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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #155: To Stand Alone

January, 1977

Happy New Year! Just four or five more months until I hit the eighties!

But for now, there’s a storyline to be continued.

Also, I’m not sure what Namor is hitting so hard that its creating green shrapnel.

Last time: Attuma has some diabolical plan and captured the Avengers to force them to fight Namor. But Namor had run away from home and joined the circus so they ended up fighting Doom instead. Meanwhile, Beast, Whizzer, and Wonder Man formed some back-up Avengers. An incorrect belief that Doom was dead led Namor to fight some fighter jets and fly off to thwart Attuma.

This time: We pick right up from Doom blasting Iron Man.

And then over two pages he and some people I’d know better if I read Super-Villain Team-Up beat up the rest of the Avengers.

So, the Avengers are still not having a great day.

With the Avengers defeated, Doom has Captain America put in the silly restraining harness to interrogate. And he doomands to know why the Avengers have come to Hydrobase and what they want with Namor.

But Cap can only whisper “Attuma... Attummmma...” and as we all know ‘Attuma’ means ‘to bluff’

Namorita concludes that obviously the Avengers have sold out to Attuma sure that makes sense! And also demands that obviously Doom needs to help stop Attuma! Obviously! Because Doom is the only man, next to Namor, who can stop Attuma when he’s on a rampage and if he’s not stopped he’ll destroy Hydrobase and PROBABLY DOOM! And Doom is a person Doom cares about!

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Beast, Whizzer, and Wonder Man. Or the back-up no-respect squad.

And because Whizzer is an old-man who struggles with the concept of death being impermanent in a superhero universe, Wonder Man explains his origin to him.

I mean, you know it. I’ve gone over that issue.

Whizzer asks whether Wonder Man was just in suspended animation, like Captain America? But no. Apparently according to the original Avengers, Simon Williams aka Wonder Man was reallyo trulio deceased.

And they still don’t know what brought him back!

But that’s a problem for later. For now, they have to follow a homing device that Beast planted on Tyrak’s ship.

MEANWHILE ELSEWHERE AGAIN: The Avengers. Stacked up like a special action figure pack.

And Tamara, the red-skinned woman last of her kind from space. And she’s crushing on Vision who she thinks might be another one of her extinct race but she daren’t ask! She’s not ready to be hurt again!

So off she goes. Taking this plot point with her, for now.

Which leaves the Avengers unsupervised and ready to get into cahoots. In this sealed room, the collars are exerting less of an influence. Which they can tell because I guess the collars didn’t just zap the Avengers if they tried disobeying, they also filled them with blind fury?

Sounds fake but whatever.

The point being: now that they’re less angry about stuff all of a sudden, they can work together to escape.

Scarlet Witch uses her vague magics to control the air currents in the room to blow Cap’s shield towards him so he can catch it.

Hey! That’s actually a thing that magical control of the natural world could do! Wanda is getting back on her game!

And now Cap can use his special skill of being really good with his shield (which he now proclaims has been at his side for more than thirty years so we’re definitely onto the vibranium shield and not the various gimmicked up ones that Tony kept giving Cap and Cap was too polite to turn down)!

So he tosses the shield juuuuuuust so to bank it off a ceiling duct and right into Vision’s neck.

Thus breaking the slave collar and freeing him.

And he instantly intangibles through his bonds and flies through the ceiling, ditching the others.

But enough about that! Lets check in on Namor!

He’s talking to himself because Namor loves talking to himself.

And after he beat up those communist fighter jets (?? so I guess they weren’t Latverian air force?), he learned Attuma was headed to a US government undersea research lab off the Maryland coast. To steal a newly designed chloro-beam which can increase the growth of plankton a hundred-fold.

Which, of course, has evil applications in the wrong hands because there’s no science that can’t be used to conquer the world.

And sure enough, Attuma and his cohort shows up right when the sea lab scientists are testing the device.

And not one panel and already Attuma’s forces look stupid.

Your stupidity knows no bounds, Lord Arno.

Attuma and his men follow the scientists into the research lab and CHOOM! right through an airlock.

But it is them being surprised when the Whizzer wondrously whizzes, Beast kicks a dude, and Wonder Man CHABOOM!s Attuma right in his dumb face.

Although I have a question. The Back-Up Avengers or Bvengers, if you will, were following a homing device Beast put on Tyrak the Treacherous’ craft. But Tyrak isn’t here and by all appearances neither is his craft. So what’s the deal? Who’s flying the plane?

Anyway, Wonder Man being approximately as strong as Thor’s holding-back-to-make-my-friends-feel-necessary level, he’s beating the heck out of Attuma pretty good. Maybe Wonder Man will be the heavy hitter that the Avengers have always needed that couldn’t carry a book of his own so he won’t leave the team due to stuff going on in another book.

Anyway, right when they’ve backed Attuma to the edge of the distinctly not undersea portion of this undersea lab and questioned him about why he’s wearing Vision’s cape, Namor interrupts.

Just flying right towards them.

So Attuma is really doomed.

UNLESS.

Unless he pulls his most diabolical trick of all!

Which is just having the gall to claim that Beast, Wonder Man, and Whizzer are totally his friends and that they’re going to kick your ass, Namor.

Namor demonstrates the kind of level-head decision making that would be necessary in a king, immediately believes his archenemy Attuma who he hates and starts beating up the three heroes.

Whizzer and Beast are already down with one punch. So this looks like a job for Wonder Man!

And he doesn’t want to beat up Namor, which proves that he’s just met him because anybody that knows Namor wants to beat him up a little bit, but he’ll do it to save his new besties, old guy and hirsute friend.

So he just punches Namor right off the damn sealab.

And I mean, sure, he flies back! He doesn’t have the ankle wings for nothing. But for one panel, I was truly happy.

But by now, Whizzer has regained his senses and helps Wonder Man when Namor counterattacks.

Beast has also regained his senses. But he notices Attuma taking the chloro-beam and running. And its veryyyyyyyy interesting that Attuma would just leave like that. So Beast decides to follow, dives into the ocean, and spots Attuma getting into his escape-sub which may or may not be the same vehicle that Beast put a homing device on.

It looks similar but only -ish.

Meanwhile, Namor thinks Whizzer is Quicksilver because all high speed blurs of superpowered human look alike to him.

Although he figures out his error after he’s knocked Whizzer’s block off. In fact, he recognizes him as Robert Frank, of the Liberty Legion! They met back in Marvel Premiere #27-28!

(And kudos to Namor for remembering a thing. It took him awhile to remember Captain America was a guy he fought alongside during World War II. So him just getting this even though Frank has aged horribly is a good showing for him.)

Also, realizing that Whizzer is not Quicksilver and some other niggling doubts that Namor never let slow him down has Namor seriously questioning what’s going on here.

Although too little, too late.

Assuming Namor is still in attack mode, Wonder Man shatters a thick pipe on Namor’s abs and then punches his lights out.

And hey, its easier to ask forgiveness then asking a hair-trigger sea king to calm his tits.

For now, they have to find Attuma. Because their captured friends? And also Attuma stole a dangerous device?

Meanwhile, an epilogue. Attuma’s escape sub escapes while Beast spies through a hatch. I’m not sure how, exactly, one sneaks aboard a submarine but Indiana Jones managed it and now Beast has managed it.

And he overhears Attuma plotting something with the chloro-beam. And something about transforming Tyrak, who is already kind of ridiculous so why do you need to level him up again, Attuma? And why your spy instead of a more martial servant?

And then another epilogue. Because with only half a page left, we needed to see what Vision was up to.

Well, turns out that as soon as he was freed of the slave collar, he made an immediate beeline to make a deal with the devil sort of deal with VICTOR VON DOOM!

Also, Doom. You blew it.

You missed your big chance to say “even an android can die.” You’re dead to me forever.

If Doom is dead to you forever or if you just like these biweekly posts, follow @essential-avengers. Send me some Avengers questions maybe.

#Avengers #Namor #VICTOR VON DOOM #Attuma #Captain America #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #Beast #the Whizzer #Wonder Man #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #another misunderstanding fight brought to you by the mighty marvel method #Attuma rolls a nat 20 on his bluff check #the Avengers work together and Vision ditches

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am-i-obsessed---maybe · 3 years

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Imagine If Steve Rogers was your dad (Masc reader)

I tried to be as accurate to the canon timeline as possible so just keep that in mind.

Masterlist

- Let’s be real, Steve is 100 and something years old, he wouldn’t have any biological children but he is the kind to take someone under his wing.

- He unofficially adopted you while on the run after Civil War. You were a young super powered kid and he refused to leave you on your own.

- You were 13 when you first met him, he was trying to stay low in Europe and you were living on the street after being displaced from your home in Sokovia. You were just a little kid so you didn’t know the full story of the attack. All you knew was that the Avengers helped stop evil robots in your country.

- You didn’t know he was Captain America at first but he definitely didn’t look local, so you thought you could pretty easily pickpocket him for some easy money.

- It didn’t work. He caught you and gave you a disappointed look.

- “Now why would you do that son?” He asked and held onto your hand so you couldn’t run away before you answered him.

- When he caught you, you realized it was Captain America and a huge smile appeared on your face. “You’re Captain America!”

- “Not anymore kid”

- He asked you where your parents were and you explained how you didn’t know but it didn’t because he was here to help you!

- That’s when he decided to take you in, at least for a bit. After all, he couldn't leave you on the streets. Sam didn’t like that.

- You didn’t immediately call him dad but that was your relationship, he cared about you and wanted to see you flourish.

- While on the run he helped train you, he found out you had powers and that your powers were similar to his, (super strength and speed) so he helped you train them.

- You didn’t realize how familial your relationship got until one day after training he ruffled your hair and said “nice job son”

- He was basically the dad you never had (as unconventional as your life was). He helped you train and when you came back to the safe house you guys were staying at at the time and told him you got a job to help them fit in he patted you on the back and told you how proud he was.

- During the two years between Civil War and Infinity War you went around the world with Steve and Sam, helping as many people as you could outside of the law. A lot of your missions involved Sokovian refugees and you proved to be a big help since you spoke Sokovian.

- When The Children Of Thanos show up to take Vision’s mind stone in Scotland you go with Steve to help Wanda and Vision fight them off and go with them to Wakanda to fight.

- That’s when you finally meet all of the people from Steve, Sam and Nat’s stories. You meet Bucky who is slightly amused that Steve basically adopted a kid, and fight alongside the Avengers and Wakandan’s against Thanos’ armies.

- But as we know, their attempts fail and Thanos still snaps half the universe out of existence.

- You were fighting alongside Bucky, Steve and Thor, trying in a last ditch effort to stop Thanos from obtaining the Mind Stone. Unfortunately you failed and you and Bucky were some of the first to turn to dust.

- Steve and Thor saw you two get snapped and Thanos leave victoriously.

- The empathy Steve and Tony had for each other after losing son figures to the snap helped them settle their differences and begin working together after the snap.

- When Scott came back from the quantum realm and proposed the idea of time travel, Steve was immediately on board. They had all worked too hard trying to fix the mess they had caused to pass up an opportunity like this.

- When the Avengers got all of the stones and the Blip happened, you and Peter were brought back to the same battlefield. You’d heard about Peter from Steve and Sam’s crude retellings of Civil War but meeting him was different and seeing him lose Tony (who was obviously a father figure to him) pulled at your heart strings, after all you were the same age and Tony was to him what Steve was for you.

(Let me know if you guys want a part 2 with old Steve in phase 4! cause I’ve got some ideas floating around)

#mcu #marvel cinematic universe #steve rogers #captain america #ca: civil war #avengers infinity war #avengers endgame #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagines #avengers x reader #mcu imagines #steve roger's son

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raineydays411 · 4 years

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The best of friends

Peter Parker x Stark!reader

Summary: The dreaded weekend has arrived. It goes as well as you expected, but you made some new friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First of all, let it be known that you tried oh so desperately to get out of this situation.

You tried to feign an illness, Bruce deemed you okay. You said you were supposed to be training with Steve, Bucky said he was on a mission. Hell, you even tried to get into trouble and be grounded, but your dad saw right through it.

“Y/n, why don’t you wanna go with Peter and his friends?” He asks, slightly irritated but mostly worried.

“Because...” You don’t answer the question. Instead opting to look around the common room and avoid eye contact.

“Because what? You love hanging out with Peter.” Then he mumbles,” Maybe a little too much”

You were going to defend yourself, but then you realized you had one more trick up your sleeve.

“It’s just...I realized that I haven’t really spent time with you.” You look at your dad with big eyes,” Ever since I met Pete, we’ve been hanging out almost every weekend, we rarely have any father-daughter time”

Tony’s face softens,” Well, you’re not wrong..”

Yes! He took the bait!

“Oh what the hell, Spiderling can just come over next weeke--”

“Tony!” Oh no..

“Hey Pep, I was just planning a daddy- daughter day with Y/n”

She looked at you apologetically, “I’m sorry sweetie, but your dad seems to have forgotten that we have a meeting to attend”

God damnit.

“I didn’t forget. I just don’t want to go.” He pouts as Pepper drags him away. He turns to you, “ Kid, just go with Peter today, we can spend some time together tomorrow or something, OW Pep I’m coming!!”

You sigh, looking at the time and realizing that you had two hours to get ready. You slowly walk to your room, freading every step you take. On your way there you bump into Wanda. Literally.

“Oh sorry Wanda” You mutter, it’s still a little awkward between you two.

“It’s okay.” She smiles,” Are you alright, you seem like you have a lot on your mind.” Ironic.

You sigh, and tell her about your plans with Peter and how he invited Liz and his friends.

“So, you’ve finally realized your feelings for the Spider boy.”

You choke hearing her words,” Wh-what?! Who said anything about feelings?”

She looks at you with a bored face,” You do know I can basically read your mind right? Besides, I don’t have read your mind to see you like each other. It pretty obvious all on it’s own.”

You look down, “ I don’t know, you should have seen his face when he saw Liz...”

It was silent for a second, then Wanda’s face grew a look of determination, “ Okay, then we’ll make him realize how much he likes you.”

With those words, she pulled you along into your room.

“When did she get so strong?” You thought to yourself, surprised at how easily she was able to maneuver your body.

Once you were in your room, she made for your closet.

“Boys are stupid” She said, going through all your clothes, “ They don’t realize they want something until someone else wants the same thing.”

“So..where exactly are you going with this?” You ask cautiously. Then she pulls out an oversized t shirt, biker shirts, and some sneakers.

“Everytime you see Peter, you’re bare faced and in sweats. And while there's nothing wrong with that, I know that you want Peter to recognize you was a potential partner, yes?”

You nod,” Yes, but what does dressing up have to do with anything?”

Wanda rolls her eyes,” Right now, he sees you as a friend. His buddy that he sees only on the weekend, away from his ‘normal’ life. You want to break that notion.”

You nod along, everything she says is making sense. Even if Peter is a little touchy with you, it seems to be very subconscious. You want him to look at you the way he looks at Liz. You want that silly smile he gives her to be aimed at you.

Besides, it has been a while since you got the chance to dress up.

You smile at Wanda, “ You know, you’re really fun to hang out with.”

She blushes at your words,” It's nice to have a girl to hang out with. Put on your clothes then call me, I’ll help you with your make up.” Then she walks out of your room, softly closing the door. You never realized it before, but Wanda really does keep to herself and Pietro. She’ll talk to Vision or Steve every once in a while, but it's pretty rare. Maybe you both weren’t so different after all...

You smile as you change, your talk with Wanda helped ease your anxiety for the moments. You decide to do your hair in your favorite hairstyle. Then you picked out some necklaces, the gold meshing perfectly on your brown skin. Then you called Wanda back in.

“Beautiful, Parkers not going to know what hit him” She says with a smile, “I know you don’t wear much makeup on a regular day, so how about this?”

She pulls up a picture on pinterest. You smile, she really looked up ‘black girl makeup’ on pinterest for you.

“I love it. I have some falsies I use for galas in my makeup bag.”

So you and Wanda spend the next thirty minutes doing your makeup. It really was fun. The two of you laughed and giggled at each other, sang along to the music playing in the background, and talked about anything and everything.

When you were finally done, you stared at yourself in the mirror. It was weird. Sure, you’ve been dressed up before, but that was usually when you went to fancy dinner parties with your dad. This was a whole other thing.

“You’re missing something.” Wanda says looking at you, “ But I’m not too sure what it is...” Then, Pietro peaks his head in the door.

“Um Wanda, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you all ove-” “Pietro! You can’t just walk into a girls room without knocking!” “You’ve been in here for almost two hours how was I supposed to Kn--”

You chuckle at the two siblings bickering. It kind of reminded you if you and your dad. For a forty year old man, he really could act like a child.

“Since you’re here, we need a boys opinion” Wanda says cutting off whatever you were thinking about.

“What for?” He asks skeptically, finally realizing that there was another person in the room with them.

“She’s missing something, yes?” She says, pulling you over to them. Your face burns as you feel Pietro's gaze on you. Looking for whatever Wanda claims that was missing.

“That shiny sticky stuff you put on your lips.” He says,” oh and try these” a burst of wind hits your face and blows back Wanda's hair as Pietro runs and comes back with a pair of tiny sunglasses.

“Here.” He places them on your head, “You know, you’re actually really pretty.”

Wanda laughs,” If it doesn’t work out with Peter, you can always date Pietro”

“That's not what I meant!” He says with a blush, “ Are you finally going on a date with the Spider boy?”

You sigh,” No, he invited his crush and his friends to our shopping trip”

Pietro shakes his head,” You should make him jealous.”

Wanda rolls her eyes and you look at him in confusion,” What do you mean?”

“Men want things they can’t have. If you make him jealous, he’ll definitely pay attention to you.” Then his eyes widen, “ Hey! I can dress up like a teenager and--” “NO”

Wanda yells shutting down that idea,” Y/n, don’t listen to my idiot brother.” She hands you the lip gloss,”Now, just make sure to show him what he’s missing, act the way you do when you were with me.”

“Ms. Stark? Mr. Parker is waiting for you in the lobby.”

Wanda and Pietro with you to the elevator

“Good luck Y/n, remember what I said.” Wanda said with a wink.

Pietro smiled as the doors closed, but you could have sworn he smirked at the last minute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh well” You think,” Okay, just be yourself, be yourself”

The elevator doors open to reveal MJ and Ned sitting on the lobby chairs. They stand up at the sound of the doors opening.

“Finally, Peter kept-- woah” Ned’s eyes widened at seeing you. “H-hi”

“Hi Ned” You say with a soft smile, “ Wheres Peter?”

“He’s outside waiting for Liz’s mom to drop her off” Mj said with a scoff, “ Really, you’d think she’d be on time..”

“Oh..okay” You say, already Peter was ignoring you for Liz and the day barely started. “Well, let’s meet him outside”

The three of you started to make your way outside when a gust of wind blew from the back.

“Ah Printsessa! I’m glad I caught you before you left”

oh no...

“You forgot your purse on the counter. I’m sure you need it or this shopping trip” He says with a smirk, holding the small bag with his finger.

Ned and Mj were in shock. Either because they were starstruck or because they weren’t expecting to talk to one of the Avengers.

“Hey guys! Liz is here!” Peter says walking into the building. ‘Oh hey Y/n”

“Hey Pete” You say, annoyed that he was just greeting you. Not even with a hug.

“Well!” Pietro saud loudly,” Here is your bag”

As you went to grab the bag, Pietro raised it out of your reach.

“Come on printsessa, I know you’re faster than that” He said in a teasing tone.

“Pietro! We have to go” You said with a laugh, confused on why he was acting like this.

“Okay okay” He goes to hand the purse to you,” You really do look beautiful, as always.” He says with a smile. “побачимось пізніше принцесою“

Then he pecks you on the forehead, winks at the group, and is gone with another burst of wind.

“What was that?” Peter asks,” I didn’t know you were so close with Pietro.”

“Well him and Wanda helped me pick my outfit” You said with a shrug, “I didn’t even know I was close to Pietro like that”

“Well, your outfit is super cute” Liz said with a smile.

“Damn I can’t even hate her, she's so nice” you think to yourself.

‘Thank you” you said weakly, “ I honestly didn’t know I had clothes like this”

“Neither did I” mumbled Peter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The five of you started the day by walking to some of the shops near the Tower. You,Mj, and ned ended up being left behind while Peter and Liz were in the front.

“Why did he invite us if he isn’t going to talk to us?” Mj mumbles to you and Ned.

“Aw come on Mj, Peter’s been trying to talk to Liz for like three years now.” Ned whispers back.

“That doesn’t mean he has to ditch his friends” you say quietly, Mj agreeing with you.

“Exactly, this is Y/ns first time out with friends and he’s missing it for Liz.”

“Why does everyone think I don’t have friends?” You say with a laugh,” I just don’t have any in the city.”

“Right” Mj says,” Either way, you don’t get out much.”

“That’s right! We should be having fun, not moping about Peter.” Ned adds, “Come on!”

He pulls you and Mj into the store, dragging you through the aisles and making you both try on ridiculous stuff. It was really fun, you laughed as Ned draped a feather boa on an annoyed Mj. But then you noticed that Peter and Liz were standing way too close to each other. Peter ran a hand through his hair as Liz laughed at whatever he said.

That cold feeling grew in your chest again. You watched as Peter awkwardly picked lint off of her hair as she smiled.

“Hey! We should go to this carnival they’re having!” Ned yells, ruining their moment.

“Way to go Ned” You think, satisfied at the outcome.

“A carnival?” Peter asks, “ I don’t know Ned, it's pretty far from here..”

“Aw come one guys! It one sub stop away from here! “

“I’ve never been to a carnival before” You said, “It sounds fun”

“But Mr. Stark said not to go too far..”

“You know a carnival does sound fun” Liz says, then Peter softens and gets that stupid look on his face.

“Okay fine” He says, “ We should get going.”

“Of course he agrees with her” Mj mutters.

“No kidding” You whisper back.

The walk to the subway was awkward, you all waited quietly for the train to get there.

“So..I guess you’ve never been on a sub before huh?” Liz said, trying to make conversation.

‘The last time I was on one, my mother was leaving me with my dad.” You said blankly, watching the people around you scurry. You didn’t mean to be so rude. Really, it wasn’t her fault that Peter liked her, but you couldn’t help it. You just wanted to spend time with Peter alone.

