#was playing as medic and these 2 soldiers and a heavy were stuck to me like glue

[okaydiscount]

uhh soldier mains and their medic girlfriends somethin somethin allegory for codependency or whatever.

[coratorium]

wrt last reblog its actually so funny to me how overwatch kind of fucked themselves by trying to have their cake and eat it too and in the process made the characters into like, tools to be wielded instead of classes that fill roles.

like to try and elaborate on this (and this is why im making this my own post instead of going off on a tangent on someone elses post), overwatch has hero switching. as of [current date] there are somewhere between 20 and 200 heroes in the game and any time you are in your spawn room you can swap to any of them within your role that your team doesn't already have.

so this means that when dps hero A is hard countered by hero B, who is countered by hero C, one team is going to play hero A until a B appears on the enemy team, at which point the A player is going to swap to C, and then the B player will die and swap to whatever counters C, etc.

the maps are compact, the respawn timers are short, mobility is high. you have time to respawn on the counterpick and get back in the fight and make a difference. so, if you want to get past a certain rank of play, you have to learn how to hero switch- onetricking a single hero stops being viable. you need to know how to play not just one dps character, but all the dps characters, or at least the ones that are relevant counters to the things that check your preferred hero.

this is in contrast to something like a MOBA, which overwatch obviously borrowed a lot of design ideas from. in a moba you're (usually) stuck on the same character for the entire match. hero B being added to the game has no effect on a match where they're not one of the 10 characters picked. in contrast in overwatch hero B existing can prevent hero A from being used at all, just because the hero A player knows that the second they try to do anything they'll just get countered. and in that way the heroes can affect the way a match is played without ever even making an appearance.

then of course we've got tf2 which made so little of an attempt at balancing for 6v6 play that without player imposed restrictions most 6v6 matches would just be like, 2 medics and 4 demomen.

i'm exaggerating a bit- maybe it wouldn't be that bad- but the design philosophy is just completely different. 6s maps tend to be pretty big. respawn timers are way longer. not every class in tf2 is relevant for 6s. a lot of them are EXTREMELY niche. you're not going to see a 6s team swapping to heavy unless they're desperate to defend a choke in a relatively close quarters environment. if you try to run a heavy for the entire match, you're just going to get flattened- he gets counterpicked out of general relevance the same way overwatch hero A does.

tf2's response to this was not to try and make spy have the same level of impact on the game as the scout and soldier, but to just design an alternate competitive mode where each team has 1 of each class, and then those classes have to find ways to try and make themselves as useful as possible instead of competing to get playtime. the spy immediately becomes more useful in highlander than he does in 6s because the enemy team is guaranteed to have an engineer and a sniper for him to fuck with. the pyro in turn is also more useful, because they have an engineer to protect, an enemy spy to check for, etc. the classes get to exist in a mode where they are interacting with every class on their own team and on the enemy team in every match.

i don't think the differences in design philosophy are inherently good or bad or anything, to be clear. i just think it's interesting.

ok, overwatch hero pool bloat is maybe a little inherently bad, and the most fun i ever had in that game was in the modes where you were locked to one team comp and had to play around that fact. but still.

[kritzkrieg-kiss]

Mercs at a summer resort! Part 2:

Mercs at the beach!

Part 1 here

The mercenaries decided to spend the last day of mandatory vacation at the beach!

Scout: Any excuse for Scout to walk around shirtless in front of young ladies was good enough for him. He was having a grand ol' time splashing around and showing off until he swallowed too much saltwater and ended up sick behind a bunch of driftwood. Medic tried to get him to take some medicine and lie down but he was having none of it. The girls had started a game of volleyball down the shore and he was determined to play too. Despite severe stomach cramps, he won the game for them.

Soldier: Brought his rocket launcher because why would he ever not? The gents were having fun competing to see who could throw rocks the furthest into the ocean when Soldier had a bright idea. He picked up a rock, grabbed his gun, and launched himself half a mile from shore. However, it was at this point that he remembered he couldn't swim and had to be rescued from drowning. Sniper shot an arrow with a rope attached and the whole team pulled him to safety. He still technically won.

Pyro: Sand? SAND?! Pyro LOVES sand! More specifically, he likes burying the nozzle of his flamethrower in the sand and blasting flames through it at full force. Once it cools down, he digs up the glass and evens out the base. It makes priceless sculptures that go for thousands of dollars. Whatever he doesn't auction off for charity gets used as inventory for Mann Co.'s multi-level-marketing fine glass business.

Demo: Got so drunk he thought he could dig all the way to China. When the little plastic shovel and bucket proved useless, he threw his hands up and buried every last one of his grenades twelve feet down in the sand. The detonation shattered windows. It measured on the richtor scale. It caused a minor tsunami. He didn't quite make it to China but he did terraform a whole new bay off the shore, aptly named DeGroot's Bend.

Heavy: Poor Heavy accidentally fell asleep in the sun and got a wicked burn. Rather than wake him up and move him to a spot in the shade, the others thought it would be funny to bury him in the sand and seaweed. Heavy angrily woke up to a mermaid tail and long flowing green locks, as well as the words 'Kiss me, I'm Russian' written across his chest in sunscreen. He tried to get up but he was so burnt he couldn't move. Medic had to walk all the way back to the truck and haul the medigun out. The other eight were forcibly buried up to their necks together as soon as he was well enough to move again.

Engie: Engie decided to utilize the plastic bucket and shovel that Demo had so bitterly cast aside. It started with him taking several trips to the water, filling up the bucket to bring back to a little sand pit he made. He looked like a little child playing in the mud for the first 20 minutes of his endeavor. But it wasn't long until his little sand pit stopped being so little. As time passed, it grew from a small pit to a barracade, and then eventually a small mansion complete with second and third stories and interior decor. He surrounded it with sentries. Pyro and Scout were not allowed to come within 20 ft of it.

Medic: Designated lifeguard. He's the strongest swimmer and the only one who knows CPR, which came in handy several times throughout the day. Whenever one of the boys would go down, he would haul them back to shore and start chest compressions while barking at the others to get the medibeam on them. There were 4 accidental ubers deployed that day. Soldier almost died. Meanwhile, when he's not bringing his team back from the brink of death, he's yelling at everyone to use sunscreen. He spiked the sunscreen.

Sniper: The poor guy got stuck in a rip current. It didn't faze him at all, he figured he'd make his way back in eventually and assumed the others wouldn't notice he was gone. They did. And they were terrified. A beachwide search was instigated. The roads were shut. The coast guard was summoned. After 2 hours of searching, he was located drifting on his back a mile from shore, soaking in the summer sun. They screamed when they saw him and smothered him in a group hug like a family who had just found a lost child. Medic cried. He was forbidden from swimming alone after that.

Spy: Hates the beach. He stayed under the umbrella as long as he could until Scout and Pyro started flicking sand at him. He tried to cloak and sneak away but was soon found by the footprints he left in the sand. The others picked up his invisible body and threw him at Pyro, who then airblasted him into the ocean. It was at that moment Spy realized he would spend the day filthy and wet and simply accepted his fate. Heck, he even started to enjoy himself when he realized he could cloak in the water and plant a knife or two in Pyro's back.

Happy summer and soak up the sun. Hope you enjoyed it 💛

[bucky-hues]

stucky fic recs

here are some stucky fic recs! as always, be sure to read the warnings for each fic <3

one shots

finding home | @thedamageofherdays

cap steve x modern bucky

After he is caught in a terrible rainstorm while hiking, Bucky is glad to find shelter at the cottage Steve shares with his daughter and his dog. Bucky ends up finding so much more than just a safe place to spend the night.

x | @dreadlockholiday

steve x bucky

Request: Bucky looking through a glossy magazine and saying something like "God, can you imagine being paid for just looking cute?" And without thought Steve replies, "you'd be a millionaire" and Bucky just blushes furiously while Steve's all like 😳 *oh no, I just said that out loud*

x | @dreadlockholiday (18+)

steve x bucky

Bucky finds his BFF Steve's sketchbook... and it's full of nothing but sketches of Bucky... naked.

sweethearts | @musette22

steve x bucky

Steve confesses his feelings to Bucky using sweethearts

my moon, my man | @musette22 (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

AU meet-cute. Strangers on a Train, but with less murder and more sexual tension.

make it till you fake it | AggressiveWhenStartled (AO3)

steve x bucky

“Ned,” Peter said, like a drowning man sighting land. “Ned. Captain America and the Winter Soldier are fake dating right now and it is the most painfully awkward and obvious thing I have ever seen, all of us want to die, Ned.”

things my heart used to know | Nightwing11 (AO3)

steve x bucky

In a world where soulmates can communicate telepathically with their partners, Steve Rogers has always had Bucky Barnes with him, a calming voice in a sea of turmoil. And, when Bucky falls off the train during World War II, Steve experiences deafening silence for the first time.

Now, after crashing a plane in the Arctic to save the world and being frozen for 70 years, Steve’s still trying to figure out how to live without Bucky there. His new friends are trying to help him adjust, to move on. And he thought he was doing better, he really did.

So, why is he suddenly hearing Bucky’s voice again?

catfish | @buckmebxrnes (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve Rogers is a famous movie star, known for his role as Captain America. Bucky Barnes is a bored law student who drinks too much wine. Bucky gets on match.com to boost his confidence. What he doesn't expect is a guy using Steve Rogers' pictures on a dating profile. Bucky decides to mess with the guy. After all, what idiot uses Steve Rogers' pictures on a dating site?

Not like it's really him, right? Bucky may need more wine.

let's go have fun | @sebastanbucky

steve x bucky

“Nat wanted me to-” Nat clears her throat and he rolls his eyes. “I wanted to tell you something.” He looks at Steve with a look he hopes says ‘play along’. “Okay. What did you want to tell me?” Bucky has to take a deep breath to keep from laughing again, it helps with his performance as Nat nods encouragingly at him. “I’m gay.” He says, making his voice sound shaky and weak.

the way you came around | sokaless (AO3)

steve x bucky

After a while, Bucky says, “You know, this song sounds like it was written for you.” “That's funny,” Steve remarks. “I chose it because it reminded me of you.” Steve gives Bucky an iPod full of his favourite songs from the 21st century to help him deal with his nightmares. Bucky has a new mission- to find out who Steve is in love with, because there are a few too many unrequited love songs on that iPod.

stuck on you | wearing_tearing (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

“Bucky? You don’t look so hot.”

Bucky makes a tiny little sound in the back of his throat, only to start coughing. Of course he doesn’t look hot. He’s sick and he’s dying and Steve obviously isn’t attracted to him.

you have the place next to my place | justanotherStonyfan (AO3)

cap steve x modern bucky

prompt: “We live in adjacent apartments and our bedrooms are on opposite sides of a very thin wall and one night I heard you crying and talked to you through the wall” AU

Captain America helps the Vet next door.

you’ve got (30) new matches | williamkaplans (AO3)

steve x bucky

When everyone finds out Steve's bi thanks to Bucky's recovering memories, Natasha kicks up her match-making into high gear. Steve has zero luck, but Natasha won't give up, especially when Sam (jokingly) suggests online dating. It isn't long before Steve finds someone, a someone who seems eerily familiar.

perfectly right wrong number | melonbutterfly (AO3)

cap steve x modern bucky

It all starts because Steve is too dumb to handle his smartphone.

A wrong number AU in which Bucky Barnes doesn't enter Steve's life (meaning: Bucky wasn't born until the eighties, but Steve is still Captain America) until Steve accidentally dials the wrong number. Wherein there is a lot of texting, some advice via Natasha and Darcy, a bit of pining, and a first date in an amusement park. Oh, and on top of being a disabled veteran, Bucky is a professional catwalker. Literally.

put your number in my phone | MacksDramaticShenanigans (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve tucks his phone back into his pocket and turns back to the computer. He only has to click a few times before he finds the link to the questionnaire and opens it, inputting the participant number before hitting next. The beginnings of the consent form fills the page, and all Steve has left to do now is wait for the participant— one James Barnes, according to the website— to show up.

Thankfully, Steve doesn’t end up having to wait very long. James Barnes shows up ten minutes early and knocks on the door before cracking it open and peeking in.

“Oh, hi,” he says, when he spots Steve sitting at the desk. He pushes the door open all the way and steps into the room just as Steve spins in the chair to face him.

“Um, I’m, uh, a bit early, but I’m here for the decision making study,” James continues, clear blue eyes flickering around the room before landing on Steve again. The skin between his eyebrows crinkles up a little, and god, Steve probably shouldn’t find his uncertainty as cute as he does. “Am I in the right place?”

wouldn’t it be nice | MacksDramaticShenanigans (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

"You are never going to believe what just happened," Bucky bemoans, shaking his head. He's at Steve's side in a moment and doesn't bother to give any warning before he dramatically falls into Steve's lap. Steve just barely manages to save his book from getting squashed.

"What is it?" Steve asks, matching Bucky's dramatic tone. "What am I not going to believe?"

"I just got off the phone with Natasha," he starts. "She cancelled on me!" Bucky throws his arms up, nearly smacking Steve in the face in the process.

Steve carefully places his hand on Bucky's forearm and lowers it away from his face.

"You're kidding," he says, a frown curving onto his lips at the news.

"I wish I was," he sighs. Bucky presses his lips together into a disappointed line and deflates against the back of the couch, slinking down Steve's thighs a little. "Who goes to Coney Island alone? How pathetic is that?"

Steve snorts, earning a glare from Bucky, and pats Bucky's thigh. "Aw, don't be such a sourpuss, Buck," he says. "Who said anything about going alone?"

all jokes aside | darksknight (AO3)

steve x bucky

"Before we know it Banner’s gonna be makin’ insinuations.” (Everyone "jokes" about Steve and Bucky being in a relationship until, eventually, they admit that they are.)

barnes & rogers and the goddamn truth

steve x bucky (teacher au)

There are three well-known facts at Shield High:

1. The history teacher Mr. Barnes is a stone-cold terror, and it’s not even because he only has one arm. 2. The other history teacher, Mr. Rogers, is a mysterious enigma, and it’s something to do with the body of a Greek God and contradicting stories of his past. (They’re all rumours, anyway.) 3. Mr Barnes and Mr Rogers hate each other.

Bucky wouldn’t have it any other way.

in the shadows | DragonWannabe (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky

Five times they thought they were almost caught, one time someone found out, and one time they didn't have to hide.

OR:

Bucky and Steve grew up in a time when people like them went to jail.

single and looking | Jaiden_S (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky

"Bucky held his place with his index finger and turned the magazine over to check the date on the cover. It was brand new, just out this month. An unexpected cord of anxiety tightened in Bucky’s chest. Single and looking? Frantically, he flipped back to the article. What exactly was Steve looking for? According to the article, Steve’s dream girl should be intelligent, altruistic, well-versed in current events and have a wicked sense of humor. Oh, and he had a thing for high heels and red lipstick. Bucky’s stomach churned as he re-read the article. Was that really what Steve wanted? Make-up and stilettos?"

A slightly sappy tale of two utterly besotted super-soldiers who excel at miscommunication.

these american dreams (ain’t no white picket fences left for me) | kariye (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky

In which Bucky has a house, a dog, an herb garden, and a serious case of insomnia. Welcome to Havensport, Indiana (population 8,294), where Tom’s Neighborhood Grocer stays open all night, little old ladies call the car shop to get their refrigerators repaired, and the heat of summer days and the length of summer nights can make you think that this perfect world will last forever.

i’ve been careless with a delicate man | paraxdisepink (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky

Steve lets SHIELD think he and Bucky were boyfriends so they’ll let him see the Winter Soldier in medical.

knock on wood | 74days (AO3) 

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve Rogers lives a quiet, steady life, until his next door neighbour moves in and starts having incredibly energetic sex every night. All Steve wants is for him to move his bed away from the wall so the damn headboard doesn't knock a hole through his wall.

progressively bigger keys | spinawren (AO3)

steve x bucky

“A very little key will open a very heavy door.” ― Charles Dickens, Hunted Down

Steve and Bucky, it appears, have less need for a key and more use for a battering ram in trying to come out of the closet.

(The one where Steve tries to do one thing (one thing!) without causing a national ruckus, but the press are determined to see Bucky as Steve's best friend. And nothing more.)

stucky discover gay rights | Alicia_Borealis (AO3)

steve x bucky

“Then, why-” Steve stopped himself and looked at Bucky, who had tears rolling freely down his cheeks. “We’re- we’re not sick?”

“Wait, what?” Tony asked.

“Being a homosexual, it isn’t… wrong?”

-

The story of how Steve Roger's loved and lost Bucky, then how he got him back and then how he realised he was allowed to love him after all.

thursday nights with bucky barnes | Ellessey (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve has a comfortable, well-worn routine for his Thursday nights, until the old man who runs the laundromat breaks his hip.

Then Steve has Bucky instead.

to seek a nood-er world | jehans (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky

Send noodz

Steve has been staring at his phone for the last six minutes, eyes narrowed so much they’re almost closed at this point, trying to figure out what the hell Bucky means. Noodz? What the fuck are noodz?

Listen, Steve is at least marginally aware of modern pop culture. He’s heard of nudes — not that nudes are exactly a modern invention; artists have been creating them for millennia — and he does know that people tend to misspell words to be cute or funny. They did that when he was young, too. Because time is a flat circle, apparently.

But, wait—does that mean…?

No. Not possible. Bucky isn’t asking Steve to send him…nudes.

Right?

tied ‘round your throat | sleepypercy (AO3) (18+)

police officer steve x serial killer bucky

Steve's a small-town police officer trying to track a serial killer who's been in Steve's bed the whole time.

much tattoo about nothing | Deisderium (AO3) (18+)

cap steve x modern bucky

Steve Rogers gets a lot of email requests, but never one like this: James Barnes wants to use his healing factor to practice tattoos.

Turns out tattoos give Steve boners.

the perfect man | Ellessey (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Setting up a dating profile is decidedly not in Bucky's skill-set, but against all odds he manages to connect with someone who makes the one-night stand he thought he wanted feel like not nearly enough.

kiss me and take off your clothes | steveandbucky (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve Rogers is dared to send a dick pic to a blog which critiques dick pics (run by none other than Bucky Barnes). Hilarity ensues.

i can’t dare to dream about you anymore | steveandbucky (AO3) 

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve considers himself to be a pretty open-minded guy, which is why he can't quite understand why he feels so uncomfortable whenever he sees his gay roommate kissing guys. He's not homophobic, but how else can he explain the way his stomach twists at the sight?

It takes him a while to catch on.

exam room b | steveandbucky (AO3)

modern steve x nurse bucky

“Wait, what do you mean he asked for me?”

“He asked if the cute male nurse with the ponytail was working today. I assume he meant you.”

kickstart my heart | Kalee60 (AO3) (18+)

doctor steve x modern bucky

Bucky’s Wednesday wasn’t off to a great start. Not only did he wake up in a hospital with his annoyed best friend staring down at him, his treating Doctor just happened to be way too familiar, and the reason for that was slightly mortifying.

With misunderstandings in the air, a snarky nurse who is a pain in his butt and the ugliest neck brace known to man attached to his body. There was no way his Wednesday was ever going to improve. Could it?

you make me feel.. | kalika_999 (AO3) (18+)

cap steve x modern bucky

All Steve wanted was to take a breather, decompress after a mission and go out for a jog in the rain. He wasn't expecting to hide out in a bookstore filled with new and used books or that the employee that worked there thought he was an absolute loser and didn't even realize he was insulting Captain America.

nothing in the world that could stop it | rainbow_nerds (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Bucky just wanted to send his best friend a picture of his cat being an idiot while he was taking a bath. Was it really his fault for forgetting the full length mirror right opposite the tub?

rescue me and hold me in your arms | 74days (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Bucky is on the worst date of his life, and what he really needs of for this waitress to get the message he's sending her with his mind to rescue him. She doesn't, but she does send someone to extract him from a night of torture...

odd ways | peterbparker (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

“And it would have been an amazing night with my son if he wasn’t distracted by the hot guy on the other side of the room,” Sarah sighed, shaking her head. “He’s been looking over at you for the past fifteen minutes.”

Bucky choked on the mouthful of beer he had just taken.

“What?” he croaked. Things were starting to make a little more sense now.

“Right?” Sarah said, waving her hand towards her son. “He completely ignored my garden stories because he’s been making eyes at you so I decided to come over and introduce myself.”

series

rare is this love (keep it covered) | @musette22 (18+)

cap steve x modern bucky

It’s 2014. Captain America has been out of the ice for three years and is trudging along, saving the world and trying to get used to living in the future. Steve thinks he knows how the rest of his life is going to pan out – a life of duty, which he chose when he signed up to be Erskine’s science experiment. But then, he meets Bucky Barnes: the out-of-this-world-gorgeous mechanic and war vet, who turns Steve’s life upside down and makes him question everything he thought he knew. Slowly, Steve comes to realize there is more to life than duty and punching Nazis. Just one problem though: how on earth does a 96-year-old virgin who only just realized he may not be entirely straight make the transition from crush to relationship? Cue healthy amounts of self-doubt, awkward flirting, pretty blushing, existential crises, emotional growth, and maybe, possibly, a sexual awakening.

coming up easy | @musette22 (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

“Listen, I was just thinking,” Steve says, his face open, eyebrows raised in a tentatively hopeful expression. “Why don’t you come stay at my place for a while? I’ve got an office that I barely use, and a change of scenery might do you good, right? Help you beat that writer’s block?” With a crooked smile, he adds, “I promise I’m not a serial killer.”

While Bucky would normally crack a joke about how that’s exactly what a serial killer would say, right now, all he can do is blink at Steve in surprise, heart tripping over itself in his chest. Steve wants him to come and stay at his place. In Massachusetts. Just the two of them.

"Oh," Bucky croaks. "I- Wow."

“I mean, no pressure,” Steve says hastily. “Totally fine if you don’t wanna. I just thought I’d offer, in case it might help, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Bucky ignores the little voice in his head that sounds an awful lot Nat and Becca, telling him he’s setting himself up for heartbreak. “I mean, if you’re sure, that would be amazing.”

4 minute window | @cesperanza

steve x bucky

"Look, if they catch me," Bucky muttered, "they're either going to kill me or they're going to put me in a box with a little window and—Steve, I can't."

swapped | writeonclara (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

if u wanted my number u couldve just asked

u didnt have to steal my whole phone ;)

Steve stared down at his phone, confused. He didn't recognize the number – except, oh wait, he really did. That was his number. On his phone.

He flipped the phone over, then slid one hand down his face. Not his phone.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

[stupid fucking] brooklyn hipster bros | relenaflanel (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Bucky's mother gives him an ultimatum. Bucky doesn't respond well.

All Barneses are stubborn assholes, Steve observes, as though he doesn't see the irony of calling someone else stubborn. Or an asshole.

