#stephen strange x reader tangled au

[spiderneds]

I’m Gonna Love You (Stephen Strange x Reader) Tangled AU

requested by @melonpanbread

this IS a doctor strange themed tangled au BUT i am using a song from The Hunchback of Notre Dame II bc it is a total rapunzel and flynn song

songs used:

Healing Incantation / Tangled 

I’m Gonna Love You / The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

I See The Light / Tangled

Let Me Save Him - The Tear Saves / Tangled

You marked another day off your calendar and took in a deep breath.

One more day until your birthday. 

You smiled to yourself, glancing out the single window that your tower had. Tomorrow night, the lights would appear in the sky, the same way they had for as long as you could remember. 

You had dreams of going to see them in person, with your mother. But she wouldn’t let you. She was terrified of you getting hurt, and even though you could handle yourself, were an adult, and tried to prove yourself time and time again, she would only get angry. 

She was gone, getting things for dinner. You were home alone, which you liked most. You would sit at your window, your hair (all seventy-five feet of it) hanging out of the window and almost touching the grass. That is the closest you ever got to touching the ground. You would try to take in as much of the warm, sweet smelling summer breeze as you could from your tower way above the ground.

Tired of looking at things you couldn’t ever be a part of, you sighed and turned away from the window, standing up and heading towards your bedroom. Your hair followed you as you went up the winding staircase, plopped on your bed, and shut your eyes.

You just wanted to be free.

A few minutes later, you woke up to the loud sound of the shutters being shut. You jumped in alarm, pulling your feet up on the bed. You leaned in close and heard two heavy footsteps.

Definitely not your mother’s.

You got up and quietly moved across the floor with bare feet. You eased yourself down the stairs and saw a man standing in your living room.

You struggled to hide your gasp of surprise. Your mother once told you that men had pointy teeth and none of them could be trusted.

Was that true?

You didn’t want to find out.

You grabbed a frying pan off the wall and snuck up behind him. He opened up a satchel and sighed. “Alone at last-”

You smacked him so hard in the back of the head that he tipped right over, unconscious. 

You dragged him to the closet and forced his body in there. To keep it shut, you pushed your mother’s favorite chair against the handles. You grinned triumphantly. Now all you had to do was wait for her to get home.

When she finally did ask you to throw your hair down and climb up it, you could barely contain your excitement. You pulled her up faster than normal, grinning with absolute delight.

“Hi, Mother,” you said, “welcome home.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I have a very big surprise for you!”

“So do I,” you gushed. “Look, I know you don’t think I’m strong enough to handle myself out there, Mom, but I have something that might change your mind.”

She laughed, swinging her legs over the window and stepping inside. “I hope you’re not still going on about the stars.”

You fought not to roll your eyes. “Astral projections. And, well, yeah, I’m leading up to that.” You walked over to the closet. 

“Because I thought we’d dropped the issue, dear...”

“I know, but I just wanted to say-”

She glared at you. “___,” she warned.

“Please?” you pressed.

“I mean it - no!”

“Oh, come on!” you whined. “I just think you should-”

“Enough with the lights, ___! You are not leaving this tower! Ever!”

You jumped. Never had she screamed at you like that.

Never had you been more frightened.

Seemingly exhausted, she dropped down in a chair. “Great. Now I’m the bad guy.”

You ducked your head so that your hair would fall around you like a curtain. You stepped in front of the closet. “All I was going to say, Mother... was... I finally know what I want for my birthday.”

“And what is that?” she asked grumpily. 

“New paints? Like the ones from the white shells you once brought me?” you lied. 

“Well that is a very long trip, ___. Almost three days time.”

“I know, I just... I thought it would be a better idea than the... the stars.” You faked a smile.

She nodded. “Alright. And you’ll be alright while I’m gone?” 

“I know that I’m safe so long as I’m here,” you said. 

She hugged you and kissed your hair. “I love you very much, dear.”

“I love you more,” you said.

“I love you most.”

She left a few minutes after, with a basket packed with food. You lowered her down and waved her off, and once she disappeared through the bushes, you were off to the closet, frying pan in hand, ready to face the guy in the closet.

But first, you grabbed the satchel that he was carrying and pulled out the thing inside. It was only one object - a pendent hanging from a gold chain. In the middle of the pendent was a glowing green stone.

You turned towards the mirror and slipped it on over your head. He hung off your neck and rested just below your chest. You touched it, eyes wide.

You took it off quickly, because you couldn’t keep wasting time. You hit it under the stairs the hurried back to the closet.

You opened the door and-

He fell out, unconscious. He landed right on his face. You winced. 

You managed to get him in a chair and tied him up with your hair. Then you cowered in the darkness, terrified, because he was starting to wake up.

When his eyes finally opened, he looked around. He yanked on the bounds and groaned. “Is this... hair?”

“Struggling...” you tried, then bit your lip. “Struggling is pointless!”

“Huh?” he asked, squinting into the darkness.

“I know why you’re here, and I am not afraid of you!” 

“What? Look, lady, I just came in here because I thought it was empty. I went up your tower, and-” He stopped and looked around. “Whoa - oh no! Where is my satchel?”

“I’m not answering questions until you answer mine!”

He frowned. “Fine.”

You stepped out of the darkness slowly. His eyes widened. “Who are you, and how did you find me?”

“What?” he whispered.

“Who are you... and how did you find me?” You pointed the frying pan at him.

“Are you serious?” he asked. “I wasn’t looking for you! Now where is my satchel?”

“If you’re not here to find me, then...” You crossed your arms. “I want to propose something to you.”

He sighed. “Which is...?”

“I’ll let you go with your satchel if, and only if, you take me to see the lights.”

He leaned in. “The lights?”

“Yeah,” you said. “The astral projections. Those streaks in the sky? They appear tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah. That light thing they do for the Sorcerer Supreme’s daughter.” He nodded. “Why do you want to go see that?”

“Because it’s my dream,” you said simply.

“Oh, your dream. I get it.” He rolled his eyes. “I am gonna have to say no.”

Desperately, you gripped the arms of the chair he was on with both hands. You leaned in close. “Please,” you said, sounding incredibly desperate. “You are the only one that can take me.”

He stared at you for a long moment. Then his eyebrows furrowed together. “Are you trapped here?” he asked.

You swallowed. “Yes,” you said. “Please, Mr...”

“Uh, it’s Stephen Strange.” 

“Right. Please. I need... I need someone. It can’t be a mistake that you came across my tower.”

“Right, because there are so many around. I should have picked another,” he muttered.

“Stephen,” you whispered. “Please.”

He sighed and looked at you again. “Alright. Fine, I’ll do it. But get me out of this... this hair. Right now. And explain to me how the heck it is this long.”

“Got it.”

Not too long after, he was climbing down the side of your tower. You were standing up on the windowsill, frying pan tucked under your arm. You were looking down nervously.

This was your dream, yes, but - but could you do it?

“You coming?” he called up after you.

You bit your lip and nodded. You took in a deep breath. 

Here I go, you thought.

You jumped down, your hands forming around your hair to slide down it like a rope. You laughed in glee until you almost touched the grass - then you jerked to a stop, pulling your feet up. You were scared.

Hesitantly, you let your foot touch the soft, green blades. You gasped softly and dropped down. Then you fell to your knees, letting your palms run across the tops. You grinned. You had never smelled anything fresher, or felt any floor softer.

“I can’t believe I did this,” you breathed. You looked up to the sky, feeling the warm sun on your face. 

Oh gosh, this feeling.

“Hey, weirdo,” Stephen said. You looked at him. “Are we gonna go on and do this or what?”

“Yeah,” you said. You stood up and brushed the grass off your knees. “Sorry, I just... this is my first time outside.”

“Ever?” he asked. You nodded. “Jeez. That’s... crazy. So when am I going to hear this backstory of yours?”

“Uh... never,” you said. 

“What, really?”

“Really. I’ll only be with you two days, Stephen Strange. I can’t give my secrets up to everyone.”

But not only two hours later, you were running away from a group of police officers that were intent on arresting Stephen.

“What are they chasing us for?” you screamed.

“Uh... I may have stole some things.”

“Stole some things?” you asked.

“Yes. Like the necklace that you refuse to give back!”

You gasped. “That’s stolen?”

“Of course it is!” he said. “That is why I was hiding with it!”

“Oh my gosh.” You grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. You pointed to subway station that was abandoned - and, from the sign, partially unfinished. “In there?”

“Sounds better than getting arrested,” he said. He ran ahead, going down the stairs first. When he got to the bottom, he turned around to reach for you. You landed on the bottom step and gasped-

The cops were coming down fast.

