#so all that happened was bruce's resentment building up. maybe when his kids were born there was a thought in his head he wouldn't ever

[liliavalley]

personally i hc that john dory's need for perfection is because they lost their parents before branch hatched and as the oldest he now not only had the mantle of big brother but also the de-facto father figure to four others with only his aging grandmother there to help. but he doesn't know how to be a father. he only knows how to be a leader. and so he pushes brozone further into fame and further towards achieving perfection because that's what good leaders are supposed to do, despite the protests of his brothers. and then one day it's finally too much. he couldn't be everything they needed so he might as well be nothing. might as well not be there at all.

or whatever

[mafiamamaj]

Here's an Endgame fix-it I would love but don't have the patience to write.

So, Steve goes back in time. Everybody's all pissed because its so out of character, and why is Peggy worth more than Tony or Bucky, all that. But, hear me out.

Steve goes back and the first thing he does is find Peggy and Howard. Convince them its really him, somehow get them to believe the time travel nonsense, all that. They play it up like he survived the crash and found his way home because it's only been like, a week, if that, since the Valkryie went down.

Steve gets Howard and Peggy to help him look for Bucky. He has a vague idea of where he should be at this point, but no solid details, so it takes a little while. This derails any interest Howard had in the Manhattan Project, especially since Steve is Very Vocal about his hatred of the idea.

(Now, I dont have the knowledge to even begin to theorize what would have happened in a reality where Steve Rogers was around to Loudly and Publicly as Captain America declare his disapproval of something as huge and significant as the Manhattan Project. For the sake of my brain, we are going to say that they met a lot more resistance than they otherwise would have, but it still happened because the American Government is awful.)

They find Bucky within a few years of Steve's crash and survival. Obviously he's still all kinds of fucked up because of torture, experimentation, cryo, etc. But 5-6 years is a whole he'll of a lot different than 70+. Shield still gets built, honestly Steve couldn't imagine it with any other name, but Bucky's return reveals that Hydra is still around and that Operation Paperclip was a bad idea (Zola). So they clean house early. Peggy becomes Director because Howard is to busy with his tech, and Steve and Bucky both said no. They do work for the newly built Shield though, running ops and hunting Hydra. They also might as well be married. Its still illegal for the time, so they're careful, but all the people who matter to them know and none of them care that the Captain and his Sargeant are doing the horizontal mambo.

Steve was friends with Tony, even if it didn't work out that well. And for all their differences, well earned and understandable, Tony and Howard had a lot more in common than Tony would ever want to admit. So Steve learns from the mistakes he made with Tony, and keeps Howard from turning into the monster he was in Tony's memories.

He mother hen's Howard into drinking less, drags him out to socialize more(Bucky is a huge help with that), calls him out when he's being a dick, and puts him in his place when his ego, or his head, gets too big for his britches.

Howard gets Steve to actually sell his art, builds him neat gadgets and armor, teases him to no end about Bucky, and is consistently endangering both of their lives on his never ending quest to get Steve drunk. (Bucky might have more sense than both of them, but he's also an adrenaline junkie with a hard-on for mechanical anything, so he is no help whatsoever and Peggy constantly despaired that the fate of the world lies with these overgrown children.)

When Howard marries Maria, Steve stands up for him at the wedding. The first time Howard made Maria cry because he ignored her/forgot something important/said something mean without meaning too, Steve beat him over the head and gave him a Captain America lecture, made Howard bake an apology cake himself, then dragged Howard back to Stark manner to apologize. The second time it happened, Bucky showed up in whatever place Howard had fallen asleep, dressed in full combat gear, cussed him out in Russian and threatened to shoot him. The third and last time it happened, Peggy showed up in Howard's lab, had him tied up before he even new she was there, and calmly informed him of exactly how she would torture him into a slow and agonizing death, as well as how exactly, she would get away with it.

Howard still forgot things, and could be careless with his time, but they never let him get bad, never let him forget how much he Did Not deserve Maria. And when Tony was born they were there for him. Steve refused to let Howard ignore his son, dragged him (figuratively) the first time Howard showed any sign of jealousy towards Tony. It wasn't perfect, nothing could be. But this Tony would grow up with a bumbling inventor of a father who was only forgetful and easily distracted, rather than an alcholic with a mean streak. He would have a mother who wasn't afraid of her husband and would love him even if she didn't always understand him.

He would have a godfather, his Uncle Steve, who would teach him to fight, to stand up for what was right no matter what, who would play games with him, paint with him, love him.

