#they had slept in the same bed with barton for the first time and all they see is just. barton stretching like a cat ☠️

[mad-hunts]

so... basically, one of the first actions that barton does in the morning after waking up is the ' big stretch ' thing that cats normally do. and yes, he does this even if there is another person sleeping in his bed with him, so he is not embarrassed of it at all lol. it just relieves all of the tension in his muscles okok i'm sorry, i don't make the rules JSJSJ

[togrowoldinv]

Drill Lessons

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Natasha shows you how to use a power tool and your mutual crush comes to light

Warnings: Smut! 18+ please! Kissing, cursing, oral (N and R receiving)

Natasha Masterlist 1, Natasha Masterlist 2, Natasha Masterlist 3, Main Masterlist

To you, Natasha Romanoff is the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth.

You’ve been wanting to tell her for months that you like her. Ever since you joined the team you’ve had feelings for her. But you can’t get a read on her.

You have no idea if she has feelings for you too. Sometimes it feels like she’s flirting with you but then you see or hear her act the same way with one of the guys and you brush it off as nothing.

This weekend Clint invited everyone to his farm to enjoy a quick getaway and clear your heads. Missions hadn’t been easy lately, so you all needed the reprieve.

When you arrive, Natasha walks in the house first. She’s clearly very comfortable here.

“Welcome!” Laura says to everyone. “Come on in. Make yourselves at home!”

“Thank you for having us, Mrs. Barton,” you say when you greet her.

“Oh please, called me Laura,” she says. Then she addresses everyone, “We don’t have enough rooms so you’ll have to share. Nat, can y/n sleep with you?”

You try not to have a visceral reaction to the idea. You hold your breath as you await her reply.

“Sure,” Nat simply says. She turns to you, “I’ll show you the way.”

You follow her up the stairs where you run across a couple of kids.

“Auntie Nat?” A girl asks, in shock of seeing Nat.

“Hey malyshka,” Natasha replies. She brings the girl in for a hug. “Lila, this is y/n. Hopefully you won’t discover you like her more than you like me.”

You smile and wave to Lila. She returns the smile before running off downstairs.

Nat takes you down the hallway and to what appears to be her bedroom when she stays here. There are photos of the Barton family and Nat on the dresser. You admire how happy she looks here.

“I always sleep on the door side, but we’ll do whatever you feel comfortable with,” Nat says.

“Oh, either side works for me.”

Nat nods. You set your bag down on the bed and unpack a few things. Natasha moves around the room, gathering a few of her own things.

You both go back downstairs for the rest of the evening. Nothing too eventful happens. Everyone makes plans to spend time outside tomorrow.

Natasha is first to the bedroom. She slips into the bed casually. You try to do the same but fail miserably at not looking nervous.

“I don’t bite, you know,” Nat says teasingly.

“Right,” you respond too quickly. “I just- sorry.”

“Relax, y/n,” she says. You settle on your side of the bed. “Goodnight.”

“Night, Natasha.”

You both drift off into a peaceful sleep. You first, and then Natasha.

At some point during the night, you end up snuggling close to Natasha. She wakes up to the feeling of your arm draping over her. But she doesn’t mind it. Actually, she likes it.

When you wake up in the morning, you find yourself still nestled in her arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you say, trying to move off of her.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Nat says, only tightening her grip a bit before letting you loose. “So, you’re a cuddler, huh?”

You look away shyly and Nat just smirks. Now you definitely can’t believe you slept next to Natasha and accidentally snuggled with her all night. She doesn’t say anything else about it until you go downstairs for the day.

“Good morning!” Laura greets. She’s pulling fresh biscuits from the oven. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” you answer briefly.

“She sure was cozy,” Nat interjects. It’s just Laura in the room with you two, but you still try to hold back a blush.

“Mhm, I’m sure,” Laura replies. Somehow you’re sure she knows the way you feel about Nat and how Nat feels about you.

Soon, the boys come tumbling into the kitchen. You all go outside to do your respective chosen activities. Steve promised to show you how to chop wood while Nat and Clint run off to the barn to build a new shelter for some of the animals.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Romanoff?” Steve asks after a few minutes of chopping the wood.

“Oh, is there- is there a me and Romanoff?”

“Is there not?” He asks genuinely. “I’m sorry. I just thought that you two- nevermind.”

“It’s okay,” you reply, shrugging.

It does leave you wondering if the other members of the team think something is happening there too. You try not to think about it too much as you continue to work outside. The fresh air does wonders for you.

Steve asks you to go grab the axe sharpening block from the barn, so you walk to the structure. When you get there, you catch sight of something that makes your jaw practically drop to the ground.

Natasha is wearing only a blank tank top and shorts are she uses a power drill to build a wooden structure. Sweat drips down her neck and chest as she expertly uses the tool.

You swear she catches the sight of you out of the corner of her eye, but she continues on with her drilling. She lifts heavy pieces of wood with ease. You can’t stop staring.

Nat lifts her tank top up to wipe the sweat from her face. You see her ab happy stomach and the sports bra that’s keeping the rest of her skin covered.

“Enjoying the view?” Nat says aloud. You’ve definitely been caught now.

“Oh, I was just-“ you start, but there’s no use. You were doing exactly that. “My bad.”

“Don’t apologize,” Nat says. “Come on in, what did you need?”

“We needed the axe sharpener block thing?”

“Is that a question?”

“Well, I don’t know what it is so yes?”

Nat chuckles. She turns to look at the shelf behind her for the tool you need. Her backside somehow looks just as good as her front.

“Here you go,” Nat says. She hands you the block. You are standing close to her now. “The real fun is happening in there though. I can show you how to use this.”

She gestures to the drill in her left hand, pressing her finger on the trigger to make it whir. You shouldn’t be so intrigued by it. Or by her for that matter. But you are.

“Maybe tomorrow you can show me?” You ask her.

“How about tonight?” Nat asks. Her voice drops an octave. You pray she means what you think she means.

You swallow shyly and Nat shoots you a smile. Slowly, you leave her there and go back to Steve. He doesn’t mention how long it took you to get the tool, thank goodness.

Later that day, you all grill out burgers and hotdogs. Clint tries to show off his grilling skills, but the team just gives him a hard time saying that it’s not all that hard anyways.

By the time evening comes, everyone’s sitting around a campfire. Natasha sits across from you. She glances at her phone and then to you as a way of alerting you to look at your phone.

The text reads: Meet me in the barn. 10 minutes.

You nod in her direction to acknowledge you got the message. The minutes pass by and you both leave to go to the barn.

When you get inside, Nat is already over by the wood she was working with earlier.

“Come on, I’ll show you,” Nat says.

“Okay,” you agree. You stand next to her.

“First things first, always know your surroundings,” Nat says.

She abruptly places her hands on your hips. She easily moves you to the right and left to observe your surroundings. Your heart stops when she reaches around you and her face is mere inches from yours.

She steps back and has a pair of clear glasses in her hand.

“And wear safety glasses,” she says. She places them on your face. You’re sure you look like an absolute fool. “Cute.”

“You didn’t wear these yesterday,” comes your reply.

“That’s because I’m an expert,” Nat says. She surprises you by pinching your cheeks. “You’ll get there, sweetheart.”

Natasha grabs the drill and ushers you to move closer to the wood with her. She takes you through step by step on how to use the power tool.

“Now, you can try,” Nat says.

“Okay,” you reply. You feel a little nervous about trying it. Nat assures you that you can’t mess it up.

You try to focus even with Nat being so close to you. For the first time using a drill, you don’t do terribly.

“Nice job, y/n,” Nat says. “But you’ll want to apply more pressure. Let me help you, sweetheart.”

Natasha places her hand on yours and pushes down on the drill. You pull the trigger and drill the screw into the wood. Her hot breath is on your neck.

You smile at your success and turn just enough to look at Nat. She’s just inches from you.

“Should we take this inside?” Nat asks. Her eyes glance to your lips and back up to your eyes. She brings her other hand to your cheek and brushes the back of it against it.

“Are you- um- yes?”

“Yes? Or yes.”

“The second one,” you say. Natasha smirks at you.

You leave the drill and safety glasses behind. Natasha holds your hand as she walks you to the house. You slip upstairs easily and she closes her bedroom door behind her.

“I’ve had my eye on you for a while,” Natasha says.

“Really?” You ask innocently.

“Really, detka. Come here,” she says, bringing you to the bed with her.

You sit next to her and she kisses you softly. It’s like floating on a cloud. You didn’t think she would be this gentle. But you’re loving it.

“May I?” Nat asks, gesturing to your shirt. You nod. She lifts the material over your head. “Beautiful.”

You feel sure you’re blushing at her words and the way her eyes rake over your body.

“Can I- um?” You pull at her tank top hem.

“Yes, baby,” Natasha says. “You can do anything to me.”

You lift the thin material over her head. Your heart stops at her beauty. You immediately lean forward and take her nipple into your mouth. It surprises Natasha how intentional you are being.

“Fuck, baby.”

“Is this okay?” You ask, pulling away a bit. Nat pulls your head back to her breasts. You’ll take that as a yes.

Natasha fumbles with your pants. She gets them unbuttoned but grumbles in frustration when she can’t get them off. You chuckle against her.

“Okay, hold on,” Nat says. She stands up and pulls her own pants down before grabbing you by the hips and pulling you up too.

Natasha takes your pants off with ease this time and slips them down your legs along with your underwear. She grins and drops to her knees. It doesn’t take her long to get to work licking and sucking at your pussy.

“Oh my god,” you moan out.

“You taste so good, baby. All for me,” Nat says.

“Fuck.”

You feel close to coming embarrassingly quickly but Natasha is proud of her work.

“Come for me, y/n,” she says. Her voice drips with sex.

“Fuck, Natasha!”

You come hard against her tongue. She licks you clean and stands back up. She kisses you deeply. It’s the most on fire you have ever felt.

“I want to taste you,” you tell Nat.

“Your wish is my command,” Nat says. She lays on the bed and you crawl over her body.

“So beautiful,” you say as you kiss from between her breasts down to her hips.

“You’re not so shy now are you?” Nat asks. You answer by diving into her wet pussy.

Her folds are slick and she’s ready for you. You lick and suck her, cherishing every noise she makes.

“Fuck, baby,” Nat says. “I’m going to come.”

“Come for me, Natasha.”

She does just that. You relish in the sounds she makes. You move back up her body and lay next to her.

“So, all of those times I thought you were flirting with me you actually were?” You break the silence.

Nat chuckles. “Yes, y/n. I’ve been hinting at it for months. I’m glad we finally got on the same page.”

She looks at you through her long eyelashes. You rest your head on her shoulder.

“I’ve always liked you, Natasha,” you say. “Do you think the team noticed we left?”

“Nah,” Nat says. “Even if they did, I don’t care. I have you.”

“You sure do.”

You snuggle further into Natasha. She holds you close as you lay together and talk for hours.

[imagine-knowing-a-name]

In the Background - Chapter 4

Summary: You’ve been dating Natasha in secret since her early days in SHIELD, and you’ve been in the background of all her missions since.

Word Count: 5155

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Warnings: canon violence

A/N: uhhh, hey everyone! 10 months since the last update, here's the start of the Age of Ultron section! Thanks again to @emril-osvigne for getting me back into this :) Hopefully the next part should be out soonish but until then, reblogs and comments are very much appreciated!

Series Masterlist

Previous Part

—:::——::-————>◇<—————::——:::—

“Don't you guys ever sleep? I want to sleep.”

“It's 10 am; sun's up. We can't be wasting time.”

“Yeah, 10 am is all well and good…but it's 4am here. Do you not get jet lag? And don't tell me you slept on the plane; I know you didn't sleep on the plane.”

Natasha's laugh came through the comms and almost made it worth it. You were still annoyed and sleep deprived, but almost worth it.

“If you get us through, then we can all go to bed faster.” Natasha really did know the way to your heart.

“In that case, Romanoff, take a left. You're going the wrong way.”

“You only just now tell me?”

“You only just turned!”

Just then, an alert began to ring, ‘we are under attack’ echoing through the halls of the HYDRA facility, and picked up by the access Maria had found. At the same time, the camera feeds in front of you filled with smoke, soldiers, and streaks of ammunition.

Maria turned to you. “You know, I think they've been spotted.”

“You don't say!” came Tony's strained reply.

All you could do was watch as the Avengers stormed forwards; J.A.R.V.I.S. took care of everything on the field, so you let your attention drift towards Natasha’s suit camera footage. For the most part, all that you could see were spinning trees and approaching enemies, but every so often, glimpses of Natasha’s arm or leg would appear on screen, or she’d appear in Clint’s footage, and that was enough to have you daydreaming of all the moves that you knew she was pulling out. You almost felt sorry for the soldiers, having been on the receiving end of the Black Widow’s blows yourself, you knew they were a force to be reckoned with.

Clint’s camera flipped rapidly in the corner of your eye, pulling your attention away. Maria saw it too, and the both of you exchanged worried looks over the fact that Clint had been knocked by an unseen opponent; even as he lay on the ground, his enemy was outside the field of view.

“Barton, are you okay?” Maria asked, but only got groans in response.

You kept a closer eye as he pushed himself up, so you saw when a blond haired man walked across his screen, looking down at him with an expression that could almost be described as amusement. “You didn’t see that coming?” he said, but didn’t attack; he just continued to walk before disappearing into a blur of blue.

“What just happened?” you asked. You might have written it off as a sleep-deprived hallucination, had Maria not been staring at the screen too, similarly slack-jawed. Along with Clint, both of you at HQ watched intently down the archer’s line of sight, following the aim of his arrow – it’s what made it all the more startling when his screen tipped again, this time accompanied by a yelp.

“The blur again?” Maria stressed, but you shook your head, pointing to Natasha’s screen. Positioned alongside her closest friend, she was the first to notice his fall, and turned from her own approach to run towards him, giving you a clear view of his injured side. Almost synchronously, Steve’s camera flipped in a full 360 before he looked around, but again, no enemy in sight.

“We have an enhanced in the field,” he announced. The speedster.

At the same time, Natasha confirmed her visual for both HQ and the team on the field: “Clint’s hit!” She rushed to his side, allowing you a close-up visual of the burn – although it had only grazed his side, with the damage it caused you knew he’d been lucky that it wasn’t a direct shot.

“I’ll get Helen,” Maria mumbled, pushing her chair away from the desk and rushing out of the office, phone in hand to call the Avengers’ resident doctor – aside from Dr Banner, of course, but he was otherwise preoccupied.

Speaking of, Hulk charged through Natasha’s footage, roaring as he leapt and destroyed the bunker which had injured Clint and continued to endanger Natasha. She thanked him. You turned your attention to the other Avengers momentarily, still fighting their way into the building, but your attention always returned to Natasha as she tried to heal Clint on the field. Tony destroyed the defences, Steve and Thor found each other to discuss plans, but Natasha remained kneeling by Clint, who by this point had given up on his struggle to stand.

“Clint’s hit pretty bad guys; we’re gonna need evac.”

“I can get Barton to the jet,” Thor promised, “the sooner we’re gone, the better.”

Natasha stayed with Clint until Thor arrived then, once the god took her friend to safety, she moved on to your least favourite part of all Avengers missions – calming the Hulk. Although you knew why she was the person best suited for the job – a calming presence on the team and her quick thinking solutions if things went wrong – seeing an uncontrolled being roar in the face of your girlfriend tended to get your heart pounding. Still, as she held her hand out and stared him down, the Hulk began to respond; his grunts softened, his steps shrunk, and he eventually held his own hand out, dwarfing Natasha’s when he went to touch it. You watched Natasha trace her fingers over the forearm of the Hulk and felt phantom sensations mimic the move on your own arm, as your mind filled with memories of nights in your room with Natasha, where you laid with your sleeve rolled up to let her practise her gentle touch.

Soon enough, Bruce came stumbling back, faster than ever before. Natasha led him slowly back to the quinjet before he went to calm himself and she went to check on Clint. Tony and Steve returned soon after, sceptre in hand but expressions sombre – you don’t know what had happened to Tony, but he had stumbled around the room for a few moments before he grabbed the sceptre, and spoke little after that point. You saw him smile at the others through their cameras but afterwards he went straight to the pilot’s seat, while Natasha sat as co-pilot.

“We’re on our way back,” Natasha stated, and from your charts you could see the jet ascend out of the Sokovian woodlands.

“Hill’s got Cho on her way for when you get here. Otherwise I’ll trust you don’t need my assistance for the way back.”

“We’ll be good, Y/L/N.”

“Okay,” you hummed, checking no other Avengers lurked on the channel, and that Maria was still out of the room, “I’ll see you soon, baby, get home safe.”

“I’ll try my best, Agent,” was all Natasha said. All she could say. But you heard the meaning behind her words. You smiled, and then you hung up; you would see them all soon.

—:::——::-————>◇<—————::——:::—

Maria met them at the hangar, pulling double duty of escorting Helen Cho to Clint so she could transport him safely, and finding Steve to pass on the information you and she gathered on the ‘enhanced individuals’ the Avengers had encountered on their mission. Facial recognition on Clint and Steve’s body cam footage had identified them as Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, then Maria had searched for references to them in the information Stark sent through, finding a list of powers they’d gained under HYDRA.

You hung back. Being off-duty for the Avengers’ long flight home had allowed you to get the sleep that Natasha had promised earlier. You knew Natasha would be with Clint, both keeping him company and keeping tabs on his well-being until he had fully recovered – a process that would be very quick if your conversation with Helen was to be believed – but once he was up, your girlfriend would finally be ready to sleep and return to you.

For the sake of appearances, you didn’t officially share a room at the Tower: Natasha had a whole floor of her own, while you shared yours with the other ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits. Whenever it was possible, Natasha and you didn’t stay at the Tower at all, preferring the privacy of the DC apartment the two of you had shared throughout your time at S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was no longer within an easy distance of work and, more often than not, the both of you ended up staying at the Tower. It took caution, and a lot of planning, to ensure you still spent nights with your partner – leaving for ‘home’ on different days to avoid suspicion, sleeping in your own room every now and then even on the nights where Natasha was in the Tower, and, in your case only, riding the elevator all the way up to your office at midnight if someone else steps into the capsule with you, hiding your true destination of the Black Widow’s bedroom. Avengers employees were terrible gossips.

But on that day, you were alone: the regular 9-5 employees were going about their jobs, the ‘on call’ employees had gone off to sleep, and the Avengers were too preoccupied with their post-mission routines to pay anyone else much attention. The Tower was as quiet as it ever could be, so you rode up to Natasha’s suite and sat on her couch with a tablet in hand and information at the ready – as an excuse in case anyone but her entered the room next.

Luckily for you, this was a day where everything went to plan: 40 minutes after the quinjet touched down, Clint was healed and as good as new. 45 minutes after the quinjet touched down, Natasha stepped out of the elevator, smiled at the sight of you, and walked into your open arms.

“Hi baby,”

“Hi,”

“How’s Clint?”

“Back to his usual self,”

“How awful,”

“I know. At least Laura will be glad.”

“We can’t lose him before baby Natasha comes into the world.”

“I was thinking I might visit them with Clint now that there’s no sceptre to worry about. Would you like to come? Check on my future protege with me?”

“Of course I would,” you promised, leaning in just close enough for your lips to touch, “anywhere to be with you.”

Natasha took your hint without delay, shuffling closer in your arms to close the distance between you, laying gentle kisses to your lips before pulling back to speak again. “We’re heading off Sunday, after the party, taking a bus part of the way and his car, so we can all go together without suspicion.”

“There’s a party?”

“Saturday night, Tony just decided on it.”

“Of course he did.”

Both yours and Natasha’s phones chimed, and you reached into your back pocket to check it – a difficult task considering you were sat with Natasha straddling your lap, but you managed. Natasha checked hers too, confirming that you had both received the same message: an invite to the ‘sceptre retrieval party’ on the Saturday. Formal attire. Veterans in attendance for Steve to ‘bond with people his own age’. Steve would probably thumbs down that addition… if he knew how to react to messages at all.

Natasha hadn’t looked up, but she knew an unimpressed expression would greet her. “You’ll get to watch me get ready,” she offered.

“The only highlight.”

“Aw, am I really that bad of a conversationalist?” Natasha smirked.

“The worst,” came your reply, but with a smile before she could offer to spend the party talking to someone else.

“Luckily for you, sweetheart, we have three whole days uninterrupted before then, maybe we can work on my conversation skills.”

“I think we can make that work,” you said, smiling into the next kiss. You let her relax on your lap before quickly changing the pace; you pushed her back, strong enough to move her yet light enough to catch her before she fell fully.

“Hey!”

“Go take a shower first, you reek of gunpowder.”

She rolled her eyes, pouted at you, and shook her head, yet she still conceded. “Whatever you say, baby.”

You didn’t have to ask this time. She definitely meant that ‘baby’ as an insult.

—:::——::-————>◇<—————::——:::—

Days without missions were rare as Avengers, but they had been even rarer as SHIELD agents, so you and Natasha had learned how to make the most of them. From coffee dates in disguise, to reading books while sprawled across your living room, and even to skydiving (once. You vowed never again, but Natasha had seemed a little too comfortable with it), it was safe to say that you’d covered a wide range of activities, and the three days you had with her now were no different.

But all good things must come to an end, and three days later the two of you were back on her floor of the Tower, getting each other ready for the party. She opted for a classically stylish look: black and white dress, curled hair, red lips – she looked beautiful, and you made sure she knew it. In addition to that, the monochrome look served a secondary purpose, allowing the two of you to dress in complementary couple’s outfits, without actually drawing attention to the fact that you were a couple. If the two of you entered the room together, then maybe the others would notice that your white suit and black shirt perfectly matched Natasha’s dress, but you knew better than to do that.

Natasha entered first, alongside the other five Avengers, to begin the meet and greet that always started these parties. You followed an hour later and found the party in full swing: Colonel Rhodes entertained guests with stories of his heroics, Steve and Thor led a veteran out to the chauffeur, and Tony showed off his gadgets to some of the senior officers in attendance. But, of course, your gaze sought Natasha immediately, and it found her behind the bar, pouring herself a drink while Bruce stumbled through a flirting routine. As much as you wished to, it would be too telling for you to beeline towards her and interrupt Bruce’s attempt at a date, so you contented yourself to sit on the couch with Clint and only occasionally sneak glances at the redhead.

The archer caught on immediately, and laughed as soon as he followed your line of sight. “You worried about the competition?”

You glanced around, checking once again for eavesdroppers in the conversation before you answered with a shake of your head. “Not with Nat, no, she’s earned my trust completely…”

“But?”

“But Bruce doesn’t know it and,” you tilted your head to the side, nodding in the direction of another spectator, “clearly Steve doesn’t know it either.”

Just then, as your attention fell back on Natasha, her eyes found you over Bruce’s shoulder and lit up at the sight; she hardly hid her smile as she made her exit, leaving the scientist staring at the spot she’d vacated in order to make her way over to you, settling beside you on the couch. “What are you two gossiping about, hm?”

“Oh, you know, just… relationships… and secrets”

“Not that I would know anything about that,” Clint added with his hands held up.

“Of course not, of course not. Not a thing for us three esteemed members of society to be dealing in,” you joked.

“Never,” Natasha finished with a laugh. Then movement from the bar drew your attention back to the scene at hand, all three of you instinctively going quiet in an attempt to listen in, only occasionally diverting your focus or sipping drinks to hide your actions.

“Ooohoohoo,” Clint laughed, “I think good ol’ Cap just told Banner to ask you out.” You’d come to the same conclusion, so nodded and laughed alongside the archer at Natasha’s long sigh.

“Here’s hoping that doesn’t make things awkward.” Natasha’s response was quick, as Steve made his way to sit with the three of you, followed by Tony soon after.

“Y/L/N! You made it!” the billionaire cheered, patting you forcefully on the shoulder, “here I was thinking you were going to blow us all off.”

“It was a consideration,” you shrugged, though of course you would never miss an opportunity to see Natasha dressed in her best.

“I’m hurt, truly,” was all he said before wandering off again, seemingly looking for more people to impress.

“And then there were four,” Clint commented, “where’s Maria? It’s like an old SHIELD reunion.”

“I hope without the HYDRA this time.”

Hours later, Maria had come to join you, along with Helen Cho and the remaining Avengers, to crash on the couches and eat the takeout Clint had ordered. The night was at its end, so energetic conversations shifted into private murmurs – you were pretty sure Helen had fallen asleep – until Clint’s mockery of Mjolnir drew everyone’s attention back, waiting to see how the god reacted.

To your surprise, Thor only laughed, then held out his arm, “please, be my guest.”

“Really?” Clint hopped up with an eagerness he hadn’t shown since his wedding day. Despite the jokes made at his expense, he grabbed the grip, pulled, and…nothing happened. Thor reiterated the worthiness requirement but that only inspired the others to give it a go: one by one (or 2 at once in Tony and Rhodey’s case) the Avengers lined up to test their strength, each one failing.

“Widow?” Bruce offered, after an almost embarrassing attempt at it himself, but she declined, leaning towards you instead.

“Oh no, that’s not a question I need answered.”

Soon, all conversations derailed into theories and defences, jokes and accusations, until a high pitched whir interrupted all of that. There was no time to fix the issue before it stopped, giving way to rhythmic clunking approaching from behind.

“Worthy?” came an ominous voice. You turned to see a dilapidated Iron Legionnaire, limping towards the group. “No. How could you be worthy?” You were on your feet by then, exchanging brief glances with the others before you turned back to the robot. “You’re all killers.”

Steve stepped forward. Tony called for JARVIS. Nobody took their eye off of the mechanical puppet. Natasha hovered her arm behind her in search of you.

“I’m sorry, I was asleep. Or, I was a-dream.” The legionnaire continued, a full soliloquy that the team only rarely dared interrupt.

“Who sent you?” Thor challenged, and the machine answered back – with a recording of Tony’s voice.

“Ultron,” came Bruce’s realisation. Both you and Natasha turned to him, curious about a name you didn’t know; particularly when the mechanism – ‘Ultron’ – confirmed it. A glance around the room confirmed something for you too: the whole atmosphere had changed, and everyone felt it; Thor tightened his hold on his hammer, Maria readied her gun, and Steve searched for his shield.

“I’m ready, I’m on a mission.”

“What mission?”

“Peace in our time.”

The wall erupted into shrapnel as the Iron Legion took Ultron’s cue to attack; you caught only microseconds of the action before Natasha tackled you to the ground and out of the robots’ path. Your girlfriend pressed on top of you did little to help your cognition, and a flying table and Steve made it hard to keep pace, but you counted at least 3 robots in the air.

Few people had thought to bring weapons to a party in their home, leading to a struggle of hand to hand combat between man and machine, all just a delay before Thor could get a hit. When he destroyed the final Ultron – the main Ultron – you nearly collapsed from the exhaustion of it all; it had been some time since your last field mission.

“The sceptre is gone.”

“One of the legionnaires; it flew out just before the fight ended.”

Thor growled and flew out of the shattered window. Meanwhile, Tony and Bruce muttered between themselves, then made for the lab without another word.

