#to sleep and had ugly ass interfaces

[mabelsguidetolife]

so, my kush trip to trinidad colorado went as follows:

my dad rented a dark red dodge charger that felt like it was designed by a drunk person — it looked douchey, had very little room and fancy-looking but hard and uncomfortable bucket seats (that made everybody’s backs hurt because of the odd slope and placement of the “back support”), and smelled faintly of bad weak cologne and rancid Dude Farts....... the controls also made no sense and the speedometer was HUGE, but there was no clock nor a clock “app” even though they had a compass app in addition to the compass near the aforementioned huge speedometer, and the driver’s chair was electronically adjustable but the shotgun seat was not; the electronic user interface was overall garbage, but it at least handled well and had a good air conditioning system

woke up at five in the morning, got no sleep, sat in the stupid car for a total of sixteen hours throughout the day

endured constant negative rants from my brother-in-law and older sister who live in the third floor apartment of a gated community and regularly use the r-slur to refer to run-of-the-mill stupid people, even though the former has a developmentally disabled little half-sister; they’re not totally based or redpilled or whatever but they watch south park, which they kept describing newer episodes of even though my sister turns twenty-five tomorrow and should know better, especially since she’s seen as the intelligent sister out of the two of us..... some of the unoffensive things they talked about were things i agreed with, and some of our better humor overlaps — my sister and i were both raised by the same liberal hippie-dippy people, after all — but she’s literally been becoming a karen in front of my very eyes for several years and i rarely talk to her these days about anything serious because of it

they also kept bringing up famous rapists and pedophiles (like those in epstein’s flight log) and how fucked up all creative circles are and it was really ruining the vibes and bringing me down

had to pee like five times on the way there

my dad and brother-in-law took turns driving, but whenever the latter was in the back seat he was able to sleep like a baby despite his discomfort in the seat while i was squeezed in front where the chairs are actually worse; i had an internal hissy fit because i thought it was unfair for the non-disabled man to be able to nap well during the trip while i, a woman with a neurological disorder, was unable to sleep a wink..... i got over it but i was a bit tightly-wound almost the entire day because i was dealing with the damn Eternal Honeymooners grousing about everything and we didn’t get to smoke any damn weed during the trip (we couldn’t take any up there and it was too dank to smoke back down)

saw a guy with anti-jewish* political conspiracies painted on his suv windows, like, on purpose..... turns out he was headed for the exact destination we were and we saw somebody who worked at a dispensary standing on the street and rightfully calling him crazy as like a half-joke, half-truth so as not to offend his freak ass — we were all aghast at how hateful the words he wrote were, like, my sister took a picture because of how shocking it was *(i mean anti-zionist, which isn’t inherently antisemitic given the nature of the israeli-palestinean conflict, but it was obvious he thought they were entirely interchangeable and he used it as a “jews run the world” kinda thing which is neither okay nor accurate)

purchased some good ol’ bud for the first time, and it was even obtained legally!!!! yaaaaay!!!! (it’s also very high-quality and cheap — a lower shelf indica strain i got has 20% thc and i’m gonna use it for sleepytimes

saw lots of cows, from sad side-of-the-road dairy farm cows who live in their own excrement and have nowhere to roam, being absolutely miserable, to free-range cattle on plains and hills, being sociable and happy.... the difference was galling

saw a goddamn mutilated deer that had been struck by a large vehicle and practically turned to mincemeat, which was revolting

felt ugly the entire time even while wearing a mask

was promised i would get to visit a beautiful lake, but our itinerary sadly wouldn’t allow for it

basically the weed is good but the trip was bad; i’m tired and also a smuggler now ;)

[uzumaki-rebellion]

“Stark’s New Intern” Chp. 7

Summary: Erik receives a clue from his past...

"Leave me breadcrumbs for the ride To guide me back Leave me breadcrumbs for the ride To guide me back Leave me breadcrumbs for the ride To guide me back Leave me breadcrumbs for the ride To guide me, guide me back…"

Jamila Woods (Feat. Nico Segal) —"Breadcrumbs"

Devika pulled in front of Erik's apartment unit and Maria was already standing by the curb waiting for him.

"Thanks for the ride," Erik said.

Devika nodded and Erik was surprised to see Giselle walk down their apartment steps to meet him too. Her eyes glanced at Devika in the BMW.

