confess,” you began as you approached your apartment’s front steps.

Oh, here it was. You weren’t into him. You were a lizard woman. You were an alien. Hell, you were so, so repulsed by him. It had to be one of those.

“Okay. I’m afraid to ask, but what’s up?”

“I moved here to get a new start,” you said with a nod. “Like I said. I just — everything that’s happened, the Blip, everyone returning, all of this — it made me realize I, I — well, work can wait, and I don’t want to miss my chances on something I really want.”

He nodded, “Okay —“

“I’m in love with you,” you blurted out. “I know, I know, it’s so, it’s so weird and strange because this is the first time we’re meeting, but all these years playing video games and just talking to you. God, you have no idea how much I looked forward to that. You were the best part of my day every time and all I knew was your voice, and along the way I just fell hopelessly, pathetically in love with you because even when I tried to repress those feelings because we’re friends, with all this scary alien shit happening, all I could think about was you.”

“(Y/N) — “

“And I just, I, I can’t lose my chance —“

“(Y/N) — “

“So I’m standing here basically risking our entire friendship because I —“

Shaun had enough. He grabbed your face, fingers spanning from the bottom of your jaw to just above the curves of your cheeks as he brought your face close and up to his, just enough for him to press his lips against yours. It was hasty and needy at first, teeth crashing into one another before you both melted into the kiss ,realizing how badly both of you had wanted this for so, so long. 

He pulled away dragging your bottom lip between his teeth as he panted and pressed his forehead against yours while he regained his breath, “I spent all this time telling people we were just friends, that I didn’t like you like that. But, fuck, (Y/N), I love you too. There is nothing I want right now more than this, more than you.”

You smiled, “You mean that?”

“(Y/N), my songbird,” he whispered. “If I could have nothing in this world but you, I would be the happiest man alive.”

~*~

From that night on you two (or three, I should say) were inseparable. Shaun and Katy were valets, and you were a singer at a club where the owner had his own shenanigans going on that you decided not to ask about. Honestly, him saying he was the devil was enough for you to not want to open that pandora’s box at the moment. But he was nice, and paid you well, and wasn’t a creep, so you really didn’t give a shit what his deal was.

What you did care about, though, was Shaun, and he cared about you. You two were an instant hit. Your lives translating from online to in person was smoother than anyone thought possible. Katy liked you, and she never made you feel like you weren’t welcome. You’d even met her family on a few occasions. 

This was a regular night out for the three of you. Shaun and Katy were singing to Hotel California while you were resting and enjoying the show. Your feet were up on the table and you were nursing your favorite cocktail as you watched the two of them sing their hearts out with shot glasses in their hands.

You excused yourself at one point to use the restroom. When you were washing your hands in the sink you felt your phone ringing. Seeing a friend’s name flash across the screen, you frowned and brought the phone up to your ear, held it to your shoulder, and kept washing your hands.

“What’s up, Sam?”

“Where are you?” He asked frantically.

“Out at a karaoke bar. Why?”

“You need to go home or go see if Scott’s not busy and get some backup.”

“Again, why?”

“There’s a hit on you,” Sam said quickly. “Bucky and I are trying to get rid of it —“

“WHAT?!” You shouted. “How the fuck is that possible? What the fuck are you two up to?”

“Uh,” Sam hesitated. “We uh, we kind of got pulled into some shit. It’s a long story.”

“Does this have to do with that new Cap running around?”

“Maybe.”

“Great,” you sighed and turned off the faucet, “And why am I stuck in this?”

“From what we got, some unfinished business between you and someone you pissed off a long time ago. Girl, I don’t even know where to begin. We’re stuck in some fucking place called Madripoor and we just found out about it. Now, obviously, we can’t be there for you, but —“

“Okay, okay. Got it. I’ll watch my back. Try to get rid of this sooner rather than later — and find out why, will you?”

“Be careful,” Sam warned you.

You sighed and ended the call. Great. You were doing so well for yourself, too. New life, new job, it was easy, and, you know what, after being stuck doing shady shit for what felt like your entire life, you were loving the easy life.

You shoved your phone into your pocket. Looking up and leaning over the sink, you realized there was a shadow behind you. Your hands quickly went up just as a garrote came around your neck from behind. A strangled noise left you as were yanked back, the back of your head pressing against this man’s shoulder as he attempted to strangle the life out of you.

Tugging against the garrote did nothing to help you. You reached up and jabbed your thumb into his eye until he was shouting in agony. His grip weakened and it was enough for you to finally yank the garrote away from you. You reached back, grabbed his shoulders, and threw your entire bodyweight down onto the ground and launched him over you.

Standing up again, you coughed violently and held your neck. The man started to get up again, and you quickly ran over and stomped on his head, ensuring that there was no way he was getting back up.

You stumbled out of the bathroom holding your neck. You could feel the imprint of the weapon and you knew you couldn’t hide this from Shaun and Katy. When you opened the door the room was quiet and it was just Shaun sitting there on his phone.

“Hey,” he began, not looking up. “Katy grabbed a cab to head home. She said she wasn’t feeling well, but also wanted to give us some alone time.”

When he finally looked up he saw how you looked. He jumped up and ran over to you, hands grabbing at your shoulders and neck to bring you into the light and see what was wrong, “Did someone just attack you? What happened? Where are they?”

“I can explain,” you rasped. “But we have to go, now.”

Shaun nodded and grabbed your jacket off the seat, “I’m taking you back to my place, come on.”

You had to tell him. You didn’t tell Shaun that you were an Avenger, you didn’t tell him that you were Siren, the chick that had a sonic scream that could rip the metal off a building, melt someone’s brains while in their skull, among other things.

Shaun was leading you out the building when a black van rolled up and screeched to a halt in front of him. Several men jumped out, and Shaun quickly reached back, grabbed your hip, and shoved you further behind him.

“We don’t want any trouble,” he said quickly as he looked at all of them.

Now, Shaun assumed these men were for him. His father’s men had finally come to take him, or kill him. This had to have been what was happening right now.

“Move, Kid. we just want the girl,” one told him.

You? What?

“Why?” Shaun said, “You’ve got the wrong girl, and no one’s going to lay a finger on her.”

This man was going to get himself killed trying to protect you, you thought. And you could not let that happen.

“Shaun,” You grabbed his shoulder and told him to move, “I got this.”

“No, I —“

“Move,” he was surprised by your strength when you shoved him back and away from the fight.

He was more surprised when you dodged out of the way of a lightning fast punch to the face, followed by another, and another until you grabbed a man’s arm, twisted it, and hit his elbow with such force it bent inward and left him screaming.

Shaun didn’t have to do anything. You were fighting at an expert skill-level that he would have never guessed came from you. Your kicks in particular were deadly as he heard a crack come from a man’s head after you kicked him. The way you jumped up and took a man down to the ground with your thighs was alarming, and Shaun realized something in that moment.

He had no idea who the fuck you really were.

Another black van came around the corner and it was speeding towards you. Before he could dive and get you out of the way, you opened your mouth and screamed, which sent the van hurtling backwards. It rolled over itself several times before coming to a stop on its roof.

You coughed a few times and turned to face Shaun. You expected fear across his face. Hell, you even expected shock, or enlightenment. Maybe he realized now you were Siren, but that wasn’t the case.

“Who the hell are you?” He seethed. “Did my father send you? What? To get close to me?”

“Pump the paranoia brakes there, Shaun,” You blurted out. “Your father? What the hell are you talking about?”

“What the hell was that?” He shouted. “I—you just — you took those men down like they were nothing! And what was that scream? Did you see what you just did to that car? Because I just saw what you did to that car, and no normal person can do that.”

“I mean, I am normal,” you muttered quietly. “I just — I — I’m a little, uh, different.”

“A little?”

“This isn’t the place to talk about this. Let’s just go back to your place or mine and I can explain everything to you.”

“Oh, and what’s that? What were you sent to spy on me?”

You raised an eyebrow and stepped back to stare at him, “You’re awfully full of yourself right now to think this is suddenly about you. It’s not. This has nothing to do with you.”

"So what’s going on here?”

“If you’d let me explain,” you snapped. “Shaun, I — I’m an Avenger.”

He stared at you for a good five seconds before he started laughing in disbelief, “No, no. What? No…you’re what?”

“I go by Siren,” you explained. “I’m an Avenger.”

“You’re an Avenger,” He muttered. “You’re an Avenger. Oh my god all these years I’ve been talking to an Avenger?!”

“Yes —“

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“What was I going to do? Say, oh, hey guy online. I’m an Avenger, by the way. So what gun are you using for this loadout?”

Shaun narrowed his eyes, “How about, ‘Hey, Shaun, guy I admitted to moving here for and saying that I’m in love with, I’m also a freaking superhero.’”

“I was going to….eventually. Soon. When the time was right —“

“And when would that have been? You already said you love me. What were you waiting for? After the wedding, honeymoon, kids?”

Now you were a little distracted, “Wait, have you thought about those things?”

Shaun was in disbelief. A choked laugh escaped from him as he looked around at the chaos, the people leaving the nearby bars and houses to check on what was going on outside, and the cops approaching the scene. “I can’t believe this. God, I, I really don’t know you.”

“Shaun —“

“I can’t do this,” he said quietly, throwing his hands in the air. “I can’t. I can’t do this right now. I can’t talk to you — fuck, I, I have no idea who you are.”

Shaun was walking away from you and you went to grab at him but he yanked his arm away before you could, “Shuan, please! Please just let me explain. I can explain!”

“You say that, but I haven’t heard an explanation,” Shaun looked around and saw all the cameras pointed at the two of you. “Looks like your fans are here. I, I’ve got to go. I can’t — I can’t talk to you right now, (Y/N).”

Shaun left you there, standing in a sea of people who were shouting that an Avenger was in San Francisco, as though they hadn’t heard of Ant-Man who had been living there for how long now? Shame.

You flashed your ID to the cops who approached you, and they quickly saw the Avenger status and were immediately much less hostile towards you. You were left to take care of the mess while thinking about how upset and betrayed Shaun looked.

~*~

Meanwhile, Shaun was at home with his head in his hands. What the fuck just happened tonight? One minute they’re all having fun, it’s a regular day. The next minute, his girlfriend was nearly choked to death, and here she was screaming and flipping cars and kicking more ass than he’d done in a long time. Shaun, genuinely, had no idea who you were. 

Sure, he toyed with the idea that maybe you were an avenger —but he was never serious about that. That was a complete and total joke to himself, something to be funny to think about, but this? 

You were actually an Avenger.

And here he was thinking you were some spy sent from his dad to fall in love with him, get close to him, and ultimately betray him. Your fighting certainly made it seem that way, but then you screamed and made that car flip down the block. When you told him what your other identity was, and he remembered the hero that screamed the armor off of a Leviathan during the Battle of Manhattan, he knew you were telling the truth.

And it was freaking him out.

The more he thought, the more Shaun realized he was no better. He slipped when he asked if his father had sent you to him, but everything was happening so fast that you didn’t seem to mention it or really hang on to it. Still, Shaun had his own secrets, and he really, truly was no better. How were you going to react to his truth?

Maybe he’d never have to tell it.

Wait. Men were after you. You were in danger.

Granted, you’d handled yourself extremely well — but, still, Shaun left you alone. Oh, this whole thing was an absolute shit show that he didn’t want to deal with. This was supposed to be the easy, simple life. Valet some cars, go to karaoke, live out his life with his best friend and the love of his life away from his dad’s reach, but now this? Fuck. This was a nightmare.

Shaun grabbed his jacket, again, and keys and went to see you. He wasn’t sure if he could even talk to you at this point, but he just needed to make sure you were okay.

~*~

When Shaun got to your apartment, he saw the door was slightly open. His heart sank to the floor as he dreaded over the possibilities of what could be happening. He pushed the door open and saw the apartment was destroyed. Hell, half your back wall and kitchen were gone and laying in the alley behind your house.

But there you were on the floor in the middle of the room. Your hand was up around your throat, and in the moonlight shining in from your new open-concept kitchen and living room, he saw blood covering your hand, throat, and your shirt. Shaun screamed your name as he ran towards you. He sank to the floor and pulled your lifeless body onto his lap. He moved your hand away that had gone limp trying to hold your throat, and he saw the gash that went across it, pulsing with blood oozing out at each pulse. Shaun grabbed your jacket as tears ran down his face.

Pressing the jacket against your wound, he screamed for someone to help him as he fumbled for his own phone to call for help. Shuan looked around in a panic. No one else was there, just you and him together in the apartment. The only other sound that could be heard was the sound of your phone vibrating against the floor with ‘SAMMY-BOY’ flashing across the screen.

(Part 2)

[wint3r-h3art]

💡 idk if I’m submitting this request right, but I’ve always wanted to know what happened after “don’t look at me like that” 🥺

Not Deserving of You | Shangqi x Reader

A/N: OOOOOF baby girl, I hope you're ready!! For those that don't know, this drabble will be the final conclusion to this fic here. I didn't intend to make an ending because I figure it's going to be sad, but fuck it, WE'RE DOING IT! Any comment and reblogs are highly encourage and appreciated! Please let me know how you feel!

Warning: Angst, self-loathing, cheating, just overall sad shits with a happy ending.

World count: 2.0K

It has been ten months since you last spoke to Shangqi. You know what you said to him that night was dumb, but your pride gets the best of you. Despite your words, he has been texting you non-stop, apologizing to you for what he said. After a couple of weeks, he took the hints, and the texting stop altogether. You’re still following each on social media of course. Some nights, you’ll scroll through his Instagram, looking at the little bits and pieces he posted about himself. Other than that, you’ve been like a ghost to him. It’s not something that you’re proud of, but God you really can’t face him anymore.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Miss?”

You look up from your hands to your lawyer. You fiddle at your now empty ring finger, your teeth digging into your bottom lips before you nod. Your lawyer nod and explains to you the next step on filing for divorce from your husband. You barely listen to him as scenes of your husband kissing another woman from the cafe replaying over and over again in your head. Weirdly enough, you weren’t hurt at the fact. It’s almost comical in a way that you seem to not care if he’s fucking another woman.

After all, you’re thinking of another man when he was fucking you.

In the back of your fucked up mind, you know that your husband knows it all along that you’ve never truly loved him. Perhaps it was the way your eyes seem to come alive whenever you speak of your Shangqi, or perhaps it was the way you couldn’t stop talking about him...

Your marriage was doomed from the beginning anyway, so what good did it do trying to hide the fact that you’re still in love with your best friend. Try as you might, you love Shangqi so deeply.

“I will fax this over to his lawyer later today…Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

You nod with a small smile. “I’ll be fine. It’s a long time coming to be honest, so this is a huge step for me.”

Your lawyer nod. “Of course. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

You nod before bidding the older man goodbye. A part of you feel relief, but at what cost if you have no one to celebrate it with. Katy is on a vacation in Macau right now...and Shangqi...well…

“Y/N?”

You suddenly forgot how to breathe momentarily when you hear that familiar voice calling out your name. A floodgate of memories from that night comes rushing into you, filling you with shame and regret as you turn to look at him for the first time in ten months. Your heart skips a beat the moment your gaze meets his. Has it been that long that you decided to cut him off ? You feel like you’re choking as he slowly approaches you. You want to run, perhaps just to hide that shame from him, you can’t seem to make your feet move. They seem to plant themself on the concrete sidewalk as he’s not a few feet away from you.

“It’s you isn’t it?”

“Hi,” is all you manage to say to him. Shangqi can feel the awkwardness between the two of you, but being who he is, Shangqi pretends as if nothing ever happened of course. He smiles at you just like the old-time, and that right there is where it makes you want to cry.