You gripped the bottom of your hair, leaving about three feet dangling down. You tossed it up and let it wrap around an exposed pipe. When you yanked it down, it piled up a large mountain of rubble and broke one of the water pipes. Gushes of cold water filled the place, and the rubble on the staircase made a tight wall.

“Oh no,” Stephen whispered.

You ran to the other side, but the ceiling fell there, too. You were blocked in on either side, and the water was filling up.

You kept moving, hitting the walls. Stephen was trying to as well, but it wasn’t budging.

He sighed. “Stop, stop, ___. Stop!” He grabbed your shoulders. “It’s too late, okay?”

“It’s not...”

“It is.” He shook his head. “We’re trapped.”

The water was up to your knees now. You sat down in it, anyway, letting it pool around your waist. You dropped your face in your hands. “I am so... I am so sorry, Stephen.”

“Why are you sorry?” he asked.

“This is all my fault. I never should have left.” You shook your head and looked at him. “And now I am getting you killed.”

“Don’t... don’t worry about me. You saved my life from being arrested.” He snorted. “Ironic that now I am about to die instead, but...” He pressed his lips together. “I can see that I am not making you feel any better.”

You sniffed and wiped your face. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he replied. 

“Why do you... why do you steal things?”

“Because... because I need to pay for surgeries. Of course, I ruined my chance by becoming wanted here in New York.” He raised his hands up so you could see how scarred they were. “A year ago, I got into an accident so bad that it paralyzed my hands. They healed, and I could move them, but... but they shake.” He hid them.

“And I ruined your chance to get that surgery,” you whispered. You shook your head. “I am so sorry.”

He nudged you. “Why don’t you just tell me something about you?”

“Okay, I, uh... have magic hair that glows when I sing.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You... what?” 

You grabbed your hair in realization. The water was rising to your neck and you stood up. Stephen did, too, wrapping his arms around you when you almost fell. You grabbed onto his arms and looked up at him. “I have... I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”

He shook his head, not understanding. But the water was filling up fast, and it was already to your shoulders. He tried to lift you up as you started to sing.

“Flower gleam and glow,” you gasped, and Stephen’s head was under. He was holding you up. “Let your...power shine! Make the clock rev-” You were under now.

Underwater was glowing bright with your hair. Stephen was watching with wide eyes. You grabbed his hand and swam to wear your glowing hair was leading you - to a part of the structure that was weak enough to break through.

He kicked through it for you, and you and him both got caught in the current that dragged you outside of the wall. 

You fell on the ground, first, and Stephen after. You both burst into harsh coughs as you rolled over, trying to get all of the water out of your lungs.

“Are you... okay?” he managed.

You nodded.

“Great. Now... now can you tell me how your hair glows?”

You looked at him and smiled. “It doesn’t just glow.”

You sat in front of him at the end of the subway. He was staring at you while you wrapped your hair around his entire hands, covering every inch of them.

“So can you tell me what you’re doing, or...?” he asked.

“I can,” you said, smiling. You glanced up at him. “You scared?”

“A little. I’ve seen a lot of doctors work on my hands, even studied the injuries myself, but never thought of wrapping magic hair around it,” he muttered. 

“That’s your loss,” you said. You cradled his hands in yours. “Okay, now... don’t freak out, okay?”

“Okay,” he said softly. He looked at you with an expression you couldn’t identify. 

You shut your eyes and began to sing. “Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt, change the fate’s design. Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine.”

You opened your eyes and pulled your hair away. His hands weren’t even scarred. They didn’t shake. He turned them over again and again, his face nothing but shock.

“So?” you said, breaking the tension.

He looked at you and-

And he threw his arms around you, pulling you into a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “You... you fixed my hands. No surgeon anywhere could do that. I... I had given up hope. I didn’t... I can’t believe you...”

You laughed breathlessly. “It’s nothing.”

“That works for everything, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“I think so,” you said, “Until... it’s cut. Once it’s cut, it looses its power. Then... then I’m normal.”

“Huh.” He nodded, looking at his hand. “I don’t know how to thank you for this.”

“You don’t have to,” you said, waving your hand. “Really, it isn’t anything.”

“But it is,” he said. “I... thank you.”

“I was happy to do it.”

“It’s - it’s...” He finally pulled away. “Well, I guess... I guess we need to keep on moving if we want to make it to see those lights.”

You made it to the real part of the city. The real part where everything was awake and bright and real and loud and busy. You were overcome with emotion, and Stephen was right there with you, finding joy somehow in your reactions.

He took you to see everything. Every tourist attraction... he bought it with his own money. You were overcome with emotion and in awe of how intent he was on giving you your dream.

He took you to the top of a building just as the sky grew dark. On your way up the elevator, you looked at him. “Where are we going?”

“Best night of your life, I figured you might want a decent seat.” 

At the very top was a balcony. You gasped, seeing the bright lights of the city. “Oh my gosh,” you breathed. 

“Like it?” he asked.

You shook your head, unable to find the words. You were so in awe of the bright lights that were such a strong contrast against the black-blue of the sky. But even the feeling of witnessing all that was in front of you...

Was nothing compared to the feeling of getting to see Stephen right in front of you.

You stepped closer to him and he leaned against the railing. You did, too, reaching for his hand. He let you take it. For the first time in a long time, he wasn’t ashamed of himself.

“I want to thank you,” he said softly.

You looked at him. “For what?”

“For... everything.” He shook his head.

You smiled, eyes locked onto his.

Angel in disguise

Stories in his eyes

Love for every true heart that it sees Was it just a lucky day

That it turned to look my way

Or is it Heaven right before my very eyes. You flipped his hand over and traced your fingers across each line in his palm. He watched you happily, unable to tear his eyes away from you. You went up each of his fingers and back down, meeting at the center of his palm each time.

He showed me all new things

The shimmer of moonbeans

I was blind, but now he's helped me see. I was lost but now I'm found

His happiness surrounds

And now I find that my dreams can come true. 

“Hey,” he said softly. 

“What?” you mumbled.

“I want to ask you something,” he said.

You looked up at him.

“Do you have to go back?”

Cause I'm gonna love you for the rest of my life

I'm holding you safe here in this heart of mine

I can't live without you cause my soul would die

You know I'm telling the truth, I'll spend the rest of my life loving you

“Yes,” you whispered. He nodded. “But I don’t want to.”

“Then don’t,” he said.

It didn't start this way

It happened just one day

You smiled at me and I saw you, differently.

Now I'm a tremble just to be

A part of you as we

Begin a life that's sure to never end.

“I have to.”

“You don’t.” He closed his hand around your fingers. “You can be with me.”

Cause I’m gonna love you for the rest of my life

I’m holding you safe here in this heart of mine

I can’t live without you cause my soul would die

You know I’m telling the truth, 

I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you

“Whether I stay with you or not... “ You breathed. “I need you to know how much it means, having you be here with me.” His forehead touched yours.

“Do you know how much you’ve changed me?” he asked. 

You looked up at him, smiling. His eyes shifted and he nudged you, getting your attention on the sky.

Where shoots of electricity began to spread across the ebony sky.

You sucked in a breath, eyes widening at the sight. There it was, so up close, so real. If you reached up your hand, you were sure you could touch it. You tried to, stretching your hands out so that your fingertips might just graze the light...

All those days, watching from the windows. All those years outside, looking in. All that time, never even knowing just how blind I’ve been. Now I’m here, blinking in the starlight. Now I’m here, suddenly I see. Standing here, it’s all so clear, I’m where I’m meant to be. And at last I see the light, and it’s like the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it’s like the sky is new. And it’s warm and real and bright... and the world has somehow shifted. All at once, everything looks different...

You looked back at Stephen, who was pointing to a different part of the sky. 

Now that I see you.

You grabbed his hand, getting his attention. “Stephen?”

“What is it?” he asked, ducking his head close to yours.

“I... want to give you something.” Out of the pocket of your dress, you handed him the necklace. “I was... afraid. But the thing is, I’m not afraid anymore. You know what I mean?” 

He pushed that hand away and grabbed your free one. He pulled it up to his cheek and let it lay there. “I’m starting to.”

He cupped your waist with his other hand and brought you close to him. He pulled you in against him, and slowly, began to sway.

All those days chasing down a daydream. All those years living in a blur. All that time never truly seeing things the way they were. Now she’s here, shining in the starlight. Now she’s here, suddenly I know. If she’s here, it’s crystal clear, I’m where I’m meant to go.

“And at last I see the light,” you both sang softly, looking into each others’ eyes.

“And it’s like the fog has lifted,” he sang.

“And at last I see the light...”

“And it’s like the sky is new,” you sang, and he spun you both around.

“And it’s warm and real and bright... and the world has somehow shifted. All at once, everything is different, now that I see you. Now that I... see you.”

He leaned in. His nose brushed yours. He pushed your hair out of your face. 