"See you tomorrow, Erik," Devika said.

She drove away and Erik faced Maria and Giselle.

"Where have you been?" Maria asked.

"Stark had me at his—"

Maria's arms were thrown around his waist before he could finish speaking.

"I thought you were gone for good until I saw your luggage," she whispered into his chest.

"It's all good. Stark had me work in another lab and then he took me to his house."

"For what?" Giselle asked.

Erik hoped she would hug him too, but she stood next to Maria with concern in her eyes. She was worried about him too.

"He had a party and I followed him around. That's it."

"He doesn't have a house. He has a mansion that is out of this world. I saw pictures of it in Architectural Design," Maria said.

"So you're not leaving the internship?" Giselle asked.

"Nah."

She let out an audible sigh and he followed them both back into the apartment.

"Who brought you home?" Maria said.

"Stark's secretary."

Erik looked at Giselle.

"Why are you over here so late?"

"Maria called me."

Maria showed him her cell.

"I received this email from our Project Manager. It says I have to meet in a different department tomorrow morning—"

Maria's face looked stressed out and beyond worry. Erik removed his bowtie and pulled off his tuxedo jacket. Both women ogled his clothes.

"Don't trip. You and Valentina are moving to a new department with me."

"Why? I thought…I thought they liked my work—"

"They do, but Stark let me move to a place that wanted me and he asked me to name two people from my team to go with me. I chose you. And Valentina."

"You chose me?"

Maria's face lit up and she hugged him again.

"Lemme change real quick," Erik said prying her fingers from around him again.

His luggage was on his bed and he quickly slipped into shorts and a t-shirt.

"I gotta warn you Maria, where you're going is pretty intense. The boss of that lab ain't no joke."

"I can handle it," Maria said.

"I know you can," he said.

"I'm going to bed so I can be ready. I can finally go to sleep. Night Giselle!"

Maria scurried into her room, her spirits lifted, and Erik let his eyes rest on Giselle. She looked shy almost, her eyes breaking away from his stare.

"Guess I'll head home," she said.

"You don't have to leave."

"It's really late. I'm glad things worked out."

"Me too."

He walked over to her, stepped close enough so that his face was near hers. Her energy was pleasant, but she wasn't welcoming in the way he wanted. Professional. Bet.

"Night then," he said heading to the front door and opening it for her.

Giselle patted his shoulder and left.

###

Valentina and Maria brought their A-game.

Erik was in the middle of trying to interface two software programs that had maddening glitches that stumped him all morning when Janine pulled him aside.

"You gave me some sharp picks, Stevens," Janine said munching on baby carrots.

"Yeah?"

"Valentina and Maria fit right in. You have a good eye for talent. Tell me something…what do you want to gain from this internship?"

Erik rolled back his standing chair and faced Janine as she snacked in front of him.

"Practical real-world experience with coding applications—"

"No, your endgame. Don't give me the resume speech. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Erik smiled.

This always happened.

His work ethic, extreme focus, and interests in multiple fields always brought the curious his way. His being Black never let him blend into the background with white people like the Asian staff. Being the small five percent of Black faces in Stark's offices never allowed anonymity. And when one was as good as Erik, that subconscious threat always reared its ugly head: Who is this uppity negro blowing up the spot? Janine wasn't even aware of how she was sounding to him. They never were. It showed up as curiosity, but the goal was to assess where they stood compared to him. Was he coming for their spot? Janine really had nothing to worry about, but after two weeks of him helping that department make progress in such a short span of time, she needed to know if Erik was aiming to become permanent.

"I'm joining the Navy. I want to be an officer."

Janine bit into a carrot and nodded.

"A Navy career. No interest in working for us at all?"

He shook his head.

"Been wanting to be in the Navy since I was little. It's why I went to the Naval Academy."

"Our loss," she said walking away.

Erik rolled back to the computer viewscreen. Janine was glad he wasn't trying to stay there. And she would use his brain up all she could before he left.

"Erik, can I see you for a minute?"

Valentina's face popped up on the viewscreen in a smaller chat screen. Erik closed down his work station and padded over to another station.

Valentina lounged in a beanie bag with her keyboard on her lap and her floating screen hanging above her.

"'Sup," Erik said.

"Does this look right?"

Erik enlarged the string of code near his face.