You really don’t deserve him.

“Hey, how have you been? It’s been like forever isn’t it?”

You take a deep breath and try to muster a smile despite the tears that threaten to fall as you gaze up at his handsome face.

“I’m alright,” you say weakly as you adjust the strap of your purse. Shangqi’s eyes quickly notice your empty ring finger.

“Do you want to grab a cup of coffee or something? At least to catch up….you can obviously say no of course. I know you--”

“I’d like that,” you cut him off. Your sad smile seems to confirm what he’s thinking already, but he knows not to pry. He’d rather let you tell him yourself.

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

You and Shangqi sit quietly. It’s only been three minutes of silence, yet it feels longer. Your hand clutches onto the warm cup of latte as he just sits and stares at his black coffee. You know he notices the missing rings on your fingers. You wish that he’d bring it up to get it over with. Perhaps he’ll laugh in your face about it before saying ‘I told you so’. That would probably hurt less than this awkward silence.

“Are you been eating well?”

You look up from your cup and watch how uncomfortable he’s feeling just to ask you this simple question.

“Just ask me about it.” You watch his dark brows pull into a confused expression. You sigh and say it again. “Just ask me why I’m not wearing my wedding rings anymore. I know you’re wondering about it. So just ask me.”

“It’s not my business,” he says quietly. “I don’t have any right to ask you that anymore.”

You want to laugh then, but refrain from doing it. “Are you happy now that I’m divorcing my husband?”

You cannot hide the bitterness and the resentment in your voice. It sort of comes out without a warning. You know it’s not fair to take it out on him, but God you just want him to care. Even just a little bit and you’ll be ok.

“Why would I be happy?”

“It’s what you wanted isn’t it?”

Shangqi chews at his lower lip as he stares down at his hand now. “Just because I don’t want you to be with him, it doesn’t mean that I want you to be hurt by him.”

“What if I told you that I wasn’t hurt by him...what if I told you that divorcing him may be the easiest decision of my life?”

Millions of questions pop up in his head as he looks at you. Confusion paints his expression as he’s trying to decipher what you just said.

“I wasn’t hurt at all when I saw him with another woman, believe it or not. In a way, I was relieved...to know that I’m not the only shitty person in our marriage. I was ashamed of feeling what I was feeling, but after that exact moment, I felt nothing. It’s going to sound selfish, but I needed that as an excuse to leave him. And now I get what I want, I supposed.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

You shrug. “I’m not sure. Maybe I need someone to listen to.”

“I thought you don’t want me in your life anymore.”

You look at him in the eyes now. “It doesn’t stop you from reaching out to me. You could have ignored me earlier, but you didn’t.” Shangqi lips thin into a straight line. You know him way too well. “I am sorry for that night,” you say finally. “It was stupid to say all of those things to you. I know it’s not fair now, but I do regret it these days. I just couldn’t bring myself to return your call…”

“I’m sorry too.” Now it’s your turn to frown and look at him with a confused look as he continues. “I know for a long time that you liked me. I just wasn’t ready to look at your romantically. You have been the best thing that ever happened in my life, and I still managed to screw up. After you got married, I realized that, and by then it was too late”

“Aren’t you even remotely angry with me?” you ask then.

“Do you want me to be angry with you?”

You take a deep breath and let out a long, shaky sigh. Tears are brimming in your eyes now. “Goddammit, Shangqi, why do you have to be a good person? Every time I do something that should make you hate me, you don’t. You just forgive me and pretend like nothing ever happened. It’s not fair.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know,” you choke as you sob now. You don’t even care anymore if the cafe patrons are not staring at both of you. “I just want you to at least yell at me and tell me what a horrible person I am. I just want you to be mad at me so then I know for damn sure that I am a shitty friend to you.”

“You know I’m not going to do that. You’ve already gone through enough. You don’t need me to add on to your plate anymore.” you stare at him speechless before you’re full on crying with your head in your hand. God, you feel like shit, and the fact that he’s nothing but good to you, only makes this worst. Then you can feel his arm wrap around you as he tuck your head under his chin. “There’s no point of hurting you when you’ve done enough of that yourself.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“No, you do. You deserve me very much,” he coos as he rubs your back up and down in soothing motions. “I am as shitty and as selfish as you are, so I have no right to be mad at you.”

“What are you even saying?” you look up with your tears-streaking face.

“I didn’t want you to be happy with him. Every night I pray to the universe for some bad shit to happen to him...It’s a horrible thing to wish upon anyone, but I was jealous. I was envious of him that he manage to have you. I guess, the universe returns my prayer…” he chuckles dryly. “Now do you understand why I can’t blame you for it?” You blink at him and nod weakly. “I was surprised of course that you divorced him so soon, but you know I’m very happy--actually I’m fucking ecstatic. And to even know that he didn’t hurt you only makes what i’m feeling valid.”

You stare at each other for a long time before you both starts laugh. “We’re such horrible people.”

“Are we though? He’s the one that cheated on you?”

“Yeah, well I feel like it’s because i’m not emotionally available for him.”

Shangqi nods. “Can’t blame you though. I do like it better when you’re with me. He’s turning you into this pretentious person…”

“It was the rings. It was too much for my liking, to be honest.”

“Don’t forget his car. He’s never shut up about it. God, I hate that guy.”

Both of you now laughing. “I miss this,” you say softly as he pulls you closer to him.

“I do too,” he says softly. “When will it be ok for us...you know…”

“Us what?” you ask, clearly not knowing where he’s going with this.

Shangqi huffs. “When can we start dating officially?”

The question catches you off guard that you find yourself speechless for a second. “I--Uh, we should wait till the divorce is finalized.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry.”

“No, no you’re fine. I just wasn’t expecting you to actually want to be with me after all the shits I’ve done to you.”

“Sometimes you just gotta forgive and move on. I’m not a saint myself, but I know damn well that you deserve someone better than him...I also want to make up on all the lost time...Think of it as a do-over for us.”

For a brief moment there you feel happy for the first time in a long time. Somehow it’s comforting to know that he still want you. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Shangqi laughs. “I’m not sure, but maybe that one time you took care of me when I was sick...I guess I’ve fallen into that trap since then.” You both laugh before he leans in and kiss you sweetly on your lips. “I don’t mind getting stuck in this trap either. Actually, I really like the view here.”

[babyboiboyega]

Without You (Shangqi x f!reader)

Prompt: “When everything was wrong, you made it right.”

Pairing: Shangqi x f!reader

Content: angst, major character death, major feels bruv

Babyboiboyega's Marvel Masterlist

Babyboiboyega's Masterlist of Masterlists

A/N: I used the same prompt for my other Shangqi piece, "I can explain", and I just thought that it would be kinda cool to use it again but in a totally different, more heart-wrenching way!

.......

So enjoy! :)

********

There was a second where it had seemed that they had all failed. Ta Lo villagers and Ten Rings warriors alike. It didn’t matter what side you were on, when the Dweller in Darkness had gained the upper hand, absorbing the Great Protector’s very soul with ease, the feeling of dread spread throughout the entire land and everyone on it.

Not only did Y/N feel the intense feeling of dread, but the panic that followed was almost debilitating. It wasn’t even panic for herself; it was panic for the person she hadn’t seen since the entire battle had started.

She knew- she knew- that Shangqi could protect himself, but she didn’t want to face the end of their universe without him by her side. How could she fix that if she didn’t know where he was?

As she stood and watched the Great Protector grow weaker, she couldn’t help closing her eyes and praying to whoever was listening that he was okay, where he was. That prayer was interrupted, however, by a groundbreaking roar. One that came from the Great Protector who had managed to break away from the Dweller’s grip, all thanks to a well-shot arrow by her own friend. One that immediately put the fight back into each and every fighter.

Y/N continued to fight, now with more determination, but she couldn’t stop herself from constantly watching the battle between the two creatures...and that’s where she had finally seen the love of her life...and he was falling through the air.

Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched his figure free fall right above where the two creatures battled for their own lives. But something was happening...something she couldn’t exactly understand, but she could see it clearly.

A bright light proceeded to emerge from the chest of the Dweller, making the creature roar in both anger and agony. It continued to struggle against the power being thrown at it by both the Great Protector and Shangqi, but it was of no use.

In complete awe of the series of events happening in front of her, she was completely oblivious to the soul eaters still picking them off of the battlefield, one by one. She had only remembered their presence when a screech that made her teeth grind against each other sounded through the air right near her. She had only just taken her eyes off of Shangqi when she felt the unnerving feeling of something tight and rough wounding around her waist, and then she was lifting into the air.

Simply on instinct, she raised her staff, the dragon scale clad end of it aiming directly for the creature’s torso, but before it could make contact, another one of its tentacles struck out, effectively knocking the staff out of her hand.

What came next was a feeling unlike any other. A feeling so intense, that it literally took away her ability to make a sound.

She couldn’t see what was happening to herself, but she had seen it happen to countless others on the battlefield only moments before this. Her soul- her very life’s essence- was being taken from her...and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

Her hands clenched tightly, to the point where her fingernails broke skin, yet she couldn’t feel it. Sometime during the battle, after seeing the same thing happen to others, and somewhere deep in her mind, she had imagined the process to be breathtakingly painful. It was truly breathtaking, but she couldn’t feel any pain. All she could feel was an intense coldness; a coldness that was gradually moving through her entire being.

Once again, her thoughts moved to Shangqi. How would he find her? Would he find her, or would someone else have to break the news to him? She hoped that he wouldn’t be the one to find her. He would be utterly torn apart with agony and grief. Knowing him, he would blame himself.

In an ironically cruel way, as she felt her life fading from her body, she could see Shangqi’s figure as he grew closer to the Dweller. The light that had continued to emerge had only dimmed in her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the small, exhausted smile from appearing on her face as she felt the slightest bit of warmth from that light- from his light. Even as she was dying, Shangqi continued to make everything better.

Right as her eyes began to flutter shut, she could only send one thought into the atmosphere around her, hoping that somehow...some way… Shangqi wouldn’t blame himself.

Somewhere her name was being yelled. Through her lidded eyes, she saw a blast of some kind, emitting from the place the light had once been coming from, and then her waist was being let go. The place where the Dweller had been was now empty of the creature, and if she had enough energy to look across the field, she would have seen the rest of the soul eater’s disintegrating on the spot.

If it hadn’t been for the blurry view of the ground rushing up to meet her, she would have thought that she was floating. The mere thought of using energy to hold her arms out was exhausting, so she simply closed her eyes and sent another thought out.

“He did it. He won. I’m so proud…”

********

The first step he took as he stepped off of The Great Protector’s back was a step in the direction he had last seen Y/N.

The entire battle, he couldn’t get her face out of his mind; the way her eyes had pleaded with him to be safe, and the way she had squeezed his hand before they had to part. Now, he wanted nothing more than to grab her by the hands and pull her close to him, promising that nothing would separate them again.

Despite being hellbent on finding the love of his life, he couldn’t help pausing to help those who he saw were injured. Some were just injured, expressions of pain mixing in with relief apparent on their faces; some were worse, their expressions frozen in the same look of fear that they made during the last seconds of their life.

It made his heart clench even tighter than it already was in his chest. All of the destruction, the pain, the death...because of his father’s undying love for his mother. A love that had once been his father’s saving grace being the thing that led to his own downfall. The thought made his steps falter as the brunt of everything he had just gone through finally weighed completely on him, but it only took him seeing his aunt running from around a building for his steps to pick up with even more urgency.

“Xiaoyi! Are you okay? Where’s Y/N? Where’s Katy?” He could hear Xialing right on his heels as she eagerly awaited their aunt’s answers.

Ying Nan answered quickly, her voice firm but her breathing quick. The look in her eyes was enough to scare Shangqi to his core as he stepped forward, struggling to get words out.

“Where’s Y/N?”

She stepped forward to meet her nephew, her hand raising to land on his arm. Her eyes glanced between the siblings and her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke.

“You need to come with me. Now.”

They didn’t waste any time as they all headed back in the direction Ying Nan had just come from. Shangqi had to remind himself to slow down so as to not pass his aunt, the only person who knew where they were going. But it didn’t help that his aunt was now leading them somewhere when all he did was ask if Y/N was okay.

Ying Nan’s steps slowed as they rounded the building and so did Xialing’s, but as he saw exactly what Ying Nan had brought them to see, his steps only doubled in speed before he was sliding across the ground on his knees.

He saw straight through Katy, his eyes landing on the person who she was kneeling over. It only took a quick glance at Katy’s tear-stained face for Shangqi to realize that his worst nightmare had come true.

Shangqi reached down, his hand grazing slightly over Y/N’s face as Katy slowly moved over, giving him space to lean over her. He tried not to think about how cold her skin was to the touch. If he had been going off of her body temperature alone and had it not been for her half-lidded eyes that followed his movements, he would have already thought her...he wouldn't dare think the word.

“Hey...hey, you’re okay. We did it, Y/N. We won.”

There were so many things he wanted to say. He wanted to plead with her to stand up; wanted to promise her that if she got up right now, he would do quite literally anything she wanted him to do. There was a small, cruel voice in the back of his mind telling him that it didn’t matter what he said; you weren’t getting up. He pushed that voice even further into the back of his mind when her lips began moving.

“We won. You did it, Shangqi.”

The pure pride in her weakened voice made Shangqi’s teeth clench together in an effort to not yell over the fact that she was still so proud of him despite being on the very edge of death. He could see that she still looked at him as if he hung all of the stars and the moon in the night sky, even as her eyes threatened to close. He was quick to reach down, gently grabbing her upper body and pulling her closer to his chest. His other hand continued to brush over her cheek, shaking slightly as it made contact with her skin.

“Y/N, I need you to keep your eyes open. Please, just-just keep your eyes open. You’ll be okay.” He seemed more as if he were trying to convince himself that she was okay. His eyes frantically looked over her figure, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“What’s wrong with her? Can’t you help her- can’t we do anything?” The desperation in his voice paired with the frantic look in his eye made it apparent to anyone that he was willing to go to any length to keep her with him….just like his father.

The thought made all of the air leave his body and he had to suck in a deep, staggering breath as he faced his aunt, his desperate questions still lingering in the air between them.

He looked past the look of sympathy, sadness, and finality on his aunt’s face as she walked forward. Katy’s sniffles filled the temporary silence, and he didn’t dare look at her or Xialing. Seeing their grief-stricken faces would only solidify his worst fear.

“Shangqi,” her voice was soft as she knelt next to him, placing a gentle hand on his back, “her soul was touched by a soul eater. It may not be completely gone...but it’s fading.”

She didn’t need to continue for Shangqi to know exactly what she was saying. Her words showed themselves through her expression.

For a brief moment, he tried to imagine what life would be like without Y/N, but it was simply impossible. Of course, he had been alive before he had met her, but only when she entered his life did he really start living. He had started living with only the thought of Xialing being the thing he held onto from the past.

Looking back on their relationship, he wished he had said “I love you” more. He prayed to whoever was listening that she knew just how much he loved her- just how much he loves her.

His head turned back to face Y/N, and this time, he let the tears that brimmed his eyes fall. Why would he catch them when his entire world was shattering in the span of a few moments?

His voice shook as he softly spoke to her, his head bending down to draw himself closer.

“Y/N...you gotta stay with me. I need you- I can’t...I can’t lose you. Please, I just need you to stay with me. I need you.”

Y/N’s hand shook tremendously as she reached up, laying her cold hand on his cheek. Despite her eyes threatening to close more and more by the second, Shangqi could still see the unadulterated love in her eyes as she looked at him. Her head shook so minutely, that if his attention hadn’t been solely on her, he would have missed it.