He would have his Uncle Bucky, who would share his interest in all things mechanical, would listen to music with him, take apart and build machines with him, teach him dirty jokes and play pranks on his Dad or Uncle Steve, who would listen to all of his ideas and tell him he could do anything.

He would have his godmother, Aunt Peggy, who would teach him how to play the game that is high society, would teach him how to charm the socks (rather pants) off of anyone, male, female, or otherwise, who would help him when emotions got to difficult, or people didn't make sense the way he thought they should.

Steve would find the others too. Phil did alright on his own, but everyone else...

Shield would be looking for the Red Room from the start. Maybe they find Natasha as a child, or a teenager, but they would find her, because Steve would want to save her after all the times she saved him. She would get placed with a loving family, probably a shield agent and their spouse. She would have therapy, but even a couple of years with the Red Room would mess her up. She would eventually end up an agent herself, still the Black Widow, just a little less damaged. A hero because she wants to be, knows what it means to be saved by one, rather than a way to repent and repay the lives that she took.

They would find Clint probably around the time Barney and Trickshot turned on him, before he had a chance to start on his mercenary career. Therapy, maybe a shield agent foster parent for a year or two depending on his age. They would make no secret about recruiting him, but he would jump at it. Nat would probably already be there, and nothing would stop that friendship. Coulson is probably a few years ahead of them, though not many, and if there is anyone who could reign in Hawkeye, even a slightly less damaged version, it would be Phil Coulson.

Tony meets Bruce. Howard takes Steve's admittedly limited knowledge of Bruce's past and tracks down the kid. Creates a scholarship to get him to a private school and away from his dad. They meet at a Stark expo in their early teens and immediately hit it off. Bruce is one of the only people who can keep up with Tony's genius. When Tony ends up at MIT (sometime between the ages of 14-16) Bruce ends up at Harvard. They share an apartment, because the dorms would have been a disastrous idea. Steve and Bucky live with them because they might be super geniuses but you can't send two teenagers to live alone in another city Howard! Especially not when they have access to dangerous and/or explosive chemicals/tech!

Likely, Howard will still die at some point, probably from all the liquor. Fury will probably still end up as Shield's director because neither Steve or Bucky will want the responsibility. Tony will take over SI, but will still eventually hire Pepper, and eventually promote her, because running a company is never going to be his thing.

Bruce will probably still end up at Culver with Betty, if only because he's actually halfway decent at the whole teacher thing, and the Hulk incident will likely still happen one way or another. Having Steve Rogers alive would not stop men like Ross from wanting the serum. Instead of disappearing for years on end, He'll end up in Tony's tower in NYC. Tony will likely still be kidnapped, though he probably would not have the Obadiah Stane factor involved, and would still end up as Iron Man.

They would "find" the Steve still frozen and thaw him out around that time. Play it off like they found someone for Old Steve to pass the mantle onto. Give Young Steve a new identity, and a family in Old Steve and Bucky.

Young Steve would make friends with Tony, would have time to grieve his lost world without an alien invasion. Would move into the tower and mother hen Tony the way Old Steve used to do to Howard. Tony would not have all the Cap resentment he did in the original timeline, so he would get to know Young Steve as just Steve. Would be able to see him as an entirely seperate person from his godfather, because they are two separate people. Young Steve and Tony would fall in love.

Even if they weren't running it Old Steve and Bucky would still have a hand in Shiled. Would keep an eye on Natasha and Clint. They would have likely met Tony, Bruce, and Young Steve. So when the Chitauri roll in, the only one that wouldn't already be a part of the group is Thor and he fits in seamlessly. Coulson might still get hurt, but Fury wouldn't have to fake his death, because the Avengers would have been a team years before they were needed.

And when the time came to face Thanos again, they would do it as a united front, and they would win. Because together, they are unstoppable.

[windfighter]

For the @winteriron-week

Day 6: “You should shut up now.”

Summary:

Bucky hates Tony and it's getting on the man's nerves. He tries mending the bridges, but Bucky keeps avoiding him. They work together, live together, and so maybe Tony has a small crush on the man, but that's not the reason he wants them to be able to talk to each other.

And maybe Bucky is avoiding Tony because of a completely different feeling than hate.

—

Bucky had been avoiding Tony and after three months of living in the same building it was starting to get irritating. Tony started tracking him with help from Jarvis because they seriously needed to learn to talk like adults, but whenever he entered a room Bucky was supposed to be in the soldier disappeared into the vents or through a window or a door. One time he heard Clint yelp out in surprise as Bucky suddenly appeared in the vents where he was not at all spying.

Tony tried recruiting Clint to help him but Clint refused.