"What are you trying to do?" he said.

"Bypass all this junk code. There's got to be a better way to streamline all of this. We're on deadline and Janine wants a working simulation by Friday. This is going to take longer than Friday."

"You tell her that?" Erik asked swiping images, searching for problematic links.

"I'd like to keep my head on my shoulders."

"Want me to talk to her?"

"No. If you do that, then she might question why I'm here. Can you look this over later? Maybe you can catch something I'm missing. I'm getting a migraine over it."

"Let's go to lunch."

"Outside of the cafeteria?"

"Yeah."

Valentina powered down her computer and grabbed her purse. They walked through the hallway and found an express elevator they could crowd on. Once they made it to the lobby, Valentina gave out a loud sigh.

"How can you deal with Janine? She makes me feel like I'm not pulling my weight," she said.

"She giving you grief?"

"She doesn't say anything, just gives you those looks with those creepy eyes of hers. It's like playing poker and she has that neutral poker face, but with shades on. And a ten-gallon cowboy hat. And six-shooters on her hip waiting to take you down."

"She ain't that bad."

"I enjoy the work that I do, so don't think I don't appreciate your name dropping me, but sheesh…every time she comes to my station, I feel like I'm under a guillotine."

A bit of a ruckus stirred up near the entrance as Tony breezed in followed by reporters. Security surrounded the paps as Tony pulled off his shades. His head security officer, a big dude he heard Tony calling Happy, posted up next to him with his hands folded in front of him but his green ear bud glowing as he whispered instructions discreetly to the rest of his staff.

Tony held his hands out to the paps.

"There is no connection between my deal with the Afghan government and the SICA rebels. I am a businessman who works with many countries and I don't deal in politics—"

"But your weapons systems give certain groups advantages that our government has questioned because of anti-democratic behavior and human rights abuses—"

"And our government does business with plenty of countries with anti-democratic behavior and human rights abuses…China anyone?"

"Tony-!"

"Mr. Stark-!"

Tony turned away from the paps and Happy herded them out of the lobby with security in tow.

"Stevens, Berlotti…"

Tony's eyes swept over them.

"We're heading out for lunch," Erik said.

Valentina stood next to Erik a bit starry-eyed.

"Where to?" Tony asked looking at his platinum watch.

"The taco spot—"

"Cool, let's go," Tony said.

They followed Tony to a side exit.

"You not worried about reporters following you out here?"

"Happy has that under control," Tony said.

Alberto's Tacos was a small vendor cart that Erik found to his liking. The carne asada street tacos were flavorful and cheap and washed down with a cold Coke, it was heaven. The three of them sat on a bench not too far from the Stark building. White-collar workers streamed past them and no one took notice of Tony scarfing down greasy meat with his fingers.

"This is really good. Had no idea this stand was here all these years," Tony said licking his fingers.

Erik gulped down his Coke and Valentina kept quiet as she listened to Erik shoot the shit with Tony. He couldn't understand why she didn't ask the questions she was burning to ask him that she was always pestering Erik about during their lunch breaks. Tony took notice.

"You're really quiet Valentina," Tony said, his eyes taking her in.

"I'm just soaking it all in, Mr. Stark," she said, her eyes darting over to Erik.

"Things working well for you in your new set-up?"

"Yes—"

"Janine makes her nervous," Erik said.

Valentina nearly choked on her Sprite as she pulled the can from her lips.

Tony chuckled.

"You alright there, Berlotti?"

"Yes…yes, Sir. Went down the wrong pipe," she said wiping her lips.

"Janine is a tight ass, but don't let her chilly façade scare you. Are you worried about something?"

Erik gave Valentina a look for her to open her mouth and speak on her concerns openly. Her perfect bow lips quirked and then she put her soda can down. Erik nodded his head slightly at her.

"I'm worried about an assignment I have due on Friday. I won't be able to finish it because I need more time to work out the kinks because there are so many of them. There is no feasible way to have a working simulation up and running by then. There are four of us working on it and I'm the lead, but I can't…I can't fix it under this rigid time limit."

She pushed her hair back behind her ears. Her face looked ashamed. She sipped her soda again and Erik felt all of her confidence drain out into the ether.

"What do expect to happen on Friday?" Tony asked.

"Failure. I asked Erik to take a look at the work—"

"What about your immediate team?