“Hold on-” Steve commanded. You met Maria’s eye, anticipating another argument.

“No, I’m not gonna hold on,” Tony snapped, “I have work to do, but you could be a dear and bring that suit with us if you’re going to help.”

Steve followed his pointed finger, then wordlessly picked up the destroyed husk of Ultron and followed Bruce and Tony to the lab. With a shrug and exchanged glances, you and the others followed along too. Clint dropped to the back; walking alongside you and Natasha, he kept his voice low, “I guess we’re staying here for the next few days then.”

“No rest for the wicked,” came Natasha’s reply.

“Should’ve gone home when I had the chance.”

Natasha shivered by your side, the lab was colder than the party had been, but the whole building had cooled significantly thanks to the giant holes in the wall. You offered her your blazer but the spy waved you off and pulled one of her own jackets out from under a desk; you tilted your head to pose the silent question.

“All our work is gone,” Banner announced before you got a reply. You looked up to see him at his computer, searching through whatever he could find. “Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch.”

Next thing you knew, Natasha was also gone, searching through files of her own. You tilted your head at her again. “He’s been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we knew about each other.” You didn’t miss how her eyes fixed on you, or how Clint’s hand fell on his phone: you all had secrets you didn’t want exposed.

“He’s in your files, he’s in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?”

“Nuclear codes.”

“Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls.”

After an attack on the Avengers' home – the first in 3 years – the mood was understandably sour, but it only got more sombre as the team discussed the semantics of Ultron’s plan for ‘extinction’, all building up to JARVIS’s destruction. Things had never felt so hopeless. Nor did you realise until now how much you'd considered the sentient AI a friend; the devoted keeper of your and Natasha's secret.

From then on, for the rest of the evening, the events of the night all seemed to happen around you. The fights and plans and arguments; you knew you'd agreed to certain things, but nothing truly felt clear until Natasha put her hand on the small of your back. Your head snapped up and you met her concerned eyes. “I'm okay,” you reassured, before she could even ask.

Her gaze continued to survey every detail of your face, and you knew from her pursed lips that you had failed to convince her. “Let's go to my room,” she announced, and only then did you realise that she'd already led you out into the corridor to be alone.

You nodded, and she led you down, never faltering in her hold of you until you passed the threshold of her room.

“Bigger night than you expected, huh?” Natasha said with a forced laugh.

“Yeah.” You were in Natasha's closet now, looking through all the clothes you had left there. “You're not sleeping tonight, are you?”

The redhead sighed, as if she thought she'd gotten away with it, before she murmured a ‘no’. A pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a hoodie landed on her bed, and you saw her look of confusion before you went back in to look for a set of your own.

“If you're going to stay up, you might as well change into something more comfortable. And if you're going to stay up, I'm staying up with you.”

“You don't have to-”

“The quicker this is sorted, the quicker we can rest easy, right?”

She nodded.

“So let's get started.”

—:::——::-————>◇<—————::——:::—

All through the night and well into morning, the two of you sat in bed piecing together any clues. Ultron had the wealth of the internet at his disposal in seconds, while you were left to a slow trawl through anything deemed relevant.

Bit by bit, you pieced together a plan, but it was only after joining the other Avengers to talk through findings in the morning that any progress was made. All from Ultron's unintentional clue.

“Where is this guy now?”

“Johannesburg, last I heard.”

“Let's go ask some questions.”

With the edge of your foot, you lightly nudged Natasha, you sign asking her to stay back even as the other Avengers filtered out of the room.

“Get some sleep, alright? I know you've dealt with worse, but it would make me feel better to know you'd had some rest – especially if you run into the Maximoffs; Maria told me what they’re capable of.”

“I will,” Natasha smiled. She surveyed the room and, seeing nobody else around, planted a light kiss to your lips. “Take care of yourself too; I'll be back before you know it!”

And with that, she hurried the others to grab her mission uniform and filter onto the quinjet. You, meanwhile, followed Maria to the mission HQ and called in to the Avengers’ jet. The mission plan for this one was brief: you found Klaue’s exact location and sent it to Tony, they would question his access to vibranium, and be prepared to fight in case Ultron or the Maximoffs decided to enquire about the same thing at the same time.

From then on, it was just a matter of waiting and resting until the quinjet touched down in South America, where you were next needed to ensure the mission ran smoothly.

One by one, the Avengers' suit cameras flickered onto the screens before you, giving you and Maria an insight into the scene before them.

“I think we're in for a fight,” Natasha muttered, referring to the streams of workers escaping the boat which you knew to be Klaue's.

“Stay on the plane, Bruce; code green will be a last case measure in an enclosed space like that.”

The scientist nodded, then the rest of the team filtered in. Steve took command on the scene, bringing Tony and Thor with him to confront the robot, and left Natasha and Clint to the stealth, hiding in the shadows to provide back up if everything went south.

Nerves ran through you as you watched their confrontation with the machine. It was also your first proper look at the Maximoffs – neither seemed particularly intimidated while staring down the Avengers, but you saw the anger in their eyes.

Then, within a second, the sides clashed: Tony was thrown against the wall, more robots came in to fight Steve and Thor one on one, and the Maximoffs used their powers to interrupt.

“The twins keep stepping back,” you noticed, calling it in through the comms.

“They're new to this, probably don't know where to get involved.”

“I'm not sure.” You kept your mind at work, but unless you worked out their thought processes, there was nothing for you to do or say.

Natasha and Clint were brought into the fight in the meantime, attacking the enemies who came their way in order to keep the fight contained to the ship. A full firefight ensued between Klaue’s men, the Ultron bodies, and the Avengers; nothing much changed on your screens until Thor paused, still in between fights, and turned to his right where the girl – Wanda – stood.

“Thor?” Maria checked in. He didn’t put up a fight against her and only watched as she walked away. “What’s happened?”

She got no reply.

“Thor. Status report.” Steve tried. Communications had been patchy; you struggled to get through to Bruce, so it wasn’t out of the question that Thor would have the same issues.

“The girl tried to warp my mind,” he finally replied, “take special care; I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty.” He trailed off; his teammates might have assumed he had finished and returned to the fight, but you saw instead that his steps had slowed, and he looked around for sights that weren’t there. Tony had done similar back in Sokovia, while Maria’s files of the Maximoffs’ targets described the same sight: even the mighty can fall to the Sokovian’s powers.

“Thor is out of action,” you spoke into the comms; you received no protests from the god himself, so you could only assume he was beyond reaching too. “Watch out for Wanda Maximoff.”

Despite your warning, you were forced to watch as more Avengers fell victim to the Maximoff’s ploy: Steve was knocked into Wanda’s path, Natasha was caught unaware coming down a stairwell, and Clint – well, Clint avoided the mind control, only to be knocked through glass by the other twin.

“Whoever's standing, we gotta move! Guys?”

“Tony’s got Ultron; the others are down,” you told him, “get Natasha, she’s down the corridor from you. Just get everyone out.”

“Good plan,” Maria confirmed, thankfully not noticing how you only sent Clint to check up on Natasha, “Ultron just mentioned Banner so get ready for a quick evac.”

“Natasha, I could really use a lullaby,” Tony said. You checked his camera; the Hulk was on the loose, and angrier than you’d ever seen.

“Well, that's not gonna happen. Not for a while.” Natasha’s head lulled against his hand, totally unresponsive to the world around her. Even with the hostiles gone, you were thankful she had Clint by her side; she wouldn’t want anyone else to see her that way.

Your head snapped up when Maria next spoke, “we need to get everyone to safety.” You nodded wordlessly and got to work setting up evacuation orders, sending in paramedics, and arranging the legal documents as you watched the chaos unfold; all the while, you kept an eye on Natasha, heart tugging at the fear in her eyes, even as she slowly came to her senses.

By the fight’s end, your work had tripled and you knew you’d be running damage control well into the morning, while the Avengers had gained a hostile press, so they wouldn’t be coming home – Natasha wouldn’t be coming home – until they fixed this.

“Y/N?” Clint called you privately, after Maria had briefed them all of the consequences.

“Yeah?”

“Tracking is off, right? Cameras too?”

“Both off. You’re untraceable; even to us.”

“Good. I’m taking them to the farm, so I just- after SHIELD, you know-”

“I get it, you can’t be too careful with these things. Say hi to everyone for me, yeah? And look after Nat while I can’t.”

“Will do. I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

Clint hung up, leaving you in the silence of the empty room. Maria had gone out to take private calls of her own, and the other residents were now forbidden from returning. You returned to your work with a sigh –  so much for the time off.

Next Part

—:::——::-————>◇<—————::——:::—

Series Taglist: @fairychev @catswag22 @sapphosclosefriend @romanoffsgal @taliiiaasteria @saraaahsstuff @blacklightsposts @automaticdinosaurtaco @dyslexic-dreamer

General Taglist: @canvascoloredin @fxckmiup @wizardofstories

[brownietown05]

Open Doors on ao3

Fandom: Marvel, The Avengers

Tags: All of the Avengers, Alexander Pierce Post-Movie: The Avengers (2012), Loki is Not Amused (Marvel), Thor is Not Stupid (Marvel), Additional Warnings In Authors Note, Not Really Character Death, kind of amnesia

Summary: Thor didn't brough him back to Asgard.

They put him in the care of Alexander Pierce and it didn't end like everyone expected it.

Really bad summary. Give it a try :)

Words: 18,863 Chapters: 13/?

____________________________________________

First chapter here: (this part should be in cursive)

"If no one minds, I'll have a drink now."

Loki smiled at his own joke and raised his hands. He was pretty sure Barton would love to shoot that arrow.

Thor roughly pulled him to his feet and didn't wait another second to put those damn handcuffs on him.

And to spoil Loki's last fun he got this muzzle. He couldn't help it if these people didn't have a sense of humor. Honestley. The way the captain carried himself, it was a wonder anyone took him seriously.

This unpleasant encounter with a blonde took place down in the entrance area. Pierce, as Stark called him.

And instead of Thor taking him back to Asgard, he was placed in the "care" of these people.

Thor didn't even look back. This fool believed that people knew what they were doing. That Loki would receive a fair penalty.

So Loki was dragged into the dark car with people hiding their faces behind masks and their fingers on the triggers of their weapons.

Everyone except Pierce. He sat across from the god and grinned. A knot settled in Loki's stomach as he had to sit across from the guy for an hour.

Pierce promised him all along, just as he had promised Thor and Avengers, that Loki would receive his punishment. That he would be someone better afterward. So that he was hardly recognizable.

How Loki hated his voice.

(Cursive ends here, to Lazy to change every part)

***

,,All right then. How are you doing?"

,,Good."

,,How did you sleep?"

,,Quite good. No nightmares." She knew he was lying. They knew it all the time.

,,Jack. We discussed that." She tilted her head to the side and looked at him with pity.

He didn't answer. It was the same every second day. He woke up in this cold white room. He made his bed and waited until someone came and took him to another cold and white room.

"I haven't slept." He admitted truthfully. They would find out anyway.

,,Why not? The dream again? Tell me about it."

He stared at the table. His file was in front of her. Schizophrenic and narcissistic. That's how they rated him because he said he was a god and not a madman. Because he said that he would get out of there in no time and that he could use his magic to travel through the secret paths in Yggdrasil to another realm.

Now he understood how crazy it sounded.

There were no gods. And Asgard is just a palace in a storybook.

And every night he had the same dream. That he would hang from a rainbow bridge, on a staff and talk to someone. And then he fell. And fell and fell and fell until he woke up.

"You'll be released next week, Jack. And I have to make sure we don't make a mistake with it."

"I'm fine." That was the truth. He had rarely felt better, even if he couldn't remember much about it.

"I know." The doctor smiled. "You've made amazing progress Jack. How about this. We'll finish this session, you can enjoy the remaining four days here and you won't have to see me again." Now she was laughing. It was this constant talking-like-everything-was-fine-okay-and-no-fucking-institution talk.

Jack smiled to show her a reaction. It seemed to be enough. The doctor packed up her papers and stood up from her seat.

Jack did the same and shook her hand.

He was glad that he had so much freedom that he could eat his lunch, which sadly consisted of rice and a few peas, in his sparsely furnished room.

Four days left. Then he could leave. In fact, the facility was kind enough to rent him an apartment. Until he could stand on his own two feet.

So he had to look for a job. But who would hire a former schizophrenic?

He would probably have to find out.

' I'm not crazy. As long as nobody finds out that im in a institution, i'll get the ball rolling'

[doudouneverte]

Surprise ! | Purple Realm

Summary: today is a special day but you forgot why

Pairing: Agatha Harkness x Female!Reader (obviously)

extra: Kate Bishop x Fem!Reader (sister-ish) and light mention of WandaNat

Type: Fluff

~~~~~~~~

Y/N's POV

It was 6 am when i heard my phone's ringtone, it was Steve He called me, seriously who is awken at 6 am a saturday ? "Hey Y/N i hope i don't bother you" man he kinding "I was sleeping of course you're bothering me" i whisper yell and i checked my phone and continued "it's 6 am Steve, do you know when i cale back to home yesterday ? 10 pm i slept at 1 am cause i need to spend some time with my wife" "Yeah i know but i really need you now, Kate have to leave for a mission in Argentina, she need a translator and Natasha is an another mission you're our last hope please" "She really have to leave at 6 am?" "Yeah she want to came early, she said she have plan for this afternoon" "Ooorh, okay i'm on my way but you own me 1 week off" "Deal"

~~~~~~~~

Agatha's POV

Today it's a special day, it's Y/N's birthday and i know she have no training seesion this morning so i can spend all my morning with her before the Avenger come. At least that what i thought, i woke at 9 am like usualy, i extended my arm to reached my beautiful girl but i met cold sheet. Okay that's weird. I checked the bed and saw a note

'i had to leave fro a mission but i'll be back this afternoon

love you &lt;3'

Y/N

Okay now i'm mad for two reasons, one after Thanos she promised she'll stop all the mission, she'll just train the newbie and the second and the most important she didn't give my goodbye kiss we're married for 12 years now and she NEVER leaves without a goodbye kiss since the first mornig i decided to live with her. But before i called Captain America to lecture him i received a message frome Wanda

Little Witch: Agatha can you come to the compound we need your help

Me: for what ?

Me: it's 9 am and i just woke up

Little Witch: Today it's Y/N's birthday and we want to do a party but we need you cause you're her wife and you know her so well

Me: american's ass is here ?

Little Witch: yeah, why ?

Me: i'm on my way

And here i am, i was greet by Wanda and Natasha (they're inseparable, it's annoying and cute at the same time), but despise the good vibes i needed to talk to someone "Wher is Steve ?" i asked and the girls didin't seem surprise, they look at each and then at me before Nat spoke "Living room, but he is with the Bartons so go easy with him okay." i noded and start to my way to the living room before bumping in to Clint "Hey Agatha, you come faster than i thought" "Yeah i know and i'm happy to see you too but right now i need to talk to Steve" he didn't say more and lead me to the living room and when i saw Steve i wanted to yelled at him but i was by the little Nathaniel "Aunty Aggi!!" he hugged me and i hugged back and after Cooper did the same and Lyla too but she didn't yell and after i hugged Laura i looked around but Steve disappeared and i heard Lyla said "in the kitchen" everybody look at her confuse confuse and i give her smile and she continued "why do you look at me like that ? she wanted to know where was Steve i told her and honestly she allowed scold him, cause aunty Y/N had to leave early this morning" that why she is my favourite she is so smart. I winked at her and thanks her, now it's tme to talk.

