#this visit better mean ukraine is getting some new nice weapons

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

BIDEN ARRIVED IN KYIV!!!

And went on a walk with Vova to the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine.

[scribbling-stiks]

AAR - XXXI - Bad Days

*New Mississippi Design doodle; sidenote, I hope I got the hair style right. I am caucasian and stuck in the house with my white family, so I tried my best with google trying to find something relevant. I'm not sure if I did it right, so please let me know if I didn't do it justice.*

Russia twirls America's hair in between his fingers. He tries to admire different colors. Russia himself has plain white hair, and he almost finds himself envying it, but shakes the feeling off. He pulls his fingers through America's hair and it stands on end, blue and red highlights popping out from the white.

But Russia finds he can't focus on the colors or the texture of any of it. His head spins and thoughts bounce around his skull like a pinball machine. He tries his best to relax, but his mind spins.

'What's going to happen now?' The thought echos in his mind.

'Am I in danger?'

'Are we in danger?'

'Are the kids going to be okay?'

'Is Ukraine okay?'

'Is that thing going to come back? What if it wasn't here for just the animals.'

He tries to shake off the thoughts but finds that he can't. His eyes fly around the room, even though logic tells him that he won't find anything in here. Motion catches his attention and he sees Texas walking over with a concerned look on his face.

Texas smiles when he sees Russia looking up at him and walks a little quicker. Texas swiftly makes it to Russia's side and America looks up with a smile.

"Hey, y'all," Texas says, "so, I just wanna let y'all know that outside don't look so pretty."

"What do you mean?" America asks, his tone curious and worried.

"Well, it kinda looks like when Arkansas put red food coloring and milk in the blender and didn't put the top on."

"Oh. That's not good," America says, "is the spider monster thing still outside?"

"I didn't see it, and I don't think there are any more animals left," Texas says, "at least, not anymore. But Tenny said it smelled like it was gonna rain soon, so we might just wanna wait for a while before we go outside again."

America hums.

"We wait until tomorrow," Russia says decisively, "then we will leave."

"Wait, we're leaving? I ain't complainin', don't get me wrong, but where are we going?" Texas says.

Russia notes that as soon as Texas' voice rose a little, the other kids tune in to the conversation. The kids don't move, but they do go quiet, occasionally glancing in their direction.

"We're going to my plantation house in Georgia," Dixie says loudly, and drew everyone's attention.

The room explodes with sound.

"Wait, we're going to go stay at Dixie's zombie house?"

"Bama, it's not for f***ing zombies."

"OOH! If we're leaving, can we get drive-thru on our way there?"

"Yeah! Anything's better than the unseasoned stuff coming outta these cans."

America sighs and rubs his face. Russia smiles.

"Fine, we'll get drive-thru on our way there. But I am NOT taking requests," America relents.

The states cheer and clap. Russia smiles and drops his chin into America's hair. It's prickly and tickles his face. Then he catches motion in his peripheral vision and he looks up, panicked. After a little searching, he finally sees what had startled him. He offers a smile to Connecticut as they walk over nicely.

"Hey, Dad?" Connecticut says, waving their hand to get his attention.

"Yeah, Kiddo?"

"Can I come with you?"

"What do you mean?" America asks, looking clueless. Russia shakes his head with amusement.

'They mean when we leave to invade the bases.'

"I know that you're leaving again with Russia. I wanted to see if I could come with you."

"Really? Why?"

"I've got magic, and I wanted to make sure you have some extra magic support," they answer, "I can't do wards like Massy, but I can summon weapons."

Connecticut waves their hands and summons knives, one in each hand. They wave the knives and their feet leave the ground as they whirl around, swiping through the air.

"Alright," America relents, "fine. But we aren't figuring out our search group until after we settle into Dixie's safe-house, okay?"

"Okay!" They say, and they walk off with a wide smile.

Russia's attention returns to the rest of the room and he finds himself tracking where everyone is and what they're doing. Trying to split his attention makes him feel overwhelmed, but when he tries to stop, panic grows in his chest. He feels America shift and Russia looks down at him.

America looks up with wide, concerned eyes.

"Russ, are you okay?" America asks.

"All is perfect. I am okay."

"No, you're not," America says, sitting up.