“You don’t need me, Shangqi. You saved the world. You...saved us and you...you made everything right.”

His head shook immediately at her words as his own hand raised and landed gently on top of hers. You made everything right.

How could he ever see himself as making everything right when his complete everything was in his arms fading as he watched, helpless? How had he made everything right when the very bringer of the stars and planets to his solar system of life was fading?

Of course, he wouldn’t say that. Call him selfish, but he wouldn’t have his last words to Y/N be him arguing or even disagreeing with her. Not when she looked at him with so much pride.

“Shangqi...I’m tired. I’m so...tired. I’m just going to...I’m just going to go to sleep really quickly. Is that okay?

He couldn’t stop the sob that made its way past his lips. Nor did he want to; all he could think about was the light that made Y/N who she was slowly dimming more and more until only the smallest bit remained. He could only think about the fact that Y/N was holding onto that little bit of light, waiting for him to say that...waiting for him to say that it was okay for her to let go.

Shangqi nodded, his tears blurring his vision as he gazed down at her with as much love as he could put into a look. His hand caressed her cheek as he finally said the words that would haunt him until the end of his days.

“You...you can go to sleep, Y/N. It’s okay. I...I love you, so much. With my entire being.”

And then she smiled. She smiled an exhausted but relieved smile as her eyes closed and her chest rose and fell one last time, her hand going slack in his.

Somewhere in his mind, he could hear the sniffles and soft cries from Katy accompanied by the comforting words from Xialing. But he simply couldn’t bring himself to move from his position.

All movement and sounds around him were ignored as he leaned over her body, his forehead resting against hers like they had done so many, countless times before. But he could feel the difference; not just the absence of the warmth from her skin, nor was it the absence of her arms wrapping around his waist as she had always done.

This absence had a visceral effect on him as he continued to sit there. The absence of the very person whose soul had complimented and grown with his own.

How had he just saved the world while his own was falling to shambles around him?

“You made everything right.” His words were quiet, whispered, and meant only for her wherever she was now listening from.

“When everything was wrong, you made it right. It was you. It...it was always you.”

*********

I hope you enjoyed it! Please reblog, as it can really go a long way, and it really makes me feel good when I see that you all enjoy my writing! Even a simple little comment can make my day :))

Stay safe, y'all!

[luna-writes-stuff]

Day 2: Almost is never enough, Xu Shangqi

Song link

Fanfic, female! reader

Angst, heartbreak, flashbacks

Word count: 4871 (oops)

Tw: Heartbreak, sad Shang-Chi, use of Shang-Chi instead of Shangqi, but when spoken I use Shaun as this is before he revealed his true identity. Angst, but sad sad angst. It takes a dark turn, honestly. Mention of car crash, worst possible outcome. Goes from 1 to 10 real quick. Talk about alcohol and throwing up. Drunk Shang-Chi, drunk reader. One use of Y/N (sorry)

Summary: Reader, Shangqi and Katy used to be the closest friends could get, and there had always been some sort of connection between reader and Shangqi that told them they would end up together. But fate is cruel, and not acting on time can have terrible consequences.

“I'd like to say we gave it a try. I'd like to blame it all on life.”

You had known Shang-Chi ever since he left his father. You met him through Katy, who might've known him two days longer. And since day one, the chemistry between the two of you had been too good to put into words. The two of you remained blind to it, but you were the only ones. Katy had secretly held a place in her heart for the two of you, but Shang-Chi had asked her not to speak about it, as to not embarrass him somehow.

After school, the three of you would always go to someone's house, though it was yours more often than Katy's. A special bond between the three of you began blossoming, and you had been so sure it would last forever. But you were a child, and children were fools. They held no sense of reality or future whenever things became too good or excited. Emotions took hold of logic, and as a child; who could blame you? You knew no better. Neither one of you did. You were convinced you'd be with one another until the day you would walk to one another's funeral.

“Maybe we just weren't right, but that's a lie. That’s a lie.”

"Have you finished your French homework yet?" Shang-Chi, or Shaun at the time, asked, walking into your house as he looked at your form, hunched over the dinner table. It had been your exam year and you were working so hard to make it.

"Je ne le comprends pas!" You exclaimed, sitting upright and throwing your pencil down. "It means 'no'."

Shang-Chi laughed at you, taking a seat on the chair beside you. "I know what it means. I know French."

"Of course you do, mister perfect." You mocked, sticking your tongue out to him.

"So you don't want my help?" He asked through a smile, already making his move to sit back up.

"No, I do, please stay." You quickly defended, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down.

"Now help me write this stupid letter." You convinced, showing the half written paper in front of Shang-Chi. His eyes quickly scanned the paper, stiffling a laugh as he read the last sentence.

"That's not how you spell 'entreprise'." He explained, pointing towards the mistake.

"That's why I have you, right?" You wondered aloud, resting your head on his shoulder. "Help me out here."

“And we can deny it as much as we want, but in time our feelings will show.”

"That guy has been making googly eyes at you all night now." Katy remarked, standing next to you, holding a red cup. It had been senior prom and she had forced both you and Shang-Chi to come along too. Even if it was just for two minutes. But two minutes turned into two hours, and you have done nothing but sit in a corner, reading your book while occasionally drinking a bit. Katy had done her best to interact with others, but was quick to stand next to you with Shang-Chi and talk about anything and everything. But now, Shang-Chi had gone to get some more to drink, and - unfortunately - you could feel the eyes of the second guy bore holes into your back.

"I am aware. Perhaps I should just tell him to shove off. He might leave me alone." You offered, rolling your eyes as his made contact with yours.

"Or you could offer him a dance. It is a prom after all and you haven't even crossed the dancefloor yet." Katy proposed, but her words vanished into thin air as Shang-Chi appeared again.

"What were you two talking about?"

"About how the two of you should let go a bit and get out there to dance." Your friend announced, grabbing Shang-Chi's cup, then grabbing your arm and tangling it together with his, pushing the two of you forward.

"Have fun!" She yelled after you.

“'Cause sooner or later, we'll wonder why we gave up. The truth is everyone knows.”

The night had lasted longer than you had primarily thought. Katy's plan worked and you spend the entire night dancing with Shang-Chi, even after the reluctance of both sides. He had walked you home the entire way. Katy had insisted on being picked up by her parents (after she threw up in the school bathroom), so it had just been the two of you.

"Thank you for tonight." You offered as you reached your doorstep.

"Yes? You had fun?" He asked happily, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Eventually." You confided, shooting him a wink. When a silence struck between the two of you, you walked towards him, extending your arms. Shang-Chi caught onto your meaning and wasted no time in wrapping his arms around you, content with being in your hold, even if it would just be for a few seconds.

Your hands found the back of his neck, where they met, as you pulled him closer, not wanting to let go just yet.

"And here I thought tonight would be boring." You mumbled, before turning your head slightly and planting a soft, yet lingering kiss on the side of his cheek.

You broke apart after, showing him a tiny smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Shaun." You said with a wave, now turning around and walking into your home. You had missed the way Shang-Chi remained standing there, not sure on what to comment or what to do. His brain forming some sort of short circuit. It wasn't until he heard you walking up the stairs, that he realized he should probably go home too. It would later become a memory that would keep him up at night, both with fondness and regret.

“Almost, almost is never enough. So close to being in love.”

But your actions were never discussed afterwards. You both met the day after, but it had been as if nothing happened. Katy did not find anything off, that was how well hidden it was. The kiss had but nothing but platonic, Shang-Chi had now tried to convince himself. He hated how he thought it could've meant something else, but deep inside, he knew it was too good to be true.

You had made no intention of even mentioning last night, aside from the part where you discussed the creepy guy. Katy had been laughing about the fact she threw up on a dance, but Shang-Chi had remained quiet, only sharing an occasional laugh and comment.

Ever since that night, he felt himself change around you. He would suddenly pick up on the little things you did. His stomach would feel feather-light whenever he made you laugh, something that had not happened before. His heart would pick up on the sound of your voice and every other noise would be cancelled the second you wrapped him in your arms. Conversations became more personal and your interests had been above his. He cursed himself for acting like that over a simple kiss on the cheek, but now that his heart knew what it could get, it would not stop until that was accomplished.

“If I would have known that you wanted me the way I wanted you. Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart, but right here in each other's arms.”

"You make sure to write us, okay?" Katy reminded as you inspected your boarding ticket. You were leaving for London, to finally go to that school you always wanted to go to. You got rejected your first try, but the second was an easy entrance. The only problem was that you would be gone for four years, perhaps only visiting during the holidays. Shang-Chi knew there was a very realistic chance of you forgetting them or starting your own life hundreds of miles away from him. And he hated the thought. It had followed him ever since you announced that you finally got allowed in. But only now, at the airport, he understood what this could mean for you.

"I will write to you every week, how does that sound?" You spoke, gathering Katy in a warming hug, letting her decide when to let go.

"That sounds perfect." She agreed, taking a step back with a smile. Shang-Chi had walked up to you, heart hammering in his chest while he tried to keep his tears at bay, convincing himself that he would see you again soon, no matter what would happen. He wrapped you in another, stronger hug, keeping his arms around your waist as his head rest against the crook of your neck.

"Don't forget me." He whispered, so quiet, you weren't even sure you had heard him correctly the first time.

"I won't." You silently answered back, stroking the back of his neck lightly. In response, Shang-Chi planted a quick kiss on your cheek, his body acting before he could realize what he did.

Upon parting the hug, you showed him a genuine smile. Katy took her place beside him, smiling back at you, even when she had no idea what had just happened.

"Flight 205 to London, England is ready for boarding." The dreading announcement finally filled the building, causing you to frown, letting out a loud sigh.

"I should go." You mumbled, holding onto your ticket and suitcase. "I'll see you this winter. I'm sure of it." You promised, offering one final wave before leaving.

You did not see Shang-Chi's broken face, or Katy's uncharacteristic sulking frown and perhaps that had been for the best. Because one more look at your face, had been enough for Shang-Chi to grab your arm and force you to run away with him. But he did not get the chance. And he would perhaps never get it again.

“And we almost, we almost knew what love was. But almost is never enough.”

True to your word, you had appeared days before Christmas, surprising both of your friends. You had stayed over at Katy's, as Shang-Chi would often visit, taking the two of you out on nice evening. It had been December 23rd when Shang-Chi appeared in front of Katy's door again, but instead of waiting for her, he had only been there for you.

He had taken you out on a wonderful night, wandering the nearby Christmas market with you, the lights and music overwhelming you. He had bought you an adorable, ugly sweater you found, after with you surprised him with an equally adorable reindeer hat.

It had nearly been 2 AM, but the local pub was open, as it had always been. Yet, instead of the usual pub drinks, you both engulfed yourselves with hot chocolate, talking with each other about all the moments you had missed. For once, everything felt exactly as it once had. The painful aching in Shang-Chi's chest had returned, but the feeling his stomach left him after you shared yet another excited laughter had been worth every moment. He knew he should have grabbed his chance right then and right there, but he could not bring himself to do it. You would leave within a week, and he did not have the intention of scaring you off and making you leave earlier. So he would stay there, by your side, but from a distance, keeping his feelings to himself, no matter how much it had hurt.

“If I could change the world overnight there’d be no such thing as goodbye. You'd be standing right where you were and we'd get the chance we deserve.”

But the days went by slow, and every single one of them had been more painful then the one before. New Year's eve had approached and you had looked so beautiful that Shang-Chi could not bring himself to talk to you for longer than five minutes. Not even when Katy was around. He stuffed himself with the food around and drank way too much for his liking. You had tried to talk to him, but he just seemed to become more distant as you tried to connect with him. December 23rd suddenly felt further away than it had really been.

23:56, everyone was together in the living room of Katy's household. Everyone but one. Shang-Chi had rushed to the bathroom only seconds prior, the alcohol becoming too much for his system. He had sat in front of the toilet seat, his back hunched over as tried to get the upcoming bile out.

"Shaun?" You asked, knocking on the bathroom door, even though it had not been locked. "Are you alright?"

"Just perfect." Had been his response, but it was quickly followed by the rather unpleasant sound of vomit hitting the bottom of the toilet.

"I'm going to come in, is that okay?"

When the only thing you heard was his humming, you opened the door, sighing silently at the sight before you.

"Oh, dear." You cooed, kneeling down next to him, removing the tie from around his neck before rubbing his back soothingly.

"I'm sorry for tonight." He managed to get out, before emptying his stomach into the toilet once again.

"It's not your fault, sweetheart." You crooned, letting your hand wander into his hair, trailing slow circles into it.

"No, but it is. I haven't said anything to you the whole night, and it makes me look like a fool." He admitted, keeping his face above the toilet seat, though the urge to throw up slowly faded.

"And perhaps I am a fool. But then it's your fault, because you made me a fool. You make me do foolish things. And the worst part is that I don't even mind." He cried, a tear now escaping his eye.

"You're drunk, Shaun." You began, standing up to fill one of the empty glasses at the sink with some water.

"Of course I am, but it does not make my words any less true."

You formed your lips in a thin line, offering him the glass before taking your seat next to him again.

“Try to deny it as much as you want, but in time our feelings will show.”

"I love you, Y/N. I do." He confessed, grabbing the glass and gulping it down.

"I believe you. Tell me again tomorrow morning and we can talk about it." You promised, opening your hand to reveal a mint to him.

"I always carry them with me at parties." You answered his unspoken question, to which he nodded, taking the mint.

From the other room, you could hear everyone counting down. Both you and Shang-Chi had now been sitting with your back against the tub, your head on his shoulder, as his hand held yours, squeezing it occasionally.

"Happy new year!" You heard from the other room. You smiled at the laughter and cheering, turning your head towards Shang-Chi.

"Happy new-" But your words were interrupted as his lips crashed into yours, his shy self long forgotten. Perhaps you should have been grossed out by the idea that he had thrown up only minutes prior, but you could no longer care. You rested your hand upon his cheek as the other held onto his shirt, kissing him back with just as much need as he had.

"Happy new year." He finished for you after you broke apart, wrapping you in a hug, forcing you onto his lap. With your head on his chest, you slowly breathed out, happy to be in his arms once more.

"Happy new year, Shaun."

“'Cause sooner or later we'll wonder why we gave up. The truth is everyone knows.”

During breakfast the next morning, it became prominent that Shang-Chi had no idea what happened the night before. He did not even realize it was an entirely new year today. But you could not get yourself to bring it up. He had been drunk and he knew it, but you did not know whether to believe his drunken words or not. In vino veritas was still a thing, of course, but sometimes, people say weird things when they're drunk. Maybe this just was one of those moments.

Shang-Chi did know something had happened, but he did not know what. You would not tell him and Katy did not seem to know. You had convinced him it was nothing terrible nor something to be ashamed off, but as they walked you to the airport again, the thought kept nagging at the back of his brain. What if he had done something terribly wrong and you just wouldn't tell him? But you would be honest to him, would you?

Upon saying your goodbyes and hugging your friends, you lingered on Shang-Chi, holding onto him tighter than you had done to Katy.

"You make me a fool too." You had whispered, before breaking apart and walking towards the check-in hall. He did not even get the chance to ask what it meant or what he could do. All that was in his power at the moment was stand beside Katy and hoping you would come again one day soon.

“Almost, almost is never enough. We were so close to being in love.”

Three years it had been since that day. You had not seen them in three years. Sure, you had kept contact over letters and mail, but you had not once seen them again since that New Year's day. Shang-Chi had yet to forgive himself over whatever happened, even after you told him thousands of times it had been okay.

"When can we see you again?" Katy's voice echoed from your phone.