"They are working on it—"

"Why aren't you with them now?"

Tony's eyes were bright and firm looking. He wasn't here for excuses.

"I have to eat."

"Working lunches are a thing Berlotti. You are the team leader. You wrangle your people and you figure the problem out. Why are you asking Stevens to look at your work? He has his own deadlines and team to worry about. You want him to take on your workload too? Alvarez has the same deadline and you know where she is right now? At her desk grinding. Janine said jump, Alvarez asked how high."

Valentina crushed her soda can and tossed it in a trash receptacle. She stood up and stared at Tony.

"I better get back to work," she said. The click-clack of her heels echoed as she left them.

"That was cold," Erik said.

"Cold? How?"

"She was confiding in you."

"That's what you're for. Not me. I expect results. Janine answers to me. So who do you think needs those codes running on Friday? Me."

"Did you have to throw Maria in her face like that though?"

"Maria works her ass off—"

"Valentina does too. She just hit a snag."

"And she will unravel the snag."

Erik finished his taco and Tony made a quick call.

"Let's get back to work," Tony said.

Erik followed him back to the offices and when they separated, he texted Valentina.

You okay?

He thinks I'm shit.

No he doesn't. Just high expectations.

Did he talk bad about me when I left?

Said you'd figure out the problem. Want me to look at the codes tonight?

No. I'll figure it out.

I know you will. Badass.

She sent him a happy face emoji.

"Erik Stevens?"

A guard at the information desk stopped him from going to the elevators.

"Yeah."

The guard reached down behind the desk and handed Erik a FedEx package.

"This came for you twenty minutes ago."

"Thanks," Erik said.

He walked over to a lobby couch and sat down. The return address was from his Uncle Bakari in D.C. Erik quickly opened the package. A folded note was taped to a small black notepad.

"JaJa,

Hope this finds you well. We found this in some of your mother's belongings when we cleaned out our attic for some installation issues we were having. Don't know how we missed it. Looks like it belonged to your father. We didn't want to throw it out. Not much written in it, but we wanted you to have it.

We are proud of you and look forward to seeing you at the end of August.

Love and Hugs,

Uncle Bakari & Aunt Shavonne"

Erik quickly pulled out the small black notepad. He flipped through the pages that had his father's distinct script written in it. All in Wakandan.

His eyes darted around where he sat. No one was paying attention to him. He jumped up and walked briskly to the nearest restroom.

Locking himself in a stall, Erik pulled down the toilet seat cover and sat down. He opened the notepad again and flipped to the first page. His fingers touched the paper gingerly, and he saw his fingers shake. His tongue touched his top lip and he felt the sting of tears prick the corners of his eyes.

"Baba," he whispered.

Wiping his eyes, he tried to gather himself together. The writing was neat, legible, and concise. Erik's brain shifted its language mode. Memories flooded his mind.

Sitting in his room back in Oakland tracing letters.

Wakandan letters.

Baba singing to him in his language, telling him stories about his homeland. Copying Baba's habit of writing in journals.

Stringing symbols to make sentences that looked otherworldly.

Think.

Remember.

Translate.

These were numbers. Cardinal directions.

Coordinates. GPS coordinates.

His father had made a handwritten map. For himself or someone else?

The numbers came to him quickly, but it took several minutes to accurately make out the rest.

Three places.

There was something buried in three different locations.

One of the places wasn't that far away. Joshua Tree. A little over three hours away.

Erik stepped out of the restroom stall and washed his hands. He stuffed the notepad in his shirt pocket right over his heart.

He wiped his face with a paper towel, and when two interns walked in chattering away, Erik slipped out and onto an elevator.

Baba left him a treasure map.

He just needed to figure out a way to go find what was buried in all three places.

###

Part 8

Tag List:

@fd-writes​ @soufcakmistress  @cherrystainedlipsbaby @tclaybon  @thadelightfulone @allhailqueennel @bartierbakarimobisson @cpwtwot @shookmcgookqueen @yoyolovesbucky @raysunshine78 @the-illllest @terrablaze514  @l-auteuse @amirra88 @jimizwidow @janelledarling @chaneajoyyy @sweetestdream92 @purple-apricots @blackpinup22 @hennessystevens-udaku @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @bugngiz @stariamrry  @honeytoffee @meilintheempressofdreams

[rovvboat]

Painted Flaws - Colossus/Piotr Rasputin x villian!Reader

Part 10

A/N: send an ask if you wanna be added to the taglist! Lmk how you feel about this series!

