#she's a speedster but she can only go as far as a heartbeat

[the-faultofdaedalus]

yoyo the character of all time

[mightyavngrs]

i'm right here | "pietro" maximoff x reader

summary: peter pietro doesn't know what he'd do if he didn't have you

warnings: mentions of derealization

a/n: it's almost 5am but i wanted to get this up before the next wandavision ep so here you go :) hope you guys enjoy, thank you for reading and stay safe <3

masterlist | taglist

Everyone in Westview understood they were being controlled. No one openly talked about it, of course, but you heard the comments the residents would make every once in a while, short remarks about Wanda being thrown around but brushed away with a chuckle just seconds after. People knew that reality wasn't... well, real.

But with Pietro it seemed different. He was still being controlled, you were sure of it, you just weren't sure Wanda was the one to blame. In all of his interactions with his twin, Pietro would always seem to know more than the rest of the Westview residents were supposed to know, even going as far as to leaving Wanda in shock after some particularly bold comments. But that wasn't how Pietro acted when it was just the two of you. It was almost as if whatever was controlling him only needed to do so around Wanda.

You started noticing the way he'd act differently whenever she was around; the way his grip on your hand would tighten when she approached you two or how he'd become extra cocky and sarcastic the moment the door to his twin's house opened before him, a slight change you wouldn't have noticed if you didn't know him so well. It seemed like, whenever Wanda was near, the boy by your side stopped being your Pietro and became a character instead.

You sit at the edge of your bed, eyes trained on your boyfriend as he changes into a set of sweatpants you'd borrowed from him. This was the eleventh night since he'd come back to town where he'd asked you to sleep at your house instead of at his sister's.

"Hey, you alright there sweetheart?" The boy's voice fills the room, snapping you from your thoughts in the process.

"Yeah, yeah i was just... Pietro why do you always ask to sleep over?" You ask quietly, moving your eyes to where your hands sit on your lap in an attempt to avoid his worried glance.

"I-i'm sorry i didn't mean to pressure you i can go back to Wanda's if you'd like." He didn't know you didn't want him there, he thought to himself, otherwise he would've never asked in the first place.

"Oh no, Pietro." You mumble under your breath, getting up from the bed and moving to where the boy is nervously fidgeting with his fingers, head hung low.

"Hey, i love spending the night with you okay?" One of your hands moves to lift his chin, forcing him to meet your gaze. "I just-i see how you act differently around Wanda. Whenever she's near it's like something else comes over you and i know you feel it too. I can see it in your eyes, love." Your voice is so soft, so gentle, and yeah he doesn't remember anything before Westview but he knows nothing he could've ever done would make him deserving of having someone like you by his side. "Talk to me, Pietro."

"It gets worse. Whatever is going on in this town... in my head... it gets so much worse whenever she's around and it feels like i'm losing my mind." Glossy eyes stared into your own searching for any sign of understanding. A sign that you believed him and that you didn't think he was absolutely mad for what he'd just said.

"Life doesn't really feel real right now, does it baby?" You bring your hand up to his cheek, caressing the soft skin before bringing his forehead to rest against your own. Pietro sighs in relief, as if the simple gesture had been enough to soothe his pain, and the poor speedster can't help the single tear that manages to escape his watery eyes.

"You're the only thing keeping me sane." He mumbles under his breath and you heart breaks as the words leave his mouth because how could the boy you loved, sweeter than anyone you could ever remember knowing, ever deserve to be in this much pain. "I'm right here." You tell him. "I'm not going anywhere." And then you place your lips on his and the way he melts into your touch makes you want to cry.

He's the first one to pull away but just enough to look you in the eyes, asking a question he already knows the answer to. "Can you just hold me? Please?"

And with his head laying on your chest Pietro keeps his focus on your steady heartbeat, a reminder of the one thing in the godforsaken town that he knew to be real. You. And for you Pietro somehow finds it in himself to have faith that things will be okay, that he'll find a way to get you both out of Westview. A way to get you two home.

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taglist: @marvelingstardust @LottsofRoses @kaelinalvarez68 @sahvlren @jessicalovestaron @your-hispanichufflepuff @hollow-r-us @alex747 @sleepyflutist18 @darlingkitt @hmw696 @theresnoplatypus @urimaginarygirlfriend @coraline145baby @quodsomniator @minstens

if your name is crossed out it means i couldn't tag you!

[ragingbookdragon]

A Lifetime In The Dreams Between

Hal Jordan x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 3.1K Warnings: Explicit Lanuage, Angst!

Author's Note: I have completed an idea! Enjoy! -Thorne

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

He didn’t know what happened. One second he was throwing up a shield to protect himself from the blast and the next his eyes were widening as the black magic passed through the construct and hit him straight in the chest. Shouts echoed all around him, but all Hal understood was that the world was swirling black and blue around him, figures blurring faster and faster, and he finally understood what it was like to see the world when Barry would run. And all he remembered was feeling the blood drain from his face as he dropped to his knees, and pitched forward, falling into darkness.

***

He could hear voices above him, stressed and frantic.

“He’s going into cardiac arrest!” Barry.

“Shit! Flash shock him!” (Y/N)?

“He won’t survive that much generated electricity!”

“Hal won’t survive if you don’t! Damn it, Barry! Shock him!”

Hands pressed to his chest and a shock jumped Hal’s chest, and he descended back into darkness.

***

His eyes snapped open, and he winced, raising a hand to his head, but someone grabbed his arm. “Don’t try to move, Hal.”

He lolled his head, eyes rolling as the metal ceiling flowed above; he felt so far away and so weak, brain fuzzing, and Barry appeared in his sight, searing his gaze.

“He’s having a seizure. His brain can’t handle the stress.” He looked at the woman across from him. “We have to get him to the med bay.”

She nodded, folding Hal’s hand back to his chest as she worried, “Hang on, Hal. You’re going to be okay.”

(Y/N)’s voice was so comforting, so warm, so trusting, and all Hal could do was shut his eyes, his brain imploding on itself.

***

He rolled over onto his side, burrowing his face in the soft pillow, exhaling deeply. Sleep welcomed him again and he was about to fall off the deep end when someone’s hand caressed his hip, lips pressing against the space between his shoulder blades.

“Good morning,” they murmured, trailing kisses up his back to his neck and to his ear. “Sleep well?”

He moaned lowly in his throat and turned his head, blinking blearily as their face came into clearing—actually her face, and suddenly his eyes went wide as he flailed, pulling away from her. “(Y/N)!”

She cocked a brow as he fell over the side of the bed, immediately shooting up, eyes shocked and very confused. “That’s my name, Hal.” Propping herself on her elbow, she asked, “Everything alright?”

Hal’s mouth opened and closed, and he looked down, his eyes widening all over again as he realized he was nude; he jerked the sheet to cover himself, an action not really in his repertoire. His coffee eyes went to her body, and she was there too, bare as the morning day.

“You’re naked. We’re naked,” he blurted out and she huffed a laugh.

“Yeah? Traditionally, married people typically get naked every other night when they make love.”

“Married?” Hal’s eyes shot to his left hand, and he almost collapsed on the floor again; sure enough a gold band was around his ring finger. “Holy shit,” he breathed, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be more shocked about, the fact that they were married or that he didn’t remember it.

“Hal?” (Y/N) was crawling over the bed, her hand coming to cup his cheek. “Is everything alright?”

He gazed into her eyes, so stunned that this woman that hated his guts was so concerned for him. “I…I don’t know.”

Her brows furrowed and she shuffled, sitting on the edge of the bed, and maneuvered Hal’s head until it was resting in her lap, his back against the side of the frame. She carded her fingers through his hair and bent down, gently pressing kisses where she could reach, to his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his lips, everywhere; then she smiled against his lips. “Something tells me you and Barry got so drunk last night you forgot you married me.”

“What?”

(Y/N) snorted, pulling away and with her free hand, she caressed his cheek. “You and Barry went to Aviators last night and came back at like three AM hammered out of your minds.” Her smile was ridiculously bright, and it made Hal’s heartbeat flutter against his rib cage. “You,” she started, but broke into a giggle. “You looked at me and said, ‘Hey pretty mama, wanna fly with me?’.”

Laughing again, she continued, “And when I said that I was your wife, you went, ‘Holy shit, I scored.’.” (Y/N) sighed wistfully and kissed his forehead. “Barry collapsed onto the couch, and you left a trail of clothes from the living room before collapsing in the bed.”

Tugging a strand of his brown hair, she said, “I had to maneuver the covers underneath your body in order to get into bed last night.” She pressed one more kiss to his forehead. “You’re still hungover though, so get back in bed and sleep a little while longer while I go make sure Barry’s up and awake, okay?”

Hal could only nod and when he tipped his head up to let her stand, he stopped her and pulled her down, pressing his lips to hers. (Y/N) responded eagerly, already forgoing checking on the Speedster as she lowered herself into his lap, and Hal immediately wrapped one arm around her waist, the other planting itself on the bed as he shifted his legs, giving himself some leverage to pick the two of them off the ground and shuffle back onto the bed.

And the second Hal’s thighs connected with the mattress he found himself being shoved down onto it, (Y/N)’s hands smoothing down his chest and abs, a flirtatious look on her face.

He couldn’t help but feel cocky. “See something you like?”

She grinned, splaying her fingers on his abdomen. “Actually, I feel something I like.” (Y/N) ground down on his hips and Hal inhaled sharply, causing her grin to turn into a downright evil smirk as she quipped, “And it seems like you feel it too.”

His hands came up to grasp her hips when someone stumbled through the bedroom door. “Hey, do you guys have any toothpa—oh dear God, you guys are fonduing!” They both jumped and looked at Barry who was busy shoving a hand to cover his eyes, the other fumbling for the door frame. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t see anything, (Y/N).”

Hal snorted. “How come you’re not swearing you didn’t see any of me?”

“Because I’ve seen all of you before, Hal. Multiple times in fact.” Barry retorted, speeding out of the bedroom.

(Y/N) chuckled and pressed a kiss to Hal’s collarbone, starting to shimmy out of his lap, only stopping when he started whining at her. “What?”

“Why are you leaving?” he questioned, and she flicked his shoulder.

“Because you need to get up and cook some breakfast before all of us have to get back out and go to work.”

Hal blanched. “Work?”

(Y/N) tossed him a look as she pulled on some pajama bottoms and one of his t-shirts. “Yes, Hal Jordan, you have to go into space and be a space ranger.”

“Oh, Green Lantern, right.” He sighed in relief. “I thought you meant the airfield.”

She snorted. “Oh, that too. Carol called and asked if you’d come down and fly one of the new F-18’s they got recently.”

Hal perked up. “How fast?”

“Fast, fly-boy. Now get up and go cook while I shower.” And she was off into their bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

***

Hal wandered into the kitchen, watching as Barry lifted his head from the refrigerator. “Morning.”

“Mornin’,” he replied, flicking on the coffee maker. “So…can I ask you a question?”

“I’m not checking your dick again to see if it’s above average, Hal,” Barry deadpanned and Hal about fell to his feet in laughter.

“What! No!” he chuckled and wiped his eyes, pouring water into the top of the coffee maker. “About last night…what…exactly happened?”

Barry looked at him, pulling out the pack of roast beef. “You don’t remember?”

“Well, from what (Y/N) said, I’m surprised either of us remembered how to get back here.” He met Barry’s eyes. “Everything’s a little fuzzy. I was just wondering if you could fill me in.”

The Speedster nodded, shoving a piece of meat in his mouth. “Well, I got off patrol and came over here, and then you said we should go out. But (Y/N) had some things to take care of, so she told us to go have fun. And then we went to that military bar you like, and we got dared to drink some marines under the table, and you can’t say no to a dare from ‘warthogs’, so you just had to drink more pitchers than they did.”

He snorted. “I barely had enough functioning brain cells to remember how to get back, but we just crammed into a cab and drove back here.” He wiped his eyes. “You kept telling the cabbie to play Danger Zone the entire time.”

Hal wasn’t somebody who was embarrassed easily, and as much as he loved Top Gun, he felt flustered that he was drunkenly belting out the main song the night before.

“And when we got here, I fell asleep on the couch, but (Y/N) was already chasing you down the hall because you were stripping left and right.”

Barry had all but fallen into hysterics as Hal merely set the coffee pot under the drip. “Yeah…about that too.” He felt confused. “You didn’t happen to like…change the timeline again, did you?”

The Speedster stopped laughing at that, blue eyes wide and concerned. “What? No. Why do you ask?”

Hal shook his head, twirling the gold band on his finger. “Because I don’t really remember marrying (Y/N)? But I do remember how much she hates my guts.”

“Well, yeah, but that death scare you gave her a few years ago really made her realize that as much as she hated you, she loved you just as much.” Barry rested a hand on his shoulder. “Now that I think about it, you did take a bad blow a couple days ago. Maybe you’re still reeling.”

The pilot nodded, listening to the coffee pour. “Yeah…maybe.”

Footsteps sounded from the living room and (Y/N) appeared in the entryway, a towel wrapped around her head, a bathrobe around her body; she scowled. “Hal, you were supposed to start breakfast.”

He blinked. “I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

“Lazy,” she griped, yanking the roast beef out of Barry’s hands. “That’s for sandwiches, not to eat out of the package, you bottomless pit.” Shoving the meat back in the refrigerator, she said, “There’s eggs…ham…I could omelets?”

“Omelets sound good,” Barry replied, taking the coffee mug out of Hal’s hands who in turn glared at the Speedster. “Do you have onions and peppers to add?”

“Mmm…I dunno…Hal used the last of the onions and peppers the other night to make steak with.” (Y/N) looked back at him, lips parting to speak when a beeping came from the living room.

Barry darted out and back in with a blinking device in his hands. “It’s the League Communicator.”

Immediately, she and Barry suited up and her eyes found Hal’s behind her blue mask. “Highball, get your head in the game. We’ve got a mission.”

He shook himself out of his stupor and the green suit formed to his body, though he muttered, “I still haven’t had my coffee yet…”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. “Race you guys to the Watchtower.”

“You’re on.” Barry chirped, the two of them disappearing in flashes of yellow and blue.

***

It seemed like much more routine patrol than it was a mission, but still, when Hal and (Y/N) finally made it back to Coast City, they all but collapsed onto the couch. Her suit faded from her body, and she rolled onto her back, laying her head on his thigh.

“I’m so tired,” she groaned, shutting her eyes.

Hal stared down at her, the green suit receding. “You look tired,” he murmured, resting his arm comfortably on her chest, his fingers rubbing soothing circles in her collarbone. “I still can’t believe you socked that bank robber in the face like Guy.”

(Y/N) giggled. “Hey, that man can teach anyone to throw a good punch.” Her eyes opened, and she reached up, tracing the dark circles under his eyes. “You look more tired than I am, husband of mine.”

Hal smiled, turning his face to press a sweet kiss to her wrist. “I’m just glad we’re home for the evening.” He expected her face to rest in relief, but it only clouded, and he murmured, “(Y/N)? What’s wrong?”

“Do you remember what we talked about a couple week ago?”

No, he did not.“You know I have a terrible memory, babe.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, a knowing sigh passing her lips. “Your memory is almost as bad as Barry’s ability to be on time.” Blinking at the ceiling, she said, “You know, what we talked about…having a family? How you said you wanted to try?”

Hal’s heart dropped into his stomach. “Yeah? What about it?”

She looked up at him. “I’m pregnant.”

“What?” His eyes immediately darted to her stomach, and he reached down, pressing his hand to her abdomen. “Are you really?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Yeah. Took a test last night.” Snorting, she added, “I was going to tell you, but you went out and got drunk, so I figured I should wait.”

Hal simply stared at her stomach. “Holy shit. You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, Hal. I’m pregnant.”

“I did that?”

“No, Bruce did.”

He scowled at her. “That’s not funny.”

(Y/N) winked. “No, it’s not. It’s hilarious.” She rose from the sofa, stretching her arms above her head. “I say it’s probably time for bed.”

Hal watched her. “You go on ahead. I’ll be there soon.”

“Yeah?” he nodded, and she bent down, pecking his lips. “I love you, Hal.”

“I love you too, (Y/N),” he replied, watching as she walked down the hallway, disappearing into their bedroom.

It was so weird. To be married to her. He knew this had to be some giant hallucination from his subconscious desires of wanting her, but still, even this “dream” seemed so real. Usually, she and Hal were at each other’s throats; they’d fight at the drop of a hat just because the other looked at them funny, and yet, other than him and Barry, (Y/N) was the only person that could keep up with Hal. To keep him on his toes. The only person smart enough to keep in his six. The only person he trusted to be his wingman. And he realized through all their fights that he cared for her.

Hal looked down at the band on his finger, and something warm spread through his chest when he thought about a little kid running around the apartment dressed in a baby flight suit, squealing “daddy!” at the top of their lungs. He wanted that. As much as being a father scared him, he wanted that. And he wanted it with (Y/N).

He smiled widely and got to his feet, but the second he did, the world shifted, and his vision darkened, body becoming weightless as he dropped to the floor.

***

Something was stroking his hair, gently smoothing it across his forehead, and a voice whispered, “Wake up, Hal. C’mon.”

He tried to open his eyes, but they were so heavy.

“If you wake up, I’ll watch Top Gun with you until you’re thoroughly convinced I could fly a jet.”

That made him want to smile and the hand shifted, cupping his cheek.

“Just open your eyes for me, Hal. Please. I…I need you.”

“You do?” he murmured, managing to crack one eye open, taking in the sight of (Y/N) sitting there beside his med bay bed, tears in her eyes.

She gave him a watery laugh and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Yes, you stupid ass.” (Y/N) pulled away, running her hand over his cheek. “You’ve been out almost an entire day.”

Hal inhaled deeply as she helped him sit up. “What happened?”

“You took a blow of dark magic to the heart and almost died on us. Twice.” She took his temperature and heart rate. “You went into cardiac arrest on the field and then had a seizure when we got you here in the Watchtower.” Meeting his eyes, she said, “You owe Barry a thanks for shocking your heart and J’onn for getting your mind to calm during your seizure.”

He blinked, completely dumbfounded. “Wow…that’s…I took a lot of damage, huh?”

(Y/N)’s eyes flashed with anger, and she socked his shoulder. “You’re damn straight you did. What the fuck were you thinking? Using constructs against a black magician?”

“Well, what’d you want me to do? Stand there like a jackass?” Hal retorted with a glare.

“Maybe you could’ve moved?” she met his glare head on. “You almost got yourself killed.”

“People die every day, (Y/N). I’m going to die one day.”

“And who would you leave behind if you did, huh? You’d leave behind your family and friends. You’d leave behind Guy and Kyle and John. You’d leave behind Barry. You’d leave me behind.” (Y/N) searched his eyes. “Don’t you know how heartbroken we’d be if you died, Hal? How devastated I’d be?”

Hal’s jaw went slack, and she shook her head. “This is just like you. Always flying headfirst into danger without a single regard for anyone else. You are so foolish and stupid and—”

He grabbed her chin and pulled her to him in a searing kiss. It was over as fast as it happened and when he pulled away, he smirked at the stunned expression on her face. “Oh? So that’s what it takes for you to quit yelling at me? Man, I should’ve done that a long time ago.”

(Y/N) blinked in shock, one hand coming to press against her lips. “What…what was that?”

“That was a kiss, (Y/N). You see when two people care about each other very much they—”

The meeting of a palm and a cheek echoed through the med bay, and he grabbed his face, gaping at her as she scrambled up.

“You don’t just kiss people, you ass!” (Y/N) shouted, though she looked more flustered than angry. “That’s—It’s not right!”

She spun and ran for the med bay doors, and he called out, “Wait! You didn’t tell me if you loved me!”

“Go to hell, Hal Jordan!” she shouted in return and Hal grinned wide and smug as he reclined on the pillows, eyes directing to the glass window, giving him the view of space.

That dream didn’t seem too far out of reach now.

[toastling]

Stacked Deck

Jack Hyde Real Name: Joshua Miller Age: 27 Description: Leader. Unruly garbage boy. His power is Unlimited Psychic Potential. There isn't a single psychic ability he hasn't succeeded at performing at a high level, and this is absolutely not normal. Abilities are usually very specialized, if somebody's a psychic they can generally only use it for one or two things. He can just. Do anything he wants. So he does. All the time. Nobody likes this.

Queen of Spades Real Name: Ivory Williams Age: 28 Description: Second in command. Coldhearted femme fatale. Her power is the Ultimate Spear, she can generate energy that can pierce through any structure, substance, or defense. Rumor has it she's a second generation villain, and her father actually managed to score a hit against golden age icon The Crimson Comet's Ultimate Shield. This, of course, sets her up perfectly to be Skymancer's big obstacle as far as the Upstarts go, since that was her father.