"I am in my exam year now and I need my fullest attention. We can meet when I'm done." You told her, but you had told her this many times before already.

"I miss you." She sang.

"I miss you too, Katy. Can you hand me Shaun again?" You asked. Originally, it had been you calling Shang-Chi, but of course, Katy was there too and she felt the need to speak with you again.

"Of course!" She announced. A short silence was followed until you heard Shang-Chi's voice again.

"I have to go now, but can you call me again tonight? I have to ace this German test in order to pass this semester." You pleaded Shang-Chi, who responded with a chuckle.

"After five years you still need my help for languages."

"You explain it so easily!" You defended. "So call me tonight, okay?"

"I will. Talk to you tonight." He offered.

"Yes, you will! See you tonight!"

“If I would have known that you wanted me, the way I wanted you. Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart, but right here in each other's arms.”

"Welcome back, miss 'I-actually-finished-school'!" Katy yelled, running towards you, making you drop your suitcase to intercept her halfway. "Next time, don't make us wait three years." She mumbled, though it was obvious she was joking.

As your eyes landed on Shang-Chi, you spotted the woman beside him. She did not appear familiar to you, so out of kindness, you merely extended your arm, offering your hand.

"Y/N." You introduced kindly as she shook your hand back.

"Jennifer." She spoke through a smile, making you return the gesture.

"Oh yeah, this is Jennifer; my girlfriend." Shang-Chi introduced, making your heart drop to the pit of your stomach. Girlfriend, of course. You could not even blame him. It had been three years, who knows what had happened.

Another smile made its way onto your face, now walking over to hug him, yet it had not been as tightly as it once was.

"You did not tell me you had a girlfriend, mister lucky." You tried to joke, breaking the hug before he could even let go of your back.

"Well, I wanted to introduce the two of you in person rather than on the phone." He explained, holding his hand out for Jennifer to take. You offered her a sweet grin, nodding your head at them.

"She's beautiful."

“And we almost, we almost knew what love was. But almost is never enough.”

You had made the decision to move back to America, in order to keep more in touch with your family and friends. Katy had once more offered you a roof for the time being, glad to spend some extra time with you again, but Shang-Chi didn't nearly show up as often as he had before.

"He's all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend now. It's disgusting." Katy joked in the middle of your round of Monopoly. You had asked her about Shang-Chi and she did not hold back.

"Of course, Jennifer is really kind, but she's so unintentionally rude at times. Yesterday, she told me she admired my bravery for wearing my hair in a bun. Like, what is that supposed to mean?" Katy joked, but you could see it had been truly bothering her.

"And one time, she cancelled our karaoke night, because she wanted to see a movie with him. Ugh." The young woman resumed, but you made no intention of talking about it with her. You had barely known the girl, so you felt bad for hearing such terrible things about her.

"Don't tell Shaun I said this, but last week, she cried because we were going to pick you up from the airport. She thought he was going to cheat on her with you." Katy explained between laughs.

"Why would she think that?" You wondered aloud, your focus no longer on the Monopoly game.

"Because the two of you used to be super cozy."

"Yes, but we were no couple." You defended, swallowing the lump in your throat, thinking about what could have been.

"You would have been if you hadn't left." Katy confessed, but she swallowed her words as quickly as they came.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound rude." She apologized. "It was great that you left because of your school, but let's be honest; you and Shaun would have literally been banging right now if you had stayed here."

"Katy!" You laughed.

"Just the truth!"

“And we can deny it as much as we want, but in time our feelings will show.”

"So, that did not work out." A voice spoke as the door opened, sighing heavily as he plopped himself down on the couch beside you.

"What happened?" Katy asked from the kitchen, busying herself with the pizzas in the oven.

"Jennifer and I broke up." Shang-Chi announced.

"Oh no! Why?" You asked, dropping the book you had been reading earlier.

"I don't know. She was acting all crazy and I did not really feel attracted to her anymore." He explained.

"Oh, I get that!" Katy began. "Remember Justin from high school?"

Both you and Shang-Chi hummed in response.

"He was cute, but only for a week. Spark kind of blew out."

You laughed at her metaphor, before turning back to Shang-Chi. "I'm really sorry for you, Shaun. She seemed like a nice girl."

All you got in response was a smile, followed by a thankful nod.

"If it's any comfort to you, we could get hot chocolate tonight. I'll pay," You announced, though Katy quickly threw off the idea.

"My show is playing tonight and I'm not missing it again. You can go with Shaun alone."

"Fine by me." You shrugged. "Hot chocolate?"

“'Cause sooner or later we'll wonder why we gave up. The truth is everyone knows.”

You and Shang-Chi had been seated in the same pub as before, the smell of hot chocolate filling your nostrils.

"Jennifer did not like you." Shang-Chi suddenly spoke up, making you frown at his words.

"Why? What did I do?"

"I have no idea." He confessed with a grin, taking a sip of his drink. "I once told her about you and ever since that moment, she had always held a grudge against you."

"What can I say? I'm just natural competition." You teased, raising your eyebrows a couple times, accompanied by a smirk.

"Perhaps." He had mumbled back, now looking at you as if it was his first time ever seeing you.

"Well, if she didn't like me, I don't like her either, so let's not spent the night dwelling about what could have been. Let's spent the night with joy!" You exclaimed, connecting your hand with his and giving it a reassuring squeeze, before returning your hand.

“Almost, almost is never enough. We were so close to being in love.”

"Katy, help. He did it again!" You yelled through the empty apartment, your mind foggy, but still half functioning. Katy emerged from her bedroom, her hair messy and her eyes half opened.

"He made me buy alcohol again!" You announced excitedly, bumping into Shang-Chi, who was clinging onto you as if you were his life-line.

"Are you both drunk?" She yawned, turning on the lights, helping the two of you to the couch.

"Just a wittle bit." Shang-Chi whispered, holding his fingers together at the 'wittle' part, a delirious grin on his face.

"But my savior is here once again." He continued, snuggling into your side as you laid on the couch, his head resting on your chest.

"This is soft." He remarked, poking it.

"Don't touch my boob, you perv." You giggled, slapping his hand away, to which he yelped a bit too dramatic for Katy's liking.

"You know, I do remember what happened New Year's Eve." Shang-Chi remarked. Katy rolled her eyes at his words, covering the both of you with a blanket.

"If I hear any moaning tonight, both of you can sleep on the street. And I mean it." She warned, before turning off the lights and walking back into her room. The second her door closed, both you and Shang-Chi burst out giggling.

"What happened New Year's Eve?" You asked, slurring half of your words.

"We kissed." He whispered, as if it had been a secret. You gasped in surprise.

"We didn't."

"Yes, we did, and it was right after I threw up." He stated proudly.

"That's disgusting!" You laughed, resting your arm around his torso.

"I did not tell you the next day because I was afraid you'd leave me again." He confessed, toying with the ends of your t-shirt.

"That's silly. I would not leave after kissing you." You defended.

"I even told you that I loved you. Maybe that's why I broke up with Jennifer. Because I still love you." Shang-Chi murmured, almost falling asleep now.

"That's crazy, because I love you too." You whispered into his hair.

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Ever since that dance at prom." You hummed.

"Wow....The world is crazy."

A silence struck the both of you, and for once, you thought he fell asleep. You were keen on following his example, already closing your eyes, enjoying the thought of sleep taking over.

"We'll remember this tomorrow, right?" Shang-Chi suddenly asked, his voice more quiet than before.

"Of course." You reassured. "But first, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

"Night night." He mumbled back, placing a soft kiss into the crook of your neck before nestling into your side more, letting sleep overtake him.

“If I would have known that you wanted me the way I wanted you, babe. Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart, but right here in each other's arms.”

Breakfast had been the most difficult thing all morning; The terrible pounding on your head did not cease for once. The urge to throw up was ever present, keeping you incapable of swallowing even the tiniest bit of food.

"I'm exhausted." Shang-Chi announced, stretching his arms before resting his top half on the table, nearly dozing off on top of it.

"Don't be so loud." You shushed, holding your head in your hands, trying to cancel out his noise.

"Sorry." He mumbled through his hands as one subconsiously wandered of just to come in touch with your own. You looked up in surprise. Katy had no longer been at the table. How long had the two of you sat there? Did you fall back asleep? In the background, you heard the shower running, signifying that Katy was already done with breakfast and was busy changing.

"I know this is the worst possible timing, but do you want to go out on a date tonight? With me? Before we forget again." Shang-Chi wondered aloud, his volume down to keep your head calm.

"I'm not drinking again." You warned.

"Neither am I. I was thinking about seeing a movie."

"That can be arranged."

“And we almost, we almost knew what love was. But almost is never enough.”

But the date never came. After you were well enough to drive home a few hours later, a reckless driver bumped into the left side of your car, leaving you trapped, immobile and in terrible pain. You were gone before the ambulance could even arrive. Shang-Chi could not even properly process all of it happening. He remembered coming home to dress appropriate for the movie when the police called him, claiming he had been your emergency number. He had broken so many traffic laws to get to the hospital in time, but he knew it was useless. You had already been beyond saving when you were found.

He had spent days at your grave, telling you about the things that happened and things that he had hoped to happen. Every once in a while, he would bring hot chocolate with him, hoping to find some source of comfort, but the once sweet drink had turned bitter the second his tongue touched the familiar taste. The movie he had longed to see with you never once graced his eyes. Him and Katy had been each other's comfort; each other’s solace, but the feeling of someone missing did never go unnoticed by them.

It felt empty, humorless, and for days it had been difficult to even talk about it. But they would remain together for you. If they could not have you, they could at least have each other. And it would have to do.

“Almost is never enough baby. You know.”

[swhatever]

marvel masterlist

━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━

━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━

Matt Murdock

Nothing yet…

Frank Castle

‘’you’re doing so well.’’ ☾

Peter Maximoff

Nothing yet…

Natasha Romanoff

Nothing yet…

Shangqi

Nothing yet…

Miguel O’Hara

Nothing yet…

[tom-whore-dleston]

hdjghjkahfljkshvgjkfad omg Bea, I loved how sweet and wholesome this fic was 😍😍😍 minus the cheating no good ex-bf lol

I got a new Kirby meme AND a Benny meme just for you hehe 🙈

this may not be a surprise, but I AM YEARNING FOR ROOMMATE!SHANGQI 😩🥺👉👈 I love how loving and caring he was with her (she deserves it and we all know Shangqi is a big softie but still hehe) And even tho they didn't get together in the end, I love that he loved her enough to give her space to heal from her breakup. Besides, you know I like me a good slow burn, friends to lovers trope 😉

Im so sorry for reading so late 😭 life got cray and I’m now catching up on my to read list 🥲 I love you bestie and amazing fic as always 🥰😘

4 am and a bottle of champagne

Pairing: Shang-Chi x fem!reader

Summary: It's 4 am and your roommate finds your broken heart in the kitchen.

Word count: 1.2k words

Warnings: Roommate!au, mentions of cheating, very minor cursing, slow burn. In this story, Shang-Chi is referred to as Shaun since I pictured that the events of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings occurred before he moved in with her, and she doesn't know about his double life.

Author’s note: This little story is very self-indulgent and I wrote it for the lovely@tonystarksfavoritedaughter writing challenge! Thank you so much for tagging me on this and I'm very happy about your incredible milestone ❤ There are a lot of references to songs because that's how my mind works dhsdjkh The reader calls him “boy-scout” because she sees him as someone very honest and friendly.

Likes, comments and reblogs, as always, are very appreciated <3

You knew it was around 4 am when your body urged you to wake up and get out of bed. Truthfully, you hadn't even slept at all. Your eyes didn't seem to shut for a minute without flashbacking to the scene you'd seen earlier.

The cold floor against your feet was the only thing keeping you alert and present. You made your way to the kitchen, careful not to wake up your roommate. Against your will, though, the tears started lingering by your puffy eyes — you fought them, unsuccessful.

A glass of water in hand, only the dim lights of the table lamp by the sofa illuminating your face, you heard the tingling of the keys wiggling around when the front door unlocked. You didn't even realize he wasn't at home.

You stared at Shaun, squinting your eyes. "I thought you were here." Even though your friend was quite outgoing, frequently going to karaoke parties, he never came back home so close to dawn. "What were you doing out so late?"

Shaun took a quick breath, trying to make up excuses on cue. "I was at Katy's?" He said, but even he couldn't believe his response. "I was doing groceries?" He closed his eyes taking the hit of being so bad at making believable excuses to you.

The slight shake of his head and the funny tone of his voice made you giggle softly. On any other day you would joke around and confront him, making him confess, but not today. You turned your distant gaze away from him, thinking about hiding in your bed again. "Alright, good night, boy-scout."

"Wait, wait." He said, closing the door behind him after taking off his shoes, cautious not to make too much noise. "You're never up that late. Or early, I'm not sure anymore." He hung his jacket in the open closet where all the coats are usually stored. "Is everything fine?"

You knew he couldn't see your face. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have asked if you were okay. The spaced curtains let the moonlight and the slightly greyish blue sky come through the apartment windows. You sat down on the comfy chair nearby, grabbing a blanket that you would always leave in the living room.

Shaun approached the space, joining you on the other couch. His tired dark eyes stared at you with concern as soon as he noticed the red sheen on the tip of your nose and the sparkle on your eyes - the kind of sparkle he didn't wish to see. He hated to see. "Who did this to you?"

"Who do you think?" As soon as you let out the sarcastic huff, the other emotions started to show, and you felt like crying again. "I saw him cheating on me with another girl at that party. And the worst part was that he seemed so free like I didn't even exist."

Shaun shook his head in disbelief, almost pleading with himself not to say what he was yearning to say for quite some time now. He sighed, searching for the right way to let the words reach you.

"He is a fucking moron. That's what he is." He seemed so angry, but not at you. His hand gestured as if a single punch could knock another person out in one go. You recognized his face when he was so upset he could storm out - luckily, he never did that to you. The veins on his arm and forehead popping out, his jaw clenched, all very contained, yet, quite terrifying at the same time.

Your unexpected laughter made him jump out of the couch, taking his focus out of the feelings he was farming under his skin. "Thanks for sugarcoating it.”

"I meant to say that he isn’t worth it.” He said, cupping your hand onto his. "I'm sorry that it happened."

"I know." You nodded with a weak smile showing off for the first time that night. "I did break up with him if you were wondering."

"I was going to ask you that." He chuckled. "You know I've never been a fan of his, so I can't be partial on that."

"Can we pop out the champagne? Or is it too early for that?" You snorted a bit with your restrained laughter. After that little confession from Shaun, you lightened up a bit. You knew he wasn't the type of guy that despised people, but you always had that gut feeling that his senses were almost like a moral compass — if he doesn't like someone, there's something wrong.

"We can do whatever you want to, pretty girl." He smiled, mimicking your new mood. "Anything that makes you happy."

You reached him for a side hug and whispered a sweet thank you, resting your head on his shoulder. "Even at 4 am, you never fail to make me smile, boy-scout."

"It's just my duty ma'am." He saluted with a grin. "But seriously though," he cleared up his throat. "I hope you know that love doesn't feel like this. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that you loved him, but... Love isn't supposed to give you anxiety, cold feet, and make you second guess yourself as he did."

And as I would never do. He wanted to say but kept the last part for himself. “You’re going to be okay.”

”Thank you, Shaun." You nodded. His warm eyes reached you in a mellow embrace as if with one look he had snugged you with a blanket and gave you a sweetened cup of coffee. "And I'll keep my guard up for the future."