Russia's eyes fly back to America again. America is looking up at him with concern and affection in his eyes.

'His expressions still look the same,' Russia notes with muted joy.

"You're freaking out. I can feel your heartbeat," America whispers, his hand moving to Russia's chest.

America stares up at him with a tender look. "Please," he says, "breath with me."

Russia tries, he really does, but when he tries to slow his breathing, his lungs scream at him that he isn't getting enough air. He finds himself trying to match America but desperately gasping as if he had just resurfaced after nearly drowning.

'How is he breathing so slowly?' Russia thinks incredulously, 'it's impossible.'

America carefully takes Russia's hand and pulls them onto his chest, breathing deeply. Russia feels the movement.

'In...out...in...out'

Russia takes shuttering breaths, trying to breathe in when he feels America's chest expand.

"We're okay... we're okay," America whispers, cupping Russia's hands with his own.

Russia tries to look around America's head and search for danger in the building.

"Hey," America says, and Russia frantically looks back, "there is nothing behind me, okay? Look at me."

Russia tries his best to keep his eyes on America, but the movement around America's head keeps pulling his attention back to the chaos happening behind America.

"Rue, I'm going to hug you, okay?" America asks, gently letting go of Russia's hands.

Russia retracts his arms to his chest, closes his eyes, and nods furiously. America pulls him in and Russia leans his head into America's shoulder. America hugs him tightly and doesn't say anything.

'Everything is okay. Everything is okay.' It becomes almost a chant, cycling through his thoughts until it loses its meaning.

Russia feels America's heartbeat and breathing and focuses on it. Russia forces himself to focus on America. He struggles to tune out the sounds that drown out ration thoughts that surround him, so he focuses on America's breath brushing the back of his neck. Russia refuses to let his panic in his chest move his focus away.

Finally, Russia's breathing starts to slow down enough for him to think, and he wraps his arms around America, trying his best to be gentle.

'Everything is okay. Right now, we are safe. If we stay inside, we are safe,' Russia thinks, trying to convince his heart to slow its racing.

Russia focuses on keeping his breathing calm, and his heart rate calms. He lays there for as long as he can manage until he feels America begin to shift. Russia sits and looks away, his face flush. He can't make himself look up and meet America's eyes.

'What happened?!' Russia mentally demands, trying to find why he had started panicking like that.

"Rue?"

Russia scrunched his nose in frustration.

"Rue."

Russia looks up and sees America looking at him with concern. America smiles.

"You were spacing out on me there."

"Sorry," Russia mumbles.

"Hey, I get it," America says, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "sometimes things can be too much."

"But I..."

"Rue-Rue, everyone has their bad days. Everyone. And bad days can look different depending on who you are. Sometimes when things get hard, Flo goes non-verbal, and Tex'll lash out and isolate himself. Sometimes, for no reason in particular, some of the states will visit and be attached to me like koalas for the rest of the day," America recalls, a fond and exasperated smile spreads across his face before he shakes his head, "Anyways, my point is we just had a hard few... forevers, and you're just having a bad day today."

Russia tries his best to fight back the shame in the back of his throat. He feels his cheeks burn.

"And hey, if I'm allowed to have bad days, you are too," America says, playfully punching Russia's shoulder. Russia doesn't look up and America sighs.

"For real though, I'm here for you. Besides, we can't just go out and get alcohol to drown our sorrows, and I promised my kids I wouldn't start smoking again, so we're kinda stuck dealing with our emotions."

"I don't like it," Russia mutters. America laughs quietly.

"No one does, Rue-Rue. Trust me, I know. But if we don't deal with them, they don't ever get any better."

Russia tries to think of a counterpoint, only to find himself agreeing.

"And I'm sure once we settle down into that house, we'll have a bunch of clingy children to deal with," America says with a smile.

Russia laughs softly and finally looks back up at America, who looks at him with love in his eyes. Russia stares back, getting lost within his eyes, staring almost hypnotized by the strange dullness to America's right eye and the depth to the right.

"I think everyone needs a break just to calm down a little. I think once we're all together somewhere without things sneaking up on us and where we can sleep in actual beds, it'll get better," America says softly, a loving smile on his face.

Russia smiles back, and he feels lighter. The storm of emotions and anxiety he hadn't even noticed making a home in his chest dissipates, if only a little.

