#steve rogers x child!oc

[babyjakes]

forever and a day | 54. you didn't.

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summary | a story in which america’s favorite captain gives a new life and family to a five-year-old girl who has suffered well beyond her years at the hands of hydra.

characters | dad!steve rogers, girl/willa rogers (original character)

warnings | AU similar enough to OU to include spoilers to many Marvel movies (Age of Ultron and beyond). action and fight scenes with violence and killing. injuries/mild gore. mature themes related to and semi-graphic depictions of child abuse/neglect, past CSA and CSM, and their aftermath (emaciation, wounds, scarring, etc). medical abuse (including sterilization) and experimentation. ptsd/trauma symptoms in a child (developmental discrepancies, de-humanized behavior, detachment, extreme fears). medical treatment of CSM and other aftermath of abuse.trauma-informed therapeutic treatment of ECT. minor mentions of disordered eating. themes relating to abuse of power/authority and immoral interrogation tactics including SA (with brief depictions.) evil!Tony Stark.

[Steve]

If the night at Bucky's had been an isolated incident, I wouldn't have thought much about it. Unfortunately, in the days that have followed, things have only seemed to get more and more difficult for Willa.

It started the following morning, when I woke up around 5:00am to find the little girl in the bed next to me, bawling her eyes out. I had quickly switched on the bedside lamp, checking her over to see what was the matter, and I found her to be in the grips of a seemingly hellish night terror. She had no mind channel open, no crimson glow, so there was no way for me to know what she was dreaming of. Immediately, I had gathered her in my arms, rocking and soothing her as best I could while simultaneously hoping to rouse her from her torturous sleep. But it was no use; she was far too deep in the nightmare to break free. She flailed and sobbed and sputtered incoherently for hours, and all I could do was hold her and watch. By the time 7:00am rolled around, she finally woke up, and at that point she was inconsolable.

I couldn't get anything out of her that entire morning. She had fought her way out of my arms and crawled deep under my blankets, and I simply had no heart to remove her. I tried coaxing her out with the promise of cuddles, breakfast, and even her favorite movie, but nothing worked. Eventually, I decided to leave her alone and let her determine when she felt safe to come out, but she ended up staying there for most of the day. When she did finally emerge, she was a puddle of tears, her eyes begging for comfort and reassurance. But at the same time, she wouldn't let me come anywhere near her. When bedtime came around again, I offered to let her sleep with me in my room for another night, and she surprised me greatly by agreeing to it.

Through the night, she had another horrific nightmare, one so terrifying that it sent her jumping out of the bed in fear when she awoke. As soon as she saw me waiting for her with the lamp on, a deeply concerned expression drawn on my face, she grew so afraid of being punished that she began hyperventilating, eventually passing out from her compromised airflow. In the agonizing process of her panic attack, she wet herself again, and it was at that point that I decided I needed to speak with Jenny.

"Did anything happen in the days leading up to her shift in behavior that might've been cause for such a regression?" the mild young lady asks as she sits across from me in the living room. Resting back against the soft cushions of the sofa, I pick apart the past week in my mind, ultimately unable to identify anything.

"No," I sigh with a shake of my head. "There were small incidents here and there, but that's always the way it's been with her. Nothing major happened, at least, not that I can think of." It's now later in the morning, and Jenny and I are wrapping up a last-minute session I requested while Willa plays in her room. The doctor started off speaking with the child herself, but after half an hour or so of not getting much response at all, she decided to come out and work with me instead.

"I see," Jenny notes, scribbling something down on her legal pad. Closing up her pen, she brings her eyes up to meet mine, a familiar sense of warmth and patience lingering in her gaze. "Steve, with everything that Willa's gone through, her road to recovery isn't going to be as smooth as any of us would like it to be." I nod, not sure where the doctor could be going with a statement like that. "And even though things seem like they're getting worse with her, this is actually a pattern that's seen quite frequently with survivors of abuse and trauma who've recently escaped. Willa's body and mind were suppressing a lot of emotions, a lot of fear during her captivity, and even at the tower due to the things Tony did; her system couldn't handle addressing these feelings, so it shut them out. Now that she's in a truly safe place, with a safe person who only loves her and takes care of her, those things are beginning to show themselves because it's safe for them to." A wave of relief washes over me as the woman finishes her explanation, and I let out a deep hum.

"So this... is normal?" I ask. She nods.

"It's a difficult part of the process, since it might seem to both of you like things are getting worse when they should be getting better, but it's really just a sign that her body and mind are ready to start doing some deeper repair."

"I see. That's..." my voice trails off as I bring a hand up to brush through my hair. "That's so good to hear," I finish honestly. "I was really worried that I had done something wrong, or was messing up in some way."

"I don't think you need to worry about that, Steve, not at all. You're doing a phenomenal job with Willa. She just adores you." A faint smile crosses my face as I think of the little girl, and how much love and care I hold for her in my heart as well. "As far as dealing with her new or returning behavior, I'd recommend allowing her to get it out, as much as you possibly can. A big part of her might just need to respond in the way her body originally wanted to. She might need to go through the act of being scared or crying or getting sick, since those were all responses that were made impossible for her up until now. In regards to the increased accidents, it's a very common indicator of sexual trauma in children. I know it's frustrating, but try to be as patient with her about it as you can."

"No, no- it's not even frustrating," I assure her quickly, meaning the words with all my heart. "Really, it's not. It's not a hassle when it happens, not at all; it just makes me so worried."

"I know it's alarming to see her regressing in that sense, but it's totally normal and shouldn't pose an issue permanently as long as she remains in a safe environment where she isn't violated sexually. We're just meeting her where she's at, if that makes sense, and where she's at might go forward or backward for a while before we really start making linear progress. I know you know this already, but Willa is in many ways somewhat younger than five still, at least internally. And that's okay. We just have to let her exist at whatever developmental age she's at."

"And you think- you're sure it's okay? That I'm kind of, well- I don't know, kind of 'babying' her, as Tony would say?" I ask, wanting to be sure the doctor still approves of my controversial approach. Jenny smiles, allowing me to relax even more with relief.

"Yes, that's completely acceptable. Actually, it's probably very therapeutic for her system to be allowed to have those critical early childhood experiences that she was deprived of for so long. Whatever helps her feel safe and secure, even if it's meant for younger kids, is completely fine."

"Good," I nod, feeling slightly more sure about myself as a parent from all of Jenny's encouragement. "I'm sorry she wasn't up to working with you today," I apologize again, "I told her you were coming and asked her to do her best to be open and honest, but... I don't know. At the same time, I don't have much heart to push her."

"It's completely fine," Jenny reassures me once more, shaking her head at my persistent apologizing. "Therapy isn't ever something that should be forced upon a child. She'll talk when she's ready." Glancing down at her notepad, she offers, "I was wondering, though, if maybe the three of us could wrap up the session together? I believe Willa's still playing by herself in her room, and a lot of times children can be demonstrative of what they're thinking or feeling through the ways that they play. Maybe we could sit in with her for a little bit, if you don't mind?"

"I don't mind at all," I tell her, earning a smile as she rises to her feet. 

"Alright, then," she says with a nod. "I'll let you lead the way."

Leading the woman back through the house, I stop just outside the child's half-open door, knocking a few times against the sturdy wood before pulling it the rest of the way open. Willa sits on the floor beside her bed, a few toys scattered around her as she holds a small wooden doll in her hands. Her big green eyes meet mine warily, and my heart sinks as she begins to tremble. "Hey sweetheart," I greet gently. For a moment, I remember that just a few days ago, she would beam every time I entered the room. Realizing that we're back to such a state of fear and uncertainty, a tinge of disappointment builds up inside of me. But then, I remember the doctor's words, and I'm able to remind myself that Willa's behavior is actually probably a good sign, in some weird way. "Things are starting to show themselves because it's safe for them to."

"Your daddy and I were wondering if we could sit and play with you for a little bit," the young lady's soothing voice overlaps her previous words running through my head. A look of skepticism forms on the little girl's face as she glances between the two of us, but thankfully after a few more moments, she nods. "Wonderful," Jenny says with a smile, and we enter in, both sitting a few feet back to give the child some space.

"What're you playing, Willa-bug?" I ask in a gentle tone, now able to get a better look at the toys she's taken out of her boxes. She has a bathtub and a sandbox from a dollhouse set, as well as Captain America and Ironman figurines, and the little brown-haired doll she's holding in her hand. The clothes are half torn off the doll, the hair messed and tangled. Big, frightened eyes look from the doll to me, and then back. "Who've you got there?"

"Willa," she says simply, holding up the doll that seems to represent herself. I nod.

"Is Willa getting dressed?" Jenny asks politely.

Swallowing hard, Willa shakes her head. "Off," she mumbles, removing the toy's purple dress and placing it on the floor. She then removes the doll's underwear as well, leaving it completely naked. Next, she reaches over and picks up the sandbox, opening up the cover. Almost urgently, she begins to dig, not stopping until she's created a little hole in the center. Then, she takes the Willa doll, placing it in the center of the hole. A lump forms in my throat as she buries the tiny pair of underpants with it, not paying any mind to the dress.

"Oh, you're... is Willa playing in the sand?" I ask, trying to understand the child's actions. Not giving a response, Willa simply continues with her scene, picking up the Ironman action figure and extending its arm. Clumsily, she begins using the plastic hand of the figurine to begin shuffling sand back over the doll that represents herself. "Willa, sweetie, what- what is Ironman doing?" I question carefully. 

Once the wooden doll and her underwear have disappeared completely beneath the sand, Willa extends the other arm of the superhero's body, making them now both stick out straight. With a concerning amount of force, she begins jabbing the hands into the sand, uncomfortable sounds of plastic and wood colliding as the man apparently attacks the girl. Glancing over at Jenny, I see that her brow is furrowed in concentration. All I can hope is that she's understanding what Willa's actions mean, because to be completely honest, I have no idea what to make of any of it. 

After several more moments of the violent motions, Willa finally stops, putting Ironman's arms back down and dropping him to the floor. Sifting through the sand, Willa pulls out the wooden doll, shaking her off slightly before finding her purple dress and redressing her. Turning back to the sandbox for a moment, she uses a single finger to re-bury the underpants, causing my brain to ache with questions and concerns. When satisfied with the way the piece of clothing is hidden, Willa picks up the bathtub, once again removing the doll's dress before placing her in the tub, coming to what seems to be a stopping point.

"Sweetheart?" I ask quietly, unable to even form my thoughts into a question.

"Can you tell us what you're doing, Willa?" Jenny fills in for me. "Willa's taking a bath now?" The little girl nods. "What about Daddy? He's with you when you take baths, right?" she continues, picking up Captain America off the floor and offering it to the child. To my surprise, Willa shakes her head, pushing the doll away. Jenny lets her. "No help from Daddy? Okay, that's okay, hun," the doctor says quickly, wanting to avoid upsetting the chidl. 

"What was... what happened in the sandbox, honey?" I ask, not sure if I should be asking so many questions but ultimately too worried to refrain from doing so. Willa flinches slightly at my question, her bottom lip quivering as she gives me nothing but silence in return. "Okay, it's okay, sweetheart," I coo soothingly, not wanting to push the subject too hard, "that's okay, you don't have to tell us."

"How about you keep playing, sweetie," Jenny suggests, "it's okay. You said Willa was in the bath?" The small girl nods, looking back down at her toys before pulling the doll out of the tub, redressing her in her purple gown. Then, the child surprises both me and the doctor by repeating the same exact process all over again, starting with digging out the underpants in the sandbox, putting them back on the doll, and then completely undressing it.

My brow creases in perplexion as I watch Willa 'play,' her motions almost seeming like a routine or ritual that her body knows by heart. She repeats the entire scene once, then twice, and by the point in which she's buried herself a third time with her underwear, preparing the Ironman doll to perform his assault, I finally speak again, causing the child to pause. "Willa," I breathe, my heart pounding faintly in my ears. "What are you doing?"

Her wary gaze rises to meet mine and she blinks, her arm beginning to tremble as she clutches the action figure tightly. 

"Could you explain it to us?" Jenny adds, her voice laced with concern. "What is Ironman doing to Willa?"

"Why is she buried with her underwear?" I ask, earning a glance of warning from the doctor. Sighing, I take a moment to breathe, not wanting to say anything I might regret. "What is- sweetheart," I murmur as I notice the poor thing's eyes filling with tears. "What is Tony doing to you?"

"Hurting me," she concedes, her voice barely loud enough to hear. Her big green eyes peer up at mine and beg for what she's too afraid to out loud: to not hurt her, myself, to not be angry with her for expressing her feelings with her toys.

"Okay, Willa-bug," I nod, not completely understanding but deciding that at the moment, I don't really need to. My biggest priority for now has to be showing Willa that she's safe and that she's not in trouble for what she's admitted. "What if- how about Daddy comes and helps you?" I offer hopefully, taking the Captain America figure from Jenny carefully and holding it up for the little girl to see. "How about Daddy comes and protects you?"

"N-no," Willa refuses, picking up her sandbox and holding it slightly closer to herself, almost in a protective manner.

"Why not, sweetheart? How about Daddy comes and- comes and makes Tony stop, stops him from hurting you," I try, reaching out with the figure and trying to place it in the sandbox with the other two characters. Unexpectedly, Willa jerks it away, bits of sand spilling out from the sides as a look of anger forms on the child's face, a look I've never seen before. "Willa, please-" I insist, extending a hand to take hold of the sandbox.

But to my complete surprise, instead of pulling back again or allowing me, Willa throws the entire thing at me, sand dumping all over my clothes as she snaps, "No. You don't. You didn't."

As the dust settles into my lap and I blink away the sand from my eyes, I'm met with the sight of Willa staring back at me, any indication of anger or frustration completely drained from her face. Her eyes are as wide as saucers as she gawks at me, as if she, herself, can't believe what she's done. And before I can say anything, before I can reassure her or even try to calm her fears, she's jolted up onto her feet, running right out of her bedroom door. 

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[terry-perry]

Steve and asgardian reader cuddling after a long day an the kids are asleep

The kids were finally fast asleep. Today drained the two of them but in a good way. It was the last day of summer, and they ended things with a bang. Big breakfast, visiting the shops until lunchtime. They then spent their time at the zoo until finally, they came home where the kids were put to bed, no problem, and their parents could spend the rest of the evening on the couch.

"We did good, huh?" Steve said, his words humming against the top of her head.

The day was enjoyed by everyone, and it was such a pleasure to see the kids enjoying themselves.

"Did you see how Daisy's eyes lit up seeing all those colorful birds?"

Steve hummed in confirmation. It was adorable seeing how bright their daughter's eyes were when she looked at the tropical birds at the zoo. One would've thought she was witnessing something amazing like a masterpiece of a painting.

"What about Nat and all the dresses she saw at that antique shop?"

Y/N laughed in response, remembering how fascinated Nat was by the many dresses displayed at that one place. She thought they were beautiful princess dresses and even asked her mother if they were like the ones she wore when she was a princess on Asgard. They were far from that kind of style, but Y/N didn't have the heart to tell her that and ended up buying many of the dresses for her. No doubt she and Steve will be attending a little fashion show where she'll show them all off to her parents.

Overall, it was a lovely day filled with so much happiness and joy with a mix of memorable experiences.

Before meeting and falling in love, neither of them knew what to expect out of life. When Steve left his life in 1945, he had lost all hope of ever having stability or finding love. Y/N, meanwhile, believed love would never come unless her father arranged for her to meet someone he claimed was special. They couldn't imagine living in a world where they could have everything they wanted. But there they were, in a place where they can relax after enjoying a fun day with their kids.

After saving the universe from countless threats, they were finally given a safe haven, a place of peace and security. The world offered new heroes that will keep an eye on things. All Steve and Y/N needed to do now was reflect on their achievements and make a good future for themselves and their family.

[therealblondebucky]

Chapter 4 of Not The Only One - A Winter Soldier Story

Rating: Teen to Mature

Word Count: 2.1K

Warnings: Canon-typical violence (with more specifics in the tags)

The jostling of the shipping container woke me up. With nothing else to do, I ate the unappetizing combo of canned meat and ration crackers. Once I finished them off, I was left feeling restless like a caged animal.

In a few hours, the container came to a full stop. Slipping down to the ground, I made my way through the train yard until I found the Lev Tolstoy and my target's train car.

When the train started to move, I punched out a window with my metal arm and came in through the now-open space.

The next moments were a blur as I sprayed mothers and their children alike with bullets from my submachine gun, bashed their heads, slit their throats, and threw knives into their bodies.

Eventually, there were only two people left. The woman leaned forward and her brown hair cascaded over her face and the baby daughter she clutched to her chest.

A few bullets later, my targets were eliminated. Now, I was the only one alive left in the car. I sat down, surrounded by bodies and covered in blood, waiting to pass the Vyborg train station.

When we neared my destination, I jumped off of the train, tucking my body into a ball before the inevitable impact with the ground. I lay stunned for a moment before getting on my feet.

I managed to find my way to the back of the train station without encountering anyone. Two soldiers stood waiting for me. After grabbing my arms, they put the black bag over my head and led me away.

I was completely numb. The world rushed around me without me being conscious of it.

The first thing I saw once the bag was taken off of my head was the man in the beret. He sat at a desk in a large green and white hallway.

"Отведите ее в душ и приведите в порядо," he ordered gruffly after taking a look at me. ["Take her to the shower and get her cleaned up."]

The two soldiers took me into a small locker room with a tiny shower. A crude brown bar of soap and a rough grey towel lay on a bench in the corner.

I stripped out of my blood-covered clothes and unbraided my hair, which was dark and crusty with dried blood.

One of the soldiers said something about hair being thick on my legs and elsewhere. The other replied that he would mention that I needed to be waxed.

Turning the tap revealed that the water was lukewarm at best, but I did not mind. It just felt good to have it flow over my dirty body. I leaned my head back and let it rinse over me.

As the water ran over my perfectly formed muscles, I had the strange feeling that my body had not always been like this.

Rubbing the bar soap on my head, I worked up a lather. I scratched my scalp deeply to get my hair as clean as possible.

Even though the soap was harsh, I scrubbed every inch of my skin with it. Who knew when I would be allowed a luxury like this again?

Stepping out of the shower, I grabbed my towel and quickly dried myself. A sports bra, a pair of underwear, a tank top, and a pair of cloth drawstring shorts were tucked into my towel. I put the all black outfit on and was led away by the two men.

We walked down a long hallway until we came to a room with a thick metal door. Inside, there were various pieces of medical equipment, cabinets, counters, and such, but what caught my attention was the bed with a tray on it.