--------

After 30 mins of explenation, i forgave him, not that i wanted but today it's a special for my special girl and i don't wan't to upset her more than she certenaly is right now. After few hours we start the preparation for the party, of course we forbidden Tony to help, the last thing Y/N need after a mission is crowed of people that she doesn't know. It was 7 pm and Yelena run to the living room "They're here!" it's my moment. I walk to the queenjet who just landed and when i saw Kate rush to me i knew somthing was weird "is she okay?" i asked she hugged me and sighted "Yeah but she really pissed off, i needed to do some mistake to dealy the time we come back but now she's really angry. Please Aggi do something' i smiled and when she left i was alone with my wife.

~~~~~~

Y/N POV

This mission was horrible and Kate was a pain in my ass, i think she do that on purpose cause she usually very good in when we trained and when i went with her during her patrol. When i walk off the jet i saw Agatha and all my anger vanished she openned her arms and i didn't let her wait before huffer her "That was the worst mission i ever had since the first fight against Thanos" "Oh no don't say that" "I love her Aggs you know, but today she was always late and not foccused, she almost died, what i can say to her mother if she die" i start to sob, my anger transform to sadness i really don't want to lost Kate, she's like my little sister "and i was so axful with her on the way back, i need to apologize" agatha took my hand and lead to the conpound "Yes but now you need a bath because you stink" "it's rude" we laught "i'm sorry but come here"

-------

After the bath i changer myself and walk to Kate's room but when i knocked there was no answer and started to worry before heard the voices from the living room. I walk in and was,about to ask if someone had seen Kate i heard every body yell "HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N" i was confused and the others had seen it, Agatha spoke softly but i xould hear concern in her voice "Are you okay darling ?" "Yeah but why all of this ?" and then i heard Kate said 'It's your birthday silly" i looked at her and after second every body lokked at her and i grabed my phone to check the day, yes it's today but with the lack if sleep, the mission, Kate who fail to die - "I forgot my own birthday, what a jerk" and everybody laught. And i spend the next 30 minutes to thanks everyone to came and i apologize to Kate but she didn't seem angry. I was talking with Kamala and America on the couche when my beautiful witch sat next to me "You enjoye the party ?" "Of course, and i want to apologize for this morning i didn't give you our goodbye kiss" "don't worry you have all the night to make up for it" she said with a smile and kissed her, oh God i missed her lips all the day and before we could further i heard Kamala and America chuckles and said "we will leave you alone" "I miss you" i said to Agatha "i know but i missed you more" and we kissed again.

I had a complicated life before the SHIELD and Agatha but now this is the past i'm here with my wife and the people i love the most after her (and Kate). After few minute we talked about our day

"I love you Agatha Harkness"

She blushed (she's so cute)

"I love you too Y/N Y/L/N"

"Yeah but i love you more"

"Oh you wrong pretty girl, i'm sure all of my variants in the multivers love you more so i win"

"Let me prove you're wrong"

[hellabigsimp]

Back to You (6)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!reader / Winter Soldier x Fem!reader

Summary: Hydra has a way of hiding secrets and one of them just happened to be you. The support Soldat to the famous Winter Soldier himself. But in a mission gone wrong, things changes, and life just isn’t as it seems.

Warnings: Hella angst (I’m not even going to apologise), major character death (kinda), mentions of violence, blood, depression, major grief,

Word Count: 5.8k

A/N: Scratch the last few chapters, this might’ve been my favourite one. When I was deciding where I wanted the story to go, I had these scenes in my head that I had to add, I just wasn’t sure. Then it ended up with them all in one chapter, who knew? Well, I hope you enjoy.

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Seven

Masterlist

Taglist: @matchat3a   @locht3ssmonster @cjand10 @lokisasgardianvampirequeen

 It had been a few days since you had arrived at the Barton residence. You had barely left the room; you didn’t want to interact with the others. You weren’t sure you could trust yourself around them, the reminder of Rumlow still on your skin, the phantom pain of him yanking you by your hair, the way his words were etched on to your brain. 

You couldn’t even escape him in your sleep. He haunted you. Memories of you time at Hydra seemed to coming back to you tenfold. The first night you had woken up to your own screaming, finding yourself pining Natasha to the bed, her eyes wide as she stared at you. 

After that Natasha slept downstairs, leaving the room to you. The next few nights had been the same routine, you would wake up to your own screaming, drenched in sweat. You mind reeling as you try to rid the images of lifeless eyes and endless blood. Steve would normally come running in, he would just sit on the bed. Never touching you. 

Neither of you had spoken much since the jet. Since he found out about Bucky. There were times during the day when you would be laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling when you would pick up random conversations. Mainly between Steve and Sam, the two of them talking about what to do about Bucky. You could tell they were planning on doing something without the others. 

There was a divide on the team, that much you had figured out. Tony and Natasha were against going after Hydra again, not until they made a move. But Steve wanted to strike hard and fast, they knew that they were coming after you and they knew that they were at the compound, so it seemed smart to attack now. 

Tony had told him that Bucky was clouding his judgement and that he should think like a proper captain and not some lovesick child. They hadn’t spoken about plans since. 

The only saving grace to you was Clint. After the first nightmare, he had come to the room with food for you. He had knocked and then just walked in, watching you with interest. He hadn’t spoken much until the second day. He told you the kids wanted to know if you were okay, they could hear you screaming during the night. 

You were ashamed. At the compound, you were secluded, by yourself. But here, here it was different. 

When Clint brought you lunch, he also had a few pictures with him. The kids had drawn you some pictures, to help cheer you up. You had stared at them for hours, wondering what you did to deserve the kindness they were giving you. 

It was the first time you were leaving the bed that wasn't to use to the bathroom. You searched around the room till you found a pen, tearing off a piece of the paper that the children had drawn on. Focusing, you drew a little flower, writing thank you underneath it. 

It was the first-time drawing something and looking at, it definitely didn't look like a flower, but the gist of it was there. You had left it on the tray after you had finished eating and when Clint had come to collect it, he noticed it straightaway. 

You saw the smug look on his face but decided to ignore it. You went to sleep that night feeling a little lighter. But it wasn't enough to chase away the nightmares. 

The next morning, Clint came in with another drawing this time, of a vase of flowers the kids had drawn and coloured in. It looked much better than yours and you couldn’t help but laugh at the little notes on how to draw a good flower in the corner of the picture. 

“You know, you don’t have to stay up here.” 

You glance up Clint. He had taken a seat on the wicker chair next to the dresser. He had placed breakfast on the bed already. You look down at the colourful picture again. 

“Why are you so scared?”

“Wouldn’t you be? I was made to be a killer, trained and tortured. People have died because of me, no matter,” You voice fades as you stare down at your hands. Even though they looked clean, it was like you could see the blood stained on them, you could smell it, taste the metallic tang. 

“No matter how many times you wash your hands, the blood is still there.” Clint’s voice was low, his eyes holding an understanding. You look at him, wondering, but all he does is shrug. “Let me tell you something. I’ve read your file. I know what you’ve done. I also know who you are. Yet, even after all that, I still let you stay in my house, under the same roof as my children. Because I know that you won’t hurt them. I’ve seen the eyes of a killer, the actions of a killer and frankly, you don’t have them.”

“How do you know?” you whisper, because whenever you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, all you see is the monster they created. It was in the eyes, the mannerisms you had, the way your fingers still twitched sometimes. 

“Because I have seen them. I see them every time I go out on a mission. When I look at you all I see is a broken woman who is reaching out for help but unsure where to reach to.”

You words were caught in your throat. 

“Look, I’m not really one to sugar coat things and people seem to walk in eggshells around you, afraid of you. You need to get up and stop wallowing in self-pity. I may not understand your heartbreak or whatever goes on in that head of yours, but I understand pain and I understand depression. You want to help get this Bucky guy back, you want a better life, then make it happen. It’s not going to come to you while you lay in bed feeling sorry for yourself.”

It was like a sucker puncher to the gut hearing those words. Although it hurt, there was reasoning behind them. It was something you understood. You were never going to be a hero like Steve, you had too much bloodshed that followed you. You had too many ghosts than haunted you. You couldn’t be the you in your memories from back then. In your eyes, she was dead. She was never coming back. You weren’t the girl Bucky feel in love with anymore and that made you feel an indescribable sadness. 

But this new version of you had something else to hold on to, something that was always simmering away inside you, something Hydra forged and fuelled. You had this burning rage. Rage for what they had done to you, to Bucky. Rage at they had made you do. 

It took you a while to realise that Clint had left the room, leaving you to stew over your own thoughts. He was right, you had to forge your own path now. If you wanted to be free of these damn strings then you would have to do it yourself. 

--

You could feel Tony and Steve's gazes on you as you joined them out in the garden where they were chopping wood. You had freshly showered, putting on some of the clothes that Laura had left you. You had tied your hair up in a ponytail, supressing the fear that rose. 

“Mind if I join?” You needed something to do to burn this rage that was building. Back at Hydra you had spent most of your free time training, there was never not a time you didn’t feel the burn in your muscles. 

“Oh, sure,” Steve says, finally finding his words. He hands you his axe as he takes a seat on a large log, taking a sip of his water. “How are you feeling?”

You take the axe, the first weapon you had held since they had taken you in. The weight of it felt like an old friend. You gripped the wood, looking at the head of the axe, how the edge glinted in the sun. 

You break away from looking at it to see Tony eyeing you wearily. You give him a small smile as you grab a log and place it down, swinging the axe down with a grunt, splitting it in half. “I’m fine. Could be better, but I think we could all agree on that.”

Tony follow suit, splitting his log with two swings. “Finished wallowing in self-pity that you came finally decided to join us in the real world?”

“Stark!” Steve snapped, sending him a look. 

You held up your hand. You knew Tony was angry, all the signs were there. His jaw was clenched, his eyes were hard. He was frustrated and angry, something you could relate to. “It’s okay Steve, I deserve it.”

Steve was silent as he looked at you. This was the first time since you had spoken since the revelation of Bucky being alive. Steve didn’t seem to be holding anything against you anymore, which was a nice feeling. You gave him a small smile. 

“See, Rogers?” Tony huffs, his log splitting in half. “She understands. This is the real world we live in. In another time maybe you could’ve saved you friend, but this reality. Look what Hydra did, look at what Bucky has done!”

“At what Bucky has done?” Your voice was low, your hand clenching around the wooden handle of the axe until you hear a snap as the wood breaks. You let it fall to the floor with a thud, not bothering with it anymore. “You mean the killings right?”

Tony rolls his eyes as he looks at you, pointing the axe at you. “You little boyfriend has been this ghost that everyone is scared of, assassinating over two dozen people, and that the only ones credited to him. I am sure you know of more since you were probably there with him.”

It was more. You knew it was. Sometimes you both were too good at your job and covering up your killings. You knew it was more. 

“Hydra has created two killing machines, one is standing right in front of us, she doesn’t even know how to control her emotions!” Tony was yelling now, looking between you and Steve. “You want us to waste resources on trying to find your dead best friend when you know he is brainwashed, he won’t know who you are!”

Steve stands up, fury in his eyes. “We can get through to him, just like Y/n. I managed to get through to her.”

Tony scoffed. “She’s broken Rogers, she broken and defected. I want Hydra gone too, I want this world a better place as well, but can you guarantee that neither of them will start killing again? Can you promise that?”

You wanted Steve to agree with no hesitation, but you could see the small glance he spared you, how uncertainty flashed through his eyes. It pained you to think Steve didn’t trust you, but you understood it. You couldn’t even trust yourself. 

“See? Even you don’t trust her. She is a killer, just like Bucky. Except they are super soldiers, they are deadlier.” You weren’t expecting it, but suddenly Tony throws the axe he was holding, it aiming straight for you. You quickly act, your reflexes jumping in. 

You don’t flinch as the you catch the axe with your hand, the blade bites into your skin, blood already dripping down your hand and on to the floor. Steve watches in horror as Tony steps away. 

“Killer's don't change Rogers,” Tony walks away, shoving his jacket on as he goes. You watch him walk into the farmhouse. You drop the axe to the floor, looking down at your bloody hand. The axe hadn’t done much damage, just a clean cut across the palm of your hand. It would heal. 

“He’s wrong you know,” Steve’s voice was low, his gaze firmly on your bloodied hand. “You have changed.”

“I don’t think he is right, but he isn’t wrong. Killing has changed who I am, I am not the same girl you knew back then. But I am also not the weapon that Hydra has made. That’s not me anymore. I don’t want it to be.”

You gave Steve a wistful smile. It was true. You would never be able to outrun the past you had, and it was always going to affect you. It would take a long time till you knew you were in control on yourself and able to move on, but Clint’s words had struck something in you, and you wanted to make a change. “Take a walk with me Steve?”

You nod towards the barn, thinking it’ll be the best area for you two to sit down and chat. Steve falls in to step beside you. “Bucky and I had this saying, till the end of the line. It was a promise we made. When he fell from that train, I felt like half of me died that day.”

You hadn’t remembered much about Bucky’s death. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that you found out he was supposed to be dead. “I don’t really remember what happened.”

“We captured the guy from Hydra, Zola. I wanted to help, to destroy them for Bucky’s sake, but at the same time, I had to come back to you, to tell you what had happened.”

You had both reached the barn, the door was open already, the tractor that Laura had asked Tony to fix was stored here. There was the stale smell of grease and straw, making you scrunch up your nose. Both of you settled on a bale of straw, your knees touching slightly.

“Please tell me,” You whisper, closing your eyes.

“Are you sure? It’s not a great memory.”

You look over at Steve, holding out your hand. You could see his surprise; it was the first gesture of affection that you had ever given him. He takes your hand, holding it between his two hands. His skin was warm and rough, the warmth seeped into your skin, making you smile slightly. “I am ready. The doctors said sometimes I can force memories to resurface, like sorting through a filing cabinet.”

“Okay,” Steve sighed. “Well, I didn’t have much time, they were interrogating Zola as I was flying back to America to come see you. They only gave me a couple hours to see you, I could never forget the day, it was raining a lot…”

You look outside the window, watching as the rain creates a mist over the city. You pull the blanket further over yourself, inhaling the faint smell of Bucky. He had been gone for a while now, his scent was starting to fade off things, making it hard to sleep at night. The more is disappeared, the more of a stranger you felt in his home.

The nights were the hardest. You missed rolling over into his arms, to him pulling you closer and holding you till you fell asleep again. Sleeping alone in his bed, you found yourself drifting back to past times, especially the last night together. Even just thinking about it sent a blush to your cheeks, his touches ghosting over you causing you to shiver.

You giggle as you sip the hot chocolate, letting the warm liquid warm you up. You hated the rain; it always made the apartment cold and dark. Without Bucky here it felt impossible to warm up, you were always feeling the cold. You look down at the book in your lap, The Hobbit, you had forgotten how many times you had read it, but it was something Bucky loved to do in his spare time.

You missed laying in the bed, watching him read in his chair next to the window. You’d watch him, drinking in his features. The way his eyes scanned the page, the way his finger you flick the corner of the page from time to time. You loved it when a small smile would appear on his face, a breathless laugh escaping his lips. You wished you could be privy to his thoughts during those moments.

A sudden knock at the door made you jump. You frown, placing your mug on the table, standing up. You look down as the book clatters to the floor, your temporary bookmark falling out. You spot the picture that Bucky had gifted to you before he went. You go to pick it up, but the knock comes again, more urgently, followed by a familiar voice.

The picture and the book forgotten, you trip over yourself and the blanket as you rush to the door, unhooking the chain. You swing it open, smiling at the much larger frame of Steve. “Steve! Or should I be calling you Captain America now?”

You laughter dies out as you spot the look he was giving. He was frowning, his eyes slightly red and swollen, you could spot the old tear tracks on his cheeks. He was still in his uniform, a few bruises on his face visible. You knew something was off.

“Steve?”

“Y/n,” He starts. His voice was filled with sadness and guilt. He hadn’t said it, but you knew what he was going to say. “I have something to tell you, I don’t have much time.”

It was funny. You hadn’t slept well the night before; you had woken up from a god-awful nightmare. Bucky had died while out on a mission, shot through the chest. You had woken in a cold sweat, instantly reaching out for your rock, but his side of the bed was ice cold. You were instantly awake, calling out to him before remembering where he was. You couldn’t fall to sleep after that.

“Don’t,” you choke out, holding up a hand. You wrap the other hand around your stomach, feeling the bile rising. You walk backwards into the apartment. “Tell me he is with you.”

You look at Steve, waiting for him to crack a smile and tell you that he was joking. That Bucky put him up to this sick and twisted joke. That the reality of it wasn’t as cruel as you thought.

“Tell me!” You shout, tears stinging your eyes. Steve looked lost; he had never seen you like this. Even during the most pressured times during the hospital shifts, seeing half dead people carted into the infirmary, you had kept your call, but the woman in front of him was someone he didn’t recognise.

“Y/n, I am sorry,” Steve started, his voice cracking. You watched him swallow, looking at the ceiling. You could see he was trying not to cry. “James Buchanan Barnes died in action, serving his country and- “

You let out a gut-wrenching sob, causing Steve to stop mid-sentence. You stumble over to Steve, placing your screwed up fist on his chest, hitting him over and over again. “Don’t tell me that crap, not that stuff that they’ll send in a later. That they’ll tell the people of this country.”

Steve watches you as you hit him, your figure so tiny compared to him now. Hi breath falters as you look up at him, your mouth parted slightly, your breathing erratic. Your eyes were already red and puffy, tears streaming down your face. Your cheeks were red and blotchy. It was the heartbreak in your eyes that caused his tears to fall.

“I tried,” He whispers, his body slumping in defeat. “I tried to save him, but I didn’t get to him in time. I tried; I promise you.”

Steve kept repeating it, saying he tried, but his words were falling on deaf ears. You had tuned him out after the first time he said it. His voice was desperate, guilt ridden. Inside you, your heart was breaking, piece by piece it shattered. Your head hurt just trying to think about what Steve was implying.

You step away from him, looking around the room. Bucky’s room. His belongings, things he never touch again, things he would never get to see again. You eyes land on the bookshelf, his favourite books piled haphazardly, he was never one for organizing. He would never get to read them again. You’d never get to see him sit in his chair; his smile soft as he read a funny part.

You gaze lingers on the discarded blanket. It would never smell like him. You’d never get to inhale his scent again, never feel his warmth. Or his soft words as he lulled you to sleep after a long and strenuous shift.

You’d never see him again.

There was an anger that you had never felt before, it was fuelled by heartbreak and sadness. You turn back to look at Steve, who was watching you like a kicked puppy. His sad eyes and voice was grating on you.

“What good are you as a super soldier, or whatever they call you, if you can’t save one man?” You spat; venom laced in your voice. Steve flinches at your words, he had never heard you speak like this.

“Y/n, I tried-“

You cut him off. “Tried? You tried? I thought you were supposed to be this miracle? I thought you were the gracious Captain America? You don’t deserve the title.”

“Don’t say that,” Steve begged, the hurt evident on his face. He steps forward, but the look you gave him made him falter. “Y/n…”

“Get out,” you say, your voice low. You point at the door. When Steve doesn’t move, you scream at him. “Get out Steve!”

You march up to him, shoving him back. You knew in reality that you wouldn’t have been able to move him normally, but he let you shove him back. He stumbled as you pushed him out the door, his eyes never leaving you. You watch as he opens his mouth.

“Don’t” you spit out. “Don’t come here again. Go back to be the country’s saving grace, Captain America. I don’t know you anymore, Steve. The Steve I know would’ve saved him no matter what. Till the end of the line.”

With that you slam the door. The last strength you had dissipating. You lean against the door as the sobs wrack through your body. Your knees buckle under you, causing you to slide to the ground. The coldness of the floor doesn’t even begin to come close to the numbness in your heart. You bring a hand up to you mouth as the sobs come out choked. You couldn’t catch your breath, your chest heaving.

Bucky was dead and you were all alone.

--

“Y/n?” Steve’s soft voice pulls you back. It was weird coming back from a memory when you hadn’t been sleeping. It was more erupt and jarring. You were suddenly back in the barn, different sounds and smells assaulting you. “Are you okay?”

You breathe deeply, the pain returning to your chest as you absorb the memory. You nod, realising that you were holding his hand tightly, but Steve made no move to remove it or stop you. You look up at him, a sad smile on his face.

“I’m okay,” you murmur. “I remembered.”

Steve nods. “I thought you might’ve, you were suddenly in this trance like state, your hand clutching mine. I didn’t want to pull you out. What did you remember exactly?”

You didn’t want to say it out loud. You had said some vicious things to Steve, things you know you would never have said if you weren’t so clouded by grief and anger. It wasn’t Steve’s fault, you knew that. You were sure he blamed himself even more.

“I said some horrible things to you,” you begin, wiping a stray tear from your eye. “I am truly sorry for that Steve, I really am. I would never of said those things to you if I was in the right mind, never. I cared about you deeply back then.”

Steve’s face was solemn as he listens. He waits for you to finish before giving your hand a comforting squeeze. “I don’t blame you for the words you said, in all honesty I had already thought of them before I came to see you that day. I had gone over the situations a thousand times in my head, thinking about what I could’ve done differently.”

Both of you sit in silence, basking in each other’s company. It was a pleasant change to the bedroom you had forced yourself to stay in. It was also nice to be next to Steve, throughout all of the process of the memories coming back and supporting you, he had been nothing but patient and sweet to you. Even after the last encounter you had, he had pushed that aside.

“Thank you Steve,” you finally say. “I may not be the old Y/n you knew; I don’t think I ever will be, but I still feel a brotherly connection to you. I know I won’t ever be able to be that person again, but I am glad that you are around to help me feel a little normal.”

Steve chuckled, wrapping his arm round your shoulders, pulling you in close. “I’m not the same Steve from back then, so I don’t think it matters. We can restart fresh now. All of us, including Bucky.”

You liked the sound of that.

“I wanted to give you something that day, when I came to tell you about Bucky,” Steve pulls away, reaching around his neck and pulling something off. He turns your uninjured hand, dropping something cool and heavy into your palm. “I’m sure he would’ve wanted me to give them to you.”

You look down, your heart stuttering at the sight. It was his dog tags; he always wore them. There engraved into the metal was Buckys name. You clutch them tightly in your hand, bringing them to your heart. “Thank you.”

“I found his spare set in his belongings before they took them away.”

“Thank you Steve, thank you for looking after them.”

He nods as you slip the dog tags on, the weight of them unfamiliar but sending warmth through your body. It was nice to have something of his, it felt like you were finally getting closer to him.

“Look, I need to go back and talk to Tony.” Steve stands up. “You coming?”

“Do you mind if I stay here for a little longer?”

“Don’t stay out too long, Laura is making Lasagne tonight. I heard from Nat that it’s to die for.”

The laughter bubbles out your throat, an alien feeling but a welcomed one. Steve looks shocked for a split second before he chuckles too. It almost seemed normal, which was something that was unusual and foreign, but you oddly enjoyed.

Steve walked away and you watched as the tensions returned to his shoulders, his fists clenched. You could tell that Tony and Steve didn’t always see eye to eye, they seemed to be always at each other’s throat. Tony had even come for you earlier. You look down at the cut on your hand, the bleeding had stopped already. It would be healed by tomorrow, you were sure.

“Has it’s perks, doesn’t it?” You body jumps as an unfamiliar voice echoes throughout the barn. You scan the shadows before spotting a man in a long trench coat, an eye patch over his left eye. He steps out, his hands clasped behind his back. “That serum coursing through you veins.”

You eye him wearily, trying to figure out where he was from and whether you should call for help. You could take him yourself obviously, but it was clear no one else knew he was here. He had suddenly just appeared.

“What do you know about it?” you ask cautiously, eyeing up anything that could be used as a weapon around you. There were a few garden tools hung up a good few feet from you that would work nicely. You watched the way the man move, the way he carried himself. He had training; you could instantly tell.

“I know a lot about you, Y/n Y/l/n. Born on a late Sunday in summer, in the year 1920. Real parents left you at an orphanage where you were adopted by a Mary and George. Normal childhood. They both died when you were 20. You moved to New York City and trained to become a nurse. The year after you met James Bucky Barnes and our very own Steve Rogers. Then after the unfortunate, supposed death of Mr Barnes, you went awol. Until you resurfaced again, over 40 years later, looking no different. Beside the infamous Winter Soldier.”

You weren’t sure how he got that information, but you knew it was all true. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, comes with the job,” He shrugs, waving a hand. “I’m Fury by the way. Head of Shield. Currently, one of your only allies.”

“Isn’t Shield part of Hydra?” You knew that some of the men under Hydra had infiltrated Shield, it was common knowledge that Hydra was going take them down from the inside.

Fury chuckles. “We know. Your boyfriend has already tried to kill me. According to Hydra I am very much dead, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Why are you here?” You didn’t like that this man, Fury, wasn’t giving anything away. You stood up slowly, edging towards the garden tools, getting ready in case you need them. “What do you want from me?”

“I have something for you,” Fury pulls out something from his pocket, making you hand twitch towards the nearest tool before you frown at the beige folder he was holding out to you. “I may not have full access to what I used to, but I have fingers in a lot of places. These are all recent documents on what’s been happening since your little showdown with Hydra the other day.”

You take the file from him hesitantly, your curiosity peaked. You flip open the folder and instantly recognise the location, but frown at the pictures. It was an active Hydra base that you had frequented a lot, especially in the last decade as missions became more frequent. In the pictures, the building was just rubble now. You flip a few more pages, noting that all the places that had been burnt down to rubble were Hydra bases. All the ones you had been to recently.

“What is this?” you question looking back at Fury. “Why are you showing me this? You’ve blown up Hydra bases, well done.”

“Oh no, this wasn’t us.” Fury takes the folder and flips further before handing it back. “This was the handy work of your boyfriend. A one Bucky Barnes.”

You look down at the photo. There he was, still in the gear he wore the last time you saw him. He didn’t look any different, he wasn’t hurt which was a relief. What was a surprise was the beaten up and cuffed person kneeling next to him. You looked closely at the picture; the picture was already grainy to begin with. You gasp quietly as you recognise him.

Rumlow.

“He’s been busy, and it begs the question as to why he is biting the hand that feeds him,” Fury shrugs. “Not that I can complain, he’s helping us out by eliminating them, half the bases we didn’t even know about.”

“What am I to do with this information?” You ask, holding up the folder. “Why aren’t you telling the others?”

Fury doesn’t answer your question, ignoring it completely. “If you look at the very back of the folder, there’s a warehouse. Now I wouldn’t have cared much for it if I didn’t know that the one and only Alexander Pierce was there just a day ago. Now it’s also funny that in the last month, he was also spotted at all of the now burned down to the ground bases. If I was you, I think I would know where to look for Mr Barnes next,”

You watch as Fury walks out of the barn, leaving you alone with the folder and your thoughts. Bucky was going after Pierce. He was going after Hydra all by himself. What was he doing? You sit back down the bale of straw, studying each page thoroughly.

Bucky had done a good job so far, but there was this sinking feeling in your stomach. He couldn’t take them all on by himself. There was no way. He wasn’t invincible. At the same time, Clint’s words were playing on repeat in the back of your mind.

‘If you want a Bucky, make it happen.’

You had to go to him. But even with that thought, you look at the farmhouse from where you were sat, noting how the sun had now set, the lights from inside casting a glow on to the porch. You could spot Laura and the kids laughing along with Natasha and Sam. Clint, Steve and Tony were talking. You had grown somewhat fond of them and leaving them would betray them, especially Steve.

But it was for Bucky. You had to make your own way in this world, to make your own decisions. It had several decades since you had made your own decisions and the choice was daunting. You look back at the folder, the grainy picture of Bucky watching the fire of the warehouse. The sound of the dog tags clinking as the breeze sweeps through the barn, a chill in the air.

“Y/n!” You look over as Steve calls you from the porch, his eyes searching. You quickly shove the folder into the band of your jeans, under your shirt. You didn’t want them to see just yet. You leave the cover of the barn, waving over to Steve, his face lighting up as he spot you.

“Coming!” You shout, speeding up into a job, the decision weighing on you. You already knew the choice you had to make; you just didn’t want to face the consequence of it.

[hannahshattuck]

Captain Firefighter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Warnings: fluff, angst, slight graphic description of injury, car accident

Steve Rogers Masterlist Main Masterlist

BEEP BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP BEEP.

You groaned as you slapped your hand around the nightstand trying to find your phone with the alarm going off. When you finally found it, you grabbed it and opened one eye to turn it off. You checked the time and realized you should get up to make sure you weren’t late on your first day at your new job. With a groan, you slowly sat up and noticed you were naked and had a pounding headache.

“Great. Hungover on the first day.” You mumbled as you rubbed your temples.

A groan behind you caught your attention. “God. I’m not drinking ever again.” 

You looked over your shoulder and saw a blond man laying on his back rubbing his hands over his face. The blankets sat at his hips which put his built torso on display. His chest looked like a good place to rest your head and it seemed like his abs had abs. You quickly found your underwear on the floor and a navy blue tee shirt and put them on. You stood facing him and tried to smile even though it felt like a construction crew was in your skull. 

“Um, hi.” You said.

The man brought his hands from his face and laid them on his chest. “Hi.” 

The two of you awkwardly stared at each other and you hoped you were smiling more than grimacing. The man sat up, keeping the sheet covering him and stood looking for most likely his underwear. He found black boxer briefs and put them on without moving the sheet which was impressive to say the least. 

Once he got them on, he dropped the sheet on the bed and found what seemed to be his jeans. He pulled them on and looked up at you and chuckled.

“I need my shirt.” He smirked.

You looked down. “Oh..” You found one of your sweatshirts in your dresser, along with shorts, and started towards the bathroom connected to your bedroom. “I’m just gonna…” You trailed off pointing to the bathroom.

He smiled, “Alright.”

You ducked into the bathroom and quickly locked the door. “Oh god.” You whispered to yourself. You quickly changed out of his shirt and into your clothes. 

You left the bathroom and saw him sitting on the edge in your bed on his phone. You cleared your throat.

“Uh, here you go.” You held his shirt out to him. He stood up and it was then when you realized how tall he was. You were eye level with his chest and had to title your head up to look in his eyes that were a very bright blue.

He took his shirt and put it on without breaking eye contact. “Thanks.”

“Mhm.” You hummed. 

“I don’t remember a lot from last night but I do know you said you start a new job today so good luck on that and I hope you don’t feel too bad today.” He bent down and kissed your cheek. You felt your face heat up.

“I-I’ll walk you out.” You walked out your bedroom and led the way to the front door of your apartment. The living wasn’t a mess so that told you the two of you went straight to your room. You unlocked the front door and opened it to let him out. “I, uh, hope you have a good day.”

He smiled before he walked out the door, “You too.”

You closed the door and leaned your forehead against the cool wood. “Fuck me.”

--------------------

You pulled up into an empty parking spot and grabbed your backpack with all your stuff once you parked. Looking towards the fire station, you saw both big garage doors open and saw your soon to be coworkers messing around or cleaning or working out. You swung your backpack over one shoulder and started walking toward the station. 

“Hey! It’s the newbie!” You turned your head in the direction of the voice and saw a dark skin man waving at you. “Hi! I’m Sam.” 

“Hi.” You waved back. 

“Wilson, keep mopping. It’s your fault there’s whip cream everywhere.” A red head woman said as she walked over to you. “Hi, I’m Natasha.” She held out her hand.

“Y/N.” You said, shaking her hand. “Do I want to know why he’s mopping up whip cream?” You chuckled. 

Natasha playful rolled her eyes, “In between last night calls the boys were pulling pranks.” 

You couldn’t help but giggle. “Ah. That makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Natasha laughed. “They’re lucky it was our captain’s day off last night. Otherwise he would have laid into them and made them clean every nook and cranny of this place.”

“Is your captain here?” You fiddled with the strap of your backpack.

Natasha shook her head. “Not yet. He texted me earlier saying he was gonna be running late. Apparently had a good night if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully which caused you to chuckle. “Let’s get you settled before he arrives.”

She led you to the lockers, where you filled yours, and gave a quick run down of where everything is before leading you to the ambulance. You found out that Natasha is one of the paramedics they have and you two would be partners. 

“Okay, so here’s how everything is organized. We do share the ambulance with other shifts but we all got together and figured out where to put everything. If you figure out that a certain supply would be easier to grab in a different spot just send a quick text in the group chat we have for all the paramedics and EMTs. Oh! Speaking of which, let me get your number so I can add you.” Natasha pulled out her phone from her pocket and you gave her your number. “Most of the time we’re like a high school chat with the amount of memes we send.” 

You chuckled knowing exactly what she meant. She continued to show you around the ambulance and then started to introduce you to the other firefighters. You already met Sam when you walked in and he seemed to be done with mopping the whipped cream. Then met James Barnes; who goes by Bucky because there’s two named James but it’s also a childhood nicknamed that stayed, Clint Barton; whose Golden Retriever named Lucky is the station dog and loves pizza apparently, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff; who are twins and moved to the States when they were kids, James Rhodes; who goes by Rhodey and is the other James, and then was told that Carol Danvers, Maria Hill, Peter Parker, Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne you would meet another time due to them being off.

“Sorry I’m late!” A voice boomed throughout the station. You turned in the direction of said voice and your breath got caught in your throat.

“Shit.” You mumbled under your breath.

“I know right.” Natasha smirked. “I’m kidding. One thing you’ll quickly see is how we all tease each other.”

You awkwardly chuckled, “Oh okay.” 

He noticed you standing with Natasha and you saw his face pale before he schooled his features and walked over to you. He was now wearing the same uniform everyone else was and it was fitting him perfectly just like the jeans and tee he put on this morning when he left your apartment.

“Hi there. You must be the new EMT we were sent.” He placed his hands in the pockets of his pants and stood there exuding authority. 

“Uh, yeah.” You tried to smile hoping it was an actual smile. 

“Steve. Or Captain Rogers. Or Rogers. Or Cap like everyone else seems to call me.” He chuckled as he held his hand out for you to shake.

“Y/N.” You said as you shook his hand while your brain so helpfully supplied an image of those hands around your waist.

“Let’s head to my office before we get a call. There’s some housekeeping things I want you to know.” 

You hummed an acknowledgement and followed him to his office trying to keep your gaze in the middle of his back or the floor so as to not focus on his behind that was contained by the uniform pants. Steve opened the door and motioned for you to walk through the doorway.

“You can have a seat in one of those chairs if you’d like.”

You quickly walked over to the chairs in front of his desk and sat down. He sat in the rolling chair on the other side and leaned back in the chair studying you. Instead of meeting his gaze, you looked down at your pants picking off pieces of invisible lint.

“Well,” Steve cleared his throat and leaned forward to place his forearms on his desk with his fingers interlocked with each other. “I will say that this is not how I expected this shift to go.”

You chuckled, still staring at your pants. “You and me both.”

“I don’t want to make this uncomfortable for you and I can work it out to where we won’t be on the same shift. But, I do want you to be here because I’ve seen your scores for all the tests and they’re phenomenal.” Steve said. 

“Thanks,” You mumbled with a slight heat in your cheeks. “And you don’t have to change anything. I’ll admit it might be weird the first couple days but I’ll be fine.” You gain the courage to look at him and saw his ocean blue eyes watching you. 

“Not to make this any more awkward than it kinda is but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I left your place.” Now it was Steve’s turn to blush. “I promise I’m not trying to come onto you but, uh, I just needed to say that.” He looked down at his desk and fiddled with his thumbs.”

“Well if it’s any consolation I haven't stopped thinking about you either.” You smiled. 

Steve opened his mouth to say something but then the bell rang signaling that there was a call. “Well, let’s start your first shift.” 

You two stood up from your seats and Steve opened the door for you to go first. You gave him a smile as you thanked him. 

“Let’s do that.” You chuckled and took off towards the ambulance with Natasha. 

--------------------

It’s been a few months since your first day and the team has felt more like a family every day. Natasha has felt like a sister to you, Sam has gotten a run for his money when you’ve played pranks and your relationship with Steve has gotten…...closer. You ended up telling Natasha that you slept with him and she couldn’t help but laugh. When you asked why she was laughing she said, “Well, I don’t blame you. He is a nice snack.” You couldn’t disagree with her on that. Steve and you talked about how you two wouldn’t let that night affect you two working together but neither of you could ignore that there were feelings for the other. 

“Hey Y/N!! Can you call Lucky over? He keeps trying to drink the soapy water!” Clint yells across the firehouse where he, Bucky, Sam, and Rhodey were trying to was one of the trucks.

“Yeah. No problem. Lucky! C’mere!” You whistled. The Golden Retriever came bounding over to you and jumped into your arms licking you all over your face. You giggled as you gently pushed him away to go over to his toys and grabbed a tug rope. 

As you were playing with Lucky and wearing him out, the alarm that signaled a call sounded. Dispatch said an ambulance was needed for a car accident. It was always difficult to tell how bad car accidents are until you get there. You and Wanda, who you found out was another EMT, were on shift and ran to the ambulance to head to where the accident was. The accident was at an intersection that always had a lot of accidents whether it be minor or major. 

When you and Wanda arrived, there were already two ambulances there which told the two of you how bad it was. There were at least six cars involved. One was wrapped around a tree, two looked like they collided head on, and the three rear ended each other. There looked to be people out of some cars but your biggest worry was the one wrapped around the tree. You asked one of the other EMTs if any of them checked on the patient of the car around the tree and they said they got there a few seconds before you and Wanda. 

You yelled for Wanda to grab the bags while you ran over to check on whoever it was in the car. Your breath got caught in your throat as you saw it was Steve in the driver’s seat. He was unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel. You gently leaned him back so you could check his front for injuries. Steve had a cut above his eyebrow causing blood to trickle down his face, his left arm was broken which also had the bone poking through the skin, the steering wheel dashboard trapped his legs which caused you to not assess the injuries there. 

“Oh my god.” Wanda gasped when she saw who it was. 

“Wanda,” You turned to look at her. “I know it’s Steve but we treat him like every other person we’ve treated before. Okay?”

She swallowed and nodded her head. Wanda pulled out a cervical collar and handed it to you so you can place it around Steve’s neck to prevent any hidden injuries from getting worse. You called over your shoulder to have Wanda get the spine board. She nodded and ran to the ambulance. A groan pulled your attention back to the man in the banged up vehicle. 

“Steve? Hey big guy. Can you open your eyes for me?” You gently coaxed.

“Wha-? Y/N? What are you doin here?” His speech was slurred but you couldn’t tell if it was because he was regaining consciousness or if the cut on his head was more than just a cut.

“You got in a car accident. Do you know what happened?” You asked as you placed the collar around his neck.

Steve scrunched his face trying to think. “I-I can’t remember.” He started to panic. “Why can’t I remember?”

“Steve, you need to calm down.” You grabbed his wrists so he wouldn’t hurt himself. “Right now I need to check over your injuries.” You heard footsteps behind you and saw the spine board placed next to you. Wanda started getting stuff out of the bag to bandage the cut on Steve’s head. 

The two of you started to assess what you could see but you knew the steering wheel dashboard needed to get moved. You stood up and turned to see if there were any firefighters who could help and saw Sam, Bucky, Clint, and Rhodey all running over to you. They looked over your shoulder and saw it was Steve. 

“What do you need?” Sam asked. 

“His legs are trapped so we need to get those out.”

“Alright. Guys, let’s get the equipment to help.” The men took off back to the fire engine and you turned your attention back to Steve. 

“Hey. I’m going to ask you some questions, okay?” You asked Steve. He mumbled a ‘yes’ and you started asking questions which would assess his mental status. You heard many pairs of footsteps running back over to you and saw Sam out the corner of your eye. You, Sam, and the rest of your team who were there, worked together to get Steve out from being trapped in the car. Once his legs were free, you all placed him on the spine board while Clint and Wanda went to get the gurney. 

“Everything hurts.” Steve groaned in pain. 

“I know, honey.” Unintentionally letting the pet name slip out. “I’m gonna get you some meds for that.” You got everything to get an IV in his arm to distribute pain meds. Wanda and Clint came back with the gurney and everyone loaded him up on the gurney, then into the ambulance, and Wanda jumped in the driver seat and started heading to the hospital. 

“Y/N.” Steve whispered. “I’m glad that you were there.”

You smiled and grabbed his hand. “Well I’m glad that you’re alright for the most part.”

“You called me ‘honey’.”

“Eh. Pet names like that slip from me at times. Sorry if it was unprofessional.”

He gently shook his head as best he could with the collar on. “No, I actually liked it.” 

You could see a sense of determination in his eyes. “How ‘bout we focus on you getting better before we talk about possibly dating and what that means for our jobs.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “How’d you know?”

“Steve. Honey.” You winked at him. “It’s my job to check for even the smallest facial expressions in order to see how much pain someone is in.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

You shook your head chuckling, checking over his injuries you could see to make sure none have gotten worse. 

Wanda pulled into the ambulance bay of the hospital where three nurses met you and helped you roll Steve into the hospital. He went to surgery for his arm and to make sure there were know serious internal injuries. You were there by his bedside in recovery when he woke up. The two of you would figure out logistics with the budding relationship at a later date but knew you couldn’t wait too long. 