Summary: You’re a villian with a moral grey area. You meet Piotr at an art exhibit, but both of you are there for completely different reasons. Though the attraction was inevitable, will it be enough? A growing passionate love wrought with secrecy, both of you try to move through this maze. But when the ball drops, what will you choose?

word count: 3.3k

You lie in bed the rest of the day – the same scene repeating through your head; like the world’s worst silent film; of Piotr and his form as Colossus. And with that flicker of recognition, you realise just how much more you’re entangled into the X-Mens’ affairs – how much more you were set-up to be the catalyst for their demise.

There’s a moment when sleep catches up to you, somehow, despite the headache of thoughts.

You see him.

He’s standing in your room – the colours on the walls all distorted into a deep and ugly purple and pink – blending into every piece of furniture, fluid and balmy in its touch – as if it was all happening underwater

but Piotr doesn’t seem happy to be there; his face twisted into one of disgust and disappointment as he faces you.

Piotr I can explain –

You try to speak, but no sound come out no matter how hard you try. You bring a hand up to your throat, and that’s when you look down and realise: you’re naked.

Your hands springs onto your bed, pulling desperately at the sheets to cover yourself – trying your hardest to scream your heart out at the same time, just for Piotr to listen to your pleas – but the sheets don’t come out, and neither does your voice.

Piotr, all of a sudden, has his back turned to you, walking out of your apartment as the door shuts with a loud creak.

The sheets finally spring out of the bed, and you scramble to get them to cover you.

You run to the door, swinging it open – but he’s no longer there. He’s no longer waiting.

 You wake up in a cold sweat, gasping as your eyes shoot open. You sit up on your bed, beads of sweat run down your back, sending a vaguely uneasy sensation down your spine. You look to your window, yanked wide open, as it swayed back and forth with heavy screeches.

The weather outside matched your sentiment – heavy thundering rain crash against the surface of the outside, alongside the ghosts of howling winds that sent sprays of rain onto the spot where the calm moonlight would normally hit.

You rub at the tiredness of your eyes, unravelling from the nightmare that had awoken you so terrified, before getting up to shut the window close.

It wasn’t in your nature to feel fear – where it wasn’t used as fuel to succeed on your missions – but you knew how far gone you were with Piotr.

To have felt his love, and to be brave enough to love him back – that was a risk in and of itself, and you knew it.

But now that his truth has been bared –

where does that leave me?

Your phone buzzes against your bedside table – and you turn to look at your notifications, somewhat tethering you back to the present.

10 unread messages

[Dd]: hey, I’m locked out of my apartment – could you come give me the spare key?

[Dd]: hey

[Dd]: heyyyyyyyyy

[3 missed calls from Dd]

 You immediately hop off your bed, stretching your arms over your head as you let out a high-pitched whine.

This is no time for a pity party.

You wash yourself up and immediately suit up – throwing on a thick white t-shirt, paired with a black leather jacket as you hurriedly grab your keys (and DK’s spare keys), wallet and the purple vial. You put the purple vial into a small black drawstring bag – your grip tight on it as you walk towards your motorcycle.

You revv the engine – booming down the street – before speeding off towards the direction of D.K.’s dorm.

***

NTW fiddles with the interface to the hologram, bringing up profiles of people with their physical and affiliation descriptors.

‘’We were able to track the manufacturing company of the spear that hit Colossus in the back. It belongs to a small company called Lazarus – which has ties to the creator of the Sentinels, Dr. Bolivar Trask,’’ – she swipes at the hologram to reveal Dr Trask’s profile, ‘’who is also linked to this man.’’ She swipes at the hologram again, but this time, the profile showed a silhouette of a man with a question mark in the middle.

Name: Unknown

Alias: Boss, D

Affiliations: Sentinel technology, Dr Bolivar Trask

‘’We don’t have any idea what he looks like, but he’s been linked to dozens of mutant testing labs and sentinel technology. He also does seem to have a weak link.’’

A picture of the mystery lady comes up, half her face covered under a thin fabric of her turtleneck.