”If he doesn't want to talk to you there's nothing you can do, man.”

”We're on the same team, we need to be able to behave like adults.”

”That's really coming from the right person, Mr I'll-throw-a-tantrum-if-I-don't-get-my-coffee.”

Tony huffed and abandoned that idea. He'd figure it out on his own. Occassionally he would join the team for movie and game nights and every time without fail he would see Bucky quickly disappear to wherever he was hiding out. He considered building traps, but the winter soldier would be able to look through them and get away and he gave up on that idea as well. Instead he started leaving little peace offerings around the tower. Simple things like food he knew Bucky enjoyed, magazines he liked flipping through, books Steve told him Bucky had loved when they were kids.  He even got him a dog one day, because Bucky's eyes always lit up whenever he saw a dog outside and maybe Tony shouldn't know that but he had seen him quite a few times when he was outside and heading to a meeting or just to grab a quick cup of coffee. Bucky outside of the tower always looked different from the Bucky he never quite saw in the tower.

He kept his distance outdoors though, he didn't have time and if Bucky felt safer outside the tower than inside he wasn't going to trample over it. No matter what people thought he wasn't heartless.

They had lived together in the tower for five months when Tony literally ran into Bucky. He was on his way to a meeting, already running late and not watching where he was walking when he slammed right into Bucky's metal arm and fell to the floor. His head swam, pain radiated from his sternum. Two paws stepped on his ribs and a very wet tongue licked his face. He blinked, shook his head and pushed the dog off his chest. He got to his feet, had to put his hand against the wall to steady himself. Bucky's blue eyes were staring at him, wide, worried and terrified and Tony was alert again.

”Excuse me but what the fuck?”

Bucky looked ready to bolt and Tony grabbed his sleeve.

”You do not get to run away this time, Robocop. I have no idea what I've done that made you hate me, but whatever it is I need to know how I can make it up to you.”

Bucky's hands clenched and unclenched and clenched again. His whole frame tensed up. Tony stretched his back.

”We live together, work together, we can't keep doing this. Are you unhappy with your floor? Because I can fix that. Or is it just resentment that I was born with a silverspoon in my mouth because I can honestly not do anything about it but for fuck's sake I'm trying to make the world a better place with it.”

Bucky's breathing was picking up and great, if he was getting the assassin angry maybe they'd finally get somewhere, maybe Bucky would just blurt out what was going on and why he was avoiding Tony to begin with. The dog was waving her tail and pressing against Tony's leg demanding pets but he did not have time for that right now.

”I'm serious, Barnes. I've done what I can to be a good host and tried to at least begin to build a friendship but it's hard when you keep avoiding me like this. What more do you want from me? I fixed your arm, which was freaking hard when you refused to be there to answer my questions, I got the trigger-words out of your head, I gave you a home, I talked in your favor in front of the whole bloody american government to keep you from being thrown to death row, to get you pardoned.”

”You should shut up now.”

”Why? Because I'm making you angry and I wouldn't like you when you're angry? Boo-freaking-hoo. I live with the Hulk and if anyone can do angry it's him. Fuck it, you know what. I'm done. I'm done trying to do this, done trying to get your pretty ass to not run away every time I show myself, done longing for those pretty eyes to look at me, done wanting you to sit with me for breakfast and movie nights. I'm just fucking done. You happy? I'll see you never because I have a meeting to attend to.”

He let go of Bucky, whipped around. His head got dizzy at the movement and he must have hit Bucky's shoulder harder than he thought. Bucky's hand grabbed his arm and Tony snarled, but Bucky pulled him closer.

”You should shut up, because otherwise I won't be able to stop myself from kissing you.”

And then he was facing Bucky again, Bucky's face just centimeters from his, milimeters from his. Bucky's lips were soft and warm against his own, the taste of maple syrup lingered on them after the breakfast Bucky must have just eaten. Bucky's arm wrapped around his waist and he leaned against it, tilted backwards and Bucky followed, his lips splitting apart and his tongue making it's way into Tony's mouth and Tony's knees grew weak, he felt lightheaded. The kiss ended, but Tony wanted more and he was still falling. Bucky's arms caught him, lowered him to the floor and Tony let out a whine.

”Fuck”, Bucky said and it was the most beautiful word Tony had ever heard and maybe he was still a little disoriented after the impact but Bucky's voice was so soft.

”I'm sorry”, Bucky continued and Tony wanted to assure him that there was nothing at all to be sorry for, but he couldn't get his mouth to obey. ”Shit, I promised I wouldn't do this, I wouldn't take advantage of you. You hate me, and you have all right in the world to do so and I shouldn't use the fact that you're obviously longing for human touch against you.”