Steve mumbled as he was coming out of the anesthesia. He opened his eyes a bit and saw you sitting there. “Hi.” He closed his eyes with a smile on his face. 

You smiled. “Hi. How you feeling?”

Steve mumbled incoherently which caused you to chuckle. 

“Alright.” You grabbed his right hand, being careful of the IV line, in both of yours. “You get more rest.” Steve mumbled more as you placed a kiss on his knuckles.

Tags: @patzammit @bobbydearest @katiew1973 @rocketrhap3000 @harrysthiccthighss @justamarvelfan14​ @this-kitten-is-smitten​

[dontcare77ghj]

On a Very Special Episode

Wanda x reader x Vision

The babies didn't want to sleep. It seemed as though they had all formed a pact to not sleep for as long as they could.

And this had led to three exhausted and cranky children.

"Sweet, sweet, Luna, don't you wanna sleep?" Wanda cooed, bouncing her daughter gently. "Mama wants to go to sleep." She sighed. "If you go to sleep, I promise, you will be my favorite daughter."

"By that logic, she's also your least favorite," Y/N said, entering from the kitchen with Tommy in her arms.

"Never!" Wanda gasped. "No luck with Tommy?" She asked her wife, who was rocking the crying boy.

"I tried feeding him, but he rejected the bottle. Maybe Vision's having better luck." Y/N said hopefully.

"No such luck, darlings." Vision said, descending the stairs, disguise free. "I tried reading to him, but for some reason, Charles Darwin's 'The Descent of Man' made him cry even harder."

"Oh." Wanda groaned. The married three stood in the living room, rocking three crying babies side to side.

"Care to dance, darlings?" Vision asked, moving closer to the women. 

Y/N let out a giggle as Wanda grinned boldly, and the two stepped closer to the man. 

"It's almost like we're on a date." Wanda chuckled.

"Keep it down kids, I was about to get my leg over." Vision joked. 

"Vis? Would you mind getting their binkies?" Wanda asked.

"Oh. 'Course not. Binkies all round, I think." Vision said, putting Billy into his crib.

"They're in the kitchen," Y/N told him. "And while you're in there, do you think you could-?"

"Put the coffee maker on? Of course, darling." Vision promised as Wanda and Y/N put the babies down.

"I love you!" Y/N exclaimed with a smile.

"Now I know parents aren't supposed to take shortcuts, but I think this situation calls for one, don't you?" Wanda asked, moving to stand between the cribs.

"If it means a break from this headache, then yes." Y/N agreed.

"So, go to sleep, my babies," Wanda said, snapping her fingers. But the kids continued to cry their little lungs out. "And go to sleep," Wanda repeated her actions, causing all three to laugh. "Well, I don't think it's very funny. Why won't you do what I want?" Wanda asked her hands on her hips.

"I think that's the definition of kids, sweetheart." Y/N joked. 

"What's that, dear?" Vision asked, entering the room with one binkie in his hand and the other two in his ears.

"That is not where those go." Wanda smiled, pulling them out of Vision's ears and wiping them on her pants.

"Noise cancelation is not their primary function?" Vision joked as Wanda gave the children their binkies. 

"Look, I think it's,"

"Shh! Don't jinx it!" Y/N hiss quietly, leaning into Vision's side.

All three of them held their breath, hoping the babies would settle, but when the kids all spat their binkies out, they let out sighs.

"Vis? Y/N?" Wanda started. "What are we doing wrong here?"

"Oh, don't worry, dear. We'll figure it out." Vision assured.

"It's just a learning curb," Y/N said, rocking the nearest crib to her.

"Exactly! Perhaps we all need more time to get to know one another." Vision suggested.

"Maybe. Or maybe we just need some help." Wanda told the two as the doorbell rang.

Vision rushed towards the couch right as Agnes barged into the house.

"Hiya, kids!" Agnes cheered, entering the house in her new Jazzercise gear.

"Oh, Agnes!" Wanda smiled at her friend.

"Hi, Agnes." Y/N waved, still gently rocking a crib.

"Agnes, I was just fluffing this pillow. With my face." Vision attempted to explain, now fully decked out in his human disguise.

"Oh, I was just on my way to Jazzercise when I heard your new little bundles of joy were on a sleep strike," Agnes explained boisterously.

"And which little birdie told you that?" Y/N wondered.

"A little birdie called my ears!" Agnes joked, causing the three to politely chuckle. "Anyway, Auntie Agnes is here, and I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve."

"Oh, Agnes, you are a lifesaver." Wanda sighed, taking the woman's hands into her own.

"Aw!"

"Very well. But be careful of the belly buttons and remember to support their heads, and when was the last time you washed your, actually you know what? It would be, just, maybe we better not." Vision stressed, moving to block Agnes from the cribs.

"Uh, do you want me to take that again?" Agnes asked, turning to face Wanda nervously.

"I'm sorry?" Wanda asked after exchanging looks with both her husband and wife.

"You want me to hold the babies," Agnes confirmed, staring at Wanda with scared eyes. "Should we just take it from the top?" She wondered, grabbing her bag.

"What?" Vision asked, staring at Agnes curiously.

"Agnes, are you on something?" Y/N questioned the neighbor.

"Oh, don't be silly." Wanda chuckled. "Darlings, let's, let's let Agnes give it a try." She suggested, giving both partners a look before turning back to Agnes.

Agnes stared at Wanda for several seconds before letting out a giggle.

"Fussy babies meet buns of steel. We dare you to stay awake." She joked, causing Wanda to laugh.

"Wanda." Vision gestured for her to join him and Y/N while Agnes kneeled between the cribs. "What was the about?" He wondered.

"What was what?" Wanda cocked her head.

"You're joking, right?" Y/N questioned the woman. "That thing with Agnes just now." She clarified.

"Well, I think she just got confused for a moment. She seems fine now." Wanda shrugged, watching as Agnes rocked the cribs.

"But what she said." Vision stuttered.

"The way she looked at you," Y/N added.

"How did she look at me?" Wanda wondered, looking between the two with a smile.

"Well, I don't know."

"I didn't. Oh." Vision gasped, staring at Agnes, causing both wives to turn.

"Lavender. It's supposed to have a calming effect. Ralph sprays it on me every night. But there's no taming this tiger. What?" Agnes chuckled, continuing to spray the perfume over the crying babies.

"It's so strange." Y/N shook her head.

"Undoubtedly." Vision agreed.

"That's not fair. It's not Agnes's fault that she has an unusually high libido." 

"Did you actually not see what we did?" Y/N wondered, tilting her head at Wanda before there was a thud in the kitchen. 

Once more, all three turned to now find Agnes searching through their cabinets.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just looking for your dark liquor." Agnes told them.

"Excuse me?" Y/N asked, staring at her in confusion.

"Not for me. For the kids. What kind of babysitter do you think I am?" Agnes asked, causing Wanda to chuckle while Y/N and Vision continued to stare. "I'm just gonna go and check in there."

"Vision, Y/N, the kids haven't slept in days. We all need a break, and Agnes is just being neighborly, that's all." Wanda told the two. 

"Do you hear that?" Vision whispered.

"Hear what?" Wanda asked in the same tone.

"Absolutely nothing." Vision grinned, moving over to the cribs.

"Oh, thank God. They finally fell asleep." Y/N sighed happily. 

"They're empty." Vision gasped.

"Where are the kids?" Wanda asked, throwing her hand over her mouth.

"They can't have gotten far. The kids can't even walk." Y/N attempted to soothe the two.

"Mama?"

"Mommy?"

"Daddy?"

The married three snapped around at the sound to notice three five years standing by the stairs. Two brunette boys and a blonde girl stood close together, watching the three adults closely.

"Ah, kids." Agnes sighed, now sitting on a kitchen counter with a glass of liquor. "You can't control 'em. No matter how hard you try." She laughed before raising her glass to no-one and taking a drink.

Wanda, Vision, and Y/N shared a confused look before turning back to their kids.

"Well, hi!"

"Hi!"

"Hi, sweetheart!"

The three cooed, leaning down and holding their arms out wide for the kids, who gladly ran into them.

"How are you doing, buddy?"

"You're so big."

"Aw, you're so sweet."

"What's the first thing you do remember?" Hayward asked. 

"Pain," Monica told him. "And then, Wanda's voice in my head."

"Did you try to resist?" Hayward questioned her.

"There was this feeling keeping me down. This hopeless feeling. Like drowning. It was grief."

Monica had been being examined by multiple doctors for hours now. Each had new tests they wanted her to take, and new things they wanted to check were working.

"You can sit up now." A female doctor told her.

"Great." Monica sighed, pushing herself up. "So am I cleared?" Monica asked with no real hope.

"Once I get a look at these." The woman said.

"Where's my uniform?" Monica questioned the doctor.

"In analysis." 

"Mighty glad to have you back, Captain." Jimmy smiled, entering the room with Darcy and Clint behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like myself," Monica said with a small smile.

"Well, thank heavens for that." Jimmy grinned.

"What's the latest?" Monica asked, glancing at the two beside Jimmy.

"There's a briefing in ten. Pants are encouraged." She said, holding out a pair.

"This is Dr. Darcy Lewis. She's the one who discovered the broadcast." Jimmy introduced.

"I'm," Monica started, holding a hand out.

"Monica, I know. Big fan." Darcy grinned, shaking her hand with two. 

"And this is,"

"Agent Clint Barton." Monica nodded, holding her hand out once more.

"Nice to meet you." Clint nodded, shaking her hand firmly once.

"We're going to need to do these again. There's something wrong with the machine." The doctor announced, walking back over.

"Those are blank," Darcy said, looking at the tablet in the doctor's hands.

"Like I said."

"Well, what about her labs?" Darcy asked.

"I need another blood draw." The doctor shrugged.

"No. No, we're done here." Monica denied, standing from the bed and walking away to change.

"She does that," Jimmy assured the doctor. "See you at the briefing." He called to Monica.

"Morning." Hayward greeted the assembled crowd. "We are now assessing a more clear picture of this crisis. And thanks to Captain Rambeau, we now have first-person intel from inside the Westview anomaly. Our initial theory had Wanda Maximoff as one of the many victims. We now know she is the principal victimizer." He said, causing Clint to grimace. "Jimmy."

"Quick history on our subject. Born in Sokovia in 1989 to Irina and Oleg Maximoff, both killed during an air raid when Maximoff and her brother were ten." Jimmy explained to the group.

"The twins were subsequently radicalized, volunteering at HYDRA," Hayward interjected.

"They were kids. The Maximoff's were tricked." Clint cut in.

"Either way, after unspecified experimentation with the Mind Stone, Maximoff somehow gained telekinetic and telepathic abilities," Jimmy said, trying to dissipate the room's tension.

"Barton, does Maximoff have an alias?" Hayward cut Jimmy off.

"No." Clint shook his head.

"No funny nickname, Hawkeye?"

"She wasn't interested in having an alias."

"And the earliest tracking had her using her powers against the Avengers. Is that correct?" Hayward pressed.

"She and her brother were scared kids who had been traumatized, beaten down, and manipulated for years. She made a mistake, and she fixed it." Clint defended his daughter's partner.

"And that's why Lagos and Germany turned out as they did." Hayward rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Jimmy," Hayward said, shooing Jimmy back into the group. "Now that we have the lay of the land, we can talk strategy."

"I try not to speak ill of people," Jimmy whispered to Darcy.

"Then allow me. Hayward's a dick." She said, causing Clint to smirk.

"Wanda is not a terrorist," Monica loudly said, drawing the three's attention back to the meeting.

"By your own account, you described the experience of being under mind-control as 'excruciating, terrifying, a violation.'" Hayward recited as the screens behind him began to play footage of her as Geraldine.

"My point is, I don't believe she has a political agenda," Monica said, swallowing harshly. "Or any inclination toward destruction."

"Monica, she basted you halfway across New Jersey," Hayward said, staring at her blankly.

"And I survived because she chose to protect me." Monica defended her on-screen friend.

"She's holding thousands of people hostage, including Agent Y/N Barton," Hayward said, nodding to Clint.

"And it could have been thousands more if she hadn't put up her own quartine." Monica snapped. "Listen, I don't believe this is a premeditated act of aggression." She told the room.

"You don't? Bring up the visual." Hayward told an agent beside him. All the screens lit up now playing SWORD security footage. "This morning, I received authorization to share this highly-sensitive material from SWORD headquarters. Until very recently, it was the top-secret location of the Vision's corpse." Hayward said as everyone watched Wanda storm in SWORD headquarters, blasting doors open and breaking glass windows.

"A corpse that was stolen from his grave on my property," Clint announced, rolling his eyes at the footage.

"We found it. And we weren't going to return it just for you to put billions of dollars worth of vibranium back in the ground." Hayward said as Clint glared at him.

"When was this?" Monica asked, watching the footage closely.

"Nine days ago. Maximoff stormed our facility, stole the Vision's body, and resurrected him." Hayward shrugged as he glanced over at a TV screen showing the current episode.

"But that's in direct violation of Section 36B of the Sokovia Accords," Jimmy said.

"And the Vision's own living will."

"He never wanted to a weapon."

"Maximoff, in her grief, disregarded his wishes. And possibly the wishes of Y/N Barton." Hayward told the assembled group. "All right, that's it for now. Let's work on the problem, people. Dismissed." He said, causing everyone to rush off.

"But how did she even do it?" Jimmy turned to Darcy. "Bring him back without the Mind Stone?"

"Who knows?" Darcy scoffed, shaking her head. "But she has the World's only vibranium synthezoid, playing Father-Knows-Best-In-Suburbia. What happens learns the truth? What happens when Y/N learns the truth?"

"I don't think he likes the water," Tommy said, staring at a sink filled with bubbles.

"But we have to get him clean, so Mama will let us keep him." Billy reasoned.

"I got Mommy's shampoo. It'll help him smell pretty," Luna said, pouring at least half the bottle into the already overflowing sink.

"Tommy! Billy! Luna!" 

"Oh no! Mama's coming!"

"You know I don't miss the crying, but jeez Louise, did you have to learn to walk? You three never stay put. Unless you're innocently forming a human wall in front of the kitchen sink." Wanda said, staring between the three kids as she approached them.

"Is there really any way to innocently form a human wall?" Y/N asked, entering the kitchen to lean against the kitchen counter. "What are you three up to?"

None of the kids knew what to say, and none of them had a chance to say anything as there was a quiet sneeze.

"Bless you." Y/N and Wanda said together.

"Thank you." The kids said in unison before there was a quiet bark.

"Now tell me which one of you just barked?" Wanda asked, tilting her head at the three. "Scoot." Wanda sighed, causing the children to move away from the sink.

Once the kids had moved away, it was revealed that a small dog was sitting in the kitchen sink.

"Oh, boy." Y/N chuckled. "Busted kiddos."

"Waiter, what's this canine doing in my kitchen sink?" Wanda asked, turning to the kids.

"The doggy paddle?" Billy innocently suggested.

"Can we keep him, Mama?" Tommy asked, giving Wanda his best puppy dog eyes. "Please, Mommy?" He repeated to Y/N when she moved to stand beside Wanda.

"We'll be the best owners ever, Mama!" Luna reasoned with wide eyes. "Pretty, pretty, please?"

"Well, I'm sure his owners his miss him very much," Wanda said, attempting to reason with the three as Y/N pulled the dog out of the sink.

"There's isn't a collar, Wand," Y/N told her wife.

"Really?" Wanda asked, checking just to be sure.

"Can we keep him?"

"He was outside. Crying, alone."

"We can't just abandon him."

"They're really good at blackmail, Wand," Y/N said, melting at the kids pleading. "I'm cracking."

"Kiddos, taking care of a living thing is a big responsibility," Wanda told the three.

"That's right. Dogs need food, exercise, and training." Y/N nodded as Wanda pulled the pup into her arms.

"And belly rubs, and cuddles. And kisses between their little ears." Wanda cooed, clutching the dog close.

"Morning wives! Morning kids!" Vision exclaimed, entering the kitchen in his disguise before stopping in his tracks. "Good morning, unfamiliar wet animal." He said, grabbing his newspaper. "Who's this?"

"We're not sure yet," Y/N said as Wanda handed the dog back to her. "Could be ours!" Y/N said in a sing-song.

"Why so formal, honey?" Wanda asked, staring at Vision in confusion.

"Oh, it's just a precaution, really. I had a hunch someone might pop over." He said as the back door opened and Agnes entered the house.

"Hi, kiddos!" Agnes grinned, holding a dog kennel in her hand.

"With exactly the item we require." Vision said, sharing a look with Y/N as she put the dog down.

"My kitchen window told me someone got a new pooch!" Agnes cooed, putting the kennel on the counter. "Did you name him yet?"

"How about Sniffy?" Tommy suggested, watching the tiny dog sniff around the kitchen.

"How 'bout Sparky?" Agnes joked after the dog had sniffed an electrical socket.

"Well, should we make it official?" Wanda smiled before making a collar appear in her hands to the shock of her partners.

"Wanda!" Y/N hissed, moving closer to the two.

"What?" Wanda asked in genuine confusion.

"Agnes was right there!" Vision whispered.

"She didn't notice," Wanda assured her partners. "She didn't even notice when the kids went from babies to five-year-olds." She joked.

"Oh, so I can send a tornado through the kitchen now,  and it's fine?" Y/N shook her head.

"This is not what we agreed upon," Vision told her. "You made no effort to conceal your abilities."

"I'm tired of hiding, Vis." Wanda shook her head. "And maybe the two of you don't have to either." She suggested, taking Y/N's hand and placing her other hand on Vision's face.

"Wanda, since we've moved here, it's been all about fitting in. How is this fitting in?" Y/N sighed.

"Usually, the three of us are so much of the same mind, but right now, what aren't you telling us?" Vision asked her.

"So is Sparky our dog, Daddy?" Luna asked, interrupting the three's conversation.

"Please, Mommy?" Billy and Tommy asked in unison.

"I've cracked." Y/N sighed. "I'm all for a dog." She told her husband and wife. The two turned to look at her, and the three had a silent conversation that ended with Y/N letting out a sigh.

"Kids, three of us don't think you're ready to properly care for an animal until you're at least,"

"Ten. Ten." Vision coughed.

"Ten years old." Wanda finished. The three kids looked sad for a moment before they shared a long silent look and smirked.

"Wait, no, no, no."

"Wait, now hang on a minute."

"Don't even think about what you're thinking about."

The three of you tried to scold the kids, but it was too late. The kids had made up their minds. 

Within seconds the kids were shooting up like beanstalks and were suddenly older. 

"Let's just hope this dog stays the same size." Agnes joked.

"I need a coffee." Y/N sighed, holding a hand to her head. 

"Can we have coffee too, Mom?" Luna asked as the boys nodded with her.

"No!" All three parents exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Okay. Okay, I've got it." Monica said, standing in front of the whiteboard with a texter in hand. "What I need is a ten thousand pound fallout shelter comprised of lead for photons, cadmium for neutrons, tantalum for seismic blasts, on wheels. And then, I would be able to safely re-enter Westview, right?" She asked the woman before her.

"Yes. Theoretically." Darcy nodded.

"I can work with theoretically."

"Better make sure that things a two-seater." Clint piped up from where he watched the TV, showcasing his daughter and her family. "Because you're not going in alone."

"What'd I miss?" Jimmy asked, entering the room with a tray of coffees.

"The kids aged up to ten," Darcy said as she and Clint quickly grabbed a coffee each.

"Holy Christmas. At this rate, they'll be empty nesters by dinnertime." Jimmy commented.

"I know an aerospace engineer who'd be up for the challenge." Monica smiled, looking away from the board.

"But I can't guarantee the Hex won't just mind-wipe you as you go in," Darcy warned the woman, causing the other three in the room to face her.

"The Hex?" Clint asked, raising a brow.

"Oh yeah, it's what I'm calling the anomaly because of its hexagonal shape. It's starting the catch on." Darcy said, causing Monica to look at the men who shook their heads. "You really want to go back in there? After everything you went through?"

"Yeah." Monica nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Have we identified these minors yet? Or the newborns?"

"The kids aren't someone else's," Clint interjected. "Pay close attention to the hair, the eye colors, their faces. They look exactly like their parents," Clint said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"The kids are theirs." Monica agreed. "Everything might look fake on the TV, but everything is real."

"But Wanda manipulates people's perceptions, makes them hallucinate." Jimmy pointed out.

"Yeah, that's her whole bag. If all the sets and props and wardrobe were solid matter, that would mean she's wielding an insane amount of power." Darcy told him.

"Far exceeding anything she's displayed in the past."

"She could have taken out Thanos on her own," Clint said. "She was ripping apart his very being before he made that bitch move. No-one even came close to taking him down on their own."

"Well, I'd argue Captain Marvel came close." Jimmy shrugged.

"Her powers come from an infinity stone, too, right?" Darcy asked, looking at everyone for an answer.

"We are not talking about her. We are talking about Wanda." Monica said, moving over to the board filled with pictures. "Darcy? What was that you were saying about props and sets and," Monica trailed off, plucking the photo of the red helicopter from the sixties episode.

"Wardrobe?" 

"Where's the lab?" Monica asked her.

"Two tents away. Why?" Darcy asked, but she never got an answer as Monica rushed out of the room. Clint, Darcy, and Jimmy shared looks with one another before Jimmy and Darcy raced after Monica. Clint stayed in the room, intently watching the screen before him.

"What are we looking for?" Jimmy asked as Monica pushed the doors open.

"That," Monica said, staring at her seventies costume.

"Oh, man, are we being mind-controlled to see that right now?" Darcy gasped.

"Jeepers Creepers!" Jimmy cringed. 

"Oh no. It's real, all right." Monica grinned after reading off a computer screen. "Can I borrow this?" Monica asked, taking Jimmy's gun from his pocket.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jimmy said, reaching out for the gun as Darcy covered her ears. Monica shot at her costume several times, causing absolutely no damage to the clothes.

"Whoa!" Darcy grinned.

"You had a bulletproof vest on when you went inside, didn't you?" Jimmy asked, picking up one of the flattened bullets.

"Those pants are 87% Kevlar," Monica explained. "It's not an illusion. Wanda is rewriting reality."

"Permanently?"

"If she can changes things as they go into the Hex,"

"Ah, you called it the Hex!" Darcy smirked.

"What happens if we send something in that requires no change?" Monica elaborated.

Computational Services had been upgraded into the 1980s. Vision and the rest of the Computational Services employees had spent much of the day setting up the new computing systems around the office.

"So you're telling me this is a typewriter, a Rolodex, and a calendar all in one? What else can it do? Find me a wife?" Norm joked, sitting at his desk staring amazedly at the new computer.

"Eventually, yes." Vision agreed as he sat down.

"It's a hell of a thing watching you work these computers, Vision. It's like you speak their language." Norm complimented.

"What do you think, Norm? Should we surf the Internet?" Vision asked, moving to stand beside the man.

"Cowabunga, dude." Norm grinned, giving his seat up to Vision."Hey, look, we got electronic mail already!" Norm cheered as Vision booted the computer up. 

"It's called an email, Norm." Vision gently corrected him. "What are you looking for?"

"Letter opener," Norm said after rifling through the draws.

"Ah, we don't need that. We're already cutting edge." Vision said, opening the email.

"SWORD. Top secret communique. Authenticate." Norm read aloud before Vision noticed the rest of the office reading the same email in unison.

"Doctor Darcy Lewis' findings regarding Maximoff's Anomaly. High levels of radiation present at the perimeter. Effect on Westview residents unknown. Please advise." The office chorused as Vision stared at his coworkers in shock and fear as the words of email sunk in. But no-one else was scared.

Everyone else was laughing.

"Well, come on, pal. What are we gonna write back?" Norm chuckled. "You're the office funny guy. It's a joke, can't you tell. None of it is real." He said as Vision tried to read the computer, but he felt nothing.

Vision turned to stare at his coworker as an idea formed, and without a word, he rose to his feet and pressed his fingers to Norm's temples.

Vision could sense a wall in Norm's mind. It was blocking Norm's memories, and it was strong but not stronger than Vision.

Norm transformed before Vision's eyes. His cheerful friend was suddenly reduced to a stammering panicked mess. 

"Please, please, help me," Norm begged, his hands grasping at Visions. "What day is it? How long has it been? Where's my phone? I have to call my sister." He gasped, letting go of Vision and shoving papers and objects on his desk aside as he searched for his phone.

"Norm." 

"She's taking care of our dad. He's sick." Norm rambled, tossing papers aside. "Where is my phone?"

"Calm yourself, Norm. I can't understand what you're trying to tell me." Vision whispered, leaning closer to the man.

"You have to stop her," Norm begged, fists clutching Vision's suit.

"Stop who?"

"She's in my head. None of it is my own. It hurts. It hurts so much. Just make her stop." Norm begged, clutching Vision's suit tighter. "Just make her stop!" Norm yelled before Vision touched his temples once more and restored the wall.

Norm shook his head slightly as his hands fell limply at his side before he smiles at Vision.

"Now tell me this, if I send an email, where would I put the stamp? Technology." Norm chuckled as Vision shakily walked back to his desk.

"I'm just going to go to the store," Y/N told her wife as she pulled on a jacket.

"Oh, I'll tell the kids to put their shoes on. We'll all go for a walk." Wanda nodded.

"No, it's okay. I want to go on my own." Y/N shook her head quickly.

"Are you sure, hon? Because whatever we need, I can, just make it appear." Wanda smiled at her own joke before frowning as Y/N grabbed her bag. "Why don't you want us to come?" Wanda questioned her.

"Because I need five minutes to think. And I think a walk would do me some good." Y/N sighed.

"What can't you think about here?" Wanda pressed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's not here. I just need some time to mull things over." Y/N promised. 

"What's there to mull over?"

"Why are you pushing me on this? What's so hard to understand about this?" Y/N asked, turning to Wanda with a frown.

"It's hard for me to understand why you're acting like this. Did I do something? Did the kids?" Wanda wondered.

"No. Never," Y/N promised, taking Wanda's hand. "It just been a lot of changes recently, and I need just a second to comprehend them all," Y/N said, squeezing her wife's hand.

"Fine. Whatever. Go for your walk. We'll be here." Wanda shook her head, pulling her hand free.

"Look, we'll talk when I get back. I love you." Y/N said, leaning over to kiss Wanda quickly before leaving the house.

"Love you too," Wanda called.

What neither woman had noticed were the three spying kids, who'd heard everything and were now looking at each other worriedly.

"Sit, Sparky. Sit. Good boy!" Billy cheered.

Wanda had snapped out of her thoughts after several long minutes. And once she had snapped out of her head, she needed a distraction. And so, she had called the kids into the living room and asked them to show her the tricks they'd been teaching Sparky.

"Speak!" Billy commanded, causing the dog to let out a bark. "Nice, Sparky. Now spin. Good boy!" Billy said, feeding the dog a treat as his mother, sister and brother clapped.

"Oh! Bravo, Billy! You weren't so bad either, Sparky!" Wanda complimented, causing the boy to smile widely.

"That was radical!" Tommy exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pulling Luna to hers.

"Can we show Daddy?" Luna asked, turning to her mother.

"Oh, he's at work," Wanda told her daughter apologetically. 

"It's Saturday, Mama," Billy said as he and his siblings looked much more disappointed than a second ago.

"No, it's not. It's Monday." Wanda waved him off.

"This morning was Saturday," Tommy told her.

"There was an emergency at the office, and your father had to go in. End of story." Wanda said, causing the kids to look between one another. "Look, he just. He needed a distraction."

"Like Mom?" Billy frowned.

"What?"

"Dad and Mom needed a distraction from us?" Luna asked with a sad expression.

"No! No way! No!" Wanda denied, rushing over to the three. "Sometimes, your dad, your mom, and I aren't on the same page," Wanda said, wrapping her arms around her children. "But it's just temporary." She promised, leading the three over to the couch. "Like the three of you, you might fight over toys, but you're always going to be siblings. You're always going to be Luna's brothers, and she's always going to be your sister, and you boys will always be each other's twin. Because family is forever." Wanda assured the three.

"Do you have a sibling, Mama?" Tommy wondered.

"I do. Yeah, I have a brother." Wanda nodded. "He's far away from here, and that makes me sad sometimes." She said before Sparky began to bark loudly.

"Hey, Sparky, what's up, boy?" Billy asked after the dog jumped out of his arms and rushed to the door.

"Something's scaring him!" Tommy exclaimed as Sparky growled at the door.

"Mama?" Luna asked, watching as her mother's face became blank. 

"Stay here," Wanda said, standing from the couch.

Wanda moved towards the door and opened it, causing Sparky to bolt outside.

"Sparky!" The kids yelled, running off behind their mother.

"I know this tech is from the '80s, but can we sharpen the visuals?" Hayward asked, watching the screen intently over Monica's shoulder.

"Working on it," Monica told him. "Maximoff located." She said as she flew closer to the house.

"Well done." Hayward complimented with a blank face.

"We can't see the drone on the broadcast," Clint announced from behind.

"Wanda's framing it out of the shot." Jimmy deduced.

"Just like all the jump cuts. Wanda decides what makes it onto her show and what doesn't." Darcy added.

"And here we go. You're up." Hayward told Monica.

"Wanda, this is Captain Monica Rambeau. Can you hear me? I just want to talk, that's it." Monica said into the headpiece, staring at the black and white screen, a black and white screen that showed Wanda's glowing red eyes.

"No joy." Hayward sighed.

"Wait, my controls aren't working. Reconnect patch." Monica said as an alarm began to ding beside her.

"Disregard. Take the shot." Hayward shook his head before turning to a man to the side.

"What? No. The drone isn't armed." Monica shook her head, glancing at the man to her side as she desperately tried to take control back of the drone.

"Take the shot," Hayward commanded before the screen fritzed out and died.

"What did you do?" Clint demanded, rushing towards the director. "What did you do?"

 He repeated before several alarms began to blare.

"There's a breach, sir."

Everyone jumped to their feet and rushed outside as the alarms continued to blast.

Cars were loaded as everyone raced as close to the boundary line as they dared. When the agents jumped out of the car, Monica, Clint, Darcy, and Jimmy's noticed, much to their horror, that they were all armed.

The four and Hayward had just pushed their way to the front of the gathering when Wanda emerged from Westview.

Dragging behind her SWORD's drone.

"Is this yours?" Wanda asked, throwing the drone at Hayward's feet.

"The missile was just a precaution. You can hardly blame us, Wanda." Hayward tried to reason.

"Oh, I think I can. This will be your only warning. Stay out of my home." Wanda said, staring blankly at the director. "You don't bother me. I won't bother you."

"I wish it could be that simple. You've taken an entire town hostage." Hayward said, attempting to appeal to Wanda's moral compass.

"I'm not the one with the guns director," Wanda mentioned, staring at the weapons in disdain.

"But you are the one in control," Monica spoke up.

"You're still here." Wanda acknowledged, creating a ball of red energy in her hand.

"Wanda, I didn't know the drones were armed. But you know, don't you? A town full of civilians, and you, a telepath, brought a SWORD agent into your home. You trusted me to help deliver your babies. You trusted me with Y/N and Vision. On some level, Wanda, you know I'm an ally. I wanna help you." Monica told the woman.

"How? What could you possibly have to offer me?" Wanda questioned her.

"Well, what do you want, kiddo?" Clint asked, taking a step towards her. 

"I have what I want. And you, all of you, will stay from them," Wanda said, glaring at Clint. "No-one is ever going to take them from me or hurt them again," Wanda said before turning to Hayward as her hand glowed red. 

Every one of SWORD's agent's eyes burned a bright red as they turned their guns on Hayward.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stand down!" Hayward exclaimed as Wanda turned away.

"Wanda!"

Wanda paid no attention to those calling her name or the chaos behind her as she neared the Hex.

Wanda appeared to almost rip the Hex apart as she entered it. 

And the shock of everyone watching, the entirety of the Hex changed from a cool blue to a bright burning red.

"Hey, stranger." Y/N grinned as her husband exited Computational Services. "Want to walk me home?"

"You know you should never walk anywhere with a stranger." Vision scolded as he walked closer to Y/N. "The likelihood in which,"

"Vis." Y/N cut him off, raising a brow, continuing to smile.

"Sorry." Vision blushed. "I'd love to walk with you, darling." He smiled, taking Y/N's hand as the two set off for home. 

"I told Wanda I was going for a walk." Y/N mentioned as she swung her's and Vision's hands. "I might have made her suspicious."

"Suspicious of what?" Vision wondered, turning his head to her. 

"What I can't tell her," Y/N said. "I hate doing it, but I lied to her so I could talk to you. Privately. Vis, there's something weird about this town."

"I know." Vision nodded. "I, too, have noticed abnormalities in the town. As well as with the people."

"You mean with Agnes this morning?" Y/N wondered, frowning as she thought back on their neighbor's behavior. 

"I mean with Agnes and Herb. Mr. and Mrs. Hart. Geraldine and her mysterious disappearance. And just recently with Norm."

"The guy in your office?"

"Darling, I have a confession." Vision sighed, pulling Y/N over to a bench. "We received an email about work regarding 'The Maximoff Anamoly.' Everyone disregarded it as a joke, but I had a feeling it meant something, so I looked into Norm's mind."

"Vis."

"I found a wall in his mind, and when I was able to breach it, he changed," Vision told her.

"Changed how?" Y/N asked, cocking her head slightly.

"He was scared, Y/N." Vision said. "And I believe he was scared of Wanda." He added.

"Wanda? Our wife?"

"Yes. Norm's memories seemed to have been blocked by Wanda, and so, I have to ask something of you." Vision said. Y/N caught onto his train of thought quickly and shook her head at the man.

"No Vis, we agreed," Y/N said, crossing her arms. "Even playing ground between the three of us."

"I understand that darling, but I don't remember anything before Westview." Vision revealed. "I have been through all my systems and processors, and nothing is stopping me from remembering. The memories just simply aren't there."

"And you want to see if Wanda has blocked my memories?" Y/N asked after a second of thought.

"Darling, I know how it sounds, but can you remember your family? Your parents? Where you grew up? Do you remember how we met? Because I don't." Vision told her.

"I can never remember our wedding," Y/N whispered as the pieces began to fall into place. 

Everything Vision was saying made sense. She couldn't remember any of those things and never had been able to. 

Y/N had always brushed the idea of not remembering anything to the side, scolding herself for being silly.

But maybe she wasn't.

"Okay. I trust you, Vis. You can break the rule just this once." Y/N said. Vision gave her a gentle smile before raising his fingers to her temples. Y/N's eyes closed as Vision entered her mind before he jumped back with a yelp.

"Ah!"

"Vis?" Y/N asked, eyes snapping open and staring at her husband in shock.

"There's something stronger than Wanda's wall blocking your memories," Vision told her, wriggling his fingers. "I'm sorry, darling, but I can't break it." He apologized.

"It's okay. You tried." Y/N smiled, grabbing his hand with hers. "I think we need to talk to Wanda." 

"I think you're right." Vision agreed, rising to his feet with Y/N following.

"Sparky!"

"Come here, Sparky!" 

"Sparky! Sparky!"

The four had been searching for the small dog for what felt like hours, but there was still no sign of Sparky.

"Hey, what's the trouble, kids?" Dennis, the mailman, asked as he walked past.

"We can't find our dog," Luna told the man.

"Ah, don't worry. He's sure to turn up. Your mom won't let him get far." Dennis promised. "Ma'am." He tipped his head. 

"I just don't know where he could've gone." Wanda sighed as the four continued down the street.

"Sparky!

"Sparky!"

"Sparky! Sparky!"

The kids made it to the end of the street when the bushes began to rustle. The kids let out excited gasps of 'Sparky' before Agnes stood, holding a small bundle with a remorseful face. 

Tommy let out a gasp as Wanda's face fell, and Luna clutched Billy's hand.

"I didn't want to come until I'd wrapped him up," Agnes said, staring at the four sadly.

"What happened to him?" Wanda demanded, moving closer to her friend.

"Found him in my azalea bushes. Don't know how many leaves he ate. I didn't find him until it was too late. Oh, Tommy, Billy, Luna, I'm so sorry." Agnes apologized. 

The kids turned to each other with teary eyes before nodding.

"Wait. Don't. Don't." Wanda said, catching onto their plan. 

"Don't what?" Tommy demanded.

"Don't age yourselves up," Wanda told the three as she bent in front of them. "The urge to run from this feeling is powerful, I know."

"It's too sad." Billy shook his head as Tommy took Luna's other hand.

"You can fix anything, Mama. Fix the dead." Tommy said.

"Please, Mama. Please fix this. Bring Sparky back." Luna begged, squeezing her brother's hands.

"What? No." Wanda shook her head as she pulled back.

"You can do that?" Agnes asked, staring at Wanda in wonder.

"I am trying to tell you that there are rules in life, okay?" Wanda said as she kneeled on the concert. "We can't rush aging just because it's convenient. And we can't reverse death. No matter how sad it makes us, okay? Some things are forever." Wanda told them.

"You said family is forever." Billy reminded her.

"He is family," Tommy said.

"Bring him back, Mama, please," Luna begged.

"Bring who back?" 

The four turned at the sound of Vision's voice to see him and Y/N standing behind them.

"Oh, sweethearts." Y/N sighed, glancing at the bundle in Agnes' arms.

"Come here." Vision said as he and Y/N pulled the kids into an embrace.

When the six had arrived home, the kids had rushed directly to their rooms, refusing even dinner.

Wanda had taken it upon herself to console the children while Y/N packed away Sparky's belongings and Vision buried the dog.

"How are the kids?" Vision asked, moving to wash his hands.

"A little heartbroken, but they'll be alright," Wanda told him.

"The kids are tough. Give them time." Y/N said, throwing a ball into the basket.

"It's not often you get a dog and bury them in the same day." Vision commented, scrubbing the dirt from beneath his fingernails.

"Well, life moves pretty fast out in the suburbs," Wanda commented, taking the basket of Sparky's toys as Y/N and Vision shared a look. 

"I spoke with Norm." Vision said, drying his hands on a tea towel.

"Oh?"

"I unearthed the man's suppressed personality and spoke to him free of your oversight. He was in pain, Wanda." Vision told her.

"Vision, listen, can we just,"

"Wanda, why is there a wall in my mind?" Y/N cut her off.

 "Excuse me?"

"Vision saw. There are two walls in my mind."

"Sweethearts, it's been a long day." Wanda shook her head. "Can we just,"

"What? Watch TV? Turn in for the night so you can change everything over again?" Vision scoffed.

"No, Wanda." Y/N shook her head. "You can't run away from this. You can't run away from us."

"You can't control us the way you do them." Vision said, moving to stand beside Y/N at the island.

"Can't I?" Wanda tilted her head. There was an air of finality to her tone as she turned her back on her wife and husband and walked to the door. "I'm going to bed."

"No, you're not!" Y/N snapped, walking around the island.

"What is the 'Maximoff Anomaly'?" Vision asked, following after Y/N.

"The what?"

"I have to believe that this, whatever this is, was subconscious at first and that you only recently became aware of it." Vision said, glancing around the kitchen.

"Aware of what?" Wanda asked before walking into the living room.

"Wanda, whatever you're doing to the rest of the town, is wrong!" Y/N said, following after her.

"Norm has a family, Wanda!" Vision exclaimed his anger so vast he lost control of his disguise. "He has a family, and he can't reach them because you won't let him reach them!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Wanda yelled.

"Stop lying!" Vision shouted as he began to float. 

"Wanda, what is happening here?" Y/N demanded as she and Wanda joined Vision in the air. "You can't deny what's happening in this town isn't normal." 

"This, all of this is for us," Wanda told the two. "So let me handle it."

"What is outside of Westview?" Vision demanded.

"You don't wanna know, I promise you." Wanda shook her head. 

"You're not allowed to make that choice for us, Wanda," Y/N told the woman.

"You've never talked to me like before. Neither of you has ever spoken to me like this before." Wanda shook her head sadly as she brought herself back to the ground.

"Before? Before what?" Y/N asked. 

"I don't remember before! I don't remember my life before Westview! I don't know who I am!" Vision yelled. "I'm scared!" He declared.

"You are my husband. You are Y/N's husband. You are Billy, Tommy and Luna's father." Wanda said as Vision and Y/N slowly lowered themselves to the ground. "Isn't that enough?"

"Wanda, why don't the kids have any grandparents?" Y/N asked her. "Why can't I remember the last time I saw my family? Why haven't I spoken to them since we moved here?"

"Why are there no other children in Westview?" Vision added.

"Will the two of you just stop?" Wanda asked, walking away from the two.

"No. We won't."

"The playground stands empty every time I walk past it. Why? Why have I never spoken to either of your parents? Where are mine?" Vision asked her.

"Do you two really think I am controlling everything? That I am somehow in charge of everybody in Westview? I'm walking their dogs, mowing their lawns, getting them to their dentist appointments on time? I mean." Wanda emotionlessly chuckled as she collapsed onto the couch. "I don't know how any of this started." Wanda finally admitted.

"Wanda, what you're doing here is wrong." Vision said, kneeling beside her.

"What you're doing to these people is wrong." Y/N tacked on, sitting on the coffee table before the doorbell rang.

At the sound, the three all perked up and looked over at the door.

"I didn't do that." Wanda shook her head at the noise. "I, you don't believe me." Wanda realized, shaking her head.

"I want to, but at this point, I'm ignoring statistics entirely," Vision told her.

"You still haven't answered any of our questions," Y/N said when Wanda looked over to her.

When the doorbell rang again, Wanda wiped the tears from her eyes and walked towards the door.

With a sigh, Y/N and Vision rose to their feet and stood behind Wanda to see her freeze at the man on the other side of the door.

"Wanda, who is it?" Vision asked, staring at the white-haired man.

"Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinkin' sister to death or what?" The man wondered. 

"Pietro?" Wanda whispered, staring at the man in confusion. "Oh." She happily sighed when he pulled her into his chest.

"Who's the popsicle and the broad?"

Taglist is open throughout the entirety of the series.

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[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 5

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 3,300ish

Summary: Scott has issues with tampons. You get pulled onto one of Steve’s cases. (I do not own Marvel or Grey’s Anatomy.)

Everyone was piling out of your car in the medical center parking garage. It was the early hours of the morning and it was time for your shifts. This morning though, Val walked in the bathroom while Scott was just taking a shower. She walked in in just a tank top and underwear, grabbed his toothbrush and began brushing her teeth.

“You don’t understand,” Scott continued as you all walked into the building. “Me gonads, you ovaries.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Val said. “We are out of tampons.”

“You’re parading through the bathroom in your underwear when I’m naked in the shower.”

“Can you add it to your list, please?”

“What?!”

“Tampons,” you clarified. “To the list, it’s your turn.”

“I am a man!” Scott yelled. “I don’t buy girl products.”

“Ooo,” Clint grimaced. “I wouldn’t say that if you don’t want to get kicked out. Besides, I bought them last time they needed some. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Still! I don’t want them walking in while I’m in the shower. And I don’t want to see them in their underwear!”

“It doesn’t bother me, okay?” Val said. “Look at me in my underwear, Scott. Take your time. It’s no big deal.”

As you walked into the hospital and headed to the locker room, you spotted Steve down the hall. You bit your check because how could a man still look that attractive this early in the morning? All dirty scrubs and patriotic scrub cap. You got changed into your scrubs before meeting Gamora at a nurses station. Your group of interns was in charge of pre-rounds today.

“You are the first person they see in the morning,” Gamora stated, explaining how you all should act. “You say please. You say thank you. You apologize for waking them up. You make them feel good about you. Why is that important? Cause then they'll talk to you and tell you what's wrong. Why is that important? Because then you can tell you're attending what they need to know during rounds. And why is that important? Because if you make your resident look bad, she'll torture you until you beg for your mother. Now get out there. I want pre-rounds done be 5:30 am.”

You all nodded at turned away, heading to your patients.

“I better get good patients today,” you told Natasha. “Yesterday, I had two guys with colostomies who needed dressing changes every 15 minutes.”

“I’m gonna be in surgery,” Natasha responded. “Today’s my day.”

“On what?”

“Like I’d tell you.”

You squinted your eyes at her. “What do you know?”

“I know that I was here at 4:00 and you didn't get here till 4:30.”

“Tell me.”

“No. I'm not the intern who's screwing an attending.”

“I am not screw—“ 

As you turned the corner, you suddenly rammed into someone. Their hands found your arms, steadying you. When you looked up, you saw Steve smirking down on you.

“I was just looking for you,” he said.

“Oh, really?” You sqeaked, quickly clearing your throat. Natasha simply rolled her eyes before walking away. “Um, why are you here so early?”

“I have a cordotomy at 5:00. I'll be out at 6:00. I thought I might buy your breakfast before your rounds.”

“I’ve already eaten.” You moved out of his grip to head down the hall.

“What’d you have?” He asked, following you.

“None of your business.”

“You a cereal person? Straight out of the box? Or all fruit and fiber-y?” He laughed. “Waffles? Do you like waffles?”

“Fine, leftover grilled cheese. Curiosity satisfied?”

“That’s sad. Pathetic, actually. A good day starts with a good breakfast.”

“Look, I don’t want to be seen with you in this hospital. Okay? It's unprofessional.”

“I’m just an attending getting to know one of his interns.”

“The intern he slept with.”

“I barely knew you.”

“And it should stay that way.”

“You want me to be professional? Fine. I’ll be professional.”

You stopped to face him. “That’s what I want.”

“Then that’s what you’ll get.” He stared at you, glancing at your lips, as he leaned forward towards you.

“You’re gonna to be late for your cordotomy.” Then you hurried away.

“Nice talking to you, Dr. Grey!” His eyes followed you until you disappeared down another hall.

“You’re whipped,” Dr. Stark commented as he passed by. “A complete and utter, lovesick teenager who happens to be—“

“Seriously?!”