“Now that I... see... you...”

His lips brushed yours gently, then he pulled back. 

You kept your eyes shut, waiting for him to just kiss you.

“I need to know,” he said, thumbs stroking your cheeks, “are you going to stay with me?”

You opened your eyes. The lights were gone now. You were just looking at him, dim now.

“I don’t... I don’t know.”

He sighed and nodded. He dropped his hands and stepped away.

You reached for him. “Stephen, I-

“I should get you home,” he said.

“I wish you wouldn’t,” you said. “I want to be with you, okay? Forever.”

He looked at you. “You’re being serious?”

“Of course I’m being serious,” you breathed. You laughed. 

He took you in his arms, lifting you off of your feet. His face was buried in your neck and you were wrapping your arms around his shoulders. 

“I’ll go get a ride for us,” he offered.

“Okay.” You grinned, not knowing where you were going, but grateful that it wasn’t back to the tower.

He walked back to the elevator without you.

You stayed up there for several long minutes, tapping your fingers against the railing. You were eager just to go. You were looking down below, waiting, waiting, waiting-

And seeing Stephen getting dragged into a police cruiser.

“Stephen?” you cried. You gasped. “Stephen!” 

He didn’t hear you. He struggled and struggled-

And then he was shoved inside.

“Oh no,” you whispered. Your heart was in your throat. You didn’t know what you would do-

“___?”

You turned, gasping loudly. “Mother?”

Your mother was there, standing at the elevator. “Oh, you’re alright. My little girl.”

“Mother,” you breathed. You ran to her, throwing your arms around her body. 

She hugged you tight. “Don’t worry, that man will never touch you again.”

“Touch me?” you asked. You looked up. “Mother, he... he didn’t take me. I left on my own.” Your eyes widened. “That’s what you told the police, didn’t you? They’re taking him because they think he took me! We have to stop them, we have to-” You tried to run around her, but she stopped you by grabbing your wrist.

“No,” she said sternly. You froze in fear. “We are going home.”

Back in your tower, she cleared out every memory you had of Stephen. You even had the necklace still, and you hid it from her so she wouldn’t see.

You laid on your bed, staring at it. You sniffled, feeling tears streak your cheeks. Your heart was hurting so badly. 

You held up the necklace, at first by the chain, then by the pendant. You angled it, squinting your eyes. 

You realized something. 

The shape of the pendant, the designs inside... they matched every shape in between each of your paintings. You stood up, your heart thumping louder and louder. You stood up and spun in slow circles. 

They were everywhere.

You fell back against your dresser, shocked. 

The Sorcerer Supreme’s missing daughter. You were her.

“What was that noise?” your mother called. “___, what’s going on up there?”

You stumbled out of your bedroom. “I am the lost sorcerer,” you mumbled.

Your mother growled, “Speak up, ___.”

You glared at her. “I am the lost sorcerer. Aren’t I? Did I mumble, Mother?” You stepped out fully, hands curling into fists. “Or should I even call you that?”

“Do you even hear yourself?” she scoffed, walking up the rest of the stairs. 

You pushed her. “It was you! It was all you.” 

“Everything I did was to protect you,” she said.

You walked around her. “I have spent my entire life hiding from people who might use me for my powers, when I should have been hiding... from you!” You turned.

“Where will you go?” she asked. “He won’t be there for you.”

“What did you do to him?” you asked.

“That criminal is to be sentenced to death for his crimes.”

You gasped, hand on your heart. “No...”

“Now it’s all right, it’s all right,” she cooed. She reached out to touch your hair. “Everything is as it should be.”

You caught her hand. “No!” you shouted against clenched teeth. “You were wrong about the world. And you were wrong about me! And I will never let you use my hair again!” You pushed her out of the way.

She stumbled back, getting knocked into the mirror. It tipped over and shattered.

You glared at her, then hurried to the window.

“You want me to be the bad guy?” she mumbled. “Fine. Now I’m the bad guy.”

Just as you swung your leg over the tower, she dragged you back. “No!” you screamed, thrashing. You tried to hit her, but she grabbed your hand and pushed you to the floor. She dragged you to the wall, where she had chains - ready to lock you up. “No, get away from me!”

“Stop fighting me, ___,” she growled. “Stop. Fighting me!” 

She put a cloth over your mouth and chained you to the wall. You were helplessly stuck there.

Unknown to you, Stephen was outside of your tower. 

“___?” he cried. “___, let down your hair!”

You screamed against the cloth at your mother, who grabbed your hair and threw it down for him to climb up. You cried and pleaded, begging her not to do it. But she only smiled and did it, anyway.

A few minutes later, he appeared and fell through the window. “___, I thought I’d never see you again.” He looked up, smiling, and gasped.

“Stephen!” you screamed against the cloth.

A moment later, your mother appeared out of the shadows and stabbed him in the stomach. He fell to the ground in agony, and you cried out.

“Now look what you did, ___,” she said. “Oh, don’t worry. Our secret will die with him. And as for us? Well, we are going where no one will ever find you again!”

You kept fighting to get to him, even if it was impossible. You just wanted to touch him, to heal him...

She unchained you and opened up a door in the floor that you never knew existed. She dragged you towards it and you fought harder.

“Oh come on, ___! Enough already! Stop... fighting me!” 

“No!” you screamed, the cloth falling off your mouth. “I won’t stop! For every moment of the rest of my life, I will fight. I will never stop trying to get away from you.” You shook your head. “But... if you let me save him, I will go with you.”

“No,” Stephen gasped. “No, ___.”

You ignored him. “I’ll never run, I’ll never try to escape. Just let me heal him, and we can be together just like you want. Forever, just like you want! Everything will be the way it was. I promise! Just like you want. Just. Let. Me. Heal. Him.”

She let you go. She chained him up tight and you wasted no time to run to him. You helped him onto his back and he looked up at you in teary pain. 

“Oh, Stephen,” you whispered. He cried out your name and you hushed him, touching his face, his hair. “It’s alright, I’m here. I’m here.” You looked at his wound and tears filled your eyes. “Oh, I am so sorry. Everything is going to be okay though, just-” You picked up your hair.

He pushed your hand away, like he did with the necklace only a day before. “No, ___,” he grunted.

“I promise, you have to trust me!” you said.

“No,” he replied.

“Come on,” you pleaded. 

“I can’t let you do this,” he said, looking into your eyes. 

You shook your head, feeling absolutely broken. “And I can’t let you die.”

“But if you do this...” You cupped his cheek as he managed to spit out, “then you will die.”

“Hey,” you said softly, smiling. “It’s gonna be alright.”

You put your hair over the wound and closed your eyes, ready to sing.

“___?” he breathed. “Wait...”

You looked at him. He pushed your hair back, and you leaned in. Just as your lips brushed his, though, he grabbed all of your hair at the back of your neck and cut through it with a shard from the mirror your mother had knocked over earlier.

Your hair fell off of you, leaving a short cut left at the base of your neck.

“Stephen, what...” You looked at him in horror.

“No!” your mother screamed. She grabbed at your hair as it changed. She was starting to age quickly. As she fell apart, she stumbled towards the window. “What have you done? What have you done? No, no, no, no... no!” She fell out of it. 

You watched her fall, then, in the silence left, you wrapped your arms around Stephen. You pulled him into your lap and cried out his name. 

“Stephen, no, no, no, no... stay with me, Stephen! I’m right here, you have to stay with me-” you pleaded. He coughed and you stroked his face, then lifted his hand up and put it on what was left of your hair. “Flower gleam and glow, let your... powers shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine...”

“___,” he breathed. 

You looked at him, sobbing now. “What?”

“You are my new dream,” he breathed, not looking at you.

You shook your head. “And you are mine.”

He died in your arms not even a second later, and you were left all alone in the world.

His body laid limp in your lap, and you stroked his face as you softly sang.

“Heal what has been hurt, change the fate’s design. Save what has been lost... bring back what once was mine.” You dropped your head so your forehead touched his. “What once was... mine.” 

As you started to sob, your tears fell on his cheek. 

And in that single tear that you shed, a light of gold. 

You kept weeping over him, until you noticed a light coming out of the wound that took his life. You looked up and in shock. 

You remembered who you were the daughter of. If your real mother was full of magic, then you were, too. Not just your hair.

The light vanished and you leaned in to look at Stephen. His eyes partly opened, and a wash of breath ran out of his lips. 

“___?”

“Stephen?” you asked. 

He looked at you and smiled. “Did I ever tell you that I had a thing for (h/c)?”

You gasped in delight. “Stephen!” you cried. You threw your arms around him and pulled him close.

He embraced you back happily, You sobbed into his shoulder and he pressed his face into the skin of your neck, smiling happily. You pulled back to kiss him passionately, feeling the warmth of his lips on yours.