And Bucky can't even deny he is a total asshole for lying to his mother about dating Steve just so he doesn't have to bring someone else to her wedding, but damn if he's not going to give the lie everything he has.

brought to brightness | eyres (AO3)

cap steve x modern bucky

Army veteran Bucky Barnes has fallen in love with Steve, a guy he met online a few months after he returned from Afghanistan. Only problem is, he doesn't know Steve's last name or even what he looks like.

When his sister helps him send his story into MTV's Catfish, he's hoping they can help him meet Steve or, at least, let him move on with his life if Steve isn't real. Little does he know, Steve and Captain America have more in common than just a first name.

slide to answer | relenaflanel (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

"What do I do?” Steve appealed into the phone. “I’m freaking out.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. It lasted so long that Steve pulled the receiver away from his ear and frowned at it. Pay phones were old. Maybe this one wasn’t working despite the obvious dial tone when he picked up.

“Ok,” a stranger’s voice said over the phone. “First acknowledge the fact that you dialed the wrong number, but be quick about it because my cab is a few blocks away from my own plans and I’m about to drop some truth bombs on you.”

how to woo the winter soldier | writeonclara (AO3)

steve x bucky

“I think I’m ready to date again,” Steve said.

“What,” Natasha said.

“What?” Clint said, lowering his binoculars. He blinked at the dumbstruck look on the Captain’s face, then followed his gaze to where he was staring dopily at—at the Winter fucking Soldier.

“Steve, no,” Clint groaned.

Or: Steve courts the Winter Soldier.

all these things that i’ve done | @not-withoutyou 

steve x bucky

Steve was the patron saint of waiting too long. Bucky was atoning for his sins. Maybe they’d both been forsaken, abandoned by the light. Maybe they’d find a way back to each other again.

Post civil war, if things had gone differently.

find a way (to make it back home) | belwrites (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky (college au)

Fresh off a year abroad, Head Resident Assistant Steve Rogers finds his senior year of college to be full of changes, and he's not just talking about the growth spurt. He's more concerned with the fact that his best friend...isn't talking to him? Is dating his ex? May or may not be missing an arm?

In which Steve has no fucking clue what's going on, but he's trying, Bucky learns how to communicate with his best friend again, and everyone quietly panics about the future.

is it pretending if i already want you? | OhCaptainMyCaptain (AO3) (18+)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Based on prompt: Pretend Boyfriends AU where one of their families is always wondering why they're never in a relationship, so the other offers to pretend to be their boyfriend for some family event

the roommate | layersofart, Niitza (AO3)

cap steve x modern bucky

In which Steven G. Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, gets a roommate. Who rapidly turns into his "roommate"—in the euphemistic sense of the word.

It takes SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers an absurd amount of time to notice.

dear mr. postman | odetteandodile (AO3)

steve x bucky (modern au)

Steve and Bucky revive an old friendship, get married (but totally just as friends, for reasons), and navigate a few of the many trials of the heart that come with falling in love with your best friend.

fate will play us out | steveandbucky (AO3) (18+)

cap steve x modern bucky

Bucky has landed himself a job with Stark Industries. He doesn't know yet that the job is actually being the PR manager for the Avengers.

Bucky has also started dating Steve Rogers. He also doesn't know yet that Steve is Captain America.

Bucky's life is about to get a whole lot more exciting.

the avengers hate club | notebooksandlaptops (AO3)

pop star steve x modern bucky

Bucky falls hopelessly for Steve and starts an Avengers hate club with the lead singer of the Avengers.

songbird | chicklette (AO3) (18+)

modern steve x musician bucky

At 43, James Barnes is a washed up old man. He’s got a dozen Grammys in the hall closet, an agent that can’t get him a deal, a decade-old case of writer’s block, a moody teen-aged daughter, and the gorgeous actress Natasha Romanova for an ex-wife. Well, one of them anyway. He’s a man who’s given up on finding joy in his life, and if it wasn’t for his kid, he’d have probably found a way to quit the world a long time ago.

Enter Steven Grant Rogers, struggling twenty-something, orphan, and someone who has no idea who Barnes is, other than some musician his mom liked a lot. The two men meet by accident, doing nothing more than passing the time in a quiet bar. But when a pap gets a shot of the two men embracing, Bucky takes it as a chance to finally come out as bisexual, and his agent makes him a proposition: Ten new songs and one very sweet boyfriend will get him a new record deal that will maybe, just maybe put him back on top.

Now all he has to do is write the songs, convince the kid, and not fall in love. Should be easy, right?

the right partner | LeeHan (AO3) (18+)

cap steve x ws bucky

Steve meets a beautiful man with a bright laugh on a sunny day in Italy. Captain America meets the elusive Winter Soldier moments later.

Date Bucky Barnes. Defeat the Winter Soldier. Bring down Hydra. How hard could it be?

[marvelhero-fics]

Snowman

Series - Chapter Two

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You’re a HYDRA assassin that’s worked closely with the Winter Soldier, to each of your dismay you’re reunited with Bucky after the blip. 

A/N: Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist, no spoilers in this chapter!

Word Count: 1,750

Snowman Masterlist || Full Masterlist 

New York

2023

“Did you see her much after that mission?” Dr Raynor asked Bucky. She seemed interested in (Y/N).

“Yea. I saw her in passing a few times. She spent a lot of time at the base I was at. Sometimes I’d be out of cryo for weeks on a mission. That’s when I saw her the most.”

“What did you do together?”

“Played card games, trained together, built weapons, I taught her how to snipe. Normal shit, I guess.” It felt strange thinking about it all. It felt like a different lifetime to him.

“I guess that is somewhat normal for trained assassins. Did you tell her anything about yourself? After she explained her story, did you reciprocate that?” His therapist questioned.

“I couldn’t. I didn’t really remember that much about myself. Everything I knew was wiped, I was pretty much a blank slate. I couldn’t even tell her my name because I didn’t know it.” Bucky shrugged.

“What did she call you then?”

“She gave me a nickname. Snegovik. It means snowman in Russian. She thought it was hilarious, because I was the Winter Soldier. If anyone else called me snowman I would’ve snapped their necks, but when she did it-'' Bucky paused to think, “It felt nice.”

Moscow

2012

“What’re you doing, snegovik? (snowman)” You placed yourself down at the table opposite Bucky. He looked up at you, his pale blue eyes gazing into yours. You noticed Bucky started looking differently at you as you spent more time together. Instead of a look of hostility or annoyance as he gave to everyone else, it was a gentle look. A look you would give birds dancing in a fountain on a warm day, or a look you would give the sun as it rose so smoothly over the snowy mountains.

“Reading.” He shut the file laid out in front of him. The maroon file had a black HYDRA symbol resting in the middle. It was his next target.

“I haven’t had a case in weeks. I’m bored out of my mind. Do you wanna go to the firing range with me?” You queried. The HYDRA base you were currently stuck at had one of the largest firing ranges down in the basement, with a very fun collection of weaponry.

“I know what we can do. Let’s go snezhinka. (snowflake)” Bucky pushed up against the table to stand, he grabbed his file and walked off. You quickly followed behind.

The two of you ended up in a large room full of dark grey lockers. It was an empty, dusty smelling room. Not many agents or assassins resided at this base so it was mostly desolate.

Bucky pulled a few lockers open, his metal fingers clanking against the steel lockers. He tossed a large coat towards you. It was black with a soft fur lining the hood.

“Put that on.” He demanded.

“Are we going outside?” You asked, tossing the coat over your shoulders and zipping up the front.

“Mhm.” Bucky pulled his sniper rifle out of a locker. It was already put together. He grabbed a small, red box of ammunition and an extra scope. He walked off again, he tended to do that.  

You waltzed off behind him.

“Don’t you need a coat too?”

“No. I’m the snowman, remember?” He smirked back at you. Bucky didn’t smile very often, you always tried to savour the moments that he did.

The two of you exited the compound through a side door, it simply led out into the snowy forest. He began walking out into the snow, along a path he’d obviously walked plenty of times before. The large pines that inhabited the forest were covered in a layer of thick snow. The reminisce of grass and flowers barely poked through the large sheet of white on the ground.

Bucky’s path guided to a small, wooden sniper nest. It was an old sniper range that used to be for protecting the base. As more enhanced people began showing up, HYDRA moved to using giant concrete bunkers instead.

Bucky threw down a thin, dark green blanket and lay down on his stomach. He quickly set up his sniper rifle and adjusted the scope.

“Lie down.” He asserted. You complied, lying down on your stomach next to him. There was nearly no room between your bodies, the sniper nest seemed like it was only made for one. His body radiated heat like a fire. So much for snowman, you thought. Bucky lined up the spare scope and passed it over to you.

“Look through that.”

You stared through the small scope, it showed a few trees over two kilometres away. “What am I looking for?” You asked, quietly.

Bucky didn’t reply. The sound of the silenced sniper announced, and a single pinecone burst into pieces. You turned from the scope to look at the man next to you. “That was 2,000 meters away, holy shit.”

“2,248 meters.” He added, lifting the sniper to sit in front of you. “Your turn.”

“I told you, snegovik, I can’t snipe. I’ve never been good at it.”

“I’ll teach you.” He took the spare scope from your hand. “Get nice and close to the gun, your  shoulder should be up against this part,” he motioned to the back end of the rifle, you shuffled so you were in place, “look through the scope,” you did as he instructed, “and here,” his hand grabbed your wrist, the cool metal of his fingers burnt against your hand. You didn’t know much about how his metal arm worked, but he seemed to have amazing control over it. He was so gentle as directed your hand to a dial near the scope, “use this to adjust your sight. Take it to 500 metres out, we’ll start off easy.”

You adjusted the scope. 500m. You agilely moved to line up with a large pine cone resting on one of the giant pine trees.

“Deep breath.” Bucky said lightly, “fire.”

Your finger snapped down the trigger and the bullet flew. Bucky watched through his own scope as the bullet hit its target.

“I did it!” You announced,

“You’re not as bad as you thought.” He smiled, “go further out and try again.”

You and Bucky sat in that tiny sniper nest shooting pinecones for hours.

~

Bucky left early that morning for his mission, leaving you at the base by yourself for a few days. You spent most of those days shooting and you spent your nights combat training. Unsurprisingly, you’d developed some severe insomnia. In your line of work it wasn’t uncommon. Kraken didn’t want you to take any sort of sleeping medication that the HYDRA doctors suggested because he was afraid it would affect your work ethic. He wanted you staying sharp. Arguably, running off no sleep didn’t have you very sharp.

It was another regular night. 2, maybe 3 in the morning, you were in the gym, giving everything you had to a black punching bag. Your bandaged knuckles were feeling the force with every blow. You tiring body felt shaken under the strenuous training you were putting yourself through.

“It’s a bit late for this, snezhikna.” A deep voice announced from the entrance of the gym. You turned to see a muscular figure. He was covered in black clothing, only revealing his face and his large metallic arm. Not many people were able to sneak up on you, except Bucky, he always could.

“How was the mission?” You returned to your punching bag.

“The target was eliminated.” You heard the faint sound of his boots approaching. By the time you spun around he was directly behind you. “Let’s spar. It doesn’t look like that bag’s putting up much of a fight.”

He moved towards the thin gym mats. You watched as he adjusted his arm, each metal part whirring into place. You unravelled your knuckles, standing on the mat opposite him. The two of you stared in silence for a moment, the tension between you hung like a heavy, black smoke. A vicious grin flicked along your mouth and you began.

Punches were met with dodges, kicks were defended with blocks. You ducked, grabbed his metal wrist and pinned it behind him. He adjusted and threw your body over the top of him. You landed hard on the ground. He smiled. You whipped around and caused his legs to fall out from beneath him. He fell, and you quickly moved to throw your legs around his neck. He lay on the ground in a choke hold between your legs. You didn’t apply too much pressure, just enough to stop him from moving.

“Nice job.” He grunted. Just as you thought he would tap out, he grabbed either side of your waist and twisted you so he was able to free himself from your legs. You scrambled to get off your back but Bucky was too quick. His muscular legs had your ankles pinned down and his metal arm had both of your wrists over your head. It clicked into place and held you pinned to the ground.

You’d never felt weak in your life, you were skilled, strong, smart. But Bucky sitting above you like this made you feel so small.

“How can I tap out if you’re holding my arms?” You joked.

Without a moment's warning Bucky lowered his head and pressed his lips against yours. Everything about Bucky was harsh, rough, and cold. But his kiss, it was gentle and sweet.

You kissed back without hesitation, his metal arm relaxed and your hands tangled into his messy hair. He unpinned your legs and you instinctively wrapped your thighs around his waist. His soft, real hand caressed your waist, holding you as if you were fragile china.

He didn’t touch you with his metal hand. He used it to hold up his weight. He never barely ever touched you with that hand. He never knew how strong it really was and he didn’t want to accidentally hurt you. Ever since you’d told him his hand was cold, he’d been much more cautious with it. You were the warmth in his life. He didn’t want to mess that up.

“Snegovik, we can’t do this here.” You smiled up at him, your hands held gently against his cheeks, his stubble tickling your palms.

“Let’s go then, my snezhinka.” He carefully picked you up and led you out of the gym.

Taglist: @selfsun​ @quxxnxfhxll​ @stranger-names​ @bb-tings​ @is-it-really-a-secret​

[derailedfiction]

The Most Wanted | Baron Zemo | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Pairings: Helmut Zemo x Fem!Reader | Sam Wilson & Fem!Reader |  James Barnes & Fem!Reader

Word count: 6764

Warnigns: smut, a bit of swearing

Summary: After John Walker's outburst, Reader.and the boys ™️ follow a promising lead of a certain doctor.

A/N: IT’S FINALLY HERE :D enjoy <3 

tag list: @sea-murai you’re my smut queen 

What a mess, you thought replaying in your head over, and over again how the poor man was decapitated. You returned to the empty apartment and made yourself a drink, which you drank at the spot and immediately you refilled empty glass. You looked at the amber liquid pensive. It was not the first time you saw somebody getting killed but the brutality of the act itself and the direct publicity it had from the very start, made you feel sick.

With heavy sight, you sat down on the sofa and closed your eyes. It was not the only haunting thought that was in your mind. The kiss. You suspected he did it to play with you, but you could not stop feeling his lips upon yours. How gentle and soft they were and Zemo’s gloved hand lightly caressing your chin as you succumbed to his actions.

What a nonsense, you thought and took away your own fingers that tried to trace his touch on your lips. But it was a pleasant nonsense, and you did not really want to let it go.

“Still here?” you heard Sam as he walked in. “Your great prize just escaped; you’re not following him?”

“Kein Problem, Sam. Ich verfolge ihm, [Not a problem, Sam. I’m tracking him,]” you answered him opening your eyes.

They both looked like they have been through hell. Weary, bruised up with some cuts on faces, but somehow victorious as you spotted the shield in Sam’s hands, still wearing some marks of blood on its surface.

“We must think what to do with Walker, he clearly snapped,” Bucky said as he was taking off his gear. “It’s hard to deal with what he’s done to the shield.”

That sounded way more accusatory than it supposed to be, and you saw Sam slightly tensing his jawline, listening to Bucky. It was something that you were used to, as James would from time to time throw such punchlines toward Sam, and how he has treated the shield.

You got up and went for the first aid kit, which still was in bathroom after Zemo helped you with taking out the bullet. You heard them heatedly arguing back in the room, so you grabbed the kit and went back.

“Sitz [Sit,]” you ordered James showing him the chair, and surprisingly he obliged. You then took a swab with sanitizer and tried to clean his face cuts, but he retreated catching your hand. “Komm jetzt, es wird nur für einen Moment kneifen [Come now, it’ll pinch only for a moment,]“

He let your hand go, rather unconvinced and allowed you to continue with the procedure.

“Sie mussen ihm neutraliziren. [You have to neutralize him.]” you referred to what they were arguing about, whilst cleaning James’ nose cut. “Er kann nicht ein Super-Soldat sein. Das ist zu gefährlich. [He can’t be a super soldier. It’s too dangerous.]”

“Well, that’s out of the question,” James answered with sigh.

“Yeah, but how do you want to take down a bloody murderer? It’s not like we can burst into his house and handcuff him, man,” Sam stood looking at the two of you, with crossed arms. “He’s a straight up killer, a super killer. He won’t go easy, especially as something broke in him.”

“I have told you something was not alright about him,” with nod you agreed to what Bucky has said.

“Warum hat er diesen Mann getötet? Was ist passiert? [Why did he kill that man? What has happened?]” you asked.

“Lemar, his partner died in action. It was actually Karli that pushed him into the wall, but Walker set his mind on that man,” you stood silent for a longer while, thinking intensively about something. In the meantime you let James to go, as you finished with cleaning of his cuts and invited Sam to take his place.

“Ich kenne eine Frau, sie ist eine Wissenschaftlerin und sie hatte an dem Super-Soldat Serum und einer Art Gegenmittel gearbeitet. [I know a woman. She’s a scientist and she worked on the super soldier serum and some kind of antidote.]”

“Really? – Nicht bewegen, [Don’t move,]” Sam looked at you as Bucky explained him what you have said. You found it utterly irritating and hard to tend his head cut as he moved all the time.

“Nun, ich kenne sie nicht persönlich, aber ich weiß, dass es diesen Wissenschaftler gibt, der versucht, die Wirkung des Serums umzukehren. [Well, I don't know her personally, but I do know that there is this scientist who is trying to reverse the effects of the serum,]” you took your time washing the wounds and bruised lip.

Only when you finished, you cleaned up and put the rest of the things back into the first aid kit. Then you took out your laptop and started looking for some useful information.

“Don’t you think is worth a shot?” Bucky asked Sam, who wasn’t that convinced to your idea. He didn’t trust you and you could not blame him for that. Especially, as you let Zemo escape their custody.

“Do we have other option? We should try this, it’ll be easier to do something with him, when he’s not a super soldier,” you felt Sam’s glances as he has spoken with James. “But still, I don’t trust her that much to do as she proposes.”

“For a bit we’re stuck with her,” they both stopped talking to look at you, working on the computer. You paused and looked back at them.

“Was? [What?]” you tilted your head and returned to your work.

“Anyway, we try to find this scientist and then we go back to States. I’m done with Europe for a while.”

“Mags du die offiziele Treffen? [Do you like official meetings?]”, you closed laptop and approached men. “[I know you have enough of Europe, but we’ll be here for a bit longer. In two days, there’s an annual meeting of scientist. What very little people know that it is also an annual convention of all sorts of medical freaks.]”

“Where is it?”

“Come sta il tuo gentiluomo italiano? Andiamo a Venezia. [How is your Italian? We are going to Venice],” you asked them with disarming smile as you saw confusion on their faces.

“How many languages do you know, woman?” Sam was highly shocked considering your ability to change languages so easily.

“A lot,” you smiled cheekily answering him in the purest English, much to his dismay.

***

“Do we have to go through the plan again?” you growled under your nose, hesitantly getting up from the bed you sat on.

You arrived in Venice in the early morning, when the whole city was still asleep. The three of you took that opportunity to do a short reconnaissance in front of the opera where later that day, the event was to be held. A square in front of it was rather small but provided enough space to set an observation station. You really hoped for a moment free to go and visit a bit more of the city you haven’t seen for a long time. Unfortunately, during the day you were seated in the nearby café as Sam and James went inside.

“Bucky and I go inside, and we try to find this doctor of yours. You Y/N, will be a watch-out in the nearby,” James looked at you for a moment, thinking about something.

“Can you tell me again, why you can’t go inside with us?”

“Wie ich Ihnen bereits sagte, wünschen mir einige Leute dort den Tod, [As I told you, some of the people there wish me dead,]“ you shook your head lightly. “So, denke ich, das ist keine gute Idee für mich in zu gehen. Jeder würde wissen, dass etwas lost ist. [So, I think it’s not a good idea for me to go in. Everybody would know something is going on.]”

James was visibly tormented by the idea of you doing things on your own.

“Es ist in Ordnung, ich verstehe dich und dass du mir nicht vertraust, James. [That’s alright, I understand you and that you don’t trust me, James,]” you gently put your hand on his arm. “Aber wir haben keine anderen Lösungen [But we don’t have any other options,]“ he sighed as he knew there was no other idea and that was your best shot so far.

“Right, but how do we get in there? We don’t even have clothes or anything?”

You smiled broadly as you were waiting for this question. You went to the phone and dialed a number, “Sie werden hinreißend aussehen, [You’ll look ravishing,]” you winked at them and started talking on the phone.

Within an hour, you were gaily sitting in a comfortable chair, slowly drinking your second mimosa and simply enjoying the view. Sam and James were trying on their tuxedos for the evening, which was truly captivating activity as you could look at two well-built men in smart clothes.

“Is it me or Y/N enjoys this a bit too much?” Sam turned around to see himself in the mirror.

“Ja, ich genieße die Aussicht, [Yes, I do enjoy the view,]” you smiled and raised your glass to toast and finished off the drink, which was immediately refilled.

Bucky stood silently in his dark-blue velvet jacket and you could have sworn he was mumbling something about you acting like Zemo.

“Komm schon Jungs, du muss anständig aussehen, um in die Oper zu gehen, [Come on boys, you have to look decent to go to the opera,]” the tailor took the last measurements from Sam and invited Bucky to stand on a low step.

“Ah, James, du siehst absolut schneidig aus [James, you look absolutely dashing],” you complimented the man as the dark shade of blue looked absolutely mesmerizing on him. “Du auch siehst absolut schneidig aus, Sam,” what was more to say, you simply took pleasure in both, observing them in those fancy clothes and how miserable they were at the same time.

“Aren’t you getting ready?” Sam asked, looking at himself in the mirror one more time. You sensed that he actually liked being dressed like this.

“Ja, aber ich bin schon bereit, schau. [Yes, but I’m already ready, look,]” with your free hand you pointed to a hanger with long, evening dress in your favourite colour, next to which stood high-heels.

As you finished your last drink, you got up from the armchair and spoke to the tailor, who informed you that there, is need only for small changes and outfits would be ready within two hours. You smiled to him and left the room with the dress and shoes to get ready.

It was not your first time to be a watch out but what concerned you the most about this evening, was the fact that you still had the Powerbroker’s men after you. The odds were rather unlikely for them to come but they were not zero. Then again, you did not really owe anything to James or Bucky, to stay and to help them here or to go after Walker and neutralize his super soldier abilities.

You looked at your reflection in a mirror, carefully observing how the fabric of the dress draped over your body. The sleeves were of right length to nicely cover the bandage on your arm. It was a simple, evening dress as many others, but it had something in it that made you checking-out yourself for a longer moment. Was it the cleavage, not revealing yet complementing your breasts? Or maybe a nicely cut waist, hugging your body well-fitted? You did not really know, and it did not bother you. The effect was stunning, and you loved it. It was a perfect camouflage for your position. Being in that dress allowed you to look as one of the guests, who casually went outside to smoke and was about to go back. The only thing that didn’t go well with this outfit was your purple black eye from the other day, but what make-up cannot solve?

It took you a bit longer than you wished but you managed to cover the bruised area with an evening look. As you finished the last touches of your gala outfit you took out two boxes with the equipment you got from a friendly smuggler you knew from the past.