"It will be better," Russia agrees before musing, "it has been a while since I have been in a house."

America giggles widely and falls into him. Russia smiles at the display and his heart swells. America takes a few deep breaths to calm his giggling before looking back up at Russia with a stern look.

"If you get jumpy like that again, try to calm yourself down," America advises, "if you don't, you're just gonna be exhausted."

Russia nods. America smiles brightly, and Russia tiredly smiles back.

"See, now you're tired. But you gotta stay up with me."

"Why?" Russia whines.

"Because you have to, you jerk," America huffs, crossing his arms and pouting.

Russia chuckles. "You are cute."

"I am not!"

Russia shakes his head with a smile. Honestly, he couldn't wait to settle down somewhere with a comfortable mattress and insulated walls. The mats suck. But he'd make due right now. They just have to stay put one more night.

Soon, light stops peaking through the makeshift curtains, and the steady padder of rain echoes from the metal ceiling, filling the building with white noise. America begins to sway a little before leaning into Russia's side, avoiding the dripping water streaming down the wall.

Russia smiles, wraps an arm around him, drifting off, the darkness welcoming him into sleep's embrace.

~

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Table of Contents

[lovelyirony]

It Depends on Your Outlook on Life

Tony Stark didn’t think he would be the type to be an evil overlord who demanded everyone bow to him. It just wasn’t in his plan for life. But then things kind of got screwed up. And He Really Didn’t Think This Thing Through. Because now he has Rhodey as his right-hand man and they’re gonna break into the government and steal government secrets and sell them to Ukraine. Tony likes borscht soup, and that’s what he’s getting paid in. (Rhodey’s gonna cry, but whatevs.) 

He came into power after Afghanistan. He was in the desert for three months, and then government demanded that he bring back weapons. Tony said no. They didn’t exactly like listening. They sold more of his weapons, tore the contracts apart until Tony had a legal obligation to create weapons for twenty more years than the contract stated. But hey, who is going to argue against the government? 

Tony effing Stark. He could do it. He went to college at fifteen and read more than enough Wikipedia articles to know that he could screw over the government anytime he wanted to. (After all, he ran the biggest corporation. People were reliant on him, and he knew it.) 

So Tony kept on working. He released new weapons; most of the time, they worked. But Tony ran it. He made sure they went where they were supposed to go. Tony was so thorough that the government was trying to drop him. Tony let them, and became a reclusive bachelor who only stepped outside to water his plants and sunbathe on the roof. (No way was he going to the beach with all that water.) 

The people viewed him as a man who manipulated the government into releasing him to just live alone, not providing anything for the American people. (If they looked at some of the logos, there would be a remarkable similarity to the SI logo.) 

And then, Tony committed a crime. 

This wasn’t unusual for Tony. He committed a lot of crimes. He littered once because someone handed him a cup of coffee and he told them not to do that because holdingisbad and he also lazily hacked into the government on a slow Sunday. He did not get caught for any of these things. 

SHIELD has computer whizzes. These people live and breathe computers, and they study every aspect of Stark technology. They memorize it, adapt to it, and make it better. Well, as better as they think it is. Tony thinks that it’s cute, that their attempts are just updating it slightly. 

So he gets caught for hacking into their system. Because they’re so obsessed with their computers that they noticed the tech genius of the era hacking. (He was a little impressed and totally going to offer better healthcare plans for them to work for SI.) 

Except they don’t. Because SHIELD unlawfully labels him as a threat. Which is really not true, by the way. Sure, he has a suit made of iron that he uses on occasion, and the suit is so far ahead of other advancements that it would make Einstein cry, but it’s whatevs. SHIELD thinks that he’s a terrorist because he’s looking into files about himself to make sure that they aren’t selling or buying his weaponry. Because SHIELD would probably do that. 

So then, the government thinks that he’s a bad man. And then the public thinks he’s a bad man. And then Pepper calls him and asks if she has to continue working for a villain and Tony cries.

(Not reallyhedidnotcryPepperisalyingliarwholies.) 

Rhodey, at least, sticks with him. They can’t legally discharge Rhodey because there’s nothing on Rhodey or Tony that technically proves that they’re villains, but the military has discharged a man for less. Rhodey doesn’t mind. He starts working on engineering projects at SI and vehemently argues against people who think that Tony Stark murdered Oprah or something. 