~~~

After taking care of a few patients, Scott found you walking up the stairs in the stairwell.

“There needs to be some rules,” he said.

“So, what, you and Clint can walk around in your underwear and we can’t?”

“It’s not the same—“

“Or that you can see bras just not panties? Or are we talking Amish rules here? Because if you think you’re gonna get Val to—“

“The amount of flesh exposed is not the point. You have to do something. It’s your house.”

“Clint seems fine with it.”

“Y/N—“

“Do you like Val? Is that what this is about? Do you have a crush on her?”

“Val? No. I don’t like Val. No. She’s not the one I’m attracted to.”

“Not the one.” You smirked as you opened the door and went to the nurses station you saw Gamora at. “So there’s a one?”

“That—That’s not the point! Look, there just has to be rules. I need to be able to—”

“Lang, L/N!” Gamora called. “Get Barton or Quill and head down to trauma. Rogers needs you.”

“Rogers is in surgery,” you replied, confused.

“He got pulled before he could start.”

“Great,” you breathed out quietly.

On your way to trauma, you found Peter and unfortunately had to tell him to come with you too. Walking into the trauma room, you immediately noticed what was wrong with the man on the stretcher.

“This look like—“ You began.

“Nails,” Steve interrupted. He held up on x-ray that should 7 nails in the man’s head.

“I can’t see my hands,” the patient complained.

“He’s conscious!” Scott exclaimed, completely surprised.

“Breathe, Scottie,” Peter said. “Don’t pass out.”

“Use 4 mg’s of morphine,” Steve ordered. “Titrate up to 10. You know what? I don’t want him to move.”

“I can’t see,” the man repeated.

“It’s okay,” you comforted. “We need you to be very still, Mr…?”

“Castro,” a nurse answered. “George Castro. He tripped and fell down a flight of stairs holding a nail gun.”

“Sick,” Peter commented with a nod.

“Somehow he managed to miss a blood vessel. That’s a minor miracle,” Steve said. “Optic nerve’s been affected. Can you feel this?” Steve poked George’s right side.

“No,” George answered.

“Numbness on his right side. What’s our immediate concern?”

“Infection,” you responded.

“Right. I wanna be pulling these nails out in the next half-hour. I need a CT.”

“CT’s are down,” a nurse stated.

“What?”

“They exchanged them out last night. Computer's crashed; have them back up by 1:00.”

“So typical. So what are the options?”

“An MRI?” Scott suggested.

“No!”

“Brilliant, Scottie,” Peter said. “The man's got nails in his head. Let's put him in a giant magnet. You want films from three axis points and a C-arm in surgery.”

“Excellent! You guys dig up research and find out if this has ever happened before. Go!” 

The nurses and Steve began pushing the stretcher away.

“My wife, my wife, my wife,” George cried.

“She’s on the way, Mr. Castro,” you said.

“Stay with him,” Steve told you. “Keep him calm and look for changes.”

“Ooh,” George gasped. “I can’t see.”

You and Steve shared a concerned look. 

“Watch him,” Steve instructed. “Carefully.”

With a nod, you and the nurses took George to a more private room. You’ve been asking him questions to fill out his chart.

“Would you say that your health has been good recently?” You asked.

“Maybe some headaches,” George answered. “Nothing compared to now. Sally, that’s my wife. Sally, she’ll say, ‘why you think they call it a gun, moron?’ She hates the damn thing.”

“With good reason.”

“Baby?” A woman called, entering the room with Steve.

“Sally,” George responded.

Sally rushed to his bedside. “You are in so much trouble.”

Steve leaned in to whisper to you. “Get a history from her before you scrub in.”

You had to hold in the shiver that itched to be released. “…okay…”

“Thank you.” 

You met his gaze. He definitely knew what he was doing to you, and enjoying it way too much. After asking George more questions, you allowed the nurses to prep him for surgery while you talked to Sally outside of the room.

“Will he be able to see again?” Sally wondered.

“We won’t know until the nails come out,” you replied.

“Did he tell you he takes photos? Beautiful photos. It's his hobby. I just got him a new digital camera now he can't stop, you know? He always has it out, always taking pictures of me.”

“George told me that he’s been having headaches. Can you tell me anything about them? Have they been recent?”

“Um, I’m not sure. Maybe the last couple of months.”

“Have you seen him experience any disorientation or dizziness?”

“Yes, yes, I have.”

“Okay.” You noted that in his chart, thinking that there might be an underlying cause to all this.

~~~

“Vertiginous or light-headedness?” Steve asked. You were telling him what you had discovered as he scrubbed in.

“Light-headed,” you answered. “Sometimes he’d have to brace himself to get out of bed.”

“Could be a million things. Simple orthostasis.” He noticed your face, still thinking about it. “What?”

“What made him fall down the stairs with a nail gun?”

“He said he tripped. Just because you hear hoof beats, don't assume zebras.”

“Something caused him to lose consciousness and fall down the stairs. It’s possible that he could have a tumor.”

“Look, I have no idea why this guy's still alive, let alone moving and talking. Not a clue. Let's just get him through this before we start digging around for something else.”

Steve entered the OR and you scrubbed in. The OR gallery was already jam packed with other doctors wanting to watch the incredible surgery. You held the tray as Steve pulled the nails out and set them in. The surgery took a few hours, which you were way too happy about.

“Do you see any bleeding, Dr. Wilson?” Steve asked.

“It’s clean,” Dr. Wilson responded. “Way to go, Cap.”

Steve laughed. “No, way to go team. Good job everybody. Thank you. I don’t think we made it worse. The big question is the optic nerve. But we’ll know in the morning.”

“Should I order the MRI?” You asked.

“He needs to stabilize.” Steve walked towards the OR door, tearing off his gown. “We’ll do it tomorrow.”