You were overjoyed to be with Stephen now. You both left your tower without looking back-

And he, being so supportive and head over heels in love with you, even insisted that you find your real mother.

Your mother was someone called the Ancient One, and she was overjoyed to see you. Your reunion was sweet, and she told you of all that she went through to find you. The lights were meant to call to you home to her, and they worked.

“I knew they would,” she said. “And now you can join me in your destiny of magic.” She looked at Stephen. “You too, Stephen Strange.”

You both joined your mother in Kamar Taj. Together, you both studied and practiced to become sorcerers. 

Stephen often told the story of how you both met again and again to Wong, who was less than enthusiastic about hearing it. But he listened, anyway, because he liked you. 

“No I know what you’re thinking,” Stephen said, “Did ___ and I ever get married? Well, I am pleased to tell you that after years of asking and asking and asking... I finally said yes.”

“Do people typically laugh at your jokes?” Wong asked, annoyed.

He didn’t answer. He was watching you for a response.

“Stephen,” you scolded from across the room, a book in your lap.

“Alright, alright. I asked her.” He crossed the room and you stood up, taking his hand in yours. “And we’re living happily ever after.”

“Yes,” he said. “Yes we are.” 

He leaned down and kissed you passionately.

You smiled and held onto your forever-dream a little tighter.

[erule]

yay!! im glad ur requests are open!! I love angst to fluff so what about stephen and the reader soulmate au!! But its like the red string of fate and the reader can see her’s is clearly connected to Stephen but his is all tangled and so he doesn’t realize it yet please and thank you!!

Red string of fate | s.s.

Pairing: Stephen Strange x fem!witch!reader

Summary: you’ve been in love with Stephen for as long as you can remember, but now that you know that he’s also your soulmate, you have to do anything that is in your power to stop his wedding.

Warnings: soulmate au, angst, fluff, Christine is the antagonist (but I love her!!), there’s a fight scene between superheroes (not really violent), mention of blood, mention of hospital, back hurt/back pain, friends to enemies to lovers kinda

Word count: 3.5K

A/N: hi! I used she/her pronouns because they were in the requests, but since there was not determined the state of the reader, I chose her to be a witch like Wanda eheh, hope you don’t mind. Also, I tried to follow the request, but I changed the narrative about the string a little bit in the story, you’ll see. Feedback is always appreciated by a writer! Hope y’all like it. Enjoy! x

Tags: thanks to @ssathoma for the request, hope you like it!

Wanda has never been more afraid of anything in her life. Monsters? She can beat them. Aliens? Not a threat. Thanos? Defeated with less power. Children? A joke. But you? The literal villain of her story. 

You’ve been walking around your room shared with Wanda for about fifteen minutes, now. You can’t make up your mind about something you just found out, but Wanda hasn’t realized it yet: you didn’t tell her and your mind was too confused to make her read it. So, tired of this situation, she sits on the bed, legs crossed, while staring at you. 

“Y/N… Y/N! Please, stop. Just talk to me. What’s this so important things that you realized?” 

You suddenly freeze in front of her, making her almost nervous. You sigh, then you show her your red string of fate, a thread that you make appear into the air with a gesture of your hand. Since you’re a witch, you can make people see it, while normally nobody can, unless they have got magic, of course. Usually, you can see the red string of fate in form of a tattoo, a birthmark or else on people’s skin, but that’s not your case: you just hide it with magic. That’s why Wanda didn’t know about your soulmate. On the other hand, you never wanted to know who this person was, so you didn’t really try to follow the string in your head, but now, you know. And this is a nightmare.  

“Do you see it?”

“Yeah, I can see the string, but… not your soulmate. Who is it?”

“That’s because his string is all entangled!” You exclaim and Wanda gulps. “Sorry. Okay, well, last night I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about Stephen… again… and his fabulous hands touching Christine’s hair at dinner, in front of me. Disgusting. Anyway, I finally decided to untangle the string in my head, to see where it’s going, breaking the promise I made to myself when I was little: I would have found my soulmate when faith would have told me. My patience was over, Wanda. Please, tell me that you get it”.

She nods.

“I see. So, who’s the mystery man? Bucky? Loki? Zemo?”

“Worse”.

“Worse than them? Star-Lord?”

You burst into laughing.

“He’s nice. Anyway, he’s the only person I have a crush on. Perhaps, I’m even in love with him. But unfortunately, he’s dating somebody else”.

Wanda brings her hand to her mouth, shocked. Your eyes appear glossy, now. Something in her chest aches for you. 

“Y/N…”

“It’s Stephen, Wanda. Stephen is my soulmate. And he’s engaged”.

Maybe, you shouldn’t have put it into place again. Maybe, you should have let him know that you were his soulmate, but you didn’t want to change his perception of you. However, you did that after you acknowledged your feelings for him. And you couldn’t tell him either, because he’d be angry at you for using magic kind of against him. 

“You did the right thing, Y/N,” Wanda tells you, caressing your back.

“It’s hard to think that, when I’m forced to look at him getting married to somebody else,” you reply, while looking at him and Christine sitting on the couch, choosing the best decorations fot the wedding.

“I know, honey. The right thing isn’t always the easier one. But you’re a good person. Find peace in that”.

“Maybe I’m tired of being nice,” you say, then you swallow your pride, your willing of being again in your room and not there, your heart being so envy of Christine, the heat given by your feelings running through your veins and you come closer to the happy couple with your best fake smile on your lips. “Christine, Stephen told me yesterday that maybe you need some help with the cake, is that correct?”

She gives you a smile.

“Yeah, it’s true!”

“Thanks, Y/N. I have to go on a mission today, so I can’t be here to taste the cakes, but I trust you. See you later, my love,” he says to Christine, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“My love”. Alexa, play “It should be me”. 

“Chocolate or strawberry?” Christine asks you, while you’re sitting next to her on the couch. She’s looking at the cakes on a catalogue.

“Dark chocolate,” you whisper, then you raise your voice. “Stephen loves dark chocolate”.

“Dark chocolate it is! You really seem to know him, Y/N,” she says and you nod.

“Not enough, probably,” you murmur.

“You know, I used to think that you were in love you with him and I got even jealous, because the two of you are always a really capable couple during the fights, but now I realize that you’re just a good friend of his and I’m glad that he’s got you,” she says, squeezing your hand. You smile at her, while your eyes are burning for the tears 

“Thanks, Christine”.

A stab would have done less harm.

It has been a week, since that terrible day. You can’t sleep anymore, because of this secret. Wanda told you that it would been selfish for you to confess everything to him, but what if he’s marrying the wrong person? He should know it, he should have the right to choose his path, since his string is entangled (again) and he can’t see his faith very well. The wedding is in a month. You dan’t have much time. 

So you put on some fresh clothes, then you go to the room in the compound he usually uses to study magic. He’s always working, so you’re sure that you’re gonna find him awake and here, not at home with Christine. The door is closed, so you knock and his raspy voice responds: “Open”.

But he’s not working. When you open the door, he’s wearing an unusual suit: it’s white and gold, even if his cape is always the red one. Your whole body is suffering for this, because you can’t touch him or see his on the altar, in front of you. 

“How do I look?” He asks you, turning around so you can see him better. In the mirror, your image would show him your inner secrets. “This is ridiculous, isn’t it? Wong told me to wear this stupid ancient suit, but probably I could just buy a smoking and…”

“You’re perfect,” you say and your voice, even if it’s low, echoes between the walls. He looks at you with his lips not touching one another for the surprise, like you and him. But even Thanos would know how much you’d love to touch him. 

“Thank you,” he says, smiling with just one corner of his lips. You nod. “Did you need anything?”

You. Just you.

And then, a voice in your head, maybe because of the lack of sleep, tells you to confess him the whole truth.

“I have to tell you something”.

He observe you, scanning your face, then he shakes his head.

“There’s no need”.

“Stephen, please…” you begin to say, coming closer to him.

“No, Y/N, let it go”.

“You should know it!”

“I already know,” he tells you and you stop in the middle of the room. Your eyes grow wide. He can’t know, it’s impossible. There’s no way in the world in which he can have figured or imagined it. “I know it, Y/N and I do not care”.

You swallow hard. 

“What?” You whisper. “How?”

“I saw you in my dreams, that night. You stepped into my space, so I woke up in my head and I saw you untangle the threads. I know that you’re my soulmate, but it’s not important: I fell in love with Christine and we’re gonna get married soon. That string doesn’t mean anything,” he tells you, calmly, while your heart breaks more and more at every word he says.

You’re in pieces and he doesn’t even care about that.

“Stephen, it’s magic. We believe in it more than in everything else. Love itself is a pure form of magic. How can you say something terrible like that?”