“Oh, I’m sorry I..I didn’t know” Liz said looking away. Peter looked in between you two, as if he didn’t know who to comfort.

He chose Liz of course.

“Hey, it’s okay you didn’t mean to” He said rubbing her back. “ She knows that”

You and Mj simultaneously roll your eyes. She looks at you as if asking if you’re okay. You nod, appreciating the small gesture.

The group gets on the subway. You see Peter go to sit down, one space free next to him. You see Liz talking to Ned about the carnival and Mj was already sitting somewhere else. So you took the chance to finally be alone with Peter.

You sit down with a sigh, finally glad to be off your feet.

“Hey” You mutter to Peter, pulling out your lip gloss and mirror.

“Hey! Gosh I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever” Peter says chuckling. He turns to look at you. “So, are you having fun? Are Ned and Mj being nice to you?”

“Yeah, they’re great.” You say, pouting in the mirror. From your peripheral, you can see Peter glance at your lips. You smile, and suddenly turn towards him. Your faces close together.

“You look great..by the way..” He says lowly, “You look different..”

“Well, I’m not in my pyjamas” You saw with a light laugh. Peter laughs along with you.

“That’s true, I never realized that we mainly hang out at the tower.”

“Yeah, it’d be nice to hang out somewhere else” You say, hinting that you want to spend time alone with him.

“Yeah..that would be nice” He whispers. He looks at you for a bit, examining your face. “Hey, umm, what was that with Pietro?”

You look at him in surprise, “ What do you mean?”

He turns red, “ Well, it’s just that..it kind of looked like he was flirting with you.”

Wait..is he.. “Peter Parker, are you jealous?” you ask with a grin.

“What? N-no!” He stutters,”It’s just that he..he’s like old!”

You laugh,” He’s twenty one, hardly that much older”

“Yeah..but still” He says with a pout, “I don’t need anyone taking my best friend away.”

Your heart flutters, the thought of him not wanting to lose you made you grow hot.

“Don’t worry web head, no one is going to take me away from you.” You say looking him in the eye. He smiles at you, taking your hand.

“Good, and no one is--” “Hey Peter, we’re here!”

Liz. Of course.

Peter practically throws your hand back into your lap.

“Oh awesome!” He says getting up from his spot and walking over to her.

Leaving you by yourself. Mj walks up to you.

“He’s an idiot.” She says knowingly, “Come on.” She grabs your hand, pulling you off the train and through the crowd. You let her, deflated at the fact that Peter put you second to Liz...again.

“Hey...I know you like Peter.” Mj says, “ But don’t let him get you down. You’re hot shit, if he can’t see that then fuck him.”

You look at her in shock, “I guess I have been pretty obvious huh?”

“No kidding” Ned suddenly appears, “If looks could kill, Liz would be six feet under.”

You sigh, “I’m sorry if I’m ruining your day, I just...I have no experience with this sort of thing.”

“But you’re a Stark...” Ned begins

“Yeah, but I’ve always been homeschooled, my first crush was on Steve and I was 7. This is different” You look at Peter, “ Peter was the first person my age I truly got to know. Not as Tony Stark's daughter, but as me.”

“Seeing him with Liz must be confusing. I’m sorry he’s so stupid” Mj says, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“Let’s go have fun.” Ned says, “ You shouldn’t let this situation bring you down.”

You smile, deciding Ned was right. The three of you walk up to the entrance. The air smells like fried foods and candy. Screams of children on rides and laughter of couples on dates fills your ears. The bright lights shine as the setting sun lowers in the background. You’re amazed, only ever seeing stuff like this in movies.

“Come on guys!” Liz shouts waving you, Mj and Ned over to a ride. The Himalaya. It was a ride that went in circles, each round faster and faster. But the thing that caught your attention was the rock music that played in the background.

“Sounds like the lab” You shout over the music, “Dad is always blasting music when I go down there.”

“Oh that’s true!” Peter shouts back, “ He let me pick the music once”

“Yeah and you picked some poppy trash” You teased, “ You trying to give my old man a heart attack Parker?”

“I told you it was an accident!”

“Oh sure”

“Next!” The attendant shouted. You started to make your way to the carts. Mj pulling Liz and Ned to go sit with her, she turned to you with a wink.

“Guess it’s you and me” Peter says looking back at Liz.

“Don’t sound so excited” You mutter, about to make your way to the next cart when the attendant stopped you

“Hey, do you wanna pick the next song?” He asks handing you a book full of songs.

“Sure, umm number 79″ You say with a smile, the attendant looks at you with a grin

“You have taste, I’m impressed”

“I get it from my dad” You say, about to walk away when he stops you again

“Your sunglasses might fall off, I’ll hold them for you” He says, taking them off your head.

You blush at his sudden closeness when you hear Peter shout

“ You coming Stark?” “Yeah I’m coming”

You smile at the boy and run off to join your friend.

“Sorry, he let me pick the song” You say, settling into the seat next to Peter.

“He was a little close don’t you think?” He says fiddling with the bar that serves as the seatbelt.

“I don’t know, I guess”

The ride started slowly going forward. The first notes of “You shook me all night long” starting to play. You along with several older adults started cheering. As the ride started moving faster, you started laughing and loudly singing along. The fluttering feeling coming back as Peter watched you sing. With that smile you know is reserved only for you. A smile you’ve seen time and time again, when you’re falling asleep during movie nights, or when you win at a board game.

At that moment, as you watch the world blur around you, it was just you and Peter. Yelling AC/DC lyrics in his face while he looked at you in amusement. This was how it was meant to be.

Then the song ends. And so does the ride.

Once it stops, Peter hops out and goes to help Liz out of her seat.

You sigh, making your way up to the attendant to get your glasses.

“Hey, thanks for holding them” You say taking your glasses, you smile at him and walk away. You catch up to the rest of your friends placing the glasses on your head.

“Y/n you have something on your glasses.” Ned points out. You reached out and felt piece of paper on your glasses. You take it off, you see the attendant has written his number on a piece of paper and attached it to your glasses

“ Ohhh look at you” Ned says, “looks like the playboy has passed from your dad to you”

Everyone laughs, except Peter for some reason. You look at him in concern, but before you can say anything Liz pulls him away to ring toss booth.

“ Come on guys, I want one of those fried Oreos,”

So again you were separated from Peter. It seems like every time you had a chance to get close to him somebody was always butting in.

You sigh, “maybe it wasn’t meant to be, I mean if he wanted to..he would right??”

Lost in thought you watch as Ned and Mj argue over something about Shakespeare. You tune out as you continue to think about Peter in the situation you’re in. That’s when you heard your name being yelled

“ Hey Stark!!”

You turn around and to your surprise, you see a familiar face.

“Am I dreaming or is that you Jason Todd??”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: fun fact there’s actually a ride called the Himalaya in an amusement park in my town. It basically does the same thing I described in the story it’s my favorite ride.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x stark!reader #peter parker x black!reader #peter parker imagine #tony stark x teen!reader #tony stark x daughter!reader #marvel x reader #avengers x teen!reader #poc reader #marvel #reader insert #dc comics x reader #crossover #michelle jones #ned leeds

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tinyyoungblood · 3 years

Note

don’t be shy,

post sum of those drafts

pairing: peter parker x avenger!reader

a/n: you asked and you shall receive. here are very random scraps that i pieced together and somehow it worked lol enjoy x

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the avengers on long bus rides

long bus rides are the only times where the world is balanced and at peace (forced smile from steve)

it’s also the only times when everyone will chime in on those sea shanties that steve loves so much, so that’s a plus

the team knows that their captain is a sea shanty WHORE so they always go all out for him and do harmonies and quite impressive choreos

once they’ve run out of sea shanties, they switch to musicals and it’s kind of like football jocks meet theatre kids

everyone has their troy bolten moment at some point, but it’s loki who really shines

he gets really passionate and ends up singing all parts and no one can blame him because mans got the voice of an angel and he knows it

nat is super supportive and cheers him on while recording everything. no one questions why she has a folder on her phone that is called “blackmail material”

tony likes to show his support by throwing money at loki

the others reenact that scene from harry potter where harry tries to catch hogwarts letters falling from the ceiling although there are loads of them perfectly lying on the floor

they fight tooth and nail to catch the money with a ferocity that puts the gods in shame

peter shoots his webs to pin the dollar bills to the wall like he suddenly got a lifelong supply of them and clint acts like his arrows are made of harmless rubber

rhodey joins in, puts on his suit, and almost blasts happy ✨to death✨while trying to catch a one-dollar bill

happy swerve the bus off a cliff and someone screams

(it was loki)

wanda has to save them and proceeds to bench them all for an hour

bucky, friend to no vehicles, is grumpy the entire time but y/n has made it her temporary calling to cheer him up

“i don’t like vehicles and this is why” *y/n whips out a duffel bag and slaps it* “yea, well, but what are your thoughts on sudokus”

bucky curls up in the back like the senior citizen that he is, sandwiched between y/n and bruce with a lifelong supply of sudokus scattered around him

they quietly help each other out and it’s very wholesome

tony and peter can fall asleep anywhere on the bus with their necks and limbs turned at all kinds of unnatural angles and sam winces before tearing his eyes from them

he makes a mental note to buy them neck pillows

nat suggests playing ‘i spy’ because it seems less lethal than the yellow car game but clint, sam, and thor get way too enthusiastic about it

they have their faces pressed against the window, eyes wide and unblinking, unaware that they’re frightening half of the people sitting in the passing cars

at some point, they lose all sense and just randomly name everything

“i spy with my little eye something that is red” “that car” “no” “that car” “no” “clint’s sweater” “it’s not—” “bucky’s pen, the flowERS, MY SHOES, THE SKY”

rhodey and nat are surprisingly good at that game and their calm demeanour drives the others insane

“fine. i spy with my stupid little eye something that is amber—” “bottom left button on the inside of loki’s overcoat, try again”

wanda and vision are in charge of lunch and handing out lunch boxes to everyone is a delight to them and a very. scary experience for the rest of the team

“here you go, buck. a turkey sandwich with cut off crust and extra tomatoes” “oh you didn’t have to cut off—” “😠but you like it. don’t you😠” “...yes”

peter and y/n are sharing a seat and y/n shows him her online purchases on her phone. peter is really sweet the entire time and comments on everything with genuine interest until rhodey pipes up from behind them

“you ordered new shoes? y/n, you don’t even go outside enough to justify wearing shoes”

they shush him and proceed to share headphones to listen to peter’s current favourite songs

at some point, tony announces, “alright ladies and gentlegerms, cap is making us stop the bus so we can get out and go for a two-mile jog through the woods *unenthusiastic jazz hands* if anyone wants to fling us off a cliff again, now is the time, i repeat—”

they still end up running and it’s insufferable. it’s hot and musty and just ~unpleasant~

somehow the avengers have evolved into a chaotic Debate Team and now they’re discussing who gets to be carried by thor and bucky

at an intersection, the two of them stop to catch their breath and they’re both just staring at each other, sweaty and covered in avengers hanging off their limbs

thor, prying loki off his back: “i’m sorry but we’re gonna have to do something different here”

y/n is hopping off bucky’s back when there’s suddenly a loud, ugly sound reverberating through the forest, followed by many footsteps that seem to come closer by the second

they run

branches keep tearing at their skin as they bolt through the woods but they’re not stopping because it’s clear what is happening right now

they’re being chased by wild boars

at this point they’re just embracing death and if they survive it’s a bonus

a boar comes running towards bucky and wanda but bucky “i have been falling for 90 years and i’m sick of it” barnes stares it straight in the eye, daring it to knock them over and the boar just squirms and make a u-turn

another wild boar seems to have decided that clint is not part of the herd because it sends clint FLYING in a quite impressive and beautiful arc

steve tries to ditch clint and train the boar

clint wasn’t hurt by the fall, but he stares at steve as if he might as well have broken a rib

they’re back on the bus and happy cocks a brow when he sees that everyone is exhausted and covered in dirt. he chooses to say nothing when nat climbs in with loki half-leaning on her for support and glaring broodily at the floor

everyone just wants to sleep and forget that the avengers were almost defeated by boars but bruce and sam keep bickering in the front row

“it’s too bright in here” “it’s the sun” “the lights get too noisy” “…what” “make it stop” “what do you want me to do?? turn off the sun???”

peter and y/n are huddled in a seat again, sharing headphones to drone out the noise and the moment he hits play, y/n looks at him blankly

peter, shrugging: “what? my 7 songs still go hard”

* * *

what are your seven songs that still go hard? pls tell me bc i desperately need new music <3 stay hydrated pals

hc masterlist

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cjsinkythoughts · 4 years

Text

Birthday Memories

Word Count: 1591

Warnings: A little angst, a bit of fluff, some recovery Bucky

Summary: Bucky figures out why birthdays are so important.

A/N: This is just a little something I put together for one of my favorite characters of all time to celebrate his birthday. It hasn’t been beta’d and I wasn’t planning on writing it, but my finger slipped. Oops. 😇

He didn’t tell anyone.

He didn’t want them to know. He didn’t want to be reminded that his life was taken away. He didn’t want to be reminded that he was over a century old.

He didn’t want to remember that the last birthday he ever had was in the midst of a war he never wanted, among friends who became brothers, and whom he’d never see again.

He didn’t want to remember the “party” he had with his family. How his sisters would give him something meaningful of theirs since they didn’t have money, usually a stuffie or a toy. How his mother would stay up all night decorating their small apartment with everything they could afford - streamers and a couple balloons, usually. How his father would work overtime to make him something at the shop; a small wagon he got for his eighth birthday, a wooden gun for his tenth, and a new baseball bat for his thirteenth after he broke the one he had for years. How his parents would scrape and save all year so that he could have that stupid chocolate brownie cake that he loved so much, but was extremely expensive, form the bakery down the street.

He didn’t want to remember how Sarah Rogers - one of the greatest women he’d ever met, a second mother to him - always came over early, dragging little Stevie along, to make those delicious blueberry pancakes she concocted, even though she was busy enough without stressing over him and his birthday breakfast. Even though she always had a new hat she made him every year and didn’t need to make food with a hard to come by fruit. Even though she was alone with her own sick son to worry about.

And Steve. He didn’t want to remember how he always stayed over for the night. How they would talk for hours about their dreams and aspirations. About where they were going to be by the time the next birthday hit. The blonde used to say that his birthday present from him was not having to bail him out of any fights. He always kept that promise; no fighting on Buck’s birthday. It wasn’t the only thing he got from his best pal, though. Steve always kept a sketchbook - a journal of sorts - illustrating their adventures throughout the year, starting the day after Bucky’s birthday when they always went to Coney Island, and ending on his birthday, whether it be a sketch of Bucky blowing out candles, or a drawing of the stars they looked at while talking later in the night.

He didn’t want to remember, because it hurt to do so.

Sometimes he wished he never remembered. It was a cruel thing. A life that he could never go back to. One that he wasn’t ready to leave, no matter how many times he told himself he was while sitting in muddy ditches with bullets flying over head.

Sometimes, on his bad days, he wished the experiments didn’t work. That Steve never came. That he was never “rescued” by that Soviet soldier. That he never survived the fall.

It just so happened that his birthday was one of those bad days.

He missed his life more than he let on. He missed his sisters. He missed his ma. He missed his pa. He missed when it was only him and tiny Stevie against the world. When they could do whatever they wanted, curious and innocent, exploring the big wide world as they knew it.

Turns out, the world is a lot bigger, and a lot scarier, than they thought.

He missed it, and he didn’t want to remember because it hurt, so he didn’t tell anyone, and he didn’t want anyone to find out. He stayed in his room all day, until he got too hungry to ignore around dinner time.

So he walked into the common room of the newly built Compound.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

He froze as confetti was shot out of those little hand-held cannons, balloons were dropped from the ceiling, and party horns were blown. His team - his friends and family, he had to remind himself - were beaming at him with party hats on their heads, frosting and flour on some of their cheeks. A banner reading, “HAPPY 107th BIRTHDAY, CYBORG!’ was hung up, no doubt courtesy of a certain birdbrain, along with streamers that looked like they were just thrown randomly.

He blinked, trying to process what was happening, before Sam had an arm over his shoulders, dragging him over to the table and sitting him down. Wanda set a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him as Tony blasted music from the speakers overhead. A pile of gifts sat at the other end of the room, and the island counter was filled with all kinds of treats.

The team gathered around, laughing and teasing while eating the breakfast dinner that Bucky swore came straight from the 1920’s. Once they were done, a familiar chocolate brownie cake was placed in front of him, a gazillion candles on it, which he blew out in one breath to spite Sam, who said he couldn’t do it. Turns out, however, they were trick candles. Bucky rolled his eyes when Tony, Sam, Clint, and Pietro started laughing way too hard, but he couldn’t fight the small smile on his face.

He had yet to say more than a few words by the time they were done with the food and opening presents. He had gotten more books, a telescope, new boxing gloves, a teddy bear, a newsboy cap like the ones they used to have, and a wooden baseball bat along with a new glove (among other things). Tony even booked Coney Island the next day for the team to have it all to themselves.

It was too much; his brain was still processing all that had happened so suddenly in the past hour or two.

They knew. About everything. They knew about his birthday. They knew about the blueberry pancakes. They knew about the brownie cake. They knew about the hat and the baseball bat and Coney Island. They knew it all.

He didn’t have to question how. He looked up from the bear in his hands when something was placed in front of him. He met the ocean blue eyes of his best pal, and instantly knew what he’d done. How could anyone else know? How else could Wanda make blueberry pancakes that tasted just like Ma Sarah’s? How else would they find a hat that looked just like the last one she gave him when he turned 19 in 1936? How else would they know he, one of the most deadly assassins in the world, would want a teddy bear? How else would they know how much the silly decorations and the simple brownie cake meant to him?

Steve gave him that mischievous smile that never ceased to make Bucky chuckle, pushing the book he set on the table in front of him closer. “It’s a little more than a year…”

His icy blue gaze fell to the table, jaw clenching as he realized what it was. A sketchbook. Bigger, better quality than the ones he used to get, but that was to be expected. It was still torn up a little bit, the edges fading, the pages separating.

With shaky hands, he tugged the book closer and flipped through the pages. The Potomac River in DC. His little apartment in Bucharest. The airport in Germany. The Citadel in Wakanda. His hut in Wakanda. Him with his goats. Him and his new arm. Him and the team this past Thanksgiving when everyone came back. Him ice skating at Rockefeller Center during Christmas. New Years. Valentine’s Day. Snow days. Training. Watching movies. Playing games.

The very last couple pages were something he wasn’t expecting though; his family, new and old. Headshots of his smiling parents and sisters and Ma Sarah. The Commandos, laughing despite dirt on their cheeks and tears in their clothes. The Avengers doing signature poses with smirks and winks and cheeky grins. All perfectly drawn, safe in charcoal and ink, hidden protectively within the worn out sketchbooks covers.

“They’d want you to celebrate. So…happy birthday, jerk.”

Bucky’s eyes, prickling with unshed tears, making his vision slightly blurry, wandered up from the pages of black and white to the team, all smiling at him, before landing on Steve.

So maybe he missed the past. And maybe it hurt to remember. But he had Stevie with him, and he had his new team - his new family. And the blonde, as much as it hurt to admit it, was right. His old family would want him to celebrate. To remember them and, instead of getting upset and angry at the world for what it took away from him, would want them to cherish the memories he has. To be glad for what the world gave to him.

A few tears slipped down the curves of his cheeks, but he didn’t mind. They weren’t out of frustration and sorrow. They were good tears. Relieved tears.

“Thanks, punk.”

Maybe birthdays shouldn’t be about holding onto the past and wishing you were back. Maybe they’re about letting go and celebrating everything you’ve accomplished, how you’ve grown. Maybe they’re about being grateful for the people you’ve met, the places you’ve been, and where you end up.

And James Buchanan Barnes was glad to be who he was. A son, a brother, a friend, a teammate, a comrade…a hero.

#HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUCKABOO #cjsinkythoughts #cjswriting #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky #the winter soldier #mcu #marvel #happy birthday bucky barnes #💙🦾#🎂🎈🎉#bucky fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes fanfic

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how-evergreen · 4 years

Text

The Matchmaker(s)

Summary: You compliment Natasha in front of the team, making her blush. The Avengers, upon figuring out that the two of you have feelings for each other, immediately start plotting to get you together. Nonsense ensues.

A/N: dude i love fics of the team being like a little family! theyre always so cute so i definitely had a lot of fun writing this one :) thanks for requesting @mxxnmocha, hope i did the trope justice!

Warnings: Brief mention of alcohol, minor (mostly teasing) arguments, a little bit of self doubt, and a lot of fluff.

"No, that is total BS!" Tony shouted, whiskey sloshing inside his glass as he gestured angrily. "No way Cap is the strongest Avenger – who even said that?"

"Some kid on Twitter." Wanda shrugged. "It's become quite the debate."

"Well, I'm afraid it's for naught. We all know I am –"

"If you even try to finish that sentence, Thor, I swear to god –"

"But it is true! I am a god, you are not, Stark."

"I can still beat the shit out of you!"

You rolled your eyes. It seemed like the team had this argument every single week. This time it was started by, surprise surprise, Tony.

"...several dozen suits that can kill you in five seconds max. And that's on autopilot, too," Tony was saying, "so if you even try –"

"Hey, there's no need for threats," Steve interjected. "Come on, Stark, just –"

"Hey." Tony pointed at Steve. "Shut up. This is your fault."

You sighed, leaning back in your chair as you watched the scene play out. Next to you, Natasha looked just as irritated as you were.

"They're ridiculous," she said quietly as Clint got involved in the argument.

"Yeah, they act like the most obvious answer isn't right in front of them," you said, turning your head and grinning at her curious expression. Shooting her a wink, you stood up to get everyone's attention. "HEY! DUMMIES!"

The room fell silent, all heads turning to face you.

"Thank you," you sighed. "None of you are the most powerful Avenger. The answer is clearly Romanoff here. She's literally kicked every single one of your sorry asses in training."

A cacophony of shouts and groans filled the room as you sat back down. Natasha raised her eyebrows at you, face tinged a pale pink.

"Strongest Avenger?"

"No use in denying it," you said easily. "We've all seen you fight."

Natasha's face got darker now, cheeks an undeniable red.

"–bullshit and you know it! I am obviously – IS ROMANOFF BLUSHING?"