Queen of Diamonds Real Name: Yukio Brantley Age: 27 Description: Unruly gremlin. She and Jack are like two peas in a pod, incredibly violent and unwilling to back down from a fight. Her power is Spatial Curvature. She can manipulate space in such a way that she changes the definition of what a straight line is, curving any and all manner of attacks and effects around and away from herself. She is completely untouchable. She and Jack have a thing.

Queen of Hearts Real Name: Harley Knightley Age: 23 Description: Everybody's little sister. Bubbly, ditzy, but also incredibly dangerous and ruthless when she wants to be. Her ability has to do with velocity manipulation in relation to her heartbeat. The faster she makes her heart beat, the faster she can move, becoming a legit speedster with heartbeats as quick as the bursts of a spinning pulsar. Similarly, she can slow down her perception of time by slowing her heart beat tremendously, making it come to a virtual standstill to no ill effect. If she can learn how to perform this effect on other people who don't have her power or a body specifically built for it, she will be by far the most dangerous member of the gang.

King of Clubs Real Name: Craig Anderson Age: He looks like a 40 year old man but I swear he's only 27 Description: Disgraced wannabe boxer. His power is good ol' fashioned super strength. Like, really, really super strength. He kinda killed everybody he tried to fight. He's supposedly not as violent as the rest of the gang, but he is their heaviest hitter. He doesn't talk a lot, and prefers to speak through his actions. He's just some guy, really.

10 of Henchmen Real Name: …10? Age: …Probably not 10 Description: Adopted arsonist. He kinda just inserted himself into the group and nobody really complained, he's a great distraction. Does a lot of menial tasks for everyone, especially Spades. Nobody knows what his power is, or if he even has one. Nobody's ever asked him his name, either.

[randomfandomimagine]

I Love You Too (Barry Allen x Reader)

Characters: Barry Allen, Bruce Wayne, Arthur Curry, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, Victor Stone

Fandom: Justice League (Snyder) / DC

Tags: Angst with a happy ending, fluff, hurt / comfort, no spoilers

Warnings: Slight angst

Word Count: 2,1k words

Summary: Barry must make a great sacrifice, but Y/N wants to tell him something before he does. Unable to tell him, Y/N deals with the result of Barry’s sacrifice and wonders whether or not he reciprocated those feelings.

A/N: To no one’s surprise, I fell in love with Ezra’s Barry when I watched the Snyder Cut (he’s just so cute!), so here’s a ficlet based on an idea I had when watching the movie. Enjoy, and give this some love, please!!

Link: AO3

GIF CREDIT

Barry Allen x Gender Neutral Reader

Your world had turned upside down in just a second. Not too long ago, you were joking and laughing with Barry, playfully pushing each other. You had been having fun together like you had known each other all your lives despite having met for the first time a few days ago. You had been there to comfort each other during that insane and frightening mission, like you could read each other’s minds and recognized how scary it was for the other and how much you needed that comfort.

And now…

The others’ voices became but a muffled mumble to your whistling ears. The sudden weight that had settled in your stomach made you nauseous as you turned to them.

“What…?” You asked Bruce in a daze, even if you had heard him loud and clear.

“Are you serious?” Arthur muttered, staring at him as well.

“That would kill him!” You reply in outrage, turning to Barry. The speedster didn’t say anything, only reciprocating your gaze with a neutral expression that you knew hid his fear.

“It’s the only way...” Bruce looked down, clenching his jaw.

A loud silence hung over the group. None of you broke it until Barry himself spoke up. Much to your horror, it was to agree with Bruce’s plan.

“I’ll do it” He replied, bearing a grin on his lips but heaviness in his dark eyes.

“Barry...” You began, knowing him well enough to realize he would not hesitate to do the right thing. He would not hesitate to sacrifice himself to save the world.

“It’ll be okay” Barry smiled at you, even if you could tell it was a fake one.

“Wait, no! I have to...” You reached out to hold on to him, but he was already gone. “Tell you how I feel...”

You closed your hands into fists so tight that your nails painfully digged in your palms. A hand gently squeezed your arm, so you looked up to Diana. She showed you a friendly yet sad smile.

“He knows, Y/N” Were her only words, which didn’t bring you as much comfort as any of you’d hoped.

Contradictory feelings created a lump in your throat. You knew he had to do it, and you knew Victor needed his help. It was selfish of you to not want Barry to do it. You wanted him to, to fix everything, but… you didn’t want to lose him. Tears reached your eyes, so you averted your gaze from your friends. Arthur sighed in resignation next to you. Bruce swore under his breath. You knew Victor would try to come up with a different plan if he wasn’t inside. If Clark wasn’t so focused on keeping Steppenwolf busy, you know he would have some objections himself.

Just when you felt the tears started rolling down your cheeks, a sudden presence made you jump up in startle. Before you could even turn around, you felt something against your cheek. By the time you met face to face with Barry, you had realized what graced your cheek were his lips.

“Be right back” He muttered, even though his voice cracked.

“No, you won’t” You saddly replied, staring into his eyes. “Barry, I...”

He lingered for just a moment before running off. A sob escaped your throat. None of you spoke, and that awful silence was making your heart race. A blue streak illuminated the surroundings as Barry caught speed.

Diana suddenly held your hand, so tightly that you could almost read her thoughts as she made them so palpable. You squeezed back, joining her in what you assumed were mental prayers for Barry to make it back alive.

“C’mon, kid...” Arthur whispered, barely loud enough for you to hear.

The atmosphere became strange around you as Barry reached maximum speed. You grimaced, waiting for the inevitable. Chaos ensued for a moment when Barry managed to achieve his mission, creating a loud commotion that created enough energy to save the day. A pause lasting only a second followed. It was the longest second of your entire life.

The breath hitched in your throat when the electric blue streak passed before your eyes and stopped just a few meters away from the group. You gulped when it dissipated and a reddish blur became a familiar figure. The silence had returned, albeit awed this once.

“I made it” Barry gulped, heaving something between a chuckle and an exhalation. A second after, his eyes rolled into his head and he was limply falling to the ground.

“Barry!” You let go of Diana’s hand and ran to help him, faster than any of them. “Barry, no!!“

You threw yourself to the ground with such force that you scraped your knees. That pain was nothing compared to the one that held your heart ransom. You repeatedly called his name, desperately shaking him. No response. Trembling from head to toe, you then went to hurriedly take his helmet off. The sweaty dark hair stuck to his forehead. His eyes were closed. He looked terribly pale. When you held his face in your hands, he still didn’t move.

“Y/N...” Arthur miserably said as he approached the two of you. The pained word brought a sob to your throat. You knew what he meant when he called your name like that. Barry was gone.

Bruce kneeled by your side. Diana stood on her foot, hovering behind you.

“He’s alive” Bruce suddenly uttered, causing your heart to race. For the first time since you joined the team, it was a good sign.

“He’s alive?!”

“He’s alive...”

_

Your eyes closed, but you didn’t give in to sleep. He needed you.

Thoughts plagued your mind, so many and so varied that your head hurt. You were mad at him for being so reckless. But proud that he didn’t hesitate to save everyone. At the same time, you were sad that he had exerted himself like that, if only because of how dangerous it was. And you were worried about his health. Your temples throbbed.

“You haven’t moved in two days” Clark’s sudden voice scared you. Nonetheless, you didn’t have the strength to flinch. “Get some rest, Y/N”

“No, I have to stay here with him” You watched Barry as he slept peacefully in his bed, hooked to the machine that tracked his vitals. Fortunately, it kept beeping with his heartbeat.

“We’ll tell you if he wakes up”

“I’ll be here when he does”

Returning to focus on Barry, you squeezed his hand. You had been holding on to it for so long that your hands had seemed to fuse together. It had been your only comfort these days. You had to keep reminding yourself that he was still alive.

“You’ll get sick too” Clark lingered on his gentle tone, empathizing with you and being worried himself despite not really knowing Barry like you did.

But he could tell. Anyone could tell Barry had a heart of gold. That he was kind and warm. Still, Clark didn’t know. He didn’t know how much Barry made you laugh. Not him not anyone knew how much you treasured his reassuring presence next to you as you fought to save the world. How much you appreciated his light-hearted jokes and efforts to relief the tension. No one knew how especial Barry was to you.

No, you refused to get up from that chair. You only stared at Barry still, mentally begging for him to wake up like you could will that thought into existence. Your throat began to hurt from how fiercely you fought the tears. Seeing your resolve, your friend shook you a little.

“Y/N, you...” Judging by Clark’s tone, you saw a soft reprimand coming. You were too tired to put up with one, no matter how well-intentioned it was.

“No, Clark!” You stood up, something you didn’t do in days. “I... I…”

You had moved so quickly that you got a headrush. Clark held you by the arm when you wobbled, but you angrily swatted him away.

“I’m not leaving him! I need to be with him, because...” Your confident and loud voice grew lower and sadder. “If I’m not…”

Clark’s own eyes looked watery. He frowned and nodded his head, silently providing you with the understanding you so badly needed. It didn’t help with the burden of guilt and remorse that filled your chest, though.

The beeping of the machine filled the stillness, followed by a different sound.

“Can you... keep it down?” A groggy voice muttered. “I’m trying to sleep”

You and Clark gasped at thet same time, quickly turning to your friend lying on the bed. Barry’s eyes were open, even if heavy with weakness, as he slowly turned his head in your direction.

“You slept for two days, buddy” Clark grinned, fondly looking at him.

“That’s a long nap” Barry smiled, tiredly closing his eyes.

“You’re so stupid!” You softly punched him in the arm, forcing him to look back at you.

“Ow” He barely had the strength to reach out to hold the spot. “Easy, I’m convalescent”

“You scared me half to death!”

Barry’s prior small smile vanished in favor of a concerned frown when he got a good look at you.

“You look exhausted…”

“We kept telling Y/N to get some rest” Clark piped up, looking from one to the other.

“And I kept telling you I wasn’t going to leave him!” In response to your reply, Clark only smiled fondly. Shaking his head a little, he scooped you into his arms and carefully laid you down on Barry’s bed next to him.

“There, you can look after each other now” He carefully patted Barry’s arm. “Everyone’s happy”

You barely paid any attention to Clark anymore as he muttered he was going to tell the others that Barry was awake. Instead, you were far too busy tightly hugging Barry and hoping you weren’t hurting him. When the door closed, signaling Clark’s departure, you were nuzzling Barry’s shoulder.

“Wow, hey” He chuckled, playfully patting your back. “Missed me, I see”

“Shut up”

“Were you worried?”

“Was I worried”

“Yeah”

“If you pull something like that ever again, you better believe I won’t need your speed to catch up to you and kill you myself, Barry Allen!”

Barry weakly laughed at the stupid line you had just said. Realizing the silliness of it yourself, you joined him in his chuckles.

“I love you too” Barry playfully replied, bearing a joking grin.

Your eyebrows arched in surprise, and then he gawked at you.

“N-No... I didn’t mean...” Barry corrected himself. “I didn’t mean I love you as a... It was a joke! I-I mean, it’s not that I don’t love you, but... but... uh..."

When everything stilled, however, you realized how truly close you two were lying down together. There was barely enough room in that small bed to fit the two of you even as you were on your sides. Being so close to him, you wonderred how you hadn't realized how beautiful his eyes were before. You took his face in your hands, chuckling again. His lips suffocated your laughter as well as his babbling when they connected with yours. It was a slow and delicate kiss, nearly a peck. You both were still very tired, and that wonderful exchange made you so calm that you felt your eyes close both in exhaustion and happiness.

When the kiss ended, you both lingered in that closeness. Barry tenderly pressed his forehead against yours, leaning into your touch. Your hands were still on his face while his had clumsily found their way to the small of your back.

“Thanks for looking after me” He whispered, dedicating you a tired smile.

“Thanks for coming back to me” As you said it, you wondered if the smitten way he was looking at you was the same way you were looking at him without realizing.

“I told you I would” Barry reached out to press his hand against yours, caressing your skin with his thumb.

You melted in a loving embrace, and everything was alright with the world again. As you rested against his chest, Barry’s heartbeat under your ear brought you peace. Linger in the hug, that you wished you could stretch out forever, you gazed into each other’s eyes.

“How about we actually listen to our friends and get some rest?” You mumbled, slowly reaching out to hold his hand.

“That sounds great” Barry intertwined his fingers with you, smiling wide.

Finally feeling like you could relax after days of being on edge, you fully lied down with him. Barry was beaming, his smile never faltering as you got comfortable beside him. Your hands were linked together like they had been for days now. This time he squeezed yours back. You felt the slumber take you as you groggily repeated the words he had said to you first. I love you too.

Tag list: @call-me-harley-quinn / @wonderlandfandomkingdom / @locke-writes / @emmacata / @galactic-magick​ // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, send me an ask!! 

[yougobunny]

How many self indulgent headcanons can one person write about one character? Let’s find out!

As a child, Lexi thought that she had a secret power. She didn’t tell anyone about it out of fear--childish, innocent--that if she did, it would be taken away. So she didn’t tell anyone that she had the secret power of summoning lost things back to her.

When her hair brush, the one with the silly banana print and matching banana shaped handle, went missing, she looked high and low, ducking into every room of their little house in search of it. She found it a few days later, tucked in the space between her dresser and the wall. When her favourite plush elephant disappeared at the playground, Lexi had been distraught until several days later, when a pair of road runner siblings came knocking on their front door with Mr Fudge in tow. The older of the two explained that his brother had picked up the plush elephant at the playground and they had been knocking on doors in the neighborhood to find its owner. Lexi’s ma invited the boys in for cookies, but they declined and went off on their way. 

She knew better as she got older, of course, but it was still fun. She imagined a world where nothing was ever truly lost, not really. Someway, somehow, everything she loved would find their way back to her. She believed this even when her ma got into the accident, and she sat in the sterile waiting room with her pa pacing a few feet away and everything was somehow too empty and loud and hea-

Sapphire squeezed her hand. Their laced fingers rested on Lexi’s lap, the weight comforted and anchored her in place.

The doctor arrived just then. Lexi’s pa stopped pacing and was immediately within a foot of the doctor, expectant and desperate and more scared than Lexi had ever seen him before. 

It had been touch and go for a while but her ma had made it. Lexi didn’t tell anyone, not her ma when the doctor let them in to see her, not Sapphire later that night when Lexi stayed over, but she imagined that a part of her--that power she had wielded as a child--had kept her ma with them.

Everything she loved would always find their way back to her. 

*

It happens over and over again. The purse that went missing when she was 14 showed up just shy of her 18th birthday. Her little rose plant couldn’t be salvaged from a nasty aphid infestation and two days later she rescued a wilting potted plant that someone had left out with the rubbish to nurture back to life. Romantic partners came and left and Lexi’s heart sometimes felt like an open window in the midst of summer, always ready for the next. 

Sapphire never left, not until Lexi made her. Even then, even after the harsh words and the angry tears and how absolutely nauseous Lexi had felt when recalling what she had said, a part of her knew that Sapphire would come back to her too in time. 

Then the meteor hit and Lexi woke up in a room where a haggard looking nurse informed her that her parents had found her, and yes they were alive, and yes they will be identified that she was conscious. Lexi heard her, she did, but she also realised that she could hear everything. Hasty footsteps and whirring machinery and the wailing of both sirens and people. The barrage of heartbeats, the ones that were slowing down. Someone was dying. Someone’s heart was slowing down. It was going to st- “-is responding.”

The voice was so familiar and close that Lexi didn’t even think before her name sprouted from Lexi’s lips like a shouted prayer. The nurse in her room jumped, startled by the sound, but Lexi didn’t care. Not when her shouting caused a commotion out in the corridor, not when the door slid open and summoned Sapphire, her scrubs grubby and stained as if she had lived and bled in them. (She’ll say later that she did).

Later. Later. Later, when the clean up starts and Acmetropolis could properly mourn their losses, later, when Lexi gets discharged to her ma’s apartment that had been structurally spared. Later, when Sapphire slept a dreamless, uninterrupted 12 hour sleep for the first time since the meteor. There is time to talk and apologise later. For now, Lexi desperately grabbed at Sapphire as soon as she was within reach and the two girls collapsed against each other. For now, Lexi clutched at her friend and sent out thanks to the universe for bringing her back.

*

Lexi could hear them approaching the surface and had sprinted in the direction long before the others. She was only partially aware of the rest of the team behind her. The only exception was Rev, having passed all of them and was now in waist deep water to haul Duck and Ace to shore. The speedster deposited them to the sandy bank, Duck clambering to his knees amidst heavy gulps of air. Lexi was almost upon them by then, so she didn’t need super hearing to hear Rev gasp, “‘Duck, he’s not breathing.”

(She heard it too. She heard one frantic heartbeat and one disappearing even before they broke the surface.)

“No no no no no,” Lexi collapsed onto her knees on Ace’s other side. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t hear. Ace was so still and silent, it was against the natural order of things. He can’t be dead he couldn’t leave them he couldn’t leave her nonononon- “Move!”

Someone shoved her hard and sent her tumbling backwards onto the sand. She would have yelled, but the person who had shoved her back was Duck. His own breathing was still erratic, his limbs still weary, but Duck had two fingers under Ace’s chin tilting his head up and he breathed into his mouth and Lexi remembered. She remembered. Duck knew CPR. 

(So did she. So did the rest of them. But the terror had frozen her limbs in perpetual inaction and she hated it.)

Duck started compressions, fingers interlocked over Ace’s chest and counting each pump. He was working on muscle memory, so even with the panic rolling in his chest his movements were calculated. “Come on Ace, don’t do this to me bud. You gotta breathe.” Duck braced himself better and continued. 

“Lexi, can you hear a pulse?” Duck asked, breathless.

“Nothing,” Lexi's throat felt hoarse, but she steeled herself, “Let me take over.”

Duck nodded, sitting back onto his heels and letting Lexi take his place. His own breathing had barely evened out when he had started, and judging by the searing pain in his wrist he must have injured it while underwater. The pain while he had worked on Ace was excruciating, but he had to do something.

Lexi’s movements were far more erratic than Duck’s, but she had the technique down just right. “Ace, fuck, you can’t do this.” He felt too still, too cold, under her hands, and she fought the bile that rose in her throat and pressed down into his chest. There was a crack as bone gave way under pressure, and Lexi kept going even as the tears come because no this can’t be happening come back come back come bac-

Ace’s chest heaved under her hands and he coughed. Duck reached around, helping Lexi roll him onto his side as a deluge of murky water expelled from his lungs. Lexi rubbed his back, bent over with exertion and relief that made her light-headed. 

(Later, Duck will half-joke that his kiss had brought Ace back from the dead.)

Lexi clutched her own chest and let out a long, exhausted breath. The things she loved tended to come back to her, and Lexi would fight tooth and nail to claw them back to her if she had to.

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1964

The X-Men, those wacky mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel the tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 3 - 8) - by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Fantastic Four 28

The X-Men’s sophomore year basically serves as a recruitment drive for  Professor Xavier and Magneto: both our heroes and those nefarious villains try to recruit various mutants (The Blob, Namor, Unus the Untouchable), all with absolutely no success.

We also meet Magneto’s home team, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. (Later on, they would drop the ‘evil’, because why would Magneto call himself evil? He believes he’s doing the right thing.) The Brotherhood consists of:

An acrobatic toady;

A white-haired speedster whose entire personality is that he loves his sister;

A fashion victim with nebulously defined disaster powers;

A creepy, sexist illusionist, who is by far the most useful on this squad. He is literally the only reason Magneto briefly conquers a country.

i, too, enjoy towers of mashed potatoes (X-Men 4)

Magneto is fleshed out more: he still remains fabulously extra, but he develops an obsession with owning strongholds and/or land. In this year alone, he owns one island (1), one manor (1) and one asteroid (1). He also briefly takes over the nation of Santo Marco. Magneto also does some astral projection, because magnets can... do... that? (Just go with it.)

he is just so ridiculous <3 (X-Men 7)

magnetic intensity indeed. like toad and rogue, I would fall in love with magneto in a heartbeat (X-Men 5)

While the Toad’s and Mastermind’s loyalty to Magneto is never questioned, Pietro and Wanda, meanwhile, show plenty of reluctance in following the mutant despot. They even help the X-Men once or twice, but ultimately remain loyal to Magneto because he saved Wanda from an angry mob. (The mob is traditionalist rather than racist: They want to burn her because she is a witch, not because she’s a mutant. So it’s fine.) 