My supper was a piece of still warm fish, a serving of canned pickled salad, and a slice of bread thinly spread with butter. The food quieted my stomach, but it could not quiet my mind.

When I finished, the men told me to lie down on the bed and fastened me to it. They flicked off the light as they left, closing the large door behind them.

Alone in the dark, I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me far from the horrors the day had brought.

~~~

"Как она?" the doctor asked. ["How is she?"]

"В таком же состоянии, в каком она уехала," Colonel Karpov answered without looking up from the papers on his desk. ["In the same condition as when she left."]

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Хорошо. Все наши тесты указывают на здоровую беременность и безопасные роды. А завтра мы проведем осеменение, если вы согласитесь." ["Good. All our testing indicates a healthy pregnancy and safe birth. And we will perform the insemination tomorrow, if you approve."]

To this news, the Colonel gave his phrase of highest praise. "Отлично." ["Excellent."]

After dismissing the doctor, Karpov dialed the Major General's number. "Женщина-солдат вернулась." ["Zhenshchina Soldat has returned."]

"Лично мне бы ничего не хотелось, кроме как стерилизовать ее и повесить вас, но это не подошло бы высшим силам," his superior snapped. ["Personally, I would like nothing more than to sterilize her and hang you, but that would not go over well with the higher powers."]

The Colonel hated to ask, but after a comment like that, he felt he must. "Сэр, а как насчет Детей Зимы?" ["Sir, what about the Winter's Children?"]

The Major General laughed. "Вы имеете в виду программу разведения? Полковник, у нас сейчас кризис. У нас сейчас нет времени вынашивать и рожать ребенка. Так вы действительно думаете, что у него будет время, чтобы он вырасти и обучился?" ["You mean the breeding program? Colonel, we are in a crisis right now. We don't have time to bear and birth a child right now. So do you really think there will be time for it to grow up and be trained?"]

Karpov took a deep breath. "Сэр, я думаю не только о сегодняшней битве или завтрашней войне. Я думаю о будущем." ["Sir, I'm not just thinking about today's fight or tomorrow's war. I'm thinking about the future."]

"Тогда вы должны знать, полковник, что будущего не будет, если мы не выиграем сегодняшнюю битву и завтрашнюю войну." He paused a moment. "Что заставляет вас поверить в то, что Дитя Зимы - это хорошо?" Major General asked in a tone that was almost sincere. ["Then you should know, Colonel, that there will be no future unless we win today's fight and tomorrow's war."] ["What makes you believe that a Winter's Child would be a good thing?"]

"Зимний Солдат и Женщина Солдат хорошо восприняли сыворотку и были ценны для нашего дела. Логично предположить, что их потомство поступило бы так же, если не лучше," Colonel Karpov replied. ["Zimniy Soldat and Zhenshchina Soldat have taken the serum well and been valuable to our cause. It is only logical to assume that their offspring would do the same, if not better."]

"Они оба были агрессивными и нестабильными. Зимний Солдат имеет долгую историю. А еще я слышал, что твоя любимая маленькая Женщина Солдат тоже недавно убила одного из наших лучших врачей. Что, если бы их ребенок унаследовал двойную часть этих качеств? Мы создали бы монстра для собственного разрушения, а не мощное средство для продолжения нашей работы. Действующая немедленно программа Дети зимы прекращена. И если вы попытаетесь пережить это, морская свинка Женщина Солдат не будет единственной, кто умрет в наказание," the Major General warned before the line went dead. ["They both have been aggressive and unstable as well. Zimniy Soldat has a long history of that. And I heard that your beloved little Zhenshchina Soldat killed one of our best doctors recently, too. What if their child inherited a double portion of those qualities? We would be creating a monster to bring about our own destruction, not a powerful asset to continue our work. Active immediately, the Winter's Children program has been terminated. And if you try to go through with it, the guinea pig Zhenshchina Soldat won't be the only one who dies as punishment."]

~~~

I woke up to the man in the beret and two soldiers opening the door. After undoing my restraints, the soldiers locked their arms under my armpits and dragged me into a room with metal railings and some type of device in the center.

I was fastened into the strange metal chair. Machinery whirred, and two metal pieces made contact with my head. A painful electrical zapping forced horrible screams from my throat...

~~~

I was held in some strange type of metal chair. Men with guns surrounded the railed area around me. A man in a military uniform with a crimson beret stood in front of me.

A dark red book held the words he read aloud to me. "Создание. Убегая. Принуждение. Мать. Огонь. Вечер. Второй. Разрушен. Рейс. Лезвие." ["Creation. Fleeing. Duress. Mother. Fire. Evening. Second. Shattered. Flight. Blade."]

He closed the book and set it down. "Доброе утро, солдат." ["Good morning, soldier."]

After an undersized breakfast of a bowl of porridge and a small cup full of sausage, the man in the beret led me down a long hallway until we came to a room with a thick metal door.

Inside, there were various pieces of medical equipment, cabinets, counters, a bed, and such, but what caught my attention was the man in medical scrubs.

"Вы готовы, доктор?" the man in the beret asked him. ["Are you ready, doctor?]

The doctor replied, "Я думал, что программа Детей Зимы свернута." ["I thought the Winter’s Children program had been terminated."]

"Я не вижу необходимости в том, чтобы продолжать работу по плану," explained the man in the beret. ["I see no need for us to not continue according to plan."]

Shifting his weight uncomfortably, the doctor said, "Я не хочу попасть в беду из-за этого, полковник." ["I do not want to get in trouble for this, Colonel."]

"У вас не будет никаких проблем. Даю слово. Вы будете отмечены, когда поможете вывести на свет первого чистокровного суперсолдата," the man in the beret assured the doctor. ["You will not be in any trouble. You have my word. You will be celebrated when you help bring the first purebred super soldier into the world."]

The man in the beret then turned to me. "Сегодня для тебя радостный день. Вы безупречно выполнили свою первую миссию. Теперь вы готовы к следующей миссии, чтобы ввести в мир больше суперсолдат." ["Today is a glad day for you. You completed your first mission flawlessly. Now you are ready for your next mission, to bring more super soldiers into the world."]

"Я буду смотреть, как Зимний Солдат тренирует остальных," the man in the beret informed the doctor before leaving. ["I am going to watch Zimniy Soldat train the others."]

The doctor had me take off all my clothes and put on a flimsy gown made of paper that tied in the back. He made me lay down on the bed and spread my legs for him. Apparently pleased with what he saw, the doctor went over to one of the counters and began busying himself with the items over there.

Several minutes later, the man in the beret burst in, holding a gun to a man who had a metal arm. The man in the beret's eyes revealed how deeply terrified he was. Even the cold, steely face of the man with the metal arm showed he was shaken. They had met Death and barely managed to escape.

"Я думала, мы собираемся искусственно ее оплодотворить. Или вы хотите, чтобы он делал это по старинке?" the doctor asked, motioning to the metal armed man. ["I thought we were going to artificially inseminate her. Or do you want him to do it the old-fashioned way?"]

The man in the beret shook his head. "Ни один. План изменился. Удалите один из ее яичников." ["Neither. The plan has changed. Remove one of her ovaries."]

~~~

I woke up to seven men in SWAT gear opening the door. After undoing my restraints, two of the men locked their arms under my armpits and dragged me into a huge room with five golden chambers along the outside and metal railings around some type of device in the center.

The man with the metal arm was fastened into the strange metal chair and the man in the beret stood nearby. Men with guns surrounded the railed area around them. Machinery whirred and two metal pieces made contact with the metal armed man's head. A painful electrical zapping forced horrible screams from his throat as I looked on, unable to do anything else but watch him writhe in pain.

A dark red book held the words the man in the beret read aloud to him. "Желание. Ржавый. Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь. Девять. Добросердечный. Возвращение на родину. Один. Грузовой вагон." ["Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybreak. Furnace. Nine. Benign. Homecoming. One. Freight car."]

He closed the book and set it down. "Доброе утро, солдат." ["Good morning, soldier."]

"Я готов отвечать," the metal armed man answered and was released from the torture chair. ["Ready to comply."]

The man in the beret ordered, "Зимний Солдат, обезопасьте ее." ["Zimniy Soldat, secure her."]

Zimniy Soldat came from behind me and grabbed my left arm with his left arm, making it his metal against my flesh. I knew somewhere deep down inside that I could overpower him, but I did not-

Before I finished my thought, he pressed a gun to the nape of my neck. It was as if he could read my mind and was challenging me to give him a reason to pull the trigger. I bristled at having a weapon turned on me like this, especially by him.

"Полковник, разве вы не хотите, чтобы некоторые из нас пошли с вами?" one of the men in SWAT gear asked. ["Colonel, don't you want some of us to come with you?"]

"В этом не будет необходимости. Зимний Солдат обеспечит меня всей необходимой защитой, пока ее не казнят," replied the man in the beret. ["That will not be necessary. Zimniy Soldat will provide me with all the protection that I need until she is executed."]

So, I was to be executed. Somehow, this thought filled me with relief rather than dread. At least it would all be over soon.

Zimniy Soldat followed the man in the beret as he left the huge room. We walked through a series of hallways until coming to a room with a large metal door. Inside was a laboratory, a man in a lab coat, and a sizable machine in the far right corner.

"Зимний Солдат, отпусти ее," the man in the beret commanded and Zimniy Soldat let go of me. ["Zimniy Soldat, release her."]

The man in the lab coat handed me a bodysuit made of a specialized material.

The man in the beret barked at me, "Надень это." ["Put it on."]

After removing my old outer clothing, I suited up in the new garment.

The man in the lab coat directed me to lie down on the table in the far right corner. He typed away at a computer making thick metal clamps come around both my arms and my legs. This man then came over to me, sweating and trembling. He struggled to put a mask on my face and attach wires to various places on my bodysuit. The man in the lab coat returned to typing at his computer, causing the table to begin tilting upwards until I was vertical.

"Спасибо за службу и счастливого Рождества. Я надеялся, что все пойдет иначе," the man in the beret stated before shooting the man in the lab coat twice in the head. ["Thank you for your service and Merry Christmas. I had hoped things would go differently than this."]

A moment later, a large glass and metal tube came down around me. Frigid white fog descended, and everything went dark.

[darsynia]

This slipped under my radar, but please know I so, so appreciate the kind words! Something about this story just makes me kick my feet in pure joy, and it's the best gift to know others like it too!

Makes me want to get all ⬇️ for the next fic!

Just Right Masterlist | Steve Rogers x F!Reader Complete

Summary:

You’ve been in love with Steve Rogers for at least a year, but he treats you the same way he treats every other member of the team– with respect, but nothing more. It takes an inter-dimensional mistake and a whole second, more assertive, actually interested Steve for you to realize that you don’t want just any version of Steve Rogers– you want the one you’ve been pining for all this time.

Warnings: (two Steves? Do we warn for two Steves?) allusions to the blip

Pairing: Steve Rogers x F!Reader

@avengersbingo Square Filled: 'Is it permanent?'

Length: ~28k

Notes: A story about shaking up the status quo and knowing when to let yourself break the rules. Rated T for swearing and kissing. Mostly fluff with a side serving of light ok that was a damn lie angst.

MAIN MASTERLIST | MCU MASTERLIST

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8 (complete!)

(planned smut sequel: RIGHT THERE) <- honestly Steve is STEVE so this might be a while (or a time jump)

Taglist: @ronearoundblindly @munstysmind @tiny-anne @themaradaniels @starryeyes2000 @chickensarentcheap @isasalom @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @deepbatched @qvnthesia @ekoannie-chan

[heavenlydevine]

Hey if you're asking for requests for soldier boy I have one I really wanna request ?

It's for soldier boy and a member of payback back in the day? She has powers similar to jean grey, after a night together after months of getting close to each other soldier boy and countess are announced as a couple and he basically tells her you didn't think this was anything other than a quick roll in the sack did you?

She then retires from payback a month before Nicaragua and finds out she's pregnant, she has by then cut all contact with Ben and the rest of payback, going off the grid, Ben feels guilty about what happened because he did actually feel love for her but let his ego get the best of him, losing the one person who saw past his soldier boy mask, he tried to find her but had no luck.

Cut to the future, mindstorm informs ben, butcher and Hughie that she left because she was pregnant, he saw it in her mind when they crossed paths before she left payback, soldier boy realises that he and y/n had a child together he wasn't there for.

Mallory ends up spilling the beans to butcher that y/n has been working for her in the c.i.a but is retired, and gives them her address, and who should open the door but her son, Ben realises this is his son.

His kid is a lot Like Steve Rogers, And looking at photos of y/n and younger y/s/n he sees what his life could have been like with y/n raising their son if he didn't fuck everything up?

If this is too on the nose I completely get it ! Just thought I'd request something x

Oh, this is so interesting and challenging! It will most surely be a blast to write, just thought I would respond and happily say this is something I will be writing for you! Just give me a day or so and I will have it ready, just dealing with a very protective momma dog who just had seven babies! Seven! But nope, not too much on the nose, I promise.

I also took the liberty of writing out a particular scene, so you have something to look forward to! I did not use Y/N when referring the mentioned OC/Reader, whichever you want to view it, though I took the liberty of using third person perspective, so it's all up to your imagination.

A bothersome, tiresome thing; the heart and the many burdens it carries, pumping and beating away, yet filled with a heaviness that brings forth nothing but heartache and pain.

You deserve this.

The thoughts that run rampant through the chaotic mess waging war within her mind are unforgiving and harsh, teeth gnashing and jaws snapping, tearing away at the remnants of her beaten, battered and bruised heart.

He never loved you.

She should have known better, ignoring the signs that had been blatantly obvious from the very beginning, choosing ignorance over knowledge; knowledge that now mocks her in the form of not one, but two very distinctive lines.

You aren't ready for this. He used you and look where that got you? Kill him. Make him suffer.

A mere flick of the wrist and yet another joins the cluster—the sight a daunting, haunting mockery that yes, no matter how many times her teeth tear into the finely printed packagings, no matter how many times her mind continues to whisper that it was nothing but a simple trick of the light, faulty to the core, her own shattered soul knew deep down, that no matter how many times she had urged herself that it was simply impossible; the heart knows, the body follows.

“I'm pregnant.”

[stelstellakidd]

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐑 » a marvel fanfiction

dr. josephine “jo” montgomery x steve rogers.

featured fancasts: glen powell as steve rogers ; jordan patrick smith as thor odinson

taglist: @stanshollaand @arrthurpendragon @gabbysdawsons @endless-oc-creations @daughter-of-melpomene

— ever since she was a child josephine montgomery knew that she would one day be a scientist. it was the goal she lived by, a goal she’d never give up.

at 24 years old this goal was about to come true. two years away from getting her doctorate, jo was focused on tracking storms , getting data to one day save the world with her research. it was all she’d ever wanted.

when a storm began brewing in new mexico she jumped at the chance to research. she didn’t realize that by doing so the plans she had spent her entire life working towards, would be forced to change. and she really doesn’t want them too.

gif credit : alieneen1

[starlight-carousel]

Seeking Roleplay Partners

Hello! My name is Alyss and I'm searching for new roleplay partners! A few facts about me that you should know are- 1. My favorite color is pink 2. I absolutely adore writing and creating a world with my rp partners 3. I love creating fun headcanons with my rp partner 4. I do work a full-time job so sometimes I'm busy, but I promise to always try to communicate with you! 5. I am always happy to double up, but if you don't want to, then i'd prefer to do MxF with me playing the female role. If we are doubling up, I'm happy to do any pairing with you! 6. While I do love fandoms, fandomless is always a great option for me too! So bring any of your storylines my way! 7. I'd prefer to do canonxoc, but I can also do canonxcanon as well! 8. Last one, and this is a big one! Since I'm 26, It is necessary for me to write with people who are 18+, especially since my roleplays tend to have a little bit of spice added in. Below are the following fandoms I'd like to do along with the ships that i'd be interested in! Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Don John x OC Don John x Hero Phantom of the Opera Erik Destler x Christine Daae Erik Destler x Meg Giry Erik Destler x OC Bridgerton Benedict Bridgerton x OC Benedict Bridgerton x Sophie Colin x Penelope Shadow and Bone Kaz Brekker x OC The Vampire Diaries/The Originals Niklaus Mikaelson x Caroline Forbes Niklaus Mikaelson x OC Harry Potter James Potter x OC James Potter x Lily Evans Draco Malfoy x OC Teddy Lupin x OC Teddy Lupin x Victorie Weasley Bill Weasley x Fleur Delacour Wicked Fiyero Tigelaar x Elphaba Thropp Rivals Rupert Campbell-Black x Taggie O'Hara Declan O'Hara x OC The Lost Boys David x OC Dwayne x OC Marvel Bucky Barnes x OC Steve Rogers x OC Stranger Things Steve Harrington x OC Eddie Munson x OC Greek Mythology Hades x Persephone Dionysus x Ariadne __________________________________________________ and here are some storylines that I'm currently interested in! (these are not mine, but I really like them!)

You get a craving for whatever your soulmate is eating at the time.

One of your eyes is the same color as your soulmate's.

You have the first words your soulmate says to you somewhere on your body (and vise versa).