Tony actually does become a villain in the process of proving his innocence. Rhodey usually doesn’t do the Stupid Thing. It is Tony who carries out the Stupid Thing and Rhodey makes sure that the Stupid Thing actually works. But not this time. Tony has to make sure that the Stupid Thing actually works. Because Rhodey is planning on breaking into the government a-la-Watergate and steal documents. Only it’s not as bad because he’s not trying to learn where the CIA is hiding top secret people or aliens. He’s just trying to see if they’re close to pinning evidence on Tony. 

(Newsflash: they aren’t.) 

But Rhodey and Tony don’t know that, and SHIELD somehow found out. So they’re after their asses, and it’s basically just a huge crockpot of mutual friendship and shit. 

They send Hawkeye first. So far, Tony has read two things about Agent Barton: 1.) He’s not good at following orders. 2.) That man came into work late because he wanted pizza. Tony kind of wants to be friends. But, a third thing that he learned: Clinton Francis Barton Has Excellent Aim. Better than some of Tony’s aiming mechanisms. 

So he gets an arrow to the right leg, and that hurts like hell. Rhodey is already after Clint, muttering that he’s always hated when birds get on his windshield or whatever. (Tony doesn’t get all of Rhodey’s one-liners, but he’s more focused on making sure the paper about Rhodey’s identity doesn’t get out of his file.) 

They try to send Black Widow, but Tony straight-up Nopes out of that situation and decides to take a vacation to a private island that he flies to by himself and that technically doesn’t exist. Rhodey points out that this could be his supervillain hideout place, and Tony would agree except the energy it takes to get out there is exhausting, and Tony is not about that life. 

So, Natasha Romanoff doesn’t exactly fail. She finds the location of the island, which should be impossible and rallies some agents to get on a huge plane and fly out there. But Tony also considers this and ends up in Bangladesh. He visits an old science teacher that he met about fifteen years ago, and learns more about particle separation than he thought he would. That was nice. 

So SHIELD keeps on trying. They send diplomats, warp minds, and Tony kind of keeps committing crimes like flying without a pilot’s license and stealing their best copier. In his defense, Tony honestly didn’t know it was illegal to fly his own suit without a pilot’s license, but it makes sense. 

Well then they get a little superhero from the ice, and his buddy. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are dug up from the ice, perfectly fine. (Well, Bucky has no left arm, so Tony anonymously sends a schematic for an advanced metal arm. SHIELD uses it.) 

Steve and Bucky are led to believe that Tony is a villain. By the way, only Americans and the Brits think that Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is a villain. This is because SHIELD, in general, sucks, and Tony is pretty sure there’s a snake infestation in there somewhere. Other countries have had Iron Man lend funding to their countries after storm damages or when they are in desperate need of funding for education. Tony also builds orphanages and visits to hold babies. (BY THE WAY THIS IS AN ACTUAL THING SO SUCK IT.) 

Captain America and newly proclaimed “Winter Soldier” (what a lame-o name) are after Iron Man. Steve has proclaimed that he will get the villain and save the American Way or whatever. Tony wasn’t listening, Rhodey paraphrased. (Rhodey’s the best.) 

Well, Iron Man is in Iran helping a medical clinic get off the ground, and there flies in the standard SHIELD jet. (Tony could’ve made them a new jet if they’d just stop the accusations. Of course, he’d name it something better--probably a helicarrier because he could say “how much does it carry? Hella.” and it would be funny. Clint would laugh. They’d be friends.) 

“Iron Man,” Captain America calls. “We’ve come to stop you.” 

“Stop me from establishing a prominent medical clinic?” Tony asks. He holds his hands up, looking at the crowd. They aren’t like the U.S. They can’t sustain millions of dollars of damage and be okay. “Run.” The villagers flee, screaming in terror. 

“Yeah, a medical clinic,” Bucky--Winter Soldier--snorts. “Sounds like they’re excited to see you, Metal Boy.” 

“I know damn well you know I’m over thirty,” Tony snaps. “And they’re not screaming at me; believe it or not, Captain America and Winter Soldier aren’t as big of idols here. They know me, they don’t know you.” 

“You think you’re innocent?” Winter Soldier asks. 