‘’We’ve been tracking this lady for past 3 months and we just came in contact with her again. Intel tells us that she had the serum on her at that time, but we’re pretty sure she was to hand it off to her boss after she fled on the helicopter. The Sentinels also had their eyes on her, but she managed to evade them when we were too busy keeping them down.’’

‘’So, what you’re telling me – is that we’ve been helping this lady get her way?’’

NTW rolls her eyes at Deadpool.

‘’I’m just saying what everybody’s thinking, sugarplum. She doesn’t seem like that weak of a link to me – going by how she kicked half our asses out there,’’ Deadpool lightheartedly brandishes one of his katanas around– pointedly at Cable and Colossus – as he lay sprawled over the sofa.

Cable tenses his fist on the table, uneasy at the prospect of having this mystery lady getting in their way of getting the anti-mutant serum.

When an idea pops into his head.

‘’Where’re you headed, foxy pops?’’ Deadpool quips, as Cable stands up – pushing his chair back with a screech – and strides over to NTW.

‘’Do you think we could scan this for prints or DNA?’’ Cable presents his metal hand, swaying each finger in a wave. ‘’I burnt her hand, and I’m sure some of her skin is on here.’’

‘’Sounds like something I could do.’’

‘’Holy Mother of God, all we do is sit around trying to track this woman! I wanna go do something fucking worthwhile!’’ Deadpool howls.

‘’You’d be doing us all a favour by shutting the fuck up, douchepool,’’ NTW crosses her arms as she stares at Deadpool.

‘’Suit yourself, one-man travelling circus of megatronic teenage big head,’’ Deadpool stands up and steps directly infront of NTW, staring her down.

‘’Enough.’’

Colossus’ booming footsteps enter into the meeting room.

‘’You are not children. There is no need for this nonsensical bickering. Come, Wade. We will do some review of the evidence from the helicopter weapon.’’ Colossus instructs as he starts heading for the door.

Deadpool lifts up his mask partway, showing only half his face, humming as he sticks his tongue out at NTW – then yelping as he gets elbowed hard in the ribs by her, before pacing behind Colossus.

***

The afternoon sun was slowly waning, disappearing and reappearing behind passing clouds as you zoom down the highway to D.K.’s dorm.

You see him the moment you turn into the dorm’s parking lot, standing near the lobby – no doubt playing some stupid game on his phone. He looks up when he hears your motorcycle pull up near the curb. You flip up the wind shield from your helmet, greeting him with a little toss of your head backward.

‘’Here’re your keys, dumbass,’’ you toss D.K.’s spare keys at him.

‘’I have the highest GPA in my class. I beg to differ,’’ he retorts as he catches the key between both hands, clanking against his phone.

‘’Well, that didn’t help find your key, did it? You better get your locks changed.’’

‘’Yeah, yeah whatever.’’

You park by the curb, before following behind him up to his dorm room.

The smell of fresh flowers hits you when he swings open the door to his room. You had to admit, he was an overall meticulous and responsible kid – which didn’t make sense that he would lose his keys; especially considering that the both of you were always on high-alert with the threat of Demetrius and his goons looming around you.

But teenagers will be teenagers – even though this one was just initiated into the young adult 20s club recently.

‘’Make yourself at home,’’ D.K. announces, pulling out a chair out of his study desk towards you. He heads to the bathroom, leaving you alone in the room.

You look at the pictures on his desk – of his 2 little sisters back home, and him in the middle; the three of them seated on some kind of child-sized toy car. They were all beaming at the camera – carefree and innocent. As they should be.

You snap back when you hear the click of the bathroom door unlocking.

‘’So, what brings you here, sis?’’

‘’Well, for one – you forgot your keys somewhere.’’

D.K. smiles at you sheepishly, shrugging as he drapes his towel over his shoulders.

‘’But more importantly – I got the anti-mutant serum vial with me. I need you to pass it onto to Dr. Wong. I’ve sent him instructions–‘’

‘’My chemistry elective professor, Dr Wong? You’re kidding me, he’s working for you too?’’

‘’He works with me. Not for me.’’

‘’hE wOrKs WiTh Me,’’ D.K. imitates you in an annoying high-pitched voice – which prompts you to reach out to his ear lobes, twisting it as he winces.

‘’I was joking! Ow– OW!’’ He swats at your hand.

You spend the next hour going through your plans with him – giving him contingencies and back-up plans in case he’s unable to deliver the vial for any reason.