You’re fighting with the urge to scream, right now.

“You said that yourself: love is a form of magic and I fell in love with Christine. It’s as simple as that. Unless, you fell in love with me, of course. But you didn’t fall in love with me, did you?” He jokes, while adjusting his sleeve. You remain quiet, so he raises his gaze in order to look straight into your eyes. “You didn’t fall in love with me, did you?” He repeated, his tone surprised yet almost angry. A sob escapes from your lips and you immediately close your mouth with your hands. “Damn, Y/N!”

“I’m sorry, Stephen…”

“You ruined everything!” His rage could be heard by the others, now. “Why are you doing this to me? Because you needed to tell me the truth? You should have kept your stupid secret for yourself!”

“Stupid? Love is not stupid! Even if it’s unrequited!” You scream.

“You’re not my friend, you’re acting like a selfish little girl who fell in love with her classmate. Flash news: we’re not in high school anymore, Y/N!” 

“Watch your tongue, Strange,” you say, while some red sparks begin to dance around your fingers.

“Or what?” He asks you, tilting his head, but instead of seeing him angry, he seems almost… challenging, to you. As if he has been waiting for this moment for years.

You hear some steps behind you. 

“What’s happening, here?” Wanda ask.

“A magic fight? Wow! Please, let me watch!” Peter Parker exclaims.

“Nobody’s gonna fight, Peter. Right, Y/N?”

You breathe out. 

“Right”.

“You’re not invited to the wedding anymore, Y/N,” Stephen says.

“I didn’t plan to come anyway,” you lie, then you get back to bed, while your heart is still aching for him.

***

You can see that Wanda is angry in her eyes, but she has also given you the access to her mind, so you can see the fight she had this morning with Stephen.

“She’s your best friend, it’s insane that you don’t make her come to your wedding!”

“She crossed the line, Wanda. Oh and Y/N, if you’re looking at his: remember not to behave like a child with your next crush”.

“You’re being mean, now”.

“She entered in my dreams and she didn’t even apologize to me! It wasn’t fair, Wanda”.

“Love’s not fair, Strange”.

“Friendship is”.

You get out from her mind, sighing.

“He’s right, Wanda: I broke his trust. I get why he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore”.

“He’s hiding something, Y/N,” she says, while walking around your room. 

“Okay, enough, you’re looking like me now,” you joke. “What’s up?”

Wanda stops, then she looks at you, sat on the bed. You’re curious of what she’s been thinking for days.

“He seems too hurt. I observed him during the last few missions and he seemed very nervous”.

“He’s getting married in two weeks, it seems normal to me”.

“No, it’s not. Strange asked Christine to marry him one year ago and since that day, he stuck with that decision, but when he discovered that you’re his soulmate, he began to waver”.

You get up from the bed, coming closer to her.

“What are you trying to say?”

Wanda licks her lips, before she talks.

“That he’s not entirely in love with Christine”.

It’s late afternoon and you’re watching the sunset in New York, when Stephen comes down from the sky, after the two of you have defeated another monster. There was a lot of tension between you two, but you worked pretty well anyway. What you missed more was the fact that you didn’t banter like an old married couple, during the fight. Usually, that is the best part of the job. You wonder if he thought about that too.

“Everything’s under control, Y/N. We have destroyed enough buildings, today,” he jokes and you chuckle. 

“I had to contain my power, actually,” you reply. 

“Me too,” he says, then you flickers you a glance. “We should do something about this repressed rage, don’t you think? The compound is empty, if you want,” he says and you blush. “I’m talking about a fight. A little fight in the room that Doctor Banner made for us, in which our powers can’t harm anything or anybody, except for ourselves, of course”.

You stare at him, thinking, then you nod in agreement: maybe you can investigate some more on his relationship with Christine. You could even find out if she poisoned him or if she asked for help to another with in order to make him fall in love with her. Or perhaps, this is not a trick and you just can’t handle the truth: he’s really in love with her. And yeah, maybe she doesn’t care about her real soulmate or her thread is all tangled too.

The room has windowson every wall, but you can’t see your reflection on them or if there’s somebody outside. Your possible enemy can’t know where you are, but you can’t know if you really exist too. This happens because you’re forced to focus on the other person’s presence in the room. You find it ironically sad, because even in the real world, Stephen’s presence is all you care about. He’s the only one you can see in every room. 

“Are you scared, Y/N?” He asks you, while you can feel his energy running through his veins. “You’re not even looking at me”.

“I don’t have to look at you to actually see you, Stephen,” you reply with a grin, but there’s a lot of melancholy in your heart and he seems to know it. 

That’s when you catch him by surprise. You first attack causes a cut along his cheek. A trickle of blood runs down his jaw, but he doesn't seem to notice it. You leap towards him, but a bubble of energy shoots you across the room, causing you to flip backwards. At this point you start to think that he is almost angrier than you, because, unlike you, he is not holding back for real anymore.

“You’re not using your powers like you normally do in a fight. There’s no need to protect me!” He exclaims, then he comes closer to you, but you fight his punch with a shield made of red energy. 

“I’m just trying to protect myself! My powers could even destroy this room!” You reply.

“Were you protecting yourself, when you confessed your feelings for me?” He asks and you get distracted. One moment later, he pulls your back against the wall, one of the windows. 

You slide to the floor and there you remain for an endless time. You try to get up, but you can't. He may even have broken your back, for all you know.

"Stephen, I don't..."

"I was calm, you know? When I asked Christine to marry me."

"Stephen..."

"I was calm, because I knew that I would have spent the rest of my life with a good woman, who loved me and I, in some twisted way, loved her. I didn't care who was on the other side of my string and neither did she. We had found our soul mate, that was okay. Then you came along and you had to screw it up with your stupid curiosity. You might as well have found it out and kept it to yourself, I wouldn't have told you anything, but no, you had to make me knwo that too. And now I'm always restless."

"Stephen, something is wrong..."

"Sure! I can't fool Christine right now. She doesn't deserve it. I thought I was chasing a chimera, Y/N. I thought that you didn't feel anything for me, so I lied to everyone, even myself, telling myself that it was better that way, but it wasn't true. I never forgot you, Y/N. I never forgot the idea of ​​the two of us together, a mere dream that would never become real. Then you confessed everything to me and even if I was scared, it made me incredibly happy, because I was free. But I can't leave that woman on the altar, because she trusts me. Tell me this makes sense, please,” he explains, but you’re tired now and every fiber in your body is in pain.

“My back… Stephen, my back…” 

“Y/N? No, don’t close your eyes, no, Y/N… Don’t close your eyes!”

When you open your eyes again, you’re in a hospital room. The walls are white, the air is aseptic and you feel like you’re not breathing anymore. How many days have passed? Is Stephen already married to Christine? This is a nightmare come true. It can’t be.

Somebody enters in the room. You look at your right, only to see Christine. She’s not wearing any ring and you make a sigh a relief. She seems to notice that, but she doesn’t say a word about it.

“How are you?” She asks you, gently.

“Not in pain anymore, which is already something, I guess,” you joke. She gives you a smile. 

“You know, he didn’t leave your side for the entire time. Even now, he’s outside, sat on a bench, his head between his hands, thinking about you,” she says and you swallow. There’s something in her voice that makes you respect her even more. Resignation.

“I didn’t have the right to tell him…”

“No, you didn’t,” she cuts you off. You gulp. “You didn’t have the right to tell him that you were in love with him just one month before our wedding, but you did have the right to tell him about his soulmate. Why? Because he deserved to know that it was you. I wouldn’t have cared about anybody else, but when he told me that it was you, two days ago, when he brought you here, upset, everything was clear in my head: he didn’t want to know the identity of his soulmate, because he was scared that it would have been you. Because pretending to love me was easier than loving you for real,” she explains and finally, you understand the final picture. 

“I really am sorry, Christine,” you murmur anyway, because she still has to know that.

“I know, but I’m glad that this happened, because probably I wasn’t really in love with Stephen and now I can find my real soulmate, that hopefully will love me that much. He feels guilty, Y/N. Now tell him that you’re alright, because your powers and some rest healed your body,” she says, then she goes away.

Stephen enters into the room with his eyes circled in red. He swallows, then he basically runs to you, embracing you into his arms. You close your eyes, inhaling his scent, feeling at home. 

“I’m okay, Stephen. Christine said that my powers helped my body to heal,” you tell him and he nods, while caressing your back, that fortunately doesn’t hurt anymore.

“I’m sorry for all of this pain I caused you. Christine didn’t tell me why, but she doesn’t want to marry me anymore. My life is a complete mess, Y/N. Wanda says that you can put all the pieces together, but I don’t…” 

You cut him off by kissing him. It’s a sweet and brief kiss, but full of passion and love. You hope that he can feel your power running through his veins too, like you can do with him. Together, you could potentially rule the world. This is a complete soulmate thing.