“So, I brought some good stuff,” you said as you returned to the boys and put first small box on the table.

“She speaks,” escaped from Sam’s mouth. And it was not the only sense that was shocked as his eyes were wandering on your figure, as much as James’s. “You look really nice.”

“Yes, I do,” you replied in such way on purpose, so he had to think about it. You opened the box revealing small earplugs. “We’ll communicate through them. It’s so small nobody will notice it,” you handed one for each of them and put one in your ear.

“Why now?” Sam was still inquiring about your magical ability to speak English, all of sudden.

“I thought it would be easier if both of you would understand me, not just James,” you answered him. “And honestly, gentleman you should consider wearing suits more often… They really suit you.” Sam was visibly flattered by your compliment, while James mumbled something again. “Do you want to go over the plan again?”

“I think we’re good. You’re observing, we’re inside looking for your doctor. We get needed information and head out,” Sam summed up shortly, as you took out invitation. “Only one?”

“Yeah, you’re going as a pair. Settle between who is who’s one plus,” you handed him the piece of paper with grin. “You’ll do just fine.”

“I preferred when you spoke German at least I didn’t understand you,” he sighed heavily. You lightly shrugged your arms and turned on a little screen, which was showing halls of the opera house from different angles. You wrinkled your nose lightly observing one of the video.

“What?” you heard Bucky over your shoulder, standing behind.

“Nothing, I just spotted a bar I want to invade before we begin,” you answered him and turned off the device.

“How professional,” Sam snorted.

“Come now, darling,” you smiled blissfully and grabbing their arms as you were leaving the apartment. “What can go wrong?”

***

As you soon found out quite a lot of things could have gone wrong, starting with your high-heels and Venetian pavement that was not co-operating with them to finish with a bottle of not-so-cold champagne you have hoped for.

“How is it going?” you asked through the earplug, observing incoming wave of smart-clothed people.

“So far, so good,” you heard Sam and you saw him with a drink in a hand, “How does our target will look like?”

“Tall, blonde, she’ll be probably with a cane. She had some sorts of accident and can’t walk without it,” you replied smiling to the passing by couple, “She should be easy to spot. Please, don’t scare her.” Sam let a short laugh.

“Well then, let’s get to it,” James was rather tensed, observing guests coming in.

“You should go and take your seats, the play is about to start.”

“What?” they asked simultaneously.

“Oh, I didn’t mention that?” you smiled to yourself, seeing their distressed faces in camera, “As a treat for guests, you’ll be able to see one of the finest version of Don Jovanni. Enjoy gentlemen –”

And you lost sound at that moment, you could have seen they were saying something to you but it was just lost.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

What a piece of shit, you thought taking out the comm and gently hitting it in order to work.

“Hello?”

“Problems in paradise?” a familiar voice, you thought you won’t hear for a time, asked as you turned around to see Zemo standing in the shadows like a common creep.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re doing perfectly well,” you said, observing the entrance. Quite a lot of people were still going in, even though the opera has already started. “I’m surprised to see you here, to be honest.”

“I got a little bit bored, and I decided to come back,” Zemo said, walking up to you slowly.

“Don’t tell me you missed Sam or James’s company?” you scoffed him with a smile just in the corner of your lips.

“I missed your company Y/N, if I may speak freely,” you raised your eyebrow at his words. Zemo stopped next to you and observed the façade of the opera house. “It’s quite a crowd, isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is. I never liked those official meetings, really. The only one good thing about such parties is this,” you showed him a bottle of champagne you took earlier from the opera’s kitchen. “Want some? But I warn you, I don’t have any fancy glasses, so we have to drink straight from the bottle,” you drank from it and passed the alcohol to Zemo, which he gladly accepted.

“Are our mutual friend inside?” you nodded. “How did you make them go inside?”

“It wasn’t that hard, really,” he was standing with such close proximity, you had no problem with smelling his cologne nor with feeling his warmth. “Is it your doings that our communication is jammed?”

Zemo smiled innocently and pretended to turn the key against his mouth, “I know nothing of such thing, Y/N. But then again, we wouldn’t have had this opportunity to talk freely.”

“And you came, God knows from where, just to talk with me?” he opened his arms and shrugged them.

“Night is still young, and you don’t have to stand here waiting for them to return. They’re big boys,” he took the liberty to caress your neck skin as he spoke, giving you shivers along the spine.

“What we do here is important, Zemo,” you slowly turned your gaze upon him. “Honestly, I don’t really want to see any more dead bodies caused by this man.” You lazily leaned towards him, occasionally glancing at his lips. So, tempting to try them one more time.

“I can see that, Y/N,” Zemo answered in low whisper, still caressing your neck.

You moved even closer to the man and just inches before his mouth, you paused and said, “Give me back champagne.”

You saw how his face shifted as he gave you a short smirk along the bottle, from which you took another sip.

“So, hypothetically, where would you want to go, Zemo?” you asked, enjoying the sensation of his gloved hand against your skin.

“Hypothetically, there is a little hotel, not that far from here where, hypothetically, I have an apartment – Of course, you have – where we can go and talk,” you rose your eyebrow as he took his hand away and took of his signature coat to put it around your shoulders. “It’s rather chilly.”

“What a chivalry of yours, Zemo,” you stated, even though you accepted it with quite a pleasure, “Shall we go?” As for a true gentleman, hidden under a mask of a terrorist, he offered you his arm, which you gladly took.

The two of you went for a relatively short stroll, which raised questions you wanted to ask, how on earth he found out about this event and that you will be there, but you just let it go.

You shook your head for his proposition of a drink as you reached the apartment, you felt a little bit light-headed after the champagne and wanted to make a pause. You nonchalantly slipped the coat on an armchair and sat down on a small sofa.

“Well, you can now tell me why are you back? I mean, you had a clear way of escaping and be free as wind,” you pressed your lips tight, and you crossed your arms, waiting for him to answer you. He poured you two drinks and handed one to you even though you didn’t want any.

Just as soon as he sat down, he started, “It might sound strange, but I wanted to spend some time with a person who will not try to kill me.” You smiled to your whiskey and sipped a little of it, “And as much as I enjoyed co-operating with Sam and James, it was tiring after a while to look over your shoulder.”

You raised your eyebrow in amusement. It was the very Baron Zemo who just said, he must have looked if there was anyone wanting to stab him. You found that hilarious and couldn’t prevent a silent laugh.

“I must say, Zemo, that sounds rather funny, being said by you.”

“Why? Because I know my way out of any situation, even if it demands some stabbing?” he looked at you, gently smiling.

“Precisely,” you narrowed your eyes, observing him. In this dim light and with that smile on his lips he seemed to be quite relaxed and peaceful. A rare view for anyone watching. “You know what, I missed our little talks like that.”

“I’ll drink to that, Y/N.”

You observed him for a moment, urging to ask a burning question that you carried since the beginning of your reunion, “How do you feel?”

He stopped drinking and looked at you surprised, “Ravishing, what do you mean?”

“You perfectly know, what do I mean, Baron,” you slowly took another sip of the drink, “You know, you were severely depressed in the jail, so obviously I’m a little bit concerned how do you feel now. You wanted to kill yourself, Zemo. It doesn’t happen just like that,” you snapped your fingers, looking expectantly at him.

“If that will ease your mind upon this matter, I went through the therapy during my incarnation,” he looked at the peaceful night through the window. “ – and it helped for a certain extend.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Zemo. I really am,” you smiled lightly and finished your drink. “You want a refill?” You stood up from your armchair and took his glass, as you headed for the bar. “Same or you want to change for something else?”

“The usual,” you snorted and poured him whiskey.

“So,” you started, handing Zemo his glass back, “shall we speak about something a bit more cheerful?”

As the two of you engaged into conversation, the time passed by unnoticed. You must have admitted that Zemo was a delightful chat partner as he could talk about literary everything starting from political matters and literature to what knife would be the best for a hand-to-hand combat. It was that kind of dispute which was challenging you and yet allowed you to carry it on effortlessly.

Your engagement in conversation with Zemo, reminded you how the two of you had similar talks when he was in German prison. You were quite proud of yourself when you successfully infiltrated that prison posing as a trauma counsellor. There was no real therapy, but it allowed you to plan and implement the escape. Though, now you could see much more emotions and freedom in his talking and way of acting. You found it enjoyable to observe him a bit more alive than he used to be.

At one moment you were standing and slowly dancing to the music played from a gramophone and it was quite blurry for you to recall who came up with this idea. But it was pleasurable when you felt his arm gently resting around your waist as the other supported your hand, even though both of you had some percentages in blood. You were slowly rocking across the room, trying to avoid sneaky furniture that would appear out of nowhere, to your disapproval.

“Maybe it’s best if we sit for now, we’re not the best dancers after this amount of alcohol,” you led Zemo by his hand to the sofa, on which you sat down.

“You look lovely in this dress, Y/N.”

“I know, thank you,” you gave him a cheeky smile, much to his amusement.

“You know what…”

“Are you going to tell me it would look better on the floor?” you interrupted, and Zemo chuckled in response.

“Only if you want to, Y/N,” you shifted on the sofa to move a bit closer towards him.

“What do you want, then?”

“You,” this simple response made you astonished, uncertain what to say.

“Is this drunken you speaking, or real you?” your fingers started slowly caressing the back of his hand, in anticipation of Zemo’s answer.

“What would you like me to be?” you lightly shook your head.

“Does it really matter?” you asked, not really knowing whether you were asking yourself or Zemo. Before he could answer you in any way, you placed a short, uncertain kiss on the man’s lips, which was followed by much longer and needy one. You wanted to retreat after this, to think about it but Zemo’s hand in your hair prevented it sufficiently and pulled you back for another kiss, heated and passionate.

You felt the zip of your dress going down and as you leaned in the kiss, the material slide off revealing your shoulders. You pushed him gently on the sofa seat and comfortably nested yourself on Zemo. Your fingers were tenderly stroking his hair as your kiss became deeper and sweeter with each passing second.

His lips slipped from yours to your jawline and neck leaving trail of messy kisses, each of it awarded by your soft moan. You felt as if you were melting under every single touch, stroke or nip left on your skin.

“Would you like to go somewhere more comfortable?” he asked into your neck, kissing it possessively.

“After you, Helmut,” you placed another peck in the corner of his lips and sat up.

Baron swiftly got up and offered his hand to lead you to the bedroom, where he took his time stripping you out of the dress, along saying how much he admired you and your body. As your apparel hit the floor, it revealed you were wearing no lingerie.

“Y/N,” Zemo chucked huskily, grabbing you by your waist and turning around to see you, “You’re full of surprises, my dear.”

You rested your forearms on his chest observing how his eyes brightened. Your fingers played with the collar of the man’s shirt before leaning in for another kiss, which he tenderly gave you.

“Why am I the only one undressed?” you softly purred, revelling in his gentle strokes. You moved your hands to ably undo his belt and shoulder holster, which were now laying on the floor.

“Is it my fault you weren’t wearing any underwear?”

“Is it my fault you were so eager to undress me?” you replied with another question, working on his clothes. Zemo chuckled allowing you to do further undressing of him. “You know what…” you paused your doings and took your hands away, looking at him slyly, “You’re a big boy, do it yourself.”

You walked away from him with a cheeky smile and sat down on a bed, resting on your palms with crossed legs. Zemo tilted his head letting a quiet sigh of disbelief as he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, still maintaining eye contact with you. Oddly, you found it quite erogenous, and your breath quicken a bit watching him stripping the rest of clothes.

“Like what you see?”

“Come to me,” you softly lured, feeling deprived of his touch and affection for too long. You climbed higher on the bed making room for Zemo, who was over you within seconds.

“So needy,” he chuckled darkly, leaving lazily trail of kisses starting on your collar just to end right next to your ear. His hand was exploring your hip, gently clenching fingers into your sensitive skin, enjoying each of your soft moans. “So impatient – and so welcoming.”

You deeply inhaled feeling his fingers inside you, already dripping wet.

“Y/N…”  Zemo caught each of your whines with his lips slowly fingering you, “You’re such a beautiful mess.” You laughed in his mouth which quickly turned into loud groan of pleasure as heat inside you was more and more mounting.

“Zemo, I want you,” you said quietly and whimpered as he took his fingers away from you.

“Good Lord, Y/N. You even taste as good as you look,” he smiled devilishly, licking off your juices and suspended any actions, glancing at you somehow distressed.

“What is it?” you looked up, searching for his eyes.

“It’s just been a while since I – ” you shushed him with your finger on his lips.

“Roll over,” you said sternly and surprisingly he was more than happy to oblige and pull you on top, “Good boy, Helmut,” you awarded him with a loving kiss.

You straddled him and helped yourself with your hand to position his member to your entrance, and you slowly lowered down on him. Both of you gasped at the same moment as you froze to feel him better inside you. “You’re quite to take,” you whispered slowly rocking your hips, much to Zemo’s approval. After a moment of his stillness, Zemo started to counter your movements.

“Oh, my – Helmut,” you gasped airlessly feeling his thrusts and trying to keep up with the pace. “Don’t you dare to stop,” you bit your lip, watching what hot mess he became beneath you. It seemed as his hands were all over you, all the time, yet you felt them mostly strongly gripping your hips as he kept thrusting in you.

“You are beautiful, Y/N. I cannot get enough of you,” with each next pound into you, you felt your legs were about to fail you. Zemo saw that as you were faintly allowing your head to fall down with sorrow moans of pleasure.

He unceremoniously flipped you on your back and trapped between the mattress and his body.

“That’s unexpected,” you said pulling him closer, sinking your fingers into his messy hair, “But not unwelcomed.”

“You were barely holding on. I couldn’t allow anything happen to you,” he stated, changing his pace to much slower and mor passionate lovemaking.

“You have well-rested, my dear Bar–ON,” a moan escaped your lips as he suddenly caught your nipple in teeth and bit it.

Zemo hooked your legs around his hips as he started to pound into you mercilessly, catching every single moan and scream of pleasure that escaped your mouth with his indecent kisses. Within a blink of an eye your arms were held by his hand, above your head, much restraining your movement. You tried to squirm your freedom, but he was relentless in overpowering you.

“Don’t move, be a good girl,” his whisper next to your ear made your eyes even darker from lust and you obliged to Helmut’s demand. “Good girl,” he praised you huskily, cupping your breast with the free hand.

“Helmut, I – ” you shivered strongly as your climax was almost there. Your hips were coming ahead his thrust gaining as much friction and stimulation as you could get. “Please, let me go… I want to touch you, to feel you when I come on you,” you pleaded sweetly arching your body toward him even more.

As soon as your arms were free, you clenched them around his upper body, dugging nails into his back. Your breath was becoming more and more frantic as you were on the very edge of your climax. All of your nerves were aching for it to happen, controlling over your body as you softly whimpered into Zemo’s neck nonsense. His brown eyes, now almost black were staring at you as if you were his pray, his victim.

“Don’t you dare stopping n-OW,” you were an absolute mess and him changing pace for the faster one was bringing you over the edge.

“Be a good girl and come for me,” Zemo’s hips were smashing into you with the force you have never suspected him. You nodded sloppily kissing his face wherever you could and then it happened.

You felt overwhelming wave of heat and shivers overpowering your body as your orgasm hit. For a moment you stopped breathing and allowed to be filled with this shake inside you and how your muscles tensed around him. Your arms were holding onto Zemo, whose moves became hastier and erratic, close to his own finale. He rested his head on your shoulder breathing heavily and babbling as with few last thrusts he came in you, with loud moan.

He stopped moving to catch his breath and slowly slipped out of you.

“You are intense, Y/N,” his soft smile was something amazing to observe. You could have sworn there was only affection and nothing more in him, at the moment.

“Well, I got to taste my own medicine, Helmut. I think I might have some bruises,” you looked at him out of breath and satisfied.

Zemo pulled you closer and left few short kisses on your forehead before he spoke to you, “Sleep now, I’ll get you back to boys tomorrow morning.”

As much as you hated the idea of being vulnerable in your sleep, you settled down comfortably next to Zemo, slowly falling asleep. His arm around your shoulder was holding you steadily, yet you could still hear his heart fast beating. Listening to it and how it was getting slower as to the regular hear beat, you found yourself drowsy enough to relax and fall asleep on his chest.

***

Your sleep was abruptly finished by the phone ring.

“Hallo?” you took the phone quickly not to wake up sleeping man next to you.

“Y/N? Care to explain your sudden missing?” you heard James on the other side and stopped breathing for a moment.

You got up and left the bedroom with sleeping Zemo and you replied, “Ich hatte einen Dinge zu machen.[I had some things to do.]”

“Yeah, right. I’m waiting outside,”

“Was? [What?]” a shocked question slipped your lips.

“Das. [That.] I put a tracker on you. I didn’t want another runner like Zemo. Come down or I’ll come for you,” he said and hung up.

FUck, fuck, FUCK, you thought shocked as you started quickly looking for your clothes. Outside the window, you indeed noticed Bucky standing under a street lantern on the opposite side of the hotel’s entrance. As you were gathering your dress and shoes, you noticed some kind of package on a chair, opposite to the bed. You almost omitted it as they were all black and only delicate shimmering in the streetlight, caught your attention.

 I hope these will be more comfortable to pursue me in.

                                                          Z.

 You smiled lightly and put the note in the pocket. How come that he could not speak about his feelings but had no problem with showing them in other ways. You took the pile from the chair and you noticed it was surprisingly heavy, as you walked into the bathroom.

How does that man know so much about me?, you asked yourself putting on clothes he prepared. And of course, they fitted you perfectly, which was quite amazing. You haven’t had a slightest idea what kind of material it was, but it felt so comfortable as if you were wearing a second skin. You slipped your feet into boots and laced them thoroughly.

The last thing from the pile was a black box in which you found lather shoulder holster, quite similar to the one Zemo was wearing himself. You put it on and adjusted to your preference and when it was perfectly laying on you, you inserted a gun into the holster.

Before you went away, you have left a short notice foe Zemo that you must have gone.

“Why did you left your position?” he asked as soon as you saw you leaving the hotel, and narrowed his eyes checking out your outfit closely. “Weren’t you wearing a dress?”

“Und jetzt trage ich das. [And now I wear this,]” you answered shortly, unsure how to feel about this whole situation. “Es ist nicht nett, dass du mir nicht vertraust. Aber ich verstehen es. [It’s not nice that you don’t trust me. But I get it].”

“Well, I was right not to trust you, Y/N. Why did you leave?”

“Ich habe dir gesagt, ich musste mich um einige Dinge kümmern. Es ist nicht so, dass ich an euch beide gebunden bin. [I told you, I had some things to attend to. It’s not like I’m bound to you two],” you snarled back at him. “Wo ist Sam? [Where’s Sam?]”

“Back at our hideout,” James sighed quietly and rubbed his eyes. “Alright, listen… You don’t have to tell me why you left, just –,” he stopped for a second looking at you. “Just leave any kind of note that you’re going…”

“Oh, warst du besorgt? [Oh, you were worried?]” you looked at him surprised as he growled with huff. “Das ist schön, James. [That’s lovely, James.]” you mocked him with light smile.

You never would have thought that any of them, James nor Sam, would display any kind of concern of your person. It was even funnier, considering the fact you just did write a note for Zemo, so he would not be troubled about your whereabouts.

“Just don’t do it again, ok?” he looked miserable as you laughed silently at this revelation. You gently patted his arm and nodded to his ask. “You’re not going back there? To your things?”

“Nein, alles ist gut, James. Wir können zurückgehen und darüber nachdenken, was als nächstes zu tun ist. [No, everything is good, James. We can go back and think what to do next,]” you said and started walking down the quiet road.

“I’m afraid no, she wasn’t even there,” Bucky answered and looked at you.

Sweet Lord, these boots are comfortable, you thought taking each next step.

“Haben sie mit diesem Wissenschaftler Glück gehabt? [Did you get any luck with that doctor?]” you asked after a while.

“Verdammt [Damn it],” you muttered under your nose silently, “You’re sure about that? [Bist du darüber sicher?]”

“Yes, we’ve talked to some other scientist that told us, she went missing like three days ago. Presumably taken by the Power Broker, as she was last seen in Madripoor.”

“Verdammt [Damn it],” you repeated louder, which caught Bucky’s attention.

“Why is she so important to you?”

“Willst du wirklich, dass Walker länger ein Supersoldat ist? [Do you really want Walker to be any longer a super soldier?]” you answered with another question. “Ich denke, wir müssen uns ausruhen und dann überlegen, was wir als nächstes tun sollen, [I think, we should take a rest and the think what to do next.]“

“That’s good idea,” he shortly agreed as you came in the apartment.

You noticed Sam sleeping on the sofa under a blanket. Surely something that was taken care of by James.

“I really enjoyed this opera, you know?” you smiled softly hearing it, “It was nice to do something normal? I guess.”

“Ich bin erfreut, das zu hören, [I’m happy to hear it,]” you lowered your voice not to wake the other man.

You looked at James trying to figure out what was he all about. No doubt, he was a caring and a caring persona and that softened you. It was truly awful what happened to him in the past because he did not deserved it at all.

“Es gab nie eine Schwester, [There was never a sister,]” this sentence sounded louder than you thought after a moment of silence.

“I know, Y/N,” you turned to him with surprised expression, a question painted all over your face. “It wasn’t exactly that hard to figure it out, especially since I found your file in published S.H.I.E.L.D. documents.”

You sighed heavily, “Wie viel weißt du [How much do you know]?”

“Pretty much all of it. That you helped Zemo going after the Avengers,” he took off his jacket and hung it over the chair, then continued, “And I just found out about your ailment, you want to treat so badly, Y/N.”

“Okay, willst du dich ausruhen oder darüber reden [Alright, do you want to rest or to talk about it]?” you rubbed your eyes. It was quite late and you dreamt only about continuing your sleep but you couldn’t leave it just like this.

“Let’s talk. We still have some time.”

“Nimm dann die Flasche und zwei Gläser [Grab the bottle and two glasses, then],” you moved to the bedroom and made him space on the bed. “Es wird einige Zeit in Anspruch nehmen [It will take some time],” you said closing the door.

[hufflesocks]

Tf2 Mercs playing Portal/Portal 2

Scout:

-struggles to get into the games, so he just decides to watch Miss Pauling play

-during her play through of Portal he would let Miss Pauling destroy the companion cube. Despite her warnings he got attached to it and even named it Scout Jr.

-I like to headcannon that the two play a lot of video games together. So when she finally manages to convince him to do the co-op mode with her he just does a bunch of goofy stuff like placing one portal directly above the other and just messing around in general

-and while she is meticulously trying to figure out the puzzles he just accidentally solves them by screwing around

Soldier:

-Struggles a lot with the game, often getting stuck on the puzzles

-keeps going to Engie for help to the point where, he just decides to walk him through the games since he’s already finished his own play throughs

-refuses to listen to Wheatley because of his British accent

-“Engie I can’t go down there because the little robot told me to!”