You have your soulmate's name somewhere on your body.

muse a that owns a pretty little flower shop and across the street is hardcore tattoo shop where muse b works at and muse b is utterly in love at the sight they see across the street where muse a tend for their flowers every morning and fate decides to screw up muse b and the two finally meet one day Muse A is a kindergarten teacher very loved by their students. They had realized there’s a kid in her class who always forget to bring materials and is usually lonely and sad. To know what’s going on, they meet the kid’s parents, only to realize the kid is being raised by Muse B, the kid’s single uncle/aunt after their brother and sister in law passed away in a car accident. They don’t know how to raise a kid or what to do to make things better, so Muse A volunteers to give them some tips and make sure the kid will move on and be the once happy kid they know the kid can be. Muse A teaches Muse B simple things and visits them often, feeling their heart melt whenever they see Muse B acting in a fatherly/motherly way, and doing their best effort to be the best parent they could be, even when sometimes they feel about to give up.

the summer road trip

bad boy / good girl

bad girl / good girl

TA / college student

penpals that become best friends and maybe more through letters

rich ceo’s kid / rich ceo’s beleaguered employee

actually, rich ceo / rich ceo’s beleaguered employee

people on a movie set who are love interests in the movie but hate each other irl

Muse A goes to the countryside on summer vacation with her family as a small child. They don’t like it there very much, and are extremely grumpy about it. Then they meet Muse B, who’s been living there all their life in a house next door to the vacation home. The two become inseparable friends— running barefoot through tall grass, playing pranks on everyone, picking wild strawberries, building a hidden hideout so they can hang out there.      Then Muse A is taken away back to the city, and the two are devastated, pining for each other’s company for months after the separation. Years pass and they forget that summer. They’re now grownups, and Muse A is a successful business owner in the city, while Muse B takes up an artistic job ( musician, painter, poet, etc. ) near his home.      So one day, a bad breakup leaves Muse A heartbroken, and when their work goes downhill, they decide they need a break and go to the countryside. In the same rental vacation home from all those years ago, they spend their days trying to chill. Bad memories and nightmares wake them up from sleep and they take a walk through the grounds around them when they hear music//see someone?? They follow everything to their old hideout, where Muse B, too, has been spending a restless night in need of inspiration.      Muse A watches them for a while in secret, but then something scares them or they trip on something, and the two just go Whoa, hello..?! and Muse Boffers their hand to Muse A…. and then realizes that birthmark//scar on their hand looks familiar??  Muse A has been to various clubs around where they live, always gambling in the world of one night stands and fake love. One day, Muse A goes to party at a new place further away from where they live. They meet Muse B who has a dangerous aura around them, Muse A feels their arm slink around them as they dance together. The night involves shots, continuous drinking and flirting. Muse A & B end up having a night together but Muse A never expected Muse B to shoot somebody in front of her the next morning.

 we’re best friends with benefits but my pals always give me shit for not dating anyone, will you pretend to be my bf/gf for a while?? and then we can have a v intense break up // argument in front of everyone one day to make it seem somewhat real, ok cool thanks you’re a true pal, let’s bang it out && now it’s been a couple of months but we still haven’t ended things but here we are, dancing in my kitchen and you look really fucking perfect, holy shit — i don’t love you, i don’t love you, i don’t love you && you end up taking me out to a v fancy restaurant and basically, we do all the things couples do and is it bad that i actually consider you home instead of my own fucking apartment?? && oh, you’re cuddling me in your sleep, that’s new and i think i heard you tell me you love me in your sleep?? no, i’m just dreaming, aren’t i?? && holy shit, we still haven’t broken up but you’re watching a movie and i’m watching you and all i can think about is how pretty your face looks and how much of a wonderful person you are, it’s not even about the sex anymore — fuck, i’m in love with you, aren’t i??

you’re friends with my roommate but they’re not home and how embarrassing that you’re here while i’m silently weeping over my break up but lets watch a movie and eat ice cream to pass time

i kept getting harassed by some creepy person as i was trying to study and they’re picking up on my ‘fuck off vibes’ and i started to actually get scared and then you put a coffee in front of my face and called me babe and scared them away thank you please let me buy you a new on one oh you have a really cute smile when you’re shy

 gimme a plot where muse a is this cute shy little thing and one day they’re going to ride the bus home but it’s super full and only two seats are left, one next to some woman on her phone and one next to muse b who is really tough looking and has a ton of tattoos and basically scares the shit out of muse a so they go do sit with the woman and ask if that seat is taken and the woman goes off on them, and is just being really rude and muse b over hears and notices how cute muse a is blushing and has this really really strong urge to protect them and so they step in and tell the woman to calm the f down and offer muse a the seat next to them, and then they start talking and it’s great.(bonus points for next day on the bus all the seats are taken and muse b gets up and says they’ll sand and muse a is like fuck no i can’t let you do that and they get into a fight about it until muse b pulls muse a into their lap and says ‘compromise’)

 how about the complete fuckboy who is so used to routine. he picks up who he wants, it’ll be easy and if he’s lucky they’ll put up a challenge but they end up in the alley or in the men’s room and he always has the courtesy of kissing them goodbye and never seeing them again. and it’s like every saturday, he’s at the bar and he spots a pretty girl and she looks the perfect amount of innocent (he’s not up for a challenge tonight)  but theres a bit of banter going and eventually she ends up in the backseat of his Jeep and when they’re done he’s leans in with a grin, memorized almost like a catchphrase, “thanks for the great sex babe” to kiss her goodbye but she turns her cheek at the last minute, offers him a sweet smile “cute. that was great sex for you?” and just like that the fuck boy’s been fucked and she’s smoothing her skirt down and disappearing out of the backseat and he needs to find her again, needs to prove her wrong and it’s almost obsessive the way he needs her and suddenly hes just like one of the many girls that chase after him following a mediocre one night stand. 

 i really want a plot where this totally sweet girl is dating this total ass and he prob cheats on her all the time and is so shitty to her but she stays because she’s sweet and caring and he’s all she’s ever known and they used to be so in love but anyways he’s totally one of those guys who brings around his douche friends and they sit on the couch and talk about chicks and drugs and partying and she is supposed 2 be the regular house wife gf who brings them food and sits next to him when they watch movies so he can flaunt her and just be /: a dick /: ANYWAYS his fellow douche friend starts to slowly be like god this guy is so awful to her and he starts following her out of the room instead of staying to high five his friend for cheating on her w some club girl and idk he just generally starts hanging out with her more while her bf and his other friends hang out in the basement or some shit and they’ll like sit on the porch while he smokes and they just talk or he’ll help her make food or ANYTHING and it can go so many cute ways tbh like ? he could be listening to the friend brag about sleeping around one day or see him being shitty to her like yelling at her for nothing ro smth and just be like DAMN I’VE HAD ENOUGH and finally break and yell at his friend and fight for her and accidently admit that he thinks she’s totally amazing and he’d cherish her sm or he could kiss her one night while they’re talking and they could start sneaking around behind the friends back or anything so !

cliche plot where muse b( who’s a badass and lowkey kind of a jerk ) makes a bet with his friends that he can take muse a’s ( who’s a sweet lil angel ) virginity but then plot twist !!somehow sweet lil muse a worms her way into his cold heart and would you look at that ?? he’s fallen in love with her !! and so now he’s really set on losing this bet because he doesn’t want to hurt her but oops, he took her to a party and his friend accidentally let her in on their little bet. cue the angst and fluff

━━━ bad boy x innocent/good girl thing where the boy intimidates her and makes her nervous and is like “ you know he can’t make you feel like i can “ and she just is like “ you’re an idiOt “ yet her body language says something else & he can actually get her to moan like no one else and they’re just so into each other aND she also gets frisky sometimes and wears lingerie for him & he’s just sO into it just because she’s so tiny and innocent and it makes her look so different and he’s just mesmerized by her and shes mesmerized by him ━━━ you’re my best friend’s girl and i know i should stay away but i liked you first and god dammit i want you (oh and i’m a much better fuck let me prove it too you)

Muse a is a really powerful criminal. he basically has the world under their thumb. he’s killed lots of people (or at least ordered a lot of people to be killed) and he’s made a LOT of money this way. muse b, meanwhile, is a relatively ordinary person – she’s the girl next door. through a turn of events, the two meet and begin a fling. (muse a may or may not have a spouse at home, but that’s neither here nor there.) muse b knows muse a is a criminal – everyone does – but she enjoys the rush and the excitement. one day, though, muse b finds out she’s pregnant. and she realizes that muse a is not a suitable father for her baby. he’s too dangerous. death and destruction follows him everywhere he goes, and, as much as she cares about him, she knows he’s not exactly a good person. so she gives it to him straight: she’s going to end their relationship, move, and raise their child alone, and muse a is going to stay away. muse a truly loves muse b, so he agrees to her terms, and does her one better: he’ll send money to help raise the kid, and even pay for her new home. fast forward some years. muse b is settled into her new life with her child, and muse a has stuck to his promises. at least until one day, he shows up on her doorstep. he has several armed guards, and a car ready to go. “grab our kid and get in the car,” he says. “someone found out, and my enemies are after the two of you"

11.) Muse A, was a shy and sweet girl, who's never had any romantic relations. Muse B, was what you'd call a player, and a bit rude too. One night, Muse A caught Muse B's interest. So he talks to her. After talking for what seemed like hours, Muse B risks it and leans in to kiss Muse A. Muse A, being in complete shock, though confesses that it was her first kiss. Muse B completely doubting it, but after a bit of discussion he apologies hesitantly. Muse A, makes a deal with Muse B though.. She has to get to know him better. Annoyed, Muse B agrees and they exchange numbers. The next day, they meet at the park and start talking. Later in time, they start to have feelings for each other, but, Muse B always denies it. Can Muse A get Muse B's change in heart?

Muse a has a abusive father and a dead mother. Their father is almost always drunk when they get home and will do whatever he wants to muse a. Muse b is muse A's best friend- and has been for a while. They almost always hang out at muse b's house so they wouldn't find out about muse A's father. One day muse b insists on going to muse A's house. The second they walk in their greeted by muse A's drunk father. Muse b finds out the truth about their family and becomes very protective of muse a. They don't ever want to leave their side. Eventually through good times and bad a romance starts to bloom

Muse A and Muse B are neighbors who have never met. When a winter storm knocks out the power to their building, Muse A, terrified of the dark, lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Next thing they know, Muse B is banging on the door to make sure they're okay

I know this is an incredibly long post, but if anything sparks your interest! Please send me a like and let me know! I also have a writing sample on hand if you'd like that as well!

[buckyswintersoldiermask]

Daddy’s Back: Father. Part 5

Bucky Barnes x fem!reader, Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers x fem!reader, OC Children x fem!reader, Bucky Barnes x OC Children, Steve Rogers x OC Children, Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Bucky Masterlist ✸ Steve Masterlist ✸ Series Masterlist

Summary: The kids learn that Bucky is their father, and another big secret is revealed.

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.4K

A/N: What do we think about Bucky after this part?

It’s been a few weeks since your sick day. You were feeling a lot better. You knew that after that, you needed to find a better way to handle things.

“Canan, are you ready?” You called from downstairs. Canan came rushing down with his favorite car shirt and 2 small Hot-Wheels cars. “I’m ready!”

Bucky was taking Canan to his shop for the first time, and Canan was beyond excited. Of course, Bucky asked if Iris wanted to go, but she said she was not interested in dirty cars. Since school was out and it was the summer time, it was the perfect time for Bucky to spend the day with Canan.

Iris came downstairs after hearing Canan run down. Just wanting to see what was happening.

Canan was ready to go and now you just had to wait on Bucky. Soon you heard a knock on your door and it was Bucky, you said bye to the both of them as they left. You were happy Canan was close to Bucky, that’s his father, the very man he was named after. You wanted Canan and Iris to have a good relationship with him, but he definitely has to work harder with Iris.

Iris went and got dressed since she was spending the next few hours with Steve, he called after Bucky left. Since the job you have gives you the summer off, you were going to enjoy a child free morning and afternoon.

Meanwhile, Canan was having the time of his life at Bucky’s shop. He got to meet all of Bucky’s employees and ask them what they do.

“Your shop is so cool!” Canan says hugging on Bucky’s leg, “thank you for bringing me here.”

Bucky chuckles, and pats Canan’s back, “of course, son.”

Saying “son” felt foreign on Bucky's lips, son? He had a son, he felt like he was allowed to say that now. He was a father, but of course Canan didn’t know that yet.

“Hey, Canan, I need to make a phone call really quick, you can stay here with Oscar and he will show you how to do an oil change, sound good?” Bucky says crouching down to Canan’s level and looking back at his workmate. He nods understanding.

Bucky went to his office and closed the door behind him, still having a good view of Canan. He picked up his office phone and dialed your number. The phone rang and rang and rang until you finally answered.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“(y/n), It’s Bucky, I’m calling from the shop.”

“Oh, is everything okay? Is Canan alright?”

“Canan is fine, (y/n), he’s getting taught how to do an oil change right now.” Bucky laughs, making you smile.

“Yeah? Maybe he can change mine when he gets home.” You joked.

A brief silence comes between you two, you could hear Bucky breathing into the phone. Before you could say anything he blurts out, “Are you okay?”

You were puzzled by that question, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m just asking if the mother of my kids is okay and I don’t want just some measly old answer.”

“I’m fine, but i appreciate you calling and checking.” You say making sure to sound as convincing as possible.

“Okay, well, I’ll get back to Canan, I’ll let you know when we're on the way back.”

“Thank you, bye James.”

“Bye.” Bucky hangs up the phone and went out to the garage to meet Canan and Oscar. “Hey Oscar, me and Canan are going to head out, thanks for showing him the ropes.”

Bucky and Canan head to the car, leaving to get ice cream.

Meanwhile, Steve had taken Iris for a couple hours and came back after.

Your relationship with Steve was slightly better. Steve didn’t say or do much because he didn’t want to push another boundary, but he was also pulling away from you. He saw what all the stress did to you and he did not like it. He didn’t want to create more stress for you.

“How about I go run some errands for you?”

“I’m not fragile, Steve, I'll go run my own errands.”

“I would never imply that you’re fragile, I was just wondering if you needed some help.” Steve says calmly.

“I guess, if you want to” You think about it for a minute then agree, giving him a list of things you need done. He happily smiled and accepted the list, “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

——————————————————————————————————

For a few weeks, you and Steve got to know Mara and Steve was warming up to her. As time went by Steve started to accept the fact that Mara is a part of this new dynamic.

A few weeks later the kids were about to be out of school for the Summer, so you thought this was the perfect time to tell them the truth.

Bucky, Steve, and you were in the living room with Iris and Canan, preparing yourselves, mainly you and Bucky. Steve was just there to support, even though he wanted you to tell the kids that Bucky is their father a long time ago.

“So I have something to tell you both,” you pause, taking a deep breath, “you remember how I told you that your father isn’t around or you know how I don’t really talk about him.”

Iris and Canan nodded but were confused, to say the least.

“James, Mommy’s friend, he’s.. your father.”

Iris and Canan look at each other, realizing what this means. “We have a dad,” Canan says, looking back at Bucky.

Canan smiles as he realizes what this means, Iris wasn’t as excited as Canan. She understood what it meant, but she was just so used to calling him James. You then explained that she could still call him James because that's what she’s comfortable with and weren’t about to force her into calling him any different.

“Why did you leave?” Canan asks, looking at Bucky and then back at you.

“I left because I was scared.”

“Why?” Iris questions him, surprising you.

Bucky sighs, getting down on their level, “I was scared I wouldn’t be a good father to the both of you and I wasn’t ready.” All the memories of what he did flood his brain. ‘But, your mom,” Bucky holds out his hand, hoping you’d come over, which you do, “your mom is amazing, when I left she raised the both of you by herself with help from your uncle Steve.”

Silence overtakes the room, Bucky stays at the feet of Iris and Canan with sorrowful eyes. You stand next to him, watching. You didn’t want them to be hurt by their father’s actions so young, you didn’t think you’d have to tell them that their father left them at such a young age.

“Daddy, James, Me, I, love you both so much,” Bucky says not knowing how he should refer to himself. “And I am so sorry I left.”

The kids didn’t really understand what happened, just that they have a dad now. I mean how do you even explain the situation to a 5 and 6-year-old.

“It’s okay,” Canan says as he hugs Bucky. Iris just sits there, thinking about the situation.

Bucky smiles at them, happy Canan is open to forgiving him, but worried Iris isn’t. Bucky looks back at you for permission to tell them the news, you nod, letting him know he can. “Iris, you’re going to be a big sister, and Canan, you’re going to be a big brother,” Bucky reveals, showing them an ultrasound picture. Iris perked up a little, looking at the picture, curious, but she didn’t say much.

“Mom is having a baby?” Canan asked, confused, causing you to butt into the conversation.

“Oh no, not me, James, dad, his wife,’ you point to Bucky, “ is having a baby.”

“Oh.”

Iris’ eyes seemed to light up at the mention of a baby, she loved seeing babies at the park, at the store, so her excitement grew. She had so many baby dolls, it was ridiculous.

“Is it a boy or girl, dad?” Canan asks, hoping he’d say a boy.

“It's a girl, you’re going to have another little sister.” Bucky smiles, earning a smile from Iris but earning folded arms and a pouty face from Canan.

Both of the kids had a lot of questions, which was to be expected. Kids are curious. Bucky answered all of their questions as best as he could. They asked why Bucky didn’t live with the 3 of you. Why are you and Bucky not together? Like the kids' parents at school. So many questions, and so many answers. You had to answer a few of the questions because Bucky drew a few blanks, and Iris wasn’t really talking to him.

You revealed to Canan that he was named after Bucky, which took some explaining, but he was really happy to know that he was named after his father. Bucky tried to explain his absence in a way that they could understand, but deep down you knew that the truth would need to come out about why he left and what that would do to Iris and Canan.

“Mom, is uncle Steve leaving?” Iris asks, scared that Bucky staying means that Steve is leaving.

“Oh no, of course not honey.” You respond, looking into her eyes, “Uncle Steve and James are both staying.”

Steve overheard his name being used and came into the living room, “I heard my name.”

You got up and whispered to Steve what was going on and he immediately got down on his knees next to Iris. “I heard that you’re scared I’m going to leave, well I’m not going anywhere, okay, I love you, Canan, and your mom so much.” Steve sat with Iris, just to comfort her after all that just happened.

Bucky left the room and went outside for a moment getting some fresh air, Steve was with Iris and Canan was content so you slid outside behind him. “She’s going to come around, she thinks that you coming back means that Steve is leaving, she’s just scared, she’s not fond of change.”

Bucky was facing the street, with his hands in his pocket, shifting his weight onto one leg. “If I didn’t leave, I would know that.”

“You’re not wrong there, you’ve got a lot of making up to do for them.”

”I do, but what if it’s not enough.”

“That's for them to decide, but you have a while before that decision is made, come back inside.”

Bucky doesn’t budge, so you keep talking.

“Our kids have grown, and changed, they’re not 1 and 3 months old anymore. I don’t know how easy you thought this would be, but they’re not babies anymore.” You explained. “You can’t just waltz back into their lives and expect them to both welcome you with open arms, they don’t even remember you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep doing that.” You empathized, “you don’t have to apologize all the time.”

He turns towards you and apologizes once more, more sincerely than the first one.

“Bucky-.” He interrupts you before you could finish your sentence, “(y/n), please, just listen to me.”

“We don’t need to talk about this right now.”

You tried to walk back inside your house but Bucky grabbed your hand before you could, “(y/n), you say I don’t need to apologize, but I will, I won’t stop apologizing for what I did, knowing that you might not forgive me for it.” he continues, “but I’m going to apologize and show I am sorry because I am.”

“I know.”

“You were always right, I could only commit to my shop, and not commit to you or the kids, I am truly sorry (y/n). When I met Mara, I saw that as my chance to start over and be better.”

Taking in all that he said, you nodded, before heading back to the front door, “come back inside, I’m sure Canan is waiting for you.”

You and Bucky went back inside, your eyes meeting Steve’s as he stepped away from Iris. Reassuring you with his eyes that Iris is okay.