~~~

The next morning, you, Val, Clint, and Scott were all getting ready for your shifts. Scott and Val were in the bathroom. Val was brushing her teeth in her underwear while Scott was showering, again.

“I reminded you before you went!” Val shouted.

“I forgot when I got there,” Scott replied.

“No, no.” She threw open the shower curtain. “You were so passive-aggressive.”

“Naked!” Scoot covered himself. “I am naked in the shower!”

“They’re just tampons, Scott. I really needed tampons.” You and Clint entered the bathroom. “I’m not riding in the same car with him.”

You began looking through the cupboards. “If you're going like that, you're not riding with me… where are the tampons?”

“He didn’t buy them.”

“You didn’t buy them?!” You and Clint repeated.

“Oh, man.” Clint continued, running a hand down his face. “Way to make both our lives hell now.”

“Men don’t buy tampons!” Scott shouted.

“You know what?” Val got into Scott’s face. “You are gonna have to get over this whole man thing, Scott. We are women! We have vaginas! Get used to it!”

“I’ve got you, girls,” Clint said. “I’ll run to the store during lunch or, if that doesn’t work out, after our shift.”

“Thank you, Clint,” you said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You’re a life saver.”

“See, Scott!” Val exclaimed. “Real men buy tampons!”

~~~

After getting into scrubs, you made your way to George’s room. He was awake and talking. As you read through his chart, Steve joined you.

“Grilled cheese again?” He asked.

“Cold pizza,” you replied.

“You live a sad life,” Steve chuckled. “Is he awake?”

“Even better.”

“Really? Let’s see what his nurse says.” The two of you entered the room. “Hi, Sally, George. How are you this morning?”

“Tell them what color my dress is, George,” Sally encouraged with a smile.

“I’d know the answer to that even if I couldn’t see,” he responded. “It’s blue.”

“Can you tell me what you had for breakfast on Monday?” Steve asked.

“Cheese omelet. And on Sunday. And on Saturday. And on Friday. Sally gets up every morning and makes me a cheese omelet.”

“It’s the only thing he likes,” Sally said.

“It’s the only thing you know how to cook.”

Steve smiled as he wrote some things down in the chart. “Okay, well, things look good. But I am ordering an MRI for this morning to check for residual bleeding. Dr. L/N will take you down there right now.”

With a nod, you wheeled his bed down to the MRI. You got him set up before going behind the glass to wait with Steve.

“How do you think I’m doing?” Steve asked. You quirked a brow up at him. “With this whole professional thing? Is it working?”

“Not anymore,” you responded, looking at the screen. The scan began pulling up. “Look.” You pointed.

Steve turned to study it. “Damn. Yeah, right there.” Steve pointed to the scans. “That’s a tumor. It’s midline near the hypothalamus.”

“Shit.”

With a sigh, Steve explained the options to you before you two headed back to George’s room, to explain to him and Sally.

“Best practice, probably to remove the tumor,” Steve told the couple. “Probably because I can't get it all. 99%, but not all of it. Radiation and chemo, you're looking at maybe five to ten good years.”

“Let’s do it,” George quickly said.

“You haven't heard the downside. See, the tumor is located in a part of your brain where your memory and your personality resides. And because of the fuzzy edges of this type of tumor, I have to cut out a lot. George, you stand a good chance of losing your memories. Of losing who you are.”

“Is there any other way?” Sally asked.

“The alternative is gamma or cyberknife treatment with focus radiation. It's less evasive. There's little chance of memory loss or him losing himself but it would only give Jorge maybe three to five years.”

“Three to five years?”

“This is an incredibly difficult decision. If you have any more questions or you need to talk to me, I'm here, okay?”

They nodded and you and Steve took it as your queue to leave. It was hard decision that they needed to make. You don’t know if you’d let them cut into you at risk of your personality.

~~~

After taking care of some other patients, you found your way back to George’s room. Steve was just walking out of it.

“They want the surgery,” he told you.

“They want you to cut it out?” You clarified.

“Mm-hmm. It’s their decision.”

Steve left and you waiting outside George’s room until he was asleep.

“Sally?” You called, motioning her to meet you in the hall.

“Yes?” She replied, meeting you.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“Yes.”

“You need to consider what you'll lose. What good is five years if he doesn't joke about your omelets and he can't remember seeing you in that blue dress?”

“It’s still five more years.”

“You don’t understand. He’ll be there, but we won’t be George. He won’t even recognize you.”

“This is none of your business.”

“You have no idea what this will do to you. Isn't five good years better than ten bad ones?”

“Y/N, what the hell are you doing?” Steve questioned, coming back up to you.

“She needs to understand.”

“But I do understand,” Sally said. “You think that I'm being selfish, that I don't want to give him up.”

“I don’t.”

“This is George’s decision. And it that means ten bad years for me, fine. I'll give him those years because I will give him whatever he wants.”

“Look, I am so sorry, Sally,” Steve apologized. “Just please forgive her. She's an intern.”

“And if he doesn't remember me, if he doesn't remember what we are, he's still my George. And I'll remember for us both.”

“Okay, alright.” 

Steve guided Sally back into George’s room, shooting you a disappointed look. You watched as Steve spoke the couple through everything again, making sure to keep your distance from the room. When he was done, Steve came back out, shaking his head at you in disappointment.

“You crossed a line today,” he warned. “It’s not your place to talk to patients like that.”

“Understood,” you stated, stoically. “I’m sorry, Dr. Rogers. It won’t happen again.” 

As you walked away, Steve sighed, looking back at you. You went to the locker room, it was time for your shift to end any way. After you had changed and packed up your things, you turned to head out and saw Steve leaning in the doorway. He looked nervous, in his street clothes with his hands in his pockets.

“Look,” he started, “I’m sorry about—“

“Don’t apologize,” you interrupted. “I was out of line. Understood.”

Steve gave a nod. “Right. Well… uh… I came… well, I occasionally eat breakfast at this small place on Broadway. I was wondering if you’d join me in the morning?”

“Really, Steve? Don’t you understand that this is wrong?”

“It’s just a breakfast. Two friends meeting up for a meal.”

You sighed. “Where and what time?”

He grinned, straightening up. “The Broadway Cafe, let’s say 7?”

You headed through the door way. “I’ll think about it,” you said as you passed him. “Good night, Dr. Rogers.”

“Think about it?” He rushed after you. 

“Yes, I’ll think about it.” You stepped into the elevator, turning around to face him. Steve didn’t enter. “We’ll see in the morning.” 

Steve gave a small smile as he shook his head and the elevator doors closed.

“Shit,” he realized quietly. “Maybe Stark is right. I’m whipped.”

“Did I just hear you say that Tony’s right?” A strawberry blonde woman came up beside Steve. “Please don’t tell him that, he doesn’t need a bigger ego.”

“I definitely won’t, Pepper. He’ll never let me live it down.”

“No, he won’t.”

“But you should listen to him. Go out with him.”

“Are you serious?”

“Sadly, I am.”

Pepper clenched her jaw, studying Steve for a second. “Alright, I’ll give him a chance. How bad could it be, right?”

“How bad could what be?” Tony asked, coming up to the other two doctors. “Good evening, Rogers, Pepper. What are we talking about?”

“Oh none of your never mind,” Pepper responded. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

As Pepper left, Steve watched Tony watch Pepper walk away.

“I think we both might be screwed."

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[side-shawty]

Burn XIV (Stark!Reader)

XIV: Family Business

Fandom: Marvel (MCU)

Type: series

Prompt/Summary: Family is not just blood.

Pairing(s): Peter Parker x Stark!reader, Tony Stark x daughter!reader

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

•

The next morning you somehow found yourself a tangle of arms and legs with Peter. 

After the initial wariness of your surroundings faded you were still finding it hard to believe this was all real you relaxed into him again. You pushed your face into his chest and breathed in his calming scent as his strong arms unconsciously tightened around you. 

Your eyes slipped closed again and you were almost asleep again when the light sliding of the door opening could be heard. 

You hoped they’d go away once they saw you were both asleep but there was no such peace with the Avengers.

“Aww look at how cute they are. You owe me five bucks Sam,” Natasha spoke.

“No you owe me, I said they’d be attached at the hip within 12 hours and you said 20,” you could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“Okay, but I said 8 so, both of you pay up,” Bucky interrupted and it took everything in you not to look at them and roll your eyes. 

You could hear the exchange of money and Bucky’s over-enthused “Thank you,” in reply.

Peter groaned beside you and held you closer, “You guys are way too loud,” he told them, eyes still closed.

“And you’re way too stingy, can’t we see her too?” Nat said and you giggled a little at that, effectively blowing your cover.

“She’s up!” Sam said and you and Peter both sat up, rubbing at your eyes and stretching.

“She wants to go back to sleep,” you told them and they laughed lightly.

“No time for that. Time for hugs,” Nat said, coming to your side of the bed. 

Meanwhile, Peter got out of the bed and told you he’d be back with breakfast before kissing your cheek. The simple action made you giddy.

“Bleh,” Bucky fake gagged as Peter left and he and sam sat in his now vacant spot.

You hugged each of them tight, you hadn’t realized how much you missed everyone. 

“So lover boy was here all night, huh?” Sam asked wiggling his eyebrows as if he didn’t know the answer.

“Yes he was, we talked and we slept and I will take no more questions,” you crossed your arms over your chest. 

“That better be it,” Bucky said but there was no threat in his voice that warranted concern.

“Gosh, you’re really showing your age today aren’t you Buck?” Nat teased before turning to you. “Earlier he asked me what an AirPod was,” she laughed and you laughed with her.

“And here I thought you were getting the hang of this new fangled century,” you told him.

“Listen I’m trying okay, everything is so fancy for no reason,” he sulked and you laughed again.

“Seriously though kid, how are you?” Sam questioned and they all looked at you expectantly.

“In one piece,” you said honestly. “Some scrapes and bruises and a cut on the back of my neck that’ll probably scar but I’m alive,” you smiled.

“Was it a shock device?” Bucky asked darkly.

You hesitated before answering, “Yeah.”

Bucky’s metal arm flexed as he balled his hand into a fist, “I’ll fucking kill those HYDRA assholes one day.”

You placed a hand on top of his fist, “Hey,” he looked up at you, “I’m alright. Thanks to all of you I’m here and breathing. I love you guys.” 

Before you knew it they pulled you into a hug and you held back tears giving you their own declarations of love. When Peter came back in with food they all decided to let you eat in peace with your boyfriend. Peter told you the doctors would be here around one and in the meantime, you’d probably get several visitors. 

All too soon, he had to leave for the city, there was only so much school he could avoid without the possibility of not graduating on time. He left with a promise returning that evening and a soft kiss on your lips. 

Before anyone new came in you asked FRIDAY to call your mom downstairs. She helped you shower and change into sweats and one of Peter’s shirts with a wink. She told you that she would have stayed longer but Morgan would be waking up for the day soon. 

Your dad stopped by for a little after she left and after Sam and Bucky blew something up he also had to leave.

The next ones to walk through the door were Steve and Rhodey.

“Well if it isn’t two of my favorite soldiers,” you smiled as they walked in.

“As long as I’m the number one favorite I accept,” Rhodey said before gathering you into his arms for a tight hug.

When he let go Steve was next, “Keep dreaming Rhodes.” 

“Well I would tell you who my favorite was if I thought it wouldn’t hurt your feelings,” you told them as they had taken the same positions as everyone else and sat on either side of you.

“C’mon now Y/N you wouldn’t want to give the old man a heart attack.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, how are you Y/N?” Steve asked.

“Good, healing, y’know? Seems like it’ll be a long process but I feel better than I did when I first woke up last night.”

“I’m glad to hear it, we’re only going up from here.”

“Definitely, by the way, I haven’t seen Thor, Clint, or Bruce today.”

“Thor is off-world, apparently whatever HYDRA used to brainwash Harley is similar to the mind stone so he’s trying to get it out ahead of it,” Steve told you.

“Clint had to run home, Laura is going to give birth soon and Bruce should be by later with your other doctors,” Rhodey finished.

“Ah got it. I cant wait for little Y/N to be born,” you said.

“Yeah because Barton is definitely gonna want to name is kid after the girl who put retractable grates in the vents to mess with him,” Rhodey rolled his eyes.

“Well he shouldn’t have tried to prank me on my own turf.”

“Everywhere is your turf,” Steve said.

You grinned, “Exactly.”

Steve hesitated before speaking again and his face became solemn, “Listen I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more for you that night.”

“So am I, we’re family, I should have protected you,” Rhodey added. They both let their heads hang low.

You took one of each of their hands into you, “You guys, look at me,” they obeyed, “I’m so incredibly happy right now you have no idea. A lot went wrong but I’m okay, even if I do have to spend a couple extra days in here.”

They both smiled at you and things felt okay again. They stayed for a little while longer leaving you with words of encouragement before you were once again left alone.

However, you weren’t suffocating the way you had been at HYDRA. You asked FRIDAY to project the water by the compound onto the right wall, it felt like you could finally release all the tension in your body.

Before you knew it your eyes slipped closed and you fell asleep.

——

You were awakened again by the sound of the door opening, this time Bruce and your dad walked in with —

“Well this is quite the surprise,” you said smiling.

“How could I not visit my favorite fire-wielding hero,” he spoke and made his way over to bring you into a tight hug.

Bruce hugged you next with a smile and then went over to one of the machines you had unhooked when you first woke up. Your dad gave you a kiss on the forehead and then stood beside the other scientist.

“To what do I owe the pleasure Doctor Strange?” You asked.

“You know me,” He took a seat next to you on the bed, “I love popping in and out but after I heard what happen I made sure your dad kept me in the loop. I know magic stuff keeps me busy but I am still your Godfather,” he told you.

“Mystical Godfather,” Tony threw in, “A totally made up title.”

Strange rolled his eyes and silently mocked your dad, “Still a title.”

“Debatable.”

You laughed lightly at their childishness.

“In all seriousness though, your dad ordered a full workup. He said your flames turned purple and wanted to make sure it didn’t damage your body in a non-tradition sense,” he told you and you nodded.

“So I only get a visit if my life at risk?” You asked overdramatically, throwing a hand to your forehead, “You wound me.”

“Haha, very funny. Now sit up straight while I work my … magic,” he said.

“Booo, your jokes have gotten worse since Christine got pregnant,” However, you sat up straight as he stood.

Strange was quick to begin in a flash of warm light symbols surrounded you, several of them had even went in and out of your body. 

After a few minutes, he was finished and the light and symbols faded away. His face was littered with mixed emotions.

“What is it?” You asked, concerned.

“Are you alright?” Strange asked and the question grabbed the attention of Bruce and Tony.

You were confused, “I mean aside from some injuries that might scar I feel fine.”

“Tired? Weak? Foggy mind?” Strange asked.

“Barely, it was bad when I first woke up though. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Part of what a ‘full workup’ is is looking into your soul or aura and it seems like whatever happened when you released those purple flames caused a hole,” Strange explained. 

The room was silent. All three men looked at you anxiously as you sat in shock, you weren’t sure what to say.

“So a piece of he is just poof! Gone?” Tony asked, bewildered at the idea.

“It’s a small piece but essentially, yes. There’s a chance it may come back over time but things like this are usually done only in dire situations of stress or emotional turmoil.”

“Well my situation checks all the boxes,” you said quietly to yourself.

It was then that tour father decided to move from his spot beside Bruce and wrap an arm around your shoulders. 

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I think so, this is just a lot to process.”

He nodded and the room fell into silence once again.

“Well on the bright side,” Bruce spoke up, “It seems the damage Hydra did to your powers was temporary. If your readings are correct, you should be at 100% in no time,” he finished with a comforting smile.

“Thanks, Bruce. That actually does make me feel a little better,” you smiled with him.

After that Bruce ran a couple more tests and then the three men were gone again. However, your father did leave you your phone which you were beyond grateful for. You were playing a random game on it when Dr. Evans came to give you a quick check-up and update before leaving. 

You had a few more hours of peace before your next visitor decided to show their face, it had to be well after sunset by now. 

There were two knocks on your door and you replied for them to come in. You locked your phone and placed it on your bed as he entered and for some reason seeing him made you lose your breath.

“Harley,” you whispered.

•

NEXT CHAPTER

[avengerscompound]

The Surrogate - Chapter 2

The Surrogate:  A Clintasha Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Clint Barton x Natasha Romanoff x F!Reader

Word Count:  1746

Rating:  E

Warnings: None

Synopsis:  A freak end of the world incident leads to meeting your two best friends, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.  While your friendship with the two Avengers is anything but conventional, they are your all-time favorite people.  When you find out that Clint and Natasha want to start a family but have exhausted all their options, you realize your powerset might allow you to give them what they want.  Having your best friends’ baby might seem like a good idea on paper, but when you are as close as you, Clint, and Natasha are, will doing something so intimate mean feelings get a little mixed up?

Chapter 2

 “Clint and I just had sex!”   You hadn’t meant to blurt the words out like that and they had almost definitely signed your death warrant, but they’d burst out of you out of your control.  Things had gotten out of control, but in that good way, where your adrenaline had been up and with the alcohol and the way your powers worked, when he’d suggested you both go to the public restroom, you couldn’t think of anything you wanted to do more than that.

Now that you could see that Natasha and Clint were in a relationship, the guilt about being the one Clint had cheated with had made you spill immediately.  Even if it did mean the Black Widow would gut you like a fish.

Natasha Romanoff looked back at you with her head tilted to the side.  “Oh, dorogáya,” she soothed, before turning her attention back to the controls of the jet and taking flight again hovering up away from the bar she’d picked you up from before shooting off away from the city.  She took a moment to smack Clint on the back of the head in between flicking different switches.

“Ow, Nat,” he complained, rubbing the back of his head.  “What was that for?”

“You can’t do that,” she scolded. “You need to tell them what your deal is before you seduce them.”

“Seduce them? Me?”  Clint argued.  “Who am I seducing?  Shit just happened.”

“You know what I mean, durak.  You can’t just sleep with people and not tell them you’ve got a girlfriend,” Natasha snarked.  She tilted her head back and raised her voice so you could hear her better over the jet engines.  “Clint and I are in an open relationship.  I’m sorry he didn’t tell you that first.  He’s an idiot.  But you didn’t cheat on anyone.  I just hope he didn’t lead you on.”

“No,” you assured her.  “I knew it was casual.  But … I wouldn’t have… if you two…”

“It’s fine,” she assured you.  “I promise.  Have as much sex with Clint as you like.  I don't care.”

“Gee, thanks, Nat,” Clint snarked.

“Well you won’t be getting any from me if you’re gonna be an idiot,” Natasha said.  “Might as well see who else is offering.”

“Nat…” Clint whined.

You relaxed back in your jump seat while they argued in that loving way people who were completely comfortable with each other do, glad that for once your libido and need for complete honesty hadn’t gotten you in trouble.  The last thing in the world you wanted was to piss off any of the avengers because you weren’t thinking with your brain.

“It's gonna be a bit of a flight, so just relax and get some sleep if you can,” Natasha called back to you.

You already knew you weren’t going to be able to sleep.  You were running on pure adrenaline now and the jump seat was far from cozy.  You did close your eyes and listen to the engine as Natasha guided the jet back to New York.  Things were about to change for you, you knew that.  Even if the Avengers deemed your powers to be useless to them, things weren’t going to be the same now.  You couldn’t go through life after seeing the end of the world come so close and pretend like you weren’t gifted with something special.  You had to find some way to use it.

By the time the Quinjet touched down at the Avengers Compound you had been up for well over a full day and you were exhausted.  It was that level of exhaustion that went right to the bone.  Each turn of your head caused your vision to go blurry as your brain tried to catch up with what it was processing.  Each time you spoke you found it difficult to modulate your voice.  You were also hyper-aware that you probably smelled terrible too.  You’d been wearing the same clothes since you got up the day before and since you’d put them on you’d been running around the city and you’d had sex in a public restroom at a bar. The thought of any of the Avengers meeting you like this was quite frankly, mortifying.

You followed Natasha and Clint off the jet and they were greeted by Captain America and a tall, brunette woman wearing a grey pencil skirt and a black turtleneck. The exhaustion you felt made it really hard to process the fact that Captain Steve Rogers was less than a yard away from you.  Especially given your current state.  He was always going to remember that when he met you, you were the human embodiment of the living dead.  Smell and all.

“Welcome home,” Steve said.  “This must be the healer.”

“That’s right,” Clint said.

You introduced yourself to Steve and offered him your hand.

“Welcome to the facility.  This is Hill,” he said, indicating to the woman with him.

“Alright, you two go get some rest. We’ll debrief after you’ve slept,” Hill said, scratching something down onto the Stark Pad she was holding.

“See you then!  Totally gonna go and sleep right away, nothing else!”  Clint said, saluting.  Natasha stifled a laugh and the two of them headed off down the corridor.

Hill turned to you and continued tapping away on her tablet.  “You’ll have very limited access to the facility until you’ve been cleared by security.  I’m guessing you might need sleep?  A shower?”

“That would be fantastic,” you agreed.

“Follow me,” she said.  The two of you began to walk in the same direction as Clint and Natasha at a brisk pace.  “The compound is run by an artificial intelligence.  Her name is FRIDAY and she'll let you into the parts of the facility you are allowed in and keep you out of what you're not,” Hill explained as you walked.  “I appreciate that you have come here voluntarily to assist us, but we are still a private military installation, so security is important.  For now, you will be primarily restricted to your room, however, if you need any medical care I can take you to the medbay.”

“No.  I never need that,” you said.

“Oh, right,” Hill said, shaking her head.  “So used to the script.”

“Carry on,” you said with a soft laugh.

“I'm also giving you access to the smaller pool and gym,” Hill continued.  “It's the one used by the administration staff and generally fairly quiet.  Ask FRIDAY.  We would prefer that you go straight to the security clearance and debrief, but we understand after an event like you just experienced you may need to let out some stress.  For this reason, you can have access to any onsite psychiatric services.  We have many therapists on staff.  At some point you will need to speak to one but if you feel you need one sooner than later that can be arranged.”

“Oh… I'm… I think I can wait until after security clearance,” you said.

“If that changes just let FRIDAY know,” Hill replied.  The two of you rounded a corner and then she opened a door that led outside.  It was bright out and there were teams of people in sweats running in formation.

She led you down a path to a large white building with huge windows and an A on the side.  “That building is the main hub, that's where you'll go when you're ready to speak to us.  For now, we're just going to housing,” she continued as you made your way through the facility.  “Barton said you helped him in the field.”

“Yeah, he fell off a building,” you answered.  “I used my powers to heal him so he could get back.”

“That certainly sounds like Clint,” Hill said.  You thought she might have stifled a laugh, but you couldn’t be sure.  “You're okay with us running some tests?”

“Yes, of course,” you answered. “I wouldn't have come…”

“Great,” she said, cutting you off.  “Ideally the run down when you're ready will go, security clearance, debrief and interview, then we’ll run some tests.  But it's up to you how much you can handle.  It's a big adjustment coming here.  It can get a bit much for some people.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know if I'm feeling overwhelmed,” you said as a set of glass doors opened for you, letting you into the accommodation building.  “Getting close to that now.”

“Right, sorry, you must be tired,” Hill said.  “We’re nearly there.”

Your room was on the first floor and Hill opened the door to let you in.  It reminded you of a cheap hotel.  There was a full-sized bed, with gray linens, that offset the grey of the walls.  The walls were unadorned and the only other furniture in the room was a side table, desk, and dresser.

“The bathroom is in here,” Hill said, opening the bathroom door. “There are towels and toiletries.  We're not a hotel though so if there's anything missing or you need anything, and I do mean anything, let FRIDAY know.  She’ll place an order.  Inside the dresser is a Stark Pad.  You can use it to find out what the kitchen is making and have it sent up.  Make sure you eat.  You can also browse the internet.  Please do not post on social media about where you are until your security check.  We’ll know so don't think you can get it by us.  You haven't signed an NDA yet but you will and what you post about will be taken into account when we're deciding if we’ll actually recruit you.  When you're ready to have the security run let FRIDAY know and someone will come and collect you.  If you want to back out, we understand, just let her know that too and we’ll take you home.  Any questions?”

Your head was reeling from the amount of information just dropped on you along with your complete exhaustion.  “Uhh…” You said blinking slowly.

“Right, well if any come up…”

“Ask FRIDAY,” you finished.  “Got it.”

She smiled and closed the tablet.  “I'll leave you to it.  You’ll be fine, kid,” Hill said.  “Just get sleep, eat, and you’ll be part of the team in no time.”

“Thank you,” you said.  “I’ll do that.”

“I'll be seeing you,” she said and left you alone.  You peeled yourself out of the clothes you were wearing, collapsed onto the bed, and were asleep almost immediately.

// NEXT

[peppersonironi]

Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter Three: Morning Routines

Tagging: @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types

Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd,

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle’s Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas,

Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason’s language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What’s canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary: Now that the Avengers have begun to settle into the Manor, they get to know the inhabitants.

Notes: Yo, I do take requests for scenarios, pov’s, and characters to show up!

Steve awoke in one of the most comfortable beds he had ever slept in. For a moment he was relaxed as the sun streamed in through the large window. Then he sat straight up. How did he get here?

Then he remembered. After the Justice League had left, Batman - he still felt weird calling him Bruce - led them into an elevator which emerged in a richly adorned sitting room. The entrance to the elevator being in the Grandfather clock which lay to the side of the room. A butler - a butler! Even Tony didn’t have one of those - had met them there. Batman had informed him that they would be staying for a while, and the butler had quickly led them to free rooms, assuring the Avengers that clothes would be provided before dinner. He had spoken the truth, as a change of clothes were provided shortly. Steve suspected they were pilfered from the manor’s residents.

Steve got out of bed and went over to the neatly stacked pile of clothes, and got dressed. He had been given cargo pants and a gray t-shirt. He then left his room and began to follow the smell of breakfast - a heavenly mixture of coffee, maple syrup, bacon, and blueberry pancakes.

Nat, Tony, and Clint were already in the kitchen when he arrived. They were sitting on stools at the island along with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain. The Butler was placing a heaping pile of pancakes on the table whilst handing Tim a pot of coffee.

Steve walked over and sat down. "Good morning," he said. "They look great sir, thank you."

The Butler smiled. "Call me Alfred, everyone else does." He spoke with a crisp british accent, which Steve hadn’t noticed the evening before.

Steve nodded as he took some pancakes and bacon. Everyone else started chowing down as well, with the exception of Tim. Tim looked horrible, if Steve was being honest. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his lids were drooped.

Tim was about to pour some coffee, when Steve noticed he was clearly going to miss the mug. Steve opened his mouth to say something when Cassandra Cain reached over and casually pushed the mug over.