“You’re forgiven, Stephen. And I’m sorry too, for sneaking into your head without you knowing. It wasn’t fair,” you say and he squeezes your hand.

“Soulmates always find each other. Maybe that’s why you did that”.

“You were my soulmate even before I knew it,” you reply with tears in your eyes and he gives you a small kiss on your forehead.

“And you were mine”.

[buckyismybicycle]

[PART 21] TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE (DAD!BUCKY X TEACHER!READER)

Title: teach me how to love - AO3 Pairing: Bucky x Reader (teacher) Rating: Explicit (for Chapter 9 & 12 & 20) Tags/Warnings: godfather!Bucky, canon-typical violence/death of character, fluff, angst, learning disability, almost a spy AU, PTSD, nightmares, mentions of anxiety, oral/penetrative sex, body modification, pain and angst, hurt/comfort, surgery/operations

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | [series masterlist] | [overall masterlist]

Author’s Note: FRIENDS! I AM ALIVE! Barely. I'm so sorry for the delayed update, I got caught up with Bucky Barnes Bingo and then work had me training people for 7 weeks ;__; SEVEN WEEKS! Four hours a day. I cannot. Anyway, I made this chapter a bit longer for you all! 

You’re nervous - maybe even more so than Bucky, or he’s just hiding it really well. 

They’re going to start at 6:30am, which means you end up going with him. Tony, somehow, managed to extend his medical bay into a full operation room. Bucky relaxes, marginally. Says it’s similar to the air force’s but brighter and more spacious. 

You meet Shuri, Tony and Dr. Reyes in person, and chat about what to expect, what will happen and what the post-surgery recovery will be like. There’s also another doctor that gets brought in, Dr. Stephen Strange - a neurologist. The best, they say. Paying very close attention, you make mental notes as you nod along, even if Bucky already knows most of it.

The blessing of doing this privately was that the setting was much less formal. Dr. Reyes had brought her team - the same team, according to Bucky, and they would help direct him. 

“Okay, give papa one more kiss before he goes in,” you hoist Yelena up on the gurney and watch as she lays on Bucky's chest for a hug and then kisses him on the cheek. Gowned and a little pale, he still lights up for her. 

“Be good today, okay?” 

“Okay, papa,” she replies obediently. She snuggles a little longer, and then you help her back down.

“I’ll see you after,” you say, bidding him good luck. 

“After,” he agrees. The surgery will take roughly twelve hours, so you and Yelena will both long be done with school by then. He’s in good hands - you have to keep reminding yourself of this, and that he’ll be fine. Regardless of the fact that he’s in a pale blue gown, and his eyes keep flicking about nervously. He’s fine. 

You repeat that to yourself the whole ride over, half-answering Happy’s questions and gladly letting Peter and Yelena chatter in the back about the upcoming Holiday Show. The Show that you had been procrastinating on planning, considering all that’s happened. 

One thing at a time. 

— 

Having familiar faces certainly helps a lot; he gets settled quicker, calms easier, and breathes more evenly. It’s nice to see Dr. Reyes again, so he can properly thank her, even when she waves it off. Dr. Strange is a bit cold, silent, and Bucky can respect that - it means he’s focused. Bucky’s been the same way a hundred times. 

Truthfully, a part of him really hopes that everything is successful, not just for his sake, but so they can get the credit they absolutely deserve. Each of them, so advanced in their field and so incredibly gifted, should have a chance to brag to the world about their work.

When it’s time for him to go under again, he is infinitely more relaxed, because he knows that when he wakes, he’ll have people waiting for him. 

— 

“How are we looking?” Tony asks about two hours in, when he’s refitted the socket with Shuri’s help. Her hands are delicate and steady, detailed with the wiring while he welds carefully, smooth metal forming and bending under his touch. 

“Steady now,” Shuri mumbles quietly as they link the last receptor in place. The tangle of wires is almost overwhelming. “Alright, Dr. Strange, I believe we are ready for you.”

The surgeon nods dutifully and turns his attention to the small incision he’s made behind Bucky’s ear, a strip of hair shaved away, and carefully inserts the small fishhook he has, followed by the thin prod. He sends a jolt through tired wire, and Bucky’s forefinger twitches. The entire crew looks to one another - doctors, scientists, engineers and nurses alike. 

“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Dr. Reyes says, though her smile is positively beaming, if the crinkle of her eyes is anything to go by. The energy in the room is palpitating with excitement and optimism. 

“Digitus medius,” Dr. Strange announces, and slowly moves his prod to the next designated wire. On command Bucky’s middle finger curls. 

“Do you see this?” Shuri asks, her eyes wide and misty as she witnesses the miracle before them. 

“Digitus medicinalis.” Dr. Strange stays focused — while he would love for all of this to be perfect, he is a man of practicality and precision. First, they need to ensure everything is working before celebrating. 

He repeats the process for all the fingers, barely holding back a smile when each one reacts accordingly. 

The test gets repeated, for accuracy, while Tony secures the arm, grinning to himself as the mechanism locks into place perfectly. Shuri, on her handheld, tracks the relay time and each test for their report. 

“Well,” Dr. Strange states at last. “I think we’re officially in the clear. Mr. Barnes has a new, fully functional robotic arm of vibranium.” 

They take a moment to cheer and congratulate each other before, even if it’s a tad premature. They have to, of course, still wait for Bucky to wake up and use the arm on his own, but it’s a tremendous first step. 

Dr. Reyes is steady and patient as she closes the site, stitches perfectly even and spaced while Dr. Strange sutures the small incision behind Bucky’s ear. 

Hours and hours flew by, and it was only when they were wrapping up did the aches and pains of operating for so long catch up to them. 

“Jesus, I’m getting old,” Tony complains, rubbing his lower back after he stretches. 

“Then what does that make me?!” Shuri jokes, stretching her shoulders by circling her shoulders. The two surgeons look at them sympathetically, but with amusement. 

“Try doing it for a living, hm?” Dr. Reyes teases. 

— 

You had been anxious the entire day, constantly checking your phone for updates and worrying about the surgery. It had just all seemed so complicated. 

The hours dragged on, which didn’t happen often for you, but it’s like the minutes trickled by. For the most part, Yelena had been acting normally as she always had – you only wished you could do the same. 

When it finally came time for school to finish, you and Yelena had followed Peter dutifully to meet Happy, who always openly invited you to take a ride at any time. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the surgery, would you?”

“I’m ‘fraid not,” Happy says remorsefully. “Haven’t heard anything, in fact. Might still be going.” 

Of course it would be a long surgery, but it didn’t help put your mind at ease at all. You did your best to smile and put on a brave face for Yelena, and encouraged her to play Peter while you waited because it seemed Bucky still wasn’t out of surgery. It’d been twelve hours by now! You were so anxious it started to make your tummy hurt, but you diligently waited in the room that Pepper had shown you too. 

It was empty, of course, the large space in the middle of the room awaiting Bucky, just like you, the monitors turned off and lifeless. Your stomach let out a little rumble, to remind you that you had nibbled on your lunch throughout the day having felt too cramped up for much else. 

Another hour passed before Dr. Reyes walked into the room, still in her scrubs, surprising you. 

“How is he?” You ask in a rush, rising up from your seat, fidgeting with your cardigan. To your delight, Bucky was being wheeled in behind her.

“As you can see, he’s doing just fine,” Dr. Reyes assured you, just as Shuri walked in, still donning her operation garb as well. Tony entered the room next, in jeans and a t-shirt unlike Dr. Reyes. 

“We’ll wait for him to wake up before we can see if the arm’s working, but the tests we ran indicate that everything was successful,” Shuri says with a kind smile. As Dr. Reyes’ team set up the monitors, you let out a huge breath of relief you hadn’t even known you were holding at seeing the monitors come to life. There, on display and accompanied by the steady beeping, was proof that Bucky was okay.

Just seeing him was a huge weight off your chest, even if you knew he had been in good hands. 

That nervous energy bubbled up as you let out a surprised, happy sound. “That’s amazing!” 

“Remember, we have to wait, but… The prognosis is looking good,” Tony reminds you. 

Right, The waivers, the warnings – there was a chance that none of it had worked at all, and they instructed Bucky not to get his hopes up, which meant you weren’t supposed to get your hopes up either.

But you wished and prayed, because if anyone deserved this to be a success, it would be Bucky! Please, let his pain end. 

The doctor went over a few post-op instructions with you, and you didn’t want to correct her in saying that you and Bucky hadn’t necessarily talked about his post-op yet so you listened carefully and would make notes on it later. 