Bucky stayed over for a little while after breaking the news to the kids. It was a lot harder on him than you thought it would be. The guilt was plastered on his face, an emotion you hadn’t seen on him before. You stayed with Iris as she adjusted to the news, she kept asking you questions once it was just the two of you.

You knew that this situation would be dreadful, the questions, the mixed responses, and you just wondering if you did the right thing. Wondering if you should’ve let Bucky back in, wondering if this is what’s best for Canan and Iris. You kissed Iris’ cheek and smiled, “I love you, Iris, and I know you’re not too happy with these changes, but it’s all going to be alright.”

Bucky and Steve stepped away to talk while you sat with Iris and you further reassured her. They shuffled into the other room to talk to each other with hushed voices.

Bucky starts, “Look, Steve, I know-.”

“I think I’m in love with (y/n).” Steve blurts out as Bucky’s eyes widen, but not with shock.

Bucky stops and sits down on the couch, ready to listen, a small smile on his face, “oh I hadn’t noticed.”

“Don’t act smart.”

“Since I came back I thought you had a thing for her, the protectiveness gave it away. If I looked harder years ago, I probably would’ve noticed it then.” Bucky admits, not surprised this information is coming from his former best friend.

“So you knew this whole time.” Steve scoffs.

“Yeah, Steve, we were best friends, I’m gonna know when you like someone, but I can understand you not wanting to confide in me, because I’m the guy who left his family and decided to come back, I get it.” Bucky confessed to Steve, “but you’ve been here since the beginning Steve, I know you don’t want to hear anything I have to say but I think you should tell her.”

“I don��t want to ruin our relationship, I mean you’ve done enough, bringing your wife and unborn baby into the mix.” Bucky nods as Steve continues, “what if she doesn’t see me the same way?”

“That’s the risk you have to take if you’re willing. All I know is that you’d treat her better than how I did, you’ve treated the kids better than I did. All I've done is mess up a bunch of lives.”

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[babyjakes]

forever and a day | 53. accident.

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summary | a story in which america’s favorite captain gives a new life and family to a five-year-old girl who has suffered well beyond her years at the hands of hydra.

characters | dad!steve rogers, girl/willa rogers (original character)

warnings | AU similar enough to OU to include spoilers to many Marvel movies (Age of Ultron and beyond). action and fight scenes with violence and killing. injuries/mild gore. mature themes related to and semi-graphic depictions of child abuse/neglect, past CSA and CSM, and their aftermath (emaciation, wounds, scarring, etc). medical abuse (including sterilization) and experimentation. ptsd/trauma symptoms in a child (developmental discrepancies, de-humanized behavior, detachment, extreme fears). medical treatment of CSM and other aftermath of abuse.trauma-informed therapeutic treatment of ECT. minor mentions of disordered eating. themes relating to abuse of power/authority and immoral interrogation tactics including SA (with brief depictions.) evil!Tony Stark.

[Bucky]

The sound of the doorbell ringing in the middle of the night rouses me from my usual restless slumber. Grunting as I twist from my side to my back on my mattress, I stare at the ceiling as my mind takes several moments to adjust to being awake again. Who the hell could that be? I think to myself, my heart beginning to pound lightly in my chest as anxiety builds in my throat. I don't know who would come knocking at an hour like this, but given my past, I'm heavily inclined to be skeptical.

Forcing myself up to a sitting position, I glance over at the red numbers of my alarm clock glowing faintly in the dark. 2:49am. What on earth?

Dragging myself out of bed, I switch on my bedside lamp, fumbling around on the ground to find an overshirt and throwing it on over my pajamas before walking slowly out of the room. I make my way up to the front of the apartment slowly, putting on as few lights as possible for myself in an attempt to minimize the amount that can be detected from outside. By the time I reach the front door, my whole body is shaking. Cursing the fact that I have no peephole or window to see out easily, I clear my throat, asking firmly through the thick wood, "Who's there?"

Almost too quiet to detect, a muffled voice responds, "Bucky? I-it's Willa. C-can I-... c-can you-... sorry, sorry for b-bothering you." Realizing who it is, my entire body relaxes as I let out a sigh of relief. I immediately undo the locks and open up the door to find the poor thing shivering out in nothing but her light blue teddy bear pajama shirt and undies, carrying a mess of bedsheets at her feet. Her cheeks are bright red and stained with tears, her big green eyes glancing up shamefully towards me.

"Willa- hi," I murmur, a bit stumped by her appearance. "Hi sweetheart, are you alright? What're you doing up so late, hmm?" I ask, ushering her in the door. Closing it behind her and kneeling down to her level, I look over her once more. Noticing that her underwear are soaked through, with her matching pajama pants balled up along with the mess of sheets, the dots start connecting in my head; she probably had an accident in her sleep. I still don't know, though, how or why she ended up at my door.

"'m sorry. D-did I wake you up? 'm so sorry," she mumbles, her head hanging lamely as she sniffles.

"It's okay, bunny. Don't worry about it," I tell her gently, unsure of what to do or say. "Are you okay, sweetie? What're you doing here? Does Steve know where you are?" At the man's name, the girl flinches slightly, shaking her head.

"'m sorry. Tried t-to do it by m'self but c-couldn't reach," she rambles as a few more tears make their way down her flushed cheeks. "Please don't tell D-Daddy. He'll be s-so mad."

"What do you mean, doll? Couldn't reach what?" I ask, leaning my face in a bit closer and raising my brow sympathetically at her.

Keeping her gaze on the floor, she whimpers, "Th-the machine, to wash m-my sheets. W-wet them... while I was s-sleeping. H-had a nigh'mare. Don't beat me, please. Please don't." More tears drip down her nose and onto the floor as she quivers, my heart breaking at her pleas.

"No sweetie, I won't beat you. You're alright, doll," I soothe warmly, reaching out to rub her back lightly. Jumping, she sniffles as she eyes my arm warily, clearly not trusting my gentle touch. "It's okay to have accidents, Willa. No one's gonna hurt you for it; I certainly won't. You need help cleaning up your sheets?" I ask. She nods defeatedly. "Okay. We can wash them in my machine, okay? Your pajama pants, too, and your undies. And we can get you cleaned up too, kiddo. How does that sound?" I offer.

"Y-yes please," she agrees quietly. Giving her a smile, I carefully take the contents of her hands from her.

"Alright missy, follow me," I tell her as I rise to my feet, walking back through the apartment to the washer and dryer, which are tucked in a closet by the bathroom. Willa trails behind me silently with her head still lowered, a stray tear still making its way down her face every once and a while.

Opening up the folding closet doors, I load what the child gave me into the top machine before crouching down again at her height, asking softly, "Could I get you a big t-shirt to wear while we wash your clothes? That way you can still keep covered up," I offer, not wanting to ask her to give up the underwear until she has something else to cover herself with. Receiving a nod, I stand again, going into one of the baskets of clean clothes I've yet to put away from my last cycle that sits in the closet beside the stacked machines.

"Here, how about this," I try, pulling out an old maroon shirt that seems like it'll fit her somewhat like a dress. She nods as I hand it to her, suggesting, "How about I cover my eyes and turn around while you get changed. Is that okay?" I ask carefully, not wanting to cross the little girl's boundaries. She nods warily as I give her a comforting smile, covering my eyes as promised with both of my hands and turning around.

I can hear quite shuffling as the child gets changed. After a few moments, she tells me, "'m done."

"Okay bug," I hum as I turn back around and uncover my eyes, taking her soiled clothes off the ground and loading them with the rest in the machine. Measuring out some detergent and popping it in the washer as well, I hit the button to start the cycle, the cheery chimes of the machine sounding as the water begins whirring inside. Turning back to the little girl, I crouch down again to her height, my heart aching as she winces slightly. "If you want, you can use my bathtub to get cleaned up. I don't have baby wipes, but I can give you a washcloth and some soap and you can use the tub's faucet. Does that sound alright?" She nods silently as her wide eyes gaze into mine, seeming relieved that she'll be allowed to do it on her own.

"Alright bunny, this way," I tell her as I rise back up to a standing position, guiding her over and into the bathroom. Switching the light on, I make my way over to the tub and get the water running, making sure it's a comfortable temperature for her before stepping back over to the cabinet under the sink and pulling her out a clean washcloth. Willa stands sheepishly in the doorway, watching my every move as I prepare the things for her, grabbing a big fluffy towel and setting it down right outside the tub. "Here's the soap I have; it's some really nice hand-made stuff I got at the market," I tell her as I place the bar down on the edge of the tub along with the cloth. "Okay sweetheart, how about I go back out into the living room and let you get cleaned up, and you can come join me when you're done," I propose.

"N-no beating?" she mumbles quietly, still frightened that she might be punished for her mistake.

"No babydoll, no beating," I promise her. "You did a good job, coming and asking for help," I add, remembering something Steve had told me about her therapy and exposure work. While it would've made a lot more sense for her to seek out Steve instead of me, the fact that she asked anyone at all is progress. "Willa, can I ask you a question?" I ask slowly, not wanting to overwhelm her or make her fears escalate. Her eyes widen slightly, but she nods. "Honey, why didn't-... why didn't you ask Steve?" I question softly. "If you're worried that I might beat you, too, then... what difference did it make?"

Her gaze falls to the floor as she trembles in the doorway, swallowing hard before revealing her answer. "D-don't... don't want Daddy to beat m-me," she whispers. "P-pounded that guy's face in... h-he could hurt me really b-bad." My heart breaks at her revelations, but they make sense, so I nod. She does have a point. While I was mutilated to be a super soldier like Steve, it's no secret that he's the stronger of the two of us. If Willa's train of thought was that either way she would be beaten, and she was just trying to avoid as much damage as possible, her choice makes sense.

"Little dove," I breathe sadly, not even sure where to begin. "Sweetie, Steve would never hurt you; he'd never beat you. He loves you so much, so, so much, and he'd never do something like that," I tell her, but I know that her worries are deeply engraved in her brain, and that it'll take a lot more time and experience than just simple words to put them at ease. "Everyone has accidents, honey. Everyone does when they're little, especially when they've gone through as many scary things as you have," I reason. "Steve knows that; he would never be angry with you for it. He'd do the same thing I'm doing, help you clean up and wash the sheets. That's all," I coo, wishing I could prove it to her. "Bunny, you're always welcome to come to me for help. I'll always do my best to help you. But Steve wants to help you too, Willa. That's what he's there for; that's what Daddy's are for."

Willa sniffles and I sigh, deciding that at this point it's probably wisest to just let the poor thing get clean before pursuing any further discussion on the matter. "Here, I'll let you wash up," I tell her as I step past her out into the hallway, closing the door over behind me before heading back out into the living room.

As I continue to listen to the water run faintly from the bathroom, I pull my phone out from my pocket, unlocking it and pulling up Steve's contact. As much as I hate going against Willa's wishes, I think the smartest thing to do would be to have him come down here and address the situation as soon as possible. Besides, I don't want him to wake up and find her missing; that would scare the shit out of him. Letting out a deep sigh, I hit his number, a call popping up and ringing only a few times before there's an answer.

"Buck?" Steve's sleepy voice calls.

"Hey pal," I greet lowly, taking a seat on the couch. "You're probably gonna wanna throw on some shoes and come down here."

[Steve]

"She what?" I exclaim as I throw on a sweatshirt, making my way quickly through the apartment to the front door to slip on my shoes.

"Yeah, she showed up in nothing but her pajama shirt and underwear, carrying all her sheets at her feet. Said she had a bad dream," he explains.

"Oh god," I breathe, brushing my hair back anxiously as I make my way out the front door, being sure to lock it behind me. "I'm so sorry, Buck. I had no idea she would do something like this. I should've guessed something might-"

"No, no, it's okay, Steve," he tells me quickly. "Really, it's no trouble. I'm glad she felt safe enough to come to me about it. It's good that she came to someone, anyone."

"You said she was begging not to be beaten?" I repeat what he had said, making my way across the porch to the stairs.

"Yeah. She's still pretty worried that she's going to be punished for stuff like this. I told her that neither of us would ever do that, of course, but it's just gonna take time," he replies.

"Yeah- we're working on it with her therapist, but I think you're right," I agree as I make my way down to Bucky's apartment. "I'm outside," I let him know.

The front door to the home opens up before me, and I switch my phone off, shoving it in my pocket as my friend lets me in. Closing the door behind me, he offers me a sad smile. "Hey, punk," he mutters, patting me lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, thanks again for everything," I say sincerely, still feeling incredibly guilty for all the trouble he's gone through for the little girl.

"No problem, pal," he waves it off as I step into the apartment, hearing water running back from what I'm guessing is the bathroom. "She's getting herself cleaned off right now. I have her sheets and clothes in the washer, and she's got a big t-shirt of mine to wear in the meantime."

"Okay. Thanks Buck," I thank him again. "Does she know you called me?"

"Uhh... no," he admits, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "She begged me not to tell you, but I figured it would be better for you to come and get the situation addressed." I nod, thankful for his decision. Hearing the water shutting off, Buck looks behind him before turning back to me, suggesting, "Maybe we should meet her at the bathroom, so she doesn't try to run back through the house or anything."

"Sounds good to me," I agree, doing my best to mentally prepare myself for whatever kind of reaction the little girl might have to my arrival.

"I'm gonna let her know you're here, and then I'll let you take over," he decides as he leads me back to the closed bathroom door. The light from inside peeks out from under the wood as faint shuffling can be heard from the other side. "I don't wanna overwhelm her with both of us in a small space like that, so I'll just let you handle it," he tells me, earning a nod.

Turning and knocking gently against the door, Bucky calls, "Hey Willa? You doin' okay in there?"

"A-a'most done," she calls back, the shakiness of her voice causing my heart to break. The whole situation in general is incredibly saddening. While I think Bucky is right in that it's an improvement for her to have sought out any help at all, it still makes me feel unbelievably guilty that she's so scared of me, apparently even more scared than she is of Buck. "O-okay," she says.

"Alright," Bucky says opening up the door slightly. From where I'm standing, I can't quite be seen yet by the child. "Sweetheart, while you were getting cleaned up, I had to call Steve and let him know what was going on," he tells her slowly. Though I can't see her, I can just picture her beginning to dissolve into a mess of anxiety. Soft whimpers can be heard from inside the room, making my heart tighten in my chest. "Shhh bunny. it's okay. He's not angry, not at all. He's just happy you're here and safe," he murmurs soothingly, stepping aside and motioning for me to join him.

Taking a deep breath, I shift over into the doorway; the sight before me breaks my heart. Willa stands trembling on the bath mat in one of Bucky's old t-shirts, her eyes overflowing with tears as a look of pure terror and betrayal makes its way onto her face. She flinches back at the sight of me, bumping up against the wall behind her and letting out a frightened sound as she realizes she's trapped. "I'll let you two have some time alone," Bucky sighs as he steps away, heading back into one of the rooms at the back of the apartment and closing the door.

"Willa-bug," I coo, keeping my voice as soft and low as possible. The poor child's knees begin to wobble underneath her as she stares at me, her bottom lip trembling in fear. Stepping a bit inside the bathroom, I bend my knees in hopes of coming off as unintimidating as I can, though my efforts seem to do little in helping the girl relax. "Hey sweetheart- it's okay, Willa. You're not in trouble. I'm not here to hurt you," I tell her softly.

The little girl's chest rises and falls erratically as tears continue pouring down her cheeks, a soft whimper rising in her throat before she opens her mouth, barely able to make any sound at all. "P-... p-p-..." she tries, her eyes widening in fear as she struggles to speak. "P-please," she finally manages, adding, "'m sorry, 'm so s-sorry. Didn't m-mean to. D-don't beat me, please don't beat me."

"Willa, Willa, shhh," I soothe, inching myself a tiny bit closer to her as she shakes feverishly against the wall. "Shhh, sweetheart- I'm not gonna beat you, doll. No beating," I tell her reassuringly as I bend down onto my knees before her, causing her to jump again. "I know you didn't mean to, sweetie. I know. It's okay, doll. You're not in trouble. Bucky said you had a nightmare?"

She nods, swallowing down her sobs as I soften my expression for her, murmuring, "Oh honey, that's alright. You couldn't help it that you had a scary dream." The look in her eyes tells me that she's skeptical of my words, but I continue, "It's okay, accidents happen. You're still little, sweetie. No one's mad at you. And you did a good job, you asked someone for help. That was really brave of you, darlin'. I'm so proud of you."

Willa's eyes widen at my words, and she asks, "P-p'oud of me?"

Despite her confusion, I just nod, explaining, "Yeah baby, you were really scared, but you came to Bucky for help anyway. You didn't do it all by yourself. That was good, Willa. You did such a good job." The child blinks, still appearing perplexed at my words. "Next time, it would be good if you could come to me," I add. "I know you were scared that you were going to be beaten, and that you would rather be hurt by Bucky than me. But no one's gonna beat you here, Willa. Never. I'll never hurt you or punish you, no matter what you do."

Willa's eyes gaze warily into mine and I open up my arms for her, earning a soft flinch. "Here sweetheart, you want a hug?" I offer, wanting nothing more than to wrap her up safely in my embrace. A pitiful look of longing forms on her face as she takes in my position, letting out a quiet whine of want. "It's okay doll, Daddy won't hurt you. Just wanna hold you."

And to my surprise, despite all the fear lingering in her big green eyes, Willa slowly steps forward, her face tucking itself away into my chest as I wrap her up softly and lift her off the floor. Carefully, I rise to a standing position, holding her safely against me as her tears begin to soak through my sweatshirt. "Hey- shhh," I soothe, rubbing her back tenderly as I sway her gently from side to side. "You're okay, Willa-bug. I've got you, it's okay."

"N-no beating, please no beating," she begs quietly.

"No beating," I repeat back to her, "no beating, baby. Just soft. Just safe." For several minutes, the little girl continues to cry silently into the damp fabric of my sweatshirt as I keep rocking her, offering quiet shushes every now and then in hopes of soothing her fears. Eventually, her breaths start to even out, and it occurs to me that she must be exhausted after all the night's events.

"You tired, sweetheart?" I ask, stroking down her hair gently as she shifts weakly against me, her head completely limp on my chest. She nods silently and I stroke her hair again, telling her, "That's okay, honey. It's pretty late, and you've had quite the night. I'm gonna thank Buck again and let him know we'll come get the sheets in the morning, but you can close your eyes if you want to, okay? I'll hold onto you," I soothe.

"H-have to sleep in th-the cold?" she whimpers, catching me slightly off guard.

"In the cold? What do you mean, baby?" I ask as I head out of the bathroom, shutting off the light behind me.

"N-no sheets, n-no blankies," she pouts.