You and Natasha both directed your attention back to Tony, who was gaping, open-mouthed, back at you.

"She is!" Wanda squealed, pointing at Natasha.

"I didn't know she could do that," Clint whispered, frowning.

"Okay, enough." Natasha stood up, glaring at everyone. The entire team fell silent, looking up at her. Her eyes darted from person to person, before she sighed irritably and turned on her heel, leaving the room.

Immediately, the attention turned to you.

"What was that?" Steve looked at you curiously. "Natasha never blushes."

"It was weird," Rhodey agreed.

"I don't think I've ever been so uneasy," Bruce said quietly. He was one of the few members of the team who hadn't inserted himself into the fight.

"She likes you," Wanda said matter-of-factly. "It's the only explanation."

"What?" You felt your face heat. "She does not!"

"She does too!" Tony, who had been temporarily rendered speechless, seemed to have regained his voice. "The Black Widow does not blush."

"It's true that Miss Romanoff is not particularly inclined to physical displays of embarrassment," Vision agreed.

You rolled your eyes, trying to ignore your pounding heart. Sure, you'd practically been in love with Natasha since you, Wanda, Sam, Rhodey, and Vision joined the team nearly a year before, and sure, you two would occasionally flirt in the casual way that friends did, but there was no way she actually had feelings for you.

Right?

"Oh my god, you like her too!" Sam shouted, pointing at you. You groaned and stood, flipping everyone off and heading for your bedroom without a word.

•••

It was foolish to hope the team would forget about the events of the fateful conversation.

It started with Tony volunteering to train with Steve the very next morning. That struck you as strange; neither of the men were particularly fond of each other, even on a good day. To your surprise, Steve didn't protest, only leading Tony to a mat in the far side of the gym.

A quick survey around the room quickly showed that Wanda and Vision were also paired up, as were Thor and Rhodey, and Clint and Sam. This left only you and... Natasha.

"Dicks," you muttered, immediately catching onto the plan as Natasha walked into the gym. She scanned the room as you had moments before, eyes finally lighting on you. She grinned, setting down her water bottle and making her way over to you.

"I guess it's you and me then," she said, stretching her arms above her head.

Act normal.

"Guess so," you agreed, leading the way to an open area of the gym to stretch. "Should be fun."

After the training debacle, your team had spent a full week getting you and Natasha alone as much as possible. You'd be the only two at breakfast most days, and Wanda would volunteer the pair of you to cook dinner. You ended up training together more often than not, and they had even gone as far as to ditch the team movie night so the two of you would be alone together.

It was exhausting, and painfully obvious.

The whole fiasco came to a head one night, exactly a week after the argument that had started it off.

You were in your room, having hidden away all day to avoid the embarrassment of the team blatantly trying to get you and Natasha together. If you let this go on much longer, you were terrified that you'd lose her friendship altogether. No, it was better to pretend you felt nothing for her.

Of course, the best-laid plans...

You laughed along to the goofy TV show you were watching to keep your mind off of Natasha. It wasn't doing too poorly, really. You were almost feeling good when the knock came; three soft raps on your door in quick succession. You knew it anywhere.

"Come in," you said, resigned to your fate. You paused the show as the door opened, letting Natasha enter your room.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly, pausing in the doorway.

"We probably should," you agreed, climbing out of your bed.

"Roof?"

"Roof."

The elevator ride up to the top of the compound was silent. The roof was the Avengers’ unofficial place to go when you needed a minute away from everyone and everything, and generally, time up there went uninterrupted unless there was a team-wide meeting or a mission.

When the elevator doors opened with a pleasant ding, the two of you stepped into the cool early evening air. Wordlessly, you both crossed the roof, sitting at the edge and looking out over the forest surrounding the compound.

"I'm sure you know what I want to say," Natasha said quietly.

"Yeah." You frowned out at the trees. "It's okay, you don't have to say it, I can back off."

"Wait, what?"

You risked a glance at Natasha, who was staring at you, confused.

"'What,' what?"

"Back off? I was –" Natasha cleared her throat. "I was gonna say that the team was totally fucking with us because they found out I have feelings for you."

"Wait, what?" It was your turn to stare at her. "I thought they were doing it because of my feelings for you."

"I – oh. We both... huh."

The two of you stared at each other for maybe three seconds, before bursting into laughter.

"What a pair we make, huh?" you said through your laughter.

"Oh, definitely," Natasha agreed.

It was maybe a minute more before you fell silent again, watching Natasha. As the sun began to set, the rays hit her face just right, practically making her glow. With a surge of confidence, you moved an inch closer to her.

"Can I kiss you?" you asked quietly.

"Please," Natasha whispered back. And that was all you needed to hear.

Leaning forward, you slowly connected your lips, one hand coming up to gently cup her cheek as the other stayed on the floor, holding you up.

The kiss was short; you broke apart after only a few moments, faces still so close together you could count the golden flecks in her green eyes.

"Are you sure?" you breathed out, terrified of breaking the spell. In lieu of an answer, Natasha leaned forward, placing both of her hands on your face and pulling you in for another kiss.

"Hey, is anyone up here? Captain Pissy-Pants wants to have a meeting about – OH MY GOD!"

Natasha groaned as you pulled apart, letting go of each other to look at Tony, who was grinning victoriously.

"YES!" he shouted, running towards the elevator. "JARVIS! TELL EVERYONE THE PLAN WORKED! WE DID IT! THEY KISSED!"

You and Natasha glanced at each other, bursting out into laughter again.

"We should go get this over with," you muttered, forcing yourself to stand up. You held a hand out for Natasha, who took it, allowing you to pull her to her feet.

"Clint's gonna be so mad he wasn't the first to find out," she said as you walked towards the elevator together.

"Oh, definitely."

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libsterslobsters · 4 years

Text

I'm Gonna Crawl: Post 1

(Divided because of length)

Post 2

Summary: Five years. That's how long the reader and Bucky have been apart (although for him, it was only five minutes) Now with Thanos defeated and both of them taking up the mantle of Avengers, can their relationship return to what it was? Or will they have to discover a new normal?

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x fem! enhanced! super-soldier! Reader (Reader can see pieces of the future in visions as well as speak every language)

Warnings: Angst, fluff, language

Author's note: Tumblr is being a poo-poo head and won't let me post the whole fic because it's too long, so this is a two parter.

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

The text comes when she’s in the middle of teaching English feminine and masculine pronouns. Immediately, she knows it’s something important. There’s a very limited amount of people she’s allowed to filter through the “do not disturb” status she sets her phone in while she’s in the classroom. Her first though is Barnes, but at this point, he’s memorized her schedule even more thoroughly than she has, so it’s unlikely he’s responsible for the disturbance. Pepper, maybe? But no, she’s a powerful enough woman that if she needed anything, she could simply ask and it would be hers. Peter? It’s within normal high school hours, so if he’s messaging her, she’ll give him a lecture next time she sees him for texting in class. That only leaves one person, or rather, organization. As she instructs her students to come up with a few examples of common words which can be said different ways to demonstrate masculine and feminine, then takes a moment to check her phone, her suspicions are confirmed. Rhodes. The Avengers.

“You guys keep working. That’s an example of an English masculine. Now what would the feminine be?” A chorus of ‘gals’ follows her out the door. Once she’s rounded the corner, she dials the number, completely skipping the texting process. The line only rings once before Rhodey answers.

“Hello?”

“Soothsayer. What is it?”

“You need to come in. We’ve got a mission, and it has to be you.” She lets out a silent groan before asking,

“How much time have I got to square things away at work?”

“Wheel’s up in ninety minutes. You need to be here at least fifteen before to read over your orders.” Her boss isn’t going to be happy, but it’s doable.

“Right. I think I just got a crippling migraine. I’ll call you back later.”

“Thanks. I owe you one.”

“You’re damn right.” She mutters it as the line goes dead.

Thirty minutes later, she’s on her way after giving the sub her notes and her boss a bullshit excuse. So far, no one’s worked out that she’s one of the people who fought in the battle against Thanos, and she hopes to keep it that way.

She speeds across the city, driving a little faster than is responsible, but her reflexes are fast enough to cover for it. If this is going to be the sort of mission where they need her brawn as well as her brains, she’d like a few minutes to warm up before she has to hop on a quinjet. Grabbing her go-bag (complete with weapons, her suit, and a set of spare cosmetics), she jumps out of the car as soon as it’s parked in front of the newly rebuilt Avengers compound. Warm up, and make a call to-

“Well, look who the cat dragged in.” She turns her head towards the voice, catching sight of Sam and-

“What’d you tell them? Stomach flu?” Barnes. Okay, maybe she won’t have to call him after all, but that brings up more questions than answers.

“Migraine.” She falls into step next to him while Sam rushes on ahead. “They called you too, huh?”

He nods, grimacing. “Looks like it’s something big.” Obviously. If they’ve called in both him and Sam, not just one or the other, then it’s a guarantee the situation is FUBAR. Plus her? She’s usually in the background. If she’s being pulled then-

“You alright?” She nods, smiling with more confidence than she feels.

“Yeah. Just wish I knew what we were getting into. If they want both unstable super soldiers-” It’s a joke, which thankfully, he gets.

“Then the situation must be pretty hairy.” That’s putting it lightly. They’ve never been called up together before. Never.

If the mounting evidence weren’t enough to clue her in that this is going to be major, the final factor would be, after Rhodes explains to all three of them that with the return of so many people to Earth, a former dictator who disappeared in the snap has gathered up his forces and is attempting to usurp a now-peaceful democracy in hopes of using the territory to levy compliance from surrounding nations. Usually that wouldn’t be their thing, but when the words “dirty bomb” and “gamma radiation” are brought into play, it’s no mystery as to why they’re being called in.

It’s about what she expected. Falcon is running point, Winter Soldier is the man on the grassy knoll (she shudders when Rhodey goes with that particular descriptor because of a confession several years back just after he woke up in Wakanda; “I really hope I’m remembering this wrong and it was just a dream, but I think I was behind what happened to the president.”), and she’s on evac and rescue, making sure there’s as few civilian casualties as possible. However, when the briefing is called to a close, it’s a total shock that Sam is let go while she and Barnes are told to stay back.

Rhodes sits at the edge of his desk, arms crossed, wearing his most serious expression. “You two have completed the appropriate training hours together, correct?”

“Yes.” They say it at the same time, and she has to bite her cheek to keep from yelling out, “Jinx!” It was a requirement after the defeat of Thanos that the two of them specifically learn how to work together as a team, play off of each other’s strengths, just in case something truly catastrophic happened. She also trained with Bucky and Sam as their third. What she’s wondering is, why ask a question Rhodes clearly knows the answer to? He’s the one who set up the training, after all.

“And you’re comfortable working as a squad?” She catches Bucky’s eye, and it’s clear that he’s come to the same conclusion as her: this isn’t what Rhodey is really after.

“We’re fully capable, yes.” He’s the one that answers, while she reaches out into the unknown, hoping for a vision. No dice.

With a sigh, Rhodey stands.

“What I mean is, can you be objective out there on the battlefield? Can you work together like anyone else?” This time, she’s the one to speak up.

“Can we be objective? Yes. Can we work together like anyone else? No, but that was your goal with the training program.”

“You wouldn’t have called the two of us up if you didn’t need what we can do together.”

For a moment, she feels sympathy for Rhodes. The poor man is clearly struggling to make a point. That’s when it hits her, a vision of what he’s prepared for them to do. As soon as it passes, she kicks Barnes’ chair leg lightly, which is enough that he gets the message.

“Just say it, because she’s already seen it.” She wouldn’t want to be in Rhodes’ position for the world right now with the news he’s about to deliver.

“Fine.” Rhodey nods. “If we get in a tight spot, someone is going to have to draw fire. It can’t be Barnes for obvious reasons.” Part of their mission is to obtain stolen scientific data located deep inside enemy lines. She’s smaller and therefore faster, can fit into tight places more easily, but he’s been trained to go unnoticed, and what’s more, to incapacitate anyone who sees more than they should. It’s an obvious choice. She’s in essence the diversion, the boy crying wolf while the real thief makes off with the shepherds’ wallets. Her size and speed will work to her advantage, as well as the fact that they won’t recognize her, so they won’t know right away that she’s the decoy, whereas the second they have eyes on him or Sam, they’ll know to batten down the hatches.

She doesn’t have to look beside her to know what he thinks of that idea. She can practically feel him seething. But, it’s a scenario that, along with Sam, they’ve trained for.

“What I need to know is that, once the bullets start flying, you won’t fall back on instinct and run to protect each other. Out there, you are not a couple. You’re teammates, fellow soldiers, nothing more. Got it?”

She keeps her eyes focused on Rhodey’s face as she nods, otherwise hers will show what she’s feeling. “Agreed.”

“Barnes?” There’s a pause, so long she’s about to kick his chair leg again just to get a reaction.

“Understood.”

“Good.” Rhodes’ posture immediately changes. “Now, suit up. Quinjet is leaving at 1300 hours.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

“Oh!” Bucky looks up from the building schematics he’s studying at the surprised noise from the woman next to him. “This one’s actually not bad.”

“Which one?” He leans towards her, scanning the house listing on her phone. “Nah. I don’t like the look of that roof.”

“True, but it says here they’re willing to knock some off the asking price if we’re willing to do our own repairs-”

A groan issues from the other side of the jet.

“Are you two really searching realtor.com while we’re on our way to save the world?” Sam asks, scowling.

“No, of course not.” She shakes her head, smirking. “It’s zillow.” That reminds him-

“Scroll down. Let’s see when it was built.” It looks like… ah. “Hard no. That thing’s older than me.”

“And like you, it has character.” It’s too good of an opportunity to pass up. He sees an opening, and he’s going for it.

“Did you just compare me to a house?” She snickers.

“Now that you mention it, there are some similarities. Good bones, had some renovations done, could use some landscaping-”

“You know, you could’ve just said ditch the beard.”

She gasps, clutching a hand to her chest. “I would never!”

“Alright, I’m gonna stop you there.” Sam holds up a hand. “If you’re gonna talk about his hair anywhere below the neck, I’m gonna open up the hatch and jump out.” It would be a more effective threat if he wasn’t already wearing his wings.

“Mind out of the gutter, Sam.” She half-heartedly scolds before returning to examine her phone. “The market is just shit right now but there’s got to be something listed that’s less expensive than renting an apartment in the middle of Brooklyn…” That’s what all of this is about, really. After the snap (at least from what he’s read) the price of renting was lower than it had been since the fifties. Now that everything is back to normal, everyone and their mother is looking for a place to rent. Not that he can blame them. He’s one of the returned, after all.

“I guess we could move into the complex once it’s repaired. Just for a little while-”

“Nope.” Sam cuts them off. “Hell no. It’s enough that I gotta deal with you and Judge Dredd here being all domestic on missions. If I have to hear you two going at it, I’m gonna lose my shit.”

He may not understand the pop culture reference, but he caught the sexual one. The truth is, they haven’t slept together since he returned. It’s not like things have been platonic; they shower together, cuddle, and make out like teenagers walking down lovers’ lane. However, five years is a long time (even if for him, it was barely more than an instant), and while he’s ready to resume their sex life, he’s not going to push in case she’s not there yet.

Before he can go too far down that rabbit hole, the intercom crackles to life and their pilot announces that it’s time for the drop. He’s not a huge fan of parachuting (falling to his near death and losing an arm sort of took the magic out for him), but he calls on what remains of his training now that HYDRA’s brainwashing has been deactivated and puts on an emotionless front.

“Com links on.” As Sam speaks, he activates his own com. “Everyone getting a signal?” He is, and if the face she just made is anything to judge from so is she. “Okay. I drop first, then on my mark, Winter Soldier drops; five seconds later, Soothsayer follows. Copy?”

“Copy.”

Sam shoots them a grin that doesn’t completely hide his nerves. “Good luck.”

As soon as his partner’s exited the plane, he catches her eye. “Love you. See you on the other side.”

“Love you. Come back in one piece.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

Even before Sam hits the ground, he knows it’s going to be a shit show. Even though he doesn’t activate his com to tell them as much, it’s obvious as the super soldier plummets past him that his chute didn’t open. Sam might worry about this if it weren’t for the fact he saw Steve jump out of many a plane without anything to keep him from free falling. Their tag-along, however? She has activated her coms (either that or she forgot to deactivate them) and she lets out a gasp. That’s all, a gasp, but it’s enough to put Sam on edge. This is why coupling up is dangerous in this line of work. Your affection can work to your disadvantage.

Because he can’t have his team scattered, worrying about each other, he asks, “Barnes, do you copy?”

“Copy, Falcon. Don’t think I’ll be doing that again.”

“Oh, you are so getting shit for that when we get home.” He rolls his eyes.

“Let’s cut the chitchat. We have a mission. On my mark, Soothsayer heads into the encampment to lead any P.O.W.s and civilians away. Copy?”

“Copy.”

He lands just before she does, and as soon as she’s detached her shoot, he gives her the go ahead.

Any thought that they might have succeeded in having the element of surprise on their side goes out the window when a shot whizzes past his head.

“Barnes, cover me.”

“Copy.”

Even with the rain of bullets from his own personal sniper, he barely gets past the first defensive line in one piece. He takes out at least a dozen hostiles, incapacitating when he can, eliminating where he must. Just outside the main fortress, he asks,

“Come in, Winter Soldier. How many hostiles between you and my position?”

“Eighteen.” A muffled shot follows the statement. “Seventeen.”

“Alright. Clear a path. Let’s show these sons of bitches what they get when they threaten innocent lives.”

He thinks that maybe they’ll be able to turn it around when they find their human target fairly easily and are able to capture and incapacitate. The orders, however, were not just to bring him in alive but also to seize the assets they’ve lost before a bomb squad and team of radiation specialists comes in and sweep the place. The only way he’ll be able to get their target back to the jet unharmed (not to mention survive himself) is if they do the one thing he was hoping it wouldn’t come to.

“Soothsayer, this is Falcon. Come in. Over.”

“Copy, Falcon.”

“Winter Soldier is going in. Deploy “big bad wolf” initiative.” In other words, go get shot at while at the same time covering me.

“Copy. Be advised, there are hostages in the building. I repeat, hostages in the building. Over.” For a moment he wonders if she saw it in a vision or if one of the people she’s just helped escaped has started talking out of gratitude, but pushes it to the side. He has biggest issues.

“Winter Soldier, Soothsayer, get into place. On my signal, we move.”

“Copy.”

“Three… two… one… go!”

Sam kicks off into the air, thanking whoever the hell out there invented this tech that he doesn’t have to fly with an extra 250 pounds of dictator in his arms (Redwing is handling that). Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Soothsayer making a run for it, shooting as she goes. Where the hell did she get the gun? Problems for later.

He’s just about to radio into the jet to see if the ‘package’ was delivered when the shots turn in his direction. He returns fire at the same time a dagger flies past his head.

“Throw it a little closer next time Soothsayer. I dare you.” It’s muttered under his breath.

“So you wanted a sniper’s bullet in your back?” Damned super hearing.

“Aren’t you supposed to be causing a distraction?”

“I am. Close your eyes and cover your ears.” He complies just in time for the flashbang to go off over his head.

“Fuck! You could’ve told me that’s what you were doing!” There’s no reply. “Soothsayer?” A grunt followed by the sound of impact comes over the com.

“Little busy. Hold up.” Hand to hand, if he had to venture a guess. More shots are fired, and he flies lower, returning them, kicking a few assailants in the head as he goes.

“Winter Soldier, this is Falcon. Come in.”

“I read you.”

“Do you have eyes on the target?”

“Almost there. There’s a few more obstacles than we thought.”

“Copy. Over and-” He doesn’t get to finish the sentence as a yell of “Get down!” pierces the night.

It all happens in slow motion. He reaches for the shield, but he can already hear the gun discharge. A force runs into him, knocking him to the ground. Realization hits him: it’s her. He doesn’t see the bullet impact, but he hears her cry out. On instinct, he covers both of their vital organs with the shield, and that’s when he sees the splotch of red blooming from her right shoulder, which so happens to have acted as a human barrier, blocking what would have most assuredly have been a kill shot to the head for him.

“Falcon, Soothsayer, come-” There’s a muffled shout over the com, followed by more sickening thuds and a few shots.

“Barnes?” He hears a whisper of movement from behind him, and without looking, fires. “Barnes, do you copy?” As he speaks, several hostiles gang up on him at once. Using the shield to it’s full advantage, he knocks two off their feet, kicks another in the gonads, then chin, and punches two more’s lights out. He starts on the one that’s left, but out of nowhere, the hostile’s legs go out from under him. What-

“This is Barnes. I have the target. Moving hostages out now.”

Sam opens his mouth to speak again, but a tug at his ankle draws his attention. She’s sitting up, features drawn in pain and still bleeding, her fist bloody from the last hostile’s face.

“Don’t tell Barnes.”

Internally groaning, he speaks again. “Copy. Meet us back at the ship. Over and out.” Grabbing her good arm, he hauls her to her feet and drapes her body over his shoulder. “Pretty sure the blood’s gonna tip him off. And the bullet hole.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

“It’s not that bad.” This has to be the tenth time she’s repeated that sentiment in the past five minutes since arriving back at the quinjet, and yet it’s still not making an impression. As she stands yet again, Sam gives her good shoulder a hard push.

“Sit your serum-ed up ass down. You’re gonna bleed out if-” She narrows her eyes at the man with the shield. “Fine. You’re still dripping blood everywhere.” Yeah, well, it’s not like it hit a major vein or artery. She saw it coming, after all. Still… it fucking hurts.

“Shouldn’t you be hailing Barnes again?”

“Who’s in charge here? You or me?” She thinks about snapping back with something truly brutal, but bites her tongue. “Only thing you should be worrying about is how we’re gonna get that slug out of you.”

“Give me a pair of pliers and I’ll do it myself.”

“The hell you will.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! It’s-” Before she can repeat herself again, the door opens. Her breath seizes in her throat a she takes in Barnes’ appearance. Dear God.

“Target acquired?” Sam nods and motions towards the back of the plane.

“What about you? Package secure?” With a thump, a black bag is dropped onto the floor between them. Sam opens his mouth (more than likely to make a sarcastic remark about being careful with the brain child of at least a dozen scientists worldwide), but before he can-

“You’re hit.” He’s in front of her, crossing the narrow space in just two strides.