However, this year does mark the first appearance of anti-mutants sentiments: a crowd attacks Hank after he saves some kid from a water tower, simply because they suspect he’s a mutant. I always thought it was Claremont who introduced this theme, but apparently, he merely expanded on something Lee started. It also introduces the conflict between Xavier’s views and Magneto’s: the hippie professor believes in peaceful coexistence, the flamboyant villain in the dominance of homo superior.

they were so mean, Warren, they even took my glasses! (X-Men 8)

It’s also the first example of Professor X opening up his home to a villain in an attempt to reform them. The Blob, petty and churlish, refuses, but I have to admit I would read the fuck out of a What If? where the Blob accepts Charles’ offer.

This year also lays a lot ground for the X-Men themselves, fleshing them out. Hank becomes loquacious and smart, Warren reaches peak himbo and Bobby establishes himself as the jokester. Scott, meanwhile, becomes a lot more emo, tormented by his uncontrollable powers and his love for Jean. She also loves him, but neither of them actually does anything about it. In other character development, Jean straightens her hair.

in 2021, I aspire to have the same confidence as Warren goddamn Worthington entering a fucking room (X-Men 4)

Meanwhile, Charles is apparently also crushing hard on Miss Grey. (Which is fortunately dropped and mostly forgotten about, because ick.) That, combined with the fact that almost every male character notes how sexy either Jean or Wanda is, really does show how badly all of this aged. I haven’t really read old Fantastic Four or the Avengers, but I do hope Sue and the Wasp have a trifle more personality than this.

don’t fret, Jean, the only competition you have to worry about is Magneto (X-Men 6)

But! Charles does other weird stuff too! In a shocking display of extreme teaching methods, Professor X pretends to have lost his powers so the X-Men can prove themselves against the Brotherhood in space. Cyclops nearly dies, but despite that, Professor X graduates his X-Men! He then leaves and puts Cyclops in charge. Solid leadership skills all around.

this is just adorable (X-Men 7) 

Oh yeah, the X-Men also fight Namor and the Fantastic Four, and Iceman starts his bromance with the Human Torch. For those keeping track in the future: this is the point where the young X-Men are time-abducted for their All-New X-Men capers. (X-Men #8, to be exact.) Bobby also has an unhealthy obsession with eating icecream.

it’s 1964, do you know where your teen-age mutant hoodlums are? (X-Men 4)

Must reads: X-Men #3, the introduction of the Blob, and X-Men #4, the introduction of the Brotherhood. The rest are all variations on the same themes and... not that great. 

Didn’t you take Art History? This era is characterized by cheesy, cheesy writing and the kind of art that seems better suited to a Disney comic than a superhero epic. Stan Lee tends to overexplain everything we see in the art. Despite Kirby’s style not really being my cup of tea, he does effective work and some of his spreads are actually gorgeous. Check this out.

so… daddy longlegs is not a mutant? (X-Men 3)

Best new character: The Blob. Hear me out.  He is a different kind of villain than most of the villains introduced in this era: he is petty and small-minded, rather than megalomaniacal and dramatic, which makes for a nice change of pace. Then there’s the fact that he looks grotesque and that even the X-Men, who should know better, mock him and body-shame him. (Nice going, calling him ‘fatso’ while he probably even couldn’t lose weight if he tried, because, you know, it’s his mutant power). He is like a foil to the Thing: mean and selfish where the Thing tries to be heroic and rise above his circumstances. The Blob is an unhappy man who does unhappy things; some authors have realized that he’s more than just a fat joke: there’s something inherently cruel about his mutant power.

then again, Fred does call Jean a cute tomato, so maybe he deserves everything the X-Men throw at him (X-Men 3)

Most audacious retcon: Nobody seems to have a grasp on how strong Professor X and Marvel Girl are. One issue, Jean can toss around a crowd of women, the next, she can’t pick up Hank.  Charles seems to be just as strong as the plot demands. 

Ugliest Costume: The Scarlet Witch. Pink and red? O honey, no.

wanda, what is that headpiece (X-Men 4)

[backtothestart02]

Return to Paradise - 4/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: This is a fun chapter. I enjoyed writing it, and so, so appreciate the help of @jennlee44 and @westallen94 who were incredibly helpful in getting me to the finish line. Thanks, ladies!

Enjoy!

*Many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing.

...

Chapter 4 -

After a night of board games and laughter, and alcohol – way too much alcohol – Iris was swept off her feet by her husband and deposited into their bed while Nora quietly made her way down the hall to her own room in the villa. It was quiet in the night, except for some distant rumblings of partygoers, tourists much like themselves who hadn’t yet made it to their beds or out of consciousness.

But as the hours passed, the sounds diminished until finally all was silent. Then, the sun rose.

Barry’s eyes opened at about half past six. Time to make breakfast. But he was struck suddenly by how beautiful his wife looked while she slept, and found himself thinking, Maybe Nora will make it.

She had, after all, made dinner the night before. And she’d done a damn good job of it. She was perfectly capable of making breakfast, and maybe she was even planning on it!

Don’t get your hopes up, whispered through his mind, but he chose to ignore it.

He looked across the room at the closed door and grinned. Then he looked down at Iris and gently drew the locks fallen over her face behind her ear. She moaned a little in her sleep and curled against the side of his body, her wedding and engagement rings brushing his skin.

His heart skipped a beat.

When she was like this with him, any doubts or jealousy melted away. Even the fear of Nora walking in on them was a non-issue. In fact, as far as he could tell, there was no noise going on outside their bedroom at all.

A devious smile crossed his face.

“Iris,” he whispered softly, gently moving his hand up and down her arm to caress her awake.

She moaned in contempt this time.

“No.”

“Aww, come on, Iris,” he teased, allowing his fingers to move over to her back and dip down beneath her teddy. “We’re alone.”

She snorted, coming awake now.

“But for how long?”

He shrugged happily, encouraged that she might be getting onboard.

“Long enough,” he murmured, slinking back down in bed so they were at eye-level.

She snickered. “You really want it bad, don’t you?”

“I really do,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to her cheek, then her nose, then her unresponsive lips.

“Baaarry,” she complained. “My head hurts.”

He pulled back, considering that.

“You did drink a lot.”

She groaned, pressing her face into her hand.

“Oh, why? Why did I do that?”

“Because you were losing at Scrabble,” he said easily, and she laughed.

“Or maybe I was just having a good time.” She pushed him away from her, but it didn’t stop him from coming back a heartbeat later. She sighed. “I suppose I should be grateful I have a husband that wants me so badly.”

“That wants to please you so badly,” he corrected, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he got beneath the covers and moved farther down the bed, parting her legs to make room for him.

She gasped. “No! Barry, no.” She tried to squeeze her legs back together, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Barry, if Nora hears-”

He popped his head up from beneath the covers as he drew her panties down her legs and pushed them across the mattress, dismissing how they dropped onto the floor in plain view of anyone who would walk in.

“So, be quiet,” he said, with a sexy grin on his face.

She scoffed. “You know that’s damn near impossible when you go down on me like you’re threatening to do!” she whisper-shouted heatedly.

His mouth fell open in mock shock.

“I would never threaten you, Iris.”

She looked at him suspiciously.

“But promise, on the other hand…” He grinned.

“Oh…you!” She grabbed his abandoned pillow and proceeded to hit him with it.

“Hey! No- Iris!”

She was merciless, but finally he got his bearings and surged up, stealing the pillow from her hands and placing a sensuous kiss on her supple lips.

Iris wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her calf around his thigh beneath the covers. Barry deepened the kiss, his hands propped up on the bed and nudged her legs apart. This time they went willingly.

“You sure it’s not just your morning wood that’s got you so excited?” She murmured between kisses.

“Definitely not,” he assured her, sliding his hand beneath her silk teddy until it reached one hardening nipple.

Iris gasped.

But she wasn’t the only one.

A silver platter, one that used to contain two make-shift menus and a vase with a rose in it, clattered on the floor; and hesitantly – very hesitantly – Barry turned around and spotted his daughter looking traumatized as she stared at them with wide eyes.

“I…um…” Nora glanced down at the mess on the floor. “I should get some towels. Yes, that’s what I should-” She turned around and bumped right into the door. “I’m okay!”

She covered one eye with her hand and then ran out into the hall, quickly speeding down the stairs and back into the kitchen where her platters of pancakes, waffles, French toast, sausage, and bacon sat, along with the freshly squeezed orange juice and apple juice she’d prepared.

By the time she returned to her parents’ bedroom with a single towel, they’d both dressed into comfortable clothes and were already wiping up the mess she’d left in her wake.

Nora winced as she approached them.

“Sorry, guys…I guess I should have expected…I mean, you are technically a young, married couple. I don’t know what I was thinking. Though I did knock first!” Her head snapped up. “And I called you guys from downstairs.” She frowned, then promptly blushed. “I guess you were too busy to hear…”

Barry and Iris shared a knowing look with Barry’s own blush creeping up his neck as his wife approached their daughter with a warm, gentle grip on her hands.

“There’s no need to apologize, Nora. We’ll just um…” She looked back at her husband, who was avoiding eye contact with his hand roughing up his bed hair even more. She turned back to Nora. “We’ll lock the door next time.”

Nora forced a smile.

“Well,” she said brightly, then pointed towards the doorway. “Breakfast anyone?”

…

After an awkward five to 10 minutes, Nora’s showcasing everything she’d made for them made the recently lived through trauma fade slowly from memory. And Iris made sure to keep it that way by gutting Barry with her elbow every time he was about to remark with a ‘you know what really tastes good’ joke.

“This looks amazing, Nora,” Iris said when they were all sitting down around the kitchen table. “You definitely got your dad’s gene for good cooking.” She shared a knowing look with Barry.

“And Papa Joe’s!” Nora pointed out. “And Grandma Esther I heard was an amazing cook.”

Iris nodded. “Her recipes are some of the best,” she said, then muttered under her breath how that gene must’ve just skipped a generation with her.

Barry cleared his throat, and even Nora could feel the innuendo coming on. She intervened.

“Why don’t you try the waffles, Mom? I think you’ll like those the best.”

“All right.”

Iris spread the butter, poured the syrup, cut the waffle and took a bite. Her eyes widened immediately.

“These taste amazing! Nora, you are making all our meals from now on.” She glanced at Barry. “Give your father a break from keeping me satisfied.”

His jaw dropped.

“Food-wise! Barry!” She smacked his arm, and he laughed, taking a bite from his stack of pancakes.

“Wow.” Barry licked some syrup off his lips. “They do taste really good, Nora. I’m impressed.”

Nora shifted a little in her seat, suddenly bashful.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Barry and Iris shared another look, but this time it was sweet, acknowledging the bond they had with their daughter and how they were going to do everything in their power to make this a day she would never forget.

“So,” Nora began, after downing some orange juice and wiping her mouth. “What are we doing today? I know you guys were already at the beach yesterday, but-”

“No, nonsense!” Iris reassured her. “We sat on the beach and did nothing.”

Barry was mid-scoff when Iris’ nails came into contact with his hand.

“We have a whole day to do whatever you want,” Iris continued. “Do you want a beach day?”

Nora bit her bottom lip and nodded.

“But first I need a swimsuit! I thought it’d be cool if I bought one from here for our trip.”

Iris beamed and released her husband to hold her daughter’s hand.

“That was my exact thought when we came here last year for our honeymoon.”

Nora’s face lit up. “Could we go to where you went?”

“It’s on the other side of the island, Nora. I don’t know if you want to-”

Nora snickered.

“Don’t be silly, Dad. We’re speedsters. It’ll take a second.”

“That’s…that’s true, but-”

Both women looked at him expectantly, and he knew he couldn’t reveal details or complaints in front of their daughter.

“Sounds great.”

“Great!” Nora cheered. “Okay, I’m going to go upstairs and get a bag ready and change clothes and look cute! Then, we can go!”

“You barely a-”

“You already look cu-”

Barry and Iris’ attempts fell on deaf ears. Their speedster daughter was already upstairs and speeding around the room she’d chosen in hopes of finding the perfect outfit to wear to go shopping for beach attire.

Back at the kitchen table, Iris was grinning fondly, and Barry’s face looked to be in a permanent pout.

“This is not a good idea, Iris.”

Reluctantly, Iris turned in her seat to address him.

“Why not? It means so much to her to be where we were when we-”

“It’s not like we conceived her on our honeymoon,” he whispered heatedly.

Iris rolled her eyes and took a sip of her orange juice.

“We may as well have.”

“That’s another thing.”

“What?”

“I’m coming around to this family vacation thing.” Iris arched an eyebrow. “I am.”

Iris was amused.

“But…Iris…” He scooted his chair the inch or two closer to hers. “If I don’t get…” He reached for her breasts, only for his hands to be pushed away deliberately. “I am going to go crazy.”

She laughed. “I’d love to see what that looks like.”

“I’m serious, Iris. Just one time.”

“Ha! One time is not enough for you, Bartholomew, and you know it.” She paused. “Not enough for me either, to be honest.”

His eyes lit up. “So, you do want to!”

“Shh!” She put her finger over his lips. “Yes, of course I do. But can you be a father for 24 hours and not a horny husband?”

“Twenty-four hours?” he whined.

“You waited for me for fifteen years,” she reminded him.

“And every day was torture.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to go get ready.”

“Iris. Iris, wait.”

“I’m hopping in the shower, and don’t you dare follow me, Bartholomew Henry Allen.”

His jaw dropped, and he immediately got up.

“Iris. Iris.”

She finally stopped. “What?”

“You know what happened in that dressing room.”

Her brows furrowed, as if she didn’t know. Barry worried for a second that she’d actually forgotten. He knew the exact second it registered.

“She doesn’t know that, and she doesn’t need to know that. It’s just a dressing room, Barry. Besides…” She walked slowly over to him and slid her fingers down his chest to his waistband. “Don’t you want to see if it’s still there? In case…” She shrugged. “You know.”

His mouth went dry.

“What…are you saying?”

She smiled serenely.

“Just that you’re a very hot father. Being a good one brings its own rewards.” She winked and sashayed over to the stairs, feeling his heated stare on her until she disappeared into the bedroom.

His sweatpants, for all their thick fabric, could not contain the result of his returned hard-on. He looked down and spotted the darkening patch immediately.

“Shit.”

He sped up the stairs, rid himself of his pants and boxers and ran to the bathroom to clean himself off.

Unfortunately, the bathroom door was closed and locked.

“Nice try, baby,” Iris said from inside under the hot shower water.

He groaned. “Please, Iris. It’s not what you thi-”

She started to sing – loud and proud and off-key.

It was adorable. He hated that it was adorable.

A knock at the door startled him, and he hurried to put on a pair of shorts while he waited for the bathroom to free up. He went to the bedroom door and opened it.

“Nora, now’s not really a good-”

He stopped. His mouth ran dry.

A flower headband in her hair, the prettiest tank and mini skirt with pretty, shiny shoes with a flower each to match the one in her hair, Barry had never been filled with so much pride to see her as his daughter.

“Is something wrong?” She frowned. “You can use my shower if Mom is taking a while.”

He approached her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“You look absolutely beautiful.”

She blushed beneath his gaze.

“Thanks, Dad,” she gushed, then distracted herself with the problem at hand. “Now, go! I want to go shopping!” She laughed.

“Right.” He gathered his clothes and shampoo together in a flash and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you, Nora.”

She smiled to herself and skipped down the hall to the stairs.

“No problem, Dad.”

…

A freshly cleaned, beautified Iris West-Allen in a form-fitting yellow summer dress did nothing to calm Barry Allen down. But she looped her arm through his, preparing for the run across the island, and he forced himself to focus.

“Okay, just follow me, Nora,” he said.

“Okay, okay, let’s go!” She said eagerly, making Iris giggle.

Barry shook his head at his girls and took off, making it to the vendor strip he and Iris had visited a year ago within seconds.

Nora came to a stop a beat after he did, and Barry was happy that despite all his suffering, the place looked the same as it had before. Every vendor, every salesman or woman, even the decorations and the fitting room with such a fond memory was exactly the same as the year before.

“Oh, Mom… I think I want more than just a swimsuit.”

Iris laughed, the sound effervescent to Barry’s ears.

“It’s okay, honey. Your dad is very good at holding things.”

Barry tuned back in. “Wait, what?”

A vision of the horror of last year’s shopping visit came back to the forefront of his mind. Hot sex in the fitting room aside, he’d barely been able to hold everything Iris bought in his arms. How was he supposed to hold everything both of them purchased today?

“Now, guys,” he started cautiously.

“Relax, babe.” Iris winked at her husband. “We’ll try not to go too crazy.”

He suppressed a groan and followed them into the madhouse.

At first, it wasn’t too bad, and he thought he’d been worrying for nothing.

Nora stopped at a couple vendors, eyeing pieces of jewelry, sunglasses, sandals… But she didn’t appear to be in love with anything, despite his wife’s urging that her dad would buy her anything she wanted. Which of course he would, but he wasn’t looking forward to carrying it.

Still, a couple glares from Iris, and Barry knew he was being selfish - and obvious about it too. This trip that had been intended as a romantic getaway inevitably wasn’t going to be. It was a family vacation now, and he needed to accept that, or he’d be making both his girls miserable on a trip they’d both been excited for.

Then it happened.

They wound up at the same place where Iris had found her leopard-print barely-there bikini from the year before. The one she’d used to seduce him in the fitting room hut. That should’ve set off warning bells right there, but it wasn’t until his daughter came strutting out of the hut with a bright yellow bikini on that he realized just what he was getting into and how strong his fatherly instincts were.

“No,” he said immediately.

Both women looked at him with frowns.

“Why?”

“Yeah, Barry, what the matter with it?”

Barry scoffed, as if it should be obvious.

“What do you me- How can you no-” He huffed and pulled Iris over to the side. “Look at her.”

Iris’ eyes widened. “I’m looking. She looks fine, Bear.”

He huffed and lowered his voice. “She looks like she could be on a Playboy magazine, Iris.”

Iris hit him immediately.

“She does not.”

“She does!”

“The bikini isn’t even that skimpy. It’s certainly like the one I-”

“Yes, I know. And how often do you wear that?”

“It’s not like we go to the beach all the time.”

“When did you wear it on our honeymoon?”

She scoffed. “Well, I wore it when-” She cut herself off. “It doesn’t matter when I wore it! She’s a full-grown woman. She can wear what she wants. You have to be supportive of that.”

He scoffed. “I do not have to be anything like that.”

“If you want good father points you do,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Are you threatening…celibacy?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“We don’t do threats. We do promises. Remember?”

He shook his head at her. “Oh…you didn’t.”

“I did.” She smiled brilliantly.

“What about this one, guys?”

They both turned to see Nora in a slightly more covered multi-colored bikini.

“Aww, Nora. I love it-”

“No.”

Iris glared. Nora looked hurt. That hurt him.

“Okay, look, Nora.” He walked over to the rack of one-piece suits that covered absolutely everything. He picked up some flowery options he thought looked nice and a couple that were solid colors. He asked for her size, then got the right ones and handed them to her. “Try these on. I’m sure you’ll love one of them,” he said proudly.

Nora and Iris shared a look, but Iris finally convinced her daughter with a nod to try them on to appease her father.

“She’ll like one of them,” Barry said. “You’ll see.”

Iris rolled her eyes.

“I guess this one’s…okay,” Nora said halfheartedly.

“I think it looks great,” Barry said, cheerfully.

Nora attempted to smile. Iris was boiling.

“Try on a different one, Nora.”

“But this was the only one I could-”

“One you picked out.”

Nora’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Wait, you picked out those other ones, Iris?” Barry shrieked.

“I’m positive,” Iris insisted, ignoring Barry.

“Okay…” Nora went back into the hut and changed again.

“Hey, Barry. Guess what?”

“What?”

“Our daughter’s a woman.”

“I know she’s a…woman.”

“She’s our age.”

He gulped. “I know that.”

“Guess what that means?” she whispered mockingly.

He glared.

“She has curves and long legs, and Barry.” He winced as she set her hand on his shoulder then dug her nails in. “She has boobs. You gotta get past it.”

“Okay!” Nora announced, pulling the curtain to the side.

Iris beamed. Barry’s jaw dropped in horror. He went to cover her, but Iris held him back.

“Where’s the rest of it?!”

“Do you like it, honey?” Iris asked, standing in front of Barry.

“I…do.” She turned to the side. “And the cleavage isn’t that bad, is it? I really like the colors.”

“It’s perfect.” She smiled.

She was unaware of Barry for a moment, but a sudden huge thud behind her changed that.

“Dad!”

Nora ran to him, but he was unconscious on the ground.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Iris muttered, then squatted down beside him. “Barry. Barry!” She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, then clapped a few times.

“Do you need a doctor?” a stranger asked, walking up to them, concerned.

Iris smiled serenely. “That won’t be necessary. Thank you.” She turned to her daughter. “Nora, why don’t you pick out a cover-up too? I think your dad would like that.”