"Oh," I say with a slight chuckle, now understanding. "No baby, of course not. You can sleep with me in my bed. How does that sound?"

"Daddy's bed," she hums lovingly, her thumb having made its way up into her little mouth. "Big. Lots'a blankies"

"That's right," I agree, "big bed, soo many blankies, baby. Plenty of room for both of us. And that way, if you have another scary dream, Daddy'll be right there to make it all better," I add.

"All better," she mumbles sleepily into her thumb, her eyelids fluttering as they fall shut.

"All better, sweetheart," I coo, rubbing her back lovingly as she falls asleep right in my arms.

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Flufftober day 3: "Wait you love me?" "I always have."

Helmut Zemo x vigilente!enby!reader

Summary: During a night patrol, reader ran into their old friend Helmut Zemo who then decided to walk them back home. Arriving at their house, he thinks it's a good time to confess his feelings.

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Sumary: A comfy rainy day between a couple.

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Bucky Barnes x Oc (Spider-sona)

Summary: Bucky and Rigel are on a mission together but he has to relive a traumatic moment of his life to get out of this dangerous situation.

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Summary: When working on fixing a boat on a hot day, Steve can't help but compare himself to Bucky again. Luckily, Y/N is there to remind him what really matters.

Flufftober Day 7: Porch swing

Summary: Just a nice evening with your husband Steve Rogers and his best friend.

-Tony Stark

Coming soon...

-Stucky

Coming soon...

-Sam Wilson

Coming soon...

-Peter Parker

Coming soon...

-Natasha Romanoff

Coming soon...

-Scott Lang

Coming soon...

[terry-perry]

Daisy Rogers Coming Out To Her Parents..

Daisy: I have a girlfriend. Marcy Spector.

Steve: The gloomy girl who sighs a lot?

Daisy: Yeah 🥰

[therealblondebucky]

Chapter 3 of Not The Only One - A Winter Soldier Story

Rating: Teen to Mature

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: Canon-typical violence (with more specifics in the tags)

I woke up to the man in the beret and two soldiers opening the door. After undoing my restraints, the soldiers locked their arms under my armpits and dragged me into a huge room with metal railings and some type of device in the center.

I was fastened into the strange metal chair. Machinery whirred, and two metal pieces made contact with my head. A painful electrical zapping forced horrible screams from my throat...

~~~

I was held in some strange type of metal chair. Men with guns surrounded the railed area around me. A man in a military uniform with a crimson beret stood before me.

A dark red book held the words he read aloud to me. "Создание. Убегая. Принуждение. Мать. Огонь. Вечер. Второй. Разрушен. Рейс. Лезвие." He closed the book and set it down. ["Creation. Fleeing. Duress. Mother. Fire. Evening. Second. Shattered. Flight. Blade."]

"Доброе утро, солдат. Вы готовы ответить?" His cold eyes never left mine. ["Good morning, soldier. Ready to comply?"]

"Я готов отвечать," I answered, for there was no other choice but compliance. ["Ready to comply."]

"У меня есть для тебя миссия. У вас есть два дня на его выполнение." The man in the crimson beret picked up a manila folder and pulled from it a photo of a happy family with three school-age children. ["I have a mission for you. You have two days to complete it."]

"Они живут в конспиративном доме на окраине Горького, а точнее Нижнего Новгорода," he told me and showed a photo of a large but unassuming house with an address handwritten at the bottom of the picture. "Казнить женщину и детей. Без свидетелей." ["They are staying in a safe house on the outskirts of Gorky, or rather Nizhny Novgorod."] ["Execute the woman and the children. No witnesses."]

He put away the two photographs and brought out a new one of a red shipping container. Flipping it over revealed a series of numbers and an address on the back. "В этом транспортном контейнере вы проведете ночь. У него есть запасы еды и оружия. В ночное время контейнер будет отправлен в Москву." ["You will spend the night in this shipping container. It has food and weapons supplies. Overnight, the container will be shipped to Moscow."]

The man in the crimson beret presented a photo of an older couple. "Она готовится покинуть свой дом в Москве," he informed me and produced a photo of a large, beautiful building. A formal embossed gold font disclosed the address of the mansion. "Казни ее. Без свидетелей." ["She is preparing to leave their home in Moscow."] ["Execute her. No witnesses."]

"Вы вернетесь в транспортный контейнер, и он будет отправлен в Ленинград или Санкт-Петербург, как его сейчас называют." ["You will return to the shipping container and it will be shipped to Leningrad, or St. Petersburg as they are calling it now."]

He then displayed a photo of a smiling couple with a tiny infant daughter. "Женщина и ребенок будут прятаться среди других женщин и детей в плацкарте в поезде Лев Толстой, который курсирует и�� Москвы в Хельсинки с остановкой в Санкт-Петербурге. Казнить женщину и ребенка. Без свидетелей." ["The woman and child will be hiding amongst other women and children in third class on the train Lev Tolstoy, which runs from Moscow to Helsinki with a stop in Saint Petersburg. Execute the woman and the child. No witnesses."]

"Ваша точка эвакуации - вокзал в Выборг." Finished with his discourse, he snapped the manila folder closed. ["Your extraction point is the train station in Vyborg."]

After a rushed breakfast of a bowl of porridge and a small cup full of sausage, two of the men with guns took me down a series of hallways and ushered me inside a room. Shelves of various types of clothing lined the walls and many sizes of boots sat mated up together on the floor. A middle-aged woman with pursed lips stood waiting for us. Her neatly pressed skirt and suit jacket, along with her tightly pulled-back bun, were a perfect example of how her military uniform was to be worn. This woman's spotless appearance told that she was the one who kept this room orderly with such precision. Her flashing brown eyes glared at me with contempt.

"Сними одежду," she ordered. A moment later, I stood before her without anything on. Handing me a black sports bra and underwear, she said, "Наденьте это." Soon, I was also wearing a pair of black pants and a black tank top that she gave me. ["Take off your clothes."] ["Put these on."]

The woman walked over to the far wall and returned with a black leather top which had no right sleeve. She muttered something about, "это лучше подошло бы ей после всех этих переделок." After putting the top on me and tightening each of the straps on my chest, she ran her hand over my hair. ["This had better fit her after all those alterations."]

Visibly irritated, she stormed out of the room, leaving me alone with the two armed men. The brunette woman returned a few minutes later with a stepstool and a hairbrush. Standing on the stepstool, she undid my disheveled braid and began tackling the host of tangles with the hairbrush. Once my hair had been painfully brushed out to her satisfaction, she began rebraiding it. Her small hands pulled the groups of hair harshly into place.

A pair of boots and a thick pair of socks were then selected for me, and I put them on. The woman now stood back and inspected me. Frowning, she grabbed a handkerchief and rubbed it along my metal arm. When the limb was finally polished enough to meet her standards, she put a pair of black leather fingerless gloves on my hands. Standing back again, she resumed her scrutiny. The woman now wore an expression that was almost not disdainful of my appearance.

After a long sigh, she turned to the two armed men and said, "Я сделал все, что мог, учитывая то, что вы мне принесли. Теперь она твоя." ["I've done the best I can considering what you brought me. She's all yours now."]

Each of the men grabbed one of my arms and marched me back out into the hallway. We walked for several minutes before entering another room. This one was filled with weapons: assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, every type of combat knife imaginable, and things I could not even identify.

"Скоро здесь будет полковник Карпов," a young man in military fatigues informed the two armed men. ["Colonel Karpov will be here shortly."]

The man in the beret arrived a few minutes later and ordered, "Наденьте на нее оружейный пояс." ["Put the weapons belt on her."]

From that command, a long series of others followed. The man in the beret dictated a lengthy list of various weapons, which the young man would then locate and put on my person. I soon wore a vast array of holsters and weaponry.

A uniformed man entered the room and announced, "Самолет готов к работе." ["The plane is ready to go."]

After nodding that he had heard, the man in the beret began walking around me slowly. His calculating eyes examined every part of me.

"Наденьте на нее маску," he directed before leaving the room with the uniformed man. ["Put the mask on her."]

Once half of my face was hidden behind the mask, the young man put a dark-colored sack over my head. A hand grabbed each of my arms, and my lack of vision forced me to follow their lead. Walking blindly was not hard, but navigating stairs presented challenges. At one point, we must have ridden in an elevator because I could feel the floor haltingly moving upwards.

A few minutes later, a loud metallic groan gave way to a cold, shrieking wind whipping all around me. What I could only assume to be snow crunched beneath my feet until the texture of the ground changed and began sloping upwards.

After the ramp leveled out at the top, the hands let go of my arms and sat me down. The drone of roaring engines now drowned out the wind's howls. As we began moving, I wondered what type of vehicle I was aboard. The breakneck taxiing speed and slight bump of leaving the ground all pointed to a plane. The next several hours were silent other than the sounds of the aircraft.

A swift descent gave way to the impact of landing. When the plane had reached a full stop, the two hands again grabbed my arms and led me down the ramp. The ground here was concrete with only light snow on it. As we continued walking, the snow disappeared, and my footsteps echoed back to me.

When the bag was finally removed from my head, I stood in an empty warehouse with two armed men and an IZH motorcycle in front of me.

"Добро пожаловать в Нижний Новгород, солдат." ["Welcome to Nizhny Novgorod, soldier."]

~~~

Having arrived at the safehouse, I flipped down the kickstand and turned off the powerful machine that rested between my legs.

I was going to kick in the front door, but trying the doorknob revealed a simpler option. Pistol clasped in my hands, I entered the house.

The front room was empty, and I proceeded to clear the house. In the kitchen, a woman stood at the sink with her back to me.

"Мамочка?" a child's voice called out from another room. ["Mommy?"]

When the woman turned around, I shot her three times in the chest before she could draw in enough breath to scream.

"Мамочка?" ["Mommy?"]

A small head of brown hair rounded the corner. I fired three more shots, and the boy met the same end as his mother.

Now, I heard another child's voice and followed the singing outside, where a little girl was playing on a swing set. Wrapping the swing's chain around her neck, I held it tight until she was no longer living.

The backyard was empty, so I returned to the house. Clearing several rooms revealed no one. After entering the master bedroom, I heard soft sobs coming from under the bed. I snatched a pillow from the headboard and then knelt down. Grabbing the older boy by the ankle, I dragged him out from his hiding place and straddled my legs over his torso before pushing the pillow down onto his face and holding it there until he had taken his final breaths.

My first four targets were successfully eliminated with no witnesses.

I closed the front door behind me and returned to the motorcycle. The snow was falling fast now and made me anxious to get to the shipping container for the night.

After arriving at the shipping yard and searching for several minutes, I located the container. It was red and bore the same set of numbers I had seen in the photo earlier. Opening the right door revealed a flashlight on the floor. Clicking it on and shining it inside showed that the walls were lined with weapons, just like the room I had been in earlier.

I walked the motorcycle into the container and cut off the engine before closing the door shut. Shipping containers only open from the outside, but this one had been modified to open and close from the inside.

There were two large chests, one against each wall. The chest on the left was filled with ammo and knives, while the other chest held an old sleeping bag, a case of water bottles, packages of ration crackers, and little tins with some type of meat in them.

After spreading out the sleeping bag, I sat on it and ate a package of crackers along with a tin of the strange meat substance. When I finished my little meal, I replenished my ammunition and selected a few knives to add to my collection.

Crawling into the sleeping bag, I turned off the flashlight and tried to fall asleep, but a cold, dark metal box was not the most conducive place for rest.

Over the next few hours, the container was moved several times in multiple ways. Eventually, the steady motion of travel lulled me to sleep.

~~~

Bolting upright, I drew in short, sharp breaths. The memory of the shipping container reminded me of where I was. The flashlight showed that everything was fine, but I was still spooked.

My stomach growled hungrily, distracting me from my fear. I was soon scooping meat out of a tin with some stale crackers.

Once finished with my impromptu meal, I lay back down. My body was still too tense to sleep, so I lay there with the light on until I dozed off.

The lurching container startled me awake. With no way to tell time, I could only guess how long I had been out. After washing down another pack of crackers and a tin of meat with a bottle of water, I realized how painfully uneasy both my mind and body were.

When the container finally came to a complete stop several hours later, I took off on the motorcycle for my target's mansion.

Three uniformed men with handguns told me to leave when I pulled into the long driveway in front of the building. My assault rifle silenced them permanently.

Bursting through the enormous, ornate front doors, I met an old man and a young woman. Once both of them had a knife in their chest, I moved on.

Two men with boxes descended a grand staircase. Shooting them down, I kept searching for my target.

On the second floor, a plump middle-aged woman crossed my path. In return, I promptly snapped her neck.

After climbing another set of stairs, I encountered two women decorating a giant Christmas tree. Their bodies hit the floor with a dull clatter after bullets tore through their flesh.

The next person I saw was a woman with an armful of towels. She screamed when I threw her over the railing but went silent upon hitting the granite floor two stories below.

Two men rushed out of a room to investigate the sound. I choked one with my metal hand and used my flesh hand to stab the other in the heart with a knife.

Turning down a hallway, I saw a woman with clothes draped over her shoulders. She was heading towards the large double doors at the end of the hall until I shot her in the back. A moment later, a man carrying suitcases walked out of the room with the double doors, and one of my knives lodged itself into his neck.

I threw open the pair of doors to find my target, a woman with a clipboard, and a small white dog inside a luxurious master bedroom suite. After taking out the clipboard woman with my assault rifle, I pulled out my pistol and held it to the target's head as she whispered a prayer.

When my target was eliminated, the tiny furry animal whimpered and nudged at his dead mistress's body. I wondered whether or not a dog counted as a witness. Putting two bullets in him answered my question.

The shatter of something delicate drew my attention to the young woman in the doorway. Colorful shards of what could have been a vase lay around her. She still wore a face of shock when I slit her throat on my way out.

I returned to the shipping container since I found no one else as I left the residence, apart from the bodies of those who had been disposed of.

I ate another meal of tin meat and ration crackers before sitting on my sleeping bag. My mind was full of questions, and the more I asked myself, the more I realized how little I knew. Who am I? What is my story? When did I become a killer? Where did I come from yesterday? Why do these people have to die? How much longer will I have to do this? And I struggled with these questions until a fitful sleep finally overcame me.

~~~

"Сэр, на линии генерал-майор, и он хочет поговорить с вами." ["Sir, the Major General is on the line, and he wants to speak to you."]

Colonel Karpov groaned at this news. An expensive long-distance call from his superior officer at this hour would be nothing positive, but the chain of command forced him to pick up the phone anyway.

"Говорит полковник Карпов." ["Colonel Karpov speaking."]

"Полковник, у вас не было разрешения на создание оружия из гражданского лица без подготовки и опыта!" the Major General barked. ["Colonel, you did not have permission to create a weapon out of a civilian with no training or experience!"]

"Сэр, она была передана мне на попечение, чтобы я мог проводить эксперименты и испытания. Это все что я делаю," Colonel Karpov replied calmly. ["Sir, she was put under my care so I could run experiments and testing. That is all I am doing."]

The Major General yelled, "Ее передали вам, чтобы убедиться, что сыворотка Старка безопасна для передачи нашей главной команде активов! Ее не должны были отправлять на несанкционированные убийства!" ["She was given to you to ensure that the Stark serum was safe to give to our top team of assets! She was not to be sent out on an unsanctioned killing spree!"]

Karpov bit back a scathing remark. "При всем уважении, сэр, она ценна не только как лабораторная крыса, и она активно доказала это на практике." ["With all due respect, sir, she is valuable as more than just a lab rat and has actively proved it out on the field."]

"Ее никогда не следов��ло выставлять ни на какое поле! Вы вернете ее и оставите здесь! Это приказ!" ["She should have never been put out on any field! You will bring her back and keep her here! That is an order!"]

Colonel Karpov gritted his teeth. "Да сэр." ["Yes sir."]

"Позвони мне, когда она вернется." and the line went dead. ["Call me when she is back."]

[artficlly]

The horselands is so intriguing, and devil on my back pretty please. I absolutely love western AU’s ❤️❤️

the horselords!!!!! omg the title might change but surprise!! it's my super secret project (lol not really) that i've been pre-writing. it's basically the horselords of naraik (an older, discontinued fic of mine) but the plot is COMPLETELY different. i actually had to change it from a x reader to an x oc just to make it a bit easier for me to write.

the setting is more mediaeval fantasy, with celtic/viking influence. it would take me so long to explain the plot details, locations, characters etc so here is the blurb (may change).

In a world where loyalty is a commodity and power is bought with blood, Isolde finds herself at the centre of a delicate balance between duty and desire. Trained within the sacred halls of Rotsál Manor, she has been moulded into the perfect instrument of The Order—obedient, skilled, and unwavering in her devotion.  When Father Dreykov, a man who has shaped her future from the moment she arrived, offers her an unorthodox mission. She must marry the Thegn Bucky of House Barnes, a fearsome Naraki Warlord known as the Winter Soldier, and sway him to serve The Order. This task will demand the mastery of every lesson she has ever learned—manipulation, seduction, and sacrifice. But even as The Order and the elders expect Isolde’s success, she grapples with her identity. Is she a mere tool of The Order, destined to be forgotten in the annals of history? Or can she carve out a place for herself in the world of the Naraki Horselords, where power shifts with the wind and the line between friend and foe is razor-thin?

i've written around 10k words so far. it's going to be a slow burn so it'll take me awhile to write, i've felt a bit conflicted writing it because true to the original horselords series it has some pretty triggering themes. if you didn't pick it up, rotsál manor is supposed to be the red room, and Isolde is a widow. Nat and Yelena are both big parts of this story. i've always been really enamoured with the red room and have kind of built my own headcanons around it. so rotsál is a really exaggerated version of the red room, with culty/religious vibes.

heres a snippet!