Biting back a wince, she stares pointedly at the oozing bullet wound in his thigh. “So are you.”

“It’s nothing.” She’s about to call bullshit (that’s a fuck ton of blood, and also she doesn’t remember that cut on his forehead last time she saw him), but he turns away, fixing Sam with a hard stare. “Why didn’t you say we had a man down?”

“Not a man-” She starts.

“And technically, she never went completely down. Plus-” She knows what he’s going to say, and mouths a silent ‘Don’t’, which Sam ignores. “-she told me not to.” There it is. She’s never gonna hear the end of this.

Returning his gaze to her, he asks, “You told him-”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Can we talk about this later?”

“I second that.” Sam nods. “Preferably when you’re not both about to bleed out in the air.” Bucky’s lips twitch momentarily, and she barely contains her own smirk. They’re not about to bleed out. Still-

“You want to go first with the pliers, or do you want me to?”

“For the last time, no one is using pliers to go spelunking for bullets. Aren’t you two supposed to be smart?” She raises an eyebrow in Bucky’s direction, and he smirks.

“Technically, I think the serum just turned us into better soldiers. Not geniuses.”

“Right, and since it would take us what?” She glances at her phone, checking the time. “Five hours to get home? More than likely we would’ve already started to heal pretty significantly around the bullet and would have to disrupt that so they could dig them out.”

“So, pliers.” She nods.

“Pliers.”

With a groan, Sam stands and, digging around in the compartment overhead, produces a first aid kit.

“Fine, but if either of you starts to hemorrhage, don’t come crying to me.”

Rolling her eyes at his retreating back, she asks, “The question still stands. You want to be the surgeon first or the patient?”

“That depends.” Bucky motions to her own bullet wound. “Is that as bad as it looks, or worse?”

She attempts a shrug, but the motion makes her wince. “It’s just a scratch.” The look on his face tells her he’s not convinced.

“Then I guess I’ll dig yours out first. If push comes to shove, I can fix myself up.” This time, she’s with Sam. The hell he will. She’ll just power through.

“Alright.” She motions to the few members of the TACK team still hanging around. “If you don’t want to see me shirtless, I’d suggest you find somewhere else to be, or at least look away.” Shockingly few heads turn at her words. “Okay smart-asses. What I mean is give a lady some privacy and avert your eyes.” There. That’s more like it.

She’s kinda pissed off that she’ll have to junk the suit. It was a new one. Even more infuriating is that when she goes to unzip it, thanks to her injured shoulder she can’t manage it, and what’s worse, she lets out a groan of pain.

“Easy. Let me help.” If they were alone, she’d make an off-colored joke (something along the lines of “any excuse to get me undressed”), but she swallows it down and grits her teeth as the material tugs at her wound. She’s just going to have to toughen up and rip it off like a band-aide.

“I think there’s a water bottle somewhere, so we could soak-” Bracing herself, she gives the material a sharp tug, completely exposing herself. “-or you could just do it the hard way.”

“After all these years, why would I start doing things the easy way now?” She feels more than hears the short intake of breath that signals a laugh.

“Good point. Hold tight while I check the kit.” Taking advantage of the brief lull, she closes her eyes. She’s not exactly squeamish, but there’s something about seeing a bullet lodged in her shoulder that’s somewhat unsettling. “Alright. This is gonna sting, and then it’s gonna hurt like a son of a bitch.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” That one earns her an actual snicker.

Sure enough, it does sting. That is, if by “sting” you meant “feels like I scrubbed myself with a sandpaper washcloth and then rinsed off with vodka.” Still, she manages to keep still and wipe any expression of pain from her face as the disinfectant is poured on, completely soaking her.

“Sorry.” She shakes her head.

“Nothing a towel won’t take care of.”

He’s in front of her now, so she opens her eyes, concentrating hard on his face so she won’t look down.

“You alright?” It’s completely false, but she pastes on a smile.

“Splendid. Thinking of taking this up as a hobby, actually.” He frowns.

“You couldn’t just take up embroidery like a normal person?”

“No one-” Her breath catches as he starts to probe for the bullet. It was a distraction. “-takes up embroidery as a hobby anymore.” Deep breaths. She needs to take deep breaths.

“Shit.” Shit? That’s not comforting. “Do you want the good news first or the bad news?”

“Dealer’s choice.”

“Good news, it’s in one piece. Bad news-” He looks up, holding her gaze. “It’s lodged pretty far in there, Doll.” Of course it is. Just her luck. “Do you want to wait ‘til we get home, or-”

“Just do it.” Once more, she closes her eyes. “Sooner we get it out, sooner the super soldier mojo can do it’s thing.”

“You sure?” She nods.

“Just do me a favor. Don’t tell me when you start pulling it out. I don’t want to know.”

It’s silent, no one saying a word. Still, she clings to the little sounds she can make out in order to keep herself occupied. The engine running. The air filtration system. Her own jagged breaths and his measured ones. Despite her attempts at distraction, she can feel it the moment he starts easing the bullet out of her shoulder. On instinct her body seizes up, and she has to force herself to relax each muscle. It’ll only be more painful if she’s tense.

“Do you want something to squeeze? Maybe a hand to hold?”

Taking a slow, deep breath, she answers.

“That depends. How much do you like that arm?” If she takes out the pain on anything else, she’s almost certain she’d crush it.

“I’m sort of attached to it, so-” She chuckles, and that’s when the bullet slides free. “And, next time you make fun of my corny jokes, I get to remind you of this.”

The patching up process is simple from there. The bleeding is easily staunched and although it’s in an awkward place, they manage to bandage her without much trouble. She’s so nervous, she expects her hands to shake as she takes her turn and, with her good arm, digs the bullet out of Barnes (his is in fragments but luckily, a vision hits and shows her the shards’ locations), but surprisingly, her hands are steady. She glances up at his face just as she pulls the last shard out, but of course, he’s shut down, completely expressionless.

Finally, the quinjet touches down outside of what used to be the Avengers’ compound. Normally they would disembark, then head straight off to a debriefing, but under the circumstances, Sam calls it a night and tells them to get some rest, then come in tomorrow to go over mission reports. As they watch Falcon climb into his car and drive away, it hits her how terribly exhausted she really is. Between her bum shoulder and his bum leg, neither of them is really fit to drive home, so-

“Think we can get a cab this time of night?” Great minds think alike, it seems.

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to give it a try.”

It’s only once they’re home safely and she’s climbed into bed that she allows herself to wonder if they’re ever going to talk about today.

#marvel #captain america #the winter soldier #bucky x reader #fanfiction #bucky x y/n #bucky fic #post endgame #part 1

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hale-13 · 3 years

Text

Into the Atmosphere

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 13 - Sacrificed

The Infinity Gauntlet, lying harmlessly but ominously in his hands, pulsed with a preternatural warmth and feeling of power that seeped through the Iron Spider and his regular Spidey suit under it. It felt more like a siren’s call than Peter felt comfortable with and he could understand the inclination to slip it on and wield that power.

Words: 2674, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Teen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Pet er Parker, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Thanos

TW: Major Character Injury

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

As a native New Yorker, Peter was used to weird shit as a kid. Watching a wormhole open over the new Stark Industries building? Watching hoards of aliens and space whales filter through to invade Manhattan? No one was prepared for that, least of all a kid.

May and Ben, an ER nurse and a police officer respectively had both been held up at work and had not been home with Peter, leaving him completely alone. His heart had pounded in his chest, triggering multiple asthma attacks that were barely mitigated with his inhaler, as he watched and wondered if he would ever see his remaining family ever again. Seeing Iron Man fly a nuke launched by his over government into the wormhole and nearly die had probably affected him more than he cared to admit.

But that was then. Now, Peter had no problem throwing himself head first into danger at smallest provocation. But, that being said, even this was a bit much for him.

He didn’t stop though. He didn’t give in a slip on the glove or let anything close enough to take it from him, dodging another blast from one of the dog-alien-things and letting his suit’s nanotech appendages (Instant Kill activated and Karen in partial control) stab the creature through its chest and fling it into the distance. Finally reaching a mostly unoccupied area of the battlefield, Peter paused to catch his breath and made an aborted move to rub away the blood he could feeling pooling from his nose onto his upper lip.

A pointless move really. He was wearing a mask after all.

The blond woman who had descended from space (actual space what the hell) in a fiery halo had tried to reach him but was held up by a veritable flood of aliens all vying for her attention. From Peter’s perspective it didn’t look like any of them were really much of a challenge for her but they made up for weakness in sheer numbers; keeping her overwhelmed and unable to break free.

Peter stumbled on tired and weak legs (it had apparently been five years after all, he reserved the right to be tired), doing his best to continue to dodge and disarm as many enemies as he could while still protecting the gauntlet. The rest of the extended Avengers, the Wakandans, the Asgardians were too busy with their own adversaries to help him. In the distance, Iron Man was blasting through the opposition unreservedly, clearly headed in Peter’s direction but vastly too slow to make a difference.

“Hello child,” Thanos deep voice said from behind him, making Peter’s Spidey sense explode. The titan was calm and quiet compared to the battle raging around them. Peter turned and tripped as he tried to back away as quickly as possible. “You have something there that doesn’t belong to you.”

“You can’t have it,” Peter said, surprising himself at the strength and steadiness of his voice compared to the thrum of fear and anxiety sparking through his nerves like lightning.

Thanos tilted his head, inquisitive and regarding Peter with a small, indulgent almost fatherly grin on his face and Peter felt a shiver course down his spine in warning. “You are brave little one. Perhaps to the point of foolishness but brave nonetheless,” he reached out with a weathered hand to grab the gauntlet but the spider legs attached to Peter’s suit lashed out in offense, Peter’s own free hand shooting up to knock Thanos’ aside.

“No means no asshole,” Peter grunted, scuttling up a mound of rocks behind him so he wasn’t at such a height deficit. “Fuck off.”

Thanos just tsk’d and looked at Peter with disappointment like he was a misbehaving puppy or a child throwing a temper tantrum. “I would rather not have to kill you boy. Hand it over.”

Before Peter could open up his mouth to retort, planning on stalling, the glowing woman (Captain Marvel his brain corrected) smacked into the titan’s side and knocked him away from Peter, her glowing fists more than enough to take him on. His expression had changed from benevolent to murderous as he pulled himself to his feet and threw a return punch, eyes never straying from the Infinity Gauntlet in Peter’s hands. “Uh guys?” Peter squeaked into his comms, turning and running away as quickly as his tired body could take him – aiming for the shitty van Ant-Man had been working to repair. “We’ve got to get ride of this thing – anyone free to help?”

“I’m coming Queens,” Captain America panted. “Hang in there,” he said with a grunt, wading his way across the ruins using both his broken shield and Mjolnir to mow down everyone in his way with extreme prejudice. Watching from the corner of his eye Peter’s stomach dropped: there was no way Cap would reach him in time as tired and injured as he was. Mr. Stark was stuck in a similar position, his nanotech suit morphing around him like high tech water to compensate for all of the damage it had taken.

A cold spike of fear went through Peter: they were going to lose. They were going to lose to Thanos again and this time they had pissed him off enough that he would probably forgo the random chance aspect of his plan and kill all of them. He was going to kill all of the Avengers and May and Peter’s friends. He was going to kill everyone who had just been brought back after five years. They would all be gone again.

Peter guzzled air that never quite seemed to reach his lungs, panicking but not stopping in his mad rush to get the gauntlet as far away as possible (hopefully back to the past where the stones belonged), the sounds of the battle muffled and silent around him. As if by fate, he glanced up and locked eyes with Dr. Strange, stuck holding back a spout of water that would otherwise flood the field, but with his attention solely focused on Peter.

His face was sad and sympathetic as he grimaced and held up a single, shaking finger mouthing ‘there was no other way’ and Peter skidded to an abrupt stop.

Oh.

Peter looked down at the oversized gauntlet resting in his hands and let his mask slide off his face to merge with the neck of his suit. Taking a quick look around him, Peter gave one final sniff and looked back at Dr. Strange, giving a firm and sure nod of understanding.

He knew what he had to do.

The stones glittered across the knuckles of the modified Iron Man gauntlet prettier than any precious gem Peter had ever seen and it took considerably more effort than he cared to admit to not allow himself to just be mystified by them. Peter adjusted his grip to hold the glove more firmly and began to slip it on, the armor automatically shifting to mold to his smaller hand.

“NO!” Peter huffed and felt a single tear leak from the corner of his eye, tickling his nostril as he ignored the agonized scream of his mentor. The gauntlet was half on. “PETER STOP!”

“I’m so sorry Mr. Stark,” he whispered as his fingers slid into place, the glove fully conforming and tightening around his hand.

The immediate pain was stunning and all encompassing and Peter threw his head back, eyes closed, with a grunt. He knees and muscles, already tired and overworked, turned into jelly and he just let himself drop, breath coming in short pants, hearing ringing and vision blurring and darkening around the edges. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end, his Spidey sense screaming its final death rattle and giving up under the untenable onslaught. His very atoms felt like they were being ripped apart, blowing him apart and remaking him in the Stones image. He wanted to scream but he didn’t have the lung capacity to do much more than endure.

Finally – a second, a minute, a year, an eternity later, everything stabilized just enough for sound to filter back into him: repulsers rushing toward him, angry and desperate yelling from Thanos – barreling toward Peter in a last ditch effort to take the gauntlet for himself – gasps and moans from his own team and silence. Silence as the battle around him stopped and everyone turned to look at him with bated breath.

Using more strength and effort than he ever had before, Peter lifted his shaking right hand up to show the glowing gauntlet to everyone and forced his numb mouth into a lopsided smile – his eyes focused on Tony and only Tony’s terrified face as he said “I’m sorry,” and snapped his fingers.

“Where…?” Peter asked, looking around over the sunset covered lake and then down at his hands – whole and undamaged. He was dressed in his favorite science pun t-shirt, the one Uncle Ben had gotten him their last holiday together and he felt good. No aches and pain from the battle, his arms strong again. He made loose fists with both hands, clenching and relaxing his fingers in absolute wonder at just how good he felt – better than before he had ditched the bus to MOMA that morning (five years ago?) even.

“Hey Petey.”

At the sound of his voicePeter whipped around, already crying streams of silent tears, and wasted no time in rushing the short distance to fling himself into his Uncle’s open arms. “Ben,” he sobbed, embracing the man tightly, afraid he would disappear.

“I’m so proud of you buddy,” Ben whispered, his own tears mingling with Peter’s and returning the hug with equal force. “You’re the kindest, bravest person I’ve ever had the honor to know.”

“Am I dead?” Peter asked, resigned but not sad – he had accepted the possibility the second he put on the Gauntlet.

“Not really,” Ben answered, cryptic. “Somewhere in between would be the best way to describe it.” He stepped back, releasing his hold on Peter to hold him at arms length and grip his shoulders tightly the warm and comforting smile that Peter knew from his childhood on his face. “If you weren’t enhanced you definitely would be but you are so…” Peter just nodded in understanding, furiously wiping at the streams of tears still pouring down his face. “Regardless we don’t have much time.”

“I’m so sorry Ben,” Peter blurted, reaching up a hand to grip tightly onto Ben’s forearm. “I’m so sorry I didn’t stop it. I had my powers, I could have taken the bullet. I could have stopped it.”

Ben’s eyes were soft and his smile lines deepened as his lips twitched up into a sad smile, moving his hands from Peter’s shoulders to cup his face as gently as if he were made of glass. As if he were something precious. “Oh Pete its not your fault, it was never your fault. You were fourteen and staring down the barrel of a gun for the first time, I would have been more concerned if you didn’t freeze.” Ben told him, leaning forward to push their foreheads together, his hand cupping the back of Peter’s neck. “You’re my kid – it doesn’t matter about enhancements or powers – I’ll always put myself between you and danger. I don’t regret anything.”

Peter let out a hoarse sob that shook his frame and pulled Ben back in for another hug. “I love you,” he said fervently, trying to put as much force and emotion into it as he could. “I love you and I miss you and so does May.”

“I love you both so much,” Ben said, squeezing Peter one last time before releasing him and stepping away, water lapping at his ankles and rippling out to the horizon. “As nice as this visit as been Pete, I really hope I don’t see you again any time soon.”

Peter’s answering chuckle was watery will unshed tears, his vision already fading as Ben disappeared followed by the serene lake and sunset; the dusty battlefield snapping back into focus.

His body was numb in the way that promised pain if he could feel anything, his heartbeat stuttering and aching in his chest as Peter collapsed back against a pile of rocks and broken pieces of building. His body was limp and unable to support itself and his head lolled to rest on his undamaged left shoulder.

“Peter!” Tony’s devastated voice creeped in and Peter tried to smile but he couldn’t really tell if his muscles were responding, his eyesight was so dark. Gentle hands pulled him to rest against a warm body, lying his head in a more comfortable position and cupping to undamaged side of his face in a calloused palm. The grip was as careful as if he were made of glass and maybe he was. “Stay with me Pete, just stay with me okay?”

“Tony,” Peter rasped out, his voice broken and so so quiet, but it carried – the battlefield was a silent as a tomb beyond the heavy breathing of the surrounding Avengers. Peter had done it apparently.

His mentor let out a sob that he didn’t bother to disguise and ran his hands through Peter’s sweaty curls – it felt nice. “I’m so proud of you,” Tony said earnestly, echoing Ben and making Peter’s heart clench and skip a beat, his voice absolutely mangled with emotion. “You’re the absolute best of us and I’m so beyond proud of you buddy but I just need you to stay awake okay kiddo?”

“I’m tired,” Peter croaked, his eyes sinking closed against his will and only reopening due to Tony’s panicked jostling.

“I know kiddo, I know,” Tony choked out. “I’ll let you rest soon I promise but just humor me a little longer alright? A few more minutes for your old mentor huh?”

“Love you,” Peter said, forcing his voice to be as strong as possible even as his body sagged further and his heart rate slowed. “Tell May… Love her.” He was ready to rest. Peter’s left hand, barely gripping Tony’s with the very last of his strength, loosened and fell against his chest. His eyesight failed.

The last thing he heard was Tony, crying and begging him to stay.

————————————————

Part of Peter expected to be back in the lake or with Ben but instead he was met with only darkness.

It worked for him though to be honest. He could relax in the dark, let his mind wander and rest in equal measure, his worries gone and – for the first time in a long time – feeling no pain.

On occasion he thought he could hear voices whispering in the distance or see something bright far away but neither stayed long enough for him to investigate further. He still felt tired down to his bones and, as the time passed, his right side began to feel more and more like static and less numb, bright sparks of something like pain flaring through him like lightening and soon forgotten.

The light flickered – sometimes brighter sometimes nearly dimmed out – but seemed to get closer to more Peter looked at it and memories filtered in. Space, melting into dust, fighting with his childhood heroes, snapping, Ben… Tony… wanting to give up so bad but not doing it.

“Please wake up,” a broken voice whispered in the distance. “Please don’t die when I just got you back.”

Seconds, minutes, days, years later Peter opened eyelids that weighed a ton each to look around with blurry vision at the white room around him and the dark human-shaped spot next to him, his lips turning up just the smallest amount.

#summerofwhump #summerofwhump13 #Prompt: Sacrificed #irondad #spider man #Summer of Whump

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idyllicstarker · 4 years

Note

If you do prompts can you write a jealous tony bc he sees peter kiss mj’s cheek at a avengers party and gets all possessive bc peter is his.

Not my best work but I hope you still enjoy!! There may be a few errors because my google docs was playing with me. Since it’s anon, I’m not sure who to contact to apolgise for not giving the prompt justice, so I’ll just do it here. I’m sorry, but as always, thank you for the request <3

Warnings: Implied Stucky, mention of the term exhibitionism, mention of harrasment but no details, just use of the term

If there was one thing Tony had learnt about his boy, it was that Christmas was an important time for him. It held no real significance other than it being a holiday (he wasn’t exactly religious) but Peter was adamant that Christmas was “the best time of the year” and he just wanted to share that with the others.

The Christmas Party was proposed totally on a whim. Tony was at an age where that sort of stuff just didn’t appeal to him. But to his much younger boyfriend, parties were fun, and exciting - of course they were, Peter wouldn’t be the one waking up with a raging headache and feeling like death.

When Tony expressed his doubts on the whole thing, Peter pouted and gave him the eyes and suddenly Tony was funding a party he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go to himself. He reached a point of certainty when he realised he much preferred his domestic life with Peter as they decorated the compound with trees and fairy lights and cute little reindeer statues. But of course he’d still go, he didn’t want to disappoint Peter, and he also didn’t want to be seen as the old man avenger, especially when everyone else already said they’d already be there. So despite much rather wanting to be in bed with Peter, he got dressed and put on a smile. He didn’t have much of a choice anyway, it was in his home.

Aside from the avengers, Peter had invited both Ned and Mj, and of course May. But after an hour or so, Tony noticed she had disappeared - come to think of it, so had Happy.

Tony shook his head, choosing not to worry about it too much, as his eyes scanned over the room. They’d turned from cheesy Christmas top hits, to some more chill music, as Vance Joy played in the background. His gaze settled on Peter. He was sitting on the couch, one arm strung across the back, where Mj was sitting, and Ned to his other side. Two chairs in front of them were occupied, one by Sam and the other by Steve and Bucky who Tony remembered struggled to both sit on the chair, but pride meant neither was letting up, so Bucky just ended up on Steve’s lap. Peter had a plastic cup in his hand (he was trying to make this as authentic to high school parties as possible because in his words: “you guys are old and I want to remind you of what it’s like to be young again”) but he didn’t seem too drunk, so Tony knew it was probably just soda. Adorable!

He watched as Peter’s lips parted probably to let out his angelic laugh. It all lined up with the slight crinkle of his nose, and that lopsided expression as one flushed cheek raised slightly higher than the other. His head tipped back just slightly and after a second, it bowed forward. He presumed Sam was telling the trio a story, because all three laughed, but of course the only one he wished to witness was the masterpiece in his line of vision.

Peter seemed to perk up, and Tony’s own lips twitched into a smile, pushing himself off the bar so he could approach and join in on the conversation. But his face dropped after a second, and his movements faltered.