Shaun seemed satisfied with your answer and smiled. You stood up and walked back to the kitchen again after remembering the leftover cake from last night. You glanced over to him asking if he wanted a piece, but he refused, just watching you from the couch he was still comfortably sitting on. “Oh wait, look what we have here.” Your figure suddenly vanished inside the fridge lights, and your swift smile accompanied a half-opened bottle of cheap champagne. He guffawed at your suggestive grin and nodded, pointing at the shelf where you kept your very inexpensive glasses.

He knew he had to give you time to heal. There was this innocent understanding that whatever type of love he felt for you, it was enough for now. He didn't need to be your lover, not as much as he needed to be your friend.

He wanted to be the one you would drunk text to and the one you would sing series openings with late at night. He wanted to be next to you when you woke up and brew you a fresh cup of coffee — or tea, which one you would prefer that day. He wouldn't mind going out to buy you boba tea or put gas on your car when you didn’t feel like it.

Maybe he, too, had a misconception of love. Love was what he felt for you, even today when all he could do was comfort you and watch you dance on the kitchen tiles with that oversized t-shirt you had stolen from him. Love isn't one special moment in time, it's this constant friendship and reassurance feelings that come with it.

And for sure, if the time comes, and you feel the same, he will be there to hold you and rush in like a fool. But for now, your smile is the only proof of love he needed right now. The only one he fights to protect.

[ijenoyou]

Nice to see you again.

shangqi x reader.

summary; you didn’t think you would see him again, even after all these years he still had hope of finding you, safe and sound.

warnings; mentions of the gold daggers club, maybe spoilers lol, angst and fluff (pls tell me if i should add more!) also this is quite long lmao so bear with it

notes; soooo yeah i have like 3 things to write for shangqi lol anyways pls wait for those! also english isn’t my first language soooo there might some mistakes hehe sorry! also this is requested hehe

your eyes ran across the white board that was hanging on the wall, a marker on your hand while the other held a clipboard that had crazy amounts of money next to a fighters name.

you don’t really enjoy the fighting scene but xialing does so when she offered you this job after leaving her fathers regimen you decided to accept it. it was fun. watching people and creatures from all around the world and universe fight against each other for fun but what you like the most about this job is that it paid the bills so you can’t really complain about it.

you finish writing a competitors name when xialing enters the office the both of you share.

“are you fighting tonight?” you ask after seeing her wrap her knuckles.

“yup, you should watch it.” she says. “you’ll like this one” she adds with a smirk.

you sigh and a tiny smile spreads around your cheeks. “is it against wong? i kinda want to bet to that.” xialing takes her shoes off and puts them next to her desk, she claps her hands and smiles while shaking her head. she takes your left wrist, pulling you to the door. you huff and throw the clipboard and the marker on a tiny table next to the door.

why is she so demanding for you to watch this fight? you’ve seen her fight multiple times that at this point you know how to fight just by watching her— and also staying with wenwu for so many years had it’s perks, you didn’t need anyone to defend you, not anymore—

you try to follow her fast walking, almost tripping with your own feet.

“cheer for me.” she smiles.

“i always do!” you push her with your shoulder and xialing laughs.

her opponents name was announced and when you turned your head towards them you couldn’t believe your eyes.

it’s him, looking at his sister then back to you. your eyebrows frown and you break in cold sweat. before you could do anything jon jon gave the signal to start fighting.

you never liked seeing him fight, it didn’t matter if it was only training or a real fight but you never enjoyed it. it hurt seeing him full of purple spots covering all over his tan skin.

and it didn’t help that his own sister was kicking his ass.

when xialing gave him a really hard kick his eyes searched for someone under the ring, you followed his sight line and landed your eyes on a girl with neon green pants. she made a face of pain and started to cover her eyes with her hands and all because xialing wouldn’t stop giving him a hard time so you decided to leave. now you understood why she wanted you to see her fight.

your hand tried to wipe the tears that had accumulated on yours eyes after closing the door of the office you were previously in. you definitively can’t believe that after all these years he finally decided to show up and you hate the way your heart beats faster after seeing him.

“i thought you were over it.” xialing’s voice sounds behind you.

“says the one who couldn’t stop throwing punches at him.” you talk back.

she sighs at your answer. “sorry, i should’ve told you he was here.” she pats your shoulder as she passes by you and you groan. xialing sits on top of her desk and plays with her fingers. “and i think i should tell you that he’s coming here right now.”

you shake your head. “what?”

the door opens showing members of the golden daggers carrying shangqi’s body. they leave him on the couch that’s on the middle of the room, after them the girl with the neon green pants comes in with a huge stack of money on her hands.

she looks at you and the gasps. “you’re the girl from the picture!” she points at you, making xialing turn her head.

“w-what picture?” you ask trying not to sound too nervous.

she opens her waist bag and pulls out a polaroid then places the stack of money inside the bag. she extends her hand and motions for you to take the polaroid.

you turn it around and the sides of your lips quirk up into a tiny smile. it’s a photo of you and him, he was 16 and you were 14, it was a week before he left. and what made that photo so special was that he was holding your hand behind his back so no one would notice it.

it was also taken on the day you and him shared feelings for the each other.

“why were you carrying that?” shangqi groans from his place at the couch.

“sorry.” she mumbles. “i could tell you didn’t want to leave it back at san francisco so i took it when you weren’t looking.”

you sit next to xialing, eyes still looking at the picture. you were so absorbed in your own world that you didn’t notice the siblings arguing.

your eyes immediately traveled to ring that has been in your finger for so many years that you don’t even remember the last time you took it out.

“he wants our pendants and the ring, he already has mine.” that’s the only thing you get to hear from the argument.

“why?” you ask without looking up, still staring at the picture. he stops talking and takes a good look at you.

shangqi huffs as his hands go over his head, scratching his scalp in frustration. “i-i don’t know, but one thing is sure, he’s coming for the both of you.”

when your best friend was just about to speak the alarms went off. xialing takes your free hand and pulls you towards a secret exit. jon jon joins before the door closes. “wait!” you shout, realizing that shangqi and his friends were being left behind. he turns after hearing your voice and only manages to see your worried face.

the secret exit which turned out to be an elevator starts going down. “we have to go back!” you say while reaching for the button to stop the elevator but xialing slaps your hand away.

“he deserves it! he left us at our own luck and never took time out of his day just to see if we were still alive!” she screams back at you.

your stare right at her eyes and she does the same with yours. “please.” you beg. “it’s you’re brother and he’s—“

“the guy you love?” she mocks. “fine! but i’m doing it just for you.” xialing nods towards jon jon, he then stops the elevator.

the elevator goes up instead and after just a few seconds it’s doors open, you and xialing step out while jon jon stays there. she runs to a broken window and jumps out.

jus when you were going to do the same, one of the members of the ten rings passes by the window and sees you. “shit.” you mumble.

you always hated being chased by them, they would never stop and that made you hate them with your whole being. it didn’t help that the golden daggers facility had the hallways placed like a maze.

turning to the left you could clearly see shangqi and the death dealer fighting. you ran towards them as fast as you could and pushed the death dealer with your whole body off of shangqi making you both roll on your backs and ending on the same pose spiderman often used.

more of wenwu’s men arrive and one of them takes your hand and tries to pull the ring off your finger. you try to pull your hand back but another member punches your side making you let go. the punch took must of the air out of your lungs.

“i’m surprised y/n.” wenwu’s voice fills the room. “still holding onto that ring uh?”

[***]

your mind didn’t have any thought other than wenwu must be out of his mind. there’s no way shangqi and xialing’s mother is alive.

“penny for you thoughts?” shangqi says next to you.

“do you believe him?” you ask while running your finger in circles on the spot the ring his mother gave you used to be. he doesn’t say anything back. “what are we going to do? i don’t think it’s safe to go.”

a few moments of silence pass by until you see him pulling out your ring out of his pocket.

“xialing thinks it might be true but me? you know there’s no way my mother is alive.�� he extends the ring to you. he places the ring on your palm. “i always thought you didn’t keep it.”

you shrug and a breathy laugh leaves your mouth. “i loved your mother too, she took me in when no one else wanted, i would never throw it away.”

after hearing your words he nods, shangqi sees your put the ring back in place and holds his gaze on the purple crystal that got you into this mess. and he realizes that you haven’t said anything about him leaving, and it makes him wonder, would’ve been better if he came back for xialing and for you?

“i’m sorry.”

you scoff. “you’re sorry? just sorry? you never came back! i waited for you so many years but you know what was the worst part? your father took me as your replacement!”

he felt like his insides were burning, he didn’t know his own father did the same to you.

“i just wanted the death dealer to kill me after every mission, he never gave me a free day. your father used me to kill others and if i refused well, it wasn’t pretty so no, i can't forgive you and for so many years I wanted to search for you after i left but now i can't even look at you.” after your final words there's complete silence.

shangqi takes your wrist just like his sister did earlier on and forces you to sit next to him on his childhood bed. he bring you closer to his chest and puts his free hand on the back of your head making you press against his body.

“i want to forgive you because i-i still love you.” you whispered, afraid that his father would hear.

shangqi applied more pressure to your body, melting in each other’s arms. he places his forehead against yours looking directly to your eyes.

“i still love you too.”

[stargazingcarol]

The drinking game [Shangqi x reader]

Summary: Shangqi gets married to someone u and Katy can't stand. And so on begins the drinking game.

Warnings: angst, drinking, sadness.

A/N: it WAS supposed to be a drinking game but then i didn't write that so i just wrote them drinking. But i like the summary like that so I'm gonna leave it like that.

"I'm not drinking today" You had reminded before the wedding to Katy; who rolled her eyes and scoffed.

The night before, Katy had stayed at yours and you guys had drank a little too much. Your reason: trying to forget the love of your life was getting married and you wouldn't do anything about it. Because you could, you just wouldn't.

Katy because her last time telling her best friend Xu Shangqi that this woman he was marrying was a mistake. But Shangqi was too in love with her to notice her very there, very obvious BAD person written all over her face.

It had gone something like:

"Katy, Y/N, what are you guys doing here? The wedding is tomorrow and it's almost 12am." He rubs his eyes and fakes a yawn but you and Katy know he was playing video games.

"You can't do this, Shangqi. You can't marry her!"

Shangqi sighs defeatedly and leans against the door. His arms cross against his chest and he looks at his toes for a moment before looking up.

He eyes Katy for a moment and then you. He stares at you for a bit too long and your heart feels like it's gonna be snatched by his gaze right out of your throat.

"It's done, guys. I love her." He has a glint in his eyes that makes you and Katy know that he does indeed love her, which makes this much worse than it should be.

After that Katy argued with him for a while but her yelling didn't match his calm expression and before she could yell one more time and get you guys kicked out of the building, since you were at his door, you grab Katy's arm and told her: "it's done. We are done here."

Katy fumes and glares at her best friend and walks away to her car. You stay with Shangqi for a moment but you can't meet his gaze so u stay looking at the point of your converse.

"I will like for you guys to be there..." You hear him say and you finally look up.

His gaze isn't on you though, he's looking at anywhere but you.

"We will" You assured even when your heart felt like needles were piercing through it. You may need an anxiety pill.

Shagqi's gaze goes to you and licks his lips and nods before going inside and closing the door.

That's your queue to go back to Katy's car. When you sit beside her you see her staring off into the distance, just...glaring at a lamppost.

"We should've told him." You breathe.

"She would've killed us." Katy murmurs.

"I think if we stick together we could beat her--"

"No, Y/N, she's too powerful." As Katy turns on the car and starts to get off the parking, she speaks again. "So, do you have any drinks at your house?"

You grin looking straight ahead. San Francisco looks peaceful or as peaceful as it can get at 12 in the morning.

"Some but we could buy more"

It's finally wedding day and you and Katy are sporting a major hangover from drinking vodka mixed with any type of juice the night before, and when you finally enter the area where the wedding is gonna be held you're both still wearing your very fashionable sunglasses. The sun is hot and you're glad at least this part of the wedding is gonna be held inside instead of outside.

When Shangqi says his dreaded: I do. Your mind is made up.

You're drinking tonight. If you had to make a fool of yourself then so be it. You grab Katy's arm firmly and squeeze. She looks at you but you're looking at only the rose in your garden, the brightest star in the darkest night, the love of your life.

When the wedding is over you try to keep it to yourself but while everyone is making their way outside for the rest of the ceremony you practically run into the bathroom.

You start pacing in front of the mirror and when you finally look at yourself you can't help but cringe, your eyes are watery and at least you're wearing good makeup so it won't go all over your eyes.

You put the palm of your fingers on your eyes forcefully and scream. When you're done someone barges in and you see Shangqi's little sister: Xu Xialing.

Her face is one of scared and when her frantic eyes land on you she sighs.

"Better?" She says as she adjusts her black dress.

"I'm feeling like i wanna get on a space ship and get off this planet and never come back" You grab a napkin and dab under your eyes.

Xialing nods. "I understand."

"Have you ever been in love?" You ask.

Xialing looks at you through the mirror as you look at her. She grabs her purse the same color as her dress and picks out a red lipstick. She starts to put it on her lips and you think that's the end of the conversation so you start to get out of the bathroom when she speaks up.

"Never"

"Would you like to?"

"I don't think I'm ready for it"

You nod and get out of the bathroom looking for Katy.

When you find her, she's at the bar with a beer.

"I thought we weren't drinking tonight" you sit next to her and has her arm on the bar and her head is on her palm.

"I thought you told me you did want to drink?"

"Now now, when did I say that?" You're just messing around, you know what you did. The signal.

You had gripped her arm so hard she had known back then that you're answer of not drinking tonight had changed.

When the bartender comes around Katy orders for you: "anything fruity but with alcohol for the beautiful sad lady next to me."

The drink is pushed on your hands, it's pink with what looks like gummies floating.

When you take your first sip, you automatically start to feel less jittery, less nervous, less anxious.

The night goes on and Shangqi is too engrossed in his new wife that he doesn't come to you and Katy for a while.

And you're kinda okay with that. You're on the verge of drunk already, you've had 3 similar drinks to your first one and you're kinda already seeing double.

"I felt like you guys might like this" the bartender says randomly to you and Katy and you see two shots on the table, one red, one blue. Both with a sour gummy floating on it. "It's on the house" he grins and walks away.

You look at Katy with an almost-there-drunk-grin and you both shout: "gummy worms!!!". Some people look to the bar where you guys are still sat but since the music is so loud they return to their business, just as you and Katy clink glasses and drink the whole thing, with the gummy worm on your fingers to eat after.

"Oh wow, that was harsh" Katy mumbles.

"Not as harsh as me seeing the love of my life get married today." You stare at your shot of glass now empty. Not noticing how Katy's eyes had widened while she looked behind you.

"You love me?" Shangqi says just loud enough for you, Katy and the now wide eyed bartender that had been serving you drinks all night, to hear.

Your eyes widen and you look at Katy in a panicked expression. You feel out of control, you feel like youre too rooted to the earth. If you had powers you would've flown right away from that awkward and horrifying moment you thought you would avoid forever.

When you had said that you wouldn't tell him about your undying love for him it was because you knew he didn't love you back.

You used to think there was something there, before she came into the picture and ruined it. Now he's all hung up on her and you're all hung up on him.

With your heart trying to get out of your throat you turn around to look at Shangqi.

His eyes are curious and when he asks: "is that true?"

You puke on his shoes.

Your dignity was gone.

And you were wishing falling in love was easy and not as hard as this.

Sorry I made you upset universe, for you to treat me like this, you think.

(To be continued??????.....)

--

A/N: idk if I'll write a second part considering this is my first fic in what feels like years. But yes i just got this idea and had to write it and now I'm sharing it with you guys.