Finally, when it was just you and Bucky, you took the time to look him over. The bandages were visible across his torso, and you’re sure there was more underneath the blanket covering him, but the bruising went across his collarbone. Part of his hair had been shaved, but you found it still suited him, somehow. You’d have to convince him to commit to an undercut for a while. 

“Hey, Buck,” you whispered softly into the room, grabbing his right hand. It was warm and calloused in your touch, just like you remember it. You smooth his hair out, unable to resist the want to simply touch him and be near him. 

“PAPAAAAAA!” Yelena’s holler can be heard on the other side of the door, so you back up a bit and brace yourself for the bundle of glee flying at you. 

“Papa!” She stage-whispers, tiptoeing to try and see him. You hoist her up onto the bed gently. 

“You have to be very careful with papa right now, okay?” 

She nods vigorously, her red hair bouncing, trying to wriggle her way up the right side of his body. You try to hold back tears as Yelena arranges herself, tucked into Bucky’s side, her tiny hands wrapped around two of his fingers to throw his arm over herself. She looks pleased with her set up and then proceeds to tell Bucky about her day, 

It was so sweet, the way that unconditional love is, that you wanted to give them a moment. You figure now would be a good time to see to it that Yelena got food too, so you place your things down, just grabbing your wallet and phone. 

“I’m going to get us something to eat, okay, sweetie?” 

“Okay!” Yelena says, before launching back into her story of how she spilled paint on her desk today. 

— 

“... But Ms. [y//n] let me pick out a sticker and said it was a secret! She said that it didn’t count because it was a sticker for you, so I picked one for you. It’s a red star, because stars are pretty and you put them in my room before and they were on even though it was dark so now I’m gonna give you a star back.” 

Bucky smiled to himself, even though he was too tired to move or even say anything. He simply kept his eyes closed, enjoying Yelena’s story, looking forward to receiving a sticker. She was tucked into his side – his good side, thankfully – just like she would be at home watching movies. Even opening his eyes seemed like a tremendous task at the moment, so he let himself relax, his mind half-conscious. He’s almost asleep when the door opens and shuts, and thinking it might be a nurse, he hopes they’ll be able to conduct whatever test it is they need if he just lies still enough. 

“Here, did you want tuna or chicken salad?” 

Hearing your voice is almost enough to make Bucky open his eyes – he really tries, but his body still feels heavy. Immobilized. 

“Tuna, please,” Yelena says softly, and Bucky feels her shifting around to sit up. She doesn’t get off the bed, just content to let Bucky’s arm lay in her lap while she kicks her feet underneath her. There’s crinkling of wrap, and a few shuffling noises. 

It warms his heart to know that you’re here, that you’re looking after Yelena while he can’t. If he could, he’d tell you how much it meant to him, but first, his head needs to stop pounding. 

“Will Papa be awake for the holiday show?” Yelena asks. 

“I think so, hun,” you say, the silly name slipping out naturally. “We’re going to have to see how Papa feels after he wakes up, because sometimes it takes a lot of time to feel all better.” 

 “What if he can’t make it to the show?” Oh, how Bucky’s heart broke at the prospect. Of course he wanted to see Yelena in her show. 

“Well, we can call him through video, and he can watch the whole thing as you perform. And afterward, you can come right up and talk to him. It’ll almost be like he’s right there!” 

This time, Bucky does somehow put up a small smile. He tried to move his hands, and he can’t tell if it works – not until he hears your sharp little intake, followed by your voice whispering his name. 

He can’t manage words – not yet, anyway. All he can manage is a noise in his throat as he tries to open his eyes, the light making it hard not to just squint the entire time. 

“Hang on – nurse!”

There’s footsteps and chatter about his vitals before the lights are dimmed and someone’s whispering, “don’t overdo it.”

He has no idea how he can possibly overdo anything when he’s just simply lying there. Yelena had been taken off the bed, and there’s other hands on him now - adult hands. 

“Buckaroo, can ya hear us?” 

Ah, Tony. He nods his head, or at least, he thinks he does. 

“Can you open your eyes, Mr. Barnes?” 

Probably? Maybe.  

He opens them, slowly, one at a time, squinting enough that his head hurts already. The lights were turned down, so his eyes didn’t strain as much, but it still took time for faces and colours to come into focus. 

Dr. Reyes and Shuri were leaning over him, giving him time to fully wake up. But he turned his head to look for you and Yelena. Seeing you settled on a guest chair with Yelena in your lap made him want to smile, if only his muscles didn’t feel so sluggish. 

Tony was by the foot of the bed, a StarkPad in hand. 

“Follow my finger, Mr. Barnes.” 

Right. Dr. Reyes was the one that asked him to open his eyes so he tracks her finger as best he can. They slowly run him through all the basic tests - he gets a flashlight in his eyes, and a few pokes and prods. Yes, he can feel the bottom of his feet, and yes, he can feel the pokes in his other arm.

“Okay. Let’s try… Can you touch you forefinger to your thumb?”

Now, the moment of truth. He’s been trying not to rush things, even though he knows the arm was attached, and it was ready, but his brain hadn’t been fully awake yet. A feeling of nervous dread floods through him. He’d hate to disappoint so many people – every single person in the room, in fact. They all stare at the vibranium arm and Bucky takes a deep breath inward before consciously trying to think of doing it. 

It works seamlessly, and he tries, but fails, to stop the small twitch of the corner of his lip, already trying the next finger before he even gets the instruction to do so. Nobody stops him, watching closely. He taps all his fingers to his thumb, opening and closing his hand in a fist, rotating the wrist. 

He tries to bend at the elbow but there’s a sharp pain in his shoulder. 

“Hold on there, Buckaroo,” Tony instructs. You’re still recovering, so it’ll be some time yet before you have full function, without the pain.”

Bucky nods, a little sheepish for trying to go the distance right off the bat, but he smiles euphorically at how good, how natural it feels. 

“Other than that, how does it feel?” Shuri asks. “The goal is make it so the neuro-signals are fluid, easy, similar to your last set.”

“As botched as the arm was, the wiring was decent enough but we had to make a few touch ups,” Tony adds.

“A few,” Dr. Strange, who has been standing in the corner to observe, scoffs. “We upgraded the system as best as we could. Though, I have to admit, I was quite impressed with how quickly you were able to adapt. Well done.”

“Most impressive indeed,” Shuri adds, leaning in to look at the subtle plates in the arm and fingers. 

Bucky doesn’t feel like he’s done anything to deserve the praise, but he sits there and lets them take notes.

“Does this mean… That’s it? I don’t have to go through surgery again?”

“Nope,” Tony confirms, popping the “p” sound. “Not unless you want everything removed.” 

Dr. Reyes nods. “You should still do follow up scans, just for maintenance sake. While I think we did a daily good job, your body will continue to grow and form, and it may jostle some of the hardware. If there’s any replacement or repair needed, we can always revisit that.”

“The good thing is, even if you no longer want the arm, so long as everything else is intact, you can simply remove the arm and cover the socket,” Shuri adds. 

“This is… Thank you. Thank you all for this,” Bucky starts to tear up, then, The overwhelming generosity of these strangers just improved his life tremendously, and on top of all that, they were showing a great deal of kindness. 

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Barnes,” Dr. Reyes responds first with a smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you, and working with all of you.” She turns her head to everyone in the room. “I have to say, we do make an excellent team.”

“Mhm!” Shuri nods proudly. 

—

They all speak a little bit of the recovery – most of it was already said, but it served as a good time to repeat the instructions to yourself, to have them memorized. Bucky nods, attentive to the care instructions he’s given, and then with more thanks on Bucky’s part, everyone files out one by one, leaving you with Bucky and Yelena, who’s since been put back on the bed. 

“Are you hurting, Papa?”

“A bit,” Bucky tells her. “It’ll just take me some time, but then I’ll be all better.”

“Promise?” 

“Sure thing, buttercup,” Bucky responds, rubbing her back, his hand looking enormous on her back. 

It’s evening now, and it doesn’t look like Bucky will be able to go home just yet, as expected, so you would have to leave with a heavy heart, knowing Bucky was being cared for. 

After Yelena falls asleep – and Bucky knows this, because she drools on his arm – he finally gets to have one-on-one time with you. 

“Thank you, again, for… Everything,” Bucky settles on, unable to encompass his gratefulness. 

“Don’t be silly,” you say. “I haven’t done anything.” 

“You’ve done everything,” Bucky says genuinely, reaching for your hand that you’re only too happy to give him. He squeezes, weakly. 

“Just get better, alright?” You pick up his hand and hold it in both of yours. His eyes softened as he looked up.

“Anything for you.” 