“Soldier that’s the only way you CAN go.”

“America fought good and hard for its independence! I won’t take orders from the enemy!”

-when Wheatley betrays hims he’s like “I told you he couldn’t be trusted!”

-enjoys the boss fights the most, especially Wheatley’s

-thinks the turrets are neat, and likes their signing

Pyro:

-Pyro is pretty decent at the game, and likes to try and solve the puzzles by themself. But if they’re really stuck they’ll go get Engie

-thinks GLaDOS is mean, but they forgive her. They really enjoy her songs

-is genuinely hurt by Wheatley’s betrayal

-and even more heart broken when they had to destroy the companion cube. Actually they weren’t even the one who did it in the first game, they had Engie take control and do it for them

-feels bad whenever they have to kill a turret, so they try to avoid. This usually ends up with them solving the puzzles in very unusual and creative ways

-loves finding the hidden drawings made by Rattmann

-plays a lot of community test chambers with Engie

Demoman:

-had to wait to sober up before playing the game, because it made him a bit motion sick

-got through the puzzles fairly easily

-wasn’t expecting Wheatley’s betrayal, but he really didn’t mind losing the robot

-was a little disappointed though when he had to put the companion cube in the incinerator

-really likes how at the end he gets to shoot robots with explosives

-full heartidley agrees with Rick’s explosion day

-has memorized the two songs and will occasionally belt them out when drunk

-when he and Soldier play co-op mode they spend the entire time figuring out ways to kill each other. One can often hear them yelling at each other from their rooms

Heavy:

-enjoys the critical and creative thinking that the puzzles require

-it took him a minute to get used to the mechanics but now he is really good at “thinking with portals.” One can occasionally hear him mutter to himself about a good portal spot on the battle field

-found Wheatley pretty annoying. Scout one time walked in on him playing and Heavy said, “look leeltle Scout, tiny robot ball talks to much like you.” Scout was very offended that day

-thought it was really funny when GLaDOS was put in a potatoe

-also really liked the end songs

Engineer:

-One of Engie’s favorite games. Will gush about them to anyone who asks

-found the puzzles to be a lot of fun and very creative. He has even tried making a few community test chambers when he has free time. Miss Pauling tried one once, but got stuck on it for four hours.

-Loves all of the robots, and may or may not have developed something resembling a crush on GLaDOS

-teared up at the end

-after playing the games he tried to redesign his sentries to sing like the turrets

-has a blue print in the works for a portal gun, but it’s a very secret project that he will do anything to prevent the BLU Engineer from finding out about

Medic:

-thought the games were ok, again he would rather be working on his own experiments then playing video games

-if Heavy asks nicely then he will play the co-op mode with him

-what he really likes is the science behind putting a human conscience into a robot

-after finishing the second game at like 11:30 at night he rushed into Engie’s work shop ranting about experimenting to transfer someone’s intelligence into a computer. The two proceeded to stay up all night making plans for it. They are still deciding who should be their first test subject at the moment it’s between one of themselves and Scout. Actually the Administrator found out about the project and demanded that she be transferred onto a computer in the event of an “emergency”

Sniper:

- thought the game was fun, but wasn’t into the puzzles that much. Did enjoy exploring the areas “behind the scenes” and places like old Aperture

-his favorite parts were the times when he had to stratigically place a portal to hit a turret with another object. Found that to be the most like sniping.

-When playing co-op, he likes to grab turrets and shoot at whoever he is playing with

-enjoys the soundtrack and will occasionally listen to it in his van if he is trying to relax.

Spy:

-Only plays them because almost everyone else on the team was bugging him to at least try it

-thought it was fine, and thought the puzzles were ok

-did enjoy GLaDOS’s commentary

-called Wheatley’s betrayal in the few minutes of encountering him

Bonus:

Miss Pauling:

-really likes the game, like a lot

-thinks the puzzles are super fun, loves the soundtrack, thinks the graphics are amazing, and loves the game mechanics

-REALLY and I mean really likes GLaDOS.

-For some reason Miss Pauling feels like GLaDOS sounds like someone and she can’t figure out who. She pointed it out to the others but they didn’t really notice. One day for fun she and Engie where playing with her voice settings. After a while Engie had altered it so that it would sound less robotic. That day Miss Pauling found her answer and both agreed to never mention it again

-wasn’t really surprised when Wheatley betrayed her, and was very happy to put GLaDOS back in charge

-like Engie she also cried a little, especially during Cara Mia

-Didn’t mind having Scout watch during her play throughs. He added some funny commentary; such as offering to punt Wheatley like a “soccer ball” to the moon during his betrayal scene. Does wish he would take the co-op mode more seriously though

I know some of the headcannons make it sound like I don’t like Wheatley, but I swear I do

[arsonistvoyager]

A Jedi for a Clone Pt. 3 // Captain Rex x Reader

Pairing: Rex x Reader

Summary: You warm up to Rex and the rest of the clones. 

(And big thank you to @mangoberry43​ for that amazing idea where reader is trying to not be scary so the clones like her lmao I will definitely work more onto that!)

Part 1  Part 2 

taglist: @starflyer-104​ @mangoberry43​ @kaminobiwan​ @persaloodles​ @painkiller80​ @passionofthesith​

Rex hadn’t seen the projectile flying his way until the very end. His breath hitched and he froze. For a second everything seemed quiet on the battlefield, while his eyes were locked on the object a mere 10 meters above him. The battlecries of his brothers which had been sounding from every corner around him were suddenly gone. And in what he thought was gonna be his last moment he lowered his two blasters and closed his eyes.

                                                           ---

You were tempted to let it happen. To watch it from distance. To see him fear his last moments. For some reason you couldn’t. Instead you had ran over the broad heads of Seperatist B2 droids before using your force abilities to jump inhumanely high into the air. With one swift motion both of your lightsabers cut in diagonally through the projectile, sending it’s 4 severed parts into different directions.

Softly landing on your feet again you turned to look over your shoulder to see Rex remove the arms he had put over his helmet to cover himself and his posture relax. “Thank you General.”, he sighed, nodding towards you, before tightening the grip around his blasters.

You stared at him for a few seconds, not saying a single word before you jumped forward, deflecting the shots that the advancing droidekas were firing at you.

“Another victory for the Five OH FIRST!” Many of the men cheered to Jesse’s words, throwing their helmets in the air and patting each other on their backs. You glanced towards them through the opened entrance of the tent you and your fellow Jedi were in, scanning their happy, laughing faces and subconsciously looking for that of Rex. Stop it. You shook your head lightly to clear your thoughts and looked back up at Anakin. He was talking to Master Windu, reporting to him about how you and his men had defeated the separatist forces that were exploiting the planet of its resources, while him and a selected few clones had freed the enslaved inhabitants of Arami. 

The High General nodded and thanked Skywalker on the report before turning to you. “(L/N), Skywalker, rest tonight. Tomorrow you will stay with the Arami people and await the arrival of Senator Organa. He will negotiate a potential alliance with their leaders and arrange Arami’s accession into the Galactic Republic. We suspect Separatist forces might intervene, so it is of utmost importance that the leaders stay out of harm.” You and Anakin nodded simultaneously. “May the force be with you.”, you told him and Master Windu nodded in response. “May the force be with all of you.”

You pressed your finger on the holoprojector and the blue, static image of the Jedi disappeared. For a second you both stood there without saying a word. You decided you would take the first steps and leave. “You’re an amazing fighter, (Y/N).” Skywalker’s voice was gentle. As if he was trying to see if what your reaction to his words would be. And how he should proceed.

“Of course I am I was taught by a great-...By a respectable Jedi. As were you. It was almost a pleasure working with you, General Skywalker.” The young Jedi seemingly relaxed. “Well our work is not yet over. We’ll see what the morning brings. It was a hard fight and I think we all deserve a relaxing ni-” You hadn’t bothered staying for his speech and already left the tent.

Outside of it you saw many of the clones setting up campfires like the night prior. Looking above you to the sky, you gazed towards the millions of stars that decorated the dark blue abyss that formed the rest of the galaxy.

The fight had been long and exhausting and had stretched into the late evening. You locked your lightsabers onto your belt and looked around for water. Not before long your eyes landed on a crate of boxes that were put up close to the refugee camp of the surviving Arami. 

With a few quick steps you made your way over to the boxes and looked through them. The force really was with you because as you suspected there were flasks of water in one box and stashes of ration bars in the others. You pulled one of the flasks out and sat down cross legged next to the boxes, drinking its contents. 

While doing so you observed the camp that the clones had set up for the Arami. Most of them were sitting closely together around another campfire, holding each other. A few were tending to their and others wounds, using the medical supplies you had brought with you in the name of the Republic.

And a few of them, mostly kids, were playing with soldiers, clones. They used the helmet of one of them and played catch, others were sitting at the knees of a clone, listening intently to a supposedly very interesting story he was telling. You grabbed a ration bar and ripped the wrapper off with your teeth before biting into it and observing the clones and the Arami laugh together. 

Sitting next to some boxes felt weirdly lonely all of a sudden. 

On your other side you heard more laughter. Turning over you observed more clones and – Rex finally. He was laughing with his brothers, leaning onto one of the wooden logs they used as seats, his legs sprawled into both directions. All of them had removed the chest plate and arm pieces of their armor, as well as their helmets and some had even taken off their leg protection to be more relaxed, thus sitting in nothing but their black full bodysuits. 

You figured it must’ve become heavy after some time and had to admit you wouldn’t want to be stuck in it for more than 24 hours either. Nonetheless this battalion was special. It most definitely had to do with their reckless young General but they themselves seemed so unique to you.

You chewed on the yellow roll of food in your hand and pulled your legs to your chest.

Trying won’t hurt anyone...Maybe I should hide the lightsabers? No don’t be ridiculous (Y/N).

You held the ration bar between your teeth and grabbed a few more that you stuffed inside your pockets before you stood up to dust off your pants and robes from the dirt you had been sitting on. Pulling out the ration bar from between your teeth you made your way over to one of the campfires that was occupied by Rex, goatee, whos name you learned was Fives and a bald one with the symbol of the republic tattooed over half of his face. CT-5597...Jymes? Joost? Jesse! It was Jesse.

“And so I told her you know what? When this is over and the seppies have been kicked to the Galaxy’s A-” You knew exactly by the way the troopers voice cut off that he had seen you approaching him and his group. Fives swatted him with his foot. “Come on continue, Burn! I mean I know the story is freshly made up banthafodder but I’m a little invested!” He laughed giddily until his eyes followed those of fellow trooper, Burn, and he fell into silence. 

“General!”, he tried his most to sit up in a more appropriate position and smooth out the folds in his bodysuit. The others followed suit, including Rex who sat up a little more straight from his position on the ground.

“At ease, soldiers.” You swung one leg after another over the log that Rex was leaning against and sat down on the wooden seat. They all visibly relaxed but sent shy glances towards your figure.

“By all means continue your conversation. Hungry?” You threw out the ration bars you had snatched up earlier and smirked as their eyes followed the food. “Are we allowed to take those?”, one of them asked.

“What’s your name, soldier?” He immediately fell back into his stiff position. “CT-9225, sir!” You rolled your eyes. “Your name.” You noticed Rex look up to you in curiosity, before looking back at the tasty ration bars spread in front of him.

“My brothers call me Sly, sir.”, he finally answered, noticeably a little more relaxed. “Am I not your General, Sly?” Maybe you were playing with him. He stiffened again. And maybe you were enjoying it a little.

“Yes sir.” “Then I hereby allow you to eat those sticks of...I don’t know what they’re made of actually.” Maybe you came off more official than you had intended to, because they only hesitantly reached out to grab one each.

Nevertheless the conversation didn’t pick up again. And you were inexperienced in this. Sure you could lift huge rocks and spaceships with the power of your mind, you could manipulate someone's thoughts with a flick of your wrist, you could slice through anything with the deadly ancient weapons to your sides but how in the makers name were you supposed to make people who were afraid of you like you? You’d think the Jedi would’ve taught you these things, being negotiators and the so-called keepers of peace after all.

You decided to try. “We will stay here for tomorrow as well. Possibly a few more days.” Sure, boring status updates would do. Or… “That sure makes me miss those zygerrian pirates I encountered a few days ago. I mean I would call them over for some fun but they might not have tongues to speak with anymore.”

Nobody said anything. In fact, your surroundings were so quiet you swore you could hear Jesse next to you gulp. “Because I cut them off? With my lightsabers.” Rex had halted in his motion and lowered the ration bar from his lips. “That was a joke. I’m funny too.” You huffed at the everlasting silence. Maybe joining wasn’t such a good idea after all. The boxes and crates hadn’t been that bad.

You were about to stand up when you saw the Captain sitting at your feet tremble. Shortly after you heard a soft giggle and soon enough it turned into a full, boisterous laugh. You watched in confusion as the others hesitantly joined in and relaxed their bodies again.

“General with all due respect, you’re terrible at telling jokes.” He giggled once more and opened up the wrapper of his ration bar. You did not believe yourself when the thought crossed your head, but you liked the sound of his laugh.

“Honestly I thought it was kinda funny.” Fives spoke up. “Apart from the whole...I’m kinda scared that it’s an underlying threat and she wants to cut our tongues off kinda thoughts I had at first.” You tilted your head into his direction and the corners of your lips raised slightly.

“Who said it wasn’t a threat?”

Silence.

“That was a joke. Right?” You rolled your eyes, again. “Yes, trooper. That was a joke.”

You looked up from the rolled up ration bar in your hand to the fire in front of you. How you wished that it was creamy white marshmallows instead of the bland protein snack. Had the Clones ever tried marshmallows? You doubted that the Kaminoans gave any to them even if they did have them. 

What was childhood like for them? Could it even be consiered childhood, due to their accelerated aging? And what else had they missed out on that you took for granted? And what in the force’s name was this feeling you had not felt for a long time? It couldn’t be guilt. Jedi knight and war General (Y/N) (L/N) didn’t feel guilt. Neither for the droid armies, nor for the clones. Master Krell had taught you to not give in to your feelings and form any sorts of attachment. It was not the Jedi way but maybe both you and your Master had failed to follow this ancient rule.

“Okay that’s it I think I’m calling it a night.” Sly was the first to stand up and stretch his arms far above his head. You saw him from the corner of his eye but you were still looking towards the flames. Burn joined him as they walked away. “I think I’ll just sleep here, the weather is so nice.” Five’s sprawled out on the ground before he rested his head on his two crossed arms. “What do you say Rex, you joining? The ground is surprisingly softer than the cheap cots they provide us with.” 

At the mention of his name you looked up. “No. I have to go to General Skywalker and discuss tomorrows plans with him. Besides I like the cots.” Rex smiled at his brother while tapping on the ground around him, seemingly looking for something. “Kriff, where is my crutch…” Your head whipped around to face him. “Crutch?” He started looking for said crutch around the fire but paused to shoot you a fleeting glance.

“Earlier today. After you force pushed the collapsing tree out of my way before it could hit me, if you recall General, I tried to doge one of the B1 clankers and almost fell down the cliff, I uh...you were busy taking down the commander droids with General Skywalker, you couldn't’ have seen.” Your gaze pierced through him. “It’s no big deal, already got a painkiller.” He rubbed his neck over the spot they had probably injected the painkillers and stopped his search on the ground. “Got a little limp though.”

You stood up and brushed the dust from your pants before walking around the fire and stopping right in front of him, your hands planted on your hips. One of your hands reached out to him and he looked at you perplexed. “What are you waiting for? I’ll help you move. I don’t have all night I wanna get some sleep too after all.” Rex nodded, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. One hand grabbed his helmet off the ground, the other wrapped around yours. With one swift motion you pulled him to his feet and Rex turned his head away. You were strong he knew that but it was still weird.

When you noticed him swaying slightly you glanced down to his feet, noticing he was trying to balance all his weight on one leg, while the other one was bandaged up and dragging behind.

Grabbing his left arm you wrapped it around your shoulders and firmly placed your right hand on his hip. Finally you secured his left hand in your own and started walking carefully towards the lit up tent that Anakin was most likely still in.

Rex was trying his best to walk on his own – not because he was embarrassed that you had to help him, but because he didn’t want to bother you for having to help him in front of the eyes of his brothers.

“Thank you, General.”, he murmured, looking at your face before his body relaxed against yours. You looked straight ahead as you practically dragged him across the base.  “Call me (Y/N).

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a/n: I am once again asking you kind people that read this thing to forgive me for not making it more romantic arrghh. I WANT TO. But it just didn’t feel right YET! It’s coming, if you’re patient enough to wait for part 4. Speaking of. 4 parts??? How crazy is that. 2 weeks ago I didn’t even think about writing for tumblr but here we are! 

[archertf2]

ENTIRE TEAM IS BABIES

Chapter 2: Adventures In Babysitting

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Hunter’s Bio

A/N: Ah yes! It’s finally here! After an eternity, I finally finished chapter 2! Lmao! 

“What?! You can’t just leave me alone with eight babies!” Hunter exclaimed as she held baby Scout who was pulling on her hood. Meanwhile, the other babies were crying, babbling, and crawling all over the place, all of them wanting Hunter’s attention as well. Medic was heading back towards the base before Hunter’s sudden outburst and immediately turned around.

 “I will be back shortly. I am just going to order supplies for the babies, then I will help you when I return. Just keep them busy. They shouldn’t be that hard to handle. They’re only babies after all.” Medic explained before finally exiting the respawn area, leaving poor Hunter all alone with the babies.

 Hunter sighed and sat down on the floor with all of the babies. They immediately started crawling over to her and baby Scout. She put Scout back down on the floor with the others as she put her hood down and took off her mask.

 Now that her teammates were a bunch of babies, she didn’t really have a need to disguise herself, especially since Medic was the only adult on the base who knew her real gender.

 Scout started to whine, making grabby hands towards Hunter for her to pick him back up and hold him.

 “Scout, darling, I can’t hold you all day.” Hunter told him as if he could actually understand what she was saying. Scout continued to wine until he started crying which then set off a chain for all of the babies to start crying.

 “No, no, no! It’s okay! Don’t cry!” Hunter exclaimed with a panicked and anxious tone. She looked around to see if there was anything she could use to get them to stop crying, but there were only medicine and ammo cabinets and little cubbies where each merc kept their belongings and weapons. No toys, no books, no puppets. Nothing a baby would find interesting. Hunter then had a great idea. She put her forefingers and thumbs together and started to sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” song with all of the little hand movements. This immediately caught the infants’ attentions and all of them started to settle down and watch Hunter. Hunter continued to sing different nursery songs with hand movements to keep the babies entertained until Medic returned.

 Eventually, Medic did return just as Hunter finished singing another nursery song. “Oh, thank god you’re back! I’m running out of nursery rhymes.” Hunter exclaimed as she stood back up. That immediately caused chaos to stir once again as the group of babies started whining and crying. “I see they are getting quite fussy. Let us move them back inside the base and we’ll sort all of this out, shall we?” The Medic proposed as he bent down to pick up 4 of the babies while Hunter picked up the other 4. Medic then led Hunter to the recreation room. There wasn’t much in there except a pool table, a pinball machine, a jukebox, a poker table, one of those “Ciggy Stop” vending machines that Spy usually liked to use, and a little area in the corner with a sofa and a television. Both decided this would be a good spot for them to play while they tried to sort everything out.

 Hunter and Medic put the babies on the rug in front of the sofa in the corner then sat down as they watched them. “I don’t know how the hell this is going to work...I mean we’re really outnumbered here.” Hunter remarked as she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. “Do not worry, fräuline. They are only babies! This will be as easy as-“ A sudden thump was heard outside of the rec room before Medic could finish his sentence. “Ah! That must be the supplies I ordered! That was fast!” Medic exclaimed with a smile as he got up from the couch and went out to the rec room, Hunter following behind him. Hunter stood in the doorway of the rec room as she stared in awe at a giant crate of what she assumed was baby supplies as Medic signed the papers from the delivery guy.

 “What in the world is that!?” Hunter asked in confusion. “A care package!” Medic replied with glee. He then took the crow bar that the delivery guy had left him and opened up the crate as a bunch of baby supplies spilled out of it into a large pile. “This should be enough supplies to care for 8 babies for the time being.” Medic stated. “Medic, there are enough supplies here to care for dozens of babies. Don’t you think this is a bit much?” Hunter asked him as she picked up a rubber ducky that had tumbled her way. “Well, it’s better to be safe then sorry. For all we know, they could be stuck like this for months!” Medic told her as he started organizing the supplies on a nearby table. Hunter’s eyes widened in fear. “M-Months?!” She stuttered. “Ja, but I highly doubt that it will take that long. I received word that the technicians will be arriving in a few days, so I’m sure they will find a way to fix the respawn quickly.” Medic explained as he continued to organize the supplies. Hunter relaxed a bit after hearing that then decided to help Medic with some of the supplies, bringing some of the toys over to the babies so they could play.

 Hunter sat on the floor with the babies as she watched them play with the toys she had brought over for them. They all seemed very content despite the fight between Spy and Scout over a stuffed teddy bear. Just as Medic was putting away the last of the supplies, little Heavy started to cry.

 “Oh, darling, what’s wrong?” Hunter asked as she picked him up and patted his back softly. Heavy’s cry then triggered the rest of the babies to start crying just like before which caused Hunter to begin to panic once again.

 Medic came into the rec room and saw that Hunter was struggling with all of the crying babies. “I don’t know what happened! They were fine a moment ago!” Hunter explained as she continued to rock Heavy and pat his back. “They must be hungry. We usually have lunch around this time.” Medic informed her as he looked at the clock on the wall. “Fortunately, I thought ahead and prepared a few bottles just in case.” Medic told her as he picked up little Soldier and held him. “Come along, kleiner. It’s time to fill your little tummy! Yes it is!” Medic cooed as he tickled baby Soldier’s chubby belly. Soldier had calmed down once he was picked up and giggled while happily kicking his stubby little legs.

 Hunter smiled as she watched Medic interact with the babies while they fed them bottles of baby formula. He was so kind and gentle to them as he cooed at them and made them smile and giggle. It was quite a drastic difference in behavior compared to when he is on the field or operating in his lab. He’s usually very harsh and somewhat erratic, but now he’s so calm and caring. Hunter found it nice to see Medic’s true soft side. Sure, he had a soft spot for his doves and other animals in general, but she’s never seen him act this way towards people before.

 “What a good boy! You finished your whole bottle!” Medic bubbled to little Sniper before putting him over his shoulder to burp him.

 Both mercenaries were almost done feeding the babies. Hunter was still finishing up feeding little Spy while Medic continued to burp Sniper. The rest of the babies who had been fed played on the floor with the pots and pans in the kitchen cabinets.