“Have you heard of the Vetur Soldat? Or some call him the White Wolf.” “The Winter Solider? Yes, he is a Warlord and Thegn. He answers only to the Ealdorman of the Naraki—Steve of House Rogers.” “His true name is Bucky. Bucky of House Barnes. He is the commander of Lord Steve’s armies. It is said that the Ealdorman Wulfric and his men refused to march against an army quarter their size because they knew Lord Bucky led it. They respect him, but they also fear him.” “The Order wishes him executed?” Isolde queried and the man barked out a laugh. “No, dear child.” He cleared his throat, palm coming to rub his chest. “The Order wishes you to marry him.” “Marry him…?” “I did warn you this assignment would require a certain finesse, if you fear you are unable to go through with this task, I can find another—” “No. I can do it.” “You are sure?” “Yes. Apologies Father, this task is rather unorthodox—” “I understand. It is a daunting commitment. Your duty will be to keep the Lord happy, and to always guide him towards the path of The Order. If the Naraki marry one of our own, they will be obliged to work with us. The Naraki have strong beliefs in bloodlines and family.” “You believe he will listen to my advice and guidance?” “You will make him listen.” Father Drekov asserted. “There is a fragile peace that encompasses our world and that peace must hold. It is our duty to ensure that it does, and The Order believe that the Horselords are intrinsically tied to our vision of a complete world. One without war, needless death and suffering.” “This marriage… will I ever be able to return home? Will I ever see Rotsál Manor again?” “In time, I imagine you will. The mission will be long, but if you have faith and are dedicated… you will be rewarded for your sacrifice. If it is any comfort to you… Warlords and Naraki Swordmen are not known to live long lives, they live for the thrill of battle and a warrior's death.” “And this Warlord, this Lord Bucky of House Barnes, he will accept me as a wife?” “Of course, why would he not?” Isolde made a face before she could think, and the Father chuckled at her hesitant expression. Isolde knew she was one of Father Drekov’s best pupils, he repeated it to anyone who cared to listen—but there was always a gnawing feeling that she was an imposter. Isolde was aware of her skill, she had always flourished during her classes, but a part of her often worried if she was truly worthy. She had not yet proven herself in the field—maybe all her achievements so far were luck? Would a Naraki Horselord not take one look at a Sister such as Natasha, and desire her instead? She was beautiful, with her fiery-red hair and fierce features, her body lean and tall. Or there was Yelena, a softer beauty but determined and spirited nonetheless.  Would Isolde truly live up to the standards and expectations laid upon her shoulders? “The Naraki… they are simple men.” Father Dreykov crept closer, leaning in as he inspected her face closely with a sly amusement. “If you can pleasure him, as any good wife should, he will be easily won over.” Isolde eyes locked onto the floor, a small shudder running down her spine as the Father’s breath fanned across her cheek. His hand raised, a slow, hesitant finger ghosting along her jawline.  “You do remember all that we have taught you?” He asked, voice low as a whisper.

--

devil on my back is the sequel to me & the devil!! i've been sitting on this wip for like a year now, i literally just have to write one last scene and it's ready. there will also be a third part called the devil's resting place!! heres a snippet from devil on my back, though it might be up for change / editing later.

“What do you want me to do, sweetheart?” Bucky asks, his voice lower than normal. You can feel the vowels as they rumble in his chest, his tongue poking out to wet his lips. “I have apologised, and if you want me to apologise every day, I will. What I can’t do is kill my friends, what I can’t do is take you back to that damn saloon. You think after everythin’ you told me about those bad men, I would let ya go back? Nah, sweetheart. That ain’t how it works.”  “You say that like you wouldn’t have left me there if Stark hadn’t been hurt.” You snarl at him, and the outlaw visibly rolls his eyes.  “What do ya want me to do? Tell me. You want me to get on my knees and beg for you?” He asks, his words grinding out in frustration.  “I want…” You begin, but pause. Did you want to sob, scream, shoot the vicious outlaws, flee, or go back to that depraved saloon? Did you want to punish Bucky for what he had done? There was so much anger inside of you, yet sometimes you felt it had no purpose at all. Sometimes all you wanted was to be held, to have something to fill the emptiness inside of you. Bucky hadn’t killed Charlotte; Parker had. Yet could you forgive him for standing by and following orders mindlessly?   You couldn’t find the words, instead stalling with a scowl as your levels of frustration rose. You so desperately wanted something to make this all better, but you were unsure if you would ever know what it was until after it happened. You blink back tears, teeth grinding as you shift in place, thwarted for the moment.  “God, I ain’t never seen you like this…” Bucky speaks into the tense silence, his hand reaching to cup your cheek, his thumb stroking over the skin. “So riled up, it’s…” “And what do you want me to be like?” You gaze up at him with a hard look, your voice close to a hiss. “Ya want me to be a sweet, docile lady, a whore that opens her legs at your command?” You draw your face closer to his, watching as his pupils dilate, jaw muscles tensing beneath your gaze. “You’re a bastard, a sick, twisted bastard. I want back the man I first met – the one who would tell me sad stories and stack double my rate on the dresser. I want the man who was kind and gentle and who would protect me instead of hurtin’ me.” Bucky’s thumb traces along your lower lip; a shudder runs down your spine, yet you do not pull away.  “I can be that for you, darlin’. If you give me the chance.” Bucky whispers; his voice is guttural and strained. Your palm comes to rest on his chest, and the muscles beneath twitch under your touch. With heavy-lidded eyes, you feel the energy wash off him in waves, pent-up and ravenous.  His large hands found your waist, and for a moment, there were no thoughts, no emptiness, and no anger. There was only him, his hot breath, and his hands against the fabric of your dress. Selfishly, for a moment, you forget all that has happened.  Only as Bucky’s head dips in a desperate plea to capture his lips with yours do you react, using your palm to push yourself free from his touch. Bucky pants, as if wounded, and you stalk back a few paces.  There was a dangerous line between hatred and pleasure, and you were deathly aware of how closely you toed it. You could not let what had happened between you or speculation about what it could have become blind you. You realized that you were grieving not only those you had lost, but also those who might have been. You mourned who Bucky could have been to you; you mourned the outlaw you met that first day. But the worst part was that, as much as you grieved, he was never real in the first place. Now, there was only the present, and you knew if you were to survive, you would have to grow a thicker skin.  “I don’t forgive you.” You mutter bitterly and are met with an irritated growl. “I didn’t expect anythin’ different.”

[welldonebeca]

it's a Bad Idea, right? (9)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC!Betty WC: 1.1k words Warnings: Mafia AU. Secret identity au. Flirting. Fluff.

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Masterlist

Betty was in giggles by the time the waiter took their plates away, and both her and Steffan had shifted from his spot to sit right by her side.

He had the sweetest stories of his childhood, the funniest memories!

"I mean it," he said with a grin. "The crib was destroyed, I had chewed every rod, every bit of wood my mouth could reach."

Her laughter bubbled up uncontrollably. The mental image of a little Steffan wreaking havoc on a crib with his itchy baby teeth was both endearing and comical.

“My mother wanted to pass it on to a friend who was having a baby, but she couldn’t, she was so embarrassed.”

Betty burst into more laughter, her head falling onto Steffan's shoulder as he held her hand.

“You sound like you were a really eventful child,” she giggled.

He turned his head to her, looking very close into her eyes, and she bit her lower lip, inhaling in a bit of surprise when he kissed the tip of her nose.

Her whole face flushed with warmth, and they both leaned back just in time as the waiter returned, presenting them with two beautifully caramelized Crème Brûlée desserts.

"Have you really never tried this before?” she asked, her curiosity piqued as the waiter departed with a nod of approval. “Everyone has tried Crème Brûlée.”

Steffan shrugged, his gaze still on hers.

“I haven’t,” he insisted.

Betty looked at the dessert, debating what she should do as he watched her quietly, his gaze warm and charged.

Finally, her wishes won, and she reached for one of the spoons, her fingers brushing against his on the way, and took the dessert closer.

“There’s no pleasure like the pleasure of breaking the crust,”  she declared, her voice soft as a secret shared. “Might I do the honour?”

He nodded with a gentle smile, his eyes fixed on her, and Betty used the tip of the spoon to break the caramelised sugar layer before scooping up a spoonful of the creamy delight. Oh, it was so creamy, it looked wonderful.

“Open up,” she whispered.

Steffan licked his lips before complying, and she pushed the thin spoon into his mouth with crush and cream, and watched as he chewed through it, his eyes never left hers as he savoured the bite.

“What do you think?” Betty asked softly.

He nodded, his lips still stained from the dessert, and he swallowed with a contented sigh.

"This is wonderful," he praised. "I can see the hype now."

She chuckled.

“Well, there is a reason it is such a famous dessert.”

He hummed positively, and she could see how his eyes were moving from her eyes to her lips, and left the spoon aside to lean a little closer to him.

"I was wondering," Steffan murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, his breath gentle against her skin. "If I wanted to kiss you... if I asked you, what would your answer be?"

She shuddered, shivering, and exhaled slowly, setting her eyes on his lips. They did look wonderfully attractive.

“I’d say you are free to do so.”

Steffan leaned in slowly against her, and she closed her eyes a moment before feeling his lips brushing against hers.

It was a slow thing, a sweet and careful touch of his lips against hers as his hand came to her chin, holding it tenderly.

There was still sugar on his lips, and she could feel it, and Betty didn’t even think before giving it a little lick.

It was enough to give him the chance of doing the same, fully kissing her now, fully devouring her in the kiss, and she surrendered to it willingly.

By the time they pulled back – and Betty didn’t quite want to pull back but this was a restaurant and she was not willing to be kicked out – his lips were stained with her lipstick and she could taste the custard in her mouth as his nose rubbed against hers and they both breathed through it together.

Their moment was sadly interrupted by the ringing of her phone, and Betty jumped back, away from him, picking it from her purse.

“It’s Wanda,” she realised. “I have to take this.”

“Of course.”

She left her purse with Steffan, walking off to a corner.

Wanda would never interrupt her date unless it was an emergency.

Betty picked it up in a quiet place near the hostess.

“Wan?”

“Hi,” Wanda exhaled on the other side, sounding relieved. “Are you coming home yet?”

She frowned.

“No,” she shook her head. “We are having dessert. What happened?”

“The whole street is dark,” she told her, sounding frustrated. “I think some… uh… stupid English!”

Betty grimaced, yeah, she struggled with that during stressful times too.

“Can you describe what happened?” she suggested.

“The… light stick that holds the cables exploded,” her friend grumbled.

Yeah, light stick was accurate, she didn’t know the name of those things either.

“How are things with Steffan?”

“Nice,” she told her. “And over there?”

“We locked up,” Wanda spoke, lamenting it. “Piet says he can wait for you outside, but I don’t like to do that when the street is all dark, who knows what can happen.”

Betty nodded, shifting on her feet, a bit nervous now.

"I completely get it. I'll talk to Steffan, and I'll text you once I know what we're doing, okay?”

Shit…

Betty hated even going out when her street was all dark, it wasn’t safe.

“Sorry about that,” her friend apologised.

“It’s not your fault, Wan,” she sighed. “I’ll text you in a minute.”

Betty hung up and moved back to her table, and Steffan hadn’t even touched the dessert she’d left behind.

“What happened?” he asked.

“A power outage in our street,” she sighed. “And our building doesn’t have a generator.”

He sat up straighter.

“Is it safe to go out there?”

She grimaced.

“Well… there were some unfortunate situations when that happened,” she hesitated. “Piet offered to pick me up.”

"No need for that," he shook his head. "If you'd like, you can spend the night at my place?"

Betty hesitated.

Oh?

He was quick to not let her thoughts wander.

“Of course, I don’t expect anything to happen tonight,” he assured her quickly. “But I would be the worst man in this city if I let you get back there and put yourself in a dangerous situation.”

She bit her lower lip, weighing her options.

Well, she wasn't entirely opposed to something happening, either.

“Are you sure?” Betty asked, still hesitant. “It’s our first date.”

He shrugged with a little smirk on his lips.

“If you count out grocery shopping together, it would be our second,” Steffan noted.

She chuckled with him and rested her hands on the table.

“If you are sure,” Betty decided. “Thank you.”

…

“it’s a Bad Idea, right?” was posted on my Patreon in September 2023 and is fully finished. To have early access to it (and lots of other stories), consider subscribing to my page! It’s just $2 a month, and I know you won’t regret it!

…

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Bad Idea: @peaceloveancolor

[somethingeden]

Book help - Series + Characters and Love Tropes

[Firstly, here is post for the fandoms]

Hello, I am a writer on Wattpad and I am trying to think of a story. I do get writer's block so I have old books but I am to lazy to rewrite them. Okay so I have a few ideas but may you use about a minute to vote or even give me suggestions, it would be appreciated! I could also do a cross over.

Series and the characters that I am considering of doing is (I am also okay with character x character and oc x oc:

Narnia (Edmund Pevensie/Peter Pevensie/Caspian X/Lucy Pevensie/Susan Pevensie/Aslan/Eustace Scrubb)

MCU (Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers/Wanda Maximoff/Peter Parker/Harley Keener/Hope Lang/Scott Lang/Same Wilson/Natasha Romanoff/Pietro Maximoff/Tony Stark/Thor/Loki/Stephen Strange/Wade Wilson/Peter Quill)

Harry Potter (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy/Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger/Luna Lovegood/Neville Longbottom/Blaise Zabini/Pansy Parkinson/Sirius Black/Remus Lupin/Bellatrix Lestrange/Ginny Weasley/Fred Weasley/George Weasley/Bill Weasley/Charlie Weasley/Cedric Diggory/Tom Riddle/Mattheo Riddle)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Albus Potter/James Potter II/Rose Granger-Weasley/Scorpius Malfoy/Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter/Hermione Granger/Ted Lupin)

Marauders (James Potter/Sirius Black/Remus Lupin/Bellatrix Black/Marlene Mckinnon/Mary Mcdonald/Dorcas Meadows)

Doctor Who (9th Doctor/Jack Harkness/10th Doctor/Donna Noble/11th Doctor/Amy Pond/Clara Oswin Oswald/12th Doctor/13th Doctor/Yasmin Khan/Ryan Sinclair/14th Doctor/Donna Noble/Rose Noble)

Heartstopper (Ben Hope/Harry Greene/Imogen Heaney/David Nelson)

Grease (Danny Zuko/Sandy Olsson/Kenickie Murdock/Leo Balmudo)

Disney (Ariel/Maleficent/Briar Rose/Ursula/Prince Eric)

Greek Mythology (Medusa/Hades/Poseidon/Apollo/Ares/Hermes/Demeter)

The Mortal Instruments [I haven't read all the books] (Jace Wayland-Herondale.../Alec Lightwood/Raphael Santiago/Isabelle Lightwood/Magnus Bane/Jonathan Morgenstern/Maia Roberts/Jordan Kyle)

Percy Jackson [I sadly don't have the books but I am going to base it off the tv series that'll come out next month] (Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase/Grover Underwood/Luke Castellan/Ares/Poseidon/Hades/Clarisse La Rue/Medusa/Hermes/Hephaestus)

Enola Holmes 1 and 2 (Enola Holmes/Tewksbury/Sherlock Holmes/Mycroft Holmes)

Jurassic Park (Ian Malcolm/Alan Grant)

Jurassic World (Own Grady/Zach Mitchell/Maisie Lockwood/Gray Mitchell/Ian Malcolm/Alan Grant)

Little Women (Theodore Laurence)

Lord of the Rings (Frodo Baggins/Legolas Greenleaf/Aragorn/Eomer/Faramir)

The Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield/Kili Oakenshield/Fili Oakenshield/Thranduil Greenleaf/Bard/Legolas Greenleaf)

Uncharted (Nathan Drake/Victor Sullivan/Chloe Frazer)

Supernatural (Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester/Jack Kline/Claire Novak)

Mamma Mia 1 and 2 (Sam Carmichael/Harry Bright/Bill Anderson/Sky)

Love tropes:

Enemies to Lovers

Friends to Lovers

Forbidden Love

Secret Identity/Billionaire/Royal

Best friend's Brother/Sister

Second Chance

Soulmates

Fake Relationships to Lovers

Wedding – Runaway Bride/Runaway Groom/Jilted/Arranged Marriage

Strangers to Lovers

Amnesia/Mistaken Identity

Holiday Romance/Flings (Can lead to a baby)

Already Together

Hero x Villain

Sworn off Relationships

Opposites Attract

Secret Baby

Two Person Love Triangle (Mistaken Identity)

Reunited

Fairy Tale Retelling

Bet

Blind Date

and more...

[saiilorstars]

ch.12: The Ghost 

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd) OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​​​​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​ @gloryekaterina​​​ @averyhotchner​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lenonizi @kmc1989​​​​​​​​​​​​

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist​​

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Sam placed a cup of coffee in front of Chloe at the kitchen table. "I make mine really sweet, I don't know about you..." He spoke quietly as he moved around the table.

Chloe's eyes followed him until he saw down across her. "It's fine," she mumbled and grabbed the cup.

Sam watched her drink and let her take that moment that she needed for her own sake. He had only heard bits and pieces about what the last few days had been like and it all sounded like a true nightmare.

Chloe put down the cup on the table, licking her lips anxiously. The Hive Mind had not stopped buzzing and she was running out of strategies to ignore them. "They found me, Sam," she said abruptly.

Sam raised a brow at her. "They—?"

"The Ghost — Hydra, I guess, since that's what they've announced their name to be. And I guess they never 'lost' me, so they technically didn't have to find me either," Chloe continued, gaze glued on her cup. "They always knew about me. They were just waiting for me to finish cooking like a damn turkey. The oven dinged, and now I'm ready for the taking."

"Because they want that Hive Mind of yours," Sam said, recalling their last conversation just before things went haywire. Chloe nodded. "And you keeping everything a secret worked out well for you?"

Chloe finally lifted her gaze up, and it was only to deadpan Sam who couldn't be more proud of himself.

"Shut up—"

"Hey," Sam raised his hands in front of him. "Sometimes we learn the hard way, even when we're all grown up."

Chloe rolled her eyes. She really was not looking for a lecture right now. "My best friend landed in the hospital because I wasn't looking and now we're all being hunted like criminals. I know Steve is gonna go crazy trying to help me out while also mentally freaking out that he hasn't protected Seren well — even though that's bullshit — and Seren and Natasha are gonna do everything they can, including risking their lives, to help me out. It might be easier to just let HYDRA take me or kill myself."

"That's selfish, Winters," Natasha said on her way into the kitchen. Chloe and Sam looked over just as she stopped in the middle of the table and swiped an apple off the fruit basket. "Not everything is about you." She bit into the apple, raising an eyebrow at Chloe to challenge her to argue.

"Natasha, seriously," Chloe sounded like she was going to beg to be taken serious.

"You think this is all about you?" Natasha continued like nothing. "HYDRA existed before you and I were even born, before Seren was born. Steve's been dealing with them way before any of us. I'm sure HYDRA has a bit of resentment towards him that they would love to take out on him. Seren's abilities make her a valuable asset and you really think HYDRA doesn't know that? I'm sure they've been waiting for an opportunity and now is a good one as ever. So, you think this is all about you?"

Chloe resembled a child the way she ducked her face. Natasha smirked; the point had gotten through.

"Is that bacon?" Natasha asked Sam about the pan on the stove. He nodded and she went right to it.

When Chloe felt braver, which was a solid ten minutes later, she asked Natasha what she thought should be their next move. It was clear that she was way in over her head and the Hive Mind was just making her more of a liability at this point.