”Is not”, Tony's voice was slightly slurred and he swallowed, tried to gather his bearings. He forced one of his eyes open to look at Bucky but had to close it again. ”It's not advantage if we both want it.”

”You only want it because no one else is giving it to you.”

”Think I can decide that on my own.” He made a new attempt at opening his eyes, but pain soared through his head and he put an arm over them to close out all light.

”...oh. Oh no. I took advantage of an injured man. Holy flying shit, Steve is going to kill me.”

Bucky put his arms under Tony, lifted him from the floor. The dog barked and Tony made shushing noises at her.

”Jarvis, what's the way to Banner's lab?”

”Noooo”, Tony started to twist in Bucky's grip. ”Don't have time, there's a meeting.”

”You have a concussion.”

”I've done meetings hungover, I can handle it. Besides it's mostly lack of sleep.”

He could hear Bucky roll his eyes and it was the most amazing thing ever. He let his arm fall down from his face, buried into Bucky's shoulder instead. The flesh one he noticed because of course Bucky wouldn't risk him hitting his head on the other again, because Bucky was an angel like that (which Tony had not at all noticed while he was absolutely not spying on him). Doors opened, closed, opened again as Jarvis directed Bucky through the tower and then Tony was lowered onto a bunk. He could hear Bucky telling Bruce what happened and then Bruce was over him, forced his eyes opened and asked him questions he didn't actually care about answering. Bruce let out a sigh.

”Talk to me or I'm ordering bedrest for a month.”

”You're not that kind of doctor.”

”He's fine. He needs a few hours of sleep and a couple of days taking it easy and then he'll be right back to his old annoying self again.”

”Well then”, Tony held his arms out. ”Is my knight in shining arm going to escort me to my room?”

Bucky chuckled and Tony swore that before the week was over he was going to get Bucky to actually laugh because he could just imagine how sweet it must sound. Bucky lifted him again, thanked Bruce for his help and then they were out of the lab. The dog's claws clicked against the floor as she followed them up the stairs to Tony's floor, followed them to Tony's bedroom. Bucky lowered Tony into the bed, took his shoes off, his tie and Tony protested weakly when he started unbuttoning Tony's shirt.

”I'm not dying, I can undress myself.”

He sat up, another dizzy spell hit him and then the dog was in the bed, licking his face and Tony groaned.

”What's she doing up here?”

”Helping”, Bucky lifted her and put her back on the floor. ”She's used to being in my bed.”

Tony changed into his pyjamas. Bucky stood nervously by the door and Tony wasn't sure what he was waiting for. He sat down on the bed, placed his fingers against his forehead to massage it but winced at the pain it sent out.

”...You're going to get a bruise”, Bucky supplied.

”Pep's going to kill me.” Tony sank down on the bed and glanced at Bucky. ”We're still not done you know.”

”We should... wait with the conversation until you're feeling better.”

”Uh-huh”, Tony patted the other side of the bed. ”Get up here and keep me company.”

Bucky twitched nervously and Tony would have grinned if his headache wasn't slowly getting worse with every passing second.

”I'm going to take advantage of the fact that you have the hots for me.”

Bucky moved painfully slowly, but he came up to the bed, sat down and kicked off his shoes. Tony closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

”Why should I hate you?”

”...I killed your parents.”

”Fair, but that's water under the bridge. Forgiven and forgotten. Why do you hate me?”

”I... what?”

”You keep hiding from me and running away when I get near and... ” Tony clenched his eyes and rubbed his temples. ”Feels like my head's gonna split.”

”You should sleep.”

”Soon. So, answer.”

”I don't hate you, I...”

Bucky fell silent and Tony opened an eye to look at him.

”Did you mean it?”

”I think I should ask you that.”

”The kiss, did you mean it? Because no one kisses like that without meaning it.”

Bucky blushed, looked away, and Tony definately needed to make Bucky blush more often because holy heck the sight made Tony giddy inside.

”I did.”

”...Can we do it again?”

Bucky looked at Tony again, cheeks still red. He blinked, then leaned down. Tony closed his eye again, his breath hitched, he felt his own cheeks getting red. Bucky's lips gently brushed against his forehead and Tony whined.

”When you've slept, I promise.”

”Dog's not allowed in the bed though.”

Tony rolled over to his side, wrapped an arm around Bucky and snuggled close. His breathing got slower, relaxed. Bucky tensed up for a few seconds, then leaned against the headboard, carded his fingers through Tony's hair.