“Uh, yeah?” Tony says. “I’m wearing red and gold right now, probably not the best nonthreatening colors, but let me tell you, it’s better than wearing all black and painting a red star on the arm like I’m Stalin.” 

His eyebrows raise in confusion. “What?” 

“Oh, I forgot. You didn’t live through the Cold War. Brief yourselves on it, it’ll do you wonders.” Winter Soldier nods, then winces. Tony almost laughs. 

The Freedom Frisbee whizzes out of nowhere, pushing Tony back a couple feet. The throw of the shield must mean that Rogers is crazy strong and Tony wonders just how much he’s held back over the years and--wait, no, he has to fight. 

Tony keeps it minimal. He’s not doing any lasting hits. Just a few beams to move the two into an isolated spot. He waits until they think they’ve cornered him. 

“Do you want to know the best thing about owning your own flight suit?” Tony asks. “The rocket boots.” 

Before Cap has the time to say a Bad Language Word, Tony is jetting off. He’s kind of nervous that he just fought his childhood idols and lived, and that they’re after him because they think he’s an American bad guy, but whatever. 

Steve and Bucky come back confused. Tony Stark--Iron Man--didn’t seem like a villain. After the fight, they both analyzed the scene. The villagers were terrified of them, and there were small decorations of Iron Man in the shops. Iron Man had the full potential to devastate the two of them at least a dozen times; yet, he didn’t take the opportunity. 

SHIELD was even murkier for the two of them. They share their suspicions with a doctor named Bruce Banner, who is on contract at SHIELD for turning into a huge rage monster at convenient times and also helping with scientific breakthroughs. (Bucky thinks that that man is the Bitterest Man He’s Met and believe Bucky, He Has Met Himself.) 

“Nah, Tony isn’t a villain,” Bruce says. “We’ve talked a couple of times.” 

“You’ve talked with the guy?” Steve asks. “And you didn’t think SHIELD should know about this?” 

“They didn’t tell me that they had a containment control center for Hulk in case I got too out of control for them, but that’s another story,” Bruce says. (He Is Very Salty.) “Besides, we haven’t gotten you guys up to date on all the scandals within the government and cover-ups that you guys could only dream of.”

Bucky is convinced the moon landing is faked. 

(Natasha laughs so hard she cries.) 

Steve and Bucky conduct further research. SHIELD isn’t as it should be, and Director Fury knows it. He hasn’t been the one to order the hits on Stark, it’s been a higher-up. Alexander Pierce. 

Tony is happy that no SHIELD personnel have been bothering him. This means that he got to do ALL of his laundry this week. That’s very important, because Tony has been missing his favorite science pun shirt. He should text a picture to Bruce. 

Natasha succeeds fully. She breaks into Stark Tower with no detection, along with Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, and they picked up a god along the way. (Lmao who knows how Thor got there? Jane Foster was trying to get him away from SHIELD and called Bruce. Don’t worry about it.) 

“So we know you’re not a big, bad villain,” Natasha says. “We want in.” 

“What the collective fuck,” Rhodey swears. “What...how...when did you get in?” 

“Ten minutes ago,” Clint says. “It would have been fifteen, but I cried about a dog along the way and Thor had to stop to carry me.” 

“You are a very emotional man!” Thor declares. “I am Thor, crowned prince of Asgard and--” 

“Okay,” Rhodey says quickly. “Well, uh, Tony should be up in about...ten minutes? Let Jarvis call him. J, you know what to do.” 

Tony comes up. He flails and drops his nano ball. It gets on Bucky’s hand. Bucky flails back and nearly falls out a window. (Jarvis gets it on video.) 

The Avengers form, their own organization. They make rules according to the whole team, because screw team leaders. Steve eventually brings in Sam Wilson, who is an absolute gem and has a sick flying jetpack thing. (”It’s not a ‘jetpack thing’ you ass,” Sam tells Bucky. “It’s a highly innovative flight pack.” Bucky snorts. “Looks like a jetpack, I’m callin’ it whatever the hell I want,” he snarks.) 

The team is strong, communicative, and watches Too Cute! religiously. They’re a great team. 

@the-flightoficarus you mentioned you liked any story about villain!Tony so I got inspired. Thanks for the random inspiration.