Peter had seemed to captivate the conversation, his hand gesturing wildly in such a way that Tony feared for the drink in his cup. It wasn’t hard to get lost in the angelic sound of the boy’s voice, he knew that all too well. He watched as his conversation partners leant closer in an attempt to hear him better. Some more laughs. And then Peter gestured towards Mj, a cheeky grin on his lips before he leant forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Tony imagined the soft lips pressing against her skin, he thought so hard about it, he very almost tasted it on his own lips.

He didn’t want to know what the conversation was about, he didn’t want to know why the kiss was given, playful or not, all he knew was that he didn’t like it. If he was more aware of himself he may have been able to stop the throaty growl he produced. Tony didn’t like to think he was a jealous man, but everybody knew he was.

In a moment he was beside the couch, looking down on Peter with what can only be described as a possessive growl. “Any room for me there baby?”, he asked, his tone low. It wasn’t necessarily aggressive, but if someone didn’t know Tony they may say it seemed angry. But Peter recognised it well. His sweet gaze flickered over the slight tenseness in Tony’s jaw, and the darkened look in his eyes, and with a soft sigh, he allowed a gentle smile to form on his lips. “There’s always room for you”, he responded.

Slowly Peter rose, wiggling his jean-clad hips lightly to the music as he waited for Tony to sit down. He was desperately clutching at some kind of sweet innocence to avoid Tony from getting too jealous. And the only way to do that was through the art of seduction. Of course, everybody here knew of their relationship, it would have been much too hard to keep it from them, but that wasn’t Peter’s problem. It was the fact that he was sure they were going to see much more than they wanted to if he didn’t calm him down.

Tony called it asserting dominance, Peter called it exhibitionism.

Tony gave Mj a snide look as he walked around to sit in the place Peter had just vacated. “I just thought I’d make an appearance, I missed this little one too much”, he hummed, gesturing to Peter who sighed softly in response.

Catching Steve's eyes Peter pouted slightly at the playful look in his own. They were both thankful for the fact that Steve, or any of the other avengers for that matter, had never found themselves at the end of Tony’s jealousy and possessiveness over Peter. But they had witnessed it when some people on trips got too close and touchy with Peter.

With the gracefulness of a doe, Peter plopped down on Tony’s lap, sitting across his knees and draping his arms around his neck. “I missed you too”, he whispered softly, nuzzling their noses together in an overly cute display of affection. Across from them, Sam began to gag, and once again, the masterpiece of a laugh was on display.

“Why don't you finish your story Peter?”, Steve asked and Peter’s head whipped around to look at him with a heated glare. Of course Steve knew what he was doing, and that’s why he was doing it. But Tony raised an eyebrow, gently patting Peter’s thigh. “Oh yes sweetheart, don’t let me stop you. I’m sure I’ll love to hear it.”

Peter bit down on his tongue. Clearing his throat he shook his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s cheek. “You know, I don’t think I quite remember what I was talking about… but hey, Bucky, why don’t you-”

He was cut off by Ned shifting in his seat, “Oh sure you do, you were telling us about that time with Mj, when you pretended to be her boyfriend so the guy at the library would stop harassing her.”

Tony felt Peter let out a shaky breath as he relaxed his body against the man’s chest. A small hand came to grip his shirt, as he nuzzled his head into his shoulder. “Oh really?”, Tony questioned, the grip on Peter’s waist he had tightening possessively, “And what exactly did pretending entail?”, he asked. Above Peter’s ear, the grinding of his teeth echoed and Peter frowned slightly.

“Nothing. I just held her hand and kissed her cheek. The guy got all worked up and started swearing and Mj shouted at him to ‘watch his profanity’”, at the last part Peter put on a high-pitched voice to mimic hers’s and the group began to laugh. Well, everyone but Tony did.

“Yeah, I actually, I don’t feel so good. Tony can you come to the bathroom with me”, he asked, blinking up at him innocently. His cheeks were flushed red and they both knew it was a lie, but still Tony huffed and nodded. Of course, not before he grabbed Peter’s face and bought him into a deep kiss - when they were done Peter’s lips were swollen and he was left breathless as he stood and grabbed Tony’s hand to lead him from the room.

“Tony~”, he whined, as he led them to the elevator with a small pout on his lips. As the door closed he got onto his tip toes and smushed their faces together with wide eyes. “Don’t be a meanie”, he begged.

“Oh I’m the meanie?”, Tony questioned. “I’m the meanie when you’re the one going around kissing people’s cheeks and flaunting it in my face that you can get someone your own age.”

With a heavy sigh, Peter bounced back off his feet, and frowned. “It was a friendly kiss, it meant nothing. You seriously can’t be jealous of me kissing my best friend?”, he asked quietly.

At Tony’s silence, Peter got all the answers he needed. “I love you Tony, and only you. Do I have to remind you of this anytime I get too close with one of my friends?”, he asked, smiling up at him. He wasn’t mad. He knew Tony was insecure, especially about the age difference. So although it may get annoying at times, he always just wanted to try his hardest to reassure Tony that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“No…”, Tony pouted, stepping dangerously close into childish territory and Peter giggled sweetly.

“If you want, we can ditch the party, and we can go upstairs, and you can get all the kisses and all the cuddles, because i’m your actual boyfriend and I love you more than anyone else. Forever and always”, he offered, tugging on Tony’s shirt gently in an attempt to try and get him out of his mood.

Tony sighed, and moved to press a kiss to Peter’s head. “If we can take a bath too, and you wash my hair, I think I might even apologize to Mj”, he muttered. Peter smiled and again the masterpiece of a laugh display surfaced before he nodded.

“Deal”, he hummed, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as the elevator opened up on the penthouse, before he dragged Tony over to the bathroom.

Tag list: @itsmexavie @icandoakickflip

#starker #starker fanfiction #tony stark #peter parker #tony stark x peter parker #ironspider #skylar writes

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Avengers #260: Assault on Sanctuary II

October, 1985

ASSAULT ON SANCTUARY! Featuring the stunning secret of NEBULA!

Is her stunning secret that she’s a face floating in space?

That reminds me of another space face. He used to own a spaceship... Thanos, that's it!

Yeah, being a space face is pretty popular. You don’t need to keep it a secret, Nebula. People will understand.

Anyway, Secret Wars II.

It just feels like recently that I was killing myself trying to summarize Secret Wars I. And West Coast Avengers is starting up this same month and doing a crossover with the new Vision and Scarlet Witch limited series.

I can’t do it. I can’t cover Secret Wars II. Its just too much happening right at this moment in comics. I have to cut corners somewhere and somewhere is Secret Wars II.

I’ll explain what needs to be explained as it becomes relevant and hope that's not too often.

The intention was good, the execution was evil.

Much like the Beyonder himself, ZING.

Anyway. Avengers.

Last time on Avengers: Vision sent Captain Marvel out to check on Sanctuary II so she wouldn’t get in the way of his world takeover plan but its fine because the Avengers managed to talk him out of it. Except the very same time Monica is checking the Sanctuary II, some mercenaries working for Nebula come to steal the ship and steal Monica too. Through shenanigans, Monica ended up teaming up with a Skrull armada and trying to stop Nebula from inserting herself in the massive ongoing Skrull civil war that resulted from Galactus eating their homeworld and the entire ruling class.

Funny thing I just remembered, the Skrull queen actually survived that. But she just sat back and let the empire collapse into infighting rather than do anything. Ah, retcons.

Anyway, the Avengers come looking for Monica and decide to help General Zedrao stop Nebula. Even though neither Skrulls nor Avengers like each other. Nebula sure brings people together.

Another fun trivia, General Zerao is maybe the least asshole Skrull. He’s the Skrull who came to Captain Mar-Vell’s death bed and presented him the Skrull Royal Medal of Valor because dammit they were enemies but he respected him.

Its a shame he doesn’t get much use outside of the Death of Captain Marvel GN and this arc.

The issue starts in earnest with Firelord ditching the Avengers because he refuses to team up with the Skrulls.

Firelord: “No longer will I aid Earth’s Avengers! What they asked of me was unspeakable!”

Dude, you’re the one who insisted on tagging along in the first place.

Cap(tain America) even points out that fate gives you strange allies, pointing out that Firelord once worked as Galactus’ herald, a guy defined by serving up entire populations to the slaughter.

Firelord: “I served Galactus because I had sworn to do so! I’ll swear no such oath to help a Skrull!”

Granted, he has a reason to distrust the Skrull military. They’ve ravaged thousands of worlds and kept trying to conquer Firelord’s home planet of Xandar.

Huh, Xandar! That’s where the Nova Corp is from, right?

I wonder how they’re doing lately.

So about the same as usual, huh?

I looked up Xandar on Marvel wiki and almost its entire page is various times it got destroyed. And when I read Annihilation I thought the Nova Corp getting wiped out was unprecedented but nope this happens to them all the time.

You see how Xandar is a goofy bunch of domes connected by tubes?

That’s because of a previous time they were destroyed!

Zorr the Conqueror almost completely destroyed the planet but Uatu the Watcher saved it. Despite Xandar not only not being the planet he’s assigned to but in a completely different galaxy. He’s the worst at not interfering.

He also helped them make the domed tubed thing out of chunks of the planet.

Anyway, Nebula destroyed Xandar this time because it was in the way. Its not like space is mostly empty and she could have gone around, geez.

And as a last thought on this matter: Queen Adora looks like a She-Ra character, even putting aside that her name is Adora.

Anyway, back over at the Skrull armada, featuring General Zedrao.

Thanks to sci-fi sensors, the aramda has found “Nebula’s ship” although Starfox interjects that its not her ship dammit, she stole it!

Buddy, possession is 9/10s of the law and I don’t think Thanos’ possessions fall under probate.

To his crew’s alarm, General Zedrao is going to take the Avengers’ suggestion and give Nebula a chance to surrender.

But as he says, a full battle between the Skrull armada and Nebula’s mercenary army could mean a lot of lost Skrull lives. Not that he expects her to surrender but you gotta try.

Geez, Zedrao really is the best Skrull! I can’t believe he just disappears after this arc!

Where was he during Empyre?

Although if I’m honest. He likely died by the time of the Annihilation Wave. Either in the civil warring among the disintegrating Skrull empire or when Annihilus rolled over what remained of the Skrull empire.

Alas.

Meanwhile, over at the Sanctuary II and the motley armada that Nebula has assembled, Skunge the Troll is manning the sci-fi sensors to make sure the “prune-skinned pervos” don’t sneak up on them.

What he gets instead is a small capsule.

Over in the Sanctuary II, Nebula is sifting through the data in the computer systems marveling at Thanos’ wicked genius and hoping to finally grow to know him better.

She’s interrupted by Levan and Skung regarding that small capsule which pops open by itself to display a recorded message from General Zedrao and Captain Marvel calling for Nebula’s surrender.

A request she’s not keen on.

Nebula launches her fleet but the Skrull armada was ready for her not to surrender. The armada and Starfox’s dad’s ship come out of subspace and immediately start attacking Nebula’s ships.

And the Avengers are helping too.

Wasp: “Never thought I’d wind up as a tail-gunner on a Skrull saucer, but least with these blasters -- I can get better results than I could with my Wasp’s sting!”

As she blows up some enemy ships.

So add that to the grand do superheroes kill argument. In war, the Wasp certainly will.

Hercules drops out of one of the Skrull saucers onto one of the enemy ships and starts to tear it apart.

Hercules: “Now shall the son of Zeus test these mercenaries’ mettle... aye, and their metal, as well!”

Har har.

Hercules is also another in the long proud tradition of superpowered characters who go out into space with just their normal clothes and a glass bowl over their heads.

While the Skrull armada and Starfox’s dad’s ship and the Avengers keep Nebula’s forces busy, Captain Marvel goes to do her job of cutting through Sanctuary II’s defense.

Except she bounces right off the shields.

She figures that the defenses were on stand-by back in issue #255 and so easier to slip through. She’ll just try harder then.

In the same battle, Black Knight is scooting around on his atomic steed.

I can’t believe that he brought it with him on the Quinjet and then on Starfox’s dad’s ship but I’m glad he did.

This is what I expect from someone with a knight aesthetic. Leaning into the aesthetic against all reason.

Even though he could easily man some guns like Wasp, he’s flying around on a mechanical steed he found in the backroom and decided to restore and then brought to space with him. He’s flying around with it hitting things with his super cursed super sharp sword.

Dane, you nerd.

Also, apparently his armor IS AIRTIGHT ENOUGH TO FUNCTION AS A SPACESUIT because all he has is the glass bowl over his head!

Absurd.

On the topic of superheroes killing, Black Knight slices open the belly of a ship like its an AT-AT and he’s Luke and the rupture sucks dozens of the crew out into space.

They’re said to be wearing spacesuits but still.

Did Dane know that ahead of time? Probably not.

War situation.

The battle is going pretty okay for the Skrulls+Avengers but theres still hundreds of Nebula’s ships left and the armada is suffering heavy damage.

And the battle won’t truly end until the Sanctuary II is captured.

There’s some good and bad news on that front.

Bad news, at peak power Captain Marvel can’t easily get through the shields and Nebula is keeping them at peak power because she’s aware now how powerful Monica is.

Good news, Sanctuary II’s heavy offensive weapons can’t be used when the shields are up.

Further news, Firelord has just rageunquit the plot and came screaming back into relevance, blasting the shields with the power cosmic of a small star.

At risk of the shields failing under that, Levan orders for the small hot spot that is Firelord to be hit with all the “trans-shield power” that can be spared.

Which apparently makes the energy shields into reactive energy shields. The shield blasts back at Firelord, sending him into a nearby moon.

Moons always manage to be there to catch you when you’re sent hurtling through space.

Hercules joins Black Knight on his Scooty Puff Jr Atomic Steed and they discuss how Firelord entered and then exited the battle in a big hurry. Hercules concludes that dude can take care of himself.

Back over in the approximate location where the Sanctuary II is, Captain Marvel has turned into a MASSIVE electromagnetic storm miles in diameter to attack the entire shield at once.

If you’ve ever wondered how powerful Captain Monica Marvel is, the answer is very.

And also yes.

She manages to overload the defense shields by basically brute forcing them and the shields blow in a massive burst of energy.

Even given how very and yes powerful Monica is, she has to take a breather after that and speculates that the feat used up a few pounds of mass.

Uh. Since she turns into energy and I guess expended some energy?

Eesh, I didn’t know that her powers had that kind of drawback. But its still pretty impressive considering what a few pounds of meat mass equates to in terms of pyrotechnics.

They are in no way equal amounts of energy!

Monica pops over to the Skrull saucer Wasp is in to inform her about the shields down/needing a breather thing and Wasp spreads it to the rest of the armada on a hilarious giant headset.

2021 is laughing at your advanced technology, Skrulls of 1985.

Anyway, Monica taking down the shields also blew out all the main guns on the Sanctuary II. Again: very impressive. So Levan and some mooks are trying to get the auxillary blasters set up when the wall blows in and...

Holy shit is that Thanos?

Teaming up with the Avengers?

Usually to get such an unlikely team-up, you’d need to read Infinity Gauntlet but only the last bit.

Anyway, no, of course not.

Why the hell would Thanos suddenly show up in this book without any setup and then join the Avengers?

But if for a second you forgot that there were hundreds of Skrulls in this book, you might have fallen for it.

Also, why would Hercules use a sci-fi gun instead of just punching things? This isn’t the era where he uses a big gun! You had me going for a second, this comic, but I’m too wily and too have read the next couple pages for you!

Anyway, some of the mooks surrender and “Thanos” is going to do them a die anyway but Captain America talks him down saying that the Avengers promised mercy to all who surrendered. When “Thanos” says he’s not an Avenger, Cap switches gears to ‘yeah but these men aren’t worth the effort how about that?’

And “Thanos” relents.

Relents and drops the disguise. He and the rest of the non-Cap “Avengers.”

They were alllllll Skrulls. Using shapeshifting for psychological warfare. Because if you have a Skrull story and don’t use their shapeshifting at least once, are you telling a Skrull story?

That’s a question to hold onto, for reasons.

Meanwhile, over on that moon Firelord crashed into, the Beyonder.

Yes, the Beyonder.

The one from Secret Wars. The god-like being who was an entire universe who visited the Marvel universe to make the action fighters bonk off of each other. And then had his power stolen by Doom. But got it back and vanished.

Because this is part of Secret Wars II, Beyonder Boogaloo.

The short synopsis of which is that the Beyonder comes to Earth and just hangs around, learning different life lessons and interacting with different parts of the Marvel universe.

For some reason, he’s looking for the Avengers right now. And Firelord tells him that they’re over trying to capture Nebula’s ship.

(Faint sound of offended Starfox in the distance, I imagine)

The Beyonder asks if capturing the ship is important and Firelord says whats important is taking care of Nebula.

Firelord: “Were it... in my power... I would hurl her from this very galaxy!”

And then he passes out.

The thing about the Beyonder, and what makes Secret Wars II have a faint shimmer of a good idea at its core, is that the Beyonder has basically zero life experience aside from Secret Wars I and whatever he’s managed to absorb in the Secret Wars II issues and tie-ins up until this point. Which may or may not include how to poop.

Like the cave under that tree in Dabogah, all you get out of the Beyonder is what you put in.

So the Beyonder takes what Firelord says extremely literally.

Beyonder: “If the Avengers are so involved in eliminating this ‘Nebula’ person, perhaps I can help. From what I’ve observed of such humans -- they seem to effect a special form of garb for their battles. I suppose if I’m going to assist them, I should do the same.”

Oh my god.

That is.

A look.

He looks like if Stryfe realized spikes were a workplace hazard but still wanted massive shoulders.

Samus Aran would blush.

Anyway, aboard the Sanctuary II, the Avengers and Skrulls beat up just hordes of mooks. Dozens. Scores. Maybe even a gross.

Hercules even gets to do that classic thing where he punches one guy and knocks down a column of guys because they were standing in line.

Nebula decides that when you reach the point where a bunch of superheroes are punching people aboard your ship, you should get out while the getting out is good.

She has a keen understanding that her troops are the mookiest mooks to ever goon. They’re just fodder to make the superheroes look cool as they plow through them. Once her ship was boarded, its abandon ship time.

So she gets the big not-Ben Grimm orange guy Kehl to help her load some essential canisters aboard an escape ship but he suddenly starts laughing at nothing in particular.

Gasp!

The calling card of Starfox!

The man himself swoops down and disarms Nebula and then claims the ship, the whole entire ship.

Starfox: “You’re finished Nebula! I claim Sanctuary II by right of blood... it was built by my brother!”

Yeah but he was a criminal who did all kinds of war crimes. What the hell is space law like that you can just go ‘my weapon of mass destruction now!’

And if you could, why did you leave it adrift for so long? That’s just asking for squatters.

But Nebula has a perfect counter to Starfox’s ridiculous claim.

Nebula: “Imbecile! I have as much right to this ship as you! It was built by my grandfather!”

DUN DUN DUN!

Or a soap opera sting. You know the one.

Starfox is left stunned by this sudden claim of kinship and is even more stunned when Gunthar mindcrushes Starfox.

Nebula calls Starfox an uncle but. He’d be a great uncle, right?

Anyway, before Nebula can get Kehl to finish off Starfox, the Beyonder shows up.

And Nebula’s response kills me.

She’s had a very aggravating, confusing day.

When Gunthar says Nebula’s name, the Beyonder is like ah cool and blasts her whole group. And the canisters. And the escape ship.

Starfox: “Who the *#%$ are you? And what have you done with Nebula?!?”

Wow, I thinks this is the most non-composed we’ve ever seen this space dude.

Beyonder: “I am from Beyond! As for Nebula and the others... why, they’ve been removed from this galaxy! Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Starfox: “NO!! Are you insane?!?”

Beyonder: “I don’t believe so... but I am confused. The flaming man said -- !”

Starfox: “Flaming... Firelord? Did he put you up to this? Of all the -- I don’t know which one of you is the bigger idiot!”

Hahahahah!

Secret Wars II may be a mess. May be. I certainly don’t have the energy to try to read the whole thing any time soon. But something like this is great.

The Beyonder is like ‘Beyonder do good?’ and Starfox is like ‘NO, NO YOU DID NOT.’

Priceless.

Like I said. All you get out of him is what you put in. Firelord said he wanted to hurl her from the galaxy so the Beyonder went and did that for him.

Does it matter that he helped Nebula escape when the Avengers were about to show up and capture her?

Look, he was given a simple directive and he did that.

Beyonder: “I came here to help. I thought you wanted to be rid of Nebula!”

Captain Marvel: “We wanted to capture her! We wanted to make her pay for what she’s done! For someone who came to help, you’ve sure made a mess of things!”

Beyonder: “I - I didn’t know. There are so many people... so many ways of speaking... so much to decode before there can be understanding. It is clear that I must experience much more before I can totally understand.”

Then the Beyonder teleports away.

That’s probably fine. How much trouble can he get into? Like. On a scale of breaking mom’s fine china to destroying the universe.

-looks ahead- Really? On the destroying the universe side of the scale? Welp.

Notably, nobody present has any idea that was the Beyonder.

Cap(tain America) begins to wonder after being told the guy said he was from beyond. But when the Beyonder showed up in Secret Wars II #1, he took on a form that was a composite of people that were in Secret Wars 1.

Also, that thing about an airline wanting money from Cap? That was from an event that happened in Secret Wars II #1. He used his Avengers priority card to divert a plane from England to LA.

Anyway, Starfox is more concerned with Nebula and whether her claim to be Thanos’ granddaughter is true.

Because that would change... something? Would he stop trying to bring her to justice? Explain yourself, Starfox!

Hopefully he will in Avengers Annual #14 because this is one of those story arcs that continues into an annual. But hopefully not two of them like the Celestial Madonna Saga.

Follow @essential-avengers because you want to know the truth about Nebula and think that she’ll be in the annual. She doesn’t. Like and reblog because you respect my honesty.

#avengers #essential avengers #Nebula #and her crafty crew #the Wasp #Captain America #Captain Marvel #Monica Rambeau #Black Knight #Hercules #Firelord #Starfox #a bunch of Skrulls #General Zedrao #the coolest Skrull who isn't super #essential marvel liveblogging #the Beyonder #Secret Wars II #sigh

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catnobananas · 4 years

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Words: 1003 Setting: basically right after the beginning of Civil War Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Vision, mentions of other characters Tags: an itty bit of fluff Notes: this is just something I’ve been writing as a way to get back into things (can you believe I haven’t written anything in almost 2 years???) and work my creative muscles a little. If you enjoy it, a like or reblog is always appreciated <3 enjoy!