“What?” Barry sprung up. “I’m up. I’m up. What did I miss?”

“Nora’s getting a cover-up, baby.”

“Oh.” He smiled brightly. “What a great idea. Did she come up with that?”

“No, I did.” She helped him to his feet. “And in exchange…” She dusted off his shirt and shorts. “You are not getting any for a looong time.”

His mouth fell open.

“Okay, Dad, how’s this?”

Iris looked at him as their daughter spun around in front of them. She smiled and directed her gaze back to Barry expectantly. The cover-up was sheer, but Nora clearly liked it, and Barry didn’t want sex sworn off from him for all of eternity, so he nodded curtly and forced a smile of his own.

“Looks perfect.”

...

*Also posted on AO3 and FFnet.

[demiwonder-a]

how do you fly with no wings? // young justice

WHO: Cassie Sandsmark, Bart Allen, Conner Kent, Tim Drake.

WORD COUNT: 4939 words.

LOCATION: New York City.

GENERAL NOTES: Young Justice is back, baby! Well, they thought they were back. A mission goes awry and Cassie falls and falls hard.

WARNINGS: Canon typical violence, guns, mentions of drugs/drug trade, mentions of past injuries. 

CASSIE: There was something in the air that Cassie felt settle deep into her bones, none of it good. Her mind whirled with possibilities of what it could possibly mean. The team was back together, officially. It couldn't be them. This was good, right? It had to be good. It felt like there was some dark cloud hanging over her head despite the joy she felt at being back together with her friends once more. 

The mission was easy enough. It was supposed to be, at least. Intervening in a drug trade that was to go down between two of the traffickers they had been following. Something for them to ease back into working together once more. Cassie was situated on the top of the building across from the meeting place, ready to spring into action as soon as Tim gave the go ahead. "In position. Is everyone else ready?"

KON: The super's eye peeked open at the sounds of his girlfriend's voice in his ear. He had been lounging atop the building where the meet up was supposed to occur for what felt like hours, just waiting to be given the go ahead to crash through the roof with only a pack of gum to entertain him. 

Phones could be tracked, according to Tim. That and he hadn't wanted a ringtone to go off in the middle of an interrogation, which, in Kon's defense, had only happened once so the fact that their fearless leader was still harping on felt a bit unnecessary to begin with. 

Either way, he popped another piece of gum in his mouth, humming at the sweet taste of juicy fruit as he pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "Born ready, babe. I've been stuck up here for forever!" He complained, flicking his ball of foil into the air and turning into sprinkling ash with a quick flash of red, "Tim's the one taking forever, right Bart?" He snickered as he turned the volume down on his com. He'd know when it was time, and even if he didn't, it was always cooler to make a late entrance anyway. It added pizzazz to these things.

TIM + BART: "Cut the Bat-Brat some slack, Slug," The speedster's chipper voice sounded over the link, following gusts of wind and quick electric snaps. Tim had to smile. It felt so familiar, something old that resurfaced after a good dusty coat had been brushed off, still a bit rough in practice and use, but... These guys had been running their hero gig almost longer than Tim had, in the team sense at least. When Tim had left Young Justice to Cassie, it was to distance himself, to protect them from the possible consequences of his presence causing their utter demise. It was still a prevalent memory, the mass of them to be truly honest, amassing in a visceral fear that made his stomach turn every time he thought about it. Kon, Bart, gone and back within the same... No. They're here. You're all here, you're all getting back into the swing of things. Just keep it cool, keep everyone else in line like you were trained to do. You're a Robin, God damnit.

Crouching from his high vantage point, Tim could clearly see all three members of his merry band, whether they knew it or not. The shadow of the concrete around him kept him near invisible, if it wasn't for the glowing white lenses of his mask and the bright flash of red that spread over the new uniform's arms. Fingerstripes, those were Dick's thing... But Tim needed a change. Needed something new for the new Red Robin. The old one... Well, the old one died at the hands of Ra's Al Ghul, when he told himself he'd never be able to get back in the game because of what he'd done, what he was made to do to keep his city and his family and his friends safe. Besides, with his old gear either destroyed or left to ruin, he figured he'd need to do some upgrading regardless.

"You still thinkin', feather-brain?" Another breath of a laugh, shaking his head and glancing in the direction of the speedster. Bart was keeping himself occupied, as always, by playing around with the rusty lightning that haloed every appendage as he ran. Short sprints gave him just enough to practice throwing the thin bolts at the gravel, every strike leaving a blackened mark on the ground, throwing his already wild hair back further over the open top cowl. "You're almost scarin' me with how spooky silent you are. Then again, guess we've just worked with a boss that likes to be a little more commanding-" ZZRP! "... Not that there's anything bad about that, Wondy."

Bringing his arm up out of it's draped cape coverage, Tim glowered at the holographic screen appearing in his field of vision, working on typing in commands on the gauntlet. White lenses narrowed as he worked, a sly smile forming as information flooded the screen. "I'd have thought you all discovered patience while I was off the team. Guess that's what I get for assuming." Remotely, Tim snagged footage from the hidden security cameras outside of the building's loading bay. Without much more than a second to lose, the familiar lights of a transport truck came up on the screen. People or product, didn't matter, that was their cue.

"Transport approaching, East loading bay. Go for Operation Hart Protector. Flash, keep the truck from parking, watch perimeter. Superboy, Wonder Girl, bust in. Keep watch for digital storage, and don't destroy them please and thank you."

CASSIE: A small smile tugged at Cassie's lips even through the ominous cloud she felt darken with every passing moment. There was always a part of her that couldn't help brighten up around her team, her best friends. When Tim had left she had been a bit wary of leading the team herself, not wary in her skills but in everyone not wanting her to lead after having Tim as a leader. She never had trouble finding her voice, making sure it was the loudest and most commanding. Almost on the other side of the spectrum from Tim, cool and calculating while she was loud and commanding. 

"Thanks, Bart. I think," Cassie snorted out. "No destroying, you got it." This part was easy, putting herself in the mission mindset. She could push aside the looming gray cloud and the way her stomach was churning, head starting to spin. It was fine. Maybe a trip to Dr. Mid-Nite was due, but she'd keep that to herself for now. 

Cassie took to the air, flying towards the loading bay and faltered in the air as her head spun. She quickly righted herself and let out a shaky breath, shaking her head and surging forward to punch in the door. "You're slacking, Superboy!" Cassie quipped despite the words feeling heavy on her tongue. What had just happened? 

Didn't matter. She had to keep going.

KON: It wasn't like he wasn't paying attention, he was great at multitasking, after all, but he was almost always more attuned to Cassie's heartbeat than anything else. Most days it thumped solidly in his ear, grounding him when work got overwhelming and comforting him when he caught glimpses of Clark flying across the sky. He figured it was just a super thing, really, because he knew with certainty Clark did the same with Lois and he would bet his last Dr.Pepper Jon did it with Damian. It was nice, knowing that the person you loved most in the world was safe and happy but now his head snapped toward where Cassie's heartbeat was coming from, the falter in its beat making him frown. 

Cassie never got nervous. Not even when they faced foes that were far more terrifying than some drug traffickers. It worried him and a part of him wanted to rush over to her but he would never hear the end of it if he did. Not from Tim and certainly not from Cassie herself. She could take care of herself, always had. 

He tore through the ceiling with a grin, grabbing one of the few guards by the collar with a quick, "Sup?" Before grabbing onto the man's weapon and tossing it across the warehouse. 

"C'mon!" He whined, "Ladies first and all that. I was just being a gentleman." He grinned, winking at her as he tore a strip of metal from a parked van and formed it around the guards wrists in makeshift handcuffs. "You think Robin would buy us some handcuffs or do you think he'd be worried we'd use them for less than PG purposes?" He asked, dropping the man onto the ground as he glanced toward Cassie.

TIM + BART: Bart didn't need to be told to GO twice. He was off running the minute the order was given, a blip on Tim's visual radar as he appeared to just.. Appear in front of the parking truck, leaning against the hood, still humming from an engine that didn't have time to turn off. "Hi, boys. I'm gonna have to ask you to vacate the premises, orders from the boss." A gear shifted, the tires crunched against the pavement. "... Haha, oops." The speedster pushed his hands against the hood, flipping himself onto the trailer in a few quick motions, holding onto the edge for fear of getting flung off. "I don't think they bought it!!" He called out over the engine revving, the vehicle scraping the side of the building as it attempted to throw the hero off.

Tim was still waiting, a looming shadow at his post, listening and watching like a... "You do know I can still hear you all, right?" He sighed, closing down his holographic computer and standing on the edge of his vantage building. May as well get into the fray, he wasn't trained to just sit back. Besides, he'd been doing far too much of that lately. Grapple launcher in hand, the bird leapt into the air and soared for what felt like the first time in forever. Flying was really more Dick's thing, but there was a special kind of feeling in that free fall, the calculations you had to make, to get yourself to safety without hitting the ground or pulling your arm out of its socket. Without another spoken word, or much other thoughts,  the red bird swung up to fall near silently through the hole the Super left in the ceiling, crouched and ready to strike.

A loud crash against the wall and a mumbled "Owwie..." In his ear caught his attention first, head whipping over to the wall the noise. "Flash?" 

"M'fine," came the grunted reply, Bart pushing himself back up on his knees. "Truck's not parked. In fact, it's way past that." 

"Shit."

"Not to worry, Captain, I'm on it." Funny, Tim doesn't recall Bart ever sounding annoyed himself. His scowl deepened even as he tossed batarangs into the onslaught. There were a lot more hostiles than he'd initially thought...

"Hey, Rob, did these guys also have a weapons trade deal? 'Cause it's a little hard to catch up when I'm also being shot at."

Double shit.

CASSIE: Whipping her lasso out, Cassie snapped it out and wrapped it around the nearest man's forearm. She tugged hard and sent him flying back. A smile pulled at her lips and she rolled her eyes at Conner's attempts at flirting in the midst of them taking down the guards. "Definitely not," she tugged her lasso back and kicked out at the guard who was attempting to charge her, sending him crashing into the nearest wall and making him crumple in on himself. Tim came swinging in and it was like something clicked into place despite the persistent bad feeling that had made itself home in her chest. 

Of course, that couldn't last. Bart's voice sounded out through the comms and Cassie's heart sunk right down into her stomach. "Shit," she breathed out, trying to think of a solution and quick. "Flash, I'm coming! You two handle this!" She barked out the orders and shot out of the doors that were no longer hanging on the hinges after her hard punch. There was a memory that flashed across Cassie's mind of Bart and his knee, the way Deathstroke had put a bullet in it with no hesitation. She couldn't let him get hurt again. She wouldn't.

The dizziness was back and Cassie felt like she was seconds away from throwing up, but pushed it back. She pushed herself harder and faster, shooting through the air and throwing her lasso to wrap around the exhaust pipe of the truck. A scream tore its way through Cassie as she tugged and tugged hard, lifting the back of the truck up and dragging it backwards. Shots sounded out and Cassie tugged up harder, bullets ripping through the air and bouncing off her bracelets. Pain shot up her arms and spread throughout her body unlike she had felt before, the gas being pressed harder to try to get away from her. The exhaust pipe snapped and Cassie was sent flying back, a surprised yelp leaving her. "Oh no you don't!" 

Cassie caught herself in the air and tried to push through the dizzy spell and pain tingling in her entire body. Then something seemed to just snap as she pushed through the air, her body faltering up high in the sky and suddenly dropping down. Cassie scrambled, trying to force her body back up airborne but nothing happened, the dread setting in. 

A blood curdling scream escaped Cassie as she yelled out, "CONNER!" She was falling down towards the ground at a rapid speed and unable to stop it.

KON: He smirked, happy at the sight of his girlfriend's lips twitching into a small smile at his antics. He swiftly dealt with another guard, tossing him against a wall and pointedly ignoring the man's loud groan of pain. "Hey, if you didn't want to deal with us you probably shouldn't be doing... whatever it is you're doing here," he said before turning to Tim, "What are they doing here again?" 

His head whipped toward Cassie, his eyes following as she punched her way through the metal doors and off toward Bart. "Goddammit," He sighed, turning to Tim, "Does she seem a little off to you? Her heartbeat is going crazy." 

He sighed, pulling Tim behind him as a barrage of bullets came through the open door, a large truck screeching to a halt as "What are we supposed to do n-" His words were cut off when he heard, once again, Cassie's heartbeat falter and then, no more than a second later, the terror-laced scream of his name. He glanced at Tim, eyes wide but before the man could say anything he was flying up through the roof once more, dropping Tim onto a different building before he pushed himself toward the sound of the scream. 

His heart raced and he swooped down, his heels digging gouges into the street as he skidded right under Cassie, his arms ready to catch her before he was shooting back into the sky with a relieved laugh, his arms pulling her closer to his chest. "What the hell was that, Cass? Are you okay?"

TIM + BART: This was... Too familiar. Too nostalgic. The staff in his hands seemed to transport him back to a time when he was just a teen, a teen in green tights, a little too obsessed with ninjas, given the gruff command to take care of his own team as his predecessors before had done. A near mirror image of the League, the ones stuck to their sides or in their shadows. The wind in his hair as he whirled around, added more to the momentary illusion, and he forgot for a fleeting moment that the four of them had ever been apart. It was clockwork, just as easy as muscle memory...

That was, until things went wrong. 

Just their luck, the world gave them a sign that they should've kept to themselves, it seemed. Tim barely had the chance to answer Kon's questions before the scream nearly blew out the speaker in his ear. White eyes went wide with shock, a whispered "Cass-" making it's way out of his throat. It didn't take much more than a shared look of fear to know that his teammate had heard it too, possibly a million times louder than either of them wanted to hear. He was trying to think of a plan, to send Kon off so he could fend off the rest of the hoard himself, to call back Bart and get at least someone on his 6, but his brain doesn't run on super speed, the ground flying away from him faster than he could start to talk again.

"What the hell-?!" Another sentence, reflexive and reactive, and again barely spoken before he was dropped out of the air again. Damn it all. Tim rolled to a kneel again, looking up to see a blurred streak racing off into the horizon, his plans fizzling out like a match in a puddle. They had this, they had this under control and ready to get done. What the hell was going on that he didn't plan for?? He wanted to make a retort, tell the other that he was fine, that he should've just left him there to duke it out, but... He worried. Lips pulled into a tight frown, masked eyes watching the blur fade away, he waited... Listened... Watched. It's what he was good at, right?

Bart skidded to a full stop just behind the capture zone, though his gold, sparking eyes darted from the sky to the road. "Grife, they're gone," He sighed, a gloved hand flicking through the windblown nest of hair, letting it fall into his face. He wasn't about to get another hospital trip out of them coming together again as a team, no sir. Besides, he had the plates, make and model, and gaudy off-white color scheme committed to memory, it wasn't like it was going to be hard to find with a now broken exhaust. 

It was a moment of silence from the both of them, just staring at what they could only assume was the super-couple above them. All was quiet until Tim decided it was time to speak up again: "Status report."

CASSIE: There was a certain sense of helplessness as Cassie fell down, down, down. The wind caused her hair to whip past her face, not because of her pushing her body through the sky but from her descent down towards the ground. Her eyes squeezed shut as tears stung at them, so many faces flashing in her mind as the air rushed past her body.

Conner, Bart, Tim. Her team she had let down in a course of action she hadn't even seen coming. Donna and Diana, two Amazons and her sisters she had felt so disconnected from for far too long. She didn't feel a part of the Amazons and entirely too much like a boat floating far out to see. There was Kara and Jon, the two other Kryptonians that had wormed their way into her heart. The anger she had quietly held for Kara despite being able to relate far too deeply. There was a regret in the fact she had been angry with her in a place that had only come from wanting to protect Conner. Her mom. Her mom, who had only wanted to take care of her and was horrified when she decided to become a hero. Her mom who she hadn't talked to in so long and ached for her in this moment. Maybe she was right, Cassie didn't know what she was doing and hadn't in a very long time.

Suddenly, arms were around Cassie and she was shot back up into the air. She let out a startled gasp and her eyes opened, arms scrambling to wrap around Conner's neck tightly. She parted her lips to answer and wasn't even sure what to say. What did happen? 

"...I don't know," Cassie whispered weakly, a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. She wasn't one to fall apart like this, but she had been scared, terrified even. "I was...I've been feeling off lately. Dizzy and just like something wasn't right. I ignored it for awhile, was gonna go visit Dr. Mid-Nite...then I just—" Failed them. She failed them and the mission. Their first mission back as a team and she had ruined it. 

"I was flying after the truck and it was like someone tugged the power chord on my powers. I just...fell. I couldn't make myself fly no matter how hard I tried. If I had to guess I probably can't even make a dent in a door I punch. I'm...useless. I don't have any powers." The reality came crashing down on Cassie swift and fast. She didn't have any powers. She had had powers for so long now, was one of the heavy hitters on the team alongside Conner. What good was she without them? 

Tim's voice crackled to life in the comms unit and Cassie's response was half hearted—monotone at best. "I'm fine." She didn't feel it. Not in the slightest.

KON: She was safe, here in his arms with her heartbeat fluttering wildly and her voice breaking. He looked down at her and his teeth dug into his bottom lip as his fingers squeezed a little tighter only to ease up again in an instant. His flight wavering as his brows stitched together in concern. 

There had never been a time that he could remember that he had been scared to hurt her, but now as he looked into her eyes and saw the vulnerability shining there he had to take a deep breath just to collect himself. He shifted her weight into one arm and brushed away the stray tear as best as he could, his lips pursing as they continued to flow. He landed them on the ground and glanced around, a small dry chuckle bubbling past his lips as he ran a hand through his hair. They were farther out than he had anticipated, somewhere upstate from the look of it. He had been so terrified, so panicked in the moment that he hadn't even realised how fast they were flying. His only thought had been getting her away as quickly as possible but now he felt guilty. Bart needed him, he had left Tim on a random roof, his need to protect her so strong that he hadn't given a second thought to abandoning the team, his best friends. 

They could have been captured, they could have been hurt, they could have been killed. 

He took a shuddering breath, his eyes squeezing shut as he reached blindly for Cassie's hand and cradled it in his own. He needed to focus on her right now. Bart and Tim were smart and capable and probably already tracking them. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, hating how just a few weeks earlier she had asked him the same question. When did they start keeping secrets? Lying by commission? That wasn't them, was it?

"You are not-" he huffed, snatching the comm from his ear and pinching it between his fingers until he heard a satisfying crunch. "Look, we'll figure it out, Tim will- I don't know, do Tim things and we'll fix it, okay? Don't cry," he said pulling her into a hug, "I hate when you cry."

TIM + BART: No visual, they disappeared... That wasn't too odd in a normal sense, but this wasn't a normal mission. He knew they were out there at least, knew they were still alive. He wished that was all the assurance he needed. Cassie wasn't fine, and Kon wouldn't be fine unless she was. Something had gone terribly wrong here. Possibilities flooded his head, nearly blocking out the mental work he'd already put in that he'd take on solo to try finishing what the four of them had started. Maybe it was easier that way, anyways-

Nope. Fuck. Stop that, you promised you'd stop that. You're fine. Just breathe.

A deep grumble sounded at the back of his throat when he pulled up his screen again, typing quick commands to try and find the pair... And noticed he could only see one dot on his radar. Damn it. Damn it all. "Well, at least he won't get to whine about calling it off."

"Yeah, he can get pretty whiney, huh?" Without a second to spare, it seemed, the yellow-clad speedster had come up to flank the vigilante, his eyes slightly glowing from the sparks that threatened to take his vision for the moment. "I don't think he'll be doin' much of that now, though."

“What happened?" Tim asked, concern filtering through the gruff mask he attempted to put on his voice.

"She just..." Lost, confused, worried, the speedster looked back up at the sky. "She just kinda' fell."

The two shared a moment of silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. If Tim wasn't trying to figure it all out at once, he'd have to laugh at the fact that this was probably the longest time Bart had ever stayed quiet. Deep down, Bart knew it too, but he was stuck in place, rooted, grounded, frozen. All words he never wanted to be. But... What could either of them really do? No one had the full story, least of all Cassie, they were sure.

"... Head back home, Bart," Tim eventually sighed, closing down the holograph screen, turning his head at the familiar sound of an engine on the streets below. Hello, old faithful. "Get some rest. I'll send a report when I can." Walking, not running, Tim dropped off the edge of the roof and onto the waiting top of the Redbird, waiting until he was actually in the old car to lean back and... 'Relax'. To say he had a bad feeling would be rhetorical.