”Sleep well, princess.”

The mattress shifted as the dog jumped up and rolled up against Tony's bed, but he didn't have it in him to protest and instead let sleep pull him under.

[rason-rodd]

Nightwing : The Rise of Flamebird (Chapter 5)

Summary: Nightwing and Flamebird were two ancient Kryptonian gods, yet completely opposite. He was darkness and rebirth, tasked to hunt the evils in the shadows. She was fire and destruction, born to annihilate the creations of her mate, Vohc The Builder. Destined to fall in love and achieve great things but fated to be separated. That’s the story Dick Grayson and Terry Olsen heard. Strange that it is also, somehow, their story

Major Pairing: Nightwing/Dick Grayson x Flamebird/Original Female Character

Chapter Summary: After the kidnapping of another child, Terry starts to devote herself even more to her work at the expense of her life as a couple. But there is no time for personal life. The autopsy of Jane Antol has revealed too many terrible things and she believes she may have a lead. Problem is, she needs Nightwing's help.

WARNING: GORE & VIOLENCE, KIDNAPPING

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Terry and Josh’s Apartment – Halyard Street – Blüdhaven – Morning

Another child was missing. Terry had received a message telling her so early this morning. Chloe LaGrange. Five Years Old. A sweet little girl with curly black hair, big black eyes and mocha-coloured skin. Living in Ravenshood Heights and an orphan adopted last year by a couple of doctors. “Just like Isaac.” Terry whispered as she pinched the bridge of her nose, the picture of the little girl in her hand. Now she was certain that this wasn’t a coincidence. She was dealing with a serial kidnapper… or worse.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t see Josh sitting by her side with a mug of hot black coffee. “Here, you’ll need this.” She didn’t hear him either. He sighed and put the mug in her field of vision. “I’m sorry … Thank you … You were saying?” He smiled. He wasn’t mad. He knew how much her work meant to her. “There was nothing you could have done, Terry.” 

“ I know. But it kills me to know there is a psychopath hurting kids somewhere in this city and that the only clue I had is now on the coroner’s table.”     “ Any idea who that might be?”           “ Well I’ve established a profile using the data on the children. Since both Isaac and Chloe were orphans, adopted by rich families and living in the most luxurious area in the Blüd, I believe our kidnapper is an orphan too … However, I don’t think he was ever adopted. Actually, I think the kidnappings are acts of vengeance and resentment, to punish the families that didn’t choose him. But maybe I’m wrong.”       “ You’re never wrong.” He tried to kiss her on her lips but he only met the corner of her mouth as she remained still. “You’re going somewhere?” She asked as she noticed him taking a grey duffel bag “To the gym. I signed up yesterday for a ridiculous price and I read on the Internet the coach is very competent” She faked a smile. Another. Truth was she couldn’t care less about his hobbies. Awful, right? She knew. “But hey, he might interest you. He is also an orphan adopted by a rich guy.” He joked as he zipped his sport jacket.       “Oh really?” Why did she ask? Just let him leave.       “Yeah. Dick Grayson. Heard he was Bruce Wayne’s ward” Terry froze instantly and Josh noticed it. He frowned. “Do you know him?”       “Who doesn’t know Bruce Wayne?”   “I meant Dick Grayson.” She hesitated for a second but then answer with a “Nope”. But the truth is she knew him. After all, how could she forget him? That poor boy that had lost his parents the same night she lost hers. “Dick Grayson” she whispered inaudibly.

Grayson Cross Train Studio – Blüdhaven - Morning

The alarm made Dick jump. For a second, he thought he had just closed his eyes a couple of minutes ago. But when he checked the clock on his nightstand he realised he had been sleeping for at least three hours. A record this week, but still not enough to erase the dark rings under his blue eyes. He yawned but managed to get up even though his knee was still hurting. A splint and he hopefully would be ready to work.         He limped towards the windows and drew the curtains. The sun hidden behind the high buildings of the city centre was slowly rising, replacing the crazy noisy neon night and colouring the sky with yellow and orange shades. It was one of the many reasons he loved Blüdhaven and refused to call it Gotham’s little sister.             Blüdhaven was not Gotham. It didn’t look like her at all. Yes, crimes and lawlessness had given her this reputation of dangerous dark place but Blüdhaven was also this eternal patchwork of colours, a flashy skyline sparkling in the dark night in which even more colourful people were living. Blüdhaven was not just black and white, neon pink and blue.