HOPE YOU LIKE! 💛

[tom-whore-dleston]

Comforting You

Pairing: Xu Shangqi x f. reader

Genre: angst + fluff

Warnings: sadness, crying, Shangqi being the bf we all deserve

Summary: quick headcanons on how Shangqi comforts you when you're sad  

Word Count: 615

Notes: Tbh I am in a pretty low state rn and I haven't been in the mood to do much, but I remembered that I wrote these headcanons a while back when I was sad over starting my last semester. Rereading them brightened up my spirits a little bit so I hope they bring you some comfort too! Remember to reblog and comment if you enjoyed what you read 😊

Shangqi would give you your space if you wanted to lie in bed, but, of course, being the protective boyfriend he is, he would check on you every hour. While he checked on you, he would give you kisses on your cheeks and forehead and refill your water when he would find it empty. 

He called off the day he was supposed to go to work just to shop for your favorite snacks and the ingredients to your favorite meal from childhood. You had no idea he ditched work to go shopping for you so you spent most of the day sleeping and playing a random TV show to fill the silence of the room. 

When Shangqi got back, he found you fast asleep with your phone in your hand. He replaced your phone with a box of Hello Panda before he got to work on dinner. Shangqi wasn’t the best cook. Shit he could barely make a grilled cheese, but he was determined to get this meal right just for you. Even if it meant face timing one of your family members just so someone can validate that he was cooking correctly. 

An hour later, you woke up and felt the cardboard box instead of your phone in your hand. Blinking your eyes, you saw the Hello Panda design and a faint smile finally appeared on your face. Suddenly, the familiar smell of your favorite food in the whole world filled your nose. 

Curiously, you got out of bed and stretched your body for what felt like five minutes. Once you walked out into the kitchen, you gasped when you found Shangqi filling two bowls of your favorite food. He looked up, sensing the sound of your gasp, and gave you a soft smile.

“Is that-” you began but Shangqi nodded happily.

“Yeah, I really hope I do it justice. I had to call one of your relatives just to make sure I wouldn’t mess up.” He let out a short laugh, placing both bowls on the table that had a bouquet of flowers in the middle. You were at a loss for words when Shangqi pulled out your chair, allowing you to sit down. He, then, moved his seat so then you were both facing each other.

“I can’t imagine what you are going through right now. It hurts me to see you like this.” Shangqi inhaled deeply to fight back tears. You felt the tears form in your eyes, too, but you let him finish speaking. “Don’t ever forget that I’m always here for you, my little gem. I love you so much. I’m never gonna give up on you…or us, okay?” 

The tears started flooding from your eyes as silent sobs fell from your lips. Shangqi pulled you into his embrace and rubbed your back as you cried into his chest. 

He’d whisper, “I know, my little gem, I hear you. It’s okay to cry.” A few tears would fall on the top of your head as he would kiss it in between his words. Once you were all cried out, you both basked in the silence.

“I love you, Shangqi! I don’t know how I got so lucky to be your girlfriend.” You finally choked out. Shangqi chuckled, tucking your matted hair out of your face.

“I should be asking how I got so lucky with you. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me!” You smiled at him before kissing him tenderly. After kissing him, you sat back down in your chair, scooting it next to Shangqi so you can lead your head on his shoulder while you ate your dinner that he, surprisingly, did not fuck up.

Navigation | Main Masterlist | Xu Shang-Chi/Shangqi Masterlist

[crazycookiecrumbles]

A New Fear

Masterlist

A/N: So this kind of got away from me and the ending wasn’t what I wanted to do but then I felt like being a bitch LMAO.

Pairings/Characters: Shangqi x Stark!Reader, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff; Stephen Strange, Morgan Stark, Tony Stark, Variant!Reader; Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Scott Lang

Warnings: violence, gore, death, angst, happy ending probably if you don’t mind cliffhangers

Summary: Steve has finally come to you for help, and now you’re left facing your biggest fear.

Previous Chapter:  A Showdown

WC: ~ 3.3k

Was this how death was supposed to be? A life-changing interaction within a second that blinds you until all you see is black, and every sound you hear fades away into nothing. The desperate cry of your husband, the shouts of rage and anguish from your friends, a shocked gasp, all preceded by the sound of something ripping through the air before you were gone.

Was this really death? Was it just nothing?

Not yet.

Your body collapsed to the ground, leaving this other version of you to release a cry with a smile on her face. It was part delighted and overjoyed for having bested you, and part relieved to no longer be exerting so much power and force. However, her relief could only last so long. She straightened up quickly when she felt vibrations charging in her direction.

Charging towards her was Shangqi. Tears stained his cheeks as your body hit the ground in a lifeless heap. The rings on his arms were glowing brightly, every step he took thundering on the ground as he charged this variant of you with one intent: to put her into the ground the way she had done to you.

Sliding in front of Shangqi, Natasha dropped to the ground quickly with the intent to sweep his legs out from under him and knock him over. He jumped over her leg sweep and continued running, preparing to use his rings to launch him into the air to deliver a devastating blow reminiscent of when he faced the Dweller-in-Darkness.  However, Natasha threw her escrima stick at the back of his knee and made him stumble, giving her just enough time to run towards him and tackle him.

“What are you doing?” He shouted as he fought with Natasha until he was able to kick her off. “She has to be stopped! She killed Y/N!”

“I’m doing what Y/N would’ve wanted!” Natasha replied, getting back up and stepping in front of Shangqi, weapons raised high as she lowered herself into a fighting stance.

Shangqi was stunned. How could she? Maybe she wasn’t the Natasha from this universe, but how could she do this to you? How could she step in his way when all he wanted to do was avenge your death?

“Y/N wanted her gone,” Shangqi whispered. “You won’t stop me.”

“Y/N wants you alive, above anything,” Natasha replied. “And I’m going to follow through.”

“Then good luck stopping me,” Shangqi replied.

There was no way Shangqi could possibly care any less about his life at the moment. It didn’t matter. To him, you were gone. You being gone? What was left? You were supposed to start a family. You were supposed to go on vacations together, do cheesy, touristy things, grow your family, live out a long, happy life together where you got to rest and he took up the responsibility of defending the world, the responsibility you and others had for years.

Shangqi and Natasha were locked in a fight against each other, all the while, Steve was rushing forward with an attack. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing ,double of you fighting each other to the death, all because he was being selfish because he wanted another chance.

Steve sprinted right past the fight happening amongst teammates and leapt into the air. Your variant blasted Steve out of the sky, his shield absorbing some of the damage, but not stopping him from being knocked back. It served as a fine distraction for the rest of them.

A portal opened behind her, and Bucky’s arm reached through Doctor Strange’s portal to grab her shoulder. Expecting this, she whirled around and grabbed Bucky’s metal arm. She smirked while Bucky looked shocked for a second. As he tried to yank his arm away from her, she laughed. 

“How much can that arm withstand, James?” She raised an eyebrow while Bucky frowned. 

Bucky raised his right arm to punch her, and she immediately grabbed his forearm and sent a powerful enough vibration to break it, causing him to shout in pain. Bucky fought through the pain and raised his knee to her stomach, but, once again, she blasted his knee, shattering the bone and sending him to the ground. She leaned down and detached Bucky’s arm, looking up quickly when she felt something from the sky.

Sam was flying towards her just as Steve was running at her again. Steve threw the shield at her, which she deflected. Sam swooped in and caught the shield as planned before flying towards her in what would’ve been a devastating nosedive. However, using Bucky’s arm, she threw it comically, like it was a spear, using her powers to send it through Sam’s wings and send him spiraling towards the ground.

Luckily for Sam, Stephen quickly shut his portal after moving Bucky back out of it, and sent his cloak to catch Sam in the air.

Your variant looked around her. She was losing strength quickly, and she still had so much to do. She could end it all now, kill this universe’s Avengers, but it would ruin her plans, put too much attention on her when all she wanted was to have a loving, happy family. Taking a few steps back, she aimed her palms down to the ground and pushed herself into the air.

“Where is she going?” Shangqi shouted, shoving Natasha away from him. “God, damn it!”

“The lake house is that way,” Steve breathed. “She’s going after Tony—“

“She’s going after Morgan,” Natasha corrected him. “We gotta go. Clint can catch up.”

Steve looked around and spotted Sam on the ground, “Sam—“

“I got Bucky,” Sam nodded, glancing over to the man in agony. “We’ll set his bones before they heal incorrectly.”

“I’ll get Dr. Banner,” Stephen said, glancing around. “We need the big guns now.”

“We can’t risk the Hulk destroying the house. Morgan’s just a kid, she shouldn’t see that,” Steve reasoned with the group. “But we need to catch up with her now before she tricks them. Who knows what she’ll do.”

“The good news is she’s losing strength. She can’t take on all of us, not forever,” Natasha explained.

“Are you done?” Shangqi snapped. “Enough talking. We need to go now. I won’t let them hurt my family.”

His family. That’s right. Steve stared at Shangqi for a few seconds and thought about it. They really were his family now. Morgan, his little sister (even though she called him uncle) his father- and mother-in-law, they were all his family now, and Shangqi just lost his wife. If your variant took the rest of your family from him, well, Steve wondered if this Shangqi would seem more like his evil counterpart than anyone could have imagined.

They took off towards the lake house just as Clint was running over to your body. He sighed watching them all disappear, hands resting on his hips as he stared straight ahead. Suddenly appearing next to him, Scott Lang grew to his normal size and took off his helmet as he stared down at you.

“Think it worked?” Scott asked as he took a few deep breaths.

Clint shrugged and reached into his quiver to pull out an arrow with a vial and syringe tip, the syringe filled with a yellow liquid, “Only one way to find out.”

~*~

While they were just forming a plan, your variant was already at her next destination. Landing with a thud, your variant straightened up and dusted herself off. She forced a smile on her face as she walked towards the front door of Tony’s home. It was quiet,  which made sense given how early in the morning it was. Everyone was likely asleep. She shook the smile off of her face quickly, changing her mind on how she wanted to approach this type of situation. 

Standing in front of the door, she knocked on it quickly, debating on if it was too bold to just walk in there. After a moment, however, Tony opened the door, staring at her with his eyebrows raised in curiosity, “What’s up, buttercup? It’s late — or early, if you’re looking to get a worm.”

“No worms, just wanted to see my little sister!”

“She’s sleeping,” Tony replied.

“Right.”

“Are you okay? How was the gala?”

She blinked a few times, “Fine, fine! Yeah. I just, I had a fight with Shang. You know how it is when you’re married.”

Tony didn’t let it show, but the second you called him Shang instead of Shangqi, his fears had been confirmed. He sighed and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied her. “Do you want to come in?”

“Yes, absolutely. I think I need some time to be with my family,” she smiled softly and took a step closer, but Tony didn’t budge. She frowned, “Why aren’t you letting me in?”

“Wanted to see if you really thought I believed you. We both know you’re not my kid.”

A scowled crossed her face as her eyes darkened, “Well, neither is the bitch I left dead in the field,” she replied, smirking as she sensed Tony’s heart skip a beat. “Guess we know who’s stronger, don’t we?”

“You’re not coming in, bitch,” Tony snapped.

“Then I’ll bring the house down but leave little Morgan’s room perfectly in tact. After all, she’s just a kid, and she’ll need someone to look after her, someone like me.”

Tony nodded in agreement as he leaned against the doorframe, tapping it a few times before turning around and walking in. As he slammed the door shut, he shouted, “That’s my kid, not yours. Get lost, you multiverse loser.”

Fuming, she stepped back a few feet. Tony was being difficult. It left her with no choice. She took a few deep breaths, mustering up more strength as she prepared to strategically break this house into smithereens with everyone inside it, all the while trying to make sure Morgan’s room was undamaged.

However, once she saw the front door open again, she figured Tony was coming to fight her. She held her hand out and sent out a blast of vibrations that shattered the doorframe, sending a shower of wood splinters that would surely be a bitch to clean up. She expected Tony to have flown backwards and heard a crash, or at the very least, seen him standing there in shock with a hole in his stomach.

Instead, Tony stepped through the gaping hole  of a front door in a suit of all silver. She was stunned as Tony seemed completely unharmed. His suit didn’t even have a single scratch on it. She stared at him in shock while Tony tilted his head to the side.

He chuckled, “So, you’re stronger, but I guess you’re not smarter, huh, kiddo? Vibranium-laced suits. We’ve made friends with a few people down in Wakanda, in case you were wondering.”

Suddenly, there was a feral shrieking noise in the distance. Coming out of the sky was you. You landed with a mighty thud on the ground, similar to how your counterpart had moments ago. You stood up tall, eyes glowing the brightest gold they ever had in the past. You were huffing and puffing, the ground trembling beneath you as you cracked your neck and stared at your counterpart.

“I killed you,” she hissed. “Your heart stopped beating. I felt it.”

“Oh, okay.” You nodded quickly. “My turn then, I guess.”

The other Avengers arrived just as you went to attack, but they didn’t engage in the fight when they saw you. All of them were far too stunned. Tony went back into the house to get Pepper and Morgan and clear the area. Shangqi stood there as stunned as the rest of them.  They watched you leap forward, hands outstretched in front of you and a look of rage on your face they hadn’t seen before.

“This is my life,” you snapped. “Not yours!”

Her hand came up to block your attack, but it didn’t work. You were so strong, your vibrations overpowered hers, shattering her hand on impact. She screamed in agony and raised her other hand, her powers shoving you back and started to splinter your bones from within. You screamed and stomped your foot on the ground. The ground ripped in half beneath her and sent her stumbling back.

While she was stumbling, you stared at her and raised your fist like you were going to stop your heart. She was expecting this move from you, and she jumped into the air to try to make some distance and keep you from doing this. Figuring that she was going to try and run, you jumped in the air with her and grabbed her.

Your fist ripped through her chest.  You grabbed her heart in your hand and squeezed it yourself until you felt it popping and squishing between your fingers. You watched the life drain out of your own eyes, the soft golden glow from her fading away into nothing as you let her go and let her body fall on the ground.

You landed in front of her, the force of your landing splintering the legs on an already-dead body. You stood up slowly and looked down at your hands. One arm was coated in blood thanks to her, but you could see both your forearms were bruised and shaking like when you were a child and tried to hold back all your power. You glanced at your bicep on your right and saw the bruises were traveling, meaning the power in you was a struggle to contain.

But you were so angry.

You knew this was going to happen. You knew, and yet, you still felt incredibly unprepared. You flirted with death and killed yourself to save your family, but you couldn’t stop shaking and causing havoc around you. This should’t have been happening to you, because you shouldn’t even be alive right now.

As the panic set in, the realization of your ferocity, that you were alive, your control slipped away. Cracks started racing to the house, splitting the porch in half before more cracks began to form along the walls. The ground beneath you wouldn’t stop rumbling as the earth started to break  beneath you and spread to towards the lake.

“It’s happening again,” Steve shouted. “Tony!”

“On it!” Tony was about to take a step towards you, but Morgan grabbed his hand.

He looked down as Morgan looked up at him, “Please don’t die again, daddy.”

Tony’s shoulders sunk. It was a very real possibility that he could die. He hadn’t actually tested the suit against you. He wasn’t sure how much it could withstand, which meant that he had no idea how long he had. He exhaled slowly and squeezed her hand, “I won’t, Morguna. I’ll be right back. I just have to talk to your sister —“

“She’s going to kill you!” Morgan screeched in fear.

Tony didn’t have the chance to move. You heard Morgan’s cries and whipped around. When you made eye contact with her, you were frozen in pain. Morgan was terrified of you, and it made you feel so much worse. The panic, the feelings of dread you were feeling caused you to lose another ounce of control, and it split the house down the middle.