 Medic was just about done burping Sniper until he spit up on his shoulder. Hunter honestly expected him to get a little upset, but she was surprised to hear him chuckle. “You filled your tummy a bit too much didn’t you, kleiner?” Medic asked him with a soft smile as he held Sniper in his arms and used his bib to wipe the puke off of his mouth and chin. Medic continued to coo at him while he wiped his face as Spy finally finished his bottle and began to fuss. Hunter put the bottle down and started to burp him as well. Medic then went over to the babies that were playing on the floor and picked a few of them up, carrying them in his big, strong arms. “Alright then, kinder. It’s time for a nice nap.” He cooed at them as he carried them off to the rec room, leaving Hunter with Spy and a few other babies.

 Eventually, Hunter had finished burping Spy (unfortunately not before getting spit up on as well) just as Medic was coming back into the kitchen. “I see he had too much as well?” Medic asked Hunter with a smirk as he took Spy away from her and wiped his little chin. “Unfortunately. Though, I don’t know how, seeing as he didn’t even finish his bottle.” Hunter sighed as she tried to wipe the vomit stain off of her red hood. Medic simply chuckled as he collected the rest of the babies. “Well, you never know with babies.” He informed her. “Heh, you can say that again.” She replied with a chuckle.

 “I’ll clean up in here. Let me know if you need my help.” Hunter informed the Medic who started to leave the kitchen.

 “I’m sure we will be alright. Thank you, Hunter.” Medic then left with the rest of the babies as Hunter began to clean up the kitchen a bit.

 XXX

 Hunter eventually finished tidying up the kitchen and decided to make herself and Medic some sandwiches for lunch. When the Hunter entered the rec room she found Medic kneeling down on the floor tucking baby Scout into a little bassinet. In fact, there were 8 bassinets set out in a semi circle in front of the couch with each baby napping peacefully, or playing quietly with a little soft toy, or just chewing on their toes like baby Soldier was.

 Medic looked at Hunter and smiled as she passed him a plate with his sandwich on it. “Ah, thank you, Hunter! I was just starting to get hungry myself.” He said quietly, so he wouldn’t wake the babies who were napping. Hunter sat down next to him on the old couch and started to eat her sandwich.

 “Y’know, maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought it was going to be. I mean, I thought this would be awful, but it’s a lot easier with someone by your side.” Hunter reckoned after taking a bite of her lunch.

 “I was going to tell you before that it would be much easier with the two of us, but I’m glad you finally caught on.” Medic responded with a smile. Hunter smiled back as the two ate lunch together in peace while the babies in front of them all started dozed off.

[we-always-hit-our-ass]

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder Pt. 2 (Eugene Roe x Reader)

Part 1

Requested by @wolfers-stuff​: “Can you please make a part 2 for 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?...”

Author’s Note: One last farewell fic for y’all before I disappear. I apologize if the pacing or writing is wack, I’ve been trying to revise it- I’m also sorry for makin’ you wait this long, it was not my intention to. I hope you still enjoy this 💕

Words: around 8.3k

Disclaimers/Warnings: Angst witha happy ending, mild cursing, ooc Gene(??), and longass writing

Italics means the past or a memory

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Taglist:  @deldontplay, @thatsonefishyboi,@noneofurbusinez, @meteora-fc, @gutsandgloryhere, @hihosilvers, @basilonely, @floydtab, @wexhappyxfew, @sherlollydramoine, @meganthesunflower, @3milesup, @jamie506101, @sunflowerchuck, @softlieb, @k-websters, @punkgeekchic, @speirs-crazy-ass, @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant, @runtdrummer, @fromtheoldtimes, @liebegott, @tvserie-s-world​ 

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Carentan was successfully captured but work was just beginning for Gene. Countless men were taken in and out of the building where the medics were treating them. While it was better than getting shot at, it was still a far cry from somebody’s idea of relaxing.

Eugene sat wearily as he took care of men after men, but the stream never really seemed to stop. As much as Genie cared about the boys, a break would’ve been well appreciated by the medic. Chatter and the work kept Gene busy and soon his mind was focused on nothing other than what was in front of him.

That was probably why Eugene was so spooked when he heard a few light taps on the wooden frame behind him. A familiar light chuckle reached his ears and he turned around to see you with a smug smile carved on your lips. The cramped building felt just a bit more tolerable ever since you made your way to Eugene.

The tension that built up in Eugene’s soldiers dissipated faster the longer you were near him. Your presence was a blessing, and he stood by that statement. However, Eugene couldn’t help but slightly frown as he looked at the numerous men who still had to get treated. Carentan really did do a number on them, huh?

“As much as I want you by my side at all times, apparently being in a war doesn’t allow us to. I promise I’ll make it up to you, mon ange.”

Eugene’s reply held hints of disappointment and he directed his thumb towards his supplies and the men waiting to be treated. Yet you came closer and looked around the room before pressing an inconspicuous peck on his cheek. You leaned back to take in the slight red flush on Eugene’s cheeks before quickly crossing your arms.

“That’s what I came here for, Genie, y’know I will always try to make things a little bit easier for you.”

“If you’re saying you’re gonna help me patch all these boys up, be my guest.” Eugene lightly joked, shining blue eyes lighting up as he focused on your small grin. 

“I thought you were just an ordinary paratrooper.”

“Genie, y’know I am, I just came here to tell you that one of the medics in Dog Company offered to help us. You’re working yourself out, take a break. I think you of all people need one.”

Eugene couldn’t help but let out a soft, relieved sigh as he leaned back. You let out a chuckle as you helped him up from his seat and you could already see his tired and worn out eyes brightening up just ever so slightly.  

The two of you maneuvered your way through the building, finally making it out to the bright day. It was no surprise to say that you two spent the day laying soft kisses on each other’s skin, holding each other comfortingly in the secure enclosure of each other’s arms.

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Eugene frustratingly ran his hands through his black hair, his brows furrowed and teeth clenched as another memory of you ran through his mind.

He hated to admit it, he really did but it was no secret that all hope was gone after the first week of you being missing. It was then that they knew that the world had lost an angel on that day. Eugene would’ve never allowed himself to think of that just a few days ago. Everyone had seemed to have moved on, everyone else except him.

No one actually knew if you were dead, yes, but the idea of you returning became more far-fetched as the hours dragged on into days. Eugene had always used to cling onto the small string of hope that you would come back to them. But now Eugene couldn’t help but let that hope slip through his fingers and fall into the never-ending loop of despair. 

The Cajun man would tell himself that he would soon get over it for it was just another aspect of war. The scars never really healed properly though, and once again Gene would find himself quietly lamenting on prior events in the dead of night.

Of course, he stopped that habit and learned how to choke it back down but still... It still hurt so, so, so much.

After his little dispute with Cobb, Eugene distanced himself from the company more than ever before. Many attempts were brought to bring back the Eugene Roe they once knew. The lone and quiet medic who still kept to himself but also the one who still shared a few smiles and laughs with them.

But as soon as they saw the lost and void look of the medic, all attempts would be forgotten. Then all the men could do was offer a few words of comfort before slowly walking away to leave Eugene to his thoughts. 

While he wasn’t very vocal, everyone knew what was running through his head. The young man bottled all of his emotions up, and even with a brief mentioning of your name, he felt like all of his feelings would just combust and burst out of him.

Days bled into each other and it was all but a cycle of the same thing. Eugene couldn’t be described as nothing more than a hollow shell of his former self. He could’ve been a stone statue for all that he knew. As much as he tried to steer his thoughts of your well-being, it was inevitable that maybe some thoughts would slip by.

If you were actually dead… Was it quick? Slow? Somehow peaceful? Though Eugene particularly disliked those ones, he would do anything for just a hint of closure. It was all too much to bear and it wasn’t long before his heart became so heavy that his chest would cave in.

Eugene would then quickly drift towards never ending questions if you did make it out. Hypothetical thoughts and scenarios played through his head in a loop.

If you were somehow alive, then why was it taking you so long to get back to them? If you came back, what would be the first thing you would do? Would you cry, hug the person closest to you, crack those jokes of yours, or would you take your time to look for him? Perhaps pull him into your embrace, or maybe even kiss him—

And that’s when he would stop himself. Eugene knew that if he continued to think of it, he knew it would just break him more if he ever found out that you were taken away from them.

You were a beautiful flower, the flower that he could admire and the flower that gave him happiness. Your vibrant petals and graceful stem flowing ever so gently in the wind. Yet you were plucked from the ground right before his eyes. His beautiful flower, his ange. 

The love of his life reduced to nothing but a mere memory— a dream that will never come true.

Before he knew it, faint footsteps were heard as somebody approached him. Eugene didn’t look up as he continued to let thoughts swarm his head, occupying the vacant space.

He could feel someone sitting beside him and he ever so slightly scooted away. It was only until he heard a familiar voice ring out in his ear did he look up.

“Gene?” Babe’s concerned face was evident but Eugene’s cold indifference was more.

Eugene stared at the Philly man for a few more seconds before glancing back down, his back hunched over with his hands intertwined.

“Gene… How— How are you, buddy?”

“Things could be worse,” Eugene responded curtly and Babe’s eyebrows furrowed more.

He knew what Eugene was thinking about. He was also one of the very few who could talk about you to him without getting the cold shoulder.

“Everyone’s worried about you, Gene. Can’t you see that?” Eugene only offered a small glance at his friend before turning his eyes back to the snow-covered ground.

He could feel Babe scooting closer and hear his soft, exasperated sighs. Eugene lifted up his head to give him an empty stare, as if to say for him to continue. Babe leaned his head back as he fiddled with his thumbs.

“What is it—”

“We’re really trying our best, Gene. Y’know… To make you slightly okay. It ain’t much, but you have to understand that we don’t want you... We don’t want you like this anymore.” Babe continued, lightly motioning his frigid hands toward Gene’s form. Eugene stayed silent once more and the air grew stale.

No one was around, and the sounds of Babe’s words were only amplified by the empty space. Eugene couldn’t find a response for Babe, how could he? Everything was just hard, even when they shouldn’t be. For now, it was all just too much for the Cajun medic.

“I know, Heffron.” It was all he could say to him at this moment.

“Well.. I’m glad that you do. But… For now—” Babe offered Eugene a hurried glance as he leaned his head back more.

Words were stuck in his throat and he couldn’t find it in his heart to say them to Eugene. But he needed to. And so he continued.

“Genie— I think… I think it’s best if you… Just— Forget about her for now—”

“No.”

He responded immediately. Eugene looked hard into the pleading eyes of Babe, and his face hardened for just a second before it softened once more.

“But Gene—”

“No…”

It was softer this time, almost like a leaf falling to the earth below— yet however Eugene’s husky voice held intensity. Babe didn’t even know if he heard it, but it was clear that Eugene did. The medic shook his head slightly and his vacant stare was replaced by a look that could be described as longing and miserable.

Babe got the memo and slowly got up from his spot. He offered a comforting hand on Eugene’s shoulder but Eugene didn’t mind one bit. Babe stood silently beside Eugene, offering slight comfort to the Cajun man. Babe stepped back slowly and made his way back to the main building.

He offered one last look to the unmoving figure of his friend before reluctantly continuing on his path. The loud crunching of snow that once occupied the space faded away with each second. It wasn’t long before it turned silent, and Eugene was left to his thoughts once more.

Eugene remembered a time where when he still thought of you, butterflies and warmth filled his stomach and a bashful smile would replace his previous expression. 

But now those butterflies were replaced by a sharp feeling of agony. No longer the warm and comforting feeling he once knew when his mind drifted towards you, but rather a deep, overwhelming feeling of despair that stayed forever in the pit of his stomach. 

The thin lines of his lips would turn down every time it happened. He couldn’t even breathe at this point, taking deep breaths in hopes to recover, but it never worked. If he could, Eugene would’ve already screamed out all his worries and pain until his vocal chords were raw.

The decrepit stone buildings made him trapped and the frigid atmosphere of Haguenau didn’t help him at all. But Eugene knew that it wasn’t the weather that was the problem. More or less, it just contributed to an already hopeless morning, afternoon, evening, or night. The days were gloomy and held no life and Eugene associated most of it to your disappearance.

Eugene felt at bliss whenever he was with you, for you were his small beacon of joy during all of this. You made everything more tolerable and happy that it actually was. No matter how grim the situation, your mere presence made everyone’s days brighter.  

But Eugene lost the one thing that kept him going, and he couldn’t do anything about it other than shove past it or dwell on it a bit longer. He didn’t like either options.

Eugene really had no clue as to how he’s still holding on. For someone who was realistic and almost pessimistic at times, Eugene couldn’t bear letting the thought of you returning go. As impossible as it seemed now to everybody, Eugene never let that thought falter too much.  And though Eugene hated it when a memory of you ran through his head, he made an effort to not forget those either.

It was really one of the few things that you left behind.

But now only constant flashes of memories occupied where you once were. Though he loved the silence with all of his heart, it now only served as a constant reminder that you weren’t there with him. It festered in his stomach restlessly and anything and everything reminded him of your absence.

But of course Eugene still loved you, his love for you was all but forgotten. It’s just… Almost funny how the world still manages to continue. Eugene didn’t even think that was possible, how it goes on and all. 

Even when you were gone. Eugene thought of Babe’s words and he told himself countless times that for once he should listen to him.

He just… He just couldn’t. But you—the person who always kept her head up during hard times— would’ve wanted him to move on.

You wouldn’t want him looking like this. Eugene could almost hear your concerned words and jokes that always cheered him up. He couldn’t help but crack a tight smile as he wondered at what could have been. Just when he’d thought this war couldn’t become worse, it did.

Eugene reminisced about the times he called you ‘mon ange’, the loving term of endearment taking another meaning.

He was too immersed that he couldn’t hear the footsteps coming towards him. Before he could delve any deeper in his speculations, Babe’s voice stops him. Eugene could see Babe’s figure just a couple steps away. The redhead’s face was still concerned and he waited idly before speaking.

“Let’s go, Gene.. Come inside, will ya?” Babe called out to him.

“Yeah.. Coming.”

Eugene sat in the same spot for just a few moments before he stood up. He looked back on what Babe said, maybe, just maybe— he’ll try to move on. Eugene couldn’t fathom the loss, as morbid as it was, he’d trade 10 men just to bring you back. God had other plans and Eugene wanted to scream at him for taking you too soon.

Why? Why? Why...?

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It was one of those days where you and the company had time to rest and to say that you were overjoyed was an understatement. Settling on a spot that was private but still near, you and the Cajun man immediately loosened up. As the medic almost let his eyes close, you nudged him gently on the shoulder.

Eugene let out a questioning groan and as he slowly opened his eyes. Eugene’s eyes were met with you fumbling with the inside of your jacket. You were rummaging through it, looking for a certain something that might cheer him up.

Before Eugene knew it, you pulled out a chocolate bar, one that was surprisingly unbroken on smushed in any way. Eugene looked at you in amusement as his eyes glanced quickly between the bar and your closed eye grin.

“Look what I got, Genie! I found a candy shop nearby, thankfully no one managed to blast it— And I may or may not have snuck in and gotten a few bars.”

A mischievous glint flashed in your eyes as you offered Genie one of your many cheeky smiles.

“I gave some to the boys to share but I’m keeping the rest of it for us two. Genie— you have no idea how long it took me to find you so I could get you one of these. So you better be thankful.”

You scooted closer to him and you gently unwrapped the chocolate from its wrapper. You tenderly leaned on his shoulder and you can feel him lean his head on yours. You offered a broken piece out to him and he gladly took it.

Disbelief flashed across his face but it was washed away as soon as he once again laid eyes of your radiant face. Eugene gave you another small smile before popping the chocolate in his mouth. 

After finishing the piece, the amused smile he had before slowly made its way to his face again.

“After all of this, instead of checking in on yourself, you went into a candy shop to get us chocolate?”

A light teasing tone with the tiniest hints of concern coated his words and you gave him nothing but a glance. Eugene let out a breathy chuckle that was only accented by his husky voice and familiar accent. You really couldn’t help but let out one of your own chuckles while your face heated up. You then broke off another piece and handed it over to the medic.

“I have my ways—  And stop with the questions, just enjoy your chocolate, will you?” You replied, shoving more pieces of chocolate to him.

Eugene offered you one last glance and smile before looking forward and relishing in the sweet moment you two shared.

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

You didn’t know how long you were traveling, but it was obviously more than a couple of days. You lost a basic concept of time and all you focused on was how to get back to Easy. The snow made everything harder and you could’ve sworn you were already dead. The amount of times you almost got captured or shot were too many to count.

For now, you were just slowly relying on luck.

But you needed to get back to them, you desperately needed to. No matter how long it’ll take or how hard it’s going to be, you were determined to finally see them.

To see the boys. To see him. In times where you almost gave up, Eugene popped up into your mind. It was only then that you found the strength to keep traveling.

The crushing of the snow grew redundant and it wasn’t long before you grew sick of it. Your only support was the trees but you had already lost feeling in your limbs a long time ago. 

Small fires were made during the night but they never lasted long. You got used to the biting air of the forest but of course you would do anything to get out of it.

It took a long time to get the Germans off your tail and it was even harder staying low. The instance of you falling into a hidden German foxhole still left you in disbelief and in shock. You luckily weren’t hurt and most of the injuries you sustained were minor and didn’t need any serious maintenance.

The forest was a maze; it was a wonder that you managed to make it out. But at least you’d die of hypothermia or starvation instead of a bullet wound. Either way, you still had to find Easy.

It’d felt so long since you were separated from them in Bastogne— waking up trapped in somebody else’s foxhole and only getting out to see that all of them were gone.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and you took a coat from a German you killed a few days ago. As much as it disgusted you that you were wearing one of your enemy’s clothes, it did keep you warm. So you sucked it up and put it over the coat you wore since you came into this icy hellscape.

You took shelter in the destroyed towns nearby, and you knew you’d find them soon. It’s been so long already and knowing them they were probably already done with their mission in Foy. From what you could remember, Haguenau was the next spot. Based on the map you stole a long time ago, you were pretty darn close.  

If the cold wasn’t going to drive you mad then this certainly will. It wasn’t long before the sun set and night fell over the destroyed town. After finding shelter in a broken house, you immediately went to work on a small fire on the floor. The tiny pile of branches you gathered lit up into flames and a long sigh of exasperation fell from your lips.

“Holy shit— Finally…”

You brought your numb hands close to the fire and for once you actually felt warm. Maybe this time you wouldn’t have to put this fire out, maybe this time you can finally fall asleep for more than 3 hours. You continued to hold your hands close to the flames as you looked around your surroundings, flinching at every sound.

Sleep caught up to you though and you could ever so slightly feel the heavy lids of your eyes drooping, your cumbersome body slumped down against the long and your cold fingers gripped onto the fabric of your coat. You huddled closer into the little warmth that you have and your tense body relaxed.

Though where you lied was all but comfortable you couldn’t help your eyes from closing and your whole body from succumbing into sleep.

Not even a few hours later, your tired eyes open up and get used to the building around you. It wasn’t even morning, and the crack of dawn was just peeking around the corner. You let out a few grumbles into the silence and you huff, white puffs of air forming in the cold air.

The floorboards creaked as you stood up before centering yourself on the hardwood floor beneath you. The small fire was long extinguished and the burnt remains stayed on the floor. Your feet ached as if trying to get you back to settle down, even for just a few moments.

Overwhelming urges to go back to the broken down house bounced to and fro in your mind. But the strong desire to once again lay your eyes upon the company which you called family swiftly took over. A new surge of motivation flourished through you and the numbing ache you felt was soon nothing but washed out.

The cold air was just as overbearing and the chattering of your teeth was the only thing that your ears could pick up. It was slightly dark, and the sun just barely peaked over the horizon, and you longed for its rays to shine upon your frigid form. You could only long for so much though, so you chucked the thought away and carried on.

Large destroyed buildings loomed over you, and the soon to be bright sky made everything seem ominous. You brought your shivering arms to wrap around yourself, trying to take in as much warmth your cold body could offer.

Everything had a purpose in life, but you still don’t understand why life decided to fuck you up this much.

All you wanted to be back in Eugene’s arms, to hear his comforting voice, and to run your hands through his dark hair once more. You’ll do it. For him you’ll make it. Just for him to take you up in his embrace. That thought was more than enough to push you. You were so, so close. You could make it. You knew you could.

Each step was worth it and before you knew it the sun rose, the bright rays just peeking ever so slightly beyond the dead trees. This might be the only time that you’re the only one moving in the vicinity. If it weren’t for you chattering your teeth and not feeling anything in your body, this walk might’ve actually been calming.

If you planned correctly and only took a few breaks that are about 2 hours maximum, you could make it to Haguenau in the afternoon. You’ll finally see the boys and be reunited with Easy after being separated from them for more than a week. The thought filled you with warmth no coat or sun could ever give you.

But fucking damn the snow. It made everything harder than it needed to be. It was only two miles but yet the snow made it seem like 200. Hours went by and you took as little breaks as possible. Laying down on the snow with your back on a tree as you tried to reclaim your lost breath.

Things were serene almost. And by that you meant at least you weren’t getting shot at and trees weren’t exploding all around you.

Then you saw it— the ever so faint outline of what looked to be a small town. This was it, you thought. It was right there, just out of your reach. Your slow steps from before grew more frantic as you neared the grey looking town. You shrugged off your coat, you knew they would start blasting if they thought you were a German soldier.

The coat dropped limply to the snowy floor and your (E/C) picked up a few figures along the edge. It was so blurry, why was it so fucking blurry?

Shivering and huffing, you whispered words of encouragement to yourself, “Come on, come on. You’re almost there... You can make it...”

The two men you saw raised up their rifles to take aim at you, yet you couldn’t bring the strength to raise the icicles you called arms. Instead you kept shuffling forward. Your movement was sluggish and your coordination wasn’t the best at the moment, but you plowed on.

The figures held their ground and with each passing second, the cold wasn’t bothering you— it was the fear that you’ll get shot by your own friends.

Shoving the thought away, you instead focused on the town— no matter how blurry it was. Your knees and legs almost gave out beneath you, yet you somehow still found the willpower to hold yourself up. The soldiers gave each other a look as their eyes focused on your form.

Babe’s breath hitched as he recognized you. He immediately lowered down his weapon and threw his fellow paratrooper a wide-eyed look.

Your knees and legs almost gave out beneath you, yet you somehow still found the strength to hold yourself up. The soldiers gave each other a look as their eyes focused on your form.

Babe’s breath hitched as he recognized you. He immediately lowered down his weapon and threw his fellow paratrooper a wide-eyed look.

“Jesus Christ, lower your fucking gun, Lieb— It’s (Y/N)... It’s (Y/N)!” Heffron yelled vehemently into his friend’s ear.

Liebgott also dropped his gun, he squinted his eyes at you and his jaw grew slack. He was left in shock and all sorts of emotions shone throughout his face in the matter of mere seconds. A look was shared between the two men. After a brief moment of standing still to take the moment in, they broke out into a sprint.

Your body collapsed into them as they reached you, their two arms hoisting you up as you could only pick out a few words. (E/C) eyes grew weary and tired, and you simply let fatigue take over your being.

Liebgott and Babe grew increasingly worried and it wasn’t long before they panicked. They shook you hard and your chin was tilted up to meet their faces.