Forty-eight hours since Lagos. Forty-eight hours since the incident.

It seemed like only moments ago Wanda was standing in that marketplace, desperately trying to contain the explosion Rumlow had set off in a last-ditch effort to escape justice - or maybe to the Avengers. The whole ordeal had been exhausting, she felt exhausted. It was the kind of exhaustion that sank into the bones, left you feeling heavy. Wanda felt it in every inch of her body; every muscle, every joint. But more than that, she felt it in her soul. It went deeper than just a physical ache.

All she wanted was to be back at the Avengers facility, in her own space. It was one of the only thoughts on her mind as she sat in the jet, nearly ready to touch down in New York. This entire plane ride had been massively uncomfortable for her as her teammates altered between contemplative silence and attempts at consolation. She hated that they kept asking her if she was alright.

Who cares if I'm alright? she wanted to say, people are hurt because of me. You should be asking if they're alright. She said nothing, though, choosing instead to dodge each question with a careful shrug that she hoped came off as a 'more or less' kind of response. Awkward interactions aside, it had been a pretty uneventful trip and Wanda was so damn ready for it to be over with.

As soon as the jet touched down and the doors swung open, Wanda grabbed her small bag of belongings and headed for the door and began to make her way towards her room, but paused when she heard her name mentioned on the TV. She found Vision situated in the common area, the screen in front of him flashing clips of the destruction in Lagos while the reporter spoke.

"...according to eyewitnesses, Avengers member Wanda Maximoff was attempting to contain the explosion, but was unable to redirect the blast in time, resulting in the destruction of the building and the death of almost a dozen humanitarian workers inside..."

It was easy for the news to stick to the facts now, when they didn't know much about her past or how she came to be an Avenger. Once that information became public, she could only begin to guess what would be said about her then. Or how she might be labeled by the government (as if she needed a problem like that).

Alerted by the sound of her footsteps, Vision turned his attention away from the screen, which was promptly shut off once he realized it was her. Wanda dropped her bag by the couch as he stood and moved towards her. It had only been a few days since they'd seen each other, but to her it felt longer.

"Wanda." The way he said her name by way of formal greeting almost always made her smile. It was like he was greeting an old friend, all warmth and memories. But right now he sounded worried, almost panicked. There was an uncharacteristically anxious edge to his voice when he asked, "I- Welcome home. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, Vis," Wanda replied as a pair of hands came to rest on her shoulders, and it felt a little too natural when she stepped forward into his embrace. When a pair of arms wrapped firmly around her shoulders, she was reminded of how she felt with Pietro: content. Safe. The brief contact left her feeling better than she had in days. Funny how the presence of someone you cared about could do that.

As she stepped away, his hands still on her shoulders, Vision glanced over her once, then twice, checking for any sort of visible injury. Finding none, he began to relax a little, but she could see it - he was still worried for her. It was clear in the way he looked at her, how his brow drew together just slightly, the tilt of his head. It was just the type expression she'd gotten from Sam, Nat, and Steve, too.

"Don't look at me like that."

"I'm sorry?"

"Yes, like you're sorry. Like you feel bad for me. It just makes it worse." She was one of the only people she had found herself truly opening up to and finding a sense of normalcy with. She didn't want this incident to change that. "I know what happened was terrible, and it was my fault, but I'm not some kid who can't understand the realities of my job, or my own mistakes. It is what it is."

That was a bullshit statement, and a vast oversimplification, but Wanda didn't have the emotional energy to pick apart the details of how she was feeling about the whole thing. Best to leave it at that, she thought.

"I understand," Vision said, dropping his hands from her shoulders. She missed the contact more than she cared to admit. "I was just worried. If there's anything I can do..."

"Thanks, Vis. I'll be alright." For the first time since the mission, Wanda found herself smiling. It was this simple interaction that made her think maybe she didn't have to deal with these burdens alone. Sure, her teammates had gotten on her nerves with their concern, but it was for a reason. There were people here who cared about her that she cared about too.

Looking at Vision, she couldn't help but think she cared about some more than others. But, like most things right now, she didn't have the energy to focus too hard on that particular thought. It was another thing best left alone for the time being.

Turning, Wanda grabbed her bag from the floor. As she was about to leave she turned, catching Vis' eye. "I could use some company. Want to watch a movie when I finish unpacking?"

The bright smile she got in return was almost enough to make her forget about the past two days.

"I would love to."

#my writing #wandavision #scarlet vision #wanda maximoff #vision

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andrewmoocow · 4 years

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Steven Universe: The Fantastic Mutants chapter 5: Never Again (originally posted on November 16, 2020)

AN: Good to see you all again my dear readers! How have things been? Am I being too intrusive? Well, doesn't matter! It's good to be back in business after a few weeks, so let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

"So how much of this show is actual camping?" HYDRA Bob asked Peridot as they, along with Deadpool & Lapis, watched Camp Pining Hearts together at the X-Mansion while surrounded by massive amounts of snack foods and garbage. "A fair bit, but pretty much everyone comes for the romance," Peridot answered. "Yeah," Wade stated. "like your crippling yaoi addiction."

"What is yah-oy?" Lapis asked while mispronouncing this new word just as Pearl came in with a broom. "You really should learn how to pick up after yourselves as guests." The Gem grumbled while sweeping up crumbs off the carpet. "Hey, wise up Pearl, I'm basically an honorary member!" Deadpool remarked. "Hey, Flat-Top, gimme a refill on my coke here!"

"And you should also treat the people housing you like friends, not your servants." Colossus reminded them, just as disgruntled as Pearl, while he gave the Merc with a Mouth another bottle of pop when suddenly, Xavier came in. "Ah, Professor! Would you be so kind as to help us teach Wade here some manners?"

"It's alright, Piotr." Xavier calmed the metal mutant down. "Although Mr. Wilson here can be a bit of a nuisance, we do need all the help we can get to rescue Steven and Kitty."

"Thanks for the save Cap'n." Wade grinned at the aged mutant when someone knocked at the window. "Hey, anyone in there?!" the voice of Spider-Man called from outside, latching upside down onto the glass. "Peter!" Pearl exclaimed. "Long time no see. How are the other Avengers doing?"

"The big six are off in space right now, and the reserves are holding down the fort for now." The web-slinger answered as he opened the window and leaped through it. "When your message reached us, I was the first to take it and brought along a few pals who might be useful."

As Peter finished talking, a silver and blue blur burst through the front doors, stopping to reveal itself as Quicksilver. "Pietro, good to see you!" Colossus exclaimed. "Must mean Wanda isn't too far behind, da?"

"You are correct." Scarlet Witch answered as she followed her brother. "Hello again Crystal Gems." She greeted the Gems. "Hello to you and Pietro too, Wanda," Garnet replied as she stepped into the room. "It certainly has been a while since Thanos. I hope you both are well."

"Oh, never better Garney!" Quicksilver responded as he sat down between Peridot & Lapis to watch Camp Pining Hearts with them. "Ooh, I love this show! I always felt Pierre & Percy have really good chemistry."

"Thank you for agreeing with me good sir." Peridot added pridefully. "Oh, quit with the shit already!" Wade interjected crossly. "No one ever talks about Pierre and Paulette!"

"You take that back, you crimson clod." Peridot snarled threateningly at the mercenary and soon, an intense shipping debate between the two began. "Oh, this could take a long while." Pearl sighed in exhaustion.

"I just watch for all the crazy shenanigans these campers get up to." Spider-Man gave his opinion while snatching some snicker-doodles from the ottoman.

"Come on, work!" Kitty groaned in frustration as she continuously tried and failed to break her and Steven from their imprisonment without using her mutant powers. "If only I could find a way to break this collar, then we'd get outta here easier."

"Why don't I give it a shot?" Steven suggested, deciding to use his shield to cut the bars apart. However, that failed as well. "It's hopeless. If I didn't come, then maybe we wouldn't be stuck here."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up like that Steven." Kitty comforted her fellow mutant. "I'm sure the Gems are already on their way to save us, so try and keep your chin up until then." She implored Steven, but he remained downtrodden. "Let's face it; we're here because of my mom."

"Oh, mother issues?" Kitty realized. "I get it. That's perfectly normal. But you can't always let the sins of the parent bring you down." She assured him. "Yeah, sins like taking part in universal genocide before realizing that wasn't good and instead doing things far worse than that." Steven grumbled, much to her surprise. "Whoa okay, didn't see that coming!" Kitty exclaimed. "Far worse how? Did she actually murder someone?"

"She deliberately left tons of Gems and other races to die for her just because she was bored of being Pink Diamond, let two of my friends to be imprisoned for thousands of years, forced Gems who cared for her to suffer from her faked death and who knows what else!" Steven complained. "And then there was that whole thing with Magneto."

As if on cue, the aforementioned leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants stepped into the brig to interrogate them. "I see you've been making yourselves at home while you could." He declared before grabbing Steven by the shirt collar through the cell bars. "Tell me boy, why do you have her gemstone? Was it passed down to you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Steven answered. "When I was born, my mom died to give birth to me, and I got her gemstone and all her powers as a result. She also left me with all her baggage from ages ago, including when she was once a member of the Great Diamond Authority."

"Great Diamond Authority?" Magneto wondered, and Kitty seemed just as confused. "Yeah, I have to agree. There are more Diamonds out there?"

"That's not important right now," Steven said before Magneto set him down. "Still, why go after me in particular? We're both mutants. We should be on the same side!"

"You already know about how Rose abandoned me at Auschwitz, but the Gems only told you half the story," Erik revealed, turning away from Steven & Kitty in the process. "My part of this tale is far more complex than you realize. Like many a Jew during the war, I was prosecuted by the Nazis for my religion and sentenced to death. But I was a special case."

Heavy rain poured upon Poland in 1944 as a large group of imprisoned Jews marched sorrowfully through Auschwitz, their world nothing but drab colors aside from the bright yellow Star of David on their clothes signifying their religion. All around them, more of their people were forced to perform possibly lethal jobs for their superiors and be treated horribly should they fail to work or try to resist.

One young man in particular named Erik Lehnsherr watched just as miserably as his fellow Jews and began to notice that many of the other prisoners had brands on their arms. As soldiers began coldly leading their prisoners away from the group, Erik's parents Edie & Jacob were forcefully separated like the rest from their son, with Edie being particularly hysterical about having to leave her child.

Erik raced after his parents in an effort to see them one last time, but the gates closed before he could get a chance, and another Nazi grabbed the boy to keep him under control. However, something miraculous happened. When Erik fruitlessly reached out towards the gate, it began bending towards him. Another Nazi aided his fellow soldier in detaining the boy, and two more raced towards him as the fence began twisting more and more.

Erik's mutant powers awakened that day as the gates were ripped open with a mere stretch of his hand, but he was quickly stopped with the butt of a gun to his head from a fifth soldier. "Bring ihn zu Dr. Schmidt." that soldier commanded his subordinates. The four Nazis nodded and dragged the unconscious boy away, to where his destiny would soon be realized.

"And that's where you first met his mom, right?" Kitty asked her captor. "Yeah, I don't think we need to hear how she ditched you again."

"As I stated, the story is much deeper than that," Magneto said. "Allow me to continue."

Soon, HYDRA had come to assist the Nazis in stopping the Howling Commandos and the Crystal Gems from instigating the Auschwitz breakout. As Rose began fighting off soldiers, she began counting off the fleeing Jews. "Let me see how many we got," Rose muttered while trying to do a headcount. "Agh, there's too many of them! I can barely keep count when I'm surrounded like this!"

"Less than a million!" Garnet counted for her leader with her future vision. "However, there are still a few that we were too late to save, namely the Lehnsherr family. Klaus Schmidt is holding their son Erik."

"Klaus?" Rose soon came to a realization. "That was the boy in the office! I have to go ba-" Before Rose could finish, a HYDRA enforcer took advantage of her letting her guard down and fired with an anti-Gem weapon, poofing her form.

"Rose!" Pearl exclaimed while rushing to the deactivated gem lying on the ground. While Captain America covered for them with his shield, the Gems made a hasty retreat. "But what about those other Jews?!" Amethyst exclaimed. "A few prisoners should take this from here." Garnet answered, just as the Sonderkommando charged at their captors with guns, knives, axes, and grenades.

Inside the building where Klaus Schmidt was stationed, the mutant Jew slithered around the hall to avoid being caught again. Nazis raced outside to combat without once taking notice of the boy making his escape. Taking a moment to peek outside the window, he noticed the Gems escaping the concentration camp and furrowed his brow angrily. "Sie haben mich verlassen."

As the warfare continued, Erik quietly made his getaway with his newly awakened mutant powers and used a wrecked chain fence to fly himself away from Auschwitz.

Many years later in 1963, Magneto was holding a demonstration in New York to make a speech about the superiority of mutants when she showed up again. Rose Quartz had decided to show her face to him again after leaving him to rot all those years ago in Auschwitz, and only now, she shows up with an excuse to try and make peace.

"You can try to rope yourself into my good graces all you want Gems," he growled, preparing to fight the Crystal Gems. "But nothing can ever change the past!"

Ripping a nearby water tower off its supports, Erik prepared to smash it on top of Rose, Garnet & Pearl, but then came a loud shriek coming from the Irish mutant Sean Cassidy, aka Banshee. "Top o' the mornin' to you ladies!" Banshee exclaimed and let out another scream that brought the master of magnetism to the ground. "Now Neal!"

"I got you!" the Indian pyrokinetic Neal Shaara, or Thunderbird to his teammates, boomed while turning his body into plasma and landing a few hits on Magneto, but the German fought back by expanding a force-field that pushed him back. "Longshot, Angel, Mimic, it's all you now!"

"You got it!" Longshot replied while standing on a rooftop with Mimic and Angel Salvadore and preparing to throw a large knife at Magneto. "Just got one shot at this." He muttered to himself just as Amethyst hopped up behind him. "Hey, what you guys doing?" she asked the three mutants, catching Longshot off-guard. "Do you mind squirt?!" Longshot barked, but then he noticed her gem. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know those three, right?"

"We can discuss it later!" Angel said while sprouting fly-like wings and flying off. "Hey, wait for me!" Mimic exclaimed, copying his teammate's power by growing insect wings of his own and soaring after her.

"You guys wouldn't happen to be like ol' Maggy over there?" Amethyst continued asking Longshot, who harshly shushed her while trying to keep his concentration. "Okay, sheesh!"

"Now Longshot!" Banshee exclaimed as he let out a loud shriek at Magneto to knock him off-balance, allowing Longshot to fling his knife at the evil mutant. But Erik stopped the blade before it could reach his face with his powers and threw it right at Pearl with a wicked grin.

"Pearl, no!" Rose cried out as she dove in front of her confidant, letting the knife stab her instead, causing her to ultimately poof and retreat into her gem.

"Rose!" the remaining Gems shouted, racing to protect their leader's inactive gemstone from Magneto. "Well, that should do nicely for now." He snidely muttered. "But know this Crystal Gems, we shall meet again someday soon. Even if we have to wait years to do so!"

With that, Magneto zoomed off into the sky and left the Crystal Gems & the X-Men below. "So, sorry about letting your boss end up like this." Longshot nervously apologized. "That was my knife he threw at her after all."

"It's alright. Rose will recover soon." Garnet assured the mutant. "By the way, I didn't get your name."

"Call me Longshot, leader of the X-Men!" Longshot proudly replied. "These are my teammates; Banshee, Mimic, Angel Salvadore, and Thunderbird. We're all mutants."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Thunderbird greeted, extending a hand to Pearl. "Mutants? I think I remember meeting one, centuries ago." Pearl replied, shaking Neal's hand. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone named En Sabah Nur?"

This revelation caused the X-Men to gasp in shock. "Wait, you met Apocalypse?!" Mimic cried. "Let me guess, you guys know him as a real bad guy?" Amethyst quipped. "Yeah, he's about yay tall, superiority complex, total Darwinist." Angel replied. "Come along. We can tell you more about him."

"And maybe we'll introduce you to the professor too." Banshee added happily. "We'd be glad to meet your professor." Pearl agreed, and Garnet & Amethyst nodded as well.

"So that's how the Gems met Xavier!" Steven realized. "But how come you remember that last bit happening? You left after poofing Rose."

"Don't think about it." Magneto assured him. "And now that I have you in our clutches, watching Doctor Doom experiment on you will be so satisfying."

"But still, you can't just vent your vengeance on a kid!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Yeah, this isn't what Xavier would want!" Steven replied, forcing Magneto to drop his stoic façade. "He knows you can be better than this, barring the terrorism. You're both on the same wavelength when it comes to protecting mutants, but kidnapping one of your own for your own sake is just wrong!"

"Y'know, that does seem like something Charles would say. Though he would've said it better." Magneto relented, pressing a button on the cell to let Steven and Kitty out. "Fight them off while you still can children. I shall take the blame myself."

"Okay Steven, let's get outta here!" Kitty declared excitedly. "And no matter what happens, I got your back!"

"Actually Kit, I think I got yours." Steven replied, just as another door opened, and Mystique stepped into the brig. "Erik! Why have you let the prisoners out?" she asked Magneto. "It was the boy who convinced me." Erik revealed. "As it turns out, he's quite good at turning people to his side."

"Well, you're too late child." Mystique said to Steven. "We have finally landed in Latveria."

The Crystal Gems, X-Men, Fantastic Four, X-Force, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver all marched to the Blackbird, ready to go out to Latveria and save Steven & Kitty. Human Torch and Cyclops were in charge of piloting the plane while Xavier planted his wheelchair in the back.

"So tell us what we're in for Reed." Garnet asked Mister Fantastic, who gave a sharp sigh of regret. "You should know by now that Doctor Doom is our family's greatest adversary. Intelligence on par with my own, mastery of the mystic arts, psionic abilities, the works." Reed explained. "But what I'm sure you probably don't know yet was that we knew Doom long before he turned out like this."

"Victor, have you gone mad?!" a younger Reed yelled at his college classmate Victor, who was standing in front of a large machine generating an unstable portal. "This machine is highly unstable and could explode at any moment!"

"I do not care what it takes, Richards!" the man who would be king of Latveria cried as the machine was on the verge of self-destructing. "This is the only way I can see my mother again!"

"Hey Stretch, we got everyone outta here!" Ben Grimm, back then a normal human being instead of a large rock creature, called for his classmate while he, Johnny and Sue burst into the laboratory. "You gotta come with us!"

"No Reed, we can see our mothers again, together!" Doom tried convincing his rival. Reed hesitated for a moment, weighing his options between escaping with his friends or getting to see his late mother Evelyn again. But as he made his decision, he turned away from Victor. "I'm sorry Vic. But I've moved on."

"How dare you?!" Victor screeched, while his four contemporaries fled the scene. "Don't you dare run away! We could've been something more!" Just then, the portal machine has just about reached its boiling point, and caused the lab to explode with Doom inside. The last thing he said before the room collapsed on him was a scream of "RIIIIIIIIICHAAAAAAAARDS!"

"Never saw him again after that incident. Ol' Iron Mask got expelled, then he just vanished offa the face of the planet." Ben regaled in the present day. "That is until he re-emerged as some young upstart billionaire named Victor Domashev, who funded the space flight that made us into the Four we are today."

"Hey guys, less backstory, more blasting off!" Amethyst snapped her fingers. "Pretty sure Steven might be on his way to being dissected by now!"

"Yeah, and a certain author friend of ours wants to get this out as quickly as possible." Deadpool agreed, his medium-aware comment inciting odd stares from the others. "Can we move onto the next scene already?!"

As Mystique had declared, Steven was now in the European country of Latveria, famously ruled by the Fantastic Four's arch-nemesis Victor von Doom. He and Kitty were led through the aesthetically medieval capital city Doomstadt, where its citizens whispered in German, Hungarian and an unknown third language reminiscent of the latter dialect.

"Victor, we have brought the child. And an unwanted guest." Mystique announced in front of Doom's castle as they crossed the drawbridge. The castle was guarded by numerous robot soldiers that bore Doom's face, all of them giving Steven cold and unfeeling glares as he was finally brought before the man who's face the robots bore.

"Steven Universe." Doctor Doom boomed, resting on his throne while the boy was handcuffed in front of him. "I have heard much about you these past few months child. Erik, I must commend you for getting the job done, although I've heard of your possible betrayal and won't tolerate it." Then Doom turned to Mystique. "Thank you Ms. Darkholme for alerting me of this before you arrived.

"You are most kind Doctor." Mystique thanked him with a bow. "We hope you return your end of the bargain and grant us mutants sanctuary in Latveria."

"Raven, you must listen!" Magneto cried to his second in command. "This boy calls himself a mutant, just like us! We can't just let Victor experiment on him like this. What if he has something else planned?!"

"SILENCE!" the king of Latveria roared. "It seems this child has made you soft Mr. Lehnsherr. No matter." He rose from his throne and stepped towards Steven & Kitty to give them a good look. "He shall become useful to me soon. And as for the girl, take her away."

"Yes your Highness." Mystique complied, snapping her fingers to have Juggernaut take Kitty away.

"Hey, put me down!" Kitty hissed, struggling to break free from the massive mutant's hands, which was easier said than done since her powers were still restrained. "Don't worry Steven, I'll find a way to save you!"

"Ah shaddup!" Juggernaut groaned loudly, stuffing a big finger inside the smaller girl's mouth to keep her quiet when Mystique put a hand on his bicep. "And what do you want Bluey?"

"It's about Erik. We may resort to terrorism to fight for mutant rights, but I think allowing a child to be experimented on may be going a bit too far." Raven whispered to Cain while they moved farther away from Doom. "Besides, he is a mutant much like us."

"So I've heard." The Juggernaut muttered. "But shouldn't he count more as an alien because his momma was one?"

When the Brotherhood mutants left the throne room, Steven was left all alone with Magneto and Doom. "What do you want with me Doom?" Steven asked the king. "Was it really necessary to have the Brotherhood kidnap me when you could've had your robots do it?"

"Why I couldn't have just sent my Doombots doesn't matter." Doom declared. "But what does matter is what I want to do to you. You see, you're special Steven, as you probably know. A being who's a mixture of human and alien DNA, and that alien DNA might prove very important to me." He explained to Steven. "I wish to use those genes for my own ends. Perhaps make an army of similar beings, or perhaps become part-Gem myself to gain ultimate power! Which is why I chose you in particular."