Natasha exhaled and grabbed Scott and Clint by their elbows, “What the hell did you two idiots do?”

“It’s an old contingency plan,” Clint reasoned, his adam’s apple bobbing as everyone slowly started to turn to face him. “Vibranium tipped arrow. It was…well, supposed to kill her or maim her when she got too crazy. It’s a last-resort arrow.”

“You killed her?” Shangqi snapped.

“Not quite,” Scott spoke up. “We used it as a delivery system for me. It was dark, you can barely see the arrow when it’s flying. I was on the tip, and we dosed her up with enough of a little simple syrup — that’s a joke, it wasn’t simple syrup —“

“To stop her heart,” Clint said. “And then we brought her back with some adrenaline and a few more things.”

“What things?” Steve glared as he marched towards him. “What the hell is she on? Why do you even have this?”

“Don’t look at me! Tony made it after Ultron! She almost killed herself in that fight she was so exhausted. He wanted her to have a little boost for the event she’s, uh, fading too much in battle.”

“So you put a relatively unstable woman on steroids,” Stephen deadpanned. “Fantastic.”

Shangqi looked around. These people were actually scared and unsure of what to do, but it was you. It was just you, deep down inside there, and he’d seen this before. You were scared, you were panicking. Okay, you were causing a bit more chaos, but…

“Okay. The lake is now moving,” Clint cleared his throat. “I’ll talk to her—“

“No,” Shangqi dropped the rings from his forearms. “I’ve got it.”

He sidestepped Natasha quickly. Before she could stop him, he was walking towards you and feeling the ground shake anymore. He cringed, a twinge of pain racing up his foot as he approached you. You could hear a new, closer heartbeat, and you turned to Shangqi.

“Get away,” you cautioned him. “Something’s , something’s not right and I —“

“I know. Don’t worry.”

“I’m dead. Right?” You breathed. “This is just a dream?”

“Sorry, you’re stuck with me for the long-haul, babe,” Shangqi smiled softly at you, hands stuffed into his pockets. “So what’s say we head back to the compound, shower, talk.”

“Shangqi..” you trailed off and looks to your corpse. “I’m a monster.”

“What? That? No! Pffft, I would’ve done it myself,” he joked, but you weren’t laughing. “Babe come on —“

“My sister is terrified of me, I destroyed her home, and even I’m shocked with what I just did to her.”

“You’re still my wife,” Shangqi said softly. “You’re still my wife, who I will stay with until the very end. If you want to stay here and destroy everything, do it,” he cringed when he was certain he felt his ankle snap from the vibrations on the ground constantly drumming on his bones. He put his weight on his other leg, and you frowned when you realized what you were doing to him, what he was willing to do for you. “So, if this is the end…I’m here.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Crazy for you,” He grinned. “You’re okay. Everyone’s okay. Scared? Probably. You’re scary, but you’re hot when you’re scary, so that’s something, right?”

You laughed in disbelief and shook your head, “You are so stupid.”

“Yeah, but I’m your stupid husband,” he smiled at you and outstretched his hand, ignoring how he could see his fingertips started to bruise and turn red and purple. “Come on, babe. It’s just me. You can relax now. It’s over. You can rest now.”

You focused on your breathing first. You slowed it down until you were confident you had it under control without focusing so much on it. You shut your eyes and worked on stopping all of the vibrations and the shaking.

You weren’t sure when it happened, but, eventually, it stopped. You felt a hand take yours, and you opened your eyes to see Shangqi staring at you, slowly leaning in to press his forehead against yours. His eyes shut as he too finally relaxed. He exhaled, his breath catching in his chest as tears fell from his closed eyes and his other hand came up to cup your face, “I thought you were gone.”

You nodded and leaned into his hand, “Me too.” You exhaled, “Shangqi,”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

[wint3r-h3art]

Established Relationship!Reader x Bucky Shangqi | Reader meets a Shang-Chi who awakens from his surgery and is so filled with painkillers that he can’t help flirting with his girlfriend — the reader.

Fluff amidst all the heartbreaking, tearful angst😩🤌

A/N: this is just crack, y'all. I don't even know what I'm doing. But this is my amend to all the pain I caused y'all yesterday. I believe this is based off this video? Also I'm in a bit in a writing slump as work and my grad course work is kind of kicking my butt right now, so ya girl is a bit stressed out. I hope you like this. Your like, comment, and reblogs are greatly appreciate it.💛

Warning: None. Just fluffy, funny (I hope) crack fic

“Oh, my God who are you?”

Your eyes shift to Shangqi who just woke up from his surgery. His eyes are still sleepy, his voice is slurry mostly from just waking up for the anesthesia. His liquid brown scans your features as if he forgot who you are. His poor little face looks a bit puffy, but he’s still your sweet Shangqi.

“Um, who do you think I am?” you ask as you sit there, peeling an apple for him.

“I don’t know but you’re really hot.”

You almost choke at that. You’re trying very hard to contain your giggle, but the more you look at your boyfriend, the funnier this gets. Despite the fact that he's still half awake, he manages to make your face warm from just a few words.

“Come again now?”

“Did the doctor send you here?” he asks again. His brows pulled into a deep frown as his eyes glance at you briefly then back to the ceiling as if he’s trying to watch something float around the room. His hand reaches up, but you quickly pull it down to his side.

“No. I came here on my own,” you say, trying to stifle laughter.

“Really?!”

You nod. “Yeah, I bring you some snacks, some milk tea for you. The doctor said no boba for at least another hours”

“Whoah. Whoah. You bring me food too? How do you know I like boba tea” he asks again, his eyes still in a daze as he glances at your face then he starts chuckling to himself. “Oh my God, you’re so cute and you’re bringing me food. How do I get so lucky?”

You laugh now. “Well, I don’t know Shangqi, you tell me.”

“What’s your name? Can I get your number, please?”

He looks too cute. You tell him your name, followed by “Well, I’m your girlfriend, Shangqi.”

“You’re my girlfriend?!” His eyes widen at the revelation as if he cannot believe himself. “You’re really my girlfriend?! Holy shit, how do I get so lucky?” Then he clamps his mouth as he catches himself swearing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to swear in front of you, but you’re so damn gorgeous. I can’t believe that you’re my girlfriend.”

You laugh. “It’s ok, baby. You’re just waking up. I heard you said the worst thing.”

He sniffles a bit, not from crying of course. “Oh my god, you call me baby. I’m so lucky. Wow. I can’t believe you’re my girlfriend.”

You giggle before patting his head. “It's ok baby. You're definitely not the only lucky one here.”

[babyboiboyega]

Enough (Shangqi x f!reader)

Shangqi x f!reader

Content: a little bit of angst, fluff at the end, Shangqi being such a damn sweetheart

Word Count: 1.3k

Babyboiboyega’s Marvel Masterlist

*********

Y/N’s movements were a little slower than usual as she dodged, kicked, and punched, and it was obvious, especially to her. It was obvious, and it frustrated her to no end as she continued to move around the mat. 

The slight throbbing in her temple she had woken up with had only gotten worse as the day went on, and it continued to do so the more she exerted herself. 

She tried to hide the pain behind a grimace, but under the guise of being focused, but she had a slight suspicion that he could see right through her. This only prompted her to intensify her actions, trying to come off as fine when in reality, the pressure in her head was close to debilitating. 

She knew that she should have stopped and told him what was wrong, but the stubborn, reckless side of her won out. And that was exactly what she was doing: being incredibly reckless. 

A grunt left her mouth as she was pushed back, her feet stumbling over each other.

“Y/N, what’s going on with you tonight? You’re a little slower than usual.”

Shangqi’s voice rang out, a teasing lilt to it as he gazed at her with his hands on his hips. His eyebrows were furrowed in genuine worry as she bent at the waist, bracing herself against her knees. 

With every breath she took came another painful throb in her temple, and even with her eyes squeezed shut, she could feel her head spinning. 

Hearing her labored breaths and noticing her silence, Shangqi walked closer, the small smile on his face dropping.

“Hey, what’s wrong? We can take a break. We should take a break.”

At his words, Y/N shook her head slowly before straightening. The wince that she tried to hide did not go unnoticed. 

“I’m fine. Let’s go again.”

Shangqi’s head tilted and his eyes narrowed slightly, this time with suspicion. 

“Y/N, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break. Maybe get a sip of water-”

“I’m fine, Shangqi, okay? I’m...I’m good.”

The conviction in her voice was enough for him to slowly nod his head before taking stance. His eyes watched her carefully as she did the same, and once he was satisfied that she was ready, he resumed their dance around each other.

He threw easily avoidable hits while still watching the way she reacted. Her eyebrows were pinched in concentration as she blocked his hits, her feet moving in the way he had taught her. 

For a brief moment, she felt pride and forgot about the pain that gripped her head. All of the sparring lessons were culminating into something she was proud of. 

But then Shangqi had to throw a punch while simultaneously going for her exposed bottom half. 

She had managed to block the hit, but she had been too oblivious of her open leg area.

Y/N felt herself falling and managed to right her foot enough to where her impact with the mat was more controlled. An almost embarrassing “oof” fell from her lips as she quite literally landed on her ass.  

It only took a few seconds for Shangqi to approach her, his hand held out to help her up. 

“We’re taking a break. I’ll go get your water.”

The finality of his words paired with her own frustration resulted in a pang of anger quickly running through her. 

She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up quickly, her mouth forming words of insistence that only dissipated as black spots crowded her vision. 

She rapidly blinked her eyes, but only seemed to make it worse. The pain in her head had decided to make itself known once again, and it came with a vengeance. 

This time, she couldn’t stop the small groan from escaping her mouth as her hand raised and gripped her head. 

The pain was unbearable now, akin to having one’s head slammed into a metal pole without the relief of eventually passing out. She could feel the throbbing at the base of her neck, and the pain had started to make her stomach churn. 

She should have listened to him. She should have stopped earlier.

Y/N hadn’t realized that she was swaying, leaning a little too far in one direction, until she felt soft, calloused hands land on her arms. 

“Y/N...Y/N, talk to me. What’s going on?”

As she spoke, Shangqi gently guided her down until she was safely kneeling on the floor, no longer swaying on her feet. He wasted no time in kneeling in front of her, his hands moving to cup her face.

“Come on, take deep breaths. Talk to me, sweetheart.”

Y/N spoke quietly and through clenched teeth, her hand continuing to put pressure against her temple.

“Migraine.”

The sigh that left Shangqi’s mouth was sympathetic as he rubbed her cheek. He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss against her forehead before slowly rising and bringing her with him.

He had no trouble supporting her weight as he led her in the direction of his room, leaving the open space behind them.

In reality, it had only taken a minute or so to get to Shangqi’s room, but every step had felt like 10 to Y/N. She was acutely aware of Shangqi turning off every light as they walked, and if she weren’t so busy making sure her lunch stayed down, she would have expressed her love and gratitude for his actions. 

She simply let Shangqi guide her to wherever she needed to go, knowing and trusting without a doubt that he would take care of her. 

He only proceeded to prove her right as he wasted no time in walking her towards his bed and gently lowering her onto it. As soon as she was situated, he quietly walked around the bed and turned off every remaining light, the tv, and even closed the blinds.

In only a span of a few seconds, he had grabbed a glass of water and the medicine she had left at his place for a situation exactly like this. 

“Y/N, here’s your medicine. Come on, babe. I just need you to take this real quick.”

With an agonized groan and her eyes still tightly shut, Y/N slowly sat up. Her hands blindly reached out, prompting Shangqi to drop her pill into her hand followed by the glass of water. She took the medicine quickly and without hesitation, before holding it out once more. 

Shangqi’s hands shot out, one grabbing the glass while the other gently landed on her back, keeping her from laying back down.

A noise between a soft cry and a groan left Y/N’s mouth at being stopped, but the slight annoyance she had quickly dissipated as Shangqi gently crawled into bed in front of her. 

All while whispering apologies to her, he maneuvered their bodies to where they could lay down with Y/N completely covering his body with her own. 

There had been a question on the tip of her tongue as he had moved them, but it all made sense when his hands raised and started massaging her temples, gingerly but with enough pressure to ease the pain. 

She felt his lips touch her hair, and it made a lone tear slip from her tear line. The tears that formed as a result of pain only fell as a result of being cared and loved for.

But Shangqi had interpreted the new tear stain on his shirt as one of pain. He spoke softly with his lips pressed to her head. 

“I know. I know, I’m sorry I can’t do more.”

His words made her arms tighten where they were wound around his torso. As she spoke, more tears fell from her eyes.

“You do more than enough, Shangqi. You’re more than enough.”

********

I hope you all enjoyed this! Like I said, this is a comfort fic that I really wrote for myself, but decided to post it here! I do deal with chronic migraines, and with every migraine comes a great disdain for everyone in the immediate vicinity....but I just KNOW that Shangqi would do anything to help me feel better, so I wanted to write it!

This week has been reaaaalllyy tough so far between work, class, and personal issues, so that’s another reason why this is a comfort fic, it helped me escape life while I was writing. 

But once again, I hope you all enjoyed this! Please like, reblog, and/or leave a comment. Literally whenever someone leaves a comment, it makes my day!

OH! I’m also thinking about making a tag list! 👀👀

Stay safe, y’all!

[helaintoloki]

The Past Comes Back

pairing: Shang-Chi x avenger!reader, Carol Danvers x avenger!reader

warnings: pining, fluff, sort of contains a love triangle type of situation, angst if you squint

notes: this was a requested piece and continues the story between Shangqi and avenger!reader

summary: just when Shang-Chi is about to get you back, an old friend from the past makes their return.

part one | part two

It’s a quiet Sunday at Avenger’s compound as you sit out on the balcony and watch the rain fall from above. With a cup of hot chocolate in hand and your U.S. Air Force sweater to keep you warm, you find yourself able to relax for the first time in weeks. Having to put the pieces back together is hard, especially when all of your teammates are scattered across the globe dealing with their own problems, and you’ve had a lot on your plate since the events of the Blip. You can’t even remember the last time you got to just sit and enjoy the present, so you’re taking full advantage of the day off.

The sound of the sliding doors opening alerts you of another presence joining you on the balcony, but you don’t have to turn around to know who it is. Bruce isn’t scheduled to arrive for another few days, and Katy had used the free weekend as a chance to visit her family back in San Francisco, leaving you and Shangqi as the only ones currently occupying the living quarters. It’s your first time being alone with him since his arrival, and so far it hasn’t been too terrible; he can be awkward around you at times, but for the most part it’s usually peaceful.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” he notes with a small smile.

“Just felt like watching the rain,” you reply with a shrug before taking a sip of your hot chocolate. “To what do I owe your company?”

“I was gonna order some takeout and maybe watch a movie, and I just thought I’d ask if you wanted anything. You don’t have to stay for the movie though,” he adds bashfully.

“Actually, a movie sounds good,” you say with a tired smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes. The sight brings a pang of sympathy to Shangqi as he takes in your exhausted appearance; despite being one of the younger members of the team, you do a lot around the compound and for the Avengers. He can see how heavily the work load lays upon your shoulders, and though you always hold your head high and insist you can take on anything thrown your way he knows it gets overwhelming. You may have been apart for five years, but he can still pick up on your emotional cues with ease, and a part of him can’t help but want to pull you into his arms and will away the world for just a moment so that you can finally breathe. But it’s not a boundary he’s willing to cross as your new teammate, so he figures offering you some comfort food is the next best thing.

“You okay with pho? I know a really good place and they deliver.”

“Pho sounds amazing right now,” you sigh wistfully, the cold of the rain finally beginning to settle in as you finish the last of your hot chocolate.