“She’s freezing—”

“Yeah no shit, Babe. C’mon we need to get her back into town and get her to Roe—”

Everything was fading but your chapped lips stretched into a faint grin. You could faintly see their faces, and you have never been any happier to see a person this much. Babe’s hand cradled your head as they slowly brought you up. Liebgott carried your limp body and brought one of your arms to hang over his neck.

The two men hurried so fast into the town and you couldn’t pick up anything other than fragments of sentences. Your eyes drooped and your teeth chattered unbelievably hard. Your head was pounding and everything was just a cacophony of various sounds, nothing made sense.

“She— passing out—”

“—here the— is Roe— Bring h— over here—”

Roe… You recognized that name. Genie, your Genie— Everything was such a blur, it was all chaos in your mind. But you’re here, and you’ll get to meet Eugene after how long. It was worth the wait, you’re going to finally see him.

Whatever was going on didn’t matter anymore and you tuned out the distant shouts and ruckus. Your eyes fluttered shut and your expression was nothing but content, after all, you had a certain Cajun man in your mind. The whole world went black and you inevitably passed out in the arms of Liebgott.

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

Everyone in Haguenau was utterly shocked when they caught wind of what happened. Others were in glee, some relieved and happy, but the majority was shrouded with a thick cloud of doubt and disbelief.

Questions were thrown left and right but no one could find a definite answer. All words that were about to escape were cut short at what was to come.

Rumors were turned into facts and all who rejected the idea could only gawk at the sight. Multiple eyes rake over the two men frantically yelling and running like their lives depended on it. But their focus was immediately averted to you— the weak soldier in the arms of Lieb.

It was hectic and no one knew what to do next, but the shouts of the fiery-headed man brought them out of their daze.

Desperate cries for the medic rang for a few moments and then after what felt like an eternity, the Cajun man arrived. It’s an understatement to say that his heart stopped as soon as his eyes ran over your unconscious form.

Caught frozen in the moment it was only when Martin practically shoved him into your direction did he start moving.

Nodding stiffly with his cerulean eyes blown wide open, almost everyone in the area rushed to the building where all of Roe’s supplies laid. The door busted upon and could’ve flown off it’s rusty hinges at that point, but everyone’s nerves were wrecked to oblivion.

The shuffling and the jagged huffs of air you released filled the air. They laid you on the wooden table in the center of the room, gingerly plopping your body on the rough surface.

Cold. You were so cold and barely hanging onto an inch of your life… Eugene felt himself grow more rushed and panicked with every move he took, yet he still proceeded each step with the precision and stability any medic wished they had.

He remembered to treat you with the utmost care and gentleness and carefully shrugged off your soddy coat. Removing his own, he dressed you his dry and warmer coat.

“Blankets,” Eugene uttered while looking into Lipton’s eyes

Lipton was too busy fretting over your being and when Eugene said the word, and he couldn’t make out a word. “Roe, what?”

“Sir, just give me blankets, please,” the medic practically keened.

The First Sergeant let out a hum of acknowledgement before rushing off to God-knows-where to get the blankets Eugene so desperately and quietly pleaded for. As soon as Lipton disappeared behind a corner, all of Eugene’s attention was on you.

Requesting hot water, Roe immediately soaked a towel in it. Removing excess moisture before letting it cool down for a few moments, he placed the warm towel on your neck. He poured out all his medical knowledge into action, he needed to keep you alive. Eugene needed to.

He couldn’t lose you again, he wouldn’t allow it.

His mind processed so many things, like how you suddenly appeared after everyone thought you… Thought you died. Appearing out of nowhere, collapsing, and in severe need of warmth. Nonetheless, you were alive and breathing. You were back and now all his answers have been answered.

With the heavy weight lifting from his chest, a new weight arrived and took its place. Right now, all he needed to do was to get blood circulating through your body and to keep you warm.

He just hopes he can deal with the emotions that would later come, and he most definitely hopes that you’ll make it out of this just alright.

“Roe. The blankets,” Lipton returned and in his arms were a heaping pile of blankets which would be more than okay.

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Eugene thanked curtly as he took the heavy pile off his hands and placed them on the cold stone floor.

“Of course, Eugene,” while Lip had addressed him, his eyes were still glued at your shut eyes. The fatherly compassion in his face made Eugene feel warm for just a bit before taking a glance at your serene expression.

Eugene’s hands grabbed about four and laid them across your form, and he took two more to make a makeshift pillow. Tenderly raising up your head, he placed it under and let out a sigh in relief as he finished treating you. The soft rise of your chest reassured him that you were sleeping well, the frigid temperatures of your skin subsiding and returning to normal.

You’d be alright, you just needed to rest and wake up and Eugene couldn’t wait more for that moment to arrive. Loosely dropping the blanket he held tightly in his fist, Eugene made his way over to you. Everyone had crowded around the table but made space back when Roe told them to make room.

Everyone had crowded around the table but made space back when Roe told them to make room. They mimicked his actions, and stepped closer like before. They were all so nervous, but they all held caring and content looks in their eyes.

As time passed, more and more of the men left the building to go to their bunks. But every time they left, they made sure to spare you one last glance before retreating into the afternoon.

Soon enough it was only him, Babe, Lipton, Speirs, and Winters left in the building— the commanding officers talking amongst themselves while throwing concerned glances at you. Heffron opted to stay on the other side of the table, biting nervously at his fingernails.

“(Y/N) will wake up soon, right?” Heffron questioned, his voice quavering ever so slightly and Eugene turned his eyes to him.

Babe’s eyes were so filled with hope that Eugene couldn’t help but agree too— his own orbs begging for everything to be alright.

Everyone in the room kept watch for as long as they could, but it was only so soon that they had to attend to their own duties. Lipton definitely made sure to give words of encouragement and comfort to the shaken medic and soon he left with Winters and Speirs, the latter offering a stable nod of the head whilst leaving.

“Don’t worry Roe, (Y/N)... (Y/N) will be alright, she’s strong. (Y/N)’s stronger than anyone I know.”

“You… You think so?” The Cajun man carefully began as his dexterous hands took off his helmet to run his fingers through them.

“I know so.”

Lipton placed his glove-laden hand on Roe’s shoulder, the gesture made the tension in his body lessen by just a bit. He gave a salute which Eugene returned and he wistfully watched his company return to their prior business.

With just the two of you left in the building, Eugene let his walls go down and he collapsed on a nearby chair. Both of his hands flashed up to sink themselves deep in his ebony hair, the sniffling of his nose overtaking the silence. It’d been so long since he last cried… It’d been even longer since he saw you…

The salty tears blurred his vision but he hastily rubbed them away, the rough fabric taking them off and clearing his sight.

He dragged the wooden chair closer to you and his hands reached out hesitantly to caress your face. Eugene delicately moved stray strands of your hair away from your face and the back of his hand rested on your forehead to check your temperature.

A melancholy look was glazed over his gray-blue eyes and he slowly retracted his hand away from your forehead. Now that the dust had settled, the realization hit him, and with that came the many thoughts.

You were alive, that was obvious enough, but he couldn’t over the fact that you were. Eugene felt immensely relieved that you were, he wouldn’t be able to live if you weren’t. But seeing you limp in Liebgott’s arms left him frozen as if he was being taken back to your abrupt appearance just about two hours ago.

Eugene’s pale hand found its way on your warm cheek, with you subconsciously nuzzling yourself into the palm of his hand— the action making him weak. You had always used to do that and a tender fondness washed over his once tense features.

All in all, he was completely overjoyed that you were here— even if you weren’t conscious, you were still here. If Eugene’s mind wasn’t keeping him busy, he spent his time checking up and taking care of you.

“I just… You’re back..” Eugene drawled out, even if he knew you couldn’t hear what he was saying. Maybe it was better that way…

He had to choke back tears as he continued, emotion pouring out with every word, “I missed you— I missed you a lot actually.”

Even without anyone listening, Eugene acted like there was— with no one there to judge him, he spoke with utmost passion. It had been long subdued and held back, and in those short moments Eugene had spoken more than he ever had in the past days. His fists were aching from how hard they were clench, appearing ghostly white as he continued spouting heartfelt words from his lips.

“I love you, (Y/N). I was so scared that I lost you, I love you so much, mon ange…” Eugene held your still hand, and there you remained serenely resting.

The words hung in the air, dissipating into nothing as seconds passed by. His term of endearment used to feel heavy on his mouth whenever he had said it, but now at this time— it felt right, it fit.

Eugene’s nerves were utterly wrecked, but your presence was the best thing that has ever happened to him. Two weeks, two weeks since Eugene thought he lost you in Bastogne. But he stopped worrying because all of his prayers were answered.

With his back to the old wooden chair, he observed the light pouring out from the dusty windows— almost golden even though it was a bit too early in the afternoon for it. Eugene felt tumultuous and he tried his hardest to come to terms with today’s events. Tilting his head down he folded his hands and shut his eyelids. With a final look to your passed-out figure, he let out an affectionate smile.

It wasn’t long before Eugene too fell into unconsciousness— his mind being transported to dreamland with you in his head.

“I love you, mon ange,” he mumbled quietly, just hoping you could hear him even in your state.

The soft smile on Eugene’s face was prominent then.

----------

The early afternoon light turned dark, the light—even filled with smoke—shone its pinkish and golden hues through the grimy windows of the brick buildings. It wasn’t long until the evening colors turned into ones of navy blue and soon dark cobalt, the moon shining dimly in the sky. Eugene was still passed out, arms crossed and as still as he could be.

No one decided to bother the medic, and anyone who decided to enter the building anyway decided to do so quietly. A menagerie of people checked up on you and Eugene through the hours, but nonetheless people were sparse. With no patrols, wounded, or future assignments, Eugene could stay in that building for as long he wanted to.

His helmet rested idle next to his chair, and the room looked like a moment frozen in time.

The lantern casted a yellow glow throughout the space, shadows playing on the medic’s face and the edge of the room. And that was where you found yourself, wrapped in blankets, in an unknown rickety building. Nonetheless you were warm and you were thankful for that.

Yet you still felt fuzzy, like static was making a home in your brain. You softly let out a groan, your shoulders sore and your skin tingling.

“Shit… My head…” you brought a shaky hand to your temples and the pile of blankets fell off your torso and pooled in your lap.

The old wooden table creaked with each movement and you didn’t notice the sleeping figure sitting on the side of you. The corners of the moon could barely be seen from the angle you were in, and your tired digits clenched around the thin fabric that was splayed out in front of you.

You were in… That was right— you were in Haguenau. You made it, saw Babe and Lieb and inevitably passed out. That was all in the morning, it must be. Just how long have you been passed out? It must’ve been half the day.

Your weary (E/C) eyes glanced across the room, taking in your surroundings. With the dim lantern light bathing you, it was quite hard to make out anything. Turning your head slowly left and right you jump out of your skin when you see a body just beside you.

Your eyes widen swiftly, your mouth agape. But looking closer, it wasn’t just anybody. Bringing your palm to your chest to calm your turbulent heartbeat, you gazed at him— to assure yourself that you weren’t hallucinating.

It was Eugene— good God it was Eugene.

Gathering your thoughts, you leaned forward, slightly wincing at the slightly numb and uncomfortable feeling of your abdomen and legs. Your eyes held want and need, you never wanted someone so badly. A strong urge to just throw away the regard of your own safety and bounce into his arms was tempting, but you knew better than to do that.

You’d simply pass out again, and if you were to die right here in this moment, then so be it. One glance at the ebony locks that were lightly tousled, the same ones you loved to run your (S/C) hands through, was enough to make your heart weak.

His closed eyes just radiated like unexplored waters, and even when sleeping he held such a refined grace and elegance.

This must’ve been the longest sleep he’s had in days, and while you had gone through considerably worse these few days, your heart panged at the thought of him not getting enough rest.

“Eugene…?”

It slipped out suddenly, you didn’t even mean to utter anything. But his eyes opened before you could even register the fact that you did speak.

Ever the light sleeper or even borderline insomniac, Eugene bolted up. Stormy blue orbs revealing themselves and his whole upper body staggering up at the sudden noise. While soft, it was clearly abrupt, and so it woke him up immediately.

At first he thought it was one of the boys, maybe one of them telling him to come back to the bunks or something similar. But when his head lurched its direction at the door, no one was there.

Blinking away his grogginess, he saw you. Awake. Right in front of him.

Even though it was you who needed the most rest, you made the first move. Steadily balancing yourself on the table with your legs hanging loosely on the edge, your head tilted and your eyes glassy. Eugene Roe didn’t want to cry, he wanted his first moment with you to be happy.

But tears don’t listen to the silent pleas of broken soldiers. And so they fell on his trousers, wet droplets plopping gently on the fabric.

With a blink on an eye, the moment was cut short by your sudden movements. The flickering of the lamp illuminating your tired face as you plopped from the table with a wince. The patter of your feet as you trekked the small distance which separated you and your lover. The longing in your heart ceased, but even with Eugene there your heart seemed to crave more once again.

Chuckling dryly through his tears, Eugene took off his gloves, “Ain’t this the part where I tell you to keep resting?”

The first thing he says to you and it’s one of his stupid jokes, Gene mentally reprimanded himself but when he saw you smile he didn’t think it was such a bad idea anymore. The first laugh you had in such a long time bubbled in your dry throat, you softly coughing after the act.

Eugene stood up with a concerned look in his eyes, only stopping himself when you held your hand up.

You were the first to break, as you collapsed yourself onto Eugene’s chest as he stood up. Eugene’s tears were long gone, but yours were only starting. You sobbed silently as you clutched his uniform. You grabbed at him fervently, hoping to find leverage.

With your hands running intensely around his body— just wanting to touch any part of him. Any.

It’s been far too long and you just wanted to hug him so tight you couldn’t breathe anymore.

Two weeks may not seem like much, but in war two weeks felt like an eternity. A lot occurred in those two weeks—Eugene Roe broke and snapped and you almost succumbed to Mother Nature. But it was good now— no Germans, no missing lovers, and no more fucking snow. It was almost unbelievable, like a dream.

The absence in your heart has been filled, but you wanted to stay whole for as long as you can— so you held onto him like your life depended on it. With trembling fingers and quavering breath, you feverishly embraced him, and he too returned your hold with as much fervor. You missed him, you missed him too much.

“Welcome back, mon ange...”

“Well,” you gestured to the old building and walls enclosing you both, “This certainly doesn’t look like heaven.”

Gene only lightly smiled, his eyes focusing on your face. He took it in, desperate to keep your figure in his head. He’ll never forgive himself if he doesn’t remember the exact planes in your face for even a moment. You stood there too, dazed. You had only just woken up and yet you were already straining yourself, but for Gene it was worth it.

The comedic and light moment left as quickly as it came, getting washed away by the somber atmosphere like a powerful tidal wave. Eugene was the one who went out to hold you this time, but it was none at all like yours.

His hold was secure and controlled, although you could tell he was practically yearning to hold you intensely like you did with him.

While not the passionate hold you gave him, it held as much love and adoration. Eugene didn’t need words to express his happiness, relief, and sorrow for he was quite literally the human embodiment of ‘actions speak louder than words’.

Everything was so ephemeral, with the blink of an eye it could all vanish. But the love that you held for Eugene said otherwise. Oh you pleaded internally that someone will let this be the lifetime where you spend an eternity with him. That finally this will be the time where you won’t have to worry about no longer having Eugene by your side.

Tears sprang up from your eyes again, tumbling down slowly on your cheeks, “I thought— I thought I was never going to see you again. I… I thought I was going to die Gene, I r-really did, I was so close…”

“I thought so too, but we’re here now.” he wiped your tears away with a swipe, his cold lips pressing kisses on your forehead.

“Wha-what if I didn’t see you, or if I took a wrong turn? And the last thing I would see would just be snow and not you—”

With a soft but firm look on his features, he shook his head as if to say ‘no more’, “(Y/N)... I would walk around for miles to find you if I could.”

You clamped your mouth shut and nodded with each word from his mouth, and you buried your head deeper into his hold. The dank room seemed much brighter with you in his embrace, the whole town seemed to light up in fact.

Everyone has such expectant and hopeful faces and they were immensely glad that you were back with them. Cold as you were then, you still managed to be brighter than the sun. Eugene could honestly go on for hours listing all the beautiful adjectives he could use to describe you.

Eugene held you as if he had no intentions of ever letting you slip from his secure grasp. If there was no tomorrow, he should at least enjoy this sacred moment while it lasts— to forever savor it and reminisce about it when his time comes.

You begged anything to let this fleeting moment last, to forever be one with the one you loved most.

“Never let me go, Genie.”

“I won’t…”

“Please?”

“I love you too much to lose you again...”

With a word or with a sentence, Eugene could make you feel anything. And with that uttered statement, he made you feel at peace. A compassionate look that held a million unspoken words was bestowed upon you, for a fraction of a second you could feel him pressing the faintest of kisses on your lips.  

And for the first time in this chaotic unfolding of events, you felt happy.

----------

Author’s Note: Well here it is, my last fic before I go. But thank you for making it all the way to the end of this long fic, I love y’all so much. I hope y’all will have a good day and I’ll be sendin’ some good vibes 😩💕

[captainchrisfics]

We Have Today

About: After he’s gunned down on a mission, a first-person pov narrator tries to take care of her super soldier boyfriend. Of course, being Captain America helps with the whole not dying thing, but Steve could never get away that easily without a good reprimanding. And I could never end a fic without a good kiss.

Word Count: 2,807

Requested By: Anonymous. Thanks for sending this my way! I had the absolute best time writing the dialogue in this one, it was a lot of fun writing my take on a trope I love too. I’m always accepting reqs if you have any more. Hope you enjoy!!

“I cannot believe you sometimes, Rogers,” I snapped at Steve, scoffing out of frustration. Exactly what I needed right now, while entirely exhausted from battling far more Hydra agents than we anticipated, was a boyfriend with bullet holes scattered throughout his bicep and shoulder. “Thinking your whole body can fit behind that dinner plate of a shield,” I continued to chastise him with a shake of my head as I tore at my suit, ripping some fabric to apply pressure with while we waited for our ride. 

We got what we came for. In fact, the tech was safely buried in the bag slung over my shoulder. The job was done. Almost. 

There was one rogue Hydra sniper left hidden away at the top of a tree. Steve spotted him first and responded so quickly, as if it were an instinctive reflex, that he barely considered what he was doing by jumping in front of the already-aimed gun. It’d been pointed at me. I returned fire successfully, but Steve was still hit. To say the least, today just wasn’t ours. 

He looked far less heroic laying on the forest floor in a crumpled heap of more red than usually accompanied his white and blue. Steve wheezed as he inhaled, though he seemed fine enough to give me one of those frustrating crooked grins as he said, “It’s never failed me before. I mean, look at me,” he tried to spread his arms so I could get a proper view, but all I saw was the way his face contorted with pain. “Pretty damn good for pushing a hundred.” He coughed before allowing his star-spangled piece of vibranium to clatter to the ground. 

“Dear, you look like Swiss cheese,” I countered sympathetically as I stuck a knife between his lips so Steve could bite down on something instead of busting my eardrums in 3... 2... 1...

I pulled the cloth taught around the worst of his wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Steve’s screams still managed to be blood-curdling despite his grinding grip and, with as many horrors as we see in this line of work, I knew it wasn’t a sound my subconscious would allow me to forget any time soon. 

Steve’s rolled his eyes to the back of his head as hurt washed over him in waves, holding a hand to the bloody hole penetrating the left of his chest like a mirrored pledge of allegiance as he took deep breaths in and out. Prickly tears burned my eyes, but I did my best to fight them off. A torrential downpour wouldn’t help anyone right now. 

“C’mon doll, don’t be so harsh,” he paused to wince and for a split second and I allowed myself to feel the heartbreak of watching him in pain. “You’re still ripping your clothes off for me after all.” I chuckled some of the heaviness out of my chest to alleviate the oppressive weight in between my ribs. 

I didn’t have time for Steve’s jokes, though, I was too busy focusing on keeping him from running out of time, period. I tried to elevate the wounds in an attempt to keep his blood at the mercy of gravity so I hauled Steve up to a sitting position against a tree on the outskirts of the field our jet was set to land in. Now it was just a waiting game. 

I wasn’t sure if the super soldier serum made him at least a little impervious to wounds like this or if Steve was putting on a bit of a show to lessen my worry and even maybe boost his own spirits, but I had a bad feeling it was the latter. “You’re a lot of things,” I told him, hoping it would help to play along as I searched the compartments of his toolbelt for something useful until I found a spool of gauze. “Bulletproof apparently isn’t one of them.” 

Steve laughed from his belly at first, a welcome sound to my ears, until it turned into an affronted cacophony of grumbled curses and sullied coughs. I started wrapping up the rest of his injuries to the best of my ability, but I wasn’t a triage doctor, to say the least. On the bright side, however, I also heard the aircraft that descended before us, whipping about my hair so much I could barely see it until it slowed and Nick Fury stepped out.

I helped Steve stand, wrapping his arm that wasn’t littered with gunshot wounds over my shoulders for support as we walked to the ship. He hissed a breath through his teeth with each step, trying to breathe through the pain and chipping away at my resolve. 

Fury opened his arms to welcome us on board with a snarky quip on the tip of his tongue. Shooting him a look maybe more deadly than the weapon I brandished, I shoved the bag into his chest with enough spiteful vigor for him to know it wasn’t worth it. Nothing could be worth this.I left Steve to be treated by an actual medical professional (and by that I mean some Stark tech that still managed to amaze me) while I cleaned up myself and it seemed he’d be fine. 

I met Steve in the onboard bathroom an hour or so later. His major wounds were patched up, leaving me, a damp washcloth, and a mediocre first-aid kit given our circumstance to finish the job. Nevertheless, Steve still looked a hell of a lot worse than I did, having taken the brunt of every beating, jumping in front of the fist of every bad guy aimed at me so I walked away with little more than a scratch while he sat there looking like he’d been through the wringer.

Steve sat on the sink’s counter and slouched down as far as he could so we were almost eye-level. He’d taken off his suit for the procedure and kept it that way evidently, sitting before me in a red-splattered white tank top. I was patting at his bloody lip with an ice pack in the hopes to lessen the swelling as he said, “Don’t people bond through trauma?” Steve’s words were slurred, but I didn’t know if it was because of blood loss or some kind of treatment from the AI. “Good thing, huh, since the whole being from different centuries tends to complicate things.”

“Being a dumbass doesn’t help,” I chided, maybe applying a little bit too much pressure since I elicited a wince from him, though that could’ve just been from my harsh tone. The time for his wise-cracks was long gone. Sure, I could deal with it as a coping mechanism when we were both worried he was about to drop dead, but right now? When I was turning myself into a pretzel so I could properly clean all his cuts and ice all his bruises without so much as grazing the holes from bullets that went in one end of my boyfriend and out the other? Not the time to be talking about how we’d be better for him almost killing himself.