Just like the sign on his windows, that Josh was staring at, happy that he had finally found the place after his GPS had got him lost at least twice. He opened the door and was immediately welcomed by a still sleepy yet smiley Dick who approached him to shake his hand. “Hi! You must be Josh” The ex-surgeon instantly noticed his splint but, out of respect, he just smiled and chose not to say a word though he thought Dick looked like he definitely needed medical advice. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m a bit late. I’m new in this city. Still got some orientation issues.” “ No worries. At least, I was able to take my time this morning. Plus the others are not here yet so … Coffee?” He nodded. Dick was a very warm and social man. His comfort and ease around people stroke Josh who wished for a second he was like this too. Even his voice was smooth and immediately gave him an incredible trustworthy and friendly vibe. “So you’re new in town?” Dick handed him a cup of hot coffee. “Yeah. We moved in few days ago.”         “ We, as in …”             “My girlfriend and I, Terry. I got a job opportunity, a huge contract from the mayor’s office to renovate the old harbour salt factory into a seaside resort. I’m an architect/ interior designer”       “ Wow. That’s looks like a huge work.” Dick took a sip of coffee as he massaged his knee, a gesture that caught again Josh’s attention. “It is and it’s taking me most of my time which is actually something I didn’t want to happen when I changed my career path. I was a surgeon at Metropolis Hospital.” “ Why that huge change?”       “ I did it for my girlfriend, mostly. We’ve been through a lot recently.” Sadness was suddenly in Josh’s deep brown eyes. He tried to conceal it behind a smile. “We needed a new start and I wonder ‘why not’” But Dick noticed, as he had been taught to discern every details. However, he knew how to react according to them. The man was basically a stranger so chatting about his personal problems was not a good idea. “And well, it looks like we’re getting better.” Good for you, lucky man. Dick winced as he crossed his leg. Stupid knee. “You know, you should see a doctor. You may need surgery… Medical advice.” Dick smiled slightly just to be polite but the truth is he was tired of people worrying about him. “It can wait.”

Dick’s phone rang, cutting short the conversation before it became too awkward. It was a text from Helen, one of his clients, a professional hockey player with gorgeous blue eyes, curly dark hair and a smooth mocha-coloured skin. “Car trouble. We will be late. Sorry <3”       “Looks like Helen and Wallace are going to be very late. So let’s start without them.”           “Looks like Helen digs you.” Josh winked as he noticed discreetly the heart at the end of the text. Dick scoffed and smiled. “She’s a cool girl but I’ve got no time for romance right now.” Josh shrugged. “Or you don’t want to take the time for some reason” The ex-trapeze artist was a bit surprised by the familiarity but better a weird too sociable client that than an introvert shy one, no? “Sorry that was inappropriate.”             “Actually you may be right.” Relieved, Josh smiled and dared ask “We should totally go out sometime. Terry and I haven’t get the chance to meet people since we arrived. And you seem like a pretty nice guy… You can ask Helen and Wallace to come as well … or other people, as you wish ” He winked with a smile. “Sure … why not.”

Blüdhaven Police Department – Afternoon

As soon as Terry opened the door, an intense cold invaded her body. For a second she wondered it was the low temperature in the room or the naked corpse on the table in front of her that was making her shiver. She opted for the last theory.     “ Detective Olsen. I was no expecting you so soon.” The coroner approached her with a smile and stretched out his hand to salute her. She did the same but quickly reconsidered when she noticed the blood on his glove. “Oh sorry.” He took it off, a bit embarrassed and finally shook her hand. “I just began the autopsy this morning right after I received the Examining Magistrate’s authorisation.” “ And? Have you found anything yet?”           “ I have indeed.” He waved her to come closer to the corpse and pointed at her slit neck. “She bled to death. I’m still trying to figure out what blade was used but the precision of the cut shows the killer took his time.”           “ His? How do you know?”     “The bruises on her jaw and on her wrists– beside the ones that show she had been tied up pre and post mortem – correspond to very large hands, definitively not female. I suppose the killer caught her wrists first to tie her up and then held her head to slit her throat while she was still alive.” Terry frowned and gulped, imagining the pain the girl must have endured. “But there is worse. Her abdomen was entirely cut in half after she died. The liver and the heart are gone.” He opened the abdomen a little to show her. Terry closed briefly her eyes, deeply disgusted. Poor woman. She was maybe guilty of what happened to Isaac but no one deserved to be treated this way. “Did you find anything that would allow us to track down the killer by any chance?”   “ No. Whoever did this is a professional. There is no DNA, nothing” Terry pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, frustrated and more than annoyed. “What’s this?” She pointed at a long red scar on Jane’s pale face.     “ That’s the creepiest part.” As if things were not already creepy enough. He turned Jane’s face to the side to show a thin cut all around the prostitute’s face. “It was made post mortem. It looks like the killer peeled off her face and then sewed it back”     “ What?” Her eyes widened. She had seen a lot in her young career and read a lot when she was a student but she had never heard or seen anything like this. “Sicko I know… And I also found this, in her mouth” It was a piece of paper. Words had been scribbled on it but the saliva had damaged it so much it was impossible to read. “I only found residues of food on it.”       “ May I take it?” She asked as she looked at the paper in the plastic bag.     “ Sure, yes. If you believe you can do something with it.”       “ I may know someone who can actually.”