"Doctor, an invading ship is approaching Doomstadt." A Doombot announced as it walked into the throne room. "Shall we send out the reinforcements you selected?"

"You may, #1961." Doom replied, pressing a few buttons on his arms that opened a door, and behind it were four supervillains.

Trapster, a man in goggles with a container of glue-like substance on his back, attached to a hose with a gun at the end.

Mole Man, a deformed midget in a green suit with a blue visor who was holding a staff in his hand.

The Puppet Master, a bald, dark-skinned man accompanied by a pair of human-sized marionettes in the shape of the Human Torch and the Thing, that he controlled with a special remote.

And the Wizard, a purple armor-wearing supergenius who floated in the air with special anti-gravity discs.

"Frightful Four, it seems we have some uninvited guests." Doom revealed to the four villains. "I insist you deal with them at once, while I make my little guest here at home."

"Yes Doctor." The Frightful Four said in unison, then the marched out of the throne room to battle. Once again Steven was alone in the throne room with Victor & Erik, and the former was all too eager to get things started.

"Now then, shall we begin testing?" Doom asked Steven maliciously, and Steven replied with a very nervous gulp.

After three months of work, it's finally done! We're getting close to the end of this guys, and I couldn't be more excited. But for now, I think I'm gonna take a little break to focus on college stuff for a bit, and I'll be back soon with not just a new chapter, but also a brand spankin' new Steven Universe tale I've had on the brain for a while. It's an AU rewrite of Steven Universe Future aptly named Steven Universe: Alternate Future. If you want to know more about this upcoming series, I've already got an entire episode list on my DeviantArt page along with drawings of some original characters created for it. Until we meet again, toodle-oo!

In Loving Memory of Sean Connery

1930-2020

& Alex Trebek

1940-2020

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jbbarnesnnoble · 4 years

Text

Vulnerability and Other Things (Part Four)

Chapter Title: What If You Let Them All in on the Lie

Series Summary: You’re the newest Avenger still trying to figure out where you fit in and determined to prove yourself, no matter how many times people tell you you don’t need to. Balancing your pre-Avenger life with your new life is a challenge, one that is threatening to fall apart.

Part Summary: You talk to Peter about your relationship. Peter talks to FRIDAY. FRIDAY alerts Tony, and Tony has a serious discussion with Peter.

Features: Unhealthy relationship, OMC character with controlling tendencies; if this is triggering in anyway, skip this story!

Pairing: Reader/Original Male Character; eventual Bucky/Natasha/Reader

Notes: In this part, we see Reader and Peter’s brother/sister relationship. Reader puts a lot on Peter’s shoulders in this part, more than she should. We’re cruising into the resolution of this first arc.

Word Count: 1539

You dragged Peter to Elsie’s after asking him if you could grab lunch together on Saturday morning. You loved Ruth’s, but everyone on the team went there. Elsie’s was further out of the way. It was a place you and Peter frequented when you wanted to talk about something without worrying about one of the team walking in. If one of you was asking to go to Elsie’s, usually it was because you wanted to talk about something. After placing your orders, Peter looked at you expectantly.

“What brings us to Elsie’s today, peach?” he asked. You hated that nickname. Peter was the only one who could get away with calling you that. It started because of Tony, as most nicknames seemed to do. You sighed.

“I have a boyfriend,” you blurted out. He raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve mentioned him before. Why do I feel like that’s not the point here?” he asked. You had to give it to him. He knew you well. You wouldn’t drag him out to lunch just to confirm his suspicions about you and Danny.

“Things aren’t good. He doesn’t like that I’m part of the team,” you admitted.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” he questioned. You cursed his perceptiveness. You told him about Danny’s behavior, about the red flags. You needed reassurance. Going to Peter, who was still in high school, may have struck some as an odd choice, but as the youngest two Avengers, the two of you had a bond that was like siblings. You trusted him to have your back. You also trusted him to keep it to himself. You knew Wanda wouldn’t. She’d tell Vision. Or worse, she’d spill to Natasha directly. Natasha would tell Bucky and before you knew it, the entire team would be breaking down Danny’s door. You and Peter had often lamented the fact that the team treated you both like children at times. Though you supposed, he still was one, but you’d never say that to him.

You didn’t see Danny in the parking lot, staring at the two of you through the window. You forgot you had given him access to your location. Tony always harped on you about not using that feature on the iPhone you still had. He was still trying to get you to switch to using a Stark brand phone, which was looking more appealing by the day.

“I don’t know what to do,” you admitted to Peter.

“You know I’ll always be here to talk,” he said. You nodded.

“Just...promise me you won’t tell anyone? Not even Tony. I don’t need the team freaking out over this. You know how they are,” you said.

“I won’t. I promise,” he said. Your phone vibrated with a text. Danny wanted to meet for dinner at his apartment that night. You texted him that you’d be there.

“Looks like Happy’s come to collect you. I won’t be back tonight. I’m meeting up with Danny. If anyone asks, tell them I had plans with a friend,” you told Peter as the two of you headed out of the diner. He nodded in agreement before you pulled him into a hug. You didn’t get into your car until you saw him get into the car with Happy and head off.

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Peter sat at his desk in his room at the compound, tossing a ball in the air. He wasn’t sure what to do. He’d promised you that he would keep your lunch time discussion to himself, but it felt like something he should tell someone. Everything you had told him put him on edge. You were his friend, practically his older sister.

“FRIDAY can I talk to you about something?” Peter asked.

“Certainly,” the AI replied.

“And you won’t tell Mr. Stark?” he asked.

“Not unless it compromises your safety,” she said. Peter nodded. He wasn’t sure where to begin or if he should say anything. He had promised. But, FRIDAY wasn’t a person and his safety wasn’t the one being compromised. Surely venting to the AI would be a way to get everything off his chest and work through what to do.

“I’m really worried about her, FRIDAY. Everything she said. I know she can take care of herself but I’m worried. I don’t know if she’d leave him. I think she might leave the team to keep the peace in her relationship,” Peter confessed.

“You are very wise for your age, Mr. Parker,” the AI responded. Peter hated that you had come to him about it. He knew at the end of the day that you wouldn’t have placed the burden of knowing about this on his shoulders if you saw any other way. He was worried. His promise to you made him feel uneasy.

Across the compound in the lab, FRIDAY alerted Tony to what Peter had said. Tony didn’t make a habit of violating the privacy of the team. But Tony had been worried lately. You were acting strange and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“FRIDAY, tell Peter to come down to the lab,” Tony told the AI. Peter entered the lab a short time later, with Tony asking him to take a seat.

“FRIDAY told me something interesting,” Tony started. Peter paled.

“Mr. Stark I can explain...wait...FRIDAY you said you wouldn’t tell him!” Peter exclaimed.

“Calm down. I asked FRIDAY to alert me if anything that could explain a certain friend of ours’ behavior lately came up. FRIDAY didn’t tell me the specifics, kid. Only that you had said some things that were concerning,” Tony said. Peter sighed.

“Peaches told me not to tell anyone what she told me,” Peter told him. Tony frowned.

“She’s not the secret keeping type. Peter, if you have a reason to believe she’s in danger, I need you to tell me what she told you,” Tony said. Peter weighed his options.

“She has a boyfriend...he...I don’t think he treats her okay. When she was in the med bay after her last mission...he had sent her over 500 texts. He wants her to quit. He was upset that she didn’t have her phone on the mission, even after she told him it would compromise the mission,” Peter explained. Tony nodded. To say he was worried would be an understatement. It was easy to figure out why you had gone to Peter of all people with it. Going to any of the other Avengers would have ended in a quick decision without any thought. The only reason Tony now knew was because of FRIDAY. He didn’t agree with you putting it on Peter’s shoulders, but he had a feeling you felt like you had no other option.

“Thank you for telling me Peter. I’ll handle things from here,” Tony said.

“You can’t. She’ll know I told you,” Peter said, frantic. Tony shook his head.

“FRIDAY, show me Renegade’s texts,” Tony said. Peter’s eyes went wide as a hologram of your texts showed up.

“Keep telling her, ditch the iPhone,” Tony muttered.

“You can do that?” Peter asked, concerned.

“I don’t make a habit of it, kid. FRIDAY’s good, but not that good. Renegade is still using an iPhone 5s. Do you know how many security vulnerabilities are in that thing? Everyone else here uses a Stark issued phone. I couldn’t access their texts even if I wanted to. This, this is your deniability,” Tony said. Peter frowned at his words.

“I don’t know Mr. Stark,” Peter said.

“I was going to check her phone regardless of if you told me or not, Peter. I’ve been worried about her. She hasn’t been herself lately,” Tony admitted.

“I don’t want her to be mad at me,” Peter said.

“Kid, she might get mad at us all in the short term, but when you’re in a situation like she is. It can be scary. You don’t know how to get yourself out of it. Now, don’t you have homework to go do?” Tony asked. Peter nodded and headed out of the lab. Tony sat for a few minutes, contemplating his next move. If you had been working with HYDRA this would have been a lot easier. Instead, it was much worse. His next step was going to be talking to Natasha.

As this was happening, you arrived at Danny’s. You prepared yourself for another lecture, another screaming match. Nothing was ever simple these days. You knocked on the door, which opened almost immediately. Danny had a frown on his face and dinner on the table.

“You’re late,” he said.

“I had to run some errands. You said 6, it’s 5:55,” you said. It had been 2:30 when you split off from Peter, having some errands to run around town.

“That might as well be late. I was worried,” he said. You sighed.

“I’m sorry. I lost track of time. I had to pick up some things in town before the shops closed,” you said. You knew it was going to be a long night. You were too tired to argue. Tired of fighting. Tired of feeling suffocated. You told yourself tonight would be the night you ended it, knowing you were only lying to yourself.

#bucky barnes/natasha romanoff/reader #bucky barnes #natasha romanov #natasha romanoff #marvel fanfic #bucky barnes/natasha romanov/reader #buckynat/reader #buckynat reader insert #marvel reader insert #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff/reader #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha romanov/reader #natasha romanov x reader #marvel fanfiction #Bucky Barnes Fanfic #bucky barnes/reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes reader insert

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crushedbyhyperbole · 5 years

Text

Disco Ball Diva

A/N: For @buckyshelves Merry Christmas, I hope you enjoy this and have a great festive holiday

To @bucky-smiles for organising this secret Santa gift exchange, you’re awesome and so, so kind

Also... thank you to my friend Haz who beta read this for me. You are always so supportive of my writing and I love you

Summary: You’re inappropriate, sassy, have snazzy powers, and now you’re an Avenger-in-training. Not everyone appreciates your blasé attitude, and when a surveillance mission goes south you’re thrown together with one hot brooding super soldier. It doesn’t help that you can’t stop ogling his bum.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader w/ powers

Word Count: 7k. I actually feel bad that it’s so long.

Warnings: Violence, gun violence, Bucky kills people, mentions of blood and injury, bad language (which is a given for me), some sexual tension (light) but mostly just reader is an asshat XD

The Avengers compound is not like you imagined it. Or maybe it is but you haven’t found any of the secret stuff yet. Hidden jet hangers under the basketball court, labs in the basement, glass cases full of superhero suits. Wait. That’s the freakin’ X-Men.

Still, it’s nothing like you hoped. The conference rooms are boring, obviously, because meetings are the epitome of dull. The communal lounge and kitchen are both boring; there’s no espresso machine that doubles as a drone, no fridge that transforms into sentry bot, there isn’t even a SodaStream. Yawn! You don’t even need to see the fitness suite to know that it’s not a place you want to visit, and you’re not allowed below the ground floor yet. Talk about not trusting the noob.

Your room is a vision of extreme lacklustre, but you only moved in yesterday, so, no redecorating just yet, save for the peace lily your brother gave you.

Congrats on your new job and home by the way, here’s a half-dead plant I had but couldn’t be bothered to look after. Now it’s yours. Enjoy!

Your super power is definitely not green thumbs, nurturing life, healing, or anything even a tiny bit supportive. You can’t fly, don’t have super strength, speed, or a crazy-good aim. There’s not a green rage-monster just below the surface waiting to erupt and smash things. Well, if someone steals your cookies you might have to choke a bitch but hey, rainbows are cool, right? Super distracting, like oh hey, what’s all this shiny shit flashing around? Oh dayum, I totally didn’t see that badass super warrior coming to kick my ass.

You swallow hard. The small conference room feels like an interrogation room despite the polished wood table and plush leather chairs. Of four sets of eyes that are currently watching you, only one pair is encouraging.

Tony Stark. The guy who recruited you. Took you from a life of selling hotdogs on street corners in the City and apartment sharing with a crazy cat lady called Angie who you found on Craigslist. You had nothing against crazy cat ladies, per se, but you would prefer it if the pissy smell was optional. Angie had opted in, hence why you jumped at the chance to opt out. Ugh.

“Rainbows?” The scowly but buff brunette with the dreamy blue eyes and robotic arm, scoffs mockingly. “You project rainbows?”

The equally buff blonde who you suspect might be Captain America (or maybe his stunt double) snickers, his head lowered to hide his amusement. Does Captain America have a stunt double, for like, TV appearances and meetings with officials, and stuff? You’ll ask later. Right now, you’re annoyed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, fist-of-victory!” You snap your fingers like the queen you are. “Am I too snazzy for you? Do my rainbows ruin the whole Neanderthal vibe you got going on there?”

Loud snorts and chuckles pull you back. The redheaded vixen you know already as Black Widow is pinching her nose to stifle her laughter, and Tony is looking to the heavens in askance but emotional stability is not forthcoming.

“Wow.” The brunette says flatly.

“Fist of victory.” Tony ponders, eyes twinkling. “I like that.” He levels an amused gaze at you, rolling his next words around in his mouth. “Manchurian candidate is a little out-dated, wouldn’t you say, Barnes? Ready for an upgrade?”

Oh shit! Your eyes get big. The brunette is none other than the infamous Winter Soldier. You should have known by the arm. Show no weakness! Your brain screams.

“What’s the official title for that skill, you have?” Steve Rogers has gotten his face to cooperate, now there’s no trace of a smirk. “Light manipulation?”

“Walking disco ball.” You put on the light show again, manipulating the effects so the lights are dancing across the, now stormy grey, eyes of one Sergeant Barnes.

“It’s definitely distracting.” Natasha says objectively. “Could be useful.”

“See! That’s what I said!” You punch the air, sending the lights into a frenzy.

“I have a theory.” Tony is playing his cards close to his chest still. “That’s why y/n is here. She’s agreed to work with us, and at the very least she can be a supportive member of the team.”

“Team, frickin’, playahhh!” You holler, earning a concerned look from Rogers and a downright obnoxious groan from Barnes. “What? What you complaining at? You fucking love me already!”

The truth was that you didn’t know how your ability worked. You could feel it when you did your thang, like the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end and the air in your hand felt stiff and substantial.

Better not talk about hands full of substantial stiff things around grandad Tony, he might kick the bucket.

You could manipulate the amount of reflections in your light show by making the air heavier, make them move, dance, even adjust the size of them a little. Agreeing to work with The Avengers had been a no brainer; you get paid, get a place to stay that isn’t full of the stench of sadness and cat piss, and you get to find out more about your ability. Win, win, win.

+++ A couple of weeks later +++

“You really expect me to take Rainbow Brite on this mission?” Barnes has his arms crossed across his chest, refusal crinkling his brown and pursing his lips into a thin line. The guy looks hot in tac gear. One bicep straining against the material, the other is obviously free and oh-so-fucking-awesome. Thighs tight under those black tac pants, thigh holster accenting the flex of muscle as he shifts his weight. Wait-what!?

“Wait a fucking minute!” You squawk. “Rainbow Brite? Oh, hell no!” You march up to him, similarly decked out in black gear that makes you look like some tiny recruit in ill-fitting body armour instead of badass like him.

There’s a smirk on his perfect mouth now, dusky pink lips lop-sided with amusement, and the twinkle in his eyes is more than a little alluring. What the fuck?

“Huh.” You stop your tirade, blinking, baffled. He’s playing with you. Trying to get you pissed so you’ll refuse to go, or maybe he wants you to go so you’ll make a fool of yourself and Tony will see you’re not useful. Too many mind-games already, you don’t have the patience for this shit, so you go with an insult instead. “If I’m Rainbow fucking Brite then that makes you Twink. Dink!”

“Well, he does epitomise my sparkling personality.” Sardonic, deadpan. It’s classic brooding Barnes and you’re almost proud that he got an 80’s pop culture reference. Almost.

“And they did rename him Mr fucking Glitters back in 2014.” You pout, adopting his stance, arms crossed.

“Perfect!” Tony pops m&ms into his mouth, turning away dismissively. “Rainbow Brite and Mr Glitters it is. Head to the carpool, there’s a vehicle waiting for you both.”

There was no getting away from this mission. You’d grumbled, griped, whined, and begged Tony to send you with anyone but Broody Barnes but the Iron Man was true to his alter ego, he did not budge.

You are about to take a few pot shots at him in the insults department when Barnes’s voice comes over the earpiece you have already been fitted with.

“Earth to disco ball. Get in the damn car already.”

“It’s disco diva to you, giant cocksicle.”

He laughs at that and is still grinning when you slide into the passenger seat beside him.

“You’ve got some mouth on you, kid.” Was that acceptance? Admiration? Whatever it was it looked good on him.

“Yeah, you know you want my mouth.” It sounded better in your head but now that it’s out it can’t be taken back. Barnes looks a little frowny but at least he’s got nothing to say so you can quietly die in peace.

Can someone cringe so much they die? You might find out.

The mission is surveillance. Low-key observations of a facility out in Nova Scotia that makes products for iGoddess, a beauty company owned and run by Gabrielle Porter, the niece of one Alexander Pearce, crime syndicate king-pin and scumbag extraordinaire.

You know the company; you buy their stuff. Well, you do now you can afford it and it’s not wasted under the scent of cat urine and bleach. How can a company so devoted to making women feel special and empowered be mixed up with drugs, weapons and human trafficking? Fucking bullshit, that’s what it is.

Bucky had ditched the car in the parking lot of a lake-side leisure and visitors centre about fifteen miles away, and with gaudy waterproof outerwear over your tac gear, you had begun the hike that would set you smack-bang in the middle of nowhere good. Posing as hikers had been Tony’s brief but you’re cold and bored, and your body aches from being on the solid ground.

You’re both lay just behind the crest of a hill a little way away from your target building. Bucky mutters his observations into his comms as you look through your own binoculars trying to see what he’s looking at. He’s talking guard numbers and movements, the weapons they carry, security features and people entering or leaving the facility. It’s no use, you’re not cut out for this. Surveillance is soul destroying. You’d rather be interred in Tony’s kitchen, at least there’s coffee there.

Not even an hour in and you’re itching to get up and move around. The hike had gotten your blood pumping but now you’re going stir-crazy, joints tingling with the need for motion.

Boring. Boring. But at least you can entertain yourself. Where there’s light there’s beauty and you tease the air through your gloves, finding that your skin doesn’t need to be bare for you to create the effect. Well whadd’ya know.

“There’s movement.” Bucky warns. “Looks like some of the guards are exiting the compound.”

You snort, they’re probably bored too.

“A Jeep and a couple of motorbikes, moving quickly.”

“Sounds like they’re going home.” You mumble, focused on the lights in your hand.

“They’re headed this way.” He curses. “Grab your- What the HELL are you doing?”

Bucky tackles you to the ground from where you were on your knees almost at the hill’s crest.

“Asshole!” You’re trying to get away from him but he pins you to the ground.

“I’m the asshole?” He complains as he rolls off you, sliding down the hill on his ass, shoving his gear unceremoniously into his backpack. “Mission compromised.”

“What happened?” Tony’s disembodied voice doesn’t sound happy.

“We were spotted.” At the bottom of the hill, Bucky starts picking a path through the rocks and small fissures hidden by the wild grass and heathers. A quick glance back tells him you’re not following; you’re caught.

“Uh, hi, guys.” You chuckle nervously as one of the guards levels an assault rifle at you. “Would you believe we’re winners of a free weekend iGoddess Spa?”

Bucky is livid. If it had just been him, he could have taken them out and escaped, but, no. Tony had to insist that he bring you, show you the ropes, look after you. Babysit you.

He snorts. You don’t need a minder you need to be put in a padded room where you can’t inflict any more of your weird bullshit on him. Fucking rainbows. What kind of skill is that, other than one that gets you caught?

Eight hours ago you were both doing great. There’d been some small-talk in the car, he’d opened up a little and you’d responded. Even on the hike over you’d been great, your filthy mouth was a source of much amusement for him, and you’d listened. His instructions were followed close enough to the letter, and he was happy. Everything was good.

Now it’s all fallen to shit and he’s locked up in a heavy-duty restraint chair that brings back memories of dark places and dark times for him. To his side, you’re slumped forward in a regular wooden chair, cable-ties binding your wrists and ankles to the wood, pulling at your skin, making your hands and feet turn blue. How the hell are you both supposed to get out of this?

He’s watching the movements of your chest that tell him you’re still breathing. The cut on your head has stopped bleeding but you’re drooling blood-tainted saliva down your grey rash-guard. Both of you had been stripped down to your undergarments and checked for hidden weapons. He was the first to be incapacitated as they’d used you as leverage, holding a gun to your head until he complied, stripped, and submitted to the chair. When they’d took away your gear you’d fought and Bucky had seen red; he’d strained against the chair until the butt of a gun to the head had put a stop to that. When he came to you were out cold, beaten and bloody. How hard had you fought?

Your feet and hands are turning purple now. The weight of your body pulling the restraints against your skin is making the plastic ties dig deep, cutting off the circulation.

“Y/n?” Bucky hisses, hoping the noise doesn’t prompt the guards to come back. “Y/n! Wake up!”

The room you’re in looks like an interview room. Two-way mirror, camera in the corner, reinforced door with heavy-duty locks that were strangely not engaged. It’s grey and cold, and the only things in the room are the two chairs and you two. The device Bucky is locked into is bolted into the floor; a permanent feature, like they expected him or maybe Steve. He tests the chair again. It creaks but doesn’t give. He’d have to really put some brute strength into it to break out, and that would create too much noise. He’d wait.