Steve’s eyebrows knitted together as he jutted out his puffy bottom lip. “What’s wrong wi-“ he started to ask, but the answer was already tumbling out of my mouth.

“It was stupidly impulsive of you to jump in front of me like that. To act so indestructible... it isn’t like you,” I lectured. “Correction, it actually totally is and it’s the most frustrating thing.” I pressed the ice pack to his mouth with maybe a little too much fevered force as I ranted, causing Steve to grunt out of discomfort or protest. I kept ranting anyway. 

“I hate when you do that, you know?” I dropped my hands to my sides, staring at Steve with wide eyes to convey how exactly tired of his shit I was. “When you try to save the day by putting yourself in danger. Giving me a heart attack. Acting all heroic.” I couldn’t stand looking at him anymore as his face shifted from concerned to smug with a supposed understanding so I reached for a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and began scrubbing at the small open cute sprinkling his cheeks like freckles.

Steve winced at the disinfectant’s sting. Usually, he complained about my doting, claiming his enhanced healing would take care of it just fine, but I liked the tenderness of getting to clean him up too much to let him have his way. And, secretly, he did too. “It’s part of the job description, actually...” Steve said under his breath with downcast eyes. He swung his legs a little so his heels bounced off of the sink’s cabinets, acting every bit the chided kid he felt like. 

“And to treat me like some inexperienced lackey incapable of taking care of myself?” I jeered with a scrunched face. Steve had a bad habit of treating me like an endangered civilian on missions. Hell, even if I burn my hand on the stove, you’d think someone just told him World War III was knocking on our front door. 

Don’t get me wrong, Steve always had everyone’s backs. He would lay down on the wire for any one of the Avengers any day of the week, he never wanted to see anyone hurt either. In fact, it’s one of the things I loved most about him. However, there was a line thinner than that wire between keeping each other out of the line of fire and literally jumping in front of it. 

“It’s insulting, to treat me like I’m not half the soldier you are when I’m just as much a part of the team as everyone else. I had the shot until you jumped in front-“

“Well, dammit, so did he!” Steve snapped, slamming his hand against the countertop so hard I could almost swear I heard it crack under the pressure. “And you aren’t just everyone else on the team,” he said, quieter now. It was almost eerie after how loud he’d been only seconds before, going from strained veins in his neck to a soft, glassy look in his baby blues. Without him even saying it, I knew the difference. I love you, his eyes told me. I couldn’t stand to lose you.

“And you’re not some fucking self-sacrificial lamb,” I shot back with angry narrowed eyes. “You’re my whole world,” I insisted, shoving a pointed finger into Steve’s chest just over his heart. “You don’t get to just jump into unfriendly fire in front of me like that.” I could feel the tears I’d been pushing down this whole time rising with a new ferocity, like a current I’d been fighting to swim through for so long my body was about to give out. It became obvious I couldn’t take Steve on, too.

“You don’t get to decide that, love,” he said just above a whisper, though I could hear him clear as day given our proximity. He wrapped his fingers around mine jutting into his pec until I allowed him to hold my hand, probably against my better judgment. “You’re everything that makes mine go ‘round. It’d be over my dead body that I’d stand by and allow someone to hurt you,” Steve vowed with a profound seriousness I didn’t expect, striking me right in the heart so hard it felt like I could count the seconds between when it started to beat again.

“It almost was, Steve. You don’t know how it felt...” I spit out the words which tasted like vinegar, burning my throat like acid. I stopped prodding his scratched cheeks, dropping the q-tip along with my gaze. If I stared at his face, broken from the inside out, I was worried that current would turn into a tsunami. “My stomach dropped so fast it felt like it fell right out of me. How’d you feel if the roles were reversed and I was bleeding out at your feet, huh?” I squeezed his hand, reassuring myself that Steve was still here to hold onto. Thinking about how he almost wasn’t. We came close a lot, in our line of work, but it never got any less terrifying.

Steve let go of my hand to caress my cheek, rubbing his thumb under my eye. I hadn’t realized I was crying until he started wiping away my tears. “Doll, for a few split seconds, when I saw him about to pull the trigger with you in his crosshairs, they were.” He tucked his heel behind my leg and pressed against the back of my thigh, urging me to step closer to him so I did. “That feeling, that heart-wrenching desperation and brain-short circuiting,” he paused, taking a deep breath as he tucked his arms under mine, interlocking his fingers at the small of my back, “That’s why I did it. And I’m willing to bet my shield that if I was in his line of fire, you would’ve done the same.”

I wrapped my arms around Steve’s neck and leaned into him, far too tired of fighting and way too in love with him to stay upset with him when he was right. In a heartbeat, I would save him without even so much as a thought. I’m not a big enough hypocrite to hate Steve for doing the same.

I pressed my cheek to his chest, neither of us caring too much about how the wave of tears I couldn’t keep bottled up behind a dam any longer soaked through his shirt as they spilled out of me. “Still…” I exhaled, relishing in the sound of his beating heart. It was comforting, to have near-tangible proof that he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. “I don’t know what I’d do if…” I failed to finish the sentence, overcome with emotion. I could barely stand to think it, let alone say it out loud.

“I know, love,” Steve paused to press a long kiss on top of my head. “I don’t either.” His hands moved in gentle circles at the base of my back, soothing me as I felt like every other bit of me rattled. He spoke with vulnerability only total honesty could offer. “We don’t have to worry about that now, though. We may not at all. We only ever know we have today and I’ll be damned if we don’t make the most of it. Or if you spend another second of it being mad at me,” he half-joked, causing his chest to rumble with a barely-bitter chuckle.

I pulled far enough away from his embrace to look at him, trying to engrave it on the inside of my brain. The tenderhearted look in his eye, the soft curve of his rosy lips as one side was tugged up a little more than the other, the concerned creases in his forehead, and the blush pink of his cheeks burning through his faintly developing bruises. I watched his eyes flicker from mine to my lips, his long lashes just barely brushing against the swollen apples of his cheeks. 

I leaned in to kiss him, closing the distance slowly until our chests pressed together with every breath before our lips met as if we were each other’s oxygen tanks, unable to survive without one another. Steve gathered my cheeks between his strong hands, fingers just barely grazing my hair. He tucked it behind my ears before tracing his fingers down the curve of my body, stopping once he reached my hips, where he rested. Exactly what we both needed. 

Mine stayed at the nape of his neck, pulling Steve closer to me as if he possibly could be. We parted to breathe, chests heaving unevenly. I pressed my forehead to his, brushing our noses together, as I whispered, “You smell like rubbing alcohol. It’s nauseating.” 

Steve’s chest vibrated with laughter as he rocked my lips again. He dropped his head to the crook of my neck as his chuckle died down. “Your attitude isn’t much better,” he said, looking at my with those baby blues and a spark that melted my heart on contact. “You should be nice to me. I almost died you know?” Steve’s familiar cocky smirk returned as his eyes drifted down again, watching as he tangled our fingers together and undid the knots. 

I rolled my eyes before stealing another quick kiss. As quick as it was, kissing Steve still felt like every bit the Fourth of July fireworks display it had the first time. He was a firecracker through and through, one that wasn’t near ready to fizzle out yet. “Please don’t remind me,” I sighed, taking his hands in mine and holding them tight, not quite ready to let him go anytime soon.

Tags: @patzammit​ , @thegetawaywriter​ , @coffeebooksandfandom​ , @captainsteveevans​ , @intrepidandabitcrazy​ , @super100012​ , @spilledinkindumpster​

If you’d like to be tagged in my future fics please reply to this post :)

[eamesandbellamyaremyheaven]

Bloodreina - The New Avenger Chapter Four (The 100/Marvel)

Prologue || Chapter One || Chapter Two || Capter Three

Summary: The 100 AU in the Marvel Universe What if Octavia and Bellamy joined the Avengers after escaping HYDRA’s Ark Project? Set after the Battle of New York. 

Pairings: All platonic for now: Steve x Octavia, Avengers x Octavia, Bellamy x Octavia, Bellamy x Raven, Octavia x Raven, Boodreina x Winter Soldier, more to come soon…

Word Count: 2287

Warnings: Bad writing maybe? (sorry about that)

A/N: I had to divide the previous chapter into two, because it was getting too long. Also, I am moving into my new home, and therefore I won’t be able to post regularly. I am sorry for that, I was really hoping to keep the updates at least once a week, but please, don’t give up on this story, I am still very devoted to it, and I’m hoping next week I’ll have that problema solved :)

Chapter Four - Revelations Part 2

 Sam Wilson was a nice guy. When you get home from your morning run and you have three beaten up SHIELD agents, who also happen to be fugitives, in your door steps asking for shelter what do you do? You should probably say “Hell no” and close the door on their faces, but not Sam. What does cool-guy Sam? He cooks you breakfast while you clean your wounds. 

“So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?” 

Steve said, as he walked around the table, where Nat and Octavia stood sit, eating the breakfast Sam cooked.

“Pierce” Natasha answered as she finished chewing her food “Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world.”

“But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star.” Steve stated

“So was Jasper Sitwell.” Octavia said with a raised eyebrow and a triumph smile, as she acknowledge that Sitwell’s presence in the ship might had something to do with Zola’s algorithm being there too. As Zola stated, HYDRA was everywhere. 

Steve nodded “So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?” 

Sam had stood quietly, listening until that moment, when he left momentarily and came back to drop a manila folder at the centre of the table “The answer is: you don't.”

“What's this?” Octavia opened the folder, reading the files inside, as Steve leaned from behind her, grabbing a photo of Sam with a fellow winged pilot

“Call it a resume.” Natasha smiled at the remark, as she leaned closer to Octavia, inspecting the content herself.

“I thought you said you were a pilot.” Steve said, to which Sam smirked

“I never said pilot.”

Steve shook his head hesitantly, not wanting to put Sam in more trouble “I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason.”

“Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in.” he sounded just like a kid seeing Santa at the mall, Octavia couldn’t help but smile at his excitement.

Steve looked back at Octavia, his lips curled up, matching her smile. It was all the convincing he needed to agree with Sam’s involvement “Where can we get our hands on one of these things?” 

“The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall.” Steve looked at Natasha, who simply shrugged her shoulders, the plan was already arranged in her head.

“Shouldn't be a problem” Natasha assured “How do you plan on getting him to talk?”

Octavia dropped the closed folder back at the top of the table and stood up, full agent mode on “Leave that to me. I have a way with people”

*** 

They had manage to take Sitwell to the rooftop of a building, away from his security. Sam stayed in the alleyway as Natasha and Octavia watched with amusement Steve throwing Sitwell across the rooftop, the weaker man scurrying away from the soldier’s touch.

“Tell me about Zola's algorithm.” Steve demanded

“Never heard of it.”

“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?” Natasha asked now, her voice low and menacing

“I was throwing up, I get seasick.” Sitwell lied, and even when Steve forced him to the edge of the rooftop, he just stood there, smiling “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers.” 

Steve shrugged, a small smile played in his lips. He loosen the grip on Sitwell, allowing the man to stand on his own feet, and even gently smoothed the creases in the smaller man’s jacket “You're right. It's not. It's hers.  

Steve and Natasha stepped aside, allowing Octavia to raise her foot and kick Sitwell right across his chest, and off the roof. Octavia raised her head, her eyes meeting Steve’s amused expression.

“Is this your way to persuade people, O?” he asked, and Octavia chuckled lightly

“I don’t think asking nicely would’ve suffice, Cap”

Suddenly Sam, now equipped in his Falcon jet-pack suit with wings, flied back up to the rooftop holding Sitwell and tossed him down on the floor. Octavia walked towards Sitwell in long strides, pulling him up with ease, and he held his hand up in fear, shaking, ready to squeal out everything “Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!”

“What targets?” Steve asked, as he came closer 

“You!” Sitwell replied, pointing at the super-soldier “A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future.”

“The Future? How could it know?”

Sitwell laughed “How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future.”

Natasha and Steve spoke in unison “And what then?” but Sitwell was already lost in his thoughts “Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me.”

“What then?!” Octavia spoke, more threatening, as she shook him by the hem of his jacket 

“Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time.” 

*** 

They were now heading to the Triskelion, SHIELD headquarters. Sam was driving, and Steve stood on the passenger seat, as Natasha and Octavia were stuck on the backseat with Sitwell in the middle of them.

“HYDRA doesn't like leaks.” Sitwell said, looking directly at Octavia

“So why don't you try sticking a cork in it.” Octavia chimed, but the man ignored her 

“HYDRA doesn’t like traitors either... Bloodreina”

The entire car felt into an heavy silent. 

“What’s a Bloodreina?” Sam asked, oblivious to the name

“Bloodreina was HYDRA’s biggest creation. Born and raised inside the organization, trained from a young age by the Winter Soldier herself. Ruthless, cold-blooded, a force to reckon with. Your friend here killed hundreds, elevating HYDRA with each death-” 

“That’s enough” Steve voice ringed above Sitwell’s, shutting the man down.

Suddenly something landed on the car roof in a thud, and before anyone could react to it a silver hand crashed through the rear window, pulling Sitwell out through it and throwing him into the oncoming traffic, killing him instantly. 

Bullets flew from the gap of the window. Octavia leaned down, quickly covering her head on her hands while Natasha jumped from her seat into Steve’s lap, pulling his head down just as a bullet hit the head-rest, and shoving Sam’s shoulder aside avoiding another one incoming. 

Instinctively, Steve pulled the break handle, stopping the vehicle abruptly, and making the assailants body flung out of the roof and down onto the street, who methodically used his metal hand as a support for his effortlessly landing, coming to an halt right in front of them. Octavia raised her head from her hands, and she was now facing the Winter Soldier.

Before she could register the events, another car smashed into theirs from behind, pushing them forward, and all it took to the Winter Soldier to jump back onto their car was a long stride, smashing through the windscreen with his metal hand and pulling out the steering wheel from Sam’s hand “Shit!” Sam yelled as he threw his hands up, and the car kept going forward, with any acceleration or steering from him.

Octavia was already prepared for that outcome. She pulled her gun from the holster and shot at the Winter Soldier, barely hitting him at his metal shoulder, but it was enough to make him retreat, jumping onto the vehicle behind them. 

Their car was now being pulled off the road, and Steve held on to the car door, pulling Natasha and Sam closer. Octavia burst her door open and nodded to Steve, smiling briefly before jumping out of the car, rolling to the side of the road.

Her head was spinning and her ears were ringing, as Octavia struggled to stand up. She looked around for her friends, just as Sam made contact with the asphalt, rolling to the side of the road a few feet onwards, and Steve and Natasha slid down for a while longer, still on top of the door. 

Octavia started to walk towards them, but the clicks of safety locks alerted her to the incoming gunfire.

“Watch out!” Octavia yelled, throwing herself behind a flipped car, watching as a group of HYDRA agents, commanded by the Winter Soldier, started shooting at them. The rest of her group scattered, running in different directions, and Octavia seized an small opening in the enemy’s advance to shoot one of them down, and just as the Winter Soldier was about to fire against her she hit him in his eye goggle. She ran towards the opposite direction, knowing very well that shot only gave her a few second of advantage, as she heard his voice, rough and domineering, command his group in Russian “She’s mine. Find him”

*** 

Octavia ran looking for cover as her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan to take down the soldier. She  couldn’t beat him in speed or strength, but maybe she could outsmart him. She used a chapter from Natasha’s book, placing her phone behind a car while playing a record of her voice on loop, as she hid herself close, waiting for him.

Soon, she saw the Winter Soldier stride closer, drawn by the voice. He stopped silently, pulled up a grenade and rolled it down on the floor, over to where he though her to be. The bomb exploded and Octavia took advantage of the loud noise to jump towards the soldier, right fist curled and up, hitting him across the cheek with all her power.

The soldier stumbled back a few steps, and Octavia brought her gun up, holding it to his temple, but before she could take the shot the soldier grabbed the barrel and pushed it aside, the bullet grazing his hair, but missing entirely.

He then used his metal arm to hit Octavia across the ribs, and as she backed down, winded, he raised his own gun, unlocking the safety, but instead of shooting Octavia, who stood on the ground in front of him, he shot Natasha, but not before she sent one of her electromagnetic bands towards the metal of his arm, disabling it momentarily.

“Nat!” Octavia cried out, as she ran towards the girl, pulling her aside just as Steve arrived, giving them coverage. She inspected the wound, it was bleeding substantially, and although she wanted to help Steve, she knew Natasha would bleed out if she didn’t stop the bleeding.

Sam flew right into them, looking worried at Natasha state before turning his head to the battle ahead of them. He was ready to go help Steve, but Natasha tugged at his leg, stopping him “Let O help Rogers, I need you to do something else for me” then she turned her attention to the girl, mouthing “go” to her, wincing when she took her hands away from the bullet hole, blood starting to flow again. Sam took Octavia’s place, setting the palm of his hand over the wound, as Octavia walked towards the two man fighting, just in time to grab Steve’s shield, which had been thrown away earlier, and sling it back to Steve, standing in between him and the full force of the metal fist.

Steve then grabbed the metal arm with one hand and buried the shield in the metal bellow the shoulder, disorienting the soldier, and in one swift blow he raised the shield, knocking him in the face, and using his free hand he grabbed the Winter Soldier and whipped him over his shoulder, into the ground.

The soldier didn’t seem to loose his balance, as he gracefully rolled unto the ground, standing with his back turned to Steve. His mask hanged loose on the ground, and as he turned around Steve lost all composure, his voice barely more than a whisper

“Bucky?”

The Winter Soldier froze for a moment, at the mention of the name, and as he looked back to Steve and raised his weapon he spoke hesitantly “Who the hell is Bucky?”

Before he even got the chance to fire, Octavia kicked him on the ribs, and this time he lost balance and rolled a few meters on the concrete. As he got up, his eyes moved erratic, as if the name was familiar, but still he chose to raise his gun, but this time, he was met with a grenade fired by Sam. 

When the smoke and flames cleared out, there was no trace of the soldier.

Tags: @glossiefandom, @dayanna-hatter

[nyaarr]

Anahardt week - A love story in seven days.

Day 1: “Sugar”

Day 2: “Date Night”

Day 3: “Games”

(Three days later)

It was not the best idea, but there was no food delivery for outlandish organizations yet.  And it was not just food--they were in dire need of medical supplies and spare parts to patch up their gear. And money. Oh dear. They really needed money.

“Do you even know how to fish?” Torbjörn raised an eyebrow, and Ana shrugged.

“How difficult can it be?”

“Tell Reinhardt that,” Fareeha cackled, crossing her arms as she glanced smugly at him.

She had taken some days off her job after Brigitte called her, and Winston had allowed her to join their merry band as a part-time member despite Ana’s grumbling. There was nothing she could do, however, since her actual job was as bad as being a soldier itself--and Ana would rather have her with them.

Fareeha had grown into such a nice strong woman; Ana could not be more proud. Well, maybe if she had become a civil doctor, or a civil engineer, or a civil anything, really. She snorted. It was not to be, of course, growing up among legends.

“Oh dear, the two of you together,” Torbjörn rolled his eyes. “Right, I’m going to get us some food. Someone care to come with me?”

“I’ll go, papa. But only if the loser team does something for the winner team.”

“Ah, a dare?” Reinhardt raised an eyebrow from the bench where he had been sitting playing dice with Torb. “I’ve plenty of ideas for my armour that need a good engineer. Or two.”

Brigitte flexed her strong arms at him and grinned.

“Prepare to eat dust, old man.”

Ana could only smile at their banter. Reinhardt and the Lindholms were a family on their own right, with their private jokes and their all round camaraderie. It warmed her heart to see that they had stuck together. However, what really touched her was to see sadness and grief chipping away from her old friend as time went by.

“Ah, I’ll go with you two, or the only thing you would catch is a cold, ” Fareeha hid her eyes behind a hand and shook her head.

It was fucking cold at the Pyrenees, even though Ana was clad in old winter clothes and only her eye was showing. Snow painted the whole forest white, reminding her of their lost Swiss base. The ground crunched under her boots, but it was so cold she did not sink. It was a different story for Reinhardt, but he did not seem to mind one bit, striding by their side with that twinkle in his eyes that meant he was enjoying whatever he was doing.

“This’s a good spot,” he said, stopping under a pine once they reached the frozen lake and and making Fareeha sigh.

“No, of course it’s not,” she looked around, eyebrows frowning in concentration. She had a wool beanie over her head and a thick scarf that still let her face show. It showed that she had grown up in Switzerland, after all. “Come on. You want to win that silly bet of yours or not?”

“We cannot lose,” he snorted. “You’ve ever seen Torb anywhere near a kitchen? He would not find anything to eat even if it bit him.”

“Maybe. But he has Brigitte.”

“She will find something to scavenge for parts, I don’t doubt that.”

“Play it safe,” Fareeha shrugged and started walking again. “That’s what I always say. Come on further in.”

They kept walking around the lake until she was satisfied with a place nearby a rocky cliff and several trees.

“I’ll make a hole at the middle of the lake and try there, but you two stay here. This should be safe from ice, from water, and from … anything else that can go wrong.”

“Ah, don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine, right, Ana?”

“You may be, but I’m freezing here,” she moved closer to Reinhardt in the hopes to steal some of his heat. “Can we get done here fast and go back , please?”

Torbjörn had made for them some extremely rudimentary fishing poles that they split between them, as well as some raw meat to attach to them. She had heard that people used to fish with insects and worms, which would not have happened in her watch even if they have had them handy, thankyouverymuch.

Fareeha went into the ice slowly while Reinhardt grabbed a fallen tree and pulled it closer to their spot. He pushed the snow down and sat down with a puff of breath. Then, he patted his thighs.

“Come here, I’ll warm you up.”

Ana turned towards him with an arched eyebrow and hoping? wishing? she had heard wrong, and his face sobered in a moment. Then, he looked behind himself, then back to her. Confused.

“What did I do?”

Oh. Of course he did not mean it that way. Ana let go a relieved breath and walked towards him, sitting on his lap but favouring his left leg.

“I was overcautious. Sorry,” she reached for his back with a gloved hand and rubbed his worn out parka. “Should have known better.”

“Why? What would you think I could possibly--?” He could not even finish the sentence, as if he could just not grasp the idea. And it was right. He was right. He would totally not mean it that way.

“Not you. But I’m old, now, and I’ve lived long among men. I tend to think the worst of most innocent comments, and I’m hardly wrong.”

Reinhard gasped audibly.

“You thought I--  Here, of all places??”

Ana laughed and pulled her scarf a bit so she could poke his cheek with her nose--that was all she dared to get out with that cold.

“That’s not to say--Well,” he looked down, mumbled. “I know you don’t like it. But if you ever wanted--And we are in a better place than this, of course...”

“This is how you lured the ladies at the base into your bed?” She teased, impossibly amused by his embarrassment. “I was expecting more winking and flexing. Some boasting, at least.”

“Ah, you’re evil incarnate, maus,” he chuckled, and flexed his strong arms before grabbing her in an embrace.

It was only when Fareeha came back to them with a bag full of fishes that they realized they had not even baited their hooks. Fuming, she stopped in front of them both, hands on her hips.