And Bart only watched, still at a loss for words. Did he really want to go 'home' tonight? It felt like he shouldn't, he should let the two of them be alone as much as they could. Maybe he should leave a note, send them a text, maybe he should go to the Garricks or his old place he shared with M-... No no, don't do that, Allen. With the feeling of tears threatening to take his eyes, the speedster set a sort of concentrated scowl on his face at the horizon line. Without another second to lose, he was gone in a flash, taking off to no destination in particular. There were no problems while he ran free, there wasn't anything he had to worry about if he just kept going.

He'd be back tomorrow anyways, always smiling, always happy.

CASSIE: Conner was trying, but all Cassie could feel was a never ending sense of dread and disappointment. She hated letting them down, had been afraid of it for so long even. Back when she was the leader of the team that was a constant fear. For as confident as she was, she truly had lost all faith and confidence in herself steadily over time. She saw Diana, even Donna, and didn't know where she fit into the picture. They were Amazons through and through, but she...she wasn't. She could pretend all she wanted, but she was just some girl who happened to be part god and was only ever gifted these powers by her deadbeat of a grandfather who just so happened to be Zeus. 

Why didn't you tell me? The question was enough to make Cassie grimace and flinch the tiniest bit. She had told Scott, breaking down in a similar fashion in the man's new home on Genosha that something was wrong with her. She hadn't said anything to anyone else, almost afraid if she uttered any more about it that something would happen. Little did she know, she was doomed regardless. 

"I didn't mean to...I was scared. I thought something was wrong and I was afraid if I talked about it then there would actually be something wrong with me. How am I supposed to explain that? I can't explain it other than I had a terrifying gut feeling that there was something absolutely fucking wrong with me." Cassie sighed weakly and scrubbed at her eyes tiredly, she felt completely drained. Whether it was from the loss of powers or just...emotionally being completely destroyed was up for debate. The lasso at her hip felt entirely too heavy and she wanted to rip it apart, throw it away with her bracelets and never look at either again.

"Yeah. We'll figure it out." Cassie parroted halfheartedly at best. She had a feeling that they wouldn't. That she would be...stuck like this and wouldn't be needed. By anyone. "Let's just...can you take us home, please?" She requested quietly, moving to wrap her arms around Conner's neck once more as his arms moved around her. The wind in her hair and the clouds in the sky were a far different experience when someone was carrying her rather than her flying through them herself. Her head fell to Conner's shoulder and she squeezed shut tightly. They'd figure it out. They had to. Right? Right. (She hoped so at least. She didn't know what she'd do if she was stuck like this forever. She could only hope and try not to let that diminish for now.)

[currentfandomkick]

Bio! Dad Strange part 7

More Gotham Rouges being themselves, carrying for Marinette, crossover with Why Marinette Hates Tim, and yes, this au is slowly coming together. somewhat. I’ll get to the Ladybug days sometime soon, because yes, that is being covered, and heads up, Marinette is allowed to have multiple relationships and crushes in this. Yes, there is writer salt in this au, but characters are being fixed from cannon actions to more season 1 characterization or fannon... except lila. she will be split into bascially-a-new-person-altogether and fannon as Layla Rossi. Fannon and cannon felix will make eventual appearances since both are fun when the fandom’s gotten involved.

Sorry for those tagged, i posted on the wrong blog a ew minutes ago, so this is the corrected version.  Marinette stares at her uncles and aunts when she gets back this time. They were acting weird. That usually meant… “So who’s being targeted this time?” she asked Rose, who flinched. “The council will kill me if i say.” The Council… who’s unofficial mission, she realized last year, was to keep her safe and–oh. Oh. OH! “Is it Hatter or Jerimah?” She was tired of poeple calling the knock-off her favorite uncle’s moniker. He didn’t even deserve his own in her opinion. “Uh, both, i think.” “Oh.” Not good. Jerimah can plan and get Hatter–Tetch–to listen. Tetch is insane and obsessed with her as Alice, whatever that means. Marinette was worried this time. She was right to be. Hero Stalker was missing, and no one would tell her what happened. It was loosing Red Hoodie all over again. She was angry and hurt and only 9 years old. Aunt Quinn, best person ever, and Aunt Pan, ‘worst person to give Rose to ever’, took her to Central City for a week to try to keep her out of their reach. It was okay, kind of. She didn’t catch Barry Allen–best forensic scientist and very much a ‘meta are just people with powers, let them be people’ person–at any crime scenes. She was glad most of then weren’t from her Aunts this time… one of them was theirs but the guy was stalking a teenager and the kid was as scared as Marinette is of Mad Hatter/Tetch and Jerimah teamed up so. So she had to help, okay? the police didn’t help in Paris with the Dupont Stalker. The Gotham ones ignored cases like this mostly. And she had no clue about Central but damn if she wasn’t going to help the kid out. Aunt Quinn–trip alias for Harley Quinn, obviously, trapped them. She didn’t know what Aunt Pam did with her plants, but there wasn’t a body left in the end. Marinette, as Jill Smith, helped them scale up to the roof and get somewhere safe. She checked up on them and they were okay. she was glad. Aunt Quinn took her to the Meta Museum–technically the Flash Museum but it was about metas and crimes against them too so she thought of it as the Meta Museum. some of the exhibits made her feel weird, sounded a bit like the news reporters in Paris calling metas a problem to be rid of. controlled… Then she ran into The Barry Allen, best Forensic Scientist, and she heard him saying they got things wrong and she knew it! She couldn’t  stop herself, physically, from asking him questions about what they got wrong. Iris West, Barry’s finacee and a meta-reporter, went off on different things, emphasizing not just the Flash but different victims and how to prevent it. Marinette took a lot of notes mentally. Aunt Quinn was amused, Aunt Pam, who introduced them as such, tried to pull her away but… Marinette was happy. And the couple seemed to like listening to Marinette rant about cases, mostly Barry’s. “Oh and what about the case with the woman who melted? if you still have her remains i think if you use a stabilizer–cold base is a good start but she should reconstitute in a few days. It looked like the melt was an instability and molecular stability issue for maintaining physical form in this universe, not others if the worlds portals are anything to go by, so introducing stability is all that needs to be done and she’s likely to be herself again” Barry stared at her when she said that. was that too much? Its one of the cold cases from a few months ago. Did she overstep? “I, how did you find about other world portals?” Marinette almost froze. but she remembered that the Waynes did have the tech and a few months ago there was a big multiverse mess… “Its part of the multiverse theory, isn’t it? and since we’ve seen heros from other universes enter ours that means its less theory and more reality, and that people can enter them if they use the right molecular vibration with the correct chemical composition and ability to enter the intended environment. With those restrictions, it makes more sense for people to make windows instead, and uh, some of the Rouges tried once and a lot of Gotham ended up seeing other places a few months ago.” it wasn’t a lie. she was implying she was there when she wasn’t, not saying she was. This is still the only way she can do things like this and not look like a liar. Iris saw the slip though, and knew something was up with the girl. Before she could tell Barry there was an alert–Gorilla Grodd. Marinette was upset about the interruption, but knew that an attack meant hide. She forgot her stickers at home and were going back that day. She noticed that where Mr. Allen should be was moving more like a… Oh. He’s a speedster. and only one speedster has measurements like his. The Flash. Harley grabbed her tight and ran, Ivy behind Marinette. Grodd was taken down while they were on their way home. Then there was an explosion and it was dark… – Marinette woke up chained to a wall, in a dark place, with a lot of water under her. Jeriome and Tetch were fighting. Her head hurt. Then Tetch was killed in front of her. She didn’t cry. She screamed though. Apparently it was enough to cause some things in the room to move. She was scared. Jerimah kept debating what to do with her. How to prove that He is Better than Jerimone and Harley. Marinette’s powers kept getting worse. Everything was loud. she could hear heartbeats and footsteps. It took week for her to catch him too far in his thoughts, too caught up in his ‘revenge’ until she knew he coudln’t hear her movements. She broke out of her chains while flying, well, floating at that point. she carefully dislocated her thumbs, slipping out and moving carefully. Jerimah wasn’t looking when she hit him. He wasn’t dead. Heartbeat still. She grabbed his phone, almost breaking it when she grabbed it. she did her best to be gentle (cracking the screen) as she called Rose. It took forty minutes for her to be found. Rose turned the dead Tetch into fertilizer. Frost grabbed Jerimah and said something about giving him to Zsasz. – Marinette blinked a few times when she was back at Ivy’s. Apparently Rose wasn’t letting her out of her sight. Ivy freaked out and took over Gotham while she was missing. There was a new Robin. Who looked way too much like… “Hero Stalker?” The new robin froze when he saw Marinette, Pixie Pop, shaking by a green crystal. “Pixie pop you’re…” “Don’t. Rose will hear.” Hero Stalker nodded, watching her carefully. “What happened?” “Tetch and Jerimah–uh, Hatter and Mr. J. Mr. J killed him when he got me…” Robin paled at that. “Is that why…” “The plants are coming back in, yeah… Don’t tell Bats.” Hero Stalker stared at her. “You know what i look like.” “Yep.” “Do you know…” “uh, yeah. and two more form the League apparently… I’m blaming you for all of that figuring out for the record.” “What did i do?” “Make it easy to figure out… you don’t even–nevermind. Just go, don’t tell Bats and one of my uncles will have us meet up before i leave again, okay?” Robin listened, because he knew Pixie Pop didn’t mess around. – Robin ended up trapped in a puzzle maze. With Marinette who was just Done with everything. “how did you–” “You looked like you. Didn’t even try to change hair or clothes or anything. YOu fail at disguise 101.” “I could just look like–” “Voice, posture, gait. All the same.” “oh.” then “Why are you here?” “Got caught grabbing catwoman’s jewels  on camera.” “Wait, you’re the one returning them?” “Duh.” Marinette was insulted he thought she wouldn’t. “So…” “Make a different persona, since i made you ages ago. And that let me make your whole team–Yes your not-brother and even batgirl. Honestly, NIghtwing’s is very obvious if you get he was Robin and look at old tapes, but he’s a lost cause.” “I know! That’s how i figured them out!” “And that’s why you need to make a new persona so everyone is not outted by your obviousness. I can pull off Princess, Pixie Pop and three other personas since i was little and don’t slip up. Up your secret identity game already!” “I. Okay. But can i ask Rose for help from her plants on drug rings and really bad guys?” Marinette hummed. “I think so. I’ll have Uncle Riddler give you a burner to talk to me when i get home-home.” “thanks! Bats is good but he’s missing so much and its annoying!” “Your lack of secret ID game is annoying,” Marinette grumbled, “No tracking me though. I will spill to Frost and he will be extra annoying and lecture-y.” “He can’t be worse than disappointed agent A.” “I garanutee you i think i know who you’re talking about and it pains me to say Frost is like a chemical-only angst-y version of him that forgets he’s always right.” “How–how!” “I think its the lack of sleep and over-exposure to all the gases.” – those that asked for tags (or seem like they’d like to be?) are below. list is still open. Next time is (probably) more Paris while dealing with Gotham, a touch of Batfam mentions while Marinette chews out Tim, who reveals that Red Hoddie was the former Robin and then curses her with meeting Robins pre-Robin-ning. @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @dast218 @weird-pale-blonde-person @mystery-5-5

[justanotherfanfic]

One Last Time

summary: reader tries her hardest to change the events of endgame with her super speed abilities

warnings: anxiety, death, mentions of death

pairings: tony stark x speedster/adoptive daughter!reader

word count: 4.1k+

a/n: happy belated birthday tony! i love you 3000! i’m so sorry if this is trash!! this is the second longest one-shot i’ve made

BEING A SPEEDSTER was what got The Avengers attention. You didn't always have those powers. When The Attack in New York happened, you were at a family science fair downtown. An explosion went off when Loki dropped the scepter inside that building. You and everyone else in there was hit with the explosion. The chemicals that covered your body along with the Space Stone's explosion is what triggered your powers. Your body was able to absorb the massive amounts of energy.

It was Tony who flew into the building to retrieve the scepter after analyzing the scene. His heart sank as tears formed in his eyes. Seeing all the dead bodies of children and parents traumatized him. It was Jarvis who detected a faint heartbeat coming from the chemical lab. Tony was speechless to see you were alive, it was a heartbreaking miracle to find out you were the only one who survived that incident. Tony attempted to fly you over to the Tower for an emergency surgery but was only to be electrocuted. Your body was covered in lightning and he had no idea why.

Tony was the one who took you in, you had no one else. He saw himself in you and decided to take immediate action. Tony was there for you when you woke up from your coma after a few months. You were star struck when you saw your role model treating you at his medical wing in the Avengers Tower. Tony was there to comfort you when he broke the news to you. You lost your mom and dad, you were the only survivor of the explosion. He was there for you when you didn't understand your powers. He was there through thick and thin.

You were able to freeze time, had speed healing, could vibrate through objects, create mirages, reverse time, throw lightning that radiated from your body, and so much more. Tony and the team knew how you got your powers and knew that having a terrible past helped motivate you to become a better hero. It's hard to see you with so much pain at your age but Tony knew exactly what you're going through.

You remember when you first officially met the team. It was intimidating to be in the same room as all the legendary superheroes who have been saving lives for years. It was Tony who reassured you that you'll be fine and how you belonged with them. He was there through your anxious days. He was there for you through all your training sessions with Steve and Natasha. Whenever you were frustrated with your powers or would accidentally hurt someone with your lightning, he was there for you. He was there for you through all the first awkward conversations with the team members. He was there for you when he introduced you to their new recruit, Peter Parker. He was always there for you.

Whenever you were fighting a difficult enemy and felt like all hope was lost, Tony was right by your side. He was always there to tell you to stand your ground, to always stand up. He was there when you were injured during a mission with The Avengers and went into full protective father mode. He was there when you were having trouble with school. He was there whenever you had nightmares about the explosion from that day. Years have gone by and your father-daughter relationship only grew.

It was when Thanos came when everything changed. The mad Titan who threatened to erase half of the universe. Unfortunately, he did. This left a dysfunctional team (as if Civil War didn't already do enough damage, you all had to deal with this too). You and the team tried to bring everyone back with different ideas. Nothing worked. Tony couldn't handle the pain, losing Peter is what broke him. You were grieving as well, your best friend was gone and you felt as if it was your fault. You weren't there to help them.

Five years passed. Even though the snap left everyone traumatized, you accepted it. It had to be done. That was until Steve and Natasha brought up the idea of time travel with Scott.

You scoffed, you had already tried reversing time with your powers years ago. They shook their heads and explained how far back they needed to go in order to save the universe. Your powers only allowed you to reverse time within a week or two from the present time. You furrowed your eyebrows in curiosity, it's a brilliant plan. Going back to get the stones from years ago is what needed to be done.

You remember Tony declining immediately. Steve, Natasha, and Scott were desperate for his help. They looked over at you knowing that you'd be the one to open his eyes. You did. With a lot of talking, crying, and confessions, it happened. Tony figured it out.

This led to the Time Heist. You remember joking around with everyone saying how much of an expert you were with time travel. Laughs and smiles plastered on everyone's face.

"See you all in a minute," Nat spoke to everyone then winked over at you. You laughed before the machine went off.

You were back in New York. The day it all started. Tony saw you were upset. He reassured to you that you didn't need to help. You shook your head, you knew that you had to do it. It could possibly help you heal from the hurt.

You were crying when you saw them. Your parents smiling down at you as you were staring at a video of Tony Stark building one of his many suits on a monitor next to the chemical lab. You felt your heart sink seeing your parents widen their eyes, the explosion ejecting you and them into the chemical lab where the explosion caused the worst damage. Tony was there for you as you cried into his chest. He hushed you and spoke reassuring words in order to help you gain confidence and grab the scepter before Tony's past self came.

It was a quick in and out mission. You were happy to have been part of the Time Heist. You were grateful for the gift you have been given and was determined to use it to save the universe.

The stones were together. Everyone was on edge, especially with Natasha sacrificing herself for the stone. Everything went according to plan until Thanos from the past blew up the base leaving everyone scattered and injured in some way. The remaining ones who were able to escape the rubble regrouped. That was when everyone came. Everyone who had been snapped was brought back on time for the final battle. It was tough. Every single one of those heroes gave it their all.

You had used all your tricks and abilities to bring havoc on Thanos's army. You enjoyed it completely, being in control and finally getting revenge. You noticed Peter was flying around with the gauntlet at one point and next thing you know, it was on the floor next to Thanos. You used your speed to get to it, which of course you did. Before you could leave, Thanos had a hold of your throat. You choked as he glared into your eyes.

"You are a young one," He spoke. "It's unfortunate you have to die at such a young age." He smirked as he put his hand into the gauntlet. He threw you to the ground as he moaned in pleasure from the power of the stones. His veins were all glowing with each color of the stone.

Tony was quick to his feet along with Carol. When she was punched into a different area, Tony attempted to yank the gauntlet off of him. You began to get up and fight Thanos once he flung Tony across the area. You yelled in determination until he punched you away. Your head and nose were pouring blood when he smirked down at you and Tony.

"I am inevitable," Thanos smirked as he snapped his fingers.

You closed your eyes and waited for death. A moment passed when you didn't feel anything happen. You opened your eyes to see a shocked Thanos and an empty gauntlet.

Looking over at Tony, your eyes widened seeing all the stones connected to his iron gauntlet. He arched his back as he painfully absorbed the power. His veins were covered with all the colors of the infinity stones. He was physically not capable of surviving after using the stones.

Blood was pouring down his eyebrow as he glared at Thanos, "And I..." He breathed out. "Am Iron Man..." He then snapped his finger and a blinding light overcame the area.

Your eyes adjusted to see a burnt Tony staring into the horizon. Your heart dropped as you began to sob.

"No.." You cried. "No no no!"

Pepper and Peter ran over to your crying state. Eventually, the rest of the team came after Thanos and his whole army disappeared.

"Tony!" You cried as Peter was sobbing.

You felt your heart aching at the sight, you couldn't bare the pain. Your heart was racing as you stared at his dying body.

You felt your body electrifying. Lightning coated your entire body as everything slowed down. You looked at everyone's devastation. The thick liquid slowly falling down their face. You needed to go back. You needed to change it. You need to save him. You used your super speed and moved your feet. With every kick off the ground, the angrier you became. You ran as fast as you could as everything around you finally froze because of the speed you were going. You past Scott Lang, Dr. Strange, Clint Barton, Valkyrie, Wanda, Bucky, Peter, the list goes on. Everyone was frozen in place as you sped through everyone.

Your running led you away from the demolished area and into New York City. You didn't stop. You zipped down the busy streets of New York as you thought about your loss. Your anger burned inside of you as you screamed in agony. You continued running and running and running. It can't be him. You can fix this. You shouted into the air as a sonic boom went off. You stopped running and looked around. Your breath hitched when you were back on the battle ground. Thanos and his army was alive, Tony was alive. You successfully reversed time.

You stood there in the middle of the battle looking for the one person who will soon sacrifice himself for the universe. Tony noticed your lack of movement and called out to you, "Why are you standing there kid? Get moving or else you'll be killed!"

You felt like breaking down, there he was. You calmed yourself down as you sped through out the battlefield. You knocked down as many aliens as you could while helping out your teammates. You needed to find the gauntlet and take it back to the time you took them before Tony can die.

You noticed the gauntlet was in Peter's care. He was frozen in the air as his spiderwebs were sticking to the hammer after Steve threw it. The hammer was floating in the air, it's direction slowly inching away from the danger Peter was caught in. You used the aliens that were reaching towards Peter as steps to reach the scared kid. You grabbed onto his leg and stopped using your speed, this allowed time to go back to normal.

Peter yelled in surprise but relaxed slightly after noticing it was you who was clinging onto him, "What the hell [Y/N] you scared me!"

"I need the gauntlet," You ignored his comment.

"It's fine! I have it, I'm taking it away from here." Peter called down to you as he allowed the hammer to pull him further.

"Peter please," You begged. He realized your desperation. He didn't understand why but handed the gauntlet to you. You sighed in relief as you let go of his leg, allowing him to continue flying away with the hammer.

You used your speed again to run away from the battle field. You ran as fast as your legs allowed you too. Everyone and everything was frozen again. You could only hear the lightning that was bouncing off of you. You were hyper-aware of all your surroundings and was about to completely run away until you noticed Thanos was towering over Steve.

A blade was already piercing through his body. You sobbed as you stared in fear. "No no no!" You cried. You stopped running away and ran straight towards Thanos and Steve. With your super speed, you put the iron gauntlet on the floor near by, took Steve away from Thanos then ran back towards the purple Titan.

With your super speed, you punched Thanos in different areas of his body. Your anger boiled in your blood as you ran away at a far distance. Once you were far enough, you ran back towards Thanos at the speed of light. You used your right fist to punch his face causing him to fly backward.