Blüdhaven Police Department – Night

“ No. No way you’re staying here, Victoria’s Secret” Elise growled as she tried to make Terry go away, pulling her by the arm towards the door. “I don’t see why I couldn’t stay. I’d really like to talk to him myself about the case.”       “ I believe I can repeat everything you told me.” Svoboda insisted as she opened the door. “I’m not that sure to be honest. You seemed more interested in your burger than in the conclusions I had drawn from the autopsy and both kidnappings.”         “ Male. Serial offender. Possibly a resentful never-adopted orphan bla-bla-bla … See I listened to you.” “ Actually the bla-bla-bla part worries me.” Elise sighed and pushed the young woman before attempting to close the door to prevent her from coming back on the rooftop. “Fine, I’m leaving … But don’t forget to give him …” “ The paper. I know” The detective slammed the door and waited a little bit to make sure her colleague was gone. When she heard the footsteps going down the metallic stairs, she breathed out loudly, relieved she had succeeded in getting rid of her.       “ What paper?” Svoboda jumped and put her hand over her racing heart. It had skipped more than one beat, she was sure of it. “You’re going to give me heart attack one day, kiddo.” She groaned and looked up at the vigilante casually leant against the BPD flashing sign. “Don’t worry Elise, I have a defibrillator in my suit” She frowned, not really liking the joke but happy his usual cheerfulness was slowly resurfacing. “That was a joke.”           “ I know it was joke. But I’m not in a mood.”             “ I’m not really in the mood either.” He admitted before jumping from his spot to come down and meet her. “So what paper?”         “ This one.” She handed it to him. “Found in Anne Darrow’s mouth but the words have been erased because of the saliva. My colleague thought she could count on you to find out what was written.” “ Yeah I may know a way to do this.” He stared at the paper in the plastic bag. “Anything else?”             “ Well, Olsen drew some conclusions concerning our killer. She believes he is an orphan who was never adopted judging by the fact both the abducted kids were orphans”         “ Both?” Nightwing frowned, surprised by the words. “Yeah. A little girl was confirmed missing this morning. Chloe Lagrange.”     “ Why didn’t you tell me about this, earlier?” He growled, angry with the detective and with himself. Classical guilt. “Well, because I worked on the case all day as well.” She spat, not liking his tone at all. “Anyway, she also believes he had done this before considering his ‘modus operandi’. The killing of Jane was ‘very well calculated and conscientious. A professional work.' I’m just paraphrasing. He extracted her heart and liver and peeled off her face to sew it back like a real surgeon” “ Her face was peeled off?” His eyes widened. This detail was more important than Svoboda seemed to realise. “ Yeah… The guy is a real psycho”         “ Yeah and I know only one criminal capable of this … Barton Mathis aka Dollmaker.”

[naferty]

stuckony soulmate au with misunderstandings everywhere!

The given name of your soulmate is what’s written on your arm. If you go and have your name changed or take your spouse’s name it won’t change on your soulmates arm. It’s permanent. It’s stuck. 

Tony was born under Anthony Edward Stark and grows up along with his brother Gregory Stark. The two absolutely hate each other and it doesn’t help that Howard always, always takes Gregory’s side, no matter who is in the wrong. Maria sees this and Maria speaks her mind, but ultimately her concerns are ignored by Howard. She doesn’t stick around to be treated like this. They’re not soulmates, she’s in no way obligated to stay and gets a divorce. It’s messy, it’s brutal, Howard doesn’t want to see her go so he fights his hardest to convince her to stay. Writes her off his will, cuts any fundings under her name, threatens to fight for one of the kids “don’t separate our children, Maria. They need a family” but Maria ain’t falling for that. 

She doesn’t need Howard’s money. She never needed it, and while she loves Gregory she knows that boy will resent her for the rest of their lives if she took him away. She takes Tony instead, knowing he wouldn’t survive living with Howard if she didn’t act up and fight for custody. She gets her divorce, wins custody over Tony, uses the fair amount of money under her family’s name and moves them away, changing their names. She’s back to Maria Carbonell and Tony is renamed Anthony Carbonell. 