"Cover ourselves," Natasha said simply. "Right now, I'm sure me, Steve and Seren have become an outstanding problem and not just because we're in the way of your extraction." She grabbed the last piece of bacon on the pan and took a chunk of it into her mouth.

"So you think they're not going to kill her?" Sam looked at Chloe when he asked.

"No, I think think it's a high probability that they'll try," Natasha said simply, leading Chloe to glare at her for being so blunt. "They want the piece lodged in her body. What else are they going to do?"

"It's so comforting talking to you," Chloe muttered.

Natasha cracked a smile and pointed at Chloe with her half eaten bacon. "You want comfort, talk to mama-Seren. I'm the aunt who'll tell you your bullshit."

Chloe looked even less pleased, and it didn't help that Sam had laughed either. "Would you please get serious!?" she frowned. "HYDRA is on our ass. We need to do something!"

"And we will," Natasha said with an utmost certainty that it even got Chloe wondering if she had something up her sleeve.

A short while later, Seren and Steve joined them in the kitchen. Seren wore Steve's jacket again, zipped up like it swallowed her whole. She wanted to cover up her bruises until they completely healed.

"Hey," Natasha waved at them with her bacon, "Nice of you to join us, finally. Everything good now?"

"Yes," Steve said in a hard voice warning Natasha not to push it.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Sam," Seren said. "I'm sorry about before, I..."

Sam held a hand up for her to stop. "I got it, trust me. I'd be a pretty different person if someone tried bombing me." Seren still thanked him again. "You guys hungry?" Sam got up and headed over to the drying rack for some fresh plates.

"Seren is." Steve ignored Seren's startled face and pulled out the chair Sam had left. He motioned her to sit down because she was going to eat one way or another.

Seren mouthed an 'I'm okay' to him and sat down nonetheless. Sam soon returned with clean plates for them and let them help themselves. Chloe tried getting up to give Steve the chair but he assured her that he was fine right where he was, which was standing right behind Seren's chair.

Seren grabbed some fruit, suddenly thirsty once she started serving herself. She offered Steve some of the fruit from her plate and was happy to see him accepting. He needed to eat as much as she did.

"Kay, now that we're all together…" Natasha straightened up in her seat, "We can get back to business." It was left unsaid that it would only be a matter of time until S.H.I.E.L.D. found them again.

"Back to business being how not to die," Seren remarked as she popped a grape into her mouth. "How to escape the organization you gave your life to." She smiled very dryly.

"I think we should start with the person who launched a domestic missile strike on us," Natasha said.

"Pierce," Steve said within the second. There was no doubt in his mind that it would be Pierce behind this. It was actually the only way things would make sense. Having someone so high up the ranks would be the perfect spot to oversee double-agents. It would also explain how S.H.I.E.L.D. would keep an easier tab on Chloe.

It seemed like Chloe had thought of the same thing because her head snapped up. "Sorry, isn't Pierce sitting on top of the most secure building in the world? This whole time I've been watching my back and it never even mattered because Pierce always knew everything!"

"He always knew where we all were," Natasha clarified again.

"If this guy has been keeping tabs on all of you, why'd he decide to strike now?" Sam asked the group and watched them exchange glances with each other.

"Fury," Seren was the one who answered in the end. She had another grape close to her lips. "It all started with Fury. Something Fury had to have done lately."

"The Lemurian Star," Chloe snapped her fingers at Natasha and Steve.

Steve agreed. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell," Natasha realized.

"Ah, so that means I have your better question here," Seren brought a finger to her nose, "How do the four most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Her powers weren't necessarily the quiet type and neither were Chloe's.

"Ah, what do you mean you?" Chloe pointed a finger at Seren. "You just got out of the hospital."

"Chloe, don't start—"

"I'm not" — Chloe raised her hands in front of her — "but you can't expect to go out and fight—"

"Chloe, you'll find that I can do pretty much whatever I want."

"Okay, okay, stop!" Steve cut in just as the tension grew stronger. For some reason, he was sure that some of Seren's powers were manifesting because he swore it felt like the temperature had risen around them. "We'll figure that stuff out but—"

"I may have an idea," Sam announced and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving the group rather puzzled until he returned with a folder in hand. He dropped it on the table for them to see.

"What's this?" asked Steve.

"Call it a resume."

Natasha grabbed the file from the table and went through it. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." She glanced at Steve. "You didn't say he was a pararescue."

Steve took the file from her and saw a picture of Sam with another man. It wasn't that hard to make a conclusion. "Is this Riley?"

Sam nodded, his voice slightly strained when he answered, "Yeah."

Seren took a peek at the file herself. "Didn't they say they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"

"No," Sam reached for the file to pull out a specific paper from it. "These." He handed it back to them.

Steve's eyebrows raised once he saw the picture. "I thought you said you were a pilot…?"

Sam smiled in amusement. "I never said pilot."

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

"I vote we let him in." Chloe reached with wiggling fingers for the picture in Steve's hand. Once she was able to see for herself what was on it, she wholeheartedly agreed they needed his help. "Where is this thing, Sam?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."

Chloe pursed her lips and swayed her head in her friends' direction, very much looking like a child waiting for the 'okay!'.

Steve looked directly at Natasha who gave him a simple shrug. Seren looked between them and immediately knew what was brewing in their heads.

"Nu-uh, you cannot—"

"Shouldn't be a problem, Sam," Steve said in the end.

~ 0 ~

"Steven Grant Rogers, you cannot leave me here!" Seren was livid with her boyfriend who, for the life of him, could not find a way to calm her down. The use of his full name coming out of her mouth stopped him instead.

"Since when do you know my whole name?" He stared at her, dumbfounded, until she snorted and reminded him that she had his entire folder before they met and history taught lessons about him in school.

"For the record, I hate using your full name in situations like this but I'm trying to make a point." Seren walked up to him, begging to be listened to. "I can help get Sam's little — those things! — with no problem! You can't continue to sideline me like this."

"Sweetheart," Steve slid his hands over her face, "I'm not sidelining you. How many times do I need to say it? I just want you to completely heal before you get back out there."

"But—"

"You said it yourself. You're healing which means if we give you a few more hours, you should be back to normal. Why rush the process?" It was a rhetorical question, of course. Steve knew how hard it was to just sit there and let others fight a fight you firmly believed was also yours.

If Bucky could look at him, he'd laugh in his face for the situation he was in. He went from being the one told to sit down to now being the one telling others to stand down. Fate had a funny way of doing things sometimes.

Seren heaved a sigh and went to pull Steve's hands off her, but he didn't budge. "You understand that I love you, right?" Steve said, forcing her head to stay still when she tried looking away. "Hey — Seren? I love you, okay? I love you."

"Yes, I heard you," Seren muttered.

"Would it be hard to say it back? Make me feel like when I come back you'll still be in this house and you'll still want to be my girlfriend?"

Seren rolled her eyes and let out one more sigh. "You're so stupid, Steven Grant Rogers."

Steve started chuckling. "Stop that."

At least Seren was smiling at him again. "I get to annoy you every time you annoy me and for the record," she jabbed her finger on his chest, "I am very annoyed right now. You want to leave me and Chloe in this house while you, Sam and Natasha go and retrieve the wings."

"I know it's hard, trust me, I do, but you gotta believe me here. I just want to protect you. I've been doing a miserable job lately—"

"I think you've been doing your very best and that means the world to me," Seren said, finally able to take one of Steve's hands off her face. She kissed his palm and offered him another smile.

"I am sorry for everything. I should have said this earlier but you and I...our relationship, it will never be a tactic to use against the enemy."

"What do you mean?"

"Back at the mall, when I kissed you to avoid being caught by Rumlow and his team, I felt awful—"

"It was awful?" Seren felt her heart hurt a bit. "The kiss was bad?"

"No, no, kissing you would never be awful," Steve said gently. "But you weren't completely free of the morphine's effect and it's just the whole idea of using our relationship like a strategy, it-it made me feel horrible. Like I was taking advantage of you."

"You weren't," Seren said loud and clear for him to understand. "Just like you want me to believe that you love me, I need you to believe me when I say that I trust you with my whole life. I would never think that you're taking advantage of me in any kind of way. I know I'm basically acting like the Grinch right now but you know that it has nothing to do with you. It's just...it's very hard being in this position. SHIELD just taught me that...you know...I'm the powerful one, I'm the one who can take the punch or even the bomb..."

Steve nodded with each of her words, silently growing even more resentful of SHIELD. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you — you know I would never. Yes, you can probably take on all of that stuff but just because you can, doesn't mean you always have to take it. I can take some of that weight off you, okay? That's the thing about being partners — whether it's on a team or...something else," he dipped down to give her a small kiss on the lips. "We said 50/50 so let me honor that. Let me help you learn what's taken me forever to learn: that not everything is on you."

"How do you do that?" Seren asked in a quiet whisper.

"Mm, with a lot of patience, mistakes, support, and time."

"Oh, so virtually nothing then..."

Steve laughed lightly. "Right. So, how about we do this. You stay here with Chloe, keep her company because I bet she is freaking out more than she is telling any of us. I think she still hasn't forgiven herself for what happened to you and she really needs to have you around. Talk to her, keep an eye on her, until we get back."

"You will come back here so we can plan together, right?"

"I promise you, sweetheart. I will come back."

Seren firmly believed in his word and that was the only reason she let him go.

~ 0 ~

Chloe had not actually eaten much since arriving to Sam's house and once it was just her and Seren, she felt like she needed to do something to occupy herself. Seren walked in on her eating avocado toast.

"Good, you're eating." Seren grabbed a seat at the table and left the cellphone Natasha had stolen on the table between them. "Steve said he would call when they were on their way back. All we gotta do is wait now."

Chloe nodded silently and continued to chew. Seren felt like before she said anything else, she had to make sure that she was capable of talking without getting angry. Lately, all she felt was anger and that was not the person she wanted to be. At the same time, though, a little voice in the back of her head told her that she was indeed allowed to be angry. She always restrained herself from feeling too much for the sake of identity and then later on because of her missions.

In all of Seren's thoughts, she missed the blue glow in Chloe's eyes. Chloe lowered her half eaten toast and swallowed what was in her mouth. "It's okay to be angry, Seren. I sure am."

Seren blinked out of her daze and immediately ducked her head. "I'm not angry with you, Chloe."

"You should be. I put everyone in danger. All because I thought I was the smart big girl in the team. Turns out I'm just the fucking baby."

"You're not," Seren said, "And that's exactly what SHIELD — HYDRA — wants you to believe. Makes for an easier target. I would know. I did take endless courses on strategies with them. I guess HYDRA was useful for something, right?"

Chloe stopped eating and stared at Seren until they both let out small, sour chuckles.

"Wow, we're one lucky duo," Chloe said in the end. Seren hummed. "If I had ever known that this is what SHIELD — HYDRA..." SHIELD was HYDRA and they had to get that through their heads now. The two were synonymous. "If I had ever known what they were planning, I would have...I would have—"

"You would have done anything to make sure this never happened." Seren reached for one of Chloe's hands on the table. "I know that, Chloe. I know my head's been all fuzzy these days but I do remember who you are. How could I not? I trained you for years. And so this should go without saying but you know that I could never hate you, right?"

Chloe looked down at her lap. "You honestly should."

"Chloe—"

"I should have told you what was going on from the start! I should have never listened to Fury. I-I should have — you were my mentor. I should've trusted you more and, who knows, maybe this really would have been avoided."

"We don't know that," Seren said. "I bet not even the Hive Mind knew it. As much as someone knows it all, there are always things that slip."

"Do you think Atria knew any of this?" Chloe asked. "She's always known about the Hive Mind but what about HYDRA?"

"I don't know," Seren shrugged lightly. "My grandmother is a seer, yeah, but she doesn't see everything and even when she does, it changes. She always tells me how much my own life has changed in her visions." She cleared her throat, squeezing Chloe's hand. "When I first talked to my grandmother about Steve — when I was being requested to help him adjust — I told her that I felt like trouble was coming. Not because of him, but just things that were going to come. And even then she told me that I was basically right but she had no idea what it was. That's the thing about seeing the future — it always changes. I can't tell you how many times I asked my grandmother growing up what my life would look like."

"Did she answer them?" Chloe knew that Atria was always vague with answers about someone's personal future. She figured it was because of some "seer rules" or whatever.

Seren sighed quietly. She pulled her hand off of Chloe's and leaned back in her chair. "She said that my future constantly changes. Sometimes she was nice enough to tell me that I survived—"

"Wow, wonderful," Chloe shook her head.

"Other times she would tell me that I got a new job away from SHIELD or that I would always work as an agent and sometimes she would say that I would get to have a family in this crazy world...course I didn't believe her on that one," Seren waved it off with a hand.

"Well, maybe she wasn't wrong about that one," Chloe flashed her a smile. "I know Natasha and I have been making a lot of jokes about it but we're happy about you and Steve. I'm very happy for you. You deserve to be with someone who knows how special you are."

Seren smiled as a faint blush crept over her cheeks. She felt silly talking about having a boyfriend, especially given the circumstances they were in.

"Hey," Chloe tapped Seren's hand until she got the ginger to look at her again, "You deserve it, alright? And when you're all nice and married and with super babies I" — she gestured to herself — "will be happy to remind you that you deserve all of it. And I will be the first godmother. Natasha can suck it."

"Chloe..." Seren laughed with her head thrown back.

~ 0 ~

As Steve promised, he returned to Sam's place with Natasha and Sam, along with a brand new pair of 'wings'. This time, the team got together to plan their next move. It was agreed, albeit reluctantly, that everyone would be moving out this time. With Sam's help, acquiring Sitwell wasn't difficult. Nobody was looking for him and so he was the right man to give a call to Sitwell, using the group's stolen cellphone, and lure him away from the crowds.

As soon as Sam got him to walk to the second street, Sitwell bumped into none other than Seren, who immediately grabbed him by his arm.

"If you even think about trying anything, I will blow you up," she warned him.

"Let's go," Sam pushed him forwards and together, they brought Sitwell to a more secluded building.

Steve was waiting for them right at the entrance and seized Sitwell much like Seren had. Chloe and Natasha were waiting for them at the rooftop, the former using the Hive Mind to ensure that they would be successful.

Steve didn't hesitate to shove Sitwell forwards as soon as they were on the rooftop. Now that they were close to answers, his patience had lowered dangerously.

"Tell us about Zola's algorithm!" he demanded.

Sitwell stumbled to pick himself up from the ground, but even then he managed to spit out an answer. "Never heard of it!"

Seren fired a star bolt directly beside his body. "Want to try that again?" She raised an eyebrow at him, her fist glowing again.

Sitwell swallowed hard. "I-I don't know! I don't—"

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve asked.

"I was throwing up, I get seasick!"

"Oh, wrong answer again," Seren readied her hands to fire again. Steve forced him to the edge of the rooftop. Chloe and Natasha came on either side of them.

Sitwell smiled at the group, but more specifically at Seren and Steve. "Okay, seriously, I know that you—" he gave a disdainful stare at Seren who narrowed her eyes at him in return, "—aren't going to fire anymore. And you're—" his eyes shifted towards Steve, "—not going to throw me off the roof. It's really not your styles."

The energy around Seren's hands died. She glanced at Steve with an innocent look on her face. He nodded with her. "Yeah, you're right. It's not ours."

"Not even mine," lamented Chloe before she smirked. "But it's definitely hers," she jerked a thumb at Natasha.

Sitwell barely had a second to blink before Natasha came forwards and kicked him off the roof. Chloe came to edge with the others to peer down. "You think Sam would let me take those things out for a drive?" It was like a domino chain the way Seren, Steve and Natasha looked at her. "What? I could do it!"

Sam flew up from the side of the building with Sitwell in his grip until he threw him back on the rooftop. Sam came to a much better, almost graceful, landing with his metal wings on his back.

Sitwell knew better than to antagonize the group again so now when they started for him, he raised his hands in defeat. " Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!"

"What targets?" demanded Steve.

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city." Seeing none of them were understanding the point of the targets, Sitwell then added, "Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, the Serpent—anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future!"

"So basically all of us," Seren looked at the group.

"How could it know the future?" Chloe asked, leading Sitwell to laugh.

Sitwell laughed at her. "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it."

"Read what?" Natasha frowned. There was no way the future could be predicted by a machine.

"Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And then what?" Steve's question flew right over Sitwell's head once the fear settled in him again.

"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me!"

"What then!?" Steve snapped.

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time!"

It was then that Chloe felt another jab to her head. She saw a rush of images that, if she was seeing correctly, described exactly what Sitwell was talking about.

Run, run, run! You'll be there!

She swallowed hard. She couldn't be there...

~ 0 ~

Acquiring yet another stolen car was something to note for another day but this time neither Chloe nor Natasha had a comment in mind. Chloe had her mind yelling again and it wasn't anything to do with their cramped car ride. It was accompanied by a feeling of dread that no matter what she did, she couldn't shake it off.

Seren had noticed the expressions on Chloe's face and the obvious discomfort she was in. It didn't take rocket science to figure out what was going on. 'Chloe, what is the Hive Mind saying?"

"I don't know, I don't want to listen," Chloe screwed her eyes shut. She wished she could bury her head into something just to make it all quiet.

"I said it before Chloe that this might be the problem." Unlike before though, Seren was careful to be more gentle than the last time she talked about this. "You're so used to the silence that now that they want to say something useful, you don't trust them. If they're talking to you, it's for a reason."

"I don't mean to rush but Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here," Natasha said from the front seat. "They wouldn't happen to be whispering something about that, would they?"

"Whispering?" Chloe snorted. "They're on a damn megaphone right now!"

"They said it would be active now." Sitwell had also been staring at her ever since she started making faces.

Steve could see the fascination in the man's eyes and as much as he wanted to shut it down, the chances of getting answers about the Hive Mind was much too big to let go. "What do you know about it? Was this your assignment too?"

"No..." Sitwell said, "Only the higher ranks knew all of the details."

"But let me guess, you've been climbing said ranks," Seren said tartly. "What do you know?"

"Hydra lost one of the pieces years ago," Sitwell answered out of sheer fear as Seren's eyes flamed orange. "The dormant piece can't be activated until they have the other."

"There's two of these things!?" Chloe let her head fall against Seren's shoulders. The fear multiplied instantly. "This whole time there's been two pieces out there?"

"What do you need two pieces for?" Steve found himself asking. If one piece allowed Chloe to connect to an alien hive mind, what would the second one allow her to do?

"Forget it!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Chloe—"

"I'm not letting another one of those come anywhere near me!"