You stopped using your speed and let out a breath of air. You glared at Thanos as he was struggling to stand up. He gave a laugh.

"You took everything from me!" You screamed in anger. Lightning was flickering in your eyes as your hands vibrated.

"I don't even know who you are," Thanos spoke.

Tony was staring in shock at your anger, he didn't know what Thanos took from you. Nothing had happened to you that Thanos caused except for the Snap. Even then, everyone was back. Why were you so distraught? Tony went over to help Steve as he saw you fighting with Thanos.

"N-No, go help [Y/N]." Steve mumbled as Tony began treating him. Blood was sleeping through his suit as be struggled to breathe.

Tony nodded and ran over to you. You screamed in rage as you tried to fight Thanos, completely forgetting about the iron gauntlet. Tony was by your side fighting Thanos with you when Thanos suddenly turned his attention behind you both.

You looked back to see Steve had the gauntlet in his hands. Blood was pouring out of his mouth as he panted, "This is Endgame."

A bright light blinded you for the second time. You felt your heart drop when your eyes readjusted to a half burnt Steve. You cried as you fell on your knees. Your lightning was traveling around your body once again. You sobbed into Steve as he struggled to breathe.

You shook your head, "I need to fix this." You got up and started running. You heard Tony and everyone else shouting your name but you ignored it.

You used all your agony and fear to drive you. With your speed, you managed to go back in time again. You looked around seeing Steve and Tony alive.

Once again, you failed the next time. Clint snapped his fingers to save the universe after you took Steve and Tony away from the battle. You sobbed as you shook your head, "I can fix this." You ran again, leaving a confused Steve and Tony.

You reversed time.

Once again, you failed. You screamed in anger and misery. You then ran away and tried to fix it again. You did it again and again and again and again. You couldn't understand why nothing was working. You felt like your life was on a loop. You go back, get the gauntlet. Sometimes you get it taken from you or you put it somewhere safe. You then go to the battlefield, you bring everyone to safety with your super speed but then someone tries to use the gauntlet to save the universe. You then take the gauntlet away and someone gets injured. You think of hundreds of plans but someone dies every time. You failed them.

You were mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted but you had to keep fighting. You need to, you need to save the team. You need to save the universe. There was a way.

"No matter what [Y/N], always stand up." Tony's voice came into your head. It helped you stay motivated as your feet kicked off the ground.

This was it. You were sure to save everyone. You had the gauntlet in your hand as you ran as far away from the battle. You avoided every single person on the battlefield. You dodged every bullet, spear, energy blast that came your way. You had taken all weapons from Thanos and remembered everyone's route in the battlefield. You were determined to save everyone.

Just as you thought you were safe, you smashed into a figure. Peter Parker. The gauntlet flew from your embrace and fell on the floor where Thanos was. You felt your heart speeding up as you tried reaching for it. Suddenly, Thanos was towering over you. You looked up in anger rather than fear. You did your best to prevent Thanos from laying a finger on the gauntlet.

Just as you thought you were fine, Thanos looked behind you with a bewildered state. You felt your heart speeding up, fearful of what was behind you. You took a moment before finally turned around.

Peter Parker had the gauntlet hooked into his hand. His mask torn off as his nose was bleeding. Tony choked out a sob as Peter mustered up the courage to stare into Thanos's eyes.

"Get the hell away from my family!" He yelled before snapping his finger. A blinding white light consumed your vision. Your eyes readjusted to the light. Your breath hitched when you saw Peter laying on the ground, most of his body burnt from the power. Tony threw himself onto him as he started sobbing.

"No no no not again!" You whimpered to yourself staring at a dying Peter Parker. You choked on your tears as you pulled your hair. You were distraught, you truly thought this was the last time. You felt your mind spinning trying to comprehend what had occurred. You felt like throwing up. You smacked your head in frustration as you tried to think of another plan.

Tony looked up at you, "Again?" Tony stared at your distraught behavior and the way your body was drained. He noticed your running shoes and how worn out they were becoming. They weren't supposed to be worn out for another few weeks. Something was different about you. Tony then realized you were reversing time.

Tony stood up from the deceased Peter Parker and grabbed your arms. He stared into your eyes to see your droopy and puffy eyes. You have been crying for a while now. It's not surprising since you were witnessing the deaths of your family and team.

"[Y/N] how many times have you reversed time?" Tony was determined. The team gathered around as your hands were shaking from the anxiety.

"72 times," You sobbed as your vision was blurry from the tears, "I need to fix this." You then tried running away.

As the lighting was starting to cover your body, Tony's hand gripped yours. You turned around and stared at him, "What are you doing? I need to fix this!"

Dr. Strange came up to you and Tony, "You're reversing time." He knew this was going to happen. He saw it when he was on Titan all those years ago, well in his case, a few moments ago.

You cried, "I need to fix this. No one needs to die. We can figure this out."

Your hands vibrated from your adrenaline. You have been running for hours. You saw Tony die, Pepper die, Steve die, Clint die, Bruce die, Thor die, Strange die, Carol die, Scott die, and now Peter. Each of those times were different. Everyone had different deaths each time. Seeing all those deaths caused you to become hysterical.

"Who was the first to die that made you reverse time in the first place?" Dr. Strange questioned as Tony stared in concern.

You cried as you remembered how painful the experience was for you. How determined you were to bring everyone back. Now, you were drained. You couldn't think of any other ways. You felt like you were suffocating in your own failures.

You hugged Tony as he stumbled back. Tony felt his heart drop when you tightened your grip on him. "I-I can't lose you. Please, I can't. Not again."

Tony pulled slightly away from the hug. He cupped your cheeks as he wiped the tears away from your face using his thumbs. He sighed as tears were coated on his eyes, "I love you so much."

You sobbed again as the team was heartbroken.

"You couldn't find a way, huh?" Tony whispered.

You shook your head, "Pepper, Steve, Thor, Clint, Bruce, Strange, Carol, Scott, and now Peter for the first time."

The team was shocked at how many deaths you had to witness, they accepted the fact that this was destiny. Someone had to sacrifice themselves in order to save the universe.

"[Y/N] don't do anything," Tony finally whispered to you. You felt like falling apart.

"No!" You begged. "I'd rather die than live a life without you."

"Let it happen. It's what it has to be." Tony finished.

"Dad," You cried. That was the first time you said it. Tony's heart flipped when he heard the word. He's been waiting so damn long for it.

"[Y/N]," Tony spoke with a pained smile. "I need you to understand that there will not always be a happy ending. You are more than your speed. You are more than a few chemicals and an explosion. You are my daughter. [Y/N] Stark, I love you so much." He pulled you into a tight embrace, the last you'll ever receive from him. He then kissed your forehead as he stared into your eyes. "Now... run [Y/N], run!" He shouted as he gave you a push forward. You looked at your team, your family. They all gave you a reassuring smile as they hugged Tony.

This is the last time you'll see them together, forever. With your last amounts of energy, you glared into your memories. After all the deaths and agony you had to endure, this is it.

You sobbed as you ran as fast as your energy let you. You shouted as your arms were burning from the movement. Your legs were starting to give out but you needed to continue.

"[Y/N] Stark, I love you." His voice echoed into your mind.

You screeched as you finally heard the sonic boom. There you were, exhausted in the middle of the battlefield, one last time. You had tears falling down as you looked over at Tony flying around and blasting the enemies.

"[Y/N] don't do anything. Let it happen. It's what it has to be." Tony's voice popped up in your head. You wanted to die. You didn't want any of this to happen but you obeyed Tony. You let everything that originally happened occur. Your heart twisted and split in two when you finally saw him with the gauntlet in his hand. The blinding white light covering the area for one last time.

You cried as you crawled over to Tony. His eyes were glossy as he stared ahead. Half of his body was burnt. The team was petrified, you on the other hand, already lived this nightmare dozens of times.

"D-Dad..." You cried as you cupped his cheek.

Tony's eyes opened up to you, "[Y/- [Y/N] Stark."

You cried and hugged him, "We won."

"Tony," Pepper whispered with tears falling. "You can rest now."

Tony's eyes looked around lazily. He made eye contact with every single person until he stopped at you. You smiled as you nodded your head, "I love you so much dad."

His lips twitched up before the light on his chest slowly faded away. You covered your face as you cried. You knew there was nothing you could do. You felt like you failed him. You couldn't think that way though because it's what he wanted.

You wished you were back at the explosion in New York when you met Tony for the first time. You wanted to go back to the time where everything was fine. The times where he was always by your side. Your dad truly cared for you and the team. You missed him so much and there was nothing you can do.

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

To Clarify

Request 

warning: fluff, 

Summary: Pietro falling for an android vision had made to be his sister

After the battle With Ultron, the work was not done. The Avengers moved all the citizens far away from the city as they could and then combed the ruins for survivors and any lingering metal bots. Very few survivors were found and there were no lingering bots but what was found was another cradle. In this cradle was another body but this body didn’t have a stone and it was a female.

Now in any other case, they would have easily gotten rid of the body and moved on with their lives but this woman was alive this woman held a heartbeat even if there was literally nothing in her mind. All of them were conflicted with the idea of just turning her off especially with Vision around. So they decided to keep her and finish making her, hopefull not gaining another Ultron.

She was not like Vision she didn’t have a power source such as the stone so Tony built her a reactor such as his. And her body was different more “detailed” and human-like than Vision yet more electronic as she could easily plug herself into any server which was great for missions and gathering information. She also didn’t eat but she did sleep... sort of, more like charged or downloaded. At night she would plug herself up an everyday charge wasn’t necessary only every month if she didn’t do anything crazy but she did like to download and gather information from the internet. Constantly keeping herself smart.

As a creation, she was a miracle just as Vision maybe even more. A show that life could be made with technology and it wasn’t limited and depended to just woman. But after the whole Ultron downfall, no one in their right mind would bust out the idea of robot babies so nothing was really going to come from her at least not now.

As a person, Her name was (Y/n). She was the electronic daughter of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner and sister of Vision. She was shy as she didn’t understand most human interaction but kind and offered help to anyone who asked for it and incredibly smart she had the answers to just about everything and if she didn’t you surely would know everything you asked and more the next day.

Not only was she sweet, kind, and had a good heart she caught the heart of the Avengers most annoying speedster, Pietro.

Most people said when they met the loves of their lives their hearts speed up but in Pietro’s case his heart slowed down along with time. It was like everything slowed down when he first saw her everything moved in slow motion. Everything was just ...her. And then he ran through a glass door. She asked Tony if people normally did that because her data said nothing about that. Awesome first impression.

“Hello, I am (Y/n)” she said smiling kindly. The others quickly introduced themselves shaking her and hugging her and welcoming her to the family. The only person who didn’t introduce themselves was Pietro he instead remained in the corner of the room watching as others did. He didn’t know why but he couldn’t bring himself to walk up to her as he was nervous. For the first time ever he was nervous he was too fast to think long enough to be nervous and here he was nervous. He didn’t know what to do.

“Pietro? are you okay?” Wanda asked when she noticed his brother’s change in behavior.

“um...yeah, yeah, I’m okay”

“come say hi”

“okay”

Wanda slowly leads her brother to the group that was still introducing themselves to (Y/n). She smiled as she saw him coming her way.

“Hey, I’m- I’m Pietro”

Everyone stopped as the heard Pietro smart mouth, talkback, ladies girl, speedster Pietro was stuttering. It was definitely a shock and had everybody leaning back in amusement wanting to see what exactly what was going to happen. This was funny.

“Hello, I’m (Y/n). I’ve heard that you are fast”

“Yeah, I’m pretty fast” he chuckled a bit rubbing his head nervously.

“Maybe I can observe your speed later on”

“Um sure yeah, yeah. That would be yeah” She smiled kindly and went back to talk to Vision. Pietro blushed as she looked then he noticed the others looking at him amused he huffed then speed away quickly. 

-

Pietro watched as (y/n) and Vision was in a deep conversation talking about some fascinating human thing they discovered or learned about and now understand. 

“You’ve been staring at them for the last 30 minutes,” Clint said as he leaned on the counter next to Pietro and stared at them as well. “ You should go talk to her”

“About what”

“Anything, I’m sure your mind is speeding through topics as we speak.”

“That’s kind of the problem. My mind is speeding through topics I can’t pick one especially one that will get her attention.”

“Did she say she wanted to observe your speed at one point.”

“Yeah a couple of weeks ago”

“that’s something to talk about and it looks like he found it interesting.”

“You’re right yeah. Okay”

This is not at all what he expected. Pietro was running and (Y/n)’s eyes were on a special Stark tablet and the treadmill instead of him and to top it off Vision was also here.

“You’re quite amazing I bet you could run to Florida and back in a couple of hours if you wanted to maybe even less.” She praised him. He blushed and began to slow down suddenly he was stumbling off the treadmill and went flying across the room. “ Was that suppose to happen?”

“no, I don’t believe so. Pietro, are you alright?

“I’m fine Vision,” he said through his teeth although he was pretty sure a large bruise would be forming on his back soon. “ I think that’s enough for today. I’m going to get a snack”. And he speeded off to the kitchen.

“OW. How did it go?” Clint asked as Natasha popped his hand from trying to take her food.

“diaster. She invited Vision bare;y even talked and when she did I made myself look like a fool and feel of the treadmill and landed on my back,” he said then dropped his head on the table with a loud bang.

“Sound like you got it bad,” Natasha said. Thanks to Clint she was up to speed on the situation already. “ Maybe you should stop trying so hard and go the easy route. You know just ask her out already”

“what and am I suppose to say? Hey (Y/n) you’re cute let's go on a date?”

“Okay”

Pietro jumped and Clint and Natasha smiled as he turned around to Find (y/n) standing behind him. When he left she did not believe him when he said he was okay so after giving Vision all the research they had gathered she decided to go check on him and she ended up walking into the end of their conversation and catching his question. which she happily answered.

Giving him her answer and see that he was indeed okay she began to walk away but then stopped and turned around. “To clarify you do mean date as in a social or romantic engagement or appointment?” he nodded “ Okay then yes”. And with that, she walked away again.

“How hard was that?” Clint asked smirking

“See you didn’t have to watch her from afar for weeks like a creep you could have just asked her out. “ Natasha teased

“Shut up and help me plan a date”

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[qvicksilversass]

You Can Be So Cruel - Part 8

(Pietro Maximoff x Plussize!Reader) (M)

You used to think no one could hate you as much as you hated yourself, until you meet the speedster with a seeming desire to break you.

Words: 3202 Warnings: Anxiety, body issues, bullying, language, angst

false apologies

The city’s quiet and you welcome the stillness, the cool air easing the crawling sensation over your skin. The row of benches only lit by dim street lights stretching out as far as you could see. The delicate rustling of leaves the only sound. You inhale, trying to get a grip on your emotions, clear your mind. Part of you knows how dangerous being out here alone was.

You knew, but you couldn’t stand being in your room anymore. You had to get away. You’d ripped up your dress, scrubbed at your skin till it's red and sore. Still, you can't get rid of his smell, the remnants of his touch on your skin.

For the first time in so long, you felt beautiful, desired. Pietro had made you feel that, his words, his actions they all seemed so genuine. The whole night played over and over in your mind, you kept trying to find something you missed. Some clue that you should have seen.

Why couldn't you ever learn? You're someone people use, never enough for people to value,  only something to pass the time.

You contemplate walking back to the tower when your phone vibrates in your pocket with another message. You wanted to ignore everything, forget everything. So you watch the stars, shining through the trees and over the imposing buildings of New York. You watch until the sky turns a lighter blue, then pink and golden as the sun rises. Even as the park starts to come to life filling with families and tourists, you can’t bring yourself to leave.

“Why don’t you answer your phone?! Do you know how worried they are about you?”

Surrounded by wisps of blue, Pietro towers over you. You daren’t look up, afraid of what you’d say, what you’d see in his eyes. Of course he wouldn’t admit that might care enough to worry about you. Pietro sighs and sits next to you on the bench.

“Have you been here all night?” he places his hand over yours, stopping you from picking at the hem of your hoodie and tentatively interlocks his fingers with yours, “I’m sorry.”

All that anger and hurt you’d been pushing down all night seeps over your chest, I’m sorry? That’s it? 

“I trusted you, even after everything you did... I believed you Pietro...” you hear the crack in your voice, daring to glance up at him, “do you know what it's like to hate everything about yourself? To never be beautiful, wanted? To give anything to feel normal?” 

“Just once I thought I could, with you.” You drag your hand from under his, desperate for a glimpse of understanding, that he’d be honest this time, but he can't even look at you.

“Those things I said-"

“Which things?” You chuckle, wiping your eyes, “what am I saying? I already know.” 

Pietro held your face and in spite of yourself you lean into his palm, “I didn't want to hurt you. This with you, its, I don't know how to-” 

Yet he did, again. You don’t want to hear excuses, didn't want him to have to lie to you again, “you know what? It's fine, Pietro. You sleep with everything that moves. I knew that. How many girls have been in that bed since I got here?" 

You get up to leave, hardly taking a step before he pulls you back to face him, "That's because of you!" 

"What?"  

"I shouldn't like you, but I can't stop thinking about you!"

"You shouldn't like me?"  

I shouldn’t like you. You’re not my type. I don’t know why I like you. This is wrong. You’re wrong.

"So what was last night? Some experiment to get me out of your system? Do you realise how fucked up that is?"  

Pietro shakes his head, gripping your arms, "No, fuck, y/n, that's not what it was like, I-"

"Do you promise?" You snarled, shoving him back away from you and turning to run, run away from his words cruelly echoing in your mind. 

---

Fuck. You had to get out of here. You couldn’t do it. Couldn’t face seeing him everywhere. As soon as you got back to the tower, you head straight to your room, taking your suitcase out of the wardrobe.

“Y/n?” The door creaks open and you ignore it, grabbing anything you can think of. You must look crazy, but you can’t stop. The thought of getting away from him the only thing keeping you from breaking.

“Where are you going?” Wanda asks, Steve stood behind her. 

“What did he do this time?” Steve frowns and your eyes flit to Wanda before you go back to packing, stuffing more clothes in your case.

Like you don’t know. Like you aren’t both dying to say I told you so.

You want to scream, what’s wrong with you? Wanda wouldn't tell Steve, only if you wanted her to, “I need to go for a few days, that’s all.”

They share a look, Steve cautiously putting his hand on your shoulder, “No. You're gonna stay here with me and Wanda. It’s date night you promised we'd watch-”

“Steve…”

Not now. You wanted to run, not pretend you were okay. That your heart wasn't wrecked and your skin crawling with shame. Wanting to do anything to stop it to not feel it anymore.

“I’ll get us some drinks.” Wanda smiles the gesture not meeting her eyes and you feel guilt crawl in your belly. You want to appreciate their concern, yet it makes you angry. Why are they bothering with you? They should let you go. You dig your nails into the skin of your arm as Steve moves things around, clearing the bed and stacking pillows.

“Steve stop, you don't have to keep doing this, I’m not your responsibility you don't have to keep-”

“It’s not because I have to, I want to.”

How can he? To see you so weak all the time? To have to take this every time you fall apart, it wasn’t fair on them. Your phone beeps and Wanda’s red mist snatches it before you can, shutting it in your drawer.

“He can wait.”

Steve waves the remote around pressing random buttons, “Now, we gonna cuddle and watch this movie or do I have to find it myself?”

Wanda rolls her eyes and grabs it off him, “No!”

You watch them arguing, scrolling through the menus and don’t realise you’re smiling until Steve beams at you. He pulls you down to the bed and sits you between them. Intro music plays on the screen and Wanda hands you both drinks and popcorn, leaning into you and pressing you closer to Steve.

“How ‘bout I kick his ass?” 

“I’ll invite him to power training,” Wanda remarks, "if he saw what you could do he’d think twice.”

“I could fuck up his hair? Think he needs both arms to run?” 

Wanda laughs, putting down her drink and resting her head on your middle, pulling the blanket up to her neck. She never made it through a full film.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” 

“That would never happen.” Wanda yawns and you stroke her hair, hearing her soft snores not long after. Steve smirks down at her before yawning himself.

God, you wished being around Pietro was this easy, this natural. Not to have all the tension, the doubt, all the fear. If Wanda and Steve hadn’t come to your room tonight, you’d have left, given up on everything.

“Take what you need okay?”

You glance up at him not quite sure what he meant. Was this pity or concern, did he really care for you? Whatever it was, you start to relax in spite of yourself. That anxiety in your heart calms and you let your head rest on his shoulder.  

Steve wraps his arm around your waist drawing you against him and giving your waist a quick squeeze to let you know it’s okay, you’re not hurting him. He makes you feel safe, they both do, and you’d never be worthy of it.  Steve yawns again and you feel his breathing slow as he falls asleep too, your eyes hardly staying open as you attempt to watch the film.