Tim filled up the mug. He either hadn’t noticed, or hadn’t cared.

Cassandra went back to her  seat. "You sleep?"

Tim shrugged. "No more than usual. I had patrol, then worked on that eastside murder case."

Cassandra frowned. “ Sleep ,” she said vehemently.

"What's patrol?" Clint asked curiously.

Tim frowned. “We go out and patrol Gotham. Take care of crime. Typical vigilante stuff.”

This gave Steve pause. “You handle petty crime?”

Tim blinked. “You don’t? I thought you said you were superheroes?"

Natasha nodded. “So you’re like Peter. He protects Manhattan. The rest of us only got together due to an alien invasion. We’re what you would call the . . . heavy hitters.”

Cassandra nodded. “City needs us. Without . . .” She pursed her lips and moved her hands around. “Bad things happen.”

“Once you have finished, might I suggest you explore the manor or cave?” Alfred said as he placed more bacon on the table. “Master Bruce has a full gym and training areas in the Batcave which you are welcome to use. After all, if you are to stay here, you might as well have something to do.”

Steve stood up from his now finished meal. “Thank you Alfred, I believe I will. I think I remember the way to the cave. Thank you for the meal.”

Tony nodded. “See you down there, I guess.” Clint and Natasha agreed.

*****

Steve entered the cave to find that he was not the first one there. Standing on the main platform was an honest-to-god cow.

It was brown and white, with stubby horns and a baleful look. On its forehead was a brown patch that looked suspiciously like a bat. The cow mood.

“Bat-Cow! Get away from the invader!” Damian Wayne swooped in out of nowhere and landed in front of the now named Bat-Cow. “What are you doing in the cave?” He asked, his sword drawn and pointed at Steve’s chest.

“The butler - Alfred -  said I could come down here to workout,” Steve replied. He was still trying to get over the fact that a cow was in front of him, being guarded by an eleven year-old in black training clothes that looked a lot like a ninja’s.

“T-t,” Damian replied, clearly unimpressed.

“Well, um. . . Is that a cow?” Steve couldn’t help himself.

“Yes of course. Are you blind? This is Bat-Cow. Bat-Cow, this is one of the invaders by the name of Steve Rogers. Stay away, he’s probably not even a vegetarian.” With that, the boy and the cow strolled away, and Steve turned to go.

*****

Steve found the gym platform and set to work. It was quite nice equipment, and Steve enjoyed using it. He wasn’t the only one, as both Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown were there with him in gym clothes. They both wore gray sweatpants, but Stephanie also wore a purple sports bra, almost the same color as her suit. Stephanie was using some resistance bands and Jason was bench pressing.

Steve walked in muttering about cows, which gained a smile from Jason, who inevitably heard him.

“If a cow surprises you,” Jason said between lifts, “then wait till you see Goliath.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Steve asked as he settled into a warm-up.

“One of Damian’s other . . . pets.” Stephanie said, a grimace on her face. “But boy, I can’t wait till I see your face!” She laughed as she finished up, and moved onto chin-ups.

Steve frowned, but let it slide. There was silence after a while as he settled into his routine. Eventually he moved over to bench presses. He began to set up the weights, glad there were so many, as he usually needed a lot more than the average man.

Steve looked over at Jason, who was still pressing. On closer inspection he was benching almost 400 pounds.

“Do you have super strength,” Steve asked before he could help himself.

Jason snorted and finished up his last few reps, setting the bar down then sitting up. He wiped his face as he answered Steve. “Nope, I don’t need superstength to get these babies.”

He lifted up his arms and flexed. This sent Stephanie into a giggle fit. “You,” She said between snorts, “Jason Peter Todd, are utterly ridiculous.”

Jason smiled as well before turning back to Steve. “But really, none of us bats have super strength. All we have is skill, and kicka** personalities.”

Steve frowned, but nodded anyway. He went to begin bench pressing when Stephanie asked him, “That Stark guy said you were a supersoldier, I assume that super strength comes with it?”

“Yup. There was an experimental serum that the scientists of World War II chose me to test. I worked in the army for a while, before I got frozen in ice due to taking down a Nazi ship. I got rescued and joined the Avengers to help stop an alien invasion.”

Jason muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “cheater.”

Stephanie glared at him. Before standing up and speaking cheerfully “Well, I’m going to go spar with whoever’s available. See you later?” Stephanie walked off, grabbing a purple water bottle on the way out.

Jason nodded. He moved on in his workout, and Steve went back to his bench presses. After a while, Jason had left to spar. Steve finished up himself, then decided to follow. He remembered seeing a fighting area on his way down, so he left the gym and started his search.

*****

Steve didn’t have to search for long, as the platform in question was easily the most crowded. It was the largest, with some thin mats on the floor. Steve wasn’t sure that they would provide much protection.

Thor was standing near the center, holding Mjolnir, and looking quite uncomfortable. He was seemingly being questioned by Damian, Jason, and Cassandra. Tim, Duke, Peter, Nat, Bruce (Banner), Tony, Bruce  (Wayne) and Clint stood to the side. Their faces were a mixture of worry (Nat, Bruce Banner, Tony, and Clint), Amusement, (Tim, Dick and Duke), and confusion (Peter and Bruce Wayne).

Steve walked up to Nat. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“They're questioning the technicalities of being worthy of the hammer,” She said with a frown. “Specifically how many and how often you murder to be excluded.”

Steve frowned right along with her as he turned to the conversation.

“But is there a time frame?” Jason was asking. “Like say you don’t kill for like two weeks, and you’ve been super good? Would that get you points?”

“Uh. . .” The look on Thor’s face was priceless.

“T-t,” Damian said. “What about the technicalities behind the actual murder? Perhaps if a seven year old went on a killing spree? Would age exempt him?”

“I’m not sure a child would-”

“Not their fault?” Cassandra asked. “Forced? Didn’t know?”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, would the kid be declared unworthy if they were forced to kill? Or they didn’t know what they were doing?”

“Well, I-”

“What about mind control? Manipulation? Amnesia?” Jason asked.

“I’m sorry, but -”

“Do the more you kill, the more unworthy you become?” Damian asked, “Or until you hit a certain body count, it's a free-for-all?”

Thor sputtered. “Free-for-all?!”

“Or what if they were really bad people?” Jason asked. “Like other murderers? Pedophiles? Rapists? Drug dealers who sell to kids? If they did something wrong, would that cancel out your own wrongness?”

“These kids are hard-core,” Clint muttered.

“They raise a good point though,” Duke replied.

Tim nodded. “Ten Bucks its Damian who throws dear Thor off the edge.”

“Cass is feisty though.” Dick replied

Duke snorted. “Hah, never bet against Jason!”

All three exchanged handshakes.

“Okay,” Jason said, waving his arms about as he spoke with the utmost seriousness. “Does the way you kill affect how bad it is? Like would slowly and painfully bleeding to death be worse than a bullet to the head? Or say a sniper rifle compared to a handgun? Since one is more personal?”

Thor gaped at the young man.

“ Why kill.” Cassandra asked. “Told? Want? Accident?”

“What if it was to save yourself?” Damian asked. “If it was self-preservation, would that account for anything?”

“What if you were saving someone else?” Jason added. “Either directly, or just making the world a safer place?”

Thor frowned. “I do not speak for Mjolnir, but I assume all murder is murder.” The kids looked disappointed, so Thor continued. “However, if you wish to try to lift it, You have my permission to do so.”

“Naw, it's okay,” Jason said as the kids walked off looking dejected. “Doubt we could anyways, as Thor here just clarified.”

This caused the most uproar out of everything else in the conversation. Thor looked stricken, along with Peter, Bruce Banner, and Tony. Natasha and Clint looked at each other worriedly, Bruce Wayne, Tim, and Duke just rolled their eyes. And Steve was just confused.

“You kill?” Steve asked, as he started to worry if this universe was much more different than he had originally thought.

“Cassandra, Damian, and Jason had … unusual circumstances.” Bruce Wayne said simply. There was a silence after that. Then Bruce continued. “Well, we were about to start some sparring. If you’d like to join us, you are more than welcome to.”

Steve stood straight. He’d been looking forward to seeing them fight. “Sure,” he said as Tim, Dick and Duke exchanged ten dollar bils. “Sounds fun.”

[marvelousstevetony]

Hi! I was just wondering if for the emotions prompt thing, you could do insecure Steve. With Steve being nervous about Tony thinking he is gross when he’s sick? Maybe he’s worried because another avenger in the tower was sick and Tony seemed disgusted by it... so Steve assumes Tony will feel the same about him? If that’s too specific, feel free to do whatever with insecure :) Thank you for your writing! :)

Ahh, anon, it’s not too specific at all! This prompt is so soft and so so sweet. I’m sorry I’m taking so long to answer these prompts, but I’ve beens super busy lately. I hope you see this and enjoy this little ficlet <3

3.1k, steve/tony

***

“Don’t you think you’re being a tiny bit… overdramatic?” Bruce asked cautiously.

“What? This?” Tony gestured to the medical mask he was wearing, as well as the plastic gloves and the disinfectant spray he held defensively in front of him. “Absolutely not.”

It was Friday evening and the entire team was gathered, for once, which could only mean one thing — team movie night. It had become a routinely thing for them, and every movie night seemed the exact same. They always watched something different, but everything else was just like it used to be.

Well, almost everything.

During the first couple of movie night, every team member had found their regular seat. Nat had quickly call dibs on the large armchair closest to the kitchen. Bruce had claimed the second armchair that stood on the opposite side of the sofa, and though Thor was often off-world doing off-worldly stuff, he would usually sit in the bean bag whenever he was at the Tower. The sofa was occupied by Clint, Tony and Steve; Clint in the end closest to Nat, Steve in the other, and Tony was squeezed in between them.

It had been like that since they established team movie night, but this time, Tony was going to break the tradition.

“Tony,” Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please, just sit down.”

Steve tapped the empty space in the sofa next to him and sighed yet another time when Tony grabbed a spare chair and put it next to Bruce.

“I am,” Tony said as he sat down in the solid, uncomfortable seat with a thump, “sitting down.”

“Tony,” Steve said again, this time with an exasperated tone.

Tony just quirked a brow and eyed his usual spot with disgust. “You’re dead wrong if you think I’ll sick next to patient zero over there.”

As if to prove Tony’s point, Clint wrinkled his nose and coughed harshly into his fist. Steve looked sympathetically at the archer and scooted over, filling the place Tony normally would. “Then we’ll switch seats,” Steve said persuasively.

Tony went quiet, gaze flickering between Clint, Steve, the empty seat next to his boyfriend and the wooden stool he sat on. After a few seconds of deliberation, Tony seemed to have made up his mind.

“I guess that’s… negotiable,” he drawled, but he had already started moving towards the sofa, and when Steve lifted his arm for Tony to fit under, the brunette cuddled in close. Steve smiled in victory and pressed a kiss into Tony’s soft, messy hair.

Tony sighed contently against the warmth of Steve’s body, suddenly feeling sleepy, and he let his eyes fall shut. Just a few seconds later, however, Tony took a peek at Clint through narrowed eyes.

“I’m keeping the mask and gloves, though.”

***

The next morning, Tony was called to an SI-meeting in Tokyo. He and Steve had only been together for about two months, officially dating at least, but Tony was already in so deep that he couldn’t picture not sleeping next to Steve for an entire two nights. Steve had chuckled at him and kissed his pout away, wishing him a safe flight.

On Monday, the day Tony was going to be back in New York, Steve woke up with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. His head felt fuzzy, like it had been stuffed with cotton, and his vision seemed to blur when he sat up a little to quickly.

He reached for his phone, then blinked rapidly and turned down the brightness, his sensitive eyes still not fully adjusted to being awake. When he could see somewhat clearly, he saw a message from Tony.

Good morning, handsome. Can’t wait to see you tonight. Might be late for dinner but I’ll be home before bedtime. xx

Steve smiled, looking forward to being cuddled up in bed with Tony after a couple of nights of sleeping in a bed that was far too cold and far too large despite Steve’s super-soldier sized body. Then, suddenly, a cough rattled through him, and Steve bent over a the waist with the force of it, and he was left wheezing slightly.

It felt familiar; Steve could never forget feeling this way, this fatigued and feeble.

He was sick and he internally cursed Barton, positive that he’d spread his germs during movie-night. But then Steve remembered that he was the one to voluntarily sit next to his cold-ridden team member and basically placed himself directly in the risk zone.

Steve sighed heavily. Maybe he should’ve taken a page out of Tony’s book and worn a mask.

***

“uhhTSCHooosh! Ugh, excuse mbe.”

“Bless you,” Natasha said, an off-hand comment as she continued looking at mission files, but she nudged the tissue box closer to Steve when he kept sniffling into the cuff of his hoodie.

Steve grabbed a tissue and scrubbed at his nose with it, sighing a stuffy thanks into the material. He blew his nose quietly to stop the sniffles, but it only seemed to intensify the lingering itch. He could feel it burning all the way from the back of his nose, but it seemed stuck, leaving him with teary eyes and a series of false starts.

“h’ehh! ehh- snff! Uh- h’uh!”

Steve’s breath caught, the itch now filling his entire head, and he shook his head uncontrollably, trying to impede the sneeze, or coax it out, it didn’t really matter. All he wanted was to get rid of the irritation, one way or another. And after a few seconds, the tickle grew stronger, his nose twitched violently once, twice, and then he drew in a sharp breath.

“uhhhISH’uhh! huhHIISHHoo! USHHiew!”

Steve sighed, satisfied when his head was cleared from the buzzing sensation, but he felt bleary and snuffly after the forceful sneezes.

“Geez, Rogers, you’re a mess.” Natasha looked up from the files with a concerned expression. “Bless you.”

“I know… sorry,” Steve said shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think I picked up Clint’s cold.”

“You think?” Natasha raised an eyebrow and smirked, but it was good-naturedly and her eyes were kind. “From what I can tell, this seems worse than what he had, though.”

“Yeah, I, uh, snff! I don’t think I’ve had a cold this bad since before the serum.” He tried to recall when he last felt like this, like he might pass out from exhaustion, even though he hadn’t moved all day, but he just remembered the times when Bucky had taken care of him before the war. “I’m alright, though.”

“Sure you are, tough guy,” Natasha grinned as she stood up and dipped down to squeeze Steve’s shoulder as she headed towards the kitchen. “So, what kind of tea do you like?”

***

“Sorry, Cap,” Clint said, sounding genuinely apologetic as Steve recovered from a coughing fit.

Steve shook his head and swallowed a sip of water from the glass Clint had given him as soon as he’d started coughing. “Not your fault,” Steve croaked, his voice raspy.

Natasha took a bit of her apple and leaned across the kitchen isle, glaring at Steve with examining eyes. “I still don’t get it. You were fine last night.”

Steve shrugged and ran a hand over his face. “I guess it just hit me all at once.”

Clint just hummed, and Natasha frowned, but didn’t say anything for a while.

“I think I might go to bed,” Steve announced after a few moments of quiet. Natasha and Clint exchanged a look Steve was too tired to even try to interpret what meant. He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up, crossing the kitchen to put his glass in the dishwasher.

“Bed? It’s 7:30, we haven’t even had dinner,” Clint pointed out.

“I’m not really hungry. I think I just need to lie down a little,” Steve said and smiled tiredly, trying to look like he was still a functional human being even though he was sick, but failing miserably with his bright red nose, watery eyes and slumped posture.

“You sure?” Natasha asked. “We can make soup for dinner, it’ll be good—”

Steve shook his head. “Sorry, I’m just not hungry… thanks, though. Really.” He smiled at them again and walked out of the kitchen, turning left around the corner.

“Uh, Cap?” Clint called out, confused. When Steve’s head popped back into view, he continued. “Your rooms is the other way, pal. You sure you’re okay?” Clint’s tone was light and jokey, but behind it was a thick layer of concern.

“Oh, yeah… Yeah, I’m just going back to my old quarter.” Steve pointed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the room Steve had slept in before he officially moved into the penthouse with Tony.

“Why?” Natasha asked, also confused.

“I, um… Tony’s coming back tonight and I just… God, it’s so stupid.” Steve chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I just don’t want him to see me like… like this. Everyone saw how disgusted he was when Clint was sick, and now I’m the one who’s all gross and germy and…” he trailed off as Clint and Natasha looked at him with soft expressions.

“Steve, if you think Tony’s going to break up with you because you’re sick then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought,” Natasha said, voice somewhere between sincere and exasperated.

“… I’m too tired to take offence to that,” Steve sighed. “I’m not worried about him breaking up with me, he’s not a monster… he’s coming back from Tokyo and he’s probably exhausted, and he definitely doesn’t want to have to deal with… all this.” Steve made a vague gesture to his face and completed his sentence his a sniffle.

He sniffled again, and as if on cue, his nose twitched. Holding a fist loosely in front of his face, he jerked to the side and let out two throat-scraping, congested sneezes.

“hrruuushhh! Hrrushch!”

“Bless you,” Natasha and Clint said in unison. Steve acknowledged the blessing with a nod and reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumbled tissue to sniffle into. He looked absolutely miserable, his nose chapped and raw, cheeks flushed from fever and his eyes were glazed over and completely drained from energy.

“Look, Steve… I’m positive Stark won’t mind, and if he does, then that’s his problem. It has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with his own messed up mind, okay?” Natasha’s eyes were wide, and her eyebrows were drawn into a frown that said do you understand? It softened, though, when she watched Steve duck his head and his lips curl upwards.

“Thanks, you guys,” Steve mumbled in a small, fond voice.

“You sure about that soup, though? Or tea, tea would also be-“

“Not hungry,” Steve repeated, almost sounding sorry. “I’ll head up then. And, uh, thanks… again.” He smiled faintly and walked out of the kitchen. A few moments later, the two spies heard the ding! that sounded form the elevator heading for the penthouse.

***

“Honey, I’m home!” Tony called out as set down his briefcase before toeing off his shoes and loosening his tie. He sighed contently at the mixture of the relief of being home and the thought of finally getting to cuddle up next to Steve. When his boyfriend didn’t answer, he called out again. “Steve?”

Looking at his watch, Tony frowned. It was barely 10 pm, which was a lot earlier than the time usually went to sleep. He went to check the bedroom anyways, but the bed was empty and unmade, which… that was odd, because Steve always made the bed.

He wasn’t in the bathroom either, so Tony went back to the living room, and… oh.

On the sofa, lying in a nest of pillows and blankets, was Steve. One could only guess at how Tony had missed that when he walked in, but he was tired and jet-lagged, so he excused himself. He went over to examine the den and smiled adoringly down at Steve. His face barely peaked out from the cocoon he was wrapped up in, but Tony could clearly see the relaxed expression on his face.

Groaning as he sat down next to the sleeping soldier, Tony rubbed a hand up and down what he thought to be Steve’s arm. He couldn’t quite tell, though, through all the layers, but he kept smoothing his hand over the blankets until Steve’s eyes slowly fluttered open.

“T’ny?” Steve rasped.

“Hey, you,” Tony said, smiling. “What are you doing out here, hm?”

As Tony’s hand moved towards Steve’s cheek, the soldier drew back. At Tony’s bewildered appearance, Steve explained.

“Don’t— uh, you probably shouldn’t touch me. I, umb, snff! I have a cold.”

Steve blushed, and the pink tint to his cheeks wasn’t from the fever as much as it was from embarrassment. He glanced at Tony, then turned his gaze away when he felt Tony’s eyes locked on him. He drew even further away from Tony when he felt a well-known tingle in his nose, nostrils quivering and face crumbling before he stifled two sneezes into the blanket.

“huh-NGxtt! Hnngt-Ngxt!”

“God bless you,” Tony murmured and placed his hand on Steve’s cheek even though Steve had told him not to. “Why didn’t you tell me you were so sick, honey?”

That was… not quite how Steve had expected him to react, but he melted into the gentle touch, too selfish to flinch away again.

“I didn’t, uh-huh! s-sorry, hh-! H’ushoo!” He sneezed more freely this time, curling away from Tony. “Excuse mbe, SNFF! I didn’t want to bother you with it.” He felt kinda silly saying this, especially after seeing Tony so… not bothered at all.

“God, Steven, you could never bother me,” Tony said as he ran a hand through Steve’s sleep-mussed hair. “How long have you felt bad?”

“Just since this morning… been tired all day, though, so I thought an early night would do me some good.”

“Why aren’t you in bed then?” Tony asked, looking at the massive pile of blankets.

“I knew you were coming home, and I-I just thought it’d be better if I slept out here so I wouldn’t disturb you.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Disturb me,” he said incredulously. “Why would you think that?”

Steve felt himself go shy. “Because I’m all… icky and gross and— and I know you don’t like germs  and all that, so.”

“Please, Steve, I don’t care about that. You’re sick, there’s no way I’m not taking care of you.”

Steve thought his heart might have doubled in size with emotion, warmth flooding in his chest as Tony soothingly stroked his forehead.

“Sorry,” Steve said. “You just seemed at little… twitchy when Clint was sick, so I figured…”

“I know. Maybe I was a little overdramatic… Only a tiny bit, though,” Tony smirked and Steve chuckled.

“Well, look where it got me.”

“Hm… I’m sorry if I seemed insensitive, and I’m even more sorry if I made you feel bad for being sick. Friday was just… long and exhausting.” Tony sighed. “I promise you, I don’t mind one bit of this.” He leaned in closer to Steve, pressing a kiss to his forehead and letting out a concerned noise at the feel of burning hot skin against his lips.

“You need to get out of these. You’re burning up.”

Steve whimpered in protest as Tony tugged at the blanket. “But I’m cold.”

“You’re running a fever, Steve… We need to get you some medicine and into bed, okay?”

Steve nodded and slowly sat up straight, feeling woozy at the shift in position. Tony steadied him and helped him to his feet, bringing an arm around Steve’s waist and guided him towards the bedroom.

“Sorry I’m so sick,” Steve murmured, slumping onto the bed and started pulling his hoodie over his head, leaving him in his sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

“Shh, don’t apologize,” Tony cooed. “Get comfortable, I’ll be back in a second.”

The comforter was cool when Steve’s shifted underneath it, feeling good against his feverish skin and sent shivers down his spine. He leaned back into the pillows, head resting comfortably, and closed his eyes with a quiet moan.

Steve wrinkled his nose and rubbed firmly at it, trying to impede the building itch, but within a few seconds it became too strong, and he pulled the collar of his t-shirt over his mouth, waiting for the inevitable sneezes.

“Hh… eh! Heh’CHushh! TSS’hhuh! snfSNF! Hh’tsh!” He released his grip on the tee and gave a little ticklish cough, muttering under his breath, “Jesus.”

“God bless you, sweetheart.” Tony emerged from the door, carrying an overloaded tray. “Good thing I brought tissues.”

“Along with half of CVS,” Steve sniffled and smiled softly.

“These are essential, Steven,” Tony defended and sat down on the bed. “Tissues, Tylenol and de-congestants, some… other thing I found in the cabinet, tea…”

“I think I’ve had enough tea for a lifetime,” Steve admitted, but he reached out and grabbed the steaming cup anyway.

“Sick people can never have too much tea,” Tony said, putting his hand in Steve’s hair and massaged his scalp gently.

Steve sighed, feeling tension he hadn’t even noticed was there bleeding out of him, and snuffled into the tea. The steam made him able to breathe through his nose again, but it left him sniffling and it made his nose run. He gratefully accepted the tissue Tony offered him and handed over the cup before blowing his nose.

Tony hummed sympathetically when blowing his nose made him cough, and Steve went a little bashful at the attention. “Sorry…”

Tony shook his head, wanting to tell him not to apologize for what felt like the tenth time within the hour he’d been home, but instead he snuggled closer to him, wrapping an arm around Steve’s broad shoulders and placed a soft peck into the messy, blonde hair.

They ended up putting on an old 80’s movie in the background while Steve took the medicine and finished his tea. After that, they cuddled up, Tony telling him about his trip to Tokyo and the SI-project they were starting, but before Tony got to the part where he got off the plane in Japan, Steve had dozed off, his head resting against Tony’s shoulder.

[dontcare77ghj]

Quirks

Natasha x reader x Bucky x Clint

Masterlist      Sleep Series Masterlist      Halloween/Supernatural Masterlist

The four of you were the perfect match. You all shared a very similar background, filled with pain, bad decisions and choices, and things you would all regret long after you were gone. But the four of you had all attempted to put the past behind you and do some good in this world.

The four of you had all joined the Avengers in an attempt to right the wrongs of your pasts. You, Clint and Natasha had all been a part of the team from the start and Natasha and Clint had been an item since the start. 

They were very subtle, very private about their relationship, so it wasn’t until you accidently walked in on them you knew they were together. From that moment on you’d shoved the feelings you’d felt for the two down, but you’d continued your friendship with the two.

A couple months later, after a lot of drinks, Clint had revealed how the two felt for you and then promptly passed out. The next morning the three of you had a serious conversation about what Clint admitted and your feelings for each other. The conversation ended well and the three of you had gotten together.

A year after you’d all gotten together you met Bucky. At the time Bucky wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship and shaking off his past, so that’s what you gave him. Nearly six months later the four of you had another successful conversation and three had become four.

The four of you loved each other deeply, there was nothing the four of you didn’t know about each other. 

“Clint don’t you dare!” You shrieked as the archer threw you over his shoulder. “Seriously Clint, put me down.” You laughed as he started twirling around.

“I don’t think I can.” He told you, continuing to walk as if you weren’t strung across his shoulder. “We promised to meet Natasha and Bucky in the gym in two minutes and with how slow you walk; it would take another two years.” He jested. You glared at the ground and sent your foot gently into his ribcage.

“Not funny, Barton.” You scowled. “Just you wait until I get down from here.” You threatened, letting out a gasp as Clint’s hand contacted your ass. “Clint!” You scolded as he rubbed the area.

“You kicked me!” He defended himself. “Besides I thought you liked that.” He said, smirk clear in his voice.

“Clinton Francis Barton, I swear to Thor, you better put me down.” You said as he rounded the corner.

“Great minds think alike.” Bucky said, making you jump in surprise. You turned your head to look behind you and then cocked your head. Bucky stood before you with Natasha hanging over his shoulder, though she appeared to be asleep.

“Is she seriously asleep?” Clint asked moving towards the pair.

“Mm-hm.” Bucky hummed, leaning down to kiss Clint. “Fell asleep on my shoulder and I don’t want to move her too much in case she wakes up.” Bucky explained before kissing you too, albeit awkwardly.

“How about we move this to the bedroom then?” Clint suggested. “So we can put Nat to bed?” He added quickly when you went to kick him again.

“Sounds like a plan.” Bucky said.

“You know what else sounds like a plan? Maybe, I don’t know, putting me down?” You suggested, looking between the men.

“No.” They said in unison. You let out a groan and dropped your head back down as the two laughed. The four of you made your way back to the bedroom and while Bucky put Nat to bed Clint, finally, put you down.

“You are an ass.” You complained as your vision blurred. Clint grabbed your shoulders and sat you on the couch when it looked as if you were going to fall.