“I’ll go put the order in on my phone, and you can choose the movie while you wait since I’m not really sure how to work the TV in the common room just yet,” he says with a chuckle before heading back inside.

“Wait, Shangqi,” you call out with a slight frown, “I didn’t tell you what I wanted.”

“You don’t need to. I still remember your order,” he replies with a wink. A reminiscent smile takes hold of his features and you find your heart skipping a beat at his confession, merely giving him a small nod in reply as he heads back inside.

Five years have passed, and he still knows you like the back of his hand.

~~~

“Wait, so you’re telling me you got to go to space with a talking raccoon?” Shangqi retorts in disbelief, hanging onto your every word as you recount old memories to pass the time. A movie you stopped paying attention to about an hour ago plays in the background, and though the rain fall has ended outside you find yourselves too wrapped up in your conversation to notice.

“Yep, and for your information that raccoon is now a very good friend of mine,” you tease with a coy smile.

“And here I thought the things I saw in Ta Lo were the craziest it could get.”

The flabbergasted look on his features has you giggling quietly behind your half-finished bowl of pho, and for the first time in a long while you feel content. With Shangqi you aren’t just an Avenger or the girl desperately trying to put all the broken pieces back together; you can relax in his presence and know that you’re not alone, and it’s the most comfort you’ve had since— well, since Danvers, really.

“Did I lose you?” The man beside you jokes with a mirthful smile, brow raised curiously at your sudden silence.

“No, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

You almost want to tell him a lie, to say that it was nothing important and you’re just a little tired, but there’s a glint in his eyes when he looks at you that makes your stomach flip and a smile on his face that has you feeling safe enough to let your guard down.

So instead, you reach forward and gently take one of his hands in your own before confessing, “About how much I’ve missed spending time with you like this.”

Though taken back by your bold statement, it leaves Shangqi feeling pleasantly surprised, and with a smile he gives your hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’ve missed it, too,” he confesses softly. “And I’ve missed you more than anything. I never should have broken up with you.”

“Shangqi…”

“I mean it, y/n. I-In fact, there’s something I need to tell you,” he utters seriously, shifting so that he’s now fully facing you. Taking your other hand so that both are now held gently in his own, he swallows down the nervous lump in his throat and meets your tender gaze. “I know we’re teammates now and maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, but after everything that’s happened I realize now that sometimes you have to take chances.”

“What are you saying?” You ask gently, though a part of you already knows where this conversation is going. You aren’t sure if you should be overjoyed or terrified.

“I think… I think I’m still in love with—“

“Y/n?”

The new voice in the room has both you and Shangqi jumping out of your seats in surprise, and though your first instinct is to go on the defensive and prepare yourself fend off the intruder, you realize you don’t have to once you see the person standing in the doorway with a curious brow raised in your direction.

“Oh my god… Carol!” You exclaim, unable to stop yourself as you rush forward and fling yourself into the woman’s arms. She stumbles for a moment but is quick to regain her footing, happily returning your embrace and letting out a small laugh at your excitement.

“Hey, Novs,” she greets warmly, gently rubbing your back the way she knows you like and taking in the feeling of your touch after having been deprived of it for months. “Long time, no see.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually here! It’s been so long,” you profess earnestly, pulling away to take a good look at the woman in front of you. Her hair has grown longer since the last time you’ve seen her, but it seems to be the only noticeable change you can detect— still the same woman you’d fallen in love with, still your Carol, though you didn’t know it.

“I have some alien tech I thought I’d let Bruce take a crack at. Where is Banner, anyway?”

“He’s out on some personal business and won’t be back until Friday. It’s just me and Shangqi,” you note with a sheepish smile, now remembering guiltily that you weren’t exactly alone when Carol made her presence known. He gives an awkward salute from his place on the couch and a polite smile, doing his best to mask his discomfort at the sight of the two of you together. He knew how much Carol meant to you, and by the way Danvers had held you when you threw yourself into her arms he figured she still felt the same.

“Captain,” he greets with a nod.

“It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” Carol says with a smile. “Still no new intel on those rings?”

“Not yet,” he sighs, “but we’re working on it.”

“Don’t sweat it too much, Wong and I still haven’t found much either.”

“So how long will you be staying?” Shang-Chi asks in an attempt to change the subject; he doesn’t want to talk about the sense of dread that overcomes him any time he thinks too hard about what exactly the rings are calling out to, but he also wants to know just how long he has to suffer through being in the same space as your ex-girlfriend who kind of just ruined his attempt at confessing his feelings for you.

“Just a couple of days until Banner gets back, I can’t stay too long. Is my old room still open?”

“Hasn’t been touched since you left,” you affirm with a nod, prompting Carol to smirk in response.

“Oh, really?“ She muses with a teasing smile. “That’s a nice sweater you got there, Nova.”

Caught red handed, you avoid Carol’s gaze and instead choose to tug at the sleeves of the sweater. “Okay, maybe I went in there once or twice to borrow some clothes.”

“I don’t mind,” Carol says with a laugh. “It looks better on you anyway.”

“Thanks, Cap,” you reply with a timid smile. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”

Though it’s been quite a while since you’ve last seen her, you find yourself absolutely smitten in Carol’s presence. It almost feels like old times with her back, and though you’re happy to have her around you can’t help but feel the weight of your conflicting feelings beginning to pull at your insides. You spare an apologetic glance to Shangqi who sits on the couch with your leftover bowls of pho and the movie still playing in the background before turning the corner in search of the elevator.

Glumly, the man sinks down into the couch with a sigh and a bitter taste in his mouth. He was so close, but it seemed he wasn’t the only one who still had feelings for you.

When did it all become so complicated?

~~~

note: it was brought to my attention that a couple of you guys wanted a tag list to be made for my work so I’ve decided to do so. Just let me know if you want to be tagged for any of my pieces or any specific characters/fandoms i write for!

tags: @laic2299

[redheadspark]

More Shangqi x widow! Literally anything!

Come Back To Me ❤️‍🩹

Shang Chi x Reader (Snippet or Blurb)

Summary: the ex-widow, although blissfully happy with Shang Chi and with the Avengers, experiences remorse in her past and that damage she endured.

Shang Chi guides her back to the present.

Warnings: Angst and Fluff mixed in together

A/N: This is another snippet or Blurb. it's a small sequel to the first one I wrote: Sunshine

I'm working on a one shot with Shang Chi, don't worry! I just wanted to add one more snippet of him before I through out another one shot

Happy reading :)

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You and Shang Chi were blissfully happy as a couple.

Ever since you kissed on that tarmac some month earlier, you two were inseparable. It was clear that you two worked as one: whether you worked out in the gym and sparring hard together, to just lounging together while watching a movie or reading a book.

The rest of the Avengers were supportive, seeing how Shang brought out the best in you and vice versa. Kate even jokingly gave you two the title, "Best Couple,"

Yelena was also happy for you, though she was a bit protective. She was the one who saved you from the Black Widow life after all. She considered you a sibling, something she took seriously since she lost her own sister Natasha.

You were out of eyesight one afternoon when you left Shang in the hallway with Yelena, fetching one of your weapons in the weaponry with Bucky to go do practice rounds with him. That's when you heard Yelena talk to Shang, both you and Bucky were quiet and listened on with your trained hearing.

"I only ever wanted her to be happy, she deserves some happiness for once," Yelena explained to him calmly.

"You know I feel the same way, Yelena," Shang reasoned lightly.

"I do," Yelena hummed, pausing for a moment before you heard her voice drop, "But if you ever break her heart or make her cry, I can and will break both of your legs with just one kick and make it look like an accident,"

You rolled your eyes, hearing Bucky chuckle as he stood next to you and shoved your shoulder playfully.

Since then, Shang was always on his P's and Q's with you in front of Yelena, which made you a bit agitated with Yelena because you knew he would never dare hurt you.

He also knew you still had some of those lethal Black Widow skills, so it never crossed his mind to double cross you.

Shang took you on dates, proper and old school dates. Whether it was to a restaurant or out to a movie, Shang treated you like a Queen.

You loved seeing him navigate through the streets of New York, finding hole in the wall places to take you that had amazing delicacies and great entertainment.

Those first few months were pure happiness.

And that's when you had a setback.

You were merely strolling through Central Park with Yelena, the two of you wanting to have some time together and enjoy the rather warm day out in the city. Shang was back at Avengers headquarters to go over an upcoming mission that would take place within the next few days.

You were perched on a bench, soaking in the warm rays of the sun as Yelena was playing around with a digital camera that she bought earlier that year. It was kind of cute to see her take random pictures of the pigeons walking along the sidewalk.

"You look like such a tourist," You snorted to her, seeing her grin as she took another picture.

"Fine by me, I'm taking some great pictures over here! You watch, I'm going to be having my own gallery," Yelena said boastfully.

"Of course, people will come by the dozens to a gallery with pictures of pigeons," You joked, though she flipped you off while she was still taking pictures. You chuckled, leaning back a bit and raising your head up to let the sun rays hit your face and bring you some peace. It was the first time in a relationship long time you were calm with no lingering negative thought in your mind or under your skin.

You heard the soft sound of a child giggle behind you, having you look behind you carefully and see a little girl, perched behind the bench and was grinning up at you. She had blond ringlets, framing her round face and her bright green eyes were shining like Emeralds.

You grinned down at her, waving your fingers at her as she covered her mouth with her hands, "Hello!" you greeted sweetly.

"Hi!" She whispered, her voice so tiny and soft as you cocked your head at her.

"What are you doing down there?" You asked playfully.

"I'm hiding from my brother! We're playing hide and seek!" She answered, ducking a bit more as then smiled. You placed a finger to your lips.

"I won't say a word," You played along, though you heard her mother call out to her. She sighed, almost a bit dramatically, popping up from her spot and running off after her mother who was a few yards away in the grass. You watched the little girl run, bouncing on her feet as she rang along the grass and her blond hair flying in the wind.

It made you pause, remembering something that you could never have.

One of the things that they did to you, back in the Red Room in the earlier years of being a Widow, was sterilize you. Of course, you had no choice in the matter. Yet seeing that little girl, living her innocent life in this world, it made you remember one thing that you could never have.

The title of Mother.

"Hey," Yelena said to you, her voice sounding a bit concerned as you finally looked over at her. Yelena's stare on your looked worried, almost hour stricken as she was searching your face, "What's wrong?"

You didn't realize you were crying until you felt a tear hit your jeans. You blinked a few times, shaking your head slowly.

"I...I don't know,"

Several hours later, you were sitting on the side of your bed and watching the window that gave you the view of the forest that was right behind the facility. You could hear two people talking right outside of your room, and you knew who it was.

Yelena brought you back to headquarters and gave you some time alone in your room. It felt so strange that you would cry and having what almost feels like a downward spiral from realizing that you couldn't bear children. You loved kids, you always have. You had a soft heart for them, even as Widow there was a hesitance within you in placing a child in danger.

Yet you couldn't have one or your own, not biologically. It felt like a stab in the heart.

Yelena, after guiding you to your room, went off to find Shang and fill him in on what happened in the park.

"I've seen this before with ex-widows, Shang. There are some who are completely fine with not having kids, and there are those who aren't. The ones who aren't go into a spiral, I've witnessed some of those and they are dark. There's no middle ground with it, and she's on the latter right now,"

"What can I do to help?" Shang asked, sounding concerned for you as you were ripping away another tear that was falling. You leaned down to rest your head in your hands, feeling so lost within your own head in the simple notion of not being able to conceive.

"Being with her might be the best thing," Yelena answered simply, "It was lonely as a Widow, and she's relearning a lot of things in this world. Having someone there for her in the hard times is very new, but she needs it,”

After a few minutes, you heard the door opening softly and gently, closing with a mummer of a click and the small sounds of feet walking into the room. You knew it was Shang, how he walked always gave you away with your tuned ears. You were still watching the window, not wishing to look at your boyfriend with a wrecked face and a heavy soul.

Shang surprised you though, climbed over the other side of the bed to crawl across and sit right behind you on the bed. With such precision and gentleness, he placed his hands on your shoulders and those hands slide down to embrace your arms. You felt his back against your chest, his chin on the top of your left shoulder as you took in a long breath.

"Yelena told me what happened," Shang said to you softly, his voice vibrating against your body as he kept talking, "How are you feeling?"

"Empty," You answered, feeling him stiff up a bit at the one word answer you gave him, "I never thought about it before....not being able to have a child on my own. I knew I was sterile, and I almost forgot about it, but seeing that little girl in the park made me remember what was....what was robbed from me,"

Without you realizing it, your hands hovered over your lower stomach, your barren stomach.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," He said to you against your head, having you finally lean into his embrace while he cradled you in his hands.

"I just want to forget that life I had, that I killed innocent people, that I helped start wars and hide in the shadows, but no matter how hard I try, I can't run from it," You muttered, taking in a sharp breath and then you hid your face in your hands. You started to silently cry, hating that this was hitting you in all the wrong places and making you feel worse. You were trying to run from your past as fast as you could, but one small mishap and memory made you trip and fall.

Shang was silent, rocking you slightly back and worth as your wept and got out your feelings on the edge of the bed. You felt how he held you close in his arms, not willing to let you go but also not suffocating you. You felt safe there, you felt peace there even as you cried

"You past does not define you," Shang reminded you calmly as you stopped crying and just sat there wiped out from your tears, "It's the soul of the person that matters, the heart of the person. The rest of the person can change in time, but its the heart and soul that make you....you,"

You sniffled, turning around awkwardly in Shang's arm to see him stare at him with love in his eyes and concern as well, "What a beautiful thing to say," You said to him in a hiccup, seeing him chuckle and look down a bit bashfully.

"I learned that from my mother," He explained, having you see the small flicker of sadness there on him when he mentioned his mother. It was a tender spot for Shang, mentioning his mother who loved him more than words. But you knew Shang held her memory beyond close to his heart.

"But she was right you know, and I know it's the same for you," He explained calmly as he poured his eyes into your own and pushed your hair out of your eyes lovingly, like an old lover would.

"You have such a good soul, a beautiful soul. I fell for your soul, not your past. Take it from someone with a shitty past, keeping your soul intact is far more important,"

You smiled at him, a wet smile from the tears that were still evident there. But you could feel and tell that he was giving you the truth. Maybe you had to hear it from someone else who never knew our past life, that the past was going to stay in the past.

"Come here, sweetheart," he hummed, pulling you into his embrace. You felt him wrap you in his arms as he tucked you into his lap, your head against his chest as your hands went up and behind him to bracket his shoulder blades.

"I know your mind is so far away," Shang explained as he stroked your back soothingly, "Come back to me, okay? I have you right here. Come back to me,"

It was hard sometimes, coming to the realization that Shang truly cared for you. And although you two never said the word yet, you even felt deep down that he loved you.

Because deep down, you loved him too.

He hummed to you for the next several minutes, an old song that sounded soothing like the rain as you were embracing on the bed and unwilling to let each other go.

"What song is that?" You whispered to him as he was still humming against your head.

"An old song my mom learned when she was a little girl," Shang explained as he pulled you in a pinch closer, "She would sing it to me when I was feeling sad,"

"It's beautiful," You explained, pressing a kiss agains this chest and breathing him in, "You're signing's not that bad either,"

"Hey, don't hate on my singing," Shang commented lightly as you grinned, "I happen to be a great singer, or do you not remember me singing at karaoke?"

You chuckled for the first time that night with Shang, feeling a pinch better in your banter with Shang. Shang was willing to see the nastiness of your past, seeing you in a dark place.

But he was also willing to pull you back.

The End.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! I like writing the Shang Chi x ex- Black Widow snippets!

*My Ask box is open for requests or imagines!*