They leave the spotlight life, live in a little place so small compared to the mansion but warmer, daring to call it home. They’re happy, she’s happy, he’s happy, and they don’t regret anything. Tony leaves private school and goes to public instead (something he’s always wanted to do). Goes through the years easily, could jump grades if he wanted to but he no longer wanted to be the son of Stark. He just wanted to be Tony. He makes friends here and there but they usually never stick around, not until high school where he meets the gang. Science bro Bruce who is friends with Natasha who is friends with everyone else. Here he meets Steve and Bucky and nearly has his heart stopped when they say their names.  Steve Rogers Like the name on his arm Steven Grant Rogers And with a Bucky Barnes next to him and the way the two are very close it’s not hard to guess Bucky is really James Buchanan Barnes and he can’t believe he’s found his soulmates, and at seventeen years of age! 

He tells them his name, Tony Carbonell, and finds it odd they don’t react any differently than getting to know a stranger, instead of reacting like most do when they literally found their soulmate. 

He shrugs it off, thinking they’re not big on emotions, or don’t want to make a show out of it. Then they keep treating him as nothing but a friend as the days go on. It hurts, he won’t lie, but he guesses they’re not ready yet to add their final soulmate yet. They probably had years with each other an didn’t think they’d find their missing piece until well into their thirties. It’s natural to be hesitant. He takes it slow. 

Except two months go by and even though he’s tried to take it their pace they still don’t treat him any different or even tried breaching the subject. Maybe they don’t want him at all? But no, his mother always told him soulmates were meant for each other. His soulmates wanted him, would wait for him. 

But waiting has become tiresome. Half the school year is over already and nothing has changed except for maybe the others realizing Tony might or might not have a crush on the pair. In the moments that he could he subtly gave them touches and stuck close, trying to ease himself and make it natural. But Steve and Bucky either don’t notice because they don’t add in their effort, or they’re outright ignoring him. 

The others give him pitying looks, but this is soulmate matters so they don’t say anything. 

Eventually he realizes Steve and Bucky had noticed but never said anything, not until one day Tony put a hand on Bucky’s arm and the other brunet not so subtly pulled away from it. It hurt to have his hand rejected like that, but it hurt more when they made faces and began twitching, exchanging a silent conversation with each other, never including Tony. 

“Tony, we need to talk.” 

“Yeah, we know you have a crush on us, and it’s endearing and all, but we can’t let you continue like this. We don’t want to do this to you.”

“We can’t return your feelings. Bucky and I are soulmates and we know how it feels to be united with one of our other halves. We’re waiting for our third and there just isn’t room for you. It won’t be fair to you. Our feelings for each other won’t be equal to you.” 

And that is the stupidest thing Tony had ever heard. He wanted to shout at them “I am your other half!” wanted to scream if they didn’t want him all they had to say was no instead of making up such a ridiculous lie. He had their names on his arm and he was positive they had his, but clearly they didn’t want a third. They didn’t want Tony. 

He gave them a silent nod, holding in his fury, his sadness, the shame, and left. He continued the rest of the year all the way to graduation day in this state of numbness. The others either guessed or were told by Steve and Bucky about what had happened. They tried to sympathize but it just didn’t work. Tony pulled away from them, from Steve and Bucky. Didn’t go to prom, didn’t hang out with anyone on their graduation day. Just returned home and started planning his following years for MIT. 

He continued numb well into his first year until one day he just decided “fuck it, soulmates are overrated anyway. They don’t want me, fine. I’ll love someone of my own choice!” 

Befriending Rhodey and Pepper was perhaps the best thing in his MIT years. He graduates, starts a small business as a mechanic fixing up expensive cars or something, calls his mother every day, makes sure to send Rhodey letters when he’s deployed, and always makes time to check up on his favorite red head.

Years later the media goes nuts about some big announcement. The tv in his work building is on and the reporter is talking excitedly as three men stand side by side in front of a large crowd. One of the men looks like he wants to be anywhere but there. The other has an arm around his shoulder for support. The last one is on a podium talking to the crowd. At the bottom of the screen the words ‘Tony Stark’ are in bold. 

“Tony Stark’s soulmates have just been announced! You heard it here live, folks,” the reporter says. 

Tony huh’s as he watches his brother tell the crowd the happy news, about finding his soulmates Steve Rogers and James Barnes, and huh’s even louder when one of the reporters calls him Tony instead of Gregory. 

He walks away.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5/end]