“Apologies. It would seem we,” Reinhardt cleared his throat, “lost track of time?”

“I don’t even-- I can’t with you two,” she let go a long breath, but the corners of her mouth were curling up in a smile. Ana did not have to tell her anything; she knew the moment she saw them in the same room-- and she laughed and teased them like she was fifteen all again. She was happy for them. All were, in truth. It was a bit scary, the pressure to get it right, but she was not planning to screw up.

“Oh, you caught plenty of fishes,” Ana was surprised when she peeked into the bag. “You’re really good at this.”

“Yeah, be grateful Gabe taught me,” Fareeha raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”

They had not walked more than fifteen minutes when Ana turned around. Oh, she may be missing an eye, but the one she had worked extremely well -- and her ears were as sharp.

“What--?”

She put her index finger over her mouth and looked around. There was something moving. Something big--Ana grabbed Reinhardt by the arm to stop him so she could damn listen. Big. Heavy. Coming their way. But where?

“Stay here,” he said with a calm voice, and broke into a run towards their right, charging head on against a bear that came running towards them. A bear.

“Do you think you can take me? Keep coming, then!” His voice echoed on the mountain as he ran, arms extended.

What in the actual--

Ana was about to run after him when suddenly the bear turned to the side and backed off several yards. Reinhardt stopped running and put his hands on his hips as the bear huffed and walked in circles around itself. Nervous, scared. But not scared enough to leave. It wanted something.

Ana grabbed Fareeha’s arm --no way she was leaving her in the middle of a bear territory-- and got closer to the german with short, slow paced steps. There may be other bears around. Or cubs. What she found, though, was the corpse of and elk.

“Ah, maybe it’s trying to defend its food.”

“Can we take it with us? The kill is fresh,” Fareeha crouched on the ground to inspect it, making the bear more agitated. “We can feed us all properly with it.”

“Give it the fishes, then,” Reinhardt had not moved an inch from where he was, not he turned his head towards them. “Must have woken up quite recently, and may not be able to hunt more if we take its food.”

She did not seem enthusiastic about giving away the fruit of her hard labour, but chucked the bag far away in their opposite direction to lure the animal from them. It did not seem thrilled to change preys, either, but Reinhardt charged against it again -- and this time it just ran into the woods.

The crusader walked back towards them as if scaring bears away was something he had been doing all his life after breakfast.

“So,” Ana pocketed her hands on her coat, “I sense a story about Bavarian bears that you have not told us about.”

“A story?” He stretched his back and his arms for a bit, then grabbed the dead animal and put it over his shoulders. “If a bear runs to you, you scare it off. That’s just common sense. What story is to that?”

“You didn’t arm-wrestle any bear?” Fareeha snickered.

“Me? No, not really,” he raised his eyebrows a bit, but remained otherwise serious. “But my general wrestled a bear to the ground and then gained its friendship. Balderich was--”

When they arrived to the cabin where they would be hiding for some days, the bastion that Torb had somehow salvaged greeted them with a happy chirp. Reinhardt had been a second away from throwing the elk at the omnic as if it was a surrogate hammer, but he restrained himself at the last moment. Ana did not like it either; they had just fought too many of them to be comfortable in the same room with one, even if both Brigitte and Torb swore it was inoffensive.

“What in the mother forge is that?” Torbjörn jumped down a very rudimentary chair to look at their catch as the crusader put it on the ground.

“Is that an elk? Please, tell me you didn’t fought it to the death.”

“We stole it from a bear he scared away, which is way better,” Fareeha left her parka to dry on a hanger, and Brigitte turned towards her with huge eyes.

“And you let him? Fareeha! We’ve talked about this!”

Ana smiled at their bickering --sometimes it felt like they were fifteen again-- and walked towards the bonfire at the centre of the room.

“So, what did you bring?” She asked, taking the scarf off and leaving it hanging over her shoulders. The fire was not roaring, yet the cabin was cozy--a relief it was from the cutting cold at the outside.

“Well,” Torb shrugged. “There was nothing to eat around. But we found an old OR15 chassis, so at least there’s that for parts.”

“Hah, I knew it,” Reinhardt chuckled as he took his winter clothes off. He threw them nearby without much care and sat down on the ground slowly, stretching his legs close to the fire.

“It’s in quite good condition despite the snow, it totally should count as our contribution.”

“You just don’t want to lose,” Fareeha chuckled, leaving her parka on a hanger on the wall.

“Bah, you guys cheated anyway by robbing a poor bear its lunch...”

“Fareeha exchanged the fishes she got for the elk, so we all have food,” Ana said, almost purring in happiness because of the heat. “It’s fair game.”

“I’d say we decide it after lunch,” Torbjörn put another log to the fire. “I can roast it, but I don’t know how to prepare it. You know, it’s all fur and skin at the moment.”

A thick silence descended at the cabin, broken just by the crackling of the flames. Between all of them they have probably killed the same amount of people and omnics that could live in a small town, yet they have never had to deal with anything worse than a whole chicken already prepared, food-wise.

“Balderich never taught you how to--?”

“Nop.”

“Gabriel gave you any pointers--?”

“Just for gutting fish.”

Ana broke into a laugh. How--How had she lived these years away from her family of idiots, it was a wonder. She had just survived, that was clear. If only. If only she could get Jack to join them again--that would be great. There had to be a way. He needed to stop being alone, too, get someone to help him grab the Reaper and see if there was anything they could do for him.

There had to be a way.

“Fine,” Reinhardt let go a long breath and the rest looked each other with infinite relief. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He pushed himself up, avoiding putting his weight on his right leg as much as possible, and then limped towards the elk.

“Ah, let me give it a try first,” Fareeha put herself between the large man and their wannabe food. “Gut a fish, gut an elk, right?”

“How difficult can be to chop this thing to pieces, after all?” Brigitte squeezed his arm. “Just--We’ll ask you if we need any help.”

The two of them put on their winter clothes, grabbed the animal and pulled it outside among groans. When the door closed behind them, Reinhardt let go a small chuckle.

“You rascal,” Ana raised her eyebrows at the mischievous look on his face.

“They may be thirty, but they still need to learn how to fend for themselves,” he shrugged, and went back to his spot on the ground. The limp was still there, though quite less noticeable; Cold and damp weather had never helped his bad knee, after all.

“So, when are you going to let me and dear Angela do something about your knee?” Torb threw at him the couple of pillows that were part of the cabin decoration.

“Never,” he propped his leg over them and leaned on the cabin’s wooden wall. His eye looked around for her and she smiled warmly at his mute request to sit down with him. Ana knew that if it depended on him she would be on his lap all day, but he asked for interaction, gave her the chance to back off.

She knelt by his side and ran a hand through his silver wet hair, combing it backwards. He purred, grinning at her and completely ignoring the engineer, who groaned.

“I’m not freaking carrying you when you cannot walk, you hear me?”

The door flinging open saved him from answering and they stared at one Jesse McCree dusted with snow and with an amused look on his face.

“Well, look at that. I thought I’ve got the whole pack,” he turned a bit to show the two woman by his side, “and yet, I was missing the loveliest lady of them all.”

Ana waved a hand at him when he bowed, taking off his silly cowboy hat.

“It’s good to see you, Jesse.”

He was a grown man now, strong, confident, but still with that twinkle on his eye. What she was not prepared to see was his mechanical left forearm. They all seemed to cheat death these days, though some seemed to have luckier than others. Still, she was happy to see him back to them. Since Overwatch blew up from the inside, they needed to have as many allies they could trust by their side--even if the only reason he was there was because she had information about Reaper.

The cowboy raised an eyebrow when he noticed where Ana’s hand was, and whistled.

“Wow, it was about time,” he slow-clapped at them, and Reinhardt threw one of the pillows at him with terrible, terrible aim, laughing. “Well, well. News aside, I thought that meeting on a cabin surrounded by nothing would suck without some proper food, so I’ve brought gifts.”

Jesse took off the backpack he was wearing and left it on the ground, just to show them a handful of half-frozen ready-to-bake pizzas wrapped in transparent plastic.

Even the bear could hear their cheers.

Play of the game.

Ok. Sorry. I’m terrible with pairing prompts. The next one is focused on them alone again.

Day 4: Ink

[tf2humbug]

Precious TF2 Memories

the first time I ever played a real game—I believe it was the map Harvest—and being so excited to be on the winning team. I jumped around yelling "I HELPED I HELPED I HELPED!!!"

at the end of a small game with some friends, spawning and switching to Scout. I immediately dashed for the unsecured control points and managed to take them all before the clock ran out, without running into any enemies. I still remember their grunts of disbelief and my mad cackling and hooting.

rolling Medic on a cart map and keeping an eye on our Heavy's back, managing a successful spycheck. I stayed behind to kill the shit out of them with my syringe gun. One friend remarked "WOW DIANA BADASS" and I replied with just "DEATH TO SPIES" and returned to my duties. I felt very cool.

that one glorious 30-second moment when I was a competent Soldier, killing 11 enemies POW POW POW with a rocket launcher as they ran toward our encampment.

airblasting enemies off of cliffs and running away giggling.

the excitement when the "Meet the Team" shorts for Medic and Pyro were finally released.

that one time I was a shade too hesitant to pop my Über and my pocket Heavy got exploded a fraction of a second before I finally did. I think I spent 5 minutes apologizing.

the year the Scout cosmetic item Hero's Tail came out to promo The Witcher 2. One of my friends got it, painted it green, and wore it constantly because I wouldn't stop laughing at his "pukey anime hair."

dicking around with friends on a low-grav map, I was Sniper and made my way to a really high spot and just spent 10 minutes taking pot shots at people with my Sydney Sleeper. Despite being careful not to actually kill anyone, I was finally located and shot in the head.

TRAINGRID

switching to Engie because my teammates were screaming for one. Thing was, I'd never taken the time to learn Engie, so I just panicked until someone took pity on me.

making a silly entry to the very first Saxxy Awards. I was that annoying friend begging people to do stunts for my film.

the time a 10-year-old kid randomly made his way onto our private server. We teased the hell out of him, thinking he'd surely leave after a few minutes, but he stuck around for HOURS. We finally kicked him after he started making really inappropriate sex noises.

playing Mann vs. Machine with my regular crew. I usually filled the Medic role and made sure to run around and give overheal "smooches" to everyone before the round started. 

[snooty-tooty]

(this post was made before pinned posts were a thing but this honestly was just a “wow i have a blog now” so ive repurposed it.)

info:

Pandora/Jack

She/Her and He/Him

pfp by artist Louis Wain

tags to block (please tell me if you need something tagged):

#ch: posts that have christianity in them

#nsfw: uh. yeah.

I block freely

I’d prefer kids don’t follow me, thanks!

Other tags:

#current events: usually memes about current events (ex: the evergiven getting stuck in the suez canal) 

#for a hard day: posts for when I need reminders to keep going.

#for a rainy day: posts for when I'm feeling sad and want to be cheered up.

#from the opened box: original posts or my additions, a play on Pandora's Box

#history: posts about history

#lolz: memes or things I find funny (rip mfmmd 2 March 2017 - 21 April 2023)

#poll: polls

#yearbook quotes: i started this to try to find a good yearbook quote but now its just quotes that i think are funny, or quotes that stuck out to me.

fandoms (yes i am ashamed no i am not ashamed. the ones that show up the most are in bold):

#american psycho: this doesn’t really count as a fandom.

#breaking bad, #better call saul: 😔

#cream heroes, #kittisaurus, #claire luvcat (see also: #chuchu, #coco, #dd, #dodo, #lala, #lulu, #momo, #nana,  #toto,  #tt)

#dnd: dungeons and dragons 

#g4p, #saki sanobashi: go for a punch

#gravity falls: Gravity Falls

#fallout, #fallout new vegas, #fallout 4: the game series Fallout

#h*r: the flash series Homestar Runner (see also: #trogdor, #strong bad, #the cheat, #coach z)

#hk, #hollow knight: the video game hollow knight and hopefully silk song (see also: #hornet, #little ghost, #quirrel)

#hlvrai: half life but the ai is self aware

#jerma, #jerma985: (see also: #jerma dollhouse)

#lps popular: youtube lps series lps popular (see also: #brooke hayes, #savannah reed)

#mc: minecraft

#mlp: my little pony

#myhouse.wad: a doom mod called myhouse.wad

#paranatural: paranatural, the comic

#pokemon: (see also: #fakemon, #pokevariant, #pokefusion, #new new pokemon)

#redwall: the redwall books

#tf2: team fortress 2 (see also: #administrator, #demoman, #engineer, #heavy, #medic, #miss pauling, #pyro, #saxton hale, #scout, #sniper, #soldier, #spy)

#st: Star Trek

#straycatj: popular tumblr blogger straycatj (see also: #menace cat k)

#sdv: Stardew Valley

#sw: Star Wars

#ut: undertale and deltarune 

#utopia, #utopia c4, #utopia uk: the channel 4 tv show Utopia. Not the Amazon Prime one, the original. 

#vexillology: flags 

#wc: Warrior Cats (see also: #wc art, #clangen)

[shadowflame-117]

Chicks Dig A Guy with Scars

Alright so I know in the guide it says Gladio gets his scar protecting Noct from a drunk about 2 years before the trip, but you never see it in brotherhood or anything, which makes me a bit sad (always thirsty for more protective Gladio ;) ) So spent the weekend working on my version of how it goes down. GladioxKit as per usual :D  Also since I have no idea what the day to day life of a crownsguard is, I tend to think of them as a type of royal police force...

Kit stood and stretched, grimacing as her back popped. Her day had been spent pouring over reports from her squad, making sure every pending case they had was air tight. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she’d missed lunch again; she was never going to hear the end of it from Ignis and Gladio when they found out. 

Grateful that it was Friday, Kit started clearing away her desk in preparation for a weekend off. She was putting away the completed files when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, tugging her against a large, firm chest. She giggled, a sound her squad would have thought her impossible of making, and looked up into the warm amber eyes of her boyfriend, who was smiling at her.

“Hey, babe.”

“Hey, yourself.”

Gladio placed a brief, chaste, kiss on her lips before finally letting her go and stepping back to give her some room. She placed the file she was holding in the drawer it belonged in then turned to face him, leaning against her desk. He looked like he was just getting off duty himself, wearing his black slacks, a black, sinfully skintight, shirt and an open white button up shirt over top of it.

“Got any plans for tonight?” Gladio asked, absently running his hand through his hair. The sides were shaved, but he was letting the top and back grow out. She’d picked on him about it at first, asking if he was going to grow it out as long as hers, but had quickly grown used to it and even found it super attractive. Plus it was nice tangling her fingers in it when they kissed. Kit smiled and shook her head.

“Nothing to pressing, why?

“Noct and Prompto want to go hang for a bit in the city, wanted to know if you wanted to come.” Since he didn’t mention Ignis, she figured he got stuck in some meeting or other. She was so glad she was a soldier and not an adviser.

“Hmm…spending time with three of my four favorite people? I think I can manage that.” She came up to him and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I was hoping you’d say that. Shall we then?”

 ---

Gladio and Kit met up with Noct and Prompto outside of Prompto’s place. The sun was low in the sky; a sunset of golds and reds painting the city in a warm glow on the warm July night. Kit hugged both of them, ruffling Prompto’s hair and laughing when he shoved her hand away.

“Hey!”

“Gods I feel like I haven’t seen either of you in forever.”

“That’s cause Gladio keeps stealing you away all to himself.” Prompto said with a grin and a wink as he fixed his hair. Gladio laughed in response, kissing the top of Kit’s head, clearly not at all sorry.

“Glad you could come tonight.” Noct grinned, falling into step as the friends made their way through the city streets to their usual hangout a few blocks away. All four of them ignored the occasional curious looks from others when they recognized Kit’s uniform as that of a Crownsguard.

“So you two ready to be seniors?”

Noct shrugged and not for the first time, Kit felt a pang of sadness for the happy go lucky boy he had been before his accident. But as usual, Prompto took up his friends slack with a huge grin.

“We are so ready. One more year, and then we’re done with school. Woohoo!”

Kit chuckled. “What about college?”

Prompto shrugged. “You guys didn’t go and you’re doing fine.”

“We’re soldiers, Prompto. Our paths were laid out for the both of us before we were even born.” Gladio replied, his tone dry. Prompto considered that for a moment, then pulled out his ever-present camera, snapping a quick shot of a smiling Kit.

“I’ll just become a photographer…work at the paper or do weddings or something.”

Gladio just scoffed and shook his head. Kit elbowed him in the side hard enough to make him wince. “I think you’ll make a great photographer, Prompto. Besides, you could finally cash in on putting up with His Grumpiness for so long.”

Noct glared at her, but there was small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I wouldn’t have been so grumpy towards you that day if you hadn’t shown up at my door at an ungodly hour.”

“It was nine o’clock in the morning.”

“Like I said. Ungodly hour.”

Prompto burst out laughing as Kit and Gladio just shook their heads. They lapsed into companionable silence as they closed the distance to their destination, the Brightstar Arcade. Kit turned to her companions, a wolfish grin on her face as Gladio held the door open for them.

“Alright boys, who’s ready to go down?”

 ---

The sun had been down for a few hours when the four friends emerged from the arcade. A few street performers had set up shop as crowds enjoyed the late summer night, window shopping, bar hopping, or just listening to the music that spilled over the streets.

“I told you guys not to fall for her tricks.” Gladio rumbled as Prompto and Noct complained about Kit fleecing them. Kit laughed.

“Aww don’t be that way guys. How about this, dinner on me tonight…well, on me with your money.” She grinned. Noct turned with a glare, about to tell just what she could do with her dinner, when a man who had clearly had a bit too much to drink stumbled into Noct.

“Hey, watch it!” Noct grit out as he tried to hold up the much larger man. The man pulled himself off the Prince and frowned, poking his finger at Noct’s chest. Kit and Gladio immediately went on guard, ready for anything. Noct took a step back and the man wavered, scowling.

“You have the nerve to walk into me and then tell me to watch it? You stupid punk…”

Gladio reacted before anyone even saw the knife in the man’s hand, shoving Noct at Kit as the man lashed out drunkenly. The blade came down just as Gladio was turning back to face the drunk, cutting him on the left side of his face vertically from brow to cheek, just barely missing hitting his eye. Face bleeding profusely, Gladio just glared at the drunk, standing between him and his three friends, waiting to see if the man would try to attack again. The drunk blanched slightly and took an involuntary step back when faced with a man even larger than him, who could take a knife to the face and barely even flinch. The street was dead silent as everyone nearby watched.

Kit grimaced as she stood protectively in front of Noct and Prompto, watching as Gladio’s white shirt slowly turned red on the left side. Gladio was the King’s Shield, so he was the one in charge when Noct was in danger, but she wished he would do something, though she figured he was keeping silent because he didn’t want to get any more blood than necessary in his mouth. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three officers making their way over to see what the commotion was. When they saw the scene before them, they sprinted to close the distance. Kit sneered at the drunk, her voice as cold as the ice goddess Shiva.

“I’m going to put your actions up to you being a drunk dumbass, and not as a man in his right mind attacking our Prince and his friends. For that you can spend the night in jail and sober up, instead of lying here bleeding out on the street.”

“P-prince?...” The drunk focused on Noct, or tried to anyways, and looked like he was about to pass out, knife falling out of suddenly numb fingers. The officers finally arrived on scene and suddenly everyone who had been watching seemed to have somewhere more important to be. Seeing Kit was Crownsguard, they made quick work of arresting the drunk and getting the friends statements.

“Sir would you like us to call for a medic?” One of the officers asked Gladio, whose face was still bleeding pretty heavy. Gladio, keeping his left eye closed, spit blood to the side.

“I’ll be fine, thanks.”

Like hell, Kit thought with a grimace. The officer didn’t seem to believe him any more than she did when he met her gaze. “I’ll get him taken care of after we get his Highness home safe. Thank you, officers.”

The officer who’d spoken nodded at Kit before bowing low to Noct. “Your highness. We apologize for not arriving sooner to keep things from escalating.”

Noct, clearly uncomfortable with the attention and still a bit shaken from seeing Gladio take a knife to the face, just nodded. The mood the rest of the way back to Prompto’s was somber, though Kit would have chuckled at the way Prompto stared at Gladio in awe as he ignored his wound if she wasn’t so annoyed at the big man.

“I had fun tonight, drunk asshole aside.” Kit said to Noct as she hugged him once they’d gotten back. “We gotta hang out more often.”

Noct cracked a small smile. “You’re almost as bad a workaholic as Ignis, but you know where we’ll be if you get free.”

“Yeah, I gotta try to get my money back.” Prompto said as he hugged Kit.

“That’ll never happen, but you’re always welcome to try.” She smiled at the blonde and then turned back to Noct. “Are you staying here tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. You two stay safe, and call if you need us.” Kit turned to Gladio, putting as much command in her voice as possible. “You. March.”

Gladio chuckled as Kit stalked after him to his truck, making him sit in the passenger side while she drove to her place. The doorman paled at Gladio’s bloody appearance, quickly letting them in. Once they were safely in Kit’s apartment, Gladio went to sit at the kitchen table, stripping off his bloody shirts while Kit grabbed her first aid kit and some damp rags she knew she wouldn’t mind throwing away. She set the kit on the table, using one of the rags to wipe the blood off Gladio’s face before grabbing another to clean the still seeping cut. Gladio closed his eyes as she worked, her feather light touches distracting him from his pain.

“I ought to kick your ass for that stunt, Gladiolus.” Kit said quietly. Gladio opened up his right eye, giving her a small frown.

“I’m the king’s shield. Far better for me to take a blow than Noct, and I wasn’t about to hurt a drunk who will probably have no recollection of the incident tomorrow.”

Kit slapped his bare chest. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you turning down a medic, then walking fifteen blocks with your face slashed open and bleeding.”  She took several butterfly clasps and started applying them to the cut. It was deep, but she didn’t think it needed stitches. “Now your pretty face is all ruined and none of those Citadel girls will want you anymore.”

Gladio grinned at her, ignoring the slight pain it caused. “Aww, come on Kitten. I’ve always heard chicks dig guys with scars.”

Kit gave a quiet chuckle as she applied the last clasp. “You better thank your lucky stars this one does.”

She leaned in and kissed him, ignoring the slight coppery taste of his lips, grateful the damage hadn’t been as bad as it could have been.

“Now, go hop in the shower and I’ll get rid of those bloody rags you used to call a uniform. I think I still have one or two of your shirts lying around here somewhere-” She gave a small shriek of laughter when Gladio stood up suddenly, lifting her in his arms at the same time. He smiled wickedly down at her, heading in the direction of her bedroom.

“What are you doing, you big oaf?”

“Taking a shower like you said. But I’m injured so I think you may need to keep a close eye on me. Don’t want to pass out in the shower and make it worse.” He winked. “In fact I think you may need to keep a close eye on me all weekend, just to be safe.”

Kit laughed again but didn’t protest as she was carried into the bathroom.