You wake surrounded by warmth, a heartbeat steadily thumping in your ear, soft fabric against your skin. Wanda's gone the blanket tucked over you both, your arm draped over his waist. 

You peep up at him and smile, his hair’s all messy and stuck up where his head’s been on your pillows, his face tilted down towards you. He must have been so uncomfortable. That bit of stubble he had when you first got here now a beard and you have the urge to run your fingers over his jaw, find out if it’s as soft as it looks.

What was he doing here? Wasting his time on you? He's so beautiful, so kind. You find yourself wishing you were good enough for a man like him. Good enough to be treated how you know he would. He begins to stir and you move your arm away sitting up. 

“Morning,” he smiles sleepily, moving hair out of your face, "how'd you sleep?"

“Really well actually, you make a great pillow.” 

“I better go get changed, Monday meeting..." he yawns, stretching his back, “how ‘bout you?”

The thought of facing Pietro fills you with dread and Steve notices, wrapping you up in a hug and it instantly calms you.

"Whenever you feel like this, you come see me or Wanda. No running away. Not when your this close." 

"Okay?" 

“Okay.”  

---

The next week feels like hell, you’re constantly angry and it starts to consume you. You can't get Pietro and that night out of your head. You're always aroused when you're near him, always frustrated. Always ashamed. You close yourself off and focus on training, staying in the gym till late at night, hardly sleeping. Every effort he made to apologise you shut down, you didn't want to hear it. Nothing that came out of his mouth meant anything anymore. 

By Sunday you’re exhausted and not in the mood for breakfast with everyone, only attending for Wanda. You help her cook and make drinks while they chat about their week. 

"Hi there."

Everyone looks up at the unusual voice, watching the girl stride through the room in nothing but a shirt. Her beautiful long blond hair falls in messy waves down her back and it's obvious what she's spent the night doing.

Wanda and the others glance between each other confused, while your chest tightened and your stomach turned.

That shirt. It was the same one Pietro wore to the party.

The girl giggled and went to look in the fridge for god knows what, bending over and revealing pretty much everything.

Steve covered his eyes and Sam whistled, "damn, leave something to the imagination."

She turned to face him, red-faced and giggling. Not at all bothered she'd flashed the whole room. Was this her attempt at flirting? Bucky muttered 'tramp' under his breath and turned back to his breakfast. You gritted your teeth, looking back to your plate.

Steve tried to collect himself, "Sorry miss, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Eva," she smiled leaning over the counter, her breasts popping out of the shirt. Though at least her ass was facing the other way this time.

"Are you really Captain America?" Eva purred and walked around Steve, feeling his arm muscles. The look of fear on his face was priceless, "Damn, you are as built as you look on TV."

"Eva is it? What are you doing here?" Wanda asked and Steve breathes out in relief.

"Well, I met this guy in a bar last night, tells me he's an Avenger. I didn't believe him until he brought me here, and wow, look at you guys."

She tried to move onto Bucky though he was having none of it. Standing up and throwing his dishes in the sink, "get dressed and go home lady."

"I told you to wait in my room." The voice is loud and angry, accompanied by the unmistakable streak of blue as Pietro grabbed Eva by the arm.

"Sorry babe I was hungry, you gave me quite the appetite."

Eva winked at you and you felt the bile rise in your throat. You tried to sink back into your chair, wanting nothing more than to disappear.

"Y/n, this isn't, she's just..." Pietro whispered when he saw you, a little bit of guilt mixing in with the anger and embarrassment. Unable to take your eyes off his there’s a quiet tension. Everyone wondering why he was explaining himself to you. They all knew about his sleeping around. All joked about it.

"Wait, that's y/n?" Eva laughed pointing at you, an entirely different attitude to you than before. You bit your lip, fighting back an insult. Pietro started dragging her off.

"Let’s go Ella..." 

"It's Eva," she scowled, yanking her arm out of his grip and walking beside him, "you don't remember my name, yet you go on all night about that? Are you kidding me?"

"That's enough. It's time you went home Eva." Pietro’s hardly containing his anger as they carry on walking, almost shoving her out the door.

"Don't worry Peter, I'm leaving. Last night was nothing special. Seems your quick at everything," all your mouths dropped open then, "you're not even a proper Avenger, I only wanted to meet them."

"That was low man." Sam chuckled.

Wow, she was a bitch. Yet that bitter part of you is enjoying his embarrassment. Serves him right.

"That's what happens when you can't keep it in your pants." Steve growled and stormed off. Oh god, had he figured it out? You let out a frustrated breath, your head dropping into your hands. 

“Am I missing something?” Sam’s staring at where Steve was just standing, then back to you. 

“Just my brother being an ass.” Wanda fumes and you help her gather up plates and throwing them in the sink.

“Thanks for breakfast,” Bucky smiles, ushering out a confused Sam, “same time next week?”

Wanda’s attention turns to you as soon as they’re gone, “Are you okay?”

“Nope.” 

"He’s infuriating. I know he cares about you, he's confused-"

"This isn’t confused...I don't know what this is Wanda-”

Eva storms back through the common room heading for the elevators. You hold your breath as she turns to glare at you, pointing in your face.

"Good luck with that man-whore piggy, he's fucked up!" 

"What did you say?!" Wanda yells and you have to hold her back, your hand on hers to stop her using her powers.  

"She's not worth it." You're hardly containing your own anger. This is the kind of girl Pietro wants? Did her pretty face really make up for how hateful and arrogant she is?  Eva smirks looking down her nose at you as the elevator doors close.  

Why didn't you leave when Steve offered? Why did you get so drunk? Why were you so weak so eager for the attention he gave you? Why the fuck did you want to defend him, punch that bitch's lights out? God, you’re both fucked up.

“Neica, I want to talk to you!” Wands yells, hitting his arm, but Pietro doesn’t take his eyes from you. Striding past Wanda and picking you up before you can react. He drops you down and slams the door to his room, standing back against it. stopping you from leaving. 

You can’t be here. His bedsheets are still all crumpled and messed up, did he even shower? How can he bring you here? You hit him in the chest, pushing him, anything to get past him, get out. Still, he doesn’t flinch no matter how hard you hit him.

He grabs your wrists trapping you between him and the door,  "Please, will you fucking listen to me?!"

"And What? You’ll explain?” you struggle against him, him pressing his body into yours only making you angrier, “I'm just like Eva...just another night to you!"

“You’re nothing like her! I want you y/n." 

"Yeah, when you're horny, when you feel like it, in-between making me feel like shit!" 

He lets you go, pacing the room, his shoulders heaving and runs his hands through his hair, "You don't care, you wouldn't talk to me!"  

“So you find the nearest girl and fuck her instead?!”  You scream back at him,  your hand on the door handle ready to leave. Why can’t you bring yourself to? Why can’t you ignore the pain in his eyes when he steps closer, his hands drifting from your neck to hold your face. 

"Let me make it better, let me keep my promise.”

That fucking promise. It meant nothing the moment the words left his mouth, only you were too stupid to see it. You can't let yourself trust him like that again.

"That night was a mistake, I was drunk." 

“So it meant nothing?” he asks searching your eyes, “this means nothing?” 

"I'm sorry the ugliest, fattest girl you've ever been with doesn't want you. I need to concentrate on training, not you." 

Your voice falters, the way he’s watching you, so intense his eyes on your lips. He’s not listening. You try and push him away, he only holds you closer, tilting your face to kiss you again.

In an ideal world, his kiss would show you how much he cared, how much he wanted to make it up to you. But this wasn’t that. You can still smell Eva’s perfume. Imagine his hands caressing her soft flawless skin, so much softer than yours. Did he give her false promises? Praise that meant nothing?

Pietro tries to deepen the kiss and something inside you snaps. You want to hurt him, make him stop. You bite down on his bottom lip, the metallic taste of blood on your tongue. He jumps back wiping the blood from his lip with his thumb and you dismiss the sadness in his eyes for shock.

“You’re disgusting.” You grit out, never meaning the words more and shove past him, slamming the door. 

“I know.”

---

Part 9

Series Masterlist | Playlist

Main Masterlist

[violetsmoak]

Pieces of April [16/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099044/chapters/50202530

Summary: On the anniversary of his death, Jason’s second life takes an abrupt new turn and he’s faced with a challenge that neither Batman nor the All-Caste prepared him for.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Author’s Note: Here’s your daily dose of JayTim and baby for your quarantine reading pleasure! Stay safe, wash your hands and support your local healthcare, waste management and retail workers!

First Chapter

________________________________________________________________

The rest of the afternoon is spent on the phone, fielding calls from various departments and sorting out production complications. Interspersed are texts and Facebook messages from friends and family—Dick, wondering if dinner is still happening on Friday, Bruce wanting updates on the mob case, the Titans wanting to know if he’s coming to San Francisco that weekend—

Tim is evasive with all except the last one, informing Bart that there’s some family drama going on that will keep him home for a while. Once the speedster knows, everyone else will know, so it’s about as effective as sending a group text.

He resists the urge to phone Jason and see how he’s doing; he’s rather sure he won’t pick up.

(“I ain’t a damn kid that needs checkin’ up on, Drake.”)

Not that Tim is checking up on him. He just knows that whenever someone in the family is going through a personal crisis, that’s usually the time when Gotham’s rogues decide to act out.

So really, ensuring Jason’s stress levels stay manageable is a public service.

“Because that sounds like logic,” he chides.

Damian shows up around 3 o’clock and spends the next two hours alternatively disparaging everything about Tim from his too-long hair to how he organizes his filing system, to discussing WE resource allocation for an animal shelter he wants to open. The conversational whiplash is enough to make Tim’s head spin, and he makes a note in his phone to talk to Bruce about whatever it is that’s going on between them that’s so bad Damian prefers Tim’s company to his father’s.

Either Bruce put his foot down about another of Damian’s strays, or he still won’t agree that Robin should have a private prison to lock up rogues. 

Whatever the reason, Tim is very much out of his depth at the youngest Bat’s newest tactics for taking his frustrations out on Tim.

Though I guess workplace inconveniences are a huge step up from swords to the gut. Could always be worse, I guess.

It turns out he’s not the only one learning new and interesting coping strategies. Upon arriving home at six, he finds Jason tweaking the tech in his gear on the kitchen table, baby carrier three feet away.

His entire body is tense, like a spring ready to snap.

“Was she up all day or something?” Tim asks on the way in, putting his bag on the floor and loosening his tie.

Jason shoots him a baleful look. “She’s been crying all day. And she’s still barely eating. I think she’s starting to look a little yellow—Tim, why is she yellow?”

And Jason sounds—dare he say it—almost frazzled.

Right. Time for more damage control.

“I’ve got her,” Tim says, easing into Jason’s personal space and taking the baby. “You go to sleep. Or shower. Or watch TV or something. You’re starting to go batty.”

That earns a disgusted look, and even Tim winces because that was just bad.

“Did you seriously just say that?” Jason asks.

“No, you’re sleep-deprived and hallucinated it,” he replies.

“I’ll allow it,” Jason says, yawning. “But only because it could be true.”

Jason shuffles off upstairs and Tim heaves himself onto the couch, pulling out his phone to check his usual online haunts for potential cases or clues for his current case. Social media and forums are pretty good sources once you learn how to weed out the sensationalist crap.

After thirty minutes of nothing, he gives it up and wanders over to the dwindling pile of baby items. Jason hasn’t returned yet, so he’s either passed out from exhaustion in the shower or actually made it to bed. Since Tim can’t hear the water running, he supposes it’s the latter.

It won’t kill me to go without the pre-patrol nap today, I guess.

Studying the pile, he notes that the boxes with the crib, changing table and whatever else needed assembly, have all gone missing. Presumably, Jason set those up this morning in a fit of boredom or paranoia.

The only things that haven’t been touched are the blankets, soft toys and garments, other than whatever Isa’s been changed into already.

There are only about twenty different pieces of clothing, and according to his not-so-new best friend the Internet, that’s not going to be nearly enough given infant propensity to upchuck. Especially since it’s not all the same size. Tam had to guess how big Isa was, so at least half the onesies here won’t fit her for another month or two, which isn’t supremely helpful for right now.

Back to fiddling with his phone, Tim goes online to order some more supplies and discovers, to his delight, that there’s an entire line of pop-culture related babywear. Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Superhero logos…

He grins as he orders one of everything for next-day delivery, wondering whether Jason’s more likely to complain or find it funny.

Under normal circumstances, he’d probably find it funny. For someone else’s kid.

There’s still no sign of Jason after sunset, so Tim feeds and burps the baby, then sets up his laptop and tablet in the kitchen to check some of his surveillance feeds for the mob case. However, Isa protests every time he tries to put her down.

“What’s wrong with you now?” he asks. “You’re warm, you’re fed—” He takes a pause to check and change her diaper, during which time she continues to mewl at him, “—and you’re dry. Which means now’s the time you got to sleep, okay? New babies are supposed to do three things: eat, poop and sleep. So get on that.”

Once again he attempts to wrap her up and place her in her carrier, but the whimpering becomes flat-out crying, her tiny face becoming purple with rage and her eyes pinching shut.

“Okay, okay—putting you down is a no,” he sighs, tucking her back in his arms to rock her gently. He watches his computer monitor balefully, knowing if he’s holding the baby, there’s not going to be any hacking of Gotham’s CCTV tonight.

Could text Babs and ask her to do it. Except then she’ll want to know why.

Which is also a no.

One-handed, he searches out his phone again, looking up possible reasons for Isa’s current temper and potential solutions online. One thing jumps out at him and he brightens. A quick trip to the Nest and back, and he has what he was looking for.

Which is how Jason finds him when he finally comes back downstairs around eight o’clock, showered, rested and altogether more human-looking than what Tim came home to. He pauses at the foot of the stairs, squinting at Tim. “Is that your cape?”

“My cape is made out of state-of-the-art piezoelectric fabric substrates that can become a weapon with the right electrical frequency,” Tim retorts, trying not to feel entirely self-conscious from his seat at the kitchen table, wrapped in a makeshift mei-tai with Jason’s daughter drooling into his chest. “Also, that thing’s filthy.”

“And this is…?”

“My old cape,” Tim replies, going back to his computer. “Sometimes newborns just need to hear a heartbeat to calm them down. The best way is skin to skin, but I’m kind of in the middle of something, so this is the next best thing.”

Jason tilts his head to one side in consideration. “That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, I looked it up online.”

“Of course you did,” Jason groans, rubbing his temple. “Because that’s what normal people do. I didn’t even think of it, I was too busy trying to get her to stop crying.” He huffs, almost rueful. “Why the hell am I surprised that you’re good at this? You’re good at friggen everything.”

Huh. A compliment. Those are almost as rare coming from Jason as they are from Damian. He must really be out of his comfort zone.

“Maybe it’s just because I have a certain measure of distance from it all,” Tim suggests, standing up to leave his temporary workstation. “If I suddenly found out I had a kid, I don’t know how I’d react.”

“Bull. You’re just like B. You’d just stick it in the back of your mind and forget about how to feel about it until you’re ready to deal.”

Tim feels a sudden flare of anger. “Is that actually how you think I am?”

“You going to tell me you’re not?” Jason challenges.

Tim opens his mouth to do exactly that, only to wrinkle his nose at the sudden stench arising from the lump of baby tucked against his chest.

“Ugh. Someone needs a change.”

Again. Guess I wasn’t so far off about the ‘eat, poop and sleep’ thing.

Jason snorts. “As far as conversation enders, that’s a pretty good one.”

Tim carefully unwinds the fabric from around his body and deposits the slowly waking baby into her father’s arms. “Tag.”

“You suck.”

“Serves you right for being a dick.”

He feels almost no guilt leaving Jason to deal with the soiled diaper and cranky baby this time, still smarting a bit about the resentful accusation that was lobbed at him.

Just because I can compartmentalize doesn’t mean I forget about things. Or that I don’t feel them.

He’s just not like Jason, or Dick, or Damian, who get angry and lash out as loudly and as viciously as they can. And he’s not like Bruce, either, since Bruce really can flip a switch and put something difficult out of his mind if it interferes with the all-important Mission.

Tim’s tried doing that, and as successful as he was in his quest to locate Batman when he was lost in the time stream, that period of Tim’s life was the most desperate and hopeless he’s ever felt. It was painful in a way that was different from losing his father, or Connor, or Bart—mostly because he was forced to bottle everything up to get the job done.

It was months after Bruce returned before Tim started processing things normally again.

Not that I should expect Jason to know that, he muses as he grapples through the rooftops of Gotham. He might know about me from my files and when we occasionally work together, but he’s never stuck around long enough to get to know anyone who came after him.

The night is at its darkest, cut through only by the Bat-signal in the distance. He won’t be running into Bruce tonight then unless the GCPD is bringing him in on the Gazzo case. It’s unlikely since there hasn’t been any retaliation yet. GCPD protocol dictates they’ll pass it off to Homicide until orders from on high turn it over to Major Crimes.

Red Robin ends up stopping two muggings and a drug deal before making his way to Gazzo territory to take some surveillance photos of his own. Security images are helpful in general, but he has camera tech that will let him focus on details the CCTV won’t pick up. 

It’s another relatively early night for him, returning home just after midnight to upload his findings to the servers and shower off the grit and grime of the city.

The apartment is silent, and he expects Jason and Isa to be upstairs in the newly built nursery, but upon closing the secret door again, he notices the faint sound of breathing. Creeping over to the sitting room, he finds Jason passed out on the couch beside Isa’s carrier. The television is on but not showing any channel, instead casting a solid blue light across the room.

Tim can’t help noticing how Jason’s habitual frown has eased in slumber. There’s no trace of a sneer or growl on his lips right now, his mouth parted only to breathe.

He has never seen the older man like this.

There are pictures of him at the manor, of course, most of them hidden away in dusty boxes. It’s only recently they’ve started cropping up at the manor again, though Tim isn’t sure whether it’s Dick or Alfred that’s been putting them there.

Hell, maybe it is Bruce. It’s the exact kind of gesture he’d make to try to tell Jason he wants him around more, without actually having to tell him directly.

Whoever’s responsible for them, Tim’s memorized all of those photos. The boy in those is always grinning or making silly faces or not paying attention to the photographer because he’s busy doing something he shouldn’t be.

If there’s a picture of Jason looking so calm and peaceful, it’s hidden away in Bruce’s personal files where no one can find them.

Tim can sort of see why given how vulnerable his predecessor looks right now. This is the Jason that Bruce remembers, the one he’s built up in his memory that’s different from the Jason once enshrined in the much-maligned class case in the Cave. This is the Jason Bruce is trying to find whenever he squares off with Red Hood and mourns as lost when he can’t find him.

Which is stupid since he’s still right here. I wonder if anyone else will ever realize that?

Tim decides not to wake Jason; he might have been a jerk before, but he should sleep while he can.

Instead, he settles in on the other couch with his laptop to review the surveillance shots he took himself and from the security feeds. If he can figure out just which of these mobster muscle heads is the easiest to break, he can get a better idea of what might have happened to the teenager in concrete.

I’ll just do a quick scan tonight, and study them in more detail tomorrow.

Of course, as usual, he gets invested in his work and doesn’t look up again until about four o’clock, when Isa’s sharp cry pieces the silence. Tim jumps, having completely forgotten her presence, but that’s nothing on Jason, who vaults upward from his spot on the couch, body tense and prepared to react to whatever caused the noise, friend or foe.

His hand is already reaching for a gun—one that Tim is thankful to see is no longer there.

“It’s okay, it’s just time for the next feeding,” he says quietly, trying to sound both casual and soothing at the same time. Based on the bleary look he’s getting from Jason, he’s less than successful.

Jason glares at his empty hand, clenched as if to hold onto something, and Tim must be on the verge of falling asleep himself because for a moment he imagines he can see the outline of a sword.

Great. Hallucinations. Tomorrow’s going to be a triple-shot of espresso day, I can tell.

And it’s suddenly occurring to him that babies and their sudden loud noise-making skills might not be the best thing for someone that’s suffered the kinds of trauma Jason has.

He makes up a mental note to look up some strategies for that. He’s not quite sure how he’ll bring up the subject with Jason. While Jason is adamant that Tim’s the most like Bruce, when it comes to avoiding problems, he’s the one that has more in common with the man.

For now, he decides to just act as normal.

“You know there’s a perfectly good bed upstairs?” he quips. “Thousand thread count, fluffy pillows, solid mattress…”

“Shut up. I was watching something. Guess I fell asleep.” Jason swings around and makes a move toward the baby, but Tim makes a motion to stop him.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it.”

“You already took her when you got back.”

“How do you know? You were sleeping?”