‘’So… how long until I have to go back?’’ D.K. asks, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

You tilt your head at him. ‘’You don’t sound too happy about that.’’

‘’Yeah, well. This has been my home for the past 9 years… and you – you’ve been taking care of me since I got tangled up with your Boss. I just… Maybe we could make it so that you don’t disappear from my life after this?’’

There was a knot in his throat you could hear through his voice, and it broke your heart.

You hold him by the shoulders, looking directly at him as he looks up at you surprised – ‘’Hey, kid, listen to me okay? You’re gonna be okay. Your family can’t wait to see you again. Your life is over there – living like a 20 year old kid; working for your goals, partying with friends and just living a normal life. Not this. I was never meant to be in your life. In fact, I’m probably the reason why you’re here in the first place–’’

‘’But that’s not your fault!’’

‘’It was. And I’ll pay the price for it, not you.’’

D.K. frowns at you, then looks to the floor.

‘’I’m sorry, D.K.. It’s the only way I can keep you safe.’’

‘’I know,’’ he sighs. ‘’I just – I’m sorry.’’

‘’Don’t be, D. I know it’s hard. But you have to be strong. I’ll be okay, and I’ll definitely contact you, one way or another – I promise.’’

He holds out a pinky to you. You look at it, then smile at him – before meeting his pinky finger with yours in a pinky promise.

***

Colossus meets with Beast at the analytics lab, as Beast worked on pinpointing the different locations that the weapon could have come from. Deadpool walks up to the closest piece of evidence – a large broken spear – and slowly puts a finger towards it – only for Beast to smack it away without even looking up from his screen.

‘’Do we have any more information about our mystery lady yet, friend Hank?’’

‘’I’m afraid not, Colossus. We only managed to get information on the organizations that she might be affiliated with. Most of them are contractors – but we do have information on who was piloting the helicopter. Perhaps we could pay them a visit – ‘’

Colossus’ phone notification sounds inside his pocket.

‘’Da¸ we could. Please excuse me– ‘’ he fishes his phone out of his pocket, and walks a little away from Beast.

Y/N: Hey big guy♡ Hope you’re recovering well. I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me? Wanted to see you. Let me know♡

Colossus couldn’t keep his smile in, when Deadpool peaks over his shoulder, startling him.

‘’What’s this, tinman? Another booty call?’’

Colossus rolls his eyes – ‘’No, it is not.’’ – as he walks back towards Beast.

‘’I have some matters to attend to. Please alert me if there is any urgent business.’’

‘’Will do, Colossus – ‘’

‘’Chrome-Dome is ditching us for his side chick!’’ Deadpool accusingly points at Colossus, ‘’that’s right, I said side chick, because we all know I’m the main course. And also! How is this fair? I ask for a fucking vacation and it’s ‘’superhero is a full-time job’’ this and ‘’Wade, you can’t demand money in exchange for saving lives’’’ that. I’m sick of the double standards – Hey, listen to me when I’m talking to you!’’ Deadpool calls after Colossus, who’s already disappeared behind the lab doors.

***

You debate sending the message for a good hour.

I should break up with him. I can not deal with anymore emotions on this issue.

Your mind swirls with ideas on how to break it off gently – but every time you imagine the scenario, your heart gets much too heavy to get to the we should see other people part of the dialogue.

Maybe not today.

You decide that maybe just having a quick meet-up with him could calm you down a little – maybe even prepare you for the next time you meet him.

To break things off, of course.

Even the internal mentions of it makes your heart drop. He made you happy. Happier, safer and more loved than you’ve ever been.

I don’t deserve any of it.

You let out a resigned sigh. No matter how you looked at it, you were incompatible. Not to mention that he lied to you about his job.

Not that I didn’t, but still.

You fiddle nervously with your hands in your pockets – when your phone rings – a call from none other than Piotr.

***

You feel the soft – almost fluffy – fine sand sinking under you with every step, getting between your toes in the most crisp manner that only barely itched the edges of needing attention.

You wave it away, and instead focus on the small tingles you felt when the back of his hands brush against yours, as you walk along the shore.

He had asked to meet you at this beach – ‘’It is a good beach for couples and walking,’’ he suggested through the phone – an eagerness to his voice that was now something you always looked forward to hearing.