“Y/n!” A little louder now, and you stir.

He keeps talking to you, just bullshit words, what he wants for dinner, what film he’s going to watch when he’s home safe. Anything to help draw you back to consciousness.

“You wana watch a film with me, y/n?” He thought for sure you’d tell him to go fuck himself.

You moan, head lolling as you come back to him.

“Hey! Rainbow Brite!”

“Fuck you.” It’s a whisper but he’ll take it.

“There she is.” He allows himself a relieved smile. “C’mon, sweetheart. I need you to sit up for me. Take the weight off those ties before there’s any permanent damage.”

It takes a few more moments before you can shuffle yourself properly into the chair, then you’re flexing your hands and feet to get the blood moving again.

“Oh-god-it-hurts-so-fucking-bad!” You are practically wailing as the pins and needles sensation in your extremities reaches a peak. The slightest movement now sends a cacophony of intense pain into your limbs.

“It’ll be over soon.” Bucky sooths.

“Why are you being nice to me after I got us caught?” You eye him suspiciously, flapping your hands to rush the blood into your fingers. Rip the band aid off. “Is this some kind of prank? Ohhhhhhh! This is an initiation isn’t it? Oh, I see. Where’s Iron Doosh? Hey! Tony!”

“Would you shut up? This is real. We’re really captured.” Bucky hisses.

“Tony Stank, Skank, Spah-hank.” You sing-song as you struggle against your restraints, examining your bound feet through spread knees. “I hope this is one of the chairs from his good dining set.” You stand, leaning forward and centring your weight above your bent knees.

“What are you doing?”

“Just need to…” You shuffle over to the mirror.

“No, y/n, wait!” Bucky begs. “Don’t break the glass.” His frantic expression says the rest. Your feet are bare and you’ll shred yourself to ribbons.

“What? You’re crazy. Why would I do that?” You chuckle, amused that he’s so worried. “There’s no one in there.” You wink at him. “They’d be in here by now if there were.”

You shuffle a bit more and grunt as you throw yourself backward to the ground. The chair cracks but doesn’t break.

“Fuck!” You struggle some more, grunting and groaning like a butch female tennis player in a grand slam. One of the arms loosens and you fight against the wood until you get your left hand free, then you’re reaching into your hair for a bobby pin to jam into the clasp of the cable tie on your right arm.

Moments later, you’re free and rushing to Bucky who is fighting against his own restraints. There’s sweat beading on his bare chest and his hair is sticking to his forehead. A quick swipe of your hand clears his brow and he stills, watching you as you search the chair for whatever mechanism has him trapped.

“There’s a big red lever at the back.” You muse. “You think it’s an ejector seat?” A cheeky wink. “If I sit in your lap we can both go for a ride.” You don’t have time for giggling and flirtation, but you do it anyway.

“Y/n.” Bucky chastises lightly.

“What? This is every girl’s wet dream. Every, damn, girl.” You mumble as you grip the handle. “And I can’t even enjoy it.”

“Just pull the damn thing already. We don’t have time to mess around.”

“Pity.” You tug the lever and a loud hiss fills the room, pressure releasing from the chair.

Bucky is on his feet and at the door before you make three steps. He’s rubbing his right forearm where the metal clamps had bitten into his flesh, there’s blood there too, long ago dried.

“There’s movement out there.” He has his ear to the door. “I need a weapon, we need our gear, and we need a vehicle.”

“I need some chocolate and bottle of wine.”

“What?”

“Are we not making a shopping list?”

Bucky rolls his eyes and grabs your wrist. “C’mon.”

With the door cracked open, Bucky can see movement at the end of the corridor; there’s a security room which is promising for retrieving your gear, but not if you want to avoid being seen.

“Stay behind me.” He pushes you towards his back.

You look down at his bum. “No problem.” You sigh and then you’re moving, your hand on his bare back so you can feel where he’s moving next.

Bucky suddenly shoves you down into a squat, shushing you with a finger held against his lips. The way he moves is like water, smooth and forceful, carrying the momentum of his body towards a lone guard who has paused at the corner by the security room. How he hasn’t seen you is a miracle but the man doesn’t even hear Bucky until the his own knife is slipped from its sheath and into the his temple. There’s no sound, no gurgling, not even much blood. Bucky lowers the body to the floor and cleans the knife on the pants of the dead man.

Looking at him now, you can see why people fear him. His expression is cold, calculating, and focused. It’s necessary, the distance he puts between himself and the act of killing. Even when Bucky was him, there was always a distance; a gap between him and his orders. Now the killing is his choice and he has to live with that, there’s no excuse of mind control now. This is all him.

The security room has one guard inside who is overpowered moments after Bucky opens the door.

Fucking amateurs, you think. Does that room not have cameras that cover the door and surrounding corridors?

Turns out that it does and the reason the guard hadn’t seen you was because he was sexting his girlfriend.

“Sexting?”

“Yeah. Like sex role play and talking dirty over text.” You snort. “Jeez, you’re old.”

“What can I say? You’re broadening my horizons.” He winks then and it’s so out of place in this grim situation that you laugh nervously. “Sounds fun.”

“Well don’t take tips from this guy.” You wave his phone in the air loosely. “He’s fucking terrible at it.”

“What’s bad about it?”

You’re not sure if he means to ask that, he’s busy trying to get outside communication through the phones which seem to be keycode protected and also checking through the security feeds to see if he can find your gear and a way out of this for you both; he’s clearly distracted. At least he’s happy now that he has a pair of handguns and a pair of knives, no weapons for you because you haven’t completed your firearms training yet. But let’s face it, who would arm you anyway? You were a disaster waiting to happen.

“He’s a bit of a wham-bam-thankyou-ma’am kinda guy.” You chuckle. Bucky is going to regret starting you off down this line of conversation. “His poor woman has probably never experienced even mediocre sex with this schmuck if his sext skills are anything to go by.”

“Too eager to bury the bone?” Bucky sounds distant, but he is listening to you as he checks drawers for weapons, keys and anything else that might be useful. God knows your gear was nowhere to be found.

“Check it.” You hop up on the desk near him and scroll through the laughable chat. You feel slightly guilty reading this guy’s private shit but he’s dead so he isn’t going to care. Reading from the chat, you do fake voices. “So she’s like ‘hey baby, you free tonight? I got something for you.’ Peach emoji, cat emoji. And he’s like ‘you off your period? Can we bang?’ I mean, what the fuck dude?”

Bucky is smirking when you look at him. “What did she say?” He straps both thigh holsters to his almost naked body. It’s comical how he’s gearing up from salvaged stuff wearing only a pair of skin-tight spandex shorts that leave nothing to the imagination. Once Bucky is packing (in more ways than one, now) you have to force your eyes elsewhere.

“’Yeah, baby! I missed you so bad. Can’t wait to be in your arms again.’ She just wants lovin’ y’know?” You spoke the line in a soft, breathy voice. Fake, of course.

“And what did he say?” Bucky is checking the monitors one last time before he moves to the door.

“You like a bit of sexting? Huh, Barnes?” You smirk, eying him mischievously. “Living vicariously through the sexting chronicles of Captain Dick-Down over there?”

“Just looking to know what not to do if the opportunity for sexting ever arises.” It’s light-hearted and completely unlike the grumpy Bucky you’re used to. Maybe there was something in the air; sex pollen or something. That’s totally a thing. “C’mon.” He says after a moment, eyes twinkling with mirth, soft lips pulling up to the side in a cute smile. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

It’s comedy gold, the pair of you running the halls of an apparently secret part of the factory, him in his tight little shorts and you in your panties and spandex t-shirt over a sports bra that makes your rack look like a uni-boob. You awkwardly tug your rash-guard down over your ass whenever Bucky is behind you and you’re thankful you didn’t wear a thong though that would be better than skid marks. God, you hoped you’d not shat yourself when they beat you.

You barely encounter anyone until you’re almost at the warehouse; Bucky is so stealthy that even with you hindering him, he only has to subdue one foreman and drag you into a cleaning supply closet once, to avoid a pair of patrolling guards. Not that you’re complaining, being squashed up against an almost naked super soldier gave you endless thrills, even if he was all stiff and awkward about it.

Bucky stalls before the double doors that lead to the warehouse. There’s a heavy plastic strip curtain over the exit too, it’s almost opaque with age and hinders your view of what is beyond the meshed safety-glass of the door’s small windows.

“They know we’re coming.” He whispers to you, mere inches away. “There’s a lot of them out there and I can’t keep you safe if you disobey orders. So, please,” he begs, “please do as I tell you.”

He begs so sweetly, you think, blushing. But you’re not one for passing an opportunity for inappropriate comments.

“I’ll be a good girl, Daddy.” You bat your eyelashes, feigning innocent. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Really?” Bucky doesn’t know whether to blush or be annoyed. You never seem to take anything seriously; it’s always a joke, or something you can twist to your amusement. He gets doubly serious. “If you die, it’s on me. You think I haven’t lost enough people over the course of my very long life? You think I want to wash your blood off my skin later tonight? Bury you alongside all the other people lost to some fight or other in the name of SHIELD or the Avengers? I can’t save you if you don’t want to be saved.”

You watch him as he fervently tries to convey the dire nature of your situation, desperate to make you understand that he doesn’t want you to die here, he cares. His eyes are piercing and your heart is a ricocheting bullet in your chest. What if you don’t make it out ok? What if this is it for you? Both of you? Suddenly, you’re acutely aware that Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier, Fist of HYDRA come Fist of Victory, has cleared himself a little spot in your fucked-up soul, and is there to stay. You don’t want him to get killed because of you, but there’s nothing you can do, you’re not trained for this, or at all really.

You nod once, not trusting your voice in that moment. You could choke on your words or you could vomit all over yourself. It’s a lottery, so you say nothing.

“Good girl.” He gives your shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “Stay behind me. Be quick, keep low, don’t hesitate, and for Christ’s sake no disco ball.” There’s a small smile tempting the corners of his lips, like he’s saying he forgives you for getting you both into this mess. “Ok, sweetheart, lets go.”

Out in the warehouse there’s a whole host of guards and workers, patrolling and overseeing shipments being loaded into lorries. It look like it’s important, and probably why the majority of the facility is clear of security staff; the merchandise is being moved.

It’s a mad dash, crouching low as you ghost around the edge of the warehouse. The huge rows of stacks are packed full of boxes and crates, further obscuring your movement around the area. Bucky is silent, especially since he’s barefoot; he’s every bit the assassin he’s hyped to be, but you can’t take him seriously padding around almost naked with the top of his crack showing and his junk all jiggly in the front.

A radio crackles to life. Three personel down. Prisoners have escaped. Cameras last caught them headed your way.

They must have found the bodies.

“They’re in here somewhere.” A man says, loud and authoritative. “Search the rows, shoot to kill. They’re not low-life mob goons, they’re Avengers and can’t be allowed to live.”

Well that settles that, you think, gone are the chances of mere bodily harm. It’s death or death.

You watch in awe as Bucky scales a nearby stack to stalk one of the patrolling guards. When his opportunity arises he yanks the man up by the throat, snapping his neck in the process. You can’t help but admire that metal arm, so sleek and powerful. You groan, light and lusty, earning you a concerned look from the owner of said appendage.

Killing that guard has yielded an assault rifle, another knife and another handgun. You’d think Bucky would be too smart to arm you but apparently he’s not. Silently he points to his eye and then to the gun where he shows you how to turn off the safety, puts the gun in your hand and moves behind you to adjust your grip. He aims for you, pressing his chest against your back and you swear you can feel his junk against your ass. Once he’s satisfied that you aren’t going to injure yourself, he’s gone from behind you, crouching low at the end of the row.

He grabs another guard and drags him backward. The struggle is louder than he would have liked, and the man got out a partial shout before his throat was closed forever but Bucky is hopeful that he can thin the numbers down enough to make it possible to get you into a truck and away safely.

Bucky shoves the newest body under the nearest stack and beckons you to him. You both move like a two-carriage train, he’s the engine and you’re the caboose following in his wake. He only leaves you to commit murder but you feel lost when he’s gone, cold even. There’s something alluring about the way he uses his body and your mind drifts to other carnal things.

A hand on your shoulder makes you jump. There’s more of a commotion going on in the warehouse now, not just the sounds of men moving goods and silently searching for two prisoners. There are massive amounts of footfall, boots hitting the concrete at speed; bringing in reinforcements from outside.

Bucky is about to whisper in your ear when the squeal of a megaphone pierces the air; he stills with his lips almost touching your skin before pulling back with a frown.

“Sergeant Barnes?” Bucky knows that voice, he’d heard it for years, worked with it, even obeyed it on occasion. “Save the girl. Turn yourself in.”

You shake your head, panicked, urgent. Don’t leave me, your eyes are saying.

A noise nearby draws Bucky’s attention and he suddenly forces you to the ground under a stack where he slots himself immediately after; the security team are searching for you, stealthily stalking the rows. It’s cramped and dusty, the bottom shelf above you so close you can barely breathe without your back brushing the metal supports. How Bucky fits is beyond you, the man is a beefcake, all bulk and magnificently defined muscle. Thinking of him naked is the only thing that keeps you from succumbing to claustrophobia. Something brushes your hand and you jolt, eyes snapping to meet his. He grasps your hand properly and gives it a reassuring squeeze. In your chest, something gives. Maybe your permafrost heart is thawing, maybe you’re about to have a stroke, maybe you really like him.

When the coast is clear, Bucky pulls you free and you emerge into a different row, one with fewer boxes, one you’ll likely be spotted in. You can just see the massive doorway of the warehouse, double sliding doors like a hangar, several half loaded trucks and maybe forty men with body armour and guns. One guy in the middle is wearing a full-face helmet with a white skull etched across the features.

“Holy shit! Is that Punisher?” You hiss before Bucky can clamp his hand over your mouth, the warning look on his face is stern as he leans in to you.

“Crossbones.” He corrects you, barely audible despite the proximity. You still don’t know who that is but he’s totally not as cool as the Punisher, so it doesn’t matter.

His hand is still over your mouth but there’s no point in struggling, you couldn’t break free of him even if you tried, so you push your tongue out and squirm it against his palm, making him recoil in disgust. Your chuckle is silent and his frown turns to the ghost of a wry smile before his attention is fully back on the man he calls Crossbones.

Bucky is taciturn at the best of times but he’s in full diagnostic mode now, assessing the situation. His eyes flicker around the warehouse from yet another new position. It seems like he’s trying to get you closer to the trucks but you suspect that’s what Crossbones expects. There are more men closer to the trucks too and Bucky has already had to kill another two in the latest relocation. The missing men haven’t gone unnoticed and Crossbones is issuing orders, plugging the gaps so you can’t escape.

“I will find you Barnes.” Crossbone’s voice sounds wet through the megaphone, like he’s salivating with excitement at the prospect of getting his hands on you both again. “If you turn yourself in, maybe I’ll let the girl live.”

Bucky’s eyes are downcast, like he’s actually considering it, but the moment passes and Bucky’s resolve hardens. He drags you away towards the end of the row.

“The end of this row has a direct line of sight to the exit. I need a distraction. Can you do that for me?” He whispers.

You nod, lips set in determination. “One disco ball distraction coming right up.”

“On my mark.”

The fluorescent strip lights overhead create more than enough light for you to use. With your right hand flat against Bucky’s left shoulder blade and your left manipulating the air to create a huge show of dancing lights, you move in tandem. Bucky steps out of hiding, keeping you just behind him with his metal arm, he surges forward squeezing off four shots. The way his arm snaps to aim so quickly is astounding, like he has a targeting chip implanted in his brain. Who knows, maybe he does. Four men fall and remain still. Another three shots, then another two and he’s pulling you into another row at a crouching run to the opposite end as he discards the empty gun and pulls out another. He’s saving the assault rifle for Crossbones.

“Again.” He instructs gruffly. “Can you get their eyes?”

“It’s not an exact science this, you know?” You huff and he seems to know that you’re saying you’ll try your best. Of course you’d try, but you don’t know much about your power, even after the few months you’d been training with the team. If it meant you both got out of this alive, you’d flash your tits at the enemy for Christ’s sake.

You emerge again, him with the gun in his metal hand this time, stepping out with you at his back. This time they are ready for you and they start firing before Bucky gets off his first shots. He makes a dash for a fork-lift with a huge pallet of crates sat at floor level. He shoots his rounds in threes until the 9-round magazine is done. The gun is discarded as you both slide behind the cover of the pallets. Machine guns rattle, pummelling the crates with round after round. Bucky prays the crates don’t contain munitions.

“I make fourteen down. Twenty-two left.” His breathing smooth where your is ragged. You curse yourself for being so unfit that even a tiny bit of stress and exertion leaves you heaving air like a couch potato made to climb stairs. “Crossbones is a problem.”

“What do we do now?”

Bucky has two handguns, four knives and an assault rifle, you have one gun and your rainbows. This isn’t going to go well, you think.

“You’re going to hide over there and watch the rear.” He points to your left.

You smirk. Now isn’t’ the time for joking.

“I’m going to thin the crowd some more and, if I can, take Crossbones out.” He looks determined but ridiculous in his underpants, dusted with dirt and debris from the floor that’s stuck to the slightest bit of moisture on his skin. “This might not work. Run to the left, hide in the stacks again, stay down and don’t expose yourself.”

You nod and he readies himself to break cover. The shooting has stopped now and it sounds like the guards are changing positions again. His muscles clench, coiling ready to spring.

“Wait!” You stop him with a hand on his arm, the metal is unnervingly cool. Tension builds. “I wanna fuck you until you pass out.”

“Ummmm.” Bucky blinks, eyebrows raised in surprise but he’s smiling. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, well, no, but, uhhhh.” You splutter, this hadn’t gone well at all. “I couldn’t let you go without telling you, you know, what Captain Dick Down said to his girl. You asked, for future reference, and all.”

“Oh. Right.” He frowns, turning away again. “Move when I do.” He orders stiffly, preparing to move.

Well, shit!

“Bucky, wait.” Your voice is softer this time, tears prickling your eyes. There’s a chance that neither of you will make it through this and it’s suddenly hit you that there’s something missing.

“What now?” He grumbles, turning to find you closer than he expected.

You surge forward, cupping his jaw in your hands as you capture his lips in a kiss that’s both urgent and needy. You don’t care if he doesn’t respond, you need to feel this before it’s too late. All this tension between you, the jibes and snarky banter, it’s unresolved and sexual in nature. You want him, and if this is all you can have then so be it. One stolen moment before it all slips through your fingers, and you both go to your graves.

You’re already pulling back when he snaps back to attention, quickly pulling you back for another kiss. His tongue delicately touches between the seal of your lips and you sigh with longing.

“You ready?” You pull away but he’s still clearing his head, trying to focus again.

On your feet you’re running out, pumping your legs as fast as you can, heading to the wrong place. Machine guns stutter to life and Bucky is on your heels a second later, fear contorting his features as he scoops you up in his metal arm and returns fire almost blindly. He’s shielding your body with his own and yips like a wounded pup when the bullets find him.

On your knees beneath the curved shield of his back you see the enemy are far closer than you thought. Everything in you yelled stop and you felt the pressure rise through your body and out, cascading off you like a roiling storm.

The bullets stop but the guns are still firing, muffled by the thickness of the air. Despite the pain in his lower back and hip, he turns to see what’s happening. Bullets sluggishly pushing through the air like flies in syrup, all but stopped and slightly redirected on a path that will take them away from a central focal point that is you. You’re doing this, shielding you both as if by some miracle, your power not only refracting the light causing rainbows but acting like a forcefield.

“As much as I have to break up this little party, I really can’t have you killing my friends.” The voice of Tony Stark is heard a second before the Iron Man himself and several of his Iron Legion appear and shoot each and every remaining guard with a taser disc, stunning them into unconsciousness.

Crossbones is a different matter and is somehow resistant to the zapping he just got. He levels a grenade launcher at the stacks near where you and Bucky are crouched and fires. No air shield will save you from all of that falling metal, but Bucky is still fast despite his wounds. There’s blood running down his leg in rivulets as he pulls you to safety, and shields you instinctively with his body once more while the sound of explosions and grinding metal fill the air.

“I did not know I could do that.” You praise yourself.

“I still got shot.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.” You snort. “Walk it off.”

“You’re a real ray of sunshine, you know that?”

“I must be something special if you took one in the ass for me.” You wink. “I hope it heals puckered, then you’ll have two rusty bullet holes.”

“STARK!” He shouts but pulls you closer to him. “Evac for one. She’s walking hom-owwww!” You pinch the skin on the inside of his thigh viciously enough that he shoves you out of his embrace.

You both stay close on the Quinjet home. Bucky had been confused as to how Stark had known to mount a rescue mission but when you produced Captain Dick Down’s phone from your uni-boob bra it all became apparent. All of the comms in the facility had been locked down but that was a personal device, one that probably wasn’t allowed to be carried. Good old Captain Dick Down.

The facility had been put to a far worse use than drugs and weapons trafficking. iGoddess was a front for human trafficking and also human experimentation. The restraint chair they had strapped Bucky into had been used to restrain test subjects; Alexander Pearce was trying to replicate the super serum that made Steve and Bucky what they were.

“So, this was a win for us.” Steve said in the debrief. “Our intel was lacking but it worked out in the end.”

“Says you who didn’t get shot in the ass cheek.” Bucky grumbled, shifting cautiously on the Mr Glitters cushion you’d given him as a joke.

“I got to see some wonderful scenery,” you grin brilliantly, “so I’m not complaining.”

There had been no further discussion about the kiss you and Bucky had shared when you thought you might die in that place, but that’s ok. Your daily thrills are made up of making him squirm, and since you two had become closer since your ordeal, you have had several of moments like those. There’s plenty of time and you’re prepared to play the long game, starting with your newest idea. You pull out your phone and casually write a text while Steve is rambling on about seized research and assets.

[I’m so turned on right now].

Bonus add-on for this work: Captain Dick Down - External link to AO3

Because apparently 7k words wasn’t enough and I just had to try my hand at a little text chat/social media piece. It’s more of an embellishment. Enjoy

And if you liked this story, why not try Good Ole Stuffing, a smutty follow on for the same reader/character.

#cmmsecretsanta #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky fanfic #reader insert #reader with powers #marvel fanfic #powers au #my writing #cloudy's writing

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