“I was resting my eyes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Go to sleep or you’ll be face-planting in your coffee tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine, I—"

“This isn’t your responsibility, Replacement. Go to bed—I’ll handle this.”

Jason is clearly not someone to be reasoned with when sleep-deprived; Tim always suspected that, of course, but he’s never had the up-close-and-personal experience. It doesn’t make him any less frustrated.

“The whole point of you staying here is for me to help,” he reminds him. “So would you just accept it already?”

“You’re also the one with a nine-to-five job and actually need the friggen sleep.”

Tim grimaces. “Fine. But I’m going to make up a schedule for us tomorrow so we can divide the babysitting more equitably.”

“You do that, boy scout. Why don’t you make a chore-wheel while you’re at it?” Jason jeers, taking the baby and heading for the kitchen. “This isn’t kindergarten.”

“Are you sure about that?” Tim shoots back, scowling in frustration.

Just for that, I will make one. See if I don’t.

⁂⁂⁂

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Next Chapter

[winterflash-2019]

It was you pt 8

Warnings: None

Pairings: Barry x reader

“Barry, can I talk to you for a second?” Caitlin asked. She had a strong feeling that this wasn’t Barry.

“Uh sure why not” he follows her over to the other side of the scene. No other officers were around.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Cait I told you I’m fine no need for another-“

“No Barry, I’m serious. You’re acting kinda strange. Iris is dead and you barely have a reaction towards it”

“Well, I’m just trying to keep my head clear right now. We don’t know who killed Iris nor do we know who almost froze y/n to death I’m fine okay?” The sincerity in his voice made her sigh. She’s going to get down to the bottom of this.

~

You’ve been waiting for Barry to come back for 5 hours now. The clock on the wall ticking annoyingly. You rewatched all seasons 1-5 of supernatural and currently on 6. You just wanted to be in his arms again, feeling safe.

You’ve wanted to be with Barry for a very long time and now that you have a chance he’s gone 24/7 but you don’t hold that against him. He’s good at what he does and his job knows that hince the reason they call him everytime they need something done because they can count on him.

You rub your tied eyes and pause Netflix. It was quite chilly so you wrapped the blanket around you before going into the kitchen to make another bowl of popcorn. Just as you closed the microwave you hear a thud coming from the back room. Barry’s room. It was just you in the house and you were in the living room so who could that be?

You grab a knife and slowly make your way back to the bedroom. It was quiet now but you swear you can hear your heartbeat clear as day. You scan the area for any signs of a threat and then something catches your eye. You go to the other side of the bed and see Irises body on the floor, blood everywhere. You let out a scream of terror before a hand finds its way over your mouth. Savitar.

You retaliate back by swinging your arm down and you stab him in his thigh and he lets out a groan aof pain. He lets go of you, giving you a chance to run out the room and you do. You run out as fast as you could, you can only get so far before a speedster catches up with you. Next thing you know a gust of wind pushes you forward and you hit your head on the glass table, knocking you out cold.

Savitar grins as he looked down at your unconscious form. Seems like he had to take matter into his own hands. After Iris screwed up he made her death a distraction to take you and it’s all going to plan. Perfectly executed. He ties your legs together along with your hands before putting a bag over your head. Throwing you over his shoulder he flashes out to the roof of star labs, strapping you to a chair. He’ll come back for you later.

~

Barry walked inside his home with a sigh, rubbing his eyes he calls out for you but he gets no response and the hairs on the back of his neck stands up. He flashes around the house and stop when he sees blood everywhere.

“She’s gone” Savitar says from behind him, leaning against the closet. He had removed Irises body and left the blood stain to make it look as if he killed you.

“Where the hell is she?!”

“She’s dead! I won this time Barry!”

“You’re lying!”

“Am I? The blood stains prove it. Just like that knife covered in blood next to your foot.” Barry looks down to see the knife is indeed next to his foot.

“Now what would happen if the ccpd gets a emergency call from poor little y/n at this very location?” He smirks. “They’ll come here to see blood and all this evidence that has your fingerprints on them and Barry goes bye bye to Iron heights”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh yes I would and you know it. 70% of my plan is complete all I need is for you to be gone so I can take over and be the God that I am!”

“I swear if y/n is actually dead you’re gonna pay!! To hell with you!!” Barry charges at savitar and knocks him into the wall, punching him repeatedly. He wasn’t going to let him win this time.

Not ever.

Taglist: @onceuponateenpanwolfian @ebonyqueen-1 @wooseokssi @rachelscosplay @twilight-loveer @snowxbarryxendgame @sebbaevans @kateyliz @multifandoms916 @flashettewrites

[starletwriting]

Killervibe Fic Week Day Three: Doppelgangers

Word count: 3111

Notes: Thank you to @thatkillervibe for proofreading!!

Tags: @shakesqueer-writes @narniasfinestavengingsociopath

~~~

“Aw, man! That’s the third mosquito bite I’ve gotten since we got here,” Ralph whined, rubbing his arm where the mosquito bit him. “Earth-31 sucks.” 

“Earth-1 has mosquitos too, Ralph.” Barry said.

“Not this many!”

“Ralph, you can shapeshift,” Cisco said. “Can’t you just… magically make your bug bites disappear or something?”

“No, it doesn’t work that way.” Ralph grumbled. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“It would be impossible.” Caitlin piped up. “Mosquito bites itch because of the body’s reaction to the mosquito’s saliva, which has already entered his blood once the mosquito bites him. Although Ralph’s cells can multiply and allow him to stretch or change his appearance, he can’t take the saliva out of his blood once they’re in there, nor can he stop his body’s reaction to it.” 

“Great.” Ralph sighed. “I have bug spit in me.” 

Cisco stumbled over an overgrown tree root and he would’ve fallen if he hadn’t grabbed onto the tree next to it. The moss and the wet leaves stuck to his shoes as he treaded through the deep forest, and the humidity caused him to sweat, especially in the thick leather of his Vibe suit. Ralph was right. Earth-31 does suck.

“Well, hopefully we won’t have to be here long.” Barry said. “If this is the place that Cisco vibed, then the meta couldn’t have gone far. We can have him arrested and go home by the end of today.” 

“This is definitely it.” Cisco pointed to a tall tree a few yards ahead of them. “In my vision, the meta was standing next to that tree.” 

“How can you tell?” Caitlin asked. “It all looks the same.”

“You see that stream over there? I saw that in my vibe as well.” Cisco pointed. “That tree was closest to it.”

“Well, that’s good.” Barry said. “He should be around here somewhere.” 

“Not to point out the obvious, but this is one thick forest.” Ralph said. “How are we gonna find one guy in this place when the trees are barely three feet apart?” 

“Ralph’s got a point.” Caitlin said. “Not to mention, this forest probably stretches for miles.” 

“Alright, then we’ll split up.” Barry said. “I’ll go with Ralph. Cisco, you go with Caitlin. I can cover ground a lot faster if I run, and Cisco can breach to different parts of the forest. That way, we have much better chances of finding him.” 

Cisco shrugged. “Seems fair to me.” 

“Then it’s a plan. We’ll meet back by the stream in a few hours.” 

Barry grabbed onto Ralph and ran off at super-speed, leaving just Cisco and Caitlin to venture off to the rest of the forest. The two of them continued walking forwards, minding their step as they did so.

“This forest kinda makes me nostalgic.”

“Really?” Caitlin looked at him. “How so?”

“When Dante and I were kids, we used to go exploring in the woods behind our house. We’d find sticks in the woods and pretend to battle each other with them, and then we’d go and find cool-looking rocks to bring home and show our parents,” Cisco said. 

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Caitlin smiled. “I take it you two used to be a lot closer.” 

“We were thick as thieves when we were kids.” 

“What changed?” 

Cisco shrugged. “We grew up. We each went on different paths, I suppose. Dante was the concert pianist, the golden child, the chick magnet. I was his nerdy younger brother, collecting tech magazines and going on for hours about how a computer works. My brother bathed in his glory. I didn’t get any of it.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is,” Cisco said. “I envy you for being an only child.” 

“Actually, it got pretty lonely growing up,” Caitlin said. “I was ten when my dad disappeared, and after that, my mom was distant and obsessed with her work. She hid all her emotions away out of fear. She didn’t want to get hurt again. But in doing so, she only drove me away.” 

Cisco offered a sympathetic smile. “I guess none of us had a normal childhood.” 

“Honestly, have our lives ever been normal?” 

Cisco laughed at that. “No, I don’t think so.” 

“At least we’ve acknowledged it.”

There wasn’t much Cisco could think to say to that, so he decided to let it go. The next few minutes consisted of silent walking, with the occasional warning to the other person telling them to watch their footing. 

“We’ve been walking in one direction for far enough. If he was here, we would’ve found him by now,” Cisco said. “I’ll breach us to the other side of the forest, maybe we’ll have better luck there.”

“You’re probably right.” 

Cisco held his hand out in front of him, and formed a breach big enough for him and Caitlin to walk through. Before they could, however, a figure ran up and grabbed Cisco by the collar of his Vibe jacket, and ran through Cisco’s breach, yanking Cisco along with him. The breach closed the second that Cisco went through, leaving Caitlin  stranded on the other side. 

Once the breach closed, the figure tossed Cisco onto the ground. He had just managed to get himself up in a sitting position when he got his first good look at the man that had grabbed him.

“It’s you!” Cisco exclaimed. “The one I saw.”

“And you’re tracking me.” The meta matched Cisco’s emphasis mockingly.

“You heard us?” 

“It’s not hard to hide in these woods,” He spat. “I can’t have you and your friends following my trail. Fortunately, without you they’ll have a much harder time.” 

“You think I pose the biggest threat?” Cisco asked. “What, cause I’m a breacher?” 

“Exactly.” 

“Well, you’re wrong,” Cisco said. “We have a speedster on our team. He’s who you really have to be afraid of.” 

“Yeah?” The meta gave an unamused, vaguely threatening chuckle. “Well, without their breacher to vibe my location or breach anywhere in the forest, I’m at least safe for now. I can take on this speedster when he comes.” 

Cisco was trying to formulate a witty reply in his head when a long stream of ice came out of nowhere, knocking the meta against a tree. He managed to gather himself in time to run away before anybody could catch him. He was long gone in the trees in just a few seconds.

Cisco stood up, his heartbeat racing in his chest. He turned to his savior with a grin on his face.

“Caitlin! How’d you get here so fast- you were all the way across the forest- nevermind that, though, thank you so much for saving me--” Cisco paused a moment to catch his breath, and furrowed his brow. “Wait. You’re not in your Frost form. You just shot that stream of ice, how are you not Frost?” 

Meanwhile, Caitlin was staring at him like she had just seen a ghost. “Cisco?!” 

Cisco raised an eyebrow. “...Yes?”

“It’s really you?” Caitlin poked his shoulder, as if making sure he wasn’t a hologram. “But… this shouldn’t be possible!” 

“Uh…” 

“Wait.” Caitlin studied him from head to toe. Her expression seemed… disappointed, but not surprised. “You’re from another Earth, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?” 

Caitlin tried again. “Are you from this Earth?”

“No.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Caitlin sighed. “You’re a doppelganger.”

Cisco blinked. “Wait, so that means…” 

“Whatever Caitlin you think I am, I’m not her.” Caitlin- no, not Caitlin- said. “I’m from this Earth. Surely you’ve encountered doppelgangers before, breacher.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Cisco said. “Sorry. My mind is still reeling. A minute ago, I was walking with Caitlin- my Caitlin- on the complete other side of the forest, then I open a breach only to get straight-up abducted by the very person we’re trying to catch, then not even thirty seconds later, I’m saved by the doppelganger of the exact person I was just with!” Cisco gestured wildly with his hands. “It’s been a very crazy 60 seconds!” 

Caitlin smiled. “You remind me of the Cisco of my Earth.” 

“I assume that’s a compliment,” Cisco said. “Unless the Earth-31 Cisco is a supervillain. Wouldn’t be the first time.” 

“It’s a compliment, I assure you,” Caitlin said. “It’s nice to meet you, doppelganger-Cisco. You can call me Caity.”

“Caity?” Cisco raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. “I prefer it to Caitlin. It just fits me better.”

“Alright then… Caity.” Cisco said. “I’m Cisco. From Earth-1.” 

“Earth-1? What’re you doing here, then?” 

“I had a vibe about the meta-criminal here, the one that was just here. We came here to catch him.” Cisco said. “Wait, what’re you doing here? In this forest, I mean.” 

“...Camping.” 

It was an obvious lie, but Cisco decided not to press.

“I need to find my friends.” Cisco said. 

“I’ll help you.” Caity said. “I know these woods fairly well.” 

“You will?” Cisco smiled in his appreciation. “I’d love the help. I recognized the sliver of the forest I had seen in my vibe, but… I’m a long ways away from that now.”

“Of course.” Caity said. “After all, you’re Cisco, even if you’re not the one I’m familiar with.” 

The two of them started walking through the woods, talking along the way. 

“The Cisco on this Earth, what’s he like?” 

“Funny. Witty. Charming.” Caity responded. “He always knew the best way to make me laugh. Oh, and caring. That’s one of his best qualities. There’s nothing more important to Cisco Ramon than his friends.” 

“That does sound like me.” Cisco said. “I guess this Cisco and I aren’t too different after all.” 

“What about the Caitlin of your Earth?” Caity asked. “What’s she like?”

“She’s… beyond words, really.” Cisco said. “She’s incredibly smart, and she’s sweet and loving and kind, and so brave. I can always count on her when I need a friend. She’s helped me through some of my worst times. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” 

“How long have you guys been together?”

The question took Cisco off guard. “What? Oh, no, we’re just friends. Best friends, nothing more.” 

“I see.” 

“So,” Cisco changed the subject. “I take it the Cisco of this Earth is a breacher as well?” 

Caity nodded. “I take it the Caitlin of your Earth has ice powers? You recognized me after you saw my ice blast.”

“Yup.” Cisco said. “Although, her powers work a bit differently than yours.” 

“How so?” 

“When she uses her powers, she gets white hair and white eyes.” 

“Lucky.” Caity said. “I want white hair. That’d be badass.” 

“She is badass.” Cisco said. “You should see her in full-out Frost mode. She could do some serious damage if she wanted to.” 

“You’re pretty powerful, too.” Caity said. “That is, if you’re anything like my Cisco. You can vibe, and breach, and shoot vibe blasts, and-” 

“I’ve met some pretty powerful breachers before.” Cisco said. “I’m kinda the least powerful out of the ones I’ve met, though. I dated a breacher once and she could do wonders with her powers. I’m not like that.” 

“I’m sure you could get better with practice.” Caity said. “How long have you had your powers?” 

“Five years.” Cisco said. “But to be fair, for a long time I was more focused on doing away with my powers than using them.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“When I first got my powers, I thought they were a curse.” Cisco said. “My first ever vibe, I watched myself die. It happened in an erased timeline. My friend, he’s a speedster, had changed the timeline and brought me back to life in doing so. I would’ve had no memory of it ever happening if it weren’t for my powers.” 

“Yikes.” Caity grimaced. “I can see why that would make you hate your powers.” 

“Oh, believe me, I did, at first.” Cisco said. “But… that changed. They grew on me. The more I used them, the more comfortable with them I became. Now they’re a part of who I am. I’d be lost without them.” 

“I always envied Cisco’s powers.” Caity said. 

“I do like that I can go anywhere I want at any time.” Cisco said. “It’s convenient.” 

“The Cisco I knew loved to breach to different places and see what the universe has to offer.” Caity said. “He was always willing to go exploring new places, and his powers made that possible.”

Something about Caity’s tone seemed off with Cisco, but he couldn’t quite seem to place a finger on it until now. The realization left an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Caity talked about her Cisco the same way that Caitlin talked about Ronnie. 

“Every time you’ve brought up Cisco,” Cisco said. “You’ve spoken about him in the past tense.” 

Caity nodded slowly, her movements solemn. She was looking at the forest floor, choosing to focus on the moss growing on the tree trunks instead of facing Cisco. 

“For years, Cisco and I were a superhero crime-fighting duo.” She said. “The two of us versus any metas that dared cause trouble. We were practically inseparable. That is, until about two years ago. We were up against our strongest foe yet, a speedster by the name of Eddie Thawne. He was terrorizing people, killing them, all for a sick little game. We managed to stop him, but… Cisco paid the price. He sacrificed his own life to save everyone.” 

“I’m sorry.” Cisco said. “I take it seeing me only served as a reminder of what you lost.” 

“Rather, the contrary.” 

Cisco tilted his head. “How so?” 

“If I can help you, even in just a small way, then maybe it can be my way of… paying my respects to Cisco.” Caity said. “Honoring his memory.” 

“I never thought of it that way.” Cisco said. “Wait, is that why you were in this forest? To help me?”

Caity shook her head. “No. I had no idea you were going to be here. Finding you was completely by coincidence.” 

“Then what were you doing in the forest?” 

“I don’t expect you to know this, seeing as how you’re from another Earth.” Caity said. “But this forest actually holds some significance here. The meta you’re tracking, the one in this forest, I reckon he doesn’t care much about this forest’s meaning, but I do. There’s an old rumor that the spirits of your loved ones can see you in this forest, and that you can venture into this forest to pay your respects to them. It’s sentimental, I know, but I was here because I was missing Cisco. Never would I have guessed that I would run into his doppelganger here, and be granted with an opportunity to actually do something to honor him.” 

“Well, I’m happy to offer that for you.” Cisco said. “And frankly, I could use the help. This forest is huge, and I have no idea where my friends or the meta is.” 

“Actually,” Caity stopped walking and turned to Cisco, like an imaginary lightbulb had just lit up over her head. “This didn’t occur to me before, but there’s a small hill about midway through the forest. Maybe you could breach to the hill and get a higher view point, and maybe you’d be able to see your friends from there?”

“It’s worth a try.” 

Cisco formed a breach in front of them, but when they stepped through it, they discovered that the hill wasn’t empty like they’d thought. Cisco immediately recognized his friends before him, surrounding the hill, on high alert. They watched as the breach closed behind Caity and Cisco, and for a few seconds they were frozen, processing what they saw. 

But then the meta ran up from behind the hill and punched Ralph in the gut, and Cisco realized what was going on. 

There wasn’t time to explain, not now. Cisco shot a vibe blast at the meta, knocking him onto the ground, and Ralph pinned him down with a stretched-out arm until Barry was able to get meta-cuffs on him. Only once the meta was secured did the team take a moment to regain their breath. Killer Frost morphed back into Caitlin, and Ralph stretched his arm back to its normal length. 

Then the team turned to Caity, and Cisco standing beside her. 

Caitlin was staring at her with the most shock. “You’re… my doppelgänger.”

“Cisco told me about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.” 

Caitlin raised an eyebrow in interest. “Cisco told you about me?” 

Caity smiled. “All good things, I swear.” 

“Look, Caitlin,” Cisco teased. “You finally have a doppelganger that isn’t a villain.” 

“You’re one to talk.” Caitlin said. “We’ve met one doppelganger of yours and that was Reverb. Very evil dude.”

“Hey, I’ll take it. At least it’s better than what Harry has to be doppelgangers with.” 

“Which one?” 

Both Caitlin and Cisco erupted into a fit of giggles, like schoolchildren sharing an inside joke. Caity looked between the two of them with a knowing smirk, but didn’t say anything. 

As the team was getting ready to head back to their own Earth, Caity pulled Cisco aside. 

“There’s something else I never mentioned.” She said. 

Cisco raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” 

“Back when Cisco and I were hero partners… I developed a crush on him. For years, I was hopelessly pining for him, and too much of a coward to ask him out. He died before I got the chance to tell him how I feel.” Caity said. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. Tell Caitlin how you feel.” 

“What? But I don’t...”

Caity didn’t say anything, but her expression told Cisco that resisting wasn’t worth the trouble.

“You don’t have to pretend with me.” Caity said. “I’ve been there. After all… I think Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow are soulmates in every universe.” 

Cisco took one last look over to where Caitlin was standing with the others. She laughed at something Ralph had said. The sun shined on her face as she threw her head back, and her brown hair bounced ever so slightly. Just the sight gave Cisco butterflies in his stomach. 

He turned back to Caity. “Thank you.” 

Caity smiled at him. “Don’t mention it.”

“Cisco! You ready to go?” 

Barry had called him from where they were standing. Cisco looked over at him and then back to Caity. 

“Goodbye, Cisco Ramon.” 

“Bye, Caity.” 

Cisco ran off to join his friends. He formed a breach set for Earth-1, and waited as his friends all passed through it, Barry taking the hand-cuffed meta along with him. Cisco turned and waved to Caity one last time… then he stepped through the breach, never to return to Earth-31 again.