"Chloe, shut up for a moment!" Seren wasn't the one to snap but in this case, she had to. "I get that it's not something you want to talk about but don't you see? There's way more to this than we know of and we need to know everything if we want to defeat it!"

Chloe still looked very unconvinced with the idea. Her worst nightmare was coming to life. It was—

A loud screeching noise pierced through her head like it was ripping her apart. Chloe screamed and clutched her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Chloe!" Seren panicked, along with the others who turned their heads towards Chloe. "What is it!? What's—"

Chloe could barely hear anything as the noise in her head got louder and louder. It was the Hive Mind yelling at her only this time it sounded like all of them were uniting to scream at her. The mixture of voices and words made it difficult to understand but she did get one word out of the whole thing: coming.

Sam could only crane his neck so much to see Chloe while he drove. "Alright, I'm gonna pull over!" He had only just turned the turn signal when something hard landed on top of the car. "What's—"

A silver metal hand plunged through Sitwell's window and pulled him out.

BULLETS ABOVE!

As painful as it was, Chloe threw her hands above her and summoned a blue shield just as a series of bullets struck down.

"SAM!" Steve yelled over the commotion. He had grabbed Seren on instinct but she wanted to do the same to Chloe. "BRAKE! PULL THE BRAKES!"

Sam was taken by surprise as was everyone else but his instincts kicked back in and pulled the brakes. With the sudden stop of the car, they knocked down whatever was on top of the car.

The blue shield disappeared as Chloe lowered her hands. "I heard them — they were t-telling me a-about the b..."

Steve looked ahead into the highway and recognized the shooter as the same man he chased down the night that Fury died. "Natasha...?" Because right now, only she would be able to confirm what he saw.

The redhead nodded fervently. "That's him. The Winter Soldier."

Chloe looked as well and gasped. "The Ghost," she whispered. She had never seen him face to face and even now when he was a decent distance ahead of them, he was a virtual stranger...and yet she knew that was not true. She could never prove it but she knew that he had been with her for a while. Her breath shuddered.

They're here, came the Hive Mind's final warning.

"They're here," Chloe repeated the warning on the verge of tears.

A car from behind smashed into theirs, pushing them all the way to the Winter Soldier and gave him the perfect opportunity to climb back on top of their car. Even as Sam took control again and drove as fast as he could, the Winter Soldier easily smashed through the windscreen and pulled out the steering wheel.

"Shit!" Sam threw his hands up in the air.

Natasha scrambled for her gun near her feet and started firing up above until the Winter Soldier jumped off.

"We need to get out of here!" Seren exclaimed. She glanced back as the same car came towards them, now with the Winter Soldier hanging onto it from the side.

It crashed into them again, forcing their car up against the side of the highway. The car was on its last because even as it managed to pull itself off the highway wall, it started tilting.

Chloe yelped with another jab in her head. "Not now! Go away!"

"No, listen to it, Chloe!" Seren yelled at her. "Just listen to it!"

"But—"

"I SAID DO IT!"

Chloe deliberated for another second before finally listening and given in. She screwed her eyes shut and tried her best to focus on the overlapping whispers. Edge of the road! Edge of the road! Sky and the shield!

Chloe's eyes snapped open. "Seren, FLY!" she yelled.

Seren had a second to frown. "What—" The car behind them took their own towards the edge of the road. If they did, they would plummet to their deaths.

"Seren, just fly! Steve, the shield!" Chloe was frantically shouting at the pair. "That's what they're saying!"

Steve wasn't a fan of letting Seren dive for the sky on her own but they weren't exactly getting further from the other edge. Seren nodded at him, they had to split for a few minutes.

"I'll go first, give you the space you need," she said, grabbing Chloe's closest arm.

"Be careful!" Steve started regretting all of his life choices knowing he would have to let Seren actually start fighting again.

Seren could practically read his mind at this point. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "We'll be okay." She then told Chloe to hold on and flew them through the rooftop of the car.

"I really don't like being this high up!" Chloe would've shut her eyes if the men down below weren't getting ready to shoot them down.

"Hang on!" Steve called to Natasha and Sam as he moved towards the middle and reached for both of them. He broke the door open and pulled them out with him, all landing over his shield but still on the highway.

Seren held Chloe tightly and dove down below the highway until they landed on a street. She let Chloe go to a safe spot then looked around for the others. They both flinched when they heard the start of bullets.

"They're going to kill us if they get the chance," Seren muttered.

Chloe was a breathing mess as she gazed up at the highway. "Seren, they're here for — they're going to—" She swallowed hard, biting down on her bottom lip enough to feel a slight taste of blood.

"Breathe, Chloe!" Seren gave her a shake. Chloe tried to listen, she really did. Seren was a strategist; for better or for worse SHIELD and HYDRA prepared her for the worst of situations. "Now you listen to me! The Hive Mind is on your" — Seren pointed at Chloe — "side! They're helping you so please, for the love of God, listen to them!"

Explosion!

"Explosion!" Chloe blurted and just as Seren reacted, they heard a huge explosion from above. A few seconds, Seren felt her heart in her throat watching Steve fall from the highway.

"NO!" Seren flew directly to him, which was an overturned bus.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Sam were still up on the highway avoiding the bullets. That's what Chloe heard, and knew what would happen if she didn't at least try to intervene.

She shook her hands, and her entire body for that matter. "I gotta...I gotta do it..." And so, before she chickened out, she shot her blue energy and flew through the air until she was on the highway again. With glowing blue eyes and blue streaks running through her skin, she fired at the shooters. It gave Sam the perfect cover to run.

Natasha had gone in the other direction and now had the Winter Soldier personally firing at her until one was so strong that it caused a car to explode and knock Natasha over the highway.

"NATASHA!" she cried but the redhead had already gone down. She set her eyes on the culprit— the Winter Soldier who prepared to shoot again. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" She thrust both her hands and shot the Winter Solider square in the chest, throwing him across the highway.

He landed next to their car and leaned his head back, revealing his cracked goggles. He ripped them off his eyes and pulled himself up. When he did, he saw a pair of agents taking aim at Chloe who jumped down the highway again. In one swift move, he de-armed the two and took one of the guns for himself. "Eliminate the others, the blonde girl is mine," he spoke to them in Russian. Those were the orders, after all.

He jumped off the highway, landing on top of an abandoned car in the street then strode off it.

Meanwhile, inside the bus, Seren was hurrying the civilians out. She kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure Steve was getting better. He was groggy from the harsh landing and try as he might, he couldn't quite get his legs working just yet.

"Go, go, go!" Seren yelled at the civilians. She had just peeked out the broken windshield and saw more HYDRA agents jumping down from the highway. She turned back to Steve, hollering for him to get up. "We gotta go! We gotta go!" she only made halfway to him when the bullets started.

She could have panicked — and she did — but the anger in her won over the concern and so she broke through the bus, flying into the air and started firing her own kind of bullets at the men. She took them down one by one with her star matter without a care for the kind of injury she was causing. She was done. If SHIELD — HYDRA — wanted to treat her and her friends like the enemy, then she would make herself a proper enemy and fight back accordingly.

Steve broke out through the other end of the bus and swiped his shield off the ground, using it to block the incoming bullets. He heard Seren above and looked up seconds before she flew past him and rammed her fist on a shooter's face.

Up above, Sam had managed to surprise the last agents about to go down from the highway. He knocked the agent over and kept the gun. He started taking aim on the other agents currently shooting at the others on the street.

"Go! I got this!" he yelled down at Steve who seemed reluctant to leave him up there.

"Steve!" called Seren. "Chloe and Natasha!?"

Steve spun around trying to find the two women and panicked when he couldn't spot them so easily. There were people still running around and overturned cars left lying about. Smoke billowed practically everywhere.

In truth, the Winter Soldier had followed Natasha's voice towards a car parked on the side. He knew Chloe was somewhere close to her and so to get to her, he had to get rid of the redhead. He rolled a bomb on the ground that went right under the car where Natasha was supposed to be. When it exploded, however, there was no body to be found. Then suddenly, Natasha jumped from behind onto his back. Her legs wrapped around his shoulders as she dropped a tight metal string in front of his neck and yanked it back. The momentum lasted only for a few seconds before he threw her over a car. He was about to shoot when she flung a small disk that fell on his metal arm. It sparked within the second, forcing him to stop and try to peel it off him. It gave Natasha the perfect chance to run. It took him a few minutes but he was able to get the device off him and go after her.

"Get out of the way!" Natasha shouted at the civilians still around them. "Stay out of the way—" She nearly fell face first when a bullet plummeted through her shoulder.

The Winter Soldier was ready to fire again when Chloe fell down behind and fired a psionic blast at his back. "RUN NATASHA!" she screamed and with glowing blue eyes continued to shoot more blasts.

Use the shield! Don't breathe!

"Huh?" Chloe abruptly stopped. In that same second, the Winter Soldier was back on his feet and threw a smaller sphere at Chloe's feet.

SHIELD YOURSELF!

Chloe didn't think twice and conjured a shield in front of her just as the sphere clicked open. It wasn't a bomb like the one thrown at Natasha, but instead sprayed something into the air.

Poison to make you sleep! Don't sleep! He'll take you!

Chloe's brows narrowed. So that was the plan, then? Make her sleep?

"Chloe!" she heard her name.

He's coming! Run! He's coming!

Chloe reacted and kicked the sphere to the side and made a run for it. She looked back and saw the Winter Solider chasing after her at an incredible speed. She wasn't going to outrun him.

Left, right, duck!

Not a second later, she heard a familiar blast and soon when she dove to the left, a star bolt swept past her. She dove to the right and another bolt narrowly missed her. She didn't think twice anymore about throwing herself on the ground to avoid the biggest star matter going over her head. Seren was right. I gotta listen to them. For whatever reason, the Hive Mind was helping her now and it was saving her life.

Up! Get up!

Chloe blinked again and looked back; the Winter Solider was still on his way.

Seren dropped down between them, her body glimmering with a hue of different colors. Chloe knew exactly what she was going to do when she saw Seren's star birthmarks glowing.

"Seren, don't—!" Chloe reached forwards, but it was too late.

Seren clapped her hands together and released her own version of a bomb — a star bomb. With more time, Seren developed a better grip on her biggest power and so she delivered it with flying colors (literally). The Winter Soldier barely had the moment to jump out of the way and even then, the explosion of the star bomb threw him across the street, straight into a car.

Chloe scrambled to her feet to help Seren stay on her feet now that the latter rocked. "You shouldn't have done that!"

Seren heard perfectly and waved Chloe off. She was too angry to be tired. Her eyes narrowed as they went in search of the Winter Soldier. She was not tired enough to stand down. The explosion left them with a thin cover of colorful smoke. Chloe used it to tug Seren towards a car to hide. The Hive Mind was buzzing that the Winter Soldier was coming back quick.

"C'mon, with Natasha, c'mon...he's going to...c'mon, Seren!"

Seren was pulling against Chloe; she wanted to keep fighting. The Winter Solider was emerging from the car now. He primed his gun, ready to take aim, when Steve threw his shield at him. Chloe now fully pulled Seren with her to find Natasha.

The Winter Soldier had enough strength to throw the shield back and very quickly Steve found that they were almost equal overall. He had a hard time keeping the shield up as the soldier pushed down. Eventually, the Winter Soldier rammed his foot into Steve's chest and sent him flying back. He forced Steve into hiding with never-ending bullets.

Chloe managed to get Seren with Natasha behind a car. It was the safest option they had right now.

"You both gotta stay here," she told them. Natasha's shoulder was bleeding profusely.

"I'm not staying down," frowned Seren. She winced at the sound of more glass shattering. Looking up from the car, she saw Steve and the soldier had turned each other over cars. Seren looked back and forth another minute or so. She winced again when Steve was thrown against a van. She almost lost it when the soldier struck the knife right at him. Steve had clasped his hands over the soldier's wrist and pushed against him as much as he could. The knife slid with him across the van and as Steve fell in the end, the soldier still went with him.

They went back hand-to-hand. It was the first moment in his life where Steve realized he was being matched and possibly out-matched. The soldier was incredibly strong and versatile. How was it possible? Steve had no idea and he didn't have the time to think. The knife came extremely close several times and as much as he fought, Steve just couldn't make it stop.

He managed to grab the soldier by his arm and threw him over. As he tumbled over, the last part of his mask hitting the ground with a crack and falling behind. When he stood and turned around, everything seemed to stop.

Panting, Steve forced himself to stay on his feet as he gazed up ahead at the Winter Soldier. "Bucky?" His mouth went dry as he began to consider it could be real.

Sam came in from above, with his wings, and landed down with Seren.

Seren and Chloe looked over the car to see the same thing.

"No fucking way," Chloe whispered with utter shock.

But even the soldier seemed frozen. And why wouldn't he be? Seventy years later and he was just now again hearing an actual name for him. More than that, his opponents seemed to know him. Nobody ever knew him. That was the whole point of his existence. He could never be caught because nobody knew him; nobody ever saw him coming. And yet that man, and even the two women by the car, looked at him with the same stupefied faces. His mind flashed with images that, as quickly as they came, slipped from him.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" He pulled out his last gun to shoot at Steve when a star bolt came his way.

Seren had climbed over the car, hands still glowing orange. Right or wrong, whoever it was, she wasn't going to let anybody shoot Steve.

Bucky took the bolt to his metal arm with a groan. At the same time, Sam came swooping in with his falcon wings and kicked Bucky further away from them.

Seren didn't hesitate to start firing more bolts from the top of the car. Cars exploded around Bucky, making it harder for him to try and retaliate. Only the sound of sirens broke through the chaos and even then Steve had to yell at Seren to stop completely.

"Go! Just go!" Steve was trying to get anyone — he would hope everyone — to flee before the rest of SHIELD (HYDRA) arrived for them. Knowing who was behind the mask, he couldn't dream of just running now.

Seren flatout ignored him and hopped off the car to where Chloe and Natasha were. "You need to get out of here, Chloe. Take Natasha too."

"What? No way!" Chloe frowned. "I'm not — no!"

Natasha clutched her injured shoulder and remained as adamant as Chloe. "I'm not going anywhere, Soul."

Several black cars sped into the area with Rumlow jumping out first. "Drop the shield, Cap! On your knees!" He came directly up to Steve. "Get on your knees! Now! Get down!"

"Seren — FLY!" Steve screamed at her as he put his hands up. She could easily fly before they got to her, and she could even take Chloe or Natasha. She could just fly—

Rumlow kicked one of Steve's legs, forcing him down on the ground. "Don't move!" Another agent neared them and kept Steve still under the threat of a gun to his head.

Up ahead, Sam was being put under the same position. Like Steve, he didn't fight anymore and put his hands up.

"Stand down, Soul!" Rumlow called and motioned to the helicopter up above them.

Steve looked back and saw Seren blocking the way to Chloe and Natasha, hands glowing and curled into fists with the threat of attack. More agents were swarming around them, each one taking aim on Seren.

"We're being watched," Rumlow warned. "One wrong move and you'll be in an even worse position than you already are."

Seren's eyes flickered up to the sky and sure enough, there was the newscast helicopter hovering above them. So they really don't want this public yet. That wasn't accidental; it was planned. What are they waiting for?

"NO! NO!" Chloe's scream broke through Seren's thoughts. Seren spun around, an agent had snuck up behind Chloe and Natasha, cuffing Chloe.

"Let her go!" Natasha went to fight but the same agent shoved her against the car.

"DON'T!" Seren drew back her fist only for someone to grab her from behind. "NO! LET GO!" With all her might, she thrashed against the agent and with her strength, it took several of them to bring her down.

Steve couldn't take the sight and tried to intervene. He felt the cool metal of the gun press even more against his skin.

The agents pinned Seren's wrists behind her back with familiar cuffs to keep her powerless. At the same time, Chloe was being dragged in the opposite direction from the group while Natasha was being pushed towards Seren.

"N-n-n-n-no, hold on!" Seren started struggling again. "Where are you taking her!? WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HER!? BRING HER BACK!"

Chloe fought against her captors and the Hive Mind screaming at her to make a run for it. She could barely hear anything besides them and she knew for a fact that Seren was screaming her name.

The Ghost is hurt.  Prep. You'll be prepped too. Watch for the sedative!

Chloe's hands had just started to shine blue when an agent slammed a needle into her neck. Her mind slowed in seconds and with it, her limbs. She couldn't fight anymore and soon, she couldn't even keep her eyes open. As her eyes shut, she saw a streak of visions behind her eyelids. She only caught a few before she was gone.

A small silver tech piece, her showing Bucky her glowing blue hand, and then her palm burning.

~ 0 ~

Natasha and Sam were tied with regular bindings and forced on one side of the van while Seren and Steve, each uniquely restrained, were placed on the other side. Two agents joined them before the van would take off.

"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Steve had far too many thoughts about the encounter with Bucky to be able to explain everything word for word. He himself still couldn't believe it. Even now as he thought about it, every part of him wanted to think it was a lie. Bucky was alive? Couldn't be. Except that it was.

"How's that even possible?" Sam asked. "It was like seventy years ago."

That was the first thing that Steve wondered about too. Seventy years. Everyone he knew was dead, and the only way for that not to be possible is for some extraordinary thing to have happened. "Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and…"

"Don't even go there," Seren said quietly. She wore her own kind of somber face. "You couldn't have known anything." That may have been true but it didn't lessen the guilt Steve carried.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky…"

"And you'll have him again," Seren said, turning her head in his direction. She wasn't at all exceptionally smart but she would do anything to help him get to Bucky again. There were countless times where Steve would tell her all about the crazy messes he and Bucky would get into before the war. Steve seemed so much happier just by talking about it. She had wished she could do more for him than just listen, and now she could. "I promise," she whispered to him.

Steve knew that she would too. "We're going to find Chloe," he promised her as well.

Seren nodded, albeit slowly. The thought that Chloe was in HYDRA's clutches was eating her up with guilt. She rested her head on Steve's shoulder and tried not to fall apart like she very much wanted to.

Sam glanced at Natasha who'd been quiet the whole way so far. She had her head leaning against the wall, her shoulders propped up. Her bullet wound was still untreated and, by the looks of it, blood was still oozing out. "We need to get a doctor here," he told the two silent agents, "We don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck.

There was a brief silence before one of the guards pulled out an electric rod, presumably to use against them, but then stuck it against the other agent's stomach. The others watched as the agent's body fell limp on the floor. The first agent then pulled their helmet off to reveal Maria Hill underneath.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain," Maria shook her head and took the big breaths she'd been wanting for ages. She then noticed Sam's confused stare and promptly asked, "Who's this guy?"

Answers would be given later. The main priority for the moment was to escape there with their lives and figure out the rest later.