Not for long…

The thought makes your heart dread your next few steps.

Distant squawks of pelicans and seagulls fade out across the beach as you trod along, arms swinging gently, with Piotr next to you.

You look up when you hear him inhale, long and slow, as he takes in the glistening surface of the sea. You watch him, as his body relaxes, and he exhales an equally long breath. You follow his eyes to meet the sunset before you.

‘’Your taste in beaches is impeccable,’’ you mention off-handedly, mostly as an attempt to calm your own nerves.

He smiles back at you – that million dollar smile – ‘’Really? I am glad you like it too…’’

A strong chill breeze brushes past – bringing with it the fresh salty savour of the ocean – gliding over your exposed skin and gently caressing your hair, as it finds its way the back of your neck – cooling you off from the sweltering heat of the day.

Piotr’s arm slowly snakes around your waist, drawing close to you, without taking his eyes off the scene before him, as you feel a heat rising to your cheeks.

“Beautiful is it not? I wish I had a chance to paint this. To maybe… capture this moment”

You look up at him and attempt a sly grin to cross your face, as you hook your arm through his.

“This moment, after you spent half the week in bed?”

Piotr chuckles – a deep well-kept laugh that rumbles in his chest – then smiles back at you, smile lines creasing the edges of his lips – his eyes twinkling under the slow receding sun.

His eyes regard you warmly, and you feel an intense burning in the pit of your stomach – a desire. To not only spend the rest of the night with him, but your whole life too.

You feel your cheeks burn with embarrassment at the thought of even considering a normal life with someone so kind and generous and wonderful.

‘’Hey Piotr? –’’

He raises his eyebrows at you, his full attention undoubtedly on you.

‘’– do you believe… do you believe that good people can do bad things?’’

He doesn’t even take a moment to answer the question.

‘’Of course. Good people do bad things all the time. But it only matters what they do to make things better. If they know what they are doing is bad, they should stop immediately – if not it can make them… tolerate more evil in the world.’’

‘’What about– ‘’ You cut yourself off when you notice a lady clad in her bikini walking past the both of you, giving Piotr a painfully slow once over – smirking as she nods in his direction.

Your stomach drops as you loosen your grip around his arm, letting your hand fall back next to you, and Piotr’s face changes to one of concern.

He doesn’t deserve this. Not me. Not for who I am, that’s for sure.

“Is everything alright?”

“No, I… I think I’m not feeling too good.”

“Would you like to head back home?”

You think for a moment. And though you wanted nothing more than to stretch these serene and wonderful moments with him – moments which felt almost final – you genuinely didn’t think you deserved it. Much less be competent enough to protect it from the life you actually lead.

“Yes please,” you force out, albeit a little choked, as you look away from him. When you’re with him, your feelings always showed somehow – something which in your line of job was called ‘a massive liability’.

He watches you, deciding whether to press the matter – but your avoidance makes him want to do nothing else but bring you home and allow you to settle in comfortably for the night.

His finger grazes the back of your hand – finding the inside of your palm – before allowing each of his fingers to interlace with yours; and he does it loosely – in case you weren’t comfortable with it. You smile up at him, before gripping his hand tightly, as you walked back towards the road.

Piotr walks you to your apartment, stopping near the entrance. You busy yourself with sliding your fingers over the straps of your handbag, looking anywhere but at Piotr. You start at a sentence, when Piotr speaks up.

‘’Are you sure you are okay, myshka? You sound unwell…’’ he tilts your chin up towards him, ‘’please tell me if there is anything I can do for you? I can stay the night if you –’’

‘’No! I– I mean, I would love that but, I have a lot of work to do tonight and, uh… yeah.’’

‘’That is okay,’’ his voice soft and unhurried, ‘’please take care of yourself if you are working through the night. I heard lawyers do that a lot,’’ he huffs a laugh, trying to ease your nerves. He reaches out for your hand, and when you offer it, he steps forward into a tight hug. He whiffs at your hair – in the way men do in affection – then presses his lips against your temple.

You pull away a little to look at him, still enveloped in his arms – safe and full – tiptoeing as you pull his face towards you into a deep, needy kiss; eyes scrunched closed.

You let yourself enjoy his love; pure and unadulterated by anything.

Even though it hurt to know that it might be one of the last times you can actually do so.

—

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