“Listen, Bucky? They nurses and doctors gave me all the instructions for your post-op care and —”

“Oh my god,” Bucky blurts out, embarrassed. “You don’t – ah, I probably should’ve…” 

You smile at him. “It’s okay, I just wanted to let you know I have all the papers. I know we didn’t exactly talk about it, so I wasn’t sure what your plan was.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says sheepishly. “I’ve done this before, I promise.” 

“Bucky, there’s no way you’re about to do this on your own. At least have Clint or –”

“Don’t worry,” Bucky emphasizes again. “I’m –”

“I can stay, if you’d like,” you offer. Your heart beats quickly, preparing for the rejection of your offer, but Bucky just stares up at you. His eyes are clearer than they previously were, but he definitely still looked a little out of it.  

“I can’t ask you to do that for me,” he says softly. 

“You’re not asking,” you insist. “I’m offering.” 

A dopey smile starts to make its way across his face – one that you find yourself returning.

—-

The recovery process, of course, isn’t easy, and neither you nor Bucky expected it to be. It had involved Bucky explaining to Yelena, so she understood what was happening, and you convincing Bucky to rest and take it easy (which was really no easy task). 

Most surprisingly, not a lot changed with your routine. You both decided that to give Yelena as much room as possible, you would only stay here and there. Your change of clothes and a toothbrush was evidence enough of the time you spent there, but you also had the habit of freezing meals so they would go a few days without you. Riley helped by bringing stuff with him when he met with Sam, for Sam to drop off. Sometimes, you could send something home with Yelena at school. 

“Papa said that the stuff last time was really good,” she says brightly one day. 

“The dumplings? Good! They’re one of my favourites,” you respond with a smile.

“I liked them too!” She exclaims. 

“I’m very glad you liked them too. I can always make more. Maybe we can make some together one day?”

“Yummy,” Yelena decides with a nod. 

“How was Papa this morning?”

“Tired, he says! But he didn’t look tired. He was smiling like he was happy.” 

“That’s good, sweetie,” you reply sincerely. 

It was a good balance, and while you saw a lot of each other it was by no means getting in each other’s faces. You stayed over once or twice a week, and sometimes you’d only stay the evening. Other days, Clint stayed for a few hours and Sam saw him everyday when he dropped off Yelena. And Bucky – well, Bucky did handle himself well, just like he said he would. The arm was lighter than his previous one, and it threw off his balance for a while. He had to get used to the feeling, since the new arm had a more sophisticated feedback system. 

The first time he touched you with the vibranium arm, he had looked at where he was touching in awe. 

“Something wrong?” You asked, naturally worried. 

He shook his head, before a small smile formed. “I can feel… how soft you are.” 

A little pink creeps into your cheeks with how enraptured he is by this fact, and you watch as he relearns the things in his life with the technology now embedded in the arm. Shuri and Tony had really gone all out and thought of everything they could have. 

He pets Yelena’s hair and pinches the fabric of the blanket between his fingers. He runs his hands on the back of the couch and takes an extra moment under the stream of the tap when he cleans the dishes. You slyly try to watch his expressions, the slight widening of his eyes in surprise as he keeps finding new sensations that differ from his old arm.

“So, how is it so far?” You ask him one day, after tucking Yelena into bed. 

“Feels a lot better,” Bucky tells you, relieved. “It’s almost the same but so different? They… God, I owe them a million times over.” 

You reach over to grab his hand. “They offered to do this for you, it wasn’t like you didn’t have any risks going in. I bet it feels good to pave the way though!” 

“Yeah, I hope they get to use this. Dr. Reyes says there’s already another candidate for the procedure.”

“Really? I didn’t even know they published anything yet.”

“They haven’t, it’s a patient of Dr. Reyes, she wants to recommend it.” 

“You were really brave, Buck.” 

With you being at school all day and Bucky still on a concoction of anti inflammatories and painkillers, you don’t last much longer than Yelena does. 

“Ready for bed?” 

“Mmm,” you reply, letting Bucky tug you up from the couch as you both creep quietly up the stairs. 

Yelena’s door is still open a smidge, and you can see her mop of hair on the pillow. Bucky strips carefully, pulling it over his right side and head, letting it slide down the left. The inflammation has all but gone in the past month and a half, unless he overworked himself, but the stitches had to come out, and the area was still red. Overall, he was healing nicely, the hair already growing back over his shaved bit. 

You go through your routine to give Bucky the bathroom after, and he goes through it slowly, but surely. 

When you had first been helping after the surgery, you’d been afraid to touch him. Day by day, he’d shown signs of healing, which is why now, you lay your head on his right shoulder, his arm curled around your shoulder. The vibranium hand sits on his chest, sleek and beautiful, and you curl your fingers around his. 

“‘Night, Bucky,” you yawn. 

“G’night, sweetheart,” he mumbles into your hair. “I love you.” 

You manage a sleepy “love you too” before drifting off. 

NEXT CHAPTER>> | Series Masterpost by Chapter | [overall masterlist]

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[galactic-magick]

OLD FANFIC REQUEST LIST

THIS IS MY OLD RULES AND REQUEST LIST, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A REQUEST PLEASE REFER TO THE UPDATED ONE IN MY BIO OR LINKED IN MY PINNED POST!

Disclaimers: I do NOT write smut, sorry, but pretty much anything else is fine.

I CAN write F/M, F/F, M/M, Platonic, Asexual, and Demisexual fics!

I will write:

MARVEL/MCU/AVENGERS:

I can write X Readers for almost anyone in the Avengers. Basically just not Thanos 😂

I’m best at writing for Peter Parker, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Steve Rogers, Stephen Strange, and Quentin Beck, but again, I can literally write for almost anyone.

I can also write for these ships:

ScarletVision

Romanogers

Clintasha

Brucetasha

Peter/MJ

Steggy

Thor/Jane

Pepperony

Starmora

Mantis/Drax

Shuri/Peter(either romantic or platonic)

Scott/Hope

Stucky

Valkyrie/Carol

I can also write for Into the Spiderverse!

I will write X Readers for all the main spiderlings except for Spider-Ham(cuz tbh idk how that would work?) I don’t count RIP!Peter either, not because I have anything against him, there’s just not a lot of him in the movie so I don’t feel like I have enough substance to base writing off of?

DCEU:

I can write X Readers for Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Aquaman, Mera, Shazam!/Billy Batson, and Freddy.

I can also write for these ships:

Diana/Steve

Aquamera

THE FLASH:

I’ll write X Readers for pretty much anyone in any season of the show. If you’re not sure if I’ll write someone, just ask! 😁

I also will write these ships:

WestAllen

SnowBarry

SnowCisco

SnowStorm

SnowJay

Snowbert

Caitlin/Ralph

GypsyVibe

Cisco/Camilla

Wally/Jesse

I’m probably forgetting some because there are SO many ships so feel free to suggest any that aren’t already listed!

STAR WARS:

I can write X Reader fics for basically anyone in all the trilogies and spinoffs, and possibly the shows(I’ve seen most of Clone Wars but none of Rebels yet).

I can also write for these ships:

Reylo

FinnRose

Huxma

Han/Leia

Anidala

Luxoka

Bobsoka

Obidala

Stormpilot

FinnRey

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG:

Quick disclaimer: I’ve only seen the seasons on Netflix, so keep that in mind when making requests!

I can write X Readers for any of the Miraculers as well as the other classmates.

I can write for these ships:

Love Square (LadyNoir, Adrienette, Ladrien, MariChat)

DJ WiFi

Lukanette

DISNEY/DREAMWORKS:

I can write X Reader fics for characters in Frozen, Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, and How to Train Your Dragon!

I can also write for these ships:

Jelsa

KristAnna

Hiccstrid

Cousins!Merricup

Flynn/Rapunzel

STRANGER THINGS:

I can write X Readers for Steve, Robin, Jonathan, Nancy, Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max. Keep in mind tho that the kids will be written as the ages they are in the show unless it’s an AU or something.

I also write these ships:

Mileven

Byler

Max/Lucas

Jancy

OTHER FANDOMS I CAN WRITE FOR:

BBC MERLIN

ONCE UPON A TIME

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

SANDERS SIDES

LEGO NINJAGO:

I used to have a fan account on Insta for Ninjago and I wrote fic and made edits, and I’m definitely open to continuing!

Disclaimer: I’m a bit behind though, I’ve only seen the first 6 seasons. (Up through the genie arc I believe?)

I wrote a 30+ part Lloyd x Reader that was really popular on my old account, so let me know if you’d like me to post it here and/or on AO3!

HAPPY REQUESTING!

My ask box is always open. You can request both anonymously and not. I encourage you to be as specific as you’d like, the more specific you are, the easier it is for me to write! 😁

THIS POST IS NOT UP TO DATE! PLEASE REFER TO MY PINNED POST FOR REQUEST UPDATES!