“You love me.” He teased, kneeling in front of you.

“Not right now.” You groaned, still feeling dizzy. “Right now, Tasha is my favorite.” You said as Bucky came into the living room.

“What did I do?” Bucky asked, sitting next to you. 

“You laughed.” You said, pointing accusingly at the brunette. “And you wouldn’t help me down.”

“Tash ok?” Clint asked, sitting on the coffee table. Bucky nodded and pulled you closer.

“Yeah, she didn’t wake up and I got this.” Bucky said, unlocking his phone and clicking on the gallery. He clicked a photo and showed the two of you.

It was a photo of Natasha curled into a tight ball, one hand hidden under the pillow, with a smile on her face.

“I thought she took the knife out of the bed?” You asked, smiling at the image of your peaceful girlfriend.

“She did.” Clint confirmed. “That’s the gun.” He added.

“I’m not even going to comment on that.” You said, standing from the couch. 

“Where are you going?” Bucky questioned curiously. You smiled at the man and kissed him and Clint quickly.

“Why look at a cute photo of Nat? I’m going to join her.” You told the two before moving into the bedroom. You had just taken off your jeans and were beginning to get in to bed when you heard Clint and Bucky begin to move into the bedroom.

You smirked as you shifted towards Natasha, who remained curled into her ball with her hand under the pillow, obviously clutching the gun tightly. You win this one. 

“Steven Grant Rogers, what the hell were you thinking?” Bucky demanded as you, Clint and Natasha sat back and watched Captain America get scolded by Bucky.

“I was thinking-“

“You weren’t! There is no way in hell you were actually thinking after you pulled that move.” Bucky said, glaring at the blonde who looked incredibly embarrassed.

“I wasn’t thinking. Is that what you want to hear?” Steve asked. “I’m sorry I almost got killed, but I got the job done.”

“Nothing has changed. It’s been almost seventy years, and nothing has changed.” Bucky sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “I’m too tired for this. I’ll yell at you another time.”

“Buck, come sit.” You said, patting the bench next to you. “You look exhausted.” Bucky nodded and sat next to you, he rested his head on your shoulder and was asleep in minutes.

“God, he fell asleep quicker than Clint does after he takes out his hearing aids.” Natasha said to you, making you laugh.

“Don’t mock me, you two.” Clint commented from the front of the jet. “It’s not nice.”

“Sorry Clint.” You apologized, still smiling. Natasha stood from next to you and helped move Bucky, so he was laying down, his head on your lap and the rest of his body on the bench.

“There, now he’s not going to break his neck.” Natasha said, leaning down to kiss the man’s forehead and then kissed you as she sat next to you.

“He couldn’t break his neck like that.” You giggled before stopping to think. “Wait, could you?”

“Well given how far he had to lean down to reach your shoulder, maybe.” Clint said, making you glare at the back of his head.

“I am not that short, I’m taller than Nat.” You said and Natasha started laughing.

“By half an inch.” She laughed. “Face it darling, we’re both short. There’s not much we can do about it.”

“You’re short.” Bucky murmured suddenly. Clint let out a loud laugh at the comment before Natasha shushed him. Looking down you smiled as you saw Bucky was still fast asleep. The first night the four of you had spent together, Bucky had slept talked and every night since that first he had done the same thing.

The topic could be something trivial, some non-sensical drabble, it could be serious, it could be anything. It was just what he did every night without fail.

“Does he still do that?” Steve asked from the bench opposite you. 

“Every night.” Natasha answered. “Did he used to do the same back in the day?”

“Who sounds old now?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead. “But yes. He’s talked in his sleep for as long as I’ve known him. Once, he had this long rant about why his mother’s chili was the best and everyone else could bugger off.” Steve added, snorting at the memory.

“That’s kind of sweet.” You commented, running your fingers through Bucky’s hair. “A bit weird, but sweet.”

“Just like that, doll.” Bucky murmured, making you freeze and everyone else chuckle.

“And then he goes and says that.” Natasha says. For the rest of the ride home the four of you made quiet conversation, fighting off the urge to sleep on the floor, until you made it back to the tower where you had to wake Bucky.

Bucky trudged through the building, still half asleep, until he made it back to your floor. He didn’t even bother taking off his boots or any of his gear, he just fell asleep on the couch.

“Should we try to move him?” Clint asked, shedding his uniform.

“Just let him sleep.” Natasha said, wrapping an arm around both your waists. “He’ll come to bed when he rolls over and wakes up on the floor.” 

Clint was terrible to sleep next to. No, he was terrible to sleep on the same bed with. He wasn’t a cuddler, he wasn’t a snorer, he was a starfish. He took up any and every inch of space he could and on top of that, he elbowed. It was as if he his body registered the fact someone was in bed next to him and that was its cue to fling his limbs over them and elbow them all night long.

What made it worse was the fact he took his hearing aids out before bed and couldn’t hear when one of you asked him to move or to get off.

You and Bucky had just gotten back from a week-long mission and the two of you were beat. Mentally, physically and emotionally. Everything hurt and the two of you were incredibly tired. The two of you were having trouble staying awake on the ride up to your floor.

“Do you think if we ask Tash really nicely, she’d make us her famous hot chocolate?” You asked, leaning your head against Bucky’s side.

“Maybe. I want to know if she’d put extra vodka in mine.” Bucky murmured, leaning heavily against the wall.

“I take back everything I ever said about it not being a real medicine.” You sighed. “Right now, I think it’s just we need.” At that second the doors opened with a ding, Natasha stood in front of you both and smiled at the sight of you.

“Welcome home.” She greeted, pulling you both out of the elevator and into her arms. “We missed you.”

“Missed you too, Tash.” You mumbled into her neck.

“Where’s birdbrain?” Bucky asked, his head resting on top of Natasha’s.

“The idiot decided expiration dates are for losers and drank three-day old milk. He’s been throwing up since yesterday.” Natasha told you both, rolling her eyes at Clint’s idiocy.

“What an idiot.” You said, smirking sleepily at Natasha’s words. Natasha pulled back and frowned worriedly at the two of you.

“Both of you go shower, now. Then get into bed. You need rest.” Natasha said, pushing you both into the direction of the bedroom.

“Okay, we’ll go. On one condition.” Bucky said, stopping. “Can you please make us your special?”

“Hot chocolate with extra vodka?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair of you.

“Please.” You both said. Natasha nodded and then shooed you towards the bedroom. When you entered the bedroom, Clint was fast asleep.  Quietly you and Bucky made your way into the attached bathroom and shared a long, hot, shower.

The two of you moved back into the bedroom and dressed into comfortable clothes, for Bucky a pair of boxers and you one of his large shirts. You crawled into bed on the side closest to the door with Bucky climbing in right behind you.

“He does look a little green.” Bucky mentioned, placing a kiss onto the back of your neck.

“He should have listened to Nat.” You hummed, closing your eyes at the feel of Bucky’s lips and the soft mattress beneath you. “Would’ve spared him a lot of trouble.”

“Go to sleep doll.” Bucky said, kissing the back of your head this time. “Love you Buck.” You murmured, relaxing completely in his grip. You were on the verge of drifting off when you felt an arm smack you across the face. You let out an annoyed groan and opened your eyes to see an arm on your face.

“Seriously Clint?” Bucky groaned, shoving Clint’s hand off his face. “It’s like he has ESPN or something.” He complained. 

“ESP, Buck.” You corrected, rolling over so your face was pressed against Bucky’s chest. The two of you went back to attempting to fall asleep when a body rolled into the two of you. 

The sudden weight pushing into you, along with the position you were in caused the three of you to fall to the floor just as Natasha entered with a tray of hot drinks.

“Do I even want to know?” Natasha asked. You and Bucky shared a look before pointing to a somehow still sleeping Clint.

“It was Clint’s fault.”

“Look at I’m Tony Stark, I’m a bloody genius. I built this whole building and all it’s systems.” Natasha mocked, piling more blankets into your awaiting arms. “I’m such a genius that my experiment somehow ruined the heating system.”

“Are you done yet?” You asked, watching her with a grin. “Not that I don’t love that impression, but you’ve been doing it for the past ten minutes.”

“Well he’s been trying to fix the heating for ten hours and he still hasn’t done it.” Natasha complained, shoving a few more blankets in your arms before shutting the door.

“The man may be a genius but he’s trying to fix the whole buildings heating.” You said, attempting to sooth the red head. Natasha took half of your blanket pile and quickly kissed you.

“I still say I could’ve fixed the heating in under five.” Natasha commented as you walked back into the bedroom.

“Whoa. Did you two leave any blankets in the tower or New York for that matter?” Clint asked as you both dumped the mountain of blankets onto the bed.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at the man and rapped him on the back of the head gently.

“It is the middle of winter Clinton. I will not freeze because Stark broke the tower.” She said, beginning to layer them on the bed.

“It’s already three, it’s not going to get much colder than this.” You told Natasha beginning to change into your pyjamas, a pair of Clint’s sweat pants and one of Bucky’s long sleeve shirts.

“Keep telling yourself that. Out of the four of us, I am the only one who can handle the cold properly and besides even with the heater on I’m worried your feet are going to fall off.” Natasha told you.

“She’s not wrong there, sweetheart.” Clint commented, wrapping his arms around your waist. “It’s like there’s no circulation going to your feet.”

“You two are mean, Bucky wouldn’t treat me like this.” You whined, leaning back into Clint’s warm chest.

“Yes, I would.” Bucky garbled, walking out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth. “Your feet are cold doll.” He added before moving back into the bathroom.

“We win.” Clint said with a smirk.

“Well I can’t help it.” You complained. “It’s not like I can just make them warm all the time.”

“I can fix that.” Clint told you. He moved away from you and over to the dresser he shared with Bucky. He grabbed a pair of his novelty, thick, socks and handed them to you.

“Now we won’t have to feel your cold feet and you’ll stay warm.” He said, making you smile.

“Thank you, Clint.” You said graciously and kissed him in thanks. You pulled them on quickly, sighing happily as your feet where no longer touching the chilling ground.

“Buck, hurry up in there.” Natasha called, pulling her hair into a ponytail. Bucky let out a few more garbled words before Natasha pulled back the blankets. “Come on you two.” She said, patting the bed next to her.

You laid next to Natasha with Clint behind you. A minute later Bucky came into the bedroom, turned the light off and curled up behind Clint.

“Now this is toasty.” Clint commented, pulling you and Natasha closer. Natasha hummed and smirked lazily.

“And no cold feet are shoved between anyone's legs.” She said, making the boys laugh.

“I’m so warm, I don't even care to comment.” You sighed, curling into the warmth. “Goodnight you guys. I love you.”

“Love you too sweetheart.”

“Love you, doll.”

“I love you sweetheart.”

Those were the last things you heard before you fell asleep, surrounded by the three people you loved the most and feeling the warmest you’d ever felt.

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Show your support. Give it a like. Leave a comment. Share with your friends and reblog. Inbox/Message me any comments, pairings you’d like to see, ideas, if you would like to be added to a taglist or anything you’d like.

Coming soon;

Steve x reader x Bucky

Bucky x reader x Sam

Sam x reader x Sam

Natasha x reader x Bruce

Steve x reader x Sam x Bucky

Natasha x reader x Sam x Steve

Natasha x reader x Bucky x Sam x Steve

Bucky x reader x Thor

Pepper x reader x Tony

Natasha x reader x Peggy x Wanda

Natasha x reader x Wanda

Steve x reader x Bruce x Tony

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Sick Little Games: Thirty- Nine

Somethings in the Compound never changed. Your office was still the same. And so was the lab. The commons. And Bucky. 

Bucky watched you get off the Quinjet from a spot out of the way and felt sick. It had been over a year since he’d actually seen you. And he’d known you were pregnant, but the impact of that news hadn’t sunk in until right now. Until he was watching Barton fuss over you, keeping an arm around your waist and stopping to kiss your forehead and pet your stomach, trying to comfort himself or soothe you, he wasn’t sure. 

He knew Steve had hoped that some distance was going to fix things. That you having left the compound was going to make Bucky get over it when you weren’t immediately in his face. 

It hadn’t.

Models didn’t cut it. They really didn’t. There was no depth. Not mutual affection. At least not the ones he fucked. The ones that didn’t want anything but a notch in their bedpost. They didn’t look up at him with the innocence that you had. They didn’t whisper his name like a prayer that sunk straight into his soul. He realized you weren’t his. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t killing him slowly watching Barton get the things he wanted. Knowing Clint was the one who put the baby in you. The one to make you glow like that. The one to have you looking up at him with those big, beautiful eyes. 

And it hurt. 

It had hurt a lot. It seared like a brand in his heart. And what’s worse, he knew that he had no right to harbor those feelings. To want to talk to you. But he did. He wanted so badly for that to be his baby. To be the one that kissed you good night and tucked you into bed. 

Even if he understood why. He did. He thought about it for endless hours lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling as time crawled by, and the rest of the compound slept. He played everything back in his head. Again. And again. And again. Over the last year and change. The shy overtures. That timid little request to get dinner. The confusion and the fear in your eyes when he blocked you against the wall. Knowing now what he didn’t then, he understood now why you had run away. To protect him. 

He replayed every time he let you catch him fucking someone.

And he replayed the mission. The mission that made him into a monster. Alone with you with no one to stop him from sinking his teeth into you and using your heart as his own personal punching bag. When you’d left that time, he’d considered following. Whispering all kinds of romantic things that would make you swoon and make you believe he’d just been scared. He’d wanted to. That had been the plan. But Barton had left first. 

Left only with the intention of understanding. Of bringing his friend back to the tower whether she returned his feelings or not. 

He didn’t understand how it had gotten so far. How he’d let this bitterness get this far under his skin. How he managed to let so much love go, just because he couldn’t see how much struggle you had to go through on your own. 

He felt sick watching Clint be the one to tease you and make you giggle. But, even as his heart twisted, he knew it was his own fault. And he couldn’t help the other feeling in his heart. The one that told him to be happy for you. Because you deserved this. 

____________

“I miss my bed,” you groan, squirming to try and get comfortable. 

Clint chuckled and loosened his grip to let you get situated, “You’re just gonna get up in 20 minutes to pee,” he teased.

“Yeah,, but I wanna be comfortable for at least 4 of them,” you whine, starting to tear up in frustration. 

“Sweetheart,” he tuts, kissing tears away. “What hurts? Huh? What can I do?” he asked. 

“My back and my hips,” you groan, struggling to sit up. 

“What kind of pain?” he asked, anxious. 

“It just aches. The stool Tony gave me to sit on wasn’t much better than just standing up.”

Clint kissed you softly, “Well, let’s get you resituated, and I’ll rub it all down,” he offered, “Get you relaxed.”

He helps you get on his lap and straddle him carefully. You aren’t really sure how this became the most comfortable position for that, but it was. Even if your belly made it a tight fit. Clint smiled softly and started kneading your hips gently, chuckling when you sighed in relief. “Good girl,” he praised, kissing the side of your head as you bring your forehead down to rest on his shoulder. For a few minutes, he doesn’t say much. Just rubs all the sore, tense places he can find. At least until he feels you start crying on his shoulder. 

“What’s wrong, mama?” he soothes, kissing your head, “What hurts?”

“I don’t wanna be here,” you tell him, wiping away frustrated tears. 

“I know,” he murmurs, rubbing your sides gently. You go through this every time. The worry and the frustration with it. It’s been a while since you cried about it, but then, everything makes you cry right now. Even Jinx and Lucky looking extra cute and cuddling. Or Clint bringing you the lovely little necklace you’d admired at the Farmer’s market. Or Cinnamon Rolls in bed. It all makes you cry, and most of the time, he just has to let you cry it out for a second.

“Sorry,” you apologize, wiping tears away on the back of your hand.

“Not allowed,” he corrected gently. “You being a hormonal mess doesn’t make it less okay to cry,” he scolded.

“So-”

“Don’t,” he said, popping you gently on the backside. “A few tears and a little snot isn’t that big a deal, babe. Given all the horror stories I’ve heard about women that use having a baby to just be a crazy bitch, I’ll take it.” He kisses your forehead tenderly and smiles. And it makes warmth fill your chest. He looks so soft, and it makes you want to wrap your arms around him for cuddles or rip his pajamas off. You aren’t sure which. 

“I love you, dummy,” you tell him, resting your forehead on his other shoulder.

“I know,” he chuckles, starting to rub your hips again. “You know,” he mused after a few minutes, “you’re adorable.”

That makes you snort, “Yeah, okay.”

“You are,” he insists, “I really love what you look like right now.” He wishes he could put it into words for you. Tell you how much he adores the changes and how cute he thinks your belly is. And how proud he is of you for putting your fears aside for him to take the plunge again and again. First to get married and now to have a baby with him. 

“Well, you did it to me,” you say, smiling a little.

“I did,” he agreed smirking, “And I’d do it again.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah... And I gotta tell you, babe, I don’t understand why you’re wearing clothes right now.”

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[bcrtonarrcws]

Meta: Claire's relationship with Barney

              HELLO, HI, YOU HAVE JUST UNLOCKED AN ESSAY THAT IS PROBABLY JUST A LITTLE TOO LONG, if I do say so myself and given that I wrote it, I would say you should listen.

 Anyway, the Bartons are actually my favorite comic siblings to ever exist – probably actually my two favorite comic characters ever ever. Their relationship is so dysfunctional and a little broken, yet held together by shitty guardians and a rough childhood. It’s kinda beautiful, how after everything that happened to each other, they’re still close?? Like they trust each other, tease each other, they have each other’s back?? The relationship between Clint and Barney is truly one of my favorite representations of a pair of siblings who didn’t have the easiest life, mainly because, like without the superhero nonsense, their relationship is actually very similar to my own relationship with my siblings – a severely messed up ride or die that might end with one of us killing each other.

Yet, this question is what does Barney’s and Claire’s relationship look like, not Barney’s and Clint, which despite how little it would change, does change some things. To figure out what it changes though, I’d like to head to what their relationship is like, in canon, for me. I know that the fandom has it’s own view of Barney Barton – I don’t agree with it nor particularly like it, so it’s probably best if I explain how I look at their relationship.

So Barney Barton, born Charles Bernard Barton, is the eldest of the two – no ages because this is the comics and characters can’t have canon ages ?? I guess it’ll break the suspension of disbelief but like shrugs – and he showed up in the comics in 1969, before this, he never existed. Of course this is during the age of the 60’s so most superheros didn’t really like have a life outside of the comics they were in so it’s not that big of a deal, but like still, Marvel just creates this character to be Clint’s brother, tells us he’s a racketeer that’s been on the Avenger’s radar for a while, and then kills him in the same issue, only revealing at the end that he was an undercover FBI agent.

(yeah, they gave Clint a family and then killed said family right away, sounds so similar, y’know kinda like the movie-verse which gave clint a family with very little characterization and then snapped them – no wonder I love Laura so much)

Anyway, later issues of Clint’s will explain that their parents were abusive, they died and Clint and Barney ran away from the orphanage they were in when they were like teenagers – this would be retconned to young teenagers, then implied to be younger as of the Hawkeye (2012) series, which puts Clint sleeping under the tents at age 9 (src), which could or could not imply them being their already - it’s whatever, like it’s just gonna get retconned again. Running away to the circus always puts strain on their relationship no matter what age they are though, mainly due to Clint receiving training from their mutual “father figure” Jacques DuQuesne and Barney becoming jealous; a completely and natural thing according to all child psych I’ve read, it creates an environment that allows one kid to be the “golden child” and the other to be the “scapegoat” – now of course, we don’t know much about the dynamics of their full childhood, Marvel hates sharing any information like that, but we can extrapolate a fair amount.

(also, just so everyone knows, this jealousy did not pave the way for their relationship in later comics, namely Blindspot. In that it’s very clearly stated that Barney was found by Egghead to still be slightly alive. He was then held onto, for nefarious reasons, in a healing chamber, until he was found by Baron Zemo years later who then manipulated Barney against his brother so that Baron Zemo could get his revenge against Clint Barton. I’ll say it again, Barney was used against his own brother by an evil guy who hated Clint because Clint slept with Zemo’s wife; that is where the “Cain and Abel” dynamic comes from – not childhood)

Back on the tangentially related topic I was writing about. This jealousy grows until Jacques DuQuesne leaves after Clint finds out about his illegal dealings ( though the all new hawkeye actually kinda, maybe, a little, I’m unsure, retcons this with Clint finding out about it much earlier, when he finds out about Jacques having Barney stealing from people and places and finds the hidden cache of a gun, money and some other things under Jacques’ bed??? I don’t know, I’m now a little confused if Jacques still fucks off thanks to that comic ) - of course, this is after Jacques chases Clint through the circus, cutting the high wire Clint tried to hide on. Barney tells Clint, while his brother is in the hospital (and in literally a comic that got retconned basically) that he should’ve kept his mouth shut and stuck by Jacques no matter what (can we say that that sounds like trauma?? because guess what, psych 101 says that that’s kinda sounding like trauma since Jacques was trash to these kids, like literally, fuck Jacques DuQuesne – all my friends hate him – he’s an interesting villain but fuck the whitewashing of his bullshit).

This doesn’t sour their relationship at all – no seriously, it doesn’t which uh shows that neither of them really take each other at face value anymore – and they go back to the circus, Clint heals up, starts working with Buck (a man currently being written out of the comics world which is a shame because he’s kinda important but kinda not) and then Barney decides he wants out. With Barney in the army, Clint continues down the crime street and well, now that we’ve got a bit of background (over 800 words of background), let’s get onto what their relationship is really like for Claire and Barney.

Simply put, like in the comic relationship with Clint and Barney, Barney is a protective older brother, he taught Claire how to fight and aim, how to patch up simple bruises and cuts, taught her to drink her first shot (at like age fourteen, but like what do you expect when that boy was drinking much younger???). He was her first teacher, her best teacher – yes their relationship got complicated; it’s Claire when isn’t her relationships complicated – but at the end of the day, he helped shape her into who she was.

Less simply put…

He is her everything—in all the P L A T O N I C (I’m emphasizing platonic because please don’t take this in the romantic sense, they’re fucked up but not like that; I am not Marvel, I don’t ship siblings and pretend that shit is fine.) sense of the word—he was her guardian when all the guardians around her failed to properly take care of her; he was her brother who teased her and made fun of her; he was her best friend who understood what she went through, the only other person who did; he taught her as much schooling as she would sit down and listen to, he taught her how to cook herself some basic food.

He was a father, a mother, a brother, a best friend, a moral compass – which is why when he went off to the Army, Claire found it a betrayal. She hated him for the time that he was gone, though she forgave him not long before she first shot him because she could understand that to him  (the little purple box in the third panel: Carnival of Death, of course this is how Barney would remember things) the circus was never a home, just another temporary place to stay. 

(btw this is “shooting barney” thing that is part of my main verse, is canon. Clint shot his brother, who was working undercover as a bodyguard, while Clint was breaking into a mansion with the aforementioned soon-to-be-retconned-I’m-sure-of-it Buck Chisholm, which led to Buck shooting Clint in the shoulder when he refused to leave his brother’s body and pinning him to a tree – I don’t quite recall how Clint got out of getting arrested, I’m pretty sure it never explained, but I’m rusty and not really up for pulling out some old comics to read up on) 

(I lied, here’s the comic strip: 1. 2. Clint “somehow” managed to get free, take his brother to the hospital and then leave??? yeah sure. )

Anyway, let’s get on with it. So if that was their relationship when they were younger, what is it like now?? Now that Claire has found a place – a sturdy, yet unsteady, comfortable, yet spartan, to call her own –

( and yes, this sounds angsty, but Clint has issues accepting that he is where he wants to be – Clint is always running, even when standing completely still. It’s a trauma response to his shitty childhood where they never stayed in one place for too long; even when their parents were alive, they moved from above the family butcher shop to the Barton farm. Barney had it too, but apparently a relationship helped with that (and okay, look I love Simone and Barney, but that part in All New Hawkeye rubbed me wrong as a fellow wandering child turned rootless adult; the guy needs therapy, not just a relationship – but then again, Barney Barton does not get agency or a personality outside of Clint Barton; his life must revolve around Clint Barton, even when he was on the Dark Avengers, it was about Clint – and yeah, they’re brothers, “two sides of the same coin”, and all that jazz but like I’ve got three sisters and a brother, I’m my own person at the end of the day – something Barney Barton cannot say, which means ending his story on the note of retirement and falling in love is just the best thing so they don’t have to keep finding a reason to try to remember that Clint has a brother   I’ll stop with the rant, I’m sorry.) )

   where does a man who no longer has to be a father, mother, brother, best friend, and moral compass stand when his sister has all that? Well, for the most part, he stands next to her – in my main verse at least. After he has come back wrong (Buffy much?), he finds his place standing beside his sister, no longer solely protecting her from the world (as he had always done because the world is not kind to lost little girls or boys), because he’s learned that she can, for the most part, protect herself, and Claire finds herself less on a lower standing (less of a burden in her eyes, less of a child in need of comfort) with her brother, but more like an equal, something that’s a bit of a new situation for the both of them.

In truth, Claire’s relationship with Barney is complicated and messy but it’s hers, and when you have something that’s complicated and messy, you have to figure it out, and that’s what, in my canon, she’s doing. Sure Barney isn’t around a lot - he’s got his own shit to figure out - but he’s her brother, and she loves him, and he loves her and they’re trying to get to a place where they don’t accidentally poke the trauma they’ve got and ruin a good thing. 

......

Okay, so like did any of this make sense??? I don’t know. I guess, to sum it up really quick, in my main verse - and most of my canon - I’d say Claire’s relationship with Barney is slightly yet not really awkward – it’s awkward because once upon a time, it was simple. Yet at the same time, it’s a really important relationship because Claire was shaped by her brother (and of course all those shitty adults because there are no good mentors in the Marvel world, not for kids at least).

Idk, this is really just me rambling. Like I should just state that tis is just Mun taking all the retcons that Marvel stuck her babies through and trying to make sense of them along with a healthy dose of a smattering of psychology shoved all about because unlike Marvel, I have no desire to ignore the C-PTSD/PTSD that seems to follow both boys around thanks to their childhood – of course this crazy amount of words actually kinda ignores all the trauma they have as adults, but that’s a whole nother post for some other day

I also know that I carry some ~controversial ~ barney barton views - ie. he’s not a villain and that him and clint share a close relationship, that he isn’t dumb muscle (bitch got a 1350 SAT score with like minimal schooling, i’d like to see you do that) and that he wasn’t a shit older brother when they were kids - i’m not apologizing for them. not at all. i will never apologize for them. characters are more than one dimensional and if i gotta be the one to wade through all this vague ass bullshit to get those other two dimensions then i’m going to do just that, which i have done. 

plus it doesn’t even matter because through all the retcons clint and barney has gone through, this is what their relationship is; a fucked up dysfunctional sibling relationship gone off the rails when Barney was brought back from the dead and manipulated/brainwashed into hating his brother. it eventually got better, how? we’ve got none of that, but it did and and at the end of the day, as clint said: